Titania and The Hunter

by Master Attlon

Born as a human. Treated as a demon. Gathered as a slave. Viewed as a leader. Traveled as a Mage. Grew as a Legend. The journey and life of The Hunter, Naruto Uzumaki

10. In The Heart Of The Grimoire

Titania and The Hunter

Chapter 10: In The Heart Of The Grimoire

Disclaimer: Owned by respective parties.

Finally! Chapter 10 is here!

Also, so I can clear this up in the reviews, what happened when Naruto lost his arm was that Kurama's chakra was taking over in his weakened state and was pouring into his newly formed limb. Rob used the sealing metal to lock off that influence and keep it sealed. As long as that metal is around his arm, he can not assess Kurama's chakra. The amount of the 9 tails chakra in the arm is about several tails worth of power when he is at full strength. Naruto can still use his own chakra, but due to no one being able to teach him, he can only supply a basic coating of his hands and feet to strengthen punches and kicks.

I hope that clears up the confusion.

Also, One Piece Opening 16! Finally! And did you read the Fairy Tail chapter? That was fucking awesome! Go Natsu Go!

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

In a mountainous region of Seven, an echo of destruction and the screams of desperation and fear rattled through the cold air. Beaten and bloodied men and women ran over the snow and rocks as their ragged breath was shown in the air. They continued to look over their shoulders hoping that they were safe from the demon like mages. But they didn't see as several dozen of the mages cut them off in the path and massacred them, leaving the dirt road crimson.

The third division general laughed manically as she ordered her dozens commanding teams to finish off the smugglers. She watched as the teams in control of the border of Seven mercilessly decimated the weak peddlers as they futilely tried to fight back. She stood their as a sword cut her back and sliced her in two. The two pieces stayed motionless for a second before fusing back together, terrifying the attacker she didn't even acknowledge. Marika stretched back and grabbed the man's neck, twisting and breaking it in several places before letting the body fall lifeless to the ground, joining the pile of twisted, broken and bruised corpses beneath her.

The brown-haired young women hopped to the front door of the destroyed hide out of the drug peddlers they had intercepted. She knocked on it several times with a closed fist. And then opened the fist of the severed arm she was holding and pushed the door open, whistling as she tossed the appendage around like a baton. She casually strode up to a spare chair next to her resting master. "Hey Jii-chan! You feeling alright?"

The elderly master raiser his head and looked to his cheerful, blood covered subordinate. "Yes, I'm quite fine Marika. Just a little tired from the traveling."

"Are you worried about that ninja kid?" The woman actually dropped her playful attitude and asked the old man with a hint of worry in her tone. She had heard his story and experience with the group and she knew what it had done to him. His paranoia and obsession was always bad. But now that they had concrete evidence that one of them was still alive...she couldn't help but worry about his state of mind.

"Him?" The man looked up and shook his head. "No...no, I think we still have many more things to worry about then a boy like that." He spread his hand through his snow-white hair as he lowly chuckled. "The time will come where we will meet that boy face-to-face, and when that time comes...an opportunity to begin anew will present itself. And I can't wait to finally see it."

She threw the arm over her shoulder and started to pat his back, making sure he knew they were there for him. The man turned his head to her and gave her a thankful smile at her gesture. As a comfortable silence came between them, the second division general ran in to report.

"Master! We've finished off the cartel. There won't be another group coming in like this for quite a while!"

"Good. That's good."

"Also sir, we sort of got a problem going on outside." Sorrento and Marika looked at each other before standing up and following Uvogin's lead. When they arrived outside, they saw several fully grown adult Wyvern's blocking the way to the 4-wheelers. The leader of the independent guild watched as several men tried to fight off the flying beasts with little to no result.

"We've apparently disturbed their feeding habitat and they are quite angry about it." Marika just shook her head in disappointment at the pathetic display her men were showing in fighting off the creatures. Her division was not doing to well this week. She might have to gather them up and teach them a few lessons.

"What should we do Master?" The younger generals watched as the elderly scarred man slowly walked forward until he was at the edge of the hill overlooking the scene. He slowly extended his hand out and covered his entire palm with Shock magic. He slowly panned his hand over the lizard figures as spheres of magic floated in the air. He then pointed in the general direction of the Wyvern and the balls all shot off like bullets.

The magic impacted the sides of the flying animals before expanding and blowing up, exploding at their sides and destroying their bodies. The creatures all fell to the ground dead as the subordinates looked up at the Master staring down at them. They all nervously started to pack up their belongings and place them in the vehicles as the leaders started to descend down the hill.

"Anything else you need to tell me before we start moving inland?"

"Yes sir. We just received this today." He handed his Master a newspaper from his back pocket as the bearded man took it and opened it up. He read the front page and subsequent information. He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his brow as Marika looked over his shoulder, whistling at the headline.

"Damn they are scary! Makes me think we could actually have some fun with them!" The girl forgot the article and picked up the luggage to put in her vehicle as she looked towards her master. "So what should we do Jii-chan? Send out an order and have our guys hunt them down?"

"Nope." Alex ripped the papers to pieces before turning it to dust with his magic, the wind spreading away what was left in his hands. "I don't want any of our men interacting with them unless either of you are accompanying them. It would be too dangerous." He dusted off his hands as he walked towards his men.

"There is no need for a massacre. Not yet."

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

It was another peaceful day at the favorite guild of many mages' choices. The adults were all happily cheering and having their merrymaking times as they chugged down their drinks. Joking around and enjoying their lives to the fullest. And in front of the bar were the two rowdiest, most misbehaved members of the new generations group.

"I'm telling you I don't need my magic to take you down! I can just beat you down and you won't ever get back up!" The shirtless, black-haired young man yelled as a vein throbbed on his forehead.

"I'd like to see you try! You can't do anything with your fists or your magic! You couldn't even freeze a cold drink!" The scarf wearing, pink-haired young man said as his sharp teeth mashed together.

"That's it!" The two boys dove at each other, their fists back as far as possible to inflict the most damage. And just before they could, a red-head with armored arms smashed their heads into the wooden ground.

"Geez you two, don't you ever learn?" The scarlet haired girl just shook her head in disappointment at the boys' continued defiance of her expectations. "Do you think we like to see you guys fighting everyday? It gets on my nerves."

"B-but Erza, you fight just as much with Mira, right?"

"Y-yeah, why are you punishing us when you're just as bad?"

Natsu shut his mouth as he and Gray were lifted by their hair. They froze in fear as they were met with the heated glare of blue and brown eyes.

"What was that?"

"Nothing Erza-San!(x2)"

"That's what I thought." She dropped the boys with a loud thud as she walked back to her space at the table with her strawberry cake. The boy's continued to cower as Levy chuckled nervously and Cana just shook her head in disappointment.

From his space at the bar's top, Makarov smiled and laughed at his family's light hearted playing as he drank from his mug. He looked at the peaceful atmosphere that this early April weather and mood gave to his guild as they all enjoyed their lives. Even Natsu and Gray were up and about again. Granted they were still arguing about the most meaningless things but...well...one step at a time.

"Hey old man." The grey haired midget looked out of the corner of his eye at the tall, orange haired man that had walked up to his side. As usual, the man had his signature black cloak on with a bag still slung over his shoulder, just returning from his mission. "How's everything holding up?"

"Oh, not much to report. Since you left, I've received about 5 dozen pages of bills and royalties we have to pay to the magic council for damages to the properties. Speaking of which..." The old man leaned back underneath the bar and lifted up a hefty document of about 40-pages in his hands. He turned back around and handed it to the younger man. "These are yours. Great job on that by the way."

"Right. I'll get right in that." Suddenly, and with no conscious thought, Gildarts broke the paper down with his Crash magic and let it fall to the ground. "Oops. I seemed to have accidentally misplaced it."

"Good move. By the way, you didn't get injured or anything, right?" The tall man shook his head after looking over himself for any injuries. "Good. Porlyusica is going to be gone for the week so she can stock up on medical herbs and supplies. I've already told the kids to keep safe and to not make too much ruckus when they are out on a job. You know what happens when she comes back from vacation as she has to treat a restless child's wounds, right?"

"Oh no. I like where my balls are, thank you."

"Smart boy."

"Gildarts! Fight me!" A fire covered, pink centered blur jumped up to attack the older Mage.

"Got it kid. I'll fight with my full power." His absentmindedly flipped his wrist as they boy came in arm's length of the ace of Fairy Tail. As a result, the Dragon Slayer was sent flying into the scaffolding of the guild hall, bouncing around like a rubber ball before rocketing back down into the floor, leaving another imprint of his body by the one Erza made for him.

Makarov looked down at the spiraled eyed little boy as he raised an eyebrow. "He's still here? You must have held back quite a bit." Gildarts just shrugged his shoulders, attributing it to fatigue from the long mission. As most of the kids began to laugh at the poor boy as Lisanna started to worry and check him over, the man pulled a couple of papers from under his long cloak and handed them to the elderly man.

"Here." Makarov took the papers from his hand as he looked at the younger man with a silent question. "I think you should read that." The man just put down is ever present staff and flipped the newspaper open, skimming through the stories and propaganda. He arrived at what he could only guess was the story he was supposed to read about. He sigh and shook his head, scratching the cap covering his hair.

"Well that's unfortunate. I hate it when they publish articles like this." The old guild master detested when they publicly announced and commercialized tragedies like this. He believed that horrible events like this should be handled by the council and its people, and not to be used to cause paranoia in innocent civilians.

"What is it Master?" The two men flinched at the sudden entry into the conversation by the armored little knight. And her intrusion caused the other young mages to put their attention on their old grandpa. She lifted an eyebrow as if she was expecting an immediate answer from the nervous looking men.

"U-um..." Makarov suddenly ignited the newspaper in flames as the young children gawked at his actions. "It's nothing Erza. Nothing at all. Natsu~! You wanna treat? You wanna treat?"" He threw the burning papers up as the young boy just jumped up and gulped the fire down in one shot. The other children just looked at him disappointedly as he chewed up the leaflets, not noticing the looks before turning his head up at them.

"Whuh?"

Gildarts just shook his head as he chuckled at the childrens' antics. "Well I'm done for the day. I'll be heading home for now old man, see ya." He walked through a wall as the wood crumbled around him, uncaring of any obstacle in the straight path to his house. As he went further into town, you could hear the angry cries of the townspeople as he walked through their stores and houses. And following him...

"Gildarts! Rematch! I've eaten and I'm all fired up!"

"Go away!"

"No!"

"Leave me alone!"

"Never!"

As the old master just laughed off the boy's relentless efforts to beat the overpowered man, he missed the questioning look that Erza was giving him from the side. She couldn't help wonder what it was that got the master and the experienced Mage to conspire like that. But whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

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

The young man continued to pant heavily as he ran as fast as he could down the beautiful and pristine marble hallways, the sight of boundless nature just to his side. He held the important file to his chest as the large and detailed doorway was in his sight. He came close to the doors as he caught his breath, looking around him to see if the other private in charge of the special information carry had arrived. "Damn. Damn. Where is he? Where is he?"

"Where is who?" The bespectacled boy squealed as he almost jumped out of his skin and fell on the floor. He grabbed his jumping heart as he glared at the cocky, black-haired boy laughing with a smug grin in his face.

"Tch, dammit Doranbalt, this is not the time to be playing games! Where in the world were you?"

"What? I was here the whole time. I don't know about your slow ass running but I've been here since I got my file." He flashed the black file in his hands as he laughed at the ticked off glare his fellow trainee was giving him. "You seriously need to work on the meaning of urgency, Lahar. If you like I could teach you some of my Teleportation magic."

"No thanks." The shoulder length, black haired boy dusted off his standard private uniform as he walked up to the doors to the council. He pushed them apart with both hands as his partner followed behind him, walking into the wide room of the council's meeting place. As they walked in, many of the distinguished members looking over at the boys.

"Private Lahar and Private Doranbalt, reporting for duty!" The two of them saluted to the older figures as they sat around the huge round table. One of the old members lowered their hand and motioned for them to ease.

"It's fine Lahar-kun, Doranbalt-kun. You arrived just in time." A kind looking old man wearing a brown-shirt with a three spiked hat over his large eyebrows.

"No it is not. If they wish to becomes competent members of the Rune Knights, they must practice punctuality and arrive when expected. They have been entrusted with an important task so they must give their best when we ask of them." A short man with cat-like ear-shaped hair in a striped blue shirt sternly said to the embarrassed young men.

As he was about to continue his accusation of the young soldiers, he was cut off by a young male voice laughing with glee as a soft, dainty giggle followed after.

"I find it quite funny that you are scrutinizing them for tardiness. And yet you are wasting even more of our 'precious' time by doing so." The cocky, blue-haired boy crossed his legs over each other as he put a fist to his chin. He opened his eyes to look at the elder mages as they all seemed to look at him with a slight glare. Behind his chair was a young teenaged girl with silky purple hair going to her back, wearing a white dress that went to her thighs with a yellow sash.

"He's right you know. Worry about training soldiers later and we can continue on with the matters at hand." The girl lifted her sleeve over her mouth as she giggled a little at the annoyed glare Michello was trying to level at them.

The two new recruits looked at the slightly hostile air around the council as the short haired boy leaned over to his fellow knight. "Um, who are those two?" Lahar sighed in disappointment as he looked at the other teenager with a blank look.

"Did you not listen to the orientation last month?" Doranbalt just matched his blank look as Lahar realized who he was talking to. "Those are the two newest members of the council. They are brilliant political tacticians that were able to resolve and settle fights and problems all over the country in just a few weeks. They were so good that they were offered the positions of council members at such young ages." He pointed to the blue haired boy with a strange tattoo over his right eye. "That's Siegrain-sama, a powerful Mage who is already being considered a candidate member for the Ten-Wizard Saints. And that's his assistant Ultear-sama, a woman with a huge supply of magic and a massive communications network across the nation."

"Oh wow."

"That's enough with the glares and grumbling!" All of the people in the room shut their mouths as the leader of the group, a bearded man with a bat on his head, yelled to shut them up. The council members all sat back down as he stood out of his chair as looked towards the boy with the red file in his hand. "Private Lahar, do you have any news to give us?"

"Oh, uh, yes sir." The bespectacled member of the couple started to flip through his file and look for the first order of business. "First on the list, we have the bills and damages caused by Fairy Tail in the last-"

"Please not that. Anything but that. I get enough of that news on a daily basis so just skip it for now." Lahar nodded as he complied with Org's request and flipped the page. And then the next one. And the next. The council looked anxious as the boy spent several long moments flipping through the huge stacks of papers revolving around the trouble-making guild. As the men and women just sighed tiredly, Ultear and Siegrain seemed to take it as a joke and laughed wholeheartedly as the boy finally arrived at an urgent piece of news.

"Yes-um-we have news on that mercenary guild that had appeared several weeks ago sir. The one owned by the heir of the Bunce family."

"Oh? What about it?"

"It appears that the leader of the group is going around, searching for the best swordsmen in the kingdom to make a part of his peerage. And he was gathering magical weapons of the highest grade to use to their advantage."

Org nodded his head. "Any reports?"

"Yes, we received a report from the Heartfilia family." He pulled out a written note from the folder and showed it to everyone in front of him. "He has received death threats over the last year from the heir of the former corporation. We believe his motives are most likely due to the fact that Jude Heartfilia bought out and put the Bunce family out of business. He ignored the threats until he received word that the man was creating a guild for the purpose of killing his family."

"Is it a truly plausible threat?"

"Well he is gathering enough swordsmen to be called the 44 Ronin, so he is undoubtedly recruiting strong members into the fray. Also sir..." He fixed his glasses as he looked at the council with a concerned look. "We received reports that the man was carrying a black sword with him, cutting his way through anything in front of him. So we believe that he is carrying...'that'." All the members seemed to tense up at the mention of the magical item in the unstable man's grasp.

"Well that is troubling. Put out a report to keep the Heartfilia family under protection of the council until these Ronin are put out of commission. Anything else to report?"

"Oh! On the matter of the Damnation guild, we have a development we need to look into." All of the people present bucked up at the mention of the infamous terrorist guild. "Last week, we received reports from a group of townspeople that had escaped from an attack from Damnation. They were civilians of the town of Acacia that were being held hostage by a group of the 3rd division lead by who we think maybe Mordreau 'The Scaler'."

"You think?"

"Yes sir. We couldn't be certain because...well...he was missing his head." The council members all cringed and gagged a little at the excessive way that the criminals were taken care of. "We also found the bodies of several of the groups members around the town, also deceased. We can't be certain but we obtained witness reports that believe that Alexander Sorrento vacated the area with his subordinates Marika and Uvogin. So it maybe that he disposed of the group himself so that he had no loose ends."

Org rubbed his temples as he contemplated the state of how a man as respectable as Colonel Sorrento could fall from such pristine admiration to this. He remembered a time where he was looked upon with eyes of wonder and respect by everyone in the kingdom. He was about to be honored with the position of Wizard Saint and forever looked upon as a symbol for children to fight for. But then...the Tonewa incident. And his fall into insanity. Showing that one horrible, devastating event can change a person for the rest of their lives.

Org opened his eyes when he realized something in the report. "Wait. How did the townspeople escape? They couldn't have fought them off, not when they couldn't even use magic."

"Well sir we believe there was some outside intervention. The townspeople gave us a description of a young Mage that appeared out of nowhere and held the group off long enough for them to escape." Lahar reached into the folder and pulled out a paper sketching of the mysterious samaritan. "He was described as 13 to 14 years old. He has blond hair and eyes with two distinctly different colored pigmentation. Blue in the left socket, Brown in the right. He was also seen wearing dark clothes and a gauntlet on his left arm. Also sir, they said he had scars on his face. Ones that look like whiskers."

The rough sketch of the young teenaged boy was passed around the table by all of the council members. When it reached the hands of the newest council member, he looked at it for several long seconds. He did very well in keeping his composure as he looked at the graphite picture of his old colleague. He chuckled a little at the new information of his friend's survival, handing it to Ultear as she was actually surprised.

"Are you saying that this boy may have been the one to kill the members of that group?"

"We can't be certain. But I believe we should put out a report to the guilds to search and capture this man if he is found. So that we can debrief him on the event." The council nodded at the teen's suggestion as Org started to make notes to send out to the guild masters. He then looked to the other recruit as he stood there silently.

"And what about you?" Instantly, the boy with the shaven hair appeared next to his side with the file out for the man to take. As Org took it from his hand, the boy then appeared by Lahar's side once again. The old council man skimmed through the black file as his eyes glazed over. He put closed the file and looked at all of his fellow council with a stern fire in his eyes.

"We must report this to every unit in the nation. Keep on full alert to report and capture these people. If they are found, they are to report straight to Era with any information they have received. We must keep watch of all possible strike zones and targets within a 100 mile radius of the last attack. And evacuate any civilians we can before they become casualties in the next attack. Go." The privates saluted and charged off to report the orders to the senior knights.

Stealthily, Ultear eyed the black file within the council leader's hand. "Sir, what is this about?"

"We have just received reports of a town int the mountains being destroyed to the ground. With every magical item and building being searched and destroyed. They have also appeared lately all around the country in search of something they need, and they have been using any method they could to reach their objectives. And being the founder and cornerstone of this so-called Balam Alliance in another reason we should be weary of this group."

"We must prepare for any and all conflict with this-"

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

"...Grimoire Heart! I'm serious! These guys are making me wet my drawers. Making treaties with every dark guild in the nation! Attacking people in the thick of night! That's scary shit!" The wrinkled man in the horse drawn cart worried as he continued down the road towards the city. "Seriously, do you understand what that means kiddo? We could all be in danger and taken out in a second!" He looked behind him at the blond boy in the black shirt and white pants with black cloak sitting back comfortably in the hay with a worn out book in his hand, not paying any attention to the one-sided conversation.

"Huh-what?" The whiskered boy lowered the journal and looked up at the cab driver. "Oh, sorry old man. I wasn't listening. What were you saying?" He scratched the back of his head and laughed as the old man seemed to get ticked off.

"Ah! You never listen when I'm talking to you, ungrateful brat!" The old farmer grumbled as he continued to guide the cart towards the next stop. The traveling Mage he was escorting in his cart had appeared at his city's entrance two days ago. Saying that he wanted a transport to Yarrow and then to Magnolia which would be only a day's travel away. When the old farmer finally agreed, the boy had hugged the man until his spine seemed to make cracking noises. And here they were, on the riverside path to Yarrow.

"So what's so great about this city again? Something about magic?" Naruto put his chin on the bench atop the cart as he looked up at the cranky farmer.

"I told you kid, Yarrow is a city of magic and wonders." He emphasized the importance by waving his arms around frantically. "It's a city that specializes in the use and distribution of magic around the country. It's also known for being a popular center for health and self preservation."

Naruto tilted his head as he squinted his eyes. "What?"

"The town centers its use of magic by the river right there." He guided the boy's eyes towards the river by their side. "That river is so abundant with magic that it actually assimilates the magic into the foliage and herbs growing on its bank. People from all over come to Yarrow to gather those plants to make special medicines. They are so famous that even high-ranked doctors from all over Fiore come to gather the plants that come into the for- Are you listening!" The driver yelled to the boy who seemed to have taken a nap while he was explaining the town's history.

"Oh sorry. I didn't sleep last night. Too excited." Naruto laughed as he tried to contain his anxiousness. Which he failed to do because he kept jumping up and down in the back of the cart, prompting more annoyed complaints from the chauffeur. He was there. So close he could taste it.

"Well we are almost there anyway so just relax and then we can-" the cart made an abrupt stop as the two men looked on in shock. The town was burning. The many buildings and houses were covered in fire and smoke as there was echoes of screams reaching their ears.

The man was shaking as he gripped the ropes in his hands tightly. "Wh-what-what is this? How-how can this be-"

Boots connected with the ground as the boy walked past the horse driven cart. He petted the mane of the horse at his side as he looked out at the burning town. "Old man...turn this thing around and head home. Tell the authorities about this." Naruto lowered his hand and started walking towards the location before him.

"Wa-wait kid! You can't just-" he was silenced as Naruto turned around and looked at him with a piercing glare in his eyes. The two colors looked right at him as if inviting him to try and stop the boy from going off.

"Go."

The man did not hesitate as he started to pull the horses back and change directions to the town they had just come from. As the galloping of horses got further and further away, Naruto started walking towards the city and forest covered in flames.

And then, he ran straight forward.

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

The dozens of guild members lowered their armada of weapons and started to pile back into the massive grounded black and red airship. Across the front of the ship and all of the mens' clothes was the insignia for a heart covered in thorns. All of the men were dressed differently with their own styles and quirks. But they were all dressed with a dark color and theme to follow their guild's example.

"Man~, why'd we have to come all the way out here just to destroy some stupid city?"

"You know already man! Without Ultear-sama leading the charges we all have to come together! The Master said so!"

"But why did we have to kill everyone again?"

"Because the key that Ultear-sama discovered could not be collected without sacrifices! We can't bring back a death Mage without using some death, can we?!"

"Man whatever! I just wish we could be done with all of this-" the members of the dark guild all stopped their musings as they heard the shuffling of stone and rubble. They watched as a woman, tattered and bloody pushed her way out of some debris. She stumbled a little and tried to gain her balance, shell shocked from the traumatic event. Only until she looked to her side to see the men who had suddenly attacked her town did she scream and try to run away.

"Shit. A survivor. What do we do?"

"We need to go after her, right? Who knows what the Master will do if we let someone leave from here?"

"I got it." A black haired member said as he chased the terrified girl slowly. All of the guild members were laughing as she tried her best to escape their clutches. The woman was crying, tears going down her face as she desperately tried to find a way to escape. She could feel the man coming closer to her as she couldn't find her feet and failed to run away.

The man unsheathed his sword as the woman tripped and feel down at his feet. She tried to crawl away as she whimpered and shrieked. The man lifted his sword over his head, the fires of the homes and trees only intensified the fear in the woman's heart.

The dark wizard was about to finish it off until he saw a shadow moving in the forest in front of him. He looked up in time to see a large figure in a black cloak jump up in front of him. The person spun around and back kicked the wizard, making him gasp and soar backwards several meters.

The guild members all watched silently as their fellow teammate skidded on the dirt for several feet before groaning and falling on his butt. They all looked from where he landed to where he came from. They all turned there heads towards a blond boy in a cloak and boots glaring at them.

Naruto turned his head over his shoulders at the terrified woman. And with a strong and steady tone...

"Run."

The woman wasted no time and scurried off as fast as she could through the forest. Naruto turned his head back to the surprised dark guild as he Requip one of the spiked bats he copied into his right hand. It took a moment before the mages realized what was happening.

"Attack!"

Naruto ran forward and dove under a sword swipe over his head. He beat the bat into the man and flipped him on top of two other men. Naruto dodged several spears and axes as he used the stolen bat to parry and disarm the men. When one of the blades came close to cutting him, he held up his left arm and defended against the swipe and destroyed the sword. As he stopped a large club from coming down on him, he tripped the large man and threw him over his head.

Naruto jumped back up to his feet as a dozen men tried to kill him but he easily dodged the amateurish swipes. As one of them yelled loudly and tried to cleave him, Naruto jumped over him and used his back as a spring board. He used a Flying Gauntlet on the bending man and sent him crashing into the ground with a painful thud.

As the whiskered boy landed to the ground, the members of Grimoire Heart started to utilize their magic, screaming loudly as they tried to frighten the boy long enough to end him. Naruto was not hindered by their attempts as he calmly and swiftly evaded all of their attacks. When he backflipped and attacked the men surrounding him, he saw a fire Mage at the side gathering his magic in his palm.

"Fire Shot"

The fire based attack flew straight into Naruto and he was covered in a cloud of smoke. The Mage looked on in amusement believing had killed the intruding child.

His eyes widened when he saw the boy with his metal arm stretched out, smoke coming off the palm where he had stopped the attack effortlessly. No mark or even a speck of dust on the boy's clothes. He lowered his hand and smirked at the surprised mages.

"Please."

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

"Soooo, I take it you found another one of those keys on your little treasure hunt. Was it difficult?"

"Not necessarily." The old, bearded man said as he fiddled with his newest discovery on his way to making his dream a reality. The key in his hand was glowing faintly as he turned it around in his hand, illuminated by the light of the viewing lacrima behind him. He opened up a case in the room and placed it next to three other identical keys. And then carefully closed the latches to keep them safe. "It's just important that we get moving before the council catches wind of our next move. We may have to go into hiding for a short time."

"Well if they send any forces against you, I doubt they'll be able stand up to you. Now that you've got that new eye." The black bearded man mused as he played with some of his paper dolls on the other side of the magical device.

"I wouldn't put too much trust in this thing just yet. I only just got it implanted and Tartaros told me that it isn't even at half it's full power. Something about obsolete technology and more time needed to create a more powerful apparatus for the magic. Plus I'm still weak after the surgery." The tall man with the white beard lightly touched the bandages wrapped around his right eye. He turned to the man talking inside the lacrima from his disclosed location. "But I must thank you Ivan. Without your contribution of lacrima, I wouldn't have been able to start this little project of mine."

"It is my pleasure Hades-San. Although I do ask that I receive my payment for this little favor of yours." The former Fairy Tail Mage said as he looked at the guild master with expectation. "That information you promised me about Fairy Tail's 'weakness'."

"In good time Ivan." The man looked back at the fellow Fairy Mage with an unflinching gaze. "I shall deliver to you what you want after I have gained the full power of this system." From underneath the bandage, a red light shined dimly. "Until then, we shall-"

The doors to the dark room opened up as a guild member barge in panting. "Ha-Hades-sama, we have a problem!"

The old Mage groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'll call you back Ivan." He discontinued the communication as he looked at his subordinate. "So, what's wrong now?"

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

Naruto hook kicked another assailant across the face as he fell to the ground. All around the boy were unconscious Heart members, spaced out and drooling from the bad beating they received from the boy. Some of the were kicked so hard in the head their eyes were swirling. Some of them so badly hit in the chest that they were finding it difficult to breathe.

Naruto was surprisingly calm in the face of all the soldiers surrounding him. A scratch across his cheek that barely drew any blood. And some scuffed marks on his pants and shirt. The worst injury in his opinion would be that someone had cut off a corner of his favorite cloak. He had this thing since Hargeon, god dammit!

He was not deterred by the fact that there were still so many soldiers out for his blood. In his professional opinion, none of these guys had the skills or mindset to go for his throat. In comparison, Mordreau and his group from Damnation were far more terrifying and bloodthirsty. These guys were just grub soldiers, used to thicken the herd and make more frightening on the cover. He doubted there were any people in this guild that actually had trained extensively in one magic instead of gaining one and using it on innocent people.

So even though there were tons of them, he believed that he could power through.

"Hey man, what the hell are you?!" One of the nameless guys said from in front of him. "Why'd ya come here?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters! This doesn't concern you!"

"What concerns me is that there are people like you taking the lives of so many people." Naruto looked through the corner of his eye at the multitude of dead bodies hidden in the rubble and houses. "And I'm here to stop you from doing anything more."

"Stop us! You are seriously going to stop us! Everyone here?" One of the men stepped out from the masses as he motioned to all of the fellow group around him. "You think you stand a chance?"

"Yes. I do. Because you guys don't have the guts to take the consequences of what you've done. So I'm here to teach you all what happens when you kill like this!" He flared his magic power as much as he could, covering his whole body in a light as the ground around him rumbled. "Who's first! I'll make everyone here pay for what you have done!"

The guild bucked up and gripped their weapons tightly, aiming at the angered boy. But before they made a move, they all stopped. Looking at the boy in horror and dread. They all backed up and were shaking in fear. Naruto looked at the retreating men questioningly as he seemed to calm down. "Well, I'm not letting you off the hook yet."

"Then I guess I'll be first."

Naruto flinched as he realized that the new voice was coming directly behind him. He then noticed that the figure behind him had an immense magical pressure coming off of him unconsciously. He would have punished himself for not noticing this impossible presence if he wasn't so frozen in fear. He found it hard to even breathe as he mechanically turned his head to look up over his shoulder.

The man looked down at him from his massive size, a little shorter then Mordreau but infinitely more terrifying. He had on a large black cape that attached to a mantle on his shoulders and reached all the way down to his ankles. He had long white hair with a matching mustache and beard that went down to his waist. He wore a dark red shirt and and brown pants. But what Naruto noticed almost immediately was the fact that the very old man had some kind of bandage wrapped around his right eye and forehead. Naruto was reminded of the bandaged man that had used him as a weapon back in his earlier life. But the eye that wasn't covered was looking down on him, like how a mammoth would notice an ant that had moved in front of his path. Naruto tried to breathe as he found the air around him as cold as ice and even heavier to move in. Then, the man seemed to move his mouth, saying words that Naruto wasn't able to comprehend until he was brought back into focus.

"Don't I know you?"

Immediately, Naruto jumped as far and as fast as he could away from the frightening old man. He landed in a crouching stance, his arms and legs bent as close to the ground as he could. His breath was ragged and fast as the boy tried to calm his rapidly spiking heart rate. Naruto's eyes were jetting from one side of his vision to the other, trying to find a route he could escape in with the most blood still in his body. He never would have considered that as an option against those guys from the tower, or even Damnation. Hell, he was still afraid of that bastard Danzo but he would do his best to beat the wrinkly fuck into the dirt. But this guy...he was...

Worse then anything he had ever met before.

"Honestly, I think I've met you somewhere before?" The man rubbed his chin as if in deep thought as he tried to contemplate where he had seen this blond boy before. "You weren't on that cruise around Akane Beach last year were you? You know, where they ran out of shrimp and had to fish for more food and they caught that shark instead?" He looked at the boy as his expression of concentrated fear and fury was still completely focused on the old man. "I guess not." He looked around at all of his unconscious guild members and the ones that were still watching the conflict play out. And then finally, at the boy crouching down like an animal on the prowl.

"So, what can I do for you?"

Out of pure instinct, Naruto used all of his strength to propel himself forward at the man. He obviously caught him by surprise as the cape-clad man had a look of shock all over his face. He barreled his left shoulder in the man's broad chest, earning a painful grunt from the elder. Flowing through it, Naruto sent as much Armor as he could into his arms as bashed the head of the bat so hard into the man's stomach that he was lifted off his feet.

Naruto turned around and used the bat to throw the man over his head, gritting his teeth as he put his focus only on the man in the bandage. Using as much Armor as he could, he ran forward to match the speed the man was barreling off the floor. Jumping behind him, he reeled back assured the spiked end of the weapon to bash into the bandaged blond spot of the man's side. The man yelled in pain as he was sent in another direction by the force of the attack.

Finally, he stopped bouncing and laid on the floor. He lifted his head only to see the boy looking down at him with pure contempt as he pulled back his right fist covered in glowing light. He punched the man in the face as hard as he could as he pushed down with all of his force.

"Flying Gauntlet!"

The man's head was pushed even further into the ground as Naruto jumped back, watching the dust settle around the unmoving man. The rest of the guild looked on in shock as the boy took deep breathes and glared at the guild master. He seemed to calm down as some tense moments passed, no indications that the man was still conscious or alive.

"Well, that was surprising." Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the man sat back up out if the man shaped dent in the ground. He pulled the notch out of his neck as he seemed to think the boy's barrage was nothing more than a little nuisance. Barely a scratch of bruise on the man's body or face.

'What the hell?'

Naruto was shaking. No one he had fought before would have gotten out of that unharmed. Hell, even Mordreau would have felt a pain go through his body. But this man...this wrinkled old, white haired man, barely took any damage. He watched in worry as the man just stood back up with no injury or pain evident in his move. He looked at Naruto with an almost uncaring gleam in his eye.

"That was actually quite impressive. No wonder none of my men could face you, you overpower them before they get a chance." He dusted off a speck on his custom cape as if he was having a casual conversation. "What kind of magic was that? That must have been Requip you were using to get that weapon you were using but that other one was quite surprising. A proportional ratio of magic to the increase of power in your attacks, right? That's interesting." He chuckled as he invited the boy to try again. "Come."

Naruto felt an unknown feeling of distaste well up in his chest when he looked at the man before him. And hearing him invite to attack only angered the boy more. He bent down and jumped up in front of the man, summoning the other bat into his hand as he dual-wielded.

He axe kicked the man as he just blocked with the back of his arm. Naruto flipped off the extended limb as he landed on his feet again, right in front of the man's open chest. He started to swipe the bats as fast and hard as he could at the man. But he only evaded and dodged with the most minimal effort. Naruto got angry as he tried to beat the man into a pulp.

He jumped up and started to send a flurry of Armored kicks to the man's chest. As Naruto was suspended up from the continued contact against the man's chest, the man was stumbling back with every hit the boy made. As he made the last kick, he looped his leg over his shoulder to keep him locked in place. He lifted his bats up above his head and aimed to smash the man's head in between the spikes.

With an unworried movement, he punched the blond as hard as he could in the chest. Naruto's eyes widened as he spit up copious amounts of blood, splashing against the old mage's face. Hades pulled back his fist and sent an even faster punch in the same spot, sending the boy flying into the dirt. Naruto rolled on the floor several times, dropping the bats from his hands as he finally stopped.

The dirtied boy tried to lift his head but found it increasingly difficult, coughing up blood from the insanely powerful attack. He looked up to see the man slowly walk over to him, crushing the bats like old cans underneath his feet. The man stopped in front of him with a smirk across his face.

"Seriously, I want to see the extent of your power. I have another guild member about your age, you know. She is quite strong as well. I believe that if you two were to fight, it would be a spectacular fight. But she would still win, if only by a small margin."

"Wh-who are you?"

"I'm the guild master of Grimoire Heart. But that is nothing you need to concern yourself with boy. I'm more interested in you. Who might you be?"

"I-I'm the guy who has to take you down!" Naruto pushed off on his hands and stood up on his shaky knees to glare at the man with all of his fury.

"Why would you worry yourself with that?"

"Because I know people like you! I've known monsters like you that just take the lives of others like they were flies!"

"They are just flies."

"They aren't! They are people! They want to live their lives and you just come and end it! Like it was nothing!"

"It is nothing. I can take the lives of these people because they are nothing but blind sheep before my eyes. Living their useless, dreamless lives like a well oiled machine. I'm taking their lives and giving them a purpose. A means to which they can finally be of use to this world. For a greater cause."

Naruto's eyes widened at that man's last statement. He looked at the tall man as an image was superimposed on him. To Naruto, it was like seeing this man and Danzō standing side to side, spewing the same old bullshit about greater causes and purpose of taking the lives of others. Naruto mashed his teeth as he was seething with anger.

"You bastard! How! How can you say that so easily? Like it doesn't concern you? Doesn't it mean anything to you? The lives you taken? The people you've killed!"

"Does it mean something to you?" Naruto looked at Hades, shocked at the calm reply he gave the injured boy. "I can see it in your eyes. The look of someone who has had their hands drenched in the blood of another. Or at least have witnessed it enough to not seem too traumatized by it anymore. Am I right?"

"N-no! No, I'm-"

"Don't even think you can lie to me child. I can see it with this eye." He motioned to the eye wrapped inside the bandages. "That arm under the reformation metal, it is tainted with the power of the devil. I can feel it swell up inside you. The evil. The hate. The envy and greed. The pain. Your entire arm is drenched in it. So much so that it has become deformed and dangerous, correct?"

Naruto shook in fear as he grabbed the forearm of his prosthetic covering. Feeling a horrible pain but eerie truth in the man's words.

"You're not even a whole human anymore, are you? You've taken so many lives that you are trying to make up for it now. Protecting whoever you can against the people out their who still follow the path you once took. And it is admirable what you are doing. And it is going quite well too..."

"But not for long."

Hades would be lying if he said he wasn't getting a strange satisfaction from seeing how badly he was affecting this boy's thinking with his words. "You can fight that impulse for as long as you want. Stray away from it. Ignore it. Imagine that it never existed in the first place. But one day, when the people you tried to help are dead at your feet and you are drenched in their blood...you'll snap. And you will kill everyone around you. Be they friend or foe. Most likely with that very hand."

Naruto had a sense of unrivaled horror build up in his chest. Would that actually happen? He remembered that hate and power he gained from childhood whenever his temper was so wild he couldn't control himself anymore. Would that happen again? Would he kill for no good reason again. Like what Danzō made him do?

If he did, who would die? Jellal? Milli-chan? Everyone in Fairy Tail?

Erza?

The boy spaced out as this fear washed over him. Hades smiled and reached out his hand to the boy shaking in front of him.

"Join me."

Naruto looked up to the still hand and calmly smiling face of the man his was trying to incapacitate just a moment ago. "If you come with me, I can give you a purpose. A goal that best suits your interests. A reason that backs up your strength, that will let you stop hindering yourself and just run wild. And in return, we can make a new world. One that shall not ostracize you for your past or what you have become."

"If you leave here, you will be a time bomb. Waiting for the moment where your instincts take over and make you an animal. But if you come with me, I can give you a whole new world."

"What do you say?"

Hades looked at the stunned blond, his eyes so wide the could almost slip out his skull and his mouth failing to find the right words. The boy seemed to contemplate something for a moment before slowly walking up to the older man and stopping in front of him. Naruto lifted his right hand and moved it close to Hades' outstretched one. The man smiled as he had just gained a young and powerful ally.

Naruto growled and jumped up, aiming to clock the man in the face with his right fist. Naruto made contact but realized that the old man had put his left hand between his cheek and the boy's fist. As he lowered Naruto to the ground, getting a hiss in reply as he felt the old man start crushing his fist, Naruto glared at the man with fire blazing in his eyes.

"I will never join you!"

Hades looked down at the angry child in the black cloak as he glared at him with full contempt. The old guild master then realized where he had seen the boy before, as his glaring demeanor matched the photos he had in the file. He nodded his head as he remembered who this child was. "Well that's unfortunate."

Hades pulled the hand that was going to make the treaty into a fist and punched the boy in the face with his full power, aiming to make it concave. But in return, Hades realized that the boy was using his reformed left arm to block his attack, not losing an inch as the man put more power into his attack. Hades nodded in surprise, "Impressive."

Naruto swiped his hands and got them out of the gridlock they were in just a moment ago. The boy then engaged the man in close combat, swiping his elbow at Hades' knee and trying to cripple him.

But Hades easily maneuvered around the attempt and spun around, his fists to his side. As he came full circle, he started to unload a series of powerful but quick jabs at the child's center, only being blocked by the boy's failing attempt to guard himself with his bruising arms. As the toll from the punches were already taking toll, the boy's arms appearing blacker and more bruised each second, Naruto decided to match his ferocity.

When Hades went to punch him again, his fist was met with the boy's left fist, keeping the two at a standstill. As Hades tried to overpower Naruto's attempt to lock his strike he had to admit that the boy was very resourceful and tenacious. Naruto pushed the fist back and covered his entire body in Armor, trying to make himself at least strong enough to come close to his left fist.

Naruto then returned the barrage, aiming for the man's stomach and pushing him back a few steps in the process. As Naruto finally broke through with his attacks, he started to punch the man in the gut repeatedly, getting a painful grunt with everyone that had made contact. With his last attack, he caused the old man to double over from the force to his gullet. He then grabbed the old bastard by his hair and back and threw him as far as he could, soaring several meters over the heads of any guild members who were still outside watching the fight.

Naruto watched with baited breath as the man laid on his back for several tense seconds. He then huffed himself back up to his feet and dusted himself off like always. Naruto groaned and readied his fighting stance in the old man's direction, watching for any subtle movements he made. All he got was a smirk and a pointed finger at his feet. When Naruto finally realized that there was something attached to his feet, he was already being lifted off.

"Chain Magic"

Naruto was lifted high over the man's head, and then brought straight down into the dirt. As the blond Mage gasped for air, he was being twirled around by the man, laughing as he pulled the boy around like a ball on a string. Naruto was sent crashing through the burning houses, standing trees, gathered rubble and was held underneath the river for several seconds before he was smashed into the ground again.

Hades smiled at the boy on the ground who tried to take a breath with his shaking form, blood dripping down his forehead and mouth. The experienced Mage decided to be merciful and end the boy's suffering right then, considering it to be humane. He aimed his finger at a large rock over his shoulder and grasped it with Chain Magic. When the stone was caught, he then hefted it over his head and brought it down quickly, aiming for the blond's injured form.

Just as the boulder was about to crush Naruto, he lifted his left arm over his head and met the careening rock on its way down. Whether from the ground or by the boy's own hand, the rock exploded and covered the area with dust. Hades called back his Chains and walked over to the unmoving form of the dirtied boy. He silently stood there as he looked down at the beaten child, smirking to himself as he couldn't see any signs of breathing or movement from him.

Suddenly, the boy jumped up and summoned one of his two signature swords, the broad one with the two-sided blade. He caught the man off guard as Hades looked at him surprised, watching as the boy unsheathed the Excalibur and aimed to cleave the man's head in two. Naruto made the full swipe and caused the man to stumble slightly, hiding his face from the panting and sweaty child. Naruto waited and watched, focusing his blurry eyes on the man's figure as he prayed that he got a decent hit on him.

Hades stood back up properly, turning back around and looking at the boy. There was a thin cut from the bridge of his nose to the right top of his forehead. The bandages around his head were cut and limply hanging from around his skull. Naruto looked on in shock as the extent of his surprise attack was nothing more then a cut rag and enough blood to fill a quarter of a thimble.

Hades calmly lifted his hand and wiped up the thin cut on his face, taking the slight loss of blood with him. He rubbed the red liquid in his fingers for a moment before chuckling a little and looking at the boy evenly. "That's was quite a nice ambush you made. If I were anyone else my head would probably be rolling across the floor this very instant. But unfortunately for you, I can see everything."

Naruto just breathed out and held the Excalibur in both hands, aimed at the man standing calmly in front of him as he seemed to think through a tough decision. "But I feel like you deserve a reward for coming this far. I can't let you go...he won't join me..." Hades continued to think through his options before snapping his fingers like he had an epiphany.

"I know." Naruto watched patiently as the man grabbed the bandage wrapping around his head and started to slowly unwrap it. Naruto prepared to slash the geezer's arms until he felt a strange presence start to appear around him. Naruto tried to keep his footing as the mysterious power continued to skyrocket, bypassing any power he could even imagine. Reaching almost to Kurama's level of power. As Hades finished unwrapping the bandage from around his head, "Well, you should be honored child..."

"You shall be the first to experience the power of the Devil's Heart."

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

Inside the hallways of the stagnant airship, all of the dark guild members were running around frantically as they prepared for the ship to take off. All they needed was their master to return as soon as he finished off the child and they would be off.

"Seriously man! Where the hell did that kid come from? He just popped up out of nowhere and and started kicking our asses!"

"I don't know! But hopefully Hades-sama will be able to take care of him!"

"You don't think he can?"

"I can't say! That kid is really tough and young and Master Hades is older than a mummy! So maybe he could-" before the guild member could continue his pessimistic sentence, a loud banging and whirring sound ran out through the ship.

"What the hell is that?" Almost every member that could spare their time ran towards the source of that mysterious sound in their ship. When they came close, hundreds of members were trying to push their way up front to look inside the room with the eerie purple glow.

Inside the room was a large container of liquid with a strange object inside of it. The silhouette was beating as the machinery it was hooked up to started to activate, creating a vast amount of power to build up in front of their eyes. The light shined even brighter, showing a plaque underneath the glass that showed the words; Grimoire Heart.

"You were worrying about something? There's your answer! Experiments and trials forms run by Brain-sama. Technology and operations ran by the best members of Tartaros. The best machinery and assessable forms of magic lacrima provided by Ivan-sama to create the most powerful magic system next to the council's Etherion. And at the center of it all, our master's own beating heart. The Devil Heart power system."

The members of the guild all laughed as their was absolutely no chance for the boy to escape alive now.

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

Naruto was speechless. His mouth was agape as he tried to figure out his next plan of action. He tried to run, either at the man or away from him, but found that his legs had become useless. Frozen in fear at the sight before him.

The old man was looking squarely at him, a coy smile on his face as he easily figured that the boy was immobilized. His beard and mustache were sharper and slightly floating from the excess of power. The right eye he had revealed to the boy was black with a glowing red center, aiming to gut the young Mage like a fish. But the most terrifying thing was the immense spike in the man's already impressive magic. The longer he stood there, the colder and darker the power got, frightening the whiskered Mage like nothing he had experienced before.

The man lifted the hand holding the used bandages and laughed, dropping them to the floor. "I could have shown you so much. The true existence and extent of what your magic could do. Power and strength that no one else could even begin to comprehend. And at the end of it all, a world made for us, where you could have changed everything for yourself. Oh well."

The man bent over and picked up a small rock by his foot. He juggled it in his hand as he looked at the boy fondly. "Do you know what this eye can grant me? What I can do in this world?" The boy tensed as the man held the stone firmly in his grasp. "Anything."

A strange black substance started to exude itself from the stone. It bent and changed form as it grew in size and stature. Naruto watched bewildered as the strange magic changed into an odd type of humanoid form. A creature that was bouncing around and was about as tall as Hades' navel, only slightly taller then Naruto.

Hades looked at the creature as if he made some type of mistake in the process. He then noticed that little blood drops were dripping at his feet. He lifted a hand to the demonic eye and touched it, pulling back to see that there was blood seeping out of his eye socket. "Tch, I should have known it was too soon to be using this for Demon Summoning. I can't even do it right. Oh well. You." The demon stopped playing with its nonexistent toes as he looked up at its new creator.

"Kill him."

The demon looked away from Hades to the boy that held the sword out in front of him. Then it looked back at Hades. Then at Naruto. It continued this for a few seconds until it nodded its neck-less head and moved up to its feet. It looked at Naruto for several moments before disappearing in a blur.

Before Naruto could even react, the demon barreled itself head first into the cloaked boy's stomach. Naruto's eyes widened as he spit up blood, flying back from the attack super fast as he hit a broken house. As Naruto tried to lift himself up, he was already being intercepted by the demon barraging his downed form with animalistic punches.

Naruto guarded against as many punches as he could with his arms and swords. But even then, the demon's barrage was seeping through and he would get punched in the face or gut every few moments. As Naruto tried to push the monster back, it seemed to focus on only destroying him by any means necessary.

As the demon pulled back for another attack, Naruto took this chance to stab it clean through the head with Excalibur. The creature let out some type of painful shrieking noise as it took several steps back, long enough for Naruto to jump back to his feet and punch the creature across where its face was supposed to be. As the demon stumbled back, it got its balance back and slowly pulled the sword out of the hole in its face. It held the sword up in front of Naruto as it slowly bent and broke it.

Naruto growled and ran forward, their fists crossed over each other as they continued to punch the other one into submission. When Naruto was hit with a cross jab, he returned it with back fist to its face. And when Naruto elbowed the creature over the head, it spun around and hit him where he was vulnerable in the chest. They continued this little back and forth punching for three minutes until Naruto found an opportunity he couldn't miss.

As the demon was pulling back for a wide hook, Naruto dug his fingers facing out into the open slit in its head. As the creature was stunned, Naruto pushed with all his strength to dig his other hand in right next to the first one. Hades watched with an intrigued eye as he saw the boy yell as loudly as he could as the demon screamed in agony. Naruto pushed with all of his enhanced strength and ripped the demon in two.

The former Jinchūriki weapon breathed in deeply as he held the two separated pieces of the demon's body in each hand. He slowly lifted his head and glared at Hades with cold and vicious eyes. Hades actually clapped at the boy's efforts to fight against the summoned monster. Even if it was a low-class summoned demon, the boy ripped a demon in half! That deserved praise.

"Very good. Very, very good. Perhaps I have misjudged you. Or...maybe it just took a stronger demon to kill a little one?"

Naruto yelled as he crushed the halved demon body, returning it into pure magic as he ran forward at Hades, head-to-toe in Armor. As he ran as fast as he could, shortening the gap every second as he came close to the insanely powerful man, Hades lazily lifted his hand out from underneath his cape and pointed two fingers at Naruto. As Naruto was just over ten feet away from him, he channeled all of the Armor around his body into his left fist, planning to hit the man with all of his power.

"Flying Gaun-"

"Bang!"

A small ball of magic left Hades' finger tips at impossible speeds, hitting Naruto in his reformed arm and pushing it back. As the magic dispersed from around his hand, the boy was shocked as he stumbled from the change in power. Hades moved his fingers slightly and aimed again.

"Bang!"

This time, Naruto was hit in his kneecap, losing his speed and stumbling past the man he tried to attack. He spent a second gripping his leg in pain and checking for what had happened. He saw that there was a slight puncture wound and some blood dripping from where he was hit in the knee. The boy slowly looked over his shoulder at the man that did not even acknowledge his existence. He took a moment to breathe, then spun around to smash the back of the man's head.

"Bang!"

Another bullet shot through his shoulder, causing the boy to scream in pain as he clutch his aching arm. He looked up to see the man had already turned around and shot him faster then he could turn to attack. Naruto put as much strength as he could into his-

"Bang!"

He fell to his knees again as he was hit in the stomach. He tried to lift himself off on his-

"Bang!"

He slipped from where his left arm was shot from below him. Every move or attack Naruto tried to make, the bearded master was already there with a bullet aiming where he was going. As Naruto sat on his knees looking up at the man, he aimed both his hands at the whiskered boy.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang, bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Naruto was hit across his entire body. His chest. His arms. His legs. His head. His feet. His stomach. His lungs. His hips. His knees. Anywhere that was visible was open to punishment from the old man's magic. Naruto's body flailed around violently on the floor as Hades continued to attack the boy relentlessly, laughing like a hyena as the boy screamed in bloody agony.

Hades stopped the flow of magic in his fingers, taking a breath as he looked at his handy work. There were bloody spots and bruises all over the child's young body. His clothes were filled with holes where the bullets pierced his form. The boy was breathing irregularly as he tried to move any part of his body, opening his half-lidded eyes as he watched the old man look down at him.

"I've had my fun now boy. Now, I shall give you a choice of how you wish to end this. I could snap your neck and make it quick? Or... You can keep fighting this useless battle and we can see you try to cling to the last little shred of your life? Your choice?"

Naruto gripped the dirt underneath his hand as he tried to pull himself up. He then looked towards the forest and pushed off with his left hand, getting enough air to stumble before weakly running into the fire scarred forest. Hades sighed tiredly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head before chuckling lightly. He had to admit it...

This child was actually kind of fun.

Hades watched silently, letting the cold air from around the town blow his cape around as he waited for a sign of the boy's struggle. The flickering of one side of the forest still burning as some smoke rose up in the sky. He waited patiently until he heard a swishing sound in his ear. He turned around to intercept the attack until he felt a pebble touch his head.

Hades felt rocks continue to hit his blind spots as the boy hid in the shadows of the burnt trees. He was using his cloak as a cover in the blackened wood as he tried to divert the wizened man's attention as he looked for an opportunity. It was actually quite impressive. Like a hunter trying to slow down his prey, waiting for the right moment to end this.

Hades breathed in silently, waiting for the moment that the blond menace would reveal himself. Hades quietly moved his index finger in a formation, a stream of black magic following wherever he told it to. When Hades noticed a flurry in the shadows of the fire, he pointed his in that direction and said quietly...

"Amaterasu: Formula 25"

In an instant, Naruto was surrounded by black and purple runes covering his entire field of vision. The symbols were rotating around him like planets to the sun. He could find no way to escape the massive area of effect around him so he did what he had done best.

Braced himself.

*BOOM*

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

From a spot several miles away from the destroyed city and dark guild ship, a woman was quietly looking through the trees and bushes for the plants she was searching for. She usually didn't have to supply herself with so much, but ever since that pink and black-haired brats joined, that red-haired brat was sending them packing to her home almost every other day. And especially after some stupid incident involving cake and a new brat joining the guild when she had to heal every single person for some stupid injuries.

Needless to say, it was definitely not worth it to come unprepared.

She suddenly felt a low rumble pass through her section of the forest, scaring the deers and birds around her to run away. She jumped up and calmed the horse carrying her carriage with an apple from her pocket, petting its mane and settling its worry.

She looked up into the sky, seeing a cloud of dust and smoke rise up in the distance. She decided that she needed to get moving, before this commotion came her way.

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

A massive blast of magic and air shook the very ground around him. The resulting wave of power caused the trees to bend and break, extinguishing the fires that were once burning. The ship creaked from the force of the blast and the river rippled and crashed.

Several members of the dark guild ran down the steps from the ship, looking out at the commotion outside. They all saw Hades standing there calmly as the wind pressure caused his cape to flap madly. The men all covered there eyes as to keep themselves steady from the air pressure. "Master Hades, wh-what's going on?"

"Don't worry. This battle is over." The cloud of smoke finally dispersed as they all saw a massive blast radius shown clearly by the amount of broken trees and burnt wood around the center. At the edge of the effect area, a motionless body laid on his face, unfazed by what was happening around him. His cloak and shirt were gone, burnt and blasted away from the sheer force of the blast. His boots were only ripped rags on his feet as his long pants were reduced to burnt shorts. His skin was smoking and red from the intensity of the attack.

The guild members all looked on in shock as they saw the boy they had such a difficult time dealing with so easily killed by their guild master. The men all looked between each other and laughed, taking this chance to rough up the remains of the bastard child. They started heading his way with their weapons at the ready.

"Wait."

The men stopped at the command from their leader as he had no change in his expression. "He is still alive." All of the lesser wizards gaped in shock at his proclamation as they looked at the body of the blond beaten boy. Although very subtle, and almost completely unnoticeable, they could see very tiny movements in his chest as he took very faint breathes. His eyes were closed and he couldn't even hear anything correctly, a ringing running through his head.

"Most people would have died already you know. Hell, they would have given up after the demon started his charge. But no, you powered through. You sent as much of that strengthening magic through your body at the last possible second and used that reformation arm as a vanguard against the attack. But even then, it wasn't enough to protect you." To Naruto, all of his words were nothing more then dribble. Faints sounds he couldn't recognize as he slipped further and further into the darkness awaiting him. "I would be surprised, but to be honest I've come to expect this of you. After all, you were the boy who almost ruined everything for me in the tower. Oh well, I suppose I should let my men extract their pound of flesh before they get antsy."

Even in his exhausted state; even as his body was bleeding and burnt and he couldn't tell what was happening around him, he could tell one thing. He could recognize a word in all of the mindless gibberish the man was speaking. Just one.

Tower.

"W-wait." Hades could hear that faint, almost non-existent plea even in the slow wind around him, he looked on in pure shock as the boy tried to lift himself up on his hands. As he tried, they wobbled from their inability to support his own weight and he threw up a large quantity of spit and blood. He fell back down as he tried to at least lift up his head, to look at the man who outclassed him in power.

"Y-you s-sa-said tower. Wh-what do you know about the tower?" His eyes were half-lidded and blood was dripping down his face, streams of it building up under his damaged body. Hades only looked at him evenly as he was asked the question. "Who are you?"

"Years ago, I found a cult secluded in the deepest depths of the mountains, praying to a dead god. They worshipped and idolized him, willing to sacrifice blood and flesh to please his offerings. I told them of a place they could go to fulfill a dream, to awaken this god from his death bed and bring upon his new reign." Naruto actually listened as intently as he could, slowly realizing where the familiar story was going. "They would only have to follow my instructions and their reasons for living would be complete. They would have to gather hundreds of workers and sacrifices to give to fulfill the requirements, but then their job would be complete. That is the tower I helped build."

"My name is Hades. Master of the Grimoire Heart Guild. Creator of the Balam Alliance. And I shall herald the new Grand Magical World, led by the Great Zeref."

Naruto was horrified by this news. The man in front of him. This-this man that had beaten him to a bloodied and broken pulp, was the man who made the tower. The place that he had slaved in for god knows how many days. Where every night people put themselves to sleep by crying. Where the only better option to take was to slit your wrists or throat and hope that you were never found. Spewing the same 'holy death god' shit that those bastards in the tower got off on.

Naruto shook in place as anger and pain and melancholy and remorse built up inside of him. "Why?" He got hades attention as with a renewed vigor, Naruto yelled out to him. "Why would you aim for something like that? Making a tower that killed more then it could save? I watched people die everyday, some taking their own lives just to end the misery! And watched my friends cry for freedom everyday, pasting smiles on our faces to survive and push on! The bodies of the fallen, the runners, piled up like sacks of clothes and meat! I saw that everyday!"

"Why would you do it? Why would you put us through so much just to fulfill a pointless goal? The lives of everyone that gave themselves at that tower! The slaves! The cult! My friends! Their families! What do they mean to you?!"

"Nothing. They were necessary." Naruto stared deflated at the simple and quick answer he had received from the stoic man. "They couldn't fight for themselves so I doubt they would have been much use. If they weren't able to fight off those foolish cult members, then they weren't ready for the magic world I was making. The tower wasn't going to work in the end anyway, so anyone that was lost in the process was just a necessary sacrifice for the future."

Naruto looked at the man in horror at the cold and calculated meaning of his words. All those people, all those men and women he worked with. The lives that were ruined and affected in the process. Rob-jichan lost an arm. Jellal had gone insane. Wally and Simon were separated from their families, crying everyday for their safety. Shō and Milli-chan were never going to be the same, traumatized with pain and dath since such a young age. Erza...she lost her parents... Kazuya and Erika died trying to fight a way to freedom for her. And he just said...

It. Was. Necessary.

"I suppose I should give them thanks for their efforts and work in helping me come this far. Perhaps I shall incorporate their lives in the magical world when I-"

*SMAAAAASSSHHHHHH*

Hades actually lost his footing at the massive earthquake that took over the town area. The ship rumbled and the houses fell apart at the earth saddled underneath them. The guild members were all shaking in fear as Hades turned around, looking at the cause of the earth shattering force.

The boy had punched the ground. With his left fist, he punched the ground. And from that punch, a crater that match the Amaterasu attack was formed underneath the cracked dirt and stone. The boy was on a knee, his body still badly injured but forgotten at the moment. His eyes shadowed as his teeth were mashed together so hard it added to the blood coming out of his mouth.

"They were necessary? All those lives? Those people? Their families? The cries of desperations and sorrow? Their last attempts for freedom and to contact their lost loved ones? Their last chances to fight for their lives and they were necessary? NECESSARY!"

He lifted his head and gave Hades the eyes of a killer beast. The eyes that he was forced to use when Danzō made him kill for sport. The eyes drenched in tears of sorrow and regret for the dead.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

The ground underneath his feet splintered as he jumped straight at the old man, screaming a cry for blood as he soared as fast as possible. When he came close, he spun in the air several times and hooked his left fist around Hades' already prepared outside block. Hades actually winced as the power behind the strike was so much more impressive that his arm was actually shaking.

Naruto then sent a wave of attacks at the man as he aimed to rip the old bastard's throat out. An elbow strike from the side. A straight jab feinting into a left hook. A tornado kick that lead to a drooping axe kick. Naruto's body was tolling and the power behind them was growing weaker. But despite his injuries, the boy's attacks were becoming faster and smoother, making it more difficult for Hades to block, even if only by a small fraction.

Hades pushed the boy off his arm and sent him skidding a few feet, the boy growling in anger as tears fell unhindered down his face. Hades pointed his finger at the boy as he attempted another dive at him, pulling his left fist as far back as he could to strike. As the magic built up in his fingertips, Naruto changed the direction of his attack and destroyed the ground underneath them.

The floor was destroyed and splintered, dust and smoke covering all of Hades' senses. He chuckled a little at the boy's clever but desperate attempt to score a hit. He kept turning around, hearing feet rush past behind him. As Hades waited for a moment to find his bearings, he heard a rustle behind him.

He pointed his finger at the ground, where a sudden shadow was closing in on his lower body. He released the pent up attack and vaporized the object. It turned out to be a rock as the stone exploded into hundreds of tinier pebbles. Hades smiled as he had already predicted this outcome. He looked over his head where a human shadow was creeping up on him, ready to pounce down and tear him to shreds. With his other hand, he aimed at the falling figure and unleashed his next attack. The blast exploded out the man's other side as a spray of flesh and bone was left with a massive gaping hole. Bullseye.

Hades' eyes widened when the figure came into focus. It was his guild member that was asking him questions throughout the entire fight, he was already dead as his bloodied corpse came closer and closer to falling on him, with no remorse, he smacked the body away with both his hands.

And then he realized what was happening. He saw it coming towards him. As he pushed the dead subordinate out of the way, the boy was coming straight at him. Using the corpse as a distraction to surprise the old Mage. Hades pulled his hands back, trying to put them in front of his face to protect himself. But just as his arms were close to coming together, the metal arms broke through the open gap and headed straight for his face.

"Uggghhhh!" Hades yelled through shut teeth as the boy's demon enhanced hand dug three fingers into his right eye, clawing out the trump card he had worked years to create. From inside the ship, the heart malfunctioned and short-circuited due to the connecting apparatus being destroyed.

Naruto yelled as he tried to dig his hand even further into the man's eye until he pulled down; leaving three long, deep and bloody gashes down the right side of his face. As Hades was falling back, Naruto took the midair opportunity to grab him by the collar and punch him as hard as he could with his Armored right fist.

Hades flew out of the dust cloud, hitting the side of his aircraft and sliding down until his feet his land. The old man braced himself on the side of the ship as he covered the bloody open right socket of his former eye. He couldn't even feel a trace of the magical power from the eye or the heart. He became angry and unsettled, vowing that the moment the boy came ou-

"HA!"

Hades was caught off guard as Naruto bursted out of the dust, digging his left hand through the skin and into the older mage's stomach. Hades spewed blood as the force from the attack cratered and cracked the hull of the ship behind him. With a ferocious anger, he pulled the blood soaked hand out of the gaping hole in his stomach and started to unleash a massive flurry of fast and tough punches into the area surrounding the wound. The hull continued to crack as Hades grunted in pain every time the punches connected with a loud thud. After some time, Naruto started to work his way up, cracking and shattering the lower half of the man's ribs as he tried to make the man suffer as worse as possible.

Hades tried to retaliate, throwing out a fast fist to knock the boy back but found the boy had evaded him. Not only that, as Hades' arm was out in front of him, Naruto gripped the wrist of hand tightly and connected his feet into the elder man's face. Pushing him through the weakened metal of the ship's hull and pulling out the arm from its socket.

The ship trembled from the force of the attack as the members inside the ship stumbled and fell over. In the main hall of the interior of the ship, Hades was lying on the ground covered by the ships rubble. He lifted himself up, trying to ignore the pain in his abdominal area and the blurry vision he had from his loss of blood. As he looked up, he saw the boy flying at him, a samurai sword in his hand and his eyes whitened by an intense fury.

Naruto stabbed Kusanagi through the artery of Hades' right arm, pinning him to the ground as the wound bled out. As Hades screamed in pain, Naruto pinned his body to the ground with his knees on either side of the man's body. He then pulled back and smashed the man's face in with his left fist, silencing the man's screams and cratering the wooden floor.

As Hades gasped for breath, Naruto punched him again with his other fist. And then he started to alternate as he created a barrage of fast strikes into the man's face, piercing loud thuds created every time he hit. Hades' body was twitching as Naruto screamed as loudly as possible to punish the old man. The skin of his fist peeling off as it was covered in his and Hades' blood.

From the cat-walks, the Grimoire members pooled out and watched in horror as the boy tried to beat the man to death with his bare hands. They all issued an order and unleashed a combination of their magic attacks, destroying the planks around him and some blasts connecting to the boy's back.

Naruto didn't care anymore. He didn't care if he came out of this alive or dead. If he was hit, it didn't matter. If he was tortured, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was close to killing this man beneath him. And he was going to make him suffer.

As Naruto continued to dig his fists into the breaking bone of the man's skull, Hades tried to think through his options. He was toying with this child, like a lion with his lunch. And he was so close to dying, just a single concentrated attack and he would have ended that boy's existence. And in an instant, it all turned around.

His eye was gone. His ship was broken. And now he was being pummeled to death by a raging child that couldn't control his temper. And when he looked through the flurry of punches, he saw the image of a demon. A demon worried only of making his head a pink slurry underneath his might. And he had to say, this view was...

Unbelievable.

Hades concentrated and estimated the amount of magic in his body and how much power he could put into his attack. He then felt about how much damage his body could take if he used his attack. But with his choices, it was either that or continue with the feeling of his cartilage being crushed with every hit. And anything less would probably not stop the boy.

Hades moved his fingers in a pattern and summoned what remained of his magical power. A familiar set of black and purple runes appeared around the two of them as Naruto seemed to have enough presence of mind to notice the larger circle of affect center around them. Underneath all of the blood, broken jaws and cheek bones, bloodied eyes and shattered teeth, Hades smiled.

"Amaterasu: Formula 50"

The airship's hull exploded in all directions as the magical circle expanded in the center of the ship. An even more powerful shockwave was unleashed across the landscape as the trees sure downing the ship all fell over from the force. In the nearby river, several planks of wood and steel fell into its depths, along with a body that floated downstream.

The Heart members all coughed and tried to peer through the dust, trying to find any other members of their guild. Dozens of men all went to the ground level, trying to find any sign if their master who had sacrificed himself to kill the child. At the center of the blast radius, the members of the guild all cringed in shock. Hades was lying on his back, his clothes completely destroyed and burnt to a crisp. His skin was fried and smoking as the sword that was in his arm had melted due to the extreme power of the attack. His face was swollen and deformed, blood dripping down his mouth and shattered nose. The open wound on his stomach was burnt shut but the blood was still covering his lower body.

"Gawk!"

The guild members all sighed in relief when they heard the motionless body cough up some blood. Despite his severely damaged body, he was still tough enough to fight through and survive this. As the members of the dark guild all started to prepare a medical ward for their master, they tried to keep him calm during his time of shock. "Master, you'll be alright. We'll call Ulter-sama and get her to come and fix the ship. And you'll be better than ever when were done healing you."

"Gawk...ugh...uhehehe...hehehehe..."

The people scurrying around the beaten guild master all stopped as they heard him do something like chuckle as he lied there covered in blood and bruises. "Master?"

"Hehehehe...eheheheheheh...Khahahahahaha...AHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" All of them watched as their master seemed to break down, laughing like a maniac as the medics came to take him to intensive care.

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

The pink-haired old woman walked along the riverbank, picking the special herbs that she knew only grew in this edge of the forest. She admired the sounds of the peaceful nature and roaming wildlife around her. No annoying brats. No stupid old friends who saved her life. No more rumbling in the distance with smoke flying up.

She could get used to this. Maybe she could move in here. See how those little punks would annoy her then.

As she was admiring the clear waters, she noticed a change in the tinting of the water's color. She stood up and stepped inside, running her hand through the middle of the strange phenomenon. As she brought her hand down to cup some of it, she realized that it was a flow of blood. She followed it upstream as the flow seemed to gradually increase the further in she went.

When she finally arrived, she looked on in shock. A naked blond boy with a metal prosthetic had his arm wrapped around a log as his grotesque wounds bled out into the water.

Great. More trouble.

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

Done

To those who have been reading my story and patiently waiting for you know what...thank you. There is one more chapter for April, and I've got to make it count.

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Next Chapter: Welcome Home