Some of this chapter will be a re-cap of sorts. Not all of it mind you. Just some of it. I hope you enjoy it. I added my own little twists to some things.

Thank you for your encouragement thus far, it's what keeps me writing!

Again, I do not have a beta so any mistakes made are my own and, I'm still new at writing so please be kind.

I still do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. And I still want to cry about that little fact of life... T^T

Now off to the story!

Gaara hadn't been able to give Naruto much more information about Jiraiya other than 'There is nobody alive who knows him better than you do, and nobody he trusts more.' and 'It would be better if you met him yourself rather than have me tell you things that would affect how you handle the situation. His life is currently not endangered and right now that is all you need know'.

Needless to say, Naruto was not happy with the utter lack of information.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was completely at a loss. He had seen the Sannin in passing before he'd left Konoha but didn't really know all that much about him and thus had not formed an opinion on the man. However, he could clearly see that the news of Jiraiya's survival had shaken Naruto to the core. The Sannin meant the world to the blond, this fact was patently obvious. While Naruto was making plans for their journey Sasuke decided to get some answers. The Uchiha approached Yamato and asked to speak with him in private.

Once they were alone Yamato asked, "What is it that you want to know Sasuke?"

"Who is Jiraiya to Naruto? Why does he care so much for the man? Why would Naruto know him better than anyone else? And why would the man trust Naruto more than anyone else?" Sasuke blurted out, confused by the blond and his relationship with the Sannin.

Yamato sighed. "Jiraiya is family to Naruto. He loved him like a father or grandfather, I'm unsure which. The truth is that the Sannin is actually Naruto's godfather, though this is not a known fact. Jiraiya was the one who trained Naruto's father, our Yondaime Hokage. Also, Naruto was named after the main character from Jiraiya's first novel 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' which just happened to be the Yondaime's favorite book. Jiraiya adored Naruto's parents and was looking forward to the birth of their son. He was out on a mission the day Naruto was born and when he returned he was told that his favorite student and his wife had died. He was informed by the Third that the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi inside the infant Naruto and that the information was to remain classified. Jiraiya was allowed to raise Naruto for the first two years of his life but after that, Jiraiya was told he would need to leave Konoha until Naruto turned thirteen. Only then, would he be allowed to take over his training. However, he returned to Konoha early and met Naruto by chance. He began training Naruto for the Chuunin exam finals without the approval of the Third.

When the Third died Jiraiya was informed that he was the chosen candidate for the Fifth. The only problem being that Jiraiya did not want the responsibility. He just wanted to train Naruto without the needs of the entire village taking away from that. His dream had never included becoming Hokage and that hadn't changed with the passage of time. With this in mind, he and Naruto went on a trip to find his old comrade Tsunade to take over the position instead. From there you know that they succeeded in bringing her back."

Yamato paused, cleared his throat, and then continued, "After you defected from Konoha, Jiraiya took Naruto and left the village to train him. They were gone for just over two years. He originally intended to help him learn to control the Kyuubi's chakra, but after a close brush with death he decided that was not the best action. During the two years they were training the two formed a very close relationship. Jiraiya loved Naruto as if he were his own. He had such high hopes for him, and truly believed that Naruto would not only become Hokage, but that he had the ability to change the entire shinobi world as we know it, and bring a much-needed peace to all. He told him that although he couldn't give him the answers on how to achieve this, he honestly believed that Naruto would be the one to do it.

When they came back to Konoha Naruto almost immediately set off after you. And while he was off chasing after you, actually around the time you killed your brother, Jiraiya was supposedly killed. Naruto returned home to Konoha only to learn that Jiraiya had been murdered while trying to get information on a supposed Akatsuki hideout.

Naruto was heartbroken. The normally happy young man that we all know so well, holed himself up in his apartment. He was grieving and no one seemed to know how to pull him out of it. Eventually though, with the help of Shikamaru and Iruka, he began socializing again, but he still grieved over Jiraiya's loss. Shortly thereafter he was taken to Mount Myōboku at the request of the toad sage Fukasaku-sama to learn senjutsu. While he was away, the man who killed Jiraiya, a man who called himself 'Pein', showed up in Konoha. He said he was there to retrieve the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and if nobody would tell him Naruto's whereabouts he would kill them and lay waste to the village. Only a small handful of people actually knew the truth of where Naruto was so ... many, many, many people were killed. Kakashi included."

Sasuke frowned in confusion. If Kakashi had been killed then how was he alive now?

Yamato then explained the circumstances of Pein's arrival in Konoha, his fight with Naruto, their talk, and finally Pein's choice to use the Gedo Rinne Tensei no Jutsu which sacrificed his own life to give back the lives he'd taken since arriving in Konoha.

Yamato sighed and met Sasuke's eyes which were bright with emotion, what emotion Yamato wasn't quite sure. The Uchiha was just too difficult to read. "I honestly believe that Naruto's hatred of Nagato was erased after this action. I don't think that hatred is something that comes easily to Naruto. It is a foreign thing for him, and an action like this would erase that animosity because, in the end, Naruto is very much like his namesake. He lives up to it without even trying. He still misses Jiraiya a great deal and learning that the man he loved as family is still alive is a balm on his injured soul. He's going to do everything in his power to restore the man's memories and bring him back to Konoha. No matter how long it will take. On this he will not give up."

Having said his piece Yamato left Sasuke to think about what he'd learned.

The trip to Grass country would take more than a week. After going over the maps and planning where they would stop and how long those breaks would be, Naruto determined that it would take a total of nine days to reach Ero-Sennin. As much as he wanted to rush the journey, he knew that such a thing was unwise, so instead he planned the journey at a more sedate pace than he would like.

The morning after learning of Jiraiya's survival Naruto and his team set off for Grass country after saying a brief farewell to Gaara and Temari. Naruto had once more thanked the red-head for his help with all of this and gave him a hug before he left, taking Gaara by surprise. And yet, Gaara was very pleased with this show of affection from Naruto because he knew that despite the fact that the blond was a very friendly person he didn't really show that affection easily when it came to physical contact. The fact the Naruto felt comfortable enough with him to give him a hug made him feel on top of the world. He considered Naruto to be his best friend after all, and there was no one that he respected more.

As he watched Naruto and his party leave he couldn't help but note the differences in Uchiha Sasuke. He seemed oddly concerned about Naruto, which was a strange sight to see considering the fact that he'd always believed the Uchiha to be into self-gratification only. The fact that he was actually concerned with another led Gaara to acknowledge the fact that even Sasuke was affected by Naruto's special ability to change others. Perhaps this mission was just what he needed. Gaara sincerly hoped that everything went well, and that they'd be able to bring Jiraiya back with little to no difficulty.

Only time would tell how everything would turn out.

Edited: 6/22/2016