Chapter Twenty Four

Heyo guys it's me my dudes. Back with another chapter just for you. Hopefully you enjoy. Things are gonna heat up soon. Everyone is saying my stuff feels rushed. And honestly, it is. There's a reason though. There's a place I want to get in this story. Once we get there, trust me you're gonna fuckin love it. Bare with it for another chapter, and I promise you'll like the result. Well at least I hope so. The upcoming chapters have me excited as fuck. And I've honestly had it written since the beginning. Everything has been leading up to it, and it isn't even the finale! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto Kishimoto does. If I did, I'd be super happy.

"The Tale of Jiraiya The Gallant. Well...now it will end a bit better I hope. The final chapter… I'll call it The Frog at the Bottom of the Well, Drifts off into the Great Ocean. Just barely glorious, but glorious indeed. Oh! That's right, what should I name the sequel? I wonder...let's see…. The Tale Of Uzumaki Naruto…. Or maybe, Namikaze Naruto ...Yeah, that has a nice ring to it. Sorry I couldn't be there for your upcoming birthday kiddo…"

Naruto threw a kunai, and it impacted the target across from him. Channeling his chakra, he activated the Flying Raijin. The blond appeared before the target, and suddenly he collapsed to one knee. Pain shot through his body, and vomit filled his throat. "Gah, dammit that hurt. What am I doing wrong. It takes so much to rip open the hole in space time. Using my chakra to blast through ends up taking so much and causing me a great deal of pain…" He thought analyzing the results in his mind. He didn't even want to stand back up it hurt so much.

Suddenly he felt a large hand land on his shoulder. His eyes shot wide, and he stood quickly. "Sensei, I didn't even...sense...you?" He said trailing off as he realized no one was there. "What the hell...I could have sworn that was…" He thought. He placed his finger to the ground and stretched his chakra over the village. "No, he's not back..hm." The blond when back to his notes, and soon after, resumed attempting his technique.

A few tries later, and no progress made, Naruto realized it was time for a date with Rikka. He quickly flickered away from the complex to her house to pick her up for their meal.

"Tsunade…."

"So it's really true then? He's really gone?"

"Yes I'm sorry my dear. It is the truth." The elder toad said sadly.

"I..I see. ANBU! Fetch me Kakashi!"

"Yes ma'am!" A masked figure said, it then dropped from the ceiling and disappeared from the room. Only about a minute later, Sakura stepped into the office, confusion slowly overtaking her face when she saw the toads.

"Lady Tsunade what's going on here-.." She was cut off quickly when Kakashi appeared before the Hokage.

"Ma'am?" The copy nin asked.

"Kakashi….Jiraiya has been killed in battle. I need you to go get Naruto and bring him here."

"Lord Jiraiya has…? Um, yes ma'am right away." The masked nin said, quickly flickering away from the office to fetch the blond.

"Lady Tsunade...is it true? Is Lord Jiraiya really..?"

"Yes it is Sakura. Now, please go, this is… something that Naruto needs to hear in private."

"Um ...yes ma'am will do. I'll come back later."

"So there I am, kunai in hand, and I swear I've got that pervert right where I want him! No escape possible! And he turns into a freakin toad! It was crazy!" The blond told his new girlfriend as he recounted a tale from his early training with the Sage.

The bluenette giggled loudly, and smiled at him. "That sounds like quite the tale, Naruto."

The blond spun around in his chair to look at the doorway of the restaurant. He had sensed his sensei coming, and waited patiently. "Hey Kaka-Sensei."

"Hey. Naruto, the Fifth has called for you."

"The Hokage? Is it important? I'm kind of on a date."

"Naruto...it's a top priority." Kakashi said after thinking a moment.

"I'm sorry Rikka, I have to go. Would you like to come along?" He said as he turned to the woman he was with.

"Can I even?" The scarf wearing female asked.

"If you really want, I suppose it can't hurt. Now let's go."

The three stood outside the Hokage tower, and Naruto was stunned to see Gamabunta sitting outside, with Gamakichi atop his head. "Hey guys! What are you doing here? Did something happen?"

The toads simply stared back at him blankly, trying not to show any emotion. However; the blond could sense chakra, and he could tell by the feel of everyone here but he and Rikka, that there was something definitely wrong. "What's going on around here."

"It's nothing let's go." Kakashi replied quickly, as he continued into the tower.

"Strange.." Naruto said questioningly. Rikka turned and gave him a soft smile, before they both continued inside as well.

"Is this the student of Jiraiya boy?"

"Huh? And elder toad? Yes that's me, Uzumaki Naruto. I'm Jiraiya-Sensei's apprentice. What's up?" The blond said staring at the new toad with a questioning look.

"There's no easy way to say it, nor is it useful to dance around the issue. Jiraiya boy has been killed in battle."

"Huh?" The blond said in disbelief. "What did you just say?"

"Not to long ago, there was a rumor that the Akatsuki leader was hidin' in Amegakure somewhere. Jiraiya went in to confirm this rumor. The Akatsuki leader was called Pain. Now I don't know if Jiraiya boy told you, but he trained a group of children from Ame during the Second World War. It seems that this Pain, is actually one of those children."

"To defeat someone as powerful as Lord Jiraiya, that's quite a feat. How did this Pain pull it off." Kakashi asked.

"It was because Pain possesses the Rinnegan eye."

"The Rinnegan!? No! That means…" with this everyone's eyes were on Naruto. The blond's anger boiled inside him, even Rikka looked at him in concern. "First he took my mother and father, now he's taken my master as well. To top it all off he was trained by Jiraiya-Sensei…"

Tsunade's eyes widened at Naruto mentioning that he knew who his parents were. "Naruto, you..?"

"Know? Yeah I know, I met my dad."

"Tsunade dear, we're getting off topic. The Rinnegan is extremely powerful, but to top it off, there were six of them with the Rinnegan eye."

"Six? How is that even possible?" Asked the copy nin in disbelief.

"I don't know, perhaps there's some trick behind it. I believe Jiraiya boy figured it out in that final battle. Even after having his throat crushed, and he knew the end was near, Jiraiya boy left a message before collapsing." The toad said whipping off his cloak. "This is his message."

"It's a code." Commented Shizune.

"I believe he did this to prevent pain from catching on, but that is all I know."

"I'm not sure what he was trying to tell us." Spoke the Hokage.

"Naruto boy, he also gave me something that I need to give to you. It's the final draft of his new book." The elder toad said, and held out a book to the blond. The man stepped forward, and took the parchment in his hand. He also pulled out his own piece of paper and politely asked the toad to turn around. He quickly copied down the code left by his master, before he placed the book and the paper in his pocket. He then stepped away, back to Rikka's side.

He looked to his Hokage, and then spoke. "Did you let him go, Lady Hokage?"

The elder blond closed her eyes and sighed before answering. "Yes, that's right." Everyone in the room felt Naruto's chakra flex at the words. His anger became almost malleable.

"I….I see." The man said, his anger coming back under his hold. "I have to go." He spoke.

"Now hold on Naru-..." Kakashi was cut off when the man disappeared via body flicker. "Dammit. That kid-"

"Enough Kakashi, let him be."

"Understood Ma'am."

"Naruto…." Rikka said in worry under her breath.

"Damnit!" Came the load scream of the blond as he slammed into the ground. His most recent attempt in using the Flying Raijin had thrown him head over heels as he came out. He had tried to come out running, but the pain sent him off of his feet as soon as he had teleported. "What am I doing wrong…..Sensei…." The blond's thoughts were overtaken by memories of the large white haired Sage. A man that had been a mentor, a friend, and a father figure. "Why'd you have to go alone…? Jiraiya-Sensei…."

The blond stood, and made his way back to his home. Sadness filled him, and he couldn't even focus on his training. He had tried to use it as something to distract him, but it really hadn't worked. He sighed loudly as he walked, and just couldn't shake the feeling of hurt that had overtaken him.

"Naru..?"

"Hey...Rikka."

"How are you holding up?"

"Not well… he's gone Rikka...he was a father figure to me. He was a man of immeasurable strength, and honestly I thought he was invincible. But now…. he's dead, he's not coming back, and if Jiraiya-Sensei couldn't beat this guy, who can?" The self doubt he held within him from long ago quickly clawed its way to the surface

"Naruto….more than anything, Master Jiraiya believed in you. He believed in your will power, and in your strength."

"Yeah….I don't know, I just miss him."

"I know Naru, but he'd want you to keep going, and celebrate his life, more than dwell on his death."

"I wanted him to watch over me. I wanted him to watch me become strong. To see me change the world of shinobi, and to see me become Hokage. I wanted him to be at my wedding one day, and I wanted him to be a grandfather to my children…"

"Oh Naruto….I'm so sorry. I know it hurts. But you have to remember darling, he's watching over you everyday now. His eyes are on you at all times, now more than ever."

"Thanks Rikka...would you mind maybe...letting me sort this out alone for a while?"

"Of course Naruto. Come get me if you need me."

"Will do."

A few minutes after the woman had left, Naruto stood from his bed and sat down at his desk. In front of him, he placed Jiraiya's recently finished book. "The Tale of The Prodigal Son. Hmm. I'm proud you wrote another book that can affect people's lives. I'll have to get this published." He thought to himself as he examined the book. As he lifted it, a note suddenly slipped out. Confusion dawned on his face, and he quickly examined it.

"Naruto, I plan to take you to your parents home for your birthday. But I write this letter in case I don't make it back from Amegakure. Obviously I'm so super awesome though, so we don't have to worry about that! But anyway, I've included the address of their former home, just for you. Please go have a look around. Stay strong kiddo, see ya soon."

The blond cried at the last words to him from his sensei. It hurt to know that the man had genuinely believed he would be able to make it out of Ame alive.

"I think I'll bring Rikka along to the house then." He said to himself. He then wiped his tears, and stood. He made his way to the door, and was off to find his girlfriend.

"Naruto! Whatcha up too, wanna get some ramen on me?" Iruka said, bumping into his student in the street.

"Actually...sure." The man replied quietly.

"What's the matter Naruto?" Asked this other father figure in the blond's life.

"Let's talk about it at the stand…."

"Alright."

The two made their way to the ramen shop, and they chatted about trivial things until their food arrived.

"So, what's wrong Naruto?"

"Well….Master Jiraiya was killed in battle."

"What? Naruto...are you serious?"

"Yes…." He said sadly.

The two ate quietly as Iruka thought on what to say. They soon finished their meals, and Naruto began to get antsy. He moved to excuse himself, but Iruka caught his arm. "Wait." He said. "Come with me."

"Alright." The blond replied in slight confusion.

Eventually the two found themselves in the park. Iruka motioned for the jounin to sit on the bench before speaking. "Wait here, I'll be right back." He said with a smile.

The chunin returned quickly, a two piece popsicle in hand. He broke it in half, and handed one to Naruto. "Here, you look like you could use one." He said to the boy, no man, that he had watched grow. "Lord Jiraiya loved you like his own child, Naruto. I'm sure his last thoughts were of you, and I'm sure he's watching over you right now. He certainly wouldn't be happy seeing you sad like this. So don't stay depressed forever. After all, Lord Jiraiya himself, one of the three Legendary Sannin, acknowledged you as his promising student. I'm sure you're the man that Jiraiya hoped to see you become. And you are the embodiment of his teachings. You and only you, can show the world what he taught you, and pass his teachings to the next generation."

"Thank you…..Iruka-Sensei.." The blond replied with the softest of smiles. The pair sat and talked a while, eating their popsicles in the midday heat. The two soon said their goodbyes, and the man was once again off to find Rikka.

"So this is…"

"Yes, this is my parents old home. Once we step through this door, you're going to learn an S-Rank secret. Are you prepared for that?"

"Of course I am."

"Alright then, let's go."

With that the pair stepped into the building. Naruto had undone the barrier and locking seals Minato had once placed on the wooden door. They looked around in wonder, before Rikka made her way over to a shelf. "Naruto….this is...your father is…." She said, picking up a photograph.

"Yeah. My dad was the Fourth Hokage."

"The resemblance is uncanny! How did no one notice."

"I think it was more that they didn't want to notice. You see, the reason they orrcastried me, was because I am the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox."

"The...Nine Tails?"

"Yeah, father sealed it in me to save the village, and to protect the balance of power between the villages. He made a sacrifice not only for the village but for the world. Doing so he placed a massive burden on my shoulders, but I look at it as more of a responsibility." He said, rubbing dust off of another photo of his mother and father.

"So is that why you're learning the Flying Raijin?"

"Yes, father left me that jutsu, a final gift to his son."

"I see." The woman said. "Naruto, your mother was beautiful!"

He smiled in response. "I know, wasn't she? Quite the amazing woman."

"I would've liked to meet her." She said with a soft smile.

"I'm sure they would have loved to meet you as well, Rikka." The warm grin plastered across his face told the woman that her partner had come to terms with the death of his master. "I'm going to store away many of these photos. I want to keep them with me awhile, until I decide if I intend to move into this home."

"Smart idea." The bluenette commented.

After some time spent exploring, Rikka took her leave, and Naruto moved into what they had discovered to be his father's study. He looked around for a while, and discovered pages and pages of his father's notes. Impressed by the amount of theories and fuinjutsu ideas his father had come up with, Naruto stored it all away in his scroll, and returned home for his rest.

"Nagato, everyone is dead, we can't keep this up. I'm sorry, but it's over."

"No Konan. I will retrieve the Nine Tails myself, as I should have all those years ago. Unfortunately that bastard Hokage managed to rip away my control of the Gedo statue. It took me quite a while to regain the ability to summon it."

"Ok, say you do capture the Nine Tails, then what?"

"We will rest, recover, and I will hunt down jinchuriki on my own. While I do this you will recruit new members."

"You're going to capture all those jinchuriki alone? You and I both know that will be extremely difficult. On top of that the only tailed beasts we possess are the One and Three tails."

"As they say, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." The man said, a slight anger in his tone.

Weeks passed, and Naruto continued his attempts to figure out the Flying Raijin. He struggled to actually perform the technique. He just couldn't understand what exactly he was doing wrong. Due to this he now found himself talking with Rikka.

"Yeah I don't know. It's just so hard, I'm really struggling to figure it out."

"I'm sorry Naruto. I wish I could help, but you know I'm no good with this stuff you're talking about." She replied. She was currently patching up one of Naruto's training outfits. It was torn badly on the leg. They continued to converse as Naruto watched her try to rip away a piece of fabric from the pants. He watched as she pulled at it harshly to no avail. (The woman wasn't all that great at this sewing, and she was very much just winging it.) He watched with curiosity as she made a small cut in the fabric, before using that cut as a starting point to tear the fabric away.

"Rikka!" He yelled, causing the woman to jump.

"What? Dang it Naruto you scared me."

"You're a freaking genius! Thank you! Thank you so much you brilliant woman!" He yelled excitedly. He quickly pecked her on the cheek, and smiled at her. "I have to go! I think you just got me to crack the Flying Raijin!" He said full of excitement. "Here, take this incase I figure it out!" He then quickly handed her a marked tri-pronged kunai, before he disappeared in a body flicker.

The woman shook her head at her boyfriend's antics and made a simple statement under her breath. "Weirdo."

Naruto quickly stopped at his parents old house. He had read in his father's notes about some kind of secret passage in the basement that lead to something, but the notes were incomplete. They had been dated to the night before his birth, so he assumed his father hadn't had the chance to complete them. He wanted to go check it out quickly before he threw himself headlong into the Flying Raijin training with his new idea that had been sparked by Rikka.

Coming before a strange and well locked door in the basement, the man stood in confusion. The door had a few locks on it, as well as plenty of sealing formula to keep it closed. After some time of trial and error, Naruto unlocked the door, and made his way inside. "What is this…?" The blond questioned in wonder as he stood in a seemingly unending plain of existence. A massive open and blank white and grey area sprawled around him. "Dad, you crazy genius! I can't believe it! You created your own pocket dimension." The blond stood there, taking in the marvelous amount of work it must have taken his father to develop this. "Wait, how the hell am I going to get out of here? Shit, this might be a problem!"

He sat down, and quickly unfurled his scroll, extracting the notes of his father. He quickly began sifting through them, intent on finding an answer. Studying quickly, he soon figured out three things. The first was that his father had created this place as a testing ground for extremely dangerous jutsu. The second was that this pocket dimension only slowed time by a few hours. Twenty four hours in the pocket dimension would be twelve hours in the real world. The third had deeply concerned the blond. His father had not written down how to escape this place. It certainly had the man stumped and he needed to figure it out. He made multiple shadow clones, who quickly set to work on finding a way out. In the meantime, Naruto planned to perfect the Flying Raijin. Before he got to work however; the boy spun around and made three more shadow clones. These clones quickly got to work on trying to decipher Jiraiya's message.

"Has anyone seen Uzumaki Naruto?" Asked the Hokage to her assembled group of nin.

"No ma'am, I believe myself and Iruka were the last ones to see him. That was last week. He had been headed to his training complex, but no one has found any trace of him. I highly doubt he deserted the village, I believe he may have caused himself trouble in his training. We checked his house, and the Inuzuka's tracked his sent to the basement door. However; it was locked with multiple sealing formulas and no one could even begin to comprehend them. And with master Jiraiya gone….." Rikka trailed off.

"That brat always gets into trouble…. we'll give him another week, but if he hasn't returned from wherever he's gone we will begin attempts to break into it." The Hokage said.

About two hours after the meeting, a dreadful feeling came over some of the people who lived in the village. They had no idea what was about to happen.

"Gah!" Came the pained shout as the chunin died at the hands of the Akatsuki leader.

"Kaito!" Yelled the other Konoha chunin. As soon as the man finished speaking he found himself lifted from the ground and pulled rapidly to the strange orange haired man. He screamed in dying pain as a black rod ripped through his chest and pierced his heart.

Tossing the body of the fallen nin to the ground, the shinobi turned his sights on the village. "It is time, Uzumaki Naruto."

Civilians watched in horror as rockets and summons destroyed the village around them. Massive explosions rocked the ground beneath their feet, throwing some down to the ground.

Rikka stopped, and quickly helped up an elderly woman who had fallen. "Please, evacuate quickly." She said to the elder. Who smiled and thanked her, before quickly running off.

"What's happening?" Rikka asked aloud as she ran through the streets. She made her way across rooftops, trying to find the source of the destruction. She skidded to a stop as she heard the voice of the chunin, Umino Iruka.

She watched as an orange haired man landed before her former academy teacher. "Speak now. Is Uzumaki Naruto in this village."

Iruka looked up at him defiantly, attempting to tend to the wounded ninja below him. "I don't have anything to say to the likes of you!"

"Is that so, then I have no need for you." Said the man stoically as he swung his arm down, a metal rod intended for Iruka's chest. His arm was stopped suddenly however; when a gloved hand caught it. The Rinnegan wielder then came face to face, and eye to eye, with none other than Hatake Kakashi.

"Take that man with you, and pull back. I'll handle things here." Spoke the copy nin.

"Y-Yes sir!" Iruka replied obediently. He quickly gathered his wounded comrade and made his escape.

Kakashi quickly dodged a kick from the enemy, and summoned an earth wall behind him. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" The wall sprouted behind the Akatsuki leader, and had him trapped, at least Kakashi thought so. He quickly brought a chidori to life, and moved to slam it into the enemy. Moments before it could connect, he was blasted away by the almighty push.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" A column of fire came from Rikka jumped down from the rooftop and landed beside Kakashi. The man escaped the damage from the chunin's jutsu, but seemed unprepared when Kakashi released his own.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running Jutsu!" The large hound made of lightning barreled towards the man, and just when it looked like it would connect, it was blasted away by the orange haired man's technique. "So he can repel jutsu as well…" The copy nin glanced at the chunin beside him. "Rikka, you sure you want to be here?"

"I'll fight, no doubt."

"Any idea where Naruto is?" He also gave her a look that said, "don't reveal anything".

"No I haven't seen him." She said, shaking her head.

"Shit, we need to protect him." Replied the masked man.

"Let's handle this first then." Spoke the stoic bluenette.

"Right." As this was said, another path of pain crashed down behind them. It's arm extended and opened up, blasting out a large number of rockets at the Konoha nin. A massive explosion enveloped the two nin, and it looked as if they had been killed. A cloud of dust appeared behind the new arrival, and Kakashi burst from it, chidori in hand. He was extremely surprised when the man dodged with no trouble, even from his blind spot.

The man regrouped with his comrade, and they were immediately greeted with another blast of fire. "Fire Style: Flame Bombs!" Called the bluenette.

The fire seemed to roast the two, only for them to come out mostly unscathed. However; the man who fired the rockets had changed. He now possessed three faces, six arms, and a massive blade extending from his back.

The original attacker raised his hand, and pulled the two Konoha nin toward them, Kakashi bound for the missformed man's blade, and Rikka bound for a black rod extending from the originals sleeve.

Kakashi caught himself and Rikka with a chain he had anchored. Unfortunately the pulled increased, and ripped the masked nin away. The bluenette managed to grab a better hold of the chain, and wait out the jutsu. Due to this she was forced to watch as Kakashi was promptly impaled by the massive blade. She also bore witness to Kakashi turning into lightning and shocking the enemy.

The orange haired man suddenly glanced up, and managed to dodge away as the fists of the Akimichi impacted his partner, and the place he had stood moments ago.

The last Uchiha found himself only a few miles outside the village when a feeling of dread suddenly overtook him. "What the hell?" He thought to himself. He had been returning from a mission outside of Fire country, and had almost made it home. He quickly made his way to a high point, where he assumed he would get a semi clear view of the village in the distance. The sight he was greeted with filled him with worry for his home. The Sharingan wielder leapt from his perch, and quickly made his way to the village. Seeing the massive columns of smoke rising from the village sent shivers down his spine, and anger to his heart.

And that's a wrap. Okay so, something I want to get out of the way. I'm not gonna make up some bullshit to explain it, but in this AU, Nagato was not crippled in the fight with Hanzō. Yahiko still died in that fight however. Nagato is now crippled because he was fucked up by Minato in their battle during the Nine Tails attack. This means that Nagato wasn't using the new bodies during the attack. I've seen a review that says I'm a shit writer, but y'all seem to enjoy this. :) also saw a review that said it's dumb they announce jutsu and things like using exploding tags, where they say "explode!" I agree it is dumb, but they do it in the anime. However; from now on, many more of the techniques in this story will be called out in their minds, instead of aloud. Anyway that's all for today, expect a new chapter fairly soon. Darling in the Fox out!