The contract

Chapter 1- Decision

‹‹‡››

'' You got ta move faster kid ! '' Jiraiya barked as he sidestepped Naruto 's fist and delivered a vicious smacking to the boy 's skull. `` And do n't just switch yourself into your attacks, previse your opposition 's movement and ALWAYS be prepared to react accordingly ! Have n't you learned anything over the past two years ? ``

Nothing I could n't take learned back home.

Naruto shook his nous, physically trying to dislodge the snarky thought as he tried to think up a way to defeat his mentor. He took too long though, and Jiraiya capitalized brutally with a fist almost shearing through his abdomen in retaliation.

'' Never drop your guard ! ``

The blonde gritted his tooth, biting back the pain as he grabbed on to the offending fist with one paw and slammed twin retaliatory blows to his mentor 's snarky mug.

It dissolved into mud beneath him.

His eyes widened by a hair and he immediately replaced himself with a tree branch.

A moment later, the subdivision was skewered by a thousand muddy needles.

'Fuck it !'Naruto swore as he imediately began to mouse through the undergrowth .'I need to get my head in the game !'

No crime, man, but is there really a point ? I mean, you 're here getting beat up by one man. A Sannin, granted, but just ONE man. Sasuke 's getting his ass in gear with the resources of an entire Village. A nipper one, admittedly, but they 've got their own Sannin and a genius to boot. Not to mention ol'Four-Eyed Kabuto with his insane skills and, if the auditory sensation Four and the freaky bone guy are any reading, a whole police squad of jonin tier shinobi. The Perv 's education you like you 're going up against a single enemy while the guy who will be going up against a unmarried foe 's getting prepped for an all out war.

'You're…'Naruto snapped out of his almost trance-like commonwealth with a wild jerk. Realizing how close he had come to agreeing withthe voice in his head, the blond clamped down on all thoughts and focused on taking his wise man down with a vengeance…

‹‹‡››

'' Come on boy ! '' Jiraiya whined, chasing after a briskly walking Naruto on his knees. `` I need the cash ! ``

'' To chase some slattern, no doubt. '' Naruto scoffed as he marched away.

Jiraiya 's verbalism, though, had gone from pleading to disturbingly perverse. `` Oh~ kid you had to have seen her ! That was n't just some Joseph Hooker, she was an absolute babe ! mamilla as big as my head and an ass you could resile a coin off ! And her peg ! ``

THIS is what I 'm training with ? The misdirect idiot of the Sannin ? So, Sasuke 's getting trained by the whizz of the Sannin, a organise contender for the Big Hat alongside the Yellow newsbreak and the guy that ended the Old Man 's stellar life and we 're getting trained by the Perverted Sannin. Wonderful. No, fuck sarcasm ! Even Sakura had a better deal. At to the lowest degree her Sannin wo n't bug her for cash so she could go check out stripper well and shit. I mean for the love of- Orochimaru 's a jazz genius ! He 's on a similar spirit level to the fucking Fourth Hokage ! He 's a verified blade master. He knows more ninjutsu techniques than well-nigh shinobi ever get to even witness ! Sasuke, the angst ridden gay emo gets THAT guy and you 're stuck with the guy who 's adult claim to fame is that he trained the quartern ? Is there anyway you could deliver come up with an even defective deal ? !

'' Shut the fuck up and result me alone ! '' Naruto roared angrily.

Jiraiya, who had been caught mid-rant when his apprentice snapped, simply thought he might get pushed the limitation and decided to maneuver into the brothel on his own. The madam of the sign knew him well and, unlike his busty teammate, he had a report for maintaining minimum, if any, debts.

Had he bothered to dig deeper, he might consume figured that something was off with his apprentice…

‹‹‡››

'' So, Naruto, what 's the first matter you wan na do when we get back to Konoha ? '' Jiraiya asked. Himself and his apprentice were relaxing in a meadow a few sea mile away from the Land of Bears, taking the day off to unbend and relax. `` Me, I 'm gon na hit up Tsunade first ; see if she 's finally come around to my manly charms. ``

'' The only if thing manly about you is your haircloth, Pervy salvia. '' Naruto shot back with a grinning. `` And even that 's longer than almost women wear their hairsbreadth. ``

'' Oi ! Do n't diss these locks you little brat ! ``

'' I 'll diss 'em when I want to old man ! '' The blond shot back playfully.

For the next few moment, nothing came up until Jiraiya spoke again. `` I 'm still waiting for your answer kiddo. ``

To be honest, Naruto was n't quite sure of what he wanted ; over the past times few week, doubts and fearfulness had set into his nitty-gritty and, no matter how hard he tried to dismiss them, they had burrowed in cryptic. He did, however, know what to say to his mentor. `` First things first, I wan na see Sakura-chan again ! She must have grown quite lots with Baa-chan training her ! I bet she 'll be really awed by how I 've grown too ! power even get her to go out with me. ``

Where he lay, a few paces away, Jiraiya winced. `` mightiness not wan na get your hopes on that kiddo. ``

See ? Even your mentor does n't believe you stand a chance with the pink haired board.

'' I mean, she 's always had her hopes strung up on the Uchiha right ? '' Jiraiya continued, not noticing the conflict look on his protege 's boldness. `` I know a figure of people might believe that that 's all a fry'dream but… Look man, take it from individual in alike shoes… You really should get your heart off that train. Even the whole 'save the Uchiha'train… I think you should be prepared for the kid not wanting to come back ; Orochimaru 's a skilled manipulator and if I know that bastard anywhere close to what I think I know, then he 'll own done his absolute best to move around the Uchiha against you. ``

Naruto had n't heard a give-and-take of Jiraiya 's, his brain clouded by dark view, until Jiraiya had talked about Orochimaru corrupting Sasuke beyond redemption.

It was the net push ; the emotions he had bottled up, from his lonely Academy yr right up to that bit, broke forth like a dam…

‹‹‡››

When Naruto opened his eyes, he expected to line up himself on a cot in one of Jiraiya 's many bunkers, wrapped up in bandages and feeling the burn mark of his chakra coils as they healed. His sensation of timing was all messed up but the last few moments before slipping into unconsciousness were still fresh in his mind…

The rage… the pain…

He remembered everything…

Right up to the moment his ascendency had slipped and the red haze of his biju 's chakra blurred everything out of sight…

Guilt was n't a strong enough terminus for what he felt as he returned to consciousness.

All that fad turned into a bubbling pit of rage when he fully noticed his surroundings.

Red walls, Brobdingnagian pipes, a never ending menstruum of water…

He was within his own head, at the bridge between himself and the seal.

'' Kyubi. '' His articulation was ilk steel as he pushed to his base and began storming down the cathedral-like hallway. Things were beginning to make good sense now ; he had never been one to be bothered by dark thinking, his childhood having taught him that the lone way to remain even slightly sane was to ignore all saturnine idea, so the barrage of discouraging and disquieting enquiry he had been plagued by over the past duet of weeks just had to have been caused by the Nine-Tailed Fox. It would also explain why he had so readily been consumed by its king ; his military action had never truly been his own.

'' Blaming me for everything again ? ``

The thundering gold rush of the Kyubi snapped him out of his rage-filled fugue as he realized that he had arrived at the gates.

The shock barely lasted two seconds before being drowned out by rage.

'' Blaming you ? ! What, I should be thanking you ? ! You have been pouring your hate-filled tripe into my header, filling my every waking thought with your Irish bull and then taking advantage of me to try to get free ! ``

'' funny story how you came to that last. ``

Naruto stood back and crossed his blazonry over his breast. `` There 's a unlike conclusion ? ``

The Fox resting on its haunches, cracked open a crimson eyelid. `` Are you occupy ? Or was that just sound off sarcasm ? ``

'' Oh no, let 's hear your side of the narrative. '' Naruto shot back. `` I mean, I would n't want to estimate you wrongly or anything. ``

'' Well then… outset off, you said I 'd been filling your head with my 'hate-filled trash', congratulations on rightly using the wish-wash by the way, you 're getting just a bit less stupid person. ``

'' Is there a head to all this ? ``

'' Do n't interrupt, that 's rude. Anyway, I 'd like to ask : which of those 'mental ravishment'of mine was actually filled with hate ? ``

The blond immediately opened his mouth to fire off a snarky response…

And found himself gaping instead as he simply could n't opine of a single instance.

The Kyubi flashed its teeth at him in a macabre grin. `` cipher ? Well, let 's move on shall we ? Point two : why exactly do you retrieve I 've been the one doing the head-filling ? ``

This time, Naruto was ready and he immediately spouted a number of grounds related to him not having such fears ordinarily.

'' You done ? '' The Kyubi asked after his impassioned response. Upon receiving the blond 's nod, the biju proceeded to laugh its ass off, even thrashing about in hilarity-induced spasms for good measure. `` Oh damn kid ! You are hilarious ! You really think I could simply take the air through your mind and suss out your deepest, darkest reverence to manipulate you ? Abruptly, the biju 's feature article became boisterous. `` Newsflash you nitwit : this seal of approval prohibits even a 1 hair on my tail from slipping out ! I sure as hell ca n't go zipping through your cranium. And do n't even get me started on that stupid estimate that I 'd expend my time watching you do human things ; I could n't worry less about your puny being either way ! ``

'' Says the creature that 's recorded as a mass of hate ! ``

'' By whose records ? Humans ? The like mass that see you as my spawn ? The Sami metal money that hate you indiscriminately even though they created the means to create more jinchuriki in the first place ? '' The biju 's scathing response was like a hammer strike to his already weakened feeling, a fact that the biju saw and mercilessly pounced upon. `` I did n't send those thoughts to you, boy, they were born of your own view. '' This time, the biju 's vocalism was low and almost soothing. `` And I think you know why such persuasion cloud your mind. ``

Naruto turned away from the John Cage and took a stair forward… before going still.

He did know ; for the recollective sentence he had suspected as much but he had consciously shoved it down and piled on heaps of untrue optimism to swallow it.

He was n't strong enough.

Whether he liked it or not, he just was n't potent enough on his own to attain his goals. He had been cheated in the Academy, yes, but he had been out for Sir Thomas More than four years, a bully portion of which had been spent with Jiraiya, and he could see no important changes.

He wanted to be the Hokage, he wanted to earn the respectfulness of the people… he wanted to carry through his hope to Sakura and bring Sasuke back.

And he just. Was n't. Strong. Enough.

hindquarters him, the biju watched as he struggled to defecate a decisiveness with a satisfied smirk. True to its Word, it had not sent the thoughts to the immature shinobi. That did n't mean it was totally innocent either ; a gradual diversion of its chakra into the boy 's yin chakra had been all that was required for his repress mentation to resurface and undermine that resolve he was so proud of. Now, as the biju watched, reading into every nuance of his body words, it knew it had succeeded.

The time to reap the benefit was near ; the terminal step was…

'' So why are you telling me now ? ``

The biju 's smirk turned beast. The boy wanted to know ; the stake was there.

'' In my time here, I have come to understand what power means to you world, '' it lied, `` and as such I am willing to sign a contract with you. ``

The man scowled. `` A few hours ago, I 'd have ranted about you wanting my psyche or seeking an escape but now… contingent. I want point. ``

The biju chuckled, the strait booming out in moving ridge that rattled his teeth. Nevertheless, Naruto stood, glaring at the biju ; awaiting answers.

'' Perhaps your time with the old man was n't a utter waste ; you certainly seem to a greater extent sound. '' Abruptly, the bodily fluid disappeared from the biju 's endorsement and the creature rose up, resting on its hind legs. `` You mankind see us as walking sight of chakra, an opinion that never ceases to baffle me. After all, if we walked around wreaking havoc everywhere then your history should have been significantly altered by our actions.

'' In my prison term walking among your kind, I learned a great quite a little ; fighting styles, speculation techniques and physique of chakra manipulation that have long since been lost to the ravages of sentence. It is these I offer you ; the might to overlook the very elements, to become an unstoppable effect on the battlefield… Everything I know, I freely give.

'' However, I understand how raring your variety are, no uncertainty as a result of your curtly lifetime, and so I offer you something more : balance. ``

'' I do n't understand. ``

'' I did not wait you to. You see, at its root, chakra is of two conformation : Yin chakra and Yang chakra. You possess an overabundance of the latter yet very little, comparatively speaking, of the quondam. It is this dissymmetry that has limited your progress in the illusory artistic creation. I can fix this. ``

If nothing else had caught his attention, the biju knew that this certainly would.

Once again, it was n't wrong.

'' How ? ``

'' I will, with your permission, channel a minute fraction of my chakra through you. Without going into specifics, it will forcibly skip over start the universe of Yin chakra within your coils and, over a stop of about five twenty-four hours, your chakra circulatory organisation will gradually reach an equilibrium country, generating an equalise amount of Yin chakra as it does Yang chakra. ``

Naruto 's face went slack as he considered the sheer entailment of that singular welfare. `` My chakra reserves… they'll… ''

'' two-baser ? '' The biju prompted. `` At the very least. ``

The pass seemed too full to be lawful ; learning antediluvian flair of scrap, gaining the ability to use genjutsu, an increased chakra capacity ? Naruto wanted to take it. Practically every brainiac cellular telephone he had screamed at him to ump on the offer.

Then, his eyes narrowed. `` At what price ? ``

An offer that was so mouth-watering had to digest a cost.

The biju glared at him, seemingly sizing him up yet again, before speaking. `` An fling as this should bear a great number of requirements, boy, but I will only ask of two affair from you ; the offset and the with child is combine. '' The biju leaned forward until its schnozzle was a mere inches away, separated by the bars that held it locked away. `` I will not tellyou what the second toll is until you have signed my contract. ``

Naruto was torn.

On one hand, he would very in all likelihood be selling his soul over to a demon because, regardless of what the biju would have him believe, indoctrinated beliefs did n't die out over a mere chat.

On the other, a great deal gravid, hand, he would be granted the kind of mogul that he had always desired ; the variety of power that would avail him accomplish his goals.

'I 'm going to be the Hokage someday, Iruka-sensei ! Believe it !'

'I 'll get Sasuke back for you, Sakura-chan ! That 's a promise of a life-time !'

'I never go back on my password ! That 's my ninja way ! Believe it !'

A wise man once said :'A man is undone by the news of his own lip .'

'' What do I do ? ``

That man was right.

'' stone's throw into the cage, boy, and admit out your arm to your side. ``

This was it.

It was one thing to agree to a thing but, when confronted with the enormity of their determination, many wavered and most gage down.

They were not Uzumaki Naruto.

With a positive stride that betrayed none of his apprehension, the shinobi stepped out of his realm and into the demon 's lair.

The biju reared upward, sucking in a deep breathing space, its eyes never leaving his.

Do n't move, it seemed to say, just before it lurched forward, the wearisome orange glow in the back of its pharynx the only word of advice Naruto had before being engulfed in flame .