A/N: To start things off I would like to apologize for the really big delay on getting this story updated. I've been having a bit of writers block and I've already rewritten this chapter several times already. That and school isn't helping me either. So, sorry again for the big delay.
A very big thank you goes to Kyu No Ken for the support and permission to use the story Her Shield, His Sword as a template for mine.
I'll be making a few adjustments to the Naruto storyline. Such as Jiraiya teaching Naruto some wind ninjutsu and Naruto himself being a bit smarter than his canon counterpart.
Also, all the jutsus and magical abilities will be in English. I don't mind Japanese, but I prefer to know what someone is saying.
Thank you to the reviewer for telling me Erza's age during the pre-canon era. I will be adjusting Naruto's age so that both he and Erza are 17, for the story's sake. Ignore what I said about Erza being 16 in chapter 2. I also want to apologize if I make some characters a bit OOC. It's already difficult enough to write their personality as it is. I'm doing my best at it so bear with me. Oh, and lastly, to the reviewer who says that my writing sucks. I believe that all of the positive comments, followers and favorites on this story would beg to differ on your opinion.
That's all I have to say, so on with the story and enjoy!
Her Love, His Promise.
The Fairy Tail Guild Arc
Chapter 4
Begin.
Naruto sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time today. Completely bored out of his mind he was as he continued to seal various articles of clothing away in empty scrolls. Contrary to popular belief, he did have other outfits than just the orange and black tracksuit and orange pants. He just preferred to wear it over his other clothes.
Fūinjutsu had been one of most useful things that Jiraiya had taught him during their training trip. Of course, he wasn't head-over-heels in learning it at first like he is in learning new ninjutsu techniques. It took some convincing from the old pervert to get him interested in the art at first, but after Jiraiya explained and demonstrated to him how useful the art is he took a liking to it. It also helped that the person who he admired the most was a master at fūinjutsu. Said person being the Fourth Hokage.
As soon as Jiraiya began teaching him in the art, he quickly discovered that Naruto took all the information in like a fish to water. Jiraiya chalked it up to be due to the genetics of both his parents and the Uzumaki Clan itself for being masters of the sealing arts. Jiraiya had once commented that he could surpass the Fourth Hokage himself if he put as much effort into fūinjutsu as he did into eating ramen.
Naruto stopped his train of thought at the mention of the Fourth with a frown on his face. He wasn't blind or stupid like most people thought he was. He had long since figured out that the Fourth was most likely his father when he was 14 years-old. Ever since he got a good look at the Fourth's picture walking into the Hokage's office one time with the old Team 7 to report a successful D-rank mission. Hardly anyone else had the same shade of sun-kissed blond hair and cerulean blue eyes that he and his (most likely) father shared. Well, some of the members of the Yamanaka Clan did but he was a hundred percent positive he wasn't related to the Yamanaka's. If he was then Tsunade better have one heck of an explanation for him.
Even though that Naruto had figured that he had identified his father, he was still in a bit of a state of denial. There had been one point when he had hoped that the Fourth wasn't his father. That the Fourth didn't use his own son to seal the Nine-Tails in him to be its container; a jinchūriki: power of a human sacrifice. Naruto remembered clinging onto that hope. He was just some unfortunate orphan that was unlucky enough to bear the burden of being a jinchūriki. That hope was quickly crushed when Jiraiya had told him what kind of person the Fourth was. A kind, caring, and compassionate man who valued life and was a strong believer in the Will of Fire. Naruto was sure he himself would have probably done the same thing if he was in the same position as his father. The only thing to ease the pain of an orphan's worst fear was confirmation. Who were his parents, where are they, and did they love him or not?
Naruto finished packing and spared a glance at his clock. '3:00, that means I still have an hour left.'
He sighed once again put the scrolls that contained all of his belongings that he would with him in his jacket pocket. Gazing around his room he took one last look at it for however long it would be until he returned. Naruto paused at that and allowed a small smile to grace his lips. Truth to be told, it excited him that he would be visiting another land, another world, another dimension. He couldn't wait to see it. A world that didn't know who he was (not that he was that famoushere,) a place that wouldn't judge him because he was a jinchūriki, a land that didn't even know what a jinchūriki was. And best of all, no Akatsuki. He no longer had always watch his back and the surroundings for possible Akatsuki members sneaking up on him while out on missions. Not to mention that the politics of his world weren't even remotely aware of the existence of the one he was about to got to in an hour. So he didn't have to worry about giving Tsunade more paperwork to deal with. Of course, he figured that the world he was going to be visiting in had their own form of government, so he couldn't go around blowing random things up without getting in trouble. Not that blowing random things up for no apparent reason was his style anyway.
When he returned back to Konoha he was going to get Tsunade and his super-pervert of a teacher to tell him about his parents. He knew that they both knew the identities of his parents and he was fed-up with staying in the dark for so long. If what he suspected about his heritage is true, all he needed to do was make sure the rest of world didn't find out about him-
Naruto's head snapped up so quickly not even Sasuke's Sharingan could have tracked the movement. Slowly, a smile began etching its way on his face until it turned into a full blown grin. Looking back he cast a glance at his clock and saw he only had 30 minutes left until he had to report back to Tsunade. Sighing he decided to do one last thing before he left his apartment. Forming a cross with the index and middle-finger of both hands he channeled the required amount of chakra and ten puffs of smoke appeared in the room. The smoke cleared and there stood ten perfect copies of himself. The original Naruto nodded to the clones and the copies began cleaning up his apartment. Naruto looked around his apartment as it became cleaner by the minute until it was absolutely spotless. He dismissed his clones and the memories of them cleaning came back to him. With nothing else to do he walked to front door before casting one last glance at his apartment. For all he knew, this would be the last time he would be seeing it. Nodding to himself he stepped outside and locked the door behind him.
As Naruto made his way through the village he glanced around and saw all the villagers going about their business. Citizens chatted to one another about how their day was or the latest gossip. The occasional ninja would be hopping around the rooftops, rushing to their destination. He would even spot a few genin teams walking around with their jonin sensei. He could practically feel the welcoming aura that generally associated itself with the village, making you feel perfectly at home. He spotted a black cat with a pink bow dash across the street quickly followed by three young genin. He noticed that the genin in the back of the three-man cell had multiple scratches on her face and an aura of feminine fury surrounding her as she and her teammates chased the cat. Naruto chuckled to himself as he realized which cat the young genins were chasing.
Tora the cat was indeed a demon sent from lowest levels of hell to torture all the fresh, new genin teams upon graduating the Academy.
Memories of his time with the old Team 7 came rushing back to him as he observed the genins chase the cat around.
He snapped out of his reminiscence to notice that he was already at the entrance to administration building that housed the Hokage's office on the top floor. A thought went through Naruto's mind as he realized this would be the last time he would see the village for several months before his mission was completed. Steeling his determination he walked through the entrance and straight to the door of the Hokage's office. He was just about to barge in to the room and interrupt whatever meeting Tsunade usual had going on as he usually does when he paused for a minute. This would be the last time he saw his surrogate mother/grandmother so he decided to make at least one good impression on her. He calmly straightened up his posture and knocked on the wooden oak door three times. At the tell-tale sign of her usually slurred voice telling him to come in, Naruto grasped the door knob and opened it up and walked into the office calmly. Once inside he was greeted with the unusual sight of both Jiraiya and Shizune wearing a shell-shocked expression and Tsunade with a smug smirk on her face. The tension in the room became too awkward for Naruto as he couldn't figured out just what was causing them to behave this way in front of him.
"Erm, is there something on my face?" Naruto questioned lamely as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
(Five-minutes before.)
Tsunade drummed her fingers on her desk as she pondered what to give Naruto for his unofficial (and technically secret) going-away present. She glanced out the window behind her and spotted a piece of clothing that brought a smirk to her face.
"I've got it!" Tsunade exclaimed, slamming her hands down on her desk for emphasis and gathering the attention of the other two occupants in the room.
Jiraiya decided to respond first. "You've got what, Princess? More sake? 'Cause I thought Shizune confiscated all of it already?"
Tsunade frowned at his question. "Yes and no you pervert-" "That's super-pervert to you!" "SHUT-UP JIRAIYA!"
Shizune watched in amusement as Tsunade threw a rather large book at Jiraiya's head, effectively shutting him up and knocking him to the floor. Shizune chuckled at the two's antics before turning back to Tsunade.
"Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted," at this Tsunade narrowed her eyes dangerously at Jiraiya, who in-turn flinched. "I have decided to promote Naruto to chūnin." After registering what Tsunade just said, Jiraiya and Shizune both blinked owlishly at her before looking at each other and back to Tsunade. The room was quiet for a minute before Shizune decided to break the silence.
"Um, Tsunade-sama, not that I'm questioning your decision, but are you certain it would be all right to promote Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked while biting her bottom lip nervously.
At her question Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly. "Yes Shizune, I'm quite certain it would be all right to promote the brat. Why do you ask? Do you think he does not deserve the promotion?"
"N-no Tsunade-sama! I think he has deserved the promotion ever since he returned back from his training-trip with Jiraiya-sama. It's just... wouldn't some of the civilian council members try to veto your decision?"
At this Tsunade's eyes narrowed dangerously and a large amount of killing intent filled the room. Shizune, being slightly used to the amount of killing intent, felt a small bead of sweat roll down her face while Jiraiya wasn't even fazed by it.
"Let them try and find out where it get's them. Konoha is a military dictatorship and ruled by the Hokage and only the Hokage. The shinobi and civilian body of the council is supposed to advise the Hokage, not tell the Hokage what laws or actions he or she may or may not pass. The only time when the council can override the Hokage's laws or question the actions of said Hokage is when both bodies of the council have unanimously voted in agreement."
At this Tsunade calmed down a bit and the killing intent in the room disappeared. She turned in her chair and gazed out of the window that allowed her and anyone else in the room to see the bustling village as it flourished.
"Sarutobi-sensei was always too lax with the council and it only came to bite him back in the ass and also make my job a lot more difficult than it already is. It because of his laxness around the council that caused him to always be swamped by paperwork if what Jiraiya says and all this paperwork has to go by. Because Sensei was always too busy with paperwork the civilian body of the council was able to gain a foothold and become more influential in the council. Not only that but they started meddling in shinobi affairs when they should have not been snooping around in the first place. However," with that Tsunade turned around to face both Jiraiya and Shizune. Both could easily see a raging fire burning in her eyes that was just daring some idiot to challenge her authority. "I say it's time for the council to be reminded just who runs this village and who is in charge. So let them try and question my decision about promoting one of my shinobi, regardless of whether or not said shinobi just so happens to be the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki," Tsunade finished with a smirk on her face.
Both Shizune and Jiraiya didn't even notice nor feel their jaws hit the floor during Tsunade's monologue which caused Tsunade's smirk to widen even further on her face. They all were brought out of their funk when a knock came from the door. Everyone looked at each other briefly before nodding in unison. Tsunade folded her hands in front of her in a professional manner before speaking.
"Enter," she said in an even but slightly slurred voice.
Now, everyone gathered in the room knew Naruto very well. So well, in fact, that they knew almost all of his habits; even the fact that he hid behind a mask of happiness to hide his emotional pain from others. So, it surprised everyone in the room that the person entering was in fact Naruto Uzumaki. Instead of barging in and greeting or complaining to everyone with a loud voice, he walked in calmly with an expressionless face. However, one could see the faintest amount of curiosity, excitement, and nervousness, albeit small, in his deep, cerulean, blue eyes. The most notable thing about Naruto was the amount of professionalism that surrounded him. Tsunade let a smirk etch itself on her face as any doubt she had about promoting Naruto was completely erased. In her eyes, the 17 year-old teen that stood before her had come a long way from being the complete immature and obnoxious brat who found her drinking her life away in a bar.
"Erm, is there something on my face?" Naruto questioned lamely as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
At this, everyone in the room, sans Naruto, promptly face-faulted. Leave it to Naruto to completely ruin the moment. Not that anyone can blame him. Hey, it wasn't his fault that he inherited that particular trait from Kushina.
"N-No, Naruto. Nothing at all," Tsunade said after she recomposed herself. After waiting for both Jiraiya and Shizune to recompose themselves in front of Naruto, she coughed into her fist to gather everyones attention back on her.
"Since you've arrived a bit earlier on time than expected, I take it that you have finished whatever business you needed to do before leaving?" She questioned.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," was Naruto's curt reply.
At this, everyone blinked owlishly at Naruto. Since when was Naruto ever formal to anyone? Better yet, to Tsunade of all people? Not that Tsunade was complaining, she welcomed it with open arms. Although, because she was so used to Naruto calling her grandma, granny, or other nicknames that she had partially gotten attached to him saying, she frowned ever so slightly at his formal tone.
"Are you sure?" Tsunade asked him.
"Hai."
Tsunade studied Naruto's face for a minute before relenting and pulling a file from her desk drawer and handing it to Naruto.
"This file contains all the information that you will need. If you have any questions over the perimeters of your assignment then direct it to Jiraiya. He has personally supplied us with all the information that we have currently on the land that you will be visiting."
Naruto gave a grunt of understanding as his eyes read over the information the file held inside, never once looking up from it. Naruto would have never bothered before with reading mission files before. He usually left that up to Sakura and Kakashi or sometimes even Yamato since he could hardly understand what some of the stuff meant. Plus he could hardly sit still long enough read through the file anyway. But this was different. He was going to another land that the majority of his world didn't even know existed. Jiraiya would only accompany him to make sure he arrived safely to his destination. Once he was there, he was on his own. Ergo, he had to make sure to pay attention to every word Tsunade said, absorb every detail the file contained, and successfully complete his mission.
He was then brought out of his mussing by Tsunade's voice. "Naruto, you are aware of what you must do once you memorized the file's contents, correct?"
Naruto looked from reading the file before closing it and giving Tsunade his undivided attention. "Yes, I do," he replied. Ninja protocol mandated that all mission file contents, A-rank and over, be destroyed so that no intelligence fall into enemy ninja hands should the ninja carrying out the mission be captured.
Tsunade nodded in understanding before addressing Naruto again. "Very good. Now, as you know, Naruto, genins are never allowed to take S-rank missions."
'The same could be said about C-rank turned A-rank missions, but that didn't stop me now did it?' Naruto thought to himself before being brought back at the sound of Tsunade's voice.
"Therefore, after much deliberation and careful thinking, I have decided to promote you to chūnin."
Both Jiraiya and Shizune both felt their eye twitch at this proclamation. 'Liar!' was the single thought going through their mind.
"Genin Naruto Uzumaki, do you accept this promotion?" Tsunade asked him in an even but powerful voice.
Naruto was in his own world at the moment as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Him, being promoted to chūnin. Naruto couldn't fathom it. Sure, he strongly felt he deserved it. Also, he was the only genin left among his peers as all his other friends were chūnin and Neji was jōnin. So, when he found himself being promoted, he just couldn't believe it.
Tsunade waited patiently for Naruto to answer. She watched as his face expressed various emotions from shock to disbelief and others.
"Naruto," Tsunade called to bring back his attention. It clearly worked as his eyes snapped to her before he shook his head side-to-side and he focused completely on her. "Do you accept your promotion to chūnin?"
If it was possible, than Naruto sat straighter then before. "Hai, I do Hokage-sama," Naruto answered with a small smile on his face. Tsunade copied his smile before pulling out a simple storage scroll from her robe and handing it to Naruto. Naruto opened the scroll before channeling some chakra to it to open its contents. A puff of smoke covered the scroll before it reviled a standard, jōnin flack-jacket. While the regular version was a forest green color, his was an orange and black color with the black being the dominant color and the orange a few shades darker than his pants. Naruto flipped the jacket over and found the Uzumaki clan symbol in red on center of the back of the flack-jack. Naruto studied his custom made flack-jacket before looking up at Tsunade with a huge grin.
"Thank you Hokage-sama," Naruto said trying his absolute best to restrain his excitement and slip into saying one of his rude nicknames for her.
Tsunade once again matched his smile before responding. "No problem, brat. Now come and give your favorite grandmother a hug," She said with her arms held out as an invitation. While the others were staring at her with open mouths at the mention of calling herself a grandmother, Naruto didn't waste a second and pulled Tsunade into a giant hug. Shizune found herself blinking in surprise but smiled fondly nonetheless at the sight. Jiraiya was grumbling to himself about something along the lines of 'lucky brat' and 'giant breasts.' After the two separated and Tsunade wiped a small tear from her eye. She sighed before sitting back at her desk while Naruto put on his new flak-jacket and placed the now empty storage scroll inside one of the jacket pockets.
"Now Naruto, this maybe the last time for a while that you can ask some unanswered questions before you leave to begin your mission, do you have any?"
Naruto looked down at the floor while millions of thoughts raced through his mind. With a deep sigh and steeling his resolve, Naruto asked the question that has haunted his entire life.
"I need to know Baa-chan... Was the Fourth Hokage my father?"
Silence.
Silence was the sound that rang throughout the entire room as they registered his question. Shizune was openly shocked at the question as she looked back and forth between Naruto and Tsunade. Jiraiya was a bit worried as he felt a few beads of sweat roll down his neck.
Tsunade...
Tsunade had an emotionless expression on her face as she stared at Naruto. Naruto himself was staring hard at her while he waited for his question to be answered. For several minutes the silence lasted before Tsunade let out a long sigh and looked down tiredly at her desk.
"Naruto... may I ask what prompted this question in the first place?"
"Does it matter?!" Naruto asked hotly with a hint of anger.
Tsunade sighed once more before answering. "No, I guess it does not. Yes, Naruto. Your father was the Fourth Hokage. His name is Minato Namikaze," Tsunade answered truthfully.
Naruto's shoulders slumped as he looked down at the floor, his hair hiding his expression. Though, one could tell from his posture alone that he was a bit depressed at the news.
"I... see. Thanks for telling me Baa-chan." Naruto said sadly. Shizune moved over to him and placed an arm around him in a comforting motion and began to rub his back. Naruto looked back up to Tsunade and asked in almost a pleading voice.
"W-Who was my mother?" He asked. This time it was Jiraiya who answered him.
"Your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze. She had red hair and fiery personality to match it. She was also the previous jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails." At this, Naruto immediately looked at Jiraiya with a stunned expression on his face.
"Wait, my mother was the fuzz-ball's previous host?!" Naruto exclaimed in a shocked manner. Tsunade snorted at the nickname for the Nine-Tails while Shizune giggled into her sleeve.
"Yes, she was. It's probable also the reason for your whisker-like birthmarks since you were exposed to its chakra while your mother was pregnant with you," Jiraiya answered.
"But there's something I don't get. How can I be the fuzz-butts host now if my mother was her previous host?" Naruto asked worriedly.
Jiraiya and Tsunade both exchanged nervous glances with each other before Jiraiya answered again.
"We don't know what exactly happened since neither of us were in the village at the time but some how the Nine-Tails was released from Kushina's seal. Usually, the host of a Tailed-Beast would immediately die when their bijū was extracted or released. However, since Kushina was an Uzumaki, she was able to live long enough to help your father seal the beast inside of you. After the beast was successfully sealed, both Kushina and Minato passed away."
Naruto nodded silently at the man's answer. Still, one thing bugged him about his parents. "Did... Did they love me?" He asked with a hint of longing in his voice. Everyone one in the room smiled sadly at him and Jiraiya nodded his head.
"Yes they loved you so much, Naruto. When your father heard the news of Kushina being pregnant with you, he practically ran to the top of the Hokage Monument and shouted to the entire village that he was going to be a father." Jiraiya removed something from the inside of his jacket and handed it to Naruto. Naruto realized that it was a picture and studied it carefully, soaking up every detail and savoring it. The picture was of a blond man that Naruto could almost pass of his clone and a beautiful red-haired woman that was about seven months pregnant. Naruto traced his finger along the frame of the picture as he stared with watered eyes at it. He noticed a drop of water fall on the picture and realized that he was silently crying. He wiped his tears and schooled his features before looking back up at everyone with a smile on his face.
"Thank you... everyone."
"No problem, brat. It's always a pleasure," Jiraiya responded. Tsunade nodded in agreement with Jiraiya before speaking once more.
"Now then, Naruto. Is that all of your questions or do you have any more."
"No more questions Hokage-sama."
"Very well then." Tsunade stood back up from her desk and walked over to Naruto before giving him another hug.
"Take care of yourself brat and don't get into too much trouble, all right?" Tsunade asked.
"Don't worry, granny. It's me we're talking about, right? Naruto replied with a grin.
"That's exactly why I worry," Tsunade mumbled.
Tsunade stepped back from Naruto and let Shizune have her turn as Shizune embraced Naruto in an equally compassionate hug.
"Make sure to have a lot of fun out their, Naruto-kun. And make sure to make tones of friends and maybe bring back a girlfriend," Shizune said with a soft smile while she winked at him in the end.
Naruto immediately blushed at the mention of him bringing a girlfriend back with him to the village.
"I-I-I'll try to Shizune-nee-chan," was Naruto's stuttered reply to his surrogate sister. Shizune giggled at his response before stepping back. Naruto felt a hand collapse on his shoulder and he looked to find Jiraiya by his side.
"Are you ready to go, gaki?"
Naruto smirked. "Whenever you are Pervy Sage!" Jiraiya began stuttering out a complaint while both Tsunade and Shizune laughed at his misfortune.
Doing his best to hopefully save whatever was left of his pride at the moment, Jiraiya coughed into his fist bringing everyone's laughter under control. Everyone watched as Jiraiya took what they thought was the Toad Summoning Contract and placed it on the ground and opened it. When it opened, everyone found that it was not the summoning contract but instead something else entirely.
Jiraiya stepped onto the scroll and motioned Naruto to do the same which said boy immediately followed. Jiraiya had both of them face each other so they were both looking towards the inside of the scroll.
"Right then," Jiraiya started. "This scroll is specifically designed to take to the land where you'll be staying at. The moment I do the hand signs for this is the moment we leave. Got it?" Naruto nodded in understanding before giving Shizune and Tsunade one last wave goodbye. Shizune responded in a similar fashion while Tsunade merely nodded her head towards him. Naruto looked back towards Jiraiya and responded that he was ready.
"Alright then, let's do this." Jiraiya bit his thumb enough for it to bleed and went through a few hand seals along with a cry of 'Summoning jutsu!' before slamming his hand on the ground. Seals began to immediately spread out from underneath his hand on the scroll before a cloud of white smoke enveloped the entire room. Once the smoke cleared the room. Tsunade and Shizune were the only ones left in it. Naruto, Jiraiya, and the special scroll were gone. Any trace of their presence in the room had vanished along with them.
Tsunade sighed and leaned back into her chair while she began gazing out of her office window.
"Tsunade-sama," Shizune began. "How do you think he will fare in this new world?" Shizune asked quietly.
"I don't know, Shizune. I don't know... All we can is hope for the best and pray for him." Shizune nodded at her master's answer before joining her in gazing out at the village.
(Fiore: Just Five Miles Outside of the Town of Magnolia.)
In a calm and dense forest, a large cloud of white smoke appeared suddenly with a loud popping sound. All the animals in the nearby vicinity immediately began rushing away or hiding from the now ominous smoke cloud. Once the smoke cloud dispersed, it revealed two figures calmly standing, until one fell to the ground clutching his stomach and moaning incoherent sounds.
Jiraiya calmly rolled his special scroll up and placed it on his back while his apprentice looked like he was about to spill his lunch all over the forest floor.
"Suck it up and be a man, brat. You can go hurl in a trash-can later once we reach the city," Jiraiya said as he walked calmly pasted Naruto.
"J-Just... give me a minute, Pervy Sage," Naruto moaned out.
Five minutes later we find the two traveling through the forest by hopping from tree branch to tree branch with chakra infused leaps. After traveling for about another ten minutes, Naruto could no longer stand the silence and decided the break it.
"Hey Pervy Sage, how long is it going to take before we get there?"
Jiraiya felt his eye twitch at the nickname but promptly ignored it. "We should be there soon, Naruto. By the way, I should warn you that Magnolia is nothing like Konoha."
"How so?" Naruto asked confused while he tried to imagine just what Magnolia looked like.
Jiraiya's response was to only chuckle. "Don't worry, Naruto. You'll see." Jiraiya's answer only left Naruto even more curios and a bit more excited.
(Fiore: Town of Magnolia.)
When Jiraiya had told him that Magnolia was nothing like Konoha, Naruto could only stare at the giant town before him with wide eyes and his mouth on the ground while Jiraiya laughed at his student's reaction. Jiraiya walked over to him and patted him on the back a few time before moving along.
"Come on, brat. We're almost there and I want to be back home in time for dinner." Naruto could only nod dumbly and follow his teacher through the entrance to the town.
After wandering through the town for about ten minutes, Naruto had easily reached the conclusion that Magnolia was at least twice as big as Konoha. He had been blown completely away by the size of the city and only further away by its architecture. Different styles of buildings he had never seen before were all present in this town.
Throughout their entire walk, Naruto had been shouting pointing out all the different things in the town that fascinated him. As Naruto was doing this, Jiraiya felt himself getting a bigger headache than usually. It wasn't till they reached the end of the town where a rather large building sat with the ocean in the background that Jiraiya could sigh in relief. Jiraiya stopped walking and his clueless student bumped into him causing said student to start complaining. Jiraiya merely ignored his rant and knocked Naruto in the back of the head to get him to shut-up and listen.
"You see this building, brat?" Naruto merely nodded his head and Jiraiya continued. "Then you should just happen to know that we've finally arrived at our destination and your mission will begin once we step inside. Naruto, welcome to the Fairy Tail Guild!" Jiraiya exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air for emphasis.
Naruto looked on with wonder and excitement at the castle-like building in front of him. Already he felt the smile growing on his face into a full-blown grin. Unconsciously he began tying his black forehead protecter a bit tighter on him as if he was getting ready for a big challenge.
"Right! Look out Fairy Tail, 'cause here comes Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage of Konoha!"
Ugh. This chapter is already my longest written with just under 6,000 words. Again, I profusely apologize for the HUGE delay in getting this story updating. My muse decided to take a rather long vacation and I was stuck looking at a blank screen trying to think of just something to write. I can already promise that I won't nearly take as long next time and I once again apologize. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this wonderful chapter! See you all next time!