A/N: I am horrifically unprepared for this year's NaNoWriMo, but damn it I will try regardless. As it is, this is basically a less crack version of 'Disgust of the Crack', if you've read that. I don't know what I'm doing, so I'm sorry. Please bare with me, thank you. Also, there may be intentional bouts of OOC, just saying now.

It is a wondrous sight, indeed, and he has never seen anything like it. There are giant stone structures littered about, with moss and vines and an ancient language etched into their surface. He can hear and see waterfalls in the distance; there is much to appreciate, and the ethereal sight of sunlight peering through the holes within the ceiling of the cave is one more.

It is otherworldly, which increases in its majesty when he observes some of the reptilian inhabitants within his sight. They are of all sizes, all colours and sounds. It is magnificent to behold, and he feels a rush of satisfaction to know that his half-hearted attempt at gaining a summon contract has succeeded.

"It's nice, yes?" remarks the auburn-scaled creature from his side. He nods in confirmation, just as it raises its large head as if sensing something he cannot. "Though you have already signed the contract, the Hakuja Sennin would like for you to remain with us for a little while longer."

He tilts his head up at the snake, attempting to internally smother his writhing curiosity and enthusiasm. It has been an eventful few days, and there is no doubt that he will enjoy taking in the offended shock on Jiraiya's face when he returns. The question of whether or not it will still be the same day back home abruptly appears, then.

"Does time work differently here, than in my own dimension?" he inquires, because it is rather obvious this is another dimension. Ryuuchidou is one of the three legendary dimensions, alongside Shikkotsurin and Myoubokuzan. He is unsure if there are many others, since most of the books he has read do not say as much. Granted, he has not read as many as he would like. When he becomes a jounin, more options will open up, surely.

The reptile gives a slight nod, a quiet hiss eliciting from its mouth. "Time here moves faster than your own; you have been here for a few days, but mere hours have passed in your world." it explains, before beginning to slither further into the forest cave. There is a silent command that he follow, which he listens to. "This is not a requirement, but it is recommended that you traverse through here in hopes of acquiring a personal summon."

Intrigued, he perks up at the concept. "Is there a difference between personal and general summons, Koukai-san?"

"It's simply a matter of fostering friendly relations, I suppose." Koukai-san answers, murmuring a greeting to a green tree snake curled up on one of the nearby branches. "As I'm sure you are aware, summons are not obligated to help you. Though the majority may, simply because you are our summoner, there are the few whom neglect to do so. That is why it's recommended to find at least one summon willing to help in all matters, yes?"

He hums, not quite understanding but willing to accept the explanation. He himself has never been quite good at socialising with others, but he is hopeful that it will be easier with snakes. There is a reason he has a natural affinity for them, after all. His heritage almost fundamentally dictates as much.

They continue along for a while in general silence, allowing him to further enjoy the view that is being offered. There are a few instances where he can hear peculiar voices in the distance, where what sounds like a snake couple having a domestic argument about the taste of oranges; or how there is a toad summon named Richaado, whom is apparently 'quite the dick'. What an atypical name.

Eventually though, they seem to come to a clearing, where there is little forestry and more stone. The ground is of uneven bricks, some cracked and chipped and worn from age. It has a certain charm to it, he thinks, watching a garter snake slither by his feet.

Koukai stops short of being precisely in the middle of the area, before turning towards him and beckoning him to stand near him with a head movement. "You will stand here, then flare your chakra. It will attract a few whom may interested in becoming your personal summon. You will choose among them however you wish."

Hearing such a thing fills him with anticipation and elation, so he stands in the middle and prepares himself. He wonders what types of summons would be attracted to his chakra, if they are strong or small or filled with personality. Will they be partial to him?

Calming himself, he exhales as he deduces that flaring his chakra with fervour is perhaps the way to proceed. So he does, and for a moment there is silence as he holds his breath.

Then, a faint rumble overtakes the cave. Alarmed, he turns to Koukai to see the snake looking up with what may be shock in its slitted eyes. The rumble is outdone by an inhuman roar located somewhere further above them; it makes his heart constrict and his breath disappear as trepidation and keenness mingle into a potent mix.

"This is unexpected, indeed." mutters the auburn reptile, prompting a bemused frown to find its way to his face. The rumbling ceases and the roar is no longer, though there is the raucous chatter of summons in its place. "It would seem that you'll not be choosing a personal summon today."

Unexpected disappointment and quiet outrage erupts within his chest at the statement. "What do you mean?" he demands, though it was simply meant to be a calm inquiry. To his further humiliation, his voice may have broken for a syllable or two.

He abhors puberty with all his might, and it has barely started. It is uncertain if he will survive long enough to best it.

It stares at him, blinking once. Possible processing the unusual squeak in his voice. "Such is the life of snakelets, yes." it comments to itself and to his squinting expression of incomprehension. But then it shakes its head and returns to the subject at hand. "Let me elaborate; you will not be choosing your personal summon, for your personal summon has chosen you instead."

There is a moment of silence between them, where they blink at one another as if something about that entire sentence is an inside joke. He does not understand, so he chooses to dismiss it lest it begins to bother him. The insatiable desire to complete puzzles can be a burden just as much as it can be a gift.

"I see." is his short reply, because he is still rather bewildered by what has transpired thus far. "Does this have anything to do with that roar?"

Koukai nods in confirmation. "Rare as the occurrence may be, there are simply some creatures that will not be denied. Don't worry, this is a momentous occasion to one such as you." then he looks to one of the holes in the cave's ceiling, an example that he follows.

The disappointment and outrage is quelled by triumph and gratification. Though it may be nothing more than a coincidence, for an apparently high-ranked creature to choose him is astounding. It is unlikely that it is because he is considered a prodigy, but it does not hurt his pride in the least.

His thoughts are then thrown aside as he realises that something large and dark has just flown through one of the ceiling holes. Surprised, he attempts to focus on it to figure out just what it is; when he does, there is a tumultuous sensation brewing inside of him. It threatens to overwhelm him.

"That is a dragon." he states, rather obviously, but he can take no time to feel annoyance at himself for it. He is awestruck, because there is a dragon heading towards him. As much as his mind is in disarray, it still manages to catch particular details about the exalted creature. It is automatic of him to do so.

Its body is that of a massive serpent, but its scales are sharper and an iridescent black that is distracting in how captivating it is. Though it is nowhere near the size of the Hakuja Sennin, it is somehow far more impressive. Perhaps it is the wings, with feathers that match its scales' beauty.

Perhaps it is the fact that is most definitely a dragon… Or at least, it was. Because the reptile quite abruptly explodes into smoke, mystifying and startling him when something much smaller bursts forth and begins plummeting towards him.

Instinct dictates that he move, lest he be crushed, but his mind stutters when he realises what the smaller creature actually is. So, in an embarrassing show of uncharacteristic incompetence, he is hit with the force of a meteor and slams into the stone ground. Though in pain and disoriented, he has enough awareness to know that he lies within a crater.

It is perhaps the strangest first meeting he has ever experienced in his life.

When he is finally aware enough to survey the situation, he realises that there is a weight on his chest that is aggravating his ribs. There is little doubt that they are broken. Since his vision is still rather blurry and unfocused, he reaches towards whatever is on him in hopes of figuring it out via touch.

The first thing that he feels is what is bracing him on either side of his torso. The surface feels like some sort of durable fabric, and when he squeezes it is fleshy and feels like a thigh. Baffled by this, he slips his hands higher until the texture of fabric turns into smooth skin. He stops when his fingers slip under a looser type of fabric.

"I am… caressing thighs, am I not?" he wheezes in question, blinking rapidly in an attempt to reduce the blur in his vision. It succeeds somewhat, and the shape of a person forms into a silhouette as blinding sunlight drapes them. Licking his lips, he can taste blood. A familiar taste.

A feminine hum confirms his somewhat rhetorical query. As colours return, the first thing he registers is the colour of taffy. It, somehow, renders him short of breath; it feels like he is suffocating now, because his ribs are broken among other details.

The next thing he registers is olive, then scarlet, and next is coal. "You have nice thighs." he states, despite himself, making a point of squeezing as if to emphasise. It is strange, but he is feeling rather flustered and it is uncomfortable. Somewhat exhilarating, but perhaps he is delirious from being slammed into a stone floor. There is a chance that he is concussed.

"That's nice of you to say." the girl straddling him returns, her voice a pleasant volume but her tone a peculiarity. She sounds as though she is attempting to modulate her voice to sound a certain way, but she is failing. At best, it is an amiable monotone.

Something flutters in his chest, and he blames it on delirium, pain and puberty.

A few rocks dropping into the crater alerts him to the presence just outside of it. "Shun-sama, it's very good to see you again." Koukai greets the girl, whom he now knows is called Shun. The snake's composure seems to imply that this situation is unsurprising. Does she do this to others? "This is Orochimaru-sama, our newest summoner. Though he is on the cusp of adolescence, this snakelet is very impressive."

"It is nice to meet you, Shun." greets Orochimaru, as he stares up at her to learn her face. She appears to be around his age, and also seems to share some of his more reptilian features. Her pupils are slitted, and her sharp eyes are lined with markings similar to his own. They are scarlet, however, and he does not possess the three pear-shaped markings on his forehead or at the outer corners of his eyes.

Her hair is parted from the left side of her head, side-bangs framing her face and reaching her collarbones. The back is longer, though from this angle he cannot quite tell how long. She could almost be mistaken as a close blood relative, if it were not for the fact that his skin is pallid and hers olive.

She tilts her head at him, likely studying his face as he is doing with hers. "Apologies for the rough landing," is what Shun responds with, though it sounds vaguely insincere, "I was too excited. I've been wanting to leave here for a while now, but there aren't many who know how to reverse-summon themselves here."

He assumes that this means it is either impossible or highly unlikely for normal summoners to have a dragon as a personal summon. Which reminds him of a rather prevalent question, "How is it that you can turn into a human, if I may ask?"

Because that is no doubt anomalous, though he is mildly troubled to find himself rather partial to the concept. Is it caused by the idea of a dragon capable of turning into a human; or is it because it is specifically a female human that the dragon turns into?

Jiraiya might say the latter, simply because Jiraiya is a 'super pervert' currently in the cruel throes of puberty. It unfortunately heightens his teammate's tendency towards stupidity, but at least Tsunade is present to cause harm when necessary.

He is violently pulled out of his thoughts when Shun slaps his chest, making him hiss in pain as his ribs ache in disapproval. Belatedly, he realises that he is still holding onto her thighs as he squeezes his hands involuntarily. She does not seem to mind, and so his hands remain where they are. This might be socially inappropriate, since he has yet to learn of society's ever confusing etiquette.

"Bad Orochimaru." she scolds him, grabbing his face with one hand and using the sleeve of her yukata to wipe at the blood on his face. It is then that he takes notice of the short, chequered yukata that she is wearing. Glancing down at his hands, he realises that she is wearing black, thigh-length tights. It all makes sense, now. Except no, it does not. "Don't question it."

"Do not question what?" he asks, having lost track of what they were talking about. Then it clicks and he blinks. She blinks in return, her expression expectant. Though his interest is piqued in regards to her capabilities, he decides it is best to let it go for now. Perhaps he will find the answer at a later date, when they are better acquainted. "Ah… If you do not want me to question it, I will let it lie. For now, since I will want to know."

She smiles again, this time notably pleased as she pulls her hands away from his face. The blood contrasts sharply against the white chequers that it stains, and something about that bothers him. Possibly because he does not enjoy looking at stains on clothes of any kind. It is irritating to the point that he is apprehensive of ever letting his distaste known to his teammates. They very well may attempt to use it against him.

Shun shifts slightly, bringing his attention back to her face, then to her left hand as it is placed on his chest. "So, what I'm going to do is bind us together. Personal summons work a little differently if dragons are involved, you see." she begins to explain, as his chest begins to tingle. It stings somewhat, as though something is being inked into the surface of his chest. "The summoner generally has to keep giving dragons some kind of offering in exchange for a variety of abilities."

Fascinating. "Abilities such as?" he prompts, wondering just what abilities dragons can offer. He has read about how dragons are essentially a higher branch of snakes, so therefore still classified under snake summons. However, there is so little knowledge about them that dragon summons are simply considered myths.

He is immensely pleased that this is not the case. If he lets it truly sink in, there are so many possibilities to discover. What one could do with a dragon on their side is a mystery he would like to find out.

"Well, in all honesty I'm only aware of immortality." is her inappropriately casual answer. His eyes widen, disbelief contorting his face. "Dragons are basically immortal, though I was told we could still die somehow. When we bind ourselves to a summoner, the summoner gains our immortality; in return, they give us whatever it is we desire. If not, then we break the binding. That's lethal, so I don't recommend neglecting to offer me food. I'll be living with you, by the way, because it's boring here."

"I do not understand." Orochimaru states, because he truly does not. This is monumental, especially when one is in the ninja profession of life. Death, completely eliminated. "This does not make sense."

She shrugs, and he winces as he hears ribs crack and feels them realign themselves. "Just let it go. Life is less complicated if you just go with the flow." she advises, nodding to herself with wide, somewhat haunted eyes as though she has repeated this to herself many times before. "Just let it go."

Taking note of the fact that she may be unhinged because it does not make sense, he believes it is the most prudent course of action. He is still incredibly perplexed, however.

As a source of comfort, he continues to caress her thighs. Surprisingly, it works rather well.

Chapter Word count: 2,939

Total Word count: 2,939

Targeted Word Count: 1,667

A/N: No time to edit, I apologise. I will likely look it over later and cringe at all the mistakes. But anyway, thank you if you decide to stick around. I hope whatever bullshit I may or may not come up with is entertaining enough for you.

Reviews are love. Reviews are life. It's never ogre. Thank you for reading.