(Sarutobi's POV)

Homura gave me a smoking pipe as a retirement gift, despite being retired for more than a year, I never tried it, but today was special.

Today marks the anniversary of the creation of the Land of Fire. Being the Third Hokage, the Daimyo of the land of fire invited me to attend the celebration he is hosting. I, as the Third Hokage, had to paint a good image in the village's stead.

Celebrations are usually boring for ninja from the younger generation, but for us, old people, a celebration is a place to exercise our political power to gain more influence. As the Professor, and the God of Shinobi, I managed to strike a very profitable deal with Daimyo of the land of rivers. The deal insists of the land of rivers forfeiting some of its territories on the eastern boarder to the land of fire, under the control of the Hidden Leaf Village, and in return, the Hidden Leaf Village will have to provide some means of protection to the land of rivers.

Being happy with the deal, I started smoking from the pipe, enjoying the tranquility of the night while drinking sake... a lot of sake!

Suddenly, I felt a burst of energy coming from the direction of the village, but I brushed it off thinking to myself 'I didn't know that smoking can bring hallucinations. Maybe I should talk with Homura about it later'.

I continued drinking more and more sake for a period of time which seemed to be hours. 'I should *hicc* fix my drinki *hicc* habits' I thought to myself as I felt sleepy, but as I was on the verge of sleeping from drinking too much, an Anbu jumped from the window and reported "Hokage! The village is under attack! The Kyuubi has been freed and is now wreaking havoc and is killing countless of people!".

My face darkened as I heard the report. I didn't waste any moment, as I rushed at my fastest speed to the village. Using my shunshin, I arrived at the village in about 5 minutes to see half of the building in it destroyed.

I rushed toward the place with the most condensed chakra thinking that it must be the place where the Kyuubi is.

Arriving at the place with the highest chakra signature, I saw a baby crying, amidst the destroyed buildings. Next to him was the dead body of Kushina Uzumaki, and not too far away, was the dead body of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

I signaled with my hands and all the Anbu within the area appeared beside me. Pained over the misfortune that befell on the village, I ordered an Anbu to report what happened, while commanding the others to gather ninja to look out for survivals.

The shortcut of the report was as the following. Kushina Uzumaki got abducted by a masked man who seemed to have a grudge against the Fourth Hokage. The masked man unleashed the Kyuubi that was sealed inside Kushina Uzumaki, which in turn started attacking the Fourth Hokage after being controlled by the masked man. Apparently, the masked man had a Sharingan, which meant that he was an Uchiha; I should further investigate the Uchiha to know what the hell they are thinking. The Fourth Hokage tried his best to protect his family, and the village. Looking at the results, I can conclude that he failed to protect both his family and the village.

Looking at the seal on the stomach of the baby, I realized that the Kyuubi was sealed inside this baby "This should be the baby of Minato, yes?" I asked the Anbu who replied "Yes, Hokage Sama". I nodded, and ordered a grand burial for the Fourth Hokage and his wife, as well as a burial for each victim of this incident.

In less than an hour, I received a report about the number of victims of the incident, also the survivals who are hurt. I flipped between the pages to find an interesting case. It is a case of a child, probably some months old; that child shows incredible amount of chakra, which is even comparable to Kushina's. What gave me a headache about his case was the fact that his identity was unknown; no relatives known. We will need to investigate this child's origins further more to see if we can find his relatives.

Today is a sad day indeed. It is the day marking the death of the Fourth Hokage.

(End of Sarutobi's POV)

(Start of Iruka's POV)

My name is Iruka Umino, and I'm a genin serving the greatest village ever! The Village Hidden in the Leaves! I am in duty today to guard the gate to the Hokage's Residence. Just as I was daydreaming about becoming the greatest ninja ever, a very loud scream echoed from not too far away. My body moved at it's own running toward the location of the scream, wanting to fulfill my ninja duty, and proving my worth to the village.

As I ran toward the location of the scream, I saw people running on the opposite direction, fleeing from the danger, but I kept on running toward it, until I saw it... A huge bloodthirsty fox with 9 tails! It made an eye contact with me, and in that instant, I lost all my courage. I was so scared, I felt something warm crawling inside my pants, so hurriedly took out a kunai and was about to strike it, just to find that it was actually my pee leaking without my knowledge.

As I looked up, the fox has already moved far away. It was only at that moment I noticed that the area the fox is actually hiding toward, is the area where my home is located!

I didn't want to waste time so I rushed toward my home to rescue my family! On my way there, I was stopped by an Anbu who was evacuating the area. I tried my best to convince him that I needed to rescue my family, but he just disregarded me. Being ignored, I tried to rush into the area, only to be met by a slap in the face the knocked me out for about 5 minutes.

I woke up and looked to the direction in which my house is located. The fox is no longer visible, so I took the chance to rush toward my home. I ran through the streets, every road unveiled destroyed buildings. Every door was soaked with blood. I prayed really hard for the safety of my family.

I arrived to my now, half destroyed home. As I open the door, I see the ground filled with blood. The bodies of my family are buried under rocks. I couldn't even hold it, as I started screaming and crying, while moving forward to remove the rocks to check if someone is alive!

I was desperate, but at that moment I noticed a child laying on the ground. The child was sleeping on the floor, but he wasn't a member of my family, so how come he is here?

I tried to grab the child to see if he was alive, upon touching him, I found out that his body is really hot! He must be having a fever currently! I was so depressed I almost threw him at the ground, but that was when the child smiled at me... My tears started flowing more rapidly as I started thinking 'My family just died, and I am currently depressed, but I can't let this child die in front of me! I must protect him!'. Filled with resolve, resolve to protect this child that is the last thing that ties me to my 'family', I endured the heat of this child's body, and rushed to the hospital. I preserved even when running out of breath, because for me, the safety of this child is the most important thing in the world!