AN: So I had this thing on my Google Docs for a while now and I'm very sorry to all of my viewers who wanted so long for me to get my act together. Sorry about the wait, the tool of an AP Stats teacher mucking up my grade (thankfully UC Davis is still letting me in) and just being so happy with my girlfriend made things rather difficult to remember that I even wrote anything. I'm back from my haiatus baby! (or however the hell that's spelt) You should all know by now that my spelling and grammer isn't perfect. You just gotta deal with it. Yes, Korra, I 78% dislike you. No hate crimes or spam please.

Disclaimer: Own nothing, people! I only wish!

Begin!

"Hey, Shikamaru! Thought that you left Lis Zinas!"

The Nara visibly flinched before turning towards Naruto, almost fearfully, the blonde next to him glaring at the teen angrily that their small moment of intimacy had been disrupted.

"O-oh, hey Naruto..."

"Who is he, Shika-kun?"

"Oh, just a childhood friend out on vacation. But I thought that taking me to Lis Zinas was 'troublesome', Shikamaru. Didn't know that you had a girl here. Strange how you didn't seem so eager to come."

Shikamaru winced again as Naruto slung his arm around the Nara's shoulders, the blond girl glaring heatedly at, what Naruto surmised, was her boy-toy.

"Is that true, Shika-kun?"

"Oh, very." Yoruichi backed Naruto up, now in her Exceed form, the spear in her hands. "He was quite whiny indeed. Really wouldn't shut up. Does he really find every single thing in Earth Land troublesome?"

Oh yes... the two really were enjoying the poor Nara's torment.

"Sh...Shikamaru... YOU BAKA!"

A swift kick with some Wind magic applied to it sent the poor teen flying off, making the Dragon Slayer and Exceed both whistle in amazement.

"That must have been, what, fifty yards."

"I'm sure it's at least sixty, Naruto-kun."

"I'll bet you a thousand Jewels that it was seventy."

"No way, Naruto-kun. It's physically impossible for you to lose a bet."

"...Ok, that's true."

Temari stared at the odd duo... and blinked... and blinked...

"You act as if all of this is so normal..."

Naruto shrugged as he turned toward the Wind mage.

"Meh. Strange stuff happens with mages. I've gotten used to it a loooong time ago. We're eccentric by nature, I think. Yeah. That sounds about right."

"Mages? You wouldn't happen to be mages yourself, would you?"

"Well I'm here because of the festival. Mage or not I'm just going to relax. No stress for me! I've had enough of that for the last year." Naruto stretched as a Clone brought Shikamaru's body back, swirls in the poor Nara's eyes.

"Yeah, so don't worry about us. We're here to have fun and find a few things. No big."

Temari's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat as she heard the Exceed, who was now on her cloaked shoulder, leaning into the over-sized iron fan hidden under her cloak. She recognized the blond male in front of her now.

The Dragoon of Fairy Tail. The youngest S class mage in Fiore. Rumors of him had spread over Earth Land as the next Gildarts and the Crash using mage was feared and respected by mages all across Earth Land, and this blond, this Naruto, was believed to be the next Gildarts and predicted by the Holy Priestess Shion to become even more powerful than anybody in Fairy Tail.

And he was standing right in front of her.

"Well, that's it then. Have fun with your boy toy, ok? I hope to see you and your siblings during the festival, Temari-san. Hey, Yoruichi-chan. Let's skedaddle. I think that there's two more casinos that might not have heard of me yet. I hear the Wrangler's got a zombie comedian, how cool is that?"

"They call them Ghouls here, Naruto-kun. Besides, the fact that they have a Ghoul probably means that the place is illegal. Are you sure you want to be in there?"

"It's all good." Naruto chuckled as the duo escaped the hearing range of the Wind mage, the pigtailed blonde standing in place, a sheen of cold sweat on her face, "Not like she'll escape now. My Clones will catch any and all movements. This is all just falling into place. I knew that this was a good idea, coming to Lis Zinas."

"Yes, but you threw darts at a map, Naruto-kun. That's not how most people decide how to find their targets."

"Hey! I researched afterwards! Besides, I was right, wasn't I?"

"Your insane luck is truly outstanding..."

The rest of the festival went along rather well and both Naruto and Yoruichi had time to unwind and relax, which was well-earned after their great trek across the barren desert of Kaze. It wasn't long before they were registered for the great Chu-Nin tournament, named after one of the more famous of the hundred kings of Kaze.

Chu-Nin was widely popular among the denizens of Kaze, having been their first Citizen-King. He had survived the brutal gladiatorial rites of passage for freedom from slavery from a young age before being pressed into the Sunagakure mage guild. Also a contender for the prestige of Kazekage, he had allowed the people to elect him king after a major dispute that led to the downfall of the Dark Guild Tanuki when they tried to take over the nation by force and managed to murder the king.

He started this tournament as a means to celebrate his roots as well as a system to recruit guildless Mages into the new military system of Sunagakure, which became a great part of the Kaze government.

Naruto stood in one of the gladiatorial waiting rooms with Yoruichi and he could already feel bloodlust and fear saturate the air of the waiting rooms.

He sighed as he leaned back against the sandstone walls and pulled out the traditional gladiatorial leather garb provided by the tournament. Oddly enough his was, as far as he could tell, the only one that showed so much skin. He was given dark brown cloth shorts that extended just past the with steel studded leather plate armor covering the sides of the thighs. The leather armor that he was given only had one shoulder strap and left his left pectoral and side fairly exposed, however, he was given a unique shoulder pauldron and full arm gauntlet that emulated the scales and plating of a dragon's armored skin.

"Are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto turned around to see a short redheaded teen with a rough rune for the word love scarred into his forehead, the rune looked rough and raw even though it had obviously healed a long time ago - as if it still burned slowly, smoldering into his flesh.

He cautiously slipped on the gauntlet and pauldron with ease, the metal of it interlocking and melding together on its own like liquid, powered by Naruto's own magic.

Odd.

He just realized that he was the only one given any sort of really protective armor as both gauntlet and pauldron were made out of a shining steel-like metal.

"...Gaara of the Sand Siblings. Taking advantage of Lis Zinas's eternal neutrality in all affairs, eh? What's a big fish like you doing in this small pond tournament?"

"I could ask you the same. But I know the answer. You're looking for me. I can see the cry of the hunt in your eyes. Do you wish to prove your existence here as well?"

He shook excitedly before peering into Naruto's clear blue eyes with his own green ones, eyes like beast at the same time with as much emotion as a dead fish.

"...You can say that."

A foul grin that even a hyena demon would be proud of appeared on Gaara's face.

"Mother will enjoy your blood."

The psychotic teen's grin quickly gave way to a monotone face as he absentmindedly pulled at the end of his long beige sleeves and then fiddling with the sash that held a giant gourd made of sand on his back. What caught Naruto's eyes were the crude rune-tags with the oriental runes of compression, storage, absorption, and suppression.

The sand vibrated subtly, as if responding with glee.

Before Naruto could retort, one of the referees burst in and began calling out numbers.

Naruto began shuffling out with a herd of two dozen other mages, sneaking back glances at his targets in question.

Temari was huddled in a corner making out with Shikamaru, who appeared content but irritated. Likely because he had to put effort into what he was doing.

Gaara was still staring at him with his green, sandy fish eyes.

Then where the hell was Black Puppeteer Kankurou?...

The cheers were deafening as the mages stepped out into the colosseum and the light rained down in a blinding storm.

"Geez, there must be like a hundred thousand people here..." the blond Dragon Slayer sighed as as he fiddled with the uncomfortable metal buckle of the strap that held his sad excuse for armor.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!"

"Boy, isn't this déjà vu..."

"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE CHU-NIN TOURNAMENT! I'M YOUR HOST AND ANNOUNCER, YOU KNOW ME, YOU LOVE ME, THIS IS BOB GUILDMASTER OF BLUE PEGASUS! OOOH! I JUST LOVE THE BLOND IN THAT OUTFIT! THAT'S THE TRADITIONAL ZINAS GLADIATOR ARMOR!"

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

"NORMALLY USED BY THE CHAMPION OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR, THE LATE FOURTH KAZEKAGE IS UNABLE TO ATTEND, SO WE JUST TWEAKED THE RULES A BIT... SAY HELLO TO UZUMAKI-NAMIKAZE NARUTO, THE GODAIME HOKAGE AND THE DRAGOON OF FAIRY TAIL!"

"...Well this is awkward..."

Naruto chuckled nervously as all the other mages turned towards him.

"THIS IS THE FIRST MASS ELIMINATION ROUND, HOWEVER, AS ALWAYS, THE MAGE THAT TAKES OUT THE CUTE DRAGOON WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY SEEDED FOR THE SEMI-FINALS! GOOD LUCK CUTIE!"

"..."

Naruto cursed as the beginning bell rang and ducked and weaved through a swarm of spells.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he dodged a fire spell with a quick Kawarimi.

"Will you all just stop? Dammit, you bastards! Try this on for size! Mass Lightning Bomber Clones!"

A burst of static filled smoke gave way to a hoard of Naruto Clones glowing with mystic lightning energies rushed the crowd of almost fifty other mages, exploding with malefic amounts of energy upon contact.

Naruto sighed as he sat down on a small heap of still breathing but unconscious human bodies.

"I just wanted a vacation..."

"WOW! ~3 IN A SINGLE SWEEP THE CUTIE DRAGOON WIPED OUT ALL OF HIS OPPONENTS! ~3 THE DIVISION A MASS ELIMINATION ROUND IS NOW OVER! BUT DON'T GO AWAY BECAUSE WE HAVE SEVEN MORE MASS ELIMINATION DIVISIONS LEFT! ISN'T THAT FUN?"

Naruto sighed as a gate leading back into a different waiting room opened.

Naruto hated tournaments.

Sure, he loved fighting and proving his mettle and all that, beating down two-bit mages however, really just bored him. It was pointless.

He grumbled as he sat, playing around with seals using paper and ink to make small, artistic explosions in the air while Kyuubi's eyes followed the light show restlessly, his tails twitching as if he had the urge to jump and eat them out of the air like little insects.

He sat as the next round of mass eliminations progressed, only showing any real interest in the third, fourth, sixth and eighth.

Yoruichi had gotten herself allowance into the tournament somehow in her newfound human form and simply destroyed her opponents, dodging, ducking, and weaving, all the while making the straw blows strike other opponents in critical areas by redirecting the blows with her own personal Shinsou's blunt end extending into people's throats and crotches, sometimes cracking skulls, crippling knees, in a vicious whirlwind of playful, untouchable fury.

Naruto snorted as the third round ended and Yoruichi had faced him with a triumphant smile, ears twitching with excess adrenaline. Naruto rolled his eyes and she sat next to him and began to nap, her face in his lap as he stared at the Display magic lacryma to continue watching the mass elimination rounds, ignoring completely the unremarkable winner of the second round who eyed the blond with both slight fear and jealousy.

The fourth round was of particular interest to him, as he saw SHIKAMARU participating.

"That lazy Nara's going to fight,eh? I haven't seen any Nara Shadow spells since I was a kid. He he... this looks promising." the Dragoon grinned, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

However, Shikamaru, the current heir to the Nara clan and in-line to be the next clan head had different thoughts running through his head as the round's beginning signal rang.

He sighed as a small, female mage jumped into the air with a small burst of flame from her heels and she chanted above all of the mages.

"Taste my Bluebell Fyre!" she grinned, wavy hair flying back as she flung a small handful of what appeared to be fire of an azure hue expanded rapidly, causing panic amongst the mages, the more advanced ones throwing up a guard of some sort using magic.

Unlike the others, Shikamaru just twisted his fingers into a runic shape - catching Naruto's attention.

"Shadow Haunting," he murmured as his visage turned into a liquid black - unseen by most, as he melted into the shadow of one of the victims of the fire spell.

The flame stuck viciously to all of the mages below, dissipating once somebody reached unconsciousness. It burned past all barriers and defences, the magic behind them feeding the flames to the point of draining the casters of their magic or corroding through to light them on fire - not burning flesh but with hot anesthetic gasses.

The girl landed with a 'hmph' of triumph and grinned viciously as she looked at all the bodies about her, no burns, although some had the misfortune of losing clothes to the magic flame. However, before an announcement could be made on her victory - a mass of black rose behind her, the shadows of all the unconscious mages gathered into a collective form without the will of their owners keeping them seperated.

"Sorry, about this... how troublesome. Night Mother."

End

Mass Lightning Bomber Clones - A Class 'Spam' Spell - A variant of the Clone spell, which is incomplete in itself, making it a very versatile spell, however it needs to be noted that by 'completeing' the Clone spell

Bluebell Fyre - B Class AOE (Area of Effect) Spell - Also known as 'The Sticky Flame', Bluebell Fyre sends a wave of napalm-esque chemically magical fire with an intent attachment, for example: dissipation once target is unconscious or dead, to affect only the living, etc. A strong willed mage can find out just how versatile this spell can be.

Shadow Haunting - unranked class hiding spell (C to A rank in difficulty) - Personal move created by Shikamaru, initially when he had a small jealous fit in the early years of his relationship when a 'badboy' wind mage tried hitting on her. He used it to follow the wind mage, learn of his ploy to use her as a scapegoat to a crime he had been planning, and defeated him soundly before turning him into the Sunagakure Council: now this spell is used to hide from his often angry girlfriend Temari.

AN2: Yes, I'm evil, I'm sorry :P