Chapter seven – The Tora Family

Notice : The characters created by the author are all fictional, any resemblance to real life persons are mere coincidence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


Naruto snapped out of his stupefied state but he kept pointing at the cub who just directed a yawn his way. "H-H-How c-can y-you t-talk?!" he yelled and the cub grinned.

"I'm a tiger summons!" Ko said and Naruto's eyes turned into the size of saucers at that point. "Like I said you have to get me back to that forest" he added.

"I've never heard of a tiger summons!" Naruto stated and stood up. He started to pace around his apartment as one of his neighbors banged the wall.

"Keep it down, brat! People are trying to sleep here!" the man shouted and Naruto's mouth snapped close.

"I have to tell the old man Hokage" Naruto said, albeit a little softer that time. Ko's eyes widened.

"No, you can't!" Ko shouted and Naruto stopped in his tracks at the cub. "You can't" he repeated.

"Why not?" Naruto asked as the cub stood up. Naruto could see that the cub was afraid. The question was: why was he?

"My brother, Takao doesn't like humans. You can say that he's had bad experiences from what he told me. The only reason I revealed my secret to you is because I've deemed you worthy. You can't let any other humans find out" he said.

"So if you have your brother, why were you being chased by those spiders?" Naruto asked.

"I wandered away and before I knew it those stupid spiders came chasing after me" he angrily huffed. "You need to get me back to that forest before Takao finds out that I'm in this village of humans. He'll think the worst and he'll want to attack it" Ko said.

"What? Why is he so hostile toward humans? We're not all bad" Naruto said, a little offended.

"Humans have done unexplainable things to us tigers since the beginning and I'm not even talking about us summons. They've hunted us for sport, for our hide and even in some cases for pets" Ko said and Naruto knew that what the little cub said was true. "Will you take me there?" he asked and Naruto nodded.

"I promise" Naruto said and Ko smiled before tottering over to him. He picked him up and he added "And you can bet that Uzumaki Naruto keeps his promises"

"I knew I could trust you! You're a good person, Naruto!" Ko said.


The next day, after training with Anko, instead of heading to school, he went back to the Forest of Death. "Let's get this over with" he said to Ko who nodded. Taking the little cub's directions they made their way to a large clearing, deep within the forest. Unlike Ko who was excited, Naruto wasn't. From Ko's description of his brother, he just hoped that the tiger didn't rip his head off the moment they met.

"This is it!" Ko shouted and Naruto snapped back to reality. He stared at the large clearing surprisingly filled with the soft rays of sunshine. The leaves rustled above head and he couldn't help but muse aloud that the clearing was much different from the rest of the forest that reeked of death. Birds were soaring in the cloudless sky, filling the air with their sweet songs.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, since he didn't see any tigers roaming about. "I don't see anything" he added, confused as hell.

"There he is!" Ko said and on cue, Naruto saw the largest tiger he had ever seen in his sport span of his life. He stood at the same height of the Hokage tower and as Naruto took a step back, the tiger's eyes zoomed in on him. He was a large version of the cute tiger cub, and he had a large scar running through his right eye that appeared to be blind, guessing from the cloudy grey color. His ears were flat on his head, his eyes were dilated with anger, his mouth was open in a growl and he was ready to pounce on Naruto.

"Wait, brother!" Ko shouted and the tiger looked at him. "This human saved me from the spiders!" he added and Takao slowly strode towards them with aristocratic grace that no animal should have. Naruto cowered as the majestic beast towered over him as he stopped in front of him. "Brother!" Ko shouted happily as Naruto placed him on the ground. The tiger rushed towards Takao and Naruto watched as Takao affectionately nudged Ko with his massive head.

"Did this human really save you?" Takao asked and hives broke out on his skin at the sound of the tiger's deep, grating voice that boomed like a thousand claps of thunder. Ko nodded and looked at Naruto.

"He saved and protected me the entire time!" Ko said, and Takao snorted at him. "I'm telling you the truth! He's one of the good guys!" he tried to convince his brother.

"No human will ever be good. They're all vile things, only capable of lies and ulterior motives" he sneered.

"Listen, I made Ko a promise which was to get him to you, that's all! I don't have ulterior motives!" Naruto shouted and Takao let out a deep growl that rumbled from his chest but Naruto wasn't disconcerted. Naruto shot Ko an apologetic smile. "I guess this is where we part, little buddy" he said.

"No!" Ko shouted and Naruto frowned. "Brother, I know that Naruto's the one to get mom back home" he said.

"Enough, Ko!" Takao snapped and Ko shrank under his brother's gaze. "I will not allow humans to help us" he added.

"But brother, he's not like the other humans!" Ko pleaded with his older brother but the tiger wouldn't listen.

"Takao, let us hear the little cub out" someone said and Naruto watched as another tiger, a little smaller than Takao emerged from the forest. He noticed that she was heavily limping. She had the sleekest fur amongst the other two and he watched in wonder as the grey stripes seemed to dance in the sunlight. Kindness swam in her amber eyes as she stood in front of Takao.

"Mum!" Ko shouted and Naruto couldn't believe that this was their mother. She laughed and Naruto was reminded of Ami.

"Are you sure he's the one, Ko-chan?" she asked and as Ko laid down on his mother's head. He nodded and she turned to Naruto. "Thank you for saving my little cub" she said tilting her head, surprising both Takao and Naruto at the gesture. "My name is Chie and as you know these are my sons, Takao and Ko" she added. Ko waved and Takao just looked away. "Will you listen to our story, youngling?" she asked.

"What are you doing, mom?" Takao asked her but she just smiled at him. "Did you forget?" he asked, hurt in his lone eye.

"If Ko-chan believes that he can help us, I will believe my cub" she said and then turned to Naruto. "So will you hear me out?" she asked.

"Y-yeah, sure" Naruto said.


Iruka's eyes wandered over the classroom as he dismissed his students for lunch. Naruto had been missing in class AGAIN. He knew that his once truant student had changed. So that meant that whatever was happening with him was serious. With that in mind, he decided to head over to the first place he would be. At Riku and Ami's. He had met the dango shop owner and his niece. They were one of the kindest people he had met. At the thought of pretty Ami, a blush tainted his cheeks. He shook his head, chiding himself for his thoughts. He had to focus. "Riku-san" he warmly greeted the man as he entered his shop. The aged man looked at him and smiled.

"Iruka-san, what can I do go for you today?" he asked, but before Iruka could respond, Ami flew out the kitchen.

"Is it Naruto?!" Ami shouted as she approached. "Did something to happen to him?" she asked. Iruka blinked, confused.

"I came here because Naruto didn't come to class today" Iruka said and Riku glanced at Ami. "You didn't know, did you?" he asked.


"Have a seat" Chie said and Naruto sat on the soft grass. Chie sat in front of him and Takao made sure to sit far away from Naruto, snorting as he did. "Our story begins with the young human by the name of Okabe Minoru" she said. "He belonged to a family of monks that resided in Tea Country" she said, gazing at the sky. "The Okabe family was once prominent monks that were said to have unearthly powers" she said, and Takao huffed. "When Minoru was just eighteen he had received a scroll from his father who got it from his father who got it from his father. It was a scroll passed down the generations of family heads. On his father's death bed, he had given specific instructions to Minoru. He was to protect the scroll and he was to keep it secret. That scroll was our summoning contract" she added, and Naruto eyes widened. "Our summoning contract had been hidden and protected by the Okabe family who treated it as something holy and sacred. Not like the other contracts. Do you know why?" she said and Naruto shook his head.

"One of our abilities include reading a person's fortune" Takao cut in. "That's what makes us superior to your species" he added.

"Enough, Takao" Chie chided and the tiger just closed his eyes. "The first half of his statement is true. We have the ability to read a person's fortune. That is what made the Okabe family so renowned. One of their ancestors had found our summoning contract and since then they hid it at our request in exchange for our powers" she added.

"If you didn't want your contract found why did you agree to provide the Okabe family with your powers?" Naruto asked.

"When their ancestor had found our scroll, we made a contract on that day. We the Tora clan would work by their side and the Okabe monks would not reveal our identity to the world" she said. "However Minoru broke that contract when he fell in love with a young maiden. You see she was a spy for the neighboring temple and on her request, he had told her about us. And that was the beginning of the end. After she had told her superiors of our existence, they sought out our powers for their own and to do that, they hired shinobi. Realizing his mistake and his lover's betrayal, Minoru attempted to flee to Konoha to hold a council with your Sandaime" she said and Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. "However the hired shinobi had intercepted his caravan and they slaughtered everyone. But Minoru had managed to escape to the forest. Seeing that his death was upon him, in his fright he summoned me. When the time came, I could not defeat those shinobi by my own, and this was the result" she said, revealing her paw. He winced at the sight of a fuma shuriken implanted in her paw. "I had managed to escape into the forest and somehow I ended up here. Because of this, I can't go home in the other dimension. Takao is too large to take it out and Ko is too small. And because I can't go home, they refuse to leave my side" she said and Ko snuggled closer to his mother. "We've been forced to roam these forests, waiting for the day that I can return" she said.

"That's terrible" Naruto said and Takao glowered at him, clearly not happy at Naruto's pity. "What, it is!" he said and Chie chuckled.

"Chie-san, I'll help you!" Naruto declared and stood on his feet. However before he could, Takao stopped him.

"We do not want your help!" he shouted and turned to his mother. "We can not take this human's help" he added.

"Yes we do!" Ko shouted at his brother. "He's the only one that can get mom home!" he added.

"Ko is right" Naruto said, and Takao growled at him. "I'll do it" he said and Chie placed her paw in front of him. "This is going to hurt" he added and Chie nodded.

"Be strong, mommy" Ko said and Naruto smiled at him. He took a firm grip of the shuriken and he nodded at Chie.

"Brace yourself" he said and with one harsh pull, it came out. Chie roared in pain and her sons surrounded her.

"Thank you, young one" she said breathlessly. "With this I can go home and you will forever have our respect" she whispered and with a poof, she disappeared.

"Thank you, thank you!" Ko cried and Naruto petted him. Takao grudgingly nodded at him.

"Yeah, what Ko said" Takao growled and Naruto just smirked. "Ko, let's head back" he added and poofed away. Ko shot Naruto a sad look.

"It's okay. Go and join your family. You should be happy" Naruto said, passing his hand over his head. Ko smiled.

"I won't forget you!" Ko shouted and disappeared as well. Naruto stood up, surrounded by the warmth of the sun.

"Me too" he whispered.


Author's notes: I enjoyed writing about Ko and his family. I based Chie's story on Naruto Shippuden episode 223, the one with the Marlin. I wanted something to keep Chie tied to the Naruto universe and I couldn't think of anything but that. Now you may be wondering why Ko didn't poof back to their plane once he got lost. Well, he was going to, when he caught sight of Naruto and caught off guard, he tripped, resulting in his broken leg. On a last note, this not the end of this family, I plan to bring them back in future chapters.

Until next time,

Frostycookies