Chapter 2

(Morning, Twelve Years Ago, The Day of The Kyuubi attack)

An ANBU agent clad in a mask he wasn't quite familiar with and the standard grey uniform entered. The agent kneeled quickly. "Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama and Biwako-sama request your presence at the prepared location."

Minato was pleasantly surprised. "Already?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the agent confirmed succinctly.

Minato nodded. "Dismissed."

The agent flickered away in a chakra-enhanced blur of motion, disappearing in less than a second.

He shifted his gaze back to Hiruzen. "It seems that time is upon us already."

"Do not worry about Renji, Minato. I will look after him until you get back," the Sandaime assured.

As the Yondaime Hokage disappeared in a flash of yellow, the Sandaime Hokage could not help the sense of dread festering in the pit of his stomach.

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Death is odd, Minato thought absentmindedly. Given the varying descriptions of what death was actually like, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Some said it was like falling and landing in something supremely soft, while others said it was just a sudden rush of heat followed by deathly cold. Others said it was like the embrace of a lover after an exhausting day, and some said it was just a consuming feeling of nothingness. In other words, he really didn't have a clue of what it was going to be like. There were just too many differing accounts, too many unknowns to truly understand what death was like.

But he had a pretty grasp of the concept now.

He coughed up a little blood he couldn't quite taste as he readjusted his failing body slightly, the massive claw of the struggling Kyuubi digging through his torso, and through Kushina's. He kept a gentle, loving grip on his wife's sides as tears made their way down her beautiful face and soft sobs escaped her mouth for what was undoubtedly the last time.

She cried for their newborn son, for Naruto. On the day that they brought a new life into the world, life was taken away. She cried for Naruto, and Minato cried for their son and for the village.

While his son was the most important thing in his fading mind, the village and its people had a place in his worries all the same. He was the Yondaime Hokage. He cared for his people, for his village, like they were family, and many members of his family died when the Kyuubi attacked the village. He had stopped its incensed rampage, but even the loss of a single life, a single injury, was too grave a price to pay.

Tears made their way down his face in silence as he held an internal memorial for those lost on the night of Naruto's birth. Silently, he composed a speech he would've given to the grieving if he had had the chance to survive with his wife and son.

Friends, families, we are gathered here on this day to commemorate the lives of those who fell in the Kyuubi no Youko's unprovoked attack on the village, he began. The cost of that night was high, and it was a price that should not have been paid. So many friends were lost in a conflict that never should have occurred, and so many families were torn apart by the loss of so many proud shinobi and upstanding civilians of this village in a single night.

He paused for a moment to let his words sink into an imagined crowd of tearful men and women, even children. For those stricken with grief, all of Konoha grieves with you. For those who have lost a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a brother or sister, all of Konoha knows your pain. For those who have had their homes destroyed and their land flattened, all of Konoha feels your burden. But, while we take time to mourn all that we have lost and grieve for the fallen, take solace in how they fell: they fell so we could live.

After another sinking pause, he continued. All of them, every single one of those fine men and women, gave their lives in the hopes that we might continue living, and that we would live to see the morning they could not share with us. Not only did they sacrifice themselves to protect the village and everyone in it, but they died with hope in their hearts, a hope that could not be extinguished by their deaths. All of their hopes and dreams still live on in us, and they live on the Will of Fire they cherished so deeply.

He paused again, and an appreciative collective gasp of realization from the crowd reached his ears. Today, our Wills of Fire may be dampened. They may be dwindling for some. They may be all but snuffed out for those who have lost so much. But, people of Konohagakure no Sato, our Fire cannot be dampened, it cannot be dwindling and it cannot be snuffed out. Our Fire cannot be any of those things, because our Will of Fire still burns. As long it burns, it will never be dim and dying. As long as it burns, it will never be dwindling or fading. As long as it burns, it will never be snuffed out.

Friends and families, Minato announced once more to the crowd, the Will of Fire is fuelled by hope. As long as there is hope, even the tiniest ember of hope that drifts on the winds of ever-mounting change, there will be a fire that burns. And it burns in us.

Minato's silent tears turned to the tiniest of laughs. He always did enjoy the chance for some semi-decent oration.

"Giving an internal monologue again, Minato-kun?" His wife knew him so well, even at the end. Find authorized novels in Webnovel,faster updates, better experience

He couldn't help but give a pained smile. "You know me too well, my love."

"I've had my turn now, Minato-kun," Kushina whispered to him. "Tell your son what you want him to hear."

He looked at the little bundle of joy below him, the pudgy, little bundle with a little bit of blond hair like his that threatened to burst into tears at any moment as he gazed upon the world with bright blue eyes. He didn't want to see his wonderful son, less than a day old, cry like the world was ending.

How he wished he could hold his little boy and whisper reassuring words to him as a father should.

How he wished he could see his little boy grow up into a man. How he wished he could give his son words of fatherly advice when he needed it most. How he wished he could do all of those things a father and son got to do together. How he wished things could've been different.

"There's not much to say that your mother hasn't already, Naruto," he said quietly. "Grow up safe. Be strong. Believe in yourself and in the Will of Fire."

Tears threatened to reappear at his next words. "I'm sorry, son. I'm so, so sorry. I failed you so quickly because I had to go and sacrifice the life me and your mother could've given you, all for the village's sake. Please forgive me for putting them ahead of you, and for forcing such a heavy burden on you."

There was one more thing he needed to tell him. "You can do it, Naruto. You can carry this burden. I believe in you. We believe in you. One day, the whole village... no, the whole world will believe in you. You can change this. All of this."

He finally let the tears fall freely as he imparted the last parts of his and Kushina's chakra to the seal on Naruto's belly, and the unsealed half of the Kyuubi was absorbed into the seal as the summoned Shinigami did what it was called for.

He felt the talon in his belly disappear, and he and his beautiful wife collapsed to the ground in front of their crying child. It was nearly over.

"Hush, Naruto," he whispered. "It will be alright."

His son's heartbreaking bawling became a quiet, sad sob.

"You won't always be alone, Naruto, There is still someone left.... a family, He'll be a good brother, someone who understands the burden you carry, for he is an Uzumaki just like you, take care of him Naruto... for he will do the same for you", Kushina soothed their son.

Minato smiled a little. One of the mysteries of life, he supposed. He wanted to say so-so much to his wife... Yet that would have to wait. Death was taking him now.

As the hands of darkness grasped him gently, and he felt Kushina slip away from his touch, he realized that death was cold but somewhat reassuring. Even in death, there was still hope out there.

Somewhere

'Naruto, Renji... please, live well. And look after each other...this is my hope...this is my dream'

His hope and dreams went with them.