Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail. If I did then…I wouldn't have wasted all my best Naruto disclaimers on Ninja of Santoryu.
Cedric: And that's what you get for your updates being so inconsistent
Skillet: And who was wrong about the story bombing again?
Cedric: Fourteen reviews, big deal.
L: Isn't that seven times the reviews the Monster Chronicles normally gets on its chapters?
Cedric: Is the sound of someone who wants to be dismembered?
L: Big whoop I'm already dead.
Chapter 2: Naruto's First Job
It was an early morning at the beginning of July, and Naruto woke up from his bed with a stretch. Shortly after joining Fairy Tail and becoming a legal citizen of Fiore a few months ago, Naruto moved into the male dormitory for young mages of the guild, Fairy Valley "Alright let's get to training!" Naruto said cheerfully before he heard his stomach growl and he realized that he had just ran out of his stock of food.
"Oh right, I'm out of food. Guess I should start looking for some way to get money." Naruto groaned as she walked out of his dorm room to see that Fairy Valley was still dormant. Several of the young male mages were either out on jobs or sleeping like babies. Only Gray seemed to be out and about at the moment, training with his Ice Make Magic in the middle of the clearing that Fairy Valley surrounded.
"Hey Gray, do you have any idea how we're supposed to make money around here? Master Jiisan said something about taking jobs when I first joined."
"Ran out of your Beginner's Food Stock eh? Most people end up in the same boat as you sooner or later I suppose." Gray looked up at him from the balcony "There's a job request board in the Guild Hall there's all kind of jobs you can take there."
"Thanks!" Naruto said to Gray before he jumped off the edge of the balcony and started to jog in the direction of the guild hall. Gray decided to go back to training once their brief conversation had ended, until he noticed that Naruto had trailed back to ask him something else "By the way, do you know if we can ask anybody to tag along on a job with us?"
"Yeah, it's actually suggested that beginners do that on harder jobs so they don't get themselves killed." Gray answered his question.
"That's good, I was actually thinking of asking Erza-chan if she wanted to go on a job with me." Naruto said with a blush on his face as he thought of his red haired guild mate "I want to split the money with her as a way of saying thanks for being so nice to me when I first joined the guild."
Seeing his skin turn a dark red when the topic of Erza came up, Gray decided it would be appropriate to tease him a bit "Oh really? Are you sure that's the only reason? Or does somebody have a crush on Little Miss Redhead?"
"Hey, it's not like that you big dumbass! I just think that she's really pretty and cool, so I want to help her out a bit." Naruto tried to defend himself from the young ice mage's accusations despite the growing blush on his face.
"That's called a crush you know." Gray said to him with a sly smile "Face it Naruto, you've got it bad."
"Shut up Ero-Freezer!" Naruto said with a face as red as a tomato before running into the streets of Magnolia. As a result of his Shangeese origins, Naruto found that he had no idea how to read the language or alphabet of Ishgar and had quite a bit of trouble getting around as a result. After the past months of getting completely lost in his new environment, Naruto figured out how to get to the Fairy Tail guild by memory.
While he ran towards the famous guild building, he noticed two other boys running nearby him. One of them was a boy with black hair shaped like a leaf, wearing a white tee shirt and green shorts; the other was a fast paced orange haired boy wearing a purple t-shirt. Naruto knew these boys on a first name basis, both of them being young members of Fairy Tail as well "Hey Jet, hey Droy. Have you seen any good jobs on the request board lately?"
"That's just what we were running over to the guild for. Levy says she found a high paying job taking a book from some nobleman in Shirotsume Town." Jet explained to the former shinobi while he jogged beside them.
"Stealing a book? That sounds really weird." Naruto gave a confused leer towards his guildmate.
"Who cares, it's legal and it pays a bunch of cash. You should come check it out newbie." Droy shrugged off Naruto's concerns with a grin, while Naruto got annoyed with one of the young Plant mage's comments.
"Who are you calling a newbie jackass? You barely joined the guild before me so shut your trap!" Naruto growled at Droy who continued to laugh at him.
At their quick pace, it only took the small group of boys about five minutes to reach the Fairy Tail guild hall and they found that it was just as busy as ever inside. The only one who seemed to be quiet was Laxus, who was still keeping to himself as a result of his father's recent excommunication from the guild. Just as Jet and Droy said, Levy was also at the board looking at a particular job with interest, especially the reward of 200,000 jewel.
"Hey boys, you decide to come along with me on the job?" Levy asked her friends who seemed very interested in the task at hand.
"Of course, we're Team Shadow Gear aren't we? Besides, who'd turn down a job that pays that much money." Jet said while drooling at the thought of the large reward that came with the job "And to think we only have to take a book from some dirty old guy named Duke Everlue!"
"Stop drooling Jet, it's getting all over the floor!"
"By the way Levy, do you think it would be cool if we brought Naruto along with us for this job? Newbie just ran out of his Beginner's Food Stock so he might need the cash." Droy explained to his blue haired teammate, who seemed to be on board with the idea.
"Well, four heads are certainly better than three. And besides, the reward would be a lot easier to divide up with an even number. So I don't see why not." Levy began to calculate the amount each person would get "Between the 200,000 jewel reward and the four of us, we'd each get about 50,000 jewel."
"50,000 JEWEL? WE'LL BE STINKING RICH!"
While Team Shadow Gear and Naruto celebrated the high amount of return they'd be getting and the rest of the guild looked on in envy, Makarov walked in and informed them of another detail concerning the job "I'm not so sure you'd want to take the Everlue job just yet. You may not know this, but the reward was recently changed."
"Oh man, it went down didn't it? I knew that much money for some stupid book was too good to be true." Droy looked down in sadness while a dark smirk grew across Makarov's face.
"Actually quite the opposite; the reward has been increased to 2 million!"
"2 MILLION JEWEL!"
"You've gotta be kidding us Master! That's the kind of reward you'd get from a low level S-Class quest!" Wakaba practically jumped out of his seat upon hearing the amount "No way you're just gonna let that thing stay on the downstairs board!"
"The poster hasn't marked it with the S-Class seal, so technically anyone in the guild can pick it up and take it." Makarov explained to the others, while Team Shadow Gear and Naruto stayed off to the background, shocked by the extremely high rise in payment.
"2 million jewel...2 million jewel...Is this the real life...Is this just fantasy?" Naruto said a practically comatose state while the others stared at the job poster in a mixture of surprise and excitement "This is way more than I ever made on Team 7!"
"So I presume you'll be taking the job then?"
"You got that right master! There's no way I'm turning down a job I could do that easily!" Naruto declared before another member of the guild interjected into the conversation.
"Not so fast, I'm not exactly sure that a job with such a high reward can be done with so few people. Especially when most of these people are relatively new to the guild." Erza explained herself before approaching Levy "I hope you don't mind this Levy, but I'd like to join you on this job to make sure it's not dangerous."
"Of course not Erza, the more the merrier." Levy said to the older girl with a smile on her face.
"Good news eh Naruto?" Jet teased Naruto concerning his not so secret crush on Erza, before pointing out a detail of the job that Naruto seemed to have missed "By the way, this Duke Everlue guy is a dirty old pervert who's looking for maids with blonde hair."
"...Wait, what?"
"You do know some transforming magic thanks to your ninja days right? That means you can transform into a hot blonde maid and help us infiltrate his place." Droy further explained with an evil grin on his face.
"No way, you bastards tricked me!" Naruto yelled in disbelief while Jet and Droy tried to contain their laughter.
"Too bad Erza's on the job now, so there's no way you can back out! Now why don't you start practicing and address Jet here as your master."
"FUCK YOU!"
Later that day, the members of Team Shadow Gear plus Naruto and Erza had made it to Shirotsume and had arrived at the mansion of the man who'd made the job request. Naruto was still visibly annoyed at having to act as a makeshift honey trap for the job, but gritted his teeth and went along with it anyways; partially because he needed the money, and partially because he wanted to impress Erza. The man funding the job appeared to be in his early 50s with a small mustache and gray hair, with a normal business suit.
"My name is Kaby Melon, thank you for taking on this job for me. I have to say I never expected mages this young to be taking on the job, even if you are from Fairy Tail." Kaby said to them from the other side of the table.
"I assure you we are quite capable. My name is Erza Scarlett and the shangeese boy with the whisker birthmarks is Naruto Uzumaki." Erza introduced both herself and Naruto.
"I'm Levy and these two are Jet and Droy. We're Team Shadow Gear."
"Thank you for the introductions." Kaby gave them a small bow with his head before going into more detail about his request "The man ruling over this town is Duke Everlue, and he owns a book titled Daybreak. I would like for you to take the book from him and burn it."
"Burn a book?" Levy said in shock, which mainly stemmed from her love of reading "If you don't mind me asking, why do you want this book to be burned?"
"The same reason I raised the reward for this job. I simply cannot allow a book that's caused so much pain to family to exist any longer. It must be destroyed!" Kaby grew a dark presence around him as he solemnly gazed at the floor beneath him "You should know that no mage that I've hired to do this job has succeeded; all of them have been killed by Everlue's security. Knowing this I'll understand if you decide you want to back out."
"No way!" Naruto stood up from his seat "By taking this job, I gave my word we would get it done and I never go back on my word. That's my nindo, my ninj-...mage way."
"Besides, we already bought the maid outfit for infiltration." Droy held up the costume with a grin, much to the annoyance of Naruto.
This joke backfired on Droy when Kaby asked "What exactly is the maid uniform for young man?"
"He's an okama!" Naruto piped up before Droy could answer.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Naruto grimaced as he walked up to Everlue Mansion, having already been forced into the maid costume by Jet and Droy "I could have just transformed into a maid's costume you know! I didn't have to wear this stupid thing for real!"
"We know! This is just more fun!" Jet said while and Droy continued to snicker at what he was wearing, only to get smacked over the head by Erza.
"It's not nice to tease others boys. Now let's hide in the bushes so Naruto can do his job."
"I'm totally getting a higher percentage of the reward than you bastards!" Naruto growled at the boys of Team Shadow Gear while he walked up to the gates of the Everlue Mansion, and transformed into his usual Sexy Jutsu, but this time with a magical spin on it.
"Transformation Magic: Sexy Maid Edition"
"Oh man, she's cute!" Droy drooled over the newly transformed Naruto from the trees nearby.
"That she is a he Droy." Levy reminded her teammate.
"Excuse me, Duke Everlue? I heard you were looking for blonde maids?" The transformed Naruto cooed, trying to make himself sound as seductive as possible with his female voice. Just then, another woman in a maid's uniform appeared from underground. However, this woman didn't appear to be a woman at all, having a very mannish face and insanely muscular build. The gigantic maid spoke in a booming, deep voice.
"So you're applying for a maid's position? I presume you saw the master's ad in the paper?"
"Uh...yeah." Naruto said, shocked by the sudden appearance of the large woman before somebody else came out of the ground. This person was a very short man in a business suit with balding light brown hair and a mustache that was apparently combed from his nose hairs. Naruto almost immediately recognized him as the man from the job poster, Duke Everlue 'I have to hit on this creep? He looks even more ancient than Ero-sennin!'
"Boyoyo! Did I hear a lady call my name?" Duke Everlue chortled out while twirling around his nose hair mustache after popping out from underground. It was then he started closely examining Naruto, before cringing and turning the other way "I'll pass, now scram ugly. I only hire beautiful maids like Virgo here."
"NANI?" Naruto cried out in shock, not even bothering to disguise his voice.
"It didn't work? Man, that old geezer must have cataracts or something!" Jet said in shock that their plan had failed.
"Well, look it at this way; now we have blackmail pictures if we ever need anything else from Naruto!" Droy held up the pictures of Naruto in drag he'd taken in secret.
"True!"
Sighing at the immaturity of her teammates, Levy turned to face Erza "So do you have any ideas on how to get in Erza?"
"Simple, we do what Fairy Tail always does on its jobs. And that's not forcing our comrades into drag for a cheap gag." Erza cast a brief but harsh glare onto Jet and Droy for their actions, before elaborating on her plan "It's likely that a mansion this big would have a library. We'll just have to sneak in and take it."
"You got that right Erza-chan!" Naruto said as he practically tore himself from the costume and changed back into his usual clothes "Thanks to that kappa I wore this stupid outfit for nothing! He's gonna pay!"
"Requip: Flame Empress Armor"
Using the fire manipulation powers that her Flame Empress Armor gave her, Erza welded a hole in through the window for the others to get through "Alright, this is supposed to be an in and out mission, so we need to be stealthy. However, there's a chance we should prepare for a fight in the event we come across the Duke's security."
"Well, Naruto is a ninja, so that should be pretty easy for him." Levy said while Naruto gleefully thought of ways to get revenge on Everlue
"Maybe I should take a dump in his slippers or something? Yeah, that would be good!"
"Focus on the task at hand Naruto!" Ezra said while they snuck through the mansion and began checking each room to try and find Daybreak. However they didn't seem to have any luck, as most of it seemed to be examples of the Duke's vanity project, such a large golden statue and even a golden toilet with his face on it. There progress was halted even further when they actually did come across Everlue's security.
Which seemed to be a troop of bizarre looking maids led by Virgo "Let's crush them girls!"
"They found us! How did they know we were here?!" Jet said in shock before Erza requiped once again to fight them.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel"
With only Virgo having much combat experience compared to the other maids, a majority of them were taken out relative ease by Erza's swordplay. Despite her force of maids being easily defeated by the armored girl, Virgo showed minimal signs of injury and smirked "It'll take a lot more than that to beat me you little runt. There's a reason I'm considered the top tier of Duke Everlue's maids."
"Oh no, a big ugly maid, whatever shall we do." Naruto mocked the gigantic woman in a deadpan tone before Erza prepared to attack again. Spinning all ten swords around her at an increasingly rapid rate, she then brought down the ones she held in her hands and sent a ringed slash in Virgo's path. This knocked back the behemoth into the next floor, where she landed with a loud crash.
"Circle Sword"
The members of Team Shadow Gear seemed incredibly shocked by Erza's display of might, while Naruto watched with a smile on his face "Holy shit that was cool Erza-chan!"
"Really? To be honest that move was entirely experimental, and it was the first time I've used it in a real fight." Ezra said as she requiped back into her normal armor, and walked toward what was assumed to be Everlue's library. Upon opening the door, the assumption was proven to be correct as the room was filled to brim with books of all length and genre.
All the while Levy, being the bookworm that she was, gazed around the room in awe "Man, who knew that this guy would be such a regular reader."
"How on Earth are we going to find one book in all this?" Jet said while looking around the room for anyplace on the shelves that Daybreak could be. After a few minutes of looking with the rest of the group, the speed mage's eye was drawn to a book with a sparkling gold cover "This one looks really weird. Maybe it's just some of that stuff dirty old men like to read."
"Let me see." Droy grabbed the book as Jet came down the shelf ladder, before his eyes were drawn to title "Wait a minute! I think you just found Daybreak!"
"Nice job Jet!" Levy patted her friend and teammate on the back, before she noticed something else about the book's front cover "Wait a minute, this book was written by Kemu Zaleon? I thought I read all of his works! This must be an unpublished novel of his!"
Watching the petite girl squeal over the book in confusion, Naruto turned to Erza and asked "So who exactly is this Kemu Zaleon guy again?"
"From what I can gather, he's a highly prolific writer of adventure and mystery novels. It appears that Levy's quite the fan of his." Ezra informed the rookie wind mage before taking out the sword she would normally use in her Flame Empress Armor "But it doesn't really matter who wrote the book; our only concern is making sure it gets destroyed."
"No way! This is a great piece of literature! Can't we just say it was destroyed and let me hang on to it?" Levy immediately got defensive over the book and scooted back away from Erza, only for a deep and strange laugh of 'Boyoyoyoyo!' to fill the air around them.
This laugh came from Duke Everlue, who burst from the library's floor in a tan magic circle with a grin on his homely face "So you Fairy Tail brats are looking to pilfer Daybreak from me are you? I have to admit that out of all the wonderful items I have in my humble estate, I never expected it to be that piece of shit excuse for a novel. The mere thought of it being written by the once great Kemu Zaleon makes me absolutely sick!"
'A piece of shit? But why would Mr. Kaby be willing to pay 2,000,000 jewel just to destroy it if it's worth so little to the holder?' Levy pondered the strangeness of the situation before immediately backtracking "So wait, does that mean we can take the book then?"
"NO! WHAT'S MINE IS MINE AND I WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE SO MUCH AS LAY A FINGER ON MY POSSESSIONS!" Everlue snapped at the young mages.
"Man, what a skinflint." Jet mocked the nobleman.
"Yeah, I mean if its worth so little then why not just let us burn it?" Droy remarked, much to the ire of Levy.
"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not letting you guys damage this book?!"
"Levy! This is our job!" Erza scolded the blue-haired bookworm, who didn't seem that affected.
In fact, the only response Levy had was to kneel on the ground and crack the book open with intrigue "Can I at the very least read it first?"
"RIGHT HERE?!"
"That's it! I won't allow you Fairy Tail brats to disrespect me or my possessions any longer! Vanish Brothers, exterminate these vermin!" Everlue angrily declared with the snap of his finger, causing the bookcases of the library to suddenly slide open and reveal two figures. The shorter man had his black hair tied back into a tight long braid, and bore pointed ears and red characters painted on different places on his face. For a weapon he had what appeared to be a large frying pan, and he wore a white and green cloak.
The larger of the two had a muscular build and four large tufts of black hair sticking out from different points at his head, as well as wearing a blue and yellow jacket with white jeans and a red headband that covered up his forehead. The only thing these men had in common were the band they kept on their arms that each held a guild mark, which Jet seemed to recognize "They're from the Oración Seis branch guild Southern Wolves!"
"Oración Seis?" Naruto asked with confusion clear in his voice.
"They're the third most powerful dark guild in all of Fiore, and these mercenaries must belong to a subordinate guild of their's." Erza explained "The guild that attack you when you first came to Fiore is also one of their branch guilds!"
"I'm surprised you little punks are from the Fairy Tail guild. Better run or we'll tell your mamas on you." The larger man said while Everlue began to gloat.
"It just so happens that the Southern Wolves are always hungry for fresh game, so you'd better be prepared for a meal thieves!"
Suddenly, Levy shut the book and said to the others "I think that this book may hold some sort of secret! Jet, Droy, follow me! Naruto, Erza, do you think you can hold these guys off?"
"You got it!" Naruto said with a grin while Erza merely nodded in response.
However, Everlue seemed a lot more interested in something else Levy had mentioned while she and the other members of Team Shadow Gear ran somewhere else into the manor "A secret? Maybe it's for some sort of treasure map or something?" It was at that moment Everlue's sense of greed went out of control and he said to his hired help with a hungry smile "I'm going after the others, take care of Romeo and Juliet over here!"
"w-What did you say old man?" Naruto yelled with a deep blush while the duke sank back into the ground, leaving them alone with the Vanish Brothers.
"Let's put these kids in their place." The short one said while arming himself with the frying pan.
"You mean their crib Big Bro?"
Despite the mercenaries' thinly veiled threats against them, neither Naruto or Erza seemed very threatened "So Erza-chan, which one do you wanna take: the little one or the big tough stupid one?"
"I'll the big one actually, he looks like the stronger opponent. Just the kind I've been looking to try out a new armor I've made on." Erza responded before requiping into a new set of armor which was large and yellow complete with hair clips and a white fur trimming. The armor also had blue muscles, boots, and gloves which seemed to be much bulkier than Erza's usual girlish build.
"Requip: Giant Armor"
Upon hearing Erza's choice of opponent, Naruto prepared a magic variation of one of his former jutsu and charged at the dark mage wielding the pan like weapon "Then I guess that means that ponytail-teme is mine!"
"Wind Magic: Rasengan"
While strong, the attack failed as the man guarded with his frying pan which absorbed the blow completely, before the younger brother took the opportunity to roundhouse rick Naruto through the door of the library, and into the mansion's foyer. In response to the attack Erza came in from behind with a hard jab to the larger Vanish Brother's back, which due to the augmented strength that came with the Giant Armor, caused him to slam into his brothers and send them flying after Naruto.
Naruto proceeded to land the tongue of the golden statue of Duke Everlue kept in the foyer, coughing up a large amount of blood from the blow to the chest, before Erza came down after him "You doing alright Erza-chan?" He asked having noticed a small amount of blood leaking from her mouth as well.
"It's fine, my body's just not used to this type of armor yet. We'll have to end this quick. How are you doing?" Erza asked before they noticed their opponents standing over them from the second floor.
"Tell me brats, do you know what the biggest weakness about any mage is?" The older brother said before he jumped up and attacked, breaking the tongue from the statue and forcing Naruto and Erza to move "The condition of their bodies!"
"They spend so much time on mental magic, they leave themselves physically weak!" The younger brother went after Naruto in midair, grabbing him and slamming him into the wall "But we train our bodies daily, so that means we can beat any mage without problem. The last one to take this job spent years mastering a spell that could break bones, but one punch from me broke every bone in his body!"
"Wind Magic: Starlight Kick"
Naruto took the opportunity of his opponent's tale to do a flipping kick into the air which was powered by a gust from his heel, hitting him in the chest, head, and worst of all the groin as he flew up into the air and landed behind him "Don't think that we don't train our bodies too teme. We're way stronger than you flying monkeys could ever imagine."
"Why you stupid little shit, we'll show you to mess us! Big Bro, let's show them what we're really made of! The combo-attack!" The tall man said while holding his groin in pain. The older brother held out his pan, allowing him to get into stance on top of it in preparation for an attack.
"Heaven and Hell Annihilation Technique"
The larger brother was then tossed into the air by the upward movement of the pan and disappeared in a flash, while the shorter one suddenly flashed in front of Naruto and sent him flying with another blow to the core "Look to heaven, and we'll strike from the earth!" After landing, the aching Naruto noticed that he was about to be attacked again "Look to the earth and we'll strike from the heaven!"
"Look out Naruto!" Erza blocked the attack with her Giant Armor, and began a clash of strength with the younger brother.
"You're wasting your time brat! No one can survive the full force of our combo attack!"
"Shut up! No one hurts one of my comrades and gets away with it!" Erza ignored his words, and used her free hand to give him a hard upper cut to the jaw. This managed to send the man flying through the ceiling and far out of the building, much to the shock of his older brother.
"NO WAY! BROTHER!"
"It's my turn now teme!" Naruto said before releasing a much stronger version of his original spell from his first day at Fairy Tail "Say your prayers! Cause I'm gonna rock this dump!"
"Wind Magic: Tempest Cannon"
"Wind Cooking"
"Have you forgotten that my frying pan can absorb any magic spell you through at me?"
"Not one bit!" Naruto said with a large grin 'That teme's weapon is like some sort of sponge for magical power, and I know that a sponge can only hold in so much water before it gets overflowed. All I have to do is overflow this guy's weapon and tear him apart!'
However, the man seemed to realize Naruto's strategy "You little fool, don't think I don't realize what you're trying to do! Even if my pan runs out of space for magical power, I can release it at twice its original power! Right back at you!" The elder brother made good on his threats and sent a path of wind right at Naruto, causing a loud collision to occur "How do you like that, you stupid kid!"
"Naruto!" Erza said with concern in her voice, only to realize something bizarre. Naruto was literally eating the wind that had been thrown at him.
"I don't know how the hell I just did that, but I do know one thing. I'm going to kick your ass, you stupid merchant fairy!" Naruto cracked his knuckles and gave the man a glare that could kill.
"i-IiI'm a mercenary!" The man stuttered in fear, as Naruto approached and prepared to lay down his final attack.
"Wind Devil's Rage"
A dark red magic circle appeared in front of Naruto's mouth, causing him to expel a gust of hot red wind straight at his opponent which inflicted massive damage on both him and the rest of the estate, which could be seen from the entrance to Shirotsume. By the time the smoke cleared, the defeated body of the eldest Vanish Brother could be seen twitching on the ground while the rest of the manor was a complete wreckage.
Upon seeing the carnage he'd inflicted, Naruto sheepishly faced Erza "Sorry about that. I guess I went overboard didn't I?"
"...How on earth do you known Devil Slayer Magic?" Erza asked in shock when she saw her guildmate somehow being able to use the supposedly lost magic.
However, judging from its name Naruto realized exactly where he got the ability and became nervous. Worrying that his guild might have the same reaction to his tenant as Konoha, he tried to find some sort of excuse for this sudden development of magic "I'm not really sure. T-to be honest I kinda just came up with the name because it sounded cool."
"Don't lie to me!" Erza scolded the former shinobi, before realizing he looked very afraid of something. Recognizing that fear in herself, Erza changed her approach to the subject and put her armored hand on Naruto's shoulder "I understand you're scared, but don't let anything that happened in the past let you keep important secrets from us. We're comrades and friends now, and that won't change no matter the circumstance."
"Alright...When I was a newborn, there was a demon called the Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked my home village. The leader of my village only had one way to defeat it, and that was to seal it away into a baby at the cost of his own life. That baby was me Erza-chan. I'm pretty sure that's where I get my Devil Slayer Magic from." Naruto closed his eyes from sheer anxiety, not wanting to see the look of hatred and disgust that he was sure was on Erza's face.
However, when he felt Erza's hand on his cheek, Naruto opened his eyes to see a look of compassion "Naruto, that doesn't change who you are. You haven't been part of Fairy Tail for much longer than I have, and I already know that you're a strong and hard-working person. Anyone who can't see that is a fool of the highest order." That was all Erza had time to say before a teary eyed Naruto pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you...Erza-chan."
Erza was shocked for a moment, but returned the embrace and requiped back into her usual armor. However, while this was occurring, neither mage noticed that Virgo was beginning to get back up.
Meanwhile, Levy had managed to escape to the sewers beneath the manor after splitting up from Jet and Droy and was currently reading through Daybreak with a set of high-quality Wind Reader Glasses she had on hand. Using her knowledge of text, she found that the book was easy to decode and was shocked at what it truly said "No way! I knew that this book was holding some sort of secret, but this is unbelievable!"
Just then, Levy felt her hands get constricted and painfully bent backwards as Duke Everlue forcefully grabbed them "A secret? How interesting! Now why don't you be a good little girl and tell me all about it?"
"No chance in Hell! Someone like you doesn't deserve to know!" Levy screamed in anger despite the pain "You're an enemy of literature!"
"How dare you say that! My collection of culture proves that I am indeed literature's greatest ally!"
"This coming from the person who collects creepy maids!" Levy retorted, only for Everlue to bend her arms further.
"How dare you mock my beautiful collection of blonde maids!" Everlue said as he began to greedily stare at the book she held in her hand "Tell me the secret brat! I'm guessing Kemu Zaleon buried the massive fortune he acquired from his bibliography of masterpieces and the book holds the map. If you don't tell me where the treasure is hidden, I'll break your arms and sell you in Bosco. I hear that blue haired and red haired girls are especially popular their!"
"I'll take it to my grave!" Levy cried out in pain before defiantly sticking her tongue out at the Duke, who's grip on her arms only got tighter.
"Listen child, this book was a commission by me, so any secret it may hold is legally my property!" Duke Everlue claimed as he began to bend Levy's arms backwards, only to receive an uppercut to the jaw and a side kick to the face, courtesy of Jet and Droy.
"Knuckle Plant"
"Falcon Heavenward"
While the ugly man was sent flying by the attacks, Levy gave her team a thumbs up "Great work you guys! Thanks for the save!"
"More of you brats? I'd think the Vanish Brothers would have exterminated you by now." Duke Everlue wiped away the blood now dripping from his mouth as a result of the ambush.
"Alright Everlue, the tables have turned with Team Shadow Gear all together, so you've got two choices! Let us keep the book or we'll smack you down a size or two." Droy said as he drew out more of his magic plant seeds in preparation for a fight.
"Foolish little boy, as your book loving friend would tell you, the tables have turned means that the weaker party has rallied to claim victory. But there's no way a group of children could ever defeat my Diver Magic!" Everlue said before quickly descending back into the ground.
"No way! That old fatty's a mage too!" Jet said before he and the rest of his team had to avoid Everlue's mad attacks around them.
However, Levy seemed very uncharacteristically angry with the man "I know everything about what happened now old man. This book is nothing more than a piece of garbage about a trashy little character named Duke Everlue!"
"Wait, you're telling me the book's about this old fart?"
"I agree that while the protagonist is far from trashy, the story is absolutely worthless! To this day I can't believe that it was written by Kemu Zaleon!" Everlue proclaimed as he popped around the room and forced Team Shadow Gear to avoid his attempts to grab the book "It's inexcusable!"
"Your arrogance is sickening, you forced him to write it!"
"Moi arrogant? Hogwash! To tell the story of a man such as me is an honor, no matter the circumstance!"
"Then why did you have to blackmail into writing it?" Levy asked, shocking Jet and Droy.
However Everlue didn't really seem to care, simply twirling the mustache that protruded from his nose and swimming through the gravel that lined the sewage "What's the big deal, it's his fault for refusing to write it. Any fool should have jumped to have me as their muse, but he had the gall to refuse my commission! So I gave him an ultimatum: Write the novel, or I'll revoke his family's citizenship from Fiore!"
"Are you serious? They could never join any merchant or craftsmen guild if you did that! Do you really have that kind of power?" Jet asked in shock that it was possible.
"Of course, I have connections to both the Magic Council and the Balam Alliance of Dark Guilds! I got him to write the novel didn't I?" Everlue claimed as he burst from the ground "But I didn't like his attitude, so I had him placed in solitary prison confinement till the novel was finished! He droned on and on about being a proud novelist who'd never give in to petty threats, but I always get what I want!"
"You bastard! That poor man was in solitary confinement for three years, and all you care about is your own ego!" Levy practically screamed in rage.
"No way, three years?!"
"It's not an issue, it just took him that long to realize how great I am!"
"More like he couldn't bear to spread your shit around! But he knew if he didn't write you as some sort of champion, his family would starve because of your arrogance!" Levy continued to glare him down.
"Tell me little girl, this all happened over twenty years ago, so how could you possibly know every last detail of my commission?" Everlue asked.
"Simple, it's all written here in black and white!" Levy presented the book, to the surprise of the others.
Everlue however, simply scoffed at this possibility "Impossible, I've read every sentence of that book and Kemu Zaleon is never mentioned."
"That's because you don't know that Kemu Zaleon was an S-Class mage of Lamia Scale before he ever picked up a pen. After finishing the book he enchanted it with a spell that made it impossible for anyone to read the truth behind it without some form of Solid Script Magic." Levy explained the truth, greatly angering the Duke.
"You mean that old crone turned a book about a great man like me into a hatchet job? His family will pay dearly for this!" Everlue growled as he began to attack Team Shadow Gear again.
"Get over yourself! He may have written about every monstrous thing you did to him, but that's not the books real secret!" Levy finished her tirade against the corrupt nobleman "I'll never let you lay hands on this book again Duke Everlue, because it never really belonged to you to begin with!"
"I know what that hack wrote about! He must have done an exposé on my connections with the Balam Alliance, and how I actually made my fortune! If I let Fairy Tail hand it over to the Magic Council, my goose would be cooked!" Duke Everlue said in horror, before pulling out a small golden key from his pocket.
"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"
"Did I hear my master summon me?" Virgo appeared from the ground upon having her gate opened, much to the surprise of Team Shadow Gear.
"No way, this old fart's got Celestial Spirits?"
"Virgo, retrieve that book from those brats and kill each one of them!" Everlue pointed to Team Shadow Gear, only for Naruto and Erza to suddenly fall behind her, seemingly out of breath "What is the meaning of this?"
"Naruto? Erza? What are you guys doing here?" Droy said in shock at their sudden appearance.
"Beats me. We just got finished beating those merchant fairies when this lady got back up started grabbing us. Next thing you know, we showed up here!" Naruto explained his point of view of what happened.
"You must have passed through the gate with her!"
"Enough of this nonsense! Clean up this malcontent Virgo!"
"I don't think so! Take this you scoundrel!" Erza said as she requiped a sword and took out Virgo with ease. It was then that Jet began using his speed magic to run around Everlue at a pace faster than he could see, before kicking him up into air where he was grabbed by Jet's vines. It was then when Levy used her Solid Script magic to take out the corrupt duke.
"Take this you pervy mole creature!"
"Solid Script: Bullet"
"You'll never be anything more than a small side character." Levy said as the now smoking Duke Everlue was dropped from Droy's vines and into the sewer water "Mission accomplished guys. Now let's get this book back to-"
Right as Levy began to say this, the foundation to the manor fell apart, leaving it ruins to the shock of the young Fairy Tail mages, who were now out in the open due to the gaping hole where the sewer's ceiling used to be "No way, I came along so something like this wouldn't happen."
"Way to go Naruto, first job and you're already destroying stuff. Way to go!" Jet gave Naruto a pat on the back, not noticing how shocked he'd seemed by what had just happened. To make matters even worse, an entire platoon of Rune Knights appeared and pointed their weapons at them from above the hole "I guess we did go overboard though."
"We're screwed!"
"This is a destruction of Council property! Explain yourselves!"
Before they could explain what had happened, a now conscious but severely beaten Everlue crawled over "Rune Knights, arrest this Shangese barbarian and his dark mage cohorts! This is a blatant act of terrorism!"
"NANI?" Naruto began to panic, only for Levy to step up.
"Actually, we're from Fairy Tail. We were sent to investigate reports that Duke Everlue has connections to the Oración Seis. Judging from the members of the Southern Wolves we've fought, these rumors are true." Levy explained while displaying her guild mark. This seemed to be good enough for the Captain.
"Investigate the area for any members of the Southern Wolves! Take the Duke of Shirotsume into custody till these rumors can be verified!"
Much to Duke Everlue's chagrin, they followed the orders to the letter, arresting him and confiscating the Spirit Key in the process "You can't do this to me! I'll report this to the Magic Council and have you all court marshaled!"
"Do you kids mind hanging onto this key till this investigation is completed?" The captain handed the key to Naruto before offhandedly remarking "Man, the council is gonna give Fairy Tail a big headache over this mess."
'Oh great...'
"I don't understand. Why haven't you destroyed this book?" Kaby said as he glared at the book he was given.
"We thought that you should be the one to destroy it since it means so much to you Mr. Kaby." Levy explained her actions.
"I certainly will burn this travesty. It's caused to much pain and suffering to my family for me to allow its existence any longer!" With that declaration in mind, Kaby prepared a match for the book, before Naruto spoke up.
"I think I've got it figured out now Kaby-san. This Kemu Zaleon guy, he's your old man isn't he?"
"Wait a minute really?"
"Aw man. Naruto, you totally stole my thunder!" Levy jokingly whined to the former shinobi.
"Sorry about that Levy-chan." Naruto apologized before turning his attention back to their client "So have you ever even read the damn thing? I mean it was your father's last book after all."
"No, I don't think that I ever could bring myself to read it. Even its author thinks its garbage."
"So you were just going to burn it!" Naruto got visibly angry with Kaby "You should at least see what's inside it old man! Some people would kill for that kind of memory!"
"Naruto! Let him explain himself!" Erza pushed the devil slayer back, while Kaby began to recount to production of Daybreak.
"24 years ago my father came from writing that book. The moment he got home, he proclaimed that he'd given up writing for good and used his own paper cutting board to chop of his hands. I remember in the hospital I snapped at him for abandoning our family for three years to write a book he wasn't even proud of, and called him a lousy excuse for a father. That was the last thing I ever said to him before he died of his injuries 7 hours later. As I got older and started my own family, my anger turned to guilt. Erasing the very thing that caused him so much misery is the only way I can think of apologizing to him."
Upon hearing the story, Jet and Droy began to cry while Naruto just looked down in shame "I understand now. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that."
As he lit the match and brought it closer to the book, Kaby somberly whispered to himself "I'm sure that in the end, this is what he would want."
"You're wrong Kaby!" Levy suddenly said before tossing him her Solid Script Wind Reader Glasses, at which point the book began to glow with a white magic circle, and the letters rearranged itself from Daybreak to Dear Kaby and Kemu Zaleon became Zekua Melon. It was then that the book opened itself in midair and decoded the text inside "Now that you've come into contact with the book, the spell should be permanently released. Disguised by a spell that rearranges the letters inside, he dedicated his final book as a message to you. The reason he stopped was because he'd already completed his masterpiece, not because he was ashamed! And once you read it in the original form, it goes from the worst novel he's written to the undisputed best!"
Once the spell had finished its swan song as Daybreak, the newly retitled book fell into Kaby's arms "Father, I swear that I'll never let any harm come to this book as long as I live."
"Well, I guess that means we should be going." Naruto said as he began to walk out of the room, confusing everyone else.
"What about the 2,000,000 jewel moron?"
"The book wasn't burned, so we failed the job. It's that simple."
"ARE YOU FRICKIN' INSANE?!"
Sensing the new tension in the room, Erza stepped in "He's right, the job description wasn't to return the book. We can't claim the reward I'm afraid."
"Please, you've done so much for me! There must be something we can do!" Kaby tried to reason with them, while Naruto just grinned. Understanding there was no room for argument, Kaby merely nodded "I understand. I am forever in the debt in of your guild."
"Damnit Naruto! It wasn't our fault he decided not to burn the book!" Jet continued to gripe about the lost reward.
"What kind of idiot turns down 2,000,000 jewel!"
"Stop complaining boys. What's done is done, so we shouldn't keep dwelling on it." Levy said before noticing the darkening sky over them "Anyway, we should probably looking into setting up camp. Naruto, Erza, do you mind staying here and laying everything out while me and the boys look for fire wood."
"Levy, I don't know if you've noticed this, but I'm a boy." Naruto groaned.
"Well, to be fair you were a pretty cute girl earlier, Maid Naruko!" Droy mocked him for his previous adventure drag, resulting in the Devil Slayer getting very pissed off.
"I'LL KILL YOU DAMNIT!"
Naruto's rage was suddenly interrupted when Erza grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, allowing Team Shadow Gear to head in to the woods "You're kind of an emotional idiot aren't you?"
"Well, the thing is-"
"But you're definitely going to be a great mage if you always carry yourself the way you did with the reward earlier. Not to mention how much power you had against the Vanish Brothers." Erza complimented him, much to his delight.
"I guess I was pretty cool. But it was nothing compared to how cool you were Erza-chan. You punched that ginormous guy so hard he went flying!" Naruto said with a grin.
However Erza didn't seem to be nearly as happy "By the way, I'm sorry if I scared you earlier. I understand that whatever happened in the past, it's probably not something you're comfortable talking about. I shouldn't have just pressured you like that. No wonder everyone in the guild thinks I'm so scary."
"I don't think you're scary Erza-chan. I actually think you're really pretty and cool." Naruto tried to make her feel better, and smiled when he had visible success when she smiled at him.
However, this happiness turned into nerves when Erza closed her brown eyes and began to lean in. Panicking for a brief moment, Naruto managed to gather himself and lean in as well, before the young mages met in a soft kiss. A few moments into the kiss, they also began to embrace each other, not noticing the night sky around them begin to darken, or even the members of Team Shadow Gear coming back with firewood to watch the embrace in shock.
After a few more minutes, Naruto and Erza both realized what they were doing and stumbled back in embarrassment. Wanting to change to subject and quell the newborn awkwardness of the moment, Erza began to stutter out with a blush as deep a red as her braided hair on her face "S-so we should probably get to work on the campsite, shouldn't we Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah definitely!" Naruto agreed with her before realizing in horror that Team Shadow Gear had seen the whole thing "AH! NOTHING! WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING!"
"Too late now!" Jet teased them while Droy made kissy faces, and Levy stood there squealing in delight "Wait till the rest of the guild learns about you two lovebirds!"
Jet was immediately silenced when Erza summoned a sword and gave a glare that nearly made both him and Droy piss themselves "Tell anyone what you've seen, and I will make sure you won't live long enough to regret it!"
"Yes ma'm!" Both Jet and Droy squeaked out, before hiding behind the bushes and whispering to each other "So do you think Levy would kiss me like that?"
"Please, she's gonna kiss me!"
Levy then proceeded to drag Erza off and give her an impish grin "So you and Naruto eh? Never would have thought you had a thing for shangese guys."
"It was just a quick peck Levy!"
"It was 7 minutes long."
Meanwhile, Naruto just stood their in an almost catatonic state since they broke apart 'I just kissed...Erza-chan...THAT WAS SO WORTH EVERY JEWEL OF THAT REWARD!'
Back at Fairy Tail, the guild partied and drank as usual, including Makarov who was on his third mug of beer "You're not going to beat me this time Macao! I swear it on my pride as Guild Master!"
"Careful Master, otherwise I'll be the Fourth before you know it!" Macao joked with the master and downed another mug, before he saw Wakaba come in with a bruised cheek and a written out message "You get shot down again Wakaba?"
"Yep, I swear this is why I'm never getting married. By the way Master, we just got another message from the council." Wakaba handed the paper to the tipsy Makarov, who almost immediately sobered up upon reading it.
"What do those blowhards want now?" Macao asked.
"Apparently that book stealing job in Shirotsume didn't go so well. Naruto accidentally destroyed the governor's mansion during a fight with some mercenaries from the Southern Wolves with his wind. Now the council's demanding compensation for the damages and a written apology from Master Makarov." Wakaba explained with a slight chuckle, before he and the rest of the guild burst out laughing.
"I knew that kid would fit right in!"
"Can't believe he screwed up that badly on his first job. Just goes to show you how rookies are." Gray laughed at the results, before Cana pointed something out to him.
"Gray, your clothes!"
While Gray began to freak out and scavenge for his missing clothes, Makarov broke from his stupor and cried in a mixture of frustration and misery "WHY DO THESE KIDS BREAK EVERYTHING?! I'M GOING TO CHEW THAT NARUTO UP AND SPIT HIM BACK OUT WHEN HE GETS BACK HERE!"
(A/N): I am so sorry that this chapter took so long, and it's actually been my top priority in writing for a good while now! It's just that I've started college recently, and that not only takes up most of my time, but also drains me of most of my energy and life force. I'll try to get the next chapter out a lot sooner next time. And since I know somebody's going to complain about Naruto being too weak in the reviews from my experience with Ninja of Santoryu, I'll say this now. Naruto is not going to be an expert right away with magic, and he's gonna get banged up a few times whenever he fights a strong opponent. Naruto will be a S-Class mage of Fairy Tail by the time the canon story begins, just keep that in mind.
Now then, I've kept you guys waiting long enough. Please leave a review if you have any suggestions or just something nice to say, and I'll see you next time!
. . .
