A/N: BEHOLD! Dawn of Thunder lives on! I know this is rough, and, a long time in coming, but I hope that all the fans out there still enjoy it! Consider this a warm-up chapter to get the juices flowing, and, of course, always remember...

...NEVER PISS OFF MIRAJANE!

A Promise Renewed

Mirajane was furious.

The sun hid her face. Thunder and lightning danced through the grief stricken sky as she descended to the battlefield. She was both terrible and beautiful to behold. Death and suffering followed her as her stewards. Her tail drew a third of the armies sent against her to hell and those that remained were nothing more than a great feast for vultures. She was the one for whom darkness was created...she held the soul of the enemy of all living things...

And she was absolutely, completely, mind numbingly furious. The fact that she was still wearing her nightie from the previous night did little to lessen this apocalyptic fury. He who dared to glance upon the demon immediately found themselves reduced to a stuttering, gibbering heap, consisting of broken bones and battered bodies. Such was it their helplessness before the almighty wrath of this de

He owed them an explanation. He owed her an explanation, damnitall!

How had he done it? How had he crushed that man without so much as breaking a sweat, when before, he had struggled so? Was it because she'd given so much of her magic energy to him? Perhaps that was the reason? No. That didn't make any sense. True, she had given him what little magical power she'd had left as of that night, but the increase shouldn't haven been as massive as it had been, back then.

Meaning, she wasn't to blame for the sudden surge-the sudden darkness-in his magical reservoir. It didn't have anything to do with the promise she'd made that dragon now, did it? No, for some reason, she trusted Adrik to keep his word. Erza hadn't remembered a thing, both of the night's previous incursion, nor the sudden emergence of dragons and what-not. So, yes, she trusted him. She also trusted him-when the time came-to train her as he'd promised he would. Then, and only then, would she be able to prove to Naruto that she was truly his equal, black magic or now.

But why had he used black magic in the first place, and how had he come to possess it at all?

Mirajane did not entertain the delusion that she was to thank for this phenomenon. Prideful she may have been, but she wasn't stupid. She might have given Naruto her magic she might have given him a breather at best, but there was just no way to account for the huge powerup he'd received He couldn't have projected such a wide distortian as he had last night, and he couldn't, have used such a spell that gave his magic such a sickly sweet feel to it that told her that something was wrong with his magic. Nervous, sleep deprived and terribly upset, these emotions did precious little to assauge the incredible feeling of dread he'd given her by such performing this simple act of kindness. Now her fury drove her out of bed, down the steps, and out the door, in search of answers.

Death Magic.

Was that what she had witnessed back then? Naruto had muttered the words before he dragged Orochi-whatever back into the forest. While she wasn't familair with the term, it felt an awful lot like Dark Magic. Why would Naruto's normally warm glow, suddenly feel like the kind that was used for torture and killing and more killing? Naruto had been suppresing the bulk of his power for quite some time now, Mirajane knew that, but was it this?

This power?

This tainted energy that turned her blood to ice and numbed her at her very core?

Naruto had gone from her level, to-briefly-rivaling Gildarts Clive in terms of sheer Magical Power. And Mirajane couldn't stand it. He'd surpassed her somehow, and it was with no small effort that Mirajane resisted the urge to lash out at him for simply being better than her, even for a moment. Just this once, she'd try to be glad for something he did. Boys liked that kind of stuff, right? She didn't know if he preffered her stupid and obnoxious self, wait, maybe he was into the whole shy and meek routine?

"No way in hell!"

Mirajane shuddered at the thought of Hinata and shook her head rapidly. Absolutey not! It didn't matter who or what that girl was, what did she know about Naruto! What did she know, about anything for that matter! Nothing! She knew absolutely nothing! Still...they did seem to be pretty close. And it was then, that Mirajane realized something, a certain something that she had known now for quite some time, yet never dared to give voice to.

She didn't know Naruto all that well, either.

(Flashback)

"We can't tell anyone about this." Naruto said. "Understand? We'll make up something, but we can't let the Master know about this, alright?"

Laxus nodded, slinging the prone form of Natsu over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I think I get where you're coming from on this."

Hinata nodded mutely.

"Like hell we can't!" Mirajane snarled. "That guy almost destroyed the town! And You let him escape! You said so yourself! He's bound to come back!"

"He won't." Naruto answered.

"Sure, you say that now-

"He. Won't." Naruto repeated firmly, as though this explained everything. "Trust me. I-

He winced, his eyes widening explosively, one hand flying to his neck.

"Oi! Your neck!" She glanced between the two of them, unaware of Naruto's forlorn expression. "Well?" She waved a hand before his face, and received no reaction. "Anybody home? Naruto, hellooo, talking to you here!" Naruto blinked slowly at that, as though he'd just come out of a deep sleep, and turned to face her with a look of puzzlement and confusion. "You alright, dumbass?"

Naruto sighed aside, his eyes half lidded as though he were in a deep trance.

"I'm...alright." Naruto gazed down at the sannin's corpse with genuine pity in his eyes. "Somehow."

"Good." Mirajane allowed her eyes to slide shut, just for a moment. "In that case, you own me an explanation-

Without warning, he placed two fingers to her forehead. She blinked, gawping as a violet seal manifested upon her forehead shining with such intensity that Mirajane squeezed her eyes shut against it. That, proved to be a costly mistake. For, no sooner had she done so, then she felt the influx of power shift, flowing from him, back into her. And with, said magic, he cast a spell.

"Sleep." He intoned softly, gently, his words suddenly little more than a lullaby, lulling her into bliss. "Mirajane, go to sleep."

"But...I...she forced the words through numbed lips, feeling as though she were wading through soup. Suddenly, she felt sleepy. So, verry, very, sleeeeepy...

And theren there was only blackness.

(End Flashback)

It was not until much later that Mirajane realized Naruto was very much not okay. She'd been hunting high and low for him ever since his disappearance as of last night and it had been a fruitless endeavor to say the least. Now, her initial anger had begun to ebb, slowly fading into concern when she failed to find him anywhere, neither amidst those dorms of the men, nor amongst the reconstruction efforts.

It was rather ironic, therefore, that Mirajane found him in the lease likely place she'd thought to look for him. Standing in front of the guild hall. He didn't bother to look up as she approached, nor did the one standing beside him give any notice of her prescence. Belatedly, she realized, that they might not have yet seen her. She ducked behind the nearest beam and poked her head out, suddenly very self-concious as to what she was wearing. Did she really want to be seen, wearing this? Perhaps she'd been a tad hasty in her urge to see him. Or rather, kill him. So furious had she been upon waking, upon realizing that Naruto had used a sleeping spell to knock her out-thusly avoiding further questioning-that she hadn't bothered to realize she was still in her pajamas.

Despite herself, despite all that pent up pride, Mirajane felt her cheeks begin to burn. Even moreso when she recognized Cana and Hinata at the center of the crowd, chatting amiacably with Naruto and Laxus. She couldn't possibly approach him now, not with so many bystanders. But the sight of him, standing there, acting like nothing was wrong, like nothing had happened-he'd probably given some bullshit story to

Shit!

"Lisanna!" She hissed, recognizing her sister on the edge of the crowd. "Psst! Lisanna!" She waved frantically, but to no avail. A slew of mages were crowded around the board and all eyes were fixed upon the prestigious posting lodged there. If she could just sneak back out while no one was looking and find her clothes, then she could at least approach him with a shred of her former dignity. If not...

Naruto quietly indicated the board with one finger.

Fairy Tail...Sorceror Slam:

Apocalypse v. Armageddon

Slayer v. Sharpshooter

Masterpiece v. Real Men Use Ice

Raijinshu v. Jetstream

Crasher v. Smoked Out

Tipsy Fairy v. ?

Mist v. ?

? v. ?

The official matches had been placed on the top of the mission board. As soon as it was released, everyone immediately started placing bets on whom would come out on top. There were no bets on Gildartz and Mystogun's matches, due to everyone assuming their immediate victory which wasn't the slightest bit offending to their opponents. Even they thought they didn't stand a chance but the pair tried to reassure the rookies of their abilities, saying that no one was invincible. However, a nonplussed Naruto eyed the board with ill-concealed dismay. There were no names up here! Only...

"Ano...what does this mean?" Hinata asked shyly. "Are the postings always like this, Naruto-kun?" He exchanged a significant glance with her, lavender locking within sapphire as he caught her gaze and held it for a moment. Strange. He'd half expected her to demand answers from him after last night's fiasco. Instead she much like Cana, had simply embraced him this morning. It had been awkward, to say the least. But she had asked him a question, and he, at the very least, owed her an answer.

"Hell if I know." Naruto shrugged. "We'll have to ask-

"Team Title." Makarov explained from behind, his sudden appearance causing both Dragon Slayers to leap back in surprise. "I think this makes everything much more interestin' don't you? Everyone who enters the Sorceror Slam has to use either a codename or an alias, otherwise known as Team Title, because we all use them. For example, if you were to enter alone, Naruto-boy...you would be listed as Raikage, as opposed to Naruto. Hinata-chan, you would use your title Princess of Fairy Tail, as opposed to your birth name." Ingoring Naruto's glare he laughed mightily. A simple concept, neh?"

"So what's with the question marks?" Naruto deadpanned. "There are...quite a few of them."

"Who knows?" Makarov grinned slyly. "It could be a surprise opponent, rule, environment, or even a handicap for the other team! Bwahaha!" Naruto shivered at the thought of that, though he could already guess at a few of the groups, going by their elaborate and over the top names. Mist, had to be Mystogun. Raijinshu was Freid's team, who they'd most likely be fighting in the very first round.

Real Men Use Ice? Had to be Elfman and Gray.

Beyond that, they were clueless.

"So we're Apocalypse, I know that, but...hey! What the hell is this!" Naruto glared as the name Armageddon came into view beside it. "Someone stole our backup name!" Both boys gawped wordlessly at it, wondering who might have the nerve, nay, the gall to do such a thing. It was ridiculous! Outrageous! Offensive! Both exchanged and glance and both, shared the same sentiment.

"Ne, Laxus." The master said, glancing at Naruto whom looked grateful at him. "Come see who you'll be up against."

"We didn't even bother to learn their code names!" Laxus's reaction was just about the same as Naruto's. "Damnit, Gramps! How are we supposed to know who we're fighting!"

"Too bad." Makarov grinned deviously. "You made your team infamous. Now you have to live with the consequences, Laxus." He continued to grin, even as an unsually smug Mirajane sauntered over to them, now longer sneering, not as she devilishly beheld their confusion. Naruto offered a mute shrug when Laxus began to demand an answer. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. He knew only that he was in deep, deep shit if Mirajane saw him...shit.

"Oi." She called softly, the words little more than a soft, silken purr. "Naruto."

Naruto stiffened.

The crowd parted for her like the red sea, amidst a series of confused murmurring and babbling. He soon saw why. Her hair, those long, luscious tresses of pure, pure, white hung down before her face, yet still framed her cheeks as though they were somehow bound there. Then he noticed her appalling lack of attire, the fact that she was wearing a simple, black night gown, and, that her eyes had a positively demonic aura to them.

"Ah...Mira! Um...did you sleep well?" he asked weakly.

"I don't know, did I?" She challenged, leering upwards at him. Naruto gulped, shot a pleading glance toward Laxus, but by then, it was already too late. Mirajane lashed out as hard as she possibly could, her fingers closing on the lappels of his jacket. Without a word, without any forewarning or hesitation, she dragged his face forward into hers. Both eyes widened, one with pain, the other with supereme satisfaction as the first pair lapsed into unconcioussness from the vicious headbutt.

"You," She began darkly, dragging his prone form away and behind her, "Are coming with me."

"Na-Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out as she watched Mirajane drag her fellow Dragon Slayer away. Cana sighed and threw up her arms in helpless exasperation explaining to her that disturbing the impending conflict was probably not in her best interest. Hinata's expression became a pained one. She understood that Naruto and Mirajane had recently had a falling out, but for it to fall to this extent, just before the competition...

"Why is that, Cana-san?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Cana smiled grimly.

"Because, right now, he's so dead.

Laxus groaned.

"Oh, fuck."

A/N: IT LIIIIIIIVES! Dawn of Thunder lives on! Pairing is still up in the air, but, daw! I just love Naruto and Mirajane C= This chapter may be short, but tis a filler chappy, after all, one in which I can grease the gears and get rid of the rust that has accumulated on this long forgotten, albeit cherished, work of mine!