Authors Note:

I'm sorry that this doesn't actually start the story, I'll put it up soon but its still under construction. Please R&R as I likely won't continue if no one likes it. Well, here it goes:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or the characters, or the plot, or any of the other things that have to do with it.

Prologue

The blond man, weak from the exhaustion of his last technique, fell upon the body of his wife. Hearing her shallow breath and the twin heartbeat within her, he knew the sealing was successful and waited for the Shinigami's embrace. After all, his child would become the hero of his village, the savior who sealed the most fearsome demon within his own body. Everything was as he had planned it. He crawled fully on top of her; he would spend these last precious moments listening to their heartbeats: one... two... three... Three? There was no time to worry as the Shinigami descended to retrieve his payment.

"Here," the man's thoughts focused on the task at hand, "The beast was destroyed so any survivors should be in this area." Jumping lightly into the clearing, the man came across the carnage left in the demon's wake: bodies burnt asunder by the demon's aura of flame, others maimed and broken by one of the beast's long tails, even the unnatural clearing created in the fox's battle. Knowing he could do nothing for those already passed, he leapt from body to body checking for signs of life.

"25, 26, 27, 28, 29" The man counted those with no hope. "Not a single survivor so-- A heartbeat! At last a survivor." Comforted by these thoughts, the man threw the newly found body over his shoulder and sprung towards the next corps with renewed vigor. This one too seemed alive and he carried this one along as well. This time, he ran quickly back the way he came, his long white hair matted to his back, seemingly unconcerned by his speed. Stillness returned to the clearing.

The man returned some time later, this time followed by two others, their faces covered by painted masks. Together, they collected the remaining living, and built a large pyre for the dead. Only a couple bodies remained unchecked, and the white haired man moved to finish the job. He landed by the man and his wife, only to fall to his knees and whisper,

"Minato."

He took the dead man, not to the pyre with the others, but carried him, and his living wife, back whence he came, to the village of the leaf.

Arriving at the elaborate wooden gates that marked the entrance to the village, the man jumped easily over them and rushed toward a building he knew well at this point, the house of his retired mentor. No one bothered him on his way, as he quickly ran over the rooftops. Finally, touching the ground, he rapped lightly on the door saying,

"Hey, sensei we need to do something about this."

The door opened and the man walked quickly inside, making sure no one watched him enter. Turning to the older man beside him, he laid the bodies he carried onto the floor.

"So, the sealing worked."

"I guess so, the Kyuubi has vanished and he is..."

"I know, I don't want to believe it either Jiraiya"

"I just never thought it would happen, I mean the kid was brilliant"

"Today the village has lost one of its best"

"Yeah. So, what do we do now Sensei?"

"Well, we need to let the council know of his death"

"Yeah, will you take up the position again?"

"I guess I don't have much choice," the old man sighs, "They certainly need someone after what happened today."

"And what about the kid?"

"We certainly must not let the council know the boy is his son. If his rivals find out, even we will not be able to keep him safe. However, they do need to know that the demon is sealed inside."

"Alright I will tell them" And with those words, Jiraiya picked up the man and the woman, and carried them, more slowly though no less carefully, to the tower where the council held its emergency session.

The council hall was eerily silent after the news was broken. The recent news of the Kyuubi's demise aroused not the resounding joy the messenger expected, but a calm expectancy over the council. If the Kyuubi had indeed died, the return of the Hokage would signify it, not the words of some messenger. Just as the messenger began to grow nervous at the odd reaction, the doors to the assembly again opened. Bathed in the light of the opening, Jiraiya entered with the bodies he himself had carried back from the field of battle. He walked towards the front of the assembly hall, stood in the spot the messenger had recently vacated, and addressed the assembled:

"The Hokage is dead. I have found his body in the wreckage left by the demon." He held up his hand to prevent the barrage of questions that would inevitably follow that statement.

"However, the Kyuubi will not bother the village again. In his final act, the Hokage has sealed the demon inside the child of this woman, ANBU captain Uzumaki. That is all I have to say, now I must take her to the hospital that she survives to give birth." and with these final words, Jiraiya picked up the woman, and walked out of the room, pointedly ignoring the many questions that bombarded his back.

Several months later, the same man and his sensei approached a hospital bed to witness the miracle of birth. Jiraiya, lost in thoughts concerning the last time he came here, barely listened to the conversation, until a few words caught his attention and caused him great confusion,

"Hokage-sama, she died in childbirth, but the babies are fine: a boy and a girl."

"What?!, she had twins?" burst a very flustered Jiraiya.

"Yes, they are twins: Naruto and Kitsumi"

Hearing the odd news, Jiraiya whispers softly to the Hokage,

"How will that affect the sealing?"

"I am not sure, although it should not be a problem. Either one of them could be the Kyuubi's host."

"Well, I guess nothing has changed then. I will start my mission: to protect them from outside the village. I leave their welfare to you and the council. Send them to me for training when the time comes." And with his farewell complete, he left the hospital and set off to "gather information."