"Who...am...I?" a lone, starving and tired boy thought as he sat down at the base of a tree, deep in the woods as his vision was black and blurry.
1
X700
Orphanage, Rulid Village, Worth Woodsea, Fiore
As far as he could remember, his first memories were at the orphanage in Rulid village in the middle of the largest forest in Fiore. He was left there on their doorstep on October 10th of X700 and that was his birthday, not uncommon among orphans but he always felt something was different about him. Like he wasn't normal. And truth be told, he certainly was anything but normal among the rest of the children around him.
The orphanage could attest to his abnormality. He hardly ever cried or played with toys, he always seemed distant and detached like a lone cloud from other children in the sky. Another weird thing is his magic. Magic wasn't unusual but it sure was weird when a 3 year old could give off waves of it unconsciously, was something really really odd to find in children and the caretakers were either fascinated, frightened or a mixture as they peered over at the wonder boy every now and then.
When the boy was growing up he was setting milestones at 18 months when he could speak properly to adults and other caretakers, who were wide-eyed at that. By 3 years old he was able to read, then at age 4 he was reading books on magic and it's properties at a small library that the orphanage visited every Saturaday. The librarian could not have been more shocked or almost a bit scared at what he was able to do.
She was an old lady who thought she had seen everything when the guild wars had raged but seeing a toddler read textbooks for adults and actually understanding what the words meant, while also pulling out different textbooks related to whatever fancied him. It shocked her and impressed her to the point where she would allow the child to borrow books, a privilege usually given to adults who could be more responsible and they all gathered around when he was doing something, and just kept a little bit of distance when he wasn't because it frightened them a little. It was too unnatural to be real.
Perhaps it was because of that, they never noticed how other children would pick on him and push him away from their groups. The boy couldn't understand why that happened but realised that they couldn't understand things at his level and that was the reason for it. For that he would usually just head off on his own and ignore them, there wasn't anything he could do about it so why bother? Children could be the most cruel beings at times because they didn't know what they were doing was wrong.
The other children saw the boy getting lavished with attention every library visit when he would get special treatment and would be allowed to take books home with him, the other caretakers usually gave more attention to him because they would always say how he was "special" and "better" than the other children, and naturally that caused them to get upset and resent the boy quite a lot.
That boy's name was Naruto. Just Naruto. He was just a boy with black hair, blacker than the night sky but the strange thing about him was emerald-green eyes. To the outside world, the emeralds in his eyes would be dull and toneless. Like they were hollow on the inside but when he found a book on magic or something that grabbed his attention then they would shine up like someone lit a candle inside it and almost sparkle with radiance.
X705
Park, Rulid Village, Worth Woodsea
"So Magic is created from Ethernano's, a type of particle stored in the bodies of mages. So what's inside me is ethernano, how do I get it out to use magic? It says it's "instinctual", I don't know what that means" Naruto read out loud from a book and felt a few particles buzzing around him and tried to vibrate his hand and tense it as hard as he could, but after a few seconds he stopped and continued reading. He was 5 years old at this time and was sitting underneath a tree in the corner of the park while the rest of the children were playing in the playground.
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He didn't fit in, or rather the others didn't want him to fit in. Well, he couldn't do anything about that so he ignored them in turn and continued reading and learning about his unique powers.
"Hey freak!" a snide voice called out and Naruto just ignored it and turned a page on the book.
"Instinctual, magic has to be awakened before you can learn a type of magic. "A type", only one? That seems silly. Wouldn't it be better to learn more, or even the basics of other types to have more attacks? I'll look into that once I actually can unlock magic myself. The next page should give the answers" Naruto read out loud before a hand shot out and grabbed the book from the top and in a flash, the book was hoisted from his grip and out of his hands.
"HEY! I'm talking to you, FREAK!" an 8 year old boy yelled at him. What made him so damn special? Thinking he's too smart and better than them, he'll show him.
"Give that back!" Naruto snapped and tried to jump up and get the book back but the older and taller kid just held it up out of his reach.
"Aww, does the freak want his book back! You're such a nerd" he taunted and Naruto gritted his teeth and was about to try again before he felt someone punch him right in the gut and he choked on his own spit before doubling onto his knees in pain and he spat out a little saliva mixed with blood.
"Hehe, don't get cocky you little runt" another voice laughed as Naruto turned around behind him to see 3 other 8 year olds come out from behind the tree and the four of them boxed him from all sides and Naruto just snarled in anger. What was their problem?
"What's this for!" Naruto yelled in anger.
"Tch, all the teachers and heads of this place keep going on and on about how smart and special you are. Well you're not special! And it's time someone taught you to respect your betters, someone get his lunch money" he snarled back and one of the kids held him from behind with his arms stuck and the other two fumbled Naruto's pockets and pulled out all the meagre money he had while the first one just looked at the book.
"Magic: The Journey of Infinite Possibilities" he read out and laughed, "Man you sure are a freak! You want to learn magic! Have fun getting killed in a guild war! Besides, if anyone's got magic it's us! We're just as special and just as great!" he snapped and slammed Naruto's face with the book and Naruto struggled to avoid it but was held in place and choked on his own saliva again and glared back at them angrily.
"Don't damage the book!" Naruto snapped at him angrily and tried to struggle even more but was held in place with help from all three who had to restrain him properly.
"Hehe, why is it valuable?" he asked and looked for a price tag.
"It's a library book! I got it on loan and if it gets damaged or lost, I'll have to pay a fine or be banned from the library" Naruto told him and he just laughed.
"We'll then, it's a shame because I think it might just be worth something. Guess you'll just never get it back again, freak!" he laughed and Naruto lunged forwards right at him, momentarily overpowering the three holding him back and the bully was stunned and tumbled over backwards but the other three managed to get a grip on Naruto again.
"You little brat! You got dirt on my clothes!" the bully snarled as he dusted his clothes off and punched Naruto right in the stomach but Naruto didn't let the pain get to him and just stared angrily at the tormentor who just smirked as he got an idea.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"Since you damaged what's mine, I'll do the same!" he grinned and tore a page clean off from the book and Naruto was wide eyed as he saw the page rip clean off and hit the ground, right into a patch of mud and soil and the bully dropped the book into the mud and stamped on it with the sole of his foot. The last legible words on that page was, "Magic can awake in times of rage..." but Naruto didn't see it.
"STOP THAT!" Naruto yelled and the three almost lost a grip but held him properly.
"Hehe, and why's that. You mad because I ripped your book? You mad because you won't be allowed to take books anymore? Heh, just goes to show that the library won't want you anymore, and no one will ever want you, that's why you got ditched here after all, freak!" he laughed and the last straw finally broke.
"Just shut up" Naruto whispered and they all turned to him, they could feel a change in the air, a different aura surrounding their victim and felt a shiver go up their spines.
"What did you just say?" the bully growled and grabbed Naruto by the hair so that the could look eye to eye, but when they locked eyes all the bully could see was not the usual dull green that would sparkle around books, but a blood red eye with a circle around the pupil.
"I said, SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled and as he said those words a black and golden-white aura started to condense around him and the other three let go in fear and started to back away from him.
"W-what's going on?" one bully asked.
"I don't know!" another one replied.
"H-hey, we should get out of here" the third one suggested and they all nodded fearfully.
"H-here, take it!" the bully said and threw the book back but missed and it fell into a pond of water that was behind the tree and the aura around Naruto thickened to the point where the air was almost saturated with magic and the bullies shivered as they saw the aura spiking around Naruto.
"Why you! RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Naruto gave out a roar and the aura exploded in one burst and the children were blown back as a small explosion occurred where they were standing and the sudden burst attracted attention from the supervisors who found four 8 year olds knocked out, each with broken legs, arms and concussions as they were flung into the sides of buildings, trees and bushes and Naruto who fainted from exhaustion in a small crater.
When Naruto later came to, he had no idea what just happened but most of the children and some adults did. The bullies came to first and gave their first hand stories about how they were "attacked" for "no reason" by Naruto, who blew up the area and the book with his magic. As soon as that happened, word spread like wildfire about a child with red eyes and as all stories go it became greatly exaggerated to the point where everyone would back away slightly in fear from him like he could try and hurt them at any second.
Naruto tried his best to set the record straight, but everyone had already heard stories and accounts from the other children, added onto his already loner like stance and general low popularity meant that the scales tipped over to the other side and people believed that Naruto did "attack for no reason". Naruto was outraged internally, but reasoned that any further outbursts of anger would just cement his "infamous" reputation even more and resolved to try and control his magic so that it didn't explode out of him again. He wanted to be happy, he could perform magic but the price wasn't a nice one as all it cost him was what could be a lifetime of solitude as people gave cold shoulders and backed away whenever he was around.
STORY CONTINUES BELOWThat saddened Naruto, as Naruto tried to show that he could control his magic but the people around him were having none of it. Naruto wasn't allowed back into the library, but fortunately he had borrowed enough basics and the librarian left the window open for Naruto to take the books he needed on magic. He resolved that this was out of necessity as he needed to know how to control it before it blew up in someone else's face and had managed to get a small measure of control and demonstrated that to the people around him. If they could see that he wasn't going to explode violently at people, and could actually control his magic then they would understand and see him as a young Mage in the making.
But sadly mages were almost non-existent in their small village and didn't have a great reputation as the village was once a casualty in a Guild War and the show of power had planted a seed of fear into their minds that Naruto couldn't erase from them. Every time someone would treat him badly with a cold shoulder or a hurtful comment he would try to show his control but they would flinch and run and there were a few times he was attacked by the parents of the children he hurt and defended himself with magic. But he lacked control and broke even more bones, ostracising him even further.
As a year passed, more and more people shunned him and ignored his existence. They didn't want to look at him since he hurt a group of "innocent children" according to how the story was fabricated and Naruto tried to deny it again but it was for naught. His own name became nothing, as people referred to him from Naruto to boy, then freak and soon a demon.
For they didn't know it yet, but his parents were something else entirely. He was the son of Zeref Dragneel and Mavis Vermillion and the fraternal twin of August Dragneel. That made him Naruto Dragneel.
His own name was actually one he decided himself, from one of the many books he read when he was 3. One of them was called "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Mage" written a long time ago by an obscure author when the guild wars started, the book was hidden in the back of an old shelf and barely sold at all but it was a jewel hidden in the haystack. About a hero who ended the Guild Wars that were raging on across the country.
He idolised the hero in the story, the one who managed to change the world, the man who ended the fighting, the one who everyone looked up to and appreciated and acknowledged their existence. He wanted to be that hero, he wanted to be Naruto and so he decided to make sure that he would live up to that name and called himself Naruto, and the orphanage eventually made that his name but now that had all changed.
As a few months passed, the village's treatment of him had plummeted from bad to horrible and the injuries that he had caused on accident were starting to weigh down as the entire village was seeing him as a threat in the making, and no one was rushing to his side to back him up. He was all alone in this ordeal.
Then came the recent motion by the rest of the village, in fear of what he could do he was banished out of the place by the people and never allowed to come back. That suited him fine at the start, it wasn't like he had a nice time there. But after about a month, survival became much harder than he had anticipated before. He couldn't catch food, he had no knowledge on how to cook food and he had trouble finding shelter as he was constantly forced to leave any area he was in because somebody was coming by and threatened Naruto until he left.
Eventually Naruto came to a tree and sat there, his body was barely hanging on from starvation.
"Why...was I...born?" he thought before he blacked out.
X705
Outskirts of Ruild Village, Worth Woodsea
By coincidence or fate there was someone else who was in the forest at the same time. He had black hair, pitch black eyes and wore clothes from over 300 years ago. A black robe with a white tunic and yellow linings. This was Zeref, the most infamous dark mage in existence.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"Someone's there" he thought as he could sense life coming from the clearing a few metres away. Normally he wouldn't go near them, and move onto the next forest but he could sense that life was quickly fading and made a split second decision. He would try to save that life, then leave before the Curse of Ankhseram burst forth and killed that person.
As he approached the person he saw a young boy, about 5 years old. He had black hair and his eyes were closed. His clothes were ragged and slightly in tatters and his body was thin. Very thin, like he was barely getting anything to eat.
At first, he was horrified at who could do that to a child but quickly replaced it with concern and tried his best to hold in Ankhseram's curse from flaring. He quickly realised that the boy's life was deteriorating and his pulse was weak. With what meagre magic he had, he used his Black Arts to strengthen the boy's body so that it could last a little longer. The more he rejected the cold nature of himself and cared about others, the weaker he became to the point where he was extremely vulnerable in his current state. He just lost Mavis, and the heartbreak that she might not have loved him was tearing him apart but he wanted to be better, for her sake and decided to go find food for the boy in the woods.
The job was easily done by letting out a controlled small blast of Ankhseram's magic and with it he killed a horde of wild boars and other animals. It as a shame that fruits tended to rot when he was near them because he needed nutrients but for now he just needed something.
As Zeref got back the boy's breathing was less laboured and colour on his skin had started re-emerge again. Using some wood that he sliced with a wave of magic, he created a pile of it and lit it on fire with Fire Magic and started to get a campfire going. Then he placed the animals on a spit and started to roast them, it wasn't perfectly done but it would do for now.
It was only after a few hours that the boy's eyes fluttered awake.
"Ugh..." Naruto groaned as he slowly picked himself off the tree and he opened his eyes to see a stranger that he had never seen before. He had black hair and black eyes, with a pale complexion and wore strange dress robes that Naruto could have sworn that he saw in a history book once before but his mind was too tired at this point to remember what it was as his stomach grumbled loudly in pain.
"So you're awake" Zeref said as he turned to Naruto, "Eat" he said and took a piece of meat and handed it to Naruto.
"Is it poisoned?" he asked tentatively.
Zeref held in his indignation or else Ankhseram might flare again and replied evenly, "If I wanted to kill you then I could have just left you to die of starvation" he replied carefully and Naruto couldn't argue with that grabbed a piece of meat and gave into desperate hunger and started to devour it like an animal, it was slightly charred and the meat was tough but at the brink of starvation he was happy to have something to eat at this point.
"Why?" Naruto he finished the first piece and turned to the stranger before immediately grabbing another piece that was offerent.
"Why not?" Zeref replied and Naruto stopped himself and handed the next piece back to Zeref.
"Here, I don't want to eat all of your food" Naruto said politely and Zeref smiled.
"You'd rather starve than let someone else miss a meal?" Zeref asked amusedly.
Naruto was silent but Zeref just pushed the meat back to the boy and shook his head. Naruto wasn't going to accept someone else's meal, if he didn't get it then it wasn't his right and the stranger was the one who got the food, and was sharing it with Naruto, he didn't want to eat all of the strangers food and be in his debt.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"I already ate" Zeref stated, but that was a lie. He didn't need to eat since Ankhseram kept him alive for eternity. "But your selflessness is admirable" he said with a hint of being impressed and Naruto went back to eating the food.
"T-thank you" Naruto said happily to Zeref who did his best to remain emotionless.
"It was not a problem" he said, "Out of curiosity, why were you in such a state?" he asked. It was that question, he could say changed his life. If he had left and just forgotten about this then history would have taken a completely different course. Naruto would have just died within a few days and history would have taken a massively different course, but the smallest of actions can have the greatest of consequences in the future. Damn Butterflies.
"I was banished form my village" Naruto explained briefly and went back to eating and Zeref raised his eyebrow.
"Why were you banished in the first place?" he asked.
"I-I don't really know" Naruto said after a pause, why did this all happen to him? Well he should just tell the events and let him make his own interpretations because Naruto couldn't make any sense on why people acted so foolishly, "I had an accident and everything exploded and people got hurt, and then people started to be scared of me. They called me a demon and kicked me out" Naruto summarized shortly on the main events.
"Was it magic?" Zeref thought, it was quite a while since he was this curious. Children at his age shouldn't be able to do such things with magic, it either showed that there was another circumstance or even more interesting, that the boy's magical container was already large despite his age.
"It should be clear with my eyes" Zeref thought and his eyes turned red with a circle around the pupil and gazed into the magic inside the boy. It was there, already accumulating at a surprisingly fast rate into his body. He could have sworn that the magic looked familiar though, it was a unique shade of black. Black that was darker than the darkest of nights and then froze for a minute as he saw the magic accumulate into his own body.
It was identical.
"I guess they really only hated me because I can do this" Naruto said and demonstrated by putting his hands together, from them two magical circles appeared and a black sphere had materialised in between and it was sucking the warmth out of the surroundings and Zeref paled. That was his unique alternate form of Darkness Magic, a step down from the Black Arts.
"W-what! How?" Zeref thought breathlessly.
"And I can also do this" Naruto said and the magical circles changed colour, from pitch black to a bright golden yellow, a colour of a girls hair that he could remember. The magic changed from a black sphere into a a shining white light that was in his palms and flooded the area with light and warmth flooded the area again.
He knew that magic, magic that could shine in the darkest of black. That was Light Magic, a step down from something he remembered and caused his heart to twinge. Mavis's Starlight magic.
"T-that's impossible!" Zeref breathed out loud as he started to stagger back and his knees gave out on him.
"M-mister, are you ok" Naruto said in worry and quickly stopped his magic, "Here I'll stop the magic, I won't do anything. Please don't be angry" Naruto pleaded and Zeref felt his world collapse.
STORY CONTINUES BELOWAll the clues started to add up again, the boy's hair and face it was his. But his eyes, a green like the purest of nature, Mavis's eyes. His skin wasn't as pale as his was, they had a warm amount of colour like Mavis had. What is the meaning of this? He couldn't remember, well doing that with Mavis...other than the time in the lake, well he didn't exactly remember much from that time with her, choosing to suppress it all to run away from the pain but now...the time at the lake. He got her pregnant!
"I-I have a son" Zeref said out loud in a mixture of emotions, shock, fear, joy and was overwhelmed and then he couldn't hold it in anymore. The magic in his body was acting up again to epic proportions and Zeref started to fear greatly, he knew what was going to happen.
"RUN" Zeref yelled, "GET AWAY FROM ME! RIGHT NOW! RUN!" Zeref screamed in desperation and the boy faltered for a bit but it was too late.
"ARRGH!" Zeref yelled before black magic burst forwards from his body and waves of pitch black magic shot right at Naruto and everything around them. It quickly turned the grass a cold dead green, flowers started to wilt and wither and the tree before lost all its leaves and became twisted, black and dead. The magic rushed forwards and Naruto was hit right in his body and Zeref yelled out, "NOOO!" and Naruto collapsed.
"What have I done?" Zeref though as his magic stopped. "Curse you Ankhseram, how could you make me kill my son!" Zeref thought as tears started to roll down his eyes and his face and he collapsed onto his knees and yelled out in anger.
"RAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH-" Zeref yelled out in anger before turning back to his son's corpse which was starting to stir again-wait what?
"Ugh, that hurt" Naruto groaned painfully and Zeref stared at the boy, completely stunned.
"H-how?" Zeref thought before he saw Naruto pick himself off the ground and sat up again.
"Ow, it feels like my head was hit with a hammer. Why did you do that?" Naruto asked as he managed to stand up, albeit a bit shakily.
"H-How are you still alive?" Zeref asked, completely flabbergasted at the impossible just becoming possible.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confusedly as he stopped shaking and Zeref didn't care anymore. Zeref decided not to count his blessings, thought it could be done by hand and rushed forwards and grabbed Naruto into a tight hug and felt tears roll down from his face once more.
"T-thank god you're alive" Zeref whispered and Naruto felt slightly weary and very confused but warm at the same time.
"W-what the heck? Why are you hugging me?" Naruto asked and wriggled slightly in his arms.
"Because I am your father" Zeref stated and Naruto's body stopped completely. Naruto was smart as well, he saw certain similarities between the two of them. They both had black hair, and a similar face as well. His hairstyle was also similar and that colour of magic, it was as black as his. But was it true?
At that point he didn't care, no one ever wanted him and he was told that no one would ever adopt a demon like him so for someone to actually want him, that warmed him more than the food ever did and he returned the hug as well. None of them noticed one lone woodcutter who had recognised Zeref and saw the whole scene play out, before running back to the village to report what he just heard.
"I swear I am going to kill that village" Zeref thought as he heard about what they put his son though, there would be nothing left of that place. Other than a pile of dead bodies and flaming ruins, he contemplated whether he should send one of the Etherious like Jackal to actually do that but held back on his idea. At least until they were far enough to do that. They had sat down for a few hours and Naruto talked about his life that he led.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"So you're actually my father?" Naruto asked again.
"Yes" Zeref repeated again, Naruto kept asking that just to be sure that the answer didn't change or this wasn't some sort of dream.
"But you had no idea I even existed?" Naruto asked to understand the details of his life.
"That is true" Zeref said as well.
"T-then what about my mother? She had to know, right?" Naruto asked.
"She's dead" Zeref said sombrely, to everyone and particularly him Mavis had left this world. All that was left of her was her legacy, Fairy Tail and a son she probably never knew she had considering her current state. She wasn't "dead" in the conventional term, but it would be too long to explain that to Naruto.
"Oh" Naruto said and held his head down, for the mother that he never got to meet before.
"She was the single most amazing woman I have ever met, and you inherited her light based magic as well as my Black Arts. Light and darkness exists inside you" Zeref explained as Naruto gathered his light magic, his mother's light and clutched it tightly while feeling warmth from it and turned back to his father.
"C-can I go with you?" Naruto asked a bit nervously.
Zeref thought about that. He didn't have many companions, he had about 300 years of closing off his heart before Mavis appeared and she left as soon as she came. But Naruto was left of her. But how did he survive the Ankhseram's magic, was it a one-off or was he actually immune to it's effects completely? Was it possible that because Naruto was born from both carriers of Ankhseram's magic that he had some form of immunity or did he adapt from being in his mother's womb?
"I-it's too risky. My magic, it's not exactly like yours. It could kill you, I can't forgive myself if my curse killed you" Zeref finally said but Naruto latched onto his leg.
"Please don't leave me" Naruto begged and a few tears started to form.
"I-I-" Zeref thought before his thoughts were cut off.
"THERE HE IS!" one villager yelled, he was carrying a torch and pitchfork in his hands and slowly a group of villagers started to congregate around him and they all stared with glares at Naruto, who just cowered behind Zeref.
"So you really are a demon, boy. We shouldn't have banished you, we should have killed you then and there!" one spiteful villager yelled, his son's leg was in a cast for months and suffered a bad concussion and he was out for blood to get back that that boy.
"Excuse me" Zeref said coldly.
"I-I heard what happened, I was in the woods chopping some trees when I saw some of them were stone dead and I heard you" one villager said a bit nervously with a pickaxe over his shoulder, "That kid was your son. You're Zeref, the Black Mage! Then that demon who lived in our village was your son! We'll end you and your spawn today!" he yelled and got a cheer from the rest of them.
"So you're the ones who hurt my son" Zeref snarled as black magic started to swirl around his body and his eyes narrowed with red pupils.
"D-don't get scared, it's all of us versus one of him. Kill him first and then kill the boy, we'll burn him on a stake to purify our village" the leader of the mob said and that was all Zeref could hear before snapping completely and deciding to end them once and for all.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"Son, close your eyes" Zeref asked and Naruto obeyed and shut his eyes and the black magic around Zeref started to explode from him and he sent tendrils of energy at the crowd who doubled back but the energy quickly killed all of them in instants before retracting back to it's master. In a blink, almost all of them had just dropped dead like flies and the rest of them paled and suddenly realised what a bad idea they just had, this entire isolated community who knew almost nothing about mages was going to be destroyed.
"W-what are you?" the leader whimpered as he stumbled back and started to try and break into a run.
"I am death, destroyer of worlds" Zeref stated and that was the last thing the villagers heard before a torrent of black consumed them completely.
2
After that massacre was over, Zeref panted slightly from exhaustion. His current low powered state wasn't enough for this, he knew that the entire village must have known and they would have started to pack up once they found all the men from the village were killed and fled to other settlements. From there by word of mouth, they would spread the news of Zeref and his son and the child would be hunted down before he grew up to be a threat in their eyes.
"I can't leave him here now, people have seen him and identified him as my son. If I leave him, he'd be hunted down like an animal" Zeref said and growled at that last part. Did they have no humanity? He at least had a curse he could use as an excuse.
"Wait just a minute" Zeref said as he looked at the grass, in his rage he might have overdone it with his magic. He noticed that the dead grass extended to the end of the clearing, the clearing that Naruto was standing in. So...that meant that he survived again? The odds of it being immunity shot up drastically! But then he reprimanded himself for almost killing his own son, again.
"We need to go, now" Zeref sharply told his son who opened his eyes to his father's serious ones, he could hear more footsteps coming from other sides of the clearing who were running away to carry out exactly what he predicted and he gritted his teeth in frustration. If he was in his prime he could level this land but since he started to force himself to value life, his powers were severely damped as a result. If he chose to discard those values, then there was no telling what he would do with his son.
"So does that mean I can come with you?" Naruto asked again.
"Yes, you can-" Zeref said shortly and Naruto immediately latched onto Zeref into a tight hug.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou" he said repeatedly and quickly and Zeref was surprised but just patted him on his back, a little awkwardly.
Zeref just sighed and picked up Naruto and gave him a piggyback, at this rate they would make no progress. He needed to run, and needed to do it now to somewhere else away from their current location. Naruto had latched on tight and Zeref took a breath before he broke into a run and escaped the clearing leaving a trail of moulding corpses in his wake.
It was only after a few days of running that Zeref managed to get Naruto into a deserted cave deep in the mountains that were on the outer rim of the lands of Worth Woodsea. It would take a while for them to find him and his son Zeref thought and he let out a tired sigh. Wait, he can't keep calling him son. He didn't even name his own son.
"Son, do you have a name?" Zeref asked and Naruto nodded and pulled out a book from his clothes, it may have been in rags but the book was actually protected from the weather by them.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"Note to self: Make some clothes for him. Something black and maybe a little green or gold design, he's still my son" Zeref thought as Naruto showed him a book.
"My name is Naruto, I got it when I was reading this" Naruto said and Zeref took it and quickly skimmed through it. It was surprisingly thick, and a bit heavy and the words were a bit small. This book was meant for someone more than twice his age, if the content was any indication. But if he had learnt anything so far, it was that his son was unnaturally gifted at magic and intelligent but that made sense when both his parents were legends in their own right.
"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Mage?" Zeref read out loud as he looked at the cover of the book and then remembered something.
Flashback
"Mavis, what's that?" Zeref asked after he had explained some of the basics of his magic.
"Oh this, it's my favourite book. The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Mage" Mavis said cheerfully and Zeref slightly scoffed at the title, "It sounds ridiculous with the title but it was written by someone who wanted to do all he could for peace and to end the guild wars that keep raging on. You should read it sometime, sensei" she said and Zeref just ignored it and went back to his clearing to meditate for a while.
"Sensei, it's not a bad book at all" Mavis tried to push the book but Zeref just gave his usual blank stare, tinged with a little annoyance.
"Just leave me alone" Zeref stated plainly but that didn't stop or deter her at all.
"It's one of the greatest works of fiction. It's about a hero who continues to fight against the worlds beliefs of him, on top of the constant wars around the world. How he endures the ordeals and overcomes them all to protect those he cares about and create a better world for them. I think it's a great book, something that people in this era could learn a lot from" Mavis summarised the book.
"How foolish, sadly the real world doesn't work that way. Even if you end the cycle of pain, it will bud anew in another era, I know that for a fact from watching it happen" Zeref thought to himself.
"The hero has an interesting name, I'm not sure why but it's definitely unique. What do you think of the name, Naruto?" Mavis asked.
Present Time
Cave, Edge of Worth Woodsea
"How ironic, but then again he's her son" Zeref thought with a smile.
"What's wrong father?" Naruto asked.
"Hm, oh it's nothing" Zeref said but Naruto looked curiously, "Well actually this book was your mother's favourite as well" he said and Naruto looked amazed as he looked at the book in a new light.
"Who was my mother?" Naruto asked and Zeref felt a pain in his heart again and clutched it as well.
"Naruto, please don't ask that" he whispered, "It's not that I want to hide it, but give me some time. Her death weighs me down to this day" he explained and Naruto just nodded after a pause, he was rather mature for his age, nothing like Mavis and Zeref felt another stab of pain inside himself.
Zeref couldn't bear it, the thought of the woman he loved more than anything but she didn't share the same feelings back, and now because of him, the woman he loved was in a fate worse than death. Naruto was better off without him explaining he was born out of wedlock from two cursed beings who paid the price of their own folly. Or rather he didn't want to tell his son of what they had done, to hide the truth because he deserved better. It would come back to bite him, but for now it was all he could do.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"Ok, father" Naruto said and Zeref sighed and ruffled his hair, he never thought that he would ever have such an opportunity in his life. To have a son. Was he even ready for a son? It wasn't like he had a manual for it, his own father died a long time ago and Zeref was barely able to manage his own problems let alone add to them.
But when he saw the spark in his son's eyes, he couldn't help but let go of his problems and sigh in contentment. He had a son, a whole list of opportunities had opened up for him. Sure he wouldn't be there for his first steps or his first words but he wanted to treasure every moment he had left with him before the curse warped his mind again.
But realistically, he also had to train his son. Not because he wanted to, and he doubted his son would object to training since he went on enthusiastically about learning magic but to also help protect himself from threats that could kill him. Not all the villagers were killed and soon the news would spread like wildfire, he had been able to isolate himself and people had long thought he disappeared but now they would actively hunt him down and everyone, from mages in guilds who took on missions to kill him to dark mages who would try and use his son as leverage to control him would try and hurt him.
"Naruto, how would you like to learn magic from your father?" Zeref said after he was brought out of his thoughts. Naruto had stopped talking about magic when he noticed that Zeref had zoned out.
That day was one of Naruto's happiest memories and he didn't let go of his father the entire night.
Zeref had to stay on the move completely, he couldn't take Naruto into his empire. If anything he had learnt so far was that he would quickly change into his more ruthless side if he approached Alvarez. That and if people there learnt of his son, they would immediately rope him in there and insurgents in his empire would paint a huge target on his son. No it was best to stay in Fiore.
He then wondered if he should try and use his Etherious demons but that was shut down since they had already proven that they were cold, ruthless and merciless to all around them and could easily turn on Naruto and kill him when his back was turned. His final order to them was to find him and kill him, while some demons would obey him it wasn't likely to be all. Then he would also have to deal with demons trying to take his son and his entire library easily could overwhelm him in his weakened state and he didn't know if he could control the demons in his state.
The Eclipse Gate couldn't be opened either, he'd need a Celestial Spirit Mage and all 12 keys again and that was near impossible to accomplish with his reputation. Anna Heartfilia was a lucky break for him who agreed to perform the Eclipse plan and he couldn't open it up again and interrupt the plan.
So his only option was to remain on the run, with his son. It wasn't easy but he discovered that his son had his mother's attitude and heart, shining everything with light but it was covered by the darkness of the father, his self-loathing and his philosophical ideas over the universe. That was all him, sadly.
Now back to training...
X705
"Now you know the basics of the magic, let's see you use it to make a spell" Zeref told him and Naruto nodded to his father and put his hands forwards.
"Hrggh!" Naruto grunted a little as he forced the ethernano in his body to form a pitch black magical circle with different spirals going around it as the spell was being modified and controlled through calculations by Naruto and Naruto took in a breath before pushing his power forwards.
STORY CONTINUES BELOWFrom the centre of the circle, a small black dot was pushed out and slowly bit by bit several more black dots were appearing around that space and quickly condensing into a small sphere that expanded to the size of a soccer ball and Naruto let out a breath as he smiled at his success. His first spell.
"Congratulations my son, you just made your own spell" Zeref told him softly from behind him and Naruto turned around with a wide smile that warmed the Black Mages heart.
His style of teaching wasn't just to give a person every spell he knew, if someone wanted to truly become strong, then they needed to develop their own style and make their own path but he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of pride as he watched his son perform his first and his own created spell at the age of 6, no less. He knew that he shouldn't expect less of someone born from both him and Mavis, two unparalleled geniuses in magic but still, this was incredible.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto named his spell and the sphere shot forwards into a ranged attack at a tree and exploded with black light emanating from it and after the smoke and rubble cleared, there was a clear dent inside the rock and Zeref smiled at that. A basic ranged spell which could be used for mid-range offensive attacks, and if modified when he gets older could become seeking attacks. It was a good base to build on, something he knew his son purposefully tailored his spell to become.
"I-I did it!" Naruto whispered before breaking into a wide smile and he felt a pat on his head from his father as he looked at him with a smile.
"Yes you did, never doubt yourself Naruto. You're one of a kind, but more importantly you're my son" he said and turned to him seriously, "Now I want you to remember again, the spell you are using is derived from Darkness Magic, something that I have a great affinity towards and now it's passed down to you. I want you to remember one of the most important lessons in using Darkness Magic"
"You have to control yourself, and never let it control you" Naruto recited what his father had told him and he nodded.
"Indeed, it's a magic that derives it's power from negative emotions. Anger, hate and pain for a few examples. It can be extremely powerful, but if you fall prey to your own thoughts and lose yourself in those emotions then it will take over your thoughts. That's why you have to maintain complete control. And if you master that, then this is the result. Death Orb!" Zeref said and stuck his hand forwards and without even a magic circle, dark particles instantly gathered into a sphere that was the size of a beach ball and midnight black and shot forwards like a bullet.
The sphere dug right into the hole that Naruto's attack made before exploding violently outwards, obliterating the rock and the earth around it and left a crater in its wake and Zeref let out a pant but regained his composure in front of his son.
"Amazing" Naruto said breathlessly.
"You've still got a lot to learn, but I know that one day you will not only reach this level but go beyond and surpass me" Zeref told him and Naruto looked at him in shock, "Shall we continue?" he asked and Naruto smiled and nodded.
"Yes!" he told his father.
Zeref never taught him Living Magic, or the Black Arts. The power that cursed art could give was the worst thing to ever exist. Never in all of eternity would he ever wish for his son to suffer the Curse of Ankhseram. He taught Mavis the Black Arts and warned her explicitly what would happen, against his better judgement and the woman he loved was cursed with the same curse he had. That was never going to happen to his son, and he was not going to make the same mistake twice.
STORY CONTINUES BELOWLight magic, which was Mavis's power, on the other hand was the last thing Zeref could do, he knew a few basics but Mavis learnt it probably after he left, perhaps during the Guild wars or before that and he was stumped on how to teach it. Nevertheless he made sure that Naruto practiced it, although his skill set was unbalanced towards darkness more than light.
X708
"Father, I want to show you something" a 7 year old Naruto called out to his father who had sighed, he had just gotten breakfast for his son and he was already too eager to keep learning, keep advancing and keep growing. Just like his mother. But then again, that was a good thing. In the real world, if you stagnate, you were as good as dead. In his case, he wished he was dead, although now not so much anymore.
"I'm coming Naruto" Zeref told him and saw that Naruto's eyes had turned into red pupils with a circle around them.
Apparently Naruto discovered that he could turn his eyes into that state at will like an on and off switch, something Zeref took a while to discover. He just knew that it came about when he was angered or pushed, neither of those happened in a very long time and eventually for curiosity's sake he found that he could see magic when he could activate it but he was interested, perhaps his son had found a different power in it that he had never found before, and the thought intrigued him a lot and impressed him a lot that his son found something else.
Could it be something unique to his son's genetics, or was it something that he too could do. But he was more fascinated in what his son was capable of.
"Father, my first discovery was that eyes allow me to see magic. I can see particles of ethernanos condense around people and collect around them and being absorbed through their skin and into their magical containers. But I think I found another thing my eyes can do" Naruto explained as his pupils widened slightly as he focused magic into them and around Naruto, solid glowing golden runes and characters started to appear much to Zeref's shock.
"Those are...ancient runes? Then is this Ancient Rune Magic?"Zeref thought in amazement.
Ancient Rune Magic was a offshoot branch from the typical Letter Magic and Jutsu Shiki. Instead of the usual written language used in Letter Magic and kanji used in Justu Shiki, this utilised ancient scripture and a mixture and coalition of ancient historical languages to create a much more powerful style of magic. It was created to be primary used as a method of sealing since it's power would collapse in on itself and with anything around it, but it was capable of of infinitely more so. But the main problem was that you could learn the ancient scripts, but you'd have to make your own version of scripture and it was insanely difficult to materialise the different letters. That's why it was barely ever heard of outside, and few could perform this without lifetimes of training but it was possible to learn and create it by using what was needed to create it.
People just brushed this aside as a worthless art as Requipcould easily store items and fulfil what most people thought the basis of Ancient Rune Magic was and therefore making it obsolete but the few who did try and master this art knew that it's potential was near limitless.
"How?" Zeref asked breathlessly with awe.
"I used these eyes to condense the ethernano particles exactly the way I need them to create a seal" Naruto panted with a little difficulty as he swiped both of his arms in a circular motion until the bottom of his hands met. The hand on top had the index and middle fingers pointing upwards, while the other hand had the little finger and index fingers pointing downwards, that was Zeref's symbol that he used in his spells to focus his spells.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"Haaah! Seal: Rock!" Naruto said and the runes condensed around a small pebble on the ground and wrapped around it like ribbons dancing in the air until the rock was covered in miniature symbols and the ground below it had a rotating circle made of glowing symbols around it and in a shine of light that Zeref didn't close his eyes, not to miss the magic, the rock had disappeared into nothingness but on the earth below him was a circle in black ink made of runes and in the centre of the circle was the symbol for rock, Iwa.
"I can't do much other than seal, and I can't do much either since I need these eyes to use Ancient Rune Magic but I think I can turn this into so much more, what do you think father?" Naruto panted exhaustedly as his eyes turned back to sparkling forest green and turned to his father who was beaming with his first wide smile in years as he embraced his son and stroked his neat black hair. He crouched down and looked at him, black meeting green.
"This is amazing Naruto. Son, I'm so proud of you" Zeref told him and Naruto would remember that deep inside him forever.
Ancient Rune Magic wasn't exactly combat orientated but in the hands of the right mind, a simple seal could turn to be the turning factor in a fight and Naruto understood that well. The main problems was that he had to use his eyes, now dubbed. Using it was very taxing to his body as it drained quite a chunk of magic from his body, and hence his seals weren't something he could use at all times but it was something all the same. Zeref was a little disappointed as Naruto had sort of stole the books on magic, and heard of this style from a footnote and began working out a way to recreate it himself but then again...it was from that village so he was willing to let it slide.
10th October X708
"Son, I have a gift for you" Zeref said with a smile as he and Naruto sat outside in the cool grass and Naruto was sitting up straight as Zeref stood up with a smile.
He had taught his son one of the essential basics in fighting, magic was limited. If you ran out of it, you were a sitting duck until it started to come back to you again and that could depend on any number of factors around you and would be a mystery. He wasn't giving his son that weakness as he taught his son hand-to-hand combat and also taught him swordsmanship with the basics from a bokken, a wooden sword and now he had something that he wanted to give his son.
"Requip" Zeref called out and in a flash of light, an object materialised from the air and as it gained form, Zeref grabbed it deftly from the middle and the object finally appeared in sight. It was a 0.6m katana and almost half Naruto's size as it shone in the night sky. It had a pure midnight black sheath and a black hilt with a blood red wrapping and an intricate, blood red design on the sheath as well and Naruto stared at it in awe.
"Have I really gone far enough in my skill with a bokken to use a katana?" Naruto immediately asked and Zeref just chuckled.
"You actually had the skill to use it a few weeks ago, I just wanted to wait for your birthday to give it to you. But if you prefer for me to give it to you at a later date-" Zeref smiled and Naruto stood upright again and immediately protested.
"Wait, I didn't mean that!" Naruto said quickly and Zeref chuckled again and handed the sword to Naruto who held it in a tight grip and unsheathed the blade to reveal what it looked like. The blade was unnaturally sharp, like it could cut through anything. The blade didn't look metallic either as it was pure midnight black but shone lightly as Naruto changed his grip. It was breath taking to look at. The sword itself was light, to the point where it could have been weightless but the sword just gave him a chill, it was just so eager to slice something.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"I think you've already analysed the important details" Zeref told him and Naruto looked up at him and payed attention to his father, "That sword is known as Murasame. A sword I forged quite a few decades ago. I tried to create a sword that could cut through anything without fail, a sword that would be able to kill me. But it failed as usual. That doesn't mean that the sword isn't an impressive piece of work, I spent decades more crafting it in hopes that it could do the job, it can channel large amounts of Darkness Magic with ease as well as Light Magic as well and it can also aid you in inscribing Ancient Runes and you know the basics of Requip so you know how to keep this on you. Be careful since it's quite a bloodthirsty sword, but with it remember one thing. There is nothing you cannot cut!" he told him and Naruto nodded.
He whispered to himself as he held the blade in his hands, "There is nothing I cannot cut" and that brought a smile to his face as he could almost feel the blade respond to that statement of the wielder as it shone in the blackest of nights.
They stood there silently for a minute as Naruto wanted to ask him something, something he wanted to ask for 3 years since the day he met his father but never had the courage to ask. He was afraid that his father wouldn't answer, or would treat him harshly for asking something like this, but he had to know.
"Father" Naruto said and Zeref looked at him, "Three years ago, that person called you the Black Mage. What does that mean? And also why did you design this weapon to kill yourself? How have you lived for so long? Why do people hunt you, and me as well for being your son?" Naruto asked and Zeref's heart almost paused as the questions came out.
For a minute, nothing could be heard but an uninterrupted silence that pierced through the night that not even the blade could cut until Zeref opened his mouth.
"I had honestly expected you to ask me this years ago. Why now?" Zeref asked his son who looked guilty.
"I didn't want you to get mad" Naruto whispered and Zeref sighed, for all of Naruto's skill and intelligence, sometimes it was easy to forget that he was still a sensitive child with a sensitive and delicate heart, who had been through a lot of pain from the constant solitude.
"Naruto" Zeref said and looked at him, "In my past...I did some bad things. I was angry at the world, I suppose I wanted to do something I knew I shouldn't do to save someone else's life. And the consequences were grave. I took out my anger at the injustice out onto the world and hence I was marked as a villain...I don't want to explain my lifespan, it's a story for another day and for centuries I've wanted to end the pain. But there were times when...I changed and took out my anger and inflicted a lot of pain. It's something I don't ever want to do again, ever since I met your mother...and ever since you came into my life, you're all that matters to me now, and I intend to make sure that I keep myself that way" Zeref told him honestly and the two shared a moment before Naruto hugged his father tightly and his father returned it.
"I don't think your a bad person, father" Naruto said, his voice muffled slightly and Zeref just chuckled sadly to himself.
"If only you knew just how much pain I caused, would you answer be the same?" Zeref thought as he embraced his son like it could be the last time.
Later, Zeref made Naruto promise that revenge against people who hated him wouldn't be the answer, he also didn't want his son to have blood on his hands like he did and make the same mistakes he did, albeit through a mind warping curse. He couldn't tell the full truth, or rather he couldn't bring himself to do so. Naruto was the one greatest miracle in his miserable life and he was selfish in not wanting to lose him so he lied. It wasn't like that one sin was going to damn his soul more than it already was.
STORY CONTINUES BELOWX709
Zeref sighed as it was another day of training, he had taught the basics of all he needed to know and Naruto had been advancing by leaps and bounds on his own. The only restriction was his body which was still growing and had limited amounts of magic, meaning higher level spells were beyond his current reach but he was constantly training and getting stronger. A magical container was like a muscle, the more you used it, the greater it would grow and Naruto had never stopped pushing himself.
"Father, I've done it!" Naruto called out and Zeref kept his expectations ready, but no matter how hard he tried he was sure that his son was going to blow him out of the water.
"I'm here son" Zeref said and Naruto pulled up a stack of papers from the floor and Zeref sat down and read them but the first few lines caused his blood to freeze.
"Naruto, are you trying to combine magics?" Zeref asked carefully.
"Yes" Naruto told him.
He looked at him seriously, "You are aware that combining magic is something extremely dangerous, and no mage has ever accomplished it. It's forbidden for a reason and combining magic can lead to disastrous consequences, so why are you doing this again?" he asked him gravely.
"I know" Naruto explained, "But can you please read through the entire calculations before you say anything?" he asked his father who blinked bit turned back to the papers and continued reading.
And the more he read, the more and more stunned he got to the point where he could almost swear his jaw could have been unhinged. His son, who was turning 10 in a few months had just written his first theory on magic, that could become a thesis.
"No way" Zeref thought as he checked each of Naruto's calcuations, Zeref got/(stole) books on Magical theory on top of what Naruto already took from the library years ago for his son's ninth birthday, but never in his wildest dreams could he have expected this from his son. Granted he wrote his first thesis when he was 13, this was unreal beyond anything he could have imagined.
"Ingenious, instead of trying to take one magic and then combine it to another, Naruto's concept is to materialise them at the same time. Obviously that means that you'd have to change the magic as a whole, which would be near impossible unless you were able to see the magic itself and make the adjustments on your own...that clever boy!" Zeref thought with a grin. In all his centuries, and his years of being able to see magic, this thought had never hit him even once!
The entire book was dedicated to one thing, combining light and darkness together, to find out what was beyond that.
"Naruto, polar opposites tend to react badly to each other. Generally they either cancel each other out or create a spontaneous release of energy as an explosion so what you're dong could easily backfire on yourself. You can't accomplish this until your Light Magic reaches a level equal to that of your Darkness Magic, and that is quite a gap" Zeref explained and Naruto nodded. It was true, his light magic was based on what he could discover on his own with trail and error but his father had guided him through learning Darkness Magic and could offer advice and help whenever he needed it.
"I understand" Naruto nodded his head.
"That being said, I am looking forward to the day that you do succeed in doing this" Zeref said and Naruto looked up at him in surprise, "If you are trying to do this, then only do it under supervision since it could easily backfire on you. Is there anything else?" Zeref said and Naruto's eyes lit up with joy.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"There's more, father!" Naruto said and pulled a new stack of papers and Zeref was mind-boggled at this point, just what kind of son did he and Mavis create!
1
"...Ethernano-Make Magic?" Zeref read as he skimmed through the next pile and his eyes were widened to epic proportions at his son's second theory! "Creating out of pure Ethernano? It would be mixed with a variety of different elements, similar to Etherion. But it would mostly depend on location, surrounding particles and much more. Something like this...it's never even been thought of before!" he thought in shock. If Mavis were here, she would squeal so loudly in excitement. Something like this was beyond fascinating.
"What do you think?" Naruto asked.
"...Let's get to work" Zeref said with something he had forgotten for centuries, enthusiasm.
With the way his son was progressing there were days when Zeref wondered if Naruto could be the one to finally kill him but then put that out of his mind, despite what darker thoughts were brewing in there. He would never force his son to go through with that pain. Natsu was already going to kill him, and had the power of E.N.D. to do so and he didn't know about their brotherhood so Natsu would never have to live with any guilt.
But not ever part of life was perfect...
Whenever Zeref left to get wood or supplies in dangerous areas he would be extremely worried if Naruto was almost kidnapped or attacked when he was left alone in a cave. Sure he could fight but a few adult mages, but no child could handle more than that and he had to immediately rush over and save his son and then flee again. That had a cycle of repeating every few months and Zeref was always afraid that each time could have been his last moments with his son.
His son had suffered quite a lot of injuries and wounds during combat with mages trying to capture or kill him constantly and it was this training that paid off in great lengths in order to ensure his survival, Zeref knew that his son had already had his first kill and that was the most traumatising night that Naruto had ever suffered but his father was there with him through every second of it.
But Zeref did spend as much time with his son, just enjoying being a father. His birthday present, which was the day he arrived at the orphanage was October 10th and he assumed that was his birthday and his present was his sword. Next was a few books that Zeref had "bought", he wasn't going to tell his son he stole them. He would share Christmases, Thanksgiving with some turkeys that Zeref would take from farms, and many more things with his father.
All of that couldn't stop one thing.
A growing voice inside Zeref's mind, it was the Curse of Contradiction and it was warping his mind once more as he saw Naruto continue to get stronger and stronger with an unreal growth curve that stunned the Black Mage. Every day that voice would grow louder in his head.
A voice telling him to kill his son.
To kill him before he became a threat to him, a threat to his life and a threat to his plans. That voice was constantly buried down deeper and deeper in Zeref's consciousness as he furiously pushed it as hard as he could. He would never, ever, ever harm his son, the gods be damned. But Naruto knew none of this as he kept it buried deep within and kept his usual outward pleasant self for his son, but he knew that one day that part of him would soon emerge, until then he would do his best to make sure that his son was strong, even stronger than him so that at least he would live, while making sure that he gave his son the happiest life he could give him.
STORY CONTINUES BELOWBut like all times, they had to come to an end...
October 10th X710
"GET HIM!" a loud yell was heard as Naruto was surrounded on all sides by adults who had brandished out weapons at the ready, looking bloodthirsty and ready for the kill. It appeared that a group of mages were out to kill him and for good measure, they had hired mercenaries to help him. The bulk of them were waiting in the bushes in case Zeref showed up but they were all around him and Naruto was left to face three swordsman who were apparently the leaders of the mercenaries. Naruto had steeled his nerves as he drew Murasame at the ready, the blade was almost vibrating in joy at the chance to slice up more victims. His father would probably be on his way right now since Naruto activated an Emergency Seal that he kept on him at all times, and it was connected to his father.
He was panting a good bit since he had just fought off 3 mages and this was probably the last dispatch of fighters and Naruto was running low on magic and stamina, he needed to escape and quickly.
"HAAAH!" one swordsman yelled and slashed at Naruto's head with a broadsword but Naruto parried it with his katana and twisted it around him. The clumsy broadsword wielder was open but his allies weren't going to let Naruto use that opening as another attack came from two other swordsmen and Naruto rolled forwards to dodge that attack. The three charged again with their broadswords and Naruto held his katana in a tight reverse grip as he countered another slash from one swordsman and then ducked under it and knocked his feet over as he tripped and Naruto immediately responded to the downed swordsman with a slash from his katana that was blocked by the third swordsman.
"Damn, they've got numbers and it's annoying" Naruto thought as he fought, "They've got me surrounded, so I can't split them up and take them down individually. They're physically stronger than me so any strike I give is overpowered by them. But they don't have great teamwork other than to parry me when I'm doing an obvious attack and bail each other, maybe I can use that" Naruto was brought out of it by a slash from the third swordsman and he felt the blade catch him off guard while he was dealing with the other two and the blade had sliced into his left arm.
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Naruto yelled as he backed away from them and clutched his bleeding left arm. There was a wound, not too deep on his left upper arm but it was bleeding profusely and had torn the sleeve of his shirt. The swordsman was aiming to take his arm off but luckily failed.
"Hehe! So you can bleed! Let's see if we can paint this place with a demon's blood!" one swordsman yelled and charged forwards. He went in slightly crouched and Naruto realised that he was aiming to deal damage to his legs, leaving him a sitting duck but now he knew what he needed to do.
As he approached Naruto timed himself so that as the sword approached him, Naruto put his blade into the ground and quickly shot it upwards and to the surprise of the first swordsman, it drew up a clump of dirt and dust that hit him square in the face and blinded him.
"ARGGGH! My eyes!" he yelled as he dropped his sword, crouched down and clutched his eyes, desperately rubbing them as hard as he could to get rid of the dust, Naruto feinted a high slash to his head and the second swordsman immediately came in for a parry but Naruto just saw it coming and his sword changed positions underneath the opponents sword and in a swift flick the broadsword that was supposed to parry him was sent upwards, right at the first swordsman and sliced him deeply across his neck and chest.
Not wasting a moment, Naruto immediately kicked the body of the first swordsman at the second one who stumbled backwards at the body that was thrown at him and Naruto immediately turned to the third swordsman. They locked eyes and the swordsman charged forwards recklessly and Naruto held his blade at the ready and spotted a nick on the blade of the first swordsman and his blade almost vibrated as he tightened his grip on his sword.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"There is nothing that I can't cut!" the sword almost conveyed to Naruto as he charged forwards to meet the approaching swordsman, to his surprise but Naruto's eyes locked onto his target. The blade was slightly worn out from older battles and they had clearly been underestimating him, Naruto was going to show them how much of a mistake that would be as his sword flashed as he tightened his grip on the blade and held it to his side.
As the swordsman came at him with a downwards strike, Naruto immediately stepped to the side with his left foot forward to the right of the swordsman and slashed horizontally as hard as he could at the one spot and in a clash of steel, midnight black vs dull grey and the katana left only a small trail of black as the sword was completely shattered into two pieces and before anyone could react, Naruto reversed the grip on his katana and slashed in the opposite direction and cut right through the midsection of the swordsman in one swoop and he yelled in pain before hitting the ground.
"DDDDIIIIEEEEE!" the second swordsman yelled as he snuck up from behind and swung downwards right down onto Naruto's skull and Naruto instinctively reacted and ducked, and rolled backwards quickly, to the swordsman's surprise and went underneath his legs but in a flash Naruto got on his feet and slashed right at the second swordsman's exposed back and he choked out blood as his back was sliced by Naruto and fell onto the ground.
"HEY! We have to capture him! If we don't have a hostage then the Black Mage will kill us all!" the mage said as he emerged from the bushes and a bunch of mercenaries came out as well realising the desperation of the situation and holding up arms against Naruto who clutched his bleeding arm in pain.
"I've got to use my magic, against superior numbers I can deal with them" Naruto thought of a plan in his head and in a flash his eyes turned red and he looked down so none of them noticed his eyes change colour or his trap get planted.
"Seal: Trap Formation - Add Property: Delay 10 seconds" Naruto thought as golden writing appeared on the ground but none of them noticed that it continued around them until they were inside a circle of Ancient Runes but the people around him were getting ready to charge forwards and tear him apart. Naruto could feel a good chunk of his magic going right now, he had to end this quickly and escape.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto yelled as a black magic circle appeared from his free bleeding hand and a black orb the size of a baseball quickly formed and shot forwards at the nearest opponent who saw the projectile aimed right for his head and ducked under it, only to see Naruto had already tried to escape using that slip in their formation.
"Not so fast!" a mage in the group yelled as a blast of fire shot forwards and Naruto instantly pulled his blade at the ready and it was covered in a black aura that enshrouded it completely.
"Nisshoku Tachikata! (Eclipse Cutter)" Naruto called out as Murasame slashed through the air and gave off a black slash that cut right through the flames and separated them to a gap wide enough to allow Naruto to escape between the two halves of the flame and he managed to escape their trap but the aura disappeared off Murasame.
As soon as Naruto was at the right distance, he noticed the seals glowing bright golden and almost blinding them as a bright golden Ancient Runes erupted from the ground and shot upwards and snaked around the area around them until it created a solid cube of writing in seconds. The people inside were about to try and break it but in another flash of light, the writing had turned into a pure solid golden barrier made of energy.
The people trapped inside pounded on the barrier wall but to no avail as even attacks didn't break it but Naruto knew better.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW"It's only going to hold for a few minutes before it breaks from their attacks and I'm out of magic. I have to use this time to escape and get to father as fast as I can" Naruto thought as he stood up panting, sealing still took a good bit of energy and his eyes widened as a shadow loomed over him and he turned around to see a blade slashing downwards. He tried to dodge backwards but wasn't fast enough and Naruto yelled out in pain as his entire chest was slashed with a sword wrapped in flames.
"AAAAARRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Naruto yelled and fell backwards but managed to hold his feet steady onto the ground as he grounded his feet into the earth to help him anchor his position and from the bushes he saw a second mage emerge with a savage grin that sent a shiver up Naruto's spine.
"Surprise!" another mage yelled as he drew out a sword from a Requip space and slashed again at Naruto who rolled away from it but on his damaged arm which caused him a lot of pain, and struggled to get back up again.
"D-damn it. I got slashed right across the chest and the arm"Naruto thought as his thoughts were getting more and more light headed from blood loss and damage.
"Now, it's the end of the line for you. Any last requests?" the mage sneered as he held a flaming sword, the wound on his chest was cauterised from the flaming sword and his shoulder was still bleeding as well and Naruto stood up once more.
If this was the end, then he was never going to kneel to them.
"Go to hell" Naruto spat as he held himself tall and proud, he wasn't going to ever fall to people like them. People who ganged up with numbers, but worst of all people who wanted to hurt his father through him. That was something cowardly that he wouldn't forgive them for.
"As you wish" a cold voice said and the mage turned around to see something that would make even the manliest of men soil his pants.
An angry Zeref.
Or to be more precise, a Zeref with onyx black aura surrounding him that was completely enshrouding him and the mage stumbled backwards but couldn't even say a word as the magic immediately shot right through him and killed him instantly and then went for the people trapped in the barrier. The barrier shattered like glass instantly under Zeref's magic and the inhabitants were instantly killed. As for Naruto, the lightheadedness and Ankhseram's magic was too much and he felt his body wobble before falling over completely into unconsciousness.
Cave, Edge of Worth Woodsea
October 10th X710
Zeref picked up his son's body and let out a breath of relief that he was just unconscious but his life was fading and slightly limp as he was bleeding profusely from a wound to his shoulder and there was a lot of damage caused from a cauterised wound to his chest. He had been gone for 5 minutes, 5 minutes to get a present for Naruto's 10th birthday and this happened.
"Kill him" a cursed voice whispered into Zeref's mind.
"NO!" Zeref thought and did his best to overpower the Curse, it was the curse making him think like this. He couldn't let the curse win, not now of all times! He was agitated and having his son's bleeding body wasn't helping at all and that loss of emotional control was what was letting his darker thoughts out to his mind.
"He will be a threat" the voice whispered again.
"I DON'T CARE!" Zeref thought back and did his best to silence the voice.
"He will die, as long as you love him then he will die, and you will kill him" the mental voice of the Curse of Contradiction spoke to him again before being silenced for good and inwardly Zeref had to admit that the voice was right, eventually a situation like this could occur again, and if the curse had more power over his mind then he would surely kill his son.
And that was if this life didn't kill him first. This was the closest to death that his son had been and he wasn't even an adult yet, the attacks on their lives were becoming more frequent and more large scale and this was starting to get to him. Zeref couldn't stop all these hordes and protect Naruto, and the more he tried to dip into his old power, the closer he got to the monster that was within him, and the more likely that he would be the one to snap his own son's neck.
There was no escape, no answer to how Zeref could save his son and live with him...unless?
"If I manage to separate him from myself, I can revert back and be in control of myself. But it must be in a way that I cannot access him myself after I revert into a monster. And if I find a way to hide him, the focus will be back on me, but they all know his face, they'll hunt him as long as the name Zeref stays over this country, no the world!" Zeref thought and the answer to both problems was revealed as he quickly seized one of Naruto's experimental seal notebooks from his pockets and flicked through the pages till he found what he needed.
He then picked up a book from his pocket that he was planning on giving Naruto for his birthday, it would be his last and greatest gift to his son.
A book titled "Kurama".
"F-father, what are you doing?" Naruto asked painfully as he started to come to and saw that Zeref had taken him to their original secluded cave hideout and Zeref ignored his son and started inscribing ancient runes on the walls of the cavern. Zeref had taken the small book that he was planning on gifting and placed it in Naruto's pocket and Naruto felt something bind to him him but he ignored it and focused back on his father.
"Naruto, my son" Zeref said carefully controlling his voice unsure of how to tell his son what he was about to do but finally decided to be honest with him, "I can't keep this up any longer, how many times have you almost died! And it's because of me" Zeref said angrily at himself, who else could he blame for this misfortune.
"I'll...be fine" Naruto said as Zeref's Black Arts started to sew the wound shut, Zeref couldn't heal but he could come close to it, but for some reason his own body started to heal a little faster as the book in his pocket was doing something but he ignored it and turned back to his father.
"No, this-all of this. It can't work anymore. I-if this happened and you died, I could never forgive myself" he whispered and finished the last of the runes and placed the notebook back into Naruto's pocket before looking at his green eyes one last time, only they were no longer vibrant, they were dull like the day Mavis died.
"F-father, those are stasis runes? What are you doing?" Naruto asked worriedly.
"N-naruto, you may hate me for this but as your father in the long run this is for the best" Zeref stated in a toneless controlled voice and tried his best to stop tears from coming from his eyes. This hurt, it hurt so much. To have to part with his son, the single greatest thing that had ever been given in his long and miserable life other than Mavis.
"What?" Naruto choked as he tried to stand up.
"Those runes, they're designed to only be removed after a condition is fulfilled" Zeref said, "It will be removed when the world has forgotten about me. The runes are in perfect stasis so you won't feel any effects of age or anything of that sort" Zeref said and Naruto paled. Zeref was a part of the world, so if he forgot about himself, it either meant that he had amnesia and forgot about Naruto and couldn't hurt him, or he was finally dead.
"Father, don't-" Naruto said before he coughed out blood as his wounds were reopening, "Please don't do this" he whispered.
"Naruto, I know you don't want to be alone but after it's fulfilled you'll be able to be free from my shadow. You can make friends, get married, maybe even have children and grandchildren, and have a future. You could never have one if you were stuck on the run with me, how long would it be before you get killed, or before I kill you" Zeref lamented and added the last part in his thoughts and Naruto kept trying to crawl towards his father to the best of his ability as his body was still too exhausted from the blood loss and exhaustion.
"I don't want you to leave! I don't want a family if you're not in it!" Naruto yelled.
"I'm sorry, forgive me son. Remember this, I will always love you, Naruto" Zeref said and flared his magic as his eyes turned red in order to perform Ancient Rune Magic, "Seal: Stasis! Release Condition: World forgets Zeref!" and the runes around Naruto glowed bright black before Naruto's vision became black again. Just as he had met his father.
X775
The Cave, Worth Woodsea
A brown haired mage with a Fairy Tail symbol was walking towards a secluded location, he got a tip off from one of Fairy Tail's contacts that there was a huge congregation of Zeref worshippers swarming around a cave. A cave that was in the middle of nowhere, it was isolated in the very borders of Fiore and would be the perfect hiding place for something.
Rumours were flying that someone had discovered seals placed around the cave and they were on another level, and they were pumped up with Zeref's magic. Of course Zeref nutjobs would try and unseal it, they all thought it was their master or something of great power and sent scores of the best mages in runic magic to try and decipher and unseal whatever was in that cave. The problem was that it was sealed in Ancient Runes, a near ancient and archaic art that very few even heard about and it had taken then years of research in order to figure out how to unseal whatever Zeref placed in there and they were on the verge of success.
It was supposed to be set to not be released until the condition was complete but new and recent innovations in magic had changed that, they found ways to circumvent all the failsafes that Zeref had put to stop himself with modern advancements and now they were on the verge of releasing the seal that held Naruto much earlier than what was intended, but they had no idea what was in there.
Whatever was in that cave, was sealed by Zeref and if he sealed it then it must have been for a reason, Gildarts reasoned in his head. Better to not touch it, his orders from the council was to stop the dark mages from unsealing it and identify what it was but Makarov gave him discreet orders to make sure that if whatever it was actually something extremely powerful like an Etherious, then he had to keep it out of the Magic Council and hopefully destroy it.
Currently he was crouching in the back of the cave, watching the mages unseal whatever was there and from the looks of it they were almost done. Gildarts just had to grab whatever it was and maybe destroy it if it was some giant demon or something and it would be the end of the story.
"My fellow brothers and sisters" one mage called out from the centre of the cave to the rest of the robed morons, in Gildarts's opinion, "Today we have finally reached the day, months of tireless work with endless research and mastering parts of Ancient Rune magic and we have finally finished it. This is Zeref's greatest work, his most darkest artefact and we will unseal it in his name. We will show our devotion to his cause and we will be rewarded for our unshakable faith and belief".
"Nutjobs" Gildarts thought as he creeped slowly towards the sealing in the centre of the cave.
"Now, it is time! We have undone most of the protections, now let's force it to RELEASE!" they all chanted and at the word release they flared their magic and in a flash Gildarts could see intricate runic languages in different dialects glow brightly before each line started to shatter one by one before they all started to collapse in a cascade. It was like an intricate structure of art was breaking down by these morons and Gildarts got ready to pounce.
"It's here! We've done it!" the leader yelled and that generated a cheer of applause from everyone around them as they started to cheer and were waiting in anticipation and Gildarts was just about to make his entrance.
The magic was materialising in the centre of the circle of runes and a black form started to appear, the form started to morph and change shape. The black blob grew a head, arms, legs, a torso but still remained the same size and it hit the ground with a thud. As the darkness faded, out materialised a boy. A boy about 10 years old and he hit the ground with a thud as he was unconscious.
"W-wha" the leader said as they stared at the boy, a moment passed with sheer silence at what the heck just happened and even Gildarts was staring at the boy with wide eyes and confusion, was this a joke by Zeref or something? Well, go figure apparently Zeref had a sense of humour.
"T-this makes no sense! The seals were stronger than anything ever seen! What sort of joke is this!" one of the mages yelled in disbelief who was in charge of the unsealing.
"What should we do with the boy?" one of the worshippers asked.
"Take him, we'll hold him for now and make sure he talks about what sort of joke this is. He might have done something with the artefact that should be here so use any means to make him talk" the leader said ruthlessly and Gildarts eyes narrowed.
"Wait, I think I know he is!" one mage said in robes, "I once heard a story from my grandfather that Zeref had a son, maybe that's his son!" he yelled and they started to see the resemblance and Gildarts could see it as well, it was undeniable. Pale skin with hair black as the night sky, then his clothes were from the olden era of Zeref's time. It might actually be the fabled son of Zeref from history.
"Yes, this is perfect. We must get the location of Zeref from him and using his magic we will use his body and blood to revive our Lord Zeref! All hail Zeref!" he chanted and they chanted along with him.
"AHEM!" Gildarts yelled and they all turned around to see him grinning, "Afraid I can't let you do that to a kid" he said and grinned at their flabbergasted faces.
"Who are you! How dare you interrupt our sacred ritual!" the leader yelled and sent out a Dark Magic spell at Gildarts who was still smirking as he called out "Disassemble" and the magic turned into little cubes before dispersing.
"The names Gildarts Clive" he said and some of them gasped and flinched, "You may know me for many things. I either a) broke your house b) slept with your woman or last but not least c) know my reputation as the Ace of Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in Fiore!" he yelled and charged up Crush Magic into his fist.
"Crush!" he yelled and that sent fissures across the whole cave and started to shake it violently and they all stepped back as the cave started to fall on them. They all started to panic like headless chickens but Gildarts just sent a few blasts of Crush Magic at their faces and blew them back a huge distance. He reached the centre and after beating all of the mages he reached the leader.
"You heretic! How dare you do this!" he yelled, "Evil Burst" he yelled and sent a fist coated in dark magic at Gildarts who just grabbed it with ease and smirked as the mage started to pale. Small fry.
"Heretic, well I was never the religious type anyway" Gildarts said and sent a punch right at the leader who fell down and collapsed in pain.
"Our Lord Zeref, he will deliver retribution. You'll see-" he said before Gildarts knocked his lights out with a solid punch right to his skull.
"Heh, that guy was annoying" Gildarts said and started to notice the cave was wobbling apart and knew the cave was about to collapse inwards and he inwardly cursed himself for using his Crush Magic inside a small, enclosed place like this which wouldn't be able to hold itself up if he started to use his power.
"Uh-oh, I better run" he thought before turning to the exit and saw a boy, who was still unconscious despite all that happened so dar. The other mages that were still in the cave had snapped out of it and decided to make a run for it as well and broke into a run outside the cave.
"Can't leave him there" Gildarts thought, he wasn't going to let a 10 year old get killed by a cave in. None of the mages were too keen on saving their precious lord's son, just went to show their true colours. But he'd save him no matter who's father he had. He deftly picked up Naruto and grabbed him like a sac and ran as fast as he could out of the cave with an unconscious boy.
Woods, Worth Woodsea
"You know, I don't think I really thought this one through" Gildarts thought as he was walking through a forest and had leaned Naruto against a tree who was still snoozing peacefully.
"Why was he sealed by his father?" Gildarts thought, maybe Zeref was afraid of his own son, or maybe he really was a heartless monster like everyone portrayed him to be, or maybe he was just insane that way.
It was only after about 10 hours of a mixture of travelling, resting, waiting, eating, getting a little tipsy before sobering up as fast as he could that Naruto started to wake up. They were still in the woods and Naruto was starting to flicker his eyes, his entire body felt like it was thawing out from a block of ice and Naruto had collapsed into Gildarts's arms as he almost fell over to the side of the tree he was propped up on.
"Hey, hey. Easy there kid, I got you" Gildarts said as he lifted Naruto back up and leaned him against the tree and he was looking out of it, with exhaustion and tiredness but he was quickly gaining strength.
"W-where am I? W-who are you? W-where's my father?" Naruto asked immediately as he tried to move but he couldn't.
"I said easy there kid, my name is Gildarts a mage from a guild called Fairy Tail and..." Gildarts started and Naruto heard "mage" and "guild" and tried his best to back away as fast as he could but tripped over a tree root and fell flat on his face.
"Hey! I just said calm down! Don't try to move so much" he said as he tried to pick up Naruto but he kept wriggling in his arms as Naruto tried to feel his magic, it was nearing empty. It felt like he was forced awake all of a sudden and his body was barely responding, it wasn't supposed to work like this. Did someone forcefully wake him up?
"A-are you here to kill me?" Naruto asked fearfully as he assumed the worst as this situation was looking dire, he could barely move and couldn't use his magic while the Mage with him had none of those problems and would have no trouble doing so.
"Woah! Woah! No way in hell! I'm not here to kill you! Come on, I'm not doing anything like that!" Gildarts denied as he took a few steps back and held his hands peacefully and Naruto calmed down slightly.
"Prove it" Naruto said immediately and Gildarts said, man this kid was paranoid. But then he frowned at what he had to endure to be like this. Kids shouldn't be this paranoid to an adult, so maybe this was Zeref's son after all, he would certainly be different from a normal child.
"I'll keep all hands to myself the whole time" Gildarts compromised.
"You could easily be a Second Generation Dragon Slayer with a larcrima implant, how do I know you're not still going to attack me? And that's just the first one in my head for attacks that do not require hands" Naruto still said defensively as he tried to stand up again and stand his ground if he ever needed to dodge and hopefully make a run for it.
"Kid, I can't shut my mouth and stop breathing" Gildarts said exasperated and finally sighed and said, "Look over there" Gildarts pointed and Naruto turned but still kept Gildarts in the corner of his eye, he wasn't going to get blindsided by the oldest trick in the book.
"See that cave, recognise it?" Gildarts asked.
"Yeah, that's where I was sealed. What happened to it?" Naruto asked. It was the cave where they took shelter in the most...only turned into complete rubble. The location was the right place, just what the heck happened to the cave?
"That was the cave, I kinda reduced it to rubble with my attacks. A group of dark mages unsealed you and I beat them up but that caused the cave to collapse, I could have just left you in the cave-in if I wanted to kill you, so could you calm down for a few minutes" Gildarts explained and Naruto was slightly wide-eyed with realisation. But that meant that he was certainly unsealed early, no wonder he felt so horrible. And another problem, while his magic was beginning to return that didn't match a man who could easily level the cave, fight of mages and come out of it without a scratch.
"Also look at your clothes" Gildarts addedand Naruto saw that his old clothes where were black robes like his father had been replaced with a hideous orange jumpsuit. The normal black robes lined with a sleek mixture of green and gold had been replaced for some...dime shop eye sore. The top was bright orange with blue sides and the trousers were bright orange as well and Naruto had to resist an urge to close his eyes, gag and vomit at the same time. What kind of clothes were these!
"W-what the heck! What on Earthland is this monstrosity! In the name of magic, it's hideous!" Naruto yelled indignantly as he started to remove the jumpsuit.
"Hey! I bought that with my own money!" Gildarts snapped a bit defensively but then he did agree that it was a bit of an eyesore, "I got it at a bargain sale" he admitted and Naruto gathered magic around his body.
"Requip!" he yelled and the jumpsuit changed into a black shirt with green and gold lining and and black trousers as well. He might not have that much magic at this point, but those clothes just needed to go at whatever cost. He was never going to wear that again.
"You could do that!" Gildarts said and was a bit impressed, requipping clothes and that speed. That wasn't something easy to do. But then he didn't have to spend money on that jumpsuit and he twitched his eye at that, that was a bit of a waste but he just cleared his throat to get Naruto's attention.
"Yes, thank you for the clothes but I'd rather not wear that" Naruto said a bit more respectfully and Gildarts was just happy to get through to him, at least he wasn't trying to run away or try to hurt himself and looked at him. He was a real copy paste of his father, there was no doubt that physically he looked just like Zeref from old wanted posters that were still in circulation but were mostly in history books to remind the world of the most infamous dark mage in existence.
"Tch, fine kid" Gildarts said and sat down with him.
"Soo, um. I don't really know how to ask this but...is your father Zeref?" Gildarts asked and mentally cringed at how he brought up that topic.
Naruto's eyes widened as he immediately tried his best to stand upright properly, he didn't have the energy to run away from him and he doubted that he could stand a chance against him in his current weakened state, there was nothing to lose at this point.
"What if he is? Are you going to kill me?" Naruto asked carefully in a hostile tone.
"Woah, calm down! Hell no! I'm not going to kill a kid! Are you crazy!" Gildarts yelled indignantly, "Look, honest to god here. I'm not going to kill you! I swear it ok? I'm even stepping back here and keeping my distance" Gildarts showed and Naruto blinked before he realised that Gildarts was standing at a safe distance away from him to give him space and wasn't showing even the slightest indication of even going to attack him while he was downed.
"Then...are you going to use me as a hostage? Because I'd rather die than be used in a way like that" Naruto told him fiercely and Gildarts groaned and shook his head profusely.
"NO! N-O! I'm not going to do any of that! What part of "I mean you no harm" do you not get!" Gildarts started to get exasperated with his paranoid child who decided to analyse what had happened.
"He might be telling the truth. He could have killed me, that he's established but why wouldn't he put me in a cage or imprison me if he was going to use me as a bartering tool against father?"Naruto thought, "Perhaps he does mean no harm...but why? What goal does he have?"
"Seriously, for the love of all underneath the sky and in Master Mavis's name I swear I've got no ulterior motive, I'm not going to kidnap or kill or do anything bad! I saw a kid who was about to be killed and saved him from that fate and even gave you some clothes and tried to fix you up a little" Gildarts said for the last time and Naruto looked at his shoulder, there were bandages neatly wrapped around it and also across the wound on his chest and he realised that Gildarts must have been the one to put them because they weren't on before he was sealed.
"Do you believe me?" Gildarts asked and Naruto said nothing, remaining silent and trying to examine any hints or signs that Gildarts was going to try and attack him or go back against his word, he found none and slowly nodded and sat down but still held his guard up but that was as good as any start for Gildarts.
"So...are you going to explain why you were in a cave sealed off?" Gildarts asked bluntly and even Naruto had to sweat drop a little from his bluntness.
"..." Naruto replied, "Sigh, it's just like him to pull something like this. Sometimes his tendency to take everything on himself really is frustrating but he said I also got it from him" Naruto mostly mumbled to himself and Gildarts was still confused but decided to ask the big detail again.
"Wait can we just confirm who's your father?" Gildarts asked.
"You already asked that, why ask a question you know the answer to?" Naruto asked pointedly and Gildarts could only hold down his annoyance, he sure was a bit of a rude prick but let it go, he was still a kid and beating kids was called abuse these days.
"Your dad is Zeref, right? The Zeref?" Gildarts asked one last time and wanted to get a double check on the most important detail.
"Well as far as I know there was only one person named Zeref, it was an uncommon name after all" Naruto replied and Gildarts had a whole host of thoughts going through his head. Did the kid know who his father even was? Or the bigger question, how did Zeref have a kid? Who would even think of doing that with the darkest and most evil mage in history? Little did he know that the answer to that was his very own Guild Founder.
"D-do you know who your father even is?" Gildarts asked tentatively.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked a bit defensively.
"He's the darkest and most evil mage in history of Fiore! Seriously, how are you not a bit scared of that! He's been responsible for the deaths of millions across the country and in other countries as well, he was the most wanted criminal in history and there aren't even words that can describe just how evil and cruel he was during his dark rein!" Gildarts said and Naruto's face was shocked for a moment.
"Father, he wanted revenge right? D-did father do that? But he did say revenge against everything then-" Naruto thought.
"He's torn apart families, razed settlements and cities, and even created demons that plague the world to this day! He's the epitome of evil itself!" Gildarts finished and realised he really put his foot in his mouth when he realised that Naruto was almost on his knees from that revelation.
"Way to go, Gildarts" he thought to himself sarcastically.
"Y-you're lying, m-my father he-" Naruto denied angrily but then his mind brought together the facts. How during the days they were hunted, people would rant about the crimes of his father, naturally he passed it off and when asking his father, he would change the topic to something else...but did he really do those things? Tear apart families, slaughter thousands, and his Etherious creations that he once explained to Naruto, were they seen as demons? The people hunting him for 5 years, were they telling the truth? They were persistent and kept coming back, so they had to have a reason, Naruto didn't want to believe it before so he never thought about it but now...there was no denying it.
"T-this can't be!" Naruto thought to himself as he realised that the facts were coming into place with only one clear answer, his father was the devil of the world.
"You really don't know?" Gildarts asked softly as Naruto was slowly starting to come to terms with it.
"F-father" Naruto whispered as he sat down and a few tears came from his face.
Gildarts started to feel guilty about what he said and tried this best to fix what he said, "I mean sure people say that, but he was nice to you right? Then just remember that, and don't let what others tell you about him change what you think. I mean, he's your father! You have the right to think what you want about him!" Gildarts jabbered and Naruto heard his words and smiled a bit at that and wiped his eyes as a memory came back to him.
"I love you, son" Naruto remembered Zeref's voice in his head and recalled the memories they shared. His first birthday, his first christmas, his first spell, even just mundane things like sleeping outside in the cool grass and just talking about different ideas and concepts that they had and laughing at any jokes that Naruto tried to make, then how Zeref would do his best to cook meals for Naruto and how Naruto did his best to learn how to do the same as well to manage his own life and the epic failures that were at the start.
But one thing would always stay true till the end of time, Zeref loved his son, Naruto.
"He was the best father in the world" Naruto said wistfully and Gildarts looked a little surprised at that. Maybe the darkest mage wasn't a total heartless monster like everyone said about him. Go figure, but at least he managed to sort of help this situation that he made worse, yay?
"Heh, then don't let anyone tell you different. They may say he's a bad person, and...well he did do bad things but you have a right to think what you want about him" Gildarts said and Naruto smiled a bit at that but it was almost impossible to see and Naruto just sat there for a while before realising that Gildarts was still there.
"Thank you" Naruto said and groaned as he stood up a little painfully, "I-I want to thank you, if I ever see you again then I promise to return this favour. Thank you for unsealing me" he told him and tried to walk but only managed to barely stop himself from hobbling and Gildarts looked concerned.
"Uhhh" Gildarts said, he had no idea what to say so he said the first thing that popped into his mind. "Well, how about you come back to the guild and join it!" Gildarts asked out of the blue and both of them heard that and were silent for a moment.
...
...
...
"...What?" Naruto asked, he must have misheard that.
"Eh, um" Gildarts laughed a little nervously, well it's already been said, might as well jump into the deep end, "Do you want to come back to my guild and join Fairy Tail?" Gildarts asked and Naruto really wasn't sure if he was joking at this point, he must have been joking, he really had to be joking.
"...Are you serious?" Naruto asked and Gildarts just laughed at that.
"First of all, as I'm apparently the son of the Black Mage, that should probably put quite a target on my head, so why would I go into a guild of all places!" Naruto asked him and Gildarts looked a little thoughtful.
"Well when you boil it down, have you actually ever committed a crime?" Gildarts asked and Naruto looked thoughtful.
"...Other than maybe killing a few mages who tried to kill me in self-defence I don't think I committed any crimes" Naruto told him, stealing books didn't matter when the town didn't even exist anymore.
"Then technically, you've never committed a crime if it's self-defence and that means that you can join" Gildarts laughed and turned his face serious and spoke to Naruto directly who was still unsure, "Do you really think that you can survive on your own as you are right now?" Gildarts said and exuded a bit of his magical power that cracked the ground under him and Naruto held his hands up into a guard to brace himself and stood his ground but felt the sheer pressure weighting down on him, there was no way he could fight that.
"There are people with powers maybe even greater than I, who would do anything to you. Kill you or use you, it doesn't matter. A few of the mages that I fought probably escaped from the cave as well, so the word will spread in about a week at best bet, for that I've got to apologise for" Gildarts explained and Naruto's eyes widened in fear at that.
"I can't survive like that, not without father's help" Naruto thought in shock. If people knew who he was then he would be hunted down, and worst of all no father to help. He checked the emergency seal that he always had on him but it looked like Zeref had cut the seal on his end and made it useless. He was all alone at this point against the world.
"I don't want to force you to join, but I'm stating the facts as they are. You're tired, weak, hungry and just a kid alone in the big world. Do you really think your odds of survival are high? If not join the guild, at least come with me back to Magnolia where you can get rest, shelter and some food before setting out. We're the only guild in that city so you wouldn't have to worry about any attacks since I'd be able to stop them, so what do you think?" Gildarts explained in a serious tone that Naruto could understand the situation perfectly from.
"...At the minimum, he is right. I need to get food and supplies and the best place to do that is at Magnolia, also more information and places to hide. But most important of all, I do need help" Naruto said and that last part made him grit his teeth, "Right now, I'm too weak to survive. If I go on my own, I'd be dead and father's sacrifices would be for nothing. I refuse to let that happen!"
"...I will go with you, for now anyways" Naruto eventually said and thought the last part and Gildarts let out a sigh of relief, at least he was smart despite being stubborn, that was lucky and he lowered the pressure to allow Naruto to breathe properly again. But he wasn't going to be that foolish, if Gildarts showed any signs of dishonesty then he was going to run for it.
"That's great news" Gildarts said, "Hey by the way, you're a mage right?" Gildarts asked, when your father was the most powerful wizard of all time, you'd think his son would be as well but just to be sure.
"Yes, father taught me how to use magic" Naruto said and hoped that last part intimidated him, even if a little but Gildarts didn't even look fazed and pointed to a thicket of trees.
"Hey, see that tree over there. Show me what you got kid!" Gildarts told Naruto who nodded, perhaps this was an initiation test. He's best show enough to pass and be allowed to go with him, but not too much to give away his strength.
Naruto nodded and put his hands together, "I see. Then is this acceptable to be allowed to go to this Guild. Dark Matter!" Naruto said and from his hands several black magic circles appeared and he pushed them outwards and about 5 spheres left the circles and and rushed at the surrounding trees and blasted thick holes in them before causing them to topple over and creating a small crater when they hit the face of the mountain behind the trees.
"Whoa, ok not bad. That's actually really good for a kid, wonder if he's got more in his bag of tricks?" Gildarts thought.
"Is that it? I almost hoped to be surprised by Zeref's son," Gildarts said challengingly and Naruto got a little frown and focused magic into his palms.
"Surprise, oh I'll show him" Naruto thought as he decided to show him a surprise, he didn't want to pull out his Ancient Rune Magic but he needed to get accepted and he wasn't going to show too much of his mastery in that art, just enough to wow that mage and give him a real surprise.
"Barrier: Environment - Add Property: Reflect" Naruto thought and his eyes strained quite a bit as he added an extra layer into the seal and he felt his magic drain but kept strong, he could do more than this and his weakened state was the reason why. Also for some reason he felt his body almost feel stronger, it also was recovering faster as well, was this an effect of the stasis? Naruto thought but didn't notice a book in his pocket glow slightly red.
Naruto then finalised the sealing array, his eyes were red with a circle around the pupil and slightly glowed a little as it exuded power. He created a barrier around them and Gildarts watched with fascination as strings of golden letters in several languages sprung from the ground and covered the area in seals. The strings branched out and covered the ground in intricate patterns before going up trees themselves and eventually burst in a bright golden light before flashing into nothingness.
"Well, what did that do kid?" Gildarts asked a little confusedly.
"Try hitting something" Naruto instructed and Gildarts was still confused.
"Why?" Gildarts asked.
"Why not? You scared?" Naruto asked with a little cheek and Gildarts felt his eye twitch at that, "Oh you did not just say that kid!" Gildarts thought as he decided to amuse the kid and drew his fist back upwards and was aiming straight down at the ground.
"Ok, I'll show you scared kid" he said and punched the ground and to his surprise his fist touched the ground and then bounced off, no it didn't just bounce off it bounced back and punched him in the face and he bowled himself over and fell on his butt and Naruto stared to chuckle to himself as Gildarts was now sporting a lump where he banged his head on the ground.
"What the heck?" Gildarts said indignantly as he stood up again.
"What, you said surprise me. With Ancient Rune Magic, my primary is defensive barriers and sealing any targets I have in a metaphysical dimension, and a few other tricks with sealing" Naruto said innocently. He underplayed just how useful those tricks could be, but he wasn't going to mention that.
"Heh, so I did. But how about this" Gildarts said challengingly and sent Crush Magic into his hand and punched a tree and this time the runes appeared again before it flashed into nothingness and it broke into spiralling fractals, and then disintegrated. The array shorted itself out before it went poof and Naruto closed his eyes as the array short circuited from the force that Gildarts used and sparked a bright light when it broke. Also the tree was probably sent into the next country.
"Was that Crush Magic?" Naruto asked, impressed against his will. He had read about this but it was unbelievably rare and extremely powerful.
"Hm, you know about this little thing" Gildarts asked and held up his fist as it was glowing yellow and Naruto looked at it curiously and analytically.
"It's really impressive, I read about it before. It takes years of discipline and balance to be able to control pure chaos in your own body and channel it out to use in attacks that to disassemble and destroy anything you touch, if you don't have proper control then you'd probably wreck buildings and cities-" Naruto explained and Gildarts rubbed the back of his head with a grin and Naruto just stopped himself, no he didn't.
"Oh, you must be joking" Naruto said as he realised what he just said and linked it to Gildarts' reckless destruction of the cave.
"Well, I am known to be a walking hazard" Gildarts joked, "You know, the town where my guild is has their own procedure when I show up. They call it the Gildarts shift where the entire town moves out of my way! Every user of this magic had this problem, but I've got it mostly under control!" he added and Naruto sweatdropped internally.
"I suppose" Naruto had to give him that point, "But it's still impressive that you haven't blown up when you use that magic, you still have to have phenomenal control to not do that. If you had zero control then you'd kill yourself and not enough would make you a human wrecking ball" he said and Gildarts nodded.
"You're right, took me a few good years to learn this and Light Magic as well" Gildarts verified and stopped the crush magic. "I'm impressed, he worked all that out in just a few moments. This kid is smart, really smart. It's almost a little scary, that's really amazing" Gildarts thought.
"Light Magic, you mean this?" Naruto said and held his hands together, this time a circle of bright golden-white appeared and from it materialised a white orb, Naruto was slightly struggling on that one and managed to complete it and launched it at the trees again. This one went like a bullet and tunnelled through the trees before ending in a flash.
"Yeah, but why was that one weaker than the other two?" Gildarts asked and Naruto panted heavily from the strain, he always had trouble with Light Magic but if he was telling the truth then he might be able to help him finally overcome that limitation.
"I have trouble with Light Magic and father couldn't teach me it either. That's all I could do on my own with basics" Naruto said as he panted and Gildarts raised his eye at that. He free styled that, that was impressive as hell since it took people decades to make spells on their own.
"Is that enough to be accepted?" Naruto asked as he stood up again.
"Well" Gildarts said a bit teasingly, truth be told it was extremely impressive that he could manage those things as a child. But he was the son of Zeref, his father may have been evil but no one could deny he was powerful and ridiculously so. One man couldn't oppose the entirety of Fiore on his own, that was almost impossible but he did it for years with no one ever able to defeat him. And that man was his father. Gildarts wasn't an idiot, if he challenged someone like Zeref, he'd be bug paste in seconds.
"Is it bad?" Naruto asked a bit worriedly. Was his power not enough to meet the standards? He didn't want to show more, but it was vital to get accepted in order to survive.
"It's impressive" Gildarts said honestly and Naruto smiled in relief, "You'll make it in the guild for sure" he grinned with a thumbs up and Naruto looked a little confused at what that was but repeated the same action, perhaps it was a thing to do in other lands like Magnolia.
"Wait which guild were you from again?" Naruto asked and Gidarts pointed to his mark on his chest with a wide smile.
"Fairy Tail" he said proudly and puffed his chest out and Naruto raised his eyebrow in confusion at that. Fairy Tail? He vaguely remembered his father mentioning that once but in the newspaper a few years before he got sealed, Fairy Tail was just some random small guild, what was someone as powerful as Gildarts doing in a no-name guild like that? Perhaps he had his reasons.
"You mean that small, nameless guild in Magnolia, huh I didn't think strong guys like you were in that small guild" Naruto shrugged and Gildarts was confused.
"Nameless? We're the top guild in Fiore, and what do you mean small, it's huge" Gildarts said a little confusedly and now Naruto looked puzzled before realising something. These recent actions, the general changes in the environment, and now Fairy Tail being the top guild in Fiore...how long had he been sleeping?
"W-wait, what date, month and year is it?" Naruto asked a little nervously.
"December 4th X775" Gildarts replied and Naruto almost fainted as he heard that. X775! But he was sealed in X710! T-that meant that...he was 65 years into the future!
"W-wait, that means. I've been in stasis for 65 years!" Naruto exclaimed wide-eyed, "Darn it Father, did you even think this idea through! How the heck am I supposed to understand and survive in society this far into the future!" Naruto groaned out loud and Gildarts heard that and was silent for a moment, before trying to stifle a few giggles at Naruto's expression.
"Huh. So that technically makes you about what...75 years old?" Gildarts counted quickly before bursting into giggles, "Wow, a 75 year old kid. Master's going to love this one! You might even as old as him and he's a grandfather!" he teased and Naruto got a little annoyed at that.
"Physically I am 10 years old, although mentally it's clear I'm much older than an overgrown man child like you" Naruto retorted.
"So said the delirious senior citizen" Gildarts quipped back and Naruto had nothing to hit him back with.
"Shut up!" Naruto said afterwards and Gildarts wouldn't stop laughing for an hour.
Naruto didn't know it yet, but in Gildarts he found one of his closest family members ever. A uncle figure to look up to, someone who kept him safe and someone he would eventually face on opposite sides in battle.
After a while, Naruto travelled with Gildarts back to Magnolia. They were on the complete other side of Fiore so it was quite a journey and apparently Gildarts was banned from trains, apparently he wrecked about 20 of them before they black listed him and Naruto just sighed at his carelessness. He wasn't a stranger to walking on foot and could keep up with Gildarts as well.
Though the journey wasn't exactly bump-free. Gildarts always wisely told him that in life "Don't be focused on the goal, enjoy the little detours since that's where you find the things more important than what you're after". That was a wise philosophy.
But Gildarts turned it into just getting drunk at bars, picking up women and even married ones and wrecking towns. Often Naruto had to drag Gildarts back onto the path and not sleep with random women, of course that didn't work for obvious reasons.
X775
Edge of Freesia Town, East Fiore
"Sigh, Gildarts are you sober yet?" Naruto asked as he was dragging a hungover Gildarts to the best of his ability early in the morning from a town that Naruto had barely stopped Gildarts from wrecking. Word had spread quickly about Naruto's existence and it had been spread like wildfire that a boy who was rumoured to the the son of Zeref was travelling with Gildarts. In settlements, Naruto did his best to avoid people in case that conclusion was made but Gildarts was unbelievably blasΓ© about it all and preferred to do whatever he wanted. So usually against Naruto's will, he'd be dragged along with the old drunkard.
"Groan, yeah I think I'm better" Gildarts moaned in a pained voice and Naruto dropped him after he heard that and Gildarts hit the ground face first in a thud.
"Oi! What was that for!" Gildarts snapped as he picked himself off the ground and Naruto just had one eyebrow raised, if he didn't know how powerful this man was, it would be wayyy too easy to assume he was just some bum on the roads.
"You said you were better" Naruto replied and Gildarts just pounded his head and Naruto winced at that, but that smart alec had it coming.
"Tch, yeah I'm sober. And I'm already a little cranky so let's hit the road while the sun's out" Gildarts said and they continued to walk for a few miles before Naruto had to take this opportunity to ask Sober Gildarts questions, because he wasn't around for very long.
"Gildarts, could you explain the current state of the governing body in Fiore?" Naruto asked and Gildarts looked surprised at what he just said, he knew that Naruto wasn't normal intellect wise but sometimes he couldn't stop himself from wondering what kind of kid was he?
"And why do you want to know that?" Gildarts asked,
"To learn more about how the world has changed since I was gone" Naruto told him, "Also to survive if I ever need to run for it"Naruto thought to himself.
"Hmm, well where should I start. Definitely on the top of the hierarchy would be the Royal Family of Fiore, meaning the King and Princess Hisui" Gildarts started and Naruto nodded, the king may have changed but at least they were still at the top, but that didn't matter to him.
"Then after that would be the Magical Council" Gildarts said and Naruto looked confused.
"Magical Council? What is that? I've never heard of it before" Naruto asked him who looked a little surprised.
"Well I guess it makes sense, the thing was set up in at least X720 if I can remember my history right. That would mean that it would be after you were sealed" Gildarts rubbed his chin a little and then continued, "They are the ruling body in the world of magic. The first and main power in this world is still the King and his Government, and under his laws the magic council enforces order to whatever extent they feel is needed and enforces policies to guilds that they have to strictly obey. Their authority is powerful and if they say something then, it's just that. They also appoint the Wizard Saints, ban magic and can disband guilds if they feel it is necessary and mark them as wanted men" he explained, he wondered if that was a little too deep but then just slapped himself mentally, the kid understood it as he was nodding to it.
"So in essence, they're a bunch of blowhards. They don't have any real power over guilds as it's the King who garners respect so I imagine that they try to demonstrate their power every now and then to remind the people who is in charge" Naruto made his own deductions and Gildarts laughed at that.
"Dead on, Fairy Tail constantly gets into trouble with them but we've got a lot of support from the people, not to mention that the King favours us a little bit so they keep trying to push us down at every turn, but we're still going strong and never going to listen to them" Gildarts explained and Naruto had to chuckle, it was a little interesting to see such a rebellious nature to authority, he wished he was a bit more like that rather than trying to appease authority when he still lived in the village but knew it was a foolish idea.
"That's impressive" Naruto said and Gildarts just grinned.
"Hehe, yeah we sure are something else. There's not a guild out there that's like mine at all. We'll accept anyone, you'll see. Everyone in Fairy Tail is like one giant family and we'll never turn our backs on each other. We look out for our own and-hey what are you doing?" Gildarts was giving a speech but Naruto was reading a book and completely ignored what he said.
"Hm, did you say something?" Naruto asked Gildarts who almost fell over.
2
"For the love of-Now you're just doing this on purpose!" Gildarts snapped with a tick mark and Naruto just chuckled.
It may have been only a few weeks but travelling with Gildarts was rather enjoyable, the man had the attitude of a child inside while Naruto could see that he was very battle-hardened. Gildarts would be that uncle who shows up drunk to a birthday party and constantly challenged and kept on getting under Naruto's skin with constant comments about his age and reached the point where he would get back at the overgrown man-child wrecking ball in any way he could.
"Anyway, where did you get that book?" Gildarts asked as he peered at the cover, it was a recently written encyclopaedia of different forms of magic.
"Bought it" Naruto replied.
"...With what money?" Gildarts asked with uncertainty and then patted his pockets to be sure.
"Yours" Naruto replied simply and Gildarts opened his wallet to see a good chunk had been taken out.
"THAT MUCH FOR AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA!" he yelled in exclamation.
"Hehe, nope. That much for several volumes and other textbooks and research papers, the town was surprisingly quite an intellectual hub so I bought as many books as I could" Naruto told him and Gildarts felt another tick mark come on.
"Hey, remind me again just one thing. WHY MY MONEY AND WHEN DID I AGREE TO THIS!" Gildarts snapped at him.
"You were practically throwing your wallet at women and at bars, I doubt it was a good investment at all. Besides you did agree, I asked you last night if I could take some money for my own purposes. It's not my fault you said yes" Naruto replied with a cheeky wink.
"Hey, I was seriously drunk! At that point, I'd say yes to anything!" Gildarts exclaimed.
"I know, why else did I keep dragging you through bars as we left the town and away from the bookstores" Naruto said slyly and Gildarts felt his head boil, damn he got outsmarted by a child. Definitely not an ordinary child, but a child all the same and he could almost pound himself for that one. Naruto did start to feel a little guilty, this was technically stealing and he sighed as he had to do the right thing no matter how much he wanted to read the books.
"Here, if you want we can return the books, they can be returned for money again" Naruto said reluctantly.
"Sigh, forget it. It's already been done, so let's just forget it" Gildarts sighed, well it wasn't really a waste. He wanted to buy Naruto something as a present if he joined the guild, looks like he didn't have to anymore, and if not, then he'd need it more than ever.
"T-thank you" Naruto said slightly surprised at how kind he was being and then felt worse about using Gildarts, "If it makes you feel better, you can read them as well. Requip!" Naruto told him and in a flash of light in front of them a pile of books suddenly appeared, akin to a small mountain and Gildarts was jaw gaping at that.
"I thought you bought books, not a bookstore!" Gildarts exclaimed at the pile and Naruto decided to remain silent, he had a few more inside sealing scrolls. Best not to tell him about that if this much already had him stumped completely.
"Hehe, I got carried away" Naruto said and Requipped the books away.
"Sigh, if it makes you happy then fine, besides I'm not a big reader so you can have them, just think of it as a gift" Gildarts told him and Naruto smiled at that, maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all, "Besides, I hear old folks need something like reading to pass the time" Gildarts joked and that thought quickly died, Gildarts was the worst.
He also knew a thing about light magic and gave Naruto a few pointers and was very impressed at how far Naruto was taking that magic but smiled inside. To use light magic, you had to have a kind forgiving heart and it was something else to see Zeref's own son use something like that.
X776
Lux Woods, East Fiore
"You need a few pointers?" Gildarts asked as Naruto was practicing his Light Magic at a lake, he was making light particles condense at his hands and shooting them at X marks in trees that he made with some creepy looking sword, but he wasn't one to judge. So far he wasn't having much success at doing this.
"Yes please" Naruto asked and Gildarts was a little surprised at how he was humble when it came to learning, most kids would throw tantrums, give up or ignore help but Naruto was always willing to get stronger no matter and learn more, and wasn't too prideful when it came to learning. Maybe Zeref might win Father of the Year award since Naruto was one of the best children Gildarts had ever met, although the number was pretty small, he couldn't deny that Zeref was pretty good at parenting, learn something new every day.
"Uh, ok. First when you cast Light Magic what are you thinking in your head when you concentrate?" Gildarts asked.
"Nothing in particular, I usually focus on the goal which is hitting the mark. Darkness Magic requires a base of anger and negativity and on top of that, absolute focus and a clear mind to control darkness and not let it control you so I thought the same would apply to this" Naruto told him and realised something. Darkness and Light were opposites, antipodes of each other.
"But..." Gildarts continued.
"They're polar opposites, so instead of suppressing emotions you have to let them out?" Naruto said in realisation and asked Gildarts if he was right.
"Bingo. Not bad, you're pretty sharp, now think back to that book a few days ago about Emotions and Magic. Now what's probably the basis for a magic style like this?" Gildarts continued.
"Purity of inner spirit. In other words to be able to perform the ultimate test of purity, forgiving others and and focusing with warmth and kindness as intentions" Naruto answered from what he read in a textbook, something like this was likely to be all the good aspects of human emotions pushed forwards into attacks meant to defend.
"Correct, now what do you need to do is actually not to think of emotions when you forgive people but also adding in the other way around, or that's what I found when I practice a little Light Magic because forgiving others is fine and all but real kindness has to also come back to you or it's just forced. When people show you kindness, and then sending that outwards is Light Magic. Now give it a try" Gildarts said.
"So this magic is like a perspective of life. To see the good that you have and bring out memories from it for strength" Naruto summarised to himself and turned back to the marks.
"Haaa! Piercing Heaven!" Naruto called out and let out a deep breath, closed his eyes and tried to think of something good, his first time reading the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Mage, the time he met his father, the times they spent when his father cared for him, tucking him into bed and just telling him that he loved him, even some memories with Gildarts.
"You might want to open your eyes" Gildarts told him and Naruto opened them and saw several large magical circles in his palms and he was initially surprised but focused on those memories and pointed his hands at the tree. This time instead of a thin beam, large arrows materialised and waves shot forwards and hit the trees, just a little off but a huge improvement.
"I-I did it. Gildarts, I did it!" Naruto said with a cheer and Gildarts just smiled.
"So, what did you think of?" he asked.
"The best times of my life, when I read my first book, when I met my father, when he used to tuck me into bed, hug me and told me that he loved me" Naruto said and Gildarts really wondered about Zeref, the way Naruto would talk about the man was completely different from what people said about the man. Maybe history only captured the bad, but like all people there was some good in them too.
"I guess I also had a few memories with you in there as well" Naruto added as an afterthought and Gildarts turned to him with his chest puffed out, he was an idol to all children, of course he'd give good memories to people around him!
"Oh really, well I can't blame you. Everyone loves to spend time with old Gildarts, especially the ladies" he boasted and added that last part with a pervy grin and Naruto just sighed, he just had to puff that man-child's ego.
1
"I was thinking about when we met and you punched your own lights out" Naruto stated and Gildarts slightly tripped.
"Hey, come on. What about the rest of the time?" he said a little indignantly.
"I'm joking, Gildarts" Naruto said placatingly and before Gildarts could recover, "I thought about each and every time we were chased out of towns, slapped by women you tried to talk to and the times you get drunk and get kicked out of bars after you pass out" and Gildarts felt his self-esteem take dips with each statement.
"I love you too, kid" he grumbled good-naturedly and Naruto slightly froze at that last statement and felt his body shake a little.
"What?" Gildarts asked.
Naruto gathered magic into his palms and sent another arrow quickly at the target and it hit dead centre on the burrowed deeply into the X mark and vanished in a bright white light.
"Heh, I used that memory just now. Go figure, thanks for the memory" Naruto said with a small tear coming off his eye and he smiled.
"Heh, anytime kid" Gildarts told him back and pulled Naruto into a backbreaking hug and Naruto could have sworn that he almost broke his spine, god damn it Gildarts!
Gildarts thought to himself as they travelled, Darkness Magicwas easy to learn for most people but Light Magic was the real kicker, because of it's requirements and it was strange to see someone use polar opposites with ease and was running out of "it's Zeref's son" excuses and had to wonder who his mother was because even Zeref's son shouldn't be able to do that. When Gildarts asked Naruto about his mother, he replied that he didn't know who she was either and Zeref never told him since she died and her death hurt his father a lot and Gildarts wondered about something for a minute with his green eyes but threw that out of his head.
Naruto started off the trip with escape plans and contingencies in place but a few weeks with Gildarts started to erode his paranoid exterior and he started to open up to Gildarts, Naruto couldn't understand why Gildarts was always so kind to him until he realised that it was just his personality to help out others in need and he had to give the man respect for that. Naruto could say by the end of the trip that the two people he held close to him was his father and Gildarts.
Gildarts also became closer with Naruto, every time Naruto completed a light spell Gildarts would feel a little proud of the kid. He worked tirelessly but he wanted to become strong, for the sake of being able to survive, then find his father and to make him proud by surpassing him and even making Gildarts proud. He had no one else at all other than his father and Gildarts who actually cared for him and Gildarts started to feel bad of how he got the shortest straw in life but still kept at it because giving up to him felt like he was spitting on his father's constant sacrifices over the years. After a few weeks, Gildarts could see Naruto as a little brother/son type of kid and enjoyed spending time with him.
But then again, life wasn't all fun and games. Word was spreading quickly around Fiore about the fabled son of Zeref being with Gildarts and anyone who was able to see Naruto's face and a picture in a textbook could attest to it as the similarities outside between him and his father were strikingly similar and Naruto always had his guard up, but never needed to attack. That was because Gildarts would deal with any threats, if it was a Light Mage then scare them off and if it was a Dark Mage then pulverise them. Naruto realised that Gildarts was always protecting him and finally made up his mind.
He didn't want to leave Gildarts, so he would join Fairy Tail. A place where you could find a family, and he hoped that all of them were as great as Gildarts and it was with that thought they both stood in front of one of the largest towns in Fiore.
They finally made it back to Magnoliaβ¦
"You weren't kidding, there's actually a Gildarts Shift" Naruto said in surprise and almost a little disbelief as he watched the walls change and sectors of a giant city sprawled to the sides and and created a direct path towards the guild in the distance. Gildarts was notorious racking up damage, especially when drunk...but was this really necessary?
"Man, the place keeps changing every time I see it" Gildarts said reminiscently and if that wasn't scary enough, he almost got lost a few times on a straight line and in another Universe, a green haired marimo could feel a kindred direction impaired spirit.
"How can you get lost, it's a straight road!" Naruto said exasperatedly. He actually had to put a tracking array on Gildarts that he didn't know about but whenever he was in a room with people moaning at floors in bars, he decided to not go in and waited outside for Gildarts to get thrown out before dragging him away to the next town. Ah good times indeed.
"Don't judge my sense of direction!" he argued and almost went into a wall but Naruto managed to grab his coat and physically had to drag him back onto the right path and sighed, this was ridiculous sometimes but Gildarts would always be Gildarts.
"You mean, lack thereof" Naruto quipped.
"Oh put a sock in it, remember my philosophy. The detours in the journey is where you find things more important than what you were looking for" Gildarts said to him for the hundredth time and Naruto sighed at his excuse, it took a wise old concept and butchered it into this!
"Your philosophy will leave a lot of people homeless and your unfortunate guild master stuck with bills" Naruto tried to reason with him but Gildarts just guffawed at that last part.
"HAHAHAHA! Everyone does that! I'm not special in that regard, well maybe I cause damage on another scale" he said and Naruto sighed, that man's irresponsibility was unbelievable but it was that same quality that was part of his childish exterior that Naruto started to grow attached to. But at times like this, it was really hard to tell who was the grown up and the child between the two.
"Hey, so do you want to join Fairy Tail?" Gildarts asked and Naruto was silent before tapering into his thoughts, logically speaking...it was probably going to get an instant rejection and he'd be right in the middle of a bee's nest where they could eliminate him at any point but what did he want?...He wanted a family. He wanted to stick with Gildarts. He wanted to join Fairy Tail, that was what he wanted. And he decided to go for it, if there was something he wanted, he wasn't going to run from it, he'd seize it with both hands but still...
"Are you sure about this, I mean my father-" Naruto said quietly.
"Now don't you get cold feet on me! If you're joining then you're going in there with your head up and we're getting you a stamp. Fairy Tail treats everyone like family, and the master especially. So tell me out loud, are you joining Fairy Tail?" Gildarts asked him clearly.
"I-I want to join Fairy Tail but-" Naruto told him and Gildarts cut him off with a slap on the back that nearly broke all his bones and Naruto struggled to stay upright, dear lord that man's strength was something too ridiculous to be real.
"Then that's that! You're getting that stamp, and you're going to be a part of Fairy Tail!" Gildarts said cheerfully and inwardly he was filled with happiness, he'd hate to part ways with Naruto. After these few weeks he started to see that boy as the family he never had and he'd hate to see him leave.
Naruto sighed, he wished he shared Gildart's optimism but he was a bit more of a realist and thought it was unlikely to be that easy. His father had made almost everyone in the whole of Fiore lose someone close to them, from his demons to him personally and people had kept going on about how much of a monster he was.
It hurt him every time he heard that from any bar or motel they stayed in with some stranger and Gildarts would see this and then cause a ruckus in the bar and blow the place upside down and they'd both get kicked out but Naruto appreciated how Gildarts stood up for him, no one else ever did that. It wouldn't be easy to fit in and Naruto braced himself, he was not going to hide who his father was.
The obvious reason was that within a few days it would be apparent that he was Zeref's son as the rumours of Zeref's son being with Gildarts, then a boy joining Fairy Tail who looked like Zeref from a textbook picture, it was dead obvious to even a 5 year old. There would be no point to hiding it, so he wanted to reveal it on his own terms with his own mouth rather than let some twisted rumours be the source that they hear the fact from.
Then he didn't want to hide his parentage, or rather he didn't want to deny and reject his parentage. It was clear in the history textbooks that his father was...a cruel, twisted and evil overlord that devastated this land endlessly and that was a bitter pill to swallow but he had to bear with it. He understood the sins that his father had committed but if he tried to ever relate the version of Zeref that was painted for him to the loving one he knew, it just didn't match.
All he could see would be Zeref telling him how he loved him unconditionally to make him happy, or how he proud he was when Naruto came closer to surpassing him, or sacrificing himself to protect Naruto no matter what injuries he might get in a battle. He couldn't force himself to hate his father who did all that for him. He was simply too stubborn to do so, and he refused to hate his father and if they chose to treat him badly because of it, then he didn't care. It was nothing new in his life.
He was Naruto, son of Zeref and he couldn't run away from it so he would take it with his own two hands and stand tall and proud. He certainly understood that his father committed many evil acts and would never do any of the things that his father did, but he would always remember to stand tall just like his father would.
X776
Fairy Tail, Magnolia, Fiore
(NOTE: None of the main cast have joined other than Cana and Levy, but for now it's mostly the background and side characters in Fairy Tail)
As the approached the guild, Naruto noticed that it was mostly a two floored place with a large interior, if he didn't see the exterior sign he could have sworn that this was a very, very rowdy bar since there were desks upturned, chairs being thrown all over the place with drinks flowing all over the place, with a second floor which had none of that. Because on the ground floor there was a full blown bar riot raging all across the place with people running around punching and kicking each other at complete random.
All in all, Naruto could sum up his first thoughts of Fairy Tail as "If the prisoners of a lunatic asylum decided to give everyone a day off, then get drunk out of their minds and throw in a full-scale riot in the middle of a public building" or just a gathering of Gildarts.
"GILDARTS!" they all yelled in unison as they saw the hulking figure of Gildarts grinning broadly while he was holding Naruto by the back, who was in utter shock at how they just functioned as human beings and they all raised a drink in celebration and downed it in one gulp.
"Hey everyone!" Gildarts said with a grin from the doorway of the guild but then when Naruto looked away for a moment, he walked through a wall again and entered the guild. Naruto just sighed, this was like babysitting. Take one moment off the man-child and everything goes to hell and he followed through the doorway like a normal person, something this guild seemed to be severely lacking in number and they were approached by a figure from the second floor.
"GILDARTS! Stop wrecking my guild!" a short old man yelled from the top of the guild on the second floor. He was extremely short, wizened and old with a while bushy moustache and white hair on the sides of his head, and he was wearing a comical orange jester outfit and held up a stack of papers.
"I've got a lot to say to you. Look at the list of complaints I got from you!" Makarov yelled and pointed to the stack and Gildarts just rubbed his head with a sheepish grin.
"What about it?" Gildarts asked, seeing nothing unusual about this situation and Naruto wondered how everyone was so blasΓ© about the fact that Gildarts nearly wrecked the equivalent of an entire town, and that was with Naruto trying to stop him.
"What's wrong with you? Usually I get 4 times more than this! Are you sick? Do you have a fever?" Makarov asked and Naruto almost fell over, what kind of havoc did Gildarts cause on a regular basis, and they were just that used to it! This guild made no sense, was his only thought.
"Hahaha! I suppose, and here's the reason" Gildarts laughed and pointed to Naruto behind him, "This is Naruto, I had to bring him here and he's our newest recruit!" he yelled and the guild stared at him before they broke into a cheer.
"W-what?" Naruto thought for a moment.
"That kid must be something if Gildarts brought him personally" one mage said.
"Yeah, wonder what made him stand out to Gildarts" another one said.
"Yeah, what made him so special" a saddened brown haired girl in a sundress thought with tinges of jealously as she sat in the corner and watched Gildarts ruffle Naruto's hair and lift him onto his shoulders despite Naruto's pleas to not do that. That was her dad, and she kept trying to work the courage to tell him that but Gildarts just gets some kid to replace her.
"Well, where do you want your Guild Mark?" Makarov asked as he hopped off the second floor and landed on the floor.
"Wait, just like that! Wait! Don't you want to test me just like Gildarts did when I met him? Isn't there supposed to be an exam you have to go through to join the guild?" Naruto asked in confusion, he had prepared all night on what he needed to demonstrate in order to showcase his full talents and Gildarts kept on trying to scare him with stories about an entrance exam that nearly broke people, where was all that...oh! Damn it Gildarts!
"No, there's never been anything like that. Fairy Tail is a guild in which anyone can join freely no matter who they are" Makarov asked curiously but Naruto turned to Gildarts in anger with a twitching eyebrow at the man-child, who was just grinning stupidly and laughing loudly.
"Gildarts, you overgrown man child! You said there was an exam! I spent the last few days revising and practicing for that!" Naruto yelled at him who just laughed out loud and fell onto the floor laughing. God damn it Gildarts! Naruto had to stay up nights reading and revising what was inside the books he got and practice his spells continuously without a break, and that left him nearly exhausted on some days.
"Oh man, your face! This is too funny!" he managed to choke out between his hard laughter and the rest of the bar started to join in, much to Naruto's annoyance. Gildarts really was too much at times, just like now. Stupid overgrown man-child.
"Sigh, you really are too much" Naruto voiced out his thoughts as Gildarts picked himself up and was slightly snickering to himself.
"Aww, don't be like that Naruto. You love reading books and training and that stuff, I bet you had a real kick out of it anyway and you did get in a good bit of training. You've gotten a heck of a lot stronger from that!" he placated the annoyed boy and ruffled his head with a grin.
"I suppose that's fair" Naruto had to give him that and Gildarts took the stamp from Makarov's hands who had fetched it from the shelf and pulled off Naruto's shirt, much to the latter's discomfort and then hit the stamp right at the same spot he had one but in black. A black fairy tail mark was right on his heart on the scar on his chest and before anyone could ask he picked his shirt back from Gildarts to cover it up.
"There, now you got the stamp in the same place I do. And it's black as well, your favourite colour" he said and Naruto couldn't help but smile a little as he put his black shirt back on while Cana in the back of the bar felt her heart break even more in jealously.
"Thanks, Gildarts" Naruto said softly as he felt the mark on his heart and he just grinned and then Gildarts turned to Makarov and his face got serious and so did Makarov's face as well. Now the games had ended.
"Master, I've got news to report on that mission I was on and Naruto is an important part of it" Gildarts said seriously and Makarov nodded while the rest of them were confused on what the boy had to do with the mission.
The news that Gildarts had found Zeref's son hadn't hit Magnolia yet but it would reach there in about a day by Naruto's estimate, so Naruto was worried a lot right now. He might have gotten a stamp but it meant nothing if they took the news like how he predicted
"Ok, we'll head to my office" Makarov said and Gildarts and Naruto both went up a flight of stairs following Makarov into his office. As they walked past several people were whispering to themselves at what kind of mission that Gildarts was on.
"So what happened on the mission and why is Naruto so involved into this mission" Makarov asked as he took a seat behind his desk inside a heavily cluttered office on the second floor, Naruto had to feel bad for the poor guy. He had giant stacks of paper littered throughout the place and most of it was letters of complaint of property damage, for being the top guild in Fiore they really had it tough because of the destruction they caused. Makarov must have been spending most of the Guild's income on the repairs of the damages caused by the guild.
"You want to get the big one out of the way?" Gildarts asked and Naruto started to fidget a little uncomfortably.
There was no point to hiding it, it was either Naruto told them on his own terms or they would find out within a day at the minimum when the rumours started to reach Magnolia. Dark Mages couldn't exactly take public trains, and certainly not the ones who saw Naruto so they had to spread it by word of mouth or letter, and as they were walking they saw that slowly the places were hearing about the news and it would reach Fairy Tail's ears soon.
"Sigh, yeah" Naruto relented after taking a deep breath and Makarov raised his eyebrow slightly at what the big secret was.
"I can do it if you don't want to-" Gildarts told him earnestly but Naruto shook his head.
"I'm not ashamed of it, I'm won't run away from it! I'm not proud of the things he's done, but he'll always be the father I love and owe everything to!" Naruto said determinedly and looked at Makarov right in the eye, "I was sealed inside that cave, it was a protection that my father placed on me because of how he wanted to protect me and how he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness! My father Zeref, the Black Mage!" Naruto told him directly.
Makarov was silent for a moment as he just processed what he heard, then transitioned to speechless and then pure flabbergast as his jaw was gaping down as his eyes started to boggle out comically as his hair was almost turning even more grey by the second if that was even possible, and then let out a rasping breath before face planting right onto his desk into a faint. Fairy Tail's Master Makarov, everyone and Naruto just sweatdropped at that, that wasn't quite what he was expecting.
"Woah, give him a warning next time. Don't just drop a bomb like that!" Gildarts exclaimed and tried to fan him with some air, then he tried to shake Makarov awake and then decided to use his go-to solution for any problem, hit it and then bashed his head with his fist and Makarov let out a yell from that one as his face went right through the desk and crumbled it to splinters and Makarov hit the ground with a thud and so did the stacks of paper on his desk.
"OW! What the hell! Why'd you do that!" Makarov yelled at Gildarts who looked sheepish as he often forgot his own strength at times and Naruto just stood there waiting for the verdict.
"Come on old man, don't let age catch up to you like this!" Gildarts joked and Makarov let out a sigh.
"I'm getting too old for this shit. So you're Zeref's son, are you sure about that? Can you show me some proof?" Makarov asked and Naruto nodded silently and replied.
"Dark Matter" Naruto said and put his palms together and created a sphere of Dark Matter from Darkness Magic and expanded it to a large size and Makarov stumbled backwards a bit at that one but as he looked at the red pupils with rings that Naruto had, he lost any doubt for it.
"How am I going to explain this one to the council?" Makarov thought as he could see a lot of power inside Naruto and started to feel his age acting up as he wondered how he was doing this, Naruto was only a young boy. But he could also see the loneliness in his eyes. He had no one for a long time, and Makarov couldn't let someone go through with that much pain by himself. It wasn't the way of Fairy Tail to do something like that. Their doors were open to anyone looking to join, no matter what.
"Ok, then why did your father seal you for protection?" Makarov asked, he was Zeref after all. The man had more power than people could give him credit for and he could easily deal with the problems that came his way.
"I was usually attacked and nearly killed by mages when my father left for a few minutes, one day when I was 10, I came too close to death when someone slashed me across the chest and father decided he couldn't take care of me at this rate so he sealed me, I think that was the full reason. Those seals were meant to open when the world forgot about Zeref, but those idiots broke it early" Naruto explained.
"WHAT! ATTACKED!" Gildarts yelled indignantly, "But you're a child! What the hell were they thinking in trying to murder a child in cold blood like that!" Gildarts roared angrily and wished he could crush their skulls in and Naruto was a little scared at that.
"G-gildarts?" Naruto said in shock and Gildarts rounded on him.
"Why didn't you tell me about that!" Gildarts asked and Naruto felt a chill rise up his spine but still stood his ground, he'd never falter just like his father.
"I-I don't want anyone to pity me! I didn't tell you because it's in the past and most of them are probably dead at this point!" Naruto told him fiercely and that seemed to calm down Gildarts as he took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down and apologised for the outburst.
"He's been through that much, is it wrong of me to pity him? He's too prideful to accept pity from anyone, only genuine intentions and not because they feel sorry for him. I can't help but feel impressed at the resolve it takes to live life like that" Makarov thought to himself with respect.
"Do I still get to join?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Of course you do" Makarov said softly and Naruto looked up at that, "It matters not who one's father is but their own actions, and you've done nothing to warrant such suspicion. You had no control over who would be your father but you still stand tall to this day. You're a member of the Fairy Tail guild, Naruto" Makarov said and Naruto smiled softly.
"Thank you" Naruto told him and Gildarts just patted him on the shoulder.
"What did I tell you? The Gildarts has yet to be wrong about anything" he said with a grin and Naruto felt his eye twitch at that, did he really just say that?
"I can count at the minimum 57 different scenarios where you were wrong about something. Most of them can be classified into getting drunk, starting brawls and trying to flirt with women each ending with the both of us getting kicked and chased out of towns several times. You cannot tell me that you of all people have never been wrong" Naruto told him with a deadpan and Gildarts just fell over.
"Would it kill you to be a little nicer to your elders, cheeky brat?" he argued back and Naruto just laughed at his reaction, well it was getting back at him for the last trick he pulled on him. Better add to his misery just in case.
"Mentally, you are about as old as a 5 year old, and nothing could ever say would convince me to puff up that hot-air balloon you call an ego" Naruto shot back with a clever smirk.
"Tch, you must be getting senile in old age if you can't see greatness incarnate. Maybe we need to get your eyes checked, gramps" Gildarts retorted with his go-to material and Naruto had a tick mark at that. Every damn time he had to remind him of that.
"For the final time, I am not a senior citizen. I am physically 10, mentally surpassing you and from the date of birth...still not that old" Naruto tried to form a defence and Gildarts just laughed at that, which only served to infuriate Naruto even more.
"What are you talking about?" Makarov asked confusedly.
"Oh yeah, master. Can you believe him, he was born in X700. That means he's about what, 75 years old! A 75 year old kid, man this is funny!" Gildarts said and Naruto started to get annoyed a lot at that, sure it wasn't normal but he was just put in stasis and thawed out. He never lived those 65 years, he only stayed in stasis, what was so funny about that? Makarov seemed to find it funny too and joined in with Gildarts on Naruto's misery.
"Hehe, that's a weird one. 75 year old child, talk about not acting one's age. He's not even in his own age!" Makarov joked and Naruto felt his eye twitch at that.
"Ugh, I am not the least bit bothered by your comments" Naruto huffed and turned around to them but they still kept laughing at him and that started to wear down his tolerance bit by bit.
"How's the back old man? I heard booster seats work for all ages, so no need to be ashamed!"
"Do I need to get mashed peas for you, they work for babies and the elderly, it's a two for one special!"
"Not bothered in the least" Naruto repeated with gritted teeth and they still kept trying to wear him down but ran out of jokes eventually. Naruto really wasn't going to handle this but he figured he might as well get used to it, and he wasn't old damn it!
"All right, fine. If that's all from Naruto the old toddler then you can go! Interact with your guild mates a little!" Makarov said cheerfully and Naruto was happy to get away from those two and their teasing but then remembered another issue that was still in the air.
As he was about to leave he turned around and asked, "What should I tell the rest of the guild about my father? I need to tell them as rumours will reach their ears soon, and I'd rather tell them on my own terms. I'm not proud of the things my Father's done but I still care for him all the same. Would that be acceptable in the guild?" Naruto asked.
Makarov frowned, like Naruto he was more of a realist than Gildarts from his age and experience. That would be rather negatively received, people are blind to hatred and Zeref had inflicted pain and misery into the land for eras at a time and his demons were a curse upon people. There was no telling how much damage his father caused but Naruto was allowed to think what he wanted about his father. He took in the information of what his father did and still loved him because what child could hate their father when he took utmost care for him when no one else cared about him.
A part of him wished that it was kept secret since it brought up a lot more problems for Naruto, if people with more nefarious intentions got wind of Zeref's son returning to this world he'd be the target of both dark mages and a few vengeful light mages and while Gildarts assured him that Naruto was strong enough to take on grown adults Makarov wasn't as confident in that statement, there were still opponents that you couldn't fight no matter how young you were. At the end of the day, he was still a boy.
But that all didn't matter because in the end it was his choice on what he wanted to do and was a little impressed at his resolve, he'd rather tell them all the truth than live a lie with them for a short time.
"Here's a piece of wisdom from an old man Naruto, there are no good or bad decisions in life but only consequences and you have to deal with them when they arrive" Makarov told him wisely and Naruto nodded in understanding, that was true. Naruto reflected on a few decisions that changed his life, going with his father was one of the big ones, learning magic from him as well, and his father's decision to seal him. All of these decisions had much bigger consequences that no one could predict, but like all decisions you always have to live with the consequences after.
"I understand, and my choice is to still love him. Hiding his identity means that I am ashamed of him being my father and it's an insult to all of his sacrifices over the years, and I will not be ashamed of him at all! Because he was the kindest man I knew. He endured so much for me, to protect me," Naruto said and turned his back to them with his resolve set in stone.
"Are you sure?" Makarov asked.
"I don't want to live a lie, he's my father and nothing will ever change that" Naruto told them and Makarov internally sighed at the boy's pride. Maybe if they tried to deny the rumours it might have a small chance of working, but the boy would never accept that. If Makarov tried to do that, Naruto would never stand for that. The boy wasn't ashamed to be Zeref's son and he never would.
"If you're not going to change your mind then go for it" Makarov told him and Naruto nodded and left the room, trying to formulate the exact words to tell these people but ultimately decided to be blunt and direct. He had the backing of their Guild Master and Ace, so even if it was negatively taken then he would still have the more important people on his side.
"Master, are people really going to do that? This is Fairy Tail, we're all family for crying out loud" Gildarts asked when Naruto left the room.
"Gildarts, I've lived a long time and I know that Zeref has caused misery and pain for millions with his actions. I don't know how people are going to take it, but I can only hope for the best" Makarov told him solemnly and Gildarts was starting to feel uneasy about his decision.
X776
Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Fairy Tail, Magnolia
"Hey the kid's back" one mage said as Naruto stepped out of the office and they all gave a slight cheer at that. Naruto wondered if the same would still be true after he dropped a bomb on them. Logically, the obvious answer was no but he still held hope, hope that they weren't like the rest of the world.
"Everyone, I have an announcement to make" Makarov called out as he followed out of the office and with Gildarts looking equally serious, deep down he didn't want to believe Makarov, but the man was much older and more experienced than him and was far wiser. But there was nothing else but to let this play out. Makarov stood over the second floor with Gildarts on one side and Naruto on the other side.
"This is about our newest member, Naruto" Makarov explained, "I have an announcement about how he came to be here now, and Naruto wishes for everyone to know about this" he said and they all started to mutter amongst themselves as they gathered around the first floor hall.
"In my mission, I was sent to a cave where Zeref, the dark mages, magic was concentrated heavily in it. The cultists thought a weapon was sealed in there but as it turns out, that wasn't the case. After I was done beating the cultists, I rescued Naruto who was sealed in the cave by Zeref" Gildarts said and they started to mutter darkly.
"Man, what gives. Zeref sealed a kid like that"
"It's no wonder he was the most evil mage in history"
"Just saying that monster's name gives me shivers"
Naruto started to look down in sadness and gritted his teeth, it was still his father they were talking about like that and it hurt him to hear that, but they didn't know the good in his father, he wasn't a completely heartless monster! They didn't know him so what right did they have to say all those things, in Naruto's perception only someone who has actually known him has the right to say that and Gildarts put a reassuring hand on his shoulder that made Naruto smile a little with the warmth and Cana start to feel more jealous. It gave Naruto a bit more strength to speak up.
"Please everyone" Naruto hissed, "Just shut up" he told them sharply and they all looked at him in surprise.
For better or worse, what he was about to say would change his life. He could look back on his moment in relief or frustration or sadness or a myriad of different emotions, and he knew he would. But he had long since made his choice on what to say and he decided to never regret anything. His father lived with a plague of regrets and didn't want his son to do that either. So he wouldn't regret it, any action he took it would be his responsibility and he would accept his decision.
"Stop talking like that about him!" Naruto said a bit louder and grappled their attention as they were all looking at Naruto like he was utterly nuts and Naruto looked the crowd dead in the eye and spoke one of the most important sentences in his life.
"Zeref is my father!" he proclaimed to the hall of wizards.
A minute of silence was heard across the hall as each and every wizard was dumbfounded by what the boy had just uttered. Zeref, the most infamous, evil, ruthless, notorious and black hearted monster to plague their lands...had a son!
Zeref, who was well known for invading Fiore, a peaceful nation unprovoked and led a regime across the land. He slaughtered thousands of troops personally, slew royalty of Fiore and their greatest warriors, subjugated their people and forced them to live in oppression and fear as they spent years under his tyranny and evil rule. Eventually his regime was defeated, but at great costs as their forces were easily destroyed by the fighting, leaving millions as orphans and widows.
Then there were the monsters he created, Etherious. If his own feats weren't bad enough, each one of his demons were even worse. They had continued to plague the land to this day, eternally existing through time and falling into the wrong hands, being unleashed and slaughtering hundreds, if not thousands on mindless rampages or their own sick twisted sense of pleasure.
Then his cultists, mad man who sought for his power and legacies that he had scattered across Fiore. They would ruthlessly murder and sacrifice innocent villages in archaic rituals in hopes to resurrect their "master" in hopes of power. Their own people, their own comrades were still being twisted by that madman and to this day, kidnapping children, raping women and slaughtering thousands in hopes to seek out Zeref.
Zeref may have just underplayed just how evil he was to Naruto and how much damage he caused, by a much larger margin than what they thought.
It only took one wizard who started to fearfully shake in his knees and collapse on the ground and scream out in fear before the grips of terror quickly spread across the entire crowd.
"Arggh! RUN!" one screamed.
"Someone call the Rune Knights!"
"You let that demon spawn join!"
People were braying in fear and panic, confusion and hysteria and it wouldn't take long until someone had called for something more sinister, vengeance and blood. The people across the country were still being tormented by Zeref and his dark legacy to this day, his darkness gripping their nation for centuries. And that monster's son had just joined their guild.
Naruto felt his heart rip into pieces and shatter, repressed memories of his earlier days before meeting his father coming into mind and memories during their travels as well. He remembered the expressions of anger across the peoples faces from the Rulid village, as he was treated horribly by the villagers and each one looking more mindless and fearsome as he remembered. A few tears started to well up from his eyes as he felt his shoulders shake and a few sobs almost choke out, but he refused to cry. Or let them see him cry. His father always felt pain when he saw his son cry, so he made sure no one would ever have to see it.
Unable to take the pain, and responding naturally as he had all his life to this sort of reaction from the people around him, Naruto decided to run, keep running, he needed to escape and not just that, he wanted to escape. Before anyone tried to kill him again, and that was what he did. It was foolish to delude himself into thinking that he would be accepted, maybe Makarov and Gildarts were exceptions but the rest of the world wouldn't be anything like them.
Naruto broke Gildarts grip, the man already too stunned from what his guildmates were spewing and Naruto had become a small blur as he quickly used Dark Matter to blow a hole in a window at the side of the stairs and jumped out the window and landed on the floor to the side of the guild and with his small legs, he ran as fast as he could.
Just running, like he had done all his life and the tight clenching pain in his heart burst out again.
"SILENCE!" Makarov boomed as he quickly turned into a titanic size and slammed the ground with a violent landing and the people around him were near horrified at the expression on the master's face.
"I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE ASHAMED OF MY OWN CHILDREN!" Makarov boomed out at them and they backed away slightly from the pressure Makarov was emitting, "THAT WAS A 10 YEAR OLD BOY! HIS FATHER SEALED HIM IN THERE BUT HE HAS DONE NO WRONGS! HE IS A CHILD FOR MAVIS'S SAKE! ARE YOU ALL SO BLIND THAT YOU'RE PUSHING HIS FATHER'S ACTIONS ONTO AN INNOCENT BOY!" he screamed at the top of his lungs at the crowd who started to shake a little at Makarov's anger.
They may have been almost catatonic with fear at the Master being pissed but his words did get through into a few people, they did consider his words but then they couldn't stomach it. They denied it.
"Master, he might have just lied about being innocent. This is the ZEREF'S son we're talking-" one mage tried to reason but that was all one very pissed of mage could take.
With a titanic crash and bang a loud explosion was generated from someone jumping down from the second floor and hitting the ground with an epic crash and tables, chairs and people were thrown back in an explosion. As the dust settled they saw one very large, very pissed off mage who had just punched the ground and he stood up.
The normally smiling, jovial and friendly Gildarts was replaced with one completely different mage entirely. With veins bulging out of his forehead, narrowed pupils and an angry snarl the man had almost transformed completely as he glared at the guild.
"WHO SAID THAT!" Gildarts yelled out at the stunned crowd, most buckling over onto their knees from the intense pressure Gildarts was putting out.
When no one replied, Gildarts just continued, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ALL! CAN A CHILD ASK WHO HIS PARENTS ARE GOING TO BE! HE DIDN'T ASK FOR ZEREF TO BE HIS FATHER, HE DIDN'T ASK TO BE SEALED, HE DIDN'T ASK TO BE UNSEALED BY CULTISTS BUT I'LL BE DAMNED IF I JUST ABANDON A CHILD! I TRAVELLED WITH HIM AND HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST KIDS I EVER MET! THIS GUILD WAS FOUNDED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF FAMILY AND NARUTO IS ALMOST LIKE THE CHILD I NEVER HAD!"
They entire guildhall was shaking uncontrollably from the magic that Gildarts was outputting and Makarov had recovered from his rage after seeing Gildarts get pissed and telling out what he thought about all of this and realised something, where did Naruto go? Then he saw the hole in the window and put two and two together.
"Gildarts, calm down! Naruto just left! We have to go back for him, it's not safe" Makarov tried to placate him before Magnolia became a crater and Gildarts tried his best to calm the storm inside him, the rage bubbling away uncontrollably as he tried to get a grip on himself. He failed since when he was pissed, one hell of a shit storm was going to brew.
"Old man, you get him" Gildarts told Makarov between breaths as he tried to calm himself, "I-I I don't want him to see me like this and scare him" Gildarts snarled and the rage and anger had yet to leave his face. Anyone who saw a pissed off Gildarts would get nightmares for sure.
"Then I can count on you to show these children the consequences of their actions?" Makarov told them seriously and they started to shiver at that as Gildarts had a dark smirk.
"Yeah, you could say that. The old policy goes, no one hurts my family and...the time I spent with him, he's like the family I never had. And trust me, no one hurts my family" Gildarts growled at the guild as Crush Magic started to gather on his fist.
A lesson would be learnt, that was for sure. If anyone tried to hurt Naruto, they'd have to answer to Gildarts, and may god help them.
Naruto ran as fast as he could before tiring out and reaching the embankment of a lake, it was the afternoon and the sun was beating down on everyone and the sweat from running as fast as he could topped with his water loss made Naruto stop at a lake. He'd need to stay hydrated and lakes were good enough for freshwater.
He put his hands in the lake and brought up water to wash his face and some to drink and he choked on the taste of mud and dirt mixed in the water and as the sun was still at peak and the woods that he had ran into seeming endless, he collapsed onto his knees at the bank.
Here he was alone, and here he could cry.
What else could he do? The bitterness, and unfairness of the whole situation was overwhelming as his heart was starting to shatter into glass and fragment as hot tears poured down his face in a stream.
For a few weeks, he had almost bought this story. A story of a guild where people wouldn't judge you, and he could have...friends. The thought elated him more than anything and he was anticipating it. Logic had tried to argue in his head that the odds of the unlikely was rather low, but he trusted Gildarts completely, he was one of the greatest people he knew and he couldn't help but hope.
And it hurt more than anything to have that hope turned into despair as he looked at his reflection. Ripples across the water had distorted it but he could see a tired, dishevelled, boy with dead dull green eyes, night black hair and streams of tears pouring down as he sobbed to himself silently and a trickle of water almost ran down his nose.
All of this, what did he do to deserve this? This...unfairness. He usually tried his best to not complain about life, his father knew that and Naruto had done his best to make sure his father would be happy, but deep down he was afraid of being abandoned by him like the orphanage had done to him and Naruto just, couldn't take any more of this as he wanted to pull out his hair in anger and frustration.
He wanted to curse someone, anyone for this. But there was no one. He couldn't curse his father, despite anything he did, he was the greatest father and the only family he had ever had. He wanted to curse the rest of the people, but they were victims and logically his father had hurt them all, killing their loved ones, sometimes he just hated the fact that logic was integrated into his mind, he wanted to be unreasonable and say it was their fault but he couldn't think that. He wanted to curse himself, but even in his state, he knew this wasn't his fault. And the pain of keeping all that negative emotion with no outlet anywhere was worse than the most fatal poison that could ever exist.
"What was the point anymore? Why try? Why live?" These thoughts invaded his mind, he had no one. He would be no one. And everyone wanted him to not even be anyone or exist for that matter. But he could remember his father, and all he had sacrificed to live, he had always fought to the brink of exhaustion to protect Naruto and such actions would be like spitting on all the blood that his tired and exhausted father had given to protecting his life, Zeref wasn't infallible and he would suffer wounds in battle and Naruto could clearly see that despite his father trying to hide it. But Zeref wasn't even here anymore either to console Naruto, his plan had failed.
And he never felt more alone. And that pain was driving his body through hell.
"NARUTO!" a voice called out and Naruto's head snapped up to the source. He tried to run, but the emotional pain had hit him like a sledgehammer and he collapsed back onto his knees again.
"Naruto! There you are" Makarov said as he slightly panted as his small figure came into the riverbank as he saw Naruto's face marred with tears before he tried to conceal it and he couldn't feel worse than how he felt right now.
Fairy Tail had failed.
"M-master" Naruto managed to say and tried to keep his voice normal but was failing and couldn't hold back anymore chokes or sobs, "I-it's ok, I'll j-just leave. I'm s-sorry for the trouble I caused" he tried to say and did his best to shakily stand up again.
"I'm sorry, so very very sorry..." Makarov whispered sadly and Naruto gritted his teeth, that sure sounded familiar to him, excuses and he was just like all the rest, he never really cared about- "...my children have failed and I couldn't be more...disappointed in them" he said looking guiltier than ever and Naruto turned in surprise and still had tears on his face.
"W-what?" Naruto said in bewilderment and Makarov, who wasn't too shorter or smaller than Naruto approached him and wrapped his arms around Naruto in an embrace.
"I will never ask a child to leave. Nor can I let a child of mine into the dangerous world on their own" Makarov said to the frozen Naruto, "I will not turn you away or let you leave and I promise that from here on out I will do my utmost to purge the sadness and pain inside you, that I promise on my own life. So please, do not leave child, any young fairy will never be turned away as long as I am the Master of this guild" he told earnestly.
Naruto felt his eyes widen and his heart almost stop as he heard those words and he couldn't detect any hint of dishonestly in his voice and could feel the same warmth in his own father's embrace. Why, why did he just choose him over almost his entire guild? It made no logical sense!
"W-why?" Naruto asked.
"It's not pity, it's because I want to do this. Is it wrong to accept kindness? Is it wrong for me to offer a hand to suffering souls, because that was what Fairy Tail has always prided itself on. Helping out even the most troubled of people, it was there since I was born. It saddens me to see that it's being forgotten in this day by my children. But you know, when someone offers you a hand, it's not because of pity, it's because they don't want to see people suffer alone" Makarov told him and Naruto stood silent before breaking down into tears and hugging Makarov Dreyar as tightly as he could.
He didn't know how long he stood there, but it was for that moment, he would forever respect Makarov Dreyar.
X776
Felix Lake, Edge of Magnolia
After what could have felt like hours, Naruto and Makarov eventually just sat down at the riverbank, Makarov just wanted to spare some time to talk to Naruto and he couldn't feel more grateful for the man.
"I'm sorry for running off, Master" Naruto told Makarov sincerely.
"Ah, it's ok. You did what any child would have done, and you had more guts than more men I've ever met. There's nothing to apologise for. But remember this, running away from anything doesn't solve anything. Sometimes you have to always stand your ground!" Makarov said staunchly and they started to skip stones across the river to pass time.
"I-I don't run away from most things" Naruto tried to defend himself.
"It's easy to not run away from something like a fight, heck most of the trouble I have to deal with is because these idiots don't drop a fight. But remember, at times like this where the pain hits you on the inside, you have to stand your ground. It will make you a bigger man by far and you can only run so far" Makarov told him wisely.
"..." Naruto was silent, all his life he had kept running away whether it was to Zeref or Gildarts and from his pain, but Makarov was right, you can't keep running away from everything. Where was his honour, he'd fight to the death when it came to defending his father, but when it really counted he kept running. And he refused to do that, he'd shed that part of him. When it really counted, when it was more important than ever, he'd not run.
"You there Naruto?" Makarov asked concerned.
"I won't run away, not anymore. That's a promise!" Naruto told him with a new resolve and Makarov promised.
"That's good to hear, I'd hate to have to chase after you again. You sure can run fast, that's for sure. Remember something I've always learned in life, a man's worth is only judged by the promises he upholds" Makarov told him and Naruto grinned.
"Then I'll never break a promise!" Naruto told him with a smirk, that would be something he'd uphold with all his life and Makarov grinned, he liked this kid's determination. It was a first impression but Naruto had logic and eagerness in spades, added with enthusiasm but also had a negative outlook in life when things got bad. But some things were very strong in him, his determination to prove himself to the people he cared about and his honour. He was like no child he had ever met before.
Naruto picked up a pebble from the bank and with a sharp twist of his wrist sent the pebble hopping across the surface, "Thank you" Naruto told Makarov as he looked down a little. It was the first thing he wanted to say to that man who managed to ease the pain that was almost overwhelming him inside.
"For what?" Makarov asked as he threw his own pebble.
"For accepting me" Naruto said as he tossed another pebble to look away.
"It's nothing, I will always stand by our base principles. Fairy Tail will always accept anyone, regardless of their pasts. In time, I know they will change. Men can only go so far by denying the truth until it finally dawns on them. You are a good child and I know you can become a great man, and in time they will too. Please just give them a chance to see the truth" Makarov told him honestly and Naruto felt his heart warm at that.
...
...
...
"Heh" Naruto said with a smile and threw a pebble, "Don't need it" he said with a smile.
"What?" Makarov asked surprisedly.
"Father had always told me something" Naruto said and looked at the sky and thought back to his father's wisdom, "The root of the sin of envy stems from jealously. A desire to seek more than what one already has, can turn humans into more terrible demons than father has ever created. Life has a tendency to give you what you need sometime sooner or later, the most important thing is to cherish what you have rather than what you don't" he said and looked at Makarov.
"I already have two people who care for me, Gildarts and you, yourself Master. I don't need more than that. If people choose to see me as what I am then that's ok, if they delude themselves then that's ok as well. It might change in time, but as long as I have some people with me, then that's all I need" Naruto said with a smile.
He didn't need to try and keep proving himself to deluded fools, if the times from Rulid Village had taught him anything it was that sometimes that was more counter productive than anything. He'd keep walking forwards, and eventually people might open their eyes. But continuously running up and down Magnolia, shouting that he'd prove himself to all of them was something that he wasn't going to do, it was pointless. They might realise their mistake in time, but they might not. He only wanted to prove himself to the people he cared about, and continue on his journey to surpass his father.
Naruto wanted to keep the people he did have close to him and cherish what he did have. If they did realise their mistake, then he'd bury the hatchet. He didn't want to be the only deluding themselves and holding onto hatred, then he'd be the illogical blind idiot. He couldn't change the fact that his father did hurt almost everyone across the country and maybe even the continent but if they did see the truth then he'd be willing to end it then and there, and let them in as well.
For now, he'd just keep walking forwards and never run away from any pain they threw at him.
"You should have more, you of all people deserve more" Makarov said earnestly, "What most people take for granted, you value above all others. I can't imagine the life you've lead or the sheer strength it took to keep a pure heart after all of that, Naruto, you are something else entirely. And I promise to you, the future may look scary but like every storm, it will pass to a brighter sky" he told wisely and Naruto looked away embarrassed at that, but smiling as his words reached deep into him.
"Thank you" Naruto managed to reply to that. He wasn't really used to other people complimenting him other than his father.
Changing the subject, Makarov wondered something for a while. "Tell me, Naruto. Do you have any dreams?" he asked.
"Dreams?" Naruto questioned.
"Yes, dreams. I always dreamed for adventures, excitement and comrades and I ended up here. Leader of the Fairy Tail guild" Makarov gave an example.
Naruto had to think about that for a while, but remembered an age old question he asked himself from childhood, why was he born?, and decided to tell Makarov his answer, "I've always wondered, why was I born?" Naruto told him and Makarov looked at him in surprise.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I've always wondered that. Normal people just go about, living life...so normally. They are born, grow, learn, get a job, settle, aim for a family, then pass away. Is that what makes them happy? Is that what they want?" Naruto said and threw another pebble across the lake, skipping at each stage of life. "I just wanted...to be happy I guess" Naruto said.
"Happy?" Makarov questioned.
"Just happy" Naruto told with a shrug of his shoulders, "It's not really the biggest or most ambitious dream but that's all I've really wanted out of life. To be happy, even if it's finding something new in life, getting into hijinks with Gildarts, or just making a friend as rare as that would be, I just want to be happy. And keep it that way, the people around me who care about me are the ones who make me happy, so I'll protect them as best as I can!" he told Makarov who had to smile widely, he was the shining example of a member of Fairy Tail.
"I think I understand, but is that all, what happens after you're happy?" Makarov asked.
"I don't know, I guess I've never really thought much about the future" Naruto told him simply.
"That's fair enough, most people don't think too far into the future that until their older but it's clear you're a lot wiser than you let on," Makarov said and broke into a grin, "Then again, a geezer like you must be pretty old to sprout wise stuff like that" he joked with a smirk and Naruto stumbled slightly on the throw and the pebble hit the water with a loud splash.
"For the last time! I am not an old man!" Naruto told him exasperatedly and Makarov just let out a belly laugh.
"Hehe, just messing with you!" Makarov said with a laugh as Naruto just groaned and sat down, "But I suppose what you said is true. I spent a good time looking for dreams, adventure and excitement. And I did find it, but I found something else. Just doing that and being around my family made me happy, and that's all I want for Fairy Tail, to cherish everyone so they can stay happy because they give me the same feeling. It's like my own meaning to life and what I consider life to be all about..." he said and threw a stone.
"I always think of life as if it was the greatest creation that could possibly exist, no magic could ever be comparable to the beauty of life itself. Every life has a purpose and meaning to it, life is the most beautiful thing in the world and it can never be tainted no matter what anyone says to you. So seize it, life might only come once. So why waste it? You were born for something, so keep going!" he said with a kind smile and Naruto smiled softly to that. He'd always remember to keep going, no matter what.
"Now that does sound like the words of an aged man well past his prime" Naruto quipped at Makarov who felt a tick mark at that.
"Hey! Shows what you know you geezer-child! I'll still be kicking butts and taking names long after you start to look your damned age!" Makarov snapped at Naruto who did his best to not laugh at the childish reaction.
"Sure, sure. I'll be sure to stop by with a bowl of warm soup and mashed peas for you, at such an age I doubt you'd have the strength to defeat a toddler, let alone me. Then again, with the size of a toddler right now, who knows how-" Naruto said without thinking before feeling a shadow cast over him and thought it was strange, the sky was clear throughout the afternoon and then he looked up to see Makarov towering over him.
"You were saying?" the giant said as Naruto started to turn a little pale as he really put his foot in the mouth this time.
"Hehehe" Naruto laughed weakly, "Of course, with Giant Magic, the odds of you doing such feats skyrocket immensely...please don't sit on me" Naruto quickly tried to placate the giant, or get thrown like a pebble himself.
"That's better, kids these days need to learn to respect their elders!" the giant said with a grin and shrunk back to Makarov, while Naruto was just mentally reminding himself to not do anything stupid to him. That Giant Magic was just plain scary.
X776
Fairy Tail, Magnolia
After Naruto got back, the guild hall had certainly changed. More to be from the huge craters and unconscious bodies that were littered around the place, like all over the place. And at the centre of the chaos, Gildarts just stood there grinning while Makarov's hairs literally dropped off his head as he turned as white as a sheet and hit his knees at what happened to his guild.
"Hehe, man. It's been a while since I joined in one of the guild fights" he said sheepishly as Makarov finally fainted at the damage dealt, the place was an absolute wreck and Gildarts just laughed at that, his master really was getting really old!
"You really have no sense of restraint" Naruto sighed as he saw some of the limp bodies groaning. They did hurt Naruto, but with his new resolve he wouldn't let any of the pain they threw at him get to him so was breaking most of the bones in their bodies going a little too far, oh well.
"Hey, I do have restraint" Gildarts argued but to Naruto's raised eyebrow that argument fell apart almost instantly, "If I didn't then trust me, the city might be a crater" he tried to argue and Naruto just shook his head at that, well it was true after all. Gildarts going all out could create a ton of damage.
"So wanna crash with me for the day? I'll be sticking around for a while till you get settled in, then I'm hitting the road" Gildarts told Naruto who nodded. He didn't really have many other options since it looked like Makarov was done for the day as he was knocked out while muttering something about "costs", "damage" and "Gildarts".
"One can only hope your house isn't a crater as well" Naruto remarked back to Gildarts smartly.
"Ha ha, very funny. Keep it up and I'll drop you in a crater" Gildarts said and Naruto just grinned back at the man, he really was, despite all of his immense power, kinder than most people gave him credit for. Together, they left Fairy Tail to turn in for the day and unpack whatever they had on person.
Meanwhile as the scene was playing out, a girl who was hiding behind the bar counter while this all happened couldn't help but grit her teeth when Gildarts hoisted Naruto onto his shoulders, it just wasn't fair in the slightest, Not one bit at all. That should have been her on her father's shoulder, not him. She sobbed silently behind the counter at the sight of her father replacing her with another child, it just wasn't fair.
Generally over the coming days, Naruto could sum up Fairy Tail as a Cold War-zone.
Gildarts had made it very painfully clear with his message. One hair touched on Naruto's head, and may God help them because Gildarts would obliterate them into nothingness. That was if Master didn't get to you first, he would usually tank out one of his most infamous punishments if he saw anything, meaning that most of Fairy Tail knew better than to try and hurt Naruto.
That didn't mean they had to be nice to Naruto either, but growing up with glares and hateful remarks Naruto just shook it off and ignored them, he really couldn't care less about people who thought of him like that. Naruto in turn treated them with only the required amount of decency, he wouldn't go out of his way to insult or antagonize others but if attacked verbally on a personal level, he felt he had justification for returning that in kind, he did get a good deal of practice with Gildarts on that. If it was just a whisper or insult behind his back, he just ignored it.
Naruto made it clear to them, that despite whatever pain Zeref had caused them, he was still not ashamed of his father since he raised him from childhood, that was something that rankled badly on most of Fairy Tail who had a new member who was actually proud of the most infamous and notorious dark mage in the history of Fiore itself.
That wasn't to say Naruto was helpless either. The mages that would hunt him down as a child were much older, more powerful and much more experienced and a life time of dealing with them had taught Naruto to adapt and strategies during fights. He could easily take down mages and adults even greater 10 years older than him and there were quite a few who tried to attack him from outside the Guild but against most of the A class mages, he would struggle without a proper plan in place.
S-Class mages like Gildarts and Makarov was completely out of the question, he wasn't anywhere near as strong to challenge either of them to a fight. That was just asking to get creamed into paste, even if they were his only friends and family.
It seemed that all he really had was Gildarts and Makarov.
Gildarts was known for only staying for a few days at a time, but he chose to stay longer for Naruto's sake and remind anyone that he was still there. He also wanted to cheer up his new family member by sticking around longer for him and took short term missions to be there for Naruto more often, much to the jealously of a brown haired little girl that her father only stuck around to be around another child who he literally found in a cave.1
Makarov was also similar, he'd keep an eye out for Naruto and Naruto would pay visits to the old man every now and then in his office or out at the lake where they talked before and just skip stones and talk about different topics and Naruto felt happy that he finally had a fellow intellectual to talk to. He might have been occasionally completely ridiculous at times with his perversion and drinking problems that could even put Gildarts to shame, but Naruto just set that as a standard among the mages.
And as fate would have it, those two weren't his only friends...
X776
Vulpes Woods, Edge of Magnolia
As Naruto was sitting on his own in the woods, he finished his workout/training and reequipped out his clothes for new ones and accidentally got the wrong one which was the god awful orange jumpsuit from Gildarts and felt something in his pocket. He quickly checked his pant pocket and found a small book in there that didn't belong to him.
"Where did this come from?" Naruto wondered, the book at the engraving of 9 on the cover with a picture of a nine tailed fox on the other side and Naruto looked at the handwriting on the title which read "Kurama" and realised where this came from.
"Father!" Naruto thought as he remembered. Right before he was put in stasis, his father slipped a book into his pocket, and then after that Gildarts changed his clothes to that orange monstrosity and placed his notebooks inside the same jumpsuit. But a book? Wait, could this be one of his own legendary Etherious! A rush of thoughts overwhelmed him.+
Now if he was some reckless, orange jumpsuit wearing, ramen high idiot he might have just opened the book and-whoa where did that come from? Needless to say, Naruto thought his actions through properly before executing them.
"There's a good chance this is an Etherious, it has Father's Living Magic signature on it. I highly doubt he would leave a book that could teach me that so it's most likely an Etherious. But the better question is why? And also whether this is going to backfire? Father may have left the demon for protection, or to serve as a form of guide, or maybe even just a pet for my birthday, and but way it is still Father's creation so I doubt it could backfire if he gave it to me personally, right?" Naruto thought. He couldn't just see the writing inside the book, since it had to be opened to do that and that meant that the demon was going to be set free.
"Ok, I'll open it" Naruto thought and as he opened the front cover and the moment he did that, black writing spewed from it, spiralling and sprawling over the clearing and Naruto dropped the book and backed away with a grunt as a tendril of the writing immediately went right at Naruto who almost stumbled slightly as he could feel something binding to him. After a few seconds the book started to dematerialise and became completely letters before congregating back into a solid form, although this time the letters started to bind into a shape.
After all the letters had reappeared back into the original spot, where Naruto dropped the book. He was now holding a fox. A fox with nine tails. The fox was about the size of a young baby fox, barely able to balance the disproportionate mass of its head and tails to get a form of balance but overall...with cute long rabbit ears, big eyes even if they were red and beastlike, soft orange fur, this had to be the cutest Etherious ever made! (Note: Think Chibi Kurama or when Kurama was born)
"Ughh, the hell happened?" a voice said and Naruto crouched down to the fox as he realised it spoke before and went at eye level with the beast, it was really, really cute. He couldn't deny that, as the beast made eye contact and Naruto approached it carefully.
"Hello, who are you?" Naruto asked but the fox snapped suddenly and it's tails moved around wildly as the beast snarled and Naruto took a few steps back and was surprised, why did his dad leave him this? He backed away as the fox didn't like anyone in it's personal space apparently.
"Hey, who the hell are you? What the hell is going on?" the beast asked.
"Calm down, I don't understand either. Father just gave me your book and I've just opened it" Naruto explained and the fox's eyes widened.
"Yeah, well your father must be pretty dumb. I'm an ETHERIOUS! A DEMON! And you puny human have set me free!" it growled and cackled out in its best impression of an evil cackle but Naruto just sweat dropped at the pitch of the beasts voice, it really wasn't intimidating.
"My father's name is Zeref, just so you know" Naruto deadpanned to the Etherious who was bad mouthing its creator and it almost fell over its paws and nearly hit it's face on the ground before quickly recovering like nothing just happened while Naruto just sweat dropped even harder at that, did it know how bad it was at intimidating in that baby form?
"HOLY SHIT!" the creature said in exclamation before tumbling back, and quickly rebalancing himself, "ARE YOU KIDDING! That's gotta be a lie!" the fox denied with a furious shake of his head and Naruto sighed, well he could prove this easily.
Naruto clapped his hands together and drawing them to the sides with a look of focus and drawing them apart to reveal two magical circles in his palms circling in opposite directions with multiple concentric circles inside it and from the centre of the magic a few black particles started to congregate before forming a perfect sphere of inky black energy and activated his Mystic Eyes.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto called out and held the sphere in one hand and then threw the sphere at a tree, creating a hole clean inside it and the fox was immediately silenced and Naruto deactivated his eyes as the fox's denial ended and then instead looked thoughtful about it as he approached Naruto slowly and carefully, and Naruto made it clear that he wasn't going to hurt the fox.
"Sniff, sniff" the fox sniffed loudly as the being drew close and started to sniff Naruto's palms and looked a lot more serious as the fox backed away respectfully and almost bowed, but it was clear that it was forced to do so as the expression of disgust hadn't left it's face.
"Ok, so you were telling the truth. But just because you're the Master's son doesn't mean shit! I'm not taking orders from some brat!" the fox growled and tried to get into a defence but Naruto shook his head.
"I won't force you to do anything if you don't want to, but I would recommend against going out on your own. The world isn't exactly friendly to Etherious and they would easily try to kill you at the first sight. You don't have to stay with me but if your best plan is to do that, then I will not stop you" Naruto said as he sat down under the tree, this might take a while as the fox was quite a stubborn looking Etherious, well he wasn't one to talk about stubbornness. It was unwise of the fox to run off on its own, with it's power and size it would be killed easily and reflected on this scene, it was just like the scene between Gildarts and him. How ironic. Although unlike Gildarts, he was going to be as polite as he could be if he wanted to earn the fox's trust.
"Tch, and so what? Better die free than live in subjugation!"the fox snarled.
"Why would I subjugate you?" Naruto asked curiously.
"That's what humans do" the fox said, "I used to be a normal fox that lived in the woods with a family and the rest of the forest ecosystem, for years our home was stable and had nothing that would warrant chaos. Until humans showed up, humans slaughtered the forest by chopping trees to build settlements, then chopping down more life for farmland, then hunting down the rest of us for fur and meat. They destroyed our ecosystem, destabilised it and ended it all. Then we were domesticated into pets, I was never going to lower myself to a pet to a human so I was killed by them. It was then Zeref found my body and I was the first being reborn into an Etherious, I may be a baby now but I'd rather die now rather than get enslaved!" the fox growled.
There was a silence as any other person would have jabbered on about how sorry they were on bringing it up or trying to console him but Naruto knew better as he sat down and listened to the argument and formed his own inside his mind. He felt that he was only looking at this one way.
"You could see it that way" Naruto said after a silence when he pondered the fox's argument after thinking about what was said after a while, "You could also argue it from both sides. Humans did what all animals do innately, survive. They chopped wood and built homes for shelter from nature's harshest moments, then grew farms for food and hunted animals as a predator would to the prey. I do condone domesticating your kin, that was wrong to do but some animals such as wolves were domesticated in order for both animals to survive better as they worked together, but overall in survival is there any good or bad?".
"MY FAMILY DIED!" the fox yelled.
"And hundreds of human families died as well in the battle for survival, I want to say I'm sorry or something like that but I know better" Naruto told him, "You're too prideful to accept pity, kind of like me I guess." he said with a smile.
The fox had no reply to that, instead choosing to growl at Naruto who didn't flinch because...well it was the size of a baby fox, like a kitten!
"I'm not supporting what those people did, but I certainly don't call them devils. Humans have done much worse actions than what you described and believe me, I know just how terrible humans can be. They can be true demons themselves," Naruto told the fox clearly who stopped growling and looked confused.
"I don't get it, you're human" the fox said, "By nature, Etherious are your enemies since we're demons. Yet, you call your own race demons?" the fox said, puzzled by the logic that this human child had.
"Both sides aren't just good and evil, both sides are equally good and bad in each respect" Naruto explained as he sighed and put his hands in his pockets, philosophy really did pass down from his father to the son.
"I don't follow" the fox asked again.
"There isn't just a line separating those two and putting one side at good and evil. Some humans and demons can be evil, sometimes one more than the other and some humans can be good, and so can demons" Naruto explained and the fox just snorted.
"A good human? A good demon? Yeah, and I ate the Easter Bunny!" the fox snorted derisively.
"I like to think my father was a good human" Naruto told him seriously and the fox looked dumbfounded by that.
"Kid, you do know your dad, well...he kinda was-" the fox tried to think of something to explain this.
"I know he was a man who committed atrocities" Naruto said and sighed as he looked up, "But deep down, I'm just a stubborn brat" he said with a smile and continued, "Despite what all I have heard about my father, I just can't relate it to him. He saved my life, raised me and taught me to get stronger and made me genuinely happy. I accept he did horrible crimes, but no matter what anyone says I will stand by what I've believed in. My father was someone I will never be ashamed of," he said and the fox looked stricken slightly as the Etherious didn't know how to reply to that.
"And I don't know many good demons, but Father created them so there must be something in that. And besides, most Etherious straight up attack humans yet you haven't done so. I can see you might me an example of a good demon" Naruto said with a smile and the fox just snorted.
"Yeah, no. Trust me, if I could I would have pummelled you black and blue" the fox denied but pointed to him with a paw, "But in case you haven't noticed, I'm kinda stuck like this! I'd be lucky to hunt a rabbit at this rate" the fox groaned in humiliation.
"Well, one can't deny that you do look rather-well um" Naruto said and tried to find a way to tell him this.
"Look like what?" the fox asked with narrowed eyes.
"Cute" Naruto told him directly and the fox was triggered.
"I'M NOT CUTE! I'LL SHOW YOU CUTE! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO CUTE THAT HE COULD BE A PLUSHY TOY! YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET BIGGER! I'LL SHOW YOU CUTE!" the fox roared but still in it's current high pitch and Naruto didn't know how to respond to this, another sweat drop or try his best to hold in his snickers?
The fox's triggered rant was suddenly cut off by a loud rumbling noise that was coming nearby and Naruto turned his head up to find the source and saw that it was from the fox who was clearly embarrassed as it turned it's face away and tried to hide under its tails. God damn it, it was cute without even trying!
"I thought Etherious didn't have to eat?" Naruto asked the demon who mumbled out the answer.
"I've been reborn into an Etherious you moron! I still have to eat, sleep and grow and all that stuff!" the fox growled but it was muffled heavily.
"Here, I'll handle this" Naruto said and activated his father's eyes and the pupils turned red with a circle around them as Naruto quickly scanned the areas around him for any life and saw a large, plump rabbit hiding behind a cluster of bushes about 50 metres away. His eyesight was improved a lot when he used his Mystic Eyes and he could scan the environment to find sources of magic or life around him.
Naruto just held one hand to the side of his head and let out a slight breath and his hand got into a grip pose, like he was holding an imaginary dart and then a magic circle popped up in front of him and it emitted particles of light that condensed onto the hand and formed a thin, sharp piece of light and Naruto took a step forward and threw the dart forwards.
"Piercing Heaven!" Naruto called out as the dart left his hands almost instantly.
The dart rushed forwards at tremendous speed and zoomed through the bushes and trees, creating clean holes in them as the attack travelled the distance in a matter of seconds and hit the tree right next to the rabbit and let off a loud flash of light.
"You missed!" the fox said with a grin but turned to see Naruto still focused with another dart and the rabbit had jumped up from the flash as it was startled and tried to run but Naruto had thrown his second dart and it pierced quickly right through the head of the rabbit and quickly made a hole through both sides before the attack disintegrating into nothingness.
"I wanted to kill the rabbit with minimal suffering so I aimed for a place where it would instantly kill like the head, from the angle it was at before that shot would have been seen coming so I used one to startle the rabbit and hit it on the next-" Naruto explained but when he opened his eyes and looked at the ground, the fox had already vanished leaving a small outline in his imagination. He could have waited just a bit, no one ever bothered to listen to his explanations!
"YES! This is so juicy and tender!" the fox said as it hopped onto the rabbit and started to consume it with his jaws and Naruto just sighed and went to the fox, who had already finished devouring half of the rabbit which was about his own size.
The fox saw Naruto and felt a little twinge before nudging some of the rabbit uneaten carcass forwards.
"Here, it's your kill. I refuse to be in your debt human" the fox huffed and Naruto shook his head politely although he did mentally smile at the irony of this situation, it was playing out like one of the biggest turning points in his life, only this time he was the other character.
"It's ok; I don't need to eat much. But do you want me to cook the rest of the rabbit for you? I've cooked quite a lot for myself over the years" Naruto asked and the fox looked a little confused.
"The hell does cook mean?" the fox asked.
After Naruto gathered some wood from cutting off dead and dry wood branches, to not upset the nature sensitive fox, he gathered them into a pile and used Light Magic to intensify his own light attacks to create a small beam of concentrated energy that hit one spot of dry wood and that ignited it on fire and quickly the rest of the wood started to get consumed in flames as well and Naruto used his limited knowledge on Darkness Maker Magic to create a spit and two stands and placed the rabbit carcass on it, after removing most of the organs and fur from the rabbit and cleaning it of any dirt and grass stuck on it.
The fox just watched curiously for an hour as Naruto waited patiently by the fire, continuously spinning the rabbit carcass slowly to even out the heat and after a while the rabbit was done well and Naruto took the meat off the stand and let it cool for a bit before handing it back to the fox.
The fox took a sniff of the rabbit, smelling some burnt flesh on it but as Naruto was just staring at the fox expecting it to eat the fox took a tentative bite, as he would feel a little bad after Naruto went that far to cook this rabbit and instantly felt a difference between raw and cooked rabbit. The meat was soooo good! The meat wasn't charred on the surface but heated the right amount before making the inside evenly cooked as well and the fox quickly started to devour the rest of it like a wild animal before there was nothing left, not even a strip of skin left on the bone.
"How was it?" Naruto asked as he put out the fire and cleaned up the mess.
"Damn it, that was good" the fox said with a grin but started to look confused again as it wanted to take a defensive step back but everything he knew was conflicting inside himself.
"Why?" the fox asked.
"Why what?" Naruto replied.
"Why do all that? For me?" the fox snapped slightly.
"Why not? You were just hungry and I wanted to do something for that. You don't need a reason to help someone when they're suffering and I did it because I wanted to" Naruto said with a small smile and shrugged his shoulders. He felt that it was the right thing to do, after being on the receiving end of help, he felt that he should return it as well.
The fox was beyond conflicted at this point, as his brows furrowed as his own head started to pound. Why? Humans were...evil? Right? All Etherious demons had always told him that humans were worthless scum that were beneath them, they should give no mercy and expect none from humans. So why? There was only one explanation.
"You're not human, right? No normal human has ideals like you, so you can't be a human! So are you some alien? Or some weird supernatural thing looking like a human? Or just an animal in disguise because I really can't make any sense of this! Just what are you!" the fox asked in complete confusion and Naruto let out a laugh at that.
"Sorry, but as far as I know, I think I am a human" Naruto said with a smile and turned to him, "Then again, the definition of humanity is subjective. People can be bad and people can be good, but I really don't care. I just want to be me. I don't really care if humans are supposed to hate something because...well hate is dumb. You've never done anything bad to me, so why should I treat you badly and judge you for what you are rather than who you are? If doing so doesn't make me human then I wouldn't lose any sleep over it" Naruto said loftily and turned to the fox, "So believe what you want, I just wanted to help because you needed it. As for my ideals, I just want to live life by what I think is right, is that so wrong?"
The fox was silent as he pondered the enigma of the black haired, green eyed child in front of him with narrowed eyes, trying to find some form of deceit, trickery and lie. He could sense negative emotions, but each time he tried, he just couldn't find any damn negative emotions! What the hell was this guy?
"Do you want to stay with me for a while?" Naruto asked and pointed upwards as clouds started to slowly drift together, "It's going to rain, and you might want some shelter" Naruto offered with his hand outstretched and the fox tentatively put a paw forwards.
"Hey, I'm an Etherious!" the fox growled and tried to pull his paw back and try to seem threatening, "We're the bane of you humans! I-I can't accept help from a human!"
Naruto almost looked a little disappointed and the fox felt something he never felt before, the feeling of letting someone down. He reflected on the boy's words, what he called being human. To live life by his own principles. To live life unbound by hatred and by his own rules. Was he just going to hate humans...because he was just supposed to? Humans may have destroyed his home...but the kid in front of him didn't do shit to him or probably anyone from his own morals. He felt his own pride sting him, what he was doing was wrong and he knew it.
"It's fine" Naruto said with a smile that covered what he felt inside instantly, he was used to doing that a lot, "If you want to avoid human settlements, just go a few miles east and you'll reach the boundary of the town and past that would be wild lands. You can leave now, most people would be heading inside for cover in a heavy rainstorm and-"
"Tch, just shut up!" the fox growled and looked away as Naruto just looked confused, after about a minute the fox spoke again.
"Hey" the fox said and looked away from Naruto's eyes, "That house offer...uh, well, is it still...you know...open?" the fox eventually said and almost looked like he was going to whistle and Naruto just laughed but kept it in. The fox was rather bashful and shy about his emotions. Honestly, the whole thing just screamed adorable.
"Yes" Naruto said politely.
"So ughh, I'll crash there...for a while. Just a while!" the fox said and tried it's best to emphasise that but turned red and quickly tried to snap at something, "For the food! This cooking shtick is something else! Yeah the food! And the shelter can't let this glorious fur get wet! Shut up!" the fox said and Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that.
"HEY! What are you laughing at!" the fox snapped and Naruto stuck out his hand again.
"My name is Naruto, what's your name?" he asked politely.
"Tch, ughh. I think it's...Kurama" the fox said after thinking for a while, "Or at least that's what the name I've been given by my book says" the fox said.
"Kurama, do you want to stay with me?" Naruto asked with a kind smile and Kurama took the hand that was offered.
"I'd like that, Naruto" Kurama replied back and as their hand and paw met, that would form an unbreakable bond over the years following into the future, one thing was for sure. This was the first friendship ever made, between a human and an Etherious.
X776
Gildarts Clive's House, Magnolia, Fiore
"You sure bringing me home is a good idea?" Kurama asked Naruto a little nervously who started to find the similarities strikingly similar and looked amused at this.
"Don't get cold paws on me so soon. We're going in and you're staying, or would you rather your glorious fur get wet?" Naruto jibed but regretted it as Kurama started to scratch against his clothes and Naruto almost stumbled a little but regained his footing as Kurama stopped.
"Don't even joke about that! Do you humans even know just how long it takes to lick your own fur clean! Seriously, it's a huge pain and getting it wet is the last thing I want!" Kurama snapped and Naruto just shook his head.
"Well we're here" Naruto said and they reached Gildarts's house and Kurama jaw dropped at that. It was a detached house with three floors and several windows and rooms and was massive, complete with a front and back yard that had a well maintained front and back yard. Naruto opened the door and Kurama was floored at the interior.
The interior was well decorated with a coatrack with a giant coat at the front, then you could see several different rooms ranging from a living room with a comfy soft sofa and several chairs and tables, a dining room on the other side, a kitchen which was well stocked with several cooking appliances and then there were several different rooms, a game room, a study room, a mini library, training room, stairs to a basement, an then they didn't even get upstairs yet where Kurama could see a few bedrooms and they were fitted with king sized beds, dress drawers, wardrobes that almost looked like they were walk in and the list just kept on going...
"Hey! You can get into trouble for breaking in to other people's houses! Let's get out before we get seen!" Kurama hissed and Naruto looked confused.
"What are you talking about, this is where I live" Naruto told him and Kurama was completely dumbfounded into silence.
After a minute, Kurama burst into loud bellyaching laughter, "BWAHAHAHAHAHA! What do you think! I was born yesterday! There's no way Zeref's son could be staying in a classy place like this! Try pulling the other tail!" Kurama laughed out loud and the noise attracted a rumbling from another room and Kurama paled as he saw a massive human with a ton of power walk in from the second floor and down to the first floor with a tired expression.
"Huh, is it morning already?" Gildarts groaned and Naruto sighed.
"No, it's the evening. You slept through most of the day when you spent all night drunk" Naruto deadpanned and Gildarts just yawned it off and saw Kurama, who shivered a little.
"That's one very big human" Kurama muttered out loud.
"What's with the cute, little fox furball thing?" Gildarts asked bluntly and Naruto was about to stop him but then sighed, here we go again as Kurama felt his rage boil and he was triggered again.
"CUTE AND SMALL! WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE THAT HE'D BE A GIVEAWAY AT A PRIZE FAIR! I'LL SHOW YOU CUTE DAMMIT!" Kurama snapped angrily at Gildarts who just ignored it and blinked his eyes unresponsively and Kurama pounced right at Gildarts.1
"TAKE THIS! RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Kurama yelled and tried to tackle Gildarts but as expected by anyone watching, Kurama just comically hit Gildarts face first and Gildarts didn't even feel a thing as Kurama slowly slid down and hit the ground with a lump on his head. He might as well have tried to tackle an iron wall.
"Hehehe, where did you get this furball? It's hilarious!" Gildarts chuckled and Kurama was just getting angrier and angrier.
"I'll show you furball! You're messing with the wrong Etherious! Shape Shift!" Kurama yelled as Naruto watched with interest as Kurama's tails merged into one large tail that was about a metre and a half and Kurama twisted his body completely and smacked Gildarts with it right across the face.
To no one's surprise Gildarts didn't even flinch or react to the tail hitting his face as he still had his early morning hung over deadpan and yawned loudly again and Kurama's one large tail merged back to it's normal 9 tails and Gildarts heard what it said.
"Huh, I gotta say this is the weirdest Etherious I've ever seen, it's hits feels like someone's throwing a pillow at your face. They're normally super deadly and out to kill us all, but this one isn't either. What gives?" Gildarts asked and Naruto just sighed.
"It's a long story" Naruto sighed and as he sat down in the living room.
"So this furball is an Etherious and you somehow made friends with it. And he wants to stay over for a while?" Gildarts summarised and Naruto nodded while Kurama continued to growl at Gildarts, but had learned better than direct attacks, they clearly didn't work.
"Well in essence yes" Naruto nodded and Gildarts may have acted uninterested but inside he was smiling broadly, he was impressed at Naruto who could make the impossible possible as the Etherious was comfortable on Naruto's lap. A friendship between a human and a weird, bashful, tsundere Etherious demon? Who'd ever heard of such a thing, but it was clear that Kurama was staying with good intentions and he wasn't going to stand in between that.
"Well I guess the furball can stay, there's plenty of room after all" Gildarts told the fox who had to restrain a growl at that damn nickname.
"Tch, this is the human you live with? He looks like a cross between a homeless bum and a moron with zero brain cells, topped off with alcohol to fill up that empty vacuum inside his skull and hydrate a pea-sized brain that dried out years ago and was left out to pasture as it regretted every life choice it ever made!" Kurama jabbed quickly right at Gildarts and both Naruto and Gildarts were silent for a minute at that insult.1
"...Aww isn't that cute, you found a wordy, little furball who's even more of a smart alec than you. I wonder if it can do tricks as well, I'll just fetch a flaming hoop and shove it right through and see what happens" Gildarts said calmly with a glint in his eye that slightly unnerved Kurama.
"Nobody is getting out hoops of fire" Naruto tried to play peacemaker and Gildarts looked disappointed.
"Ha! Take that! Good job my human!" Kurama laughed and he patted Naruto on his lap.
"And no picking fights with people who can pick you apart, very literally Kurama" Naruto told him and Kurama felt betrayed.
"Hey! You're siding with that guy! Besides, he just got lucky! I could totally take him down with both eyes shut and my paws behind my back!" Kurama exclaimed.
"Let's not forget that this is Gildarts's house, who's letting me stay here. It wouldn't hurt to try and be a bit more polite, and really don't pick a fight with Gildarts, this guy turns cities into rubble on a regular basis" Naruto told him and Kurama was rasping a little in disbelief and Gildarts flashed a smirk at the Etherious who growled at that.
"Tch, fine I'll try to be nice, but if he starts it then I get the right to fight back with words" Kurama argued and Naruto just relented, he had a feeling that living with Kurama would involve a lot of compromises later down in life.
"Out of interest, are there any other dumb humans in this place" Kurama asked and Gildarts looked down a little as he saw a picture of the woman he loved and Kurama realised that he touched a topic he shouldn't have and had his tails droop a little and Naruto tried to change the subject.
"Hey, you said you could shape shift. I was wondering what was that? Was it your curse power?" Naruto asked and Kurama puffed up a little.
"Yeah, you heard it right. I can shape shift into anything, I guess I can't go too far past my own size so I can't turn into a giant or anything, for now!" Kurama told him and Gildarts just snickered behind him.
"Shape Shift, that's it? Lame!" Gildarts quipped and Kurama was pissed again, that didn't take too long.
"HEY! You just wait until I start to grow into full size and then we'll see who's laughing!" Kurama snapped at him and Gildarts just laughed it off.
"Hmm, maybe Gildarts is right? There might be more to your powers, I can check if you turn back into a book form, I'll send a pulse of magic when I'm done reading and you can turn back into your normal form, so what do you say?" Naruto said and Kurama was slightly hesitant, if he turned back into a book, he'd be at his most vulnerable and wouldn't be free until he was opened again but sensing nothing but good intentions from both of the humans gave Kurama a sense of trust as he slowly nodded.
"HA!" Kurama grunted and his body turned into a moulding of black letters and in reverse from his unsealing, the letters converged on each other like they were sucked into a whirlpool of ink and from a flash of light out materialised the small notebook that Zeref had given him, it was Kurama's book and Naruto caught it before it hit the ground.
"Well just call me when you're done reading, I'll go fix something for dinner and my hangover" Gildarts told Naruto as he stood up and Naruto opened the book and started reading. The inside of Kurama's book was basically like the code of to his being, and if you could read the writing then it would be easy to decipher how he worked, like a program.
After about an hour, Gildarts returned with dinner and Naruto had finished reading and in a pulse of magic, Kurama reformed from a book back into an Etherious.
"So what was there?" Kurama asked.
"Well there were quite a few things in there" Naruto said, "But here are the interesting things, I think my father was trying to modify you so that you didn't succumb to hate like normal Etherious. You can sense hatred apparently, is that right?" Naruto asked.
"I guess, I've always been able to sense hatred and tell when someone's lying to me or giving me half-truths. I've never realised it was an ability" Kurama told them.
"Here's the real thing, apparently Father modified your book so that it bonded to me. In essence, we're bonded to each other" Naruto told him and Kurama was silent before yelling out in indignation at that fact that was just revealed.
"HEY! What does that mean! Am I going in some cage! Cuz if that's the case then I'm out!" Kurama yelled angrily.
"Woah, calm down Kurama. It's nothing like that, you're not going in any cages or anything. You can walk out perfectly and go anywhere, just because we're bonded doesn't mean you have to stay, it's only in the book" Naruto explained and Kurama calmed down a little.
"Then explain" Kurama said and after a pause added, "Please"even if it was a little forced and Naruto smiled and nodded.
"Essentially, the first point is that you can tap into my magic as a source of energy for your curse power. If I run out of magic, you can use your curse power as well to a normal finite limit. It works the other way as well and you can send magic into me as well. The amount isn't huge, more like just a second wind. And also a boost to my physical powers and some regenerative powers when we're working together. But you can use both Magic and Curse powers, you can use your Curse, but we can still teach you magic. Other than that, your curse power ends there," Naruto explained and Kurama nodded, intrigued with learning magic but he still felt something was missing.
"So what else is there, give me the good stuff! Anti-matter attacks to level cities! Swatting away mountains with my tails! Swishing tidal waves over the lands! Where's all that! Curses are supposed to be superior to magic in every way, there has to be more in there!" Kurama asked and Naruto just shook his head.+
"...Yeah, no. That's not in there, and I don't know how to use Father's Living Magic or Black Arts so I can't modify your book without taking huge risks" Naruto told Kurama who sighed while Gildarts just laughed in the background and those two generated into an argument that Naruto had to break up again.
"You wanna fight! I won't even need any of those powers to beat you black and blue!" Kurama yelled.
"Bring it on! I'll send you to the next country with just a flex" Gildarts shot back.
"Ok, are you both done?" Naruto asked and the two nodded reluctantly.
"Tch, why do you even live with this guy anyway?" Kurama asked Naruto.
"Well he was kind enough to let me stay here, I offered rent but he's never going to accept it and I can't make him so you're going to have to enjoy the pleasure of each other's company for a while. As long as you clean up after yourself you can stay, that's the only apparent rule in this house" Naruto told them while they just glared at each other with sparks flying between.
"Tch, fine!" Kurama huffed.
"Heh, I'll try not to step on you, wouldn't want to make paste out a furball on accident" Gildarts shot at him and Naruto stopped the argument again.
"Calm down Kurama, you know any power can be powerful if it's used by the right fighter. Shape Shifting might not sound amazing, but with training it can become just as powerful as you want it to be" Naruto told the fox who was placated by that and felt a flush of happiness.
"But still, shapeshifting can only do so much. It sounds more like a support trick, and you said that he needs to be around and working together with you. How is that supposed to work? Presuming you are going to be working together" Gildarts asked and Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Hey, I could definitely work together with this guy! But only him! At least until I get big enough to survive! Besides, anyone would be glad to have me on their team!" Kurama tried to argue back.
"No, Gildarts is right. Kurama in that state can only do so much. He's a fox and not a big one, he can dart forwards, around and try to attack but in the end, our fighting styles would be difficult to mould together. It's not like we can just combine, coordinate and attack simultaneously" Naruto thought with a frown.
"HEY! I can do more than dart around!" Kurama snapped at Naruto who was surprised.
"Huh? Naruto didn't say anything" Gildarts asked the fox.
"Can you hear my thoughts?" Naruto thought and the fox responded.
"Yes, I can hear your thoughts! Oh" Kurama finished as he just realised what he did.
"Interesting, this just gets better and better" Naruto said with a grin, his father really was too clever, a mental link? When did he have the time to set up that, there was a bond in the book but he was just beginning to understand what that entails?
"So he's psychic, but only can read Naruto's thoughts. That's...still pretty lame, just psychic for the guy on his team, sensing and shapeshifting. Lame!" Gildarts said in understanding and began teasing again and the man-child and fox degenerated back into argument while Naruto continued to think.
"Something cohesive, a unit, something I'd keep on me at all times so that we can fight as one, not separately but coordinated simultaneous attack patterns, but how to get him to become something like...wait shape shift!" Naruto thought and came to a realisation as he stared at the coatrack at the hallway and saw Gildarts's coat for long journeys and had an idea.
"Kurama, just how far can you shapeshift?" Naruto asked and Kurama was surprised at the question.
"How far? The hell does that mean?" Kurama asked.
"I mean can you become any shape or form, like say a spear, or a sword?" Naruto asked and Kurama just scoffed.
"Psh, that's child's play! I could do that in my sleep!" Kurama bragged and Naruto smiled at his idea.
"Well then, how about a coat?" Naruto asked and Kurama looked surprised at that.
"You want to wear me?" Kurama asked a little insulted.
"No, I'm not insulting you but think about it" Naruto told him and Gildarts started to realise it too.
"Hey, since he can shape shift, if someone comes at you from behind then he could throw them away with a tail whack!" Gildarts said in realisation at his idea, and then continued, "And he's also got that booster thing for you. He could deliver that easily if he's with you at all times!"
"...I think I'm starting to get it now" Kurama started to realise as well.
"Think a bit bigger you guys" Naruto said with a grin, "What if you had a teammate who was psychic and can send thoughts directly to you, and also could sense hatred around him meaning that any ambushes would never work on you, you could instantly get the drop on anyone who tries to do the opposite and also sense the environment around you to find threats and allies!"
"..." they were silent and Naruto groaned and simplified it for them.
"Basically, Kurama can literally stop any sneak attacks, acts as GPS and stops me from ever falling into traps" Naruto told them and they said "Ohhhh" in realisation.
"I think I hit the main points already" Gildarts pointed out and Kurama had to agree with him there while Naruto just sighed, no one could ever appreciate educated inputs in this world.
"Fine, I'll give it a try" Kurama told them and with a look of concentration, he started to morph into a cloak and his body changed shape in a mass of dark orange/red energy and Naruto approached the mass as it started to turn into a cloak for Naruto to wear. The cloak was deep red with a black flame like pattern at the bottom, with 9 magatama on the back of the cloak in black as well and it formed sleeves for Naruto and a flap for his neck to put his coat up as well, and it was just the right size for him as well. (Note: Sage Cloak from Naruto)
"Well let's give this a try" Naruto said after he caught the cloak and then draped it around his shoulders and put his hands in his sleeves and fully wore it properly and Gildarts sized it up and gave his own professional opinion on how it looked.
"Gotta say, not bad" Gildarts had to give the fox credit, "Well it can't be helped, if you're around the avatar of Badass it only makes sense that those around him would catch a few of the falling rays of awesome as I radiate it off me" he grinned and Naruto just shook his head exasperatedly.
"Tch, he wishes. He's about as badass as an entire convention of 6 year old girls" Kurama's voice rang inside Naruto's head who was surprised at that.
"I can hear your thoughts now" Naruto thought to Kurama who was surprised as well.
"So it works both ways?" Kurama asked him.
"Most likely, I think that it's something that's going to grow in time. We couldn't hear our thoughts when we first met, but slowly we're getting that now. We're not catching any random thoughts off each other either. That only leads to the conclusion that it's something that's going to develop over time" Naruto theorised in his head.
"...You really love sounding smart don't you?" Kurama replied sarcastically and Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch at that.
"I don't!" Naruto denied.
"NEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDDDDD!" Kurama yelled inside his head.
"That's it, I'm putting this thought link on mute. Is that possible?"Naruto thought and as soon as he did that, Kurama's voice was muffled out and silenced from his head and Naruto was quiet before he realised it worked. Zeref really did think of everything in terms of functionality.
"Well not that this isn't interesting but we should be turning in for the night? You want to take your coat-fox-pal in your room? I'll ask master if we can arrange for Kurama to join the Guild as well" Gildarts told him and Naruto nodded.
"That's a good idea, as an Etherious he'll need protection against other mages so joining a guild would be the best option" Naruto agreed and they turned in for the night. But as Naruto lay on his bed with his coat turning back into a sleeping Etherious he couldn't help but smile.
His dad got him a friend.
X776
Fairy Tail, Magnolia
"So you want me to let an Etherious join?" Makarov asked, not able to really understand just...what the heck? He saw Kurama, a nine tailed fox baby thing in Naruto's arms and his first reaction was aww, and then after a verbal lashing, his next reaction was, god I want to kill it.1
"Is that ok?" Naruto asked and Makarov sighed, oh just forget it. He walked over to a shelf and pulled out a Fairy Tail stamp and tossed it at Naruto who caught it and before Kurama could complain, stamped the mark on his back and Kurama fumbled out of Naruto's arms.
"Hey! My fur! I told you I don't want a stupid mark!" Kurama yelled but Naruto just deadpanned.
"You can shape shift, I'm pretty sure you can deal with it" Naruto told him and Kurama realised that and grew his fur slightly to cover up the mark.
"Ok, everyone! Here's our newest member! An Etherious named Kurama!" Makarov yelled, but the response from the rest of the guild was almost silent bordering on hostile and Kurama realised that and could feel their hatred focused at Naruto and himself, fine, he'd give them something to hate!
"Hey listen up all you low level, poorly animated background trash! You all got nothing on me! You got a problem then bring it forward if you're man enough, if not then mind your own shit! Mess with me and you're not going to like it! Mess with my human food supply Naruto here, and the same goes! And I'm here all day to stay with my human, so try and blindside me and you'll see what happens! You drunken morons understand!" Kurama snapped at the crowd and Naruto immediately slapped his forehead, could he not try to be polite.
"Hey why do we have to take this from a baby fox? He looks like he should be on a poster for kids" one of the A-class mages Macao Conbolt laughed at the fox.
"Yeah, what's the worst he can do? Kill us with cuteness" Wakaba Mine added onto that.
"No! Don't you dare, Kurama! This is going to-" Naruto tried to stop the triggered fox, but again it didn't work as usual.
"Heh, ok let's start with the mighty mildew over here who can't grow decent facial hair" Kurama said with an evil smirk, "You look like a third rate thug who just got fired from a wannabe band which he got paid squat if they ever got in any chump change, in fact you probably paid them just to have some sort of social interaction and your only friends include a beer mug and your 12 imaginary friends, the perfect image for a poster captioned "Forever alone"!" Kurama dissed and Naruto groaned, oh this wasn't going to end well.
"And your buddy, the hair puff stinking of a galleon of hair product is next" Kurama continued while Macao was fuming, "Does he think he's looking cool with shades and a hair puff, he looks like a god damn disfigured rooster trying to puff out something to compensate as much as he can for the many things he's lacking for example...charisma, actual character and any chances at finding a mate is ridiculously low. You can see him in a decade and his same old, same old routine would try and work but one things for sure, his list of any interaction with a woman has, is and will remain at an all-time zero!" and Naruto turned to the two mages, oh shit.
"Kurama, run" Naruto told him as the mages were emitting out thick smoke and flames.
"Run?" Kurama asked Naruto.
"They are a well-oiled duo A class mages and I'm 10 and have no plan! How do you expect me to win! Run!" Naruto thought to him.
"Ok, then we need to run!" Kurama thought back and Naruto had to stop him there.
"Wait, we?" Naruto asked and before he realised it, Kurama had already morphed back into a coat and wore himself on Naruto who saw the mages approaching.
"RUN!" they both thought and bolted out the window with the two in pursuit, much to the amusement of everyone watching this situation and especially Gildarts. They may not have liked Etherious but damn that was one hell of a roast on their best mages.
This all taught Naruto an important lesson. Kurama would always be with him through thick and thin, through good and bad, through pain and joy but most importantly Kurama would always be Naruto's best friend. And like all best friends, when they screw up, they've got to have each other's backs whether they like to or not.
X776
Esteemed Magical Council Halls, Crocus
Meanwhile, Makarov had been facing a lot more heat than usual and a huge ripper headache as he sat down in the magical council headquarters. He had to travel for two days for this! After news had spread like wildfire fully across Fiore that Makarov had just taken in the son of Zeref into his guild that had sparked up a whole meeting where every authoritative body of Fiore was present. At this point, Makarov wished he was anywhere but here.
"MAKAROV! This is unacceptable! You have the insanity to let the ZEREF'S SON join your guild!" one councilman yelled out.
"He should be imprisoned immediately!"
"No, execution is the only way to deal with this threat!"
"Send out Rune Knights at once! He must be arrested!"
"On what charges!" Makarov asked them testily as he was doing his best to not turn into a giant and step on them.
"C-charges! Are you mad, Makarov! This is the devil's spawn! We don't need charges in putting down monsters!" Michello, the holder of the 2nd seat yelled out at Makarov.
"HE'S A CHILD!" Makarov yelled, his temper reaching the boiling point, "HAVE YOU ALL GONE MAD! You're going to kill a boy! A ten year old boy! He isn't a demon, devil or any form of evil! He's a boy, and he has committed no wrongs! IF YOU GO THROUGH WITH THIS, THEN IT'S CLEAR YOU ALL ARE THE TRUE DEMONS!"
That generated more yelling and hoarse shouting, creating an incoherent babble among the rest of the members before one man let out a booming shout that silenced the rest of the wizards into submission.
"SILENCE!" Org yelled out at the entire court, as his loud booming voice had carried enough volume to stop the entire court of squabbles as they all stopped arguing from the loud voice that boomed through the court.
"That's enough, we are going to talk about this like civilised adults. Not a bickering group of schoolyard children! We have even gathered the entire council, the Wizard Saints and even the Four Gods of Ishgar for this and you are all just acting like a group of children in this preceding!" he snapped at them.
"Well, if you ask me" a haughty voice said from the group of wizards saints piped up and a shadowed figure stood at the top, "I think this could be a little fun. Zeref's son. The ZEREF himself. I kinda want to fight this kid when he's older, who knows how strong the kid could get" he said with a grin while inwardly smirking, yes this would be real fun to play with.
"That is precisely the danger!" Yuri, one of the Magical Council piped up, "The boy will grow up to be just as much of a plague as his accursed father was! Are you all mad to let such a threat rise!"
Makarov felt his anger rise as he grinded his teeth in anger, "Threat! The only threat is the Magical Council who sees fit to murder children since apparently they can see the future like a street fortune teller, and in their infinite wisdom sees fit to murder children if they need to" he snarled at them, which generated another wave of anger.
"I SAID SILENCE!" Org boomed out and eventually the rest of them quietened down.
"Serena, you may be the holder of the first seat but you cannot act so rashly! This is the devil's son! You have to kill it Serena, we command you to-" one old councilman said but was cut off when a loud bang was heard and a fist crashed into the table that he was sitting in before it was obliterated by the man's magic and he let out his own magical pressure on the old man who started to shiver.
"LISTEN UP! You useless, decrepit, worthless old man! You dare tell a god what to do! Know your place! The lot of you old shits can kiss my ass! What power do you really wield? If I wanted to, I could kill you all right now and your armies and wouldn't give a shit the next morning! You need me, more so that I could ever need you. Tell me what to do again, and trust me, you'll regret it badly" Serena snapped angrily and that set off a wave of fear across the meeting hall.
"Serena, calm down!" Hyberion, the holder of the second seat among the wizard saints said, "In this hall, we are to act like adults! Not children!" the man said.
"Don't think we can let you get away with such actions, you young whelp!" Wolfheim growled and let out his own magical pressure.
"Psh, bite me old man!" Serena taunted and eventually Wolfheim let back his own magic and Serena did the same.
"I agree with Makarov" Warrod said and Makarov let out a sigh, at least he had someone backing him and it was a god of Ishgar, "No matter what, we can't make an excuse to kill an innocent child. A child who has committed no wrongs. In my time, we had seen many different evildoers but never threatened them to death, even when I thought it should have been given. And I come back a few decades later to see that the council is just killing anything that they see fit to kill. And worst of all, could any of you live with yourselves after killing a child, a boy who had no say in any of this. He has committed no wrongs at all. I think this could be a great chance for a child to find a better future, only if we be the better men here"
"Yadda, yadda. I say let him go. I don't care what he does but he's gonna be one hell of a strong guy in future. Sure as hell I want to fight him, when I get the chance and I will!" Serena said and flopped back on his chair lazily.
"I'm afraid I side with the council, this is a very risky gamble that can backfire on us all" Hyberion disagreed with their ideas.
"Agreed, you young whelps far underestimate just how dangerous Zeref was in his time. He was a demon made into flesh, and he was nigh unstoppable. We could send army after army but all we would be left with were a sea of corpses of good men! One man could annihilate them all! This is no child, he's a devil spawn and you're letting this same thing happen again!" Wolfheim growled in agreement with Hyberion.
The Four Gods of Ishgar were at an impasse so others took the stage.
"Fufu, I think we should let him live" a silky voice said and they turned to see the newest council member Ultear, dressed in white robes, "How interesting, are we just going to let such potential die out? I, for one, am very interested to meet the son of the most powerful wizard to ever live. And who knows just how powerful he could grow up into, are you all choosing to let such potential become an enemy of the nation instead of serving it?" she asked sarcastically to the older generation.
"Know your place, girl! You young children have no idea of the devastation Zeref could bring in our time!" Leiji, one of the older women on the council said, "Letting such a monster grow will prove to be your downfall"
"And such lack of flexibility could be the reason why it was handled so badly, you of the old generation are far too rooted in your rigid ways to find more creative solutions to the issue at hand" Ultear quipped at the old woman who started to fume but she didn't care. The son of the Black Mage, she certainly wanted to meet such a person and soon and rubbed her thighs slightly. And Master Hades would certainly be interested in this new development.
"I agree with Ultear-sama" another young voice said and they turned to a 14 year old with blue hair and a mark on his eye and the council frowned slightly. It was that new apprentice clerk who was working alongside the Head of the Bureau of Magical Development, "I believe you aren't looking at this at the right angle. What would the world think if the council ordered an execution of a child? No matter who's son it is, that certainly would spread fear across the country. And that's not to mention what the king would say about ordering barbaric executions of children, I suppose that's another reason why he wasn't invited to this meeting" Siegrain said with an air of collectiveness and the older wizards started to splutter and bicker like children, making it hard to tell who were the old and the young among the group.
"Who invited a young brat into here anyway! Who do you think you are! You're just some apprentice clerk who's here for no reason! Hold your tongue or I'll see to it that you're fired!" Michelle yelled out in indignation.
"I apologise if I've spoken out of turn, but I wished to make my input on this case, as for who I am, my name is Siegrain. If you wish to fire me for such a reason then please feel free, it will only have to go through proper procedures and require a formal hearing where one would have to explain the reasoning behind it, care to take this public about the old generation's struggles to stifle the youth's progress?" he replied with a clever smile and the councilman twitched his face in anger as he turned red and sat down in silence.
Nobody cared more about what other people thought of them than politicians, and the 13 year old smiled to himself as the blowhard would lose everything if the press found it and had a field day with destroying his reputation. Sometimes it was useful being young and garnering sympathy for it.
Meanwhile Siegrain, or Jellal, who just smirking at the thought. Lord Zeref's own son. Forget Erza, he could use his son's body or even better find the son and they could easily work together. He could use the son's help to resurrect his father, and when the moment came, Jellal would use the son's body and bring back the father, and he would be the only son, the greatest herald to Zeref. Or maybe, use some other wizard and be rewarded by reuniting father and son. The possibilities were endless.
"Silence your tongues, you insolent brats!" a councilman snapped at the two of them but that was all he could do and Siegrain's boss Brain decided to back up his apprentice.
"Personally" a man spoke up from the side, "I feel that such actions that the council wishes to carry out are irresponsible. Think of the future such a child could hold, he could easily become a legend at a young age, even a Wizard Saint and you are all willing to pass that up. He could be the ultimate warrior for the nation and the council wishes to end that possibility because of their own fear and paranoia" Brain, the head of the Bureau of Magical Development spoke up. He had his own agenda himself, perhaps he could be one of the Oracion Seis that he was planning to gather. In time.
"Have you all gone mad? This is the son of a demon!" one of the older council members yelled again.
"I agree with Makarov, such actions are reprehensible. We are the Magical Council, and our goal is to create a better future for Fiore. And killing an innocent child even coming close to what that entails, if we do so then everything that we stand for is nothing but a lie" Yajima said and Makarov felt relief as his old friend was siding with him.
Slowly the opinion of the council was swaying but Makarov wasn't an idiot. He knew that everyone who sided with him had their own agenda to do with Naruto or Zeref himself other than Warrod Sequen and Yajima. But in politics and and especially with the council, if good men turn their backs on you, you'll have to ally with snakes for help. But he wasn't going to let them bite his back that easily, he was wiser to their tricks.
"But letting a boy like that join Fairy Tail? I disagree with that. Fairy Tail has a history of being reckless, dangerous and by all cases should have been shut down. Should that boy go there of all places?" Org said harshly and Makarov felt the age old headache come back. Here we go all over again.
"I agree with Org, why should Fairy Tail take the boy? It should be Phantom Lord, if nothing else" a snide voice said and Makarov frowned at Jose Porla, the occupant of one of the seats of the Wizard Saints said and Makarov groaned that it was this prick again.
"Hmm, despite your reputation there is still one thing that Fairy Tail has" Warrod said, to defend his own old guild, "Fairy Tail prioritises bonds above other things and such emotions are what a young child needs more than anything else. If you all aim to find a way for the boy to remain a citizen of Fiore then he needs those above all others. And above that, he trusts Makarov and his own ace Gildarts from what we have heard. Such trust is vital and I believe that he should remain in Fairy Tail"
"May I remind you all that you have no right to say who can be kicked out and who can't" Makarov told the council bluntly, "If the boy wants to stay in Fairy Tail then he damn well can and no one has the right to say anything against it!" and the council started to yell again.
"SILENCE! FOR THE LAST TIME, SILENCE!" Org screamed and the people eventually calmed down, again.
"That may be true Makarov but he can still be banished from the nation, so know your place" Michelle growled and Makarov resisted the urge to go Giant and snap a few bones on that guy.
"Let us put it to a vote, everyone clearly show how you stand on this case" Org said and the members of the council all showed the votes, and by a hair breath Naruto was allowed to live, the younger more inexperienced members were swayed by the points made by Siegrain and Ultear and also having 2 gods of Ishgar on your side was also something major.
"Then it's settled, the boy shall stay under Makarov's watch. Know that if he steps out of place, then the consequences will be dire. Are we clear?" Org said authoritatively.
"Crystal" Makarov said through gritted teeth but inwardly sighed in relief. Looks like he won. But he glanced at all their faces and he realised that he got lucky, but at least one thing was clear from the looks on all the old generations face...he won!
After the court trial, Naruto was told to not cause trouble unnecessarily, a precaution that Makarov knew that for the first time someone would actually listen to as Naruto went on a few missions and despite his poor treatment, he actually was the first to bring absolutely no trouble back at all. Not even one stone was destroyed as he managed to complete the mission and it was then Makarov knew that Naruto was a godsend in his stressful life.
He usually went about a usual routine, getting up, training and if Gildarts was around then he would train with him, and then getting a mission while trying to keep Kurama from starting any fights with his verbose insults, then finish that off while brushing off most of the hate and then wrapping the day up and having to make sure that he didn't get scammed and return back to Fairy Tail to his "warm welcome". Hurray.
But one thing good came out of the few months, he trained himself to the bone knowing that enemies could use any chance to get the drop on him and Naruto at this point was about A class in strength and he managed to reach this level with torturous training with Gildarts. Even Kurama had gotten stronger and by training with Naruto, they were a fluid fighting machine! And the last several months had been nothing but training. How did this happen?
June X776
Conatus Woods
"Pant, pant" Naruto was on his knees as he was breathless and exhausted and Gildarts was completely unfazed.
"You sure you aren't pushing yourself too far?" Gildarts asked Naruto who picked himself off the ground. They were at the woods outside Gildarts's house and Naruto was holding onto a tree to pick himself up and Kurama managed to crawl back up as well.
"I *pant* can keep *pant* going" Naruto managed to get out before almost falling over again.
"Why?" Gildarts asked as he sat down and Naruto looked at him,
"Why what?" Naruto asked.
"Why are you pushing yourself this far?" Gildarts asked him seriously, Naruto asked him if he could train Naruto for the time he was around so that he could get stronger, but not just Light Magic training but actual combat experience and training in fights and Naruto stood up again.
"Pant, pant" Naruto was breathless as his mind was blank, why was he pushing himself this far? When he trained with his father he wouldn't fully advance in combat training, no matter how much Zeref tried to remain serious in their practice fights, there was always that one thing constantly in his mind. This was his son, so naturally he held back each time they fought and hesitated each time he was about to strike a blow, a mistake a real enemy wouldn't make.
"Just tell me why" Gildarts told him and Naruto caught his voice again.
"To surpass my father" Naruto told him and stood up again and Gildarts sighed.
"You tell me that, but I know you're lying" Gildarts shook his head and Naruto's eyes narrowed at that, what did he mean?
"What? But that's all Naruto talks about" Kurama voiced out his thoughts as well.
"I know this is about something else" Gildarts told him, "You're in no rush to surpass your father, you've always been growing at a steady state and in several decades you will surpass your father, so just tell me what it is that you are doing? Why are you trying to get more power?" Gildarts asked and Naruto was silent as his mind was blank.
What was he doing? Why was he pushing himself? He just knew that, something in his mind was there telling him to keep going, to keep pushing, to get even stronger and even stronger than that and Naruto was trying to figure out why himself.
"Is it for evil?" Gildarts asked and Naruto shook his head furiously, that was never why he would want power, look at how his father ended up doing that same thing, he would never make the same mistakes as his father and have to suffer through what he had to when parting with Naruto.
"Yeah, I figured but just had to ask, sorry about that" Gildarts apologised and thought again before asking, "For power's sake? You just keep wanting to get stronger, just because you want to?" Gildarts asked.
Naruto paused for a moment, was it that? Did he just want to get stronger...because he wanted to?
...
...
...
No, this was certainly deeper. Naruto would have logic rule over his head, pushing himself this far would be detrimental to himself to some extent and Kurama as well, he'd never want any harm to befall on his friend, ever. And he didn't want to go to the hospital and burden his home, Fairy Tail as well...wait.
"No" Naruto breathed out.
"Then, I think I get it" Gildarts said and had a grin and Naruto looked up at him and smiled as well, he was good at reading into context when he needed to, it was one of the reasons he held Gildarts so highly, he truly was a great-
"It's a girl isn't it!" Gildarts had a Eureka moment and Naruto took that as his cue to tip over and face-plant, Gildarts, that no good, brain dead oaf. Of course he would think that.
"So who is she?" he asked pervertedly and Kurama just groaned.
"Get real, brick for brains, it's not a girl! Come on, it's Naruto! He's never even talked to a girl in his life, a fact that probably will continue on in his life" Kurama deadpanned and Naruto felt his eye twitch, he was surrounded by eggheads.
"I-I think-" Naruto started and they looked at him, "I want to protect what I have here" Naruto told him and they looked at him in surprise, "Fairy Tail, it's just-I can't thank this guild enough and Master for letting me in" Naruto breathed out, "If I wasn't in this guild, I would probably be dead at this point, I've seen how powerful mages are in this time and I'd be dead before I could do anything, the fact that you and Master let me in and care for me means s-so much to me" Naruto told them as he sat down as well.
"You both are strong, too strong for me to ever have to try and protect. I'm still a runt compared to the two titans that I look up to a lot," Naruto looked down a little, "But it's because you both are so powerful, you have so many duties to do but one thing is the same with the both of you, you both love the guild Fairy Tail, the guild I owe so much for letting me join, it's my home. And I want to protect it" Naruto told him sincerely and Gildarts smiled genuinely at that and wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye.
He couldn't be any more proud of Naruto at this point.
"And it's not just Fairy Tail, I also have Kurama to keep safe" Naruto continued and the fox perked up in surprise at that as Naruto stroked behind his ears gently, "Kurama's my partner, but he's still pretty young and can't defend himself that well yet, he's an etherious and the world won't stop until he's dead along with me as well, probably, but as long as he's still vulnerable, it's my job to protect him. Through good and bad, since I had to leave my father, he's always been there with me, even if I didn't even know about it and I owe you that much, Kurama"
The fox in question had turned away and his nine tails had covered his head but Naruto tried to get the fox to respond and felt that his warm furry body was shaking slightly and felt a few wet drops on his hand when he tried to get Kurama's face out and smiled softly, typical, he'd never let anyone see him cry, but at the same time it would still be adorable.
"God dammit, why couldn't you just say "I want to protect Fairy Tail!". People would eat that up, without tears!" Gildarts choked a little and stood back up again, "Starting today, we're going to train, and train like we've never trained before. It's A-rank or die trying! You with me!" Gildarts yelled and Naruto stood up as well, revitalised and so did Kurama with equal vigour.
"But" Gildarts said with a grin, "One on condition!" he said and Naruto paled, this couldn't be good.
"You are going to learn not just fighting from Gildarts, but the one other thing he's good at, no you are going to learn everything about talking to women from Gildarts!" he said and Naruto slapped his face, could he give that a rest? He would never stop trying to get Naruto to learn this nonsense from him.
"Besides, it's not like I have any sons or kids to pass this on to" Gildarts said a bit sadly, "But I've got this one kid in my family" he said as he looked up, "He's a rude, clever, smart alec freeloader in my house, to anyone he meets and gets treated badly from that means that he'll respond by being a bit of a jerk to them, to people he's just met he's suspicious as hell, and only to people he knows he opens up any emotions at all, but he's always poking fun at the "titan he looks up to" a lot!" Gildarts quoted and Naruto facepalmed and groaned, oh he was going to hold that over him for the rest of Naruto's life.
"But he's a kid I'd be happy to call my family, and I'd always be proud of that kid, and I know for a fact that he'll go on to do amazing things in the future, and he'll protect the guild when I'm gone and everyone he cares about" Gildarts ruffled Naruto's hair softly and Naruto blushed at the praise, "So I'd feel so happy, and fulfilled in life, if he could just carry on just a few tips, from the man he looks up to so much" and Naruto twitched at that.
God damn it, after that speech he was bound to say yes to anything.
"...Fine. Just don't hold back in training" Naruto breathed out and Gildarts cheered loudly into the forest and grinned at Naruto.
"Hey Naruto" he said sweetly.
"What?" Naruto asked him back suspiciously.
"DODGE!" Gildarts yelled out of nowhere and blasted Naruto past half the forest, oh this was going to be intense.
And that is how Naruto got a charming personality that would show in the future, that half the population less hated him for while the other half hated him more for having. And he got to an A-class level mage, so that was definitely worth it.
Naruto had taken his Darkness Magic to even greater heights, his swordsmanship was fluid like a river and quite skilled, his Light Magic wasn't in the same league as his Darkness as he'd practiced the latter with the master for 5 years but it was starting to come along, his seals were impressive as well.
The two biggest improvements were down to two things.
Darkness Maker Magic and teamwork with Kurama.
Darkness Make Magic was something he read in a book that he got with Gildarts's money and it had been created 42 years after he was sealed and he instantly took to learning that, he'd already paved his way through the required level needed to learn this but Darkness Make was seen as a flawed idea. Maker magic was only effective using solid materials like Iron, Steel or Ice but Darkness? Light Maker Magic didn't even exist since light was energy and barely matter so objects couldn't be made out of it, but Darkness was sort of in between and could be turned into a maker magic, the main problem was that it was too weak compared to more solid materials, still creating anything was much easier with a more fluid material and he mastered making objects in a few months.
His teamwork with Kurama was slightly shaky at first, but practice fights against Gildarts or really anyone who tried to challenge him sharpened their skills. Naruto could communicate with Kurama, who knew exactly what he had planned in the fight and their teamwork would be fluid. Kurama could also communicate any warnings or signals to Naruto in an instant as well. Speaking of Kurama, he had been taken to the limits of his shape shifting abilities, turning into claws, manifesting tails and even wings, the main training wasn't what he could make, but how fast he could react and make it.
Kurama's defence only had two weaknesses, if someone reacted faster than the tails or if someone overpowered them, the speed they could work on with training but defence would only build up in time with more fights.
However on another front he still had a lot more problems, like friends.
Most adults just avoided him still, taking an extra effort now that Kurama sometimes took to biting their ankles when Naruto was reading something since they were talking about Naruto behind his back. Naruto would have tried to stop it but he was a little bit happy that Kurama was standing up for him, and it's not like he saw Kurama attack them. Then there were the people his age...
Naruto only knew about a few people his age in Fairy Tail, they included Cana Alberona, Gray Fullbuster, Levy McGarden, Laxus Dreyar and their recent recruit Erza Scarlet. And he was only on good terms with one of them, yep he really knew how to make friends.
First off is Cana...
"Oh, it's you" a brown haired girl in a sundress said rudely as Naruto was approaching the table where she was practicing Card Magic. Naruto wanted to introduce himself properly as he never got the chance and saw that the young girl was practicing Card Magic, a cute trick but a good supporting magic all the same and he decided to extend a hand and see what happens. Oh how he wished he didn't do that.
"I'm Naruto. A pleasure to meet you" Naruto offered his hand but she just swatted it away with an angry look on her face.
"Hmph, just keep it to yourself" she snapped and took her deck of cards and snapped it shut and took a swing of her drink right from a bottle and Naruto could easily smell that it wasβ¦alcohol? Was she drinking? But she was probably his age!
"That's alcohol! Did you pick up the wrong drink?" Naruto asked carefully but she just snapped back at him and took another large swing of alcohol much to Naruto's worry as he took a step back, Fairy Tail had a history of violent drunks and he didn't want to get into a fight for something he didn't know the reason for, and the girl in front of him was acting hostile from the day he got here.
"No I didn't. Why, you want to take this away from me too?" she slurred slightly but took a final swing of alcohol right from the bottle and emptied it, then took a barrel from under the table and started to chug down on it and Naruto was almost taking another step back in slight fear at her drinking prowess.
"Did that girl just drink a barrel of booze?" Kurama asked a little nervously in Naruto's head. He'd seen alcohol and drunk humans before as they drank it for recreation and if they were troubled, but as far as Naruto had told him, children weren't allowed to drink...what gives?
"Definitely scary, I don't want to do that" Naruto thought. Was Fairy Tail this bad of an influence on children? Or was she just drinking away her problems with spirits? Naruto tried to ask if she was all right when she finished chugging down the whole barrel and dropping it to the ground with a thud.
"Wait, you can't drink a barrel?" Kurama asked.
"I have never even drunk before, it should be illegal to do so until you're an adult. But I suppose the rules are a lot more lax in this guild" Naruto thought.
"Psh, yeah right. I bet the dumbasses at the bar literally got drunk off their asses and let the girl take the barrel" Kurama snorted in Naruto's head and that could have been a possibility as he turned to the bar and saw that they were knocked out from a guild brawl or they drunk themselves silly, either one. But a bigger problem was liver damage for the girl. But her phrasing struck Naruto as odd.
"Hey, you listenin' jerk!" Cana managed to speak while clearly looking intoxicated and Naruto tuned back to her.
"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that? My attention was elsewhere" Naruto told her but that only served to irritate her as she kicked the barrel away in drunken rage and it flew across the guild to join the Guild brawl, which was raging on in the background.
"You can act all smart *hic*, but I'm still *hic* better than you *hic* at something! *hic*!" Cana managed to say while trying to balance herself.
"Well I'd rather not accept the challenge of drinking, I'd rather have all my wits about at all times. Besides, we're both underage, and even then alcohol is only advisable under small doses. I'm not going to drink myself silly and pass out like the rest of the people here" Naruto told her clearly and she just laughed.
"Heh, why not? *hic* Scared?" Cana tried to goad him on but Naruto wasn't a moron.
"Of permanent liver damage? I think you should be" Naruto told her seriously, "Besides, I don't want to get drunk. I've already got to deal with Gildarts trying to get me to learn his stupid tips and I don't want to take a sip as well, and I don't need anyone else-" Naruto continued but she just looked angrier than ever as she dropped the bottle from the table as it hit the ground with a crash and shards flew everywhere and Cana yelled out in fear but Naruto reacted quickly.
"Seal!" Naruto called out as his eyes turned Mystic with red pupils and a circle in it and the ground where the bottle hit was covered in golden writing and it almost slowed down time as each shard was slowing to the point where it was stationary, then like watching the process occur in reverse the shards flew backwards into a pile right where the bottle hit and then the writing glowed golden before dimming out once more, all that was left was a runic array with Glass in the centre.
"Are you ok?" Naruto asked her but she just ignored him.
"Hmph, have fun with Gildarts. Hope you have some real father bonding time, just take it away and stay away from me!" she hissed angrily and Naruto was confused at something.
"What do you mean "take it away"? Take what away?" Naruto asked slightly confused but they were but cut off by a loud crash as the wall on the guild hall shattered and a Gildarts shaped hole appeared in the side. And of course, Gildarts also stepped in with a grin and people started to scatter as Gildarts came out in a fisherman's outfit, complete with a silly looking fisherman's hat with hooks and two fishing poles.
"Hey Naruto, there you are! Let's go already! We're going fishing! It's a man's romance! Passed down from fathers to sons from generations across time! And on this trip, I'll teach you all the Gildarts phrases that girls like to hear! So get your butt and that furry fox moving!" Gildarts said cheerfully and Naruto just groaned at that, there was nothing even remotely romantic about it, his tips would probably get stored in his brain because he did promise to learn those damned things for training and Kurama had to hold back his usual growls at Gildarts, his arch-nemesis.
Naruto could have sworn he heard a sob but turned to Cana to see she had vanished into the corner and ran into the Girl's Bathroom and closed the door shut and could almost hear a click as it locked.
"What's her deal?" Kurama asked.
"Hmm, I wonderβ¦" Naruto thought as he looked at Gildarts and visualised Cana's face.
"Psh, yeah right. That's literally impossible" Kurama dismissed, "Drunk Jr. over there is a crying, weak little girl while Drunk Sr. over there is a huge titan andβ¦every fibre of my being wants to puke at once when I say this, but he is a badass. Now if you ever tell him that, I will forever deny it with all my heart! Plus they don't even look similar other than hair or skin, you're just imagining things" he told Naruto.
"I don't know, they do share some similarities" Naruto thought back to him.
"It's BS! You saw her using Card Magic, Card Magic Naruto! While that guy over there can level towns in his spare time, seriously can you tell me for real that they are related because if you look at their magical power, it's like comparing a puny, worthless ant to a butt-ugly, brain dead whale. Besides, if she's really that whale's kid then why doesn't she just tell him like a normal person? I don't know what's wrong with her, but she's cracked and doesn't like you for some reason, but there's no love lost there. You're better off without a trash dump of therapy issues in your pack!" Kurama added his input and Naruto couldn't dispute those points but it was a bit rude of him to call her that, but again Naruto couldn't deny it was true.
Firstly it was generally seen as an overall trend that powerful mages's children would usually be a good fraction of the former's strength, even equalling or surpassing them completely. Apparently that was part of Gildarts's "game", whatever that meant. Second, Naruto wasn't stopping her from telling Gildarts about anything, if she was his daughter then he'd have been delighted but she didn't. Either she had some deep personal issues or she just didn't like Naruto...for reasons, well neither really mattered to Naruto. It wasn't his problem since she made it clear that she didn't want Naruto nearby.
"I was going to practice my swordsmanship and train, can't we do that instead?" Naruto asked but Gildarts just put a matching silly fishing hat on Naruto's head and ruffled Naruto's hair while shaking his head.
"Nope, you are going with me to do ordinary kid things that ordinary kids do. No blowing holes in trees, no punching boulders, no slashing wooden posts to tiny blocks, no super sealing magic experiments, no reading research papers written for people four times your age...unless it's literature that real men read!" Gildarts said and would have continued if Naruto didn't feel a little bit insulted.
The only book that Gildarts ever read was titled, "Icha Icha", which was apparently an adult book written even before Naruto's time.
1
"Oh, and that trashy, 10 Jewel smut is supposed to be literature? An ABC book for toddlers would constitute for better reading and would have better quality in literature than the trashy books you read in your spare time" Naruto said sarcastically curiosity got the better of him one day and and Naruto opened the book while Gildarts was passed out one day from drinking and from the first page itself Naruto almost gagged at the first few words involving kissing, ewwwww.
"Hey! I'll have you know Icha Icha Paradise is a legend among real men! A true treasure hidden across the ages, the author may have passed away, hell even before your time, but he was a legend among men. Paving the way for the future perverts of tomorrow. He truly deserved the title of Super Pervert!" Gildarts said respectfully as he sighed wistfully as he remembered some of his favourite chapters and started to smile pervertedly as he remembered trying a few of them and Naruto just bonked Gildarts with the fishing pole.
"Sigh, fine" Naruto eventually gave up with a smile and Gildarts gave out a childish cheer and forcefully dragged Naruto like a ragdoll out of the guild.
Meanwhile if someone opened the Female Toilers you would see tears from Cana who looked at the two of them walking out into the riverbank and watched her father walk further out of her life.
She wanted to go up to him and just tell him so badly, she was his child. Not Naruto! Not some kid he just...found and replaced her with! It hurt that Gildarts just picked Naruto without even sparing a glance at Cana, not even realising his own daughter was right there. She wanted to just tell him, but she was scared stiff. Scared of being rejected, because it was something she didn't want to handle. Gildarts was the Ace of Fairy Tail, the strongest mage there was and she, well, she could only use card tricks. Gildarts would never pick her as his daughter, not when the competition was Naruto.
Naruto, the wonder boy or the demon spawn depending on who's perspective you were looking from, the kid who was already as strong as adults. She gripped her card deck tightly, that wasn't fair. Naruto already had a father, he usually went on about spending time with his real dad with his dumb demon fox. So what gave him the right to steal her dad away when he already had one? And it hurt more because Gildarts just kept training Naruto, who was already taking down adults who weren't A class mages with ease and was probably as strong as A-class mages as well, how was she supposed to compete with that! It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair.
Then there was the other kid in the guild, Gray the Baby Stripper, as Kurama could only refer to him by. When he grew up, Kurama referred to him as Gray the Regular Stripper, and when he was buck naked, it would be 50 Jewels for Gray and try to sell him to get rid of him faster since he wasn't putting clothes back on for Kurama.
"Hey you!" a kid younger than him shouted when Naruto was reading a book on Darkness Magic spells and making a few annotations where he needed to, his spells needed more diversity and for that he looked into books for ideas to adapt his spells into new forms for combat. He continued to read and mind his own business and...
"HEY! I'm talking to you!" the voice yelled out again and Naruto twitched in annoyance as he put down his book, and he was just reading something interesting there and his coat that he had left on the side had jumped onto Naruto's back and wrapped around him and easily shielded him on it's own.
"Can I help you?" Naruto asked politely and his book was down in the table in front of him and Naruto was hoping that he could get back to reading soon once he was done with this kid...who was in his underwear, what was up with that?
"Yeah, I heard you were Zeref's son! Is that true?" the boy said and banged the table hard and it caused the book to fall onto the ground and Naruto frowned, he couldn't handle people treating literature that way and it ticked him off slightly.
"I do have a name. It's Naruto, and you are?" Naruto said, slightly annoyed.
"Tch, none of your business. So your dad was the one who made the Etherious demons right!" Gray snapped at him and got into a fighting stance and Naruto sighed as he activated his eyes to end this quickly, he really didn't have the patience to deal with this.
"He did create the etherious beings, sigh now I presume we are to fight. Might I at least know your name?" Naruto asked as his coat fluttered slightly in anticipation and Naruto already knew how to coordinate with it to deal with Gray.
"Names Gray Fullbuster and I've got something for you and your evil dad! Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray snapped and he palmed his hands together, one as a fist and the other as an open palm and pushed his hand forward and created a lance of ice that shot forward at Naruto who just sighed and sidestepped the attack and picked his book back up again from the ground and glanced at the ground quickly and that caused golden symbols to spread into 2 separate small circles a short distance apart.
"Seal: Trap Formation" Naruto thought, since he made the symbols smaller the barrier in the trap would be weaker but it meant that he would be less likely to notice and it wasn't worth more effort of a stronger seal.
"HEY! What are you doing!" Gray snapped at him and Naruto continued to ignore him as he turned a page in the book, interesting a beam attack of Darkness Magic, might be worth looking into. But the real challenge was what to name it...oh he remembered that he was in a "fight".
"Reading, can you not tell?" Naruto asked sarcastically as he held the book in front of him and got back to reading and contemplating.
"Tch, learning dark magic! Just like your evil dad huh? I don't know what the crazy old master was thinking in letting a guy like you join, but a Dark Mage like you won't be staying for long!" Gray growled, "Ice-Make: Sword!" he said and from the same palm stance he created a sword made out of ice and Naruto didn't even look up.
"HAA!" Gray yelled and swung his blade across but Naruto didn't even flinch or make any indication that he was acknowledging Gray or the attack and when Gray got close for a swipe Naruto's coat reacted and from one of the folds from the bottom of Naruto's coat morphed into a tail and easily blocked the sword strike, it had the force of a child swinging it after all.
"What!" Gray said and hopped back and noticed that his sword had snapped.
"Gray, that coat of his is an Etherious!" Cana yelled out from the sidelines and Naruto didn't make any inclination that he noticed anything and kept reading, the battle was already over before he even knew it.
"Hm, a beam attack with darkness, maybe add in a spiral effect to gain more central control, but at the cost of more power hmm but with more harsh training I think we can increase my magical container to negate those effects. More importantly how does the name, Dark Beam sound?" Naruto thought.
"Etherious!" Gray growled and his eyes narrowed at the coat, "Just like Deliora!" he hissed and called out, "Ice-Make: Sword!" he snapped and from his other hand a smaller shakier sword materialised and he grabbed it and with a loud yell charged forwards at Naruto who had backed away a few steps and easily avoided each strike while reading at the same time.
"Psh, you could do better than that! Besides does it even matter, why do people yell out a name before an attack? Sounds stupid"Kurama asked as he deflected several other attempts by Gray and Naruto slowly moved around the tables in the Guild Hall so that Gray would forget where the initial traps were set, but Naruto doubted he was even paying attention to those in the first place.
"I suppose it's maybe to psych themselves up, or could just be a natural response through evolution for humans to intimidate the enemy. But if you try to use it in a sneak attack from behind like this guy's trying...then you're an idiot" Naruto thought back as Gray was almost right at him and Naruto was almost where he needed to be. To any onlooker they could all see that Naruto was barely doing anything other than staring at a page and occasionally taking a few steps while Gray was in a furious frenzy and continuously missing or getting blocked by a tail from Naruto's coat.
"Now you're just being lazy, you could have ended this battle easily. What gives?" Kurama asked Naruto who mentally shrugged. Kurama was using one tail to continuously block every attack that came from Gray, who didn't realise that no matter which direction he tried to come from it didn't matter because a tail would always block his attacks and push him away.
"Can't be bothered, my mind is working on more important matters. Back to those, any better ideas for a name for a spinning beam of darkness?" Naruto thought to his friend.
"Uhhh...Doom Vortex Lazer! Dark Drill Beam! Lucifer Spiral Blaster! Those sound good to me" Kurama suggested as he pushed Gray back when he charged with a lance and fumbled when Kurama manifested a second tail and had it snake around Gray's leg causing him to trip over his feet and land flat on his face.
"Hmm...ok then here me out on this one. Muonic Trans-Theoretic Cyclotron!" Naruto thought with a mental grin and it illicited a silence from Kurama, you could almost hear crickets chirping up there until he responded.
"The hell does that even mean! What the hell is a Muon and trans-something! What's a Cycle-whatever! How is that better than my names!" Kurama snapped from Naruto's head and expressed that anger with a whip right to Gray's face who just stood back up, only to tumble over again.
"Hey, A Muon is a theoretical negatively charged particle similar to an electron with the same charge and spin, but with a much greater mass. The thing is that since it's a negatively charged particle, it can be tested in a Cyclotron, a theoretical abstract piece of physics which can be used to study it in a beam form, and then since it has spin and it's all theoretical, it fits in with the-" Naruto explained before he was cut off by a familiar response.
"UBBBBBBBEEEEEERRRRRR NEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDDDD!"Kurama yelled out and he wrapped a tail around Gray's torso and with a flick of his tail, he tossed him into the air, much to the fear of the poor victim.
"Oh shut up, it's good! What's wrong with it!" Naruto thought.
"Who the heck would even know that! That's such a bad name! It's on the list of terrible names right now, no one would ever understand what the hell you're talking about! Just use one of my names! It's better and understandable to anyone, if you say Muon and theory crap, no one will know what it is and you'll have to explain that shit all over again!" Kurama snapped at him and caught Gray just before he hit the ground and threw him into the air again, and the poor boy was screaming his lungs out.
"...Ok, fine we'll compromise. You can decide the first part, but I'm keeping Cyclotron. Three names is a bit long, I've read that if you go to 5 syllables or above then your beam attack takes ages to charge up! It's a real thing...so kamehame-nah for anything 5 syllables or more" Naruto thought and tried to make a joke while Kurama was mentally facepalming and continued to toss Gray into the air for anger management, ah this was fun.
"Ugh, fine. Just leave the puns to me as well!" Kurama told him, "Then Dark Cyclotron or Doom Cyclotron would work. Dark if you want to keep the Dark Matter thing going, but Doom sounds scary, like you mean business" Kurama told him with his own opinion.
"Hmm...I'll go with Dark Cyclotron, I like continuity" Naruto thought and Kurama dropped Gray a short distance from where he needed to be for the earlier traps to work and Gray managed to pick himself up and to Naruto's surprise, he actually managed to not puke despite being thrown around like a rag-doll and Gray just saw Naruto looking bored and let out a roar and charged forwards.
"GRRR! STOP TREATING ME LIKE A JOKE! ICE-MAKE: SWORD!" Gray yelled and created a large sword of ice that he was struggling to hold under the weight and Naruto scoffed, foolish mistake. More power but at the cost of speed was just making you weaker. Besides he was only a few steps away from the place they started over the seals and finally Gray took the deciding step.
"This battle was already over before it began" Naruto thought as he flicked to the next page. Right when Gray was about to reach within slicing distance the seal activated and to Gray's surprise, golden letters started to quickly spiral and circled all around him before forming a square on the ground and from each corner the letters shot upwards and met 6 feet in the air and then all joined together into one trap made of golden energy.
"Seal" Naruto said as the barrier enclosed him completely.
"HEY! What the hell! Let me out of here!" Gray snapped and started to slash at the barrier but his swords touched the barrier and disintegrated into nothing as the barrier was too strong for his power and didn't even leave a scratch on it.
"If you insist but only if you let me continue reading" Naruto said boredly as he continued reading his book and the tails retreated back into his coat.
"Fine, just get me out of here" Gray snapped and the barrier deactivated with a flash of Naruto's eyes and Gray just smirked.
"Heh, you've got to be the dumber than a rock! Take this!" Gray yelled and Naruto just sighed as Gray rushed forwards and stepped on the second sealing marker, immediately creating another barrier around him that quickly encased him in the same energy.
"WHAT! Are you kidding me!" Gray groaned as he tried to hack through the barrier again as he created more swords and a variety of weapons but Naruto didn't even look up form his book.
"You know I once read that certain species of rats and mice used in laboratories can learn from dangerous experiences, even after having an experience once. If you've fallen for the same, blatantly obvious trap more than once, I suppose that makes you dumber than a common rat" Naruto said uninterestedly as he was reading his book while Kurama was just snickering, yep he finally corrupted Naruto into at least fighting back with clever insults, some of the time. Now if he can only make him less of a NEEEEERRRRDDDDDD!
"WHY YOU!" Gray growled as he tried to punch through the barrier but it kept holding up to all his attacks and eventually he tuckered himself out as he ran out of magic and stamina.
"Naruto!" Makarov yelled from the second floor and they all looked up, "Thank you for not breaking anything" Makarov said with slight tears that this was hope, hope that Fairy Tail wouldn't wreck stuff and Naruto just chuckled to himself, apparently he was the only one to not break anything for extended periods of time in the Guild. It wasn't too hard when you thought about it but was near impossible for everyone else.
"Master! He's got me trapped!" Gray snapped as he tried to shoulder slam into the barrier but it had no effect again.
"Yep, and who was the genius who started this and got there in the first place?" Makarov asked sarcastically.
"He threw me into the air like a toy! You're just letting him get away with that!" Gray tried again.
"And you were trying to slash and stab him, now the case is even again. Your point?" Makarov shot the argument down quickly and Naruto had to smile, Makarov didn't play favourites, he only played fair among all his children, something he could admire about him.
"Heh, I'm not the biggest fan of Zeref's kid and that loudmouthed fox but he's able to take on fully grown adults and even us A-Class mages, he's not a normal kid. Regular kids like you didn't stand a chance to begin with" Macao Conbolt added into the conversation as he took a glass of beer.
"Yeah, but at least no one got hurt. That's something. Zeref's kid didn't even use his real power, just parlour tricks and even with that, he beat the poor kid without even trying" Wakaba said as they saw Gray trying to futilely break apart the barrier.
Naruto did feel a pang of annoyance, it was always Zeref's kid with the lot of them. That's all the rest of this damn guild kept calling him other than Makarov and Gildarts, they kept labelling him that to constantly remind them of who Naruto was to their eyes with the label, Zeref's kid, but back to this moron. He pulled up a chair and sat down as he wanted to ask Gray a few questions.
"I have a question" Naruto asked to Gray who stopped trying to break through the barrier as futile as it was, "What is a Deliora?" he asked.
"You would know! It's the demon that killed my family! And my teacher! I swear when I get out of there, I'll make you-" Gray ranted but was cut off by Naruto.
"So an etherious killed your family and friends. What the hell did I do?" Naruto asked the boy.
"You-you even have one of those monsters with you! You even said that dad made those things! Why are you even here, that monster killed thousands of people so how can you just keep walking and acting like it never happened! Take responsibility!" Gray spluttered.
"Sorry, it's just that for some reason, I can't help but feel that it's not my problem if it's got nothing to do with me in the slightest bit. I've never even met this Deliora at all, and I'm pretty sure I don't like the sound of Deliora either" Naruto sighed as he put his book back in his pocket. "Besides, I didn't tell Deliora to go on a rampage and kill your friends, I've never even met it at all. Yet you're blaming me for the fact that someone else set Deliora on your loved ones?" Naruto asked and Gray's eyes widened as his jaw was slightly loose and Naruto realised the subtext in his body language and Naruto stood up and left the chair untucked and purposefully in the way.
"So someone else did set it on your friends? Any random stranger, or maybe an acquaintance, or maybe a close friend might have done it?" Naruto continued as he walked to Gray's silent form and leaned over closer to whisper, "Or maybe you?"and Gray stiffened at that.
"Either way, I've never heard of Deliora and whatever happened with that thing is your problem, not mine. If you want to deny it happened and hide under a rock, then feel free to do so, if you want to blame me, feel free to do so, be warned that you'll just get humiliated again, or you can deal with it and keep moving forwards. But blaming me solves nothing" Naruto told him as he walked away and the barrier dropped completely.
"B-but your dad made that thing in the first place, my parents died for no reason! Just because it wandered freely! I keep hearing about how you still are proud of your dad, how the hell can you do that when he's the devil!" Gray yelled out at him and Naruto stopped in his tracts.
"It's a free world and we have our own opinions and beliefs, can't force me to leave out of pressure, can't force me to think that my father is evil, and you can't force me to accept blame or responsibility for something I didn't do" Naruto told him plainly while Gray just steamed silently.
"...You know, I hate to say it but if you do say sorry to the baby stripper, would he leave you alone? My tails are shivering cold from that ice" Kurama thought to Naruto as the coat was billowing and a few ice shards fell off from the cloth.
"..." Naruto thought silently.
"Of course, you'll never do that. Saying sorry is the same as admitting you were wrong, and you hate that don't you" Kurama thought sarcastically, "You're always thinking of how you're superior and smarter than people you're age, but in reality you're far more stubborn than any other brat in the world. Fine, I'll block any sneak attacks the baby stripper throws, but you owe me extra portions in dinner!" he thought childishly and Naruto smiled, that fox really understood him well.
"So you don't care that your father's the country's worst murderer! You don't care about all the people's he's killed and the others who had to suffer because of him" Gray snapped back.
"Now you're putting words in my mouth. I never said I don't care, I feel horrible knowing that my father did that but he's still the same father who raised me from childhood, I can't hate him because he's my father" Naruto told him and sighed, "Ugh, I'm not getting anything out of arguing with a hard headed moron like you, I'm off to do something more productive with my time" and Gray snapped at that.
"HEY! Don't you turn your back on me!" Gray yelled and tried to stand up and rushed forwards before he tripped over the chair that Naruto purposefully left in front of him and tumbled over and hit the floor again, and people couldn't stop and hold in their laughter at the comical "fight" between Zeref's kid and Gray. In the end, it wasn't like the former even did anything against his opponent, and still won!
He eventually stopped attacking Naruto and looked more thoughtful about his life, but still wasn't exactly a friend. More like acquaintance who didn't cold shoulder him but would just slightly nod if they saw each other and got on with their own business. Still considered progress in Naruto's head.
Then there was Laxus Dreyar, Naruto hoped that he could be friends with him since his grandfather was one of the greatest people he met. Sadly, greatness must have got lost somewhere in his genes and replaced with the exact opposite.
Felix Lake...
"So, I think this might be a great chance to get to know each other. Naruto, this is my grandson I've been telling you about. This is Laxus. Laxus, this is Naruto" Makarov tried to introduce them and Naruto got a look at his grandson.
He was about 15 or 16 would be Naruto's estimate and he sure looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here since he was wearing headphones and had an ugly expression of anger as he did his best to ignore his grandfather and overall, was being the worlds biggest jerk.
"Naruto, please let me" Kurama tried to plead.
"No" Naruto told him.
"But look at him, that prick is begging to be insulted" Kurama whined and Naruto shut him out.
"Sigh, we'll we are going to be learning Light Magic and practicing that. I was hoping that you could continue one of our family's legacies, Lightning Magic can only go so far but this is indispensable and extremely useful in battle" Makarov told him seriously and Laxus just scoffed and took off his headphones.
"Tch, yeah right. Gramps, you just want me here to act all buddy-buddy with Zeref's kid, why else would you ever care about training or any of this crap? And family legacy, drop the BS, you never taught dad and you never planned on teaching me either, just let it die with you already" Laxus snapped at Makarov who looked pained but Naruto piped up.
"Should you really talk about the death of people in such a carefree manner, especially your grandfather of all people?" Naruto asked him with slightly angered and Laxus turned to him with an equal expression of disgust as he started down at him.
"How old are you anyway, you little crap?" Laxus sneered.
"A number between 1 and 1000, and you? I'm guessing a number between 1 and 3 from your behaviour" Naruto replied.
"It's none of your business, smart alec and you better watch that mouth or else. Why don't you go back to your books and evil plotting and just leave this guild, Fairy Tail doesn't need Dark Mages in our guild" Laxus snapped and Makarov was furious.
"LAXUS! That is a horrible accusation! Apologise now!" Makarov snapped at his grandson who just humphed and put his headphones on again.
"It doesn't matter, I don't concern myself with the opinions of people like him" Naruto tried to placate Makarov but that served to anger Laxus as he put his headphones down and sparks started to fly from his body and Naruto turned to him.
"People like me? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" Laxus yelled at him and sparks were flying between the two, Naruto didn't like his attitude at all. He was rude, arrogant and disrespectful to his grandfather while Laxus didn't like the fact that Makarov was letting clear dark mages join in, Zeref's son for crying out loud! This guy was pure evil the second coming! Did he want to drag Fairy Tail's reputation into the mud by letting guys like him join!
"Laxus! STOP! NOW!" Makarov snapped but Laxus just pointed a finger at Naruto.
"You, you think you're tough shit just because you're Zeref's son? I think it's time someone in Fairy Tail showed you where you belong, bring it if you're man enough, or maybe you're just a chicken shit like the geezer here" Laxus snapped and without any warning Naruto vanished in the blink of an eye and was right next to Laxus's side in a blink.
"GRRR!" Laxus grunted as he blocked a silent punch from Naruto coming right from the side with a side cross guard and Naruto crouched down and a tail appeared from behind and slapped Laxus backwards and broke his guard and Naruto pushed against the ground and followed up to a punch right to his stomach and started focusing magic into it.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto called out and an orb of Darkness Magichit Laxus square in the gut and sent him sprawling backwards before he picked himself up again and snarled angrily at Naruto.
"Kid! That was a big mistake!" Laxus yelled as lighting started to spark around him heavily and Makarov tried to grab his grandson before he did something stupid.
"LAXUS! Stop this right now!" Makarov tried to grab him but Laxus was way ahead of him.
"Lightning Body!" Laxus yelled and his body was covered in yellow bright lightning as Naruto was almost taken by surprise but had the perfect plan in place to deal with this, Lightning was tricky to deal with. You'd need extreme durability to be able to survive long enough to get an opening to land a blow on your opponent. Or you could be Naruto, who'd survived death matches with mages since he was 5, trained with Zeref, and then trained with Gildarts, at this point, he'd endured enough shit to be able to take this.
"Let's try this move out" Naruto thought as he saw the approaching Laxus in slow motion as he activated his Mystic Eyes. Naruto then put both his hands to his face and started to gather Light Magic in both his palms and they were glowing very brightly.
"Solar Flare!" Naruto called out as Laxus was right in front of him and when he was about to bring his fist down, he was blinded by an intense golden light and that gave enough time for Naruto to grab his outstretched fist when Kurama gave him a signal when he could sense it was right in front of Naruto. Solar Flare was a flawed technique, it would blind both the user and the opponent and Naruto relied on Kurama's sensing abilities to give a signal on when to counter or do anything.
Naruto grit his teeth as the lightning was coursing through his body and Kurama did his best to withstand it and kickstart his healing and increase his durability. This was painful, but when you've lived his life and trained with Gildarts of all people, you could be considered quite the survivor.
"Darkness Make: Chains!" Naruto thought as he created black revolving magical circles in the ground and from them chains popped up from the Earth itself but that wouldn't be able to contain Laxus, it was what the chains could do that made them effective.
Even thought he decided to learn Darkness Maker Magic, he only really worked on it and started to master it after he saw Gray fight, he realised that Maker Magic could be used pretty well if it was in the right hands of course. Chains of this caliber wouldn't be anywhere near enough to stop Laxus, he would overpower it, but it would ground his lighting and channel it into the ground and Laxus was shocked as he felt the lightning leave him and Naruto finished this off.
"Requip: Murasame" Naruto called out and in one fluid motion, Laxus was held at Katana point where it was pointed right at his neck and Laxus felt the blade's tip right at his neck and the light dimmed out to reveal just that. Laxus held in black chains from the ground and he spluttered in anger as Naruto pressed the katana against him.
"Don't move, Murasame isn't a forgiving blade and I'd hate to spill your blood on it" Naruto told him but Laxus roared again and snapped the chains holding him down but was stopped by a giant hand that grabbed him from behind and pushed him down into the ground.
"LAXUS! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Makarov yelled as Laxus was pinned right into the ground, who let go after a few seconds and Laxus picked himself up from the crater on the ground with a little pain but growled at Naruto, who put his katana away.
"YOU! This isn't over! I wasn't even going all out! You never beat me! I'm the strongest here! YOU HEAR ME!" Laxus yelled and Naruto just blinked.
"What a coincidence, I wasn't going all out either" Naruto told him and Laxus tried to charge again before Makarov stood between them.
"ENOUGH LAXUS DREYAR! UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SUSPENDED FOR ATTACKING YOUR FELLOW GUILD MEMBER THEN GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Makarov roared at him and Laxus backed down, but only after Makarov started to grow in size until he was the size of a titan again.
"Tch, it's not like I'd be the first family you excommunicated" Laxus hissed and walked away reluctantly and he and Naruto locked eyes. This clearly wasn't over between them.
After a silence, Makarov shrunk back and clutched his chest with an expression of pain and Naruto quickly rushed over to the Master and held him carefully, when getting to response he started to get worried so he created a bed out of Darkness Maker Magic for him and Naruto went to the lakeside to fetch him some water and carefully poured some for the old man with a glass made of Darkness as well.
"Ugh, thank you Naruto. I'm fine now" Makarov brushed off another glass and sat up properly with a painful expression on his face.
"Master, are you feeling better?" Naruto asked him carefully but Makarov just waved it off with a laugh.
"HA! Just a little age getting to me, that's all! It's nothing to concern yourself over!" Makarov brushed off any concerns and sat up properly and looked melancholy for a moment where Laxus had left and sighed slightly and Kurama manifested back into a fox.
"Hey Old Man, what gives with that prick? You sure someone gave you the right baby cuz that prick is nothing like you"Kurama asked.
"Kurama, we shouldn't ask questions like that" Naruto reprimanded the fox.
"Sigh, that's not the case at all. It's a...complicated matter between my grandson and I, but I hoped that maybe making friends with you might change him a little. Looks like that wasn't the case" Makarov sighed and Naruto felt a little bad about what he did.
"Master, I'm sorry for starting a fight with Laxus, I shouldn't have let that insult he threw at you get to me" Naruto told him but Makarov just waved it off.
"Ah don't worry, you may have started this but you didn't do it without cause and then after that you only defended yourself and stopped Laxus without hurting him. Can't really fault you for that" Makarov replied, he thought that Naruto started the fight because of the insult at Naruto but felt a little happy that the boy stuck up for him so strongly and Kurama piped up with his own words.
"Naruto, don't ever apologise for winning against pricks!"Kurama piped up as well and Naruto sighed and nodded.
"Sigh, well I guess it'll just be one student for Light Magic" Makarov hopped onto the ground and Naruto dematerialised the bed into nothing again and turned to Makarov and wanted to ask him something that was on his mind right now.
"Wait, how did you know that I could use Light Magic?" Naruto asked Makarov approached the lake along with Naruto as well.
"Take a guess" Makarov said with a smile and Naruto realised what it could only have been.
"Drunk Gildarts?" Naruto groaned and Makarov just laughed.
"I couldn't count on him to keep a secret my life depended on it, the man is like a faucet when he's drunk. He'll spill just about anything freely, even without prompting" Makarov laughed and Naruto couldn't help but smile, he'd be lying if he didn't take advantage of Drunk Gildarts before.
"Yes, I can. But it's not at the same level as my Darkness Magic I practiced with father. I've gotten a bit better at Light Magic, but I can't use it as much because Gildarts only knows the basics and so it's started to become rusty. But I can still do a few tricks. Like this!" Naruto said and stuck his hand forward and focused for a bit and from it sprung a complex golden white magical circle.
"Shining Heaven!" Naruto called out as his palms turned golden and from them and from the circle emerged a beam of light, instead of a dart like his usual Piercing Heaven, shot forwards at blinding speeds and pierced through the surface of the water at the riverbank, splitting the flow of the river completely in two and the beam carried on and hit a large boulder on the other side of the bank and impacted on it with a blinding flash and explosion. When it died out, the boulder had a clear hole through it with the energy Naruto used.
"Haaβ¦haa" Naruto panted slightly and tried to hide it but Makarov could easily see that. But holy hell, that was insane. And he was even better with Darkness Magic! Now Makarov really understood why Gildarts ranked his current strength at high A-rank topped off with his excellent mission record, he wasn't a normal kid that was for sure and his power had only kept growing for the months he'd been in Fairy Tail. But then again back to Light Magic.
There were people who tried to use Light Magic, but without proper mental fortitude and the right mindset their attacks would pale in comparison to a true master, and Makarov didn't want to brag but he was one of the best at light magic.
And Naruto, the son of the most evil mage in history had not only used magic that needed a kind heart but had far exceeded Makarov's own skill when he was in his late twenties, with minimal instruction from anyone other than Gildarts who gave him the basics.
"God Serena-sama was right, Naruto clearly has massive potential. Combine his Light Magic with his training from Zeref in Darkness Magic, and then the tricks that he can use with Ancient Runes, then his swordsmanship when he's exhausted his magic and hand-to-hand combat, and on top of that his Etherious partner, and he is still branching out and trying to get stronger...at this rate he would truly live up to and maybe surpass his father's legendary power" Makarov thought as Naruto stood up again ready for more and shuddered a little at what could happen if Naruto went evil, thank the gods that he was anything but that.
"Right shall we continue training?" Makarov asked and Naruto nodded with enthusiasm.
Then there was the new recruit Erza Scarlet, that sure went delightfully well, if you could tell the sarcasm in it...
"YOU!" a voice called out as Naruto was practicing his swordsmanship and saw a red haired girl wearing armour come out brandishing a sword right at him and she looked disgruntled about something and Naruto already sighed, great not this thing again.
"Ok, save me the effort. What did my father do to you, and what do you want?" Naruto asked her bluntly and she was taken a little by surprise by that but responded in the same way. Screw charming and polite to women that Gildarts kept telling him, she was going to be a total jerk to him so he wasn't too concerned about someone who's opinion wasn't going to get better if he spoke in a flattering way.
"I prefer to be blunt about this. What he did to me is none of your business, but I propose a challenge" she said and she got into a swordsman's stance, "I challenge you to a sword duel, if I win then you will have to leave Fairy Tail!" Erza proposed and Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"...No" Naruto told her and Erza stumbled over her feet slightly and look surprised.
"What!" she said in disbelief.
"Why should I accept? I've got better things to do than waste time here, and why should I accept anyway?" Naruto asked her in disbelief, he was supposed to accept a battle where he got nothing out of it? That made no sense.
"So you'll just run away, where is your pride! You don't even have the spirit to fight!" she snapped at him and Naruto sighed.
"This is dumb, I don't bother myself in beating down people weaker than me, it's boring and a waste" Naruto told her sharply and he was right. She was using a sword but her footing was off centre and her hands were holding her sword too far back, Naruto could tell that she was a novice with a sword while Naruto trained with Zeref who lived centuries and mastered thousands of different arts, 5 years wasn't enough to learn a fraction of his skill but he had far more skill and more experience with using a blade in life and death battles. It was just a fact, Naruto was stronger than Erza.
"Weaker than you! I think it's time I show you just how strong I am!" she growled and started to gather magical power and Naruto still couldn't care less as he didn't blink. Her power was pretty impressive, well not as impressive as his power.
"Is that it?" Naruto told her and blinked before his body exploded with a jet black and golden-white aura that eclipsed her power by a good margin but she didn't falter under the pressure of Naruto's power, and still stood up but had a bead of cold sweat drop from her head as she let out a breath.
"You will accept my duel! And the stakes are that if I win, then you will leave Fairy Tail before your influence can affect anyone!" Erza snapped and Naruto was more confused than ever, didn't she notice that he had no friends, so who was he supposed to influence? Did his father influence someone she cared about? Ugh, was there someone that his dad didn't screw over? Either way it didn't matter.
"I don't think you get how stakes work, the point is that if I win this thing then I get something" Naruto tried to reason with her and call this fight off, he wasn't in the mood to beat up hard headed people in fights and especially would never gamble on his life at Fairy Tail.
"And what do you want? I refuse to be a slave!" she asked him testily.
"If I win, then you leave me alone. That seems fair to me" Naruto told her and she nodded. Naruto wondered why she jumped to slave so quickly but brushed it off as he cleared his mind for the sword duel.
"Then let's begin! The victor shall be decided by first blood!" she told him and charged straight forwards and Naruto didn't even blink as he saw Erza approach her with a broadsword, and in heavy clunky armour. She might look strong for her age, but she was limiting her strength with that apparel and Naruto held his katana ready in an Iaido stance and holding it right to his side and prepared to draw it in one swipe.
"HAAAAAAA!" she roared as the sword approached right at his right arm where he had his katana and Naruto didn't move at all but the second it was about a few inches away, Naruto reacted and suddenly became a blur and swiped across in an arc and a loud clang of metal was heard and a small explosion kicked up the dirt around them as Naruto was having to strain a bit to match her full strength and Erza was pressing against his katana as hard as she could, ignoring a small sting she felt.
"Okay, she's stronger than I gave her credit for" Naruto thought and pushed her back with a burst of strength but she quickly recovered herself and held her sword at the ready.
"Might have to actually try in this fight" Naruto thought and had to smile a little, "It's been a while since I had a good sword fight, maybe I'll entertain myself in the dance of steel for a while."
"What are you smiling at?" Erza asked him as she held her sword at the ready.
"You're not too bad, this waltz might be a little fun" Naruto told her and held his katana at the ready and Erza was confused at his words but ignored it and got back to focusing.
"Stop underestimating me!" she yelled and charged forwards again and Naruto countered her downwards slash and she was relentless as she continued a barrage of sword swipes but Naruto could easily see her stance and her grip, it wasn't too hard to predict her attacks and Naruto easily countered her sword and dodged a few swipes as well.
"FIGHT BACK!" Erza snapped at him and Naruto continued to counter her swipes at him with sword attacks at the base of her sword and continued to strike those points with each counter, hitting each side with Naruto's full swings behind a bloodthirsty and excited Murasame. The sword wanted to fight back as well, and Naruto decided to give in.
"If you say so! But try to keep up with the music" Naruto replied with an excited grin.
She sliced her sword across Naruto's face to try and scratch him but Naruto just tilted his head back and as she tried to follow up, Naruto sent a swipe at her exposed neck to scratch her and she only managed to avoid it by a hair breath and tried to follow up again but Naruto easily blocked it with a reverse grip to block the broadsword and Erza was struggling to overpower Naruto as he was also straining to push her back in pure physical strength as she was pretty strong physically.
"Take this!" she snapped and tried to swipe down low and Naruto just smirked as he avoided the swipe with a jump and flipped over Erza and she quickly raised her sword to block Naruto's strike to her exposed back and she pushed Naruto back in a burst and she dashed forwards as well but Naruto stood on one hand on the ground and then flipped backwards to avoid a downwards slash but then she jumped upwards as well but was still under him since the armour was weighting her down.
"Wrong note" Naruto told her as she tried to push him backwards with a sword strike but Naruto was above her and pushed her back easily and she hit the ground in an ungraceful way and Naruto landed on the ground safely and dashed forwards with his sword at the ready.
"Hup!" she grunted and stood on one hand and flipped backwards to avoid Naruto's attack, much to the surprise of the former.
"Did she just copy my move?" Naruto thought but quickly blocked a strike from her and Naruto easily held her back as she entered a furious frenzy of strikes but it was useless as Naruto kept on striking the sword at the hilt of hers and blocking her while he thought about that.
"I'm a little impressed, she's made to wield swords. She didn't copy me, she learned my move when just seeing it. Man, I'm actually getting even more pumped in this dance, she might be able to match or even surpass me in swordsmanship but if it's overall when I'm using everything I've got, then I'm still going to win for sure" Naruto thought as he had almost finished this.
"HAAAA!" she yelled and thrust her sword forwards and Naruto took this as his opportunity to end this, Naruto held his sword next to the left side of his waist at the ready and moved faster than Erza could even see, Naruto decided to end this.
"There is nothing I cannot cut!" Murasame almost roared out as Naruto struck her sword with all his strength, one swipe from left to right, and then immediately kept up that speed and struck from right to left, right at the same points where he kept striking the hilt of her sword and then in what seemed like one swoop, Naruto zoomed a few feet behind her.
A moment passed before a loud clang of metal was heard and Erza turned to her sword and saw that it was completely snapped at the hilt and the blade snapped and hit the ground and Naruto smirked as he held Murasame in his hands, there was nothing he couldn't cut with Murasame.
"Ryusasu! (Dragon Bite!)" Naruto whispered as he resheathed his blade.
"W-what!" Erza said as she held a hilt and Naruto began to walk away and Erza felt angry that Naruto just brushed her off like that.
"Why didn't you finish this duel! You haven't drawn blood! It's not over yet!" she yelled at him and Naruto just turned back and looked at her.
"You're sword is broken, and I've lost my urge to continue with the music. I don't feel like cutting an unarmed opponent and the dance is starting to bore me, bye" Naruto waved at her.
"How dare you look down on me like that! I won't back down, when I have to protect the guild from falling under your evil spells, I won't let my home get corrupted and lose all my friends because of Zeref again so don't ever look down on my strength" she yelled at him with fury and Naruto looked at her confused.
"The hell are you talking about, I'm not brainwashing or corrupting anyone, I don't even have any friends here other than Master and Gildarts! What the hell are you on about?" Naruto asked her baffled and just sighed, "Besides I'm just looking down on you because you're not as strong as me, it's a fact. Besides, if it makes you feel better, you're quite physically strong, about as strong as a fully grown gorilla".
"Y-You think I'm a gorilla!" Erza snapped and Naruto realised that he sort of called her a gorilla, and she had enough of this.
"Requip!" she yelled and a sword materialised out of the air and she grabbed it and charged forwards and Naruto immediately blocked it again and groaned, "Well I guess we're dancing to this melody again" and blocked the strike with his katana as he unsheathed it in the blink of an eye.
"HAAA!" she yelled and swiped across Naruto who blocked it with his blade and quickly pushed her back and Erza yelled out again, "Requip!" and pulled out another blade and Naruto groaned as she held herself with two swords.
"Ok, how many swords do you have?" Naruto asked exasperatedly.
"Countless numbers, now let's continue" Erza yelled and Naruto raised his sword and managed to block her attacks with two swords and Naruto noted that she wasn't experienced with holding two blades and the extra broadsword only served to slow her down, she was weaker with that.
"Sigh, you really are persistent, you know that" Naruto told her as he blocked a strike with both her swords coming in at the same time and Naruto noted two things, her power wasn't as good behind two swords compared to both arms into one and also she couldn't cross coordinate between the two swords, that was why it was better to dual wield with katanas instead, but clearly she wasn't there for that class.
"Enough!" Naruto pushed her back and she caught herself again and Naruto just held himself unguarded.
"You're weaker with two swords" Naruto told her and she looked surprised, "I'm not dancing in the clash of steel with you when you have a handicap, you should requip your sword back" he told her but she just looked more determined.
"You're not going to trick me with this music nonsense and lies! You want me to put away my sword in order to secure victory, I'm not falling for it!" she yelled and charged forwards and Naruto sighed, idiots.
He was surrounded by idiots and Naruto easily managed to keep track of both swords now that she was even slower and proved his point by parrying both swords when she tried to swipe in opposite directions and close in on Naruto but Murasame easily parried back her swords and Naruto thrust his sword near her neck and tore through strands of her hair to prove his point and she almost went into shock at seeing the blade thrust at her head but after the moment passed, she noted that the katana was only inches away from her neck while her swords were quite a distance from Naruto.
"See my point?" Naruto asked her and she jumped back as fast as she could and Naruto let her and held his katana to the side.
"You're already slowing yourself down with that stupid armour and you've got barely any practice with a broadsword compared to my skill with a katana, now you're holding two making it even dumber. You're only weighting yourself down and getting slower, the force behind your blades is weaker and your coordination is even more predictable. I'll say it one last time, get rid of a sword. Fighting you isn't fun, and I'll get bored quickly and leave you alone on the dance floor" Naruto told her sharply for the last time, this was annoying.
She looked at her sword, "Fine" she said and Requipped her sword back into her dimension and held it at the ready and Naruto smirked as he held his ready as well and closed his eyes and Erza decided to take that opportunity and Naruto prepared to try out his newest sword technique.
"Listen" Naruto thought to himself as he did his best to focus as hard as he could, blocking out any distractions.
"Listen, to the voice of her blade, the voice of her armour clanking, the voice of her heartbeat" Naruto thought and held his blade next to his body and widened his stance.
"Listen, to the howl of the wind as it passes by, the cry of the blades of grass as they are crushed, the rage in her heart burning away" Naruto thought as she was getting closer and even faster, now that her opponent was unmoving and blind, making this a perfect chance to seize victory.
"Listen, for the moment...to strike!" Naruto thought as Erza was right within striking range and she held her sword at the ready and she swung it forwards.
"HIYAAAAH!" she yelled as her sword swung right at Naruto and he opened his eyes and faster than she could blink, Naruto was already behind her and a gust of wind passed by her.
A moment passed and Naruto resheathed his sword and another moment passed and Naruto called out his attack, "Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson! (One Sword Drawing Style: Lion's Song)" and in a swift flurry of cuts her sword was broken into several pieces and clanged onto the ground and her armour was damaged as well, the heavy pieces hit the ground with a thud and gave off a loud noise as they hit the ground in pieces and Erza was shocked as she clutched herself tightly.
"M-my armour!" she choked and Naruto wondered what was up with her.
"...You ok?" Naruto asked her and she started to shudder a little and Naruto felt a little bit guilty.
"I don't need your pity" she said and tried to stand again and stood her ground determinedly as she started to gather magical power again and Naruto held his blade ready.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armour!" she yelled out and was covered in a golden light, Naruto immediately jumped backwards to get some distance and held his blade up and ready as he saw the light start to dim and Naruto held his blade ready at the approaching threat and realised that she actually wasn't kidding about using new armour.
Every part of her armour was seemingly made of silver metal. The upper part of that armour only consisted of a small breastplate that was composed of feather-shaped plates pointing upwards with a large metal flower on the front which extended along her hips. Her arms were covered by metal straps and her very large plated gauntlets had feather-shaped plates at the edges.
Her waist was circled by large, decorated plates that looked like feathers that were on a long skirt. She also a pair of plated boots which was partially hidden under her skirt, each sporting metal ornaments shaped like wings. Erza also had a neck guard made of feather-like plates and a tiara with prominent metal wings. The armour also sports two pairs of large metal wings which adorn Erza's back, composed of metal feathers which get longer and larger at the edges.
"HAA!" Erza yelled and in several flashes of light, tens of swords started to materialise around her and Naruto paled at that, are you kidding me! How was he supposed to dodge that!
With a grunt from Erza she sent waves of swords at Naruto who quickly doubled backwards into the treeline and thought as hard as he could.
"Enjoying the show, Kurama?" Naruto thought sarcastically to the fox who was hiding in the bushes, watching the entire thing bored.
"Oh no, watching you get served is a treat to me. Speaking of which, watch your right" Kurama told him and Naruto moved his head to avoid a blade that nearly cut his cheek and then saw that the blades were converging towards Erza who was in mid air and held her broadsword at the ready.
"This musical is over, get ready for a real fight" Naruto thought to him and Kurama nodded and silently walked over to Naruto, positioning himself to pounce right at his partner.
"Blumenblatt!" she yelled out and the swords that were around Erza quickly converged right in front of her and then without warning shot directly at Naruto who didn't blink but put his palm to his side and tensed himself as two dark black magical circles started to form in his hand and quickly expanded greatly as he held down to charge his attack and the circle started to spark and spin rapidly in opposite directions and created opposing forces that caused it to heavily crackle.
"Dark Cyclotron!" Naruto yelled back and thrust his hand forward and the magical circles converged to a black point which burst forwards as an inky black beam with a black spark that spiralled around the beam and the attack almost staggered Naruto back and the ground around him was reduced to rubble as the beam shot forwards with large proportions and Erza's eyes widened in fear and immediately she ducked to the side and dodged narrowly.
The black beam continued past her, engulfing and destroying her swords in an instant and almost hitting her and continued past that and pierced the sky above her, but she didn't hesitate to use this opening and shot forwards from the air and descended down like a bird.
"Blumenblatt!" she yelled out and with two swords in her hands she sliced at Naruto's exposed body but a red blur passed her and quickly pounced onto her target and her eyes widened as a coat quickly manifested around her target and faster than she could react a claw extended from the coat and caught her body while in mid air and she yelled as she felt the jerk of stopping her motion all of a sudden, and growled as her blades were only an inch away from Naruto's reactionless face.
"I thought this was a sword fight with no magic?" Naruto asked her uninterestedly.
"Tch, I never said that. I only assumed that I could best you in a battle of swords, but outside help, that is quite low" Erza grunted as she tried to escape the claw but was stuck firmly rooted by it and Naruto just scoffed.
"Excuse me, but you're using armour that lets you fly and use telekinesis with swords, and you're accusing me of cheating by using clothes that give you abilities. Sorry but you don't get the moral high ground here" Naruto told her and the claw threw her back and she managed to stabilise herself again in the air.
"You had a small chance of winning when it was just a battle of swords, but now-" Naruto told her and to her surprise the cloak started to morph again and from the back of the cloak, four red wings manifested. They were all a mixture of draconic and demonic looking with red and black colours but dragon like wings with a horn on the top two which were much larger and had the wingspan of a metre, the bottom wings were much smaller and clearly used to stabilise in flight.
"-It's zero" Naruto told her and with one jump, Naruto leapt into the air and the wings started to beat and flapped against the air powerfully in opposing patters with the bottom and top pairs and Naruto was casually in the air at level with Erza who was floating away with less grace from lack of practice.
Incidentally, Naruto called this form of Kurama as Wing Kurama, where Kurama manifested into a flight pack for Naruto. The benefits were the obvious aerial combat, but the major downside was that Kurama wouldn't be able to provide defence for Naruto with his tails to block attacks.
"Dance, my blades!" she yelled out and her swords that appeared again in a flash of light were in the air around her, they quickly started to enter a circle formation and then literally orbited her in a circle as she prepared her next attack and Naruto held Murasame ready and it started to get covered in a thick swirling black aura that covered it completely and it formed a spiky black aura around his blade and Naruto moved it above his head.
"Circle Sword!" she yelled out and the blades spun continuously in a circle and turned into a buzzsaw that shot right at Naruto in the air and Naruto's attack was ready as the blade's aura was spiking at the tip of the katana.
"Nisshoku Tachikata! (Eclipse Cutter!)" Naruto yelled out and swung his blade down and from the swing of that attack, a giant arc of black energy shot forwards and quickly met the circling blades and the two clashed at the middle where the black arc started to engulf the white spinning blades and overpowered them and shot forwards past the swords and went right at Erza who swerved out of the way but was left completely open as well and her eyes widened at the approaching red blur.
"100 Piercing Heaven!" Naruto yelled out as golden-white magical circles surrounded him and without warning a flurry of darts shot forwards from them and Erza quickly raised her arms to block the attacks but there were far too many, and each of them were designed to be piercing, well suited against armoured opponents and the darts caused cracks to appear in her armour and Erza realised Naruto's real target as she felt herself lose balance and looked at her wings, what was solid steel was given holes and dents.
"Argh!" Erza yelled as she was sent crashing down right into the ground and closed her eyes before feeling something stop her in mid air and opened her eyes only to feel soft fur and hard muscle.
Naruto was holding her bridal style to break her fall and she saw his calm and collected face and saw up close his midnight black hair with a tuft at the back where it spiked, his pale skin, his literally sparkling green eyes and could feel muscle under his arms and she immediately turned red.
"L-l-let GO!" she spluttered and brought her sword up and slashed at Naruto who dropped her like a sack of potatoes and flipped backwards in the air and landed on the ground skilfully with a feline's grace, or a fox's senses, either one and his wings turned back into a coat.
"As you wish" Naruto told her with a smirk and her face turned red from anger and embarrassment and she held her sword at the ready.
"Are you even trying to win! You could have struck me while I was down! Don't you care about staying or is this just a game to you?" she demanded to him and Naruto just chuckled to himself and looked back at her with his damn, clever, charming smirk.
"It's boring to strike a downed opponent when you're just sparring, and I do care about staying in this guild more than anything, it's my home, but why do I need to try to win?" Naruto asked and she grit her teeth and Naruto continued, "When I've already won" he told her and she stopped in surprise.
"What!" she asked and Naruto just pointed to his right cheek, right under his eye on the bone and she brought her hand to touch the same spot on her face and felt something warm and drew her hand back and saw small bits and drops of red and her eyes widened.
"W-what?" Erza thought in shock and was about to ask, "When?"
"At the first step in the dance between our swords, I already made sure to win" Naruto told her and Erza tried to remember, all she saw was a blur and remembered that she felt a slight sting she felt when they first met blades, and she realised, Naruto must have moved too fast for her to even notice and even then made a clean and controlled cut across her cheek and just enough to draw blood before continuing the fight.
"But if you won, why did you fight!" she asked him as she felt a sting in the loss.
"Hm, oh because it was one of the most entertaining dances I've ever had. I haven't had a sword fight, one that got my blood pumping in a long time, and it's something I've missed a little" Naruto told her with a grin and sheathed his sword one last time and Requipped it back to his dimension and Erza's eyes widened as it was about as fast as her and bit her teeth in frustration.
She lost, she was outmatched badly against Zeref's son, and she gripped her blade tightly and it shuddered a little, she lost. Even after all she had been through, watching her home get burnt down by Zeref's cultists, then being forced into slavery to build the damned tower, and then watching her best friend turn evil under Zeref's presence, she still lost.
"You have won" she told him and requipped her swords back as well, "As promised, I won't fight you again" she told him curtly.
"Well that's a shame, I kind of had fun in that dance" Naruto told her and shrugged, "By the way, just so you know I have no evil motives in joining Fairy Tail. Also if you want to fight again, then I'm not going to stop you" he told her and she turned to him in surprise.
"Are you that certain you can win again?" she asked him challengingly.
"Tch, you've got a long way to go before you can reach my level in swordsmanship. If you want to fight again with no stakes, then just ask next time" Naruto told her, "Out of interest, what's your name?" Naruto asked.
"Erza Scarlet" she told him clearly and Naruto stifled a laugh.
"Scarlet? Like your hair?" Naruto asked her.
"Yes" she said with a little steel in her voice, "I was given that name by my...someone" she told him and corrected herself.
"Yeah, it took what 2 seconds?" Naruto quipped and she twitched at that and Naruto continued, "Well I'm just Naruto, see you around" he told her and wings sprouted again from his back as he took to the skies like a bird with a powerful flap and disappeared in a burst of speed.
Naruto wouldn't call Erza a friend or even an acquaintance, more like a stranger he ignored, she usually went around beating up people who screwed around or broke rules and Naruto usually just avoided her since her constant beatdowns were a little painful to watch, but she couldn't do anything to Naruto, who didn't do anything wrong and just read on his own and she left him alone mostly, but Naruto also knew that she was wiser to challenging him, she realised that Naruto was far above her right now when it came to magic.
They had an understanding to leave each other alone unless it was for a fight, and a lot could be conveyed from the clash of steel between blades. The true hearts of the people could be felt from the blade itself, Naruto could feel that she had a painful childhood like him and wanted to protect her family, but Erza wasn't experienced enough to feel anything in that fight but was doubtful that Naruto had malicious intentions for Fairy Tail. And it was for that reason, they managed to leave each other alone.
But eventually he did make one new friend his age, and he couldn't have been happier about it, even if he barely ever showed it with his usual calm exterior and Gildarts and Makarov couldn't have been happier. And his first friend was Levy McGarden.
"Interesting" Naruto thought as he was reading in the library. Most of Fairy Tail didn't even know they had a library in the first place, but Naruto wondered if half of them were literateβ¦and that included Gildarts sometimes but in the man's defence, it was rare to see him fully sober so he had to cut the man some slack in that department.
The library was actually vast with rows of books, ranging on different types of magic and spells that could be cast and instructions on how to learn these different magics and it was truly fascinating. It was written in easily understandable texts and Naruto had to give the author credit, Mavis Vermillion was a genius in Magic rivalling his father and may have been as much of an enthusiast as he is in wanting to continuously keep learning magic and could feel like he was really similar to her in some ways, oh how people really didn't notice.
1
Naruto read dozens of different texts across the library and had tried to learn a few Basic Spells for Water, Earth, Wind, Fire and Lightning. They were the basic elements that Naruto had narrowed down to be the most useful in terms of combat. Fire was easily destructive for powerful attacks while Lightning could be focused and honed to single powerful strikes as Laxus was a perfect example of that. Wind was like fire in it's capabilities and could be used for mid to long range attacks or focused for close range combat and long range defence. Water was a fluid and flexible element, switching between offensive, defensive and both easily and Earth was a great solid defence.
One problem with all his plans of learning all of that, it was seriously hard as hell. Makarov even told him that mages only learned one magic usually as their cores were adapted to one and once that was honed, it was unlikely that they could learn more on top of that. It was extremely unusual that Naruto was born with the power of using two different types of magic, on top of his Ancient Runes, but he assured him that if anyone could do it, then it was him.
And the answer was his go-to basis if he needed to figure out something to get around a problem, Ancient Runes. He tried many different formulas of seals, and was working on seals that could convert styles of magic from one to the other, once he had practiced enough with those and gotten a feel of it, then he could use it without seals. Progress was initially slow, then he found this place, and then it kicked into overdrive as prototypes were already in development as initial designs were made, most of these seals were personalised as they weren't perfect. They were created to be learning tools, training wheels to be precise and would definitely only work for some time before failing, but all he needed was just that feel and he might be able to learn a few basics of each style of magic.
It would never be close to the level of his Darkness or even his Light Magic or any of his other main ones but it would give versatility that would be extremely useful in fights.
He had yet to use any seals for any of those elements but knowing the basics first meant that he could easily work on it in future much easier. Plus with his new calculations on combining magics that were pushed forwards, he could use those elements with his darkness and light magic to give them versatility and a wider range of usage.
He sometimes wished that he knew that there was a library like this here in the first place, he doubted he would be half as hesitant to join if he knew about this place. Right now at this point, he was referencing Letter Magic and checking elements of how words can be given properties of different elements.
And as for his Darkness and Light Magic, he realised that if speed was one of his main points, then he'd need powers that would allow him to increase his power in order to blitz his opponents when the moment arose, and his quick recovery with Kurama ensured that it wasn't too unsustainable and he was searching into deeper books for answers to that, and found an interesting idea from a book.
"DRIVE BOOSTING SPELLS: Dragon Slayer Magic and Variants" Naruto saw in a book that he had on the table, that would be interesting to adapt to his own powers, just needed to take out Dragon Slaying and he would have a very interesting path open to him to explore and continue to get stronger. Now back to making seals to allow him to use other elements...
"Um...excuse me?" a small voice asked and Naruto turned around to see a short blue haired girl looking a mixture of scared and nervous at the same time and was holding a few books in her hands. She was wearing a yellow dress and had a colourful hairband that pushed her shoulder length hair back and gave her bangs that framed her face. She was about his age, or maybe a bit younger considering she was a bit short for her age.
"Yes, may I help you?" Naruto asked her politely. Well she wasn't a jerk to her at first sight, so he'd be nice to her as well for now. If Gildarts were behind a bookcase, he'd keep telling him to try and flirt but Naruto just shook that out of his head, he was going to be polite, and he agreed to learn how to talk to women from Gildarts, but he wasn't going to use that, he was still a boy and didn't mingle with girls as much.
"Ha, she's going to fight you! She looks like one good breath is enough to put her down" Kurama added inside his head as Naruto was wearing his coat.
"Well, let's not jump to the worst so soon" Naruto thought back to his partner.
"C-can I borrow the b-book you're using?" Levy asked him nervously and Naruto looked at the books she was holding, they were about Letter Magic and Solid Script and Naruto realised what she wanted and handed her the book, he already noted down what he needed anyway.
"Sure" Naruto told her and she looked surprised.
"T-thanks" she told him and tried to pick up the book and add it to the pile she was holding but it was too much as the book pile started to shake and she let out a yelp as she and the books toppled over and Naruto easily reacted to that and had a tail extend under her legs and pull up a chair that she fell into and sat down on while Naruto easily caught each book before it hit the ground and balanced them on top of each other and she was surprised to land on a chair and even more surprised that each book was safe.
"T-thank you" she said in surprise.
"It was no big deal, try to carry less or just call me for help next time" Naruto told her with a smile and she eased into the chair more and Naruto set down the books next to her and handed her one that she accepted with a smile and Naruto sat back down on his desk to work on his calculations for seals.
30 minutes later...
"Hmm, fire magic is going to be a pain to stabilise into a conversion seal. So is lightning as well, control additions would only dilute it's power indirectly, while focusing additions would run out quicker, hmm what to do..." Naruto thought as he was scribbling down on his notes and Kurama had already fallen asleep, ignoring any thoughts in Naruto's head. Nerd talk could knock him out like a light.
"Solid Script: Metal" he heard a voice behind him call out and realised that the person behind him was practicing letter magic, huh interesting, now back to work.+
"Ah LOOK OUT!" Levy yelled out to Naruto and he looked up to see a quickly approaching materialised word right above him, falling down and Kurama was asleep so Naruto quickly activated his Mystic Eyes and called out clearly as he put his hand out.
"Seal" Naruto said and in a flash of light golden runes started to circle quickly around the falling object and it was quickly sealed in a flash of runes and Levy was in slight awe.
"Try to be a bit more careful" Naruto told her without looking back and Levy was still in shock.
"W-was that Ancient Rune magic?" she asked him and Naruto turned back a little surprised.
"You know what that was?" Naruto asked her, "How did you know that?" he asked her and she blushed a little, embarrassedly.
"I read it in this book" she told him and Naruto realised that it was from the same series he had learnt about the existence of Ancient Rune magic from in a footnote, heh what a surprise.
"Yes, that was Ancient Rune magic" Naruto told her with a smile and she looked at him in pure excitement.
"Y-you know how to use that! But it's said to be the hardest out of all the Letter Magic types! How did you learn Letter Magicso quickly!" she asked him excitedly and Naruto just chuckled.
"Hard work, lots of reading and help from my father who taught me, why do you ask?" Naruto told her and she looked surprised at that.
"I-I can't get this spell to work well, I don't know what I'm doing wrong but it doesn't come out right, and I'm not good at using any of the other magic types in this library" she said and looked down a little sad and Naruto stood up and walked over to her and looked over at the page she was on, it was about Solid Script and using it in different ways.
"That's pretty interesting, you're learning Solid Script" Naruto told her and she looked down at the book, "It's useful, you can create any word you can think of, in terms of versatility it's unparalleled by far compared to most magic, not many people learn it because they don't see it's value".
"You think?" she said eagerly and Naruto smiled.
"Every type of magic has it's ups and downs, you just have to learn and keep working at it in order to succeed, and gain experience from battles to learn strengths in yours and weaknesses in theirs to keep getting stronger, no magic can really be considered better or worse than the other, it comes down to the mage that uses it" Naruto advised her and she blushed a little as she looked back down at the book.
"Now let's look at this, Solid Script" Naruto pointed out to her, "This magic allows one to create magic in the form of words, as the user materialises solid words in their depicted form (i.e. writing "fire" would create fire) and then throws them at the opponent in order to inflict damage, but if used correctly then these words can give great advantages" Naruto read out and Levy nodded.
"I understood that, but I don't get how to make it come out right" Levy asked.
"Well, just give it a go now. Create something harmless like the word Butterfly out of letter magic" Naruto told her and she nodded a little unsurely.
"Solid Script: Butterfly!" she chanted and managed to create the word butterfly in a yellow and pink colour, but the words crumbled almost instantly into nothingness and she looked down in embarrassment and Naruto placated her.
"Calm down, it's a good first attempt" Naruto told her, "Here, let me try and explain this, any type of Letter Magic is purely based on more imagination and only a basic set of skills, and more advanced powers need more theory but still the same imagination. In my case, my seals are all down to imagination, I have to think of an idea and imagine it and then use theory to arrive at that solution. For Solid Script, just try putting more imagination to it like making it more colourful or more like a real butterfly. Just think of a butterfly and try and put elements of that in your head when you're casting magic" Naruto advised her and she nodded.
"I get it, so if you put in more imagination and try to visualise it better in your mind, and add more specific details to the word to personify it then you can cast Solid Script!" she said in realization and Naruto blinked for a moment and was wordless.
"That...that was a very intelligent statement" Naruto eventually told her, "Is a phrase I never thought I'd say to anyone in this guild" he thought in his head.
"We get it, you're a smartass, keep it up and I'll bite you" Kurama thought back in annoyance and Naruto twitched at that.
"Hehe, thanks" she said embarrassedly, "I read a lot here, reading is a lot of fun" she grinned and Naruto was slightly gaping at that.
"...Did a member of Fairy Tail, other than me, just say that?"Naruto thought to Kurama.
"NEEEEEEERRRRRRDDDDDDSSSSSSS! They're multiplying! Sound the alarm! The ship of sanity is sinking! Foxes first, let the women and children drown with the rest! Save as many rabbit meals as possible, and everyone to the lifeboats before they overwhelm us!" Kurama yelled dramatically in Naruto's head before he muted that damned fox.
2
"D-do you think I'm weird?" Levy asked a bit nervously and Naruto shook his head back to reality and smiled.
"No, I read for fun as well. I was just a little surprised to meet someone who thought the same thing as well" Naruto told her with a chuckle, "My name is Naruto, nice to meet you" he extended his hand forward and was surprised when he felt a hand meet it as well.
"Levy McGarden, nice to meet you!" she grinned and Naruto was silent in surprise and Levy went back to her magic.
"...Did Father not do anything to her? She reads so she should know who Zeref is and practically everyone in this guild knows that Zeref is my father...she might be new or she might not hang around the main guild hall a lot so she hasn't heard that story, or maybe she's different like Master and Gildarts" Naruto thought in his head as he watched her try again.
"Solid Script: Butterfly" Levy tried again and closed her eyes and Naruto just smiled and tapped on her shoulder and pointed upward and there it was, the word Butterfly had a vibrant palate of colours as it was floating around their heads as it circled around them and Levy tried to touch it and it shattered into pieces, but not before giving hope to the young girl who was practicing.
"Keep practicing that and you'll get it perfected quickly" Naruto told her with a smile and Levy nodded with a grin.
"Thanks a lot!" she smiled and Naruto just silently nodded and sat back down to research, and every now and then seeing a butterfly zoom around the place and through the open window behind them as the butterflies soared into an endless sky of possibilities.
"I-I think I did it! Naruto, please look!" Levy exclaimed and Naruto just finished a page of notes and turned around to see the blue haired girl focus intently with the book open and with her hand out and from it appeared a new set of words with a little strain from Levy but she managed to get it out.
"Solid Script: Flower!" she managed to cast and from her hands the word flower appeared with several daises and daffodils adorning the green coloured words with hints of other shades as well and Naruto just beamed at her, she learnt quickly.
"Nice, it's pretty good. Depending on the situation, your words can change the outcome completely" Naruto told her and she looked pleased with herself and grinned widely.
"Thanks a lot for your help!" she told him and Naruto just waved it off.
"It's no big deal" Naruto shrugged but before he could continue talking to her, a loud cry burst through the library as two mages wandered in and were looking to pick a fight with someone and Naruto's coat fluttered at the ready as the two of them approached them and Levy shifted to stand slightly behind Naruto.
"Hey! What are you doing to our Levy-chan!" one of them yelled. He was a slim, young man of average height with orange hair, kept jutting backwards at the sides of his head. He had a sharp face, a prominent, flat and defined nose pointing downwards, and distinctive teeth, with a protruding, sharp, triangular-shaped upper molar complemented by a chipped portion on the lower row, something which allowed him to close his teeth completely despite such a peculiar physical irregularity. Weird.
"Levy-chan, don't go near that guy. He's pure evil!" the other tried to get Levy to leave. Droy was initially a tall, slim young man with black hair kept in an unusual, distinctive hairstyle, with a tuft of hair on top of his head jutting upwards and then curving frontwards, being reminiscent of a plant's stem. His hair extends in a rounded form on his forehead, and was cut on both sides of Droy's head in a spiraling motif. Droy has dark eyes and thin dark eyebrows pointing downwards at their outer edges; his rectangular-shaped face sported sharp features, with prominent cheekbones.
"Jet, Droy! What are you talking about! He's not evil!" Levy snapped angrily at the two.
"We're giving you one warning, let Levy-chan go!" one threatened and his feet started to buzz and Naruto saw that, "High Speed magic, well that's an easy counter. He's only fast, not strong and his magic can only increase his speed so much. Guessing he's probably Jet" he thought.
"He's not faster than my reaction times!" Kurama added from Naruto's head.
"Don't make us hurt you" the other one added and pulled out a seed and was getting ready to throw it, "Plant Magic, a few hacks with a blade or piercings with Light Magic and that's countered, although now I wish I did finish my seals faster to allow me to use a little of different elements and let me use fire, but I guess we can't get everything in life, oh and he's Droy by elimination" he thought as well.
"JET! DROY! Why are you acting like this! Naruto's not a bad guy, why are you doing this!" she yelled at them, losing her patience with the two and they backed away a little.
"L-levy-chan, we're not the bad guys here! We're trying to protect you" Droy tried to reason but Levy's glare turned to them.
"He's Zeref's son! Zeref, the Black Mage! Levy-chan, he's pure evil, and he's probably got some evil plans in his head, the longer you spend with him, the more likely he's going to hurt you and we're not going to let that happen!" Jet proclaimed to her and Levy was silent and speechless.
"Guessing she didn't hear about who my father was after all"Naruto thought sadly, great back to square one, and he just found a friend, he didn't want to whine ever in his life, but it sure was cruel to give a taste of a world he could never have, a friend and just take it away like that.
"Hey, don't go all blue on me just yet, she might not be a total moron like the rest of them. Besides, she might be a NEEEEERRRRRRDDDD but it might be a good thing for once"Kurama tried to placate his partner.
"N-naruto, is that true?" she asked him nervously and backed away from him and Naruto sighed and gave a fake smile and turned to her and addressed her.
"Yes, my father is Zeref" Naruto told her honestly.
Levy was silent as she stared at the butterfly and flowers that were left around the room and were hovering around the room and shuddered heavily and each of them shattered completely into shards and Naruto saw each of them crumble and Naruto sighed, well that was that probably.
"M-my parents were killed by Zeref's cultists" Levy whispered and backed away a little and Naruto felt his heart drop at that, looks like there really wasn't any corner in this world that his father didn't hurt and he sighed, the world would never accept him, but he'd still keep enduring and keep walking with a will to survive. His resolve would never falter again, but he would be lying if he didn't feel it ripple a little.
"T-that's right, don't get fooled by him! He's just as evil as his dad! You can't trust him" Droy pointed at Naruto who glared at him a little and he shivered.
"Don't point at me" he told him sharply, he wasn't something to be ogled at like a zoo attraction and he shivered and put his hand down.
"My condolences for your parents, Levy" Naruto also added to the girl who was still looking a little fearful and she turned her head down and stared hard at the ground, trying to rearrange her thoughts and noticed the book that started it all, the book that Naruto gave her freely despite slowing his progress, the book that Naruto used to help her create butterflies that littered the place and flowers as well, the book that brought this together.
"Solid Script: Truth and Power in Words" the book read and she thought, Naruto was completely honest with her and helped her learn magic, and encouraged her when no one else did on her intent to learn Solid Script and praised it as well, and gave her the truth of it's extents and helped her reach it and she clenched her fist tightly.
"Levy-chan, get behind me! I'll protect you from the dark mage!" Droy told her and she was close to snapping.
And as for you, I'll give you the count of three to let Levy-chan go! One, two-" Jet started and Naruto's cloak was starting to flutter madly and Naruto's hand was almost close to creating an attack to counter him and Levy snapped completely.
"Shut up!" she yelled at the two and the three were silent, including Naruto and Kurama was smirking slightly, "What do either of you know! You've always been telling me how Letter Magic is weak and all and keep pushing me to learn either Speed or Plant magic, well he's the first person to ever tell me to do what I want to do! He helped me when none of you ever did and he's really nice! You don't even know him, so how can you say anything about him! He's not his father, he's a really nice person and I'm not moving away from my FRIEND!" she exclaimed at the two who were dumbfounded.
"L-levy-chan?" Droy asked.
"And I never gave you permission to call me that! I don't like either of you, so quit following me around!" she finished and went right behind Naruto, right back to her original position and it was clear she wasn't moving.
"...Is she?" Naruto thought. He was dumbfounded at the word she just said, friend. Friend. FRIEND.
Was this even possible? Or just another joke from the universe, because he couldn't believe his own ears. Someone just said that he was his friend, and wanted to defend him. A myraid of emotions was running through him, but on the outside he was blank as usual. Should he be excited, a part of him was nervous, jittery and frightened. What was he supposed to do or say to respond to this?
"Well, guess who's right! Oh right, me! Gee, thank you Kurama-sama, a lowly human like myself who tries to act all smart could never come close to your greatness Kurama-sama" Kurama said snidely in a falsetto voice and Naruto twitched at that, damned fox. Did he have to ruin his thoughts on what to do?
"I'm being serious here" Naruto thought back to him.
"Dear Master Zeref! Yes, she's on your side! She's your friend, pal, comrade, buddy, whatever, or just someone who doesn't hate you, I don't know what human friendships are but I can tell she doesn't hate you, that's something. Oh, and there's a good bit of hatred coming from dumb and dumber so focus" Kurama told Naruto.
"Levy-chan, you don't know what you're saying! He's the evil guy, everyone says how he's a dark mage that fooled the master in joining" Droy tried to reason with her but Levy wasn't deterred.
"You! You're put Levy-chan under some mind control spell for your evil plans! Right!" Jet exclaimed and started to pump magic into his legs and Naruto decided to end this quickly and his eyes turned red with a circle in them, Mystic Eyes and the two got ready to attack.
"Barrier: Body - Add Property: Invisible" Naruto thought as his eyes flashed for a moment and as Jet was racing forwards at relatively slow speeds in Mystic Eyes mode, Naruto created golden letters and symbols in mid air that only he could see while anyone else could only see a slight ripple in the air as it covered Naruto's body and Levy was right behind him and covered as well.
His Ancient Rune magic was advanced as hell, his limits for now were that he could create a barrier or a seal or anything metaphysical and add only one property to it, usually that took almost all his magic but with continuous training with Gildarts, his magical level had risen exponentially and he could continue the fight even with one or two seals made but it would still take more magic than Darkness or Light magic spells so this was more of a trick card to play.
"EAT THIS! HAAAAAAA!" Jet roared and was about to land a right hook on Naruto's face.
"Look out Naruto!" Levy yelled but right when they thought the fist made contact, a loud vhoon noise was heard as in a flash a few golden symbols were visible shrouding Naruto and Levy blinked as she caught sight of hundreds of different symbols all in different languages and was in awe at that and they became invisible again and Levy realised that he created an invisible barrier without even making a sound, amazing!
Before any warning was heard, Naruto's cloak suddenly manifested tails from the back and shot forwards from Naruto's back and wrapped around Jet who was completely shocked and Kurama moved his tails in a whipping motion and sent the poor mage flying, right outside the unfortunately open window and Jet really took off into the lake outside.
"I-is he ok?" Levy asked Naruto nervously and Naruto turned to her and nodded.
"This is the ground floor and there's a lake outside which he landed in, at worst he'll be wet, soggy and muddy for a while" Naruto placated her who looked a lot more relieved, "Meanwhile, do you want to prove just how good Solid Script: Letter Magic can be?" Naruto told her with a smile and stood aside and Levy blinked at that and was hesitant but saw Naruto's confident smile and felt bigger on the inside and stepped forwards.
"J-JET! You'll pay for that! Take THIS!" Droy yelled and threw a seed at Naruto's face and halfway it exploded into a pile of fern and went right at Naruto who was standing there without moving.
"Lazy nerd, you need me to block this too? Or will the seals hold?" Kurama thought annoyedly, leaves and grass would mess up his neatly patted fur but Naruto just chuckled.
"I think someone else will deal with this" Naruto thought uninterestedly and true to that a voice rang out that made Droy turn in surprise.
"Solid Script: Fire!" Levy yelled and from her palms, a word "fire" emerged which was a mixture of reddish orange and the edges were fluttering in jagged flames and Levy threw the word forwards and managed to intercept the fern as it was about to touch Naruto and in a flash of fire the plants immediately started to burn.
"Naruto, get out of the way!" Levy yelled as the plants were still heading for him, now just on fire and Naruto sighed and held his hand forward.
"Requip: Murasame" Naruto said clearly and in a flash of light, a familiar black katana appeared from thin air and within a blink of an eye, Naruto sliced through the flaming fern within seconds, slicing and dicing it to tiny pieces.
"Seal!" Naruto yelled and the remains were sealed away into nothingness in a quick flash of golden writing and Naruto held his katana at the ready and turned off his eyes, his seals were out after 2 Ancient Rune spells, using more would be pushing it and might not work at all.
"U-Uhhh, RUN!" Droy yelled and comically ran as fast as he could out of the library, leaving a small trail of smoke where he originally stood and Naruto blinked.
"Wow, was he the one who's name was Jet, he sure ran away quickly" Naruto thought in his head.
"I-I-I messed up" Levy whispered and looked down ashamedly, her magic almost got Naruto more hurt than originally but Naruto just patted her shoulder and shook his head and smiled, it was a good first attempt, and she hadn't even tried something like Fire before.
"It's ok, you didn't know that the plant wouldn't burn up. Rather think of it this way, you managed to create a Letter Magic spell that you never practiced before on the first go in a fight, I'd say that's incredible. It takes a lot of skill and talent to pull something like that off, besides nobody got hurt and that's what matters" Naruto told her.
"B-but I almost got you hurt" Levy told him and Naruto just waved it off.
"It's fine, I'm not hurt and you didn't mean it, and I don't hold any resentment over it. Rather I'm more impressed that you pulled this off so well, you really have a lot of potential Levy and with Letter Magic, you could become extremely strong with it one day" Naruto told her truthfully.
"Y-you mean it?" she said hopefully and Naruto nodded. Nobody ever told her anything like that, she tried to learn so many different types of magic, Smoke Magic, Fire Magic, Card Magic, and so much more but when she told them that she wanted to learn Letter Magic, everyone told her that it wouldn't get her anywhere but a dead end and she wouldn't be able to reach S-rank or even A-rank with that, but for once, someone gave her faith.
"I mean it, and even if I have to help you perfect it, then I will!" Naruto told her confidently and Levy was almost tearful at that.
"Why?" she asked, why did he care so much to prove everyone wrong, it wasn't like it mattered so much to everyone, and she was a bit fearful of approaching people since Jet and Droy kept bugging her all the time but for once someone managed to give her what she wanted to hear the most and she wanted this to be real, and asked to confirm it really was.
"Isn't that what friends are for?" Naruto told her with his normal casual smile.
It was from that moment on, Levy learned to have more confidence in her magic and Naruto made a friend, he taught her how to cast words as fast as possible, and how to judge situations to decide which word to use. To get more words that she could use, they just used a dictionary and went one by one, casting spells and it took a few months for Levy to reach the end of the book but when she did, she felt so relieved and happy at that, and was extremely grateful to Naruto who sat with her and helped her bit by bit with each spell.
She could create any word but it's power would depend on how hard she focused and how much magic she put into it, and therefore it's power was variable as well for different situations. Naruto managed to show her that power wasn't the only father to decide a battle as she managed to branch out using strategy in fights with Naruto.
Naruto also brought her to Gildarts, who wouldn't stop giving Naruto "that" look which started to bug him immensely, it wouldn't make an iota of difference to him if Levy was a girl or a boy but to Gildarts, it just meant more teasing material and more lessons on "making moves", ugh how that was poison. She was too young, and he was too young but Gildarts always told him, you were never too young for anything.
As for Jet and Droy, they had to begrudgingly apologise to Naruto on Levy's insistence and she joined them on Team Shadow Gear after she forgave them and Naruto realised that she was far too forgiving for her own good, one day that might either get her into trouble or just save her from it but Naruto told himself that he would make sure to keep his friend safe, no matter the cost.
All in all, reaching December of X776, Naruto could say that he had reached the level of an A-class mage, made one friend, and one girl hated him one stripper was just...on the fence, one lightning prick arch-nemesis that he really didn't like and another girl just stood out of his way as long as he did the same. All in all, Naruto tried to think positively and saw there was an improvement, one friend!
December X776
Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Magnolia
"Now everyone can I have your attention please!" Makarov yelled from the top of the second floor and the people at the bar were still brawling away for missions...for some reason and Naruto just sighed, it was 9 in the morning and he just finished training with Gildarts, and he had this to get up to, what joy.
"ALL OF YOU GET OVER HERE NOW!" Makarov yelled and in that instant everyone stopped and started to congregate and Naruto looked up in confusion.
"Naruto, what's going on?" Levy asked next to him and he just shrugged, this was new to him as well.
"Now for those of you who don't know, it's December and meaning that this month is the month" Makarov told them and they all looked eagerly at Makarov.
"All of you in Fairy Tail, are exemplary mages, worthy of carrying on forwards proudly with you guild mark, but there are a few missions that you know not to reach. The S-class missions" Makarov announched and pointed out to the second floor and Naruto looked up at that.
Naruto only ever attempted A-ranks at highest, he knew if the level of power needed was at Gildarts or Makarov level, then he would be killed instantly, he knew he wasn't ready and rushing forwards without thinking would be suicide, something that he was careful with. He did go with Gildarts once before he started training, but he could see clearly that this was clearly for pros, with his current power, he was unsure if he could succeed on his own at that, best to take caution.
"S-class missions, labelled so because the nature of these missions are dangerous, even life-threatening and so at Fairy Tail, we conduct exams to see if you are all ready for these trails. Out of all of the great mages here, we've seen a few stand out in particular and those are the people who I believe have the best chance of coping in these missions" Makarov told them.
"Before I announce them, I want to explain how the exams are going to work. Gildarts and I have watched carefully and found the mages that we know for sure have a good shot at being S-class but we can only really judge them based from on-the-spot tests and there is one way to decide this for sure. A tournament!" Makarov yelled and the mages cheered at that as well.
"Yes, a tournament. We're going to hold a tournament, I've booked a stadium far away from Magnolia" Makarov announced and was met with silence.
"HEY! If you people weren't such a health and safely hazard, we could hold it in Magnolia, but the mayor insisted that we get as far away as possible! Don't blame me!" Makarov snapped at them and they just whistled nervously and Naruto saw Gildarts in the corner just avoiding eye-contact with Makarov's stern gaze. He didn't do anything *whistle* *whistle*.
"So as I was saying, a tournament that will be held in the woods outside city limits, and as per tradition, each S-class candidate has a partner with them as well so candidates, choose wisely. This goes to demonstrate that you not only have the ability to lead, but to work together in tandem and increase the total strength as a group rather than as individuals, and you can't choose any existing S-class mages, like Gildarts or myself" Makarov told them and some of them were moving slightly to get closer and started pairing up with others and Levy blinked.
Did she stand a chance on her own, if she would get selected or if Naruto was selected, would she just be holding them back. Naruto saw that troubled look on Levy's face and reassured her with a pat on her head and shook his head.
"If you're ever selected, don't ever think that you'd be holding anyone back. Once you get older and stronger, I'm sure that you'd be a force to be reckoned with in any team" Naruto told her softly and she smiled at that.
"So for now, just sit tight. When you're a lot older and stronger, you'll be beating these losers senseless!" Kurama added as well, he was resting next to them in his fox form, almost asleep but his ears were up and listening for anything, always ready for action to aid his partner.
"Now just one more thing before I announce the candidates!" Makarov yelled and that created a booming cheer from the audience and they all started to step forwards but Makarov cleared his throat and continued the announcement.
"There are 4 candidates for S-class, and each of them will pick a partner. So the settings will be 2 vs 2 matches, with just a semifinal and a final, and the winning duo will be considered, and also if they impress us enough, then we'll give them the title of S-rank!" Makarov yelled and that garnered a cheer from the rest of the audience.
"Now for the candidates, first up is Macao Conbolt!" Makarov announced and the bearded young man cheered loudly as his name was announced and the rest of the guild joined in and clapped along, while Kurama did his best to boo at them and Naruto and Levy politely clapped as well.
"Next up is...Wakaba Mine!" Makarov announced and the guild was about to burst into cheers but Wakaba moved past the crowd and was next to the master and whispered into his ear, and the wizened old man nodded and Wakaba stepped back into the crowd.
"I've just been told that Wakaba has decided to join Macao instead as his partner and forfeited his S-rank qualification, due to the fact that he...lost a bet with him. Why would you morons bet on how fast an ice cube could melt!" Makarov announced and added exasperation at the last part.
"I was drunk!" Wakaba tried to defend and Makarov groaned at that, shook his head and moved on.
"Ok fine, then the other candidate that we had for a back-up 5th is Reedus Jonah! But that doesn't mean that he doesn't have any less chance of winning!" Makarov announced and the Pict Mage of Fairy Tail was shocked at that, he was a tall man sporting curly, light orange hair and was wearing a large, white shirt fitting his chests size, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark pants, dark, pointed shoes adorned by light crescent moon-like motifs on the inner sides, and a distinctive dark hat, with a large brim, a curved point hanging down on Reedus' left and a light orange band around it. Kind of like a sorcerer.
The guild gave a loud cheer for him as well before Makarov cleared his throat again to continue.
"And the third candidate is...Laxus Dreyar!" Makarov announced and Kurama groaned at that and even Naruto had to repress a look of slight annoyance as a blond teenager jumped onto a table and yelled out in excitement.
"ABOUT TIME! It's time I show each and every one of you just where you belong! The S-class title is mine for the taking!" Laxus grinned at the crowd who clapped with less enthusiasm than before, now it was more forced and out of politeness for Makarov's sake and Makarov sighed.
"And as for the fourth candidate, it's..." Makarov continued and everyone waited with bated breath.
"Ugh, why did lightning prick get a spot!" Kurama groaned and made a gagging motion as if to vomit at that.
"Kurama, we should pick on him like that. He's about 16 and he's really strong!" Levy chided the fox who just ignored it with a swish of his tails.
"Tch, I bet we could take him, even if you're only still 12, right Naruto?" Kurama asked and Naruto looked more serious, he may be 12 because he counted the birtday from the year he was unsealed and the birthday he had where only Levy, Gildarts and Master celebrated but he was still wary of Laxus.
"He's hiding something" Naruto thought as he had his Mystic Eyes activated as he stared at Laxus, he could see his Magical Container bursting with yellow energy and it was coming out of him as well, but there was something else in there, something he wasn't sure what it was, it looked like a solid lump of something forced into that container, and it was emitting a bright yellow energy that was near blinding, Naruto knew that he wasn't bluffing from their first meeting, he really did have more power than he let on.
"Ah forget it, besides the prick would never get made an S-class, he's too much of a prick to ever let that happen" Kurama denied and Levy looked troubled as well, if Laxus became a S-rank mage, then he'd definitely be on the track of Guild Master that he always wanted and she was worried about that.
If Laxus ever became the Guild Master, then his first order would definitely be to expel Naruto, the Lightning Mage resented Naruto with a passion and Naruto went out of his way to avoid any conflicts with him, he didn't want to get drawn into any battles but Laxus hated Naruto because in his eyes, he was causing Fairy Tail's reputation to go downhill, and everyone's perception of the top guild in Fiore was slowly shifting subtly, there were less missions, less gratitude and a few comments being thrown around about joining the reputable guild and Laxus blamed it all on Naruto.
Secretly, he also hated the fact that Naruto was in suck good books with his grandfather, that old geezer never cared as much for his own son or Laxus, in his mind, like he did for Naruto and he hated that about him even more.
But back to this...
"The fourth candidate is...Naruto!" Makarov yelled with a grin.
...
...
...
The guild was utterly silent at that, a cricket could be heard chirping in the corner as the silence was held for a moment, but a moment was enough for Naruto to think.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Naruto thought in shock. He was only 12! He was still a kid! Was he ready for something as heavy as S-Class, the mages he would be going up against were A-class mages who had a lot of experience in battle, the main opponents would be Wakaba and Macao who were already a well oiled duo of A-class mages who were quite strong in their own right, and then there was the bigger threat of Laxus who's power could be comparable to Naruto's own, but he had more power and experience again from his age.
"Can I do this?" Naruto thought and Kurama perked up and responded.
"This is our chance, are you really doubting yourself?" Kurama thought back to Naruto who looked at the fox, "Sure they're tough, but you're not thinking about your own power.
. Don't underestimate yourself! You're an A-class as well, and you're trained like hell for a year to get this strong with that hulking titan moron! You've survived fighting off A-class mages when you were a kid, sure they were weaker in your time but you sure are not!"
"Kurama-" Naruto thought to his partner.
"Abandon your fear! Look forwards! Just keep going and don't ever hesitate or stop! You've got the power in you, just keep pushing forwards no matter how big the obstacles are! Isn't that how you've always lived?" Kurama asked Naruto who was silent to his partner.
He was underestimating himself, and after Kuama said that he re-evaluated the facts, he was still Zeref's son and that was something he lived up to immensely. He unlocked his magic earlier than anyone recorded, even now, in history, his intellect was leagues ahead of people 4 times his age, his power was unnatural and it was already at A-rank and earned the attention of both Master and Gildarts! He was Naruto! The youngest S-class candidate...in history!
Meanwhile the silence that was held turned quickly into a shouting match that drew Naruto and Kurama out of their thoughts as they were deafened at the sounds of Fairy Tail's members as they yelled out how unfair or crazy that was and Makarov yelled loudly at them.
"SILENCE!" he boomed and that started to shut up the rest of them as they calmed down and simmered.
"Master, with all due respect. Naruto's what? 10?" Macao tried to use reason.
"12! And if you were at his birthday party, you'd know" Gildarts growled a little as he was standing up at his full height, his hulking figure was overshadowing anyone who was about to complain and only the bravest of people, or the most stupid were about to raise their voice.
"I've told you all before, I've examined each candidate closely and made my decision. Have you even seen an 11 year old come in to this guild at low A-rank? Naruto is clearly strong, and in this past year, I've seen him continue to get stronger and he's not shown any signs of stopping as his power is definitely A-rank and soon will reach the level for S-rank" Makarov told them all.
"Tch, figures, Zeref's kid is always Mr. Special" Cana humphed from the barstool and that stirred up some more debate.
"Enough! I will assess each and every candidate fairly! Know that you all are powerful in your own right, and with training and dedication like Naruto has put in for the past year, I don't doubt that you can reach the level of strength required for S-rank" Makarov told them.
"Yeah right! He's your favourite isn't he?" Laxus sneered from the table he was standing on, "Listen up, you little shit! I'm going to wipe the floor with you so hard, you won't even feel your limbs for a week, and I'll pay you back from before. There's no chance of you getting that S-class spot, it's only for me!" Laxus yelled and Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.
"We'll see about that" Naruto told him back and Makarov yelled out before this could escalate.
"ENOUGH! There will be no brawls before the actual fight, you are S-class candidates so act like one or it will be revoked!" Makarov snapped at his grandson who gritted his teeth and sat back down again with a furious expression on his face.
"Now any more comments?" Makarov asked.
"Yes, why weren't other people selected over Naruto" Erza asked from the crowd with a scrutinising look at Naruto who was calm, collected and focused on the task at hand.
"Yeah! How come we didn't get selected! We're only 11 but still, we're just as strong!" Gray yelled out from the crowd and Makarov deadpanned at that.
"Gray, first put some clothes on" Makarov sighed and Gray fumbled to put his shirt and pants back on and Makarov continued, "And secondly Gray, didn't Naruto beat you without even trying? And as for you Erza, you may be the same age as Naruto but the power gap between you two is clear, I'd think that little aerial battle would attest to that" Makarov responded to that and Naruto blinked, he was there for that, wow he really didn't give the old man enough credit sometimes.
"NOW FOR THE LAST TIME! This isn't up for debate, these are the four candidates! Macao, Reedus, Laxus and Naruto. Now each of you have to decide a partner right now because in normal missions, you don't always get time to be picky so choose wisely and choose now!" Makarov announced.
Naruto looked at Levy who was understanding and smiled to reassure him, "Don't worry, I know that you work best with Kurama, he's your partner! It's ok, you don't have to pick me. Just make sure to win, Naruto!" she said cheerfully and Naruto smiled, sometimes he did forget that she was extremely intelligent, just like him.
"Yeah! With my human Naruto, and the almighty, amazing Kurama there is no foe who stands a chance against us!"Kurama puffed up with pride and Naruto chuckled at that and extended his hand and Kurama immediately melded into a coat around him. They were ready.
"All candidates step forwards" Makarov told them and Macao, Reedus, Laxus and Naruto stepped towards the front of the guild hall, right underneath Makarov who was standing at the top of the hall and looking down and scrutinising each one and they didn't back down from his gaze.
"Now Macao, who do you pick?" Makarov asked.
"Wakaba Mine!" Macao called out to his partner who stepped out of the crowd and stood beside his friend and Makarov nodded.
"Reedus, who's your pick?" Makarov continued and Reedus picked Vijeeter, a mage who used Dance Magic to join him in his fight.
"...Laxus, who is your partner?" Makarov asked his grandson who snubbed him and peered into the crowd.
"Freed, get over here" Laxus snapped and in an instant, a slim teenager about Laxus's age of average height with waist-length light-green hair, with his bangs brushed to one side, covering the majority of the right side of his face, as well as a pair of thin strands jutting out backwards from the sides of his head, both shaped like lightning bolts. His hair was gathered at the end and tied in a short ponytail. Freed's eyes were greenish blue and he wore knee-length double-breasted coat, which possessed a wide collar, large lighter-colored cuffs decorated by a darker line on the back part, and edges adorned by two, thin golden lines each.
"At once, commander!" he said immediately and Naruto sweatdropped at his speed.
"Are you serious, lightning prick has a manservant! This is ridiculous! Naruto, we need manservants as well!" Kurama thought to Naruto who twitched at that.
"No, we are not getting manservants, or servants. I don't think I'd want to deal with that" Naruto thought as they both could agree that Freed maybe took his reverence for Laxus a little far.
"And finally, Naruto?" Makarov asked and Naruto's coat solidified again into a fox with nine tails that stood by Naruto's side faithfully.
"Kurama" Naruto replied and Makarov nodded at that.
"So those are your candidates, Macao with Wakaba, Reedus with Vijeeter, Laxus with Freed and Naruto with Kurama. The actual fights will be decided later, but we're giving you all two weeks to prepare for this upcoming trail, so get ready for the S-class trials!" Makarov announced and the guild burst into cheers once more and they marched out of the guild hall, talking about the S-class exams and spreading the news all across Magnolia.
"We're going to need to use those 2 weeks to prepare" Naruto thought from the crowd as he watched Laxus's power with his Mystic Eyes. It was pulsing again, whatever it was inside him and Naruto wasn't going to underestimate Laxus's trump card, he needed something of his own, something he could pull out on him when he needed to.
"Prepare what?" Kurama thought back.
Naruto pulled out a pile of notes from his Requip space titled "Project: Darkness Trigger", an idea he created from the Drive spells of Dragon Slayers, this would be intense training to make this but he'd definitely need this in order to stand a chance against Laxus especially.
"My Trump Card" Naruto though with a smirk, this was going to be fun.
"So how are we going to train? And you already have plans right on how to win?" Kurama asked as they were sitting on the edge of Felix Lake and Naruto was re-reading his notes on Darkness Trigger.
Naruto closed his eyes and focused on his thoughts. Makarov announced that the match-ups would be announced by vote by the guilds and Naruto could tell that it would be most likely that he'd be up against Macao and Wakaba first, those two were popular and would definitely want first crack at Naruto for the time Kurama destroyed them with words and then it would almost definitely be Laxus next to fight.
He looked back at his notes on his Trump Card, "Project: Darkness Trigger" and sighed as he put it down.
It was really difficult as he predicted, Darkness Trigger was a spell he was working on to cope against much older and stronger foes since he was still young and growing and needed an edge against the rest of the people around him and this would be the answer.
Drive Spells were designed for Dragon Slayers to tap deeper into their Draconic cores and bring it out in a burst, like a watered down version of the fabled Dragon Force and Naruto closed his eyes. His father had always told him that the potential inside him was massive, dwarfing others by a mile, he just needed to find a way to tap into that potential and bring it out in a burst to power to overpower his enemies in order to secure victory.
"I've spoken with Levy and I've got what I need to beat Macao and Wakaba" Naruto told the fox who nodded as Naruto held a sealing scroll in his hand and put that away and turned back into his notes and sighed and spoke with Kurama.
"Darkness Trigger is going to need a lot of training to create, the idea where I tap into pure Darkness Magic inside my Magical Container and force it to engulf my body, and increase my power isn't an easy one" Naruto told Kurama as he pulled out a book, "I'll need about one week extremely intensive to figure out how to learn that move, I'm not going to rest or relax until I can activate it, and the other week will be to learn a spell I've seen in books. I didn't get the chance to learn it, but now I'll need it more than ever" Naruto told him and Kurama looked at the book.
"Darkness Make: Shadow Clone?" Kurama asked as he read the title and Naruto nodded.
"It's a theoretical spell that nobody's perfected yet and it's designed to create a clone of myself from Darkness Maker magic, and I'll definitely need it if I want to be able to defeat my opponents. It'll be 2 vs 2 and since you're going to be giving me that extra edge as a coat, I need to be able to even the numbers or I'll get overwhelmed in a 2 vs 1 fight" Naruto explained and Kurama nodded.
"Makes sense, then what about me? Our teamwork is solid as a rock at this point. I can give you a boost when you need it for more strength and regeneration and sensing just by being with you as a coat, I can defend against attacks with my tails and we can fly, so what else is there?" Kurama asked and Naruto nodded at that.
They both had taken apart the bond that was between them and managed to find every way to make use of it, and Naruto had to give his father credit, he used a powerful seal inside Kurama's book to bind the two of them together and Naruto could understand the workings of the seal, just not tamper with it due to his lack of knowledge in the Black Arts.
The bond works as a bridge between the energies of Naruto and Kurama. Kurama can push his Curse power into Naruto but the bond would convert it into magic for Naruto to use, too much would overload the bond and raw curse power would go into Naruto and start to hurt him, that was why Kurama always capped his powers at a limit, they didn't know what would happen if raw curse power went into Naruto, and they weren't keep to find out. On the opposite side, Naruto could also give magic to Kurama for him to use and it wouldn't be converted into curse power, just plain magic and Kurama's curse power had limits since he was growing.
But back to the training...
"Yeah, which is why I want you to learn this" Naruto told him and pulled out another book from his Requip space and Kurama picked it up from Naruto and laid it on the ground and read the title to confusion and surprise at what he was going to learn.
...
...
...
"Fire Magic: Beginners Guide?" Kurama asked completely confused and Naruto blinked.
"Sorry, wrong book" Naruto shook his head and pulled another book out from the space and put it next to the other one and Kurama grinned, this was more like it.
"Giant Magic! Oh hell yes!" Kurama said gleefully and Naruto smiled, that fox really hated his size, he'd grown from a small kitten to the size of a regular cat in a year but Kurama still wanted to grow more and dwarf other people with his size.
"Yes I managed to get Master to lend me this to train. Don't act too excited, only masters of Giant Magic can turn into titans like Master but this should give you an edge with tail whips of greater size" Naruto told him and Kurama whined a little and Naruto groaned at that and relented.
"Maybe after several years of practice, you might turn into a titan" Naruto groaned and Kurama yelled out with joy, oh that would be so amazing, to stand over everyone as a giant 9 tailed fox was one of his greatest dreams of all time!
"But since you can tap into magical power from the bond between you and me, I figured that I could help you attain your dreams of...being a giant nine-tailed fox with tails whips of tsunamis and the rest of that stuff you wanted" Naruto told him and Kurama pounced right at his face and bowled him over.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Kurama said graciously and even licked Naruto's face in excitement for about 10 seconds before he realised what he was doing and quickly jumped off Naruto's face, much to his embarrassment and hid himself under his bushy nine tails.
"Uhh, you ok?" Naruto asked his partner who came out of his tail shell looking flustered.
"We will never speak of this moment, and if you do, then I'll crush you with one giant fist!" Kurama snapped and Naruto was baffled, before chuckling and just nodded to appease his fox partner, he really was a strange friend but he wouldn't have him any other way.
"Well then, let's get to work. I'll begin working on Darkness Trigger and Shadow Clones while you begin the basics of Giant Magic" Naruto told him and Kurama nodded enthusiastically and began opening pages from the book. Naruto nodded and picked up the book on Fire Magic but a tail from Kurama wrapped around his hand and stopped him.
"Hey leave that one here too!" Kurama told him, "How godlike would it be to not only be a giant nine tailed fox, but a Fire Breathing nine tailed fox! Don't cramp on my style!" Kurama told him and Naruto sighed and put it back down for him.
"Fine but make sure to learn how to make larger limbs, that would probably be more useful" Naruto told the fox who nodded and went back to reading and Naruto went back to his own training as well with vigour. He was going in this to win, he wasn't going to lose this! Kurama was right, he had to step up now, people were looking at him with expectations and he was going to meet and surpass them all. Makarov and Gildarts placed their trust in Naruto to win, so he was definitely going to win this fight, without a doubt.
He was going to defeat Laxus, for the things he said about Master Makarov, the man he looked up to most of all. Makarov was a man who was wiser than any he had ever met, he always saw the good in people and tried to bring it out of them, and always protected the children he cared about in his guild and Naruto clutched his Fairy Tail mark that he was proud to bear for Master.
And for Gildarts, the man-child may have been extremely grating on Naruto's nerves but Naruto cared about him a lot as well. He was always there to protect Naruto before anyone else, and he felt like Gildarts was like a family member to him. Gildarts took the time to train Naruto for months to take him to this level, and he felt proud of the fact that Gildarts thought he was ready to be a S-class, and he was going to live up to those hopes.
And they continued to train, and train endlessly like there was no tomorrow, with only one thing on their mind.
"I will become a S-class mage!"
December 15th X776
S-Class tournament ring, Magnolia borders, Fiore
Soon, faster then they could notice, time flew by like it was like the wind and completely vanished within a moment and the fated day had arrived, December 15th X776, the date of their S-class exams. The day was pent up with expectations as Naruto managed to reach the stadium that Makarov mentioned. It wasn't anything large or over the top, it was just a open ring with stand erected around the fighting area with a place for two judges, presumably Makarov and Gildarts to sit while the rest of them sat in the stands and a commentator stand was erected for the most annoying person on the planet. Next to him was a giant screen where matches would be played.
For the ring there was a large 30 metre by 30 metre space for the contestants to fight and Naruto saw something at each of the edges and activated his Mystic Eyes and saw that there were seals attached to each corner were used to create a barrier around the ring, ready to activate and Naruto smirked when he saw that the barriers were almost air tight itself, that would be just perfect for what he had planned.
"HELLO EVERYONE!" said person's voice rang out and Naruto already felt a headache coming on, "WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL FAIRY TAIL S-CLASS TRAILS! ARE YOU READY FOR THIS! I SURE AM! IT'S EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE FAIRY TAIL FAN, JASON HERE TO PROVIDE COMMENTARY FOR THE EXAMS!" he yelled out and the crowd gave out a cheer at that and Naruto stepped into the stadium where Makarov, Gildarts, Macao, Wakaba, Vijeeter, Reedus, Freed and Laxus were already standing in the centre of and Naruto got his game face on.
"Naruto, get over here" Gildarts told him and Naruto nodded as the crowd got a good look at him, all of the members of Fairy Tail were there with people from Magnolia there as well, and they frowned as they saw a boy wearing a strange red coat that seemed to flutter wildly walk towards the platform. As he joined the four contestants, Gildarts and Master went to the side to sit down at judging tables and Naruto stood next to Laxus who was looking venomous that Naruto even showed up.
"AND THERE IS OUR LAST CONTESTANT, GIVE IT UP FOR THE SON OF THE LEGENDARY BLACK MAGE! NARUTO!" Jason yelled and was met with pure silence, and a few boos were being heard from the crowd and Naruto ignored them, it was from the citizens of Magnolia and what did they know? He could see Levy clapping for him in the crowd and she used letter magic to hold up a banner with his name and felt touched, that was all he really needed.
But Naruto couldn't help but give off a humph at that title over and over again, they were just stating a fact at who his father was. It wasn't a title, and he wanted to show the world what Naruto was made of, not just coast of the coattails of his father's legend, but to show the world his own hard work and power as his own person, someone completely different than his father, but what did morons know?
"OK, SOME HOSTILITY OVER THAT CONTESTANT. NOW LET'S LOOK AT THE OTHER THREE CONTESTANTS ONCE MORE! WE HAVE THE WELL KNOWN DUO OF A-CLASS MAGES, GIVE IT UP FOR WAKABA MINE AND MACAO CONBOLT! SO COOOOOOL!" he gushed into a microphone and the two older mages held their hands up to the crowd and were met with tumulous applause and the guild clapped as hard as they could.
"NEXT UP IS THE FAVOURED CANDIDATE TO WIN, LAXUS DREYAR AND FREED JUSTINE!" Jason yelled into the microphone and the citizens gave a loud cheer for the famous master of Fairy Tail's grandson while the rest of the members of the guild just politely clapped for Master's sake, Laxus just lapped it up and held his fists up into the air for the citizens to cheer at.
"See that" Laxus growled at Naruto who returned his glare with his own serious look, "That's something you'll never have, dark mage. Slime like you is the last type of mage who can be allowed into this guild when I take over, so once I won you can just squirm back to whatever cave you crawled out of and just die, at least you'll finally fit in when you go back to hell!" he shot at Naruto who's cloak was fluttering wildly.
"Patience Kurama" Naruto thought to his friend.
"I'm going to maul that prick! Let's make sure to give his face a permanent job, who knows we might be able to fix that ugly scowl if we hit it hard enough" Kurama growled back with anticipation at their battle.
Naruto was more worried about another comment, him being Master? That had to be a bluff right? Master Makarov may be old but he was far from deranged enough to let Laxus lead this guild, he'd be as far from Fairy Tail's ideals as possible.
"It doesn't matter, I don't concern myself with what others think of me, I'd rather continue forwards with my life than bother to waste time over what sheep expect from me" Naruto told Laxus who held in his growl.
"You calling me a sheep?" Laxus snarled at Naruto who just shrugged.
"You said it, not me" Naruto jabbed with a smirk and Laxus's body was emitting a few sparks.
"GRRRRRRRR" Laxus growled at that and held his fist upwards, "Once I'm through with you, you'll be begging to leave this place, in fact just go die somewhere and do everyone a favour. I'll take the S-rank title and then take the title of Master from the worthless old geezer for myself" Laxus told him and Naruto's eyes narrowed and his body was shaking, now he really was trying his best to not knock Laxus out right now.
"Don't refer to Master in such a way" Naruto snapped at Laxus who just smirked.
"What's wrong? Did big bad Laxus hurt the wittle baby's feelings? When I'm through with you, even Master won't even let you back in, or he'll finally kick the bucket and join you, either way I don't care what happens to either of you so long as you get out of my way, I'm going to be Master and neither of you losers are going to stop me" Laxus hissed and Naruto's hand clenched into a fist.
"Shut up" Naruto whispered at Laxus as his body was starting to emit a small stream of power as his fist was starting to shake, and it was becoming a real challenge to not knock Laxus six ways till Sunday, he wasn't gong to get away with this. He could say whatever he wanted about Naruto, he didn't care at all, but if he insulted the Master then he wouldn't offer any mercy.
"Heh, what's that old geezer to you anyway. He's just dead weight, and after this fight I'll prove that to all of you" Laxus said with a smirk, "I'll destroy you and all of the hopes of that shitty old geezer, right in front of him. That old geezer deserves to die anyway" Laxus continued and would have continued to go on about how he deserved to die for banishing his father and never caring about his own family at all, not nearly as much as he cared about Naruto but the announcer cut them off.
"NOW THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED! YOU IN THE AUDIENCE WERE THE ONES WHO CHOSE THE MATCH-UPS SO I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY WHAT WE HAVE PLANNED FOR THIS EPIC TOURNAMENT!" Jason yelled and Naruto snapped out of his rage as he turned his attention to Jason and sighed, if he actually snapped and started a fight, he might have been disqualified and they turned to Jason who had the matches up on the big screen.
"THE FIRST MATCH IS NARUTO AND KURAMA VS MACAO CONBOLT AND WAKABA MINE!" Jason yelled from the microphone and the two adult mages turned to Naruto who was still calm and collected as he saw the match-up appear on the screen. The crowd was yelling for Naruto get totalled by the two mages that they knew well from their experience and age and Naruto just smirked, he was already prepared to defeat those two with his own power.
"THE SECOND MATCH IS LAXUS DREYAR AND FREED JUSTINE VS REEDUS AND VIJEETER!" Jason announced as well and Laxus just grinned ferociously at the two mages who shivered in fright and Naruto didn't blame them, they really didn't stand a chance against Laxus who could be brutal when he wanted to be.
"NOW THOSE ARE THE MATCHES! WILL LAXUS, FREED, REEDUS AND VIJEETER STEP OUT OF THE STADIUM. AND THE CONTESTANTS GET READY ON THE STAGE! AFTER THE MATCH IS OVER, WE'RE NOT STOPPING AT ALL AND ROLLING WITH THE NEXT ONE! IT'S ONE NON-STOP CHALLENGE FOR THE CONTESTANTS IN THE FINALS WHEN THE FINAL SHOWDOWN BEGINS!" Jason announced into the microphone and Laxus smirked and sauntered into the stands and bumped violently into Naruto's shoulder.
"Don't you dare lose, dark mage. The pleasure of beating you is all for me" Laxus growled and Naruto's face turned angry as well as he stared back at him.
"Likewise, Laxus" Naruto hissed back and they locked eyes, green eyes meeting brown and they glared at each other viciously, they were going to win and end this in the big stage.
When the stage had cleared out it was just Naruto standing on one side, with Macao and Wakaba on the other side looking prepared and ready and Naruto was in the same moment, his mind was cleared of all thoughts as he had already thought of a plan to beat these two mages, now to implement it and secure victory in the match.
"NOW ARE YOU ALL READY! THE MATCH BETWEEN THESE CONTESTS IS ABOUT TO HEAT UP!" Jason yelled, "NOW FOR THE RULES, THE STADIUM IS SURROUNDED BY A BARRIER AND WHEN THE BATTLE STARTS THE BARRIER WILL ACTIVATE ALL AROUND THE MAGES, SO DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE AS COOOOL AS YOU WANT TO BE! THE MATCH WILL BE DECIDED BY KNOCKOUT OF BOTH MAGES, AND THE BARRIER WILL FALL ONLY WHEN ONE SIDE HAS NO MAGES LEFT THAT ARE ABLE TO FIGHT, NOT EVEN THE JUDGES CAN INTERFERE UNTIL THE BARRIER GOES DOWN! NOW ARE YOU READY!" Jason yelled into the microphone and generated another cheer of applause.
"Hey kid, there's no shame in backing out now. I'd rather not beat up a child if I could" Macao told Naruto who was looking ready to battle.
"Don't worry, I'll be able to handle myself" Naruto told him and Wakaba just scoffed.
"Look at him, acting all big. Don't let that "Zeref's kid" title get to your head, you're not a match for either of us" Wakaba told him and Naruto twitched at that slightly andthen broke into a wide smirk.
"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure of one thing" Naruto told him and pointed at himself, "I'll make sure to etch my own legacy into everyone here, with the name Naruto!" he said with a grin and his coat fluttered in anticipation for the fight and the mages were about to start. Laxus looked up slightly at that part but just sat back down with a glare at Naruto.
"NOW THE BARRIER IS COMING UP!" Jason yelled and they turned around them to see a silvery white wall appear around the boundaries of the arena and shoot upwards and join up, creating a cube around them and Naruto smirked, oh this would do just fine.
"AND NOW TO THE MAIN EVENT! COUNT IT DOWN WITH ME PEOPLE!" Jason yelled.
"THREE!" they called out and Kurama was slightly burning around the edges of the fabric of the coat.
"TWO!" they yelled out and Macao's purple fire was on his palms while Wakaba's smoke magic was around him as well.
"ONE!" they screamed and Naruto's palms lit up with one golden-white circle around one hand and a pitch black circle around the other, and his eyes turned red into their Mystic Eyeform.
"BEGIN!" Jason screamed and a bell sounded to announce the start of the tournament for the S-class Exams of December 15th X776.
Naruto and Kurama vs Wakaba and Macao
"SEAL!" Naruto yelled out and the two mages heard that and backed away immediately, they had no idea what happened but they looked at the ground at the dead centre of the ring and saw a magical circle made of golden letters and symbols appear in the floor and it expanded to a 1 meter radius, and then stopped and the two were baffled.
"You must think we're stupid if we're going to fall for a trap like that!" Wakaba growled as the smoke around him started to thicken.
"All part of the plan" Naruto thought with a smirk as he deactivated his eyes and clutched a scroll in his pocket, he needed to thank Levy especially for her help, this match would be a lot easier thanks to her help and he made a note to thank her immensely for what she did for him.
"I need to win, but win fast and definitely not use any of my big cards" Naruto thought as Kurama sensed Laxus watching intently from the stands, "I can't let Laxus know about Darkness Trigger, it'll be my ace in the hole to play against him and his ace in the hole. Also I don't want to use too much magic on these guys, I'll need every ounce of strength against Laxus and his opponents since they aren't that strong compared to these two, so he'll probably deal with them in a second before turning to me".
"We're really playing as the underdogs here. First match against 2 experienced A-class mages and then Laxus gets to sail on easy roads with weaklings and then we face off against the lightning prick at his near full power, it's not going to be easy"Kurama thought to him.
"But that just makes winning all the more sweet" Naruto thought back to him with a smirk.
"Eat this! SMOKE SHOT!" Wakaba yelled out as he took a deep breath, exhaled and from his pipe the smoke gushed forwards in a torrent at Naruto who quickly got ready to intercept that attack as he rolled to the side and dodged the attack.
"Nothing personal kid, Purple Rain!" Macao called out as he sent a wave of bullets of purple flare magic at Naruto who requipped Murasame from his requip space in an instant and held it at the ready to intercept, he sliced through each of the bullets shot by Macao with his swordsmanship, slicing and severing each and every bullet and meeting them fearlessly head on and they all died out and vanished in a purple blaze and hit the surroundings of the place and started to set parts of the ring on fire.
"Can't use too much magic against these guys, I might have an abnormally large magical container but I don't have as much magic as fully grown adults since I'm only 12, but what I do have is sword skills and that's all I need!" Naruto thought as he held Murasame at the ready against Wakaba and Macao who were looking a bit more weary since they knew just how deadly Naruto was with that katana.
"Kid I'll be honest, this is your last chance. Wakaba and I are experienced mages who've been in this game far longer than you, there are no tricks that you can use to extinguish my purple flare, no wind or water can stop it and Wakaba's smoke makes him a great attacker since his smoke will just eat you up alive. I'm giving you one final warning, if you keep this going then I'm not responsible for what happens to you" Macao tried to reason with him.
Naruto just smirked and held his hand outstretched and taunted them by beckoning them forwards, as if to say, "Bring it on!"
"Oh now it's on! Smoke Crush!" Wakaba yelled and sent a wave of smoke right at Naruto and each of them were shaped into fists that Naruto saw coming almost instantly, as they approached him, Naruto's cloak almost instantly morphed into a defence as his coat manifested a tail and Naruto immediately stepped hard on the ground and spun in a circle with as much force as he could. The tail generated a blaze of fire that pushed the smoke backwards much to their surprise as they saw the smoke get pushed back and Naruto's cloak ignite into flames, while not even tickling Naruto.
"Kitsune-Bi!" Kurama called out mentally as Naruto was literally on fire, but the flames weren't even tickling him.
"Could that coat always do that?" Macao asked while Wakaba just shook his head.
"Tch, a little fire is supposed to scare us? We've been in this game far too long to be scared by a little embers" Wakaba told Naruto who just grinned.
"I can't waste much magic on them, that's true. But I never said anything about Kurama" Naruto thought and Kurama just smirked at that.
"Oh I can't wait for this" Kurama grinned mentally as another barrage of smoke shot forwards at them, this time as another torrent shot forwards, two tails shot forwards and parted the smoke to the sides of Naruto who was relying on Kurama's senses to guide him.
"Purple fire shots, incoming!" Kurama warned and Naruto nodded.
"Be my eyes, Kurama!" Naruto thought back as the smoke completely obscured the view and Kurama nodded mentally as he sensed each fire shot coming and pointed them out to Naruto.
Naruto held his blade ready and angled it and his sword swings so that they would cause the fire to get deflected around Naruto. He stood perfectly still and rested his sword on his shoulder and deflected the first projectile with a slash from the top right to the bottom left, then used that momentum to spin and got ready for the next defence where deflected another blast from the bottom right to the top left, then gave a horizontal slash left to right, then gave an upwards vertical slash that deflected a tricky shot to his head and then somersaulted with that momentum to avoid two low shots headed for his legs, and then continued with a horizontal slash from right to left and another full circle spin and then a diagonal from bottom-right to top-left and continued all over again.
The smoke kept going and going and so did each fire shot as Naruto managed to deflect each one around him around him with that one 7 hit combo that deflected each of the attacks around him and stopped them from striking him, but for another plan he had in mind as well.
"One big shot heading right at you!" Kurama told Naruto who grinned as he held Murasame at the ready.
"There is nothing I cannot cut!" Naruto thought in unison with the blade as the flare of purple fire headed right at him and he raised his blade right over his head and when it was within blade's reach and an inch to his face, he sliced down in the blink of an eye and the fireball halted for a second. It was stagnant in mid air before a black line appeared down the middle and the two halves separated and hit the ground behind Naruto creating an explosion of fire and rubble that Kurama blocked from hurting his partner.
"Ok, not bad" Wakaba grunted as he took another breath from his pipe.
"But we're just getting started!" Macao grinned as his palms lit up again, "Purple Net!" he yelled out and a rope of purple fire shot from his palm and ensnared itself in front of Naruto and turned into a net and Naruto didn't even blink as the net approached him.
"Listen for the moment to strike!" Naruto thought as he held his blade ready, "Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson!" and with that move he slashed through the bindings of the rope made of fire and Kurama pushed each of the fire ropes back with a powerful flick with two tails.
"Now to engage!" Naruto thought as he dashed forwards with blinding speeds, to the surprise of the two mages who held their guard ready and Naruto quickly went for Wakaba who was the most troublesome one with his dematerialising smoke.
"Smoke Fake!" Wakaba called out and he dematerialised into a puff of smoke, and in another instant, a whole host of Wakaba lookalikes appeared around Naruto who all were running right at him for close range combat and Naruto just smirked.
He stood still and each of the clones hit him and burst into smoke, while the real Wakaba was hiding inside the smoke and tried to blindside him but Naruto wasn't deterred as he delivered a solid backflip kick to his face and knocked him backwards and jumped back from another wave of Purple Flare.
"OWCH! Why you little-" Wakaba growled and Macao held him back.
"Calm down, fight with a cool head, not all riled up like this!" Macao told his partner who nodded to that.
"Is that all you got?" Naruto told them and held his body in a fighting stance, with his arm at his front and his fist ready at his side and his stance widened slightly to give him more core strength as Wakaba responded to that taunt, despite Macao's insistence to stop.
"Oh yeah, let's see how you like this!" Wakaba yelled and Macao charged after his partner and they both double-teamed Naruto and tried to box him in to stop him escaping, and Naruto was immediately assaulted by a flurry of fists from both sides. Kurama's tails were out and blocked several of the ones from Macao with Purple Flare and pushed him back with a shove from the tails and Naruto had to deal with Wakaba's fists of smoke heading right at him.
Naruto tried to slice through them but that was ineffective as they just dematerialised and materialised again into fists as soon as Naruto slashed them and he decided to use one of his strongest sword attacks and held his blade ready at the side while Kurama did his best to blow away the smoke with whips of his tails.
"Wakaba, calm down, you don't want to give any permanent damage, he's a kid who's got a life ahead of him!" Macao tried to reason with his partner who was still staring at Naruto intently.
"Tch, that punk kid really needs to know that he's not some special brat, it's insulting for us to have to fight a kid, and I'm going to make sure that he's not going to try again for a lifetime!" Wakaba told his partner and Naruto just chuckled.
"Life, huh" Naruto told them and they stared at him, "Are you never impressed by what life gives us, it gave you and me 6 senses for free, but do you ever think about them?" Naruto spoke as he held his hand ready.
"The six senses are Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch and Mind" Naruto said with a grin as Macao sent a wave of Purple Rain at Naruto who deflected each of them with simple swings of his katana and deflected them all again around the arena and held his blade ready.
"And on those six senses, they exist in states such as Good, Bad and Neutral" Naruto continued as Wakaba took in another deep breath to prepare an attack.
"I don't know what you're going on about, but here's something that makes sense in my books. Smoke Shot!" Wakaba yelled as a blast of smoke shot forwards at Naruto who just smirked as his blade shone brightly with a dark sheen as he clutched it tightly.
"And even further unto each of them, they are either pure or corrupted" Naruto added as he held his sword horizontally above the shoulder of his right arm and the smoke was shooting forwards and about to converge almost instantly around him.
"One life, 36 Earthly Desires! And I'll sever them all in one strike! Ittoryu: 36 Phoenix Pound Cannon!" Naruto finished as the smoke was right at his face and with one swift motion, he swung his blade in a circular motion that launched the air in front of him as a compressed projectile and it went spiralling towards the target and Wakaba and Macao were taken by surprise as that one hit blew them back and they were knocked off their feet and sliced up across their chests with shallow cuts.
They both groaned and stood back up as Naruto held his katana at the ready again, ready to continue the fight and Macao noticed something so far in this fight.
"Hey kid, how come you haven't pulled out your magic yet?" Macao asked and Wakaba blinked while Naruto grinned.
"Simple, I'm saving it for someone else" Naruto told them and shot a look at Laxus who glared right back at Naruto with his teeth gritted and his palms almost crushing the soda can he was holding as Naruto turned back to the spluttering mages.
"So let me get this straight, you think that you can beat two A-class mages as a 12 year old without using any magic at all!" Wakaba hissed through gritted teeth as he took another breath and and exhaled sharply, letting out a thick cloud of smoke that solidified into about 30 clones of himself.
"Then let me tell you just how much of a bad idea that is!" he finished and the clones charged forwards and Naruto quickly managed to dodge them all, while avoiding pools of fire that were present from Naruto continuously deflecting all those blasts from Macao, who also felt insulted and joined in as well, creating Purple Nets to try and catch the tricky fox who managed to avoid or block each of their attacks.
"HAAAAAH!" Wakaba yelled as he charged forwards and tried to send a wild haymaker at Naruto who quickly dodged the attack and grabbed Wakaba by the shoulder and arm, and quickly used his momentum to flip him over and the hair puff man hit the ground right with his face. Macao also sent a blast of Purple Flare at Naruto who used Wakaba's body to shield himself from the attacks, the latter of which was screaming loudly as his body was on fire and Naruto used a palm strike to send Wakaba flying right at Macao who was hit with his partner, literally.
"ARGH! I'm on FIRE!" Wakaba yelled and Macao immediately extinguished the flames on Wakaba who let out a sigh of relief after the flames were put out and glared at Naruto who was still standing ready for action and continue the fight.
"Use more smoke doubles and keep him distracted by choking him a little, I'll try to get in close and keep fighting with my fire, and when the fox is busy with that, you deal with him, got it?" Macao laid out a plan to his partner who nodded and they both got ready.
Wakaba slightly choked as he took in another deep breath and exhaled, creating even more clones and totalling the number to about 50 and sent them all running right at Naruto who blinked as they all exploded into bursts of smoke right at his face, and he choked on the thick smoke as he inhaled it and from behind him Macao came in with a barrage of punches that were blocked by Kurama's tails, but the clash between fists and tail were continuing constantly.
"EAT THIS!" Wakaba yelled as he landed a punch right at Naruto's face and Naruto choked on his own spit as he was sent flying backwards and he hit the ground a few feet away from where he started and blinked, wow, that came out of nowhere.
"Wakaba, you didn't hit him too hard right?" Macao asked but Wakaba just waved it off.
"You're not giving that kid enough credit, he's taken way worse hits than what I just gave him" Wakaba told his partner and true to his words, Naruto just blinked and flipped back onto his feet like nothing happened but there was a bruise that drew a small trickle of blood.
"I got this" Kurama told him and Naruto could feel the would healing faster as a small trickle of steam was emitted from Kurama trying to patch up Naruto with regeneration, Kurama could boost his strength and give him regenerative capabilities, but of course everything had a limit, the more beat up he was, the more energy Kurama would expend trying to patch him up. It was where Kurama would increase Naruto's natural ability to heal and Kurama needed a full month to master it but it was indispensable as an ability.
"Does this excite you?" Naruto asked the crowd who were cheering at the first hit had taken, "Does one punch to my face excite you that much? Pathetic" he scoffed and wiped the blood from his face and stared back at the duo who were ready for action.
"They're not the main problem, focus on the dumb and the dumber" Kurama told Naruto who nodded.
"Like I told you Kurama, I have a plan" he thought back to his partner.
"So think you need magic now to fight?" Wakaba asked as his fist was ready again but Naruto just smirked at that.
"I don't need magic to fight, only to win in one fell swoop" Naruto told him with a grin and both of them looked slightly winded but continued forwards and Naruto smirked even wider as he saw them panting, it was almost checkmate, now to move all the pieces in position for the win.
"Purple Rain!" Macao yelled as he sent surprisingly small waves of purple fire right at Naruto who didn't even blink but had Murasame deflect each and every one of them and shot forwards at the opponents who were taken by surprise at his sudden dash but Wakaba responded with a smokescreen that he had difficulty creating and they used that chance to double back but Naruto only grinned as they fell for his fake out as he decided to end this once and for all.
"It's over, cough, for you two mages, cough" Naruto said with a fanged grin as they stepped around the ring that was covered in torrents of Purple Flare that was created by Macao and a layer of smoke created by Wakaba and under the barrier which stopped anything exiting the stadium and harming the civilians, that would be a real problem as the smoke and fire was getting to them as they were starting to choke and Naruto was no exception.
"Cough, you're in the same boat as us, cough, what makes you think you can win?" Macao asked and Naruto just grinned.
"I'm glad you asked, cough" he told them and walked to the centre of the stage and stepped on a runic array that was set there from the beginning and to their surprise, golden runes shot from the edges of the seal and spread and sprawled outwards creating a square around Naruto and then it shot upwards creating a series of runes that reached over Naruto's head before stopping and joining up again in a sequence of symbols that flashed golden to create a golden barrier.
"Barrier: Body" Naruto finished his spell and the barrier enclosed him in an airtight seal just like the barrier around the arena.
"What!" Wakaba choked as he saw Naruto just step into his own trap and Naruto just pulled out a scroll from his pocket, who said sealing wasn't as good as Requip, sure you could put your everyday items in a Requip space, but for real goody treats, you could easily use a sealing scroll for anything.
"Unseal!" Naruto called out and from the scroll, a pull of smoke was emitted before something floated right in the air, and it literally was the word "AIR" written in clear bubble writing that exploded around Naruto who took a deep breath as he managed to breathe again as air flooded the area enclosed by the barrier around him and Wakaba and Macao were still blinking.
"Confused, allow me to explain if you will" Naruto said with a smile and a theatrical wave and Kurama groaned, ugh nerd talk, the poison to his life.
"You're both pretty good mages, and I'll be honest, I'd need to use magic attacks if I wanted to knock you both out. I'd definitely need Darkness or Light Magic or even something which could hit you guys, you're tough but I've trained intensely for the past year, and you're both been underestimating me and slightly overestimating yourselves because of your age" Naruto told them who felt insulted, "But I want to save everything I've got for a certain unnamed Lightning Prick who's really got this coming to him so I chose to end this in the least magic expending way possible, with a plan" Naruto said with a grin.
"Macao, your magic is pretty interesting. Purple Flare does make flames that can't be extinguished by wind or water only the caster, but there's another problem with that. It burns through quite a bit of oxygen to have the heat needed to not extinguish itself, and fire itself needs fuel, heat and most importantly Oxygen. Oxygen that you also need to breathe, and that constant flame barrage that I made sure to not destroy with a slice but deflect should have tipped you off something was off, I wanted as much flame to burn through the oxygen around you and cover this place in Carbon Dioxide and since we're in an airtight barrier, all those flames gave rise to a big problem" Naruto explained and Macao tried to extinguish the flames but started to cough loudly as he was tired from the constant game of cat and mouse and also the lack of Oxygen.
"And Wakaba, your magic is not too shabby but it's got a flaw" Naruto told the hair puff man who was trying to take a deep breath but kept coughing as he couldn't breathe either, "You always needed to take a deep breath before using your magic, you need to breathe in oxygen and use that in battle to create smoke to fight with, and without that, your power is flawed since no air means no more smoke, and you've made a lot of smoke, ironically rich in toxic gases and a lot more Carbon Dioxide" Naruto added as Wakaba was struggling to stand up as well.
"So my plan was simple, get you both to run out of air while I'd be the last one breathing" Naruto told them, "And I owe that to someone very special, Levy McGarden" Naruto told them and in the crowds Levy blushed under all the attention from the onlookers and ducked under her arms.
"I made sure that when I thought of this idea, I'd be able to find a way to breathe and thanks to Levy's magic Solid Script: Letter Magic that everyone, including you two brushed off as useless, I've managed to change the tides with it's near unlimited versatility and adaptability. Even if she couldn't be here with me to fight like she wanted, what friends I have are always with me and I will be with them. I wouldn't be able to win without her support, and I'd like to thank her" Naruto told her with a smile and she smiled back with a wave.
It felt nice to finally feel bigger and she remembered how Naruto approached her when he had a plan in mind but told her about how he needed her help to succeed in the S-class exams, and they were allowed to carry weapons or anything into the exams so Naruto had her create "AIR" out of her magic with as much power as she could muster and he sealed it into a scroll and thanked her immensely for her help, and she had no idea what was going on and Naruto refused to tell her anything about his plan, preferring to keep it a surprise.
Now she just felt happy, knowing that her friend needed her help after all and all the training she went through and her choice in Letter Magic was all paying off. She'd always remain a faithful friend to Naruto, the mage who gave her confidence.
"And now to wrap this up, and finish my master plan with this ridiculous speech" Naruto told the two of them who were surprised, "I mean seriously, I was just talking and talking while you two could have done something by now but you stopped and listened to my rambling explanation that you probably couldn't care less about and your air should be getting pretty low right now, not the smartest idea. Next time, remain focused on the battle" Naruto shrugged with a smirk and they almost mentally slapped their heads at that and Naruto activated his eyes once more into Mystic Eyes.
"Well *cough* we're doing something *cough* now!" Macao told him as he created a Purple Rain with what strength he could muster and tried to send it at Naruto but felt a kick hit him right at the back and Wakaba felt a similar attack hit him from behind.
"It might be a little too late for that, but I hope that this will entertain you. Darkness Make: Shadow Clone!" Naruto said while holding his hands in a cross sign and Naruto smirked as he used his newest move against these two. Their shadows had literally picked themselves off the ground as identical copies of Naruto and socked them right from behind.
His newest technique, Shadow Clones. The height of a Maker Magic mage's power was to create clones of themselves, and not just clones but animate clones of themselves that could fight along with Naruto and he smirked at their effectiveness. Naruto could create Shadow Clones out of other people's shadows or his own, and get the drop of them while their back was turned, quite literally, the only downside however was that he could only create shadow clones out of the shadows of other people, that he could see with his Mystic Eyes. But at least it didn't halve his entire energy by half...where did that come from?
It was a bit of a downer that he could only make clones out of people's shadows and that limited his numbers but if he just kept spamming clones for every problem, it would kind of get bland. The clones would dispel after one good hit to them or after they ran out of magic which they didn't have much of, but they didn't need to breathe, or live, they were an extension of his will that he could control and have them work alongside him...or after he mastered that part, he was in a rush so he only learned how to make clones and make sure that he could control them and also make sure they could use magic, but didn't really fight in perfect tandem between them, but baby steps and it was nothing a little training wouldn't solve.
The Naruto clones engaged the two mages who were trying their best to breathe and fight at the same time.
"Cough cough, damn it, these clones don't, cough, quit!" Macao grunted as he blocked an overhead kick by the clone and the clone created a magic circle from his palm and called out a signature attack right at Macao.
"Dark Matter!" the clone yelled and from his hand, a black orb shot at Macao and exploded right at him and pushed him back.
"Macao!" Wakaba yelled and his clone opponent got under his guard and his hand shone bright golden white and he held it right at Wakaba.
"Piercing Heaven!" the clone called out and from his hand a golden projectile shot forwards and shot right through Wakaba's shoulder as he grunted as it pierced into him and exploded into a flash of light that nearly blinded him.
Normally these attacks were things they could brush off, they'd taken plenty of hits in their time, but while they were tired and choking on their own breath, it was much more difficult to cope with the attacks that were raining down on them.
"End this" Naruto commanded from the barrier and the clones complied.
"100 Piercing Heaven!" Clone Naruto called out as his hands were glowing an even brighter gold-white and around him, more golden-white magical circles appeared and from them, golden-white arrows quickly burst forwards right at them and nearly blinded them from the light and the Naruto clone popped out of existence as it used up all it's magic.
"Dark Matter Fission x100!" Clone Naruto yelled out as his hands were glowing a pitch, umbra black and around him more pitch black magical circles appeared and from them, more black spheres started to appear from them and quickly burst forwards at them and each orb exploded as they hit their opponents and the Naruto clone also popped out of existence.
All in all, it could be summed up in one big boom! And that covered the part of the stadium where the two mages were standing, and as the smoke cleared, said mages Macao and Wakaba were fried and frazzled as each of the attacks had taken their toll on them and the barrier around them had gone down, releasing all the smoke and gases pent up in there and Naruto let out a breath as even he was starting to run out of air inside his barrier.
But one thing was confirmed as it was displayed on the giant board.
Match 1 result: Naruto and Kurama vs Macao and Wakaba
Winner: Naruto and Kurama!
Back in the stands everyone had varying degrees of reaction to the fight that took place.
First the positives...
Gildarts was grinning widely with all his teeth out in pride, he really felt on top of the world as he saw his boy kick ass like the pros did it. He really couldn't be more proud of Naruto, the boy he found without a home, took into his home, and trained relentlessly with the sole goal of getting stronger to protect the guild, it really was heartwarming to see Naruto striving forwards continuously and the time training really showed as he brought out his power in this battle and he felt much more secure about the future road ahead, even when he finally kicks the bucket and was already going to make Naruto a S-class mage, he had the right amount of intelligence, power, and sensibility for a S-class title, now all he has to do is win.
Makarov was also equally impressed but also worried, sure the power he displayed was pretty impressive but he stared at his grandson and sighed, would it be enough to battle against Laxus. He felt conflicted, Laxus was his grandson by blood and he loved him as a child, and even now when he was, as Kurama kept telling him, a prick. On the other hand, Naruto always looked up to Naruto like a grandfather and he could see bits of Laxus as a child in Naruto, a boy who had no one and felt attached to him. He just hoped that they both made it through this safely.
Levy was beaming with happiness and cheering as loud as she could for her friend Naruto who had just swept through the battle and thanks to her help as well. She might have told him that she was happy to sit this battle out, but she did feel pain on the inside as all her effort was for naught, and she couldn't argue against Naruto's decision since it was true, she wasn't strong enough to help him out now, but as she watched him fight with her help as well, she felt that she was with him as well and smiled that her contributions meant something that changed the whole game.
Jason was just yelling out commentary to the people around him while constantly screaming how COOOOL Naruto was with his style, casual and calm attitude and intelligence.
Now the ones that were sort of on the fence but not really that positive...
Erza was staring at the battle calculatingly as she saw Naruto defeat two A-class mages mostly without magic, only his sword skills with his katana. She would be lying if she wasn't impressed by his skill with a blade, it was something formidable but she was also clutching her own sword's hilt tightly. Her own skill paled by comparison, to the tyrant's son who's existence was the reason that she had to suffer for most of her life. It may have been petty but she wanted to blame something, and Naruto was the closest thing to the target, she needed to get stronger, strong enough to save everyone back at the tower and seeing Naruto of all people with that power made her clutch her sword tightly, she hated being inferior to him.
Gray was also staring at the battle with mixed opinions. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't want Macao and Wakaba to win, not because he supported them but he still didn't like Naruto all that much. His father still was the one who ruined his life with Deliora and countless other lives but to him, Naruto didn't care about any of that. He could have at least said sorry, but Naruto was far too stubborn to say sorry, it would be the same as admitting he was wrong about something. For now, he just sat there and stared in awe and slight envy as Naruto's Darkness Make managed to make sentient clones of himself, his Ice Maker Magic was supposed to be much stronger since ice was more solid than darkness and yet after a lifetime of learning it, compared to about a year of training for Naruto, he still couldn't do it. He clenched his fist tightly, he was weaker than him by a large margin but he'd change that some day and beat both him and Deliora.
Now the ones that were just plain negative...
Cana frowned heavily as she saw Naruto defeat Wakaba and Macao with ease and then turned to the judge's stand to see her father yelling up and down, cheering for Naruto, throwing out "my boy" and "son" here and there and that stung heavily. She looked back at her deck of cards and almost felt like tearing them up in frustration. What made Naruto so damn special? So his dad was the worst villain in history, so that just makes him this strong! She didn't care about power, she just wanted her father to see her and accept her for what she was and bit back tears as that spot was replaced by Naruto, the "wonder boy".
Laxus just grit his teeth and grinned at the same time, he'd have a field day wiping the floor with Naruto. He didn't care if he had to use Dragon Slayer Magic to defeat Naruto, he'd use it and wipe the floor with him once and for all so he knew his place, then he'd slither back out of their lives and back where he belonged.
And the rest of the people watching who started to boo at Naruto, they only came to watch Zeref's son get beaten up but even that didn't happen. They saw one punch and that was it, but Naruto wiped the floor with Macao and Wakaba and they didn't like that too much.
"NOW AFTER THAT SUPER COOOOL MATCH, CAN WE HAVE THE INFIRMARY PICK UP THE TWO DEFEATED MAGES AND LET'S MAKE WAY FOR THE NEXT MATCH!" Jason yelled and Laxus leapt into the stadium with a grin with Freed in tow and Naruto's eyes narrowed at Laxus as he bumped Naruto aside on purpose and he just grit his teeth and went back to the stands.
"There's going to be nothing to learn from this, Laxus will win without trying" Naruto thought as his opponents weren't exactly the strongest mages out there, "I should at least go thank Levy, I owe her for helping me win" Naruto thought.
"Yeah, that little girl was pretty helpful even if she wasn't here"Kurama added.
"Best to get going then" Naruto thought back as he saw Levy sitting in a row with Cana, Gray and Erza, what joy.
Stands
Match #2 currently on.
"You helped him win!" Cana hissed to Levy who flinched a little but still stood strong and confident.
"He asked for my help so that he could win, and he's my friend!" Levy defended Naruto to Cana who still scoffed as she flopped back down onto her seat.
"Tch, he needed help to win, and it's practically cheating. Shows just how strong he really is" she shot at Naruto who was just within earshot as he was climbing the stairs.
"Hey you're right, isn't it cheating?" Gray asked and Erza shook her head.
"No, it's not. He used a weapon at his disposal, it would be no different from bringing a sword to a fight and it was within the rules to being equipment" Erza explained, "It's definitely within the rules to bring "air" into the fight of all things, if cannons and guns are allowed" Erza explained.
"And it just goes to show what you all know" Levy shot at them bravely, "Naruto wanted to win without using all his energy, he's got to fight Laxus next! So he won without using too much strength from the get-go" she explained and Cana just narrowed her eyes and humphed at that.
"Well, I know who I'm rooting for then, I can't believe I'm hoping that the lightning jerk wins but there's a first" Cana told them, "What about you Erza, Gray?" she asked.
"...I can't decide, I just wish both of them lost, I don't want to support Zeref's kid, but even I don't like Laxus enough to support him, they both suck so I hope they both lose" Gray gave his opinion on the matter.
"I don't have any support to either of them, I'm just spectating as well" Erza added onto that.
"Well I'm supporting Naruto! I can't believe you'd rather Laxus win! He's been nothing but rude, mean and a horrible person to everyone in the guild and you want him to win over Naruto!" Levy told them clearly and her banner with Naruto's name was starting to flash between black and golden as well.
"Well it's nice to hear that" a voice told her from behind and she almost gasped as she jumped behind and saw Naruto's playful smile behind him and grinned at his victory along with her friends casual smile, it was a victory!
"Naruto! You won! That was awesome!" Levy gushed with a smile and Naruto just held his hand outstretched and Levy gave a high-five and Naruto blinked, did they change handshakes in 66 years? How strange...
"It was a win, but it wouldn't have worked without your help. Thanks a lot, Levy" Naruto told her as he sat down next to her, right on the edge of the seats and Levy looked down in embarrassment as Naruto praised her a lot, it wasn't that much.
"I-it wasn't that much, you're giving me too much credit" she blushed and told him while Naruto blinked slightly.
"...But it's the truth, I wouldn't have won the way I did without your help" Naruto told her honestly and Levy just squirmed a bit uncomfortably under the praise and just waved it off with a wide grin, she really did manage to make a difference, and it was with Solid Script: Letter Magic! The one thing everyone brushed off as useless and was happy that she had a friend like Naruto, he was one of a kind.
"Tch, yeah well who's help do you need for the next match?" Cana shot sarcastically and interrupted the moment and Naruto's face went back to it's usual blank and he replied back.
"Nobody, I want nobody to help me in this fight. It's going to be Laxus and me" Naruto told them clearly and Cana just laughed at that.
"You'll get turned into paste, Laxus isn't the strongest here for nothing. He's been taking down people older than him, and he can fry people by dropping lightning down on them, you're going to lose" Cana told him and Naruto just smirked at that.
"We'll see about that" Naruto told her with a grin and Cana just got angrier and turned away.
"But still Laxus is pretty strong" Erza gave her opinion.
"I don't like him, he once fried my shorts off for the heck of it and he'll probably do the same for you" Gray muttered, he really was too weak.
1
"I still have faith in you Naruto" Levy told him with a determined look, "I'll be cheering for you. So go out there and win!" she told him and Naruto smiled at that and patted her head slightly while she pouted that he was still taller than her.
"Don't worry about me, I won't let your expectations down" Naruto told her with a smile and she grinned back as they saw that Laxus had just finished the battle with a vicious lightning bolt that rained down on Vijeeter and Reedus who were knocked out from the attack.
"WINNER: LAXUS DREYAR AND FREED JUSTINE! NOW WILL NARUTO AND KURAMA COME ON DOWN FOR THE FINAL BATTLE OF THE TOURNAMENT!" Jason yelled into the speakers.
Levy saw the state that Laxus left his fellow guildmates in and got worried as Naruto stood up ready for this fight and she stood with him and gave him a quick hug from behind that caused Naruto to freeze up and stop moving and Levy got close enough to talk to him privately without being overheard.
"Naruto, please win. I don't know if you know this, but things have changed from your time since new Guild Rules are in place. Leaderships of guilds can be inherited by laws, and Laxus might actually be the one to lead Fairy Tail in a few years if Master gets too old and if Laxus gets made a S-class mage, that only puts him one step closer to being Master of Fairy Tail" Levy told him and Naruto completely stopped. Levy didn't want to put this pressure on Naruto, but he had to know the real truth of what might happen if Laxus became Master.
"And if that happens-" Naruto whispered back.
"We're going to get kicked out" Kurama finished for him.
Naruto started to realise what the stakes were in this match and that Laxus wasn't bluffing earlier when he boasted about what he would do as Guild Master, if Laxus really did become the next guild master then there was only one thing he would do with regards to them, banish Naruto, Kurama and Levy by association, heck he might even banish Gildarts and even his own grandfather Makarov. Naruto looked at Master Makarov, who was frowning and Laxus's treatment of his fellow mages and realised that this match meant so much more, whoever was the strongest of the next generation would be the one to lead the guild and Makarov was looking for that leader, and if he was forced to choose that person as Laxus, then Naruto would lose everything.
Everything that he had gained so far, Gildarts, Makarov, Levy, a home. All of that would burn up into ash and vanish as he would be forced to leave forever, and open something painful inside him. A hole. A hole which nothing could fill back up again, and losing this battle, just meant that he might lose everything and saw Gildarts's face, and saw the old drunk give him a confident smile and he held his coat tightly.
He could almost feel Gildarts encouraging him to push forwards and clenched his fist, was this how he was going to give up? He promised that he would never give up! He would fight, not just fight but win as he saw Laxus's swagger at the downed mages and the crowd was hesitantly clapping to him and Naruto got more determined upon seeing that, he couldn't let someone like him lead Fairy Tail. No, the place at the head of the generation, the one that everyone would acknowledge, that spot was for Naruto, it was in his own name!
He didn't care if the rest of the world liked him, they could hate him or think whatever they wanted about him. But Naruto would make them acknowledge his existence, his hard work and his true strength as Naruto, the son of Zeref was just a fact, not a title that defined him but he would make sure that they acknowledged him as Naruto, not the son of Zeref but as his own man. And the spot where they would have to acknowledge him as Naruto would be at the forefront of the era, and that spot could only go to one person!
That spot would be his!
"Be careful" she told him and Naruto just smiled and patted his friends head and smiled when she looked up.
"Don't worry, I'll do my best to not get hit" Naruto tried to joke but she laughed anyway at his attempt at humour.
"She wasn't laughing at the joke, she was laughing at how bad it was, don't let it get to your head!" Kurama told him mentally and broke the moment, again. Damned fox.
"I know you will, just be safe" she told him and Naruto just nodded before he leapt onto the stage, ready to finally duke it out with Laxus, once and for all to decide who would be the titan of the next generation, the Master's Grandson or the son of Zeref.
The tension was palpable, almost electric as Naruto walked forwards, each step getting heavy with emotion. It wasn't fear, he would never show any fear to him, it was anticipation and he couldn't help but do his best not to grin, finally a chance to show Makarov and Gildarts just how far he had come, and beating down Laxus was just the icing on the cake. If they all called him the son of Zeref, then it was time he started to live up to that name and his father's greatness.
And the stakes were also high, if Naruto won then the odds of Laxus being made Master would plummet, but if he won and proved himself as the head of this generation, then the odds would skyrocket that he and everyone he cared about would be kicked out of their homes. This battle, was one he wouldn't lose!
"I will become S-class" Naruto told out loud and Laxus grit his teeth but couldn't help but smirk as well as his body was sparking up a storm as he crossed his arms while to his side, Freed had his blade at the ready and his eyes were glowing but it didn't matter to Naruto who had Murasame at the ready with Kurama's cloak floating at the ready as well.
"Well, I was half expecting you to chicken out" Laxus sneered, "So you ready to back down now or would you like to be well done or extra crispy?" Laxus asked with his arms sparking violently.
"Uhh..." Naruto said as he tried to think of a comeback and Kurama sighed.
"We'll be taking the prize, so why don't you take your bacon and head on down home before the big dogs eat you up and spit you out" Kurama said from the cloak right back at him.
"What he said" Naruto added and Kurama sighed, Naruto was never the best with banter.
"Tch, I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should" Laxus growled, "Freed, you back away, I'll end this by myself" Laxus ordered him who nodded.
"NOW THE FINAL MATCH OF THE S-CLASS EXAMS ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN. TO THE RIGHT WE HAVE NARUTO AND KURAMA, THE DUO WITH THE POWER OF THE LEGENDARY BLACK MAGE ZEREF!" Jason yelled into the microphone and he was instantly met with boos from the audience and Naruto just brushed it off, the opinions of sheep never concerned him.
"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE IS LAXUS DREYAR AND FREED JUSTINE! THE FAN FAVOURITE TO WIN FROM HIS GRANDFATHER'S LEGACY AND HIS TEAMMATE!" Jason yelled and Laxus growled loudly at that remark, something that Naruto noticed.
"Does he not like being his grandfather's legacy?" Naruto thought.
"He doesn't like a lot of things, but talking to this prick isn't going to do much so use the other means of talking, fists. We're going to win, no matter what!" Kurama told him and Naruto nodded and his stance was ready for the fight.
"THE BARRIER IS JUST NOW COMING UP, SO LET'S COUNT IT DOWN FOR THE MAIN EVENT OF THIS TOURNAMENT!" Jason yelled and everyone started to cheer, mostly for Laxus and they were slowly surrounded by the barrier once more and the match was on the verge of beginning.
"THREE!" they chanted and Laxus's palms were bursting with electricity.
"TWO!" they yelled as Freed's eyes started to glow purple and his hands were glowing with runes.
"ONE!" they screamed and Naruto's eyes shifted into their Mystic Eyes and Murasame was positively glowing, while Kurama was fluttering with excitement. He was ready.
"BEGIN!" Jason yelled a bell sounded to announce the final match and end of the tournament for the S-class Exams of December 15th X776.
Naruto and Kurama vs Laxus and Freed
"DROP DEAD!" Laxus yelled out as a yellow magical circle appeared right above him and Naruto's eyes widened as in the blink of the eye, a bolt of lightning was already heading right down on his head, he reacted at his top speed with his blade and it created a black trail around it as Naruto thought the only thing that could come to his mind.
"There is nothing I cannot cut!" Naruto thought with all his might as he swung his blade over his head and with all his power into the blade, he twisted his body and managed to reach the bolt and the tip of the blade reached the bolt and Naruto powered through in that microsecond and sliced through the bolt with his blade.
To any onlooker all they saw was a bolt, and Naruto's arm move in a raid blur and then a bright flash of yellow light that illuminated the stadium, the light blinded everyone as even Jason, the most dedicated fan had to close his eyes but they could hear one shout from a little blue haired girl.
"NARUTO!"
As the light died down, a red coat still fluttered through the wind as a black figure was still standing with his black katana shining with the tip illuminating the darkest nights and it was slightly sparking with electricity, but there was no damage to Naruto who was dead focused.
"He's gotten stronger, a lot stronger. I guess he wasn't lounging around but actually training for this tournament," Naruto could only think as the speed of that lightning was unreal, almost instantaneous and he'd need to get serious from the get-go as Kurama nodded and increased Naruto's physical stats as high as he could reach them, this was the real final battle.
"Darkness Make: Shadow Clone!" Naruto thought as he held his hands in the familiar cross seal under his coat and Laxus wasn't fooled as he managed to dodge the fist that approached him from behind but Freed took a punch right to the gut was sent over to the side of the ring and Naruto deactivated his eyes.
"You two, deal with Freed. Laxus is mine!" Naruto ordered his clones who nodded and followed the command and went to engage with Freed and Naruto barely had enough time to blink as he ducked under the punch that was sent right at his face from Laxus, completely surrounded by lightning in his Lightning Body from the get-go.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto yelled and tried another short range attack but was cut off as he felt a crushing pain from above him and Laxus had elbowed him right into the ground, but before he could follow up Kurama had pushed Laxus back with a tail whip.
Naruto slowly picked himself back up and felt a warm trickle of blood from his mouth and realised that Laxus wasn't playing around at all, he was dead serious about inflicting as much pain to Naruto as possible, screw showing his skills to get the S-class, he just wanted to beat Naruto down into the ground. Well he would reply in turn, and felt Kurama start healing him and take even more boosting right to the limit.
"Burst forwards!" Kurama told Naruto as the fox increased his speed.
"Like that?" Laxus sneered as he stood strong before Naruto growled and vanished in the blink of the eye and Laxus felt a crushing pain under his jaw as Naruto launched an uppercut at the taller figure and sent Laxus into the air and Naruto did a turn in mid air before sending a kick right at Laxus's solar plexus making the lightning mage choke on his spit slightly but Naruto wasn't done yet.
"Solar Flare!" Naruto yelled out and created another bright white light that blinded everyone in the vicinity and they all had to close their eyes, but Kurama used this opening to snake his tails around Laxus's arms.
"Kitsune-bi!" Kurama thought as he held Laxus in place and threw him down, and at the same time, ignited his tails with fire that started to burn away against Laxus's lightning body and Naruto fell down right on him with another attack.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto yelled out and a black ball exploded right at Laxus's face and created a small explosion but it was shortlived as Laxus let out a scream and the electricity around him peaked and electrocuted Kurama's tails and forced him to let go of Laxus who shot right forwards at Naruto's unguarded body.
"EAT THIS!" Laxus roared as he let loose a vicious barrage of punches right at Naruto's body and Naruto felt each of them electrocute him painfully and Laxus used his Lightning Body's high speeds to rocket behind Naruto and land a vicious elbow behind Naruto and he was sent rocketing across the stadium with a sickening crunch.
"Shit, that hurt" Naruto cursed, and when he started cursing you knew the situation was starting to take a turn for the worse.
"I can't keep pushing your healing factor Naruto" Kurama told him and Naruto nodded.
"You think I can't take a few punches? Keep increasing my physical power, let me worry about how beat up I get" Naruto thought, "I'm sorry Levy, guess I couldn't keep my word" and stood back up again much to Laxus's surprise and Naruto held his sword at the ready to continue the fight.
"WHAT! How are you still standing!" Laxus yelled out in shock and Naruto just scoffed.
"I trained with Gildarts for a year, sparky. I think I can take punches" Naruto told him and Laxus twitched at that name.
"Don't call me sparky!" he snapped and Naruto just grinned smugly.
"What's wrong? Did big bad Naruto hurt the wittle baby's feelings?" Naruto imitated in Laxus's voice and he just snarled at that and his Lightning Body just started to spark even more violently at that as Laxus charged violently forwards with his fist outstretched and Naruto responded in turn with his sword at the ready and parried Laxus's fist with a swing of his blade.
Cold Dark Steel met Violent Yellow Lightning as each of them were cloaked with the powers of Darkness and Lightning respectively and there was looking to be no winner in sight as both of them clashed hard and evenly and Laxus sent another cloaked fist of lightning right at Naruto who countered it with his knee shrouded in light and the two created another clash once more.
Light and Dark vs Thunder, the battle just kept raging between them as dark and light auras were pushing as hard as they could against lightning and sparks and wisps of all three were being thrown around the entire arena haphazardly and Naruto held his other hand forwards right at Laxus's face.
"Dark Matter Fission x10!" Naruto called out and 10 black orbs shot from jet black magical circles around him and hit Laxus right in the body and pushed the titan back and Naruto managed to push him a large space back and Naruto kept charging forwards.
"Listen for the moment to strike!" Naruto thought, "Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson!" he yelled out as he was right in front of Laxus and landed several slices across his body but his Lightning Body kept shielding most of his body and Laxus struck back at Naruto with a vicious fist right at his face and nearly sent Naruto careening back but Naruto held his ground and sent a punch right back at Laxus's body who grunted under the surprising force under that punch.
Naruto who had to match Gildarts in physical strength (or try so that he didn't get turned into paste) multiplied by Kurama's boosting powers = One mean punching machine!
"HAAAA!" Naruto yelled out as he landed several punches pushing right into Laxus, which packed a lot of force and finished his barrage of punches with a wild haymaker right at Laxus's jaw and solidly had to have hurt him badly but Laxus almost instantly snapped out of that and grabbed Naruto's outstretched fist with incredible speed and flipped Naruto over and slammed him into the ground and Naruto let out a yell as he almost heard a sickening crunch from that.
"Let me show you just how beneath me you are! Just like this pathetic guild!" Laxus yelled as he started to pummel Naruto's downed body with a barrage of fists and Naruto yelled out in pain and coughed out blood as each blow shocked, burned and scorched his body but Naruto grit his teeth and answered Laxus with a speak kick right to his face that knocked him backwards, stunned slightly and Naruto got back up again.
"Don't underestimate me, Laxus!" Naruto yelled back as he responded with a kick right back at Laxus who stumbled backwards and Naruto shot forwards right at him and called out his sword attack with all it's glory, one of his best sword moves.
"Kuraitsumi! (Dark Sins)" Naruto yelled as black blade was emitting a powerful black aura and Naruto slashed Laxus across his chest from top right to bottom left, then followed with a low cut at his legs and then went right back up with another slash from bottom right to top left and then Naruto did a turn in air and delivered a kick to Laxus's chest before Kurama used his tails and pushed against the ground to push Naruto forwards and then Naruto ended this with three vicious slashes to his chest once more.
"Dark Matter!" Naruto yelled and Laxus was struck with a Black Orb and sent flying backwards as he hit the ground with a loud explosion, and was starting to bleed from the cuts and Naruto held his blade at the ready, he wasn't going to hold back against Laxus, he was going to hit him with every ounce of his power, damn the consequences and the sword was almost resonating with Naruto's desire.
"That supposed to take me down, it's just a couple of scratches!" Laxus scoffed as he wiped some of the blood of his clothes, which were all torn up from the battle and he ripped his shirt off leaving his well developed body, marred with scars from Naruto's blade.
"You're really pissing me off! I'll end you, it doesn't matter what training you get from the worthless drunk loser! He'll be no match for me soon enough, just like you are right now!" Laxus yelled and Naruto grit his teeth in anger at what he just called Gildarts and raced forwards but Laxus responded to that with his own power.
He sent an uppercut right at Naruto, who couldn't avoid it and then cloaked his body with an even greater aura of lightning and bolted upwards after Naruto who was slightly dazed in air, and Laxus landed a powerful elbow right at Naruto's exposed back, and Naruto screamed in pain as Laxus drove him right into the ground again with that strike and before Naruto could respond to that, he quickly enveloped his body into lightning and shot upwards into the air and rocketed between the walls of the barrier like a yellow blur.
"Kurama!" Naruto thought to his partner as he felt his spine almost crack from that last attack, damn Laxus was almost going in with near fatal blows and Naruto grit his teeth as he felt Kurama morph into two pairs of wings and Naruto took to the skies in an aerial ascent and hovered perfectly in mid air, watching Laxus rocket between the walls.
"Woah!" Naruto said out loud as the bullet of lightning nearly struck him but then looked above him to see magical circles of lightning appear overhead and in a flash they rained down lightning on Naruto who quickly managed to avoid them with Kurama's speed in Wing Kurama forme.
"How am I supposed to hit Laxus, he's rocketing around like a pinball!" Naruto thought and Kurama responded.
"Remember what the drunk said once before with speedy opponents like this, don't attack where they are, predict where they're going to be with sharp eyes" Kurama told him and Naruto nodded and activated his Mystic Eyes once more to enhance his vision as he saw Laxus move slightly slower but still ridiculously fast.
"Then I'll respond in turn with faster attacks" Naruto thought as a golden magical circle appeared on his hands and darts started to form near instantly in his hands and he strained his eyes to catch sight of Laxus who was darting around and looking for an opening to nail Naruto.
"Piercing Heaven!" Naruto yelled out as he sent a dart flying right at Laxus who managed to swerve out of the way to dodge and Naruto grit his teeth, they were precise, too much so to hit such a fast moving target. Laxus couldn't hit Naruto since Kurama was keeping Naruto airborne and could perform aerial acrobatics with the extra pair of wings to stabilise himself, and Naruto couldn't hit Laxus because he was rocketing around at incredible speeds randomly.
"Then we're just going to have to duke it out!" Kurama told Naruto who didn't have time to think as he had to dodge another shot from Laxus and arched his back forwards and Kurama's wings pushed against the air as hard as it could and chased after Laxus.
What the onlookers could see could only be described as damn epic as Naruto and Laxus were rocketing around the stadium in the sky, both of them in the air and colliding with each other intermittently and randomly with punches, kicks and slashes right at each other as Naruto and Laxus swerved around each other and crashed into each other, into a struggle for dominance before being pushed back from the combined force of their energy and Naruto had an idea.
"Maybe if I can just make a tracking seal, like the one I keep on Gildarts so I can find him when he's passed out after drinking, but then make it so that my attack finds him without fail...like a homing seal, I like that" Naruto thought and Kurama groaned.
"You really think you can design a seal" Kurama told him and they swerved to avoid a collision from Laxus, "While dodging the prick at the same time? Seriously, this is deus ex machina right here. You just make a seal for everything now? And if you're forgetting something let me remind you, you fly this thing by giving me commands remember?" Kurama asked and Naruto just grinned.
"No I can't make a seal for everything, it only will work if I can imagine it and think of a way to do it and I can't make too many seals, they take out a ton of magic, at best I can make 2 or 3 seals before I'm out! I used a seal in the first fight and managed to recover most of my magic while fighting with a sword so don't count on seals for everything and besides it's not going to take him out, we just need one good hit on him to get him to take more damage and slow down. And I'll just have to count on you to autopilot this Kurama" Naruto thought to his partner who almost crashed into a wall as Naruto stopped providing balance and commands and Kurama managed to stay airborne by flapping against the air and Laxus charged forwards.
"YOU'RE MINE!" he yelled out as he held a bolt of lightning in his hand and threw it forwards at Kurama who just managed to dodge, and struggled to keep Naruto safe while he was literally limp as he was thinking of a seal design.
"Jeez, this guy's nuts! And I wasn't asking for a lecture, Professor Bratty. Just tell me I can't make a seal that can one shot people, but I can make a seal to make it easier to hit him!" Kurama yelled inside Naruto's head as he managed to move sideways to dodge the bolt of lightning but sensed that Laxus was rocketing right for them, so he dropped right down and stopped flying, causing Naruto to almost plummet but managed to pull out of the dive and avoid Laxus at the same time.
"Kurama, quit doing air tricks and just dodge" Naruto thought and Kurama snapped.
"OH EXCUSE ME! NEXT TIME YOU WANT ME TO AUTOPILOT, YOU WANT A COFFEE AND BAGEL WITH THAT AS WELL, CAPTAIN! I CAN'T FLY, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO ALWAYS CONTROLS THIS STUPID THING! AND NEWS FLASH GENIUS, FOXES AREN'T MEANT TO FLY!" Kurama raged at Naruto who them got electrocuted as a bolt of lightning struck them in mid air.
"ARRRRGGGGHHHH!" both Kurama and Naruto yelled as the bolt almost fried them but Naruto snapped back out of his thoughts and with a swing of his katana, managed to dispel the bolt, but not without burns littered across his body.
"Shit, and we were in the air and had almost zero contact with the ground to disperse the electricity, that bolt had to have been damaging as hell" Naruto thought with a groan and Kurama couldn't even say anything as his wings were burned and stability was decreasing in the air.
"What's wrong? That all you got?" Laxus taunted and Naruto narrowed his eyes and seized control of the wings and with another arch shot forwards like a bullet, right at Laxus's fleeting form and Laxus hit against a barrier wall perpendicularly and shot right forwards at Naruto who focused his Mystic Eyes, which were straining badly.
He had them on for quite a while which meant that his magic was draining rapidly, on top of Kurama being out of it, on top of being electrocuted and tenderised in this fight, he was starting to get worse for wear, and Naruto knew that the battle needed to start going to his favour or he'd be in trouble.
"RAAAAAAHHH!" Laxus yelled as his fist was getting closer and closer to Naruto's face, and Naruto just matched it with his own fist and quickly continued forwards with his other arm, and touched Laxus's chest where slash marks were still present and marked him with a runic array of letters that Laxus noticed and was wide-eyed and pushed away against Naruto before something happened to him.
"You hit me with one of those seal gimmicks! So what's this one going to do? Trap me in a barrier that I'll break, just like your bones!" Laxus yelled as he rocketed back and forth around the walls and launched a punch at Naruto's back, who countered with a bicycle kick and did a flip in mid air.
"Don't call them gimmicks Laxus, sealing is more powerful than you can imagine" Naruto snapped at him as he began charging as much magic as he could muster into his palm.
"It's worthless! Just like your little worthless groupie, that blue haired midget!" Laxus yelled out and saw that he touched a nerve as Naruto's face contorted with anger and Laxus continued, "Don't worry about your worthless groupie, once I become S-class!" he said and punched Naruto, who did his best to block with a cross guard, "Then Master!" Laxus added and sent a haymaker at Naruto who nearly hit the ground from that blow, "I'll toss her out like the trash she is, along with you!" he yelled and Naruto's hand turned into a fist, he crossed the damn line as his eyes flared bright red.
"Tracking: Laxus - Add Property: Homing!" Naruto thought as the runes on Laxus's chest started to rearrange themselves in concordance to Naruto's will and they formed a runic circle which looked like a target crosshair and Laxus started to realise what was going to happen.
"No" Laxus said slowly as he noticed that Naruto's hand was glowing a powerful bright golden white and started to shape itself into a bow and arrow.
"No, no, no!" Laxus started to chant as he pushed against a wall and zoomed forwards at Naruto, before he could finish his attack.
"Don't ever call Levy worthless! Past the Skies and through the Heavens! Divine Piercing Heaven!" Naruto yelled out the incantation for his strongest light magic spell as the bow and arrow were well defined in Naruto's hand, they were truly shaped for royalty as the bow was intricate with a multi-layered design and the arrow was glowing bright golden and the tip was shining a bright white, a true strike from heaven itself.
"NO, NO, NO, NO!" Laxus yelled as Naruto swerved out of the way and avoided a punch from Laxus, who overshot hit own Lightning Body charge and went right at a wall at top speed and pushed off again from that and Naruto released the arrow at Laxus, the blast from heaven shot forwards at Laxus as Naruto used his strongest light spell on Laxus to ensure that this would cause a ton of damage on him as the arrow flew through the air right at Laxus. Laxus immediately tried to move towards the side to dodge the attack but the arrow curved in mid-air and shot forwards like a bullet at Laxus again, and it would keep doing that no matter where he went.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Laxus screamed in pain as the light arrow struck him right at the centre of his wounds and nearly pierced right through him but his Lightning Body managed to shield him somewhat, but he screamed out as the arrow burrowed deep into his chest and then burst into a bright light that blinded everyone once more as it struck him right at the centre of the marker.
After the light faded, Laxus's limp body fell down from the sky and hit the ground and Naruto was panting heavily, those last spells took almost all of his strength and he was tired as hell as he started to land and hit the ground with his feet and panted in exhaustion.
"Did we win?" Kurama asked groggily and Naruto was too exhausted to reply to his partner but then felt something hit him from behind and Naruto screamed out in pain.
"Dark Γcriture: Pain!" Freed yelled out as purple writing shot right through Naruto and he felt like every inch of his body was being tortured beyond any limits and Naruto hit the ground and convulsed in pure agony as his body was being tortured in the worst of ways possible.
"Did you forget about me? Did you think that two clones could take me down! I am Freed, and I'm not part of the Thunder Legion of the Commander for nothing, now you'll pay for what you did to him! Dark Γcriture: Suffering!" Freed shot another spell right at Naruto and the pain was amped up again from 1 to 11 as it felt so much worse as Naruto could barely think under all that pain.
Freed managed to defeat the two clones, as they were unable to fully take him down, only wear down his stamina until they popped from running out of magic, which was exactly when Laxus was struck with Naruto's strongest Light Spell.
"And you thought you're so special, you're not the only rune user in this guild! True I may not be able to use Ancient Runes, but the modern ones far surpass those outdated relics. Just like you, an old relic from the past. Now let's see how you can handle this" Freed said and was in shock as Naruto put his fist into the ground and started to push himself upwards.
"Dark Γcriture: Fear!" Freed yelled and shot another spell at Naruto's downed form but it was almost brushed off as Naruto was almost standing once more and just laughed at that attempt.
"You think I fear you?" Naruto said as he looked Freed in the eye, Freed's purple eye met Naruto's blood red one, "I've come too far, to ever back down to something like fear. I'll never fear you Freed, because there's something I fear even more than you" Naruto told him, "I fear losing what I have here in Fairy Tail, and I fear them losing what they have in Fairy Tail, and most of all I fear letting them down. You and Laxus can break by bones, electrocute me, or torture me but the last thing you'll ever break is my resolve!"
"Dark Γcriture: Pain! Dark Γcriture: Pain! Dark Γcriture: Pain! Dark Γcriture: Pain! Dark Γcriture: Pain! Dark Γcriture: Pain! Dark Γcriture: Pain!" Freed shot in rapid succession but to his shock each of his spells only reached Naruto and shattered into golden dust and Naruto smirked at that as his red eyes glowed strongly past his purple one.
"H-how are you still standing?" Freed stuttered and Naruto just grinned.
"Funny thing really, how does an old outdated relic beat a modern art? Maybe, and I'm just speculating here, if that old outdated art involved manifesting ancient symbols with my eye that had to be placed in a careful order with hundreds of pages of calculations, otherwise anything you make would just poof into nothingness. Now what would happen if I could see these simple, toddler level symbols and just mess with them by adding one of my own runes into it?" Naruto asked him as his eye glowed bright red, Freed was still looking puzzled and Naruto sighed and elaborated.
"I barely need to use magic to cancel out your basic DarkΓcriture, I just need to see your attack, add one rune and your whole spell collapses, unlike my seals which have hundreds of different failsafes to stop them from being tampered" Naruto summarised and Freed nodded, but before Naruto even knew what happened, he felt a massive blow hit him right across his midsection, and realised that Freed was only distracting him.
Whoever said turnabout was fair play?
"Your resolve, don't make me laugh, that thing is weaker than glass and I won't break it, I'll shatter it completely" Laxus panted as he got up and stood at his full towering height over Naruto, despite the large pierce wound in his chest. The seal on his chest had disappeared, guess that tracking seal was only a one-off type of deal.
"And FYI, remember when you said that you should remain focused on the battle, might want to follow your own advice" Laxus growled and nodded at Freed who pulled out a yellow glowing lacrima from his pocket and threw it at Laxus who grabbed it immediately.
His chest felt like it was almost drilled open, or stabbed open but that wasn't ever going to stop him, he kept a lacrima containing lightning magic in his pocket and ate that to help him recover slightly from the damage and with another lacrima that he had, it would be enough to start getting serious in this fight and kept his last lacrima as a safety just in case. He didn't care if he had to use all his power, even the one from his father, but by god, he was definitely going to win!
"GRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Laxus yelled out as he ate it and Naruto managed to get back up and watched in shock as Laxus devoured the lightning inside it, like it was a delicious treat and continued to chomp on it as he quickly ate all the lightning inside the lacrima and with his Mystic Eyes still on, Naruto noticed that the energy from the lightning was going right into that mystery power inside him that he saw before.
"Well isn't that perfect, that glowing thing inside him was a lacrima implant. He's a Second Generation Lightning Dragon Slayer...just frickin' perfect" Naruto thought with a groan.
"Why, is that bad?" Kurama asked Naruto.
"If there's one thing dad told me, it's that Dragon Slayers don't tend to follow logic" Naruto thought and then remembered his trump card and thought back with a grin, "Then again, my father also said that I don't either. I'll have to use that Trump card after all" .
"I thought you said that you didn't fully get the hang of it, you only managed to find a way to activate it, but past that, you got nothing. This sounds like a terrible idea" Kurama asked him worriedly.
"Well, first time for everything. Let's see what happens when I activate Darkness Trigger, besides I know it's perfectly safe by my calculations, so what could go wrong?" Naruto thought and then changed the subject, "Kurama how much magic can you give me?" Naruto asked his partner.
"I can shove as much Curse power as I can through the bond and let it fill you up in one go, you're not going to be up to your max but I reckon it'll be more than half" Kurama told him.
"Ok, but make sure to save a bit for later, I might need it" Naruto thought, "As long as my magic power is over 50% then I can use Darkness Trigger with enough time to beat him. I'll handle Laxus but I need you to put Freed down for good, now I know you might be scared but-" Naruto started but felt his magic reserves get pumped back up.
"Tch, scared? The mighty Kurama afraid of that green eyesore, the day that happens is the day I'll sing kumbaya with the drunk moronic wrecking ball, you just make sure that you can survive without the mighty Kurama for a while, I'll deal with the lady in green and back you up before you get too hurt" Kurama told him and Naruto grabbed the scruff of his coat and in one swipe, removed it from his body completely and threw it at Freed who was distracted.
Kurama vs Freed
"All right, now to show them what a fox can do!" Kurama yelled out with a grin as he manifested with the size of a cat with nine tails and raced towards Freed who scoffed at what was approaching him and held his blade at the ready.
"A cat? That's the best he can send to face me? Don't underestimate me! I'll show you all my power and get your master to take me seriously!" Freed yelled out as he used his stronger spells, "Dark Γcriture: Darkness!" Freed yelled out as purple writing enshrouded himself, and from the spell he transformed into dark-colored, demonic creature, with horns coming out of his head and his right eye covered with scales.
"A cat? Get your eyes checked, you halloween reject!" Kurama yelled at him and pounced into the air and boasted as loud as he could, "IT'S KURAMA-SAMA, THE NINE TAILED FOX DEMON! Destroyer of worlds, legend among the Etherious and most importantly, wrecker of your shit!" and all his tails melded into one tail that he tried to slam down on Freed who held his arm upwards and managed to block the attack.
"Tch, I don't care what you are or what you claim to be. I shall slay you once and for all because with the power of my forbidden spell neither you or your master stand a chance, Darkness Breath!" Freed yelled out as he let loose a powerful breath attack that turned into a twister that spun ferociously around Kurama who was nearly buffeted back but the demon grit his teeth and shot a tail forwards and snaked it around Freed's torso.
"Let go!" Freed snarled as he tried to sever the tail with his sword but it wouldn't yield and then he yelled out painfully as the tail started to catch on fire.
"Kitsune-Bi" Kurama managed to get out with gritted teeth and the rest of his body started to catch on fire as well and he sprouted more tails to get his usual 9 back.
"Now let's try my own twist, how do you like this spinoff!"Kurama called out as he flipped onto his back and twisted around in a circle with his tails extended, and he made sure to spin in the same direction as the twister, and he began to ignite the winds, adding onto it's power and Freed was losing control of his own attack as it turned into a larger fire tornado with Kurama safely in the centre while he was caught into the winds.
"Heh, it's like you said, don't underestimate me!" Kurama snarled at Freed who managed to get out of that attack with several burns across his body.
"Why you little-! I won't lose to an overgrown freak kitten!" Freed snapped and focused his magic once more, "Darkness Flare Bomb!" Freed yelled out as he gathered a sphere-like bomb made from dark energy and charged at Kurama and went in for a close range attack and Kurama started to shape shift immediately.
"DIE!" Freed yelled out and Kurama turned into a sphere that was hit by the attack and was blown back from the attack and the sphere was sent flying like a rubber ball as it flew and hit the barrier and pressed against it with enormous pressure.
"Shape shift!" Kurama thought as the sphere that he was in the form of, sprouted legs that pushed against the wall as hard as he could and with the force from the push and the force that he was sent flying back with, Kurama shot forwards like a bullet right at Freed's shocked face.
"Shape Shift! And Kitsune-Bi!" Kurama thought again as the legs moulded back into the sphere, which ignited into fire and manifested a fist that struck Freed right in the face. In short, Freed was hit with a rebounding flaming cannonball with a fist. Whoever said shape shifting was worthless?
"THAT IS IT!" Freed snapped as he sprouted wings and got into the air, while Kurama grit his teeth, he might be able to sprout wings but he was unsure if he could fly, "I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS! I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED BY A WORTHLESS FOX WITH A FEW PARTY TRICKS WHO ANSWERS TO AN EQUALLY WORTHLESS MASTER!" Freed started to lose it.
"Guess that spell you used to get the world's worst makeover was forbidden for a reason, huh?" Kurama asked him sarcastically as the darkness spell was starting to mess with Freed's head as he was starting to lose his restraints.
"Dark Γcriture: Pain!" Freed yelled as he shot tens of strings of purple writing down onto the ground that Kurama struggled to duck and move through and Freed continued this aerial bombardment for several minutes, trying to catch the nimble fox but the damned demon wasn't making it easy as he kept shape shifting and slipping through the tiniest of openings between his attacks. But Kurama was unaware that Freed was luring him into the corner of the barrier so that he would have no escape path left.
"Dark Γcriture: PAIN!" Freed called out as he managed to finally nail Kurama, who was cornered and the fox demon screamed out in pain as Kurama arched his spine and writhed painfully on the ground, his tails lashing out randomly and erratically as every inch of his body was bring driven through hell.
"Dark Γcriture: PAIN! Dark Γcriture: PAIN! Dark Γcriture: PAIN!" Freed yelled and shot more spells at Kurama who's screams couldn't get louder as his body was in pure agony, past hell and through the very inferno that it was made of as he couldn't scream any louder, the pain was unbearable but through all that pain he tried his best to hold on.
"Tch, of course you wouldn't put up a decent fight, a worthless master only deserves an equally worthless servant" Freed said harshly and Kurama felt his claws clench tightly at that as his eyes were blazing fiercely at that.
"GRRRRRRR!" Kurama snarled in a feral manner as his fur stood up, and his body was starting to emit large amounts of power as he did his best to stand up again as he used his tails and pushed against the barrier as a prop, to get himself back on all fours.
"Dark Γcriture: SUFFERING!" Freed called out as he added onto Kurama's suffering but the fox's blind anger dulled out any pain he felt as pure rage was flowing right through every inch of his body and his tails were waving around erratically around the place and Freed started to take a step back slightly in fear as he could see that Kurama was blinded by pure anger, at this point he was like a wild, and very pissed animal.
"Dark Γcriture: DEATH!" Freed called out in desperation as black writing instead of his usual purple started to appear but his spell was interrupted as a tail of Kurama's had snaked around his neck and Kurama let out a roar as he sent Freed face-first right at the barrier behind him and Freed let out a grunt of pain as he was forced against it with a lot of pressure and he could barely move as Kurama's other tails snaked and wrapped around him as well.
"Kitsune-Bi!" Kurama yelled out as his tails ignited again and set Freed on fire with flaming tails and Kurama continued his ferocious assault as he bashed Freed against the walls and floor repeatedly, while Freed did his best to escape, while ignoring the searing pain that his body was going through.
"LET GO!" Freed yelled as his wings were at full power and he pushed all his magic into it and his body rocketed into the air, with Kurama still holding onto his body, but the fox wasn't even flinching as he wrapped his tails even tighter around Freed and pushed himself forwards and he was on Freed's back, riding the enemy who was struggling to keep airborne with the tails restraining him.
"LET GO OR WE'RE BOTH GOING TO CRASH!" Freed screamed desperately as they were approaching the wall of the barrier again and Kurama managed to steer Freed who wasn't able to stop himself at top speed right at the barrier and smirked as Freed tried to stop himself but was going too fast to stop himself.
"Happy Landings!" Kurama told him as he jumped off and sprouted wings again, he couldn't fly on his own but at least he could fall, with style! He managed to glide safely down onto the ground while Freed's body landed limply on the ground with a crash.
"Why you-" Freed growled as he started to pick himself up again and Kurama wasn't letting up any second.
"You know something, I'm not Naruto. If someone insults and pisses me off, then I'm going to do something about it instead of ignore it. These days I've got Naruto to sort of do the same to others, but he's way more passive than me" Kurama told him as Freed was thrown into the air above the stadium again with a tail flick and Kurama shot towards the edge of the stadium.
"But there's one thing that majorly pisses me off! And that's if someone insults Naruto, not my master but my partner, in front of me!" Kurama yelled as he started to use his Giant Magic for the first time in this fight, he could only use it once and it would be out for a while, definitely just once per fight but it was one hell of a game changer.
"Shape Shift and Giant Arm Hammer!" Kurama yelled out as he moulded his tails into springs and used them to push himself into the air with a powerful spring jump and shot himself vertically into the air and his arm moulded into a gigantic fist that was right above Freed, around 5 times bigger than Freed.
"SO NEVER INSULT NARUTO IN FRONT OF ME!" Kurama screamed as his fist was going straight down on Freed who couldn't muster the energy to avoid the attack and felt the fist fall down on him and with an explosion, the fist impacted into the ground and dug into it deeply with a crater, where the tiles were all broken and earth was on the surface and Kurama felt his magic wear off.
He hated to give credit to humans...other than Naruto and even then it choked him a little, but he had to give credit to Makarov who could turn into a Giant so easily, just turning a fist into a gigantic one for a few seconds was hard as hell, it would definitely take a while to do anything in titanic size but he grinned as he fell to the ground and landed gracefully feet up. His fist had turned back into it's normal size and he felt a little groggy at using so much power, combined with all the pain that he had been put through but saw Freed in the crater. He was definitely unconscious for certain, great now to help his partner and lord this over his head for the rest of his life.
It was great being him.
And then he saw Naruto acting like an asshole to Laxus, and instead of finishing him off, trying to taunt Laxus into continuing the fight.
...
What the hell?
Naruto vs Laxus (Dragon Slaying Magic)
"Now, I'm going to show you just what I'm really made of!" Laxus growled as Naruto could see that his power was much higher, and no Kurama to try and boost his, well this couldn't possibly get any worse than what it already is right now.
"Lightning Dragon ROAR!" Laxus yelled out as he took in a deep breath where his entire body started sparking madly, before he opened his mouth and let loose a shockingly powerful yellow beam at Naruto who already had his hand to the side and charging up a move to counter that.
"Dark Cyclotron!" Naruto shot back as from his hand a pitch black beam with a spiralling lazer shot forwards to meet the beam from Laxus, and the two competed and struggled for dominance before the yellow overpowered the black and the lightning burst forwards and sent Naruto careening backwards. He pushed himself back onto his feet desperately, this was not looking good.
"Learn your place! Lightning Dragon Heavenward Halberd!" Laxus called out as the lightning converged around his hands and it started to shape itself into the shape of a trident and Naruto frowned as that was not good at all, and then Laxus threw that at Naruto who did his best to roll out of the way but the explosion generated from the attack blew him back and inflicted damage on him.
"Had enough yet! Lightning Dragon Iron Fists!" Laxus yelled out as his fists started glowing powerfully with lightning and Naruto used his own spell to equal that kind of force out as he focused Darkness Magic into his fists with his own spell.
"Dark Atomic Fists!" Naruto called out as his hands were covered in Darkness Magic and he charged forwards to meet Laxus who charged forwards and they met with fists, with black clashing with lightning again, and Laxus quickly tried to overpower Naruto with the clash and Naruto realised that he wasn't going to be able to handle Laxus in power, then he'd switch it up with speed.
"Pummelling Heaven!" Naruto shouted back at him as his free hand was covered in Light Magic and Naruto charged forwards with his fist that was much faster at the cost of less power but at least managed to hit Laxus for a change, right across his jaw with a sound that proved that his fist made contact.
After Naruto managed to see what happened, his eyes widened as he saw that Laxus was completely unharmed from the attack that he sent at him, in fact he barely noticed it and he barely had enough time to blink as Laxus sent another Lightning Dragon Roar at him and Naruto used his smaller form to roll under his feet and got Murasame out again.
"Ryusasu!" Naruto called out as he struck Laxus twice across his midsection and Laxus just powered through it again and pushed Naruto back with pure lightning that his body was generating and Naruto stood back up again quickly as he used his sword as a prop and the metal of the blade made contact with the ground.
"Lightning Dragon Breakdown Fist!" Laxus yelled out and Naruto grit his teeth as Laxus quickly formed a fist of lightning that shot forwards at Naruto, the power behind it was unreal and Naruto only clutched the blade of his sword tightly as he braced himself and felt the lightning wash over him but was surprised as he felt nothing from the attack, he felt his skin tingle, maybe a little burn but other than that, nothing too major and was puzzled but had no time to ponder that as Laxus was charging forwards right at him.
"EAT THIS! Lightning Dragon Jaw!" Laxus yelled out as he locked his hands together in a tight fist and swung them down onto Naruto, smashing them into the ground and creating a destructive circular wave but Naruto held his own defence as he pulled his blade out of the ground and held Laxus at a standstill as his blade was horizontally over his head and matching Laxus's swing and Naruto grit his teeth as he felt his feet start to sink into the ground as it cracked beneath him.
"I can't keep this up!" Naruto thought as he used a push kick right at Laxus's chest and managed to push the titan back, enough for Naruto to jump backwards and put some distance between him and Laxus and assessed the situation.
It was simple.
Laxus with Dragon Slaying Magic = too much for Naruto to handle at this point. He was a sub-tier above Naruto, they were near even but Laxus had an edge with more power and speed and Naruto didn't have Kurama to boost him at this point as he saw Kurama dodge attacks from Freed. Naruto needed to use his own trump card to match Laxus, that was the only choice at this point. But he had no idea what would even happen, he trained beyond his limits to create the spell to boost himself, and didn't get any chance to use it for himself, seeing that he was behind his schedule and throwing himself into learning Shadow Clones.
But first, he had to know. Why the hell was Laxus going this far to win?
"Laxus" Naruto panted as the titan was standing tall, "What the hell is wrong with you? You're the Master's Grandson, why the hell are you treating his own family like this?" Naruto asked him and Laxus just grit his teeth in anger at what he said.
"Why do you want to know?" Laxus snarled and Naruto stood back up and looked him directly in the eye.
"If Master didn't know about your Dragon Slayer Lacrima Implant then you kept this secret from him, for a while judging by your skill in using that magic. So why reveal it, why are you so desperate to win here, you're the master's grandson, and you're already loved by all these sheep and given the pedestal for power, what else do you have to prove?" Naruto asked, purposefully including that Master's Grandson comment to see his reaction and Laxus just held his fist ready.
"Tch, I'm here to prove one thing! That I'm my own man, Laxus! Not that worthless geezer's grandson but me!" Laxus snapped and Naruto finally realised what was Laxus's problem.
"H-he's the same as me" Naruto thought as he saw Laxus's power build up, "He's not fighting for glory, or for anything but himself. And it's not a bad thing, he wants to prove to the world and make a statement, to "acknowledge me as Laxus, not Master Makarov's grandson", and not ride on his grandfather's coattails any longer, like how I want people to acknowledge me as Naruto, not as Zeref's son"
"All his, no our achievements are meaningless if everyone just keeps linking it back to our heritage, it doesn't show the blood, sweat and tears we put in to get this strong and he wants to prove to the world that he's not the grandson of Makarov by acting differently from how people expect him to be, just like how I show that I don't have a dark side like my father, I don't really have one but it's the same thing...how did I not see this before?" Naruto thought as he dodged a lightning bolt from Laxus and started to build up his power, he was playing his own trump card out onto the table.
"Sigh, you know Laxus" Naruto said and looked at him straight in the eye and spoke honestly with a smile, "I just felt like an idiot for not realising this, but we're not too different" Naruto said and held his arms to the side and tensed the muscles there and his hands clenched into fists and Naruto tensed his body to prepare for his spell, this might hurt.
"I can't believe I'm saying this either" Naruto told him honestly, to his baffled face, "But you're not the only person who's trying to make his own legacy past that of his heritage, and that's why I will win this fight!" Naruto said with a grin as he crouched slightly.
"It might be crazy, but if we met under different circumstances as different people in a different time and place, I think we might have been friends" Naruto said with a smile that started to piss off Laxus.
"QUIT BULLSHITTING ME! US FRIENDS! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! I'LL DESTROY YOU! LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAR!" Laxus yelled out and let loose a beam of lightning right at Naruto who just braced himself one last time and played his final move.
"But I've got to show you my full power, and to do that, I'll embrace the power of darkness that my father gave me" Naruto whispered as he began the spell.
A dark circle of black energy started to form around Naruto as the lightning hit Naruto, it was just pushed back as a black aura started to rise and slowly enshrouded Naruto's body in a thin black aura and the lightning was repelled back and Naruto's body was nearly bursting out with power as he said the incantation of his father.
"I am Death, Destroyer of Worlds!" Naruto chanted as the black aura exploded outwards and Laxus held his hands to his face as rubble was blown back and fierce winds were generated as he could barely see Naruto and Naruto's black hair that would be patted down to his head was starting to spike upwards from the energy and Naruto's eyes were the one significant difference, his sclera were now a pitch black while his eyes were a deadly red in his Mystic Form. Naruto's usual black robes laced with gold and green were now just a pure obsidian black, and the aura of darkness was shrouding him completely.
"Darkness Trigger!" Naruto finished as the aura was more controlled around his body, enshrouding him with the darkness that almost reminded him of his father's power and presence but turned back to Laxus who was still standing and ready to continue the fight.
Now to explain Darkness Trigger.
Naruto was always born with an affinity towards Darkness that was beyond normal, it was certainly abnormal as his body was able to use that power the very first time he ever accessed his own magic itself, and he decided to use that to his own benefit. He could feel the affinity inside himself, right inside his Magical Container, allowing him such power and access to Darkness and he just used that on top of the Drive theory of Dragon Slayers.
Drive spells worked by not exactly swallowing their own magic, which Dragon Slayers couldn't do as if they used their power, made an element, ate it then the net gain would be zero and it would be pointless. What a Drive Spell did was cheat that by using something else like Fire Magic for a Fire Dragon Slayer, and then they would eat that and use it into their Fire Dragon Slaying powers which were accessed elsewhere from their normal Magical Containers. This would normally almost do nothing for them, but they would force that power inside themselves, and then let it explode out in a burst and enshroud themselves with it.
Now Naruto created Darkness Magic with his magical core, and channeled it into his source of the affinity to darkness inside himself, then he could create a similar effect to that, as he forced it inside himself, made it increase his power as he let it loose around him and boom! Darkness Trigger!
TL;DR, he used his own latent talent inside himself and forced it outwards at maximum power.
"What do you think Laxus?" Naruto asked with a cocky grin and held his hand forwards as he taunted Laxus, "Another round?" he asked and Laxus just grit his teeth.
"Don't think some little tricks will make me back down! You're going to lose!" Laxus roared, "Lightning Dragon Roar!" he yelled out and another beam of lightning shot forwards at Naruto who saw it coming but felt his power, unbelievable power, just why didn't he use this before.
He stood there and the lightning beam struck him dead on and onlookers (Levy) gasped as the beam exploded in a burst of sparks and energy, but as soon as that faded, it revealed Naruto completely unharmed, almost looking amused.
"For some reason, I actually expected better" Naruto said with a wide smirk, that was oddly uncharacteristic of him, what was going on?
"Lightning Dragon Breakdown Fist!" Laxus yelled out and a fist of yellow lightning was heading right for Naruto who lazily held one hand in front of him with a smirk and started to gather up particles for his standard attack, but for some reason, it almost gathered instantly, like it needed no prompting to get into place and a black orb, with a few rings around it immediately gathered in concordance to his will.
"Dark Matter" Naruto drawled lazily and the black orb shot forwards faster than a bullet, with the force of a rocket and hit the lightning fist in the air and with a resounding clash, the black orb immediately overpowered the fist as it disintegrated into itself and the orb shot forwards and struck Laxus dead on.
"ARGHHHH!" Laxus yelled as the orb struck him with a powerful explosion that sent him rocketing backwards, it was like a train had struck him at full speed as he was sailing past the ground, touching down a few times before colliding face first with the barrier, but didn't stop to recover and avoided the next orb that followed it.
"Lightning Body!" Laxus thought as he cloaked his body in lightning and started to zoom around Naruto in circles, yeah he knew he couldn't get hit by that orb thing again, whatever Naruto did, it wasn't a bluff, it boosted his powers immensely, and Laxus wasn't dumb enough to just stand there and take more with the power of friendship...where did that come from?
"A game of tag, really Laxus. I'm not in the mood" Naruto sighed and called out his next attack, "Piercing Heaven!" he said calmly and there was silence.
A few seconds passed and Laxus was still zooming around and Naruto's face became puzzled as he tried to create the signature attack for his Light Magic but to his surprise it failed, again? Naruto tried a final time, going through the process very slowly but sensing that none of the Light Magic had responded at all and he sighed.
"Well looks like I can't use Light Magic in this state, a shame but then again, not a significant drawback" Naruto said out loud as his body started to glow darker and the magic around him expanded as he held his fists in a cross guard.
"Haaaaaa!" Naruto started to condense his power as all the darkness was starting to pile up and was compressed, just looking for an outlet and Naruto called out his attack, "Dark Cosmic Wave!" he said and the darkness burst out of him in one go, and like Naruto called the attack, it spread out like a wave washing over and encompassing everything around him and Laxus was left with no place to hide as it struck him and he let out a scream as his Lightning Body didn't shield him and Naruto dashed after him.
"Lightning Dragon Heavenward Halberd!" Laxus yelled out as lightning quickly shaped itself into a trident and he threw it at Naruto with all his force, only for Naruto to just lazily thrust his hand forwards at the attack with an arrogant demeanour.
"Dark Cyclotron!" Naruto called out and as soon as he said that, he immediately had to dig his feet deep into the ground, because if he didn't then he'd certainly be knocked back, no his arm would have dislocated from the shoulder joint as a titanically large black beam, 3 times larger than Laxus's attack shot forwards and struck Laxus right at his centre and immediately blasted him backwards, and Naruto just chaned the trajectory of his beam as he angled his hand downwards and Laxus was sent skywards with a large wound across his chest where the beam struck, but he grit his teeth and held on.
"Lightning Dragon Jaw!" he roared out and he locked his hands together in a tight fist and swung them down onto Naruto, who was unblinking and completely in control of the situation as he barely reacted to the oncoming threat.
"Dark Atomic Fist" Naruto called out lazily as he saw Laxus come towards him in proper slow motion and easily dodged the incoming attack as it was approaching him and Laxus was shocked as he completely missed, Naruto just moved aside at the last second and then brought his fist right upwards at Laxus who spat out blood as Naruto's fist powered into his chest and sent him careening over to the side of the barrier again, where he landed ungainly and collided hard with it and felt his bones slightly crack from the force.
"Pathetic, I really was hoping for something better from you Laxus, the great Master's grandson, what a disappointment" Naruto sighed dramatically in a different, not playful teasing but more mocking tone, "But please try to entertain me, I'll stand here and wait" Naruto told Laxus who growled at that.
"Wait, what am I doing?" Naruto thought all of a sudden as he realised what he just said and was doing as he had a clear shot to defeat Laxus but just stood there for about a minute and was letting Laxus recover, wait until his opponent recovered instead of finishing this, he never did that.
"NARUTO!" Kurama yelled as he quickly melded into a coat and wrapped around Naruto.
"Snap out of this you overconfident smartass!" Kurama told him and whacked Naruto's face with a tail and he nearly buckled over but managed to stay standing, "You're letting this power-up get to your head, it's just like what just happened to Freed. Don't lose yourself to this! You're the boss of yourself, not some power-up!" and Naruto shook his head like a dog trying to rid his ears of water.
"Kurama, stay here" Naruto thought to him.
"Stay here, where else am I supposed to go nerd?" Kurama asked.
"I mean, stay here, stay in my head, keep talking, keep being you! I can't control my own mind very well, I need you to keep my head in check, the second I start thinking like this again, just slap me or something" Naruto thought to him and felt Kurama grin.
"Let me get this straight, I was right and I get to slap you while you're being a prick. It must be Christmas already!" Kurama thought with a grin, and Naruto groaned before he felt another tail slap him again and he nearly buckled over.
"What was that for!" Naruto thought angrily to the fox.
"Test drive, seems more safe than yours right now" Kurama replied sarcastically and Naruto groaned, that damned fox would lord over this for weeks.
"I hate you" Naruto thought to him and felt the first piece of bad news hit as he felt his power start to crackle back and forth and realised that he had reached his limit, the cloak around him was starting to fade and in one burst, the aura ofDarkness Trigger just vanished.
"Crap" Naruto thought and that was the least of his problems as he saw Laxus munching on a lightning Lacrima crystal.
"Double Crap" Kurama thought as well as Laxus stood back up again with an angry scowl on his face.
"You're DEAD!" Laxus yelled out and slammed Naruto right in his chest and Naruto was sent barrelling backwards from Laxus's rage driven punch. Naruto and Kurama could agree on one thing at this point, shit just went sideways in the most spectacular of ways possible.
"Oh, Kurama, nothing bad could ever happen. I'll just use an untested power-up spell that I have never tried before that overloads my body with Darkness! What part of this ever made any logical sense to you?" Kurama snapped at Naruto as he picked himself off the ground and felt another strike hit him and knock him back down again.
"You know, at this point. I can't even deny this anymore" Naruto thought as he felt his magical container running very low, "Kurama, how much more magic can you give me?" Naruto asked his partner.
"I don't know, I used a lot to beat Freed, who also snapped and went batshit after some darkness power up! I guess I could rev you up to maybe 25%, but past that and I'd be putting in Curse power into your body, and that might kill you, heck even I don't have much Curse power left, I had to use a lot on Freed, guy really didn't know when to quit" Kurama told Naruto who nodded and felt his magic reserves get back up one last time to a quarter of their power, against a pissed off Dragon Slayer. Fan-freaking-tastic.
"So you expect more huh? Well how about THIS!" Laxus roared out and sent out a wave of lightning at Naruto, who rolled and managed to dodge the attack and stood up straight again.
"Ok, using that spell messed with my head. I'm sorry for saying that-" Naruto tried to tell Laxus the truth but he was too pissed to care at this point as Laxus roared out, "Lightning Dragon Breakdown Fist!" and a gigantic yellow fist shot at Naruto who again dodged the attack.
"So reason is also out of the option, what other options do I have" Naruto thought as he saw Laxus roar loudly, his rage driven mind was easily exploitable at this point, he could easily make him do something, but he needed a way to get Laxus tired enough, down to his level.
"Not getting hit, the little girls advice might come in handy at this point" Kurama told Naruto and it was true, he might be able to take a beating, definitely so from training with Gildarts but at this point he was holding on with willpower, all the constant hits were weighing down on him and he had to stay strong.
"I'll think about it, Kurama, increase my physical stats as far as you can take it, I'm going to match him blow for blow" Naruto told him.
"That is a dumb plan" Kurama immediately told him.
"Yes, but I don't have any others, and plus" Naruto told him and they saw plenty of open wounds on Laxus's torso from the raging fight, "He's definitely weaker, if I can get him to run out of power and nail him with all I've got then it's game over! I've been fighting him so far without your help but with your help I might be able to match his Dragon Slaying magic"
"Ok, once more. Lets do this!" Kurama told Naruto, "CHARGE!"Kurama roared and Naruto shot forwards and held Murasame at the ready as he met Laxus's fist coated in lighting with the blade and was held in a standoff between the two mages as they both gritted their teeth and tried to overpower the other, Naruto's blade was sparking wildly and Laxus's fist was starting to bleed but the two were relentless and Naruto had his fist ready and launched an uppercut right at Laxus's chin who grit his teeth from that but punched Naruto back, who endured it and stood his ground.
"HAAAAAAH!" they both roared as a mixture of bladework, and fists from both of them were exchanged at rapid speeds, they were charging forwards and backwards, clashing over and over again, neither of them yielding to the other as the darted around the stage, or what was left of it from all the beating the place had taken from their attacks and Naruto and Kurama were unyielding with their blows, and so was Laxus.
"DIE!"
"Think again!"
They both yelled as one last collision between fist and blade occurred and they were matching each other evenly again, the lightning was being cancelled out by the darkness with no end in sight, it was again and again and again that they kept clashing with no end in sight for any of the onlookers as they saw two beaten and battered mages continue the fight to the best of their ability.
"You think that pathetic demon makes any difference, I'm still STRONGER THAN YOU!" Laxus roared and Naruto grit his teeth.
"Kurama isn't pathetic!" Naruto shot back as they separated again from the epicentre of their attacks and ran around the stage, a blur of yellow meeting a blur of red around the stadium with several craters starting to form from the intense fight, neither willing to ever back down from this fight.
"LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAR!"
"DARK CYCLOTRON!"
The two beams collided again, again reaching a statemate as they were tearing up their surroundings as the black beam was starting to waver and get pushed back but Naruto grit his teeth and dug his heels into the ground, or rubble at this point and pushed it back more, and Laxus just snarled as he widened his stance and pushed back, again reaching a middle where they couldn't push any harder and after a few more seconds all that energy was released in an explosion that pushed Naruto back but Laxus managed to brace himself through it and charged forwards again.
"LIGHTNING DRAGON BREAKDOWN FIST!" Laxus yelled as he leapt into the air and Naruto was struggling to get a grip on the ground so he dug his sword into the ground, holding the metal of the blade and felt the electricity wash over him again, and to his surprise, the lightning didn't have an effect and Naruto could only now stop and think as Laxus was panting and taking a breath.
"How did this happen? This is the second time the lightning had no effect on me, the first time was before I activated Darkness Trigger but what made these two scenarios similar. I held my blade, dug it into the ground and...held onto the metal" Naruto thought slowly before coming to a realisation and felt like slapping himself.
"Kurama, slap me. I'm such an idiot!" Naruto thought and he was met with a tail whip right to the face.
"You know, it's no fun if you just insult yourself. You're taking the joy out of it for me, and remember I never need a reason to slap a smartass who thinks he's clever" Kurama told him sweetly but Naruto just felt like laughing as he never realised the perfect path to victory was right in his hands as he held his sword.
"Electricity, it's extremely dangerous to fool around with but what could be a way to make things safer, how do buildings not have to worry about lightning strikes, it's simple. They're grounded!"Naruto thought and Kurama was puzzled.
"Buildings have parents who say go to your room? Tough for them, did those teen buildings hang out at the wrong street?"Kurama thought sarcastically and Naruto just shook his head.
"No, not that type of grounded. In dealing with electricity, connections are literally connected to the Earth itself, this is to allow electricity to be dispersed into the Earth itself for a safety. Usually exposed metal parts are connected to the ground if insulation fails, and it helps stop the build up of static, when I put the sword into the ground, I literally dispersed the electricity that Laxus was sending at me into the ground safely" Naruto thought, "The metal in the blade attracts the lightning slightly, despite Laxus telling it where to go in his spells, and when I hold it into the ground, electricity takes the path of least resistance into the ground, it could avoid my hand and go into the Earth or through me into the Earth and the latter has more resistance! So-"
"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, 20 WORDS OR LESS! NEW RULE, ALL NERD TALK HAS TO BE SUMMARISED IN 20 WORDS OR LESS! NOBODY WILL EVER PAY ATTENTION TO A GIANT PARAGRAPH SO GIVE A TL;DR (Author's Note: that means too long, didn't read, reddit phrase) WITH 20 WORDS OR LESS!" Kurama thought as he couldn't take it anymore and felt like ripping his own ears off.
"I just need Laxus to hit me with all his lightning, and I'll send it into the ground safely" Naruto thought to him and Kurama managed to give a mental nod, despite the painful groan.
"Thank you, I don't need all that science mumbo jumbo, just give me that. So how do we send his electricity into the ground?"Kurama asked.
"Bait and hook" Naruto thought back and ended it there.
"Hey Laxus, you know something" Naruto said with a grin, "This show's gone on long enough, how about we end this, all out? Let's see one thing, who's really the strongest out of the two of us?" Naruto told him and Laxus just growled.
"You think you're so great, huh? Well if it's one all out hit you want, then I'll gladly deliver and I'll obliterate you with it!" Laxus grinned, "Don't think for a moment that your crappy dad will come to save your hide, if he were here, even he'd run like a girl from what I'm about to unleash" Laxus snarled and Naruto's face contorted as he wanted to charge forwards and attack but held himself with control, Laxus would get his soon enough.
"Darkness Make: Chain" Naruto thought as he materialised a chain from the hilt of the blade and sent the chain through his coat sleeve, holding it away from Kurama and Naruto, they were going to channel a lot of electricity and it would get hot, and Naruto focused the chain to enter into the Earth, right into the crater Kurama made with his fist where the ground was visible.
"Bring it Laxus!" Naruto said and adjusted his stance and held his blade horizontally above the shoulder of his right arm and widened his stance in preparation for this, "I just have to launch a weak attack on purpose, it's meant to get overpowered so that I can take the electricity that Laxus is using and disperse it away from here" Naruto thought, "Laxus, your temper, rage and lack of foresight will be your downfall" Naruto thought in his head.
"LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAAAARRRR!" Laxus boomed out with a ton of power and as he took a deep breath, he pushed his chest forwards as far as he could to take in as much air as possible and Naruto braced himself for this, then Laxus couldn't take in any more, he aimed dead centre for Naruto and shot the attack as a titanic yellow beam right at Naruto, who's eyes widened at that and Naruto held his blade at the ready to deal with this.
"One life, 36 Earthly Desires. 36 Phoenix Pound Cannon!"Naruto yelled out and purposefully held back on his attack and with one swift motion, he swung his blade in a circular motion that launched the air in front of him as a compressed projectile and it went spiralling towards Laxus's attack.
As predicted, Naruto's attack was dispersed and Laxus just grinned at that and saw his attack strike Naruto who held his sword forwards, pointing at Laxus's attack to receive the lightning and channel it into the ground safely, with minimal damage.
"Ow, ow, ow hot! Hot! HOT!" Naruto thought as the chain was starting to burn up from the sheer voltage that Laxus was putting out but held strong as it was still holding strong and a bright yellow light blinded everyone watching and Levy let out a cry in fear as she saw her best friend get engulfed by the attack but the light died down eventually again once more.
And there stood Naruto, standing unharmed while Laxus was starting to pant heavily.
"You-you tricked me!" Laxus yelled as he picked himself back up again, but his breathing was heavier again.
"You were the one who fell for it" Naruto told him as Laxus saw a chain in his hand, and Naruto's cloak started to flutter again and Laxus saw the chain heading right into the ground, he'd been played, duped and completely tricked into using up most of his power.
"GRRR! You think a little parlour trick is enough to beat me!" Laxus roared as he pushed his body to the maximum limit, he didn't care if he had to go past his limits anymore, he was going to win! He had forgotten any reasons why at this point, there was only one thing on both their minds! TO WIN!
"Even now, he's got this much power" Naruto thought, "No, he's pushing himself this far, he's doing everything he can to win...kind of like me. But he's not going to win, I will win!" Naruto thought with a grin as he dashed forwards and punched Laxus right in his chest and with a burst of strength, pushed him back but Laxus managed to put up a cross guard to block most of it.
"You're pissing me off!" Laxus roared as he tried to send a wild haymaker at Naruto who ducked under it and kicked Laxus back again and Naruto just grinned.
"You're pissed off?" Naruto told him and looked him dead in the eye seriously, "You have no idea how badly you've been pissing me off" Naruto told him and kneed him right in the chest again and locked his hands into a hammer and hit Laxus on the back of his head.
"There are just 5 things Laxus! 5 things that if someone insults, I'll get pissed! Sure I might not pummel them like the rest of the guild, but rest assured if I meet them in battle, I'll give them something extra for it, and you've crossed all 5!" Naruto snapped and kicked Laxus across the side of his body, but Laxus got back up again and charged forwards at Naruto.
"The first person you insulted, Master Makarov, my idol!" Naruto told him and dodged the bullet punches that Laxus tried to send, by ducking and weaving between them and landing an open palm strike on Laxus's unguarded body that made him choke slightly.
"Then Gildarts, my mentor!" Naruto snapped and sent him a nice uppercut to his already damaged jaw and Laxus was lifted off his feet with Naruto, who continued the uppercut into a jump.
"Then Levy, my best friend!" Naruto growled and elbowed him right in the chest again and Laxus was falling into the ground.
"Then Kurama, my partner!" Naruto yelled and landed a falling axe kick on Laxus's exposed body and he roared out in pain before pushing Naruto back and getting a bit of distance between them but that didn't deter Naruto in the slightest.
"And last and definitely not least, my father who's bravery in battle kept me alive all these years!" Naruto snapped at him and charged forwards and he socked Laxus right in the face with a vicious punch that pushed Laxus back but the titan had juts about enough of this.
"ENOUGH!" Laxus roared and started to generate sparks of electricity that almost turned into a torrent and Naruto was pushed back by this as he saw Laxus use up everything he had in one last spurt, one last attack and Naruto grit his teeth. He was going to respond with the same, his chain trick would be obvious at this point and there was no guarantee the chains wouldn't melt under the stress Laxus was putting out.
"I've had it with you! This is the end of the line you little shit! I don't care who's your father but I'll be the one to destroy you completely with my own power, you hear me!" Laxus snapped at Naruto as the remainder of his lightning was gathering upwards.
"I hear you Laxus!" Naruto snapped back at him with a grin, "I don't care if you're the Master's Grandson either, I'll defeat you with the power I've trained to achieve, so let's do this!" Naruto told him with darkness gathering upwards as well and Laxus's sneer turned into a manic grin, but a grin all the same.
"TIME TO END THIS! LAST ROUND!" both Naruto and Laxus yelled at the same time.
"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction! RAGING BOLT!" Laxus chanted out his spell as loud as he could, the lightning that he had left was all converging above his head as he held his fist upwards and a large sphere of lightning was formed above his head and it hovered there, and on the other side.
"Atoms of the Universe, bend to my Will! Dark Matter Fusion!" Naruto yelled out as he used his strongest Darkness Magic spell, it was going to take out all his power at this point, it was extremely draining but he was going to use everything he had, everything! And to that statement, this time instead of particles of black energy, whole orbs of Dark Matter were converging to a point above Naruto's head all of them combining, melding and fusing with each other to form one large black sphere.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" both of them yelled out as their spells were ready and both Naruto and Laxus pointed their spells at each other, "GOOO!" both of them yelled and the sphere of black collided with the sphere of yellow at the same time and generated a loud shockwave as they were both using their last attacks in this one final spurt as time almost stopped against their attacks.
The black collided with yellow once more, and this time they were met dead even as the lightning started to spark around the entire area while the darkness matched all that as it spiralled out wisps of black around the place and each force wasn't giving an inch to each other.
"I" Naruto thought as he saw Laxus determined face straining to push his attack forwards.
"I want-" Naruto thought as he saw his attack keep striving forwards and felt Kurama give everything he had, every last drop of energy he could muster into this attack. He saw Gildarts and Makarov, both staring at him with looks of awe and grins, he saw Levy's slightly tear stained face as she saw Naruto take several lightning attacks and keep fighting forwards, and could feel his own father's presence inside his attack.
"I WANT TO WIN!" Naruto roared out and to his will, the large sphere of black mass started to push back the yellow, and inch by inch started to gain ground past Laxus who was grunting in exertion and Naruto's eyes turned fierce as they unconsciously went Mystic as well and Naruto started to push even harder with the black mass as Laxus's lightning ball was starting to destabilise.
"I AM NARUTO! A MAGE OF FAIRY TAIL! AND I WILL WIN!" Naruto gave one final yell as the black mass finally gained momentum and started to break down the lightning ball and Laxus let out a yell as the black mass overpowered his attack and converged onto his battered, tired and beaten body and in one final explosion, the black mass struck and exploded violently across the stage, generating a slight shockwave that covered the entire place in a dust cloud, dirt and rubble.
"Haa...haaa" a panting noise was heard as all the smoke and rubble finally cleared and all the onlookers could see one figure standing. The person standing wore a tattered red coat, torn up black clothes lined with gold and green, the unique shade of red glowing through the darkness in his eyes, hair as black as the night but skin as bright as day, clutching a unyielding black blade. His body was littered with hundreds of injuries, most of which were finally catching up to him as he felt the pain and exhaustion hit him like a sledgehammer.
The other figure was a shirtless blond man who's eyes were white and pupil-less as he had fainted, his body had been torn up and had quite a lot of damage on his torso, his body was smoking slightly from the attack and he was lying down in a crater from the large attack, but unmistakably knocked out.
"T-T-T-THE MATCH IS OVER!" a loud voice boomed as the entire scene came into view and the shock wore off and Jason's voice was the first one to catch himself, "THE W-WINNER OF THE S-CLASS TOURNAMENT IS THE BIGGEST DARK HORSE OF THIS TOURNAMENT! THE WINNER IS NARUTO! AND MASTER MAKAROV HAS JUST SENT A MESSAGE TO ME, NARUTO HAS QUALIFIED BY THE TWO JUDGES'S EXPECTATIONS, HE IS THE YOUNGEST S-CLASS MAGE IN THE HISTORY OF FAIRY TAIL, NO ANY GUILD EVER! SOOOOO COOOOOOOLLLLLLL!" Jason yelled as loud as vocal chords could take and the entire audience was in complete silence.
"Haaah...haaah...haa" Naruto panted heavily as he felt his body wobble and shake from all the exhaustion that was washing over himself, like a tsunami just engulfing him in one go and he felt his knees wobble and shake from exhaustion, he couldn't give any more effort and felt himself fall over.
"I got you kid" a reassuring voice told him gently and Naruto felt something warm catch him and felt Gildart's fur coat, and opened his eyes tiredly to see that Gildarts had caught him with his back and lifted him up to give him a piggyback. He'd snap at how embarrassing this was, but at this point, he barely had the energy to care about that.
"That was one hell of a show you put on, congrats S-class wizard Naruto" Gildarts said with a grin and Naruto just chuckled at that and felt his shoulders shake in overwhelming excitement. He wanted to pinch himself to see if this was a dream, but his arms felt like lead at this point and he could barely move anything anymore.
But that didn't change one thing, he won!
"Heh, all this for a damn letter" Naruto said with a grin, "Really, this guild is crazy" Naruto smiled with a grin before feeling his consciousness fade once more and he put his full weight down on Gildart's soft coat and loosened himself up completely so that Gildarts's safe arms could hold him carefully and felt completely at home.
Once more like all the turning points in his life, his world faded to black as he passed out.
Chapter 9: The Life Changing Mission
July 10th X778
"YESSSSS!" Natsu cheered out loud as Naruto was walking with him to the train station, why was he happy?...To rephrase that, why was he happier than usual? He was going on a S-class mission! With his big brother! All that waiting and patience had finally paid off as Naruto had caved in, and decided to let him finally get his wish.
Like Naruto, Natsu never really had a birthday, so Natsu decided to make his birthday July 10th, since it was that day, after wandering around for 3 days, then he joined Fairy Tail and met his big brother Naruto and Naruto caved in with that piece of ammunition in Natsu's arsenal, that with begging, puppy dog eyes and constantly bugging Naruto endlessly until he just snapped and would take Natsu on the damn mission if it meant that he could be left to research in peace. Typical little brother antics.
"Don't get too carried away, we're not taking anything too hard" Naruto called out, but that didn't deflate Natsu's balloon of happiness and his grin was infectious, causing Naruto to smile a little as well, he'd be lying he wasn't excited when he had his first S-class with Gildarts, they were pretty amazing looking back on them. Though the risk would be great, so Naruto resolved to stay on his guard in the mission at all times, but this time it kind of was a bit easy.
"Oh loosen up would you" Kurama thought to Naruto, "It's practically a vacation, heck you even spent yesterday scouting out the quests to find the absolute easiest one, so easy that it's kind of sad" Kurama thought to Naruto.
"It's not good to underestimate these missions, Kurama" Naruto thought back.
"1 demon, Naruto and it may be marked urgent but it's practically done nothing to this town!" Kurama thought annoyedly, "This is overkill, one good hit with Light Magic and this little demon's down. This whole thing is just dumb humans making a mountain out of a molehill" and Naruto had to give him that point there, light magic was pretty effective against demons so it didn't seem to be too challenging and the demon in question had yet to cause any notable damage, it just said get rid of it, and no recent news articles alluded to any massive damages other than one note about a demon attack at a church several years ago.
Naruto always made it a point to research as much as he could and he found that the town had a bit of an odd and spotty history with demon attacks. There were quite a few on their city over the last 50 years, but nothing that looked too major, however each of them were always stopped by the intervention of the Mayor and mages he hired, giving him quite a glowing reputation among the townsfolk and solidifying his popularity, but there was no evidence linking the mayor to anything, but other than that, this seemed routine and trivial at best.
"Well I suppose we could afford to be a bit more casual" Naruto had to admit.
"HEY! NARUTO!" Natsu yelled out and Naruto almost clutched his deafened ears as he snapped back to reality.
"Yes," Naruto asked him with a sigh, Natsu really hadn't grown up much, and Naruto doubted he ever would, but that didn't really matter to him. Natsu would always be his little brother that he'd cherish, while Natsu was looking a bit annoyed at the moment, did he miss something?
"Were you listening to what I just said?" he asked with a slight pout and Naruto just laughed a little nervously.
"Ehahaha, heh, nope, sorry" Naruto admitted and Natsu looked a little annoyed but repeated himself.
"Humph, I was just saying that I wanted to actually do something in this mission" Natsu told him, "No sidelining me! Come on, please!" he asked and Naruto just sighed and relented, Natsu could handle himself and he'd be there as well if things got bad, he could handle this.
"Fine" Naruto told him and Natsu let out a cheer but Naruto quickly cut in, "However, I'll still be there behind you, so don't get too carried away" Naruto told him but
Natsu was just grinning widely, this would be awesome. He was so going to rub this into Gray's face.
"So what's the quest!" Natsu asked eagerly and Naruto just held the request in his hand and held it for Natsu.
"...One demon?" Natsu deadpanned and Naruto rolled it back up while Natsu felt his excitement and enthusiasm fade, "Naruto...why?" he asked.
"Don't get too downhearted, numbers are no accurate representation of a demons threat level. It could be a really strong one" Naruto told him while Natsu just looked downcast still.
"What if it's not?" he groaned but Naruto just patted his head with a smile.
"Well, we'll just have to live with it" Naruto told him with a smile, "And speaking of things to live with, here's the train station" he told Natsu who already looked queasy at the sight of the accursed train, god this truly was not off to the best start.
Train to Vitae Town
"UGGGGGHHHHH" Natsu groaned as he hurled out breakfast out into a paper bag...again, while Naruto just tried to sympathise with him, but really he was trying to work on a solution for this. Naruto figured out that the motion sickness only came from his enhanced visual senses not being able to be able to balance himself out compared to his semicircular canals in his ears, and the confusion causes nausea.
The only ways he could think of to fix it was healing magic, but that was incredibly rare, and he only knew some First Aid, but nothing to that level or the other option was to deprive Natsu of his senses, in other words, just sleep but Natsu had a hard time doing that. He'd have to look into a sleeping spell, add that to the to-do list for Natsu.
Meanwhile, he turned to more pressing matters that he was working on, and might have achieved a huge breakthrough in his research as he requipped his notes on a subject that he created himself and looked at it eagerly, this would definitely be amazing.
Ethernano-Make Magic
He thought heavily as he had finally calculated his first spell, Ethernano-Make: Rasengan! He had calculated it, from the basis of Dark Matter, a sphere attack and this would definitely be a killer move, made out of pure ethernano. Sadly that's where the good news ended, because he was stuck in the mud.
"Why doesn't this spell work!" Naruto thought frustratedly as he reached the last page in his notes, this made no sense. It was ridiculous to think that he could be wrong, he had triple checked everything about this spell, hell he'd worked on it for months but the damn thing was lacking something. It was nowhere near as powerful as what he was aiming for, honestly it was just like Dark Matter without any range, and that was useless.
Naruto had to calm himself, he was so used to being right that it honestly stumped him when he was wrong but it was of no consequence, he'd figure out the solution, come on, who was he? He crafted a whole style of magic, and wasn't even an adult yet, he doubted anyone else other than his father could ever do this.
"Y-you still h-hung up about that?" Natsu asked weakly and Naruto sighed.
"Yeah, I still don't know how I'm wrong" Naruto admitted with a sigh, what was he missing to complete this spell? And why could he do this!
Natsu let out another wave of puke and Naruto sighed as Natsu's motion sickness was kind of painful to watch, he really was miserable to the extreme when he was vomiting up chunks and Naruto did wish he could do something, but back to the matters at hand.
"Ok, Natsu. It says that the request is to "Get rid of the Demon", now since they've not been specific on any details, we're going to have to figure out the most of this on ourselves" Naruto told him, and his partner weakly nodded, "Our first step is to meet with the person who requested the quest, which is the mayor of the town, but apparently he's gone for the day and will only be back tomorrow, so we're going to arrive early and gather information, got it?"
"I-information" Natsu managed to choke out before he held in another wave of puke.
"Yes, you should remember this. Always seek out information in S-class mission, lack of information is one of the biggest dangers, so we need to be careful" Naruto advised him, who nodded albeit a little weakly since he had worse matters to cope with.
"S-so where do we s-stay?" Natsu managed to get out and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.
"I've never been to this town, it's pretty north in remote areas so I don't know much about it. We'll see if there are any hotels or any people who might let us stay for a night or more depending on the demon, or if it comes to camping then I can make tents from Darkness Make Magic" Naruto told him, and Natsu looked excited for the prospect of camping, back in the wild where he felt more at home.
"C-camp!" Natsu casted his vote.
"Town!" Kurama immediately counter-voted. He spent a lot of time in grooming his fur, and wasn't looking for thorns, leaves and mud to get into that! Humans just didn't get how much of a pain it was to look as awesome as he was.
"Let's see what happens when we get there" Naruto told the both of them and they both just fell down again. Little did Naruto know, that this one mission was one he could look back on as one of the most significant moment in his life, where his life would, for better or worse, never be the same again.
At the same time, in Vitae Town
"Mira-nee, are you ok?" a boy asked his elder sister with a concerned look towards a figure draped in robes in the corner of the house.
The house, or more like shack was almost bare and empty, with no pictures, flowers, or furniture to make it more homely. It had a few chairs, and a table at the centre for the dining room and living room at the same time, while there was a bathroom to the side, and two bedrooms where the robed figure usually stayed in the house while the other two siblings had shared the other bed, lucky that they were small enough to all fit in it for now. But there was no denying the fact that the house felt more like a prison, a desolate, empty, black and white prison.
"Mira-nee?" another girl asked the robed figure who was unresponsive as the figure stared down at her right arm with tears.
The arm was a horrid purple, with violet pustule like protrusions littered around it, and shaped like a claw rather than a human hand, in short it was the hand of a demon. It gave off a sinister aura that sent a shiver up her spine as she closed her eyes and clenched her fist.
"I-I'm fine" she managed to respond to the speakers.
The girl with the demonic arm was Mirajane Strauss, and beside her, supporting her were her siblings Elfman Strauss and Lisanna Strauss who were looking concernedly at their older sister who had her cloak covering her face, so they couldn't see her tears as she remembered her worst memory.
Flashback, a few years ago...
"Mira-nee! We need to run!" Elfman yelled.
The night was stormy and extremely windy on a Sunday evening, the storm had caught them all in session by surprise and Mira and her siblings decided to wait out the storm along with the rest of the town who were in attendance. Despite losing their parents a few months ago, Mira had to struggle a lot but managed to pull through by doing odd jobs around the small town and each of the townsfolk aided her greatly, and she remembered looking at the small toddler Lisanna happily, it may have been a hard struggle but she managed to provide for all three of them, and wanted to thank God for giving her the strength to do so. In fact, she wanted to thank the entire town as well but sadly the Mayor wasn't present today, but that didn't matter because she was grateful beyond words.
But all that changed when terror struck when they least expected when a loud crash hit the top of the church steeple and the entire building shook heavily from the impact. The building was one that distictly stuck out in the town as the tallest steeple overlooked the town, it was made of brick and materials from decades ago to show the history of the town but cracks started to appear all around the intricate structures and the glass window at the front had shattered completely.
At first there was panic, mass panic as everyone headed for the doors as fast as they could and Mira had to grab Lisanna who began to cry and protect her from the stampeding mob of people who were stampeding around the place while Elfman tried his best to shield them as well. Sadly within seconds the people's hopes were dashed as pillars started to crumble and one of them shattered completely, the rubble sealing off the doorway, leaving them all trapped in the main hall of the church.
"What do we have here?" a dark voice rang out from the shattered church window and a head peered down from the top and they all were shuddering in fear as they saw the monster's visage.
It was a deep blood red, with two demonic horns on each side, a crack on the right side of it's face, and a small beard growing on it's chin. It's face might have been human like but the tips of it's devil horns were on fire, it's hair was flowing wildly upwards uncontrolled without the wind, it's two giant batlike wings spread out, it's wide red cape billowing in the wind and it's sharp reptilian tail whipped side to side, knocking nearby trees and buildings apart.
"D-d-demon!" the priest stuttered in fear as he stumbled off the altar and fell over on his backside and the demon just grinned as it entered the church on the altar, it truly was demonic as it stared at all of them with an evil glare at them.
"Hehehe, it's Satan! Remember that name as I claim your lives!" the demon cackled as darkness started to spread out from it like a vile aura and the pressure pushed the pillars back again, and the benches were almost blown away. The townsfolk were doing their best to hide, underneath anything at this point, ducking for cover, and praying.
"O lord, protect us from this evil..." the priest started to chant while the demon just smirked.
"Hehaha! Look at you all!" it cackled, "What a pathetic race! Is cowering in fear all you are capable of, sticking your heads in the ground while a storm rages on, just leaving yourselves open like chickens and hoping for some saviour to do everything for you! Very well, prostrate yourselves before me, your flesh will make a great meal!" it yelled and the people started to whimper in terror.
"M-mira-nee" Elfman whispered into her ear, the trio were hiding under the bench, unmoving from their position as Elfman discreetly pointed to a window which had shattered from the storm, the rest of the townsfolk were still cowering while the demon seemed to be too carried away in it's own presence to notice them.
Mira realised what he was pointing out, this was a moment to decide. They could run, if they made the split second decision to run then they'd escape, but...leaving everyone to die.
"C-can we do anything?" Mira thought, she felt another shudder run up her spine as she looked at the demon's soulless purple eyes that radiated evil, whatever the beast was, it was beyond her power, even if she had any. It was so dark and evil, it's aura engulfing them entirely and causing them all to shudder.
"W-we have to run!" she thought, but her body wouldn't move, it was stuck. Her body wasn't listening to her commands as she did her best to urge herself to move, just move, but she couldn't. Her eyes darted to all the fearful faces of the townsfolk, to her scared younger brother, to the terrified toddler in her arms, and to the demon staring at her, and ended at her reflection from a shard of glass in front of her, she looked at herself, and one thing was etched into it.
She wasn't alone.
"Sniff, sniff" the demon inhaled as a scent caught it's nose and the three siblings felt their hearts race and their breath almost hitch as the gaze of the demon turned to them and Mira's body was completely still, while Elfman was starting to shake.
"What do we have here?" the demon said darkly as it turned to the three of them, "Young flesh!" it said with a prominent grin, "How I adore the flavour! Delicious" it said with a lick of it's lips with it's forked tongue and Mira's arms tigthened around Lisanna as best they could but an outstretched hand forwards and a dark burst of wind blew Elfman back but Mira managed to tough it out, however it did cause Mira to let go of her sister for a few seconds, and a few seconds was all the demon needed as it shot forwards and grabbed the toddler with it's claws.
"W-wAAAAAHHHH!" Lisanna wailed and the demon just grunted at that.
"Ugh, the noise that you humans make is infuriating! But at least this flesh bag might be remotely appetising" the demon growled as it drew it's hand towards it's wide opened mouth, lined with razor sharp teeth.
"M-mira-nee" Elfman yelled and Mira peered at the reflection again, but something struck her.
This time she was alone.
She didn't know how, and she didn't know why but somehow she stood up, she stood up to the dark menacing aura of the devil and it's eye lazily turned to Mira in slight surprise, as her expression was fierce as she stared at the demon.
"What is it?" the demon growled.
"L-let her go!" Mira managed to stay. How was she doing this? She had no idea, but she kept her composure and stopped the shaking of her hand forcefully as she stared at the look of fear on Lisanna's face. Lisanna was her parents pride and joy, they doted and cared for her so much, and they loved her, she loved her, and every fibre of her being stood up forcefully at what was going on.
"Or what exactly?' the demon said amusedly.
Mira had no idea what she was doing, she had no idea what she could do, she was only an ordinary girl, a girl who worked the dishes at a restaurant, a girl who helped clean up houses, and a girl who did chores for others to earn money for her family, a normal girl. But she didn't care, normalcy be damned if she would let Lisanna die.
Her parents hopes, Elfman's hopes, and all of her effort was for the care of Mira's siblings, chief of them was Lisanna who was still a child and she managed to raise her with as much effort as possible, and everything that demon was trying to do, was dashing on all she had done, and tearing her away from her life, was something she couldn't forgive.
"I won't forgive you!" she hissed out, and Elfman noticed a blue aura surrounding her body and the demon almost lost it at that.
"HEHAHAHA! You won't forgive me! You'll be dead in a few seconds, so what does it matter! Girl, you're nothing more than an insignificant ant before me, and so is this worthless girl here, the only difference is that I grabbed one before the other, so run off while you still can, since I'm not too hungry" the demon laughed and Mira's anger started to spike at that.
To quote a certain book from Naruto's time, "Magic can awaken in times of rage..."
"I-I won't run!" she hissed at the demon who noticed it as well, while the rest of the townsfolk were still hiding themselves, or knocked unconscious, or fainted in fear.
"Why not, I'm giving you a chance to save your skin, human! What does bravery do anyway, you'll both just get killed" the demon asked condescendingly but Mira's aura started to thicken even more.
"That's my sister, L-Lisanna! She's my world!" Mira yelled at the demon, "Let her go!" she yelled at the demon who just cackled at that, and with it's other hand it grabbed Mira in one swipe and Mira let out a yell as it was brought right in front of the demon, and she was looking right into it's eyes.
"Very well then, both at the same time!" the demon yelled and held both hands upwards, about to drop the two of them into it's mouth but when the demon let go of Lisanna and was about to drop her into his mouth, Mira's power had peaked as something snapped.
Her body was crackling with pure energy and she immediately dug her arms deep into the demon, intent on causing it as much harm as possible and the demon let out a roar at that and jerked his head back, letting Elfman safely run up to the altar and catch Lisanna before she hit the ground but the demon just roared in pain, utter unbelievable pain.
"BWWRRAAAAHHHHHGGGGGHHHHH!" the demon yelled out incoherently as whatever Mira was doing to the beast was clearly working as she had driven her hands into the monster, draining it of all it's energy and essence and the onlookers were still hiding under the chairs but Elfman and Lisanna looked at their sister in awe as whatever she was doing, was clearly destroying the demon and hurting it to no end.
"LET GO!" the demon roared as it tried to throw Mira off but she dug herself deeper into the demon, she had no idea what she was doing or what was happening, but one thing was going in her head, to keep causing as much pain to this monster as possible, and to defeat this thing before it could hurt her family.
"GRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" the demon screamed as it slowly started to shrink, it's knees buckling and it hit the ground as the demon was starting to get absorbed into Mira who clutched onto it with all her strength, who felt something flood her body, she had no way of describing how it felt, other than just one hell of a rush as she felt all the energy just get sucked up into her and the demon let out a piercing roar.
"GRAAGH! Fine, brat" the demon choked out with an evil grin, as it was almost the size of Mira, who had landed on the ground safely and was absorbing the last remainder of the demon's power, "If you want my power, then it's yours. HAVE FUN BEING A DEMON!" it yelled out before it vanished into nothingness.
For an instant there was silence before Mira felt her body get lighter, as if she was on the verge of falling over and Elfman managed to get behind her and support her, but the remainder of the townsfolk heard the demon's last words and noticed something very, very different about Mira, that she noticed herself at the same time as well.
Her right arm was horribly disfigured and the townsfolk almost reviled at the unholy and disgusting shape that her arm had taken, it truly looked hideous, and cursed, and for a moment there was pure silence as everyone, including Mira was trying to catch up with what just happened.
Then like in Naruto's case, all it takes is one small push to ruin a person's life when a fearful townsman yelled out, "DEMON!" instead of thanking her for removing the demon, and they all started to yell out hysterically and jumped outside the open windows which were shattered by the demon, screaming out in terror leaving the three siblings in the wake of the incident.
Mira's head was whirling at this point, she had no idea what to do, what happened to her arm, or what was going on at all, and the rush of...whatever she did was taking it's toll as her eyes rolled back and her world turned black as she fainted.
After that incident, Mira could say that her life had completely flipped upside down. It was the difference between knowing heaven and hell, having everyone acknowledge you, only for them to all just treat you like dirt as the entire town started to believe that the demon was possessing Mira, and that she was a demon for their city. Paranoia and fear of the unknown can make humans the absolute worst species to ever exist, worse than the cruelest monsters or Zeref on a bad day.
Mira could no longer find work, any time she went out, she was chased out and back to the confines of her home again with a mob chasing her away as well while Mira was in silent tears at how they treated her, it was horrible and worst of all, it wasn't fair. Mira had no idea what happened, she remembered the demon and how she somehow overcame the demon, but it's parting words sparked fear into the town who did their best to drive out Mira, but they feared her, just like a demon.
And it was because of that, she feared going outside, going outside to the world and exposing herself to the hate of the rest of the town, being treated like scum and thrown out of any establishment that she tried to enter, or pollute in their opinions and after a few weeks of being chased out of the town and right back into the dark corner of her room had driven her to seclude herself inside their house and avoid the outside world to the best of her ability.
Elfman had to step up and do his best to compensate for Mira, but they were associated by blood to the "demon" so life was hard for the trio as they all gathered in their bare house, devoid of any of the original colour or life that existed before all of this happened. He had to odd jobs from anywhere or for anyone, since Mira barely left the house anymore to help provide for the family and now it was just the three of them as they were out of food, again.
"Mira-nee? What should we do about the food?" Elfman asked his elder sister who looked scared and worried.
She didn't know, she had no idea but looking at both Elfman and Lisanna, they were both looking up to her, expecting her to know what to do, being the eldest of the trio of siblings, but that was what scared her, it was the fact that she didn't know what to do, and had no idea of how to pick up the pieces of their lives. She was scared and turned to a mirror at the kitchen top.
She was all alone again.
"I-I don't know" Mira admitted and Lisanna tried her best to hide her hunger and Mira felt horrible at watching that, and inside her, churned a new batch of courage as she made sure that the cloak covered her properly, in hopes that they wouldn't recognise her and pulled out a few savings from the table that their parents left. She didn't want to use it, and it wasn't much, but she couldn't let Lisanna go hungry and with that, she approached the door slowly and turned to Lisanna.
She saw her sister, wasting away slightly as her skin was pale and she was clearly getting skinnier for her clothes, how long had it been since they ate something properly? Well no more, she could survive this and Elfman could tough it out but she couldn't let Lisanna starve.
"M-mira-nee, I can go if-" Elfman told her but Mira just shook her head.
"Elfman, look after Lisanna until I get back" she told him softly and Elfman hesitated a little, before eventually nodding. Elfman would easily be recognised and these days he was denied food in hopes that the town could kill the "demon" by starvation.
"I-I can do this!" Mira thought. She couldn't let Elfman do everything, it was down to her, and she was the one who resolved to care for the both of them, and no matter how long she kept this up, she couldn't keep running away from it all and faced the door with that inside her heart and steeled her nerves as she opened it to the sunshine.
Had she not opened the door, maybe fate might have swerved another way but if you asked Mira about a moment where she was proud of herself, it would be opening that door to a new world.
Back to the train station of Vitae Town...
"Here we are, little brother" Naruto told the sick Natsu, who was barely functioning at this point, causing Naruto to groan and carry Natsu by the scruff of his scarf and walk off the train and when Naruto finally got onto the platform, he dropped Natsu back on terra firma, causing the Dragon Slayer to snap back almost instantly.
"Ah ground! How I've missed you!" Natsu yelled out happily and almost kissed the Earth in happiness and Naruto picked him back up before he could embarrass himself, and paid the ticket instructor, despite the glare that was sent his way, but at this point he really couldn't care less and Natsu was slowly coming back to 100%.
"So, what do we do now?" Natsu groaned before he sniffed the air deeply.
"Can you sniff out the demon?" Naruto asked and Natsu nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, I can smell two things that smell like demon! I'll go this way!" Natsu picked one out of random and before Naruto could say anything, the damn brat just dashed off on his own without so much as a word to Naruto, causing him to slightly get a tick mark at that and groaned once more.
He was not going to take him on another one of these, that was for sure.
"Calm down, pinky's heading the wrong way" Kurama thought, "Sure there are two spots with demonic energy, but one of them is just residue, probably where it stays, but the other source is definitely where the demon is, let's deal with this quickly and wrap this up quickly".
"He needs to learn more patience, running off like this all the time into the heat of things isn't going to help at all" Naruto thought back and clutched his head in exasperation while Kurama mentally nodded but what could they do, just wrap this up quickly and head home.
"Excuse me, but are you here for the demon?" one townsman asked, trying to mask his slight sneer of disgust, slight being a damn compliment to the mentality of these peons in Naruto's opinion as he turned to the townsman and nodded.
"Indeed, I'm here on a mission to get rid of it" Naruto told him and the townsman just waved it off with a scoff.
"The real saviours of the town are on their way, and will be here tomorrow to deal with it. So why don't you just hop on back to the train and leave?" the man said scathingly before walking away to his own business and Naruto scoffed.
"No way! You don't drag me for 5 hours on a god damn train with NATSU and tell me to leave the second I get here!" Naruto thought annoyedly and Kurama had to agree with that as well. Who did they think he was, he didn't just drag himself all this way for nothing, besides could these saviours really be that impressive?
"Where is the source?" Naruto asked and Kurama led the way.
Main streets of Vitae Town...
Mira held her cloak as tightly as she could and gave herself a slight hunch so that people wouldn't recognise her, in hopes that she could purchase some food safely for Lisanna and get back home safely without any incidents occurring. Mobs might not actually try to kill her, but they would chase her back to her home where they all were scared of entering because it was devoid of all life and left barren, like a haunted shack that few people wanted to approach, so all Mira needed to do was buy some food for Lisanna and leave.
She walked from stall to stall, picking out different products, trying to find the right ones for Lisanna, if there was one thing she was great at, she was one hell of a cook, a fact admitted so many times by anyone who ate her food, and found all the vegetables and fruits she needed at a stall, sampling them with her left hand while making sure to keep herself hidden from the rest of the people around her, it wasn't easy but she was doing her best to manage.
She had already found enough kitchen supplies like salt and pepper, and meat that could last long like Chicken so that they could conserve it but today she'd definitely cook up a feast for her siblings, they deserved as much from the last few days of starvation.
"All right there, we have some nice fresh fruits and vegetables laid out today, want me to help pick you some?" the shopkeeper asked nicely while Mira internally scoffed, she knew it was all a facade, a mask of kindness that everyone wore outside in public to mask their true intentions about the people around them, but for Lisanna she'd do this.
Mira just nodded, not choosing to reply or they might recognise her voice and shuffled inside her robes a little to try and find her wallet to pay for the fruits and vegetables that the person was picking, while the shopkeeper was staring to get a bit more suspicious of the figure who only used a left hand for everything, and didn't show the right arm at all, just like someone else with a right arm problem. Sadly despite whatever Naruto thought of everyone around him, they weren't idiots.
"What do we have here" the shopkeeper said in a slightly harsher tone as he stretched out his arm and before Mira could react, the shopkeeper had reached her demonic arm and pulled it out of her robes in plain view and then the shopkeepers face morphed into disgust at what he was holding and pushed Mira back immediately while acting like he just dipped his hand in acid.
"DEMON! It's you!" the shopkeeper yelled out as the rest of the people around her turned around with dark expressions as Mira's cloak was pushed back, leaving her face in plain view and was instantly recognised by the people around them.
"GET OUT! OUT! OUT! DON'T YOU DARE POISON MY HOME! OUT!" he yelled out and picked up the dish holding all the fruits and vegetables and chucked them at Mira who tripped backwards as the shopkeeper threw as much as he could at her, when fate finally intervened and brought two destined people together.
Naruto and Mira.
A swift figure of red and black just zoomed in front of her and with one swift motion, grabbed the bowl and managed to catch all the vegetables and fruits inside it as well with one hand, grabbed the girl who was about to fall over and hit the ground from the back, while just standing in between the two of them, with a completely blank face to mask how he was feeling right now. Naruto, the master of entrances.
"Seriously, what is with this place? Everyone here is more of a jerk than ever" Naruto thought, "I know this is a pretty isolated and secluded settlement but come on, these guys are pretty much blind, moronic jerks" and Naruto saw the shopkeeper almost blow a blood vessel in his brain and have a stroke.
"Y-you, demon spawn!" the shopkeeper yelled accusingly while Naruto just scoffed, like he hadn't heard that before. His face was pretty well known, from featuring on newspapers from time to time as either Public enemy No. 1 or when Siegrain had something nice to advertise about him and did his best to claim credit, what joy.
"Yeah, yeah, now unless you want to get me even more annoyed" Naruto told him plainly and his eyes flashed red for an instant, "Then I suggest you back away" he growled, and after a few seconds the man was cowed into complying with Naruto's orders.
"That goes for the rest of you, keep walking" Naruto told the people around them who forced themselves to look away with disappointed growls as they slowly walked away and the street slowly managed to return back to it's normal state.
"Are you ok?" Naruto turned to the cloaked figure and pushed her up slightly but she was still slightly staggering so he offered a hand, and without thinking Mira extended her arm forwards and looked up at whoever this newcomer was. He had shining forest green eyes, but with jet black hair, a strange red coat with a mixture of robes underneath in black, gold and green leaving Mira to wonder, who was this stranger? And that was why, without thinking she offered her demonic right hand upwards and instantly paled as she realised what she did.
Naruto didn't even blink as he grabbed her arm and pulled her upwards, much to Mira's shock at that, and still clutched her demonic arm without any visible reaction of disgust or fear as Naruto had his usual blank face on.
"Cool arm" Naruto commented on her right arm, much to her greater shock, maybe it was because of that she didn't notice Naruto pass some money to the disgruntled shopkeeper to get him to buzz off without any more complaints and indeed to that, the shopkeeper just grabbed the money and sauntered back to his stall again.
"Hey, are you ok?" Naruto blinked, the girl was frozen. Aw man, this was why he was bad at dealing with women. The only women in his life were: Cana who hated him, Erza who hated him, Ultear who liked him in a very creepy way and Levy who was his friend, 1/4 was not a good score.
"W-who are you?" Mira asked slowly, reeling her mind from what just happened and Naruto just shrugged casually.
"Naruto Dragneel, and you are?" Naruto asked her as he still held her hand.
"M-Mirajane Strauss" she managed to get out and Naruto just smiled, as he shook her hand without any hesitation.
"Nice to meet you" he said casually, "Here are your fruits and vegetables" Naruto handed her a basket, "Hope to see you around" he waved off casually and walked off along the street into the open countryside still thinking about the quest that he had to fulfil.
"Now where is that demon?" Naruto thought while Kurama felt like facepawing, he could not be this oblivious to the situation.
"Naruto, when you saw the girl's hand, did it look a little odd to you?" Kurama asked condescendingly and Naruto blinked before shrugging it off.
"It was demonic, but it was clearly not some possession. Probably a Take Over magic of some sort, that's pretty cool, why?" Naruto thought back, "We're here for a demon, not some Take-over mage" he thought to Kurama who groaned.
"You know Naruto, sometimes you have to remember humans are god damn morons, do you think they know it's a Take Over, and that she's not an actual demon?" Kurama thought and Naruto's brain started to slowly whirr, no, they couldn't be that dumb to do what they did to him on a regular basis to someone else, could they?
Oh come on!
"No, there has to be a real demon, I mean it's clear to anyone with one working eye, how can she be a demon when only her arm is demonised!" Naruto thought but then turned to people whispering about the demon getting food, oh you have to be kidding! The people around him were idiots!
They were ruining someone's life because they were ignorant morons, this was even worse than his life. Granted they hated him mostly from ignorance still, but he could take it, as for the girl, he wasn't sure as much for her.
"Excuse me" a small voice called out from behind him and Naruto turned around to see the robed girl from before.
"Yes" Naruto asked and winced a little, there was no way he'd go through with this request, he was not going to get rid of a human being that people were too dumb to recognise as an actual person rather than a demon based of their own baseless ideas.
This request was going to be cancelled immediately, and he was going to deal with this mayor who allowed a girl to be treated like this and sent actual mission requests to people, and convince him to cancel them before they actually complete them by "getting rid of the demon". Hopefully, then he'd explain that it was probably just a take-over mage in training and get these morons to get some sensibility and read a book, or hell use their eyes for a change, it's not that hard.
"T-thank you" she whispered and Naruto just shrugged.
"Don't worry about it" Naruto replied and was thinking about what to do, right now they just needed to rest and wait for the Mayor to explain this situation...they? Where was Natsu again?...Oh goddamn it! Leaving him without supervision for 20 minutes is guaranteed to rack up a fine for something being destroyed. He needed to get going
"W-why did you-?" she started but Naruto responded already.
"Why did I help you out there?" Naruto finished the sentence and just shrugged, "It was the right thing to do, besides what they were doing was wrong so I couldn't let it go without intervening" Naruto told her, "Sorry if you wanted to do it yourself" he told her and she quickly shook her left hand.
"N-no, it's just that" Mira admitted, "Nobody really did that for me" she said quietly and Naruto just sighed.
"Well don't worry about it, there all just a bunch of morons anyway. Besides, it's a terrible thing to treat a girl like that" Naruto told her. Chivalry, apparently Gildarts made it to be a big thing in modern times, and Naruto just went with it, not really caring much about social conventions but at least giving an effort to learn it. Sadly he didn't realise that Gildarts tricked him into flirting with women.
"That's awfully nice of you, mister" she said softly and Naruto was just silent at that, "Where are you heading?" she asked looking at him properly and blushed a little but made sure to have the cloak up a bit to hide it.
He was rather handsome after getting a better look, wavy midnight black hair, a slightly pale face with defined features, a casual clever smile and startling green eyes, with elegant robes and an impressive coat. He gave off the impression of a prince of a faraway country with his out-of-place robes covered by a coat and his handsome features worthy of royalty, and sparkling gemstones for eyes that just seemed to glitter on their own.
"Oh, I just have to find my little brother and we need to find a place to eat and stay for the night, then tomorrow, we just need to have a word with someone and then we're going back to Magnolia" Naruto told her, not noticing a thing, and she looked down slightly at that with a dejected expression.
Figures, you meet one nice person in your whole life and he leaves within a day after you meet him, if there was someone controlling fate, it sounded like a very dick move to pull, but she relented. She owed him something that was for sure, he paid for the groceries, helped her get groceries in the first place and stood up for her, so she decided to do something about it.
He was looking for a place to stay, so maybe they could let him in for a short time. Mira thoughts conflicted between letting a stranger who she had never met before go near their house, it sounded like a very foolish idea when she thought about it but the stranger was nicer than anyone in this town, and she felt that his intentions were genuine and most importantly he got her food for Lisanna and Eflman, letting him go without repaying him with one small favour seemed unfair. She could sleep on the floor for one night, and let the two brothers sleep on one of the two beds, it only seemed fair to help out someone who stuck his neck out for her.
"Um" she started and Naruto turned to her, "If you want, you and your brother can stay with us for the night" she told him quietly and Naruto just shook his head.
"You don't need to trouble yourself, madam" Naruto told her politely, "I'm sure we can manage, I'd hate to impose like this" he told her and she shook her head with a slight smile, the first one in a very long time and turned to him.
"No, it's not any trouble. I insist!" she told him and Naruto sighed.
"Hey, she's giving free room and board! We're not gonna get any hotels out here that will let us in, so if it's camping or impose then impose goddamnit!" Kurama snapped at Naruto mentally who just groaned at the fox, sometimes he could be really pushy about certain things.
"Can't you do something useful for a change, like sense where Natsu is and tell me" Naruto thought back to the high maintenance fox who just huffed.
"Tch, fine" Kurama and after a few seconds he responded, "I spy with my badass eyes a large amount of fire, pink and a lot of air in somebody's skull, and it's right down the road, you happy now?" Kurama told him and Naruto nodded and turned back to Mira.
"Yes?" Mira asked him and Naruto thought a little more about it before responding.
They did need shelter for the night, and it really was unlikely that they would get any hotel to let them in for the night, and looking up at the sky revealed clouds starting to form, it would soon start to rain, meaning that camping was not an option since he wouldn't risk any chances of hypothermia, although Natsu might not get it. Seems like this girl's place might be the only option.
"I'd be glad to take your offer, madam" he said politely, "Right now I just need to find my brother down the road, and when I've found him, I'll head over to your home. Could you just tell me how to get there?" Naruto asked and Mira blinked a bit.
"Down that road as well" she pointed to the road that Kurama had sensed...Natsu was at her house...Natsu who regularly wrecked some piece of furniture, or nearly came close to wrecking the house on a daily basis...was in her house...oh shit!
"Today is just not my day" Naruto groaned, "Madam-" he started but Mira just interrupted him.
"You don't have to call me Madam, my name is Mira" she told him but it felt more like a request and Naruto shrugged.
"As the lady wishes, I suppose" Naruto replied with one from the Gildarts playbook, he might need to try and get on her good side so that when she sees the devastation left by Natsu, she might not be too vengeful, and Mira just covered her cloak a little embarrassedly.
"So is your brother in that direction" she asked.
"Yes, and might I apologise in advance for anything he breaks, has already broken or will break in you home and I'll reimburse you for the damages" Naruto added with a bow of his head and Mira looked a little worried.
"He's not that bad, right?" she asked and Naruto just chuckled.
"Well, let's hope for the best mad- I mean Mira" he told her and she just smiled at that, madam just made her sound more grown up and she was scared of all the responsibilities that came with it, and she'd rather enjoy the smallest of things left of childhood.
"Is this town usually like this?" Naruto asked her and she looked downcast at that and Naruto mentally slapped himself for touching that topic without thinking properly, since she looked rather melancholy about it.
"I guess it's always been like this ever since-" she said sadly and stopped as she stared down at her arm with a pained expression, how many days did she wish that she could just get rid of that arm, but in the end she'd always be too scared to try something like that, and she was also right handed.
"I'm sorry" he told her and she shook her head at that.
"You don't have to apologise, it's not your fault that this happened" she told him, "Besides, you're different" she told him and he blinked at that, "You're the first to ever touch my hand" she said as she showed her demonic arm and the same held true as Naruto didn't make any of the usual flinches, shudders or expressions of disgust at it, and she stared at him, he just looked mildly curious, like it was an interesting toy to a child.
"I don't see what's so bad about it" Naruto shrugged, "Sure it's not a normal arm, but when am I going to see something like that again. It's unique, and special so why should I run away from something like that?"
Mira knew her arm had made her many things, demon, devil, monster, but special? That was a new one, she almost wanted to laugh at that, he really was a different kind of person, and couldn't help but break into a soft smile, and even a small giggle at that.
"What is it?" Naruto asked and she just looked at him, with the cloak off her head properly.
"You're the first person to ever say that about my arm, I suppose that makes you special in your own right" she smiled and Naruto just blushed a little bit embarrassedly at that.
And also from looking at her face properly, she had long silky white hair with a small fringe at her forehead, an angelic face that could make those among the heavens envious, clear unblemished skin like a model, and sparkling blue eyes like gems that Naruto almost got lost in, honestly she looked far more like an angel than anyone else he knew.
"β¦Oh Lord Zeref, please give me the strength to bear through your brat's puberty, it's going in full swing now" Kurama groaned mentally but even the usual annoying fox's remarks just didn't register as Naruto was a little bit glassy eyed.
"Um, are you ok?" Mira asked and Naruto just shook his head a little, shit he was staring at her, right in front of her. Did she notice? Probably not, he was still Naruto, one of the most discreet geniuses of all time, there was no way he could be beaten in a battle of words, despite that being the type of battle he kept losing, all the damn time.
"And you call me egoistical" Kurama muttered.
"I'm fine" Naruto said a bit too quickly, "Heat of the day, I suppose" he lied quickly and Mira looked at him with a puzzled expression, she realised that he was staring at her, hell a four year old could notice how he was staring at her, and she'd be lying if she didn't like it a little, nobody had ever looked at her like that before so it was a little flattering to say the least.
"It's the evening, usually around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, are you sure it's the temperature?" she asked him again, just to be sure that someone was actually staring at the demon like that.
"I'm wearing a coat" Naruto quickly covered himself. Nope, not admitting to anything. Complete obliviousness was the way to deal with any situation, and Naruto didn't want to offend his host by acting like a hormonal teen...despite the fact he was one. He only hoped that she wasn't creeped out from him staring at her beauty.
"It's quite a thin coat, are you wearing fur underneath it" she asked him, now she just felt like teasing him. This was a little fun, she used to tease others playfully all the time, and she almost forgot how much fun it could be to do this to someone on the spot.
"Well, you could say I'm wearing a certain furball" Naruto quipped back to a confused Mira and felt Kurama's indignant cries at that.
"Oh, so I'm a furball now? Gee, thanks a lot. You know, I was going to be a nice fox while you were sweet talking here to cover yourself, but now that you've done that, it's on human!" Kurama thought annoyedly and Naruto quickly seized the folds of his coat before it could do anything.
"Something wrong?" she asked and Naruto just laughed a little nervously before responding.
"No, nothing's wrong" Naruto quickly said and the coat stopped moving and Mira just looked at him a little puzzled by his actions and got a bit closer to him, and felt the lining of the coat, and also causing Naruto's blush to quickly deepen.
"It's definitely no fabric I've ever seen before" she commented and a few small sparks were released from her right demonic hand touching Kurama.
"YEEEAAOOOOWWWW!" Kurama yelled mentally, "Naruto, get her to stop!" Kurama screamed and Naruto quickly jumped back him her touch, much to her shock and sadness as a few tears almost formed in the corner of her eye and Naruto saw that immediately.
"Mira, wait, it's not about your hand!" Naruto told her and she just shook her head.
"No, I'm sorry. If you don't want to be near me, it's fine" she lied and Naruto felt his coat just start to go haywire as the shape was remoulding at a crazy rate, and Naruto tried to remove it.
"No, I'm serious. It's not your hand, it's him" Naruto told her and managed to get his coat off and threw it to the ground, and to her shock, the coat seemed to mould and change shape as it started to morph uncontrollably but eventually settled down and stopped, turning into a fox with nine tails.
"Haah, haah, what the hell was that? Killer touch, much girl?" Kurama groaned as he nearly collapsed but managed to get back up, a little shakily.
"W-what is that?" she said a little shakily.
"Don't worry, this is just Kurama. He's my partner, and a member of my guild, and completely harmless" Naruto tried to ease her worries.
"Just Kurama? More like the all mighty lord and saviour to this world, Kurama, the greatest demon of all time, now bow before my sheer awesomeness!" he said with pompadour and flair but Mira registered one word.
"D-demon" she stuttered and Naruto just held her shoulders bracingly, and looked at her directly into her fear ridden eyes with his warm forest green ones, with conviction.
"Mira, don't worry. He's completely harmless to anyone, I know he's an Etherious but he's not evil in any way. I promise he will not harm anyone" Naruto reassured her and Mira took a few deep breaths, before she fully calmed herself down and felt her heart rate return to normal.
"S-so, you're a d-demon?" she asked him and Kurama just waved it off.
"Used to be a regular fox, shit happened, and I was reborn as this. Never really asked for it, and I'm not going to eat humans or something evil like that, you have my word on that" he told her honestly.
"Mira, please. Do you trust me?" he asked her and she looked at him honestly.
She had no idea. He was a total stranger that she knew for only minutes at best, not even an hour, and he was asking her to trust him? But at the same time, in those minutes he knew her, he managed to help her get food for Lisanna, get her away from a mob, hold her hand without being scared of it, and treated her like a normal person for once.
"O-ok" she said a little shakily, she'd never be the same around demons after what happened before but she couldn't let that hold her life back forever, you had to keep moving forwards, or end up hiding in a corner forever.
"Phew, usually that ends up a lot worse" Naruto muttered and Kurama seemed to have recovered from his unstable moment and quickly morphed back into a coat over Naruto, draping him immediately in his red coat with black flames at the bottom.
"I'm sorry" she told him, she just assumed the worst right off the bat about him, and also did something to hurt his friend but Naruto just shook his head.
"To quote someone I've just met, You don't have to apologise" he told her, "It's not your fault that this happened" he told her and she just shook her head with a small smile while Kurama groaned, he sucked so bad at humour. Cutesy repetition was not funny.
"Besides, Kurama's far too tough to ever admit that he was hurt, isn't that right?" Naruto asked.
"And don't you forget it!" Kurama growled back good-naturedly and Mira just giggled at the fox, he really liked to act all tough on the outside.
"He's definitely not like any demon I've ever heard of" Mira told the fox who huffed in pride.
"Of course, you're not dealing with the average demon here, now you are basking in the glory of the Super Demon Kurama, epitome of demon kind. No, the greatest of all time. A god among demons, who is without peer, without equal-" Kurama bragged in his usual tirade.
"And without shame" Naruto shot, "The day you learn humility, is a day I wish would hurry up". Little did he know, the day that he was thinking of would definitely be coming a lot sooner than he expected, and not just for him as well.
Kurama then proceeded to rant in a long string of swears that could make a sailor blush, while Mira just laughed at them. It was like the two were family, constantly bickering over the littlest of things to show just how much they appreciated the other. A human and a demon, the world sure had a lot of different people.
"What?" Naruto and Kurama asked her but she just gave a genuine smile that seemed to melt glaciers, or in Naruto's head at least.
"You two are really good friends, it's really something else to see that" Mira smiled and Naruto had to turn away, the red on his face was far too prominent for her to miss.
"Naruto and Mira sitting in a tree, m-a-t-i-n-g,-" Kurama mocked while Naruto just silenced that damn fox, for a best friend, he sure could be a right pain in the neck sometimesβ¦most of the timeβ¦no, a perpetual, never-ending pain in the neck that his father definitely gave to punish him.
"But I just want to say, I'm sorry again. I don't know why my arm did that" Mira told him sadly as she looked down on her arm and Naruto felt his heart stir again, it wasn't nice seeing her sad.
"I might be able to shed some light about that arm. with your permission, may I?" he asked and outstretched both his hands, letting Mira rest her demonic one and her normal one on his palms and Naruto activated his eyes, "Mystic Eyes" Naruto muttered as Mira noticed that his pupils turned bright red with a ring around it and Naruto examined her arm with the groceries put down next to her.
The demonic arm was clearly infused with a mixture of ethernano and curse power as well while the normal one was devoid of curse power, so that was a Take-Over magic, she must have taken over a demon before, but the curse power was unevenly spread around her body, if she knew how to control it and contain it inside her then her arm would be normal, but because she didn't know how to control it, that caused the curse to just accumulate at one place and her own magic was doing nothing to stop it.
"I see" Naruto muttered.
"A-am-" Mira asked nervously and Naruto looked up at her, "Am I a demon?" she asked, terrified of the answer and Naruto vehemently shook his head, that was definitely not the case here.
"Absolutely not!" Naruto said with conviction, surprising Mira as her eyes widened, "Mira, you are not a demon in any way or form, you are definitely, and 100% not a demon at all" Naruto reassured her, almost making a few tears form.
She wasn't a demon after all! Then that thing the demon said all that time ago when she got this arm was a lie? She felt so relieved as an unbelievable weight just lifted off her shoulders as Naruto had reassured her of the one thing she always wanted the answer to and Naruto continued.
"It's actually a very rare power you have Mira, you're really quite special" Naruto told her and she looked at him, "It's a very rare type of Take Over Magic, Take-Over: Satan Soul" Naruto told her.
"S-satan soul?" Mira asked.
"Yes, it's really something else. I've read about it before, but the number of Satan Soul users recorded could be counted with two hands, that's how special it is" Naruto told her, "You'd need to have a Demon Factor, a rare combination of genes from both parents and the odds of having it just right is very, very small. You might be the first user of this magic in about a century" he told her enthusiastically but she just frowned.
"Fat load of good it does" she sighed about it as she glared at her hand, "It really made life absolute hell" she said to him and Naruto looked thoughtful as he was thinking. What runic array could solve this problem?
"Mira, do you want me to seal off the power from your arm?" Naruto asked her and she looked confused.
"Seal?" Mira asked him.
"I think, I might be able to get your arm looking normal with the right array-" Naruto explained but Mira immediately lit up with hope, the one thing she always wanted, to get rid of the demonic taint on her arm, and to be able to find a sense of normalcy, and to-to be a human once more.
"Do it" she immediately said but Naruto continued anyway.
"Mira, please listen to me" Naruto told her and she showed that she was paying attention as she stared right at him, "I think I can do it, however it will only be a temporary solution. You will need to learn to control your powers, and once you do, the arm will turn back to normal, with the right focus you should be able to get your arm back to normal" Naruto told her, who pondered on that.
"Control my power? And with focus?" she thought as she looked at her arm, she tried to focus it vanishing, to focus it disappearing, focus on it turning normal, but after 30 seconds of concentration, the arm remained the same as it always did, grotesque.
"It's not working" she told him and Naruto just smiled.
"Nothing ever comes that easily, but I do think that there was a book or two about this back at the guild" Naruto told her and she looked up at him at that with a look of hope.
"Guild?" she asked him and Naruto just pulled the right side of his coat and pulled on his shirt so that she could see the black mark on his left pec, which was quite muscular, and hid her embarrassment at such a thought.
"Fairy Tail, that's the name of the guild I belong to" Naruto told her with pride, no matter what, he would always be proud of his home, the only guild in existence who would ever accept someone like him with open arms and give a family for him to cherish.
"Fairyβ¦Tail" Mira muttered the two words, she heard about it for sure. It was the top guild in the country, and nobody hadn't heard of the antics that they had got up to, even if she barely had access to the news, before she was cursed she definitely did see articles all about Fairy Tail.
"But for now, I think I can do this" Naruto told her as he turned his eyes towards her demonic arm, and to her surprise golden symbols started to appear out of thin air in streams as the wrapped around her hand in an intertwining, interlocking and beautiful pattern, almost like a dance as the golden letters quickly started to become a blur and Naruto almost let out a small breath of exhaustion, something like this wasn't easy at all.
"Haaβ¦Seal: Curse Suppression!" Naruto said and with a flash of red from his eyes, the letters glowed bright gold before the light died down again as Naruto sealed the curse power in her arm to smaller compartments that couldn't be seen with the visible eye but Mira's eyes were wider than ever as her heart was racing a thousand beats per minute.
Her arm was normal.
"H-how?" Mira whispered as she touched her arm with her other hand just to reassure herself that it wasn't a dream, that the one thing that she had always wished for was resolved as she stroked her arm, not feeling any of the usual ridges, marks or even pus as she saw that her arm was completely human.
A few tears almost threatened to fall as she looked at her arm, it wasn't a dream, it was real, it was really happening, her arm was completely restored back to normal before all of this happened.
"Well it's not anything special, just a seal of my own invention, it seals away pockets of your demonic energy around your body, and-" Naruto elaborated but was immediately cut off when he felt a weight hit him full force as Mira jumped right at him and hugged him as tight as she could, completely taking him by surprise.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" she almost sobbed out as she rubbed a few tears on the corners of her eyes and wrapped her arms around his head, avoiding his coat while Naruto was stuck there like a statue.
After ten seconds, Mira just realised what she just did. She just hugged a stranger completely out of the blue, well not a complete stranger but definitely only someone she knew for about an hour and quickly let go, her face just as red as Naruto's which was stuck on one expression and still rebooting.
"I-I-I'm sorry" Mira told him, who still wasn't responding, "I wasn't thinking, I just-, I well-" she fumbled, trying to find the right words while Naruto's brain had finally rebooted.
"Dear father, her skin is so soft" was Naruto's first thought which he immediately deleted, to get his wits back while Kurama was just laughing his head off mentally.
"The almighty Naruto Dragneel, S-class Mage of Fairy Tail. Dear Zeref, this is pathetic, even for you," Kurama teased, "Weaknesses now include hugs, ladies better line up."
"N-no, it's fine" Naruto managed to get out, while trying not to stammer from slight embarrassment.
What the hell was he embarrassed about, Levy had hugged him lots of times and he was never like this before, he had to get a grip and show more composure, Mira was a girl and his behaviour had to be normalised soon, it didn't matter that she was the prettiest girl he'd ever...damn it!
"U-um, shall we go?" she asked and Naruto nodded, not trusting his mouth to say anything that he might regret and the two were soon walking.
It wasn't the most uncomfortable thing Naruto had ever done, he could certainly think of many times with Gildarts when he would be way more uncomfortable, especially when he was with women, but this was starting out get closer since they were walking for over 10 minutes in complete silence, neither of them uttering a word while the only other source of noise would be Kurama's teasing that Naruto muted again.
"N-naruto" Mira broke the silence and Naruto looked at her, "I-I just want to say again, thank you so much" she told him while wiping the corners of her eyes again, "T-this means so much to me" she told him and Naruto just patted her shoulder, very awkwardly, since he wasn't used to this and had no idea what to say.
"U-uh, it's ok, you don't have to thank me" Naruto told her and she shook her head.
"For helping me fix my life?" she asked him and Naruto just responded instinctively.
"No, you don't have to thank me for doing the right thing" Naruto told her honestly, "It was just what anyone should have done" he told her and she choked back a dry sob.
"Funny how that never works out" she told him and wiped the last of her tears, why was she crying of all things? She should be happy, this was a dream come true!
"You need a tissue?" Naruto asked her and she shook her head.
"No, I don't need to cry, I'm not going to cry" she told him firmly, she had cried enough when her parents died and when the burden of her siblings fell to her, she decided to never cry and waste tears on the life she had been given. Lisanna was her life, along with Elfman and she decided to dedicate it to them. They were both sad when she cried, so Mira resolved to not cry anymore to ensure that the two of them would be happy.
Then when this curse started, she seemed to not have enough tears as the constant pain of it all weighed her down immensely and it made her siblings lives a lot tougher as well, but now that it was over, she wouldn't cry about it anymore.
She had to be strong again, strong for Elfman who had to take up the mantle of responsibility that she should have held and for Lisanna who was her responsibility but both of them were let down because she was too busy crying. Not anymore, she resolved.
"You know, my father once told me something" Naruto told her, "Sometimes, it's ok to cry and that doesn't make you any less of a person for it" he told her and she looked up at him in surprise at how he knew, "It's not because you're weak, but because you've had to be strong for too long" he told her and her eyes slightly widened at that.
"You really are quite insightful, Naruto-san" she said after wiping her face slightly and she smiled at him, getting Naruto to blush, from embarrassment and from the obvious source.
"I-it was a shot in the dark" he mumbled while Mira just giggled a little at that.
"So how does this..." Mira asked as she held up her arm, "seal work?" and Naruto immediately responded to that.
"I used a seal made of Ancient Runes, it will forcefully create pockets of curse energy around your body and evenly distribute it like it should be in Take-Over users. But remember this is only temporary" Naruto told her seriously, and she looked up at him in surprise and fear, "Curse energy isn't an energy to be sealed easily at all, and it will break out if it gets too strong for the seal"
"How would it do that?" Mira asked worriedly.
"Hm, I guess mostly from what gives it power in the first place. Hatred, fear and negative emotions from you and people around you would fuel it and cause it to act up, and break the seal" Naruto told her and she looked apprehensively at her arm, that was now normal.
Figures that in her life, everything came with drawbacks. Save Lisanna, only to get the town to hate you. Super powers, but get marginalised by society. Now a magical seal, but only a temporary one, but she wasn't going to be bitter about it. She could control and stop this curse, but only if she tried.
"I'm sorry I can't do more than that" Naruto told her as he saw the disappointed look on her face but she immediately shook her head fervently at that and denied anything of that sort, she was not unhappy in the least! This was already more than she had ever hoped for, and it certainly was a gift that she would be grateful for.
"NO!" Mira exclaimed and Naruto was silenced at that, it was the first time she had raised her voice since they met, "It's already more than enough, thank you so much, thank you, just thank you Naruto-san!" she told him with a warm smile that made Naruto break into a soft smile as well.
"You don't have to call me that, call me Naruto" Naruto said with a small grin and Mira just shook her head and looked at him right in the eye, he really wasn't funny but in a cute way.
Time almost stopped for the two of them as their eyes met, shining emeralds meeting sparkling sapphires and the world around them seemed to meld out of focus as Naruto could only see Mira, at her most perfect form. When she was happy. He couldn't understand how anyone could look as pure and angelic as her, the downcast and saddened expressions that she usually had never suited her, Naruto could only say that Mira was perfection incarnate when she smiled. Likewise, Mira's world halted in a similar way as she looked at Naruto's soft smile. It was heartwarming, the kind that anyone who received it would feel their hearts warm up, like a fireplace that had just been lit and it was giving the same warmth on a cold winter night. It just proved to her that against all the cold and bitterness of the world, there's always a spot of warmth as long as you keep looking.
And they got back to real time in the form of a raindrop that hit Naruto's head and snapped him out of his twilight zone and another few raindrops started to fall as well, hitting both Naruto and Mira's heads and within a minute the rain had started to pick up again.
"Oh, it's raining already?" Mira said and Naruto held his palm out.
"Darkness Make: Umbrella" Naruto said clearly and Mira saw a detailed and intricate magical circle materialise from his hand, immediately creating a black mass that solidified as an umbrella that Naruto held over her head.
"Why are you holding it over me?" Mira asked Naruto who looked a little annoyed as his coat morphed back into a fox and jumped right underneath the umbrella as well.
"I'm also trying to get the furball to become a raincoat, but he's not in a good mood today" Naruto told her while Kurama just huffed, he didn't want to get too much rain on his fur, it would take ages to put back down again and getting it wet would turn him into a puffball, something that Natsu would never let him live down.
"Don't worry" Mira said as she pushed the umbrella away, much to Naruto's surprise but more to Kurama's indignation as water started to drip onto his fur, "I kind of like the rain" she admitted and Naruto blinked at that, but to each's own and Naruto just dematerialised the umbrella, just to spite the fox a little.
"Aw, come on!" Kurama whined as he moulded back into a coat for Naruto, and was draped around him again and Naruto just looked at Mira who was having more fun than ever as she spun around in the rain with a childlike smile on her face.
Naruto watched her spin and smiled at the fascination on her face as she continued to spin, oblivious to her surroundings with a smile on her face as she kept spinning perfectly in a circle...spinning? Spinning! Naruto almost stumbled at the breakthrough idea he just had before turning to Mira and that thought left for a more urgent one.
"Be careful!" Naruto told her as she tripped over a fold of her coat and slipped on the wet surface of the ground, they were in the middle of a forest like path and she nearly fell over into a patch of mud, had Naruto not quickly seized her hand and pulled her back up, but also causing the two of them to collide chest first into each other and the both of them froze for a moment before parting.
"U-uh" Naruto's brain was thinking as he was holding her hand and Mira just gripped it more tightly.
"Good idea, holding hands is probably for the best. The roads can get slippery when it's raining so it's a good safety precaution" she said in a motherly tone while Naruto just shook his head, of course, that was why, it was simple reasoning, he could do that as a baby.
"Dear Zeref, love makes everyone more insufferable" Kurama thought with a groan.
"WHAT THE HELL! I just met her!" Naruto thought back furiously while Kurama just laughed at that.
"Aw denial is adorable, someone's starting to show their real age, old geezer" Kurama jested and Naruto muted him out for good, stupid, no good, damn fox.
"Let's go!" she said with a smile as she ran through the rain, taking extra care this time to not trip over while Naruto was still pacing alongside her, running across the rain through the woods, feeling it's soft pitter patter strike his body, but even now he couldn't help but smile, because of one thing. She was happy.
"Haa...haa" Mira slightly panted as they ran through a hilly terrain to the very outskirts of the town, she should have warned Naruto that they lived quite some distance from the main areas of the town for obvious reasons but actually running the distance was something that she was slightly straining to do, considering she didn't go out much but Naruto was barely winded compared to making the seal as he was still breathing normally.
"So this is your home?" Naruto asked as he looked at the house, and one thing was for sure. He could definitely say a demon would live here. The place looked like a barren, abandoned shack and the fact that they were in the middle of the woods in a storm didn't help. The wood was chipped in areas around the shack and the windows were shut tightly and he could swear that he heard a creaking noise around the place. All in all, it looked like a haunted house.
"I-it's not much" Mira admitted but Naruto just waved off her concerns.
"There's no need for luxury, I'm not here for a vacation and the minimum I need is that there are no ghosts present" Naruto told her, "Kurama gets spooked easily" he explained to Mira, much to the fox's dismay.
"DO NOT!" Kurama snapped at him and Mira just smiled a little bit at that.
"No, it's fine" Mira told them, "Let's get away from the rain" she added and Naruto followed her as they reached the main porch and Mira knocked on the door three times, that way they would know it was her at the door and after a few seconds, Naruto heard the scurrying of footsteps and heard the clank noise of the door being unlocked from the inside.
"Mira-nee" a boy with white hair said with relief and Mira just smiled and scooped him into a hug, much to his surprise. Naruto was just standing outside and noticed that he was rather similar to Mira, but different, they had the same hair colour and he might have been around Natsu's age but his skin was darker and he was dressed...kind of like a meek, little schoolboy at first grade. Well can't judge people by clothing or Gildarts and Natsu would be hobos, though their slobbish nature at times could remind Naruto of one.
"Elfman, I managed to get the food" Mira smiled and Elfman looked like the sun had just risen in his head and immediately made way for Mira to enter, and then caught sight of Naruto standing right behind her and was startled by his presence.
"M-mira-nee, there's a scary guy outside!" Elfman pointed out and Naruto felt his eye twitch at that, scary guy? That was...new.
"That's right! Fear the might of the god before you!" Kurama thought, "Say that, and I bet he'll wet his diapers"
"Elfman, don't worry" Mira managed to placate the scared boy, "He's a friend, and he'll be staying here for the night" she told him and Elfman looked apprehensively at Naruto but slowly let him in, despite clearly still being very guarded and Naruto just nodded his head and walked inside the house.
The interior was certainly just as creepy looking as the exterior, with the floorboards continuously creaking as Naruto stepped inside and took his shoes off and noticed that the building didn't do a great job of keeping out the rain as surfaces felt somewhat damp around him, the place also barren, lacking anything that gave it a homely feel and giving more of the haunted look that gave Kurama a slight shiver as the coat slightly tightened around Naruto.
"Mira-nee something crazy happened" Elfman told her quickly as Naruto started to hear a muffled noise of a person coming from another room.
"MFFFFPPTTHPPPFFFF!" a noise echoed through the halls.
"Is-Is that a stranger!" Mira exclaimed as she heard the voice herself and Elfman looked like he was doing his best to explain.
"W-we caught him-" Elfman tried to elaborate but Mira heard none of it as she rushed into the next room with Naruto in tow and she quickly pried open the door to the next room with a creak and Naruto noticed the darkened room was probably the living room but his attention was drawn towards what was at the centre of the living room.
A pink haired dragon slayer tied up in bedsheets with a lump on his head and Naruto felt a titanic migraine hit his brain as it spiralled into a shipwreck.
"Really Natsu?" Naruto sighed as he raised his eyebrow and stepped into the room and said dragon slayer immediately perked up as he saw his elder brother and made an extra struggle to release himself but a smaller girl who looked a lot like Mira just struck his head with a frying pan, causing him to yelp out in pain.
"No moving!" she said strictly and Natsu felt like he wanted to cry at this point.
"You know him?" Mira asked Naruto who just groaned a little, way to make a first impression.
"That would be my reckless little brother, Natsu Dragneel" Naruto informed her, causing her eyes to widen at that as she looked back at their "captive" and realised just how badly her siblings had screwed up, but at least nothing was broken like Naruto predicted.
"Lisanna, don't hit him" Mira told her little sister sternly who looked guilty under her older sister's glare and put the frying pan down, causing Natsu to break free of his bed sheet prison in a burst of anger as his fists were flaming wildly.
"Natsu, put out your flames!" Naruto said immediately and Natsu looked a little bit too ticked off to hear him properly.
"You guys are so going to pay for that!" Natsu growled as he raised his fist but Naruto immediately caught both of them before he could do anything and glared at his little brother, getting him to falter and stop in his tracks.
"We're in a guests house, and it's made of wood so no open flames" Naruto told him but that didn't change the look of anger on Natsu's face, causing Naruto to sigh.
"HEY! They were the ones who started this!" Natsu snapped causing Lisanna to flare up at that.
"Was not! You started this!" she immediately rebutted.
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was-" Natsu was about to continue before he felt his brother bop his head, causing him to stop. That would usually be Naruto's trick mechanism to help stop his little brother before he got too carried away, and it certainly was better than Erza's method of punching Gray in similar situations.
"Ok, let's all take a deep breath" Mira told all of them as she stepped into the centre of the living room, "Now can you tell me what happened?"
Earlier today...
"ALL RIGHT!" Natsu yelled as he reached the house first, the place looked haunted and creepy. Definitely a place a demon would live, he was on the right track. Just wait till Naruto sees him finish the mission before him, that would definitely prove that he was ready for the harder stuff.
"DEMON! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A FIGHT! COME ON OUT!" Natsu yelled out at the top of his lungs.
Inside the house, Elfman was panicking internally. He peeked outside the window and saw someone his age with pink hair, but his hands were on fire! Oh no, he was a mage! He panicked and ducked back down as he had no idea what to do, how were they supposed to beat a mage? What would nee-san do?
"Elfman, what is it?" Lisanna asked him as she came in from the other room and Elfman quickly got her to duck before the person outside could see them.
"HEY DEMON! HURRY UP AND GET OUT HERE!" Natsu continued to yell and Lisanna's face darkened at that, she might have been the youngest sibling but she wasn't an idiot. She knew everything about how the town hated her older sister and how unfair it was, and now there was a new idiot outside to bother them, not if they had anything to say about it.
"Where are you going!" Elfman immediately said as he saw Lisanna try to get up.
"Let go of me! I'm going to teach him a lesson" Lisanna snapped at her elder brother who was holding her hand tightly, stopping her from getting up. Elfman was much more concerned about Lisanna, Mira would lose it if she got hurt, Elfman knew one very important thing about his older sister.
Lisanna meant everything to her.
Elfman knew that didn't mean that his sister didn't care for him, but she just cared for Lisanna in a different way and he would be damned if he let the person Mira treasured the most get hurt, or at worst killed because there would be no way Mira could go through that.
But he also couldn't hide out here forever, that mage could come barging in at any moment now, and they were trapped. What-Just what was he supposed to do!
"I CAN SMELL DEMON FROM HERE, AND MY SENSE OF SMELL IS PRETTY GOOD SO I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" Natsu yelled out again and frowned, he definitely could smell it and two people in there as well. Maybe the demon had prisoners in it's house, then he had to help them first!
"OK, If you're not out in 10, then I'm coming in!" Natsu yelled and Lisanna's brain was whirring at what he said.
"Elfman, I have an idea" Lisanna told him, "Get the dirty laundry from the bathroom and as many dirty rags as you can find and put them in a basket" Lisanna whispered to Elfman who looked unsure but since he had no other plan, he just nodded and complied with her instructions.
"1, 2 ,3, 4, 5" Natsu counted slowly and Elfman had gathered up as many rags as he could find in as short time he had to work with, lucky their house was small for once, moving around to get stuff was easy for them and Lisanna secured everything and held it at the other side of the entrance door.
"Now get ready to open the door, and then hit him with this" Lisanna told Elfman who looked at her like she was crazy but nodded and Lisanna handed a frying pan to Elfman as well, who just blinked and went with his sisters devious plan.
"6, 7, 8, 9, 10! I'm charging in now!" Natsu yelled out as he ran forwards right at the front door, intent on tacking it down into the ground.
"Open it!" Lisanna told Elfman and he nodded and swung the door open right as Natsu was about to hit it, and Natsu blinked as he couldn't stop his momentum and kept running forwards and the next thing he knew was a horrid, terrible stench had hit him face first head on as Lisanna quickly made sure the envelop the basket on Natsu's head who stumbled from the stench.
"ARRRGGGGGHHHH! This smells worse than Kurama's litter box!" Natsu doubled back as his nose was almost on fire from the stench that hit him, and Lisanna gave a nod to Elfman who was walking forwards and he closed his eyes and swung as hard as he could at Natsu, who didn't see anything coming and felt something knock him right at the back on his head, quite a few times as he felt two people knock him around while he was blinded and his world turned black after that.
"And that's what happened?" Naruto blinked and saw the look of embarrassment on Natsu's face, and Naruto proceeded to face palm himself hard right on the forehead, this was unbelievable humiliating and on the other hand, Kurama was having a field day.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! Wait till I tell the baby stripper, you got beaten by a basket of laundry, two kids and a frying pan!" Kurama guffawed and Natsu snapped at that.
"It was a dirty move, literally!" Natsu exclaimed but seeing that humiliated look on Naruto's face made him feel terribly guilty, there was nothing worse than seeing his older brother looking like that to others, and humiliating his father and his older brother's name. At that moment, he couldn't feel more pathetic as he looked at Naruto's disappointed eyes, somehow that felt worse than any punches he'd taken from Erza as he looked down, unable to meet his expectations in sheer humiliation.
"I'm very sorry for my brother's actions" Naruto bowed his head to the two of them, and also pushed Natsu's head down too.
"Tch, yeah, same" Natsu grumbled when Naruto turned to him, causing Elfman and Lisanna to lower their guard a little more but Mira looked more worried and shaken if anything as Naruto turned to her and felt something in him slightly freeze as she looked at him in fear and betrayal.
"Y-you're h-here for me?" she asked shakily.
"W-wait I can explain-" Naruto tried to start but Natsu just had to add fuel to the flame.
"Is that the demon that the quest was talking about?" Natsu asked without thinking and Naruto just glared at him, to shut him up before turning to Mira who backed away into a corner.
"P-please don't hurt my family" she begged and Naruto felt horrible at himself before immediately coming clean, he should have told her this from the start but from meeting her till now, everything had just escaped his mind.
"I'm not here to hurt you, I promise" Naruto told her and pulled out a request from his pocket and showed her, causing her pale face to turn a ghostly white, before Naruto immediately tore it up and used Darkness Magic to cause it to fade to black, to her surprise and her shaking stopped at that.
"We were called here to "Get Rid of the Demon", according to the request" Naruto told her and Lisanna and Elfman took up arms, before being cowed down by Natsu's flaming fists, he was not in the mood for too much compassion when his head was still ringing like a bell, "But after I saw whom they were referring to, I'm going to cancel it immediately, and also make sure that the Mayor understands that you're not a demon" Naruto told her, and she looked up at him warily.
"Y-you mean it?" she asked carefully and Naruto nodded.
"I'm telling the truth" Naruto said to her honestly and Mira had time to think after he said that. Was he lying? Then why would he go this far for her? He didn't need to earn her trust considering he had a demon with him, and he was clearly a mage while none of the trio of siblings had magical powers, but Naruto did so much for her in the hour that she met him. Buying her food, stopping a mob forming, and the greatest gift of all, fixing her arm to normal.
She looked down in shame, Naruto wasn't here to hurt them, his actions spoke far louder than anything and she replied in a low tone, "I-I'm sorry for doubting you" and Naruto just placated her by putting his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.
"Don't worry, it's fine" he told her sincerely, causing them to stare at each other once more as Naruto saw the sparkle return into the azure blue ocean that was her eyes...oh damn it not again, Naruto blinked and snapped out of it as he helped her get back up from the corner as they turned to the family.
"So what do we do now Naruto-nii?" Natsu asked.
"Natsu, we're going to be staying here as guests for the night" Naruto told him, "After that we can talk to the mayor and hopefully explain that this was all a misunderstanding, then after that it's back to Magnolia" Naruto told him causing Natsu to groan.
"Aw man, but we didn't do any fighting at all! This sucks!" Natsu whined, first S-class mission was a total bust. They couldn't even do the mission right, since the demon was actually Naruto's friend or someone, he had no idea what was going on at all.
"R-right" Mira nodded at that, remembering that they had guests and turned to her siblings, "I want you two to apologise to Naruto's brother" she told them sternly, causing Lisanna to pipe up immediately in protest to that command.
"What? But he started all of this!" she told her sister and Naruto clamped his hand over Natsu's mouth to stop the argument from restarting and Mira gave a stern look at Lisanna, only returned by a rebellious one that held up for a few seconds before Lisanna groaned.
"Fine, I'm sorry" Lisanna admitted, causing Natsu to grin while Elfman just looked at his older sister in complete awe and shock.
"What the hell happened? Just this morning she was sick, pale and depressed! How-When-? How did she turn back to normal Mira-nee in one afternoon! What happened to her that made her become...more like herself?" Elfman thought with his jaw dropping and then turned to her arm which caused his eyes to almost pop out.
"MIRA-NEE!" Elfman exclaimed as he nearly fell over himself, surprising the household, and when he got his wits back he immediately pointed to her right arm, "What happened to your arm! It-How did it turn normal again!" and Lisanna let out a gasp as she saw that as well and Mira remembered the miracle as she held her arm up, just to check once more that it wasn't a dream before smiling as she touched her arm.
"Mira-nee! It's a miracle!" Lisanna gushed but Mira just shook her head.
"No, it was Naruto" she admitted and Naruto just smiled at the two siblings of Mira.
"Don't worry, I just used my magic to seal away the demonic power from her arm" Naruto informed them and they looked at him in awe and almost borderline reverence while Natsu was still scratching his head, totally lost at what just happened.
"Naruto-nii, what happened? What did you do?" Natsu asked and Naruto realised that he was totally out of the loop, this might take a while to explain to Natsu, who was already disgruntled at being blindsided with dirty socks, a frying pan and a girl and now he had no idea what the mission was about anymore.
"Oh, so that's what happened" Natsu nodded, after 10 minutes of explaining. Certain parts may have needed repetition in order to stick properly to Natsu's brain. Naruto sighed as he finally got through to his little brother at what happened, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the shelf, period.
"...They're brothers?" the siblings thought as they saw the stark contrast between the two brothers.
One was composed, cool and held himself up with an air of professionalism and the other was angry, complaining and had lumps on his head from when a little girl beat him with a frying pan. In short, just by looking at the two of them, there was only one thing they could think.
"Don't see it" they all thought and waved their hands at the same time.
"Mira-nee, it's time for a shower" Lisanna pointed out at a wall clock and Mira looked annoyedly at the clock, it was already 7. They still had to shower before eating dinner, and they had extra guests as well, not to mention a limited water supply that they could get from the town since their family was getting slightly behind on bills.
"We might need to share baths" Mira muttered as she realised that there wasn't enough water for everyone to take a bath and turned to her guests.
"U-um, Naruto" she started and she had his attention, "We're a little low on water, so we might need to...share baths-" she explained and Natsu immediately got up at that.
"Wait what? We can't bath with girls! I thought it was against the rules!" Natsu exclaimed before Naruto dragged him back down to his seat.
"Not quite Natsu, she means we're bathing together, and with her brother as well. And then the girls go separately" Naruto explained. Realistically, why would a girl bath with a guy she barely knew? But there was one stray thought that ran haywire through his brain at such an opportunity before slicing it away.
"Oh right" Natsu nodded, that made more sense. He didn't want to be like Gray, who bathed with Erza apparently, and boy he did not envy that guy who went in terrified and came out just as terrified of doing something wrong. He wasn't sure what, but if it could scare Ice Princess that much and he had to admit that Frozen Prick wasn't a total sissy, then bathing with girls was off his list of things to-do.
"Thanks for doing this, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience" she bowed her head in apology but Naruto just shook his head at that.
"Not at all, we're very glad that you're having us here" Naruto just told her and poked Natsu as well, to remind him to say something.
"Right, thank you for having us. Please treat us well" Natsu said almost by rote repetition and Naruto just smiled, he could say that while Natsu was far from a gentleman, he was still far from a barbarian and at least learnt something related to manners from Naruto, and boy was that unbelievably hard.
"Are they really brothers?" Lisanna whispered to Mira who just shushed her sister but really, one was a really nice guy and the other was an idiot, a cute idiot but-where did that come from?
"Thanks, I'll draw up the water so just wait a few minutes for me to call you. Then you can change in the other room and Elfman will take you to the bathroom. It's not really a big house anyway" Mira told them and left the room, and slowly they filtered out as well.
Location: Roof of Mira's house
Time: 30 minutes later...
"Come on, come on, please work" Naruto grunted. He needed a safe place to work so he was standing on the roof of her place and held his hand as if he was about to conjure a Dark Matter, but this time he was doing something else.
Using Mystic Eyes, he willed Ethernano particles around him to gather into his palm and felt beads of sweat drop as the rain pitter pattered against him as he was heavily straining to form a blue orb in his hand. His face was scrunched up in focus as he kept trying to gather more particles, and felt his eyes start to strain and Naruto saw something swirl in his palm for almost a moment, before his breath gave away in one go and he nearly fell to his knees at that.
"Pant, pant" Naruto panted as he held himself up with support from his arms, but just looking at them, you could tell he had overworked them with callouses and scruff marks, and scorches even littered across his palms.
"Damn IT!" Naruto yelled out as he instantly formed a Dark Matter, and shot the black ball into the outside, and he heard a faint explosion after doing that from the distance.
"Why doesn't it work!" Naruto thought frustratedly, almost wanting to pull his hair out at this point.
The idea of spinning as he saw Mira twirling in the rain and then in one go, it felt like lightning hit him as it just struck his head. To give his attack spin, in order to deliver rotation to an opponent, almost like a drill as it worked through an opponent. A new miraculous idea, that he felt would be the breakthrough he needed but unfortunately, spinning did absolutely nothing for his attack.
"Ethernano Make: Rasengan!" Naruto tried once more as he tried to create a swirling mass of pure magic in his hand and gripped it tightly, and a few veins were almost popping from the strain. It had no power at all, it's spin didn't give it the desired drill effect he wanted and did nothing, not to mention tire him out as Naruto felt his hand give away, the energy dissipate and he collapsed on the roof, heavily panting now.
"D-damn it" he barely had the energy to choke out.
He'd never been used to this, failing outright at something and losing at something. When everyone had always complimented his skills and power, he knew he shouldn't let it get to his head but how was he supposed to now let it do just that. He felt slightly empowered by it, in the fact that he could overcome all obstacles with his mind and that just made it all the more frustrating when he couldn't overcome this like any other problem.
"What's going on up-" Mira said as she stepped outside onto the roof. Naruto discovered that they had a open roof that led right to the top of this place, and it wasn't too hard to just jump up for him but Mira had to fetch a ladder to get up to this height and her eyes widened in fear as she saw Naruto was crouched on his knees, panting heavily in the rain.
"NARUTO!" she exclaimed as she quickly rushed his side while Naruto was slightly choking out bits of blood from overexertion.
"I'm fine, it's-" he whispered weakly as Mira helped him get up again.
"No you're not!" she quickly stopped his speech as she looked at him seriously, "Just what were you doing out here?" she asked him and Naruto saw a fierce ferocity in her eyes, a sudden shift from the meek girl that he met before, as Naruto looked a little bit guilty now.
"I was p-practicing a new spell" he told her who managed to hold Naruto in a stable state.
"By torturing yourself to this state?" she asked him pointedly, and true Naruto pretty disheveled at this point. Naruto had Kurama stay downstairs since he knew the fox would stop him from going this far, and right now his robes which were maintained for his usual elegant look had turned torn and tatty, with a lot more damage.
"Not torturing-" he tried to explain but Mira had none of it as she silenced him by putting a finger at his lips, shushing him.
"I'm calling it like I see it, Naruto" she told him as Naruto groaned a little and she helped him sit down on the roof, and she sat next to him, to help support him so that he doesn't fall over the roof and hurt himself, more than he already has.
"Why does she care so much?" Naruto thought, she wasn't one of the 6 people who cared for his well-being and he only knew this girl for an hour and some more at best, so why was she acting so concerned over his well-being like some of the people he had known for years.
"Is pushing yourself this far really worth it?" she asked him and Naruto blinked at that.
Was it worth it? Almost undoubtably, by pushing himself this far, he could make sure that all his friends were safe. Natsu, Kurama and Levy needed him to be strong, for their sakes. He was the pillar that they could fall back on, the unbreakable wall against anything too much for them, always shielding them no matter how battered he had to get to do it. It was a role that he just fell into as they looked up to him, and needed him to protect them.
"Yes" Naruto told her and she just looked, almost a little sad at that as she looked down on the ground, a flash of dejection marring her perfect face and Naruto was utterly puzzled at her response. What did he say wrong?
"I suppose" Mira whispered, but she almost pitied Naruto for a moment. To be that pillar that everyone could fall back on was hard, so very, very hard. After all, heavy lies the head which bears the crown.
"W-what's wrong with it?" Naruto asked, almost defensively. It was only logical.
"No, nothing's wrong with it" Mira admitted with a shake of her head and sighed, "But it's hard isn't it?" she asked him and Naruto looked at her, understanding why she felt such a way about it a bit better now.
"I wanted to be like that" Mira said with a sad smile, "To be someone that Lisanna and Elfman could always rely on, to be that one who would protect them at all times. I told myself that I needed to protect them because they were precious to me, but when I really thought about it, I guess I needed them more than they ever needed me" she explained as she looked up at the sky.
"But, I just couldn't. It was so hard, it is so hard, and I doubt it gets easier to be that person that everyone relies on, the person that stands to defend against the strongest of them all" Mira said sadly before shaking her head, "What am I saying? You probably think I'm rambling" she said with a smile but Naruto could see so much more now.
"No, I don't" Naruto told her, it was exactly how he felt. To be that final bastion for his friends, that was far from easy but she had to have gone through the same thing. There were no parents around, so as the oldest sibling, she had to be just that for her younger siblings, now always to the same scale but the same fear and aversion to the mantle was something they could understand. How scary it was if they ever made a mistake in that position and let the ones behind them get hurt.
"How do you do it?" she asked him and Naruto looked at her, "How are you not afraid?" she asked again and Naruto just acknowledged that.
"I-I guess" Naruto thought, why was he not afraid? Against Laxus or any enemy who wanted to kill him, he never showed fear at all. He knew he was strong, he knew he was smart, he knew he was powerful and he knew that he was the son of a legend, with all that he just had a sense of confidence, that he could do this, he'd worked, trained and bled to get this strong for one reason and he just knew he could win.
"I guess that I'm just confident in myself" Naruto admitted truthfully.
"Then what happens if you fail?" she asked and Naruto's eyes widened at that.
What would happen if he failed, or lost? He had no idea, none at all. In a battle with high stakes, he always found a way to come out on top. Whether the solution was through power, or brains or even just retreat then he always found a way to keep on going. So what happened when he had to protect someone, and lost?
"I don't know" Naruto said blankly, he had no idea what anyone could do and Mira smiled a little, confusing Naruto.
"I'm sorry for smiling" she told him but said softly, "But I guess in a way, I'm a little happy that even someone like you isn't some great figurehead over the rest of us, and that you don't have the answer for everything" she sighed, "I guess it just means that maybe I can be at your level someday, that your level is attainable by someone like me" she admitted as she looked back at her arm, maybe with this Satan Soul thing, she might be able to what she always wanted to do. Protect her family.
Naruto was silent, he had a lot on his mind while his body was aching but the ache had dulled slightly as his brain was whirring, processing everything so quickly, trying to think of a situation and what he should do in said situation.
"Hey" Mira asked him, "One last question for you, Naruto" she asked a little nervously and Naruto looked at her, causing her face to redden even more as she looked down and hid her reaction, wait she was actually going to ask this? To a stranger?
"Yeah, what is it?" Naruto asked her.
"U-umm-well...um" Mira tried to formulate a way to ask something while Naruto was still confused. Girls made no sense at all.
"HEY, Naruto! Water's ready!" he heard Natsu yell out from downstairs and Naruto got up again, albeit with a slight wobble but managed to stand upright properly.
"Well whatever it is, you can ask me anytime" Naruto told her and walked back to the latch while Mira just looked up at the sky when it finally stopped raining and sighed wistfully as she saw an empty sky painted above her.
"Who am I kidding? He's probably got a girlfriend" Mira just thought, oh well, it was still nice to just dream a bit on her first crush.
Location: Bathroom, Mira's house
"Naruto! I don't want to!" Natsu complained.
What was so hard about this? Natsu's insistence that he was clean at all times even when he waded in filth for days, while Naruto tended to get a little OCD on matters such as hygiene so those two personalities tended to clash almost all the time, constantly when it came to baths.
"Just let me wash your hair one more time" Naruto told him as he wrestled him back down into the bathtub and got the shower handle and shampoo bottle.
"NEVER!" Natsu yelled defiantly as he did his best to wriggle out of the hold that Naruto held him in, while Elfman just watched the scene with a complete and utter deadpan at what the heck was going on right now in front of him.
"I always wondered what families are like in the big cities, and they call the country folk weird" Elfman thought as he watched Naruto wrestle his brother down and scrubbed his hair for several minutes, all while doing his best to hold Natsu down at the same time.
After that moment had passed, they settled down as Natsu was mostly causing a ruckus while Naruto was cleaning himself, and Elfman still had no idea what the heck just happened or what was with these two brothers, their guests were unbelievably just too...
"Elfman, right?" Naruto asked him, and he almost jumped in surprise but just managed to stiffly nod to him.
"Have you three lived here for long?" Naruto asked.
"We lived here our whole lives" Elfman just responded, unsure of what this was about.
"Oh, I just have a few questions about this place" Naruto told him casually while Natsu just stood up with a flaming fist, scaring Elfman into the corner.
"Right, now we have questions and you better answer truthfully" Natsu said in a darker voice, starting to really scare Elfman who was wondering what to do right now! What the hell was going on! Natsu seemed to confuse asking questions, with interrogation like how the plays that Erza liked were supposed to go with a cool, strong bad cop and a nice, smart good cop. It was perfect casting already.
"Hey, this isn't an interrogation Natsu" Naruto just informed him, but Natsu didn't loosen up as he pointed to his eyes and to Elfman, just saying, "I got my eyes on you" in sign language, completely befuddling Elfman beyond belief.
"But you better answer truthfully, I don't want to be the bad cop" Natsu told him with squinting eyes and then blinked in confusion, "No wait, I want to be the bad cop, so don't tell the truth!...Wait..." Natsu was thinking, a rare phenomenon while Naruto just ignored him.
"Ignore him, anyway I read that this town had a history of demon attacks, could you tell me about that?" Naruto asked Elfman who just nodded.
"Yeah, this was before we were born but I remember mom and dad talked about it before, and I hear the other people in town talk about it sometimes when I go out" Elfman informed him, "This town got attacked by demons every few years before the Satan demon attacked and then after that, it all stopped" Elfman explained to them.
"But why?" Natsu asked, "What's so special about this place?" and Elfman had no answer and just shrugged.
"Don't know, it just kept happening and then the demons stopped attacking after Satan. Then..." Elfman told them and stopped as he looked downcast with a frown.
"Then what?" Naruto asked.
Elfman sighed, "Then Mira-nee somehow beat the demon-" he explained, stunning the two of them.
"Woah, wait. Your sister beat a demon!" Natsu exclaimed with glee, "That's it, I'm gonna get her to fight me!" and would have dashed out if Naruto didn't stop him and shove him back into the bath, that wasn't going to happen so easily.
"Settle down, you're not going to pick fights with our hosts" Naruto deadpanned, getting Natsu back in with a pout and Naruto gestured Elfman to continue.
"Yeah, Mira-nee beat the demon. But then her arm got cursed as well, and the demon said that she would be a demon...and then everyone just thought she was a demon and well you know the rest" Elfman told them dejectedly.
"Hey, doesn't that make Mira a hero? Why does the town hate her?" Natsu inquired and then turned to Naruto and remembered again, "Oh right, people are dumb. Got it" and Naruto felt...he didn't know how he felt.
Mira went through almost the exact same life he did. Having to be hated for something out of your control, and being marginalised by society with only family to fall back on. No wonder she understood how he felt so well, but she had it worse. She was a hero, and she had a life where she was loved, or not hated by the town and that all went down the drain while Naruto's life was in the drain from the beginning.
"Sorry for anything the town did to you guys, they might treat you badly since you know Mira-nee" Elfman told them and Natsu just shook his head.
"Nah, don't worry!" he said with a grin, "If any of them come around here to hurt you or us, I'll just go HAAAH!" and shook the bath in one direction sending water swirling to one side while Naruto tried to hold the tub steady and stop Natsu, "Then I'll go HAAAH!" Natsu continued and punched in the opposite direction, causing the water to shake even more, "Then finish it with a HYAAAAH!" and sent a kick causing most of the water to start tumbling out and hitting the floor with a huge splash.
"Ahhh, sorry!" Natsu apologised to Elfman who just used a towel and mat to help sweep up the water and they both turned to Naruto who's eyes were wide as dinner plates and his jaw almost hanging a little loose, and felt like his brain had not been struck by a bolt of lightning, but the whole damn storm!
"Spin in all directions" Naruto muttered while both of them just exchanged confused glances.
"Um...what?" Natsu asked his brother, who just split into a wide grin and slapped Natsu on both shoulders with glee.
"Natsu, you're a genius!" Naruto said excitedly as he stood up and quickly wrapped a towel around himself with a grin. Damn it, why didn't he think of this before. It was so simple, spin in all directions, not just one! He did it!
"...I am?" Natsu said unsurely and even more puzzled while Elfman just stared slack jawed at that.
"He is?" Elfman thought, in utter bewilderment at the crazy people that Mira had invited to live with them.
"No time to explain, bath by yourself, I'm off, bye!" Naruto said in a rush as he dried himself quickly, and left the room, leaving behind two very confused boys who hadn't the faintest clue of what the heck just happened here.
"WAAH!" a loud noise sounded the small hall as Naruto stepped out of the bathroom and ran right into a mop of white hair wearing old robes and widened his eyes at who he just ran into, quickly picking himself up and offering her a hand.
"I'm very sorry for running into-..." Naruto apologised but lost his speech as he saw Mira clearly and his heart rate had just entered the highway. He also got no reply as Mira blinked her eyes open and saw Naruto offering his hand to help her up, and took the hand to get back on her feet.
Then when her eyes stopped blurring and came into focus, she saw Naruto, but with a six pack and shirtless with basically the male physique of an adonis from a magazine made lifelike. Like a sculpture of a demigod made by one hell of an artist who definitely didn't miss on any of the fine details as she immediately turned atomic red and turned away from him.
Meanwhile, Naruto's train of thought went from Ethernano Make: Rasengan to women in a heartbeat, especially very hot women like the one in front of him wrapped in a towel. She might not have developed much in the chest yet, yet being the key word there, but damn her curves were really like an hourglass, and her legs were creamy and soft with nice thighs, hot rear and-snap out of it!
"U-umm...?" Naruto managed to say, while his brain was struggling to come back to reality again.
"F-foods nearly done, and we'll just finish our bath in a few minutes. A-and your clothes are in the l-living room, I-I also washed them" Mira quickly said before ducking into the next room, leaving Naruto beet red and almost squeaking.
"...I really need a cold shower-oh right, no water" Naruto thought as he shook his head again of all those thoughts like a dog trying to remove water from it's ears. Sadly that didn't stop any of the thoughts about Mira percolating in his brain, dear father where was he when you really needed him?
Location: Mira's kitchen/dining room
After that mishap, Naruto and Natsu managed to get dressed and waited for a few minutes while Mira and Lisanna cleaned up and Elfman showed them their dining room/kitchen where they sat down. Then right from the get go, Naruto had to quickly stop Natsu by getting him to sit down and not pounce on the food in front of him, which was decidedly harder than it seemed considering that he wanted to eat it badly as well.
"Hey guys, we're here!" a cheery voice yelled and from the next door, Lisanna bounded in with excitement and quickly took her seat while Mira hung back to put on her cooking apron and stepped into the kitchen, while Naruto looked as far away as possible, not trusting his brain to immediately swerve to something perverted...oh dear father he was going to end up like Gildarts at this rate.
"...I feel like I missed something very mockable" Kurama thought as he sat down in the kitchen with a dog bowl that Naruto created.
"Dinner's ready" Mira told them as she put a pot right in the centre and lifted the lid, letting an absolutely divine scent percolate through the room that even had Naruto drooling at that as they leaned over to look at it.
"It's Chicken Stew with a mixture of Vegetables, I thought we could have it with some rice as well" Mira told them and brought a slightly old rice cooker and lifted the lid to reveal another great scent as the rice had been worked with onions and other extras to give it more flavour.
"It smells awesome!" Natsu was almost watering from his mouth and Mira just smiled at that as she handed everyone portions of food onto their plates, and lastly to Naruto, while trying not to turn red in the face as they looked at each other, a problem that Naruto also had as well.
"...Ok, I know I missed something. Spill!" Kurama demanded in Naruto's head.
"Shut up" Naruto thought back as he let some of the stew fall onto the rice, and watched as it perfectly melted and combined together and scooped up a portion and held it close, the spices and seasoning clearly enhancing what's already perfect and with no further delay, Naruto popped it into his mouth.
For a moment, he was utterly silent as he felt the food wash over his palate, and then in one explosion, he almost fell backwards at the blast of flavours that hit him as he savoured each one, all of them overloading his nerves as he was in a moment of his own and-
"Is it good?" Mira asked nervously and Naruto blinked before looking at her like she was crazy.
"Are you kidding? This is the best food I've ever eaten in my life" Naruto told her loudly, almost forgetting the last time he ever raised his voice as he devoured his meal, and that was saying nothing for Natsu who was shoving in food like an animal, while crying at the same time.
"Itshaa goasshh" Natsu choked out as he swallowed the pile of food in his mouth.
"I think they like it" Lisanna smiled and Mira just looked embarrassed, she did remember when she was younger that one of her dreams was to open a restaurant, and a lifetime of cooking for her siblings and trying to make them happy, made her one hell of a Master Chef.
"Mira-nee's food is always the best, no matter what she cooks with" Elfman grinned with pride as he started eating as well, while the girls were the only ones eating normally.
"You said it" Kurama said with glee as he had seconds, and his bowl was filled with the nectar of the gods as they group quickly ate their way through their dinner and after that, everyone had to let out a sigh of contentment, it was just that good.
"Thank you for the meal" Naruto told them, and Natsu followed suit along with Kurama while Naruto just got up and started washing the dishes, much to the protest of Mira who stood up as well and quickly walked over to the sink.
"Wait, you're our guest! I'll do the dishes" Mira protested as she started scrubbing a plate in there while Naruto just shook his head.
"No, you've already done enough with your cooking, it's only fair that we give something back for your hospitality" Naruto argued back while they both were gripping the same plate at the same time, and stared at each other, neither yielding to the other.
"I can do it" Mira stated.
"No need, I can do this" Naruto shot back.
"I insist" Mira rebutted with more emphasis.
"I insist more" Naruto said with a smile, causing Mira to smile a little as well.
"I insist even more than that" Mira smiled.
"I insist to the maximum" Naruto grinned.
"I insist to infinity!" Mira said with a tone of finality while Naruto just scoffed a little.
"Infinity isn't the limit, if you take a set of cardinal or ordinal numbers it can be mathematically be greater than infinity with-" Naruto continued before Kurama cut him off loudly.
"NEEEEERRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD!" Kurama yelled out causing Naruto to stop and shoot the fox a pointed glare while the fox just shrugged, "Seriously, you make this too easy. I'll probably just keep doing this almost every day".
"Why do I even put up with you sometimes" Naruto groaned as the fox just stuck it's tongue out at Naruto and he turned his glance back at Mira who finished washing the plate while he was distracted, and put the pile out to dry with a smile.
"Well then, now that it's all settled, we should probably turn in for the night" Mira told him and Naruto glanced at the wall clock, 10:43, wow time really did fly way too quickly when he didn't want it to and Natsu let out a yawn.
"Mira-nee, can you sing us a lullaby" Lisanna asked her older sister who just smiled gently.
"A lullaby, no thanks!" Natsu immediately rebutted and turned to Naruto, "One fight before bed! That's the rule!" Natsu grinned, causing Naruto grin as well, while Lisanna just huffed at that.
"Fighting, that's dumb" Lisanna disagreed, causing Natsu to flare up at that.
"You wanna fight!" Natsu immediately shot while Naruto just held him down to stop him from pouncing into a battle.
"No, I don't! That's why I want a lullaby" Lisanna shot back while Natsu blinked. Maybe he was just unused to people not saying they wanted to fight, it was only a thing that was synonymous to Fairy Tail and maybe a Dragon dad but not much elsewhere.
"Well, we can head outside for the fight and then you have to sleep, agreed?" Naruto asked and Natsu nodded enthusiastically at that and hopped out the window with excitement and Naruto just sighed, he always had too much energy, like a generator amped up to insane levels.
Naruto vs Natsu...sigh and it's well into the thousands here
"All right, I'm all fired up now!" Natsu grinned while Naruto just stood casually on the other side, and the onlookers watched from the window, the onlookers being the Strauss siblings and Kurama who usually sat out of these one-on-one fights between brothers.
"Whenever you're ready, Natsu. I might not have much magic from all the practice I did before taking a bath, but you know it's a bad idea to underestimate me, now come!" Naruto told him and his brother needed no more prompting as he immediately rushed forwards at that.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled as his fist immediately ignited in flames and he recklessly charged forwards at Naruto who was still standing there cooly as he watched the incoming attack head towards him and as the fist was about to connect, Naruto just tiled his head to the side and let the fist pass right next to him.
Not one to be deterred, Natsu's other fist immediately lit up and he tried to nail his brother with a swipe but Naruto just moved forwards and tilted his head again, just dodging it and Natsu aimed right for Naruto's midsection, only to strike air as Naruto just took a step back, allowing to miss again.
"RAAAH!" Natsu yelled as he charged forwards, only for Naruto to dodge it with an agile grace as Naruto didn't even need his hands as he continued to dance around the attacks with ease as Natsu sent punches, jabs and swipes, only for them to not connect by a hair-breath at times while Naruto was still smiling the whole time.
"Come on, you can do better than this brother" Naruto egged his brother on, who fell for the taunt and his flames almost doubled in size from it.
"You asked for this big bro!" Natsu grinned as he ducked and feinted a punch to his legs when Natsu managed to get into an uppercut, and for the onlookers it looked like Natsu was finally going to hit Naruto before they were shocked when Naruto finally used his hands.
Naruto just slapped the fist with an open palm from his right hand and pushed it to the side, leaving Natsu exposed and Naruto launched an open palm strike right at Natsu with his left hand, pushing his little brother back a few feet, almost slightly choking.
"Cough, that was dirty!" Natsu yelled, "I just ate!" he told Naruto who just looked seriously at him.
"Natsu, I've always told you. In these fights, treat me like an enemy who is out to get you. You can certainly expect your enemy to not show you mercy, and go for weak spots if they're present" Naruto told him seriously who nodded at that with gritted teeth.
"All right then, Fire Dragon Grip Strike!" Natsu called out and from his hand came out a burst of flames, with no target but Naruto smiled as Natsu was trying to produce a stream of thick smoke which with the wind went right at Naruto, who didn't have Kurama on him to sense out his opponent. He was finally starting to think a little more.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled victoriously as Natsu's fist finally connected with Naruto's chest, catching Naruto by surprise and Naruto was pushed back at the surprising force from Natsu's fist and the onlookers gasped as Naruto was even knocked over by it.
"I-I did it!" Natsu said almost in awe as he managed to knock over Naruto, that was normally impossible for him but after a moment passed, he jumped in the air with a cheer, "I DID IT!" he yelled out, only for his eyes to widen as the smoke cleared and the expression on Naruto's face was absolute boredom and with a sigh, Naruto just jumped back up onto his feet, like the punch never happened.
"W-what?" Natsu said in shock and Naruto just sighed.
"Natsu, you didn't think that one punch was enough to take me down?" Naruto asked him pointedly, "I've taken punches from people who can level mountains, you should have followed up when I was down rather than celebrate" Naruto shook his head and Natsu just nodded at that.
"Well then, how about this! Fire Dragon Grip Strike!" Natsu tried the same trick again, but in a blur of speed, none of them even saw Naruto appear behind Natsu who surprisingly immediately reacted by pointing his hand upwards and letting it explode in smoke, causing Naruto to smile slightly as he ducked back.
"You've certainly been learning" Naruto admitted causing Natsu to grin at that.
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu yelled as his body was enveloped in flames and Natsu immediately jumped into a charge, aiming for a headbutt at Naruto who just smiled at that and to Natsu's surprise, he didn't strike anything as he just passed through the smoke without hitting anything.
"You know, Natsu" a voice said and Natsu looked at Naruto standing right behind him, facing the house, "The same trick doesn't work twice unless they're an idiot, you can just feel the heat from your flames and dodge" Naruto told him and Natsu was frowning.
"Come on, Naruto always says to think before you do anything. I can't punch him, I can't blind him and punch him, then I'll try hitting him from here!" Natsu thought and opened his mouth to suck in air causing Naruto's eyes to widen as he noticed what was behind him.
"Wait, Natsu!" Naruto immediately told his brother who was already done and let out a powerful stream of flames directed at Naruto, "Fire Dragon Roar!" he yelled out and quick as a flash, Naruto just requipped something out of thin air and held it in front of him, it was his gunbai Akatsuki and Naruto activated a complicated and powerful sealing mechanism in it with a small flare of his magic, and that caused the flames released to just get absorbed into the fan.
"Damn it, little brother" Naruto twitched as Natsu ran out of breath, and was panting a little and saw that he was holding his war fan in front of his attack, oh crud.
"Akatsuki Gaeshin!" Naruto said clearly and the fan just spewed the flames right back at Natsu, who closed his eyes as it almost blinded him, and that was his mistake as he took his eyes of Naruto for one second and Naruto held his fan back behind him.
"Akatsuki Daitoppa!" Naruto finished it as he swung his fan, and with seals and a few enchantments that he was starting to learn his war fan generated a powerful gust of wind that buffeted Natsu back who was unprepared for it and as the wind was tearing the place up, Naruto immediately got behind him and before Natsu could react, he was knocked out with a single strike to the back of his neck.
Gaeshin, or reflection was a trick he created by instantly sealing and unsealing anything that struck the fan, thereby allowing a return-to-sender ability to his fan. Sadly that sealing mechanism wasn't perfect as it had limits and it couldn't be used constantly for every attack, after one reflection was done it would usually not work for the rest of the fight, making it a very rare trick he would pull out.
As for Daitoppa, it was a power given to the fan by Enchantments. Naruto was a true blue novice, but with help from Levy they both managed to enchant the fan with wind properties allowing it to generate gusts of wind with a swing. It was a spell that usually needed his magic to activate, and it would only really have serious power if the fan had absorbed a little magic from an attack that hit it and been reflected back.
His Gunbai wasn't perfect but it was because any weapon has a flaw, it's user and Naruto had yet to master it to perfection and make the fan as powerful as it could be with his modifications, oh well it would come in time with work and Naruto wrapped up his thoughts and looked at Natsu.
"Damn it" Natsu grunted as he hit the ground, almost unconscious, another win for Naruto.
After Naruto finished berating his little brother for recklessly almost burning a house down, Natsu looked sheepish and apologised to the residents, who just were happy that their house wasn't burned down and Naruto assured for them that Natsu wouldn't burn the place down at all.
"It's fine, I think it's time to sleep for the night" Mira told them while looking at Naruto again. She knew by the way he carried himself, it just screamed strength and power but to the extent, she had no idea as she saw Naruto manhandle his brother with ease, and his brother certainly had a thing for pyrotechnics but with barely any magic or effort Naruto easily managed to subdue his brother who was certainly a quick thinker on his feet, something that was no doubt from his elder brother.
She turned in for the night, after putting Lisanna and Elfman to sleep, thinking of how her life had swerved completely off the rails by meeting a boy, she just smiled at that brightly, enough to illuminate the pitch black night itself, he certainly was one of a kind.
"Good night, Naruto" Mira said to herself as she fell asleep.
On another bed, Naruto just put Natsu to sleep, who fell asleep immediately from exhaustion and Naruto yawned himself as he covered himself with the duvet, his thoughts immediately diverting towards a certain girl he encountered. A white haired girl, with the looks of an angel, the body of a model and the personality of a goddess with the powers of a demon.
Really was there any explanation to any of this at all, as he closed his eyes, his dreams centred around the unique person he just met and the one person who would soon be one of the centres of his life, Mirajane Strauss.