I present you with the third chapter of my story. The first thing to address as always are the reviews.
TeninChwang: Thank you for your long and detailed review. If you do not like stories which have the protagonists start out as dark or evil, then simply DO NOT READ THEM. I personally don't care what it is exactly that makes you unable to enjoy those stories and honestly it doesn't matter either way, because the easiest way is to simply avoid them, period.
Coming to your other point. That Naruto in this story is just another Sasuke is utter bullshit. Just because they have a defining feature, namely a desire for revenge doesn't make them the same. For example let us say two people like vanilla ice-cream. Does that make them the same in regard to anything else, but this one feature of their personality? No, it doesn't. Therefore your whole comparison between Sasuke and Naruto falls apart because it merely focuses on the aspect of revenge the two have in common, completely ignoring the different premises.
Sasuke in cannon had everything. A loving wonderful family, even if they decided to shit on the peace of Konoha with their coup, talent as a shinobi, an outstanding bloodline. And then suddenly that family of his is torn away, at the whim of the village elders. Then there is the fact that he completely ignored the many people willing to help his get over his problems, but he is too absorbed into his selfishness and believe that they couldn't understand him anyways. And once he finds out the truth about the massacre he wants to punish the whole village for the mistakes of the elders.
Then we have cannon Naruto who starts out having nothing. No parents, no outstanding skill beyond playing pranks and who earns despite the mistrust of the village friends and eventually manages to get accepted and in his world every single person has the capability to become a Shinobi. Thus compared to the general populace, Shinobi who have intricate understanding of Sealing arts and trust in their Hokage, a large amount people are mostly indifferent to Naruto in canon, who has only to deal with the hate of the common non-shinobi folk and even then much of that is limited as well because of the law of not being allowed to talk about the kyuubi.
However Naruto in the Fairy Tail world suffers from the same problem canon Naruto does. He has NO FAMILY. There is truly no one to take care of him and once the village as a whole begins to distrust him, because they have no knowledge about magic simply attribute bad thing happening to Naruto, causing an unwillingness to associate with him and unlike canon this time there is no law to prevent the parents from telling them what they think is the truth, cue the younger generation getting manipulated.
Funny how you want to have Naruto manipulated while the reverse might hold similar results as well.
So in this case you got a little eight year old emotionally stunted boy, who had no one to teach him 'right' from 'wrong', with little to no worldly experience and he accidentally kills a little boy and finds out 'Hey it felt good venting my anger'. And because he didn't have anyone to help him develop a conscience the only natural thing to think for him is 'If I vent my anger on everyone because they were mean to me I will feel really great.' after he gets over the initial shock of having killed someone. That is something the mind of a child is capable of thinking off, wouldn't you say, especially without anyone to supervise and guide him. Then he gets the power to do just that and he does it, but then in some kind of irony winds up feeling hollow, leading him to latch onto the next target of revenge in this case Zeref, I'll admit that is something Sasuke did too in this case shifting from Itachi to the Village of Konoha, but as it goes with revenge it will hold true for just about anyone that makes it their life goal.
And collective scorn of a single person from 'the village' as a single entity so to speak is very much possible. The collective of a group is stupid, the dynamics and anonymity of a group increases the readiness for emotionally charged actions, namely violence, rioting and so forth. And it's not all that uncommon for there to be social outcast. For example, presume you have a little village, say about four to five thousand people, and the government suddenly makes an announcement that someone who was charged with rape or any such similar thing, maybe even falsely accused, but they weren't able to prove anything, that person is supposed to live inside that village from now on. Do you think everyone is going to treat him like a normal human being? No, they are going to be more wary of him, tell their children to stay away. Overall they are being mistrustful. And maybe after a few years they start to accept him and change their opinion, but for Naruto who in his case was attributed to have been the cause of bad luck, two boys landing in the hospital after associating with him, doesn't have as much luck. Even though they were willing to accept Naruto in the beginning, because of Minato being his father, after all the incidents they just didn't want to risk anything, coupled with a group mentally and the general much less knowledge of magic, for example the persons on Galuna Island (Natsu's first S-Rank Mission) thought a sufficiently strong mage is able to destroy the moon, considering this such a thing as collective 'ostracizing' of a single person is very viable.
So in fact even the premise of Naruto's and Sasuke's revenge is different, Naruto is a little child who truly doesn't know any better and wants to punish a collective for their collective mistakes. Sasuke as a well-educated teenager goes against his brother's love for the village and decides to punish a collective for the mistakes of a few, in this case the elders, so he can make everyone feel the anguish of losing their family.
So whereas Naruto's revenge is merely self-satisfaction and childish. Sasuke's is well planned and in his mind perfect justice.
TL;DR Bottom-line is, Naruto in this story is not the same as canon Sasuke, beyond their desire for revenge and even then their motivation is a whole different one. I'd be happy if you refrained from making such a brainless accusation without clearly thinking about what you have been saying.
I apologize for this wall of text, but I can't let something sit that is just grossly wrong.
forbiddenfruitunloved That is correct. Absorbing someone with Blood Magic does not permanently increase a person's magic reserves nor does it increase strength, speed, agility or intelligence. All that Naruto is provided with is the knowledge that person holds and the blood. Nothing else. And knowledge does not equal intelligence.
The next day dawned and Erza woke up in a soft bed, momentarily forgetting where she was. Only after a short while her sleep addled brain realized that she was in the Golden Ship inn, in Narcissus. Her reason for being here, catching the culprit that changed the cities docile populace of animals into vicious beasts. For now she had no clue where to begin her investigation or who could be behind it.
She wasn't even a hundred percent sure the change was caused by magic, as she had never heard of a magic being capable of such a phenomenon.
As for now the only person that seemed remotely suspicious was Eite, the owner of the inn. That man just rubbed her in the wrong way, but even then her grounds for accusing him were feeble at most.
Maybe Naruto would have an idea as to who could be behind this, he seemed to know more about this city than she did.
Thinking back on the meeting with the blond she somehow felt drawn to him. He reminded her somehow of Jellal before he had been possessed, charismatic, intelligent and protective of his friends. There was no doubt he would have fit perfectly into Fairy Tail, if Zeref had not befuddled his mind.
She finally pulled herself together as she managed to leave the comfort of her soft bed.
She placed her Heart Kreuz pyjamas back into her requip space. Her pyjamas consisted of a lilac shirt and pants riddled with scarlet Heart Kreuz emblems, which was a variation of a cross. A cross with forked tips curving around both ways, like a ram's horns, with a heart on one of its arms.
She slung a towel over her shoulders exposing her naked body to the fresh morning air, her scarlet hair going slightly past her shoulder blades.
She would probably grow her hair even longer though. She liked her hair long, after having to keep it short during her time as a slave in the R-System.
She walked into the spacious shower and let the water run down her body. Once she was finished she dried herself off and requipped her usual attire.
Erza left her room and locked it. She walked up to the door with the number nine and knocked on it, however she received no response. Knocking once more nobody answered again. If Erza hated one thing it was when people didn't answer her fast. So she knocked once again, this time nearly hard enough to knock the door out of its hinges.
Suddenly she heard a muffled "Yes, yes. I'm coming" from beyond the door and heard the key turning in its lock.
The door opened and in front of her stood a half dressed Naruto, yawning.
"Erza, what are you doing at my door at this time of the morning?" he asked sleepily
"It's just six thirty in the morning that's when I always wake up." She responded obliviously
"I'm sorry, Erza but normal people require a bit more sleep." The blond said 'Especially if they just got about three hours sleep at maximum.'
"Then why are you half-dressed if you didn't plan to get up?"
"Because I didn't want to answer the door naked."
"Would that have been bad?" she asked, as she had bathed often enough with Natsu and Grey not to be bothered by nudity. Now that she inspected him closer all he did wear were indeed a crimson pair of pants. His chest or rather his whole upper body showed signs of training, not to the same extent as Elfman or even Grey and Natsu but Naruto was far from being a usual wimpy token noble.
"It is just not common practice for most people." Naruto stated still half asleep "So what is it that you want from me?"
"I would like to take you up on that offer of yesterday." She said "Could you please show me around the city and tell me what you know?"
Naruto had been presented by two choices go with Erza and spend the day with her or go back to sleep.
The answer was very simple "Alright, let me get dressed first." he requested of her and closed the door, before returning fully clothed soon after. He rubbed his eyes in tiredness "Let's get going then."
He locked his door as well, before following Erza downstairs as she went ahead. They met once more outside the building.
"Well if you want to see the city let us begin here in the residential district." Naruto stated feeling like a city guide "Well up here is only one thing left to show you, the Church. You already know the Golden Ship, obviously and all other houses belong to the residents of this city. Follow me then."
The pair walked west until they came across a curve. Following the curve they were lead further north into the city, until they stood infron of a large pompous church. Two large towers sprouted into the air connected by the main buidling. The towers ended in sharp points, as did the top of the main building. The church itself was decorated with many colored glass windows.
As they stood in front of it they saw someone who obviously was part of the church, a man in purple robes unlocked the large wodden front door to the building, however he also had a white and gold cloak thrown over his robes. He was very tall, greyish hair which was neatly trimmed into a bowlcut. On the bridge of his nose sat a pair of spectacles.
"Welcome, children, to the Church of Zentopia!" he greeted them spreading his arms in a sign of greeting"I am Cardinal Reginald charged with taking care of this church. Priest Bosco has been relieved of this duty so that this holy place may flourish once again."
"Greetings, Cardinal." The scarlet haired mage said greeting the man with a smile
"Have you come to repent my children?" Reginald asked
"No, we are not." Naruto responded curtly"I am just showing my friend the city, since she just arrived yesterday."
"That is unfortunate." His voice took on a decidedly disappointed edge"I wish you a good day." Reginald entered the church and left the two alone.
"Why did you say that? I wanted to know more." Erza said a tad angry
"Because I don't like him." The blonde said
Had he truly felt jealous in that instance?
He got rid of that thought "Well, let's go I want to show you more of the city." The blond said with a smile and grabbed Erza's hand pulling her along.
He led her to the western district, leading her through the narrow streets and showed her the opera house.
The opera house was pristine white, as custome of the important buildings in this town. If they had went inside they would have seen all gold or at least golden colored furniture. This was the place the high society of Narcissus used to entertain themselves.
Next on the list was the port district, where he showed her the docks and the many merchant ships that were anchored for the grand market that begun today.
"Say, Naruto what is the grand market?" Erza inquired
"Well, grand market is once a year and it's where much of Narcissus wealth is from. So once a year important merchants from all over Fiore and even some from Caelum, who arrive by ship, trade and sell. Fine and exquisite clothes, spices, food, rare and exotic pets whatever else you can think off. Of course that means the three inns are having a lot to do, which is why they are pretty much booked out at this time of the year, hence why Eite tried to rip you off yesterday. Of course the city or rather the mayore charges some improved 'trading taxes' to make use of this occurrence too but the overall income the merchants make here is still enough that it doesn't bother them any." The blond explained
"If this place is so prosperous why has no Guild settled here it seems like the perfect place?"
"As far as I know that goes back to Zerefs day and age. Back then during one of his rampages he destroyed this city completely. This caused some festering distrust towards mages. Well they don't have any problem with anyone staying temporary but they would probably go ballistic if they tried to settle permanently. That's why you wont find a single shop in this town that sells magic items, wanting nothing to with it."
Erza 'ah-ed' having understood the reasoning for the absence of a mage guild in this city.
"Come on I still have to show you the repair dock where the shipwrights are working tirelessly to repair any ship."
And indeed she saw how a crew of people repaired damaged ships. Be It because of wear and tear, storm, pirate attacks or whatever. They repaired it all, quite quick even.
Then Naruto showed her the last district, everything that laid to the east of the plaza. The many merchant shops that offered all kind of goods, the haggling going on between trading merchants.
All in all the streets were bustling with more people than even during Magnolias busiest hours.
"I just thought of something." The blond said suddenly "You could ask Grigory. He is one of the doctors of this town. I'll show you the way."
The blond led her to a slightly dingy house in the eastern district. Its cold color was largely faded and the color was even flaking off at some points.
Naruto knocked on the door and a white haired man opened the door. He was old, his hair going bald and he had a small white goatee. A pair of glasses framed his face and he was leaning on a plain brown walking stick.
"Yes?" he asked his voice a bit hoarse
"Doctor Grigory, could we talk to you?" Naruto asked carefully knowing that the old man was very grumpy most of the time.
"If you have to." He responded gruffly walking back into the house leaving the door open
Erza thought that this man might even be older than the Master, however maybe her Master was just much younger than he seemed.
As they entered the house Erza could smell a very strong desinfectant, the vaporized alcohol almost permeated the air. Erza almost believed she was in a hospital. Scattered across the house were many books and research papers, on some workbench, she thought, she was even able to see a dissected animal.
"Thank you, for taking the time to talk with us Doctor." Erza thanked the old man politely
"Whatever." The old man responded annoyed "Now, tell me what you brats want from me?"
"I would like to know more about these animals." The scarlet haired mage said pointing at the dissected dog
"Ah, those beasts." Grigory stroked his goatee positively giddy, as if Erza had asked the right question "They are so very interesting." He admitted "Those incompetent fools at the hospital believe it's some kind of infection, but they are very wrong. What has happened to these animals must've obviously been drug induced."
"Drug induced?" Erza asked surprised, she hadn't thought of that, while Naruto remained silent listening to the old man, intent to know how much he had revealed.
"Why, yes. In the blood stream I came across two substances that are nothing like any bacteria or virus. One is mandrake root. Ingested it can cause hallucinations and delirium. In the confused state it's very easy to explain the heightened agression the animals are experiencing. The other substance seems to have reacted to the mandrake root or rather the mandrake root has reacted to that substance. I can't say for certain. That combination has an added effect of increasing blood pressure, increasing strength and speed of the affected animals, however the organs aren't able to handle that pressure. The cause of death in all cases has been organ failure. I've also found an increased number of blood cells, the production must have increased too. Well in any case I'm glad someone is stirring those stuck up, arrogant bastards up." Grigory said that last part with great satisfaction a smirk creeping on his face
'The man is good. To find out that I used Mandrake root in the potion.' The blond thought, Erza however glared at the old man
"It wasn't you who drugged those animals?" she asked carefully a certain edge to her voice, causing the old doctor to laugh out loud
"Hahahahaha…." He couldn't contain himself "I haven't laughed like that in a long time. No, young miss. I am not the culprit would I have told you what I found out if I was? Besides the real culprit is a miserable amateur, who knows nothing of drug creation. His second substance is certainly a mystery and has very unpredictable effects, but that's not enough to make up for his lack of knowledge."
Naruto balled his hand to a fist gripping 'How dare that old coot insult me.'
The blond knew he wasn't great, but that didn't give this old fool the right to insult him. He still had a lot of pride. 'Why if Erza wasn't here, I'd show him what I think of his opinion.'
"Why do you say that he is an amateur?" Erza asked interested
"If he wanted to create a Berserker Draft he should make sure that his test subjects don't die. I mean it's easy, adding a bit Hawthorn, Wood Betony or Yarrow to the compound to reduce the high blood pressure." The old man explained, causing Naruto to grin inwardly, having just told him how to improve his concotion, not that, that was the intended effect, but he could move from there. I mean the increased blood cell production seemed useful, maybe for when he was low on blood and didn't have someone to drain.
"But all that aside. Yes, I admit I have a motive. Do you know what it means walking around with these!?" he pointed at his glasses clearly enraged now to talk about this subject "Nobody respects me. I get treated with disdain eveywhere I go and barely anyone comes to me to get treated even though I am much better than any of those other fools. Igor, Akinov, Mathilda, Victor, Sasha and Theresa. All six were once my students but soon they thought they were better than me, left me, ignored me and now they are managing this towns hospital. However they might as well be quacks, having never formally finished their studentship under me. Yes, I hate them and most people here. I can't even move, because I don't have enough money. I would love for someone to kill them, however I am not the culprit." Grigory picked up a nearby book and began to read, signalizing the two to leave the doctor's house.
Once outside the house Naruto looked up into the orange sky, they had spent nearly the whole day together as he had shown her the city and helped her with her mission.
He saw the contemplative look on Erza's face "Well, I'm going ahead back to the inn. I'm pretty tired."
"Mhhhm…" Erza didn't even respond properly lost in her thoughts as she was, before she snapped out of it "I'm going to stay out here. Maybe I can find something the Nightwatch missed."
"Alright. See you tomorrow morning, Erza." He smiled at her to which she responded by smiling as well
Naruto quickly returned to the inn, making himself known to Eite, before sneaking into the wine cellar. He pressed a stone on the wall, that seemed out of place because it was round instead of rectangular, but without closer inspecting the wall nobody could notice this detail. The wall swung forward revealing a small room with a hole in the ground a large ladder leading down into the sewers. He walked inside the room and turned a small iron casing on the wall to his right which closed the door that led to the cellar.
He would have time to test the improvements to the concotion as the doctor had suggested.
He followed the way to his secret laboratory. He stopped in front of a wooden door and opened it, revealing his small laboratory. The place he was using must've been a shelter from dragon attacks , during the Dragon Civil War.
When he found it, it was filled with dust and cobwebs, a single brittle wooden desk filling the room.
'The room must have been abadoned for at least a hundred years.' He thought
The room was now filled with cages, which held the animals he had picked up, multiple shelves with plants,liquids,beakers and a large cauldron filled with his potion.
He went through the shelves until he found one of the ingredients to add. Naruto picked up the yarrow and cut it into small piece before taking a beaker full of the liquid and added a bit of the yarrow. The rich red color the concotion changed until it was faded. Like a faded blood stain on white clothes.
Suddenly the liquid inside began to sizzle, before it rapidly vanished turning into pink fume.
A slightly coppery smell hung now in the air together with something he couldn't quite define. Suddenly the encaged animals began to growl and bleaked their sharp white fangs. They thrashed around in their cages, denting the metal ever so slightly. After about half an hour they collapsed exhausted in their cages. When he checked them for vitalsigns he could tell they were still alive.
"A success, but what happened with the liquid…?" the blond mused
'There are two possibilities why it evaporated.' Naruto thought to himself and decided to test the theories.
For the first experiment he took more of the unfinished draft and then placed the beaker on a table, before adding the yarrow. The concotion evaporated once again.
The second experiment he conducted was the same as the first but this time he placed the beaker in a large ice casing letting it cool down and then added the Yarrow. The experiment had the same results as the first.
"Which means the temperature is not the factor, but the air."
It seemed that the new concotion had a critical flaw, once it came into contact with the air it would evaporate. This meant the draft could not be prepared in advance, but had to be freshly made.
Naruto yawned audible"I think I'll continue tomorrow…maybe today I'll get some sleep."
The blond mage made his way back, turned the lever but the wall didn't swing forward. "W-what?" he exclaimed surprised "Why isn't this working?"
He turned the lever a few more times but again no response.
A few hours earlier
"Where shall we place the wine caskets?" A rather plain looking merchant asked
"Just put it in front of the wall in the back." Eite replied
"Okay, guys you heard him." The merchant called and gradually more people walked into the cellar placing the large caskets filled with wine in front of the stone wall.
Present time
Naruto grumbled clearly dissatisfied that he now had to take the long way out. Which in other way meant he had to navigate through the sewers until he came out at a place offside of the docks.
'I'll have to be careful though, Nightwatch and Erza are roaming the streets.' Naruto draped himself in a crimson cloak, to protect his identity.
He moved through the complex sewersystem until he came across his secondary exit, a small hole that ended at the docks.
He looked up to the ledge that would lead him back on steady ground. He fired an earth first and grappled himself upwards, flinging himself onto the streets.
"Hey, you! Stop!" a Nightwatch screamed and Naruto inwardly cursed, he couldn't kill him especially in his signature way, that would pretty quickly call the Runeknights down to this place, especially with how close Era was.
Quickly making his way to the Nightwatch he slammed his palm into the mans gut"Sleep well."
"Help!" the man screamed before the sleep magic took effect and put him into a deep sleep
Erza who was nearby rushed towards the scene. Under the dark sky of the newmoon all she could see was an individual cloaked in black as he stood over the downed body of someone from the Nightwatch.
"Halt!" she ordered and drew her sword to add force to that order but the cloaked figure ignored that demand.
He jumped up and thrust his palm out, reminiscent of her Masters light magic he rained light upon her.
She quickly requipped her Light Empress armor. Her whole body was covered in a white reflective armor. In her hand she now held a sword with a mirrors edge.
The light impacted on her armor without dealing damage, all Erza felt was the slight discomfort of the impact.
"Flash Sword." The blade shone brightly before a crescent shaped blade shot towards the cloaked assailant.
The culprit jumped over her attack, which impacted into a house behind him demolishing it. Her opponent jumped on top of a nearby house using the rooftops to traverse the city.
Erza requipped her Flight Armor, a sparesly clothed armor covered in cheetah chequered fur. Additionally Erza wore a pair of furred cheetah ears and a large bushy cheetah tail. In her hand were two short swords with elaborate handguards in the shape of roses.
The speed boost of the armor helped her keep up with her target. She was now head to head with him as they raced across the rooftops.
Beneath the hooded cloak she saw his lips move as suddenly a brown magic circle shown in the air and a slippery slope of mud threatened to take her footing, if she didn't jump over it. Another magic circle appeared and a stone hand flew towards her. Airborn as she was all she could do was cross her swords and block the attack.
She successfully deflected the stone fist, but her target was now quite a bit in front of her, when he suddenly turned around.
Suddenly a bright flash illuminated the area and blinded her completely when she once again could see, the culprit had vanished.
Erza cursed herself that she had been played like a fool like this. She punshed the roof of the house she stood on. Now that she noticed it, she was somewhere in the western district, maybe the culprit was the mayor?
'No, his whole body was different from Preence… but maybe if the mayor hired him…' she knew that such a thing could be possible, but right now she had nothing to link the animals and the mayor together. For now she was once again quite clueless.
For now she would go to sleep, she doubted the culprit would show himself twice on the same night and maybe tomorrow she would find out some more.
The next day Erza woke Naruto early in the morning, just like she had done the day before. While the blond fought his drowsiness the red head told him all about yesterday evenings events.
"So, you found the culprit but he got away?" he recounted faking interest
She nodded"Yes." She balled her fist "He got away because I was so carelees."
Naruto placed his hands on her shoulder "Calm down. Let's search the city for more clues, okay?" she nodded "And maybe tonight you are going to see him again."
"You are right, Naruto." She said determined "I shouldn't let myself get down just because of this. I'm sure that I am going to catch him."
So the two scoured the streets of Narcissus once more, finding out nothing, as Naruto subtly steered Erza away from finding out everything.
In the evening Erza ones again joined the Nightwatch on their patrolling, while Naruto, who had removed the caskets of wine from blocking the entrance, could freely use his secret entrance once more.
And that is how the following few days went by as well. Naruto woke up considerably more tired than the day before. He woke up very early thanks to Erza, spend the afternoon with her, which consisted of distracting her from doing her job. And each day he fell a little more in love with her. While he experimented in the evening, until late into the night.
However five days after Erza had arrived, Naruto reminded her about the other part of his offer.
"Erza, do you remember, when we first met, I offered you something else besides showing you the city?" he asked her
"You offered to take me out for dinner, but why are you bringing this up?" she inquired
"I would like to take you out this evening, how about it?" he smiled brightly at her
She smiled back at him"Sure, I need something to take this frustrating mission off my mind anyway." She had enjoyed the last few days very much, especially with Naruto's company, however she didn't get any closer to completing her job.
"Alright, I'll pick you up here at eight." He promised
As evening came Naruto picked her up. Neither of them had changed their particular outfit knowing that the other wouldn't mind, the way they dressed. Naruto took her to a nice restaurant in the market district.
They had a wonderful dinner under the waxing crescent moon.
"The dinner was wonderful so far. Thank you for treating me, Naruto."
"I'm glad that you enjoyed it but there is still the matter of dessert." The waitress who had brought them their dinner this evening also brought them their desserts, a pair of soufflé.
Erza's mouth opened in surprise as her eyes began to sparkle in delight "How did you know?" she absolutely loved soufflé, one of her guilty pleasures aside from cheesecakes.
"A good guess." He responded truthfully, as he really had guessed, not knowing that she loved soufflés this much "Let's enjoy our dessert, shall we?"
She nodded eagerly and tasted a bit from the soufflé and almost melted delight "The taste is just heavenly." She swooned
Once they were finished Naruto cleared his throat to get Erza's attention.
"Erza, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." He told her completely serious, causing the scarlet haired mage to look at him shocked"And…and I love you." At least he thought that, what he felt was love. He had never truly experienced such an emotion, at least consciously. He vaguely remembered the comforting and warm touch of his mother just from when he was born, but beyond that he could not say for certain that what he felt was love.
But he loved seeing Erza, spending time with her, didn't want to see her sad, want her to be happy, to touch her, feel her touch, be at her site, lie in eachothers embrace.
It was a new and conflicting emotion for him, but he liked the way it made him feel. Like he wasn't alone anymore, but at the same time it somehow conflicted with his goal. Did he really need to exact revenge, if not then what should he live for? What if she rejected him? What would happen then?
There were so many questions and uncertainties that for the first time in his life Naruto couldn't think of anything, because he honestly didn't know what he should think about.
Emotions were a fickle thing, you could know all about them. Know what caused them, how they influenced you and yet when you were hit by them you were left speechless.
Erza didn't respond. She did not expect this, to be told by him that he loved her. Certainly he was a good friend and she loved spending time with him but love? Did she feel such a thing for him, did she really know what love was? At one point she thought she would eventually come to love Jellal, but after the escape from the Tower of Heaven she just didn't know anymore. She had felt betrayed in her friendship, had felt lonely after having to leave her friends, Wally, Sho, Simon and Milliana.
How would Naruto react if he knew that she had been a slave? Would he drive her away, forsake her friendship?
There were so many thoughts that plagued Erza that she couldn't answer or maybe she forgot to answer, she wasn't quite sure.
Receiving no answer at all made Naruto feel as if a thousand daggers were stabbed into his heart.
He looked down at the ground in shame, feeling confused, betrayed, lonely yet some part of him was oddly happy?
Naruto called the waitress and paid. The two went back to the Golden Ship, the oddly suffocating atmosphere following them, clinging to them like some kind of unpleasant odor.
As they stood opposite of eachother in the hallway in front of their respective rooms the silence was bone-crushing.
Naruto was about to turn around when Erza spoke up.
"Before I can answer what you told me, I want you to know about my past." Erza looked decidedly sad at having to mention her past "Four years ago, I escaped from something known as the Tower of Heaven or R-System. I along with many hundreds of people had been enslaved there, all for one purpose…finish the tower. We had been kept there by some cult that worshipped Zeref. The purpose of that tower was the resurrection of Zeref."
Inside him a fire, unlike anything he ever felt before, ignited. Zeref the bane of life, the one that had denied him of a loving family, had hurt the girl he loved as well. Was this some sort of twisted trick? Was fate such a cruel mistress? But even if it was as such, did that really matter? Zeref was dead after all, his target for revenge dead and the only surefire option at reviving that person had hurt the person he loved. Could he, in that case, truly make use of this Tower of Heaven, if it still existed or should he pursue his own way?
He was shaken out of his thoughts, as Erza continued.
"Back then we had tried to escape, but were caught and Jellal was punished in my stead. As they tortured him something must've happened because when we revolted and broke out, he was changed. He didn't want to go, he wanted to resurecct Zeref. In the end as I fled I had to leave all of my friends behind."
This time Erza adopted a downtrodden look accepting rejection "I understand if you don't want to be friends with a filthy slave."
Instead of being rejected she was hugged close to his body "Stupid girl." He chided her "I told you I loved you. That is not going to change things."
His blue eyes looked into her brown. He leaned in and captured her lips in a chaste kiss. It had been a great feeling. Much better even than killing Kiba six years ago or even killing the villagers two years ago.
He broke the kiss, but Erza instantly grabbed his cheeks and pressed her lips back against his.
It was a wonderful feeling for her. She felt like she was able to forget all her worries and all the sadness in the world. She wanted to go further and prodded with her tongue at his lip, begging for entrance to which he obliged. Sneaking her tongue into his mouth their tongues danced and swirled around eachother.
As they broke apart they looked at eachothers face, both lightly flushed.
"Want to do more?" Erza whispered coyly into the blonde's ear, to which he could only nod dumbly
She opened the door to her room. And requipped her clothes, leaving her naked in front of her lover.
Without any sense of modesty she showed him her growing pair of breasts and just above clitoris was a small patch of scarlet pubic hair. Erza had never possessed much modesty having no need for such a concept during slavery as it would lead to uneccessary punishments. And during her time with Fairy Tail she never cared much for such a concept either. She had frequently showered with Natsu and Grey and not to forget she one time even stumbled upon Masters orange Book. A perverted book written by someone called Jiraiya. And whereas most woman would have went into a frenzy upon seeing or reading such a book, she found it intriguing, interesting even.
Naruto thought Erza looked absolutely stunning, like a goddess. He believed he could get drunk simply on seeing her form. In a flash he took his clothes off as well and presented her bare body to her, his penis already well errect.
He pressed his lips on hers once more,pushing her down on the soft bed, before slowly trailing kisses down her body. Going past her collarbone, before he softly kissed the spot between her two breasts. His right hand grasped her right breast and kneaded it, while his mouth captured her left nipple. He lightly sucked and bit on it causing the scarlet haired girl to moan pleasurably.
"Mmmm, Naruto."
He stopped sucking her nipple and blew over the wet nub, slowly making the nipple errect.
He then switched his mouth to her other breast and tweaked and rubbed the errect nipple between his thumb and indexfinger.
"Sooo gooood…" she said breathlessly as Naruto continued paying attention to her beautiful bosom
So that the blonde didn't feel left out she grasped his errect penis and began lightly stroking it making him groan in pleasure.
They continued their mutual ministration for a short while, when Naruto looked up into Erza's eyes, asking the silent question.
Erza nodded in affirmative and shivered as she felt his stiff organ prod at her entrance.
Slowly his hard penis entered her, breaking through her maidenhood. For a brief instant she felt a surge of pain, before it subsided and she gave him the signal to move. His movements inside her were slow and tender, each thrust making her feel better than the last.
Soon she could no longer contain her voice as she started moaning loudly overshadowing the lewd noises their entwined genitals produced.
"G-go faster…" she asked of him in between her sounds of pleasure
Naruto complied with her wishes and moved faster inside her love mound.
However they knew they couldn't last for long anymore. It was a miracle they had already lasted this long. Their sexual stamina still woefully undertrained to handle prolonged lovemaking.
They both were panting and groaning and Naruto soon lost his focus has he began moving more erratic"I-I'm…going to…cum." He said in between pants
"Do it outside." Erza managed to bring out, not wanting to get pregnant
The blonde pulled out of her and began stroking his cock to a finish, spraying his load onto her stomach.
So as to not leave Erza feeling unsatisfied he inserted two fingers into her drenched vagina pumping them in and out until she screamed in delight, her inner walls clamping down on the intruding body parts.
Naruto and Erza laid besides eachother. The blond had pulled the red head into his embrace and just now he wished he could stop time, to preserve this moment into all eternity. Alas such a thing was impossible.
He kissed her once more"Thank you for this night, Erza."
She shook her head"No, I have to thank you. I don't think I could have ever trusted someone again but you…you showed me differently."
The blonde smiled at her"Sleep well." He said and watched her fall asleep in his arms, fully content.
That moment the blond had an epiphany. The crucial component into turning his berserk draught into a rejuvenating one.
He wrote a quick note which he left lying besides Erza, dressed himself again and kissed her in goodbye, before rushing into his secret laboratory.
In the morning Erza woke up revelling in the afterglow of yesterday nights activities. However she quickly noticed that Naruto wasn't in bed with her. All she found was a note.
I have some errands to run today and I didn't want to wake you.
I hope you slept well.
Love, Naruto.
She smiled at his antics.
'Come to think of it the only times he wasn't at my side was when he had to do something. I wonder what it is he has to do? I never asked him.' She mused when she too had an epiphany there was one person who could tell he more about her mission 'Grigory. I'm sure he knows a bit more than he lets on.'
She took a quick shower, requipped her clothes and rushed towards the eastern district. Once she was in front of the old doctors house, she knocked again.
The same old bespectacled man opened the door "You again?" he asked raising an eyebrow "And this time your boyfriend isn't with you… Don't tell me…you think you are pregnant?"
In light of the evenings activities Erza blushed scarlet "No!" she vehemently denied the accusation "I wanted to ask you more about your motive or rather if you know who else could have one."
"Hmmm…."The old man seemed to be lost in his musing for a short time "If you truly wish to find the culprit, maybe I can help you somewhat. There are two other people who have a major motive. First is Eite, the owner of the Golden Ship, you'd think his greed is greater than his lust for power but he thinks himself better than everyone. I wouldn't put it past him to create some kind of berserk animal army to take the city over or maybe it was even a mistake and he actually wants to drug the city with his wine, the Berserk Draft only an unfortunate sideproduct. The second person is the mayor. Everyone knows he has bribed his way into the post and I'm pretty sure he is embezzling tax money of the city as well, though the only one who might be able to prove that is Bria, his secretary but right now he doesn't have enough to bribe every candidate again. So maybe infecting these animals is an attempt at creating panic and then in the hour of need he comes and presents a wonder remedy, to get his support among the people back. That's all I can tell you."
"Thank you, Doctor." Erza bowed in appreciation and rushes with full speed towards the mayors office
Inside the office she was greeted by the secretary.
"Miss Scarlet." Bria greeted "I'm sorry, the mayor isn't here right now. If you want I can relay a message once he is back."
"No, that wont be needed. I actually wanted to talk to you."
"Me?" the glasses wearing secretary looked surprised and Erza told her about her lead on the case
"I'm sorry. I can't allow you to do that, Miss Scarlet." She said and Erza understood that "However, I'm going on a break right now and I wont lock the office. So someone looking in the mayors third drawer from the top might find his accountbook with his personal expenses in it without me being able to stop that person."
"Thanks, Bria." The red head smiled
"What do you thank me for? I did not give you anything of value." The brown haired woman responded and left the office.
Erza opened the mayors office door, went to his desk and rummaged through the drawer finding the offending piece of evidence.
However there weren't any spendings on a dark mage or dark guild.
'The mayor is innocent…at least in this case.' She thought noticing how much tax money he used for his own purposes 'That just leaves one option. Eite, the inn owner!'
She rushed back towards the Golden Ship, seemingly the source of everything.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" Eite asked with false politeness, before he realized it was Erza "Oh it's you. What do you want? Do you know how much money you cost me?" he seethed in anger
"Shut up, vile cur. Tell me what you are hiding in your cellar?" she demanded angrily
"Wine, what else? Leprachauns?" the black haired man asked sarcastically
"Show me!" the scarlet mage demanded drawing her sword
Easily cowed by that display he complied"Alright, alright just don't harm me."
Eite led Erza down into the wine cellar when he said "Those god damn deliverymen. I told them to place those new wine caskets against that back wall…" grumbling angry he would have to have a word with the merchant from who he bought the next time he met him
'That's strange… Something special must be about that back wall then.' Erza realized and walked closer to the wall to inspect it 'Aha!' she found the out of place stone and prodded it activating the mechanism
"What the hell is this?" Eite screamed as the hidden door opened
"Don't play dumb, you know exactly what this is!" Erza stated and walked into the room "That's where you are producing the drug to bring this city under your thumb."
"What are you talking about, you insane bitch? I never planned such a thing." The jewelry wearing man exclaimed angrily
"Why don't we make an excursion down the rabbithole then. Your misdeeds will soon come to light." Erza stated and dropped the man down into the sewers, with her following soon after.
Naruto heard the berserk animals growling. Their bodies having grown to grotesque proportions as veins bulged out of their body at all places. This was the result of him feeding them potion after potion. Total axe-crazy animals, that were strangely loyal to him.
He currently couldn't be disturbed. He was in a critical phase. At the moment the concotion was more volatile than ever and it still had the berserk effect.
He unlocked the cages freeing three burly dogs, which had survived the mutation.
They growled and snapped viciously.
"Stop the intruders." Naruto ordered and the three animals sped out into the sewers breaking through wooden door as if it was paper
Erza slowly walked along the stone path of the sewers when she could hear the growling of animals. Vicious howls of frenzied beasts.
"Watch out!" she tried to warn Eite, but it was too late. The first dog pounced towards her though a quick slice with her sword cleaved the mutated beast in two. The assault of the second dog she couldn't stop though, as the canines strongs jaws clamped down on her plated left hand. The metal dented under the pressure and she was sure, if she didn't wear any more her arm would have been torn off.
The third dog that raced towards them pounced on the Eite. The slimey man let out agonizing screams of pain as he was mauled to death by the aggressive animal.
A quick hard jab with the pommel of her sword made the doge release her arm, as it shook itself in confusion. The dog recovered quickly though and lunged forwards, this time the sword mage was prepared though and sidestepped the telegraphed attack cutting the beast in half at its midsection.
For a few seconds the dismembered half of the dog bleaked its fangs at her before the unnatural life left it.
The third dog looked then up from the face it was eating, the white fangs painted a crimson red.
Warily the dog looked at Erza and growled threateningly. It obviously had found its second prey.
The animal sprinted with unnatural speed towards her and rammed its reinforced head into her stomach, knocking the air out of her and her sword out of her hand.
The sword was lying quite a bit away from her. Meanwhile the dog tried to eat her face as well, but she held its maw in place, though she knew she wouldn't be able to hold it like that forever. Focusing on her magic she called the sword telephatically to her and impaled the beast through it's head.
She threw the burly animal off of her and pulled the sword out of its head. Erza cautiously continued on the path until she came a hole in the wall. On the ground laid many wooden splinters, presumably of a door that once stood in that place.
She carefully looked into the room and saw many empty cages, a large cauldron with some sort of liquid in it and shelves upon shelves with all kind of substances. Currently a person was working on something in the back of the room.
She saw familiar blond hair and gasped in shock"Naruto?!"
Said blond turned around and looked into Erza's shocked face "Erza…" he sounded a bit sad "I'm sorry you found me."
"But…why?" Was all he had said and told lies? Was the time they spent together meaningless? She felt deeply betrayed, even worse than when Jellal had turned on her back in the Tower of Heaven "It was Eite, wasn't it? He hired you to do this right?"
She didn't want to believe that the person she loved could do this of his own volition.
It pained Naruto to see Erza with that look of betrayal on her face. He had contemplated if after all he should simply give up on his revenge, but his own thirst and the need to avenge Erza as well was too great.
He shook himself free of those thoughts, his wounded pride telling him to tell her off.
The reaper laughed boisterously, echoing through the room"No." he said with an evil grin "It was all me. I wasn't hired, by anyone. I did it all myself. I mean, as if anyone of those fools had enough brain to think of a plan that involved something this elaborate, right?!"
"Why did you do it, Naruto!" she screamed in anger "Why do you have to betray me like that?"
"Why?WHY?WHY?!" he laughed once more "I tell you why. I AM THE CRIMSON REAPER." He bellowed "The Murderer that has eradicated Konoha Village."
Erza had only known bits and pieces about the Crimson Reaper, but this crime had been made known through all of Fiore.
For a moment Erza felt weak, like the weight of the world might crush her, before she steeled herself.
"Naruto Uzumaki, the Crimson Reaper, for you crimes against the Kingdom of Fiore and its people I will beat and detain you so that you may repent in captivity." The sword mage proclaimed, charging towards Naruto, sword in hand.
"Golem's Fist." Like many nights before a stone fist rose from the ground, moving towards the charging Erza.
In a flash of light she had changed her armor. Her whole body was now covered in spiky brown armor, that made it look as if it was covered in stalagmites. In her hand rested now a large two-handed hammer.
Giving the oncoming stone construct a light hit with the hammer, it shattered into tiny chisel.
Erza continued her charge, hammer in hand "Tremor Hit." The tip of the large weapon glowed in a soft yellow color.
Naruto quickly rolled out of the path of the offending weapon and once it hit the wall behind him, a tremor shook the room. Stone fell from the ceiling and the wall shattered into tiny pieces.
She would beat Naruto and make him face his crimes.
"Tremor Hit." Erza charged her attack once more and swung the weapon towards the blond mage.
"Wall of Mud." He slammed his hands on the ground a large wall of soft mud formed between them. The hammer impacted and released its Tremor, scattering mud all over the room.
That moment was perfect for a counter attack, as there would be a small time lag before Erza could effectively begin her next attack.
"Light Burst." A straight beam shot from his hands hitting the scarlet mage in the chest, throwing her back into the many shelves, scattering ingredients all over the room, unfortunately into the draught as well.
Unbeknownst to Naruto or Erza the potion began to evaporate very slowly filling the room with a coppery smell.
Erza picked her bruised body back up, just in time to dodge another Light Burst. She slammed her weapon down on the ground, splitting the ground beneath the blond, who lost his footing. She quickly requipped her flight armor, to appear before him and held him up by the scruff of his neck.
"Do you have anything to say before I knock you unconscious and take you to Era?" she asked
"Yes, next time check that you opponent can't do anything in such a situation." He adivsed her and and grabbed her bare arms. His hands formed sharp points out of blood that tore into Erza's arms, drawing blood.
Erza had to drop the blonde as she nursed her bleeding arms.
"First Blood belongs to me." He said and licked her blood from his fingers, his eyes turning dangerously crimson. Her blood had a truly delicious note to it, very sweet and something else he couldn't quite place at the moment.
Erza breathed in and was hit with a coppery smell, thinking it was her blood she ignored it, however that proved to be a mistake. She collapsed on one knee, holding her head, as she felt woozy.
There was something in Naruto which told him to draw more of that delicious blood he had tastes. His bloodlust, being fed a little blood, desired more.
He threw Blades of Blood towards the downed female, cutting shallow cuts into her shoulders and bare arms.
He walked towards her and held his finger under one bleeding cut. Sucking the crimson liquid off of his finger he shuddered in delight. He went down on her level and pressed his lips on her. Suddenly he bit down on her lips, drawing more of her blood, which he drank greedily.
Slowly a red haze tainted Erza's vision. She felt angry, undeniably angry. She wanted nothing more than to tear into her enemies, slice and dice them to shreds. And she would start with the one in front of her.
She swung her right fist, strength empowered into her opponents face creating space between them.
She pulled herself up and her scarlet red magic aura began to surround her.
She requipped into her Purgatory armor. A black armor covered in spikes appeared on her body. Her scarlet hair spiked into every direction, with her right her covered in a devilish manner. Her weapon of choice was now a large iron slab that looked like a cross between a spiked iron club on one side and a large, sharp cleaver on the other.
The one that had hurt her had to die. She needed to satisfy her bloodlust.
"DIE!" she screamed and with newfound vigor, strength and speed she swung the weapon at her target, who was too shocked to dodge.
"Stone Skin." He called out just in time, as the cleaver side hit him. Despite having reinforced his skin, the attack had still hurt like hell, he knew that if he had not managed to get his spell out in time he could've been very much dead right now.
The scarlet haired devil did not give him much time to recuperate. She viciously assaulted him again and again. The reaper had no time to counter attack, occupied with dodging her attacks as he was. But the air pressure alone was enough to cut deep into his body.
Naruto caught a glimpse of her bown eyes, no longer were they filled with warmth but instead there was only unbridled anger and bloodlust.
The blond froze, did he really make her hate him that much that she felt nothing more than the desire to kill him, to remove him from this world?
As he was battered aside by flat side of her blade, he could feel his bones breaking. He sat there now leaned against the wall, bones broken, bleeding from multiple cuts all over his body, his clothes torn.
She stalked towards him like an executioner, the blunt spiked end of her blade raised. They large slab of iron came down on the blond and all that remained was a splatter of blood on the wall.
Once her enemy was eradicated, Erza collapsed tiredly, if she had remained awake perhaps she would have noticed how some of the blood slowly pooled into the water of the sewer.
The blood soon formed the battered and beaten form of the blond mage, as he was ejected into the sea water.
The salty water burned his wounds, and his body hurt, but he preserved he still had the desire to live. Even as much in pain as he was, he swam from the city, leaving everything behind. Once he had made it to a nearby shore, he crawled onto the land. He was freezing partially from the water, partially from bloodloss, his golden blond hair had turned partly white.
He never once had come close to dying quite like today, even during all the years of training under Sorin.
'If that was Erza's true strength…' he realized 'Then, I could have not won in any case.'
Naruto realized he was weak. What had made him weak? Was it love? Was that emotion really so weak that it could not overcome something like anger and hate? That it even stifled his own power this much?
But if love was such a weak emotion why did he feel pain in his chest, pain that wasn't connected to any physical wound he had contracted.
All of a sudden he could feel salty tears drip down his face. This was the first time he had cried in a long time.
As he set there and wept he somehow felt free from everything. Once his tears had dried he decided to forsake such a fickle thing as love. An emotion caused by nothing else but his hormone addled brain. He would continue undisrupted with his original plan of reviving Zeref just so he could feel the satisfaction of killing that man himself.
And if he ever met Erza again, she would be his but by force instead of love.
Naruto laughed despite the pain in his chest "Yes. I will be Lord and Master."
Meanwhile Erza had woken up and didn't find Naruto's body only blood everywhere. The end of the fight was hazy to her and so she concluded that she must have completely killed him, leaving nothing but blood.
She had become a killer, tainted by the evil of taking a human life, just like Naruto. She had broken one of Fairy Tail's creeds.
She fell down on her knees and wept for her lost innocence.
Once she had recovered she told the mayor what had happened in the sewers and she received the ten million jewels, which felt like a paltry consolidation for loosing her innocence.
She didn't take much time to return to Magnolia and Fairy Tail.
There she gave the Master a curt reported. The old man had comforted like the grandfather he was to everyone in Fairy Tail.
Still Erza felt as if she never could trust anyone anymore, like she could never let anyone into her heart again.
That was the day Erza began wearing a custom Heart Kreuz armor to feel safe. That day the Crimson Reaper had officially been declared dead.
Interesting Fact: Before I even started writing the first Version of CRoTM this arc was set in between the Galuna and the Phantom Lord War arc. Originally Lucy and Erza were supposed to be the two people to investigate instead of Erza alone.
Spell Grimoir
Earth Empress armor: Holder Type Magic, Rank ?, Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary
Erza's Earth Empress armor reduces the damage done from Earth Element attacks by 50 percent.
In this form her weapon of choice is a large two handed hammer, which she can charge with Magic.
Tremor Hit: Holder Type Magic, B+ Rank, Offensive
Charging the hammer with magic upon her next hit a tremor wave is released into whatever she has hit.
The shockwave is powerful enough to shatter solid stone and bones.
Light Empress armor: Holder Type Magic, Rank ?, Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary
The damage of Light Element attacks is reduced by 50 percent. Her weapon is a mirror sword which can be charged with light magic.
Flash Slash: Holder Type Magic, C-B Rank, Offensive
Charging her sword with light magic which is released as a crescent shaped projectile.
Golems Fist: Caster Type Magic, B Rank, Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary
A stone fist rises from the ground. This fist is versatile in its use. It can charge at an enemy, dealing blunt damage. Capture an enemy or even block an attack for the Caster.
Stone Skin: Caster Type Magic, B Rank, Defensive
The Casters skin adapts the hardness of stone to mitigate damage taken, however a sufficiently powerful blow can still deal damage.
Mudflow river: Caster Type Magic, C Rank, Supplementary
The caster creates a slippery river of mud in any direction from his point. This spell can combo with other spells or simply rob an enemy of their footing.
Wall of Mud: Caster Type Magic, C Rank, Defensive
The caster creates a wall of soft mud. Most projectiles and weapons will stay stuck inside the mud.
Blinding Flash: Caster Type Magic, C Rank, Supplementary
From the caster erupts a bright flash of light, blinding any unsuspecting person looking at it for a short time.