"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'Kurama' Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

"Rasengan" Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima, Atlus and whoever else is getting actual money out of it.

Chapter 35

No Turning Back Now

"Hey, you go first"

"I agree with Menma-nii here, if Naruto-nii goes first then maybe…"

"Yeah yeah you heard her, go get him"

"Don't worry; we'll have you back, Naruto-nii"

"And even if you fail we will at least get a good enough spectacle out of it"

Such an interesting conversation was the only thing that was filling his ears at the moment, although considering how his eyebrow twitched with every word it was obvious to tell just how much he appreciated the contents of said conversation.

In the bottom of his heart it wasn't like he could really blame them for not wanting to step up. It was definitely a daunting task to ask for anyone of them, and the reason for that was without a doubt the man standing a short distance away from the trio.

Blonde spiky hair, blue cerulean eyes, and a white coat? Yes, you would be hard pressed to mixing up this guy with anyone else in the village, and it would be even harder to not outright recognize him on the streets.

Such was the popularity of the Yondaime Hokage, the mage guessed, but right now it wasn't his public relationship image the one worrying him and the duo behind him, but rather his also well-known reputation in the battlefield.

Sure, Kushina had told them that Minato would be taking on their training personally, but hearing that and actually facing the man were two completely different things.

He had learned that from the past hour that he had spent trying, and failing miserably mind you, at beating the older blonde. Of course, the first sign of trouble had been just how tense both Mito and Menma had gotten as soon as it was revealed that it would be they father the one they would be going against today.

It had taken the man a week every since Naruto had started trained with them, but better late than never was another thought that came to Naruto's mind.

He understood Menma's and Mito's nervousness as soon as the whole thing had started, not that he had actually expected to be able to face someone like the Yondaime on an even match, but just looking at their current condition was enough to tell just how well their situation was.

Messed up clothes, bruises here and there and sweat going down their faces as if they had run around the village for fun, the trio looked like they had wrestled with some sort of monster with nothing but their bare hands.

That wasn't such an exaggerating comparison if the dragon slayer had to be honest.

It didn't help that Minato looked as fresh as when he had arrived while also sporting quite the relaxed smile as he held two small bells in his fingers for the world to see, almost as if he was taunting them.

He definitely was, wasn't he?

"Well? Are you going to come or should I move first?" Almost as if sensing his thoughts the older man spoke in a carefree tone, a hand on his hips while the other one simple dangles the two bells in his fingers. Suffice to say, their actual objective was to retrieve said bells, not to actually beat Minato.

Not that such a thing made it easier of course.

"Kick Tou-chan's ass!"

"Natsumi, language please!"

"I would definitely pay to see that one happening though!"

"Are you sure you should be saying something like that, Jiraiya-sama?"

Ah right, he almost forgot that they had an audience watching their struggle. He honestly had to wonder if those four really had nothing else to do besides watching them get pummeled to the ground.

Kushina he could sort of understand by now, but seriously didn't Kakashi have things to do as a Jonin or something? He also didn't know what to think of the Sannin's appearance here, but it was something he would probably have to get used to for the time being.

And Natsumi should definitely be doing homework.

"Let's just do this already" He whispered loud enough so that Menma and Mito behind him could hear him, but the doubtful nods he got back weren't doing wonders to his confidence in the matter at hand.

Still, better to do something than to just stay rooted to one place.

And it was with that mentality that he rushed towards the blonde Kage with a clear intent in his eyes, his movement simply making Minato's smile a tad bit wider.

The result though was one that you would easily expect.

"Get off me, dammit!"

"Shut your mouth, Menma, you aren't helping"

"N-Naruto-nii, don't move so much, please"

In a small corner of his mind Naruto couldn't help but think about the feeling of being trapped in wire strings for the first time, but whatever other thought he could have about the subject was being interrupted by the unceasing complains of the other two that were tied with him.

Well, at least Menma was the one doing the complaining, obviously about the fact that he was tied to the floor while both him and Mito were using his back as a chair, while Mito was simply whispering words of rebuttal which he was only able to hear because of just how close their bodies had been tied to one another.

They were pretty much embracing one another while using Menma as a sofa. Minato really had a weird sense of humor, didn't he?

Fortunately for the trio, they were saved from further humiliation by Minato himself. He was quick to cut the wire that he had used to trap his three kids, the result being an obviously angry Menma, an awkward Mito, and an honestly tired Naruto.

Not physically though, although he was also quite exhausted on that aspect, but mostly mentally, after all dealing with this group of people for so long was really starting to get to him.

It didn't help that he knew he would be spending a lot more time today with them than normal, but he had already prepared himself mentally for such a thing.

"Well that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Then again he could certainly do without Minato's words. At least it seemed that their session was about to end, although once everyone gathered around them he couldn't help but give a few glances towards the oldest one of the bunch, which was of course Jiraiya.

He could only hope that the man would keep his offer to himself, after all the first thing that he, alongside Minato, had offered him today was to sign the contract with the Toads.

He had no issues with the toads themselves, it was hard to when he didn't know them at all after all, but it had been something that he knew he had to deny, even if the awkward atmosphere his decline had left had been something he would have preferred to avoid.

Of course, he knew the advantages of having such ability like summoning, but he also knew that signing such a thing pretty much meant raising the amount of influence Konoha had on him. Not only that but he didn't know the full consequences of signing such a contract.

Would the toads be able to know where he was at any moment? Could Minato or Jiraiya use them to know of his location? He had too many doubts to go through something like that, especially considering what he was planning to do.

He doubted the toads would be happy with him leaving the village anyway.

Then again, looking at how Jiraiya seemed more than content with just talking with Minato about their match he guessed that he wouldn't have to worry about the man offering that to him anytime soon. To think that just telling them that he didn't feel comfortable enough to sign had been enough to stop that idea in its tracks.

As long as the excuse worked for the next two weeks it was more than enough to him.

Now came the real hard part though, and while the rest talked amicably among one another it was the look he received from Kushina that told him that it was time now.

And just like every day since he had come here, she gave him the exact same invitation as before, one that in any other situation he would have refused as soon as it reached his ears.

However, he knew how he had to act for the foreseeable future, so even as his mind screamed at him to answer truthfully, the answer he gave her couldn't have been further from that even if he had tried.

"Sure, why not?"

The fact that almost everyone there smiled to the point of almost leaving him blind as soon as those words left his mouth didn't help either.

To think he would feel glad about Menma being anywhere near him, at least he wasn't smiling like an idiot!

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Eating with the Uzumaki-Namikaze family, and those like Jiraiya and Kakashi that were pretty much part of the said family in everything but blood, was an experience that Naruto could only describe as…different.

Of course, he didn't have any real experience when it came to matter such as these, after all, he could honestly count the number of times he had eaten alongside Zeref with just his two hands, and even then the man barely even ate.

So to him, the only real experience that he could use to base everything was that time he ate with Sasuki and her family and right now comparing that to this was like comparing a fire technique to a water technique.

The Uchihas had been so calm and quiet that he honestly felt quite comfortable around them. Sasuki was the rowdiest one of her family as far as he had seen, and outside of her mother they hadn't been the most talkative bunch.

This family on the other hand…

"More please!"

"Ah! Menma-nii is going to eat it all!"

"This is as good as always, Kushina-sama"

"How can he eat with that thing on…?"

"I keep telling you, Minato! More mixed baths will only do great things for the future of the village!"

"…You do realize Kushina is hearing you, right? Did you get drunk before coming here or something?"

"If I hear even one more word about baths coming from any of you I'm kicking you out of the house"

"Yes ma'am"

Rowdy was the perfect word to describe them if he had to be nice about it. Sure, he had expected such a thing, but even this was outside of his predictions.

At least the food was quite enjoyable, he would give Kushina that much. He didn't know why, but a part of him actually expected ramen for some reason.

It had not been the case but it would at least have explained Natsumi's apparent obsession with the thing.

He was currently sitting on the side of a large enough wooden table that was able to hold all eight of them. At the head of the table that he was closest with sat Minato while Kakashi sat on the opposite side of the table.

Right to the Yondaime's side were both Jiraiya and Kushina to his left and right respectively, while Menma and then Natsumi sat on Jiraiya's side, with Mito sitting opposite of Natsumi while he himself was sitting right between the two red-heads and in front of Menma.

"Feel free to eat as much as you want, Naruto-kun" It was Kushina's voice to his side the one that got his attention, and the only answer he was able to give the obviously happy woman was a polite nod. She sure had been all smiles ever since he accepted her offer this time, and he could only wonder what sort of expression she would be doing if she knew his real intent.

He was at least glad enough to be sitting between the two that were making the less amount of noise though, that much he couldn't deny. If he had been forced to sit between Menma and Natsumi then he would have probably gone insane by now.

But of course, he should have known that said sanity wouldn't be able to hold up for that much in such an environment. He never thought that it would be Menma to bring him to his end though. Natsumi? Maybe, probably and almost guaranteed in the long run, and while he blamed her too in his opinion the fault fell on Menma for not keeping his mouth shut.

"What got you in such a good mood anyway?" He was able to hear Menma asking Natsumi that, the Genin's face of confusion quickly turning into a grin "Did you manage to prank Iruka-sensei without being caught?"

He honestly couldn't tell the difference between normal Natsumi and good mood Natsumi with how energetic the girl was most of the time, but it seemed as if Menma knew her sister enough to tell easily.

Her response was a quick shake of her head, but the words that followed that were enough to stop the noise in the table.

"Naruto-nii is going to spend even more time here! Of course I'm happy"

And with those words said mage didn't know what impressed him the most, if how the girl could say such a thing as if it was the most obvious thing in the world or just the way in which she seemingly didn't realize the effect that her words brought.

He sure did though, although it would be impossible not to with the way everyone was now looking at him almost as if he would tell them the meaning of the universe at any second, with the only exception once again being Menma who simply shuffled awkwardly in his place.

Probably because of the glare he was aiming at the blonde. If only looks could kill.

He licked his lips quickly while his mind tried to come up with a suitable answer. Of course he could always play it vague, but giving one step forward and two steps back wasn't something he wanted to do right now.

He ended up simply continuing with his meal almost as if nothing had happened, but the words that came out of his mouth were heard perfectly by the rest.

"I wouldn't mind that"

He dared not to look at anyone around him in the eyes for honest fear that his true feeling would be displayed in his own dark-blue orbs, however as the only Genin in the table was sitting right in front of him he wasn't able to stop his gaze from crossing with Menma's.

The questioned and outright confused stare he was receiving from Menma was promptly ignored by him, although interestingly enough it was also the stare that made him feel the least uncomfortable.

Funny how things could end after a while.

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His hand moved quickly across the sheet of paper that had his focus, his gaze moving swiftly between said paper and the wooden wall of his apartment by the second, although his hand never ceased to move the pencil that he was holding even when his eyes moved away from the piece of paper.

His focus also wasn't on the wall per se, but rather in the circle that had been carved on it. A circle with marks that he wasn't able to understand at all, but that he has also used many times in the future.

The circle hid the secret of teleportation after all and it was the one that he had used plenty of times in the past to move from this place to the hidden location in which Zeref had trained him.

Only that now it didn't matter how much magic he put into the thing, it wouldn't react even a little. A mystery that had once frustrated him to no end was now something that he simply came to accept, with his only theory being that Zeref had somehow cut the connection between this circle and the other one that matched it in design.

The question was about the how though, or rather the many questions that such a small design was hiding from him. How did such a magic even work in the first place? How could Zeref connect this place to another one so specifically? Was it simply because of the design, or was there some sort of preparation first? And if so, could this be connected to a third place freely?

Many doubts were plaguing the mage's mind to the point that he cursed his younger self for never asking any details about the damn thing to Zeref. Now he really understood just how taking everything at face-value from that man could be a problem, albeit one that he mostly blamed himself about.

He finished scribing on the paper, which just so happened to be one of the previously blank pages that Zeref's notebook had. For such a thing like what he was doing, he simply couldn't find a better recipient for it, and it wasn't like the thing was lacking space anyway.

He preferred to keep his important information in one place that he could take with him at any time. Scroll might work too but he didn't want to do any unnecessary thing that could bring suspicion to him, even if it as mostly his paranoia talking.

His eyes compared the design in the wall to the one on the book, and he found them to be as close as equal as he could get them to be. He didn't have anyone that could explain such a thing to him besides Zeref, but doing some preemptive research would bring him no harm, or so he wanted to believe.

He stretched his body for a few seconds before quickly moving through the pages of the book right until his gaze landed on what looked like a map, one of the Fire Country to be more precise.

He would be the first one to admit that it wasn't a work of art, after all his drawing skills were definitely just above average if he had to guess, but even so it would do the trick, after all he only used it to understand properly the distance between the village and the border between this country and Iron Country.

It would take him at least one day to reach that place, but that was if he kept going at his best speed without stopping once. Sounded good in theory but the necessity of saving his strength in case something went wrong was also something he needed to consider.

He didn't know what kind of situation there was with Konoha and its borders after all. Were they guards there? Or any other way to keep track of who entered the country? He couldn't rule out such a possibility, and while reaching Iron Country without any confrontations would be the best case scenario he also knew that it was rather unlikely.

If such a thing happened then he could only hope to be as far away from Konoha at that point with the priority of simply escaping rather than just fighting.

There was also his doubt about someone tailing on him even now, and that was one he wasn't able to qualm even after talking with Minato after dinner and before leaving that house.

He sighed tiredly, knowing that he wasn't the only one currently trying to fish out some information, after all Minato had been all but subtle about wanting to know more about Zeref, although at least the man had done so in private.

He technically hadn't lied when he had told him that he hadn't seen Zeref in a while now and that the man tended to simply go to whenever he felt like it, almost like a nomad. Sure, he had exaggerated a bit, but telling him that Zeref simply came and left the village from time to time was definitely better than explaining how the man had been able to hide right below everyone's noses.

And Minato seemed to believe him, although he had to wonder if letting slip some of the negative feelings he had towards Zeref in his voice had helped that a bit. That part hadn't been planned, but if it helped him he wasn't going to complain then.

He ended up resting his body in his bed while a water balloon rested in his hand which was moving rather erratically. Minato wasn't an option right now, but he had a feeling as to who could give him the information he needed, and considering tomorrow was a free day at the Academy he already had a feeling of what he would be doing during that afternoon.

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"As far as I know, Hokage-sama has no one besides me keeping an eye on you, and even then he already ordered me to stop doing it" Each of Itachi's words were followed by a quick movement of his blade, his kunai meeting Naruto's sword, which actually also belonged to Itachi, with such a fierceness that the mage found himself barely even able to defend himself.

His words were said in a low tone though, barely high enough for Naruto to hear him in fact. They weren't alone after all, although even if they were the subject of their conversation was certainly one that shouldn't be treated without delicacy.

The reason they weren't alone though, was the raven-haired girl sitting a few feet away from where the two were trading blows. Said girl had a complicated expression present on her face, after all while it was certainly an entertaining thing to watch she would have preferred it a lot if she had been the one fighting instead.

She should have known that Naruto would hog all of Itachi's attention the moment her friend had actually asked her about her brother's whereabouts.

Then again, if she knew what they were talking about then she would have definitely not let the two meet like this.

"So I have no one on my back inside the village then" The dragon slayer said as he did his best to parry Itachi's attacks. Sure, he wasn't used to using such a blade like the one Itachi had given him for practice, but he doubted that even if he did it would have made a difference with how in control of the situation Itachi seemed to be.

"I didn't say that" And almost as if to make Naruto's error even more known to said Chunin the older Uchiha was able to take Naruto's weapon away from him, the blade lodging itself on the ground just as Itachi's knee found itself planted right on the mage's stomach, with Naruto gasping in pain as his body suddenly bent forward.

"I just said that, as far as I know, the Hokage doesn't have anyone following you" Itachi used this time to softly whisper into Naruto's ear while the blonde simply gritted his teeth in pain "You never know when someone might be watching, and I won't be able to help you in your endeavor. If I were you I would assume someone has his eyes on me for as long as I stay here"

He almost felt like answering about how there was definitely someone watching over him, only that said being's affiliation could only be described as godly rather than to Konoha, but he wasn't able to do that much before Itachi sent him flying towards Sasuki's direction with a kick, his body landing backwards right beside the younger Uchiha.

"Huh, so this is how it feels being on this side of the training match… Neat" She spoke with a smirk and nothing but mirth dancing in her eyes while looking down at the defeated Chunin, who could only grunt in appreciation of her words.

"Yes, glad that at least someone is enjoying it" He told her as he slowly moved the upper part of his body up while one of his hands rubbed his stomach, although his attempts at smoothing out the pain barely even worked.

What did distract him from his aching mid-section was the feeling of a hand resting on top of his head, with the fingers of said hand then moving slowly through his black locks in an action that he was starting to get far too used to.

He didn't even have to look up to know that it was Sasuki who was doing it, but even then he still had to wonder about the girl's actions. Of course he now understood just what sort of feeling his friend had towards him, but even so her actions were still a surprise to him. She had never been one for physical signs of affections after all and yet without him noticing she had now found a way to make him used to the feeling of her fingers moving through his hair.

Said feeling didn't last for long, and he wasn't even given time to even miss it, after all the reason for Sasuki to suddenly move her hand away from Naruto's hair at such a speed was because of the kunai that moved right through where her hand used to be, right above Naruto's head.

A shocked expression was shown by both Naruto and Sasuki, who could only look at each other in disbelief before looking back at where the weapon had impacted against the trunk of a tree, right before looking at the only man that could be responsible for such a thing.

"What?" Itachi asked with nothing but innocence in his voice, even going as far as to tilt his head sideways a bit for some extra effect, however to the duo such an action only made it even worse.

It didn't help that he was also spinning another kunai in his fingers.

"You said you wanted to train, please don't get distracted like that" The ANBU continued with his words, getting a stiff nod from Sasuki who knew that it was her turn now.

"Don't worry; I'll catch you if he kicks you too" Naruto said as the Sasuki stepped up, with the only response he got being a snort.

"My hero" She said under her breath before picking the blade that Naruto had used and getting into the stance that her brother had taught her in the past.

And just like that Naruto's gaze was filled with the battle between the two siblings, but even as his eyes were aimed at the duo his mind was somewhere else, or to be more precise it was replaying Itachi's advice.

He understood from where the man was coming from, but even as his words sounded logic enough in his head he knew that it wasn't like he could delay his escape. He had a time limit after all.

He bit his bottom lip while his hand came to rest below his chin. The danger was there, that he knew, but the best he could do right now was to prepare for the worse and make sure that everything was as in order as it could get.

He hadn't felt anyone following him either, but how much could he trust on that? Believing that just because he wasn't able to feel anyone following him meant that there was no one could only be called arrogance in such a case, especially when he knew that there were plenty of people in the village that should be able to hide his presence from him.

He could only sigh while closing his eyes, the sounds of metal clashing covering his ears. He couldn't start getting nervous now; it would only make things worse after all. Even if everything went wrong and he had Minato himself on his track the only thing he could do was to be ready to face such a situation.

It was with such a mentality that time went flying for him, between dealing with the Uzumaki-Namikaze, the Academy, Inoichi and preparing as much as he could his mind wasn't even given time to worry about other things.

And before he even realized, his last day at the village came.

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He never thought he would be abandoning this place, heck he wasn't even able to hide the glint of sadness that actually appeared on his eyes as his gaze went around the apartment that had functioned as his home for quite a while now.

He certainly never thought he would be abandoning it for such a reason either, but as he came to learn by now things could change before anyone even realized it.

He was still leaving the place with everything in it though, in fact beside Zeref's book he wasn't taking anything with him. He was leaving in the middle of the night after all, and he knew that the first one that would notice him missing would be Inoichi.

He had not been able to get rid of those damn sessions, but it was too late to complain about that. By leaving everything here with any luck it would at least give him some extra time if they thought that he was still inside the village.

One last sigh left his mouth as he left the apartment and closed the door behind him. His eyes moved up towards the moon just as he gave a resolute nod to whatever deity that was watching him.

They wanted him to dance to their tune like a well-trained monkey? He would find a way to make them regret it, even if it took him his entire life. He already understood that surviving what was going to come would be an almost impossible task, but as long as he could still breathe it meant that he could still fight.

And that meant he could still win.

His movements through the village were slow and careful, for as much as hurry as he had it would all be mute if he was seen by anyone.

And it was only once that he finally put a foot outside of Konoha that some of the weight of his shoulders was lifted, his last thought as he moved through the forest being an apology to the girl that he owed more than she could think off.

However, even if he had spent a whole other extra month preparing himself he would have never been able to detect the pair of golden eyes in the form of slits that had been watching his every move ever since he had left his apartment.

And the smile of a certain woman once she got that information from her pet could only be described as one of a predator that had finally found her prey.

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Two updates in the same month? I must be dying or something. To be honest I just got in a good mood after watching the new chapter of FF7 Abridge so I went and wrote this.

Shorter chapter than last one but with this things finally do move along. For those that were tired of the lack of action then rejoice, starting with the next chapter we'll have nothing but that for a while.

With any luck, next chapter comes even faster than this, but I can't promise anything. Sure, I don't have Danganronpa and Cuphead distracting me, but now I'll have Tales of Symphonia doing that (This is the me that doesn't have a Switch to play Odyssey).

Thank you all for reading this far. The story has grown a lot more than I could imagine thanks to you all after all!

Next Chapter: Snake Pit.