Chapter 2: A New Trainer
'Ok...so I feel fur and a demonic aura...that's not a rare thing now-a-days. Nooo, it's totally normal. The fox isn't causing this, he's still trapped his cage in my gut!' To say Naruto was panicking was an understatement. 'There is no way he got out. Nothing happened to let him out! Last thing I remember was thinking about the fox and using the summoning jutsu. Since I never signed up to summon impossible things like sealed demon foxes, this is probably just another sick joke from pervy sage!'
"Hmm... this is pretty good copy of the fox, pervy sage! Come to think of it; how do you know what he looks like... or sounds like..." yelled Naruto. Hopefully he would hear laughing from above and then he'd have to pound his sensei into the ground from pulling a stunt like this.
"Who...are...you...calling...a...copy! Why did you summon me in a place like this?" An evil growled chimed out from beneath him as Naruto felt their decent stop. The voice seemed oddly high pitched compared to what he heard in the sewers though. He spun around to come face to face with a certain nine tailed fox he only seen in the sewer. There was no way the pervy sage would be able to copy those eyes.
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET OUT?!?" Naruto yelled at the huge figure he was standing on. Maybe shouting at the pissed off fox wasn't the brightest thing he could have done. At least he could still speak even though it seemed like his brain just shut down.
"To be honest, I'm not even sure... though it feels like we are still connected so I guess I can't eat you. But your sensei on the other hand..." The fox licked his lips. "It's been a while since I had fresh meat."
"If you think you're going to eat pervy sage, you got another thing coming! I'll get a giant rolled up newspaper and smack you with it if you try!" replied a shaky Naruto. There was no way he and the pervert would be able to fight the fox so he tried another approach.
"Why you little brat...what gives you the nerve. Just because I can't kill you doesn't mean I wouldn't cripple you for life and make you wish you were dead. For now, let's get out of this place and figure out what caused this mess." Before he knew it, he was forced upwards at a tremendous rate. Before he reached the top, a small tailed wrapped around his neck and he felt four tiny paws on his shoulder. He looked over only to see a miniature nine tailed fox on him.
"What the hell! You're tiny!" Naruto barked out a laugh. "Good luck trying to eat the pervy sage like that. It would only take you a year."
"This is only a form, if you would like I could return to normal and eat him in one bite. This form is much better for staying hidden and not causing wide scale panic, as fun as it would be." said the tiny fox. Still with the high pitched voice.
Naruto was about to question the fox on it until he felt himself falling from the boost he was given to get out of the ravine. Good thing on the way down there was a sharp and pointy looking tree to break his fall. "Great, couldn't you have thrown us somewhere else? Like the ground instead of over a forest?"
"Take what you can get, kit. It's better than down in the hole isn't it?" growled the fox. A hint of annoyance was in the voice. "You're a ninja. Deal with it."
"What kind of an excuse is that?!" he growled back. Still unsure of what he should do.
"Just do a shadow clone and push yourself out of the way, or drop with a rasengan under you." advised the fox. Naruto decided to use the shadow clone idea. After the two arrived safely on the forest floor they were confronted by Jiraiya.
"Care to explain what happened down there and why there's a nine tailed fox on your shoulder?" asked the Sannin. Even though the malice aura was gone, the problem now was that there was an extremely dangerous demon on the loose. He didn't know if he would be able to fight the fox so he decided to play it safe and not invoke the demon.
"Relax human, I won't harm you or the boy. I am still attached to Naruto and I have some respect for you as his sensei." replied the fox, for the first time not growling.
Jiraiya wasn't buying it. He wasn't about to let his guard down but there were more pressing matters to deal with. "How exactly did you get out? If you're still attached to Naruto that means the seal is still intact."
"We're not exactly sure how he got out, but isn't he just so cute when he's small!" Naruto grinned as he raised his hand to pet the fox. The pervy sage was completely stunned at Naruto's antics. Did he know that was a demon he's insulting? Not just any demon but most likely the strongest demon still living?
The fox let out a growl as it bit down on Naruto's finger.
"Ouch! Why did you bite me?! I thought animals like to be pet!" complained the blond haired boy. "I AM NOT AN ANIMAL!" roared the fox furiously. Despite its small stature, it still wasn't any less intimidating when it was angry. "Try and do that again and you'll lose a finger... no you will lose a hand."
As Naruto nursed his injured finger, the fox wrapped a few of its tails around his neck and laid down on his shoulder and closed its eyes. Jiraiya wondered if the fox was actually planning on staying with Naruto instead of running away and wreaking havoc somewhere. Needing to get more answers before it took a nap on his student's shoulder; he pushed forward with his questioning at risk of angering the fox. "So what are you planning on doing from now on?"
Without opening his eyes the fox replied. "Well since we are still connected, if he dies, I die. I figured I should teach him a few things to keep himself alive."
Naruto's eyes widened into the size of plates. His favourite thing to do was learn new jutsu, aside from eating ramen that is. He anxiously wondered what kind of things a demon would teach him. Jiraiya even arched an eye brow at the comment.
"I hope you don't plan on teaching him any forbidden jutsu." He was worried Naruto would become corrupt and evil from the teachings of a demon.
"Even Kitsune have limits when it comes to acquiring power. I dislike forbidden jutsu as much as you, if not more. After all it was a forbidden jutsu that enraged me and lead to me attacking the Hidden Leaf village." The fox opened its eyes and looked straight at the Sannin. He could tell that the fox was telling the truth.
"So attacking the village wasn't of your free will then?" This opened up so many possibilities. Perhaps too many to think about for now so he needed to get down to the basics.
"No it was not. I may be a demon but needless bloodshed isn't something I crave. The damned Madara Uchiha was the cause behind the attack. " answered the fox as it yawned, still relaxing on Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto and the Sannin's eyes shot open wide at hearing the name. Was there another Uchiha out there other then Sasuke and Itachi? If there was more Uchiha out there, there might even be more then the three. He made a mental note to make sure his spy network would trace any Madara they could find. If he was able to subdue a strong demon like the Kyuubi then he was a danger that needed to be found.
"Well since you are taking over his training, I will leave you to at it." He wanted to start searching for Madara as soon as possible. With Orochimaru and the Akatsuki out there, the last thing the village needed was another dangerous surprise, one that seemed to be on par with the others.
"What?! You're leaving me to train with just the fox?! Isn't there more for you to teach me?" Naruto did like the thought of getting training from something as powerful as the nine tailed fox but he wanted to gain all he could from the Sannin first.
"Naruto, I taught you everything already. You just need to perfect it. As you learn from the... fox, just keep doing the drills I've shown you." He was taking a huge risk leaving him alone but if a being like the nine tailed beast couldn't protect him, what chance did he have.
"So what are you going to do then? If you go back to the village without me, granny Tsunade will tear you apart." questioned the blond. It was true if he did go back without him, he didn't even want to think about what would happen to him.
"I won't be going back for a while; chances are that you will go back before I will. I'm going to focus on digging up information on the Uchiha's." stated the sage. If anything would convince Naruto it would be gaining information on his friend Sasuke. "As a thanks for training Naruto, I will let you know everything I find out about Madara when we meet up again."
"You best find a large amount of information if I'm going to be stuck with this knucklehead for a year." replied the fox with what could only be described as a grin, if foxes ever could.
With that being said, they said their goodbyes and the Sannin started off. He was going to focus on his search but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to do some more research for his books also.
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As the day went by, the residents of the village Hidden in the Leaves slowly started to come back to life as the shock wore off and there was no sign of the demon anywhere on the Fire Country's borders from patrols or anything even slightly giving hint that there was a demon loose.
As a few weeks went by, the village all but forgot about the sound. All but three people; the Hokage, her assistant and an academy teacher.