Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.

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Chapter Thirty-Five

Summoner

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"Oh shit." Jiraiya whispered as he stared up at the looming shape. "He summoned Gamabunta on his first try!"

"JIRAIYA!" Gamabunta shouted, looking round, then down. Spotting the Toad Sage, Gamabunta leaned forwards slightly, looking down at the shocked human. "Why. Have. You. Summoned. Me?"

Jiraiya quickly unslung the summoning scroll and held it up, unrolled enough that Gamabunta could see the last three names. "It wasn't me, Gamabunta! It was Naruto!"

"You expect me to believe that this… Vortex Fishcake… could summon ME on his first try?" Gamabunta asked.

"I do and I did!" Naruto shouted from Gamabunta's back. "Of course, having seen how fat you are, I bet I could do more damage than you with a single technique!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Jiraiya whimpered.

"Oh?" Gamabunta said slowly.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted back. "in fact, if I do more damage than you can with a single technique, then you will call me by my proper name, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Hah! If you can do more damage than me with a single technique, I'll call you Boss." Gamabunta laughed.

"Deal." Naruto replied. "Over there is an area used for testing jutsu. We'll stand in that clearing to do our techniques, you go first."

"Any limits?" Gamabunta smirked.

"No more than twenty seconds to set up and ten seconds execution." Naruto snapped. "Anything longer is generally useless in combat."

"Agreed." Gamabunta laughed. "Let's go, little fishcake."

Jiraiya watched Gamabunta leap into the air, crashing down directly in the center of the distant clearing. Pulling out a telescope, he re-slung the scroll and leapt up the tallest tree he could find for a better view.

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Naruto dropped off Gamabunta's back and craned his neck to look up at the Toad Boss.

"You want the north or south?"

"The North." Gamabunta said as he drew the sword that he had sheathed in his waist-sash. "Watch and learn, brat. Suiton no Yaiba!"

The water in the nearby pool almost leapt out in a rising funnel that settled around the sword, then Gamabunta swung the sword with both hands. The water extended outwards, slashing through tree-trunks without slowing and toppling them.

"Hah! Beat that!"

"Alright." Naruto stated. "Armour on!"

Gamabunta stared in shock as the armour materialized around Naruto, then Naruto grabbed at the armour plating of his chest and swung the plates outwards. The lenses underneath the plating started to glow, then they rapidly brightened before unleashing a ferocious blast of energy. The area that Naruto was facing seemed to simply evaporate in the attack, then it stopped and Naruto let the plates swing closed even as vents on his neck opened, firing plumes of steam through the gaps in his collar.

"…whoah." Gamabunta finally managed as he stared at the area of devastation that was almost double that which he had caused, small piles of ash still smoking.

"You said it." Jiraiya said from beside him.

"…why does he need a summons, again?"

"He's Minato's son." Jiraiya sighed. "The seal, remember."

"Naruto!"/"Naruto-kun!"

Gamabunta stared in shock as two more armoured individuals appeared, swooping towards them and touching down lightly even as the armour around them vanished. His gaze switched to Naruto, who had also shed his armour and turned to catch the two new arrivals as they glomped him together.

"His fiancees, Ino and Hinata." Jiraiya explained to the bemused toad without prompting. "He gave them copies of his armour."

"…why does he need a summons, again? Apart from the seal, I mean?" Gamabunta half-whispered to Jiraiya.

"Because I refuse to rely purely on my armour." Naruto said, looking up from the two kunoichi who were not intending to release him any time soon. "I've been working on getting my futon affinity trained as well as starting on raising my skills with the other elements. I train hard with my shuriken and Tenten gives me occasional lessons in exchange for explosive tags. My Uzuken is coming along nicely, I can almost hold my own against Rock Lee as long as he doesn't drop his weights. Kakashi-senpai is helping me with tactics and strategies, as well as overseeing my ninjutsu training."

"Heh. Hehe. Hahahaha!" Gamabunta started laughing. "Ahahahahahahahahaha! I like you!"

"Ummm, thanks. About that boss thing though, you don't have to…"

"Heh, you are quite an interesting one, Uzumaki Naruto." Gamabunta chuckled. "Jiraiya, tell the old monkey that we'll be borrowing Naruto for a few weeks between the second and third stages of these exams of yours."

"…what?"

Gamabunta vanished in a plume of chakra smoke, leaving Jiraiya staring at where the toad had been.

"Dammit, 'bunta!" He half-shouted. "What did you mean?!"

"Hey, pervy-sage!" Naruto called, causing both girls to giggle. "We done?"

"Ummm, for today, yeah." Jiraiya finally managed. "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing!"

Jiraiya watched them leave, then he shook his head.

"First attempt?"

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"I was thinking about doing some clothes shopping." Ino stated as the trio walked down the switchback path. "I think a new wardrobe for the exams would be a good move… maybe for you as well, Hina-chan."

"I was going to talk with Fu about our mutual tenants and help her with her armour technique." Naruto said.

Ino giggled as she nodded. "Yep, so we'll grab Sakura instead. Do you think Fu can use a makeover?"

"Only after she has transferred to Konoha." Naruto countered. "For now, she is a Takigakure ninja, even if they all hate and fear her."

"How will you help her come to us?" Hinata asked and Naruto's grin turned almost feral.

"I intend to make a variant of the Chishio Bunshin for her." He stated.

"Really?" Hinata asked curiously and Naruto nodded.

"Really, although it'll take several more days to create. Oh, that reminds me. Ino, while you're shopping, we need to restock the medical supplies."

"What have you been doing?" Ino asked, "Or should I not ask?"

"If you don't know, you can't let it slip." Naruto explained apologetically. "Sorry."

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"That didn't look like Naruto." Kankuro said from the window and Temari glanced at him.

"What? What are you talking about. Flying armour, has to be him."

"The proportions were wrong." Kankuro insisted. "Not to mention the color…"

Temari snorted with derision and her brother scowled at her.

"Hey, you don't know how hard being a puppeteer is! It isn't just about using chakra strings to move things, puppeteers need perfect co-ordination and a great eye for detail! We need to be able to mentally disassemble and rebuild our puppets before we even pick up a screwdriver! You buy your clothes, I make mine and the fabric parts of my puppets!"

"You're using Sasori's stuff." Temari countered and Kankuro nodded.

"Yeah, because I'm good enough to have access to the masterpieces of the greatest puppeteer in Suna history!"

"What are you arguing about now?" Baki sighed as he entered the suite.

"Doll-boy thinks that Naruto's changed his armour." Temari snorted and Baki blinked.

"Shit! He's upgraded?"

"I don't think it was him, the proportions were out." Kankuro grumbled and Baki's eye narrowed.

"Shit, he's duplicated it? Damn, we need to find out who the second Armour-user is, and fast!"

"Then I'm going to visit the public baths again." Temari said, putting down the scroll that she had been reading, then she looked at the other two who were staring at her. "Oh, come on! I'll probably hear something useful there, or have you forgotten how most kunoichi are gossips?"

"…good idea, sis." Kankuro finally admitted.

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Fu landed outside Naruto's house and let her wings dissipate. The door opened before she could reach it and Fu smiled.

"Fu likes your house."

"Thanks." Naruto said, waving for her to enter. Can I get you a snack?"

"Fu ate before coming here." Fu replied with a smile. "Fu has discovered that Fu likes ramen."

"Truly it is the food of the thousand Kamis." Naruto agreed. "So… before we begin, our bargain…"

Fu stared at him wide-eyed and Naruto hurriedly continued.

"I provide you with a way for you to escape Taki and adopt you into the Uzumaki clan and in exchange, you teach me how to work with the Kyuubi in a similar way to how you work with the Nanabi. Does that sound right?"

Fu nodded and Naruto smiled.

"Alright. My clones have found a way of faking your death, a modified chisio bunshin, but it will take some time to create. In the meantime, how do we go about contacting my tenant?"

"We sit and think." Fu said, dropping down to sit cross-legged on the floor. Naruto mirrored her pose and Fu extended her hand.

"Chomei says that she can help you reach the Naimen no Sekai, but it will take you and your tenant to work together to go deeper, into the Seishin Sekai, like Fu and Chomei can."

"But going into the Inner World should be enough for now." Naruto nodded. "The Mental World can wait."

"Then Fu will guide you." Fu said, taking Naruto's hand. "Close your eyes and relax."

Naruto exhaled slowly, then felt something change, as if he had fallen without actually moving. Opening his eyes, he found himself sat on a featureless plain.

"Is this…?"

"The Naimen no Sekai? Yes." A powerful, buzzing voice finished and Naruto half-turned to see Fu sat on the head of a giant insect.

"Chomei of the seven tails, I presume?" Naruto asked, trying to hide his shock and the giant armoured insect bowed its head.

"I am. It is lucky that my host has met you and you agreed to help her. She deserves better than what she receives from the village that hates her."

"Ha!" A new voice rumbled from behind Naruto. "We'll always be hated by those pathetic worms."

"And you would be the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the one sealed inside me by my father." Naruto said without moving. A growl caused his hair to rustle in the breeze it caused.

"And you are the human who has been stealing all my power."

Naruto blinked at that, then turned to look at the Biju behind him. The nine-tailed fox glared at him from inside a giant cage, one that had its bars covered in plating and metallic half-orbs that looked almost exactly like Naruto's armour.

"What the…?" Naruto managed as he reached out to touch the bars. His fingers made contact with the plating and the orbs all started to glow. "This looks almost like the outer shell of my armour… but… how?"

"Fu is curious." Fu said, dropping to the ground and walking over for a closer look. "This looks familiar, but Fu does not understand how it can be here. How can it be here?"

"I… don't know." Naruto repeated. "I mean, there's a lot I don't know about my armour. I found it by accident when I was six and it bonded to me… rather painfully… but for it to be here in this… how would you call this place?"

"Our father called it a mindscape." Chomei supplied.

"…here in this mindscape…" Naruto continued, "It has to be… what's that?"

Naruto walked to the left of the cage, where a duplicate of his armour was standing, attached along its spine to the corner pillar. Glancing right, he saw what looked like a larger suit of armour on the other corner, but one that was not quite complete with holes where its chest-plates and metallic orbs should be. Jogging round to the back of the giant cage and past an odd, transparent armour looking just like Ino's, he found himself looking at two immense pillars that seemed to flare out at the base. Continuing round, he passed another there-but-not armour, this one Hinata's.

"…what?" He muttered in bemusement, shaking his head in an attempt to force things to make sense.

"The only saving grace is that I can watch through your eyes." The Kyuubi grumbled, turning away from Naruto to stare at a large, silver ovoid suspended in the front wall of the cage. "Now, if only I could hear what you monkeys were saying… what?"

The ovoid rippled slightly, two smaller spheres emerging from the plating that held it and familiar voices echoed through them.

"…been sitting there for almost ten minutes without moving." Ino's voice said.

"It must be important." Hinata replied and then the mindscape seemed to shatter and fall away. Naruto opened his eyes and looked round even as he released Fu's hand.

"What did I miss?"

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Author's Afternote- Yes, the Guyver Unit has been absorbing Kurama's Youki from the day it bonded with Naruto and is using it to reinforce the cage, amongst other things.

As for why it appeared how it did, the mindscape is another dimension (albeit a mental one) and in Guyver Canon it's proven that the Guyver Unit is transdimensional and responds to the user's will. That being the case, having the Guyver store itself in the mental plane isn't that much of a stretch…