Alright, I can remember a lot of weird stuff I've experienced in my life, that one drunken shinobi we met on our trip that tried to hit on my mother, Orochimaru's horrifically intriguing experiments, the Aburame's uniquely uncanny ability, and even some of the heaviest Killing intent I've ever felt. From Orochimaru of course.

But this?

I stared up at the gargantuan insect above me, easily the size of a small house. A threatening buzz dominating everything else.

This has got to be the weirdest.

Maintaining eye contact with the massive cicadas red-orange compound eyes, my reflection distorted in its sight. I slowly brought myself up from the ground onto my feet, the buzz increasing in volume as I did so. My eyes drew themselves against its chitin, wings twitching on its back.

How am I supposed to deal with this?

I raised my hands in surrender, my mouth twitching in anticipation. My surroundings coming into focus around me as adrenaline pumped through my veins. It seemed I was in a cavern of some sort, a system of tunnels maybe? Monstrously large roots were carved into the walls, meters in diameter. A few smaller ones lined the floor beneath me.

Am I underground?

It leaned forward, only a meter away now. I could feel the buzz in my chest.

Genjutsu maybe? It is rather large… maybe it's able to be affected? Hopeful thinking…

It's rostrum, essentially its mouth was much more intimidating at this size, much sharper and wider than any blade I've seen. Even more so when it rose to point at me.

My breath hitched, it's powerful buzz the only sound in the room

"What are you doing here human?"

I balked.

Did it just talk? Yes, yes it did, did you not just hear it?

Shaking my head, my gaze rose from it's tube-like mouth to its eyes, might as well be polite, "What?"

It bristled at that, the buzz becoming more intense for a moment, "I asked you why you are here human, in the Caverns of Song?"

Its scratchy voice was partially obscured, hidden beneath the incessant droning emanating from its body.

Rather dramatic isn't it?

I rubbed the back of my neck, still tense, "I don't really know, I was only exploring the forest."

Scuttling backward, the creature seemed to hum in thought, although to me it only sounded like nails to a chalkboard. Kami, what the fuck did I get myself into?

"I see. However, if what you say is true, then you must follow me."

Letting myself go off guard, I stared, befuddled, "I just pumped some chakra into the seal on the tree's roots…"

The giant insect turned extremely quickly, a small gust of wind blowing past me. I tensed, getting ready to stabilize myself, but my body didn't transform. Convenient.

"Follow."

I let out a breath, my eyes following the cicada's receding form, it's trailing surprisingly light.

What's going on today?

It turned out that the cicada had a name. Furu. So that's good. From what I've gathered, I had stumbled upon the direct entry point to a summons home, haven, whatever it was. Although I have studied summons before, actually finding a natural location is practically unheard of, spare a few stories of toads.

As Furu was leading me through the seemingly never-ending hollows of the cavern, smaller cicadas crawled along the roots, some moving what seemed like supplies, their heads bowed, and others drinking directly from the roots.

Still tense, I glanced up at Furu, my hands in my pockets, "You still haven't told me where we're going."

He peered back to me, not saying anything before going back to his steady pace, staring forward. Great. At least the caves give me some unfamiliar sense of safety, although I don't know why. They just do.

The wood seemed to somehow grow even wider as the little pathways and cubbies disappearing along with our trip, the cave system becoming an organic hallway crafted from four colossal roots ingrained together, leading the two of us into what could only be described as a completely natural cathedral. What seemed like makeshift candles formed out of an odd sap littered throughout, many pews lining the room, even what looked like regal cicadas colored dark grey with white eyes, almost as large as Furu guarded the entry point, letting Furu cross with no question, begrudgingly letting me through behind him.

I noticed the deafening buzz in the air, their conglomerated efforts keeping me from hearing my own thoughts, an oddly comforting luxury. What confused me was that my ears weren't in pain, perhaps it was because they're summons, or maybe natural energy, I do not know.

Standing in the front center of the room, what I could only describe as a wooden monolith formed from the tail end of one of the rootstocks.

The rows of pews were filled with cicadas varying in size and color, singing their song towards the monument. No…

With the monument.

I could hear the majority of the noise coming from its head, and yet I could not see what was on top of it.

Furu made an odd low-pitched noise, causing the room to become quiet. Now the only sound was my breathing and the occasional scratch at the ground from the congregation. He stepped forward, his own buzz going on in the background, "Everyone," He fluttered over to the side, his massive size unblocking my view, "We have a candidate for the position of Saint."

Saint? Well bud, do I have some news for you…

Immediately, the room filled with their song once more, however, I couldn't evince their true feelings on the matter. What does he mean by Saint? Why are they all in a giant cathedral? What's on top of that damn monolith!?

Furu escorted me through the crowd towards the wooden centerpiece, a cold feeling creeping down my spine, the group quieting once more. My mouth twitched.

Where the hell is he bringing me to?

We reached the monument. Its size becoming even more apparent than it already was. The room began to grow slightly darker; I turned around, a large set of dark green and brown curtains fashioned from leaves closed behind us, blocking off the rest of them and leaving Furu, who, or whatever was on top of the monolith, and myself.

Guess I'm dead.

Tensing up, I stood as still as stone, my gaze left unblinking at the top of the root. A shuffling sound coming from what I couldn't see.

"It seems you already understand your role, young one," A rough voice cut through the silence, no buzz present.

A pale white cicada with vibrant blue eyes dropped from the top of its pedestal, almost the size of my hand. It landed at my feet. It craned it's head up at me, it's cobalt blue eyes somehow conveying an unearthly wisdom and understanding, "You've already met Furu, respectable, isn't she?"

So Furu's a she then? Huh. Alright. Screw it.

Nodding, I crouched down to the pale cicada, my face set as I offered a finger, "I'm Ton'neru Iburi, it's nice to meet you, and if you don't mind, I have quite a few questions." I give up on making sense of this, no matter how interesting. Giant insects, unusual roots that could not feasibly exist anywhere in Konoha. Oh well, maybe they'll be able to teach me something for my time.

The cicada let out it's equivalent to a hearty laugh, although it sounded high pitched to me, "Wonderful! Even now you remain calm. Absolutely wonderful!" He let the last vestiges of his amusements go, appearing before my eyes faster than I could see, he hovered, "I am Bazu, the Bishop of the Cicadas. You need not worry my Saint, your questions shall be answered in due time." I froze, how did he move that quickly? He landed on the top of my arm, beckoning me to outstretch my hand.

Ignoring the Saint comments, I'm not really in a power position right now, so I think I'll just...

Bazu landed in the palm of my hand, his body only the size of a small brick. He nodded to Furu and a large scroll fell at my feet, unraveling into ancient papyrus with an unknown language written on it. A spot seemed to be laid out at the bottom for a signature of sorts, no other markings in sight. An ear ringing buzz ran through me as Bazu flittered off my hand next to the seal, "I apologize for the pain, but it was necessary," Glancing down to my hand, it was covered in blood, five holes, one in each of fingers and from, caused by Bazu's mouth. Although, my gauze was absorbing it well.

Shit.

Taking a deep breath, I looked to the Bishop questioningly. He nodded his head to the scroll, "To sign our contract, one must do so in blood, as no other medium is as absolute."

Alright, I suppose they want a summoner. Are there any real downsides to this? Of course not, it's another avenue to explore!

I pressed my hand into the seal, firmly imprinting my palms likeness into the parchment. Waiting a few moments, nothing happened. I shot an unimpressed look to the Bishop.

Absolute my ass.

He buzzed, seemingly laughing, "You must sing our song into the print before we accept you as our Saint young Ton'neru."

Staring at the smaller cicada, I shifted between him and the scroll. Of course, there was some prerequisite to getting a contract. How am I supposed to mimic their buzzing?

My gaze practically burned through the old paper as I mulled it over in my head. I pulled at my chakra, pulling it into thin strings similar to a harp, vibrating them at different frequencies, yet all I managed to get was something akin to Tinnitus.

Damn.

My eyes screwed in concentration as I pulled the chakra even more narrow, redoubling my efforts, vibrating again at more extreme levels. Still, I only managed to make my ears bleed, unlike the soothing feeling their song usually had. Letting go of the chakra, I peered back at Furu who was buzzing absentmindedly, watching. Listening as closely as I could, my ears led me to look at her side, a relatively small rounded triangle of ridged muscle covered in chitin was its origin. I stared.

Kami, cicadas and their fancy organs, how did I forget their tymbals, the entire thing that makes the damn song…

Taking my chakra for the third time, I pulled my chakra as thin as humanly possible, attenuated to the highest degree. Step one done. My focus completely on my chakra, my eyes closed as I layered the chakra in on itself, copying the pattern of muscles as accurately as I could do myself, forming a pseudo-tymbal, each ridge smaller than the last. Step two done. Now all I need to do is vibrate it as fast as I can. Easy.

Sweat fell off my chin as I willed my chakra to grind against itself, a sound similar to the Cicada's song. Finally! I pushed for more friction, bringing the noise to the point of deafening me to anything else. Almost there...

My focus broke, the artificial tymbal falling apart just as the buzz found its peak. I let out a few tired breaths, my short clean-cut hair wet with sweat, my bandages damp as well. I stared at the contract, my bloody hand print glowing a light grey before setting in, the glow fading with time. The scroll puffed away, leaving me before the two cicadas, a reluctantly satsified expression on my face. I feel as if I just sold my soul to the Shinigami, no matter how much this setting opposes that.

Bazu let out a hum of contentment that resonated in my chest, "Perfect," He shuffled away towards a back room, possibly his personal quarters if the size of the door means anything, "Come, we have much to discuss."

Only nodding, I trailed Bazu to the small door, barely large enough for the more moderately sized cicadas to fit through. I got down on my hands and knees, pressing forward behind him. It was dark, depriving me of at least two of my senses as the smell of old silt overpowered everything else. An excruciatingly bright light was all that could be made out, Bazu's chitin faintly shining in the tunnel, "With haste my Saint, with haste!"

I'm hurrying alright? Kami…

Reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, I dragged my self out of into what looked like a… valley? There were large but not monstrous roots that were burrowed into the sides of the crevasse, and abnormally huge blades of grass the size of trees, their vibrant green contrasting with the vast purple sky.

Beautiful. In a bizarre way, but still beautiful.

Pausing, I thought of the connotations of my situation. I am a shinobi. A clan shinobi. A genin on a team of other ninjas, headed by one of the strongest shinobi in the village, and someone, probably Kakashi based on the hair color noticed me get transported by the Cicada's, so it was extremely likely that my sudden disappearance was reported a few hours ago based on the sky, and to add on one last thing to stress out the Hokage even more is that I'm the only ninja in the village that has the Iburi kekkei genkai, one of only two in the entirety of the Land of Fire as far as I know.

Yeah, I am probably going to get a little more than a smack on the wrist, but hey, might as well try to stay optimistic.

I stretched, yawning at the sky, "Yeeeaah. I have to go. Soon preferably, would you mind if we could re convene at a later date?"

Bazu appeared on my shoulder. I'm going to have to get used to that, aren't I?

"Of course my Saint. To leave all you have to do is use the summoning technique to leave and return. And obviously."

"Sounds good," I turned to perform the technique. Man, this has been one rollercoaster of a day. A thought brought me pause.

I don't know that technique, do I? Nope.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck, "Could you show me the Summoning technique?"

His high-pitched laugh was my only response.

~1 hours later~ 3rd person POV

The sun long gone beneath the horizon, a small group of shinobi stalked through the woods, seven in total. Minato and Orochimaru headed the search with their respective team's following behind, combing through whatever they could.

Orochimaru sneered at the blonde, "How did you and your team manage to make one of my students disappear within only hours of meeting the boy anyway?"

Minato's eyes sharpened as he glared at the Sannin, "My team did not get rid of Ton'neru Orochimaru. And we don't know what happened to him, but from what Kakashi told me, he seemed to have been reverse summoned."

The pale man rolled his eyes, looking ahead, "Very likely."

Obito, now with his goggles and headband, sifted through the forest, his eyes squinted frustratedly as he searched. He had been annoyed with him, but he only wanted his stuff back, not for him to just poof out of existence. Although, the thought had crossed his mind. He whirled his head over to Kakashi, "Have you found anything yet Kakashi?"

Much to his chagrin, the silver-haired prodigy glanced back at him, an annoyed look on his face as he only shook his head. Meanwhile, Anko and Rin searched together, talking about their teammates, Rin whispering to her, "So, are you worried at all?"

Anko looked more annoyed than anything, rolling her eyes, "Not really, he's done some stupid stuff before, I wouldn't be surprised if he's at a library right now. Plus, he knows that I'll beat him senseless if he doesn't show up soon."

Rin giggled, "Sounds like Obito to me."

She peered at the Uchiha boy, then looked back to Rin, "They are not similar in the slightest," Anko observed the boy making a face at Kakashi, his goggle standing out against the green of the woods, "Why does he wear those anyway?"

The purple cheeked girl put a finger to her chin, "Actually, now that you ask, I don't really know," she shrugged, turning to the violetette across from her, "How about Ton'neru? Why does he wear those bandages?"

Anko paled, faltering as she almost tripped, "Uh… well, sorta."

Rin gazed at her questioningly, awaiting an answer.

She sighed, "I don't know the specifics, but apparently they keep him safe somehow, I don't know how or why, but they do. Also," She shuddered, "If you ever think about pranking him, never, take his bandages. Ever."

Rin went back to work, befuddled, "Whatever you say."

Thinking of the mummy boy's demonstration, Orochimaru smirked, thinking to himself.

Of course, his students would be highly skilled, he was training them after all. Hayate was easily the most well-trained genin in kenjutsu, Anko was already following in his footsteps by signing the snake contract, and Ton'neru's genjutsu was absurdly refined for his age.

Minato peered at Orochimaru's grin, unsettled. Probably gloating to himself no doubt. Shaking his head, he surveyed the surrounding wood, a soft ringing in the air.

POOF

~Ton'neru's POV~

Finally got it down. Cool.

As the smoke started to fade, I was greeted by the sight of both my own team and team 7 staring at me, a pregnant pause starting while Anko's face slowly morphed into anger.

Nope.

Throwing a genjutsu at her, and creating a mud clone, I side stepped her march, rubbing the back of my neck while tuning out her irate rant, "Terribly sorry about that."

Hayate facepalmed, taking a seat on a fallen tree, mumbling about being not being paid enough. Orochimaru crossed his arms, his annoyed gaze practically screaming, 'Where have you been?' Minato seemed to have a similar sentiment, "Ton'neru…"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I found a summons domain?" Sighing, Orochimaru stepped forward, "Now is not the time to-."

Using some of the blood from the wounds I got from Bazu, I quickly summoned a small cicada, slightly larger than average.

He stared, cocking his head to the side as he studied the insect. It squirmed under his scrutiny, whispering to me with a frightful buzz, "He's scary…can I go now?"

Nodding, the little guy puffed back to the Caverns of Song safe and sound, "See? I even got a contract."

Orochimaru rubbed his chin, "That you did."

I smirked, "Does this mean I won't be punished?" He seemed to consider it, sparing me a cold look, "You will be given extra sparring with Anko for the next three days, however," A pressure grew around me, bringing my attention to his eyes, "If I have to lose any more time on my studies because of your faults, then I will not be as lenient."

"Understood." The pressure dissipated.

I looked back to Anko, seemingly hammer fisting my poor clone, maiming my bandaged face. A necessary sacrifice. And sadly, a precursor to our sparring sessions.. that I now had more of. Damn it.

I felt my mouth twitch as I turned to the rest of the impromptu search party, "Once again, sorry I accidentally brought you all out here. Except for Obito, he needs all the training he can get."

Kakashi coughed, seemingly hiding his snickering, while Obito's face heated up out of embarrassment, "NO I DON'T!"

My hands reached into my pockets as I peered at him, "Oh really?" I dangled his headband in front of his eyes.

"GGRAHH! HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT!"

"So," Jak-Jak sat before me, her legs crossed and an innocent smile on her face, "Care to tell me why ya took so long?"

Unprecedented consequences…

I shuddered, transforming partially into smoke, "W-well, you see, I was bored and I-," She stood up, "Always bored aren't ya?"

I only nodded, sitting down. Any more words and I might go missing for a while…

She sighed, the sickly-sweet smile on her face replaced with a tired scowl, "Why didn't ya at least tell me first before ya did whatever it was ya were doing?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I glanced away, "Well, I didn't know if the opportunity would stay if I had to come all the way here first." And it would've been pretty rude to hold up the entirety of team 7 to talk to you first… easier to beg for forgiveness than permission.

She slowly rubbed her eyes, leaning back, "Just, jus… y'know ya make my hair grey right?"

My head bobbed.

"Alright," She turned away, stalking towards her personal bedroom, "I'm going ta' bed. Night."

Really? That's it?

The last bit of her visage disappeared behind the doorframe, a calm silence taking over the living room, myself standing gobsmacked on the couch.

Alrighty then…

I stood, taking a deep breath, reviewing my rollercoaster of a day in all of its fantastical glory. Giant religious cicadas that call me their Saint, Obito's eccentric together with my own eccentric team, and even weirder, even more, bizarre and outlandish than anything I've done in my short time on this Earth.

Weeding.

I'd say that's a good mix for today.

My eyes roamed to the window, the night sky free from stars, a blank canvas of indigo beyond any understanding, otherworldly in nature with the Moon an anchor to our mortal plane.

Stop trying so hard to be poetic.

Silently, I nodded along to my thoughts, agreeing wholeheartedly. The couch looked extremely comfortable right about now… fuck it.

I collapsed onto the mishmash of clouds I called a 'couch', placing a hand behind my head while biting my thumb, summoning a smaller cicada. They seemed excited, their voice even now still hidden behind a soft buzz, "What can I do for you my Saint?"

Closing my eyes, I mumbled, "Just," I yawned, "Just sing your song until I fall asleep please, try not to wake anyone else."

Their tiny head dipped, and the gentle buzz of their melody filled the air. A content smile wormed its way onto my face as my consciousness faded.

Perfect…

~? POV~

The quarry seems to have gained a summoning contract. A surprising development, but nothing hazardous to the mission, at least not as of yet. Further study will be necessary… I stood, turning away from the building I stalked off into the night, my hair flowing behind me with no sound nor trail following my path.

A/N: Welp, this is the result of a sudden burst of motivation as well as being one of the few things I've had planned since the beginning. Thank you, Seeker of Immortality for your reviews, and as I should've addressed in the prologue, I have tweaked with characters ages and events in the world for the story's plot. Furthermore, thank you mem0 for your suggestion, I've been considering rewriting the prologue for a while now, and this reminded me. Thank you everyone else for your reviews, they are definitely invigorating and make me more confident. Hopefully, you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope I see you in the next chapter.