Author's Note: Kudos to those who recognized Ancalagon's name last chapter, I was sure some of you would pick it up, but not how many. There will be cookies for those who can identify more of the dragons that will be showing up further on in this story.
Alright, we sadly won't be seeing the fox summoning this chapter, so I'll likely make it a flashback when she first summons them for combat in the future. I can't really think of much else to say besides that, though Noriko is putting a plan in motion to get access to a jutsu repository.
Going into my mindscape to train with Kurama was likely the best choice I could have made for the time I was waiting for Ancalagon's return, otherwise it would have been utterly, mind-numbingly, boring.
Why?
Because it was almost nine hours before the massive dragon returned.
When he did though, it was an amazing sight. With a warning of his approach from Kurama, I had time to get out of my mindscape to watch Ancalagon's massive black form swoop down towards me, pulling up and flaring his wings at the last possible moments. He almost tossed me across the ground with the winds from from his enormous wings, the inky black skin between the bones turning a deep purple as light from the early afternoon sun shone through from behind him.
With chakra keeping my grip, I managed to remain upright as the bulk of Ancalagon's form touched down in the clearing where he had left from, shudders running through the loose soil beneath us and sending small waves through the water to my side. I watched carefully as the scaly mountain of flesh refolded his wings before bring his head down to look at me when he started speaking.
"The King has declared you to be an acceptable summoner, hatchling Noriko. You will be free to summon most of us once you have spoken with him and agreed to the terms of what you will provide in exchange for our services. As such I shall take you to him," he rumbled, extending a massive hand out to rest in front of me with his claws his only partially curled up in a rather obvious gesture.
I couldn't help a small grimace before I sprinted forwards and leapt up onto Ancalagon's hand, being forced to use my chakra to help adhere to his scales until I was securely in his palm at which point he curled his claws in close around me.
"Now hold tight, I would hate for our new summoner to fall to her death before even completing the contract." The condescension in his tone made me scowl but a quick reminder from Kurama got me to give on glaring the massive dragon to death and instead hold tight to his thumb -which was nearly as large as a grown up Ibiki or Jiraya.
Once he was satisfied with my hold, Ancalagon took off as before, his expansive wings stretching wide before beginning to pump up and down, lifting us into the air alongside a generous push from his legs to give us some initial momentum before he tilted forwards and took off, gradually gaining speed as we flew off towards a darkened horizon, a wide grin spreading across my face as I watched the land below fly by.
Granted I flown before on airplanes and they had long since ceased to really entertain me, but this was entirely different experience. The cool air rushing by made my eyes water and was undoubtedly ruining my already wild hair, a chill touched my skin that I was forced to counter with an increased circulation of my chakra through my coils, but it was exhilarating. The feeling of freedom as Ancalagon carried me in silence left me almost giggly as I watched low-hanging clouds pass over us, and even on occasion other dragons.
The speed with which we passed each other though kept me from recognizing them as much more than flashes of unusual color.
After nearly an hour airborne, the air began to cool significantly and the sky started to darken, making me frown in confusion as I watched the sun disappear behind thick, solid black clouds. Twenty minutes later and what I thought to be snow started falling around us. It was only after catching a flake on my tongue and then furiously scrubbing it clean on my clothes that I realized what it was.
Ash. Fine, powdery ash.
It was when we drew closer that the dark horizon ahead of us began to gain an almost venomous orange glow that kept me wondering as to what lay ahead until the last sign I needed to identify what was causing these things appeared. Dozens of pea sized stones falling from the sky like rain. It wasn't a heavy and the stones were light and porous, but it still scared the shit out of me until realization set in.
We were headed towards an enormous volcano that was rising from the horizon. Or rather several volcanoes. As we closed the distance, I could make out what was almost a spine of volcanic peaks stretching left and right, rivers of vivid orange lava pouring down the slopes between jagged spires and obsidian and barren plains of soil. We had closed to within a mile of the volcanoes and the temperature had begun to rise, already passing the pleasant topical temperature from where I had arrived to start approaching hellish levels as sweat started to pour from my brow and stick my bangs to my face before quickly evaporating.
I was so focused on the inhospitable landscape ahead of us that I hardly noticed Ancalagon slowing and dropping towards the ground until he finally slammed down on rocky, blackened ground and jarred my concentration.
"My King will speak once you enter the protection seal on the granite ahead of you and activate it with your chakra. It was placed there by our first summoner so that he could speak to the King safely and it has served each subsequent summoner well." Ancalagon instructed, opening his hand so I could climb out into the rocky ground before taking several quick, almost panicky stride to stand atop the pad in the center of a seal that I estimated to be about twelve feet across.
Pushing chakra out of my feet and into the seal, I jumped slightly as the drain from it increased significantly before settling as a transparent bubble appeared around me.
'And here we go, Kit. I can't help but wonder what this "King" of theirs looks like. Even with all the ages I have existed I had not even known there were dragon summons.'
'Yeah, well we're about to find out.' I replied shortly, my nerves getting the better of me as I conjured all sorts of mental images of what sort of creature made a hellish landscape like this its home.
Whatever thoughts I had had though, were quickly banished as the ground trembled like an enormous earthquake, tossing me onto my ass despite the chakra holding my feet to the granite slab. As I looked up in hopes of seeing the King's arrival only to feel my jaw drop open in surprise and utter terror as I realized what I was looking at as the King revealed himself.
The range of volcanoes that had risen in front of me before jumped and shook, rising even higher into the air as the lava rivers sloshed and jumped in their channels. Crevices half as wide as Konoha began to open in the mountain slopes, yawning caverns that had no visible bottom but emitted the bright orange glow of lava somewhere far bellow. Entire sheets of jagged, shining, black obsidian cracked and trembled, lifting and separating from each other as new rivers of larval appeared, flowing from the depths of the sigh before me to spread like veins across the surface of the mountains.
A singular, enormous section of earth lifted from the ground in a ponderous motion before there was a tremendous CRACK as the stone and rock half way down its length broke and began to flow with lava, long streamers and rivers of the molten stone pouring from the blackened sky to splash on the ground. As I watched, utterly mesmerized by the sight before me, I saw the thick of earth begin to bend at the crack, flexing in several different directions before the tip of it split apart into five enormous lengths, each one several times the size of the Hokage Tower in Konoha.
Then the earth, the limb I realized, came down. The five ridiculously large clawed fingers sank deep into the earth -dumping me onto my ass again- before stopping as a subsonic rumble races through everything around me. With that, I watched as the volcanoes proceeded to peel themselves up off of the ground below, bright orange lava pouring from the cracks along the newly exposed surface. I watched as the leftmost side pulled itself up, jagged crags of stone and flowing streams of lava intermingling as they ran out along the new appendage before raising high to the sky. And then slamming down. Hard.
The impact of the tail left me feeling almost sick as I was tossed about, despite having decided to remain on my ass where I had been dumped. Motion to my right drew my attention back to what was taking place before my eyes as I watched as I the right most section of earth was pulled free, a enormous section of obsidian cracking and splitting before twisting as it took on some terrifying facsimile of a head before turning to look directly at me. Two enormous, cavernous holes in the rocky head focused on me, the almost sinister light of the molten lava providing an unsettling glow as I watched the face draw closer and closer until it sat a bare hundred feet from me, lowered down to ensure its eyes could watch me while scorching, white-hot lava poured between the jagged spires of stone that made up the teeth in its mouth.
There was silence, complete and utter silence for a few blessed seconds before the...the creature before me spoke.
It's voice was louder and deeper than anything I had ever heard before, seeming to trail down out of my enhanced range of hearing with a noises like grinding stones -how appropriate I mused to myself- as it introduced itself.
"I am Emberstoke the Eternal, little hatchling." It said, a scorching heat raving out alongside its breath, raising the temperature around me significantly despite
the protective seal, "I have existed since the birth of your world and I shall exist long after your tiny kind has vanished into dust. Tell me why you need the strength of the dragons. Your predecessors needed us to protect their village, but you no longer have such a village protect. So tell me, hatchling, why I should permit you the use of our power."
I was stunned, utterly stunned as the King of the Dragons, Emberstoke the Eternal as he had said, asked me what I needed their power for. It was a few moments of quiet as I stared into his empty sockets, my heart pounding in my ears before I swallowed and spoke, my mouth feeling like cotton as I answered.
"I need you strength to protect myself from those who would harm me so that I can thrive in a world that hates me. More than that though, I need your strength, your raw power to prevent the resurrection of the Juubi, and failing that, to defeat it."
There was a pause before the dragon before me reared back and let out a deep rumble that I eventually realized was an almost mocking laughter as I frowned in frustration before I turned my attention back to Emberstoke as he lowered his head again, and spoke, a humorous tilt to his tone.
"How do you know of the Juubi, Hatching? Such a creature has long since faded into myth and memory if not disappeared completely. So where did you learn of it?"
"I...I am..."
'Tell him Kit. We can't hide the truth of this from him.'
Nodding to myself -and Kurama- I steeled myself and continued speaking.
"I-I got reincarnated, with some sort of future sight ability," I began, trying desperately not to piss myself as I could just feel those empty eyes above me narrow and look down at me, "More than that though, I have Kurama, The Kyuubi no Youko sealed inside of me. He was willing to tell me about the Juubi and how that happened."
"The fox resides within you...I had thought I felt his chakra, although it is strangely diminished. Why is that?"
"When he was sealed into me, the Shinigami was summoned to perform the ritual and in doing so he took the Yin half of Kurama along with the sealer's soul in exchange."
The dragon paused at that before nodding, lava splashing out of his eyes before he replied, "You would do well to rectify that, Hatchling. I believe your clan created a mask for the purpose of undoing such seals that required Shinigami-sama's aid. Now do you have any questions before we discuss the terms you will need to fulfill for the contract?"
"I am already looking for it, Emberstoke-sama, and I would like to ask if it would be possible for me to undergo Senjutsu training here under the dragons. Along with that, I would like to know what changes signing the contract will have on me." I answered.
"Ah, I am surprised that you know of Senjutsu already, but if you really are reincarnated than that would explain that easily. As for training, the answer to that is yes. One of our species' elders will determine if you are ready yet, and they will train you should they deem you ready. As for physical changes, you can expect that all of your senses will increase significantly, your lifespan will increase and your healing rate will grow, you will become stronger and more resistant to elements in all senses as well. There would have been more changes, but I can see that Kurama already has his hooks in you, which I would like you to explain."
My lips made a tiny line as I remembered what brought about the changes Emberstoke asked of. Swallowing back my bile, I began to explain the attack and the damage that had been done to me along with Kurama's refusal to have a weak container at which point he decided to make me his heir so I would survive. As I finished the explaining the situation, we fell into a slightly awkward silence as the Dragon King considered my story before he gave a tiny tilt of his head to me.
"I am sorry for what was done to you, Hatchling, but you are stronger for it and I feel you will make a fine summoner. The only requirement that I have for you to fulfill in exchange for our aid is that you will help raise our hatchlings. We have been locked within our world for decades, as such our youngest need to learn and grow, and more importantly, experience the world outside our protection. I expect you to teach them both reading and writing, along with whatever other skills you possess. You will be required to train three, but for each hatchling after that you will be permitted to select a dragon other than myself to be a dedicated summon that you may bring forth for reasons outside of battle. The most important restriction for you though is that I am not to be summoned under any circumstances unless the Juubi has been recreated."
"I...I can do that. Not all of the skills I can teach your hatchlings will be what you might consider...pertinent though."
"Such as?"
I could feel the skepticism in those words as I grimaced and replied, "I'm only just starting in combat and stealth related abilities. Most of what I can teach at the moment would be knowledge and skills in things like mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, and literature."
Emberstoke was silent for several seconds before he nodded and replied, "That will have to do. We will check in on the hatchlings you train every so often. Their safety will be up to you, but should it be needed you may summon one of us to help if the danger is too much for you to handle on your own."
"I-I understand Emberstoke-sama." I replied with trepidation.
"Good, now return to your realm, summon one of us when you are ready to begin training a hatchling." Emberstoke replied, his tone returning to the neutral grinding that he had had at the start.
And with that, I disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to reappear back in my apartment and drop flat on my back, not even realizing it as I passed out from the shear stress that had built up during the meeting with the dragons.
Pain.
Ooooo my back hurt. And that light was fucking bright. Jesus Christ why did I feel so shitty? My entire body ached.
'About time you woke up, Kit.' A voice rumbled through my mind.
'...Kurama-tousan?' I replied after a moment.
'No it's the Grinch. Of course it's me you foolish little child.'
'Oye! Not a child!'
'You're enough of one that you apparently need reminders not to do stupid things, and I did notice that you didn't deny the foolish part.' Kurama shot back, 'Besides that you're my heir which gives me the carte blanche to berate you as needed.'
'...Fine, but what the hell did I do to deserve this early morning tongue lashing?' I asked sullenly as I opened my eyes a crack and looked up at my ceiling.
'You actually managed to almost kill yourself and by extension me with chakra exhaustion, Noriko.'
The thought that I had yet again had a brush with death made me pale and shiver with a chill of fear before I suddenly froze in confusion.
'How the fuck did I do that?' I demanded sharply.
'You finalized the contract with the dragon's, Kit. Did you really think that a simple signature and blood offering was all it took to establish a contract?' He demanded.
'Well yeah. Besides you didn't warn me or anything so I thought I was doing alright.'
For some reason I got the distinct impression that Kurama was face palming.
Ignoring that though, his voice was a touch strained as began to explain just what I had fucked up.
'Kit, the contract functions in a way similar to the Fourth's Hiraishin as I understand that jutsu. Essentially it makes you into a beacon like his kunai which allows the summoned creatures to teleport to you. Forging the link between you and them is a chakra intensive process, and it only becomes for so the stronger the summons you're contracting. So by finalizing the contract with the dragons, reverse summoning yourself, and making that Chikage Bushin, you very nearly ran yourself dry. Which incidentally is why you feel like shit, or at least part of it. Passing out on the floor probably didn't help.'
Groaning in resignation, I levered myself upright, confirming my sleeping place as I heard Kurama chuckle in the back of my mind which made me grimace a little in embarrassment.
Really those summon scrolls needed instruction booklets.
That was a matter to pursue at another time though as I climbed to by feet and stretched, popping joints and easing some tense muscles before heading into the kitchen. I felt absolutely starved as I put a pan on the stove and pulled out eggs and sausage for my breakfast. It was slow, but the results were tasty, so after I had dispatched a Kage Bushin to clean up my mess, I showered and pulled on some clean sleepwear before slipping beneath my covers after I pulled the blinds on my window.
Fuck the academy. I just contracted the dragons and nearly killed myself. There is nothing on Heaven and Earth that will get me out of bed and into there today. Today I was going to sleep and be lazy. It wasn't a scheduled goof-off day, but hey, spontaneity and all that.
As it turns out, there was something on God's green earth that could get me up and out of bed; a full bladder. The sun light coming from outside had dimmed and taken on a darker hue as I woke and slipped from beneath the bedcovers to go and relieve myself. When I cane back out, I noted my Chikage Bushin had apparently returned and was even now making dinner.
"Evening boss." She greeted before turning her attention back to the stove. It was a little weird I'll admit to be waited on by yourself, but that was hardly the biggest thing on my mind right now. Between needing to uphold the Dragon Contract's requirements and my own little plots and projects, I wasn't sure where the time was going. Things seemed so much simpler before I asked for my inheritance.
All I had to do was train and deal with classes, now I had teaching a dragon, sage arts, and everything else in that scroll to deal with.
As my clone set dinner before me, I nodded my thanks and began to eat only to suddenly hiss in pain as I massaged my temples. There was an overwhelming rush of images and thoughts as my clones began popping one after another for several moments, dumping two days worth of intense training into my head with each one.
Grimacing as I felt Kurama start digging through the new memories and information, I began the mental process of organizing things and figuring out what had happened. It was as I worked my way back to the first clone's memories I found myself pausing.
There had been a cave-in that had claimed nearly forty clones. Only that wasn't right, they weren't supposed to be underground right?
'Your clones are ambitious, Kit.' Kurama remarked with amusement.
'What do you mean Tou-san?'
'I mean that when your clones learned the first few Dotons they decided to start digging and make a better base for practice. Only one of them brought the place down somehow with a Kinjutsu. They'll likely have it repaired by tomorrow if your new memories are anything to go by, but it was rather entertaining in my opinion.'
'That's 'cause you're a sadist, Kurama.' I sniped.
The fox gave me the mental equivalent of a shrug before I sighed and returned to my dinner, one hand still rubbing my aching temple.
The next few months passed quietly for the most part, though there was one rather memorable incident with a civilian girl at the Academy whose name was Ami. Apparently my marked disinterest in Sasuke Uchiha had kept me off the radar of his rabid horde of fan girls, but that changed though when the teacher assigned random partners and I ended up partnered with the broody boy.
-Flashback Start-
I immediately picked up the heated glares from most of my female classmates when the teacher made the announcement. Before now I had been unworthy of their notice, merely a fool whose only friend was the shy, stuttering Hyuuga heiress. Now though I was front and center in the eyes of the vicious fan girls that trailed Sasuke everywhere he went. Manning up so to speak, I sighed and shook my head as I left my seat beside Hinata to move next to Sasuke.
As I approached, the boy, I took note of his behavior, the cautious, calculating eyes that looked upon me with something verging on disdain. Of course I knew why he did though, I was the 'dobe' dead last of our class and he assumed I was going to drag him down. That wasn't going to happen of course, but it was the impression I willingly gave with my behavior and work during class.
Offering him a lazy shrug, I dropped into the seat beside Sasuke, briefly adjusting the low ponytail that I had tied at the nape of my neck to help keep my spiky hair under control. Sasuke merely looked away and back to our teacher as everyone finished moving seats.
"Alright everyone," sensei called out, "it's almost lunch, so I'll give you the instructions now to think about while you eat. Afterwards you'll be working with your partner to complete the assignment."
As the man droned on, I let my attention fade, only paying enough attention to catch the instructions before I leaned back in my seat and gave a yawn when the bell sounded. Not caring to socialize with Sasuke for the moment, I left the room and made it too the roof to eat in peace and quiet.
It was as I returned to the classroom that things got interesting though. Just down the hall from our classroom, Ami and three other girls stepped out from where they'd been against the wall to block my path. As I raised an eyebrow at their actions, Ami glared at me as she folded her arms over her chest as she declared, "This is your only warning Dobe. Don't screw up Sasuke-kun's grade. Your not worth being his partner so you better not fail like you always do."
I kept silent for a moment before I replied, a heavily sarcastic drawl to my tone as I asked, "And is there anything else you wanted oh queen-of-the-stupid?"
Now, while Ami and her cohorts weren't really experienced enough to get the sarcasm, they certainly did pick up on my insult, which resulted in some rather entertaining faces as they seemingly puffed up with anger, their cheeks turning red.
"Listen here, dead last. You're nothi-" Ami began as she started to practically hiss with indignation until I cut her off.
"No. Why don't you four go back to your seats and give up on trying to intimidate me. I've seen puppies more frightening than you and you wouldn't win in a fight anyways, so such up and do my ears a favor." I said coldly.
Either not caring about or just flat out ignoring my warning, Ami unfolded her arms and reached for my left bicep in an attempt to ratchet the bullying up to physical levels. The problem there was that I was better at it, and not just that, i likely weighed about forty percent more than Ami even though she was taller than me thanks to Kurama.
Thus as soon as her hand was a few inches from my arm, my left hand shot up and grabbed her wrist before yanking her forwards as I turned to the left, extending a foot to catch Ami's and send her forwards onto her face.
There was pure silence for a moment before Ami seemed to realize what I had done and that she was actually experiencing a bit of pain at which point she started crying and quickly scrambled up and ran for the nurse's office, her three idiot cohorts trailing quickly behind her. I snorted briefly before turning on my heel and heading into the classroom, taking my temporary seat beside Sasuke.
-Flashback End-
That confrontation out me firmly in the sights of Sasuke's fan girls, which included Ino and Sakura at this point it seemed. Granted I didn't care as none of them seemed interested in trying to pick a fight with me, but all of them certainly glared at me far more intensely and let rumors fly wildly in the halls. It wasn't really important, and I just couldn't bring myself to care. Granted the issue wasn't helped along by the fact that I actually got a better grade on the project than almost anyone else thanks to my pairing with Sasuke preventing the teachers from automatically failing me.
Really, school was just a great example of human cruelty and pettiness. Nothing more, nothing less.
At least that was my opinion which Kurama seemed to share.
The detention I got from tossing Ami did see Hiruzen dropping by my apart to ask about why I was fighting in class. Once I had recounted my side of the story, I ended up with the detention being removed from my Academy record and an apology on the behalf of the teachers from Hiruzen. That made me give the old Hokage a genuine smile before we got on to discussing a few more things that were vastly more important, namely what use I was getting out of my inheritance.
"So you signed the Uzumaki Contract..." Hiruzen mused from the seat opposite me at my kitchen table as he puffed on his pipe once before asking, "Any chance you'll tell me what the clan is that the contract belonged to?"
I shot him an impish grin before I replied, "No way, Jiji, I want to keep this secret. Besides that, I can't even summon them for battle yet since I haven't been able to start with my side of the agreement yet."
"Oh? And what do you have to uphold?"
Keeping up my cheerful demeanor, I felt my grin become positively foxy as I answered, "I get to help raise some of their young. I have to teach them to read and write and some other things, but in exchange for each one I help raise I can pick any one member of their clan besides the boss to be a personal summon."
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully as he looked me over for a moment before smiling as he asked, "So I expect that Minato and Kushina left you you scrolls to learn from Noriko-chan. Have you found anything interesting yet?"
Nearly jumping from my seat with exaggerated joy, I pulled my hands together in the familiar cross shape before a quartet of clones popped into existence behind me and I answered, "Yeah, Kaa-san left this awesome jutsu called the Kage Bushin for me. It's really neat how I remember what they do and stuff."
The Hokage's eyes had gone wide at the sight of my clones before he smiled slight and spoke.
"I'll ask you to be careful with that jutsu Noriko-chan, it's an extremely chakra intensive jutsu. Please don't make anymore than a couple at a time."
Deciding to play things up a little, I sheepishly brought my right hand up to scratch the back of my head as I nervously replied, "Only a couple? But I can make dozens of them Jiji! It's no fun if I only have a few."
Again Hiruzen's eyes widened before he closed them with a smirk and a chuckle as he took in my words.
"Oh alright Noriko-chan, make them as you will, but please be careful, I don't want to see you get hurt at all."
"You got it, Jiji!" I replied cheerfully, flashing my surrogate grandfather a wide grin and a thumbs up.
He gave an honest laugh at the pose I made before settling back in to talk about a few more minor things till it was closing on mid afternoon, at which point he finally bade me goodbye before vanishing in a swirl of shunshin alongside his ANBU guards.
Little did they or anyone else know that my newest plan had been put into motion as we spoke, by a tiny, tiny spider clinging to Uchiha Itachi's pant leg.
With that out of the way, and moving on its own, I started on an early dinner. If I wanted to try out the random reverse summoning tomorrow then I would need to be both well rested and well fed.
Author's Note: So there's chapter six. It felt a bit boring and a but clunky and I rewrote several parts of it again and again, but in the end this is how it is. As always, comments and criticisms are welcome and I hope that you all enjoyed this latest installment.
Ja ne!