A Sacrifice

Summary: Naruto is the reincarnation of both Ashura and Indra Otsutsuki. Having a hard life in The Village because of being alone and hated by the Village. Naruto finds help from A Man long thought Dead. HaremxNaruto. Lemons later in the story. Konoha Bashing, Council Bashing.

"Victory cannot be achieved without sacrifice" - Viktor Reznov

Minato

Sunlight poured into the hospital. It was a cool, fresh light, fitting for beginnings. Inside the hospital room, the light fell across Minato's face and touched an opening there, tugging on his lips, making the smile more radiant. The light flowed across the room, scattered a thousand tiny rainbow beginnings on the shiny medicine bottle.

"So, Minato, have you decided on a name for the boy yet?" asked a curious Jiraiya, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Why yes, indeed we have. I think you'll like it, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato replied.

"Well then, out with it, brat. What did you decide to name him?"

"Naruto," Minato said simply, allowing his smile to grow wider. It was the name of the protagonist of his teacher's first novel.

The Night of The Attack

An involuntary chill ran down Minato's back as he turned around to see who was behind him. No one. His eyes instantly narrowed, all semblance of emotion gone from his face, now displaying a cold ruthlessness- the face of a Kage.

"Reveal yourself. Who are you?" As soon as the words flew out of his clenched teeth, someone materialized right in front of him- he took in the man's appearance: he was wearing a long black coat, and a white mask with ripples in the design, and a hole for one eye- God, was that a Sharingan?

"Me? I'm Tobi. Nice to meet you, Hokage-san."

"I know as well as you that the name you just gave me is fake. Who are you really? What do you want?"

"Oh? I thought the Yondaime-Hokage of Konoha was supposed to be a genius at deduction? Surely you can tell my identity with a look? Do that trick of yours now. Deduce who I am." Tobi's voice seemed falsely cheerful.

Minato sighed- he really didn't have the time for this.

"At first glance, I'd say that you're an Uchiha. But you're not. If you were, you'd be a missing-nin, except for the fact that there has been no Uchiha missing-nin in the last seven years," The masked man twitched.

"Therefore, you're not an Uchiha. And you look young...I'd say you are about seventeen, eighteen. That leaves us with only one alternative. Seeing as you have chosen to reveal only one Sharingan eye and the fact that your wear a mask to cover your face, I'd say you found an Uchiha in battle, killed him and took his eye for yourself," Tobi took a step closer to Minato. The look in the masked man's eye told him he was wrong. Was the man...angry?

"I see that I was wrong about that. Ah well. But, you seem to know me- I can see the recognition in your eyes," The masked man twitched again. "and you're angry. I could go on, but I don't really have the time to squabble with a kid right now. I suggest you go back to wherever you came from before you get hurt."

The masked man started laughing. It was a burst of maniacal, insane laughter- the laugh of someone who has lost everything.

"Very well done, Hokage-san. You're still the same as ever. I am the tiniest bit disappointed, however. I thought, of all people, you would recognise me. I guess I've changed a lot more than I thought I had," said Tobi, sighing.

Minato, however, was even faster than Tobi.

Depending on who you asked, he was the fastest ninja ever to live.

The technique Tobi was using was definitely a space-time jutsu. He knew it would be hard to fight against this strange jutsu, but he'd observed that Tobi needed about two seconds before he performed the technique again. And that opening was all he needed.

The two shinobi clashed, and this time Minato managed to use the opening- the tri-pronged kunai made its way into his hands as quick as a bolt of lightning as he slashed Tobi's arm in the two-second window before he could use the technique again.

When they separated, Tobi was bleeding.

For a moment, the fight stopped as Tobi inspected the nick on his arm. "It seems that I underestimated you, Hokage-san. You've only grown better with the passing of years."

Minato's lips turned upwards as he began running. Again the two clashed, and again, and again. It wasn't until ten minutes had passed –lasting ten minutes against the fastest ninja in the world was a feat in and of itself- that Minato was able to find an opening to use again.

He threw the kunai, both of them close, his Rasengan passed through his shoulder.

"I Won"

Suddenly Minato disappeared, grabbing the kunai in mid-air before he slammed his Rasengan on his back, causing an enormous crater. Minato looked around to see Tobi clenching his right arm before it started falling on the ground, and instead of blood, white goo came out of it.

The masked man was about to run away when Minato teleported in front of him and slammed his hand on his chest.

"Contract Seal"

Back in the Battlefield, Kurama was finishing his tailed beast bomb when the Sharingan in his eyes slowly disappeared. Before the bomb was launched at the village, he raised his head upwards in the last second, throwing the bomb in the air; after a few seconds, the bomb exploded, causing a bright light that illuminated the entire arena around the Hidden Leaf Village and beyond.

Suddenly, a massive wind-wave came through the village so strong that some small trees were ripped apart.

To his surprise, the Third Hokage opened his eyes again after the light was gone, but Kyuubi wasn't there anymore. The only thing was an enormous crater where Kyuubi had stood.

Minato

Outside Konoha

The loud cries of a baby could be heard in the darkness of the night, his blond hair, blue eyes, and three whisker marks on each cheek.

"Naruto," a voice suddenly said, looking down at his son, how it had gone so wrong, he didn't know. The masked man had attacked them out of nowhere. He wore a mask and had short dark hair and Sharingan.

The man looking down at the baby had long blonde hair that reached his shoulders; his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, was close to him.

"I'm sorry, Kushina, but I couldn't control anything" the voice of the giant fox behind them was heard.

Kushina turned her head to look at him; she smiled sadly and shook her head. It wasn't his fault. The masked had taken over Kyuubi and then summoned him in the middle of the village. He had started killing and destroying everything on his way until Minato canceled his seal contract, but the damage was already done.

Minato then takes Kushina, Naruto, and Kurama away from the village to seal him inside Naruto. Kushina didn't have that long because Kyuubi was extracted from her; despite being an Uzumaki, she knew her time was coming, her legs were feeling weaker.

"Mina-kun, you sure about this? W. . . we both know how Jinchuurikis are treated," Kushina asked, afraid that Naruto wouldn't have a happy childhood. He would already have a hard life because he wouldn't have his parents to raise him, advise him, and see him have his first steps, his first word, and tell tales when he's scared. But worst of all, the grief for their lost ones would probably blind them and be harsher to their baby boy. Naruto was only a few minutes old, and he might be treated harshly because of grief.

Minato looked at her with sadness, he was thinking the same thing, but he had no choice. I can't tell someone else to sacrifice their children, and who better than the Hokage of the village to seal Kurama. He glanced down at Naruto, who looked to be sleeping. "I trust Hiruzen, he will take care of him, and the same for Jiraiya-sensei," he answered to convince her that everything would be alright, but at this point, he wasn't sure who he was convincing.

After that, he turned to Kurama who's gaze was at Naruto, and his eyes showed shock. The fourth Hokage didn't know why the big fox looked at Naruto with a shocked face but didn't have time to ask. Minato took a deep breath, "Take care of Naruto, Kurama. I believe in you," Minato stated; the giant fox turned to him and nodded his head and then turned to Kushi, who kneeled close to Naruto and touched his whiskers.

"Even if no one cares for him, I will always be there for him," Kurama promised. That brought a big smile to Kushina's face, who shed tears and turned to Kurama.

"Thank You for being my friend Kura," she said smiling, and the big fox smiled back. Minato then did a few hand signs to bring Shinigami.

"What do you want, Mortal?" The reaper asked, his tongue licking his big knife. Minato was panting and turned to look at him with no fear in his eyes.

"I want you to seal Kyuubi inside Naruto," Minato demanded, showing no fear to the Shinigami.

The Shinigami narrowed his eyes before nodding. Slowly Kurama shrank inside Naruto, who was still quietly sleeping. In his stomach formed a seal that looked like The Uzumaki Symbol, a Spiral.

"You have a few minutes," Shinigami stated.

Minato managed to smile slightly before slowly walking up to Naruto, who was in Kushi's arms; she was rocking him in his arms. Tears rolled down her cheek. His eyes turned to look at Naruto's palms and noticed a sun in his right palm, and he turned his eyes to his left palm to see a moon. Minato wondered what that symbol was, but he didn't have time for that now, Not Anymore.

Lying close to his wife, he looked at what their love had brought to this world. A beautiful boy, he is perfect in every way possible. His hands slowly reached Kushi's red hair, his thumb touching her soft and beautiful red hair.

Kushina kept looking at Naruto; she didn't want to believe that their time was limited, how much she wished that she and Mina-kun could stay like this forever. "Kushi-kun, we need to say our goodbye" she suddenly heard Minato's voice. She slowly nodded her head; she looked down at Naruto again, his eyes slowly opened to reveal ocean blue eyes like Minato, she smiled at her treasure, and Naruto smiled a little. He Recognises us, Kushina thought.

"Naruto, my baby boy, I know you will have a hard time without us, but you should know Mina-kun, and I love you more than life itself. You will eventually grow up and with the time will come naturally to like girls, choose a girl who loves you, who's always there for your happiest times and your lowest points. And you will soon meet Jiraiya, don't become like him but he's still a good man who will take care of you. I love you. My Sochi," Kushina said, tears streaming down her cheek.

Minato smiled at Naruto, and his son smiled back. "Naruto, I want you to become what you want, do something that brings you happiness; Kakashi will be there for you as well, I know it. Please, if you become a shinobi, be strong and take care of your loved ones, and as your mother told you, chose a girl that loves you and is a bit hothead. . . " Minato felt everything slowly darkening; the last thing he saw was his son crying in Kushi's arms before everything went dark and his head fell in the cold ground.

Kushina's chest was barely rising; she could hear Naru crying in her arms, but her whole body started feeling numb, her legs first, and now her arms didn't feel anything anymore. Her eyes still at her treasure with her last strength, she smiled at him, and her chest stopped raising.

Naruto started crying even more and not stopping. His blue eyes slowly changed, his pupil shrank, and his eyes began to change color from blue to metallic purple. The white area of his eyes completely disappeared and left the eyes completely purple. Three rings appeared in a rippling pattern out from the center. His eyes stayed like that for a few moments before turning back to normal blue eyes.

Hokage Office

Sarutobi stood alone in his office, deep in thought; the only sound heard in the office was the sound of Naruto crying his heart out. He had been crying since the old Hokage found him; despite him trying to cheer him up somehow, he didn't stop. He kept on crying and didn't stop.

Because of the sudden attack from Kyuubi, the hospital of Konoha was full of injured people, the nurses and doctors left were doing everything they could to save people. To the old Hokage's surprise, a medical ninja checked on Naruto to see if he needed anything. Naruto was perfectly healthy and just needed milk.

A nurse feeds Naruto, but the newborn starts crying again after that.

Hokage didn't understand how things could have gone south so quickly, and the place was secured, so why did this happen. Minato was there to make sure Kyuubi would not escape, but it seems that wasn't enough.

Earning a headache, he massaged his temples; how Kyuubi escaped and ended up attacking the village was a mystery, but The old Hokage had another question on his mind.

The strange symbols in Naruto's palms, a sun, and a moon. After he had put Naruto in the crib, the old Hokage had started searching through books to find anything that might help his situation, but it seemed there was nothing there.

Suddenly the door opened, inside came walking a pale looking Jiraiya, his usual happy face was gone. Instead, a frown had conjured his face. The last time the old Hokage remembered his student to look like that was when Nawaki and Dan had died on the battlefield.

Tsunade still hasn't been able to move on since Dan died.

"Jiraiya, I'm" "What happened?" Jiraiya interjected him. The old Sannin had been outside the village to do his spying duty when he received a toad informing him of the tragedy in Konoha.

Originally he had wanted to wait until Naruto reached one month old to see him but instead, he got information that his prized student wasn't anymore, his son in all but name.

"I don't know how it happened; Kyuubi showed in the middle of the village out of nowhere; Minato took him a few miles outside Konoha to seal him inside Naruto. Kushina had not been able to survive the extraction, and Minato sealed Kyuubi using Reaper Death Seal," The Third Hokage said with a grave tone, barely a whisper.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and took it all in; his student was gone, how it could have gone so wrong. He felt tears in his eyes, but he didn't want to cry now; he shouldn't.

He opened his eyes again, took a deep breath, and looked at the blonde bundle that had fallen silent in the room; it seemed to be tired of crying and had fallen asleep.

Walking over to him, he noticed his sunny hair like Minato, whiskers in each side of his cheek. His cheeks were red and puffy and the same for his eyes.

Looking at him now, Jiraiya could see the similarities; looking closely at his face, for a moment, he felt like it was Minato. Moving his head away in fear and sadness, he couldn't look at him right now, and it reminded him so much of Minato.

He felt his sadness rising all over again, like a violent river taking over all his body to the darkness of abysses.

"Jiraiya" his thoughts were broken when he heard the voice of his sensei in his ears. Pinching the bridge of his nose and wiping away unshed tears, he turned his head around, almost feeling heavier.

"Jiraiya. I know how you feel" The Sannin wanted to say that he didn't but remembered that his wife had been killed in the attack and kept his mouth shut.

"But Minato chose you as the godfather of Naruto. You're his guardian, and I want to know what will you do?" The third asked quietly, hoping he wasn't rushing, and Jiraiya wasn't felt pressured to make a decision so soon.

"I... " he paused and turned around, not daring to look at his sensei right now. "I need to make sure that the other villages don't try to attack us. Kumo and Iwa will think of this as an open invitation to war, and my job is to protect him," he stated, pointing at the newborn.

"And I Will. From Outside. To make sure no enemy village will attack Konoha," Jiraiya finished as if trying to convince himself more than the Hokage.

Sighing, he knew they needed what Jiraiya was implying.

"Very well, but I hope you return soon," Hokage said, and Jiraiya nodded his head after a moment of hesitation.

Leaving the office almost in a hurry, The old Hokage heard Naruto start crying again.

Council Room

The same night, Naruto was fed by the nurse again, checked again to make sure he was healthy after a lengthy check. The nurse said that the baby was as healthy as a baby can be; much to Sarutobi's surprise, she said she had never seen a baby more healthy than Naruto.

A meeting was called to discuss what they had lost, the cost to rebuild the village, and the empty place left of the Hokage.

The fox was gone, nonexistent like it had never been there. The Yondaime was gone as well, and his spirit departed for the belly of the Shinigami. He left behind a wife who followed him into the abyss and a son only a few hours old that he had entrusted to jail the most fearsome of beasts. Truly, it was a sad day in Konohagakure.

Old Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, stood with a tiny blonde baby in his arms. The babe slept soundly, unmindful of the gathering of elders that were assembled to decide his fate. Sarutobi did not know why the fools had even gathered. The boy's fate was already decided. And Sarutobi meant to keep his destiny unaltered. He listened as the council bickered back and forth, some for killing the baby, some for saving it, honoring the wishes of their dead Hokage. This was a trying time for the village, and patience ran thin.

Even for one of infinite patience like Sarutobi.

He'd never had to raise his voice before to get the point across. One does not attain the title 'God of Shinobi' by being loud and spontaneous. Ninja is calm, collected, silent, and deadly. All these things encompassed what Sarutobi stood for. What set him apart from the pack was his high level of intelligence. And that intelligence would grant him a successor and save the village in this time and in future times. No one noticed as he rose from his seat, the babe still sleeping peacefully in his arms.

"Enough. Be silent."

The room quieted immediately, and even the tiny bundle in his arms woke and stared at him reverently. But no sound did it make. He smiled down at the blonde wonder and then turned his gaze back to the council.

"I have sat and listened to your nonsense long enough. This child will not be slain. He will not be made into a mindless weapon. He will not be used. He is a child of Konoha, and he holds within him the most powerful of beasts. He deserves our respect above all."

A nameless council member, one of the civilians, rose.

"But Lord Hokage, the Kyuubi could break free at any moment. Knowledge of the seal says that its soul is bound to the boy's and that upon the boy's death, it will die with him. Would it not be best to kill him now and avoid any future issues?"

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at the civilian and spoke in a level voice.

"This child shall not be killed. His own life is a sacrifice. Even if the Kyuubi dies, he will be reborn again after nine years in the same place he died. The Yondaime chose him to hold the Kyuubi, and he believed that his people would see this boy for what he is." That said, many of the civil council pale at the thought that Kyuubi would return.

"And what is he?" Someone asked.

"A hero. A jinchuuriki. He is a living sacrifice and a living testament to a human's tenacious hold on life. I will ensure that this boy serves Konoha. I might love the people of this village, but if the leaders themselves can't tell the difference between a harmless child and the most murderous of all demons, then how can I trust the villagers to let him live a peaceful life?"

He lifted the child and held it out for all to see. The blonde babe giggled and flapped its arms merrily. Sarutobi allowed a small smile to cross his face.

"Now then. Look upon this child and tell me where the malice is. Where is the unbridled hatred and rage that the Kyuubi exuded? Where is the fear that should be present in all of you if he were the Kyuubi?"

"But it could be a trick of the Kyuubi to lure us into false hope. It could be pretending to be harmless."

Sarutobi frowned and wrapped the baby back up in its swaddling clothes.

"And how exactly is that child different from any other newborn? What newborn doesn't look upon the world with wondering eyes? This baby has been born into a cold, harsh world on the worst night of our village's history. He will be ostracised and hated if he mingles amongst the villagers, and I will not have that. I will ensure the boy grows to be a ninja of exceptional quality. I will ensure that he is pure of heart and loyal to the village."

"And how do you mean to ensure all that?"

"I will be busy in my job as the Hokage, but I will visit him every now and then, making sure he's happy," Hokage responded to Danzo, who glared at both the old Hokage and the newborn weapon.

Hiruzen had decided to keep a secret about the weird symbol in Naruto's palms, and he didn't need more attention than he already had.

A man from the clan heads stood up; the man was known as Fugaku Uchiha.

"Lord Hokage, let me raise Naruto. The Uchiha clan would welcome him with open arms" Fugaku spoke with a neutral tone; at first, he wanted to mention that Kushina was a good friend of his wife; therefore, she would be more than happy to raise Naruto, but he wasn't sure yet if The old Hokage would reveal to everyone who's Naruto's parent were.

Danzo narrowed his eyes while Hiruzen's facial expression didn't change from the outside.

"No. If I were to give Naruto to any Clan, their power and influence would increase, therefore breaking the balance in the village. Naruto will be raised in an orphanage," Hiruzen stated, ignoring the glare of Danzo.

Fugaku sighed, disappointed since he could be a good friend with Sasuke but decided to keep his mouth shut.

Sitting back in the chair, Sarutobi decided to end the meeting.

"This meeting is Over," Sarutobi spoke and left the room with Naruto, who was sleeping.

Walking outside, Shukaku Nara shook his head in disappointment; he turned to his friends and gestured for them to follow him out.

Everyone left, and Danzo quickly reached his office; closing the door, he snapped his fingers, and two Weapons kneeled in front of him.

"I want you to spy on Naruto Uzumaki, blond hair, three whiskers in each cheek, newborn, the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. I want any valuable information," Danzo stated, and they both left as if they were never there, to begin with.

Soon he will be Mine.