In the Haruno household, a woman with blonde hair, green eyes, and fair skin was cooking. Meanwhile, a man with pink, dull hair styled like a starfish, complete with sideburns, blue eyes, and darker skin, was reading a newspaper while sitting on the couch.
The atmosphere was calm, with only the sizzle of the frying pan breaking the silence. Their son lay next to his father, sharing his pink hair, though his was brighter, and his mother's green eyes.
To his parents, he appeared calm and seemingly asleep. However, unbeknownst to them, he was meditating, attempting to sense the energy surrounding them without success.
Sakura Haruno possessed memories of another life. From his earliest memories, he recalled a second life where he had been a newly graduated naval engineer. Tragically, he had fallen off a ship into the motor blades, becoming minced meat for sharks and other marine life.
In this life, he realized from observing his parents at birth that he was in the world of Naruto and that he was Sakura. Initially, he was upset about being Sakura. Not only did he lack a cheat like Naruto's Nine-Tails and Asura Chakra or Sasuke's Sharingan and Indra Chakra, but he was also a woman.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that his "little sword" was still with him, sparing him the need for a funeral for it or further mourning.
At present, his primary obstacle was his ordinariness in this world, lacking any advantages such as a system, unique bloodline, or special abilities to aid him. At this point as a baby, the sole action he could take was to try sensing natural energy to speed up his training in senjutsu when he is older.
Additionally, he needed to focus on sleeping and eating well until he could begin physical training and chakra refinement. His early years would revolve around sleeping well, eating well, training well, studying well, and repeating the cycle.
One thing that still bothered him was that, after better understanding the language, he found out his parents had kept his name as Sakura. He knew of some anime characters named Sakura who were male, but he had hoped his parents would choose a different name to spare him from bullying. It seemed he would have to beat the brats who dare to tease him about it, as his parents believed the name suited his hair.
Sakura also felt the name matched, though it was too feminine. However, he couldn't change it now, and if his punch was strong enough, no one would dare say anything to his face after experiencing it.
As Sakura continued to meditate, he sensed something. Initially, he thought it was natural energy. Finally, after four months he had felt it. But a second later, he realized it couldn't be natural energy. It felt malicious and evil, as if it was trying to instill fear. Opening his eyes and looking around, he noticed his parents appeared undisturbed.
"What's wrong, Sakura? You're sweating, little guy. Did you have a nightmare?" Kizashi asked worriedly, noticing his son opening his eyes, sweating and looking a bit erratic. As he was about to pick him up and try to calm him down, he felt it too.
Mebuki, who was cooking, also stopped as she sensed it. "Such strong and murderous chakra," she said.
"Something is wrong," added Kizashi as he took Sakura in his arms and went outside, with Mebuki following to see what was happening.
Outside, they saw what was going on. A huge orange fox with nine tails was wreaking havoc through the village center.
"Nine Tails," muttered Mebuki before saying, "We need to go to a shelter. It's too dangerous for Sakura."
Kizashi nodded and after noticing some ninjas already helping to direct civilians and ninjas with their kids to a shelter, they followed.
Meanwhile, Sakura was stunned. It was the first time he had felt killing intent and such hatred directly from chakra, and the first time he had felt chakra at all. He also thought he might have soiled himself, but he was a baby, so he had an excuse. It was something he had never experienced in his lives, full of sorrow, hate, despair and a desire for revenge, all kinds of negative emotions compressed in the chakra leaking from the Nine Tails.
He couldn't take his eyes off the Nine Tails. It was so huge and powerful. Just one swing of its paw destroyed many buildings.
In another part of Konoha, Minato watched as the attacker escaped using space-time ninjutsu. Meanwhile, the Nine Tails continued to ravage the village and he needed to be there.
Teleporting to the site of the battle between the Nine Tails and the ninjas, he noticed the Third Hokage fighting, with no sign of Jiraiya, who had returned days earlier after deducing it was time for Kushina to give birth to his disciple's daughter.
"Where is teacher Jiraiya?"
As Hiruzen, the small old man, struck the Nine Tails with Enma on the head, he shouted, "He said earlier today he had to confront Orochimaru about something! Let's hope he sensed what is going on and returns."
If Sakura were here, he would have lamented that a small butterfly could throw things off. Hopefully, it didn't cause too much disruption.
As the Third Hokage and Fourth Hokage battled the Nine Tails, inside an underground base in Konoha, both Orochimaru and Jiraiya were face to face, some distance apart, in combat positions and tense. From the looks of the base, they had already fought a bit.
"Jiraiya, choose: stop me from leaving the village or go help the village and your last student," said Orochimaru as he licked his lips with his long, creepy tongue. Inside, he wondered how Jiraiya had learned about his experiments even before Hiruzen or Minato.
Was it Danzo, who wanted to gain something by keeping Jiraiya here and already knew or planned the rampage of the Nine Tails? He knew Danzo coveted the position of Hokage. Was he trying to kill Minato?
But there were more chances for his master, Hiruzen, to take the seat back. Did Danzo plan to make a contribution and take the credit?
There were also chances that somebody from outside planned the Kyuubi rebellion. Knowing that Jiraiya was not traveling outside, they thought they could trap Jiraiya here with Orochimaru so that he would not be able to help.
But that person or Danzo did not know Jiraiya well. Orochimaru knew that Jiraiya would not be able to ignore the village in danger, and even more so, his last student who was fighting outside for it!
Jiraiya, on the other side, had a conflicted face. He did not want to let Orochimaru go, but he could try later to bring Orochimaru back if he left. However, if his student, Minato, or his teacher, Hiruzen, died because he could not provide help, he would not have another chance.
"You win, Orochimaru. I can't stop you today, but I will not give up on you," he said before leaving.
"Still naive and idealistic as ever," said Orochimaru before also leaving. He looked at the wood release subjects in the tubs in the base. Seeing no one alive, he left. Some time after he left, a child whose life was very weak started to recover and be in good condition.
The future Konoha real estate master builder was born on this day.
Back on the battlefield, the ninjas fighting the Nine Tails noticed Jiraiya's arrival.
One of them said, "With the Fourth Hokage, Third Hokage, and one of the Sannin, we are saved!"
Another, dodging one of the Kyuubi's attacks, said, "Weird that Master Orochimaru did not also come."
"Maybe he is out of the village, like..." another ninja began to say, but he was stopped when Minato teleported next to him and brought him outside the battle just as the paw of the Nine Tails fell right in the spot where he had been. If Minato had done nothing, he might have become a mosaic of meat and blood.
Minato, noticing that Jiraiya was also coming and that the other ninjas were more of a nuisance in this battle and their sacrifice was needless right now, said, "Retreat and help the villagers. The Third Hokage, Master Jiraiya, and I can take care of it. No need to sacrifice your lives."
The ninjas, hearing the Hokage's order, retreated as Jiraiya arrived.
Seeing the situation, he bit his finger and summoned Fukasaku and Shima, the two elder toads of Mount Myoboku.
Two old toads appeared from smoke, one with balding white hair and one with curly purple hair.
"Jiraiya boy, what is wrong?" asked Shima. Fukasaku was also about to ask but he and Shima felt the Nine Tails' chakra and jumped onto Jiraiya's shoulder.
"The Nine Tails," said Fukasaku.
They already started to help Jiraiya enter sage mode without needing Jiraiya to say something.
Minato also summoned Gamabunta from Mount Myoboku as he bit his finger and pressed on the ground.
"Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique!"
In the air, a huge red toad appeared, falling on the Nine Tails and immobilizing it for a bit.
Hiruzen and Jiraiya jumped to Minato's side.
"What do we do with it?" asked Jiraiya.
Minato said, "I thought of a plan. Kushina is too weak right now to have the full Nine Tails sealed inside her, and the only other Uzumaki, who is my child, is also too weak to take the full beast."
Jiraiya asked, "Do you plan to split the Nine Tails to seal it back in your wife and your child?"
Hiruzen said while shaking his head, "There is no other option besides Minato's plan. We don't have other Uzumaki; only they are able to contain the Nine Tails."
Minato nodded. "With three of us who are seal masters and Kushina, who is levels above us, we could do it without having to resort to forbidden techniques."
Hiruzen and Jiraiya nodded in agreement. Hiruzen had been planning to sacrifice himself by summoning the Shinigami and taking a part of the Kyuubi with him in Shinigami belly. However, Minato's plan was better. Konoha would not lose a powerhouse and would have two jinchurikis whose power was assured to be above Kage level when using the Nine Tails.
If he could survive, seal the Nine Tails, and end this, he would not insist on killing himself by using a forbidden sealing technique. After all, he wanted to spend his retirement relaxing before dying and see his grandchild that his eldest son and his wife were planning to have.
"I'm going to bring Kushina as well. Make sure the Kyuubi is incapacitated better," said Minato before teleporting away.
All of the conversation happened in a few seconds, and the Nine Tails, who heard these plans to seal him back and even split him in two, became even more angry and threw the toad off him.
But Jiraiya had other plans and summoned another two huge toads.
Two toads appeared in the air and fell down on the Nine Tails.
"Bunta, Ken, and Hiro, help us restrain the Nine Tails!" shouted Jiraiya as both he and Hiruzen took out some chains from a scroll, split, and ran around the Nine Tails, restraining its limbs and bringing them closer.
"Multiple Spiral Chains Seal!"
The Multiple Spiral Chains was a sealing jutsu created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, inspired by the Uzumaki clan's adamantine sealing chains. The jutsu was not exactly like its inspiration and needed to be used by at least two ninjas to successfully restrain a large beast. The strength of the jutsu was stronger with the users' sealing skills, the strength of the user, and the materials used for the chains.
It could not keep the Nine Tails incapacitated alone, but with the help of the three toads holding the Nine Tails, it would buy a significant amount of time. Minato would return quickly, and with the help of Kushina's adamantium sealing chains, all of these would surely keep the Nine Tails down for a long time.
It did not take many seconds after the Nine Tails fell completely to the ground with its limbs tied together for Minato and Kushina to appear.
Kushina looked very weak in Minato's arms, but the amazing vitality of the Uzumaki clan and her relatively young age for an Uzumaki helped her maintain her life.
If they could shove the Nine Tails back, she could survive this incident and maybe even make a full recovery with the amazing recovery of the Uzumaki clan together with the Nine Tails' chakra.
Minato laid Kushina down, and golden spiky chains with spearheads appeared out of her back, hugging the Kyuubi in all parts and gripping extremely hard on him. Their strength was immense, surpassing the knock-offs of the Multiple Spiral Chains.
The Nine Tails also felt it and was completely immobilized, unable to move and the use of chakra was very hard.
Minato said, "Now I need to bring our daughter."
"Wait, why?" asked Kushina, surprised. Did Minato want to make their child a jinchuriki?
Being a jinchuriki, she knew how hard it was to be one.
"We can't seal the Nine Tails fully in just you, as weak as you are," Minato explained.
"You want to make our daughter a jinchuriki?" asked Kushina, a bit angry though weak.
"Kushina, this is the only way we can save you. This way, our daughter will not lose you. And don't worry about the treatment from the village. After this, the villagers will know that our daughter was a hero who made the Nine Tails sealing possible. I assure you of this," Minato said sincerely, looking into her eyes. He knew Kushina would not agree simply to making their daughter a jinchuriki.
Kushina was shaken. She did not want her child to be motherless; she wanted to be with her as she grew up, not die on her birthday. And the treatment from the village towards the jinchuriki could be solved with her being the Hokage's daughter and a hero of the village, considering that Minato was alive.
Kushina felt it was more worthwhile to be by her daughter's side than to be someone her daughter knew only by the words of others. "I understand. Bring her. I know a jutsu that could work, but my chakra is too little right now, and all of us are still not sufficient. Bring other ninjas, jonins, clan heads, who are a bit strong."
Minato nodded before teleporting away.
He first teleported to the clan heads to tell them to go and bring the most powerful of their clans.
The Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Hyuga, Inuzuka, Sarutobi, and Aburame, whom he was about to forget thanks to their really low presence as individuals and even as a clan in the politics of Konoha, all of them were no problem.
One thing he also left the clan heads wondering was when the Hokage put one of his seals in their clan compound and how they did not find it till now.
But when teleporting to the Uchiha, he did see something strange.
Some Root members were stopping them from leaving, which explained why he did not see any Uchiha when he arrived at the Nine Tails battle.
"Why is Root stopping the Uchiha from contributing to the battle?" asked Minato with a smile, but different from the usual sunny one that most residents of Konoha knew. This one had a sharp feeling.
Fugaku, seeing Minato, went to his side. "Hokage-sama, they were stopping us, saying it's your and Danzo's order."
Fugaku had a feeling it was very false. Only Danzo could be the one who ordered it. He and Minato knew each other in their personal lives; their wives were best friends. So he knew Minato had no hatred or negative feelings for the Uchiha.
The Root operative looked a bit shaken seeing the Hokage, but thanks to their suppressed emotions they recovered fast.
And the fact that Danzo did not calculate that Minato would go to the Uchiha compound, he did not give them an order to lie. So they said truthfully why they were there. "Lord Danzo gave us the task to stop the Uchiha from leaving the compound in his name and your name."
Minato's brow twitched a bit. He knew he had to dismantle Root, but the Third Hokage said it would not be a good idea. It looked like he needed the Third Hokage to retire fully and not mentor him anymore in his career as Hokage, and just teach at the ninja school and fish with his old friend all the time.
"I did not say such things. Now leave."
"But Lord Danzo said..."
"I'm the Hokage. Leave," said Minato. If Danzo was here, he would have tried to storm and slam a door while shouting, "You will regret it!" out of reflex.
The Root operatives looked at one another and left to inform their master.
Turning to Fugaku, he said, "Go where the Nine Tails is and bring your most powerful jonin. We need as much strength and chakra for a sealing jutsu."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Minato thanked him and left to get his daughter.
Looking in the crib, he saw a baby with blonde hair and three whiskers crying. Picking her up, he said, "I am here. Don't cry. You are a strong girl," before teleporting back to the Nine Tails.