A/N: I hope you enjoy the opening chapter, I don't own Naruto.

Prologue

Kyubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed fox, stood in the middle of The Village Hidden In The Leaves all nine of its powerful tails thrashing about angrily, it had just been ripped from the container it so despised and was forced to do the bidding of some masked man. Standing against this force of nature was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki, who had been the jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. Kushina had setup a barrier and contained the beast with her chakra chains, while her husband had run through the hand seals to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal he spoke to his wife "I'll seal half of it inside myself and the other half inside Naruto so that he has something to protect himself in the future."

Kushina nodded in understanding as she was struggling to contain the mighty beast, and after he observed her acceptance of his plan the Yondaime Hokage allowed the Shinigami to burst his hand through and grab the soul of the great beast retracting it and sealing it inside himself. Wow its chakra is heavy Minato thought. The Kyubi shrunk in response to loosing half of its self the chains that had once contained it were loose as they were constricted around its original size. Before either of the shinobi could react the great beast had swung its hand in a motion towards the baby sitting in the cradle.

Without even thinking Minato through himself in front of the trajectory of the claw but in a fleeting moment of clarity he mustered enough energy to make four shadow clones. He and three of the clones jumped directly into the path of the claw going through the original then the three duplicates, the fourth had jump forward to catch Kushina. She screamed as she watched the claw pierce the man's chest digging all the way in and sitting mere inches above the baby. As the shadow clones disappeared into smoke Kushina, tears streaming down her face, ran to her husband, blood gurgling out of his massive wound and mouth, he painfully got out "Kushina I have little time to say anything, but I love you, you made me your man and a father, you in my eyes are perfect so I know you're going to be a perfect mother to Naruto." Before laying a peck onto her forehead, blood and saliva strung from his mouth leaving a stain against her skin

"B-b-but, Minato!" is all his wife could get out having to consolidate herself to bare consciousness as she was running out of stamina.

Minato taking some of the blood gurgling from his mouth he ran through the hand seals and in poof of smoke Gamatora appeared remarking "Whoa the Nine tails! Lord Fourth What's up with you?"

"Yea, I'm giving you the key to the seals I want you to take it to Master Jiraiya Immediately! Tell him that it's for two" He instructed prior to placing his hand on the toad's stomach and the seal key appeared.

"I've got it, I'll be out of here"

After the toad had disappeared Minato thought to himself I don't have much time left I've got to start this and keep it quick then began talking "Naruto, my son, I love you. I trust enough that your mother will teach you and raise you right. One day I hope you will be a better shinobi than me, and most importantly that you'll be happy. I don't even know you but I know that I love you, goodbye son." He finished and proceeded to complete the Eight Trigrams Seal.

As the claw retracted from his body Konoha's Yellow Flash could tell the Shinigami was getting impatient. As he lay there dying he used everything he had to crawl his way to his now unconscious and dying wife before he sat up so that he could be above her. The Hokage barely set up a second seal array. He then placed his hand above her torso, blood and guts leaking from his own, and pushed with any ounce of force he had left to transfer the half of the Kyubi he had sealed inside himself. As he could tell it left his body the last thing before inky black he saw was his wife's eyes opening to see him in his final moments to which he couldn't help but smile.

Kushina lay there incognizant of any of her surroundings, all she could do was stare at the star lit night sky her brain fried from what had just transpired. This ignorant peace however was broken when the head of Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the center of her vision. Kushina suddenly and violently snapped back to recognizing what had just happened, tears began to stream as she cried out "M-m-minato!"

Hiruzen picked her up by her shoulders to a sitting position cooing into her ear "its okay now Kushina shhh."

Hiruzen looked over his shoulder and pointed at the infant sitting there in a peaceful sleep, one of his accompanying shinobi picked up the child and placed it into Kushina's arms, as she leaned forward against her baby she whispered to Hiruzen "Please take me home."

The Third Hokage unsure of where to take her he cradled the mother and child in his arms before taking them back to their home in the village, he was extra careful to ensure that the baby stayed asleep the entire, as well he made a point of not allowing anyone to see the mother and child. Arriving in her bedroom Hiruzen laid the woman, and her child which she was hugging tight, on the bed and covered them with a blanket. He stood there watching Kushina and Naruto laying there drifting off to sleep, the Sarutobi let several tears fall from his typically stone cold eyes at the family that had been separated and broken.

A week later

Hiruzen was concerned, according to the Anbu black ops he had stationed outside the Uzumaki house hold Kushina hadn't left since he had dropped her off on that horrible night, He finally had time to visit them that morning. When he arrived he found Kushina sitting at her kitchen table a bottle of Sake sitting in front of her, on this sight the acting Hokage felt his entire stomach go numb, he addressed her very carefully "K-Kushina? Are you okay? No one has seen you in a week the village believes you died with the Fourth Hokage. And aren't you supposed to be avoiding alcohol?"

"I wish I did I can't see myself alive without Minato-kun, I can't help but cry every time I'm with Naruto. It feels as though my heart has been ripped from my body, I was told its okay if it's just a sip of sake to take the edge off what happened."

Hiruzen breathed deeply in before speaking "Kushina there's no one who wouldn't love and support you, we're all here for you."

"No! No I can't … I can't I -I don't know what I should do I n-need to be here for Naruto… And if I come back Naruto will guarantee ably be targeted as the Jinchuriki of the Kurama" She responded her voice rasping the entire time

"Kushina you could live with me, there wouldn't be any need for you to worry about your or Naruto's safety."

"No, he deserves freedom, he shouldn't be being kept under the eye of Anbu for his childhood"

"That wasn't a question Kushina." Hiruzen responded

Kushina directed a glare at him allowing her killing intent to exude through it "Well it is now"

"Fine, but you will be watched by an Anbu guard detail." Hiruzen finished slightly annoyed with the grieving woman before he turned on his heel and left.

After Hiruzen left a cry rang out through the mostly empty house, Kushina took a deep breath before reporting to where the cry was coming from, the nursery. After she got into the room she picked up her crying son and carried him to the changing table, after she changed his diaper and his crying didn't stop she deduced that he must've been hungry, to which she swaddled him in a blanket, cradled him in her arms, and walked over to a squashy rocking chair in the corner of the room and sat down. Holding her baby boy with one arm she pulled down her robe with the other to reveal her moderately sized b-cup breast, when she rejoined her arms she lifted the Naruto small body up to her nipple allowing him to take it in his mouth and suckle on it.

When the acting Hokage returned to his office he stretched his arms out he certainly wasn't ready to return to being the Hokage at all.

One month after the Kyubi attack

It had been three weeks since Hiruzen Sarutobi's last visit to the Uzumaki house hold, and frankly he was unconcerned, while he was concerned for both Naruto and Kushina he was also sure that she would come to her senses soon enough and come back to the public, but many of the Anbu who were stationed as guards urged him to make a second visit, one going so far as to say that Kushina was going into a manic depression and others saying that they were concerned for young woman's health. But those same reports said that Kushina was going out to get groceries for the first and second weeks after his initial visit, under a disguise of course, but, much to Hiruzen's dismay, she hadn't left the house since her last visit to a grocer up the street nine days prior. So the third Hokage decided that he would visit them that afternoon, and that was what he was about to do, he stretched out his arms in a long arcing motion as sitting at the desk all day had got his muscle tight. Then got up from his desk to leave the office, grabbing his hat off the rack next to the desk, he further made stretching motions with his legs. The Hokage left the room flanked in the rear by three Anbu black ops, when he was making his way through the halls of the building, pleasant smile on his face, all he could observe is the nervous and sorrow filled faces of his fellow shinobi scrambling to get things done. It was true that Hiruzen himself felt the same way as those working under him, and in some ways he felt worse because of his expectation to maintain composure despite seeing a respected friend and many other fellow shinobi die that night as well losing his wife, but he explained up his own ability to hide all this due to how long he had lived in this cruel world. He even remarked to himself when he was walking down one of the halls I wish I could show how sorrow filled I am, but for their sake and mine I must keep my composure. Other than the shinobi the third and now acting Hokage observed that the attack had hit the civilians much harder than it did the shinobi, many of them were absolutely terrified even a month after the attack, however something much more peculiar to him was that the children seemed unfazed by the attack, they even were happily playing in the streets. His most memorable of these children was as he approached the Uzumaki household a group of children surrounded him in admiration and he stopped ruffling one boy's hair in a fatherly manner, and using a bit jutsu to transform a rock into a flower for a girl. He regretfully left the children which he noticed put a slight, but temporary, dent in their mood, but he knew it was for the best because of how worried he was for what he would find in the house he was about to enter. What Hiruzen Sarutobi was delighted by was a picturesque scene of mother and child, Kushina standing in the middle of the kitchen holding Naruto swaddled in a baby blue blanket, he in fact felt slightly ashamed of interrupting such a pure and peaceful moment. He sullenly broke the silence "Uh… Kushina? I just came to check that you're ok the Anbu had reported you haven't left in nine days."

"I'm fine I've lately just had problems tearing myself away from Naruto-kun, it's just…" She sniffled before resuming "He's the closest thing left of Minato."

"Alright Kushina… I've got a proposal you might want to here."

To Hiruzen's surprise Kushina was holding the blonde baby out offering "Okay just hold Naruto for a minute, I'll get us some tea."

He pleasantly accept the child cradling him, as if he were his own grandson, and Naruto giggled a little bit. Hiruzen gently placed the swaddled child on the kitchen table before assuming a seat, and re- cradling the baby in his arms. As Kushina came back to the table two cups of tea on a tray with cream and sugar in her hands, she set the tray down between her and the Third Hokage before assuming a seat across from him. "Alright give me him back" she demanded, to which the Hokage complied.

As the fire haired woman collected the baby into her chest with one hand and sipped tea with the other Hiruzen elaborated on his earlier point "So what I came to purpose to you today is a deal: we'll pay for your living expenses, but you have to get out of the house and go into public at least once a week, as well when Naruto-kun comes of age to begin training as a shinobi you will come out of hiding and train him in combination with Jiraiya-san. I believe that will give you enough time to grieve, Kushina I implore you to start making attempts at recovering."

"Alright, I should be fine with those terms, but when I go out who will watch-"

She was cut off by the Third "I will, on another note when I spoke to Jiraiya after the funeral he wasn't too pleased that you aren't coming out and allowing the village to think you're dead."

"Oh alright, I would've suggested you anyway Hokage-sama, I would like you to act as Naruto's grandfather, while I know ero-sennin will fulfill his duties as his godfather when he's got the time, it's just I would like Naruto have a fatherly figure who's there even if sometimes I may not be emotionally available. The reason I want you to do this is because while I'm calm right now there is a possibility I could destabilize, internally I feel as if I'm overlooking a massive gorge and if I were to fall in there may be no returning from it."

The Hokage genuinely smiled his insides warmed by Kushina's consideration of him as the boy's father figure, but that was quickly doused in cold water as she explained how she felt, nevertheless he sipped his tea before replying "Kushina… I'm touched that you think of me in that way, but I'm concerned by your description of your mental state, Kushina you do know you can see me time for this."

"Thank you Hiruzen, you've done so much for me, Minato, and now Naruto I don't think I could ever express how much I'm grateful to have you in my life."

In return Hiruzen smiled saying "You are basically family to me and it has always been my pleasure."

"Lord third would you stay for more tea?"

Elsewhere

I see so the Fourth Hokage opted to seal the beast inside his own son, remind me when the boy begins to venture out into the world, we'll need to insight the villagers into thinking he's the demon himself"

"Yes my lord." The reporting nin bowed before making to exit the office

"But wait, I want you to head a team to dig up the Hokage and his wife's bodies. As well I want a report from our Kumogakure assets on what they are planning." The man interrupted before allowing the shinobi to leave. He then scratched his chin and mired in thought of what he was to do about this new problem approaching his work, something he knew would be an uncontrollable variable.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, reviews make me really happy