The Past

The next day

Jiraiya, Naruto and Fukaksu are gathered near the toad oil waterfall. "Alright Ero-sennin, what is this Sage mode that you want me to learn when you haven't mastered it yourself?" Naruto asked Jiraiya.

"While I could explain you how it works, its best that Pa explains you that. I might get a few things wrong. Also, when we are done with today's training, I want to tell you, Naruto, a few things that are important for you to know, got it?"

"Yep, Ero-sennin. Alright gramps, what is this sage mode?"

Fukaksu replied in a solemn voice, "You already know that chakra can be shaped and molded to form different jutsus and techniques. But when learning different ninjutsu, genjutsu and other chakra-based techniques, it's always said that you should be 100% focused and be physically strong enough to perform that jutsu.

The reason for that is regular chakra has a spiritual and physical component. Your willpower and physical strength together lead to the manifestation of the chakra inside of you. What you don't know, is that originally there are three components of chakra – Physical, Spiritual and Natural.

Nature chakra can be found everywhere, but in just minute quantities in us animals. It's in the air, water, ground, rock... everywhere. But just like nature, it is very fickle and volatile. It doesn't like to be controlled. To harness that energetic and volatile natural chakra, and channel it into the jutsus you are familiar with, is what the sage mode does. So, a sage is someone, who can draw in nature chakra and use it the same way one used regular chakra."

"Ok… so why is it that we have to harness it even though we are a part of nature?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"It is always easier for water to flow from one static point to another. If one of the end points is moving, it created a disturbance in the water. For example, when two streams meet, the two different water currents collide and cause instability. It is the same for nature chakra. It is easier for it to flow through still objects like the trees, rocks, mountains etc. As we animals are not static, it avoids us as much as possible."

"Well, then how do we do it?"

"The first step is applying the oil from that waterfall on your body and meditating while staying completely still. And when I say still, I mean as still as a rock, quite literally. Once you do that, you will be able to feel the nature chakra moving into you. Once you get a feel for it, your next step will be to sit on top of those pointed rocks over there, "Fukaksu pointed to a group of rocky spires in the far-off distance, "On top of a plank balanced on the peak of the spire. You have to sit there for at least an hour without falling down. After that, the nature chakra will be able to enter your body, and you will be able to use it."

"And how does this help me?"

"Simple. Whatever skills you have, it will be increased nearly tenfold at full control."

"…ten times as strong as now?..."

"Indeed. However, there is a risk."

"Should have seen that coming."

"As you are drawing in nature chakra using the toad method, in the early incomplete stages of sage mode, you will gain toad-like characters like wide face, webbed fingers etc. And if you take in too much nature chakra, you will become a stone toad statue, similar to the ones in front of you."

Naruto paled.

"Don't worry. There is an easy way to prevent that," Fukaksu replied smirking and lifted the staff he was holding, "If you ever take in too much nature chakra, all I will do is beat you with this stick and all the nature chakra will be removed.

Now, once you can harness nature energy on your own without the oil, you will be learning the Sage techniques of Mt. Myoboku, which are Frog Fu, a brand of genjutsu and sword-fighting unique to us. There is also a special power of sage mode, that it basically makes you a chakra sensor of the highest caliber. You can sense anyone's chakra up to very long distances, because the chakra of regular humans is different from nature chakra."

"This shit is overpowered man! This is awesome!"

"Don't fly high yet brat," Jiraiya cut in. "Once you enter sage mode, you can only maintain it for 5 minutes. That never changes. With practice you can reduce the time you need to gather nature chakra, but nevertheless, it stays for 5 minutes only. The only way to maintain it for a long time, is to have a toad attached to you to gather it, so that while you keep fighting, the toad keeps your sage mode activated."

"Wow, that's a lot of stuff huh? Alright I got to know all that I needed, let's do this sage mode thing!"

"Not today Naruto. Today I will deal with Jiraiya only. You will start tomorrow. For today, continue with the same training routine you had been following," Fukaksu replied.

"All right," Naruto said dejectedly and walked off to do his training.

That Night

Naruto walked up to Jiraiya who was sitting by a campfire.

"All right Ero-sennin. What did you want to talk about?"

Jiriaya sighed and motioned for Naruto to sit down. He then looked up at the stars, and suddenly Naruto felt that Jiraiya looked as old as he really was. Gone was the happy, annoying, pervert, and in his place was now a veteran shinobi who has lost many loved ones and seen far too much despair.

"This… is about your family."

Naruto took in a sharp breath, his eyes wide in anticipation.

"I knew them. All of them. Wonderful people. Brilliant and scary shinobi. Second to none. Even after 14 years, their names still strike fear into the hearts od Konoha's enemies. Even when the news of their death got out, our enemies refused to believe it, thinking that this was an elaborate plot by Konoha to make them lower their defences," Jiraiya chuckled softly. "They still do."

"Let's start with your mother. When I first met her, she was 13, the same age as you. She even was just as short as you," Jiraiya cracked a sad smile, "And just as a rude and energetic as you. When I first met you, it felt like it was your mother's soul had entered a different body. It was eerily similar.

But enough of my rambling...well, here goes.

Your mom was Kushina Uzumaki, Elite Jonin of Konoha, a sealmaster and taijutsu expert. She had large chakra reserves, and was the only person after Tsunade to be able to use those chakra-powered punches. She was a brilliant infiltrator and trap setter as well. Even though her career was short, it sure as hell was impactful.

Everyone talks about how the Fourth Hokage killed thousands of Iwa shinobi using the Flying Raijin, but no one knows the fact that it was your mom in the first place who got him interested in seals. She was also the one to do the majority of the seal-work involved in the jutsu. Don't get me wrong, it was the Fourth's idea to do it, and he was the one who in the end fine-tuned the whole jutsu, with that prodigal brain of his, but the grunt work was done by your mom.

Then there is her moniker. 'The Blood Calligrapher'. Truly describes her. One well placed seal from Kushina, and all you had to do was watch as your enemies got slaughtered. She would go behind enemy lines put some kind of weird ass seal somewhere, and by the time she was back in Konoha, she would have either destroyed critical enemy supplies or killed off several enemy shinobi.

And every time all that would remain there, would be a piece of paper, with 'Konoha' written on it in blood. In all those years of war, no one other than the village elders, Sarutobi Sensei, The Fourth, her best friend, Mikoto and I knew about her missions. She was the village's greatest asset, the only reason Konoha always had an upper hand in the war.

Sadly, no one came to know her achievements and contribution. Minato, that is the Fourth, and Mikoto always complained about it. But she laughed and waived it off, saying 'As long as the future generations can grow up without having to see the face of war, it is all right'.

One more thing. You must have always wondered why it was you who was chosen to be the jinchuriki of the nine tails. It's because you were Kushina's son. Because Kushina, was the jinchuriki of the nine tails before you. When she died, it was sealed into you, as you were the only one strong enough to hold it in, even if you were just a baby.

A lone tear slipped from Jiraiya's eyes. He hung his head down, and silence filled the clearing.

Naruto had a sad smile on his face. His eyes were glistening with tears. His heart felt ready to burst into a million pieces. He didn't know yet as to why his mother was dead, but he knew she died happy. After all, he was here, wasn't he? He was alive. He had good friends. He had a brilliant teacher. And he didn't have to grow up in the middle of a war. Just like his mom wanted.

And the Kyuubi. His mom had borne the same burden as she did. At first, he loathed the Kyuubi for the suffering he brought him. But now… it was something he shared with his mom. A physical connection. Maybe, the Kyuubi remembered her? What if he could talk to the Kyuubi and learn more about his mother? If it was possible, he wanted to do it.

"Now...your father."

Naruto looked up in shock. He had thought that Jiraiya won't be telling him about his whole family despite his earlier statement. After all, he did know them personally. And it's never easy to talk about someone you deeply cared for when he/she is…gone.

"Your father was Minato Namikaze. The Fourth."

Naruto clamped his mouth shut, trying to stop his tears from falling.

"You have read all about him. The greatest hero of Konoha. 'Konoha's Yellow Flash'. The man who defeated the Kyuubi at the cost of his life. He was also married to Kushina Uzumaki. He was a gentle soul, never in his life did he use a curse word," At this Naruto cracked a small smile, fully aware of how much he swore when he was agitated.

"A kind man, loyal to a fault to all those he loved and the village. He always trained hard in order to become the strongest shinobi. When he started the academy, he was rather average. But with diligent hard-work, he graduated the academy with the highest honours in the history of Konoha. And that record is still unbroken till date.

He was feared by his enemies. Very much. He was the only shinobi to ever have a 'flee-on-sight' order from all other 4 nations in the Bingo Book. He was also my student as you know. I never thought I would have a student as good as Minato, until you came across. And of course, who better to surpass the Fourth Hokage than his own son.

When Kushina discovered that she was pregnant with you, Minato had been Hokage for about two years already. When he heard the news, he held a village-wide celebration on the same day the peace-treaty was signed, using the treaty as a ruse for the celebration when in reality it was just to celebrate him becoming a father," Jiraiya chuckled heartily.

"He and Kushina had everything planned out. How your room would look like, what you would wear, when you would graduate, what kind of girl you will date and marry, WHEN you will marry…everything. It was bloody hilarious back then. We all made fun of them, but they would simply raise their chin, narrow their eyes, sniff at us disdainfully and walk off, all in sync, leaving us in peals of laughter.

They were a walking source of constant positivity. Everyone loved them. Even the civilians. Even the quirkiest of shinobi. But more than anyone else, they loved you. You were the one thing they loved more than anything. They would have let the village burn, if it meant saving you.

But they were too noble for that. So instead, they saved both the village and you that night. I was so angry at them. I was broken beyond belief as well. It was as if something had been snuffed out in me. Everyone in Konoha felt the same. When Sensei told me that the Kyuubi had been sealed inside you, I wanted to rip my heart out because it hurt so much.

How could Minato and Kushina do this? How could they condemn their own son to the life of a jinchuriki and leave him alone? But they had no choice. And neither did I. I begged and pleaded Sensei to let me take you somewhere else and then bring you back when you were old enough to live on your own. You would have had a wonderful and happy childhood, I could have filled that void in my heart, but it was Danzo who had leaked to the whole village that the Kyuubi was alive.

He was blackmailing me so that you would never leave the village. He wanted to make you a weapon. If you stayed in the village, I wouldn't be able to protect you as I was Konoha's main man for information. I was frustrated and wanted to retire as a shinobi and give the mantle to someone like Kakashi. But Sensei swore that no matter what happened, he would try to give you a good childhood. I believed him and went to do my duty. He wasn't fully successful, but whatever small success he had has made you who you are. And for that I am thankful."

Naruto was openly crying by now, touched by just how much his parents cared for him, how much Jiraiya cared and how much the Third did for him.

"But there was one more person. One more person, who made your life in Konoha tolerable. Mikoto Uchiha. Kushina's best friend. Sasuke's mother. And…your godmother." Naruto stiffened and looked up at Jiraiya, his eyes red and puffy. Jiraiya wanted to go over and hug him to sleep, but he needed to finish his tale.

"She…was a volcano. Beautiful when peaceful, someone you can't help but like. But when angry, unstoppable. Drop-dead gorgeous as well might I add. Don't get me wrong your mom was beautiful and your dad definitely handsome, but she was something else. Too bad she hated my guts, just like Kushina," Jiraiya smirked wryly.

"I felt that she needed to know about you. She was the only other person I could trust you with. When she learnt of the real story of what happened to you and your parents, she broke down. Never had I seen her cry before that. Not even when her father passed away of old age. She was hysterical. She swore she would do everything to protect you. She promised to love you like her own son.

And she would have…only if she wasn't an Uchiha, would you have at least had a mother in her, and two brothers, who would have gone to the depths of hell for you. But because she was an Uchiha, she never got to take custody of the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. The elders believed that the Uchiha clan would poison the jinchuriki against the village. And then they would destroy Konoha.

That would have never happened. But the elders were fools. She wasn't even allowed to talk to you. Only somehow, Sensei introduced the condition that if Naruto approached her first, only then could she talk to you. I heard that she cried for the whole night that day. She mumbled of how she had failed Kushina. Of how she had failed Minato. Of how she had failed you. It was the never the same for her. She poured all she had into raising Sasuke and Itachi into capable men.

But everytime she would see you in the streets, her heart would break little by little. Then one day, she saw you getting beaten up by the villagers. You were 4 then. Her sharingan flared to life and she killed every single villager there. It was how the animosity towards the Uchiha clan increased. But she didn't care.

Everytime someone beat you up, she would make sure that they would never be able to harm you again. And just like your parents, she was an Elite Jonin of the highest calibre. She had no moniker, but she was famous enough in all of the elemental nations. No one could trace the attack back to her ever. And she was never punished because of that.

Even after the Uchiha massacre, no one of sound body and mind would dare touch you. It would always be drunkards and mentally unstable civilians." Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "After Mikoto passes away, some shinobi who knew your parents took it upon themselves to protect you. I won't name them, but they were there. She made them realize where their moral responsibility to Kushina and Minato lied.

You know how Sasuke was spared the day of the massacre? It was because Mikoto asked Itachi to do so. How do I know this? Sasuke told this to Sensei, and Sensei told me. But she also asked for one more thing. Something which didn't make sense to Sasuke, so he conveniently forgot. But he had told this to Sensei that day. That Mikoto had asked Itachi to protect the the Fourth's legacy. And Itachi was an ANBU, so he knew what that meant. It was a request to protect you. It was why Itachi never attacked you that day in the hotel.

And that's it, Naruto. That's…all I have to say."

Naruto who had cried a fresh bout of tears, mutely nodded and went off to sleep, not bothering to look back at Jiraiya.

Unfortunately, it was one of those nights where try as they might, neither Jiraiya nor Naruto could catch even a blink of sleep.

Author's Note: Well...this is one chapter that took me a long time to get right. I really hope this was good, I mean as good considering its theme. Review and let me know . Also thank you to all those who have followed and favorited this story. Your support means a lot.