Disclaimor- I do not own Naruto. Bakamoto does.

On with the story!

Crimson Tears: Prologue

They say that if you die with too many regrets, your soul is too heavy to pass on; They say that you need to shed your earthly bounds, and with one last breath, in one final moment, you shed a tear of the darkest crimson, that contains your life, your will, and your sorrow.

A streak of lightning lit the sky around Konohagakure, as carnage raged underneath the high clouds. It was as if the envoy of destruction was given life, in the form of a gargantuan nine tailed fox. It had red fur, as if it was forever drenched in blood. The huge claws and sharp teeth only accented its frightening visage. Wave after wave of ninja fell under the might of the biju. It roared a blood-curdling scream, laced with insane killer intent, which caused many eardrums to burst, and even more to go crazy.

Clutching his head in agony, an ANBU yelled in desperation, "Hold on, Minato is almost here!" As best as he could, he threw himself at the Kyuubi, with a Kaze no Yaiba wrapped around his arm. He slashed at the Kyuubi's foot, causing only a miniscule wound. It healed almost immediately. The demon growled and batted him away with minimal effort. As he crashed through the trees of the forest, he thought to himself, 'this isn't nearly enough… You better hurry, sensei, because time is almost up.' With that, he reformed his wind blade, and charged it with all of his chakra, controlling the erratic sword as best he could, and jumped back into the fray.

Break

"Congratulations, Yume-san. He has your eyes," said the doctor. A baby with eyes of the purest blue cried passionately. "He is beautif-"

"This is the room with Uzumaki-san right?"

"Yes, Minato, this is the room." The door was thrown open, revealing the third Hokage and his predecessor. Both faces had a grim expression, and regret was present in their eyes. "Uzumaki-san, as you know, the Kyuubi no Yoko is approaching the village. It is of great importance that you lend us your baby." Said Minato, in a monotone.

Yume's eyes widened. Why do they need him? What could they possibly need with a newborn child? Yume searched her memory. She was an ANBU Captain, who had enough connections to know about almost everything. She should know something, and yet the only things she could find were suicidal… "No… No… NO! NO, NO, NO, NO! PLEASE, NO!" Tears streamed down her face as she desperately held her son to her chest. Minato's eyes hardened. "I wont let you!" Yume settled into a battle stance, but winced as she stood up. "Yume-san, you need to calm down!" yelled the doctor.

The Hokage sighed, knowing it would be like this. As Yume stumbled towards him, he teleported behind her and hit her with a chop to the neck. She stopped and spoke softly as she fell. "Naruto…"

Minato shunshin'ed away into the ceremony room. On the table in the middle of the room was a set of complex seals, stopping at the middle, as though incomplete. He placed the child onto the table, as the child stared curiously into his eyes. He forced himself not to smile. The Sandaime appeared in back of him, and watched stoically. Minato painted an intricate spiraling seal onto the child's stomach. His hands glowed with a blue hue, and the seals started to move, getting sucked into the child's stomach. He heard a huge crash outside, and felt the clash of chakra. Sensing something wrong outside, he tucked the child under his cloak and shunshin'ed outside.

"Kakashi, what happened?" yelled Minato as he found his student on the ground, his hands shredded meat on the ground, and his silver hair matted with blood, with the Sharingan spinning. "You're late sensei, got lost on the road of life?" Kakashi grinned, and coughed up blood.

"Sorry. Stay there until the medic-nins come. I have to go take care of Usagi-chan there." The Hokage summoned Gama-Bunta and road off, back turned to Kakashi. "Be careful," whispered Kakashi, his grin fading. "I've lost too much already."

"This is our final battle, isn't it, gaki?" said GamaBunta's booming voice.

"Yeah, let's show old fur ball what we got!" Minato exclaimed. Truth be told, he wasn't as confident as he looked, with his cloak flowing in the rain, and his hands pointing forward. Naruto started to cry, snuggling closer to hide from the rain. "I'm sorry, young Naruto. This burden is too much to bare for most, and yet I ask you, a new born child, to carry it. I truly am sorry."

The rain beat against his head, and his heart in his ear. Bu-bump The toad boss approached the fox cautiously, as it grinned maliciously. Bu-bump The Yondaime went through a string of seals, as the Kyuubi waited patiently, finally finding a challenge. Bu-bump The Yondaime finished, and the Shinigami appeared before him. Bu-bump "Seal the Fox into this child, and in return, you may have my soul."

"Very well. As you wish." Invisible chains bound the Kyuubi, and it thrashed, swinging its tails desperately as it realized what was happening. Its primal fear clouded its judgment, as it blew flames of the darkest hell toward the chains, burning buildings and trees alike. Soon it stopped thrashing, and its corporal body turned to ashes, as if made of fire itself.

Its soul was sealed into Naruto. Bu-bump As the cold hands of death went through his stomach, he found himself regretting. As the Shinigami tore his soul from his body, he thought of everything he wanted to do, but couldn't. He didn't think he would die like this. He didn't WANT to die like this. He struggled against the Shinigami, but to no avail. He desperately tried to escape, but his efforts bore no fruit. Then he did something he hadn't done in years. He cried. He didn't want to die like this! He wanted kids, and a wife, and live a long life. He looked at Naruto longingly, as if it were his own child. He shed tears, and as his final tear fell, it turned crimson. It dropped into Naruto's pure blue eye, and melted into it as if it was but a rock in water, and he gurgled happily, reaching for Minato. Despite himself, he smiled, and faced the death god, knowing that he would die. His eyes dulled, and his skin turned winter cold. GamaBunta disappeared without his summoner's chakra. As he fell, he took one last breath.

In one last breath, he defeated Kyuubi.In one last breath, his heart stopped beating; and in one last breath, Uzumaki Naruto disappeared before his eyes.

-

Yay. Prologue is done! Please R&R, Constructive criticism only please. I need tips since this is only my third story. Also, would anyone point me to a list of Technique names or a translator?(I abhor using English and then adding 'no jutsu' or just 'jutsu' to it. If your going to translate part of it, you should finish and translate the whole thing.