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Chapter 2
Naruto gaped as the smoke caused by the summoning faded and the owner of the voice was revealed. The being before him was huge! Naruto was fairly small for his age but he knew just by looking that the creature was at least a full foot taller than Iruka-sensei, at least seven feet in height! The being was covered in burnt orange fur (Naruto's inner orange fan-boy squealed in delight) with black stripes running along his back, face, and arms. The bakemono stood on two legs like a man, but its hind legs were shaped like most cats and dogs. Its arms had human-shaped hands that ended in knife-like claws that were at least a foot long, more than capable of slicing right through him like a loaf of bread! Naruto also noticed a cat-like tail swishing behind the beasts back. Slightly darker orange hair hanged from its head all the way down its back and had a part right above the face that was a shocking white color.
It was the beast's face though, that drew most of Naruto's attention. It had wide, pupil-less eyes that seemed to glow with power and ferocity. The mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth that could easily go through solid stone if it had to. What was interesting though was that depending how you looked at the face it looked a mix between animal and human. There was a muzzle, but it was smaller than a dogs and if you looked directly at the front it was almost non-existent. All in all, it was an awe-inspiring and frightening image to behold.
Naruto was shook out of his trance-like state when the bakemono spoke again in a deep, gravelly voice that indicated the being was male, "Huh, so this is my new summoner eh? A lot smaller than my previous one that's for sure. Doubt you'd even be a mouthful of a snack."
Despite the thing called common-sense that was screaming at him to keep quiet, Naruto gained a tick-mark on his head as he shouted at the monster, "Don't call me little! I'm not a runt, I just haven't hit my growth-spurt yet and your too tall anyway, idiot!"
The creature's eyes widened slightly before he gave a deep belly laugh and he reached down before picking Naruto up by the back of his shirt before bringing the boy to eye level. The beast glared at his summoner and growled out "Of course you're a runt! A suicidal runt at that if yah think talking to me like that's good for your health. Besides, what's a pipsqueak like you gonna do if I keep calling you that, hu- Gah!?"
The monster was cut off mid speech as Naruto's foot got introduced to his face, causing the beast to let go of the brat and clutch at his aching nose. He looked at the boy with tear-filled eyes and growled out, "What was that for, you stupid brat?!" though it sounded more like a whine. Quickly regaining his composure, the monster stood at his full intimidating height and gave a roar, "Idiot mortal! Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm Lord Nagatobimaru, master of the bakemono and slayer of both man and beast! Who do you think you are, huh?!"
Naruto stared defiantly back at the yokai, his mind filled with stubborn determination. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and I'll be the greatest Hokage there ever was, yah stupid cat!"
The now named Nagatobimaru growled at the 'cat' comment before calming his mind, refusing to let a little brat get a rise out of him. The beast looked at the boy with his white eyes and said, "Despite your clear lack of respect, I'm guessing you're not a complete waste of my time if you were able to summon me. Tell me though; why in the hell should I work with you? Answer carefully brat, 'cause your next words could be your last."
Although not the brightest person around, Naruto understood that he had somehow crossed the line when he summoned the beast. While not above being selfish, the boy's inherently good nature overcame his desire to somehow weasel his way out of the uncomfortable situation as he admitted, "I… just wanted to summon something, anything."
Not satisfied by the boy's answer, Nagatobimaru demanded, "For what?"
Looking as horribly dejected as he felt, the boy explained, "To show everyone that I can be an awesome ninja like my idol, the Fourth Hokage and… to have a friend…"
The monster stared at him for a minute with a piercing stare, and Naruto shifted uncomfortably as those pure white orbs seemed to stare into his soul. Finally, Nagatobimaru sighed and said, "All right brat, I'll give you the benefit of a doubt, for now. Y' clearly have some potential to be able to find this place and summon me of all beings. But know this," his voice became more growl-like, "If for some reason, any reason at all, I find no reason to stick around, I'm off. And if you continue to tick me off, I just may have a snack before leaving, if you get my meaning," he said while flashing his sharp white teeth, causing Naruto to gulp.
"Now," the summons said, "I'm gonna do a quick run through your mind, just to see what I'm working with."
Naruto looked surprised, "Run through my mind? How're you going t' do that?"
"Like this," Nagatobimaru stated before reaching out with one of his claws and placing it on the boy's forehead, causing both beings to freeze up and go still.
Scene Break
The tiger-like monster blinked as he found himself in a sewer-like background. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, the man-beast growled out, "Man, what kinda crappy life does this kid live to have this for a mindscape?" Going through the winding hall, the tiger found himself in front of a large room with an equally large cage at one end. Curious, the bakemono moved over to the cage, walking on top of the water to do so, and found himself staring at a huge slumbering fox with nine waving tales.
The smaller monster cocked an eyebrow and then said, "Huh? What're you doing in t' brat Kurama?"
The fox twitched at the voice and slowly woke up, stretching to his true, intimidating height. Then the fox growled out, "Who dares disturb the great Kyu- huh?" it was then he noticed the other presence in the room. The fox's red eyes went comically wide and he did his best version of a bow he could do in the cage he was trapped in. The Nine-Tailed Fox then stammered out, "L-Lord Na-Nagatobimaru! How have you been? I haven't seen you since before the old man died! How in the world did you get into the brat's mindscape? The humans didn't seal you in here too did they!?"
The tiger snickered at the fox's antics and then said, "First of all, I've been fine except a bit bored over the millennia. Second of all, no I'm not sealed, just checking out the mind of my latest summoner. Lastly, how'd you get your furry but sealed into this brat?"
The Kyubi's mouth did an impressive impersonation of a goldfish as he gaped at the much smaller animal and stuttered, "S-summoner?! Him!? But that's…How did…HUH?!"
"As amused as I am by your 'smart' conversation, this is getting a bit troublesome," the tiger grumbled before he phased through the bars of the seal and smacked the fox upside the head, causing the titan to go flying into the ceiling before coming down with a resounding 'CRASH!' After Kurama shook the dancing hippos out of his head, he then looked back at the tiger with a more respectable expression on his face. "That's better," Nagatobimaru smirked and then told the fox how the blond midget had found the hidden chamber of the Sage of the Six Paths and had found his summoning contract.
Kurama, in turn, informed him of everything that has happened in the world since the summon had gone back to his realm. The Kyubi got a tick-mark as the tiger rolled around on the ground in hysterical laughter after being told about his run in with the Gold and Silver Brothers of Hidden Cloud. Nagatobimaru then gained a somber expression when Kurama told him about Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju's infamous struggle and how he got dragged into it, and about his next three imprisonments. After telling him of the events from his last release, the monster then gave a sigh.
"Well, this world sure has had some interesting things happen to it, huh?" Nagatobimaru said as he cracked a pointed grin, "It's been great catching up Kurama, especially since the last time I saw you, you were barely bigger than I was. Now I'm guessing the brat doesn't know about you yet then?" Seeing the great fox shake his head, Nagatobimaru gave a nod and said, "Well, I guess I'll leave your presence a secret for now, till the people responsible for the kid decide to tell him. Who knows, maybe I can properly introduce the two of you when the time is right." Noticing Kurama's disbelieving look the summon then said chidingly, "Oh come on, give the kid a chance will yah? I mean, if I can tolerate him surely you can. Anyway, while it's been great catching up and all I need to go through th' kid's memories yet so I'll catch you around, 'kay?"
With a wave of his clawed hand, the summon then went out of the sealing chamber and proceeded to go through his summoner's memories. Nagatobimaru gave a growl as he saw how cold most of the villagers treated Naruto, but he then saw the select few that actually seemed to give a crap about the blond while also noticing the boy's pale-eyed stalker and gave a snicker as he thought on all the fun he could have messing with the two till they noticed each other. The tiger then noticed the boy's determination and strength of will despite his life, and gave a satisfied nod as he decided he'd found a good summoner for now.
Scene Break
While it may have seem like hours for the bakemono, in truth only 2 seconds had passed in the real world. After he lowered his claw, the boy looked at the beast and asked, "Is everything alright Tora?"
The summon froze, "What the hell'd you call me?!" he asked in a dangerous voice.
Naruto looked bashful, "Well I tried thinking of how to pronounce your name but I kinda had a rough time with it so I figured I'd call you 'Tora' for short, cause you look kinda like a tiger."
The now dubbed Tora gave an exasperated sigh, "Why'd I hafta get such an idiot as a summoner?" ignoring the boys indignant look he continued, "Well good news for you brat is that I've deemed you worthy of being the summoner of my awesome self so be grateful. I'll teach you everything that yah need to know but don't think I'll go easy on you," he gave a fanged smirk to the now pale blond. "After all, if you're gonna be my summoner that means you're going to be representing me, and I can't have a weakling as a summoner now can I? Any questions?"
"Just one, how do we get outa here?" asked Naruto as he noticed they were still in the chamber with no visible way out.
Tora snorted and said, "That's easy enough. Climb on my back brat, and if you make so much as one horse comment I swear to God I'll eat you feet first!"
The blond gulped again and climbed onto his new summons's back. The tiger then shot into the air, much to Naruto's shock, and phased right through the roof as if it wasn't there at all. Thus begins a beautiful friendship…
"Ouch! Watch the hair you idiot!"
…or not.
AN: So I figured I'd try and squeeze a second chapter out of this story. I want you all to know I appreciate the support you've all given me in this and my other stories, but I also want you to know that this story may not update frequently, as the only thing I really had going idea wise for this was having Tora as Naruto's summon and having him teach the boy a few things over the years. As for Tora and Kurama's conversation, the two knew each other shortly after the Sage had made the Biju, because he kept Tora close to him at all times. As such, the Biju hold a great deal of respect for the summon and view him kinda as an uncle. Strength wise I'd place Tora as around the Jubi's first and weakest form, but he'll hold a lot back because a) he doesn't want to accidently kill some random human and b) he doesn't want to hold Naruto's hand by solving all of the blonde's problems with his power. I may go back and edit this chapter a bit later but we'll see. Till then, Read and Review and I hope you guys enjoy!