8)Foxy Adventures: Ch.8

“Summoning Jutsu!” I exclaimed as I slammed my palm down onto the ground, frowning as a circle of kanji spread out below me before cursing as I pulled my hand back to reveal a small orange toad croaking mindlessly on the ground.

'Damnit, what am I doing wrong?' I thought with a frown as I stood up, wanting to try it again before my eyes widened and I flipped forward & away from a trio of water bullets that exploded the moment they impacted the ground.

“Crap! Almost had you.” Three clones grumbled as they made their way out of their hiding spots in the trees and I rolled my eyes with a smirk before turning as I heard Jiraiya giggle & shaking my head to see the sage hunched over in a bush while leering at the young girls behind it.

“Oi, Pervy Sage! Stop peeping on the girls and get over here!” I shouted, smiling as I heard the girls' squeals while the clones snickered as Jiraiya spun around with a glare on his face.

“Must you ruin my fun, you little shit?!”

“Considering you're supposed to be training me, yes. Yes, I must. Do you have any kind of way for me to learn this better?”

“Kid, it's only been two weeks since you started. As far as I can tell, you're on the right path and trying to find a shortcut would just lead to harm. Besides, I can see your training with your taijutsu & your ninjutsu has been going well. I have to ask, though. Where did you learn that wind ninjutsu from?” He asked while pointing at the fifteen clones standing off to the side, who were all facing the trees with serious expressions.

“Wind Style: Gale Winds!” The clones exhaled in unison and unleashed a flurry of strong winds, a proud smile appearing on their faces as their combined attack not only uprooted two of the trees, but also bent the others around the storm in the opposite direction while also cutting off some of the thicker & most of the smaller branches that stood in its way.

“Oh, that? Eh, just made it up after reading up on wind ninjutsu & the hand signs that help transform your chakra into wind chakra. Why?”

'That and a bit of the patented Naruto Uzumaki Clone Training with about twenty clones or so when you're not looking.' I thought in my mind as I remembered the secret wind chakra transformation training I did when Jiraiya left for the day, the sage in question simply humming before nodding as he turned to me.

“It just looks similar to a jutsu I know. So, you can make up your own jutsu now, huh? Then you should be able to figure out to summon a toad or two without worries. Have you summoned Gamariki again after the first time?” Jiraiya's words knocked me from my thoughts and I blinked before sighing while scratching the back of my head.

“I mean, a few times, yeah, but he only wants me to summon him when he's either not eating or singing on some mountain. Besides, his advice is mostly related to either water-ninjutsu or genjutsu, the one shinobi art that I completely stink at.”

“Eh, that makes two of us. Hmm, I do know a way, but before we can do it, you might want to get a few things in order.”

“Why does it sound like you're about to kill me?” I asked & frowned as Jiraiya simply gave me a happy chuckle & shook his head.

“Nah, you're too paranoid. So, is there anything you wanna do before we start?”

“Uh, you know what? I think I just figured out something.”

“Nonsense! Besides, anything you figure out is nothing compared to the secret I'm going to teach you. Now, let's go & eat at your favourite restaurant, eh?” Jiraiya spoke with a grin as he pulled me along & I looked at my clones with a pleading look.

Instead of helping their creator like they should, the idiots decided to shrug in unison before they dispelled themselves, leaving me with a slight headache & nothing but concerning thoughts in the back of my mind.

'…I know he threw Naruto off of a cliff in the canon world to force him to meet with the Nine-Tails, but whatever divine being is looking down upon me…please don't let that happen to me.'

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“I HATE YOU, YOU OLD DECREPIT SON OF A BITCH!” I exclaimed as I fell down a canyon with jagged & sharp rocks sticking out from both sides of its interior, hitting Jiraiya with every curse that I can think of as the man's cackles echoed inside of it.

Reminding myself to kill him if I survive from his batshit insane idea, I spun around & stared at the dark abyss that I was rapidly falling towards, racking my mind for ideas as I looked around.

'Gamariki? No, he's too small & we're too far down for his tongue to work. Water Walking or Tree Walking? No, the walls are too jagged & too slippery for that to work. Clones? As an impact dampener? Maybe, but I'd still end up with broken bones and I don't have the goddamn chakra to do that right now. Damnit, I shouldn't have eaten the ramen so quickly.'

“Heh, guess I just have to do the best I can. Oi, Kurama! Pull me in so we can talk! Man to man!” I shouted as I kept falling, gritting my teeth as I was finally able to see the bottom while the fox didn't seem to care for my well-being.

'Okay, listen up, you stupid baby of a fox! If I die, I'm going to make sure you go down with me so unless you want to be stuck in an eternal dance in hell with yours truly, I suggest you pull your big boy pants up and face me like a man!” One moment I was falling towards the murky grounds of a dark canyon and the next, I blinked as I finished shouting my sentence at a large iron gate in front of me.

The thing was ginormous, easily the size of the apartment complex I lived at if not more and from the looks of it, the inside was easily triple its size and nearly the width of the Forest of Death from first glance.

However, the ominous scarlet eyes glowing in the darkness were what caught my attention, followed by the nine gigantic shadows swaying in the darkness and the paw with orange fur & pitch-black razor sharp claws that pierced the darkness & entered the light of the dim bulb above me.

Soon, the entirety of its body began to appear from the shadows and as the large behemoth slowly lowered its face to look at me with one eye, I may have regretted my words as the Nine Tailed Fox Kurama gave me a malicious stare.

“Repeat your words. One more time.”

“…Nope, I'm fine with retracting my statement. Apologies for calling you a stupid fox. You know, I love foxes. They're so fluffy and their crying laughter is pretty nice to listen to.” I answered instantly with a picture perfect smile, Kurama huffing as he sat back down & rested his head on his arms.

“I thought so. If this gate wasn't in the way, you would be nothing but a snack for me right now.”

“But it is, so get over it. I'm sorry, my mouth talks before my brain can think about it.” I answered as the beast's eyes flickered to me, praying to every god I could think of that the gates would stay locked as Kurama huffed & laid back down.

“Would you stop the praying? It's annoying & unfitting of my Jinchuriki?”

“Wait, praying? Do you mean…?”

“Yes, I can read your mind and before you panic, I already know that my original jailer is not here any more.”

“Ah…well, that's a load off my chest. One less person I have to lie to.” I admit that I have thought about telling people, but that would just lead to a series of either intrusive questions and some unwanted conflict with people that would want to read my mind and/or torture me to see if I was a spy.

“Don't worry about that aspect. While I can't harm you thanks to this damn seal, there's nothing stopping me from hurting & devouring anyone that forcibly enters your mind. That and everyone knows it's a death sentence to enter the mind of a Jinchuriki.”

“You know, you're a lot more cordial than I expected you to be.”

“You expected me to be this hardheaded bastard that just wants to take over your body & kill everyone you love like that Sukuna guy you read about?”

“That…yeah, that was what I thought.” I answered truthfully with a nod and I was surprised to hear a snort escaping Kurama's maw as he gave me an amused glance.

“I am a hard-headed bastard, but I know that wasting time would be detrimental to me after watching your memories.” He spoke and I blinked before frowning as I realized what memories he was talking about.

“You mean Madara?” I expected Kurama to growl or let out a loud roar or even glare at me.

What I did not expect was for the strongest of the Tailed Beasts to flinch like he was about to be hit, the very sight of it rocking me to my core as Kurama glared at the wall off to the side.

“Yes, Madara Uchiha. I know that you think you have managed to seen the extent of his power, but watching it on a screen and actually experiencing it in person are two completely different things. The man is calculative, cunning, manipulative, malevolent and most of all, powerful. There was a reason only that wood-using bastard was the only one even capable of taking him on. The name Madara itself means power to those that remember his wrath and I hate to admit it, but the man's eyes were equal to that of Indra's.”

“…Coming from you, that's the highest praise considering how strong you are.” I muttered and Kurama nodded his head as he looked at me.

“That's why we need your training to go much more faster than it is now. If you remove this seal, I can grant you my chakra and you can learn to your fullest extent.”

“…Just like that? Without any hidden drawbacks or favours?” I asked with a surprised look and Kurama frowned as he stood up.

“I may be a fox, but I do not have the cunning of one. I give you my word that I will not attack you in any way nor will I attack anyone you adore.”

“Should I? I mean, I would love to, but from the canon, you are a very conniving & manipulative being yourself with how many times you tried to make Naruto unseal you.”

“…Hehehehe~I wish you were as dumb as the other one.”

'Yep, knew it was too good to be true.' I thought with a shake of my head as Kurama's eyes shone with malice, the fox giving me a malevolent grin as he laid back down.

“You saw through my little illusion?”

“The first thing that gave it away was when you said you didn't have the cunning of a fox. Now, if you have seen my memories, you would know by now that I have seen you trying to manipulate Naruto on many occasions. Then, there was the fact that you, you of all people, promised me that you wouldn't hurt anyone and we both know that if you got the chance, you wouldn't let it fly by you.” I answered while sitting down in the polluted water, still a bit confused by the fact that the water was not making me wet at all before looking back up as I heard the giant fox snort.

“That was a bit too optimistic, I suppose. Fine, how about this? I will lend chakra from time to time and in return, you let me take control from time to time?”

“Chakra from time to time. One minute of control, no killing or maiming anyone.”

“Chakra from time to time. Five minutes of control and I don't attack anyone unless they attack me first.”

“Give me chakra every time I ask. Three minutes of control and you don't attack, kill, maim, torture or do anything to anyone I have a connection with, but in exchange, I won't stop you if you need to attack someone to protect someone I have a connection with. By the way, the entirety of the Leaf counts as someone I have a connection with since I still want to achieve the dream of Naruto to make up for taking his body. Also, you get to talk to me whenever you want.”

“…That sounds agreeable. Shake on it?” Kurama asked while holding out his claw in between the gap of the gates before giving me a sly grin as I simply gave him a deadpan stare.

“Almost had you.”

“No, you didn't. So, how is this going to work? Because I'm fairly certain I've either hit the floor or I'm about to.”

“Oh, don't worry. Time in here is like one day for every millisecond outside, so you'll just return to the point when you left.”

“Wait, what?! Then, why don't I just train in here?”

“You can. Just know that I might feel tempted to shift it around so one day in here is one year out there.” Kurama answered with a grin and I glared at him before shaking my head as I stood up.

“You know that you're a dickhead, right?”

“I do. Now, prepare yourself. This is a quarter of tail's worth of chakra.” Kurama answered and my eyes widened as a bubbling orange liquid began to spew from the openings of the gate in between us, feeling nothing but awe as I could feel my chakra restoring itself rapidly before even more began to pile on top of it.

“Good luck and don't die. At least, not before I kill you with my own bare claws.” He answered and I blinked only to find myself still falling into the abyss, frowning as I processed his words before grinning as my hand weaved through hand signs.

“Summoning Jutsu!” I chanted while slamming my hand onto the air as if I was slapping it onto the ground and my eyes widened as a blue blanket of chakra stretched out wide below me before an even bigger curtain of red chakra sprouted out & completely obscured the bottom of the canyon.

The next moment, I grunted as a monstrous explosion of smoke erupted below me, straining my eyes before they widened at the sight of a gigantic toad groaning lowly as they used their hands & feet to stop their descent before I wheezed as I fell & roll over their back.

“Who the hell summoned me?!” I heard the Chief Toad Gamabunta roar as we stopped sliding and gritted my teeth as a clone appeared behind me before grunting as the clone pushed me in the back & sent me racing back up his back.

“I did! Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you!” I shouted as I slid across his head and landed on his pipe, the toad frowning as he stared at me before I quickly fell down to stand with my back against the top of the pipe just as a blast of vicious wind slammed into me.

“Bwahahahaha! You expect me to believe that a brat like you summoned me, the great Gamabunta?! Boy, do I wonder what the old man snuck into this pipe of mine.”

“I did! Now would you shut the hell up?! Your breath stinks!” I shouted back and blinked as the wind abruptly stopped, opening an eye only to curse as I saw Gamabunta glaring at me with a frown.

“What did you just say?!” He growled and the last thought I had was one of regret before a squeal escaped my lips as Gamabunta grinned before bracing himself & leaping upwards with a croak & a cackle.

'I REALLY NEED TO LEARN TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!'

A/N: And Naruto has met Kurama, but it appears that their friendship is more of an acquaintanceship/ business for now.

How it will develop to be later, you'll have to wait & see.

I hope you guys see that I'm trying to stick Kurama to his personality as close as possible while also making him into this wise fox that has lived for all these years & realized that he may have to work with a human in order to survive the coming battles.

While he knows that the threat of Madara is something that can't be ignored, he also has his pride as the Disaster Fox to consider and combined with the trauma of being forced to be a chakra battery for three generations…

Yeah, it's going to be a little while before he can actually consider Naruto to be a friend to him.

Also, glad to say that the first chapter of this little story is finally going up on FF.net, so hooray to those guys!

Another also, I haven't forgotten about the Rasengan. I just want Naruto/ SI to learn the necessary skills before he decides to learn A-Ranked Jutsu.

Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!