How does magic even work chapter 18.

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Naruto opened the small fridge and let out a laugh, it was filled with snacks and drinks again. He never knew that the hotels in Crocus were so much better than the one in Magnolia. He had gotten the room the day before and as soon as he knew there was free stuff he cleaned all the snacks and drinks he was familiar with out.

And now it was filled again, was this the so called 'room service' he'd heard about in the guild?

He happily grabbed one of the white ceramic bottles that were lined up in the fridge and then walked over to the comfortable bed. Reaching into his backpack and getting the book on transformation magic out, then he leaned back on the wall and started reading.

In this book you will learn how to master the art of transformation. From the most basic act such as changing the color of your eyes or clothes. To the most advanced techniques such as full transformation of your own body into the shapes of other animals or objects.

If you already have a magic trough say heritage or simply by pure luck the first step will be the hardest for you. If you only have magic in your body then you may skip to page five.

Naruto was temped to just skip ahead and get learning already, just so he could get done with reading, but since the book advised it he decided it would be best to do it properly.

For those of you with already active magic the first step will be hard because your magic transforms into YOUR NATURE automatically. So your first step will be to maintain neutral magic inside you.

After that there were a list of what to do: meditate, learn to move magic, learn to change it's properties and so on. He gave the list a once over and took a gulp of the drink he had picked up. And then was shocked by the shudder that went through his body. The drink didn't taste bad but there was something about it that made him feel strange. The label on the bottle only showed a stylized deer, no name or description of content.

He got into one of the described meditative positions listed in the book and then took another sip of the drink. Again it was strange, tasted great but also weird. He set it down and focused on his magic.

After a moment he felt the center of his magic and then glanced at the book.

Imagine your magic has a color, as close to what it looks like when used. And then slowly change it to white (or whatever color you imagine as neutral). This may take a long time to get a grasp on, but do not loose your motivation! This is the largest hurdle, when you are done the rest will be easy.

After taking a quick sip of the strange drink he got back to concentrating and felt the magic inside him.

And a little more than six hours later he put his fourth ceramic bottle and belched. Changing the way his magic felt was HARD. But the difficulty was hard to explain, he could feel and move his magic without any problems, it felt natural to him.

But trying to change it felt like trying to bend his arm the wrong way, downright uncomfortable.

With a frustrated sigh he got up and stumbled towards the door, he didn't know why but he was feeling really dizzy. But dizzy or not he was hungry and the day before he had walked past a nice looking Ramen stand.

–-

The next day it was time to go. And Naruto had prepared a short to do list to maximize efficiency.

Number one on the list reads as follows. Fill backpack with stuff from fridge. This step took a while to complete because of the limited space in his backpack but he eventually managed to fit everything in after taking his legion mask and one pair of old pants out.

The mask he put on top of his head so it would be out of the way. And the pants he simply threw away on his way out.

Number two on list. The soap and stuff in the bathroom are nice. Grab a few. Simple enough. Believe it or not but Naruto did actually like the smell of the rose scented soap that this hotel offered.

The only problem was finding somewhere to put it, but it only took him a few minutes to remember that he had pockets both inside and outside on his jersey.

Number three on the list. Remember to take a long shower before leaving. Because the bathroom in his hotel in Magnolia was dirty, and the water often changed between hot and cold on it's own.

After that there were a few that he had to skip, such as 'Number four. Take some of the towels.' and 'Number five. Call room service and ask if I can bring it with me.'

Then there was the last two. Number six. Visit a magic shop on the way to the station. And Number seven. Remember to practice on the train back home. Number six was actually not a priority, he just wanted to have a look and see if he could find anything nice while he could.

As soon as he was done with what he could do in the room he put his backpack on and set out. When he got into the lobby he noticed that the clerk was talking to a group of people who were negotiating for a cheaper room.

Thinking it would be best not to disturb he left the key on the desk and walked out.

Navigating through the busy streets was a little harder than he thought it would be. There were way more people than what he was used to, and many of the roads were similar in appearance.

Naruto stumbled through the streets for what felt like an eternity before he somehow managed to get out of a crowd just in front of the large train station. As confusing as it was that he had managed to get here blindly, he decided not to dwell on it, call it good luck and roll with it.

''Next departure is in fifteen minutes!'' An announcement came suddenly from the speakers that were scattered across the station.

Naruto quickly rushed in to get his ticket and board the train. Mumbling curses that he missed his chance to visit a good magic shop.

–-

Naruto felt completely exhausted by the time he walked off the train and into Magnolia. He had spent half of the ride trying to figure out how to make his magic neutral, and when the frustration got to much for him he started making different pieces of armor with his Oblivion magic.

And as a result he was now trying to decide if he should go by the guild first, or just head to his hotel and sleep.

His mind was made up for him however when a group of soldiers that he recognized as Rune knight's walk past, coming from the direction of the guild. All Naruto knew of the Rune knight's was that most of the guild really didn't like them, so if they had been to fairy tail then something interesting must have happened.

He started walking towards the guild, thankful that the streets around Magnolia were much less crowded. Though on the way he noticed that the few people still out were looking somewhat subdued.

He ignored it though, he was too tired to pay attention to things other than walking and thinking about what his bed felt like.

Soon enough he got to the guild hall and opened the door with a loud ''I'M BAAACK!''

….

Naruto looked out over the almost empty guild hall, only some of the older members were sitting by the bar. Macao, Naruto recognized, stood up and walked over to him. ''Naruto, there are some things ill need to tell you.''

Naruto was slightly stunned by the mans solemn tone of voice, he was usually nothing like that.

He led Naruto over to the bar and once he had sat down bowed slightly to be on the same eyelevel as Naruto.

''It's about the team that went to Tenrou island...''

–-

Yajima had never liked going into the Dungeon where the council kept all of the especially dangerous criminal mages. It was mostly the smell and atmosphere down in the underground passages that made him uncomfortable.

The feeling was worse now that he spent his days cooking in his restaurant. Damn the new council for making him do their work for them.

He finally reached his destination, the grand mages prison. It was a room of impressive size considering that it was all underground. He peered off the side of the small platform that jutted into the massive room and wondered whether he should drop something off and wait for the sound to travel back.

He suppressed his more childish thoughts with small grin, now was no time for that. He motioned to one of the frog-men that worked in the place that he was ready and then waited for them to do their work.

Looking out over the room he could see the innumerable crystal like cells that floated around shift, and then a single one drifted towards them.

When it stopped before him, he stepped forward and looked at the sleeping man inside. A motion to the frog-men and they quickly and harshly jabbed their staffs through the walls of the crystal like cell.

The one inside started awake and slowly took in the sights before him.

He tried to talk but only a ragged cough came out the first few tries, but eventually ''Ya-... Yajima?.. why are... you here?''

Yajima gave the man a long judging stare before answering. ''Minato Namikaze... The council wishes to make a deal with you.''

–-

END

AN

Short chapter because of several things. Firstly I honestly just want to get on to some more fun things. Second because i'm really busy, currently getting a drivers license and a job. I should actually be studying right now.

Anyways from next chapter on we will get into what Naruto does during the seven year time skip. Look forward to it... but not too much alright, it might take me a while(forever) to write.