Author Notes: A dictionary of terms not found in cannon can be found in appendix c of the epilogue chapter. For all others, visit naruto dot wikia dot com. I claim ownership only of that which belongs to me. Everything else belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Weekly Shonen Jump, VIZ Media, and whoever else holds rights to the Naruto franchise.

Prologue: Death of a Hero

Minato Namikaze threw a kunai at the teleporting bastard. The space time jutsu the man was using pissed him off. The fact that the man had released the Kyuubi no Kitsune upon his village and used the mangekyo sharingan to make it attack pissed him off more. That in order to release the Kyuubi, the man had killed his pregnant wife, Kushina Uzumaki, made him see red. His only consolation was that he had driven the man away while the medics did everything in their power to save his newborn son, Naruto. He gathered a swirling ball of chakra into his hand and disappeared in a yellow flash of light that disoriented his opponent for a moment as he instantly traversed the distance between them and shoved the rasengan into the Uchiha's side.

This time, Minato, the fourth hokage of Konoha, the yellow flash, had been fast enough. The Uchiha had phased his body too slowly and the rasengan had torn away a large section of the black cloak with red clouds that he wore.

"I think I've kept you long enough," the Uchiha chuckled as a massive explosion came from the direction of the city. His side was covered in bloody bruises and a rib jutted out through his skin. "Don't keep the Kyuubi waiting too long, Hokage-sama!" The title was pronounced with a distinct lack of reverence and a good helping of sarcasm as the Uchiha disappeared in a swirling vortex.

Only when he was sure the man was gone did Minato turn to see what was happening to his beloved ninja village hidden in the leaves. The nine-tailed demon fox had breached the gates and was slowly making its way into the town. A giant toad appeared and a massive barrier temporarily halted the demon's progress. His sensei was holding the monster back, for now, but it had already unleashed a devastating level of damage upon the village. He had always known this was a possibility. Childbirth would disrupt the flow of chakra to the seal and weaken it. This was the reason that Minato had taken his wife outside the city when she had gone into labor.

In a flash of light, he was at his wife's side. He knew what he had to do, and he was ready to do it to save the people of the village, but he had to know. She lay on the cold stone ground, unmoving. Kneeling down, he traced a hand along her cheek and found it to be cold and lifeless. He stomach was split vertically, revealing an empty uterus and severed umbilical cord.

Turning, he saw the two medics, both dead. His heart sank, he wondered if perhaps the man had beaten him here, just to take his child away before he even got a chance to see it. No, there was a faint mewling cry for attention. Next to one of the medics was a cloth wrapped bundle. He picked it up gingerly and say the baby's scrunched up face. It – Minato flicked the blanket back to check the gender – he was obviously unhappy about not having any attention. He turned to the bodies of the medics. Their wounds had stopped bleeding a long time ago, but Minato knew that with their skill, they could have easily saved each other, but instead chose to save his son.

"Thank you," he bowed to the remains of the two medics, "No one else will get the chance to hear what you have done for me, but I will remember it for the rest of my life... Even if that is not a long time," he looked sadly down upon his son and said, "I will be leaving you soon, and I am sorry for what will happen because of what I am about to do, but I cannot ask anyone else to do this. I cannot ask one of the villages to make a sacrifice that I would not make myself. You have your mothers blood running through your veins, and with any luck, her blood line as well, so you are the only one I can trust with this mission, my son, Naruto Uzumaki." Minato stroked the child's face where scars like whiskers stood out like great red gashes. "Perhaps, you will one day pay that fox back for these. You lived with him for nine months before you were born, and now, he will be yours, your parents' legacy." He gave a bark of laughter before tears began to trickle down his face and he used the hiraishin to teleport to Jiraiya.

"Minato, you're back. What happened?" Jiraiya of the Sannin asked before launching a fireball into the stream of oil that the toad boss Gamabunta had spat at the Kyuubi.

"An Uchiha. He had the mangekyo," Minato said, "Gamabunta, can you hold the fox for thirty seconds?"

"You're pushing it kid," Gamabunta grunted and launched himself into the Kyuubi as Minato began to perform a series of hand seals.

"You can't be serious, Minato, this jutsu will kill you," Jiraiya said as he recognized the jutsu.

"Jiraiya, your godson's name is Naruto Uzumaki. Make sure the village treats him like a hero." Minato's hand signs stopped and a ghostly figure appeared behind him, even if only he and the Kyuubi could see it. "Fuuin Jutsu: Shiki Fuujin!" Minato laid a hand upon Naruto's stomach and a sealing array spread out across the boy's stomach and spread across his body until there was little skin not covered in the marks. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the sealing array shrank and compressed until only a circle covering almost his entire stomach retained them as the Kyuubi was sucked into his stomach. The marks glowed an angry red for a moment before Minato collapsed as his soul was torn from his body. Half a second after the collapse, Jiraiya slammed his own hand into Minato's body, applying a preservation seal. Moments later, the third hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, arrived on the scene.

Jiraiya picked up the child who was crying. "I bet that fox is making quite a ruckus in there right now."

"Is that..." Sarutobi trailed off. There was no mistaking the vibrant blue eyes and the wisps of golden hair.

"This is Minato's son, Naruto Uzumaki."

The third hokage sighed, "I suppose my retirement is finished."