Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Fairy Tail and any other manga/anime that makes an appearance in my works of fiction. If I did, Sasuke would've continued down his dark path and killed Sakura back then.

Last Time:

On the stage, which was a large spread of land and served as the battlefield, Setsuna stared at her armor-clad friend with a smile. "Isn't this an unlucky match-up for you, Erza-san?"

Erza said nothing, but her eyes twitched slightly. She had barely won a few of their bouts and the times she won were formed by a combination of luck, surprise tactics and Setsuna's lack of enthusiasm. Oh, she had improved alright but her growth was not so drastic that she could defeat her friend. "Perhaps we should start the match and find out just how it plays out."

"Yes…perhaps we should."

The proctor for the match, who was ironically the Strauss male, decided to not waste any time. "Battle between Setsuna Uchiha and Erza Scarlet…begin!"

Chapter 12: Proving Their Worth

Barely had the uttered words carried over, both girls were dashing towards each other with speed that surprised those unaware of their training. Being the faster of the two, Setsuna managed to draw her blade well before Erza and started the fight with a feint thrust.

Erza was not deceived and opted to slash at Setsuna with her magic broadsword, putting in a great deal of strength into her swing.

CLANG!

Setsuna's cool eyes met Erza's burning ones as her Kurohime clashed against Erza's blade, both girls not giving an inch as they tried to overpower the other. In a shower of sparks, Setsuna flicked her blade diagonally, knocking the heavier sword away from her. Unlike in their spars, Erza didn't overexert herself; she had learned that lesson from her beat-down by Naruto. Letting go of her sword just as Setsuna flung it aside, Erza whipped her armored fist towards Setsuna.

Setsuna's left hand was quick to slap Erza's fist away, though she had to reinforce it with some chakra to prevent any bruising. Not letting up, Erza turned her tumbling into a roll; clasping the ground, she rotated herself a complete 360 degrees, snapping off double roundhouse kicks towards Setsuna. Instead of making contact with flesh, Erza's feet met no resistance. Settling into a crouch, her battle-honed instincts guiding her, she pulled a shield from her dimension to block Setsuna's mid-air strike.

Grimacing at the force, Erza hopped away from Setsuna, who landed easily despite having her attack blocked by Erza. Setsuna quirked a brow, clearly surprised at Erza's reactions. "My, my. You hardly ever resort to using shields…it seems my lessons haven't been forgotten."

Erza wordlessly requipped two more magic swords which she wielded in a reverse grip. "How were you able to avoid my earlier attack?" she questioned, stalling for some time. The spell she was about to pull off was somewhat new, since she hadn't gotten much practice with it, and she needed every advantage she could get.

Setsuna cupped her cheeks with her unoccupied hand, somewhat amused. "Ara, ara…and here I was, starting to think you had grown out of that habit. I guess I'll have to reeducate you on the etiquette of combat." The tone of her voice, which promised untold amounts of pain and suffering, coupled with the smile that emphasized her angelic features made Erza pale and take a step back.

That was a mistake that almost cost her the match; when Erza backtracked, Setsuna was right in front of her with Kurohime already descending in a vertical slash. She barely managed to block the slash with her right sword, only to be pushed back by Setsuna. Caught off guard, Erza nonetheless blocked Setsuna's rising kick with her second weapon.

Looking into Setsuna's eyes, Erza immediately closed her left eye and concentrated her right eye on Setsuna's Sharingan. "That's better…" She whispered. In an explosion of motion, Setsuna broke herself free from Erza's pin-down, spun herself completely around and landed a blinding kick to Erza's breastplate, sending her skidding away. "Still not good enough!" she called out.

Erza felt the wind rush out of her lungs from the force of Setsuna's kicks and dismissed her broadswords for a katana. Stabbing it into the ground, she cast her spell. "Demon Blade Crimson Sakura!" The blade begun to glow a malevolent red colour, it's edge becoming sharper as she poured more of her magic energy into it. Hearing the whistle of Kurohime once again, Erza skirted around the hail of slashes. "Requip: Flight Armor!" Erza's outfit disappeared to reveal her armor change almost instantaneously.

Naruto, who was watching the fight via video Lacrima in the tent, arched a brow in surprise. That time he had sparred with she and Mirajane, the speed of her Requip skill had been impressive but she had needed to stop moving before the spell took hold. Now she was capable of doing so against someone as fast as Setsuna; it was truly commendable to see the growth she had achieved in only six months.

Leaping back, she dashed towards Setsuna at increased speeds that left her nothing more than a blur in the eyes of even Laxus. With Setsuna suddenly on the defense as well as she attacking with all she had, Erza rained blow upon blow on the raven-haired mage. However, due to her Kekkei Genkai, Setsuna easily saw through her attacks and parried or blocked each of Erza's swings.

Shifting her left leg backwards, Setsuna smiled as she cast her favorite jutsu as of late. "Chidori Koken (One Thousand Birds Sword)." As Erza swung once again, lightning encased the blade of Kurohime. When contact was made, Erza's katana had already been replaced by a long spear in a shower of sparks and clang of metal. Taking a look at Erza, Setsuna smirked as she beheld Erza's impressively speedy requip. The armor was primarily golden and light bluish in colour; the breastplate was decorated with golden trimmings and had thin plates going up to surround Erza's neck. Her head was also adorned by a band with two ribbons on it, and her hair was now styled in a long braid. As noted before, her weapon was a long spear with a very large blade and a decorated circle resembling a shield attaching it to the shaft, adorned by a large ribbon.

-Waiting Tent-

In the tent, Laxus let out a snort. "She's actually using the Lightning Empress Armor against that weak Lightning mage? What the hell is she thinking…it's not like she's that much of a threat." He crossed his arms as he stared at the video lacrima, never seeing Mira's frown at him looking down on her rival.

Naruto shook his head at Laxus' words. "Setsuna is one of the best, if not the best, Lightning mages in the Guild at the moment." That wasn't exactly true; as far as he knew, he was the most knowledgeable about lightning manipulation in the Guild. However, it was also true because he didn't use lightning jutsu often. "Erza's choice was the necessary action to earn her more points in this race to become S-Class; she shows that she is capable of making decisions that effectively deal with whatever problem she encounters. Also, with her speedy requip, she shows versatility in her fighting style; something that most mages seem to lack."

Laxus growled angrily at being showed up by Naruto once again in front of Mirajane. "Shut up, you god-damn know-it-all. S-Class elites are selected according to their power, not the decisions they make; in the end, those without power are destined to fade into the background, never to become S-Class mages."

Before Naruto could retort, Mirajane made her opinion known. "Would both of you stop fighting already?! The fight is getting interesting, damn it!" She scolded, smacking Laxus' arm and cuffing Naruto. Pulling Naruto towards her, she marched further away from Laxus' position. "Since you two can't be civil near one another, I'll have to separate you two!" she declared.

Laxus scowled as he saw Mirajane slip Naruto's arm near her well-endowed chest. A stab of jealousy twisted his heart; had the new guy not been around, he would've been the one to be wrapped in Mirajane's embrace. It angered him to see his closest friend and object of desire being 'taken away' by the blond-haired bastard. 'That bastard…when the time comes, I'll make sure that he gets his hands off my woman.'

-Battle Grounds-

Erza was having a rough time. It wasn't that her Lightning Empress Armor wasn't working, because it was; having fought Setsuna countless times, Erza had known that she could use Lightning magic and saved up specifically for the Lightning Empress armor. However, the manner in which Setsuna utilized said lightning was what really made her struggle.

Unlike Laxus, who preferred to fire bolts from mid-range as well as incorporate the lightning into his hand-to-hand combat, Setsuna channeled a constant stream of highly concentrated lightning through her sword. Not only did this zap Erza each time they clashed, but, with each strike, Erza could feel her Lightning Empress armor crack and break from the increasing voltage.

After all, whilst the Lightning Empress armor halved the offensive power of a lightning attack and granted Erza the limited ability to use Lightning magic, Setsuna's extremely high lightning affinity was more than a match for the armor. Enhanced by her monstrous chakra reserves, even when halved, her blade of lightning was superior to Erza's armor.

Hearing Setsuna's footsteps approach, Erza whirled about and parried her thrust. A knee strike slammed into her breastplate once again, a distinct crack being heard as Erza gasped in pain. Releasing her requip, Erza stumbled around in a daze.

Setsuna watched Erza wobble about, her arms gripping her chest, and decided to end her match. Erza had shown enough for the Master to consider; there was no need to continue this farce. She disappeared into a flock of ravens from her position and rematerialized in front of Erza, a discrete hand-seal ready to cast the Genjutsu…

Only for her deeply-ingrained reflexes saved her from a beheading. Throwing her head back to dodge Erza's diagonal swipe, Setsuna let herself fall to her back whilst striking out with another rising kick.

Erza blocked her with her gauntlets and immediately leaped away. Settling into a crouched stance, she weighed her options. She could continue fighting, give up or try and force Setsuna to give up. She snorted at the first one; Setsuna was only playing with her and knew most, if not all, of her tactics. Going against an opponent with so much information about her strengths and weaknesses was tantamount to suicide, had these circumstances been a reality.

The second option appealed to her more than she wanted to admit. Half a year ago, she wouldn't have even considered that as an option; she would've continued fighting until she dropped. On one hand, giving up would leave a bad taste in her mouth and slight her pride as a mage. On the other hand, Makarov hadn't told them what task was after this one; for all she knew, it would require her to have some measure of magic energy left in order to pass. Wasting all her magic on this fight would show that she was incapable of planning for the possibility of future skirmishes i.e. she would come across as someone who focused on the here-and-now, rather than conserving energy for possible future battles. Also, her pride wasn't everything to her; so what if she didn't make S-Class on her first try? Everything happened for a reason, so if she didn't make the cut, she could always try again next time.

The third option…was impossible. Getting Mirajane to act like a refined lady would be infinitely easier than attempting to mislead Setsuna. The last time she had tried that, she ended up buried in the earth for the most of her afternoon.

Sighing, Erza raised her hand. "I forfeit. This match will only end in my defeat if I continue and I see no point in doing so." She found it a bit annoying that Elfman was ogling her with disbelieving eyes, but managed to restrain her annoyance to a minor tick mark.

Getting himself back together, Elfman proceeded to call out. "Winner by forfeit, Setsuna Uchiha!"

-Waiting Tent-

Mirajane blinked owlishly at the announcement. "She forfeited? Red actually forfeited her match?!" She was two seconds away from flipping her shit; Erza, the most stubborn person in the entire Fairy Tail Guild besides her, had actually swallowed her pride and acknowledged Setsuna as her superior?

Naruto, who was standing beside her and Cana, shrugged. "That was the only thing she could do; Setsuna knows how she fights, is physically better than her and can't be outmaneuvered by just anyone. The match was over the moment it started; Erza put up her best, but sometimes luck is never always on your side…something that Erza just experienced."

Cana frowned, her eyes drifting from the video lacrima to Naruto. "Why give up though? How does that show that a person is capable of being S-Class?" She could hazard a guess, but she needed to stay away from the center of attention at the moment. Currently, Naruto was the one in the spotlight; he had proven himself to be an expert in combat and was strong enough to beat Setsuna, according to her sushi obsessed friend. Laxus had shown a desire to thrash him, Mirajane was interested in the possibility of fighting him again and even she wanted to see how she measured against him.

This served her well; with no one, Naruto excepted because he was the kind of person to never underestimate someone, expecting her to be any competition she had the element of surprise in her favor. Well, unless she was paired against Naruto…

Naruto produced a book from somewhere on his person and began to lazily flip the pages. "I find no fault with Erza when it comes to standing against Setsuna with courage. However, very few people have the courage to sheathe their sword once it's out." He stopped at a marked page and began reading from it. "Fear is not evil. It tells you what your weakness is. And once you know your weakness, you can grow stronger and more adaptable to the challenges you encounter. It's necessary in order to become an S-Class mage. Learn this lesson well and you'll definitely go far in life."

The sound of the tent flap opening had each of the remaining candidates shifting their attention to see Makarov and another individual enter. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he sized up the stranger: he was a tall and muscular man with shoulder-length reddish orange hair, which was kept slick back, and some stubble around his mouth and on his chin. His attire was simple; a dark, tattered cape over his bare chest, with a high collar and armored plates on the shoulders, held closed by a belt and covering his whole figure, and loose dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard with plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple boots.

The man's magical capacity was something that interested Naruto; even though Naruto felt that it was suppressed to the barest minimum, he could tell that it completely surpassed anything the S-Class hopefuls could hope to pull off. If he were to compare his old self to the stranger, at the man's utmost best…it would be a close one, but Naruto was confident that he would've found a way to beat him though he doubted if it would be anything different than the usual trend: overwhelm his enemies with his Kage Bunshin, activate the Kyuubi Chakra Mode and finish it off with a new version of the Rasengan. He sweat-dropped. 'Damn, I really did have the Lady Luck's favor if I managed to survive doing that…'

His sensitive ears managed to catch Cana's startled gasp as she laid her eyes on the man. Pretending to read his book, his eyes watched the emotions play across her face; surprise, joy, sadness, shame and the tiniest seeds of hate. A rather interesting mix of contrasting emotions, especially the last one. He was curious about the possible relationship between the man and Cana but shrugged and returned to his book. If she was ready to tell him, she'd tell him' there was no point in prodding her for details.

"Alright everyone, gather round. It's time for the next pair of contestants to be chosen." Makarov said as he stood in front of the video lacrima. "Let me remind you that losing or forfeiting your match doesn't mean that you're out of the running for S-Class; should you fall against your opponent, use that as experience and better yourselves." Shooting a look at his companion, Makarov coughed lightly. "The next match, which was chosen in a completely random manner, is Cana Alberona vs. Mirajane Strauss." The apologetic look he sent her annoyed the brunette Card Mage.

Mirajane eyed Cana with an appraising eye. "You ready to do this, sister?"

Laxus interjected before Cana could say a word. "What are you saying? That Card Magic of hers against your Take Over? What other outcome do you expect besides you wiping the floor with her?"

Cana gritted her teeth in anger and disappointment as she heard Laxus, one of their strongest mages, talk her down in front of Gildarts. She was upset at having her magic insulted and degraded to something that wasn't even worth learning; she had spent several years practicing her Card magic, put in so much time, sweat and energy into mastering her magic. For it to be looked down on, especially by the Master, pissed her off like nothing before. Before she could open her mouth, most likely to retort and end up saying something she hadn't meant to say, Naruto spoke.

"Do your best Cana. I'm pretty sure you've got some surprises for us to see." He gave her a discrete wink when she turned and looked him in the eye.

She felt her heart clench uncomfortably. Was he-? Shoving her thoughts to the side, she nodded resolutely and headed off to the stands, her mind a whirlwind of plans and counter-plans. On her right arm, a seal became visible for the briefest of seconds before fading out of view just as quickly as it came.

-Exam Grounds-

Elfman audibly gulped as he watched his sister and Cana walk out of the tent, the both of them obviously being the next pair to fight. 'Nee-chan, you'd better not underestimate Cana…you have no idea of how much she's changed.' He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. This next battle could get a little ugly; his sister was never really one for surprises.

"Are both fighters ready?" Cana nodded resolutely whilst Mirajane smirked. "Begin!"

Cana immediately began flinging rows of magic cards at Mirajane, her movements quick and precise. Mirajane easily weaved through the barrage of cards, though she made a note to avoid them after hearing the cards hit the earth with enough strength to shatter it. Cana kept her face blank as she continued sending more cards en masse towards her opponent.

Mirajane barked out a laugh as she proceeded to dodge, somersault and avoid all of Cana's cards. "Oi, Cana! Get serious already, this little act of yours is boring!" Leaping away from another hail of cards, Mirajane decided to go on the offensive. Extending her hand towards Cana, her magic flowed underneath the brunette as she called out her spell. "Darkness Stream!"

A multitude of large tendrils exploded from the ground and lunged towards Cana. Darting out of the tendril's reach, Cana swore as another group of tendrils emerged from the ground and tried to engulf her. "Wind Edge!" She pulled out two cards: "Heaven" and one unnamed (with green, wind-like drawing on it) and combined them in one hand, and with the other one, when she waved it in the direction of the spell, activating it. An ascending air blast was generated from the ground several meters away from her, which forced Mirajane to leap into the skies to avoid them.

When Cana saw this, she allowed a smirk to cross her face. 'Gotcha!'

Channeling magic energy into her left hand, she quickly tapped her right bicep whilst simultaneously releasing the gathered energy. In a puff of smoke, two black gloves appeared in her hand. Managing to get one on whilst Mirajane was still airborne, she leaped towards her and cocked her right gloved fist back.

Mirajane saw the incoming fist and grimaced as she prepared to block it. 'Shit.'

What happened next was what really took the cake. When the punch landed, Mirajane was flung waaaay past the distance she should've landed; instead of being knocked downwards with only a slight increase in speed, she was propelled away from her original position with speed comparable to Jet!

The crowd was silent for a few moments, no doubt trying to figure out what had happened, before cheering like hell for the show.

Landing gracefully, Cana pulled on the other glove and peered into the dust clouds that had kicked up when Mirajane crashed into the earth. She could barely make out a figure; squinting her eyes, she saw something that looked remarkably like a bat wing…

"Demon Blast!" A large ball of dark energy blew away the dust cloud to reveal Mirajane in her Partial Take-Over form. She aimed the ball at Cana and fired, a large violet beam streaking towards her.

Thinking fast, Cana slammed her fists unto the ground. The force of her blow managed to shift a layer of earth up, which she hastily constructed into a makeshift barrier by warding it with her magic energy. When Mira's attack hit, an enormous dust cloud erupted, thick and heavy; providing Cana with a good smokescreen cover.

Standing feet away from the dust cloud, Mirajane's form was fully revealed to the crowd. Unlike her Satan Soul, she did not age when using this spell; one could say that it looked much like a miniature Satan Soul transformation. Her hair was still styled in the same wild fashion as it usually was in her Satan Soul. Her outfit was the same; the same gothic clothing she always wore. Her arms were covered in scales, though they lacked the fin-like protrusion on the outer side as well as the gauntlets. Large wings completed the form; such wings were reminiscent of a bat's, and came with small spike-like protrusions on their upper edges.

"The Prayer's Fountain!" A fountain of water shot out from within the cloud of dust, shooting towards Mirajane with unerring speed. "Jolt of Fate!" Lightning followed the water, its static form winking in and out of existence as it surged forwards.

Taking to the air once again, Mirajane smirked when Cana burst out from her hiding place and ready another strike. Shooting forwards with her wings, Mira whirled about with a roundhouse kick that clashed with Cana's right hook. Using her momentum to enhance her blow, Mirajane decked Cana across the stadium with her right fist and finished it off with another Demon Blast attack.

Slamming into Cana, the beam smashed her hard unto the unforgiving earth with enough strength to form a miniature crater. When the dust clouds had settled, Cana's battered and bruised form could be seen shuddering on the ground. The crowd made various sympathetic noises as Mirajane landed in front of the downed girl, her face having a somewhat sad expression etched unto her face.

Cana was her friend, one of the true friends she had in the Guild. She wasn't much of a fighter and her magic was more of a Support Magic than combat-oriented whilst Mirajane was seemingly built for combat. The moment the Master had called their names, both of them had known how it was going to end.

The fact that Cana gave it her all and would continue getting up just made it more saddening.

Mirajane crouched down, preparing to knock Cana out and claim victory, when she felt it. A pulse of magic energy directly below her. Eyes widening, she made to leap away only for a magic circle to blaze into existence. "Summoned Lightning!" Cana's cry threw her for a loop; it wasn't coming from the Cana she had been about to knock out, it was coming from behind her!

A cage of green lightning rapidly expanded from the seal and swallowed Mirajane whole, electrifying her with copious amounts of lightning. Mirajane's pained screams tugged at Elfman's heartstrings but he willed himself to not give in to his desire to end the match just yet. There was still a chance that Mirajane could turn things around.

The battered Cana burst into smoke just as the lightning cage was torn apart by a potent blast of Darkness Magic. Landing shakily, Mirajane began searching for her opponent in a disoriented haze. 'That last attack of hers really knocked me for a loop…need to end this quickly.' Griping her knees to steady herself, Mira then noticed a shadow growing larger and larger.

"Heaven Kick of Pain!" Due to her disoriented state, Mira made the rookie mistake of looking towards the direction of the shout. A sandaled foot slammed into her face and drove it deep within the earth in a mini-crater, kicking up another dust cloud in the arena. Unlike last time, Cana had not used her magic-induced strength to pull the attack off; she still had problems with controlling the flow of energy the way Naruto and Lisanna could and attempting to do so in the middle of a battle would only blow up in her face.

There was silence in the arena as Cana panted from the strenuous fight. Standing proudly, albeit tiredly, she lifted her fist in victory. "Winner by knockout, Cana Alberona!"

-Erza-

With the Magic Council, each and every member had been watching the fights with interest to gauge the strength of Fairy Tail's latest generation. Whilst some of the members, namely Siegrain and Belno, were annoyed by the constant delaying of Naruto's debut, others were mostly impressed by the fights they had seen so far.

Whilst the battles did not match against those of S-Class mages, it was remarkable that mages as young as them could fight as well as Fairy Tail's latest batch. Org kept twirling his beard as he watched the ongoing fights. "Such an impressive and efficient Requip ability…this Erza Scarlet seems to have pushed the boundaries of Requip Magic to its limits. When word of her skill gets out, she might even become a role model for future Requip mages."

Michello nodded, his squinty eyes closed in thought. "Her swordsmanship skills are intriguingly high for a teenager; if I were to give an honest estimation of her swordplay, I'd say she is roughly on par with our Captains." He opened his eyes and frowned as he watched Erza and Setsuna clash. "The other girl, Setsuna Uchiha, also shows much promise; not only is she highly skilled with the blade, but she is able to use it in conjuncture with Lightning magic to cause major damage to her opponents."

Siegrain chuckled, his eyes locked unto the form of his former childhood friend. "Indeed, she does have talent. Being able to overcome the Lightning Empress Armor is something only a few individuals can do and even then they use other forms of magic to do so. For her to perform such a feat, she must have an exceptionally strong Lightning affinity."

Yajima bobbed his head in agreement. "Aye. I've never seen anyone think of running lightning magic through a blade; most of the time, the weapon used is a spear to prevent any accidental shocks to the wielder due to its long length. However, I can see why a blade could also be used. Not only will the lightning push the sharpness of the blade to its absolute maximum, but, if an opponent is stabbed, their body will go numb. Very unorthodox solution but very effective."

Belno huffed. "That may be so, but I believe that match between Cana Alberona and Mirajane Strauss was disappointing. Strauss was barely paying attention to her surroundings, focusing solely on defeating her opponent and showing little to no strategy to prove that she is S-Class material."

Ultear covered her lips as she giggled. "Well, what did you expect from mages of Fairy Tail? They rarely think and are prone to bouts of emotion-induced insanity. If anything, we should be impressed with Miss Alberona's performance; it's very rare that we see mages of Fairy Tail fight with strategy."

Yajima gave a start as the next announcement was made. "Last fight of the first trial: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Laxus Dreyar!" "It's starting!"

As the Council members shifted their attention to the video lacrima, Siegrain smirked as he leaned back. Erza's performance was good, but he needed a strong sacrifice to bring back the Black Mage Zeref. Even if she continued to grow at this rate, she would fall short of the margin. 'Still, one good thing has come out of this; Setsuna Uchiha…Naruto Uzumaki…I wonder if either of you will be the one to free Master Zeref from his slumber.'

-Fairy Tail Exam Grounds-

In the center of the grounds, the two males of the S-Class potentials stood facing each other. On the southern hemisphere of the center, Laxus smirked as he shrugged off his cape and removed his Magic Earphones. Tossing them off to the side whilst keeping his gaze on his adversary, Laxus began stretching and warming up. To the onlookers, he appeared unconcerned about the upcoming fight. "So, you ready to eat dirt boy?"

Naruto, standing opposite Laxus, ignored the taunt and opted to begin removing his ankle-length black coat. As he tugged at one side, the three 'x' shaped marks that held it together fell apart easily and quickly. Removing the coat, the crimson vest that he wore underneath was revealed; also, the tattoo-like bands that crossed over his chest, wrists and black lines on his forearms were more exposed to viewing. The coat disappeared in a burst of light and Naruto stared at Laxus with bored half-lidded eyes. "The question you should be asking me is how far I'm going to thrash you to the ground. If I were you, I'd start abandoning hope right about now."

Laxus scowled heavily and settled into his ready stance. "I'm going to make you eat those words." He snarled.

Naruto shrugged and reached into his pocket to remove a book, causing Laxus to look at him strangely and Elfman to face-palm. "I'm ready when you are."

Deciding to get things started, Elfman brought his hands down, "Naruto Uzumaki vs. Laxus Dreyar…Begin!"

Turning a page, Naruto decided to start the match slowly to get a feel of Laxus. He had a general idea of what Laxus was capable of; now, he needed to get the specifics and limits of Makarov's grandson. "Shouldn't you be attacking about now, Honourable Grandson?"

Laxus stiffened at the name and released a great deal of magic energy in the form of lightning from his body. Lightning surged around him like a pseudo-armor, bathing him in bright yellow light. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would've thought that Laxus was trying to resemble an angel or heavenly being. "Don't you ever call me that." He commanded, his voice thick with negative emotion.

Naruto paid him no attention, simply flipping the pages once again. "Ara, ara. You think you're in any position to be ordering me about,…Ho-nour-able Grand-son?" He eye-smiled, making Laxus turn red with anger.

"FUCK YOU!" Manipulating the lightning energy in his body, Laxus' body disappeared into pure elemental lightning bolts that sparked with furious vigor. The bolts rushed towards Naruto at the speed of sound, easily appearing behind the blond and rematerializing into Laxus, who had a lightning clad fist descending towards Naruto's back.

A lazy backhand sent him flying away from Naruto in an undignified heap towards the ground. Managing to recover just in time and land safely, Laxus winced as the left half of his face throbbed. Rubbing it, his unobstructed eye narrowed at Naruto. 'How…How did his eyes manage to keep up with my speed?! I should've been able to hit him without him noticing!' Deciding to try again, Laxus used his Lightning Body spell to speed away and try striking Naruto from his right side; with his right hand occupied, it would be easier to attack that side.

Unfortunately for Laxus, Naruto had been dealing with shinobi that moved just as fast as Laxus for much longer than he bothered to count. By the time Laxus had covered half the distance towards him, Naruto was already in motion; a raised right leg blocked the lightning user's charging knee strike, his left hand parrying the punch aimed for his gut.

Laxus immediately retreated and tried again from another side with increasing frustration, which only continued to grow as Naruto blocked, dodged and countered each of strikes. What really annoyed Laxus was the fact that he was not only managing to keep up with Laxus' Lightning Rush, but that he had yet to take a single bloody step the entire time! It was almost like he could predict his movements!

An elbow met Laxus' face with intense abruptness, the force behind the blow actually managing to deactivate Laxus' Lightning Body spell for a moment. Regaining his composure, Laxus tried once again to catch Naruto with his speed; appearing right above the reading blond, he lashed out with a diagonal descending kick towards Naruto's head.

That was when Naruto moved. Like nothing Laxus had ever seen before, the blond disappeared from his view at speeds that his eyes could not see. His attack missing completely, Laxus didn't even have time to regain his balance before Naruto fazed into view and smashed his elbow right in the same place as his earlier attack. Sent to the floor once again, Laxus growled heatedly as Naruto continued to read that book of his. 'This…This can't be happening! I can't possibly be toyed with by that newbie! It's all a dream…that's what it is! I'm going to wake up…and I'll be victorious!'

Then Laxus noticed something that stopped him cold. Where Naruto was standing, was the exact position he had been before he had disappeared and avoided Laxus' kick! There were no footprints, nothing to indicate that he had moved!

Laxus wouldn't know it, but that moment was when he began seeing Naruto as someone to measure himself against. His speed, even amongst Lightning Mages, was inhuman; praises were showered on him for being one of, if not the, fastest in Fiore. Naruto's speed wasn't inhuman; that would be insulting for someone like him to be compared to a human. It wasn't god-like even, for that implied that, impressive as it was, it did not reach a level beyond mortal comprehension. That assumption would also be wrong.

Naruto's speed was that of the gods themselves; speed on a level that transcended past the limits of lowly half-evolved beings.

Stilling his shakings, Laxus decided to try something new. Placing his right arm a few centimeters away from his left, with both of his palms open and held outstretched, Laxus created a sphere of lightning around his outstretched forearm. "Thunder Bullets!" Barrages of small, yet destructive lightning orbs were fired towards Naruto at high speed.

Seeing the bolts shooting towards him, Naruto decided that his book needed to disappear lest it get caught in the crossfire. Stowing it in his pocket, where it was sealed away, Naruto charged towards Laxus, avoiding the barrage of orbs like a snake gliding on a river body as though they were moving in slow motion.

Appearing in front of Laxus with nary a sound, Naruto launched Laxus upwards with a powerful kick reminiscent of Might Gai's 'Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock)' taijutsu move. Not letting up, he used the Kage Buyo (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) to appear behind Laxus, closely matching his body's movement. Using the 'Creation of All Things' jutsu to create black wrappings, Naruto deftly restrained Laxus similar to how Lee used his bandages to perform the 'Omote Renge (Front Lotus)'.

With Laxus restrained, Naruto slapped on a gravity seal and threw Laxus to the ground. Still hanging in mid-air, Naruto took in a deep breath as he manipulated his potent chakra to flow like Natsu's and attacked. "Fire Dragon's," Hearing the crowd go silent at his words, Naruto smirked at the confusion they must be feeling at the moment. "Roar!"

A massive pillar of flames descended upon Laxus, resulting in a tremendous explosion that blew apart a good size of the grounds and forcing Elfman to leap away into the stands.

Landing in a half-crouch, Naruto peered into the smoke to see Laxus struggling to stand, several burns visible on his frame. 'Payback is a bitch, ain't it? Still, I'd better wrap things up quickly.' Blurring towards the staggering Laxus, Naruto focused chakra into his hands and punched.

Several times. In rapid succession. At point blank range. "Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock)!"

Face. Arms. Legs. Chest. Gut. Back to the face. Switch to chest. Naruto left no place unmarked in his furious assault, striking just as hard as it was fast.

All the crowd could see were countless flames that fanned out in the shape and appearance of a peacock's feathers as Naruto continued to wail on Laxus, not letting up until he felt Laxus was unconscious. Knocking Laxus down to the ground, Naruto waited for half a minute, calmly reading his book once again, before the crowd and Elfman snapped out of their gawking.

"Winner by Knockout! Naruto Uzumaki!"

A/N: I'm ending it here; the intelligence test Leaf Ranger and I discussed won't take up that much time to write, so I'm not including it in this chapter. Chapter 13, god knows when it'll be up, will contain the other two trials and effectively wrap up the Pre-Canon Arc. It'll also include the reactions of the Council Members, the Guild itself as well as more Zeref screen time. The Cana/Mirajane and Naruto/Laxus fights were really hard for me to write; I can't just give them their full arsenal from the get-go and assume that they were buffed up throughout the years; Laxus would have a more limited arsenal than Canon Laxus at this point in time. HOWEVER, expect the battle royal to be much better than this.

Now, can anyone tell me why there are so many evil people in this world who recommend crap like Boku no Pico to watch? A friend of mine tried that on me, luckily I had already heard about it and didn't bother myself. The very fact that it exists makes me nauseated.

I'm not sure if I should base my upcoming Naruto/Bleach crossover on the period before Bleach Ch 540 or include current manga developments in the story. Any suggestions?

I've also decided to change a few of the FT 'boss fights'; I mean, with Naruto thrown in the mix, my story can hardly follow canon to the 'T', can it? If you don't like spoilers…well, think of it this way: if I say Battle A will be changed, that doesn't really say much does it? It's not like I'm telling you how it's gonna play out, is it? Anyways, here are the confirmed 'new' fights:

Naruto vs. Jellal (It's easy to see that happening if you read what Jellal was thinking and the paths which he could take following that train of thought)

Naruto/Laxus vs. Hades (Don't get me wrong, the canon fight was awesome but Naruto isn't going to let five of his nakama, who are low on juice, go fight the 'Big Bad' and get themselves killed. Also, he is the only one with the resolve to kill Hades, something I'm glad happened in canon despite the circumstances.)

Naruto vs. Acnologia (Something that has always been in my head since I started this story; I think you'll like what I plan on doing in regards to this fight)

These are the confirmed changes; I might have more, but those will be a surprise. PM me if you're too curious to let it go and I'll see what I can do.

Regarding Jellal, I see him as a somewhat impatient person. Sure he has some patience, but I'm sure he's not above using a 'shortcut' to further his goals. If Erza is taking too long to grow and become a suitable sacrifice, he'll just look for another target to 'free' Zeref. I also like him when he was evil, so I doubt I'll be doing a good Jellal during the Oracion Seis arc. Don't like it? Sorry, but that won't change; I've always found it irritating that he just loses his memories like that and goes on the road of a martyr. Remember when he struck Natsu with those flames during the fight with Master Zero? I was so excited, thinking that evil Jellal was back after seeing his 'bad guy' face, only to have my hopes shattered.

Concerning the latest Naruto chapter…I smell Orochimaru and Sasuke turning on the Allied Shinobi and attempting to make Sasuke the next Juubi Jinchuuriki. After all, Orochimaru would want to have the best body and live forever and what better way to do that than making Sasuke, his next target, a Jinchuuriki? Sasuke, I think, hasn't completely let go of his hatred; with the Juubi's power in his hands, Konoha wouldn't stand a chance. With the Four Hokage under Orochimaru's control, with the exception of Hashirama, it would be possible for them to do so. With Tsunade on Death's door, the Five Kage don't really seem to have a bright future.

Review! Review! Review!

MaelstromBankai.