Author's Note: Gonna try and keep this brief for once. Let me know if you prefer shorter or longer (usual length) AN's please!

Welcome back to a chapter I've been eager for you to see. Once again, I've had time to write a lot and was able to get this out quick. Don't expect this to be the norm going forward, though I will try.

Leave reviews about what you think about the chapter; or any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. PM's are also encouraged. Thanks!

Chapter 17: I am the Way and the Truth and the Life

Their stay atop the Hokage monument overlooking the Village Hidden in the Leaves was supposed to be some simple relaxation. Naruto had undergone intense, physically and mentally taxing training for a prolonged period of time. If their break had gone perfectly, they would have fun conversations together, sit atop the Hokage heads for a bit, and maybe even sneak into the village hot springs for a nice soak under the guise of the transformation jutsu. Now, all of that might've just been put in jeopardy.

Jiraiya wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, or what had come over him. Did he really just say that? He told himself that he was going to give Naruto enough details about his parents to sate his growing curiosity, but that their identities would remain a mystery. Under absolutely no circumstances was the blond going to find out about who his father was. So then, why?

Why did he go an open his big mouth like that?

There were multiple reasons why the identity of the Genin's parents was to be kept top secret. While some of those reasons may not be applicable anymore at Naruto's age, others still definitely were. Jiraiya felt Naruto was certainly capable of keeping the information to himself were he to find out. His maturity had increased dramatically since they had left the village. That meant that any enemies the Fourth, or the Uzumaki Clan, still had out there were unlikely to find out about Naruto's existence and lineage. However, the reason he didn't want to tell him was that he didn't know how the boy was going to react in the first place. Could an information bomb like that potentially throw him over the edge? Would he harbor resentment towards the village and his father? It was possible, and the unpredictability made it so that the Sage was unwilling to run that risk.

Well, now he didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter.

"What did you just say, Sensei?" Those words came out slow and measured as if he wanted to ensure he heard correctly before taking his next action.

As much as he wanted to, the Toad Sage knew that there was no turning back. His student would never let him get away with that; in all honesty, something about this felt right. Maybe, just maybe, Naruto was ready to hear the truth. "Your father was the Fourth Hokage, the Hero of the Leaf Village." Jiraiya reiterated.

Naruto's face was unreadable, and there was no visible reaction that could help Jiraiya determine what the blond was thinking. The silence between the two was tense, as a cool gust of wind cut through the air. Naruto's facial expression grew dark. In the blink of an eye, the Sannin joined the boy on the Fourth's head.

"Are you telling me that the person who sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox away inside me was my own father?" There was a slight quiver to the orphan's voice, and his Godfather could see his body was beginning to tremble.

This was to be expected. Before, Naruto could rationalize that it was a simple coincidence that he was born on the same day as the Fox attack. He surmised that his parents were killed, and the Fourth had no other option but to use a random newborn to seal the Fox away. If anything, it could be seen as a great honor. Despite the way the villagers treated him, he was a major factor in the defeat of the Nine-Tailed Fox. A small victory for himself, but a victory, nonetheless. However, to find out that your own father could do that to you, necessary or not, had to hurt the blond a great deal. 'In his mind, parents are supposed to love and protect their children.' The Sage thought somewhat somberly. 'Due to that preconception, I'm sure Naruto can't understand why Minato would do that to his own son.'

"He did." He said simply. He wasn't going to lie. Sure, there were other circumstances at work, but Naruto didn't need to hear that right now. It was better to let him get a bit of that anger out first. The boy has a right to feel the way he does.

Naruto's body was shaking so violently that Jiraiya could feel the stone vibrating up through the soles of his feet. "…How could he do that to me…" The Genin said slowly through gritted teeth. Tears were brimming at the corner of his eyes; his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were beginning to turn white.

Without even thinking, his Godfather wrapped an arm around the boy and pulled him to his side. He remained quiet for now, not wanting to rob his protégé of his moment to express his feelings.

"Why couldn't it have been s-someone else? I-I went through s-so much because of what he did to m-me." He put his forearm in front of his face to shield the world from his freely flowing tears. "The v-village hated me. Th-They would have all been so happy if I just disappeared one day a-and never came back. I had no one for so l-long." Suddenly, his eyes went wide as a realization came to him. Removing the forearm from in front of his face, he looked up at the man who was attempting to comfort him.

"You knew." Without warning the blond threw the arm of his sensei off from around his shoulder and backed away. "All this time, you knew." Continuing to back away, the Jinchuriki pointed a shaky finger at his mentor. "Did you let him do this to me?" The Sage flinched slightly. His tone was harsh, harsher than anything he had ever heard come from the boy's mouth. It hurt the Sannin to hear how betrayed Naruto sounded.

"Sadly, I wasn't in the village during the attack." Jiraiya let out a sad sigh, his mouth curving downward into a rare frown. "If I had been, maybe things could have been different." From the sound of it, this was already something that weighed down heavily on the Sannin's soul. "No one told you because this information is supposed to be top secret, even to you. I shouldn't even be telling you now, but I think it's something that you have to know. Though, I didn't want to tell you until I thought you were ready. I'm sorry, Naruto."

"Dammit!" Naruto let out a yell of frustration. He wasn't just angry about the information that just got dumped on his head, but also infuriated about not knowing what to do with what he was feeling. All this anger and frustration, he wanted nothing more than to just let it all out. Slowing down his breathing, he was trying to think this through as rationally as he could, given the circumstances. The Genin wanted to yell at Jiraiya; to tell him that he was angry and hurt that the Sage withheld such important information from him. Though, as the man said, it was most likely an S-Class secret that only a handful of people even knew. He was under orders to keep quiet, and still chose to tell him anyway. Was that not something the Genin should be thankful for? For someone to finally remove the wool covering his eyes?Yes, it wasn't his Godfather's fault this time.

However, that doesn't mean it wasn't someone else's. "Why, Sensei?" He asked hopelessly. "What kind of person would seal the Nine-Tails inside of their own son?" There was genuine disdain in his voice. "Parents are supposed to protect their kids, not make their life a living hell! You say he's one of the greatest people you have ever met, but how can you think that after what he did?!" Those blue, tear-filled eyes were looking straight through the toad summoner. Those eyes that just wanted answers.

"I understand why you're upset, Naruto, but you have to know something about your father before you start hating him for what he did."

Wiping the tears from his eyes once again, Naruto gave his master a look of what could only be described as a mix of confusion and annoyance. "What the hell are you talking about?" He had every reason to hate the man, didn't he?

"Well, just like you think of me, Minato never did anything without having a good reason for it." Despite the tense situation, the former teacher of the Fourth allowed himself a faint smile. "He was a genius the likes of which the village had never seen before, or after."

"What are you trying to say? What reason could he possibly have?" There was still a touch of venom coming through the boy's words, but not as much as before.

"There are some more details about that night that practically everyone in the village is unaware of." The Sage's tone was turning a bit ominous as if what he was about to say was something awful. "I want to be clear that what I'm about to tell you stays between the two of us."

"W-What kind of details?" Naruto couldn't help but gulp as he looked into his mentor's eyes.

Jiraiya turned over some thoughts in his head. The question was, how much to reveal? There was A LOT the boy did not know about that fateful day. Hell, there was a good amount he, himself, didn't know from not being there when it happened. A lot of what the Sage was about to say was speculative, but it was all there really was. Everyone heavily involved in the situation was no longer alive.

"Well, to start off, you aren't the first person in the Leaf Village to hold the Nine-Tails within you." That revelation caused the blond's eyes to widen in shock, yet the Sannin continued. "The Fox attack, despite what you were taught in the Academy, was not a natural disaster. Somehow, the beast escaped from the seal of its former holder on that night."

Naruto's thoughts were running wild, wincing slightly as a dull headache began to throb just behind his temples. "I don't understand." Where to begin with all of this? "Why would the village lie about what really happened!? We were never told there were hosts of the Fox! And how did the Nine-Tailed Fox escape from the seal?!" This was all too much to process at one time.

Jiraiya let out a loud, disheartened sigh. "Honestly, the answer to those questions is the same. We don't really know what happened. Everyone who has the answers to this mystery is dead." Jiraiya pointed to the village down below them. "As awful as it sounds, something as unsure as this has to be kept secret from the village. It would send the citizens into a panic, and with no definitive answer to what truly happened, there's nothing we could really do to calm them. Ignorance is bliss, as they say." He finished dryly.

"No one has any idea what happened?! And what does this have to do with the Fourth Hokage and me? Argh!" He grunted out in frustration, angrily running his hands through his blond locks. "I don't understand any of this!"

Jiraiya paused and took a seat, gesturing for his Godson to join him. Begrudgingly, the boy obliged. "What I'm about to say are my own thoughts, as I don't know what the Fourth's intentions were. Though, I knew him about as well as anyone. He was my student, after all."

Though it was difficult for him in his agitated state, Naruto settled into his seated position and waited to listen to what his guardian had to say. Depending on what came out of his mouth was going to heavily influence what he thought about his father. This was something the boy had to hear.

"I know that Minato was with the former host of the Fox when it broke free from the seal. That is a fact I heard straight from the Third Hokage himself." He grimaced slightly as the thought once again crossed his mind. "Not only that, but the Fourth Hokage was widely regarded as an incredibly talented seal practitioner; courtesy of yours truly."

Naruto felt a chill run up his spine to the base of his neck. From his studying of Fuinjutsu of that level, the Genin was beginning to understand what Jiraiya was trying to imply. "That can't be true. A seal as sound as the one used to lock away a tailed beast wouldn't just break like that. And even if it did loosen to a dangerous point, a skilled seal user would easily be able to tighten it back up before it could get to that stage."

'What he doesn't know is that Kushina's seal was weakened by him being born.' That would open up a whole different can of worms than the one they were currently dealing with. That information, Jiraiya decided, would be told another day. 'But still, with Minato there, I never understood how the seal could just break. It doesn't seem possible, unless…'

"I think you understand what I'm trying to say, Naruto." The Sage gave his apprentice a grim, knowing look.

"You think that someone interfered and caused the Nine-Tails to be released?" Just saying that sentence caused all of the hair on the boy's arms to stand on end. The mere thought of something so horrifying made him sick to his stomach. "Who could even be capable of that?! The Fourth Hokage was one of the strongest ninja to ever live, if he was there, he should have stopped this person easily!"

Jiraiya let out a humorless chuckle. "That's what I would've thought, too. Yet, every time I think about it, it just doesn't add up." Pointing at Naruto's stomach, or where the child's sealing matrix resides, he continued. "What I think, is that someone extremely dangerous showed up and Minato made a choice in his final moments. And this choice would affect the future of the Ninja World. He trusted you with that future by giving you the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Naruto."

Eyes wide, Naruto gripped his stomach tightly through his clothes. "He trusted me?" Could that really be true? His father, the Fourth Hokage, bestowed this cursed power unto him for the sake of the entire world? "Do you really believe that, Sensei? I was just a baby, why would he do that?"

"Your father was unlike anyone I have ever met. There were things he could do that just felt impossible for humans to achieve. I think that in the end, the love and faith he placed in you as his son made him confident that you could do it."

New tears, fueled by completely different emotions, were trying to poke their way through the corner of the boy's eyelids. This overwhelming feeling that was coming over him was indescribable. Just moments ago, the Genin had thought that he hated his father. When the Fourth was just the Hokage, he admired his decision and sacrifice for the village. Going so far as to feel honored to be the host of the Fox demon. Yet, upon learning that the Fourth was his father, he initially resented the man for causing all of the pain he had gone through during his childhood; as it is a parent's job to shield their children from dangers and loneliness.

Now, Naruto basked peacefully in the gentle breeze from atop the stone head of the Fourth Hokage… no, his father.

"Do you think my dad is proud of me?"

Jiraiya smiled brightly at the question and ruffled his Godson's hair. "Kid, I know for a fact that your dad is looking down from the heavens with the biggest smile on his face from seeing the kind of person you've become. He would be so proud of you."

That did it. Tears of blissful happiness, not anger and frustration, were freely flowing. This time, he didn't try and hide them. They were prideful tears, not shameful ones. "I'm not done getting better. I need to make him even more proud by getting stronger and keeping the world safe from the Akatsuki, and whoever tried to destroy the village. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens."

"Hm, sounds to me like our break just started and you're already itching to get back to the grindstone."

Naruto's determined; fiery gaze returned to him as he overlooked his home. "I still know that rest is important, but when we get back to it, I want to train even harder than before. That's the only way I'll be able to live up to my dad's expectations."

Jiraiya joined his protégé at his side overlooking the Leaf Village. He, to, felt an unusual amount of excitement building up within him. Sure, the prospect of there being someone with evil intentions out there who could match the Fourth Hokage was terrifying, but that didn't mean they were going to give up. For Naruto's, the village's, and the world's sake they had to keep going.

When he had first met the blond at the Leaf hot springs, if someone had told him that that little idiot was the Child of Prophecy, he would've laughed in their face. At that point in time, the Sage was still convinced that the prophecy was meant for Minato or Nagato and that he failed as a master when both of them had died. Now, after being around him for so long and seeing his near unbendable will and determination; it was almost certain.

This little knucklehead had to be the Child of Prophecy. That was why Minato entrusted him with the future. There was no other explanation.

"I have a couple ideas for that, kid. Don't you worry." After a couple days off, they were going to ramp up the boy's training into overdrive. That meant that Naruto was going to learn a few more tricks, too.

"Hey." Naruto began, tears now dry, throwing an affectionate elbow into his master's side to get his attention. "It isn't too late yet, do you wanna go hit the hot spring?"

"Haha! I was hoping you would say that! My shoulder is killing me!"

"Ugh, you know I don't need you to use shapes to let me know which days we're doing what in our training. What do you think I am, an idiot?" The exasperated tone came out as the blond saw his teacher pull out a piece of paper from his sleeve.

"Hey, would you just shut up and let me have my fun?" He asked back. "A couple days of relaxation and you still act like you have a stick up your ass! You can really be a buzzkill sometimes, you know that?"

The Genin let out an annoyed sigh but resigned. "Fine, just hurry up. I said I wanted to start training even harder, and you're making that difficult." Both master and student were staring at each other, eyes narrowed.

"Look at the paper, brat."

Finally putting his annoyance with Jiraiya aside, Naruto noticed something. "Woah, this is a lot different than it was before."

Sure enough, the Sage had made some drastic changes to the boy's training regimen. Monday was enclosed by both a square and a circle, indicating that that day was designated for weighted training and Taijutsu. Similarly, Friday was just a Taijutsu day, as the Sage drew a square around it. Though, those were the only 2 days designated to those activities.

"How come we're cutting back on taijutsu so much, Sensei?" He asked with a touch of confusion. Before, they would practice hand-to-hand combat at least 3 days a week. Why such a big change?

"Well, to put it simply, your taijutsu is to a point that dedicating so much time each week to it wouldn't yield worthwhile results. So, I want to allocate that time to areas that you need more work on." His explanation seemed to be adequate, as it elicited a swift nod from the boy.

"Ah, so is that why you want three days to be for Ninjutsu now?" The blond questioned further, noting that Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday had a triangle around them.

"That's right. You've been making solid progress on your wind manipulation, but for what I have in store we're going to need more than one day each week to spend on it."

The vagueness of the Sage's words were not lost on his pupil. "What kind of stuff are you talking about?" Stuff beyond his wind training? What could that possibly be?

Jiraiya shook his head. "We'll get to that in a bit, you didn't even ask about the new things I added." In all honesty, the Sannin wasn't surprised. 'The kid and his love to learn jutsu. I wonder if this is what Orochimaru would've been like if he didn't go crazy?' He mused humorously to himself.

Glancing back at the paper, Naruto realized what his teacher was talking about. Wednesday had a star around it, and Sunday a rhombus. "Uhhh, what the hell are these for?"

Jiraiya could only chuckle. "Well, Wednesday we'll be working on your Fuinjutsu. I thi-"

"Wait, really?! That's awesome!" He had been waiting for Jiraiya to start assisting him on his seals. Sure, the Genin had a lot of fun reading through the scrolls and books they had by himself, but there were some things he was getting stuck on.

"You clearly have an affinity for it, kid. And just as I said, if you proved you could handle, I would help guide you." The Toad Sage elaborated. 'Besides, after seeing you make your own seal from scratch, I bet I could learn a thing or two from you, as well.' He'd save that thought for himself; no reason to make the brat's ego bigger than it already was.

Before letting his excitement get ahead of him, the Fourth's son had one more question. "Okay, but what is Sunday for?" Off of the top of his head Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Fuinjutsu were pretty much all of the skills he needed. What else could he learn?

"That day you'll actually be learning under Ma and Pa." He said with a shrug. "They asked me if I could give them some time with you. And honestly, I think it's a pretty good idea. They'll be able to teach you some things that I can't; like Genjutsu."

"I see." His student responded slowly. Just looking at all the different things Jiraiya wrote down was beginning to make Naruto realize just how much he has already learned in their time away from the village. 'And there is still so much more to come…'

"Anyway." Jiraiya began, snapping the boy away from his own thoughts. "Since today is Ninjutsu, I guess I can answer the question you had before." That caught the blond's attention, as he looked up to meet the eyes of his mentor. "Even after learning nature manipulation and then some wind jutsu, you still won't have a very extensive repertoire. Wind techniques, shadow clones, and the Rasengan isn't exactly something to write home about."

For once, Naruto fully agreed with his Godfather. When looking at someone like Kakashi, who can use jutsu from several elements and is also well-rounded in every facet of Shinobi techniques, his own skillset seems insignificant in comparison. What if he were to go against someone who specializes in Fire? That would render all of his wind abilities useless and he would be back to just clones and the Rasengan.

"Does that mean that I'll be learning jutsu besides wind? Can I even do that? Wouldn't I have to learn manipulation for those, too?"

"Not necessarily." The Sage began. "Mastery of change in chakra nature comes with some incredibly useful perks. First, it will allow you to use high-level techniques from that specific element; which is why you must complete it before attempting to add wind to the Rasengan. It will also make you more efficient with that element, using less chakra than you would otherwise. Lastly, the user who masters an element can increase those Jutsu's power to new heights; making even a C-Rank a deadly and destructive weapon. Take the Uchiha's Fireball Jutsu, for instance... However, all of that doesn't mean you can't use other elements that you haven't mastered. You'll still be able to eventually use B-Level jutsu, and with your amount of chakra you won't even notice your inefficiencies with them."

"Hm, I guess that makes sense, and I'm assuming that mastering the other elements that I don't have an affinity for will take a lot of time."

"Now you're getting it, kid. It can take several years to master them, so for right now we're just gonna get you good enough to use versatile, and useful techniques for both attack and defense."

"Okay, so which ones did you have in mind?" The blond asked, arms lazily clasped behind his head.

"Ah." Jiraiya said, as a scroll magically appeared from his sleeve. "I think this element is a necessity for you, kid." He stated, tossing the scroll in the direction of the blond.

Catching it easily, the blond swiftly opened the scroll to read its contents. His brow furrowed at what he saw, then a 'lightbulb' went off in his head. "A water style technique, huh? That makes a lot of sense considering the weakness of my wind is fire." Looking up at his master, he couldn't help but crack a smile. "You aren't as dumb as you look, Sensei."

Jiraiya's eye twitched. "Hey, kid… no fair, that's supposed to be my line."

The blond Genin couldn't help but chuckle at the sagely man's reaction. "Okay, let's get started!" He exclaimed, putting his hands together to form a cross. "Shadow Clone Jut-"

"Not so fast." His teacher interrupted. Naruto, with an annoyed look on his face, glanced over in the older man's direction. "I want you to make 20 clones this time."

"Huh?" The Genin said with squinted, confused eyes. "But I thought my limit was 5 clones at a time? You said so yourself."

"Well, if you were listening, I also said that if you proved you could handle 5, I would eventually let you use more than that." The Sage shot back with a teasing, childish tone. "You said you wanted to train harder, and we still have a lot of work to do. Or, were you just all talk?"

That jab caused the blond to crack a smirk. "Heh, as if! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Just like that, 20 more copies of the boy accompanied the two ninjas. "Alright boys, we'll have this jutsu down flat by the end of the day! Isn't that right?!"

A scream of 20 confirmations nearly gave Jiraiya a headache. He sighed at their antics.

'I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to learn this one in a day. I mean, it's only a C-Rank, and I'm letting him use 4 times as many clones as he's used to.' Still, the Sage was going to keep a watchful eye on his student. 'I want him to grow accustomed to the mental strain of using this many clones. In a couple hours, I'll have him dispel them, absorb the experience, and reset. Let's see how he handles that.'

"Take a deep breath, go through the hand signs listed in the scroll, all while gathering the necessary chakra in your chest. Imagine a raging wave of water and, when you have it, exhale forcefully!"

"Right!"

All 21 Naruto's settled into a low, controlled stance. They began to run through the necessary hand signs, all while gathering a large amount of chakra in their midsections. Dragon, Tiger, Hare.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

The blond's spit out varyingly sized streams of water, but each was relatively small. They all simultaneously sweatdropped at their failure.

"Hey, mine would've been a lot better if this guy next to me didn't shout so loud! He broke my concentration!" One said indignantly.

"Speak for yourself!" The accused one shot back. "How about you brush your teeth! Your breath smelled so bad that I couldn't focus on my jutsu!"

"We have the same breath, moron! What we both don't have is a voice as loud and annoying as yours!"

"What? Are you an idiot? We're the same person, of course, we have the same voice!"

The Sannin watched their back and forth exchange with mild amusement. They may have been disappointed with their performance, but their tutor wasn't at all surprised. "Don't go yelling at… yourself like that." Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his face. The 21 blond heads swung in unison to face him. "You have to remember; this is your first ever elemental jutsu. It's a new feeling that you just have to get used to. Remember, imagine a powerful wave crashing against a beach shore."

The bickering clones seemed to calm down after the Sage's clarification. They settled back into their concentrative stances.

"Also, spread out so you stop annoying each other. There's plenty of room." The group obliged, as they spread out considerably to give them each more space to operate. "Now… Again!"

Going through a similar process as before, the group did their best to more vividly imagine what their Sensei had instructed.

Deep breath, powerful oceanic waves, hand signs, necessary chakra. Exhale!

"Water Style: Raging Waves!

This time, there was a noticeable difference in the size of the stream each doppelganger made. It wasn't anything to brag about, but it was a C-Rank jutsu on just their second attempt. They all allowed themselves a prideful smirk, even if it was a small victory. Though, the Toad Sannin wouldn't allow them much time to revel in it.

"Again! Your hand signs need to be cleaner and faster!"

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

"Good… again!"

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

"That's it! Keep it up! Don't forget, deep breaths!

"Right!"

"Again!"

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

"Exhale as hard as you can! I want powerful waves, not a hose to water my garden!

"Yes, Sir!"

"Again!"

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

"Chakra Control is key! You're wasting too much! Mold it, control it, maintain it, then release!"

They all nodded promptly, already running through hand seals.

"Again!"

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

…

"Hah… hah… hah." Each Naruto was huffing in exhaustion, having used a considerable amount of chakra in the couple of hours they had been practicing the jutsu Jiraiya gave them. "I think I only have a couple more shots in me…" The real one breathed out.

In just one training session, the group's Raging Waves technique had gone from a little waterspout to a sizeable, and forceful, stream of water. The more they performed it, the easier it was to imagine what they had to mold their chakra into. It felt more natural, and less chakra taxing, each and every time. Even for a C-Rank, not too bad.

Jiraiya had seen all he needed. "Naruto dispel the clones and take in their experience. But be careful" He warned, pointing to a nearby tree. "Brace yourself against that tree in case all of the information is too much to handle at once."

"Okay." He said, walking over to the tall, life-giving structure. With just a single thought, all 20 of his clones dispelled with a satisfying 'poof'.

Just as anticipated, all of the information from the clones stormed his brain at once; cramming their way into his thought processes and memory banks. It was jarring, much more so than the 5 separate experiences he was used to sorting at once. Though, in all fairness, while his legs began to wobble a bit from the unexpected flooding, he regained his composure quickly and began to process the data into its necessary compartments. After a few moments, with a pleased look on his face, he removed himself from against the tree.

"How was that?" His Godfather asked, a little uncertainty making its way through his tone.

"It was a little much at first, but once I got used to it, it wasn't that hard." The child answered honestly.

Jiraiya almost breathed an audible sigh of relief, glad that his risk to up the number of clones seemed to be working out smoothly. "That's great." He said, smiling. "Now, using everything you just learned from the shadow clones, I want you to do the technique one more time."

"Got it." The real blond said as he prepared himself the same exact way as before.

"Also." The Sage cut in one last time, once again gaining the attention of his student. "Pump a little more chakra into it this time."

Naruto responded with a nod. 'One last time.'

Deep breath, strong waves of water, hand signs, a touch more chakra than before… Exhale!

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

The large, crushing wave collided forcefully with the tree the Genin had just been using to help stabilize himself. It creaked and groaned in protest; the massive root system that kept it connected to the ground fighting with everything it had to keep it upright. In the end, it stood little chance against the tidal wave it was pitted up against. Slowly, but surely, the tree toppled over, landing with a jarring 'CRASH'.

"Wow…" Was all the blond could muster. His waves up until that point had been pretty sizable, but nothing quite like that. Was it from the experience he received from the clones or the extra chakra he pumped into the technique?

It was both! The knowledge he gained from those hours of practicing raised his levels of comfort and familiarity with the technique, allowing him to use more chakra at the same level of efficiency he was accustomed to.

"Wow is right." The Sannin said, getting up from his seated position beneath one of the shady trees that his student hasn't knocked down, or mangled, yet. "You kept your word, you learned it in one day. Not surprising, you're being taught by yours truly, after all." The satisfied Sannin said with a smug smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." His protégé said, wiping away the sweat and water that was dripping down his face. "What's next, old man?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Hey just because I said you've learned it, doesn't mean that you mastered it. You're still a long way from that. You have to keep practicing your hand signs, chakra control, and efficiency, and depending on your situation, controlling the size of the technique." Naruto bristled but didn't deny anything his mentor said.

"We're going to take a bit of a break, Naruto. You've used up a lot of your chakra. An impressive feat, considering how much you have."

His student was still panting heavily. He sighed stubbornly, fully knowing that Jiraiya was right. "Fine, I get it." He resigned. "But the least you can do is tell me what we're going to do next."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll tell you." The master said to his excitable disciple. "I'm going to give you a few more water jutsu… then we're going to move onto a different element." That glint in the older man's eyes, now match by his ecstatic student, was eye-blindingly bright.

"A third element?" The boy nearly squealed. "What is it? Something awesome? Like lightning, or fire?" Even though he had matured significantly, the prospect of shooting out fire, and or, lightning bolts from your body would always be cool; mature, or not.

"Better…" To which the blond gave him a confused look, only furthering Jiraiya's joy. "The other element you're going to learn is… Earth."

His confused look was further confounded. "Huh? Earth?"

-A Couple Months Later-

"Look, you bastard, I've had just about enough of you. You hear me?"

"Talking to the leaf, despite what you may or may not believe, will actually not make it tear easier. I hope you know that." There was a touch of humor in the older man's tone, as he managed to hold in a chuckle.

"Sensei shut up, I got it right where I want it. He'll crack soon, I know he will."

"Yeah… he's shaking like a leaf." The Sage managed with a snort, before breaking out into a full-on cackle. After taking a moment to regain himself, he allowed himself an approving nod. 'Oh yeah, I gotta write that one down. It was comedy gold!"

Sweat dripped down the side of his face, eye twitching unnaturally fast; Naruto let out a sign. "You just love to ruin everything don't you? Why don't you take your old man jokes and go somewhere else! I'm trying to get in the zone over here!"

"You have no appreciation for my genius!" The loud Sage shot back. "I'll have you know that your father thought I was hilarious! He loved my jokes and laughed nearly every time I told him one!" With that last statement, Jiraiya childishly stuck his tongue out at his blond protégé.

"Yeah, probably because that was the only way he could get you to actually pay attention to his training instead of spying on pretty girls!"

"HAHAHAHAHA." The former self-proclaimed 'Super Pervert' let out a long, overexaggerated laugh that bellowed throughout the mountains. "You know me so well, kid! If there's anything I love as much as the ladies, it's people letting me know how great I am!"

"…" The Genin stared at his mentor for a moment, before wordlessly putting his attention back on the task at hand. "I think I'm going to tear this leaf now." Completely ignoring his Sensei's boisterous statement.

"Well, I would hope so." Jiraiya added, seamlessly switching from childish 5-year-old to mature 53-year-old. "That is why I had you dispel all of your shadow clones, after all. Put the experience you just got to good use."

Naruto wasn't listening, having already tuned him out to give the leaf his full concentration. Thanks to the clones, Naruto had been able to make quite the progress this past couple of months; despite only working on wind manipulation three times every two weeks. It was a grind, but the relentless training was paying dividends.

'I have to imagine the wind, but as if it was something razor-sharp; like a sword or kunai.' He thought to himself, reflecting on what the Toad Sage had said. 'Though, that hasn't been working all that well. My cut is only going half-way through the leaf. It needs to better than that.' There had to be something he was doing wrong; maybe he wasn't imagining the right thing? Unclasping his hands, he looked at the leaf resting in his palm.

'Huh…' It kind of reminded him of…

The blond's eyes widened as a realization struck him upside the head like a brick. 'Yes! That's it! I can do it!' Re-clasping his hands, the boy closed his eyes and began to conjure up every bit of focus he had in his body. This time, instead of envisioning one sharp object slicing in a single direction, he pictured one-thousand sharp objects being sucked up by a tornado, flying dangerously in every conceivable direction. A true symphony of destruction. The now swirling maelstrom of chakra inside him mirrored those intense winds; just was begging to be released…

'Now!'

"HAA!"

An unexpected gust forcefully shot out the sides of his palms, fluttering his clothing about and sweeping through his spiky blond hair. This caused Jiraiya to actually stand up from where he was comfortably sitting. 'Interesting… what do we have here?'

After the initial shock was over, the Genin winced as a dull pain pulsed from his hands. Confused, he separated his palms to get a better understanding of what happened. Just as he did, his Godfather peeked over his shoulder to survey the potential damage his blond protégé had inflicted on that leaf. Both of their eyes widened in complete shock.

The leaf was cut, all right; and no, it wasn't as simple as a straight cut through the middle. The leaf was absolutely ripped to shreds in what looked like a hundred different ways. From a distance, it could be confused for green confetti. The force of the wind chakra appeared to be so strong that it had even managed to give the boy's palms a couple of shallow cuts.

"Kid…" The Sannin breathed out. "What the hell did you do?" Was all he could manage to say, as he looked to the boy for answers.

Naruto, he was still just getting over what had just occurred himself, shook his head to bring him back to reality. Despite his achievement, the only thing that gave his feelings away was a knowing smile. Holding out his palm, he glanced over at his Godfather. "Do you have a pen?" He asked. Jiraiya, who was even more confused, handed over a pen from his pocket when he was given an impatient look.

"What do you need the pen for?" He asked, not enjoying being out of the loop.

Instead of responding verbally, Naruto simply took the cap off with his teeth and began to draw on his left palm. What he drew, Jiraiya recognized right away. It was the modified mark that Naruto used during the second stage of the Rasengan training; Jiraiya's swirl altered to look like the Leaf Village symbol.

Naruto, now done, capped the pen and was smiling ear-to-ear. "Staring at that leaf in my hand reminded me of something."

"And what was that?"

"The Rasengan does its damage by spinning chakra in thousands of different directions, right?" To which his Sensei nodded. "I was having trouble because when I pictured my wind chakra, it was just going in one direction. I'm sure that works for some people, but I'm so used to sending my chakra in a bunch of different directions that I just wasn't getting it. And besides, I think that it's safe to say that my way is just as effective."

'This kid…' He thought to himself in disbelief, noting the cuts that peppered the boy's hands. 'In all my years, I don't think I've ever seen someone with an affinity as powerful as that. Hell, Nagato possessed the Rinnegan, and yet even he didn't…' Trailing off, the Sannin couldn't help but let the pride he felt show through on his face. 'And such an ingenious way of using it, too.'

"So, what did you think?"

Jiraiya was pulled from his own thoughts. It took a moment to register what his pupil had said, but when it did, he looked at him and smiled. "I'd say that was pretty amazing, kid." The compliment eliciting a happy smile from the blond. "I think we'll be moving onto the next stage pretty soon."

Naruto nodded, a serious expression on his face. He brought both of his hands out in front of him. In his left, he effortlessly formed the Rasengan. A beautifully bright blue orb of spinning destruction. In his right hand, though this time with a more labored expression on his face, the Genin created a small swirling gust of wind chakra. It was taking nearly all the boy had, but as he brought the two hands right next to one another there was only one thing on his mind.

"Dad…"

The Sage looked on with a feeling of both intense pride, and nostalgia. 'It won't be long, Minato… he's going to complete the Jutsu. I know it.'

Author's Note: I'm curious how divisive Naruto's reaction to the truth will be. Let me know through a review or PM! Also, were you surprised by how much was revealed? Too much? Too little? Let's talk about it.

See you next time for Chapter 18: The Path of the Worthy!

And I wish you all a prosperous and happy 2020!

DovahkiinGod - One of my goals was to make Naruto feel like a more complex, realistic version of his canon self. Someone going through relatable inner-conflicts about what is right and what is wrong, or if that even exists in the first place. I'm glad that I'm conveying that well. Thank you!

GunBlade2019 - The Nine-Tails is actually not doing anything to Naruto at the moment. Not even leaking his chakra. As to why, that will be explained soon!

ThelittleKing - Did you like the way Naruto handled learning the truth?

And there will be future interactions with his inner self. Stay tuned for that because I have a lot planned!