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 28

The tower of heaven.

Once standing as a tower of steal surrounded by the ocean is now a massive tower of crystals. After being struck by the Etherion blast, its outer shell was shed, revealing what was truly hidden underneath. Everything up until now had been planned by the tower's ruler. Now, he just has to eliminate the maggots that dared to defy him.

Jellal stood on the top of the castle. Along with him were Naruto and Erza, the latter being safely slumbering on the sidelines.

The two males in the room stood there, with their magic power rising at the very second. Now that Jellal didn't have to maintain his alter ego in the Magic Council, he was now at full power.

Naruto gave one more look at her resting friend. "You don't have to carry everything on your shoulders. Remember that…"

He stood to meet his opponent. "I hope your twin brother would forgive me after I'm done with you."

"How naive of you!" Jellal laughed. "Siegrain and I are one and the same, not that the knowledge would do you any good. I will eliminate you and everybody who dares stand in my way!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Naruto said sliding into his stance.

Jellal grinned excitedly. Ever since he met him that day, he had been itching to find out just how strong this mysterious newcomer was.

"Alright then," He gestured to the blonde in a 'come' manner. "Come!"

Naruto dashed forward surprising Jellal with his inert speed. Jellal barely stepped back to avoid the fist aimed at his head.

'He's fast!" The blue-haired man thought. "Better not underestimate him."

Naruto's eyes widened when Jellal suddenly disappeared from in front of him.

"Meteor!" A golden light had enveloped the master of the tower, a light that gave him speed faster than the normal eye could see. He made a wide arc around the tower, a trail of light trailing behind him,

Jellal cackled as he zipped through the room. "You won't be able to-"

He never got to finish his statement as Naruto was able to track him and intercept him, sending him to the lacrima wall.

The man slowly dug himself out of the wall and shook himself off of his stupor. He still couldn't believe that this guy had hit him while in the form that allowed him to travel faster than the normal eye can track. And yet, this guy was keeping up with him even without magical enhancements.

"I have to admit that you caught me off guard there, but I fought faster than you," Naruto taunted.

"Fine then!" Jellal zipped again, enhanced by his Meteor.

Naruto met him in the air wherever he went. He didn't give him a chance to breathe. This, though, was a much different change of pace from the other opponents he faced throughout his stay in this realm. 'Is this what fighting a Wizard Saint is all about?'

"What? Getting tired of getting hit all day?" The blonde taunted. He could tell Jellal was getting frustrated.

When they once again landed across from each other, Jellal gave him a smirk. "I wouldn't be so sure."

A bright light appeared from the ceiling above them. Seven magic circles illuminated the roof above them, forming a constellation of some kind.

Jellal held his hands in front of him and yelled, "Grand Chariot!"

Bright lights rained from each of the magic circles into the ground. Naruto tried to get out of the way, but a pattern of runes snaked over his body and inhibited his movements. When the beams made contact with the ground, the same pattern was etched onto the ground followed by a fiery explosion that would blind any onlookers.

Erza's eyes fluttered open just in time to see Naruto getting consumed by the powerful spell. She could only watch as her own screams die down her throat.

Smoke billowed from the explosion's aftermath obscuring anyone present on the battlefield.

"AHAHAHA! All that high and mighty talk, and yet the fool gets incinerated!" Jellal laughed at his apparent victory.

Erza growled as she slowly, but steadily got back on her feet. "Y-you bastard!"

All emotion was cut off in the room as coughing was heard from within the smoke.

"Who's there?"

"Naruto?"

Erza and Jellal voice out their thoughts.

No one answered. Instead, a gust of wind blew away the smoke, revealing Naruto standing in the middle of the blast radius, but there was something different about him. Experienced wizards, like Erza and Jellal, were able to detect the potent magic energy or probably something else coming from the blonde. (They just weren't sure.) When they got a clearer view, they saw what exactly changed from this wizard. Instead of seeing the black and orange jacket that became characteristic of the shinobi, they saw gold covering his entire body. Markings of some kind decorated his body. And his form seemed to flicker like it was made of fire, itself.

"What?!" Jellal gawked at the new form the blonde had taken, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What did you do?"

"It's over Jellal," Naruto tried saying with finality.

"GAH!" Frustrated, the former council member lashed out with a burst of magic, but that only seemed to fuel his anger as Naruto simply swat away the attack like it was an inconvenient insect.

"Let's just stop this pointless bloodshed," He once again tried to reason with the crazed wizard. "You're lucky I'm holding back, but now, it will be pretty hard to do so. Aren't you getting tired?"

"Pointless? Holding back?" Naruto's argument only seemed to fuel his anger even more. "You may have survived that attack with whatever you did, but I think I'll just destroy you here and now!"

Jellal flung himself at the Jinchuriki, but the latter easily dodged the attack by zipping past him the way Jellal did with his Meteor.

"Th-this magic-" Jellal said as he watch Naruto zip across the room. "The rumors said nothing about this!"

When Naruto landed, he felt something crawling up his leg and electricity pass through his body. He felt his muscles relax. Soon, he lost control of his limbs causing him to be stuck on one place

"Hah!" Jellal said turning to face him. "Your arrogance shall be your downfall!"

He thrust his hands extended his hands crossing them upward. Shadows around them were drawn towards a bright light that emanated from a black orb forming on Jellal's arms.

'Th-that stance!" The S-class wizard's eyes widened. She slowly got up on her feet and she was even more shocked when Naruto was paralyzed on the spot.

"Are you crazy?" Erza screamed as she rushed to Naruto's side. "You'll destroy the tower!"

Jellal laughed maniacally. "I'll just build another one!"

"Will you still fire the spell knowing you'll hit your precious sacrifice?!" Erza warned.

Erza looked back and smiled, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

I will never let my comrades die. Kakashi's voice rang in his head. This scene reminded him of that, but this one was different. Kakashi wasn't on a death wish. He could take on Zabuza, but this attack…It would kill Erza.

"Erza! No!" was all the golden blonde could say as the attack drew closer.

Suddenly, someone brushed past the both of them and stood in front of the attack.

"Don't tell me a little paralysis spell is going to stop you like this Naruto," The other half of the two-man team spoke in his mindscape.

"I KNOW!" Naruto yelled out his response.

"Now! Get blown to bits!" Jellal screamed. "Heavenly Body Magic: Altaris!"

The dense ball that reminded Naruto of a Biju Dama, was released, and it was hurtling towards Naruto and his friends.

He pushed out more chakra to his cloak. A giant fox head materialized around him and bathed his allies in golden chakra. At first, Erza was startled by the sudden appearance, but it reminded her of the tails that protected her and her guildmates back in the guild war.

Simon was more shocked by the golden energy that was protecting him. He was fully prepared to tank that powerful spell even if it meant he would die.

BOOM!

The spell collided with Jellal's opponents. As the explosions rang through the building, the spell crushed everything on site.

As Simon was bracing himself for the attack, the picture of a girl was flashing through his mind. It was a young girl with long hair, cut into a princess style.

Onee-san. Her image smiled at him.

"No, I can't…" Simon wallowed in self-pity. "I'm sorry…"

He held his position for a while, but the pain that he was expecting never came. He opened his eyes.

"Wha?" Simon asked aloud. "What is this?"

"Don't go throwing your life away!" Naruto scolded. "What about those people waiting for you at home?"

"B-but–" Simon was speechless. How could this boy read his thoughts like that? More importantly, what is this magic he used to shield them?

Naruto knocked him a little rough on the head. "And I told you to get everyone out of here! Why are you still here?!"

"They are safe," Simon reasoned. "They are on a boat as we speak."

Before anyone could say anything else, Jellal spoke up. "B-but h-how?" He was dumbfounded that one of his strongest spells was blocked just as easily.

"I told you," Naruto said. "We should have just stopped this pointless nonsense."

Instead of feeling fear, Jellal felt his anger rise even more. He thrust his hands forward and a ball of dark matter shot towards Naruto, separating from his hand and converging around the blonde.

But the attack never hit its intended target.

Naruto wasn't there anymore. He was already in front of Jellal, his hand reared back ready to deliver a bone-shattering punch.

Jellal was now defeated. He had been sent down all the stories that were built onto the tower. At that point, he realized he should have taken the rumors seriously. He was a fool to have challenged this monster.

Just then, the tower rumbled. The former Wizard Saint was the least of their worries. The sutures were now in shambles from all the fighting that happened. The absorbed Ethenano within the crystals were now fighting to get released. Pretty soon, they were going to explode.

"We have to get out of here," Simon yelled.

"There's no time!" Erza yelled back. "It will blow up any second now!"

"What do we do?" Simon began to panic.

"We're going to jump!" Naruto suggested a bit enthusiastically.

"Are you crazy?!" Erza yelled, but she got no response.

Instead, Naruto swept her off her feet and carried her bridal style. "Wait! You're serious?!"

The blonde looked over at the raging ocean beneath them and braced himself for a huge leap.

Erza for the most part was scared and frightened. She closed her eyes, shutting them tightly, and tightening her grip around the blonde's neck.

She felt Naruto's momentum as he shot over the tower's edge. Then, she felt weightless.

She opened her eyes to see a truly gorgeous view of the ocean and the surrounding land, but her gaze was pulled upward towards the beautiful cerulean eyes of the blonde that was carrying her which was illuminated by the moonlight overhead. It was truly mesmerizing.

Naruto, then, looked down to check on her. He saw that she was okay and smiled. She could easily get lost in this.

LATER

Erza's eyes fluttered open. "Wh-where are we?"

"So, you're finally awake," A voice spoke.

She cleared the blurriness from her eyes and looked for the owner of the voice. "Naruto…wh-where are we?"

"We're back on the beach," Naruto answered, looking around. "Though, I'm not sure where everyone is or in what direction the resort is."

Erza just stared at Naruto as he tried to navigate for them. As she did, she felt tears falling from both of her eyes, for the first time in a long time. For the first time, she allowed herself to appear weak in front of her friends, but she knew it was okay, despite that. Everything was over. She had reconciled with her past and made amends to the friends she had seemingly abandoned.

Getting a hold of herself, she wiped the tears off her eyes and chuckled lightly causing the whiskered teen's grin to falter.

"Wh-what's so funny?" Naruto asked not fond of getting laughed at.

Erza only laughed harder at the boy's reaction and shook her head. "Thank you, Naruto…for everything."

"That's what friends are for, y'know!" Naruto said rather sheepishly as she looked at the girl's smile

"Naruto-sama! EEK!" A scream followed by a thud tore the two wizards from their conversation.

The two of them turned to see the source and saw Juvia pass out on the sand with the color drained from her face as if she had seen a ghost.

"Uh, you can put me down now," Erza mumbled to the boy carrying her.

"Right…" Naruto nodded as he slowly let the girl down.

"Erza! Naruto!" Multiple voices called out to her.

"Thank god you're okay!" Lucy cried.

"Don't make us worry like that!" Gray admonished.

"Y-you guys…" Erza mouth hangs open.

Hugs were exchanged now that all the trouble was finally over. Naruto watched on as the old group made up with each other. Erza had a smile on her face as she talked to old and new friends alike. In a break in the conversation, Naruto and Erza's eyes met and she smiled.

One thing crossed her mind: 'You truly are a mystery, Naruto. Just how strong are you.'

After talking for a while, the group decided to continue with the vacation that they started before they were rudely interrupted. They partied, gambled, drank until the wee hours of the night. Somewhere in the night, Erza asked what the others will do now that they are free from Jellal.

"I don't know," All of them said. They had spent all their lives building the tower that they haven't even thought of life after the tower.

"Why don't you come to Fairy Tail with us!" Natsu enthusiastically suggested.

"He's right, you know," Erza agreed. "Master gave me a home. He could do the same to you.

"Hey, has anyone seen Juvia?" Naruto asked, just coming into the room with his nth plate on hand. "I thought she was joining us today."

"Why? You miss her already?" Lucy huffed and stormed out of the room.

"Wha? What did I do?" Naruto scratched the back of his head

"It's best that you don't know man," Gray patted him on the back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto looked to the others for answers, but none of them offered any.

Erza shook her hand and smiled. "Actually, she told me she had to leave early. She said she had to join the guild as soon as possible."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, forgetting about the prior events. "I guess she really likes to join us."

"Speaking of joining," Erza said, going back to the subject they were talking about. "I insist you join us. Think of it as a stepping stone to finding that freedom you've been seeking all this time."

The former tower of heaven wizards brightened at the idea.

"Didn't Salamander-san say that it's the most upbeat guild in all of Fiore?" Milliana said.

"Yes yes, the hothead was telling me the same thing," the block guy said.

"You're joining the guild?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

The four gulped. They thought the blonde was not happy about their joining. I mean they couldn't blame him. They got off on the wrong foot.

"Naruto-san, we–" Simon tried to argue but Naruto cut him off, though they didn't expect the tone he used.

"Awesome! We're going to have new friends!" The whiskered blonde cheered. "I look forward to working with ya!"

"Kitty Man!" The cat girl jumped on Naruto and cuddled him as if he was a real cat.

"Guys! Ack–" Naruto cried for help as he was smothered by the girl.

Everyone laughed at the boy's expense while Milliana chanted, "Kitty, kitty, kitty!"

"Someone…Help me…" He croaked under the bone-crushing hug.

After watching Naruto 'suffer' under the smothering affection given to him by the young catgirl, Erza finally sighed and told Milliana off. "Okay, okay. That's enough for now. You'll have more time to play with Naruto once we're in the guild."

The color drained from Naruto's face. Somehow, the idea to host Erza's old friends didn't sound all too good now, but the shinobi wasn't that petty. So despite his second thoughts, he still approved of their joining.

"Happy's in the guild too," Naruto mumbled under his breath. "He's a real cat."

But, being close to him, Milliana was able to hear that. "Happy-chan?"

Her face once again brightened. She dropped Naruto like a ragdoll. The blonde stood up with his disheveled appearance.

"HAHAHA! You look like you got off a train," Natsu teased as he laughed his ass off.

"That girl…is…crazy…" Naruto managed as he recovered slowly.

"Get a grip Naruto!" Natsu yelled. "Let's party!"

AKANE BEACH FRONT

"Are you sure about this?" Wally asked his companions as he helped Shou push a boat towards the ocean.

"We can still learn to live in the outside world while living with Erza," Simon persuaded his friends.

"No," Shou shook his head. "We'll only be burdens to Nee-san if we stay with her."

"Going somewhere?" A voice spoke behind them causing a chill to run up everyone's spine.

They all turned to see Naruto sitting on the beach as if he was watching them the whole time.

"K-kitty man…" Milliana managed to stutter out. "How long have you been there?"

"I saw everything," Naruto answered, letting out a yawn. "Who do you think paid for those sausages you took?"

Milliana blushed at that remembering the food she inadvertently stole. "Y-you saw that too, huh?"

"What do you think Erza would feel if she learned that you left without even saying good bye?" Naruto asked.

"You guys!" As if on cue, Erza's familiar voice called out to them.

"W-well, what do you know," Wally chuckled nervously. "S-speak of the devil,"

"Well, if you're going to stop us…" Shou managed to get out after gathering enough courage. "We've already made this decision."

"We lived in that tower all our lives, and this will be our first steps into the outside world. There may be a lot that we don't know about the outside world, but we want to see and experience it with our own eyes and do things without relying on anyone!" The tanned teen continued all the while Naruto and Erza silently listened. "To us, that is what true freedom is."

Erza smiled. "You have a strong will. I believe you could accomplish anything. But, there are three rules that you must abide by when leaving the guild."

Her tone suddenly shifted and her body was engulfed in a golden light. This shocked everyone present, even Naruto! The new additions haven't even joined yet.

"One, you must never reveal sensitive information about the guild for as long as you live."

"Two, you must never use clients you gained through the guild for your personal gain."

"And finally…"

The light died down revealing an extravagant armor with metal pauldrons and tasset with yellow decorative markings. Her skirt featured white frills along its edge and a blue banner hanging down from her waist with yellow markings. She had a winged headpiece that extends from her ears symmetrically pointing upwards, with similar wings appearing over her pauldrons and footwear. The entire armor set is complemented by a velvet cape that is tucked under her pauldrons, which possesses a white fur finish and a yellow frilled edge. She was carrying a red banner connected to a lance with the fairy tail emblem plastered on it.

They saw she had tears in her eyes as she announced the final rule, "Though our paths may stray, promise to live out your lives to the fullest, Live every day as if it were your last. Never forget your Fairy Tail friends. Never forget them for as long as you live!"

As she said that, she sent a beam of magic towards the sky that exploded in a display of fireworks. Naruto smirked and did the same, as did Natsu, Lucy, and Grey.

Even her old friends were shedding tears of joy now. The two boys were pushing the boat towards the ocean, while Milliana ran back to the shore to give Erza and Naruto one last farewell hug.

"Er-chan, Kitty Man, I'll miss you," She said as she cried in the embrace. "Too bad we can't get to play."

"Don't cry now," Naruto said, getting emotional himself. "I'm sure we'll meet again someday. I just know we will."

As they said their final goodbyes, they waved into the night as magic exploded in the night sky in an impressive display of colors. It was a sign that no matter how far away they are from her, she will always keep them in her heart forever.

MAGNOLIA TOWN

"Woah."

The six wizards stood in front their newly built guildhall with a look of awe in their eyes. The new structure was now bigger and better than ever!

"Hey guys!" Max greeted from a souvenir shop that wasn't there before. "You're back!"

Naruto walked towards the newly opened shop, "What's this? A shop?" He asked.

"Yeah! It is!" Max said, running quickly to the back to dig something up.

Jogging back, he handed a few things to the Wizards.

"Is this…Me?!" Naruto was surprised to see a mini-me figure of him. The figure copied his features perfectly down to the whisker marks on his cheeks.

"I don't know. This just doesn't feel…right…" Gray said as he stared at his figurine. One had a shirt on, and another didn't.

"Oh, don't be like that," Erza consoled the boy. "I think they're charming." She said as she looked at her own figurines that came with her different armor sets.

"Hey look! There's on for Lucy too!" Happy picked up on of them.

Lucy's eyes widened and snatched the figurine from the flying cat's hands. "Don't make things without permission. It's embarrassing!"

What Lucy didn't know that she put too much pressure on the figurine causing the clothes to fall off.

"Oh, yeah," Max snapped his fingers when he saw the color drain from Lucy's face as she scrambled to put the figurine's clothes back on. "That's what makes it one of the best sellers. The clothes pop of!"

Over at a particular blonde ninja, a bit of blood trickled from his nostrils at the sight of the figurine.

"Looks like that Ero-sennin rubbed off on you, huh Naruto," A certain tailed beast snickered inside Naruto's mindscape.

"SHUT UP, KURAMA!" was Naruto's outburst at the fox's comment. He was so flustered that he yelled it out loud and not in his mind.

People looked at him weirdly, even the common folk at the newly opened outdoor café. He noticed the looks the people were giving him and retreated to the inside of the guild.

"What was that about?" Natsu asked aloud.

His companions just shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Hey, we have an open-air café too?" Erza asked.

"Yeah," Mira came by serving some food. "We sell all kinds of pastries, but our best seller is the strawberry shortcake. We sell out of that quite often too."

At the mention of her favorite food, she immediately became starstruck and immediately ordered a whole cake for herself. Her hopes were shattered when Mira told her that she just missed the last piece. It was the one she served to the customer. She curled up to a ball, crying on the floor.

"Naruto-samaaaa~~" They heard from inside.

"Ah, Juvia! You're here!" Naruto answered her. "I told you Ji-chan would let you in!"

They entered the guild and saw more people in the guild than usual. They saw waitresses that were dressed in a cocktail dress with the name of the guild printed on the front. They also heard splashing from behind the bar.

"Hey Lu-chan!" Levy greeted from the pool.

Perhaps the biggest difference they saw was the increased number of people on the second floor.

Hearing a cough from the floor, they looked down to see their master coming to greet them.

"So, you've met our newest addition," He gestured to the ground where Juvia was cuddling Naruto who had a look that screamed 'help'!

Chuckling at his misfortune or blessing (depending on who you ask), the master continued. "We also have a new member…"

"Who?" Everyone asked when they heard a familiar grunt that caused their blood to boil.

A/N: Sorry it took so long guys. I really thought I could write when classes were out but preparing for Christmas took up some time. Still, here you are. Hope you like my stories where I spitball most of the time.

EDIT: I noticed that I didn't post chapter 26 and went straight for chapter 27. I corrected that, so you're getting two chapters today. Sort of. Enjoy!