This challenge was called by notgonnasay09.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Prologue xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Minato carried his wife to a safe house with a small four man squad escorting them and Kushina's midwives. The forest around them seemed peaceful, quiet, and gentle. If everything went well, it would stay that way.

The soon to be father wasn't taking the chance of the Kyuubi escaping from his wife. He had enough seals and soldier pills to keep the seal strong enough to hold the Kyuubi. The only fear he had was that his kunoichi wife wouldn't survive the birth. The lead medics said that because of her 'condition', as they referred to her being a Jinchuuriki as, and the fact that she was now a month overdue she might not survive.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking" Kushina said just before another contraction hit her.

The pain caused her to squeeze Minato's shoulder tightly. Minato didn't show any signs of being in pain from the grip, but he was.

"We're almost there" he assured her "besides, you're a bad liar" with a gentle smile before he kissed her.

Ten minutes later, Minato gently laid his wife on the bed in the safe house as her midwives got everything ready for the delivery. His shoulder was killing him from the soon to be mother's grip. 'And people thought she's strong when she's angry' he thought as he rubbed his shoulder 'I hope they never find out how strong she is when she's contracting.'

He took off his cloak, rolled it up and placed it behind his wife's head to act as a better pillow than what was there. His fingers couldn't help but to play with a few strands of her fire red hair. The same hair that allowed him to track and save her from her captors before they could do anything to the kunoichi when they were young.

A smile grew across his face as he recalled how much she blushed when he told her he like her hair and that was what first got his attention when they first met in the academy. After that mission was done was when they started dating the 'Red-Hot Blooded Habanero' that was known for her temper. It was also after that when that particular nickname became politically incorrect; even though she still had her moments.

"Hokage-sama" one ANBU said as he quietly opened the door "the perimeter is secure."

"Thank you;" Minato told the masked man "are all the extra seals ready; just in case?"

"Hai" a second said behind the first "I just placed the last one."

The blonde Hokage dismissed them and ordered them to stand outside. After the door closed, he pulled out his copy of his sensei's first book and started reading it to his wife and soon to be mother. It was the same book that gave them their unborn son's name; Naruto.

-?-

Orochimaru walked through the massive stone halls looking for what he came for. A statue that holds twelve items with unique abilities. Abilities that can help him accomplish his dream of learning every known jutsu.

He let out a small laugh as he remembered how quickly he translated the ancient scrolls that led him to his current location. It only took him three weeks for him to decipher the mysterious language that spoke of the items he was now after. The only problem was the language also spoke of a powerful dragon that owns the items and has only been defeated once.

"Uncle…Orochimaru;" Anko asked with a shaky voice "aren't… aren't you afraid of the creature that… that owns those talisman things?"

Orochimaru looked at his niece with a smug smile. While she held fear for the creature, he knew something she didn't. He knew the jutsu that was used to defeat the dragon.

"Not at all; Anko-chan" he laughed "the scroll mentioned a shinobi that defeated the dragon. Thus trapping it as a statue, forever."

His words didn't seem to reassure his niece; she was still shaky as they drew towards a large door with a symbol of a dragon on it. Orochimaru put his hand on the door and examined it closely before he pulled out a scroll and made sure he was at the right place. Being sure he was, he placed two explosive tags on the large old hinges and stepped back behind a corner with Anko next to him and at a safer distance.

When the tags exploded, rubble and dust flew down the hall they once stood in. Anko covered her eyes to keep the dust from getting in them, while her uncle merely put his hand next to his face and didn't really care if dust got into his snake like eyes or not. They waited for a few seconds to see if any traps would go off while the dust settled; nothing seemed to happen when the dust finally settled.

Orochimaru walked through what was left of the doorframe and into a large chamber. The chamber was massive, but empty; with only a few pieces of gold left from pillagers or treasure hunters. Anko couldn't help but to wonder if what her uncle came for was even still there as she walked behind him.

"There's nothing here uncle" she said with a comforting tone thinking he was going to be furious "I'm sorry."

"Not everything is as it seems" he snapped to her "I thought I taught you that."

He walked back to the entrance to the chamber and counted the pillars to his left as he walked. Each pillar had a different symbol engraved at eye level. The Snake-sannin stopped at the pillar that had the engraving of a dragon on it and smiled. 'It's not much farther now' he chuckled to himself as he walked between the pillar and the next one.

Anko picked up a piece of the treasure that got left behind and rubbed the dust off of it. When she did she dropped the piece in shock; it was marked with the face of a dragon. Her heart raced as she thought of what the scroll said; 'those that disturb the dragon's treasure will die'. It took all her strength to remind herself that her uncle assured her that the dragon was now harmless.

Her uncle didn't let her read much of the scrolls that led them there, but what she did read struck fear in her. One part spoke of the dragon having powers that are said to be of another world. Any injury that it took healed instantly, it could shoot beams of heat from its eyes, crush even the strongest of rocks, and much more. She constantly had to tell herself 'the dragon was slain, otherwise there would be treasure here' to keep herself calm.

Orochimaru smiled again when he saw a faint painting of a dragon on the wall. The moon light fell onto the painting and brought out the full features of the dragon. The dragon had green scales and a large, broad chest with matching shoulders, massive and muscular arms, shorter legs that were just as muscular as the arms, and a ten foot long tail. It was clearly a painting of the dragon that the scroll spoke of.

"One" Orochimaru counted as he moved his hand over the tiles next to the head of the painted dragon "two, three, and four" as he pushed the fourth tile in and the painting of the dragon began to slide down into the floor.

As the secret door slid out of sight, a new chamber was revealed. It wasn't as large as the one he had just walked out of, but it was still rather impressive. There were twelve pillars placed evenly apart from each other and a shield looking statue in the center. The statue looked like a snaked coiled up, but instead of a snake head it had a dragon head.

"Who dares enter my chamber?" could be heard as the statue's eyes glowed red.

"I am…" Orochimaru started to say.

"A sorry excuse for a reptile;" it said "now what do you want? I already know my treasure is gone, I have listened to countless treasure hunters steal it over the years."

The statue seemed to be very testy; as well as covered in dust from who knows how many years. The eyes continued to glow red as Orochimaru stepped closer to the statue. It was as if it was peering into Orochimaru and trying to kill him from the inside out.

"I read about something called talismans" Orochimaru said in a calm tone as he stepped towards a pillar "I wish to find them."

"Stop right there" the statue snapped as Orochimaru drew nearer to a pillar "I won't allow them to be taken by someone like you. They are mine, and mine alone; if you so much as touch one of them, I will burn you to a crisp."

Orochimaru knew the statue was bluffing, and, by the way the statue snapped at him, he was already close to them. He took a few minutes to observe the room; it quickly clicked with him that the talismans never left the dragon's sight. Each of the pillars had an octagon looking piece imbedded in them at eye level; each one with a different symbol.

"How do you plan on doing that" he laughed as he pulled out the closest talisman to him "when you are but a statue?"

"Mortals shouldn't mess with powers beyond their comprehension" the statue warned.

"And stone figures shouldn't speak when they know they can easily be destroyed" he laughed as he pulled out a stack of paper bombs.

Orochimaru walked closer to the statue and started to place the explosives on the statue. As he did so, he noticed twelve octagon shaped pieces that were missing from the statue. A laugh escaped his mouth as he connected the dots. While the one that turned the dragon into a statue might've succeeded, it cost him his life before he could hide the talismans from the world.

"I wonder why none of your servants bothered to free you from your prison" he laughed as he placed the last one.

"They were traitors and cowards" the former dragon snapped "and those truly loyal to me couldn't touch my magnificent power without destroying themselves.'

"Uncle Orochimaru" Anko said as she entered the chamber "can… can we please leave. This place scares me" as she held herself.

"Of course my dear" as he walked over to another pillar and pulled the talisman out of it "please help me retrieve what we came for and we can leave soon."

Anko didn't hesitate; the stone walls around her gave her the creeps. She focused chakra into the soles of her shoes, walked up one pillar, and retrieved the talisman from it. When she had it in her hand, she noticed the animal the engraving made; a snake. However, she didn't waste time thinking about it; she just wanted to get out of the creepy place.

Once they had all twelve; Orochimaru put them in his pouch and walked out of the chamber with his niece right behind him. His trade mark laughter could be heard by the statue as they got out of sight. Once they were, all the statue heard was the snake-sannin snapping his fingers before the paper bombs exploded and destroyed him.

- safe house -

Kushina screamed in pain as another contraction hit her. Even the ANBU outside the door were shaken by her scream of pain. Minato's hand was on the verge of breaking because of his wife's powerful grip.

"Just a little more Kushina" one of her midwives said "I can see his head."

Minato wasn't sure his hand could take much more before it broke, but he was quickly proven wrong as his wife screamed again because of another contraction. He gritted his teeth to keep from letting his wife know she was hurting him. 'I'm going to need a medic after this' he thought.

Kushina knew that her pain wasn't just because of her son being born; it was also the seal that kept the Kyuubi in her becoming weak. She couldn't help but to think that if the extra seals hadn't been placed, the Kyuubi would've escaped by now. Her husband clearly showed he was in pain, but he refused to let any noise out that would let others know about it.

"Just one more time" the second midwife said as she readied the towel to catch Kushina's son.

Kushina pushed one more time and finally felt the pain lighten. She could hear her new son crying as her midwives cleaned the infant. Tears of joy came to her eyes as she looked at her husband; who was just as happy.

Before either of them could ask to see their new son, both of Kushina's midwives fell to the floor dead. A masked man now had their son in his hands. One Sharingan eye visible and glaring at the Hokage.

"Give me the Kyuubi" he ordered "or your son will die at the ripe old age of one minute" as he held a kunai to Naruto's neck.

Before Kushina could even cry, everything went dark. When she finally could see again, she saw a large chamber that had several massive bars. On the other side she saw glowing red eyes and a fox grin.

"I was wondering when we'd meet" the figure said "but I wish it could be under better circumstances."

"You're the Kyuubi no Kitsune" Kushina said in shock "what do you want?"

"To save your Kit" with a gentle and sincere tone "this man won't give him back unless you give me to him. With the seal weakened right now, you can release me without dying as a result of my escape."

Kushina could hear the sound of a fight echo in the large chamber. Fear filled her heart as she thought the masked man had killed her son. Tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Your Kit is still alive" the Kyuubi assured her "please, you must release me to save him."

"How?" tears still running from her eyes.

"Tear the seal off the bars," the fox instructed her "then say 'Release', I'll do the rest. And don't worry, I won't attack the village; not that I'll have the power to" Kushina had a confused look on her face as she stopped reaching for the seal "I'll give you almost all of my chakra. I know what this man wants with me, and I won't allow it."

"Please" Kushina cried "just save my Naruto."

"Of course; Uzumaki-sama" in a gentle tone "I give you my word; and I always honor my word."

"Release" she cried out as she pulled the seal off the bars.

"Give me Naruto back" Minato ordered the masked man.

"Do you really want your son to die, Lord Hokage?" he said back in response as he put the kunai back at Naruto's neck.

Before the blonde Hokage could drop his kunai, there was a sudden surge of chakra that he didn't recognize. The surge of chakra was followed up by a blinding light; both the masked man and Minato had to cover their eyes. By time they could see again, they heard a new voice.

"You coward" the feminine voice said "using an infant as a hostage. You have no honor."

Both Minato and the masked man looked at the source of the voice. A woman that looked a little like Kushina; only her hair was a brighter red, eyes were just as red as Kurenai's, had whiskers on her cheeks, and she was wearing a golden red kimono. The new person looked furious; the anger coming from her held true to the saying 'hell holds no fury like that of a woman scorned'. But that was nothing compared to the fury of an angry Kitsune.

"Release the Kit" she snarled "NOW!"

The masked man saw an opening on the blonde Hokage and took it. Before the Hokage could move, the masked man plunged his kunai deep into the center of the man's chest. Minato gasped for air as he felt the kunai slice into his chest. Before the masked man could pull his kunai out of him, he grabbed his new born son, charged a Rasengan and planted it right in the attacker's chest. This sent him spinning through the wall behind him.

Kyuubi ran over to the Hokage and helped hold him up; but the man's attention was on his wife, who was watching the whole thing. He walked over to her and put their new born son in her arms; the tears of relief flowed from their eyes as the young Naruto looked at them with his large blue eyes.

His round face was like Kushina's when she was in the academy. The full head of blonde hair was almost in the same fashion as the Hokage's. He looked just like his parents, except for his whiskers.

"Now that I have what I want" they heard from the direction of the attacker "you can keep your boy" they looked up to see the masked man holding a new kunai at Kyuubi's throat.

"You think you've won" Kyuubi said softly "you will never be able to release Juubi. I made sure of it" as she grabbed and broke the man's wrist then flipped him over her onto the ground "my presence in this form proves it. All my demonic chakra is gone; you have lost."

"This isn't over" the masked man said as he made one hand sign and seemed to spin out of existence from his mask.

"Hokage-sama" Kyuubi said as she ran over to him "we need to get you to a hospital. You'll die from blood loss soon" the Hokage shook his head in disagreement.

"No" as blood ran from his mouth "whatever that man had on his kunai is making sure I won't survive. I'm just happy my wife and son are safe."

"Minato-kun" Kushina said with concern.

"Don't worry," with a smile "I know I died protecting the village and my new family. I'll make sure the three of you get back to the village gates safely" as he picked up his wife and son in one arm and wrapped his other one around Kyuubi.

Before Kushina could protest, all her eyes could see was yellow. When she could see again, she saw the main gate to Konoha; with several surprised ANBU at it. She felt Kyuubi grab hold of her as Minato lost his grip and fell to the ground.

When the ANBU saw this they rushed over and immediately began trying to heal him. Kyuubi set her former container on the ground as close to her husband as the ANBU would allow. She knew the attempted healing jutsu was for nothing, the masked man had a powerful poison on his kunai that could kill anyone in a matter of minutes if the victim was lucky.

The young Naruto looked at Kyuubi and tried to grab at her hair. It seemed that the Kit inherited his father's attraction to red heads. Kyuubi kneeled down next to her former container and her son and rubbed the Kit's cheek. She couldn't help but to feel responsible for the new born being a bastard now.

"He's gone" one ANBU said with a sad tone.

Tears gushed down Kushina's face when she heard those words. The love of her life had died trying to protect her and their son. She pulled her new born son closer to her and continued to cry; so did Naruto. The ANBU looked at the source of the crying and became wide eyed.

"Get them to the hospital now" one ordered as he picked up the dead Hokage "make sure you have the baby checked out as soon as you get there."

Kyuubi didn't have any time to react before an ANBU grabbed Kushina and Naruto and Shunshined away. She looked at the fallen Hokage and the ANBU carrying him and began to feel tears running down her face. The feeling of guilt came over her; 'If I would just let everyone be all those years ago, none of this would've happened.'

"Where's the hospital?" she asked one ANBU, who didn't respond "please, take me to the hospital; I need to be with Uzumaki-sama."

The ANBU nodded, grabbed Kyuubi around her waist and Shunshined to the hospital. When Kyuubi saw the hospital she pushed the ANBU away from her and ran to through the doors. A few of the people in the waiting room had to take a double glance at her, especially since she looked a little like Kushina.

"Where's Uzumaki, Kushina's room?" she asked as she nearly ran into the front desk.

After she got the room number, she ran down the hall and looked for it. Normally she would've followed her scent, but with all the cleaning supplies the hospital uses it was hard to find. The smell of bleach was beginning to give her a headache.

Each stride she took seemed to add to the guilt and fear she already had. It was because she was angry that she tried to attack Konoha when it was beginning to rise. That was the reason for her imprisonment in Mito Uzumaki; before Mito died though, she transferred her into Kushina. She felt horrible; it was because she couldn't control her anger that the new born Kit was going to be without at least one parent.

She finally found the room, slid the door open and saw her former vessel lying in the hospital bed. Tears began to form in her eyes as she looked at the new mother. Tears with mixed reasons for them; regret, sadness, relief, happiness, and even remorse.

She regretted attacking the village all those years ago. She was sad to see that it was because of her that because of her the young Naruto was now without a father. She was relieved to see that Kushina was still alive and happy that the Kit was safe now. But she mourned the loss of her former vessel's husband.

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-sama" she cried as she sat in a chair next to the bed and put her head on Kushina's lap "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault" she said as she rubbed Kyuubi's head "it was that masked man's."

"Madara will pay for this" she growled.

"You knew that guy?" with a worried look.

"He's the one reason I attacked Konoha when it was being built" tears still running down her face "he killed my little brother."

The door slid open again and a doctor stepped in with a slightly worried look on his face.

"I just got the results of your first test" with a sad tone "your chakra system is completely shutdown. It's weird, from what I saw it looked like the veins exploded in a few areas."

"How bad is it?" Kushina asked in a calm voice.

"Well…" he hesitated.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION NOW!" Kyuubi snapped.

"If she's lucky" with a shaky voice "she'll only retire from her career as a kunoichi."

Kyuubi nearly lost control of her tears when she heard that. Her first day of freedom was the second worst day of her life. Now her former vessel's child was most likely not going to have parents at all; because of her.

"I'll see if I can get Hiashi-sama in here to give me a second opinion about it" as he left the room.

When the doctor left and slid the door closed, Kyuubi broke into tears.

"It's probably because of all the soldier pills I took to keep the seal strong enough to keep you sealed away" as she comforted the former demon.

"Please don't lie" she said between sobs "I know that it's my chakra that did this. I gave you all of it and it overloaded your tenketsu. Now your son won't have any parents."

Kushina slapped Kyuubi and snapped her out of her tears. She pulled the former demon close to her in a comforting hug to help calm her down. She could feel the tears soak through her scrubs.

"Naruto-kun has you" she said softly "you're just as much his mother as I am."

"No I'm not" still crying.

"You were sealed within me while I was pregnant with him" she explained "you experienced the same things I did during that time. And you were willing to give your life to help save him from Madara; that's a maternal instinct. He even has your whiskers" with a soft chuckle.

Kyuubi fell asleep crying, and holding the hand of her former vessel. It pained her to accept raising Naruto if Kushina passed away because of the chakra overload. Even though she claimed she would never be able to look at the Kit as her own, she felt it was the only way to make some sort of amends for the loss of the child's parents.

Kushina was surprised that she hadn't passed out after being set in the hospital bed. She was expecting to be dead tired after the delivery; yet she felt wide awake. The only thing she could think of that could account for her energy was the demonic chakra Kyuubi had put into her before her release and what her body had absorbed before her tenketsu overloaded.

She rubbed Kyuubi's head as she reread a letter to Naruto to read when he's old enough. This way, not only will he not let the ego go to his head, but everyone would've accepted him as a person by time the truth is revealed. She had spent most of the night thinking of different ways to let her son know, but this was the best way in the end.

A smile grew across her lips as she thought about how her and her late husband managed to keep their marriage so quiet that only four people knew about it. Even when they dating, they kept an overly professional appearance when in public. The hardest time they had when they were married was when she was pregnant with Naruto; Minato had come up with a story about how the 'father' abandoned her when she told him she was pregnant and he was doing everything he could to help his friend.

Her heart did feel at ease knowing that he'd be taken care of after she died. While Kyuubi looks enough like her to be able to pass Naruto off as her own, she'd never do that. That was something she was thankful for; however painful it would be for the former Queen of Demons, she gave her word that she would take care of Naruto, he would know he's an orphan, but not who his parents are.

She knows that her former guest wouldn't keep certain things from him, like both his parents being killed, but she knew she wouldn't tell him the whole truth. Kyuubi had shown she was far too noble and honorable to keep the fact that he's an orphan from him. Kushina knew that Kyuubi feared what Naruto would think if he thought that she was responsible for his parents' death.

Her son wouldn't be looked at like the honorable son of the honorable Yondaime Hokage, but it was better than what could've been. Minato had convinced her that their son would've been the new vessel for Kyuubi if she had gotten out during her labor. However, while the idea had been quickly thrown aside when Kyuubi said that her demon chakra was gone; things didn't go as well as hoped.

-two days later-

No one said a word as the funeral began. Kyuubi watched the two coffins as they were lowered into the ground; Naruto sleeping soundly in her arms and wrapped warmly in a blanket. Other than Sandaime Hokage, she was the only one that knew who Naruto's true father was; that she was aware of.

Before Kushina died, much to Kyuubi's discomfort, she convinced those that visited her that Kyuubi was a long lost relative that found out she existed and came to Konoha to meet her. It was amazing how quickly the villagers believed the story. It took Kyuubi a while, but she soon understood why they believed the story when she looked in the mirror of the bathroom.

Kyuubi was now the 'single mother' of Naruto Uzumaki, son of Kushina Uzumaki. The Sandaime had told her about an account Minato set up in case something happened that would put Naruto on his own. While this didn't classify as 'on his own' Kyuubi had no money and the Sandaime knew it; that's why he told her about the account.

Rain began to fall midway through the funeral; Kyuubi did her best to cover the young Naruto. Eventually though, the rain seeped through the extra blanket and started to drip onto the one that was keeping the infant warm. To her surprise, the drips came to a halt. When she looked up she saw an umbrella over her head, and saw that it was being held by a member of ANBU. The masked shinobi didn't say anything as Kyuubi quietly thanked the man for his jester.

Once the funeral was over the ANBU that was holding the umbrella for Kyuubi finally spoke.

"If you ever need anything" as he escorted her to her apartment "don't hesitate to ask me."

"It'd be easier if I knew who you were" as she opened the door.

"Sorry" as he pulled off his mask "I used to be a student of the Yondaime. I'm Kakashi Hatake, but when I'm on duty I'm called Scarecrow. If you can't find me you can find Rin-chan; she's called River when she's on duty. She's also a former student of the Yondaime."

Kyuubi only nodded at the man that had another mask that covered the bottom half of his face under his mask. The only off setting thing about the man, was the Sharingan in his left eye and scar over it. However, badly she wanted to ask about it, she just met him and didn't want to sound nosy.

"I need to get back to my station" Kakashi said with a bow before he put his mask back on and Shunshined away.

-time skip, three years-

Rin was walking to Kyuubi's apartment to have dinner with her friend. She wasn't too surprised when Kyuubi told her the truth about herself, but understood why she lied about it. After all, who would allow a former demon to raise a respected kunoichi's son?

Kakashi got stuck with night duty with his new apprentice, code named Weasel. The boy might've been strong, even by Uchiha standards, but he was still only ten and was bound to give Kakashi a run for his money one day. It was rumored that he was a pacifist within his clan because of things he saw during the Third Shinobi War.

Rin looked at the apartment window where Kyuubi lived and saw shadows moving like there was a fight starting to happen. She quickly Shunshined up to the door and kicked it in just in time to see someone holding Naruto jump out the window and vanish from sight. Her first instinct as a medic made her rush over to Kyuubi and make sure she was alright.

While the former demon wasn't anywhere near as powerful as she used to be; she seemed to put up a good struggle for a civilian. Rin could tell that the assailant only landed one good hit to the back of Kyuubi's head and knocked her out. It relieved her that her friend was alright, but now they had an abduction on their hands.

She quickly pulled out a radio she keeps in her kunai pouch and called it in.

"HQ" she said "this is River; over."

"This is HQ, go ahead River; over."

"I was on my way to Uzumaki-san's apartment when I saw an altercation in progress. Suspect abducted Uzumaki Naruto after knocking out Uzumaki-san. Over."

"Sending Scarecrow and Weasel to your position now."

"Permission to pursue; over" she asked.

"Denied River, stay with the injured party; over."

Rin cursed mentally; she wanted to go after whoever took Naruto. She would be no good without a better description of the assailant. As an ANBU she wanted to pursue to at least figure out who it was; but as a medic and a concerned friend, she stayed with Kyuubi and waited for someone better at tracking to show up. It was all she could do.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two ANBU showed up. Rin gave them the description she had of the assailant and pointed them in the last direction she saw him going. There would be hell to pay if anything happened to Naruto; Kyuubi was very protective of the boy. Kyuubi slowly woke back up and was startled to see Rin next to her.

"Where's Kit-kun?" she growled "where'd that Snake go with him."

"Scarecrow and Weasel are pursuing him as we speak" Rin said as she calmed Kyuubi down "please tell me what happened."

Kyuubi told the story quickly but slow enough so her friend could hear everything.

"I heard a knock on the door and answered it expecting you" she began "but it was a pale faced man that said he was a friend of Jiraiya-sama's; so I let him in and offered him a drink. He looked around and asked about Naruto; sounding like he was checking on him for the Toad Sage. When I showed him Naruto's room, he tried to take him so I tried to stop him" tears fell from the former demon "but failed. I failed Uzumaki-sama; I swore I'd keep her Kit safe. Please you need to find him before something bad happens to him."

"Orochimaru" she said in shock "the Snake Sannin is the abductor" she said into the radio "over."

"He's been missing for four years now; are you sure River; over."

"Positive."

-thirteen days later-

Kyuubi was a handful to keep calm as she tried to go looking for, and many will quote, 'the sorry excuse for a reptile that took her Kit' on her own. A few of the ANBU were even afraid of her as they tried to keep her calm and in her apartment. On these days it sucked to be the new guy, it sucked a lot; because the new guy of the cell always got stuck sitting in the room with the furious woman while the rest of the cell stood outside the doors.

She might not be a demon any more, but she still had heightened senses that could allow her to find the snake. If it weren't for the ANBU that could easily detain her for at least twenty four hours at a time, she would've tried to leave already. It didn't matter to her that Rin made her give her word that she wouldn't try to go and look for the Kit herself; to her, her word to Kushina to keep Naruto safe meant more. If news about Rin, Kakashi and his apprentice having found the hideout where Naruto was hadn't come in when it did, there would've been people in the hospital.

Kakashi called in the location and was given permission to perform the rescue. Now it was only a matter of time before the ANBU could tell the angry Kitsune that Naruto was safe and on his way home. Which was something that everyone on watch duty was looking forward to, because she was on the verge of leaving by force.

-Orochimaru's lab-

Orochimaru looked at a screen that showed silent alarms had been tripped in his lab; it was now time to break camp and leave. Also, destroy anything that could be traced to his other hideouts or experiments. While it wasn't that hard to do, just set off a few explosives, he still had to get his experiment from Anko; who had taken refuge somewhere in the hideout.

She didn't like the fact that he used babies for the experiment. She often took extreme measures to try to stop him from infusing the talismans with the test subject. It took her being restrained in the dungeon for him to be able to actually start on his first experiment.

It annoyed him that out of thirteen test subjects over three years, with only one was a success. After each failure he spent at least a month looking over all his notes to see what could be done differently. He also made sure to note how old the subjects were, where they were from, and so on and so forth. He only made minor changes each time he tried again.

This time, all those minor changes had a very positive outcome; the subject survived all twelve implantations. When he did his first experiment, the child didn't come close to surviving. Until he got to his third subject, none survived the initial transplant; but even the third and fourth died afterwards. He considered himself lucky that the talisman quickly came out of the dead body; otherwise he would've been very enraged, putting it mildly.

When he finally realized he needed to use fuuinjutsu to assist the implantation, he had managed to get his test subjects to survive until he used one talisman each time; the dragon talisman, it was as if there was more to the talisman than he originally thought. While the one out of thirteen rate was better than many of his previous projects, it was still a hassle to get the thirteenth test subject.

'Damn red head' he hissed as he remembered how surprisingly strong Naruto's guardian was.

"Shhh, shhh," Anko said to the baby in her arm as she tried to stay hidden "everything will be alright."

The blonde baby still cried; the pain from the experiment was still present and strong. The young boy had weird characters on different points of his body that she recognized from the scrolls that Orochimaru had deciphered. One for each of the twelve talismans that were implanted in him.

Anko couldn't remember much of the past few years, but she still remembered up till…, well that's just it; she couldn't remember where her memory cut off. She could recognize small things that would look familiar to her, but she couldn't remember where; except for the symbols on the baby she was protecting. It aggravated her that she just woke up in a dungeon one day ago; with something nagging at her to escape and to keep the small child away from her crazy uncle.

She heard someone ask a question.

"Stay quiet, Weasel" she heard as three figures rounded a corner and she felt like she was caught.

She tightened her grip on her kunai and stuck to the shadow she was hiding in. Before she left the dungeon, she made sure to grab a poisoned kunai. It wasn't that difficult to get, she just had to kill the guard for it.

She cursed at herself mentally for not being in a better hiding spot. Then again, when you're as close to the exit as she was there weren't many good ones to use. While the shadows might be enough for a single person, she was also trying to get a baby out of the hideout; said baby was also crying a little louder than she liked.

"I'm River" one figure said as he looked over to her "what's your name?"

"Mitarashi, Anko" she replied back as she glared at them with a killing intent.

She was hesitant to trust these masked figures; after all, it wasn't that difficult to either make a fake mask or kill an ANBU and take it. On her way out of the dungeon, she saw a few special ops masks from different villages; most likely used by her uncle to get… she couldn't remember what her uncle wanted from different villages.

"We're here to take Uzumaki Naruto back to Konoha" River said as she reached for the crying baby.

Anko took a swipe at her; right now she didn't know who to trust. Not only did her uncle betray her, but she knows that he could easily have some of those that work for him impersonate ANBU to get the baby back. She wasn't going to take any chances of her uncle getting a hold of the crying baby in her arm.

Rin quickly pulled back as the girl took a swipe at her. It was easy for her to understand the girl's reaction, especially if she was trying to protect a child. She was also cautious about trying again; she saw some liquid drip off the edge of the kunai when she took a swipe at her.

"Naru-kun" Rin said gently as she kneeled in front of Anko "Kyu-chan is worried sick about you" Naruto stopped crying, but tears continued to flow from his eyes.

"Stay away from him" Anko snapped as she tightened her grip on her kunai.

"Mitarashi-san; was it?" the smallest ANBU asked; she nodded "Uzumaki-san misses her son and has even tried to come out and look for him herself. Please, let's take him home" as he pulled off his mask; much to Kakashi's protest.

Anko thought he was extremely stupid, even if he was legitimately trying to help. It was against ANBU regs to reveal your face while on duty, or a mission unless otherwise instructed. This helped her feel a little more at ease with the group; at least him any way.

Anko looked at the Sharingan eyes for a brief second and looked down to the ground; she has heard stories about the power of the Sharingan and wasn't taking any chances. A few stories tell of the power to control their opponents' actions. Some told of the ability to see the future, but she didn't believe that one at all. She saw the Uchiha's feet move towards her. After the first step, he vanished.

It didn't take long for her to realize he was mere feet in front of her. She cautiously looked up at his face; to her surprise, he had deactivated his Sharingan. His natural deep onyx eyes were visible, even in the dark. The gentle look in his eyes showed he didn't want to resort to using force to take Naruto away from her; it also showed he was legitimately trying to get Naruto home.

"Please" as he held out his hand "we can take him home; all of us."

He waited for the older girl to take his hand, but he was also keeping an eye on her kunai. The last thing he wanted was to get poisoned on his first rescue mission. It would be embarrassing for him to have to return home with medical leave because he let his guard down to a girl.

Anko thought about her options for a second. She could trust the ANBU and not only get Naruto to safety, but herself as well. The one thing she wanted was to be able to return home and be a normal kunoichi. There was also the chance that these ANBU worked for her uncle. In which case she'd be thrown back into the dungeon, or killed. It was a tough call. She put her kunai on the ground and took the Uchiha's hand.

As he helped her up, he put his mask back on; thus hiding his entire face. Even the one facial feature she found interesting, his deep set tear ducts, were hidden; his mask had black lines in the same spot though. His mask showed what his code name was; because it was the face of a weasel.

The four quickly booked it towards the exit, not looking back for anything; not even the shouts of frustration that were obviously Orochimaru's. Anko smirked as she heard her uncle swearing worse than any sailor could as the sound of objects being thrown could be heard. She had taken something that was obviously valuable to him away.

Kakashi used one eye to look at the smirking girl as they exited the hideout. It wasn't a deceptive smirk, but one that showed she was the proud victor of her win. 'Definitely a weird one' he thought as the girl's smirk turned into a gentle smile when they got to a clearing and she looked at the moon.

"Scarecrow-sensei" Weasel said "is there something on your mind?"

"It's nothing" as they continued through the foliage towards Konoha.

-Hokage's office a few hours later-

The Hokage listened to Kakashi and Rin as they delivered the report with Kakashi's apprentice standing next to Anko. Naruto had been safely returned to Kyuubi, who seemed to growl at Anko, and was being examined by the top ANBU medic. The aged Hokage took a puff from his pipe and looked at the ten year old boy.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Itachi?" he asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

"I didn't want to resort to using violence when the young Uzumaki was in her hands" as he held a serious face "and she looked like she was trying to escape from the enemy also…"

"So you figured that because she was trying to escape the enemy, you could break ANBU regulation and show your face while on a mission?"

"I was trying to show her she could trust us" without sounding like he was back talking.

Sarutobi looked at the young Uchiha as he leaned back in his chair; while he had the final say in the boy's punishment for breaking regulations, he understood why he did what he did. However ballsy it might've been, it did work.

"Consider your probationary status reactivated" the old man said as he filled his pipe back up with tobacco "and you will be subject to a field evaluation on a random mission. Dismissed."

"Hai; Hokage-sama" Itachi said as he walked out with Anko right behind him.

Kakashi watched the door close behind the two and waited for a few seconds.

"Hokage-sama" he said "permission to speak freely."

"Go ahead" as he lit the tobacco in his pipe.

"Why'd you give him a slap on the wrist in comparison to what he should've gotten?"

"Because I understand how he saw the situation and came to the conclusion" as he let out a stream of smoke "would you have done things differently?"

"I guess not" with a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

-time skip three years-

Naruto was having trouble sleeping again; every time he closed his eyes he could see a pair of snake like eyes peering down at him. The image wouldn't leave him alone; what made it worse was the laughter he heard in his dreams. It was so unique and life like, it scarred him.

He turned on his desk lamp and put a pillowcase over the top to keep the light down so he wouldn't wake Kyuubi up; a trick Anko showed him. The empty bed next to his was once the spot where Anko slept; Kyuubi had taken her in not long after she was told the details of Naruto's rescue. One of the two that knew he had trouble sleeping on occasion had been sent on a mission with Itachi, a brother figure to him.

Itachi often stopped by to chat with the three. Naruto, being the little brother he is to Anko, constantly picked on her for kissing Itachi when no one was looking; even though he had no proof. Itachi would just hold his straight face when such accusations were made, and Anko often pulled out her sharpest kunai; this would cause Naruto to run immediately.

Sasuke would join Itachi on some visits, which was a relief to Itachi since his little brother was being pressured to be strong just as the Hyuga heiress was being pressured. Sasuke would often loosen up around them and be the kid he was; picking on Itachi for looking at Anko's butt when she would walk around. Those times Anko held the serious face, and Itachi merely poked Sasuke on the forehead.

Naruto opened the desk drawer and pulled out a sheet of hand seals that Anko had copied for him to study. He had asked Kyuubi if he could enroll in the Academy with Sasuke when the summer came to an end. At first she was hesitant to let him, but eventually eased into saying yes; this made him happier than ever.

As he looked at the sheet, he made the hand seal to match the image on the paper. He did this for a few minutes and then turned the sheet over. Starting with the easiest one, he closed his eyes and put his hands together with his index fingers and middle fingers pointing up.

"Sheep" before he felt his body get heavy and slumped over.

A second later; he was floating and could see his unconscious body on the desk. He started to panic; he cried for Ki-chan, what he's always called Kyuubi since he could talk, but didn't seem to wake her. This made him even more scarred; Kyuubi wasn't a heavy sleeper and often heard when he would sneak into the kitchen for a late night snack.

He continued to cry for his mother figure, but to no avail. Tears began to flow from his eyes as he tried running to her, but couldn't move his feet. When he looked down he screamed in fear, his feet weren't feet; they were more like a single slithering appendage.

"Ki-chan" he cried at the top of his lungs hoping to wake her up "Ki-chan."

"Why are you being so loud? And who is Ki-chan; Hatchling?" he heard as he saw another creature seemingly swim towards him.

Naruto froze in fear as he looked at the snake like creature that had a dragon's head. If he were in his body he would've peed himself. Small electric shocks jolted across the creature's body as it floated in front of Naruto.

"Are you going to answer me Hatchling?" it asked with slight anger in its voice.

"Sh…She's m…my m…mom…momma" shaking badly.

The creature swam closer to Naruto and wrapped around him. As it did, it carefully observed the odd markings on the boy. One where his heart is, one below the center of his ribs, one on the right side of his chest, one on his left deltoid, one in between the shoulder blades, one on each palm, one on his throat, one on his right forearm, and one was at the base of the skull in the back somewhat hidden under his hair.

The creature's eyes glowed red as it stared at Naruto; observing the shaking boy before noticing a dog tattoo on the boy's stomach and a sheep one on his forehead. Its eyes widened as it recognized the 'tattoos' for what they really were.

"So" it laughed "you're the new owner of my talismans; that's interesting."

"Tal-mans?" Naruto asked with a confused tone.

"Tal-is-man" it pronounced correcting Naruto "there are twelve, but I only see eleven markings on you. Where is the twelfth?"

"I have a ark on my leg" as he pointed to his body.

The creature sighed; however interesting he found this, it was going to be annoying for a while. The Hatchling could barely pronounce words right and was clueless about a few things. It was beginning to wish it had stayed in the spirit realm instead of looking for its talismans.

"What's your name Hatchling?" as it unwrapped its self from around him.

"Uzumaki Naruto" the boy said, still shaking.

"I am Shendu" it said proudly "I used to be a powerful dragon until I was defeated by a shinobi and sealed as a statue; until that sorry excuse for a reptile blew me up" he seemed to say with a growl of hate "you probably want to get back into your body" the blonde nodded "just swim over to it and reenter it."

Naruto tried to, but couldn't; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't mimic the former dragon's movements through the air. After a minute of coaching from Shendu though, Naruto was able to swim through the air with slight ease. Out of joy he swam through the hall and into Kyuubi's room to show her what he could do. To his surprise, Shendu had beaten him into the room.

"How did you do that?" with curiosity.

"I went through the wall" he sighed "you can do it too. Just swim over to it and act like nothing's there."

Naruto tried it and passed through the wall on the first try. He tried to jump for joy but his legs weren't legs at the moment. Either way though, he made his excitement known to Shendu; who had followed him through the wall.

"Before you get too carried away, Hatchling" he said as Naruto was still 'jumping' for joy "I need to tell you about the talisman you are using right now" Naruto quickly settled down, but was still smiling his usual goofy grin "the power of the sheep allows astral projection."

"Asto projection?" with a confused tone.

"As-tral projection" he corrected Naruto, again "the separation of your spiritual body from your physical one."

"Oh" with a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

Naruto began to feel himself being forced towards his body and panicked. Even though he was trying to swim away from his body, he was still getting closer to it; nothing he did would work. Using his arms to try to pull himself forwards seemed to do next to nothing to help.

"Relax" the dragon said to him "you're simply returning to your physical body."

"But I wanna play more" as he continued to try to fight being pulled into his body.

"I have no desire to leave you alone and clueless about my talismans" he assured the blonde "I will be right here to teach you about them as I deem you ready to use them."

Naruto nodded at the spirit and let himself be forced into his body. A smile grew across his face as he put the paper away, turned off his lamp and crawled back into his bed. Within minutes he had passed out from being mentally exhausted; the eyes and laughter that taunted him only a few minutes ago no longer did.