Warning: Errors and language.

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Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and Naruto are awesome works of Mashima Hiro and Kishimoto Masashi respectively.

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CHAPTER X: Perception

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"But, judging what I know about Lucy, maybe I do like her… like, like what you mean. And maybe Natsu likes her, as well. No one knows. So, I might really like Lucy. Because if I don't, then I wouldn't be this so concerned about her, would I?"

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"… Jellal?" Lucy asked, her voice slightly shaking. Loke nodded for confirmation. "But… Isn't he imprisoned by the Magic Council? How will you get him out?"

Loke sighed. "Yes, he is. But we have no other choice, Lucy. With the help of Erza—"

"No," Lucy cut him off immediately. "I won't agree with that term. I don't want Fairy Tail to do such things."

"Lucy, listen," Loke held her by the shoulders as he gave her his serious expression. "Do you not have any idea how serious this situation is?"

The blond stellar mage curled her lips into thin line as she dropped her gaze, not wanting to look at the lion spirit.

"Please, Lucy, we need your cooperation." Lucy remained silent. Loke sighed again. He ran a hand onto his auburn hair. "I think I have to go now. My time is up."

Lucy glanced at him momentarily before shifting her gaze towards the silent twin spirits, who nodded at her.

"Gemini," Loke called softly. The twin spirits nodded before creating a small emerald ball. Lucy realized it was a lacrima. Gemi then gave it to Loke. He eyed the emerald ball. "This is information lacrima, Lucy." He then pulled his Regulus ring and placed the lacrima on it. He handed it to Lucy afterwards. "You'll need this. Just let those men touch it and you will gather some basic information about them. I hope it will help you."

Lucy eyed the ring but didn't answer.

"Train hard, princess," Loke began to glow, implying that he will leave the mortal world. Gemini began to glow as well. "And you will acquire the power of my ring. Till next time, Lucy…" With a peck on Lucy's cheek, Loke smiled one last time before he vanished.

Lucy sighed and dropped on her bed, clutching the magical ring. She then felt the coming of the exhaustion and she closed her eyes. "What will I do now, mother?"

With one last tear drop fell, Lucy drifted to the world of dream, hoping to see her fellow guild mates once again.

XXXXX

It was sunset. The wind was gentle as it touched Sakura's fringe ever so slightly, giving her several goose bumps in the process. Her walk towards her apartment was filled with comfortable silence accompanied by the warm rays of the fading sun.

If it were another situation, Sakura would have enjoyed and cherished this lone time moment.

But, unfortunately, she was not alone.

"Man, I'm hungry. Can we have some roasted chicken first?" Natsu mumbled behind her as he made circle motions on his stomach.

"Shut up, flame brain," Gray scolded, but he, too, was hungry as well. He was craving for some milk shakes made by Mira… or that fruit smoothie made by Lucy whenever he 'accidentally' dropped in her apartment. The thought saddened him slightly. "There are lots of things we need to think first other than your fucking stomach."

"Whatever," even Natsu wasn't in the mood to retort a smart comeback towards Gray. Besides being hungry, he knew too well that he needed to find Lucy as soon as possible.

Sakura watched them from the corner of her eye. Even with the short time she spent with them, she knew too well that they were a little bit… down. Loosing Lucy was a big deal for them. Well, of course. Like in Sasuke's case, losing a close comrade is one of the worst feeling ever.

'Sasuke is a dick.' Her inner retorted with a cold-hearted laugh. Sakura rolled her eyes.

Hopefully, those bastard Akatsuki members didn't touch Lucy or anything yet.

Hopefully, they could find her… alive.

After several minutes of silence, the three reached her apartment. It was on the third floor. They climbed on the staircase in silence, all of them were thinking deeply.

They reached the third floor and Sakura immediately went towards the door number 308. Gray expected her to pull some keys, like those of Lucy's, but what surprised him was the set of hand signs she made. She then placed her palm over the door and muttered a soft 'release' under her breath. Natsu and Gray both felt a sudden force of energy hit them and then the door swung open.

Gray blinked. "…What was that?"

Sakura mentally noted the disturbance she noticed in the seal she put in her door. She then immediately realized the small trails of Ino's and Naruto's chakra. She sighed. "C'mon, I'll tell you inside."

Natsu shrugged and followed the kunoichi immediately inside. Gray followed, too, but without giving the door a hard look.

The first thing Gray noticed about her apartment upon entering was that the spacious room of the living room. There was nothing much of furniture except the small couch, two solo seats, a rectangular table in the middle and a TV set in front of it. There was a plant in the corner and two picture frames hanging on the wall.

There was a hallway which he assumed leads to the kitchen and her bed room. He watched as Natsu immediately occupied the couch. Gray rolled his eyes and caught sight of pink which disappeared in the hallway.

"I'll make us some dinner," he heard Sakura from the kitchen. "Just wait."

Gray then began studying the living room. His attention was immediately caught by the picture frames. He approached it and immediately recognized the faces. The first picture was composed of a young Sakura and Naruto, and Kakashi. There was also a raven haired boy which was scowling. He didn't see that boy yet. Maybe he was on a mission right now…

The next picture was taken recently, he assumed. Sakura and Naruto were both in their teenage years. There was also the pale guy Sai and Kakashi. There was another man there who has one of the scariest expressions Gray could have ever seen. But what caught his attention was the raven haired boy from the first picture. He was obviously absent in the second picture. He wondered why…

Gray shrugged and thought that he could care less. He then occupied one of the seats and waited for Sakura. He could hear her cooking something from the kitchen.

"What do you think Lucy is doing right now?" Natsu asked out of nowhere that made the ice mage to look at him.

"Why'd you ask?"

"Do you think she's crying?" Natsu ignored his question; his mind was thinking something else. The happy-go-lucky and easy-going expression left the dragon slayer's face. All that left was that serious and unnoticeable pained expression. "I'll kick that bastard who'll make her cry."

"And why the hell do you think she's crying?" Gray let himself to smile slightly. "Lucy's a strong-willed woman, not to mention, a Fairy Tail guilder. It is hard to make her cry, ya know."

"I know," Natsu smiled at this. "We will find her soon."

"Of course."

A short moment later, Sakura emerged in the living room with a tray full of food on her hand. "Sorry," she placed the tray on the center of the table. "This is all I've got. Unfortunately, grocery day will be on the other day."

Both wizards eyed the onigiri, stir fried vegetable, two pieces of fried meat and jasmine tea. "Help yourself."

Without any second thought, Natsu grabbed a plate and took one piece of meat and three rice balls. "Itadakimasu!"

Gray did the same, in much politer manner. "Itadakimasu."

Sakura decided with the stir fried vegetable. Not that she didn't want meat but she preferred healthier food. "Itadakimasu."

"So," Natsu began. It was obvious that he was talking with his mouth full of food. "Where do we sleep?"

"Don't talk when your mouth is full!" Sakura scolded. In some way — twisted way — Natsu reminded her of Naruto. They were so alike.

"Just don't let me sleep with the ice queen, 'kay?" Yep. Natsu was ignoring Sakura.

"Like I wanted to sleep with the likes of you," Gray muttered. "You wish, flame boy."

Sakura considered this. It was obvious that Natsu and Gray hated each other and there was some sort of rivalry happening between them. Like that of Naruto and Sasuke…

Gray didn't fail to notice the sadness flashed in her eyes but said emotion vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Someone from the two of you can use that couch," Sakura said. "And there was a big space in my room which I assumed was big enough for anyone of you to occupy. Just choose."

Sakura didn't mind sharing the same room with one of them. Of course she could take and beat one of them if they try to do something to her.

"You don't mind sharing the same bed, pinky?" Natsu asked with that innocent look on his face.

There was an enlarged vein which suddenly appeared somewhere on Sakura's forehead and she whacked the other pinkette on the head. "Idiot! Not the same bed but the same room!"

"Aww, I'm just telling!" Natsu said, caressing his aching head soothingly. "Damn, you could be as strong as Erza!"

"And it was obvious that the two of you hate each other so I don't want my house to be in chaos that's why I'm suggesting one of you to sleep in my room… not in my bed!" Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples. "Why did I accept this again?"

Gray smirked. The two of them would be the death of her.

"Fine," Natsu declared. "Gray, you take the couch. I'll take the room." Then the fire mage stood up, raising a fist.

Sakura would've sweat dropped at the idiocy hadn't she saw Natsu's toned abdomen. She looked away and blushed. Damn these hormones.

"I used to sleep with Lucy in her apartment, ya know," Natsu took his seat again and smiled weakly upon remembering some random memories.

"What? You slept with her? Damn, you're a pervert…"

"Says the man who greedily embraced Lucy way back our last mission!"

"What? Jealous?"

"Jealous, my ass. You wish, ice queen!"

"Flame bastard!"

Sakura's brows twitched suddenly.

"Snow cone!"

"Smokey head!"

There was another enlarged vein somewhere on her face. She clenched her fist.

"Pervert stripper!"

"Dragon fucker!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP OR I'LL RIP YOUR THROAT SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY!"

And both wizards shut their mouth at the ultimatum.

"Natsu, you take the couch." Sakura hissed with a contained rage.

Natsu would have protested but the dark aura around Sakura's body told him that protesting would be the death of him. Why are the ladies in this world so fucking scary? Why can't the ladies here be as lovable as Mira Jane… or Lucy? Even though those two can be scary sometimes, but still…

Natsu just huffed and resume his eating, more like devouring.

Once Sakura calmed her nerves down, she decided to put the matter back on hand. "About the training we spoke a while ago… you two are to train the basics about being a ninja."

At the word ninja, Natsu's eyes began to light up. "…Ninja?"

"Yes," Sakura poured herself a cup of jasmine tea. "This world is the world of shinobi and ninja. And because you have chakra in your system, it is possible for you to be a shinobi, which was basically the purpose of the training."

"Cool! I can now fly on trees or make copy of myself and walk on water or run as fast as the wind!"

"Yeah, you can but that is still a theory. We can confirm it tomorrow," Gray stated calmly but he was slightly excited about it after he saw how many things you can do when you're a ninja. Sakura had showed him, though.

"Besides, if you can acquire those ninja skills, maybe you can use them and combine them with your magical powers."

"A Wizard-nin!? AWESOME!"

Gray and Sakura sweat dropped at the ridiculous name.

"Alright! I'm all fired up!" Natsu stood up; his fists were covered with fire now. He combined his fist and grinned. "We'll definitely get you back, Lucy. Just wait, relax and watch."

Gray smirked, having the same thoughts with his fellow guild mate.

XXXXX

Lucy opened her heavy eyelids before sitting up. The movement caused the magical ring in her clutch to fall on the ground with a small thud. She eyed it momentarily before picking it up and inspecting it. Then the memories of last night came rushing inside her mind. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. They were wet with tears.

Cried in sleep again, huh?

Slowly, she stood up and went towards the bathroom. Upon opening the door, she immediately noticed the new clothing that was folded neatly in the corner. She smiled though sadly. Virgo always made sure that her master was fine, well-attired and comfortable. Taking one last sigh, Lucy closed the door behind her, locked it, and removed all her clothes. A nice, warm shower would, fortunately, wipe all her worries.

XXXXX

Lucy was combing her golden locks as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She frowned slightly. Her eyes were red and her nose, too. Wow. She was crying a lot lately. Well, who wouldn't be? She has many reasons to cry. And these were all that Madara's fault.

She tilted her head to the side as she tied her hair in its customary style when she heard three soft knocks on her door. Blinking, she finished her hair, straightened her shirt and approached the door.

Upon opening the door, she was immediately face to face with no other than Itachi Uchiha. Lucy had to step back when she felt his heavy gaze directed at her. "Itachi."

Itachi stepped forward, staring down at her with red Sharingan eyes flickering on and off. "Leader-sama has summoned your person. I will escort you to him."

Curling her lips, she nodded firmly before closing the door behind her. Itachi began to walk and Lucy followed silently behind, readying herself for whatever may happen.

XXXXX

"This is your new assignment," Pein stated as he handed the tiny scroll to Sasori. The redhead raised an eyebrow as he inspected the scroll. "You are to depart after three days."

"Whyever so?" Sasori asked then frowned when his partner snatched the scroll from his hand unceremoniously.

Deidara raised an eyebrow at the information. "Why in three days, yeah?" He asked slightly baffled. "Why not tonight?"

Pein did not blink, expressionless as ever. However, it took several silent seconds for him to make a response. "The reason is – he paused, sensing someone outside – here."

Soon enough, the puppeteer and the bomb artist heard three distinctive knocks on the door followed by the twisting of doorknob. In less than a mere second, the door was opened, revealing Itachi who walked inside followed by the Akatsuki's latest member, Lucy Heartfilia.

Itachi sat on his usual seat and Lucy sat next to him, obviously avoiding their eyes. Deidara was eyeing her intently. Like it was his first time seeing her.

"And the reason should be… her?" Sasori asked, quite disbelieving. He was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"The reason is her," Pein only repeated, unblinking.

Sasori crossed his arms, brows knitting together in slight annoyance. "I apologize but I fail to notice why the reason is her."

Lucy curled her lips at the harshness of the redhead's words. He was doing it again, she thought. He was making me feel useless and worthless again. Her eyes sharpened, being tired of being belittled and all.

And Pein did not miss that. Something happened between those two, he concluded. "You and your partner are to train her in three days space," his simple answer.

Both blonds gazed at the pierced ninja in utter shock. Sasori and Itachi remained silent and expressionless but there was a hint of surprise in their eyes, especially in Sasori's eyes.

"Train me?" Lucy asked softly, having a hard time keeping her voice straight and normal. "…By them?"

Pein stared directly at her chocolate eyes that made her gaze anywhere but him. She instead lowered her eyes while the Akatsuki's leader kept on staring at her shamelessly. "Yes."

"That's ridiculous," she declared firmly. She didn't know what those two Akatsuki can do to her. She has the feeling that they were harsh. Besides, she couldn't trust them fully. "Let somebody else do the job. Anyone but him." She bluntly pointed to Sasori.

Pein raised an eyebrow. "And that would be because…?"

And Lucy pressed her lips into thin line, refusing to answer. Not that she liked to answer anyway.

Amused slightly, Pein calculated his voice. "My words are final. You will begin tonight. Itachi will keep an eye." With that being said, Pein stood up from his seat and left.

"Wait!" Lucy stood up as well and tried to follow only to slam herself onto a wall. "What the—"

"It's useless, un. Don't even try to," the blond artist stopped her with a tired sigh.

All Lucy could do was clench her knuckles and grit her teeth. The ring around her finger glowed a bit, affording her magical comfort for a moment. After a while, she relaxed. She turned around but did not return to her seat.

Great, she mused to herself quietly. Now I am going to be ninja trained by these weird men. Just like what I needed. And she was being sarcastic, of course.

Actually, there was no problem with Deidara. She somewhat knew that he would handle her less harsh especially that she was kind of comfortable with him. She just hoped that he feels the same way with her.

But Sasori… that puppet boy was absolutely another story. She couldn't read him. She felt something from him. She felt that something like monster was hiding beneath those hazel eyes, ready to snap any time she makes him mad. She would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid of him.

But she refused to admit that. She has to be brave. In order to get back home. In Fairy Tail.

She just sighed and hoped for Mavis that nothing would make things a lot worst.

"I will be just knocking on your door, doll," she heard Sasori. Looking up, she found him already at the door. Without a glance at her, he left.

She blinked, comprehending. Wow, that was fast and unexpected. She had expected something. Like he would be mad at her, insult her or just glare at her. But none of these happened. What happened to him?

Deidara stood from his seat and casted a glance at her dumbfounded expression. He would have laughed at her if it was another situation. He then left while thinking several strategies to teach her everything she needed to know. He smirked.

And that left Lucy and Itachi all by themselves… again. She just realized that when she caught sight of him moving in her peripheral vision.

"Are you hungry?" The crimson eyed man asked with that monotone of his. He was already standing near the door.

As if on cue, her stomach let out a soft growl. Going red to the face, she laughed sheepishly and rubbed her traitorous stomach. She nodded herself quite shyly.

Nodding at her once, Itachi turned on his heel and walked outside the room. Lucy was following him behind quietly.

Again, their walk was filled with silence. It wasn't new to them. There was actually nothing to talk about plus her escort wasn't the talkative type either.

But Lucy wasn't used to the silence. She was used to the noise, pleasant or not. Thanks to Natsu and Gray's constant verbal argument.

But then, she concluded it was the result of being with the Fairy Tail longer than she could've ever imagined. She smiled to herself. She missed that noisy home. She missed her guild mates, her second family. Somehow, this silence made her long and yearn for the noise of her dearest guild. She would never think that she would yearn for their deafening noise which she was always complaining about.

Their presence would probably warm her from this cold, foreign world where she was lonely and alone. Thanked the heavens that she has still her keys. Her spirits made her feel less lonely.

But she thanked Mavis and the highest above the most that Natsu has Gray and Gray has Natsu. They could accompany each other and that made her relieved for a second before that relief turned to worry.

How are they? What are they doing right now? Knowing Natsu, he has the tendency to wreak havoc if something goes his way. And this made her heart clench tightly in worry. But there was also Gray. And he was calm. He could think more intelligently than the dragon slayer. He could think several ways to survive. They will survive.

She just sincerely wished that they were in good hands right now and they weren't in danger.

And her worries turned to anger as she clenched her fists until they became white. She then gritted her teeth.

It was all Madara's fault. If he wasn't an insane retard, none of these would happen! She would kick his sorry ass using her deadly Lucy-kick, he'll see! Just wait until she finds her friends and he was good as dead meat!

"Is something the matter?"

Itachi's dark voice reached her ears, making her stopped and looked up to him. She realized he also stopped, his back was still facing her.

"…Huh?" Was her intelligent reply.

"I hear gritting enamel," his reply was as blank as his voice and expression. He kind of reminded her of Rouge.

"Oh," she lowered her eyes to drop at the magical ring Loke and Gemini had given to her. "Sorry." But she wasn't sorry at all. She wouldn't apologize to be mad at Madara and blame him for everything. She would actually never get tired of blaming that creep. In fact, she would blame him for the rest of her life.

Expecting that he would resume their walk, Lucy has to step back when the Uchiha turned swiftly to face her. His sharp crimson eyes gazed at her instantly. Fortunately, she didn't cringe because she was looking at her ring. But she could feel his heavy gaze on her. She gulped slightly.

"Is something the matter?" He repeated his question from earlier and it was blanker than usual.

And she refused to look at him, afraid that he might read her mind. She just shook her head.

Itachi merely raised an eyebrow but his eyes found something as he lowered them. He blinked and squinted his eyes to assure what he was seeing.

He was all confident that the golden jewellery that was in her finger wasn't there before. He checked her last time and she wasn't wearing any jewellery, well except her earrings.

That wasn't actually a problem. Based on his basic knowledge, civilian women love jewelleries.

However, seeing her with that golden ring wasn't supposed to surprise him but it did for an unknown reason. Somehow quite strangely, there was something in that piece of gold. Like there was something hidden. Something mysterious and it intrigued him so much. He would've ripped that ring off her and study it right there and then if it wasn't for his great Uchiha self-control.

He blinked when Lucy hid her hand behind her back. Damn. She caught him staring. Shaking his head, he turned on his heel. As long as it wasn't dangerous, he would make the ring pass this moment. "Shall we resume then." Without waiting for a response, he began walking.

Lucy followed silently. She caught him staring at her ring like it wasn't a ring. Does he know about the ring? She thought anxiously. Impossible. It was magic. And he doesn't know a thing about magic! But he was looking at her ring like it offended him or something. He knew something. She knew that. But he didn't inquire. That means it wasn't something that will endanger him or interest him in the least. As long as he doesn't know, she would make him pass.

Sighing, she decided that she needed to be careful, especially around the Uchiha's presence. He was very observant and he was very good at it.

Shaking her head to dismiss any thoughts, she focused her mind about her training later with the two Akatsuki members. That was her greatest trouble right now.

She knew they wouldn't kill her or hurt her badly. But she couldn't guarantee that they would just train her. They must be thinking something and she didn't like it. What if they do something to her other than train her? Like some genjutsu or ninjutsu. That wasn't a good idea. She cringed at that.

"You are thinking too much," Itachi broke her inward musings with his voice.

There was a short pause.

"How'd you know?" Lucy asked, completely surprised.

"You are very easy to read," was his answer. He said it like it was the most natural thing to say.

And she frowned realizing that. "It's hard not to think too much." She didn't intend to say it sharply but she did anyways.

But it didn't affect the Uchiha at all. He was as calm as ever. "And it does not change anything, does it?" His tone was void of any emotions.

And that set her patience off the cliff as she stomped her foot like a child. "Yeah? Well, as you know everything Uchiha-san, will you please enlighten me on how am I going to stop thinking after what had happened to me?" She gladly let the anger contained in her chest out. She didn't know if this will bring her any good but she knew she needed to do this. "I was brought in this world where I knew nothing! And my friends are out there, clueless and oblivious! They don't have the knowledge of how dangerous is this world but I have! And I am here! And I can't do a freaking thing to help them! Now what do you expect me to do? Sit here and relax?"

She was panting after that outburst. And she was feeling better now. But the anger and frustration were still there.

And that was when she realized the Uchiha had stopped walking. She couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking after hearing her. All she could do was wait for his response.

"You have friends… – he turned at her slowly – in here?"

She bit her tongue. Okay. She wasn't expecting that. And she realized that she said too much. Great. Just great.

"Madara brought them with him in here. But I don't know where exactly they are," she answered softly. There's no reason for lying anyway. Besides, Itachi wasn't seemed the guy who will blab these all to the other members, right? Itachi never talks unless you talk to him first.

And if they would know about Natsu and Gray, they couldn't possibly do anything to harm them, right? Besides, the chances of them meeting her boyfriends were remote.

"Are they the same as you?" If she knew better, she would have noticed that interest lying under his blank tone.

She blinked. He must be talking if they are Celestial Wizards as well. She would've have laughed. She couldn't picture Gray and Natsu summoning a celestial spirit. That would be awkward. "No," was her answer. She didn't elaborate that. If he wanted a better answer, he has to ask specifically.

He blinked once before turning on his heel and resumed their walk. She quietly followed behind. There was the infamous silence between them but it was broken by the Uchiha.

"You have to relax, Lucy."

The stellar mage snapped at him. She gave him an incredulous look. "And how am I going to do that?" He told her to relax like there was nothing to worry about. Like she wasn't in a very dangerous and critical situation. Hell she would relax! She even couldn't stop herself from thinking and he wanted her to relax! Two words. The hell. "How am I going to relax? I even can't stop worrying about things! Don't tell me to relax like I'm just facing an easy problem! You can't understand me!"

"I can."

"Yeah?" She spat angrily at him. Her patience was thinning.

Still he continued to walk, unfazed, but he was giving her sidelong glances every now and then. "I have faced the worst."

And just like magic, the ring around her finger vibrated with spiritual energy and she stopped. She brought her hand near her face to inspect the piece of gold. Indeed it was vibrating. What's wrong with it?

"In all honesty, this predicament of yours is nothing to compare of what I have faced."

Lucy held the ring with her other hand as it began to vibrate more furiously this time. She would later question Loke about this. She was glad Itachi didn't notice it yet. Because if he does, he would ask her about it and she wasn't going to answer him. He was talking but she couldn't understand well. Her mind was flowing with thoughts regarding the magical ring.

"I have witnessed thousands of bloodshed, including those people who were dear to me. Still, you have everyone who are dear you. Like I said, I have faced the worst."

The vibration of the ring stopped abruptly as Itachi realized what he had said. Blinking, he stopped for a mere second before walking again, this time in a faster pace as he cursed himself mentally.

Again, Lucy was shocked. Not just because of the vibration in her magical ring had stopped instantly but also because of the words she heard from Itachi. She may not hear it clearly but she could feel clearly the sadness that weighed in his voice. Sadness accompanied by loneliness that was kept hidden but not forgotten.

And said emotions disappeared as quickly as it appeared, making Lucy think if it was just her imagination or not.

She followed him wordlessly right after.

And the silence between them began to stretch.

XXXXX

"Are you comfortable enough down there?"

"I've slept on the ground without anything, and I had the best dream ever."

Sakura took a moment to respond. She didn't know if Gray was telling the truth or he was just being sarcastic. Either way, she decided not to answer that. "How are you coping?"

They were now in Sakura's bedroom. After their meal earlier, Natsu dropped dead on the couch, asleep. Gray was tired, too. So Sakura called it was time to sleep.

This time it was Gray who took a moment to answer. "What exactly do you mean?"

Sakura turned around so she was facing Gray. She peeked over the edge of the bed to look down at him on the floor. He was lying on his back with arms behind his head. Again he was shirtless and she did her very best not to stare and not to blush. "Well, you know being a stranger in this world."

Gray gave this some consideration. "Would you believe me if I told you that I'd been in another world before?"

This seemed to interest her more. "Yeah?"

Gray smiled softly, reminiscing some moments from the past. "Yeah. And that world sucks."

"Why ever so?"

"How should I say this?" Gray contemplated for his answer. An answer that would make Sakura easy to understand. "Just imagine a world where you can't perform magic. Like when you can't be a ninja."

A world where you can't be a ninja? Sakura gave this some serious consideration. "Like you can't perform ninja techniques?"

"Exactly." Gray scowled at the memory of them way back in Edolas. "That world we'd been limits our magic. We couldn't perform our magic at free will. It is like the magic we possessed was trapped within ourselves. And no matter how hard we tried to release it, we always ended up tiring ourselves. If it wasn't for Mystogan, then we would be as good as dead meat."

"That world sucks."

"Told you." He glanced at her momentarily. "And you don't have any idea how glad I am when I can perform my magic here. This world of yours is way better than Edolas. That I am so grateful for."

Sakura gave him a smirk.

"But I think the idiot and I can cope in here." Gray answered at last. Then he gave the ceiling a very hard look. "We have to cope in here for us to be able to save Lucy."

Lucy. This name interested Sakura. She leaned closer to him. "Can I ask something about this Lucy?"

Gray casted her a sidelong glance. "Yeah?"

"Well, I'm just curious about her. Like what she's like, and what she's looked like. You know, because she came from another world."

The ice mage raised an eyebrow and gave her a teasing smirk. "You aren't picturing her as a monster or something like that, are you?"

"Huh? What? No! I'm not thinking like that!" The pinkette glared at him.

In return, Gray smirked more.

"I swear! Do you think I'm that rude?" Sakura sat up, continuing to glare at the ravenette as Gray kept on smirking at her. "It is not because she came from another world, I was picturing her as a woman with weird skin color or has scales or can breathe fire! I'm not that rude!"

"There. You said it," he stated calmly.

"Argh," she growled in frustration and threw a pillow at him, which he caught easily. "You're so impossible."

Gray chuckled as he placed the pillow at his side. "Chill, woman. And loosen up although just a bit."

Sakura huffed and lay on her back again. She turned to her side, not facing him. "Yeah, right. I'm loosening up now."

"Hey, hey. That's not what I mean." He was still chuckling although just softly. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't be so serious."

Still not facing him, Sakura sighed. "I'm serious about nothing."

"I mean, about Lucy. About us. You are looking at us that we're different."

"But you are different," she answered hastily. "You came from another world. That is what makes you different."

Gray was silent upon hearing that.

"It is very unthinkable that other worlds do exist. It is beyond imagination, human imagination. It actually never crossed a ninja's mind once."

He sensed the awe in her voice, like she was speaking something impossible despite what impossible things she could do.

"Even the most imaginative and the most creative person, he would be insane if he thought that other worlds do exist, right? I mean, although we believed in different dimensions but we are speaking worlds here and that is really, really something. It is a big deal. A great deal, in all honesty."

Here she paused momentarily as if choosing the right words. Gray sensed the awe in her voice transformed to worry. And he didn't like it.

"What if there are other worlds out there? What if they are stronger than us? What if they decided to take over in here? What if a new war will be formed? And this time it wasn't a Shinobi War?" She paused again to catch her breath.

And the worry in her voice transformed again but this time to fear.

"And above all, what if they won? Are ninjas will be ceased to exist?"

"…Are you afraid of us?"

This silenced Sakura. His voice was kind of reminding her of Naruto. She remembered that Naruto had said something like that few years ago.

'Sakura-chan, are you afraid of me? Because of the monster inside me?'

And she blinked realizing what she had said.

"You think we are different from you. So you must be afraid of us, isn't that right?"

"…"

"Of course. Seeing what we are capable of, causing havoc and chaos to this world, you have all the right to be afraid of us. Even hate us…"

"I don't hate you," Sakura said at last, as if she was saying it like a hundred times before. "And I am not afraid of you."

Gray did not answer.

"I'm sorry, Gray." She stated with a deep sigh. "I didn't intend to make you uncomfortable. I'm just like this when I am worried. So, I'm really sorry."

"It's nothing. It is not bad to worry about some things especially those who will bring danger, right?"

"You aren't dangerous." Her voice was heavy. "You aren't dangerous because you are good guys."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "And how are you so sure about that?"

Sakura did not answer for a few seconds. Gray thought that she wasn't going to answer. Until her voice reached his ears. Her voice that was so soft he barely heard it. "Because bad guys never worry for their comrade as much as you do. And only good guys can do that."

Gray smiled. "At once, you said it right."

Sakura let a genuine smile sensing that the tension between them disappeared. Somehow, she was feeling guilty about the things she had said. She knew she shouldn't say things like that but she couldn't help herself especially witnessing and experiencing the most impossible things a ninja could have ever imagined.

But most of all, she was feeling bad for Gray and for Natsu.

Those two are brave enough to bear all these hardships. They just didn't lose their comrade but they also lost their world, their home. And there was no guarantee that they could return back.

It must be very hard for them.

"She was very stubborn, and loud, and can be annoying some times," Gray cut her musings, "especially when she was festering all day that we should help her pay her rent bills or when we failed a mission and she would complain about it nonstop."

Sakura didn't know what Gray was talking about. He was just begun talking things. She didn't have any idea about it. Nevertheless, she listened.

"She was always the straight one in our team, telling us what to do and don't. And she's really weird… and moody." If Sakura wasn't busy thinking what Gray was talking about, she might have seen the smile lingering on the ice mage's lips. "She is really confident about her physical appearance and sex appeal. That would be cute if not too disturbing…"

Sakura blinked at last, finally realizing what Gray was talking about… or rather, who he was talking about.

"She is not aggressive, yeah, unless she is provoked," Gray chuckled at this.

There was something in his tone. Sakura could sense it. And it was only used to someone who was more than a friend… that she was sure about. But still, she kept her mouth shut, listening to him all the while.

Gray continued to talk about Lucy, whether he knew what he was talking or not – well, it didn't really matter, did it? "She is really honest, caring and friendly. She treats everyone fairly. She is just about everything. She is fun to be with and it is interesting to tease her sometimes. She is very loving to all – human or spirit or not. She is very hardworking and never gives up easily. Is very determined and proud about the things she does. Always puts the others first before herself. Has the biggest and kindest heart of all. And, most of all, she is the best at making frozen milkshake that is my favorite." He ended up this with a small, genuine smile.

Sakura didn't know what to say after that. She did not actually thought that Gray would spill all thoughts out he has for this Lucy. And Sakura realized that Gray really knew this Lucy very, very well, like they were friends since their childhood days. Like they were best friends.

"Gray, who is this Lucy to you?" She managed to ask at last. And she asked isn't because she was jealous or something. Somehow, Gray was talking about this Lucy that she was his lover. Not that Sakura cared a lot about. There was just something in his voice that Sakura could sense while he was talking about Lucy. And that something in his voice was something familiar with hers when she was talking about Sasuke…

She gritted her teeth when that name popped in her mind. Thankfully, Gray answered her, distracting her from making future thoughts about her first love.

"Well, Lucy is actually a good friend of mine."

Friend. That was her relationship with Sasuke before… before he left Konoha and joined that homosexual paedophile bastard Sannin.

But Sakura knew more than that tone of Gray. It was like hers when she denies every time that she still loved the Uchiha and cared for him after all the notorious and harmful and dangerous things he'd done to the village, especially to Team Seven.

"You're lying," Sakura said, more to herself than to Gray but decided that she should stop thinking about a certain ravenette bastard with red goddamn eyes. "She is not actually a good friend of yours. We both know that."

"…And what are you exactly talking about?"

Sakura sighed, like she dealt this kind of things many, many times before. "You know what exactly I am talking about."

Gray did not answer, clearly stating that he, actually, did not know what exactly she was talking about.

Sakura sighed in frustration. "For all the Gods above, Gray, you are so thick!"

Gray bolted at her answer, feeling offended or something. "H-Hey! What do you mean—"

"You like her, don't you?"

And this silenced Gray instantly. Sakura sighed once again, waiting for his response.

This gave Gray some time to ponder about her statement.

'You're lying.'

'She is not actually a good friend of yours. We both know that.'

'You like her, don't you?'

.

.

.

.

.

You like her, don't you?

I like her, don't I?

Gray likes Lucy, doesn't he?

Surprisingly, Gray wasn't that shock like he expected him to be realizing this five-letter sentence.

Gray likes Lucy.

Does he like Lucy? He didn't know. Either way, he didn't dislike Lucy. Okay. He likes Lucy. Alright. But in what way?

"I like her… in what way?" He asked.

Sakura let out a noise of irritation but she wasn't going to snap. Yet. "You like her like… like a girl! Like a woman! Like you want her to be your girlfriend!"

Girl. Woman. Girlfriend. Girlfriend? Lover?

Does he really like Lucy as a… lover?!

He didn't know. He actually did not think this kind of things before. Well, maybe he did but did he really think like that? He would admit that he sometimes had some pervert thoughts about Lucy but did it really conduct romance… or what Sakura had stated—love?

He didn't know. Hell he didn't even know a thing! But in some way, he has a feeling that he needed to answer this… to settle everything and he meant everything down.

"I like her… maybe I do… I don't really know… I do not actually give this some thoughts…" Gray managed with a soft, hesitant voice. "But, judging what I know about Lucy, maybe I do like her… like, like what you mean. And maybe Natsu likes her, as well. No one knows. So, I might really like Lucy. Because if I don't, then I wouldn't be this so concerned about her, would I?"

Sakura did not answer. Somehow, Gray's answer satisfied her. Although Gray was uncertain about it, he really did not actually deny that he likes Lucy.

Plus, he was right. Although Gray cared about his nakama, his concern towards Lucy is something more than a friend could offer. It was like, Gray sees Lucy more than just a friend or nakama for that matter. And Sakura knew that very, very well.

"Sorry, Gray. I mean, it is rude for me to pry in your personal life. I'm sorry," Sakura felt like apologizing. She thought it was the best thing to do to break the awkward silence and tension between them.

Gray surprisingly gave her a soft chuckle. His expression softened. "Nah… I don't mind at all…"

Sakura sighed in relief, mentally thanking the heavens about it. "It sure is painful to lose someone very special to you, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Gray answered softly. "I've never felt something this strong before… Surely Lucy had been in life to death situation before, but I've never been worried this much… until now."

Sakura smiled to herself. Gray seemed oblivious about his feelings for this Lucy, and Sakura could sense it. "You sounded confused."

"…Huh?"

"It seems that you don't like Lucy…"

"What are you talking about? I just told you before that—"

"I mean, you just don't like Lucy," Sakura stressed the word just to emphasize her point.

But unfortunately, Gray didn't sense it. "…And your point is?"

Sakura would have growled in frustration but Gray was so oblivious and ignorant when it comes to situations like this. She decided to offer this unaware young man her wisdom. "What I am trying to say is, Gray, I think you just don't like Lucy. You know, like like…? Like, you love her."

XXXXX

Somewhere inside the Akatsuki Head Quarters…

"You have called me," a dark voice was heard.

"Yes, I just wanted to ask you something," another voice which was darker was heard as well.

"And that would be…?"

"What do you think of her?"

There was a short pause as if the first voice was contemplating about something.

"Is it what you called me for? To hear my opinion about that girl? I deeply hope that you are concerned enough that there are some matters we need to pay attention rather than talk about this kind of nonsensical things."

The second voice chuckled darkly, finding amusement at the situation. "I will deal with that 'some matters' before you realize I did."

Silence.

"Don't be so kill joy," the darker voice implied mockingly. "I just want to tell you that that girl is not to be harmed, most especially not to be touched by any of your cretins. And that includes you. Do you understand?"

"…Is that a warning?"

"Perhaps, but I am just claiming what is mine. And those who steps out of the boundaries shall receive a punishment that is to be executed by no other than me." And he vanished, leaving nothing but the known leader of Akatsuki who was deep in his thoughts.

XXXXX

"What should we do, Master?"

"We can't just waste time standing here, and do nothing! They are our friends… out there!"

"Calm down, everybody…"

"I am worried about Lucy-chan especially what Loke has told me."

"Oh, Natsu… I hope he is okay…"

"Gray-sama… Juvia hopes Gray-sama is in good hands…"

"Master, who are the wizards we will be sending to the other world?"

"They should be really strong… like a man!"

"Send the Fairy Tail, Master, please…"

"That will be risky."

"But, Master!"

"We can't afford to lose many more mages."

"D-Don't tell me that we will not do anything to save them?"

"That is not what I mean. Erza."

"Yes, Master?"

"How long will it take before the Magic Council knows about Jellal's disappearance?"

"At least five weeks, Master."

"That is enough time." There was a short pause. "I know the perfect wizards who we can send to the other world."

"Who, Master?"

"But first, find Laxus. I appoint you and him to another mission."

"And that would be…?"

"To find and collect the strongest wizards… the dragon slayers."

CHAPTER X — END.