The icy grey skies were quite chilling...and felt so cold...
The puffy white cloud were thin and stretched out like cotton candy.
All in the view of a high temple that stretched into the air, above the green bushes that floated in the sky.
In the temple, there was only enough room for four people to sleep on the floor.
Wide mouth, ghastly snoring, and drool.
Wide mouth, ghastly snoring, and curled up to his pillow.
A semi-open mouth, facing up, low snowing, and stretched out.
A closed mouth, on his side, and peaceful breathing.
Four boys, all best friends, all grew up together, and all had the same mark growing on the left side of their stomachs. A death mark, that grew as the days dragged on.
Naruto Uzumaki
Natsu Dragneel
Eren Yeager
And Rin Okumura.
All four boys were knocked out until a powerful roar came from underneath the temple. Shaking it, jostling two of the boys awake.
"Ahhh, what the? Now? I can't even see the sun yet." Naruto said, the blonde rubbed his head.
"Mmm, Igneel must need something." Rin answered, he got up and walked over to the edge of the temple.
"Rin be careful."
Rin looked over the edge, into the clouds, waiting.
...a few seconds went by...
"Dramatic entrance?" Naruto questioned, fixing his shirt and wiping his mouth.
"Give it a second." Rin said, holding up his hand.
A few more seconds, and then the scaly beige, under carriage of a powerful mystical being flew in front of Rin vertically to the skies above.
"There he is." Rin said, barely moving.
The dragon shook the temple at its quick speed, which finally woke up Natsu and Eren.
"MM!" Natsu grunted.
"Ahhh." Eren turned over, not wanting to get up.
"I think Igneel needs to talk to you." Rin said.
Natsu groaned and moved over to the edge as Igneel resurfaced.
"What's up?" Natsu asked.
Rin walked over to Naruto and sat down on his sleeping bag.
"Mm, did Riki get back to you?" he asked.
"No, he and Kurama were out all night looking around for who the hell was banging on the temple last night." Naruto explained.
Eren then joined them.
"What about this?" he asked, lifting his shirt, showing the curse mark.
It grew another vine.
Naruto's and Rin's moods instantly dropped.
"I don't know what's worse; knowing that I will die, or being hunted by whatever at this point. Either way...I'm dead." Rin said, getting up.
"Hey hey." Naruto said, standing up in front of him.
"We all did what we did, and we have to pay the consequences for it. At least we'll all die together." The blonde explained.
Rin couldn't help, but smile.
"Don't go getting all mushy." Eren joked, playfully punching Naruto.
The three chuckled together.
"WHAT?!" Natsu bellowed.
The other three turned around to Igneel flying away and Natsu turning around to face them.
"We need to leave the temple." He said.
"What? The temple is the safest spot for us, what do you mean?" Rin asked.
"Not anymore. Someone knows we are up here, and we need to leave. NOW!" Natsu barked.
The boys all looked at each other in concern. Naruto moved to the edge.
"KURAMA!" he shouted.
The nine tailed demon crawled up the side of the temple and used his new wings to flap in the air. As the dragon he now was. His long nine tails were flowing in the wind, along with his wings.
"Hop on, we gotta go." Kurama said.
"Wait wait, where's Agani? And Zale?" Rin questioned.
Just then, two more dragons took to the skies. A purple and black one with human looking bulky arms. While the other one was a pale white undercarriage and blue rock-hard skin. With blue flames poking out in certain areas; Agani and Zale.
"Zale, Zale? Hey, hey what's going on?" Eren said, waving his hand to lure Zale to come closer.
"There's people underneath ready to knock down the temple. We need to get you guys outta here." Zale explained.
"Come on, come on." Agani said.
He nuzzled his head inside the temple, nudging Rin.
"Why can't we just go down and fight them?" Natsu questioned, "I'm all fired up!"
"You want that damn mark to activate around the wrong people?" Igneel huffed.
"You're a dragon! Why can't you do it!" Rin questioned.
"Because our main concern is getting you boys outta there." Zale barked.
"Are you kidding me?" Rin questioned.
The dragons huffed in frustration.
"Look I know you are trying to protect us and I love you all for that. But, you're dragons. One of the most powerful mystical beings in the world, and now you're all back. You can do so much. Show your power." Rin said.
The dragons all looked at each other.
"Mostly when one of you is actually a nine tailed demon, just saying." Naruto said.
Kurama chuckled.
"And a being from Hell." Rin added.
Agani smiled.
"The king of Fire." Natsu chimed in.
Igneel smiled.
"And a titan protector with meaty hands." Eren finished.
Zale smiled and nuzzled Eren to get on top of him. The boys climbed on top of their guardians, and steadied themselves.
"Hang on." Agani said to Rin.
Rin leaned forward, positioning himself for a fast ride. Naruto did as well, Rin too, and then Eren. The dragons moved away from the temple, flew higher in the sky, and then positioned themselves leaning forward.
The dragons darted to the ground at high speed, the boys held on for dear life and took the wind impact until the dragons got closer to the ground.
There was a group down below in black hoods who were preparing to use a huge hammer to knock the temple down. The four dragons circled around them making the group jump.
"There they are." One man said.
The dragons floated in the sky above them, except Zale who landed on the ground. Eren held onto him as Zale immediately slammed his fists on the ground knocking them all over.
"What the hell?!" shouted one of them.
"Where are the boys?!"
"How are you alive?!"
Igneel opened his mouth and took out their carriage and supplies with his fire, as Natsu held on looking around to see if all the supplies were gone.
"NO!"
Kurama flew higher up in the sky, and readied one of his tailed beast bombs. He held it still for a moment, until Agani let out a roar getting all of there attention.
"Now listen up!" Agani barked.
Rin straightened up, showing himself.
"Rin Okumura." One man said in awe.
Agani moved his head blocking Rin, "You don't touch my boy."
The men froze in fear at Agani's growing flames. The Hell dragon landed fully on the ground and straightened his long neck.
"Tell me something, where's the temple that houses the three rival groups?" Agani questioned.
Rin looked over to Eren, who shrugged. Natsu looked over to Naruto in the air, who shook his head.
"Uh...uh... it's over the great walls, it's hidden." One man answered.
"Over what?" Agani asked.
The men stayed quiet.
"Either you tell me, or the big orange dragon up there can let that bomb go and trust me it'll evaporate you from existence." He warned.
The men paused and all stared at each other.
"Let me down." Rin said.
He double tapped Agani to let him down.
"Rin.."
"Just let me down." He repeated.
Agani lowered his head and let Rin slide off.
"Rin Okumura. Son of Satan." Said one of the men.
"I see you know me." Rin said.
"We know what you and your friends did. Releasing that spell, letting those creatures run free again. It's monstrous."
"Those creatures are my allies. My friends and I have been together since we were young. And we're paying the price for what we did." He snapped.
"How so?"
Rin gulped.
"Rin." Eren said from Zale.
The men turned to Eren, who stood up on Zale's back.
"We're paying for it with our lives. But I'd give my life again to free creatures who are misunderstood and loyal." Eren said.
The men all stared at Eren.
"I'd die any day next to these three, they're my brothers. We stick together. We performed the spell that let out multiple creatures. Not just one." Eren explained.
"But it endangers others."
"Not all." Natsu chimed in, "The creatures we released are all located in one area which we can easily defeat from high ground or low ground."
"But why would you do that?"
"Because contrary to popular belief, we aren't monsters. We were taught to train our powers by a corrupt man who only seeks destruction. Then we were tortured, broke free, and did the spell. We all fight to the death to get rid of the evil creatures we released, but not all are evil." Naruto said.
Kurama smiled a bit. So did the others.
One man then bent his knee, kneeling at Rin.
"How can we service you then?" he asked.
Rin raised an eyebrow, "You wanna serve us?"
"We thought you guys were evil for releasing such creatures, but to see you now. Powerful, strong, and allies with some. Just, something about you all seems...nurturing." the man said.
Rin turned to his friends who all nodded to him.
The boys took to the skies again, and flew for awhile until they noticed something interesting below. A bunch of ugly, oversize, tall beings running all over the place like idiots. Stupid titans.
"So those are titans." Rin asked, he looked over to Natsu.
"You know you and I can take those things out easily." Natsu said.
"I know that, but the bad things about titans is that they come in huge packs." Rin said.
"How do you know that? You've been reading books?" Natsu joked.
"Hell no! Look ahead." Rin snarked, pointing ahead.
There were groups and groups of titans.
"That's bad." Naruto said, next to them, "All of them in one spot is actually very deadly if your on-ground level. They get your in their hands and crush you before you get time to blink."
"If they are so dangerous, and there are beings with beyond normal power then why haven't they been taken out yet? I'm sure a Shinobi group or wizard group could wipe the floor with titans." Rin said.
"You're getting me fired up." Natsu glowed, making them laugh.
Down below, Zale was getting a little too close to the ground. Just when two titans jumped up grabbing Zale's tail jostling the dragon.
"Uh!" Eren grunted.
"Eren!" Rin shouted from above.
The titans' bit into Zale's tail.
"Zale!" Eren shouted.
"Get off my tail!" Zale barked, flicking the titans off his tail like ticks.
Eren double tapped Zale who took off to the sky with his bleeding tail.
"Zale! Are you okay?" Eren asked, touching the side of the dragon's head.
"I'm fine, my damn tail though." He replied.
"You alright man?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah, I just need to land." Zale answered.
"Hey! Over there!" Naruto said, pointing ahead.
There was someone in the field with the titans, a man with a cape over his entire body and face. The titans were running at him, but the man remained still and did something with his hands.
"CRUSH!" he shouted.
At least fifty titans burst into bits, sending blood everywhere. The man sighed happily until a huge black flash flew in front of his eyes. He looked around confused on what it was. The black flash returned in the shape of Acnologia. The black dragon. The dragon slammed it's mouth on the man's arm.
"AGH!" the man shouted in pain.
He pulled on his arm to release as other titans were nearby.
"Land us." Natsu said.
"You sure?" Kurama asked.
"We need to hide, that's Acnologia, he's the black dragon and his claws will kill you in an instant." Igneel said.
"I'm a dragon from Hell itself, I'd love to see that boy get the drop on me." Agani huffed.
"If he scratches you, who knows what will happen. You wanna risk that?" Igneel barked.
Agani sighed and groaned as they all landed.
"Let us take care of this." Naruto said.
Eren bit into his hand, and the lightning struck. He roared his titan roar, and turned into his monster body. Naruto, Natsu, and Rin all nodded to each other and went in.
After the blood was splattered, the bodies fell to the floor, and steam hissed from the skin. The wounded man was now missing his arm, and his leg. Acnologia took off once he got a sense of the other dragons, leaving the man bleeding out. His arm was also bleeding out too.
The three boys circled around the man as Eren was looking around for any more titans nearby. The man grunted, as Rin knelt to him and checked his injuries.
"Severe. God, Jesus. How did you survive this?" the boys said.
He reached for the man's arm, still attached, but barely.
"AGHHHHHHHH!" the man bellowed.
"Rin." Naruto snapped, knelt down to help.
"We gotta take care of his arm, I don't think we can save it." Rin said.
"What do you wanna do? We can't let him die." Naruto said.
"I know, but the bleeding." Rin urged.
"Move, move." Natsu said, kneeling.
The boys worked together to help the man, the best they could. His screams of agony, made them just wanna help him more.
"Should we bring him with us?" Natsu asked.
The boys were hit with a huge blast of air from Eren hardening his titan skin, to return to his normal body.
"Yes, bring him with us. We're not leaving him here." Eren said.
Rin wrapped Gildart's good arm around his neck, while Natsu wrapped his arm around Gildarts's waist.
"What's your name?" Naruto asked, trying to keep him conscious.
"...Gil...Gildarts." he answered.
This was one strong man to remain alive after getting attacked by a dragon. Naruto nodded once as they heard their four dragons returning.
"Guess Acnologia didn't get them." Eren said.
"Good." Natsu said.
Natsu got on Igneel and pulled Gildarts behind him carefully.
"More..drag...dragons.." Gildarts stuttered.
"Might wanna save your energy." Natsu said.
They all took to the sky and made their way to the Great Walls. The temples over the Great Walls came into view through the thick clouds. The boys' mouths dropped at the sight of the huge temples. The entire area was guarded by walls all over, and looked like a paradise. (Now think of El Dorado).
The dragons halted and landed on top of the walls.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.
"Do you boys realize what you might be getting into?" Igneel asked.
"What do you mean?" Rin asked.
"People in the world know who you boys are, that puts you in danger."
"We're always in danger." Eren said.
"Are you saying this place isn't safe for us?" Natsu asked.
"No place will ever be safe. They are gonna try to use you in any way they can. Or damage you. They'll make you the bad guy. They'll use you for your power, or break you down. In any form. That's why." Agani said.
The boys all turned to each other in concern.
"They aren't wrong." Gildarts said, from behind Natsu.
"You feeling better?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah," Gildarts sat up straight, "There are corrupt people in there. But there are good people too. I've heard of you boys before, but the way you saved me makes me think differently from what I've heard."
Natsu looked up at the boys and smiled a bit. They all did.
"You think you can handle this?" Zale asked.
Eren look at his friends, who all nodded to each other.
"We can do it." Eren said, "Just can you guys stay nearby?"
Zale, Agani, Igneel, and Kurama all nodded to each other. They turned back to the temple grounds where people started coming out of it. Three different groups, large quantities. And a few people who were in the front as the leaders.
"Uhhh." Said one of them pointing to the walls, noticing the dragons.
Another guy turned around just as the dragons kicked off the stone and darted down. Gildarts held onto Igneel's sides as the dragons landed on the ground. The groups backed up, intimidated by the four huge dragons. The men in the front all turned around completely to face them.
"Who in the?" asked, Madara Uchiha.
"Dragons. Man, I thought that was a myth." Hashirama Senju said.
"I guess not then." Makarov Dreyar chimed in.
The dragons all put their heads down showing the four boys.
"Ooooookay, whose that?" Tsunade questioned.
Eren, Natsu, Naruto, and Rin slid off their dragons. Natsu turned as Igneel slowly helped Gildarts get down.
"Gildarts?" Hashirama called out.
"Dad!" shouted a beautiful brunette.
She ran up to her father and caught him in her arms.
"Dad? Are you okay? What happened?" she questioned.
"Dragon attacked me. Ripped my leg off, and couldn't save my arm." Gildarts explained.
Hashirama and Madara walked over to help Gildarts, while his daughter, Cana, ran over and shoved Rin.
"What'd you do to my dad?!" she barked, shoving him again.
"I didn't do anything to your dad! I helped him!" Rin barked back in her face.
Agani growled making Cana back up a few feet, shaking.
"Easy Agani, easy." Rin said, reaching up and petting Agani's head to calm down.
"Cana, they didn't hurt me. They saved me. It's okay." Gildarts said.
She backed up away from them and held her father.
"Hashirama, remember that story we heard about the four boys who released 'evil' back into the world?" Gildarts asked.
"Yeah."
"Meet them." Gildarts held up his arm to the boys.
Hashirama looked shocked at the boys as the four boys stood next to each other, side by side, tall and strong. He looked back at Madara whose face was also in question. The three groups started whispering to each other; the Shinobi, the Wizards, and the Scouts.
"Well welcome, we are pleased to have you boys here." Said Mard Greer with Jiemma and Danzo behind him.
The boys all turned to each other, considering it.
"We'd love to have you. And your dragons." Jiemma pressed.
"No." Naruto snapped.
Jiemma backed down.
"Not them." The blonde snapped.
Zale, Agani, Igneel, and Kurama flapped their wings and took to the sky. They hollered and took off.
"Shall we let them in?" Mard sang playfully.
The others looked angrily at him.
In the main hall room, where the long shiny wooden tables were at for dinner time were. The four boys walked in, with now black hoods on their heads. They walked past the three groups who were either staring them down or glaring at each other. They all stopped at the front of the tables in front of the twelve members sitting in throne chairs in a circle.
"Welcome here," Tsunade said standing up, "We've heard a lot of tales about you boys. Your power. What you did. Where you're from. But, where have you been the last few years?"
Rin turned to his friends, who licked their lips.
"We lived in a temple." Rin answered.
"How-?" Tsunade started to speak until Danzo stood up interrupting him.
"Oh, what does that matter. They are here now, such great power." He said.
Natsu turned his face up to the man, Naruto and Eren looked behind them to the other groups who were staring them down.
"This is uncomfortable." Eren whispered.
"Exactly." Naruto said back.
"We would love for you boys to stay here with us, but you'll need to be placed in the groups behind you." Jiemma explained.
Rin and Natsu scratched their heads, clearly awkward.
"But Jiemma, these boys have such amazing power. They can't just be any average team mate. They have to be more." Mard said with a sarcastic tone.
"That doesn't sound good." Eren said.
"Then where would you place them?" Danzo asked, joining the conversation.
"You guys." Hashirama barked.
"I'd place them as...captains." Danzo smiled evilly.
Naruto, Rin, Eren, and Natsu's faces all dropped and then they jumped when they heard the backlash cries behind them from the other groups. An obvious objection. And a devious plan.
"Then it's decided," Mard clapped happily, "Naruto will be the new captain of the Shinobi."
"Uh." Naruto put his finger up.
"Natsu can be the captain of the Wizards."
"Wait a second." Natsu tried.
"And Eren can be the new captain of the Scouts."
"Hold on!" Eren barked from the loud yelling behind them.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Sasuke Uchiha shouted.
"I'VE BEEN WORKING MY ASS OFF TO BE CAPTAIN!" Levi shouted.
"THIS IS RIDICOULOUS!" shouted another, Erza Scarlet.
"Don't you think you should give the title of 'Captain' to someone from the groups. They seem angry, and they've been here longer." Rin tried.
"Oh, they'll be fine. It's why we make the rules." Jiemma smiled evilly.
The boys looked behind them to the mean glares of their new 'teammates'.
"This isn't gonna be good, I can tell they hate each other and now this anger will be redirected towards us." Naruto hissed to Eren.
"Then can we say 'no'." Eren hissed.
"And what if we don't wanna do this." Natsu said to Mard.
"Well, you can refuse. But I think a certain 'mark' can grow." He hissed.
Natsu gulped, so did the others.
"Rin, may we speak with you." Hashirama said.
Rin turned up his face, and turned to his friends.
"And because of this, you all will have to stay with your teams. And not each other." Mard said.
This angered the four boys.
"Understand?"
"...noted." Natsu hissed.
"Great." Mard clapped.
This wasn't going to be easy.
But, the boys felt like this could be the only option for them.
"The guards will show you all to your rooms." Jieamma said.
"Jiemma. Mard. Danzo, meet! NOW!" Hashirama barked, "Dismissed! All of you!"
"Here you go sir." Said the guard to Naruto.
Naruto stiffened a bit at the guard, but nodded. He kept looking around for Natsu, or Eren, or Rin. No where in sight. He stepped into the temple room. Wide window frames with no glass, just curtains. There were two king size beds on opposite sides of the huge room. In the middle of the room was a small dip in the middle with pillows surrounding it. Small dressers to change with corridors.
Naruto looked around because the room was semi-dark.
"Hi." Someone said from the other bed.
He jumped.
"Whoa, uh hi." He said.
The boy on the bed stood up from the bed and came into the small light to see him clearly.
"So, you're the new captain." He said.
"Um I guess so." Naruto said, "What's your name?"
"Konohamaru." The boy answered. (He's the same age as the teenagers).
Naruto nodded, "Nice to meet you."
Konohamaru nodded once to him.
Natsu was set up in the same décor room on the other side of the south temple. However, his room had a balcony. He looked around the entire room, and saw someone out on the balcony. His roommate.
"Hello?" he questioned.
The boy, with blue hair and a red mark across his eye, turned around and stood up.
"Hi." He said.
"Hey, I'm guessing you're my roommate." Natsu said.
"Mhmm, captain." The boy sighed, clearly frustrated.
"Um, look I'm not here to step on anyone's toes okay. I don't even think I'm cut out to be a captain. Whatever that guy meant." He said.
"That's Mard. He's...sneaky." the boy explained.
"Well why make me a captain? Of what exactly?" Natsu asked.
"I'm guessing he sees some type of potential in you... or a power dummy for himself." The boy said.
Natsu licked his lips, "You got a name?"
"...Jellal." he answered.
"Nice to meet you." Natsu said.
"You too." Jellal said.
In the north temple, on the bottom floor was where the Scouts were. Eren walked up the steps, and opened up the door to a room where the beds were in separate areas covered by curtains to the point where the roommates could barely see where the other was.
Eren licked his lips and looked around.
"Oh, hello captain." Someone said behind him.
Eren turned around to a small boy with honey, yellow sun blonde hair and wide eyes. Armin Arlert.
"Who are you?" Eren asked.
"Armin Arlert." He replied.
Eren nodded to him, "Uh so which bed is yours?" he asked.
"Um, I took the one closest to the door, but if you want that one." Armin started to say.
"It's okay, I'll take that one." Eren said.
Armin nodded.
"Um, so why do these groups hate each other?" Eren asked.
"Long history, one thinks they are stronger than the other, etc." Armin explained.
"You don't seem down for it." Eren said.
"It is what it is. I rather not have any conflict." Armin said, "Where did your...dragon go?"
"He'll be...around." Eren stated firmly.
Armin nodded, "Um, breaksfast is served in the morning and then everyone goes to train." He explained.
Eren chuckled, "You seem more like a captain than me." He said.
Armin gulped, "I guess there is something about you that shouts 'captain'." He said.
"More like 'monster mouth'." Eren corrected making Armin chuckle a bit.
Rin was given a solo room, a huge bed in the middle and wide space enough for a party. He sat down on the bed, and bounced a bit.
"Mmm, jeez might stay in bed forever." He said.
There was a sudden knock at the door, he walked over and opened it.
"Hey." He said backing up for Natsu, Eren, and Naruto to come in.
"This is stupid." Eren said.
"How so?"
"We can't see each other. They want us all to be separated." Naruto said.
"Not happening." Rin said shaking his head.
"I got some intel from my roommate, Armin." Eren said.
"What did you find out?"
"That the three groups don't get along at all, they all hate each other. The Scouts take care of missions that deal with those titans. The wizards handle the big enemies. And the ninjas handle sneak operations and hostile take overs." Eren explained.
The boys all turned to each other.
"And none of them help each other."
"Sounds iffy. Wouldn't it be better if they work together? Use each teams' strongest players together." Rin said.
"You would think." Eren said.
"Well maybe we should stay." Naruto said.
They all turned to him.
"Remember what our dragons said to us and Gildarts. We could maybe make a difference here, change how the world sees us. So, we're not just those boys who brought back evil. We could do something here." Naruto explained.
The boys remained quiet and then agreed with Naruto.
"Maybe we could-"Rin started to say until he grunted.
All of them grunted, and wrapped their arms around their stomachs in agony and pain.
"AGHHH!
"WHAT THE?!"
"AGHHHHHHH!"
"UHHHHHHH!"
Natsu pulled up his shirt to reveal the curse death mark on their bodies growing a little bit.
"Oh god no." Eren sighed.
"What do we do?" Rin grunted.
"Are we gonna die?" Naruto questioned.
"I'm not gonna go out like that." Natsu hissed, "I rather make a difference before this sh*t takes me out."
Point. Blank. Period.