The Sealing
What is the purpose of life? The purpose of waking up every morning and moving forward with your life when only death awaits you at the end?
These were the thoughts Minato Namikaze had as he faced what was most certainly his final moments. The crimson eyes of the Kyuubi no Yoko glared down at him, making him realize just how insignificant he was in the face of such a calamity. Despite this, he pushed forward. He was the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash, the Scourge of Iwa. All these titles signified the legend he had built in his short time as a shinobi, but none of them compared to the title he had recently received, and the bond he cherished most.
Father.
He was a father, and his son was threatened by the greatest foe he had ever fought. His home was threatened by this beast. He would not stand by as the monsterous fox layed waste to countless innocents and destroyed whatever future his son would have. The sight of red hair in his peripheral vision caused a morose smile to appear on his face, beside him stood the love his life, Kushina Uzumaki. Even after giving birth and having her tailed beast extracted she would stand and fight. It was this fierce attitude that had caused him to fall for her, and his heart ached at the truth of tonight.
She would die.
Nothing could save her, even she couldn't continue living after all the stress put on her in such a short time. She was operating on pure will power now, her instincts as a mother to protect her son. She would, he knew this. She could anything if she really wanted too.
"Kushina." He croaked out, only now realising how tired he was. Stamina was never his biggest strength, it's why he liked to be efficient in his battles, ending them quickly before his enemy could react. A shame the Kyuubi was not the type of foe he could deal with quickly. Seeing that he had her attention, he continued. "I have a plan, I need to reseal the Kyuubi before it can do any more damage to the village." Before she could interrupt, he cut her off. "Before you speak, no. I can't seal it into you. We both know we're not making it past tonight and we need to deal with the Kyuubi permanently."
The cold hard truth, he hated being this blunt with her but he had no time for niceties. He wasn't her husband anymore, he was the Hokage and a father who had to protect his son. He couldn't worry about hurting her feelings, even if his conscience screamed at him.
"Then who?" She whispered, unshed tears in her eyes as she glanced at Naruto.
Naruto. His son, a boy he hoped to watch grow into a man and succeed him as Hokage. A future snatched away from him by the beast in front of him, a beast he now had to seal into his son. For the first time in his life, Minato truly hated something.
"Into Naruto." Silence befell the two before Kushina's once sorrowful gaze sharpened into the eyes of a vengeful mother.
"You can't!" She screamed at him, his heart piercing at the sound of the sheer terror and rage in her voice, "You know what life he'll live! You can't subject him to that!" Their conversation was cut short as the Kyuubi, seemingly knowing of his plan, slammed his paw down on top of them. It was only Minato's quick reflexes that saved them.
Glancing down at the exhausted woman in his arms, Minato shed a tear. "I know, Kushina. I know, but if he's to live any life this is the only way." Setting her on her feet, Minato faced the Kyuubi that had now discovered their location.
Before he could return to his battle, Kushina's whisper stopped in his tracks, "No. There's another way." Minato turned his gaze back to his wife, who looked weaker by the second, "My sword, Minato. It can absorb chakra. Maybe it could be used to hold the Kyuubi?"
Minato pondered this for a moment, usually such a plan would fail. After all, the Kyuubi's power was too immense to be stored within an inanimate object, but Kushina's sword was such an object. It was the pride and joy of the once Uzumaki Clan, capabale of absorbed chakra and releasing it in attacks, and if combined with a power sealing technique it could theoritically withhold the beast. If Minato wasn't as exhausted he would have realised that no, this wasn't the ideal solution. No matter how great the weapon was it couldn't hold the Kyuubi forever, unforunately Minato wasn't at peak performance. He was tired, tired of the fighting and death and seeing this as the best option to give his son as normal of a life as possible he agreed.
This was the 10th October. The night the fate of the shinobi world was changed, the night when the Fourth Hokage and his wife fell in battle seemingly killing the great Kyuubi no Yoko in the process.
All that remained of such a titanic battle was Kushina Uzumaki's sword, something that was later stored at the monument built to remember their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all those that perished that night. It's true purpose unknown to all. Most importantly though, it was the night Naruto Uzumaki was born, and the shinobi world would never forget his name.
He would ensure it.