I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.
"All the guilds are now assembled," Jura rumbled calmly.
"Whoa, whoa, hold it!" Gray protested.
"An offensive endeavour of this scale, and they send us a single child….? What do Cait Shelter think they are playing at?" Sherry scowled.
"Alone? I think not, you tawdry woman," said a new voice. Naruto sighed quietly. How many more people were going to pop out of nowhere?
"Carla! You followed me here?!" Wendy cried.
"But of course. I would worry to no end if you were to go off alone." Naruto raised an eyebrow at the sight of their newest arrival. She was a cat just like Happy, albeit with white fur and a better sense of fashion.
"U….um….I….I can't actually fight at all, but….I know lots of support magic that should be useful to you all…." Wendy stammered. "So please don't leave me out completely!"
"Honestly….it's that timidity of yours that makes people look down on you!" the cat scolded.
Naruto did a double-take, looking her over with new eyes. Dark blue hair, check. Tendency to stammer, check. White eyes? Nope. Not quite a Hinata look-alike after all, but similar enough. He opened his mouth to reassure her that he was sure she was plenty strong, but Erza beat him to the punch.
"My apologies….We were a little taken back, but I'm sure nobody meant you any insult. We look forward to looking with you, Wendy," she said kindly.
"Wow….It's Erza-san….It's really her, Carla!" Wendy said in awe.
"She is more agreeable than I had expected," Carla allowed.
"D….Do you know me? I'm Happy the Nekomander!" Happy said, blushing slightly. Carla pointedly look away, ignoring him.
"Ahh, she's so shy….How cute…." Happy cooed.
"Or she could be ignoring you…." Lucy added. Judging by the affronted look on Carla's face, Naruto felt more inclined to agree with Lucy. He watched in amusement as the Trimens surrounded Wendy. He narrowed his eyes as he sensed her magic. It wasn't particularly strong, but there was something about it that felt….different.
"This girl….This glorious perfume….She is something special," Ichiya said, voicing Naruto's thoughts.
"You have noticed it too, Ichiya-dono? There is something different about her magic….It seems that Erza-dono and Naruto-dono have realized it also," Jura replied. Naruto appraised the two men with new eyes; it seemed they were not quite as inadequate as he had first believed. It did seem that there was some sort of trend going on with powerful mages/ninjas having strange tendencies to act abnormally.
"Now, then….Since everyone has finally arrived….I shall proceed to the explanation of our strategy!" Ichiya announced, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts. "….But first I must visit the perfume of the lavatory." Naruto blinked and sighed, cradling his head in mock pain. Why do all the strong guys have to be idiots? he wondered in exasperation. He winced when he realized that label could be applied to himself as well, but quickly forced down that thought, preferring to skate over his own supposed peculiarities. He strolled over to chat with Erza, but was interrupted by Ichiya's return.
"North of our current location lies the Worth Woodsea. It is there that a mighty magic was sealed away in ancient times. Its name….Nirvana," Ichiya began. Naruto, predictably, had never heard of it, but he was mildly surprised to see everyone else sporting looks of confusion.
"We know that its destructive power was so great that the people back then saw fit to seal it away…." Ren began.
"But we don't know exactly what kind of magic it was," Eve continued.
"But since the Oracion Seis have gathered in the Worth Woodsea….We should assume that Nirvana is their goal," Hibiki concluded. "In order to prevent them from obtaining it….We must defeat them now! We have thirteen mages, whilst they have but six. But we would do well not to underestimate them. Each of those six mages is extremely powerful." Hibiki held up his fingers in a strange gesture before pointing into the air beside him. Six images shimmered into existence, each bearing a portrait of a different person. Naruto raised an eyebrow in interest as Hibiki began a quick rundown of the six figures.
"Cobra, who uses poisonous snakes. Racer, whose name would appear to indicate that he uses speed-related magic. Hoteye of the Heavenly Eyes. Angel, a woman who is said to be able to see into your heart. Information on this man is scarce, but he is known as Midnight. And finally, their leader, Brain. Each of these mages has power enough to annihilate a guild single-handedly. We must take full advantage of our numerical superiority."
"Er….Erm….You probably shouldn't bother counting me at all…." Lucy confessed.
"I'm no good at fighting either…." Wendy added.
"Wendy! Will you stop being like that?!" Carla scowled.
"Worry not – our strategy is not limited to simple combat. The important point is that we locate their base of operations," Ichiya reassured.
Naruto smirked knowingly. "I see…." he muttered. "Just like the good old days." Noting the confused faces of the majority of the group, Ichiya began explaining in further detail.
"We have yet to confirm this for certain, but we believe they have established a temporary base of operations in the woodlands. If at all possible, we want to get all six of them together at that base."
"How do we do that?" Gray asked, blunt as usual.
"By beating them up!" cried the battle-happy Natsu.
"Back to simple combat already, I see..." Lucy frowned.
"What do we do once they are gathered there?" Erza inquired.
"We use our guild's mighty Pegasus airship, the Christina…..to destroy their base and them along with it!" Ichiya finished. Naruto narrowed his eyes. It was a sound plan, to be sure, but explosive notes sounded a lot handier and more reliable than this magical bomber or whatever it was.
"….You're breaking out a bomber craft against humans….?" Lucy asked.
"That is the nature of the enemy we face. Now, take heed….If combat does ensue, nobody is to attempt to face an enemy alone. You must always do battle in groups of at least two," Jura cautioned.
"Right! I'm all pumped up now!" Natsu smirked. "I'm gonna take all six of them on by myself!" Naruto sighed as Natsu slammed through the door and raced away. Was I really this bad when I was younger? he asked himself wearily. If so, I can finally understand how Kakashi-sensei got that silvery hair of his….
"I suppose we should go after him," Erza sighed.
"That absolute idiot…." Gray scowled.
"Ah well, I've been waiting for a good challenge like this," Naruto smirked as the four dashed out the door after Natsu.
"I can see it! It's the woods!" Natsu cried elatedly.
"Of course it's the woods, what did you think they were?" Naruto asked humorously. Natsu jerked in surprise.
"Naruto! How did you get here so fast?" he questioned. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"I won the race, remember? I can be faster than Jet if I want to be. By the way, you do know that this is supposed to be an alliance, right? You know, working with others?"
"Heh, it's not my fault they're too slow!" Natsu bragged.
"Or smart…." Naruto muttered under his breath. He skidded to a stop as he felt a large shadow pass over them, accompanied by a light wind. Natsu stopped a moment later, sending Gray crashing into him. Naruto ignored them as they tumbled to the ground, angrily shouting at each other. He looked up and whistled in admiration.
"That's one big bomber….Now if only they chopped off the pony head and made it look a bit more menacing…." A sudden explosion ruined the dramatic moment, followed by several other, smaller explosions. Naruto frowned as the bomber fell from the sky blazing and smoking.
"Uh….That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" he asked the nearest Pegasus mage. The gobsmacked face told him as much. "Thought not."
"What's going on?!" Lyon asked, peering through the smoke.
"Someone's coming…." Gray noted. Naruto narrowed his eyes as the smoke dissipated, revealing six sinister figures standing before them. Well….five. One of them appeared to be napping on a floating carpet.
"Oracion Seis," Erza said, narrowing her eyes.
"Some maggots have gathered," the leader Brain, if Naruto remembered correctly, said.
"Your way of thinking is too predictable," Angel smirked.
"We've already beaten Jura and Ichiya. How's that?" the two blue figures beside her asked.
"What?!" Lyon exclaimed.
"No way!" Ren gasped.
"Are you trembling?" the one called Cobra leered. "I heard it."
"We prefer to finish our job as quick as possible, but you guys are in the way," Racer stated.
"Money makes a person stronger, right? Let me tell you something good, in this world money is everyth-" Hoteye began before being rudely interrupted.
"Just shut up Hoteye."
"What's up with villains and their catchphrases?" Naruto sighed, ignoring the fact that he had a catchphrase that he used quite often himself. He cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Ah well, at least I can finally get a bit of a workout…."
"I never expected them to make the first move," Erza stated.
"You saved us some time!" Natsu grinned as he, Naruto, and Gray jumped forward.
"Do it," Brain said. Racer blurred forward, darting behind the three boys and executing a lightning quick attack. Naruto barely blocked the attack in time, but Natsu and Gray were blown away. Gritting his teeth from the blows thudding against his guard, Naruto jumped back to check on his friends. Racer smirked and dashed off to take down the Trimens. After making sure Natsu and Gray were in fact, fine, Naruto hurried over to help Lucy, who seemed to be fighting….herself? Before he could help her out, Lucy was sent flying and the ground softened under his feet.
"What in the world….?" he scowled as he found himself sinking, joined by Lyon and Sherry.
"With money not even love is needed, right?" the man asked as he ruthlessly crushed them into the ground.
"Hmph, as if something like this could stop me…." Naruto smirked. "Rasengan!" With practiced ease, Naruto slammed the spiralling ball of chakra into the ground and freed himself. Instinctively, he channeled chakra to his feet and was satisfied to see that the water-walking method seemed to work on the softened earth as well. He quickly took stock of his surroundings, soberly noting that the only ones left fighting were him, Erza, and Gray, who was taken out moments later. Fortunately, or unfortunately it seemed, the Oracion Seis had failed to notice his escape and were currently concentrating on Erza, who was fending off Racer's attacks with admirable speed. A wall of earth surrounded her and she turned to face the new threat, failing to notice Racer's next attack.
"I got your back," Naruto grunted as he blocked the attack. "I'll take this one and Hoteye." Racer took off and Naruto followed, just able to match the man's speed.
"How….?" Racer spluttered as Naruto slammed several blows into the man, sending him flying backwards. Hoping that attack would keep him down long enough for him to deal with the rest, Naruto turned back to the battle, just in time to see the large snake Cobra carried around snapping towards Erza. In an instant, he darted forward and pushed her out of the way, receiving the bite instead.
"My snake's poison won't kill you straight away….You'll suffocate in pain," he smirked. Naruto gritted his teeth as he forced down the pain.
"I'm fine," he hissed at Erza before she could ask him. She nodded and jumped back into battle. Naruto stumbled and collapsed to his knees, his body trembling violently and his vision blurring. He forced himself to his feet just as Erza was sent flying towards him, a snake bite on her arm too. Gasping in effort, Naruto caught her and lowered her to the ground.
"You trash should all vanish," Brain said impassively, dark magic coalescing around his hand. Naruto's eyes widened as he sensed the amount of power behind the attack. Shoot…. He forced himself back on his shaky feet and concentrated. Please make it in time….
"Dark rondo!" the man proclaimed, slamming the attack into the defeated allies. Residual smoke from the attack dispersed slowly, revealing a glowing shroud protecting the group. Naruto sighed in relief as he confirmed that everyone was still alive and relatively well. He stumbled and collapsed again as his body fought the poison's effects.
"Stay still," Kurama growled. "I'm burning off the poison as we speak, but you're going to need to calm down."
"Tch. Hurry it up," Naruto replied. Brain frowned as he realized his attack had failed, but simply lifted his staff to execute the attack once more, seeing as Naruto was currently incapacitated. Naruto gritted his teeth, knowing he wouldn't be able to make it in time to protect them. Suddenly, the attack stopped, and the strangest look came over Brain's face.
"Wendy."