Chapter 31 – Rajah

"Talk"

'Think'

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei. So…yeah.

A/N: Thank you minnatarek, Robin namikaze and Uncletoffel for your supports.

"Thank you human, for your kindness"

…

…

…

'Did the tiger just talk?' the three of them thought in unison.

"Y-you can talk?" asked Noriko hesitantly.

"Evidently" answered the tiger.

The three of them stared at the tiger who just stared at them unblinkingly.

"Why did you save me?" asked the tiger to Noriko.

"I-I don't know…I just don't think it's right to leave you like that" answered Noriko.

The tiger just stared at her then it said "I believe you"

"What are you doing here in the forest?" asked the tiger.

"We are having a test- OH NO! I completely forgot about the test!" yelled Noriko in panic.

The three of them began to scramble and ran while the tiger followed.

"What test?" it asked.

"Can we talk later Tiger-san? We are kind of rushing right now" yelled Noriko.

"Why don't you tree-jumping?"

"I-"Noriko turned to the tiger, and then turned to Tenzō "Can you tree-jump, Tenzō?"

"Yes" said Tenzō and the three of them jumped to the nearest trees.

'This is fun' thought the tiger 'like that one time when I chased those cute toads' then shuddered when remembered how the toads were not at all amused by his action, and he was beaten soundly by a tiny old toad. To top it all, his father ordered him to stay in Myōbokuzan for a year as punishment as well as to learn the way of toad and learn to respect them. Now whenever he's bored, Training Ground 44 was his playground until he met the humans.

"There's the gate! Ready, Noriko?" yelled Naruto.

"Yes!"

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled Naruto and Noriko.

Masses of Naruto and Noriko appeared, and then all of them shouted "Henge!"

Kakashi was reading when the ground shook and hordes of Tenzō ran to him followed by a trail of dust.

"What-"

Once the dust has settled, he saw his genins stood proudly; Noriko grinned, Naruto beamed widely and make a V with his fingers while Tenzō smiled.

Then Kakashi had another shock when a humongous white tiger appeared next to them and asked Noriko "What test?"

'Tiger?' thought Kakashi 'None of the dogs said anything about tiger'

Kakashi had his summons, Bisuke, Pakkun and Guruko trailed Noriko, Naruto and Tenzō discreetly. Bisuke had reported that Noriko ran to Naruto (that one he had anticipated) followed by Pakkun reporting Naruto and Noriko ran to save Tenzō from tiger attack. Since Guruko did not make any emergency call, Kakashi assumed everything went A-ok.

Kakashi's thought was interrupted by a loud noise coming from his alarm clock and the scream from his team "Yeay! We made it on time! We are genin now!"

"Really?" Kakashi drawled "I specifically said-"

"You'll accept the first two to arrive as your team" cut Noriko "Can you name which two of us arrived first?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

Kakashi scowled at her. 'No no no, this is all wrong! I'm supposed to make them sweat, cried, panic!' Inner Kakashi was crying and lamenting 'Why? Why? Why all of my plans went wrong?"

Noriko had him there. The hordes of Tenzō and the dust had made it difficult for him to determine who arrived first and the three of them took advantage of the dust to released their henge.

Kakashi scowled turned to smile "You all pass" with his thumb up. He could not be prouder at his team 'See Obito? They are better than we were. They understand and work as a team'

Then Kakashi asked Noriko "Who's this?"

"He's the Tiger that attacked Tenzō…" Noriko trailed of as if remembered something, then she turned to the Tiger "Do you have a name?"

The tiger snorted "Took you long enough. Come, beat me and I'll tell you my name"

"I just did" quipped Tenzō.

The tiger huffed and said "Fine. My name is Rajah"

"Hi Rajah, I'm Noriko"

"Yo! I'm Naruto"

"Hello, my name's Tenzō"

"I'm Kakashi… … …are you a summoning tiger?"

Rajah cocked his head "In a way"

"What's a summoning tiger?" asked Naruto.

"Theoretically, a tiger that can be summoned by a shinobi who has made a contract with it" explained Rajah.

'Theoretically?' thought Kakashi.

"Cool! How can we make a contract?" asked Naruto

"In that case, who summoned you?" asked Noriko

"Does that mean there was another shinobi in the forest with us?" asked Tenzō

"I didn't know anyone in Konoha that has a Tiger contract" stated Kakashi.

"I was not summoned. I was playing in the forest when I sensed you" Rajah cocked his head towards Tenzō "I though a new playmate would be fun" he purred.

"You were playing? You were playing?! I was terrified! I honestly thought I was going to be eaten" yelled Tenzō.

"See? Fun" Rajah purred "Anyway-" he spitted out a scroll from his mouth on Noriko's feet "Here. You are my summoner now"

"What?" asked Noriko, shocked.

"What?" asked Tenzō in surprised.

"What?" asked Kakashi thinking this day could not get any weirder.

"Why Noriko?" asked Naruto, pouting. He had envisioned him riding Rajah and defeat the enemy.

Rajah looked at Naruto in the eyes "Because she showed me kindness…and she need assistance regarding the Kyūbi as you've already got yours"

"What?!" asked Tenzō in surprised "Kyūbi?"

Kakashi, sensing things are getting out of his hand intervened "I think we better discuss this with Hokage"

Hokage Office

"…and so, here we are" finished a rather tired Kakashi. Since none of his teams can shunshin, and walking with a humongous tiger would clear the town ('Not a bad idea' he thought), he had to produced kage bunshin to transport all of them to hokage's office 'I'm teaching them Shunshin tomorrow. This is draining me' resolved Kakashi.

Shisui processed Kakashi's report in his brain and then turned to Rajah

"Why don't you just teleport here?"

"He-" pointed towards Kakashi with his head "-didn't ask. It was kind of nice" said Rajah with a grin.

Kakashi glared at him. Today was really not his day. 'Who did I offend to deserve this' cried Inner Kakashi.

"The key for the Kyūbi's seal was guarded by the toad-" said Shishui

'Toad? Uh uh' thought Rajah worriedly.

"I am not sure how this will work. If Noriko signed the contract with you, can she still use the key?" voiced Shisui

"Why don't you asked them?" asked Rajah "I'll get one for you" he poofed off.

Myōbokuzan

Rajah appeared and he heard "Well, well, well, look what we have here, the naughty kitty. Come back for another lesson huh?" asked an elderly toad called Fukasaku.

'MEOW!'

End Chapter 31

A/N: That was the last for Noriko. Her power and Naruto's are like when you go eat a buffet. In Noriko's case, she heaped all the food on one plate then sat down and savoured each slowly whereas in Naruto's case, he ate at a slow pace then continually refill until in the end, they both ate the same amount.

A/N: Rajah was like my cats. They do whatever they like.

A/N: Tenzō did not defeat Rajah. Rajah was too lazy to break out.

Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique

Myōbokuzan – Mount Myōboku

Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Technique