Intro
Flashback
Naruto slept for a week straight, Sasuke sat, unable to bring himself to move from his friend, his only companions side. When he did wake, he woke screaming. For a full day he cried and screamed unintelligibly, Sasuke stayed by his side, made him eat, forced water down his throat.
The second day he was silent. For the whole morning the two sat, staring across the canopy from the tree they sat in. Until finally Naruto spoke.
"How long was i gone?" "It's been less than a month"
"I see. So time was different. I'm not sure how long it was for me. I lost track after 100 years"
"Naruto, what happened? Where are the biju?"
For awhile he didn't reply, as if the very act of thinking about it hurt.
"We didn't have enough power to escape, as seperate beings that is. So we merged. One by one i took their powers from them, starting at Ichi and working up.
We got to Kyu, and i couldn't do it, wouldn't. So he got mad. Told me their sacrifice was in vain if i stopped now"
"So did you do it?"
"I'm here aren't I"
Sasuke came back to reality with a gasp, sitting up in bed wrenching pants made his whole body convulse and shake with every breath in. He looked around his surroundings, some nondescript inn at some forgettable town, in the country of who cares.
What was he doing again?
Oh yes. That was it, the rapist.
The last town he'd been in had been in the process of rebuilding after a mage had torn though the place, stealing away two young girls and raping them, Sasuke had told them he would take care of it. He told himself it was for justice. That he was helping. Really he was just bored.
With a sigh he rose from his bed, throwing the covers to some corner of the room he stepped in front of the mirror, his 16 year old face stared back at him, good, that meant he didn't need to bother with shaving for another 3 years, he was a late bloomer in that at least. Giving his face a quick splash of water he left the room, picking up his small bag from the floor by the door where he'd dropped it the night before. Downstairs he gave a nod to the innkeeper, dropping the room key on the desk and walked straight out the door without a word, he had nothing to say.
The village was barely worth mentioning, a couple of houses, the Inn and a small corner shop, his questions at the bar last night had born fruit at least, he set out west as directed the night before off of the description of a creepy guy a pretty young farmers daughter had seen. The info had been worth putting up with an hour of her inane small talk and terrible attempts at flirting, he really did hate being young, 40+ that was the real age, people would respect you at 40.
He liked this country though, wherever it was, the people were friendly and there was less crime and poverty than usual, instead everyone seemed happy and open to greet a complete stranger like an everyday acquaintance. He'd spent the past life up north, after a fairly interesting youth hunting across the snowpack of the northern ice caps he'd gotten into mountain climbing, using no chakra just his hands and ice axes he'd spent his time summiting the highest peaks of the region. Eventually he'd gotten bored and just sat at the peak of the highest point in the region, frightening the life out of any that got to the top, just standing and staring, letting his red eyes do all the talking. In the end the cold had gotten to him, it took a while for his chakra network to shut down, but once it did he was practically mortal again, frostbite was a painful way to go, he'd decided. After that it was time for something new, so he descended down from his refuge and set out across the sea, hitting land under the cover of night and starting a new life once more.
This job was his favourite, traveling vagabond, just wander around bringing criminals to justice, eventually he'd probably end up pissing off the government or some local royalty, and then the real fun would begin.
Well he thought, setting off at a stroll down the path, let's see what you've got for me this time.
Page Break
Mages, Sasuke decided as he stared at the two identical trails leading down to opposite paths, were annoying. Magic was such an insane power system that at times just made no sense whatsoever, although he considered wistfully, maybe that's what he should have expected form a powersource made from radiated natural chakra and Naruto's full biju powered influence. Humans these days had really improved their way of life all things told. Magic was to most an everyday object, used to power cars and radios, only Mages would use it to fight and they were a vast minority to the everyday folk.
Sasuke had high hopes for this new version of humanity, there had been wars and conflicts in the past, no doubt, but his time, in this civilisation, he hoped they could go all the way to peace. At least that's what he told himself he thought, he tried desperately to ignore the whispers in the back of his head that said a nice little war would make things interesting around here again.
Getting back to the matter of hand he inspected the tracks before him, both being exactly identical, the trails of Etherno was identical to. An even split had occurred right where he stood and two bodies had seemingly split emerged from the same spot where there had once been one. An advanced clone technique, obviously, but which was the real one? He could of course create his own clone and follow both, but that would mean using a technique against his profile.
Sasuke had long decided to limit the techniques he could use in a certain life. This had two main benefits, firstly it made him seem more normal and allowed him to integrate into society easier and secondly, and maybe more importantly, it made the fights somewhat closer to a challenge. Witht the abilities he had chosen for this life he was limited to about upper S-rank in terms of local mages, not that he had fought one that strong yet, but he would. If there was one thing he had learned over his lifetime it was that there was no escaping whatever conflict existed within the world, somehow he would always get sucked in. One way or another.
Making his decision he set of down the left hand path, for no particular reason other than guess work, he hoped to find his victim soon, he was growing bored of this pursuit.
The tracks lead him down the forest path, it was a pleasant outing all in all, a nice warm day, no wind, and with his target still at least an hour or two away. Sasuke remained at a steady stroll as he walked along, he felt no rush, after all he had all the time in the world. This was the first step in sustaining long life, he had decided, take the time to enjoy the little things, there was really no point rushing around like any moment could be the last, it just wasn't true after all.
His steady pace took him out of the forest, the path following a stream it had met down into farmland, fields on both sides were filled with growing produce and the men labouring in the field, one looked up to see Sasuke, greeting him with a cheery wave.
"Good tidings traveller" He greeted jovally, "Fancy a quick rest, my wife is all set up in the farm just down the track, fresh tea and the best cakes in Fiore"
"Some tea would be welcome" Sasuke replied, "But i must continue on, have you seen any others down this road?"
"Ehh, just the one i think" the farmer seemed slightly puzzled by this change in conversation, "Passed through not an hour ago, scrawny looking fella, wore a weird hat with a scarf around his face, not the sort of clothes i'd be wearing this time of year that's for sure.
"I see, you have been most helpful, my thanks" Sasuke set off again, no faster no slower, he was getting close.
It was another two hours before Sasuke felt it, a presence on the edge of his senses more powerful than any other he had felt today. With a grim smile Sasuke finally started to move in earnest, picking up speed till he was more of a bullet, crossing the distance between him and his prey in leaping bounds at speeds faster than any other could handel. He was less than a mile away when he was finally sensed, his target suddenly flinching as he felt the shiver of intuition gained by any who have fought for their life before. Managing to turn just in time to sense the oncoming attack he dodged and rolled, avoiding the swipe that would have taken his head clean off.
Sasuke landed, skidding across the dirt, coming to a stop in a crouch. He rose up to stand tall above his foe, a sickly looking man, loose baggy clothing covering a pale frame that seemed almost deathly skinny. He did not say a word, there was no need to, the man knew what he had done and why he was being pursued.
His opponent drew a dagger from within his baggy coat, a gruesome blade, made of edged spikes and hooks that would cause more damage on the way out than in. With a snarl the man dived towards Sasuke, letting loose with a wide arced sweep, following up with three quick thrusts after the preliminary attack was dodged.
Sasuke danced between the strikes, onyx eyes carefully reading each movement and picking the path between them with grace and poise. The next swipe left his opponent over extended and Sasuke punished him severely with a kick to the guts.
The man wretched, bent forwards and breathing hard from the impact he had not time to dodge as Sasuke's follow up punch impacted squarely with his head. Knocked back into a tree the man gave a pitiful grown and slid down the tree trunk coming to rest at the bottom, groaning in pain as he held his head between his hands.
Sasuke relaxed back into his stance, that fight had been far too easy, not even enough to raise his pulse, sighing he moved towards the pathetic creature before him, ready to put him out of his misery once and for all. But stopped.
Turning, he frowned at the new presence he felt rushing towards his position at a considerable pace.
He waited for it to arrive, his suspicions confirmed when the man burst onto the scene. An exact replica of the man lying on the floor behind him, a clone. He watched as the man eyed Sasuke warily, moving closer and closer to his fallen double. Smirking Sasuke stepped aside, giving free passage to the fallen man. The clone eyed him closely, dashing to the side of the fallen man, eyes fixed on Sasuke, expecting an attack at any time.
Sasuke simply watched in interest as the clone reached for his double, Etherno gleaming as their skin made contact and the two began to glow and merge. The new figure rose from his crouch. His new body was far more defined, muscle clearly visible as his now tight clothing strained as it stretched with the flex of muscle as the man stretched out.
"Hahaha, you fool! You should not have let me done that! Now feel the full might of Asbado the feared mage of Serpents tongue!"
The man moved forwards at speed faster that any he had used before, fist cocked back, ready to deliver a devastating punch. Which Sasuke dodged with ease, swaying to the left. Only to stagger as another fist came out of nowhere, hitting him clean in the cheek.
He flinched from the impact and looked Asbado with new found interest. That had not been a normal attack. Letting the man rush him again, he watched closely as he dodged a kick, noticing with interest as the leg cleared it s arc, revealing the other leg hidden in the shadow of the first, somehow forming right from behind the other in away that almost seemed an after image of the first. Now wise to the plan Sasuke was able to dodge this too, stepping back, out of range of both attacks, he let himself grin for the first time in the fight. Finally, something interesting.
The next time Sasuke was attacked he was ready, so instead of dodging he grabbed the fist extended towards him, pulling the other man in towards him. Now off balance Asbado had no chance to follow up his attack as he was pulled off his feet and thrown high into the air by Sasuke, reaching a decent height above the ground before gravity took hold once more sending him spiraling down towards the floor. Sasuke watched his fall intently, waiting for the exact moment to time his move, taking two steps forward he unleashed a punishing upwards kick. Making contact with Asbado's rear and launching him howling into a tree, the same tree as before, which he impacted again with a resounding smack. Knocking him out for the count once again.
Sasuke stood over his victim, the smallest of grins turning the corners of his mouth. That had been slightly interesting, not a common fighting style very different to the way Nar- Naru-, his friend, used clones. Shaking his head, he dismissed the depressing thoughts, focusing back on the unconscious criminal before him.
He had two choices. The man was a disgusting leech on society. Sasuke could forgive many crimes, but rape was one of the worst. He had decided, this man did not deserve justice. His course decided, he reached back to grab a kunai from his pouch.
This was when two feet impacted the small of his back, sending him tumbling forward. Tripping over Asbado's motionless from and sending him sprawling into the dirt.
"Hahaha, die you miserable piece of shit" An evil cackle was let loose by the teenage girl, around 15 or so, who now stood over him, her rather revealing leather outfit drawing his eyes slightly before they snapped back to the rather demonic smile on her face as she raised a clawed hand above his face. "Prepare for desolation, you sick fuck", she swung her arm forward, the act letting loose a shockwave of pressurised air that sailed towards Sasuke, who leapt high to dodge it, landing on a branch overhead.
"Gorilla Fist!" The branch was shattered by the muscled youth who leapt from the tree's behind Sasuke, who was already jumping away, landing down in the clearing once more, now surrounded on both sides by the two white haired opponents.
"Nice one Ne-chan" Cheered the final member of the group, a smaller girl with equally pure White hair as she watched from the sidelines, "Beat up that rapist so we can get this done by this evening"
"You seem to be making a mistake" Sasuke stated, arms held out slightly in a peaceful gesture.
"Oh?, i don't think so pervert. The only mistake here is the life choices you made, prepare to die Asbado!" She made to charge again, only to stop as Sasuke held a hand out, pointing down towards her feet.
For the first time she noticed what she was standing on was actually the unconscious body of a man in his late 20s.
"Aah!" Jumping away she landed next to her sister, "Who is that?"
"That would be Asbado" Sasuke responded dryly, "I had just finished beating him up when you decided to attack me from behind"
The girl paused, suddenly unsure on what to do, she looked towards her companions both returning her look with equally confused expressions.
"Asbado, member of the Serpent's Tongue guild, that would be the symbol on his arm there right?" He pointed at the arm splayed across Asbado's chest, the red shape of a snake's mouth stamped right below the wrist.
"Huh, perhaps your right" lowering her arms the elder girl relaxed from her fighting pose, "That still leaves one question, who are you? This is our mission!" She raised a scroll of paper from the bag over her shoulder, on it a rather bad drawing of Asbado stared out with a sinister smile.
"Ah, i'm not on a mission, i arrived in the village after he attacked. I offered to find him for them and they accepted, i didn't know they would send out a quest for it. My apologies, the bounty is yours, i care little for money"
The girl let out a sigh, lowering the paper again, behind the other two, that must be her iblings, seemed a lot happier. "Woohoo, nice one! Free money for us!" Cheered the boy.
"Baka!" his sister smacked him across the head, quickly ending his celebration as he clutched his head and wined in pain. "We're not accepting the money, what are we a bunch of cheapskates, have some damn morals!". She turned back towards Sasuke, "Alright then thanks for the help, we'll take him back to the village for you, or your welcome to come along if you want i guess"
Sasuke paused, he couldn't kill the scum now, not now these children wanted to return him. He had noticed the rather pure hearted views of the local mages, an honorable if naive view point. Making his decision he nodded. "Yes, I will return with you, pleased to meet you, my name is Sasuke"
"Lisanna" Rushing forward, eager to make new friends the smallest of the trio stepped forwards, hand held high level with her head to reach up to his chest. "Pleased to meet you, Sasuke-san"
"Im Elfman" The muscled boy grunted, "And this hellion is my sister Mira" He dodged the swipe from said girl, who had released whatever magic had taken her, her flowing hair now settled and her claws turning back into normal hands. "We're mages of Fairy Tail, the greatest guild in Fiore!"
Page Break
Sasuke chuckled as the two elder siblings continued to bicker, the girl teasing and poking the boy who cringed and retreated from her. Beside him the younger girl continued to question him as she had done for the past half hour. "So you don't belong to any guild Sasuke-san? Why? Your pretty strong right, not many could take a kick from my sister like that and not even seem hurt"
"I never put my full strength behind that!" Mira was quick to but in and defend herself, "If i had been trying you would probably be dying from internal bleeding right now"
"Mira!" Lisanna groaned, "Stop being embarrassing"
Sasuke inwardly smiled at the girls bold claim, he would like to see the day she could even make him bruise. "No i don't belong to a guild Lisanna, I prefer to just wander around by myself, i don't really have any specific goal in mind"
"Huh, how pathetic" Mira scoffed from infront "If you have no goal, you have no purpose in life, you may as well just die" She ignored the shocked chastisations from her sister looking over at the tall stranger, just catching the sudden look of emptiness and defeat in his eyes before his expression relaxed once more into vague indifference.
"I'm so sorry about my sister, unfortunately all her growth has gone to her muscles, she barely has the brain of an 8 year old"
Crash. Elfman's head impacted the dirt as Mira stalked off, muttering to herself about stupid brothers. Sasuke let out a short laugh at the young man's fate, shifting the tightly bound Asbado over to his other shoulder as he continued walking along.
They were an amusing group.
It took 2 hours to walk to the nearest major town, upon arrival Mira headed to the local enforcement to hand over their prisoner.
"What do you mean you can't take him!"
"I'm sorry!" The hapless guard cowered before the raging girl before him "We have no magical suppressors on hand, we have no way to contain him when he wakes"
"Well i don't want him" Mira yelled, and began prodding the guard in the chest "What should we do with him then? It will take ages to walk back to hargeon with him over our shoulders"
"I'm very sorry, please let me take you in my four-wheeler, i can drive you all to Hargeon, we can be there in 2 hours"
"Hmm fine, except one thing, i will drive. I have far more magic than you we can be there in an hour and you'll be fresh to get home by yourself"
"Ok right, thanks" The man tried to look thankful, even as the idea of turning his prised possession over to this young girl made him feel sick. It wasn't helped by the horrified looks on two of her companions. "Mira please don't drive, your always way too fast", "Yeah sis, why don't you just let Elfman drive"
"Shut up both of you! I'm a perfectly capable driver, I'll have us home for dinner, now get on" and with that she jumped into the driver's seat of the vehicle, glaring down at her siblings until they reluctantly climbed in the back. Sasuke heaved Asbado's body into the rear luggage area before jumping up after it, perching on a corner seat with his feet up on the mans face.
"You know, i've never been on one of these things before how fast are theeeyyyy" His final words streched and blurred as they took off like a rocket, Mira gunning the car for all it had grinning like a loon the entire time. Sasuke narrowly avoided falling out, grabbing the back of his seat just in time, he let out a surprised laugh as they raced down the road scattering carts and pedestrians in their wake, this was a fun way to travel, he needed to try this himself.
Page Break
It was Sasuke's belief that Chakra was a living thing, that it responded to will. If someone was a good person, as in truly saintful, then his good will would flow into all that he did until anyone in the vicinity would be subconsciously infected by his mood. As Sasuke stared up at the wooden guild hall, it's banners and flags fluttering happily in the light breeze, he was filled with a sense of intense happiness and wonder. This building was giving off the largest subconscious euphoria he had ever felt. How? Why? Was this guild truly as amazing as the three had been boasting for the entire trip?
"Are you coming Sasuke?" Snapped out of his reverie he looked down to see Mira at the entrance way waiting for him.
"Ah Sorry" He started towards her, shifting the still motionless body on his back.
"Thats fine, its good to see how impressed you are with our awesome guild! Just wait till you see inside though!" She ran in ahead of him, leaving him to speed up to try and keep up with her. He followed her through the doors, the background noise instantly picking up the second he arrived inside so that it was now more of a constant roar of conversation and laughter. Sasuke looked around, taking in the room full of happy members, drinking and chatting, at the front a bar was doing a roaring trade, the three serving girls rushing back and forth to keep up with the demanding drinkers. In one corner a bunch of kids were cheering as two in the centre attempted to punch the crap out of each other, on the sidelines Lisanna looked on in exasperation, in her arms a blue cat cheered as the pink haired fighter delivered a sharp uppercut to the jaws of his shirtless rival.
"Come on Sasuke" His arm was pulled away by Mira who had been waiting impatiently by his side. She dragged him forward to a table where a tall red headed man sat opposite a wrinkled old man, who lay passed out on the table, one hand still clutching a half full cup of ale.
"Oy Master, im back. We had to bring the bastard back here, there were no magical suppressing cuffs at the guard house, this is Sasuke by the way, he helped us take down the target"
"Pleasure to meet you" Sasuke bowed to the red headed man, who blinked and looked around.
"Eh, no, haha i'm not the master kid. He is" The man pulled the old drunk up by his ridiculous orange hat that somehow stayed attached to his head, "Oy, wake up you alcoholic" He dropped him again, letting the mans chin hit painfully into the table and waking up with a start.
"Huh, what's that now?" he sleepily replied, rubbing his eyes "Oh my head, why d'ya wake me up Gildarts?"
"Because you shouldn't be sleeping on the job you useless old man. Now were you listening or do i need to repeat myself"
"No no, i was listening" The old man shrank away from Mira who had stepped menacingly close to him, fist already raised. "Just stick him downstairs for now, he shouldn't be able to cause much trouble down there, his power wont let him break iron bars will it?"
Mira turned to Sasuke, unsure of the answer herself as they never actually fought him.
"No, he should be fine there, he's pretty weak"
"Well then, seems like theres no problems whatsoever! Now Mira introduce your new friend properly sit down and have a drink son, what's your poison"
"Master No! He can't be any older than me dont make hi-"
"Sake, if you have any please"
"Oh thats what i like to see" The master cheered as Mira turned angrily to Sasuke, "Oy Rene-chan bottle of Sasuke for our guest. You have good taste Sasuke my boy, oh here we go" He grabbed the bottle and saucers from the cute barmaid and poured them each a generous serving, "Hey Gildarts. Want in?"
"Hmm, nah i'll stick to my beer thanks, mixing drinks is for fools"
"Mah, what about you then Mira, oh" He trailed off as the girl had already turned her nose up and walked away, clearly miffed about being passed over for drinks. "Haha women, am i right Sasuke" the master laughed to his own joke, downing his saucer and quickly pouring himself another.
Sasuke grinned and nodded, slowly sipping from his own, it really was quite good liqueur. Now that no one was questioning him he had time to look around the room again. His eyes returned to the cat that had caught his interest earlier. Looking round to check no one was paying him any attention he risked a flash of Sharingan, activating it for less than a second, faster than the human eye could even see.
Within that half second the room lit up, his sharingan tracked chakra thanks to its rinnegan properties. All mages, most lifeforms carried his signature, well a mixture of his and Nar- Naru- , his friends, signature. All except one, at the back corner the kids continued playing, and Lisanna hugged the small blue cat. The cat which to his eyes was dead, it contained no life, it contained no Etherno.
No, considering the image saved to his brain again, he focused more on the core of the animal, around its heart a greyish energy moved, an energy he did not recognise and his sharingan didn't pick up.
An energy not of this world.
"Well Sasuke" The master was looking at him carefully now, as was his companion. For the briefest of seconds they had both felt something powerful, something sinister from the boy in front of them, though now he seemed the picture of grace once again. "What do you want to do now, you really helped out on that mission, your welcome to stick around for a bit"
"Yes" Sasuke agreed, his eyes upon the master, but his focus, all his thoughts were upon the new mystery in front of him. A mystery he would solve. "I think I'll stay for a few days or so, at the least. This place is, interesting"
"Well then" The master was smiling now and he stood on the table, sake cup in hand. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"
Sasuke walked beneath the canopy of the forest. Pale rats of light flickering through the swaying branches above illuminated patches of ground below, creating pockets of shadow and light. He parted the swaying branches in front to enter the clearing ahead, to his left another entered from the east.
"Nothing?" He questioned, voice scratchy and rough from disuse. His only reply was a shake of the head, Naruto looked despondent, the blonde unused to the silence in his head now his constant companions were gone.
"Then that's it we truly are alone, Humanity is dead"
"Not yet" Naruto's voice was dead and toneless, none of the brightness he usually possessed present. His right arm was extended and within his hand he held what could only be a human heart, somehow beating and alive without the body to surround it. Naruto's eyes gleamed and the breeze picked up his long flowing hair to swirl round his head until he was wreathed in a blonde glow.
"It's time to play god"
And Chapter two done. Wow guys thanks for the response on that first one, really made me want to get this one out faster, but don't expect this normally, i'll usually be only once a week, we'll see if i get another one done this weekend. Probably not though, i've got a friends 21st birthday so we are going to get smashed. Lads Lads Lads.
Responses to reviews,
Yeah Sasuke's going to be acting a bit oddly, some noticed that he was acting strangely after his first resurrection, you'll notice he's getting weirder now, he has no real hold on his personality and his interests are all over the place. His moral compass is a goddam roulette wheel, you could say.
Some also criticised the powers that could beat Naruto, do remember these are boasts from the guys who destroyed the world by accident, they didn't really know what they were doing, nevertheless there will be stuff in this series that is a threat to Sasuke, and throwing someone into an endless void is a proven technique for dealing with immortals.
Also please point out any mistakes regarding fairy tail lore, my interest in fairy tail came and went fairly quickly and while i've read the whole manga i won't reread it just for this. Fairy tail was good but it wasn't great, same goes for Naruto tbh. I'm not sure if everyone realises this but i think the reason Naruto has the most fanfics is because it's got the best world for extending yourself.
Here me out here, the Naruto world is both strictly defined, e.g villages, leaders, power levels, a heavy lore, backstory for every village back to the times of the first kage and before. Meaning fanfic writers don't need to come up with it themselves, but is also free as there's still all the little countries and secret societies to allow shenanigans, plus we now know the motivations for most characters, a very important thing when changing the plot of a story.
Compare this to say One Piece, OP has fantastic world building, BUT is so unknown, there's a million different loose plot threads in OP, heck we still dont know the main villain or what the hell will of D is, and we have next to no idea how it all connects making any au or any story which does not strictly follow the manga quite hard or makes it very creative.
Compare again to Naruto, im going to use example Black Cloaks red clouds, Fantastic fic, one of my faves, a very small change is made early in the timeline, but because we know the show so well we can predict the exact changes that will happen because of this so that when it gets to cannon time it has diverged so much you cant even recognise it as the same show leading to amazing storylines, btw i cried at the final Naruto scene in that fic, i had been rooting so hard for them to kill him only for dat plot twist.
Ok sorry for the long rant i'm done, Fave and Review. What's your favourite large AU fic?
Peace.