So this is my first story... I'm not really sure how they handle the whole where summons come from thing and when I started thinking about it I came up with the idea that maybe they were two separate worlds with a few 'portals' linking them. So yeah, when thinking about this idea I came up with this story which I hope you will like.

Prologue of the Toad Sage

Ch.1 Fox Among the Toads

His vision was blurry, head pulsing painfully, and the lifeless body of his beloved was pushed against him due to their desperate attempt to save the life of their son. To think he'd been so exited over being a father... It felt like it'd been years since he had been so happy yet scared of having a baby with the love of his life. The idea of a Kage being so afraid of becoming a father was a bit odd but that's how he had felt, not because he didn't like the idea of having a child, but because he was afraid of messing up somewhere along the way.

He'd been so wrong...

As soon as he saw his son he knew that there was no reason to be so scared. He knew that he wouldn't mess anything up not because he suddenly felt capable, but because he felt so much love for his son that he couldn't help but cry when first seeing him. There was no reason to be scared since he wouldn't fail, he loved his son too much to give anything but his best for him.

That's why giving up his life for his was such an easy task. He was sure any father would happily die for his son under any circumstance.

Minato was also a ninja though...

His son would be a ninja, it was obvious. They were a ninja family.

That's why despite feeling himself growing weaker his mind was still on his son, the one that would surely end up fighting the powerful ninja that had attacked the village. A village that would not be able to prepare him, he hated to admit. He himself, the head of the village, the Hokage, was not capable of defeating the ninja with all that he'd learned.

That's why his son had to go through a different training. Yes, he had the Kyuubi, but that would not be enough. The man could control the Kyuubi after all. Naruto needed something that he himself lacked, which was the full training under the Toads.

Master Jiraiya had told him some time ago that the Toads were capable of various powerful techniques, many of which could be taught to them.

"Summoning..." Minato muttered weakly as he drew in whatever he had left to finish the hand signs necessary. "Jutsu..." His shaking hands manage to finish the jutsu and make a small messenger Toad appear.

"Wha! Minato! What happened to ya'!"

He managed a smile as his lifeless eyes fell on his son. "Please...take him. Tell the elders to...train him," his eyes began to close as he uttered his last words, "Please..."

The messenger Toad looked at the scene in panic. Not only had Minato died but he could also see Kushina with him in the same state. If that wasn't enough, the baby began to weep.

The toad looked at the baby then to the fallen ninja before taking the baby in its arms and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Years later...

The sound of laughter could be heard through the heavy vegetation of Mount Myoboku. A couple of toads moved rapidly through the trees, chasing after the eight-year-old human ball of energy that had become a resident at their home.

Naruto smiled as he jumped from tree to tree, eyes wide in mischief as he allowed himself to lose speed and gain the attention of one of the toads following after him. The toad seemed to tense up before leaping at him to which the child grinned and skidded to a complete stop, causing the toad to shoot past him and crash into a tree.

"Ha! Take that Gamakichi!"

The toad in question nursed his head in pain, "Why'd you have to stop like that?"

Naruto laughed in response. "Come on! Now that we're done with this, I can start training for today!"

"Sure, sure. Just don't over do it kid," Gamikichi responded with a sigh.

"Hey! I'm older than you by four months! You're the real kid here!"

Before Gamikichi could answer, Naruto was already off in a clear excitement over starting his training.

"Man... That kid should learn to relax every one in a while."

Naruto smiled as he ran through the woods on Mount Myoboku. He always loved this part of the day when the Toads would spar with him. It was so much fun to fight! He was strong too! Well, not as strong as most of the Toads, but still very strong!

His smile seemed to grow even further once he made it to a large clearing where two toads were conversing.

"I'm here Fukasaku!"

"Learn some respect brat," Gamabunta, the much large of the two toads scolded with his arms crossed.

Naruto chuckled in response as Fukasaku smiled. "Well Naruto-boy, today your training will be a bit different," he explained to the confusion of the boy, "You see, today you will train with Gamabunta."

"You mean I'm gonna have to fight him?" Naruto muttered to himself before breaking into an exited grin, "Cool! This is going to be awesome!"

Gamabunta sighed when seeing the boy drop to a fighting stance, "Calm down boy. We won't be fighting."

"What?" The boy pouted in disappointment, "Why now?"

"Did you really think I was going to fight you? Of course not! You're way too little for me to fight!"

Fukasaku chuckled at the exchange. "You see Naruto-boy, your training will consist of staying atop Gamabunta's head for two hours. This training will tell me if you're ready for a new level of training."

"That's easy then," Naruto declared with a smile as he jumped up to Gamabunta's head without much trouble. "I'll get this down for sure!"

"We'll see about that kid," Gamabunta challenged as he jumped high in the air, making the boy cry out in shock and stick himself to the toad's head using chakra.

Once they landed, Naruto was quick to get up and stomp on the toad's head, "Hey! I wasn't ready!"

"You're not supposed to be ready! It's a test!"

Naruto grumbled something under his breath as he stuck himself to the giant head and prepared for the odd test he was receiving.

Fukasaku found himself impressed with the boy with every passing day. His training had only started three years ago but he was already very good at using chakra, he could even walk on water. Now had to be the third time he'd been left bewildered by the boy's progress as he was still on top of Gamabunta's head after an hour and some twenty minutes.

Even after proposing the test, Fukasaku did not think the boy would make it past thirty minutes. He had to admit that he'd underestimated the boy in a way to hope that he wasn't ready for the next part of his training. It wasn't that he didn't want him to progress but everyone, even the stubborn Gamabunta, had grown fond of the boy.

"That is enough Gamabunta!"

The giant toad turned to Fukasaku before nodding his head, making the boy on his head fall off.

"What? That's all it took?" Gamabunta let out in annoyance.

Naruto laughed in response as he flipped in the air to land safely on his feet. "I jumped off," he grinned as he placed both hands behind his head, "No need to get so angry Gama."

Gamabunta grumbled at the lack of respect before leaving.

"Now Naruto-boy," Fukasaku began with a smile, "It is finally time to further your training."

"Great! What am I gonna learn? How to breath fire? How to fly?"

The elder toad laughed in response. "None of that, this is not your average training," he explained, "This part of your training will depend solely on you."

"So...lelee?"

"What I mean is that you will train by yourself," Fukasaku put it in words Naruto would understand, "Many of us here have gone through a ceremony when we reached a certain age. You will go through this trial in order to gain experience."

Naruto nodded, "So what kind of trial? Am I going to fight someone?"

"No. You're going to go on a journey through lands outside of our own," Fukasaku explained, "It will be dangerous but you're strong enough to take care of yourself. This journey will be of great benefit to you since it'll help you grow stronger and gain experience."

"I see!" Naruto smiled eagerly. "That means I'm going to meet all sorts of different people! There's probably a lot of strong ones too!"

Fukasaku chuckled, "Just remember not to overdo it. We're going to give you enough food for a couple of months but you'll be responsible for getting your own food in the future."

"When will I be coming back?"

"Hmm... It depends on the individual taking this trial but I'll say... two years at most."

Naruto nodded, eyes brimming in excitement, "When am I going to be leaving then?"

"You will start your journey tomorrow. So make sure to get a good night sleep tonight," the toad instructed.

"Roger!" Naruto responded with a salute.