2 The day the Heir was born

For Kushina Uzumaki, things had been very hectic in her life.

Ever since she came to Konoha, she felt like a stranger. Received as a foreigner, the other students frequently teased her during her stay at the Ninja Academy; she even earned the nickname 'Tomato' for her rounded face and intense red hair.

However, her rude temperament made her respond somewhat excessively to her provocations, also earning the nickname Red Hot Habanero for the beatings she gave to her companions.

It was also in that period that she met her future husband, Minato Namikaze.

Although love did not arise overnight, at first, Kushina thought he was nothing more than a skinny sissy with a dream of being a Hokage, but unlike the classic braggarts, he did have potential.

As much as she resisted, it was impossible for her not to give in to the boy's natural charm, and she ended up falling madly in love with him when he saved her from an attempted kidnapping by the village of Kumo.

She didn't know though that while her feelings were sincere and legitimate, the powerful physical attraction that Kushina felt towards Minato resulted from carrying the Uzumaki Heir within her.

With all the genetic potential within her, the seed needed to start sprouting was simply material. Genetics of an outstanding Shinobi, and based on it, that modified ovum forced the Uzumaki's endocrine system to generate hormones that would cause the girl to be attracted to the most talented boy in her age range.

In that period, Mito Uzumaki passed away. This led to Kushina fulfilling her original purpose when she arrived in Konoha, which was to become the next Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

She was in quite a solid depressive period since just a few days after becoming the Container of the Kyuubi, was that Operation Vertical was developed in silence, which blamed a huge group of supposed looters for the destruction of Uzushio to steal its secrets of Fuinjutsu and its particular relics.

She was fully aware of how her people had disappeared from her since Mito, who she idolized, told her as soon as she arrived in Konoha, so the event had not taken her by surprise.

But at the end of the day, the Uzumaki had been her family.

For the world at large, with the apparent exception of the leaders, the destruction of Uzushio came as a complete shock.

A complimentary village where many of the strongest clans had a place to live, had disappeared in just one night, leaving only a handful of Uzumaki who had escaped the slaughter, but had actually been allowed to flee on purpose so that the physical virtues of redheads were available in the world.

All of this was regulated with due control to leave them from having dangerous ideas for the maintenance of the existing status quo.

Like Jinchuuriki, Kushina had exceptional conditions and could not be trained by just anyone, so she received training directly from the renowned Tsunade, known as the Princess of Slugs, granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki and the Shodaime Hokage of Konoha, Hashirama Senju.

She struggled hard to control the monster within her, mostly because of his hostility, but she was finally able to gain voluntary control of much of her power, and her ability was soon recognized.

Kushina would then live through the Third Ninja War during her teenage years

She fought using the power of the Kyuubi and was recognized by the nickname from her childhood.

During that period of time, she met a group of Orphans of Ame, three Ninja who had lost their families during the Second Ninja War and who were later trained by Jiraiya, the famous Toad-Sennin and Master of Minato.

During her time she made good friends with the three of them, especially with Konan, the woman of that group who sported navy blue hair.

After a few days of living together during a mission, they eventually went their separate ways.

After some years of conflict, hard battles and painful losses, the conflict finally ended and she could enjoy peace in the Elemental Nations.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, decided that it was time to make way for a successor.

Kushina was very happy when her beloved boyfriend was chosen to take on such an outstanding responsibility, as he had been a prominent war hero who gained fame for being able to crush entire battalions single-handedly.

In all her life, Kushina had lived sad moments and also happy moments, but none like receiving the news that she was pregnant.

Her joy was never so great, because from her would be born the living proof of the love that she and Minato had for each other.

However, due to her nature as Jinchuuriki, it was taken as a state secret and she was forbidden to tell it until it was impossible to hide it.

Although the redhead secretly told the secret to her best friend Mikoto Uchiha and also sent a letter to Konan through the toads of Jiraiya.

The months of Kushina's gestation were the fullest of her life. She enjoyed every minute of her knowing that a new life was growing within her.

She also shared her pregnancy with her friend and through the letters sent with the toads, also with Konan. Nothing of her had filled her more in life than being an ordinary woman living the development of the baby she carried and sharing it with her most loved ones.

After ten months, the normal gestation period for a Jinchuuriki woman, as was known from her experience with Mito, the time had come for the child of the Yellow Lightning and Red Tide to be born.

A lot of preparations were made, since during the birth of a Jinchuuriki's baby, the seal that held the beast inside her would be weakened and would give the monster a chance to break free.

Everything appropriate was done: delivering the baby in a secret facility on the outskirts of Konoha in absolute secrecy, surrounding the place with ANBU to prevent any attempted attack on Kushina, in order for Minato to take care of the seal at all times.

Thanks to these preparations, the birth of the baby, a little boy with blond hair like her father's and curious marks on his cheeks similar to the whiskers of a fox, was a success.

However, despite all the precautions taken, a masked individual was able to infiltrate the place, and murder the midwife and her medical assistant.

To the horror of the parents, he also managed to take the little boy hostage and threaten to kill him if they didn't hand over the Kyuubi.

For a moment chaos broke out and it was to the point where Minato was in front of the Kyuubi already on the outskirts of Konoha after the destruction that the monster had left in the village.

He was ready to seal the Kitsune within his own son to prevent the world from being thrown off balance in terms of the balance of power in the villages.

Minato was going to sacrifice his life to use the Reaper Death Seal and take the Yin half of the Kyuubi Chakra with him to the Shinigami's stomach, but at that moment, the same Kinton Chakra Chains that Kushina had emerged to suppress the fox.

The Kyuubi looked astonished as in a way he believed instinctively, the little boy's Kekkei Genkai was activated to help his father seal it.

But the reality was that in the programming of the Ultimate Weapon, a transcriptional stamp had been left in the genetic code of the Heir of the Uzumaki to obtain the power of a Biju if the opportunity presented itself.

That's why the stamp reacted to the Kyuubi's Chakra, and the Kekkei Genkai held it back long enough under the stunned gaze of his parents for the Yondaime to have a chance to seal him completely inside the neonate.

As the Kyuubi was sealed within Menma's hair began to change color as a result of his genes infusing aspects of the Kyuubi. In front of their eyes, the once golden blonde hair of their child quickly turned into a deep and dark black as his eyes became a much colder icy blue.

The hatred of the Kyuubi had dyed the once sunny child into one of darkness.

This is what happened all that October 10 and Minato Namikaze died like a hero, completely sealing the terrible monster inside his son, before the incredulous gaze of his wife, who moments later fell unconscious to the ground from exhaustion and was rescued from the Kyuubi of her interior as well as the impression she took when she saw her beloved husband die right in front of her eyes without being able to do anything for him.

----

"Kh ... W-Where ... Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, Kushina... I'm glad you woke up, you've been asleep for a couple of days, but it's normal after what happened..."

"Konan? …"

Still weak, Kushina turned to the left of the bed to find her old friend from Amegakure, the blue-haired girl with deep amber eyes, clad in a black cloak with a bandage on her forehead instead of her sash and several bandages on her face.

She was surprised to meet the woman, since despite the continuous communication between them, they knew that it was unlikely that they would see each other again due to the very different lifestyles of both of them.

So Kushina silently thanked her friend for being with her at such a difficult time.

"Konan ... I'm very happy to see you, but ... Why are you here?" The redhead asked, confused and the blue-haired woman instantly darkened her gaze.

"A few days ago, Hanzo the Salamander ambushed us and…" Ame's angel sobbed before she could continue.

"Yahiko and Nagato were ambushed and killed along with the others… I was the only Akatsuki who could escape."

Her breathy voice could barely be heard as she spoke.

"I started walking without direction and when I realized it, I was already here."

"Konan …"

Kushina was really pained to hear of the tremendous losses that her friend had suffered.

"I-If I can do something for you, do not hesitate to ask me."

"I, I just want..."

The blue-haired girl took a few seconds before continuing.

"I want to have a place to call home," she finished as she hide her face in her hands and let herself cry.

Nagato was her best friend and Yahiko was the man she was in love with…

As far as she could understand, they were both barely 19 years old and had already suffered terrible losses. The cry of her friend was really saddened her to the point that she remembered again the loss of her lover Minato and tears streamed down her eyes as well.

However, despite how much she also suffered, she had her young son and could not allow herself to be weak. Her duty now was to fill that baby with love and take care of him while she could.

She wiped her tears away with her right forearm and turned to look at the devastated Konan.

"Come with us …" The blue-haired girl she turned to see her friend was surprised "We may not be Yahiko or Nagato, but my baby and I can be your new family …"

"I…" Amid her grief, Ame's angel saw a glimmer of hope.

Konan began to think ... What was left of the world?

Kushina was the only friend she had, since during Hanzo's ambush of the Akatsuki, only she had survived.

She certainly had Jiraiya-sensei, but other than that, she had nothing left except for the redhead and that baby, whom she still didn't know.

"You are all that I have left apart from Jiraiya-sensei and I cannot refuse that kind of invitation now …"

The amber-eyed girl smiled almost imperceptibly despite the sadness that invaded her, being reciprocated by the amethyst-eyed mother

"And now ... I would like to know where my little one is."

The Uzumaki muttered thoughtfully.

"I was at the incubator. When I asked about you, they informed me about your baby too..."

Konan replied.

"I understand; after what happened, it was logical."

Kushina lowered her gaze and was visibly saddened.

"What happened?" Konan asked intrigued.

Kushina asked her to close the door completely. When she returned to her side she began to tell him everything in great detail: the surprise attack of the masked man, the extraction of the Kyuubi and his attack on the village, as well as the subsequent sealing of the Bijuu in her son at the cost of the life of her beloved husband.

Helplessly, when she finished telling her story, Kushina burst into tears.

"Kushina, like me, you have suffered enough..."

Once Konan released the pain from her, they merged into an effusive hug to share their feelings and realize that at the end of their terrible experiences, at least they had each other.

Perhaps it was not something very hopeful, but at least it was a consolation for the complicated life that, without their most important emotional support, they were to face.

"Excuse me, Kushina-san...." The door opened softly.

A brown nurse came in carrying a small baby whose short hair was a deep black and had curious little markings resembling three pairs of fox whiskers.

His looks were completely different from that of his father.

He was sleeping peacefully, wrapped in a white blanket.

"That's my…" the Uzumaki muttered, astonished, while Konan looked at the newborn curiously.

"I-It's your son," the nurse answered hastily. "Here you are!"

To Kushina's bewilderment, the girl was holding the baby quite far from her body and barely holding him in front of her as if she wanted nothing to do with him.

Kushina just took the little one they offered her, the nurse made a rude bow and hurried out of the place before the confusion between Kushina and Konan.

For Konan, the behavior of that girl was quite strange, but for Kushina, the reason was apparent.

Her son was the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki.

Mito had told her when she was young that the collective hatred for the Biju would always last.

From the moment they were used as weapons of destruction during wars, that hatred was also focused on their containers, regardless of whether the person in question was exemplary and faultless.

Kushina did not really live that experience since her status as Jinchuuriki was always kept secret.

But now, it was apparent that it was public knowledge that her son contained the beast inside him, and that guaranteed her an extremely difficult life on the emotional level.

"My little boy…"

Kushina smiled softly and began to cry moved once she took him in her arms and felt his warmth.

"I will take care of you and protect you forever"

She hugged him gently before the smiling gaze of the blue-haired woman and the nurse.

"Nobody will hurt you while I'm with you, Menma..."