Hello there guys! Thank you to all my reader and reviewers for their support. I just feel surprised that people found this story awesome and I am glad you did. I am happy that you guys loved my stories and I will continue to do all I can to finish them with satisfying endings. Please forgive my terrible English, as it is not my mother language. Thank you Reikson, my friend for your great work at proof checking it.

Fairy Tail's Shinobi

Normal Speech: "Naruto"

Important or Emphasized Speech: "Naruto"

Thoughts: 'Then I will break that curse. If there is such thing as peace, I will find it. I won't give up!'

Spells canting and Jutsu Names: "Katon Jutsu, Ice Make Shield!"

Demons and Dragons Speech: "Now then... Who do you want to kill...?"

Demons and Dragons Thinking: 'The question is what to do with him…'

The Kingdom of Fiore is a neutral country of seventeen million people.

It is a world of magic.

Magic, bought and sought every day, is an integral part of the people's lives.

Moreover, there are those who use magic as their occupation. These people are mages or sorcerers.

The mages belong to various guilds, and perform jobs on commission.

There are a large number of guilds throughout the country of Fiore.

In addition, there lies a certain guild in a certain city.

This guild hosted legends in times long ago, and would continue to host more such legends long into the future…

…and its name is Fairy Tail!

Chapter 5: First S-Class Mission

Monday, 17th August X784

Ten days since Naruto had joined Fairy Tail, and all of Fiore was already buzzing about him. The rumors dated back to when he'd taken his first three job requests, which he finished in exactly forty-five minutes. Instead of resting and relaxing, however, he took another set of requests and went to carry them out. Mirajane was surprised at his speed and the fact that he managed to do all those jobs without a single complaint or property damage incident. The magic world was quick to give him two cognomina that were polar opposites in meaning.

His epithets dated back to when Sorcerer Magazine ran an issue on him, only three days after he'd joined Fairy Tail. The publication did nothing to alleviate public curiosity, even going so far as to nickname him the'Demon King of Fairy Tail' and thus ramping up subscriptions. Their reasoning was drawn from an incident in which he'd destroyed a Dark Guild that had been secretly holding a small town hostage, kidnapping its citizens and selling them as slaves.

Naruto had gotten involved when he'd entered the small town's main tavern in search of refreshments and was nearly bowled off his feet by a little girl who'd run into the bar, crying.

She ran up to her father, the barkeeper, and told him that her mother and older sister had been kidnapped by the dark guild. Naruto, being a good man, asked if he could help. Doubting his abilities, but nonetheless grateful for his offer of assistance, the barkeeper gave Naruto the location of the dark guild's headquarters.

The people of the village followed him, eager to see him fight. Instead, they saw him simply freezing the mages of the dark guild in place with barely a glance. But when he saw the condition of the kidnapped women and children there, he beat the dark mages to within an inch of their lives in a fit of rage. Amidst the sheer brutality of his fury, the blond shinobi had somehow been generating a thick and heavy air of oppressive killer intent while he'd beaten every last one of those dark mages bloody.

As he beat them bloody, the dark mages were screaming about a demon, as if they saw something that the townspeople couldn't. For his part, Naruto smiled coldly as he beat them senseless, and terrified all of the newly-freed villagers in the process. Once he was finished beating the dark mages into unconsciousness, he freed the kidnapped villagers from their cages and promptly replaced them with the mages that he'd just knocked out.

The little girl and her family caught up with him just before he left their village, thanking him for everything that he had done for them. He left the town, just as the Rune Knights arrived in the village in order to control the situation. The townspeople called him 'Demon King,' after his strength, imposing presence, and the brutal beatdown that he'd given those dark mages. The people of Fiore took the nickname to heart, but when they learned that he'd joined the famous magic guild Fairy Tail, they were surprised. After all, he wasn't known for being destructive, not at all like the rampant property damage that Fairy Tail tended to leave in their wake, but the name 'Demon King of Fairy Tail' had been coined.

Ironically, he found their second epithet familiar, having been called the'Yellow Flash of Fairy Tail' after his lightning-fast speed and his bright blond hair. The nickname had come after he'd taken on an important delivery job that he needed to use his full speed in order to complete it on time. The passengers of a local train, which included another reporter from Sorcerer Magazine, saw him run by the train, and actually outrun it, in an incredible show of speed and stamina.

Makarov was pleased, since Naruto was the newest of his most famous mages to do their jobs without any excessive collateral damage whatsoever. His reputation also gave the guild a good name. In his first week at Fairy Tail, the blond shinobi had finished about thirty-plus job requests all by himself, setting a guild record in the process.

His outstanding performance prompted more jobs and requests to be sent Fairy Tail's way. Makarov's only real complaint with Naruto was that the blond refused all interviews. When approached in public, he would vanish in the blink of an eye and leave behind a surprised interviewer and her crew in his dust.

But overall, Naruto was the perfect mage; he carried out his orders to the fullest extent, did his job perfectly, and gained more clients because people wanted to see his freakish strength and speed.

Meanwhile, on the first floor of the Fairy Tail guildhall, Naruto was demolishing the lunch that Mirajane had made for him. He sighed; the available jobs at the guild were very easy, and he needed something more exciting. Another bored sigh prompted Mirajane to ask him, "What's with the long face, Naruto-kun?"

He looked up at her. "I'm bored of these simple job requests, and I haven't seen Benihime-chan in a while," he said, not quite whining. "I've missed her, challenging me to fights."

She smiled at him. "Why don't you talk to the master about giving you an S-class job? You're an S-class mage already. He might just give you one."

Naruto smiled. "You're right, Mira-chan, I think I'll talk with the old coot. He did mention that I'd be allowed to do that, after all. I guess I must have forgotten…"

She giggled as he got up and went to the master's office.

Meanwhile, Makarov was up in his office, thinking about how he could promote Naruto to S-class while still being fair to the other mages. S-class mages were on another level of ability and power, especially when compared to run-of-the-mill mages, which is why he had the traditional S-Class Mage Promotion Trial in the first place.

But that was still about five months away, and he didn't want to lose a very powerful mage that could do thirty-plus missions in a single week. 'What if I give him an S-class mission, with an S-class mage who'd evaluate his skill and level during the mission?' he thought to himself.'When they get back, I'd look over the results and see if he's ready to be S-class; not that he isn't, but… who should I send with him?'

He was rudely snapped out of his thoughts by a knock at his office door. Grumbling about noisy children disturbing him, he said aloud, "Come in!" Ironically, the subject of his musing entered.

"Sorry to disturb you, master," Naruto shrugged. "…but I need to talk to you."

The master nodded, gesturing at a chair as he asked, "What did you want to talk about, my boy?"

Naruto cleared his throat with a cough. "I need your permission to do an S-class mission. The jobs for the rank-and-file are below my standards, and… well, if I'm honest, I'm getting bored. So I came to see if you could allow me to perform an S-class job…"

The old master chuckled, causing Naruto to raise a brow in curiosity. "I was actually thinking about that, my boy. Here's the deal; I'll give you the job, and you can even choose any of the available S-class jobs that you want to go on, but there's a condition that you'll have to fulfill."

"Which is?" Naruto asked.

"I know that you like to do a mission solo, but in order to evaluate your skill with said missions, I must send an S-class mage along with you," Makarov shrugged. "Even if they're weaker than you, Naruto, they'll still have more experience with S-class missions, so their assessments will go a long way towards your S-class certification."

Naruto nodded. Not only did he understand Makarov's position, but his reasoning reminded him of old man Sarutobi, dead these many years now. He nodded decisively. "Master, I formally request that you appoint Erza Scarlet as my partner for this mission. She may be one of the two S-class mages that I've met here in Fairy Tail next to Mira-chan, but Mira-chan's fighting spirit is practically nonexistent."

The master sighed as he nodded. Naruto was right, but if Mirajane hadn't told him about the details of that day, then he certainly had no place to talk about her past tragedies. "All right, then. Erza will be back later today, so talk to her about this."

Naruto nodded as he turned to leave. Turning back, he said, "Thank you for trusting me, master."

Makarov smiled slightly. "Naruto, you deserve this. You've long since proven yourself to be a great mage and you're a decent person. After all, you haven't let your power go to your head. I just hope that my grandson Laxus could learn something from you. Besides, you're part of Fairy Tail now, practically one of my children. As a parent, I have an obligation and duty to trust and help my children."

Naruto was stunned by the man's words. Raised as an orphan, he'd never heard those words except from the sealed imprints of his parents in the seal that held Kurama, the Kyūbi no Yōko. He smiled at the idea of a having a parent and walked out of Makarov's office with that sad smile.

An hour later, Naruto sat waiting for Erza. She'd be arriving any minute now, and they'd be going on their mission. Like clockwork, she entered the guildhall with members of Team Natsu, who saw him and smiled. Naruto got up to greet his fellow guild mates while Erza ignored him, which only made him smile. "Look, you guys, I've got an important job and I need Benihime-chan for a bit."

Team Natsu looked over at Erza, who seemed torn between wanting to hug Naruto or kill him for some reason. He easily got under her skin sometimes. She looked at him and nodded as he smirked and bowed half-heartedly, making her eyebrow twitch in suppressed anger. "Look, Benihime-chan, I need you to evaluate me on an S-class mission before I get promoted to S-class. You can even talk to master about it if you want."

Her eyes widened. Naruto, for all of his considerable power, was a very new member of the guild. To receive a promotion to S-class so quickly was unprecedented. In spite of her personal misgivings, she trusted Makarov's wisdom and that he'd act for the good of the guild. "All right, Naruto-kun, let me confirm with master and we can go on this mission."

She got up and walked up to the master's office. Naruto stared at Erza's swaying hips and slightly bouncing derriere with a thin smile.

Mirajane coughed into the small of her hand, tendrils of jealously trickling into her thoughts. 'Men…' she grumbled disparagingly to herself as Naruto turned to her with a smooth grin. "So, did master accept your idea, Naruto-kun?"

"Actually, he did," the blond shinobi shrugged, not really looking at her. "Thanks to you, actually, but he said that the evaluation would be the last test I'd take before I could be called an S-class mage."

"I'm glad to hear that, but be careful. As you know, S-class jobs are very dangerous," she warned him.

He turned to face her, his easy smile making her blush again. "Oh, well, that's my kind of job, really," he shrugged, his smile widening into a grin.

Smirking, he got up from his seat and walked up the stairs to the second floor. The guild members watched silently as he walked to the S-class job board. He returned to his seat in a flash of light, an S-class request poster in hand and surprising more than a few people there who hadn't seen him do that before, Team Natsu amongst such people. They gasped in awe at his speed, and a starry-eyed Natsu asked him, "Naruto, how did you do that?!"

"Aye, Naruto, how did you do that?" Happy echoed. Gray and Lucy were also interested, so they covertly listened in on the imminent response.

Naruto smiled and closed his eyes. Leaning back in his chair, he opened an eye to regard the four of them for a minute or two before asking them, "Eh? Did you say something?" Needless to say, they all promptly toppled to the floor in exasperation as Naruto and Mira chuckled at their misfortune.

Around that time, Erza came back. Naruto studied her as she regarded him with a strict and assessing gaze. Finally, she said, "Master said that I'm to go with you and 'evaluate' your level of skill. So which request did you take and when do we leave?"

He smiled as he showed her the request, which she took. "Wanted, Argus; a rare variety of T-Rex located in the prehistoric forest," she read aloud. "Payment will be nine million jewels for its capture upon successful delivery to the Dinosaur Park." Looking up from the sheet of paper, she quirked an eyebrow. "Are you sure that you want this mission, Naruto?"

He answered her with a nod and a cocky smirk, as if telling her that the job would be child's play. In a rare display of tact, he ignored Natsu all up in a tizzy about doing S-class jobs. Happy and Lucy looked shocked. They'd been at Fairy Tail a lot longer than Naruto had ever been, and yet he was going to do an S-class job before them. Gray was calm; he knew that Naruto was easily the most powerful mage amongst their little group, even if he wasn't S-class yet.

Nodding decisively, Erza gave the request to Mirajane, who took out the request-reference book and noted that Naruto and Erza were taking on the Dinosaur Park job. Turning back to the blond shinobi, the redheaded swordswoman said, "All right, then, Naruto, we'll be going now so get ready to leave. I have to go pack."

Naruto smirked as he sarcastically saluted Erza before vanished in a flash of yellow light, leaving Natsu behind to gape in astonishment. He then shouted, "How the Hell does he do that? That's so cool!"

Naruto appeared in the guildhall after a couple of minutes, wearing his battle suit. His favorite outfit was a long-sleeved black shirt with a hooded black jacket and a pair of vambraces on his forearms, a pair of black cargo pants with a pair of graves on his lower legs, with steel-capped leather ankle boots on his feet. He sat in his usual chair, where Mirajane was quick to notice. "Ara, ready already, Naruto-kun?"

He nodded. "All I've got to do now is to wait for Benihime-chan outside. Later, everyone," he shrugged, walking to the door as Natsu and company turned to Mirajane. Lucy asked, "Mira-san, did Naruto-san and Erza take a job together?"

"Yes, they did," Mirajane smiled. "But they've taken an S-class job."

"I want to do an S-class mission too, Mira-chan!" yelled Natsu excitedly.

"Aye!" supported Happy with his squeaky comical voice.

Lucy just gawked at what she just heard. "But, Mira-san, isn't Naruto-san a bit new to receive an S-class job?" she asked. "He's only been with the guild for ten days and yet he's already received an S-class mission. Isn't that… strange, Mira-san?"

"Master knows what's best for our guild," the former Demon of Fairy Tail shrugged. "Everyone knows that Naruto's ridiculously powerful. Look at how he finished his jobs. He's very experienced and has effectively displayed an ability to do much higher-level jobs. So please stop. Master's word is final."

Natsu was about to whine until he saw Mirajane's glare and closed his mouth shut. Gray and Lucy were rather surprised, but were no strangers to Naruto's incredible power. His defeat of both Erza and Natsu in combat was proof. So they were left to wonder what exactly he and Erza were doing now.

Meanwhile, outside the guildhall, Naruto waited for his partner to arrive. Minutes later, he saw Erza's trademark scarlet hair and walked up to her. Only then did he notice that she was pulling a large handcart that filled to the brim with all sorts of suitcases and bags. At first, he thought they were full of clothes but then he remembered her magic and was forced to reconsider. When he got closer to her, the fragrant aroma of food hit his nostrils.

"Well, well, well, a woman that knows her way around the kitchen and also a strong and powerful warrior," he teased her. "My kind of woman, really."

She flushed brightly. "I… I don't know what you're talking about," she sputtered defensively.

He smiled and chuckled a bit, making her blush even worse. She looked away from him, scowling as she started walking to the train station. Naruto was still snickering before noticing her departure and yelled at her, "Hey, Benihime-chan, I was just fooling around! Wait for me!" and ran after her.

Tuesday, 18th August X784

The journey to the ancient forest known as the Prehistoric Forest was uneventful, except that Naruto and Erza were constantly trading jokes with each other and flirting rather expertly. The train trip to their destination took a whole day, which infuriated Naruto because he could've gotten there in twelve hours if he'd been running at full speed the whole way.

To make things easier, Naruto had sealed Erza's luggage away in a storage fūinjutsu scroll, much to her surprise. His unique kind of magic, what he called ninjutsu, was more versatile than she'd thought.

Their job was to bring in a rare dinosaur from the old forest to the Dinosaur Park. They were about to enter the forest when Naruto stopped them. Looking at him uncertainly, Erza quirked an eyebrow as he smiled at her. "I'd like to finish this job in record time, so…" A certain handseal later, he shouted, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and a hundred shadow clones appeared in an explosion of smoke and then ran off into the forest.

He smiled as he turned around, knowing that Erza would be shocked by another example of ninjutsu and its many applications. "That was just one of my many techniques, Benihime-chan, so breathe deeply, and let yourself process what you've just seen."

She blushed but nevertheless took a deep breath. Gesturing out at the forest, he said, "That was Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, which allows me to create solid clones out of my chakra. But the technique can seriously deplete my reserves, especially since most of my people can barely make one, let alone the hundred that you just saw me manifest. But this jutsu's dead useful. I can remember anything that my clones see, hear, feel, or learn, because I'm the original and their creator."

She looked over at Naruto in surprise at his admittance that he could be so seriously drained. 'That technique must be quite taxing on his magic reserves if he's getting drained like this. Maybe it's not supposed to be that much…' She saw him suddenly smile at her, which caught her curiosity. Then he frowned. "One of my clones just found our target, about twenty kilometers south of our location," he reported, adding, "…but we're not alone in this hunt."

The speed with which he, or rather his clone, had moved did not surprise her. After all, the rumor was that he was the fastest man in Fairy Tail, even the whole of Fiore. It had even earned him his second nickname, the so-called 'Yellow Flash' and she was happy that he'd joined her guild, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone. She found him to be the only man her age that could beat her so easily.

Ironically, she didn't know whether to hate him or love him. He had a cool air about him that made him seem like royalty. He'd say what he thought, regardless of his audience's opinions, but would still hear advice on matters that he didn't know about or understand. He was a very strange man; he was powerful, very much so, and yet he was humble.

He was not like most other strong men that she'd met. They were generally arrogant peacocks who loved to flaunt their feats as feathers. He talked to different people in the same way, regardless of whether they were normal people, members of a guild, or members of Fairy Tail. Even the people of Magnolia Town adored him, even if he was just a few days old to the guild and town. He had a strange charisma that made people around him trust him easily and become his friend.

He was an enigma, a puzzle that annoyed her. He had a sad and lonely look in his eyes that she would notice and that he would hide behind a bright smile. She couldn't instill any sort of fear in him like she could with other guild members. Ironically, she found this inability refreshing; he could and would talk to her as an equal rather than beneath him.

What annoyed her was that he'd flirt with every other girl in the guild in addition to herself and Mirajane. He'd make her blush at his sexual innuendoes and that damnable smirk of his. She knew that he was cute, and that every single girl of her guild had her eye on him. His past, which he didn't talk about in particular, made him more mysterious than Mystogan. Fairy Tail knew nothing about him or his past and yet he was very sociable and friendly.

She sighed as she began her twenty-kilometer walk through the dangerous forest, following the would-be S-class mage. Naruto was looking around cautiously as they trekked through the forest.

An hour of walking, with a couple of monsters here and there, the two of them reached their target. The loud and familiar sound of snapping tree trunks caught their attention and raised their hackles. As they arrived, creeping ever closer to the source of the noise, they heard a loud beastly roar and a couple of human shouts. Erza was about to charge in and investigate, but Naruto stopped her. She glared at him, her eyes demanding an explanation, and he said coolly, "Erza-chan, we should stick to the shadows until we understand what's going on in there."

She struggled to hide her blush at his familiar behavior as she looked away from him. They walked in the shadows of the trees before laying their eyes upon a large creature that was about fifteen meters long and had tough leathery red brownish skin. The beast was fighting a scythe-wielding mage from some guild that Naruto didn't recognize, prompting him to ask Erza if she knew him.

She regarded the mage for all of a second before her eyes widened in surprise and she growled angrily, which piqued Naruto's interest. Finally, she whispered to him harshly, "The man with the scythe is Erigor, from a dark guild called Eisenwald. He was the ace of that guild, but Natsu defeated him. He and several of his comrades tried to kill the masters of the legal guilds during a guild meeting about a month ago, including Master Makarov. The Rune Knights arrested all of them, but there was a report that he'd escaped."

The scythe-wielding mage then disabled the beast with several punishing blasts of wind. As he finished capturing the mighty beast, he laughed. "What an easy job. The money will be useful in helping master."

Naruto frowned. "Erza, you protect that creature from further harm. I'll handle this Erigor guy." But before she could even reply, he vanished. She sighed and ran to her target as well.

Materializing in front of Erigor, the blond shinobi waved at him cheerfully. "Yo! Sorry, but you're taking my target. If you'd be so kind as to relinquish it to me, I promise you safe passage. What do you say?"

Erigor was initially shocked at Naruto, having never sensed him. But he quickly grew angry at this man's audacious request. "Safe passage, you say?" he sneered. "Why would I need that when I could just kill you and be on my way?"

Sweeping his left arm in Naruto's direction, he shouted, "Storm Bringer!" and a large tornado roared into existence. Its torrential power and imbued wind blades pulverized the surrounding trees as it seemed to charge the blond man. Suddenly, the sound of a blade cutting through air was heard and the tornado was sliced in half and unceremoniously dispersed.

With Storm Bringer's power negated, the rubble and dust that it'd picked up now began to rain down onto the earth. Erigor's jaw fell as he realized that he'd just witnessed one of his strongest attacks being reduced to nothing. Then he heard the blond man saying nonchalantly, "You know, it's not nice to attack someone who's offering you a good deal. So this is my last warning; leave or I'll cut you down."

He saw the blond man still standing on the ground, with a long black sword in hand and sporting a cold glare sending shivers down his spine. Erigor was about to retort before he heard a familiar voice say from behind him, "Take the deal, Erigor the Shinigami. You know that you can't beat him now, and you certainly can't beat both of us."

He turned around and paled. Much to his horror, he was face-to-face with Erza Scarlet, Fairy Tail's notorious Titania. She was standing in front of the beast that he'd just knocked out. "We have legal paperwork for this beast, and we don't want to fight you. Please leave peacefully."

He growled as he turned to stare at Naruto again. "Oh, so you're from Fairy Tail? Why do you flies always put your nose in my business?! I'll leave this time, but mark my words; I will get my revenge on you and your guild!"

The wind began to pick up, obscuring their vision briefly before dissipating to reveal that Erigor had vanished. Erza and Naruto walked to the unconscious beast. She moved to pick it up before Naruto stopped her. "Hey, Benihime-chan, this job's mine, remember? I gotta do all the work. Plus, you're just here to evaluate me."

She smiled, blushing at her mistake. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Please forgive me for forgetting my job during this request. Please hit me as punishment!"

Naruto smirked, an evil glint in his eyes, before he spanked her ass once, hard. She screeched as a surprising mix of pain and pleasure ran through her body, making her flustered and blushing like an idiot. "What are you doing, Naruto-kun?!" she yelled indignantly.

"What? Didn't you ask me to punish you?" the blond shinobi asked, leering at her. Surprised by his stare, she could see a deep hunger and lust within his deep blue eyes. But he was quick to squelch his emotions as his eyes betrayed the same sadness and loneliness that she used to know quite well.

He abruptly turned to walk towards the unconscious monster before taking out an empty scroll and laid it on the ground in front of the beast itself. She followed him, standing behind as he pulled out an inkwell and brush from somewhere and began to work. He began to write on the scroll in a strange language that she'd never saw before. Finishing his work within minutes, he sealed away his equipment before making a half-ram sign and shouting, "Fūin!"

The scroll's writings began to glow a faint blue before tendrils of energy in the same color crawled to the beast and encased its entire body. A massive smoky explosion later, and the beast had somehow disappeared. The scroll, whose writings had an empty gap in its middle, now sported a strange new symbol in it.

Once again, Erza was surprised at this weird magic. But she'd already seen it when Naruto had sealed away her luggage and had preserved her many suitcases before unsealing them when they'd settled into a hotel room only the night before. So she wasn't worried about the dinosaur's health and any possible danger to the integrity of the job.

Once he picked up the scroll, Naruto slipped it into an inner pocket of his jacket before saying, "We're done here. Let's go."

Wednesday, 19th August X784

The next day, Naruto and Erza had just returned from his first S-class mission after receiving their payment from the Dinosaur Park owner. The man was thrilled; he'd been trying to get the rare Argus-type for months. He even paid them extra for their speed and promised that he'd recommend Fairy Tail to his friends.

They returned to the guildhall, with Erza riding on Naruto's back because he hated walking slowly when he didn't have to, so their return trip took barely a day. She'd never admit it, but she enjoyed the piggyback ride; she got to touch his body and learn a lot of exact details about his muscles.

They didn't even manage to sit down for a minute before master Makarov and Mirajane approached them. Apparently, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy had gone on an S-Class job without permission. Makarov had ordered Gray to get them back, but they had yet to return. So he had Erza and Naruto to make sure that they were fine and to return them to the guild immediately.

Erza grew angry, but Naruto was a little disappointed in the kids than anything else. Nevertheless, he knew that they'd have to learn from their mistakes. Sighing, he muttered something about annoying brats and their stupidity before turning to Makarov and asking, "So, master, where did Natsu and his friends go to?"

Makarov scowled deeply. "The cursed island of Galuna…"

To be continued…