Chapter 4: Of Trees and Talking Dryads
Naruto sped through the forest like a cheerful breeze on a spring morning, his feet barely making a sound, even as the occasional monstrous thing leapt out at him from behind a bush with far too many teeth.
They didn't stay long.
With a flick, a thud, and a puff of smoke, most found themselves unconscious or flat on their backs with swirling eyes and no memory of why attacking that strange golden-haired fellow had ever seemed like a good idea.
"There are four creatures here," Naruto mused as he landed nimbly on a mossy rock, his golden eyes sweeping the forest like a scanner. "Four with very large life forces… but one of them…" —he paused, eyes narrowing— "one of them feels like it swallowed the other three."
It was not, as far as he could tell, an exaggeration.
"Whatever it is," he muttered, stretching a hand outward, "it's got enough juice to give even Kurama a headache."
Still, despite the enormous presence up ahead, Naruto wasn't really feeling nervous. He felt… curious. Like a cat with nine lives and a good insurance policy.
He created three shadow clones with a puff of smoke and sent them whizzing off in three different directions.
"Try not to punch anything unless it tries to bite your head off!" he called after them.
The clones, used to his methods by now, simply gave identical two-finger salutes and disappeared into the woods.
"I'll let them round up the monsters. Might as well bring some peace around here without turning everything into a battlefield," he said, then added thoughtfully, "Maybe give them a crash course in behaving, like monster finishing school."
He chuckled at the image of a goblin learning how to use a teacup properly.
Naruto's mind drifted as his body moved.
"How do we even judge monsters?" he wondered. "From our human perspective, anything with fangs or tentacles is scary. But isn't that just us being unfair? If they're hunting for food, isn't that what we do too?"
"But still…" he muttered, "I can't let people die. So I'll guide them. Better than killing them for simply being what they are."
He finally arrived at a clearing—though calling it a "clearing" didn't quite do it justice. It was more like a sacred grove, forgotten by time. And at the center of it stood a tree.
No, not just a tree.
A giant, hulking, otherworldly tree, the size of a castle tower with bark as black as storm clouds and a yawning hollow at its base that resembled a mouth. A really, really hungry one.
Naruto slowed to a stop, sage mode still active. The tree was alive, ancient, and—thankfully—sleeping.
He could feel its pulse like a drumbeat in the earth. Even asleep, its presence crackled with menace.
"Yup," Naruto whispered to himself, hands on hips, "definitely not your average houseplant."
"Please…" a soft voice interrupted him from the side, like a breeze whispering through leaves. "Do not disturb the demon tree. It will kill us all."
Naruto turned, immediately locking eyes with a creature unlike anything he'd met before.
She was tall and slender, her skin a pale green like the underside of a leaf. Vines wrapped around her arms like bangles, and tiny flowers bloomed in her hair. Her eyes, a deep and earthy brown, held both caution and kindness.
"What are you?" Naruto asked, stepping toward her with gentle curiosity. His aura, brimming with natural energy, rolled outward like sunlight through mist.
The dryad blinked, visibly affected. She swayed slightly, as though drunk on his presence, her shoulders relaxing and fear evaporating like dew.
"I… I am a dryad," she said at last, voice barely above a whisper. "My name is Pinison. This tree… this demon… it once devoured a thousand souls. It nearly broke the world. Only the Dragon Lord managed to seal it into slumber. Please, leave it be. Heroes will come. They will subjugate it."
Her words were timid but sincere.
Naruto blinked at her, tilting his head. "Subjugate it? Sounds more like they'll chop it down and declare victory."
Pinison didn't deny it.
Naruto gave a lighthearted sigh, then stepped forward and—quite unexpectedly—patted her head.
"There, there. Don't worry. I don't plan on burning down the forest today," he said, flashing a grin.
His touch, charged with warm sage energy, made the dryad blink rapidly and sway again, a soft blush rising to her cheeks that looked suspiciously like a blooming rosebud.
"I'm just going to talk to it," he said, turning his gaze back to the slumbering tree. "Worst-case scenario, it tries to eat me and I get to see if Kurama was right about sage mode resisting demonic digestion."
"You're… you're insane," Pinison whispered, wide-eyed.
"Maybe," Naruto replied cheerfully. "But I'm also really good at making friends with terrifying monsters. I was raised by one, you know."
And with that, he stepped toward the tree, his golden eyes glowing softly, like two suns rising over a forest that had forgotten how to hope.
---------------------
Naruto left the dryad behind with a casual wave and leapt upwards, soaring toward the crown of the slumbering colossus. The ancient tree's canopy was thick with moss, glistening softly under the moonlight like a forest of its own. Settling into a lotus position, Naruto pressed a hand against the bark, and with a slow exhale, he opened himself to the pulse of the creature beneath him.
Nature welcomed him.
But what he found within the creature's spirit was not serenity.
It was a storm.
Rage. Hunger. A void that howled for something it couldn't name. The demon tree had no thoughts, no consciousness, no soul—only primal urges and a memory of devouring.
"Just desire," Naruto thought, saddened. "Like a beast that never learned it could be more."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Then I'll show it."
Channeling his sage chakra, Naruto surged into the tree's mind like a sun pouring light into a cave. He didn't just overpower it—he reprogrammed it. Bit by bit, he seeded commands, layered seals onto its ancient roots, and instilled structure into the chaos.
The entire night passed as he sat atop the demon tree, pouring himself into the task, reshaping the mindless thing into something new.
By morning, the beast was gone.
In its place stood a titan of wood and wonder—regal, radiant, and reborn.
What had once been a snarling, twisted horror was now an awe-inspiring dragon. Its body slithered like a serpent, scaled in living bark that shimmered with natural chakra. Grand wings, shaped like woven leaves and laced with emerald veins, stretched wide, catching the wind with ease.
Four hundred meters long. One hundred and fifty meters tall.
A creature of legend, forged in a single night.
Naruto stood on its back, arms crossed, utterly satisfied.
"I am definitely still childish," he admitted with a grin, "but who cares?"
Then, with unfiltered joy, he shouted to the heavens:
"I HAVE FREAKING DRAGON BITCHES!"
The forest birds scattered in all directions.
He was laughing now, like a kid who had just won the ultimate prize at a fair. The joy wasn't just for the power—it was the creation. A new partner, a new dream.
He had lost his summons long ago.
But now, he had filled that gap.
The wood-dragon rose, responding to his chakra as if they were linked by blood. It lifted off with a thunderous gust of wind, flying higher and higher, cutting across the skies like a comet of leaves and bark. Naruto tested its speed, endurance, even sent it into orbit just to see if it could handle the vacuum.
Apparently, it could.
As he floated beside it in the stars, eyes scanning the curve of the world below, he blinked thoughtfully.
"I don't need to breathe," he muttered. "So… why do I?"
A pause. Then a quiet chuckle.
"Must be a Sage of Six Paths thing. That old man was weird."
Riding back down through the atmosphere like a meteor, Naruto landed gently on the dragon's head.
"You're not just a tool," he said softly. "You're alive now. Like a bijuu."
It reminded him—uncomfortably—of the Sage and the tailed beasts. He, too, had taken a monster of pure power and given it shape, voice… meaning.
"I've become that old man," Naruto grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ugh."
But even as he complained, he knew he had made the right call.
He raised a hand and placed it gently on the dragon's brow. A seal flared to life, drawing itself into the bark like ink sinking into paper. A summoning contract, etched directly into its being.
"You're mine now. But not as a weapon. As a partner."
"I understand, Papa," came a reply—light, clear, and utterly adorable.
Naruto blinked.
"…Did you just call me Papa?"
The enormous dragon nodded enthusiastically, then with a shimmer of natural energy, began to shrink.
Its massive form twisted inward, coiling smaller and smaller until, within moments, it had become a ten-inch-long serpent-dragon, still regal but now tiny, curling affectionately around Naruto's arm like a leafy bracelet.
Naruto stared down at it. "...You're too cute for something that used to eat people."
"I won't do that anymore," Ryu said happily. "I have you now."
Naruto sighed, smiling in spite of himself.
"Well… I guess I'm a dad again."
And just like that, under the breaking dawn and the flutter of eagle wings sprouting from his back, Naruto soared through the skies once more—this time, not alone.
-----------------------
"They should be awake by now… my clones are done, food's collected, so nothing else left—oh!" Naruto muttered, suddenly remembering the dryad. Without wasting a moment, he spread his chakra wings and soared back through the trees toward her location.
As he arrived, the forest shimmered with morning light filtering through the leaves. Pinison was still there, standing quietly with her hands folded, her green hair rustling softly like grass in the wind. She had watched everything. The transformation of the demon tree into a majestic dragon. The sky-splitting flight.
It had left her breathless—and oddly wistful.
"Sorry for leaving you hanging," Naruto said casually, floating down. "You can relax now. The problem's been handled."
Pinison's eyes shimmered like dewdrops on morning leaves. "I saw… it was beautiful. To take something so terrible and turn it into something… divine. You didn't just tame it—you gave it a soul."
She hesitated, then stepped forward. Her voice was gentle but firm. "May I make a request?"
Naruto raised a brow. "Sure, what's on your mind?"
Her green eyes locked onto his, wide and vulnerable. "Please… let me serve you. I am alone in this forest. My kin are long gone, and I have guarded this place for centuries with no purpose but survival. But you—Master, you feel like the forest itself. Overflowing with life, with balance. Being near you… it brings me peace I haven't known in ages."
She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around his leg. "Please let me serve you. Let me stay near you. I will do anything—just let me remain by your side."
Naruto stared at her in silence for a long moment.
She was sincere. No malice in her voice, no trickery in her heart. Just a lonely guardian looking for meaning—and a place to belong.
He knelt and took her hand.
"Alright. I'll accept your request. But know this," he said seriously, "I don't keep useless people around. You want to stay? Then you pull your weight. Got it?"
Pinison nodded immediately, eyes shining. "Yes, Master."
"To start," Naruto said, placing two fingers against her collarbone, "you'll be under my protection."
A gentle glow flowed from his fingers, forming a delicate, leaf-like seal that pulsed with chakra. It shimmered faintly on her skin before vanishing from view.
"A contract seal," he explained. "I can sense your condition and location, and summon you if I need to. Same as my dragon."
Pinison's breath caught. She placed her hand gently over the seal, as if treasuring it.
"Thank you, Master…"
"Name's Naruto Uzumaki," he said with a grin. "Now hold on tight."
Before she could respond, he swept her up into his arms effortlessly. She gasped, blushing lightly, but obeyed, clinging to him as the wind gathered beneath his wings.
With a powerful beat of chakra-infused energy, Naruto took off, soaring back toward the cottage where his allies waited.