Chapter 32: Senkiba Forest
Being reverse summoned was a weird feeling. It made me wonder if that was how apparition felt in Harry Potter, but when I realized there was no churning of my stomach or intestines, I discarded the idea. I didn't know for how long the feeling had lasted, but when it ended, I found myself in an unknown place with Guremaru.
It was a forest with huge trees covered in thorns. The entire place looked to be in a perpetual Autumn, with the leaves on the floor and on the trees being yellow, red and orange. Comparing the trees with those at the Forest of Death, I dared say they weren't smaller at all. While I was focusing on the beauty of the place, I heard something that left me shocked beyong anything I had seen before in this world.
"Ryota, Ryota! Come! Mom is waiting for us!"
Guremaru, who I had known for around 5 years already, had suddenly talked. I knew Kuromaru could speak, so that wasn't the surprising part. It was what it implied. Guremaru could be summoned and somehow reverse summoned me here. He wasn't born in the Inuzuka's Ninken pack. And now he could speak.
"Guremaru, are you perhaps from a lineage of... you know... Sage Dogs?"
"Dogs? I'm a wolf!"
Oh shit, how surprised could I be about that? At that point, totally unsuprised would be the right answer. Guremaru was a wolf and he came from a Sage lineage, meaning that this palce was probably something similar to Shikkotsu Forest, Ryuchi Cave or Mount Myoboku. This was an unexplored Sage Region and home of a Great Sage.
"You said your mom was waiting, right? Then we better hurry"
"That is what I was trying to tell you!"
Guremaru began running excitedly, guiding me through the forest. Sometimes he would avoid the ground, jumping from tree to tree using the giant thorns as footholds. I wondered why, but decided against it when I saw the ground open up and swallow the leaves.
'Probably some weird creature'
I think we ran for about half an hour, until we reached a clearing in what I believed to be the center of the forest. There, I could see many wolves running around. Some were pups, just like Guremaru, while others were of regular size. The ones who did pick my attention were the four giant wolves lying on what looked like a bed of leaves.
"Come on! That one is my mom"
The one Guremaru referred to as his mom was one of the giant wolves. She also had grey fur, just slightly whiter -which could've been because of aging- and was as big as Gamabunta, Manda or Katsuyu. Her irises were yellowish and her pupils sharp, much like mine or Guremaru's.
"Mom! I brought him here!"
"Calm down, Guremaru. Hello, to you, Ryota Inuzuka. I am grateful to you for taking care of my child"
Her voice sounded peaceful. It was calming and almost therapeutical hearing it. It was, after all, a mother's voice.
"No need to thank me, ma'am. Guremaru has been my friend for long and I hope he can still be so further down the line"
I could swear I saw a slight smirk take form in her canine mouth. With her eyes closed, she seemed to be focusing on something.
"You are a good human, Ryota. We brought you here because we like you"
I was extremely happy to learn that. Being known that I was liked by creatures belonging to a Sage Region was exactly the same or even better than being favored by a Kage. And thinking about it, now I had both.
"Thank you. Your words mean a lot to me"
It was at that moment that I heard a loud wheeze. It sounded guttural and at the same time it could be easily confused with a cough. When I looked in the direction it came from, I found an old looking wolf with wrinkled eyebrows and saggy skin on the sides of his head. I could instantly tell who he was in this place. The Sage.
"Hayaishikiba, would you bring our guest here? And please do come with them, Saishoasaitami and Shinyakanzei" [1] [2] [3]
Guremaru's mother, whos name seemed to be Hayaishikiba -I'll be proceding to referr to her a Hakiba, since her name is too long- signaled me to follow her towards the old looking wolf. It was a short-lived trip, since he was only a few meters away from were I stood.
"So this is the one... he certainly has the scent of one worthy. Take this with you, human pup. May it serve you well"
What he had given me was a scroll. One that I recognized clearly. It was the same kind of scroll that Jiraiya had presented Naruto when he first learned the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. It was a contract with a summoning race. I didn't think about it for even a second, when I had aleady opened the scroll and signed with blood, both in name and handprint. Mine was the first name to exist in the list, which made me fill proud and a bit pressured. I had to preserve the trust I had earned just from their first impression of me.
"I am the First Wolf Sage. I have decided to give you our trust. In turn, you only have to ensure Guremaru's safety. To aid you in such task, my children will be available for your call. Don't abuse our trust, and we will be allies for generations to come"
"It is an honor, Wolf Sage. And even if you didn't ask, I would've done my best to keep Guremaru safe. He is to me like a brother would be to you"
After that I spent a long time talking to every other wolf in the place, learning of their past and origin. Apparently the First Wolf Sage, Shirohada [4], had been around since the times of Hagoromo, but decided to not interact with any other beings. It wasn't until Guremaru was born that he thought of presenting themselves to the human realm. The reason being Guremaru's unsatiable curiosity of what lay behind the limits of the forest. They had him promise to not speak a word until they were sure they could trust whomever Guremaru chose and that was the story up till he met me.
'Ok... how do I get back to Konoha?'
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[1] Hayaishikiba is composed of three words: Hayai, meaning fast. Shi, meaning death. And Kiba, meaning Fang. She is Guremaru's mother and is tasked with eliminating the threats to the Great Wolves of Senkiba Forest. She is the youngest of the three siblings
[2] Saishoasaitami is also composed of three words: Saisho, meaning first. Asa, meaning morning. And Itami, meaning pain. He is tasked with hunting for the rest during the morning. He is the same size as Hayaishikiba (meaning same size as Gamabunta) and his fur is light brownish. He is the middle sibling.
[3] Shinyakanzei is composed of two words or three, depending of how you see it. Shin'ya means late night. Kanzei means duty. He is a black wolf the same size as the previous two and he is taked with standing guard during the nights. He is also the oldest of the three siblings.
[4] Shirohada is composed of two words: Shiro meaning white and Hada meaning skin. He is a completely white wolf slightly bigger than the siblings and he is the First Wolf Sage. He is also the leader of the forest and he holds the capacity to understand the nature of a person from getting just one whiff out of them.
[5] Senkiba Forest is a Sage Region I created for the sake of this Fanfictions development. Senkiba means Thousand Fangs (well, technically, Sen means thousand and Kiba fang). It is a forest that looks like it is in perpetual autumn and it is filled with giant thorny trees, with leaves of yellow, red and orange colours. It is home of the Great Wolves and it also hosts many other creatures.
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