Hello again folks Back with a new chapter. This will contain fights this time. I appreciate all the great reviews, and hope to keep seeing them. Nevertheless, Here is the story.
A wind flows through the ramen stand, as Mikal stands smiling at the boy before him. He grips the boy's hand firmly and shakes it once. He then lets go and drops some money on the counter. After dropping it, he motions for Naruto to follow him. Naruto pays as well and the 2 disappear off toward a training ground. As they arrive, Mikal stands at the center of the field and motions for Naruto to stand in front of him.
"Now the first thing for me to show the technique," Mikal says looking at the boy with a smile. He then forms a set of seals and draws out his chakra. The energy coalesces with his hand and then he slams his hand into the ground. A man sized reddish-orange bird appears next to him, then looks to Mikal.
"What did you need Master Mikal?" the bird asks inquisitively, cocking its head to the side. Mikal smiles at the bird warmly, and then points toward Naruto, which the bird follows the finger's path to the boy. The bird looks Naruto up and down, as if sizing him up. "You seem different than most children. My name is Heart's Fire. Master Mikal must have a very deep interest in you to showcase one of his most powerful arts."
Naruto looks on in awe at the bird before him, a mark of confusion marring his features. Something in his mind was missing something and just seemed off about the entire thing. Then it occurred to him suddenly, and he looked to Mikal with a look of excitement that was of a man who is about to be told the winning lottery numbers. His glee could hardly be contained, and a fox-like grin spread across his features. The ability to summon an ally to fight for you was a very high level Jutsu that only Jouunin were supposedly allowed to learn. He had heard in class the 4 summons of Konoha. The Monkey, Toad, Slug, and Snake. He then thought for a second. Birds were not on the list of Konoha's summons. Then it struck him. Either this man had discovered a new summon for Konoha, or he was probably a missing ninja. Naruto began to take a step away from Mikal, a look of fear crossing his eyes. The man across from him smiled warmly.
"So I see you figured out what I am? No surprise after I summoned something not on the list of Konoha's summoning list," Mikal said with a slight chuckle. "I suppose the jig is up huh, Heart's Fire?" Mikal says looking at the bird. The bird looks at him thoughtfully for a moment before looking absolutely confused. Mikal then looks at Naruto, smiling with the warmth that an uncle would for one of his favorite nephews. "I still offer the jutsu if you're willing Naruto. I may be a missing-nin, but not all are bad people. Some are just misunderstood for their intentions. I'll let you be the judge of my character, Naruto-san," he says, smiling. He looks into Naruto's eyes, and for some reason that moment seems to freeze in time.
Naruto can't find a single hint of deception in the man's eyes. He sees a sense of caring, trust, and a hint of sorrow? The sorrow seemed to be the pain of loss, something he knew all too well. He knew it better than to ask, but his curiosity wouldn't let him let it go. After a single moment he quashed it to the corner of his mind for a later questioning. "I'll take the offer, bird-sensei. It would be a great help to me, but why would you give me such a jutsu? I would think you could find many better candidates than I."
"You'd be surprised the requirements for this jutsu. It requires an acceptance by the summons, and massive amount of chakra. They only accept those with pure intentions, and a truly honest heart. You meet those requirements without question. I have traveled many lands, and have found the land lacking a heart. People see these summons as a means to an end with power being their goal. One must see them as companions and equals who will travel the roads of life with you. This line of summons is called the "Fennikusu" or the Phoenix, as they like to be called," Mikal says with a sage-like tone but keeping his warm smile. "Heart's Fire will be judging to see if you are worthy of being a Phoenix summoner. I know with certainty that you will qualify, but formalities and all."
Heart's Fire flutters over to Naruto and looks into his eyes. Naruto feels strangely at peace as he stares into the bird's eyes. As he looked into the eyes, he could swear there was a flame dancing wildly behind its eyes. It almost seemed hypnotic, but just beyond the grasp of reaching that level. It gave him a sense of serenity that he hadn't felt in a long time. Then suddenly felt the need to sing something. A song that he knew from the faintest reaches of his memory, a memory he was sure wasn't his, but at the same time belonged to only him alone. The song in his mind seemed ancient and powerful, but not destructive or malicious. It was a peaceful calamity of things that seemed to string together, a contradiction that seemed all too proper. He felt that the song needed to be sung in his heart, but in a way for the world to hear. It was confusing and mind shattering, and if it were not for the calming effect of Heart's Fire's eyes, Naruto was sure he'd have been driven mad. Something then clicked inside both Naruto's heart and mind. A moment of clarity, and he finally understood. The way to sing was through the actions he could take. To move to the rhythm of his heart and symphony of his ideals, he'd need to dance in harmony with them. The bird then turns to Mikal and flutters back over to him.
"He's quite the find. I believe he figured it out even faster than you did, Master Mikal," the bird said with a slight chuckle to its voice. "He may summon us as he pleases. I will inform the Lord," Heart's Fire continued, disappearing afterward in a short burst of flame. The ground around where he'd left was not harmed at all by the fire it seems, as Naruto scanned the area for burn marks.
"So it would seem I have found my successor," Mikal says with a bit of a laugh. "I will need you to get something from the Hokage the next you meet, and you won't be able to use this jutsu without becoming a ninja first. Otherwise it is considered illegal, and the people around you would have more reason to hate you. I would rather they see you as I see you, but we don't have the luxury to force our views and beliefs on others. So we shall start from the beginning," Mikal says, reaching into his kunai pouch to grab a kunai. He tosses it gently to Naruto to catch.
The boy catches it and looks at it for a moment. The kunai seemed to have a few strange markings on it, which did seem to spiral all the way to the point. Naruto could tell it was sharp, but it would be ruined if used in combat. "Why hand me a kunai useless in a training session?" asked Naruto with a huff.
"Really now," Mikal says with a bit of a smile that reminded Naruto a little too much of his own. "I don't hand out useless trinkets. Everything has a purpose and a use. You need only seek out the answer as to what and how. Tell me what makes that particular kunai worthless?"
"The markings would be ruined if I struck it against something even remotely hard. The edge would need to be sharpened almost all the time to keep this level after being struck and placing dings in the blade," Naruto said as if it was obvious.
"And your conclusion of the weapon is that it can't be used for what?" he states with a look that makes Naruto wonder if the man was a little bird brained. Mikal taps a finger to his temple in thought as if confused.
"It can't be used in hand to hand combat!" Naruto yells at his new sensei. Then it clicks. "It wasn't intended to be used in direct combat, right?" Naruto asked, looking a bit sheepish.
"There you have it," Mikal says dropping the confusion completely and showing a wide grin. The man then pulls a dagger similar to it out of his pouch. "So what do you know of summoning, Naruto-san?"
"Not much," Naruto mentioned, head hanging down at his lack of knowledge. He was always considered the idiot of his class, and he was always the dead last in his class. The teachers wouldn't help him, or teach him the wrong way, except for Iruka. He then hears a chuckle from Mikal and Naruto just glares in anger at the man. "What's so funny?" asks Naruto, furious that someone would laugh at his misfortune.
"You worry too much sometimes. This is a lesson, and I won't be judging your knowledge. I just need to know where you stand so I know how to explain things," Mikal says, gripping the kunai in his hand. "Lesson one on summoning. You need a blood sacrifice. It only needs a small amount, but needs it nevertheless. That kunai was specially prepared for this reason. This kunai was prepared for a different purpose but similar to that one. That kunai's seals were made to enhance the chakra used in the summoning, thus making the higher summons available with less chakra. This kunai allows the wielder to store chakra inside it for use in a summoning jutsu, but only summonings. That will be your tool to train with, and my act of goodwill toward your training," Mikal tells Naruto, walking up to him after the explanation. He places his kunai in his pouch and places a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I want you to know something Naruto," Mikal says with a serious expression. "I am a missing-nin, and this means that I can't always be there for you, but remember this. There will always be someone there for you if you just look. Just remember to keep true to your heart, and you'll find friends that will endear themselves to you. I will return later to check your progress, but remember to study about the jutsu you are about to use. A jutsu is only as powerful as what you can use it for," Mikal states with a look of tiredness to his eyes and in the tone of his voice. He then smiles at the boy with eyes squinted, making him look mischievous. "You'll also need one other thing for the summoning, but you'll be getting that from the Hokage when you ask about it, whether he likes it or not I'm sure. For now though, you go get some rest," Mikal states, looking back toward a tree near the edge of the training ground. "It would seem I have an uninvited guest," Mikal says, doing a single hand sign, then throwing a shuriken into the branches. A woman with red eyes and untamed black hair drops to the ground, kunai drawn. "Get out of here and get some rest Naruto."
Naruto leaves the area in a hurry toward his apartment in a hurry. Mikal looks across toward the woman and smiles. "Nice work on that genjutsu. Almost got me, but you need to get up earlier in the morning to get ahead of me. So I take it your going to give me the spiel on how you're going to capture me and that this will go easier if I surrender?" Mikal asks with a slight smirk.
"I would, but I doubt that you'd surrender," she says lowering herself into an attack stance, before charging forward, "but I doubt you'd accept surrender as an option." As she reaches Mikal, she finds her target wearing a smile before parrying her weapon with a kunai of his own.
"At least you're straight forward. I like that in a woman, but too bad I'm not looking," Mikal says, pushing her away with his kunai, before forming rapid hand seals. "I don't have time to waste on you though," he says as he finishes the seals and places a finger to his lips. "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique," he states as a large blast of fire fills the area the woman is in. He smirks as he notices a single kunai's edge placed against his throat.
"Yield," the woman says, smirking. Mikal shakes his head in response, smiling himself.
"A genjutsu specialist? Definitely an interesting choice of specializations, but you fail to realize one important thing," he states, raising a single finger. "I am an A-rank missing-nin for a reason." With that said he puffs out of existence and into hundreds of feathers. "Now I believe I should show you what genjutsu lacks a defense against," he states appearing amongst the feathers above the ground. "Phoenix Art: Rising Immolation." Mikal causes all the feathers to ignite and rise into the air, then each of them explodes. As soon as the explosions stop, Mikal seems to land on the ground and looks at the woman. She lies on the ground, burn marks all across her body and he clothes nearly scorched from her body. "You should know better than to face an A-rank missing-nin on your own. I'm pretty sure you just wanted to ensure the safety of the boy right?" Mikal says, looking down at the woman then kneeling next to her. He begins to place a hand at her stomach, but the woman feebly tries to push it away. "I'm just trying to heal some of the more severe wounds, nothing more," he states, giving her a look of worried concern. "That last blast will have caught someone's attention, and I'd rather just leave peacefully. Now may I ask what a lovely lady such as youself's name is?" he asks politely.
"Kurenai," the woman says after a brief moment of thought. "What is yours?" Kurenai asks, looking at the man's eyes. Something seemed strange about them, something missing that she almost seemed saddened by.
"My name is Sentra, master summoner of the 'Fennikusu'", Mikal states with a smile that seemed a little empty. "A pleasure to meet you Kurenai. I wish we had met on better terms, but being shinobi and all never seems to help that particular situation," he says, chuckling softly. He let's a green chakra flow around his hand like water. He then runs the hand over Kurenai's skin, the chakra fluctuating once in awhile over minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. After a few moments, the chakra dissipates, and Mikal smiles at her with a wide grin. "Guess my good nature got the better of me. You should be able to get to your hospital without much pain, so I'll see you around," he tells her, getting up and walking a few steps before stopping and turning his head back. "We'll have to do this again sometime." With that he vanishes into sunset with a shunshin.
Kurenai looks on in a sense of confusion. 'Who was that man?' she thinks to herself, slowly getting up, 'and what did he want with Naruto?' A squad of ANBU gets to the scene at around this moment, weapons drawn and scanning the area. Kurenai sighs, and walks up to the ANBU commander and taps his shoulder. "He's already gone," she says with a bit of exasperation. "I couldn't stop him in time and he proved to be more than I could handle. I need to talk with the Hokage, after I visit the hospital." The ANBU nodded and went off to get the Hokage, as well as ordering an escort for her to the hospital. Somehow Kurenai knew she was not going to like the paperwork involved with meeting this man, nor the medical forms. Then she remembered suddenly that she was the first one to throw a punch. That was just making the oncoming headache worse, so she stopped that train of thought.
The Next Day (At the Academy)
As everyone in the room is chatting and talking to each other adamantly about the rumor of a missing-nin entering the village. All of them except one boy with blonde hair and whisker marks. For once, the boy is unusually quiet, and this disturbs many of the adults, noticing the boy looking at a strangely marked kunai as if it held the meaning of his existence. He ran a finger cautiously over the blade, as if trying to memorize every detail. He barely noticed the world around him, but he did seem to hear a tune suddenly being hummed and he immediately looked up trying to find the source of it. He found nothing but his other classmates. Soon after Iruka walked in and slammed a thick stack of papers on the desk, immediately grabbing everyone's attention. Naruto stares blankly at the papers, until a sinking feeling began to pull at him.
'Exam Day,' he thinks to himself, beginning to sweat. He begins trying to review in his mind, only to find himself lacking the focus to do such a thing. He slams his head to the desk in exasperation.
"Hoping to dislodge the stupidity in your brain, dobe?" Sasuke taunts from beside him. "You'll need to be hit by an Akimichi at full speed in the head to stand any hope." Choji glares at the last Uchiha for the implied statement that he was fat. As he was beginning to stand, Shikamaru placed a hand on his shoulder trying to get him to calm down. Choji takes his seat once again, begrudgingly.
"If that's true, when will you realize you need to grow a pair?" asks Naruto, grinning with his head on the desk. Sasuke got riled at that and began to stand up. Iruka immediately cleared his throat to grab the attention of the class. Naruto apparently found a new way to really anger the kunoichi in the class.
"I would like everyone to come get their exam papers, and begin the test. No cheating! And wake up, Shikamaru!" Iruka states as he throws an eraser at the boys head. The boy looks up with a face of the living dead, yawns, then stares blankly at the wall in front of him. Iruka just sighs, before beginning to call out names to collect their tests. As soon as everyone is called the test begins.
The test goes on about 2 hours, before everyone turns in their tests. Naruto double-checks his paper to make sure of himself before turning it in. Naruto was pretty sure of himself, and walks out of the room to the next area, for practical skills. This was where he prided himself. Practical was where survival on the streets in Konoha had taught him everything he'd ever need or want to know about stealth, speed, weaponry, and combat effectiveness. It also seemed he learned quite a few tricks from having to make every second count.
"We will be having a sparring match against me for your exam," Iruka states, looking at each student. "You may use anything at your disposal." Iruka stands in a ready stance as Mizuki started calling names off. Eventually it came to Naruto. The blonde boy walked over to stand where he needed to and stood defiantly watching his teacher.
"Start," yelled Mizuki, as Naruto rushed forward tossing a shuriken toward Iruka. He parried it with a kunai, only to find himself partially blind due to paint blasting out of the center of the shuriken. Using the momentary distraction, Naruto launched a high kick for the jaw, only to find it blocked by Iruka's forearm. Using his forward momentum, the boy flipped over Iruka, using the forearm as a springboard. He then fires a punch straight toward Iruka's back, only to find air as Iruka had rolled forward to get out of harm's way. Naruto then twisted his body to land on his feet. He then pulls out a small orb and tosses it toward Iruka. Iruka then covers his face, only to find red smoke appearing to form a cloud around him. His eyes then began to tear up, and he had trouble seeing. His nose then began burning, and he suddenly realized what was going on. 'I'm taking his tricks too lightly,' thinks Iruka, barely dodging a punch from the boy. He suddenly finds himself on the receiving end of a kick. He hasn't any idea where it came from until he realizes something. The boy used the punch to hit the ground and swing back with the kick. He hadn't seen it because of his eyes watering. He knew Naruto was full of surprises, but this was ridiculous. Naruto was using everyday items as ninja tools. He knew that he had underestimated Naruto once again. He truly had earned his nickname of "Konoha's #1 Surprising Child". Iruka held his hand up to signify the end of the match.
Naruto stopped midswing, hopping on one foot forward to a stop. He placed a hand behind his head, scratching it with a fox grin splitting his features. He then walks back to the line, still smiling. He placed his goggles back to the top of his head. As he watched the other students, he began to notice people stare in his general direction. He just grins sheepishly. Whatever works suited him, and he just felt the need to showboat a little. Every year the examiner would say to use whatever they had at their disposal. Was it his fault for coming armed with, and prepared to take full advantage of, the information? He took out the kunai he had received from Mikal and began to study it with more intensity. With this kunai, he might achieve his goal of becoming hokage sooner, and not to mention he'd have someone to talk to and share his life with. Then he realized that it was a missing-nin that had handed him the opportunity to have a sort of family. He owed to Mikal to pass this graduation to become a ninja so that he could use the gift he was given. He couldn't wait to show Mikal he could summon the Fennikusu.
After a few more students, the teachers all have the students move back into the academy. After announcing the next test to be Ninjutsu, Naruto feels his stomach drop. Ninjutsu meant a test on all 3 academy basic jutsu. The Substitution and the Transformation Jutsu he had down pat, but it was the final he couldn't complete properly, no matter how hard he tried. The Clone jutsu was just something he hadn't the control to master. He just had to get it right once to pass, so he gathered all his confidence together and used it to shatter his doubts. He could do this. All that he needed was once and then he'd be a ninja. He'd show them all, and then they'd have to acknowledge him as a ninja.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" the teacher Mizuki shouted, snapping Naruto from his train of thought. "You're next," Mizuki stated, motioning for Naruto to follow him to the room. Naruto felt his heart sink, but he followed anyway. This was the moment of truth.
As Naruto stepped into the classroom, he saw the teachers sitting across the room at a table with stacks of papers on it. Naruto looks across the room with a determined glare at the teachers to show he wouldn't break in front of the pressure. If nothing else, he knew he thrived under pressure. Top of his game to coin a phrase, if you will.
"Alright Naruto. Show us your Substitution," Iruka stated throwing a pen toward the boy. Naruto only grinned as he switched with a chair from the room, but not just any chair. The chair Iruka was sitting on. As Iruka got up from the floor, he glared at the boy. "Nice, but enough with the pranks!" he states with a rather perturbed expression. Naruto looked a little sheepish, then walked back to his spot scratching the back of his head nervously while laughing.
"Now show me your Transformation. The hokage should suffice as the subject," Iruka states, slapping the back of Mizuki's head to stop him from giggling at the previous prank. He watched as Naruto gathered chakra, and then vanished in a plume of smoke. A figure appeared in the smoke, to reveal a slightly altered version of Sarutobi. "That still looks off, Naruto. Close enough to make the grade, but you definitely need to work on it."
"Oh really?!" Naruto says getting into a bit of a huff. He then reforms his chakra again and retransforms. As the smoke clears, a beautiful, and stark naked girl appears, blowing a kiss to Iruka. Iruka flies back from a nosebleed. "Sexy no Jutsu!" Naruto shouts, as he transforms back. "My anti-pervert jutsu!"
Mizuki looks at the boy incredulously for a moment, managing to stop the blood from flowing from his nose by thinking of Orochimaru and little boys. Then he wonders whom in their right mind makes a jutsu like that and uses it against perverts. Then he suddenly realizes this is Naruto he's talking about. He isn't in a right mind, if he has one at all. He sighs in exasperation. Apparently Iruka couldn't think of something that made is blood run still and cold fast enough. He waited until Iruka got back to his seat before chuckling softly.
"I thought I said no more pranks!" shouted Iruka, covering his nose while trying to wipe away the blood. "Alright, now onto the final test, the Clone Jutsu. Now make 3 clones, Naruto."
Naruto charged his chakra then made a handseal, and then a cloud of smoke filled the area. He reappeared a few tenuous moments later, a single deformed clone beside. Naruto's head turned slowly; time seeming to slow as he looked over at his clone. He looked on with horror and disappointment. He knew he had failed before the words ever left Iruka's mouth. Naruto just turned to walk out of the room in failure.
The gods had failed to help, and his fate was doomed from the start. This jutsu was the only one he could never seem to learn. No matter how many times he tried, this jutsu was impossible for him. Iruka had yelled something, but Naruto no longer cared. He heard an argument in the distance, but just continued to leave the room. He had failed Iruka, the old man, the Fennikusu, and Mikal. Someone who had offered him a chance to have a group of friends who wouldn't scorn him or give him glares of hatred. He walked from the room, and toward the outside. After a few empty moments, he reached the one place in the school he found comfortable, a swing that hung from the branch of a tree that was seemingly forgotten by the world. It was toward the entrance of the academy, and he often would sit here at the end of the day and watch all the children go home with their parents, who congratulated the children on a good day of school. Naruto had always wanted that feeling or even the chance at a phantom of that feeling. The chance to be a part of a family that honestly wanted him, and showed concern for him was all he asked for. He knew that if he had that, he really could ask for no more. No one showed any concern for him, except an obsession with his demise or continued suffering.
Naruto sat for what seemed like an eternity in that spot until finally he saw the parents begin to show and his former classmates run from the doors, most of the clutching the hiaite of the leaf. Their parents patted their heads and congratulated them. The kids would excitedly tell the story of their day, laughing and smiling with their parents doing much of the same. Some of the parents glared at him and said that they were glad he wasn't a ninja, and that he was a demon who deserved death.
'The usual,' Naruto thought to himself. He watched on with a morbid wanting. He continued this until he heard a voice rouse him from his depressive state. He turned to find Mizuki.
"So taking failing that hard, huh?" Mizuki states seeing the boy with tears stains flowing down his cheeks. "You know there is another way to pass," he states with a warm smile.
"Really?" Naruto stated, immediately losing all of his depression. He jumped up from the swing, and continued jumping. Mizuki smiled at the boy's exuberance.
"All you need to do is take a scroll from the Hokage's office and then learn a single jutsu from it. Simple huh?" Mizuki states, ruffling the boy's hair. 'This is too easy,' he thinks to himself, as Naruto nods his understanding.
Later that Night at Shack within the Forest
Naruto sits next to a shack breathing heavily with a scroll laid out before him, and another behind him. The previous appears as an overtly large scroll with markings to show its importance. The latter being an ornate reddish scroll with a golden silken cord untied, blood staining it. Naruto continues to read the scroll he holds, scratching his head in utter confusion. How was he expected to learn a version of the Clone Jutsu? Although from its description, it was a far greater version of the Clone ability. From what it said in the scroll, it was a solid form and not an illusion. There weren't many other notes, other than how to perform it. He was starting to get it, but missing the mastery due to a block. He decided to place this scroll down in favor of trying to learn a jutsu from the previous scroll. As he picked it up, a feeling of calm rushed over him. Suddenly he realized what this feeling was similar to. The feeling of wanting to sing through his actions, or in other words, the Fennikusu. He pulled open the scroll quickly, but reverently, and looked inside to see a list of people he didn't know. Then he looked at the second to last name at the bottom of the list to find Mikal Sentra. The last name was not one he recognized, but knew was a woman. Her name was Leires Syriana. After a few moments, he signed the contract as it was stated in the scroll. With a single cut of the finger, he used his thumb to sign the contract in blood and began forming the seals needed for the summoning, until he remembered something that Mikal had told him. The kunai was meant to help with summoning. It was supposed to enhance the chakra used in a summoning. He pulled out the kunai and cut his palm. The blood slowly trickled down the kunai's blade, causing the seals to glow brightly. As Naruto stood fascinated by the glowing, he felt his chakra slowly being drained. This made him panic for a moment, until it stopped after he forced it. He then felt his hands being led through the handseals as if they had always been part of his life.
"Summoning Technique!" Naruto yelled out as he slammed his palm into the ground, feeling his chakra run through the kunai, then to the ground. Suddenly a cloud of smoke is produced and Naruto coughs after inhaling some. As the smoke clears, Heart's Fire appears once again.
"I see you managed to summon me, Naruto," the bird states, a bit of surprise hinted at in his voice. "So I take it you have a task you'd like me to complete for you?" the bird asks calmly.
"No. You were summoned I guess because of me trying out the Jutsu. I'm sorry to bother you," Naruto states, scratching his head in embarrassment. He looks at the bird and swears that he is smiling, but isn't sure how he knows.
"Well I suppose I'll let this one slide. Now that I'm here though, I might as well sit and have a chat about the rules of summoning us," Heart's Fire states, and then chuckles softly when he sees the confusion on the boy's face. "Well not rules so much as guidelines."
"I don't understand. Are there bad times to summon the Phoenix?" he questions, trying to mask his confusion and failing miserably.
"There is a simple method. Allow each phoenix to explain the conditions of their summoning. Typically this is that never summon us to show off, nor because you are feeling lazy. Summon us when you need us, or when someone you wish to protect needs us. Those are our guidelines. Keep a pure heart and always do what your heart tells you. This is something I'm sure you'll follow even without us telling you, but it is something that bears mentioning," the bird answers, giving the boy a serious glare to show the importance of the matter at hand.
"I understand, but can I summon you if I need someone to give me advice?" he asks, the thought crossing his mind that he had gained no new friends. He felt disappointed at that thought, but these were important beings, like the Hokage.
"Yes you may, but please try to think for yourself first. If you truly want advice, I suggest looking to your friends and Mikal first. They will assuredly give you better answers to the questions closest to your heart. We are but summons, not your family. We will be your companions though, as we share a bond with our summoners that many other summons lack," he responds, holding out a single wing. "You are now an official summoner of the Fennikusu. Take pride in that fact. We do not accept summoners lightly, and I look forward to seeing you again, Summoner Naruto. Call on our aide, and we will faithfully travel with you through your road of life." With that said, the bird winks and disappears in a plume of feathers and flame.
Naruto stands for a while, wondering at the awe of the moment. He was now a summoner. He could now call upon the Fennikusu and this both filled him with fear and joy, but most of all questions. Why would after all this time a stranger and a criminal give him a powerful ability such as this one? He even seemed to know who he was, but that just seemed strange to him. This was all too much to take in, but then he knew there was still one last task to complete before he would be able to truly use the gift he'd been given. With that he set back to the practicing of the other skill. The one that created solid clones, never noticing the watchful eyes of a man. A man who smiled at the boy, knowing his future was to be forever changed. Whether it was good or bad, only time would tell, but at least now he had something to hold onto in the maelstrom that was his life.
Hey people. Sorry for the delay. Was having writer's block for a while, but now I've got things under control. I would like to thank everyone for the great reviews and the many people willing to bookmark this tale. I will try to get to at least 6 actual chapters before starting a new Fanfiction. It will probably be One Piece or Detective Conan/Case Closed. Also please take a look at the poll. This will probably be one my few for this story. It will not change pairings and It will change how fast Naruto grows in power and maturity. Thanks and until next time, I hope you all take care and have fun.