AN: I must sincerely thank you all for the great reception on this sort of return of mine after a brief hiatus. You guys make this such a fun story to write, a sentiment I also get from my Pokemon story. Sadly the same can not be said about my DxD fic. That is a headache and a half to deal with. Price of the "fame" I guess haha.

To quickly address some questions: the pairing IS Tayuya, she made that poll her bitch.

Naruto IS getting more runes and such but how he does so will vary.

His parents are dead. No change there.

Hiruzen was worried about Naruto becoming Itachi because of how emotionally stunted Itachi was. He doesn't want Naruto to become emotionless or lose himself.

I have as of yet to decided on what I'm doing with Sage Mode. Same with summons. He sort of has a "contract" with rats due to the Outsider's brand but they're not an actual summons clan.

Also I'd like to issue a special thank you to Kamen Rider Arashi for giving me some pretty great ideas on some future stuff.

Roll the story!

Naruto could only stare in frustration at the sight before him.

Here he was, outside of Konoha's famous hot springs, and before him stood arguably one of the most powerful ninja Konoha had ever produced...peeping into the spring and giggling all the while.

'I wonder if any of the other shinobi villages are like this or if Konoha is just plain weird,' Naruto thought to himself.

From what he knew about the man before him and what the Sandaime had told him he was going to have to do something drastic to catch the man's attention. That in mind Naruto's prankster side began to rear its head accompanied by a very mischievous and vulpine grin.

Using the skills of his trade the young blonde snuck up on the white haired man and sent chakra into his vocal chords to both amplify and change his voice to a much more feminine pitch, a skill usually only taught to ANBU. Taking a breath Naruto opened his mouth wide and yelled, "EEEK! PEEPING TOM!"

Surprised at the volume of the yell the pervert jumped high into the air like someone had lit a fire under his ass. Of course he had been leaning forward and so managed to propel himself over the hot spring walls, straight into the women's side.

Not a few seconds later very girly cries of pain began to come from the spring with proclamations of "HENTAI!" accompanying them.

The jinchuuriki prankster was meanwhile laughing his ass off at the sounds of Righteous Feminine Fury coming from behind the wooden fence. It had been a long while since he had pulled off a prank of any significant scale and managing to pull one over on a ninja of such a high calibre was definitely going to go in his book of "Awesome and Kickass Pranks" (patent pending).

When the women that had occupied the spring were done exacting "payment" on the pervert's body they tossed the unmoving corpse over the wall like a pack of carnivores that had just finished feasting on the carcass of a lesser animal.

Naruto was mildly surprised when Anko of all people peeked over the wall to see who had allowed them to catch and punish the pervert. Seeing the familiar mop of blond spikes she grinned and easily hopped the fence, clad in nothing but a white towel that did nothing to conceal the curves that had earned her the right to be called one of Konoha's sexiest kunoichi.

"Well well if it isn't my favorite blonde! I can only guess it was you who gave us that lovely present?"

Naruto could only nod as his mind struggled to take in the very appealing sight before him. Sure Anko dressed in a rather risqué manner on a daily basis, but that paled in comparison to the amount of skin currently put on display.

Anko of course took note of this and was all too happy to cross her arms, accentuating her already sizable bust and causing Naruto's face to turn a bright red from the blood flowing to it and a lower part of his anatomy.

During the later half of his training with her and the other jounin he had started going through that life and body changing experience known as puberty. Of course the Sandaime being the closest thing the boy had to family meant he was responsible for giving the young blonde the dreaded Talk.

After that particular lesson Naruto had a hard time looking at either Kurenai or Anko without becoming a human tomato.

Anko being who she was had taken almost every opportunity to tease the poor (lucky to most) blonde. However since Naruto was still only a ten year old she couldn't do anything too X-rated.

That didn't stop her from sauntering up to the still heavily blushing Uzumaki and shoving his whiskered face into her bountiful cleavage and shaking him about, "Oh thank you Naru-kun for saving me from that ghastly pervert!"

Naruto tried to reply but he had two certain...fleshy "pillows" preventing him from doing so. A problem arose when he realized that Anko's sweater puppies where not just blocking him from talking, but also blocking him from taking in the much needed element of oxygen. Panic set in as he realized that if Anko didn't stop "thanking" him he would die a very fleshy and perverted death.

Lucky for him his saving grace came in the form of another one of his jounin teachers and Anko's best friend, Kurenai Yuhi.

"Anko...Naruto doesn't look too good," the crimson eyed beauty commented with a sigh at her friend's antics.

Anko looked down to see Naruto flailing about desperately trying to escape the clutches of her bosom. Sweatdropping she let go of the young assassin, allowing him to take deep gasping breaths of precious, precious air.

When Naruto had filled his lungs with oxygen once more Anko decided to turn it up, wrapping her toned arms around Naruto from behind she whispered into his ears causing him to shiver, "Hey Naru-kun when you're a little older maybe I can show you how thankful I REALLY am."

"I...uh...ah...er...well...um...," Naruto sputtered, his head about to explode from the overflow of blood.

Anko laughed before laying a surprisingly gentle kiss on the blonde Uzumaki's whiskered cheek then walking away with an extra sway to her curvaceous hips leaving a still heavily blushing Naruto to stare in shock. The purple haired tokubetsu jounin (Special Jounin) leapt over the hot spring fence once more, her towel showing the barest hints of her perfectly shaped behind as she did so.

For awhile Naruto just stood there, his mind still trying to comprehend what had just happened to him. He was of course thrown out of his befuddled mind when the man from before prostrated himself at the blonde's feet proclaiming, "I am not worthy! Teach me your ways young master!"

Naruto just face palmed, "Get up you old perv."

The man was instantly on his feet revealing him to be a towering six foot something and garbed in a green kimono with a red haori over it, "I am no regular pervert! When the ladies hear my name they shiver in anticipation, babies smile at my presence, and men bow at my feet for I am-!"

"Jiraiya, one of the Densetsu no Sannin (Three Legendary Ninja) and famed Sage of Myobokuzan (Mysterious Tree Mountain)," Naruto finished in a monotone.

Jiraiya only grinned, "Good to see the youth of today take the time to learn about their betters. So what's your name gaki (brat)?"

Naruto just narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest, "Cut the crap perv. You know my name. If you didn't you'd be an even poorer kyoufu (godfather) than I thought."

All pretenses of joking dropped from the man's face as it took on a decidedly serious look, "So the Sandaime told you? I'm surprised. I thought he was going to wait until you were a ninja to tell you the truth of your heritage."

Naruto merely shrugged, "Plans changed. I ended up not joining the Shinobi Corps. and instead was chosen for...another occupation which lead to me being told about my heritage among other things at an early age."

Jiraiya's grey eyes narrowed, "Other occupation? And what exactly is that occupation?"

Naruto just shook his head, "Out in public isn't exactly the best place to be talking about all this. Besides jiji wanted me to bring you to the office. He's got some stuff to talk to you about."

Naruto turned and with a grin on his face, stretched out his hand, the Outsider's Mark glowing, and whispered, "Blink."

Jiraiya gaped as he watched his godson disappear in the blink of an eye, an almost all too familIar trail of light following him.

'No way! Did the gaki just use the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God)!?'

Naruto just turned to look at the Sannin with the same grin on his face, "C'mon Ero-Sennin (Perverted Hermit). Gonna let your ten year old godson beat you in a race?"

Before Jiraiya could retort Naruto was off in yet another Blink causing the man to shake his head before leaping off in the direction of the Hokage Tower at a relatively fast pace.

'Gaki may look exactly like his father but he sure as hell got his mother's cheeky attitude.'

The Sandaime Hokage had once upon a time been one of the most feared ninja in all of the Elemental Countries. Being the student of both the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages, Nin of such monstrous power they could reshape the very landscape around them with little effort, it only made sense. The Sandaime himself had rightfully earned the same moniker his teachers had, Kami No Shinobi. While he lacked a powerful kekkai genkai like his teachers or some other Kages he more than made up for it with the veritable library of jutsu and the wisdom and knowledge to know how to most effectively use said jutsu. It was this very knowledge and wisdom that had seen him live through not one, not two, but all three Shinobi World Wars, two of which he led Konoha through as its Hokage earning him yet another moniker, the title of The Professor.

The legendary power of his three students, the feared Densetsu no Sannin, only added to his already impressive list of accolades.

Even in his old age he was still more than capable of standing his own ground against shinobi many years younger than him. Despite all this, despite all the accolades and praise, the power, he was now a man who had lived a long life, much too long a life. His life had seen him outlast his successor the Yondaime Hokage and other great Nin who he firmly believed should have lived much longer than they had.

Once upon a time he had been ready to hand over the hat and robes to Sakumo Hatake, the Konoha no Shiroi Kiba (White Fang of Konoha), a shinobi of such power he was sometimes seen as an unofficial fourth member of the Sannin. Of course the man had taken his own life in seppuku after a mission gone horribly wrong.

He was saved from his duties by Minato Namikaze, the first shinobi to ever gain an SS ranking in the Bingo Book of two other villages. For a brief moment he had thought to enjoy his retirement, serving merely as the bright young man's political advisor. Then tragedy again struck, this time in the form of the feared Kyuubi no Kitsune. Minato had died a true Hokage's death, sacrificing himself to save his village. With no suitable replacement Hiruzen had been forced to take up his position as Kage once more.

Then came the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi. Itachi was an astonishingly intelligent and powerful young man reaching the status of ANBU captain at the age of 13, beating out Kakashi Hatake's previously held record of 15. For awhile it seemed that Itachi was poised to take over and become Godaime when he aged a little more.

That was not to be either. Itachi revealed that his family, the Uchiha clan, one of the founding clans of Konoha, was planning a bloody rebellion against their village. The promising teen had taken it upon himself and slaughtered near the entirety of his clansmen in one grizzly night, sparing only his younger brother Sasuke.

Not wanting the knowledge that a Kage had ordered the genocide of an entire clan Itachi was forced to flee the village as an S rank missing-nin.

And so here Sarutobi Hiruzen sat before his student Jiraiya and pseudo grandson, a tired old man who wanted nothing more than to rest, to spend whatever time he had left on the earth with his family, something that had escaped him almost his whole life.

"Why would you think training a fucking 8 year old to be a bloody assassin was a good idea!? An eight year old jinchuuriki at that!? What would Kushina and Minato say!?" Jiraiya screamed at his former sensei.

Hiruzen had to resist the urge to chuckle. If Kushina could come back she would probably deep fry his ass before tearing him to pieces with those Chakra Chains of hers. Minato may have put village over self and family, but not Kushina. No she was a full blooded Uzumaki who firmly believed that family and loved ones came before anything else. It was for that reason that even after giving birth and having the Kyuubi forcibly extracted from her that she had gone on to tie that same Bijuu down with her Chakra Chains. Even after all that she still had the reflexes and drive to move herself into the path of one of Kyuubi's massive claws to save her newborn son.

Still Hiruzen could say nothing to his student. There was nothing he could say to justify his grooming young Naruto into the perfect assassin.

"You lied to me Sensei. You told me he was taken care of, that he was enjoying a normal childhood! Why does my ten year old godson stand before me with the look of a veteran shinobi in his eyes and hands stained in blood!? Give me one good reason I shouldn't send you into the belly of one of my toads," Jiraiya seethed out, visibly restraining himself from attacking the elderly man, Hokage or no.

Some may think it odd that Jiraiya felt so strongly about the boy, but he had every right to. Minato was an orphan and Jiraiya had never come to have any kids of his own and so the two had bonded, becoming the closest thing to father and son as they could without being blood related. When Jiraiya had taken Minato on as an apprentice he had by all rights become the boys legal guardian, his father.

By extension this meant that Naruto was likewise his grandson, a sentiment that even Kushina hadn't minded. He had put his trust in his sensei, believing that the man would make sure his godson was well taken care of and getting everything a child needed, something he could not give Naruto due to his duties taking him all over the countries into places and situations not fit for children.

That trust had apparently been misplaced, leaving Naruto the proverbial shit end of the stick.

"I...can not. What I have done to Naruto through both my actions and inactions can not be justified. The lies I told you and Tsunade can not be taken back," Hiruzen admitted with head bowed.

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the mention of another Sannin, the Slug Princess Tsunade Senju.

"Why would you lie to Tsunade? Why should she care about me?"

If it was possible Jiraiya grew even angrier and Sarutobi visibly flinched.

"Gaki she should care about you because your mother named her as your godmother. The question remains now why would sensei not tell you this when he was so eager to tell you about everything else?"

Naruto's eyes widened at that. For years he thought that his entire family had abandoned him at the orphanage. When he found out what had really happened to his parents he had been both overjoyed and deeply saddened. His parents had loved him, they did not abandon him.

Finding out about Jiraiya being his godfather he had been angry at first but quickly got over it, knowing that older shinobi had better things to do than worry about some brat, as jaded as that thought was. Here he was now hearing that that wasn't the case. In fact Jiraiya hadn't left him just to not have to deal with a kid but because he had thought that he would be taken care of by capable and loving hands. Evidently that wasn't the case.

Then there was Tsunade Senju, a woman whom he thought was nothing but a distant relative of his due to their shared relation to one Mito Uzumaki. That was apparently not the truth, or at least the full truth. She was not just a distant cousin but in actuality she was his godmother and the reason she hadn't been there for him had something to do with the Sandaime, the man who he along with almost everybody else believed they could trust. It seemed that the Kage had all but spit on that trust.

The words of the Outsider echoed in his head, 'You knowingly show your whole hand to a man who still hides several cards from you. And why?'

Only now did he realize exactly what the Outsider meant by that comment. After learning of his parents and his fuzzy tenant Naruto had thought that the Outsider had been talking about that whole ordeal, but now he saw that wasn't the case. The supernatural being had been eluding to this and possibly much more.

For a moment no sound was made, silence engulfing the group in a dark embrace.

Hiruzen was too wrapped up in his own thoughts on his many failures during his life, Jiraiya was attempting to gather his wits, and Naruto looked to have gone into shock.

"Why?"

The sound came so softly and suddenly that the two elder Nin had to give themselves a little time to register that something had even been said.

Eventually Sarutobi responded with a glossed over look to his eyes, "At first it was because of my duty to the village. I felt that it was only the right thing to do. I couldn't afford to have the heir of our two strongest shinobi and jinchuuriki just be a normal civilian. You were far too precious as a weapon to allow that to happen. Eventually over the course of teaching you I finally realized that I had become my teammate, a notion he himself picked up on. I was ashamed of what I had done. That's why I want you to go on this last mission for me. This mission is the only way I can think of to repent to not just you but to all those involved in this mess I made."

When Naruto did not speak Jiraiya chose to voice his own question, "And what exactly is this mission that you think can fix everything?"

Hiruzen just shook his head, "Not fix. I know what I have done can in no way be fixed. I can only hope to make things somewhat better." Giving a sigh Sarutobi continued, "My last mission for you Naruto is to go on a training trip with Jiraiya as your teacher. During this trip you will track down Tsunade and convince her to come back to the village to become the Godaime Hokage (Fifth Fire Shadow)."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto before turning a gaze on the form of his sensei. For years he had always seen his sensei as infallible, something he had carried with him from the days of being a naive team of genin alongside Tsunade and Orochimaru. Of course as a grown man he had realized that his sensei was at his core a man just like him and just like any civilian or bandit. Even still he thought the defining qualities of what made Sarutobi who he was - his wisdom, his power, his experience - put him far above most men.

Only now he realized how wrong that was. Sure Sarutobi had once upon a time been a forced to be reckoned with, politically and on the battlefield, but before him did not sit that same man, the same man who had taught him and his teammates and had groomed them to become strong shinobi in their own right.

No before him sat a tired and aged old man who had lived far too long a life. Here sat a man who had lost his wife to a tragedy a decade ago and lost two children to war many years prior. A man who had remained willfully blind to the dark and twisted path his favorite student, Orochimaru, had begun to walk down until it was much too late.

Now it was clear why Hiruzen wanted him and Naruto to go find Tsunade. He had sat in that chair for far too long and he knew it. He should have been done with it when Minato took the hat, but fate had planned otherwise. Sarutobi Hiruzen was no longer fit in body or mind to continue being the Hokage Konoha so needed.

So with a nod Jiraiya agreed, "We'll go. It will take some time to track and find Tsunade let alone convince her to come back to the place she believes took everything from her."

Sarutobi nodded, "I can only hope that having Naruto with you will help convince her to come back."

Jiraiya turned a glance to his sensei as he turned around and walked to Naruto, "You know she won't be happy with you or this village when she finds out what happened to her godson. Kushina may not be here to do it but Tsunade will be all too happy to take her place and I have no intentions of stopping her."

Without a word more Jiraiya put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and with a silent shunshin later they were gone, leaving Hiruzen to himself...or so they thought.

"I presume you enjoyed the show...Danzo?"

From the shadows emerged the bandaged form of Shimura Danzo, the Leaf's own War Hawk.

"I will admit seeing you get...'chewed out' by your student was amusing. However do you think it is the right decision to name Tsunade as your successor?"

Sarutobi turned and looked out his window at the massive faces of the four Hokages carved into the side of a mountain, "She will do what I no longer can and wrestle power back from the civilians and change things for the better. Naruto may possibly be her sole reason for doing so, but the results will be more than worth it."

"It would do us good to have someone like her sitting on the chair. The stubbornness she gets from her Uzumaki blood will be a boon to her and this village," Danzo commented.

The Sandaime was slightly surprised at Danzo's admission, "I would not think you would be onboard with this decision."

The bandaged advisor turned his one good eye to glance at his one time teammate, "While many think me a stubborn old war monger my end goal has always been the betterment of this village. The current level of power the civilians have on the council and across the village does not coincide with that. They have made this village and its shinobi weak. In the long run neither you or I can do much of anything else in these weak bodies of ours."

The two men sat in silence for a moment before Hiruzen spoke up, "The days of our generation are gone. We have overstayed our welcome. It is now time for a new generation to take the reigns. A change is coming and I have a feeling that Naruto will be playing a very important role in it all."

Danzo nodded, "That boy will change things that is for sure. All we can do is prepare the young ones for what may come and make sure they do not make the same mistakes we made."

Change was on the horizon and fast approaching. Key players were already arising and the board was being set. Now all that was left to do for them and their like was to stand by and watch it all play out.

"So where are we headed to first, Ero-Kyoufu?" Naruto asked as they walked at a steady pace out of Konoha.

The time it had taken for him to gather his things and pack for the extended mission had given him some much needed thinking time. There was no doubt he was downright furious with what the old Kage had pulled, but for now he had other more pressing matters to take care of him. Namely reuniting what remained of his family.

Jiraiya's eye twitched, "What it is with you Uzumakis and giving me stupid nicknames?"

Naruto only raised an eyebrow, "Says the guy who calls himself a Super Pervert."

Jiraiya could only glare at the young blonde. Pinching the bridge of his nose he continued, "The hardest part of this mission is going to be tracking Tsunade down. She never stays in one place for too long so picking up on any sort of trail she may leave is gonna be difficult. Only thing that makes it easier is that she's an avid gambler and drunk which means she'll probably be in a town with a bar and casino."

Naruto shook his head, "Are all powerful ninja messed up in the head? I mean you're a perv, she's an alcoholic gambler, Orochimaru is...well Orochimaru, and the Sandaime is a closet perv."

Jiraiya just smirked, "And what, you're saying you're 'normal'?"

Naruto gave the older Nin a deadpan look, "I've got a thousands of year old manifestation of chakra in my gut. Normal was never gonna be a possibility for me."

Jiraiya laughed at the comment, "Hey it could be worse gaki. You're mom used to have this weird obsession with ramen and a verbal tic."

The blonde assassin's face comically morphed into a look of anger, "DON'T DIS THE RAMEN -TEBAYO!"

The Toad Sage was forced to clutch at his sides as he began to laugh so hard that tears began to stream down his face. Naruto just pouted angrily.

"Oh man you really are Kushina's kid!"

The blonde Uzumaki smiled a true smile at the inadvertent compliment his godfather had given him. Considering the kind of people his parents had been it was understandable. The young half Uzumaki especially liked it when people compared him to his mother. Sure he respected his father, but the Kage's decision to put the village's needs over that of his barely born child's left Naruto feeling a little resentful towards his father.

His mother was a different matter. The stories Kakashi had told him of the Uzumaki heiress and what little he could gleam from his short time in his parent's home had painted the picture of a kunoichi who was as strong as she was beautiful with a short temper to go with it all.

He was often told that although he had inherited his looks from his father he had gotten almost everything else from his mother.

The two Nin travelled in relative silence for awhile. Naruto was enjoying the view around him and Jiraiya's mind was quickly running through everything that had transpired. Finding out his godson was not as safe as he was led to believe, the state of his sensei - a man he had respected since he was a child -, and now the mission he and his godson were on to find his estranged teammate.

Quickly deciding that he would have time for his personal feelings later he turned to Naruto, "Hey gaki, Sarutobi didn't tell me about what you can do. What exactly were you trained in?"

Naruto only shrugged, "Sarutobi taught me history, strategy, and the basics of chakra. I learned some jutsu from Kakashi-nii, Gai-sensei helped me learn some basic Taijutsu, Anko-chan taught me about poisons, and Kurenai-sensei taught me how to break genjustsu."

Jiraiya rubbed at his chin in thought, "Well I guess I'll help you with your birthrights then."

With a childish grin the Toad Sage summoned a baseball sized swirling ball of chakra in his hands. Looking especially proud the Sage continued, "This gaki is the-"

"Rasengan."

Looking at his blonde apprentice Jiraiya could only gape. In the palm of the 10 year old blonde was a perfectly formed ball of self sustaining chakra. A jutsu that had taken three years to create and three months for him, one of the Densetsu no Sannin, to master was in the hands of a boy who was barely starting puberty.

"How...who..."

The blonde Uzumaki grinned cheekily at his godfather, "The Sandaime figured I should learn my father's jutsu so he let me into the Namikaze house so I could grab the jutsu scroll and learn it. Took me about a week to do get it down."

Silence engulfed the duo. Naruto looking at his godfather curiously and said godfather too stunned to say or do much of anything.

Coming out of his stupor Jiraiya planted his palm on his face in a maneuver universally known as the Facepalm. Mutterings that vaguely sounded like "Fucking Uzumaki, stupid blondes, damn gaki" followed soon after.

Pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration Jiraiya continued, "Please tell me you're not also a damn Fuinjutsu master as well."

Naruto had to resist the urge to laugh at the childish manner the elder Shinobi was acting, "Nope. So far all I can do is make storage seals and minor explosive tags."

"Well alright then. For now we're gonna have to cover a lot of ground to meet up with some of my informants to see if we can get a trail on Tsunade. During that time I want you working on seals. I'll help when I can but I can't guarantee I'll always be there with you. In fact you may be on your own quite a bit as I do business that isn't exactly the best place for a ten year old, regardless of your profession."

Naruto nodded, eager to learn about the art his mother's family had been infamous for. In fact both his parents were said to have been sealing masters, his mother being the better of the two due to her Uzumaki blood. Something about their chakra and minds allowed the Uzumaki to better understand the intricacies of the art at a much faster rate than the average mind. Their potent chakra allowed their seals to be much more powerful and resilient than was normal.

"Gaki have you tried using your tenant's chakra?" Jiraiya asked in a voice of authority.

Kushina was a powerful kunoichi in her own right, but when she tapped into the reserves of the Kyuubi she became a crimson storm of death and destruction that had earned her the moniker of Konoha no Benihime (The Crimson/Bloody Princess of Konoha). However her seal had only allowed the barest of the Bijuu's chakra into her body.

Naruto's seal, while equally as effective at keeping the beast at bay, allowed for much more of the potent chakra to enter his body. Having the massive construct of chakra in him since birth meant that he would be able to access much more of that chakra without worrying about any negative side affects. As he got older that amount would increase until he may one day be able to do what other Jinchuuriki's had learned, perfect synchronization with their Bijuu. A ninja with the power of the feared Kyuubi no Kitsune behind them would truly be fearsome.

An Uzumaki and son of one of the most feared ninja to ever walk the earth with the might of the Kyuubi behind them?

With that munch potential Naruto could very well reach the heights of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, monsters of men who had decimated armies on their own. Hell the blonde could very well reach the power of the famed creator of the shinobi way, The Rikuduo Sennin (Sage of Six Paths).

"No and I don't intend to anytime soon," Naruto replied with all the defiance and resolution a ten year old could muster.

"What do you mean gaki!?" Jiraiya was rightfully shocked by this statement. What ninja would turn down the opportunity to have that much power? The whole reason his former teammate had turned rogue was to have even an ounce of power Naruto could potentially have.

"I don't want to rely on the fox's power. As it is I already have the powers I get from The Outsider's Mark so why would I need to use its power?"

Jiraiya was made extremely curious by this statement. What could this Outsider's Mark be that the blonde would turn down using the power of the mightiest of the Bijuu?

"I heard you and Sarutobi say something about a mark, but what the hell is it to have warranted him turning you into an assassin?" the gray haired Nin asked.

Naruto simply raised his hand, the back of his hand facing Jiraiya. What Jiraiya saw he could truly not fathom. Emblazoned on the back of his godson's hand was a series of marks that crossed in each other in complex manner making a shape that Jiraiya could only equate to looking somewhat like an archer's bow. As a Fuinjutsu master with talents in the art only bested by those of people long dead it baffled Jiraiya. Not even the seal that kept The Nine Tailed Fox inside of Naruto was as complex as the glyphs before him.

Sure he didn't understand every detail there was to the Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Seal) seeing as how Minato had called upon the God of Death himself to assist in applying the seal, he could still grasp the basics of it and tell what the seal was doing. However this mark on Naruto's hand left him dumbfounded.

To most the mark looked to be nothing more than an ornate tattoo but Jiraiya could see through that. The black lines that made up the mark were in actuality comprised of an almost innumerable amount of smaller seals. What was strange was that there places of no seals, where there really were just black lines of ink, or whatever substance had been used to create the mark. He could only guess that these were either precisely placed for a reason or were there to act as a way to throw off anyone trying to copy the seal.

'Just what in the world did you get involved in gaki?' Jiraiya thought to himself.

Outwardly he just shook his head before questioning his new apprentice, "What exactly does this mark do?"

For a moment Naruto entertained the the thought of lying to Jiraiya. It was true that this man was his godfather, but he had divulged nearly every secret he knew to the Sandaime and look where that had left him. Sure he had received training from the man known throughout the countries as The Professor, something only the Sannin could claim, but what for? So he could fulfill his purpose as a good little weapon for a village that ignored his very existence and treated him worse than dirt? The only person who had never lied to Naruto was an otherworldly being who saw him as nothing more than a source of entertainment.

At least that way he was never doubtful of The Outsider's motives. What reason would he have to lie to Naruto? The Outsider had said that seeing him come to terms with the truth was much more entertaining than seeing him believe a lie.

That was not the case with the man before him. The man before him had not been his godfather, hell he really had no connections to the man other than a few legal documents. And what did legal documents mean to a shinobi? Shinobi who were liars, thieves, and murderers by profession?

Despite the negative thoughts swimming through Naruto's head, the pragmatic part of him, the part of him that had helped him survive his less than pleasant life in the village, made a good point.

What did it all matter? He had already started on the path to becoming what the Sandaime had wanted, becoming a deadly weapon for the village. On top of that Jiraiya, despite his goofy exterior, was a spymaster of unparalleled caliber. Naruto may have been good but there was no possible way he, a ten year old boy, could lie to the orchestrator of one of the largest spy networks that spanned damn near the entirety of the Elemental Countries.

For a moment a part of Naruto flashed back to what he had told The Outsider all those days ago on the shores of Nami.

"I will be both. My precious people will stand behind me as I use this sword and mask to defend them."

A bitter chuckle echoed through Naruto's mind, 'What precious people? An old Kage who saw me as only a weapon for the village? A godfather who abandoned me to that same Kage?'

The stubborn and optimistic side of Naruto saw the faces of his teachers, the people who he had spent months upon months with. Anko and her teasing. Kurenai and her gentle smile. Gai and his ridiculous "Flames of Youth". And Kakshi and the days they had spent just talking about everything and nothing at all.

'Were they really doing that because they genuinely wanted to help me?...or was it just another mission? Just following orders of their Hokage?...'

It seemed that learning of the betrayal that had left him shivering and alone as a child had truly shaken Naruto. The picture that he had painted of the world around him was decidedly much darker than he had originally thought and that was saying something.

With clenched fists Naruto grudgingly accepted that as it was now he couldn't do much of anything. Now was not the time to have an emotional breakdown or epiphany. All he could do for now was tell Jiriaya what he wanted to know and hopefully find time to sort out his feelings later.

Donning a much more serious face, one only a veteran shinobi should have Naruto explained to Jiriaya just what the...blessing of The Outsider allowed him to do. He explained the powers and their limitations as well as the method by which he could eliminate or lessen the severity of those weaknesses.

Jiraiya, far too distracted by thoughts of Naruto's potential among other things, failed to see a change in his godson.

The bright sapphires of the half blood Uzumaki did not shine with the joy and mischievousness that they normally did. No longer did Naruto's eyes crinkle. No longer was there a grin that could split his face. Now there was just a blank look. A look he donned when he "killed" his emotions and focused solely on the mission at hand.

A look no ten year old should be capable of.

AN: part of me wants to continue more, but I figure that with everything that is in this chapter there should be enough to tide you all over for a bit. I know this chapter lacked any real action and was more dedicated to character progression and such but the coming chapters are gonna feature some changes and important things so hey I felt it was needed.

I'm trying to decide if I want to just skim through Naruto and Jiraiya's travels so I can spend more time with the eventual meeting of Tsunade and the events that follow.

Meh I'll figure something out.

Some may question the much darker almost emo-ish ending there but that can be blamed on the numerous Dark Naruto stories I've been reading. No I won't be turning this fic into that kind of thing. Given there will be some darker elements what with material and all, but there will still be plenty of humor and all that other good stuff.

As a shameless plug go to my profile where I have a link to my YouTube channel. Some guitar covers are there and I started a series with my friend where we play Pokemon Showdown. I'd like to think they're somewhat entertaining but what the hell do I know right?

Anyways thanks as usual for the great support guys! I do really appreciate it and all of you. You guys and the reviews and pms you leave me do really make this so fun to do.

Until next chapter!

Peace out!