A/N: Hey guys! I just want to thank you all for your continued support! HOUSTON, WE HAVE BROKEN 300 REVIEWS! REPEAT: BROKEN 300 REVIEWSW! I do have a question though;
Why are haters actually a thing? I get that you don't have to like something, but why be a dick about it? Why can't you either politely tell me why, or just not even say anything? Do you get some sort of sick satisfaction from people getting angry? Does their reaction make you feel better about yourself? Make you feel like you have some modicum of power in a world that doesn't care about you? Or is it just that you're trying to push your sense of inferiority onto others? Are you jealous that people are more popular than you? Are you jealous that they get positive attention? Or is it just that you feel the need to be a dick because your own life doesn't please you, so you want everyone else to be miserable?
Guest: why would Sakura be concerned enough to move in for him to break her arm? Konohamaru loves his cousin, and Gaara was worried for his friend. Sakura and Naruto at the moment are at best teammates.
Wolf's Bar: thank you! :3 yeah, I never said there was anything WRONG with the title of Kami no Shinobi, it just irritates me when people make fics about Godlike! Characters.
Darkhuntreessxir: Why do you always act like the voice over for DBZ? I'm not angry or irritated, I'm just curious.
Gsapper: I realize that was meant as a positive and non-derisive way of saying you kind of like my story without solid enthusiasm, but I just couldn't help but see it as you saying 'this is a second choice and I have little interest in it aside from the fact it gets updated frequently'.
Thor94: the title of the story is 'The ANBU Genin'. That's being fulfilled right now. He's a Genin. He's former ANBU. How does that not fit up? The mark of a good story, in my opinion, is that it can deviate from expectations and still keep the reader entertained. So far, I seem to be doing that.
: I got the inspiration from the story 'Uzumaki Naruko: To the Victor, The Spoils V2' I mean it makes sense: Kushina was Itachi's Jounin-sensei, where would he get a summoning contract except from a sensei, because the Uchiha used hawks or something. Idk. I like it though. Crows are stealthy as fuck, cause you never see them appear, just like Kushina- and Naruto- doing their pranks. Buut when they want you to know they're there, they are fucking LOUD. Again, just like two certain Uzumaki.
Chapter 33: Contract!
Three days had passed since Naruto's little... incident. All that time, he'd avoided literally everyone by roughing it in Training Ground 44. Hiruzen and Asuma had been fairly understanding that he wanted some time alone, and had promised to talk to Konohamaru for him and apologize. He'd sensed Anko in the forest at one point, either searching for him or prepping the tower for the Chuunin exams, but he'd managed to keep her away from him. However, today he had to leave and interact with people, because he'd promised Jiraiya, Nagato, and Itachi- through Asuma- that he'd meet them on the Hokage Monument to sign a contract. With a heavy sigh, he packed up his makeshift camp, throwing dirt on the fire he'd been using to cook his food and keep warm when night fell. He made it to the gate in moments, then headed out, walking fairly quickly with his head down, with the intent of heading straight to the Monument. He also made it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!
"Naru-nii!" Naruto's head snapped up as Konohamaru lunged at him with a flying glomp. As soon as the boy's torso made contact with the blond's stomach, his arms latched on like a vice. Naruto was about to say something when he felt two more weights latch onto his legs. He looked down to see that Udon and Moegi had attached themselves to his shins. Nonplussed, he shrugged and kept walked, lifting the two easily as Konohamaru's legs dangled between his own. The Hokage' biological grandson was still fairly short.
"Nii-san, where were you?" Moegi asked, muffled by the denim of Naruto's jeans.
"I was... taking a little vacation," Naruto answered uneasily. Konohamaru said something into his stomach, but it was way too muffled to be comprehensible. "What was that Kono?" the boy pulled his head back enough to be heard, his fluffy tophair swaying with the motion.
"I'm glad you're okay, Naru-nii. I was worried." Konohamaru then buried his face into his cousin's stomach once more. Naruto felt his eyes soften and his heart implode at the declaration. Even after his lash out, Konohamaru couldn't hate him. And he was an idiot for ever thinking otherwise. He smiled as he kept walking, the Konohamaru Corps not releasing their holds. And so, that's how he showed up at the Hokage Monument, to the amusement of Itachi and Jiraiya, with three children clinging to him like he was a teddy bear.
"Nii-chan, Ero-sennin." Jiraiya facefaulted, grumbling angrily aboutthe nickname and the amount of disrespect in younger people, but he was cut short by a loud laugh that seemingly came from the treeline nearby. Itachi stiffened at the sound.
"Naruto," he said slowly. "Please tell me that isn't who I think it is." Naruto cocked an eyebrow at him.
"And just who do you think it is?"
"I'm not hearing you say it."
"That's because I'm not." Itachi glared at the blond as Nagato's Deva path walked from the treeline, his Akatsuki cloak no longer present. Instead, he now had standard Shiinobi pants and sandals, with a deep crimson shirt, the Uzumaki Spiral obvious on the front in searing orange. Jiraiya's eyes widened at the sight.
"Yahiko!" Deva Path frowned slightly and shook it's head.
"No, Jiraiya-Sensei. Yahiko died years ago. I am using his body as my physical presence in places I myself cannot go." the orange-haired, metal-studded body then turned to Naruto and bowed slightly. "I apologize if I am late, Naruto-sama. As Deva Path got farther from me, it became harder to control."
Naruto flapped his hand dismissively.
"You aren't late, Nagato. And I told you to stop calling me -sama."
"Old habits, as the saying goes."
"Nagato?" Now, Jiraiya just looked utterly confused. "But this is... Yahiko..." he trailed off as Deva Path turned towards him, revealing the Rinnegan. "But only Nagato had the Rinnegan... I am so confused."
"As much as I would like to discuss the intricacies of the Six Paths of Pain, I came for a reason."
"As did we all," Itachi hissed slightly. "Naruto, what is he doing here?!"
"I invited him. Nagato is no longer hunting me, Itachi." the use of his name appeared to shock the usually stoic Uchiha. "He is a member of the Uzumaki, and has sworn loyalty to the clan before himself. Pein is no longer a threat. By the way, Nagato, how's Akatsuki's reform policy going?"
"Obviously, a few of our members are opposed to the idea."
"Hidan, I'm guessing was the most vocal?"
"Indeed, although Kisame and Deidara were close behind his lead."
"You know Hidan?" Itachi asked suddenly. Naruto frowned.
"I had the ...pleasure of meeting Mr. Immortal Idiot a few years ago, right after he joined the Akatsuki. But, I take it you set them straight, Nagato?"
"Kisame quieted down quickly, simply because I was so honest about my intentions with the group. Deidara, I merely had to threaten siccing Itachi on him once more. Last I checked, Hidan was still griping- loudly I might add- but Kakuzu said he'd straighten him out."
"Good. Alright, so, the reason you're all here." all three of his adult guests, the children having scampered off some time since Nagato got there, spoke simultaneously.
"I want you to sign my contract." as soon as the words were spoken, all three glared at each other.
"He has a duty as an Uzumaki to sign the Osprey Contract."
"His legacy from his father is the Toad Contract."
"The Crows were his mothers'." A three-way lightning bolt formed between the trio, none willing to back down.
"All valid points," Naruto said loudly, gaining their attention. "But seeing as I know nothing about them aside from those points, I don't know which will be best suited to me. So, I want you all to summon a representative, the Boss if you can, to argue the finer points of each contract." Jiraiya and Itachi immediately went through the handsigns after biting their thumbs.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" two puffs of smoke, one very large and one about the size of Akamaru, later and the bosses of the Toads and the Crows were present. Itachi turned to Deva path.
"Well?" Deva grumbled under it's breath,
"Give me minute then. Kawarimi." with a puff, Deva Path was gone, replaced by Nagato's real body, and he was glaring at the blond.
"You planned this." Naruto nodded, grinning.
"You're an Uzumaki too, my duty is your duty." Nagato had to take several minutes to pull out and sign the Osprey contract, clearly ignoring Itachi and Jiraiya's gaping, before he weaved the signs, putting his hand against the small space before him in his machine. Another Akamaru-sized puff of smoke cleared to reveal the hawk-like bird of prey.
"Well... that's new," it chirped. "Alright, who summoned me?" Naruto pointed at Nagato behind the bird. It turned.
"I am Nagato. I only signed the contract and summoned you, because my cousin here needed a representative of the Ospreys to argue for signing this contract instead of the Toads or Crows. After this situation is resolved, I will be removing my name from your contract.
"What, are we not good enough for ya?!" the predator puffed it's chest out and spread it's wings slightly.
"I just don't use summons. It's not really my style."
"Oh. Okay then." Naruto had to sigh at the switch the summon animal had taken in demeanor.
"I take it you two," he pointed at the birds. "Aren't the boss summons?" both shook their heads. "Alrighty, so Itachi and Nagato don't have enough Chakra to summon the Bosses. Lovely. Anywho, the problem, as it stands, is that three different summoning contracts are being offered to me, and I don't know anything about them aside from the animals and legacy."
"I'll start then," the Crow said, stepping forward. "My name is Kisaru, and we crows are used for stealth and surveillance. If you sign with us, we will teach you the Crow Clone. Itachi-san has displayed this multiple times. We also use Genjutsu quite a bit, and will help you in that regard." Naruto nodded and gestured to the giant toad that was sitting behind his Godfather. It pulled it's long pipe from its' mouth and exhaled.
"My name is Gamabunta, and I'm the Boss of the Toads. We're front-line fighters, we use oil in conjunction with Katon jutsu to make deadly explosions. We have smaller toads who can be used for spying or delivering messages, and once your body stops growing and settles, we can teach you to use Senjutsu. You'd be the Gama Sennin if you survive."
"And what are the odds of survival of Senjutsu training?" Naruto asked.
"About one in every fifteen." Naruto nodded and stroked his chin thoughtfully, then gestured to the Osprey, who harrumphed.
"Well, we Ospreys don't seem like much compared to those two, now do we? Why would you chose us after those?"
"You never know," Naruto said with a grin. "I tend to defy expectations. Please, describe your clan."
"Okay... we're mainly hunters and recon specialists. We can't do much in the way of jutsu, but we come in big enough sizes to add a flight tactical advantage to any battlefield."
"And what is your name specifically?" Naruto asked politely. The bird looked surprised at the question,
"I didn't say? Huh. It's Sharu." Naruto nodded.
"I thank you all for your input about your clans. After hearing all arguments, I've reached the decision that I won't sign any of them." the three other humans all screamed simultaneously.
"WHAT?!"
"I can't seem to choose just one. They all have excellent points, and they are all extremely useful. But if I sign one, the other two are left without a legacy to continue, and it just wouldn't be fair." Itachi saw right through the blond's stoic facade, through to the hidden smirk underneath. He glowered at the teen.
"You conniving little shit."
The three summons looked at each other, then the two birds flew up to Gamabunta's shoulders. They held a whispered conversation for several minutes, then turned to the group.
"Due to extenuating circumstances," Gamabunta finally started. "We have agreed to allow this Gaki to sign all three contracts. Kisaru-san and Sharu-san will return home and inform the bosses of this development." Naruto grinned and bowed a bit to the three summons as they poofed away. The three adults glared at him.
"You had that planned from the moment you got here, didn't you?" Jiraiya seethed. He'd been played like a fiddle.
"What? I would never!" Naruto said with exaggerated hurt, placing his hand on his chest dramatically. "It was just happy coincidence that they decided to allow me all three." Itachi scoffed.
"You mean you played all six of us like a damn fiddle."
"As you will, the contracts please!" Naruto held out his arms, grinning cheekily. Two were thrown at him, but Nagato took the time to wipe his name from the Osprey Contract before launching it at the blond's head. It was caught easily and unrolled next to the other two. Naruto cut his thumb open and signed all three quickly, leaving his bloody fingerprints at the bottoms, before anyone could change their minds. Jiraiya was outvoted by Itachi and Nagato to show the blond how to use the jutsu.
"I would think you'd all be happy about this. You're all getting what you want, right?"
"That's beside the point, Gaki," Jiraiya said snippily. "The whole idea was loyalty to one Contract." Naruto stiffened, his hair suddenly shadowing his eyes menacingly.
"Like loyalty to one person? Like loyalty to one Nation? If people learned to get along and have multiple loyalties, many of the Shinobi World Wars could have been avoided." all three adults were suddenly cowed by the revelation of why Naruto had tricked his way into all three contracts. He turned and pointed at Nagato.
"If a bird of prey can learn to work alongside it's food, then why can't an S-Ranked Nukenin learn to forgive past mistakes?" Nagato ducked his head in shame. Naruto turned his finger on Itachi. "If an anti-social species can learn to set aside it's issues for the greater good, why can't the head of a militaristic clan learn to broker peace?" Itachi closed his eyes in a flinch as Naruto turned to his final victim. "If a selfish animal clan can set aside it's pride and learn to share, why can't an old man learn that loyalty is to an ideal, not a faction?" Jiraiya was most shaken as he paled and sat down hard, looking like he might vomit.
The view of those three
Before them stood not an ANBU, not a Shinobi. Before them stood not a child, nor a Jinchuuriki.
Before them stood an emissary of peace.
Before them stood the power to change the world.
Before them stood the second coming of the Rikudo Sennin.