Naruto Uchiha

Chapter 38

So, here's the next part of the Tsunade arc. Please remember to vote on the poll. Once I run out of pre-timeskip material to use (excluding filler) I'll review the results and make my decision.

Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto.

"So," said Jiraiya as he faced his student, "are you ready for the training I promised?"

"Of course dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto.

After learning about his parents, Naruto was a bit shaken up about the whole thing. After all, it's not every day an orphan gets a letter from his deceased parents reassuring him that they have and always will love him, even from beyond death. But being the kind of person he was, he bounced back to his normal attitude and was ready to learn a new technique from the Toad Sage.

"So, what are you going to teach me?" asked Naruto eagerly.

"Well," said Jiraiya, "since you already learned the Rasengan, well, learned it to a point that is, I wanted to teach you a powerful Jutsu that I passed down to your father. I think it's time it was passed down to you."

Jiraiya made a few hand-seals and placed his hand, palm down, on the ground, causing a Fuinjutsu array to spread under him, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There was an explosion of smoke, and when it cleared, Jiraiya was seen standing on a large orange toad holding a scroll in its mouth.

"I'm not called the Toad Sage for nothing gaki," smirked Jiraiya, "I am the holder of the Toad Summoning Contract, which allows me to summon these guys to help me in battle. I taught your father to summon as well, and now I'm offering you the chance to sign the Contract as well."

Naruto was indeed excited. He had seen the power of the Jutsu when Team 7 had fought Orochimaru in the forest and he had honestly been a bit envious when Kakashi had offered the Dog Contract to Sasuke. Now that he was being offered a Summoning Contract of his own, he was eager to leap at the opportunity. Add in the fact that the Yondaime, his father, used the contract in his tenure, made him all the more eager.

"Hmph," said the Kyuubi from within his mind, "the toad contract is no joke in terms of power. When your father sealed me into you, he first fought and subdued me by summoning a giant toad that proceeded to land on my head and pin me to the ground. I also recall that the Sannin gained notoriety partially because of their Summoning Contracts, referred to as the three-way deadlock because of the animals they summoned."

That really got him interested, "What do I have to do?"

"First of all, you have to sign the Contract in blood," said Jiraiya as he retrieved the large scroll from the Toad he summoned and unfurled it, revealing several names that had faded somewhat, including the name of Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze. The only name still displayed vibrantly was that of the Toad Sage Jiraiya. There were also several empty spots for new names, "once you do that, I'll show you the hand-seals for the Jutsu. Just remember, this is a binding commitment. You can't just choose to end the contract and choose another summon. Not only would that offend the Toads, but it would make other Summoning Clans see you in a bad light."

Naruto brought his hand to his mouth and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and quickly wrote his name on the scroll in one of the empty spots using his blood. After he did so, Jiraiya rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the toad, dispelling the summon with a poof of smoke.

"Now," said Jiraiya, "watch carefully and copy these hand-seals."

Naruto watched as Jiraiya showed him the seals required to perform the Summoning Technique, and once he felt his student was ready, he stepped back to let him make his first attempt.

"Right," said Naruto as he bit his thumb and wove the hand-seals for boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram, before slamming his hand onto the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Naruto was enveloped in a cloud of smoke and Jiraiya waited to see what his student accomplished. In all honesty, he had expected the boy to summon something like a tadpole, if anything, as the Jutsu was highly complicated for even Chunin to use and had a high Chakra requirement, so of course he was shocked when the smoke cleared and he saw a small orange toad standing in front of the blond wearing a blue vest with black markings on his body.

"Yo," said the Toad as he raised a webbed hand in greeting.

"I did it," said Naruto happily, though he was a bit disappointed that his summon wasn't as big or impressive as Jiraiya's.

"So, you summoned me?" asked the orange toad, "Cool. The name's Gamakichi. Nice ta meetcha."

"Hey," said Naruto as he waved at the Toad, "I'm Naruto Uchiha."

"Cool," said the Toad, "so what's up?"

"Gamakichi," said Jiraiya, "if you could inform Bunta that a new summoner will be calling on him to formalize the contract?"

"Sure thing," said Gamakichi, "Nice meeting ya Naruto. Looking forward to working with you in the future."

The Toad vanished in a poof of smoke and Jiraiya walked over and tousled the hair of his student, "That was excellent work Naruto, I'm impressed."

"But the Toad you summoned was so much cooler than the one I summoned," said Naruto.

"First of all, never say something like that, especially not around any creature you summon. It could be taken as a grave insult," reprimanded Jiraiya before he smiled again, "but the fact that you were able to summon Gamakichi at all is a great feat."

"Really?" asked Naruto, getting a nod from the Sannin.

"Really," said Jiraiya before becoming thoughtful, "by the way, how much Chakra were you putting into that Jutsu?"

"Well I was afraid it would be like the Bunshin no Jutsu, so I tried to control the amount," said Naruto, "I didn't want to summon a half-dead Toad like when I tried to create a Bunshin in class."

Jiraiya simply chuckled, "How about trying a little more then. The Kuchiyose no Jutsu isn't as easy a technique as any of the other Jutsu I've taught you, with the sole exception of the Rasengan. It's going to need a lot of power."

"Right," said Naruto as he made the hand-seals again, "Oi Kyuubi, care to lend a hand."

"I suppose I must," grunted the Biju before he sent a bit of his Chakra through the blond's Chakra Network.

Back in the real world, a red aura of Chakra appeared around Naruto as he focused his power, causing Jiraiya to step back involuntarily.

"H-hey," said the Sannin, "that might be going a bit far..."

Naruto didn't seem to hear him as he slammed his hand into the ground, causing the sealing array to spread forth from it, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There was a massive poof of smoke that filled the clearing, and when it cleared Naruto and Jiraiya were standing on a MASSIVE dark-red and black Toad that towered over the trees in the forest. Said Toad wore a greyish-blue vest with an elegant pipe in his mouth and a tanto at his waist, though said tanto was so large that it was more like a katana to him.

"This is awesome!" exclaimed Naruto as the giant Toad looked around the area he had been summoned in.

"Jiraiya," grunted the Toad irritably as it looked around, "why did you summon me here? What's going on?"

"Actually, Mr. Toad," said Naruto, "I was the one who summoned you."

"That's Chief Toad Gamabunta to you, Gaki," growled the massive Toad, "and what are you talking about? How could you be the one who summoned me?"

"Bunta," said Jiraiya, "the kid is telling the truth. He's the newest Toad Summoner."

"Eh?" grunted the now named Gamabunta, "You made some wet behind the ears Gaki the newest Toad Contractor?"

"Bunta," said Jiraiya, cutting off an angry rant from his student about being called a wet behind the ears Gaki, "He's not just some kid. He's Minato and Kushina's son. I also think he's the one the Great Toad Sage was talking about."

"So you think he's the one?" muttered Gamabunta, "…very well. He'll get the same initiation that his old man did."

"That sounds fair," said Jiraiya before he patted Naruto on the shoulder, "Good luck Gaki, you're gonna need it."

The Sannin leapt off the head of the massive Toad, leaving the slightly pensive blond standing alone on said amphibian's head.

"Soooo, what's this initiation?" asked Naruto hesitantly.

"Heh," said Bunta as he removed the pipe from his mouth and blew out a cloud of smoke before pocketing the item, "your initiation is to remain on my head until the end of the day."

"That's it?" asked Naruto as he began channeling Chakra to his feet like he learned to do in the tree climbing drills, "That'll be easy."

The Chief Toad simply smirked and crouched down, tensing his powerful leg muscles before taking off with a mighty leap, Naruto's surprised and terrified screams echoing through the forest as he clung to the head of the Toad like his life depended on it, for it really did.

xXsceneXx

Several hours later, after the sun had set behind the horizon, Bunta placed a tired and unconscious Naruto gently onto the ground in front of where Jiraiya was preparing a small meal over a fire. The blond had managed to stick to the Toad's head through the whole ordeal, but it had put a great strain on the boy, and while his connection with the Kyuubi was helping him recover, he was still going to be out cold for a while.

"The kid has spirit Jiraiya," grunted the Chief Toad, "managed to stay on the entire time, no matter how difficult I made it for him."

"I take it the Gaki passed?" said Jiraiya with a smile.

"I suppose so," allowed Gamabunta, "When he comes to, let him know that we'll be sealing the deal with the traditional drink the next time he summons me."

"I'll tell him," said Jiraiya with a nod.

"Good," said the Toad before he vanished in a poof of smoke.

Jiraiya smiled down at his student, grabbing a blanket and pulling it over Naruto's sleeping form so he'd stay warm. The boy was quite gifted, his massive amount of Chakra coupled with his Rinnegan and the unusual accord he seemed to have with the Kyuubi sealed within him, meant that he could expect great things from his student, perhaps even surpassing that of his father, the Yondaime.

Meanwhile, deep within the boy's mindscape, another powerful being was having similar thoughts about the blond Uzumaki.

'He has a Summoning Contract now,' mused the Kyuubi, 'used correctly, this could help the kid unlock yet another aspect of his power.'

The Fox looked out into the darkness of the sewer-scape that was Naruto's mindscape and remembered the man that had created him along with all of the other Biju.

'It is becoming clearer that this one is the one that will inherit your will, father,' he thought to himself, 'I should have another word with the Toad-ningen. I'm willing to share my power with him, but I'll need the key to the seal that the Yondaime used on me.'