I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.
"EHHH?! Erza! Naruto! What are you doing?!"
Instantly Naruto jumped to his feet and drew a kunai….or rather, he tried to. He fell back to the ground, yanked back by a solid steel bar. Upon closer examination, he realized, to his utter embarrassment, that Erza's arm had pinioned him to her side. He quickly wriggled free, but not before Erza's eyes snapped open, meeting his. A crimson flush spread across her face as they sprang apart.
"What were you two doing?" Lucy demanded. Erza, still sporting a furious blush, looked away and mumbled something under her breath. Naruto got to his feet and seeing Natsu, Gray, and Lucy all standing before them with scandalised expressions, he quickly explained.
"Eh, we were up late last night talking and we must have drifted off to sleep. Why are you guys here?"
"You guys didn't show up at the guild this morning," Gray began. "And since the 24-hour endurance race is starting in a few hours, Master told us to look for you."
"….the what?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"The 24-Hour Endurance Race. It's an annual competition the guild holds where all the mages have to participate in a 24-hour road race. The person in last place faces punishment, which is why everyone tries their hardest to win," Erza explained calmly, having regained her composure. "I completely forgot it was today, and there are only two hours left, so I'll see you guys later!" she hurriedly added as she raced off.
"Thanks for waking us up," Naruto said, embarrassed. "I'm going to go and prepare too….yeah….see ya." With that, he sped away, already making plans for the upcoming race and trying his hardest to forget about the morning's events.
"Heh, this year's gonna be a walk in the park again," Jet smirked confidently. Naruto raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Jet and critically looking him over.
"Oh yeah? I wouldn't be so sure of that," Naruto smirked.
"There's no way you can beat my High Speed magic," Jet scoffed.
"Well, we'll see who's the faster one once this race starts….that is, if you can see me at all," Naruto grinned. Jet scowled at him, an angry retort already forming on his lips when the master cut him off.
"Quiet everyone! Mages of Fairy Tail! A mage is strong of both mind and body! I wish for you to use those powers to the utmost in today's competition!
"The rules are simple! You will run as fast as you can from the start line, then here along the appointed course, heading for Mt. Ivor! This year, I have left Wyvern scales at the top of Mt. Ivor. You will take one of those scales and return here within twenty-four hours!
"I won't accept any dropouts. If you are a Fairy Tail mage, then you will run the distance, all the way to your next job tomorrow! Furthermore, I am imposing a new regulation this year at the urging of many….Flying magic is forbidden! Other than that, any type of magic is allowed," the master explained. "And of course, the person who comes in last will face a punishment of which there is nothing scarier on the planet!"
As Naruto moved to take his place, he found himself standing beside Jet, with Lucy and a young girl with blue hair on his right.
"Hi, I'm Naruto, I don't think I've met you before?" he smiled, holding out his hand. She giggled and accepted the hand, shaking it vigorously.
"My name's Levy! I've seen you around a couple of times, but no, I haven't actually met you before."
"Levy, stop talking with this guy and watch my start!" Jet interrupted. Naruto scowled, but Levy answered for him.
"I don't have the time for that!" she frowned.
"He just wants to show you how cool he is," Lucy winked.
"You probably don't realize, Lu-chan, but I couldn't watch him at the start if I wanted to," Levy explained.
"Hah, we'll see about that," Naruto smirked. "Hey Jet, let's make a bet: if you win this race, I'll admit you were right and do whatever you want. But if I win, you have to admit you were wrong and give me 100 000 jewels."
"Sounds good. I can't wait to hear your begs of forgiveness," Jet grinned back.
"Hey Naruto, I thought you wanted to use this race to do some strength training," Kurama growled. "How are you going to win this race if you're going to train while you're at it?"
"Don't worry, I've already got a plan for that," Naruto replied confidently. "Trust me!"
"Ready! Go!"the master called as he shot a burst of light magic into the air. Jet took off instantly, creating a huge dust cloud that sent everyone flying. Naruto gritted his teeth as sand filled the air.
"Shadow clone jutsu!" Several clones poofed into existence and raced away, disappearing from sight moments later.
"I see….So that's your plan. It's not as bad as I thought it would be," Kurama grinned as Naruto hit the floor.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?!" Naruto pouted. "My plans are awesome!"
"Hmph." Naruto turned his attention back to the race just in time to see Natsu charging away, using his flaming fists to boost his speed. The rest of the crowd raced after him, complaining as they went. Naruto grinned and got to his feet, eager to join them.
"Eh?!" he exclaimed as he realized that only he, Lucy, and Levy still stood at the starting line.
"Now then, who'll be getting the punishment? I can't wait!" the master chuckled evilly. Naruto shot off, accompanied by Lucy and Levy.
"Naruto, why are you back here with us?" Lucy panted. "Mira said you were even faster than her strongest Take Over!"
"I'm warming up," he replied. The two girls stared at him like he was crazy. "Oh, and I'm training too," he added with a grin. "I'm wearing weights so it's harder to run, but my muscles will get loads stronger because of it!"
"Only you would be crazy enough to give yourself a handicap in something like this…." Lucy sighed in exasperation.
"What kind of weights are you using?" Levy asked curiously. "I don't see any weights..."
"Well, I'm not using your everyday weights," Naruto explained. "I created about a hundred clones who used a modified transformation to transform into small rocks, which I stuffed in my pockets. Their transformation is modified so that even though they look like rocks, they're still as heavy as they were before! It's so much cheaper than buying actual weights and waaay more effective!"
"….Lu-chan, I pity you, having to be on a team with this crazy guy," Levy said solemnly, turning to look at Lucy.
"Finally you understand my suffering!" Lucy said, almost crying with happiness. "But even worse, I have Natsu too!"
"Hey! I'm not crazy!" Naruto protested. "And since when was I on your team?"
"Didn't Erza tell you?" Lucy asked in confusion. Naruto shook his head and Lucy smacked her forehead in exasperation.
"I'm going to kill you Natsu…." she muttered under her breath. "Well, anyways, we already agreed to invite you into our team, but we decided that Erza should tell you since she knows you the best. Erza wasn't with us when we decided to invite you, so Natsu volunteered to tell her to invite you. But clearly he forgot."
"Oh…." Naruto said, still digesting her explanation. "Sure! I'd love to be on a team with you guys," he grinned.
"Great! We already picked out a job to do after this race," Lucy smiled.
"Actually, I'll have to pass, I have something else I have to do first," Naruto said. "But I'll probably be back in time for the next one. Is that okay?" Silence greeted his reply. Confused, Naruto turned to ask Lucy if she heard his question when he realized both girls had vanished. He skidded to a stop and turned around to see Lucy sitting by a tree with Levy by her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked in concern as he jogged up to them.
"I'm beat…. I can't go on anymore. I need a break. You guys go on ahead," Lucy gasped. Naruto nodded and resumed jogging with Levy rejoining him a few moments later.
"So….what kind of magic do you use?" Naruto asked, uncomfortable with the awkward silence.
"Oh, I use Solid Script! I can create solid words in their depicted form. For example, if I wrote 'fire', the word would appear in fiery letters. And if I use-"Levy was cut off by a maid with pink hair racing by with a screaming Lucy in her arms.
"Ah! I can't let Lucy get ahead of me. Sorry, I'll talk to you later, I gotta run," Naruto grinned, speeding up.
"Hey Lucy!" Naruto waved as he caught up to her.
"You really are fast!" she gasped. "By the way, I forgot to ask you earlier, but what were you and Erza talking about that could keep you up all night?"
"Oh, uh, we were….eh, my warm up's finished, I'm going to go on ahead, Lucy!" Naruto said quickly, racing ahead at double the speed.
"HEY! NARUTOOOOO!" she yelled as he sped away. "DON'T AVOID THE QUESTION!"
"Phew, that was close," Naruto said to himself as Lucy's screams vanished into the distance. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, planning my victory..."