Titania and The Hunter
Chapter 12: The Path You Set For Yourself
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa! Natsu cops a feel of Lucy's sweater puppies. And what magnificent puppies they be. And for once, it's the nephew that does the bad touch to the uncle. And the dragons are outta here!
Whatever.
The Last Of Us. Anyone? Anyone?
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November X778
Close to the edge of the forest by the side of Magnolia town, there was a little one-story home that was surrounded by trees. It was small in comparison to most houses and domiciles that people live in, more relatable to an apartment than a house, but it was a suitable home for a person who didn't mind appearances.
Inside the little home was a small living room with a couch and table. Connected to the humble opening room was a small, fully stocked kitchen that appeared to have some plates and a fridge by its side. Down the hall by the living room, there were four doors to be seen. Two on the right wall, one on the left, and one leading to the empty space behind the house.
The first door opened to a messy bedroom. With smelly and used clothes flung on the floor and hanging by the side of an unmade bed. Fliers and requests nailed to a board on the wall. In the closet were sets of differently colored shirts and long black pants. With several spare long cloaks with hoods hung up in case of convenience. Besides the bed, there was a small cupboard that had several pictures placed on top of it. In each of them was a massively grinning blond boy; either with a scarlet girl, a white-haired teen, or a groups of younger boys, girls and a cat.
In the second bedroom, there was another bed that was still pristine and appeared unused. Several other articles of clothing, weapons and some jewels were laid out on the mattress. Some boxes and gifts given by grateful clients and guild friends were laid across the room.
On the left wall was a bathroom. A bathtub, a shower and sink that had towels placed all across it in an uncaring manner.
And outside the last door, behind the small house were the sounds of tired grunts ringing out through the dying trees. Out in the growing autumn wind, the brown and orange leaves fell and landed in large groups in the clearing. And in the middle of the clearing was a young blond teenager, with his artificial arm behind his back tightly holding a large boulder over him.
He pushed down on his slightly glowing right hand.
"953, 954, 955..."
Drops of sweat dripped down his whiskered face as he took several deep breathes with each consecutive push up. He continued his morning work out as he concentrated on the task at hand.
A few feet away from him, the sound of swords slashing through empty space echoed in his ears. A young scarlet-haired girl dressed in a skirt and simple white blouse was practicing her sword use with a broad-sword and katana. Her movements and slashes were quick and precise, cutting through any stray leaves that came in her path. She continued her sword style practice as the boy started to finish up his weighted training?
"999, 1000." Naruto pushed off his hand and let the boulder fall to his side, getting a loud crash as the large rock settled into the ground. He sat with his legs crossed as he rotated his sore shoulder, feeling the layer of sweat over his whole frame. He took in several deep breathes as he felt himself loosen from his work out and lay back with the boulder as his support. He looked over his shoulder, "How's it going Erza?"
"Give me a minute." Erza concentrated on her swordsmanship as she swung her swords as fast as she could and cut down the branches of a dying tree. Before the wood could even start descending to the ground, Erza swung Excalibur and Kusanagi in a flash of shining light as Naruto awed at her skill. She moved like a flying feather, swift and elegant but fierce and captivating. Her talent for swords far outdid his in most senses of the understanding. And anyone who saw her move would completely agree with that statement.
She landed effortlessly on her feet, her blades in a reverse grip as she held out her arms for balance. And as the branches started coming closer to the yard, they started to separate and fall into piles of cleanly cut wood. After several moments, all of the chopped wood laid by the Fairy girl's feet as she wiped a head of sweat off her brow. She looked over to where her friend was watching her with a smile on his face. "How do you think I did?"
"As well as you always do, of course." The newly turned 14 year old said as he stood back up and tried to wipe some of the sweat off of his face. "I have to cut training and you had to come and make sure I made it. Why are we in such a hurry today again?" Erza sighed tiredly as she walked up to Naruto and slapped him across the head, earning a groan from the slap marked Jinchūriki.
"Stupid. I've told you several times already, we are traveling with the Master to Era for an important meeting." She grabbed Naruto by the collar of his black shirt and dragged him reluctantly into his house as he grumbled in annoyance. As she tossed him inside, she walked in and closed the back door. She then quickly turned around and pushed a surprised Naruto into the bathroom. "Wash up and get ready ok."
"Awwww. Do I have to?"
"Yes! Now!" Naruto sighed and shut the bathroom door as Erza smirked at her victory. The scarlet girl stood in the hallway as a bright light consumed her. When it had died down, she stood in her best friend's new home wearing her trademark simple armor. She looked herself over as she nodded and started to walk around the simple housing complex Naruto had bought over the last few months.
After he had first arrived, Naruto didn't have any place to stay in for the foreseeable future. Erza had offered to allow temporary housing for him in the Hill, but after some serious reconsidering and chiding from the other residents, she decided to retract the offer.
After which, he got offers for some of the other members of the guild. Natsu promised that if Naruto could beat him in a fight, he would let the new member stay in his house. After a quick and humiliating defeat at the hands of the whiskered boy, the dragon slayer was forced to let him stay. Of course since the two were having an argument over who was stronger and were settling it with their fists, the dirty shack didn't last very long as a suitable home.
Then some of the older members gave him invitations. He stayed in the basement of the guild for a fair amount of time. Even Mirajane gave him an open dorm to stay with her and her siblings. Elfman nodding nervously and Lisanna happily interested in learning more about the cool new blond Mage that seemed to know Erza personally. And Mira was the most interested in having the cute new boy join her team and abandon Erza's group.
Naruto had no idea what she was talking about. But Erza just grew angrier and angrier at the white-haired hussy.
So finally, Master Makarov offered him a similar place to live in like he did for Natsu when he first arrived in Magnolia. All he had to do was take some jobs and earn enough jewels to buy the place for himself. So starting from there, the boy took all types of requests and missions with all kinds of rewards and difficulty. And he took on each challenge he faced with a steady hand and a big grin on his face. And of course, she would help him out whenever he went on a bigger mission then usual.
Finally, after several months of saving up and paying back expenses for his damages, he bought this shabby little house on the edge of the town's square. And he couldn't love it more.
Erza looked up at an old clock on the wall and saw that she was losing herself in thought. She walked back into the hall and opened the bathroom door that Naruto washing himself in. "Naruto-"
"E-Erza! D-don't barge in!"
"We're going to be late if you don't hurry up."
"Then you go on without me." Naruto kept the towel he grabbed off the floor and covered his crotch from his undisturbed friend. "I'll catch up."
"Okay. I'll see you there." Erza closed the door with a nod as Naruto stood there, in his birthday-suit, as he heard her boots resound off the floor as she walked away. After a moment, he heard the front door open and then close behind her as she left. He then fell to his butt and breathed out a hefty sigh.
"She's insane." Naruto said to himself as he let out a little chuckle as he noticed his friend's odd take on privacy and decency. Naruto finished his clean up and walked to his room. He pulled out a pair of drawers, pants and a shirt to wear for the day.
As Naruto pulled up his pants, Naruto looked around his room and at the pictures he had of his friends and family in Fairy Tail. He smiled fondly as he saw images of himself, happier then he had ever been in his entire life while he was surrounded by his friends.
He stood there with a big, wide smile plastered across his face. An arm around the shoulder of a grinning Gray. A playful headlock around an angry but obviously happy Natsu with Happy waving at the camera atop his head. One the right of Naruto, Erza was standing off to the side, a smile on her face as she stood confidently. Surprisingly, Mirajane had an arm wrapped around the scarlet girl's shoulder as she brought her in to a one arm hug and gave the camera a peace sign. On the left, Cana, Levy and Lisanna stood together and waved while Elfman was quite squeamish about having any attention on him. In the background, some of the adults were laughing while Laxus just shook his head tiredly.
Naruto pulled his long sleeved shirt over his head and pulled out one of the black cloaks laying on the floor. Naruto stormed out of his room and out of his house as he ran to his second home.
Off to Fairy Tail.
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"Erza! Let me come too! It's not fair!" A fiery pink haired boy yelled as he complained to the cool armored red head girl sitting patiently at the bar. Erza shook her head as she turned exhaustingly to the Dragon-Slayer.
"Natsu, we aren't going on a vacation. This is a very serious matter that Master has invited Naruto and I to attend."
"But that sounds so exciting! So let me join you guys!"
"No! And that is final!" Erza walked away from the counter and tried to ignore Natsu's pestering. Of course...this was Natsu she was trying to discourage.
"Hell No!" Natsu's hands burst into intense red flames as he cut off Erza's straight path. "If I can beat you, then Jiji will have no choice but to take me with him!" Erza just looked at him blankly as a collective sigh rang throughout the guild hall.
"Do you really think you will do any better then last time?"
"Of course! I'm a whole lot stronger then I was last time!"
"You mean yesterday?"
"Yeah!"
Erza continued to look at him with no change in her features before she smiled and nodded her head. "Good. I'm very proud of that spirit of yours Natsu."
"Great, so let's-"
"So I promise to give you my utmost attention and effort." Slowly, a black shadow spread over Natsu's form as he looked up at the growing image of a scarlet-haired demon caressing a blade in her hands. Her shadowed face revealed two harshly glaring blue and brown eyes as a white gap looking like a smile spread through the darkness. "Ready?"
"U-ummm...c-can I reconsider this?"
"No."
"KYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Natsu desperately tried to escape the sword Erza was swinging as she chased him through the hall. You could almost see a maniacal glint in the eye of the armor girl as she chased the screaming boy only a hair's width away from receiving her wrath.
Mira was sitting at a table with her siblings. She was watching the confrontation with a pitiful shake of her head as Lisanna and Elfman were paying more attention to the cerulean kitten in the youngest girl's lap. "Seriously. Does that idiot ever learn?"
"Mira-Nee! Don't insult Natsu like that!" Her younger sister reprimanded her for her insult against the pink-haired simpleton.
"Aw come on Lisanna, the honeymoon phase has gotta end at some point." The youngest Take-Over sister blushed at her sister's blunt use of the phrase. "I mean, you've already got the kid." She pointed to the strange young kitten munching on some fish. "Your daddy is stupid, isn't he little guy?"
"Aye!"
"See."
"Nee-chan, don't use Happy to insult Natsu like that."
"What? He doesn't know the difference. He would agree to anything. He's stupid like that. You're stupid, aren't you?"
"Aye!"
"The sky is red, isn't it?"
"Aye!"
"I'm the Queen of the guild, right?"
"Nope."
"See, agrees with- wait a sec! You little-"
"Erza!" Makarov yelled as he appeared with Gildarts from the storage in the back. "We've got to get going soon. Drop what you're doing and get ready." Erza did just that as she let go off the chokehold she had around Natsu's purple neck.
"Yes Master."
"Hey guys!" Naruto waved to everyone as he walked through the doors of the guild as he got several welcomes from anyone who heard him.
"Naruto!" Natsu got back to his feet and ran up to his blond friend. "Are you seriously going with Jii-chan to this Era place? I want to come!"
"Hehe. Sorry Natsu. Just us today."
"Then I'll kick your ass before that!" Natsu pulled his fist back and set it aflame. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Naruto smirked as he blocked the burning fist with his left hand and grabbed Natsu's extended arm. He turned around and flipped a screaming Natsu over his head and into the floor. He let go of the younger boy's arm and left the spinning eyed boy on the ground. "Close buddy. But not quite yet."
"Ow."
Naruto walked over to the table where his friends waved him over. "Hey guys. What's up?"
Mirajane looked off aimlessly. "Gray and Cana went off on a mission with Macao and Wakaba. And Levy went off with her new team with Jet and Droy."
"And the asshole?"
"Laxus is still out on a mission," Elfman answered. "I don't think it is a good idea to antagonize him like that Naruto. You know how he gets." Naruto just clicked his tongue in reluctant acknowledgement.
After Naruto had first joined Fairy Tail, he had easily become friends with most of the younger group except for the older blond. He had attempted to make friends with Laxus but he was unwilling to go the extra mile to work with Naruto.
And then, over the last few months, he had started to change. Showing phases of superiority and hostility to the rest of the guild. Even his own grandfather.
"Pfft, just cause that bastard is strong, thinks he can look down on us like that." Naruto punched his fist into his palm as he smirked. "Well, maybe I'll just have to knock him down a few pegs."
"Don't underestimate him Naruto." Mira stated evenly as she smiled at the quirky blond across from her. "Get yourself to S-class status and then you can think of challenging him." Naruto gave her a confident smirk.
"And you're underestimating me if you think potential for S-classes or stronger opponents would frighten me. I would give him I serious run for his money." He leaned next to Lisanna and looked at a curious Happy. "You think I can do it, right Happy?"
"Kitty!"
"No Happy. Not a Kitty. Naruto."
"Kitty!"
"Not a Kitty.
"Kitty!"
"At least call me Neko-man."
"Kitty!"
"...Fine. Kitty it is."
"Aye!"
"Naruto, come on! We've got to go!" Naruto looked over his shoulder to where Erza and Master were standing at the door with Gildarts at their side. He got up and waved to his friends and the recovering Natsu. He joined them by their side.
Makarov looked up at Gildarts sternly. "We'll be gone for a day at most. Everyone is either already out on a job or just resting. Don't fuck anything up while we're gone, alright."
"Aw come on old man," the ace of Fairy Tail said as he waved his hand dismissively. "Hehe, you know I can't make that promise."
"Yes, well, at least keep the damages to a minimum."
"Once again. No promises."
"Let's go!" Naruto pulled the old munchkin by his collar and grabbed Erza's hand, running down the street as they headed for their destination.
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Naruto and Erza gaped at the sight of the beautiful and intricate building that made up the capital of the magical council. It's walls, statues and columns filled their eyes as they could see human-sized frogs and Rune Knight soldiers walking everywhere they could see.
"W-Wow! This is amazing!" Naruto ran forward and into the grassy courtyard of the building. Behind him, Makarov showed the guards their identification and summons card, with Erza still amazed by the sights in front of her.
"Naruto! Don't wander off!" Makarov walked up next to the young lad as he stood there patiently for the old Master. "This is the capital of magic in our country. They are very strict about how to behave and act on these premises" the old master said with his eyes closed and his staff in hand.
"Master, why did the Magical Council ask that Naruto come here?"
"It's all right Erza, they just have a few questions they want to ask him about a report they received" he crossed his arms and dropped his playful attitude that they were accustomed to. "Naruto, these people have very little room for error. I try my best but I'm still on their shit list even after all this time. I know it will be hard but I've got to ask you to keep any of your antics to their lowest level. I'll help you through any and all questions you have trouble answering. So don't worry, we'll be by your side at all times.
"Do you understand Naruto?"
"Master...Naruto left a while ago." The old man looked to Erza in shock and then looked to his side, seeing that the blond really was missing. He looked all around him to no avail.
"WHAT! WHERE HAS THAT IDIOT GONE NOW?!" All of the magical council subordinates looked to the little man in shock.
"I'll find him Master! Don't worry!" Erza ran off in another direction as Makarov looked in horror.
"NO, NOT YOU TOO! THAT WILL ONLY MAKE THIS WORSE!" Makarov was left alone in the courtyard as he fell to his knees in jaded horror, grabbing his head tightly. 'Damn! Damn! Damn It! I-I-if those two run amok in the council-'
Breaking News!
Fairy Tail Destroys Fiore Nation's Magical Capital! War Declared On Rogue Guild!
Makarov went as white as a sheet as he knew that those two would cause nothing but problems for him in this place. He fell on his face as he resigned to wait for the Rune Knights to come and arrest him for treason. He heard soft and frequent foot steps come behind him as he knew it was his time.
"Are you just going to lay on your face for the whole day or are you going to say hello to your old friend?"
Makarov got off his face and turned over his shoulder. He saw an equally short and wrinkly old man with a split hat looking at him with a smile. "Oh, Yammy, thank god that's you." He pulled himself back to his feet, "I think I'm going to have to call in a favor from you."
"Hehe, what for exactly?"
"I think there's about to be a lot of commotion about some of the youngsters I brought along with me. And I seriously doubt that I will be able to pay for the damages they will cause." The old master of Fairy Tail looked downcast as he thought of the consequences about to occur.
"Aw come on Makky, what else do you expect?" Yammy walked back towards the building with a happy smirk. "If the next generation weren't a bunch of trouble makers, it wouldn't really be Fairy Tail, would it?"
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"Naruto! Naruto! Where are you?" The scarlet-haired girl yelled with her cupped hands as she tried to find her missing best friend.
She was garnering the attention of many soldiers and members as she yelled as loud as she could. Erza walked through a long open pathway as she tried to find Naruto.
"Little Lady," Erza looked over to several older soldiers walking over to her. The first man bent down and asked with a sincere tone in his voice, "are you lost? Do you need some help finding your guardian?"
"Have you seen a blond boy in black? About this tall? With whiskers?"
The soldiers all looked between each other questioningly. "Um, well we-"
"Too slow!" Erza head-butted the crouching soldier in the face, knocking him out. The two other soldiers behind him looked at the downed man in shock, and then back up at the girl. She glared at them, "What about you two?"
The men screamed and ran away as fast as they could, grabbing their fallen friend by his shoulders and disappearing from the girl's sight.
Erza stood there with pinhole eyes as a cold wind sweapt over her, flapping her skirt. "That's odd. How am I suppose to find Naruto if they can't help me?"
"I believe that they were just surprised by your serious attitude. Granted, I don't really blame them." Erza perked up when she heard the new voice make itself known behind her. She turned around to address him and-
"But then again I did hear that you were one to go to extremes to fulfill what it is you are after. I happen to admire that in a person." Erza's heterochromic eyes widened in shock as she looked at the young man standing before her.
The same deep blue hair that she could recognize easily in any crowd. An exquisite tattoo that surrounded his entire right eye. Wearing a long white uniform that gave off a feeling of superiority. A smile on his face that showed that he had no concern about anything that was happening.
A smile she was very familiar with.
Erza said in a shocked whisper, "J-Jellal?"
"Hello Erza Scarlet-San. My name is Siegrain."
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Naruto stood on the roof of one of the corresponding buildings of the main structure. He covered his eyes of the sun as he looked out over the large area around the capital.
He could see small homes and fields as far as the eye could see. Mountains and clouds as far as the horizon. Naruto laughed wholeheartedly at the sight, "This is amazing! Do these council guys get to see this all the time?"
Naruto stood up and looked below him at the courtyards and training fields. "I wonder what these guys do all day?"
"Hey You!" Naruto looked down and saw several frogs and men looking up at him harshly. "Get Down From There This Instant!" Naruto laughed and started to run across the roof, getting the annoyed yells of all the people below him.
Naruto chuckled as he felt far more invigorated and excited to be in this new environment then back in Magnolia. So he wasn't going to let this experience be ruined by anyone.
But just as he was running by the edge of the roof, it mysteriously crumbled to dust and left the boy hanging in the air.
"Eh-AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Naruto plummeted towards the ground quickly as his cloak was flapping in the wind. He was heading straight for a bronze statue of an older Mage that was standing in the courtyard. He panicked and sent a wave of magical power to cover his body before impact.
He crashed and destroyed the statue's top into pieces. Naruto laid in the uprooted ground as he held his aching head in pain. He stumbled to his feet before he was surrounded by several men and frogs, all looking at him like he had just committed a sin. He was lifted to his feet and brought to one of the older men's face. "Okay kid. Do you know what you just did?"
"I just busted my head on some old guy's head."
"You just destroyed the statue of one of the founding members of the Magical Council!"
"That is a crime punishable by 20 years at least!"
"Seriously?"
"You are in a lot of trouble kid."
"Wait-wait-wait! I'm sure my guild master can pay for this. It's no problem."
"This statue is irreplaceable and priceless! You wouldn't be able to pay for that is less then several decades!"
"WHY THE FUCK WOUKD YOU KEEP SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN A PLACE FOR ANYONE TO REACH?!"
"Tradition!"
"But he is right about our choice of aesthetic placement. We really need to keep such important figures under lock if we are going to be so anal about their treatment." All of the people there stopped their antics and looked towards the statue that had suddenly talked. Suddenly, it started to come back into piece and form into its perfect condition. Naruto was shocked before he saw a figure appear from behind the statue.
"But you really should be letting him go. He's our honored guest for the day." The girl that had appeared from behind the figure was a young, dark-purple haired girl with her hair in a ponytail. She was wearing a white kimono that cut off at her thighs. She had a pleasant smile on her face as she looked down at the whiskered boy. "We invited him after all."
"Of course Ultear-sama." All of the adults got on one knee and bowed to the young and pretty girl. Before standing back up and walking away from the two younger mages. Naruto looked around himself and saw that it was just the two of them.
He pushed himself up to his feet, "Um, thanks. That was really cool what you did with the statue."
Ultear lifted her long-sleeved hand and giggled lightly behind it. "Thank you very much for your compliment. I am very confident in my abilities. I was actually quite surprised how you were able to break it so easily."
"Yeah. I have a pretty hard head." He tapped the top of his skull for emphasis as he laughed. "People say it takes them forever to take me down."
"Oh, and who exactly was it that told you that?"
"Eh, I don't know. Bandits, criminals, thieves, anyone in general that wants to fight me. The list goes on." Naruto swung his arms behind his head as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Huh? I-I see." Ultear let a drop of sweat run down her head at the nonchalant way he just said people try to kill him. "Well, I am very interested in seeing the extent of your magical abilities for myself."
Naruto turned his head. "Oh, sure. But how exactly do you want to do that?"
Ultear tilted her head and gave him an innocent smile.
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"Can I ask why you seem to be so tense in front of me at the moment?"
"I'm not tense at all."
"Of course not." Siegrain smirked from the other end of the blade at his neck. Almost instantly after he had introduced himself, the scarlet girl had summoned a sword and held him up against the wall. Her eyes completely focused in anger and worry at the other boy. "Can I ask what's wrong?"
"Don't toy with me Jellal. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
Siegrain looked surprised at her statement before looking down with a sad smile. "I'm not Jellal. Believe me. I wish I could help but," he looked back up at Erza as she matched his look. After a moment, she lowered her sword and Requiped it back into her space.
"Who are you?"
Siegrain removed himself from his space on the wall and fixed his clothes. "My name is Siegrain. And the man you knew as Jellal was my twin." Erza's eyes widened in shock.
"What? That's impossible! Jellal never told me he had a brother!"
"I'm not surprised. We were separated by our parents at birth. I only learned the truth about his existence a few years ago from my mother. I actually joined this council so that I could locate him. But, unfortunately" he looked up at Erza, who was looking at him with a combination of disbelief and attention, "you know the rest of that story."
Erza waited a moment before she asked the question that had plaqued both her and Naruto's mind for years now. "Where is he?"
Siegrain was quiet before he settled against the wall once again. "I lost track of his location a year ago. I've tried many times to find him, but I was never successful. Your guess is about as good as mine about where he is now. I'm sorry."
Erza looked down as her hopes were dashed about where her friend could be. She felt a hand land on her shoulder as she looked up at Siegrain.
"I promise that I shall find him one day. And then you can have your time to reconcile with each other. But until then" he walked past the stunned girl before putting his hands into his pocket. "Let's go see how Naruto is doing, shall we?"
Erza was brought out of her slum and looked over at him in shock. He looked over his shoulder at the girl, "If you were wondering, of course I knew who he was. I'm the one who asked for his summon. Come along, Erza."
Erza stood there silently for a moment as Siegrain's footsteps clicked down the hall. She had a far off look in her eye as she raised her head.
He seemed genuinely hurt, missing his long lost brother. But only for a moment. Then, lost in a moment, she saw it. A smirk that was hiding something dark and sinister. Something he was hiding for himself.
Something that reminded her of Jellal. Him in those last few moments.
She followed behind him and stayed quiet. Whoever he really was, he couldn't be trusted.
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Naruto back-flipped away from the speeding teal ball that was aimed at his face. He landed and continued to evade as the ball continued to follow him and break into the ground beneath him. Naruto dashed from side to side as he made a bee-line towards the confident girl on the other side of the training field.
Ultear smiled and started to bounce on her feet as Naruto summoned Kusanagi into his hand. He landed in front of her and started to swipe his sword at her quickly, she smiled as she dodged the slashes by a minuscule margin.
Ultear aimed a kick at his face which he leaned back to dodge. As Naruto jumped back, he heard the sound of her orb flying through the air behind him. In a burst of speed, Naruto spun around and slashed the orb in half.
The pieces floated in the air for a moment before connecting back together and smashing him in the face. As Naruto stumbled back, the orb floated back over to Ultear's arm where she held it on her elbow. "You are quite spry for a young man, Naruto-San."
Naruto stood back up and rubbed his sore jaw. "And you have an annoyingly useful magic, Ultear-San." He smiled and readied himself back into his stance.
"Wh-what is that idiot doing at a time like this?!" Erza gripped the rail of the training area of the Rune Knights as she watched Naruto continue to dodge and throw every attack he could at the other girl.
"Hehe, it appears that Naruto is having a quick little spar with Ultear."
"How did that happen?" Erza screamed as she grabbed Siegrain by his collar. "Why don't you stop him from hurting her?"
"What makes you think that he would hurt her?" Erza looked at him in surprise before looking back at fight at hand. She watched as despite all of his efforts, the girl and her floating orb were evading all of his attacks. And whenever there was an opening, the girl sent her orb to attack him that would almost land against his form. In all, the girl seemed like she was holding the advantage to the fight.
"She is a proud member of the Magical Council. And my personal assistant for issues. She is also undefeated in this spars against captains of the Rune Knights. And the wielder of an extremely rare magic, Arc of Time. If you want to be worried about someone, it should be your friend." Erza looked away from Siegrain and back to Naruto's struggle against the experienced Mage.
"This has been a lot of fun Naruto-San, but we do have other matters to attend to. So please don't mind that we end this fight shortly." She stretched out her hand and her orb flowed toward her fingers.
"Okay. Lets see what this brings us, huh?" Naruto crossed his blade in front of him and lowered himself into a low stance.
He ran forward and jumped up towards the girl with his sword over her head. Ultear moved her hand and the orb followed in turn. With each swipe Naruto's blade made, the orb was there to parry it. And with each piece it was cut into, there was that many more pieces for him to fight against.
As Ultear switched her feet forward and swung her leg in a hook against Naruto's arm, he was momentarily stunned by the move. The pieces of orb started to crash against his back and sides. Naruto continued to try and stop the orb but Ultear's time magic proved his attacks were futile.
Suddenly, all of the pieces disappeared from sight as Naruto was left stunned by her action. He looked around him at all of the floating, slightly translucent orbs that covered him in a dome. They all slowly moved and floated around him, aimed at his position.
Ultear smirked as she pointed an elegant finger at his form, "Flash Forward."
All of the orbs converged at his point and destroyed the area around him. Smoke and rubble floated up into the air as Ultear was left the only figure to be seen on the training field. Up in the rails, Siegrain smirked and looked over to Erza with her eyes shadowed by her hair.
"So Erza, what do you think? We're not so incompetent in the field of battle as you thought, huh?" Erza slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Do we need to get a doctor to check-up on him?"
"Four days."
Siegrain looked over to Erza, "What, I'm sorry?"
"Four days. That's how many times a week I have training sessions with Naruto using swordsmanship. He also wakes up every morning before the sun to do a regular training session of running around Magnolia 5 times. And then he returns to practice his fighting techniques using his magic if needed." She lifted her head and continued to talk about her friend with a small smile on her face.
"And when he takes a mission, he usually takes the jobs that deal with capturing criminals and stopping monsters. He hits some rough patches and causes some damage but he has always finished his job. And even when he was outnumbered and outmatched, he never stopped fighting until he was the last one standing."
Ultear summoned her orb back into her hands and started to walk back to a safer distance from the smoke covered area. "Hey, hey Ultear-San~, what was that?"
Ultear's eyes widened in surprise as she turned around just in time to see a clawed hand closing in on her face. She desperately dodged to her side as the projectile attack cut through the end of her hair and flew into the wall behind her, leaving an imprint of an animal's claw imbedded into the concrete.
Ultear looked from where the attack landed to the dust cloud. In the thicket of dust and smoke, the boy's figure could be seen with an aura of light surrounding his entire body. The large light compressed and lowered until it was roughly several inches away from touching his skin. Naruto lifted his head, showing bruises and blood dripping down the corner of his mouth and forehead, and gave the council girl an extremely eager smile.
"This fight didn't end as quickly as you thought."
Ultear narrowed her eyes and got into a stance of her own. Jellal had a look of slight surprise as he could see the smiling blond walk forward with his magic surrounding his entire body. And Erza folded her arms with a proud smile across her face as her partner/student/friend got ready to fight again. "He takes on all of his jobs with such tenacity, that he's made a little name for himself in the guild."
Jellal crossed his arms over the rail and watched the rest of the fight with glee. "The Hunter."
Naruto ran forward with his sword at the ready, aiming for the girl across from him. Ultear jumped back and sent her lacrima straight towards his head. Naruto jerked forward and smashed the ball with his forehead, shattering it on contact.
He jumped in the air and let his sword go out of his hand. Turning mid-jump, Naruto pulled back and kicked his copied sword at the stunned girl. She clenched her teeth and held her hand out at the incoming blade. The sword rusted and then crumbled to dust before it could touch her, leaving her unharmed.
As Ultear settled back, she realized that Naruto had disappeared from her sights. She turned around in time to see Naruto behind her in a crouch, looking up at her. With his smile back on his face the magic around his hands extended at the middle's fingertips, forming what appeared to be blades that shimmered with light.
Naruto swiped his hand-blades at Ultear, making her retreat in an attempt to distance herself from him. Despite her efforts, the Armor magic cut at the edges of her kimono and ends of her hair. Ultear clicked her teeth, skipping her feet next to his as he left himself open for a counterattack with his arms out wide.
She grabbed his hands at the wrists and jumped up, placing her feet against his chest. In a show of amazing acrobatics, she flipped them both over and threw him across the training field. As Naruto landed on his back, Ultear used her hands to push herself off the ground and back to her feet. She raised her hands and Reversed the time of her broken orb, bringing it back to her hands.
As Naruto jumped back to his feet and continued their little brawl, Erza and Jellal both watched their colleagues intense match.
"I'm quite amazed by his choices of magic. The ability to copy any weapon he touches and to cloak himself in a field of his own basic magical power. Most mages would dismiss these styles as a waste of their time. Not much destructive power or originality in their premise. But he seems to be countering those weaknesses with his own ideas." Jellal smiled. "Shaping the form of his outline to give him an advantage in battle using any shape or form he can imagine. And using his weapons as distractions against his opponents to dismiss the idea that he could do these things. Very clever."
Erza watched as Naruto continued to change the forms of his Armor to assist in his fight against the time Mage. From a short blade, to separated claws and even making the space around his fist bigger for stronger punches. The results of months of back breaking training and effort making themselves known in the fight.
Ultear jumped back once again and sent her orb out in a Forward toward the whiskered boy. Naruto stood strong as he sent a mass amount of magic into his foot, letting it glow with a faint light. He jumped up to the same level as the ball and sent a wide kick out towards the speeding lacrima.
"Soaring Breaker!" The light from his foot flew off at amazing speed and shattered the ball into pieces. Ultear aimed her hand to fix it the orb but Naruto was already next to it, grinning like an idiot as she looked at him in shock. His hands swiped forward and grabbed each significant piece between his fingers, stopping her ability to fix her on-hand weapon. "Can't fix it if it can't come together, right?"
Naruto clenched his left fist, crushing the pieces even more, and sent a pulse of magic into it. He fell towards Ultear as he readied for a final attack. "Flying-"
"IDIOT!" A long arm came out of nowhere and punched Naruto across the face, getting all of the young mages to look on in shocked surprise as Naruto was sent flying and his attack was thrown of course. Erza and the council duo looked up to where Makarov and Yajima were standing, the guild master nearly visibly fuming in anger at his child's actions. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TAKING THIS MATCH SO SERIOUSLY?"
"M-Master?"
Naruto came out of the small crater, stumbling and clutching his aching noggin. "Damn it Jiji, what did you do that for?!" Naruto completely ignored his prior engagement with Ultear as he walked passed her, Erza and Siegrain and up to the tiny man. "I was in the middle of a fight! I was having fun too!"
"You think I'll just let you wreck havoc because you were having fun you little brat! You're causing more and more trouble every moment!"
"Well if your were going to stop me, WHY'D YOU HAVE TO HIT ME IN THE HEAD?"
"CAUSE YOUR HEAD'S SO GOD DAMN HARD ITS THE ONLY WAY TO KNOCK ANY SENSE INTO YOU!"
"THAT'S NO WAY TO TREAT YOUR KIDS! ERZA!" He walked up to his stunned friend, "Tell Jiji that he shouldn't be interrupting my fights!"
Erza looked between her angry best friend and her impatient Master as the old man behind him laughed. "Um, Naruto, I really don't think that's a good enough reason to be so angry with Master."
"Ahhhh, you don't get it!" Naruto clutched his head and shook around in annoyance. "Hey Jellal, tell them that they shouldn't be interrupting my fi-"
...
"JELLAL!" Naruto stood back in shock as he saw his former best friend's face smiling at him sweetly.
"Nope. Sorry. I'm Siegrain. Close though."
"Wh-wh-what the hell is going on here?!"
"Hohoho, I think we should all calm down and get moving towards the main hall. And we can explain all of these misunderstanding on the way." Yajima said as he lowered the tension of the rather hostile air around him. "Come along Makky. Bring the kids."
Ultear stood there in the training field, looking up as Naruto was yelling in confusion about the events around him. Siegrain was chuckling wholeheartedly and Erza was trying to calm him down by explaining the situation. But almost immediately, he started an argument with his Master again as they got into a fierce staring contest.
As she stood there, she looked over to the side where his last stray attack had run off to. The stone was destroyed and crumbled, leaving almost nothing but dust in the large crater that was aimed at her. She was sure that she could handle this boy all on her own, not even resorting to using half of her power to take care of the fight. But then he just started outdo himself, making his attacks crisper and more ferocious.
She was warned by her master about what this boy could do if he was being pushed into it. She had seen what he could do, having to fix the broken ship and help tend her master's injuries after the fight was done. This boy was dangerous to anyone who provoked him. Which was why she deliberately made sure not to rust the metal off his arm. From what Master Hades told her, if she did that, she would have been met with quite a brutal end.
Her master even acknowledged that the boy would be a fierce enemy to battle in the future. And even though Hades was weak, injured and recovering from surgery at the time of the fight, this boy had still pushed him farther then she had seen anyone push him during her time.
She raised her hand and her perfect weapon floated down back into her grasp. And underneath the shadow of her hair, she smirked menacingly.
This boy was so much fun. To be able to push her stubborn master so far that he was now interested in recruiting new blood was no small feat. And the name he had received in her guild was starting to make perfect sense.
Naruto Uzumaki. The Impossible Demon Child.
########Hunter########
"Now, let this calling of Fairy Tail Mage Naruto Uzumaki, come to session." A gavel was knocked on the wood as the court was called into session. Erza and Makarov sat in witness seats as Naruto stood at the plaintiff stand, completely lost on what was going on around him.
The slightly bandaged Naruto grumbled and leaned against the stand lazily as the old council members started listing off several mentions of little importance. After about 30 minutes of explanations from Erza and Yamija, Naruto learned about who this Siegrain guy really was. Apparently, he was Jellal's brother who was abandoned at birth and was searching for his whereabouts.
Personally, he thought that was bullshit. Him and Jellal talked for hours about what it was like to have a family. And he never made a single hint of a sibling. But this Siegrain guy was too calm to be the Jellal he remembered. After what he had become, he never thought that Jellal would have another same thought in his lifetime.
So that only left him on his watch list.
"Now, Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto perked up at the mention of his name. "Do you know why you are here today?" Naruto looked to all of the council members, then to his guild-mates, and then back to them and shrugged his shoulder. "I'm not surprised. You've probably been in the dark about this entire situation, my dear boy?"
"This is about a report we received earlier this year about an encounter you may have had with a certain guild. And we wish to shed some light on the subject so that we can better understand your circumstances."
"Oh! Do you mean about those guys from Grimoire Heart?"
"... I beg your pardon?"
"This about the fight I had with that dark guild, right?"
There was a loud commotion between the council members as Siegrain and Ultear laughed at Naruto's confusion. Makarov sighed in anguish as Erza did the same into her hands. The ruckus died down and order was brought back into the court. "We will wish to ask you more questions about this after the hearing is done if you don't mind?"
Naruto looked at them with a vacant stare. "Super."
"No Naruto-kun, this involves another group you met." Yajima said, taking control of the situation. "A more...troublesome group. Damnation." Naruto's eyes slowly widened in realization as he straightened himself up to stand. "We would like it if you could give us any information and insight on your experiences with the group."
"Alright."
"Now Naruto Uzumaki," Org stood up and addressed the young man. "Who was it that you intervened against in the town of Acacia in March of this year? Did he give you a name or any identification that you can remember?"
"Oh, um, he said" Naruto scratched his head as he thought back to his fight more then half a year ago. "it was Mordreau. This big bulky guy with a seriously twisted idea about what he thought was right." When he said that, several frogs started to write down what he said like it was actually significant.
"Alright. Now, did you notice anything that they were doing that was out of the ordinary? Something that they were looking for or talking about?"
"What? Do you mean besides the fact that they were destroying people's homes, killing some guy by crushing his skull and about to massacre about a dozen people because they were in the general vicinity of a run-away?" The boy said condescendingly as he was asked a question that he thought irrelevant.
The council just looked at him seriously, not dignifying his response with an answer. A small cat-like man said to the young Mage, "Answer the question boy."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I think they were checking each of the hostages for something. They said something about large magic supplies and...I don't know, something else they mentioned."
"What was it? You have to remember!"
"I-um-I can't. It was awhile ago, these little details are all kind of fuzzy."
"That isn't enough! You have to remember everything you can!" Michello bellowed in anger.
"Why?! Why does this matter if I fought some asshole in a broken town or not?!"
"Boy! Do you understand the severity of the issue at hand?!"
"No! No I don't! All I know is that you guys are peeing yourself over nothing and I'm being blamed for some reason! You know what!" Naruto walked out of the back of the podium, "Fuck This! I'm going home! This is bullshit!"
"WHAT!" Most of the council room yelled, even Erza and Makarov were surprised by his defiant attitude toward the immensely influential group. "You can't just leave! Come back here this instant!"
"Why?! Why should I bother with these questions when I don't even know why it is so important? In fact, why are you all so scared about it, huh? What are you afraid of?!"
"Th-that is because-"
"We are scared because its influence is to immense." Everyone in the courtroom looked to where Siegrain had his head propped up on his fist, looking at the situation with a tired gaze. "But we just don't wish to admit it to ourselves."
"Hold your tongue Siegrain!"
"No. I won't hold my tongue. Because how are we supposed to try and solve this issue if we can't even summon up the courage to talk about it? How are people of the world supposed to be brave if even the great Magic Council is too scared to mention them? If you really want to save this country and stop that man," Jellal sat up and looked at everyone with a strong will, "then set an example and push through the pain."
The council all looked towards their newest member in surprise. Even the Fairy Tail mages looked at the blue-haired boy in astonishment at his words. Ultear just smiled and nodded in agreement. The council looked between each other as they all had a silent conversation about what to do.
Until Org sighed in defeat and looked down at a frog servant besides their files. He nodded his head and the frog turned around and picked up several very large folder in its hands. It walked over to the podium and laid them out for the blond boy to see for himself. Naruto looked up at them in couriosity before walking back to the podium and opening them to see the contents inside.
Naruto shifted through the papers, reading the reports and articles on the independent guild's actions over the last several decades. The destruction of several dozen guilds, towns and cities being laid to waste in siege. And then, Naruto landed on a set of several tens of photos that depicted the mangled, dismembered and utterly graphic corpses of men and women from across the land. He looked through each of the files in shock as a look of horror and realization dawned across his face.
"Those are only a few of the folders we have on their influence. Some of their more...prominent examples." Naruto slowly looked back up to them with a look that said if he didn't have such a strong stomach, they would be in need of new folders. "Damnation is a rather large independent guild that has a very large influence over the entire nation. And as its namesake says, they have resigned themselves to kill all those they believe are unworthy."
"It is a guild that operates beyond the influence of even our field of jurisdiction. But it also does not discriminate against its enemies, making all those of legal or illegal persuasion its targets." The older female member of the council continued, "Recently, we have received reports that members of the guild have been evading their capture and moving through the borders into the surrounding countries. Their presence is already being noticed in the lands of Caelum, Ministral, Bosco and Seven. And possibly even further then that."
"H-how-how can something like this still be going on? Shouldn't you be trying to stop it" Naruto asked nervously as Erza walked up to the podium and looked at the files, covering her mouth in horror at the realization.
"We have. Or, at least, we have attempted on more than one hundred accounts to try and halt the advances of this guild's actions. But on every record, our teams and the branch buildings they are housing in have been destroyed and strung up for show. To show the world what happens when we try to fight against them." The members of the courtroom all seemed to go solemn as some of the older members relived their experiences with these matters. "No matter who it is they face, this guild has been at large for almost 50-years."
Naruto leaned forward and ran his hands through his face and hair. He looked over his shoulder to where Jiji was sitting there, his eyes narrowed as he recounted his time hearing if these acts. Naruto turned back towards the council, "Why are they so strong?"
"And that is where the council finds the worst problem in the bunch" Jellal said as he leaned forward out of his chair. "The reason this guild is so elusive, brutal and impossible to catch...is because its master knows everything about how to stop us."
Naruto looked up at him in surprise. Another file was brought over to him as he and Erza looked through its contents. Except instead of several disasters and location reports on the entire guild, it was about one man.
"Alexander Sorrento. Born February 17 X691. Rising member of the magical council military and obtained to the rank of Rune Knight Commander at the age of 30. After several years of service, he was appointed to the Royal Guard in Mercurius, under the preceding king. And after only two years, he was appointed the Cherry Blossom Holy Knight Squadron Chief, right hand man to the king, at the age of only 35. The youngest man ever to receive the honor of that position. In short, a one-in a hundred million hero that stood at the top of his field."
"He had a perfect record in the field and he was an inspiration to all of those in the younger generation to strive for excellence. So great that he was given a position among the Ten Holy Wizard Saints at a younger age then even your own master." Naruto and Erza looked back towards Makarov, who reluctantly nodded his head in agreement at the proclamation.
"He was a hero, until a certain event that destroyed his mental psyche. In X731, he was in pursuit of a group of something he called 'shadows' that he could never seem to capture. He made many claims about their whereabouts and became obsessed with finding them at any costs. He even forced his subordinate team to steal an experimental weapon to help in the fight against these men, what we now know as the Jupiter cannon."
"Then, the weapon was discharged and fired into a town. Tonewa. The town was destroyed and after many days of searching, there were no reported survivors. Sorrento was badly injured in the blast, severely disfigured and mentally unfit to continue duty. He was arrested and was placed to be on trial in the next few days. But he escaped from the capital, ran from Crocus and wasn't heard of for several years." Naruto and Erza looked to each other and then back down into the folders.
"Until, he made himself known again some time later." Ultear said as she placed her hands in her lap. "He attacked a guild somewhere in the mountains and made a proclamation for the entire nation to hear. 'If there are those that curse the fates they have been given, come onto me. We shall find a place to make our own, a world which we can make ourselves redeemed. Cast aside the destiny you have upon you and make a world which you can strive for. A world so far off, it rests in the darkness of shadows. But we will fight, we shall live a judge until God shall reward us with a new light. Until then, we shall bear our sins, and we shall face Damnation.'"
"After that, he taught several generations of mages how to fight and battle against stronger opponents and the military. Using our tactics and skills to help further their attempts and evade our eyes. Their members can infiltrate any organization to help keep the guild hidden. He taught magic styles to all types of unstable and dangerous individuals and in his actions he has caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and mages. The losses of these individuals has caused many people to suffer in agony, some of which reside in your very own guild."
Erza lowered her head and narrowed her eyes in worry and distraught. Remembering Levy's experience with the accursed guild and the trauma she tried to forget.
"The reason we were so short with you, my boy" Yajima said with a sad frown on his face, "was because not many mages are able to take on a team from the guild and survive. Most are killed due to their own fear or inexperience. And any that do survive, go into hiding for the rest of their lives. Hoping to keep themselves and the ones they love safe. And anyone that returns is killed along with their entire guild."
Org stood up and out of his chair, "Which is why we are giving you the chance to enter a witness protection under our care. But it would mean that you would have to leave your guild indefinitely." Naruto and Erza looked up at him in shock.
"What? No way!"
"Naruto can't just be taken away like that!"
"It would be for the best. We can promise that he would be under our best protection and services. And he will have as much freedom to do as he wishes as we can provide. But most of all, he will be protected against any advances from Damnation. Naruto Uzumaki, what do you choose?"
Naruto looked from the council members to the girl at his side. She looked at him with eyes full of worry, wishing that he wouldn't have to go but understanding the situation at hand. He turned over to Makarov, who had his staff between his folded arms and lowered his head with shut eyes. And finally, he looked down to all of the files at hand, revealing the acts of the men he had antagonized.
Naruto tensed his hands and looked up at the council. "No."
The council gasped at his answer. Jellal and Ultear smiled as they somehow knew that he would answer no to the protection. Makarov smiled with his eyes still closed as Erza released a deep breath she had held down.
"Y-you can't be serious!"
"I'm not going to live the rest of my life in fear whether or not some old bastard is going to be knocking on my door for my life. I'm not going to run away from him."
"You don't get it do you boy? This man has killed hundreds of mages over his lifetime! Men and women who were far stronger and better then what you call yourself! He is a monster-"
"He's a man! He's stronger then me, yeah, but that doesn't make him a devil or god. If he was hurt all those years ago at Tonewa then he can be hurt now. Everyone is just so afraid of him they think it is a crime just to say his name, let alone fight him!"
Michello felt his veins pulse as this boy challenged his authority.
Org leaned over, "Defendant Naruto Uzumaki, it is admirable how you show so much courage and will at such a young age. But, I must ask you this. Though you are ready to face this challenge, are you ready to risk the lives of your guild in the process?"
Naruto looked up at the man with the black bird in his hair, deflating at the reminder of his guild. He couldn't just risk the lives of family willy-nilly like that. Not just because he refused to run away like that from the horrible guild. Naruto gripped the podium as he thought about what decision he could make that was right.
Then, as if like a wave of comfort in his mind, he felt a soft hand grip the back of his. He looked surprised to his side, looking at the armored girl as she gave him a reassuring smile. Erza looked up to the council, "We aren't going to abandon him."
She stated to the older group as a fact, not an option, as there was no room for argument in her voice. "Fairy Tail will never abandon one of its own as long as we can fight. If Damnation wants to send a group or an army after him, then they will have to deal with us first. And then they will understand that they have made the worst decision of their life when they do. Believe me." Naruto looked at the girl in amazement before slowly smiling and squeezing her hand in return.
Org rubbed the bridged of his nose before sighing and looking back down. "Is this your final decision?"
"Well," Makarov finally made himself heard as he jumped down from his seat and walked over to his younger guild members. "I think I can speak for my guild in saying, if Damnation would endanger itself with picking a fight with us, let them try."
Naruto and Erza smiled between each other before looking at the little man as he grinned and gave them a thumbs up. The council all looked between themselves as Org hit his gavel and called the meeting to an end.
########Hunter########
"Well, that was a rather interesting and surprisingly intense hearing, huh?" Makarov joked as he walked through hallway with his young entourages. Erza and Naruto chuckled as the hallway they walked through was illuminated by the light of the setting sun in the mountains to their side.
They arrived in a rather large hall that had many tables and a kitchen to the side. Makarov saw Yajima on the other side of the hall, waving him over as the wizened old master waved back. "You two stay here for a moment, I'm going to say hello to my old friend." The two mages both nodded as they watched the little man scurry over to the table.
Erza and Naruto stood there silently for a moment as they watched Makarov greet and chat with his old friend properly. "Thank you." Erza looked over at Naruto after he had broken the silence. "I don't know if I could have gone through that thing if you didn't help me. And I know I won't have been able to make a good enough point to stay if you didn't say that to them. So thank you for telling them that you would-"
*Smack* "Ow!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head where Erza smacked him.
"You idiot. I meant every word of what I said in there. None of us would ever let you get taken away. Natsu and Gray see you like an equally annoying brother that they have to outdo. And I know that Mirajane wouldn't stop bitching at me if you just suddenly disappeared. Plus I'm sure Rob-Ojisan would find out about this and be devastated when he heard."
Naruto brought his arm down to his side and looked at her. He then made a big grin, "And you?" Erza huffed and looked in the opposite direction, an embarrassed blush slowly creeping up to her cheeks. Naruto just laughed wholeheartedly at her actions.
"Erza! Naruto! Over here!" The two of them looked over to where their master was calling them over, with the other man across from him. The ran over and came to the table they were occupying. "Erza, Naruto, I'd like you to properly meet Yajima. Senior member of the Magical Council and former Mage of Fairy Tail." Yajima nodded in the direction of the amazed young duo.
"It is an honor, Yajima-San." Erza said with a bow as Naruto walked forward and shook his hand.
"Yeah well I'm always excited about meeting the new kids in my old place. And I must say that I am not disappointed in the least with these new youngsters. Although I must say young man, you should learn to keep your gums shut when us old codgers are all worried like that in there. Unlike me, they are just jumping at the chance to screw with Fairy Tail at every turn." Naruto looked down in mild shame at being told of his rash actions. "And on another note, if us old men had half the brass to stand up them like you did, I doubt we would have any problems left to discuss about.
Naruto looked up to the chuckling old man and smiled. He and Erza sat down next to their master as they all started to talk about what had happened in the courtroom. Laughing at certain moments that made the old men writhe in anger. And telling Yajima about how Rob was still alive and well in the mountains near Blue Pegasus. The old man got a good laugh when he heard the news.
"Hey Yammy, I owe you for helping out the kid in there. Order whatever you want, my treat."
"Thanks Makky. That means a lot." He looked over to a waiter that came to the table, "I'll have fifteen bowls of Miso ramen with extra beef and can you hold the egg please."
"O-oi, Yammy, I meant like, a bowl. I'm not feeding an army here. You need to-"
"Oh I feel faint, I don't think I can go on. I think I'm hallucinating. Huh? What's that? A little Fairy Mage has been causing problems in the city and you want to shut down the guild! Well, I don't think I can stop-"
"Alright! Alright! Geez, out of all of us, its safe to say that you became the most stingy after getting old. Mind you, this is a group that includes Porlyusica, so that's saying something." Yajima gave Naruto a thumbs-up as the boy laughed at the old teammates' antics.
"So, Naruto-kun, its a pleasure to meet you myself. Makky has been sending me letters about your adventures over time."
"Really?"
"Well not just you. I've heard about Natsu-kun, Gray-kun, Mirajane-kun, little Erza-kun here" Erza looked down in shame "and I've heard nothing but complaints about this Gildarts-kun over the years."
Erza blinked in surprise, "Yes, but Gildarts is actually an adult."
"Yeah but with how he does things, you would think he was a boy in a man's body." Makarov said as he grumbled in annoyance.
"So, old man Yajima, did you always hang out with Jiji, Porlyusica-San, Bob-San and Rob-jichan in the old days?"
"Oh my yes, we caused quite the bit of ruckus when we were kids. Probably worse off then what you guys do now. And I can see that you have quite a strong will about yourself, Naruto-kun."
"Hehe, yep. I'm the most annoyingly stubborn Mage in Fairy Tail. At least that's what everyone says when I want to take a job." Erza shook her head in disappointment while Makarov and Yajima laughed at his confidence.
"Yes well, I'm quite used to meeting people who are stubborn and never willing to give up. And I was quite surprised when I heard that you were another one of those stubborn kids from the other world."
Naruto looked at him in surprise.
"You know about that?"
"Yes. Makky informed me of the details earlier today. You came from a world where ninja stuck to the shadows, and your techniques were formed by chakra and not magic. Quite the surprise when I heard him tell me that." His perpetually shut eyes opened slightly and looked at the boy seriously. "My boy, what Sorrento has been obsessed with all this time was the existence of the people from your world that visited here all those years ago. All the things he has done over the years, they have been in his pursuit of finding the people who hold that power. And making them suffer is his first choice of action. Now that he may have you in his sights, beware."
Naruto looked at Yajima and smiled. "Then I'll just have to get stronger, right? So that if he comes and finds me, I can teach him a lesson. Cause even if he is so powerful, he isn't invincible, right?"
The mages at the table looked at the smiling blond boy, before all smiling in return at his enthusiasm to stop the tyrannical group. Yajima smiled and nodded, "That's right."
"Which mean I've got to get stronger! Jiji, can I take S-rank missions?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"I'll be your best friend!"
"You can dance around naked and bring me a lifetime supply of booze if you want. I'll still say no."
"Ahhhhh, then when can I start taking those missions?"
"When you've proven that you can take the responsibilities of an S-rank. You and Erza are good, but you've got a long ways to go." Naruto deflated and hit his head on the table. Erza tried to cheer him up by rubbing his back.
"Here you go sir, your first bowl of ramen." The waiter came and brought the first of many bowls over to the old man in the split hat. Yajima smacked his lips and broke apart his chopsticks. As he reached for his first bite-
"What is that?" Yajima looked past the bowl to the young boy who was looking at the found curiously.
"Why, this is ramen my boy. I thought you would have known that considering your name?"
"Oh, that is ramen. Huh? I don't get what the big deal is?" A pair of old hands smacked the table top, startling Erza, Naruto and Makarov as Yajima looked at the boy furiously.
"You dare to insult the greatness of ramen. When you have not even taken a bite from its godly form." Yajima pushed the bowl of ramen forward and handed Naruto the chopsticks. The boy looked at the bowl, sticks, and his friends in alarm as he was suddenly forced to eat something he had never even seen before.
Naruto shrugged his soldiers and held the sticks in his fingers as he grabbed the bowl. He dipped in and lifted several noodles in-between the wooden sticks. He blew on them to cool them down and let the scent from the steaming broth reach his nose. It was actually quite interesting, the aroma coming off of the boiling hot food. He leaned forward and placed the noodles in his mouth.
Naruto's eyes widened in amazement. The chewy noodles had absorbed the taste of all the food swimming inside the broth as the sensations exploded in a show of deliciousness. Naruto swallowed the noodles and started to devour the rest of what laid in the bowl, causing Makarov and Erza to actually scoot away from him in fear that they were in the splash zone.
After about a minute, Naruto finished slurping up the rest of the broth and lowered the bowl back to the table. He looked up at Yajima, "th-that was, that was-" he felt a hand land on his shoulder as Yajima nodded towards him.
"I know. I remember the first bowl I ate. I was speechless for the rest of the day. It is truly a gift from the gods. A concoction that we have been blessed with that we may never truly understand."
"I-I wish I knew. That there was actually something like this in this world."
"Do not regret your past my boy." A bright light shined down behind Yajima as he appeared like a holy existence. Come to guide Naruto down the path of noddles in a bowl. "Just devote your life to the betterment of ramen kind."
"I shall master. Please, guide me." Naruto and Yajima started to dig into every bowl of ramen that came their way. After some time, they continued to order more bowls of ramen, gaining loud protest from Makarov as they squandered away his funds.
Erza just looked at them in surprise as she saw Naruto cheerfully eat away all of the Master's money as he just smiled like an idiot. She smiled fondly and rested her cheek against her hand, watching him forget his troubles and eat what she could only guess would be his new favorite dish.
These moments where everything was peaceful and there were no troubles in the world. These were the moments that she cherished the most in her life. Because even in times of hardship and sorrow, fighting for moments like this were worth it. And she promised to fight for this peace.
Against even Damnation itself.
########Omake: And Thus, He Takes His First Steps Into Sin########
He looked up at the cloudy sky. Just like he always did.
He took a bite from the apple he picked. Just like he always did.
And he ignored the sounds of the crows and vultures arguing as they tried to eat at the flesh of the numerous bodies underneath him that he was currently using as a bench. Just like he always did.
When did things become like this?
When did he find himself wandering in these mountains?
It must have been for some time now. He wasn't the same little kid he was before. And the trees had changed leaves many times now.
The village at the bottom of the mountain supposedly had a legend about him. The demonic child that only lived for blood. That did not care for his own life or well-being, but only to erase any presence that came before him.
He had lost track of how many men and women had come for his life. But it did not matter to him what their genders were, only if they were competent to fight against.
Because that was all that mattered to him. Since he was a little child that had to kill his own parents to survive in the purges of magic. Since he was a boy that killed the wolves and bears during the winter for meat and warmth. Since he had turned old enough to massacre even the mages that had come to take his life for reward.
That was the only thing that asserted the fact that he was truly alive. That he truly existed.
To fight against the strong.
"My my, you really are as brutal as the rumors say you are."
The boy silently turned his head to where an old and rough voice made itself known to him. From the shadows, a tall man with a long cape walked up to the pile of corpses. His snowy hair and the three scars down his eye-patched right eye immediately caught his attention.
"I had heard of a devil child that had no quarrels with destroying anyone who came to him." The man leaned down and picked up a skull that laid by his feet. He fiddled with it before lifting it up and looking at the boy.
*Crush* "And that is exactly what I'm looking for."
The boy turned around more to look at the ancient old man that let the pieces of bone fall from his hand.
"I recently met another boy that shared some similar characteristics with you. And since then, I've been preoccupying my time with finding talent that could match his. And you are the first on the list."
The boy narrowed his eyes as the scarred man just smirked at him.
"You strive for a strong match, don't you. Someone that you could actually challenge. Someone who could actually match your power. I'm making a small group, ones that are your level or even stronger. Ones that even you would find impossible to beat. And after my quest is done, you can make a world for yourself. One where everyone you meet will be someone that can fight you. A world where you are truly alive. What do you say?"
The boy was silent as he looked at the man who had offered him a great choice. But all he did was throw his apple over his shoulder and climb down the hill of corpses. He placed his feet on the ground and turned to the old man.
Hades sighed as he rubbed his head in realization. "It's never easy for me when I do this. So, I guess I'll just have to convince you then, huh?"
The boy lowered his head until his brown locks covered his eyes, a demonic smirk growing across his face at the prospect of fighting this impossibly strong foe.
"Fine. Then before we fight, may I at least know your name?"
The boy crouched down to his knees, grabbing the dirt beneath him as he looked up at the geezer. His eyes revealing a deranged and animalistic as he threw himself wildly at the older man.
"Azuma."
########Hunter########
Done
Okay, I hope I can get some more writing over the next few days since I'm having my wisdoms removed.
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