The Shadow Of A Flash

Chapter 1: My Flesh & Blood

"It's done?"

"It is."

"Good." The way the word was spoken suggested the situation was far from the fact. A dark atmosphere seemed to smother the room and the two individuals inhabiting it. The man who had whispered the word snapped his neck up quickly, a decision seemingly made within the glittering eyes that were buried deep under his brow. He quickly walked toward the other man in the room and scattered paper everywhere as he did so. "And the sacrifice? It must be so?"

"It must." The voice from earlier returned. It reeked of youth which made the despair enshrouding it all the more potent. The man from which it had originated lifted a hand to his face and knocked some strands of blond hair out of his eyes absentmindedly. Deep blue orbs were hidden behind fingers for a moment before they returned and resumed their piercing stare upon the man in front of them.

"Then it is time." It was a haggard voice, wizened by age and distorted by such a long time of use. In a fleeting second the older of the two moved forward quickly with a palm raised.

"Hiruzen what are yo-" His voice stopped suddenly as the blond haired man was slapped to the face by the other, now named Hiruzen. A chakra-laced palm surged into his mind and he felt his body begin to shut down, "No! What have you done?!" He whispered harshly, too harshly if he was honest with himself. He felt his consciousness begin to slip and the room darkening around him.

Hiruzen did not reply to the blond haired man's question - in his mind the answer was obvious, "I'm sorry my child but you are too young. This is not your moment." The previous weakness in his voice had disappeared and was now replaced by a steely resolve. The man on the floor looked up in horror as the aged man spoke. His eyes began to flutter slightly and as he began to finally drift off he saw one last act from the other man; he walked over to a small basket that had been situated on a desk and picked up bundle out of it. He lost sight at that moment and as he fell into blissful sleep heard a sorrowful moan erupt in the room.

His son was crying.

"We have to tell him! We must." A voice pierced his thoughts and awakened him from his slumber. He tried to open his eyes wearily but they stubbornly refused his request.

"No. He won't handle it well and there are other, much more important matters to deal with." Another voice? Who were these people and why were they choosing to bother him so much? The second voice returned for a moment and seemed to add another final point to what he said, "The village comes first."

"Damn you Danzou! It's his family - he deserves to know!" The voices began to rise in distress. He had had enough. Trying to raise his hand to his eyes, he found he could hardly manage. That foolish old man had gone overboard. And with that the memories returned and he realised just what situation he had been left in. He tried to sit up quickly from what he assumed was a bed. Failing at that as well he instead only elicited a groan from his mouth.

"Hush you two. It seems the decision has been made for you." A third voice entered and the blond haired man almost felt the need to giggle at the sheer number of people disturbing him.

Instead he managed a strained, "Where am I?" He winced slightly at the pathetic sound that came out from his voice.

"Hokage-sama!" The first voice.

"Namikaze?" The second. He tried opening his eyes again and this time succeeded. A blurry visage of three figures was revealed and he blinked several times to adjust to the sight.

"What's going on?" Minato spoke slowly as he regained bearings. He knew he was in the hospital but that wasn't what he wanted to know about.

"We're in the hospital," the third voice announced - his advisor Homura - "You've been unconscious for two days."

Minato felt a surge of anger gather within him, "Not that! What has happened to the village?" He thought for a moment before adding, "And what of my family? What did you mean earlier?" His voice gained a shrill tone to it near the end and he forced himself to calm down.

Danzou interjected here, "Sarutobi knocked you out, as I'm sure you are aware, and proceeded to seal the Kyuubi as you had undoubtedly planned to do yourself. It was successful - we now hold power of the nine-tailed beast."

"Your son is fine Minato, he survived the sealing with no visible issues." Koharu interrupted Danzou's speech as she noticed the furious look overtake the sun-kissed man's face.

"We have lost approximately one third of our shinobi force and our Chuunin reserves have, in particular, taken a heavy toll. The village is relatively unharmed, Hiruzen got to the beast in time to prevent wide-scale destruction." Homura spoke slowly and his eyes began to moisten as he spoke of his now dead teammate. "He died a hero."

Minato took everything in silently, processing what he had been told. This wasn't how it was supposed to be - the old man should be where he was, not buried under six feet of dirt. Their forces were ruined - no doubt a major village would make a move on them sometime soon. As he pondered he remembered something suddenly, "Kushina, where is she?"

He looked at the three elderly shinobi in front of him desperately, hoping against all odds that his mind had pieced their argument together wrong.

Koharu spoke hesitantly, "Minato, she... She-"

"She is dead. Lost to the stress of the birth. I'm sorry." Danzou spoke with his usual coldness but a touch of something else could be heard in his tone. Something akin to sympathy.

Minato looked at the man in horror, "No! This is not how it was meant to happen!" Despair, sadness and guilt gripped him all at once and tore down his composure. As he began to lose control the three others in the room shifted uncomfortably - knowing the pain he was going through all too well. He felt a sob escape his mouth before he could prevent it and knew more would follow. Before they could he viciously grasped control of his emotions and tightened the grip.

He looked up at the three stonily, "Where is Naruto?"

"He's safe but first we must deal with-"

"Where is my son?!" He interrupted the war hawk quickly and mercilessly. The three elders looked at each other for a moment before they seemed to all come to a silent agreement.

"Jiraiya has him at your estate. He's been looking over him since the sealing." Homura's calm voice pierced the air. It seemed they were willing to let the village wait - for a moment.

Minato felt his strength return twofold and slipped out of the bed quickly. He was still dressed in the battle gear from two days ago. As he turned to leave the room Danzou spoke one final time.

"The world will not wait on you, Namikaze." He spoke with a drawl but his meaning was clear to Minato. You may have your time, but not much.

As he opened the door he grunted quietly, "Prepare for my return tomorrow. I will deal with everything then - and only then."

His son must come first.

For Kushina.

If Jiraiya were ever to say he had a bad day this would have to be it. His sensei was dead, his student inconsolable and his village heartbroken. Yes, this was certainly his worst day. As he stared at Minato cradling his son in his arms he silently wondered if the man would recover from his lose and by proxy whether the village would recover from the deep scar that had just been left upon it. He wasn't entirely sure.

A giggle escaped from the small bundle in his student's hands. It came from a small, almost identical copy of the man holding him. As the small baby innocently broke the silence a small smile invaded the other blonde's face. It certainly wasn't happy. No, Jiraiya knew Minato wasn't ready to be happy. As he looked at the scene though, he realised immediately what the smile encompassed. It was hope.

Jiraiya sighed - how could he ever doubt his home and his student? Of course they would survive, Minato always made sure they did. "So, what's the plan?"

Minato looked up and the smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a gloomy countenance. "Must we do this now?"

Jiraiya choked back his own anger that was bubbling at the surface. Of course he didn't want to talk about the tenebrous elephant in the room. He ignored the emotions striking his being. 'You are still his teacher.' the mantra repeated in his mind for a few moment before he forced himself to proceed; "Yes." His pain did not matter, he had to guide his student out of this horror.

Minato screwed his eyes up in guilt for a moment. "I'm- I'm sorry Jiraiya-sensei. It's just so raw."

"Which is why we have to deal with it now."

Minato sighed; Jiraiya, despite his flaws, was rarely wrong. "You will have to look after him for a while - until I fix this village - until we no longer grieve," a flashing image of a beautiful redhaired woman invaded his mind before he shook his head to dismiss the sight, "After that I should be fine and I will always have Kakashi to depend upon if I need to leave the village. Naruto will be cared for."

"And of the village?"

"Gather the dead and rebuild." His pain multiplied when Konoha's loss of life resurfaced.

"The loss in our forces?"

"Recall inactive shinobi, accelerate the learning program for some time." Minato sighed in relief when Jiraiya stopped his interrogation, hoping for a moment the man would not ask him the about one subject he wished to avoid.

"Do you want me to deal with the funeral?" It was a brutal slap to Minato and brought his mind back to reality. Jiraiya had always been blunt but he had hoped that with the current circumstances the man would avoid doing so.

"No- No she is my wife. I will bury her."

While Jiraiya did not seem to display any outward reaction he deflated in relief internally. Thankful that the man in front of him had the strength to deal with the grief. The white haired man didn't think he would be able to do it himself anyway. He had his own funeral to attend to. His teacher had died.

The God of Shinobi was now truly in the heavens.

Minato sat in the dark room with a grim look on his face. As he looked at the incredible amount of paperwork in front of him his frown deepened. Usually he would find a sort of sick humor in the amount of work a Hokage was left to do but today all he could see was that insufferable red stamp on every piece of paper in front of him; the stamp that revealed a casualty. Trying to count the sheer number of them would only result in a sore brain and heavy heart - so he didn't bother. Instead, he swept them to the side for the moment and stood out of the plushy chair that was always situated in the office of his predecessors. He tilted his head to the left for a moment and looked out of the window at the huge stone monument beside it. As his eyes rested on the Sandaime's face he sighed, remembering the older man's sacrifice. He was disturbed from his thoughts by the appearance of an ANBU in the room.

"Hokage-sama, the council has gathered as requested." The woman in the outfit spoke slowly, seemingly aware of the blonde haired man's thoughts. Minato merely nodded at the woman in question as a sign of affirmation before turning away from the window, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Very well, please get Jiraiya and ensure he makes an appearance," The Namikaze resented what he had to say next, "With my son in tow too." At the command the ANBU's eyes widened - it was not yet common knowledge that he had offspring.

"Hai. By your leave Hokage-sama?" Minato didn't have the heart to reply and merely nodded in acquiesce. Without a sound the ANBU disappeared and Minato took that also as a sign that it was time for him to make his own journey. Quickly activating a shunshin, he appeared outside the council room and ignored the slight surpise of the man who was on guard.

"Hokage-sama! You scared me," The man grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "They are all waiting inside for you."

Once again, Minato found himself moving his head in acknowledgement before pressing his hands to the door and opening them. He was greeted with the sight of dozens of adult shinobi arguing loudly, words flying across the room. They seemed to be nearing physical confrontation; on one side he saw the ever calm and palpably cold Shikaku, flanked surprisingly by the stoic Danzou. He seemed to be trying to abate the other group, who were led by the Inuzuka woman, Tsuume. In that group he noticed a distinctly large amount of civilian members. In the middle sat the silent and terrified Akimichi and Yamanaka heads, supported by the silent Hyuuga's.

"What's going on?" He realised, with a start, that his voice came out in a sufferable rage. It was almost as if he were at the end of his fuse. The individuals in the room also seemed to notice his tone and quiet was quickly achieved. Taking the moment of silence to walk to his seat at the front of the room, he noted how everyone quickly bowed and the groups dispersed. As everyone took their seats he continued, "Well? Out with it. What has the venerable council in such an uproar?" He thought for a moment before adding, "Aside from the obvious fox problem we have recently had, of course." Everyone seemed to suddenly hesitate at his cold tone and refused to voice their concerns. Just as he was rubbing his head and preparing to dismiss the issue one of the main culprits, the Nara head, stood up.

"Hokage-sama, due to the recent... Issue our village has had to deal with we have obviously lost some manpower,"Minato nodded in agreement, that much was obvious from the blotchy red stamps on the papers in his office, "The problem however, is that we have uncovered some startling statistics." The usually relaxed man seemed to tense at this and Minato's worry rose internally.

"What do you mean?"

"The losses we have incurred from the Kyuubi attack have diminished our forces so much so that we may not be able to survive an attack from another village. We are at 30% of our original size. To put it bluntly, the casualty rate has devastated us." Minato felt his own eyebrows rise in fear at this as other took a much more obvious approach to reveal their emotions. Words once again flew across the room and people seemed visibly horrified.

"What do we do?!"

"We're going to be invaded!"

"Dear god I can-"

"Quiet!" His voice boomed across the room and the particular individuals had begun to panic immediately stopped moving. Minato clicked his tongue in distaste at the people surrounding him, "Thank you." He turned once more to the Nara clan head and announced, "And what, pray tell, is you solution? I'm assuming that is what was causing the ruckus I walked in on." Several council members winced at this, embarrassed by their lack of decorum.

"A modification of the Academy training schedule." Minato whipped his head around to look at the source of this statement and found Danzou's cold eyes staring unflinchingly back at him. Suddenly he felt the distaste in his mouth grow, "If the war-hawk has anything to do with this it obviously isn't pretty." Minato ran through his mind quickly.

"Explain."

"Heightened intensity, increased hours and earlier graduation." A succinct reply, if there ever was one.

"How early?" Minato's eyes, he realised, had narrowed into a suspicious glare.

"War-time level, if not earlier." Muttered whispering shook the room. The last shinobi war had seen children being graduated at 8 as an average with many even younger being released earlier.

"No." It was a simple reply to a simple request. To placate Danzou's visible frustration Minato quickly added, "My reputation will hopefully stave off any immediate attacks." That much was obvious; no shinobi village would attempt an assault on Konoha without proper planning to counter the infamous Yellow Flash, "We will however, allow for a higher number of particularly 'talented' individuals to graduate early." It was a compromise and the whole room knew. Neither side truly won the battle but Minato knew when he had signed up for this job that he would sometimes have to make hard decisions - it was part of being the Hokage.

Shikaku and Danzou seemed to talk for a moment before Shikaku nodded slowly, "I can see no fault in that." Minato knew then that that was the end of it. If he had the genius Nara's support no one would bother to further oppose it. The shadow user sat back down and Minato thought for a moment that the council was content to end the meeting before a small man from the civilian side stood quickly.

"Hokage-sama if I may?" At his nod the man continued, "We know of the Sandaime's sacrifice - a noble man he was - but I was under the impression that the Kyuubi was too powerful to be killed. If that is true, what happened to it?" Minato felt his original anger return in full force. How a civilian of all things was so knowledgeable he didn't know but his question was somewhat valid.

"You are correct. The Sandaime didn't kill the creature, he could only seal it." Minato wished he hadn't worded it like that, as shinobi and civilians alike looked terrified by the prospect of the Kyuubi still surviving, "The demon is now locked away in a seal of my own design. I assure you the Kyuubi will not be returning."

"But where is it truly Hokage-sama?"

Poof.

Minato whipped around to see Jiraiya appear in a cloud of smoke behind him with a small bundle in his hands.

Perfect timing.

"The demon could not simply be locked away into an object. The beast was too strong - so he sealed it into the only thing he could; A human being." Murmurs once again rose in surprise at this with a few of the smarted shinobi already deducing what was in Jiraiya's hands, "To be precise, a newborn. There was only one child born on the night who held the strength to contain the demon."He pointed his hand toward Jiraiya at this, "That is him, the jailor of the Kyuubi - his name is Naruto." People seemed terrified by the fact that the once indomitable demon was now in the same room as him.

One woman in particular seemed to grow the courage to say something, "Hokage-sama, I beg of you to end this creatures life! We should kill the child to ensure the death of the demon!" Shouts rose in a agreement at this and Jiraiya, still holding Naruto, felt his eyes blaze all over the council. He looked to Minato who seemed strangely silent throughout the tirade, his hands clenching from what could only be fury.

Danzou narrowed his eyes at the woman's comment and quickly withdrew himself from the view of the Hokage, finding himself situated near the equally worried Koharu and Homura. Shikaku seemed to notice his retreat and for a moment wondered why the elders seemed so distressed by the line of thought - while stupid it wasn't unsurprising that someone had suggested such a thing. He looked at the boy who could be their weapon for a moment and noticed the distinct whiskers marks and golden hair. As he did so the child's eyes opened and he was faced with cerulean orbs looking outward. His eyes widened in shock as he realised precisely who the child's parents were and he quickly stood, attempting to move toward the elders. Before he could however he was forced to collapse to the floor by a flash of incredible killing intent.

Anger pervaded the room and forced everyone to the floor for a moment. The pressure was so much - too much. He felt like, no he knew, he was going to die. And then as suddenly as the agonizing terror had arrived it disappeared - gone in what must of only been a second. Everyone in the room seemed to regain their bearings.

Minato schooled his face into that of a emotionless visage. He had lost control of himself for a moment and while shameful he felt somewhat justified in his actions, "Do think so little of my skills in fuinjutsu? Do you think the Sandaime is so weak?" His voice was raising and he tried to calm down but it was no use, "Do you take me for a fool? That I would risk the life of the village and the people within it?!" The room was silent at this, everyone taking in the tirade of the fourth Hokage.

"Do you doubt my blood?" Jiraiya almost grinned at that line, keyword being almost. Now the cat was out of the bag a few of the council members realised just who they had been wishing to kill. Their faces paled immediately as they looked at the blonde-haired baby in his hands.

Minato seemed to finally regain control for a moment and breather calmly. He resumed speaking, albeit much more quietly, "My wife died to save this village, giving birth to the living, breathing savior of it. I had hoped you would not be so presumptuous as to judge this child, my own flesh and blood." People looked down, many scared of the repercussions of their words.

"I guess I thought wrong." Minato sighed, "From this point on anyone born shall not be told of the circumstances surrounding the sealing of the Kyuubi. Instead, you will tell your future children and the future generation itself that it was killed in battle by the Sandaime, his life being the forfeit of such a success. No one shall know of my heir's burden and I expect you to uphold it to be so. Anyone who does otherwise shall be sentenced to death." People looked up in relief at this, thankful for the respite granted by the man, "This meeting is over. I have no... Taste for it any longer." He walked out briskly, not looking at the people who had damned his child. Jiraiya quickly followed behind as his brow creased in worry.

He loved his village and probably always would. It was simply a fact of being Hokage. He had not, however, expected to ever see such a dark side of his people. Shaking his head lightly, he pushed the thought away. It wouldn't do any good to dwell on an idle mistake. He would forgive them - as he always did.

Regardless, a small sliver of doubt crept into his mind.

So I've finally returned for those of you who somehow still remember you - all two of you. I've only recently got back into Naruto so my understanding of the well is still a little sketchy so forgive me for that. As far as writing goes I'm going to be sporadic with updates cause I'm silly like that. I deleted my old story "Ruled By A White Gaze." mostly because it was in the same vein as this and I disliked the overall thoughts behind it (I was like 12 when I wrote it hehe).

This story below is a bit of the "Minato Lives!" plotline but I've decided I'll be following canon somewhat closely - Naruto will however be experiencing an entirely different journey up until the usual Academy Graduation. No - he will not be super-powerful. Yes - he will be graduating much earlier. Hope you enjoy!