Over the months, I got used not only to my new state but also to the one who was my world. I didn't know her name, I hadn't seen her face, but I could feel. I felt joy through the slight tremor in the energy surrounding me, fatigue—through the steady slowing of her heartbeat, a muffled laugh that came from the outside. Everything became so familiar, so dear and calming.
Everything, until it was time to be born.
AAAAAAAH!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! I screamed mentally, feeling my mother's insides painfully squeezing my body to push me out.
"OH GOD, IT HURTS SO-O-O-O-O-O-O MUCH!!!" a muffled female voice reached me with incomprehensible moans. Over the past months, it had become so familiar and warming, and now it was conveying searing agony.
Then a disagreeable cold washed over my head, the air piercing through my hair like needles.
And to think how good life was before this. Comfortable, didn't have to do anything extra…
In the outside world, they decided not to wait for me to make my own way out. The thought came when I felt something placed on the crown of my head that latched on and began to pull.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" my mother screamed.
Yeah, I'm freaking out too!
It felt like I was being pulled none too gently, with priority given to speed.
A couple of seconds later, I reflexively opened my mouth and inhaled, and a nasty chill of air flooded my lungs. The sounds became much louder; another of my mother's screams echoed with a deafening ring in my ears. Light, something I hadn't seen in so long, stabbed into my eyes with burning rays, forcing me to shut them tighter.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
With that last scream, which sounded like a death knell in my ears, I was pulled out completely. It was hard to breathe, my whole body trembled from the strain…
Mom, are you alive in there? I asked mentally, showing concern. Of course, they couldn't hear me. Everything was a blur, someone was fussing around me, but I couldn't feel anything properly.
However, very soon after feeling a warm wetness, it seemed they washed me. And at the same time, slowly, everything around me became clearer. The sounds became distinguishable, but no more understandable. My mind was a mess, I couldn't even perceive my surroundings properly.
"He's not crying?" For the umpteenth time, I was lifted into… arms?… which began to appear as a black and white picture in my mind.
I can see with my soul again? But what's with the colors?
"He's breathing. Everything's fine, Kushina-chan."
My soul's vision slowly expanded, allowing me to see more of the woman, who looked to be in her sixties and was wearing a loose robe, holding me.
Another half-second, and I saw a young woman of about twenty, very close, just a meter away. She was also in a robe, similar to a medical one, and a cap. But I still couldn't perceive color properly, though I could at least make out shapes within the expanding sphere of my vision.
No fucking way am I being born again. Life was so much better in my past life when I didn't remember these sensations, another righteous thought crossed my mind.
After some more time, I was moved to a young woman lying on a table-bed, looking terribly exhausted. I couldn't tell the color, but she had long, straight hair.
"N-Naruto… Ha-a-a-a-h… I finally get to see you." I was brought to her face. The ringing in my ears was slowly fading, allowing me to catch a few words. But it was of little use to me, as I didn't understand the language…
Sorry, but it was much nicer inside you. Ugh… fuck this.
"Look, I'm a father! Haha!" a young man, also looking to be in his twenties, standing by the bed with my mother, said something while wiping away tears. He had medium-length hair in a spiky style, with strands falling on both sides.
I don't understand what you're saying, but thanks, I guess.
I reflexively reached for the young woman's face. My body is so fragile. But I had been with this woman for so long. This pleasant feeling in my chest when I look at her? Is this… love?
"Childbirth has tired you out, I know, Kushina. But we need to seal the Kyuubi completely…" the guy said something incomprehensible again.
Wait! Did my mother just say "Naruto," while looking at me? And one of the words directed at her was "Kushina"? Indeed, and my body has whiskers on its cheeks. What a mess… So I'm Naruto Uzumaki, it seems…
"O-okay."
I paid attention to what the guy was doing. He placed his hands on my mother's stomach, which was, as I only just noticed, covered in strange lines and circles of energy.
However, the old woman who had brought me over before now carried me away, stepping aside with her young assistant.
Centimeter by centimeter, my vision expanded further, soon reaching three meters in distance. I don't think I could even control it… it became so hard to get a grip on everything with my mind. I could see the women near me more clearly, as well as my mother with, as I now had to understand, my father? Minato—I remembered his name—was still doing something with the seal, causing it to sort of fold and suck inward.
Here my train of thought was interrupted, and an unpleasant feeling washed over me.
I remember that Naruto's birthday in the anime turned into a tragedy—both of his parents died. But my mind, like frozen jelly, wouldn't flow in the right direction to provide images from my memories of why it happened.
Instead, a dull ache grew in my chest from the simple knowledge: the woman whose heartbeat had been my world for the past few months would soon die.
Drifting far from the world, I was suddenly snatched from my thoughts, pulled sharply back to reality.
A picture began to sear itself into my numb mind: a huge hand of a cloaked figure hovering over my face. In front of us, as if in slow motion, the older and younger women were falling. Their throats were slit; I could see in minute detail how blood spurted from them under pressure.
With a dull thud, their bodies hit the floor, drenching it with liquid.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" my scream, filled with horror, echoed through the room. My skin broke out in goosebumps, and my heart instantly began to pound, the thumping spreading through my body like a hum. The nightmarish image of the murdered people wouldn't leave my mind; I could see a pool of viscous blood spreading beneath them, but in my terror, I couldn't "close my eyes"!
"M-m-mph..!" A huge hand grabbed my head, muffling me. A wave of anxiety washed over my entire being. Reflexively, tendrils of soul energy—the very thing I had trained with for so long—shot out of me, trying to pierce my captor. But they only dissipated helplessly against his skin. His own chakra, circulating beneath it, was an unbreakable wall for my weak power. He didn't even show any reaction to my actions, as if nothing had happened.
"Fourth Hokage… Minato. Step away from the jinchuriki," a deep, chilling voice spoke from above me. "Or your son will die."
"Wait! C-calm down," Minato moved away from Kushina, raising his hands in a placating gesture. But then he glanced back at her as she cried out; the beast inside the seal was breaking free.
"You'd do well to follow your own advice," the newcomer removed his hand from my frozen form to pull a kunai from his sleeve in a fluid motion. "I am perfectly calm."
Let me go, you fucking headcase piece of shit! I could only scream in my mind. I was becoming hysterical. Then, to my surprise, I was indeed let go… thrown up into the air, directly into the path of a steel blade! "AAAAAAAH!!!"
"Naruto!" came the cry of my mother, who had turned around.
Swish
A powerful jolt, and I found myself in the arms of Minato, who was crouched on the wall(!).
Ominously burning on my swaddling clothes were numerous paper tags with some kind of kanji. But this time my mind worked properly, immediately recognizing that these papers were about to go off like a grenade!
"AAAAAAAH!!!" I screamed Dad, save me! as best I could.
The world blurred, for a moment my body was pressed down hard, and then we were on a moonlit meadow, without the blanket. Less than a second passed, and a deafening explosion sounded from behind. The not-so-large stone structure shattered into fragments of rock.
"AAAAAAAH!!!" I screamed again, realizing what had happened.
"You're not hurt… Sh-h-h… quiet now," he seemed to be trying to calm me. "It's okay…"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" my scream expressed many things, most of which were insults. I wanted to say: You, the bastard offspring of a hyena and a punk-ass skunk, what the fuck are you doing?! Mom was in there!!! You killed her, you piece of shit!!! Couldn't you have thrown that fucking blanket somewhere else?! Outside, for fuck's sake! You could have thrown it right into that goddamn forest in front of us!!!
However, I stopped my stream of curses when it dawned on me that I didn't see my mother or that shinobi in the ruined building. It was as if they had disappeared… Unlike the old woman and the young girl.
A lump formed in my throat as I refocused my attention on their mangled bodies. Even under the pile of rocks, I could still see them through the obstacles.
But before I could vomit at the sight, my insides clenched and flipped over several times. With a soft whoosh of air, we were transported to some room made mostly of stone and beams. The lump went somewhere back down, so nothing came out of my mouth. I noticed there were many bags of gear around, and a three-bladed kunai hung from the ceiling.
"I need to save your mother before it's too late." I was swiftly placed in a bed that had been set up here. "Wait here for a bit. You'll be safe here…"
With a soft whoosh, the man who was my father, most likely a blond, disappeared.
There are no words! What a fucking day…
For a moment, silence reigned in my head. Another realization…
Fucking hell! And this isn't even the end! Now they're going to seal the Nine-Tailed Fox in me! My parents are going to die. And I'm going to get up close and personal with the God of Death!
My mind ached from the strain. I wanted to think of a way to escape from here. But nothing came to mind. But I don't want to meet that terrifying monstrosity!…
A few seconds passed, panic still overwhelming me, when my father appeared with my mother with a dull pop of air.
She's alive… relief washed over me… before bitterness spread through my insides from helpless despair. But not for long…
"W-why?" she asked something, and the young man laid her down next to me, but she immediately pulled me closer.
"No matter what happens, stay with Naruto," he quickly opened one of the nightstands and pulled out a cloak with flame patterns at the bottom and kanji on the back.
"I'll be back before you can blink," he said, and disappeared in a teleport.
"Good luck… Minato… Thank you…" Kushina barely managed to say. "Naruto…"
She held me a little tighter.
My body, which had been descending into madness, somehow began to calm down.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump
The sound of her heart, so familiar… and soothing…
I realize now that I hadn't noticed how long it had been with me, and how close it had become.
Seconds passed, and I continued to lie with my mother. Explosions could be heard from outside, the air filled with something viscous, making me tremble in fear of the inevitable. But at the same time, I felt myself being enveloped by an energy that had become much warmer. My mother's chakra, still just as powerful, but now much gentler. Over time, I felt it on me more and more clearly, subconsciously calming down even more.
But after a few more minutes, with another pop of air, we moved. Mom was in Dad's arms again, and I was in hers. We were together on the edge of a moonlit forest.
"Let's put up a barrier," Minato suggested wearily.
"My chakra is almost depleted…" Kushina said, after which the air hummed with released energy. Incredibly fast, expanding chains burst from her back. The air filled with the clinking of links. I didn't see where they went, because they left my field of vision. But I heard it clearly:
"G-R-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!!" came the helpless roar of the strongest tailed beast, after which the ground beneath us trembled. It was bound, leaving not a shred of hope.
I was overcome with similar feelings. Something is about to happen… something that might end in my death… Or will Minato not summon the Shinigami after all?
My body began to tremble in fear again.
The woman nearly fell, but Minato caught her, deftly taking me first—so as not to crush me.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, I didn't mean to wake you…" Kushina's voice came soothingly. But it did little to help me.
After which they began to talk about something:
"Kushina…"
"I'll drag the Kyuubi back… and die with it inside me…" she took a sharp breath. "That will keep it from returning for a while…"
Minato sighed heavily at her words, looking at my mother with bitterness.
"Thank you… kh," two streams of blood trickled from the corners of her lips. "For everything…"
"Kushina, you…" tears began to well up in my father's eyes. "You made me your husband… You made me the Fourth Hokage… You made me the father of this boy… And I…"
"Don't be sad… Minato. I… I'm happy," a strained smile appeared on Kushina's face. "Happy that it's our son's birthday."
The young woman took a heavy breath.
"If I have any regrets… it's that I won't get to see Naruto grow up."
Minato's expression darkened even more. His head drooped, and a shadow fell across his face.
"Kushina, you don't have to take the fox with you," he paused for a second, gathering his thoughts. "We can use the last of our chakra to see Naruto one more time."
"…Huh?" my mother looked at him in surprise.
"I will use the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and seal half of the Kyuubi in Naruto. Sealing the whole beast is extremely difficult… Right now, it's physically and conceptually impossible. So I'll seal the other half in myself…"
"But that's impossible for a non-jinchuriki! Wait, no! You can only do that if you use…"
"The Reaper Death Seal…" he confirmed heavily. "I can't let the tailed beast be reborn without a jinchuriki. The balance of tailed beasts among the villages would be destroyed."
Images from the past began to flash before the Fourth Hokage's eyes. Him listening to a man with long, spiky hair and two lines under his eyes:
"You know, you really must be the child of the prophecy."
"What child?" a younger-than-now Minato had asked then.
"One day, in the near future, the shinobi world will find itself in danger."
"And the child of the prophecy will save it…" echoed in the blond's mind now.
Kushina stared at Minato in amazement.
"I know what you want to say… But Jiraiya-sensei said that a revolution is coming to the shinobi world. And with it, great danger!" his eyes met the young woman's again. "Today I learned two things. First: the man in the mask who attacked us. He is the harbinger of this danger! And Naruto will be the one to stop him! The jinchuriki who will bring light to our future. I just… know it."
In the distance, the rustle of a landing was heard.
"But… Minato."
Ignoring her attempt to stop him, my father placed me on the ground to stand up and form a series of hand seals.
"Just believe in him! After all, he's our son!"
This is it… flashed through my mind as I awaited the worst. Having completely despaired, I didn't even try to resist.
After a series of hand seals, a strange silhouette left Minato's body, only to have its hair grabbed and pulled by a massive figure. With my soul vision, I could observe an extremely gaunt creature, vaguely resembling a human. Dressed in a loose robe, it had very long hair from which horns protruded on its head. In its hands, the God of Death clutched a short tanto, while its clawed hands stretched its robes. In one of its palms, it held beads.
And… nothing? I noted with faint surprise that nothing was happening to me. Hmm… I thought this 'god' would be some kind of guardian of the world, who wouldn't tolerate a foreign soul… Guess I shouldn't have read those fanfics… Got it all worked up in my head… I focused my attention on the newcomer. What are you then? I don't feel your soul? Where is it…? You pulled that thing out of my father… though I don't feel a soul in it either.
"As soon as I'm done with the tailed beast, I'll seal your chakra in Naruto as well. You'll meet a grown-up Naruto sooner than you think… The time will come when he tries to control the Kyuubi's power. Then I want you to be by his side to help."
"He's our son… That's exactly why I don't want him to have to bear such a heavy burden alone."
"…"
"But why the Reaper Death Seal? You have no reason to die… just so I can meet him for a few minutes," Kushina's voice began to break. "I wanted you to be by his side… for you to raise him!"
"…"
"…Why? Why are you sacrificing Naruto to maintain the balance of tailed beasts? For the village… and the country… Why are you sacrificing yourself for me?"
"To turn your back on your village and country… is no better than abandoning your own child," Minato's voice gained a calm conviction. He was certain of his own words. "You should know, you remember what happened to your village. You understand the pain of growing up without a home… And you know that we are a family… of shinobi."
At that moment, Kushina's eyes began to fill with conflicting emotions.
"Besides," Minato spread his hands, "even if I survived, I could never replace you."
"…" the young woman's eyes widened in surprise.
"There are things Naruto needs to learn, things I can't tell him myself. That is a mother's duty, and I want you to fulfill it. Even if you only have a few moments left…" his eyes narrowed seriously. "I'm not just doing this for you… but for Naruto as well. To die to make your son's life better… that is a father's duty."
"The Reaper Death Seal… It can't be?!" a hoarse, aging voice cried out. It was a shinobi in a black jumpsuit, wearing a helmet with a guard, and a steel plate on his back. In his hands, he clutched a thick staff.
He fixed his sharp gaze on the Nine-Tails, entangled in chains, and the dome that enclosed it, with a pair of shinobi inside. Glowing golden chains ran along the contour of the dome, creating the barrier.
"What's happening, Third-sama?!" one of the two ninja who had just arrived asked.
"We're too late, they've put up a barrier around the Kyuubi!" the old man approached to press against the invisible force field. "It's no use…"
The beads wrapped around the God of Death's arm, and it became covered in black patterns. All so that, elongating, it could pierce through the stomach of Minato's soul, pass through the belly of his real body, and move toward the tailed beast.
Circling the beast, the paw began to sprout multiple maws and paws to sink into its flesh.
"R-R-A-A-A-A!!!" roared the Nine-Tails. "Damn you, Fourth Hokage!"
"It's shrinking," the third shinobi near the barrier stated, watching the huge beast. The chains no longer bound it, hanging with a loud clang.
"I can't believe it, he actually used it…" the Third Hokage said. "But the fox is still here, he didn't seal all of it!"
My mind sank into an empty melancholy. My parents were saying something… but I couldn't understand them.
I don't remember my old parents… And now I have to lose my new ones.
So empty…
A fox's head grew on my father's soul-but-not-a-soul… Heh… that's probably funny.
Minato formed a few hand seals, and an altar with candles appeared near us. I guess it's time…
A cough came from Kushina, while Minato laid me on the summoned bed.
From the distance came the loud clang of chains.
"Kushina, help me!" my father shouted, after which both my parents blurred into motion from my perspective.
"R-R-R-A-A!!!" the roar of the Nine-Tails drowned out the crunch of tearing flesh. Minato and Kushina, shielding me with their backs, stopped the Kyuubi's descending claw.
The world around me faded. A heavy cold filled my entire body. Only the corners of my eyes felt the warmth of rolling tears.
As if through cotton, I heard the sounds of commotion around me; some long toad appeared, but I paid no attention. My entire gaze was fixed on yet another pair of mangled bodies. Only seeing these was much more painful.
Drip
Trickling down the claw, a drop of warm blood landed on my stomach. It forced me to focus on the face of the one to whom it belonged.
"N-Naruto…" blood trickled from her chin, staining her clothes with red roses, "don't be a picky eater… eat a lot and grow up to be a big boy!… H-ha…"
Beads of sweat dotted her face; every word was a great effort.
"Take a bath every day… go to bed early and sleep well! Make friends… As many as you want… But first, make sure they're real friends… People you can trust… A few is enough!"
Kushina showed a sincere smile, closing her eyes.
"And study ninjutsu… I was never very good at them. Maybe you can do better. Everyone is good at something and not so good at something else. Don't be sad if you can't do everything. Listen to your teachers at the academy… and remember: avoid the three prohibitions of a shinobi… don't borrow money if you can do without it. Save what you earn on missions. Don't drink alcohol until you're twenty. And don't drink too much, or you'll ruin your body."
She paused for a moment.
"As for women… Well, I'm a woman myself, so I don't know what to say. But one day you'll want to get a girlfriend… Just try not to get a weird one… Try to find someone like your mother…"
"And a fourth warning…" Minato's voice came from behind Kushina. "Beware of Jiraiya-sensei!"
"…Ha…hu," a chuckle came from her. "Naruto, you're going to face a lot of pain and suffering… Remember who you are! Find a goal… a dream! And don't stop until you achieve it!"
"…"
"I'm sorry, Minato… That took up all our time…"
"It's… alright," my father smiled wider, with one eye. "Listen to your talkative mother…"
With Minato's last words, everything was flooded with white light. The Eight Trigrams Seal was activated.