Hey everyone, I'm back. Apologies for the shortness of the chapter, I had some trouble writing it and finding time to do so. I just started a new job and it's really taking a lot out of me. I figured you guys would rather have the chapter on time and a tad short then not getting it for another week. Hopefully I guessed right, and the quality isn't too bad. I kinda just finished the last part and almost fell asleep in my chair in the process. Have no fear, once I catch up to what I already have written then I'll spend some time editing.

Anyways, thanks for the reviews. I'll see about responding tomorrow. Don't be surprised if you get a response to the 19th chapter as well, since I haven't actually done those yet. As I've said, I've been quite busy.

So, Hope you enjoy,

Trouble 1
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The Kyubi stared at me for a moment.

"Mind repeating that? I must be having a hard time hearing today." He lifted one of his giant paws and used his pinky claw to clean out his ear. "It was strange, I could have sworn you said you'd be using MY chakra."

"I did."

There was another pause.

"So tell me, what the hell gave you the impression I'd just hand over my chakra after saying I wasn't going to help you?"

"You don't have a choice."

"I believe I do, that's why it's my chakra."

"But you're in my body. That makes it my chakra by default."

"That's not how it works you little brat and you know it," The Kyubi growled, narrowing his eyes at me. But I stood firm, I was not about to be intimidated in my own mind.

"Sounds right to me," I said, staring down the fox in front of me. "My body, my chakra."

"I should let you die for your impertinence."

"But letting me die would make you look bad."

"Killing a human has never been held against me before, why should it now?"

I paused for a moment, trying to figure out if he told the truth.

"You're bluffing," I decided, my voice not sounding all too sure of itself. The Kyubi only grinned, making me nervous for the first time since this conversation started.

"Am I? I thought I couldn't lie." The Kyubi lowered his head so his eyes were level with mine. "Doesn't that mean that I can't bluff either?"

I stuttered, trying to come up with something to say, but his unblinking gaze made it very difficult to do so. After hearing only a few strange sounds come out of my mouth, the Kyubi continued with a chuckle.

"Therefore, if I was bluffing now, that means I would have to have lied about not being able to do so. Then, you'd have to doubt every word I've said so far."

My eyes widened as I realized that he was telling the truth. If he really had fooled me all this time then there was nothing he could have said that I would be able to believe completely. I might as well have let him out when I first met him.

I felt my hands start to shake as brief glimpses of the terror crossed my mind. Buildings tumbling down and people screaming as the Kyubi destroyed all he could, all because I believed him.

"I see you're starting to understand," The Kyubi said, his voice rumbling through the sewer ominously. "How believing one false statement has the potential to destroy everything you hold dear. Because if I'm every free of you, truly free, I will kill those who all of those responsible for locking me away."

The grin was gone from his face by the time he reached his last words.

"So tell me, kit," he continued, his eyes still locked with mine. "Was I bluffing? Am I still bluffing?"

"I-I…I don't-"

"You don't what? You don't know? I'm sorry, that's not an answer I can except. It's either yes, I'm bluffing about letting you die, or I'm not. After all, you don't have the time for indecision. You could go splat any moment now."

"But you said I had time."

"I did say, and according to you I could be untrustworthy and lying about anything. Are you really willing to take that chance?"

Thoughts raced by as I tried to figure out an answer to his question. Was lying? Was he telling the truth? Either could be true! He could easily be incapable of lying as he could-

My mind stopped, a spark of an idea appearing. It wasn't anything concrete or anything close to an answer, just something I noticed that didn't seem right. He said 'could' a lot. Could, and would, and if; those are all words he'd used more than once in this conversation, and I doubt there's even one of those statements without one.

"You are bluffing," I finally said, feeling confident yet again.

"Oh, so I can lie?"

"There's a difference between lie and bluff." I smirked at him as I went to explain. "Bluffing is leading someone in different direction, lying is saying something false. You can bluff without lying, that's what you've been teaching me all month after all."

The fox narrowed his eyes at me, but I wasn't done just yet.

"So, you were bluffing when you said you'd let me die and haven't stopped since."

"Is that your final answer?"

"Yes."

The Kyubi sighed, relaxing back into a less threatening posture.

"Well, I can't really say that you haven't learned anything," he said, his voice not echoing as much. "Go, save yourself from becoming a bug splat at the bottom of a canyon."

"Are you going to give me the chakra?" I asked.

"But of course, you can have all the chakra you need," he said with a sly grin. Before I could ask what he meant by that I was thrown out of my mind scape.

I felt myself falling yet again, surrounded by darkness even after I opened my eyes. But I didn't waste any time moping about it, instead I immediately bit my thumb and started running through the hand symbols.

"Summoning Jutsu!" I shouted, slamming my hand down where the ground would have been.

I heard a poof as I smelled smoke surround me. Just as I felt the smoke start to disappear, I landed on something springy. I bounced a few times before I finally settled on the surface. I wasn't falling anymore, so I had to assume that whatever I had summoned had done something to fix that.

Now that my surroundings weren't rushing by me at lightning speed, I tried my jutsu again to see if it worked. Bluish-grey forms rushed to meet me, showing me the walls covered in sharp spikes as well as the huge form I had landed on.

"Woah," I said, finally getting a good look at the toad I summoned. It was huge! The being easily took over the width of the cavern, which was huge in itself. "It worked!"

I scrambled to my feet and walked towards the back end of the creature. Once I was there, I knelt down, staring at its rear. It didn't look like it had a tail, but I wanted to be sure. I glanced back towards its head, seeing it was more preoccupied with its surroundings than with me. So I turned forward again before touching its but.

"What the hell!" it exclaimed in a deep, gravelly voice.

Before I could celebrate the lack of a tail, or even be surprised that it talked, it spun around, almost sending me falling once again. I had slid off the edge of the giant toad, only able to keep myself from tumbling completely off by using chakra to stick to his side.

"Who dares touch me?" he demanded.

I stayed silent, not wanting to alert him to my presence.

"I know you're there, whoever you are, you can't hide from me." Scared of what would happen if I spoke, I didn't say a word. "Either come forward, or I leave."

"Sorry! Sorry!" I said, scrambling forward towards his face until I was standing on his nose. "Please don't leave, you're the only thing keeping me from falling to death."

"Is that why Jiraya summoned me? To save a tiny human?"

"Jiraya didn't summon you, I did!" I said, my apologetic tone all but forgotten. "I needed something to break my fall other than sharp rocks."

He stared at me cross-eyed for a moment before he broke out in a shaking laughter that almost made me lose my footing.

"That's hilarious!" he exclaimed in his amusement. "A brat like you, summoning me? That's the best damn joke I've heard since Jiraya tried to pass off his books as fine literature!"

"But I did! I swear it!"

"I don't believe you."

"Well it's true." I crossed my arms indignantly. "Ero-senin shoved me down this ravine for some reason and I couldn't stop myself on my own so I did the last thing I could do and summoned you, so you better start believing me."

"Are you trying to order me around?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"…Maybe. I haven't decided yet."

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Not in the slightest. Does it even matter?"

"I'm Gamabunta you brat!" he exclaimed. I stared at him as I tried to figure out what that meant. "I'm the chief toad and you're trying to order me around? I don't think so!"

I couldn't stop my jaw from dropping as I heard this.

"How much chakra did you give me?!" I demanded the kyubi. He only chuckled knowingly mumbled something about wishing he had snacks to watch the show.

"Other than your ego getting in the way, why can't you acknowledge that I summoned you?"

"Because it's physically impossible. You don't have enough chakra, your control is too bad, and you haven't even gotten the summoning procedure mastered yet. There is no way you could have brought me here on your own accord."

"Now listen here, you! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future hokage! I have more chakra then I know what to do with and have enough control to stick six coins around my head while standing on water! As for the summoning procedure, I am able to consistently summon real toads and not those almost-toad tadpoles!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, and as the guy that summoned you, I demand to be taken out of this ravine."

"Tell me one thing first," Gamabunta said, giving me a strange look. "What the hell gave you the impression that the summoner is in control? And, better yet, what made you think a blind brat like you can do so to me?"