The Contract
Chapter 3- New Futures
At The Moment The Contract Was Marked…
Many considered the O-Gama Sennin of Mount Myobokuzan a lazy old toad, content to sit in his great chair and spew riddles, rhymes and comments that just didn't make any sense.
Well, that one time with the prophecy about 'one who's choices would save the world' and all that had elevated his standing in their eyes but only just a bit.
Many of the younger toads who were born after the Exodus, held steadfastly to that notion.
To the slightly more informed, such as Gamabunta's peers who were just like young Gamakichi during the Exodus, he was the Great Sage.
Nothing more, nothing less.
However, to those closest to him; Fukasaku, Shima, Bunta and the few who remembered their true home, and the young human, Jiraiya whom they saw as one of their own, he was a force of nature, powerful and wise and blessed with the gift of Sight.
The same Sight that had shown him the end of their home and the life that lay beyond the Exodus… The Sight that had shown him the beginnings of the Prophecy and the futures that lay ahead.
It was thus very worrisome when, quite abruptly, a number of those futures simply disappeared.
Futures were not absolute, he knew that, but in all the time since received the Sight he had never seen so many futures simply vanish.
"Well… this doesn't bode-"
"O-gama Sennin-sama!"
The Great Sage rolled his bulbous eyes.
Kids these days. Couldn't they try to figure things out on their own before running to the nearest adult?
"O-Gama Sennin-sama!" Fukasaku panted as he skidded to a stop inches before colliding into the Great Sage's chair, Shima mere seconds behind him. "We got here as fast as we could! Gamamaru just reported in-"
"His name just disappeared!" Shima wailed, her shock blatant in her tone. "Naruto-boy's name just disappeared from the list of Summoners!"
The Great Sage simply blinked lazily. "That is strange…"
"Never has a name simply vanished from the list!" Shima continued, "Even in death, their names simply fade to light scratches, they never disappear completely!"
"Intriguing… Have you tried asking Jiraiya…?"
"We should try asking Jiraiya-boy!" Fukasaku suggested, his webbed hands already moving through the handseals. "He might have an idea of what's happening!"
The Great Sage sighed.
Kids…
‹‹‡››
As he calmed, and his senses returned to him, Naruto grinned cockily. "Did that please her majesty?"
"Barely." Kyuubi reply was a lazy, almost bored drawl. "Considering that I'm a couple of decades out of shape and you're supposed to be at your prime…"
"Says the woman writhing on my dick."
"Like I said… out of shape."
"Weirdest 'best dream' ever." Naruto smiled as he strolled out of his tent into the chilly morning air.
He had woken up about five minutes ago and, while his brain booted up, he immersed himself in the fragments of the dream that still stuck to him, enjoying the illusion of boning a hot kitsune.
"Heh, I'm becoming as bad as Ero-Sennin…" He chuckled as his eyes scanned the horizon for even a hint of sunlight. "Huh. Guess I've got about thirty minutes to spare. Odd, I'm never this active when I wake up early."
It was no news to those that knew him that Uzumaki Naruto was not a morning person. In fact, when he realized that he'd have to wake up early as a shinobi, he had factored in a thirty minute 'booting phase' into his daily schedule.
Morning was only truly 'morning' when the sun was fully above the horizon.
With him feeling so energetic, however, Naruto decided to indulge in a personal pastime; soaking.
He wasn't sure when it had become so but he absolutely enjoyed a good soak; perhaps it was somewhere between the 'strange' scarcity of water he had always experienced as a child and enjoying the feeling of drifting off and imagining the water carrying all the hatred and loathing of the village away…
The sound of running water drew him like a siren's song and, within moments, he was chest deep in the little brook that bounded their little resting spot.
Not a thought crossed his mind in the first few minutes as he simply relaxed and allowed the cool water to run over him like he was nought but a pebble. Then, a thought struck him.
'Shouldn't this water be really cold? I mean, the sun's not even up yet. Plus, my skin should still be a bit tender after…'
"You do realize that the changes I promised have already begun don't you?"
Naruto jumped out of the water in a burst of motion, scanning the marshy bank of the brook for whoever it was that had just snuck up on him.
Unfortunately, the bank of the brook was marshy and wet and, thusly, slippery.
The moment his left foot touched the ground, it slid backward, dragging his weight downward. His right leg, though, had sunk into the wet soil and adamantly refused to come out.
The result was that Naruto found himself in an imperfect split, his muscles screaming and his 'rod and tackle' feeling very uncomfortable in the mushy sand.
"Huh. So I was right; you did forget about me."
Naruto gasped as the identity of the speaker hit him. "Kyuubi?!"
"No silly, it's Naruko, your twin sister! Please leave a message after the tone; beep!"
"Oh ha fucking ha!" He groused as he carefully pushed himself out of the gunk, feeling his cock slap around wetly. He shivered in disgust. "Seriously though; I wasn't having a fucked up dream?"
"Hold out your hand and think of the Contract from last night."
Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted to believe the voice in his head; he did, however, want to figure out if he was dreaming or not so he stretched out his hand and closed his eyes, picturing the aged looking scroll from the night before.
Like magic, he felt something appear in his hand.
He opened his eyes.
"Holy shit…!" He whispered in awe. It was real! Everything from the night was real!
"Now, you need to finish what you started: mark the scroll with your blood and perform your first summoning."
"Wait. Why do I need to do that?"
He heard the Kyuubi sigh. "When you marked it in the seal, you gave the contract a pure sample of your chakra and while that normally would suffice, you humans have never truly mastered the art of summoning using nothing but your chakra. Hence the blood marking which allows the summoner to perform the summon with a sample of their blood standing as a marker for the authenticity of the summoner. That is why randomly slapping your palms on the ground having performed the summoning seals does not produce any results; there is no mark of authenticity."
"Well, can I at least finish my soak? I'd prefer it if I didn't look like a pervert to whichever summon I'd call in."
"Well…" Naruto swore he could hear the pout in her voice. "Just hurry up."
It only took a moment for him to get into the brook again and sink in until only the upper half of his face, nose up, was visible.
'I didn't even think to check on Ero-Sennin…' he thought as he relaxed in the gentle current. 'Ah well, it's not the first time I've gotten myself in over my head… he's probably off somewhere with a girl or two… Pervert…'
‹‹‡››
Jiraiya was most assuredly not with 'a girl or two'. In fact, he wasn't even with any human being at that moment.
"This makes no sense. This makes zero sense!" He roared angrily, slamming his fist into the large toadstool that acted as a table between himself and the others he was meeting with. "Even now, years after his death, Minato's name is still here on the scroll! Hell, even Arashi, the first bloody summoner, is still here on the scroll! So how the hell could Naruto's name have disappeared?!"
"We are still trying to figure it out, Jiraiya-boy." Shima tried to pacify the human. "And you said he's still alive?"
"Of course he is! I was right by his bedside to ensure that he wasn't displaying any negative reactions to the salves I rubbed into his skin!"
"Enough with the yelling Jiraiya!" Gamabunta boomed. He was resting on a lower ledge, positioned at such a height that only his eyes could be seen over the edge of the toadstool. "We need to think! Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama, surely there must be something that could help provide an answer?"
Fukasaku, who had remained quiet through the ruckus at the table finally spoke up. "Jiraiya-boy, you have often extolled the efficiency of Naruto-boy's healing factor; why did you need salves?"
It took a few moments for Jiraiya, who was ust beginning to calm down, to understand the question. "The salves… I applied the salves because, earlier today, during training, he blew past his normal control and pulled on way too much of the Kyuubi's chakra than his limit." 'You should have been there for me! You should have been there to support me! Instead, you were just dallying around writing smut!' Jiraiya struggled for a moment to keep a straight face. "I was able to cut him off after a while but the damage to his skin was extensive which was why I applied the salves to speed up his recovery. I had just applied the second dosage when you summoned me."
Upon hearing the explanation, Shima was able to figure out where Pa was heading and she turned to him. "Could it be…?"
The elderly male frowned and shook his head. "I cannot be certain. These are uncharted waters for me."
"Can we get an update here?" Gamabunta boomed.
"Well, Bunta, I believe you understand the mechanics behind the summoning contracts?"
"Yes…?"
"Well, jinchuuriki are often subjected to changes in their chakra signatures over time; the core signature may remain the same but slight changes often occur as a result of the biju they carry." Shima began. "It is why few jinchuuriki ever sign summoning contracts."
"In Naruto's case, the nature of the seal ensures that changes to his signature are minute ad so well spaced that his core signature constantly remains the same." Fukasaku continued. "However, as Jiraiya-boy says that Naruto-boy went beyond his limits, it may be that some of the changes to his signature that he should have experienced and adapted to all happened at once, abruptly changing his chakra signature down to its core. His chakra is still his but it might have changed to such a degree that our scroll may not recognize him as 'Uzumaki Naruto' and has thus removed him from our list."
The whole thing sounded like fantasy to Jiraiya but he knew next to nothing about the deeper mechanics of summoning contracts for the various animal summons and so he decided to wait behind and keep on seeking possible answers.
Not a hundred meters away, the Great Toad Sage reclined on his rocker with a seemingly senile smile on his face.
Have any of you considered that his soul might simply have found something better…?
‹‹‡››
Naruto stared, a tad apprehensively, at his hand as the small puff of smoke drifted away.
The scroll had been marked, the Contract complete, and the little parchment returned to whence it came.
It was time to summon his first Kitsune.
'Wonder who I'll summon first? Probably some muscular blockhead. Though… Kyuubi's really hot… maybe I'll summon one of her retainers? Probably a busty redhead or something… Just hope I don't pull a kid away from their play time all of a sudden…'
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
A blinding flash of light, followed by an explosion of pure white smoke.
"Finally! I'm out of that gods-damned cage! I'm out!"
Naruto's blood turned to ice as he realized that he knew that voice; recognized who it belonged to.
Kyuubi.
He had just turned the motherfucking Kyuubi loose!
"You!" Naruto's heart skipped a beat when she turned to him, a crazed glint in her eyes. "You are going to fuck me! Right here, right now!"
Before he could even formulate a word, Kyuubi dived out of the rapidly thinning smoke, giving him a split second view of her luscious body before tackling him onto the ground and ripping his clothes off.
The sex, if it could even be called that, was animalistic; wild, rushed, no thought given to technique. The lewd sounds of their rutting filled the morning air in an ever increasing tempo until, finally, both came.
Kyuubi crashed onto his chest, nuzzling her cheek into his chest while letting out contented purrs. Naruto, for his part, was dazed by the sheer energy with which she had thrown herself at him and was only just recovering.
"What… what was that for?"
Kyuubi smiled as she sat up, his cock plopping onto his stomach as it left her cunt. Her amber eyes were aglow with an emotion he couldn't quite place and her hair tickled his chest. "That, mister jailer, was a 'thank you' for grating me temporary reprieve from my cell. Well, that and a little bit of a celebratory fuck."
"But… I don't understand… How… how are you out here?"
The Kyuubi smiled. "That contract you signed? It grants you the privilege of summoning any kitsune, irrespective of their distance. However, it is also capable of bypassing most restrictions that would prevent other summons' response, case in point-" she tapped the seal on his belly, "this little tattoo."
"But… Ero-Sennin said-"
"Yeah," Kyuubi scowled angrily. "Your seal is a powerful thing. In order to bypass it, the geas placed on the Kitsune Contract basically stripped me to my bare essence and even then I'm still tied to you! I mean look at this!" She tugged at a simple black and gold choker that he only just noticed around her neck.
Naruto laid back and stared past her at the cloudy skies above. If she was not lying then that would imply that her energy reserves were severely depleted and their souls were still entwined; she couldn't kill him even if she tried.
"So… what do you want to do now?"
"Honestly? I just want to relax… I wanna feel the grass between my toes, feel water running over my skin… I want to feel alive again…"
Naruto nodded gently, feeling sympathy for the kitsune who had been enslaved for years… He'd likely have done the same in her shoes after all.
For the next couple of minutes, they just lay there, kitsune above human, basking in the morning sun.
"Why do you protect Konoha?"
The question struck him out of the blue and caught him totally off-guard. "Kyuubi?"
"I don't mean to disrespect your sense of loyalty but… why?" She asked again, sitting up so she could look into his eyes. "They hate you there; for years they tried to kill you and when that didn't work they did their damnedest to break you. Psychological torture, physical torture, isolation, rejection… Whenever you told anyone of your dream, they would shut you down or ridicule you. Even when you were placed on a team, the man they put in charge of your team was a lazy pervert who saw no problem with doing the absolute minimum he could get away with while claiming to train you. When you outperformed people's expectations, he pawned you off onto other people so he could show blatant favoritism to a child who cared little about the sacrifices everyone made for him… The same child that shoved a fist through your chest…
"So… why?"
Naruto sighed. "You wouldn't understand."
Kyuubi reached out ad held his chin, keeping her eyes locked onto his. "We are to be partners, Naruto. Keeping secrets will hurt our partnership."
He slapped his palms over his eyes ad pressed them until they hurt. "Fuck. You're right." He pulled his hands away and used them to support himself as he sat up, Kyuubi adjusting herself so she remained in his lap but with her back to his chest. "Look, I know you'll think it's childish but… I have people I care for in Konoha. Sakura, Iruka-sensei, Baa-chan, Shizune-nee, Teuchi-ojii-san and Ayame-nee… The rest of the Rookie Nine, Kakashi-sensei and Team Gai… Konohamaru and his squirts… I've developed bonds with them, Kyuubi, and they have bonds to Konoha itself so…"
The Queen of Makai stared forward, her eyes unblinking, seeing something that he could not. "You were wrong, Naruto; I do understand. As a child, you were rejected by the Village, unloved and unwanted. By the time you got to the Academy, you wanted to make connections to people at any cost and, over time, you succeeded. So now, you're afraid that if you don't protect their interests, you'll lost the few bonds you have."
"I… yeah, that's about it, I guess."
She leaned back, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. "I understand, Naruto, but… I don't think it's a good way to live." She squeezed his thigh gently. "Hear me out, first. Please." Slowly, the tension in his muscles disappeared and she took it as her cue. "The thing with that is how toxic it can be to you. You see, Naruto, you're only protecting Konoha because of a few people but how many of them actually care about you? About your dreams? Most of the Rookies ridiculed your dreams, Kakashi never really seemed to care about you and most of the others don't even know about me. At best, I'd say only the Ichirakus, the new Hokage and her assistant and Iruka truly care."
"Then they're worth fighting for."
"I never said they weren't. But think of this; what happens if the Ichirakus decide that Konoha is no longer for them? That they like, say, Kusagakure, and have developed bonds there. That will split your interests, Naruto, and you'll be forced to make a decision that could destroy your relationship with them or with your other friends. And think of this 'Uchiha situation'; you've promised to bring him back because you care for your teammate but what happens when he returns? She'll probably just go back to ignoring you; the precedent's there. Also, what happens if he doesn't want to come back? What if, in the heat of things, you kill him? What then? Won't she hate you?"
The tension returned to Naruto as her words poured out until he slammed a fist into the ground in frustration. "So what am I supposed to do? Raze Konoha to the ground? Ignore my friends? Tell me, o great Queen of Makai, because I don't have a fucking clue!"
Kyuubi reached up to caress his cheek softly. "I haven't asked you to tear down your bonds or destroy Konoha, Naruto, I simply want you to look beyond protecting your friends' interests. I don't want to see you tear yourself apart because their opinions have changed and now clash with each others'. Defend what needs to be defended, Naruto, and only do so because you believe it deserves defending. Do you understand?"
The shinobi frowned and shook his head, prompting Kyuubi to turn to him.
"You will, Naruto… In time, I believe you will…"
