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

15. Cait Stuck In The Tree

Chapter 15: Cait Stuck In The Tree

Dude is totally Ultear's dad. Placing my bet now.

So long Walter White...in our hearts, you will always live on as the undisputed king.

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

September X779

The two old men were struggling to make their way up hill through the snow. One of the vices of growing old like this; your body started playing against you in the long run.

"*huff**huff* M-my goodness, s-she certainly is a spirited young child, isn't she?" The man with the fur coat over his spaghetti dress said as he worried that the cold temperature would make a mess of his make-up.

"You...don't...know...the half of it..." The midget droned out as he was getting tired from pulling his stubby limbs out of the deep snow. "You just had to play the good guy and give Naruto the delivery request, didn't you?"

"W-weren't you the one who asked if I had a simple mission for him to take? You kept begging all your old friends if they had any simple jobs he could have as a part of his probation. If anything this is your fault Makky-chan." The guild master of Blue Pegasus chided his old comrade with a lipstick covered pout.

"That doesn't mean you had to have one! And it just had to be a rendezvous with Roubaul's guild over the mountains, didn't it!" Makarov yelled out at Bob as he jumped and flailed in the air before popping something and falling back into the snow, "Ah! My back!"

As the short man was rubbing his aching back he tried reasoning with his young charge. "Hey Erza! Can you slow down for a minute! Bobby and I need a sec to-and she's gone." He deflated when he realized that the scarlet-haired girl had run so far she wasn't even a dot in their eyes anymore.

Bob helped his tired friend up to his feet, "Can you blame her for wanting to get there as fast as she can?"

Makarov sighed tiredly, "Yeah. Your guys back at Pegasus really did a number on her. Poor thing."

"No I don't mean...actually that's true but you know what I'm talking about." Bob sighed happily and placed one hand on his cheek, looking at her admirably. "Erza-chan must be worrying so much about what to do next."

The armor clad red-head was making her way up the snow-covered mountain as a quick break from work alongside her master. They had already dropped off her misbehaving blond friend at the request point and traveled here to Viola to meet a certain someone.

At the moment, Erza was bouncing around between emotions. She was still angry and upset with Naruto for stealing the S-Class request and not telling her about it. She was anxious and nervous about what was going to happen in a minute. And most of all she was still terrified from that rough-faced man back at the Blue Pegasus guild that had constantly complimented her on her 'parfume'.

Ugggggghhhhhh. The sensation of him sniffing her hair and spinning around her, winking...it lingered.

So when she actually saw the man she had come all this way to see, she didn't know what she would do next. Maybe she would chase him up and down the mountain as punishment for not telling her he was alive? Or perhaps she would use the punishment methods she uses on Natsu and Gray to teach him a lesson?

Whatever she did, she would know what to do the instant she saw him.

Finally arriving at the end of the upward path, the young Fairy Tail Mage walked onto an open field with a small wooden house at the edge of it. Close to the house she could see a tall man in a coat, feeding something to a large Wyvern with a scar down its left eye before it roared and flew away overhead.

As the wind settled down and the large creature's flapping wings became a distant echo, Erza's eyes were totally glued to the man with his back to her. He seemed to realize that he was being watched and turned around to see who it was.

Rob felt his burnt and wrinkled face widen in surprise at seeing the young woman standing a few yards away from him. She had grown quite a lot since he had seen her all those years ago, at least reaching five feet now. Her once shoulder length red-hair was now long and braided for easier movement. And she was dressed up in a simple suit of armor that covered her chest and arms.

He chuckled a little at her clothes. She was going to catch a cold coming up into the mountains wearing metal like that. He turned around to face her fully.

"My...look how much you've grown."

Erza knew what she was going to do now. She knew the moment she saw him.

She held back her tears as much as she could and gave her grandfather a large tackling hug.

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

The young man in the black cloak and hood was calmly walking down the dirt path in front of him. His boots pushed through the pebbles and gravel as the black sheath on his waist slightly swayed with each movement. His vibrant blue and brown eyes peered out from underneath his hood and gazed up at the sun bearing down on him and the surrounding forest.

He slouched down tiredly, his arms dangling by his side while he groaned. "Uggggggghhhhhhhh, it's too hot for this crap!" He smacked his lips together as his throat became drier and drier.

Naruto was not in any sort of mood for all this waiting crap. He was getting enough of a punishment just for having to take this job for his probation. Before he just sighed and remembered he really didn't have any say in his punishment.

If he knew he was going to get so much shit after taking the S-Class job he probably would have reconsidered the whole idea.

First off, he had to sit there for several hours while Makarov yelled at him and Erza kept smacking him in the head with a stick. He got yelled at for his stupidity, recklessness, immaturity, yadda yadda yadda. Basically it was their once in a lifetime chance to throw insults and pick on him without him getting revenge.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

After that he received the main punishment. The main...the...main...oh god, he was having flashbacks again. It was too much just to remember it even in the safety of his mind. The entire guild had witnessed it and it was safe to say that no one was going to make his mistake anytime soon. Natsu, Luxus, hell even Erza was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes again.

But Jiji didn't stop at public humiliation, no no no. Next he was forced into a temporary probationary period where he wasn't allowed to take any requests or jobs without someone accompanying him to make sure he didn't make any more mistakes.

And over the last month he had taken up jobs with Natsu, Gray, Cana, Shadow Gear, the Strauss Siblings as a group and individually. Strangely enough he was the one who had to keep Gildarts in line when they worked together. The jerk even had the balls to talk to him condescendingly and laugh while he walked through the center of the town's government building.

Although most of the time he was working alongside Erza. But that seemed like it was a whole other problem on its own. The armored Mage always seemed to be distant when they had started his probation. And over the last few weeks it wasn't so bad but it definitely wasn't the same as it was before he took the S-class job. She wasn't being cruel or trying to teach him a lesson; she was just...distant.

He didn't know what to do about that. He wanted to go up to her and ask what was wrong but even he knew that it was pretty stupid to ask a girl what was wrong when you were the one causing the problem. He even tried asking Jiji about what to do but that always ended when the master would chide him on something called young people problems.

Naruto just shook his head clear and focused on the task at hand. This was going to be his chance to prove to Jiji that he was a responsible Mage and that he could take missions alone again. All he had to do was follow Master Bob's personal request and he was in the clear.

He had traveled to Viola with Jiji and Erza to meet up with the cross dressing master at his guild. The weird man had told him that it was just a simple exchange of information with another guild deep in the forest on the other side of the mountain range. All he had to do was take the train, head to Bob's Palace, exchange the info with the other guild's member and he would be set.

Seemed simple at the time.

Although nobody seemed to tell the other Mage just how simple and important this task really was because he was two hours late.

Naruto had grown impatient just waiting around inside the large, extravagant building and was now walking into the large forest in front of the villa. He wasn't the kind of guy to be held up like this for so long and just take it sitting down. If this so called 'Cait Shelter' Mage didn't come to Naruto, then Naruto would come to him. And teach him a little lesson in punctuality...emphasis on punch.

What the hell was a Cait anyway? Was it some kind of typo? What kind of legitimate guild would purposely write their name wrong like that? That was an honor only Fairy Tail had a right to, damn it!

"Kyaaaa!"

The whiskered boy stopped his walk and looked over at a section of the forest he had heard the high-pitched scream echo out from. He completely abandoned his train of thought and gripped the handle of the blade at his side. And without further questioning he immediately dashed towards where the birds flocked out of the trees.

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

"Hurry! Hurry! This way!" A soft, tiny voice screamed out to her friend as she weaved around the branches and trees. She was making her best attempts at dodging the swipes from the jumping monkeys that swung through the trees like they were simply moving through water.

She knew they shouldn't have volunteered for this request from the Master! They weren't ready yet!

Another voice was heard as it tried to run away from the wolves that chased her around the forest. She was panting raggedly after fleeing from the dangerous animals for the past mile and her legs were becoming sluggish. She jumped ahead when a wolf made a bite at her and squealed as she tried to put more distance between herself and the predatory animals.

Maybe Master Roubaul was right...they really were too young to start taking on any kind of requests.

She caught her foot underneath a stray root and she tripped into the dirt. Oh, Magna-San worked so hard on her new dress and she just ruined it.

The little girl tried to push herself back up but realized that the wolves and monkeys had completely surrounding her. She panicked and started to crawl backwards but noticed that her foot was still caught underneath the root. She tried to pull it out but couldn't escape out of the stiff nature root.

The animals started to advance closer to the frightened little girl, making her gasp and cower in fear, tears forming in the sides of her eyes.

"Stop!" A little cat with wings flew in between the girl and animals, raising her paws to stop them from advancing. "Don't get any closer to her!"

"Carla get away!"

The animals paid no attention to her warning and continued to creep up on the two of them. The girl and cat were both trembling in fright that this could be their last moments. One of the wolves took the initiative and plunged forward, the girls closing their eyes and screaming a little.

The jumping wolf was met with a combat boot lodged in its ribs. It was kicked off to the side with a yelp as the black figure pulled out the sword strapped to his side. The man in the cloak landed in front of the girls and glared at every animal in front of him, his sword held out in front of him like an invitation to try and attack.

"Leave."

All of the woodland predators cringed at the threatening tone the man had hissed out and ran away before he could teach them why he sounded so angry.

The young girl and cat looked up as the black figure stood up at his full height, which from their position on the ground made him look like a giant. His black cloak flapped in the wind and gave him the appearance of some kind of messenger of death. He turned around and looked down at the girl and feminine cat, the only visible feature they could see were his eyes bearing down on them. And finally, it may have been from all of the panicked running but his voice sounded rather gruff.

"Are you ok?"

The girls felt horrified as the white cat comically shook in place and the little girl's mouth was quivering. He bent down towards them, "I said-"

"AH!" The girl screamed at the top of her lungs out of fear and unconsciously released a pulse of her magic. Naruto was almost knocked off his feet from the momentary tempest that formed around the little girl and her dressed up cat.

He realized that dropping in out of nowhere dressed in black with his face completely covered probably wasn't the best way to introduce himself to the scared little girl. He pulled his hood down and motioned for the girl to stop, "Woah! Woah! I'm sorry but I didn't mean to scare you! See! I'm not a monster!"

She sniffed her nose and looked at the young man as he pointed at himself with a goofy smile. The little girl saw that he wasn't any sort of monster as she calmed down and her magic became stagnant again.

Naruto sighed in relief and chuckled a little. He smiled and offered his hand. "Here, do you need some help?" The young girl who probably wasn't any older than 7 or 8 looked at his hand and then back up to him. She had shoulder-length deep blue hair and she was wearing some kind of exotic dress with simple blue shoes that had a pair of wings at the heels. She attempted to take his hand-

"Stop right there!" Naruto stopped any attempts at assisting the young girl and stood up rigidly, not expecting the harsh tone of another young voice to command him so readily. He looked around in bewilderment as he tried to locate the source of the voice.

"Down here!" The older Fairy Tail Mage looked down at his feet to see a familiar white cat on its two back legs and dressed in formal wear, holding a paw up at him in a demanding fashion. She was glaring at him with squinty eyes and looked to be in no mood for fooling around, her tail with a pink bow slowly waving around behind her.

"You will not get any closer to Wendy until we know who you are! What are you doing here? What are your intentions?" She yelled out intensely at the dumbfounded male in front of her.

Naruto was completely stunned as he bent down on his knees and started to poke the little female kitten in the cheeks. The kitten's eyebrows were twitching violently as the little girl looked at them with wide-eyed shock. "Woah. You can talk just like Happy? Weird." He pulled back his hands when the young cat showed her claws and started to swing her paws around angrily.

"I'm not a toy and I'm definitely not happy!" The kitten tried to dive at the man but was pulled in by the little girl.

"Carla stop! He saved us, you shouldn't attack him!" The white cat seemed to struggle to escape from the girl's firm hug but soon calmed down and slumped back in her arms. "Be nice."

Carla huffed and looked off in a different direction, trying to ignore the existence of the older male in front of them. The little blue-haired girl smiled down at her friend before looking up at the taller blond man and regaining her sheepish composure.

"H-hello. M-my name is Wendy Marvell. A-and this is my friend Carla." She guided his attention towards the upset cat that glared off in a different direction. "I-is it alright if we can know your name?"

"I'm perfectly fine without knowing his name, thank you."

"Carla, behave."

The older boy couldn't help but laugh at their cute little back-and-forth banter. It was kind of like looking at what Natsu and Happy would be like if they were younger...and girls.

Eww, Happina and Natsuko.

"Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. It's nice to meet you Wendy." The girl nervously smiled and bowed her head. "You too little cat thing."

"Hmph." Carla huffed at the newcomer.

"So what are you two doing all the way out here in the forest?" Naruto inquired with a tilt of his head.

Wendy seemed to panic and shrink a little at the question aimed at her. "O-oh...u-um-we-we-"

"We are mages from the Cait Shelter Guild." Carla stated with a level tone and a no nonsense glare. "This girl and I are on official business at the moment! And even though we are grateful for your assistance in the previous matter, we are awaiting the arrival of a Mage from the Fairy Tail Guild. So if you would be so kind as to go back to your own business then we would be thankful." The little white cat seemed to shoo him off with a wave of her hand.

"Carla that was very rude of you. Why are you so angry right now?" Wendy asked in a hushed whisper to her friend.

"No reason, I just don't want us to be distracted when the contact from Fairy Tail arrives."

"Umm, did you say...Cait Shelter?" The two girls from the feline themed guild looked back at the boy with the stunned look on his face.

"O-oh, yes we did." Wendy replies readily.

Naruto sighed and grabbed the sleeve of his right arm. He pulled it all the way up to his shoulder to reveal to the girl and cat the black Fairy tattoo on his bicep. "I think you came to meet me."

Wendy looked at him in wide-eyed shock as Carla's jaw was slacked and her eyes were white. She pointed her paw at the teen, "You can't be a Fairy Tail Mage! They're a respected and famous legal guild that many aspire to follow and join! How can someone like you be a member?"

Naruto just sighed tiredly while looking off to the side, "You'd be surprised about the truth." He looked down to them and placed his hands on his sides. "Okay, so did you need to give me something to take to Master Bob?"

"Oh!" Wendy placed Carla down on the ground and rummaged through a small pocket in her dress. She pulled out a folded slip of paper and held it up to him. "H-here."

Naruto took the slip of paper and gave her a thankful nod. "Thanks." He pocketed the piece of paper in his pants and turned around in the direction he came. "I'll see you some other time you two. It was nice to meet you Wendy. Little furry thing, not so much." Wendy waved goodbye to him while Carla hissed in annoyance as Naruto started to retreat back towards the Villa and to Blue Pegasus.

"Okay, now we just have to make our way back home. Let's go Wendy!"

"B-but Carla, it took us more than a day just to get here. Can we really make it back to the guild by ourselves? What about all of the animals and creatures in the woods?" Wendy asked very nervously and she was slightly trembling.

"We have to. We just have to make sure we don't pass through the trees again for a shortcut and we should be fine."

Naruto's eyebrow was twitching very violently. Really? They just had to have this conversation about their predicament a few feet away from him? Seriously? W-well, they should be fine. As long as they stuck to the road-

Huh? The whiskered Mage seemed to suddenly realize that the forest was giving off a threatening and evil sensation. And was it his imagination or was all of it aimed at the little girl and her cat?

"Sigh..."

Naruto turned around with his head hung down disheartened. He walked past the two conversing Cait Shelter mages and head in the direction they had run in from. "Come on you two."

Wendy and Carla looked between each other with a confused look on their faces. Wendy looked to the back of the walking blond teenager, "Naruto-San? What are you doing?"

"I guess I'm gonna help you find your way back home." Naruto couldn't believe he was willingly screwing himself over during his probation to help these two back to wherever their guild was located. It just felt wrong to leave these two alone while they were trying to find their way back home.

Carla fumed silently and pointed up at the leading blond man, "We don't need your assistance in making our way back to our own guild! Wendy and I are more than capable enough to handle this issue ourselves!"

"Fine then just escort me to your guild! I'm sure there is something there I can talk to your Master about!" He yelled at the little cat over his shoulder as he kept walking uninterrupted.

Carla was seething through her teeth as she felt her rage boil over her limit. Why did such a rude, unpleasant man have to join them on their journey home? Did they do something wrong? Was this a punishment?

Wendy sheepishly started to follow the older Mage on their way to Cait Shelter. Carla looked up at her worryingly, "Wendy?"

"It's alright Carla. I don't think Naruto-San is trying to hurt us or anything. Let's just show him the way home and then we can have some tea." Wendy tried to mediated to her friend as she hid her own nervousness about following the stranger.

She didn't think he was mean or trying to insult them. He looked like he was a relatively nice person. And he went out of his way to protect her and Carla from those wild animals before they got hurt. He was even coming along with them to make sure they didn't run into any trouble.

But even Wendy wasn't feeling right about the idea of leading the stranger all the way to her guild. She hoped that as they came closer, she could ask him the real reason why he was personally going out of his way to take them home.

Carla shook a little before letting out a long, painful sigh and following her charge. Her Aera magic activated and she was lifted off her feet by a pair of fluffy white wings sprouting from her back. She followed behind her fellow guildmate and made sure she was glaring a hole in the back of the blond man's head.

"Can you please stop that fur-ball? I can feel the hate from here."

"Live with it."

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

"Um, Naruto-San..." The whiskered Fairy Tail Mage heard the shy voice squeak out from behind him as the sun started to set over the horizon. "I-I think we should start to set up camp sometime soon. It's getting k-kind of dark."

Naruto kept his eyes forward to make sure nothing was coming, "If we keep moving while there's still light we could probably reach the valley between the mountains. Almost there and-"

"No you fool she means we can't go any further! She's getting tired and hungry!"

Naruto looked over and saw that Wendy had a tired look in her eyes and her breathing was slightly faster. And Carla had lost the same wings Happy had and was instead walking on her paws. Naruto even heard their bellies grumble while they were looking up at him.

He felt like such an idiot. He was so concentrated on getting them back to their guild that he forgot that most people weren't accustomed to constant travel. They had been moving for hours now, he was surprised they didn't voice their fatigue earlier.

Naruto nodded his head, "Right. I forgot. Sorry about that Wendy."

She shook her head with an embarrassed blush, "N-no, I'm sorry Naruto-San! If I wasn't so weak maybe we could have made it to the guild already."

"Don't blame yourself like that Wendy. This is by no means your fault. You know how far it was for us just to get to the villa of the Blue Pegasus Master. Even with this man's help we weren't going to make it there in a single day." Carla tried to reason to her partner as she shot a slightly miffed look up at the blond. He realized that the cat was silently telling him to help her out.

"She's right Wendy, don't blame yourself." He said as he walked over to a small area and started to clear it out for their camp. "You and your cat look for some dry leaves and twigs to help keep a fire burning, ok?"

The little Cait Mage seemed to lighten up after the encouragement from Carla and Naruto-San as she nodded her head. She told her feline friend to help look for any tinder they could find in the area.

As the girls walked off to collect supplies, Naruto found a fallen tree lying in the dirt. He ran his hand over the timber to feel if it was still suitable for firewood. Some parts of it were wet but most of it was still dry enough for him to use.

He stepped back to an appropriate distance and gripped the sword at his side. He pulled the black sword out of its sheath and cut the fallen tree into even pieces. The firewood fell apart and the teenager started to collect enough of it to make a steady fire.

Wendy and Carla came back to the scene of Naruto placing blocks of cut wood around each other with enough space for their tinder underneath. "Naruto-San, we have everything we could find."

"Hopefully it will be enough for this fire." Carla said as she placed the twigs and dry leaves she and Wendy collected underneath the wood. "You have experience in making fires, right?"

"I can make a fire with some twigs and wood if I have enough time to concentrate. But I think this will probably be faster" Naruto said as he stood up and summoned a long red sword that went whiter as it reach the tip.

He closed his eyes and the girls watched in amazement as the sword started to burn and create fire to surround its form. He slowly lowered it into the bonfire and lit it aflame. He deactivated the sword and sat down in front of the fire.

"How did you do that Naruto-San?"

"A special little sword I found a little while back. I guess it's pretty useful in situations like this. You two wanna keep staring or are you gonna take a seat?" He joked at them lightly as they realized what they were doing and took a seat in front of the dancing flames.

Wendy seemed to think about something as her sight kept changing from the older blond to the fire and back. "U-umm, Naruto-San..." Naruto looked over to the little girl who was nervously looking at her feet. "Why do you-um-still have that gauntlet around your arm?" She squeaked out, unable to voice her original question.

Naruto lifted his arm and turned it around to examine the scratches and scraps more closely. "It's not a gauntlet Wendy. It's a prosthetic arm for the one I lost a few years back." He looked up and seemed to regret the decision to tell them that little bit of information.

Carla and Wendy were staring at him in a mixture of surprise, shock and horror. "Y-you lost your arm?"

"Yep."

"Like-like completely blown off?"

"Well more like ripped off but yeah, that's the general idea."

They were both shaking in place, going a little pale a the thought of something like that. Carla, who somehow looked more white than she did before, looked up at him, "How did you lose something like that?"

Naruto looked up as he thought through what had happened a few years back. "I picked a fight with a growing Wyvern and we sort of took it a little too far. I didn't really know how to use my magic back then so I lost pretty bad." It felt like such a long time ago that he almost forgot about the details of the experience.

Carla and Wendy were still a little worried about the subject of this man's lost arm but looked between each other and decided it was probably best to let it go.

"So what are we going to do about food?" Carla asked as she wiped the dirt away from her spot to keep her clean. Naruto looked around the area and got up from his spot, carefully sneaking over to the bushes and ducking behind them. The girls looked on in confusion until they heard some animals noises and his yelling ring in their ears.

Naruto walked back out with a smile on his face and a live rabbit held in his hand. "Look what I caught! It ain't much but we should be alright with this!" He placed it on the ground and prepared to kill when he heard another soft protest.

"N-Naruto-San..." The whiskered Fairy Mage looked up to see Wendy with hesitant eyes and Carla grimacing at the sight of his survival skills. "P-please don't kill the little bunny."

Naruto looked at them with a slacked jaw and twitching eye. They were seriously going to pass up on food just because the bunny looked innocent? Wendy was looking at him with watery eyes and the cat was looking off in the other direction in shame. They were making him seem like the bad guy in this situation!

Oh god, even the bunny's eyes looked three times bigger then they usually do.

With a reluctant sigh, he let go of the bunny's paws and let it scamper off back into the woods. He pushed himself up into a crossed leg position and looked at the two girls that were trying to avoid his accusing glare. "I think there was a stream a mile back that way... You guys don't have a problem with fish, do you?"

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

The young man was looking up at the night sky as the fire besides him continued to burn. He adjusted his back into the tree and got more comfortable as he kept watch. Wendy and Carla were off at the side, using his cloak as a mat as they slept peacefully.

They were probably a little under another day's worth of travel until they reach the Cait Shelter guild. And then he would have to travel back to reach Viola town and regroup with Erza and Jiji.

Shit they were going to be pissed he was late again. There goes his probation.

Naruto looked down and fiddled with the handle of the sword in his lap. He had gained such a great asset of power and magic but did he really know how to properly use it? This whole experience was only enforcing the point Jiji was trying to get across...he was too inexperienced and irresponsible to take on S-Class.

He can't even get a piece of paper without it turning into an escort to the other side of this immense forest. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for that kind of work.

"Naruto-San?"

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Wendy's tired voice. She was sitting up and wiping the sand out of her eyes and yawned lightly. "Are you still up? Do you want me to watch over the camp so you can get some sleep too?"

Naruto smiled but shook his head. "It's alright Wendy. I don't think anything is coming for us tonight so I'll get some sleep in a minute." Wendy slowly nodded her head and looked into the fire. Her eyes stayed on the flames for a moment as some awareness came back into her sleepy mind.

"Naruto-San, can I ask why you came with us all the way here? I don't have enough money to pay you back for your help until we arrive back at Cait Shelter, if that's what you want?" She said rather meekly.

Naruto just smiled and shook his head, "I don't need any money Wendy. That's not why I'm doing this."

"Then why are you doing this Naruto-San?"

Naruto looked off and furrowed his eyes in thought. "Honestly, I'm not quite sure myself. I didn't like the idea of letting you and the cat go off on your own. Helping you two even when you probably didn't need it, it just felt like something I needed to do." He gave her an apologetic look, "Sorry if that sounds like I'm insulting your abilities."

Wendy quickly shook her head, "N-no, it's fine. I understand what you mean." She started to nervously fiddle with the end of her dress before giving a small smile. "Then you really are a good person Naruto-San."

Naruto gave her a dry little chuckle at her innocence. "I don't think that's true Wendy. The whole reason I'm here in the first place is because I was being punished for breaking the rules of my guild."

"What did you do?" She worried that he may have beaten up his fellow guild members or possibly even killed someone!

"I stole a request from our S-class board when I wasn't ready. I'm out here in the first place because I'm on probation."

"E-even so, that doesn't mean you aren't a nice person Naruto-San! I can't do anything and yet you selflessly decided to help us get through the Wood Sea! Really!"

Naruto just stayed silent and gave her a silent smile. If she knew all of the things he had done in his early life, she'd probably run away from him screaming and crying. So he decided to just take the compliment...

It was nice to receive such kind words and faith from someone so nice.

"I wish I could be as strong as you. I've been a part of Cait Shelter for more than two years now but this is my first real job. And I can't even do it properly without screwing up." Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes as she started to sniff her nose. "I'll never be a good enough Mage like this."

"How old are you?" Wendy rubbed a tear out of her eye and looked up at Naruto.

"I'm...I'm 8 years old."

"That was way younger then I was when I started to learn magic. You can't expect to become stronger when you haven't even given yourself a chance." He smiled at her and chuckled, "What kind of magic do you use anyway?"

"I use a-um-a special type of magic that I learned from my mother. It's called Sky Dragon Slayer magic."

"Wait! You're a Dragon Slayer! Seriously? That's amazing!" Naruto nearly yelled in shock at the surprising bit of knowledge.

"Y-you know about Dragon Slayers?"

"Hehe yeah! Another kid back in Fairy Tail is a Dragon Slayer too, but he uses fire instead!" Naruto couldn't believe he had met another Dragon Slayer just like Natsu. He didn't even know that there were others who could use that kind of rare magic. Actually, didn't he hear a rumor about a Dragon Slayer of metal or something in that Phantom Lord Guild?

"Really?" Wendy asked with more enthusiasm then he had seen her have in the little time he had known her. "Can he eat his own kind of special element as well?"

"Yeah, he eats fire all the time. Wait, what does a Sky Dragon Slayer eat exactly?"

"W-well, I can eat the Sky around us to replenish my power."

"Isn't that just breathing?"

"It's actually a little more difficult than that..." She lamely whimpered out.

She lost most of her pitiful melancholy and looked up at the stars over her head with a passive regret. "I want to go past this forest and find someone I lost. That's why I asked Master Roubaul to let me take this task...so I could start growing up and try to follow after them. But..." She wrapped her arms around her knees and couldn't find the confidence to finish her statement.

Naruto felt sorry for the poor little girl. She was so brave to take on a task like this by herself and so kind to put her faith in someone she only met a few hours ago. But must have felt so weak and worthless in front of the rest of her guild. She wasn't even 10 years old yet but she was already comparing her undeveloped skills to the people she knew and met.

That was a devastating toll a child put on themselves to prove that they were useful. It was a very thin line between a person you wanted to catch up to or a back you could never reach.

He stood up and walked over to sit by her side. "Who is it you want to find?"

Wendy pulled her head slightly out of her hiding spot, still feeling upset but knowing it was rude to not address people directly. "I want to find my mom again. I don't know where she went but I know she had to be somewhere. I woke up one day and...she was just gone."

"Did she leave you?"

"No!" Wendy nearly yelled out with wet, partially red eyes. "Grandeeny would never have abandoned me like that! I don't know where she went but...but...she wouldn't leave me." She whimpered out sadly, like she was trying to convince herself more than she was convincing Naruto.

Naruto sat there and looked down at the young lady with...he didn't know what to call it. He felt sorry for her, but it wasn't pity. Like he knew what she was going through. Desperately trying to improve yourself so you can assure yourself that you aren't useless. Oh, now he knew...empathy.

Wendy's nose sniffed a little and she tried to wipe the tears away again before they started to overflow. "And...I want to look for someone else too. A boy who saved me when I thought I was all alone. He's the reason I joined Cait Shelter and I want to thank him for everything he has done for me."

Wendy didn't make it obvious but just mentioning that memory was enough for her to perk up a little. "I promise you Jellal..." She whispered under her breath.

But even with her quiet promise, Naruto heard it loud and clear. "Wait-wait, did you say Jellal?!" Naruto questioned loudly in utter disbelief.

Wendy jerked back when the blond boy got so close to her face that she finally took notice of his separate colored eyes. "Y-yes?"

"Like my height? Shaggy blue hair? A weird tattoo around his right eye?"

Wendy lost all reserved worry and looked up at the taller boy sitting next to her. "You know Jellal?"

Naruto had an ecstatic smile on his face as he couldn't even begin to express his joy. "He's my friend! I've known him for years!"

"R-really?" It was Wendy's turn to be flabbergasted but with unhindered happiness. "Do you know where he is? Have you seen him?"

Her hope was weakened when Naruto shook his head, causing her to retreat back a little. "When you saw him, was he...alright? He didn't try to hurt you or anything, right?"

"Of course not. Jellal was very considerate and always worried about helping me." She blushed a little remembering how he treated her like she was his family, always making sure she ate her food and helping her fall asleep when she had nightmares. Remembering how her guardian angel appeared out of the trees and saved her from an unknown world.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at seeing the fond remembrance she had of his old family. This meant that she had met Jellal after they had escaped from the tower. Maybe he really wasn't insane anymore, still traveling around the country looking for something.

Whatever it was, it gave Naruto hope that his old friend was still alive.

"Wendy..." The little blue haired Cait girl looked at Naruto as he gave her a big smile. "I bet you will be a great Mage when you grow up, you just have to give yourself a little more time. But if I ever see Jellal again, I promise I'll drag him all the way to your guild and make him see you again. You just have to make sure you aren't so hard on yourself anymore, alright?"

Wendy hesitantly started to smile and nodded her head. Naruto laughed and pet her head fondly, making her giggle. "Come on, we've got to go to bed. Early day tomorrow."

Wendy nodded with a big renewed smile and crawled back to her makeshift bed, cuddling Carla who mumbled in her sleep. Naruto laid back into the dirt and placed his hands behind his head as a pillow. He looked up into the sky and watched the sparkling stars and roaming clouds float alongside the immense moon the illuminated the night.

He never took the chance to just look at it, but it truly was a magnificent sight. He wondered if the moon back in his other home shined so beautifully.

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

A pair of blue and brown eyes gazed up at the shining moon over her head. She just stared up at the beauty as her unbraided hair flowed in the wind. She turned to look over her shoulder from her seat at the edge of the shack porch and saw her sleeping Master stripped to his underwear and trying to escape the clutches of a snoozing Master Bob's hugs.

Erza chuckled silently and looked back up into the beautiful night sky, getting lost in its unending and still majesty. Her feet mindlessly skimming over the snow and leaving her prints in its form.

"I don't think it's good for a girl your age to stay up so late. Girls need their beauty sleep. Although I can't imagine you could get any prettier than you already are but you never know." The red-headed Mage looked behind her and saw her oldest surrogate family member smiling while walking up next to her. "Plus you might catch a cold."

"I'm sorry if I woke you Ojii-San." Erza apologized as Rob took a seat next to his favorite little pseudo-daughter.

"Not at all dear. Not all of us old geezers can clock out as fast as those two." He offhandedly waved to his old guild comrades who were cuddling up even closer than before, making the young lady lightly giggle at the sight. "So what's bothering you?"

"Nothing Rob-jisan. Everything's fine." She tried to sound unconcerned and detached from any problem at hand. But she could feel Rob look at her with disbelief and a slightly raised eyebrow. Even after all this time he still knew when she was trying to hide something from him.

She looked out over the field with a slight scowl. "Naruto is late. Again."

Rob's face dawned in realization, "Ohhhhhhh. Are you having a little argument with Naruto-kun?"

"No. Of course not. He just..." Erza tightened her fist and comically growled. "He's an idiot."

"What did he do this time?"

"He's such an irresponsible fool! For some reason, he thought it was a good idea to take an S-Class job before he was qualified so he could test his strength!"

"He did what?!" Rob was actually shocked by this revelation.

"Exactly! He stole a request from the guild and went off to take it by himself! That moron is lucky he got to come back home alive! What if he had been killed out there?! None of us could have helped him then!" Erza went off on a tirade as she finally released all of the pent up anger she had for the subject.

Rob kept silent as he watched Erza voice her thought on the issue, which was very lively and detailed. She explained how the system that Makarov had set up was to keep them safe and how Naruto breached that trust for his own reasons. And that he can't just decide to run off like that because he wasn't patient enough to wait until he was of age.

As Erza continued to complain, she almost missed it when Rob interjected his point. "Is it wrong for him to want to get stronger?"

She stopped her argument and looked over at Rob who was waiting for her answer. She tried to continue but couldn't find any more anger in that concept. "No, of course it isn't. It's just...I wish he didn't have to do it by hurting himself like that."

"Growing up takes sacrifices like that Erza-chan. You should know that just as well as he does."

"Of course I do. But he wasn't ready for something as dangerous as that. If he was killed out there..." Erza struggled with the idea of something like that happening to her friend again. "I wouldn't even have known that he was gone."

Rob looked at the worry Erza showed when she thought of that topic again. He knew she had a deep fear of losing the people she cared about, it was just something he could tell. And he could understand why she would feel that way.

Rob chuckled a little. Erza looked over at him, "What's so funny?"

"Because even after all this time, you're still the same little worry wart that was concerned about her friends. Hehehe, no different from that cute little toddler who always enforced the rules and punished the others when they were misbehaving." Erza blushed a little when Rob had said she was still acting like a child after all this time. She was a young lady dammit!

"You care about him a lot, don't you?"

This time Erza jerked up with a vibrant red hue across her entire face. "W-what?! Are-are you crazy Jii-San?! Of course Naruto is my friend and I care about him but-I-you-" her word fumble ended when she saw her former guardian keep his smile on, not convinced by anything she was trying to say.

Erza sort of fizzled out and looked down at the ground with her face so flushed it matched the color of her hair. Erza had realized her feelings for Naruto some time ago. It wasn't anything groundbreaking or unbelievable, but she liked it when they were together. When they trained together they helped push each other to get stronger. When they went out on requests they were one of the best teams in the Guild. And when they were just together, it just felt so much easier to be herself.

"And you don't want him to get hurt out there by himself, right?" The usually armor-clad girl nodded her head.

"Then make sure you can stick by his side and never let him go off into danger like that, alright? I think you, more than anyone else in the whole world, can influence what that silly boy thinks. Okay?"

Erza gave him a small but firm smile and nodded her head. They sat there in comfortable silence as Erza thought about what she wanted to say. All these feelings of loss, love and words of encouragement were stirring a question she had dreaded to ask her whole life.

"Jii-San..."

"Yes Erza-chan?"

"You've taken care of me my entire life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. And I want to thank you for everything you've done for me ...but..."

Rob noticed that the usually strong and unflappable girl was having a hard time talking. Like something was on the end of her tongue that she just couldn't spit out. "What is it?"

And Erza said it. The question both her and Rob had feared to ever be brought into the light. Something that completely crushed the illusion that she had tried to build up and protect her while in the cold hell of the Tower.

"What happened to my parents?"

Erza kept her composure and stern face to make sure she didn't falter. As did Rob as he kept a firm mask while thinking of that question. "How long have you wanted to ask that?"

"My whole life. I just never wanted to say it because...because then I would have acknowledged that I knew they were gone."

Rob felt his heart sink when the young Scarlet girl resigned herself to that idea. Even worse, it was a very similar reason to why he never told her the truth.

"...It all started when I was first brought to that tower."

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

Rob was sitting against the wall, looking down at his cuffs and chains in defeat. Just a single moment of weakness. A single wrong move made at the wrong time and he was locked up for the rest of his life. He had tried to save as many people as he could from getting caught by this cult, but he wasn't able to save everyone.

All around this tower; there were men, women and children that cried and were horrified beyond belief. Some of them had already tried to kill themselves by biting through their tongues and cutting through their wrists. Just giving up on their lives between the walls of this hell.

Rob resigned himself to his fate in this empty cell, contemplating whether he should try and take the easy way out as well.

*BOOM*

Rob felt the entire structure of the tower shake from the force of an explosion, silencing the cries and whimpers of the slaves around the incomplete building in the ocean. Dozens of cult members started running past the cell bars and were yelling orders out between each other.

"Escape! Slaves are trying to escape!"

"Contain them! Kill on sight!"

"Don't let them leave!"

"They raided the armory! Attack!"

In a blur of red, a juggernaut broke through the groups of drones that tried to stop them like it was nothing. They released a roar of anger and contempt as members of the cultist society were beaten bloody, cut across their bodies and thrown off the side.

A second figure ran around the outside of the cells, wielding a katana in one hand and carrying a small bundle under his other arm. With amazing ease the man kicked up spears and flung them at oncoming cultists like a typhoon, dodging attacks and countering with impossible speed.

He dove at the cells and cut the locks sealing everyone inside. "Run! Everyone you have to retreat!"

From where Rob could see, the slaves were all cowering in fright from the man with the sword. He seemed to look around in confusion at their cowardice to try and fight back. "What are you doing?! We can't escape unless everyone works together! Get up and-"

*Boom*

A fireball impacted against the man's side and sent him flying through Rob's cell door. The magicians were about to press on to kill the man when a woman wearing the same rags as the others slaves dove in from another floor and kicked them so hard Rob could hear the cracks of their spines.

She turned around in shock, "Kazuya! Hold on I'll-"

"Stop!" The injured man yelled out to the woman as she stopped in place. He coughed and struggled to pull himself up to his knees, "Don't worry about me Erika, we're fine! Keep moving!"

The woman with the deep red hair hesitantly nodded her head before running off to keep fighting, gripping the knight sword in her hand even tighter.

Rob helped the struggling man up to his knees as he kept the bundle in his arms safe from any disturbance. "Are you okay young man? You have to stop before you get killed!"

The man with the black hair was panting as his body was partially burnt from the surprise attack. "Ojii-San, *pant**pant*, p-please help me."

Rob tried to keep him steady, "Of course, I'll-"

"Keep her safe." He lowered his arm and revealed to Rob what he was carrying and protecting over his own safety.

Rob looked down at the unconscious little child that rested her head on the man's bicep. Just like the woman that was fighting the war singlehandedly outside, she had the same kind of vibrant red hair that came down to her shoulders. She was so small, probably no older than a toddler. The man reached out and placed her in Rob's arms for safe keeping.

Rob was speechless as he looked between the innocent little child who didn't have a single mark on her and the swordsman whose entire body was covered in wounds from protecting her.

"H-her name is Erza, and I need you to keep her safe until we can get everyone out. Can you do that for me?"

Rob was just looking between the man and down at the girl resting in his arms. "I-I can't take your daughter! What-what if I can't be trusted?! You can't-"

"You're different." The man coughed out as he started to push himself up onto his shaking legs. "No one else would have helped me if I was sprawled out and beaten like this. And you have strong eyes, ones that can stand this kind of fight and so much more."

As if renewed by his resolve, Kazuya pushed himself up onto his feet and kept standing firm. He started walking forward, ignoring the injured state of his body and gripped his katana. "Just keep her safe until we can free everyone and find you again. If we don't make it I don't want her to be caught with us." Just as the man was about to leave, he turned back and gave Rob a warm, confident smile.

"I'm sorry about this, Ojii-San."

Rob cradled the little girl in his arms as the Mage couple waged war against the entire cult group. He wanted to charge in and help them but knew that he had a far greater task at hand by keeping this child safe.

After what seemed like hours, the noises finally calmed down and the fighting ended. Members of the cult were beaten but still wary, silencing anyone in their cells who started to act up.

Rob hugged the sleeping girl and repeated to himself that they were coming back for her. That they had escaped and were coming back to get help.

It was a lie he chose to believe in. That this was a new duty he had to carry out until they came back for their precious child.

It was all he could do to keep together as his old eyes watered and tears dropped down on the child's cheeks.

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

"I kept that promise as long as I could." Rob spilled out to the silent girl sitting besides him. "I shouldn't have lied to you for so long. You were stronger back then then I ever was. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for keeping this from you for so long."

Erza didn't respond immediately after hearing the story of her parent's last fight in the Tower of Heaven. She remembered hearing rumors about a couple of slaves making a riot and almost destroying the tower years before her and everyone escaped.

"Erza-chan?" Rob asked with an almost desperate plea to hear her voice.

Erza wiped her eyes clear and sniffed her nose to stop from breaking down. "It's ok Rob-jisan. You always looked after me and kept me safe, so I know you were doing what you thought was right."

They both stayed completely silent as they looked up at the large moon, letting the conversation hang there for a moment.

"I know this though," Rob spoke again with a strong voice.

"Even if I gave my entire body and soul to protect you...even if I loved you for the rest of my life... It would only be a fraction of how much your parents cherished you Erza."

Erza stayed silent as Rob finished baring his soul and telling her the truth about her parents.

She sniffed lightly.

Before she looked up at Rob with wide, watering eyes and trembling shoulders. He wrapped her in a hug and whispered how it was going to be alright as she silently cried into his chest like she did so many years ago.

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

"How! Is! This! Happening?!" Naruto screamed out as he dashed through the forest like a bat out of hell, Carla carrying Wendy and both of them screaming at the top of their lungs.

Behind the trio were several dozen packs of wolves, chimps and assorted wildlife that were all chasing the little group down for blood. The animals that had cornered the Cait duo yesterday were leading the charge with their respective families following their attacks.

"What now Mister Fairy Mage?! Any bright ideas you'd like to share?!" Carla screamed out sarcastically as Wendy yelped and pulled her feet up from a possible wolf bite.

"Working on it!"

Naruto turned a corner and found himself blocked off by another group of animals baring their teeth. He started retreating back with Wendy and Carla right behind him, "N-Naruto-San?" Wendy whimpered out in terror.

"It's okay Wendy. I can handle the critters, you and the cat just give yourself a little more space."

Before Carla could even argue back, a loud thud started ringing out through the area and birds started to fly out of the trees. The animals that were chasing them started to part ways and leave a large opening in front of the small group.

From out of the towering trees a Wyvern with deep green scales stomped into their view. It reeled back its head and let out a roar that almost caused their ear drums to burst.

Naruto looked up at the fully grown behemoth with a worried shake. "O-Ok... This might be a little harder than I thought." He choked out with a small chuckle.

"Where in the world did that thing come from?!" The white cat shrieked out as her female charge was petrified at the site of the beast.

"I think we just found the King of the forest. And he's come to face the problem." Naruto slowly reached out for the handle of his Kokuryū.

The Wyvern roared and swung its massive tail, aiming to smash Naruto and the girls. He jumped up and pulled out his black blade, guarding as the scales screeched against each other. The tail swung back out and Naruto landed on the ground, summoning the same red blade he used last night to light the fire.

"Flame Dragon's Drive!"

A wide spread of fire surrounded the burning sword as he swung it down to strike the beast's talons. The Wyvern just flew back and doged the sword's wide attack, swinging down to rip the boy apart with it's large purple claws.

Naruto leaned back and dodged the heft of the attack, but felt the tip of one of the talons cut across his chest. He rolled backwards and jumped out of the way as the spiked tail tried to come back down on him. And immediately following that the beast released a concentrated blast a wind at him, leaving a crater in the ground where Naruto jumped out of the way.

He didn't have a moment to counter as he was chased into the depths of the forest by the rampaging monster.

"Where is that idiot going?!"

"Naruto-San!" Wendy tried to call out to him but was blocked off by the entire ensemble of creatures putting their undivided attention on her and Carla.

The flying cat react by finding an open path and flying herself and Wendy through it, trying to put as much distance between them and the carnivores as possible. No matter how far she flew they stayed on her tail like an bear to honey, weaving their way through the sea of trees.

After a worthy attempt to escape, Wendy noticed that they were losing altitude and coming closer to the ground. "Carla?!" The young Dragon-Slayer worried as she noticed how there were beads of sweat going down Carla's face and she was panting sporadically.

"I-it's ok Wendy, I-I promise to get...you..." Carla fainted from exhaustion mid-flight, causing Wendy to fall on the ground and roll in the grass. She moaned but pushed herself up to run to Carla's side. She delicately picked up her best friend and cradled her tightly as she tried to run away on foot.

But from the corner of her eyes she saw the animals flank her sides and exits. She panicked and tried to find somewhere to run but couldn't as she was blocked on all sides. Wendy backed up into a tree, terrified of being cornered and alone like this again, as she held Carla as tightly as she could.

As the wolves growled and approached her, she couldn't do anything but wish that Naruto-San would return and save them again. She couldn't handle this alone. She wasn't strong enough! She was weak!

"I bet you will be a great Mage when you grow up, you just have to give yourself a little more time."

Wendy heard Naruto-San's voice ring through her ears and encourage her again.

"I promise Wendy, I'll stay with you forever."

Jellal's promise to stay with her and keep her strong.

"Grandeeny, I can't do the dragon roar like you can! Yours is so beautiful and powerful but mine is..." The young child said to the massive scaly creature with fur covering her body.

"Wendy, do you know who you are?" The dragon said in a calming, endearing tone to her daughter.

Wendy looked up at her adopted mother with a confused tilt. "Um...I'm Wendy, right?" She said like she was unsure that was the answer.

Grandeeny nodded her head, "That's right. You are Wendy Marvell. You are my daughter and the Dragon Slayer of the Sky. And I promise you, one day your Roar will be so mighty, you'll even be stronger than me. And I know it Wendy..."

"Because I believe in you."

Wendy pushed herself off the tree and stared at the surrounding animals with a stern glare. The animals all stopped their stalk forward and froze at the suddenly powerful will she gained in her eyes.

For now, just for a moment, she abandoned all of her insecurities and fears. She took a deep, calming breath as wind started to gather around her mouth. She grasped onto Carla even tighter, waking her up long enough to see her caretaker start facing the animals. The wolves started to back away in fear as a strange presence started forming around the little girl.

The vortex started to disappear, "Sky Dragon's-"

"ROAR!"

She roared out a mighty typhoon from her mouth, the massive vortex blew away the animals and separated the trees. After the grand attack faded away, it showed to reveal a large trench formed by the force of her attack. All around the area of effect, the carnivorous animals were sprawled out unconscious with spiraled eyes.

Carla looked up at Wendy with a tired but proud expression. "Way...to go...Wendy," she panted out as Wendy was taking quick breathes, looking at her handiwork with a surprised shock. She looked down at Carla and felt a happy smile form out of pride.

She then remembered what was happening prior to her breath attack. "Ah! Naruto-San! Where did he go?" Wendy looked around with wide, stark white eyes as they had lost sight of their blond friend while he was fighting the other creature.

She ran off in the direction she heard a primal, beast-like roar echo from.

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

Naruto was trying to cut into the scales of the lizard beast but it seemed to be both agile and durable body. Even the fires from the dragon sword weren't working because the beast never stayed in the same position long enough for him to deal enough damage.

And he didn't know why, but his chest felt like it was burning and it was hurting to breathe.

The Wyvern kept unleashing stronger blasts of wind at Naruto as it was forcing him out of the tree covering and onto the edge of a cliff overseeing another section of the forest. Naruto looked out over the lower level of the Wood Sea, finding that he was cornered between the beast and the drop.

The Wyvern took a deep breath and unleashed another blast of concentrated magic at the prone blond. Naruto turned around and blocked the powerful gale with his black and red blades as he was blinded by the smoke cloud.

He growled through his teeth and glared at the beast that settled on its hind legs in front of him, preparing to attack the Mage again while he was still unguarded.

Was this what they called déjà-vu? Getting stuck in an unfavorable situation with a feral Wyvern eyeing him down like he was a tasty meal just felt like another bad memory was playing out.

The whiskered teen was cursing his luck at the moment. He looked down at the red blade that he had tried to train with for the last several weeks. These things still needed to use too much magical power just to function properly.

Natsu even said it was kind of like being near Igneel's fires again. A pure, undiluted flame that the young Dragon-Slayer said only compared with the embers of the dragon's original power. So he still had a long way to go until they could tap into the full potential of the swords.

When he showed them to everyone at the guild, everybody was surprised and interested in how they worked. A bunch of them took turns in practicing with them and seeing what they were like. And almost all of his friends had the exact same difficulties using them as he did.

Except for the older mages in the guild. They actually made the swords use an equal amount of power and for a longer duration then the younger generation did. Macao explained to them that they weren't using their magical power efficiently, putting far too much bulk into the item and not getting an equivalent worth of power.

He then went into an explanation of how to properly gauge the magical potential you have to make your magic stronger and last longer...but that was about the time the kids started to doze off. And plus baby Romeo was crying after he pooped himself and that needed the veteran Mage's immediate attention.

No offense to Macao, but he really wasn't interesting enough to keep their attention long enough to give them a lecture.

But Jiji did say something to them afterwards that got their attention.

"You should stop worrying about that stuff for now kids, you'll do better when you start graduating from diapers." Erza held Naruto and Natsu back as they furiously started trying to claw at the old midget as he took a deep swig from his mug. "You should know that it doesn't matter how much power you guys have in the end, you need to think through your fights and experiences a little more. Power does not equal strength, and strength does not equal victory."

Naruto kneeled down into a deeper stance, changing his red flame sword out for a much darker model. A bulky, long black sword appeared in his hand as he gripped it with both hands. It started to emit a black aura that grew thicker and thicker the longer he held it.

He growled and swung his sword as the Wyvern spit out another blast of wind.

"Black Shroud!"

The sheet of Shadow magic clashed with the gale force breath attack and they both start to fade away. And when the black cover evaporated in dust, Naruto was holding another long sword with an almost holographic appearance.

"Solar Flare!"

An intense bright light temporarily blinded the scaled creature as he roared in agony. Its vision started to darken again and fix itself long enough to notice that something was pushing its wings up.

The Wyvern saw the blond boy hold another light blue sword with a spiky design up its blade as he was spinning it over his head in a spiral formation. Surrounding him was a large vortex that positioned itself under the lizard's wings and was forcing it off the ground. The boy in the black cloak yelled in a mighty voice and aimed the sword at the beast, causing the small whirlwind to spin the Wyvern off of the cliff .

The creature fell several meters from the base of the cliff before regaining its balance in mid-air. It flapped its wings and started to gain altitude again before it saw the boy on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the creature with a wide sneer and another sword held over his shoulders.

"Good night." He lifted the curved broadsword over his head a smashed it into the cliff, causing hundreds of cracks to form along the entire body of the cliff side. The cliff fell apart into dozens of massive boulders as the Wyvern looked up at the rockslide with wide stark white eyes. It was buried underneath the rubble and fell a hundred feet into the lower level of the forest.

Naruto looked over the new cliff side and saw the unconscious creature with 'x' shaped eyes. He whistled in surprise as he looked over the Sword of Earth. "You're a tough one, aren't you? We've have got to see how you do against someone like Jura. That'll be-"

He fell on his knees and tried to keep his vision from spiraling out anymore than it already did. Naruto groaned and instinctively raised a hand to the scratch the Wyvern had cut across his chest. "What the hell? It barely even touched me?"

He dismissed the Earth sword and summoned the Sky sword in its place. He placed the sword against his chest and tried to heal the wound before it made him feel any worse. But he noticed that while the pain and wounds from his other injuries had started to fade, the burning sensation from the Wyvern had barely lightened.

"Tch, dammit. What the hell is going on?"

"Naruto-San!"

Wendy came running up to the teenager, looking slightly worn out and with Carla unconscious in her arms. "Thank goodness you're alright! I'm so glad you escaped from the Wyvern before it reached you! How did you do it?"

Naruto just pointed towards the edge of the cliff and didn't say anything more. Wendy looked at him in confusion before she carefully approached the edge of the rock formation and cautiously peeked over the side, her mouth was agape at the sight of the large, unconscious beast resting under a huge pile of rocks and rubble.

She wanted to ask how he did that, but decided that maybe now wasn't the best time.

She noticed that Naruto was in some kind of discomfort and walked her way over to his side. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...I should be fine but...something's wrong?" He said as he clutched the wound on his chest.

Wendy awkwardly handed the unconscious Carla into Naruto's arms as he looked down at the sleeping form of the cranky kitten. "Is she ok?!

"She's very tired from running away from the wolves." Wendy was putting her full concentration on the visible part of the wound across his chest.

"Oh damn the wolves! I forgot about them! Hey, what happened? Did you lose them? Are they coming here?"

"Naruto-San, shush. I'm looking at your wound." Naruto just blinked at her sudden strong demeanor when she was checking his injury. He shut his mouth with an audible clap.

Wendy gasped and looked up at him worryingly. "You've been poisoned!"

Oh, that explained it. Yeah, he remembered Rib-jichan saying something about how animals will evolve differently in separate environments. The Blizzardvern in the mountains had tough white scales to help them blend into their surroundings. It made sense that a Wyvern living in the jungle would have a defensive mechanism for fighting against other predators.

Wait? Did that mean the Sky sword didn't work against poison? He knew the swords only had a portion of the dragon's real power but did the sword only heal physical wounds? That sucks..

"Crap. Wendy, help me up. We've gotta find an antidote or something before it starts spreading-" he stopped his order when the young girl placed her hands close to the wound on his chest and closed her eyes.

Naruto noticed a faint green light start to form around her hands as the pain from the poison steadily started to fade. He watched in amazement as the wound started to close itself and disappear from sight. Wendy finished her spell and lowered her hands, sighing in relief as she was able to help her friend before it was too late.

Naruto grabbed his shirt and pulled the cut apart to look at his chest. The wound was completely gone! There wasn't even a scar left over from scratch! "Wendy that's amazing! I can't believe you could do that!"

Wendy struggled to nod her head and turned in a specific direction to their side. "C-come on Naruto-San...our guild is..." Wendy almost fainted but Naruto caught her before she fell on her face.

"Hey! Are you okay Wendy? What's wrong?" Naruto asked worriedly as he tried to handle both of the Cait Shelter girls with care.

Wendy fought to keep her eyes open long enough to talk to him. "I'm sorry Naruto-San...I'm just really tired from using my magic for so long...I think I need a moment to..." Her eyes fluttered a little and she yawned before she passed out from over-exhaustion. She was still young and her magic hadn't developed very well yet, so an extremely powerful breath attack and stopping the poison in Naruto's body was where she clocked out.

Naruto sighed and looked between Wendy and Carla. He looked in the direction the little Dragon-Slayer had pointed to and smiled, happy that for the moment she seemed more confident then last night.

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

Wendy tried to open her eyes again but felt like they were glued shut. She felt like she was floating and could feel a slight bump jostle her once in a while. She tried to lift her head and saw the back of Naruto-San heading towards the setting sun.

"N...Naruto...San?"

Naruto blinked and slowly turned his head, making sure the resting kitten sprawled over the top of his head wasn't jostled off. "Hey. Rise and shine sleepy-head. I think we're almost at your guild, I spotted it over the last hill we passed. We should be there soon."

Wendy didn't seem to be fully aware of what was happening as she incoherently mumbled into his back, nuzzling into it so she could continue her little nap. Something about the blond's presence helped calm her worry and make it easier to relax. He felt really warm. Like what it felt when she was with Jellal or Grandeeny.

Reassuring.

"Naruto-San..." Naruto looked back over his shoulder at the sleeping girl's face as she tried to open her eyes. "You're...you're a really nice person...thank you." She finished as she finally closed her eyes and surrendered to the sleep.

Naruto kept moving forward with a smile on his face. He really didn't care if Jiji hung him from his ears for being late. This whole experience was well worth the time.

Naruto finally climbed over the hillside and caught full site of the guild the two girls came from. The whole cat theme seemed to make sense now that he saw their base of operations was basically a cat head popping out of the ground. Surrounding the main complex were smaller, intricate wooden huts that covered the entire stone floor area. And there appeared to be a large gathering of people in the main plaza that were yelling something.

"Ok! We're going to charge into that forest and get the girls back! Screw the monsters!" One of the men in the huge group of people cheered as he held a stick over his head.

One of the women was worryingly upset and wiping a tear out of her eye. "We shouldn't have let them go on their own like that. I should have known better. Oh no~." She weeped into her hands while some of the other Cait members tried to reassure her.

"That's enough! All of you!"

At the front of the group was a man of short stature with a large, fluffy white beard. He had a strange tattoo on his forehead and an odd headpiece covering his scalp. "We will never solve any of our problems if we stay here and regret them! So are you all going to stay here worrying until they come back, or are we going to brave the storm and charge in there!"

"Yeah!"

"It doesn't matter what we face in that forest! As long as Wendy and Carla are in there we will face any danger!"

"Yeah!"

"We will defeat any foe!"

"Yeah!"

"Excuse me?"

"One second young man." Roubaul interjected to the stranger that appeared behind him before effortlessly flowing back into the hype. "So let's get off our butts, let's storm our way into the Forest, AND SHOW THOSE MONSTERS WHY THEY SHOULDN'T TRY TO HURT OUR FAMILY!"

"HELL YEAH!"

The entire guild was hyped up and cheering as Roubaul turned around to address the young blond that had somehow found his way this deep into the Wood Sea. "I'm sorry youngling, what was it you needed?"

"I was just wondering if these two were yours?" On second inspection, the old man noticed that he had a familiar white cat sleeping on his head and their youngest guild member receiving a piggy-back ride while she rested her eyes.

"WENDY! CARLA!"

The guild swarmed the young man and took the two young charges off the blond's care. They carried them in their arms carefully, to make sure they didn't jostle them too much. "A-are they hurt? What happened to them?"

Naruto asked everybody to calm down with the gesture of his hands. "They're fine, they're fine. They're just dead tired from traveling all day and fighting against some hungry animals."

All of Cait Shelter just stared at him with unreadable expressions. Before one of them yelled out over the others, "Why the hell were they fighting?!"

"Cause they look like easy prey in the middle of the forest." Naruto responded rather flatly, making the entire other guild just mechanically turn their heads to look at the girl and cat who were napping like there wasn't a care in the world.

Ok...they could see how that would happen...

"But they were actually pretty amazing those two. They beat, like, fifty something predators by themselves like it was nothing." Naruto didn't actually know what happened because they didn't explain it to him, but he didn't mind stretching the details as long as the overall result was true. "They kicked, they punched, they flew overhead and dropped down on them like merciless bombs."

Naruto nodded his head smiling with his arms folded over, "You guys have got some pretty amazing kids in your guild."

Roubaul smiled and looked over at the two girls that had did their best on delivering the package he ask for. He looked up at his surrounding guild, "Alright everyone that's enough. Just put them in their beds and let them rest. They've had a long day."

When the guild members started to thin out, it was just the Cait master and the blond boy left standing in the plaza. The short man started walking and motioned for the boy to follow. "So young man, are you one of Master Bob's children?"

"Huh? Nope, I'm a part of Fairy Tail old man." Naruto joined the conversation while looking around at the exotic guild of Cait Shelter. "Master Bob just asked me to come up here and get the information as part of the request."

"Oh, so you're from Makarov's family then? Hehe, I might have suspected." Roubaul reached a dirt path with a stall of horses tied up to the beams. "I want to thank you for helping those two when they needed it. I would dread to think what could have happened to them if they were hurt."

The old man tightened his fist until his knuckles were white and he was discreetly trembling. "I wanted to let them finally start to grow up like they desired. I thought if I could let them take this request it would be their first steps towards becoming full fledged adults. But I was foolish to think that they wouldn't experience danger like this. I'm such a fool." He seemed to reprimand himself for his decision.

Naruto tried to calm him down, "It's alright. They really were able to hold their own out there. I bet they'll be great when they grow up, just give them a little time."

Roubaul considered what he said and seemed to calm down. "I'm sorry, you're right. It's just we can't help it sometimes...even when you have full faith in someone, you can't help but worry about them when they leave. It just a part of being a family and caring for each other."

Naruto looked at the shorter man in mild shock at his heartfelt expression. Actually, he was right. Even he felt a little worried when some of the others went off on dangerous missions, like Erza or Natsu and Gray. He knew full well that they were capable of taking care of themselves, but it still worried him if they got hurt.

Did everyone feel like that when someone they cared about-

'Oh! Oh shit. God I'm an idiot.'

Roubaul grasped the lead of one of their horses and handed it to the young man. "This little guy has been trained to follow the path towards the mountains and come back home afterwards. You're probably pretty tired so just leave everything to him. When he stops, you've just got to keep following the path around the mountains and you'll arrive in Viola by the end of tomorrow."

Naruto wanted to protest but it was true, he was feeling like he could go to sleep at any moment. He gave a faint smile and nod towards the grinning old man. He climbed his way up the horse and whipped the rope, making it start off down the road while the Cait Shelter master waved goodbye.

Naruto could have spent another full night gazing up at the stars and thinking more about what he had experienced on this trip. But he opted out and just rested his head against the fluffy mane of the horse.

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

"Two days! YOU WERE TWO DAYS LATE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU BRAT?!" Makarov yelled out in anger as he stomped his feet, getting the attention of many people around the town square.

"I'M NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU AGAIN JIJI! IF THE IDEA OF ME HELPING SOME INNOCENT KIDS IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO HANDLE THEN FORGET IT! BE ANGRY!" The blond teen screamed back with an equal ferocity as he got up in his master's face.

"NO PROBLEMS THERE KID! I'M ABSOLUTELY FREAKIN LIVID!" Naruto and Makarov huffed and crossed there arms glaring away from each other, the scarlet-haired girl behind them was just shaking her head in disappointment.

Makarov justed sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "At least your failing ass got that info to Bobby intact."

"What the heck was that thing for anyway?"

"Just something Bobby's been looking into about the magic levels in the Wood Sea. Nothing we've got to worry about." The short Fairy Master grumbled out as he headed towards the train station again to buy their next ticket. Viola didn't have a direct railroad to Magnolia so they had to make a stop over in this small town before going back home.

As Naruto watch the old geezer grumble off to pay for their transportation, he looked over to see Erza looking around the town with interest. He took a deep calming breath in and out before making his way over to the armored girl's position.

Erza was looking around the town shops with a piqued interest in buying anything new. She didn't like to announce it, but she enjoyed buying the current fashions and looking for new armor.

She was a growing young lady after all.

"Erza?" Naruto's voiced pierced her concentration as she looked back to see him standing there with a struggling expression.

"Huh? Naruto what's-"

"I'm sorry!" Naruto yelled out as he bowed his head, catching the red-head off guard from his sudden exclamation.

"H-huh?" Erza replied rather weakly with her eyes going white from shock.

"I'm sorry that I took the S-class request without permission and I didn't even tell you! I'm really sorry Erza!" Naruto replied with the most sincerity he could muster in his apology.

Erza blinked before trying to stop him with waving her arms. "Naruto, honestly it's ok now. You don't have to-"

"It's not ok!" Erza stopped when her blond friend interrupted her with a stern reply, "I can't just selfishly go out and steal a mission like that. I want to gain strength but I shouldn't have to resort to stealing just to get what I want."

The regret he had in his eyes faded and he stood back up to look at her, "You were worried that I could've die when I didn't come back, right?" Erza just stared at him for a moment before nodding her head. "See, what's the point in me getting stronger if I make you and everybody else scared that I might get hurt? I keep making you worry because I can't control myself with stuff like that."

He gave her a confident grin and made a firm fist in front of his chest. "I promise Erza, I won't do anything like that to make you worry again. I swear!"

Erza just stood there silently as she watched Naruto take the blame for what he did. Was she being so scatterbrained lately that he thought she was punishing him?

Erza thought about what he promised and what he could do. She knew him better than anyone else. He was her best friend for as long as she could remember and she was his. Whenever Naruto had a problem, Erza made it her duty to help him solve it in anyway she could.

That was just the way they worked. Always helping each other, sometimes without them even knowing they were doing it.

Erza just giggled lightly and looked up to him with a kind smile on her face.

"No you won't."

Naruto was caught completely off guard by that reply. Evident by his wide eyes, slacked jaw and him weakly choking out, "Huh?"

"You won't stop doing these things Naruto. It's just the way you are. Whenever there was something you felt you needed to do, someone you thought needed the help, you charge in without giving it a second thought. It's just the way you are. And you can't change that no matter what you try."

Naruto felt his cheeks go red in embarrassment with how his friend so easily analyzed him with a cheeky smile on her face. "Well-yeah-but-"

Erza raised her gauntlet covered hand and stopped his rebuttal in it place. "So here is what you are going to do from now on. You make sure you always come back to me, alright?" Erza placed her hands on her hips and looked at him with an unwavering determination.

Seeing that he was confused by her statement, she decided to expand on it with a kind expression. "Whenever you come back from missions or a request, I want you to come back and find me. I want to see for myself that you are ok. Because I know I can't stop you from being the kind of person who strives to make things better Naruto, but I want to at least be the person you can trust to fall back on when things become too rough." Erza finished with the most honest, heartwarming smile she could give to her best friend.

Naruto didn't know why but his face was burning even more than it was before. He couldn't say anything as he just looked at Erza in stunned amazement. Swallowing his tongue, he thought about what it meant for her to tell him that and care for him so much.

He felt all of his worry wash away and gave the girl a similar honest smile. "Ok Erza...I promise I'll always come back to you."

She nodded her head, "Good."

A soft patter of boots grew behind the two teenagers, "Oh my I hope I ain't interruptin' anything." The two Fairy youngsters looked back down to their master who looked up at them with a cheeky, pervy old man smile. "I'm gone for a few minutes and things start getting heated~. Ooooooohhhhhhh, the young kids these days~."

Both of the teenagers felt their faces flush again at the teasing from their Elder. Naruto growled and grabbed the little man by his cheeks, "Shut it Jiji, or else I'll go tell Baa-chan about that secret stash of magazines you keep hidden in the back room of the guild."

Makarov's face was completely drained of blood from the threat his pseudo-child made. "W-why would you think Porlyusica is interested in that?"

Naruto made a challenging smirk, "Better question is: 'Are you really willing to take that risk?'"

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

The third Master of Fairy Tail was skipping happily, trying to forget the previous threat he had just gotten from his guild member. "Alright you two, the train isn't going to be here for another few hours so let's look around for a little bit."

Erza happily nodded her head while Naruto just grumbled a reluctant reply.

Makarov ducked out of sight into a saucy party club in the back of some alley and left the two Fairy Mages on their own.

"Come on Erza~, do we really have to go shopping? I don't like spending all our time looking for stuff we can't even buy." Naruto wasn't the most excitable when it came to the topic of going out to shop. He had enough clothes, he wasn't the biggest reader and he basically always went out to eat; what else did he need to go look for?

"Stop moaning Naruto, we've got nothing better to do before the train comes back. Besides what else were you going to do to pass the time, sit on your butt and watch paint dry?" Erza replied pointedly as the plaza space was bustling with consumers and buyers swarming around like fish.

"That almost seems exciting at this point," Naruto said with a bored tone and slumped over body. Erza just shook her head and ran off ahead of him, leaving him to look around and wonder why so many people spent all of their time looking at this stuff.

"Naruto come on! I think I found us somewhere we can eat!"

He perked up at that little statement, "Did you find a ramen place?"

"No, I found a sweets shop! Hurry up before I bleed the place dry!"

Naruto deflated at the mention of no ramen shops as he decided to follow her back to the candy store. That was one of the things he never would have thought about Erza; she had a serious sweet tooth. Cakes, pastries, candies, she ate all of them up. He actually couldn't wait to see her buy everything in the store and-

Naruto froze in place, an ice cold chill running through his spine as he felt a strange presence pass around him. Naruto spun around, desperately looking for whoever emitted the foreign but familiar signature he had felt in the area. His eyes darted from person to person looking for the odd one out, even ignoring the sounds of Erza calling his name to hurry up.

Through the gaps of space between the people moving, almost in slow motion Naruto spotted the back of the person he took note of. She had a fairly average height, being taller than him but around the same size of most older women he met. She had long, wavy blond hair that reached the crevice of her back and she was clutching a brown paper bag as she hurriedly made her way through the crowd.

Naruto panicked, tightening his fists and making a preemptive dash before he could even scream out to her. "Hey! Lady! Stop!"

Among the dozens of people surrounding them, the woman almost immediately registered that she was being called out. And she instantly made a dash towards the exit of the town they had found themselves in.

Naruto didn't waste a moment as he pushed through the crowd and ran after the woman with as much power and speed as he could muster. Erza saw him run away with a strange panic in his face, "Naruto?!" Before running off to catch her friend she ran into the dirty play club to grab her master for help.

Naruto chased the leading woman out of the town, past the roads and found himself running after her in the forest. He made sure not to lose track of her for even a second as he used some of his Armor magic to strengthen his legs and give him a boost of speed.

But even with the burst in acceleration, the woman seemed to be keeping the distance from him very easily. In fact, was she getting even further away?

She looked over her shoulder to see the blond boy with the whiskers on his cheeks still trying to gain on her. She gripped the bag of supplies tightly before disappearing out of Naruto's sight like a faded image.

Naruto skidded to a stop and looked around the trees for the woman who had disappeared so easily. "Where are you?! Please come out! I need to talk to you!" He screamed out while panting from the chase he just gave.

He climbed the trees to get an eagle's view of the forest area they had run into. He looked around for any sight of another person but found nothing. Before he felt the same type of signature he sensed from the woman he was chasing. It was large but hiding itself, something he could spot out from the rest of the world because it didn't belong with the nature of Earthland.

Chakra.

Just as quickly as the energy appeared, it vanished from his senses. Naruto jumped down from the trees and carefully started to move his way closer to the energy he had sensed. "Naruto," he heard Erza yell out his name as she ran up to him with Makarov following up behind her. "What are you doing?! Why were you chasing a woman out of town?!"

"The hell are you thinking brat?! We have enough issues without being known as the guild who chases innocent women!" Makarov screamed out at his young blond comrade before noticing the worry in his face. "Naruto what's wrong?"

Naruto wasn't even looking at them as he kept vigilant of the area surrounding the trio. He finally acknowledged their appearance and looked at them confusingly. "Chakra. I felt Chakra. That woman was keeping it suppressed but I could tell she had it."

Erza and Makarov both felt their eyes widen in shock. "How can someone have chakra here? Aren't you the only one who can still use it?" Erza asked looking in the directions Naruto was searching through a second ago.

"That's what I thought. People aren't born with the ability to use Chakra in this world so how the hell does someone have it here?" Naruto stated as he continued walking in the same direction as before, "I have to find her."

"Naruto wait." The two young guild members looked down to see their master with a much sterner and focused look on his face then they had ever seen him use before. "You aren't going to find her by yourself, it's too hard. You and Erza go to the left and I'll search right."

They looked between each other before looking back at the shorter man and nodding their heads.

"We aren't trying to start anything with her, ok? If we find her then we are just going to ask her a few questions. Avoid conflict as much as you can."

The duo nodded their heads before they followed Naruto's instincts and ran in the last direction he sensed the chakra signature.

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

"I'm sorry Ojii-sama, I lead them straight to us like this. That kid must of been a Mage or something because he kept up with me until I came into the forest." The woman's voice said apologetically as she dropped the bag she was carrying earlier in front of a man sitting on a makeshift chair.

"It's alright Mahi, it's my mistake for not putting up the seals fast enough after we came here." The wrinkled old man seemed to become severally depressed in an instant as the young woman tried to tell him it was ok. Just as fast as he gained the melancholy, he lost it and looked up at her, "How did they know you were different?"

She shook her head, "I don't know. I didn't stay long enough to check, I just ran as fast as I could the moment he shouted out."

The old man tapped his foot before looking up at the much younger woman, "You need to get them out of here. We can't risk other people knowing about us. I'll take care of everything here, don't worry."

"Got it," she replied thankfully before standing back up and walking back the way she came.

"Mahi," she turned around when she heard her grandfather call her nickname. "Please, don't kill them. Any of them," he seemed to almost plead sadly.

The blond woman's eyes softened at his turmoil and nodded her head before disappearing from sight again.

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

Naruto and Erza were making their way around the trees, trying to look for the woman that Naruto had said could use chakra. Erza walked up besides the focused blond, "Are you really sure this woman could use chakra? How can you even tell?"

"Because she felt different. She was hiding it very well and she wouldn't have been noticed by people who weren't familiar with chakra but I could tell. I would never forget how if feels to sense chakra from other people," Naruto whispered under his breath.

He couldn't forget. He wasn't allowed to forget what chakra felt like. The memories of hundreds of Shinobi and Kunoichi putting all of their reserves into killing him before he forced his chakra coated hand through their chest still stayed with him. The faint memory of Kurama's power running through his body still felt faint on his skin. If he was anything, he was a master at recognizing those that could use their inner power like that.

He didn't know how to use it, but like hell he was ever going to forget it.

Erza's face twisted in concern when she saw Naruto's cold expression. She knew about everything he did in the past, and remembering it was something he didn't put much enjoyment in.

"What are you going to do when we find her?"

Naruto looked down and furrowed his eyes while thinking about what was going to happen if they did find her. "I don't know I'll ask her how she got here? Or how she learned to use her chakra? Or..."

He stopped his march and was glaring down at the dirt while his fist was trembling. "I want to know if she's here to hurt anyone," that was the real reason he was so desperate to track her. More than most people he understood how driven and ruthless a ninja could be in a desperate situation. And if she was going to hurt people, he felt like it was his responsibility to stop her.

Erza was worried and wanted to help Naruto with his trouble. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a spot of light reflect on her gauntlet. And it was getting brighter and brighter!

"Naruto move!" She tackled him to the ground before he could even react to her warning, the ground next to them exploding in a cloud of smoke.

The two Fairy mages rolled on the ground before separating, Erza summoning a sword and Naruto gripping the blade at his side. They kept their eyes glued to the screen of dust as a figure started standing up in its center.

The blond woman walked out of the cloud, a fierce expression on her face and not a speck of dust on her clothes. She had a thin but firm frame, her size-able bust being hidden by her black coat and blouse. She steeped her way towards the younger duo wearing a pair of boots and blue jeans.

Her emerald green eyes did not falter in glaring down the young couple, "Leave. Now." She said with her voice stating there was zero room for discussion.

Erza tried to mediate the situation, "Please stand down. We only wish to talk to-"

"This isn't a request. Leave now or I will force you to leave. Final warning." She said harshly as her fists tightened at her sides.

Naruto answered her demand by standing back up and pulling out his black sword. "We aren't leaving. Not yet."

The taller woman narrowed her eyes and lowered herself into a fighting, one hand out towards the mages while another was chambered at her side. "Fine."

Naruto thought that he had the advantage of knowing how his enemy fought. He still remembered that when a Shinobi was about to attack, they made hand-seals to gather their chakra and mold correctly until they could turn it into an attack. He thought that as long as he kept his eyes on the woman's hands, he could tell when she was about to attack and act accordingly.

He wasn't expecting her hand to start being enveloped in one of the brightest lights he had ever seen before.

Instinctively diving out to the side, the two Fairy mages watched as the woman suddenly appeared where they were standing and punched the tree behind them. They even got to watch as the entire body of the tree was vaporized almost instantaneously.

Naruto was looking up at the unmoving back of the powerful woman in front of him. He analyzed the situation as best he could, 'Wh-what the hell is going on? That wasn't chakra, that was magic! How-how is that possible?'

"Just so you know," the woman said frankly as she turned around and stared viciously at the blond male behind her. "You should have left when you had the chance."

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

Done

Got to keep focused. I'm on the right track, now all I've got to do is speed my way through. It doesn't help when you've got GTA V one week and the series finale of Breaking Bad in another.

Whatever, I dug my own grave with procrastinating.

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