Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 17: "Coexistence"
(Year: X782)
"Well, well! If it isn't the Golden Trio?" Mirajane smirked as stepped beside a group of train seats.
"Golden Trio?" Naruto looked up from his Sky God Slayer book to give the rather scantily dressed woman a disturbed look, "Look, Goth girl, I may have blonde hair, but there's nothing golden about me, dattebayo."
Gaara was silent as he continued to look out the window of the moving train.
Mirajane let out a snort as she slid into a free spot by Fu. She sat across from Naruto, and he was forced to take a long look at her. Despite always dressing in tight, revealing leather, it never really fit the girl until her growth spurts started happening. Now, the white haired woman filled out the attire quite nicely, as most men tripping over themselves to get a peek at her would testify.
"Really? Cause people think that you can do no wrong," Mira crossed her arms under her bust. If Naruto didn't know just how much of a tease Mirajane was, he would have been surprised by how she lifted up her considerable bust.
"Please, Master gets on my case all the time, stripper," Fu gave Mira an annoyed side glance.
"Not when you're working with these two. And who are you calling stripper? With all the fishnet, you look like a porn star," Mira fired back with a wide grin.
Naruto looked over to the still unresponsive Gaara. The red head hadn't even responded to this conversation. With a shrug, the blonde turned back to his book, "Maybe we just keep her in line."
"Oh, you keep girls in line, do you?" Mira leaned forward and pulled at her top to the point that her breasts looked ready to pop free, "Can you keep me in line~"
Naruto didn't even look up from his book, "If you mean kick your ass, then yes."
"Tsk!" Mira sat back up and stopped her seduction, "You're no fun. You know what, you should date the red bimbo. You're both giant buzz kills."
"Uh huh…" Naruto obviously wasn't listening anymore.
"Gah!" Mirajane rolled her eyes and looked to Fu, "How do you stand these guys. They're both so boring."
"You'd be surprised about the things we get up to," Fu gave Mira a grin, "In fact, we're on our way to deal with the honorable grandson. They're just probably trying to save their patience for his bull shit."
"Oh, so Master did ask you to go after Laxus," Mira pursed her lips. Her initial response was jealousy, but reason beat that back. All three of them were just as strong as her, and in no way better than her at all, and had better teamwork than any of the S-class mage of Fairy Tail. Who else would Master ask to go? That didn't stop Mira's ego from trying to outdo them, "Well, we're going to go on an S-class mission."
Fu raised an eyebrow, "We?"
"Nee-chan!" Elfman spoke out as his massive muscular frame stepped in beside their seats, "Our stop is—Oh! It's you guys."
"Who guys?" Lisanna poked her head in front of her larger brother. The more innocent female Strauss went wide eyed at the trio, "Oh! Those guys! Hi, Fu, Naruto, Gaara!"
Naruto nodded at the girl. Gaara on the other hand…
"Zzz…"
"Geeze," Naruto elbowed the red head awake.
"Huh? What?" Gaara's eyes blinked open. He turned to his friend and yawned, "What is it?"
"I'm sick of you bailing on me with the Fairies. This time, you're stuck," Naruto went back to his book.
Gaara looked around, "Crap."
"Glad you think so highly of us," Mira rolled her eyes, "Good pick there, Fu. Great job."
Fu glared at her, "Says the girl who dresses like a slut yet still can't get anyone to notice her."
"Please, I have to swim through the tears of men I rejected to get to the guild hall half the time," Mirajane sneered at Fu, "Unlike you, flat chest. They probably think you're still a little girl. No man has ever even looked at out except the loli lovers."
"One, no man needs more than what I got. Two…" Fu grinned at her, "At least I don't have pasty ass skin that burns instead of tanning."
"Oh, that's a good one," Mira laughed, "I was wondering when someone would use that. I always thought it would be Erza, though. That's why I was saving the no tan lines jab."
Fu paused, "Damn, I never thought of that. She doesn't, does she?"
"Right?"
Gaara let out a sigh and crossed his arms, "Women are weird."
"Man!" Elfman nodded.
"No, I think it's just them," Lisanna gave a gentle smile, "Nee-chan, we should get ready soon. It's almost our stop."
"It is," Elfman crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, "We need to prepare ourselves to hunt the Beast."
"The Beast?" Naruto's eyes drifted up from his book.
"Yeah," Mirajane gained a superior look, "Now that I'm S-class, I can go on any mission I want. These two are my backup."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Fu gained a concerned look, "You two are a bit…inexperienced. No offense."
"Real men are tough! They can handle anything!" Elfman declared.
"So are women," Lisanna giggled, "Besides, Mira thinks that we'll be fine. And the three of us can handle anything."
"I don't know…"
"Hey!" Mira glared at Fu as the train came to a stop, "You worry about your own group. I can take care of my own siblings. Come on guys!"
Elfman was shocked when Mira suddenly grabbed his arm and began to pull him away, "Wha? Nee-chan, wait!"
"Bye guys!" Lisanna waved at them as she followed after her brother and sister, "It was nice to see you! Maybe we can catch up more later?! I'd love to hear some of your stories."
The three jinchūriki waved as the Strauss siblings left the train. Both Naruto and Gaara immediately went back to what they were doing before they were interrupted. Fu, on the other, was looking out the window. Her eyes cast a worried gaze over the three retreating siblings.
"I've got a bad feeling," Fu drew the attention of her male companions.
"Don't worry so much," Naruto shrugged, "Master Dreyar promoted her. That means she can handle an S-class mission."
"I know, but still…" Fu didn't look convinced.
"Do you want to go after them?" Gaara suggested.
"A little, yes, but we're already behind schedule," Fu let out a sigh, "Master trusted us to make sure Laxus doesn't get himself and his followers killed. We don't have time to worry about anything else."
"Then forget about it," Naruto suggested, "You'll see them again back at the guild. Then, you can compare stories and make fun of each other's looks again."
"Yeah, you're right," Fu nodded, "They'll be fine."
Laxus groaned in pain as a massive boot pressed down on his head. Despite the blonde's massive muscular size and strength, he was absolutely dwarfed by the man stepping on him. His normal coat and headphones had long since been destroyed. Various bruises and cuts lined Laxus's face, including around the lightning bold scar over his right eye.
"Are you stupid?" Han questioned raised his boot up and stomped down on Laxus's head so hard that the ground below them crack and shatter, "This is the third damn time. If it wasn't so amusing to see you crawl back, I would have killed you already. It's getting tiresome now, boy."
"Shut up!" Laxus roared. Lighting burst off him and jumped up Han's leg to electrocute the giant. Han just stood there as electricity surged through him. Boredom ran through Han's eyes as the giant reached down, grabbed Laxus by the back of the head, and surged steam through his armored glove.
"AH!" Laxus screamed in pain as steam burned the skin of his face leaving it an angry red.
"Laxus!" An elegantly dressed man with green hair reached out to try to his suffering leader. Freed paused, though, when the sword against his neck began to cut into his neck.
"Now who said you could talk?" A beautiful woman with long pink hair pulled up into two buns whispered gently into his ear. Ikagura wore a revealing white kimono that showed the woman's shoulders and a significant amount of cleavage.
Sweat poured down Freed's face as Han lifted Laxus off the ground and began to repeatedly punch the lighting user in the stomach. His eyes then drifted to his fellow members of the Thunder Legion. Both Bickslow and Evergreen lie unconscious before the feet of a strange owl head man and some wanna be rockstar.
A groan of pain caused Freed to look back at Laxus. He had retaliated in response to Han's monstrous punches with some of his own. Several fist-shaped dents covered Han's armor. In anger at this response, Han released Laxus's face letting the blonde to land on his feet. This didn't mean Han was going to let up, though.
Han's hand gained a glow to them. At the same time, steam poured out from the amour of his gloves. Cupping his hands, Han brought his arms up and smashed his hands against both side of Laxus's head. The result was a large blast of steam and energy consuming Laxus's form. A large shockwave burst out as well making the building behind Han tremble and several of the trees surrounding the area to collapse.
"My Kami…" Freed hissed out as he saw the steam die down to show a burnt and shaky Laxus with his eyes rolled back into his head.
With a grunt, Han formed his right hand into a fist. Like before, both magical energy and steam gathered around his fist. The large jinchūriki then thrusted his fist forward towards Laxus's unprotected head. A combination of steam and energy shot of his hand continued forward until it smashed through several trees in a row creating several perfect circles through the wood.
"Huh…" Han's eyes drifted down, "And who are you?"
Naruto stood over Laxus's downed body. He had just managed to trip the other blonde before Han released the attack. Suddenly, he was glad that they decided not to go after the Strauss siblings back on the train a few days ago. They never would have made it in time if they did, "Name's Naruto. You probably know me as Number 9."
"Number 9…The Sword…" Han looked from the whiskered jinchūriki to the new people that stood by Han's guild members. The tired looking guy and the green head looked ready to fight against his best fighters, "So that must be the Shield and the Bug Bomb. Number 1 and Number 7."
"He knows us!" Fu gushed, "We're famous!"
"Roshi probably told him about us," Gaara rationalized.
"Ah…Party pooper…"
"Hoot!" The muscular man with an owl head glared at Naruto, "Hoot dare you stop Master Han from completely his kill!"
"Hahahahah!" The rockstar wanna be stuck out his tongue at them, "Should we kill them Master Han?"
"Not yet," Han waved them down, "I want to hear why they're here."
"Very well," Ikagura nodded, but she slammed the dull end of her blade across the back of Freed's head to knock him out. She then readied her sword for a fight, "But I refuse to let my guard down with such evil looks coming my way. Unless it was you, Han-sama~"
"Whatever," Han snorted as he eyed Naruto.
"Look," Naruto raised up his hands, "We don't want to fight. The master of Fairy Tail sent us to stop his grandson from getting killed. That's all. We'll drag him away, and you won't have to deal with him again."
"The first time I beat this little shit, his friends dragged him back to his guild," Han rationalized, "He came back for a second ass whooping and then a third today. What's going to stop him from coming back?"
"Not much really," Naruto shrugged, "He doesn't listen to anyone, so Master Dreyar won't stop him."
"Then I should just kill him," Han noted, "That way I don't have to deal with him later."
"Huh…" Naruto looked to Fu, "I can't argue with that logic."
"Naruto!" Fu snapped, "We came here to save a member of Fairy Tail. We can't just let him get killed, even if he's an asshole."
"Right, right," Naruto sighed, "Look, Number 5, if Laxus comes back, then you can kill him. Right now, though, I'm sort of obligated to help him."
"Then I'll kill you too," Han stated. He towered over the smaller jinchūriki.
"Looks like we got ourselves a fight," Sand began to leak out of Gaara's gourd.
"Yeah!" Bugs began to crawl out of Fu's wrist bands.
"No!" Naruto snapped at them, "Death's Head Caucus's guild building is right behind them, and this is one of the top dark guilds in the country!"
It was true. Han had taken the fight outside to avoid damaging his home, but the large building behind them had flags with the guild marks stamped on them.
"Not to mention…" Naruto raised his headband to get a good look at Han, "I can't beat this man. Not alone, and those three will give you two a hard time. This isn't a fight we can win."
"You can't beat him?" Fu was surprised, "You're giving up, just like that?"
Naruto shook his head, "You combined chakra and magic. How? No one can channel the two energies at the same time, yet you just did. What cheat did you use?"
Han let out a laugh. One of his massive hands slammed down on one of Naruto's shoulders. The massive hand completely covered Naruto's shoulder and most of his arm, "You're a smart one. I'll give you that. It's simple really. You're right. No one can channel both chakra and magic at the same time. But jinchūriki are never just 'one' are we?"
Naruto grimaced as Han began to squeeze his shoulder. It was probably a gentle squeeze to Han, but Naruto felt his bones groan under the force, "So…Your Biju channels the chakra while you channel the magic?"
"That's insane," Gaara looked over to the massive jinchūriki, "Doing it twice in a row like that would kill you. Last time we tried that once, we passed out for a week."
"Yet he did it…" Fu noted.
"It's because I'm the strongest," Han let out a roar of a laugh, "That's why I selected to be a jinchūriki. Unlike most jinchūriki, who are selected because of their relation to the village leaders, I was chosen because my body is naturally more durable than everyone else. My body is more durable than steel."
Naruto eyes the armored hand on his shoulder, "Then what's with the armor?"
"It's not to protect me," Han stated, "It's so that I don't accidentally kill everyone I touch."
Naruto began to sweat. His instincts were screaming at him to avoid fighting. While Han might not have the control that Bee had, the threat of his raw power was enough for Naruto to know against fighting. With chakra and magic coexisting in his attacks, Han probably was the most dangerous of the jinchūriki.
"You know what…" Han drawled as he released Naruto, "I like you, kid. You got a good head on your shoulders, and you've entertained me. I think that warrants me letting this lightning asshole go."
Naruto let out a sigh of relief, "Good, I wasn't—"
Han's fist interrupted Naruto and sent the blonde crashing through a tree.
"Naruto!" Sand blazed around Gaara.
"Wait!" Naruto shouted out as he pulled himself from the wreckage. His magic was already healing the bruises on his face and body, "That was just a warning shot."
"It was," Han crossed his arms, "You stand against dark guilds because you can get away from it. And that's fine with me as long as you don't mess with my guild. If you ever stand against me, or one of my guild's contracts, though, I won't hold back."
"Noted," Naruto dusted himself off.
"Good," Han turned around and walked back to his guild hall, "Let the loser Fairies go."
"Oh…" Ikagura pouted as she sheathed her sword, "No killing today. Han-sama is so mean…" With that, the trio followed their leader leading the jinchūriki alone with the downed Thunder Legion with the jinchūriki.
"Let's grab them and get out of here," Naruto noted as he picked up Laxus and threw him over his shoulders.
"They need medical attention," Fu looked over the injured Bickslow and Evergreen.
"I'll give them first aid," Naruto sighed.
"Better heal them all the way," Gaara argued, "Don't want Makarov giving you an earful, do you?"
"Fine, fine…" Naruto wasn't really listening, though. This encounter got him thinking about getting magic and chakra to coexist. They needed two entities to channel the energies. Interesting. Perhaps he could take a page out of both of Fu's and Han's books and find his own way to combine the energy.
Laxus groaned as he drifted back into consciousness. Memories of what happened before instantly rushed back to his head, but there was a surprisingly lack of pain accompanied with his awakening. With a grunt, he sat up to realize that he was sleeping on the ground not far from a campfire. The dark sky above him revealed that a significant amount of time had passed.
"Laxus!" Evergreen lit up as she saw her leader sit up. The green haired beauty adjusted her glasses and looked over to the other members of the Thunder Legion, "He's awake!"
"Yeah!" Bickslow stuck out his tongue to show his guild mark. His armor and helmet groaned as he rushed over to Laxus's side with Freed right behind him.
"What the hell happened?" Laxus glared at them.
"You fought the Steam Bull again," Freed explained, "It didn't go well."
"Then we'll head back," Laxus gained a nasty scowl, "I'll show him who the strongest is."
"That's dumb. You can't beat him," Gaara's voice drifted over to them.
Laxus looked past his teammates/followers to see the red head by the fire with Naruto and Fu, "What was that, sand man?"
"You'll just lose again, thunder brain," Fu spoke through a mouth full of cooked deer, "The Steam Bull is way out of your league. Hell, he'd give Gildarts a hard time."
"Shut up, bug girl," Laxus snapped at her, "I'm the strongest of Fairy Tail, and that jackass insulted me and Fairy Tail's name."
"So?" Naruto questioned.
"So?!" Laxus instantly stood and pushed through his friends, "No one gets to talk shit about Fairy Tail."
"It's just words," Naruto shrugged, "Only fools get manipulated by taunts like that. He's in a dark guild, there's no way he can do any real damage to Fairy Tail's name. Just suck it up and walk away before you get killed."
"Even if I did let the disrespect slide, I can't let Han get away with cheating to win," Laxus clenched his fists, "He did something. I know it. That power isn't natural."
"So? Power is power, and you lost in that regard," Naruto commented.
"You calling me weak?!" Lightning jumped off of Laxus in tiny zaps.
"Compared to Han? Yes," Naruto nodded, "And overall? Yeah. You seem pretty weak to me."
Laxus grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him up, "Say that to my face."
Fu and Gaara went to react, but they stopped when Naruto raised a calming hand, "Do you know what the helpless want the most? To help or be helped. For slaves, they want freedom. All that makes perfect sense. If you're denied something everyone else has, that's the thing you want the most."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Laxus glared.
"All you ever talk about is strength. You want to be strong. You want the Thunder Legion to be strong. You want Fairy Tail to be strong. Yet you never give a reason for it. Natsu wants strength to find his dad. I want strength to master my magic and become one with the sky. You, though, want strength just to have strength like it's something you've been denied," Naruto explained, "And that makes you sound really weak."
Snapping in anger, Laxus went to punch the other blonde. Lighting covered his fist, enhancing his power. Naruto, though, calmly tilted his head to avoid the wild blow. He then pushed the admittedly taller blonde away from him causing the lightning user to skid away.
"To clarify, I never said it was bad to want strength," Naruto stated, "I don't chastise anyone that works towards their goals. Perhaps you should word it differently than that of a child desperately seeking out approval."
"Shut the hell up!" Lighting covered Laxus like a massive coat.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Fu questioned, "You just healed him? Why are you intentionally provoking him?"
"He only healed Laxus completely because he wanted to test something out. I knew he had something on his mind," Gaara noted, "I just made up that excuse about avoiding a tongue lashing to give him an excuse so you wouldn't tip off the Thunder Legion."
"Are you saying that I'm not discreet?" Fu puffed out her cheeks.
"Yes. Yes, I am…" Gaara blinked as Laxus lunged at Naruto. The two them disappeared into the forest in a blaze of yellow electricity, "There they go. Let them fight it out. Naruto will drag him back in a minute."
"You saying that Laxus will lose to that that drifting weakling?" Bickslow growled at Gaara.
"Yep," Gaara let out a sigh as he sat back down at the fire.
"Take it back," Freed unsheathed his sword, "Laxus is the strongest."
"If you say so."
Freed stepped forward, but he was stopped by Fu, "Stop it, Freed. Show some gratitude for us saving your asses and sit down."
"I won't forgive anyone for speaking badly about Laxus," Freed noted.
"Like Naruto said, it's just words. Let it go"
"I refuse," Freed pointed his saber at Fu, "Both of you, apologize now. For yourselves and for Uzumaki."
"Yeah, right," Gaara snorted, "And what if you don't? You're going to fight us?"
"You bet! We always stand by Laxus's side. His fights are our fights. As his followers, it's our duty to take care of the followers of his enemies," Bickslow grinned.
"Follower?" Fu's eyebrows raised, "Oh hell no! I don't follow anyone! That's it! You want a fight?! You got a fight!"
"Didn't you just say that words don't matter?" Gaara questioned.
"That was before he insulted me!"
"It's three against two. You don't stand a chance," Evergreen stated.
Fu and Gaara shared a look before chuckling. Gaara then gave them a small smirk, "Your math is wrong. You see, you three are worth one each. We are worth ten…each. That makes it three vs twenty."
"You got some big egos," Freed scowled, "We will enjoy taking you down."
"You wish," Fu grinned, "I call Freed. You handle Bickslow and Evergreen."
"Whatever," Gaara shrugged, "It's not like it matters."
Laxus roared as he rushed towards Naruto. Several lightning encased fists flew at the other blonde, but the jinchūriki managed to dodge each one while moving backwards. As they continued to move, the forest around them crumbled from the power Laxus was emitting. They left a large trail of destruction in their path.
Eventually, Laxus's rush overtook the wind user. A solid punch the gut sent Naruto through a tree. Laxus didn't stop there, though. He ran forward to follow up but was forced to stop when a stream of fire shot out from him. It wasn't nearly as potent as Natsu's usual flames, but the shock of a wind mage wielding fire caused him pause.
What Laxus didn't know was that Naruto wasn't using magic. It was a chakra technique. While Naruto had no affinity with fire, he did have memories of practicing hand signs. It was ingrained in him, even if he never tried to cast the ninjustu. After years of experimenting, Naruto did find a way to get a few ninjustu to work through the use of seals.
Pumping chakra through the seals that lined his chest armor, Naruto managed to reconstruct a few ninjustu. From a perspective of strength, the jutsus were not all that great. His God Slayer magic dwarfed the few techniques he did know, but that wasn't the point of ninjutsu. The entire point of expanding his arsenal was to give his enemies pause, and that's what needed to win this fight.
Laxus coated his arms in lighting and blocked the stream of flames. After the initial shock of seeing the flames wore off, Laxus managed to realize that the fire wasn't any real threat. As soon as he realized that he could charge forward, the stream of fire stopped.
Canceling his Katon ninjustu, Naruto channeled his chakra back into his armor. Slamming his hands down to the ground, Naruto created a large earth wall in front of him. With that done, Naruto jumped back and used the third ninjustu that he had mastered.
Getting over the surprise that Naruto also could use earth techniques, Laxus rushed forward. With a massive elbow strike, Laxus shattered the wall of dirt and rock. Debris flew everywhere as rocks showered down liked deadly droplets of rain. Laxus just ignored this, though. The rocks just bounced off his lightning enhanced body.
Pushing down his anger, Laxus paused to let the dust settle before charging forward. He had no idea what Naruto had planned. The other blonde hat yet to use his Sky God Magic, which Laxus knew would give him an edge over the electricity. That meant he was planning something.
Laxus was violently shoved from his thoughts when Naruto finally acted. A fist coated in black wind rammed into the lightning user's face. Laxus was forced to stumble back, but he quickly righted himself and blocked the next blow. He then sent a punch of his own at Naruto, which was quickly blocked. They then sent several different blows at each other in blaze of yellow and black.
Each time the two met, their energies blazed of them and destroyed the surroundings. Trees were sent flying. The ground beneath them shattered. Soon, the two were fighting in a barren crater.
To Laxus's surprise, Naruto managed to gain an edge. The first slip was a punch to the ribs. Then, a kick to the head rocked Laxus back. Next a knee Laxus's upper thigh caused his leg to go dead for a second. Finally, Naruto finished up by kicking Laxus away.
Grinning, Naruto suddenly felt grateful for his skirmish with Bee. It really prepared him for battles against the odd combination of power and speed people like Bee and Laxus brought. This fight would have been a lot more difficult if he didn't have experience. Of course, he wasn't prepared for happened next
Angry flushing forward once more, Laxus quickly righted himself mere seconds after being pushed away. Lighting flashed around him. His muscles expanded to the point that his bandages and shirt ripped away. What appeared to be scales covered some of his muscles. A familiar sense of magic flooded the areas.
Naruto instantly recognized the feel. He had spent years working with that type of magic with Wendy, "Dragon slayer magic?"
Gaara stood stationary as Bickslow and Evergreen flew around him. Dozens of blasts of magic smashed into his sand shield. He didn't even flinch at the explosions blasted only a meter away from him. The red head did not even feel the heat of the explosions, but his sand did seem warmer.
"Hahahaha! He can't even do anything!" Bickslow noted as his doll totem poles carried him through the air.
"He's positively frozen in fear!" Evergreen smiled. Her Fairy Magic created bright wings behind her and sent dozens of blasts of magic at her enemy.
Gaara was silent as his enemies continued to fly around him.
"That sand's annoying!" Bickslow noted, "It completely protects him, so let's aim at his feet!"
"Got it!"
Both members of the Thunder Legion sent blasts of magic at the ground around Gaara. The earth shattered and splintered away as the explosions covered the area. After a full minute of assault, the ground in the clearing was turned to mush. The only problem was that Gaara wasn't effected at all. Sand had piled down below him to create a platform for him to stand.
Both Bickslow and Evergreen froze in midair. None of their attacks worked on Gaara, it seemed. At least with their main form of magic. Nodding, Evergreen removed her magic and flew down in front of Gaara. Her gaze was just like Medusa's. One look, and her targets turned to stone. The only requirement was that they had to look her eyes.
"What?! This idiot's got a sand over his eyes!"
The only problem was that the magic was completely useless if she couldn't meet the person's eyes.
"So his sand just reacts on its own?" Bickslow suddenly felt nervous. That meant Gaara wasn't even trying.
Gaara continued to stand still. His arms crossed. It was like he didn't even care that people around him were trying to blow him up.
"Zzz…"
"And he's asleep too!"
"What?!" Bickslow suddenly felt insulted, "HEY JACKASS! WAKE UP!"
"Mmh…" Gaara let out a yawn, "Oh…Sorry, I drifted off there. You done yet?"
"No! We won't be done until—" Evergreen was interrupted when sand suddenly burst from the ground and grabbed onto her.
"Ever! Don't worry, I—" Sand raced to Bickslow as soon as he spoke. The golden earth immediately latched onto him and his dolls.
"Thanks for being so loud," The still blindfolded Gaara stated, "It made finding you pretty easy. Sand Burial."
Both Evergreen and Bickslow cried out in pain as the sand began to crush them. Gaara made sure not to put up enough force to kill them, but he did quickly destroy the dolls. After a few seconds, both Bickslow and Evergreen slipped back into unconsciousness.
Gaara let the sand fall from his eyes, "Well, that was easy. Guess I was the worst possible opponent for those two."
Fu's insect wings fluttered rapidly as she flew through the air. Freed was right on her tail. Seems like he improved with his Letter Magic. He even formed wings with his sabre.
"Dark Écriture: Pain!" Freed's sabre flashed at Fu. Words were carved into the air, but Fu skillfully dodged the attack.
Freed refused to let up. He continuously swiped his sword at the young woman. Each time, he used similar Letter Magic words such as Pain, Fear, and Suffering to try to slow down. Much to his annoyance, though, he couldn't land a hit on her. She kept moving out of the way.
The sky was Fu's domain after all. Just because he drew some wings on himself, that didn't mean he could compete with a natural flier. She was buzzing around him like a fly that wouldn't get swatted no matter what he did.
"How about I give you a little pain," Fu suggested, "Bug Bomb X3."
Freed cried out in pain as three different explosions were set off across his body. One was on his left leg while the others covered his right arm and torso. The explosions caused the word mage to falter in his flight. Fu swiftly took advantage and kicked him across the face.
Already feeling his face begin to swell, Freed flew back to avoid any follow up attacks. He now knew that he couldn't win a fight like this. None of his spells were hitting her, and he didn't even see her bugs climbing on him. At this rate, he would be beaten easily. Perhaps that was to be expected, Fu was an S-class mage, after all. Still, he never knew there was such a large gap between him and that level.
"Can you give up?" Fu questioned, "I really don't like bullying people, and that's what this feels like."
"No! I won't give up! For Laxus's sake!" Freed shouted out but quickly winced in pain as his wounds caught up to him.
"Loyalty. Yeah, that's great and all, but that doesn't mean you can hope to fight evenly with me," Fu shrugged.
"I can with this! Dark Écriture: Darkness!" Freed then used his saber to write on himself. He was immediately gained a more demonic appearance. Black fur covered his body. His hands turned into claws. Horns popped out from his forehead.
"Kind of reminds me of Mirajane," Fu noted as the demonic Freed charged at her. He sent a punch towards her, but she blocked it by boringly a leg up and stopping the charge, "Not as strong, though."
"RAW!" Freed roared as he sent several attack at Fu. Dark Magic covered his fists making it so that Fu couldn't block those blows. Still, Fu didn't have too much of a time dodging the blows. She was used to faster combat at this point. After a minute of dodging, Fu found an opening and kicked Freed away from her once more.
With another roar of rage, Freed gathered Dark Magic around his hands and created a sphere of blackness, "Darkness Flare Bomb!"
Fu gained an insulted look, "Using a bomb attack on me? Fine, I won't go easy on you then."
Freed charged at her with his attack ready to obliterate her.
"Bug Bomb X20."
With Fu's command, Freed was covered in explosions. His body was consumed by the flames and smoke. The attack he had gathered in his hands faded away. With a silent look of pain, Freed began his fall to the ground just as his word spells faded away leaving a broken and burnt man.
Fu quickly caught the man before he could hit the ground, "Sorry, guy, but I did warn you."
Laxus charged forward with an improved speed. Naruto responded by enhancing his body with his Sky God magic. A boost to his speed and strength made it so that he could keep up with the Lighting Dragon Slayer. Once more, they were trading blows at speeds so fast that Naruto couldn't even contemplate how Laxus could have this form of magic. But there was a problem with going at such high intensity, though. Often times, it wore down the user.
"Gah!" Laxus groaned as one of his legs suddenly gave out, "What?"
Naruto took a few steps back, "Sorry, but my magic doesn't refill stamina. Plus, I didn't heal you up to the point that you could handle dragon slayer magic, not that I would have if I'd known. It was only a matter of time for you to collapse to begin with."
"Don't underestimate me!" Laxus stood to his full height and clenched his fists, "I can still fight you just fine."
"Probably," Naruto nodded, "You're definitely about my level. If I were to guess, I would say I have an edge just based on a fight I just had, but that's okay. It won't matter when I hit you with this."
It was then that a clone of Naruto walked up next to the original. Laxus was shocked to see this, but that made sense. After all, Naruto had made the clone right before he switched to his Sky God Magic. That way, he could try out what he had planned.
The Naruto clone raised a palm. Chakra danced around the opened hand in a storm. Soon, the storm condensed and took the shape of a sphere of blue energy called the Rasengan. With the clone's attack formed, the real Naruto stretched his hand out and channeled some magic into the sphere. Soon, the Rasengan gained a black tint and doubled in size as wind danced around it in a torrent of air.
Laxus's stomach turned as he saw the orb. He got a really bad feeling about it. Unfortunately, his leg was too dead for him to properly dodge. That meant he had to stop Naruto from attacking, which was easier said than done because the two Narutos were already charging at him.
"Lighting Dragon's Roar!" Laxus opened his mouth to unleash a straight stream of electricity at his attacker and the clone. The Naruto's quickly responded by pushing the sphere forward and completely cutting through the attack. Their momentum wasn't halted in the slightest and soon they were right in front of Laxus.
"Sky God's Rasengan!" The orb was then rammed into Laxus's stomach. The bulkier blonde was instantly consumed in a blaze of chakra and magic. A large spiral appeared around him and sent him flying back. Leaving a trail of destruction that put their previous trail to shame. Laxus was blasted through dozens of trees and rocks until he finally came to a stop nearly one hundred meters away from Naruto.
With a puff of smoke, the clone next to Naruto disappeared. That didn't bother the blonde, though. He was far too focused on his extended arm to care. It was covered with cuts and bruises. If he wasn't numbed to most pain, it would probably be agonizing. Especially when the limb fell lifelessly to his side and began to slowly drip blood to the ground below.
"Okay…" Naruto noted as he began his walk to catch up to Laxus, "Note to self, don't use that a lot."
Making his way to Laxus, Naruto examined his enemy. Laxus was hurt just like the lifeless arm, but to a somewhat lesser extent. He was still completely covered in cuts, bruises, and welts. Luckily, Naruto didn't want to kill the other blond, so he didn't go all out with that attack…for the most part. He held back a little…a tiny bit…barely.
"Gah…" Laxus coughed as slowly opened up his bruised eyes, "What…was that?"
"You're still awake?" Naruto let out a snort, "You really are tough. I'll give you that. Makes me glad I tried that out. I might have gotten hurt worse than a dead arm if I didn't follow through with the Rasengan."
"How…I don't understand…"
"Basically, I create a clone. The clone makes a Rasengan. I channel Sky God Magic into it. Two different people focusing on one attack and then I combined them. Kind of Unison Raid, but a little different," Naruto explained to the downed Laxus.
"You can…do all that?" Laxus questioned, "Fire…Earth…Clones?"
"Well, you pretty much ripped through the fire and earth, so you know how effective those are. The clones can be a bit iffy too. They can't use magic and disappear after a single hit," Naruto admitted.
"Tsk…" Laxus rolled his eyes, "Don't be humble when you beat me, idiot. It makes me feel like a punk."
"Whelp…" Naruto reached down to Laxus and pulled him over his still functioning arm, "You've been acting like a punk, so it's good that you feel like it. I mean, come on. Fighting the Steam Bull? Do you have a death wish? Even you know that guy is too strong after seeing what he could do."
"You don't understand…" Laxus grunted, "I couldn't forgive him. Making fun of Fairy Tail. Making fun of me. Making fun of Gramps…"
"Damn, I must have beaten you silly to get you to admit that," Naruto noted as he began his trek back to his camp, "Master Dreyar worries about you, you know. That's why he sent me."
"Old idiot," Laxus scowled, "Still treating me like a kid. Everyone does. They look at me and just see his grandson."
"Maybe they wouldn't if you stopped acting like a brat and made a real name for yourself," Naruto advised.
"I am…That's why I wanted to be strong…Why I want to make a strong Fairy Tail…" Laxus admitted.
"Fairy Tail is stronger than you think," Naruto argued, "Sure, not many of them could keep up with us, but still. The guild has the highest quality of mages I've seen."
"It could still be better."
"Then make it better the right way," Naruto stated, "If you really want to be guild master, then do it right. My Kaa-san often talked about Master Dreyar, how he took her in when her parents died. He was a father to her."
"Yeah…I remember Aunt April," Laxus gained a saddened look.
"Geeze, don't call her that. It makes us sound like cousins," Naruto grumbled a bit, "Anyway, she always talked about how it was the same for everyone in the guild. He treated them like his children, and Fairy Tail thrived because of it. Sure, he was always strong, but that's not why he's guild master. It's because he's the one that cares the most. He cared so much that he became strong. That's the key, and it's one of the reasons I don't think I would ever be a good leader."
"And do you think I could be?" Laxus questioned.
"Maybe if you lost your shitty attitude, apologized to your grandfather, and started acting like you're more mature than an eight year old," Naruto mentioned, "Of course, I'm not one to talk about being an ass to people I don't like, but I'm not in the guild, am I?"
"Hmm…" Laxus nodded slowly, "And why are you trying to help me?"
"I don't know. A favor to Master Dreyar. An attempt to get a good future leader for Kaa-san's beloved guild, or maybe you're tough enough to merit a little respect from me," Naruto gave a chuckle.
"I see…" Laxus grinned, "Thanks, cuz."
"Don't call me that."
"You're the one that brought it up to begin with."
"I could still kill you, you know? I wouldn't feel guilty about it either. I would just blame the Steam Bull, and Master Dreyar would believe me."
"Whatever you say…"
"Oh Kami," Fu rolled her eyes as Naruto gently laid a now sleeping Laxus on the ground by the fire by the rest of the Thunder Legion, "You had to go overboard, didn't you?"
"Sorry," Naruto stated, "But I did figure out how mixing chakra and magic went."
Gaara eyes the wounds on Laxus and Naruto's arm, "Pretty dangerous, I guess."
"Yeah, it's definitely going to be a last resort thing," Naruto nodded, "God Slaying magic can be supportive for chakra techniques, but not like Fu's Jackpot spell."
"Obviously," Fu frowned at the injured arm, "Why haven't you healed that yet?"
"I can't," Naruto glanced at his injured limb, "It must be some backlash from hurting myself from my own spell. My magic doesn't recognize it."
"So another problem we have to deal with," Gaara eyed the downed members of the Thunder Legion, "Even with Kurama healing you, it will probably take a day or two for you to get that arm up to shape again. That means it's going to take longer to get these guys back to Fairy Tail."
"We can still move out in the morning," Naruto stated, "I just won't be able to heal them."
"Something we should probably avoid anyway," Fu mentioned, "I doubt these guys will be please that you beat up their boss."
"How are we going to carry them if you only have one arm?" Gaara questioned.
Both Fu and Naruto gave him a sly look.
"Damn, you're going to make me the pack mule, huh?"
Omake: Ramen Hell
(Year: X780)
"Now, most people focus on the quality of the ramen. These people are definitely not wrong. The quality and taste must always come first, but that's not all there is to the ramen experience," Yajima stated to the two people seated in desks in front of him, "There's also the atmosphere! Ramen can always be enjoyed, but to make it truly magical, the environment is key!"
"Genius," Naruto rapidly took notes on his pad of paper, "And what would be the best environment?"
"Now that's the hard part," Yajima admitted, "Despite ramen being undeniably perfect, everyone has different atmospheres that they enjoy. Some people like it cold, while others like it hot. Ideally, I want to create a restaurant where I can use magic seals to adjust each booth to the customer's preference."
"Magic seals…to change…atmosphere…" Wendy eyed her notes, "What about the lighting?"
"Aha! You're learning!" Yajima laughed, "That's a tricky subject…"
Carla stood off to the side with her jaw dropped, "I can't believe this…I didn't even know that Wendy liked ramen…"
"Considering that she's Naruto's student, it was bound to happen," Gaara shrugged as he leaned against the wall next to the talking cat, "Sorry about that."
"Hmm, well I'll just have to make sure she has a well-balanced diet. She'll never grow tall if she only eats ramen!" Carla let out a huff.
"She's a sky magic user. She might just be able to get away with it," Gaara noted, "I know Naruto did."
"You're joking?" Carla rolled her eyes up to look at the red head.
"I wish," Gaara released a sigh, "Naruto has had ramen every day since the day I met him. It's both amazing and disgusting."
"Well, Wendy has more sense than that," Carla defended her friend.
"Quick!" Yajima pointed to Wendy, "What's the best drink to go with ramen?!"
"Er…Eh..M-milk?" Wendy didn't sound certain.
"Nice guess, but the right answer is sake!"
"Yajima-sama, Wendy's too young to drink," Naruto defended his student.
"Oh, yeah…I forgot…"
Gaara snorted at the interaction, "Not when she's been infected by the ramen craze disease. If she becomes anything like those two, it will be all that she thinks about when she's hungry. And you'll be dragged into it with her."
"Huh?"
Gaara's head hung low, "Every. Single. Day. It's ramen this, and ramen that. You'll be forced to eat it, and even when you don't, you'll smell it. It will haunt your dreams. You'll wake up screaming when a bowl of ramen suddenly appears before your eyes every time you close your eyes. Sure, the ramen's good the first fifty times, but by the one hundredth day, you'll want to destroy all the ramen on the planet. But you know that you're friend will never let you do that, so you have to live with it. That only upside is that the ramen is okay after every fifty bowls, but it's made even worse when another bowl is thrusted upon you immediately after. Then you just throw up, but that vomit tastes of ramen...and then soon…everything tastes like ramen."
Carla gave him a look of shock and despair.
"Hey, Carla!" Wendy bounced over to them with a large bowl of steaming noodles in her hands, "Do you want some of the ramen I made? Sensei said that it was really good!"
Carla eyed the bowl and then looked back up to Gaara for help.
Gaara shook his head and looked away, "Welcome to hell."
If anyone has complaints about how the fights went down, here's the rundown. Naruto, Fu, and Gaara knew about the Thunder Legion's abilities beforehand. Bickslow and Evergreen didn't really have any attacks that could hurt Gaara if he had his eyes covered. Fu has trained with Mirajane and Naruto many times and just outclassed Freed in the air. And Naruto won so quickly because he used a dangerous, experimental move on Laxus who wasn't really at full strength.
Only one more chapter until cannon. I'll be starting at the Lullaby arc, if you can call it that. It's not like Eisenwald will be a big threat to Naruto and Gaara, but I do have some surprises that will come in right after that.
Thank you all for reading and please remember to…
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