Ninja Tail
In this chapter, we're going to find out what's befallen the missing Fairy Tail members...mind you, it's not going to be pretty...you might not want to read this in the dark.
Also, Lucy's going to go on a mission with Natsu and Shikamaru...but they're going to have to call it off...why you ask? Because of a certain ninja.
Chapter 13: Chiyoye's Dark Secret
Hinata found herself being woken up rather abruptly. As it turned out, it was none other than Happy.
"What? Happy, why are you waking me up?" inquired the kunoichi.
"Did you hear the latest?" asked the Exceed.
"Hmm? What is it?" asked Hinata curiously.
"We just received our biggest request in the history of ever!" bellowed Happy.
"What? We did?" inquired the kunoichi curiously.
"Yes! Everyone in the guild is going to be participating in this mission!" exclaimed Natsu's best friend.
"I have to admit...it feels rather weird having a talking cat as a pet..." noted Hinata.
"Don't you want to go to the guild to check it out?" inquired Happy.
"Sure...just let me get dressed." answered the Hyuga clan member.
Happy nodded, and Hinata changed back into her black shirt and shorts.
A few minutes later..
Hinata entered the guild hall, curious to what was going on.
Sure enough, Naruto and the rest of the guild were waiting for her.
"Hey there, Hinata! I can't believe we just got a request like this...then again, I haven't been here for that long..." noted Naruto.
"What is the request?" asked Hinata curiously.
"We need to slay a dragon!" exclaimed the genin.
"A dragon?" inquired the kunoichi.
"Not just any dragon! It's one of the most powerful dragons there is!" bellowed Naruto.
"Gosh." thought Hinata.
Sure enough, every member of the guild seemed to be present. Gray was eating an ice cream cone, Erza was sharpening her swords, Cana was drinking alcohol, Makarov was checking to see if everyone was there, Elfman was flexing his muscles, Mirajane was looking at herself in a mirror, Levy was reading a book, Droy was eating some chicken wings, Jet was running on a treadmill, and Happy was jumping out and down.
After a quick role call, Makarov explained the situation to his guildmates.
"Greetings, my friends. As you may be aware of, this is our biggest request yet. It has been ages since we have been called upon to slay a dragon...let alone a dragon of this caliber. As such, we are all going to go on this mission together, including myself." said the leader of Fairy Tail.
"We are?" asked Gray.
"Yes. In order to stop the dragon, we are going to need to work together as a team...Team Shadow Gear, this should be second nature to you. As for everyone else, you should try to settle your differences." explained Makarov.
Everyone in the guild nodded.
"Very good. We shall be leaving shortly." said the guildmaster.
Hinata raised her hand.
"Yes? Can I help you?" asked Makarov.
"Don't we need somebody to look after the guild while we're gone?" inquired the kunoichi.
Makarov looked rather surprised.
"Hmm? Oh yes! Now I remember! We do need somebody to look after the guild while we're away...any volunteers?" inquired the guildmaster.
Curious, the guildmates began to think of a potential candidate. They all wanted to go on the mission...but Hinata was right. They didn't want to leave their guild base unattended.
Eventually, somebody raised his hand.
It was none other than Naruto.
"Hmm? You want to look after the base, Naruto?" asked Makarov.
"If nobody else wants to, I'll do it." nodded the genin.
"Alright then! It's settled! Make sure that our guild base is in good shape when we return." said the guildmaster.
"Sir, yes, sir!" exclaimed Naruto.
Immediately, the rest of Fairy Tail left the guild while Naruto stayed behind.
"Well, I hope that they do well on their mission." spoke the ninja.
He had to admit, it was rather quiet with them gone. He was hoping that they would be back soon...especially Erza and Hinata.
"Then again, according to the mission request, the dragon was rather far away..." noted Naruto.
Suddenly, he began to hear noises coming from the library.
"Hmm?" asked the genin curiously.
Immediately, he went to the library to investigate...and discovered Chiyoye entering the classified section of the library.
"What the-" said Naruto. Did Chiyoye stay behind as well? He didn't see her at the guild hall along with the rest of the guild.
Curious, he realized what she was doing, and realized that she was breaking one of the guild rules.
What exactly was she breaking the rules for? Surely she wouldn't do so just for a thrill...then again, maybe not.
More curious than before, Naruto began to wonder if Chiyoye had already stolen spellbooks from the classified section of the library, and decided to search her guild room to see if he could find anything suspicious.
Oddly enough, Chiyoye's room in question wasn't far from the library.
At first glance, her room did not stand out from anyone else in the guild. It simply had several magical items inside, such as wands, orbs, crystal balls, and the like.
It also contained two bookcases, but they did not have the Fairy Tail stamp on them, so apparently they weren't stolen.
For a moment, Naruto decided that there was nothing out of the ordinary and Chiyoye was simply deciding to be mischevious, only for him to suddenly notice that there was something off about one of the bookcases.
As it turned out, one of the books had been taken out from the bookcase and had been left on a table.
"I guess I'll put that book back in if she's not reading it, I guess." spoke Naruto.
The genin immediately put the book inside the bookcase...and noticed that it moved out of the way, much to his surprise.
However, it did not lead to a secret passageway. Instead, it simply lead to a chest filled with more books.
"Well, nothing incriminating about that." noted Naruto.
Curious, the genin once again decided that he did not have evidence against Chiyoye. Shrugging, he decided to simply examine the books, which were innocent in themselves.
"I didn't know that she had a chest to store more books in...but I guess she just wanted some extra ones..." noted Naruto.
However, as he continued pulling out books to examine them, he suddenly noticed something suspicious.
"Hmm? What is this button doing here?" thought Naruto curiously.
Shrugging, he decided to press the button...
...and suddenly a secret passageway appeared.
"What's this?" asked the genin curiously.
Curious, Naruto decided to enter the secret passageway.
Immediately, he noticed that it wasn't well-lit, and began to feel rather nervous.
Nonetheless, he decided to enter anyway.
As it turned out, the secret passageway in question led below Chiyoye's room and below the Fairy Tail guild base.
However, the secret passageway still wasn't too suspicious in itself. By the looks of it, Chiyoye was simply into things that were scary. The passageway led to a room with pumpkins, plastic skeletons, a white sheet made to resemble a ghost, and other Halloween decorations.
In other words, there still wasn't anything incriminating against the sorceress that he could use as evidence.
Curious, Naruto noticed that there was a candle that he could use to light up the room.
"Well, I was rather scared for a second, but maybe I was wrong about Chiyoye." thought the genin.
Still, he was going to have to report her for breaking into the classified section of the Fairy Tail library. She simply wasn't allowed in there.
However, Naruto decided to investigate a bit further for a while, and noticed that there was a switch beneath the ghost sheet.
Flipping the switch, a werewolf and a vampire statue appeared.
"Interesting..." thought Naruto.
For a moment once again, the genin thought simply to leave Chiyoye be...only to notice that the statues were facing apart.
"Shouldn't they be making eye contact?" asked Naruto curiously.
Shrugging, Naruto decided to turn the statues around, as he did not feel Chiyoye would mind too much.
However, as it turned out...this led to another secret passageway.
This secret passageway was even darker than the first, as it turned out. Naruto was glad that there was a candle that he could use in order to see things.
However, this was where he was starting to get disturbed. Inside this room were two bookcases much like the ones he had encountered earlier.
However, these books weren't innocent like the ones he had found upstairs. These were dedicated to dark magic.
"Something tells me that Makarov isn't going to like this..." thought the genin.
At that very moment, Naruto decided that maybe it would be best if he went to look for Makarov (though admittedly this would be leaving the guild base attended) and tell him of the situation, but his curiousity lingered on. Was there another secret passageway?
Curious, Naruto noticed that once again there was something off about the bookcases...though in this case the books were all on the bookcase together.
In this case, one of the bookcases seemed to be out of position. Whereas one of the bookcases was close to the center, the other was all the way to the right.
Shrugging, Naruto decided to move the right bookcase closer.
Immediately, a metallic door suddenly appeared. Apparently it had been hidden by a cloaking spell.
"Hmm?" inquired the genin.
As it turned out, the door in question was locked.
"Well, I guess I did all I could do." noted Naruto.
Shrugging, he decided to call it quits and head back above, trying to make it look like he was never there.
He then decided to lie down on Chiyoye's bed for a few moments. He needed time to consider everything that he had learned.
Clearly, she was some sort of dark mage. Naruto began to wonder if she had joined a dark guild before she had entered Fairy Tail. It was a logical guess.
Naruto then prepared to get out of Chiyoye's bed, when suddenly he felt something strange.
Curious, the genin discovered that there was a skeleton key inside her pillow.
"This might be the key to that room I saw earlier..." noted Naruto.
Retracing his steps, the genin headed back to where he was. He immediately used the key to unlock the door, and discovered that it led to another passageway.
This particular passageway was pitch-black. All of a sudden, Naruto began to feel nervous.
The more he explored Chiyoye's room, the more nervous he became. Something was clearly very wrong here.
At this point, he was tempted to flee Fairy Tail and never come back...but he realized that in order to find why Chiyoye had joined the guild, he was going to have to press on.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto decided to head into the passage.
Fortunately, there was a light switch that Naruto could use to light up the passageway.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto pressed the switch...
...and immediately gasped in horror.
Inside the room were no less than a dozen skeletons lying on twelve different operating tables...and unlike the plastic skeleton he had found in Chiyoye's room earlier, these were clearly authentic.
"What-what's going on?!" exclaimed Naruto.
Reluctantly, the genin decided that he needed to take a closer look. How exactly did Chiyoye murder these people? And just who were they?
Naruto immediately examined one of the skeletons...and gasped in shock. On its palm was none other than the Fairy Tail guild mark.
It was obvious that these were all the missing recruits.
Curious, Naruto recalled his sensei Jiraiya telling him about his former friend Orochimaru, who had abducted Konoha villagers so that he could experiment on them.
Was this what was happening now? Did Chiyoye really abduct these recruits for science?
Taking another look, the genin noticed that there was what appeared to be an operating table nearby, complete with straps for the arms and legs. Clearly she wanted another victim.
At this point, Naruto realized what he was going to have to do. He was going to have to tell Makarov immediately.
However, as soon as he tried to leave, he felt something grab his arm.
Curious, Naruto decided to look behind him, and screamed in horror.
It was none other than the skeleton that he had searched earlier that had grabbed him.
Looking around, Naruto discovered that the rest of the skeletons were rising from their tables as well. Once again, he began to scream.
The skeletons proceeded to seize the genin, and took him towards the operating table at the end of the room. They proceeded to strap him down so that he couldn't get away.
"Let me go!" screamed Naruto.
"Well well well. It looks like somebody's been poking their nose where they don't belong. Oh well. This makes things so much easier for me."
The genin gasped in shock. It was Chiyoye's voice.
Immediately, the skeletons moved out of the way so that she could approach Naruto.
"You? You're behind the disappearances?! What did you do to them?!" screamed the genin.
"As a matter of fact, I am. As for what I did to them...well, it was simple. I drained them out of their magic...then their life." explained Chiyoye.
"You drained the life out of them?!" exclaimed Naruto.
"As a matter of fact, I did. I stripped them right to the bone, as you can see before me." continued the dark mage.
Naruto immediately felt sick.
Suddenly, he noticed that Chiyoye was holding onto a book. It was labelled "Book Of The Dark Arts".
"What is that book?" asked the genin curiously.
"Oh this? Why, it's the same exact book I've been looking for since I came here...it has all the dark spells that I've ever wanted to use in my entire life..." explained Chiyoye.
Naruto began to feel rather nervous.
"I was actually about to take my leave...when my skeletons alerted me that you had broken into my room...but it's all the more convenient for me that way. To be honest, as much as I enjoyed draining the magic from those fresh recruits, I must have a taste of that chakra you and your fellow ninja have been using..." said the dark mage.
All of a sudden, Naruto realized why Chiyoye wanted to enter his world, and his eyes widened.
"Right then...this is going to be quick...but it's certainly not going to be painless, I can tell you that." explained the dark mage.
Chiyoye pressed her hands on Naruto's chest.
Immediately, the genin began to scream in pain.
The dark mage began to laugh as he began to close his eyes.
"Am I going to die?" thought the genin. Already he was starting to have flashbacks.
However, at that very moment, he suddenly heard Chiyoye scream, and wondered what was going on.
Naruto opened his eyes, and discovered that someone had stabbed the necromanceress in the stomach. She was currently clutching it in pain, and it appeared that she was bleeding.
As he discovered, it was none other than his friend Erza.
"Erza? Is that you?" inquired the genin.
"Yes, it is...what's exactly happening here, Naruto?" inquired Erza.
"It's Chiyoye! She's behind everything! Can you untie me?" asked Naruto curiously.
Immediately, Erza helped Naruto free himself from the operating table.
Unfortunately, it appeared that Chiyoye's stab wound had not killed her.
"Attack!" exclaimed the necromanceress.
Immediately, the skeletons began to surround the duo.
Fortunately for Erza and Naruto, they were able to attack the skeletons effective by working together.
Unfortunately, it appeared that the skeletons weren't going to be destroyed easily. Cutting them apart did little to impede them, and their limbs continued to attack even when separated from their bodies.
Deciding to try a different tactic, Erza decided to try smashing the skeletons instead.
This worked surprisingly well, and they were reduced to dust.
"Well, so much for the skeletons..." thought the magic knight.
However, at that very moment, Chiyoye managed to sneak up on Erza.
"Don't let her touch you!" screamed Naruto.
"Huh?" asked Erza.
At that very moment, Chiyoye grabbed onto Erza's leg, causing her to scream in pain. Thankfully, she was able to force the necromanceress to let go before she could hurt her too much.
However, this was still enough to completely heal her injuries, much to Erza's surprise.
"What did she-" asked Erza.
"She's a life-drainer, Erza! If she manages to get a good enough grip on you, you're dead!" warned Naruto.
"That's terrible..." answered the magic knight, realizing what had happened to the missing recruits.
Immediately, Naruto and Erza got ready to fight Chiyoye.
However, much to her surprise, she didn't seem interested in fighting them.
"Oh dear...it looks I'm outmatched. Well, at least I managed to get a taste of your chakra before I went." noted Chiyoye.
"Well, I'll be seeing you again...once I've gotten stronger."
Suddenly, Chiyoye disappeared into a burst of purple smoke.
"Where did she go?" inquired Naruto.
"I think she teleported away, Naruto." answered Erza.
"Thanks for saving me, Erza...if it weren't for you, I would have died a horrible death..." exclaimed Naruto.
"You're welcome, Naruto...I can't believe Chiyoye would sink this low..." answered Erza.
"Wait...didn't you go on that mission to slay that dragon? Now that I think of it...it was likely a fake." explained Naruto.
"I kept hearing a voice in my head that was telling me to turn back...and that you were in danger." answered Erza.
"I'm glad you trusted your instinct, Erza...otherwise I would have been dead." nodded Naruto.
"We have to tell Makarov immediately." answered Erza.
Naruto nodded. However, as they left Chiyoye's room, he began to wonder...
...what exactly did Chiyoye mean about becoming stronger?
Meanwhile...
Lucy woke up from bed, eager to help Konoha with their missions once again. Ever since she had acquired a ninja headband along with a ninja uniform, she had been feeling a lot more confident about being a ninja.
On the way there, she stopped to get some ramen. She simply could not stop eating it, even if she had eaten no less than a dozen bowls over the last week.
She had to admit, she had inherited many things from Naruto...but since she was in many ways still her own person she decided not to complain too much.
After all, he did give her some new abilities...though admittedly he had also taken her summoner keys from her.
"I hope they're doing OK..." thought Lucy Heartfilia. Unlike other summoner mages, she always thought that her summons were friends...and wondered if they were missing her in return.
At least they had managed to make a new friend...right?
On the plus side, she had been reunited with her buddy Natsu...who despite popular belief was not her boyfriend.
If anybody was her boyfriend, it was Shikamaru, the hottest ninja in the world.
"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Lucy.
Just kidding.
"I must admit, he is rather handsome...but we're not there yet! Why are you implying such things?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.
My apologies.
"OK...it's time for me to stop breaking the fourth wall...enough crazy things are happening in this fanfic as it is...darn it! I just did it again!" answered Lucy.
Speaking of her friend Natsu, she had decided that she wanted to go on a mission with him like she had done before. Incidentally, he was reluctantly accepting one for himself. It was merely a C-Rank Mission.
Personally, Lucy thought Natsu could go on a mission that was much higher-ranked than that. Surely he could go on at least a B-Rank mission, right? They didn't call him Salamander for nothing.
"Well, at least he's actually accepting a mission for himself rather than helping another person do theirs...that's an improvement, at least." noted Lucy.
Curious, she noticed that Shikamaru wanted to go on that mission as well. Apparently he had noticed Natsu was feeling rather unconfident and had decided to aid him.
"Hmm? You two both want to go on the same mission?" asked Lucy curiously.
"It seemed rather easy...it's not even far away from home, to be honest." answered Shikamaru.
"I wanted a mission that was peaceful!" exclaimed Natsu.
"I see...well then, why don't you two work together then? I'm sure that you can give each other a hand...though admittedly each of you could probably do it alone." noted Lucy.
"Sure...do you want to come with? You seem to be dressed in ninja garb...which admittedly looks great on you." noted Shikamaru.
"Thank you! Tsunade gave it to me to show her appreciation at my willingness to help others...and yes...what is the mission?" said Lucy.
"Oh, it's rather simple...we're on a diplomatic mission to visit another clan not too far away from us...they have just enough members to be considered a clan now...they're known as the Yasuragi Clan." explained the shadow ninja.
"Yasuragi Clan?" inquired Natsu, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes...they've only been around for a month or so...so you probably haven't heard of them. I only heard about them yesterday to be honest." noted Shikamaru.
"It's good to see that the world of ninja has another clan..." nodded Lucy.
"Not all clans are good, but from what we've seen from them so far they don't intend on harming anybody else. We're giving them a peace offering so that we can be friends...or something like that." explained the shadow ninja.
"Really? That's awfully sweet of Tsunade..." explained the mage. Then again, she had given her a gift not too long ago.
"She feels that the more ninja she has on her side, the better. And considering just how powerful our clans are when united...she's probably right." said Shikamaru.
"I see." nodded Lucy. Apparently, Lady Tsunade believed in strength in numbers...which explained how populated Konoha was.
"Can we get going? Being in public makes me nervous...I want to go out in the wild where we won't find so many people..." said Natsu.
"Yes, of course." answered the summoner mage. Natsu was at least brave enough at the moment to accept another mission, so at least that was something.
Immediately, Natsu, Lucy, and Shikamaru set out to visit the Yasuragi Clan. They left Konoha's borders and once again headed out into the wilderness.
Sure enough, according to the map, the Yasuragi Clan wasn't too far from them.
But unbeknowst to them, they weren't the only ones planning on paying them a visit.
As it turned out, Kenichi was also planning on visiting them as well. He was still riding his dragon, and he was still searching for victims.
"Hmm? Do you see something?" inquired the ninja curiously.
Kaishi nodded.
Curious, Kenichi used his Rinnegan to scan his surroundings...and discovered that it was exactly what was he was looking for.
It was none other than a clan of weak ninja...the exact type of clan he wanted to eradicate from the world.
All of a sudden, he knew what his next target was.
"Alright then...it's time for us to separate the strong from the weak." said Kenichi as he began to smile.
Kaishi roared in triumph.
Immediately, Kenichi and Kaishi began to fly towards the village the Yasuragi Clan were residing in.
In the process, he passed above Lucy, Natsu, and Shikamaru's heads.
Fortunately for the trio, he did not notice them, as he was currently focused on his current assignment.
However, the trio managed to notice him.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Lucy in surprise.
Curious, she heard a rather loud roaring sound, causing her to jump.
Immediately, Natsu began to hide behind a tree. It sounded like some sort of ferocious creature.
"I'm not sure...was that some sort of dragon? I could have sworn that it was some sort of flying reptile...then again, maybe I was just hallucinating..." inquired Shikamaru.
Oddly enough, he had heard that those beasts were rather scarce...though admittedly several ninja techniques had been named after them nonetheless. Apparently, people were rather impressed by their power.
"I think so...I also believe that there was somebody riding on its back...what was he doing up there? Did he tame the dragon somehow? I wonder how he managed to pull something like that off..." continued Lucy.
Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise.
"Hmm?" inquired the kunoichi.
"I don't get it...I thought he was just a rumor. And what exactly is he doing so close to Konoha? The rumors never mentioned about him coming here...he always was somewhere else..." explained the shadow ninja.
"Who was just a rumor?" inquired Natsu.
"Um, Natsu...Lucy...if the rumors about that man and that dragon are true...we need to call off the mission." said Shikamaru.
"Call off the mission? But we just started not too long ago. Tsunade's not going to be happy if we tell her that we failed." explained Lucy.
"I will admit that Lady Tsunade will be disappointed, but she'll be much more upset if she found us all lying dead on the floor like those unfortunate ANBU members. It is for our own safety." answered Shikamaru.
"Our own safety?" inquired the kunoichi. All of a sudden, she was starting to feel rather frightened of that mysterious dragonrider. He certainly didn't sound like a good person.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm? Oh, that's right. You aren't from the world of ninja...I guess I better explain the rumors then." explained the shadow ninja.
"The rumors?" asked Natsu.
"Yes...rumor has it that there's a man who can summon a dragon that travels across the world in order to purify it of ninja he considers inferior to himself...or in other words kill them." explained Shikamaru.
"What?!" exclaimed Lucy. The dragonrider was a serial killer?
Curious, Natsu used his Byakugan...and discovered that the mysterious dragon rider was heading straight towards the clan that they were originally intending to go to.
He had a bad feeling what he was intending to do.
"Now that I think of it...I believe Lady Tsunade told me that if I ever saw him in the Land Of Fire...or heard about his whereabouts, I needed to tell her right away." explained Shikamaru.
"I guess we should tell her what we saw then. Konoha may be in danger." nodded Lucy.
"Oddly enough I don't think he's even paid us a visit before...but I agree. We need to tell Tsunade about this immediately. Any place that man goes is a place that we need to stay away from...as well as everyone else." nodded Shikamaru.
"Yes, sir!" exclaimed Natsu.
Immediately, Lucy, Natsu, and Shikamaru headed back towards Konoha to tell them the bad news.
Well, we've managed to find out what Chiyoye's been planning this whole time...did I scare you? I'm afraid that she's not going to be one of the comedic villains we've seen so far...I will admit Ebemener Scourge was a rather goofy character even if he was a serious threat to Christmas...but I can't say the same for her.
Of course, I can't say the same for Kenichi, either! I'm afraid he's planning an attack on the Yasuragi Clan as we speak...and yes, he's not planning on leaving any survivors.
I hope you enjoy this chapter even if it was rather scary instead of comedic...
Peace!