{words - 5908}
Chapter 8
X784
"How could you do that to your own children!" A seventeen year old Menma yelled his eyes glaring at the downed form of his father with anger over what he discovered only a few minutes ago. Ripping the Anbu mask from his face he slammed it down on the splintered remains of what used to be his father's desk while his twin sister Mito looked on with tears running down her face as she held the three thick files in her hands. "He was my little brother and you left him behind to be some kind of sacrificial lamb for the civilians of all people to beat repeatedly!" The oldest of the Namikaze triplets stood ready for battle in his full Anbu gear with the Kiba blades acquired from Raiga Kurosuki strapped to his back crackling with small sparks every few seconds. Behind him standing in the open doorway was the second oldest of the Namikaze triplets wearing her flak jacket and the gear she had on since Mito came straight from the class she was teaching at the Academy after Menma showed her the files he found hidden by their father.
"The rest of the Elemental Nations needed to see we still had a jinchuuriki to use as a war deterrent." Minato tried explaining to his children while slowly getting up from the floor cradling his injured jaw. "I needed a way to keep the village safe from attacks while I was gone and the two of you needed to be trained so you fulfill the prophe-." He was cut off when Kushina and a few of the Hokage's guards swarmed the room ready for a battle since the alarms were triggered only for her to find Mito in tears while Menma was tensed ready for almost anything to happen if the grip on his blades was anything to go by.
"Did you know about this mom?" Mito asked through the tears motioning to the files in her hands. "Did you know the scum who did these things to Naruto weren't even punished simply because Konoha needed their money more than my brother needed justice?" Minato couldn't meet the gaze of his daughter while Kushina stood frozen in place seeing the files that haunted her nightmares.
"I-I..." Kushina can't even speak as she watched her daughter pull out a photo of Naruto wrapped in bandages with a bloody X-shaped scar carved in the middle of his face. "I read every page of the first file before we came here and the second I read while on the way so I know their was more than just that carved onto his skin mother. I know almost everything the civilians and some of the people I now work with did to the little brother I never knew about before today and that nothing was ever done to them."
"You two just need to calm down some, maybe even take a few breaths." Kakashi tried placating his two former students seeing how tense everything was suddenly becoming. "It's just one kid you really can't get that worked up over something that happened years ago." He had to dive for the ground when an arc of electricity ripped apart the part of the wall where his head was only seconds ago.
"Except it wasn't years ago since Minato was siphoning off small portions of our chakra so he could track the missing Biju before any of the other villages can find them!" Menma yelled the blade in his hands screaming like a thousand birds before turning it towards their father. "And it was only a few months ago that the perverted bastard sent back a report saying a small fishing village saw my little brother traveling with a cloaked figure towards the veil of all places a few weeks after he went missing!"
Ripping off his headband off Menma let it drop to the floor not even bothering to look back at the people in the room as he left smiling slightly when his sister joined him. "You can't just leave like that Menma. I can have your mind wiped and make you forget what was in those files." Minato called out stopping his children in their tracks ignoring the shocked look his wife was giving him.
"Oh, so this is the other Minato I've learned about. The man who teaches one thing but says to hell with it when it becomes to inconvenient." Menma shot back with a cold glare directed at his father. "I'm going to do something you gave up on years ago and find my little brother."
"Either of you could be the greatest or worst shinobi to be born thanks to the prophecy. Please don't make me do this." Minato begs not wanting to risk harming his kids outside of a simple mind wipe even if they were disobeying him.
Mito just turns to give the people. "Right back at you dad." That was the only thing she said before the pair burst into a cloud of smoke revealing they were nothing but clones the entire time.
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X784
Makarov watched from the steps of the conference room as a giant magic circle formed high in the air above the forest nearby where his children were last seen training. A few of the other guild masters were watching from the windows and Bob was about to say something when a deafening explosion ripped through the air seconds before everything within the magic circle vanished in a flash of black light.
"So one of your mages knows Teleportation Magic?" Goldmine questioned his eyes narrowing behind the sunglasses he had on while trying to figure out how much power was needed to teleport a full team along with a demon of that size. "It seems you found another power house to join Fairy Tail." Another smaller explosion went off further away letting Makarov know Asura took the fight away from Clover Town so Team Natsu could go all out without having to worry about any civilians getting in the way. Closing his eyes to sense how the battle was going for his children Makarov lips turned up into a fatherly smile when three large typhoon's of water formed where the newest fight was happening rising high into the air thanks to the Unison Raid's Team Natsu worked on in secret. 'It's amazing what those two will do just to try and surpass your expectations. If only I could get you to come back long enough to see how much they've grown though.' Makarov thought still smiling knowing his children were winning even as a the screeching tires from a badly damaged transportation car could be heard seconds before it passed in front of the building with Lucy screaming for them to stop. 'I was wondering when Erza was going to show up.' He laughed already knowing what was going to happen if Team Natsu took out the demon before Erza even got there.
"Come on how far away did those idiots teleport." Erza growled the grip on the steering wheel tightening seeing Lullaby's true form off in the distance. "Damnit we're to late to stop it from taking its true form." With her rage powering the car faster than before at the knowledge Team Natsu was nearby dealing with the Dark Guild's attack that she discovered Erza never noticed a few things happening behind her. The most major were Alzack and Bisca hugging each other praying for someone to save them or even Elfman who was trying to decide whether or not he could survive jumping from a transportation car going so fast. Lucy had it worse though since the door on her side was missing thanks to Erza's driving forcing her to hold onto only the flimsy seat belt for dear life.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" Lucy screamed out seconds before Erza swerved the car to the side barely missing a tree of all things that would have hit them if her reflexes were any slower.
"Good job lunch now keep your eyes open for anything else heading this way." Erza called out to the now unconscious Lucy who was now pale enough anybody else would think she died. 'Those idiots are going to get it when I get there.' Another explosion of fire could be seen forcing Erza to pour even more power into the transportation car that was already on its last legs as her temporary team drove through the forest trying to get to the battle taking place ahead of them.
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"No this isn't over yet puny humans!" Lullaby bellowed trying to ignore the tremendous pain it was currently in. "You'll never sto-." In a black flash of light Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons appeared in front of Lullaby's face blinding the wood demon for a few brief seconds since it didn't have the first clue about Teleportation Magic or how to stop the humans from using it. Dropping a grinning Natsu onto the demon's head Asura vanished once again letting the Fire Dragon Slayer go all out as he called out one of his strongest moves. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Bringing both of his flame coated hands together Lullaby only had a moment to think on what Natsu was about to do before it's world exploded into another blinding light and excruciating pain from the fiery explosion.
Swinging its arms wildly in a vain attempt at hitting something Lullaby almost smirked when it hit Natsu sending him flying only for the pink haired mage to shimmer like he was never there to begin with. "At least you don't call me for small jobs kid." An aged voice called out catching Lullaby's attention when the area in front of it shimmered again hiding the next attack so that it wouldn't see the large tree heading right for its knees. "I can honestly say I've never been called to fight a demon before today so that's one more thing to mark off my bucket list." Disoriented as it tried to stand back up even though its body was screaming in pain Lullaby finally found the mages again standing next to where the uprooted tree that hit him used to be. "You!" With rage in its voice overriding all the pain it was in Lullaby forced it's body to move when the ancient Spirit started laughing. The Celestial Spirit in question was no bigger than one of the humans cats that were flying around the battle field but still ancient compared to most beings out there since he held the title of one of the Spirit King's Guardians. The Spirit was Suzaku Phoenix of the South Gate looking like his very name with wings as black as midnight with razor sharp talons for claws and crimson colored eyes that shined with power hidden deep inside his small body. "What are you doing here!? My master studied the Spirit King's Guardians and you've never made a single contract in the past!" Lullaby knew the Spirit standing before it was able to create illusions strong enough to fool most masters of the art and given enough time could form a tornado capable of ripping the forest apart but it's rage was overriding everything else at the moment. "You'd side with humans even after seeing the trash they are so you can die with them weakest Guardian!" Charging Team Natsu with the intent to squash them like bugs Lullaby never saw the tick mark appearing over Suzaku's left eye from being called weak or the Unison Raid Natsu and Asura were about to use against it.
"Asura!" Natsu called out bringing his left arm behind him creating a large sphere of fire causing the rest of Team Natsu to fall back not knowing what the pair of Dragon Slayers were about to do.
"Yeah!" Asura copied his action bringing his right arm back creating a sphere of pressured water matching Natsu's own in size and power.
"It's a Unison Raid!" Gray muttered in disbelief having no clue about the long nights Natsu spent training until he dropped from exhaustion. The power Natsu was using was all the combined effort he put into his goal to protect his Team.
'It looks like the attack Asura thought of a few months back if Suzaku is helping them pull it off.' Aries thought watching on amazed that it was actually working while keeping the bound form of Erigor pinned to the ground with her right foot.
"Their magic is starting to merge." Loke added sensing their will combining into one powerful attack. Off to the side Cana held Happy and Cole in her arms as Team Natsu watched the two massive spheres collapse in on themselves looking like they vanished for a split second before reappearing in between their hands. The two spheres formed around the wind Suzaku added to help stabilize the clashing elements before the Twin Dragons moving in almost perfect synch lunged forwards in a punching motion. "Twin Dragon's Raging Fangs!" Storm clouds formed and the forest rang with thunder as the scorching heat from the Dragon Slayers Unison Raid engulfed the wood demon's towering form leaving nothing of Lullaby behind to prove it was even there besides ashes when the blast subsided and what was left of the demon's legs.
It was quiet for a few seconds after Lullaby's destruction where nothing could be heard besides the Dragon Slayers trying to catch their breaths and the rain that was starting to come down until Natsu's shouted out. "Sweet we took down a demon!" That got everybody else cheering since not many teams could brag that they beat one of Zeref's demons even if it was the weakest one ever made. "We've got to hurry back to Fairy Tail and celebrate this!" Natsu yelled out with a grin quickly forming as he grabbed the smaller Dragon Slayer in his arms swinging a laughing Asura around by his waist.
"We need to finish the job first before we do anything else guys." Cana cut in with a smile of her own that quickly vanished when a transportation car crashed through the trees behind them revealing Erza Scarlet and the poor souls she drug along with her. 'Shit-.' 'Crap-.' Damn-.' 'It's Erza!' Was the shared thought every member of Team Natsu had seeing the fiery red-head kicking the damaged door to the driver's seat off its hinges looking ready to commit murder if the way her hair looked like it would combust any second was anything to go by.
"Asura I should have known your team was behind all this damage." Erza growled out seeing the uprooted trees and burnt forest around them only to get the blond Dragon Slayer to narrow his eyes while Natsu quickly grabbed their cats before taking a large step back not wanting to step between the pair ever again. He learned his lesson the last time and wasn't in the mood for a repeat if the two of them started fighting again.
"Yea well unlike you at least Team Natsu knows how to take the fight away from populated areas thanks to my Teleportation Magic and the markers Natsu helps me set up during our travels." Asura snapped back with a bit of steel in his voice at the look Erza was giving them. He didn't even know where she got off talking to them like that since she does more damage by herself than most of the mages back at Fairy Tail could do within a week. So there wasn't a chance in hell Asura was going to let Erza lecture them after everything they did to keep the fight away from Clover Town. "I forgot, how much was the last bill gramps had to cover after the simple monster extermination job you went on to prove yourself?" Erza's eyes narrowed seeing the small smirk Asura had knowing he already knew how much it was but still felt like calling her out on the very large bill they sent the Master over the large monster she defeated on her last job. "I suppose you can have Erigor though since we're already in the middle of a job if it'll make you happy Scarlet." She screamed with a look in her eyes that promised pain watching the members of Team Natsu scramble to grab ahold of Asura seconds before they vanished leaving nothing but a hogtied Erigor behind for them to deal with.
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It was around lunch the next day after their quick escape from Erza where Team Natsu cold be found just finishing the last part of their mission in the small port town of Notre Sagresse as Natsu makes his way through the crowded markets. "Sorry Mira but the last time any of us saw gramps was yesterday near the end of the guild masters conference." Natsu spoke into the communication lacrima he held in his left hand while looking around the different booths for anything Asura might like before the markets closed for the afternoon.
"I know we already heard about what happened at Clover Town with your team handling Lullaby the way you did." Mira responded with a sigh at the magical councils latest complaint. "Even though you went overboard at least you only took out a forest and that can easily be fixed with a few specialist. But I'm still worried about the Master and Erza's team, they should have made it back by now or at the very least called if something came up." She admitted to Natsu who was just barely listening to her as he left another booth with a bag of sweets for Cole and some fresh fish for Happy.
"Don't worry about them to much. Gramps will be fine and I don't think anything can kill Erza, anybody dumb enough to try might just make her angry at most." Pushing a blue tent flap aside as they talked Natsu walked into a strange booth that smelled kind of like some of the potions Asura made in his spar time. "Ice cube and Cana are getting the tickets for the trip back tomorrow and Asura set up his booth near a little down the street with the others helping him out but I'll let them know to keep an eye out for the others if their traveling our way." Natsu said into the communication lacrima while browsing the trinkets on display. "We'll be back in a day or two anyway so if gramps hasn't shown up by then we can help look for him." Mira couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips since she picked up on the fact that he didn't mention Erza at all.
"I'd appreciate it Natsu." Even though Mira still looked worried hearing Natsu say he'd try helping in the search helped take an invisible weight of her chest since nobody else was in the nearby area besides their team at the moment. "Have a safe trip back." Pocketing the communication lacrima when Mira cancelled the call from her end Natsu was about to give up on finding a gift Asura might want when his eyes landed on a pair of matching necklaces on the nearby table. Each necklace was made out of silver in the shape of a dragon wrapping itself around a small chunk of lacrima that had a petal placed inside of it. The only difference was the lacrima in each necklace with the one on the left being a dark crimson shining like a burning piece of ember while the one on the right was a dark blue with a glean that reminded him of the ocean.
"How much for these two necklaces right here?" Natsu asked looking up with a grin at the red-haired merchant whose crimson eyes shined under the booth's only light coming from the small opening.
"5,000 Jewels for the pair since nobody else seems to want them." The strange merchant answered him with a smirk and Natsu couldn't help but think he ran into the man before today. "See the petals placed inside the lacrima, well they came from an Eclair D'amour. It's a hard to find magical flower that informs one about the condition of their significant other no matter how far apart they might be." As the strange merchant explained the effects of the necklace Natsu never noticed the way his eyes glowed for a brief second before fading back to normal. "Once they absorb enough of the ethernano belonging to the pair wearing them they glow slightly and dim when something bad happens to the other person."
Quickly paying the merchant with the reward money he had on him Natsu left to find Asura completely missing the toothy smirk on the man's face. "You sure know how to pick them kid." The merchant said out loud smelling Asura's scent all over the Fire Dragon Slayer that just left the booth he was borrowing from the human tied up in one of the trunks out back.
With a laugh the strange merchant vanished in a ball of flames leaving no trace of him ever being there to begin with while the scene shifts to Natsu once again who was standing inside of Asura's closed booth trying his best not to have a nose bleed at the scene before him. "Loke ran off when he saw what I used my Illusion Magic to make so I never got to ask him but what do you think of my idea Natsu?" Asura asked blushing slightly with his face red and getting redder by the second from the way Natsu was looking at him. His fingers nervously played with a strand of blond, light brown hair currently finding the ground interesting the longer Natsu just stared at him without saying anything. "Mary said a theme could help get more customers to come by my store when they stop by Magnolia Town but I figured I'd try it around here first to see if it really worked as good as she said it would. So how do I look?"
Natsu swallowed hard unable to look away and was grateful neither Loke or anybody else besides Cole and Happy were around to see Asura at the moment since the flap to their tent was closed. Because on top of Asura's head thanks to a convincing illusion mixed with a bit of Transformation Magic was a pair of matching cat ears that blended into his hair along with a blond cat tail swaying back and forth behind him. That wouldn't have been to bad on its own but Asura wasn't wearing his baggy traveling clothes like normal and instead had on a tight sleeveless orange shirt along with a pair of equally tight black shorts because of the slight heat wave affecting the area around the port town. "I-I don't think you should use something like that everyday. Maybe use it for a special occasion or something else kind of like that when nobody is around but me." He finally managed to say before reaching out and much to the confusion of the shorter Dragon Slayer a crimson faced Natsu dispelled the cat ears and tail before grabbing Asura's hand so they could take a walk around town before they had to catch the train home. 'I'd wind-up killing someone and joining a Dark Guild for sure if Asura started wearing something like that everyday he worked at Kurama's Den.' The pair walked in silence for a while with Asura still giving him confused looks when Natsu wouldn't look him in the eye.
"So gramps went missing in Web Valley with Scarlet's temporary team?" Asura asked sounding more amused than worried at their Guild Master's predicament while at the same time hoping it would get Natsu to start talking again.
"Yea though like I told Mira gramps can take care of himself." Natsu replied watching from the corner of his eye as Asura hopped onto the nearby railing walking along it like a tightrope never once letting the shorter Dragon Slayer's hand go. "You'll fall."
The short little comment Natsu said near the end had Asura giving him a shy smile that had him looking away the tips of his ears slowly getting red. "I was able to get a case of winged fish that were supposed to come from Web Valley and a few other trades from the local merchants while everybody else was relaxing after the fight with Lullaby. I even picked up a few rumors about one of the Gate Keys that helped me narrow down where the next one might be." Asura started happily chatting about some of the things he did today while everyone else was busy and had just started talking about a really good trade he set up with a local supplier when his foot slipped sending him crashing on top of Natsu who was quick to catch him. 'Even though my face is probably red enough to match the necklace Natsu bought me.' Asura thought seeing the grin Natsu was giving him as he replied. "I told you so." 'I'm actually glad to be embraced like this.' The twin pieces of lacrima hanging around their necks seemed to glow under the fading sun as Natsu leaned in stealing another kiss from the blond in his arms seeking nothing but complete submission from Asura. And the Water Dragon Slayer always strong and fighting to remain free like the ocean's waters gives in after a brief moment of hesitation letting Natsu gain another inch in their struggle for dominance while Cole and Happy cheer from the air above them having caught the kiss on camera causing Asura to scramble back embarrassed. Natsu doesn't mind if anyone sees them like that but Asura does with the way his face was turning redder by the second catching a few people nearby snapping a picture of them kissing.
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"Oh look how sweet they are. It's a shame I couldn't have been the one who got them together." The lone female of the group that was watching them said almost in tears.
"You need to be more quiet Evergreen or they'll hear us if we're not careful." Another voice said from his spot in the nearby alley they were cutting through only a few seconds ago before the largest member of their team spotted them. "They have the same base skills as any other Dragon Slayer so their hearing and smell can pick us out if any number of things occur in their favor." He explained seeing the confused looks the other two were giving him.
"Let me have my moment Freed." Evergreen snapped before turning back towards the pair they were spying on.
"Natsu's getting stronger though if even a bit of the rumor going around about how they took out Lullaby is true." The largest of the three pointed out with glee in his voice knowing what was going to happen if everything went according to the plan.
"Bickslow's right. Salamander is catching up to Asura pretty quickly with all the nightly training he's been doing so low S-Class shouldn't be that far off for him if Natsu keeps up the pace." The voice of their leader Laxus Dreyar admitted from behind them causing the three mages too tense knowing the man behind them got tired of waiting for someone to find the last member of their little group. "Doesn't mean I like the fact that the brats dating an A-Class mage but he won't budge on the subject so I got tired of bringing it up." The group let out the breaths they were holding knowing he wasn't annoyed with them for keeping him waiting but instead was more focused on Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons and their recent job. Asura was one of the few people who didn't set him off simple because the kid worked himself to the bone almost everyday after he first showed up at Fairy Tail trying to achieve his dreams while at the same time saving up to own that store of his. He wasn't even afraid of him no matter what any of them did in the beginning to drive the brat away. It was an inside jock when they thought of the kid but before any of them knew what happened Asura somehow found a way into their little group without even trying.
'At least he chose somebody with potential instead of a weakling who couldn't keep up with an S-Class's skills.' The figure of the man who Asura looked up to as his older brother thought smirking as he watched Natsu and their cats dragging the brat towards the all you can eat buffet a nearby restaurant was promoting. His eyes sharpened into slits though when he spotted Master Bob along with the Trimens who were reported to be traveling as his escorts for the meeting enter the restaurant a few seconds after Asura did. He knew the master of Blue Pegasus wouldn't start something in a place this public but even he heard about how long the man spent searching for Aries after one of his own was killed over her key. "Lets go before one of them catches my scent and spots us watching them." 'The kid can take care of himself so this will be a good test for him if Master Bob or any of the Trimens start something over Aries.' The four of them left before anyone could spot them with their leader fingering the black key hanging around his neck. It was dark enough you almost couldn't see it most of the time ending with an animal like clawed hand gripping a ruby with a strange symbol carved into it and at the top was the bow shaped around an evil-looking crimson eye. 'It'll only be a bit longer before you come looking for the key I found so grow stronger Asura until that day comes.' Looking up when he heard a low snicker coming from the end of the alley they saw the merchant Natsu ran into earlier leaning against the nearby wall waiting for them. "Where were you?"
Author's Notes -
To the people who follow my stories this is to let you know I'm still alive. I've just been in the hospital since Feb-13 after a driver ran a red light hitting Chris's car flipping us. I'm not okay but I'm not dead either so that's something but I'll be in a wheelchair for a while since my legs are pretty messed up and one of my ribs was fractured from the impact. At least my neck wasn't as bad as they first thought so I'm trying to be thankful for the small things. Jess and Chris helped rewrite most of this and the two other stories I uploaded today since my old laptop was trashed during the crash and I really haven't been feeling up to do anything until recently so I really hope it turned out alright. So this is to let those that sent me get wells know that I'm going to be behind on a lot of things for a while.
Right now I'm just staring at the screen wondering where the catboy Asura idea came from but figured it would be funny to run with the idea as a side thing just to think up a few reactions or an omake. I'd be funny with Fairy Tail using his store all the time thanks to the discount he gives them and having different people walking in seeing Asura dressed up like a catboy with Natsu nearby looking ready to rip somebody's head if they tried anything.
I really hope my OC Spirit works even if he only showed up briefly. Suzaku's main power is the ability to create real illusions in a way similar to how easy it is for Itachi or Mukuro to pull off with a secondary wind based magic. You'll see more of Suzaku later but I hope you liked the brief glimpse you got of him.
It might have been unintentional but I was out long enough for both polls to get a good number of votes. So here's the votes and the winners you chose.
{Asura pairing.}
Natsu x Asura 14 votes.
Natsu x Asura x Loke 16 votes.
Natsu x Asura x Gray 4 votes.
Natsu x Asura x Jellal 9 votes.
Natsu x Asura x Cobra 7 votes.
Natsu x Asura x Sting 1 vote.
{Loke's key.}
Asura 21 votes.
Lucy 13 votes.
I tallied up all the reviews and PMs that were sent to me and the Natsu x Asura x Loke pairing won by two votes while Asura won for the key meaning he'll get to keep Loke's key after the final Guardian is found. Sorry if they weren't the one you were voting for and if I lose you thanks for reading up until now and just because the pairing with Loke won doesn't mean he'll instantly be making moves on Asura. Loke is going to test how much he can get away with for now since Natsu is going to be really possessive but it'll be a little while before he gets any further.
Since Asura won the poll for Loke's key I plan on giving Lucy at least two maybe three OC keys to counter the ones Asura finds during his travels.
Response - (Thanks for your reviews.)
HeartlessNobody13: Natsu has a feeling something is going on but doesn't know Naruto/Asura is paying for all the damages he causes.
GreenPiratee: I had some OC keys in mind already and only planned on giving Lucy a number of them to balance. It's a good idea though and I'll keep it in mind for later.
AngelFaux: Thanks for that and don't worry it takes a lot to offend me. I like hearing ideas my readers have that can help any of my stories and even if I don't add them I do save them in my scraps folder for later use down the road. As for Ikaruga's sword Mugetsu-ryu I'd have to give you a maybe right now since I planned on him using the fake Buster Sword. I could switch it up some for later fights after showing a chapter or two where he's practicing with Natsu but I'd have to think on it first.