//------------------------------//
// Seeking Summons 
// Story: Friendship Contract 
// by Demeristraz 
//------------------------------//

	A 6 year old Naruto walked slowly down the streets of his home village. Home he thought, As if it's ever felt that way. Even with his eyes cast downwards at the rocks he kicked along, he could feel the glares of the villagers around him. For as long as he could remember, he was always hated, thrown out of stores, treated to hostile glares and muttered curses. There were few places he could find edible food in the village, and fewer he could other necessities. The clothing he wore, what little he could piece together between outright refusal or inflated prices, was worn and frayed and hopelessly unstylish.

Glancing up at the nearest store he found his eyes drawn to a rack of masks. One drew his attention, it was white with red markings, like the dramatic heroes from kabuki plays. He always loved the fire festival, every year the streets would fill with vendors and music, great stages would be erected and actors would perform the epic stories of Konoha's most famous shinobi. In truth Naruto learned more of Konoha's history by sneaking off to watch those plays than he ever felt he would from a book.

His musings were cut short as the store owner noticed him. The man rose from his seat behind the counter and emerged to greet a potential customer, however, upon seeing who it was, he instead gave a familiar glare and made to shoo Naruto away. When the boy did not immediately flee the owner scowled, resisting the urge to shout insults. Noticing potential customers avoiding the boy he decided perhaps bribery might rid himself of the pest. Grabbing the mask that held Naruto's attention, the owner tossed it towards him, "Go on, get out of here, you're bothering the customers!" he shouted, Naruto broke from his stupor and snatched the mask up, bolting down the street as if the owner might change his mind, and call him a thief.

Only upon reaching the bench at the end of the road did Naruto stop to take a better look at the mask, it was indeed painted to match Kabuki style face paint, with lines of red accenting a pale white face. The bottom of the mask tapered into a long, narrowed nose, while the top had two triangular ears. All in all it reminded Naruto of a fox, and seemed to still hold him in an alluring trance. Turning it over he quickly attached it to his face, noting how it did nothing to stifle his vision. As he got used to the fixture he noticed several other children playing at a nearby park, and on impulse he made to join them. Nearly halfway there, however, he was stopped as a glass bottle broke before him.

A man, drunken by the look of how he walked, stumbled out to block his way. Muttered curses about foxes flowed from the man in slurred speech as he staggered threateningly towards Naruto. The street immediately lost all hints of life, the noise of the marketplace died as villagers all turned to watch. Seeing that nobody would come to his aid, Naruto fled away from the man, darting around thrown objects to the best of his ability. The crowd rose in front of him, unyielding to his desperate escape attempts, seeking to intimidate the mask-laden boy into facing the drunken assailant. Undeterred Naruto ran on, dodging and ducking around legs and carts, around corners and up steps until the cold glares of spectators gave way to surprised gasps, angry shouts. Fear clouding his instincts Naruto darted into the closest building, letting the door shut behind him and basking in the cooler darker safety of the interior. 

It took a moment for Naruto to come to his senses, as adrenalin left his system he noticed the building he was inside was filled with books and scrolls. The Library he thought, like many buildings in Konoha it was an unexplored mystery to the boy, as often as he attempted to cross the threshold to the treasure trove of information within he was turned back by the hostility of those who manned the desk. Today, in the setting sunlight Naruto noticed the entryway was unguarded, and driven on instinct he decided to make the best of his sudden change of luck. Darting forward he made for the darker sections of the library, and quickly hid among the books as the sole occupant of the library emerged to check the door.

There was a single tense moment as the librarian cast his gaze about to look for visitors, before he shrugged and returned to his desk. The threat passed, Naruto began to search about for something interesting to occupy his time with. They could throw him out when he was inevitably caught, or when he finally succumbed to hunger, whichever came first, but in the mean time, he would get his fill of the whole Library experience.

Mask still attached to his face Naruto scurried between shelves, seeking out copies of the stories told in the theater productions he adored. Finding many such books in the history section, he delighted in finding one of his favorites. It was an epic tale, written about the third Hokage, back in his prime, and though the tale was long, and the words were complicated, he felt he owed it to his grandfather-figure to commit the tale to memory. He disregarded the obvious embellishment, hanging on to every inspiring word as the Hokage battled against impossible odds, with his faithful friend and summon, the monkey boss Enma standing beside him. When the story was done, and the two heroes had triumphed, Naruto was left with one undeniable impression. He wanted to be Hokage someday, and to do so, he'd need a really cool summon.

A new fire lit underneath him, Naruto scoured the library for any information on summons. Since it was a civilian library, the information was limited, but from what he could gather, he puzzled out needing three things to summon. One, he needed to be able to use chakra, a lot of it, but being only 6 years old, 'a lot' meant different things than it did to an experienced Ninja, or even a rational adult civilian. Two, he needed a contract, which to Naruto simply meant he needed a piece of paper saying "let's be friends" that both parties could sign. He felt that part was rather silly, to his knowledge children didn't sign anything when making friends, but either way, wouldn't that mean he needed to find a talking animal to sign it first?

After a bit of searching, Naruto decided the third part covered that, five hand seals, while channeling chakra, will call the summoned animal to the summoner. A few more checks in a few more books and Naruto discovered basic instructions on the five required hand signs, Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Some more digging, in a book for civilian children looking to become ninja, and Naruto set to work trying to coax out his chakra.

It wasn't as difficult as the book made it out to be, after settling down and truly focusing, with the single-minded determination that he Would be able to summon, and he Would pull it off that very night, Naruto found himself immersed in a truly immense amount of chakra. Pulling out of his trance he noted for the first time that the sun had gone down, he had spent hours in his research, the librarian had gone home, and Naruto was locked in.

Steeling himself for what he was about to do, Naruto cleared an area around him, and meticulously went through each hand sign a number of times, just to ensure he had it down. Once that was done he found a blank piece of paper, and drew up a 'contract' for whatever he summoned to sign. By 6 year old standards it was airtight, and would hold up to any amount of scrutiny. To anyone else it simply read "I, _______, to swear to be best friends with Naruto Uzumaki, and agree to help him become the best Hokage ever. This includes allowing Naruto to summon me so I can help him when he needs it, as long as I'm not busy and stuff. In return Naruto will help me out and be a good friend as well."

Convinced that this was the best contract ever, and that he had everything ready, Naruto strapped his mask on tight and called up his chakra. Remembering the book said he'd need to use a lot, he pushed as much as he could into his hands as he made the five hand signs. With the last hand gesture done, he pushed his hand to the floor of the library, and with a cry of "Summoning Te-"

Naruto was gone.