Another chapter coming your way folks I hope you enjoy!
Kakashi shivered violently as a certain emotional redhead gave him a tight hug. He had expected more of a similar reaction to what Jiraiya got. The Toad Sage was still buried partially into the floor of the Nexus room after all. Instead of battering him for not doing enough like he expected though, Kushina simply hugged him and whispered soothing words into his ear, like an elder sister or even a mother. It confused and frightened him to a greater extent than being teleported into this strange place.
"I'm sorry we weren't there for you Kashi." She whispered softly causing Kakashi to begin shaking his head.
"No, I-" He began.
"You were practically ours Kakashi, and you were still a boy when we died. I know you watched over him when you could while in ANBU, that was more than should have been required of you. Neither I or Minato would blame you for what happened." Kushina hushed him softly.
The woman slowly broke the hug with a soft smile and gentle pat on the shoulder. It was strange for her, to see Kakashi, older than herself. The last she had seen him he was a broken fourteen year old boy, trying to stealthily follow her around as her protection while she was pregnant. The cute jonin kid had grown into a fine young man, whether Kakashi himself could see it or not.
Turning to the group, most of them were honestly a little terrified of the young woman. While the mages hadn't seen what Jiraiya was capable of, they knew that he was one of the strongest, if not the strongest shinobi in the room. Kushina was clearly among that same number.
"Are you really Kushina Uzumaki?" Tenten asked with a growing smile as Kushina nodded her head with a grin.
"Wait, THE, Kushina Red Hot Habanero Uzumaki?" Sakura asked in shock.
"The one and only." Kushina replied with a small laugh.
"But you're supposed to be dead, and wait, I never thought about it before but Naruto wasn't just given the name Uzumaki to honor your clan was he?" Iruka said in a timid voice.
"Clearly not." Kushina said with another chuckle. Turning to face both groups at once she decided to properly introduce herself. "I am Kushina Uzumaki, I'm dead, the mother of Naruto Uzumaki, and former Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." She said with a slight bow of the head.
The room was silent for a moment before one of the mages lightly cleared their throat. It was surprisingly Levy, who looked a little put out by the sudden attention she got from breaking the silence.
"What do you mean former Jinchuuriki?" She asked. This of course got Kushina to sigh sadly before taking a seat.
The gathered group, both those that already knew the answer and those that had not the foggiest listened with rapt attention as Kushina explained jinchuuriki, their burden, and their history. Starting with the capturing of the tailed beasts by Hashirama Senju, and ending with her death and Naruto becoming the new Jinchuuriki of Konoha.
"So, despite how naive and foolish it was, Lord Third did as my husband asked and revealed Naruto's status, but not his parentage to the village. They immediately called for his death. Few civilians bother to learn of the shinobi life, and fewer of Jinchuuriki, many didn't even know that Konoha had jinchuuriki in the past as both my and Mito's conditions had been hidden for security reasons. Of course Hiruzen wasn't about to let them kill, Naruto, especially when even now, I'm unsure on whether the Kyubi would reform near Konoha or simply in the Shinigami's stomach with my husband." Kushina wrapped up her long spiel.
The gathered listeners, at least many of the younger ones were stunned by what they had heard. Especially those from Konoha. Now knowing the full truth, they were ashamed, to a degree toward themselves but more toward their village. It was obvious why naruto was treated like such a pariah now, when he normally would have been treated closer to how Sasuke had been.
"Wait, if Naruto was the son of two S rank shinobi, why is he a dead last then." Kiba asked getting a pop not only from Kurenai but Hinata as well and a harsh scowl from Kushina.
"He was sabotaged." Iruka said sadly.
"What?" Several shinobi asked.
"I failed in my duty to look underneath the underneath, and by the time I did it was too late. The truth is, Naruto was sabotaged in class. He was purposefully taught the incorrect basics and had almost no-chance of passing the academy because of the restrictive jutsu were all control intensive to pass while Naruto has such vast reserves it would be insane for him to achieve them. The fact he got two out of three is on it's own unbelievable looking back." Iruka explained.
"Not to mention, everyone seems to forget Naruto mastered the shadow clone in hours, and the Rasengan in a week when it took Jiraiya months and even with the sharingan more than a year myself." Kakashi added.
Again the room was silent briefly as the shinobi digested the truth about their friend. However on the opposite side of the room, the mages were concluding another issue.
"How could you let all that happen to him?" Wendy asked toward the other shinobi.
They all turned their heads not to look in the girl's eyes before Kushina cut in.
"Orders to better hide Naruto's identity likely kept anyone from giving him special treatment. Not to mention Tsunade had been away from Konoha since before I even married Minato, and Kakashi and his fellow Jonin were barely teenagers when Naruto was born. Konoha lost so many shinobi at the time it was all hands on deck I'm sure. As for Jiraiya. He seems to have been a poor choice as a godfather for my son."
Several of the group had taken to glaring at the beaten pervert, and the old man himself seemed to have a self-loathing expression.
"I'm sorry to interrupt everything, but I believe it's time to get started otherwise we will never complete this tale." Hagoromo called out.
"Of course, who was reading?" Kushina said with a surprisingly gentle smile.
"I was." Mira said with a small smile as she opened the book to begin. The group settled in to listen, while Kakashi sat close to Kushina who gently rubbed his shoulder calming the stormy mind of her husband's student.
While the shinobi continued to ponder all the sudden revelations, the mages thought of the terrible mistreatment of the loyal blond they had read of, the elders of the group couldn't help but feel that the grim knowledge they had just learned would only be the beginning of what was to come for this chapter.
Hargeon Town
Hargeon, a big port town that holds not only perhaps the largest port of the southern part of Fiore, but also held the reputation as one of the most beautiful towns of the kingdom. With most of its population being in the business of the seas like fishing, they also have a big marina for all types of ships, from big transport ships to small fishing boats. The town also had a train station, a public park, and a series of diverse restaurants.
"That's right, Naruto is going to be going to that cursed island." Sakura said out loud, remembering where they left off.
"And Lucy, Happy, and flame brain are off to join him without realizing it." Gray said with a roll of his eyes.
Surprisingly Natsu didn't immediately shout at Gray for the insult, instead looking slightly bashful at having gotten Happy to steal the S-class quest for him.
Naruto was inside one of the restaurants, eating a warm meal he had paid for. After arriving at Hargeon town he decided to go and eat something before he would try and find a boat that could bring him to Galuna island. If he was lucky because he had already been warned by some of the dock workers that many sailors would not go near that island because it was cursed.
He finished his meal and sighs out of delight before ordering "May I get a glass of water, please?"
"Coming right up."
Naruto nodded as he starts waiting patiently for his drink, he looks around to see that the place was packed with happy customers enjoying their food. He then notices that at one table a group of young women who sat at a nearby table were watching him and giggled to each other.
Kushina couldn't help but smile at that. Her baby boy was very handsome all grown up.
It was not new for Naruto to have that kind of attention, thanks to the reputation as a member of Fairy Tail and the many tales that of him fighting bandits, rogue mages and other acts, he was almost recognized everywhere where he went by people who recognized him by his appearance, especially his mask.
At this Kushina sighed. "Fangirls." She grumbled. It was one thing to think someone was handsome or beautiful, or to admire their deeds, but there would also be those that only cared about his looks and fame. That wasn't something she could be okay with.
"It's okay Kushina, Naruto is too dense to register fangirls anyway." Sakura began to say with a giggle only the increased frown on Kushina's face stopped her laugh.
"That's not a good thing." The redhead commented flatly.
The Bartender came with his drink "Here is your drink."
"Thank you." Naruto said as he pulls out some coins as payment "Here."
The bartender took the money "Anything else?"
"No, thank you," Naruto said as the bartender nodded and walked away to help other customers. Just when Naruto started to drink his water, and little man was walking up and took a seat next to the blonde shinobi.
"Oh Yajima. I wonder how close he and Naruto are. I have the feeling they have bonded well." Makarov said with a smile.
"I see you're drinking water, good. At least you're thinking of your health."
"He had better." Kushina said with a huff, lightening up the atmosphere from the earlier explanations considerably and causing the readers to laugh.
Naruto stopped drinking and saw who it was, chuckling he began "Come on, old man. You come all the way from Era for that?"
The small person chuckled "I'm just concerned about your health, that all. I remember back when that the only thing you liked to eat was ramen. And you only drank can soda."
"Nar-" Kushina began only for Tsunade to clear her throat with a knowing look and teasing smile, quieting the mother with a blush.
"And now thanks to your fostering, I came out okay. Thank you for that, Yajima. For everything."
"Yajima always is such a nice man." Lucy asid with a smile.
"Yeah, plus his food is really good." Natsu said.
"What do you mean?" Asuma asked.
"Yajima eventually opened up a restaurant, some of our guild members even helped out as staff." Erza said.
The short old man who revealed to be Yajima was a member of the Magic Council. He was also a former member of Fairy Tail, which also explains him always defending the guild. He was also one of the few who knew of Naruto's background.
"I wonder who all know. It's clear Master Makarov and the council all know. I assume the King and possibly his closest advisers know as well." Gray pondered.
"Juvia believes that if there are more than just Naruto in Fiore, likely all of the royal family is aware, and most high ranking members of the military." Juvia added.
"Naruto did seem to have connections with the military in earlier chapters." Levy said.
It was no secret among many of the Magic Council of Naruto's background and former affiliations to the other side of the ocean because he wasn't the first case of someone who came from the other side of the sea to reside and live in the magical continent...
"Just how many shinobi live in Fiore?" Erza asked no-one in particular.
"I would have to guess, nearly all of them are presumed dead, or missing-nin. Especially from big villages like Konoha. I wonder…" Shikamaru spoke idly, more thinking out loud than answering Erza's question.
"Wonder what Shika?" Ino asked.
"In start of the story, Naruto was said to have freed an Oto-nin." Shikamaru began. Several people's eyes widened having forgotten about that. "They might also be in Fiore."
"But Naruto was transported by the First Master." Jet commented.
"Yeah, but other shinobi are in the Fiore, that means they could have gotten there another way right?" Macao said.
"Possibly." Shikamaru commented before nodding at Mira to encourage her to read again.
"So, you're planning on going to Galuna island on your own... I must say that I find this strategy of yours too risky." Yajima stated.
"That's Naruto for you." Kiba said with a grin.
"Well, I'm just happy someone is trying to help him curb his more reckless ideas." Kushina said with an exasperated sigh. She knew he would be hard headed like she was when younger.
Naruto sighed as he knew the old man would find it reckless "I know you are a concerned old man. But if what Kageyama says is true, then there will be at least a lot of bandits with a lot of explosives there, possible some ninja's among them too."
This brought a more somber mood to the group once more. While the mages thought back to Naruto's previous escape from Konoha and the shinobi tools used to strengthen the Eisenwald members, the Shinobi instead thought of their many missions, most of which ended with bloodshed.
"Then you know that I won't let you go there alone." Yajima said as he revealed something "I know that you're having trouble on getting there due to most sailors not wanting to get to Galuna island. But I found someone who's willing to bring you there."
Naruto was surprised, he had almost spent the whole afternoon trying to find someone "Who?"
"A local who owns a fishing boat, says he would do it for free. You'll find him in the port. He's waiting for you."
"This yajima really is a very kind man. Helpful too." Asuma said with a chuckle at the fact Naruto had spent so much time trying to find a way to the island, and this man had already set it up for him.
Naruto was glad he now had a way to reach Galuna island "Alright, what's the guy's name?"
"Bobo, no last name, just Bobo. He wears a blue cap, an light green cape and has a mustache. He's easy to spot as he's waiting on his boat for you."
"Okay, then I'll get to it then."
"Before you go, I need to ask you. What have you done for the Eisenwald boys?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about them. I wonder what Mystogan is doing with them?" Natsu thought aloud.
"Oh them? I let Mystogan handle it." Naruto said "I gave him the location of the safe house, some town up north on the countryside. There they will be lying low until all the Eisenwald members are apprehended."
"Boring!" natsu called out.
"What exactly were you expecting?" Lucy asked.
"I dunno, like take them on an amazing adventure to find some ancient relic and reclaim their honor as mages or something." Natsu said like it was obvious causing the others to stare at him for a while. Till mira shook her head and began reading again.
Yajima nodded "Good. You better leave now. before it gets dark."
"Alright, if you say so." Naruto said standing up "I'll contact the council when the job is done."
Yajima understood "Okay, just be a careful boy. Don't let anything happen to you."
Naruto chuckled "Of course not. See you around." He said before walking away from the counter and walking for the exit.
"Oh, Naruto!"
He stopped and turns around and saw a scroll was thrown to him by the old man, it was a message scroll.
"I came across your friend, she wanted me to pass it to you."
"I wonder who it could be." Iruka said.
"Maybe it's another Fairy Tail mage?" Konohamaru offered.
"Maybe it's a shinobi." Happy suggested.
Shikamaru, as he had for much of the story, slid into his thinking pose and wondered about the person himself.
"Oh,..." Naruto looked at the scroll before turning to Yajima "Thanks old man, see ya." He said before exiting through the front door and going straight for the port.
Yajima smiled as he saw the young boy leave with a smile, the bartender behind the counter asked: "Looks like a pretty decent kid."
"One of the best." Kakashi said, getting a smile from the others especially the proud mother.
"Oh he is," Yajima said smirking as he was served a glass of rum by the bartender "but sometimes he's just like the rest of Fairy Tail and having his moments; likes to fight, create havoc, or in his case he likes pranking people."
Some of the shinobi groaned at the last instance having been his victims, but Kushina was all smiles. He was an Uzumaki. It was like they had to be rambunctious. A few of the mages looked excited or amused by the prospect as well, while Makarov blew out a small sigh. Naruto seemed mostly responsible, but perhaps his current children was enough of a handful.
The bartender got closer to the man and asked: "I know this may be an...sudden question, but...is he one of those 'people'?"
"Oh what's this?" Jiraiya asked in surprise.
"I think this man is aware of shinobi." Lissanna said.
"I thought only the council knew." Happy said.
"There is probably a reason." Shikamaru said.
Yajima became very careful with his words and retorted the question "...Why do you ask?"
"Don't worry, my son is engaged with one of them, a woman from Kiri I believe. I've noticed that many of the ex-shinobi who live among us mostly take distance from everyone else, never mind that they talk with members of the Magic council like you..."
"Ah, well no wonder." Macao said with a chuckle.
"It makes it seem like far more are present than I had thought." Tsunade added.
"I know what you mean, I expected a handful, but for a random bartender to have them so easily pegged just by the way naruto acts suggests that for those in the know it's a far more common thing." Asuma reasoned.
This was something new to hear to Yajima, and he asked: "So you know of this little community..."
The bartender nods "She told me what she did," the bartender began to dry one of the empty glasses as he continued to talk "the life she lived, the missions she did, the people she knew died... including her only living relative, her sister."
The group saddened at hearing about someone losing their sister. All of them knew of loss in some way and could relate, some better than others.
Already understanding what the man meant "How did she cross the sea?"
"Smuggler brought her here." The bartender explained "Paid for a ticket, the trip took a month to arrive in this port. Came here with nothing but a backpack filled with clothes and a little money. She managed to escape the port police before they surrounded the smuggler's ship and arrested everyone else and deported them back to Kiri."
"Why would they deport them back?" Wendy asked.
"It seems practically no-one knows of the shinobi continent in Fiore. Probably because the rulers in Earthland don't want shinobi in their territory. Some of the things we do as common missions, falls either fully, or very close to something your dark guilds would do." Kurenai explained.
Yajima shook his head, he had read the reports of the smugglings, of course, all of it was confidential. Only a small percentage of people in the Fiore government and the Magic Council of Earthland knew of the existence of the Shinobi continent. How did most people not know? lack of knowledge? No interest? Or was it because the magical continent hasn't had real contact with the shinobi continent for over a century or all of them.
"Well, that explains that much at least." Evergreen said.
Still, these days the only thing that was coming from the shinobi continent were ships, unofficial ships that were mostly caught smuggling contraband like a dope, stolen goods or weapons, but these ships were also in a different kind of smuggling; people.
"No wonder that the majority of shinobi in Fiore would be missing-nin. The only communication between the two continents seems to be based in crime in the first place." Tsunade said with a frown.
"The people moving to Fiore probably have no other option than to deal with criminals to get there and safety." Kushina said sadly.
"Not to mention it most definitely makes it far more dangerous for those poor people." Mira added before continuing the reading.
In recent years, the shinobi continent and the newly established Alvarez Empire had made contact in the first time in sixty years, breaking of the agreement of other magical countries who did not interact with the shinobi continent. The Western country had set up relationships with the shinobi countries and negotiated military agreements.
"That can't be good." Gray said.
"No doubt, they sound as if they may be gearing up for an eventual war." Jiraiya said with a frown. He had seen more than enough wars in his own lifetime, two of them even being Great Wars.
Of course this came with a price, the Alvarez empire and the rest of the magical community broke off all diplomatic ties after the empire was specifically warned multiple times not to do undergo any contact with the shinobis, since most feared their violent and dangerous way of life would destroy their long-standing peaceful way of living and progress in magic. The first reason why all ties of communications were cut off from the shinobis was that because the violence had spilled over to their lands.
"You were right, Gray-sama, it's not good." Juvia said sadly.
"War between this Alvarez Empire and its neighbors may be inevitable at this point." Iruka commented.
So in the response under the Magic Council and the Fiore royal family, the travel routes were heavily restricted so the ships of the shinobis and the empire were forced to only go between Shinobi controlled sea territory and Alvarez controlled sea territory. And of course in there, a few smugglers tried to reach Fiore, but only a small percentage of those ships get to shore and get mostly raided by the Fiore military.
All of this was kept in secret, not even the population in Alvarez, Fiore or any other country in Earthland was informed about this, only the military, the magic council, and the royalty.
"Ah, as juvia thought." Juvia said at the list of those in the know.
The bartender sighed "Imagine if that girl got caught, I've heard at least five others like her were on that ship, most of them were teens. All girls who had gone through hell."
The group collectively grimaced at the thought.
Yajima saddened after hearing that, the Shinobi-Alvarez agreement also brought an unprecedented consequence; people from the shinobi continent left their homes for a new life, many of them were ex-shinobi who left the ranks.
Many ex-shinobi came in contact with the Fiore government and surprisingly pleaded for asylum, telling under truth-spells the story why they left the shinobi life in the first place, some of them were found out to have committed crimes and were deported to Alvarez, where they would be picked up by the tracker ninjas of their villages, awaiting mostly arrest...
"Arrest if they are lucky." Jiraiya grimly pointed out.
"Hunter-nins are better known for executions." Kushina added.
The mages didn't reply at that, but it was clear they were uncomfortable with the subject.
But a good chunk of ex-shinobi was given asylum, many of them because they were underage, mostly genin who couldn't handle the pressure and the pain of the shinobi life anymore. Some even brought friends of them who wanted to escape. Most of these shinobi came from smaller villages like Ame and Kusa who went through brutal wars or others like Taki and Yuka. Also among them were a few from the big five villages, including from Naruto's village.
"They are getting a new start away from their past. That is good at least." Kushina said quietly.
"Some would argue that they deserve punishment just for leaving." Tsunade said.
"That's not fair." Natsu stubbornly growled.
"It's not, but those that see them as traitors for leaving outnumber those that see them as victims." Kakashi added. He personally was conflicted over the issue. He could see both points of view.
"In those few years, after that Alvarez mess, I wonder how many of those poor folks made it here."
Yajima then muttered out "If I will say, possibly around a thousand by now..."
"That's more than I expected." pointed out Mira.
The bartender almost froze when he heard that "Do I hear that clearly."
"I know a thousand sounds a lot," Yajima spoke "but if you compare that to those who tried coming to Earthland, it's only a fraction that I don't even want to say that now lives here. So many children tried to get through, but so many didn't make it."
The group flinched at that thought.
"I really don't like where this conversation is going." Gai mumbled un-youthfully getting small nods from those nearby that could hear him.
The bartender nods as he saw some sadness in the guy's eyes and spoke some words "Look up there, behind you."
Yajima turned around and saw a brown haired girl in a waitress outfit was writing down the orders from the customers, she looked like Naruto's age, had her hair in braids, had brown eyes and had a noticeable bump in her stomach that looked like she was expecting...
"That is my daughter-in-law, Koa, formally known as Miza Yuki. A former chunin from a village called Kirigakure, I'm correct."
"Yuki." Sakura said in surprise.
"What's wrong Sakura?" Ino asked.
"When we went on a mission to Wave Country, one of the Shinobi we fought was a refugee from Kiri, Naruto told us later their name was Haku Yuki." Sakura explained.
"So they were related?" Gray asked.
"Clansmen. Until recently Kiri had some of the most clans." Kakashi explained.
"Until recently?" Macao asked cautiously.
"Kiri has been in a civil war until very recently." Tsunade explained.
The group grew even more somber at this information.
Yajima questioned "I notice she's pregnant."
Several of the more mature in the room felt dread build in their chests.
The bartender nodded as he starts cleaning another mug "She did not have an easy life if I can say, did you know that a civil war was going on in her home village? Because that's not it, you see she has what they call a 'Kekkei Genkai' some kind of ability to manipulate chakra into something that only she and her family could do."
Yajima nodded "Yeah, like family magic, Naruto told me about it. He told me he had a friend who possessed the ability to see enemies from up far and disable its energy sources by blocking them."
"Konoha has some of those then?" Erza asked.
"Yes, like Hinata and Neji's byakugan or all seeing eye. It allows them the systems of chakra as well as long distances, through objects and near completely around their head at every angle." Kurenai explained.
"Yeah, something like that. But her ability is to mix two different elements, she has the ability to use Hyoton."
"Hyoton?"
"Haku, had that ability in Wave. The Ice based attacks were especially dangerous with the amount of water and mist in the area." Kakashi said.
"Ice release. Like in the ability to use ice." The bartender said lousy "Like me get to the point, the civil war was raging because it seemed like their leader was under hypnoses by some guy with red eyes and dots. I think it was what they called a shoringan or something like that."
"What?" Jiraiya shouted.
"Who could that be? Itachi?" Asuma asked.
"No, Itachi hasn't been in Kirigakure since the start of the civil war. He has almost always been on the opposite side of the continent actually." Jiraiya said.
"You know where Itachi is?" Sasuke suddenly asked standing to his feet.
The young man didn't get far before crumpling back into his seat sound asleep.
"That is probably best for now I think." Hagoromo said as he looked sadly at the young Uchiha.
Koa came over with a plate filled with empty mugs and said "Sorry dad, but I've got to see my doctor, it's for checking the baby."
"Sure, go sweety. I'll warn the boy."
"Thank you." Koa smiled before walking to the back.
"She seems happy there." Hinata said.
"Naruto was pretty happy to be in Fiore too." Kiba said with a frown. He hadn't considered his homeland very bad at all. Still other shinobi seemed to be practically flocking to Earthland to escape the Elemental Nations.
"Like I was saying, this fucker with these eyes, caused so much fucking trouble that these people in Kiri did something horrible, guess what?"
"Oh no." Tsunade quietly said, only being heard by the Shinobi. The questioning looks sent her way lasted only a moment before the other shinobi put two and two together.
Yajima didn't want to know but he thought he at least had to. He shook his head "Tell me."
"They started a fucking purge, everyone who had a bloodline was slaughtered, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, girls, boys, babies, elderly. They just fucking killed people left and right, shinobi or civilian they were killing people like cattle."
Mira stopped reading in shock as she slowly finished the paragraph. The shinobi refused to look at their counterparts while Kushina softly sighed at what she expected to happen.
"They did that for real?" Wendy asked with a teary voice breaking the silence and the dam that held back the mages.
Soon the room was filled with shouts and comments from the mages demonising the shinobi and their home. The Shinobi initially bit their tongues, but slowly and surely they began to lose their cool until, both groups began screaming at one another.
The Fairy Tail members comparing shinobi to monsters and the shinobi either saying they weren't responsible for the purges or taking the low road and making personal insults of their own.
This continued for a brief time until a clear voice cut through the din of outraged voices.
"Enough!" Kushina bellowed and levelled killing intent in amounts only accessible to S-rank shinobi.
"How can you people tolerate this sort of thing in your world?" Erza began.
"I said enough!" Kushina enforced with added killing intent causing several younger members of the groups to nearly collapse and the rest to reel in their anger for the time being. "No-one here had anything to do with the purges in Kiri." Kushina said as she released her killing intent.
"Yet, you shinobi have acknowledged you carry out such actions as assassinations and theft as missions. Things that are unacceptable." Makarov said with a surprisingly calm tone.
"Yes, shinobi do that. They also dig wells, walk dogs, and rescue kidnapping victims. The shinobi world is more violent and warlike than your own, but can you honestly say, your world lacks rape, murder, theft, and the like?" Kushina asked.
"I had thought your people and Fairy Tail to be very similar but I see they are far more different than I had imagined." Makarov said with a frown.
"That is enough Third Master." Mavis suddenly broke into the conversation, surprising the mages she would reprimand him. "Makarov, think for a moment about exactly what is going on in this situation then speak your mind."
The group blinked in surprise at the odd command, but remained silent as Makarov settled into his seat with narrowed eyes as his mind thought over the situation from both his own, and the shinobi's perspective as best he could.
After a moment he let out a sigh and pinched his nose. He nodded his head before turning his eyes to the ninja in the room.
"I apologize." Makarov started shooting a glare to quiet his mages, primarily Natsu as he spoke. "As I was saying I apologize. Our worlds are different, and you clearly aren't happy with what happened in this Kiri place. I can't say I am truly accepting of your world, but I can understand I think." Makarov said.
The room was quiet for a while before Kushina reached over and patted the elderly man on teh arm.
"It's fair to say that some of the shinobi world is terrible. We have been at war on and off for as long as our history can recall. Before the villages was the clan wars which were centuries long. However, time has slowly shown we grow closer and closer to a better world everyday. You also have to remember that villages and guilds are not the same. Villages are filled with shinobi who are soldiers. Do you honestly believe your militaries don't ever kill anyone?" Kushina asked.
The group remained silent as Kushina waved for Mira to begin reading again. Hopefully they could move on from this soon. Thankfully though, Makarov and Kushina's words had clearly affected the mages and calmed them down, realizing that while similar in some way the shinobi were not like guilds of mages in earthland.
Yajima saw the man was physically angered by telling the story.
The barman then puts the mugs aside and started strangling the towel in his hand like it was someone's neck "She lost her whole family, her mother, father, even her little sister and her baby brother. Because she just got this blood in her veins...she just came back from becoming a chunin in her exams in Kumo, and she comes back losing her family at the age of fourteen!" he silently growled. The small growl was noticed by some of the customers before they continued to eat further.
"It's plenty fine to express your anger at the purges everyone." Kushina said with a sigh seeing others clearly trying to hold in their anger after the earlier fight.
"How could they do that?" Lucy finally said.
"Hate and groups makes people lose themselves to their worst nature. When my village was destroyed as a little girl, I hated all the villages involved for years. It wasn't until after the end of the third great war that I finally could let that hate go. In the end it was hurting me more than them as I couldn't just openly attack them in revenge. Most of those that had destroyed my home and clan were already dead after all." Kushina said surprising several, even among the younger shinobi about her personal battle with hatred.
The man took a deep breath before he kept going "The girl manages to flee, lie low in a pig farm for a couple of days before she takes boat to the land of Waves, hides out there for a year, and then when she got some cash together, she then took a ticket from a smuggler's ship and got right to the port right south."
"Doesn't a ticket cost a lot? It's not cheap to get from one side of the ocean to the other."
The man slammed the towel beside him "How does an underage girl make money?"
Several of the group gasped and others ground their teeth in anger. Most had tears bubbling up in their eyes at the story of the poor girl.
That was a no brainer question when he knows how the guy said it. immediately turning the two men into disgusting feelings.
"Not only that, but she was also raped by customers who didn't want to pay, besides that they didn't even bother to pull out and impregnated her four times, forcing the girl to use the coat hanger if you know what I mean."
Several grew sickly at the thought. Most trying to block out the mental images of what had happened.
"Oh, lord..." The council member held his hand over his mouth "Poor girl..."
"Understatement." Tsunade said softly.
Koa walks out wearing her normal clothing with a brown coat "I'm going to the doctor"
"Despite all her hardship she is happy, and healthy. She even has a fiance and a baby on the way." Lucy said with a small growing smile.
"You know there is a saying that is common in our homeland." Kushina said to the mages getting their attention. "Shinobi are those who endure."
Makarov let out a sigh as slowly a small smile grew onto his face. It seemed he had truly judged these shinobi too harshly for their world's issues. Maybe he was more correct with his initial thoughts after all. These Konoha-nin were in fact decent people.
"Okay, just be careful." The man said as she nodded. she left through the front door and got greeted by the neighbors who she waved at and laughed.
The bartender smiled at the girl's happiness, he then turns to Yajima and finally spoke his mind "And let me tell you something. That girl, she's a sweet girl, it took her a while to open up when she began to work here, but when she did, at her eighteenth birthday she told us, my son was the first to comfort her, then my wife than me. She and my son are about to marry and she's planning on becoming a mother and having a family with my son who she loves. She's not a Yuki anymore but a Seroka now, she's a Fiore citizen. Which means she's one of us." The bartender said pointing at his chest to make a clear statement.
"He is a very kind man." Hinata said with a smile at the bartender. It was very clear he cared for his daughter in law, as if she were his own blood.
Yajima nodded but noticed that the bartender wasn't finished.
"But I tell you, I know that if one of those scumbags from that village want to come here, and force her and my first grandchild to return to that hellhole they say is her home. I will not hesitate to snap their necks." The man said fringing the towel into his hands until it started showing signs of shreds.
The mages, were slightly hesitant to agree with that. They could understand the desire to protect their family at any cost, but to kill so willingly was hard to ask of them. The shinobi on the other hand nodded resolutely. They disliked the act of killing. However they had been raised their whole life to fight and if need be kill to protect the family that was their village.
Yajima understood the man's anger and complies by saying "You have my word mister, I'll do anything I can, to make sure that people like your daughter-in-law will be protected from any actions by the Alvarez or the Shinobi authorities."
"You better be, I'll be damned I let that girl go through such hell again, not with those savages who send kids into battles against other kids." The man said before throwing the towel to the counter "Sorry, but I gotta check the fridge, see what's for dinner."
"Sure, go ahead." Yajima nodded.
"Fucking savages." The man cursed under his breath as he went to the kitchen.
The Shinobi were clearly offended, but bit their tongue. It was possible that he meant only Kiri-nin, of course, though they doubted it.
Yajima sighed after hearing that whole story "I thought I heard everything after Naruto's story, but now I'm more convinced... poor kids."
The group nodded at Yajima's words. Several remembering Naruto's pain in his own escape from the Elemental Nations.
At the port was a man with a green cape and mustache was checking on the motor of his small boat that was waiting on the port.
Naruto walked up and turns to the guy "Hey, are you Bobo?"
"Yeah, that's me." The man said as he stood up and turns to the blonde "You Naruto Uzumaki?"
"Yeah that's me, the old man said you could bring me to Galuna island."
"Yes, yes I can," said Bobo as he stepped off the boat to shake Naruto's hand "I see someone finally took the quest."
"I assume he is talking about the quest you three stole?" Shino asked Natsu, Happy, and Lucy.
"Yeah." Lucy said with an awkward chuckle.
"Quest?" Naruto asked confused before he remembered that this island also held a curse "You mean that curse, why?"
Bobo sniffed his nose and looked around, not seeming to want to answer questions he said: "You going for the quest, or not?"
"Normally, I would encourage him to always be honest, but I think it would be harder for him to get to the island if he is. Plus he could help solve their problem and put a stop to the smugglers." Kushina commented.
"Hmm, two birds with one stone. I wonder how Naruto being there will change how things happened for Team Erza." Makarov said.
Rather than saying no and possibly losing his only transport to that island he said: "Yes, I'm going for that quest, but also for something else."
"Smugglers?"
"How much do you want to bet they are connected somehow?" Kiba said.
"Not even I would take that bet, Inuzuka." Tsunade said with a laugh.
Naruto nodded "Yes, you know anything about that?"
"Only that after that incident with Eisenwald, the guy who came here every day trying to sell something hasn't been seen for almost a week." Bobo turned around and points to the ocean.
"I believe they're hiding. Waiting for the heat to fall down. figures if you're selling illegal goods down the dock to some shady folks in the night."
"They might be expecting Naruto then." Sakura said in worry.
"They won't be expecting the rest of Team Erza though." Shikamaru said with a smirk. Not to mention, trying to plan around Naruto was likely a futile endeavor.
Naruto raises his eyebrows to what the guy said, sounded like the guy knew something more than a normal sailor should. He's gonna keep it into his mind to ask him about it later "When can we set sail?"
"Right now if you want," Bobo said as he hops back into his boat. Naruto smiled as he threw his bag into the boat,
but before he could hop in next-
"So, close." Lucy mumbled.
The blue cat of Fairy Tail, Happy flew in front of his face and greeted "Hey Naruto!"
"Happy? What are you doing here?"
"OH Naruto!"
Naruto recognized that voice and mentally cursed 'No, not now...' turning around he saw Natsu and surprisingly Lucy walking up to him.
"Natsu, Lucy, the hell are you guys doing here?" Naruto said walking up to them "You up for a new job or something?"
In response Natsu pulled out the quest flyer and showed it to Naruto, who grabbed it and started reading it, staring into disbelief...
"Natsu, at least try and hide it!" Lucy shouted in exasperation.
Natsu smiled "Yep, We took an S-class job-"
The fingers of Naruto's hands were clinging into the paper and looked up to the laughing. Clearly, this was a plan of Natsu to prove himself to the others in the guild, figuring out that he was the only one either cunning or dumb enough to pull this off. And possibly in this case, it was both.
Moments later
Natsu was lying unconscious on the ground, with the s-class flyer stuck in his mouth while he had the face of a frozen buffoon.
The group was briefly quiet before they broke out in laughter.
"Just like when he fought Erza!" Mira said in surprise.
Kushina smiled at that, happy her fellow redhead could bring the pain just like she could.
"I didn't even know that was possible!" Lucy said frightened, the guy who was on the ground just got put into the ground like it was nothing, and this was the same guy who wrecked up half of Hargeon's city in one blow. How strong was Naruto then?
"I'm guessing S-class. Though, I can't tell precisely because he is pulling the old shinobi tricks." Kakashi said with a proud eye-smile toward the image of his little brother figure.
"Old shinobi tricks?" Levy asked.
"Yeah, no shinobi willingly reveals all their abilities if they can help it. Not even to allies." Choji said while eating some randomly appearing chips.
Happy flew up sweating and making excuses "Just that you know, it was their idea to-"
Lucy and Natsu glared at Happy in betrayal causing the little cat to flee from their sight.
"Happy...don't even bother," Naruto said with a glare as a warning, scaring the cat away until it flew behind Lucy to hide.
"Don't use me as a shield!" Lucy cried out.
"You're right, you wouldn't last as long as even Natsu did against him." Happy said while hiding in Hinata's arms. The girl giggling at him riling up the blonde as she stroked his fur.
"You in on this?" Naruto asked the celestial mage as he spoke with his arms crossed, in a disciplinary way. He was lying if he said he wasn't angry, what were they thinking? Going on a dangerous S-class quest with only the two of them, Happy excluded.
"I'm glad someone's there to reprimand you. All of you got off lightly." Erza said with a stern voice.
Lucy didn't give a response as she saw that they had been caught, looking down to avoid any eye contact.
She then mumbled out "I first did not want too...but, part of the reward is a golden key."
Several shinobi who hadn't gotten a chance to chat with Lucy in their brief breaks, looked interested in what she meant.
"Keys are used by celestial mages to summon spirits. Golden keys summon the most powerful spirits." Lucy explained quickly. The ninja oh-ed before turning back to the story.
"Golden Key, you mean one of the 12 Golden Zodiac Keys?"
She nodded yes making Naruto now understand what here take is on this, of course, he forgot that Lucy right here was a celestial mage, just like her mother she wants to collect all twelve keys if possible. She made that promise to be a powerful celestial mage ever since the day her mother passed away...
"He knew my family name, and knows who my mother is. What is our connection?" Lucy asked.
"I'm sure it will be revealed in time Lu." Levy reassured her.
Rolling his eyes around, he remembered a promise he once made...and of course, he couldn't break one, that is just not who he is "Alight."
"Wow, Naruto must have known your mother well. He promised her something in regard to you. Maybe to protect you or something." Sakura pointed out.
Lucy blushed slightly at that. The idea of having a guardian like that was a bit embarrassing for her, especially when her other clearly knew nothing about it.
"It did say he rescued you at some point. Maybe he is like your shadowy knight or something." Cana teased the blonde getting deeper blush.
Lucy shot her head up "Huh?"
"You'll be going with me, you, me, Happy and Natsu will go to Galuna island." Naruto said as he turned around and asked the sailor "You think you can take my friends with you?"
"He shouldn't be encouraging your behaviour." Erza said with a scowl.
"But Erza, didn't you help them with the quest when you went to get them too?" Mira asked.
"I couldn't just turn away from those in need." Erza said with slightly red cheeks for being caught out by her actions.
Bobo replied, "Of course, the more the merrier."
"Found you." Both blondes turned around to see Gray standing there.
"Gray, why are you here, you joined up with them for the job?"
"It seems like one by one all of team Erza will be there." Kushina said with a laugh. She wanted to see them in action after all, as it looked like Naruto was a part of their group to some extent.
"No, I'm here because gramps sent me to bring them back." Gray said coming closer to them "but I got to ask Naruto, why are you here?"
"I'm going to Galuna island to take down a smuggling ring." Naruto explained his main reason "I just came across them and now I believe it's for the better to go as a team."
"Is that so?" Gray questioned while looking between the two "That's strange because I haven't heard that there were any quests about smugglers in these parts. Then why haven't we seen one on the board? And last time I remembered, you aren't even an S-class wizard either."
"How is that possible, Naruto takes out A-class mages we heard earlier and does it easily." Iruka asked.
"It's possible to be S-class in power but not have completed the test to be promoted officially yet. That's the most likely answer." Makarov explained.
"Oh so it's like our Naruto with the chunin exams. He's practically Jonin level by now, but he hasn't had the opportunity to take the exams again since he was twelve." Tsunade commented.
Before anyone could ask, Bobo spoke: "Are you guys planning on going to the island or what?"
Gray turned to the sailor "No way-URGH!"
Lucy and Happy stood shocked when they saw Gray fell on his back, after being given a blow to the stomach by Naruto.
"I am starting to see a trend." Gray groaned. What was with the more powerful mages of Fairy Tail knocking him or Natsu out all the time?
"Let's go."
Later at sea
The night had fallen over the sea and only a small boat was traveling through the wavy waters.
"Ughhh!" a sick Natsu laid his head over the end of the ship, with his sickness kicking in again he looked ready to puke his guts out.
"For crying out loud Natsu!" Gray yelled, he was tied up, not wanting to take any risks, Naruto tied the ice mage up.
The group laughed at the misfortune of the two boys. It was funny seeing Gray trying to keep the sick looking Natsu away while bound up.
"S-crew... you..." Natsu stated weakly.
"Even now you two fight." Lucy grumbled.
Lucy sighed while watching the ordeal. She looked left to her that Happy was munching on a fish he caught jumping off the water fresh, and to her right she saw that at the far end of the ship was Naruto and the sailor, having their own conversation.
"And that is what the curse is." Bobo said finishing talking before pointing his finger at the full moon "There's something that makes the moon turn purple, that's when you're on the island itself. But if you look up now, it looks normal. Especially if you're not on the island."
"That's strange." Tenten said.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Gray replied.
Naruto listened to every detail the sailor had said, looks like not only was this man a native who lived on the island with a village, he was also the one who knew the whole island, every beach, every bedrock and tunnel he said was a possible hideout for the smugglers to stash their goods.
"Do you have an idea of how long this has been going on?"
Bobo replied back with the question "What? the smuggling or the curse?"
"Both."
"Three months, both of them," Bobo said surprising Naruto who turned to him with a stunned expression.
"Definitely not a coincidence." Jiraiya said.
"There weren't any smugglers that I recall from our time there." Erza said with a thoughtful look.
"The issue may be even bigger then. More enemies and everything else with them." Lucy commented.
Bobo explained further while manning the ship "Three months back, I was out fishing until I noticed some small cargo ships nearing on the east of the island. It wasn't new for smugglers to use this island as a stop and then go to the docks, so we assumed it was just that."
Naruto narrowed his eye "But?"
"These ships never left, not the big ones at least just some smaller boats who made runs to the port once a week, mostly to buy supplies. One of those boats came in at night and did some sales to some not so pleasant people."
"There must be a lot of them on the island still then. I assume they used the big ships to transport lots of cargo and personnel." Sakura suggested, again slightly worried for her teammate.
"Or they brought something very large." Shikamaru theorized not missing the looks from Team Erza.
By this, he meant the ones who sold explosives tags and Naruto asked "What kind of people were buying it?"
"Anything you can name, bandits, crime bosses, some pirates but most of these customers were wizards..."
"Even with just a brief amount of time in operation, the damage they might do from selling those supplies to the criminal world could be terrible." Shizune pointed out.
Naruto guessed "Dark wizards by any chance?"
Bobo nodded at that.
"Damn..." Naruto said under his breath, this is what he feared, dark guilds having access to deadly weaponry from the shinobi continent.
He turns back "Where did you-" the sailor was gone, he disappeared just like that. How? They were in the middle of the sea.
"What?" Several people asked, though a few simply found it amusing.
"AN WAVE!"
Naruto turned around and saw that a huge wave was right behind them, ready to smash into their boat.
The group gasped at the sight, though Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy had expected it.
"Hold on the boat!" Naruto yelled as he held onto the side of it. The wave started absorbing the boat before it plowed into the sea with the boat into it. The sea then became calmer but at cost with the smallest ship disappearing from the water.
But that was no normal wave, because from afar, another small boat was spotted, with standing up was a man in a cloak, holding a hand sign over in front of him.
A headband was seen strapped around the man's arm, he was a Kiri headband with a scratch through it.
"It looks like Naruto and the others will have their work cut out for them. Those look like some higher ranked Kiri-nin on the island after all." Kakashi said.
"That's the end of the chapter." Mira said.
"So Naruto will likely be fighting other shinobi soon. We may see blood soon." Asuma mentioned with a frown.
"Let's hurry and keep reading!" Konohamaru said.
"Kushina, why don't you read for us next?" Hagoromo asked as the book appeared in the woman's hands.
"Gladly." She said as she opened the book.
Well there it is, chapter 7. I feel some were likely expecting worse from our mage friend's reactions however while shinobi of konoha are similar to mages of fairy tail in many way. The fact is though, the shinobi are soldiers, and while the mages fight very often, in the end, they are not. Look forward to more getting hung up on killing as this arc plays out, though and as always please check out the original Author of Shadow of Fairy Tail AmusedLight, both this story and his other ones. I can promise you will not be disappointed.