Hey everyone another chapter for Reading: Shadow of Fairy Tail coming at you, hope you enjoy!
After hovering above the shinobi for some time the book rocketed into Kakashi's hands and the copy-cat simply hummed before opening to the sixth chapter. Around him a few others were a bit disappointed by his lack of reaction to the choice. Excluding his fellow jonin and the two members of team 7. Kakashi had proven long ago that his relaxed demeanor seemed to be almost impossible to disrupt.
Mildly amused at the disappointed faces who had hoped to get some reaction from him Kakashi simply started reading.
It's been a few days since the Eisenwald incident. The news that a group of dark wizards attempted to use death magic to assassinate the guild masters at a conference came as a shock to many. That the Fiore military had to be called in got the citizens of Fiore curious what happened, but when they heard that the Fairy Tail guild was there to take care of the problem, there were some mixed feelings.
"Mixed feelings? Wouldn't they be happy that the number one guild is there to help?" Hinata asked.
"Weellll" Lucy began only for Kakashi to clear his throat drawing everyone's attention.
On one hand many folks were glad to know the strongest guild was there to prevent any sort of fatalities, but on the other hand, many were also anxious on what kind of damage the guild would leave behind giving their reputation of leaving a trail of 'unintended' collateral damage wherever they went.
"Oh." Hinata said with surprise.
"Yeah, it's sort of our calling card at this point." Lucy pointed out with a sigh.
In the end, most of the Eisenwald dark mages that took part of the plot were arrested and the guild masters were unharmed. Still, there were a lot of questions unanswered like how the dark mages managed to get ahold on a dark magic artifact that belonged to the dark mage legend, Zeref.
That is what was now debated in Era, home to the Magic Council headquarters of Fiore. In a dark room with a magic circle with nine people standing around it.
"I didn't expect to see things from the council's point of view." Lissanna commented.
"No doubt, we won't be happy by the end of this scene." Gajeel gruffly added.
"The Eisenwald guild may have been defeated, but that is only one small victory in a much larger battle." Org the leader of the circle said, he was an elderly man with a considerably long beard and a mustache, he always has one of his eyes closed and the other open. He's was the 2nd seat of the Magic Council and was perhaps one of Fiore' oldest wizards in the country. He wore multiple robes and was a known skeptic of the Fairy Tail guild. Of course, this last event did not ease up his view on the destructive guild.
"Yeah well we don't view him and the council all that highly either." Wakaba commented with a grunt getting a few chuckles and nods from the room.
"I agree, the number of dark guilds have been growing, and at an alarming rate. So we need to come up with a strategy to counter this threat." Another council member added, "Because a guild like Eisenwald will be quickly replaced as they just had a minor part to what is to come."
"It sounds like you have a serious problem with these dark guilds." Tsunade said.
"Yes, they are one of the biggest issues for our world. Dark guilds and other magical criminals do many of the same things normal criminals do, but on a larger and more terrible scale thanks to the magic." Makarov said with a scowl.
"They really are a lot like missing-nin." Asuma said.
"It seems so, just like how the dark guilds make the same crimes of normal criminals worse, missing-nin usually act similar to bandits but far more dangerously and on larger scales. A single Jonin missing-nin is easily worth dozens of normal bandits." Kurenai pointed out. THe mages grimaced faintly. While dark guilds could be bad, they had gotten the slight impression the comparison with shinobi might not be as solid as it initially came across.
"But how will we do that?"
Org held up the sealed up Lullaby flute that took quite the damage "However it's done, we cannot allow Zeref's magic to fall into the wrong hands again."
"At least they are trying to do some things right." Sakura said.
"The council was made for a reason after all. They are actually somewhat decent with handling magic crime. THat is if they aren't involved in it in the first place." Erza said.
"Some of the council are actually good people trying to help though." Mira reminded her friend and the other readers.
Yajima, a small old man with thick light-brown eyebrows and a small toothbrush mustache gave his opinion to the troubling fact of the situation "I still don't understand how Eisenwald was able to obtain a tool of forbidden magic in the first place. Let alone breaking the seal, this only proves more that dark guild like Eisenwald is becoming more of dangerous."
"Speaking of good council members." Gray said with a smirk.
"What do you expect Yajima was once a fairy tail member after all!" Makarov said with a smile at the mention of his old friend.
"He does seem to have his head on straight. Your council does seem to at least be doing it's job. The Konoha council can be hard to bring to task." Tsunade grumbled.
"I hate to admit it but Yajima is right, not only are these organization gaining more members, but they also start to adapt to more deadlier and hideous tactics that are not even known to this part of the world."
"Do you think that-" Choji started while glancing at Shikamaru.
"Maybe, but until more information is revealed let's not jump to conclusions." He replied.
The brief conversation stole some interest before the group returned to listening to Kakashi.
"I hate to say this but Yajima may be right, but I fear the blame may go all the way to the top." Another council member suggested, it may sound farfetched that someone might have given away the location of the Lullaby flute away to the rogue mages, but there were no other ways to confirm otherwise. There were suspicions that the top reason why the dark guilds were growing was because of an insider, someone who may have been aiding the criminals in informing them of the council's decisions and avoiding the authorities. But who could it be?
"There is the hint of corruption within the council." Jiraiya sighed. Maybe corruption was inherent with all governments.
"Whatever the case we cannot just ignore the two reasons why Eisenwalds' plan failed."
The council members turned to whoever continued this sessions' main topic. It was a young man with blue hair and a noticeable red tattoo that covered the upper and bottom of his right eye. He was simply known as Siegrain.
Those that noticed Erza and her team tense up were wise enough not to ask why. It was clear that for whatever reason, those mages had a very conflicted past with this 'Siegrain' person.
He crosses his arms and gave no eye contact while explaining "Of course I'm talking about the Fairy Tail guild, and of course the man who took down the Lullaby, Naruto Uzumaki."
He already got a chuckle reply from the woman standing between him and Yajima who added "Not only did he defeat Erigor the Grim Reaper, he also defeated the Lullaby monster with little to no effort. You got to give it to such a promising man."
"Haha the brat is wooing women with his legend alone!" Jiraiya crowed only to get a new black eye.
"Naruto had best not turn out anything like you Jiraiya." Tsunade growled. It would be bad enough if the kid looked like his parents, or was half as heroic as he had been growing up. She could already see her future of trying to help sort the noble girls messages so they wouldn't take advantage of the boy.
"I need a drink." She mumbled as Shizune patted her shoulder knowing exactly what she was thinking.
"I don't like the way this woman is interested in Naruto." Hinata quietly stated.
"Jealous Hinata?" Kiba lightly teased his sister figure.
"No, I think she is right, there is something wrong about that lady." Tenten added.
Some of the council members started mumbling among each other.
But Org did not have it and said: "Fairy Tail is one thing that will have to face its crimes, but Naruto Uzumaki is a whole different level."
"Bastard." Makarov growled quietly.
"You only say that because Naruto refused to eliminate Erigor like requested, instead of according to the military he was spared and taken into custody," Siegrain said in counter-argument.
"I can see why you dislike these people Makarov." Jiraiya said. "Just like the worst parts of Konoha's council."
"And still that killer is free!" Org shouted back "If that boy just had done what was ordered to him, we would not risk this menace to roam free again!"
"He isn't your personal hitman you old fool." Mira said with a surprising amount of venom taking the shinobi, and even some of the mages by surprise.
"Big sis is right! Naruto is a real man and isn't the council's assassin" Elfman added with a deep scowl.
"Well said kids." Makarov smiled in approval.
"That's enough, Org!"
The room became suddenly silent and all council members turned to Yajima, the small man was not the one who would let out an outburst so easily but when he was angry, he always had a good reason for it.
"Ha! I am liking this old guy." Kiba said with a smile.
"Of course you do. He was a Fairy after all." Natsu said with a proud look on his face.
Yajima sighed, he really didn't want to raise his voice but it was necessary "Listen, we all know what dangers lie beyond that sea. It's a fact that everyone in this council knows of young Naruto's background and everyone in here, including me, had their concerns."
"I see, so the whole of the leadership knows of young Naruto's past. No wonder some of them try to take advantage of him." Gai said with a serious tone.
"No doubt shinobi would be useful to help a government eliminate threats quietly in comparison to more public mages." Neji said. He didn't like the idea of his friend being used as a tool by Konoha, and even less so by another group of bureaucrats.
All the council members nodded.
"But we cannot ignore that he is a boy that has proven himself, he saved numerous of innocent lives fighting against bandits, helped out mages in need and even helped track down wanted criminals and capturing them. That and others, he never killed ever after he was found by Master Makarov as of now." Yajima said in defense of the young boy he knew closely like Makarov and knew his past.
"Naruto sure is impressive. To think he had done all that." Happy said as he floated about.
"What's truly impressive is the fact he kept from killing anyone. That takes a lot of restraint as most shinobi abilities, like the rasengan or most Kunai skills are designed to kill." Shino explained clinically.
"Naruto doesn't like hurting people let alone killing them." Hinata said with a small smile. Kurenai smiled lightly toward the girl. She was very loyal to the one who held her heart.
Org kept listening closely at his colleague.
"So, even with Doma's absence, I will state this yet again. Org. if you and Doma are again trying to order Naruto to fulfill such a hideous act, I will see no other choice than to enlighten the Royal Family, or did you forget that the King had given Naruto special status?"
"The brat has made some powerful allies. Good." Tsunade nodded. While it wasn't good to always rely on it, Tsunade herself had used her connection with Fire COuntry nobility in the past to better Konoha when the council was being too much of an obstacle.
"This Yajima has my thanks for his actions. Good to know Naruto and Fairy Tail has someone on their side in the higher ups." Iruka said with a bit of relief. He had worried faintly about how Naruto would do without having someone like the third Hokage to try and shield him from others trying to make him into a weapon.
"...No." The bearded man groaned, of course, he had to bring it up. Naruto had once done a quest for the Royal Family of Fiore when King Toma had found out of Naruto's former allegiances and listened to his story, he gained special status.
"And please let me remind you that Naruto is still one of the very few who still voluntarily comes forwards and help us fight the threat of the Dark Guilds, while other ex-shinobi like him had chosen life more peaceful. So why not stop the blaming of the young man and start acknowledging the problems that we face even within this institution that we are the heads of it." Yajima stated as he was done talking.
"Other ex-shinobi?" Levy asked.
"That was what Choji and I had thought earlier. It seems Naruto isn't alone, but has a special place with the higher ups. The only question is, are these ex-shinobi truly just wanting to live peacefully or something else." Shikamaru said with a thoughtful look and his hands pressed together in his typical thinking pose.
"I can't believe there are more. I knew that the shinobi and mages had interactions from what Erigor had said, but to think there are a bunch of shinobi living among the people of Fiore." Lucy said in a conflicted tone.
The other mages shifted slightly. For the most part they were fine with the idea, if someone wanted to live in peace they felt they should be able to. That being said they had seen already that shinobi could be very deadly if pushed. That was a bit frightening as it didn't seem like many knew that shinobi were living among them.
"This might be fine." Jet said.
"It might as easily be terrible." Droy replied.
"Let's just continue, maybe we are overreacting. Naruto clearly has a place with the leaders of you country, maybe the others are similarly planned for to keep both sides safe?" Kakashi said as he tried to reign everyone in to continue the story.
The room was silent for a good moment before the chuckling of Siegrain broke it.
"Always the humanitarian, aren't you Yajima? Well, I guess you are right. Consider that in the end, Naruto was mostly responsible for the prevention of Eisenwald's plan. Saving lives yet again and making sure none of us had to step down from our well-earned positions on this council to save face."
"Well earned my ass." Natsu snarked.
"You fool!" One of the council members named Leiji protested "Are you insinuating the council is somehow to blame?!"
"Enough of this nonsense!" Org yelled "Even though Yajima is right on the issue of Uzumaki's status, that does not mean he's not responsible, nor is his guild. At the end of the day, Fairy Tail's good deeds are overshadowed by their reckless destruction!"
"Just like in our timeline they are going to shift blame to make someone a scapegoat. Think it will be you again Erza?" Gray asked.
"More than likely." The redhead responded.
Siegrain's mouth gave a growing smile as he suggests "Then why don't we take the opportunity to discuss the matter with them?"
"Hmmm...We can do that." Org agreed as he asks "Who were the members of Fairy Tail were in on it?"
"Except for Uzumaki, I believe there were, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, an unidentified female who just joined the guild and Erza Scarlett as the leader." Belno said reading from a scroll "That's what the guild masters have stated through the report."
"They aren't going to be happy about that." Makarov pointed out.
"It is like a living wrecking ball when they are all together master."
"Dragneel and Fullbuster in one team?!" Org yelled out of anger "Those two troublemakers have caused more property damage over the years then the whole guild can do in a decade! What was Scarlet thinking putting them on the same team?!"
"Tch," Was all Erza responded with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Considering they are powerful, I could say she wanted to make a safe bet."
"Well, we could have been fine without Gray." Natsu said nonchalantly.
"What was that dragon-boy?" Gray snarled.
"What got Ice blocking your ears?" Natsu shouted.
"Sounds like a good idea, then maybe I won't have to listen to your annoying voice fire-breath!"
"That's enough." Erza said once again smashing their heads together.
"Why do you two have to act like kids all the time?" Lucy asked with a groan.
"It doesn't matter. Send someone to arrest Erza Scarlet and bring her in for the trail. We'll do a show for the sake of it."
"So this is like what happened in your world?" Iruka asked.
"As far as we can tell, it seems that way. Erza was called in for a farce trial and some things happened." Cana replied while the guild glanced at Natsu telling the shinobi all they needed to know.
"Will do."
Siegrain chuckled "I thought they were going to get a punishment."
Again several mages tensed whenever Siegrain spoke. Something all the shinobi caught.
"Urgh, try and explain that to the King, and I want Uzumaki also."
"Friends in high places and all that." Jiraiya chuckled.
"Uhm, he isn't there, the last thing I know is that he went with the Fiore military who held the Eisenwald mages to the cells at the Fiore Branch council building," Yajima said.
Org was surprised "Why?"
"I was about to ask the same thing." Asuma said with a laugh.
"I don't know, but I'm about to find out," Yajima answered he had his suspicions on what Naruto might be doing.
National Council Fiore Branch: prison cells
"I think I have an idea of what he might be doing." Kakashi said.
Kageyama was sitting in his own bed, in his cell, waiting for his trial for the numerous crimes he had committed. Coming over here he was ignored by his fellow guildmates, it looked like they were angry for him not finishing the job they all had been working on for weeks, only his friends in the guild didn't bail out on him and tried to back him up, only now were they like anyone else, separated from each other and into their own cells.
"At least he knows who he can trust among them now.
"Hey."
Kageyama looked up and saw that on the other side of the bars was Naruto Uzumaki, with his mask covering his mask and the bandana his one eye. He then saw the guy pull over a chair.
"Prepare for Talk-no-jutsu." Sasuke snarked. When others looked his way the Uchiha scowled and looked off to the corner.
"Talk-no-jutsu?" Wendy asked.
"I have no doubt the story will show you as it continues on. We've already had samples of it." Kakashi said with a chuckle remembering the last chapter.
"What do you want?" Kageyama asked without looking at him "It's not like I got anything to offer, you fly."
"No, but I have." Naruto said tuning around the chair and then sat on it "I mean, maybe if you are interested. You don't have anything else to do than to listen."
Kageyama thought for a moment, he had nothing else to do and the boredom was killing him honestly "What do you have to say?"
Instead of saying anything Naruto pulled out a paper and placed it on the floor and shoved it forwards.
Kageyama took the paper and saw it was written: "What's this?..."
"I have an idea." Shikamaru said.
Naruto just sighs and says "Just read the damn thing and you'll find out."
Kageyama kept reading the paper, the moment he was finished is when he starts clutching his hands into it and eyeing it with disbelief.
"T-T-This is, is-"
"Whatever it is must be shocking." Juvia said in surprise at the man's reaction.
"An official paper reducing your sentence to only three months jail time," Naruto said what the paper was as he just sat there "with the signature of the King of Fiore himself, Toma E. Fiore and effective immediately. You and your friends. Not all of them but that group that was backing you up."
"Why would he do that? Obviously Naruto pulled strings for him, but why?" Lucy asked.
"Two first is a Shinobi tactic to gain leverage on a target to pull some information or something from them. The second is more his style in our world though." Jiraiya said.
"What's the second?" Cana asked.
"He is trying to get them to turn over a new leaf. Giving them a second chance essentially." Jiraiaya said.
The mages smiled at that thought. Naruto seemed like a genuinely kind boy.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bit of both actually." Shikamaru said.
Kageyama dropped to his knees and looked up to the man who was actually offering him a second chance, to live outside. Even after all the crimes, he had committed in the name of his guild, someone who he had fought against just not that long ago was offering him something he did not expect from him.
The group was quiet as they saw the man's desperation and hope. His emotion hit them hard and they grew slightly more serious of the situation.
"Of course you may want to ask why I would give someone like you a second chance, after all, you almost was successful in killing all the guild masters in one sweep if you played that flute. But here is where I need some information." Naruto pulls out something else out of his jacket and then slams it on the floor in front of Kageyama.
"Like I had thought. Naruto may be willing to help people get a second chance, but he is still a shinobi needing information." Shikamaru said.
"So he wants to help them, but is also using his help as leverage to get what he wants?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah. Naruto is more….morally bright than most shinobi, so something like this is a good tool to help him get whatever he needs."
It was an explosive tag.
"That's right, the Eisenwald guys had those. Being shinobi weapons, and other shinobi evidently secretly living in Fiore, there might be some sort of black market for shinobi tools." Gray said.
"There might be a black market for shinobi fighters too. We know they can be active in Fiore after Naruto beat that ANBU earlier." Asuma commented.
"That could be a big problem if it is happening." Ino said in mild worry.
Kageyama recognized it "That? What do you want to know about it?"
"Don't play games with me." Naruto got to the point "You know better than I do why I am asking about this. I saw you activating it, meaning you have some knowledge of using it. Also, this kind of explosives are clearly not from around here."
"Naruto is very serious here. It's good to see him approaching the situation appropriately." Shizune said.
"Yeah, they are from your country." Kageyama said staring at Naruto "The Shinobi continent..."
"That's obvious enough. Why is Kageyama being so secretive about this. It would help him to just answer Naruto clearly." Lucy asked rhetorically.
Naruto nodded "That's right, as you may know, this kind of weaponry isn't easy to get on this side of the ocean, let that it's illegal to possess them. So tell me." Naruto raises the explosive tag up and waved it around with it in front of the shadow magic user "How did you get these?"
Behind the blonde ex-shinobi walked up to a small man who stopped his tracks and started listening in on the conversation.
Some of the readers tensed at that.
Kageyama thought for a moment before thinking why not? It's a good deal "Okay, I tell you where I got these explosives."
"Good, it's very dangerous for things like that to be unaccounted for. Hopefully Naruto can put a stop to where or whatever is delivering them." Erza said in relief. Naruto had proven so far to be a capable guildmate so she was pleased he was solving this problem before it spun out of control.
Later upstairs
"Keeping us in suspense a bit. Well played." Jiraiya commented toward the pacing of the story.
Standing in the middle of the courtroom, Erza Scarlet was hearing the charges from an official while the council members were sitting while the charges were being read by an official.
"Just like in our world, I wonder if it goes exactly like ours." She said sending a glance toward Natsu who chuckled awkwardly while trying to avoid her gaze.
"Erza Scarlet, you stand before the council to answer for the charges that are stemming from the incident involving the dark guild Eisenwald."
"They really are making you a scapegoat. Bastards." Kiba growled.
"Haha, now you're catching on." Macao chuckled, finding that Kiba referred to the council bastards the same way Fairy Tail often did.
Yajima sighs as he saw that on the bench near the door, Naruto was busy his notebook he was writing down something.
Several shinobi chuckled at the fact Naruto seemed to not be taking the trial seriously.
"These charges include extensive damage to Oshibana Station, damages to the railways and complete destruction of the conference hall of Clover."
"But didn't Naruto-" Lee started.
"Yeah. Erza is getting the rap for it though." Tenten answered disliking this council's treatment of the redheaded mage.
Erza blinked twice, these were all things Naruto had done. Why the hell is she held accountable for this and not him? She briefly looks back and sends an angry glare at Naruto hoping to remind he won't get away with that easily.
"Oh come now Erza, you can't stay mad at him can you? After all you were just asking yourself if you fancied him last chapter." Mira teased.
"Oh like how you were getting swimsuit shots done to impress him?" Erza shot back with an arched eyebrow causing the white haired girl to blush slightly and giggle.
The blonde man just smiled at her and gave a small wave with an eye smile. Not seeming to care that he would be in some real trouble later on with the angry redhead woman.
"She reminds me of Kushina and Naruto of Minato in this moment. Just like whenever they would pull one of their pranks as kids." Jiraiya said with a grin. The older shinobi close to him couldn't help but nod.
"There are eleven property damage charges against you," the official kept talking "according to eye witness reports the perpetrator to all of this is described as a heavily armored female wizard."
"That's hardly enough evidence for anything anyway." Tsunade scoffed.
Naruto shook his head smirking "Surely they must have the wrong person."
"I feel like Naruto knows something." Wendy said with her head tilted to the side in thought, trying to figure out what.
"I think I know what it is." Erza said with a small smile.
The doors behind Naruto imploded and debris of the doors flew everywhere. All the council members were stunned by what happened and turn to the door.
Out from the dust clouds appeared Natsu, wearing a disguise that was meant to look like Erza. Wearing a skirt, some wooden pallets, a wig that barely covered his hair and some wings that looked obviously fake.
The readers were stunned silent for a moment. A pin dropping could be heard. Then almost as one the group burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of Natsu's outfit. The Dragonslayer took it surprisingly well laughing it off too. Erza on the other hand was sporting a twitching brow and cold smile as she tried to reign in her embarrassment and anger.
Naruto looked at him and was trying to figure out, should he feel embarrassed or should he just laugh it out.
"Definitely laugh." Kiba said through his own laughter.
Natsu went on a rant on how he was the crazy lady they were looking for while obviously giving away he was Natsu Dragneel by sprouting out fire through his mouth and speaking with his angry voice.
"It just gets better and better!" Gray said with surprisingly loud chuckles as the group slowly regained their laughter.
The one council member who sat in the middle and was the leader just sighed.
"I almost pity them. Almost" Shizune giggled.
Erza did the only decent thing she could do and apologized with a bow "I'm so terribly sorry for this."
"I think I just pity Erza. How do you manage to keep all of them in check?" Tsunade asked.
She glanced over at Natsu who was gradually roaring out more and more fire in embarrassment at the group's laughter.
"What are you doing Erza don't apologize to these council jerks! I mean, I AM ERZAAA-"
"A special touch." Erza said with a smirk. Before clocking the salamander over the head knocking him out cold.
'A special touch she says!' The whole room thought.
WACK!
"It seems Naruto has it too." Erza joked in a demure manner, causing the group to be more rather than less scared of the woman.
Naruto head chopped Natsu, knocking the dragon slayer out and breaking the disguise in two. Natsu passed out as his body twitched multiple times.
"Sorry Natsu, but it's time for you to take a nap." Naruto turns to Erza "Can you drag him back to the guild?"
"And you were gunna be mad at him." Mira teased getting a playful huff from her friend as a reply.
"Sure but the -?"
"I'll handle these charges." Naruto said patting her shoulder "Besides I'm the one who caused all of this anyway, even if this is just for show."
Erza nodded and turns to Natsu sighing "Damn it Natsu. That trial was just a formality..."
She starts dragging the dragon slayer's unconscious body away to the exit as they were being escorted out by the guards.
"It's going better than our world." Erza said.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Natsu got us put in jail for the night." The red-head replied with a stern look toward the dragon slayer.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
He turns around to the magic council, seeing that the person addressing him was the one in the middle of the seats. It was Org, Doma's second who called him by his full name. This was the perfect moment to talk with the council about something important he was told by Kageyama.
"I really don't like how they look at him." Konohamaru mentioned.
"This Org, and Doma are pieces of work but it's clear Siegrain and that woman seem to both be up to something." Kakashi quietly mentioned to the two Sannin beside him.
He also noticed some of the council members eyed him with their own interest, like the blue-haired Siegrain who was responsible for the arrest of Erza had is his own twisted reasons why to bring the shinobi here. While another young female council member, who had pale skin, brown eyes and dark purple hair were scanning the man in front of him.
Several of the readers silently groaned at the fact they could tell part of that. Beyond that they weren't particularly happy with being correct.
Chuckling as she thought 'Hmmm, Uzumaki.'
"Starting to get some stranger danger vibes from her." Ino said with a wary eye.
Gray frowned. Ultear acting in such a way saddened and disturbed him. The daughter of his master deserved a very different life.
Later, back at the Guild hall
Naruto, Erza and Natsu got back to the guild hall and explained everything that had happened. that the trail was just a fluke and it was supposed to be a slap on the wrist.
"WE GOT ERZA OUT OF JAIL!" Natsu said celebrating while spitting fire out. Running around like a child who got a piece of candy, he began annoying some of the other guild mates.
"You mean Naruto got Erza out of jail, you just tried to dress up like her and break things." Lucy said with a frown.
"Worked like a charm."
"No it didn't!" She shouted.
"Shut up."
"Yeah, put a sock in it."
Mirajane just giggled while serving Naruto and Makarov a drink "Isn't he precious when he gets all excited?"
"He is worse than Naruto." Sasuke groaned, getting a shout from the pink haired boy.
Naruto smiles "Yeah, but you should've seen what Natsu was wearing." He said before drinking from the glass of water he ordered.
The readers fell into laughter again at the memory of the salamander's costume causing both him and Erza to twitch violently.
Lisanna leaned against the counter and was curious what Naruto meant by "Oh? What do you mean?"
Naruto thought of thinking back and starts laughing "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you..."
"Not fair to keep something like that secret." Lisanna pouted. It wasn't so bad, she got to see it even if her other didn't.
This got Lisanna wondering what he meant by before he gestures him to lean closer, she did and he tells into her hear what Natsu wore and this got Lisanna's cheeks to flush and join in on the laughter with Naruto who couldn't contain it anymore.
Lisanna giggled. "That's more like it."
The others like Lucy who had her head on the table, exhausted of all the panicking couldn't believe "I can't believe that stupid arrest and trial was all for the show, all that worrying for nothing."
"So she wasn't a sacrificial lamb, but a scape-goat," Gray said trying to figure out.
A few snickered at the joke from Gray.
"You must be one heck of an ice wizard because even your jokes leave me cold." Came from a griming Elfman before he remembered something and turned to Natsu "Hey Natsu! Are you going to finish it with Erza or what?"
The snickering grew louder at the embarrassed look on Gray's face when Elfman burned him.
Natsu stopped his celebrating and grew a confident grin "Oh yeah."
Naruto turned to Mirajane "What? was it not finished?"
She shook her head "Nope, the council interrupted the fight before one of them could hand over the first blow."
"What was the bet?"
"Brat." Tsunade grumbled causing several others to laugh nearby.
"What's so funny?" Levy asked.
"Oh, it's just when it comes to gambling Tsunade is a bit of an addict." Shizune said while Tsunade turned away like a pouting child.
"Haha, it's more than that. Tsunade is known as the legendary sucker because she is so bad and unlucky that everyone else is sure to win against her. While Naruto's luck is so good he never loses at gambling." Jiriaya said with a boisterous laugh causing Tsunade to lose her cool.
"Shut-up Jiraiya!"
THUD!
"So fast!" Sakura gasped.
"That's about normal for their fights." Gray replied.
"Makes me wonder what a fight between Naruto and Erza would look like." Said Kiba getting several nods. A battle between the two, especially with their close combat styles would definitely be something to see.
Naruto turns around to the noise and saw that Natsu laid broken on the ground with standing over him Erza with a fist.
"Erza! Couldn't you wait until I had put a bet?!" Naruto complained in a mock tone. Gaining laughter from the other guildmates, knowing that if Naruto places a bet on something he would automatically win. Like he had the luck of the devil with gambling.
"It looks like they have him figured out." Tsunade smirked.
Erza smiled and came back with a mock question "And letting you walk away with everyone's hard earned money?" She released a small laugh before saying "Sorry Naruto, but next time be on time."
"I really enjoy the camaraderie of Fairy Tail. It is something we should work toward for Konoha." Kakashi said quietly while several of the others were distracted with teasing Erza about her strong friendship with Naruto once again.
Naruto smirks just as he leaned back against the counter, just next to master Makarov who he noticed wasn't joining into the laughter with the others.
"Hey old man, what's up?"
Makarov turned to Naruto "We need to talk, in private."
"That can't be good." Makarov said.
"I wonder what you want to talk to him about master." Mira mentioned while tapping her chin in thought.
"So do I." He replied.
Then a surge of strong magic emerges, making somehow everyone's eyes sleepy, and everyone began to lay down slowly. This could only be one thing.
"Hey I remember this moment." Natsu said before getting annoyed.
"Uhm, Natsu, why are you suddenly angry?" Hinata asked him.
"I'm sure it will tell you in a second." Erza said.
"Look like we can talk," Naruto said "Mystogan."
"Naruto knows him well it seems." Laxus commented.
Everyone began to sleep, first Lisanna and Mirajane dropped to the ground and then all the others fell asleep, the only ones standing on the ground floor were Naruto and Makarov as a person was coming through the door.
"Naruto resisted it?" Natsu said in surprise and a bit of jealousy.
"He may be better at genjutsu or similar attacks in that world than our own." Kurenai said with a humm.
"Naruto is actually partially resistant to them now thanks to his 'special ability'. He just has a much harder time breaking them if he falls under one, because of his massive reserves.
It was a person wearing a dark blue cloak with his arms and legs covered in bandages, and to conceal his identity he wore a dark blue bandana with a silver forehead protector and a green mask that obscured the bottom half of his face and he was holding onto one of his magic staves. This was Mystogan.
"Freaking Jerk." Natsu grumbled.
While most might have normally disagreed, Mystogan knocking them unconscious every time he came to the guild was infuriating.
Naruto greeted him with a nod "Mystogan."
"Naruto...Master." the mysterious man said as he walks over to the board and picks up a quest before walking over to the master.
"I shall return..."
"Wait that's it?" Sakura asked in surprise.
"Mystogan isn't a very social person." Wendy awkwardly said, knowing who he really is.
"He has his reasons." Gray added.
"Wait." Makarov said, "The first end the sleeping spell of yours before you leave." He then turns to Naruto "And you, we'll talk when it's dark."
Both men nodded before Naruto starts walking next to Mystogan "I'll lead you out, we got something to discuss anyway."
"No problem..." Mystogan said as he began counting "Five..."
"Four..."
"Three..."
"Two…."
"One…."
"What a mysterious guy." Shikamaru said with a gleam of interest in his eye.
"I am more curious what Naruto wants to discuss with him." Asuma added.
Makarov watches as both men who were perhaps equally strong leave the guild hall, leaving for all the others to wake up from their forced sleep...except for Natsu. Knowing what Naruto and Mystogan may discuss, he knew that both men held an interest of doing services of helping each other.
"Huh, they seem like real peas in a pod." Mira chuckled.
Both men stood outside the guild hall as Naruto hands him over a sealed scroll.
"Here, the information about Edolas." Mystogan accepted the scroll.
"Naruto knows of Edolas?" Several mages shouted.
"Edolas?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm sure it will explain further later on, but essentially it's an alternate dimension of our world." Lucy said.
"That likely means they will have alternate versions of the shinobi as well." Kurenai said.
"That will make things even weirder. So many worlds makes my head hurt a bit." Konohamaru complained getting his hair ruffled by his uncle and some light chuckles at the boy's antics.
Naruto then pulls out a small letter "This letter contains the address for the four guys who will be given pardons over the next few months. You just need to bring them there and make sure no one comes after them."
"Oh, I forgot about them." Natsu commented getting flat stares from his fellow readers.
Mystogan nods as he accepts the letter also "I will help you get these men to safety."
"Naruto and Mystogan together could make a formidable team I believe. They are both very mysterious and adaptable men." Mira mentioned.
"Not to mention both seem adept at more indirect fighting despite Naruto clearly having strong direct skills as well. Both would make good students to take over my network." Jiraiya said scratching at his chin. He needed to make sure Naruto in his world was able to inherit his network soon as well.
Naruto nodded as he thought it through, hopefully, those guys will be wise enough to take the pardon "If you got any problems, just send me a message."
"Will do, see you Naruto," Mystogan said before taking his leave and walking down the street with the scroll and letter he had received. Naruto watches as how the mysterious person he trusted with this favor disappeared in thin air.
Some cursing and yelling were heard from inside the guild and one of those voices sounded all too familiar. He decided to go back inside to see what was happening.
"Doesn't seem like the shouting and cursing is the same happy tone as it usually is with your guild." Shino pointed out.
"What are you trying to say?" Erza was pissed off and was glaring at the person on the second floor named Laxus who just called her a 'redhead' and that she somehow is lower than him. Laxus is a long and muscular young man with blonde spikey hair that was mostly slicked back and a notable lightning bolt shaped scare through his right eye.
"Ah, it is starting to show the old me. You duck-hair, you should really pay attention when the story follows me. You might find yourself learning from my mistakes before you make the same." Laxus said with a humble tone.
Despite Sasuke's scoff at the very thought Makarov smiled warmly at his grandson. He was very proud the young man had overcome his own issues and become a better man for it.
"He is correct young Sasuke. You really could learn from this young man's stumbling path. He has found his way now, but it was a struggle." Hagoromo said. While Sasuke and Naruto weren't exactly his sons, they were the transmigrants and therefore the closest thing one could be to them. It hurt deeply to see the pain they went through in their lives, especially the self inflicted pain in Sasuke's case.
Laxus smirked, "I'm trying to say that I am the strongest wizard of this guild, plain and simple."
Laxus grimaced but a gentle series of hands from the Thunder Legion and his grandfather calmed him down.
Naruto enters through the front door and heard the commotion and saw the person standing on the second floor "Oh Laxus, you finally socialize with us. I wonder when you would come out from up there."
Everyone turned to Naruto with surprise, did he knew that Laxus was here all that time?
"I still want to see that fight between Naruto and Erza, but one between Laxus and Naruto might be better." Kiba said with a bit of excitement.
"It would be something." LAxus said with a grin. He could get behind sparring with this Naruto.
Laxus smirk grew wider "Naruto, come on just be realistic. You're a strong wizard yourself so even you have to see that I'm the strongest wizard here."
"I don't know I can agree on that," Naruto said as he leaned on the same table where Cana and Alzack were sitting at.
"Oh, and why is that?" Laxus asked without his grin fading away.
"I never saw you spar with any of the other wizards who are considered powerful. Mystogan and the Ace barely stay here for you to challenge, and we can't forget the old man and Erza here. They can't be forgotten." Naruto argued as he kept staring lazily at Laxus "Why just claiming instead of proving it. Maybe then I'm convinced."
Some of the other guild mates couldn't help but feel the tension that was boiling between the two blondes, and this got the newest member Lucy slightly curious.
"Maybe our wish will be granted already." Gai said with a broad grin.
The celestial mage asks Elfman and Gray "Why do I get the feeling that those guys hating each other?"
"I don't think Naruto hates me there. Or other me there at least." Laxus said. Several others looked at him in mild confusion. Their others looked like they were a moment from ripping each other apart.
Gray and Elfman didn't respond and kept looking between the two wizards as some sweat was falling from Elfman's forehead. The tension got everyone nervous to know who was going to do what.
Laxus grin turned more sinister as small bolts of lightning were visibly appearing out of his hand that he was leaning his chin on "Why don't we see for that right now, huh?"
"They have brought the whole guild to silence by simply flexing their power." Carla said in slight awe.
"It's like boss found a new and improved rival!" Konohamaru said with a cheer not noticing the sudden glare shot his way by Sasuke filled with hurt and hatred.
"If you insist...," Naruto says calmly while holding his hand over his jacket, where his kunai was...
Where they really going to fight? Right here and now?
"They'll destroy the whole guild!" Jet shouted
"Maybe the town!" Droy yelled.
Then the sound of Makarov's staff bottom hitting the counter broke the standoff. Clearly stating that he would not tolerate this.
"That's enough out of you, Laxus..." The guild master said without even looking up "You both are strong wizards without a doubt, but if you want to fight to keep it then at least on friendly terms or else..."
"Good, we definitely don't need Naruto and my other duking it out in the middle of a packed guildhall. I'm nervous about when the….incident occurs though. Will him being there change the outcome or make something completely unexpected happen?" Laxus said relieved he didn't make his mistake even worse than in his own timeline. At least yet.
Laxus just scoffed it and walks away "Too bad, I wanted to see if you could be a challenge to me, Naruto. Even Natsu had the guts to try me on..."
"Why you!" Natsu growled as he was about to jump to the second floor, about to teach Laxus a lesson-
"Yeah teach him a lesson about trying to look down on the boss Natsu!" Both Konohamaru and Happy shouted.
"What the hell happy, why are you calling him boss?" Natsu asked.
"Well he is clearly the boss between the two of you Natsu." Happy said as if it was obvious causing the boy to facefault and the readers to laugh.
Then he was grabbed by the head and forced down on the ground by Naruto. "Stay out of this Natsu..." Naruto said as he kept looking up to the second floor. The grin on Laxus' face turned into a glare. Naruto's only visible eye gave it back and both men gave one last glare to each other.
'One day Laxus... one day...'
"I have no doubt about it." Laxus said with a sigh.
Later in the guild hall
As it was pretty late, the only ones left in the guild hall were Lisanna, Mirajane, and Lucy who were all by the counter. The Strauss sisters were about to close up after being done cleaning the last glasses and mugs that were used, Lucy meanwhile kept sticking around.
But she then asked a question that had been bothering her for some time now "Say girls, what's with the tension?...between Naruto and that Laxus guy..."
"It seems your other has quite the interest in Naruto, Lucy. Always asking questions about him." Mira teased causing Lucy to blush slightly but roll her eyes.
Lisanna looks over to Mirajane and she sighs following by a nod. Lisanna turns to Lucy and starts talking "You see Lucy, while you can see that everyone in the guild can get along with each other, no problems still a brawl here and there, Laxus always had this belief that Fairy Tail should be exclusive to only the strongest of the strong, meaning he would like to ban everyone who is in his eyes weak and vulnerable. He even goes saying that he would feel no sympathy for anyone who had been beaten badly."
Several people grimaced at such a mentality, none more so than Laxus and the Thunder Legion. The shinobi were getting a better idea of what Laxus and Hagoromo was saying though the stubborn Uchiha simply continued to scowl from the corner of the room.
"That's cold." Lucy said, not believing that someone like Laxus could be in this guild full with people she befriended with "How come he got into this guild in the first place?"
Mirajane dropped a sad fact "Because Laxus is master Makarov's grandson."
"W-What? he's master Makarov's grandson?!" Lucy said shockingly, how could someone like Laxus be related to a kind-hearted person like master Makarov?
"I really made a bad first impression on you and other new members didn't I." Laxus laughed in a self deprecating manner. A few sent him pitying glances. Laxus had come to realize he brought such opinions out all on his own, but it was clear that it still weighed on him.
"But I know now you are one of us wholeheartedly Laxus. Especially after the Tenrou Island incident." Lucy said with a smile causing the man's eyes to widen before his smile became less mocking and more genuine.
"Yes, he is," Mirajane said while drying up the last cleaned up glass.
Lucy then asks "But what's the trouble between him and Naruto?"
"Because Naruto had once confronted Laxus," Lisanna said thinking back "...and it almost turned into an all-out fight between him and Laxus. If it wasn't for the master things could've gone horribly wrong."
"That sounds like Naruto alright. He won't stand by for things like that." Sakura said with a soft smile.
Mirajane turned towards them "That tension between Laxus and Naruto has been there for years. It was not abnormal for everyone else in the guild to side with Naruto more since everyone held a bad view of Laxus...well, except for Naruto."
"He is something else." Makarov chuckled.
"Naruto?" Now Lucy was confused "What else did he view him?"
"More of sorrow, pity." Mirajane said somber "Disappointment, it's something I cannot explain but I never really saw any anger in Naruto towards Laxus, it's just not him..."
"He is reading my other like an open book." Laxus said with a sigh before chuckling. He was excited for the fight that would undoubtedly come up one day.
In Makarov's office.
"Now we see what the suspicious thing that Makarov wanted to speak of is about." Hinata said in worry.
"I hope it's nothing too bad." Lucy added.
Naruto and the master just were talking about something important.
"Galuna island..." Makarov said "That cursed island?"
Several mages, mostly from Erza's team laughed at that confusing others. At their questioning looks though they simply waved the other readers off. No doubt that mess would include Naruto now even if he wasn't part of the group from stealing the flier.
Naruto nodded "Yeah, apparently someone who's been seen using a rowboat." Placing an explosive tag on the desk "Kageyama said to me the guy sold him the same kind of papers like these from offshore and then goes back to that same island."
"And you believe that boy?" Makarov asked for certainty "How do you know he's not lying?"
"Beyond the leverage, Naruto has shown he can be a good judge of character at times. Then again sometimes he has shown to be terrible at it." Iruka said with a frown thinking of the Mizuki incident.
"I can assure you, Iruka, he has gotten far better recently and no doubt is even better in that world." Kakashi pointed out.
"What good would come out of it." Naruto said "He doesn't even know the man, so it's easy to tell. Besides, he didn't do it for nothing."
"His freedom?"
"Why not? It's a waste for a young man like him doing a crime he only committed out of anger...hatred can make some people do horrible things without realizing it themselves."
Jiraiya's eyes closed as he thought deeply about the prophecy given to him by the toads. Naruto's words sounded much like someone hoping to break the cycle of hatred that Jiraiya himself had sought to break his entire life.
'Maybe you will be the one, eh Naruto?' He thought fondly.
Makarov understood what Naruto was talking about, he didn't have to guess what was going through the former shinobi's head.
Naruto sighs as he stood up "I'm planning on leaving now. The sooner I get there, the quicker the job is done."
"Alone?" A few people said at once.
"Are you sure you don't want any backup?" Makarov asked again "Someone like Erza-"
"It seems my other is of the same mind." Makarov grumbled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto was walking into a very dangerous circumstance.
"No, this I have to do it on my own." Naruto said as he looked through the window, noticing all the lights from the buildings going out "No need to bother anyone after such a day."
"He's still too reckless." Tsunade said with a frown.
Makarov nodded "Alright, but be careful, and when you're done with the mission. Don't stay too long on that island, I heard it is cursed."
"I feel foreshadowing." Jiraiya joked.
The forced awkward laughter form the members of Team Erza caused several of the members to deadpan at them.
"No problem...well I'll see you old man," Naruto said as he went through the open door.
"Later brat." Makarov said "Now, where is my pipe?"
Outside of Magnolia
Naruto was already taking the legs out, up to a new journey towards the so-called cursed island that was classified as an S-class mission. It would be a lie if Naruto said he wasn't interested in that pay, not the key necessary he could give it to Lucy, but the number of Jewels wouldn't be bad to put inside his pockets.
Only did he not know that at this moment a flying cat had already snatched from the second floor of the guild hall the same quest he was going to.
"So you lot already end up on the island aswell?" Asuma asked.
"Not all at once. It'll show it though." Gray said with a bit of a morbid tone. The memories he would face on Galuna island were painful afterall.
Oh, what was this going to be a journey of surprises.
"You can say that again." Everyone from team Erza moaned out.
"That's the end of the chapter everyone." Kakashi said as he lited the closed book up.
"Excellent, though I think it's time to meet another guest. Some of you know her quite well." Hagoromo said then with a snap and a flash of bright light a young woman in her early twenties appeared before the groups with a familiar smile.
"K-Kushina?" Jiraiya asked, tears building in his eyes.
"Hello to you too pervert." She said with a smile before cracking her knuckles. She needed to speak with her dear son's godfather before they continued.
"May I?" She asked the two godlike powers in the room.
"Of course." Mavis chirped.
"I know better than to stand in front of a mother doing right by her child." Hagoromo chuckled.
Another chapter much sooner than usual, largely due to this being a shorter one over all. As you can see next chapter Kushina will be joining us, and for everyone who has read Shadow of Fairy Tail, you know chapter 7 also begins introducing some new elements that will definitely effect our readers. Stay tuned folks and as usual please read both this original story and many other excellent tales on AmusedLight's profile. Till Next time.