A/N: Let's play with Naruto's destiny now…

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Chapter 2

Naruto was training to learn the rasengan. Jiraya had shown him the last step and left him to find out how it worked by himself. He was having a hard time due to barely understanding what he had to do. He had bet with the old lady Tsunade that he would finish it by the end of the week, but combining the previous exercises to complete the technique was harder than he had expected.

Dum. Dum. Dum. A light sound of drums echoing from afar. The sunlight faded, leaving Naruto in a sunset. Dum. Dum. Dum. The shadows elongated. Dum. Dum. Dum. The sun set and the moon rose. Dum. Dum. Dum. A presence became noticeable.

Naruto turned to the direction of that weird feeling. A strange sight awaited him. A girl a few years older than him with a black jacket, animal fur around her waist and skin-tight shorts like Sakura's, animal bones covering her forearms and the back of her hands with claws at their extremity. Her matte face was shaded by a tribal mask made of a dragon skull, hanging charms, fur and feathers.

"H-Hello?" hesitated Naruto, fascinated but careful after what happened the last time he crossed strange people.

"Hey boy, looks like yer teacher doesn't really take care of ya. Want a tip?"

"Hmm…but…you don't even know that technique, how could you help me?"

A drop of sweat rolled down his temple. Whoever that girl was, he had to buy time for Jiraya to notice something wasn't right and come. Especially since that looked painfully like he was trapped in a genjutsu.

"I dunno know the rasengan, but I know how ya could speed up the learning process. I can feel yer chakra. You've got shitloads of it. Ya know the Shadow Clone technique too. How many clones can ya make at once?"

"…A lot…why do you ask?"

"Try making ten clones and make them train the same as ya. Shadow Clones' memories and experiences go back to their creator when they dissipate. Ya could learn techniques much faster than ya did until now and learn lots of things quickly to make up for yer learning gap with yer age group."

"How do you know that?"

"That's the basic knowledge about Shadow Clones. The technique was made for information gathering. Since most people can only make one or two, they don't use them for training acceleration, but since you've got so much chakra ya can do it."

"Alright…thanks I guess? Why are you helping me?"

"Someone I know wants me to help ya. Build trust. She wants to meet'cha, but you were off-limits. Now that the Third's dead, you're easier to approach for me. The Oto-Suna attack on Konoha left the village weakened and there's less watch over ya."

"Is that supposed to reassure me?"

"Naruto," the boy's surprise was obvious, "when the Kyuubi was sealed inside ya, it was divided in two parts. Ya couldn't have contained all of it. The person who wanna meet'cha is the other host, yer other half."

"What? Why did nobody tell…me…"

"As you've probably guessed, you had to be kept separate after the attack. The fox didn't attack randomly. The previous host was giving birth. She was weakened and her hold on the seal was too. Someone broke in and exploited that moment of weakness to release the Kyuubi on Konoha. That person disappeared after the attack. Yer father sealed half of the fox into ya and the other half into yer mother."

"But…she…she's…she's alive…? I…I have a mother…?"

"Yes. Before dying, yer father sent yer mother to Mount Myoboku, where the Toad Summons live. He wanted to protect her, but she's been trapped inside the Animal Realm ever since. Without the Toad Contract, her body didn't transfer with her soul and she couldn't contact the toads or Jiraya cuz' souls can't speak with living people."

"Then, how do you know that?" asked Naruto, defensive.

"Cuz' I'm a shaman, boy. I can travel between the Lower Realms and chat with wandering souls. I met yer mother during the Chuunin exams of Konoha. She explained me her situation, since I was the only one she could talk to. She asked for my help and she wanted me to contact ya, see if ya were well and help your development. She was hoping you were a genius like yer dad, but ya seem more of a puncher than a learner, so I wanted to give ya that little tip to catch up in mental development and knowledge."

"So…she's kind of dead?"

"She's not dead dead, her body's dead and probably long since transformed into ashes. But her soul's still living in the Animal Realm. I can even tell ya the guy who killed the Third Hokage's got a pretty useful technique you could find useful."

"In what way?"

"Oh, it allows…ya know…to reincarnate a soul into a corpse…and the soul keeps their memory, their abilities from before their death, the body reforms whenever it gets destroyed and has unlimited chakra. Pretty useful for a container…"

"…I can…revive my mother…?"

"I found that scroll in the Animal Realm. In Manda's lair. Oh, ya dunno Manda yet. You'll see him soon. Big serpent, grumpy, Orochimaru's boss summon. If ya see him, try to convince him to turn against his summoner. He doesn't want to be summoned by someone weaker than him and Orochimaru's current state would probably disgust the snake. Just tell him his summoner's arms are sealed inside the Shinigami, that should push him over the edge.

"Also, Kabuto, that lil' shit, he's Orochimaru's apprentice in all but name and he doesn't have the Snake contract. He tried to kill Sasuke and he's been spying for Orochimaru for years. If ya can, use his body for the resurrection technique. He's a total psycho, he experiments on people with his master and tortures and kills them when he doesn't need them anymore. He helped creating the cursed mark that's been torturing Sasuke's mind and Anko, the proctor for the second exam."

"How do you know all that?"

"I'm a shaman, I can connect myself to animals and share their senses. I've seen much more than ya could ever imagine."

"Can I become a shaman too? It looks awesome!"

"Sorry, but ya can't. Ya can become somethin' else though. Ya can become the first Fox Sage in history, boy. Ask Jiraya about the sage training. Just replicate that with the Kyuubi and ya can achieve somethin' no one's ever done before. Ya can become one with the Nine-Tailed Fox and use nature energy mixed with demonic chakra. Boy, ya can become the most powerful human that's walked on this earth for centuries, but ya needed some help to step out of yer crappy beginning."

"Thanks! I'll think of what you've told me! What's your name?"

"Call me Ryuujinko. Our time here is nearing its' end. Ask Jiraya about yer mom, if ya need ya can even play with his emotions. He should've told ya about yer parents already. And in case ya didn't get it yet, yer dad was the Fourth Hokage. See ya!"

"See you…wait what? Hey! Come back!"

A hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey, brat, who are you talking to? There's no one around."

"Pervy Sage? But…where did she go…?"

"Tell me what happened. After the events in the hotel last time, I can't let anything slip."

"I heard drums and the sun set and…wow it's day again! And then that girl dressed like a tribe shaman appeared behind me and she told me…"

"Naruto, please take your breathe. Talk slower. If you tell me your whole life in one sentence I won't understand a thing."

"Okay, slowly…so, that girl told me to use shadow clones to speed up my rasengan training and to study what I've missed at the academy and after. I asked her how she knew…"

"Shadow Clones are common knowledge among jounin. Get to the important parts, brat."

"Okay…my mother is alive. Not alive alive…she's…yeah, her soul's been trapped in the Animal Realm."

"…What?"

"My father sent her to Mount Myoboku after sealing the Kyuubi into us, but since she's not a toad summoner, her body stayed here and her soul was sent in the Animal Realm, where the summons live."

"Who's that shaman girl?"

"She told me her name's Ryuujinko."

"…Kid, you really have a gift…or a curse…you draw incredible people to yourself, it's crazy…"

"You know who she is?"

"…You were just approached by a minor goddess. One who was born among humans and ascended before the Warring States era. She's not an almighty goddess, but she's got divine powers. Traveling between the Human Realm and the Toad Realm without a contract and seeing and talking to souls can only be achieved by a divinity."

"Oh, and she told me that my mother's soul has been trapped since she was sent there. She can be revived, or rather, brought back…"

"Resurrection techniques are forbidden, Naruto. They're abominations and should never have been created. My old teammate used it to forcibly bring back the first two Hokage to kill the Third."

"But if a minor goddess and my mother are okay with it, it should be…"

"Naruto, no."

"…At least you could tell me about my parents…you knew them, you trained my father…"

Jiraya sighed, only now realizing that Naruto knew who his father was. The overload of information had drowned it when the kid had first told him.

"Your father was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and a seal master better than myself…"

"How was he?"

"He had your hair, slightly longer, but a brighter skin tone. He was nice and serious most of the time, but he had a good sense of humor. He was clueless like you around girls though…"

"Hey! I'm not clueless!"

"That Hyuuga girl has nearly been worshiping you for as long as I've seen you both around each other and you didn't notice anything. You're totally clueless."

"She's not!"

"She venerates you, boy, you're her hero or something. In a few years, you two could…"

"Don't even think about that, perv!"

"Alright, alright. But it's true. What's that glare for? You're all bark no bite. Glare at me when you can land a hit on me, brat."

"And my mother?"

"Same personality as you, cute woman with red hair, bright skin, very straightforward and talked before thinking…"

"Talks."

"…She was a real tomboy. She loved ramen as much as you."

"Is she strong?"

"She was a strong jounin. If she had more time, she would have made elite jounin and been better than Kakashi, though not a ninjutsu specialist like him. She was a seal master and introduced your father to the art of seals. A real genius in that department."

"I'm gonna kick Orochimaru's ass and make her proud!"

"You, kick his ass?" Jiraya laughed. "You're thirty years early, brat!"

"I'll show you how wrong you are, pervy sage! Ryuujinko told me a secret to defeat him and I won't tell you!"

"That kind of information is what you should share with your superiors, Naruto."

"You don't want to let me bring my mother back. I don't have any reason to trust you personally, especially since you don't even train me. You just show me something and you leave me alone until the next meal. Shouldn't you care about your apprentice's son a little more?"

It felt like Naruto had stabbed Jiraya into the guts.

"…I…"

"Tcheh, I don't need your shitty excuses. I've grown alone, taking care of myself until I became a genin and it barely became better after that. Now I have Kakashi throwing my milk into the trash bin, that's the only difference."

"If he throws it, it must be because it's past the expiry date."

"Who cares? I heal from anything anyway. The only things that don't heal are my feelings. Now that I've got a chance to see my mother, you can't take it from me."

"Na…"

"No! You have no right to do that to me! Where were you when the Kyuubi attacked?! Why couldn't you be there and give your life instead of my father having to sacrifice himself?! Why were you not there when my parents sacrificed themselves for their village?! Why weren't you there when your apprentice you praise so much all the time was becoming a dad?! Where have you been all this time, when they, when I needed you?!"

Tears were running down the blonde's cheeks. Jiraya was speechless. It was as if he just got stabbed repeatedly through the heart.

"Now stop tellin' me what I can or can't do! And tell me about sage training, cuz' I'm gonna be the first Fox Sage ever and kick the Akatsuki's asses!"

Jiraya walked away silently like a man without a goal, his gaze low.

'Maybe I've been a bit too angry at him…' thought Naruto, wiping his own tears. 'I'll leave him some time to think. I've got to complete the rasengan for now.'

"Multi-Shadow Clone technique!"

Twenty clones appeared and he resumed his training.

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A/N: Okay, before anyone tells me that the Fourth is his hero and bla bla bla, here Naruto's mother is "alive", well, not really dead. His focus is on his mother because he can actually reach to her, there's a chance that he will meet her. That's why he even dismissed Jiraya's description of his father's talents. He wants to know what his parents looked like, to form a mental image of them and he's more interested on who his mother is because he might meet her and he wants to be able to imagine her. It's the family he never had that he might be able to have in some time.

No, Naruto won't become a double of his parents. He wants to become strong but he doesn't want to be the copy of someone else. If he ever gets a chance at learning a technique that he is able to use effectively and that isn't too complicated for him, he'll try to learn it.

And yes, I'm sick of toad sage, it looks cool but it's overdone, I don't want the classic befriend Kurama and uses tails to enhance his abilities either, too boring, there are fics like that all over the Internet, some of which I even wrote (and are mostly incomplete). I've gone with the Fox Sage, which is a lot less seen (haven't read a single fiction with that yet) and honestly it suits him better. Why would a fox demon let his container turn into a frog when he could turn into a majestic fox? He even has the whiskers already! He just needs eight more tails to reflect his guest…