After the fiasco of trying to enter the capital city of Nabudis, Naruto and Reks chose to remain far away from the area in the foreseeable future. Whatever catastrophe had stricken all natural life from the area and had left behind wondering masses of malevolent magical energy, evident by the dark entite that had attacked the two shinobi.

Reks took pride in the fact that he could claim that title. Naruto had been shocked to find the boy alive after the entite's onslaught. Reks would claim for years later that the look on his teacher's face when he revealed that he had escaped through a simple Substitution Jutsu was priceless.

Of course, with Naruto bestowing the title of full-fledged shinobi upon his charge, Reks reminded him of his promise to reveal all of the secrets that had confused Reks for months. As it had already been nearing nightfall by the time the duo had attempted their foray into Nabudis, they elected to make camp in the Mosphoran Highwaste, to which they returned quickly.

"First things first," Naruto began as they sat before the small campfire. "I'd prefer to do this without interruptions." He looked Reks square in the eyes. "It's a long story, so it'd be best to save any questions until after." Reks nodded, truly curious as to his friend and teacher's past.

"I guess the best way to start things is at the beginning. I come from a place known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves. There were five great ninja villages at the time, and the Leaf Village was the biggest of them all. The strongest ninja in the entire village was known as the Hokage. I was born to the Fourth Hokage, and that's where everything went downhill…"

Several hours later…

"So after I managed to defeat Pein, he revived everyone in the village with the last of his energy. He passed on his will just like Master Jiraiya had. They named me next in line to be Hokage, but I refused to take the hat while Granny was still breathing. She eventually woke up from the coma and after a while I took over. That was when I noticed something strange."

Naruto looked tired and worn out by now, more so than Reks had ever seen the man. It was almost like the next part of the story were tearing at his very life force. He had been staring blankly into the campfire for the better part of the tale.

"Everyone around me was getting older, but I stayed the same." Reks gasped. "I never aged past seventeen." Tears were beginning to well up in the blond's eyes now. "They told me it was a combination of the insanely-strong life force that came from being an Uzumaki, the chakra from the Nine-Tails, and the connection with natural energy I had through Sage training.

"It sounds crazy, doesn't it?" Naruto finally looked up at Reks; tears were falling freely from the pristine blue eyes. The younger boy could only nod dumbly. "I know, I didn't believe it either at first. 'Surely I'm just aging gracefully' I told myself. I couldn't say that anymore when all of my friends had turned sixty years old with greying hair and arthritis while I still held the form of a perfectly fit seventeen year-old in his prime.

"Most of them didn't mind. My wife, Hinata… she said it was better this way. She-" Naruto choked up, recalling his wife's words. "She said she would always be able to see me the way she fell in love with me, young and strong." Reks waited for Naruto to continue; the next words seemed extremely painful.

"She died at 85."

Reks looked down with a sullen face. "I told you that some didn't care about the fact that I didn't age… Some did care, and they hated me for it. Hinata's cousin Neji had lost his best friend at a young age. Rock Lee was the greatest taijutsu expert in the entire village, except maybe his sensei. Lee and his sensei both loved what they called the 'Springtime of Youth.'" Naruto gave a short, hollow laugh. "They never shut up about it, actually. But Lee's youth ran out early. He died from underdeveloped and overworked chakra coils in his twenties. Neji resented me for staying so young when Lee would never have the gift of growing old."

Naruto sighed heavily and pushed on. "Hinata told me many times to ignore him, but I couldn't. It wasn't fair that I should be given this gift, this eternal youth, when Lee craved it with all of his life, only to have it snuffed out earlier than anyone would see reasonable.

"Somehow I trudged on through my life. Granny Tsunade stepped down a few years after the stuff with Pein and I took over as Hokage. It was what I had always wanted; ever since I was born I just wanted the village to recognize me. I was finally the Hokage, the strongest ninja in the whole village, and I couldn't have cared less.

"Everyone around me was growing older and even though most of them didn't care, I just couldn't tell myself that I deserved to stay young. I beat myself up, figuratively and literally. There were a number of times where Hinata found me lying in a pool of my own blood because I had fought myself so hard.

"Hinata and I had three kids. Hiruzen, named after the Third Hokage; Minato, named after my father the Fourth Hokage; and Kushina, named after my mother. Hiruzen took after the man he was named for and became a great scholar. Minato reached the level of jounin faster than anyone had during peacetime. Kushina eventually took over as Hokage when I realized that an eternally young Hokage could have terrible consequences.

"Things kept going smoothly enough; I stopped hurting myself so bad after Neji died. I know that sounds horrible - he was one of my best friends at one point - but the negativity was suffocating at times. After Hinata died I fell into a pretty bad depression; I took up drinking a lot to keep from hurting myself. Kushina and Minato eventually got me to quit that and I took up training my body again. I had 'let myself go in my old age,' they said.

"That got me through the next few years until Minato and Hiruzen were killed on missions. By this time the only people I had left were Kushina, Sakura, and Killer Bee, who I met after becoming Hokage. He was the jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails so we got along pretty well. He lived a long time because of the chakra it gave him, too. Sakura lived a long-ass time 'cause of the seal Granny Tsunade gave her that stored extra chakra in her forehead.

"Eventually they died, too. Kushina was the last one to go. She was Hokage until the day she died; longest reign of all the Hokages as far as I know. By that time I only had grandkids left, and I knew they could handle themselves just fine. I didn't want to leech my life onto theirs since I had nothing else, so I left the village.

"I travelled far away, I wanted to get away from the village that had been my whole life for… 180 or so years. It felt good for a while. I still remembered the pain of watching everyone fade away, but being in new surroundings helped."

The tears had stopped by now. Naruto simply looked like he was concentrating now. "I went to a bunch of different places, even further than the Land of Iron, which was the furthest that anyone in my time knew about. I learned a lot about the world in my travels and a few hundred years later I decided it was time for me to face the village again.

"By the time I returned, all of the Hidden Villages were gone, replaced by Archadia, Dalmasca, and Rozarria. The Land of Water had disappeared entirely, and no one took up the empty space that had been the Land of Earth. The Leaf Village had turned into the bustling capital known as Rabanastre, with no mention of the Hokage or anyone who remembered me. So I disappeared again, but this time I stayed nearby. I wandered around the desert, rescuing caravans and things like from wild beasts and bandits, just like I had done in my younger days."

"The Yellow Flash," Reks muttered.

"Combine my blond hair with the speed I moved at and it's no wonder people came up with the name," Naruto shrugged. "It's just a funny coincidence that used to be my father's nickname as well."

Naruto looked over at his charge carefully. "Do you have any questions, Reks?"

The boy sat speechless for a just a moment, trying to take in everything that had been told to him. He believed every word; after all, Naruto had no reason to lie, especially in such an elaborate way.

"The first thing that comes to mind is… Are you immortal?"

Naruto smirked slightly. "Sort of. Like I said, my body doesn't age, so I'll never die from growing old. Sickness doesn't affect me either, since all the things that make me ageless also give me an insane immune system. No, at this point the only thing that'll take me out is dying in battle. I can still be killed by something strong enough… or so I assume. I've never really tried."

"Your depression, and the way you hurt yourself…" Reks began carefully, knowing it would be a touchy subject. "How do you hold that all back? You seemed like a normal seventeen year-old when I first met you."

"Remember how I told you about the villagers? They hated me when I was younger. They despised me for carrying the Nine-Tailed Fox, though I didn't know at the time. I had to put on a happy face and push through everything if I wanted them to acknowledge me."

"Can the Fox escape?" Reks whispered.

"Not unless I die. And even then it'll be a few years until it can reform itself."

Silence fell between them for a short moment. "Jiraiya… your master's will," Reks muttered. "Do you still believe in it?"

Naruto smiled, the first true smile that Reks had seen since the tale began. "With all of my heart. I made a promise to Master Jiraiya and to Nagato. I never go back on my promises. Even after all this time, that's still my nindo… my ninja way."

Elsewhere…

"The Uzumaki pest defeated the entite."

"Yes, we all saw it."

Beings of great power over the land of Ivalice had gathered. These beings governed the happenings of men. These beings were known to some as 'Fate.'

"We cannot risk sending anything more powerful without alerting the humes to our presence."

"The humes already work to destroy themselves. Surely we can spare another entite. He will not expect such a blatant attack-"

"Entites will not defeat this foe," the tallest of the beings interjected. "The power he possesses dwarfs any entite we could conjure."

"Then how should be defeat such a threat to our power?" The others gathered echoes these feelings - if an entite could not defeat Uzumaki, what could?

"I have already set in motion events that will pull Uzumaki to his demise," the leader boasted, "and we will also gain the ally which we have been watching in Rabanastre."

The next day, Reks and Naruto made their way back to the Estersand. Naruto suggested heading towards the Giza Plains to work on teaching Reks water walking, but the younger of the two wanted a break from dangerous situations after Nabudis.

So Naruto continued training Reks is wall climbing while also continuing his physical conditioning and elemental training. Naruto had also begun teaching Reks stealth techniques to go with his speed. He told Reks that stealth was a big part of being a shinobi. Speed and stealth together could create a formidable opponent even to the strongest juggernaut.

The days rolled on in this fashion. Reks and Naruto both spent all day training in their own ways. Fukasaku had appeared and told Naruto to test out absorbing the natural energy in the air and holding it in. So far Naruto could only hold Sage Mode for a few seconds; it was better than what he had been able to do before, but it wouldn't help in battle, especially since he had to stay still longer than he remembered to gather the energy.

After several more weeks, Naruto grew restless. His progress with Sage Mode had all but halted entirely. Even Reks was having trouble with his training. He could climb walls and the cliff faces with his chakra, but his progress in elemental manipulation had halted as well.

"Reks, I think it's time for a change of pace," Naruto said. Reks halted his practice and the fifty shadow clones around him disappeared.

"What's up, Naruto?"

"Both of us are basically stuck in our training at the moment," Naruto explained. "I can't help you with your elemental training; the problem is simply in your chakra control. As for me, I can't gather any energy for Sage Mode because the air is saturated with spiritual energy, which throws off the balance once I gather it in."

"So what are we gonna do?" Reks wondered. "Surely you're not thinking of going back to Nabudis."

"Of course not." Naruto shook his head. "No, I think the only way to move forward is for me to leave for a while."

"What do you mean by that?" Reks remembered the story of Naruto's past; he was prone to disappearing without notice.

"I'm going to check out some leads that the toads gave me about Sage Mode. The Elder Sage, Fukasaku, told me that there was a huge concentration of natural energy in the direction of the Giza Plains."

"So that's why you wanted to head there," Reks realized. "You could have just told me that, Naruto. But why do you have to go alone?"

"Well for one, you warned me that it's super dangerous, and we've already seen how that went," Naruto replied. "You'd be better off out here sticking to your training, Reks. Master Jiraiya did something like this to me when I was younger… except his method was just tossing me off a cliff and hoping I made it out."

"So you're just leave me out here and hope I make some kind of huge breakthrough?"

"It's slightly more dangerous without me here, and life-or-death situations are always the best way to get a handle on techniques that you just can't nail down." Naruto smirked at his student. "I'm not worried for your safety; you're strong enough to tackle anything in the desert, even the Wild Saurians… as long as you don't try facing of with two or three of them at a time… probably."

"'Probably,' well that sounds good enough to me." Reks reached out and shook Naruto's hand firmly.

The older man stayed silent for just a moment. "Thank you, Reks."

"For what?"

"For not changing how you see me after hearing all of that."

"You did describe yourself as the #1 Most Unpredictable, Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja, after all," Reks joked.

Several days later…

Naruto felt a bit guilty about leaving Reks behind. He had left the boy out in the wilderness to live for himself. He had barely remembered Kurama's warning about 'Fate' wanting to make sure Reks died since he had been saved. The Estersand was a quiet place, though. Reks would catch wind of anything huge coming after him instantly and get the hell out of dodge if he couldn't fight whatever it was.

And if he couldn't get away, Naruto had left a few hundred shadow clones behind to watch over him.

'He'll be fine,' Naruto told himself one last time as he entered the arid expanse of the Giza Plains. 'I need to focus on my own goal for right now.'

Naruto walked calmly through the dry plains, ignoring the wildlife nearby. The essence of the Nine-Tailed Fox kept the weaker creatures away, though he did have to fight off some large, wolverine-like monsters at one point.

He quickly found the village in the center of the plains. Seeing no guards posted he walked right in, only stopped when he saw a few of the nomads take notice of him.

"If it all possible," Naruto began in a friendly voice, "could I be directed towards a village elder or someone of that sort?"

"I'll take you to Elder Brunoa," one of the nomad women answered. "Right this way."

Naruto nodded and followed the young woman to a tent set up in the middle of the camp. Sitting in front of the tent was an elderly woman, whom Naruto assumed to be Elder Brunoa.

"Elder, this man wishes to speak with you," the woman said before returning to her previous work.

"Oh, and what might you seek of me?" the elder asked, motioning for Naruto to sit with her.

"Thank you." Naruto sat across from Brunoa. "I'm not sure of where to start, but I was given a tip that this place and your people are very in touch with nature." Brunoa nodded. "I have a special ability that allows me to drawn in energy from nature and increase my abilities."

To show what he was talking about, Naruto gathered natural energy from the air, noticing that it was much easier here than in the Estersand. The telltale signs of Sage Mode appeared in and around his eyes before fading a few seconds later.

"The problem is that the air is oversaturated with spiritual energy, making it difficult to maintain the natural energy," Naruto finally explained.

"Hrrmmmmm…" Brunoa looked at the boy before her. "What you say is true. You are even more in touch with nature itself than our people, something I did not think possible in this day and age." The elder paused for just a moment to take in his features. "What did you say your name was?"

Naruto bowed his head slightly. "My apologies, Elder. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"You are the 'Yellow Flash' that the city folk speak of," Brunoa said with an air of certainty.

"That is correct."

"You have saved my people on more than a few occasions," Brunoa said. "We would be happy to accommodate you in any way possible."

"Thank you, Elder." Naruto bowed his head once more. "Can you think of anything at all that would help me?"

Brunoa smirked, the mirth dancing across her aged features. "I think I have just the ticket, Yellow Flash." She turned to one of the nearby nomad women. "Sara, bring me one of the sunstones that Jan brought in today."

Sara brought over a basket full of jagged yellow and orange gems. "Take the brightest of the gems in your hand, Yellow Flash." Naruto did so and immediately understood what the elder was thinking.

"These rocks are full of pure natural energy," Naruto stated.

"As I expected. Please feel free to take all of the sunstones we have available, Yellow Flash."

Naruto looked at the Elder curiously. "Are you sure? It wouldn't be a terrible inconvenience, would it?"

"We make dozens of these every day, Yellow Flash," Brunoa explained. "We can afford to spare a few to the man who saves us from beast and bandit alike. I assume you have a way to comfortably carry the stones, by the way."

"Yeah, should be no trouble at all. Just let me test this out real quick."

Naruto shut his eyes and focused on the energy he could feel coming from the small stone in his hand. After a few seconds the energy in the stone faded away and Naruto's pupils became flat like a toad's with an orange pigment over his eyelids. All of the nomads in the village could feel the clear difference that this transformation held over his previous attempt.

The power faded off after what felt like half a minute. Naruto frowned slightly. 'She said this was the best of the whole batch, but it only held enough energy to power Sage Mode for thirty seconds. Whatever, I'll just have to make the time count when I need it.'

"This will serve me wonderfully, Elder," Naruto said as he stood up. He quickly sealed the remaining stones into a scroll and bowed deeply to the elder. "Thank you very much."

"Anything for one who values nature such as yourself."

Chapter 6 End

Naruto's history is changed a little bit in this story compared to canon. I find the entire thing with Madara and Obito to be unbearably stupid, so the canon storyline stops at Pein for me in this case. Other changes will become apparent later in the story. This of course explains why Naruto can't use the Jinchuuriki Mode: he never learned how to use it.

I've been planning since the beginning to have the sunstones be a substitute for Sage Mode. I feel like it was a wonderful way to sort of 'nerf' Naruto since he would otherwise be horrendously overpowered for the world on Final Fantasy XII.

Next chapter we finally get into the main story of FF12. Hope you guys are looking forward to it!