Got Nothing but Time

Prologue

Minato looked on helplessly as the whaling grew louder in the small room acting as their sanctuary.

Kushina, his love, was crying. In her arms was their son, their heir, the one meant to succeed them in everything and more, still like a rock.

Their child had been born stillborn.

It all didn't feel real. From the revelation of his son's death, to the masked man's attack, to the release of the Kyuubi onto his village. Everything, despite how ironic it may sound, was coming at him too fast for him to process.

Today was meant to be a day of celebration, not one of mourning. He and Kushina were meant to be married soon and have a family to happily raise as their own. They were meant to be happy-to watch their son breathe his first breath into the world as his cries rang in their ears like music.

So why? Why was this happening to them?

Was it karma? The cruel gods' spite for the lives he had taken to pave a future for his home? If it were just him, then that would be something he could accept. If anyone needed to suffer for the blood he had spilled, it should have been him. Not Kushina, not Hiruzen, not his village, and most definitely not his Naruto, his first and only born son.

"M-Minato," his wife's voice, his love, whispered his name. It wasn't until the second time, her voice turning into a plea, that he actually acknowledged her. Her eyes were red and puffy, streams of tears still running down her cheeks as red locks stuck to her face. The stress from both her pregnancy and tragedy made her appear almost gaunt, skin pale and eyes almost lifeless. "Wh-what are we going to do?"

For the first time in a long time, Minato did not have an answer.

What were they going to do?

What even could they do?

There was no fixing this. There was no Jutsu that could magically bring their son back to life. The damage had been done.

"I," he struggled to get out the words, knowing they weren't what Kushina wanted to hear. "I don't," he tried again, but the words just wouldn't come out. His hesitation was all Kushina needed, and her sobs began anew.

A loud roar, followed by the shaking of their home, brought Minato out of his stupor.

Another dark reminder that his misery hadn't ended but was only just beginning.

The village was under attack, the Kyuubi was free, his wife was dying, and his son...

Was, there truly nothing he could do? Nothing that cuold save his son? Anything he could give...

His eyes suddenly widened, a light lifting the darkness in his mind as he turned to his wife.

"Kushina," his wife looked up from their son, her eyes looking as if they could close any minute. "Do you remember the seal I was working on? The forbidden one? The one you made me swear never to use?"

Her eyes widened marginally before a hesitant glimmer came across her face. "Yes, but, why?"

Minato answered by pulling out a knife. The three-pronged kunai flashed momentarily before, without hesitation, he cut a line along his hand. Blood poured out, but the Hokage paid no mind as he kneeled down to the unmoving baby. With the speed befitting a seal master, he drew multiple patterns and words using his life fluids as ink. Done, he performed a few hand-signs before placing his uncut palm on the babe's stomach.

The seal came to life instantly, turning black before sinking into the child's skin. Watching the seal vanish, Minato looked to Kushina urgently and asked, "Can you do the rest?"

Kushina nodded tiredly, but looked hesitant.

"You know what will happen to us, don't you?" She warned, yet there was no fear in her husband's eyes, nor hesitation. All that was present was determination as he cupped her cheek into his hand.

"It is our job as parents to see that our child has a future."

Tears once more filled Kushina's eyes, but this time she was smiling. "You never change, Minato," she murmured before he smiled back and disappeared in a yellow flash.

Kushina was quick to follow up on her end, her own blood acting as a guide for the seal to latch onto the one before. She winced at the pain she was in, feeling the last of her strength leaving her body but not stopping in her actions.

Like before, the blood turned black before lighting up and sinking into her baby boy. A warm, caring smile graced her face once more as she caressed her golden child's cheek.

"Don't worry, my little Naruto," the child couldn't hear her, yet her words were filled with love."You will grow up to be strong."

His skin began to glow as another yellow flash appeared in the room.

"To be extraordinary."

She disappeared along with her son before she found herself standing in a clearing. Seals lined the grass around her, all connected into a circle with a stone alter rising from the ground.

"Like no one ever before."

In the middle of the alter lay her baby boy, wrapped up tightly and peacefully. She knew it was time, and took her place by his side.

"You will live on."

She placed a kiss on her child's forehead before closing her eyes.

"You will be loved."

The ground shook as she turned to look at the Kyuubi that had been teleported before her. Immediately, chains shot from her back, the pikes at the edges stabbing into the beast and sealing its chakra on impact.

"And you will grow strong, my son."

She coughed up blood while Minato began running through a series of hand-signs. He stopped on the ox, and immediately the ground around them glowed a brilliant green. The beast's toxic chakra began seeping from its body, leaving it and entering the body of their child.

"Just know one thing."

Her strength failed her, and she fell to the ground. The momentary loosening of the chains was all the Kyuubi needed to raise a claw. Both Minato and Kushina's eyes widened as their bodies moved by instinct.

"We love you."

The sound of flesh ripping echoed through the clearing as the beast's arm was halted. Blood trailed from the claw it used to skewer the two parents just inches from the babe before landing on the seal. The blood from both parents's was the final key to activating the seal, their surroundings glowing brighter as their last ditch effort to save their son bore fruit.

"Now, and forever."

Light filled the clearing, and the World of Shinobi rumbled. Space and time distorted as the world shook before a tear in space began pulling the Kyuubi within. As the last of the fox's tails entered the void, the seal was completed and the hole closed.

But not before a small, round, glowing orb slipped through the space and entered the babe unimpeded.

Instantly, his skin began coming to life. Slowly, the roots of the babe's bangs began to go from blonde to green before transforming entirely. The whiskers on his face became less pronounced before nearly fading away entirely.

The clearing was still for but a moment.

Then Naruto took his first breath into the world.