CHAPTER 3 (fixed) :

Meanwhile, Lucy was walking down the street by herself. It's around 2 PM in Magnolia. She and Natsu had just finished their mission, and she was on her way to her guild. Actually the flame guy asked her to hang around with him in town's Fair first before returning to Fairy Tail guild. But she refused because she was in no mood for it. She just wanted to go back. So he told her to find Happy because it's no fun to have fun by himself so he invited him. Hence, Lucy was going back by herself after she promised to Natsu she would tell Happy.

"Don't be too long, Lucy! It is boring to play alone! And be careful on your way home! Some random guy might attempt to bang you!" That's the last words that Lucy heard from Natsu.

While Lucy was walking by herself, she brought back her memories of Team Natsu in the past. She also remembered how she met Natsu and Happy for the first time. She smiled and talked to herself.

"Natsu... Just how long have we done things together..? It was first only me, you, and Happy...

Natsu is now far stronger than before. It looks like he is never tired. After finishing our mission, he still has remaining energy to do more things. Although he already did one mission before, with Happy. Natsu is so unpredictable. Today, not just he has done two missions. After finishing his first mission, he even went back with...

Ah... now I remember. There are guys from the shinobi world in our guild. They are said to be a criminal organization called Akatsuki but Natsu said they're not here for any bad purposes.

But can we trust them? What shall I do if I face the worst scenario? And what is Happy doing with them? Does Happy really have business with them? What if those guys tricked Natsu and Happy? I wonder.."

While Lucy was thinking and murmuring when walking, a small bird, or rather a small artifical bird made from clay, appeared out of nowhere and flew around her. It was revolving around her upper body. For a moment, Lucy did not realize its presence. Until it flew by right in front of her eyes.

"Huh? What is it?" Lucy stopped walking and her eyes followed the artificial bird's movements. She turned around to keep an eye on it. "A white bird?... but wait... is this even a real bird?"

Suddenly a small explosion hit Lucy's face. The artificial bird exploded right in front of her face. She screamed aloud. The incident attracted attention from people around her. Lucy's face turned dark and dirty by ash. The good news was no blood and she still had her face.

"W-W-What the heck is this?! Who the heck started this prank, huh!" Lucy screamed in shock and anger.

"Hey, lady. Are you ok?" a random guy asked.

Lucy wiped her face with her palms and arms and then, in anger, she started looking for the culprit. She did not reply to the guy who asked for her condition.

"It must be you, Natsu!" Lucy yelled.

Although Lucy was sure it was Natsu who put that prank on her, she kept staring and scolding everyone else around her, much to make them scared by her loud voice and her angry experession on her face. She kept scolding everybody else although she only mentioned Natsu's name. "Hey, Natsu! If you want to put a prank then fine by me but this is too much! I am going to kick your butt! Come out, Natsu and face me!"

"That damn' Natsu!" Lucy talked to herself inside her head "Saying some random guy might attempt to bang me! But it's actually him with his explosion prank! Natsu, you annoying flame jerk!"

Suddenly, a loud and seductive voice of a man came from above. The voice sounded new but familiar. Lucy looked up, her sights looked for source of the voice, and she saw him.

Deidara standing on his artificial giant bird flew lower and moved closer toward Lucy's position. His appearance only attracted more attention from people around. Some random people started to speak their wonder.

"What the heck is that?"

"Is he a mage? I've never seen him."

"Kukuku. My beloved lady, Princess Lucy Heartfilia." Deidara greeted Lucy in a seductive voice "How did you think of my love present? You must have liked it, mustn't you?"

Deidara's giant bird stopped flying when it's not too close to Lucy's position. It floated in the air at low altitude. The distance between them was about 10 meters.

"Ah.. you... you are that guy from Akatsuki." said Lucy. She wondered why he knew her name. "Why does he know my name? Did Happy tell him?" she talked to herself inside her head.

Lucy's anger, somewhat, was gone for no reason. But it's not like she's impressed by Deidara's explosion. She tried to remember his name, but instead of finding the answer, she couldn't help putting more focus on what he was coming about.

"...what is that giant bird?" Lucy wondered.

Deidara answered "This is my ride, Milady. And I made it so I could meet you and take you out."

"Your ride? Take me out?..." Lucy couldn't find any word to say. She was suddenly blank for words. She had no idea what Deidara was saying. Being hit by a small explosion and seeing someone ride a flying gigantic bird really made her brain unable to read situation.

"Ah, forgive my rudeness. I should have introduced myself." Deidara re-introduced himself "You may not remember my name. My name is Deidara, an infamous shinobi from the shinobi world who, unwillingly, joined Akatsuki after an annoying Uchiha guy and his two ugly comrades came to my hideout and told me to. My speciality is explosion art. I am also expert at making animal stuff from clay as transport."

Lucy talked to herself inside her head "Ah, yes. That is his name. So that is it. He is a shinobi who can create animal stuff like that giant bird as transport and... wait. Did he just say 'explosion art'?"

Deidara continued his words "I am here to take you out, Milady. Oh, by the way, what do you think of the love present I just gave you? It was beautiful, wasn't it?"

A random guy spoke up "Shinobi he says? What is it? Is he a mage with ninjutsu magic?"

"You shut the hell up!" Deidara scolded that guy "I am talking to my beloved Princess Lucy! And I am not a mage!"

Being scolded by Deidara, the guy was scared and didn't dare speak more words. Neither did everybody else around Lucy and Deidara.

Lucy then asked "Your love present? What are you talking about?"

Deidara answered "That beautiful dove that turned into a beautiful explosion like a blooming and shiny flower in spring."

"You mean that small bird that... exploded.." Lucy couldn't continue her words. She finally knew what Deidara was talking about.

"Yes, my beloved Princess Lucy. I decided to make a dove from clay since the type of bird represents love. And since we share the same interest, it would be nicer if I also made it explosive. That is how I make a bright, shiny, and flashy stuff to bring happiness and pleasure to you, milady."

"So, t-that means your explosive dove was a love present?"

"Bingo! I am sure a pretty girl like you loves bright, shiny, and flashy stuff. That's why I made it for you! Hmm..."

Lucy's anger went back. She remembered clearly when Deidara's artificial bird exploded right in front of her face and made her face dirty. Her blood was boiling. She walked slowly toward Deidara. He seemed to be happy seeing her walk toward him. He lowered his giant bird's altitude so that she could gets on it, thinking she was going to do that.

Deidara talked to himself inside his head "Yes! She falls for it! She is now attracted to me! Happy, you are such a genius!"

Lucy asked Deidara again, for his clarification "So... let me make it really clear. You are the one who created that small and explosive bird on purpose, and it was a LOVE present for me, right? And you somehow detonated it when it was flying right in front of my face, right?"

Deidara replied in excitement "Yes, Princess Lucy. It was my love present! It was a special gift for you! I wanted to show you how much I love you!"

"Well, then... I also have a special gift for you." said Lucy.

Deidara's surprised. He was really happy thinking Lucy was already in love with him. When she was getting closer and closer to him, he became nervous seeing her (covered) boobs and lips. His face blushed. Thinking she was going to hug and kiss him, he closed his eyes.

Deidara talked to himself inside his head "Oh... this is it. She is going to hug and kiss me! This is too fast but... I am really excited! Haha, I wish you saw me right now, Sasori-sama!"

Deidara, although his eyes were closed, could sense that Lucy was already close to him based on her scent and chakra. He felt like he was going to fly to heaven. And suddenly...

"Lucy Kick!"

Lucy quickly jumped, spinned her body, and kicked Deidara hard in the face with her ultimate martial art technique called Lucy Kick. He fell off his giant bird. In shock, he opened his eyes and saw Lucy staring at him. He couldn't get up, scared by her angry expression.

"What the heck did you think I was?!" Lucy scolded Deidara "Surprising me and hurting me with that silly explosion! Is that even how a guy impresses a girl?!"

After scolding Deidara, Lucy turned away and left him. He was still sitting on the ground. But then he decided to hit on her again.

"W-Wait, Princess Lucy! What about our date?"

"Who the heck agreed to date you from the start, you ugly jerk!" Lucy got angrier.

"W-Wait, Princess Lucy. I am sorry I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Deidara was about to get up to chase after Lucy but she prevented him by scolding him again.

"Go away, you ugly jerk! Don't come to me! Or else, I will kick you again!" Lucy threatened Deidara. She really looked scary to his eyes. He was really scared.

Lucy walked away. Deidara lost his confidence to ask her out, considering to give up. Everybody around him started to leave one by one, thinking this incident was not something they should be involved in.

"This is not our business. Everything related to Fairy Tail always causes ruckus... Although I am surprised this time its the girl..."

"But it's not the girl who started it right? But whatever... Let's go. We didn't see anything..."

"That guy is scary but she kicked him! I don't want to see more horror..."

Everybody else walked off. Deidara still didn't get up. His pride was broken. He was sitting on the ground. While his giant bird landed near to him. When Lucy's appearance was fading away in his sight, Happy suddenly appeared out of nowhere flying by his side. But Lucy didn't see him, a person she was going to meet. She was already gone.

While floating, Happy told something to Deidara "Ah. You seemed to take my advice, wrong, Deidara."

Deidara replied "Wrong? You mean I was wrong when I attempted to impress her with my explosion art? I thought we really shared the same interest." he felt down.

"When I said Lucy likes something bright, shiny, and flashy I didn't mean she likes bombs." Happy re-explained.

"You did not tell me the specific about that, Happy." Deidara protested "What an explosion artist knows about bright, shiny, and flashy stuff that girls really like? Do I and Lucy even share the same interest?"

"You could have created something harmless. Although it is an explosion."

"Like what? All explosions are harmful. I think all explosion artists should not date, otherwise they all will injure and kill their lovers. I mean, just how do I impress a girl with explosive stuff?"

Happy landed on the ground and stood beside Deidara.

"First off, Deidara. You are not persistent enough. Second, there is still another way to win your girl's heart. A guy who surrenders easy will be removed from nature selection. I was in the same condition as you are now when I pursued Carla. I even had so many strong rivals but I managed to survive that. I was underestimated by them but after hard effort I eventually won her heart."

"In commiting terror attacks, I am always persistent, but in winning a girl's heart I'm just a loser... and by the way, who's Carla?"

"She is an Exceed like me, the female one. She is like me but has white body. You might have noticed her presence when Akatsuki was in Fairy Tail's lobby? That's my Carla."

"Hmm... I think I saw a flying white cat too... But whatever. What did you do when you were trying to win her heart?"

"I used to be that sad that when I thought I would never win Carla's heart, she was surrounded by so many macho and rich male exceeds. But thanks to my gentleness and creativity, I finally managed to win her heart. I only needed fish, while the other male Exceeds used so much more various stuff to impress her."

"Fish? You impressed this Carla cat girl... I mean female Exceed only with fish? She is not a cat, is she?" Deidara asked. And he continued his last sentence inside his own head "Even though you look identical to cats... without wings."

Happy then explained to Deidara about his method how to approach a girl. "Logically, there is no way I can just impress her with fish. So you have to be gentle and creative! Fish is my speciality. And since I am gentle and creative, I know how to make my speciality look amazing in front of her eyes."

Deidara looked curious "So, how do you make your speciality look amazing? What did you do with your fish to win her heart?"

"Logically, there is no way she will like it if I throw a fish at her face. So do something different. To impress a girl, you need to be gentle and creative. I kept giving her different types of fish in various ways to impress her. And I gave them all to her! With all my heart and my love. She finally fell for me."

Meanwhile, somewhere far from there, Carla sneezed. Her intuition said someone was talking lie about her.

"Aa-choo!"

"What's the matter, Carla?" Wendy asked.

"What is it? I feel like someone is talking mumbo-jumbo and it is related to me... I don't have any vision though."

And now the we go back to the conversation between Happy and Deidara.

"Is it that simple? Giving a girl many types of presents? Do I have to make more explosions to impress my Lucy? One was even enough to make her hate me forever." Deidara was still unsure if Happy's advice would work.

"You need to be more polite to her." Happy tried to assure Deidara "The way you impressed her was wrong. She was affected by your explosion. Of course she was angry. But what if you create more and more cute animal stuff and more and more explosions that do not affect her? Remember my words I just told you? There is no way my Carla will like it if I throw a fish at her face. So, there is no way your Lucy will like it if your explosion affects her. "

"Hmm...sounds make sense. I'll try that. All I need to do is being gentle and creative at impressing my Lucy with my explosion art." Deidara seemed to gain his confidence a little. He then asked "By the way, Happy. How do you tell if a girl likes you. What are the signs?"

Happy answered nervously "Uhm... well, she agrees if you ask her to eat fish with you. That's my experience."

"Huh? Is that true? If Lucy agrees to eat fish with me then it means she likes me?"

"Uh, yea... I mean. What makes a man attractive beside his fish?"

"Huh? Like heck I know... how can fish make a man attractive?"

"Err... uhm..."

Suddenly a loud and masculine voice came from behind Happy's and Deidara's backs.

"It is when a girl says she doesn't like you but then follows you wherever you go!"

Happy and Deidara turned their heads to see where the voice came from. Elfman was standing like a macho and brave warrior, his eyes showed confidence.

"HAH! If you need advice from a Man how to be a Man then I am the right Man for it!"

"Can you... really help me?" Deidara put hope on Elfman.

Happy talked to himself inside his head "I am glad Elfman is here. I am almost blank for words. I don't know what to answer Deidara's difficult questions."

-oOo-

Meanwhile, in the forest near to Magnolia, Erza Scarlet was training her skills in magic, martial art, and swordmanship. She was all by herself and she was holding a sword. Around her there were so many types of melee weapons such as blades, pikes, axes, sticks, etc. Most of them had been broken. But they were not her magical melee weapons, she bought them all because she needed some tools for her experiment.

Erza's body was full of sweat. She almost reached her limit. She talked to herself.

"Hah... Hah... Phew! Not bad. I managed to move and throw more than 1000 regular melee weapons scattered within a 100 meters radius for about 45 minutes...

It's just throwing more than 500 blades to 50 different targets while making 500 defensive blades revolving around my body is not an easy thing to do. Especially since the ethernanos released by the trees and bushes around me disrupt my extra sensory perception...

I need to practice harder. For many times I made mistakes... But at least, I have found a new combo technique."

Erza decided to end her training. She picked up a plastic bottle of mineral water. She drank it all. She was still holding her sword with another hand.

"Gulp, gulp... Ahh.. When I've mastered this technique, I will try doing it with my magical melee weapons. I will probably add some elements like lightning bolts or flames to strengthen its attack."

Erza threw away the bottle and sword she had been holding. And then she grinned. "Fufufu... and now... its time for relaxation."

She requipped into her Seduction Armor, although she was still full of sweat. She then made some seductive poses pretending she was the center of people's attention.

"Hello, guys!" she yelled to herself. "This is Erza Scarlet aka Titania aka Miss Fairy Tail! Ya know you might think Natsu's flame is the hottest stuff because he is fire dragon slayer! But you are all wrong! My Seduction Armor is way hotter!

...And now, the climax of the show you have been waiting for! My sweet kiss with my partner, Lucy Heartfilia! You may think that I am pure straight, but you all don't know my secret! I and Lucy kiss when nobody is around us! And usually we kiss when we are taking a bath together or changing clothes! And ya know what, Kagura and Miliana from Mermaid Heel do that too! And we sometimes exchange partners!"

Erza then made a pose of someone kissing another person pretending she kissed Lucy.

"Lucy-chan my darling! Wanna perfom some pole dance together? And what about we invite Kagura and Miliana to dance with us too? I also have some sexy costumes for them. We will do some nasty stuff together!"

Suddenly Erza sensed that somebody was watching her. She quickly requipped into her normal clothes (hakama/the same clothes as the last clothes she requipped into when she fought Ikagura) and stopped her self-show play. She usually preferred white strapping scarf for her top, but this time she felt she should wear white tank-top instead.

"Who is there?!" Erza yelled aloud. She turned around to see the location where she sensed somebody's presence. About 50 meters from her position, Itachi appeared between bushes and trees and his Sharingan eyes were active. But she was not afraid to stare his eyes (although she was embarrassed). He walked slowly toward her.

"You... that guy from Akatsuki." Erza was a little bit surprised.

Itachi tried to be polite and friendly "Sorry if I seem to disrupt your training. Don't worry. I have no bad intention toward you."

"Well, I've just finished." Erza replied. She then talked to herself inside her head. "Ugh... did he see THAT all? Did he hear THAT all? This is really embarrassing!"

Erza felt awkward and embarrassed because of Itachi's presence, thinking he must have seen her wearing THAT and acting like THAT. But she pretended things were okay. So she kept calm. But she wasn't the only one who tried to act calm.

Itachi got turned on when he saw her wearing Seduction Armor and making some seductive poses. But he didn't want to scare or anger her. He didn't want her to think he was a pervert. So he pretended he had seen and heard nothing. So he didn't bring that up.

"Alright then... by the way, I am Itachi Uchiha. Just in case, you forgot my name. You can call me Itachi. You are Erza Scarlet, if I am not mistaken?"

"Oh, you know my name. Did Happy tell you?"

"Yes. He did."

"Well, Itachi. Do you have any business with me?"

"...Not really. Actually I just sensed some great quality chakra emitted across this forest. So I explored the forest to see where it came from."

"You have an ability to sense someone's presence by sensing their... you call it chakra. It seems that I've got knowledge from the shinobi world."

Itachi stopped walking when he was close to Erza. They were facing each other. Both looked calm but their cheeks blushed.

Itachi then told Erza "Actually, I can see someone's chakra with my special eyes, Sharingan. There are also signs of someone's presence beside that such as body temperature, the change of air pressure around you, their scent, and many more. So even without these special eyes, anyone could sense your presence. It's just it is almost impossible to sense someone's presence when they are not around you."

Didn't really know what to reply, Erza just said words out of the blue "And it is unbelievable you could sense my presence when I wasn't around you."

She walked off and sat down on a wood log and picked up a towel she had left there before. She wiped her sweat with that towel. Itachi kept watching her.

Erza talked to herself inside her head "What's with him? Is he showing off his special abilities?"

Itachi talked to himself inside his head "She is very hot. But I must control my lust. I want to know her more. I am a gentleman! My love story should be like josei manga!" He then spoke up "I usually can't sense someone's presence that easy when they are not around me, even with Sharingan. Unless their body emits high quality chakra. And I could sense your chakra when you were not around me."

Erza talked to herself inside her head "Is he basically saying he has good abilites to sense someone's presence or I have good quality chakra? And when he said he can see someone's chakra, does it mean he talked about magic power? I don't understand what he is trying to say..."

Erza sighed and then spoke up "What is it all about, Itachi? Are you complimenting me or something? In this mage world, we are not surprised if there are people like us who have high quality magic power because we are all mages and we train our magics. This isn't something big. Maybe, just maybe, due to my high quality magic power and your good abilities to sense someone's presence, it was easy for you sense my presence when I wasn't around you. Fair enough?"

Itachi replied "Magic power? But, Erza, I don't remember saying I could sense your magic power."

Erza tried to rephrase her previous words "That might be what you call chakra in the shinobi world? In the mage world, energy that is emitted from a living human's body is called magic power. Every mage has a magic power container in his or her body, the central or source of magic power in their body. Does it sound much like chakra to you?"

"Well, likely. In the shinobi world, chakra is used to utilize jutsu. In the mage world, this magic power maybe used to utilize magic?"

"Yes. Maybe chakra and magic power are the same entity. Maybe shinobi and mages have different methods to train or control it. Who knows? Mankind has created various concepts of supernatural abilities though. And any supernatural ability requires energy to be utilized."

"I see... It seems that humans are more blessed than they ever believe."

"Ah-uh."

"...by the way," Erza changed topic "are you staying here for long? I am leaving as soon as I have cooled down my body."

Itachi talked to himself inside his head "Cooling down her body... but she is always hot." He tried to find some way to make Erza stay with him for long "Would you mind I sat down next to you? You may want to have some chat before you leave. The log has enough space for two persons." He finally said that.

"... Ok. It would be pleasure to have a chat with someone from a different world." Erza replied, "Hopefully.." she continued her words inside her own head.

"Then excuse my intrusion." Itachi sat down next to Erza. Unlike Deidara, Itachi seemed to be more patient and more intelligent when he attempted to win a girl's heart. He had smarter tactics in approaching a girl, compared to Deidara's.

Itachi initiated starting a new topic "Natsu and Happy are right. The mage world is really interesting. The atmosphere here is really different than the shinobi world's. This world is larger than I ever imagined."

Erza replied "Really? What does the mage world look like to you?"

"Compared to the shinobi world, this world has prettier streets and buildings and have more designs too." Itachi explained, "And the women are prettier too..." he said his last sentence inside his own head.

"Oh... then what does the shinobi world look like?" Erza wondered.

Itachi answered "The shinobi world is pretty too, full of natural views, but... its kinda boring. Our world is less colorful. We have strong armies but we don't have many fun things to do. A lot of people in the shinobi world are not aware there are a lot of pretty worlds outside our borders. I am just one of the lucky people from the shinobi world who've found it out."

Erza replied "The world itself in general is a very large place, isn't it? Many scientists even say the universe is limitless."

"Yeah." said Itachi "No matter how far you travel, you can never reach the edge of universe. You can't even see it. One scientific theory even says universe has no border. Another theory suggests that no place is considered the furthest place. It's all relative depends on your reference point. Thus, the universe is limitless."

"Ah-uh... there are countless mysteries in the universe. When you think you have seen much in life, it is only a matter of time when you will realize you have only seen a drop in the ocean, right? Even today, when mankind has developed science or magic or jutsu this far, who can tell if we've already discovered everything? Who can tell if we've found the truth behind everything?"

"Every human relies on and is bounded by their knowledge and experience to live and find truth. That is what they call reality. However, not all of them define truth in a same perspective. It's all relative depends on one's reference point. Thus, truth is a vague concept. Reality itself may be just an illusion. Sometimes, you think you already know truth but then you find out, you knew nothing. This happens to some people."

"...yeah. Some people are just too easy to judge something black or white. Sometimes, it is hard to make difference between reality and illusion. Truth itself maybe just a belief."

Impressed by Erza's response, Itachi talked to himself inside his head, "She understood and appreciated what I was talking about and gave a good response. If it were Deidara or Sasori, I would be laughed or mocked. She must be something special..."

Itachi then replied "Mankind still has its own nature selection. That's why humans never stop trying to find truth. Human evolution develops when we make mistakes and find solutions. There are people who want to learn from the past. There are the ones who don't. And when you do, you might increase your survival rate, and win a place in nature selection."

"You mean, when someone learns from the past, they might have higher survival rate?" Erza asked.

"Mostly." Itachi answered "I am sure a lot of mages make mistakes. Just like us, shinobi, do. And some of them learn from their mistakes in the past. By learning, you have more preparations to walk toward the future."

"Oh...I see." Erza got what Itachi was talking about.

Itachi kept throwing his baits. He kept trying to make Erza tell him more about her, especially her past.

"And by seeing the environment here full of broken melee weapons scattered over, and your body full of sweat, and the way you stare, I can tell that you are a strong person who is not easy to give up. Someone who learns from the past and gets motivated to be stronger." Itachi said what he thought of Erza.

Erza replied in wonder "Only by that, you jumped into that conclusion?"

"I may sound intuitive to you, but as a shinobi who has been involved in so many fights, my intuition says you're an experienced and hard working fighter... I mean, just how did you get strength to train by yourself with that much stuff?" Itachi explained about his reasoning.

Erza talked to herself in her head "He has sharp intuition as a fighter." she then told Itachi "It seems that every Akatsuki member is an experienced fighter, uh? And you seem to know what kind of fighter you encounter."

"Well, among fighters," Itachi replied "there are some considered genius types. Some are considered hard working types. But most of them are the same. They have motivations to get stronger. And experience in the past gives the biggest contribution to encourage them to keep training and it affects the results. Akatsuki is no different than that." Itachi finished rephrasing his reasoning but then he apologized "Sorry if I sound curious or judgemental to you. I jumped into that conclusion only based on my own perspective. I just strongly believe you are not a type of fighter who's easy to give up."

"Haha.. it seems that you have exposed me, Itachi." impressed by Itachi's words, Erza decided to tell him what herself is made of. She inhaled some fresh air. "For once, I thought surrender and death were the only options I had. Everything was over. I was totally hopeless."

"When did you experience that?" Itachi asked.

Erza answered and explained "...it was when I lost a fight in Tower of Heaven. There was this guy. We have been friends since childhood. He was a strong and brave boy. We were underage slaves. We and the other slaves were forced to build a place called Tower of Heaven. Everyone was afraid to fight back our oppressors. But he stood up and encouraged us to fight for freedoms. He brought some hope to us. However, for some reason, he turned evil. He fell into darkness. I and everybody else managed to escape the unfinished Tower of Heaven. But he chose to stay...

...I failed to set him free. That moment had become my trauma which I though it would never be cured. Especially until that night, when I met him again in Tower of Heaven, 8 years later. I fought hard to survive and set him free. But the outcome really turned down my courage. I lost. I had no enough strength to fulfill our dreams. Our dreams of gaining freedoms we used to declare together were all destroyed. I even let another childhood friend of mine die due to my weakness. He sacrificed his life to protect me, even so I was still in a losing position. I was totally useless. My world was full of darkness. It was endless guilt. No hope and no light. My future was dead."

For a moment, an image of Sasuke popped into Itachi's mind.

Erza continued her words "In that critical situation, a new hope appeared. Natsu, who managed to find me, insisted on telling me to stay alive and keep fighting back. Even though he also saw the death of that other childhood friend of mine, he still didn't stop trying. He made me realize that no matter how dark the life I had gone through and no matter how heavy the burden I had carried, I still had friends. I still had him and many people in my guild. That moment I realized I had trashed the remaning people I had. I had friends who loved me but I selfishly abandoned them. I was so close-minded for thinking everything was over, ignoring the fact that my friends were there for me."

"...so, what happened next? Did you defeat that guy?" Itachi asked.

Erza replied "No, it was Natsu who did. That moment when he was trying hard to return my faith in friendship power and he made it. It was so epic."

"What about that guy whom you and Natsu fought? You said he and you have been friends since childhood. That means he is still alive? And does Tower of Heaven still exist?"

"Yes. That guy finally escaped from darkness. So did I. But it actually thanks to Natsu. And Tower of Heaven no longer exists..." Erza stopped her words for a moment, and then she continued "Since that, our guild has strenghtened our bounds. Our friendship power is the one that makes us survive, move forward, and see the future. I was at mistake for looking back but refusing to look forward. I don't want to make the same mistake again. I, Natsu, and everyone in Fairy Tail... we all make mistakes. But we keep fighting. As you said, Itachi. In life, you make mistakes. But the mistakes should be lessons for you to move on."

Itachi asked in wonder "Faith in friendship or such, moving forward, and seeing future... is that the reason why you never stop fighting?"

Erza answered "...I-I always fight in order to protect my friends and our bounds, something precious I ever have. We fight because we value life. We want to stay alive because we appreciate what we have built together."

For a moment, an image of Naruto popped into Itachi's mind.

"Ah, sorry if it sounds too much philosophical to you." Erza apologized.

Itachi replied "Natsu once told me about friendship power too. At first, I didn't really understand. He has motion sickness. Noone could really understand what he was talking about. But your story really tells me everything."

"It does?"

"Yes. It really does. A thing you call friendship power may sound philosophical. However when you have it, you realize how much precious it is."

"Do shinobi also have something like that in the shinobi world? Friendship power or something?"

"In the shinobi world, every shinobi mostly focuses on calculations in combat. Maybe due to our deep unserstanding in war tactics because we are too logical. And we have become one of the most powerful action shounen worlds."

"I have heard that. Along with the shinigami world and the pirate world, the shinobi world is the most powerful action shounen world. While the mage world is far below." said Erza. "But we win in fanservice though." she said her last sentence inside her own head.

"That may be true." said Itachi, in reply to Erza's statement that the mage world is far below the shinobi world. "However, most shinobi don't believe in friendship power. They are too logical. That's why when they think everything they have is all gone, they will fall into darkness easy, and they are very hard to escape from the darkness. When a shinobi has fallen into darkness, it is even almost impossible for him or her to find a single tiny light."

Erza was a little bit surprised "Really? Then how did or do people in the shinobi world know friendship power?"

Itachi explained to Erza "Among people in the shinobi world, there is someone called Naruto. Naruto is just one of few shinobi who has that faith in friendship power like you and your guild do. He is someone who really values friendship too. His strong feelings for his friends, his hard work, and his confidence in fulfiling his dreams have spreaded enlightment and built solidicity across the shinobi world. And now he is bringing light to shinobi who have fallen into darkness. Someone like him is rare to find in the shinobi world."

"Never would have thought there is friendship power in the shinobi world..."

"It is but most shinobi who fall into darkness depend too much on few certain people like Naruto. He is the ideal character that represents a savior who brings light to lost people. While in the mage world, almost everyone can bring their own light or they can see light in darkness easy when someone else brings it. Most mages do not need a certain central character, unlike most shinobi. I see most shinobi in general as powerful and prideful people. But they too much depend on material and technical factors, and will become totally hopeless when everything is gone. Unless someone powerful shows up bringing light of hope."

"Well, actually there are a lot of mages who are like that too. I have encountered so many arrogant mages and guilds. They're powerful and prideful too, but then became the pathetic ones when they thought everything they had was gone. I was also the one who thought I was so powerful but then became pathetic when I thought I had lost everything. In the mage world, there are people like that too. But I must admit, the friendship power trend has become more and more popular recently. Many arrogant mages have turned into nice people who value friendship over guild superiority."

"That's good news. While in my world, even shinobi who value friendship the most still deal with clan rivalry trend among them. They strongly still believe in clan superiority."

"I see... maybe its the difference. In the mage world, a lot of mages are often encouraged by themselves. It's easier for us to have faith in friendship power, and continue fighting even without calculations at all."

"That's why, it is almost impossible to find such a thing as friendship power in the shinobi world. I could not imagine if someone like Naruto didn't exist in our world. If this keeps going that way, someday in the future, the mage world will surpass the shinobi world. The shinobi world needs more wisdom."

Hearing Itachi's briliant analysis, Erza expressed her admiration toward him inside her own head "He has insightful analysis. He sounds like a wise person. Is he really a criminal?" she then spoke up "It seems that every world has its own common sense and uniqueness, uh?"

"...indeed." Itachi replied.

Silent for few seconds...

Itachi finally decided to end the conversation "Well, I gotta go. Thanks for telling me your story, Erza."

"Ah,... Ok. Nice to have a chat with you, Itachi." Erza replied.

Itachi and Erza stood up and faced each other.

"I've learned much from you today, Erza. Thank you." Itachi expressed his salutation to Erza.

"Your words actually increased my knowledge, Itachi. So you're welcome." Erza replied.

"I am leaving." Itachi walked off... but suddenly he stopped walking and turned around. He and Erza faced each other again.

Itachi told something to Erza "Erza, about faith in friendship power or such, moving forward, and seeing the future..."

"Hmm?"

"I also have faith to move forward and see my future. I also have faith to win what I am pursuing right now."

Erza did not reply. She still waited to see what Itachi was trying to say.

Itachi continued his words "I have decided. I am going to bring light into someone's heart because she has brought her light into my heart."

"... Bring light into someone's heart? And there is someone who has brought her light into your heart? What...exactly are you talking about?" Erza wondered.

Itachi told Erza, he tried to open up "For once, I lost someone I loved due to my darkness. She was the only woman who had my light in her heart. And I had her light in my heart. And then all that light disappeared. For long, I have never thought I would try to find another woman to place my light into her heart... until now. A strong, kind, and warm heart of a woman. A woman with sharp eyes that show strong will to struggle and pure love to share."

Itachi's Sharingan eyes were reflected in Erza's eyes.

"Erza Scarlet." said Itachi. "We will meet again. There's more thing I will like to talk to you." He smiled at Erza and then he left. When his appearance was gone in her sight, she sat down on the wood log again.

For a moment, Erza was blank for thoughts. And then... her heart beat faster! And her cheeks blushed too. "What is this feeling?" She talked to herself inside her head "Why didn't I ask him about Akatsuki? Why didn't I ask him what they did with Happy? Why did I tell him about my past, instead?... I just can't understand why... Just what is this feeling I have right now? Am I... attracted to him?"

Meanwhile, Itachi was leaving the forest. He smiled to himself because he felt so happy. He kept picturing images of Erza in his mind (yes, including her in Seduction Armor). And for the first time since several years ago, he fell in love (and nosebleeded too).

A pair of eyes were secretly watching Itachi from a distance. From the surface of a big tree, Zetsu floated up. But Itachi didn't see him.

"So Itachi is in this forest, uh? Did he know Erza was somewhere around here?" White Zetsu told Black Zetsu in a very low voice. Black Zetsu replied also in a very low voice "But based on his direction, it looks like he is already leaving."

Itachi's appearance was gone in Zetsu's sight. And Zetsu floated up completely. He stepped down from the tree onto the ground.

"So, it seems that Itachi is happy based on his facial expression... and his nose too." said Black Zetsu.

White Zetsu replied "Too bad we didn't see what he was doing with Erza."

"Wasn't it your mistake for inviting me to peek at some random people?"

"Well, at first I wanted us to explore Fairy Tail's guild to find some girls but everybody looked scared and displeased when they saw us. They gave us bad vibes. Peeking at random people wasn't what I wanted from the start."

"Nah, Tobi actually invited us to drink with Kisame and have a nice chat with the two Strauss ladies because he saw that we seemed to be rejected by everybody. The long-haired woman, Kisame's target, didn't look she minded. She maybe the friendliest member of the guild. Tobi and Kisame themselves wouldn't mind if we joined their conversation with the Strauss ladies. But you insisted on asking me to go outside and peek at random people."

"Alright, sorry. But we didn't know Itachi went to this forest. So to kill time, I asked you to talk a walk across Magnolia first. If only we had known Itachi's destination, we would have come here."

"Nah, it wasn't taking a walk. We only peeked at some random people. And we ended up doing that because you didn't have confidence to face humans. It wasn't any different than when we were in Fairy Tail guild. We still didn't manage to get girls."

"Well, okay. I am sorry... what do we do then? Taking a sneak-peak at our comrades' dates?"

"Stalking would be a good idea to have fun. But we will waste more time. We need to find two girls to date. We haven't found our targets until now... we don't even dare start searching. This is a bad situation for us... hmm... let me think first."

"Should we give up and return to the shinobi world or..."

"Well, let's take a look at some random views over Magnolia first. The city looks more fun to stay compared to our ugly, scary, stinky, dirty laboratory and hideout where we were invented. But this time, don't hide. People won't hurt you if you don't do anything bad. There might be some pretty girls outside Fairy Tail's guild whom we would date. Maybe our luck will come upon us this time."

"Not interested in finding Erza's location?"

"Leave her alone. Itachi is already targeting her. Although we have no intention to hit on her, there would be misunderstanding if Itachi saw us coming over her. And we don't know what reaction she would make if she saw us coming like this. Magnolia city is our destination."

"Alright, let's get out of here. I hope we will find some chicks to hit on."

Zetsu's body slowly sank on the forest's ground and he disappeared.

-oOo-

Meanwhile in Fairy Tail's lobby. This is what happened several minutes ago...

Levy was standing in front of the mission board aka the request board. She did not know Akatsuki's meeting was already over. She put more focus on picking some missions. There were dozens of mission papers and pamphlets on the mission board. However, she couldn't make a decision.

"Gajeel and Pantherlily went on their mission without inviting me to join. And I actually wanted to do a mission with them. That's why I told them to wait because I wanted to eat some cake first but they weren't patient." Levy talked to herself inside her head "Hmm... Which mission should I pick? There are a lot of missions that require my skills being used. However, even though my skills would be useful on these missions, I still need someone to assist me in case, I am involved in combat. So even though our mission board is far larger than before due to our guild's popularity, I still haven't found any mission suitable for me... I am just a short and weak girl... "

Levy looked at the mission papers and pamphlets one by one and took into considerations. And finally, one paper attracted her attention. She decided to pick that mission. "That's it. A mission that is suitable for someone like me. It can be taken by one or two mages. I am taking that one!" she felt cheered.

Levy tried to take her selected mission paper, however its location on the board was beyond her reach. She was too short to take it out. Even if she stood on her tiptoes. She still couldn't take it. "Ugh... This is too high for my height. I can read it but I can't reach it."

She kept trying and her fingers almost touched the paper, but suddenly a big hand came out of nowhere and picked the paper. Levy was surprised and she turned around to see the one who had taken her desired paper. She saw a big man in black mask and Akatsuki cloak.

"I am taking this mission alone... unless you want to do it together." Kakuzu told Levy.

-oOo-

So far in this story, three Akatsuki guys had made their moves (if reference to Zetsu's conversation is included, it makes five). Even though Deidara made a blunder but he wouldn't give up. His goal was to win Lucy's heart and praise himself in front of Sasori. Would Happy and Elfman give him good advice? We hope these true Men would be much helpful to the terrorist guy who knew nothing but explosion art. Don't screw things up twice, Deidara!

Itachi played safe and smart. He was like a professional chess player. He knew how to approach a woman like Erza. He had talent to develop romantic relationships without taking advice from experts. He only needed some info from Happy, and then he attempted to win Erza's heart himself. Luckily, he had many advantages. Due to his goodlooking face, strength, calmness, and smartness, he had become a Homme Fatale to a lot of girls and women, even Erza couldn't resist! Itachi, you're so dangerous.

Kakuzu, although he seemed to be impatient, he actually made a smart move too. He had decided to take a mission with Levy. But he was just lucky. She really wanted that mission too and it could be taken by two mages (even though Kakuzu was not a mage, at least he was strong and had special abilities too, his power would be much helpful to Levy) so doing that mission together could be an option. But due to the difference of their strength and sizes, she had no other option but doing that mission with him because he only gave her two choices, did it together or he did it alone.

This situation was a big advantage to Kakuzu. Levy was in a losing position. Surrender, Levy! Surrender!

But.. Would Levy fall for Kakuzu? Was he really her type?

Well, Kakuzu is like Gajeel. They are bad boys. Very egoistical, arrogant, strong, short-tempered... (wonder what would happen if they met).

In this chapter, its also confirmed that Zetsu decided to explore Magnolia instead of Fairy Tail guild. While in Fairy Tail guild, Kisame and Tobi already tried to hit on Mirajane and Lisanna, but that's only according to Zetsu's conversation. We still don't see what they were exactly doing. And what happened to the other Akatsuki guys and their targets still remains a mystery.

To Be Continued...