"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Demon/Summon speech"

'Demon/Inner Sakura/Summon thoughts'

Jutsu name

(author comment)

flashback/memory

~locations and transitions~

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 42: One is lost while others are whole

Sasuke was staring out of his hospital window with an impassive look on his face. However, in his head, he was thinking a million thoughts a second and each one arguing with the other. 'Could what he said be true?' 'NO! He is lying! Everything he said is a lie! I saw it with my own eyes!' 'but that would also mean that what he showed us that night could also be a lie.' 'He showed us the truth that night! Why else would he show us what he did?!' 'because he wanted me to be what the Uchiha were not. He wanted me to show that the Uchiha were not all monsters.' 'BUT HE IS A MONSTER! He was always a monster!' '...was he?' Sasuke had flashbacks to his early years in his life. He remembered the times that Itachi would help him in his training, the time that Itachi would take him out into the village and enjoy themselves, the times that he would stay awake with him and talk about what he had done in the academy, and the time that Itachi would support him all the times he felt like he failed. The last memory that came to him was the sight of his brother shedding tears as they stared into each other's eyes. In a fit of rage, he punched the wall next to the window. He looked at his reflection to see his Sharingan was active and a few tears fall from his eyes. "I need to know. If what he told me was the truth."

~flashback~

"Tsukiyomi"

Sasuke opened his eyes to find out that he was no longer in the hotel that he tracked down his brother. He was in a bleak open space that was colored in shades of black, white and greys. He looked around to see if he could find anything other than the random tree. "ITACHI! Where are you?!"

"It would seem that you let your anger control you."

Sasuke turned around to see Itachi standing on the hazy black liquid that made up the floor. In anger, he ran at Itach and threw a punch at him but as his fist impacted on his face, Itachi burst into a murder of crows.

The crows flew around Sasuke a bt before they gathered together behind Sasuke. "It would seem that my actions have indeed caused you to go down this dark path."

Sasuke didn't hear what was said as he turned and attacked Itachi again and again and again but each time Itachi would just burst into crows before reforming again. Sasuke's anger grew more after every miss. "STOP DODGING AND FIGHT ME!"

Itachi watched as his little brother continued to attack with no thought to what was going on. He knew that this was his fault. His brother was always a blank canvas that could be painted in many different ways. He had hoped that setting Sasuke on the path to kill him and redeem the tarnished name of the Uchiha but he now saw that it drove him down a much darker path. Itachi continued to let Sasuke attack until the boy tired himself out.

Sasuke continued to attack Itachi until he jumped back and went through some hand signs before bringing his hand to his mouth "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" As he blew, he realized that no fire was made. He was confused at this but he soon realized that he was tired after all his attacks. 'What the hell is going on!'

Itachi saw that this was the best time to start talking and took the chance "Sasuke…..I am sorry."

Sasuke felt his anger return and face Itachi "you're SORRY!" Sasuke jumped forward and threw a fierce taijutsu onslaught at Itachi. "FOR WHAT?! FOR KILLING EVERYONE IN THE UCHIHA CLAN?! FOR SHOWING ME WHAT A MONSTER YOU ARE?! FOR KILLING MOM AND DAD JUST TO PROVE HOW STRONG YOU ARE!?" Sasuke threw another straight punch which was caught by Itachi.

Itachi had blocked all the punches and kicks that were sent at him and let Sasuke scream. But as he caught Sasuke's punch, he looked into Sasuke's eyes "no….for lying to you."

Sasuke gained a confused look at what was said before growing angry again. Through gritted teeth, he asked, "about what?!"

Itachi sighed as he let go of Sasuke's fist "about that night."

Sasuke threw a roundhouse kick at Itachi which only caused the older Uchiha to burst into crows again before forming behind Sasuke. "What about it?! I saw what happened! You killed everyone just so you could prove yourself the strongest!"

Itachi shook his head "there is more to that night that you do not know about and after I have seen how it has driven you, I now know that you must know the truth behind my actions."

Sasuke continued to glare at Itachi but he paused as he got ready to listen to what his traitorous brother had to say.

Flashback end

~Atop the Hokage monument~

Naruto had never felt this much fear before. Granted he had felt fear before but right now the fear he was feeling was his own. In front of him were the two girls that he grew to care for. All three of them were sitting on their knees and he felt the need to get to his feet and run. As the two girls were looking at him, he was looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing that he had ever seen. His index finger's nail was extended into a claw as he used it to carve a small hole on his side

Ino and Hinata could see how vulnerable the boy was acting. It was strange to them as they had never seen him in such a manner. Most of the time that they had seen him, he was always confident but now he seemed to lack any of that confidence.

Hinata didn't like to see the boy that had gained her affection in such a state but she knew that what they had to talk about was important, so she willed herself to stay seated.

Ino was no better. She hated the way Naruto looked. She still felt guilty for hurting Naruto during the fight they had and now here he was, not hurt but afraid. Afraid of what they had to talk about. She wanted to just blurt out what Hinata and she had decided but they need him to understand a few things about this. "Naruto?"

Naruto jumped from the sudden saying of his name. He accidentally cut his own palm with his claw but it was already healed after he looked at it. He wanted to keep his sight on his palm but he slowly looked up to look at the two girls. He breathed in some air to calm himself a bit and spoke in a subdued tone "yes?"

Ino was about to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. She knew what this conversation was about and she was ready to get it going but now that she was here, she realized she didn't know how to start it. 'I should have thought about how to start this…..'

"Naruto-kun? How do you feel about us?"

Ino looked to her right at Hinata. She was surprised that the timid girl would be the one to ask such a question as it was to the point and not beating around the bush.

Naruto was also a little stunned about the question and looked at Hinata with a bit of shock on his face. After a second he looked down at the ground as if trying to think of how to say how he felt about them but he really was just afraid of looking into their eyes as he spoke. Growing up the way he did, he has gained a fear of rejection. He always feared that someday his friends will become like the villagers and reject him. This fear grew when he learned about what he was as he wasn't normal. Right now that fear was going full blast as right now he feared rejection from either of the two people that he grew close to.

Ino could see that Naruto was closing in on himself based on his body language. She moved a bit closer to Naruto and brought her hand up. She put her fingers under his chin and brought his gaze up. Once she was able to see his eyes she smiled at him. "It's ok Naruto. Just tell us."

Naruto looked into Ino's eyes before he looked to Ino's right to see that Hinata had moved closer too. Taking a deep breath, he looked back into Ino's eyes "Ino-chan, you were someone that came to a random kid that was on the swings alone and showed more kindness to me than most of the village. You became my friend when I was alone and from all the times that we spent playing, gardening, talking, and spending time with each other, you became one of the most important people to me." he moved his gaze to Hinata "Hinata-chan, it hurt me when you had stopped being my friend…."

Hinata felt a pang of guilt at being reminded of what she had done to Naruto but she continued to look the boy in the eyes

"But when I found out that you were only told to stop being my friend because of your clan, I couldn't blame you for doing what you did. Then we started to train together and hang out together with your mother and Hanabi-chan. I learned more about you and you also began to become someone that was important to me. You are strong, gentle, and kind. You always fear hurting others but you are protective of everyone around you." he looked back to Ino and continued" Ino-chan, you are fierce, independent, and caring. You are not afraid about speaking your mind and you defend those close to you." Naruto looked down to his lap "both of you are important to me and time went on, I learned that I… I like you both. I….don't know what to do about these feelings. I know I can't be with both of you and the idea of leaving one of you behind hurts me and knowing that you both love me just makes it hurt more." Naruto felt his eyes moisten a bit "if I chose to be with one of you, it would mean that I would be hurting the other and…..I don't want to hurt either of you. You two are too important to me." he shut his eyes trying to will the pain he felt away "I…..I can't choose one over the other so I think it would be better if I just don't choose either of you so you two can find someone better to be with and …" he was stopped when he felt two pairs of arms wrap around him. He opened his eyes to see that Hinata and Ino had hugged him from both sides.

Both Hinata and Ino could no longer just sit there and let Naruto continue this way of speaking. They both moved and hugged Naruto as he id what they both expected. He would let them go in order for them to find someone else but they had agreed that they could not think of a future without Naruto being the most important man in their life.

Ino pulled back and looked Naruto in the eyes with a determined look. "Naruto, you baka. If you let both of us go, it would hurt us as the one we like wouldn't be with us."

Naruto was confused about what Ino had said

Hinata pulled back next "Naruto-kun, while you were away, me and Ino…..T-talked about what we should do. Both of us want to be with you and n-neither of us wanted to just let you go. You have become important to us as well and we can't see our lives being complete if you were not in it. S-so we both decided t-that...um…."

Ino picked up from where Hinata left off "we are both going to be with you."

Naruto stared wide-eyed at Ino. he looked to Hinata and then back to Ino and did this a few times, not being able to come up with a response

Ino brought her hand to rest on Naruto's right cheek "Naruto, we both hurt you and t had caused both of us to feel guilty about what we did but because of it, we both learned that being away from you was more painful than anything and we don't want to feel that way again." Ino gained a look of fierce determination "so you are going to be with both of us!"

Naruto looked to Hinata and saw that even though Hinata was changing color, she nodded in confirmation.

Hinata gathered her courage and hugged Naruto again, burying her face in his chest "N-naruto-kun. Please say y-yes. I don't want to hurt you again and I don't mind ...t-this."

Naruto couldn't comprehend this. He felt that this talk would end up with the three of them going their separate ways. He had planned on letting the two go and just watch them from the sidelines. Watch as they both found someone else to be with. Yes, he knew it would hurt his heart to just let them be with some other guy but he would do it if it meant they would find happiness. That was the plan but here they were, asking him to be with both of them. He felt like it was a fantasy dream, a fantasy that he hadn't even thought of and if he blinked it would all go away. He looked down at the top of Hinata's head and then at Ino. he didn't know what was going on and his mouth just asked without him even realizing it "are...are you sure about….this?"

Ino glared into Naruto's eyes "Naruto, we wouldn't have brought this up if we weren't sure. So just say 'yes' already."

Naruto felt the need to grab onto this strand of happiness that had just presented itself to him. The two most important girls in his lie had just proposed to him that they would be with him. He brought up his left arm to wrap around Hinata and his right hand came up to Ino's, that was still on his cheek and spoke what he really wanted "I….I want to be with you both. I don't want to let either of you go. You are the most important girls to me. So will both of you stay with me from now on?"

Ino smiled as she spoke "please take care of us from now on Naruto." once she said this she looked to her hand that was still on Naruto's cheek and remembered something that was told to her a while ago by brought her face close to Hinata's ear and whispered.

Hinata was confused about what Ino had whispered to her but she decided to try out what was suggested. Holding on to the courage she had she brought up her right hand to Naruto's left cheek.

Naruto felt the soft hands from both of the girls and wondered what they were doing. He got his answer when he felt them begin to gently rub his whisker marks. His eyes widened at what they were doing 'how did they…!' he didn't get to finish his thought as his eyes became half-lidded from the sensation he was feeling from them and he found his defenses dropping fast. Before he could even attempt to stop himself he let it out. "Purr~" he fell back with the hands still on his cheeks "Purr~ Purr~"

Both the girls continued the action of rubbing Naruto's cheeks and both had the same thought run through their heads

"KAWAII!"

~meanwhile, Hokage tower~

Tsunade was smirking at the old man that was sitting at his desk. "Looks like you are ready to collapse from exhaustion. Old age seems to finally be getting to you."

Hiruzen gave a mock glare at his student "I'm too old for this shit and I am ready to relinquish this job to someone. I am glad that you have accepted in taking the job as the only other candidate is Jiraiya and we both know that it would be detrimental for the whole village if that happened.

They both knew the kinds of 'laws' that the pervert would make in order for him to go about his 'research'

Tsunade shook her head at this and spoke again "well at least we know that he won't get the chance."

Hiruzen nodded "yes. Now, we should begin going over some of the things that are to be expected and some new workloads that fell upon me."

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at the last bit "'new workload?'"

Hiruzen sighed as he slumped in his seat and looked to have gained more years on him. He took his hat off and placed it on the desk as he rubbed his forehead "due to some incriminating evidence on the civilian council as well as the elders, all civilian matters are being handled by me and some on the Shinobi council. Namely Shikaku Nara and Shibi Aburame. Most of the members of the civilian council have already been executed but a few of them have remained….collected, after their many sessions with Ibiki, Anko and Inoichi. Interestingly, Inoichi had been the one most adamant in dealing punishment to some of them. However, I assume it has to do with the fact that they had been the instigators in the torment on Naruto-Kun."

Tsunade was surprised at this "I assume that Inoichi had seen some of the things that had happened to the boy."

Hiruzen nodded "yes….."

Tsunade could see that Hiruzen was hesitant to tell her about Naruto so she brought up the major issue that revolved around him "I already know about him."

Hiruzen looked to Tsunade with a calculated gaze as he tried to see if she was referring to his Jinchuriki status or his Bijuu status.

"He has six last he showed me."

Hiruzen felt a weight lifted off him. He was wary on telling Tsunade about this as it was not his secret to tell. Although he could tell her about it, Naruto was the one that had the right to tell it. Enough was done to the boy and adding to it was just wrong. "Well then, I believe that we should begin your research on the procedures of the job. In a week, you will become the Godaime Hokage, I look forward to seeing how well you do."

~a week later~

It had been an eventful week for many in Konoha.

The citizens were all abuzz about the news regarding the new Hokage. Many were both saddened and excited about the news and it showed in their behavior

Tenten had found out that her idol was becoming the Hokage and that Naruto was the one that brought her to the village. Safe to say Naruto had to run for his life for not telling Tenten about it sooner

Most of the other Rookies just considered it as just another change that had to happen in the village.

The females of the Rookies were delighted to have a female Hokage as it boosted up the general standing for them.

Karin who had started to become integrated better with the other Rookies was intrigued by the woman as she learned that Tsundae had Uzumaki ancestry.

Konohamaru was a little mad that his Jiji was leaving the job that he wanted but he was glad to hear that he would be able to hang out with him much more now that Hiruzen was free from his responsibilities.

As for Hiruzen, when he wasn't going through the procedures on being a Hokage, he went through files of the captured Root agents. He had found that some of them were forced to work for Danzo as they had once had an obedience seal attached to them. He was mad when he found out that some of his shinobi that had gone missing, were in fact agents of Root, some against their will. However, what infuriated him were the shinobi that were the missing children that came from many of the clans. He remembered the parents that ran to him in tears, saying that their sons and daughters had gone missing. When he found out that the children were turned to Root agents, the whole village felt a wave of Killing Intent. He was furious and for a brief moment, he wished the man was still alive so he could be the one to kill him.

Tsunade had spent a lot of time learning about being the Hokage as well as becoming a member of the hospital staff. While she was learning about being a Hokage, she was also doing some research to help improve Lee's chances of going through the surgery. After a few days, she had risen up his chances to a 94% chance of success. Once that was done she immediately began to prepare for it.

Guy was exceptionally nervous about it as during the surgery he had paced back and forth so much that he actually left a hole in the hospital waiting room, much to the ire of the staff.

The surgery was an obvious success and Lee was in the clear. He had to stay in bed for a bit of time and would need rehabilitation before he could be on active duty but his shinobi career was still his.

As for Naruto, Ino, and Hinata, they had spent some time figuring out how to make their relationship work. Since they were still young and never really dated before they didn't really know how to handle it, especially since what they were doing isn't really considered the norm. At least not that they knew. They had chosen that as of right now they should just go out on dates and spend time with each other. This had worked out well since it was the norm with them and it was what they were comfortable with. They had also begun to train together to understand their own way of fighting. They decided to keep what they had a secret as it was meant only for them and no one else.

Sasuke was indifferent about the whole thing as he had other matters in his head.

The day of Tsunade's inauguration had come and it was a joyous day for many. The villagers were cheering for her as Hiruzen gave his speech on how she would take his place.

Hiruzen had finished his speech and for the last time, he had taken off his hat and walked to Tsunade. He slowly lifted up the hat and placed it on top of her head. The second his fingers had let it go, he felt all the wight and responsibilities leave him and his mind had several things run through his head. 'May you lead this village better than I have.' deep in his subconscious mind, there was another thought that ran through his head 'FREEDOM! I'M FINALLY FREE! NO MORE PAPERWORK. NO MORE WILL THE MONSTER MADE OF PAPER COME AFTER ME! FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST! PRAISE KAMI, I'M FREE AT LAST!

~Hiruzen's home~

It had been a few days since Hiruzen had been released from the Hokage title. He was at the moment sitting in his back porch, smoking his pipe. He smiled as he looked to the sky and puffed out some smoke. "It is such a wonderful day. It is a good day to spend out in the village so I must ask why you have come to meet an old man like me." he looked to his backyard at his unexpected guest.

In the middle of the yard was Sasuke Uchiha. He stood there staring at the old man with a desire in his eyes. He walked closer to Hiruzen and spoke in an angry tone "I need some answers!"

Hiruzen sighed as he could guess what it was the boy wanted to know 'very well. What is it that you wish to know?"

Sasuke took a breath as he was about to get the answers he wanted

~Hokage office~

"I'm going to kill that little brat for making me take this job!"

"Lady Tsunade you have another set of papers that need to be looked at."

"Oink"

Tsunade was going over some paperwork that was left to her after Hiruzen left. "Oh? And what are they about?"

Shizune looked at the top paper and spoke "it's about a meeting with the Suna council about a new treaty they want to discuss. Once they get a word from you, they will send a couple of shinobi that are versed in politics in order to have talks about it. They no longer have a kage so they are having their council fill in until a new kage is appointed."

Tsunade groaned as she was starting to hate the job already. She took the paper that Shizune had and read it over "at least their council are actually looking out for their village instead of filling in their pockets." she placed the paper down as she sighed "I need some Sake."

Suddenly the door burst open, causing Shizune and Tsunade to jump a bit at the sudden noise.

Tsunade panicked as she saw the high pile of paper waver a bit. She got up and steadied it

"Hey Baa-chan!"

Tsunade felt a tick mark pulse as she felt the need to hit something or rather someone but she didn't move as she didn't want to play the game of 522 pickup. She glared at the blonde brat that came into her office "what do you want brat?"

Naruto wasn't affected by the anger that was aimed at him. He made his way to stand in front of the desk with his hands behind his head "I came here to see if you have any job that I can take. I kinda need some more money."

Tsunade sighed as she got the pile of papers to stop shaking. She slowly sat back down in her chair as she went through some of the missions that were available. "There aren't many available and our forces are spread thin at the moment. I do have a simple delivery mission that doesn't have much risk, so it should be good for a single shinobi. If the rest of your team were available I would send you with them but Sakura is at the moment helping with repairs and Sasuke is still on leave. No other genins are available as they have their own missions going. Shikamaru is on his own mission so he is unavailable."

Naruto nodded "that's fine. Anything that can get me some more money to save up than it's all good."

When this was heard, Shizune asked something that Tsunade and she needed to know "Naruto-kun, where exactly is your current residence? We looked at the files to find out but the apartment complex that it had given us is destroyed and not considered a priority in need of repairs."

Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck "actually I'm living in the forest o death right now."

Tsunade and Shizune were looking at him as if he was insane

" I didn't really have anything important in there and I didn't really care about the building. I used to sleep in the forest before and I chose to do it again."

Shizune went into a worried state as she asked "but how are you able to live there? What do you do for eating, bathing and when someone comes to get you?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly "well I go hunting when I need food. When someone needs me they can find me mostly at Ichiraku or the training ground. As for baths…..I have my ways." he didn't want to tell them that he usually gets clean in the stream he found in the forest and when he really needed to get clean he made appointments with Hana's clinic for a cleaning. It had become a sort of spa treatment for him and he was able to keep this a secret from everyone but Hana and Tsume, who found out about it when she came in during one of his visits.

Tsunade sighed as she shook her head in disapproval "Naruto you need to have a residence in the village. There might be a time that we need to call on you and we can't really send someone into the forest to try and find you. I would recommend that you find an apartment to use so we know where to find you."

Naruto slumped a bit but nodded "ok." he stood up straight and took the scroll that had the details for the delivery mission "I'll go over some of the available apartments when I come back from this mission." he turned around and began to leave the office. He paused when he opened the door and turned to look at Tsunade. He gained a mischievous smile on his face "hey Baa-chan, wanna know something?"

~elsewhere~

Sasuke was walking down the village street as he stared at the ground. He thought about everything that he learned and for the first time in a long time, he felt lost. He had learned the truth about what was really going on with the Uchiha clan. He learned that his own brother had terminated the whole clan because of a coup that they were planning. A part of him was mad at the fact that his family had to die for something like this and on the other hand he saw that his brother had so much that he sacrificed his family to protect it. His brother. The one that he had at one time looked up to with so much admiration and at another time he had hated the man for killing everyone he knew. But one thing that he was told by his brother, stayed strong in his mind: he was dying. Itachi, his only remaining relative, was slowly dying from an illness that he was not getting treated. 'What do I do?" He suddenly found himself walking through the empty Uchiha compound and he couldn't help but think back to all his memories. Once he hated seeing them as they reminded him that his brother had slaughtered all the people there but now as he thought back he couldn't help but see something else. His brother crying for all that he was doing, for what the man named Danzo had forced him to do. What the old man had tried to avoid and what he was spared from. "...What do I do now?" for the first time in a long time, he did not feel anger at the incident, he just felt…..lost.

~a few days later~

Naruto was standing in the middle of a training ground eager to start. With him were Ino, Hinata, and Hanabi.

Hinata was asked by her mother to take Hanabi with her when she went out with Naruto and Ino, which she happily agreed.

Hanabi was looking at Naruto with an interested look in her eye "Naruto-nii-sama? What are you going to do?"

Naruto smiled at Hanabi as he spoke "I learned something a while ago and I want to try it out. I don't know if it will work but if it does, it could be cool!"

Ino shifted her weight onto one leg and put her hands on her hips as she asked: "well what is it? I doubt you would brag about it so much if it wasn't something big."

Naruto gained a foxy look "summoning."

Hinata grew confused at this "but Naruto-kun, don't you already know how to summon? You had one of your toad summons in the audience with us during the Chunin exams."

Naruto nodded "yeah but I found out that I could get another one. I found out that people can get their own summon if they know the hand signs and have the right amount of chakra. The toads summons are great but my um...tou-chan didn't really like them much."

~Flashback~

*BOOM*

"RAMA-TOU-SAMA! I'M SORRY! HE OFFERED IT AND I TOOK IT!" NAruto avoided large paw swipe that created a massive crater behind him

"NO EXCUSE!" Kurama swung his tail at Naruto that was lucky enough to dodge it bu was sent flying from the burst of wind that came from the impact

The wind threw Naruto through several trees until he finally stopped. He groggily looked up to see another tail coming down at him. He extended his own tail to grab on a tree branch and swung himself away from the larger tail. He was sent flying again from the wind but this time he was able to land on his paws and began running for his life. He began to jump left and right to avoid streams of fire that were sent at him "I'm sorry Tou-chan, please stop trying to kill me!"

"I won't stop until you have been punished properly!" Kurama sent out another stream of fire, one larger than the last ones

Naruto looked back to see the fire coming at him "oh ramen…"

Flashback end

Naruto shook his head to get rid of the memory "anyway I learned how to get another one so I want to try it."

Hanabi gained even more interest and moved in front of Naruto "how do you get it?"

Naruto looked down at Hanabi with a smile "for someone who doesn't have a contract, they just do the hand signs and summon. It should summon the holder of the contract for the summon animal that is most suited for you. For me, I just need to make sure that I don't focus on the toads."

Hinata walked up to be behind Hanabi "how did you find this out?"

"I was actually going to ask Ero-sennin but he disappeared and I don't know where he is, so I asked Baa-chan and she told me."

Ino grew curious about this and grew excited as well "well? Are you going to try it or not?"

Naruto smiled as he looked to Hinata and Hanabi "you should all stand back. I don't know how big it is going to be but if it could be just as big as Gamabunta, who is as big as the Ichibi."

The three girls jumped back, giving Naruto the space needed.

Naruto took a deep breath and emptied his mind "ok here we go!" he bit his thumb, spread it on his palm, went through the hand signs and focus a massive amount of chakra, making sure that he had enough. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he slammed his hand on the ground and a large puff of smoke enveloped him.

The three girls were looking on with anticipation to see would appear.

Naruto was also waiting in anticipation to see what would appear and then he heard a voice

"Hmm, it would seem that we finally have a summoner. I would have assumed that no one would ever be able to summon me."

It was a woman's voice. It had an air of maturity but also had an air of mischief

The smoke cleared away and everyone there saw what was summoned. It was a snow fox that stood over Naruto (about the size of a large great Dane. Those dogs are huge). Its ears and tail were black-tipped and it had one small silver earing hoop on its right ear.

Naruto was looking up at the fox. He knew he should have expected this but he just didn't think it would be this way. He just closed his eyes as he heard in his tou-chan just say one thing

"That's more like it! That's a summon worthy of us!"

Naruto could only deadpan at what his father said

The fox looked down at Naruto and gave him an examining look with her golden eyes "so you are to the one that summoned me." she began to walk around the boy and gave him a once over "visibly you don't look like much but you smell like a fox that has some human smell on you." she brought her snout down to sniff the boy's hair "interesting~ hmm you could very well be worthy of being our summoner, even if you already signed the toad contract."

Naruto was shocked to hear this "how did you know that I signed the Toad's contract?"

"Boy, I can smell the toads on you and I recognize Bunta's smell on you."

Naruto actually lifted his shirt and took a sniff at it. He never noticed this before but he could sell toad on him. "Huh...never noticed that I smell like toads now." Naruto looked up at the fox and smiled "well what do I have to do in order to become your summoner?"

The fox lowered her head to gaze into Naruto's eyes and just stared.

Naruto didn't know what it was doing but he just stared back into her eyes as if in a trance

Ino, Hinata, and Hanabi were confused as they watched the two foxes, not that Hanabi knew this, stare into each other's eyes. They watched this go on for a few minutes until they saw movement again.

The fox moved her head back up and looked down at the boy with a sad look. "You have felt much pain before young one."

Naruto shook his head a bit as he looked up "what did you do?"

"I went through your character. You are built from strife and hardships but you stand tall amongst others. You are strong in Will and from this, I have deemed you worthy at being our first summoner."

Naruto looked up in shock at what she said "wait! I'm the first fox summoner!?"

She nodded as she laid down to be more at eye level. "There have been many that have tried to be our summoner but none have been of strong character. Some would have used us as weapons, some would have just seen us as pets and many do not see the value in being a fox summoner. You would see us as friends, treat us like family, and value us as partners." she tapped the ground in between them and a puff of smoke appeared. A large yellow scroll appeared and fell to the side as it opened. "You should know how this is done."

Naruto nodded as he bit his thumb and signed the contract.

Once it was signed she flipped it closed and sent it back to the summoning world. "You are now the first Fox summoner and I look forward to working with you young Naruto." she said as she bowed her head.

Naruto smiled as he bowed in response "thank you...uh….what's your name?"

The fox smiled "you may call me Kaname." and with that, she poofed away

Once Kaname was gone, Ino, Hinata, and Hanabi came close to him.

Ino was the first to speak with a smirk "figures that you would summon a fox. It would have been funny if you summoned a dog."

Naruto gave a mock glare at Ino "ha ha why don't you try and see what you get."

Ino was surprised at the suggestion as she didn't think about becoming a summoner. "You serious?"

Naruto fell back on his butt and gestured his hand to her "well, why not? I mean Hanabi looks like she is ready to do it herself."

Hinata and Ino looked to the little girl and saw that she was slowly going through the hand signs as if practicing them.

Hanabi looked up and blushed a bit in embarrassment at being caught doing this "heh heh."

Ino thought about it for a second and decided that she might as well try it. "Ok Naruto. What are the hand signs?"

Naruto went through the hand signs slowly so Ino could get them right. After a few minutes, she was able to get the hand signs and stood back in order to do it.

Ino bit her thumb, spread the blood on her palm, go through the hand signs and slammed her hand on the ground 'here it goes' "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Like before everyone was excited to see what was summoned this time.

"Mmm~ well it has bee a while since I was summoned. Now what could my potential new summoner be like?"

Out of the smoke came a dark blue cat that sat there looking up at Ino. she spoke as if she was a seductress.

Ino smiled as she knelt down to the cat "so cats are going to be my summons? Not the worst thing ever."

The cat gave a chuckling purr "hmm~ hmm~ don't get ahead of yourself child. You have yet to pass my test. If you are able to pass my test, then you are able to be a Cat summoner."

Ino smirked, "I can pass any test you throw at me."

"You are confident if you believe that you will pass this test. I like that. However, I must ask you…..what do you seek in life?"

Ino was confused at the question as she tilted her head a bit "what do you mean?"

The cat began to walk slowly around Ino and everyone could see that there was a sort of elegance int the way it moved. She shifted her eyes at Ino as it walked "we cats are the most free-spirited animals in all the animal summons. We do what we want when we want, regardless of the situation around us. However, when there is something that we want we will focus our attention on it until we have sunken our paws into it." the cat walked in front of Ino and looked back at the girl with a sly look on its face. "So tell me…... what is it that you wish to sink your claws into?"

Ino wasn't sure how to answer that question. She knew that she wanted to become a good kunoichi but this felt more like something on a personal level. She thought about the question 'what do I want? What is my goal in life?' she kept thinking about it until she looked to Naruto, who was giving her a genuine encouraging smile, not one of the false ones that she had seen him use when in walking through the village. She thought back to the times that he had that fake smile. She hated it as it meant that he was hiding the pain he was feeling. She preferred the genuine smile he rarely shows. She smiled as she remembered that she was one of the rare few that he gives that smile too. As she continued to look at Narutoshe spoke without realizing it "to keep a true smile on the face of the people I care about the most."

The cat was a little stunned at the answer and turned around to see that the girl was looking towards the boy that was with them. 'She answers true and such a simple yet impactful goal. She just might be our purr~fect summoner.' "you are an interesting one. And with an answer like that, you might be the right person for us." she sat down and taped her tail on to the ground next to her. A puff of smoke appeared and a large red scroll was standing there. She jumped on top of the scroll and looked into Ino's eyes. "This is the Neko summoning scroll. Sign your name in your own blood and press your fingerprints below and you shall officially become our summoner."

Ino was shocked at hearing this "but what about the test? I thought you were going to test me to see if I was worthy of being your summoner."

The cat licked her paw before cleaning her head "the question I gave was to see what you wanted to gain by being our summoner. You answered without really knowing that you answered and it was such a pu~re one. You wish to protect the smile that the boy has and in turn keep that smile aimed at you. My kin and I will test you later as a form of training you to best use us. I like you girl, and I look forward to seeing how you use us."

Ino smiled at this and nodded. She watched the cat jump off the scroll, getting it to fall to the side and roll open. Ino bit her thumb and signed the contract, pressed her thumb on her fingers before pressing her bloody fingerprints down on the space below her name.

Once the name was written, the cat tapped the scroll, which rolled itself up and poofed away "pleasu~re having you as our summoner Ino Yamaka. I am known as KuroNeko. Hope you summon us son" she poofed away after giving her name

Ino looked to Naruto who just smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

Naruto looked to Hinata who was standing by Hanabi "are you going to try?"

Hanabi tugged on Hinata's jacket causing the older girl to look down on her "can we Onee-chan?"

Hinata thought about it for a second and decided to join Ino in this. She also saw the excitement in her little sister's eyes and couldn't deny them. "Ok"

Both Hyugas stood across from each other and prepared to do the summoning. They both took a breath and went through the same method Ino went through. They went through the hand signs slower as to get them right and once they hit the last one, they both shouted out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

As before large plumes of smoke appeared and they waited for what would be summoned/

A low growl was heard from in front of Hinata and it caused everyone to be on edge.

Hanabi was looking into the smoke in front of her and could see what it was.

"Well well well, this is amazing. I didn't expect to be summoned again!" spoke a male voice that sounded happy and excited

Hanabi smiled as she saw an Otter standing in front of her. It was a brown otter with a white underbelly and it wore an ocean blue vest.

"Hmm?" the otter looked her up and down and in a quick bit of movement, it climbed up to her shoulder and leaned on her head "well this is the first time that I have ever been summoned by a kid but beggars can't be choosers. Well actually they can but it would get them nothing." the otter moved to be on top of Hanabi's head and leaned forward so he could look into her eyes upside down "so what's your name?"

Hanabi was taken aback by this but regained her Hyuga composure and answered: "my name is Hanabi Hyuga."

"Hmm, a Hyuga. Never had one of those before. Sweet!"

They both stopped as they heard a growl from in front of them.

Hinata was stunned to see her summon. It was a large lion that was clad in red regal armor that had gold highlights.

The lion looked down at Hinata and spoke in a voice that sounded deep and noble "it would seem that I have once again been summoned to this world. You are the one that seeks to be the summoner of the noble lions."

Hinata gave a weak nod at the intimidating sight

"I sense fear in you. I apologize if I come off as intimidating."

"I-i-it's f-f-fine."

The lion chose not to move as to not scare the girl "you need not be afraid of me as it would be a dishonor to intimidate someone who wishes to be our summoner." A whimper was heard from behind the lion and he turned around to see what it was. He saw that it was a little girl that was younger than the one that summoned him.

Hanabi took a step back when she saw the lion turn to face her. She never faced something like this and it was the first time she had ever seen a lion. She held on to the Otter

The lion analyzed the little girl for a few seconds and was about to speak in order to calm the little girl down but he grew shocked when he saw this summoner come up and stand protectively in front of her. He could still sense fear in the older girl but he was extremely impressed that she would forgo her own fear to protect the little one. Looking at them both, he realized that they were related. He smiled at this and loid down to make him seem less intimidating "I sense fear still within you but you ignore it in order to protect one that is important to you. You have courage young one and that is a wonderful thing to have. what is your name?"

Hinata spoke with as much courage she had "Hinata Hyuga"

"Well young Hinata, you have shown me the courage to face against your fears and that is what we seek in our summoner. It would be an honor to have you as our summoner."

The otter in Hanabi's arms nodded as he looked to her "same here. You seem like someone that could be fun to be with and I hear Hyugas are strong. The best choice to have, really." He hopped out of her arms and bowed to her "the names: Sora, Kawausora."

The Lion bowed his head "I am Leonidus."

Hinata and Hanabi were both smiling as this meant that they have also gained a summon. They hugged each other in happiness as they had succeeded.

Naruto and ino sat on the side as they watched all this happen.

Ino looked to Naruto and smiled "Thanks for finding this out Naruto and sharing this with us."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders "It wasn't hard for me to share this with you and I'm glad that you girls are summoners as well."

Ino smiled as she leaned her head on his shoulder "why is it that you always seem to make us want to be more than we are? To want more than we thought we did."

"Hmm don't know. But if it makes you and Hinata happy than I'll do whatever I have to for that."

"...dork"

After all was done Naruto, Hinata, and Ino laid on the grass together with Hanabi playing with her new summon

End of chapter

Guess who's back. My hand has been freed from the damn cast and I am able to write once more. Let me tell you it is a pain trying to use only my non-dominant hand for stuff. Couldn't write, couldn't draw, could barely eat without dropping foo but I digress

Stuff to bring up

The poll will now be closing. The poll has been opened far longer than I originally planned. I was only going to have it opened for a few weeks, a month at the most but it has been open for two months now and as you can see the winners have been established

The summon's speech are not bold as they don't have that booming voice that Kurama and the other three great summons have

for the voices, in my head, the fox has the same voice as the fox from Balto two, the nat: Kuroka from Highschool Dxd and the lion sounds like Aslan from Narnia. (I own none of these). the Otter I don't really have a voice reference so imagine his voice

Hiruzen is now free and before anyone starts to say anything that bit in his speech is not meant to offend. I put that little reference because I love that speech and saw this as a way to use it with a touch of humor.

The canvas bit on explaining Sasuke was actually something that I use as an analogy on humans. When a baby is born, it is a blank slate. As it grows older it becomes a clearer painting with the paints being the experiences and the brush strokes being the choices that are made. At the end of it, your portrait is hung on the wall of a museum for others to see what you were.

Ino finally did what Anko had told her to do many chapters ago

I hope you liked this chapter

967 favorites and 1240 follows. Let's get that favorites to a solid thousand! Especially since it will be one full year since I published this in a week

Has not been beta read but the beta read version shall replace this one when it has been but for now just enjoy this

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