I am Naruto but where is Kurama!?

" Now, now, Kurogane, our Clan hasn't had a contract summoner in over a hundred years, let alone one this young with immense Chakra reserves."

The white fox said to the black fox, and the other fox snorted before replying.

" Rules are rules, Shirogane. The kid did not break out of our combined Genjutsu quick enough."

" But he did break out of the Genjutsu, which is impressive for his age, plus the Shinobi World has changed. It is no longer a bunch of divided Clan scraping by while warring amongst themselves none stop but united Villages."

The black fox, whose name I have learned is Kurogane, sighed and said back.

" Shirogane, just because the human world has changed doesn't mean we have to change along with it. Our Clan has outlasted a number of Shinobi Clans and groups throughout the ages and can continue to do so. Why change when things are fine?"

" Kurogane, you might be fine napping away at guarding the entrance to our Clan's domain, but I am bored. I have been bored for the last several decades; I need some excitement in my life!"

The white fox named Shirogane said with grievance apparent in its voice, and Kurogane looked up to the heavens as if to ask why he was here with the white fox with exasperation. The black fox sighed before saying.

" You know what? We are just going to keep arguing about this for who knows how long and still disagree, so let's add a third neutral party to the mix to decide this matter."

" Excellent, then I'll-!"

" Hold it, Shirogane! If I agree to do this and the kid gets sent away, I don't want to hear any whining from you for the next decade!"

The white fox agreed nonetheless.

" Agreed! Now, who do we-?"

" Lady Tamamo no Mai."

Shirogane stilled at Kurogane's suggestion and asked.

" Why bother our Lady with this matter?"

" You want change, don't you? So go to the top for it!"

The black fox replied curtly at the white fox. Shirogane now looked more hesitant than before at the prospect of what I am guessing is facing the leader of these foxes. Kurogane smirked as he asked.

" Why are you waiting? You want to bend the rules, so you should discuss the matter with our Ladyship as she enforces the rules and has the final say in all important matters of the Clan, and a new summoner is important."

"You're right, of course, Kurogane, but I was hoping for someone more... available."

" Take it or leave it, Shirogane."

Kurogane said as he laid down on his perch and closed his eyes to nap away. I kept my mouth shut as I only had a rough idea of what was going on, and it wouldn't hurt me to be patient as I had enough time on my hands. Worst-case scenario, I try Reverse Summoning again to try my luck with another Summoning Clan. Shirogane glanced at me before sighing as he went up the steps of the mist-covered mountain.

I took out my Storage Scroll and brought out some camping gear I had had ready for long before I was planning on Reverse Summoning myself. Unfortunately, camp stoves aren't a thing yet in this world, but I did have an old fire pit someone was throwing out. The black fox then asked me.

" What are you doing?"

" Making myself comfortable, the two of you made it sound like your leader was busy, so I am likely going to be stuck waiting for a while."

I replied as I added some wood I had stored away to the fire pit and got a fire going since I was getting hungry. I took out a frying pan, sauce pot, some veggies, canned fish, and Ramen noodles. First, I boiled some water I had on hand to boil the noodles, and while that happened, I sliced up some veggies: onions, cabbage, peppers, and carrots. I saute them before adding the whole contents of the canned fish.

I carefully made sure I did not burn anything before adding the noodles to the mix to fry all the flavors together. I set the frying pan down on the stone floor to let it cool before taking out a kettle to make me some green tea to go with my late lunch, as the fire pit did have a rail to hang things off it. It wasn't long until my tea was ready, and I started digging into my food. My half-baked stir fry wasn't bad, and the tea helped it go down.

" You're certainly making yourself comfortable."

Kurogane spoke with opening one eye as he napped, and I shrugged as I said.

" I might as well since I don't know how long I am going to be waiting here."

" Two days tops for Lady Tamamo no Mai to get back to us for a decision about you."

The black fox said before going back to his nap. Well, it looks like I am stuck here for two more days, at least, if not possibly longer. I can maintain my Shadow Clone and get some rest by meditation because if I fully fall asleep, it will dissipate on its own. Looks like I am in for a long wait.

________________________________________

The Shadow Clone was left behind by Naruto, feeling bored being under house arrest, and it was just the third day. Naruto sighed as he was different from the Original because even if he worked out, it would just be wasting energy without any gains. He can't even send out any Shadow Clones of his own to get some books to read, so the Shadow Clone decided to spend the day getting started on a novel that the Original had in mind for a while.

Something that can be considered high fantasy in this world, Harry Potter with some tweaks here and there to make it more appealing to the world, mainly some ecchi elements since most other novels in this world had at least a few. The Shadow Clone lamented at the hidden perversion of this world, but it made sense to a degree since sex always sells. Naruto decided to set Harry at 17 instead of 10 while considering how much greater the divide between Muggleborn and other students with Magical heritage while factoring in greater maturity amongst the four houses.

Writing the abuse Harry went through was important in defining how he would act at 17 years old. The Shadow Clone carefully considered what to mention and what to withhold. He then heard a sudden knock at the door and thought.

" Tenten is here for another visit."

Naruto felt relieved at having some company again, as it would help kill time, and he went to the door. The Shadow Clone saw an unexpected face, Hinata Hyuga.

" Ah, hello, Uzumaki-san. I heard you were confined to your apartment and brought you some notes for class from the last few days."

The Hyuga girl said while holding out a notebook for the Shadow Clone to take while he said in his mind.

" I thought boss missed triggering the Hinata route!? Is plot and/or fate a thing here!?"

Naruto replied politely while making note of Hinata's blush.

" Thank you for this, Hyuga-san."

" Hinata..."

The Shadow Clone tilted his head in confusion at what he heard, and the Hyuga girl explained.

" Please call me Hinata. There are several Hyuga's already, so please call me by my given name to avoid any confusion."

Naruto's brain short-circuited before inwardly asking.

" What the heck is going on!? Boss, what did you do!?"

The Shadow Clone never expected Hinata to be so bold, considering she kept to herself during class. The Hyuga girl patted herself on the back inwardly while still blushing.

" I did it! I talked to Naruto-kun!"

Naruto thanked Hinata once more for the note, even though it had no value to him as he studied ahead of the class, but the thought did count.

" Thank you, Hinata-san."

The Hyuga girl felt her ears burn from happiness as she thought.

" Naruto-kun, said my name."

The Shadow Clone said his goodbye before closing the door.

" Have a nice day, Hinata-san."

Naruto sighed as he wondered what in the world was going on. The Original generally kept to himself, and aside from Tenten, he had no friends, or at least he didn't attempt to make any friends because he couldn't be bothered to pretend to be his physical age. Hinata was over the moon at taking the first step at getting to know the boy she admired.

" He called my name again."

The Hyuga girl muttered with a slight smile as she walked away from the apartment, feeling all warm and fuzzy before her mood soured at the sight of Tenten coming up the steps and walking past her after a brief glance. Hinata motivates herself.

" This isn't enough. I need to try and get closer to Naruto-kun!"

She thought to herself as she went to the floor below and used her Byakugan to spy on them.

Tenten knocked on the door of Naruto's apartment, and the Shadow Clone answered as he opened the door.

" Hey, Tenten, how have you been today?"

" Alright, but mind helping me study for Lady Tsunade's next exam?"

Naruto invited her in, and the brunette sat down at his dining table. The Shadow Clone then offered.

" Would you like anything to drink? I have tea, fruit juice, lemonade, and soft drinks."

" What sort of soft drinks?"

" Just some carbonated water, I flavored myself."

One of Naruto's goals was to recreate some popular soda flavors from Earth and start a business around it, but that was still a long way off. Carbonated water was easy to get, but working out the flavors yielded mixed results. Tenten looked curious and asked.

" What sort of flavors?"

" Lemon-lime, Strawberry Lime, Grape, Cherry, Orange, Green Apple, and a Berry-mix."

The Shadow Clone couldn't help but inwardly comment.

" This world is weird. There are a lot of things you would see on Earth here with the same name in its Japanese equivalent, but whatever, it works for me."

The brunette pondered for a moment before asking.

" What would you recommend?"

" The Green Apple, it has a nice tang to it."

" Then I will take that then."

Tenten replied, and the Shadow Clone opened the fridge to pour out the drink before asking.

" So, what do you want to cover for the Medical Ninjutsu exam?"

The brunette answered, and Naruto dug out the respective books related to the subject for them to study.

Meanwhile, Hinata eyed them with her Byakugan, feeling incensed at another girl being so close to the boy she admired and wanted to know better. When she saw what they're doing, she pondered.

" Medical Ninjutsu? Is that how that girl knows Naruto-kun? I didn't know he studied Medical Ninjutsu, but it matched his schedule since he only started training at his usual place after that class was over. If I start studying Medical Ninjutsu, could I also ask Naruto-kun to tutor me?"

Hinata blushed at the thought of the blonde taking the time to help her study and wanted to make it a reality. The Hyuga girl then decided.

" Okay then, I will sign up for Medical Ninjutsu class as well!"

Hinata was determined to close the gap between her and Naruto. She narrowed her eyes at the girl studying with the blonde, feeling uncomfortable at how at ease she was with him.

________________________________________

I got up from meditating in my sleeping bag to stay warm and felt sore all over my body from sleeping on the stone floor despite my sleeping bag.

" I knew I should've splurged on the sweeping bag."

I muttered to myself as I started stretching to work out the kinks in my body. It's been three days since I have been waiting for Shirogane to get back. I have been treating this as a vacation, and it's been nice to get away from Konoha. I got out of my tent and greeted Kurogane.

" Morning, Kurogane."

The black fox grunted in reply but didn't move from his pedestal as he snoozed away. He's more of a cat than a fox with how much he sleeps. I went on to make some breakfast and thought to myself.

" My Shadow Clone could probably last two more days before it runs out of Chakra."

I made some tea and sautéed some wild mushrooms with fish I found for breakfast. After eating, I went on to work out to pass the time, and Kurogane commented.

" You sure are dedicated."

" I have to be. Time waits for no one."

I kept why I pushed myself so hard because there wasn't a point in explaining myself to a Summoning Clan I hadn't contracted with yet. I felt the burn of straining my muscles before switching to striking some trees to work on my Taijutsu. Kurogane stirred from his nap and looked up the mist-covered steps, and I looked to see if Shirogane was finally back.

I didn't see the white fox, but a.... Woman!? The black fox asked after yawning.

" Why are you here, Haruhime-chan?"

I got a closer look at the woman and was stunned to see she had fox ears and a tail. THERE ARE FOXGIRLS HERE!?

( Insert Haruhime from Danmachi.)

" Lord Kurogane, I heard there was a human here, and I was curious."

Kurogane groaned before complaining.

" Of course, Shirogane can't keep his mouth shut."

The black fox sighed before going back to nap, and the foxgirl came up to me. Her long blonde hair with matching ears and tail with emerald eyes. She had snow-white skin that shined against her dark red kimono, and she bowed to me while giving her greeting.

" Good morning, young master, my name is Haruhime. I am an apprentice caretaker of the Kitsune Clan and hope to serve you in the future."

Reverse Summoning myself was the best decision I ever made. I hope I can sign a contract with this Summoning Clan because foxgirls would just make my life better. I smiled as I felt excited.

" My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and it's nice to meet you, Haruhime-san."

Seeing her, I got a nagging feeling she was familiar for some reason, but whatever, getting to know the foxgirl takes priority above all else now.