Capítulo 31: Chapter Twenty-five: Summons, Foxes and Girls, Oh My! Part One
Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto or any of its Characters!
About five days after the preliminary matches had ended; Naruto was taken out of Konoha by his mother, Jiraiya, Shizune and his two sensei's to train for the finals next month.
Naruto was grateful to be out of hospital, since after his mother had used the Fūja Hōin (Evil Sealing Method), he had lost consciousness caused by the pain of the sealing and didn't wake up until three days later.
After he woke up, his mother explained to him what had happened and told him that she had Jiraiya add some other seals, should some event cause the Fūja Hōin to fail. Another seal known as the Haja no Kokuin (Seal of Wickedness) (A) would activate to restrain Naruto and warn Tsunade and Jiraiya that the curse seal had activated and that the Fūja Hōin had failed.
For the remaining two days, (much to his distress), Naruto was forced to stay in bed to allow his body rest and fully recover from his battles with Mai, Lee and the events in the forest of death. During that time, Tsunade had Naruto, Yamato and Kushina tell her everything that Naruto had done for the past six months in Konoha and what they had taught him. She also had Naruto tell her everything he had done with the Kumo Genin when he first met them.
Knowing that he had no choice in situation, Naruto told his mother everything that happened with Killer Bee and the others and what they had taught him. Although he made sure to leave out how the fight between Samui and him ended, knowing that if his mother found out, the hospital would become ground zero for his mother's wrath.
Sadly though, his mother learned about the shower incident between him and Haku at Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) thanks to a certain red-headed blabbermouth. This resulted in Naruto having to suffer an hour long verbal lashing from his mother, she ranted on how she would not let him become a pervert like Jiraiya. Said person of course was not immune from Tsunade's wrath, especially after she learned how Jiraiya inadvertently exposed Naruto's full heritage to Kushina, Kakashi and the others, after Naruto's team test.
The outcome resulted: Naruto had his godfather as company for the following two days, as he recover from Tsunade's beating.
Eventually though, once everything was settled, Tsunade and the others decided that for the rest of the month they would train Naruto outside the village, away from prying eyes.
After traveling for most of the day, Jiraiya, Tsunade and the others finally arrived at their destination, which was a large valley away from Konoha, allowing them to train in private
When they arrived in the valley and had set up their camp, Naruto turned to his mother.
"So Kaa-chan what are we going to train in first?"
"Well, when you were unconscious after the sealing, Jiraiya, Yamato, Kushina and I discussed how to train you and we decided it is now time to train you in using the Kyuubi's power." Tsunade elaborated.
"Really?" asked Naruto, since he knew how hesitant his mother was with him using the Kyuubi's Chakra.
"Yes, given how you will probably be facing against two jinchūriki later in the finals. We believe it would be best that you are trained to summon the Kyuubi's Chakra so to have something to fall back on. Since it is highly possible that both that girl and boy are trained to use and control their Biju powers" answered Tsunade.
"But I thought you said that I should avoid trying to use the Kyuubi's power at all cost, for if I use it, I could be exposed as a jinchūriki, those Akatsuki guys would come after me."
"Yes I know, but the Akatsuki are likely to come after you anyway once they learn about your Mokuton Bloodline limit. "
"But why don't I just train to improve my Mokuton Bloodline limit instead, wouldn't that be easier, since that's how Hii-ojiichan (1) was able to control the Biju?" Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion.
It was at this point that Yamato joined the conversation.
"With all due respect Naruto-san, your skill in Mokuton has improved, but suppressing the power of a Biju is no easy task for anyone, regardless of your Bloodline limit, the reason you are able to do it naturally with the Kyuubi is because it resides in your body. But suppressing the power of another jinchūriki is a different matter altogether. I will train you in what I know, but even so, there is only so much I can teach you, as even I have never had to use my Mokuton powers to suppress a jinchūriki, for I rarely interact with any. The technique I plan to teach you is difficult to use and control, even if you learn to use it before the Chunin finals. There is no guarantee that you will be able to suppress their Biju's power should they use it and it is very possible that their power will be too great for you to suppress. Especially if they have enough control over their Biju's power, which is why it would be wise for you to be able to summon the Kyuubi's Chakra to help you."
Naruto nodded begrudgingly, since what Yamato said did make a lot of sense and he couldn't deny it either.
"Do you really think that they will use their Biju's power?" Naruto prompted.
"I would be surprised if they didn't, since it is far too coincidental that both Kumo and Suna enter their jinchūriki in the Chunin exam when you and Sasuke are in it. My guess is that they sent them to kill you and the Sasuke in the Chunin exam and eliminate you both before either of you can become a threat to them" Kushina frowned as killing in the exam wasn't prohibited.
"I told you Kushina-sensei, Yugito-chan and the others aren't like that, they wouldn't do something like that, they are my friends, you saw that for yourself!" Naruto valiantly defended his friends from Kumo.
But Kushina looked anything but convinced.
"Maybe, but they are Shinobi first and it is very possible, that the Raikage has given them orders to kill you and Uchiha Sasuke in the exam, just like Hanzo did with his Granddaughter." Kushina retorted.
Naruto could not find a plausible reason, since it was not impossible, but even so he didn't want to believe his friends were here to kill him.
"Fine I see your point, but why is Suna out to get me and Sasuke, aren't we allies?" Naruto asked, scowling.
"Just because we are allies doesn't mean, we aren't rivals, as Shinobi villages we all contend for missions which we depend on to support us and right now Suna is in a bad spot." Jiraiya replied..
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
"From what I've heard, Suna is on the decline, the Wind Daimyo is slowly reducing Suna's funding and sending the missions he would normally give them to us. My guess is they sent that Sand kid to defeat or to take the two of you out, since both of you are the last heirs to the founders of Konoha and are the favorites to win the exam. Suna is probably hoping that by defeating you and the Uchiha kid in the exam, they will show everyone that they are superior to us and allow them to receive a new surge of mission requests and possibly regain their previous funding from the Wind Daimyo."
Naruto frowned when he heard this, as he had no idea how the Chunin exams played such a big role in village rivalries and conflicts.
Eventually after a few more minutes of discussing the matter Tsunade decided that they should get started. She had Naruto begin mediation in the hope of making contact with the Kyuubi.
Naruto was not exactly thrilled at the idea to do meditation, since it wasn't exactly one of his favorite things for he dislike sitting still. Despite not liking it, he did know how to meditate, since Jiraiya had taught him a bit when he was eleven, stating that it can help a person stay calm under stressful situations.
For the next few hours Naruto focused on his meditation ignoring any and all distractions that were nearby. But even after spending much of the day meditating, Naruto failed to make contact with the Kyuubi.
Later at dinner the group discussed what could be preventing Naruto from contacting the Kyuubi. After much discussion, the two best theories they could come up with were that, when Naruto was growing up, he develop some kind of natural mental block, preventing him from making contact with the Kyuubi subconsciously. The other theory and most likely one was that Naruto's Mokuton Bloodline limit was suppressing the Kyuubi's power too much, that it made contact with the Biju difficult. For the rest of the evening the group discussed different ways which could help Naruto make contact with the Kyuubi.
During the conversation Jiraiya joked about pushing Naruto off a cliff to get him to make contact the Kyuubi.
This idea was shot down right away, where for his troubles; Jiraiya received a hail on Senbon needles from Shizune, a smack to the face from the blunt of Kushina's sword and two super charge right hooks from Tsunade and Naruto. That sent him flying out of the camp and into the forest, where he spent the rest of the night alone in the cold.
The next day, the group decided to restart Naruto meditation, seeing it as the best way to get Naruto to make contact with the Kyuubi.
To help improve Naruto's odds in making contact with the Kyuubi, Yamato used Doton: Doryū Jōheki (Earth Style: Earth-Style Rampart) and Suiton: Takitsubo no Jutsu (Water Style: Waterfall Basin Technique) to change the terrain and create a large waterfall. Allowing Naruto to sit under the waterfall, where his concentration would improve and increase his chance in making contact with the Kyuubi.
After taking off his clothes, leaving only his black shorts, Naruto went over to the bottom of the waterfall and sat underneath it and concentrated on contacting his tenant. Eventually after a few hours and after much meditation, he finally hit pay dirt and found himself in a long dark underground hallway covered in an inch of water.
-Inside Naruto Mindscape-
Naruto took the first left turn to see where it led, as he walked down the dark hallway, he could sense an immense and dark Chakra coming from the end of the hallway. Jackpot then.
After walking for a few minutes he saw a light at the end, when he reached it, he found himself in a massive room with a giant gate opposite of him, held together by a piece of paper that read "Seal."
As Naruto walked closer to the cage doors, he suddenly saw a glowing pair of menacing red eyes and a massive mouth that looked like it could gobble him up in one single bite. Looking closer, Naruto could also see a massive amount of red Chakra surrounding the creature, making it's appearance the more intimidating.
Naruto knew at that moment that he was facing the legendary Kyūbi no Yōko (Nine-tailed Demon Fox) otherwise known as the Bakegitsune (Monster Fox) and the Demon of Destruction.
"Come closer." The massive demon urged. His voice a low tenor; dark and menacing and it held a certain growl at the end of the sentence.
Naruto slowly made his way closer to the gate, all the while keeping his senses on high alert, since he did not trust the fox.
Thankfully his caution paid off, since as soon as he got closer to the cage ,the giant fox lashed out at Naruto, where it tried to pierce Naruto with its giant claws. Fortunately though Naruto was able to jump back and away from the Kyuubi's claws, where they were stopped from going any further by the bars on the gate, as the Kyuubi's paw was too big to squeeze between them.
"I would love nothing more than to devour you, but this gate will not open. Thanks to this detestable seal that your wretched father the Yondaime Hokage placed." Kyuubi spat, eyes glowing with rage.
"You know that my father is the Yondaime Hokage?" Naruto asked, bemused.
"Of course. I am also aware that you're the descendant of the Shodai Hokage and that you possess the same power that he did, which is why my power and influence has been suppressed so much. So tell me why have you come here after all this time?" Kyuubi was anything but pleased.
"I want your power." Naruto said bluntly. Looking at the fox right in the eye, a show of dominance, if this fox think he could be a freeloader in his body, he'll be proven sorely wrong.
Kyuubi stared at Naruto, "So, you want my power? No doubt to help you fight the hosts of those weaklings Shukaku and Nibi."
"You know about them as well. . .? " Naruto mused.
"Yes, I could sense them from within their hosts, as well as Hachibi who resides in the teacher of the Nibi's host."
Naruto blanched as he began to panic; thought he tried to hide it, showing signs of weakness in front of the fox was a mistake and it might bite him in the ass later. If the Kyuubi could sense the Biju that reside in Gaara, Yugito and Killer Bee. Then their Biju's could sense the Kyuubi in him, where they would most likely tell Yugito and the others.
Seeing the panic cross and go on Naruto's face, the Kyuubi spoke again. "You need not worry; neither Shukaku nor the others could sense me because your accursed Bloodline limit is suppressing my power. So your secret of being my container is safe from them."
When Naruto heard this, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief, since if Yugito and the others knew he was like them. Then they would most likely tell their leaders, who would stop at nothing to capture or kill him, especially if they knew about his Mokuton Bloodline limit as well.
"Now tell me why should I lend you my power? After everything your family has done to me over the years."(2)
"I don't give a crap what kind of issues you have with my family; they did what they had to defend their home. But the fact is, you overgrown fur ball, this is my body and that makes you my tenant and as your landlord I want your Chakra as rent payment. It's the least you can do aside from being useless." Naruto snapped as he continued to stare at the giant fox, showing he was unafraid of him. "And if that isn't enough for you then listen up, because if you don't give me your Chakra when I need it, there's a chance that I'll get killed and if I go, I'll take you with me."
When Naruto finished speaking the Kyuubi began to chuckle in amusement but the laugh held a certain edge of evil in it. "Heh. You have your father's courage, that much is certain boy, as it takes guts to talk to me like that and then blackmail me." Even though the Kyuubi was fairly sure he could survive Naruto's death and revive himself later. There was still a possibility that he was wrong, since the Yondaime had sealed away half his power, and he wasn't quite ready to take that risk yet.
"Very well then, as a reward from coming here and for showing such courage. I will give you a portion of my power when you call for it," the Demon fox relented, while at the same time thinking it might be interesting to see how he used it.
Naruto smirked in triumph though it looked like a foxy grin.
-Outside Naruto's Mindscape-
After Naruto awoke from his meditation, he immediately left the waterfall and went over to his mother and the others. Who were at the camp waiting patiently to see if Naruto had made contact with the Kyuubi.
For the next few minutes, Naruto explained to Tsunade and the others what happened. When Naruto finished explaining, the five elder Shinobi were quite pleased that everything went without incident. They were especially relieved to hear that thanks to Naruto's Mokuton Bloodline limit suppressing the Kyuubi's power, preventing the other jinchūriki from sensing the Kyuubi. The last thing any of them needed was for the other villages to learn that Naruto was the jinchūriki of the Kyuubi.
Once everything was explained and Naruto had changed back into his clothes, Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to go to the next phase of Naruto's training.
As soon as Naruto was ready to go, Tsunade and the others then took Naruto to the other end of the valley.
"Why do we need to come here?"
"If we didn't, the camp would be destroyed in a matter of seconds" Tsunade replied simply.
Soon they arrived at the other end of the valley, Tsunade turned to her son and began to explain what they were going to do next.
"Ok Naru-chan, Jiraiya and I have talked about this for a while and we've both agree that it is time that you learned how to summon."
"Really?" Naruto beamed with excitement, since being able to summon was something he wanted to learn for as long as he could remember.
"Yep, your mom and I have been discussing it for a while now; each of us wanted you to sign a contract with our summons. So we decided that if both the Slugs and the Toads agree you can summon them both" Jiraiya replied, who couldn't help but return Naruto's grin.
At hearing this Naruto became even more excited, since he knew some of the summons already. His mother and Jiraiya had summoned some of the smaller summons for him to play with when he was younger.
Eventually Tsunade decided to start things off, where she bit her thumb and did some hands seals before slamming her hand onto the ground and yelling "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"
The second Tsunade said this, a massive cloud of smoke filled the air, where Naruto, Jiraiya and the others were forced to jump away. When the smoke dissipated, the group saw Tsunade standing atop the leader of all Slug summons, Katsuyu.
Katsuyu was very large in stature, which wasn't surprising given how she was one of the three great summons of the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja). Katsuyu was predominantly white in color, with three blue streaks that ran vertically down the middle and side of her body from her head and tapering off at her tail. Her optical tentacles also had a slight tint of grey to them and had two sensory tentacles on either side of her mouth.
"So that's Tsunade-sama's personal summons Katsuyu. . . ." Yamato mused as he looked up at the giant slug for the first time.
"Yep. . . that's her alright, I've almost forgotten how big she is." Kushina replied, as the last time she saw Tsunade summon Katsuyu. She wasn't that much older than Naruto was now.
"You summoned me Tsunade-sama?" Katsuyu inquired, her voice was soft and gentle, definitely female, but it was easily heard by everyone.
"Yes I did Katsuyu, there is someone I would like you to meet." Tsunade replied before she called out to Naruto, who jumped up to the top of a nearby tree to let himself be seen.
"Katsuyu, I would like you to meet my son. . . Naruto." When Tsunade said this, the large female summons lowered her face, so that she could look directly at Naruto.
"I am pleased to finally meet you Naruto-dono, I have heard much about you from my kin." the large slug said in a respectful tone.
"Thanks Katsuyu-san it's nice to finally meet you too." Naruto answered with a friendly smile.
"Katsuyu, the reason I've summoned you here is because I wish for Naruto to be able to summon you and the rest of your kin and if it is alright with you. Jiraiya would also like Naruto to sign a summon contract with the Toads as well."
When the female boss of the slug summons heard this, she remained silent for a moment or two, thinking it over, but eventually she spoke.
"Under most circumstances, I would refuse such a request Tsunade-sama, but given how he is your son and because I have heard many good things about him from the rest of my kin, who have met him, I will allow it."
Hearing this, both Tsunade and Naruto smiled ecstatically. Katsuyu then spat out the contract scroll for the Slugs (much to Naruto and some of the others disgust). But eventually after a few minutes, Naruto finished signing the contract and returned it to Katsuyu, (where she swallowed it). Naruto tried to hide his disapproving grimace with a grimace-like smile.
After Naruto had returned the contract scroll to her, Katsuyu told Naruto that she looked forward to working with him in the future. She also told him that if he ever needed her help, all he had to do was summon her. Naruto thanked the Slug queen again, who then returned home in a puff of smoke.
With the Slugs agreeing for Naruto to become their summoner, Jiraiya decided to try the toads now, where he laid out the summoning contract for the Toads. Unlike Tsunade, he carried the contract for the Toads on his back.
Once Naruto had signed the contract for the Toads, Jiraiya also suggested that Naruto try using the Kyuubi Chakra so to see how well he could use it at will.
After teaching Naruto what to do, the elder Shinobi decided to move away a bit, since they weren't sure how big a Toad Naruto could summon when he used a portion of the Kyuubi's Chakra.
As soon as everyone had moved away a bit, Naruto bit his thumb and did the required hand seals then he started to draw out the Kyuubi's Chakra.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
The area once again was enveloped by a large cloud of smoke, where Tsunade and the others were forced to move further back, just to avoid being crushed. When the smoke dissipated, it revealed that Naruto had succeeded in summoning a Toad. But it wasn't any ordinary Toad summon, it was the Boss of all Toad summons, Gamabunta.
Like Katsuyu, Gamabunta was a very large summon, who towered over the surrounding trees. His skin colour was a dull rusty red, but around his eyes and on his lips and chest he had brighter red markings. Over his left eye, he had a scar no doubt caused from some fight, although could still see out of it his eye. He wore a large blue happi vest, and carried a massive dosu blade at his hip and held a large kiseru pipe in his mouth.
"Damn the kid overdid it with the Kyuubi's Chakra, looks like he's going to need some training to use it right." Jiraiya muttered when he saw that Naruto had summoned Gamabunta. Jiraiya also knew that this could complicate things, even he had trouble dealing with Gamabunta at times.
"Crap, I don't know why but I'm bushed, it must be because I used the Kyuubi's Chakra." Naruto thought as he slowly got back onto his feet after falling ungracefully on his ass.
But as soon as Naruto got back onto his feet, Gamabunta suddenly brought his head down, causing Naruto to fall forward and onto Gamabunta's nose.
"Who the hell are you!" the Toad Boss shouted angrily when he saw Naruto and forced the young blond to cover his ears, due to the loudness of his voice. His voice was loud, unlike Katsuyu's or even the Kyuubi's.
"Why don't you ask more politely first, instead of yelling at someone you overgrown wart!" Naruto snapped angrily as he stood up and glared at Gamabunta, since he didn't appreciate being yelled at when he didn't do anything to offend said person.
"Ahh. . . Damnit brat, now you've gone and done it. . . " Jiraiya groaned when he heard Naruto and slapped his face in frustration.
When Gamabunta heard Naruto's reply, he was far from pleased.
"Why you cheeky little brat. . . Do you have any idea who I am?" Gamabunta growled. "I am Gambunta the Boss of all the Toads and I demand that you treat me with respect!"
"Well tough shit, I'd never treat some overgrown grouch like you with any kind of respect, so there! What are you going to do about it?" yelled Naruto, in a rare display of childishness, he stuck out his tongue and pulled his right eyelid down and went "NNNaahhhh," the Toad Boss really irritated him at the moment.
When Jiraiya and Tsunade saw this both couldn't help but face-palm, as things were getting worse by the minute.
When Gamabunta saw this, the Toad Boss was furious and wanted nothing more than to swat Naruto like a fly.
"Jiraiya. . . Where are you Jiraiya? Who the hell is this cheeky brat?" Gamabunta yelled angrily.
"This isn't good…" Jiraiya thought with some concern, from the tree he was standing in. As he knew from personal experience that when Gamabunta was like this, there was little to no chance in reasoning with him.
"Jiraiya you idiot come out here this instant!" Gamabunta shouted loudly, as looked around for the Toad Sage. "Why have you summoned me here? And who is this brat?"
"Ero-sennin wasn't the one who summoned you here, it was me!" Naruto yelled, gaining the Toad Boss's attention.
At hearing the Toad Boss began to laugh loudly, making it difficult for Naruto to stay on his nose.
"Woahh. . .!"
"Bwahahahaha…That has got to be the most ridiculous thing, I've ever heard in my life" Gamabunta said. "There's no way that small brat like you could ever summon me!"
"Well you better, because it's true!" This just caused the Toad Boss to laugh harder, as he refused to believe that a kid like Naruto could summon him. This angered Naruto further, since he didn't like to be mocked by anyone either.
"Shut up you overgrown blowhard!" Naruto shouted angrily, causing Gamabunta to stop laughing. "I was the one that summoned you, so I expect you to treat me with some respect!"
"You're seriously starting to piss me off brat. You aren't even old enough to drink and yet you expect me to believe that you're my new summoner?" Gamabunta said.
"Do you seriously want to die faster brat?" continued the Toad boss before he opened him mount and spat out his tongue and had it grab onto Naruto, where he then dropped the young blonde unceremoniously onto the ground.
"Hey what's the big idea? If you wanted me to get off you could've just asked, you jackass!" Naruto said angrily as he stood back up.
"Watch your mouth brat! You should be grateful that I don't squash you like the cockroach you are after how much cheek you've given me." the annoyed Gamabunta replied as he stared down at Naruto.
"Just try it you stupid Toad!" Naruto retorted as he glared up at massive Toad, who narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
Fortunately though, before things could escalate any further, Jiraiya and the others arrived.
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa easy there you two" Jiraiya said as he appeared between Naruto and Gamabunta and acted as the mediator between the two.
"About time you showed up you idiot. Now who the hell is this brat and why did you summon me here?" Gamabunta said when he saw Jiraiya.
"His name is Naruto and he is Tsunade and Minato's kid and like he said earlier he was the one that summoned you not me." Jiraiya explained.
When Gamabunta heard this he was shocked, he of course knew about Naruto since he had been there at the Kyuubi attack. Also some of the smaller Toads had talked about him after meeting him when Jiraiya summoned them to play with boy when he was younger. But still, this was his first time meeting the young blonde and as he eyed Naruto further, he could see the strong similarities between Naruto and Minato. In fact Naruto looked like a younger version of Minato, although there was still some difference between the two of them. Like the shape of his eyes and nose, not to mention his skin colour was a lighter shade than Minato's and more like his mother.
"Hmmm, well there's no mistaking it, the boy is Minato's son that for sure, the resemblance between the two of them is uncanny. Although he's more like Tsunade, personality wise." the Toad Boss thought as he glanced at Tsunade, who was now standing next to her son.
After a few minutes Gamabunta eventually got over his surprise and looked back at Jiraiya, "So other than introducing me to the kid why exactly was I brought here?"
"Well to be honest, it was sort of an accident, since I had the brat sign the contract and we decided to see how well he could use the Kyuubi's Chakra by using it to summon one of the other Toads. But the kid kind of went overboard with the Chakra and summoned you instead, I was planning on summoning you later and introduce the two of you and get your approval of both him and of him sharing a contract with you and the slugs."
"What do you mean by that?" the giant Toad asked with a frown.
"Well you see, Tsunade wanted Naruto to sign a contract with the Slugs and I wanted to do the same with you and the rest of the Toads, since Minato would've wanted it as well. After a while, we agreed that if both you and Katsuyu agreed we let him summon both."
"And Katsuyu agreed to this?" Gamabunta asked in mild surprise.
"She did" Jiraiya responded with a nod, "She's taken a liking to him. . . Look I know that the brat and you kind of got off the wrong foot, but give him a shot. He's a good kid and I'm sure plenty of the other Toads that have met him can vouch for him as well."
Gamabunta frowned a bit since many of the smaller Toads who had met Naruto when he was younger had spoken fondly of him. His own two sons Gamakichi and Gamatatsu had even met and played with Naruto when they were younger and like the other toads, his sons got on well with Naruto.
"Well even if he is Minato's son and even if I do accept that he summoned me and forget the cheek he showed me earlier. I refuse to acknowledge an impudent little brat, who can't even stay on my back when I move, as my summoner" Gamabunta replied with a harrumph.
"What if I can stay on you without falling off?" Naruto challenged as he walked forward towards Gamabunta.
"What?"
"If I can stay on you for the rest of the day and not fall off, will you acknowledge me as your summoner?" Naruto asked.
When Gamabunta first heard this, his first thought was to refuse it, but quickly decided to accept it. Believing that it would be a good way to pay Naruto back for his cheek and have a little fun at his expense.
"Fine I agree, but if you fall off, you have to agree to give up your contract with the Toads" Gamabunta stated.
"Agreed" Naruto replied, before either Tsunade or Jiraiya could object, after which Gamabunta lowered his head and allowed Naruto to jump onto it.
"Okay brat but don't blame me if you die" Gamabunta grinned evilly, before he jumped up at high speed into the air.
When Gamabunta jumped into the air the force of the jump was so great that it nearly blew the young Senju off the giant Toad. But fortunately before he did, he grabbed the back of Gamabunta's happi vest and held onto it for dear life. Jiraiya and the others below were also affected by the force of the jump, they were nearly blown away.
After recovering from the backlash of Gamabunta's jump, Shizune quickly turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-sama, don't you think you should try and stop this, if Gamabunta goes too far, Naruto might get hurt."
"You don't have to worry too much Shizune, he won't go that far. Gamabunta is really just testing Naruto to see what he is made out of" the toad sage stated while chuckling.
"What's so funny Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked with a slight frown, when she saw Jiraiya smirking as she was rather annoyed with how things were turning out between Gamabunta and Naruto.
"Oh it's nothing much, I just found it funny, how similar this situation is to when Minato first summoned Gamabunta."
"What do you mean?" Kushina asked, as this was the first she heard of this.
"Well, you might not believe this, given how well Gamabunta and Minato got on later on. But back when Minato first summoned him, Gamabunta refused to acknowledge Minato as his summoner, saying like with Naruto, he was too young. Seeing this, Minato made a similar challenge to Gamabunta, saying that if he could stay on his back for a full day, then Gamabunta would have to accept him."
"I'm assuming that Gamabunta accepted the Yondaime Hokage's challenge and that the Yondaime succeeded" Yamato said.
"Pretty much."
"So do you think Naruto stands a chance?" Shizune asked.
"Hard to say, although Gamabunta won't let the kid die, he still won't go easy on him. Not to mention the brat looked pretty worn after summoning Gamabunta," Jiraiya replied with a small frown. "My guess is it was because of some kind after effect from using the Kyuubi's Chakra."
After hearing this, the others nodded, since they had all thought the same thing. Soon after though, they were awoken from their private thoughts by a loud crashed, caused by Gamabunta landing on the ground again.
Hearing the crash the five Shinobi decided to move up to some place higher where they could watch Naruto and see if he could win the challenge.
For the next couple of hours, the valley was alive with activity, with Gamabunta jumping around at high-speed, while Naruto held on to the large Toad's vest for dear life, so that he wouldn't fall off.
Naruto had tried to channel his Chakra onto his feet so to stay on Gamabunta. But could not for he was too tried after using the Kyuubi's Chakra, in fact it was taking everything he had just to stay on the Giant Toad.
As the day dragged on, Gamabunta was becoming slightly irritated with how Naruto was still holding out. He was even forced to admit that Naruto was tougher than he originally thought, since he knew how tired Naruto was after summoning him. Gambunta jumped into a large nearby lake and began to swim around at high-speed, making it even harder for Naruto to hold on. But regardless of what Gamabunta did, Naruto refused to fall off. The young Senju gritted his teeth, shivering slightly from the cold after the water hit him.
Eventually though, the day neared an end and the sun began to set. When Naruto saw the sun beginning to set, he became even more determined to hold on, knowing that he was close to winning.
Naruto was of course not the only one that became more determined when he saw the sun setting. The Toad Boss became just as determined, since he refused to lose to Naruto, despite how tired he was now. Wanting to end this now, Gamabunta made one last massive jump high up into the air.
"Damn, Gamabunta is just as stubborn as ever, he just won't let up!" Jiraiya commented, as he and the others watch the two from a safe place.
"Come on Naruto, just hold out a little longer." Kushina cheered, before Gambunta landed with a massive crash near where they were.
The landing was so hard that it actually shook the ground a little and threw Naruto up into the air. But luckily for Naruto, he was able to land on top of Gamabunta's head, although was unable to keep his balance and looked like he was about to fall.
Realizing this, Naruto forced as much Chakra as he could gather to his feet, thus allowing him to stay on Gamabunta.
"Dammnit, you are one stubborn brat!" yelled Gamabunta, as he shook his head around, trying to throw Naruto off. But no matter how hard his shook his head, Naruto stayed on.
"Yes, Naruto has won!" Shizune cheered, when she saw that Naruto was still on Gamabunta and the sun had just about set.
When Naruto saw that the sun was just about gone, he smiled.
"Look like you lose, now you have to acknowledge me as your summoner. . ." Naruto started but before he could finish speaking; he lost consciousness, as the events of the day finally caught up to him.
As soon as Naruto lost consciousness, he fell off Gamabunta's head.
"Naruto!" Tsunade cried in fear when she saw her son lose consciousness and fall off Gamabunta, knowing that a fall from that height would kill him. But before she or any of the others could react. Gamabunta spat out his tongue and caught Naruto before he could hit the ground, where he then placed him gently on the ground.
As soon as Gamabunta had placed Naruto on the ground, Tsunade and the others quickly appeared next to Naruto, where the female Senju quickly examined her son.
"Is he alright?" Kushina asked in concern.
"Yes he is" Tsunade replied with relief, "He's just exhausted."
"Too bad brat, you were close to winning" Gamabunta spoke, when saw the sun finally sink under the horizon.
At hearing this, a sad look appeared on Shizune and Kushina's faces, since Naruto had been so close to winning. But since he lost, Gamabunta would be revoking Naruto's contract with the Toads.
"So do you plan to revoke Naruto's contract?" Kushina asked when she looked up at the Toad Boss.
"The boy may have lost, but he has proven himself through his determination, so I won't have his contract with us revoked and I'll agree to share it with the Slugs." Gamabunta answered, before grinning impishly down at the unconscious Naruto. "In many ways he reminds me a lot of his father the Yondaime Hokage, and he is the first person since the Yondaime to stay on me that long. He may still be much too young for me to regard him as my summoner. But I will acknowledge him as my subordinate and help him when he needs it."
When Tsunade and the others heard this they all smiled as that was good enough for them, and it would be good enough for Naruto.
"Train him well Jiraiya, I expect a lot of great things from that boy in the future" spoke Gamabunta before he disappeared in a large cloud.
With the matter of the summons settle, Tsunade and everyone decided to return to their camp and allow Naruto to rest for the next day of training.
-Later in Konoha-
After two weeks for training with his Mother and everyone, Naruto returned to Konoha. Training had been harsh, as his mother put him through her special bombardment training, to improve his speed and reaction time. The difference from her normal bombardment training was that this time, his mother made Shadow clones of herself and of the balls when she threw them at him.
Naruto survived the training, but just barely, the young blonde at that point had wondered if what his mother was doing to him could be considered Child abuse.
And if that wasn't enough, Naruto also had to deal with his Sensei Kushina. Who was just as relentless as his mother when it came to training, where she was teaching him some other techniques from her Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) style.
He was also currently being trained by Jiraiya is using the Kyuubi's Chakra better and although his control had improved, he couldn't escape the side-effects, where each time he used it, he became physically drained. It was double-edged technique.
When Naruto told the others of how he felt after each time he used the Kyuubi's Chakra, they figured it was due to his Mokuton Bloodline limit.
Later Tsunade theorised that since Mokuton naturally suppresses a Biju's Chakra, Naruto's body reacts negatively to the Kyuubi's Chakra when he uses it, causing severe exhaustion and ware on his body, when he finishes using it. Hence it was decided that Naruto should only uses the Kyuubi's Chakra when he has no other choice.
This was also the reason Tsunade had Naruto focus so much on learning the new technique that Yamato was teaching him. Since if he could use it correctly, it would be of immense benefit to him in his fights with Gaara and Yugito, should he face them in the finals.
Sadly though, the technique proved more difficult to learn and control than Naruto originally thought and was even more difficult to use. During the training Naruto had a Clone summon the Kyuubi's Chakra and act as a training-partner for him to use the technique on. But even when using the Clone as practice, there was only so much it could withstand before disappearing, as the technique put a great deal of stress on the person. But regardless of this set back, Naruto was determined to master the technique before the Chunin finals.
As Naruto jumped across the rooftops of Konoha, he could not help but be grateful for the day off from training, since he had hoped for the chance to see how Lee was doing after their fight. His mother was with Jiraiya in meeting with the Sandaime, while Shizune was in the market gathering some supplies before they returned to training. Kushina and Yamato had also gone their own paths, where Kushina said she was going to have some Raman, while Yamato stated he had some errands to run.
When Naruto arrived at the hospital, (carrying a bunch of flowers he had created), he asked the nurse on station for Lee's room. The nurse was of course quite helpful, where she directed Naruto to Lee's room.
After arriving at Lee's room, Naruto found that his bushy haired friend was asleep.
Not wanting to disturb him and allow Lee to get some rest, Naruto left the flowers he planned to give to Lee, next to beside table. Before he left Naruto took a quick look at Lee's medical charts, where she saw that Lee was slowly recovering, but would need a lot of treatment and physical therapy.
Naruto felt guilty over Lee's condition, since he had caused most of the injuries that Lee had.
After a while pondering, Naruto left the room. He walked down the hall in a brisk pace but came to a stop when he came face to face with Lee's sensei Maito Gai, who seemed surprised at seeing Naruto.
"Naruto-san, I did not expect to see you here, I had heard that you had left the village to do some private training with your mother Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama and your teachers Kushina-san and Yamato-san."
"Yes I did, I'm just back for the day, I had come to see how Lee was doing, but since he is sleeping, I decided not to disturb him." Naruto felt slightly uncomfortable in the man's presence after what he did to his student.
"Are you sure? I'm certain Lee wouldn't mind me waking him to speak to you."
"I'm certain, Lee needs all the rest he can, I'm sure I'll see him at the Chunin finals,"
"I understand." Gai replied with a nod.
"If you don't mind me saying Gai-sensei, but I'm sort of surprised that you're here, I thought you would be with Neji, helping him train for the finals."
"Neji-kun has Tenten helping him, he had stated he only needed her help to train for his match against you."
"I see," Naruto answered before excusing himself.
As Naruto walked down the hall he suddenly stopped and called out to Gai. "Gai-sensei, if you don't mind, could you give Lee a message for me?"
"Of course" replied Gai.
"Could you tell him that as far as I'm concern, I won only by sheer luck, and if it wasn't for the halt in his attack, he would've won. But regardless of the outcome of the fight, he is already a great Shinobi and he was one of the strongest opponents that I ever fought, and he has my respect and I will gladly fight him again if he wishes."
When Gai heard this, the green clad man smiled, "I will of course Naruto-san, it would mean a great deal to him to hear this."
After Gai had agreed to deliver his message to Lee, Naruto nodded curtly and walked away.
After leaving the hospital, Naruto jumped across the rooftops of Konoha and made his way to Ichiraku Ramen Bar to have lunch since he hadn't had Ramen in over two weeks which was torture for him.
As he made his way across the rooftops, Naruto suddenly noticed a familiar face in the street below. The person in question was Yugito, who was acting fairly suspiciously, where she kept looking around her, as if making sure that no-one was following her. Naruto also notice that she was carrying a large paper bag in her hands.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto decided to follow the Blonde girl, where for the next few minutes Naruto followed his fellow blonde from the rooftops. Naturally it wasn't easy, as Yugito kept looking around her, both in the street and up in the rooftops, forcing Naruto to keep his distance.
But she eventually turned into a dark narrow alleyway that was between two large buildings.
When Naruto saw this, he made his way to the rooftop of one of the buildings that flanked the alleyway and discreetly looked down into the alley and what he saw surprised him.
For down below Nii Yugito, the strongest Genin in Kumo was talking to and feeding a small snow-white kitten.
"Here you go girl." Yugito said as she poured a small carton of milk into a small bowel and gave it to the small white kitten. (3)
Once Yugito lowered the bowel of milk, the small kitten quickly went over and began to lick the milk.
As the small kitten was drinking the milk, Yugito gently petted the kitten, causing it to purr.
"Poor little thing…" Yugito said sadly "…you shouldn't be here all by yourself. I would take you in myself. But unfortunately the hotel my team and I are staying at doesn't allow animals. But I make this promise, as long as I'm here, I'll make sure to stop by and feed you every day and try to find you a good home before I leave, how does that sound?"
At this the little Kitten looked up and Yugito and went "Meow" as if agreeing with Yugito, before it went back to drinking the milk.
From up above the alley, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the scene, "So Yugito-chan is a cat lover, Heh! Who'd thought it?...But then again I guess it makes a bit sense that she like cats, since she is the jinchūriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-tailed Monster Cat)."
For the next ten minutes, Naruto watched the kitten drink the milk, where once it was finished, Yugito took out a small piece of fish and placed it on the bowl allowing the kitten to eat it.
After a little while, the little kitten fished eating the piece of fish and licked the bowel clean.
"All done?" Yugito asked where the white kitten looked up and meowed at Yugito.
"Good" replied Yugito with a smile, before she took out a small feather waggler (4) and began to play with the kitten.
As Yugito played with the kitten, she suddenly said "Nya, Nya, Nya" in a cute and girly kind of way, something that Naruto never thought he would hear from Yugito of all people.
When Naruto heard this, a small snort of laughter busted from his lips.
Sadly though for Naruto, Yugito's keen Shinobi hearing picked up on the small snort, where before Naruto realized it, a set of Shuriken appeared in her left free hand and flew up to where he was.
Acting fast, Naruto quickly rolled out of the path of the Shuriken and moved behind a large rooftop fan.
As soon as he went behind the fan, Yugito appeared on the rooftop, holding the white kitten tightly in her right hand.
"I know you there, come out you coward and face me." Yugito said angrily.
Knowing the jig was up Naruto slowly came out from behind the fan with his hands up in surrender and a goofy, but guilty look on his face. "H-h-hey Yugito-chan, been a while."
"N-N-Nar-Naruto?" Yugito said in surprise, before realization appeared on her face.
"T-T-Th-This isn't what it looks like!" the panicking Yugito cried in denial, who was now bright red from embarrassment, as she realized what Naruto must have seen. "I-I-I just found this cat and I…erm…how much did you see?"
"Eh…emmm…everything" Naruto replied with nervous smile, where he then saw Yugito turn an even brighter shade of red.
"Kyaaaaaa! If Naruto knows and tells anyone of this, Samui and the others could hear about it and knowing those big months Karui and Bee-sensei. They'll tell everyone back in Kumo …and my reputation will be ruined." Yugito thought in panic as images of Killer Bee and Karui shouting things like "Hey everyone Yugito-chan is a super pansy kitty-cat lover!"
After imaging this a harden look suddenly appeared on Yugito's face, where she then drew her Katana from her back. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I'm afraid I cannot let you live after what you have just seen. I promise I will make this quick and painless."
"Is she serious?" Naruto thought in surprise, where he quickly got his answer, when he was forced to jump back to avoid a slash from the blonde Kunoichi's Katana.
Following the slash, Naruto spent the next few minutes ducking and avoiding Yugito's attacks.
"Shit! Yugito-chan this is crazy, stop it!" Naruto cried as he sidestepped another sword slash. "I promise I won't tell anyone that you have a soft spot for cats!"
"I'm sorry Naruto, but I simply cannot take that chance" Yugito replied as she went to slash him again. But stopped in mid-swing, when the kitten jumped out of her hand and went over to Naruto, where it started rub his leg and purr.
"Heh, guess she likes me" Naruto said, where he silently thanked the kitten for getting Yugito to stop, since he really didn't want to fight Yugito, at least not yet.
Sadly though, the fact that the kitten had taken a liking to Naruto, only stop Yugito momentarily, as she soon raised her Katana again.
Knowing he needed to do something fast, Naruto tried to think of a way to get Yugito to calm down.
"Wait! What if I promise to find this kitten a good home" Naruto said quickly, where as soon as he said it, Yugito's blade stopped, right before it could hit the side of his neck.
"Are you saying that you will adopt her?" Yugito asked without removing her blade from Naruto's neck, while glancing down at the white kitten, which was looking up at her and meowing.
"I can't, since I'm training outside the village and I am only here for the day, so I can't really care for her right now. But I know a place that she can stay until I can find her a good home" Naruto answered quickly.
"And would this place be able to care for her well?" Yugito asked, since she wouldn't leave the kitten to the mercy of just anyone.
"Yea they'll be able to take real good care of her, since they specialize in caring for animals and they owe me a favour from a while back."
For a moment Yugito did not answer, where she silently considered Naruto's offer, but eventually she pulled her Katana from Naruto's neck and sheathed it.
"Very well I accept your offer Naruto, but be warned, if they mistreat her in any way, it will be you who I'll hold responsible. Also you must swear never to tell anyone what you saw earlier."
At this Naruto nodded his head violently, knowing that if he didn't promise, Yugito would turn him into a human scratching post. (5)
"No prob I swear I won't tell a soul" Naruto said, "Although if you ask me, you shouldn't be so afraid to let people know you have a soft side and that you like cats, as I don't see any harm, in fact it's kind of cute."
"Cute!" Yugito thought in surprise, where she couldn't help but blush a little when Naruto mentioned her being cute, since no-one had ever really called her cute before. Fortunately though Naruto didn't notice as he was picking up the kitten and when he looked back up, she had forced it to die down. Once Naruto handed Yugito the kitten, he told her to follow him, where the two of them took off together.
After traveling through the village for a few minutes, Naruto and Yugito arrived at their destination, which turned out to be the Inuzuka Clan Kennels.
When Yugito saw where Naruto was planning to leave the kitten, she turned and glared angrily at Naruto. "This is where you plan to put her, a Kennel full of dogs!"
"Hey Hey easy Yugito-chan!" Naruto said quickly as he raised his hands up in defence. "Look I know how it looks, but trust me, she'll be fine her I promise, they treat other animals here, so I'm sure they be able to take good care of her."
"I should hope so…for your sake" Yugito replied gruffly.
When the two entered the front office, they found a young girl at the front desk filing away papers.
"Can I help you two?" the young woman asked.
"Eh yea, I'm looking for Inuzuka Tsume" Naruto replied.
"May I ask who is asking?"
"Senju Naruto" Naruto answered, where after hearing his full name, the young woman's eyes widened slightly in surprise before quickly regaining control of herself.
"I'm sorry Senju-sama, but Tsume-sama is away at the moment, but her daughter Hana-san is here, would she be of help?"
"Yeah, she would be fine."
"Very well I get her now, please wait a moment." the women said before she went back to get Hana.
As they waited for the woman to return with Hana, Yugito turned to Naruto with a raised eyebrow over how the woman spoke to him. Naruto of course replied with annoyed sigh that said "Don't ask."
Soon after, the woman returned with Hana who quickly greeted Naruto when she saw him.
"Hello again Naruto-san."
"Hey Hana-san nice to see you again." Naruto replied with a smile.
"So may I ask why you are here and who is your friend here?" Hana asked as she turned to Yugito.
"This is Yugito and as to why we are here, well I hoping to ask you for a favour."
"Yugito you say. . ." Hana muttered, where she finally took notice of Yugito's headband. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Kumo Kunoichi that defeated my younger brother Kiba in the preliminaries would you?"
When Hana asked this, Yugito was bemused by the news that Hana was Kiba's older sister, since she didn't seem to be anything like him. But she soon got over her surprise and nodded, confirming Hana's suspicion that she was the one who defeated Kiba.
"Is Kiba here?" Naruto asked with some concern since knowing Kiba he was probably still a little mad over losing to Yugito. Kiba was a sore loser after all.
"No, he's off helping his team-mate Shino train for the Chunin finals so you needn't worry." Hana replied, as if she had read his mind, knowing what he was concern about.
Relieved to hear this, Naruto then went on to explain the reason why he and Yugito were here. When Naruto finished explaining, Hana frowned slightly and looked at the kitten for a few minutes before speaking.
"Although we do treat other animals when they're injured or sick and keep them here when they're recovering, we aren't a shelter for homeless animals…" Hana said. But before Yugito or Naruto could respond to this the female Inuzuka smiled and continued speaking. "…But since we technically owe you for finding Kurimaru and bringing him back safely, I think we can make an exception and let her stay here for a while, until you can find her a good home."
After hearing this, Naruto smiled and thanked Hana, who responded by saying it was nothing.
When Hana went to take the small kitten, Yugito was naturally hesitant to give the small kitten away, but soon relented knowing that it was for the best.
"Will she be alright here?" Yugito asked in concern for the kitten, given how many dogs were here.
"You needn't worry; Inuzuka dogs are well-trained from an early age and are much more intelligent than normal dogs. They won't bother her, plus we have a room here that is just for cats, so she won't be bother by any of the younger pups who might bother her" Hana explained.
Satisfied with Hana's answer, Yugito asked her to take good care of the Kitten, after which she and Naruto bid Hana and the kitten goodbye and left.
After leaving the Inuzuka Kennel, Naruto asked Yugito if she would like to have lunch with him. Being a bit hungry, Yugito agreed, where the two of them headed into the center of the Konoha market.
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