AN: I don't own Naruto, or One Piece

AN: It won't take me anywhere near as long to write the next chapter.

x-x

Chapter XXIII: Finding the hidden village

x-x

Naruto moved through the incredibly large trees of the new forest and stopped again on a branch. It had been just under a day since he left the cave and started exploring the forest. Unfortunately he was getting the feeling that he was being watched. It started right after he entered the forest and hadn't stopped since then. It was similar to how Orochimaru had been watching his team but this was different. He felt more than one set of eyes on him. No chakra signature could be felt, no sound could be heard, but he knew they were there.

Logic told him it wasn't Orochimaru that was watching him but then he wasn't sure what it could be this time. With giant snakes back at the caves and with all the other creatures that he had passed and felt while moving to the forest, it was likely a group of large animals stalking him.

This worried him greatly as he had never come across animals that were so patient and stealthy. He still wasn't sure how the snake managed to get the drop on him but he did know that it didn't spend time stalking him. He had already taken a short nap inside one of the large trees for protection and once he emerged, he found himself being watched again.

Despite this, he decided to continue on in the direction that the wind indicated. Or at least what he thought was the direction that it indicated, he couldn't be sure anymore. The trees of the forest were actually larger than the ones in the Forest of Death which was something he didn't think possible and he only noticed it when it took him so much longer than he originally anticipated to make it to the forest. It just stayed in the distance as he moved towards it and kept getting bigger and bigger.

The trees were very overgrown and he already had a few close calls with animals that had tried to make a meal out of him. One of them ended up being his dinner a few hours ago before something started watching him. He supposed they could have been attracted by the fire or the smell of food.

x-x

Her eyelids once again started to shut as he sat and waited. Sasuke's condition had barely changed in the time she had been watching over him and now she was succumbing to the tiredness that she felt. Each eyelid felt so heavy and when they were closed for a brief moment, everything felt better.

Forcing her eyes open once again, she fingered the kunai she was holding. Naruto had yet to come back and was no doubt lost somewhere in the forest. She had no idea what to do or how to manage the situation she was currently in. It had never come up before and she felt completely helpless. Kakashi-sensei wasn't here and she had no one else to rely on but herself.

Once again her eyes started closing as she fought to keep herself awake.

Crouched behind a nearby tree were the members of a genin team from the Hidden Sound Village. They had been waiting behind the tree for some time now as Dozu waited for the most opportune moment to attack. They could only hear the heartbeats and breathing of two ninja so they had been on alert for the third but he had yet to show up.

Looking to his two teammates, he could tell that they were getting bored and restless. The pink haired girl was nearly asleep and if they waited only a little bit longer, they could move in to kill Sasuke and take the teams scroll, if they still had one.

x-x

Coming to a stop on the branch, Naruto's head turned back behind him and he stopped to listen. He was sure he had just heard a noise other than the normal background noise of the forest.

Waiting and observing the area, he still felt that he was being watched. No more unusual sounds were heard but he definitely heard something. Whatever was following him had definitely slipped up.

He was also getting really annoyed at being followed all the time.

"Alright, I'm getting tired of being watched and followed. Come out and fight or get lost." stated Naruto and he put his hands on his swords.

Nothing happened. The forest still had the same noises and nothing was coming after him or towards him. He waited for almost a minute before something did happen. He sensed an imminent attack through his color of observation but the vision he received showed him nothing. The attack was supposedly from behind yet nothing was there and no one was actually attacking.

Turning around to view the attack right before it happened he didn't see anything but he felt the movement and heard the noise too late to dodge.

An invisible force smacked him from behind and sent him down into the forest below. He smashed into the forest floor a moment later. His vision was blurred as he tried to stand and figure out what was happening.

'I couldn't see the attack.' he realized. His haki told him of an attack but there was nothing in the vision it showed him.

Receiving another sense of an attack, he rolled out of the way and the ground he left deformed under an attack of some kind. He felt the ground shake under the force and clumps of dirt and grass were thrown up into the air.

'Its invisible.' he realized and determined this to be the only viable explanation. His attacker or attackers were completely invisible , suppressubg their chakra completely, and made no noise when they moved or attacked. It was a foe he had never encountered before.

Moving and attempting to dodge unseen attacks from one or multiple opponents proved to be incredibly difficult and he ended up jumping or rolling out of the way of numerous attacks, one after the other. There was no time to make handseals or form any counterattacks with ninjutsu, so he reached for his swords. The moment he did, he felt attacks coming from seemingly every direction. There was no way he could dodge all of the attacks as he couldn't tell when they would hit or where exactly they were coming from. He tried to use Haki to defend himself but he wasn't fast enough.

He was hit hard in the back and side. The hits sent him flying a few exposed tree roots which he smacked into and then fell back to the ground. Everything was going black and he could feel himself losing consciousness. Looking up from the ground, he noted three greenish blobs had appeared in front of him. Before he finally passed out, he could hear talking coming from them but he couldn't make any of the words out.

x-x

Staring at the body of the boy in front of them, the three conversed about the trespasser.

"So that's what a human looks like?" questioned one of the large green figures. They had never seen a human before as it had been decades since one had been near their forest and they had only ever heard descriptions of them.

"Yes, Hiryuu, that is definitely a human." stated the second green figure and it moved closer to the body to inspect it.

"That last hit with my tail didn't kill it, did it?" inquired the third and final of the three reptiles. It moved closer to its companion to get a better look as well.

"No its still breathing, Tsuno. Now the question we must answer is what do we do with him?" he asked his two two companions as his eyes swiveled independently to each of them so both were in his view.

"I think we should take him back to the elder and see what he has to say." stated the one called Hiryuu.

"I agree with Hiryuu, it could be interesting." stated Tsuno.

"There's only one problem," said the final figure who had yet to be named by the remaining members, "he smells strongly of snake. I noticed it when we were following him."

They looked contemplative before Tsuno spoke up again, "An execution would still be interesting." and the other two sweat-dropped.

x-x

"So Orochimaru was like, 'Please don't hurt me any further,' and then he used the body flicker technique to run away." stated Kotetsu and Izumo nodded his head in agreement as they lounged in the chairs surrounded by many other ninja.

Some of the present ninja were supposed to be patrolling and manning the tower but rumor had quickly spread concerning the presence of Orochiimaru in the forest and that three ninja had fought the S-ranked criminal, so they were trying to find out as much as possible.

"Now way!" said one of the ninja in disbelief and he continued, "You two couldn't have done all that."

"I didn't even know that you guys knew so many A-ranked jutsu, being only chunin and all." stated another ninja.

"Anko-sama, is all that really true?" asked a chunin to the special jonin standing in the doorway. Anko was staring at both chunin with her eyes narrowed and a serious look look on her face.

'Oh shit, were screwed! I didn't even hear her arrive." thought Izumo and Kotetsu's thoughts mirrored those of his partner.

Anko had heard most of the story the two chunin had embellished and had only just stopped her eye from twitching at such a whimsical tale of horse shit.

Getting a wicked idea, Anko replied, "Yep every word of it is true. I was really impressed with these two. If Orochimaru shows up in or near the village again, the Sandaime requested that they be sent in first to deal with him before the ANBU go in." stated Anko with sickly sweet smile.

The gathered ninja didn't catch the lie and were all blown away by the confirmation of what she had said. No one of the gathered crowd was more surprised than Izumo and Kotetsu.

'Send us...in first...'

'Oh Kami no!'

x-x

Lee had come to her rescue but had been incapacitated by the Sound genin with the gauntlet. She was then faced with fighting the three ninja alone again.

Sakura had tried to fight them but her ninjutsu only consisted of academy jutsu as she had not tried to learn anything new since graduating and never trained outside of what little team training her team did. As a result of this, she was not able to defeat even a single member of the Sound team despite them not taking her seriously.

Team Ten had come out of the surroundings to help which was quite surprising given that Ino was the one that was determined to help her. Before Team Ten got very involved though, everyone's attention had been diverted to what was happening in the roots of the tree where Sasuke was. An incredible amount of malicious chakra was coming from the roots.

A figure walked out from the roots which she recognized as Sasuke. However, the strange marks on his body and the foreign chakra coming off him were not something she had every seen or felt before.

'What's happening to you Sasuke-kun?' she wondered as her teammate turned to her and she didn't recognize the look in the eyes that were looking back at her.

x-x

Three figures moved through the trees at an incredible pace. The jumped and ran from branch to branch of the massive trees of the forest. They wasted no movements and moved in the most efficient manner with precise and graceful motions.

They were heading to the secret area that their kind inhabited in a particular location deep inside the large forest. Many of the large animals in the western lands all had their own realm where they congregated and lived. The snakes had large and expansive dens in an area of the plains, while the toads had their mountain area. These areas were separated by a good distance from each other.

The chameleons were no exception and had claimed the entire forest as their territory with a specific secret area that they lived in. It was easy to get lost in the expansive forest but they all knew their way. Other nearby areas had also been claimed by other species of large animals but with varying intelligences. Most of the large animals in the western lands were more intelligent than the much smaller animals in the elemental countries but only a minority of the the more intelligent ones were capable of speech or jutsu and other chakra based techniques.

The area they were currently headed to had no real name to anyone else and was only referred to as 'the sanctuary' or 'the village' by the chameleons that lived there. Trespassers into the forest were not tolerated and it was routinely patrolled by squads of chameleons. Only a single human in the last one hundred years had ever entered it.

Coming to a stop, they looked over an an incredibly large open area that was the sanctuary. The forest thinned and then opened to grassy areas with large boulders and a large lake in the middle. On the large boulders were numerous other chameleons of different sizes and types that were sunning themselves. The trees in the surroundings were hollowed out in certain areas of the huge trunks. The hollowed out areas provided homes, meeting places, and storage for all the inhabitants. The large stumps of a few trees were also in the open area and they had been cut down years ago to let in more light and make the open area a bit bigger.

The group of three were greeted and acknowledged by several of their fellow chameleons before they headed to one of the large trees. They climbed up the trunk and to one of the many balconies created for dwellings. Finding the correct large doorway, one of the three knocked on the door so as to be allowed entry by the village elder.

x-x

Sasuke crouched to pick up the scroll that the Sound team had left. It was the scroll they needed and if Naruto had somehow managed to keep their original scroll then they would be able to pass. He had no idea where his teammate was and they would need to find him in order to get to the tower or try and get another scroll.

Team Nine had already left the area with Lee and were searching for another scroll, as the one that Sasuke collected was not the scroll they needed. Team Ten had already lost their scroll in a surprise attack by Team Eight. The fellow Konoha ninja had not injured the team but taken their scroll and moved to the tower. Shikamaru was positive that they would not be able to get another two scrolls as it was 'beyond troublesome.' Ino reluctantly accepted this as they were not prepared to face two teams for the needed scrolls or perhaps face some of the much stronger teams that could be still around and after more than the needed scrolls. They had been on their way out of the forest when they stumbled upon most of Team Seven and they had only just left on their way again.

With the rest of the teams gone, it was just himself and Sakura in the forest. He tried not to let the pain coming from his shoulder show but he could see the pink haired girl's concern over him and whatever had happened him. The power he was using just a little while ago was amazing. It made him do things that weren't necessarily his own actions but with it he felt was much closer to defeating Itachi than before. Now they just needed to find Naruto and get the remaining scroll.

'I can't believe that idiot got so completely lost.' he thought and tried to decide what direction then should head in. There was no way of knowing how many teams were out there and where Naruto was. The would just have start heading to the tower and hopefully Naruto would be heading there as well.

x-x

The three chameleons entered the chambers of the village elder. They knew he was there but sometimes he didn't answer so people would leave him alone, so they let themselves into the very large room beyond the front door.

The elder was a much smaller chameleon and sat upright on pillow meditating with his walking stick next to him. He was meditating in silence until the three had barged in.

"Great he's asleep again." stated Tsuno and started leaving the room before the perfectly still elder sighed and opened his eyes to see the last three individuals that he ever wanted to see come into his home.

"Hmm, I can't hear you'll have to come closer." stated the elder and he leaned forward and tilted his head to the side. Tsuno approached the raised area the elder was on and once he was close enough, the elder grabbed his stick and in one fluid motion struck the chameleon on the nose with a loud 'smack'.

"I'm wasn't sleeping, I was meditating. There's a difference and you interrupted me. Also when I don't answer that doesn't mean you can just waltz right in." the elder stated with a dull look as Tsuno grabbed his nose in pain and then backed off slightly. The elder's eyes swiveled between the trio in front of him and he dreaded what they had come for. No one around this village seemed to be able to solve their own problems or think independently and they always wanted his guidance.

The room was quite large and able to accommodate all three medium sized summons into the room with no problem. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all the wood of the tree they were in but it appeared very smooth and polished. Not many decorations or any pieces of furniture were present in the large open room. It was mostly used for meetings and specifically made to accommodate the majority of chameleons living in the village.

The leader of the trio walked up and bowed his head slightly, then spoke, "Tokage-sama, we've come to you in order to ask of your guidance."

The elder groaned slightly as someone was always coming to ask of his guidance. He wished there were more elder chameleons so he wasn't the only person that people came to. Sighing he answered, "Alright, what is it this time, Hideki-kun?"

The three looked at each other briefly before the newly named Hideki answered, "We were on patrol in the forest when we came across something."

"And?" stated Tokage as he moved his wrist in a circular fashion as if to say 'get the point.'

"It turned out to be a human." Hideki quickly finished and they watched the elder's reaction.

'Alright, that's not so bad. Unusual perhaps, but its much more important than what they usually come to me needed advice on or when they are brought here for punishment for causing trouble in the village.' thought Tokage as he mulled over the possibilities of what a human would be doing in there forest.

"And he smelled like snake." added Tsuno and the elders demeanor instantly changed. The three winced slightly under the new look they were getting.

"What exactly did you do with it?" questioned Tokage in a very serious voice. He received no answer and this made one of his eyes twitch.

"You better not have brought him back here to our sanctuary." he added and none of the three would look him in the eyes.

"GOD DAMN IT! Whose bright idea was that!" he demanded and both Tsuno and Hideki backed off slightly leaving Hiryuu still standing one step closer to the elder than they were.

Staring at Hiryuu the elder said, "Come closer for a second." and he reached for his walking stick. Hiryuu however backed off with the others.

"You brought a snake summoner into our hidden village?" demanded Tokage and three winced again.

"Its a snake summoner, do you know how much we distrust and hate the snakes?" Tokage questioned and expected answers from each of them.

"Kill on sight." responded Hideki.

"Mortal enemies." stated Hiryuu.

"I can't remember." said Tsuno with contemplative look.

"You three continue to infuriate me. You especially." said Tokage and he pointed at Tsuno with one of his digits.

"But I thought we were friends." said Tsuno and Tokage responded, "Friendship revoked."

"Did you three not even think about the ramifications of allowing a snake summoner into our village?" questioned Tokage.

"He was already heading directly to the village." responded Hiryuu as he tried to placate elder.

'He knows where the village is?' thought a slightly startled Tokage as he considered the implications of this knowledge. The fact that a snake summoner knew where the village was could mean some kind of surprise attack or that they were planning something. Fighting between the summoning animals wasn't uncommon but not much had happened between them and the snakes for decades. There area had never been found by the snakes during the fighting as it was always outside the village in the area between the forest and the snake dens.

"Where is the summoner?" Tokage again demanded before they could say anything else.

"We suppressed his chakra and tied him up. As for where he is..." Hideki paused and Hiryuu's throat bulged. Tokage watched as the chameleon opened its mouth and deposited a masked boy in front of him with with a 'thud'.

"Where the hell did I just come from?" Naruto questioned to no one in particular as looked around to try and to get his bearings after being dropped onto the hard wood floor. He had no idea where he currently was or what was happening.

Naruto took in his current situation in a matter of moments. He was inside an unknown room with four large creatures, three of which were the ones that attacked him. He couldn't feel his chakra, likely because of the different sealing tags stuck to his chest and back, and whatever he was bound by, which appeared to be green vines, was incredibly sturdy. Looking to the others present in the room, he noted that they were all chameleons. Three of which were the same size and over thirty feet long, while the last one was just under the height of an average adult human.

Of the three large ones, one had a set of three horns on his head, another had strange appendages on his back and snake-like tails, while the last one was the smallest of the three seemed to have more skin attached to its legs and underside of its body, likely for gliding/flying. Two were varying shades of green while the one with the horns was more of a brown. The last chameleon seemed to be the oldest from its appearance and just appeared to be a normal chameleon with nothing significant about what body he could see.

'He doesn't look like much and he looks rather young to be a summoner.' thought Tokage as he inspected the prisoner. Walking around the prisoner, he leaned forward slightly to get a whiff of the boy's scent. Despite being inside the enlarged dimensional space of Hiryuu's stomach, the unmistakable scent of snake clung to the boy. It was very strong and recent which only served to further worry him.

'Are the snakes finally trying something after all these years?' he questioned. The sanctuary was safe from anyone as it was hidden in the very large forest. Chameleons periodically patrolled the forest as a preventative measure to keep their village completely hidden from anyone else. 'However, these three said the boy was heading straight here.' he thought and this was the most troubling part.

The forest was by no means easy to navigate or figure out where you were. The sun barely came through, you couldn't see the stars and it was incredibly easy to get lost. The ground even had deposits of iron which caused compasses to stop working. 'Even if he had a map, to head straight for our sanctuary must mean he has incredibly directional and navigational abilities. From the old tales, our ancestors took a couple of years to get used to finding our way around the forest.' were his thoughts as he considered what to do.

As Tokage was thinking about this, Naruto's thoughts were very different.

'Did he just sniff me?' thought Naruto as he starred at the old lizard that was walking around him. He tried to break the binding securing his arms to his sides, but even with his strength they wouldn't budge. He was about to say something to his captors when the lizard spoke.

"Execution." it said in a loud and commanding voice while looking at one of the large chameleons. Naruto misread the situation and said, "Wow that's harsh." he said out loud and then turned to one of the other large chameleons and said to it, "Glad I'm not that guy."

x-x

'Well shit.' thought Naruto as he stood tied to a large boulder on top of an incredibly large tree stump. His back was against the boulder and he had been tied to it with the same vines that were still around his arms and preventing him from breaking free. He was surrounded by chameleons of different size and type who had all apparently come to see his execution on the large flat stump. He tried earlier to figure out what was happening but ended up getting smacked in the head by the walking stick of the old lizard and no one would listen to him.

"I keep tell you I'm not a snake summoner." stated Naruto as he looked at the elder chameleon.

"Yes and I keep hearing you say it, but the evidence speaks for itself. Your story as to how you managed to smell like snake is laughable at best. You don't even have a Konoha forehead protector to back up your story with. You should have created a better story in case you were captured during your mission or whatever reason you have for trying to come here. We cannot let anyone know where our secret village is, least of all the snakes."

"I didn't come to the village, I was brought here by those three." stated Naruto and he motioned to the three chameleons that had attacked him in the forest.

"Be that as it may, you were still heading straight for us and have a connection with the snakes. You cannot be allowed to live as you could try and summon snakes to this location or return to the snake dens and tell them where we are." responded Tokage.

"But I don't even have a summoning contract." argued Naruto in his defense. He wasn't able to use his chakra or manage to get free from his binding. No one knew where he was, even he didn't know where he was, and there was no chance of anyone coming to help him. The situation wasn't looking very good for him.

"It's far to dangerous to let you prove that as you could summon reinforcements. Unfortunately we can't take that chance." finished Tokage and he tapped his walking stick on the surface of the stump for silence. Surprisingly, at least to Naruto, the murmuring and talking of the crowd died down despite the almost soundless tapping of the walking stick.

After everyone's attention was on him, Tokage cleared his throat and then began speaking, "You have all gathered to see what was going on and I will now inform you. A human trespasser into our forest was captured..." he said but was cut off by the sounds of the crowd because of the surprise of having a human enter the forest, "...yes, yes, I know it is very surprising. However this individual smelled strongly of snakes and it is likely that he is a snake summoner..." and Tokage stopped again as the gasps and murmuring of the crowd filled the surroundings.

"To keep the sanctuary a secret and protect ourselves, the trespasser will be executed." and he stopped again for a short break in order for the noise to die down, "The method of execution will be in accordance with our laws and be death...by tonguing." Tokage finished and received several nods of approval from some of the older chameleons. It had been a long time since an execution was performed but this method was the standard.

'What did he just say?' thought Naruto as he tried to figure out what the old lizard was talking about. 'Maybe I just misheard him.' he thought and decided to get clarifications. "Sorry, I think I misheard you. Did you say..." Naruto started but was cut off.

"You will be tongued to death!" clarified Tokage and the sky seemed to darken slightly when he said it.

"Ohhhhh...I see...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE! WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS!" demanded Naruto with a yell as he tried to get out of his bonds.

'What is he not understanding about such a simple concept?' wondered Tokage.

"Perhaps a demonstration..." started Tokage as he began to explain but he was cut off by Naruto's indignant shout of, "Demonstration!"

Giving Naruto a dubious look, Tokage motioned to one of the larger chameleons nearby. Right next to the boulder that Naruto was tied to was a second boulder that was not being used for anything. As the chameleon got into position, Naruto wondered whether he should close his eyes or not.

Tokage signaled the large chameleon by tapping his stick on the surface of the stump and in less than a second, the chameleons mouthed opened slightly and the tongue shot out at the boulder. The impact of the incredibly fast moving tongue on the rock caused it to shatter into pieces and the tongue shot back into the chameleon's mouth nearly as fast as it came out. Staring at the destroyed rock and the damaged, Naruto felt rather relieved and voiced his relief, "Oh thank Kami."

This caused some confusion from the audience as the reaction seemed very strange. A moment ago the boy was rejecting the method of execution and now he was relieved by it?

Moving closer, Tokage whispered, "What exactly did you think was going to happen?"

Responding to the question, Naruto said, "Nothing, just get on with the execution."

As the large chameleon took its new position Naruto again went through the situation in his mind. He had no chakra thanks to the sealing tags on his body which he could not remove without his hands which were still bound. He was also bound to the boulder as well. 'No chakra, no movement, no escape.' he thought as the chameleon had finished moving and the old chameleon was about to give the signal to commence his death.

The only thing he had left was Haki which did not rely on his chakra. While he may not be able to use his Haki to break his ropes, he could use it to protect himself. In the position he was currently in, it would be much harder to use Haki to deflect the attack as the best defense he could muster with Haki was actually to use the palms of his hands and counter the attack with a forceful attack of his own. The other method used for defense was to use Haki to harden the body like an armor. However his training with this had never been very successful. He always found it easier to use the more aggressive method of defense.

Calming himself and his breathing, Naruto concentrated on the task at hand. He could feel and see the attack coming. Focusing on his Haki, he began to push Haki into his torso to try and harden it against the impending attack.

'I can do this. I won't die here.' thought Naruto as the chameleon opened its mouth slightly, waiting for the given signal. The old chameleon lifted his walking stick and Naruto knew what was coming. As the stick reached the ground, it produced a very low sound that somehow told his executioner to begin.

The attack came so fast he was barely able to see it. The tongue shot at him and struck his chest. Had he not used any Haki, his torso would have likely been completely pulverized. With his Haki, he stopped some of the attack. The pain came a moment later and if felt like Rayleigh had punched him as hard as he knew his sensei had been capable of hitting. His back hurt as well as he had been smashed into the boulder he was tied to. As for the boulder, it had a few cracks around where his body was and the incredibly sturdy vines he was tied with had deformed and were dripping a green watery flood but had held as well.

The sound of Naruto coughing was the only sound present on top of the stump in the large open are of the sanctuary. His mask started darkening around his mouth from the blood he was coughing up. His Haki control had not been nearly enough to stop the deadly tongue. He made no noise other than the coughing and that mostly subsided after about a minute. Shakky obviously wasn't around to help him so he had to rely on his healing ability to fix the damage as fast as possible. He could still bleed to death internally or have had his organs damaged. His ribcage didn't necessarily feel broken but it was difficult to tell as his entire chest and back was in pain.

The chameleon's were silent for quite some time as they took in the sight before them. The human boy wasn't supposed to be able to survive the attack. Even one of their own would have had difficulty surviving the attack unless they used some kind of jutsu but the boy couldn't use any charka.

'I don't understand how he managed to do it, however I still can't let him live as he could put the whole village in danger.' thought Tokage and he tapped his walking stick into the stump again, signaling the executioner to attack again.

x-x

Two teams had already arrived at the tower. These were the team from Suna and the Team Eight of Konoha. Though Team Eight's members were hesitant about it, they ended up attacking Team Ten to get their second scroll. Of the teams participating, Team Ten seemed like the easiest team to go after because they knew what the team was capable of and knew that they were less likely to seriously hurt each other.

The other teams in the exam were much more experienced and after seeing Gaara of the Sand Team kill of three members of a team from Ame, they went after Team Ten and tried to get a scroll and then head to the tower as fast as possible. Hinata had managed to guide them to Team Ten's location and avoid her cousin Neji who had apparently been trying to track them. Her byakugan had a longer range and she was able to keep enough distance that Neji couldn't find them.

Team Ten wasn't that difficult to defeat as despite Shikamaru's shadow abilities, Shino's bugs proved to be superior and once Shikamaru was defeated, the other two soon followed. Attacking a fellow Konoha team certainly wasn't what he had originally wanted, but Shikamaru actually seemed relived at losing to him and his team. There were no hard feelings when they parted ways and apologies were made.

Sitting in one of the rooms, Shino communicated with his insects that he had around the inside and outside of the tower. He wanted to see who they would be up against in the next exam and try and find more information about what his insects had already reported to him. Apparently an S-ranked criminal originally from Konoha had infiltrated the exams for reasons unknown. Likely someone had more information but his insects had not been able to overhear anything further.

It was very troubling to know this and he hoped no one from his village had been injured by this person. He knew of the sannin but not much information was available to him concerning Orochimaru.

'I should look into it later or ask Tou-san about it.' he thought and conversed more with his insects to form a better information gathering strategy.

x-x

'Nine times.' thought an astounded Tokage as he looked at the injured boy tied to the nearly destroyed boulder.

It had been nine times that an attack that should have killed the boy had somehow been stopped from finishing him off. Nine times that the boy had somehow escaped death. Whatever the boy was using seemed to be getting more affective each time he was attacked. In the last attack, the tongue was completely deflected, almost as if it bounced off, and caused no further injury to the boy or damage to the boulder behind him.

Looking at the still coughing boy, he remembered the determination in the glowing blue eyes right before each attack when the boy looked up to face his possible death head on. The boy was determined to stay alive and survive. It had been a long time since he had seen that kind of determination and tenacity. If the unknown method of survival wasn't strange enough, he would swear that the boy was smiling broadly behind the mask he wore.

'Has he no fear of death?' questioned Tokage as he refrained from tapping the bottom of his cane down on the stump a tenth time.

He knew all about the snakes and what qualities they had. The summoners seemed to share these qualities as well, as did some of the summoners of other species of large animal that he knew about. A person didn't just choose a summons and make that summons work for them. It was more of a partnership and both parties had to want to be summoner and summons. If one did not like the other, then the summons could just destroy their contract and sever all ties or the summoner may stop summoning them. The contract was usually made as a result of both parties having similar qualities and personalities or beliefs.

With this logic, the boy in front him didn't seem to embody any of what he had come to know about the snakes. He wasn't concerned with surviving or that his life was more important than anything else. He didn't immediately run away when a situation became unfavorable. The boy didn't demand to be released, threaten them, or plead for his life. And above all else, he wondered why the boy didn't try and flee already. The bindings holding him were practically useless now and despite injury, he expected the boy to try and remove the suppressing seals on his body or attempt to run.

The boy did none of this.

It produced a sinking feeling in his stomach. Had the boy been telling the truth? That unbelievable story about being swallowed by a snake and then escaping from the snake den, only to go directly towards their hidden village? It seemed ridiculous at the time and it still did.

'Why go through a whole ordeal like that? Unless...he's telling the truth.' were Tokage's thoughts as he tried to answer the questions he had. 'Could such an unlikely story be true...and what the hell is with that glowing necklace?' he wondered as he looked closely at the boy with both eyes and examined the strange necklace he was wearing.

'He looks like he'll pass out soon and won't withstand the next attack.' he noted and then sighed as he disliked the entire situation. Thinking carefully about the situation, he decided to believe the boy and that he that he should try and test the boy's story.

Naruto was near unconsciousness from his injuries, the pain, and just exhaustion from using so much Haki. He tried to feel for the next attack but he found nothing. Looking up he noted that the eyes of the chameleons' were starring at him again. Their looks were very different from the ones that the villagers gave him. Was it pity or just sadness he saw in their eyes?

The old lizard came up to him and actually cut his bonds which freed his body. He was unable to stand and fell to the surface of the stump, then promptly passed out.

x-x

While the boy rested in his living quarters, Tokage went about creating a summoning scroll. This was not to make a contract with anyone but to summon an animal of some type. The scroll incorporated sealing that would take the place of the handseals normally required for the transportation jutsu that was used to summon. With a sample of blood from someone, the scroll could be used to summon an animal from whatever contract the person had signed. Should that person not have a contract, then nothing would be summon when chakra was added to the scroll.

Tokage was using this as a test to see if the boy was telling the truth. He found it odd that just a couple of hours ago he was all set to kill a boy, whose name he still didn't know, that was a threat to his village and now he was going to great lengths to prove that boy's innocence in the matter. The scroll was not difficult to make for a seal expert but did take time for him as he was not that adept with fuinjutsu.

A part of him felt incredibly guilty that he hadn't tried this from the beginning but he was the elder of the village and had to look out for everyone that lived there. He was faced with a difficult decision and made the choice which seemed right at the time and that put the village in at the least amount of risk.

However, now it was likely that all his experience had not helped him at all and the boy lying on the bed with bandages over his chest was actually telling the truth. Not only had his decision nearly killed the boy but he had not even tried to completely hear the boy out or use everything at his disposal to find the truth.

It seemed rather stupid now that he looked back. Decades ago the chameleons and snakes had warred over territory. It had been a bloody conflict with many losses and the snakes being the natural predators of the chameleon had a natural advantage over them. They also weren't nearly as large as their foes. Chameleons were rather small compared to some of the other creatures in the western lands and not many of their kind ever became nearly as large as the boss summons and other large summons of several known species that had contracts.

They'd survived but the scars and memories of the conflicts remained in his mind as well as others in the village. It was hard to forget and when he was told that the boy smelled of snakes, he overreacted to the situation and didn't think things through.

Finishing the scroll, he smeared the boy's blood on it and then prepared to force chakra into the scroll.

The amount of chakra he poured into the scroll would determine what sized animal would be summoned through any contract that the boy possessed. If his initial fears were correct, he might end up summoning a small snake that he would likely kill a moment later to keep it from returning to the snake den.

Preparing himself, he added chakra to the scroll and waited a brief moment...but nothing happened. No smoke, no summoning animal, and no suspicions proved correct. He had been wrong about the boy from the start and nearly killed him because of it.

He sighed, 'Damn it!' he thought with regret and frustration at his own actions.

x-x

Late morning of the third day of the second exam

x-x

Naruto groaned as he had tried to move to a more comfortable position on the bed and was rewarded with dull pain. Opening his eyes slightly, he tried to figure out where he was. The room was not recognizable and contained filled with built in shelving that contained numerous books and scrolls. He could hears the sounds of a forest outside and his memories started to return to him.

'I was being slowly executed.' he remembered but that didn't explain how he managed to get in this room or why he was still alive.

Looking to his chest, he saw the numerous bandages wrapped around his torso. He was also no longer tied up but he could feel his chakra still being suppressed and thought a suppression tag must have been stuck to his back or shoulders.

'Have I been healed?' he wondered. It seemed incredibly strange that one minute he was being executed and the next he was healing in a room.

His head turned to the doorway as he heard someone coming. He could hear the distinct shuffling of feet and tapping of a walking stick. The door opened moments later.

Tokage walked into the room and stopped when he his eye caught the boy sitting up in bed and fully alert. The eye widened as he thought, 'With his wounds I thought he'd be out for days.'

"Awake already?" stated Tokage rhetorically.

"Where are my swords?" Naruto questioned while Tokage moved to the desk in the room and shuffled through some papers.

"They're perfectly fine. Though I don't know if I would call them swords given their length. You'll get them back soon." said Tokage as he found what he was looking for and pulled out a large map.

He rolled up the map and headed back to the door. On his way out he said, "Seeing as your able to sit up, you might as well come with me and get something to eat."

Pulling off the covers, Naruto moved to the side of the bed and put his feet over the edge. Easing himself to the cool floor, he stood up and tried to balance himself. It was painful but not terrible and he was hungry.

Walking out of the room, he followed a distance behind the man-sized chameleon. He hadn't really paid much attention to it but Tokage walked upright like a person despite being a chameleon that would normally walk on all four legs.

Down the hallway they went and then into a kitchen. It was rather primitive but something smelled good that was cooking on a nearby fire. The kitchen had a water basin, counter top, and a fire place that seemed to be made from oddly shaped clay bricks. Naruto walked to the nearby table and sat in one of the two chairs while he watched Tokage fetch two bowls.

The whole situation struck him as rather odd. He was now being treated like a house guest and fed a homemade meal. Technically he could have attacked the old lizard and taken him hostage in order to get away but nothing told him that the chameleon had any bad intentions. He also just didn't feel like fighting anyone.

He therefore waited patiently as the chameleon dished up two steaming bowls of what must have been soup.

Tokage walked the steaming bowls of soup and set one down in front of Naruto. It was piping hot and he couldn't even see what it was so he waited for it to cool, as did Naruto. The boy had not been the least bit hostile or demanded anything, which was rather strange but it was better than he had expected after trying to kill him the previous day. The boy's necklace was also not glowing and hadn't been since the execution was called off.

A silence elapsed between the two as they sat and waited to eat. Both would glance at each other in order to try to figure out what the other might be thinking and then look back at the soup.

The silence was finally broken by Naruto, "My names Uzumaki Naruto but I go by Ryuuma."

Tokage chuckled slightly at the nickname the boy had chosen and then responded with his own name, "My name is Tokage. I am the elder of the village and the chameleons that live in it."

Once this was said, the a silence filled the air once again until Tokage spoke while picking up his spoon. "Once lunch is over we need to talk about you, this village, and your options." he said with finality and put the spoon in the soup.

Naruto looked down at his soup and for the first time noted that once enough steam had cleared...things started coming to the surface. They were chunks of insects. The sight made him go slightly green. He was hungry, but was he that hungry?

"Its not poisoned if that's what your thinking." stated Tokage after eating a spoonful of the soup.

Looking at Tokage and then back at the soup, Naruto thought, 'That's not the problem. In fact I would prefer some of Ba-chan's poisoned chicken noodle soup over this any day.'

His stomach decided to make itself known and he inhaled as he realized that there was no other choice. Letting out the sigh he had been holding, he picked up the spoon in one hand, then closed his eyes and dug in.

x-x

Lunch ended with little conversation between the two. Tokage led Naruto into the meeting room he had been in before he was taken to be executed. The room looked much larger now that no one else was in it and now had a small table with several maps and scrolls on it.

Tokage sat down on a pillow at one end and Naruto sat on the wood floor at the opposite end of the small square table.

He looked at the map and realized that it was very old and seemed to be of the elemental countries. He had memorized a map like that years ago but have never really needed it. Maps never worked for him as they always seemed to be written wrong, not to scale, or omitted everything that he felt was important and included everything he didn't need. In short, all maps were flawed and he never bothered to carry one with him or had even looked at map in years.

"As you can see, this is a map of the elemental countries. You said you were from Konoha, did you not?" asked Tokage and Naruto nodded though he couldn't figure out where Konoha was on the map.

"Do you have any idea where you currently are?" Tokage asked as he prodded for information. If the boy knew where he was and where the sanctuary was located, things would get difficult.

Looking at the map, Naruto took in all of the features present, rivers, streams, and everything he could. Confident he found his location, he pointed to where he thought he currently was.

Tokage just starred at him and then said with slightly disbelief, "That's Lightning Country."

"Oh, oops." said Naruto and he blushed slightly under his mask. He then pointed to the second location he thought he was. "I must be here then." he said as even if his first thought was wrong, his second choice should definitely be right.

"That's Tea Country." responded Tokage with a little more disbelief. 'Is he pulling my tail?' wondered Tokage as he intensely looked at the boy to determine if he was being serious or not.

"Oh, well...then I must be here right." he said a little more embarrassed and while pointing to another area on the map.

"That's Lightning Country again!" said Tokage in a louder and more frustrated voice as his eyes started twitching.

Naruto's face took on a confused look as more intensely at the map. 'Stupid maps.' he thought and rotated it ninety degrees to see if that made any difference in where he thought he was.

"Are you sure I'm not currently in Lightning Country?" questioned Naruto as he starred back at Tokage.

'Dear Kami, I never thought I'd ever meet someone so clueless about maps and directions. Whoever taught this boy must have been a saint when it came to patience.' thought Tokage before he responded to the question, "I'm absolutely positive that you are not in Lightning Country. Your not even anywhere near that country."

'It looks like I don't have to worry about him ever finding his way back or telling anyone else where we are.' Tokage realized.

"Its fine, I didn't expect you to know where you were. Your currently well outside what most maps that you've likely seen would show. Let's move on to something else." said Tokage as he put the map away and focused on the boy in front of him.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to do with you. Your quite a ways from Konoha and given your directional and map reading skills, you would likely not be able to make it back within your lifetime." said Tokage and he took a short break to shake his head slightly and get over how incredulous but true that statement was before he continued, "We could help you get over halfway back to Konoha or, if you were willing to help us out, completely back there. I don't exactly expect..." started Tokage as he was cut off by Naruto, "I'll do it. How soon can I get back?"

Tokage blinked and then tilted his head slightly to the side. "Hmm, you must be very loyal to your village if you are willing to do anything to get back without even questioning me about what it is." said Tokage out loud as he was curious what would cause the boy to be so dedicated.

"No, actually I hate the village." said Naruto and Tokage blinked in confusion.

"You hate your village?" he questioned as this conversation was getting stranger.

"Yeah pretty much. So how soon can I get back?" he asked.

Tokage's mouth was slightly open as he tried to figure out the enigma in front of him. "If you hate it, why would you want to go back?" questioned Tokage in confusion.

Naruto's thoughts went to Shakky and then to the other people that were in Fire Country that he needed to get back to. Then to the mission he was on in the Forest of Death and Kabuto who he was supposed to be looking into. He knew something was going on and didn't want to just leave things how they were. "I have my reasons. So what is it that I have to do and when can I get back?"

Tokage raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the response but decided to just go with it. "As for when you can get back, perhaps a week or more..." but he was cut off by Naruto again. "What would I have to do to get back in less than two days?"

Tokage stared at him but was actually thinking about the question Naruto had just asked. He only needed one task performed but there was a way it could be done in even less time. It would be much more dangerous especially given the boy's condition.

"Are you sure you want to put yourself through that after...your near-death experience?" asked Tokage. He had not pried into how the boy had managed to survive the ordeal as he didn't want to bring up the fact that he had been responsible for trying to kill him. If everything worked out, they would likely never encounter each other again.

"I'll be fine, just tell me what I have to do." said Naruto in complete seriousness.

"Well it certainly won't be easy but I suppose if everything went right then you could be back in less than two days but we would have to act now." said Tokage as he reached for a nearby scroll and then an ink brush. It would take some time to work out the fuinjutsu that was needed but what the boy asked was still doable and he did feel he owed Naruto after accusing him of conspiring against the village.

"I just need to make a summoning scroll so one of us can summon you back..." but he stopped when Naruto slid the scroll over to his side of the table and then took the brush out of his hands. He was about to object but stopped when Naruto started making the exact seal he wanted and in a fraction of the time.

"Your quite good at that." he noted out loud and Naruto responded, "I had a good sensei."

Naruto finished the fuinjutsu a moment later and Tokage looked at it. He was rather impressed that a boy so young was so gifted in such an obscure art that most never even thought about or bothered to try and learn.

Putting down the scroll, he began from the beginning. "Over eighty years ago, one of our chameleons encountered a human exploring the forest beyond our village. The human was a young male samurai by the name of Kubisaki Kouza. He was exploring the unknown western lands on his own.

It was rather foolish but he was strong, clever, and skilled with a blade. The chameleon he befriended is called Shiromari. They became friends and though we had no interest in having a summoner, Shiromari and Kouza made a summoning contract between them and Shiromari became a personal summons of Kouza.

Years passed and the two explored much of the western lands while having many different adventures. Shiromari would often retell all of them to the chameleons in the village. Kouza eventually became the ruler of his country, which no longer exists. Interestingly enough, though chameleons don't get nearly as large as some of the other summons like the snakes and the toads, Shiromari was one of the few of our kind that grew larger than average. He became the boss of the chameleons and when he wasn't summoned by Kouza he oversaw the village and its inhabitants.

War eventually came upon Kouza's country by several outside sources. Possibly it was one of the ninja wars but the rest of our clan was not involved so we didn't hear much about it. They both fought together but Kouza and his forces were eventually pushed back to near his castle. In the last battle, Kouza asked Shiromari to protect his castle and all of the belongings. He apparently had journals of his adventures, items they had collected, their summoning scroll, and other things in the castle that they both wanted to protect.

Unfortunately, Kouza was killed in the battle and his country was absorbed by several others. However, Shiromari didn't stop protecting the castle. He followed Kouza's last wish and for the last fifty years since the man died, has protected that castle from all intruders. Even the invading army were killed by Shiromari when they tried to loot the castle.

We thought Shiromari would come back but he never did. Of course we tried to convince him to come back but we were never able to. He refused to come back to the village and refused to allow us to summon him back. The distance between our village and the castle was quite large but we periodically sent someone to go and check on Shiromari to see if he would come back but that failed as well. About fifteen years ago, one of our chameleon's just disappeared one the journey to check on the castle. We were never sure what exactly happened that particular chimera chameleon but assumed he was killed. After that, we installed an easier method of going there.

With all the time that has passed, Shiromari has devolved quite a bit. He is no longer thinking clearly beyond Kouza's final instructions and doesn't talk or even really recognize us anymore. This can actually happen to us if we are all alone for such a long time, we go back on our basic instincts and our personality and higher intelligence gets pushed aside.

He's been protecting that castle for so long that he's practically become a part of the castle itself. Its a technique used to better hide ourselves but he's used it so much that he basically is always merged with the castle. Its difficult to tell if there is a castle anymore or if it is just Shiromari posing as the castle.

You come into this because of the scroll that is hidden inside. The summoning scroll that Shiromari and Kouza created is the key to getting him back. If it was destroyed then Shiromari would return to the village. We tried to get at the summoning scroll but Shiromari is one of us and knows all of our tricks, techniques, and tactics so he stops them all and prevents us from doing anything.

Few humans go near castle at all anymore as its considered haunted and they purposefully avoid it. I don't even know how many have probably tried to take something from it or use the castle and ended up being devoured by him.

So that brings me to your task. We will get you back to Konoha if you help us by getting Shiromari back to the village." finished Tokage with his long explanation.

Naruto thought about what he had been told and was already coming up with a very basic plan but there were still a few things he needed to know, "How exactly will I get there, you said it was quite far?"

"Yes it is in the former Neck Country which no longer exists as it has been divided amongst several other countries but it used to be near Rain Country, Wind Country, and Earth Country. I think part of it is now Rock Country and the rest was divided up but that is not very important. We have a much faster method of getting you there but the way back won't be easy." said Tokage.

"How do I get back?" questioned Naruto.

"You will have to come back with Shiromari, though I don't know how happy he will be about everything. The entire task is dangerous. Are you sure you don't want to wait until you had more time to heal?"

"No I'll be fine just tell me where I need to go."

x-x

"Its a well." Naruto stated as he starred at the well in front of him. His chakra was now unsealed and he had all of his equipment as well as his swords with him.

"Actually its really a transportation device or portal. It will take you right near the castle." argued Tokage as he tried to elaborate on its importance and function.

"Its a well." Naruto stated again.

"Its not just a well!" corrected Tokage.

"Fine. So what do I do?" questioned Naruto as he continued to stare at the well with a curious expression as if expecting it to do something.

"All you have to do is jump in. The well will do the rest. Then you need to get to the castle, find the scroll, and make sure you tag along with Shiromari back to the forest so you can make it back to Konoha in the time frame you wanted. Otherwise you will have to make your own way back to your village from the castle. If you still don't believe me, just look at the reflection in the surface of the water." said Tokage.

Peering over the stone that surrounded the well, Naruto looked at the water level which was just below the top of the well. Instead of reflecting the sky above him or even his face, it showed him a grassy area with some trees. It definitely wasn't what he was expecting and it seemed that the old lizard was telling him the truth. Shrugging slightly, he took a deep breath and jumped in.

x-x

A poof of smoke erupted out of nowhere and Naruto dropped about ten feet and landed on the ground in a crouching position. He grimaced slightly as his chest still hurt but quickly checked the area. Sensing his surroundings, he found a large chakra source in one direction. It was far larger than any person and was huge in size as it appeared to him like a blob of chakra.

'That must be the castle.' he thought and could just make out the top of a dark structure above the top of the trees. He wasted no time in heading towards the distant structure and ignored ominous feel of the forest and dark storm clouds overhead.

x-x

To be honest, Tokage had no idea what chance Naruto really had of succeeding. He knew the boy would likely survive whatever Shiromari threw at him but whether he could complete the task, he really couldn't say. Despite this, he would keep his word and sent for three runners to take the summoning scroll Naruto had made into the mountains.

The journey needed to be completed as fast as possible and a good distance needed to be covered. He wanted just a single competent runner but that just wasn't possible as he had many chameleons out on patrol and not all of the chameleons in the village trained in stealth and combat nearly as well as some of the others. So he was stuck with whoever he could find that was the most qualified.

A knock came at the door to his meeting room and he allowed the ones he had sent for to enter. It was the same three that had initially found Naruto. While he really only wanted one chameleon to send with the scroll, he had learned from past mistakes that he couldn't separate the three easily without causing chaos. He needed Hideki to be with the other two them for supervision whenever possible. Tsuno got into trouble at the drop of a hat if not watched and Hiryuu was easily swayed into going along with the mischief.

This meant that the person he should send was definitely Hiryuu but he absolutely knew that if he gave out the mission to Hiryuu, then Tsuno would sneak off to join in the mission so as to not be left out. It was a terribly frustrating situation which was why he didn't like those three. He had made mistakes in the past with them and he was determined to learn from those mistakes. Therefore, the best course of action was just to send all three.

Tokage began talking as soon as the three had come into the office. "Quite frankly, I dread the thought of just sending one of you alone while leaving the others here. So many thing would go wrong." he added while shaking his head.

"Don't you mean 'would likely go wrong'?" asked Tsuno and Tokage's eyes narrowed on the horned chameleon.

"No, I meant what I said. You three have a penchant for causing trouble which is somewhat lessened when you are all together and Hideki is watching. Unfortunately, stealth is a priority on this mission as well as not getting caught and you three are the best in the village right now at both of those. You will be taking this summoning scroll to a certain location and then waiting there for the Stump Drum. Should it sound only once, then you three are to return. Should it sound twice, then you are to use the scroll and summon the boy." finished Tokage as he handed the scroll to Hideki and disregarded Tsuno's leg that was stretched out to accept the scroll.

"So where are we gonna take it?" asked Hiryuu as he wondered why the secrecy.

"You will taking this scroll to Mount Myoboku, specifically to the well there that is connected to Konoha." said Tokage and two of the three he was talking to nodded while the other just smiled.

x-x

Standing in front of the large castle, Naruto inspected it before entering. It was very traditional with a high stone and mortar foundation that the castle rested upon. It had numerous floors and he thought it might be difficult to find a single scroll in the large castle. He wasn't detecting chakra from inside the castle as it just seemed to be radiating off of the entire castle itself. It was almost like the castle was alive and he was merely looking at a creature that was henged into a castle, just as Tokage had said.

Walking up the steps to the large double door entrance, he was alert for any attack or indication that he was in danger. The most that he felt was that he was being watched. It was the exact feeling he had when going through the forest. He thought about using stealth and a technique or two to try and get inside but if the chameleons, who could go invisible and completely suppress their chakra as well as he could, were not able to get far inside then what chance did he have of sneaking in.

A direct approach was the best thing that he could come up with and he would pretend to just be a passerby and not try to take anything or provoke Shiromari in anyway. Hopefully this would buy him enough time to figure out where the scroll might be. He had no idea how quickly the chameleon would attack him after he entered. Would it be immediate or would the chameleon wait for a good moment or see what he was there fore? If the chameleon was acting on its most basic instincts then there was no telling what might happen.

Coming to the doors he reached forward to push them open but they opened on their own. Walking into the castle, he took in the large space he entered into and once he was beyond the entryway, the doors slammed shut of their own accord.

"Ooooh, automatic doors...fancy." Naruto said out loud and looked around to determine which way he should go.

There was a large wide staircase in front of him that lead to higher floors and then a few doors to one side and a hallway to the other with many doors down its length. 'Which way to go?' he wondered.

Please Review

AN: Yes I chose the chameleons for Naruto to encounter but you may be wondering about how Pein is able to summon one? Well my explanation is that, like the six paths of pein, the summons used are dead. They have been altered and have chakra rods in them just like the sixth paths. This allows Pein to summon them with the animal path like the other six paths. So the chameleon that was mentioned was killed and turned into one of the many summons that Pein has at his disposal, all of which are dead and from previous battles that nagato has been in. There are only a limited number of these 'reused' summoning animals and Pein can't summon anything else in that manner besides them and the giant statue. This summons also fits with Naruto's second name of Ryuuma which can mean 'dragon horse'. A chameleon perfectly fits with that and it kinda made sense to have them as Naruto's summons.

About the well: in case you may be wondering, the toads do have a well like this and it is connected to Konoha.