43 Sacrifice

"Shit. The chakra escaped from the statue when I destroyed it. It gathered itself and formed the Kyubi." Hiroki said. He then looked at Kushina and Minato. They felt the killing intent and the pressure from the tailed beast.

"You two, go to Naruto. Minato, after you let Kushina with Naruto, go to the village and protect it in case it goes that way." Hiroki said.

Kurama was swinging his arms and tails all over the place, destroying hills and small forest that were around them.

"No way. I'm the Hokage and I have the obligation to protect the village and that includes you, Hiroki." Minato said.

"No. Trust me on this. Please go. If you stay here, it'll just distract me. I can take care of this. Please go. After I'm done, please come back with Naruto." Hiroki insisted.

Minato and Kushina stared at Hiroki's back. They didn't want to leave him alone. They knew better than anyone else the power that the nine tails has, but they couldn't feel anything but trust towards Hiroki.

As they teleported away, Hiroki got even more serious. This was a fight that he had been preparing for seven years. Ever since he met Kushina and Minato, he had made the promise to save them from Kurama's attack.

"Rooooooooooooooooooar"

Kurama let out another roar as it became angrier and started swinging it's tails and arms with much more force.

"I got to stop it." Hiroki said to himself as he activated his chakra wings and flew high into the sky, staying a few meters above Kurama. The fox felt Hiroki's presence and instantly swung one of it's arms towards him. Hiroki grit his teeth and accelerated, dodging the attack from Kurama.

Hiroki flew higher and drew some blood from his thumb and made hand seals. After a large cloud of smoke disappeared, Hiroki was now standing above Kurowashi.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into, kid? You should have told me before summoning me." Kurowashi said as he flapped his wing to get higher in the air. Hiroki made a shadow clone and had it teleport to the forest of death to absorb nature chakra. He knew that he would be needing it in this fight.

Kurama saw Kurowashing flying above him and opened his mouth. Negative chakra started gathering in front of it's mouth.

"It's a bijuu dama. Don't get hit by that or we'll be done for." Hiroki said.

"Do you think I'm stupid. I can feel it's power from here." Kurowashi said as he sped up and started flying, trying to get closer to Kurama. As the nine tails saw it coming closer, it released the bijuu dama towards the eagle.

Kurowashi made a barrel roll as it came closer to him and dodged it, arriving closer to the fox.

"Kuro-san, use your claws to grab it and bring it high into the sky then drop it. This should hurt him for some time." Hiroki said.

Kurowashi listened to the boy and he used his claws to grab Kurama's neck and back. Kurowashi used all his strength to get Kurama out from the ground and flapped his wings with some difficulty as he got higher and higher.

"Should I drop it now?" Kurowashi asked.

"No. Not yet. If you accelerate towards the ground and throw it as we arrive closer, it will certainly hurt more. Once it hit the ground, you can use your wind blades to hit it and do more damage." Hiroki said.

As Kurowashi flew faster and faster towards the ground, the fox started to move it legs and arms, trying to hit Kurowashi. He wasn't able to hit the hawk, but by moving around was able to get free. Either way, it was still falling fast to the ground. Once Kurama hit the ground, a dust cloud rose up and blocked Hiroki's and Kurowashi's vision.

Kurowashi didn't want to continue going down and Hiroki noticed this.

"Don't hesitate. Let's do some damage as it's still down." Hiroki said.

Kurowashi sped once again and flapped his wings, creating two huge wind blade going towards Kurama's direction. As the wind blades passed the dust cloud, the dust cleared and they saw Kurama firing another bijuu dama at them.

Hiroki's eyes widened as he saw the pure chakra ball coming towards them, but he didn't panic.

"Kuro-san, you can dispel. Thank you for your hard work. I'll take care of things here for now." Hiroki said as he got a kunai and threw it to the ground near where Kurama was.

"Don't get yourself killed, kid." Kurowashi said as he dispelled. Hiroki was now air borne and the bijuu dama was less that forty meters from him and was getting closer by the millisecond. He didn't have the time to fly away and Hiraishined to the kunai he had thrown earlier.

"I'll destroy all of you humans." Kurama yelled as he then roared loudly.

"Kanzeon Renge-Ō" Hiroki said as he created a wood statue similar to the True Several Thousand Hands, of Hashirama. It had five smaller faces in it's head that can control the five basic elements.

'Unfortunately I still don't have the amount of chakra needed for the original, but this version should be enough to help me for now.' Hiroki thought to himself.

"You puny insect. I'll kill you first." Kurama's loud voice said as he was hit by many hands of the wooden statue. The fox then prepared another bijuu dama and directed it at the statue that Hiroki was on top of.

"Kuchiyose: Rashomon" Hiroki said as five gates appeared between him and Kurama, in a attempt to stop the bijuu dama. The five gates were destroyed and the bijuu dama also. The shock was so great that the trees from the nearby forest were uprooted.

"Damn it. I've wasted so much chakra." Hiroki said as he panted. Even though he was in sage mode, he was still young and didn't have the monstrous amount that Hashirama nor Madara had in their prime. I'll have to restrain it as fast as possible, otherwise Konoha will be destroyed and everyone in it will be killed.

Kurama swung it's tails and arms around as it destroyed the region around them.

"Mokuton: Hotei no Jutsu"

Gigantic wooden hands that were the size of a tailed beast erupted upward from beneath the ground and encircled Kurama, restraining it in place.

"Roooooooooooooooar."

Kurama roared once more in complete rage as it was restrained by the large wooden hands.

Hiroki was now panting hard on top of the wooden statue. He had wasted almost all of his chakra and right now he barely had enough to be standing. If he lost anymore chakra, the wooden hands restraining Kurama would lose their strength and the nine tails would be free once more. Thinking of this, Hiroki dispelled the clone he had sent to Konoha to gather nature chakra. Once the clone dispelled and the chakra returned to him, he felt that more than half of his total chakra pool was filled.

'I better use this opportunity and get this done with. I'll use that to distract it and restrain it for good.' Hiroki thought as he made a clone.

"Oy. Kurama, let's finish this." Hiroki said as he made a few hand seals while he expended all of his sage mode chakra.

When the fox heard the human it was fighting say it's name, he was surprised and let it's guard down.

"How do you know my na..."

"Mokuton: Mokujin no Jutsu"

A humanoid creature with a full body and an oni-like face was created and it had a wooden dragon wrapped around its torso. The dragon multiplied itself and they had wrapped themselves around Kurama and restrained it completely.

Hiroki felt a time-space disturbance next to him and he saw that it was Minato and Kushina that arrived. Naruto was in Kushina's arms. Once they saw the scene in front of them, they had their mouths opened in total surprise.

"Hiroki. I knew that you could use mokuton, but I never thought it would be in such level." Minato said.

"Hehe. Minato-ni, this isn't even half of what Hashirama could do. Either way, hurry. We need to seal the kyubi back in Kushina and Naruto." Hiroki said weakly as he had used the chakra he got from the clone into the wood humanoid and dragons.

"What? You want to seal the kyubi inside Naruto? No. No, I won't let this happen." Kushina said, not wanting this to happen. She herself was a jinchuuriki and she knew how the life of one was.

"Kushina-ne, please trust me. I've always done things for a reason. I have prepared for seven years for situations like these. Please trust me. You know that I would never let anything bad happen to you guys and specially to Naruto." Hiroki said. Kushina was still reluctant of the idea and didn't say anything.

"I'll seal half of it's chakra back in you and the other half in Naruto. I'll modify the seal so you can use it's chakra as your own with time. This will make it possible for Naruto to grow up strong and you won't need to worry much when he becomes a shinobi. Please Kushina-ne, trust me." Hiroki said once more, trying to convince Kushina.

Kushina looked at Minato and he nodded his head, as if saying to trust Hiroki. She finally agreed.

Hiroki brought Kushina and Naruto with him in front of Kurama that was now totally restrained by the wooden hands and dragon. The wooden humanoid was also sitting on top of Kurama's back. Minato extended his hand and a small sealing ritual slab appeared. Kushina laid down and then placed Naruto next to her.

"I'll start the sealing process now." Hiroki said.

"Eight Trigrams Sealing Style."

The Kyubi's chakra was split in half and sealed back inside Kushina. Hiroki then looked at Minato and told him to summon the scroll toad. As Minato did, Hiroki finished sealing Kurama's other half into Naruto and then placed a key on the scroll toad and then the toad disappeared.

"You certainly know what this key is for. It will help fix the seal every time needed. The seal I've placed on Kushina and Naruto allows the nine tails to share a small amount of it's chakra with them, but in exchange it will weaken the seal. I've done this because I know that a jinchuuriki and biju can coexist and become partners, just like the Hachibi and Killer B from Kumo. When Naruto and Kushina are ready, they will be able to mix their chakra with the nine tails as well." Hiroki explained.

"Hn. I would have done the same. Thank you Hiroki." Minato said as he gave Hiroki A hug and then went to Kushina and Naruto.

"Puchi"

As stabbing sound was heard behind Minato. He looked only to see that Hiroki had vomited a mouthful of blood and was stuck in place and not able to move as black hand went through his chest. Behind him was the black humanoid figure that had started all of this, Black Zetsu.

"Aha. ha. ha. I couldn't have asked for better. An Uchiha with the power of a Senju. I could have never expected. With you now Hiroki, I'll finally achieve mother's will and revive her." Black Zetsu said in a hoarse voice.

Hiroki felt a great amount of anger and hatred towards Black Zetsu. He had made this day, a day that should be happy, into a day of despair. He had prepared for this day ever since he came to this world, but fate had a different plan altogether.

"I'll first control you and then I'll use you to kill them. How will you feel. Kekeke." Black Zetsu said.

It was at this moment that Hiroki felt his heart stop as a tear fell from his eyes.

———

- Flash Back

"Daddy, daddy. Let's go. Mom is already waiting for us in the next ride" A little girl said as she pulled Hiroki by his hand towards a ride.

In front of Hiroki was a beautiful woman with tan skin, brown eyes and long black hair. She was holding a child's hand, a boy.

"Hello honey. Ready for our next ride?" She asked Hiroki as she gave him a kiss. She grabbed Hiroki's hand and the four of them walked together towards another ride in the amusement park.

After going in four more rides, they had decided to grab something to eat as the kids were already hungry.

"Rebeca, Anthony, here's your food. Eat up and you both will be very strong like daddy when you grow up." Hiroki's wife said to their children.

She then looked at Hiroki and saw that he was a little bit distant.

"What is up? I know it's something when you have that look on your face." She said.

"It's just that I am the happiest man in this world for having the most beautiful wife and the greatest children. Everything is better than I could have ever asked for." Hiroki said as he smiled kissed his wife, full of love.

"Ew." His two children said as they saw their parents kiss in front of them.

"Eat up guys. We have a whole lot more of rides to go to." Hiroki said to them. Making them eat more.

After eating, they then started going towards the Ferris wheel of the amusement park. As they arrived closer, a big explosion happened.

"Boooom"

The explosion had destroyed everything that was near. Only destruction was seen along with debris. Hiroki was badly hurt as he was flung away by the explosion. The only think he could hear was a fading ringing noise that then transformed in screams of people running. He tried finding his wife and children, and he saw them in a twenty meter distance from him. They were on the ground, not moving at all and the ground near them was red.

Hiroki never felt more despair and helplessness in his life than right now. He tried moving closer to them, but the impact of the explosion had seriously damaged many of his internal organs. His eyes shone with a light as he mustered all the strength he had left and started crawling very slowly towards them.

"No..... no... nooooo. Why?" Hiroki asked to nobody as he cried.

As he was arriving closer to them inch by inch, he heard foot steps arriving closer to him.

"Help. Please help. My wife and kids." Hiroki yelled as he pointed to their bodies. All he heard was a laughter. He looked at the person that arrived next to him, the source of the laughter and saw someone he recognized. Someone that he had shared his secrets with. The person he called brother.

"Erik. What is the meaning of this? Please, help them." Hiroki begged as he grabbed Erik's pants weakly.

"Hehehe. My name is not Erik, you fool. All this time I've been a double agent, hired to get rid of you. It took five long years, but it's finally over. Don't worry, I'll make sure that all of your family, brothers and parents accompanies you in death. I'll see you in hell, Hiroki." Erik said as he kicked Hiroki's hands away and walked away from the scene.

Hiroki stayed in the ground, not wanting to believe what he heard from the one he trusted his life with. The man he had called brother for five years had killed his family and him too. Hiroki took a glance again at his wife and children and resumed crawling to them. Once he got next to them, he didn't feel any pulse in them and he crumbled. He cried and cried as he held them in his arms as he closed his eyes and felt the darkness embrace him.

Twenty minutes after the explosion, police, ambulance and fire fighters arrived in the scene. Hiroki felt his body move as he heard a woman next to him.

"I need a medic. He has a pulse. He's still alive..."

———

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh"

Hiroki yelled as his eyes burned and he mustered all of his strength while an immense amount of chakra flared from his body. He got up from the ground and took Black Zetsu's arm from his chest. He then turned around and grabbed Black Zetsu by his neck.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!" Hiroki roared.

His eyes spun and in the next instant, they took the shape of two red squares mixed. One was horizontal and the other one was vertical to the first as they were interlaced. Inside the two squares, there was a black shuriken.

"Toki kūkan keimusho" Hiroki yelled as his eyes spun even faster and blood started coming out from them.

Kushina and Minato were stunned in place. The amount of chakra and pressure Hiroki was releasing was nothing they have ever seen before in their lives. What they saw next surprised them even more as they saw black Zetsu disintegrating right in front of them as he started shrinking and shrinking until he had become a speck of dust and then disappeared completely.

Hiroki looked towards the sky and remembered once more the family he had. His parents, bothers, wife and children. He fell on his knee as he felt very weak now.

Minato and Kushina ran towards him and supported him. They were greatly worried for him as the wound on his chest was so big.

"Cough.... cough...."

Hiroki coughed two mouthfuls of blood and looked at Kushina and Minato.

"I told you. Everything would work out. Hehe. Remembered what I said. If one day I had to leave, know that I did everything to protect you." Hiroki said as he closed his eyes. In the next instant, his body started disintegraring itself. "Minato-ni, Kushina-ne, thank you for giving me a family one more time. You two have been great for me and made me feel like I had a home for all these years. Ever since we've met, you two took care of me and I could not have asked for anything better. I'll be leaving this world without any regrets. Please take care of little Naruto and tell them how great his uncle was, hehe." Hiroki said as he closed his eyes and smiled at them and started falling down.

Minato and Kushina went to grab Hiroki, his body was no more.

"Hiroki." Minato and Kushina said as they cried out loud. Dark clouds started forming above them and rain fell, mixing together with their tears.

———

In Hidden Fog Mountain, the eagles felt a pain and loss in their hearts. Shirawashi feeling this instantly opened the summoning contract that she kept with herself. When she opened it, she saw Hiroki's name from the contract disappearing.

"Kurowashi." She said as the black hawk showed up next to her. Hiroki is gone." She said as a tear fell from her eye.

Kurowashi flew high up in the sky and stayed hovered in it.

"You have been the best thing that happened to us kid. I can't believe you have gone. I'll really miss you." He said as a tear fell from his eye.

———

"Today we are all here in the memory of Hiroki. When my wife was giving birth, an enemy took her hostage so he could use the kyubi to do his evil willing. Hiroki sacrificed himself to protect my wife and child and also everyone in Konoha. He fought the enemy and also fought against the kyubi. He was young, extremely so, but he had the will to protect those that he loved more than anything. He laid his life down so those he loved could live. Let him be an example for all of us." Minato said as he finished his speech and as he did, every men and woman that had attended the funeral under rain roared.

Minato looked at Kushina and she didn't stop crying for one second after Hiroki's death.

He looked towards the sky as the rain fell.

'Thank you my brother.' Was his only thought.