Catch a Tiger by the toe... (Summoning Jutsu Quest) (Invite for Satoshi and Grave. No PVP )

Post 19.

Asura ran while the large tiger was distracted by the giant fireball that hit him. All the while, Asura swore at Heise. WHere the hell did that goofy shinobi and his monkey friend go!? Of all the time for them to suddenly run  off and ditch and after all their talk. Asura growled at the thought of them as he sprinted across the walls of the canyon. "Next time I see those clowns, I'm setting their asses on fire, tha jerks!!" he shouted, still carrying the cat.

At that time, the tiger had shook off the last of the flames, smoke billowing off his fur. He was going to need a good long cold bath after this to bring back the regal shine to his white fur. "WHY YOU--!!" he let out a roar and this time sprinted forward. The large tiger now ran along the outside of the canyon, going from above to pursue his prey.

Asura kept moving but was quickly running out of placed to go. The tiger would no doubt catch him, no matter how high or low he would go-- till he spotted something he recognized. THe caves near the bottom of the mountain in front of him.

It was his best chance as he ran for it, hoping it would give him some cover. The tiger however spotted him and quickly pursued. "Fight me you coward!!" he bellowed.

Post 20.

Tempted as Asura was to actually fight the giant feline... and get some payback for all of this, he knew his limits. Fighting a 60 foot tiger was about as smart as a mouse picking a fight with a cat. It was inevitable that the clash would get him killed and eaten. Now using his chakra to keep his feet to the walls, Asura was now running down from the mountain, reaching for the foot of it and where he found what he was looking for.

Even at a young age he had been exploring the caves that honeycombed through the mountains of Iwa, so he knew which ones were close and which ones would be safe to use.

At that moment, a tip of one of the mountains came breaking apart as the giant tiger emerged-- spotting Asura. He let out a fierce roar and charged for him.

"YIkes!" Asura shouted and immediately let go of his footing on the wall, entering a free fall. He fell no more than 30 meters, which was a piece of cake to land safely to. As he got to his feet, he immediately sprinted into the cave right behind him. The tiger had closed the gap almost immediately and lunged with his claws to attack. However, Asura got inside right upon impact, causing the tiger to grasp nothing but the rocks of the cliff as he tried in vain to claw at the cave's entrance.

Asura kept running as he entered the cave, looking over his shoulder to see the larger tiger claw and snap his jaws at the cave entrance, trying to pry it open to get after Asura. Lucky for him, the cave opened up further in-- leading to the other side of the mountain like a tunnel rather than climbing over it. "This is getting rediculus!" Asura gasped as he ran with the kitten in his arms.

Post 21.

As Asura ran through the tunnel at the base of the mountain, the large tiger outside backed up and inhaled once more. THis clearly was no reckless beast as he was just as smart as any other person. Once more, he inhaled, gathering chakra and focusing to create another Fuuton technique. This was bad cause inside the tunnel-- if the large Tiger let it loose inside that cramped area, Asura would indeed have no means to dodge it! The passage was too narrow with no where to truly hide.

Asura looked behind him and heard the whistling of air-- just to see as the jaws of the tiger let loose a roar that echoed in the cave. Suddenly the winds picked up and a howling gush of air came traveling through the cave! The wind became a wild gale force wind as it swept and swirled through every crevice of the cave-- catching Asura with ease.

Luckily, the wind was not of a super destructive or cutting variety. However, it was more than enough to lift Asura off his feet and send him flying down the tunnel head over heels. He entered a rolled up position, keeping his arms close to his chest and keeping the little tiger kitten safe as close as possible, so he wouldn't lose him in the swirling wind.

It felt as if they were shot out of a cannon as the wind hurtled them forward and sped them right to the end of the cave! "WHAAAAA!!!" Asura shouted as he was shot from the cave, greeted by the fresh air of the outside.

Post 22.

Asura had tumbled out from the cave, shot into the air and soon came tumbling out onto the rocky stone ground. He rolled on his side, keeping his arms guarded to protect the precious cargo he held on to. The fall had scratched Asura up a bit, mostly his left arm and tore his gi a bit. The wind blast had knocked him around a bit with that final blast. Despite the lack of success to try and reason with the beast, at least he was able to keep it away from the village any further.

Struggling to get up, Asura pushed himself up to his knees then knelt up, brushing himself off with a free arm. FInally, he looked at the kitten. The cat seemed very calm and remained coiled in his arms, his paws holding on to his arm and looking around almost amused.

Slightly irritated, Asura held the cat by both arms and looked at it before his face. He gave the creature a grumpy look. "You are becoming more trouble than you're worth, you know that?" Asura said, inches from the cat's face.

The little cat of course said nothing-- but then nudged its face closer and licked Asura on the face. Its roughe cat-like tongue both wetted and scratched him as it was clearly a show of affection. Asura sputtered and pulled the cat away, clearly seeing conversation was not going to do any good. "Bleh-- come on, you wanna do that NOW after all this time? Listen, we need to get you back to your father without him trying to --"

At that time, Asura noticed something about his surroundings. He was in the shadow of the mountain as it was high noon, but then there was a slight and noticeable shift in the shadow's position. Too fast for the sun and of course slight and like a shift of an object. "Did that shadow just move...?" he asked.

"Mreow...?" the cat answered.

Slowly, Asura looked up.

And immediately wish he had not. Up above, the giant tiger from before had scaled the mountain! Like a mountain lion, perched upon a series of rocks to stalk its prey. It shadowed over Asura now, growling down at him and revealing its wicked teeth and unsteely gaze despite the use of its mask.

"CRAP!!" Asura shouted.

WIth another roar, the tiger lunged, attempting to pounce on Asura with its front paws!

Post 23.

The tiger's pounce caused Asura's eyes to open wide. He quickly sprinted and jumped, entering a flip as the tiger came crashing down. His pounce literally made the earth shake and caused a shockwave that sent Asura further into the air.

He easily flipped about and regained an upright position as he came down, landing on his feet.

"GIVE ME BACK MY SON OR I WILL DEVOUR YOU WHOLE!!" the tiger roared, clearly blinded by both fury and the desire to have its cub back.

Asura still ran, knowing being caught would be death any way. "I WOULD IF YOU WOULD STOP TRYING TO KILL ME!!" Asura yelled back with all his voice.

The fire ninja kept running past the mountain he had came out from under-- but soon his feet came skidding to a sudden stop! His toes of his sandals almost reached the ledge of a large cliff. Asura had ran so far and so fast he had reached the edge of the coast of Iwa! Out before Asura was the blue sea. The cliff was a direct drop of near 50 meters into ragged rocks and the smashing ocean below. There was no where else for Asura to run or hide.

"Dead End...." Asura squeaked, realizing he was trapped. He held the cat closer to his chest, realizing he wasn't going to be able to escape. Even with Body FLicker, he wouldn't have anywhere to go. And to make matters worse, he was nearing the end of his chakra.

Post 24.

The raging sounds of the waves against the rocks echoed in the air as the the endless blue stretched out beyond the cliff. Asura looked at it with both a sense of awe and dread. He had been cornered and a matter of seconds for the giant tiger looming behind him to realize he had no where left to go.

"This is not good...." Asura sighed, a hint of a gulp tugging at his voice.

"Mreow...?" the little cat asked, looking up at Asura with his worried expression.

The sound of the 'thumps' from the larger tiger's impacts came and Asura finally turned to face the sound. The larger tiger had made another sprint, but finally stopped. Its front paws stomped on the ground as it came to a stop, causing the earth below him to fragment and splinter, dragging a clear tred in it as it came to a stop. The tiger's skid ended with it only mere feet away from where Asura stood.

The tiger's masked face loomed over Asura, growling angrily and seconds away from chomping him down if he so wished. "You stole my cub away from me, and even worse made him turn against me! Such insult will not be tolerated! " the tiger growled, and slashed a claw!!

The claw tore right into the stone next to Asura several feet away, leaving clear cleaves in the stone and had them tumble towards the sea behind him. Asura flinched but looked up, holding the cat. "I will have you suffer far worse than you can imagine, you maggot!!" the tiger roared, his voice booming in Asura's ears and his breath blowing at him.

Asura restrained the urge to comment on the tiger's bad breath being so close. WIth a free hand, he merely brushed the air away, sparing him what time to breathe he had.

At that moment, the tiger lunged his head forward, likely to bite down on Asura---

TWHAP! WAM!!

Something loud and fast suddenly struck, almost like a sucker punch to the face-- but it wasn't against Asura. Even more surprising, it was the massive tiger that was thrown back! Something had struck it, and had caused it to move ten meters back into the back of the mountain.

Asura blinked, not sure what happened-- till he saw a similar figure before him. The broad and muscular back of the man he had seen moments ago. The Rogue Ninja Ravana. The cocky tattooed man looked smug with himself as he had held out a hand, his thumb extended-- indicating what Asura couldn't believe.

Ravana had smacked the giant tiger back with just his thumb as if it was a pesky animal!

Post 25

Asura was reeling mentally for the fact that his mentor Ravana had suddenly appeared in the nick of time and had repelled the larger tiger with nothing but a thumb as if he was flicking a pet on the nose. Somewhere, someone was probably getting a good laugh from this as the events unfolded.

At that time, the larger tiger lifted himself off, some stone rubble tumbling off his body from being thrown against the side of the mountan. Lifting his head, he looked to Asura-- and spotted Ravana.

"Heh. Hello there, kitty," Ravana said.

The red eye-holes of the tiger's mask flashed with rage as the tiger stood and drew his head once more towards Ravana, feet distance from them. "YOU!!?" the tiger boomed, "What in the hells are you doing here?!" This was odd as the tiger freely conversed with Ravana, an angry tone showing some sort of resentment. "YOu Letcherous smug bastard! Why are you here of all places, defending this cur?!"

Asura's eyes widened with shock and confusion. He approached Ravana and shouted freely. "Wait a minute... YOU TWO KNOW EACHOTHER?!" he shouted.

Turning his head, Ravana grinned at Asura. "Oh? Yes, Byakko and I go way back. I was the first one to pass his trials to earn his contract." he said proudly.

"YOU BASTARD!! How soon have you forgotten, you owe me a king's ransom of money you skipped out on," the tiger roared, but then shook his head. "NOw stand aside. I shall make this runt pay for abducting my son!"

The tiger growled, indicating his anger and desire to keep his cub safe.

Ravana suddenly let out a laugh as he raised up a hand in front of the tiger's nose. "Now now, old friend. Control your temper... stop for a moment and think," he said and glanced back at Asura, kindly holding the tiger cub. "Does this boy look ANYTHING like a kidnapper to you?"

Post 26.

There was a long and thoughtful pause in the larger tiger's words. The soft sounds of a growl could be heard like a 'hum' as he looked over Asura and the little kitten in his arms. The little cat seemed more playful, wanting to get attention more than get away from the young ninja.

Ravana smirked at the little cat, seeing as he nuzzled his head against Asura's body. " Seems more like your son took a liking to his 'kidnapper' don't you think? NOt the reaction I would imagine if he forcefully took him, right?" Ravana added.

The larger Tiger, called Byakko it seemed, grunted at Ravana, clearly not liking his overly friendly tone.

Being more respectful, Asura stepped forward with the cat in his arms. "Um... excuse me, Mr... tiger? This was just a HUGE misunderstanding. I was practicing the Summoning Jutsu, and I accidentally summoned the kitten," he explained as clearly as possible. "I don't have any contracts so I tried to send him back but he wouldn't go. So I took him home so I could take care of him till I knew what to do. I'm very, VERY sorry." Asura said, bowing his head very low to show his respect for clearly such an important tiger creature.

The large tiger looked over Asura carefully, seeing how sincere he was in his apology and explanation. And once more, he looked to his cub, seeing how affectionate he was to Asura, not even resisting his hold once. The mark of someone he trusted.

A growlish-sigh escaped the tiger. He did seem calmer now but hard to tell with the tiger's large mask. Finally he spoke, "Er... May I have my son back, please?" the tiger asked, finally having calmed down enough to now offer the use of a please, and showing some politeness.

Asura felt the pressure in his chest lift, realizing the giant tiger was now finally listening to reason.

Post 27.

Realizing things were looking better thanks to Ravana's interruption and covering him from being tiger chow, Asura knew this creature was far more reasonable and intelligent than what he originally suspected. Asura let out a long prolonged sigh of relief as he knelt down and lowered the tiger cub he had been holding all this time to the ground. He let him go on all fours and the cat looked up at him.

"Okay, buddy," Asura said in a lighter tone now, trying to urge him to go. "Time to go back to your dad now. Go on, get going. You don't want him to scold you again-- or get angry at me again," he added for personal humor as he gave the cat a light nudge in the rear to get him moving.

The little tiger glanced back at Asura, a little sad, then back to the large cat several meters away. It hesitated for a moment, but then hopped forward, heading towards the larger tiger. It let out a soft meow as it slowly crossed the large distance towards its father, and soon looked up as it got close to the parent's feet.

The sheer size between them was impossible as the 60 foot tiger made the tiger cub look to be the size of a mouse or smaller. Still, the father leaned down closer to its cub. Its mussel clearly eclipsed the size of the kitten as the cat nudged its head against it, identifying the larger tiger.

In affection, the larger tiger opened its maw and extended its tongue. It gave a lick against the cat with just the tip, the appendage being way too big normally, but a clear sign of affection for the cub.

The weight on Asura's shoulders were lifted off as he finally flopped to the ground and sat down cross legged. "Thank god..." Asura sighed.

"You're welcome, " Ravana joked, causing Asura to glare up at his friend and mentor with a grumpy look.

"If your a god, then I'm a monkey. ANd trust me, I seen those lowsy monkeis, I am no monkey!" Asura snapped back.

"On that we agree on," The larger tiger said as he raised his head to Asura. "I recognized the monkey you were with. Needless to say, we don't exactly get along, our two tribes. Though I would suspect Ravana to be a brute of an ape."

Ravana laughed at that, despite the jab at him.

That was an interesting fact. Asura didn't know much about the other animal tribes of the ninja nations and beyond. Further, he was not aware how they all got along. Naturally not all of them were buddies.

The larger tiger seemed to bow his head lower in Asura's direction. "I... might of acted rashly in the search to find my missing son," he said, a tone of humility lingering in his tone. It was a bit strained, suggesting it was not common for him to do so. "I owe you thanks, for keeping my son safe..."

Asura blinked at this. Moments ago he was fleeing for his life against the large tiger, and now he was offering an apology.

However, the tender moment ended when the tiger moved his head closer and revealed his teeth again. "However, do so again and I shall feast upon you and spit your remains for the vulters! Do I make myself clear," the tiger roared.

Asura sat up straight in his position, full attention as if he was before Master Roku. "Y-Yes sir, I won't let it happen again!" he said nervously.

Ravana billowed a laugh. "Don't let his growl hinder you. Trust me, he is a big pussy cat on the inside," he said, patting Asura on the head as he sat there.

"SILENCE, you hedon! Do not think I won't swallow you," the Tiger growled.

Ravana raised an eye at him. "Oh? You sure you wanna do that?" he asked, almost finding it humorous as he stroked his chin. "The last time that happened I couldn't get the smell out of my hair for a week, and I know you didn't feel like eating far longer."

Asura looked at the two of them, unsure who was scarier. "The last time...??" he asked, alarmed.

Post 29.

After the squabbling between the tiger and Ravana, the large Tiger looked to Asura. "What is your name, human?" the tiger asked, addressing Asura and trying to take attention away from Ravana.

Working back up to standing, Asura looked to the larger tiger. "Um... Jiin Asura, sir. " Asura answered with a bow of his head.

A soft growl escaped the tiger as he thought of something. "Asura, eh? " the tiger pondered, his large tail swishing back and forth. "I am Lord Byakko. Though most call me "Boss Byakko." I am the leader of South TIger tribe. The little cat you have grown to know is my son, Xu-fu." he introduced, both himself and the little cat. Asura looked down to the white kitten, known as Xu-Fu. It gave another 'meow' at his direction, clearly liking him. "It seems my son has taken a genuine shine to you. Despite this event, I am glad he found someone kind to put his trust in."

Asura looked to the little cat and saw how it looked at him with interest. It was that same innocent cute look the cat had. He had no idea why the cat liked him so much but it did.

"That or maybe he hopes to eat you when he grows up," Boss Byakko added, causing Asura to look up in shock. "... Just kidding, mostly."

"Great..." Asura sighed.

"Regardless, thank you Asura for returning my son to me. I shall remember your name. "Boss Byakko said. WIth that, he reached down and picked up the little cub with the tip of his mouth, just lightly to the back of the cub's fur and threw him upward, having him land on the top of his head. "Should you come to my homeland, I shall be sure to keep you in mind... should you survive the journey of course,. "

This puzzled Asura. What land, what journey-- should he survive. He turned to Ravana, and the only answer he got was his usual smirk.