Chapter 2: Fallout
In a different universe, Minato and Kushina hadn't survived the night before, but this universe was not that one.
The new family sat in Minato's home, trying to enjoy each other, but for the two adults there was a rather large obstacle.
"Minato...I don't think I can take him in. I'm sorry for him...but taking a baby?"
"Hiruzen is mourning his wife. Danzo offered to train the boy with the most sincerity I've ever seen from him but-"
"Your trust just isn't there yet with him?"
"Yes."
"...any of the clans?"
"Not a Jinchuruki. He can't belong to any Konoha clan…"
That left the adults two options, neither was very comfortable.
"He'd have to stay at the orphanage…"
"You always liked it there, right?"
"I didn't have to sleep there and people didn't know I was a Jinchuruki. They're already referring to him as a demon. I think...could you assign an ANBU to him? A loyal one?"
"Yes. That will work, actually, an ANBU."
"Has the council said anything?"
"Quite a few offered to adopt the boy but they have less of my trust than Danzo, at least he's changing."
"God. Stupid Fucking Priestess…"
-----
The Caretaker crouched in the corner of the room. The orphanage workers had to draw straws to see who would get the *pleasure* of being around the demon.
She felt guilty saying it...but there was no better description for the monster. She could feel it's corrosive aura from here, it burned against her skin...without causing damage...she had never experienced anything like this before.
Mustering her courage, she walked forward. The Hokage explained to them why it couldn't die, it was her duty to Konoha to keep the container alive...a terrible duty at that.
She reached the demon, which would've been cute in a different realm, but not here.
She brought the formula bottle to the...it's lips and let it drink. It never cried, they didn't know why.
The aura was overpowering now. It pushed against her...it was terrible.
"Why...why us?"
-----
Various caretakers kept the 'demon' alive for a year, drawing straws every day. It's presence became easier for some but never truly became comfortable. When it came time to teach the thing to walk, they forced ninja to do so instead.
Every now and then, the Hokage would take the demon away from them, for a day usually, before returning it. The Caretakers noticed that other children would stay away from its door, subconsciously avoiding it, this reaffirmed their belief it came from hell.
The masked Shinobi would come when they considered not feeding it for a day, the caretaker's fear of death outweighed their disdain towards the demon.
The caretakers never dared complain though. Their salaries doubled thanks to the hazard pay and 'weapon maintenance pay' from some unnamed party.
The demon could walk now, they made sure to keep it in its room.
-----
In the third year, the demon could speak. At the Hokage's request, they tried to socialize him with other children, but the children naturally stayed away from him.
The ninja would come and teach him hand signs, having to use pain as his main motivator to succeed at teaching him, since rewarding him did little.
The demon did like to read, so they would give it children's books to stop it from complaining.
The thing was unnaturally smart, too smart. It started speaking months before any child they had ever seen. Though it didn't talk often now.
The caretakers couldn't wait until it was shipped off to the Academy.
-----
Minato absently played with his son while he read over reports. Most were tax statements and mission logs, very few were interesting.
He through a ball across the room, letting Naruto grab it and bring it back. Minato didn't know why playing fetch entertained the boy but he'd take what he could get.
He moved to the next report and guilt flooded him.
'Status Report: Kazuko
Physical Eval: Healthy, 99% percentile growth
Mental Eval: Genius, Antisocial, Intense Emotional responses.
Progress: Far beyond predictions. Jinchuruki displays exemplary growth in all aspects. Fears include future ability to create relationships with comrades and lack of motivation.
Conclusion: He's a smart kid that needs friends.'
Minato never meant for the boys life to go so...wrong. He didn't dare tell Kushina, she would feel guilty for not taking the boy in, but he wasn't her responsibility and frankly, was barely even his.
He had reviewed the laws and discovered that he couldn't take the boy in anyway, a Hokage could hold students and Wards as long as they could be fielded as Shinobi, otherwise they fell under preview of the civilian administration.
The guilt crushed him, he was thankful that the Council had been willing to put so much money into keeping the boy in the best possible state they could reasonably consider. They too felt guilty about his situation when he had explained the process of sealing the Kyuubi but they didn't represent the civilian opinion, they represented the merchants and politicians.
He had tried to turn public opinion higher by stating that the boy protected them by holding back the Kyuubi...that had just led to the people hating him more. They wanted him gone, imprisoned forever, never to be seen in the village again. The populus kept finding new ways to rationalize hating the boy and he could only do so much before he collapsed the social contract he abided by.
The biggest thing keeping Kazuko from being deemed a hero was the chakra he oozed out. Minato had discovered that his seal had backfired...he had tried to make it so only he could ever modify it using a matrix the Hiraishin used, instead it just made the seal turn into a vault that locked from the inside.
Only Kazuko could fix his own seal now and that wouldn't be for years.
Recently he had been avoiding the boy, he knew that. He was avoiding the fact that the boy represented his biggest failure...the one thing he couldn't do.
"Tou-san! Can I get a cookie…"
"Only if you finish your book, Naruto."
"But Idontwanna"
"Naruto…"
"Fine. Better be a big cookie."
Minato smiled, at least he had his family.
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