The 10th October 983 AH, it had been an exhausting and nerve breaking day for one family in Konohagakure. In the Tanehiko household, Ina Tanehiko had just given birth a earlier in the morning and a baby boy was resting besides her bed in the hospital room.
"Anata." Ina said softly, "We will be fine. Go home and rest." She said warmly but to Murata her husband it sounded like banishment. "Why? I must protect you two. And I am fine." His attempt betrayed by heavy eye bags as he involuntarily yawned. With a knock, a nurse came in giving Murata a cold glance, " I will see you tomorrow then, first thing in the morning!" He exclaimed purposefully.
With an exasperated sigh, Ina shooed him off, 'He is truly a dunce but he is my dunce.' She smiled warmly. Murata Tanehiko was a secretary to one of the merchant groups in Konohagakure, he had sharp wit when it came being a merchant but had taken a secretary job to be closer to his wife during her pregnancy.
Ito lay in her bed, humming a song as she looked lovingly at the cradle to her left. Young Kudo settled in the gentle rays of dusk and his mother's humming.
It was around 6 pm and a subtle tension has settled into the village, in one of the safe houses a confrontation was happening where a black robed man was holding a kunai at a baby boy, his wails adding to the tension as facing them stood a yellow haired man, "Kushina! Who are you?!" Minato bellowed looking worryingly and wrathful at the man who stood threatening his child. "What will you do, your child or the jinchuriki?" The masked man teased as over on a bed, "Minato, he took Naruto. Save our child." Kushina pleaded weakly. The masked man threw the baby in the air, the baby wailing intensely as Minato vanished catching him instantly but the masked man through space-time ninjutsu had vanished with his wife, Kushina.
Minato coddled Naruto then he vanished instantly appearing in his house, while elsewhere the masked man had released the Nine-tails as a bestial roar shook the night sky. "You Uzumaki are truly amazing, even after the tail beast is extracted you do not die immediately however seeing as you were its captor it's fitting it kill you." The masked man with a glint of ruthlessness. The Nine-tails brought down its massive paw sweeping at Kushina immobilized in sealing chains.
"Swish!" Ina blur of yellow, Kushina reappeared atop a tree in the arms of Minato, " BANG!" The massive paw slammed down the boulder. " Rooar!" "You indeed are fast but not fast enough. The nine-tails is mine." With a crazed bestial roar, the nine-tails lunged forward but Minato disappeared instantly reappearing in his house, he gently lowered Kushina into a large crib and donning his 4th Hokage cloak he disappeared as in the village, a cloaked man's sudden appearance was drowned by the bustling streets.
Crouching down, "Summoning Jutsu!" He bellowed, in a puff of smoke a gargantuan creature with 9 tails that furiously whacked the air roared its rageful and bellowing red eyes casting a night of grim terror on the villagers of Konohagakure. With its massive paws and tails, it tore asunder buildings as civilians ran in sheer terror and ninjas scrambled to respond to the sudden attack.
Over in the Uchiha compound, young Itachi was nestling his younger brother as the sounds of catastrophe rang in the village.
A few hours later, morning had come and as the fear receded, news broke; The fourth Hokage Minato and his wife Kushina has sacrificed themselves to seal the rampaging Ninetails.
In the streets laced with destruction Murata ran, his heart racing and his face of pure anguish as he ran to the hospital. The shelters had been opened allowing civilians to roam the now wrecked village. "I shouldn't have left!" He was seething in regret at having left his wife and son to face terror, maybe even lost their lives. The hospital soon fell into view, crushed sections visible and his heart dropped. 'Please No!' Not losing hope he rushed to the mass of people before the hospital.
A fury of questions came from family members as then in calm straits one member of the hospital stood before the crowd, "Everyone!" His chakra infused voice silenced the mass, "All patients have been accounted for and were evacuated to safety during the attack. Now, we would like to tend to them. Can you disperse and we will allow visitations once everything is in order. Thank you." With that he left. Honomi Mitsutoshi let out a heavy sigh. While true that the patients had been moved to safety, the current new patients from the attack were a different matter.
The hospital had taken damage and it was becoming increasingly difficult to treat severe injuries without all their equipment. Walking over to Nawa Ujikane, he could only offer a helpless smile as both senior medical ninjas got to work. 'If only lady Tsunade was here.' Nawa wistfully thought.
Murata left with the crowd which immediately began searching for survivors through the rubble with other villagers, it was a day of great sorrow as bodies of children, mangled by buildings were retrieved with shallow dried tears marking their terror. Hatred for tail-beasts surged as more suffering was revealed.
Over at the top of the Hokage building, Hiruzen Sarutobi marshalled orders trying to restore order to the distraught village.
"Hiruzen." Danzo Shimura approached in his eyes a subtle glint. Knowing that look, " Not now Danzo. Restoring order comes first as such I will take the mantle of Hokage once more." Hiruzen sighed as he spoke, his words causing turmoil inside Danzo.
"That is not a unilateral decision that you can make Hiruzen!" Danzo huffed, "I can and I have. The daimyo will understand, we desperately need stability and do not have time look for Tsunade and Jiraya while the other great villages will soon be looking at us like livestock. We need unity Danzo, so lay off the Uchiha. We will deal with it at the Clan meeting." At the mention of Tsunade and Jiraya, Danzo tensed a bit, ' It seems after all I have done the mantle of hokage is not mine to bear but with Hiruzen's age my time will come I just need to be patient.' Danzo thought, as for the Uchiha he was not in a hurry, many ninjas and some civilians had seen the sharingan tomoe pattern in the fox's eyes so their downfall would be assured with minor moves in the dark.