Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. Anything I write in this story is purely from my thoughts

Chapter 24

Everyone was happily going about their day in the Fairy Tail Guild Hall. You wouldn't know that they were almost wiped out from a guild war or constantly interrogated by Rune Knights.

Well, that's just who Fairy Tail is. They don't let things like this get to them.

They were in high spirits, until…

CRASH

The wizards dropped everything and turned their heads to the commotion.

It was Erza, who threw a table that unfortunately nailed Natsu in the back of the head. "I dare you to say that again!" She pointed accusingly at whoever she was scolding.

They were surprised that it was Erza causing the ruckus to begin with. She was usually the one to put a stop to the fights. Considering who she was talking to, the wizards weren't surprised one bit.

"Then, I'll say it again," Laxus sneered. "This guild doesn't need weaklings."

"Bastard," Naruto muttered.

"You!" He turned his head to Team Shadow Gear. "I heard you weaklings got beaten by the Iron Dragon, Gajeel. PATHETIC! WHAT A DISGRACE! Wait, what are your names again?"

"And you," Laxus turned to Lucy who was sitting beside Naruto. "Ara Ara, the princess who caused this whole thing."

Naruto stood up on his feet and got face to face with Laxus. These were his comrades. He couldn't take it anymore. "Are you done? cause you're ruining the mood of my ramen."

"Hehe Fairy Tail's rising star," Laxus smirked under Naruto's glare. "I heard you fought toe to toe with the Phantom Lord Guild Master. Pretty unimpressive. I could have fought him myself AND could have mopped the floor with him."

"Pretty big talk for someone who was too scared to even come," Naruto spat.

"I told little Miss Bartender I was on pretty important business," Laxus raised his hands in a shrug.

"Oh, so you're just a plain ol' pervert then," Naruto said, remembering what he heard from the lacrima communicator.

"Tch, believe what you will," Laxus gritted his teeth. This whiskered blonde was really becoming a thorn to his side. "You know what? I'm going to kick you out along with the other weaklings in this guild."

"How can you even become the guild master when you can't even protect your home?" Narito contested.

"I'll force my way to the seat if I have to!" Laxus flared his magic power.

"I'd like to see you try." Naruto matched him with a dash of killing intent.

"Naruto, Laxus, that's enough," Erza scolded, acting as peacekeeper just like the usual.

"Tch," The scarred S-class Mage clicked his tongue and turned away. He didn't want to admit it, but that bastard actually made him sweat.

He walked over to the doorway that led into the construction area and stopped before he headed out. "Mark my words," He said, trying to get the last word. "I will create the strongest guild in the history of Fiore, a guild that nobody will look down to ever again!"

With that, he left. Naruto calmed his flared power making everyone else breathe easier again. And then came the nervous waves of laughter and chatter from the rest of the guild to get themselves as they were released from the grip of fear they felt.

"That was tense!"

"I thought they were going to fight!"

"That would have been disastrous!"

"Can he really become the guild master?" Lucy asked, watching the S-class Wizard's retreating form.

"That is actually very possible," Mira said sadly. "After all, he is the Master's grandson."

"Eh?!" Lucy exclaimed in a shocked manner. She wasn't really expecting that.

"Hmp," Naruto huffed at the tidbit of information. "He isn't like the old man at all."

"Even so, he really is the master's flesh and blood," Mira shook her head. "To tell you the truth, there's a rumor going around saying that he's the reason why Master can't retire."

"I wonder if that's true…" Lucy thought.

"Never mind him," Naruto waved his fellow blonde off. "Do you want to go on a job today?"

Lucy considered this. "You know what? Sure… It feels like a long time since we went out on a job together. What do you have in mind?"

Naruto raised the flier for his partner to see.

"Destroy an illegal magic school, huh?" Natsu read it aloud. "Sounds fun!"

AFTER THE JOB

It turns out, the job wasn't fun at all. For Lucy, that is. She didn't mind splitting the reward with the other four. And oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Erza insisted that Natsu and Gray come along too.

So, what was her problem, you ask? Well…

Lucy stared wide-eyed at the smoldering wreckage that was left in the wake of their job. Her jaw was practically touching the ground.

It wasn't a hard job for them to do. Just subdue the criminals and take them into custody. Simple, right?

Wrong.

Somehow, the bad guys caught wind of our heroes' approach and were prepared to face them, in number. They didn't completely stop them per se; they were just cannon fodder, actually, but they did slow them down.

Once the last bad guy was knocked out, they entered the room and saw what they were desperately trying to do. They were going to activate a bomb, threatening to level the whole town if they took away the executives. Man, these bad guys always had to have some leverage, did they?

They caught the executive fiddling with the controls to activate the bomb. He looked at the Fairy Tail Wizards and sneered. He actually fought back. Erza left the guy for Gray and Natsu to handle, while she and the rest worked to disarm the bomb to make sure it wasn't going to explode by some remote control switch or some other stupid thing like that.

It was hard to figure out the wires in that bomb. Naruto's head was spinning trying to make two and two. Fortunately, Lady Luck was smiling at them as they had chosen the right color to disarm it.

Well, all's well that ends well or so one might think.

Now, Lucy has confirmed that you don't need a bomb to destroy a city (or in this case a building or two). You just needed Natsu and Gray.

"You guys are so destructive!" Lucy scolded as she walked away from the two knuckleheads who were looking away in shame. "We could have been paid, but you chose to wreck the whole place. I mean, the school building was fine, but did you have to include the buildings around it? Hey, are you even listening?!"

"Yeah, that's great, Luigi," Natsu said, sniffing around. "But has anyone seen Naruto?"

"Come to think of it…" Erza said, looking around as well. "He was with us just a minute ago."

"I wonder where he went…"

SOMEWHERE IN THE TREES

"Sheesh, I'm surprised the guild is still standing seeing how destructive they are," Naruto said to himself as leaped from tree to tree. He took a deep breath to savor the fresh forest air. After one long breath though, he almost fell from the treetops when a certain kitsune teased him.

"Sounds like somebody I know," Kurama joked from inside his mindscape.

"Hey! I've changed a lot since then!" Naruto protested aloud.

"Well, to me you're still that noisy runt who can't shut up about being Hokage," Kurama snorted.

The other tailed beasts snickered at the comment much to the boy's chagrin. But still, a smile crept its way into his lips.

"It's been a long time since I traveled like this," He mused to himself. He remembered all the times he was traveling to a mission with his squad or just plain moving around the village. When he came to this world, he had to stop traveling this way to better fit in. It seems none of the residents of this world, even the wizards, traveled that way.

It was certainly a change of pace, though, it made him miss home. Was his homeworld really doomed? Is there really no hope left to save anyone?

He was broken out of his thoughts by Kurama warning him of danger. "Heads up, gaki. I feel the same demonic energy as before straight ahead."

"On it!" Naruto answered as he rushed to get to the location.

He eventually made it to the edge of the forest. It was a small, quiet village in a clearing in the middle of the forest, except it was too quiet. The whole place was deserted and almost all the buildings were wrecked. It was just like someone flattened them into a pancake. Some of the trees surrounding the village were either scorched or slashed to pieces making the clearing wider than usual.

"I wonder what caused this?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

He walked around the wreckage. There were no signs of life anywhere/ Whatever was the cause of this must have been massive. Shrugging to himself, he sat down cross-legged on the tree branch to gather in the natural energy so he could search the area. Not long after that, the orange pigment appeared around his eyes, the signs of a perfect sage.

With that done, he proceeded to search the area. At first, he felt nothing but wildlife, but then he noticed a dwindling life force under some rubble. It was faint, but he could feel someone trapped under one of the houses. Following his senses, he jumped off the trees crashing through the treetops, and dashed until he found himself under one of the ruined buildings.

He lifted a wall up like it weighed nothing to see whoever this was that needed his help, and his eyes widened to see a young girl covered in cuts and bruises. He was surprised that she was even alive. She was a lucky girl for sure. The beams around her prevented the wall from flattening her.

Not wasting any more time, he lifted the wall and threw it over his head to get it out of the way. He jumped into the wreckage and checked for any signs of life. His eyes widened when he felt the pulse. It was faint, but it was still there. If he came any later, the girl could have succumbed to eternal sleep.

Not bothering to check around him, he placed his hand over the girl's chest and allowed his hand to glow blue. The treatment was underway.

A few tense seconds later, he heard a cough coming from the young girl.

The girl's eyes fluttered open and tried to move. She immediately winced in pain as she did so. Her body still ached. Although, the warmth of Naruto's magic made her feel safe.

Her eyes soon met with Naruto who was looking at her worriedly. When the blonde saw that she was awake, he immediately said, "Thank god I made it in time."

"A-are you here to help us?" The girl managed.

"Don't push yourself," Naruto advised seeing as the girl wanted to get up. "How long have you been here?"

"A day or two, I think," she answered sadly, followed by a cough from her exertion. "I can't remember. The last thing I remember was our house falling on top of me."

"Well, it's okay now," Naruto said. "Where did the others go?"

"They-"

She didn't get to answer as a blood-curdling roar came from the forest along with a minor tremor on the ground.

"Sneaky son of a bitch," Naruto muttered to himself. "You managed to sneak up on me."

Naruto gently lay the girl down and turned towards the direction the roar was coming from. He readied himself for whatever monstrosity was about to come for him.

In a few short moments, a couple of trees parted to make way for an albino lion with a blood-caked mane. It was as large as the skunk he fought earlier. Its fur had flame-like patterns dotted all over its body, almost like tattoos. The notable thing about this creature was the two massive tails swishing at its back.

"You cheap knock-off!" Matatabi snarled from within the seal. "How dare you appear before me with, you inferior creature!"

The demon's eyes honed on them. This was not good.

ROAAAAAAR

The tiger let out another massive roar as if asserting dominance.

"Oh yeah?! I'll show you who the real one is!" Matatabi snarled back, answering the mysterious demon's challenge.

"Destroy this thing, Naruto!" She ordered her jinchuriki. "I don't care how you do it! I want it wiped from the face of the earth!"

"Well, that was the job anyway," Naruto said, raising his hands up to his signature hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Get the girl to the others!" Naruto ordered his clone. "I'll take care of big ugly!"

"Got it," Naruto's clone nodded and picked up the girl.

The girl who was not ready to get swept up off her feet said, "Wait, wait, Kyah!"

He didn't listen to the girl's protest as he stood to face the massive beast. He held his fists up ready for a fight. "Bring it on!" He yelled challengingly.

The beast roared as if accepting the blonde's challenge as the said blonde shot to his face and sent a chakra-enhanced punch to its face. That attack only seemed to annoy the beast as it growled and raised its paws to slice Naruto in half.

The shinobi was actually nimble even in the air as he used the paws as platforms to get even higher in the air. The tailed beast also seemed to have some degree of smarts because it lowered its paws and snapped at the blonde who was falling from the air, knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge.

"Noooo!" The girl, who was retreating, was able to get a glimpse of the fight and screamed in worry as she saw her savior get snapped up by the beast's snout.

"Don't count out my original just yet," The clone Naruto smirked as he leaped from tree to tree towards the direction the girl had pointed him to. "An attack like that won't take us out that easily."

"What?"

As the massive teeth crunched down onto the blonde, the lion was surprised as the taste of wood made contact with its taste buds. That confused the beast as it knew that it had the blonde idiot in its jaws.

"Phew, that was a close one," Naruto muttered to himself as he jumped over the tree line and appeared way above the lion's back.

Sensing where its prey was, the lion whirled around to see the blonde forming an orb of blue in his right hand.

"This won't cut it!" He yelled to no one in particular. "Is it ready?!"

The answer he was looking for came from the sound of a clone dispelling itself. He immediately felt the natural energy enter his system. The attack in his palm resonated with that nature chakra as it expanded to more than ten times its size.

The monster tried to counter-attack but he felt the ground on its feet shift and lifted him off the ground. It let out a squeak like a cat in a catfight.

The Rasengan crashed into the beast, searing off its skin from the compressed chakra and creating a massive explosion that rocked the whole forest, startling the settlement that was hiding from the beast.

Naruto landed on the ground nimbly just a few feet away from the beast's lifeless body. It lay on the ground steaming from the chakra burns it sustained.

He stood over the body studying it. This was the second "tailed beast" he had fought in the world. The difference it had from its tenants was that they didn't show any ability to communicate. The giant flute thingy, whatever its name was, was able to talk to them, but the other demons they encountered weren't able to talk as well.

"Guys, any idea what these beasts are?" Naruto asked. "They feel a lot like you guys."

"Oh please," The tanuki disagreed with a cackle. "As the cat said, they are inferior copies!"

"Yeah, I know that," Naruto said. "But why are they here? Who made them? Are there more?"

"There is so much we don't know," Gyuki said. "We must investigate further and gather more information."

"The overgrown sushi is right," Kurama snarled. "But I don't like where this is going."

"You and me both, Kurama," Naruto nodded.

He was broken out of his thoughts when the sound of feet crunching grass came from behind.

"Woah, he really did it," The voice of a small boy spoke from behind him.

"Billy! Don't go running-" A woman's voice followed, but she stopped when he saw the blonde standing over the beast that terrorized their fair village. "I don't believe it."

Naruto turned to see a young boy who was gawking at him. Not far behind him, a young woman who the blonde presumed to be his mother, came running after the boy.

"Are you the one who killed it, mister?" The boy asked with stars in his eyes.

"Yep," Naruto answered with a grin. "He won't be bothering you anymore."

"Hey, isn't that-"

"Cool! A Fairy Tail Wizard?"

"He killed it all by himself?"

"Wait, blonde hair and whisker marks on his cheeks! Could it be?"

"The one who fought the Phantom Guild Master all by himself?"

"No way, he fought a wizard saint?"

And then, came the whispers of the rest of the villagers. Naruto still wasn't used to the attention he got after joining one of the most famous guilds in all of Fiore. Sure, he got a little taste of fame when he defeated Pain, but that was short-lived as he had to go on mission after mission and then the war came.

So, yeah…

Here he was scratching the back of his head sheepishly as the villagers gossiped about him and tried to ask him tons of questions.

Fortunately for Naruto, the mayor came to his rescue and saved him from being mobbed from his brewing hoards of fans.

"Thank you for killing the beast," The mayor said, bowing gratefully.

"I'm just doing my job," Naruto said. "If it's all the same to you, I have to go home now. I left without saying a word."

"Oh, that is no problem," The mayor said. "I can't thank you enough for helping us."

Naurto turned to leave.

As he left, a familiar voice called up to him. It was the girl he found from under the rubble. She had forced herself through the crowd to stand face to face with him.

"Wait!" She said, "You never even told me your name."

"Did I forget?" Naruto grinned and placed a hand on her head, causing her to blush. "The name's Naruto."

"I'm Amber," She said. "Thank you for saving me, all of us."

"Always happy to help…"

Naruto beamed his trademark grin. As Amber stared into the calming face of Naruto, the villagers cheered.

BACK AT THE GUILD

Lucy sighed as she sat on a stool in front of the guild's makeshift bar, holding the tickets that Loki gave him. Even without her partner present in the guild, things were still eventful.

Do you know why Loki was feeling tired all of a sudden? It turns out he was a Celestial Spirit and he was stuck in Earthland for three years now. And the reason for that was he forced his gate open and maintained it open for three months using his own magic. That event led to the death of his then Master, Karen Lilica of Blue Pegasus, and his subsequent banishment from the Spirit World until today, three years later where his time was up and he couldn't maintain his existence in the Human Worlds any longer.

Well, thanks to Lucy, Loke, or should I say Leo the Lion, was saved. This young lady had managed to negotiate with the Celestial Spirit King, who he called Stache Face, to pardon Loke. And this girl was very persuasive because he managed to get the King to agree. And so, long story short, Leo was able to return home and he rewarded Lucy with tickets for their whole team including Naruto.

So, we find her here, with her face to the bar completely bored out of her mind.

"I wonder when Naruto's coming back," Lucy muttered to herself on the bar.

"A little lovesick are we?" A sweet voice teased.

Lucy's head shot up to see who said that only to see Mira giggling at her face's hue. "No way! I just...I was just wondering. That's all." She stammered out a response.

"So, you just miss him, then?" Mira said.

"I...I…"

Before Lucy could confront what she was feeling, a loud, boisterous voice came calling out to the whole guild.

"Hey, guys! I'm back!" The familiar voice of Naruto greeted his new family.

"Yo! It's Naruto!"

"Bastard, where have you been!"

"Naruto, fight me!"

His guildmates greeted him as he entered.

"Go on," Mira gestured for the Celestial Spirit to greet his partner. "Why don't you tell him what's on your mind?"

Lucy sighed and stood up. Walking to her partner with her arms crossed over her ample chest, she said, "Honestly Naruto, leaving without saying a word?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, answering, "Hehe, it's just you were complaining lately about rent, so I went ahead and got the rent for the both of us."

Lucy smiled at the sentiment. "Still you could have told me where you were going."

"Well, I didn't want to bring along someone who could wreck something and cause us to lose the prize money," Naruto said looking at the particular wizard he was referring to.

"Hey, I don't wreck stuff!" Natsu protested.

"Shut up!"

"Put a sock in it!"

A couple of wizards silenced Natsu's protests.

Seeing as another one of Fairy Tail's famous fights was once again brewing, Naruto and Lucy decided to take their little reunion towards the bar.

"So, Lucy, do you want some ramen," Naruto said. "Man, that job has me beat."

"I guess that's alright, but you're buying since you left without saying a word," Lucy said with a pout.

"Hai, hai," Naruto relented.

"I see, you're back Naruto-kun," Mira greeted as she saw the two wizards coming towards them. "How was that job you took?"

"I thought it was going to be a challenge," Naruto complained as he plopped himself on the stool.

"What job did you choose this time?" Lucy asked curious about the job his partner took to get a challenge.

"Oh, you know, there was another demon thing running around," Naruto sighed explaining the events that transpired during his job.

"Another demon, you say?" Cana interjected hearing the conversation. "Why didn't you tell me so I could come with you? I'm not as destructive as Natsu."

"Well, I went on the job just after Natsu destroyed a city block along with the Illegal Magic School," Naruto explained."Besides, you were wasted when we were leaving on the first job."

"Fair point," Cana said. "So, what's this about the demons running around?"

"I don't know," Naruto shook his head. "They're not as strong as the Biju inside me."

"Biju?" Lucy asked, not familiar with the new word.

"Weren't you there when Naruto revealed everything," Cana said.

"Oh yeah, about that," Lucy chuckled nervously. "I ran back home, remember?"

"Well, you've got a lot of catching up to do," Cana said. "Naruto?"

FIFTEEN BOWLS OF RAMEN LATER

Honestly, Naruto's story seemed to come from a book. I mean another dimension? It just seemed outrageous and too hard to believe, but Naruto didn't seem to be lying when he was telling the story. What's more unbelievable was everyone in the guild still accepted him and didn't think much of it.

Well, there was nothing wrong with that last part. She just chalked it all to being what her favorite guild truly was. But the story, she was still trying to wrap her head around it. Though, everything seems clearer now, just like how the rest of the guild realized.

"So, what do you think?" Naruto looked to see what his partner's reaction was.

"A different dimension, really?" Lucy chuckled. "It sounds like this would only happen to you!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" Naruto said, almost choking from the broth.

"Come on, lighten up!" Lucy giggled. "I'm only teasing."

Naruto pouted and returned to his food.

"Aww, Naruto don't be like that," Lucy tried to apologize. "You can't stay mad at me. I have some tickets for you for a resort."

A/N: Sorry for the delays. Man, I was gone for two weeks? Geez! Anyway, I forgot to post this finished chapter. So, here it is. Hope you like it. Thank you for reading my story. Really, you guys are awesome. I apologize for downplaying Sage Mode. It was an oversight on my part. I was too busy trying to make Jose at least stand a chance that I didn't realize what I did. Thank you for pointing out my mistake.