DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, FAIRY TAIL, OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Apologies for the delay, but this chapter was incredibly hard for me to write for some reason. Especially since I didn't want every aspect of it to directly mirror the show. Anyways, here it finally is, after nearly a week apart from the last one. Jiraiya and Gajeel vs Pain, here we go. Please read, review. and as always, enjoy!

Chapter 25

"Pain."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at the Toad Sage. "That guy is Pain? He looks like I could squash him with two fingers."

"Don't underestimate him. Those eyes are the Rinnegan," Jiraiya warned, directing his attention back to their opponents. "So this is how far you've fallen, Nagato? To stoop so low as to become the leader of this criminal organization is sickening."

Before Jiraiya could say anything further, the giant crab from before charged out of the sea of foam, its large pincers aimed to crush the two of them. Gajeel turned his arm into a sword, but Jiraiya was quicker.

"Art of the Raging Lion's Mane!"

The hair of the Toad Sage elongated into several thick strands that wrapped themselves around the giant crab, crushing it. The creature disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the sea of foam fading along with it. Jiraiya's hair then combined to form a shape that resembled the head of a lion. It flew towards Pain, catching him and thrusting him backwards into the wall before parting to show his face.

"Nagato, what happened to Yahiko?" Jiraiya asked.

"Ah, yes," Pain said, recognition flashing in his otherwise emotionless orbs. "There was such a fellow once, wasn't there? But he died a long time ago."

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked.

So far, Gajeel was staying out of the conversation. He'd really rather be fighting, but it was clear that some bad blood had formed between the old man and his former student.

"Nothing at all, only the war. Too many people have died to senseless war, Yahiko included. Through pain, even I was forced to grow up," Pain responded. "Mired by endless pain, I've grown into much more than a man. Yes, I've grown from a man into a god. And now that I'm a god, all of my thoughts and words have become absolute. Poor sensei, it's not your fault that you don't understand, you're still human. Things are clear to me now that I am a god that weren't when I was still human."

Gajeel couldn't contain himself any longer. "HA! A god? Buddy, you look like someone trying to pass for a woman, and you call yourself a god? I ain't one to judge, but that's pretty stupid, even for this crazy world," Gajeel laughed.

Pain's eyes lingered on the iron dragon slayer for a few seconds. "I suppose I'll just have to show both of you the power of a god."

Instantly, Jiraiya's hair was forced to part. An enormous lizard with the same pupils as Pain burst out of the chakra-infused hair and leapt upwards, Pain standing on its head. "I'm over here, sensei."

"So that's your summoning, is it?" Jiraiya regarded his former student.

"To me, you're like a single-celled organism that hasn't evolved at all."

Jiraiya laughed as he leapt upwards into the air. "Summoning Jutsu! Imagine a kid treating me like a kid. Well, I got news for you, kid. I'm not really human anymore either! These tears of blood, overflowing with rage, I went from Sannin to Sage! The hermit Sage of Mount Myoboku! I am Master Jira-ah!"

The surface that Jiraiya stood upon shifted, causing him to lose his balance and faceplant. His speech cut off, Jiraiya clambered to his feet and crossed his arms in irritation. "Come on! Watch it Mister Gamaken! Don't jostle me during such a crucial juncture!"

The massive toad that Jiraiya stood upon shifted once again. It was maroon with black markings all over, and wore a black kimono. In its left hand was a large round shield, and a forked spear was in its right. Gajeel marveled at the sight before leaping off of the wall. He retracted the iron spikes as to not damage the toad he stood upon.

"I'm sorry. I'm quite ungraceful," Gamaken apologized.

As the three of them gazed at their opponent, who was stuck to the wall above them, Jiraiya smirked. "Against this foe, there shall be no playing it by ear. We'll be going full strength from the get-go."

Gajeel nodded with a savage grin, his skin morphing into the black steel he was known for. "That's all you had to say."

Jiraiya nodded back to him, then bit his own wrist. Using the blood, he drew additional markings on his face, then slammed his hands together. "I'm using Honored Sage Mode!"

"What?!" Gamaken asked incredulously, his baritone voice shaking the very floor. "You don't mean-"

"Yes, indeed. I'm summoning both of the two Great Sages. But it's going to take a little while before I'm able to summon the both of them here. I'll need the two of you to keep them off of me, because I can't release my hands."

Gajeel scratched the top of his scalp. "You know, I ain't got a clue what you're up to, but let's get to fighting!"

As they watched, Pain stepped down onto the tongue of the massive lizard, who brought the Rinnegan bearer into its mouth. Instantly, the pair disappeared before their very eyes. Jiraiya blinked a few times in disbelief, then began to rotate his head. "He just vanished. WHat a bother. Now where do you suppose he found a creature such as that?"

"He hasn't moved," Gajeel said, staring at the same spot. "I can still smell him."

"I'm still going to cast barrier battle arts," Jiraiya said, clicking his heels together and swinging his hair around. A dome of pale light appeared and slowly expanded around them until it reached its maximum distance.

A few seconds later, a large explosion above them signaled an impending attack. A massive, three-headed dog with Rinnegan eyes charged down towards them. Gamaken leapt upwards to meet it, his staff spinning with precision. As the toad delivered the first strike, Gajeel felt a dreadful, yet familiar sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"Aw, what the hell, this thing ain't even a vehicle. Why now?" he groaned, hunching over to hold his gut.

Then Gamaken flipped over to block a dive from the dog, which caused Gajeel to lose his balance and plummet off of the toad. He slammed into the concrete below, an impact crater forming, but he barely felt it. He was just happy to be on solid ground again.

He grunted as he rose to his feet, rolling his iron shoulders to loosen them. Above him, Gamaken was engaged with the three-headed dog, having pinned it to the side of the building with his weapon.

"Well, looks like I'm useless in a fight like that," Gajeel remarked, turning his attention tot he blue-haired girl that hadn't moved from her previous spot. Just when he was about to lunge towards her, thereof the large, brown dogs fell from above. Except now, they each only had one head.

Gajeel dodged two of them, glancing upwards as he did so. Gamaken and Jiraiya were still fighting another three or four of the dogs, which made gajeel wonder where all of them came from. As if to answer his question, the three dogs that had fallen from above merged their bodies into one, creating a three-headed dog identical to the first one.

"That's fucked up!" Gajeel grimaced as the dog charged him. "Iron Dragon Roar!"

The blast of iron-laden air forced the dog backwards on its hindquarters. Tufts of fur had been shaved off and now littered the ground, courtesy of the shards of iron within Gajeel's breath attack.

The dog roared in response and renewed its assault on Gajeel, charging just as it had before. The iron dragon slayer turned his hand into his Iron Dragon Sword and leapt towards the creature. Activating the spinning blades, the sword bit completely through the center head and carved a deep gash all the way to its lower back.

Gajeel landed on his feet and brushed his tunic off with his hands, turning his attention back to the stationary Konan. "Guess it's just you and me n-agh!"

Gajeel didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as he was blindsided by a powerful impact. The force behind the blow sent him careening into the wall, an impact crater forming just like the one from his fall earlier.

When he extricated himself from the rubble, he saw four of the large brown dogs. Much to his surprise, the corpse of the three headed one was nowhere to be found. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself.

"Gajeel!" he heard from above. Jiraiya's voice echoed through the chamber as the Toad Sage called out to him from the top of the tower. "If you strike them, they split apart!"

"Aw now that's just great. What the hell am I supposed to do? Run?" the iron dragon slayer said in disgust.

When the four dogs growled in unison at the dragon slayer, suddenly the idea didn't seem to farfetched after all. He turned on his heel and headed back down the large tunnel that he and Jiraiya had first come before Konan had confronted them. The could hear the pants and growls from behind him, signaling that the massive dog was closing in.

When he reached the other side, Gajeel turned and thrust his arm towards the ceiling. His iron club bit into the concrete, and he detached it from his body. Repeating the action several more times, the exit was completely covered with makeshift iron bars, forcing the dogs to screech to a halt when they slammed into them.

Gajeel smirked and turned his arm into a sword, intending to use it to put an end to the animal once and for all, but they seemed to have other ideas. The body of the four-headed dog suddenly changed again, this time reverting back into four separate of the large mutts. Two of them repeatedly rammed against the iron, while the other two decided for the more subtle approach, and attempted to bend the iron with their mouths.

"You gotta be kiddin' me."

Gajeel knew that he didn't have long before the dogs broke through, so he turned on his heel and ran again. Utilizing this time to gain a head start, he began to look for places to strategize and figure out his next move. But before he could do that, above him, he saw Jiraiya and Gamaken leap from tower to tower. Seconds later, the form of yet another massive dog followed, only this one had seven heads instead of four.

A few droplets of blood splattered on the ground in front of Gajeel, indicating that Gamaken had been injured. Then, the sound of breaking metal could be heard behind him, which meant that his makeshift prison had just been destroyed.

Ducking into a thin side alley, Gajeel pressed his back to the wall and waited for his pursuer to appear. Then, another scent caught his nose. Not reacting to it, Gajeel maintained his composure so as not to spook the source of the new scent. When it grew close enough, Gajeel grinned and leapt straight into the air, stabbing his Iron Dragon Sword directly into the flesh of an invisible animal.

The enormous green lizard materialized out of thin air, its eyes bugged outwards from the pain that it was experiencing. At least that was what it seemed like, for a second later, the animal disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

"What the?" Gajeel said, shocked that not a single drop of blood was anywhere to be seen.

He didn't get to be shocked for long, though, as the dog appeared at the entrance to the alley, back to four heads. Gajeel growled in irritation as he glared daggers at the giant mutt.

"Alright, that's it!" he yelled, both arms forming into swords as he dashed towards the dog.

He vaulted up between two of the heads and slashed, catching a neck with his sword. Running further up, he stabbed downwards as he ran, leaving deep ruts in the skin of the animal as he ran along the spine. Then, lastly, he flipped off of the back of the animal and cut one of its hind legs on his way down, landing in a crouch.

When he turned around to admire his handiwork, he nearly fell over from the shock. Standing before him were eight of the massive dogs, having multiplied from their previous number of four.

"Oh, shit," Gajeel said in a small voice, genuinely experiencing a bolt of fear as his eyes widened.

The eight dogs growled, saliva dripping down from between their teeth as they stalked towards Gajeel. Evidently, they wanted to kill him slowly, knowing that he couldn't defeat them. Gajeel raised an arm to shield his face in futility as he saw the lead dog prepare to lunge at him. But the attack never came.

When he parted his fingers, all Gajeel saw were the remnants of eight smoke clouds that drifted away in the wind. Equally perplexed as he was relieved, Gajeel instead used his nose to try and track Jiraiya down, thinking that the Sage had something to do with the disappearance of the summoned animals.

He found Jiraiya and Pain in a large, open area that resembled the one of their first encounter just as an incredibly huge bull smashed through the wall at the far end, presumably catching Jiraiya in its charge. The resulting impact shattered a good portion of the wall, as well as some of the metal pipes that ran along its surface. The pipes spewed steam out, slowly covering the entire area in white smoke, restricting vision.

Gajeel leapt down, intending to check on the old man Jiraiya, but it seemed that the Sage didn't need his help. A blast of fire erupted from the tunnel, flinging the bull outwards. It smacked into the opposite wall and vanished like the others.

"Haha, how about that, Gajeel? Was it flashy enough for you?" Jiraiya chuckled as he emerged from the tunnel.

The iron dragon slayer would have cracked a joke if it weren't for the drastic changes in the Toad Sage's features. His nose had flattened out and widened, growing small bumps. His pupils had also flattened out into single bars, the irises now completely white. He'd also acquired a scruffy white beard that lined his chin.

Also, upon his two shoulders sat two small toads, each wrapped in a small cloak. One was clearly female, with thin, curly purple hair sticking out from her scalp. The other was male, and was bald, except for a thin mohawk and white tufts that grew above his ears and extended to his eyebrows. He also sported a small goatee around his chin.

"Lad, why do you always have to summon us to such rowdy places?" the female toad asked from Jiraiya's left shoulder. "I surely can't fault Bunta for yelling at you the way you behave."

The male toad took a breath to defend Jiraiya. "Now, now, Ma. You just let him be, hear me? I'm sure that Jiraiya-boy has his reasons for why he summ-"

"Oh, you just shut you trap, Pa!" the female toad exclaimed, cutting off her counterpart.

Jiraiya chuckled, shooting an amused glance to Gajeel beside him. "I know it's been a while, and I do apologize for the circumstances, Boss, Ma'am."

"But lad, I thought you told me you hated taking this form," the male toad said with a raised eyebrow. "You said it would make you unpopular with the ladies."

"I can't afford to be particular right now. After all, my foe possesses the Rinnegan," Jiraiya responded.

Gajeel sighed in frustration of hearing that word again. "Will somebody tell me what a Rinne...Rin...whatever the hell that is?!"

The two elderly toads regarded Gajeel with the same facial expression of confusion and judgement. "Jiraiya-boy, who's this lad here?" the male toad asked.

"My apologies, Lady Shima, Lord Fukasaku. This is Gajeel. He and I were sent on this mission together."

"To answer your question, Gajeel-boy, the Rinnegan are the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, the father of all shinobi. Those eyes possess untold power, so the legend goes, that is," Fukasaku explained.

Gajeel nodded as if he understood, even if he was still in the dark. He wasn't about to let these old toads think he was dense in the head, even if he was. Whatever this Rinnegan eye thing was, he knew to be wary of it, especially since Jiraiya seemed to have taken such extreme measures in this fight.

Fukasaku glanced over to Jiraiya with a small sigh. "You know, someday you really gotta start being able to go into Sage Mode by yourself, Jiraiya-boy."

Jiraiya shook his head in response. "Compared to the two of you, I'm still just a novice. So please, lend me your aid for just a little while. Alright, shall we begin?"

Jiraiya took the lead by jumping off of the small ledge that they stood upon. Gajeel stared in shock at the impact crater that formed, as if Jiraiya suddenly weighed thousands of pounds. Gajeel landed heavily next to them, his iron-studded boots causing echoes throughout the large room.

"So, where is this foe, then?" Fukasaku asked. "The one with the pupils of Six Paths."

"Your eyes must be degrading with age," Shima teased.

Jiraiya shook his head. "No, it's not your eyes. He's hidden himself inside a summoning creature that can make itself transparent."

"It must be one of them there chameleons," Shima deduced. "Let's drag him out with creature detection jutsu!"

Fukasaku sighed. "But Jiraiya-boy, why do you have to fight such an ornery fella anyway? And why go so far as to summon us to help you fight him?"

"This opponent happens to be a former student of mine," Jiraiya revealed. "I believe he is the child of prophecy that has gone astray."

"Well if he's not virtuous, then it's only your duty to kill him," Fukasaku said.

Shima nodded. "Besides, that prophecy's probably nothing more than a senile old geezer's rantings. Alright, let's do it!"

What came next utterly grossed out Gajeel. Shima's tongue began to grow and extend out of her mouth. On the end, it possessed small slits for eyes, as well as a mouth full of jagged teeth. It extended far into the air and began to sniff about, looking for any trace of Pain and his giant lizard.

"Aha, found him!" Shima announced after a few seconds. She reared back, then thrust her tongue forwards. The teeth opened as it flew, and it wrapped itself around a large area. Then, it began to secrete a yellow powder that coated the skin of the transparent lizard, making it visible to the naked eye.

"There we go," Shima said with some satisfaction. "Now you, Pa!"

"Yo!" the male toad said. His cheeks puffed out as his mouth filled with liquid. Then, water spewed forth with enough pressure to carve into the concrete walls that surrounded them. He then directed it towards the chameleon, and the pressure ripped into the animal. Blood spurted profusely from the wound before it disappeared, leaving Pain standing there all alone.

"Well, it certainly does look like the one from the legends," Shima observed, referring to the purple spiral patterned eyes.

Fukasaku shivered subconsciously. "What nasty eyes."

The orange-haired Pain in front of them weaved a few hand signs, then pressed his hand to the ground. Two summoning formulas appeared on either side of him, and two figures wearing Akatsuki cloaks appeared, both kneeling.

One was broader, the other thin. They both had the Rinnegan, as well as the same orange hair. Piercings covered their bodies just as the one that had summoned them. It even made Gajeel flinch at the sight, not wishing to be akin to the evil beings before him.

"Now there's three of them with those freaky eyes?" Gajeel asked.

Jiraiya studied the three figures before them. "It must be his jutsu. There must be some kind of trick behind it."

Gajeel cracked his knuckles, stepping forward as he did so. "Well, he ain't got his dumb animals to save him now. I'm going in."

"No, wait-" Jiraiya began, but it was too late, for Gajeel was already charging forward.

The dragon slayer covered his body with his scales, taking no chances when it came to strong ninja like these. The broader one ran forward to meet him. Gajeel took a leap and descended towards the incoming orange-haired shinobi, who stopped in his tracks and looked up at Gajeel. His arms came forward as if preparing for some technique.

Gajeel's arm transformed into his club as he fell, and he smashed it directly into the face of the Pain. He felt a crack beneath his club, and the Pain flew backwards, landing next to its comrades, facial features distorted from the impact.

The Pain that did the summoning glared directly at Gajeel, but not out of anger. Rather, it seemed like he was both curious and confused, as if Gajeel wasn't supposed to land a hit on the one he did.

Gajeel turned back to Jiraiya with a grin, cocking his fist in victory. The three Sages let out a collective sigh, walking forward until they drew even with Gajeel. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that," Jiraiya commented.

"You're pretty good, Gajeel-boy," Fukasaku commented, fueling Gajeel's ego.

Jiraiya motioned with a thumb behind him. "You may want to step back."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow, but did as he was asked. In unison, the three Sages inhaled, then exhaled. The substances that came out of their mouths, however, were completely different. Shima blew fire, Jiraiya blew oil, and Gukasaku blew wind.

"Sage Art: Bath of Boiling Oil!"

The flames ignited the oil, and the wind blew it towards the two Pains. Jiraiya leapt backwards to avoid the boiling tidal wave, and gajeel's eyes widened as it drew near him. He flipped completely around and sprinted for the wall, his iron spikes beginning to extend out of his boots. He slammed them into the wall and slowly began to walk up as Jiraiya stuck to it next to him.

Looking down, they saw the enormous glowing orange and brown bath as if they were stuck to the side of a tea kettle. Then, unexpectedly, the height of the boeing waves began to die down. Slowly, but surely, the volume of oil fell until the floor was visible and there was none left.

"Did it work?" Fukasaku asked with uncertainty.

When the smoke from the fire finally died down, Gajeel, Jiraiya, and the Toad Sages peered down at their opponents. What surprised Gajeel the most was that the Pain that he'd smashed earlier was now back on its feet, no visible damage remaining anywhere on it. What was worse, now there were more Pains than before. A fourth one had appeared behind the others, and behind it, the remnants of a white smoke cloud were visible, indicating that a summon had been used.

"Didn't I smash that guy already?" Gajeel asked, pointing to the broad-shouldered Pain.

Jiraiya wasn't focused on that, though. "All the oil just vanished!" he said in surprise.

Fukasaku nodded to the broad-shouldered Pain, then to the newest one behind the others. "That one was down for the count, but now it's standing again. And the other is an unknown. You can bet that all four of them have tricks up their sleeves."

Jiraiya bent forward, pressing his palms to the wall. Gajeel assumed that he was going to try another summon, but that wasn't the case, because Jiraiya kicked off his sandals. As the iron dragon slayer watched, the guards on the back of Jiraiya's hands broke off as the appendages took on the qualities of toads. Jiraiya's teeth also sharpened themselves into points as he crouched on all fours.

"How about all of us go check it out in close combat?" the Sannin asked.

Gajeel grinned. "Hehe. That's all you had to say."

The pair leapt off of the wall and towards the group of Pains. Both of Gajeel's arms had morphed into swords, the edges rotating like saws as he charged forward. Jiraiya flew through the air, a blue ball of energy forming in his right hand. It expanded until it grew to be the size of a small house. His trajectory meant that he was aiming for the broad-shouldered Pain that had somehow healed itself from Gajeel's damage earlier.

Meanwhile, Gajeel directed himself towards the Pain that used the summoning jutsu. He had no clue what the other two's abilities were, so he figured that it was best to target the one that he knew the abilities of. What he didn't expect was Pain managing to dodge each and every swipe that he threw at him. All his iron sword tasted was air and concrete on the rare occasion that the spinning metal glanced off of the ground, throwing sparks up.

"Gajeel, fall back!" Jiraiya called.

Under normal circumstances, Gajeel's iron head wouldn't allow him to listen to advice like that, but he figured that the old man's advice was sound, given that these weren't normal circumstances. He hopped backwards and allowed his hands to return to normal, even if he was still coated in his iron scales.

"So that one absorbs ninjutsu, and that one uses the summoning jutsu," Jiraiya deduced, motioning to the two Pains that the pair of them had just been engaged with. "Now to find out what the others do."

"I couldn't even land a hit on that one," Gajeel said, nodding to the Pain that summons. "It was like he could see every move I was making even if I disguised it."

"Then how did you land the attack on that one?" Shima asked, pointing to the Pain that absorbs ninjutsu.

Gajeel shrugged. "I smacked him in the face?"

"No, you may be on to something, Boss," Jiraiya granted. "I think he was trying to absorb ninjutsu, but since Gajeel doesn't use ninjutsu, he couldn't, and gajeel's attack hit him. That's why he acted surprised afterwards."

"Wait, are you saying that Gajeel-boy doesn't use ninjutsu?" Shima asked quietly, not wanting to alert Pain of Gajeel's abilities.

As if the self-proclaimed deity had heard what they were saying, he spoke to Gajeel. "You abilities are quaint. To be able to bypass the ninjutsu absorption, as well as possessing chakra that cannot be sensed is extraordinary. You would make a powerful opponent one day. It is unfortunate that none of you will live to see that day."

Even after all of that, there is still a very close resemblance between this and the show. It wasn't my intention, but this isn't the entire fight, obviously. The next chapter will have both more action as well as more originality so rest assured that I'm not getting lazy and copying the show. Please drop a review and tell me your thoughts, and I will see all of you next time!