Reading, Titania and The Hunter

by itzgatt

This is a reading version (rewrite) of Titania and The Hunter. This was done by the permission of Master Attlon. Be sure to check out the original story.

4. Chapter 4

Seems like you guys are really enjoying this fic and I enjoy writing this reading version so I'll try and update this more often.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Fairy Tail. They are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Hiro Mashima.

The brown-haired girl eagerly took the book from the ninja as she opened it to get more teasing material.

Erza, for some reason felt like she should scare and discipline Cana but shrugged it off.

Chapter 4: Cry When You Are Free

########Hunter########

It slithered across the floor of the working cave. Travel past the broken slabs of rock and gravel. And avoided the multiple bare feet of the slaves marching past it.

Naruto scowled at the snake. He was not a fan of them.

"Why are we suddenly following a snake's perspective" Natsu asked but no one could answer him as they all shrugged.

"I hope it's not for long" was Naruto's dry comment.

It lifted its head and looked about at those moving around it. The child it had come to know had disappeared from its sight as it was stalking around, hoping to find a rat or bug to eat. It shot out its slit tongue into the air to get a better positioning at where it was. After a few moments of recognizing its surroundings, the snake had gotten a general direction of where the boy was.

"It's searching for someone" Erza thought out loud while the others were trying to find out who it was searching for.

"I hope it's not me" Naruto groaned in annoyance but he got a feeling of foreboding.

"You just jinxed yourself by saying that" Kakashi pointed out towards his student who pouted.

But then, it tasted something different in the air from the rest of the slaves around the snake. Something similar to the boy that took care of it, yet different as well. It turned its body toward a slave boy throwing rocks. It slithered its way to the strange child, it scales picking up the dirt on its way. After a few seconds, it arrived at it target, lying next to his feet. It positioned itself up and hissed loud enough that it could be heard over the sound of rocks colliding.

"Looks like you were right Kakashi" Minato mused sending his son an amused look upon seeing his expression. This was fun he could mess with his son a bit seeing as he missed most of his life.

Mira patted his back "There there, at least the snake isn't here" she said comforting the moody blonde.

"Did that snake sense Kurama within Naruto?" Levy asked while everyone paid attention at that detail that they hadn't seen yet.

"Huh that's kind of cool" Gray complimented the snake.

"Yes, but I'm more interested in the comparison to the boy that's taking care of the snake" Makarov pointed out another detail as everyone was a bit surprised at that. Something similar to Kurama? They all thought while some of them had theories but didn't voice it.

It saw the boy look up from his work and turn his head to see the area around him. After a few seconds, it appeared that the boy had shrugged off the sound as a figment of his imagination. Just as he was about to get back to work, the snake hissed louder, finally gaining the boy's attention. The boy looked by his feet to see a violet snake looking up at him.

After a few moments of exchanging looks the boy reacted how the snake had thought he would. "Ack, snake! Go away, go away." The boy had jumped back and shook his open hands to gesture the snake to leave him alone. The snake only tilted its head and continued to gaze at the boy. The boy tried several more methods like throwing pebble, poking it, and making loud noises but the snake did not retreat. The boy let out a deep and annoyed sigh, hesitantly got down on one knee and stretched out his hand. "Just don't bite me, okay?"

"A boy and his snake" Cana teased the blonde who gawked at her before glaring at her while she laughed it off.

The room snickered at Naruto although Erza's eye was twitching hearing something like that.

"I don't know how I should feel about that" Kushina said. She turned her gaze towards her son "Naruto, how could you?" she asked feigning shock.

"Mom…" Naruto groaned while his mother just laughed at her little joke.

The snake slid its way onto the boy's palm and wrapped itself around his hand, feeling the rough scratches and callouses from years of work as it moved. The boy stood back up and brought his palm to his eye level to see the snake better. As he brought up his hand, the snake got a better look at him as well. He had rough, blonde hair that spiked in every direction. He had strong blue eyes that felt like it was looking into a deep lake. And on each of his cheeks were three whiskers, giving the appearance of scars.

"Hey doesn't he look older?" Lucy asked upon looking closer and observing the height and face of the blonde in the story.

"Yeah it seems like the brat is growing" Tsunade said smiling at seeing a childlike Naruto again. She missed that small kid who argued against her when she insulted the Hokage.

The boy studied the snake intently for several moments. Looking at the reptilian from each angle his hand could make, the snake constantly looking at him as he did. He made some space between him and the snake in his hand and grinned. "Well aren't you pretty. It is kind of weird to see a snake here though, rare to see an animal in general. "He raised an eyebrow and gave a questioning look, "You aren't starved so you have been fed. Who has been feeding you little gu-" the boy was continuing his questioning of the silent animal until he was comically kicked in the face.

Natsu, Gray and Gajeel suddenly started laughing while Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself.

"This is what I get for trying to be nice to a snake" Naruto said scrunching his nose in an annoyed manner as everyone snickered at his bad luck. Damn snakes! Naruto cursed inside his mind.

Kurama being the ever-loyal partner towards Naruto wholeheartedly agreed. As much as he hated those stupid amphibians that Naruto had a contract with. He hated snakes even more than them.

The snake was thrown in the air as the strange boy skidded on the floor, a bump on his head. The reptilian had no change in expression or movement as it flew up in the air, rotating around an axis. As it fell back to Earthland, it landed in another, more familiar pair of hands. It immediately got comfortable and started tightening itself safely around his hand. It was brought up to his face where it proceeded to nuzzle into his cheek. The boy nuzzled back content, until his eyes shot back up in anger.

"Yep this guy is going to be Orochimaru 2.0 from now on" Naruto said in a final tone.

"No arguments there" the rest replied.

"Hey, I don't want to see you touch her ever again, you hear me!" The maroon haired boy yelled with an accusing finger at the blonde kid he had just introduced to the concrete. Said kid lifted himself up and glared daggers at the slanted eyed child that had kicked him.

"Her?" Erza said raising an eyebrow at the snake that was curled up into the newly introduced kid.

Wakaba laughed "Seems like they really are like that" he mused as everyone turned a bit green at that.

Naruto let out a snort "At least Orochimaru isn't like that with his snakes" he said before going completely pale with horror written on his face.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Erza asked a bit concerned seeing his expression. The blonde turned towards her still having the same expression.

"I just imagined Orochimaru in that kind of situation" he managed to say before shaking his rapidly trying to get rid of the images.

Everyone else was disgusted by that thought while Kushina did the same as her son. 'Think happy thoughts Kushina think happy thought's' she said mentally forcing other images to get rid of this one.

"Hey, why the hell did you kick me you asshole? If you wanted the snake then you can have it." He said with a huff before he dodged a rock aimed at his face. He balanced himself to see the snake boy with his hand outstretched after throwing the stone. "What the hell was that for?"

"That asshole" Natsu said turning towards his new friend "Naruto teach him a lesson!"

Lucy shook her head "Natsu why would he even start a fight for something so small?"

"Because he started the fight and it needs to be finished!"

Both Gray and Gajeel looked at each other in surprise after they said the same thing before turning away from each other. The others sweat dropped at their attitude.

"Don't call her an 'it' you freak. Her name in Cuberos and she is my closest friend." He looked down at his hand to see the snake looking up at him with something akin to happiness. He smiled at the snake.

The blonde kid looked at the strange boy with a deadpan stare. "So your friend is a snake, well I hope you two are happy together." He said as he clapped his hands in mock support.

Naruto snorted in agreement "Well said chibi-me!"

Kushina cheered along with her son while the others were looking amused at the mother and son duo.

The slanted eyed kid pointed at the whiskered boy, "Hey we aren't like that you douche." He then turned his head and scratched the purple snake's underside, "Besides, if she was in your hands any longer she might catch a disease by a cat cosplayer." He said with a wry grin hidden by his position.

Kurama inside Naruto growled fiercely at being compared to a cat "Naruto your counterpart better teaches that guy a lesson for comparing my traits to a cat's."

Naruto sweat dropped at that but agreed with him.

Mira frowned at that "Hey I think the whisker marks are cute" she defended the birthmarks as Naruto flushed a bit from being complimented by such a good-looking girl.

Erza narrowed her eyes at Mira silently wondering if she liked Naruto or not before blinking as she berated herself for the jealousy. She looked back towards the book while wondering why she would feel jealous at such a sight.

Kushina cooed at the young blonde in the story "I want to pinch them so badly" she gushed while Naruto's red face got even worse because of his mothers' words. He didn't hate it but liked this because it made him feel loved by his parents.

The blonde boy grew furious and steamed rang from his ears. He marched toward the snake boy and pointed at him, "Hey! I am not a kitty cosplayer. Just because Milli-chan likes to call me Neko-Man sometimes doesn't mean anything. I just do that to cheer her up."

"Pfft hahahah Neko man" Natsu laughed at the title that Naruto had gotten while the blonde lunged at him and knocked him down before walking back to his seat and sitting down in a huff. The others just chuckled at his misfortune.

"Milli-chan must be one of the other kids" Kushina asked Erza who nodded while smiling fondly at the thought of her pseudo little sister.

Erza looked towards the blonde next to her "Millianna loves cats Naruto so she probably will cling to you in the story" she commented with a chuckle at the end seeing him scrunch up his into an annoyed manner again.

"Pfft, whatever Catman." He continued to pet the snake.

"And dammit my name is not Catman, it is Naruto Uzumaki. Alright!" He yelled as he jabbed his thumb at himself to emphasize his point. "We can't all be like you, Snake-boy ." He said as he let out a condescending chuckle. Getting the snake boy to stand up and smash his forehead with Naruto.

"It's not! My name is Erik!" He said as he tried to win in this game of push between him and the blonde boy; sparks flying between their eyes.

"And here I thought I'd never see other people acting like Natsu and Gray" Cana said with a sigh.

"You just love to compete against other people don't you" Tsunade asked Naruto who scoffed at her.

"That guy started the fight against me so it's not my fault" the shinobi just shook their heads while Gray and Natsu sent Naruto a thumbs up of approvement until they were wacked by Erza for supporting it.

"You are just a snake man to me, little boy!" Naruto had momentarily forced Erik back, a smug smirk on his face as he was winning. Until Erik started pushing back, eyes furious.

"It's not little boy, baby bitch. I'm probably older than you punk."

"No way, I turned twelve a few weeks ago. I'm so older." He thought he had won until he saw Erik grow a bigger smirk.

"They've been in that place for 6 years" Kushina stated with a frown that was also on her husband's face.

"They won't be there for much longer" Makarov assured the parents with a small smile knowing that Erza came to the guild at that age.

Erza nodded her head in agreement with her master as everyone in the room let out sighs of relief. The redhead knew that their escape was nearing and hoped that everyone survived and it didn't turn out like it did in her universe.

"Oh-ho, so I do win. I'm twelve and a half. So you must refer to me as Erik-sama-senpai." The boys continued their push until they both retracted. They both rubbed their red foreheads to ease the pain. After Naruto had cooled down his head he turned to the crimson haired boy.

"See, you must be younger, only little kids use the excuse of months to win an argument of age."

Most people snickered at his childish logic while Naruto pouted at them.

"Never change Naruto" Kakashi said chuckling at Naruto "Never change."

"Hey, just because you are a little kid, doesn't mean we all have shriveled sacks like you. So refer to me in respect brat!" Erik smirked at the boy that had insulted his snake friend by touching her.

"Sure. 'Respect'. So what should I call you?" He said with a sarcastic tone layered over his voice. "Snake-eyes? Slithers? Maybe I should just call you King Cobra!" He said as a tick mark grew on his head at the annoyance the slightly older boy was causing him.

"No chibi me don't give him any cool nicknames" Naruto reprimanded his counterpart not that he could hear him.

"King Cobra sounds like a manly name for him" Elfman said with everyone else agreeing not knowing how right they were.

"That's right." Erik snapped his fingers and pointed a finger in a superior manner. "I'm the Cobra, bitch. The best and deadliest of snakes. So watch yourself or I'll poison you dead, punk" he growled as he raised his hands and separated his fingers to mock snake fangs.

"Would the poison even work against him with Kurama inside him?" Kushina questioned the best medic she knew who hummed thinking about it.

"I'm not sure but I think he might be able to get rid of it" she answered making Naruto smile in triumph hearing that. Some people sent him envious looks for his healing ability.

"Try it and I'll pull your fangs out, asshole." Naruto lifted his middle finger and growled back. The boys continued this stare off until they heard the bell, both turned around and walked off. Naruto turned his head and addressed the new boy he met, "Watch yourself man. Don't think I'll lose to anyone like you, got it."

Erik smirked at the accusation of a challenge by the whiskered kid. "Please, if you touch Cuberos again, I'll kick your ass from half way around Earthland and back." Erik continued his march back to his cell where his groups of misfit friends were at. When he arrived, he saw the silent boy laying on the floor and the girl looking through the bars. At the corner, the long-nosed boy was kicking the dirt around. And finally, in the middle of the cell was the heavy-set boy throwing rocks around. As he sat in front of him the fat, orange haired boy acknowledged his arrival.

"Even more kids?" Lucy frowned at the scene along with the others.

"I hadn't seen them when I was there" Erza replied sadly.

"Erik-San, you are back." The boy seemed honestly happy that he came back. He looked at him with expectance, "Any news?" He bounced in place.

The snake boy continued to look at the snake, "Sorry Richard. No dice." He looked back up at the large boy, seeing that the kid had grown a depressed visage. "I promise I'll tell you if I can find your brother Wally. But until then," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a fresh spud he stole from the kitchen and tossed it to the boy, "Enjoy."

"What" Erza shouted in shock and surprise hearing Wally's name.

"What's wrong?"

The redhead looked shocked before turning to address the others "Wally was one of the kids in my cell and he had told us about his brother but I never expected him to be in the tower" she said, her tone mixed with sadness and shock.

The others felt bad for the Wally kid but they couldn't really do anything except read further which is exactly what they did.

Richard gained a happier expression after receiving the potato. Even if he couldn't find his brother, a potato always got him out of his funk. He peeled the starch and took a bite. He looked back up and saw that the reptilian lover had a thought in his head as he took care of the snake. "Is something wrong, Erik-San?" He asked the boy as he chewed on the raw food, some skin getting stuck in his teeth.

The slanted eyed boy was brought out of his funk from the sudden question. "Oh, I-it is nothing Richard." He looked back down and pet the snake as she nuzzled his palm. "I just met some really annoying asshole" he said with a smirk.

Naruto crossed his arms "I hope my counterpart teaches him a lesson" he said with his face slowly turning into a scowl.

########Hunter########

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and yawned from fatigue. This was getting tiring, working like this every day. He had grown a lot stronger and bigger since he was a six-year-old all that time ago. Although from what Rob-jichan, he was still pretty short for someone his age. But he had to keep up his appearance around his friends as a strong kid.

Naruto's scowl deepened at that. He was short but now he was the second tallest behind Sasuke. He hated being short dammit.

"I know how that feels" Makarov said pouting in his seat while the others snickered at him getting a glower from the short guild Master.

Speaking of which, he had just separated off from the large group of slaves walking back. He moved past the bars and saw all of his friends playing in the center, with Rob-jichan at the side watching them. Naruto grew a confident grin and strolled toward his friends. "Hey guys." He said with a wave if his hand.

All six of them raised their heads and looked to the new arrival. They saw it was him and smiled. The older members of the group waved to him as the little boy and girl ran up to him, the girl hugging his chest. "Ne, Na-chan, where were you? Er-chan and everyone were worried when you didn't make it back in time." The little girl with a kitten pout and brown hair looked up at the older boy.

"Aww" Kushina cooed once towards the children and Naruto again much to Naruto's embarrassment.

"They look like a small little family" Juvia commented while everyone smiled at the children and the old guardian.

Minato nodded his head in agreement. If it wasn't for the cell they were in it would have been a really heartfelt scene in his opinion.

He grew a cheeky grin and a throaty chuckle, "Ha ha, Milli-chan, why would you worry? I was just caught up by this big snake that wanted to stop and eat me." He looked back down to see the little boy and girl look at him in worry. "But I totally kicked its but and skinned it alive, because I will always be victorious." He said as he raised his fist in the air.

Kakashi shook his head "Lying to your pseudo-family Naruto? How could you?!"

"Hey he said it to cheer them up you know" his student argued while the others did a wishy-washy movement with their hand much to Naruto's chagrin.

Thankfully Mira and Erza came to his support "It's a good way to calm down them and make the experience in there less scary for them" Erza said with her ivory-haired friend nodding in support. Naruto beamed at them with a smile.

"Yeah!" The boy and girl cheered at their older brother figure's tale. The dark-skinned boy with brightly combed yellow hair looked up at Naruto. "Hey Nii-San, are you sure you are okay? That sounds really scary." The eight-year-old shook on his knees until Naruto rested his hand atop the boy's head.

"C'mon Shō, have a little faith in your older bro, kay." He said with a grin as the little boy wiped his tear and smiled up at the boy. He had to tell tall tales to calm down the little boy and girl when they were frantic. Naruto would get scared when he was approached by jailers and such, but he made a big façade in the eyes of the kids to raise their hopes. Anything he could do to make this hellish experience easier for them.

That tugged at the heartstrings of most people in the room.

"See" Naruto said pointing at the screen "I told you it was to cheer them up" he said looking pointedly at Kakashi.

His teacher only rolled his eyes at him making him scowl at him. Minato chuckled at his son's and student's antics.

Naruto led the two of them back to the group that was eyeing him with a questioning gaze. He smirked and shrugged his shoulders, not arguing that he may have been making an idiot of himself through this story he told. They all chuckled and looked back at the center where they were writing something in the dirt. "What are you guys doing?"

Wally lifted his head full of black hair and chuckled, "We're playing Tic-Tac-Toe. Simon and I got our butts handed to us by these two here." He and the kid with a mop of black hair both mildly glared at the blue and red-haired kids laughing to themselves. After the little fit they had, the two of them readjusted and went back to staring intently at the floor. Wally looked to Naruto as he sat beside him. "Who do you think will win this?"

Gray smirked "Oh I already know who will win" he answered giving his rival a superior look while Erza sighed at that.

"Shut up" grumbled Natsu. He scowled at the ice mage. He hated those types of games because he always lost. It wasn't his fault because it was so damn confusing

"Why is he suddenly so moody?" Naruto asked the girl next to him who giggled at Natsu and Gray's bickering.

"They played against each other with Erza and she almost always won with Gray coming second but Natsu never won and had always lost" she said giggling once again seeing both Natsu and Gray with swirls in their eyes courtesy of Erza who had "disciplined" them.

Happy patted his friends head in comfort but didn't get a reaction out of him so he went back to eating his fish.

Naruto shrugged and scratched his scalp and turned to Simon. "I have no idea. What about you Simon, any ideas?"

Simon looked between the two and then back at him. "Under usual circumstances I think Jellal would win, him having more experience in games like chess. But Erza has a blazing determination to win this little tournament and we know she doesn't give up." He made an inquiring look at Naruto who nodded sagely at the assumption. "Or you know, it could be that she picked the 'x's and they always win."

Jellal turned to the peanut gallery and yelled, "Alright, we get it. Shut up already I'm thinking." He looked back at the dirt and went over his options to win. He thought through each possible move and strategy he could make. Then it hit him that she boxed him in with 'x's while he was distracted by the idiots talking. His face blanked and he lowered his gaze in defeat as the slave girl made the last x and came out victorious.

Naruto sent Erza a thumbs up as a congratulations. She in return smiled at him for his antics.

Levy nodded her head "X is always the way to go" she said in a sagely tone.

"Or her opponent was just distracted" Gajeel mumbled but looked away with a grunt when Levy gave him a look. Natsu snickered at him making the iron dragon slayer glare at him.

"I Win." She yelled as she raised her hands in victory, jumping up and down in place. The others joined her in her celebration as Naruto kneeled down and patted Jellal's back.

"It's alright buddy, I lost to her so many times I can't even count anymore." He tried to cheer him up only leading to the blue boy to give him a long stare.

"Duh Naruto. You lose to everyone when it comes to strategy games. You are the dumbest here." Naruto pouted at the accusation from his blue friend, even if it was true. He decided to leave the boy to mope in annual grief and walked next to his oldest friend.

Naruto huffed and grumbled about "stupid Sasuke like friends". Tsunade shook her head at the pouting blonde.

"Sasuke?" Erza asked Naruto who shook his head and smiled at the thought of his brother in all but blood.

"He's my best friend and Jellal reminds me a bit of him" he answered her.

"Ah well you'll probably have the same bond Jellal then" she chuckled while Naruto nodded looking forward to seeing his bond with blue haired boy. Kushina though huffed and glared at Tsunade and Kakashi.

"I still think he got off a bit lightly" she said with a bit of bite in her voice. She did not like what Mikoto's boy was planning for her baby boy and was certainly not amused when she heard how much the boy had hurt her son.

"Come on mom let it go" Naruto interjected before his mom could go off on a rant and scare everyone in the room again. She pouted but didn't go further much to everyone's relief.

"We have a winner. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the undefeated champion, Erza Scarlet." He raised her hand and every one of their family in the cell clapped, even Jellal after abandoning his losing aura. She grew a big smile on her face and bowed.

"What do I get? What do I get?" Erza questioned the rest of the group in a cheerful voice. The group shrugged, not actually thinking of what the prize was for winning. Just as the girl's excitement was about to die down, Rob walked up and picked her up, earning a quick squeal.

Everyone sent an amused look towards the redhead who ducked her head in embarrassment.

"How cute Erza" Mira cooed at the squeal that the child Erza let out while the grown-up version glared at her for the teasing.

"I thought I wouldn't hear Erza say something like that again after Galuna Island" Lucy chirped, joining Mira in teasing Erza.

He placed her on his shoulders and began running around laughing. "The winner gets to fly in the air, congratulations." The rest of the group followed in a circle as the old man ran around, the little girl cheering in glee as her grandpa played with her.

Naruto followed behind, laughing at Erza's boundless happiness at the moment. Remembering the first time Rob had done that for the both of them. Despite being so old, the man was still strong and spry.

After a few more minutes, Rob finally lowered the girl to the ground, where she decided to gather with her friends again. He watched from his corner as all of them started to talk about what had happened today. Jellal and Simon telling about the work they did. Shō talking about what he and 'Nee-San' had eaten today. And finally, Naruto exaggerating his story of how he interacted with Erik aka 'The Snake King'.

Rob couldn't help but chuckle from his spot as the others laughed and gasped as Naruto faked the idea of being eaten by a giant snake and blowing it up from the inside. He had noticed that these kids had done their best to make a bad situation good. Playing games and talking with each other. Listening to some of Rob's old tales about Fairy Tail. Rob grew a nostalgic look at seeing how much that awkward little boy had grown over the last 6 years.

He played with Erza and Jellal a lot when they were together as kids. Having little rivalries with them to see who was the best. He sometimes won when it came to strength games and outdoing each other. But he sucked on a whole different level when it came to strategy and thinking games. That was probably the result of not having a very thorough education growing up. Even his make-shift lessons in the cell could only do so much.

Both Kushina and Minato frowned at the reminder of Naruto's upbringing. The others were in the same boat as the blonde Uzumaki's parent's with Naruto just smiling at them conveying the message that it didn't matter at all because he had everything now.

"At least Rob will make sure you learn most things properly" Makarov said with a sigh as the mood was lightly better now.

But that never stopped the boy from doing what he wanted. Whatever he couldn't do correctly, he did in his own way. It was actually very commendable for someone his age to fight through any problems he found.

Well except for his writing ability, that still sucked even now.

"Come on stop rubbing it in."

"This is why fuinjutsu is helpful because it perfects your writing ability" Minato informed his son who was grumpy. His writing was much better now.

"Well you could still improve on your writing" Tsunade said towards the blonde who sighed and nodded his head.

Rob was brought out of his musings when he saw the whole group cheer as Naruto and Simon laid on their bellies and brought their hands up from their elbows. They interlocked and stared at each other intensively until Milliana let go of their hands and they started arm wrestling. A few cheers and whoops were heard from the group as the two continued their mock battle.

"Heh chibi me got this" Naruto said as he cheered his counterpart on.

Levy hummed "I don't know Naruto" she said hesitantly "Simon does look much bigger than you."

"Bah, the brat has got this in the bag" Tsunade supported her favorite blonde who beamed at her.

As it appeared that Simon was gaining the advantage, Naruto was struggling to hold it up. Even though Naruto was older by a few months, Simon had a larger frame then him and could lift the heavier rocks others couldn't. It was amazing how people as young as these kids were so strong. Naruto was holding up his hand only a few degrees away from where they started and smirked.

"Looks like's he's struggling because of his size" Makarov chuckled at the pouting ninja.

"Should you talk about size Master?" Lucy said with a giggle getting a huff from the Master of Fairy Tail.

Naruto calmed his mind and controlled his breathing. He felt his power travel through his body and into his hands. He smirked as he eyed Simon, who immediately knew what that evil grin meant. Naruto started to grunt as he overtook Simon in strength. After several moments of futile effort, Naruto smacked Simon's hand into the dirt and stood cheering.

"Hah" Naruto pumped his fist into the air seeing his counterpart win.

"I didn't think about Chakra giving you more strength" Erza mused, smiling at the blonde who grinned back.

Tsunade smirked, knowing how much more strength you can get that way. Although she knew Naruto's counterpart's strength was only enhanced by a tiny amount because of his bad chakra control.

Rob chuckled as he saw Naruto use his Chakra to win the game. He remembered several years ago that Naruto was trying to utilize the power that his demon friend was teaching him in his cell. After many weeks of trying to bring up the dormant power, Naruto was finally able to call on some of his own strength.

"Unlocking your own Chakra" Minato said as everyone nodded in understanding.

"Although he won't be able to learn use any jutsu unless he meets Shodaime-sama."

Naruto deflated at Kakashi's comment wondering how his counterpart will fight without any jutsu.

Rob supervised Naruto when he tried to do this. To see if he could find any change in Naruto's presence when he did. Rob had concluded that Naruto's power-up was there, but was extremely rough. That with the training and control he has, at most, he could enhance his power by a small factor. When Naruto tested this theory, he nearly broke his hand on the wall, saying he wanted to see if he could destroy it.

"That's one interesting way to test it" Macao said gazing the blonde with an amused expression.

"Ughh how will he know that he should do Chakra control exercises" Naruto complained while everyone shrugged. He pouted "I hope he meets old man first" Naruto honestly felt bad for his counterpart. He now had perfect chakra control thanks to his mastery over the Rikudo Chakra. That thought led him to thinking if his counterpart in Fiore was still the reincarnation of Asura or not.

Rob had let out a very deep sigh at remembering his effort to explain the slight enhancement to the seven-year-old at that time. And what he should use that power for.

#########Hunter########

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." Naruto held onto his right hand that had comically swelled and turned deep red from the pain of hitting the wall. Rob was cooling the hand down by taking some of his rationed water and pouring it onto another bandage he made from his shirt. Erza and Jellal were sitting next to Naruto as he was treated by his parental figure. "I really thought that would work." He said, trying to sound confident like he didn't just make himself look stupid in front of everyone.

Erza shook her head already knowing her counterpart would have to keep Naruto in check if he got too careless. But somehow it didn't annoy her but it made her feel a bit warm and happy. She glanced at the blonde silently wondering how he was able to bring up such feelings from her.

"HAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHA" Kurama was howling laughter inside Naruto "No matter where, you will always act like an idiot" he said in between his laughter.

'SHUT UP' Naruto shouted towards the giant fox who merely smirked at him in amusement.

"Yes, well" Rob said as he put his attention to wrapping the boy's hand, "don't do it again okay. You're not strong enough yet." He finished the wrapping and let the boy's hand go. Phew, it was hard to try being medical when you couldn't use your magic to heal the biggest problem child.

Jellal looked at the hand of the former Jinchūriki. Then from the hand, he looked up at the wall he hit and thought for a minute. "Maybe I should try? I bet I'll break the wall on my first hit." He said excitingly as Naruto stood back up behind him.

"Oh yeah, well that was a practice punch. I'll break it down the next time I try." He said as he got his fist back like he was going to punch again.

"Your hand just got bandaged and you go back to punching the wall instantly" Levy deadpanned at Naruto who had a sheepish smile on his as he scratched the back of his head.

Lucy giggled "Reminds me of Natsu sometimes."

The guild nodded their heads agreeing with that. The two mentioned people grinned at each other and bumped fists making most smile at them.

"No, I'll break the wall." Jellal said as Erza then jumped up and stood beside them.

"Me too. Me too. I'm gonna try." All three of them reeled their fists back.

"Well looks like your stupidity is contagious" Kakashi drawled out with a smirk towards his student, mirth in his tone.

Erza sniffed at that. She wasn't stupid but it was just because she was young although she did glare halfheartedly at Naruto, who played along and pouted at her.

"BAKAS!" Rob karate chopped all three of their heads in an instant. All three of them crouched down, holding their respective thumping bumps on their heads. "Don't even try that!"

"Ow, why not Rob-jisan?" Jellal asked with a painful tear in his eye, Erza whimpering and Naruto clutching both his head and the throbbing hand that just punched the wall. "If we could break the wall, we could run out."

"Emphasis on If"

"They're just children so don't blame them" Minato admonished his student who as the lazy person he was just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well first off, no one breaks a wall with just a punch." Rob said with a matter of fact tone that got all three children to gain big surprised eyes. "And second, you all are not strong enough to do anything like that yet."

"Yeah say that to baa-chan and Sakura-chan" Naruto groaned into his face remembering all the times he's been hit by their punches.

Tsunade puffed her chest in pride of herself and her apprentice. Though she didn't notice the sneaky glances she got from the perverts in the room.

Kakashi was reminded of a conversation he had with Jiraiya.

'106 centimeters' he said inside his mind before shaking his head hoping no one saw him. He was not in the mood for a beating by Kushina or Tsunade.

All three of them looked between each other. Erza looked up at the former Fairy Mage, "Well, how do we get strong Jii-San?"

Rob looked at the children, them leaned back and rubbed his chin in thought. He looked back at them, thinking he had just come up with the best solution to the question. "When I was in Fairy Tail, I had many friends that I spent time with almost every day. We joked, had fun, and played around. I would get kicked in the face and then I would bust a bottle over Makky's short head. Oh my god that was fun." Rob said as he laughed at the memory of the midget using Titan after that and destroyed the guild hall.

"What is this master?" Elfman asked Makarov who looked away from the gazes he got from his guild "You admonish us for the destruction but you were the same?"

Mira shook her head "Shame on you master. Shame on you!"

Makarov was not amused by them as he silenced them with a glare but they just giggled and laughed it off.

The three little stooges listened to his story, also sweat dropping at the fact that the elder had broken a bottle over his friend's head.

"I thought that those days of fooling around would last forever. But after sometime I found that there are people out there who are stronger then you are. And when you aren't strong enough to save your friends, you can't help but regret what could have happened." He remembered how Makarov and the group had felt when they heard of the Tonewa incident. How they were devastated that they couldn't help their ninja friends from getting hurt.

Rob looked into the eyes of the children and gave a firm determination. "You have to become strong so you can keep the people you love safe. And so you can stop anyone who wants to hurt them, even if they are stronger." He smiled at the three children. "That is how we can be strong."

"True strength comes from protecting your precious people!"

The guild readily agreed with that not even thinking twice about it.

'Haku told me this in my dimension and Rob-jisan did it in Fiore' Naruto thought happy at the fact that his reason for getting strong was the same in there.

The slave kids were enlightened by his words and looked between the three of them with grins.

Erza stood up, "I'll become strong and make sure the two of you are safe."

Jellal stood up, "No way. I'll become the strongest out of all of us. Just you watch."

Naruto stood up with a cheeky grin, "Oh really. Well I'm sorry but I'll be the best. The strongest, fastest, best Mage that anyone had ever seen. I'll show the both of you that no matter what comes at me, I'll never get hurt." He said as he put his hands on his sides and let out a long, throaty laugh.

"That's right Dattebayo and I never go back on my word" Naruto said with a grin while laughed at his verbal tick.

"As if my counterpart would let you get ahead of me" Erza said in a challenging smirk and tone towards Naruto who gave her the same look.

"Ahem" Minato cleared his throat snapping them out of their little staring contest as they both sheepishly laughed at everyone.

Jellal smacked Naruto's bandaged hand that caused him to fall to his knees cradling it, throwing out swears in every direction.

Naruto winced at seeing his counterpart get hurt like that.

"Didn't you say you would never get hurt" Erza teased Naruto who pouted like a child getting a giggle from her.

"I was already injured. It doesn't count" he argued back as everyone denied his argument.

Rob sweat dropped at their antics. They had a long way to go.

########Hunter########

And although Naruto was not a juggernaut with that power, it did help in his work by helping him stay strong. He helped the other kids a lot by working with them in their fields as well. It helped the others a lot when they saw him stand back up after working so hard, giving them the hope that they could make it through this.

He then reminisced on all the moments when the other kids arrived in their cell as well.

How Wally had been yelling about how he wanted to see his brother again. And when he cried that whole first night Naruto, Jellal and Erza tried to cheer him up any way they could. They still to this day tried to help him find his brother when they could.

And how Simon jumped right back up after being thrown in and attacked the jailer. They didn't respond to kindly to that and had shocked him until he started to yell. Surprisingly, Erza was the one who jumped into the attack's path and took the last of it. After the bastards had left, Jellal, Wally, and Naruto checked on them while Rob tried to heal them the best he could. Afterwards Erza walked up to Simon and cheered him up, causing the boy to blush a brilliant red.

Rob would never say, but he had spotted Naruto give a jealous pout at the attention Simon was getting.

Naruto looked away when everyone except Erza, turned to look towards him with amused looks.

Erza was a bit confused at why Naruto would be jealous of her taking care of someone she considered a brother, but shrugged it off.

"Someone doesn't like sharing" Happy said in a sing song voice towards Naruto who scowled at the teasing. Natsu tried to hold his snicker at his partner's teasing but couldn't as he started laughing with others following suit. Naruto sighed, giving up with trying to stop their teasing. He took a glance towards Erza and saw she hadn't heard what they said.

Oh, he laughed so hard that day.

Finally, only about a year ago, Milliana and Shō were brought into the Tower. Immediately the two of them had balled their eyes out at the situation. After a while, they all tried to cheer them up, but nothing was working. Until Erza had hugged Shō and told him that she would protect him. Shō had cried into her little chest for the rest of night.

But Milliana was not as well convinced. At least at first...

########Hunter########

It was growing into night in the tower. Most of the slaves had been in their cells while some were to do extra work. In one cell, a little girl's sniffling and sobbing could still be heard.

Milliana had sat away from the rest of the kid's, rubbing her swollen red eyes away from any tears.

Kushina frowned seeing the saddened girl "the poor girl" Mira whispered with a sad tone while others were left hoping it would get better. Kushina hoped Naruto did something to cheer her up.

The rest of the kids and Rob could only look on in sadness. They all gave looks at each other at what they could do to cheer her up. They had tried everything they could, but no result had been shown from their work. Finally, Naruto stood up and marched up in front of the girl. She looked up at the eleven-year-old who immediately brought her into a tight hug.

"Good now keep comforting her" Minato said with a proud tone seeing his son- well another version of his son being there for the little girl.

"It will be alright, I promise." He said as he brought his face away to look directly into her eyes, that were staring right at him. "You won't be hurt by anyone here. We will protect you, because we are all we have of each other. Okay?" He tried to explain to the little seven-year-old who only stared at him with big, mesmerized eyes. Naruto moved his head side to side, the girl following along with his movements. She reached up and patted his cheek, earning a confused look from everyone watching her.

"Oh-uh"

"Well well, this will be amusing" Cana said. She was enjoying the look on the blonde's face.

Kushina giggled and patted her sons head like he was a child making the boy pout at her.

The little girl gave a large, warm smile and laughed. "Kitty. You're a Kitty." Naruto looked at the girl with a surprised look on his face. The others were holding back a slight giggle.

"W-what? I'm not a kitty." The boy stated with a strong determination.

"Not a kitty!"

"Your whiskers say otherwise" Macao said towards the boy who couldn't refute his comment.

He instead resorted to cursing and thanking Kurama at the same time because it gave him girls' attention but also made him look like a cat or in some cases a fox.

"Yes you are." She said with no change in her happy expression. "You have whiskers so you are a kitty."

"W-what." He looked to his side to see everyone he knew stifling a laugh with their hands to their mouths. He looked back and was going to argue with the little girl, only to go silent when he saw her huge eyes look up at him. Naruto let out a long sigh and grabbed the bridged of his nose.

"I. Am. Not. A. Kitty!" He said sternly, getting the attention of all those present as he stood up proudly with his hands up victoriously. "I Am Neko-Man. Nyan!" He said, his chest puffed out in pride. His friends looked at him with dropped jaws, not believing what they had just seen. Milliana had started clapping and cheering, causing Naruto to continue his foolish antics to get the girl to laugh.

This time thought he wasn't teased as everyone was smiling at the cute scene between the young girl and the young Uzumaki.

"Well done chibi me" Naruto said. The look on the girl's face was the same look he got when he was doing something with Konohamaru who looked up to Naruto like an older brother so the girl must have felt the same. Kushina heart almost exploded out of happiness at the scene because she always wanted Naruto to have siblings but couldn't and seeing this was amazing in her opinion.

"The savior of the world calling himself Neko-Man" Kurama snickered inside Naruto.

'Oh just go back to sleep you lazy fuzzball'

"Nah this is way too fun" Kurama retorted making Naruto give up as Kurama grinned in triumph.

Soon afterwards, the rest of their group had started laughing as well. Jellal and Simon posed as villains for Neko-Man to defeat in his little act. They had played that game the whole night, to cheer up the two new additions to their group.

That certainly brightened the mood in the room as most Naruto and Natsu cheered Neko-Man on his battles against the villains drawing chuckles from the others. Or taunts in the case of Gajeel and Gray against Natsu.

########Hunter########

Rob had been so preoccupied with his memories that he didn't see that it was already night time. He looked around and saw that the youngest members had already fallen asleep. The older kids had stayed up to talk some more. About their dreams and possibilities when they were finally free.

"Never thought I'd live to see the day where Naruto wouldn't want to become Hokage" Tsunade voiced as Kakashi vehemently agreed with her on that.

Naruto cupped his chin in a thinking manner "I wonder what my dream is there" he said as everyone shrugged. Though Cana giggled having read ahead knowing what was coming. They looked towards her with intrigued looks on their faces but she just shook her head.

"The book will explain."

Wally had wanted to find his older brother again. When he did, they would probably open a farm and find families together. It was a simple but good dream to go by.

Simon had decided that he wanted to join the Rune Knights. He wanted to use his latent magic power to help the world in any way he could. And he just wanted to help as many people as possible.

Jellal was dreaming big. He wanted to travel the whole of Earthland. He wanted to see the mountainous ranges of Bosco and Seven. And travel the icy terrain of Iceberg. And then move around the massive country in the Pergrande Kingdom and come back. Maybe even past that land and see everything he could. He never wanted to be bound by anything.

And they all knew what Erza and Naruto's dream was. They were going to join the infamous Fairy Tail Guild. Travel around the country and become famous and strong. And between the two of them, try to find Erza's parents in that big world out there.

"Between the two of them huh?" Mira teased Erza who ignored her in favor of thanking Naruto. The girls sweat dropped seeing them not getting the inuendo.

The others were happy to see those trusting each other that much. Kushina nudged her husband giving him a look that said "I told you so."

Minato chuckled in response, watching his son talk with the other redhead in room as he reminisced on the time he did the same with his wife. Now if they could get together it would perfect in his opinion.

'Kushina did say to find someone like her'

As they all yawned and prepared for bed, they got into their special places on the floor. Simon curled up near the soft ground by a rock. Wally sprawled out of the floor by the wall. Jellal propped his back onto the wall and dozed off. Naruto and Erza lay next to each other in opposite directions. Rob found it cute that after so long those two had become such good friends that they trusted each other to be by their side at all times.

"Aww" the women cooed at the scene. Both Naruto and Erza smiled at each other seeing their counterparts trusting each other that much.

He remembered all the arguments and playful yelling between the two of them. How Naruto hugged and comforted Erza if she was ever hurt. And how Erza helped Naruto if he ever worked himself ragged. But the closest moment between the two of them was a moment Rob would never forget in the rest of his life.

The day Erza got her last name.

Erza blinked at that remembering how she got her last name. She leaned forwards paying close attention and wondered if it was different in that dimension.

"This should be interesting"

########Hunter########

Rob arrived back at the cell after a long slave day. He could feel his arms and back ache as he stretched out. He walked past the open bars to a fairly peculiar sight. Naruto, Jellal, Erza and Wally were all sitting around in a rough circle. Naruto was in deep thought; Jellal and Wally were watching him with a judging eye while Erza was fidgeting in place. Rob was thinking of asking them what they were doing but he had never seen Naruto put so much thought into a subject before.

Naruto raised his head and said with a grin "I know, we'll call her Ramuphusomas. That is a cool name." As Naruto looked to his friends for confirmation, he was shot down as Jellal and Wally slapped the idea away with a shake of their heads. "What? It sounds cool."

Everyone comically turned their head to look at the jinchuriki who blushed in embarrassment.

"What does that even mean?" Natsu asked scratching his head.

"I'm pretty sure it's not even a word" Levy clarified as poor Naruto was even more embarrassed now.

Jellal shook his head, "No it doesn't. It sounds like gibberish. It has to be something real."

Naruto grew red in anger, "Well we have nothing after an hour, so if there are any good ideas, go ahead." Naruto tried his best to calm himself down. But it is hard for a nine-year old to take so much rejection and keep face.

"Um, what are you doing?" Rob made himself known to the little group of growing kids. They all looked up at him, the boys were angry and Erza was red with embarrassment.

"Rob-ojisan, we have a problem that we just can't solve." Jellal said as the talk man for the group. "We have just found a horrible problem that we can't let rest any longer."

"What?"

"I-it's nothing Jii-San" Erza said as she tried to change the topic and switch the attention away from her. The little eight-year old red head still had a problem when everyone put their attention on her.

"It turns out Erza here" Naruto said as he started to build up the tension, "doesn't have a last name." He pointed at the girl in question, who had a blush on her face similar to her hair as she tried to pound her fists into her blonde friends face. "I always thought that she never said her last name because she was embarrassed, but she doesn't have one."

"I-it's not like it matters." Erza said as she tried to avoid eye contact with her friends out of embarrassment and shame. "I'm just Erza anyway."

"No. No you are not just Erza." Naruto said almost furiously. "You are so cool and nice, so it is just mean that you can't have a last name like the rest of us." Naruto said as he stood up to emphasize his point and leave no room for argument. "Which is why I say we should call her Amietoca. It sounds like it works well with Erza." He said hoping to get the approval of the rest of the team.

Erza flushed a bit at the compliments she heard but shook it off and glared at Naruto "Amietoca? Really?"

Naruto coughed and looked away not being able to say anything as Erza huffed at him.

Like we are making fun of her." Wally pitched in from beside Jellal who was nodding his head in agreement. "You just want to call her that because you have a horrible naming sense."

Minato nodded. Agreeing with the statement. As much as he loved his son, he wouldn't deny that his naming sense was horrible.

"He's young so that's why. Give him some time" Naruto defended his counterpart's skills.

"What? I don't suck with names."

"Your name is Naruto. How can you be taken seriously when you are named after a fish cake?"

"It means maelstrom" Naruto grumbled with a pout.

"It's alright Naru-chan" Kushina said comforting her son.

"For the last damn time, what the hell is a fish cake?" Naruto said as he grew peeved at their continued joking of whatever cake thing this was.

"It is what you are. Stupid." Jellal said as he and Naruto started butting heads. They stayed like that until they separated and sat down, a dark cloud coming over the boys at their failure to help their friend. "We can't think of anything. It's useless."

Rob looked on at the boys in slight worry and understanding. From his experience with Makarov and Porlyusica, giving girls an appropriate name was hard. Either you couldn't quite find the right word for them, or every idea you had was just not worth it. He looked down at Erza, who even though she was protesting, had quickly gained a saddened look only to abandon it almost instantly.

Naruto was slowly nodding his head at what his friend/brother/rival had said. He looked back up to see that Erza was slowly breathing out, the embarrassing tension fading as they stopped arguing about her. He stared at her for a few more seconds until he stood up and started walking. Everyone was watching him as he walked behind Erza and put his hands in her hair, earning a slight squeak of surprise from the girl. He looked like he was studying her head; ignoring the request of the girl to stop until a few moments he looked up from her scalp.

"Ah yes seems like it's going be her hair that gives inspiration" Makarov said nodding his in approvement of what Naruto was going to do.

Minato looked at his son with amusement. Seems like his son inherited his like for Kushina's hair color.

"What about her hair?" He earned a confused look from everyone present, even the girl who couldn't look directly behind her due to her friend's position. "She has really nice hair, so maybe we should name her after it."

Naruto nodded his head "Yes the hair is very beautiful" he commented getting the requip user to flush.

Kushina grinned seeing the reaction. She knew it would make the girl feel flustered if Naruto complimented her hair. Seems like she wasn't used to compliments like that just like her.

"Hey yeah!" Jellal sold up at the surprisingly smart idea from his fellow slave. "That's a great idea."

"Okay," Naruto grinned with closed eyes from behind Erza "we will call her Erza Red from now on." He reopened his eyes to see everybody giving him a blank, emotionless stare. Like he had just gone up in front of an entire town and proclaimed he was an idiot. "What?"

Everyone, even Naruto facepalmed at the name.

"Yeah he really should let the others decide" Gray drawled out getting Naruto to slump his shoulders.

Wally kept his blank stare, "We are not calling her that."

"Why not?"

Jellal joined the explanation. "Because it sounds stupid. Besides her hair isn't just red, it is a different shade of normal red."

Naruto looked at the two of them a nursed a tick mark growing at the back of his head from their nit-picking. "Isn't red just red?"

"No, her hair is more maroon or crimson then just red." Wally said to the former blond weapon trying to explain their view.

Jellal grabbed his chin in thought and made humming noises. "I think her hair is something different from crimson. Maybe vermillion or..or scarlet maybe."

"There it is" Gray said snapping his fingers.

"Took a lot of bad names to finally get there" Macao commented giving a pointed look towards Naruto who couldn't really argue against him.

Naruto widened his eyes in realization at what the tattooed boy had just said in his musings. "Wa-wait, what was that? That sounded good. Scarlet? Scarlet! Yeah, that's it!" The others looked up at him in shock as he put his hands on her shoulders and gained a massive grin."Erza Scarlet! That sounds awesome!"

Jellal listened to his friend's idea from his suggestion and made a face of realization. "Yeah, Scarlet works for her. It's the color of her hair, so we'll never forget." He stood up and raised his arms cheering, "Meet Erza Scarlet! Future Mage of Fairy Tail!"

"Woohoo" the guild cheered hearing that getting a smile from Erza.

"It's a good name" Kushina said cheering along with the others.

Elfman nodded his head very seriously "Very manly name" that comment got some to sigh while others looked at him like he was an idiot.

"YEAH!" Wally and Naruto jumped in the air in excitement. Naruto turned back to Erza and looked her in the eyes. "Is that alright Erza? Do you like that name?" He made his point by making pleading eyes, not wanting to go back and think of more names.

Erza was still shell shocked by the sudden excitement that she barely realized Naruto was talking to her. She lifted her hands and ran her fingers softly in her hair. She softened her eyes and said faintly. "Erza Scarlet..." She looked back up at the big eyes of her friends, waiting for her opinion on the new name. She smiled and nodded her head with a faint blush and small tears in her eyes.

The boys cheered and ran around in celebration. Jellal and Naruto had a small argument of who actually named her. But that was quickly abandoned as they decided to start saying her new, full name in rapid succession. Erza ignored the boys who were on cloud nine and walked up to her grandfather who was still surprised of the actions that had just occurred. "Hey, ojisan, what do you think of my new name?" She said with hope obvious in her voice.

Rob had closed his eyes but that was only to hold back the possibility of tears coming out if his eyes. This was the first time in many years that he had seen the girl with so much joy and life in her eyes. He wiped his arm over his face and bent down, ruffling her hair in the process. "I think it is beautiful, Erza-chan." The girl beamed a bright smile at her grandfather.

########Hunter########

Rob laughed lightly and settled into the rock wall besides Jellal. He looked around at the kids he had seen grow up so much over the last few years. Some he only knew for a few years. Some he had seen change for over a decade.

Rob closed his eyes and drifted off. He knew that these kids could take good care of themselves.

########Hunter########

Visions of bodies piled up in front of his eyes once again. His hands drenched in the foreign blood of the ninja around him. His injuries burning away and fading like they always did.

"The hell?"

Most said seeing the scene. They did not expect the sudden change from the lighthearted scene to such a gruesome one.

Danzō calling from atop the cliff the formation the ninja should take. The bull and cat plowing through the futile attacks of their enemies. Immensely powerful attacks getting thrown out in every direction.

"Ah" Minato nodded his head "It looks like it's a dream of Naruto" he then frowned "And not a good one."

"A dream? More like a nightmare" Gajeel snorted as everyone frowned in worry for the kid.

Naruto once again dreamt of the fights and battles that took place in his subconsciousness. Over the last six years, every few nights the war would play over in his dreams. Not constantly, or even the whole war each time. But enough of the battle that he could remember each moment to a fine point. But no matter what part played in his head, it always needed the same.

With the form of the familiar fox towering over him fading away. He could see that Kurama had noticed his presence and acknowledged that he was there. The demon would slightly turn and say the same thing every time.

"His last moments in Elemental Nations" Kakashi muttered still remembering when they saw the fight in the valley.

"And Kurama's last moments" Naruto whispered in a sad tone.

"Heh, didn't want you to see me like this kid. Thought you would sleep through this and just wake up happy. But we're never this lucky, huh. I guess you probably won't hear everything I say. Listen close kid."

Kurama would turn down and address him as he knew that his consciousness was fading at that moment.

"The day will come that you be set free. You will probably go through a lot of trials, and pain. But hey, that is just the way things go."His body was fading, leaving only his upper body."You will probably want to cry sometimes, but don't. That will show that you can't take it. Take the pain, carry it, and find what you can protect. And then..."

Nothing. He couldn't hear what he was saying as his body faded. Naruto tried the best he could to listen to what Kurama said as he faded away, but he just couldn't listen to his final words. And that felt worse than anything else Naruto had ever done.

"Why would he not be able to hear that?" Juvia asked. She had been quiet most of the story so far. Favoring to watch her crush but it really got interesting now and she hoped that they escaped from that place soon.

"Could be because he's waking up at that moment" Levy theorized but wasn't sure of it herself.

He knew that those last words were important. That they carried with them a message that affected Naruto even though he couldn't hear it.

And so, Naruto was forced to lay there, in his dream, unable to do anything to affect what played out. Once again listening to the last words of his friend that just fell on deaf ears.

"That's sad" Lucy commented. She felt bad for the other version of Naruto especially since he couldn't really do anything but watch on in his dream.

########Hunter########

Erza woke up to the sound of the cult members forcing the slaves back to work. She looked around to see the others slaves rustling awake just like her. They were moving out to the daily grind before being forced out by the pain of torture. Erza looked down and saw that Naruto was still rustling, having another nightmare like he had for several years.

Kushina and Minato both frowned at the sight of their child. They wanted nothing more than to go and hold him in their arms and tell him it would be ok.

Erza nudged him awake, Naruto jerking awake with a cold sweat. She softened her gaze, knowing that Naruto was in great pain trying to be a leader. He looked up at her to see that she was there, ready to help him if it became too much.

Erza's frown turned into a pride smile for her other. She was glad that she could help him in his struggles.

Naruto's parents both beamed at the girl, both giving her huge smiles of gratitude.

"It's alright." She said with a small, soft smile.

He calmed down and settled back down before he started standing up. "I know." He said without looking at her. She would be offended by anyone else, but she knew that even those little thanks were heartfelt.

He breathed out and turned to her, his hand out and a smile on his face. "C'mon."

Erza nodded and took his hand to stand up.

"Aww" Mira cooed at the scene. It was very cute in her opinion.

Both Erza's and Naruto's face turned red again but this time they weren't teased any further due to most of the people still in a sad mood.

########Hunter########

Shō grabbed another boulder and put it inside the wheel cart, carried off by a middle-aged man. He slowly breathed out and turned around, trying to pick up another heavy rock. He tried but his arms wobbled from the weight. His knees buckled and dropped the boulder back into the pile.

He set himself back up to pick up the rock. He wasn't going to fail; he was going to be strong. His thoughts traveled to the older kids in his group.

Milliana had made their experience here less horrible by brightening the mood. Getting the rest of their friends to laugh and listen to them.

"Ah yes like the little sister of the group." Mira said with a smile.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with that statement.

Simon could easily lift several of these rocks without becoming strained. And he could do this work for a good hour.

"Middle brother of the group." Levy commented.

Most hummed at the thought before agreeing.

Wally always had kid around, helping Shō when he needed it. It helped him out of the view if the jailers and stopped them from questioning him on his work.

"The second youngest brother" Lucy added getting agreements from everyone.

Jellal was possibly the smartest person he had ever met. Thinking of ways to play the games and do the work as best possible. He also thought of escape plans with Naruto a lot until the example last year.

"Yep he's the older brother" Elfman chuckled knowing what it's like to have an older sibling.

Erza hummed thinking about it before nodding along with the others.

Naruto and Erza were what he wished to be like. Erza was the kind Nee-San that watched over him. She helped him through all the pain and worry when he first came. And Naruto always treated him with admiration and respect. He kept telling him that he was going to be very strong one day.

Before anyone could say anything, Cana smirked and said "Finally we have the mother and father of the group."

Both Naruto and Erza nodded automatically after doing it so many times before they both realized what was said and their faces turned complete red. They automatically glared at the snickering girl who had teased them.

The shinobi and Makarov chuckled as Naruto and Erza both tried to stop the teasing coming from the others. Espeically Mira, Cana Lucy and even Levy.

Shō continued working and thought of what he could do. He wasn't very strong, smart, or cherry like the rest of them. He couldn't lead and think through plans like they could. He couldn't be like any of them. He would be stuck in this hell forever.

Minato frowned "That's not a good thought process" he commented.

"It's hard to stay positive and happy in such a place" Erza started "But he is with precious people there and I know it won't be long till the escape."

"Well said Erza" Makarov praised her.

Sho lifted another rock and saw that water was falling on them. He noticed that he was crying again after all this thinking. Even if they played and joked, they were still stuck here. Even when they tried to make things easier, they were still doing slave work.

Shō held back his tears. He sniffed hard to hold back the runny nose accompanying those tears. He lifted another rock and saw a small covered vent. Shō wiped his eyes and looked around him, noticing that most of the slaves were working around the corner.

Shō walked over to the vent and lifted the barricade, revealing a deep tunnel that went on farther then he could see. Shō picked up a small pebble and through it inside the hole, hearing the echo as the pebble skipped on the rock.

Shō slowly grew a big smile and then hid it, turning around to make sure no one was watching. He lifted the barricade up again and covered the hole. He continued his work for the rest of the time as he kept a small smile hidden on his face.

He had found a way to help everyone.

He had found a way out of the Tower of Heaven.

"Yes finally" Naruto cheered as most were happy.

"I'm not sure if it would work" Erza said in a hesitant tone knowing that's not how the escape went here. She wasn't sure if it would be the same there or not.

Kakashi agreed "The tunnel is very small and it would take too long for them to escape. They would more likely tire out before escaping" he said as others frowned at the harsh words but couldn't refute it. Naruto's cheery attitude was gone as he prayed it would work.

########Hunter########

"You found what?" Erza whispered to the little brown skinned boy that had come to her during their shared work at the big cave. It was close to the time where the slaves were sent back to their cells. Shō had been hiding this secret in all day and could not hold it back anymore. So he told the person he was closest to, his Nee-San.

"I told you, I found a way out of the Tower." He whispered back with a big smile while Erza tried her best to keep the boy silent. "It's a little tunnel at the end of the work way that goes into the vents."

"Don't talk about this to the others until we come back alright." She said as Shō nodded his head. "This is a secret alright."

"What's the secret?" Erza blanked as the other kids had appeared almost out of the air behind her. She grumbled about the lack of privacy in the place and brought them closer. She started to explain the information that Shō had found. The others had all gasped at the mention of the tunnel.

"We could escape? Really?" Milliana said as she tried her best not to jump up and down. She looked around at the others, who all had looks of dread on their faces. "What's wrong?"

"Milli, it's not best that we talk about this. It could end badly." Wally said to the little girl while she looked like she was about to argue when Jellal interrupted.

"Milliana, do you remember what happened last year?" Milliana and Shō both cringed at the mention of that horrible act the jailers did last year.

"I have a feeling that this won't be a good memory" Tsunade grimaced hoping she was wrong.

"Let's hope so" Kushina agreed. The kids would be traumatized by stuff like that in her opinion and she hoped they would be ok and escape.

########Hunter########

The kids looked on as Rob argued with Naruto and Jellal while quietly yelling. They both argued that they should be working on ideas to escape this hell hole while they still could. They should be working to help the two kids that had just joined their group only several days ago.

The kids had worried about why their grandfather had always told them that it was a bad idea to escape. How this pain and torture they went through every day was better than the alternative. And when Naruto and Jellal had decided to ask why this was, they were interrupted. By a loud command sent over the speaker lacrima.

"Attention all workers, please refer to the center cave. Attention all workers, please refer to the center cave."

"How are they supposed to be workers when they get treated like that?" Naruto said with a scowl on his face.

Kushina sniffed "I agree."

The slaves had grown tired of their emphasis on the word 'worker'. Like they had a choice in the position they were in. The slaves looked through the bars to see what the jailers were referring to.

At the bottom center of the cave was the head jailer with three beaten slaves on their knees. One of them was a woman, black hair that went past her shoulders. The other was a man, with short brown hair that didn't even pass his forehead. And lastly was a little boy about their age. He had a shaven head a black hair and jutted yellow eyebrows. But his most distinguishing feature was his long, hooked nose that went well past his face.

Everyone felt their blood run cold dreading what was going to happen.

"Fucking bastard's going to execute them" Naruto snarled out in rage.

"Language Naruto" his mother said in a stern note but the boy paid it no mind in favor of glaring at the jailer. Kushina sighed at her son but couldn't really fault him.

The jailer walked back and forth of them, like a parent in front of his undisciplined children. He held the speaker lacrima in his hand and a spear in his other. He was shaking his head in disappointment as he thought of what to say to the masses. He stopped his trench walk and brought the speaker to his mouth.

"I just don't know what to say to all of you. I mean, I thought I have been lenient and kind all this time. I've given you food, clothes, and a place to live. And over everything else, I have given a purpose for your useless lives." He said as his face grew angry and distorted, veins appearing on his face.

"Useless lives? You're the one who took away their freedom you bastard" Natsu glared at the man along with almost everyone.

"Calm down Natsu" Makarov said trying to calm him but it was difficult as he too was looking at the jailer with a hateful look.

He walked behind the slaves and continued his tirade. "And we have you all trying to leave this place when you need to work. I mean when I give people all of this and they take it for granted, I just get so.." He violently stabbed the man in the side of the head with the sharp end of the spear. Some of the slaves in the tower gasped loudly at the act, Milliana burying her face in the side of Simon's chest. He removed the spear and stepped on the body.

"The poor girl" Lucy whimpered feeling bad for her. They hadn't gotten to a good start when they were at the casino but they made it up later and seeing this made her feel really bad for the slaves.

"This will certainly haunt them for a while" Kakashi said in sad tone knowing how awful traumas could be.

"And if I can't get results for my kindness, Zeref knows what I'll do." He tossed the spear up and grabbed its end, spun around and aimed at the woman's face. A massive fireball exploded on her head, smoke rising from that spot on her shoulders. Her dead body fell backward as the smoke covered up what happened to the head. The boy flinched and shook as the angry cult master walked forward to him.

The jailer probed his spear on his back and bent down. He looked the child in the eye as the boy nearly wet himself in fear. The jailer slowly grew a vile grin at the result his actions had.

"A kid, a fucking kid" Naruto growled in rage as a bit of killer intent leaked out from him startling others.

"Calm down Naruto! You're making it difficult for the others" Kurama said towards the blonde who grit his teeth, took a deep breath and stopped leaking killer intent.

Most people were left panting as Naruto's sheer power washed over them leaving them trembling in fear. Naruto quickly apologized to everyone for losing control like that.

They waved it off and everyone took a minute to calm down after the event.

"You can't run from here. You will never escape our clutches. You just aren't fast enough to get away." He leaned in even closer into the boys shaking face, "And you never will." He stood back up as two jailers grabbed the boy by his arms and took him back to his cell.

Sighs of relief could be heard throughout the room seeing the kid get spared but everyone except the shinobi still felt sick seeing the other two die.

"I really don't want to have to deal with any more of these running away problems we have. Because when we do, I'll have to make an example for you." The master looked around at the fearful faces of every slave he could see. "Goodnight."

Makarov shook his head "This will cause the kids to doubt their escape chances."

That caused the others to frown as they hoped they didn't give up and went through with their plans.

The jailer walked away from the center as more men came and grabbed the two dead bodies. Rob looked down at the effect that sight had on the children. Milliana and Shō were sobbing into Simon's and Erza's side. Wally and Simon barely held back tears at the actions that just took place. Erza was quietly crying, wiping her eyes of any tears that came up. Jellal was shaking as he held onto the bars for support.

Rob finally looked at Naruto, who was staring viciously at the retreating form of the head jailer. He had experienced the need to escape so many times in his past. But unlike when he was a child, these men didn't see him as a one-and-only weapon. He turned around and looked up at Rob. Rob stared back at Naruto before opening his eyes, "I don't want to see you get killed. Anything but that."

Naruto averted his eyes and looked down at his feet. He tried to keep his anger under control. Finally understanding why Rob-jichan was always stopping them.

########Hunter########

All of them were shaking at the memory of that day. Since then, all of the slaves in the tower had resigned to their fate. Even the over excited children had been crestfallen for some time after that.

But here it was a possible chance to run. A chance to finally get out of the tower. To be free for the first time in years.

"Come on take it" Naruto encouraged even when they couldn't hear them.

Tsunade sighed "He keeps forgetting that he's talking to a book" but she couldn't really fault him as she too wanted this to end.

"But we won't be running like they did. We can sneak through there and jump on one of the ships when they go out to grab more people." Shō said as he tried to strength his reasoning while they resumed working.

"Shō, are you sure about this?" Simon asked as he moved the cart past them. Shō nodded his head.

"But if we fail, we'll probably be killed." Wally said as he lifted a stone over the pile. The rest of the group heard his reasoning and considered the circumstances.

"It's true they shouldn't forget about the guards around the place" Juvia pointed out remembering the guards during their rescue of Erza.

Naruto frowned 'If only my counterpart could use Kurama to escape along with everyone' he thought sadly hoping his counterpart would do exactly that.

"But if we don't take this chance, we'll be here forever. We have to try." Jellal said as he cracked the rocks with a pick-axe.

"I don't know. Naruto, what do you think?" Erza turned her head to her blonde friend and saw that his eyes were covered by his hair. "Naruto?"

"Please, we have to do this now, while we still have the chance." Shō said as he stood on top of a pile of rocks. "If we wait any longer, then we wi-oh no!" Shō tried to grab the rock he dropped as it rolled down the makeshift hill. The others were silent as the rock fell to the floor, causing dust to come up onto a jailers rob.

"Oh no" Mira flinched, not anticipating what was to come.

"This will not go well" Levy grimaced. Erza frowned hoping nothing would happen to Shō.

The jailer looked down at his now dust robe. He followed the still fresh dirt trail to the top, with a little boy there with his arms out. The boy was shaking and had tears well up in his eyes. The jailer knew that the boy only dropped the rock, but whatever he could do to assert his position helped.

"What do we have here?" He said as he kicked the hills base, causing the boy to fall down and roll to the man's feet. The boy looked up as he held his scratched knee in pain. "Were you try to attack just know?"

"N-n-no s-si-sir, I-I wa-wasn't tr-trying t-t-to." Shō shook in terror at the evil smile the man was leering.

"But it is so-o-o-o obvious that you were trying to kill me by throwing that rock." He yelled out as he played his fake wounds, earning whimpers from the surrounding slaves and laughs from the other guards. "And because of that, I'm going to have to punish you." He lifted his spear at the boy's face.

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger and rage. As much as he disliked killing because it just brought more problems, he wanted nothing more than to shove a rasengan up that person ass so far that it came out of his mouth.

Shō trembled in terror as everyone and everything froze around him.

"Sorry ki-GAK!" The jailer shrieked in pain as a large rock collided with the top of his head, leaving a large gash and dent on his head. Shō, the jailers and the other slaves all froze at the unexpected attack.

They sighed in relief seeing the jailer stop his attack on the kid but then tensed again wondering who did that.

The jailer fixed his position as he held his bleeding temple and swollen eye. "Wh-WHO THE FUCK THREW THAT?" The man screamed out.

The surrounding audience looked over the the whiskered blond boy who leisurely tossed a rock in his hand. He looked over at the injured guard and had a small laugh. "Oh I'm sorry. You were so busy with the boy that tried to kill you that I accidentally let a rock slip out of my hands. My bad." He said as he finished with a sly grin.

"Heh, well done chibi me" Naruto grinned in pride of his other self.

Minato shook his head "Naruto that's not a good thing because now he will focus on you."

"Better me than him" his son said with a grunt.

"You-you little SHIT!" The jailer grabbed his staff and shot out a bolt of lightning that shocked the blonde boy badly. He kept that stream of electricity for several minutes that caused the boy to scream in pain. Erza and the others were watching in horror at the torture in front of them. When Erza tried to help him, he opened his eyes at her that told her to stay there.

Erza grit her teeth. She hated when anything like this happened. She hated having to watch as her friends suffered while she couldn't do anything.

Kushina along with Minato and the shinobi glared at the jailer "If I could get my hands them" she growled wanting nothing more than to skewer them with her chains.

After a few more minutes, the attacking stopped and the jailer retreated, holding his gash. He was swearing as much as he could and cursing the kid to hell. As the jailers left they ordered the slaves to their cells. Simon and Jellal bent down and pulled one of Naruto's arms around their shoulders and lifted him up. The whole group followed them back to the cell.

They arrived back and lowered Naruto to the floor where he tried to stand back up. A few minutes later Rob walked back in and tried to help the numbness through Naruto's body. As the others watched in worry, Shō walked up to his big bro and stood there.

Shō bowed down as far as he could, "I'm sorry Nii-San. This is my fault." He raised his head again and showed his eyes full of tears, Naruto not even looking up at him. "If I didn't lose focus, you wouldn't have been hurt. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" His tears were falling down on his damaged feet uninterrupted.

"Escaping will be much more difficult now with Naruto being injured"

"Unfortunately, that's true. It will slow them down in the tunnel"

Everyone else was left hoping that someone came to their rescue.

The others watched in understanding at what had happened. The thought of escape now showed no hope if their best hope was hurt. Shō had continued to cry for some time until he felt a heavy hand on his head. He looked up through his tears at the sight of his older brother's hand on head.

"Shut up Shō. I'm sick of this." He said with no compassion in his voice from his actions. Shō felt his tears well up even more at the implied words from Naruto. Naruto lifted his head and showed eyes of determination. "I'm sick of them making you cry." Shō stopped his tears and looked up at him as he stood up, wobbling a bit from the pain.

"As harsh as it sounds, he is right" Makarov pointed out as everyone solemnly agreed with the statement.

Naruto frowned 'Come on other, don't give up' he wouldn't give up and he knew his counterpart wouldn't either.

"Every day these guys hurt us, and we just take it. Ignore it like we aren't even humans. And all we do is cry, hoping that our tears can wash the pain away." As Naruto said this he clenched his teeth and fists in anger, shaking slightly. And then he remembered what he had experienced when he passed out moments ago.

"We will go through a lot of pain and trials in our life. Hell, we've been through a lot already. And you'll want to cry when you do, but don't. That will just show them that they are winning, that they have broken us. Take that pain and carry it with you, through the trouble you go through. We will find a way out of this place, and when we do…"

Naruto faintly smiled as he finally remembered those long-forgotten words.

"When we are free, when we can break from this place and see the world with our own eyes, then cry." He looked down at the little kid who was looking up at him with dry eyes. "So keep those tears until we see the free world. Because believe me, it will feel so good that you can't help but cry. 'Kay?" He ended with a happy grin.

Everyone was positively smiling at the speech as Naruto beamed at that.

"Good use of Kurama's words" Kakashi said in pride of his student. Everyone was suddenly drawn towards a sniff when they heard it and sweat dropped seeing Elfman crying manly tears once again and shouting how manly the scene was.

The others were looking at the two with great surprise. Shō felt his eyes swell slightly but harden himself and wiped his eyes. He looked up at Naruto and copied his grin. "'Kay."

Naruto smiled down and then heard people walk to him. He turned around to see all of them copying his smile. Erza walked up and held onto him, "Don't push yourself okay. We won't cry again if you don't take this all on yourself, okay?" He nodded as almost instantly his legs turned to jelly and caused Erza to stumble as she was forced to carry his weight.

"True, the others are there with you" Erza said pointing towards the group.

"Yeah together we can escape" Naruto said agreeing with girl.

Erza propped Naruto on the wall to take a breath and sat next to him. She looked at him to see that he was watching the others cheer up right there. "I didn't know you could be smart like that."

"The brat? Smart? Yeah don't see it happening" Tsunade drawled out with a teasing smirk.

Naruto felt a tick mark forming on his head "I can be smart" he argued.

"Uh-huh and I hate drinking" Tsunade countered making Naruto huff at her. The others chuckled at their attempt to ease the mood.

"I can't. It was Kurama who said that. He was very smart when he wasn't swearing me out." He said with a grin.

Jellal joined the two while the rest started playing again. They all sat there in silence watching them. Naruto felt a growing feeling in his chest and voiced his concern. "I think we should escape."

The both of them looked briefly surprised before they settled back down and just watched. "Are you sure?"

"We can't stay here. We have to leave. We can't tell Rob-jichan but when we are out we'll send help here. We can stop all of this if we take the chance." Naruto breathed in and looked over at Jellal who didn't look back. "You know when the ships come, right?"

Jellal nodded his head, "Yeah, I have I committed. If we go along with this, it will have to be in the next week. After that, it will happen again in two months."

Erza looked over at them. "Can we do this?" She asked with a strong hint of worry in her voice.

"I know we can do this. And I trust that we can cover each other's backs right." Naruto lifted his head and smiled, "We're the best, right?"

"Of course, dattebayo" Naruto cried out in support making most snicker at the tic.

Erza nodded her head with a smile "I agree."

They all smiled at his reference to their challenge years ago. They had decided that it was soon time for them to go. That they were not going to stay here any longer.

By next week, they would be free.

Cana closed the boo with a sigh "And that's chapter 4 done."

"I'll read next" Kushina said as Cana passed the book towards the redhaired ninja.

########Hunter########

I won't be adding more characters for the reading for a couple of chapters because I think right now it's good enough but I will add more later on.

Be sure to leave a review and point out my mistakes.

See you next time.