Chapter 87 Ready

Naruto brought with him eleven sealed scrolls taken from deep within the Uchiha family's treasury, each one more ornate than the ones seen before.

When Naruto put down the last scroll, Kurama appeared again, emerging from Naruto's body in the form of a chakra vortex. This time it was even larger, about the size of Kuromaru.

Kurama curled up into a crescent shape around Naruto, resting his giant fox head on Naruto's thighs.

Inuzuka Kiba exclaimed in amazement:

"This is so cool! I still need some time to get used to it. After all, there's a god-level monster living inside you, and it's always bickering with you."

Sasuke pondered:

"Like a cranky, overprotective parent."

"Who are you calling the grumpy parent, brat!" Kurama roared, his size suddenly swelled in an instant, but after Naruto stroked its back gently like soothing a small animal, Kurama's anger obviously subsided.

Frankly, it was unbelievable. The Kyuubi, one of the most dangerous and violent beings in the world, was being subservient to a 12-year-old Konoha Genin, a boy with a bright smile and sincere eyes.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Naruto pointed at Sasuke, seeing through the smile he was trying hard to hide.

"Maybe," Sasuke admitted.

"They're all so beautiful. They look very different from Kakashi-sensei's sealing scrolls," Sakura said, looking at the array of colorful scrolls in front of her.

Each scroll is adorned with a different color and pattern, some are embellished in jewel tones and bordered in gold or silver, while others are more muted, elegantly adorned in black or grey.

One scroll in particular caught Shikamaru's attention, it was decorated with dark leaf patterns, like a forest at night, inlaid with metallic grey and outlined with gold and silver filigree around the edges.

"They don't have seams," Sasuke noted, reaching for the nearest scroll and flipping it back and forth. He was right, Shikamaru couldn't see any place to open the scroll.

"That's because they're locked," Kurama explained, extending his chakra claws and gently tracing the metal rings on either end of the scroll in Sasuke's hand. "These are the Sage Scrolls, locked with the Living Blood Seal."

"What do you mean?" Inuzuka Kiba asked in confusion.

Naruto scratched his head.

"Well... they will detect resonance, that's what it means. The scroll will analyze the composition of blood and chakra. If you are in harmony with the summoning beast connected to the scroll, the lock will open and you can perform your first contract summoning." Naruto spoke in a difficult manner, as if he was quoting something, as if he was reading a virtual book.

"That said, the scroll may open or remain closed depending on how well we fit together," Sasuke concluded.

"That's exactly right," Jiu Lama confirmed. "But be careful, signing a contract with a celestial summoned beast is not an easy thing. They can be picky and proud, and may not obey you immediately. Unlike ordinary summoned beasts, the celestial contract only guarantees that you can summon them, but not control them. If you want to command more powerful and higher-level summoned beasts, you need to win their respect first, which is not an easy thing to do."

Inuzuka Kiba grinned:

"The harder something is to get, the more precious it is, isn't it? To be honest, I can't wait."

"So how do we get started?" Sakura asked excitedly, pacing back and forth beside the bed, almost jumping up and down with excitement.

Shikamaru resisted the urge to reach out and hold her shoulders like he did with Ino.

"I'm so excited! I hope one of them picks me."

Jiu Lama smiled.

"That's not the problem, little girl. What you should worry about is how to make the decision."

"The question is do we need to go outside? Will the summoning destroy my apartment?" Naruto asked.

"No," Kurama assured. "The first contract summon is usually small in scale, and will gradually increase in size as you grow. But to be on the safe side, it's best to do them one by one."

"Naruto should go first." Shikamaru said. "These are his scrolls after all."

Naruto shrugged and reached for a scroll, but Kurama nuzzled his hand.

"No, brat, I have a better idea. Let the little Uchiha go first, he's not having a good day."

Sasuke glared at the Kyuubi, but scanned the scroll in front of him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Pick a few that interest you and we'll start from there," Kurama suggested, seeing that Sasuke didn't make an immediate decision.

Finally, Sasuke first chose a dark blue scroll decorated with feather-like patterns and inlaid with bright silver edges.

Then, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he picked up another scroll with an indigo and turquoise spiral pattern, outlined in black.

Shikamaru noticed the location of the blood seal now, a subtle thumb-shaped indentation on the upper part of the circular structure on the scroll. Sasuke put his thumb into his mouth and bit it, letting the blood gush out, then pressed his thumb into the groove of the second scroll.

After a while, the scroll emitted a slight chakra humming sound, as if it was thinking about something, and then emitted a series of crisp ringing sounds, like wind chimes. Other than that, there was no other movement.

Kurama curiously leaned over and sniffed the scroll.

"Hmm...it seems it is reluctant. Leave this to the little girl. I want to verify an idea."

Sasuke looked disappointed, but he handed the gleaming blue spiral scroll to Inuzuka Kiba, who in turn handed it to Sakura.

Sakura happily took the scroll.

“I was going to pick this one,” she exclaimed, turning the beautiful scroll back and forth to admire it from every angle. “It looks just like the ocean.”

Sasuke looked a little worried.

"You should have told me earlier if you wanted it. I only took it out of curiosity."

Sakura waved her hand, telling him not to take it to heart.

"The result is the same anyway, isn't it? Take a look at the other scroll!"

Sasuke shrugged and pressed his still bloodied thumb into the groove of his chosen scroll.

The scroll hummed again, but this time it took only half the time as last time to produce the crisp sound.

With a low roar, as if someone had plucked the longest string of a harp, the metal rings on the outer edge of the scroll popped open, and the scroll unfolded, revealing a mural-like pattern with various birds of prey painted on it.

There is a blank area in the center of the pattern, pure white.

"Wow." Naruto whispered in amazement. "Birds of prey, huh?" He mused as he looked at the colorful eagles, falcons and eagles on the mural. "It really suits you."

Shikamaru noticed that Sasuke's cheeks had a blush that he had never seen before.

"What should we do now?" Sasuke cleared his throat and asked Kurama.