Author Note

Hello there and welcome to my first update of 2012.

Last chapter, I started and finished the wave arc. One and only reason for that was that I didn't want to split such a short arc in two chapters. Now would be the chunnin exams, right?

WRONG.

As I stated before, Naruto's team will have another mission before the exams. It doesn't mean that I won't move on to the chunnin exams right after the mission, but it won't start right away. I've got a lot of good reviews, which means I'm on the right track here. One review, though, which I won't say, came up with an interesting discussion about elements. We all know that Water is weak against earth, hence why Naruto's earth was stronger than Haku's water. This review, though, stated that because it was ice (water and wind), earth wouldn't be stronger anymore. I happen to disagree because ice is merely frozen water (I know how dumb this phrase sounds, but its true). Wind is just the catalyst between water in its liquid form and in its solid form (ice).

Now, below are the responses for some of the reviews (only those with questions made)

Starxwind – Asuma only whispered it to him and because of the heavy mist, Zabuza couldn't actually see much.

OregonDucks – Sorry, I don't. However, I'll be giving him new ones this chapter.

Joao brasileiro – In order to build more teamwork between his teammates, Naruto revealed what the Sharingan does, but in actuality, whatever information he released was public knowledge about the Uchiha Clan's doujutsu. They would be better off reading about in a book. As for Chouji picking up on Naruto's speed, well it may have come out wrong when I said that, really. But Naruto wouldn't use his full speed against Chouji in a spar, just enough so that the Akimichi could fight him. Indeed, Akimichis are not built for speed, but perhaps if Chouji focused a bit on agility, he could better apply his powerful but slow movements.

Mordread – No, Haku is dead. As to the Mangenkyou, I'm still not sure if he'll get it. The power behind the Mangenkyou is too god-like and Naruto wouldn't have many opposition. He definitely won't have the Rinnegan, though.

Ccebling – I'm still undecided on the Mangenkyou thing, but if I were to give him that, his wouldn't come with the same disease, seeing as he has Kyuubi inside of him, healing everything. So, giving the Eternal Mangenkyou seems illogical, considering its irrelevance. So far, the only difference between the Eternal Mangenkyou and the Mangenkyou is that the Eternal carry no side effects. Naruto wouldn't need to worry about said disease, because of the fur ball paying rent inside his stomach.

Raidentensho – It's a great idea. I suppose I could come up with something like that for him. You know where I can find information on Aoshi's style of kenjutsu.

Ok that's it for the answers.

Here is the chapter.

Nice reading.

Chapter 10 – Summoning Contract

Beta: Kyuubi123

It had been a couple weeks since Team 10's return from Wave Country and they managed to accomplish a good number of ten D-ranked missions since then. The genins spent the great majority of their time honing their skills both under Asuma's and their respective clan's teachings, in Ino and Chouji's case. In Naruto's case, he was now practicing advanced kenjutsu against his Anbu partner Tora. Both of them were using two swords this time and Tora could see Naruto's improvement since they started the training session. The man even dared to believe that Naruto began to aid him as a formidable kenjutsu partner for regular spars. Within Anbu, there weren't many specialists in the art of swords that could go toe to toe with him and even if Naruto was using the Sharingan, the genin was showing some advanced skills for someone so young. The two has been going at it for more than half an hour now and neither began to show any signs of being tired. However, Tora realized that he overstayed his welcome today and that he needed to be at the Anbu compound in a few minutes to meet a new member for his team. He parried one last strike from Naruto's sword, before he created some distance from the genin.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I must cut our training short. I have to present early today." The blond nodded, before placing his swords inside its respective scabbards, which were located on his back.

"Ok Tora-sensei, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." The Sharingan genin bowed in respect, before seeing a scroll being tossed right in front of him. Naruto lifted and looked at his sensei with a questioning look.

"From your file, you have both fire and earth affinities, both of them quite strong in their own right. That scroll before you contains advanced level manipulation exercises for both affinities. Consider it a gift for improving in your kenjutsu."

Naruto grabbed the scroll, before looking at the man one more time.

"Isn't this supposed to be Anbu restricted knowledge? I don't have access to this." He could hear a snort from Tora.

"I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about. Plus, I have a feeling that with that, your elemental techniques will catapult in strength with less chakra required. You've earned my respect as a shinobi, Naruto. That is not only a gift for your improvement but also a gift from one kenjutsu master to another. It's been quite some time since I've been tested in the art of swordplay and I can see it's just the beginning of your strength and skill. I bet that in no time you'll surpass me, even without those eyes of yours." Despite being rather reserved for his age and not emotionally open, Naruto couldn't help but smile upon being acknowledged by a high ranking shinobi and his sensei.

"Thanks Tora-sensei, I won't let you down."

The man nodded, before vanishing within a shunshin. He knew that Naruto would be immediately hooked by the info on the scroll, so he didn't even bother saying goodbye. Naruto didn't even acknowledge his partner slash sensei's presence or absence as he began to study the scroll with extra focus. He would normally jump to elemental training after the kenjutsu practice against Tora. However, if he managed to increase his knowledge regarding fire and earth elemental manipulation, he would then be able to increase the power of his elemental techniques and diminish the chakra necessary for it. It was a marvelous gift and he remembered to thank Tora for it tomorrow morning.

===Inside the Anbu HQ===

As soon as Tora entered inside the compound, he went to the specific Anbu training ground where his team usually met before assignments. As expected, the two members of his team were already there flanking the third and new member he was supposed to meet. Another kunoichi, but this one was different, his superior said. Tora wasn't against women inside the Anbu, seeing as his team was composed of three kunoichis. However, one got terribly hurt during a mission last week and had to face early retirement. Now, with one member short, his team was reduced to simpler missions and within the village's perimeter. This new recruit happened to be a junior Anbu, so he was more relieved just by this fact. The thought of training a normal jounin into Anbu routine was too troublesome right now. Her long blue hair could be seen from a distance as Tora approached the middle of the training field. Much to his surprise, the kunoichi was quite beautiful with her fringe that covered her right eye. She had dark blue eyes that showed a much more serious expression. Her clothes were standard Anbu with fingerless gloves and black arm protectors. Holding her eagle mask, Itsuko was busy conversing with her new teammates while awaiting their captain.

"Welcome recruit Itsuko, codename Eagle. As you already know, I'm your captain Tora. Even if you're already part of this team, I feel compelled to run a test to see your skills first hand. First, though, can you give me an estimate of them?"

"Certainly; Tora-taichou. I'm a taijutsu specialist with extensive knowledge of doton and raiton ninjutsu. My genjutsu skills are rather limited, as I'm able to only detect and dispel up to B-ranked illusions." The captain nodded, while wondering about the ninjato strapped on her back and the fact that she didn't mention her kenjutsu skills. It wasn't mandatory for Anbu to know kenjutsu, just to have adequate control. He turned to his already existing subordinates, before nodding at them to test the new member.

"Okay, then, I'll access your strength in a straight combat against your two teammates. Don't hold back or they'll wipe the floor with you." Itsuko smirked at the test, before falling into a taijutsu formation as she faced her teammates. One thing she enjoyed the most was a good fight.

===With Naruto===

The boy just kept reading the scroll without even acknowledging the fact that it has been two hours since Tora left him towards the Anbu Headquarters. Every piece of information hooked him worse than cocaine to a junkie. Manipulating fire like it was explained on the scroll was unheard of. Diminishing and increasing fire was something he never thought of before. Also, creating figures from manipulating earth was a brilliant idea. Not only did it allow him more control, but also could give him more ideas for new jutsus. The objective behind the manipulation was to diminish his chakra expenditure for each and every technique. Looking at the time, though, he realized that he wouldn't have time to put what he studied into practice, so he settled to read the entire thing. It took him half an hour to finish the contents for fire and earth manipulation. If the contents of the scroll weren't enticing enough to him, certainly the last phrase of the scroll was.

The amount of control over fire and earth elements can lead to the creation of a new power, which is the union of both elements, called Youton (lava release). Theories believe it to be a bloodline, but there were many who already achieved said level without any known back ground.

The union of elements wasn't a foreign concept to Naruto. He did read something about ninjas from other lands with the ability of merging wind and water elements, creating ice. He was alien, though, to the possibility of merging earth and fire to create lava. Perhaps, if he trained both elements hard enough, he could achieve such level of manipulation. Naruto considered asking either Asuma or Kakashi about the possibility, but for now he would consider it a hidden experiment. For now, he was still due to master the exercises that were described on the scroll. One thing that it could be said of Naruto, though, was that when an idea came, it was rather difficult or almost impossible to get rid of it. Right now, though, he needed to run because his team meeting was about to start. As he calmly headed to the meeting place, though, he couldn't get his mind away from the last phrase on the scroll about the possibility of achieving the ability to merger the elements.

===With Team 10===

After arriving, Naruto was surprised to see that he was the last one to arrive. He saw both Chouji and Ino practicing some advances chakra control exercises for warm-ups. It wasn't considered a spar, just a game with Chouji chasing after Ino from the trees. Ino would use her agility together with tree and water walking as she escaped from Chouji who needed to do the same in order to catch her. It was an ingenious idea created by Asuma-sensei as it not only increased their chakra control, but also their chakra capacity and agility. Naruto settled for looking at them, as he approached his sensei's position. The jounin noticed and turned to greet the blond.

"Good morning Naruto, I thought that something happened to you, since you're usually the first one here." Naruto eventually told Asuma that he trained with an Anbu every morning, so he didn't need to lie about it.

"Got a little excited with the kenjutsu practice and we took it longer than usual. What will happen for us today, Asuma-sensei?"

"Just a little practice before we go to the Hokage's office. I think is due time we grab another C-ranked mission today." Naruto nodded, before joining Chouji in capturing Ino, much to her complaint. Asuma smiled upon seeing his team's interaction. At first, it was difficult because of the rumors, but now Chouji and Ino were normal around their third teammate. It didn't take long for the boys to get Ino, before both Ino and Chouji joined together after Naruto. At the beginning, they had trouble catching Naruto and when they did, he was already tired of continuing with the game and simply stopped running. Now, though, they managed to give him more challenge by using a couple of clan techniques to slow him down.

Eventually, Asuma ended the warm-up exercises and took his team to the Hokage's building for a new mission, preferably a C-ranked. Asuma knew that his team was ready for another, since the one in Wave ended up being an A-ranked and they still came out unscathed. He had high hopes for all three of them throughout the years to come. He was the one leading the team throughout the village with Naruto following right behind and the rest behind him. Ino and Chouji were talking about their respective clan trainings and new techniques that they were hoping to learn quite soon, while Naruto was silent, with a clear look of contemplation. Were he to realize the rather ambitious thoughts that passed through Naruto's head right now, he would be hard pressed not to consider the possibility of merging elements. The blond, for his part, considered studying as much as he could on the subject of Youton ninjutsu.

Quite possibly, the library could provide him with information about the subject.

Obviously, he wasn't expecting to find a book called 'how to merge elements', but he was sure that any data recorded throughout the years on said special manipulation would be there. He just had to grasp through the many books and gather as much information as possible. Meanwhile, he needed to train both his fire and earth nature to the maximum of his ability. Before even starting the new element, he must have a firm grasp on both of his already existing natures, preferably mastering them. So involved in his thoughts was Naruto, that the genin didn't even register that his team had already entered the Hokage's building and was standing right in front of the old man's office.

After knocking on the door, Asuma opened the door, before presenting his team for duty.

"Oh team 10, here for a mission, I see." The jounin Sarutobi nodded to the senior Sarutobi.

"Yes Hokage-sama, I believe we're ready for another C-ranked mission, if there's any available." The Hokage nodded, letting them know of the existence of said mission.

"Ah yes, I have one right here. A group of merchants desires to deliver some goods in Snow Country and are in need of protection. It's a rather long trip and a rather cold one. The travel shouldn't be too difficult, with only bandits being expected throughout the journey. The mission should begin tomorrow morning and your team should meet the client at the location described on a map that is inside the mission scroll. Your team must leave quite early in order to make it. I take it from your smile that you accept the mission, Asuma?"

The jounin nodded once more, never losing the smile off his face.

"We'll take it, Hokage-sama." Asuma said, before talking to his genin. "Meet me tomorrow at 0600 hours here at the Hokage's Building. It should be a long trip, so pack accordingly. And don't forget to bring clothes for the cold weather. Snow Country isn't just a name." The genins nodded, before the team left the Hokage's office. Naruto, for his part, couldn't be happier that the mission would only start tomorrow, meaning that he had enough time to reach the library and gather some intel on youton ninjutsu. Afterward, he could even practice some of the exercises described on the scroll that he received from his kenjutsu instructor. He bid his teammates and jounin-sensei goodbye for today, before vanishing.

Neither Ino nor Chouji believed in doing some training today as they needed to rest as much as possible today for their mission tomorrow.

Asuma, for his part, figured that he could find a certain brunette jounin and ask her out.

===Next day===

As soon as the sun was up, team Asuma was waiting in front of the Hokage's Building for their sensei. All three of the genins were on time and Ino was already planning on beating her sensei for forcing them to wake up so early just to wait his sorry ass. Naruto was busy reading a scroll of notes he gathered from yesterday. When he attempted to enter the library for the first time, the librarian didn't allow him entrance for obvious reasons. He had to henge into Kakashi in order to grant entrance and he even had access to jounin reserved material. He even informed his surrogate brother of what he did and he got clearance from said man. Naruto heard that he would talk to the Hokage about it. Naruto, though, wasn't even worried about that as the information he managed to acquire was quite extensive. He managed to find a lot of material on a couple of shinobis from other villages that are known to be able to merge fire and earth ninjutsu.

According to his info, he found two ninjas from Iwagakure and one from Kumogakure with the ability. He even wrote a couple of known jutsus for later.

Chouji was busy having his own breakfast consisting of a bag of chips. The team waited for fifteen minutes, before Asuma arrived via shunshin. He had an embarrassed look on his face as he tried to apologize for his lateness. Naruto wasn't much affected, seeing as he knew that no one would be later than Kakashi and Chouji was more interested in finishing his bag of chips. It was Ino, though, who yelled at him much to his expectations. The pounding took close to five minutes, when Ino abruptly stopped and smirked all of a sudden. Asuma's danger sense was tingling as he saw the look on Ino's face. It was the look of a predator upon catching it's pray.

"What's that on your neck, Asuma-sensei?" The jounin's eyes widened immediately as both Chouji and Naruto looked at Asuma's neck only to see that a small area was slightly red in color.

"Oh it was nothing….just a training accident." Asuma said, trying to dissuade his genins of the truth.

"It's quite similar to the one I found on Kakashi's neck the other day, Asuma-sensei. And I'm pretty sure his wasn't caused when training." One thing about the Sharingan was that Naruto learned to interpret body language. Also, he had caught Kakashi and Kasumi on the act once on top of a roof top. It was weird to see such a thing, but they stopped as soon as Kakashi sensed his presence approaching. Asuma looked at his blond student and wondered who Kakashi was seeing. Deciding to drop the subject, Asuma told his genins to go find the client. Unfortunately, he couldn't control Ino's need for gossip as the girl kept asking about Asuma's girlfriend the entire journey towards the client, who was stationed a few miles near the Fire Country's capital. The team managed to arrive just at the nick of time and Asuma approached an elder man who appeared to be the leader of the bunch.

"Greetings, Kurosuki-san, I presume." The man nodded, before Asuma smiled. "My name is Sarutobi Asuma and this is my team, Uzumaki Naruto, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino." Asuma pointed as he said each name. "We are here to provide protection for your caravan towards Snow Country." The man named Kurosuki maintained his arms crossed as he studied the jounin for a while. He, if possible, looked older than the Sandaime Hokage and his eyes appeared closed because of the old and wrinkled skin around his eyes. He had gray hair and wore simple clothes, composed of a gray kimono and gray sandals.

"I was hoping for more professionalism coming from Konoha, Asuma-san. I just hope your team makes up for the lack of punctuality." Asuma nodded and bowed to the client. His smile was evident, though.

"Please accept my dearest apologies, Kurosuki-san. My team will not disappoint." The man grunted and turned to order his family to proceed while Asuma turned to his team. "Ok team, we'll divide in two. Naruto and Ino will be on the front while I and Chouji will be at the back. There are a total of three caravans, so it should be quite easy to protect. Keep your eyes pilled, everyone. Naruto, remember to use your eyes every now and then to pinpoint chakra residues throughout the journey." His team nodded, before getting into position. The weather, so far, was normal and no cloud was seen at the horizon. Naruto and Ino moved up ahead as the caravans started moving.

Two hours passed in a blink as the caravans were heading at Fire Country's harbor for the crossing towards Snow Country.

By this time, Ino was seen with a bored expression on her face as nothing of notice happened. She turned to her teammate and saw him looking around with his red Sharingan eyes activated. His face showed complete focus on the mission despite the fact that nothing happened so far. As soon as he deactivated the eyes, Ino smiled knowing that he didn't see anything. So, she figured that starting a conversation would help pass the time.

"So, Naruto…" Ino said, as the blond looked at her. "Do you know who Asuma-sensei is seeing right now?" Naruto wasn't much fond of gossiping, but he wasn't going to be rude to Ino.

"I don't know. He seems to act differently around the jounin-sensei of Team 8, but I don't know her name." Even if he didn't enjoy gossiping, Ino appeared satisfied with the answer as she absorbed the information and started processing it. She didn't know her name, either, but as a girl, she recognized her description. Ino remembered seeing her for the first time and immediately became jealous of how perfect the woman was. Naruto saw that Ino became quiet all of a sudden and went back to his scouting. As soon as he activated his eyes once more, he caught chakra residues coming from their right. "Ino, go and warn Asuma-sensei. I just caught five presences hidden behind those rocks to our right." The girl forgot her detective mode and nodded as Naruto remained focus.

It didn't take long for Ino to return with the response.

"Asuma-sensei said to continue and act only if they attack." Naruto nodded as he continued walking. It didn't take long, though, for the group of bandits to appear, but Naruto was already prepared and unleashed ten shurikens at the group. Chouji immediately vanished and went after the bandits, while Naruto kept them occupied. The caravan stopped immediately upon hearing the threat and Kurosuki appeared next to Naruto with a hidden dagger in his hand. Naruto's shurikens managed to hurt the majority of the bandits, allowing Chouji ample time to use his clan's technique and capture every one of the bandits, before beating them up until they were unconscious. He tied them quite thoroughly, using a special rope made with chakra to amplify its resistance. Asuma sent out a letter to the Local Police in order to capture the criminals. Kurosuki returned his dagger to its hidden place inside his kimono, but said nothing in appreciation.

Naruto wasn't expecting any, as it was their mission to provide protection for the caravan.

An hour later, the caravan reached the harbor and got on board the ship that would take them to Snow Country. Asuma considered their mission so far and how far it extended. As far as they were concerned, the protection were due until they reached Snow Country. He didn't know if the client required protection after crossing the border. Before he had the time to ask the client about it, Kurosuki appeared and began a conversation with Asuma.

"It appears that I underestimated your genins, Asuma-san. They handled the threat with impressive efficiency. Now, I believe we should discuss the extension of your mission."

Asuma looked at the man for a while beginning to regret ever accepting the mission.

"I spoke with your Hokage about the possibility of us requiring further protection once inside Snow Country, if we failed to find someone who could provide us once inside Snow Country. I'm prepared to pay the equivalent of a B-ranked mission, if money is your concern." Asuma narrowed his eyebrows at the man. Travelling to a foreign country, even if a neutral one such as Snow Country, was ill advised for his team. There were simply too many situations that could happen and he had three genins to watch out for. He was already informed of this through the mission scroll and he even asked his father about it. The acceptance would be his call and if necessary, Asuma could call for backup.

"Before accepting it Kurosuki-san, I need to know the cargo's destination. I know nothing of Snow Country's situation right now." The old man didn't want to, but he ended up revealing it either way.

"My cargo is to be delivered to a village located a few miles from the country's harbor. I'll deliver supplies to their rebellion against the current ruler of Snow Country. Once we deliver the goods, we'll turn and head back to Fire Country. My contact expects no retaliation, whatsoever." The man's tone indicated to Asuma that he was assuming no retaliation. Nevertheless, he didn't find the need to back down from this as he had no knowledge of a ninja force in Snow Country. That didn't mean, though, that he would carry out this mission. If it's considered a B-ranked, then chances are that he will be more involved. Together, his genins could take on chunnin level shinobi, but jounins were a different story.

"We'll proceed Kurosuki-san, however if I see that the mission turns to A-ranked, you're on your own. Hokage-same gave me authority to back off if the mission increases in difficulty."

Asuma was beginning to grow tired of talking to clients who lied to Konoha about the missions. The client made no movement to show how outraged he was at the possibility of Konoha abandoning them.

In his mind, the ninja shouldn't back down no matter what the cost. He just nodded at Asuma and went back to the ship's chambers, while Asuma went to check on his genins. Both Ino and Chouji were asleep inside the vessel, but Naruto was wide awake and seating at the front deck. He appeared to be reading the same scroll he was reading in Konohagakure. The boy was so fixed on the scroll's contents that he didn't even register that his sensei was approaching. As soon as he saw Asuma's shadow, though, he casually closed the scroll, before turning to his sensei with a surprised expression, as if he didn't realize that Asuma was already there. Asuma smiled at that, though, but didn't bother to comment.

"Why aren't you sleeping Naruto-kun?" The bags below his eyes were always evident, despite the fact that Naruto was never tired.

"Sleeping is rather difficult for me Asuma-sensei. Every time I close my eyes, the same dream happens." Asuma frowned at that. He was informed of the content of Naruto's dreams, consisting of Uchiha Sasuke's memories. It was a pity that such tool came with such responsibility. Naruto could very well be the strongest shinobi out there, not only because of the sharingan, but also because of his never ending stamina and chakra supply. However, said power came with the memories of another person. Asuma wondered if Naruto would ever be able to rid his mind of the visions that plagued Sasuke's until the Uchiha Massacre. From what Asuma gathered, Itachi used the world's strongest genjutsu on Sasuke, making him see his clan being killed many times. Now, the blond inherited said vision. The jounin was worried for Naruto's mentality. He thanked Kami that Naruto had friends to support him, otherwise he feared that Naruto's mind wouldn't take the strain.

"If it helps, I sometimes force different thoughts in my mind before sleeping. You should try that sometime. If you need anything, I'll be in my cabin."

Naruto nodded, before being left alone once more. Nowadays, it was better than before. He now had close to three hours' worth of sleep whereas before, he wasn't that lucky. That being said, Naruto only slept that period of time and woke up once the dream started. He would then take turns in sleeping and force himself to wake up if it starts once more. Itachi must have done something to Sasuke to force said memories to appear every time he tried to sleep.

===Next day===

Naruto managed to get some sleep, before the sun was up once more.

As soon as he appeared outside, he saw that the boat was approaching the land in front of them. Despite the cape used, Naruto wasn't much accustomed to such low temperatures and focused some fire chakra inside him so as to remain warmed. His teammates didn't have his ability with fire chakra and were struggling to remain warm. Asuma smiled at that and explained to them that molding chakra would help keeping the body warm throughout their stay in Snow Country. It took half an hour for the boat to arrive, before the group continued the travel throughout the only part of the road that wasn't covered by snow. The horses weren't very accustomed as well and struggled to pull the caravans. Naruto and Ino returned to their position as Ino was already trembling from the cold.

Suddenly, though, she felt something warm near Naruto and smiled upon seeing a small flame on top of his hand.

"Stay close Ino, the flame will help you." The girl nodded and took one step closer to her teammate as her body relaxed when in proximity to the flames.

"Thank you Naruto, but wouldn't it be best to save some chakra?" Naruto smiled, but nodded.

"What good would it be if you freeze to death? I have enough chakra to spare, so it's no problem." The girl shivered at that notion of freezing to death and appreciated the help. Maintaining the fire, though, wasn't straining his chakra capacity, but his chakra coils. It was one of the exercises shown by the scroll. Naruto had to constantly mold fire chakra in a small capacity, so as to not endanger his chakra coils and keep the flame active as well. Like the client assumed, there were no danger on the way towards the cargo's destination. In the end, the severe blizzard managed to hide their presence to anyone who wished to attack. The client appreciated Asuma's help for the trip and handed him the money for a B-ranked mission. He also said that he would remain there and that he had no need for further protection. The jounin nodded and bid him goodbye, before returning to the boat.

The group was slowly returning to the harbor when Naruto spotted something to his right. Despite the heavy blizzard, he could see the shape of a considerably sized white tiger with black stripes walking by. For some reason, the blond felt compelled to approach the beast that appeared to be sniffing around for some food. Naruto stopped as soon as the animal stopped walking, before human and animal started looking at each other. Naruto's team stopped upon seeing this and looked at what Naruto was seeing. Suddenly, the eyes of the beast started glowing red and Naruto flinched instantly, upon feeling his chakra being invaded. He immediately activated his Sharingan and saw with surprise that he was caught in a genjutsu. He could see what was happening, though, but didn't dispel the illusion. He was in a place where the only presences were himself and the tiger in front of him.

'I can see that you have the power of the Sharingan, young one. Thus you could see past my illusion.' Naruto had to blink twice in order to grasp what was happening. The tiger was talking to him. 'My kind have been roaming these lands for a long time in search for someone with the same ability of illusions. I wonder if you have what it takes in order to be our first summoner. You certainly possess the eyes of a born warrior, but we are still due to test your heart and drive.'

Naruto's eyes widened instantly at what the tiger was saying. At first, though, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him.

'I can assure you, young one, that I'm quite real. I can see a powerful entity hidden within you. It's the Kyuubi no Yoko.' Naruto could hear the apprehension in the tiger's voice, if such a thing even existed. 'I see, you are a jinchuuriki. I believe our clan has finally found someone worthy of being the first tiger summoner. If you manage to keep the beast at bay, then your will must be strong, young Naruto.'

'How do you know my name and how do you know of the Kyuubi?'

Naruto asked as he wasn't sure of what was going on.

'Through our eyes, we can look inside you. Everything that ever happened in your life, we can see. You suffered a great deal throughout your life and yet you remain fighting. Said drive followed by your skill is what grants you the right to call upon us. Now, instead of signing a summoning scroll, you'll bear our summoning tattoo, please extend the arm you wish the tattoo to be located.' Naruto still couldn't believe this was happening. Why he of all people? Surely, someone was more valid candidate for the right to summon the tigers. The blond started trembling as the tiger tattoo was being formed on his right arm. He swore that the tiger was smirking, though.

'Such humble thoughts you possess, Naruto. Now, every time you wish to summon one of us, just pass some blood on the tattoo and perform the hidden signs that I just engraved in your mind.'

'Use us any time you need, Naruto.'

On the outside world, Naruto's team was by his side and looking at him. Asuma saw the tiger vanishing as a yellow light started glowing on Naruto's arm. His teammates also saw it as both of them looked at their sensei for an explanation. Asuma was at a loss, though. He didn't know why that was happening. One second, Naruto was looking at the tiger and then this mark appeared on his arm. Naruto's eyes returned to normal as he looked around, wondering what the hell happened. His teammates waited for him to explain what happened.

"Naruto, what happened?" Asuma asked him, wakening the boy from his inner wonderings.

It took him a while to wake up, but he eventually explained what happened since the time he found the white tiger. At the end of the explanation, he showed the tattoo, earning questioned looks from his team. Simply finding a summoning contract out of the blue was unheard of. Asuma never heard of tigers being summoned. He ordered everyone to return to the boat, so that they could get home. On the way, Asuma would see Naruto looking at his arm as if contemplating the entire thing. It sounded strange even to him, Asuma reasoned. It didn't take twenty minutes for the team to arrive at the docks, before they boarded on the boat that would return to Fire Country.

As soon as they boarded, Naruto suddenly felt tired and went to his cabin, surprising Asuma. Naruto never once did such a thing.

===In Fire Country===

The trip back actually took longer as the captain didn't want to risk the ship by facing a storm. It took two days total and Naruto slept through the entire time, which worried his team greatly. It didn't mean that Naruto was so tired that he required two days of sleep, but rather the time it took for the procedure of being considered the first summoner of the tiger clan. During the time he slept, the entire knowledge of the tiger clan was infused into his mind. Not their chakra knowledge, mind you, but rather the names of different tora-nins he could summon and the chakra necessary for each one of them. For some reason, though, Naruto felt refreshed upon waking up. His shoulder was more relaxed and his movements were more fluid as his team travelled quickly towards Konohagakure.

Asuma, Ino and Chouji kept stealing glances at Naruto in order to see if he was okay.

However, Naruto showed no signs of suffering from anything. Quite the contrary, though, as the bags below his eyes were no more and his shoulders appeared more relaxed. Something happened with him after the encounter with that white tiger and Asuma would have to inform the Hokage of this immediately upon arrival. The entire trip took a total of five hours and they arrived when the sun was setting down for the day. Because of the time, Asuma sent his team home as he would report to the Hokage. Naruto already had a place to go. During his two day sleep, it was suggested that he changed his clothes to one more fitting to the tiger clan. He already had a design in mind and he was sure that the clothes shop would be able to supply for him. His dream outfit consisted of black boots, black Anbu pants with dark yellow stripes, plain black shirt with a tiger imprinted on his heart region and the swirl symbol on the back also yellow. He had a clothes shop in mind that would supply the clothes he needed without a problem. He now had to think of a proper way to hide his tattoo; perhaps some white bandages on both hands, since covering only one would be quite stupid. Lastly, he had to check on a special accessory, perhaps a belt placed around his shoulder, meant to place his swords scabbards.

(AN: imagine the one used by Kakashi when he had his father's tanto)

===At the Hokage's office===

It took some time for Asuma to explain what happened, before he saw the look on his father's face. Hiruzen had also never heard of a tiger clan and that was saying something. There wasn't much he didn't know in more than fifty years of ninja duty. Also, what troubled the Hokage was that when Naruto awoke, it appeared as if an amazing pressure was lifted from his shoulder. While it was refreshing to release the repressed memories inside Naruto's brain, the Hokage wasn't that much comforted. Everything about Naruto was to be treated as sensitive, considering the tenant inside of the boy. Looking at his son for a while, he figured that nothing would be done for now.

"Thanks for informing me, Asuma-kun. For now, we shall sit and wait. Now, I believe we have more pressing manners to attend to." The Hokage said, earning a nod from his son. "In a couple weeks' time, the Chunnin Exams will happen in Konoha and in two days, I'll be calling a meeting with the jounin-senseis to nominate the genins that will represent our village. Do you believe that your team has the skills necessary?" The jounin nodded, before placing a cigarette on his mouth as he contemplated the question.

"Naruto is no doubt ready for it. Chouji and Ino improved a lot since we started. I believe that they are eligible, Tou-san." The Hokage looked at the man for a while, before concurring. He nodded at his son, before dismissing him for the day.

For some reason, though, the Hokage was on edge. The Chunnin Exams is a time where the village is visited by a great number of individuals, including high officials and daimyos.

Even with the number of Anbus he had at his disposal, it would be hard to patrol the entire village, which leaves the hidden village in the leaves open for any village to attack.

Author Note

Well, that's the end of the chapter. Just to know that Naruto didn't get rid of the curse of Sasuke's sharingan. The fact that his mind was filled with new information of the tiger clan helped him sleep much better and partially compensate for the lack of sleep.

So, I finally presented my OC's identity. I placed a nice photo of her in my profile, so please check it out. It's not the same character, but the description is the same. From now on, I'll dedicate a small piece of the current chapters for her and the rest to Naruto, until it's time to introduce them. I'm still figuring out when the introduction is going to be and how, but I still have more story to complete before reaching that stage.

Now, next chapter will be both the First and second part of the Chunnin Exams, including the preliminaries.

So what you think? I'd like to hear some input about my work so far.

Also, for those who don't yet know, I've come up with three different challenges and post them in my profile. They were originally ideas for new stories, but if I were to put them into paper, chances were that people would find me and demand my head for this. Therefore, I chose to create challenges in order to allow others to write it. Perhaps, some new writer decides to take it and show us his or her skills. In the end, I'm always interested in quality written fan fiction. Should any of you consider taking the challenge, please send me the link of the story.

Please check it out.

See ya.