Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail
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By Any Means
Chapter 3 – Crisis! The Strongest Team?
Opening – Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer by One Ok Rock
0o0o0 10 Years Ago 0o0o0
"Sensei!" A young blond haired child called out in the vast blackness of the cave. Blood ran down his body like a river. Numerous kunai and shuriken stuck out of him.
Another kunai whirled through the air, the boy dodged just in time to save his jugular from being punctured.
"You must remain silent. Do not allow even your breath to give you away." This time a flurry of shuriken aimed to end the boy's life.
Azure eyes opened in a flash and the collision of metal meeting metal could be heard. Moving to a new position, the boy clenched his teeth to silence his breathing. Closing his eyes once more the child concentrated in order to locate his target. He focused his mind to expand his remaining senses, chakra flowing rapidly through his tiny form.
"There!" The boy jumped and twisted his body in the air to generate more momentum for the kunai in his hand.
Metal piercing flesh resounded throughout the cave.
The boy tensed as a blade rested against his neck, a trickle of blood flowing down.
"I told you to never let your guard down until you know for sure your enemy is dead. You are shinobi." The voice was directly behind him. "This is enough for today."
The blade was removed from the child's neck and the boy turned in time to see spinning red eyes turn back to their normal black abyss.
"Sensei," the retreating form stopped mid-step.
"…"
"Am I strong?"
"No."
"When will I be? We've been training for 3 years! When will I be strong enough!?" Unwanted tears swelled beneath the azure irises.
"Naruto, do you have something worth dying for?"
"Of course I do! I have my revenge! I want to kill the bastards who killed my family! I want to avenge our guild, even if it kills me!"
"You misunderstand me. And until you do, you will never be strong enough."
0o0o0 Present Day 0o0o0
"Looking for a new job Lucy?" Sakura asked the blonde, as she plucked a new job off the Job Board.
"Yes, but I can't decide on a good one." Lucy kept scanning the board for a job that suited her, as well as covered her rent with a little left over to spend on clothing and food. "I have rent coming up soon."
"Well make sure to pick one soon. Happy and I can't wait to go on a new adventure!" Natsu called from the latest crater Sakura had plowed him into.
"Eh? Our team is officially disbanded after that last one! You only chose me because I'm a blonde!" Lucy yelled at the pink haired teen.
"That's not the only reason." Natsu dusted off his white pants and smiled sweetly at her. "We chose you because you're also really nice!"
Lucy could only give an exasperated look to the Dragonslayer.
"Make sure to tell me which job you choose as well Lucy. Master has gone to the annual Guild Master Conference so I'm in charge of keeping track of everyone's missions until he returns." Mira smiled from behind the bar as she informed the newcomer on the current procedure.
"Mira, I'll be going on this one with my usual team. They're already waiting for me outside the town." Sakura handed over the mission request and Mira pulled out the mission log to jot down who was taking care of the specified mission.
"Have a safe trip Sakura. Tell Tenten I said hello." Mira gave a smile. "And make sure to tell Sasuke not to be such a stranger. It's been awhile since he's graced us with his presence" The mock sarcasm coupled with the look in her eyes was evidence enough of Mirajane's relationship with the mage.
"I'll be sure to let him know his girlfriend is still pissed with him. Later!" Sakura turned only for Natsu to stand in her way.
"Sis, let me come with you! I want to challenge Sasuke to a fight!" Flames engulfed Natsu's body to show his excitement.
"The last time you and Sasuke went at it, you couldn't move for a month Firehead. I'm late as it is and I'm not in the mood to wait for you to pack. I'll be sure to let Sasuke know you want to fight him but I'll doubt he'll take you seriously. I should return in 3 weeks so for the love of everything holy in this world, stay out of trouble. I don't want to find out you've been arrested for property damage again or there will be dire consequences. Got it?" Sakura eyed her little brother with a sharp expression.
"Yeah, yeah I get it. No having fun." Natsu winced waiting for the punch but it never came.
"Have fun idiot." Sakura hugged him and went off to meet up with her team.
Lucy watched in awe at the sibling's exchange of endearment, wishing she had grown up with someone like Sakura. The pink-haired woman was violent but also caring. In her three weeks of being at Fairy Tail, Lucy had learned that nothing was more important than the bonds each mage had with each other in the guild.
So far she had gone on two missions; one was a rescue mission in which she, Natsu, and Happy had rescued Macao, Romeo's father, from a monster known as a Vulcan which can take-over their victims and control their bodies. The Vulcan turned out to be a huge pervert and had kidnapped her in order to mate with her. Luckily her Celestial Spirit Taurus, also a major pervert, and Natsu were able to save her and set Macao free.
The next mission was to Mansion Everlue which was looking to hire a blonde maid. Natsu and Happy had tricked her into partaking in the mission as she was the only blonde at the guild at the time. When she applied for the job she was turned down because the master of the mansion, Duke Everlue, didn't find her attractive enough. The real mission however was an item retrieval. A wealthy man was looking to have a book destroyed called Daybreak, and the reward was more than enough to keep Lucy afloat for quite some time. However, after breaking into the Mansion and locating the book, Lucy learned that the book was a letter addressed to the author's son who was also the employer of the mission. Upon learning why the book was written, Lucy and Natsu took down Duke Everlue and exposed the heartless monster that he was. Lucy and Natsu returned the book intact to their employer and showed him the hidden message within and the true title, Dear Kaby.
"So, Master went to a conference?" Lucy pulled herself out of her self induced reflections of the last few weeks and turned to Mirajane who was happily cleaning a few mugs.
"Hmm? Oh yes. It takes place every so often so that any policy changes made by the Council can be passed to the Guild Masters as well as any changes that the Masters wish to address or debate on can be done in a peaceful manner. Their motions or concerns are then passed to the Council who make the final decision. The Council is made up of 10 mages and has connections to every government in the world. They are the absolute when it comes to terms of judicial enforcement for mages. They ensure that wars aren't started by mages going on missions in other countries. Especially countries like Bosco. Beneath them are all the governments and their individual countries. From there each country is split into three factions. Their normal military force, their magical military force, and the free guilds such as Fairy Tail. Both military forces answer to the government of their country and any militarized mage is exempt from Council ruling as his/her actions are regulated by another entity. The free guilds answer first to the Council and the government second, although the line tends to blend at times. It's hard to tell who is who and just which entity is truly in control." Lucy nodded as she took in the new knowledge handed to her.
"I never knew that all the guilds were so interconnected like that." Lucy pondered over everything Mira had just informed her with.
"Yes, it's very important for the guilds to communicate. If a guild doesn't focus on cooperation-"
"The men in black will get you!" Natsu had snuck up behind Lucy and made her jump out of her skin. Natsu proceeded to laugh at her expense. "Hahaha, you're such a scaredy cat!"
"Natsu!" Lucy screamed at the laughing teen. "Don't scare me like that!" She glared hard at him. "How can he be so immature with someone like Sakura for a sister? Just when I begin to feel sympathy for the guy he does something like this. Definitely off my boyfriend list, which reminds me, I need to talk to Mira about what Sakura said about the Sasuke Uchiha being her boyfriend. That's something Sorcerer magazine hasn't talked about."
"Natsu isn't too off the mark though." Mirajane brought Lucy back to the present. "There's a fourth faction that most countries have called Dark Guilds."
"Dark Guilds?" Lucy gave Mira a stunned look.
"They are guilds that take missions like assassination and espionage. They ignore the order to disband and continue operating in the black market, selling their magical abilities to commit crimes."
"So you mean like Shadow Heart?" Lucy could vividly see the black hooded figure standing in front of her. The red clouds foreshadowing what would rain from them. She shook at the memory.
"Yes. Like Shadow Heart," Mira said, a complicated expression on her face.
"Neh, Lucy! Hurry up and pick a job! I'm bored." Happy came over to share his displeasure of not having something fun to do.
"I already told Natsu that our team is disbanded!" Lucy was more than happy, ignoring the pun, to crush that cat's hopes of doing anything "fun" around her.
"Ignore them! I'm sure you'll get a ton of offers soon enough. I know I'd rather team up with someone else. You shouldn't be roped into a team with a hot head like Natsu," Gray called out from his seat next to Cana, in his briefs.
"Gray, clothes." Cana casually drank her beer as she pointed out that Gray was close to streaking, not that there was anything anyone hadn't already seen due to the ice-mage's bizarre habit.
"Gyah!" Gray grumbled as he realized he had once again stripped down to almost nothing.
"You're annoying." Natsu glared at his rival, angry that Gray was saying stupid things again.
"What'd you just call me fire freak?" Gray stormed over to the Dragonslayer and butted their heads together, sparks surrounding them as they prepared to fight once more.
"Super annoying you pervert!"
"Feather face!"
"Silky hair!"
"You're stifling!'
"You stink!"
"There they go again…" Happy casually pointed out as he took a swig of milk that Mira had gotten for him.
While Gray and Natsu went for each other's throats, Loke had confidently walked up to Lucy as soon as he heard she was available for a team. "Lucy, won't you form a team of love with me? Tonight, just the two of us?"
Lucy didn't know how to respond. "Huh?"
"You really are beautiful. Even with my sunglasses on, your beauty is dazzling. I'm sure I would go blind if I saw you with my naked eyes." Loke couldn't even believe Lucy's next words to him.
"Go blind. Fine by me." Lucy wasn't in the mood to be hit on by a guy that went after every girl he saw. She knew a loser just like that back in her hometown named Barney. Why her ex-friend Robin liked the guy was beyond her.
Lucy moved ever so slightly and her Celestial keys glinted, catching Loke's eye. "Y-You're a Celestial Mage?!"
"What?" Lucy had to lift her eyebrow at that one. "What is he so scared of?"
"Yep! She has a cow and crab and stuff," Happy butted in, now munching on a fish he'd found just lying around on someone's plate.
"AHHH! What a cruel twist of fate! I'm sorry! We can never be together!" Loke then turned and ran out of the guild hall, leaving behind a very confused Lucy.
"What's his deal?"
"Loke has trouble dealing with Celestial Mages. Rumor is that he had trouble with a girl a long time ago." Mira had walked from behind the counter and grabbed Happy by the scruff of his neck before flipping him over and shaking him violently until money fell from his green knapsack and onto the bar counter. She then promptly dropped Happy on top of the fish he'd stolen and took his money to pay for the meal.
And just as fast as he'd run off, Loke stormed back in. "THIS IS BAD!" Everyone stopped to look at the man. "Erza's back!"
"EH!" Everyone donned looks of fear and fright save Mirajane, and Lucy, who didn't know who Erza was.
Lucy turned to Mira, "Who's Erza?"
"Hmm? Oh, Erza's a jealous cunt." Lucy's jaw had dropped.
"Excuse me?" Lucy couldn't believe what Mirajane, possibly one of the most innocent and most kind hearted persons she'd ever met, had just said.
"I said she's Fairy Tail's strongest mage silly!" Mirajane didn't even acknowledge her previous statement. "You've most likely heard of the nickname given to her: Titania, Queen of the Fairies."
"Wait, you mean the Titania? She was voted "Sexiest Mage" last year by Sorcerer magazine as well as 'The Female Mage You Don't Want to Piss Off'!" Lucy remained oblivious to the giant tick mark marring Mirajane's forehead when she mentioned the results for Sorcerer Magazine's "Sexiest Mage" contest the previous year.
"That bitch didn't even enter!" Mirajane screamed in her head at the "bogus" results, her smile widening. "That would be Erza alright."
Heavy footsteps were suddenly heard and a long shadow extended into the hall as Erza finally returned after a month away.
To say Lucy was scared would be an understatement.
Erza entered with an air that screamed "I dare you to fuck with me." Upon her shoulders was a massive decorated horn that must have belonged to some kind of monster at some point. She wore a an armored breastplate with the Fairy Tail guild mark on it, a blue skirt and knee high black boots. Her hair was possibly the most scarlet shade of red Lucy had ever seen and her sharp chocolate brown eyes were constantly evaluating everyone within sight. Her skin was fair and without any blemishes. All in all the woman was just as beautiful as Mirajane, though in her opinion Mirajane had more feminine features. Of course it was hard to judge with Erza's armor on.
Erza set the horn down, shaking the very foundations of the Guild. "I've returned. Is Master here?"
"Welcome back! Master is at the usual conference." Mira smiled at her old time rival.
"I see." Erza nodded and turned to one of the guild members when a question was thrown her way.
"Erza, what is that humongous thing?"
"The horn of a monster I subdued. The village in the surrounding area decorated it and gave it to me as a gift of gratitude. I thought it would look nicely in the guild hall." Erza then shot a glare at the one who asked the question. "Is it a problem?"
"No, not in the least!" nearly everyone responded.
Everyone began to whisper to one another about who Erza would chew out this time. Nearly everyone chose Natsu and Gray along with a few others who had done more property damage than was necessary.
"Listen up! On the road I heard Fairy Tail has yet again caused more trouble." The red head placed her hands on her hips in the way mothers do when scolding children. "The Master may not care, but I do! Cana!" The drunkard tensed and moved the giant barrel she'd been drinking from her lips. "How dare you drink while dressed like that. Vijeeter, dance outside! Wakaba. I see cigarette butts on the floor. Nab. I see you're dawdling in front of the request board as usual. Do some work! Macao." Erza merely sighed at the sight of the man.
"Say something!" Macao could handle being yelled at, but that was cruel.
"Honestly, you cause so much trouble. But I'll be kind and say nothing today." Erza face palmed and shook her head in disappointment.
"She's already said a lot, though…" Lucy whispered to Mirajane, hoping not to garner Erza's attention. "What is she, a disciplinarian?"
"That's Erza for you!" Happy once more included himself in Lucy's conversation.
"Still, even if she is kind of a loudmouth, she looks like an actual mature person. Reminds me a lot of Sakura." Lucy continued trying to figure out just what kind of person Erza is. "Surely there's no reason to be so afraid of her?"
"Mira," Erza called to the barmaid.
"Yes?"
"Has Sasuke returned yet?"
"He left for a mission with his usual team a half-hour ago," Mirajane informed her.
"I see. Then I guess it'll just be Natsu, Gray and I. Are those two here?" Erza looked around until she spotted the two hugging each other and shaking hands.
"Aye!" Happy happily confirmed that both mages were indeed there.
"Y-yo, Erza. We're good pals as usual!" Gray stuttered out nervously.
"Aye!" Natsu copied Happy's trademark catchphrase, high-pitched voice included.
"Did… Natsu turn into Happy?" Lucy whispered more to herself than to anyone else.
"That's good. Though it's natural for friends to fight sometimes as well, I'm glad to see the two of you getting along." Erza nodded her head. "Those two really think I'm that stupid don't they? At least they get along when I'm around rather than trying to kill each other."
"No, we're not exactly good friends," Gray whispered under his breath, to which Natsu replied with his own whispered "Aye!"
"I haven't seen Natsu act like this before." Lucy was shocked. Just with her presence, Erza was able to turn the hot headed Natsu into a frightened and shivering child. It was completely out of character for the pink head.
"A long time ago, Natsu challenged Erza to a fight and got beat up pretty badly. Even though Sakura constantly hits him she never puts her all into it. Erza on the other hand has never heard of the word restraint." Mirajane had taken to doodling in the air with a lightpen she had borrowed earlier when she was explaining how guilds work to Lucy. "She did the same to Gray when she caught him walking around naked and Loke when he tried hitting on her."
"Natsu. Gray. I have a favor to ask. I was hoping to borrow Sasuke for this from Team Fairy Shadow but it seems I missed my opportunity. I heard about something bad while on my last mission. Normally, I would consult Master about something like this first, but there isn't time to sit and wait. I want your help. Will you come with me?" Both Gray and Natsu looked to one another.
"Go on a mission with him?" Both mages spoke at the same time.
The whispers began to spread throughout the hall.
"Erza's asking for help?"
"That's a first."
"What in the world?!"
"We leave in an hour. Prepare yourselves for a tough fight." Erza turned and left to get her things ready.
"Erza, Natsu, and Gray… I never even imagined it before, but if they team together they could possibly be one of the strongest teams Fairy Tail has ever seen," Mirajane said causing Lucy to look shocked.
0o0o0 Magnolia Station 0o0o0
Azure eyes scanned the station platform from their seated position aboard the train headed for Oshibana. It had been over a decade since he'd last seen the humble town that played host to Fairy Tail and he had no desire to see the Guild or any of its mages. The train had been parked for 10 minutes already and within those 10 minutes Naruto had become very bored.
"I knew I should've brought something to pass the time. Maybe I can con some poor sap at a game of poker? If only there was ramen on this train." Sighing, Naruto closed his eyes and then reopened them at the sound of two men starting a fight just outside his train car.
"Why do I have to team up with you?!" A fiery youth with pink hair and clothing fit for the hot sands of Bosco screamed at the top of his lungs at a more apathetic looking teen in a white trench coat. Sitting next to them on one of the station's benches sat a blonde haired woman holding a shivering Nicola Minor spirit along with a blue cat.
"Isn't that…?" Naruto knew he'd seen the woman somewhere before.
"You think I like this anymore than you? Tch, if Erza needs help, I'm more than enough by myself!" the trench coat teen argued back.
It was like watching Fire and Ice butting heads.
"Then you go by yourself! I didn't even want to go!"
"Don't come then! Let Erza beat you senseless later!"
"I don't know them. I don't know them." The blonde girl looked everywhere but at the two. Although it was hard not to notice the pink Fairy Tail mark on her hand that matched the Pink head's mark on his shoulder.
"So she joined after all." Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the girl he'd saved from Bora in Hargeon.
"Why are you here, Lucy?" the blue cat asked chomping on a fish he'd found at one of the markets on the way to the station.
"It's because of Mira. She asked me to make sure Natsu and Gray don't fight in front of Erza." Lucy lowered her head in embarrassment.
"You aren't stopping them, though."
"I know, but…"
Both Gray and Natsu were just growling at each other now. "I'm sorry. Did I keep you waiting?"
At the sound of the new comer Naruto lazily shifted his gaze to a red-haired woman in a suit of armor. The Fairy Tail emblem embossed upon the chest, a blue skirt, and knee high black boots. She had soft brown eyes and a no-nonsense type of look about her.
"Red hair…" Naruto couldn't help the returning memories he'd long since forgotten. Closing his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath before exhaling and watched as the one named Natsu challenged the red-haired woman to a fight.
"Erza! I will come with you on one condition!" The pink-haired teen pointed at the woman as she looked at him passively.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Gray asked off to the side. "You're asking for a beating!"
He was ignored. "And what is this condition?" Erza asked stoically, causing Lucy to sweat at the serious tone she was using.
"I've gotten stronger since the last time we fought. When we get back I challenge you!"
00000 To be Continued 00000
Edited: 08/19/2013 by The Revolutionary Ronin and The Lord of the Morning