The Summoner's Craft

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Final Fantasy. The men in white say so, and I'll have to take their word for it.

Chapter One – Summoner Naruto

Uzumaki Naruto, vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and village pariah, strode confidently towards the gate of the Hokage's Tower. He had just passed the final exams which would make him into a full-fledged shinobi of the village of Konoha and, though excited he may be to tell Hokage-jii-san of this wonderful bit of news, he had other more pressing matters to address.

If you want to see your old sensei, Iruka, ever again, you will do as I say and bring me the Forbidden Scroll tonight. You have three hours.

Those had been the last words he had heard before falling into an abrupt unconsciousness. It was now almost a little over an hour after that had happened and he was determined to accomplish the task set out for him. He knew what he was about to do was wrong but...to hell with it. Right now, saving his sensei's life was much more important to him than anything else. "I'll just wing it once I actually meet the guy," Naruto mumbled underneath his breath. "Preferably getting to keep the scroll afterwards, beat the guy to an inch of his death, and save Iruka-sensei in time for some delicious ramen dinner." He gave a brilliant sincere smile to the two nins always loitering inside the tower's walls before bouncing up the stairs, the picture of an enthusiastic child who had just passed his tests.

Once he was out of their sight, his hand formed into a familiar seal and an exact replica of himself puffed right next to him. He had to thank Hyo-chan for that. She was the one who had taught him how to do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu—a skill which had ultimately led to his passing the final test. A small smile lingered on his face as he savoured the sight of Iruka's pleasantly surprised, but otherwise proud, face. He immediately dropped it as he slipped into the Hokage's storage room, while his doppelganger continued to walk on to the Hokage's room to meet with the old man. The Bunshin would be his perfect alibi.

His eyes flitted across the place, making him scrunch his nose in disgust. Man, this place needs a good cleaning up; Naruto thought and made a note to himself to do something about this enormous mess in the near future. He calmly walked towards the large bin where the Forbidden Scroll was placed, when something caught his eye. His right hand twitching, he veered off his initial direction to take a look at a smaller scruffy scroll which seemed like it was jammed in the corner of a shelf in embarrassment where no one would really take notice of it. He pulled the scroll gingerly and sat on his rump, a part of him whining that this was all rather unnecessary and Iruka was in danger and Naruto just didn't have the time to look at all these scrolls.

He blew the dust off it and immediately regretted what he had done; the dust made a fuss with his nose and, before he knew it, he was sneezing rather loudly inside the storage room. Tears trickling down his face, he cursed out loud and grabbed the Forbidden Scroll. He tucked the other scroll inside his flashy orange jacket and slung the Forbidden Scroll across his back. He heard footsteps thundering nearby and pushed the window open, making a dive for it as he heard the door slam behind him. Calling forth chakra to his hands and feet, he clamped against the wall and hastily did a Concealment Jutsu just as a head popped into view—a few centimetres above him—looking rather pissed off.

Once the head was gone and he was sure he was in the clear, he began his descent downwards, hoping like hell that no one would notice him. Safely on the ground, he jumped over wall surrounding the Hokage's Tower, and raced for the woods where he would eventually meet with Iruka's kidnapper.

While the original Naruto was doing all this, his doppelganger was babbling away to the Hokage who wore a delighted grin on his weary weathered face. "Congratulations, my boy!" The Hokage crowed, too busy to notice that this Naruto was, in fact, simply a copy. Normally, someone with his calibre would be able to detect a copy in mere seconds but he was too busy doing a victory dance in his head to have noticed.

"Well, I gotta go, Jii-chan," Naruto said, jerking his thumb to the direction of the door. "I have a date with ramen and I'd rather not be late. It might turn cold on me." He gave him his trademark foxy grin and a wink before skipping from the room, his whole body just about brimming with happiness. A moment after he had left, one of the shinobi patrolling the perimeters came rushing in, babbling about a break-in. The Sandaime sighed. And just when things were looking swell...

Naruto slid against a humongous towering tree and took the scroll from his jacket, staring at his prize with a mixture of curiosity and embarrassment. He really hadn't planned to steal any other scroll from the old man and he felt as if he was betraying the man's trust when the Sandaime had done so much for him. He was dimly aware of his Kage Bunshin dispersing in a cloud of smoke but he waved the thought aside; it was time to find out what the scroll contained.

Breaking the seal on the scroll, he carefully unrolled it, his eyes taking in the oddly beautiful pictures decorating the inner part of the scroll. For something which looked so huge, only three creatures were visible on the old parchment. The other drawings looked either incomplete, or were too smudged to be seen properly. Naruto examined the clearest pictures with a critical eye and whistled in appreciation. One seemed to be some sort of three-headed beast with a tail which burned brightly and scales covering its upper back and neck (or necks which seemed more proper given the number of heads). Another looked to be a lady with hair tied in several long braids, scantily clad with armbands wrapped around her forearms and a white translucent veil tied around her hips. Her upper body, which was half hidden by the hair tumbling down her shoulders, seemed somewhat odd, with ice clinging against the left part of her chest and tattoos swirling around her right. Naruto's eyes lingered the longest, however, on the last image. It looked to be a horse—if horses could ever look so elegant—and carried a long curved horn atop its head. His hand lingered on the image and, for a moment, he felt fur underneath his palm—fur which strangely tingled, as if he had just touched static electricity.

He recognized the scroll for what it was though he found it different from the other one he had seen. Okami-baa-san, his next door neighbour, had shown him her summoning contract once and it had names written in chronological order—names of the people who were allowed to use that contract. This one however, did not have any names written on it, though the usual runes marking that it was indeed what he thought it was, paraded the outer border of the scroll. He shrugged. Well...he had always wanted a summoning contract, didn't he? Okami-baa-san promised him that she would let him sign the Wolf contract when she felt it was time but he was rather the impatient type and acquiring a summoning contract would do him some good in the long run. Biting his thumb, he carefully imprinted his name on the very top box, feeling somewhat proud that he would be the first to bear this contract. Once done, he let the blood flow down his palm before placing a bloody handprint underneath his signature. The scroll leaped from his hands and disappeared in a snap.

Darkness clouded his vision and he felt himself slam against the grassy floor. Pain spasms shot through his spine making him gasp for air. He shakily got to his knees and tried to stand up but the burning sensation which invaded his senses made it hard for him to focus. His legs buckled underneath him and he was on the ground once more. Curling into a foetal position, he closed his eyes and waited for the worst.

What happened next baffled the young boy. Instead of seeing darkness, he was greeted with a soft gentle white light. He made a full three hundred and sixty degree turn and saw emptiness everywhere. He blinked and in a flash there was a woman staring down at him, a small heart-warming smile on her lips. She touched his chin lightly with her fingertips and leaned forward, kissing the boy tenderly on his forehead. Welcome to our ranks, young summoner.

That white world melted before Naruto's eyes, leaving in its place the familiar scenery of the woods where he had hidden himself. The woman took a step back and winked at him, her blue and green eyes bright with happiness. Before Naruto could ask what the hell was going on however, the woman had faded into the background. His eyes adjusted in the dark—one of the advantages of being the Kyuubi's host—and he realized that the three hours were almost up.

Raising his hand, he was surprised to see black markings crawl across his skin. He watched in fascination until the dark signs stopped shifting to form a spiral at the back of his palm. In the middle of this spiral was a long staff with a circular head piece which had three prominent points on top. That part seemed to quiver for a moment before exploding into tiny dots, making Naruto gasp. The dots quickly reformed, creating curvy lines which seemed to represent some kind of weapon—what it was Naruto could not discern. From all the weapon training he had done, he had never seen such a thing though it reminded him strongly of a crossbow.

Wear your new clan symbol with pride, Summoner Naruto, as is your right.

He had no time to react to the voice in his head however, as he felt another presence near him. "So you did come," the voice was filled with amusement and a tinge of disbelief. "I wasn't really expecting the host of the Kyuubi to show compassion."

Naruto froze from his spot and slowly lifted his head to meet the calm cold eyes of Mizuki-sensei, another teacher from the Ninja Academy. Slung on the man's shoulder was the slumped form of Iruka-sensei. His hands balled into fists. "What did you do to him, teme?!"

"Why, nothing of course," the man smiled lopsidedly. "So if you'll give me the scroll, perhaps I'll give him back to you."

"Perhaps?" Naruto spat on the ground and formed a most familiar seal.

Mizuki's eyes bugged out in fear, but that was immediately replaced by an arrogant look on his face. "Do you think you can beat me just because you can make a successful Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?" He snorted and threw Iruka-sensei aside like a worthless ragged doll. "I'm far stronger than that."

"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Multiple Naruto clones popped around the man, making him tremble in fear. He had not expected for Naruto to have so many. Nevertheless, he remained somewhat confident, knowing that a chuunin's taijutsu levels would be unquestionably superior compared to that of a genin.

With that fact in mind, Mizuki let out maniacal roar of laughter and pulled out a sword from gods knew where. He became a blur as he decapitated the clones nearest to him. Naruto growled and took a step back, frustrated by the feeling of sudden helplessness. He knew his own taijutsu levels should have been up to par with that of a regular chuunin, thanks to the tremendous amount of training he was given by his caretakers, and could have fought off Mizuki through the sheer amount of his clones alone, if it were not for the heaviness which suddenly started weighing him down. What was happening to him? He grimaced and clutched his stomach; his muscles constricted rather painfully. It seemed that the transformation the Summoning Contract was making him go through still wasn't finished. He blinked and noticed that Mizuki had managed to dispatch all of his clones. Another blink and he was suddenly against a tree, sensing a great pressure against his shoulder. He glared at Mizuki who was grinning down at him and raised his hand.

"Come forth and do battle, Ixion, horse-child of the Light!" Naruto spoke through gritted teeth. His finger pressed the trigger. "Thor's Hammer!"

A bolt of lightning shot out from the gun which Naruto was holding. Mizuki was thrown backwards from the force, slamming against a massive trunk, screaming in agony as a burning sensation coursed through his body. When the man could no longer move from the paralysis caused by the lightning, it retreated, forming the shape of a horse—one that Naruto recognized from the contract he had signed just a few hours ago. It bowed before him majestically before disappearing in a flash of light. I approve of you, young lord. The voice seemed to echo at the back of his mind. Though I do believe your skills with a gun require some work. Your aim was rather...terrible.

He could only stare in awe at the strange weapon he held in his left hand. The hell?! This looks just like that symbol tattooed on my hand.

Well of course it is. It's your clan symbol, Summoner. It means that you've chosen the path of a gunner.

Who's there?! Naruto thought, looking around in panic.

It's me, Ixion, the first of your Summons.

Naruto did the only thing he could do next: he fainted.

Waking up inside a hospital room was on the top three things Naruto hated the most. The first two being Sasuke and having your ramen taken away from you by evil ramen-thirsty caretakers (who want you to eat healthy, but you don't believe them, bastards that they are). Respectively. He rolled off the bed, which had always overwhelmed his sense of smell with sharp acrid scents, and moved to see if the window was unlocked.

Running off without saying goodbye to the nice people in white?

"Who's there?" snapped Naruto, pivoting on the balls of his feet, a kunai appearing in his left hand. His shoulder burned angrily, reminding him of his recent injury.

Now, now. No need to shout. In fact, you needn't even speak. Your thoughts speak a clear enough message.

"You still haven't answered my question, teme!"

Didn't I tell you? I am Ixion, horse-child of the Light. A king amongst my people, though I doubt you'll get a chance to meet them; they are not of this world, after all.

"Oh." Naruto sat atop the lumpy bed. "So I can really summon you?"

Yes.

"Can you, maybe, tell me what the hell happened, exactly? Coz I really don't get it. And what's the deal with calling me a summoner? Other shinobi can summon too."

You signed a contract which binds us to you. Unlike a normal Summoning Contract, which I'm sure you're familiar with, this contract allows you access to one of the most powerful bloodlines ever. This means that we are yours, and yours alone, to command. Of course, once you've procreated—

"Procre-wha?"

A sigh rumbled inside his mind. He clutched his head and frowned. Where was that sound coming from?! When you've had children of your own, they'll be able to summon as well.

"Oh." Naruto blinked. "Cool! My bloodline rocks! I can't wait until that Uchiha-teme sees me summoning. He'll be so green with envy, Sakura-chan and the others will surely mistake him for a tree and forget all about him!"

Naruto-sama, with great power comes great responsibility. You can't just flaunt this new ability. You must think about your duty as a summoner!

"Say that again!" Naruto chirped excitedly.

Say what again?

"Call me Naruto-sama again! It sounds so fuckin' damn cool!"

If incorporeal beasts could sweat drop, Ixion would have had an extra large one by now. Were you even listening to what I'm saying? No, I suppose not. Listen, boy, as our master, you now carry a most important duty. If you've noticed, the scroll which you signed looks worn out. That's because the others of our kind, Aeons as you'll come to call us, have disappeared. Some of them have broken off to seek a contract with other humans. Some have fallen into a deep slumber. Some have simply…forgotten their own existence. What you'll have to do, is find them and renew their oath of loyalty to you. When that happens, the scroll will recover some of its former glory.

"Wait. How would I know if the scroll has changed its appearance? It went poof that day I signed the contract."

We've given the scroll to Cerberus for now. If you wish to take a look at it, you will have to summon him. As to how you'll know who he is, the information will come to you in time.

"Ok." Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes closed in concentration. "So...if I do look for the rest of them…does that mean I'll be even stronger than before?"

…yes. Answered Ixion in a defeated tone. And each of us is able to teach you something. For example, I know of a handful of lightning jutsus which might prove useful to you.

"Then I'm in!" The blond genin grinned widely. "Last question, Ixion."

Ask away, my boy.

"Where do I get a gun?"

Ino could barely contain her glee. Today was the day that they would find out who their teammates would be and she was feeling very lucky. Oh! I do hope I get to be in Sasuke's team. She thought wistfully, her hands clamped together in prayer, her eyes shining with excitement. The snap of the classroom door being shut close, pulled her out of her thoughts and she was about to shout at whoever the noisy brat was—I mean seriously, you don't have class if you can't even close the door like a proper gentleman—when she stopped, her mouth flapping open in a most unlady-like manner.

In strode a young man wearing a white shirt underneath a dark green sleeveless jacket, two bandoliers criss-crossing in front of his chest. Dark green goggles decorated the top of his forehead whilst the hitai-ate, which was usually found there, was tied against his right arm. He wore a pair of black cargo pants and, strapped against his hip, was some kind of weapon Ino had never seen before.

She examined his face once more and she could not help but let out a tiny gasp of surprise. This guy couldn't be Naruto! Where was the orange? The eye-blinding garish color which Naruto seemed to like so much?!

"Good morning, Shikamaru!" He waved cheerfully at the lazy genin and sat beside him, a few desks away from Ino. "I'm early for once. Can you believe it? Okami-baa-san wouldn't let me be late for this."

Ino's ears perked in curiosity. She'd heard about Naruto's neighbours some years ago, when the teachers started noticing the sudden leaps of improvement in Naruto's training, though little was said about them. All she knew was that they were some kind of combat veterans. Were they responsible for Naruto's change in clothing? If that was the case, then why didn't they make him change any sooner? Ino had to admit, this Naruto was more pleasant to look at, now that all the orange was gone.

Too busy examining Naruto, she didn't notice Sasuke enter the room, nor did she notice the gigantic amount of fangirls trailing after him. If she did, she would have been ecstatic to note that he had decided to sit right next to her.

"Sit down you lot." Iruka-sensei tapped his clipboard against the table in irritation. Ino looked up and was unaware of the heated glares being shot her way. "You are all genin now and I had hoped that the sudden change in rank would make some of you more mature—" His clipboard clattered against the table. "Naruto! You're early for once."

"Of course, sensei!" Naruto grinned and did a thumbs-up. "I wouldn't miss this for three bowls of ramen!"

After the laughter had died down, Iruka-sensei began telling them what it meant to be a genin and the duties required of them by their jounin-sensei. It was a short speech—far shorter than the ones the man usually gave—and before Ino knew it, the man had already started assigning the genins into three-man teams. She leaned forward in anticipation.

"For Team Seven, we have Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura"—a cheer erupted from behind Ino—"and Akamichi Chouji."

Ino's eager smile dropped into a frustrated frown. What had she done wrong? Was she not beautiful enough? Well, at least look at it this way. If Chouji is with them, that means I won't be placed in a second generation Ino-Shika-Cho. Her father had high hopes for such a combination—much to Ino's chagrin—and would be sorely disappointed when he found out that the Hokage decided to put Ino in another team instead. Not that she cared.

"For Team Eleven, we have Yamanaka Ino, Aburame Shino and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin-sensei is Morino Ibiki."

She raised both eyebrows in mild astonishment and saw Naruto waving at her from below. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her face flush. She didn't mind having an Aburame for a teammate. Bugs were kind of gross to look at, but she knew that they could be very helpful, especially when it came to plants. Plus, he rivalled Sasuke when it came to grades—the only reason why he was so unpopular in the first place was because not many girls could stand insects.

Naruto on the other hand...

Well, as long as he promises not to be too much of a jerk, I guess I can stand being in the same team as he is. Ino thought hotly, avoiding the boy's gaze.

"Hah! I beat you, Ino-pig." Sakura smirked, wagging her pointer finger in front of Ino's face. "I have Sasuke and you don't!"

She hesitated briefly and matched Sakura's smirk with one of her own. "So what? Unlike some people, Sakura, I have a life which does not revolve around Sasuke. He may be hot as hell can be, but I won't spend the rest of my days weeping over the fact that he wasn't in my team. And just because he's on yours doesn't mean that he's married to you either."

She flipped her hair for good measure and sauntered out of the room, congratulating herself for a job well done.

"Hey, Ino-chan!" She saw Naruto jogging towards her with Shino in tow. "We should eat together since we're teammates now, neh?"

She agreed and the three of them headed for a cool spot underneath a massive tree. As they were preparing for their meal, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba—members of Team Eight—as well as Chouji came to join them.

"You smell like you've got some good food with you," Kiba explained and motioned for his teammates to sit beside them. "And Sasuke, bastard that he is, wouldn't let anyone eat with him. So we brought Chouji as well!"

"What about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. Ino rolled her eyes and took out the large bento she had prepared. Well, it's no secret that he's been crushing over her for years.

"She didn't want to come," Chouji answered dejectedly.

"Probably still trailing after Sasuke. His fangirls really don't know when to give up," she spoke flippantly and handed out portions to all of them, making sure to triple Chouji's share. Hinata had also brought a lot of food which Ino was thankful for—she doubted she could feed seven hungry mouths, including her own.

"We got Kurenai-sensei as our jounin. You know if she's any good?"

"Women are troublesome. That's all you really need to know about them."

Typical Shikamaru answer. "I'm sorry but I've only heard of her in the passing."

The others shook their heads as if to say, 'Sorry, but we don't know her either.'

It was Shino who actually had something to say this time. "She's a genjutsu specialist. Father says she is a good candidate for jounin-sensei and her training regime is strict but reasonable."

"Oh." Kiba bit into a riceball. "I guess we can deal with that."

"What about our jounin-sensei? Do you guys know who he is?"

"He's ANBU." All eyes turned towards Naruto who was eating a cup of instant ramen. Ino made a note to hide his supply; too much of that stuff wasn't good for anyone. "I don't know which section he's in but I do know he's something fierce. Pretty damn ugly too."

"That's no way to speak about your jounin-sensei!" Hinata gasped and blushed subsequently, ducking her head in embarrassment.

"You're right, I suppose," the blond genin scratched his head sheepishly. "I was just quoting Okami-baa-san."

"What's up with the clothes anyway?"

"This?" Naruto paused for a moment, before answering. "Okami-baa-san's been pestering me to get a new set of clothes. Plus, Ixio—I mean, err...Uma-kun told me that my clan colors were green and white. He's a friend of the family."

"And that?" Ino pointed at the weapon Naruto was carrying. "What's that?"

"It's a gun." He pulled it out in one fluid movement and rested it on top of his left forearm. "Bang!" He laughed and put it back in place. "Uma says I'm not allowed to use it unless I really have to."

"But what is it, exactly? I've never seen anything like it before."

"It's a long-ranged weapon. Other than that, I really don't know how to explain it. It's better if you just wait and see for yourself what it is."

"I leave him in your capable hands, Ibiki. Don't you dare break him," the old woman spoke, regarding her taller companion with a hardened gaze.

Ibiki sighed and raised his hands. "If he breaks under my tutelage then he isn't worth my time, Oka-san. I'm the commanding officer of the Torture and Interrogation Unit. I can't just drag a bunch of brats into the squad. My subordinates would think me foolish."

"You know of the Kedamono clan?"

"Yes, but wasn't that clan extinct some hundred years ago?"

"The bloodline has been awakened again. They've chosen him—"

"Then wouldn't it be better if he was placed in a combat-special team? Summoning huge monsters isn't exactly discreet."

She glared at her son icily. "I did not raise my son to be rude. Don't you dare interrupt me again."

"Yes, Oka-san."

"And anyway, I've already talked to the Hokage about this. He has no objections. Not after I was done with him anyway." She sniffed haughtily. "And, if you must know, that boy's taken the path of a gunner which blends well with his previous training. You've got yourself an assassin, Ibiki. I'm sure you can handle that."

"Yes, Oka-san."

She nodded and slipped on her ANBU mask, disappearing in a puff of smoke and leaves. Ibiki wondered why his mother still carried the wolf mask. It was a given that all shinobi would have to surrender their hitai-ate as well as any other equipment which would associate them with the shinobi world once they've retired.

"Oka-san's always been a stubborn bitch." Ibiki said offhandedly and jumped off the thick tree branch he was standing on, only moments before. It was time to meet the brats.

A/N: Yes, yes. This is a rewrite to my other fic Jutsu Creation Specialist. If you've read that, you'll notice that this is very different in terms of content. That's because I'm trying to cut back on the amount of OCs Naruto has to be dependent on. Plus, I've always wanted to write a Gunner!Naruto. x3

This fic was inspired by Summoner Naruto (written by Mage Alia) and Something to Die For (written by Macavity the Mysterious Cat). The idea of Naruto summoning using guns was taken from the anime Final Fantasy Unlimited.

Did I mention I like reviews? I live for them.