Here's another chapter. I'll admit that this chapter took some time. The GMG starts to defer from canon from this chapter.

As always, thanks to black goku, GV211, hateme101, obito, JesusChrist, xNightShroudx, Zedscep, Last983, Darkzero698, Devil's Darklight, yohanl2001, StopTeasing, LyHy, ronlol2, islamy96, Mobydicks, iskandarrobby47, Jutten, GB108 and guest(x2) for your reviews.

Disclaimer: do not own Naruto or FT. Not beta-read, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes.

Continuing on;

...

Chapter 20: Dragon king festival

A young child looked to his left and right, at the crowd that had gathered along the coast. He raised a brow in confusion and tugged the sleeve of the woman beside him, "Mother, what's going on?"

His mother looked down at him and gave a small smile, "Your father and I are moving away, Sasuke."

"Moving away? Where?" Sasuke looked into his mother's eyes, a nervous expression on his face before he hesitantly spoke. "Can I come too?"

"It is far, far away, Sasuke dear. Sadly, you won't be coming with us," His mother's gaze softened when she noticed his slightly teary eyes. "Don't worry. You will be joining us too eventually, but it won't be until for a long time."

As if in response, his father grunted from his other side, "Hn, don't worry. Your brother will be here with you. He will take care of you."

Sasuke's face shifted from a lament look to an elated one at the mention of his brother, "Big brother!"

His brother appeared in front of him as if on cue. His appearance was that of when he joined Anbu. "Foolish little brother," And then Itachi poked him on the forehead. Itachi looked at their parents for a moment and then grabbed his hand which was firmly curled into his mother's dress.

Sasuke blinked in confusion as the clouds moved ever so slightly, the sun long gone as it settled on the horizon, in the line connecting the ocean and the sky. The rays perched from the clouds like fresh buds from a plant, his feet planting deep into the unstable land beneath him. He wiggled his toes slightly as the sand shifted under him.

Panic struck across his face as he observed his parents moving forward without him, towards an ancient wooden boat waiting to take them to the other side. He observed many other clan members as well, climbing onto the boat. He watched as Shisui, his brother's best friend, helped a few elders onto the boat with a smile.

"Even Aunty and Uncle?" Sasuke asked his brother, who had his own solemn look on his face. His eyes trailed in the direction his brother's eyes went and observed a brown haired girl entering the boat as well.

"…Izumi."

That name left from his brother's lips as Sasuke saw some sorrow reflect in Itachi's eyes. Soon, all the clan members had gone much to his surprise, leaving only Itachi and him on the shore.

Once crowed beach was now barren, as his brother stood with a heavy heart. Sasuke, being a kid, felt bad at first but was quickly comforted by his brother's presence to his side. At least Itachi stayed behind. Nothing could go wrong.

The boat stayed behind, as the sky shifted its color from carmine to obsidian. Sasuke found himself growing up as the sky changed its color, his brother maturing at his side as well. Then, much to Sasuke's dread, he found a repeat of what had happened earlier.

The stars danced in sky, as the light it generated illuminated the sky to an extent. He could see a sad expression on his brother who walked a step forward and turned to face him. His mind froze when he understood what his brother was about to do.

Itachi placed a hand on top of Sasuke's head, looking deep into his eyes. "It seems like it is time for me to join with our parents… but you should stay behind."

Sasuke could only stare, as his throat dried at the moment. No words came out of his mouth as his brother continued, "I know that it is unfair of me to leave you behind all by yourself… I always lied to you and asked for your forgiveness and couldn't take care of you as I had promised Father." His hand slid down from top to the back of his head. But, now I believe… perhaps you could have stopped mother, father and the rest of the clan… only if I had only been open with you from the start. So, I want to impart at least this truth to you before I leave… no matter what you decide to do from now, I'll always love you."

His mind still remained in shock as he watched his brother drop his hands and walked towards the mast. He halted, wanting to call Itachi a liar for pulling another trick again, because he knew he was lying… until Itachi spoke those final words. He kept silent, letting him walk ahead, that distance between them yawning wider with every step.

By the time his mind processed what was going on, Itachi was already near the mast about to board it. His legs immediately started moving, as he stumbled in the sand. He surged the vast shore, time spinning out under him.

"Itachi!"

His brother stopped and turned around to see his brother sprinting towards the mast. "I am sorry, Sasuke. But, you should stay behind and carry out the name of the Uchiha clan. You'll probably face some discrimination, but I am sure you'll set the Uchiha onto the right path," Itachi said, referring to the misled Uchiha Stone Tablet that messed up with their clan for generations.

Still running furiously, Sasuke clenched his fists, "You always did things on your own. Selfishly deciding everything on your own... selfishly being content despite what happened to you. So, am I supposed to walk this one path all alone and forget about everything?!"

"You're not alone as you think, foolish little brother."

Itachi had a peaceful smile, his eyes looking far behind him. Sasuke halted for a moment as he took in his brother's expression before looking over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw Team seven along with his new comrades from Fairy Tail guild and Team Taka standing at the back. All of them were either smiling or grinning. By the time he turned back to look at his brother, Itachi had long disappeared, as the early sun rays emerged from a converged point in the horizon. The mast was also long gone too.

Sasuke could only chuckle bitterly at how his brother deceived him again, and disappeared yet again with a lie, a distraction. He wiped the wet stream of his cheek, tears that he didn't realize were flowing.

His gaze then drifted to the side as light shone slightly at the sight. Three more Uchiha members stood near the beach, where it looked like they were longing for the mast to return and carry them. His brother's final words arched into his heart, as he promised himself to never let something like that happen to his clan again.

He was not alone.

..

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened, the cool breeze slightly greasing against his face. He could hear the distinctive birds chirping in the background, along with the grass slightly rustling against the wind.

He blinked again when he realized where he was and what he was doing. Dream, huh?

A strange dream, it was. He rarely dreamt now-a-days, thanks to his history and the continuous usage of his clan's prized doujutsu. It felt like… he had relived all his life up to this point in that one dream, with his brother giving him his final mission.

He thought as he gazed at the bandaged left hand that laid on top of his chest. He blinked again. The last thing he remembered was that the grass, no matter how fresh it was, was never this soft.

His gaze shifted from his left hand to the chocolate eyes that greeted him with a warm smile.

"Finally awake, huh sleepy head?"

Sasuke stared for a moment in surprise. He then simply closed his eyes in response and pretended to yawn.

"Sleeping again?"

"…"

"Sasuke?"

"…"

Erza bit back her frustration. "Okay, not funny anymore. I am not sure my legs can bear the weight any longer."

"Hn, I remember relaxing by myself in this park," He opened his eyes to look at her, slight amusement lingering in his eyes. "But, it seems that someone has found it to their convenience to offer their lap as my pillow."

Erza crossed her arms and looked away with a small huff. She then began nervously after a moment, hesitating if she was really hesitating to speak her mind. "You… you kind of looked peaceful while you were sleeping. I just thought you know… that you must be tired from…"

"Tired from what?"

She met his gaze at the lack of consideration in his tone, and shot him an incredulous look. Her color refilled her cheeks as she glared at him. "If you think that you are being subtle about it, you are wrong. I know all about you and your nocturnal activities anyway. Sometimes, I think that you should have been born a vampire instead with your sleeping habits."

"A blood sucking devil?" Sasuke pretended to have an offended look. She was trying to scold him, but instead of feeling annoyed he actually felt happy for some reason.

Erza raised her eyebrows, before shaking her head. "Maybe you are actually a vampire. You already have pale skin, you tend to be awake at night and you already got that… you know the black cape thing and ruby eyes going on."

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "Hm, you do have a point. Maybe I am." He said, but still made no effort to get up. It felt really warm and comfy in her lap. Maybe that was actual reason that he had a dream after a long time. Who knew?

"Wow, you are not even denying it. So, who was your prey that kept you up last night?"

"No one fancy caught my eye yet." Sasuke lifted his shoulders slightly before looking at her when she snorted at his words. "I'd be careful if I were you… I am still hungry and I might just bite you."

Okay. He might have said something totally wrong or something flirtiest without his knowledge if she was blushing like a tomato now. He saw her open her mouth after a few moments, refusing to look him in the eye and looking to the side, "…I ...I don't mind." She said quietly.

Sasuke blinked. Wait, what?

Shocked and not knowing what she just implied, Sasuke just stared at her with his mouth open. He blinked a couple of times as he too looked to his side, that awkward silence hanging in between them.

They both stayed the same way as they were, with Sasuke's head still lying comfortably on Erza's lap and Erza looking to the side. Laughter of children was heard in the background as they contemplated what to say next.

"So," Sasuke coughed, searching for another topic after a minute which seemed like an eternity. "What's the rest of the guild doing now? I was honestly expecting few thanks because they get to enjoy a free day because of me."

That seemed to do the trick as Erza got back to him. She rolled her eyes at him. "A free day because you nearly destroyed the arena and Laxus gave the finishing touches to it."

"That reminds me… How will the games be carried out now that Raven Tail is expelled?"

"That is why the authorities decided to give us a day of rest, so that they can decide how to proceed from now." Erza leaned against the tree behind her. "And, they also caught scent of the underworld bouts and are interrogating around."

"Interrogation, huh?" Sasuke could only hope the siblings remained safe. "How are Natsu and the others faring?"

"The usual. Natsu challenged Naruto to an eating contest." Erza knew that because she observed many bowls of Ramen to the either side of them on her way. "I think Lucy and Levy went to do some shopping. Gray is caught up in his struggles with Lyon and Juvia. The rest of the guild is at the bar."

"Gray and Juvia?" Sasuke remembered giving Gray a pep talk on this. He blamed mostly on sake for his rather weird bonding moment with Gray. That definitely wasn't how he pictured his first genuine moment with Gray to go. "He must know how she realizes about him, right?"

"Yeah," Erza chuckled. "I even talked to Gray regarding this."

"Gray must be really dense if almost everyone around him are giving him a pep talk," Sasuke said, before clarifying upon noticing the look of confusion on her face. "I talked to him regarding that as well. Not something I had intended but..."

Erza was surprised. She never could have imagined that Sasuke all of people was interested enough in other's love lives that he decided to throw in his two cents. He was the last person she expected to be talking about that kind of stuff.

"Well, seems like neither of our talks did anything though."

"He'll come to… eventually." Sasuke said, remembering about his teammate. "And, when he realizes this, he will give her the answer she deserves." Even though he himself hadn't given any kind of response to his teammate, it looked like Sakura understood without him ever saying anything.

Juvia was different though. She was different from Sakura in more than a few ways. Maybe she really cared about Gray but she was quick to judge any other girl close to Gray as her rival. What was the specific term she used? Yeah, Love Rival. He remembered Lucy being called that a lot of times.

Compared to her, Sakura never called anyone her rival though... Scratch that thought. He just remembered Ino. Those two had always competed behind him for his affection since he was just a six year old kid. Even after he lost his clan and was hell bent on revenge. He remembered Naruto saying something like he was responsible for breaking the friendship between Sakura and Ino in the past.

He really shouldn't be the one to discuss stuff like this.

"Maybe you are right," Erza said, nodding to herself apparently satisfied with his explanation. "But, I wouldn't say the same for Natsu and Lucy."

"Natsu and Lucy are a thing?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows. He bent his right leg and rested his right forearm on it as he looked at Erza.

"Yeah," Erza said, looking at the curious expression Sasuke gave. "You didn't notice before?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, since Natsu is an idiot. I did not think it was possible for him to be invested in anyone."

"He isn't. Lucy is."

He thought about it for a moment. "Lucy does seem like the type. But, I can bet that Natsu won't notice this unless someone spells it out for him."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "You think Natsu is incapable?"

Sasuke sensed a dangerous aura around her. She was standing up for her friend, which was good. But, facts were facts. "Yeah… if he is anything like Naruto to go which I think he is, then yeah."

"Oh," Erza cocked an eyebrow, trying to act calm about it but challenged him to elaborate. "Naruto was Hinata's crush for a long time. And, now they are engaged which I think is possible only because Naruto realized her feelings."

Sasuke stared right back at her, accepting her challenge. He had once asked Naruto on why he decided to marry Hinata since he did not know the girl personally and he thought that Naruto had always loved Sakura. When Naruto explained to him over drinks, his reasoning baffled him.

"This realization you talk about was nothing but being shown a series of images from the time Hinata stuttered around him since childhood to being shown her confession which he apparently forgot during an invasion. He practically knew or realized as you say about her love inside a genjutsu."

"Really?" Erza asked with a surprised expression as Sasuke looked slightly annoyed.

"Yeah," Sasuke continued his previous thought. "By the time I- we got back to the village, I was actually half expecting him to be with Sakura."

"But, didn't Sakura… you know…" Erza started but she averted his gaze with a hesitant expression. She actually found it hard to say, but found the courage nonetheless to finish her question. "Doesn't she like you?"

"She does, I guess." Sasuke closed his eyes, thinking on how crazy Sakura was for a moment. When he was at his darkest time, he had tried to kill her. But then again he did try to kill Naruto as well. He had probably hurt- no, he was sure they were definitely hurt at that time but he was far too lost to have cared about them. He wondered how Erza would feel when she knew about this tid bit of information. "But, then again so did Naruto for as long as I remember. He also put his life on danger multiple times for her."

Some of them had been from him. Yeah, he got this information about Naruto's promise to Sakura as well. Apparently, Sai just loved to run his mouth. That promise that Naruto made to Sakura regarding him… it hurt him a bit knowing that he had caused such trouble for Naruto, but the blonde was a forgiving moron. So, he didn't share about this with him.

Erza bent her head down a bit and ran her fingers through his soft bangs absentmindedly. Sasuke froze at first, but relaxed himself immediately at the gesture. It was now slowly becoming a warm feeling… this posture. Reminded him a bit of his mother when he slept on her lap.

"Maybe Naruto liked her so much that he decided to bow out for her," Erza said after a few moments, contemplating what Sasuke just told her. She continued to run her fingers through his hair, "For a girl, it's difficult to change her feelings so easily."

"Hn, he calls himself my rival." Sasuke spoke slightly venting his frustration, "I left the village (again) to repent for my sins alone, and he didn't take the chance. I have been away two years for god's sake."

Erza felt slightly relieved when Sasuke spoke about how he felt on this whole matter. Apparently, he cared for Sakura as his teammate and as a friend. She knew she was being horrible by being relived on Sakura's case, but she couldn't help it. "As I said, a girl's feelings don't change so easily… but, it is not impossible." She was a prime example herself. "If Naruto had really tried, then it may have been possible as you say."

"Hn, whatever." He rolled his eyes thinking of his idiotic friend. He closed his eyes blocking thoughts about love and all, irritated just thinking about it.

"You think this is all silly, don't you?" Erza smiled sadly looking to her front as Sasuke opened his eyes and stared blankly at her. "Love is a bit more complicated than you think… I know that it starts off with an attraction at first. But that's not all… it's like, how to put it?" She thought hard but nothing decent came to her mind. "This feeling flows from somewhere else. Even if people disagree and you know you won't make the cut, once you realize this, it is actually unstoppable."

Erza finished and bent her head down to look at him. Her cheeks slightly heated up when he was openly gaping at her with wide eyes. Maybe she said something wrong. "W-What?"

A smirk soon fell on his lips. "Looks like someone has been reading a lot of books."

"S-Shut up!"

She was blushing with a color rivalling her hair now. She was just so easy to tease. He silently wondered if these kind of reactions and expressions were only reserved for him since she generally tends to be bossy around others. He began wondering what other kind of reactions he could get from her.

He went forward with his thought as he raised his right arm and cupped her smooth cheek. If it was possible for her to blush even more, then she was doing just that. He smiled in return, "You are warm."

Erza blinked at his smile and finally lost it. She immediately got up, squirming out of that position causing Sasuke's head to be dropped onto the grass rather harshly. Crossing her arms, "O-Of course, it's warm. It is all because of the stress that has been building up." She nodded, convincing herself that.

"Sure." Was all Sasuke said as he got up. He noticed that her cheeks were still flushed slightly as she refused to look at him.

"Let's hurry back to Natsu and the others. Who knows what kind of rampage he is causing?" Saying so she stomped away.

"Hn," Sasuke adjusted his cloak and followed after her.

He had been expecting to meet Naruto too. His friend had earlier informed him that he found a strange cave under the arena. But, since he was too tired due to lack of sleep, he said to Naruto that they would investigate it later and found himself dozing in a park before a certain red head found him. Now was a good time to discuss about it as he got sufficient rest.

..

"Aw, Minerva-chan!~ You are so mean!"

Minerva was storming away as Kawaguchi followed behind her. He ran once again, falling into pace with her and turned his head, "Okay, forget about the hotel. What do you say about coffee?"

Minerva stopped and stared at him in annoyance. "You seriously don't know when to give up, do you?"

"You know me~!"

Minerva shook her head and proceeded to walk towards her inn ignoring him. There went whatever plans she had to dust. All because a certain someone wouldn't stop pestering and following around her. She turned a right and walked straight down the road with her guild inn in sight… or what's left of it after Natsu's rampage.

She could still feel that annoying presence behind her. That guy didn't seem to know how to take a hint. "Okay," She turned towards him and shot him a sharp gaze. "I'll go with you on whatever and wherever you want, if your sister joins Sabertooth." With two god slayers with them, they would be even more formidable. A smirk fell on her lips, "What do you say? Not a bad offer, I think."

The man's smile faltered a bit, "It depends on my sister. You already heard her reply when you sent Sting to recruit her." He started rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't really force her into anything… if she agrees, then there is no problem. But, you already know that she is stubborn as hell."

Minerva was not impressed. Her lips thinned as she heard the man's reply. "Don't bother around, then."

"Why do you want my sister, when you can have me?~" He gave a sexy smirk and winked at her. "I'll be much more entertaining than my sister."

"Kawaguchi, stop!" Minerva held her palm at him. Her eyes narrowed. "I don't usually encourage such kind of behavior. The only reason you are getting away is -"

"Because I am handsome?"

"No." Minerva rubbed her temples in exasperation. "Even if you're handsome, your creepiness cancels it. The only reason you are getting away is because your sister helped us that one time."

"Are you sure you are not gay for my sister?" Kawaguchi crossed his arms bending his head a little. She blinked with the question catching her off-guard. "You are so much obsessed with recruiting my sis that even I am beginning to doubt it."

"W-What?" She coughed, regaining her composure. "Anyway, that's that. If you want to take me out, bring your sister."

It was a win-win situation either way for her. If his sister agrees to join them, going out with him was a short price to pay. Even if she doesn't, at least she would be free of him. That was when she remembered a particular scene.

"Wait, come to think of it, don't you have a wife already?" Minerva sneered at the thought of a married man goofing around. "Just how much more of a pervert can you be?"

"W-Who told you that?" He pointed a shaking finger at her.

"As I thought," She nodded before redirecting her attention to the man whose face went blue. "I caught that fact when you were busy playing near a fairy. If my guess is correct, your wife's a redhead, right?"

His gaping mouth confirmed it.

"Anyway, I am going in." She turned to her heel before saying one final thing to Kawaguchi who had already gone pale. "Do remember this, though. My offer stands till the last day of the games."

And with that, she strode inside. Kawaguchi stood there silently for a few seconds staring dumbly at the door before a familiar face greeted him from behind. He felt someone smack him on the back.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the former champ?"

He blinked turning to the white dragon slayer. "For the record, that match never got finished."

"Yeah, right." Sting laughed as Lector joined him.

"I wonder what that makes you…" Kawaguchi replied with a taunting smile. "Mine, you could at least say was a draw. Yours on the other hand, I don't even know how to phrase it correctly… I am not sure if I can even call it a match. It looked pretty one-sided to me."

He smirked when he saw Sting glare at him for that. Sting held his gaze for a moment before looking away giving a weak excuse, "I was saving my energy for the games."

"Whatever helps you to sleep." Kawaguchi rolled his eyes.

He watched Sting walk to him with an annoyed expression at his reply. "Teme! Next time I battle with that masked man, I will beat him and make you eat your own words."

"Hai hai," He waved him off.

"Oi, listen to what people say!"

Sting and he knew each other a lot as he always ended up fighting the dragon slayer since he arrived first in Crockus. Sting and he were generally the ones facing each other in the finals every time they entered in those bouts.

"Anyway, do something about your madam… put in a word for me for old times' sake." Kawaguchi said with an honest expression.

He watched Sting sigh heavily at this, "I'll see what I can do."

Kawaguchi smiled and started walking away. "Thank you and in return, I'll inform how much of a gentleman you have become to my sister."

Sting blinked at that and immediately turned towards him. "Your sist -"

Kawaguchi was gone.

..

Kawaguchi observed Sting look around in confusion from the top of a building. His cheerful expression immediately shifted to a dour one as he detected a presence creeping up behind him.

"Been messing around, I see."

He turned when he heard a voice and saw a treacherous shadow looming behind him. His senses went still as he activated his doujutsu instinctively, taking up a stance.

"Relax," A low and hollow voice called out from the black mist. "Is that how you treat an old friend?"

"I ended up here two years because of you, bastard!" He let his arms fall to his side, dropping his stance but was still wary of the shadow. "You did not turn up at all as you promised."

The shadow chuckled, "I told you that preparations would take some time. There were… some unseen complications."

"Complications?"

"We got some interesting visitors… all because the princess failed in her mission." The shadow was no longer chuckling. The voice also sounded serious. "I thought you were the strongest in your army, young commander."

"I am."

"Then who is this 'Sasuke Uchiha'? Is he one of your own?"

Kawaguchi shook his head, "He does not belong to any platoon that I remember. Such a talented man is rare to not notice."

The shadow seemed to snort, its form shifting a bit. "This is getting troublesome. This Sasuke and that masked man are dangerous. They have the ability to completely mess up my plan. And, if my plan gets messed up, then no one can save your wife. You are getting that, aren't you?"

"I get that." The commander nodded grimly. He then looked at that shadow, "This plan… if it succeeds, are you really certain that you can save my wife?"

The shadow loomed over and started taking the shape of a human. A human face was now visible with half white and half black hair. A calm voice came out, "I cannot absolutely guarantee that it will work. But, if anything can save your wife, then it's this plan. I have been researching regarding the dragons and dragon slayer magic for a long time after all."

Kawaguchi had no other choice but to nod. He could only trust this plan and pray that in the end his wife would be saved and the child growing inside her.

"So, what's the course of action?"

"I would like to observe my current self a while longer. So for now, we do nothing." A figure finally stepped out of the shadows. His appearance was considerably different than his present's self; his hair was now much longer than before, being tied in a high ponytail that reached midway down his back. Additionally, rather than being completely black, his hair was black on the right, and a much lighter color on the left.

Kawaguchi observed a jagged scar that extended over the bridge of his nose and his bangs covering his right eye, and also a sharp curved tattoo along his left eye. "You mean to say that you want to observe the current Rogue?"

"Yes." This shadow dragon slayer nodded.

"Alright," Kawaguchi climbed onto the ledge, "Inform me about the plan when the time is right."

"I will." With that, Kawaguchi flickered away.

..

..

"What exactly is down here, Naruto-san?" Wendy asked the blonde who was leading the way.

Gajeel, Natsu and Gray walked in between her and Naruto with their respective exceed by their side. Sasuke walked alongside her and Lucy at the back. She looked anxiously between Naruto and Sasuke.

Few minutes earlier, they were relaxing nicely at the bar with the occasional brawl going on in the bar despite their master's protest. The brawl was however stopped the moment Erza entered with Sasuke. Probably more because of Erza's glare.

The last Uchiha then went straight to Naruto who was having an eating contest with Natsu. However, the cheerful grin had fallen of the blonde's face as soon as he saw Sasuke and both of them went to a corner to discuss something private. It looked pretty serious by the grim expressions they had on their faces with Sasuke occasional glancing at Natsu and her, which to be frank unnerved her a bit.

Then, Sasuke walked over to her, Natsu and Gajeel, and asked them to follow him no questions asked. He said that it was of utmost importance and that they would understand it for themselves when they see it.

Wendy was nervous at first regarding following them. She knew that Sasuke was inherently a good person but if she were honest he was a bit intimidating and scary. Probably because she hadn't conversed with him as much as Erza or Natsu did with him. Sasuke was generally quiet and only spoke when it was required of him. And, he usually didn't hang around the bar a lot either.

To be honest, he reminded her a bit of Mystogan, who was now the king of Edolas. Naruto on the other hand was friendly with her, like the older brother she never had. For some reason, the blonde decided to hang around her instead of roaming around with his friend. But she knew he wasn't just goofing around, playing in the bar and chatting with her. He was probably using that strange clone magic and making his clones do all the reckon work while he sat at the bar.

So far, neither Naruto nor Sasuke spoke anything as they lead them through a cave which was surprisingly found at the foot of the hill which consisted of the arena. This cave was right under the stadium.

They proceeded to walk in with Naruto taking the charge, as Natsu turned towards the former avenger, "Why only us?" he asked. Erza wasn't called to this and as far as he could tell, Erza was the closest to Sasuke in the guild.

"Does it have something to do with Dragon Slayers?" Happy asked out of curiosity.

"Probably," Lily answered thinking of the possible answers. Sasuke only nodded to confirm their suspicions.

"Although we do have spectators…" Carla pointed towards Lucy and Gray.

"There's some guy named "Spector" here?" Gray titled his head, not aware that Carla just referred to him and Lucy.

"I'm just curious." Lucy said as she wanted to know the reason why only the dragon slayers were called.

"This is it."

Naruto stopped walking and others did the same too.

What they observed next was not what they had imagined when Sasuke and Naruto asked them follow them. Hundreds of bones were sprawled in the clearing of the cave, each bone structure practically towering.

"What the hell is that?!" Gray asked, feeling a chill as he realized what the white objects exactly were.

"Animal… Bones?" Lucy said but ended up as a question as she was unaware of what it was. The bones were way too big to belong to that of an animal if she was honest.

"Dragon bones… It's a dragon graveyard." Natsu answered. He knew how the dragon bones looked as he grew under Igneel and trained with him during his childhood. Plus the smell was also sickening and it made his blood boil.

"Wait, so all of these dragon bones?!" Happy looked everywhere because there were numerous amount of bones around them. "There are so many!"

"This place confirms the existence of dragons," Gajeel crossed his arms as a grim expression took over his face. People normally wouldn't believe when they hear that dragons used to live before and considered it a myth. They also heard that there was a black dragon Acnologia but since they never saw it with their own two eyes, they never believed it.

Sasuke nodded, agreeing with Gajeel. "When Naruto told me that he found a weird cave because of my 'spell' yesterday, I asked him to investigate it." He said, explaining about the place to others. "And, then when he said that he found huge bones here, I thought maybe you guys would know something about this."

Thousands of dragon bones were scattered all around the place. "Maybe something happened here." Lucy said wondering about the cause.

"Maybe Igneel is here too…" Happy said as negative thoughts started to occur in his brain. He saw Natsu stop in his tracks and realized his mistake immediately.

"Happy!" Carla scolded in a stern voice.

"Sorry…" Happy apologized.

"That's okay. He's not here," Natsu assured his partner.

"Our dragons disappeared fourteen years ago. The remains at rest here are much more ancient," Gajeel added his observations.

"This is where you guys come in," Sasuke turned towards them. "Does any one of you know any spell, you know… that allows you to converse with dead souls?" He had seen Mavis walking around and interacting with the guild even though she was dead. There had to be a spell that one of these dragon slayers might know to interact with a dead dragon.

"Milky Way… It's one of the Secret Dragon Slayer spells that Poluchka-san taught me." Wendy began as she thought hard about that spell. "I thought it was a kind of attacking magic, but maybe this is what it referred to. Milky Way maybe the magic that lets me hear the voices of dragon souls."

She then looked over at Sasuke expectantly, who nodded his head to continue, "If I can hear the voices of these sleeping dragons, maybe we can find out what happened here. And learn what happened to our own dragons that disappeared." She finished.

Naruto went to coo and hug the adorable dragon slayer for her feat. Lucy, Gray, Natsu and Gajeel just settled with wide eyes in awe, showing less display of affection for the dragon slayer than the hyper active blonde.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto by his collar and pulled him away from Wendy when she looked like she was going to suffocate in the bear crushing hug Naruto was giving her.

Wendy panted, regaining her breath. She then thanked Sasuke and started drawing something on the ground with a stick which everyone believed to be the magic runes necessary for the spell. "That'll do it. Everyone, please back up a bit," and with that Wendy started chanting a spell.

A green light appeared around the magic runes that searched for the dragon souls. Natsu, Naruto, Gray, Happy and Lucy were busy praising the beautiful scenery that was caused by the spell as tiny green orbs floated around that dark caves.

"It's beautiful!" Lucy exclaimed. Objects which looked like stars were moving around the place to search for dragon souls. After waiting for few minutes, Wendy shot open her wide eyes and said, "I found one!" and a big circle started to form above their heads and finally a huge dragon appeared in front of them. The dragon's roar echoed through the whole place.

After hearing the dragon roar everyone screamed except for Naruto, and Sasuke who activated his sharingan.

They became pale as white as if they had seen a ghost. Well, practically they did see a ghost. The dragon continued its roar which eventually turned into a loud laugh, "Seeing that shocked look on human faces never gets old." The dragon said mockingly, its gaze moving from Natsu to Gajeel and settling on Sasuke for a second.

While everyone's condition was getting a bit better, they watched the dragon speak, "My name is Zirconis, but I'm also known as the Jade Dragon." After introducing itself it turned a little to the left and said, "The spell you used to summon my soul belonged to Grandine, The sky dragon, yes? Where are you? Hm?" the dragon started looking around and eventually spotted Wendy.

"Cute!" the dragon said in a flirty tone as it approached Wendy. "This little Dragon Slayer summoned me?"

"Hey! Get away from Wendy!" Naruto yelled taking a stance in front of her.

"Forget it!" The dragon said as it head butted with Naruto. "I'm going to eat this girl."

"Bastard!"

"I'm kidding, of course, you stupid species. Look! What can an astral body do?" The dragon said as its finger passed through Naruto's body. Wendy sweat dropped at Naruto's silliness whereas Sasuke just sighed.

"This guy!" Naruto grit his teeth as the dragon started getting on his nerves.

"What's up with this playful man?" Lucy said pointing a finger at him in disbelief.

"He's not a man. He's a dragon." Gray corrected Lucy, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"My name is Zirconis, but I'm also known as the Jade Dragon…" the dragon introduced itself again.

"You already told us that!" Gajeel yelled at the dragon.

"What happened here? There are a lot of dragon remains here." Happy asked the dragon.

"We summoned your soul so we could learn the truth." Gajeel added.

"I have nothing to say to humans. Go away!" the dragon said.

"I'm a cat." Happy raised its hand in disapproval.

"Okay, then. It happened over 400 years ago." The dragon started, convinced by Happy's argument.

"Your rules are pretty loose, you know." Gray dead panned.

"Dragons were once the rulers of this world." The Jade dragon began ignoring Gray's comment. "We thrived, flying through the air, racing across the land, and swimming in the sea. Everything in this world belonged to us. Humans were no more than our prey."

"But there was a foolish dragon who objected to our reign." Sasuke did not miss how the dragon's tone or expression changed when it spoke about this dragon. "That one spouted nonsense about building a world in which we could coexist with humans. Eventually, between the dragons who agreed and those who disagreed, a war began. I fought as one who disagreed."

"I have no fondness for humans." The dragon admitted, looking in their direction. "That is, unless we're talking about food."

Natsu clutched his sides and tried hard to withhold his laughter. "You're talking to food." he placed a hand across his mouth.

"Hey! I don't like when it talks back either!" Zirconis yelled.

"So what happened with the war?" Naruto asked, getting to the point again.

"It heated up. The battles between dragon and dragon tore up vast areas of land. Eventually, the dragons who were for coexistence devised a stupid strategy. They involved humans in the war by giving them Dragon Slayer Magic, which could destroy dragons and that's the origin of dragon slayers."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly at this, but he spoke nothing. The dragon continued, "Dragon slayers had tremendous power. Victory for the dragons who chose to coexist with humans was imminent. However, they had made one miscalculation."

"What miscalculation?" Sasuke asked, speaking to the dragon for the first time.

"An Uchiha, eh?" The dragon stopped talking as it locked its gaze with Sasuke and recognized the sharingan, "I see that your despicable clan survived. Your clan was one of the reasons the other side managed to win, boy."

"And what does that mean?" Sasuke pressed again, a hidden message that it won't be successful in riling him up. The dragon seemed to catch his point as it began again,

"A particular incident happened in one of the strongest kingdoms that coexisted with dragons." It paused, as everyone became still at its dingy expression. It waited for several seconds as it seemed to think about something. "That kingdom acted as the spark for the second war. That kingdom was..."

"Well?" Sasuke prompted it as Zirconis grew silent.

It settled its gaze on him again. "Your kingdom, boy." The dragon said as Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. "Your cursed clan's kingdom. Those damnable eyes that subdued many dragons."

Sasuke found no words. The only clues he had regarding his clan were in ancient books and even that gave him no answers as to what exactly happened to his clan. "…you…" His voice was raspy, but he did not care on what others thought. "…you know what happened to my clan?"

"I don't know the specifics as we were busy taking refuge," The dragon snarled, clearly not interested in talking about that specific topic. It then looked at Sasuke and wanted to sigh at the desperate expression the boy was trying to hide. "Alright… I'll tell you what I know. It probably won't do me any good hiding any information but who cares. I am dead anyway."

Sasuke nodded gratefully, "It is much appreciated."

"I do not need your thanks, boy." The dragon sneered, but shook its head at the stoic boy. He was not provoked in the slightest by its actions. Sighing, "As far as I know, it happened when the strongest Uchiha of our time disappeared into thin air along with a few others. He was the strongest human during our time, so his disappearance was definitely a blow for the kingdom. Suspicions were thrown around and one thing led to another."

The others were silently listening to this. They did not know much about the Uchiha anyway, so they were surprised when they heard that Uchiha were somehow involved in the dragon king festival. Naruto, in particular was more worried as he knew that it was important to Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. It sounded a bit like the predicament his clan underwent in Konoha which eventually led to the massacre of his clan. The irony here was that the escaped members met with the same fate in a new world too.

"So, the Uchiha killed all the dragons… or was it the other way around?" Sasuke asked remembering Irene's words.

"Like I said, I don't know what exactly went down but it was the start of everything." The dragon said. "The extinction of dragons was however because of another thing. The dragon slayers were the ones who did it. They killed even the dragons who wished to live peacefully with them." The dragon spoke with some slight remorse. Though the dragons on the opposite sides were its enemy, it still couldn't bear when its kind was murdered by lowly humans.

Sasuke could see Natsu and Gajeel clench their fists at this. Probably disgusted by the thought of them killing their parents. He could see Wendy being comforted by Naruto as Lucy gasped at this knowledge. The rest of them didn't show much on their face, but they also probably noticed the regret in the Jade dragon's eyes.

"However," The dragon spoke this time addressing to everyone with a dark expression. "There was one man among humans who bathed in the blood of too many dragons." Sasuke could slightly detect fear now gripping the proud and arrogant dragon.

"I fear to even say his name." He could see the ghost sweating. It happened around 400 hundred years ago and if fear still gripped the dragon, he could only imagine the level of terror that one human caused. "He continued to destroy dragons and bathe in their blood."

"Is he still alive?" Naruto asked.

"I think presently his skin turned to scales, his teeth to fangs and he transformed into a dragon himself."

Lucy felt her body quiver at this, "A human… turned to dragon?"

"That's what dragon slayer magic can lead to."

Natsu and Gajeel, both had grave faces when they learnt of what the repeated use of their magic leads to. Naruto, though in an alternate world, could not bear to hear about this anymore. Human or dragon, it didn't matter. Nobody can slaughter an entire species just out of some grudge. But, he could not say anything as he was busy comforting a trembling Wendy.

"The dragons resting in peace here were all murdered by that man." Sasuke once again surveyed the entire area as the dragon continued. "Though human, he became the dragon king. Though the second war was started by the incident in the Uchiha kingdom, the dragon king bragged the rights of the war as he finished it. That was the festival of dragon king."

"Who was it?" Sasuke asked. This guy was probably the Madara of this world. And, if he was still alive then this world wasn't safe until long. Fairy Tail wasn't safe… Erza wasn't safe until he was eliminated.

"That king's name was Acnologia. A dragon with pitch-black wings unlike any other dragon…"

"Acnologia?" Sasuke found himself repeating the name since he heard it before. The dragon that was responsible for his guild's current condition. One that almost wiped out the Tenroujima crew if it were not were for the first master, Mavis. He felt his coils burning with rage and his fists clenched slightly as the dragon continued.

"Acnologia, the dragon that can devour all the existence… one that brought an end to your clan's reign and the dragons."

And, cut. A cliffhanger, I know but it can't be helped. My limit as of now is 8000 words.

Cheers if you can guess the OC's identity now. I think it should be pretty clear now due to the hints that were dropped in this chapter. Jutten already guessed it almost two chapters ago without many hints. I wonder how he figured it out though.

Anyway, see you guys in the next chapter.

Until then, later!