Poisoned by Choice
Chapter 11: Finding a Key
Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor Naruto they belong to Mashima Hiro and Kishimoto Masashi respectively
A/N: I'm back with a new chapter for you guys. This month marks the first year anniversary of Poisoned by Choice so thanks to all you guys. With over 540 favs and 610 follows this makes it my most popular fic and I want to thank you all for that.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Demon/Dragon Talking"
'Demon/Dragon Thinking'
"Telepathic Conversation"
'Flashback'
Magic/Magic Item
Location/Time Change
Porlyusica's Hut
Naruto leaned against the wall near the door while he watched Fairy Tail's Medical Advisor work on Sanji and Cana's leg. He never liked being in Porlyusica's place, it always meant that one of his friends was hurt. Thanks to Kyubi he had advanced healing and never got sick, so he had no need to have the pink haired recluse examine him. Even his hands had completely healed in the time it had taken to get back from Lily Town. He wanted to help them somehow, but Porlyusica hated humans and had a tendency to lash out with her broom if they got too close while she was working, a lesson he had learned from experience. So he was stuck waiting on the opposite side of the room.
The old woman finished her work on setting a new cast onto Cana's leg and left it to dry before turning to Naruto. Her hair was up in a bun held by a pair of crescent moon pins and two strands framed her slightly wrinkled face. She wore a green blouse and burgundy skirt under her red mantle with dragon horn-like ornaments on the collar that Naruto had always found odd. How did she know what dragon horns looked like and why would she put them on her mantle? "What are you still doing here?" She demanded.
"I'm just waiting to help Cana and Sanji get home, since someone has to carry their bags and everything." He nervously told her. "We came right here after arriving so that you could make sure their injuries would properly heal and didn't have time to stop and drop off our stuff."
Porlyusica glared at Naruto a bit more with her red eyes before nodding at him. At least he was smart enough to ensure that they didn't wait or try to let the wounds heal naturally. She noticed him flexing his hands and narrowed her eyes. "And nothing happened to you, did it?"
"Of course not. Otherwise I would have told you." He quickly denied. Porlyusica had always been suspicious of his fast healing, but had never found anything wrong with it so she let it go.
"Well I can't find anything else wrong with their legs so after the casts set you all can get out." She turned to Sanji and Cana and glared at them. "And the two of you better stay off those legs for at least two weeks or else." The two nodded in fear and began to make their way to the door, before she remembered something important. "And cut back on the drinking and smoking!" Her yelled directions only spurred them on to move faster.
On the way out of the forest just outside Magnolia that Porlyusica called home, Naruto carried all of the bags to lessen the strain on Sanji's magic so that he could fly all the way back to the guild. Naruto and Sanji dropped their stuff off at their apartment before helping Cana get into her room at Fairy Hills, the Fairy Tail girls' apartment building. They then dropped into Fairy Tail to celebrate their successful mission with a copious amount of alcohol.
A few minutes into celebrating, Naruto looked around in confusion at the lack of a certain hothead and exhibitionist. He turned to Levy at the next table over with Jet and Droy. "Hey, where are Natsu and Gray?"
"Oh, right, I guess you three wouldn't know." Levy said, gaining the others attention.
"Know about what, Levy-chwan?" Sanji asked.
"Natsu, Happy, and Lucy stole an S-class quest from the second floor." Levy informed them.
They reacted pretty much as she expected them to. Sanji exclaimed in surprise and nearly swallowed his cigarette, Cana ended up spit-taking into Naruto's face who then proceeded to choke on his drink.
"Are they insane?! What could have possessed them to do that? And how is Gray involved in that?" Cana demanded, ignoring the coughing Naruto next to her.
Levy tapped her chin before she started explaining the whole story. "Laxus goaded Natsu into trying to attack him while he was on the second floor, but Makarov stopped him before he reached the stairs. Then Happy must have snuck in and stolen one of the job requests and the three of them left in the middle of the night. When we found out in the morning, Gray volunteered to go bring them back, but that was a while ago so he must have joined them."
"Damn, those four are going to get it when they get back." Cana remarked before thumping Naruto on the back to get him to stop coughing. He gasped his thanks before taking a swig of his drink to clear his throat. "Which mission did they take?"
"The one for the cursed Galuna Island."
This time it was Naruto's turn to spit his drink into Cana's face. "What was that idiot cat thinking?! And how did they even get Lucy to go along with that? She's not that great with scary things." He remarked while thinking back to Everlue's mansion and Happy with the skull.
"The reward must have been pretty big." Levy guessed. "I doubt that Lu-chan would risk taking it if it wasn't. Maybe there was even a golden key offered?" She hesitantly put out.
Naruto shook his head at the thought. "Well those idiots sure got themselves into a big mess. I doubt that they can dig their hole any deeper."
"Erza returned yesterday and went out to hunt them down after she found out what happened."
Naruto deadpanned at Levy for a minute before finishing off his drink. "Well, they're dead. I call dibs on Natsu's place."
"I want Lucy's place." Cana chimed in.
Levy and her team looked at them in disbelief. "Erza probably won't kill them." Jet pointed out.
"Tell me, do you really think that Natsu or Gray would willingly return after starting the mission?" Naruto asked. Jet went to answer before thinking about the question and sighing in defeat. That was exactly what they'd do, especially for an S-class mission. Naruto saw him deflate and nodded to himself. "I rest my case."
Levy rolled her eyes at Naruto's theatrics and the two groups talked for a bit more before they went back to their respective activities. Naruto and Cana soon entered in another drinking contest while Sanji went off to the kitchen. Towards the end of the day, Cana once again lost her match and wound up drunk. Naruto slung one of her arms over his shoulders and started to carry her to the door with her crutches in his free hand. On the way out he stopped by Levy's table again. "Levy, before I forget, I want to talk to you about that seal-thing tomorrow."
"Alright. I think that I've found some new books from Enca that might be useful." Levy told him with a hint of excitement in her voice. Ever since Naruto had shown her a copy of the seal that kept Kyubi in his gut, she had become nearly as obsessed with cracking it as he had. The difference being that she only thought of it as a fascinating rune that was supposed to unlock a great power and Naruto knew that it was the seal that the leader of his old village had used to lock away the fox and its release would allow him to complete his bargain and pay back the giant chakra beast that had taught him all he knew about chakra.
The blond Dragon Slayer flashed her a smile before continuing on his way with his inebriated friend. While they were walking down the street, Cana lifted her head off of his shoulder to give him a bleary look. "Did you ever tell her what that seal is really for?" She slurred.
"No." He replied with a sigh. 'Though to be fair, I never told you either.'
"You should tell her. What's the worst that could happen?"
"I could be wrong."
Cana gave a grunt of annoyance, but still dropped the subject. She had discovered the seal when Naruto had lost his old vest a couple of years ago and she had gotten a look at him shirtless while channeling his chakra. He had been quite adamant about dodging the subject, but she had eventually gotten him to crack. Supposedly he had received it from Veleno shortly before he had disappeared and Naruto thought that it was the key behind the strange power that let him access Dragon Force and could be related to why his dragon had disappeared. He was afraid to spread the word around in case he was wrong. She thought it was pretty weak, but Naruto had begged her not to tell anyone and she had reluctantly agreed.
The rest of the short walk back to Fairy Hills was spent in silence. Cana had dropped her drunk-as-a-skunk act in favor of actually hopping along on her crutches instead of having Naruto carry her entirely. Naruto led Cana to her room and turned to leave when she called out to him. "Wait." Cana was leaning against the doorframe to support herself and had seemingly sobered up entirely. She made sure that she had Naruto's full attention. "I want to talk to you about what happened back there with the bandit chief."
Naruto let out a sigh. He knew what she wanted to talk about. "I'm fine. My hands were a little busted, but now they're fine." He held up his perfectly healed hands to emphasize his point. "You know I heal fast."
"And I know that it isn't healthy for you." Cana shot back, all traces of alcohol gone. She had probably been faking so that she had an excuse to confront him. "You said that it isn't magically healing, but speeding up the healing process. If you keep fighting like that when things get tough then you could really hurt yourself." She told him in concern.
"What else could I do? He was going to kill you!"
"You could have just ripped off his mask!" Cana pointed out. "All you had to do was force it off, but instead you just kept hitting him until he went down. Your hands were a bloody mess when you were done and you nearly killed him from all that poison, regardless of what kind you used." Cana's face softened as she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about us so much. We're not going anywhere."
Naruto dropped his gaze and looked off to the side. He knew that he was overprotective of his guildmates, he had been since he was young. But they were his family. They had taken him in and gave him a goal in life: precious people that he wanted to protect. That was all he had—no greater purpose or search—just a family that he would do anything for. "Lisanna left."
Cana winced. She had been hoping to avoid that topic. Naruto had hung out with Natsu and, by proxy, Lisanna a lot when they were younger and they had all been close friends. When Mirajane and Elfman came back with the news that their younger sister had died on the mission, only Natsu had taken the news harder. With the loss of his father, and the circumstances around it, combined with Lisanna's death Naruto had grown even more protective of the guild to the point that she was sure that it was his coping method for loss. He rarely spent time outside of the guild besides missions and buying the basic necessities and half the time he had Sanji do that.
She needed to turn this conversation around. "That was years ago, we're all stronger now." She pointed out. "And if you keep taking risks like this you'll be next." Her face softened. "Imagine what would happen to us if that happened."
Naruto grit his teeth, but knew that Cana was right. He could easily replace the images of the guild after Lisanna's death with his name on the tombstone. The guild, older now, hurt worse due to how much longer they had known each other. Tears being shed by all his friends while they said their goodbyes. It was a reoccurring nightmare for him, the only thing changing being the name on the grave and the face missing in the crowd.
"I know." Naruto admitted in a quiet voice. "I know how much it would hurt you and the guild. I feel it every time that I imagine being too slow, too weak, not good enough. It being my fault that someone is dead." 'Again.' The thought flashed unbidden through Naruto's head along with an image of his father's still and bloody form. "I just couldn't take it."
Naruto's thoughts were cutoff when Cana reached out and pulled him into a hug. He hadn't even noticed that she had moved and tensed in surprise. "I know." She echoed his earlier reply. "And that's a part of you that I hope never changes. Just remember that we all feel the same way."
Naruto relaxed and returned Cana's hug. They stayed like that briefly before breaking apart. Cana smirked at the blond who gave a small smile in return. "Well I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed." She turned around and walked into her room. Before she closed the door Naruto called her name. "What?" She curiously asked.
"I just wanted to say thanks." He told her while scratching the back of his head nervously.
Cana gained a soft smile. "Anytime."
Naruto returned her smile and went on his way as Cana closed her door.
The Next Day
After lunch, Naruto had met up with Levy down in the library where Fairy Tail kept their records and a variety of books both magical and mundane that had been collected by its members over the years. The two were positioned on opposite sides of a table that was covered in books and a large drawing of the seal holding Kyubi in the middle. They had been debating over what to do for hours and now Levy was going on about something related to five elements and Naruto was struggling to follow her. Usually he was pretty good with things like this thanks to all the research that he had put into the seal, but Levy was talking about something way beyond his understanding. He had learned a lot under Veleno, but the really advanced stuff that he learned had all been related to the chemistry or application of poison, not this magical theory stuff.
"…so with that I think that if you find a way to apply these five elements to the seal then you should be able to overpower the four elements it has set up and break the seal." Levy finished with an excited flush to her face. She was sure that this would work. According to the book she had found, if an odd seal was placed over an even one it would disrupt the seal and prevent it from working.
Naruto squinted his eyes shut while examining the book in a poor attempt to conceal his excitement. Levy's reasoning was sound and the book seemed to know what it was talking about. This could be it. "That's perfect, Levy. How do we do it?"
The petite girl deflated a bit at that. "Well that's the problem. The five elements referred to are wood, metal, fire, water, and earth and they have to be really strong too to break a double seal like this."
Naruto saw the problem. "And we don't know someone strong enough in each element." Levy nodded and he let out a groan of frustration. They were so close just to have the solution still out of reach. They could have Natsu provide Fire Magic and he was willing to bet that Laki would help them out with the Wood Magic if they asked her. That still left the metal, earth, and water. 'Sorry, Kyubi. I won't be able to keep my promise right now.' He sadly told the giant fox.
One eye opened inside of his cage to show that Kyubi had heard him. "It's fine for now, gaki. I've spent over a century trapped inside of people. I can wait a few more years if I have to." While he reassured the blond with his words, in his thoughts the fox was enraged. So close! He was so close to freedom. The chance to feel fresh air, stretch his muscles, cause major destruction. He had had only one brief moment outside of a cage since the bastard Hashirama and his wife had sealed him inside her all those years ago and that had been cut short by the even bigger bastard Minato. But he had been telling the truth when he said that he could wait. The Uzumaki brat might not know exactly how long he would live thanks to his bloodline, but if the fox could get him to keep accessing his powers when he used his Poison Drive and slowly increase the output or get him to hurt himself enough to start needing to heal more often and eventually start lessening his lifespan it would be fine. A cruel smile spread across the giant chakra beast's face as a large claw tapped against the cage holding him, feeling the cage's slowly weakening construction, time brought all things to an end. And for an immortal like him, time was always on his side.
Unaware of the plotting taking place inside his head, Naruto shot Levy a toothy grin. "Don't worry, Levy, this is a huge help. Now all we have to do is find an earth mage, metal mage, and a water mage and I'll finally be able to break this damn seal." He encouraged her.
Levy smiled back at him. "I know. I just wish that I could do more." She said in a disappointed tone. "My magic can make those elements, but I can't control them." She let out a sigh of disappointment. "And I wanted to find out what was sealed up so badly."
"Me too." Naruto said with a slight nervous look to his smile. 'More than you know.' He shook his head to avoid that train of thought and got to his feet. "Well there's nothing more we can do now, and there's only one way to deal with a roadblock like this."
"Copious amounts of alcohol?" Levy easily guessed. That was pretty much Naruto's go to answer when they either failed to make progress or made progress: party with Cana. Sometimes he'd join in on Natsu and Gray's fights if their research hadn't been going well to let off some steam.
"Bingo! Whaddaya say, Levy, want to join me?" Naruto asked.
Levy gave him a shaky smile and held her hands up in an attempt to ward off the blond. "No thanks, I think I'll clean up first." She still remembered the last time that Naruto had roped her into drinking with him and Cana, or, at least, what she was told had happened. She hadn't lasted very long with the two alcoholics and all that she knew came secondhand from the guild members that had been present at the time. She had generally avoided alcohol after that incident.
"Oh, right. Then I'll help you with that then get you a drink." Naruto offered.
"It's alright, I've got it." Levy protested. Naruto was quickly ushered out of the room and Levy leaned against the door in relief when he was gone. She was sure he meant well, but Cana still had pictures from last time that she used to blackmail Levy from time to time and she didn't need to give the brunette anymore to work with.
Outside of the door Naruto scratched his head in confusion before shrugging his shoulders and heading off to the bar. If Levy didn't want to have a drink with him that was fine, but if she stayed in there for too long he would be forced to drag her out. Too many books were boring and people needed to cut loose every now and then, he was speaking from experience here.
Naruto went upstairs and discovered that it was getting pretty late out. After getting some food from Sanji in the kitchen, he joined up with the other mages and found that Cana had managed to set up another poker game. She was currently sitting with a cocky grin on her face and a large pile of chips in front of her. The only person that came close was Loke, but that was probably because the playboy kept getting distracted by the blond hanging onto his arm than actual skill. He could see Jet was wearing a grimace on his face before folding and walking away to join Droy at a different table. Naruto walked up to the table and raised an eyebrow at Cana. "I seem to recall you being banned from card games here." He mentioned.
The brunette rolled her eyes at him while she raked in her winnings. "You're on that list too." She pointed out.
"Yes, but I'm not the one sitting in front of a giant pile of poker chips while dealing."
Cana waved off his concerns. "Master's out for the night and I sent Elfman off to distract Mira, we're fine. You want in?"
"I'll pass. The last time I gambled I ended up having to take a shitty job with an annoying coworker." He jabbed. Naruto pulled up a seat besides the table away from the cards and ordered a mug of beer while he watched.
Cana snorted at his comment and moved over to make room. "Whatever you say, Mr. Pot."
The game continued on for several more hours and the mages spent the time swapping stories along with their chips. Eventually the guild started to empty out as it got later and Elfman was unable to distract his sister anymore, ending the game early. Soon the only ones left were Naruto, Sanji, and Mirajane. "Naruto, I'm closing the bar. Time to head home." She told him.
Naruto looked up from his drink in acknowledgement and gave her a smile. "Don't worry, Mira, I'm just finishing this drink and then I'll head back with Sanji. You can leave lockup up to us tonight." He reassured her.
"Okay. Goodnight, you two." The cheery barmaid told them with a wave.
The pair echoed her and went to work closing Fairy Tail for the day. Naruto quickly drained his mug and walked over to Sanji. The cat stood casually smoking on the bar and glanced up at Naruto. "Can I bum a light?"
Sanji made no comment and tossed Naruto his pack and lighter. The blond pulled out a cigarette and lit it before tossing them back. "I'll finish up here. Meet you back at the house."
"You need a hand?" The cat asked.
"I've got this one."
Sanji shrugged his shoulders and flew to the door. "Don't stay out too late, you shitty blond."
"No promises." Naruto told him. After Sanji left he walked over to the door and locked it. He then turned to the top floor and began to walk up the stairs. 'Sorry, Gramps. Looks like I'm going to have to bend the rules a bit.'
Rooftop next to the Fairy Tail Guild Hall
A young man was crouched in the darkness and watched the yellow cat leave the building. He could still smell one more person inside the building, but considering who it was he was willing to make an exception to his "no witnesses" orders. A smile crossed his face before he moved out of the shadows.
He was a rough looking man, with studs covering his face along his nose, chin, ears, and replacing his eyebrows. Long spiky black hair was slicked back over his back and his red eyes seemed eerie in the darkness. He appeared to have a thing for studs, as they lined his dark sleeveless tunic, brown gloves, belt, boots, and he had three more in each forearm. The only thing that wasn't studded was his white pants and the feather ornament that was on his right shoulder. He jumped onto Fairy Tail's roof and transformed his arm into a large iron pillar. He pulled it back as if to punch the roof only to spin around and block one of Naruto's yellow Poison Dragon's Spines. "Ghihihi. Been waiting to meet you, Basilisk." The man said.
"Is that so, 'Black Steel' Gajeel?" Naruto responded while the spines at his elbows turned purple. "I don't suppose you'd like to get the fuck off my guild's roof before you start something that you really don't want to start?" He asked while taking a long drag from his cigarette.
Gajeel's response was to extend the pillar that his arm had turned into at Naruto's face. The Dragon Slayer ducked out of the way and put out his cigarette. "Can't say I'm surprised." He had noticed the ace of their rival guild, Phantom Lord, show up about an hour ago and had been drinking heavily to keep his magic up so that he would still be able to smell him. No matter how crowded the guild was it was easy to pick up his scent. After all, living with Natsu for so many years had helped him become familiar with the unique smell of a Dragon Slayer.
Naruto rushed in close to attack Gajeel with his Poison Dragon's Claws, but his pillar had retracted in time to block his attack. The other man's red eyes stared into Naruto's blue ones with a gleam of battle lust in them. "Let's see who's stronger then. The Poison Dragon Slayer or the Iron Dragon Slayer!" He shouted out before taking a deep breath. "Iron Dragon's Roar!"
A/N: Well that took a bit longer than expected. So Naruto's making some… interesting progress on Kurama's seal with Levy's help and Gajeel's here to trash the guild, maybe. Who knows? Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate and thanks again for making this fic so popular.
