Opening Notes

Personal Comments: I'll be the first to admit- this isn't the best chapter. First, I have a lame excuse for getting the mages and shinobi to fight. Secondly, I'm trying to juggle too many characters at once here D: Once everyone splits up into their individual groups, everything will be MUCH easier and more fluid. Also, I'm TRYING to do the Fairy Tail characters justice... but that's going to be hard to do, since each side is overpowered in their own ways. What I'm going to do is match Naruto characters VS characters that they could believably fight, and then later post bonus chapters showing what would've happened if they had fought someone else who could totally whup them (for instance, Naruto wouldn't stand a chance against Mystogan and his illusions; Gaara couldn't defeat Juvia because of her water form; etc.), to please the Fairy Tail fans (I'm a big one myself, that's why this story exists XD)

Characters needing development: Konan (she'll develop a bit more along the path I've set for her, as well as trying to go back to the image she once had as a mature woman), Raikage (He needs a personality beyond "Angry", I'm told; I agree), Matsuri (She'll need to be fleshed out beyond "fangirl", since we already have so many of THOSE in these series), Yamato (Background people need love too!).

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Fairy Tail

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The man at the shop booth was quite surprised to see so many people walking down the street straight to Fairy Tail. Quite a few of them looked like they weren't to be messed with- after all, one of them was missing an arm, a second was missing an eye, and another had eight swords on his back, one of them much larger than the others and wrapped in bandages. He recognized the boy and the young woman he had seen earlier among them, as well as several other boys and girls- the blond was probably the least threatening looking of the whole bunch (aside from the two youngest looking girls), but in this world that usually meant he was the strongest. He quickly ran to the front door, and yelled for aid. "Master! There are these real mean looking guys coming to the front gate, and I think they mean business!"

An extremely short old man with a mustache- the one Naruto had seen as a figurine earlier- nearly spat out his drink. "What?! But I'm not supposed to go under undue stress, it's the doctors orders! Get someone to go out there and meet them, or something."

A white-haired girl, dressed rather like a waitress, merely smiled as she began walking towards the exit. "I'll go talk to them, Master Makarov... if anyone else wants to come and watch, you're more than welcome."

A large, white-haired and dark-skinned man in what appeared to be a school uniform of sorts rose up from his table. "What kind of man would I be if I let my sister handle ruffians on her own?"

A black haired boy wearing... not much of anything rolled his eyes. "Isn't Mirajane stronger than you, though, Elfman?"

'Elfman' growled at the boy. "Yeah, and she wears more than you do, Gray."

Gray looked down at himself and noted his lack of clothes beyond his underwear. "Crap! I did it again!"

There was laughter from a pink-haired boy wearing a scarf. "Hahahaha! Gray, you're such an idiot! You wear less than the Guild bikini girl!" A blue cat popped up next to the pink-haired boy and gave an "Aye!"

Gray growled at the other boy, and lunged at him, grabbing his vest. "Natsu, I swear I'm gonna-" Their heads were quickly knocked against each other, causing them to break apart and clutch their heads in pain.

The culprit was a red-haired woman wearing armor. "Stop that, you two! Save it in case the Guild's under attack!" They mumbled apologies to an "Erza" while they began walking outside with Mirajane and Elfman. Erza turned to a blond girl, who was eating a cake. "Come on, Lucy, you're part of the team too, you know."

Lucy looked ready to cry. "But... I could finally afford cake!"

Erza gave a soft smile. "If it's not there when we get back, I'll kill the guy who did it and buy you a new one, alright?"

The blond was partially scared by the response, but happily agreed anyways- she was used to it, after all. She was a proud member of Fairy Tail!

- - -

Mira was the one who took the lead, opposite Kakashi who had been made the ninja's leader. She stood firm despite there being so many opponents. "What do you want?"

Kakashi was trying to be as polite as possible- he placed his right hand behind his head, trying to look rather embarrassed. "Well, you see... we were wondering, if we could, if possible... join your guild?"

Mirajane was pleasantly surprised, and her face softened considerably. "Oh! Uh... I'll go get the Master real quick, he makes these kinds of decisions..."

The blue cat suddenly spoke up again. "I'll go get him, Mirajane!"

The white-haired girl smiled. "Ah, thank you, Happy!" As the cat ran back to the building- standing on two legs, Naruto noticed-, the girl turned back to face them. "Is there any reason you want to join us in particular?"

Kakashi was still trying his best to look embarrassed. "Well, you see... we're kinda really lost, and really out of money, and since we know magic but don't belong to a Guild, it sounded like the best idea, even if it's a bit of a commitment."

Gray was suspicious of them. "That many mages, all at once, who want to join our guild "for the money"? I don't like this one bit..."

Lucy tried to be reasonable about it. "Maybe their old Guild disbanded? And they're without money because they used it all trying to find a place they could find work, only to not really have skills beyond magic?"

Naruto in particular felt the sting of the truth her second sentence brought- he... really didn't have any other skills aside from being a ninja. He looked at the other shinobi- most didn't seem agitated by this at all... aside from the Raikage and Bee, who were looking highly nervous.

Erza narrowed her eyes due to her own suspicion. "But... some of the older ones are obviously combat veterans. Shouldn't we have heard of mages such as themselves?"

Natsu, on the other hand, seemed hyped up. "Come ooooon! Who cares where they're from? They want to join us, right? That means more people for me to train with so I can get better! I still need to beat the crap out of Laxus!"

Elfman nodded in agreement. "A man should not hide any agendas behind promises! If they betray us, they'll have to take their punishments like the men they are!"

Matsuri leaned over to Sakura, who was standing next to her. "I hope he doesn't mean the girls too... does he?" The combat-medic had obviously been annoyed by the man's words. "If he did, I'll beat the crap out of him."

A moment later, an extremely short man (Naruto noted the man was shorter than Konohamaru had been three years ago) came out to examine them. "So, you guys think you have what it takes to join our Guild, eh...? We're going to have to test your capacity as mages before we let you in, you know. If you can't fight, you're not welcome here- after all, we have a reputation to uphold."

Naruto gulped- they... really hadn't had an opportunity to see what magic could do. But it was obviously chakra manipulation, so it's not like they had much to worry about... right? He pumped his fist despite his doubts. "Bring it on!"

Makarov grinned at the boy's enthusiasm, though his eyes didn't do the same, making him look... rather evil. "Just what I wanted to hear! We'll start with the youngest people first- Happy, go fetch the others, we're going to have a tournament of sorts!"

Happy gave his signature "Aye!" before dashing back into the Guild to fetch "the others". Naruto knew he wasn't the only one afraid of the possibilities of what was to come.

- - -

Apparently the town had an arena that they loaned out to the Guild from time to time. Some of their mages could get quite destructive, or so the Master claimed. On one side of the field were the prospective Guildmates- they didn't exactly know what to think of the ordeal, and so weren't exactly organized. They had been told that "their magic would be on trial" here; their "souls" would be on trial in a more private location. On the other side were the mages who had volunteered to take on the newcomers, including those they had seen before.

A blond man in a tux took center stage with a microphone. "Welcome, one and all, to the first ever Fairy Tail auditions! I, Max, the Sand Magician-" Gaara took note that at this point he waved his hand, and some sand appeared out of thin air, followed the path traced by the man's hand, and then disappeared. "-, will be your announcer! A whole group of mages has appeared, wanting to join Fairy Tail! Some of our mages think they're suspicious, or even possibly too weak to be of any use! The newcomers want to prove them wrong! So, you all are getting a very special treat- each new mage has to go toe-to-toe with a mage already in the Guild in order to earn the right to stay! Who will stay? Who will have to leave, their spirits crushed? Who will-" There was some booing from the crowd, which garnered some snickers from the prospective recruits. "Oh, alright, fine. Anyways, Master Makarov will do the honors of choosing the matches! Master, if you would?"

Makarov took out his own microphone, and cleared his throat before speaking. "Ahem! Will the new recruits please categorize themselves by "teenagers" and "adults", please? Age makes no real difference in this Guild, but age tends to equal experience, so we wish to choose opponents appropriately!"

Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Matsuri all moved to the side. Kankuro smirked as he spoke to his sister, pointing at Gaara discreetly. "They're going to be in for a real surprise, aren't they?" She couldn't help but agree.

Makarov stared at the adults' side for a moment- particularly, at Konan. "Ummm... you're sure everybody heard me?"

Konan blushed when she realized his gaze was on her. Why can't anyone tell my age around here?! I'm not a teenager, I'm not! Kakashi laughed at her expense; he wouldn't say so, but even he thought she looked much younger dressed like that. "Yes, we're all adults on this end, so go ahead and start whenever you wish."

Makarov shrugged, glancing at Konan one last time, before looking towards the teenage group. "So, then, who wants to go first?"

Naruto turned to the others. "I say we keep the big guns put away for now... no need to really harm them, right?"

Kankuro sighed. "Aw, man... first we can't use weapons, and now we can't really make them bleed? Where's the fun in that?"

Gaara agreed with Naruto's advice. "Fight according to your opponent, then. The more dangerous they present themselves, the better you fight."

The blond boy nodded in agreement. "Alright then... anyone mind if I go first?"

Sakura seemed mildly annoyed. "Well, fine then, Mr. Hero, sure, go right ahead."

Naruto did not seem to catch the tone of her comment. "Thanks! Don't mind if I do!" He stepped forward, letting all take note of him.

Makarov gave Naruto a basic interview in the middle of the arena. "Name?" Naruto figured that since they used that code-language here- what it was called, he couldn't remember- the name order was the same, as well. "Naruto... Namikaze." The name felt foreign on his tongue, but at the same time he was proud to be able to start calling himself that. "Combat specialty?" Again, Naruto had to think about it. He had been able to defeat Shukaku before... as well as Kakuzu. And Pain considered himself a god. "...anti-demon."

Makarov had to think about who to choose for a moment while whispers went up and down the crowd. Anti-demon mages were usually very poweful. "...the first fight shall be... Naruto Namikaze, VS Natsu Dragneel!"

Natsu seemed pretty hyped to have been chosen. "Alright! I get to go first! Eat that, Gray!" While Gray was annoyed and Juvia tended to him, Natsu walked towards the center of the arena, and Naruto was shocked to see flames actually coming from his body. "You better be ready for this, new guy! I'm not going to go easy on you!"

Naruto smirked to hide his shock. "Can't say the same thing at the moment."

Gray laughed- at whose expense, he didn't know. "The kid isn't taking this seriously? Everyone knows you don't play with fire. And Natsu is an anti-dragon specialist; anti-demon can't even compare."

Makarov raised his hand in the standard "ready" position. "Alright then... FIGHT!"

Natsu lunged at Naruto, his fists covered in flames. Naruto had an easy enough time dodging- the older boy was fast, if untrained, and all Naruto really had to do to avoid the flames was make wider dodging motions than he normally would have. "Ha! That all you got, Sparks?"

Natsu gave an irritated smirk. "This is pretty basic magic, right here! It's only going to get harder!" The flames suddenly were much bigger, and while the next punch was avoidable, Naruto had been left wide open by trying to make too big of a dodge, and got hit by the other fist on the face. He rubbed his now slightly burned face, smirking a bit.

"And here I thought I'd get by without actually using my magic... let's go!" He mentally translated the name of one of his signature jutsu. "Shadow clones!" He crossed his fingers, and then two clouds of smoke appeared on either side of Naruto. All of the mages were shocked at the display; Makarov, who had by now retreated, turned to Erza. "Y-you're seeing those too, right?"

Erza nodded. "Yeah... those aren't illusions. Whatever they're made out of, it's solid."

The announcer began speaking. "And here it is! The first of the unknown magics used by these strangers- a form of doppelgangers, created through sheer magic power!"

The pink-haired boy, however, seemed slightly annoyed. "Feh, just gonna make more of yourself? Don't see how that'd help against a demon if that's the only thing you can do."

Naruto could only grin. "The clones are literally that- magically created copies that can do anything I can do. We're only just getting started, here!"

Natsu's anger seemed to dissipate. "Oh! So that's it... okay then! Let's see how they handle this!" Natsu put his hands to his mouth, leaving a small gap open. "Karyuu no.... HOUKOU!"

Naruto was rather taken aback by the sudden switch to his native language, but that was all the better for him- an attack named "Breath of the Fire Dragon" could only really be one thing, as if the hand position didn't give it away already. Flames spurted from Natsu's mouth, funneled by his hands into a stream at Naruto. The two clones ran to the sides, and tried to take Natsu by surprise. He anticipated this, as he had already set his fists aflame and was ready to counter any attacks they made. What he didn't expect, however, was for the clones to each make more clones, who all then proceeded to surround him. Each one had a different stance, revealing that they were each still independent.

The announcer, of course, commented on this development. "And the doppelgangers can multiply of their own will! Natsu might be in trouble if the new guy can do anything besides fist fight!"

Mirajane seemed quite interested in Naruto's technique. "That's... a very unusual magic. I've never heard of doppelgangers working of their own wills before. Or is Naruto controlling them?"

Elfman frowned. "A real man does not gang up on other men! They fight one on one!" The other mages could only ignore the "manliest of men" among them, lest they give themselves to insanity.

The flame from Natsu's breath died down, and the "real" Naruto was nowhere to be found. Makarov was impressed by Naruto's strategy. "So he switched himself with one of his own doppelgangers... which means that either they're extremely easy to manipulate, or they truly are independent. Either way, Natsu now has no idea which one he has to take on to end the match."

Naruto grinned. "I could keep this up all day... show me what you've got!"

Natsu smirked. "With pleasure!" He immediately did a handstand, and spun his now aflame legs. The flames stretched from his body, and each of the Naruto clones were caught by surprise. When the smoke and flames cleared, there was one Naruto left, holding up his burned arms to shield his body.

"Tsk... so you can do better." Naruto frowned- Natsu's "flame magic" reminded him of Sasuke's Chidori jutsu variants, only they couldn't be defeated with any of his wind jutsu. If clones weren't going to work... he immediately bit his thumb, drawing blood. Natsu, as well as every mage in the stadium, was understandably freaked out.

"Blood magic?! You're gonna use blood magic on me?!"

Naruto ignored the horrified cries of the mage-side for the moment- apparently, mixing blood with your chakra was associated with evil here. Well, he'd show them that this wasn't an evil technique at all. He ran his hands together as quickly as possible, and placed his hand to the ground, ignoring the cry of "STOP!" from Makarov. A summoning circle extended from Naruto's hand onto the ground, and a moment later, there was a much larger cloud of smoke than what Naruto's clones had created.

The smoke cleared, and revealed that Naruto was standing next to... two giant toads. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, to be exact. The crowd was silent- those who knew blood magic knew that you couldn't summon... toads with it. Heck, blood magic didn't have a summoning branch! Lucy was the first to actually object. "Wait a second! Aren't Stellar Spirits the only things that can be summoned instantly?"

Makarov broke out of his shocked stupor. "Why would you willingly draw your own blood?!"

Naruto shrugged. "My combat magic either doesn't work on flames, or is too deadly to use on a human. My toads, however, are perfect for this situation, and in fact one of the reasons I even learned how to use them was to defeat another mage. Is there something wrong with it? These toads are like my family- as non-human as they look, they are every bit as human as I am on the inside. And as for my own blood... it's just a scratch. It'll heal."

Gamakichi objected. "Oi! Don't compare me to you! I'm well on my way to being the chief toad, and you're-"

Naruto smiled at him. "-the chosen one of your people, remember?"

While Gamakichi grumbled, Gamatatsu merely smiled. "Wooooow. So many people~ What do you want us to do?"

Naruto sighed. "Weren't you paying attention? He uses flames- my wind techniques only fuel flames. Also, as you can tell this is a friendly competition- so don't bring out the sword."

Gamakichi sighed in annoyance; his hand had been on the sword his father had given him. "Fine, fine. But you better bring some snacks later! The good stuff, like potato chips!"

Naruto patted Gamakichi on the back. "Of course! Now go get him!"

Natsu was now severely annoyed. "The hell? You're gonna make your toadies do your dirty work?!"

Naruto seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Usually, I fight in perfect combination with them, but I don't want you to see the full extent of any one of my magics just yet- so I'm going to give you a sampling of each, and then crank it up as you survive! Doesn't that seem like a good challenge to you?"

Mirajane laughed nervously. "Haha... he can "crank up" his summon magic? Those two look plenty powerful already..."

Gamakichi jumped into the air, and formed his hands together. "Toad Oil!" He shot his oil straight at Natsu, who didn't even get to evade. "What the-?! It's all sticky..." He suddenly got an evil grin on his face. "Let's see if it'll burn!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "No, don't-!" It was too late- the entire batch of oil was blazing within a few seconds. Naruto did not seem pleased. "Gamakichi!"

The toad shrugged. "Like I knew he would be stupid enough to try it!"

Natsu's voice came from the flames. "Geez, trying to trap me in something that burns? Smooth move!" He walked out of the flames, perfectly untouched. "I'm the Dragon Slayer of Fire- that means fire doesn't work on me at all! You're an anti-demon mage, right? Well, I'm an anti-dragon mage! So hah!"

Naruto didn't like those words. 'Dragon Slayer'? Anti-dragon level? Well, that just put a damper on things. Speaking of... "Alright, try your other techniques this time, huh?"

Gamatatsu smiled again. "Ooh! Ooh! Me next!" He placed his hands together, and tilted his head back.

Natsu seemed a bit more confident this time. "Use that sticky stuff again, I dare ya!" Gamatatsu, however, did not comply- what he let loose was a torrent of water. Natsu's flames went out from shock before he even got hit. "W-water? How am I supposed to burn that?!"

Gray snickered from his seat. "I think that's the idea." Juvia nodded in enthused agreement from beside him, while Lucy was staring at the toads intensely. Where did he learn that magic...?

Natsu was hit by the water at full-force, and was pushed back against the high arena walls. He fell down to the ground, but quickly got back up. "And here I thought you were gonna do something with that water! But only spurting it? Laaaaame."

Naruto didn't take the remark too well. "Just because I didn't do anything doesn't mean I can't. I mentioned it earlier- I can use wind-magic, too, but I'm not gonna use it on another human being, and by itself would only feed your flames anyways."

Makarov was interested in that comment- wind would only feed Natsu's flames? Wind magic trumped fire magic almost every time, that he knew of. Natsu was the only exception to this rule that he had heard about, and it wasn't a well-known occurrence either. He would have to ask later. Actually, from this fight alone he had many things to ask of this boy.

Natsu seemed more than annoyed now. "Is that so? I've taken "fatal" wind magic head on before, and it didn't kill me then!"

Naruto gave a sad smile. "I doubt that they were on the same level as mine... my wind magic has sliced materials "as hard as diamonds" before, and reduced areas larger than this to holes in the ground. So, again, I'd rather not use it- my clones are meant for scouting, and my summons are meant to combat any situation I can't handle myself. My combat magic starts at lethal and moves from there. But if you really want me to try... I have one spell that won't kill you, if you're as tough as you look."

Natsu's emotions were now obvious, due to the great amount of fire flaring around him. "One spell, huh?! Bring it, punk!"

Mirajane observed Naruto's little "speech". "Master..."

Makarov frowned. "Where did this kid come from, to have needed to learn magic like that? Scouting, killing, mass destruction..."

Naruto formed a clone, who immediately began forming the blue orb of chakra that was his signature technique- the Rasengan. Erza seemed intrigued. "I see... so his magic compresses all of that wind energy into one ball. And he needs three hands to work all of that magic, so it's no wonder it's so lethal. I'm surprised that it wouldn't blow Natsu's flames away, if what he says is true. Is that where his clones come from? Compressing air into a human form?"

Gray shrugged. "I just want to see what kind of damage it can do, considering he said that it was his only possibly non-lethal spell. Natsu won't be killed by such a half-hearted attempt, anyways."

As soon as Naruto was done powering up, he charged at Natsu, attack in hand. "Pft! You're going to charge at me? Well how about this!" The flames surrounding him all went straight to his right hand, turning into a rather large orb of fire. "Karyuu no... TEKKEN!" Natsu's feet burst into flames, accelerating his charge at Naruto, who was now doing the same. The orbs clashed, one of fire, and one of pure chakra. The Rasengan, however, seemed to absorb Natsu's flames, turning into a bigger, glowing red sphere. Natsu didn't have much of a chance to react before the orb was thrust at his stomach, and was pushed backwards while spinning like a flaming pinwheel through the air. He hit the back wall- hard. Naruto flinched at the result- a large explosion of dust and chunks of the arena wall.

"Dang it! That wasn't supposed to happen!"

Gray was the first to be at Natsu's side; he seemed amused by Natsu's predicament. "Yo! You okay in your little crater?" The rocks crumbled, and Natsu stepped out, obviously hurt but not lethally so. There were no burns- Natsu's statement about being immune to flames was apparently right on target. His skin was barely even dented, and Naruto knew that most people ought to be bleeding right now; he was breathing heavily, however.

"Hey! I thought you said your wind magic fed flames?"

Naruto shrugged. "That was the most basic "attack" technique I know- it's the end result of a training exercise that adds "shape" to magic without actually using a spell. Adding your own spell to it is usually a good way to kill anything you can think of. That you took so little damage..." He grinned at the older boy. "I think I'll like it here! If you guys take me, anyways."

Even Erza shivered at that one. "It did that much damage... and he can customize it with spells?"

Natsu grumbled as he walked over to Makarov. "Fine! He passes! Geez..." Makarov announced the result to the arena. "Winner: Naruto!"

Naruto couldn't help but grin and give a "V" for "Victory" to his comrades. "Alright! I passed!" Most of the newcomers seemed quite pleased with this, while others... were not.

The Raikage snarled. "Why do the kids get to go first?"

Kakashi shrugged. "To give a bigger show, I guess."

Max took the. "And Naruto Namikaze has passed the magic test!" The crowd, however, didn't feel like cheering too much, considering that Naruto seemed... far from an ordinary mage. Naruto sighed as he walked over to Makarov. "Geez... feel real welcome here..."

The much older man sighed. "We'll discuss your actual entry into the Guild later. For now..." He put his microphone back up to his face. "Who wishes to fight next?"

Gaara stepped forward, his face impassive. "I'll go." Matsuri had to hold back her usual impulse to cheer for "Lord" Gaara, as that would look rather questionable.

Makarov gave him the same questions he gave Naruto. "Name?" "Gaara." "Combat specialty?" "Versatility and Defense." Makarov again seemed to think things through for a moment. Versatility and defense, eh? I know a mage who fits that description... "How about... Gray? You wanna try?"

Gray tried to play this cooly. "Sure. I'm not going to go easy on him like Natsu did."

Natsu snarled. "Hey! I was up against a totally unknown opponent! You don't bring out your best moves first in that kind of fight! And besides... at least I fought when I wasn't naked!"

The dark-haired mage looked down at himself and realized that he was, indeed, back in his underwear. "Oh crap! Again?!" While the newcomers mostly snickered, Gray decided to shrug it off. "Ah well... I fight best like this anyways."

Erza glanced at the near-naked mage. "I'm sure you've noticed the container on his back. Whatever is in there, that's what he uses for his magic."

Gray rolled his eyes. "State the obvious, why don't you?" He walked into the center of the arena, and faced the still-impassive Gaara. Juvia suddenly cheered for her love. "You can do it, Lord Gray!"

Matsuri suddenly couldn't resist the impulse anymore, either. "Beat him to a pulp, Lord Gaara!"

Naruto, who was now sitting on Fairy Tail's side, snickered as he watched Juvia's eyes snap towards Matsuri with the fierceness of a cat. "One in every group, huh...?"

Makarov stood in-between the two, and raised his hand once more. "Alright then... Gaara VS Gray Fullbuster! FIGHT!"

The moment the fight started, Gray saw a small object launch from Gaara and at his face. He tilted his face to dodge- he could see what it was. The cork on the gourd? Must be just a warning move... A moment later, he could hear the sound of sand shifting, and he could see a dark red sand flowing from the opening in the top of the gourd. Max was understandably upset.

"Hey! I'm the only sand mage in Fairy Tail! Give him one for me, Gray!"

Gray ignored the announcer in order to concentrate. Why does he need to bring his own sand to a fight? Max can make his sand out of thin air... whatever that red sand is, it's not normal sand.

Lucy noted that Natsu was now clutching his nose. "Natsu...? What's wrong?"

The Dragon Slayer was very obviously in pain. "Ugh! That stench...! It's... blood! Tons of it!"

The mages near him were quite surprised. "Blood?!" Makarov stared at the red color of Gaara's weapon of choice, and frowned. What was with these people's association with blood? "It must be that sand..."

Gaara was more than capable of hearing the mages. "It's a special demon sand that conducts my magic far more easily than regular sand does. The smell of blood comes from those the demon itself killed. As evil as it sounds, this batch of sand has been under my control for quite some time."

Mirajane seemed to accept this explanation easily enough. "Well, that actually explains a lot... but, if he's a sand mage who was able to kill a sand demon with his magic... how powerful is he now?" This remark sent a chill down the spines of those within hearing distance, and poor Makarov really didn't wish to think about such things.

Gray didn't feel like finding out, either. "Well, if you're that strong... then there's no need to hold back!" He put his hands together, cold air forming between them. "Ice Make..." Gaara noted that handseals were apparently needed for at least some magic. Gray then placed his hands on the ground. "....Geyser!" Gaara could feel the chakra extending from Gray to under his feet, and understood the exact nature of this technique. He immediately jumped into the air, his sand forming underneath him to both serve as a platform and as a defense. A moment afterwards, ice sprouted from the ground and began rising upwards in a spire made of ice-stalagmites. Gaara tried to rise as high as he could, but the ice eventually caught and froze his sand. He took a small portion of it and grew it into a pillar from the platform and rose himself higher, and the ice stopped growing short of his feet. Gray smirked at his handiwork. "And now you're out of your special sand."

Gaara stared down his opponent from his rather high perch. "If my sand were stopped so easily, I wouldn't use it." The ice began vibrating, and after a moment completely shattered- showing that the sand had formed many spikes. The sand softened, and Gaara landed back on his main platform, which lowered itself back to ground level. "You'll need to try different tactics in order to defeat me."

Gray smirked as he put his hands together again, but internally he was worried. The hell?! My ice shouldn't be so easily defeated! He said his specialty was "defense", but he could probably destroy anyone else's with that! "Alright, then... Ice Make... Bow!" A large bow with an ornate arrow appeared in his hand. "Let's see your sand get rid of this!" Gaara was rather confident in his defense, but he placed his sand in the arrow's path anyways. To be extra sure, he placed an extra layer of sand past his usual level of defense. Gray released the arrow, and nobody could even blink before the tip of the arrow was embedded rather deep in the sand... and an explosion of ice came out the other side.

However, the sand floated to the side, and a third layer of sand could be seen frozen beyond the first two. "Impressive... this sand is harder than steel." The ice shattered once more, and Gaara was revealed to be just fine. "To pierce it completely... if I had put all of my sand into a single defense, I could very well be dead. You placed a great deal of confidence in my abilities."

Gray smirked. "You stated defense as one of your specialties... I figured your defense was as overboard as your friend's attacks."

Gaara gave a slight smile. "Quite the assumption to make... well, I've shown the basics of my defense. Now to show my offense." The sand shifted, and a moment later the sand shot out at him. Gray was barely able to dodge the first shot, but a second was right behind it. Gray jumped out of the way, but both arms of sand turned faster than Gray would have ever expected, and enveloped his body- within moments, he was unable to move, his head the only thing exposed above the cocoon of sand that was now rising off of the ground.

"Well... that was unexpected."

Gaara didn't bother using any more force than necessary- if he couldn't move his hands, he more than likely couldn't do anything, as his magic was far more formulaic than that of the Dragon Slayer's. "Are you unable to fight back?"

Gray grit his teeth in frustration. He already saw that the boy could turn his sand into spikes- if he had wanted Gray dead, he would be already. ".....yes."

Makarov called the match. "Winner: Gaara!"

Max was shocked, as was the rest of Fairy Tail. "G-Gaara wins by a sandslide! The newcomers are two for two, so far- who will we see fight next?!" Gaara let his opponent go, and silently moved over to the Fairy Tail side next to Naruto, past the glaring Juvia, while his sand slid back into its gourd.

Matsuri was excited. "Of course Lord Gaara would defeat him! Lord Gaara will never suffer a defeat after... after..."

Sakura patted her on the shoulder. "Now that he knows that people want him, he won't be so willing to die anytime soon. Don't worry about it, alright?" Matsuri nodded appreciatively, while Hinata felt worried. Then why are you so willing to throw away your own life... Sakura?

- - -

Ending Notes

Personal Comments: I really do apologize for any perceived drop in quality, but combat scenes aren't my forte, and the beginning was... I don't even know. I also severely apologize for Natsu 'losing' (he gave up because it wasn't fun anymore), and Gray being defeated after only two moves (because he wasn't prepared for how powerful Gaara really was). Again, I'll prepare bonus chapters where Naruto and Gaara actually lose to mages who outclass them due to having a different specialty, as well as any other ninja who happen to win. If a ninja loses, then I'll make bonus chapters for them winning against mages they could've won against.

Also, I got the idea for there being a taboo on blood magic because of the throwaway gag when Plue is first summoned. I doubt I'm gonna bring it back up for a while yet.

Anyways, we're gonna need to get past all of these fights before we get on to the true plot, but the fights are going to set up how the other mages view each of the ninja in terms of personality and strength, as well as approachability (for instance, Naruto pretty much just screwed himself over in the 'making friends' department for the moment, but his strength will be respected and/or feared, if he even makes it in).

...and yes, I realize pretty much everyone else in the story said "Can I join?"and got the response "Sure!" The ninja are suspicious, first and foremost, so they're having a bit of an exam (note Max's statement about it being the first Fairy Tail had ever held).

Planned Fights:

Suggestions are helpful! These are just what I have planned for now, very little is actually written.

Sakura VS Lucy (I'm still writing this, I had a different fight planned but scratched it at the last minute)

Matsuri VS Juvia (Fan-girl Cat-fight! Already written out completely)

Temari VS Evergreen

Kankuro VS Bixlow (It just seems so appropriate; if you have a different suggestion, I'd love to hear it.)

Kakashi VS Erza (Like Kakashi would fight anyone else other than the magic-eyed hero team leader)

Raikage VS Elfman (Raikage needs a personality; Elfman's the guy to do it. I don't care how much of a curb-stomping it might end up being (poor Elfman D:), this seems to me like it will be a big step towards defining the Raikage in this story.)

Yamato VS Droy (It'll be a while yet before I write this, so it's definitely subject to change)

Bee VS Erza (Like Kakashi could do enough damage to Erza to keep her from a second fight :P )

Konan VS Macao (I know he's never actually fought, so I'm just gonna make him up as I go along based on his manga profile and anime filler flashback.)