Soulmating

A/N: Yay! A new chapter! Though this isn't really a chapter, it's more of an interlude. It's a short overview of some of Naruto's training with Jiraiya, which holds some importance to the story. I was thinking about doing it in flashbacks in the next couple of chapters, but I decided that that would be a but too much. I will probably do some flashbacks, but as a Christmas gift, I'll give you some of it in this chapter that isn't a chapter.

---

"So Naruto, you had some things you wanted to ask me?" Jiraiya asked during the first week of their training.

"Well, I need to know some things in order to understand this connection. When I was in my mind with Sasuke, there was someone else there. He called himself the Sage of the Six Paths."

"The Sage of... Well, that can't be right."

"What do you mean?"

"The Sage of the Six Paths is a legend. Even if he did exist, he would have died hundreds of years ago."

"But I saw him. I talked to him."

"I know, I know. I'm afraid I can't help you if you want to know how or why he was in there. But I can tell you about him."

"Then please do."

"A long time ago, the world was a very different place. There were no nations, no villages. People lived alone, with their family. But then, there appeared a terrible demon. The demon had ten tails, and it destroyed all that was in its path. But then, a man appeared in front of it. The man and the demon fought for days, and then, when the demon was weakened, he sealed it inside his own body. When the people came running towards him, asking how he had done this, he turned his head towards them, and said: 'I am the Sage of the Six Paths, and I wil teach you, so that you will be able to defend yourself next time." According to the legend, he had eyes like no other human has ever had: the rinnegan. This was what had enabled him to seal the demon inside him. As he lived his life, he traveled around the world, teaching all the people the shinobi way. During his life, he had two sons. One of them inherited his eyes, the other his remarkable body. This is how the Uchiha and the Senju clan came into being. Unfortunately, the boys didn't really get along well. The Sage saw this, and he knew that he couldn't entrust the Juubi to one of his sons without things spiraling out of control. Instead, when he felt his end was near, he used all of his remaining power to split the demon into nine parts, thus creating the nine tailed beasts, of which the Kyuubi inside you is one. However, even though this meant that none of the brothers could gain the upper hand, they still loathed each other, a hatred that is still running through both clans."

"I need to think." Naruto said, as he walked away. He would be paying the Kyuubi that visit he had promised him in the near future."

---

"Kyuubi!"

No reply.

"Kyuubi!"

It had been a few months since his conversation with Jiraiya. He had been training extremely hard, and when he wasn't training, he was reading. About the Sage, about the tailed beasts, about all kinds of ancient jutsu's. But he had been thinking about what he would say to the Kyuubi.

"Kyuubi! Answer me goddamnit!"

"What?!" The Kyuubi roared. "I was sleeping!"

"I told you we need to talk last time I saw you, remember?"

"Of course I do. I thought you had forgotten, you took your time, kit."

"Well, I'm here now."

"True. What do you have to ask of me this time? I can assure you that I have no intention of helping you in any way other than keeping you alive."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that. How exactly does it help you to keep your prison alive?"

"If you die, I die. Sure, I will return to this world once my chakra has stabilized, but that could take centuries. Also, it hurts like hell."

"Fine. But why don't you just give me all your power then?"

"Because I hate you. Not you in person, but what you stand for. You are my prison."

"It's not like I had any choice in the matter."

"No, but that doesn't make it any better. It's not like I want to be sealed inside you, but the fact that you would rather see me in someone else is not really nice as well."

"Well, I used to feel like that, but now I'm not really that sure about it. I mean, people hate me and all, but without you I would've died on multiple occasions. More so, I would never have had enough chakra to learn the things I've learned without you."

"That's nice of you to say, but I don't believe a single word of it."

"That is your choice to make. Now, I would like to ask you about the Juubi."

"So you know about that? Before you make any effort to ask me, I have no recollection of those times."

"I guessed that might be the case. Could you then tell me about the Sage of the Six Paths?"

"Nope, that was before my time as well. I can, however, tell you about his sons."

"You know about them? That would help."

"Not only do I know about them, I have known them personally. You see, the first person I was sealed in was the Sages daughter, a woman tragically forgotten by history. She was a kind, and gentle woman, always trying to make her brothers stop fighting each other. In fact, she was a lot like you. Not that I find that the least bit surprising, her being the first Uzumaki and all. Anyway..."

"Wait, I'm descended from the Sage of the Six Paths? Cool!"

"Stop interrupting me, or I'll stop telling you about them. And most Shinobi in Konoha are probably descended from him, so don't be too happy about it. Anyway, the two brothers went their separate ways after their father died, at first trying to capture a tailed beast and seal it inside themselves, but later settling down and starting a family. Both boys had settled down not too far from the other, hoping to be able to keep an eye on each other. Somehow, they had gotten into a fight at the end of their lives. They fought for days on a row, but there was no victor. Then, their sister appeared, cursing their stupidity. She asked if there was any way they would ever make amends, and when both men answered that there wasn't, she unleashed my powers and wiped both of them from the face of the earth, not wanting them to put their father's name to shame any longer. She then forced their families to peacefully coexist together, and later both clans would found Konoha together. The sister was overcome with sorrow and guilt, and she killed herself, and me as well. I can tell you I'm still mad at her for doing that. I'm tired of all this talking, so I'll be going back to sleep now. I'll see you later, kit."

And with that, Naruto was back outside his mind. He had a feeling the Kyuubi knew more than he had told him right now, but he also knew that there was no way in hell he would get that out him.

---

A/N: Well, there you go, a bit of background info about the Sage, some canon, some of my own invention. I hope you like it. I won't be able to update again in the next week or so, and I'll have to postpone my replies to your reviews until next chapter, but the next chapter will be good! I plan to write half of it about Naruto, and half of it about Sasuke. It will be at the end of the time skip, and it will show how both boys dealt or didn't deal with the loss of the other. As for now: Happy new year!