Naruto: Summoning System

After the guards made sure that Blake was properly cuffed up and giving him a new shirt, they guided him away from the prison. In light of what they just saw, the guards kept a delicate distance away from Blake, as if afraid of him. However, Blake saw them at guard, almost to the point of reaching for their weapons.

One of the shinobi run forward, perhaps to inform of what happened to whoever Blake was going to meet. Considering their attires, which consisted of fully dark coats, Blake could guess who were people in power. He didn't know how to feel about that, but it was not the worst situation.

His eyes flashed. At the very least, he had some sort of way to protect himself. Besides, he felt stronger, much stronger. Blake took a deep breath, trying to calm his beating hard. Nightmare. He felt it. If he wanted, he could unleash the beast at a moment's notice. He could sense the summon hiding within him, somewhere, desiring to protect its master.

"Runny day, right?"

Blake tried to strike up a conversation with the man on the left, yet he barely glanced his way. They kept walking, in complete silence. It was, in fact, pretty awkward, but Blake seemed to only be the one to feel that.

They passed through long corridors, crossing multiple corners. There was no furniture, no windows, nothing, except the candles on the walls. Blake tried to remember the labyrinth to his best abilities, but it was all the same and at some point Blake felt lost.

"Don't try anything funny."

Blake narrowed his eyes at the man.

"I am saying that for your own good."

Blake nodded, finally seeing a change in the surroundings. There was a staircase leading upwards. Blake prepared himself. Fear is death. He climbed the stairs and after a few minutes, he was standing in front of three figures. Behind them, there was a balcony overlooking the expanse of the Rain Village, with, of course, rain pouring from heaven.

Konan.

Yahiko.

And… Nagato.

They were standing in the form of a triangle, with Yahiko being in the middle. Blake gulped, glancing at Nagato, who was standing a bit further away, yet, Blake still saw his eyes. Rinnegan, in the flesh. However, Blake sensed no hostility within the man's gaze…yet.

"We don't have much time." Yahiko took one more step forward, staring at Blake. "I am going to ask you some questions and you will answer them without lying. If I even sense that something doesn't make sense, you are not leaving this place in one piece, understand?''

Blake sighed and nodded. A threat just as soon as they met, not a good beginning.

Yahiko twisted his head, nodding at Nagato and Konan.

"First of all, who are you? Which Village are you from?"

"My name's Blake and I am…not from any of the great villages. I am from a place far away, which none of you had probably seen."

Yahiko narrowed his eyes. "You are not from the great villages? Are you a shinobi then?"

"I am not." Blake answered promptly. "I was travelling and simply got caught in some trouble when I discovered the bodies." As he said the last part, the memory of that horror flashed in his mind, but he kept his cool.

This time, it was Konan who joined the interrogation. "So, you are saying that you are not shinobi, yet you have managed to kill an extremely skilled one. Besides, who in their right mind would travel here during these time. That make zero sense. He is obviously lying."

"Konan." Yahiko narrowed his eyes and Konan shut up. Then Yahiko's eyes moved back to Blake. Blake was not sweating, calm as he could be, for he had no reason to be nervous. What he was saying was not the whole truth, but truth nonetheless.

"What my comrade is saying is true. That shinobi of Hidden Stone has killed over 5 of our members, along with many other shinobi. He was especially skilled and we have been having trouble detecting the man. How does it makes sense that someone like you would kill him?"

Blake considered for a second. Yahiko's confusion was not without merit, but Blake had no idea how he had survived that either. Luck? Intelligence? Logistics? However, a different answer formed in Blake's mind.

"I am not a shinobi, that's true, but I have never said that I am defenceless. I am a summoner."

"A summoner?" Nagato spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. Blake's heart began beating a bit more wildly upon making eye contact with the man. Calm down. Nagato was not the man that would ravage villages yet. It was fine. "Summoning techniques require extensive control over chakra, as well as its abundance."

Yahiko scowled, clearly annoyed. "Listen, stop spouting lies and answer truthfully, or you might as well rot in that prison forever."

Another threat. Blake bit his lip. "All of what I said is true, and I can prove it to you easily. I have chakra, but I have never been taught to control it. Despite that, I am a summoner. That is also the way that I have freed myself of imprisonment."

"We heard about that." Yahiko narrowed his eyes. "But what about the injuries on your back? You must know healing jutsu, or was it the work of your summon as well?" Yahiko said the last part with clear sarcasm in his voice.

Blake gritted his teeth. Now he was getting annoyed.

He looked around. Over 10 Akatsuki members, excluding the trio in front of him. All the path of escapes were blocked. Trapped. Yet, Blake felt little fear. He needed to be more assertive, more dominant of this conversation, or else this would not end well.

Taking a deep breath, Blake stared at them.

"Listen, Akatsuki boss or whoever you are, I was just passing through the woods, trying to stay away from the trouble and then I stumbled on that crazy guy who was more than determined to kill me. I fought him and I won, removing one of the many issues you probably have. Yet, instead of saying thanks, you imprison me and interrogate me like I am some sort of criminal? How I did I heal? How did I win? It doesn't matter. I gave you a favour."

Yahiko frowned, not expecting such a sudden retaliation. Blake was surprised by himself as well, but this is what needed to be done. He had to bite back, had to show that he wasn't going to be thrown around.

Blake felt a kick land on his back, forcing to him to fall to his knees.

"Don't you dare talk to Yahiko like that!"

The man with strange blue line on his face shouted, clearly taking the insult more than Yahiko himself.

Blake glared back as he stood up, but stopped once Yahiko began talking.

"What you are is true." Yahiko nodded. "You have given us a favour and now we can finally bury the dead that were missing. However, you have to understand our situation as well. A man of unknown origin appeared out of nowhere and infiltrated a secure location. That man killed a powerful shinobi, then he healed his own injuries and now he claims to have barely any knowledge about how to control chakra? I thank you for what you did, but it is extremely suspicious."

Blake sighed. What Yahiko said made sense.

"Okay, so what do you want from me?"

"I need proof. Proof that you are not a shinobi, and therefore, not just some spy. Show us your summon."

Blake narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"

Yahiko nodded. Konan and Nagato were clearly ready for a fight if one broke out, as well as all the shinobi behind him. Blake cursed. If they attacked Nightmare at the same time, the minotaur would not survive. Perhaps it would give Blake an opportunity to escape if the situation went shit.

Blake sighed. He had to do it.

"Nightmare, come out."

A ball of darkness jumped out of from within Blake's stomach, landing to the ground. Immediately, a tall figure materialized in the spot. The shinobi stared in horror at the sight of the huge, bulky monster. Their eyes went to its horns and to its red eyes, as the image of a devil formed in their minds. Nightmare was holding its axe, ready to behead anyone at an order's notice.

"Don't attack anyone, Nightmare." Blake commanded. The minotaur turned to him and nodded. Blake saw the shinobi were tense, some of them were already holding their weapons. Yahiko was wide eyed, whilst Nagato and Konan were both frowning. "Unless they attack you or me."

This time, the minotaur nodded with much eagerness.

Hearing this, the shinobi were clearly uncomfortable.

Coming out of the stupor, Yahiko mumbled. "Nagato?"

"I have never seen anything like this. This is a strange summoning technique, which requires no control over your chakra, for the summoned creature seemed to be hiding within Blake in some sort of way. I…don't know how it works." Nagato stated, making Yahiko frown. If Nagato didn't know, then it was a strange technique for sure. "However, this proved that Blake was saying the truth…this summoning requires no control over chakra, but some sort of other condition, and the creature is clearly under Blake's control."

Yahiko nodded, but it was Konan who interjected into the conversation. She was staring at the tall bull with apprehension. "What is this creature?

"It is Nightmare. It is a minotaur." Blake thought for second, almost releasing a smile. "Protector of the cows." Minotaur turned around to stare at Blake, clearly dissatisfied with his introduction, but Blake blinked at him.

"Okay." Yahiko ruffled his hair a bit, clearly not expecting such a development. "You have proven to us that you are not a shinobi…and I have no reason to restrain you any longer."

Yahiko nodded at the guy who kicked him in the back, who, with some hesitation, removed the rope from Blake's wrist. Finally free, Blake stretched his wrists, looking around. That was it? Could he go now? Where would he even go?

Blake felt at his grumbling belly, the depressing rain outside. He had no money, no clothes, nothing. More than that, he was weak, despite having Nightmare. He had to earn money somehow, try to learn chakra control to grow stronger, but where? Blake looked around again at the Akatsuki that were all still staring at Nightmare. Blake made eye contact with Yahiko. Here.

"I wasn't fully truthful with you." Blake said, drawing everyone's attention. Yahiko raised his eyebrow. "I come from the Ancient Family Reinold, known for its summoning prowess. We have been in hiding for centuries, afraid of the shinobi world. Yet, during those centuries, our family grew smaller and smaller, until only I was left. I…used my family's relic to teleport myself into the main continent, that's how I passed through whatever wards you have put."

The room fell into silence. Blake was calm, for calmness was required when spouting completely bullshit. However, the story sounded convincing, for he had a strange name, had a strange power, had somehow passed undetected and was pretty weird looking.

Blake glanced at the window, seeing his own reflection. He had a white complexion, blue eyes with a bit yellow in the middle, and blonde hair that fell onto his forehead. Glancing away from the window, Blake assessed the changed atmosphere in the room.

"I have never heard of such a family, but you do have a peculiar power." Konan added, thoughtful.

"Teleportation? It must have been an extremely powerful relic." Yahiko nodded. "Assuming that your family was hiding on another continent, or even an island, it would no surprise we don't know about your family."

Blake forced a smile. They were believing in his bullshit. Probably because, considering all the strange aspects about Blake, this story actually made some sense. Blake took a deep breath. Now, this was a delicate moment.

"I understand that none of you can fully trust me yet, but my situation is pretty dire. I have no money, no food and nowhere to go. Neither am I good at fighting or ninjutsu. Even though this might sound selfish, I want to ask whether I could join you for a bit?"

This caused a murmur through the room.

"I know that I am not from this village and I have no ties with it, but I could be an asset nevertheless. My summon is powerful in its own way. If you can provide me with food and train me, I could grow stronger and help you in your cause…"

Yahiko glanced at Nagato and Konan. All of the shinobi were staring at the trio. Some of them had frowns on their faces, some were shrugging, a few were even urging to accept, saying that having this monster would scare the enemies away.

Yahiko, Nagato and Konan whispered to each other, whilst Blake awaited.

"We are a busy organisation and our funds aren't endless, Blake. We don't know whether we would have time to teach you, and, even if you have this summon, your inability to protect your own skin might be more of a liability."

"It doesn't matter. My summon can move independently from me, and as soon as I learn the basics of chakra, I will be joining you on the missions. You won't have protect me. I only need food, some place to sleep and training."

Yahiko considered again. "Your summon can move independently?"

Blake nodded.

Yahiko turned around to talk things over with Nagato and Konan. After nodding at each other, Yahiko remeoved the frown from his face for the first time. "We can see that you are desperate, Blake, right? You remind us a bit of our own situation when we were children. Even though you are not from the Rain Village, we will help you, and, in return, you will help us."

Blake smiled, genuinely.

"However, before that…" Yahiko looked over his companions, smiling. Nagato was not, still staring at Blake. Konan had a half smile, as she looked at Yahiko. "…we shall asses the prowess of your summon, shall we not? Is there a volunteer, who would like to battle this monster?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Nightmare huffed smoke out of its nostrils. A creepy smile forming on its face.

Blake felt the only emotion coming from his summon.

Eagerness.

Blake smiled too. He was excited himself to see Nightmare in action.

Everyone took a step away from him.

And, then, to everyone's surprise, Nagato took a step forward.

"I volunteer."