Chapter Text
The night sky burned crimson above Konohagakure.
Buildings collapsed beneath the weight of the colossal fox's tails, screams echoing throughout the village as shinobi desperately tried to push the beast away from the civilian districts. Flames spread from rooftop to rooftop, smoke choking the air while the Nine-Tailed Fox let out another earth-shaking roar.
The Kyūbi's massive eyes gleamed with hatred.
"T-Third Hokage-sama!" a shinobi shouted desperately while landing beside the older man atop a ruined building. "The eastern barrier team has fallen!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face hardened as he watched the fox slam one of its tails into the ground, obliterating an entire street. "...Damn it." Even after decades as a shinobi, the sheer power of the beast still sent a chill down his spine.
Nearby, hundreds of shinobi continued their assault.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Rampart!"
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
But none of it mattered. The Kyūbi simply roared, its chakra exploding outward violently and forcing dozens of shinobi backward.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, a masked man stood silently before Namikaze Minato. The Fourth Hokage's blue eyes remained calm despite the destruction around them.
The masked shinobi's Sharingan spun slowly behind the orange mask. "As expected of the Yellow Flash," the man said evenly. "To think you could separate me from the Kyūbi so quickly... But then again, it is on a mindless rampage due to my Sharingan."
Minato said nothing but his mind raced with several questions. Who was this masked man? What was his goal? Whoever this man was... he possessed terrifying space-time ninjutsu and enough power to control the Kyūbi itself.
Minato gazed into his soul with his ice-cold azure eyes as he asked the man. "Who are you?"
The masked man tilted his head slightly. "Hmm, a mystery, isn't it?"
Minato's expression darkened instantly. "...No, it doesn't matter. The only solution is to put you down, whoever you are."
The air distorted as the masked man vanished. Minato disappeared at the exact same moment. His kunai sliced through empty air as neither man touched the ground for more than a second as yellow flashes and spiraling distortions tore through the battlefield around them.
The masked man phased through Minato's Rasengan at the last second, but Minato had already anticipated it. A Flying Thunder God marker flashed across the masked man's cloak and the Fourth Hokage appeared behind him instantly.
"Rasengan!"
The spiraling sphere slammed into the man's back with devastating force. The masked shinobi crashed through the forest violently before skidding across the ground and for the first time, his composure cracked slightly. "...Impressive." He said in his deep voice, glaring through his mask.
Minato stood silently, one hand gripping a tri-pronged kunai. "You won't control the Kyubi anymore," he said calmly. "And this war ends tonight."
The masked man slowly rose, clutching his shoulders in pain, though his voice remained controlled, rage lingered underneath it now. "Y-you managed to figure out my technique within this small span of battle... You truly are befitting of the name Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato..." The space around him twisted. "...But mark my words, this isn't over, Fourth Hokage, not by a long shot." Then he vanished completely.
Minato remained still for several seconds, watching. When the man did not return, Minato finally exhaled quietly, but there was no relief in his eyes. 'Kushina... Naruto...' he thought and without another second wasted, he disappeared in a yellow flash towards his bellowed wife and newborn son.
The barrier surrounding the hidden area trembled violently. Inside, Kushina Uzumaki struggled to breathe as sweat covered her face, her bright red hair spread wildly across the ground while the seal on her stomach bled heavily. She gently looked at her baby on the cushion, as she caressed it.
Minato appeared beside her instantly as he knelt near her. "Kushina!" the woman's husband called out her name, worried.
Relief flooded the woman's exhausted face. "Minato..."
Naruto cried loudly nearby, wrapped carefully in blankets, getting the attention from both his parents. For a moment, just one single moment, the chaos outside disappeared. Minato and Kushina were simply parents looking at their son, just born to this world, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze.
Kushina smiled weakly as she touched his face as the little boy cooed. "He really does look like you..."
Minato gently picked Naruto up, his expression softening immediately. The moment broke as the Kyūbi roared in the distance. The young Hokage's face hardened as it glared at the fox while holding the infant. 'It seems there's no other way. I'm so sorry, Naruto... Kushina...' he thought as he looked at Kushina, apologetic.
Kushina noticed her husband's look immediately as tears welled in her eyes. "No... you plan on sealing the K-Kyūbi inside Naruto?" she asked in a shocked whisper, sobbing. She tried to talk Minato out of that choice. "Minato... He's just a child..."
The Hokage grit his teeth, frustrated to only have this choice. He looked at his son, then back to his dying wife. "We don't have much time, Kushina. It is the only choice." His voice remained calm, despite the slight breaking in his voice.
But Kushina didn't want that. She herself had been ignored and ostracised by the villagers, and she only became a Jinchuriki at the young age of 9. If Naruto was to have the Kyūbi sealed inside him, he would be an object of hatred to all the villagers.
"We can still seal the entire fox back into me!" The Uzumaki woman said desperately, knowing the capability of her immense life force, which is even allowing her to be alive, despite the Kyūbi already extracted from her. "I'll drag it down with me! The village will be safe then!"
Minato looked down at Naruto quietly as he knelt down and gave the newborn to Kushina. The mother held the boy close her heart as she wept, knowing full well that even if she did drag it with her to her death, the Kyūbi would only reform much later.
"We both know that won't work, Kushina. Even if we did, the absence of Kyūbi would prompt other villagers to go to war against us. The village needs the Kyūbi as a war deterrent." The young Hokage said as he knew the death of his wife was now simply just within mere moments, and in a way, so was his.
The Uzumaki glared at her husband. The very idea horrified her. "He's, our son! Not some war deterrent!"
Minato wrapped his hands around her, hugging both his son and wife. "I know." His voice was filled with regret as he continued speaking. "And I can't trust anyone else with the Kyūbi, other than our son. I believe he'll be the one to master its power someday."
Another explosion shook the barrier. Both Shinobi felt the Kyūbi getting closer.
Kushina's hands trembled violently as she imagined the life her son would have to face, and she won't be even around to support him. "He'll suffer..." she whispered brokenly. "People will fear him..." Minato said nothing because they both knew she was right. Little Naruto began crying again which stopped when his mother slowly, painfully, she reached out and touched her son's cheek.
"I wanted more time, ya know?" she whispered.
The barrier shattered as the Kyūbi burst through with murderous rage in its eyes. "FOURTH HOKAGEEE! KUSHINAA!! I'LL TEAR YOU BOTH APART!!!" It yelled in malice, preparing to kill both of them.
Its claw shot forward, but it didn't reach the recipients as bright golden chains were wrapped around the Kyūbi. Total of eight chains emerged from Kushina's body, and those restricted the Kyūbi, but barely. Kushina, who was already on the verge of her death, was struggling to hold the fox still.
Minato moved instantly as he placed Naruto on the small cushion. The Hokage then glared at the fox and knowing that his son wouldn't be able to handle all of the Kyūbi's chakra, he decided to use another way to completely seal it.
Slowly, the blonde brought his hands together. Ram. Snake. Tiger. The air itself became heavy as dark chakra gathered around Minato as a massive spectral figure slowly materialised behind him. The Shinigami, an enormous, horrifying figure cloaked in death itself, loomed over Minato silently, its hollow eyes staring toward the Nine-Tails.
For the first time that night, the Kyūbi looked genuinely alarmed.
"No..." Kushina whispered weakly as her eyes widened in horror, seeing her husband use the forbidden sealing Jutsu. The Reaper Death Seal.
Minato's expression remained calm despite the tears forming in his eyes. "I have to," he said softly.
The Shinigami's ghostly arm reached through Minato's body and seized hold of the Kyūbi's chakra violently. The fox roared in agony and fury as its chakra began splitting apart. "DAMN YOU FOURTH HOKAGEEEEE!!"
At the same time, Minato gently slammed his palm onto Naruto's stomach. "Eight trigrams Seal!" he yelled as black markings spread across the infant's belly. He strained heavily as he carefully guided half of the Kyūbi's chakra into his son as crimson chakra surrounded the baby briefly before sinking beneath the seal.
Kushina continued restraining the fox desperately with her Adamantine Chains, but her breathing had become shallow and weak. Her life was fading rapidly. One of the chains shattered. "Ngh-!" She grunted as another chain cracked moments later.
The Kyūbi's massive eye immediately locked onto the infant lying behind Minato with pure hatred. It refused to be sealed again, especially inside a helpless newborn. The fox snarled viciously. "DIE, YOU DAMN BRAT!" Its gigantic claw shot forward at terrifying speed directly toward Naruto.
Both parents moved instantly without a thought as they stood in the direction of the claw, facing their son. The claw pierced through them both as blood splattered across the ground. The massive claw stopped only inches away from Naruto's tiny face as a drop of blood landed gently against the infant's cheek.
"Minato!" Hiruzen Sarutobi called as he arrived alongside several ANBU shinobi only for him to freeze. The old man's eyes widened in horror and grief at the sight before him. Minato and Kushina impaled by the Kyūbi's claw, protecting their son.
Hiruzen's hands trembled slightly. "...Minato, no."
Minato coughed blood violently as he smiled gently, seeing his son safe, holding the claw in place with trembling arms. Kushina trembled, blood staining her lips weakly, forcing herself to smile toward her son despite the pain weakly.
The Yondaime looked down at his son one final time. "Y-you'll become a great shinobi, N-Naruto..." he said softly. "I know you will. I-I'm so sorry for burdening y-you with the Kyūbi. B-but I'm sure y-you'll master its power." he said, stuttering weakly, coughing up blood.
Tears blurred Kushina's vision. "...Naruto..." She whispered shakily, "E-Eat properly... Make friends... d-don't skip your baths... and..." Her voice broke. "...a-and know that we love you."
Minato looked toward Kushina softly, then slowly, the Hokage formed another set of hand signs despite his failing strength.
Kushina's eyes widened slightly. "M-Minato...?"
The blond Hokage smiled weakly. "I don't want him to be alone. I want him to at least meet us when he is grown up." He spoke in a kind voice as he, very gently, pressed two fingers against Naruto's stomach beside the Eight Trigrams Seal. Soft blue chakra began flowing from Minato into the seal and at the same time, faint crimson chakra drifted from Kushina as well.
The dying Uzumaki immediately understood that Minato was sealing fragments of their chakra into Naruto, enough for their son to someday meet them, enough so Naruto would know who his parents were and enough so he would never truly be alone.
Kushina's eyes filled with tears as she smiled painfully. "...You w-would have b-been a great f-father, Minato."
Minato laughed weakly. "But y-you'll always be the better p-parent. A b-beautiful and l-loving mother." The faint remnants of their chakra disappeared into Naruto's seal gently.
The Shinigami appeared behind the Yondaime as it stared at his soul. He knew his time was over, and with whatever tie he had left, he looked at his wife and son for a final time. He kissed his wife one last time as he spoke. "K-Kushina, t-thank you for being the woman of m-my dreams. I-I love you." His wife slightly turned, despite the pane from the impalement of the fox's claw. She gave him a kiss back, which conveyed all their feelings for each other.
Yondaime turned towards the old Sandaime Hokage, his predecessor. "P-Please take care of Naruto, Sandaime-Sama." He said with a smile as he formed the final seal. "Reaper Death Seal." The Hokage called out gently and darkness exploded outward as the Kyūbi roared in fury as its chakra was violently torn apart. the Shinigami pulled a half of the Kyūbi's chakra and along with Minato's soul.
The fox's eyes widened slightly as it snarled uneasily. "W-What are you doing?! Stop this!!" the fox roared as half of it was pulled into the Shinigami and disappeared. The remaining of the Kyūbi's chakra was seeped into the Eight Trigrams Seal placed on Naruto making the fox, completely sealed. Half sealed within Minato and the other half sealed within Naruto.
The Fourth Hokage collapsed forward, his apparent death, claimed him.
Kushina's hand weakly reached toward Naruto one last time. She looked and smiled at Hiruzen who came next to her, to see her off in her final moments. "O-Old man, l-look a-after my boy, o-okay?" She stuttered her final words before falling lifelessly beside Minato's.
Hiruzen stared silently for several long seconds as tears welled in his eyes, then he stepped forward slowly and picked the infant up carefully. The old Hokage looked down at the child, at Minato's son at the new jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune.
Sorrow filled his aged eyes. "...I swear it," Hiruzen said quietly. "I will look after this child."
7 YEARS LATER
The noise of Konoha faded behind him as he slowly walked down the familiar dirt path leading toward the small lake hidden between the trees. Sunlight reflected softly across the water's surface while the wind rustled the leaves overhead.
It was quiet here as nobody stared at him, nobody whispered. The boy let out a tired sigh before dropping down onto the wooden dock with his legs hanging over the edge. For several seconds, he simply sat there silently, then he grabbed a small rock and threw it across the lake.
Skip.
Another rock followed.
Skip. Skip.
Naruto rested his chin against his knees afterward, blue eyes staring blankly at the water. "...Stupid villagers." His voice sounded smaller than usual. Normally, he would be yelling by now, complaining loudly, swearing he'd prank the entire village later, but today? Today just hurt.
The boy lowered his head slightly. 'Why does everyone hate me...?' he asked himself mentally, but no matter how many times he asked himself that question, he never found an answer. He wasn't strong, he wasn't smart and he barely even caused serious trouble most of the time, so why did adults always glare at him like that? The child kicked lightly at the dock. "...I didn't even do anything." he muttered with a sigh.
A gentle breeze passed through the area as the old man appeared behind him. "You'll wear a hole through that dock if you keep kicking it like that."
Naruto jumped slightly before whipping his head around. "Huh?!"
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood nearby with his hands behind his back, pipe resting between his lips as he smiled softly at the startled child. "Hello, Naruto."
Naruto blinked as he nodded "...Old man." Despite himself, some of the tension left the boy immediately.
Hiruzen slowly walked over before sitting beside Naruto at the edge of the dock with a small grunt. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. The old Hokage quietly studied the child beside him as he found the boy looking upset, more than usual. But Hiruzen was not surprised, after all, word traveled quickly in Konoha, especially incidents involving Naruto. "...Rough day?" he asked gently.
The boy looked away immediately. "Tch. It's nothing." A very Naruto answer.
Hiruzen hid a faint smile behind his pipe. "I see."
Naruto grabbed another stone and threw it hard across the lake, but this one sank instantly. "...People are stupid," he muttered.
Hiruzen's expression softened slightly. "Sometimes," he agreed quietly.
Naruto glanced sideways at him. "You know what I don't get?" the boy asked suddenly. "Why do adults always act weird around me?" the boy kept talking before the old man could answer. "It's like..." he frowned, trying to explain it properly. "Like they look at me and see something bad or something."
The boy's voice lowered slightly. "Did I do something wrong?"
Hiruzen's chest tightened painfully and for a brief moment, he saw Kushina sitting there instead. Same face and same stubborn sadness hidden behind forced bravery. The old Hokage slowly removed the pipe from his mouth. "No, Naruto," he said quietly. "You did nothing wrong."
Naruto suddenly forced a grin onto his face, not wanting to talk about this any longer. "Whatever!" he declared loudly, throwing both hands behind his head. "I don't care what those idiots think anyway!"
Hiruzen nearly sighed. 'Such a poor liar.' the Hokage thought, but he played along. "Is that so?" he asked mildly.
"Yep!" Naruto grinned widely now. "One day, I'll become Hokage! Then everybody in the village will have to respect me!"
There it was. The will of fire, the child inherited from both of his parents. Hiruzen stared at the boy quietly.
Others laughed whenever Naruto said things like that, but Hiruzen never did, because when Naruto spoke those words... He sounded painfully similar to a certain red-headed Uzumaki girl, the old man once knew. A small smile crossed Hiruzen's face.
"I think," the old Hokage said slowly, "that would make quite an interesting future."
Naruto beamed instantly. "Heh! Just watch, old man! I'll become the greatest Hokage ever!"
The Third Hokage chuckled softly. "Perhaps you will, Naruto." And deep down, Hiruzen genuinely hoped he lived long enough to see it.
The old man smiled around his pipe before glancing toward the village in the distance. "...In that case," he began calmly, "you should probably start attending the Academy properly, from tomorrow."
Naruto froze. His confident grin immediately vanished. "...Eh?"
The old Hokage raised an eyebrow. "You are seven years old now, Naruto. Most children your age have already started learning the basics."
Naruto's face scrunched up instantly. "But the Academy is booooring," he groaned dramatically, falling backward onto the dock. "All they do is lecture about rules and history and stuff!"
Hiruzen calmly ignored the whining. "Shinobi are expected to understand history."
Naruto stuck his tongue out slightly. "Yeah, yeah..."
The old Hokage hid a faint smile. Naruto complained often, but Hiruzen knew the boy listened more than people realized, especially when the subject involved the Hokage. "Besides," Hiruzen continued evenly, "if you truly intend to become Hokage someday, you will need to learn far more than simple pranks."
Naruto puffed his cheeks out slightly before looking away, truthfully... he already knew he would probably end up going eventually, but he frowned. "...The other kids there are annoying."
The Hokage looked out across the lake quietly, taking another puff in his pipe. "Not everyone in the Academy will dislike you, Naruto. You might actually make friends."
That earned an immediate snort as the boy looked unconvinced. "Yeah right." The bitterness in Naruto's voice made Hiruzen's expression soften slightly.
The boy wanted friends desperately, that much was obvious. But years of rejection had already started teaching Naruto to expect disappointment instead. It was a painful thing to witness in someone so young.
Still, Hiruzen knew isolation would only worsen if Naruto remained alone outside the system. The Academy would at least give the boy structure. The old Hokage stood slowly with a quiet groan. "Classes begin tomorrow morning," he said.
Naruto blinked. "...Wait, tomorrow?!" He groaned loudly while falling backward again. "This sucks..."
The old man simply chuckled before turning slightly toward the village, then his expression softened. "...Naruto." The boy looked up lazily while Hiruzen looked directly at him. "Give the Academy a fair chance."
Naruto opened his mouth to complain again but stopped. Something about the old man's voice felt... genuine. The boy looked away awkwardly, "...Fine."
Hiruzen smiled slightly. "Good."
The Hokage began walking away returning to the tower sometime later. The moment he entered his office, the warmth from the lake vanished, replaced once more by stacks of paperwork and the heavy atmosphere that always seemed to linger around the Hokage's position.
Hiruzen quietly removed his hat before settling behind the desk with a tired sigh as the old Hokage reached for the small bell resting on his desk and rang it once.
An ANBU appeared instantly. "Hokage-sama."
"Send for Umino Iruka." The Hokage ordered.
The masked shinobi nodded. "At once." The ANBU vanished in another flicker.
Hiruzen leaned back slightly afterward, smoke rising slowly from his pipe while evening sunlight filtered through the office windows. Of all the Academy instructors... Iruka was perhaps the only one he trusted with Naruto, not because the Chunin was perfect, but because teen understood loneliness.
A knock echoed against the office door sometime later. "Enter." The old kage responded as he did his paperworks.
The door opened carefully as a young 18-year-old Iruka Umino stepped inside before bowing respectfully. "You called for me, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen nodded calmly as Iruka straightened afterward. The young instructor wore his usual Konoha forehead protector around his head, brown hair tied back loosely while a long scar stretched across the bridge of his nose. Though technically only a chūnin, Iruka had earned recognition as one of the Academy's more dependable teachers. He was patient, responsible and good with children.
Hiruzen gestured toward the seat across from him. "Sit down, Iruka." Iruka obeyed immediately, though confusion lingered on his face, after all, the Hokage usually did not summon Academy instructors personally unless something important had happened.
Sandaime folded his hands together as he looked towards the Chunin, a rank he was given due to being moderately skilled, and being very effective at teaching. "Starting tomorrow," The old man began evenly, "a new student will be joining in your class."
Iruka blinked. "Aren't all students new, Sandaime-sama? I am in charge of the new children entering the academy, after all."
"In a manner of speaking, it is not a regular child." The old Hokage took another slow puff from his pipe before continuing. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki."
Iruka froze instantly as his eyes widened slightly. 'Naruto Uzumaki...? But why is Sandaime-sama asking me of all people to take care of the Jinchuriki child?' the teen instructor thought. After all these years, nearly everyone in Konoha knew that name, the child who several villagers referred to as the 'demon brat'.
Iruka stared quietly at the Hokage as memories surfaced before he could stop them. Fire, screams, the Kyūbi no Kitsune roaring beneath a blood-red sky, ending the life of his parents. He thought back to those painful memories as his hands tightened slightly against his knees.
But that was only for a second, because unlike many villagers, the young instructor knew better. He had seen Naruto several times in the village and all he could find in the boy was just him being a child, a loud, troublesome, lonely child. Not the fox itself.
Iruka had seen Naruto around the village countless times already, seeing the boy always be painfully alone, still the instructor frowned slightly. "...Why me?" he asked, not because of the boy's status, but the trust he didn't have in himself, thinking he might hold the passing of his parents on the young, blonde boy.
Hiruzen watched him carefully as he spoke with a smile, understanding what the teen was thinking. "Don't overthink things, Iruka, because I believe you are capable of teaching him properly."
Iruka looked uncertain. "Hokage-sama..." he hesitated. "I'm not saying no, but..." He paused briefly, trying to choose his words carefully. "Naruto doesn't exactly... get along with people." A very polite way of saying the boy was a disaster.
Hiruzen almost smiled. "No," the old man agreed. "He does not."
Iruka sighed quietly. "...Why enroll him now?" he finally asked.
Hiruzen looked toward the window silently. "Because isolation is dangerous for a child." Iruka's expression shifted slightly as he found the Hokage's voice had grown quieter and more serious. "He needs structure," Hiruzen continued. "Companions his own age. Someone willing to acknowledge him."
Iruka stared at the old man silently and something about those words struck closer than expected, because deep down he understood exactly what loneliness could do to someone. After all, he had experienced it himself after losing his parents. That emptiness, that anger, that desperate need for someone to notice you. Naruto simply expressed it louder than most children, even more than the teen when he was younger.
The chunin exhaled slowly. "...He's going to be a handfull," Iruka muttered.
Hiruzen chuckled softly around his pipe. "Without question."
Iruka rubbed the back of his head tiredly. For some reason, he could already feel tomorrow becoming a headache, but still, the image of Naruto sitting alone on a swing in the park unexpectedly crossed his mind, as he recalled the child with cerulean, blue eyes, watching other children go home with their families.
Iruka's expression softened slightly as he said at last. "I'll teach him."
Relief flickered quietly through Hiruzen's aged eyes. "Thank you, Iruka."
The chunin stood afterward as he walked back towards the door, then he stopped as he sighed quietly, standing near the office door. Slowly, the chūnin looked back toward the Hokage. "Sandaime-sama..." Hiruzen glanced up from his desk as he saw Iruka hesitating briefly before speaking.
"...Why me? Why me specifically?" The young instructor frowned faintly. "There are other Academy teachers and more experienced ones at that." His hands tightened slightly at his sides. "And you know what happened to my parents during the Kyūbi's attack."
The room grew quieter after that as Iruka rarely spoke about it openly. The teen looked away slightly. "I'm not saying I hate Naruto," he muttered. "I know he's just a kid."
Hiruzen studied the young man silently for a moment before setting his pipe down. "...Iruka." The chūnin looked back toward him. "You and Naruto are more alike than you realize." Iruka blinked slightly as he saw the old Hokage smiling faintly at him. "...I see the same Will of Fire burning inside both of you."
Iruka looked surprised. "The same Will of Fire?" he repeated quietly.
Hiruzen nodded. "Even after your pain... you chose to serve this village. To teach its children." The old man glanced toward the window overlooking Konoha. "And Naruto..." A small smile crossed his aged face.
"Despite everything this village has put him through, that boy still wants its acknowledgment, to be the protector, the Hokage of the village. He wants people to see him," Hiruzen said softly. "To accept him." The Hokage's eyes darkened slightly. "And children who are denied love often grow up searching for it in dangerous ways."
Iruka's expression tightened faintlybut he snorted lightly despite himself, and, after one final glance toward the Hokage, his expression steadied. "...Alright." The young instructor nodded once. "I'll look after him."
The Sandaime Hokage smiled gently. "I know you will, Iruka."