Author's Notes: Fifteen replies in just two hours! Not bad, in my opinion. I am going to call it here. Because while it was a tie early, the winners easily pulled ahead. No sudden death. The winners are... Listed below.

—oo000oo—

"Hmm... We got it. We choose..." Naruto paused to think about it a moment longer and said, "We don't know." Jiriaya face faulted. "Hey, this is a big decision! Once we choose, we cannot undo it! Just give us a minute."

Naruto stood up and looked at them each. He wished he could talk to one of them but didn't have that luxury. He walked around them considering what he knew of each. 'Start with the easier. Tiger or shark?' They were both powerful creatures, killers both. Tigers controlled the most dangerous element while sharks were the most unstoppable. Like he heard, you can't stop the tides.

"...Is it tradition? Or does it actually have to be like that," Naruto asked, motioning to the two handed contracts.

"It is necessary."

"Tiger or Shark stay then." He looked at the three and then at the Toad contract. "...Jiriaya-sama, we won't sign the Toad contract."

"What!? You know this is the same contract that the Fourth signed!?"

"...Regardless, we will not. We know he was your student so it is only right that he signed it. But we are not. We are the student of Hayate Kakashi. He has no contract that we know of. So we will follow his example and choose our own path." He looked at the three again. "Stealth without speed is useless. Speed without knowing where we are going is useless. Going after them without stealth is useless. We need all three. The sharks and tigers are powerful. But strength is not the only power. We are a student of silent killing. We do not kill on strength."

"..." Jiriaya grinned, "HAHAHA! You sound just like the Fourth! You are right though. Strength is not the only power. But that doesn't change the fact that you can only have one each hand."

"...We just realized something. We don't have have two hands, we have three."

"What?"

"Our gloves," Naruto told him. "They are smooth, making a new hand. We can't use them for the two handed scrolls because they form the same hand. But... We can at least try it with Ravens."

Jiriaya was still smiling. 'Minato, your son maybe an odd one but I like him. Ever though he isn't following in your footsteps, he is. You never followed anyone else's either.' "Now why hasn't anyone thought of that before? Cut your hands and sign your name in blood. Then press the hand you will use against the bottom, covered with your blood."

Naruto nodded and removed his gloves. He signed the Wolf with his left hand. He signed the Hare with his right hand. And he signed the Raven with his symbiont hand. "Jiriaya-sama, can we keep the other two as well?"

"Why, you can't sign them even if you were wrong about the gloved thing."

"Because we might know someones that can sign them and be worthy of their power."

"Like who?"

"Our second girlfriend, Hinata-chan, is someone that moves fluidly, she always has. She used to be hesitant but now... Now she strikes fast and she strikes hard. Water is her element, though her family has always been earth, we believe. Once she gets to terms with them, Hinata-chan will be excellent partners with the sharks."

"And the Tigers?"

"Tora... We want to say Haku-chan but she is speed, not power. Plus her affinity is ice like myself. Tigers will not accept her. We will have her sign the Hare as well. But we know someone that is as very hotheaded and is a fire type. Sasuke is the power hitter of our team."

"You certain? I always thought the Uchiha were more of speed."

"No, not Sasuke. He aims to hit hard. Power is his style. But the thing is, he seems obsessed with getting revenge on someone."

"His brother," Jiriaya said to himself.

"Huh?"

"Uh... Nothing."

"It was something. What did you say?"

"Listen, don't ask. You need to know how to summon them now." Naruto frowned at the most piss poor attempt to change the subject he had ever heard. But he did need to know this. And he could find out from Sasuke or Kakashi. "Now make the following handsigns."

"Like this?"

"Yes. Then press your hand to the ground after wiping blood on it."

Naruto put blood on his left gloved hand. A raven the size of a chicken appeared in a puff of smoke. "Huh?"

"Hello," Naruto said to it.

"Where the hell am I?"

"You are in Konoha."

The raven widened his small eyes until Naruto thought they would fall out. "As in the Fire country!? Who summoned me!? Was it you, boy!?"

"It was us," Naruto said to him.

"That is great! We haven't had a summoner in...must have been a hundred years now! You should call the boss! His name is Ebony-sama!" The little raven disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto switched to his right hand. "Time to see if we can summon using the right hand. If we can't we will sign the Toad." Blood covered his right hand and he started the handsigns.

"Wait. Naruto, do you know what is inside you?"

"...Yes."

"Try using his chakra..."

"NO!" Jiriaya looked shocked. This kid wasn't dumb so he knew how much power he could get from it. "We... We did something unforgivable the first and only time we used it." The image of tearing those men apart came to mind again. "We will never let our evil side out again."

"...Want to talk about it?"

"No. Haku-chan already knows and she comforts me for it."

"...But you probably don't have the chakra to summon him on you own."

"We will," Naruto said in conviction.

"...Let's go somewhere more open."

—oo000oo—

"Here, kiddo," Jiriaya said to him. Naruto nodded and cover his right hand in blood again.

"Summoning no Jutsu!" Another cloud of smoke appeared and this one was much larger. It was one large enough to ride on. "...Are you Ebony-sama?"

"...No. I am Shrike. So you are the boy the the hatchling was talking about."

"We are."

"Don't have enough chakra to summon Ebony?"

"We don't know. We have been told we have large reserves but we have never done this before." Shrike nodded to him. "Jiriaya-sama, looks like we were right."

"Jiriaya? The one the Toads always talk about? Isn't this something." Shrike hopped over to the man and looked down at him. "...I have heard much about you."

He grinned. "I am famous even to summons."

"You are a lazy pervert that is more interested writing porn than perfecting your ultimate technique." Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Boy, how much chakra did you use to summon me?"

"Uh, hard to put it in amount. If we were to use it to make shadow clones, twenty, twenty five."

"Too little, far too little. You need enough to make at least five hundred clones to summon Ebony."

Naruto nodded and focused. He had made a lot before. But not often. 'Just gather as much as we can hold,' Naruto thought to himself. When he thought he could no longer gather anymore and that it had to be visibly, he pressed it to the ground. "Summoning no jutsu!" It was an eruption of smoke.

"Who dares summons me!?"

Naruto grinned as he looked down at shrike and Jiriaya. But what he saw was Shrike about to fly off in fear. "We did. Are you Ebony-sama?"

The raven laughed. "HAHAHAHA! You think I am as weak as him!? My feathers are like iron itself! My beak razor sharp! My talons like knives! I am Scarmory! I would have been the leader of the Ravens had that old cripple chose right! Get off me boy, before I throw you off and eat you!"

Naruto could tell he was telling the truth with that threat. He would kill him if he stayed on. "...No."

"WHAT!?"

"We summoned you here to meet the strongest raven and gain his respect. His acknowledgment. We have summoned him, it appears. Now, we will stay on."

"...So be it." The hundred foot tall bird spread his wings three times that and flapped them, pushing himself into the air. He rose so high that Naruto was having trouble breathing. "NOW DIE!" Scarmory dropped into a dive, almost making Naruto black out. But even then, Naruto clung to the feathers. Scarmory landed on the ground and began to look for his body to eat.

"Over here," Naruto said as he flipped over his head, shooting it with web and pulled it to the ground. He actually had to strain to do it. He never felt anything so strong even caught by surprise. Scarmory slammed into the ground, digging a deep gouge in it with his beak.

"RAHG..." As he stood back up, Naruto shot a web on his beak then swung around it several times, forcing it closed.

"Shut it!" He landed on his head, between the eyes, raised a fist and swung. Naruto didn't hold back because he knew he would die if he did. Scarmory started to waver for a few moments but shook his head and shook it off. He forced his beak open, snapping his web like thread.

"Boy, I am going to enjoy killing you!"

"If you can, Scarmory-teme!" Naruto grabbed a feather and pulled it out. Scarmory roared in pain and flung his head, throwing Naruto off. He was about to land in the river until Shrike flew under him.

"Are you insane!? That is Scarmory! He will kill you!" The bird yelled as he climbed into the air.

"Strong!?"

"He fought Ebony for leadership of the ravens. He won. The only reason he isn't the leader is because the old leader decided who it was from the match! No one knows why!"

Scarmory flew into the air after them. "Give me that child, hatchling!"

"We finally got a summoner after a hundred years and you want to eat him!?"

"It is a matter of pride! I told him to get off and he wouldn't! No one disrespects me!"

Shrike flew low to the ground, weaving in and out of the trees, using his smaller size to the best advantage. "LEFT!" He made as sharp a left as he could. Where he would have been in second, a talon came down, cutting trees in half. "RIGHT!" Again, he banked in time to avoid the other talon. "STOP!" Scarmory brought his beak down, nearly tearing them apart. His red eye, the size of a tower shield, glared at Naruto. "GO! Go, go, go, go!"

Shrike flapped for all his body was worth. "How are you doing that!? There is no way you have better eyes than I do!"

"It is hard to ex... CLIMB!" This wave of wind that was cutting trees apart passed under them. "ENMU NO JUTSU!"

"I can't see!"

"Turn left and up at seven and ten o' clock," Naruto told him. "Pull up!"

Shrike started to hover. "...What are you... NARUTO!"

He had jumped off, dissipating the darkness. He landed on Scarmory's back, trying to drive a blade into him. But he couldn't get through his feathers. 'His head then.' Naruto ran up his back to his head, jumped and landed on his beak, swinging the Shadow Keiri. He stopped an inch from his eye. "Surrender or die."

Scarmory looked at it and at Naruto. Then he began to laugh again. "Good fight, boy. Real good fight. No one has ever done what you have just did. Alright, I surrender. As your prize for beating me, you may summon me when you need to. You really should summon my brother, Ebony. He is most eager to meet you." Naruto nearly fell off. This raven, which had been speaking about killing him ever since he got there, was talking like it was all a joke. Scarmory honestly couldn't be happier with this.

—oo000oo—

"I have made my choice," Windiel, the old leader said to Scarmory and Ebony. "The next leader of the Ravens will be Ebony."

"But sir," Ebony said to him. "He is obviously the stronger. I know you have an important task for the one that does not. Surely I can accomplish this."

"Accept it, dobe," Scarmory told him. "You know Windiel has a reason."

"You are right, Scarmory. The Elder had a vision concerning the world or our next summoner, he does not know which. He said that a fox that is a spider may one day call on our help. But there will be many spiders, and he does not know how to tell which spider is the one. But he did say he would meet a raven of steel. That he would face this 'boy shrouded in darkness' and see if he is worthy. I want you to stick with this boy once you meet him, Scarmory."

"...Hai, Boss-sama." Scarmory bowed his head to the leader before he did the same to Ebony.

—oo000oo—

"Just like that," Naruto asked him. "You changed you mind just like that?"

"I respect power, boy. You almost had me."

Naruto looked at his sword positioned over his eye. "How did we almost have you?"

Scarmory would have smiled if he had lips. He closed his eye and his feathers covered it. "That is how. So what is your next move?"

Naruto had a blank look on his face. "...We don't know."

Scarmory laughed again. "Few ever do. Well, no matter. Give me the scroll, boy."

Naruto looked around for Jiriaya but didn't see him. "...Uh, we aren't where we left it. We aren't even in Konoha anymore." He climbed up on his head and looked around. "...Do you see it?"

"...No. Hatchling, do you see the village this brat is from?"

"N-No, Scarmory-sama! ...Are you going to kill me?"

"Hmm... I think I will let you live today. Return home."

"OF COURSE, SCARMORY-SAMA! AND THANK YOU!" Shrike disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What did you do that he thinks you are going to kill him?"

"Because our last summoner was killed by me," he said off hand. He flew up in the air to see around the mountains. "...Hey, I know where we are."

"Where?"

"Take a look at that pond." The pond in question had a gold ting to it. Around it were statues of toads. "We are at the home of the Toads. That should mean..."

"Scarmory, what are you doing here," a giant toad wearing a bathhouse robe with the kanji for oil on the back, a scar over his left eye, and a sword on his back.

"Speak with respect, frog, or you shall lose the other eye as well!"

The toad growled at him. Before he noticed Naruto. "HAHAHA! Don't tell me you not only have a summoner now, you were summoned as a transport!"

"Watch your tone, Gamabunta, before I really do take your remaining eye," Scarmory growled at him.

"Excuse us, but who are you," Naruto asked. "...And why do we find you familiar?"It was like he had met him before. In a memory from so long ago, even Venom could not fully reach it.

"I am Gamabunta, brat! The Boss Toad!" Gamabunta pointed an accusing finger at him. "You will speak with respect to me!"

Scarmory scoffed. "As if I will let my summoner do that when he doesn't even do it to me."

Gamabunta became subdued by that. He looked at the strongest of the ravens, a bird with a notoriously short temper, one of the few summons to ever resist the contract and kill the summoner, and one that no one but him knew the limit to his strength. He cast his gaze from him to the boy and back again. "Kid, who are you?"

"We are Uzumaki Naruto, of Konoha."

"...You...I remember you now. I haven't seen you since I assisted the Fourth. You know you can sign more than one contract. You should find Jiriaya and..."

"We cannot, Gamabunta-san. We have already signed the contract with the Hare as well as the the wolf."

Both summons looked at him. "How did you do that," they asked.

Naruto considered it. They could squash him right then and there if they wanted. But they weren't. He had earned Scarmory's respect. So he would give them his. "When we say we, we mean we. We are not just Naruto, we are also Venom. A creature has bonded with us, making us anew. A bloodline now, the Symbiote. No one knows this. And we want it to stay that way."

They nodded. They did not know why it would allow him three but they understood that there are many things they don't understand. "No one will find out through me," Gamabunta said to him.

"Nor myself, Naruto," Scarmory assured him.

"Our thanks, Scarmory-sama, Gamabunta-sama. ...Which way is it back to Konoha?"

Gamabunta chuckled and pointed southeast. "Roughly two hundred miles."

"I will be back there in a ten minutes," Scarmory stated. "Take care, Gamabunta."

—oo000oo—

Naruto jumped down in front of Jiriaya. "Shit kid, you scared the crap out of me. I thought I was going to have to explain to the old man why you were missing. Or worst, dead."

"You almost had to explain the second one."

"The scroll," Scarmory reminded. Naruto went to where the scrolls sat and took it from the pile. He stood in front of Scarmory and held it out to him. "Unroll it." Naruto did as he said. "Give me some of your blood." He held out his talon and Naruto cut his palm and put it against it. As he slipped the glove back on, he felt it knit together. Venom had finally recovered from the attack from the Sound genin.

Scarmory wrote a kanji above Naruto's signature that he saw on a few other. "Done. When you need me, say my name instead of 'summoning no jutsu' and I will appear no matter what. It will also take some of my chakra instead of all of it from you." With a nod to the kid, he vanished in an eruption of smoke.

Naruto sat back down, his adrenaline was running thin and he was finally feeling how much it had taken to summon him. "We could use a break before we try to summon Ebony to introduce ourselves."

"No," Jiriaya told him. "I know that others like yourself have been known to lose control over themselves because of the Bijuu but they also have learned to summon them as needed."

"...But you don't know what we did..."

"Nor am I going to ask. But if you hold back on power that is your's then you won't be strong enough to fight some of the strongest out there."

Naruto thought about it. He was in a place with people that he didn't want to hurt now. Haku-chan might not reach him this time if it goes wrong. "...We need to talk to the fox then," Naruto decided.

Jiriaya arched his eyebrow. "How did you reach that conclusion?"

"It is his chakra that made us that thing. We can't, won't, let it happen again. So we have to deal with the source. Do you know how we can?"

"Well, the slow way is to meditate. But there is a faster way," he told him with a slight grin.

"The sooner the better."

"That is what I thought you would say." Naruto ducked a fist covered in chakra. "Damn good reflexes."

"So everyone keeps telling us. Why did you just try to hit us?"

"To force you inside yourself."

"You could have told us." He stood there as Jiriaya reared his fist back and...

—oo000oo—

"OW," Naruto shouted, rubbing his nose. He looked around and found himself on a web that spread farther than he could see. All around him was darkness. "...The Infinite Web," Naruto stated. He had once read a book about a evil goddess of spiders that lived there. The strand he now stood on was over a dozen feet wide and metallic appearing. Naruto looked up and found the webs continued that way as well. He walked around the web until he was below where he had been. It stretched off there too. "Zinzerena, where am I," referring to another goddess in that book. The goddess of assassins and outcast.

The whole web shook as something struggled in it. Naruto looked where it came from and ran to it. Finally getting tired of running, he jumped off and started swinging until he came to it. This part was unlike the rest of the Infinite Web. The webs condensed here and slowly changed to stone. He set down on it and finally a sense of what was up and down came to him. He found a tunnel and entered it. In the corners were these black webs. He was about to continue down it but stopped and turned around. He bent down to look at where the web and the stone met. It took ten minutes before he could say he did see it. Slowly, the stone was changing into the webs. Very slowly. In that time, it had not even covered a thirty second of an inch. "What kind of place are we that stone changes to web? ...Oh yeah, our mind." The realization of that hit him. He looked out across the Infinite Web as he named it. To move at that pace and change all that...

"Are you coming or not!?"

Naruto looked at the source. It was from the cage at the end of a very short tunnel. "So you are Kyuubi no Yoko."

"Can you think of anything else that lives in you?"

"Venom."

"Shut up," Kyuubi growled. "What do you want already, boy?"

"What is it today with everyone calling us boy? We want to talk to you, that is what. You no doubt know what happened, right?"

"Yes. Have to admit, I didn't think you had it in you to do something like that. He screamed for days, to let you know."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. "That we don't care as much about as what happened before."

"Yes... Carnage disturbed even me. Though it would be fun to let him out again." Kyuubi grinned, showing off all his fangs. "So, you happen to want to let him out to play again?"

"No," Naruto replied coldly. "We will never let him out again."

"Then what do you want?"

"Your power without letting that thing out."

"...You are lucky I like you. What you did, that was cruel, evil even. My style. So, tell you what. You do things like that again, and I will supply you with my chakra without you needing to get so angry you lose control of yourself."

"We did that to him because he was a monster."

"Then do it to other monsters. I don't care who it happens to so long as you continue doing it. My vessel should be feared, and that is something to fear." He chuckled darkly.

Naruto shivered at the thought of doing that over and over again. "How will we pull your chakra out? We doubt we can handle all the time."

"Can you handle poison?"

"No."

"Because that is what my chakra is to you. A little will only help build an immunity to the harmful effects. A lot will kill you. And don't go thinking you can just channel a little over a long time to beat that. It will take decades. But for now, you need only worry about this. The symbiote is a connection between you and your mind. And thus, me. Tell it that you need my chakra and I will give it to you."

Naruto nodded. "We need some right now. We are about to summon the Boss Raven, the Boss Wolf, and the Boss Hare."

Kyuubi arched an unseen eyebrow. "You have chakra enough on your own for only one more so I guess you do need it. Hmm. Done, now get out and let me get some sleep."

—oo000oo—

Naruto opened his eyes again and grabbed his pounding head. "Damn it!" He stood up and growled at Jiriaya. "We should make you pay for that."

"Did it work?"

"Yes. He said he liked what we did." Jiriaya suddenly wondered what he could have possible done to make the Kyuubi like it. Naruto spread blood on his gloves and said, "Summoning no Jutsu!"

"...So the boy is..." A raven almost as large as Scarmory was there now. He looked around and then on his back. "Finally decided to summon me I see." He ruffled his feather, shaking Naruto loose a little. "So you are Naruto. I am Ebony, the leader of the Ravens."

"We are honored to meet you," Naruto said with a grin and bow. He didn't even feel winded.

"...Great...I can sense you are a lot like my brother. Just what I need." He hopped, throwing Naruto off. "Well, get to it."

Naruto nodded and pulled up his gloves. He cut both of them and pressed them to the ground. He was then in the air and the ground was shaking. "WHOA!" He jumped and landed on the head of Ebony.

A wolf stood back up after having fallen over. "Is this some kind of joke, meal," he growled at the hare.

"I have better things to do with my time then make a fool of you, mutt," the hare replied.

"Usagi, Ookami, stop this at once," Ebony said to them. "Our new summoner wishes to greet us."

"A summoner," Usagi asked, turning to Ebony. He was a snow hare, his fur white. He wore a vest with the kanji for White Lightning on his back. And he carried the faint scent of the potent drink with him. His claws were over a foot long, perfect for his size. He was the leanest of the three. Under his fur you could see well defined muscles for running. Tied over his shoulder was a tanto. It was in easy reach of his mouth should he need to grab it.

"For all three of us? That will be a first," Ookami stated. He was the largest. And he wasn't alone. There were three others, though only half his size. The all had a vest on as well with the kanji 'Fangs of the Tides' on the back.

"My Lord, can we eat the rabbit," one asked. Even though he was half the size of Ookami, he was still bigger than Usagi.

"Yes, it has been far to long since we have hunted," another said.

"No," Ebony said to them. "Our summoner has not wished it."

"Like we care about what that child says," the last of the three growled out. "Not him, nor you! Your whole clan betrayed the pact!"

"Silence, cub," Ookami snarled. "You do not know what happened so you shall not say anything!" He turned grabbed the cub by the scruff of the neck with his jaws and placed him between the three Bosses. "You will stay there. And you," he said, looking at Naruto, "Stand on him. So that we may all see you better."

Naruto nodded and jumped, landing between the cub's ears. "I don't believe I am being used as such..."

"Ookami-sama and the pack Fangs of the Tides, Usagi-sama, Ebony-sama, we are Uzumaki Naruto and we are the one that summoned you all here." He bowed to each in turn. "We would like to call upon you and your's for battle."

"What makes you think we will let you," the cub asked. Only to have his tail stepped on by Ookami.

"I said silence, pup."

Usagi looked him up and down. "You summoned all three of us, one right after another. That says something about you, child."

"And before he summoned myself," Ebony told him, "he summoned Scarmory."

"And he survived," one of the wolves asked, almost not believing his eyes. Ookami was about to step on his tail as well before Ebony held up his wing to forestall him.

"Yes, he not only survived, Scarmory signed the Binding with him. He almost got a kill strike on him before that."

The two wolves stared at him and backed away a little. The one being used as a podium began to shake.

"Heh... Ha ha... HAHA!" Ookami's laughter shook the ground. "So this boy not only found a way to sign all of our contracts, he impressed the great Scarmory! ...You may, Uzumaki Naruto, summon my clan."

"We thank you, Lord Ookami."

"I do question your choice," Usagi stated. "Everyone knows that wolves and hares do not get along. Yet you did this anyway."

"We are going to be a hunter ninja," Naruto told him. "To hunt is to need speed as well as the knowledge of where the prey is."

Usagi nodded, that was true. "I am interested. You may summon my clan for now. I reserve final judgment." Usagi and Ookami looked at Ebony.

"What? He already knows he can summon the ravens."

"Then, I shall go," Usagi told him. He vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"We shall as well," Ookami told him before the Fangs of the Tides pack vanished as well. Naruto landed on his feet and looked up at Ebony.

"We wish you well, Ebony-sama."

"Fair winds, summoner."

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked over at the clapping Jiriaya. "Nicely done. Very nice. I actually wondered if you could get it to work."

"We..." Naruto fell to the ground, exhausted.

"What a kid," Jiriaya said as he picked him up. He summoned a toad and had him take them to the hospital. "Hey, this kid is suffering from chakra exhaustion."

"Let me see... Oh, it's Naruto. Why am I not surprised."

"There a problem bringing him here," Jiriaya demanded.

"No," the nurse replied. "He has just been brought here just about every day for the last two weeks. And he always escapes before six." She took him and laid him on a bed. "Do me a favor and make sure he doesn't run before I get back."

Jiriaya watched her go and turned back to Naruto. And found it already empty. He walked out the door. "He already did." She raced back into the room.

"DAMN IT!"

"Tired of him doing this?"

"No. I bet that today, it would take him a half hour. My boss was the one that bet as soon as our backs were turned!" Jiriaya hadn't laughed so hard in so long, it wasn't funny.

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes. Something I would like to say. I had a few people tell me that it wouldn't be a good idea to have either Tiger or Shark. Now, personally, I like the idea of shark. But there are not enough situations for that to happen. Maybe against Kisame but nothing that can be used a few times. And as I tried to write a version for Tiger, I realized that I am no good with Fire. Even though I was born in the year of the Fire Tiger, I have no luck with it. And I am serious about that.

About the symbiote Truth. I decided as soon as I figured out how to get a symbiote to Hinata that I would name it something that both hurts and heals. So, naturally, the first thing I though of was Alcohol. I tossed that out just as quickly. No way was I going to name a symbiote that. I actually had to put it in a search for 'hurt, heal' and Truth was what I found.

If you wanted a different partnership, sorry. If you wanted toads, sorry. But they are over done.

See ya space cowboy.