ddentler21: I'm afraid I don't understand how Naruto being idealistic is bad. He has always been idealistic, that's his character, and I haven't done a life changing event when he was still in the Narutoverse for that to change. In the FTverse he is only just beginning to really struggle. Besides, after all the death Naruto has seen I think it makes a lot of sense why he would believe killing is bad. Naruto does not avoid a fight, what he does avoid is killing people, because Naruto was raised to be the type of person to try and change someone's ways without having to kill them, and only when that fails will he do so.

Guest: Sasuke getting his sight back might take a little while. I still have to show him gaining the ability to fight while being blind.

Jinchuriki

Mito sat down on her throne idly thinking of her time spent with Hashirama back where she was born. The redhead could only sigh thinking back on it. She had been forced to marry Hashirama in order to solidify the bond between the Senju and the Uzumaki. Make no mistake, she had loved the man dearly, and he was a good man. It was only her love for him that gave her the strength to handle the Kyuubi when he was contained within her. Yet she had grown to hate the man as he became Hokage, all starting with the Madara Incident. Mito shuddered as she remembered that day. She hadn't exactly decided on her own to be a Jinchuriki. She hadn't wanted to be one in the first place, yet here she was, living proof of her own inability to say no to that man. Hashirama. He had asked her to be a Jinchuriki, and needless to say the old her had done it without thinking, her love of him blinding her to the true danger that being a Jinchuriki was. Not even she could be prepared for that, as was evident. In the battle Hashirama had defeated the Kyuubi, almost gaining control of it when he had asked her to seal the fox within herself to make sure that Madara couldn't invoke it again in the fight. He wouldn't be able to defeat it a second time.

She remembered the day vividly.

(-Flashback-)

Mito watched in awe as Hashirama subdued the Kyuubi while simultaneously fighting Madara's Susanoo, his buddha engaging the madman while the wooden dragon she was on kept the Kyuubi bound. "Such incredible strength," she whispered, before she got a hard look from Hashirama. "Mito, I need you to seal the Kyuubi! I can't hold him and fight Madara at the same time. We'll need your added strength to defeat him!"

Mito's eyes widened at his demand. She had only come along in case Hashirama lost, as the village could not afford to lose him and she cared far to much for her husband than was likely healthy. But to hear him demand so high a task from her was preposterous. She wasn't capable of something like that. The Kyuubi was powerful, far too powerful for herself to handle. She couldn't hold the Kyuubi in some parchment. There was only one thing that was capable of holding such power like that, a power with ego and force.

The human body.

But for her to seal the beast into herself was a tall order, even for Hashirama and herself. She was sure she could do it, that much was not hard. The Uzumaki were master of fuinjutsu after all, and despite the beasts strength fuinjutsu had a counter for it like it did everything, but for her to seal the beast into herself. That was...more than just some form of physical strain on her energy. That was a mental strain. There was no way she could control the kind of hate that fox held, the amount of power and will it had. She had seen it's eyes when it fought, and even when under the spell of Madara's Sharingan she knew, she knew that the beast was a thinking creature. She understood how chakra worked better than most. The fox was alive, it was breathing, it felt, it was so human, and yet so different. It was only natural that such a thing's ego would slowly bleed into her own, and she worried about the affects it might cause.

"Mito!" Hashirama roared strain visible on his face.

Mito snapped back into reality, nodding to herself solemnly before getting to work. She had to work quickly, Hashirama wouldn't be able to hold the creature back for much longer. In this quick of a time frame there was only one seal she knew would be capable of holding the beast back, a blood seal. Quickly creating the seal Mito sealed the Kyuubi into herself, and she immediately felt the change. She didn't mean the petty change of her chakra coils extending to preposterous limits, or the pain surging throughout her body, but the sheer, unadulterated hate that touched her mind and spirit at that moment. She had never forgot it.

A small diamond on her head formed, crimson in coloring. It was only through sheer force of will that she managed to turn the diamond blue, her eyes reverting from their crimson coloring. She would not be consumed by this hate. She could control it, stave it off, with the love that she had for Hashirama. She had to. That was the only way for him to win.

She never realized until later how right she was.

(-Flashback-)

Mito stared at her hands, frowning. That sealing had brought upon her incredible pain and she was bedridden for weeks. She had already had fully-developed chakra coils and adding in such a strain was taxing. She hadn't even been able to help Hashirama defeat Madara, not that the Shodai had needed it. She did admit to herself that if she had been able to fight she would have killed Madara as Hashirama was to exhausted to move at the end of it. Madara, critically injured, had managed to flee. And yet she remembered at the moment how badly she wanted to kill Madara and Hashirama, as if they had both slighted her in some way before she reigned it in, realizing that it was the Kyuubi's thinking. And that was what scared her the most, the hate that she felt permeate her thoughts, against her will. The Kyuubi was either much more powerful, much more real than she had anticipated, or her seal had already started to fluctuate in strength. The moment she had sealed the Kyuubi into her she had felt an ever-encroaching hate fill her soul, only stemmed when Hashirama was around her. It seemed like his light was the only thing that managed to stave off the Kyuubi's darkness. That was why it had all gone wrong when he had died. The hate had grown, far to quickly for her to be able to stem. She couldn't remember the time when she, this Mito, awoke, but she knew that she wasn't the Mito Hashirama had fallen in love with. She was a creature born of hate, fueled by hate, and would die by hate. No love could stop her.

Mito had been devoured a long time ago and replaced with this new form, this new Mito. A Mito that knew how to play her role, a Mito that many referred to as darker, much more cruel, or maybe that was just the whispers she imagined when she killed guards to capture Bijuu's chakra. She believed one of them had called her 'Dark Mito', but she wasn't sure. It was her that had told young Kushina to fight with love, if only to make sure that her plan continued after her death, to create another creature born of hate, fueled by hate, and would die by hate. But she could tell that she had failed, even in this world. Somehow Kushina Uzumaki was able to do what she couldn't, stave off the Kyuubi's hate, and somehow her son had succeeded even that, managing to change the beasts hate into love.

Mito hated that.

Mito sighed thinking back on her life. Her entire plan. She had only done this to get revenge. her entire life, from the day she became a Jinchuriki was a struggle against the never-ending wave of hatred. She had fallen, and she had risen. When Hashirama died she had been born, but her plan had been wasted by some frivolity such as death. All of her work to attain segments of the other Bijuu's chakra, to become so powerful that the world itself would burn, had crumbled in the face of her death. She had succeeded in gaining portions of the Bijuu's chakra, but she was far to old by that time for it to matter. She was lucky to was capable of controlling her power.

She was barely capable of that, even by the time the energies had started to merge.

But then that angel came, and offered her a new life. A chance in a new world. Mito hadn't known such a thing even existed, but for a moment she was pleased. She thought of the opportunity to find love without burden. Without having to worry about the hate of the Kyuubi.

That was the last time the old Mito had acted up again before the new Mito snuffed her out once more.

Still, she had accepted the angels offer, and marvelously enough the angel had even given her the ability to keep all of the Bijuu's power for herself. There was not much purpose for the power, but she had it nonetheless. But then she had shown up again. That other Mito. She had fought her, battled for control over her body, control over the combination of beasts, and just like all the others the old Mito had fallen. And with her defeat the last bit of love in her had quickly been snuffed out, replaced by nothing but an ever growing, all-consuming hate. She had put her plan into motion, a way to control this world, to watch it burn if only as a way to placate her rage. This world would serve as substitute for Madara and Hashirama, for how they had wronged her. This world would burn because the other world would not. She didn't care who suffered, even if they were undeserving, just that they suffered.

And then she got word of Naruto's and Sasuke's arrival and she accelerated her plans. She knew the second she had looked at them. They were Madara and Hashirama all over again. Even her hate had momentarily been stemmed by that creature known as Naruto, or rather his resemblance to Hashirama. Luckily it was not as powerful, and she managed to defeat the urge, and from it her hate only grew. Hate for his existence, hate for his attempt to end her own, even unwittingly. She had promised herself that day that he would be the last one to pay, to watch the world crumble around him and strip away anything he felt attachment to, with Madara being the first to go. He was the living embodiment of her hate, of the Elemental Nations come to defeat her. Her! She had acted without thinking in her rashness, amplifying the lacrima with Zeref's magic, creating the lacrima that held the Bijuu to this day.

Mito frowned as she thought about it. Ever since she was created, no, wrested control of this body she had always been running. Running from the shadow of being created from a combination of Mito's sadness and the Kyuubi's rage, running from being a puppet of everyone else in the grand scheme of things, running from love, and she was sick of running. She would no longer run. She would turn and burn everything that dared to threaten her in a wave of glorious fire.

He had the same eyes as Hashirama. The same light and jovial energy in them that he did. Mito knew, she knew that she couldn't live in a world where those eyes existed. She would rather die. She couldn't bear it. So she would snuff it out. Mito's fists tightened, her fingernails digging so deep into her skin that she drew blood.

"Naruto Uzumaki," she hissed, irritation filling her voice.

XxX

Midnight and Cobra sat down, frowning as they looked at their old members of Oracion Seis. "Where have you two been," Angel hissed, annoyed. "Ever since that meeting with Tartarus you two disappeared, not keeping in contact with us. And where is Brain?"

Cobra sighed, rubbing the back of his head, glancing at Midnight. "Are you sure that you want to do this?" Midnight merely looked at Cobra before he released his magic aura, shooting slashes of energy towards the members of Oracion Seis. The members, not expecting such an attack, were slow to react, with only Racer and Hoteye capable of reacting in time, either by blocking the attack with an earthen wall or merely avoiding it. Angel was to slow to react, and Midnight took no prisoners, the slash carving clean through her body.

Racer and Hoteye glared at Midnight, rage on their faces. "You dare attack us," Racer hissed, irritation on his face. Midnight sighed, his aura intensifying. "Mard Geer wants you dead. He desires to replace Oracion Seis. You two have no been deemed worthy of staying in the development." Midnight then slowly revealed his hand, a storage lacrima in hand, before he activated it, Brain's body falling to the ground.

Hoteye frowned. "This Mard Geer clearly has no interest in money then. Otherwise he would know that I would work for a fee, right?" Cobra rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say Hoteye." Midnight then sent several slashes forwards, yet Hoteye managed to block all of the, fluid ground absorbing the blow before it shot forwards, preparing to submerge and crush Midnight and Cobra. The duo leapt away from the attack, yet Racer was there, already preparing his strike. Cobra turned as the mage appeared behind them, above to predict the movements but unable to launch a counterattack in time.

"Motor!" Racer called, launching two kicks. Cobra blocked the one directed towards him, yet the force still sent him flying towards a nearby tree that he crashed through. Midnight was not so lucky, being struck in the back by the attack, sending him careening directly into the ground. Hoteye acted immediately, the ground softening and preparing to swallow the demon whole, yet Midnight responded accordingly, twisting the earth around him to avoid damage. Hoteye cursed under his breath, having the ground swirl around Midnight's feet in an attempt to bind him, yet Midnight's magical aura shot out, restricting the earth's flow with his Reflector.

Racer prepared to move in to assist, yet Cobra was in front of him before he realized it. "Don't take your eyes off me," Cobra hissed, his hand cocked back to launch a blow, "Poison Dragon's Sharp Horn!"

Racer cursed at the sudden movement, yet he managed to avoid it due to his magic, before he lashed out with a front kick that smashed into Cobra's forearms, sending him skidding backwards. Hoteye immediately tried to capitalize, earth moving to wrap around Cobra, quickly grabbing his arms, yet Midnight now moved in due to his lack of attention, launching a blast of Darkness Magic towards Hoteye due to his decision to change targets. Racer, instead of moving to save Hoteye, rushed towards Midnight because of his lapse in judgement, launching a kick that connected with his side, bending him over Racer's leg. Racer smirked, trying to pull away only for him to feel resistance.

"What?"

Midnight smirked, grabbing Racer's leg before wind swirled around his hand, swinging it down towards Racer's leg. Yet earth appeared just in the nick of time to defend the man, stopping him from becoming a cripple. Hoteye's decision left him open to the blast of Darkness Magic however, taking the strike head on, sending him flying backwards. As a by product this released Cobra who immediately launched a Poison Dragon's Roar at Racer and Midnight. Midnight diverted the attack, forcing it to only strike Racer as he let go of his leg, letting the man get sent flying.

The duo smirked, Midnight more so as he cracked his knuckles. "My power is absolute Cobra. Leave the rest of this fight tome. I will handle them." Cobra glanced at Midnight. "Are you serious about this? That doesn't seem like an intelligent decision."

Midnight's aura flared once more, managing to catch a dagger Racer had thrown midair with his magic, shattering the metal before it had gotten close to its intended target. He then followed it up, stopping the subtle movements in the ground Hoteye was causing with his magic, a smirk on his face.

"As I said," Midnight began. "My power is absolute."

Hoteye growled as he appeared in the distance. "Allow me to show you why you are not absolute," he muttered. "For money can overcome all right?!" Midnight snorted, his wings exploding out as a dark magical aura surrounded him. "As if. Dark Rondo!" Midnight gathered the green magical energy before blasting it towards Hoteye in a series of extremely high speed attacks. Hoteye cursed, using earth to send himself sliding out of the way, however Midnight merely smirked and waved his other hand, causing the blasts to turn midair and chase after Hoteye. Hoteye's eyes widened. "He's using his Reflector Magic to alter the path of the attack." Hoteye stopped sliding, raising a wall of earth that swarmed down on the blasts like a wave, only for the earth to crumble beneath the sheer power of the attack. Hoteye's eyes widened as the blasts struck, causing him to cry out in pain as he was sent flying backwards.

Midnight smirked, shooting forwards to chase after Hoteye only for Racer to suddenly appear in front of him, leg whipping forwards in a kick that Midnight just barely managed to block. Midnight cursed, glaring at Racer. "Scum," he muttered, the wind around him swirling before he sent ethereal slashes of wind at Racer. Racer's eyes widened, unable to see the blades as deep gashes appeared on his arms and legs.

Racer cried out in pain, dropping to a knee from the pain. Midnight merely looked at Racer in rage, before he waved his arms forwards a massive blast of ethereal energy slashing towards Racer, clearly visible from the scars it left on the ground. This time Racer managed to avoid the attack, appearing at Midnight's side. "Gear Change: Red Zone!"

Midnight turned to face Racer only to find him not there, causing his eyes to widen. "What," he manged to get out before he cried out in pain, Racers fist slamming into his spine. Midnight turned, his wings acting like blades as they cut through the air, only for Racer to have disappeared once more, this time above him, as he brought down his heel, smashing it into Midnight's head and sending him crashing to the ground.

Midnight coughed as he rose from the ground, rage burning across his face. "I'll kill you," he muttered, his gauntlets glowing with energy. He sent a blast of Darkness Magic at Racer, yet the man disappeared once more, appearing in front of Midnight. "Enough," he stated plainly, slamming his fist in Midnight's stomach, bending him over, before raising his knee, cracking Midnight's nose. Midnight yelled in pain, clutching his nose. Racer then lifted his leg, lashing out with a kick that cracked into Midnight's chest, sending him flying into the distance with broken ribs. Racer sighed, dropping to the ground, exhausted from straining his body in his wounded state.

"Impressive," Cobra muttered, watching Midnight continue to be sent flying, no control over himself. "I've never seen him be so thoroughly manhandled once he achieved that state. Still, I think we both know that I'll be much harder to handle with my unique capabilities."

Racer glared at Cobra realizing that he couldn't fight him. Not in his current state. The damage Midnight had inflicted with his earlier attack had left him too heavily damaged to fight efficiently. He had to leave. But he couldn't leave Hoteye, he was still a loyal member of Oracion Seis, and if there was something Racer valued other than speed it was loyalty. But was he truly fast enough to get Hoteye and escape with Cobra on his trail?

"You need not worry, my friend," Hoteye murmured, slowly standing despite his injuries. "I share your line of thought. We must flee if only to make money in the future, right?"

Racer nodded, frowning as he saw poison swirl around Cobra's hands. However, suddenly the earth began to churn, a hole opening up beneath him and Hoteye. "We flee," Hoteye stated, the two being swallowed by the earth, leaving Cobra standing there by himself. Cobra sighed, looking up at the night sky. "Such a pain. They're still alive." However, he couldn't help but notice that Brain's body was missing.


Gray's eyes were closed as he sat down, meditating in front of Ullr, facing towards the frozen tundra. Ullr stood behind him, watching the teen carefully. The God smirked as white flecks of energy began to leak off of Gray's skin, camouflaging with the surrounding ice. Slowly the energy rose, leaking from Gray in a dense cloak. The misty energy washed over the ground like water, quickly expanding until a sea of white smoke was all that could be seen for miles. Ullr stood in the smoke, a smile on his face as the ice around them shuddered under Gray's might, his magic stabilizing. "Prepare yourself boy. This technique may be the precursor to Absolute Zero but Ice Erosion is no pushover. If you cannot handle it, you will die."

Gray opened his eyes, power radiating off of him. Cold white pearls stared into the tundra, Gray's normal dark blue eyes gone. Ice slowly started to creep around his body, shrouding it like a second skin. "Let us begin," Gray said standing up. Slowly, a cape made of ice fell down his shoulders.

Ullr smirked. "Indeed."


Cana sighed as she thought over her options. She couldn't really think of a way to get sufficiently stronger. Her previous idea of harnessing creatures to fight for her wasn't bad, but there was no back up plan. Sasuke warned her not to go fight the mandibles, but what else was she supposed to do? There wasn't really anything she could think of that would give her the power to fight against a Mandible. And without a Mandible on her side she had no way of getting any stronger. She was stuck at an impasse.

Cana groaned, her magic flaring in her storm of emotions. She glared up at the night sky, rage filling her body. She felt so useless. She was an A-rank mage and yet she couldn't even think of a solution to one simple problem. It was just a new way to use her magic. That could have been what had been holding her back this entire time! But she had always shrugged off training in favor of other things, luxuries. Now she realized just how foolish she had been. She had shrugged off growing stronger and progressing.

She had shrugged off her goal...to tell Gildarts that she was his daughter.

Cana growled, magic shooting off of her in waves. She felt so powerless, so weak. How foolhardy could she have been to let herself get so weak? She had a goal that she had yet to reach, she couldn't start settling now. Cana raised her fist, bringing it down towards the ground.

"How could I be so weak!'

The ground exploded.

Upon contact with Cana's fist the ground literally shook before ripping open as though an earthquake had ripped through the area, causing the ground to crumble. Cana, not expecting the result, was to slow to react quickly plummeting towards the cavern she had created. "Shit shit shit!" she cried, attempting to push off from falling debris, but she was unable to. Cana closed her eyes, forcing magic around her body to condition herself for the fall only for her to suddenly feel a pair of arms wrap around her and a sudden shift in direction. She opened her eyes, shock filling them at who she saw.

"Jet?"

"Yo," he stated, shooting across debris, quickly making it to the top of the cavern without much difficulty. Placing Cana down he looked down into the cavern she created.

"Sheesh Cana, didn't know you could do that. That's terrifying!"

"Yeah, neither did I," Cana muttered. "Jet where did you come from?" Jet turned towards her, a strange look on his face. "Well, uh, I started coming out here ever since the incident. After seeing everyone get so easily manhandled by the Bijuu or whatever well I...I wanted to get stronger and I couldn't think of a way to really do that."

"So you come out here to train," Cana asked. Jet sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Something like that yeah," he muttered. Cana raised an eyebrow causing Jet to sigh and look at the ground. "Well ya see...I'm...I'm having a problem." Cana raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

Jet nodded, a frown on his face. "I...well I can't seem to really get any faster." Cana looked confused by his problem. "What do you mean? You use High Speed. Shouldn't just using more magic naturally make you faster."

"Yeah that's what one would think but," Jet paused as if debating whether or not to tell Cana his thoughts before he sighed. "Well, the issue is, I think I've hit a limit of what my body can handle. I know that there is still ways for me to get faster, I'm only operating on one Accel, but I can't seem to get physically capable of going up to the next level."

Cana raised an eyebrow. "Accel? Level? What are you talking about?" Jet's eyes widened. "Right, I forgot you don't know what I'm talking about. Let me explain it to you. High Speed Magic has six levels of speed to them, each one making the user significantly faster. What I use now is Single Accel, the lowest speed level. It makes me fast, as you know. However, there are higher levels such as Double Accel, Triple Accel, etc. etc. until you get to the highest level Death Accel. As you can probably tell the highest level kills you. Another name for it is called the Death Race because, you're moving so fast it's almost like you're faster than time itself."

"That sounds powerful," Cana muttered. "But...why does it kill you?" Jet sighed. "You see there are...prerequisites to unlocking each level of speed. As you know, magic takes a toll on the body, and High Speed does more so than most magics because of the intense speed you're moving at. Your entire body moves faster, including your eternal organs. Increasing speed and then decreasing speed at such high levels takes an immense toll on the body. The lower levels of High Speed aren't too dangerous, at worst just requiring the caster to take a break for a few days. There are ways to counter this of course, and ways to prepare your body for the immense strain, such as physical conditioning. I'm trying to condition my body to reach higher levels."

"I see," Cana said. "Still, if the lower levels just require you to take a rest I don't see why the highest level is called Death Accel."

Jet frowned. "Well, the thing is the speed compounds on itself. In Double Accel the caster moves twice as fast as they would in Single Accel, in Triple Accel you move three times as fast as you would in Double Accel, and it keeps progressing as you reach higher and higher levels. That amount of strain...it builds up on the body. Triple Accel can put you out of commission for a week, maybe make you unable to walk or move much for a couple days, but levels higher than that are incredibly dangerous. Seizures, heart attacks, and even organ failure is entirely plausible. It only grows worse as you reach the higher levels because of how fast you get. Before you even reach the highest level there is an incredibly high chance of death, even for the most capable users."

Cana's eyes widened. "What the hell Jet! Why are you trying to progress so much with this magic if it can kill you!" Jet shook his hands rapidly, diffusing that idea. "I'm not! It's just that well, I need to at least be faster than an S-class mage to stand up to those monsters...and to do that I'd have to at least be capable of using Triple Accel, depending on the mage I'd be fighting. For someone like Naruto I'd likely need to be using Square Accel, but that's an extreme case. With someone like Erza I'd just need Triple."

"So you're sacrificing your life to be able to fight?"

Jet frowned. "Everyone is throwing their lives on the line to fight against the threat that looms on the horizon. I have to pull my weight. You already seem like you can."

Cana frowned at that, looking back at the cavern she had created. "Yeah...except I have no idea how I did that." Jet glanced at her. "You created a massive cavern with your fist and you have no idea how you did it?"

Cana blushed, realizing how ridiculous it sounded. Regular magic-enhanced strength couldn't do this. "No not really. I was just really really mad and I unleashed my power in my fist, and well...you see the result."

Jet frowned, looking down into the cavern. "It looks like you destroyed it smoothly, as though you knew the precise weak points of it. You have any idea what type of magic you could have used?"

Cana shook her head. Jet frowned. "Well I'm not exactly sure how to help you. Maybe you should talk to master about it?" Cana frowned, but nodded nonetheless. "That's probably a good idea. I don't want to go around destroying everything I touch." Jet nodded. "Yeah, that would be bad." He then turned. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then Cana."

Cana frowned looking at the wizards back. "Maybe you should ask Naruto for help?"

Jet glanced back at her with a smile, but shook his head, before he took off, dust following in his wake.

Cana watched him leave, a frown on her face. "He's already faster than me as is. He could probably beat me in a fight and technically he's only a B-rank mage. Damn it!" Cana glanced up at the sky, magic filling her to the brim again, however this time she was smart enough to not unleash it on the surrounding area. She wasn't sure what she could cause. She slowly breathed, letting her magic run through her body, only for her breath to hitch.

"What is that?"

She could see...lines..tracing through everything. Lines that linked up with one another at certain intervals and spanned out further than she could see. Panicking, Cana stopped channeling her magic, and the lines immediately disappeared, causing her eyes to widen. She quickly channeled magic to her eyes, and good enough the lines reappeared.

Slowly Cana reached out to touch the tree near her, almost afraid of what she could do. She touched it lightly, reaffirming that it was indeed there, but she saw the line vibrate slightly. "It moves at physical contact?"

Cana frowned, cocking her fist back. She had a crazy idea. She let magic flow to her hand to reinforce it before she brought it forwards towards the line, smashing through the tree, causing a loud rumble before it crashed to the ground, snapped in half from her blow.

"Woah," Cana heard. She turned, eyes wide as Jet stood behind her, likely having raced back to see what the loud noise was. "Are you sure you don't know what the magic you used was?"

Cana shook her head, confused.

There were lines on Jet too.


Sasuke stared up at the moon that he couldn't feel, but intrinsically knew was in front of him. He stared at it with blind eyes, darkness shrouding his world. He had always known the moon to be there. He had stared so long at it when Naruto and he had first arrived in Earthland, just thinking. Thinking about his life that he had back in the Elemental Nations, and the joy that he felt when he thought about them. But there was more than just joy in his thoughts. There was sadness. A deep, eroding sadness that never seemed to face Naruto. He knew Naruto missed their old world, but Naruto had always tried to look on the positive side of things.

Sasuke was different.

He knew that. He had always known that he was more realistic than Naruto, even when Naruto proved him wrong about how the shinobi world should work. It was this realism that made him more deeply effected by the distance he felt from their home. From his wife, from his child, and from whatever future he could have crafted for himself. If Naruto was the positive, he was the negative, and he knew for a fact that he couldn't live with this unbearable feeling of longing. He had spent the past few weeks before the tournament just staring up at the moon for hours on hours, just thinking of his home. The way Sakura's pink hair flowed, how Sarada took after her mother in her genius intellect, and how gifted his family was.

Of what Itachi must think of him.

Even now all of his actions were centered around that life-changing relationship. Itachi, his one and only brother. He had based his entire life around him and he doubted that he would ever be able to not think of him when he made a decision. He wondered what Itachi would think of the man that he had become. Would he be proud of him for joining the Leaf? Or would he resent him for joining the village that ordered him to kill his family?

He didn't know why he asked himself these questions. The answer was obvious.

He knew Itachi would be proud of him for rejoining the Leaf, for marrying and joining a happy life, for having children, and for changing his rage-filled ways. But there was always some form of doubt. Always. Lingering.

It wasn't just Itachi though.

Would Sakura be proud of him? How would she feel about his budding feelings for a certain white-haired mage? Would she want him to explore happiness again, or would she want him to close himself of and preserve their own love? Would she think that he made the right decision by going to a foreign world where he would be incapable of seeing her in the afterlife?

He wasn't as sure what he answers would be. Sakura was...complicated to say the least. She had changed so much throughout the course of his life, and as much as it pained him to admit it, he wasn't there often as an adult to truly get to know her on the same level that Naruto had. There was no way that he would be able to truly understand what she would think of him. And that was what saddened him. He had never known her as well as he should have. He should have spent more time with her.

And Sarada? Where could he even begin to see his list of failures with her?

"I knew you would be up here."

Sasuke turned his face, one eye landing on where he heard the voice come from. "Who's there?"

The mage smiled, her hair parting from her face. "You don't recognize me from the sound of my voice? I'm slightly hurt Sasuke-kun." The connection was immediately made.

"Mira..."

Mirajane nodded, sitting down next to the Uchiha, looking at him intently. "Are you okay?"

Sasuke looked back at the white-haired mage, before he stared back to where he knew the moon was. "No." The word spoke volumes on how he felt internally. He never spoke about how he felt, his emotions, to anyone. The only person who really knew how he felt at any time was Naruto and that was just due to how close they were. Mira knew this, and that was why she knew that when he said he wasn't well, he wasn't well.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, biting his lip and his eyes blazed with power. Magic channeled around his body in his turmoil, a bolt of black lightning shooting up towards the sky. Mirajane could only watch in awe as the sky immediately formed clouds, hiding the moon. She knew that was likely how he was feeling at the moment.

"Stay with me."

Mira's eyes widened as she heard those words, staring at Sasuke. She could only form a longing smile as a lone tear escaped from Sasuke's eye, staining the broken guilds roof. "Of course," Mira said. "I'll never leave you."


Racer and Hoteye stared at Brain's body, a frown on their faces. "Midnight and Cobra attacked us," the duo muttered, a frown on their faces. Racer sighed, looked at Brain's body. "They must have been corrupted by Tartarus," Racer muttered, a frown on his face.

"We are alone, hunted, by our own allies, right?" Hoteye muttered. Racer looked at the powerful S-class dark mage, answering his question despite the fact that he knew it was not truly a question. "Yes...and it seems that they plan on rebuilding Oracion Seis from the ground up with their own help of Tartarus."

Hoteye's eyes widened before they narrowed. "They will steal all of our hard work and reputation, right?" Racer nodded, rage burning in his eyes. "I will not allow them to do that! They will not destroy our guild as they have!"

Hoteye snarled as well. "All of the money they will earn from using our name that should be ours! I will not allow this!" Racer nodded, although he frowned as he looked over towards the nearby underground wall. "We just have one issue. They're stronger than we are. You saw it for yourself. Cobra and Midnight were pushing us back during that fight. If we plan on defeating them, we're going to need a lot of help."

Hoteye smiled, looking at Racer. "Maybe we shall rebuild Oracion Seis, a way to defeat them in combat and retake the guild." Racer frowned. "We need allies. S-class dark mages who we can convince to our side. Someone whose goals align with our own."

Hoteye frowned. "But who? Who is strong enough to do that? S-class mages are rare, most guilds only have about one or two, Fairy Tail being the odd exception. There aren't any S-class mages that are not part of a group. I would know, money pays for information."

Racer frowned. "Well, we won't be able to convince any unlinked S-class dark mages, but we may be able to convince others." Hoteye raised an eyebrow leading to Racer to smile. "Well there is always Grimoire Heart. We could go to them, join them, or convince them to crush the new Oracion Seis and we join them in return."

Hoteye frowned. "How would we leave to recreate Oracion Seis?" Racer frowned. "We should be able to defeat anyone they send to help us defeat Midnight and Cobra." Hoteye looked at Racer, a skeptical look on his face. "I doubt that. We are strong, but even then, we'd have to line them up to kill each other or heavily weaken one another in order for us to be able to defeat any remaining combatants. It's not a wise course of action."

Racer frowned, sitting on the ground to glare at Hoteye, clearly frustrated with his idea being shot down. "Well then what's your brilliant idea?"

Hoteye smiled, a dark shadow covering his eyes. "Well the way I see it we have two options. Take over Death's Head Caucus and train their members to be an effective fighting force against Oracion Seis or-"

"Or?"

"Or," Hoteye muttered, irritated at being interrupted due to Racer's impatience. "we go to that upstart Ivan Dreyar...and we take Raven Tail for our own!"

Racer smirked. "Why not both?" Hoteye's eyes widened before the dark look on his face got even more sinister. "Yes...yes why not both?"


Erza slashed at Naruto, the blonde's eyes widening before he ducked barely avoiding the blade before a Rasengan formed in his hands. He thrust the powerful sphere forwards, yet Erza immediately summoned a blade into her hand deflecting the sphere, although the force behind it did sending her skidding backwards. Naruto looked at Erza, his eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure you want me to keep picking up the pace until you can't keep up? You're only in your regular armor." Erza nodded, standing before Naruto, a sword in her hands, bruises already covering her body from their spar. The moon hung overhead, it's light shining down on Erza, giving her an almost ethereal glow as she stood before Naruto, determination shining in her eyes. "Yes! My armors all improve my abilities. Meaning that if I can just get stronger naturally I should be much stronger when I use my armors. The only way to get stronger is to push myself, and you are capable of pushing me."

Naruto frowned, looking at the redhead. 'All of this because of Matatabi...and I went and threw away her sacrifice by rushing in and attempting to fight the Bijuu...and I lost! And I caused Sasuke to be blind because of a petty disagreement! This is the least I can do.'

Naruto shook his thoughts away before he nodded, a clone forming from his own energy before they rocketed forwards. Erza frowned, immediately summoning another blade both Naruto's attacking with their Thunder God Kunai. Erza deflected the strikes, swiping back out at the duo, forcing them to retreat, yet she then rushed in, leaping forwards while simultaneously summoning a blade to her foot before she launched it forwards, forcing the duo to leap away from each other. Erza used that opening, rushing towards the clone slashing at it with a flurry of blade strikes that the clone was hard pressed to keep up with.

However, she leapt away as she heard a cry of "Rasengan" come, managing to avoid Naruto's strike as it hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Erza frowned, summoning multiple swords in the air to levitate, sweat sliding down her face from the strain of doing the spell without her armors help as she was used to. "Circle Sword!"

The blades carved through the air into the smoke, and she heard a satisfying POP as the smoke cleared, revealing only one Naruto, blood onhis arms from being cut by the blades. "You're not dulling them with your magic."

Erza frowned. "Recently I've been shown that against some people I can't afford that luxury." Naruto nodded, drawing another Thunder God Kunai. "Careful Erza. I'm about to pick up the pace." Erza nodded, preparing herself, however she was unprepared for the kunai that came flying towards her way, enhanced in speed from Naruto's throw as he covered himself in Meteor. The redhead dived to the side, barely avoiding the kunai, however in a flash Naruto was there, spinning midair to lash out at her neck. Erza panicked, raising one of her blades to deflect, losing her grip on it from the force of Naruto's strike, although she had managed to live.

Erza leapt away from Naruto, glaring at him intensely. "That was a kill strike," she murmured. Naruto frowned. "You said you wanted me to train you, to fight you like I did my enemies back home. You asked and you shall receive."

Erza frowned, just now realizing the depth of what she had asked the blonde, but nodded nonetheless, preparing herself for his next onslaught. Naruto then rushed in, the moonlight making his golden shine from his spell that much more impressive as he closed the distance in nearly an instant, causing Erza to widen. 'He's so fast! I'd need my Flight Armor to even keep up!'

Naruto slashed at Erza again, the redhead barely managing to deflect the strike, the force behind it forcing her to stumble backwards, the recoil pushing her arms backwards just enough that Naruto took advantage of it. He shot forwards, kunai reaching for Erza's throat. It took half-a-second for Erza to move her sword back into position.

That was half-a-second to slow.

"Dead," Naruto stated, the tip of his kunai resting against her neck. Erza frowned. "Again." Naruto sighed. "That's the fifth time Erza. We've been at this for two hours, I'm surprised you're even still standing, but you need a break. We're both tired actually. I need a break."

Erza all but growled at him, determination flaring in her eyes. "Again!" Naruto paled at his girlfriend's demanding tone, quickly realizing that this wasn't up for debate. She was determined to get stronger, she was afraid of losing again, and he could see it in her eyes. 'We're gonna have to talk about that,' he muttered before he disappeared in a flash of golden light. Erza followed him this time, her eyes able to follow his movements slightly better as he rushed in once again. He did the same strike as before, however she was prepared, not stumbling backwards, her arms staying in position. Naruto smirked before he kept up his attack.

He slashed forwards with both of his kunai in a horizontal manner, the Meteor spell focusing on his arms as they shone a bright gold, the speed they were moving at adding to their force, making Erza skid backwards. Naruto rushed forwards again forcing her to parry the blades, the golden energy from Naruto continuing to increase his speed. Quickly Erza was pushed back, unable to keep up with Naruto's speed as he started tallying.

"Dead."

A parry before creating a clone behind her, a kunai at her throat.

"Dead."

A deflection, this time Erza not retreating but counterattacking. Naruto skipped backwards, yet she shot forwards, dodging his swipe with his kunai as she spun, her feet leaving the ground as she swung her blade at his chest, however he disappeared in a POP, causing her eyes to widen before she felt a blade at her skull and heard the screeching of the Rasenshuriken.

"Dead," Naruto stated again. Erza slowly turned, irritation on her face. Naruto looked at her, deactivating his spell, attempting to look her in the eyes, yet she kept her face towards the ground. "What's wrong?" Suddenly Erza's brown eyes snapped forwards, crimson energy leaking from her body. "Your have an ultimate technique..." she muttered, referencing his Rasenshuriken. Naruto raised an eyebrow but nodded, gripping his kunai slightly tighter. He didn't know what she was planning, but clearly she wasn't done yet.

Erza leapt away from Naruto, summoning another one of her blades. 'This is just step one but...this is part of what I lack. I need an ultimate technique. My last resort move.' Erza glared at Naruto, her magic power increasing as crimson energy shrouded her body. Erza's hair upwards due to the force she was releasing, the energy making it look like her hair had grown much longer. She gripped her two blades, crimson energy coating them before she leapt forwards, spinning like a drill. Naruto's eyes widened, bringing up his kunai yet he failed to stop her, her quick series of attacks sending his arms wide. Erza quickly removed her two blades from play as she landed, summoning another as she turned her body towards Naruto, gathering as much force as she could behind this next attack. This would mark the end of their spar.

She would make it count.

Crimson energy exploded off of her, making her movements impossible to read as Naruto could not see her body. Naruto, his arms still wide, coated himself heavily in Meteor preparing himself for the strike he couldn't avoid. Erza swung her blade in a full arc, the crimson energy surrounding the blade putting intense pressure on it, almost cracking it.

Her eyes exploded with her power as she brought her blade down on Naruto.

"Scarlet Fairy!"

The world exploded.

Scarlet energy shot from Erza in all directions, a brilliant, blinding flash lightning up the night more than the moonlight as he energy surged forth. However, he energy acted as more than just light. It carved through the ground, scorching everything that it touched. The ground shattered under the force, shockwaves surging throughout the ground, nearby trees being uprooted by the force before destroyed by her roaring energy. A single line of red energy extending her into the sky shot from the epicenter of the blast, the ground in front of it completely carved through the crevice massive. As her energy died down Erza panted, dropping to one knee, sweat pouring down her face, looking for any sign of Naruto.

Maybe she had overdone it.

"Naruto?"

"I'm alive," she heard a pained voice cry, causing her to panic and rush towards the sign of his voice. She found him, back against a tree as he clutched his side, blood pouring profusely. His shirt had been blown completely off, and his pants were in tatters. "Oh my god Naruto!" she cried, rushing towards him, delicately placing her hand near his wound. "I'm so sorry! I'll find Porlyusica immediately!" Erza turned to run but Naruto grabbed her arm, stopping her. She turned bakc to him, worry in her eyes but he shook his head. "I'll be fine. I can heal myself with Sky God Slayer Magic."

Naruto grunted, falling to his butt. Erza panicked, kneeling in front of him, holding his face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Naruto laughed, a smile on his face, before he groaned. "Hurts to laugh. But yes I'm fine. That move you used did a number on me but I'll recover." Erza blushed under his praise, looking at the ground. "Well I hoped it did. I heard you use the Rasenshuriken and I just thought that if I had a move like that I might have been able to defeat Matatabi."

Naruto looked at her strangely. "An ultimate attack?" Erza nodded. Naruto smiled at her, but shook his head. "An ultimate technique isn't what you lack Erza. You've adaptable and resourceful. That matters more than any ultimate move." Erza frowned, irritation on her face. "But still," Naruto stated, looking at his wound. "That's not a bad ultimate move at all. If you refine it a little more so it's not so draining...well I think I'd dare say not even the Rasenshuriken could stand up to it."

Erza looked at Naruto in the eyes, the praise she was getting surprising her. "Seriously?" Naruto nodded. "The power in that attack...it was...devastating to say the least. Even if I could use Kurama's power I'd still probably be bleeding right now. That's pretty impressive. Still, right now it's pretty much just using all of your energy to slash at your opponent. It needs refinement. I had a basis for my Rasenshuriken, in my Rasengan obviously, so I'd try and base your ultimate spell off of one of your pre-existing spells."

Erza couldn't help but stare at the blonde in wonder before she hugged him tight. Naruto screamed in pain briefly before he felt her tears hit his back. he smiled softly, managing to keep in the searing pain he felt before he hugged her back gently. "I'm always here Erza," he said, a smile on his face. "Always."

"And I will always get stronger," he heard her whisper. "Strong enough that I can protect you." Naruto smiled, pushing his face into her hair, inhaling her smell. "I would love that," he breathed.


Cobra sighed as Midnight stared at the members Tartarus had sent to them. "So these are our new recruits," came a dark voice, Midnight's eyes shining ominously with his power. The man clearly had issues Cobra concluded. His lust for power was immense, and he was clearly infatuated with his own. Cobra could only smirk at the thought.

'For someone with such a superiority complex I'm surprised he hasn't tried to kill Mard Geer for being stronger than him yet. Maybe he's not too crazy after all.'

Cobra stared, interested as he saw the mages Tartarus had sent over. They were interesting, to say the least. Four mages stood before them, each particularly imposing to your average mage.

One was a tall man, lumbering above both Cobra and Midnight in height. Slanted eyes stared at them,, reading them as the man's muscular body almost continually shifted, like a wheel. A light bandanna covered his lower face, the depiction on it reminiscent of a skeletal mouth. This was Doriate, a Demon of Succubus Eye, one of the smaller Dark Guilds that Tartarus controlled.

The other was a man only known as Fingers. He was tall, about as tall as Doriate, with purple hair extending from the bandages wrapped around his face, falling behind him in a ponytail. Not much was known about him as he didn't talk too much, but they knew he wasn't exactly a Dark Mage, just a mage for hire. How he had ended up working for Tartarus, especially considering the Demon didn't seem like the type to trust random people on something so sensitive, was beyond Cobra.

The other man was a man called Animus, and he Cobra had heard of. During the first World War Animus had fought against Fiore, leading the army of Stella. It was he who gave the Magic Council the idea to create Second Generation Dragon Slayers, as Stella had an army full of them. The man had led the war against Fiore, being quite the dangerous threat who was only defeated by the brilliant mind of the Fairy Tactician. No one knew if he was alive or dead, as he had not been captured by the Magic Council or any guild, yet here he was, so Cobra could only think that the man had managed to escape the devastating battle. Cobra could only smile, thinking that it was this man who had helped him become what he was today. He must have been old, some form of magical immortality had to be bestowed on this man for him to still look as young as he did and radiate such immense power. He gave off almost the same feeling as Tartarus, despite their definite differences in stature. Animus was...well, average to say the least. He wasn't to skinny, yet neither was he too muscular. Where Tartarus was the embodiment of fear, Animus seemed to just be, a sort of calm in the middle of a storm. The only thing remarkable about him was the golden armor he wore that matched his golden hair, his purple eyes boring as well.

The last man stood close to Animus, giving the impression that they knew each other, only Cobra did not recognize him. He had no stories about him, likely meeting Animus while he was still a Dark Mage running from Fiore's watchful eyes. Still, this man was impressive, standing taller than Animus, with a dark grin on his face. Two scars were on the right side of his face, only enhancing his menacing look as he looked Cobra over, as if debating his worth.

"And you would be," Cobra asked. The man snorted, but responded nonetheless. "Zash Caine."

Cobra frowned, the name still not ringing a bell, making him wonder if Tartarus had just recruited him because he recruited Animus. Either way it was worrying. Why would Tartarus recruit people that weren't directly under his command? The Demon had made a power play to take over the majority of the Balam Alliance, so why not put people he could trust in the position? Did he believe Doriate, Midnight, and he were enough to rein these three in, even with someone like Animus on their side? No, it made no sense, unless Tartarus was hiding something. But what? He couldn't have made a deal with them could he? Fingers wasn't hard to guess. The man didn't talk much, and for a long term mission like this likely wouldn't be revealing any information. But why trust Animus and Zash? Could he be using pent up resentment against Fiore that at least Animus likely had?

Cobra frowned.

He needed to know why Tartarus had sent these four to assist them.


THIS IS IMPORTANT: If you don't like Mito's backstory that's FINE. I gave you the REALLY quick synopsis. More of her reasoning will be explained, I just kinda gave the synopsis of her general reasoning. More specifics of her reasoning for being bad will continue to be explained. If you guys wanna know why Cubellios didn't warn Oracion Seis of what was happening it's because Cubellios got caught by Tartarus and was killed offsccreen. Why wasn't it included in a chapter, it's simply because...I forgot to write it, and I didn't feel like putting it in this chapter, so yeah I didn't include that scene. Also before anyone starts complaining about the new Oracion Seis members none of them are OCs. They're canon, filler, or movie characters from Fairy Tail. Why am I using some of the movie characters? Cause I think they're badass. And they help an idea I'm working with with how to make the FTverse seem more expansive as MASHIMA SURE AS HELL DIDN'T! I mean come on, he invented a continent with other countries on it and only used two.

Shameful.