It had been three hours since Naruto and Erza had been tested to check if they were related and the redhead was conflicted about what to do about it, it was shocking to hear from someone younger than her that he had been in friendly enough with her mother to the point of wanting to be her father, and if the whiskers she had were anything to go by it was probably more on her mothers side as well. She had so many questions but no idea where to start, to her the biggest thing she had questions about was how her mother had been alive 400 years ago but she herself had only been born 19 years ago, the next one was about that blond Naruto who claimed to have been close to her mother to the point of volunteering to be her father, and his claims must have some truth to them if what the guilds unofficial doctor said was true about their genetic structure, then he was probably closer than he had let on.
--
Within the woods surrounding Magnolia town, Naruto had built up his own cabin using the wood style. He chose to temporarily settle outside the city bounds having taken the possibility of an attack by the troublesome guild known as Phantom Lord into consideration. He stared at it, having just finished some business (read grocery shopping) for the night in the town. As he approached his temporary lodging he sensed a source he was all too familiar with, he sped up a bit in order to get home and see what his one time friend wanted from him.
Opening the door he spoke, "Oi, bastard what do you want here? We weren't exactly friends last time we talked." although still somewhat upset over acnologia single handedly fucking up the war effort, he was somewhat excited to see the man again.
Unfortunately once the Dragonslayer spoke he knew it wasn't a social call. "That asshole Zeref is still around and this time he has a whole continent as well as that redhaired bitch you kept around. Just thought you should know. Despite what happened, we still have a bigger common enemy to defeat… After that, things get difficult."
"What is it with people being alive longer than they should? Was the fountain of youth found? Was immortality just given out like candy? This is bullshit!"
The blond exclaimed at the discovery that Zeref and Irene were still alive after 400 years.
Naruto spoke up again, "That's beside the point, what do you mean about Zeref having a continent? And Irene siding with him? What's with that shit."
Acnologia scoffed at his self-proclaimed rival,
"Well Zeref has been busy, he's been looking for a way to die after being cursed by Ankhseram, so he made demon after demon to do the job but all failed."
"And somehow he ended up with a continent?" The blond said exasperated. "And Irene… that explains Erza...But how… she must… no she wouldn't. Would she?" This time, he was speaking low to himself, pacing around the room.
Chuckling lowly to himself Acnologia stood up and spoke, "that sounds like an issue for you not me, can i get a cup of water before i leave~?"
"Uh… sure here bought some bottled due to the current state of this cabin" Naruto motioned to the lack of furniture, and likely usable utilities.
As the rogue Dragonslayer began to make his way out of the cabin, he spoke one last time, "Don't expect me to spare the Queen if she crosses my path,"
"If what you said it's true…" Naruto paused, his heart wrenching at the fact he ever had to piece the following words together, "She's an enemy, and must be… killed."
Acnologia paused for a moment, turning his head to the side enough to give Naruto a side glance. The man turned dragon would swear up and down for the rest of his life it never happened, but his lips quirked upwards momentarily and he nodded in approval, "Perhaps you aren't a useless ally afterall."
A long silence followed as the blond digested all the information he had been given. 'Somehow, Zeref, Irene, Acnologia, and Natsu have all survived to this point in time… to the point I finally re-emerged from my seal. Why now? How? And why the specific group tied to the birth of Dragon Slayer magic? Nothing is adding up!'
Next Day
He was cooking when he first felt it, the trembling of the ground. The small vibrations that gradually grew louder and louder, then there was the build up of energy even he could feel, coming from the direction of the guild in which the child of his missing lover was a member of.
Without thinking, he flew out of the cabin. His six path sage mode allowed him to move with a speed that matched his desperation as in a minute he crossed the depths of the forest, and across magnolia. Floating just above the guildhall, he watched as a giant castle with legs began to fire what he identified to be an energy weapon.
And to top it all off, Erza Scarlet, Daughter to his forbidden love, Irene, was just about to sacrifice herself to stop the weapon with some sort of magical armor.
Without thinking, he performed the hand seals required for the summoning technique. intoning in a low voice, "Summoning Jutsu: Quintuple Rashomon." Having leaped in front of erza prior to activating the Jutsu, 5 demonic looking faces on top of their frames descended just in time to hopefully stop the attack.
(POV switch; Erza)
"Summoning: Quintuple Rashomon!" Erza opened her eyes to the sound of five heavy gates slamming against the ground, just as she prepared to sacrifice herself for her guildmates. The Jupiter cannon struck the first of the five gates, and promptly broke through it, then a second, and a third.
Mortified, the redhead watched the look of strain on the blond's face. The horror and fascination with the strange man that claimed to have been close with her mother stop the blast of the cannon with the fourth of the 5 gates.
When the laser finally fizzled out, the blond let off a sigh of relief. Causing the Requip mage to ask, "Why? Why did you...?"
She was interrupted when his arm pulled her into him as he hugged her, explaining, "I already lost your mother, I'm not losing the last thing she left in this world."
Stunned by words she never thought she would hear she hugged him back and said, "thank you… Father…"
Hearing those words from the last remnants of the first person he truly loved his only response was, "URK." It was as if he was physically struck and in that moment he felt more happiness than ever before.
Naruto looked in disgust at what… remained… of Porla, the leader of a guild called Phantom Lord and the person who put the life of his lover of yore. The mage was utterly weak and was defeated with a Rasengan, who knew humans were so fragile?
Naruto scoffed, "Ruffian doesn't even crack my top one thousand fights."
"Who are YOU?" Another voice called out from the end of the hallway. A familiar figure stood blocking his exit way.
"Ah, Metalicana's Son… Galeel… or was it Jaceel?" The blond asked himself, getting an odd look from the Iron Dragon Slayer.
"It's Gajeel Redfox!" The black haired teen yelled with a tick in his eyebrow as he charged at the blond, throwing punch after punch however, the blond opponent simply back-stepped away from every single taunting him, "What would the great Iron Dragon say about you? Playing with the villains, an incompetent one at that, such a disappointment."
Gajeel growled, yelling, "Shut Up! What do you know about Metalicana anyways?!"
"Beat me and find out." Naruto answers with a grin, a chance to see how one of the five turned out. Though, so far, he was being left sorely disappointed. They wouldn't be strong enough to face the challenge set up for them, killing dragons, "You are weak Jacelle! An academy student could do better than this."
The blond hopped away from the floor, rocketing towards a wall, bouncing off towards the roof before coming back down delivering a kick that barely missed the intended target but broke through the floor, causing the two to fall down.
Naruto landing crouching, his grin widened as he quickly straightened out, backhanding his opponent into a wall, "Come on hardass, I'm pulling my punches back. Is this the best that you can offer me? Redfox?"
"Shut up!" The 18 year old yelled, however, he stopped for a second, getting a slight grin.
There was Iron around him to consume. All the iron he could as Naruto watched finding some amusement, "Go on, eat all the Iron you can. Not like it's going to help you anyway."
The Iron Dragon Slayer had a sinister green as his skin turned grey, "I got you now old man."
The blonde sighs in disappointment, "It seems you can't even go Dragon Force."
Gajeel stopped for a second, "Dragon-what?"
"Never mind, weren't you trying to do something?" The blond asked dismissively.
"Nonono, Dragon What?"
"It's useless to worry about things you will never have." Kurama's jinchuuriki answered once more, his dismissive tone infuriating the teen.
Gajeel activated his Iron Dragon Scales, which covered mostly just his upper body, face, and arms.
"Like this you bastard? With this I literally become unstoppable, doubling both in offense and defense," The black haired teen boasted charging at his opponent anew.
"Two multiplied by zero is still zero you know?" Naruto answered humorously, jumping out of the away of his former charge's lounge.
Frustrated that his opponent kept dodging his attacks, Gajeel yelled out, "Agh, shut up, shut up! And stay still you bastard!"
"Gladly," the blond answered, planting both feet on the ground, "This reminds me of my days with team seven, when I was just a lowly soldier fresh out of the academy. I hadn't even earned the right to call myself a ninja yet."
The black haired dragon slayer threw a punch at his face, which he blocked with his left, throwing back a solid right hook at the enraged phantom sending him back a few feet.
But Metalicana's dragon slayer was tenacious as he stood up and charged at him again, left hook, Naruto simply ducked under it and used his right hand to block the kick that followed, grabbing the teen by the leg and planting his face on the floor, "I remember how Kakashi-sensei manhandled me that day."
"Iron Dragon Roar!"
Sidestepping the obvious attack, he continued, "On a mission, I met a curious boy, he was in a way just like me. All alone in the world until we found someone who saw our worth, he told me 'One can only be truly strong when they have something to protect.' ever since then, every fight I got into, every battle, I've always went into it with something to protect."
"Shut up! I will kill you." Gajeel screamed, extending his arm out, "Iron Dragon Sword!"
The teen transformed his arm into a large, jagged blade, spikes along the edge spinning like a chainsaw, ready to cut it's opponent to pieces. "Die!"
Naruto simply stood stock still, breathing a disappointed sigh with his arms at his hips, even as he could hear members of Fairy Tail scream his name out.
"No!"
"Naruto!"
"Move!"
The sound of metal hitting metal as Gajeel's blade simply stopped against his skin, as if it was titanium, shocking the Dragon Slayer and the witnesses.
Naruto simply grabbed hold of the edge of the blade, his hands growing into nails, eye's turning slitted red, "This time is no different."
Gajeel trembled as he found himself within a sewer-like environment, Naruto standing tall above him, a growl coming from behind the man, as the blond spoke, "Calm down, Kurama!"
Behind him, a gigantic reddish-orange fox with nine even bigger tails that cut into the iron sword, easily over a thousand feet growled at him like a dog ready to attack its victim.
Gajeel fell back on his butt, face wide in shock as he struggled to breath, sweat pouring down his face as he asked himself, who was this monster?
"Do you see now, Gajeel?"
AN: Call me Harden, baby cause I'm hitting threes.
Aiden: sorry about the huge wait, but i was massively busy and pel was writing other stories and this might be the last chapter for awhile but who knows, anyway the schedule was neat but we obviously cant do it. Hope you all enjoy!