Chapter 1: Born in the Rift
"Some are born into a world full of light. Others into the crack between chaos and hope."
Late evening
The air was tense, as if before a storm. Even the earth seemed to hold its breath.
Here, deep underground, where the walls were inscribed with ancient fuin seals, the moment was beginning that could change the fate of the entire Fire Country.
Kushina Uzumaki, a hurricane in a woman's body, the strongest jinchuriki of her time, lay on the operating table. Four barriers surrounded her, each pulsing with power, holding back the nine-tailed demon fox inside her.
Sweat dripped from her forehead onto the pillow, her fingers clutching the covers with such force that her nails dug into her palms.
"Haa... Aaaaah...!"
"Hold on, Kushina-san!" — the senior medic said tensely. — We're almost... almost there!
Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, was nearby. He didn't move an inch, despite being called back to the village: something strange was happening on the surface. He could feel it. But now, at this moment, he wasn't the Hokage. He was a father. And he was afraid.
"If Kurama feels weak... If the seal fails, everything will collapse. Not just my family... All of Konoha."
The seals pulsed, maintaining the artificial containment of the demon's chakra inside Kushina, but even they weren't eternal. Everything was hanging on by a thread.
"Breathe... slowly... hold on..." Minato whispered, holding onto her palm.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Kushina screamed. "He's coming... Minato... he's coming!!!
"The head! I see the head! — one of the medics shouted. — He... he's almost here!
Several shinobi dressed in medical Anbu uniforms rushed to the altar. The wind of chakra intensified. Something crashed in the distance — the seal cracked. But no one was distracted.
And then — a scream. Loud, piercing.
— A boy! Healthy!
Minato knelt down and picked up the baby. His hair was light gold, his skin was pink, his chakra was bright, almost blinding.
— His name will be... Naruto.
— He's... beautiful... — Kushina whispered, smiling faintly. — Our sunshine...
But... as soon as Minato handed the baby into the nurse's arms and was about to bend over to his wife, she screamed sharply.
— Something... more...
— Minato! He... another one! He's coming too!
An oppressive silence fell over the room.
"What?" Minato whispered. "A second child?" The sensors looked at each other in confusion. No one — NO ONE — had sensed the second chakra. But now it could be felt. Weak, quiet, but deep. Thick, like fog.
"How could he have gone unnoticed?.."
A cry of pain escaped Kushina's lips. The second birth was going faster — her body was exhausted, the seal was wavering.
Time was running out.
And then...silence.
The child was born.
He didn't scream.
He didn't cry.
He just silently opened his eyes. Dark red in the semi-darkness.
He looked... straight at Minato.
"He's... he's not crying?" the nurse asked in surprise.
"He's... alive?" Minato asked worriedly. - He's breathing. His pulse is steady. But his chakra... seems to be hidden deep inside.
Kushina raised her head with an effort and looked at him.
- He's... quiet... but strong, in his own way... - she whispered. - His name is... Hirito. Hirito Uzumaki.
Minato held both his sons. One was screaming, burning, unstoppable. The other was quiet, motionless, as if he was born with the understanding that the world did not welcome him.
He felt... the difference.
"Naruto is like fire. Hirito is like a shadow. Light and darkness. Twins... but so different."
But time did not wait.
The barrier chakra wavered. The ground pulsed right under their feet. One of the barriers - burst.
- THE SEAL IS WEAKENING!
And at the very moment when life was born - the darkness was released.
High in the mountains, under the black sky, a masked gaze watched the process. A man in a black cape with the Uzumaki symbol on his back activated the summoning seal.
- The Nine-Tails... has come out.
Kurama, feeling the barriers being weakened, rushed.
First inside Kushina. Then out.
A roar was heard that shook even the clouds. At the moment when life was just born, death opened its mouth.
Minato, holding both children tightly to his chest, already knew: he would have to make an impossible choice. Save the village - at the cost of their freedom.
And at that moment...
The fate of Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Hirito was decided.
One is light. The other is shadow.
But shadow is not always evil. Sometimes it is in it that the power lies, waiting for the moment to change everything.