Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.
Since it's Christmas, have a gift of another chapter! Enjoy and normal service will continue on Sunday.

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Memories Of Others

Chapter 36

A Genin Amongst The Toads

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A flash of golden light briefly illuminated the room and when it died down, three blonds were standing in a circle around a larger, white-haired figure. For a long moment, no-one moved, then two of the blonds vanished in clouds of smoke.

"Well, pervy sage, you now know beyond all doubt that it works. I can transport others between realms, not just myself."

"Pervy sage?" A large voice chuckled and Jiraiya frowned at his younger companion.

"Dammit, brat. Now Gamabunta's going to be calling me that every time I summon him."

"What?" Naruto shrugged. "I've been calling you it almost since we first met."

"He's got you pegged… pervy sage." Gamabunta chuckled and Jiraiya sighed.

"So, what are you going to teach him?"

"Kid, hop on." Gamabunta commanded and Naruto jumped onto the proffered webbed hand without any hesitation. "Jiraiya, Pa wanted to talk to you about trying to deal with your weakness regarding Sage mode. In the meantime, I'm taking the brat to meet the Great Toad Sage."

"Holy…" Jiraiya yelped. "You're taking him to meet Gamamaru? Kid, be respectful!"

"Jiraiya! Where have you been?" Fukakasu shouted as he seemed to appear from nowhere, holding a large stick. "We have training to do!"

"Not the stick!" Jiraiya winced. "Please, there must be another way…"

"There isn't and you know it." Fukakasu said, jumping onto Jiraiya's shoulder. "Now, to the Sacred Oil Fountain!"

Naruto watched from Gamabunta's hand as Jiraiya reluctantly set off.

"Do I want to know what all that is about?"

"Give it five years or so and it'll be your turn." Gamabunta shrugged, raising Naruto up to the top of his head. "Now hold on tight and prepare for a ride!"

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Naruto whispered to himself as he grabbed the collar of Gamabunta's Kimono as tightly as he could, then used the tree-walking exercise he had so painstakingly learned under Hinata's guidance to anchor himself at every point of contact.

"And here we go!" Gamabunta declared as he leaped high into the air.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

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"Ooof."

Naruto turned his landing into a roll that finished with him spread-eagled on his back, gazing blankly at the sky, until it was eclipsed by Gamabunta's head.

"Get up." Gamabunta commanded, although his tone was amused rather than stern. "The Great Toad Sage is waiting."

Naruto slowly sat up, checking that the world had stopped spinning, then clambered to his feet and turned to face the large building.

"Go on."

Naruto turned and bowed to Gamabunta, who snorted in amusement, then carefully stepped through the doorway and into the columned room.

As his eyes adjusted, Naruto realized that contrary to his first impression, the walls of the room weren't created from pillars but what he had mistaken for columns were in fact giant scrolls placed around the edge of the giant room. In the middle of the room, a huge, brownish Toad the size of Gamabunta but far older watched him, an amused smile on his face.

"Come in, come in. It's nice to have visitors." The toad said, waving for Naruto to approach. "Let me see you… these old eyes of mine don't see all that well… but they still let me see enough…"

Naruto walked forwards, glancing round. Several of the scrolls, each at least three times longer than he was tall, lay on the ground with a couple of them partially unrolled and positioned so that the Toad in the middle of the room could read them. The toad himself was sat in what appeared to be a raised, stone pool with a small banner hanging from the front, one with the Kanji for Sage on it.

"So, I am the Great Toad Sage Gamamaru and you would be… who are you again?"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto supplied, uncertain as to whether Gamamaru was indeed absent-minded or was testing him. "I am the son of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato, also known as the Yellow Flash, and his wife Uzumaki Kushina, also known as the Red Hot Habanero. I am the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and the student of Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"Ahhhhh, I remember now!" Gamamaru exclaimed. "The mischievous blue-eyed boy!"

Naruto blinked in confusion. "I… I've calmed down quite a bit… I only really prank people as part of training now…"

A snore was his answer and Naruto stared in shock at Gamamaru.

"Wake up!" Shima shouted from just behind Naruto and Gamamaru jolted, causing a small wave of water to spill over the lip of his pond. "You wanted to talk to this boy, Great Sage."

"What boy? Oh, that boy! Step closer so I can see you."

Naruto gave Shima a confused look and she shrugged back before waving him forwards.

"Hmmmmmmm… Hmmmmmmmmm… yes. Yes, I see. You shall meet a creature with octopus tentacles and fight one with powerful eyes… Yes… yeessssss…"

Naruto stared at Gamamaru and Shima sighed.

"He's fallen asleep again… come on. It's time to introduce you to the other Toads."

Naruto followed Shima out of the room, but paused in the doorway, looking back at the slumbering sage.

"Will he be alright?"

"Hmmm?" Shima paused, looking back at the elder Toad. "Oh, he'll be fine. He often naps like that, not surprising really. You know that he fought alongside the Sage of the Six Paths and his brother when he was younger?"

"The Sage was real?" Naruto asked in near-shock. "I've heard several of the Hyuuga claim that they were descended from him…"

"I never met Otsutsuki Hagoromo or Otsusuki Hamura, but I've heard the tales" Shima mused, "The Hyuuga you say? If I remember the stories Gamamaru told us correctly, I think it was Hamura who had the Byakugan while Hagoromo had the Rin'negan… or was it the other way around? I'll have to check the archives to see what happened to them, though… I think I remember the moon being involved somehow…"

Naruto followed the diminutive female as she muttered about her memory not being what it once was.

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"Naruto?"

Naruto gave Gamakichi (who was orange! What an awesome color!) an apologetic shrug as he turned towards the speaker.

"May I help you, Fukasaku-san?"

"You may as well just call me Pa, like Jiraiya does and your father did." The elderly toad smiled. "I've left Jiraiya practicing under Ma's eye and now it's time for your training."

"Sorry, 'kichi." Naruto apologized and the young toad smiled at him.

"Hey, training from great-gramps is more important than shooting the breeze." Gamakichi shrugged. "I'll see you around and remember, have some sweets ready when you summon me!"

"Sure thing." Naruto laughed as he rose to his feet, then turned to face the elderly Sage. "What training are we doing?"

Fukasaku prodded Naruto's stomach. "We're going to contact the Kyuubi and start you learning how to use its chakra. Learning how to use chakra that isn't yours but flows through your coils will be a good training exercise for when you finally learn Sage Mode. It'll also help you to stay alive, since it'll give you another weapon to use against those who want to hurt you."

Naruto looked down at his stomach as if he could see the complex seal that his father had placed on him, despite the t-shirt and haori that he was wearing.

"Can't I… just ignore it?"

Fukasaku gave him a look and Naruto sighed. "Okay. Fine."

"I'll be in there with you." Fukasaku offered and Naruto gave him a look of gratitude. "Now come on, I've had a special area created just for this sort of thing."

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"What is this place?" Naruto asked as he looked round the clearing and the trees that surrounded it, trees grown and shaped so that their branches entwined and twisted in patterns somehow similar to some of the fuuinjutsu that he had seen.

"This is where we shall enter your mindscape." Fukakasu stated as he clambered onto one of the two flat-topped stones positioned almost in the center of the clearing. "Now sit down and get ready."

Naruto carefully sat on the second stone, crossing his legs and placing the backs of his hands on his knees.

"I was almost afraid that you didn't know how to meditate." Fukasaku said, his voice filled with approval.

"Gai-sensei taught me." Naruto replied. "He explained that there are several different types of meditation and they can be used to help improve control over your body and your chakra. I prefer to use the Katas of the Gentle Breeze Style to meditate, but Gai-sensei insisted I be familiar with all the better-known ways of meditating."

"Gai… Gai… Gai…" Fukasaku mused. "Would that be Maito Gai?"

"You know him?" Naruto asked and Fukasaku shook his head.

"Know him, no. Know of him, yes. He's the current holder of the Tortoise contract… although it should actually be called the Tortoise and Turtle contract…I've heard Ningame moaning that Gai doesn't summon him nearly enough."

"I'll pass that message on to Gai." Naruto said, marveling at the surreal turn the conversation had taken.

"Anyway." Fukasaku stated. "That's not why we're here. The Kyuubi. You ready to meditate?"

"I am."

"Then start meditating and I'll join you in your mindscape."

Naruto half-closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling his breathing, inhaling through his nose and breathing out through his mouth. As he did so, the trees around them started to glow, shocking him out of his near-trance.

"What's with the trees… they're glowing… it's fading…"

"They're meant to do that." Fukasaku explained. "It's how I'll be able to enter your mindscape. Now, try again."

Naruto fully closed his eyes in order to avoid being distracted by the oddly-luminescent trees. Once again, he began his breathing exercises, then he moved on to controlling his heart rate and calming his thoughts…

"Excellent. We're here."

Naruto opened his eyes, then looked around in confusion.

"This is my mindscape?"

"Yes and no." Fukasaku shrugged. "It's the prison that holds the Kyuubi, but formed from your experiences."

"It's a sewer." Naruto protested. "My mind is a sewer. If Ino or Kiba find out about this, I'll never live it down!"

Fukasaku snorted with laughter, then sniffed several times.

"I smell the fox. This way."

Naruto followed Fukasaku as they splashed through the shallow water flowing from the direction that they were headed. Ahead of them, bars glinted in the darkness, bars that stretched from the ground to the ceiling. As they drew closer, it became apparent that the bars were actually a pair of gates with the hinges deeply embedded in the side of the tunnel while the gates were held closed by a slightly-tattered piece of paper with the kanji for Seal inscribed on it.

"This… this is the seal that dad used to trap the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "And where is the Kyuubi?"

"SO, MY JAILER FINALLY DEIGNS TO MEET ME." A deep voice rumbled and a pair of glowing red eyes opened slowly, their malevolent gaze fixed on Naruto.

"Odd…" Fukasaku muttered as he moved closer to the bars. "I sense an… echo, a… trace… of a dojutsu… a genjutsu… control? In the past, but the echoes still remain…"

"WHAT ARE YOU BABBLING ABOUT, FROG?" The deep voice growled and Naruto swallowed as he saw giant fangs glinting in the shadows.

"I suppose that it's a mystery for another time." Fukasaku allowed. "Gamamaru said that you were less than you were, but would be whole once again in time."

"The Great Toad Sage said that?"

Naruto blinked as the threatening voice suddenly changed to one that was less vengeful and more hopeful.

"Your father's friend did indeed." Fukasaku said and Naruto felt his mouth go dry as the Kyuubi appeared from the darkness, looming above them both.

"Tell me more."

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"Well," Fukasaku said as they opened their eyes and found themselves back in the glade. "While that could have gone better, it could very easily have gone worse."

"Thanks for adjusting the seal like that." Naruto remarked as he stretched. "Being stuck in the dark like that isn't my idea of fun, I have no clue how the Kyuubi didn't go mad in there."

"Probably slept a lot." Fukasaku replied as he levered himself back onto his feet. "Just remember, you control the link."

For now. The Kyuubi's voice seemed to echo.

"I'll have to go through all those damned exercises again to get used to the new flow." Naruto griped as he tried to form a Rasengan, only for it to destabilize and evaporate. "Dammit, that'll take weeks at the very least!"

"Then I'd advise you to get started." Fukasaku said. "For now, you can use the special portal to return to Konoha. I'll get Jiraiya and have him meet you there."

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Authors note - Well, I had to do something to put a pause on Naruto's growth otherwise he'd be totally overpowered by the Third Stage...
And I hope you all have a merry Christmas! (Or whatever denominational or non-denominational celebration you choose to have...)