Hello my lovers, my haters, my friends, my enemies, my sisters, my brothers. I would like to welcome you all to a new story: All Black.
You, if you are a fan of my other works, have been probably wondering where I have been. Well I have been in college as a freshmen and I have been writing (when I can or when I am inspired). For those waiting for Ten Thousand Fists you will not be disappointed in you wait. Trust me.
This story on the other hand was something that, almost literally, crept on me (much to my older 'children'/stories ire). I based it off of another story The Most Heinous Crime by an author name Andrew Joshua Talon. In order to get a better feel for the characters that I will be featuring in this story I would suggest that you check out his fine piece of work that he has created. Also if are wondering, yes I did get permission from Mr. Talon, but the characters that you do not see in his fic are mine and mine alone.
I will not reveal what the summons that are featured in this fic, but I warn you that they may cause people fright. Anyway, the fic takes place after the Wave mission and picks up after team seven gets back.
I will have further notes at the end of this chapter so please enjoy this piece of literature.
Disclaimer: Some of summons featured in this fic are not mine and belong to Mr. Talon. Please check out his work. Also I do not own Naruto or any characters from other media that may or may not appear in this work of fiction. Thank you.
XxXxX All Black XxXxXXxXxX First Shade XxXxX
There are many different types of techniques that have been created by Ninja. Illusions, sword styles, hand to hand combat teachings, strange abilities called Ninjutsu, and the art of Sealing are just to name some. These are but a few of the many great techniques that Shinobi equip for combat and espionage. It is because of these five categories, and the ingenuity of the human mind, that countless numbers of derivatives of techniques can be created.
But there is one technique that exists within the category Ninjutsu in the Shinobi world that is near extinction. A technique that can help throw the Shinobi world into complete and utter turmoil like on October tenth in Konohagakure, or rise a nation up onto the mountain of victory and bring forth peace to the land like during Amegakure's civil war. This type of technique is one that is not commonly used, for it is hard to find a Shinobi master that possesses the technique as well as willing to pass it to another individual.
This obscured and unpopular technique is both terribly strong as well as horribly dangerous. One false move could send its castor into the deepest pits of Hell or raise him or her onto the highest tier of honor and recognition. The reason for the danger was that the technique was not a mindless force of nature or an incoherent mass of destructive power, but rather a sentient being. If the castor were to anger the technique it would within its rights to utterly obliterate its castor. The technique demands honor and respect before it can be allowed to be wielded.
That is one of the reasons why this particular technique is so hard to find and possess in the Elemental countries. For one it was a rare technique as well as dangerous. It was seldom that someone would run across the technique's scroll on just some random moment. In fact it was almost impossible to randomly find the technique's scroll, and masters of the technique were far and in between.
But it so happened that one day, one weary and dreary day, a boy with the ability to destroy impossibility and kick reason and physics to the curb did in fact do the impossible. Within his home, his small and overrun apartment, he found a scroll hidden within his floor. The scroll was small and he did not know what it was, but it was these things that changed him. The scroll altered him, morphed him into a being that no one thought could be created. The technique gave him things that he thrived for and sought. That one technique forged a man that saved life and ended strife.
This technique was the Art of Summoning and this is Uzumaki Naruto's story.
XxXxX With Naruto XxXxX
"Like Kakashi-sensei knows what he's talking about!" one blond haired youth ranted to himself as he scaled the stairs to his apartment. "I did in fact contribute to the mission! Who was the one that saved him from that watery domey thingy? ME! Who does he think saved Tsunami from those thugs? Me! Who saved Sasuke-teme's ass when he was being turned into a pincushion? Me! Who defeated Haku? ME!" when he said the final point Naruto's voice became very quiet.
The wound of Haku's death was still deep and fresh in Naruto. The boy, or girl depending on how you looked at it, had taught Naruto something that had changed him. Haku had taught Naruto to seek out and protect those that are precious to you, to protect them with your life and not give up until they are safe and sound. When Haku had said that to Naruto in that clearing that one morning, Naruto had taken a deep look into himself.
The statement had forced Naruto to bring his whole goal into question. Naruto's goal was to become Hokage so that people would finally give him the respect that he deserved, but when Haku had told him to find precious people and protect them he rethought his mission. It was as he stood at Haku and Zabuza's grave that he came to answer Haku's request. He would in fact find those that could be considered precious and protect them, and the entirety of the village, as Hokage.
Naruto looked up into the darkening sky as he stood silently on the stairwell of his apartment building. Haku had helped him see what life was meant to be. The boy/girl had helped Naruto solidify his dream and his future. With a sigh he sent a small smile towards the heavens. If it there was anyone who deserved heaven it was that boy/girl and his/her Master. Though the man had tried to kill them, Naruto could feel that deep down Zabuza was actually a good man. When Naruto had yelled at the swordsman he had shed tears for his dead 'tool'. No heartless man would do that.
Just then a splash of a raindrop upon Naruto's nose brought him out of his thoughts. Naruto outstretch his hand and felt several more fat droplets strike his open flesh. Cringing he re-shouldered his pack and began his trek up the stairs anew. By the time Naruto came to his front door it had already begun to downpour. Naruto hated when it rained. Rain meant cold nights, wet floors, and most likely power loss. Another thing that Naruto hated was the fact that individuals still went out of their ways in order for him to feel 'right at home'. They still took time out of their busy schedules so that they could write scrawled insults on his door and the surrounded nearby walls. Words like "monster", "go to hell", and "demon" were written on his door and walls. The least the villagers could do was at least come up with some new insults, but the lack of ingenuity was to be expected from individuals that consciously went to provoke their resident 'Demon'.
"I mean honestly," Naruto ranted to himself as he fished his keys out of his pack, "who in their right mind would go out of their way to anger one of the most power creatures on the planet? And they call me stupid…geeze…"
Since Naruto had learned the truth he had come to pity the villagers. At first, when he did not know the reason for their hatred, he had hated them as much as they hated him. He remembered lying in bed at night plotting how he was going to make them pay once he became Hokage. But after he learned that what they hated was the fox he began to pity their horrible nearsightedness. In fact their actions only made them seem that much stupider than not. Soon he found himself giggling at their petty attempts; he just couldn't believe how stupid some of them were.
Naruto quickly shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. It was not good to mentally stoop down to their level. Sighing at his own stupidity, Naruto quickly unlocked the front door to his apartment and went inside, all the while making a mental note to buy so new paint in order to cover up the ruined door. Once inside his apartment, he quickly locked his door and set his pack upon a nearby hook; it would not do good if he let his guard down only to be ambushed in his own home. As Naruto walked into his living room/dining room, he ran through his irritations in his mind.
Kakashi hadn't believed him when he had told the older man that it was in fact him that had saved Tsunami, saved Sasuke, and defeated Haku. Kakashi only smiled at his enthusiasm and patted his head like some hypocritical parent saying, "Of course you did…" Sakura had a similar reaction albeit a little more violent. Naruto shook his head, while he heated a pot of water, when he remembered Sakura's reaction to his tale. There had been no need for her to attack him like some kind a wild wombat, especially when she brought a broken telephone pole into the equation. Naruto honestly cared for the girl, but the more and more she committed random and uncalled for acts of violence against him the harder it became to seek after her.
Naruto suddenly stretched his arms above his head, sighing as his shoulders popped and cracked. He was happy that he was back home. The mission had taken a lot out of him both physically and emotionally. Now that he was home, and away from his client and team, Naruto was finally able to relax and enjoy solidarity. Unlike popular belief, Naruto was in fact comfortable with being by himself. The mindset had been forged after many years of independence and solitude, so it was of no surprise, to Naruto at least, that the young blond was in fact content with being alone. Some times he even wished for it. Don't get him wrong, he did not mind masses of people but sometimes silence and alone time were some things that Naruto wished for more than others.
Realizing that his ramen was nearing completion, Naruto took the simmering pot from the stove and set it on the small top of his dining room table. After spooning a bowl for himself Naruto prayed over his meal and wasted no time in feasting upon his labor. Though the creation was a pale comparison to that of Ichiraku's Ramen it would have to do. It took no time at all until Naruto had completely emptied the pot of ramen, and it took some mental convincing so that he did not start and devour another packet of the instant meal. If he did he would be running low and it was still some time before his scheduled 'market run'. With that depressing thought Naruto quickly cleaned the dinner's dishes and the dishes that he had left until he returned, and headed towards his bedroom.
His apartment wasn't very big, containing one bedroom, a combination living/dining room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Though the apartment wasn't much, compared to other apartments he had heard about and actual homes, Naruto was happy that he had a roof over his head. In the past he had lived in an orphanage, in a tree, and on the streets. The orphanage had been one of the worst, for the matriarchs had been biased about his existence and had done everything in their power to do nothing. The tree was actually rather homely, well until a 'freak' lightening storm had destroyed the tree. After that, Naruto had taken to living on the street, and it wasn't until six months later that Sarutobi took pity on Naruto's plight and supplied him with the current apartment.
Naruto yawned as he opened his bedroom door. Sleep was the second thing on his mind; dinner taking the first slot. The mission had not been gracious to him when it had come to sleep. Each time he had closed his eyes he had seen Haku's smiling face before it was rendered pale and dead. Each time he had closed his eyes he had felt Sasuke's dead body clutch to his chest. Each time he had closed his eyes he had smelled the freshly dug graves of Haku and Zabuza. Each time he had closed his eyes he had heard the voice of Gatou. It also did not help that Naruto had to share a tent with Sasuke. The Uchiha had a habit of crying in his sleep, most likely due to memories of the massacre, and talking about revenge.
As the tired blond drudged into his bedroom he forgot to side step the weak floor board near the center of the room. The result of his clumsiness was the floorboards giving way under his weight and shattering. Another result of his now trapped leg was that Naruto was plastered face first onto the floor. It took several seconds for Naruto to actually comprehend that he was now, quite literally, eating his floor, and for a time Naruto didn't care. In fact the thought of just sleeping on the floor crossed his mind as he nursed his sore nose, but if he were to sleep on the floor that would mean that the cold night's air would disturb him and thus he would again lack in sleep.
With a disgruntle groan, Naruto pushed himself back to his feet and gazed at the handy work he had wrought. His foot and leg was lodged up to just below his knee and he could feel some of the ridged pieces of the wood digging into his flesh. Ankle wounds were some of the wounds that Naruto hated the most. The reason being was that legs were a few of the appendages that a human uses the most, and the ankles were one part that the legs used the most. So with the constant walking and running, the joints were constantly being force to work and would never be given ample time to heal. So with a hiss of breath into his lungs, Naruto ripped his leg up and out of the impromptu hole he had made.
Naruto had added too much force to his pull and not only was he knocked back onto his rear but it seemed that the slight vacuum that he had created had brought something up from underneath floorboards as well. But Naruto had taken no mind of the forgotten object; instead he was focused solely on his torn leg. His leg seemed to have sustained three deep gouges but even before his eyes the gouges began to heal and seal. This had never happened before, for in the past Naruto would spend days healing. The only conclusion that he could come up with was that now that he was conscious of the fact that the Kyubi was sealed within him that his flesh began to heal even quicker then before. He had always had fast regenerative capabilities, healing a wound in a week when it would normally take a month to do so, but after the Mizuki incident his healing rate had sky rocketed. In morbid curiosity Naruto had taken a kunai and slit a gash across his arm a couple of days after the bout with Mizuki. The gash had been an extensive one, but the moment he actually deviated his mind from the numbing pain he noticed that the six-inch gash was healing steadily. It was as if now that he was conscious of the Kyubi's presence his mind had lifted some kind of roadblock and allowed the beast power to flow into his cells steadily. But this was just a theory with no supporting evidence besides two or three experiments.
As he continued to stare at his leg, the gouges steadily healed until they were no more. That was good; Naruto did not want to have to deal with a bum leg on his three days off that both the Hokage and Kakashi had allowed his team. Even though it appeared to be healed, Naruto still drew his fingers across the new flesh to make sure that he had indeed healed.
After the inspection of his leg, Naruto moved to inspect new hole in his room. It was about a foot wide and maybe two feet deep; it was a hole that could not be covered by a rug, which meant that Naruto was going to need to splurge for more supplies besides just paint. But he could not just leave it as it was now. If he did that more accidents would most likely happen because of the hole. So Naruto began to look around his small bedroom for something that he had put over the hole until tomorrow.
As if scanned the bedroom a small forest green scroll caught his attention. Now while Naruto was known for having his apartment referred to as a pigpen, when it came to scrolls and books he always treated them with the utmost respect and care. So to find a scroll just lying on his floor was actual a peculiar sight. Naruto quickly went to investigate.
What he found on closer inspection was that the scroll was the size of any common storage scroll, about eight inches long and about an inch in thickness. So in regards to scrolls like the Forbidden Scroll and weapon storage scrolls this scroll was relatively small and compact (1). When Naruto finally stirred up the nerve to pick up the new scroll he found that it was indeed quite heavy and a faded forest green color, meaning that the scroll must have been quite old. The edges of the scroll were equally old looking, cracked and split and weathered like old parchment paper that the young blond had seen in a museum during a school field trip. As Naruto gripped the scroll in his hands he held it as if he was holding a new born babe, for he felt that if he made any sudden movements with the scroll that the scroll would fall apart into dust. With the utmost of care Naruto turned the scroll over to examine the entire outside of the scroll.
As he did, Naruto found the labeling for the scroll on a small three inch high white piece of parchment. Though most of the kanji was smudged and faded he was still able to make out one of the symbols. The one kanji that Naruto could make out was the symbol for Summoning. The kanji sparked a recollection in Naruto's mind, a recollection of class with Iruka. In class, one of the few times that Naruto had decided to stay awake or actually attend, Iruka was describing several types of techniques. One of the few that actually caught Naruto's attention during the lecture was the Art of Summoning. The technique was meant to summon a creature from the summons plane, a dimension parallel to the Elemental Countries, into battle. Some of the examples that he had given to the class were the toad summons the Sannin Jiraiya used, the slug summons the Sannin Tsunade used, the monkey summons the Sandaime used, and the snake summons the traitor Orochimaru used. He also explained how the summons had tools and techniques all their own; like the Kusanagi long sword that the traitor Orochimaru possessed and the Adamantine Staff that the Sandaime used.
So if Naruto's giddy mind was correct, the scroll that he now held in his hand could in fact been one of those summoning contracts. But the likelihood of that would be slim to none. "Good thing I don't care about likelihood…" Naruto mumbled to himself happily.
With a fluid motion, Naruto gently placed the weathered scroll on the ground and undid the string constraint. The strings purpose was to help keep the scroll rolled up into itself, so once it was untied Naruto had free access to the scrolls inner contents. With the greatest of care Naruto quietly began to unroll the olden scroll, marveling at how he was still able to do so without it breaking. When the scroll was finally unraveled about ten revolutions, Naruto found a strange sight. The scroll was divided into two-inch wide, eight-inch long sections, barred off from other sections by black borders, and at the foremost beginning of the scroll were kanji for the correct seals in order to perform the technique. Now this was the first time that Naruto had seen the inside of a summon scroll, as well as the signs needed to perform the technique, but Naruto knew that there was more to summoning than just the hand seals.
As he recounted Iruka's lecture a second time Naruto remembered that the Art of Summoning was a technique all of its own. In order to summon the select creature a blood sacrifice must be given in order to allow the summon beast into the mortal plane. But the blood was also not enough. If Naruto recalled correctly he could remember that Iruka had mentioned that a future summoner must first sign his name in blood on the original summon scroll in order to gain the privilege of summoning. Well that explained the barred off sections in the scroll, but what Naruto found as weird was that all of the sections were empty. Could if be that no one had signed this particular contract and that he was the first?
Without hesitating Naruto pulled a kunai from his side holster. He had been so drowsy that he had neglected to remove his Ninja tools from his person even before he had fallen, or plan to have fallen, asleep. With a quick flick of the blades tip the young blond formed a small incision on his right index finger, the hand he was most prominent in writing with. With the small flow of crimson blood Naruto hastily began to write his name on the cream colored parchment. As he finished his name a childish smile made its way onto the boys face. Working quickly Naruto dabbed a little bit of blood on each of his fingers on his right hand and smashed them just below his name. From then on everyone would know that this signature was the authentic signature of Uzumaki Naruto (2).
Giggle at his own 'cleverness' Naruto stood up and began to prepare himself for the technique. Thoughts of what kind of creature he would conger ran through his mind. Speculations of dragons and mystical birds tickled his nerves. Maybe he would summon a great genie or maybe be would be bringing forth a mighty titan.
A terrible flash of lightening and the sudden roar of thunder broke Naruto's fantasies and sent him reeling to the floor. Luckily he angled himself so that he did not topple onto the old unraveled scroll. When Naruto finally caught his breath he turned to his bedroom window and cursed. Due to his new discovery he had neglected to realize that the winds had picked up and that the rains were battering his apartment building. This only meant that soon his power would fail and he would be plunged into darkness. This was a common occurrence. When a thunderstorm struck the landlord of his apartment would always shut off power to his apartment during storms, probably some tactic to instill fear into the young teen. The opposite was the actual out come. Because of the sudden and somewhat predictable power outages Naruto had in fact come to enjoy the dark and the thunderstorms. He thought of them as his own personal symphony and band; the storms would roar and bellow just for him it seemed, and during those times Naruto would feel that he truly had someone with him all the time. It was like he was with this someone, hidden within a port during the raging storm (3).
The thought of postponing his discovery until morning cross the blonde's mind, but the giddy fantasies only seemed to capture him again when he contemplated leaving his journey half complete. So brushing his retreating thoughts aside, Naruto got back to his feet and prepped himself for the drain on his chakra coils. Taking one last glance at the scroll to ensure that he was in fact using the correct hand seals, Naruto began to channel his chakra. He did not know the precise amount that he needed to collect but he guessed that the same amount as needed to make ten Shadow Doppelgangers would be enough to summon a decent sized…whatever.
With a calming sigh Naruto pricked his thumb on one of his surprisingly long canines and slowly preformed the seals. As he did he gathered what he thought was the needed amount of chakra into his hands. His eyes flashed open with an aura of command and he bellowed forth, "Art of Summoning!" As he did he slammed his palm upon his bedroom floor and marveled at the intricate seal that rocketed forth from his palm.
A boom of thunder broke Naruto's concentration on the summoned area, and the sudden darkness, caused by the landlord deciding to cancel the power, obscured Naruto's view of the plumb of smoke that signaled that the summoning ritual was in fact a success. As the darkness consumed the room and apartment Naruto was unable to distinguish the outline of the creature that he had summoned, and the boom from the thunder had caused him to suffer from a brief fit of deafness so he was unable to hear if the creature was making any noise. Seconds ticked by and Naruto was beginning to loose patience with the situation; he had a new 'toy' now and by God he wanted to know what it did.
Finally his hearing began to return to him and what he heard was silence. That worried Naruto, for he knew that he ritual had gone correct, he had seen the plumb of Ninjutsu smoke that had signaled the completion. So it was either that the summon had already unsummoned itself, a skill that the creatures possessed incase they were too injured to fight or when their job was complete, or that the creature was waiting for him to make the first move.
Naruto decided to make the first contact. Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, yet at the same time keeping his senses at the forefront, Naruto spoke into the darkness, "H-hi." Though it was only one word he heard a suddenly noise. It was not loud, maybe a shuffle of fabric across the floor, but it was indeed there.
Picking up his courage again Naruto said, "I know you're there, and I promise that I won't hurt you…"
The shuffling noise made another appearance in the room. Now Naruto was sure that he had in fact summoned something. As if to solidify his resolve a small voice echoed in the darkened room.
"Y-you prom-mise…" it was a small, young voice, and if Naruto was correct it sounded like a young girls.
The voice reminded Naruto of himself when he was young, when he was still not trusting of most people or shy to new people. Smiling at the nostalgic tone Naruto said, "Of course I promise. That's my nindo, and I never go back on my nindo. "
There was a silence between the two individuals and as Naruto's patience began to wear thin he had to remind himself that the creature before him was shy and he was going to need to give it its time. As if to stem his boredom the lights suddenly flashed back on; it seemed that the landlord thought he had 'suffered' enough and had decided to end his 'torment'. What assaulted his senses was a squeal of fright, and the sounds of the creature bumping into the few fixtures of his bedroom. Naruto too was blinded by sudden influx of light. He shielded his eyes from the invading light, whispering a curse at the bad timing of the landlord.
When Naruto's eyes finally became accustomed to the influx of light he found that his summon was missing. He looked to the left and to the right and still did not see his new 'toy'. It was until he heard a soft groan from underneath his dresser that Naruto realized the location of his 'toy'. It seemed that when the lights had gone on the creature had been startled and had rushed towards the only dark area of the room: underneath the four-drawer dresser.
Naruto was about to advance towards the dresser but something inside of him told him to stay where he was, about ten feet away from the dresser. As time ticked on, and as the frightened creature stayed underneath the dresser, Naruto finally decided to take action. Realizing that his bed was now just behind him, Naruto sat himself down on his floor with his back against his bed and faced the dresser. As he sat thoughts of what the creature was invaded his mind again. Since the creature was now hiding under his dresser it was safe to presume that the creature was small in size, or at least able to change its size. That still left the question of what the creature was in Naruto's mind. Could it be a cat? Could it be a lizard? Could it be a dog? Could it be a bird? What could the summon be? Then something caught his eye; movement, from underneath the dresser. It was subtle, a sound of fabric-like shuffling, but there was definite movement. With baited breath, Naruto waited as the summon decided to show itself. First, came a slender appendage, then another, and then finally a head. But as the entirety of the summon made its way into the light, Naruto gasped in fright. For there before Uzumaki Naruto was his summon, a rather large and hairy spider.
The spider was about the size of a large dinner plate, maybe a foot in diameter and when standing about six inches high. Its many eyes, small and pitch black, were trained solely upon Naruto. Its advance was slow, steady, and its long tubular legs made short time over the distance. As Naruto stared into its face he saw the large fangs that made up the beast maw. They glistened in the rooms light, and as the beast advanced Naruto would have sworn that he saw a glob of venom drip from the curved weapons. Its fur, or hairs, or whatever covered its large body, was a deep earthy brown color with spots of black, perfect for blending into the night.
By now the beast was no more than three feet away from the now trembling Naruto. His mind was a flight with horrible scenarios about the monster and himself. He envisioned himself being devoured by the small creature, ingested by its hairy and fanged mouth, and suffering mindless pain all the while. It was nearly driving him mad as the spider advanced even closer still. He had unleashed something horrible onto the world and now he was about to leave it.
Naruto clenched his eyes shut painfully as he waited for his end. He waited and waited but still nothing happened. Maybe the beast had become bored with him and was now off to find a new victim to devour. So Naruto placed his luck on the line and slowly opened his left eye a fraction to see if the beast was still trained solely on him.
To his slight surprise the spider had lost its interest in him and had decided to inspect the scroll on the floor. It stood over the scroll just as Naruto had; and with one of its many front legs it began to trace out Naruto's signature. To Naruto it seemed odd that instead of focusing on the plump and juicy human the spider had went to the inanimate and inedible object. Naruto noticed that the distance between them was wide enough that he could most likely make it to the door and out of the apartment before the beast decided to make him a nighttime snack.
Moving forward slowly, so as to not recapture the spider's attention, Naruto snuck onto his hands and knees. The plan was to creep towards the door on all fours so as to not make much noise. So with the utmost of care Naruto placed one hand in front of the other and began to inch his way slowly to the door. What Naruto did not know was that spiders' main sensory organ were the hairs that covered their bodies, the same hairs that were extremely sensitive to vibrations and movement.
The moment Naruto's hand made contact with the floors surface the spider stopped its investigation. Naruto noticed and began to move even slower in hopes of quieting his movements even more. As Naruto's knee descended upon the wood the spider turned until it was facing Naruto. The poor boy nearly choked on his breath as the spider made its way slowly towards him. His waking nightmare from mere moments ago began to rerun through his mind, and once the spider was just before him he ended his breath.
Seconds ticked by as the large spider gazed up at him, its many beady black eyes being burned into Naruto's memory until the day he died. Finally, when Naruto was about to pass out due to lack of oxygen, the spider raised one of its many forelegs up towards Naruto's face. It reached higher and higher but fell short of actually reaching Naruto's face. The blonde's eyes crossed as he focused on the appendage. It was so close that it could easily reach out and touch the leg. Then, much to the blonde's shock, his hand rose on its own, and his lone finger poked the tip of the spider's leg.
Much to Naruto's wonder it was the spider that fled back in fear. Once their bodies had touched, the spider had shot back two feet and the sound of heavy panic-like breathing could be heard from the creature. It was then that Naruto realized that the spider was just as afraid of him as he was of it. Just like before the spider made its slow advance towards its summoner, its long brown legs creeping forward. When the spider was the same distance away from Naruto as it was before, it reached out its leg again in hopes of touching its summoner again. Shyly, Naruto did the same, and once again the two made contact. Instead of shying backwards as it had before the spider reached up its second front most leg and began to caress Naruto's lone finger.
Awe touched Naruto as he realized that the spider's short hairs were soft and pleasant. In fact, when the spider began to caress the whole of his hand, Naruto let loose a stifled giggle as the spider's legs had brushed against and area that was quite ticklish. At the sound the spider looked up into Naruto's face and just stared, its fangs slightly parted. Naruto guessed that the creature had forgotten that he was actually alive rather than motionless and inanimate.
Moving his opposite hand to scratch the corner of his jaw Naruto decided to make further contact with the alien creature. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto…what's yours?"
The spider stiffened. It regarded his words with unease, if the shifting back and forth on its six free legs was any indication. But Naruto was patient. So far the creature had yet to attack or harm him in any way, so Naruto decided that the creature deserved to feel comfortable before it made its move.
"M-m-my name is Ringumo…" she said quietly as she continued to caress Naruto's hand.
Naruto noticed the action and smiled even though his mind was telling him to run from the terrifying summon. "Haven't seen a human before, have you?" Naruto asked.
Ringumo brought one of her legs up and bopped herself on the top of her head like a ditzy girl would do when she realized her mistake. "Yeah. Sorry if--"
An explosion of thunder caused Ringumo to shoot up into the air with a girlish squeal. Naruto marveled at the height that she achieved in her frightened leap, but quickly found himself moving into the descent path of Ringumo. She came down with all hairs bristled and eyes wide in fear, or at least Naruto thought that her eyes were wider than 'usual'. As she made contact with his chest as he moved to catch her she bounced once and disappeared with a pop and a burst of smoke.
Naruto sat there silently as he slowly came to grips with what had just happened. The creature he had summoned, a creepy spider at that, had just become frightened by a blast of thunder and dispelled herself. Confusion was all that Naruto could comprehend for some time. He thought of trying to resummon the spider, but the thought of summoning something bigger and most likely meaner spider came to mind. That thought was quickly shot down. He then wondered if he should do nothing, just head to bed like he had original planned. That sounded like the best plan, but because of the adrenaline that was just now ebbing from his system because of his fear he felt more awake then when he had entered Konoha. Naruto also concluded that he needed to digest what had happened…that and a nice warm shower sounded rather appealing at the moment.
So without further ado, a shaken Naruto hobbled his way towards his bathroom as he shed his clothes like a second skin. When he finally entered the sputtering stream of his showerhead lucid thoughts of what had happened swam in his mind. But not once did his mind conceive just what had occurred and just what was becoming of his actions. Little did he know that he would soon learn what his small act of innocence had birthed.
XxXxX Summon Realm XxXxX
With an 'ooph' Ringumo struck a pile of withered leaves. Almost instantaneously she shot up and whipped about looking for the lights and the sounds of the storm that had raged outside of Naruto's room. What she found instead was that she was back in her realm amongst the large towering trees and plush undergrowth. She swiveled in place, soaking in the soothing light, the soft sounds of the crickets and other insects, and the vibrations of the other grand creatures that made the realm their home.
Ringumo's air of shock and fear soon evaporated into giddy awareness. She was back home. She was back within the realm that housed all of her hundreds of brothers and sisters, her mother, and all of her clansmen. She was back home and she had a story to tell. She rocketed off through the forest as fast as her eight skinny legs could carry her, hell bent on preaching her story to her most important person.
"MOMMY! MOMMY GUESS WHAT?" she screamed as she ran across the forest floor, over logs, and through underbrush.
She was like a brown bullet, dodging other spiders and obstacles, ignoring her many siblings as they shouted out for her to play, and tumbling whenever she lost her footing. But not one of the obstacles deterred her from her mission. She had to find her mother and tell her her new story. When Ringumo was born her mother used to tell her siblings and her tales of their purpose and about how someday they would finally meet a human. Her mother would weave stories about battles and victories to come and about how the great spider clan would help change the world. What the young spider did not know was that her mother told those tales to her siblings and her for a means of silencing them for bed. It was true that an old prophecy was issued by the Grand Elder that they would in fact help bring a new age to the human plane, but that prophecy had been given to the Grand Elder spider more than one thousand years ago and the likelihood that the prophecy would come to fruition was little if not zero. While Ringumo did not know that the tales her mother was feeding her were 'false' she had fallen in love with them. That was one of the main reasons she took to adventuring most of her days; she wandered about the forests, lakes, caves, and deserts in hopes of find a clue as to the beings known as humans. Now that she had finally met one she was hell bent on telling her mother.
A large depression in the landscape came into view. It was deep; around five human stories down, and at the bottom of the massive hole were greens and fallen leaves. Ringumo screeched to a halt, albeit it clumsily, near the rim of the gigantic bowl like depression. When she finally regained her footing in a frantic thrashing of her many limbs she scampered around the rim of the bowl. Her destination was her family's large tree home, and she was undoubtedly sure that her mother was there either taking care of clan matters or relaxing in one of the hot spring baths at the foot of the large tree. As Ringumo ran, she long since ceased her joyful cries do to lack of breath, she heard the soothing voice of her great mother and another close family member. Swiveling her many eyes, Ringumo saw that it was in fact her mother, Jorougumo, and her mother's close friend, Kokubogumo, were having a pleasant conversation while in the shadow of the depression's rim.
Squealing with glee at her findings, Ringumo scampered towards the lip of the hole and sailed off, taking precious care to attach a strand of silk from her spinneret before jumping in case of blundering. As she fell with her impromptu bungee rope she screamed with joy.
"MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!" her voice was high and overflowing with giddy emotions, "MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY! GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT, GUESS WHAT?"
Jorougumo stalled mid sentence with Kokubogumo, an old wolf spider, and scuttled around so she could see her daughter flying straight at her at with speed that could only be achieved by the sun spiders of the desert. With a gasp of surprise Jorougumo lumbered forwards in hopes of saving her falling daughter. Out of all her hundreds of children Ringumo and Fangumo, one of Ringumo's close sisters, had caused Jorougumo the most headaches and fear. The two just loved to play and explore where the just shouldn't, like the swamps of the toad clan, the caves of the reptile clan, and the rivers of the hydra and fish clans. Jorougumo could count the hairs on her body for how many times she had had to save her two daughters from their 'adventures' all the while hearing them squeal about their fun all the way home.
Jorougumo swore loudly as she saw that she was not going to make it to her daughters rescue. The mighty spider even tried to dive under her falling daughter in hopes of saving her but even that came short. So she watched in horror as her baby fell to her death, all the while spewing forth something about something or another. Just as the young spiderling was about to become a spider pancake Jorougumo saw a deep gray and faded orange blur shoot past her downed form and towards her falling little one. With not more than five feet until impact, and with Kokubogumo, the gray and orange blur, just three feet away from capturing the child, Ringumo shot back up into the air, causing Jorougumo to look up with shocked awe and Kokubogumo to fall flat on her face many meters away.
"SEE MOMMY, I DID JUST LIKE YOU TOLD ME!" Ringumo shouted out, hoping to be praised by her mother, "I ATTACHED MY SILK JUST LIKE YOU TAUGHT ME!"
And low and be hold she was right. As Jorougumo picked herself up from the leaf strewn floor and approached her bouncing and giggling daughter, she saw that there was indeed a fine strand of silk from her spinneret to the lip of the depression. Jorougumo growled to herself. This was one thing that she could not help but wish that her daughter grew out of, and that was the young girl's recklessness. The girl just did not know what was dangerous and what was acceptably fun. While Jorougumo's other sons and daughters found tree climbing and web practicing fun, Ringumo and Fangumo found 'battling' with their scorpion cousins and skydiving fun. The girl seriously had her priorities wrong.
Kokubogumo had also picked her face off of the earthen floor, and she too growled at the young spider's recklessness. At least it was nice to know that the girl did remember what she was taught by her mother. Some of the other children would listen while their mother taught them about hunting or web building, but the moment they were sent off on their own the precious information would just slide off them like water off of a duck's back. Next thing you knew you would have small spiders fall to their doom from high up just because they had not listened to their mother when she had instructed how to securely place a safety silk.
Ringumo finally plodded down onto the ground from her safety silk and began to dash around her mother and her surrogate aunt like a happy puppy, much to Kokubogumo and Jorougumo's ire. When Jorougumo would try to catch her daughter when the little bundle of energy darted left it only seemed to encourage the spiderling and cause her to strafe right, giggling all the while. Kokubogumo could only make out half of what the youngster was saying and the babble that was coming forth was nonsense at best; something about a thunderstorm and a new friend or something like that. Finally Ringumo tripped in her enthusiasm and Jorougumo and Kokubogumo took that as a queue to surround the young girl so she could not escape.
"Now what have I told you about jumping from high up?" Jorougumo stated as she ran a foreleg across the top of her head.
"MOMMY, IT WAS SO COOL! I WAS PLAYING OUT IN THE ROCKS—"
"Honey, please pay attention," Jorougumo pleaded to her daughter as Ringumo strafed back and forth in front of her with giddy anticipation, her abdomen bouncing about like a tail of a happy dog.
"--AND THEN ALL WENT DARK AND I COULDN'T SEE! BUT I USED MY LEGS TO FEEL AND TO SMELL LIKE YOU SAID, AND, AND, AND—"
"Rin-chan, calm down," Kokubogumo was also trying to reprimand the spiderling, but with her so wound up it was hard to get her to focus.
"—AND HE FELT SOFT AND SMELT KINDA WIERD! BUT A COOL WEIRD! AND HE DIDN'T HAVE A HAIR ON HIM! IT WAS SO COOL—"
"Wait, what?" that line was one of the few that few lines that both Jorougumo and Kokubogumo deciphered from the child's rambling. It instantly piqued their interests greatly.
"—'BOOM'! IT WAS SO LOUD THAT I JUMPED—"
"Wait, wait, back up."
"—THEN I WAS BACK HERE! IT FELT SO WEIRD! THEN I KNEW THAT IT WAS TRUE!"
"What was true?" Jorougumo was near the end of her rope with her daughter's 'mighty' tale.
"SUMMOMINGS FEEL AWESOME!"
"WHAT?"
Ringumo instantly fell silent at her mother's roar of surprise and bowed her head and body in submission. There were few times that she had heard her mother use that tone of voice and each time usually ended with a time out. Time outs were not fun. Mommy usually subjected her to a ten minute lecture about how what she had done was bad, and then the spider Queen would make Ringumo go to her web until dinner and make her think about what she had done. That meant no climbing, no running, and defiantly no playing. It was absolute torture. Ringumo promised herself that she would bring up Mommy's 'cruelty to arachnids' to the Grand Elder and tell him about how evil time outs were. He would understand. He always understood. He was so nice, wise, and kind. He never once yelled, or at least that was what Ringumo had heard. She was not yet permitted to see the Grand Elder yet. She needed to go through her final molt in order to be allowed to see him, and she had yet to go through her second molt. It just wasn't fa—
"Ringumo, what did you just say?" her mother's voice barred no room for argument. So to quell her mother's growing temper Ringumo recounted her tale to her mother and aunt. This time Ringumo took the time to speak slowly and cleanly so that she would not get in trouble for being over excited.
"Ringumo," Jorougumo huffed after her daughter had finished, "what have I told you about lying?"
"But mom, I'm not lying!" Ringumo whined with indignation.
"Don't talk back to me young lady. I've told you time and again not to lie!"
"But I stopped lying after the Mizugumo incident."
"And what and incident that was," Kokubogumo drawled under her breath and she lay listening to the spiderlings tale, her two right forelegs keeping her head propped up in a lazy sort of way.
"Fine," Jorougumo said with an air of defeat. It was true that after the Mizugumo incident, something that she never wanted to remember, Ringumo had never lied to her, but a tale about being summoned to the human plane was almost unbelievable. "If you're not lying then what proof do you have?"
Ringumo stalled for a moment. Spiders never believed anything unless there was utter proof of it. The practice came from centuries of trusting their webs. If there was a vibration in their web then there was a meal, if there was no vibration then there was no meal.
"Then, then…uh…OH!" her spirits suddenly rose when she remembered that she had actually touched the boy. Ringumo raised her two foremost forelegs up towards her mother's massive head, "I touched his hand…or whatever they are called, so I should still have some of his scent on me!"
The left half of Jorougumo's eyebrows rose up at the evidence. It was one of the strangest articles of evidence that had ever been provided to her but her young daughter still had merit. Jorougumo took one of her legs and caressed her daughter's outstretched limbs and body, all the while inhaling the scent of Ringumo's forelegs. When her mind registered what she had inhaled Jorougumo's eyes widened to the point that they were on the verge of popping out of her head. She scooped up Ringumo with her forelegs and spun her around high in the air cheering with glee as her daughter was.
Kokubogumo looked on with surprise. She had rarely seen Jorougumo act in such a way and the only times that the spider Queen had been this excited had been when the war between the arachnid clans had finally ended. That could only mean that what Ringumo had said had…been…true…
"Oh God," Kokubogumo whispered to herself.
They had finally achieved a summoner! The spider clan finally had a summoner! After centuries of loneliness and nothing the time had come. The great prophecy, passed from God the creator of Heaven and Earth to Shuyoogumo all those centuries ago, was finally beginning to roll. Kokubogumo grinned widely, as much as a spider could, and physically resist the urge to join in with Ringumo as she howled with glee in her mother's arms.
"Kokubogumo," Jorougumo commanded when she finally came to an end of her celebrating, "Assemble everyone."
"Everyone?" Kokubogumo asked in awe. "Do you mean…"
"Yes, everyone. All the head spiders, all the head scorpions, and all the head mites. Everyone. Everyone must hear this. Tell them all to come to the Grand Chamber."
Kokubogumo had to resist gawking at the command. Everyone? Though the great spider wars were over there was still a bitter tension between the scorpion clans and the spider clans. The mites and the ticks were indifferent, and probably the most mature of the three major clans. The ticks and mites understood that the war was over and that all thoughts or ideas of suppression or supremacy should be dealt away with. They understood that these thoughts would only lead to more division and heartache if not more war. The mites and ticks thought that the large grudge that the head of the scorpion clan held against the spider clan was rather childish while at the same time thought that the refusal of the spiders to notice their own wrong doings was pompous. It was the ticks that abstained from debates between the two and usually stayed silent.
But even with the bad blood between the two great tribes Kokubogumo knew that this information needed to be dispersed without delay. Nodding to her friend the old wolf spider dashed up and out of the depression and into the forest. The elder spider would need to talk to the trapdoor, the orb weavers, tarantulas, hunter spiders, and cave spiders of both the forest and caves, just to name a few, about a meeting in the Grand Chamber. After that Kokubogumo would need to quickly venture out into the desert to tell the scorpions and sun spiders about he meeting, the lakes to notify the Mizugumo, and finally the mites and ticks that hid almost everywhere. Overall the endeavor would take about three hours to complete, and about another hour for all parties to meet up in the desired location.
Ringumo looked up to her massive mother from her position on the forest floor. She saw a sparkle that she had only heard stories of within her mother's many eyes as the older spider looked out in the direction of Kokubogumo.
"Mommy," Ringumo said getting her mother's attention, "did I do good?"
"Yes you did honey," Jorougumo answered as she pet the top of her daughter's small head, causing the young girl to purr much like a feline.
"Thanks mommy. I love you."
Jorougumo smiled fondly at her daughter. "I love you too, honey. Now, hop on," she said while allowing her daughter to scamper up her leg and onto her back.
"Where are we going?" Ringumo asked her mother as the large spider daintily climbed up the large depression.
"Remember how you always wanted to meet Shuyoogumo-sama (4)?" Jorougumo asked rhetorically as she headed towards the center of the large forest.
"YES!" Ringumo shouted boisterously.
"Well I think that the Grand Elder would like to meet you too, and hear your story."
At hearing that she was going to see the Grand Elder Ringumo's eyes grew larger and larger until the nearly encompassed her entire head while she began to whoop and cheer. The Joruo clan of spiders were the current rulers over all of the other spiders because of their shape shifting abilities, the same ability that allowed Ringumo to enlarge her eyes for the optimal cuteness. Their abilities literally allowed them to look like anything or anyone as long as they had a least one droplet of blood from said person or species. So during the arachnid war the Jorou clan easily disguised themselves so they would appear like other spiders or arachnids for spying and assassinations. It was one of the main causes for the war's end as well as one of the main reasons why the Jorou clan was fear, revered, and hated. It was also the deciding factor as to why the Jorou clan was given leadership over all the spiders and why Jorougumo was decided as the head over all other arachnids.
As Ringumo cheered for her good luck and shouted her thanks to her mother, Jorougumo smiled as she trekked through the forest. Jorougumo was just as giddy as her daughter to see the Grand Elder. He was a male above all other males, and not just in stature. It was rare to be allowed an audience with the prophet, besides Kokubogumo who had a relationship unlike any other with the male; Jorougumo had only talked to the mighty spider no more than five times in the past, while Kokubogumo was granted special clearance to talk to the elder spider whenever she so chose. Shuyoogumo's voice was always the most comforting, his stature was one to respect, and he was the most kind and knowledgeable being she had ever met.
Jorougumo had burst forth from the forest without realizing it and before her stood something that took her breath away no matter how many times she saw it. Before her and her daughter was a tree so tall that the clouds bowed to it. It reached high into the sky, parting clouds, and brushing the sun. Its trunk was teeming with small males going about their duty and large females scurrying from hollow to branch as they too went about their duty. The roots of the massive tree went out in all directions like waves, rolling and curving in ways that put water to shame. In between the trees many gnarled roots were hot spring baths nestled between the roots themselves and large boulders carried in by the massive tarantulas of the inner forest. Giggling within the springs were spiders morphed as their human selves, gossiping and enjoying themselves as male servants tended to their needs and wants. This mighty tree, which had stood since the day that Shuyoogumo first birthed them and their arachnid brethren with his wife Arachne (5), was the Jorou clan's home. Jorougumo and her 300 sons and daughters were graced to call the inner most sanctum their personal quarters. Several other massive and impressive trees were also found in the surrounding area, but none were near the shear size and mass of the Jorou clan tree. The other trees were homes to other spider races, like orb weavers, jumping spiders, crab spiders, lynx spiders, and venom spiders.
"Mommy, why are we back home? I thought we were going to go see the Grand Elder," Ringumo bemoaned when she saw her mother admiring their home.
"Don't worry Rin-chan," Jorougumo cooed to her daughter as she headed towards the hot springs, "we'll go see the Grand Elder, but first we must wash up."
"But, but, but," Ringumo sputtered out when her mother lifted her off of her back and onto the ground in front of a hot spring bath, "I want to go now."
To answer her daughter's childish demand Jorougumo's massive form slowly began to melt and fold away until all that remained was a woman. She stood close to six and half feet tall, with long elegant legs, a healthy buxom figure, and deep brown curly hair that was held in a loose ponytail. Her face was the most astonishing feature for there were two beautiful gold eyes. The eyes were gleaming golden and sparkled as she stared down at her daughter. She held herself with the air a Persian queen, smiled like perfection, and spoke like an angel. "Now honey, it will take about three hours for Kokubo-chan to get the word across to all the major arachnid heads that there is a meeting with the Grand Elder," Jorougumo confessed to her daughter as Ringumo teared up. "During which I want you cleaned up and on your bestest behavior, you got me missy." As she finished she waged her finger playfully in front of her daughter's face causing pout and tears to evaporate with a giggle.
"Ok mommy," she cheered. Ringumo then ran towards the closet pool and jumped in screaming, "Cannonball."
The other Jorou that were enjoying their bath laughed at the spiderling's actions and soon an impromptu splashing fight broke out between the baths occupants. Jorougumo just shook her head at her daughter's actions and at the actions on the other Jorou clanswomen. It was hard to believe that these women were great warriors of the Jorou clan, and that they had killed many enemies in the name of duty and peace. It both made her proud of their valor as well as saddened by their actions. It saddened the spider Queen that war had struck their home and that these beautiful and kind women had had to raise fang and sword against their brothers and sisters. Soon though, her small sad and contemplative smile turned into a large grin and with a running jump Jorougumo shouted, "Cannonball," just as her daughter did.
XxXxX Outside the Grand Chamber XxXxX
The Grand Chamber was found in the exact center of the spider realm. It was a mighty enclosure dedicated solely to the father of all arachnids, Shuyoogumo the Grand Elder. The chamber was hidden underground with links to each of the four main sections of the spider realm: the caves that held the reclusive and stealth cave spiders and ticks, the desert that held the strong and unsurpassable scorpions and sun spiders, the forest that held the ingenious web and hunting spiders, and the lakes that held the noble Mizugumo. All had been birthed from Shuyoogumo and his wife, Arachne, eons ago when the spider realm was first created by God.
Ringumo had heard all the typical tales about the Grand Elder; tales about how his wisdom was unmatched, about how his love and kindness was unfathomable, and about how his size was massive. That was what she was truly looking forward to. Her mother was a large spider and so were the tarantulas of the inner forest, but this 'father of all spiders' was supposed to be, like, a bagillion times bigger then her mommy, and that was pretty big. So during the long five minute walk to the Grand Chamber Ringumo could hardly sit still. Sure her mother's shoulder was comfortable and all but this was monumental, like when she found that ball shaped rock monumental.
Jorougumo held in her excitement better than her daughter, she was only shaking a little bit. Shuyoogumo was a wonderful being and being able to meet him was a true honor. She just couldn't wait. She had to physically stop herself from running down the long tunnel to the Grand Chamber by clenching her fist. The smile that mirrored her daughter's did not leave her face though.
As Jorougumo walked she was followed by all of the prominent web and hunter spiders as well as the tarantulas of the forest. Some were in their human forms like Jorougumo was, those that shared in the Jorou clan blood anyway, while others thought it to be more honorable to be in their original forms when within the presence of the Grand Elder. All were silent as they trekked. It was an honor and a privilege to be taking part in such an occasion and each spider present knew this. While Kokubogumo had only given a brief reason as to why they had been summoned before the Grand Elder each spider had an inkling as to the true purpose to the meeting.
As they marched through the earthen tunnel to the center Ringumo waved to her surrogate brothers, sisters, and aunts. In fact there were only a handful of male spiders present, and the reason was that the males of the arachnid species were usually suppressed due to their lack of strength and size. Males were not as powerful as the females nor were the close to the same size; in many cases males were three to four sizes smaller than their female counterparts. One such male who was exempt from this 'rule was Ookamigumo, a veteran from the arachnid war. He was the Lord and head of the hunting spiders. While this was an uncommon thing for a male to be the leader of a spider clan like the hunters he was a special case. Ookamigumo was a Portia spider, a hunter of hunters, and his ruthless nature and skills had put him head and shoulders above all the other Portia or hunters for that matter. In fact the deciding factor to his appointment to leadership was a victory where Ookamigumo had infiltrated an enemy camp and decimated the fifteen occupants in a single assault, by himself. This act had helped greatly in the war and had solidified Ookamigumo's rank.
While Ookamigumo stalked just to the left of Jorougumo in his spider form Kokubogumo followed the Queen of spiders to her right. Kokubogumo was the head of the wolf spider clan for one reason: she was the only wolf spider left. During the war the scorpions had focused a large chunk of their personnel to exterminating the wolf spiders. The reason being was that the wolf spider's superior eyesight was attributing to heavily to the spiders victories. So in one month's time the scorpions and their allies had destroyed most of the lone hunters. All but Kokubogumo had been killed. She held no ill will towards the scorpions or those that had contributed to her clan's eradication. When asked why she said that she was happy it had happened to her because she knew she could handle the heartbreak; she did not know if any other individual could handle the loss as she did. This did not stop her from weeping every so often at night when she thought that no one was looking, but it what was done was done. There was no way to rewind time.
The troop of spiders had now reached the opening to the Grand Chamber and all stalled before entering. Jorougumo sighed through pursed lips, mentally preparing herself for what was to come. While she was near giddy to see the Grand Elder she was not giddy to see many of those that felt that she was inadequate to lead. Some of the scorpions thought as much and ever some of the cave spiders. The scorpions and the cave spiders felt that their lots in territory contradicted with their abilities, and they felt like they had received the 'short end of the stick' when it came to living arrangements. Jorougumo had tried to reason with the high tempered scorpions about how the desert was best suited for them and even offered some of the forest as their territory as well. Alas, the scorpions felt that the gift was a 'pity gift' and an insult to their abilities. The scorpions were a very proud race of arachnids, feeling that their hardships of the desert had made them out to be a more understanding and tough race. The cave spiders had a similar mindset but were happy with their home. They only wished that they would be given credit to their abilities of stealth.
The ticks and mites were indifferent to the main races as well as the Mizugumo. The ticks just went about their lives doing what they did best: sucking blood and being unseen. The Mizugumo did the same as the ticks and mites and lived away from the arguing within their large lakes. The only difference that the Mizugumo held with the main branch of the spider clans was that the females of the forest spiders were the prominent members of the race. In the Mizugumo society it was the other way around; the males ruled over the females. In a sense the Mizugumo were much like how the humans were rumored to be. The Mizugumo felt slightly offended by the traditions of the forest spiders, but their high intelligence had taught the Mizugumo to understand the traditions of the Jorou were the Jorou's and the traditions of the Mizugumo were the Mizugumo's.
Jorougumo brushed off such thoughts like dust of her short length, low cut black and gold kimono. This was neither the time nor the place to be thinking about their family's discrepancies and differences. Today was a happy day and should be treated as such. Sighing once again to calm her nerves Jorougumo turned her head slightly to fix her daughter with a stern glance.
"Remember what I told you," Jorougumo reminded.
"That I must be on my bestest behavior!" Ringumo quipped from her shoulderside seat.
"That's my girl," Jorougumo smiled as she rubbed the top of Ringumo's just as the young spiderling liked.
The smaller spiderling giggled as she moved her head to her mother's hand. The other spiders looked on with small smiles. The young were loved in the arachnid community. They were guarded, revered, and taught so that they could grow up to be strong and honorable adults and carry one the races traditions and teachings. The spiders present chuckled and giggled at Ringumo's playful nature but sobered immediately when their Queen turned and faced the opening into the Grand Chamber. Without a single word to her brethren, Jorougumo stood to her fullest and marched into the presence of their elder and prophet.
The chamber was rightfully titled the Grand Chamber. No other chamber could have even hoped to house Shuyoogumo's enormous size. It was a perfectly circular structure, with golden webs lining the walls and floor. On one half of the chamber were four tunnels spaced evenly amongst themselves. One tunnel looked to made up of sandstone; this tunnel lead to the desert. One tunnel was dark to the point of blindness; this tunnel lead to the caves. One tunnel looked to be made up of brown earth and tree roots; this tunnel lead to the forest. The last tunnel was more of an underground river for it had no floor. Instead the tunnel's floor was made of a crystal blue river; this tunnel lead to the lakes. All the tunnels funneled into the chamber and before the tunnels was the Grand Elder.
His size was something of myth. He was anchored to the chambers floor by strands of his own silk and oil. The oil was an oil produced by spiders to allow them to walk across their web without being stuck. The oils were old and had solidified through the years until it had formed into a sort of cement. In all honesty he appeared to be a mountain sized statue rather than an all seeing and benevolent prophet. His many hairs that covered his body were snow white and cover his legs, his head, his chest, and his massive abdomen. His size literally rivaled that of a large mountain, towering over even the gigantic tarantulas. It had once been rumored that Shuyoogumo was so big that when God had wished to talk to him, all Shuyoogumo needed to do was stretch up and he would be past the clouds and at the foot of God's thrown. His eight eyes had long since been fogged by time. The only eye that he could see from was one lone ruby red eye near the bottom left. It was said that the wolf spiders had received their eyes from Shuyoogumo just like how the jumping spiders had received their strong legs. In fact each arachnid could trace back their more prominent and blessed skill back to the father of spiders; the scorpion's armor, the Jorou's shape shifting, the tarantula's size, the orb weaver's web, and the ticks bite, all were said to have come from the ancient spider's genetics.
Speaking of the other great arachnids, Jorougumo inclined her head to her sisters as they too entered the Grand Chamber. The scorpions were first to enter after the web and hunting spiders. They lumbered forth with their equally enormous size. While most were not as big as the tarantulas most were near twenty feet long and around five feet tall with even taller tails. And these scorpions were suppressing their true size. Just as Jorougumo had lead her specific section of spiders in the Grand Chamber, Itamisori was the leader of the scorpions. She was a massive emperor scorpion, rivaling Jorougumo when she was in her spider form at full size, with a glistening black outer skeleton, and gigantic claws. The scorpions were not like spiders in the sense that the scorpions were not able to transform into a human form, and because of such the scorpions took great pride in their claws and stingers. Jorougumo inclined her head to her co-boss and got a reluctant nod in return. Behind her were many of her brethren as well as some of sun spiders that also lived within the desert. They were fast runners, faster than any of the other arachnids, and feared for both their speed and their impressive jumping abilities.
Another thing that was unique to the arachnid summons was that while there was a 'true' leader to the whole race there was a total of three boss summons: one for the ticks and mites, one for the spiders, and one for the scorpions. There were also sub-bosses that were the heads of select section so both the spider clans and the scorpion clans; one example is Ookamigumo would be considered a sub-boss as well as Kokubogumo. The arachnid war had been over who should be the rightful leader the arachnid clan as a whole with the now dead ex-scorpion boss as the leader to the opposing faction. Itamisori had taken the helm of leading the scorpions after her mother had been killed and the war silenced. Each boss summon dictated their specific race with all major issues and complaints going to Jorougumo to over look.
After the scorpions and Itamisori had entered the chamber, next to enter were the cave spiders. Because of their lack of eye sight they walked slowly and with calculated steps using their sensitive hairs to help them along. Out of all the arachnids they were the calmest. Years of darkness and blindness had taught them as much. The ticks and mites were most likely with them but in all honesty Jorougumo could not see them or find them do to their small size. She just shrugged it off. If they were not there then they weren't, no way around it.
Finally the Mizugumo swam from their tunnel and into a pool that was found near where Jorougumo was standing. The only visible part of the Mizugumo was their air sacks that covered their abdomens. Luckily the water that they swam in was crystal clear so those that looked into the depths of the pool would be able to see a distorted image of the Mizugumo.
Jorougumo nodded to both the cave spiders, though she surmised that they did not know it, and also nodded to the Mizugumo, who nodded in return. When the silent introductions were complete Jorougumo turned her eyes back upon the silent and magnificent Grand Elder. Scurrying to and fro about him were old and large attending male orb weaving spiders. Once they had grown to a certain age, and if they were not eaten during a mating ritual, the older male orb weavers were assigned to be the servants to the Grand Elder. Their tasks consisted of feeding Shuyoogumo, cleaning him, and keeping him company, until they finally died. It was a noble task and all orb weavers looked forward to the day that they would be able to serve their father until their dying breath.
Now was the moment of truth, and though Jorougumo had talked to the Grand Elder on several occasions the thought of waking him still sent shivers down her spine. Taking a deep breath Jorougumo knelt down before the ancient spider and bellowed forth, "Oh Grand Elder, please awaken, for we, the arachnid clan, your faithful children, wish for your guidance."
Nothing happened immediately but all the arachnids in the chamber knew this. It would take several seconds for the mountain sized spider to awaken, but watching him as he awoke was a show all in its own. Slowly a vacuum of air was drawn into the creature's lungs (6), causing many of the arachnids present to dig their legs into the ground lest they be inhaled as well. Immediately after a gust of wind, exhaled breath, nearly blew most of the spiders off of their feet. This continued for several more breaths until the eight enormous eyes snapped open and focused up the much smaller summons. All eyes were a light pink except for the one ruby red eye that still held its light. At recognizing his children, Shuyoogumo began to move. He shook his head slowly causing large sheets of solidified oil to fall to the ground and shattered with a large 'crash'. His long and massive forelegs shook off the solidified oil as well and stretched to regain circulation. With his limbs back to as they should and with his eyes open Shuyoogumo came to complete awareness. Realizing that he had company, Shuyoogumo blinked and stared down at his legacy with his lone red eye.
"Oh Grand Elder we beseech you to—"
"Oh my, oh my," Shuyoogumo chuckled, shaking the chamber to its foundation, "What have I told you about formalities, Jorou-chan?"
"But sir—"
"No buts, young lady," Shuyoogumo berated with mirth. "Just call me Jiji. Nothing more nothing less…"
Jorougumo blushed at the request and the other arachnids shifted uncomfortably as they stood. It was a strange request by one so great, everyone thought. They believed that if anyone deserved a title the Grand Elder should. He had been the source of their being. "Yes…Jiji-sama."
"That's better…" the massive spider hummed to himself as he inspected all who were present. "Oh my, oh my! What is this? You all have come to see me! How nice…is it my birthday?" the attempt of a joke sent several into a fit of giggles, especially young Ringumo.
"No Jiji-sama," Jorougumo stated over the giggle. "We have come here with news."
Four, mismatched, eyebrows rose, "Oh? And what news do you bring this old arachnid?"
"News of a summoner." The simple statement ended the giggling and caused all eyes to focus on Jorougumo.
"Blasphemy," Itamisori hissed in outrage. "We have never, nor will we ever, have a summoner! You lie!"
"I speak the truth," Jorougumo spoke calmly as she turned to her fellow boss. "My daughter was privileged to be the one summoned by this nameless human."
"That is you evidence?" Itamisori questioned, "The words of a child?"
"Not just her words but her scent. She has the smell of a human male on her."
An uproar came from both the spiders and the scorpions. Males were small and weak, but to have one as a summoner was almost a disgrace. Itamisori clicked her claws dangerously as she ridiculed Jorougumo, rocking forward and backwards on her black plated legs. The cave spiders stumped their legs in a show that they too did not like the sound of things. The Mizugumo bubbled and gurgled in annoyance at arguments that males were no good for warriors or leaders.
"Silence!" Jorougumo shouted over the mayhem. "The reason I have called you all here is to affirm the story of my daughter. The Grand Eld—Jiji-sama will be able to see if this story is true or false."
Silence consumed the chamber. "Oh my, oh my, still fighting?" Shuyoogumo hummed. "I thought that all of my children had ended this senseless squabbling by now."
"We have Jiji-sama," Itamisori replied to the Grand Elder bitterly. "It's just the news of a summoner is something that you do not run across everyday."
Shuyoogumo hummed again at his daughter's answer, his low note causing the chamber to vibrate and shake. While the Grand Elder most likely did not hear the hidden insult, Jorougumo did. She scowled at her brethren and at the childishness of Itamisori. The low hum escalated until the whole chamber rumbled to the point of shaking some unsuspecting orb weavers from the wall's webs. Shuyoogumo's booming laughter shook the chamber and sent some of the cave spiders tumbling. "Are you still mad a Jorou-chan for kidnapping you doll, Itami-chan?"
Itamisori's armor lightened as she blushed, "She knew it was my favorite, and she still stole it—" at realizing her outburst Itamisori clamped her claws in front of her mouth and her armor lightened even more.
Giggling and chuckling could be heard but Shuyoogumo's earthshaking laughter drowned them all out. Jorougumo brought her kimono sleeve up to cover her smile, as per proper lady educate, and she turned her face away when Itamisori shot her an ice melting glare. When the mirth slowly evaporated Jorougumo decided to whisper one last thing to the irritated scorpion.
"I gave it back…" Jorougumo whispered o her 'sister' summon.
"But it was missing a claw…" Itamisori hissed back.
"Oh come one! I made it up to you didn't I?"
Itamisori blush returned but she did not answer. Shuyoogumo still stuttered his speech but he was able to say, "Allow me to see if this accusation is true or not."
Jorougumo saw this as Ringumo's queue and nodded to her to hop down. At first Ringumo was not entirely sure, Shuyoogumo was a lot bigger than she had first expected. A smiling nod from her mother eased the young spiderling's nerves. She hesitantly scurried down her mother's arm and leg, and walked out towards the Grand Elder.
The other arachnids looked on and smiled at her hesitant behavior. It was a common reaction when standing before the Grand Elder, and especially for one as small and young as Ringumo. The size comparison between the two was like comparing a fly to a hippopotamus; meaning that Ringumo really felt insignificant. When the massive arachnid finally turned his one seeing eye onto Ringumo she squealed and hid behind her forelegs.
"Oh my, oh my," Shuyoogumo hummed, "I did not mean to scare you little one…" Ringumo peaked up from behind her legs at the massive form of Shuyoogumo, but did not take her legs from her eyes.
"What's your name little one?" he cooed to her.
"R-R-Ringumo…s-s-sir…" she stuttered out.
"Oh my, no 'sir'. Just call me Jiji."
"J-J-J-Jiji…chan"
"That's a good girl," he praised. "Now I'm going to do something. I promise it won't hurt, but you have to sit still for me. Do you think you can do that for lil ol' me?"
"YES!" Ringumo shouted out happily, causing some of the arachnids to snicker and Shuyoogumo to guffaw.
"Good girl, now hold still." With that one warning the Grand Elder moved one of his free forelegs towards the young spiderling.
Ringumo braced for impact as the 'finger' of the foreleg descended down upon her. As it descended upon her she remembered a time when her mother had used her body to block out rain by standing over her brothers and sisters. The size and the shape of the enormous 'finger' reminder Ringumo of her mother on that dark rainy day, and she felt the same comfort and ease as she had that day. With her eyes closed Ringumo felt a small weight on her forehead, and within a second it left. She chanced a look and realized that whatever Jiji-chan had wished to do was done.
During the strange request all those that had been watching held their breath, especially Jorougumo. Though the Queen knew that nothing bad would happen to her daughter, the sight of several tons of flesh bearing down on her young still sent on easy feeling through her heart. The instant Shuyoogumo touched Ringumo's forehead he removed his foreleg and released a deep, gusting sigh. The force blew Ringumo back into her mothers waiting arms with a giggle. The Grand Elder took in another deep breath, sucking his children nearly off their feet and sending Ringumo into another set of giggles, and released it with a 'whoosh'.
"Oh my, oh my," the ancient spider hummed, "look upon my web, children, and see the face of our new summoner…"
Suddenly the ceiling of the Grand Chamber exploded with light and colors. Each creature, including the Grand Elder, gazed up to the high ceiling and gaped. The webs that adorn the ceiling were ones of unmatchable beauty and intricacy. It was said that the Grand Elder and Arachne used this very web to birth all of the arachnid races. This was the cradle to all arachnids, and the object of Shuyoogumo's great sight. While the Grand Elder was all but blind now, he used the cradle web to see not only into the present but also into the past and into the future. The toads had their one crystal ball, a shoddy and foolhardy thing Shuyoogumo would say from time to time, which used the same principles as the cradle web. But the web was absolute. Nothing was hidden from its strands, unlike with the crystal ball of the toads. No illusion or falsehood could deceive it.
It.
Was.
Absolute.
"Oh, my. Look children, look and see."
Upon the enormous cradle web a face materialized, graced with a bright infectious smile. It was a face of a boy, maybe the age of thirteen or fourteen. His hair was like it was made of pure gold, his eyes looked as if they too were made of a precious substance, his cheeks held marks like three slashes on each side, and his teeth that graced his infectious smile looked to be made of ivory. Though his bright clothes had much to be desired for one who was a Ninja the cunning look in his eye seemed to make up for it.
"HI NARUTO!" Ringumo shouted up to the web with an exuberant wave.
"This is the boy?" Itamisori asked unimpressed.
Shuyoogumo's one good eye joined the other seven eyes as it glazed over as his all seeing sight filtered out of him and into his web. "Yes," his voice was low and long, drawn out. "This is he…this is he…"
"Jiji-sama?" Jorougumo asked in worry. She had never seen the Grand Elder acting as such, and it worried her slightly.
The images of the web melted away and began to show a boy alone on a swing, staring out at the other children as they paraded about with smiling faces and family members. His sapphire eyes were cold and dark, weighed down by sadness and loss. The image showed some of the adults sending mocking glares and subtle smirks. They seemed to enjoy the boy's sadness and woe. They encouraged it. The image refocused on the boy as he sat staring wistfully at the families and their joy, and a deep shadow began to form around him. The shadow exploded outwards, engulfing and consuming the landscape and the smug smiling faces, until all was cloaked in the darkness.
"Oh my, oh my…"
"Jiji-sama," Jorougumo asked as she gazed up at the lone figure of Naruto, "what does this mean?"
As if to answer the spider Queen's question the image exploded yet again with fire and lights. All around the boy images of hell and destruction flickered about. Visions of war and dying men ran across the web with Naruto at the epicenter. Ringumo screamed with fright and hid with her mother's breast. The other arachnids were also looking on with awe at the images. Soon a figure made itself known in the center of the image, towering over Naruto's smaller body. The form made itself out of fire and earth and decaying bodies. It grew tall, taller than the tarantulas, and before the arachnids could brace themselves a lone, glowing red eye consumed the web. It swiveled on the webs surface, taking in all that stood below it. Soon it focused on Shuyoogumo, and Shuyoogumo focused on the eye.
"Oh my, oh my…" Shuyoogumo muttered. "So that is where you have been hiding…"
The images of death and war instantly dissolved, as did the blood red eye, and again the web showed the blond haired boy standing alone as a crowd of men, women, and children stood in a line with their backs to the boy. They took no notice at the boy as he shouted at them, pleaded at them to notice him. They just continued to stand with their backs to him. Only a handful of humans took the time to turn and recognize him: a young man with a scar marring his face, an old man with a wide brimmed hat, and a young girl with pale lavender eyes. The image melted again and showed the same boy standing before a crowd of angry faces. The faces were shouting at him and cursing him as he wept, begging to be forgiven. The angry humans would have none of that and descended upon the begging child with clenched fists.
Blackness encompassed the web and soon the boy came into focus. He was standing in front of a store. Looking left and right, the boy preformed some kind of transformation and disguised himself as a different person before entering the shop to make a purchase. The web changed again and showed the boy running from masked Ninja with a smile on his face. Behind him was a large mountain face, covered in paint. The web changed a final time a revealed the boy with a larger than average spider standing before him. He seemed to be talking to her but suddenly a flash of light caused the web to go blank.
The room remained silent as the Grand Elder moved from his upright position to a more relaxed position. Jorougumo was slowly processing what she had seen, as were the other arachnids within the chamber. Even the cave spiders in their blindness were allowed to see the webs prophesying. Jorougumo was still unsettled by the eye, that blood red and ill eye. It sent shivers down her spine and filled her veins with ice. But something else also bothered the Queen of spiders; the vision seemed to hold no future images or prophecies.
"Jiji-sama…what was that all about?" Jorougumo asked with many other arachnids adding nods to support her question.
"That was just a few glimpses of our new summoner," he said wearily.
"But," Jorougumo hesitated. "But what did all that mean?"
Instead of answering her question, Shuyoogumo addressed her daughter. "Rin-chan," he asked quietly, "What is the boy's name?"
"His name is Uzumaki Naruto…I think…" she said as she touched her chin with her right foreleg.
"Uzumaki…Naruto…" he hummed to himself as the other arachnids digested the name of their new summoner. It was an unusual, but deep name. To be named after a moving force as a maelstrom was an honor, and to have a surname of a whirlpool was just as peculiar and strong.
"But Jiji-sama…what was with all of those images? What was with the adults, the shadows…" she gulped, "and the eye?"
"Oh my, oh my. This boy has felt the sting of neglect. He has suffered under the heel of persecution just for being alive," the Grand Elder mused quietly.
Everyone within the chamber winced at the proclamation. They too knew of the bitter taste of neglect and persecution. They were arachnids, one of the most hated creatures on the planet do to their strange forms, predatory and cannibalistic natures. Their kind was killed because of fear, and hated because of their appearance. Even though the summoning spiders had never had direct contact with humans, unless they were of the Jorou clan when they snuck into the human realm in order to cultivate blood to hone and complete their human forms, the spiders and scorpions and ticks still knew how their dumber brethren were treated.
"But what of the eye?" Itamisori's curiosity got the better of her.
Shuyoogumo paused as he collected his thoughts. He debated if he should tell his children the boy's secret or if he should wait. "The eye belongs to a being old and vile. It seems to be tied to the boy, but at the same time separate from him. It appears that the hatred towards young Naruto-kun is focused solely on the owner of the eye."
"That doesn't answer the question," Itamisori mumbled to herself.
"That may be true," Shuyoogumo chuckled, causing his daughter to blush at realizing that he had heard her disrespecting back talk, "But it is not my story to tell you. It is Naruto's story. Just remember," he said sternly as he fixed each and every one of his children with his sole seeing eye, "that to judge someone because of something they could not control is one of the greatest sins and dishonors…"
Though the arachnids did not know the reason to the 'outburst' they nodded nonetheless. They understood what it was like to be judged because of what they were, and they understood what the pain of senseless persecution.
"Jiji-sama," said a cave spider, "I noticed that none of the images were of the future…why was that?"
"Oh my, oh my, so you all noticed that," Shuyoogumo said as he rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Well, the truth is that the boy's future is …" he paused and waited for his children's anticipation to grow, "…something that I just don't want to tell you right now!"
If facefaulting was an actual occurrence than each of the arachnids would have been eating a mouth full of dirt. "Jiji-sama!" Jorougumo yelled at the elder spider's behavior.
"What?" he asked shrugging his massive shoulders, "A person's future is something that should not be spouted just willy-nilly. Great damage can come from knowing the fate of a man."
"But Jiji-sama~"
"No," he said childishly, turning his head to the side and crossing his first and second legs. "I'm not tellin'."
Jorougumo sighed at the father of all arachnids' behavior. This being was supposed to be the wise and all knowing epicenter of all arachnids but he sometimes acted more like a child rather than a century old demigod. She moved her hand and began to massage the bridge of her nose as other arachnid lords tried to get the Grand Elder to talk. All failed and only helped the elder spider act even more childish.
Suddenly an unlikely source spoke up. Ringumo had found a cozy place to rest on the top of her mother's head and was watching in great amusement at the Grand Elder's actions and the other arachnids' attempts to get him to talk. She too was curious about what the boy's future held so she suddenly threw her own two cents into the debate.
"Could you at least give us a hint, Jiji-chan? Pwetty pwease!" she said with her best puppy dog eyes she could muster do to her Jorou blood. She even seemed to conjure up a quivering lower lip, but many still wondered how she managed such a feat.
The other arachnids became silent at the child's plea and were stunned with they heard the Grand Elders reply. "Oh my, oh my," he cooed loudly. "For you, my daughter, I will give you a small hint."
All the arachnids gawked as Ringumo hopped from her mother's and rushed towards Shuyoogumo as he leaned down to the spiderling's level. How could a being that could fight on par against the vilest of demons be reverted to a doting grandfather with just two sentences? When Ringumo stood before Shuyoogumo's giant head all of the other arachnids became quiet as they too wished to hear the 'hint'.
"This boy, Naruto," Shuyoogumo began with Ringumo nodding her head obediently, "is a very special boy. He doesn't have many friends."
"That's not good…" Ringumo said solemnly.
"Indeed it isn't. But you know what? He's a very kind boy. So kind that he will save the world one day…"
Ringumo gasped as did the other arachnids. "REALLY?!" Ringumo blurted eagerly.
"Really, really," Shuyoogumo chuckled. "But in order for this to happen he is going to need friends. Will you be his friend?"
"Uh huh!" Ringumo nodded vigorously.
"That's a good girl."
Jorougumo stared on with a slightly agape mouth. This boy was supposed to save the world? That was a hefty destiny but something else caused the woman shock. What was he supposed to save the world from? The eye, or something greater? What could possibly be strong enough to bring the human realm to its end? How strong did this boy have to become in order to combat it? Many unknowns began to whirl around in Jorougumo's mind as she digested what Shuyoogumo had revealed.
She looked back up to the cradle web as if wishing to see more of the boy. What was he like? What did his past hold? What other details were held in his future? But all questions were dwarfed by her first thought: what was he like? She had heard 'horror' stories about neglecting summoners and sour summoners and downright evil summoners. Judging by the boys neglect she feared that he may fall into one of those three categories. She sighed to herself and massaged the bridge of her nose again.
'I could use a drink,' she thought to herself.
Itamisori was unusually quiet. She too was contemplating the boy. He may know suffering akin to the scorpions suffering but that did not warrant their allegiance. She also did not like how he did not fight against those that suppressed him. He just whinnied and bowed to their will instead of fighting back.
"Jiji-sama," Itamisori stated suddenly, "I think I speak for the Sasori clan as a whole when I say that we will not see him as our summoner until he proves to us otherwise. "
"What?!" Jorougumo hissed towards her fellow summon.
"I mean what I say," she stated calmly. "Until the boy can prove that he is capable to uphold the beliefs and the practices of the Sasori clan we will not permit him to summon us."
"That is unreasonable," the spider Queen blurted.
"No it is not," was the emperor scorpions curt reply
Jorougumo growled at her 'sister' and her stubbornness. She suddenly turned to Shuyoogumo, "This isn't fair, Jiji-sama. Tell her that she is not fair!"
"Actually," Shuyoogumo confessed mournfully, "Itamisori is within her rights to deny summoning privileges. We, the arachnid clan, are not like other clans. Unlike the toads and the snakes we have three different kinds of bosses: one for the spiders, one for the scorpions, and one for the ticks. It is within the bosses right to deny or condone summoning."
"Then we the Nomi clan seconds the Sasori's decision (7)," came a squeaking call from one of the cave spiders back.
"Please," Jorougumo begged, "I know he is new but give him a chance!"
"Until he shows aspects akin to those of the Nomi tribe then he will be allowed to summon us," said the unseen tick boss summon.
Jorougumo's mind began to race. Though she too did not the boy she was still willing to give him a chance. She also feared that if she did not act up quickly the spiders under her would call for the denial of summoning. Another fear came to bear down on her. The fear was that Itamisori and the Nomi clans' stubbornness would cause them to withhold their summoning rights permanently.
"Well, I speak for the rest of the Tsuchigumo clan when I say that we will allow and embrace the new summoner named Uzumaki Naruto," with each emphasized word Jorougumo sent meaningful glares towards the two other boss summons. Itamisori and the tick boss summon said nothing, but heard the insult nonetheless.
"Oh my, oh my. Then let it be known that from this day forth Uzumaki Naruto has been recognized as the first and sole summoner to the Spider contract!" Shuyoogumo's decree was strong and commanding. But he added quietly, "and the rest of the Arachnid family…in time…"
XxXxX End XxXxX
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Beta Notes: Well it took some doing and self hypnosis to get over my arachnophobia, but I managed and now here's another fic from everyone's favorite evil ruler of sheep. I'm mostly helping with plot, as my grammar in itself is a 'B+' at best.
Beta corner
(1): Yes summon scrolls are massive and bulky, but I thought that a more…travel size scroll would be appropriate for the arachnids and spiders.
(2): Naruto does not know that to complete the contract you have to imprint the page with the fingers of the hand used to write with. He did this action out of his own…childishness.
(3): Port in the storm = Namikaze. I thought this would be an appropriate choice of words.
(4) Shuyoo: first, most important. I thought naming the father of all arachnids "The first spider" was appropriate.
(5) Arachne is the Greek mythological person that was the mother of all spiders. Look her up on wiki or in actual literature. I know I put a lot of biblical themes in my stories but I thought this one was good as well. See I can show diversity.
(6) Spider don't have 'real' lungs but rather "book lungs". I honestly don't know how the book lungs work, but I felt adding human characteristics to the spiders would make them easier to understand.
(7) Nomi is actually 'flea' in Japanese but I couldn't find the Japanese word for tick or mite so I went with flea. If someone can find the actual word please notify me.
AN: Naruto gets the Arachnid Summoning scroll. Yay! For people who don't know, and most of you probably don't, I like summons and outside help for Naruto. Don't know why, I just do. Most of the information I will be using in this fic regarding spiders and other arachnids will come from wiki and from a book titled Spiders of the World by Rod and Ken Preston-Mafham. I also do not own their knowledge but you should check out their book. It is detailed and holds a lot of information.
Now in all honest I am afraid of spiders, to the point of screaming. But when I read The Most Heinous Crime it changed my thoughts about spiders and made me wish to know more. Thank you Mr. Talon for sparking my drive to over come my fear. On a side note, you may notice that I switch about using the words 'clan', 'tribe', 'boss', and similar words. This story is still in its infancy so please give me time to flesh out the titles for summons, bosses, sub-bosses, and the like.
Also tell me what you think of me ending all of the scorpions' names with –sori. It's similar in ending all of the spiders' names with –gumo.
Also, like my other work, this story is a harem. For the record the four women have been chosen (though are subject to change via my and/or my advisors notice/direction) so please do not hassle me with pairing choices. I will regard them but most likely put them to the back of my mind.
Also, in my profile is a poll, please check it out. I will give to the end of April (~6 weeks) to vote. Please do.
And finally. Please review. If you do please give advice on either writing style and/or creativity. Supportive criticism is also appreciated, but keep it nice. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Do not criticize just to be mean. Put some thought into your questions or advice, I want this story to be something that you will enjoy, will give you insight to living, and just a plain good story; I can only achieve this if you help me.
I hope you have a great day and stay healthy.
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Evilsheeplordthatsaysmoo
