To those who read the earlier version of this story, welcome back. To those who have not, welcome newcomers. I was rereading this story over a bit ago and all I could think was…I cannot believe anyone followed this with all the mistakes I made. Well, I'm here to say I managed to fix some of them. Mostly it was grammar and some content I added or took out that needed to be altered. Hope y'all enjoy.

Now enough running my jaws, on with the chapter!

Late at night, a lone, small figure could be seen walking through the thick forest. If one were to be in the area and see this figure, they would have seen it step into a weak stream of moonlight to reveal a rather strange sight. It was a cat, dressed in green robes with a black outer robe over them and a kiseru in his right hand. Two tails poked out of the back of the robes and his almond shaped eyes calmly scanned the area around him.

"I'm pretty sure I sensed it near this area," he mused, exhaling a small puff of smoke. He continued to walk until he reached a large clearing where the grass had been trampled flat, appearing to have been the camp site for a massive army. "Hmmmm…"

The bipedal feline knelt down and placed a single paw against the dirt. "It was here, a very powerful furyoku, almost on the same level as Hao. But where could it have gone?"

The cat was distracted from his thoughts when a loud crash sounded from a short distance away. He turned his gaze to the right just in time to see five figures, all with bright blond hair and dressed in bright orange and blue jumpsuits, appear from the surrounding trees. The five were locked in hand-to-hand combat, four of them appeared to be teaming up against one as he ducked and weaved between their flying fists and feet while lashing out with his own strikes.

The cat continued to watch as the battle raged on, only for his eyes to widen in surprise when the defender scored a lucky blow in one of his attacker's stomach. Instead of falling like his observer expected, the doppelganger disappeared in a small cloud of smoke. Not hesitating, the defender dodged an axe kick and drove his left fist into the face of the offender, who suffered the same fate as the last. The last two moved in from different angles, one shooting for his legs, the other his head. The boy hopped and twisted in the air, grabbing both of their wrists and redirecting the blows into their partners' stomachs.

The two vanished like ones before and the blond was left standing alone, hands on his knees as he panted and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Damn it," the blond managed to say between gasps. "I still can't think straight." He stood up and leaned back to stare at the night sky. "Kyuubi, huh?" He chuckled slightly and the cat found itself even more intrigued when he noticed the lack of any mirth and how the sound even carried a hint of heavy sorrow.

The boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, eyes still on the night sky and never noticing the cat move closer and discreetly sniff the air while the boy unzipped his jacket, threw it on the ground and sat down to rest.

'This boy carries the same scent as the area where I sensed the energy,' the cat thought, eyes never leaving the boy as he inhaled another dose of tobacco smoke. The amber orbs narrowed as he reached out with his spiritual energy, only to stumble back in shock once he felt it connect with the boy's. 'By the great spirit, he almost has the same level as Hao-sama! Just who is this boy?'

The gasp that escaped the cat alerted the source of his surprise and the boy was instantly on his feet, knife in hand. The paused there, staring at each other, one in interest, the other in suspicion and then the cat opened its mouth.

"I apologize for startling you. I give you my word I mean you no harm."

The boy snorted. "Yeah, I've heard that before."

The cat arched a delicate eyebrow at the ease with which the boy accepted his appearance. The last human he revealed himself to had run away screaming. "You are most strange," he finally said, a small cloud of smoke escaping his mouth along with the words. "Most humans would probably run from me shouting some kind of demon nonsense, you are the first one in quite a while to take it without any problems."

The boy just shrugged. "I've seen a few shinobi summon talking animals before, but you are the first one I've seen that smokes."

Nodding in acceptance, the cat decided to be the first to make a friendly gesture and sat down, crossing his legs. "Well, since you are so willing to talk civilly, allow me to introduce myself. I am Matamune, ancient servant to the Asakura family and now a simple wandering spirit in search of my next purpose."

The boy froze for a moment, his eyes becoming a strange solid white and perfectly round with a thick black ring around them as all color drained from his face. "D-did you s-say…s-s-s-spirit?"

"Yes I did."

"T-t-t-then that m-m-means you're a g…a gh…"

"A ghost?" He nodded. "That is correct, I am, in the simplest of terms, a ghost."

"…GHOST!" With that terrified scream, the blonde turned on his heel and bolted through the trees, still screaming as he did so.

Matamune sighed and rubbed his temples. 'Oh, so he's one of those types. Yoh said that Manta fellow he made friends with was just the same when they first met.' Deciding it was best to go ahead and try to calm the boy down, the cat floated into the air and swiftly flew through the trees, easily following the sound of panicked screams to the boy's location. Dropping down to hover in front of him, he regarded his suddenly frozen form with mild boredom. "Is that really necessary? I am only trying to talk."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He was answered by the blonde turning and running in a new direction. "I can tell this is going to take a while," he muttered, setting off to follow him once more.

For almost an hour he followed the child. Each attempt to talk was met with screams and even an attempt to hit him with one of his throwing knives before he bolted in another random direction. After what must have been the millionth attempt to speak with the boy, the normally composed nekomata finally snapped.

Flicking his wrist, the handle of a giant katana appeared. Gripping the hilt in his small paws, Matamune lifted the glowing blade and sliced down all the trees surrounding them, trapping him in a circle of splintered wood. Breathing deeply to regain his cool, elegant persona, the neko let the blade fade back into the spiritual particles it had originated from and waited for them to return to his body before speaking again.

"If you are quite finished acting like a moronic buffoon, perhaps you would be willing to listen to what I have to say." The boy, who had frozen in shock at such a powerful display, slowly straightened his posture and turned to face the spirit, his entire body shaking as he did so. "Oh by the Great Spirit boy I am not going to eat you! Relax!" 'Not even Yoh was this frustrating,' he mentally grumbled as he watched the boy sit cross-legged on the ground. "Thank you, now then, as I said before my name is Matamune, will you tell me your name?"

The boy didn't move for a few more moments, eyes closed as he breathed deeply, the neko suspected he was trying to calm his breathing after the running session he'd just gone through before responding. "N-N-Naruto Uzumaki," he said, sitting down as well. He paused to wipe the sweat, whether from exhaustion, fear or a combination of the two he didn't know, from his brow before continuing. "I-I'm a genin of Konohagakure."

"Now was that so hard?" The panting blonde offered no response so the cat simply shrugged and continued his explanation. "Well, I suppose you are wondering why I am out here at such a late hour." Naruto nodded and when he made no attempt to give a verbal response, the neko took it as an indication to continue. "I was traveling through the forest and I sensed a very potent energy coming from this area. I came to investigate and happened across your little battle here. By the way, why did your attackers look so similar to you?"

Seeing that he had something he could actually explain, Naruto managed to calm himself and begin. "They're called Kage Bunshin. It's a technique that makes copies of me, I've been training with them to get stronger."

"So you are training then? May I ask why you desire to be stronger?"

Naruto looked up at the sky, just as he had done when Matamune first saw him, contemplating the best way to answer the question. "I wanted to become the Hokage," he finally said. "But after I learned something I'm more interested in just being strong enough to protect the people who've acknowledged me as a person and not something to be scorned and hated."

Matamune arched an eyebrow yet again when he heard the answer. There was a history with that statement, one he intended to learn but it could wait for a later date. "So you fight to protect?" Naruto nodded. "Interesting, I once served a young man who fought to protect the people important to him. He could always look at someone and find that one glimmer of good in their hearts even they thought was gone."

"What was his name?"

"He was known as Yoh Asakura, heir to the Asakura family, and twin brother to yet another of my former masters."

"Your masters sound like some pretty cool guys."

"Yes, they were both exceptional individuals. Both were also very powerful shamans, the likes of which haven't been seen in a long time."

"Shamans?"

The feline sighed. 'At least he is finally calming down,' he thought to himself. Still, he noticed the boy still looked ready to bolt at a moment's notice. "Of course, I must apologize again. I had forgotten the ancient art of the shamans has been long forgotten. A shaman is a warrior with a very unique ability. They were capable of merging their very bodies with the spirit of another and use their skills in battle."

Naruto's eyes were wide, all sense of unease suddenly vanishing as he began leaning forward, eagerly awaiting the rest of the explanation. Matamune could only chuckle as he saw the eagerness there. The terror he had felt at just the fact the nekomata was a ghost seemed long gone now.

"Once there was a traditional battle every five hundred years where all shamans would gather and battle for the title of Shaman King...and the honor of working in unity with the Great Spirit."

"Wait...Great Spirit?"

"Yes. The Great Spirit is the oldest and most powerful of the spirits. It is from it all spirits come from and, eventually, return to. The Great Spirit will only allow one shaman to wield its power, the Shaman King."

The boy was silent, thinking hard on the words of the neko. When he looked up it was with a burning curiosity. "Do you think it'd be possible for me to be a shaman?"

Matamune was the one to stay silent this time, smoking his pipe as he considered the options presented to him. "If I were to teach you...what would you do with the powers you would obtain?"

The blonde's head tilted to the side, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Would you walk the path of the protector...or the destroyer? You mentioned that you wanted to obtain acknowledgement. Do you desire this power for vengeance against those who spurned you or will you use it to help others?"

"...I'll use it to do what's right," Naruto answered, eyes blazing with passionate fire.

"And what is right?"

The question threw the boy for a loop. If it had been a day before he would have answered without hesitation, but after what had happened just earlier that night, he wasn't so sure anymore. "I'm not perfect, but I'll help who I can and I won't use it for selfish reasons. I just want to be strong enough to protect the village and prove to everyone that I'm not a demon."

Sensing that he was finally approaching the history from his previous comment, he leaned forward slightly to show interest and encourage him to elaborate. "Demon, what do you mean?"

Naruto became suddenly very still as he eyed the spirit with a nervous stare. Sensing his mistrust he hastily made to dispel it. "Even if you were to tell me, I am a spirit and a nekomata. Most humans would look at me and either attack or run in terror due to the legends of my kind just like you did earlier. Nobody would stop to hear my story."

Pondering the words, the blonde sighed and began explain his entire life to Matamune. The beatings, the stares and eventually the reason for them. By the time he finished the neko had a new respect for the child, to be so burdened, yet not hold hatred for all those who did this to him, just how strong was his will? But, something seemed odd and he made to address it. "You reveal something so personal to someone you've just barely begun to know," he said. "Why trust me? Even with the argument I provided, it seems strange to me."

Naruto scratched his head, also showing an expression of confusion. "Well…you could have killed me with that big blade thing of yours right?" The nekomata nodded. "But you've only tried to talk to me…plus, I just feel like I can trust you. Something in my gut tells me you're worth trusting."

'He can sense that already? Interesting.' Choosing to address that statement later, Matamune simply nodded and continued the conversation. "Given the information you just presented, I'd say protecting those in need is all I could ask of you," he finally said, the tip of his kiseru clenched between his teeth as he pondered this new information. "I must consider this carefully, give me the rest of the night. For now return to your place of residence, come back to this clearing in the morning and I should have the answer to your question."

Naruto nodded and turned to leave, only for the neko to call once more. "By the way, I suppose you will be missing this later." He glanced over his shoulder to show the neko holding his jacket while pointing behind him. "Also, the village happens to be that way."

Matamune waited until he could no longer sense the newly minted genin's presence before reaching into his coat and pulling out a small memorial tablet and placing it on the ground before him. Twice more he repeated the action until three tablets stood before the smoking neko.

"Well, what do you three think?"

A soft blue light engulfed the middle tablet before erupting into a brief cyclone of wind stirred the loose folds of the neko's robes. When the wind cleared moments later, the cat looked up to see a man standing before him. His hair, colored a soft purple, was tied back in a spiked ponytail, exposing the sharp angles of his face and was dressed in the robes of a samurai, with red armor on his shoulders and matching gauntlets. A pair of katana hung in the sash at his waist, displaying his chosen method of combat.

"He carries much pain in his heart," the spirit said, eyes focused on the spot where Naruto had disappeared. "But I find it intriguing that I could not sense any hatred coming from him. Either he has chosen to forgive or buried such feelings deep in his heart. Whatever the case may be, I do know that he possesses the heart of a warrior and I could practically feel his potential since the moment you addressed him." The swordsman's eyes shifted to the tablet sitting to the right of his own. "What do you think, Bason?"

The tablet began to glow bright red before a raging red cyclone much like the samurai's appeared. From the cyclone emerged a man clad in gold-lined green armor. His helm cast a shadow over his face, leaving only his deep frown and sharply-pointed chin visible. From the shadow cast by his helm, glowing green eyes bored into the soul of any onlooker and seemed to be locked in an eternal glare. In his left hand, the spirit grasped the shaft of a Kwan Dao which he kept propped against his shoulder.

"I must agree Amidamaru," he said. Like the samurai, who's voice was deep and calm, Bason's voice was deep, yet harsh, almost as if he had spent every day of his life shouting orders and rubbing his vocal chords raw. "The boy has an incredible amount of latent potential just waiting to be unlocked. I would gladly become his guardian spirit and teacher."

Matamune nodded, exhaling more of his pipe smoke as he did so. "Well, that is two of you." He turned his gaze to the last of the tablets. "Do you wish to offer your opinion to this discussion before our decision is made?"

Emerald light erupted form the final tablet and gathered into a ball in the air. The orb shifted into the form of a torso, limbs sprouting from it followed quickly by a head. When the light faded, there stood a young man wearing a black, sleeveless top with a high collar and a yin-yang symbol on the chest, black kung-fu style pants, white socks and black slip-on shoes. On his back was a holster holding his signature weapon, a pair of nunchaku. His black hair was messy, like he'd just risen from his bed and his smile was gentle.

"I agree with these two," he said. "The boy's heart is pure and strong and I believe it is time we brought our three styles to world of the living once more. Let us take this Naruto Uzumaki as our shaman. I will teach him the ways of Daodando."

"I shall school him in the ways of the sword," Amidamaru spoke, his hand idly grasping his sword at the thought of such a powerful child as his student.

"And I shall teach him how to wield the Kwan Dao and military tactics as well," Bason rumbled, eyes glowing even brighter in fierce determination.

"Then it is decided," Matamune said, extinguishing his pipe and slipping it back into the folds of his robe. "We will begin training the boy tomorrow morning. However, there are some things we must do first and they require a spirit's ability to remain unseen."

The three warriors turned to the ancient neko, patiently awaiting their orders. "The boy will require weapons in order to properly utilize your techniques. Bason, your time as a general has given you experience in discerning a high quality weapon with a brief glance. I want you to search the market district of this village and find where the boy will be able to purchase the best tools."

The warrior nodded and drifted away. He was eager to accomplish his mission and secure the best weapons for his new master.

"Amidamaru, I want you to find places of relaxation where our new master may go when we allow him to rest during his training. Training is all well and good, but if that is all he does then he will never truly be at peace."

Much like the warrior spirit, the samurai nodded, but he chose to walk away. It had been quite a while since he had chosen to manifest outside of the memorial tablet and he felt a strong desire to re-experience the simple beauty of the world once more.

"Lee Pailong, you're mission is two-fold. First, I want you to observe these...'shinobi' that serve as the military here. Learn what movements and techniques you can so that we can ensure Naruto maintains his skills both as a shaman and a shinobi. Second, I want you to devise a training schedule. Divide the days evenly between you three so that he can retain the most knowledge."

The martial artist bowed. "It will be as you wish, Matamune, but may I ask what you will be doing."

Matamune turned his gaze to the skies for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. "Negotiating."

Lee shot the neko a confused look, but simply shrugged and turned to leave. He had a mission to complete after all. Matamune left soon after, following the same path the blond that had caught his interest had taken.

XXXXXXXXXX

The ancient general drifted out of the wall of the third store he had visited as he sighed in disappointment. Not one of these stores had the quality he was searching for. He was close to giving up hope when he spotted the soft candlelight shining in a nearby window. He searched for a sign, when he did it was an unremarkable plaque of wood nailed the front of the door. Engraved into the words were the words "Shinobi Gear and Weapons."

Bason decided to try one last time and floated through the door to find a room filled with the beauty that can only be found in an armory of the finest of weapons. The wall was lined with every weapon he could think of and there were racks of clothing to fit whatever style a shopper could think of.

Just to the right sat a counter with a register on top of it. It was at this counter that Bason saw a young girl, close to his new master in age, polishing the blade of a beautiful sword by the flickering light of a candle. The girl was dressed in a pink, sleeveless shirt that bore designs that reminded the general of his homeland, green pants and blue sandals. Her dark brown hair was tied up in twin buns and her chocolate brown eyes were focused on the task at hand as she tapped the small cloth ball against the cool metal of the blade.

Bason felt his heart swell at such attentive detail, and he also could not help but notice the unique style of her clothes as well. 'She dresses just like Ren-sama and Jun-sama,' he thought. The small smile he had sported due to the brief moment of nostalgia suddenly drooped when he noticed the expression on the young girl's face. For someone so young to look so conflicted, what could have happened? Believing he would find out if he showed patience, the spirit drifted up closer to the ceiling and watched.

In time the polishing was finished and the girl returned it to its scabbard and placed it on the stand behind her. Still, the expression remained, that was when a woman walked out of a doorway just to her right. The woman has a thing of beauty, long, raven-black hair and dressed in a pink short kimono that left entirely too little to the imagination. Her expression appeared to be one of complete indifference, but the general could tell she was troubled by the girl's actions.

"Tenten, what's wrong?" The woman's voice was soft and concerned.

"Mother...what do you think of Naruto Uzumaki?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do...do you..." she paused again, nibbling at her lip as she gathered her resolve. "Do you hate him?"

Finally, the woman showed a slight hint of shock, her eyes widening by a slim margin but for Bason it was more than enough of an indicator. "Of course not Tenten. Why are you asking me this?"

The girl became increasingly nervous, fidgeting with her hands and not meeting her mother's eye. "I-I overheard something earlier tonight. I was in the forest for a little extra training when I heard fighting and yelling. When I went to investigate I heard Mizuki-sensei saying Naruto was the Kyuubi reincarnated."

The woman gasped, breaking her composure as she grabbed the girl by her shoulders and forced her to meet her sharp gaze. "Listen to me Tenten! Naruto is NOT a demon. The civilians fear what they don't understand and if Naruto ever learns to wield the fox's power as his own then he would become one of, if not the greatest shinobi this village has ever seen. Look beyond that Tenten, he's just a boy."

"I don't see him as a demon mother," Tenten reassured the woman. "I...I actually want to help him."

The woman nodded and shifted back into her composed persona. "Then be patient," she said. "You two are shinobi of the same village which means you are bound to meet some day. When you do, just be polite, friendly, and helpful. Try to strike up conversation and become friends. And if he mentions anything along the line of specific weaponry, you can offer to help him in training that particular skill."

Tenten hugged her mother and they shared a tender moment. "Now, off to bed with you. Knowing your sensei, you'll probably have some rather excessive training plan sometime in the next couple of days so you had best get what rest you can."

Seeing that there was nothing left to observe, Bason left the shop and made his way back to the clearing. He had found the perfect place for Naruto-dono to acquire his weapons.

XXXXXXXXXX

The samurai had been wandering the village for close to an hour now and he was rather satisfied with what he had found. Two tea houses possessed a very calming atmosphere and one even had a place to play shogi, a game that relied on strategy that he had grown quite fond of during his days serving the shogun. 'I should point Bason in that direction,' he thought, 'it would be a good place for him to teach Naruto-dono the finer points of strategy.' His final stop was a hot springs he had heard some civilians talking about. Apparently the waters were rumored to be quite exceptional in their soothing qualities.

Regardless of rumored special qualities, Amidamaru was well aware that hot springs were a perfect way to ease the muscles after a long day of training. It was also true that the atmosphere was usually good to ease nerves as well. As he drifted closer, he saw two women walking out of the doors. The first had hair as black as a raven's wings and bright crimson eyes that all but glowed in the dim light. Her clothing consisted of what appeared to be bandages with a mesh underneath and a red sleeve on her right arm.

When he turned his attention to the second woman, he found himself cheeks becoming incredibly warm as a dusting of red spread across them. She was dressed in a much more revealing outfit consisting of a tan trench coat over a mesh top, proudly displaying her impressive bust, and orange miniskirt, mesh shorts and black sandals. Her purple hair was tied back in a ponytail that reminded the samurai of a pineapple. 'By the Great Spirit, did I stumble into the red light district?' he thought. 'She's dressed like the women some of my men used to visit whenever they were in the area.'

He was about to head past them when he heard the subject of their conversation. "Did you hear what that Uzumaki kid did?" the scantily clad one asked.

"You mean stealing the Forbidden Scroll, Anko everyone Chunin and higher knows about that."

The newly identified woman growled and waved her hand in dismissal. "No Kurenai, I'm talking about what happened after that."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently he was tricked by that Mizuki guy into stealing it for him. When Iruka caught him it started a big fight and Uzumaki is rumored to have used a B-ranked kinjutsu to stop the traitor and the ANBU found him beaten to a bloody pulp!"

"A B-ranked jutsu? From the Forbidden Scroll? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"

"Hey I'm just passing on what I heard so don't shoot the messenger. But if those rumors are true that kid is a potential gold mine in the shinobi world."

"What do you mean?"

"Learning to use a B-rank in only a couple of hours? With his natural reserves plus that of his little friend the kid's a walking chakra battery!" The woman identified as Kurenai gained a thoughtful expression at her companion's statement. "Plus, I heard from the Anbu how long that kid managed to run away from them after his pranks, imagine what else he could use that stamina for?"

'Apparently Naruto-dono is more popular than I had believed,' Amidamaru thought, turning to return to the clearing while chuckling to himself at the site of the woman face-faulting while Anko cackled like a woman possessed, trying to quell the flaming red blush that had begun to adorn his cheeks, how could a ghost blush? They didn't have blood. 'Especially so with the women it would seem. Although…that woman is far too promiscuous. Perhaps it would be best to warn Naruto-dono to be wary of her.' He had found three good places for his new master to relax, his mission was complete.

XXXXXXXXXX

The ancient spirit stood over the sleeping form of his newest master. Tracking such a large reserve of spiritual power through the village was rather easy for one as old as he.

He was here to meet with a powerful entity, a creature he had no doubt could stand on even ground with the ancient elemental spirits that had existed since the dawn of the earth. Truthfully, the neko would have preferred not to deal with the beast, but he knew the only way the boy would be able to become a shaman was if the beast allowed a spirit to inhabit his body. Thus, he would have no choice but to negotiate with the creature.

Sighing, Matamune changed into a spirit ball and plunged himself into the seal on Naruto's belly. When he reformed it was to find himself inside of a dimly lit chamber. Dirty water covered the floor and in the wall in front of him stood a pair of massive barred doors held closed by a piece of paper marked with the kanji for 'seal.'

Behind these bars was a vast room, so large he could not see the far wall or the ceiling. From this dark room he could hear the heavy breathing of the large beast held within. As he quietly stared through the bars, a single eye, colored a shade of red that reminded the neko of freshly spilled blood with a slit pupil, opened and glared at the spirit.

"You must be the Kyuubi I have heard so much about," Matamune said, withdrawing his pipe and lighting a fresh batch of tobacco. Taking a soothing puff, he crossed his legs and hovered in the air a few inches above the water, smoking as he waited for the fox to answer.

"And you are Matamune," the fox said, its voice as loud as a rockslide and filled with such power it shook the very walls. "If the little kit's memories are anything to go by. Why have you come here?"

"I have come, because I know you have the ability to make it difficult for the boy to become a shaman."

"So you are here to subdue me?"

"No. I would not be so arrogant to think I alone had the power to subdue you without the proper tools and rituals. I have come to strike a bargain. I am aware that you are uncomfortable in this cell and I am also aware of a way to give you a certain measure of freedom."

"What do you mean?" the Kyuubi asked, both eyes now open and glaring at the calmly smoking nekomata.

"Shamans were known to use the spirits of beasts as well as the spirits of humans," he paused to inhale a new cloud, relishing the taste as he exhaled it again. "I believe you and the boy will make a powerful team."

The fox pondered the spirit's offer. It was a chance at freedom after years of containment, but he would also have to serve as the child's puppet and he did not like the sound of that. "Give up imprisonment to instead have a bit put in my mouth and forced to serve? You're offer does not sound very enticing nekomata."

"You misunderstand. I said team, as in you will be on equal terms. Search the boy's heart Kyuubi, you have been with him since before he could even begin to understand the world around him. Do you truly believe he will try to make you his pet?"

"...You give your word I will not be enslaved?" Matamune nodded. "How long before you can arrange a meeting?"

"It will take some time. The boy has a tremendous amount of power but he does not know how to use it. He must learn to harness that power and be able to perform an oversoul with a partner spirit before he is capable of withstanding your power." He noticed the confused stare at the term he had used and made to explain. "It is a technique utilized by shamans to help them fight with their partner. They compress the spirit and merge it with an item, usually a weapon or something familiar to the spirit to help them manifest their powers."

The Kyuubi nodded in understanding and then he chose to speak again. "I know the kit has told you of his recent promotion to what the humans call a genin. He has a month before he must report back to his academy to be placed on a team."

"Then we will use that time for training. By any chance do you know where he could acquire the money to afford a new set of clothes and weapons of high quality."

"The monkey running the village, he has a soft spot for the kit. Plus with current events the kit has the chance for a major guilt trip to get the monkey to help."

"Very well," Matamune rose from his seated position and turned to leave. "I will bring the boy here to meet with you when the month draws to a close. We can arrange the terms for your partnership then. Until then, farewell Kyuubi."

The neko once more became a spirit ball and shot off into the darkness. Behind the bars of his cage the Kyuubi curled up on the floor, preparing for a long nap.

"I will await your coming, farewell...Matamune."

XXXXXXXXXX

Alright, what did you think?

To the esteemed Kamen Rider Arashi, a big THANK YOU for getting my thoughts in order. I couldn't focus on the ones I'd written cuz this one was nagging me.

Well that's the redo, hope you like it.

Yurei King signing out!