Naruto stood among the small crowd of onlookers that have assembled outside the guild hall as he watched Erza and Natsu square off against each other. Next to him was Elfman Strauss, Mira's younger brother. There was not much family resemblance except for the silver white hair. He was somewhat of a giant in Naruto's opinion. Naruto's height only reached up until Elfman's massive shoulders. He looked pretty intimidating too, with the scar on his face. He crossed his arms as he observed the fight.
Naruto had to admit, both fighters were impressive in their own unique way.
Erza had switched into one of her armors that seemed to negate fire. She swung her red sword as a pillar of flame shot towards her, the fire instantly diminishing. Natsu was on fire, literally. His hands were ablaze and he kept swinging his flaming fists at Erza, hoping to get past her defense and land a blow. From time to time he shot fire at her from his mouth, but it wasn't very effective against Erza's flame empress armor.
Naruto watched Natsu as he kept assaulting Erza. No matter how many times Erza knocked him down, Natsu just kept getting back up. Despite all of this, Natsu never lost the smile he wore. For a moment, Naruto saw another battle taking place in his mind's eye. He saw himself and another boy who had white eyes irises and long hair standing in huge arena. The other boy was patronizing him and mocking him, telling him that people were only destined to be what they are. Naruto grew angry and unleashed an enormous reserve of manic energy. The wind started to pick up as Naruto's energy began to skyrocket.
Naruto was shook out of his thoughts as Erza dodged a pillar of fire that was directed at her. Unfortunately, Naruto was in the way of the flame's path and barely managed to avoid the attack along with some others.
"Hey, Naruto," Elfman gestured toward his elbow.
"What are you- gah!" Naruto quickly started to put out the fire on his right sleeve.
The fight was beginning to heat up as Natsu and Erza decided to take it up a notch. On the side, Naruto noticed that Cana had started a betting booth. Natsu gave a shout and his flames burned brighter as he charged at Erza. The two combatants were both about to strike again, when a loud clap stopped them.
"Stop this fight." A voice called out. Naruto turned to the speaker and was startled to see a frog wearing regal robes striding through the crowd. Somehow though, Naruto didn't find that all shocking.
The frog brought out a document and cleared its throat as it began to read. "By the order of the Magic Council and by the many counts of property damage, one of your guild members is being charged with these. Another one of your members has been found guilty of being a rogue mage."
The crowd tensed for a moment before the frog spoke again. "Erza Scarlet and Naruto Uzumaki, you are both under arrest."
Naruto and Erza sat on one of the couches at the Magic Council's headquarters. They were told to wait in the room until they were summoned. Naruto felt restless and the handcuffs that were restraining him didn't improve his mood. Neither of them had spoken a word since they both got here.
At first, Naruto thought it was a joke. The guild looked pretty worried when the frog messenger or whatever, began to escort them away. Erza explained that the Magic Council was the ruling government of Fiore, composed of some of the most powerful mages in the land. Naruto couldn't care less about the council because based on the charges that were pressed against them, it seemed pretty shallow. If property damage and a false accusation led to an arrest, he'd hate to see what murder would get him.
The frog came back after a few minutes. "The council will see you now."
He and Erza stood and followed the frog as it led them toward the trail room. Naruto had to admit the place was impressive. Columns lined the corridors. Naruto had never seen such architecture. If this was only a branch of the magic council's headquarters, then he bet that the one in Era was ten times grander then this.
Naruto noticed that there were many frog-like creatures roaming the building. All of them wore regal robes and tall hats. He had a vague memory concerning frogs. He couldn't place it but the thought of talking frogs didn't seem foreign to him.
Naruto was thinking about what connection he had to frogs when he suddenly bumped into Erza. He noticed that she had stopped walking and was looking toward something. Naruto followed her gaze and landed on a man leaning on a column. The man smiled as they noticed him. The frog got down on its knees and bowed to the man as he approached.
"Seigrain," Erza whispered.
"It's been a while Erza." He said. The man wore a long white coat with black outlines. He had blue hair and was about Naruto's height. He had some sort of tattoo on his face over his right side. He smirked as he noticed Erza tense.
"Relax, I'm only sending a projection from Era." Seigrain said. "I didn't think it would be important to attend a trivial matter."
Erza's eyes hardened. "You're the one who's behind this?"
"Come now, you know that I have always defended Fairytail." Seigrain said. "But the other council members are afraid that the blame of Clover's destruction will fall on them. That's why you're here. We need a scapegoat."
Erza clenched her fists. It was taking all of Naruto's self control not to punch this guy in the face. Seigrain walked up to Erza and held her chin with his fingers. He leaned in close to Erza. The contact made Naruto's blood boil.
"One other thing Erza," Seigrains voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't mention anything about our relationship to anyone else, for your sake."
Naruto had heard just about enough of this crap. He was clearly mocking Erza and Naruto didn't let anyone talk to any of his friends that way. "Why don't you just shut up?"
Siegrain and Erza both turned to him. Naruto stepped closer to Seigrain and glared at him.
"I don't know who you are, but if you mock any of my friends again…" Naruto let the threat hang. Seigrain only looked amused. The frog attendant gasped.
"You must be Fairyatil's new recruit." Seigrain said. "What was your name again?"
"Naruto." He answered.
Seigrain nodded. "A word to the wise Naruto, it is not favorable to have a member of the council as your enemy."
Naruto knew he was right but his impulse got the better of him. Even though he was just a projection, Naruto grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. Seigrain himself was surprised that he had managed to come in contact with the projection. Naruto locked eyes with Seigrain who was actually nervous. The councilman noticed that the blonde's eyes had turned into red feral slits, like a cat. Saigrain felt another kind energy touch his senses and his eyes widened in fear. Who was this man?
The blonde continued to glare at the councilman. "I don't like people saying bad things about my friends."
Naruto let go and his eyes returned to normal. Seigrain regained his composure and the projection disappeared. Naruto turned to see Erza looking at him in worry.
"You shouldn't have done that, Naruto." Erza said seriously. "He's right, you don't want the council as an enemy."
Naruto shrugged. "I've got worse things to worry about."
The frog attendant had gotten over its initial shock and began to lead them again toward the room where the trial was taking place.
"But thank you, Naruto" Erza said softly. "I appreciate your intention."
He smiled at her and she smiled back.
Naruto stood in front of the seven council members as a frog official declared beginning of the trial. The council observed him warily. Erza had been trialed ahead of him and was taken away after. He didn't know where exactly but probably the same place where prisoners go.
Naruto stared at the council. Four of them were elderly. Seigrain sat among them watching him warily. A striking young woman with long dark hair caught his attention. She watched him with an amused smile.
The head speaker began to address him. "You stand before the council, Naruto Uzumaki, with the charge of being a renegade wizard. You acted against Eisenwald without the membership of an official guild."
He paused. Naruto spoke up. "In my defense, I have joined a guild."
"So we've heard." the councilman in the middle said. "But pray tell, why that particular guild? You were in the presence of over a dozen guild masters. You could have chosen any one of the other eligible guilds, yet you joined Fairytail. Did Makarov coax you into joining?"
The council members stared at him suspiciously. Naruto clenched his fists. He had to admit, they had a point. He could have joined any other guild besides Fairytail, but that wouldn't feel right. Still, he didn't like them talking about the master that way.
"Why are you so against my guild?"
The older council woman spoke up. "They are an unruly bunch. They have caused us more problems than we can count."
"But they have averted many major threats to our society." A small councilman countered. He wore a small hat and could barely only be as tall as master Makarov. He stared at Naruto in sympathy.
"Of course you would take their side, Yajima." The councilman in the middle sighed.
"I am merely stating a fact." Yajima pressed. "If it weren't for them, who knows what else might have happened with Lullaby."
"At what cost? They nearly destroyed Clover." A councilman on the far right argued.
"Maybe if you had helped instead of arguing and blaming people who had actually done some good, then we could have avoided this." The words had left Naruto's mouth before he could stop them. All eyes turned to him. Identical scowls were formed on each of the council members' faces. Seigrain just continued to watch in amusement.
"Are you saying that the council is responsible for the events that have transpired?" The head councilman said after a few moments of silence.
Naruto held his gaze. "That is ex- ."
"Exactly the opposite of what the lad is trying say." Yajima quickly interrupted. He flashed Naruto a warning look. "He is merely stating the lack of military action that was needed during the Eisenwald incident."
The other council members didn't look convinced. Yajima was clearly sticking his neck out for him, but the other council members did not fully agree with him. As far as they were concerned, Naruto had just insulted them and undermined their authority. Naruto hated politics.
"No offense Yajima-san, but I think Naruto meant exactly what he said." Seigrain spoke. He stared at the blonde with a confident smile on his face. "Still, our friend here must be confused about how we operate so why don't we just send him off with a warning this time. I'm sure he won't make the same mistake again. The same goes for the matter in Clover."
Seigrain smirked down at Naruto. He must have a great influence among the council because they grudgingly accepted. Yajima's shoulders slumped in relief.
"Very well, send him with the other one." The head councilman spoke. The sound of a hammer hitting a board signaled the end of the trial. Frog attendants came to escort Naruto from the stand.
Just before the projections disappeared though, Naruto locked eyes with a very smug Seigrain. His words rang in Naruto's ears: I'm sure he won't make the same mistake again. Seigrain made it sound like it was just a minor incident, but Naruto knew its true meaning. If he stepped out of line one more time, he was going to be in bigger trouble.
The next day Naruto found himself sitting in a table back at the guild. It wasn't that bad after the trial. He and Erza only spent the night in a prison cell, but were released the following morning. Naruto did feel disappointed that he didn't get to thank Yajima-san after speaking out for him. It was the least he could do.
He hasn't spoken a word of what happened with the council. He realized that he should act a little more carefully now because if he crossed the council again, Naruto was sure that the guild would pay the price.
Everyone was overjoyed and relieved when they got back. They threw a small party just for the heck of it. Naruto sat next to Erza as they ate their lunch. She had gotten quiet since they got back. Naruto had to wonder what past Erza had with Seigrain. He couldn't work up the courage to ask.
Natsu came up to them a little while later. He looked a little out of breath after the small riot he just started.
"Hey Erza, want to pick up where we left off?" He challenged.
Erza didn't even look at him. "I'm not in the mood Natsu, maybe some other time."
Natsu looked disappointed. Naruto looked at Erza in concern. She kept her eyes on the table. The meeting with Seigrain had rattled her. But Naruto remembered his own promise as well.
Natsu turned to leave when Naruto stood. "Hey Natsu,"
The pink-haired boy looked back to see Naruto cracking his knuckles.
"Still want to fight?" Naruto asked. He realized that he had caught the guild's attention, maybe because they haven't seen him fight either. "You did say you wanted to fight me after we left Clover."
Natsu grinned in excitement. He slammed his fist into his palm. "Alright, I'm fired up!"