The King hummed happily into the hair of his Queen as they both lay entangled in his bed. It had been nearly a week since his return and things were going smoothly to say the least. He had been spending most of his time getting back into the swing of things with the rest of his guildmates. That of course meant excessive partying over the last five days and Naruto wouldn't have it any other way.
While he had spent a lot of time simply catching up with the other members of Fairy Tail or drinking and singing just slightly off key with them he had dedicated a lot of that time reacquainting himself with the guild specifically for Erza. They had hardly left their house for a couple days and Naruto realized he really needed to clean it up.
They had to tone their time together down a bit. Erza was already walking with a very pronounced hip and yesterday it took an hour before she could feel her legs enough to get out of bed. Naruto had felt somewhat bad about that until Erza had gotten comically upset about the idea of him not providing the same level of intensity next time and the time after and so on and so on.
"A small price to pay I would think." Tsunade commented, getting grimaces from Hashirama, Tobirama, and Naruto.
"Granny, can you not?" Naruto muttered.
Those seemed to be the wrong words as the busty blonds eyes locked onto him. "Hey, you don't hear me tell you anything about the groupies you've found yourself enjoying do you? So zip it."
Really his Queen had been awfully clingy since he got back but he couldn't really blame her. He still felt awful for causing her to think he was dead for so long. Now he was back though and things needed to be put right. Fairy Tail was still the number one guild but Fiore itself had gained a shadow over it since his absence. No doubt the seeds had already been there but his experiences with Cairnholt had opened his eyes to seeing the problems more easily.
He couldn't just actively go against the government though. The moment he even stepped out of line he would be labeled a dark mage and his guild might even be dragged down with him. He had no doubt that Fairy Tail would happily go down for one of their own, but his position among the guild was such that he was one of its most public faces, even after being gone for so long. Any action he made would reflect heavily back on the guild so he would have to wait to really do anything about Fiore and the magic council when an opportunity presented itself.
"Mmm, Naruto, do you want to go out for breakfast?" Erza said after an adorable yawn as she peeked up at her lover through her bangs.
"Of course, but we'll need a shower first. Pretty sure not just Natsu will be able to smell us if we go out before that." Naruto said.
"So there's dark mages huh?" Sasuke muttered.
"Yeah, evil mages who mostly do whatever they want." Natsu told him.
Gray rubbed his chin in thought before adding onto his friend's statement. "Truth be told though, you can be labeled a dark mage just for using certain magic. Even if it was for a good reason, the moment the council deems you dark, that's it."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. That was dangerous. They were almost begging for people to turn against them if that's how they operated.
Erza giggled until she got an actual whiff of their joint stench and grimaced. They might need to wash the bedding as well. Probably clean off the table and countertop as well while they were at it.
"Maybe we should shoot for lunch…we actually have a lot of cleaning to do before we leave the house." Erza said as she lifted her head up to look at the strewn about clothes on the floor and practically every other surface in the bedroom. She wondered how her bra got pinned to the wall with a toothpick but figured that line of thought would lead to other memories and that in turn would lead to things that would keep them inside the house for the rest of the day.
The two 'royals' of Fairy Tail set about cleaning up their home before grabbing showers, separately. Self control was such an underrated ability in Naruto's mind. His girlfriend pressed the limits of it with every sway of her hips and every smile from her lips, but if he imagined it as some kind of weird ass training he could keep from pawing at her every half hour. The same could be said from Erza though she did do a somewhat better job of hiding it, as long as she didn't look directly at her boyfriend.
"Where should we go for lunch anyway?" Naruto asked as he pulled on his boots.
"Hmm, we could always try that cafe by the canal." She said hopefully.
"Erza, I would be happy to take you there sometime but we need to get an actual meal, not just cake." Naruto said with an eye roll.
"So cake to her is like ramen to you." Sai commented.
"I eat other things." Naruto argued weakly.
Sakura nodded, conceding that point but pressed on. "Yeah, but most of your diet has consisted of ramen with the occasional different meal. And that's only to get people off your back for your bad eating habits."
"They serve other things." She argued weakly.
"Really? What else besides desserts and other sweets do they have?" He asked with a smirk as she wilted slightly.
"Tea?" She suggested.
"Right. You remain adorable but I want some real food. Not just sweets and tea." Naruto said with a small chuckle.
"Fine." The redhead pouted playfully before shrugging. "Honestly the best place to eat in magnolia is probably the guild. Mira can whip something up for us."
Naruto frowned slightly before he caught himself and attempted to hide his expression. Erza noticed it before he could though. She let out a long, suffering sigh and snatched up Naruto's hand between her own.
"Naruto she really has changed from that brat all those years ago. She's my best friend even." Erza tried.
"I remember how Mira used to be. Scary." Natsu shuddered. While the woman was kind now, back then it was a completely different person.
Gray nodded. "I know what you mean. You couldn't say anything around her without getting beat."
Mira smiled at the two boys. "You know I can hear you guys right?"
The two shuddered once again, this time because they were sure they saw the image of her satan soul hovering behind her.
"Wha- Nope, I am your best friend." Naruto argued childishly as he let Erza pull him to his feet.
"You're far more than that and you know it. Mirajane really is my friend though Naruto. Please give her a chance. I think you two could really get along if you did." Erza said with her big doe like eyes making the man groan as he knew he would give in.
"Fine, Fine. But! And here is the caveat Erza, if I do somehow end up getting poisoned by her because she has secretly been holding a grudge this whole time I am holding it over your head for the rest of your life. " Naruto said, causing her to giggle.
"Sure, you can do that, but when you end up falling for her and her food and try to bring her in for a threesome I get to tell you I told you so." Erza replied.
Naruto looked over at Erza with wide eyes. Had she really just suggested that?
Mira likewise gave her redheaded friend a look that said she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. She glanced at Naruto and blushed slightly. The mental images of what she'd heard rang through her mind.
The description of what Erza had gone through sounded like something that would certainly make any woman's day. The question now was if she was serious or just messing with the blond.
Naruto choked on air at that thought and glared at his girlfriend as she cackled at his reaction. She was far too playful today.
"Whatever, let's just go eat. I'm starving now." Naruto mumbled as he led the giggling redhead toward the guild hall.
The Fairy Tail guild was as lively as ever. A couple of small brawls were going in the corners. Singing and drinking were heard throughout the building despite how early in the day it was and overall the building was crowded and in high spirits.
"Drinking first thing in the morning?" Naruto questioned. "Granny, you would fit in perfectly there."
Naruto was fortunate Tsunade wasn't sitting next to him as he was sure he would've gotten a punch to the face for that.
Naruto pulled Erza up to a booth and the couple slid in and waved over at the bar to call for their order. As expected Mira strolled over with a broad smile, though it did become a little nervous when turned toward Naruto who also had a somewhat tight smile directed back at the girl until Lisanna joined them all dressed with an apron like her elder sister.
"Lisanna? You work here now too?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Yeah, big sis here was willing to show me the ropes, it's a pretty good source of income between missions. I get to catch up with everyone in the guild while doing it too. Felt like nothing but a win around the board you know?" The younger girl smiled at her teacher.
"As long as you are enjoying it. I'm glad you get to spend more time with your sister, I know she missed you terribly." Erza said with a warm smile of her own directed toward the sweetest of the Strauss family.
"I'm sorry for that." Naruto offered toward Mira causing the older girl to blink in shock.
"No! Err, no, don't apologize. You went to another world to find Lisanna and took her under your wing as a student. You don't ever need to apologize to me in regards to her. I trust her and you completely." Mira said getting a surprised look from Naruto at the passion the woman was speaking with.
"Just how different was she if they're this surprised?" Hashirama asked.
"Very." All the members of Fairy Tail replied at the same time. "The disappearance of her sister changed her, but Naruto wasn't around to experience that change. To him, she would still be relatively the same as when he left, so I imagine this is quite the shock to him." Makarov replied.
Afterward an awkward silence descended onto the table for a moment during which no one wanted to make too much eye contact. Just as the silence became unbearable an unexpected hero came to the rescue.
"Naruto! I challenge you so get your ass up and fight me!" Natsu roared when he saw Naruto.
As the pink haired loudmouth sprinted toward Naruto, Oberon gently pushed Mira and Lisanna out of the path of the fire breathing projectile. Just as he reached the spot Mira had previously been standing Naruto's foot snapped out and sent the boy up through the ceiling of the building and out somewhere into the town. Happy went flying after him, both to pick on and check on him.
"Brat." He huffed, though he was happy that Natsu had interrupted whatever the hell it was they had been doing prior to his attack.
"Natsu never changes." Lisanna said with a smile. Not seemingly the slightest bit worried about the boy she had a special connection with.
"That's good, he might get on people's nerves and cause a lot of trouble but he's honest to a fault and while he might be kinda dumb he can liven things up." Naruto said with a smile.
"I really just got complimented and insulted in the same breath." Natsu pouted, causing his guildmates to laugh. "I also don't cause people a lot of trouble."
The members of Fairy tail looked at him with faces of disbelief. Even Gray who participated in getting on people's nerves couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
"I'm not even one of them and I know that's a lie." Kakashi commented. "The kid reminded him of a reskinned Gai or Lee, so he already knew what kind of headaches they caused."
"Yeah. So what did you two want to order, we have some chowder and hot ham and cheese sandwiches for the special, so it's cheaper." Mira brought up.
Oberon and Titania made their orders and enjoyed the atmosphere of their guild while they waited, chatting idly. Neither really paying too much attention to their surroundings or the pair of brown eyes that were curiously flicking over to them time and again. As the pair ate, Lucy tried her best not to stare at them but when they finished eating and Erza stood up and began making her way directly over to her, the blonde panicked slightly.
"Lucy, what are you doing?" Erza asked as Lucy tried her best to act nonchalant.
"Uh, oh Erza! When did you come in? What a surprise, not that it would be a surprise that you are in the guild being as you are the Titania and everything. I mean I'm sure you're always here, er well that's not to say you just laze around her all day. It would be cool if you did though, I mean who would tell you no, you're you after all…" Lucy rambled while Erza continued to blink at her with a confused stare.
"Gahh, sorry I just have been trying to work up the nerve to ask you and Oberon to bail me out of this mess Natsu got us into. Just before Naruto punted him through the roof he signed us up for some quest to hunt down a monster terrorizing farms near Jasshire Station. I know Natsu is pretty strong but from what it sounds like a couple wizards have already been defeated by the monster and I just wanted to make sure we could handle it." Lucy vomited the words up quickly.
"Jeez is she always like this?" Naruto asked, causing the blonde to jolt back in shock as she hadn't noticed he had joined them.
"The girl is probably not used to that kind of thing." Sakura said defending Lucy. "Not everyone is like you or Sasuke who will go head on against anything."
Naruto blinked in confusion "why are you telling me though? I'm not there."
"You kind of are. That's you." Tsunade pointed out.
Naruto shook his head. He's him. And I'm me"
"That's what I just said." The blond Hokage repeated.
"Are they always like this?" Mira whispered to Sasuke.
The Uchiha pinched his nose and ignored the pats on the back Sakura was giving him due to his reaction. "More than I'd like to deal with."
"A little bit. She seems a bit worse than usual today though." Erza commented.
"Why though?" Naruto asked, turning to face Lucy who had just finished scowling at him for scaring her.
"It's Natsu's fault. He has been telling her all about all the times you beat him up when you were kids." Happy said as he flew in, dragging a groaning Natsu with him.
"Beat him up? I didn't do that." Naruto said a little offended by the suggestion.
"Yeah, the only reason Naruto ever beat him at allis cause Natsu literally asked for it. Challenging him over and over." Gray said from the booth behind Lucy, scaring her again and causing her to jump again and begin glaring at the Ice mage.
"Anyway, so you want us to come with you on this mission?" Erza asked as Lucy turned back to face the Royal Couple.
"Can't really be mad if he went to ask for it." Hashirama commented.
"Yeah but he punted him through the ceiling." Tsunade told her grandfather only for the shinobi under her command to give her a flat stare.
"Granny, I've seen you punch people out of the window for sneezing the wrong way." Naruto pointed out.
Natsu's eyes widened. This lady was potentially worse than Erza.
"Yes, please. Gray you too. I heard that there might be more than one monster even. I don't really know what to expect other than this mission was taken by some wizards in the past and they all failed miserably." Lucy said worriedly.
"I needed a quest to get back into the swing of things anyway. What do you say Erza?`` Naruto asked the redhead.
"I'm always happy to help a fellow guildmate when I can. Sure we'll join you." Erza agreed.
"Well I-" Gray began only to be interrupted.
"Gray you carry Natsu home and help him pack, then you two and Happy meet the three of us at the train station. Lucy we'll need you there when we add our names to the registry so that it doesn't look like we're poaching jobs." Naruto said ignoring the flabbergasted look Gray gave him at being volun-told into something…again.
"I know the feeling." Sai said. Thought it worked out well for him since he made some good friends, he was well used to being told what to do.
Gray shook his head. "I'm not sure you do. They're slave drivers. I'm more of a mule that can use ice to them."
Team 7 blinked in surprise. Ice? They instantly remembered Haku who was proficient with ice and wondered how Gray stacked up.
"Can you travel through the ice?" Naruto questioned.
"I can travel across it. I never thought about through it."
Sakura knew where Naruto was going with this and added on. "Try making a dome out of pnela of ice and see if you can travel through them. It would certainly help you out if you were able."
Makarov and Erza thought that seemed to specific to be just an idea.
"They must have known someone who can do that. Whoever it was, they left an impression" the old man thought.
With that the group all set out to complete their preparations. Jasshire Station was near the end of the Eastern Line railroad. That meant it wasn't a terribly long journey but depending on the mission they might have to stay at one of the surrounding villages for a few days to make sure they did the job correctly. So each member of the team went and packed up their clothes and other necessities.
Naruto also had to go and tell his student that he would be away on a mission. She was more or less finished learning what she could from him anyway, but it was common courtesy to at least let her know. Plus like any dedicated apprentice she often checked in on her teacher to make sure he was doing fine. Lisanna had stopped doing that on the second day after their return as she realized why it was that Naruto wasn't coming to the guild as often as she was. She also learned why Erza was also absent at the same time.
Within an hour the team was assembled at the train station. Natsu complained loudly about having to suffer through transportation. After a couple of moments of trying to explain to the dragon slayer that they couldn't walk all the way to Jasshire Station on foot in the time frame that they needed Naruto became fed up and drove a fist into the younger boy's gut knocking him out. He easily caught him as he fell and slung the pink haired terror over his shoulder with ease.
"Much less tolerant of people I see." Sasuke commented to the blond.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "I'm sure it's something between us. Maybe he punches me back randomly."
Natsu denied this vehemently. "If I tried that I would get skinned by Erza."
"No wonder you two make such a great couple." Lucy commented at the sight.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, Erza did the same thing to help Natsu deal with riding the train when we took the Eisenwald quest with her." Lucy explained.
"Wait…this helps him deal with transport. That's a great idea, smart thinking Erza." Naruto complimented while Lucy stared at the tall blond man in horror.
Naruto had no rebuttal for what had just been said. That wasn't really him but he wouldn't do something like that, no matter how many times he wanted to.
"It's actually a pretty efficient method of shutting people up. I did it to Suigetsu a few times." Sasuke replied.
Sakura and Tsunade both nodded as well. Women of their temper had done this on numerous occasion to patients. Not that that info would ever get out.
'Wait, did he just knock out Natsu cause he was annoyed by him then?' Lucy screamed in her mind. It was true, Fairy Tail really was a guild of monsters. And the scary part was she somehow fit in.
While Lucy had a mild existential crisis Naruto and Erza led the group onto the train and Naruto convinced his girlfriend to tell him about this Eisenwald quest Lucy had mentioned, as they rode to their destination.
"So, you guys fought and defeated a demon of Zeref?" Naruto asked seriously, catching even Erza a bit off guard, though the redhead recovered quickly and nodded back with a stoic look on her face.
"Lisanna and I encountered two of them on our way back home. Both within Fiore's borders. There is now way that this is a coincidence." Naruto said with a frown.
"What do you think is going on then Naruto?" Gray asked the older boy.
"I couldn't say. I have a few ideas I guess but they are all sort of crazy. Though some are more worrisome than others." Naruto answered Gray, however he shot Erza a glance at that getting an understanding look from his girlfriend. She knew the worrisome ideas he was talking about. The same thoughts had given her nightmares before.
"Zeref?" Tobirama questioned.
"He was the strongest dark mage in the world." Makarov replied seriously. "Though he's long gone, some of the demons he created have stayed around."
The shinobi were reminded of Kaguya, or rather Zetsu. He was the living being that had remained after she had been sealed away. The thought of someone like her in that world filled them with worry.
Zeref wouldn't have been mentioned for no reason.
"Does the magic council know about the fact that more demons of Zeref have been coming around?" Gray asked.
"You know they are more concerned with their image than actual issues. They might know but even if they did, if they consider the demons contained they might just place a bounty on the demon and label it as something else and hope the guilds take care of it. Actually, kind of like this job. Would be a perfect cover for taking care of a demon." Naruto said thoughtfully.
"No. No way!" Lucy groaned. "Why would you say that now it's definitely gunna be true."
"Relax Lucy, what's the worst that could happen?" Gray asked, causing the blonde to nearly scream at him.
"Shut up Gray! You're making it worse!" Lucy bellowed.
"Lucy is right, you know?" Tsunade agreed. "Now you've pretty much doomed the mission"
Gray waves her off though he looked uncertain. "I'm sure like most stories it's exaggerated. We're gonna be fine."
The shinobi glanced at each other and withheld a sigh. They didn't realize that with Naruto there, things wouldn't be that easy.
"I know you guys aren't thinking negatively about me." The shinobi shook their heads, minus Tobirama and Sasuke who freely admitted they were. Their words caused them to stare at each other and frown.
"Lucy calm down, we're all here. It's going to be a piece of cake while we're together." Erza said as she jokingly pulled a plastic wrapped slice of cake from her bag to enjoy. Lucy simply whimpered as Gray and Naruto both chuckled at Erza's joke.
"Do I want to know how long you have carried that around with you to make that joke?" Naruto asked with a big grin.
"Probably not." Erza said simply as she dug into her treat.
Jasshire Station
Team Royal stepped off the train at the small station and took in the countryside just beyond. It was mostly farmland with a few small wooded areas. As Naruto continued to carry Natsu like a sack under one arm he led the small group down off of the platform and toward one of the few buildings built alongside the station.
"Team Royal." Naruto repeated. "I like the sound of that. Maybe we can make something like that stick with me."
"You are the king of fairies Naruto. Nothing will change that." Sai replied with a smile.
Naruto grit his teeth, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face. A hand on his lap from Erza stopped that train of thought. She just looked at him and shook her head.
"Don't let them get to you. It's a good nickname."
"Grand Heights Resort?" Lucy read off the building's title. "It's a joke name right? It's not even a real inn. It's a house."
"It'll do as a place to stay for the quest. Plus we can hopefully get some leads as to what we are dealing with here." Naruto said.
As they entered the building they were surprised to find that the little house was crowded with people. Farmers mostly. Pushing their way through the crowd to what appeared the most like a front counter. Behind it sat a young woman with brown hair who smiled awkwardly and apologetically at the group approaching them.
"I'm sorry but as I'm sure you can see we have no vacancy. Our h-Inn, our Inn wasn't made for so much traffic at once." The girl said.
"I see that. What's going on?" Erza asked.
"Out of towners? That's rare. Anyway everyone is trying to get out of the area but train tickets have shot up in price with demand. It's terrible really." The girl explained.
"Everyone is trying to leave town?" Kakashi hummed.
"Maybe one of the demons they mentioned is around." Minato hypothesized.
"Price gouging when folks are trying to survive? That's pretty low." Naruto said with narrowed eyes.
"That's what Pa and I thought too. That's why we opened the inn up for them all to stay till they figure something out for themselves. Soon though we won't be able to do anything more for them all." She seemed very distraught about that fact.
"You and your father seem like good people to take in others like this." Lucy said with a smile, trying to ease the girl's troubled mind.
"Hopefully we can help to alleviate the issue some as well. We're here because we took over a quest that has been floating around for a few weeks. Something about a monster attacking the farms and hamlets out here. Any information you can give us about that?" Naruto asked.
The girl grew more worried at that. She began to shake her head at the mere thought of more people going after the monster.
"You just made things worse son." He said.
Naruto sighed. Things were already going bad. This was just proving what everyone already thought.
"You can't. It's already killed seven wizards that were sent to handle it. It's taken out entire hamlets and farms have been destroyed in single nights. I don't think anyone short of a wizard saint could stop it." She said in worry.
"Wizard saint?" Tobirama asked.
"Ten of the most powerful mages on the continent." Erza informed them.
Everyone instantly thought of a certain organization. While it sounded good on paper, when ten people that strong came together it was usually not for good. Maybe this place would be different however.
Sasuke was now intrigued by these wizard saints. So far he hadn't seen anything remarkable. For these to be the top ten, they had to have some incredible magic.
"She's right." Another voice cut in, pulling the attention of the group to a farmhand that seemed to have become little more than a living breathing bruise.
"I assume you've seen this monster?" Gray asked.
"Hmm, nope. I turned and ran the moment everyone started screaming, I just got run over by my fellow villagers when I tripped." The man said sheepishly.
"Sorry 'bout that Tom." A voice called out from the back of the crowded room.
"Bah, water under the bridge Marco. No harm done." Tom replied back, causing the Fairy Tail wizards to look at one another as the man brushed off his near death experience so easily.
"So we still don't know what we're dealing with then." Gray said.
Natsu and Naruto both withheld chuckles at the image that appeared of the man being trampled. It seemed more comical than anything else.
"I know you're not laughing at that man's unfortunate accident." Minato tried to chastise. He didn't get the chance to be a parent once but here, maybe now he would be able to. If only for a moment.
Unfortunately even hashirama found himself chuckling along, which only fueled the others to laugh as well.
"Who cares!" Natsu, who had only just woken back up, roared from his spot in Naruto's arms.
"There's a monster that needs to be slayed and I'm all fired up!" The pinkette hollered.
"Shut up Natsu, you're being a bad house guest." Naruto said as he shook the boy roughly causing him to become sick briefly until Naruto set him down on his own two feet.
"I can tell you some things about that damned monster." An elderly voice spoke up then.
The crowd parted slightly allowing room for an old woman to slowly approach the team from the back of the room. She was hunched over with age but had clearly been a strong and respectable woman in her youth judging by the look her old grey eyes held.
Naruto opened his mouth only to have it snapped shut by Sakura.
By now the Fairy Tail was well aware of the familiar relationship the two blonds had and was certain he'd be punted just like Natsu if he finished that sentence.
"It comes every night at sunset. Thunders up to whatever farmhouse or homestead it wants to tear into and just starts ripping into it like hogs do their slop. Doesn't really come after folks in particular unless they make a lot of ruckus or attack it. Damned thing is some sort of twisted Minotaur or something. Except giant by all measures. Taller than the biggest barn around here and fast as can be." She said, jabbing at the team with her walking stick to emphasize the points about how large the creature was.
"Any idea where it is going to attack next?" Erza asked.
"That's easy. It's been following the same path along the river since all this nonsense began. No clue where it will go after that but next will be the Riddle family farm. It's abandoned but the damned creature hasn't cared about such a thing in the past." The old woman said.
"Thank you. If you could all tell us about some of the specific features of the-" Naruto began only to pause.
"Where is Natsu?" He asked his team. They all turned to look at the empty spot their teammate had previously inhabited a moment before.
"I'm willing to bet all the money in my pocket he went to riddle farm." Gray facepalmed.
"A fools bet if there ever was one Gray." Mira replied with an amused smile. They really should've seen this coming.
"Heh, I'll show you guys. By the time you catch up I'll have taken care of it already!" Natsu yelled enthusiastically.
Despite not being from their world, Naruto couldn't help but doubt that statement.
"That idiot!" Lucy cried out.
"Leave it to flame brain to run off half cocked. We better catch up to him before he gets himself killed, guys." Gray pointed out.
Naruto frowned. He didn't like going into a possible fight with as little information as they had but their teammate hadn't left them with much of a choice. He didn't say anything to the others. They followed him as he took off on the trail of their, quite literally, hot-headed teammate.
"Another difference." Kakashi noted.
Sai agreed. "You usually go straight into battle without information. The only exception was pain."
"You guys are always bringing up the past. I'm different now."
Not even Minato believed that. His personality took after his mother, and that was all the proof he needed.
Thankfully they caught up to him before they even reached the river and found him headed in the wrong direction. Back toward where the already destroyed farms already were.
"Natsu, what are you doing? The old lady said that the monster was going to attack that farm over there tonight." Happy tried to say as he pointed at the next, still standing set of buildings aloft the river.
"Maybe so, but that monster is this way. It smells weird, but kinda familiar too." Natsu said.
"Hmm." Naruto paused at that thought. He hadn't realized that perhaps Natsu's nose was good enough to track down this monster before it caused any more damage to the local homes.
"Lead the way Natsu." Naruto said simply getting a nod from the boy and odd looks from the others.
Erza blinked for a moment before she seemed to understand and nodded to herself. She quickly caught up to Naruto and kept pace with him. It had been a while but she was itching to fight side by side with Naruto once again.
"Alright. Maybe now we'll see some action." Sasuke said, leaning forward.
Mira chuckled at the reaction. She knew how much of an interest in magic he'd taken and despite how well he hid it up until now, he was anxious to see it used.
She didn't have to wait long. Both she and Naruto requipped their weapons as they came face to face with a demonic creature looming before them. The old woman's description hadn't done the monster justice. It was easily twice as tall as the Guild hall back in Magnolia was. It had a muscular body with too many appendages attached to it and an odd off white skin color that contrasted strongly with the patches of thick black fur that covered random spots of it's body.
The head of the creature really did look like a bull's, it was little wonder the woman had said it looked like a minotaur. The creature also had six arms, two larger sets at it's shoulder and another smaller set on its chest. One set of the arms on its shoulders didn't end in hands though, instead ending with long terrible looking claws.
"Oh, god it's gross." Lucy said in horror.
"It's a demon from the Book of Zeref." Naruto hissed out.
Gray and Erza's eyes both darkened heavily and the group as a whole readied themselves for a fight. Naruto himself was frowning. Something big was happening in Fiore and he couldn't figure out what exactly. Whatever it was though it was bringing old problems to the surface. Demons like this were not supposed to be as common as they are suddenly becoming lately.
"Something behind the scenes has to be letting them out." Tobirama hypothesized.
Hashirama looked uncharacteristically serious and nodded. "If they're not supposed to be common, then someone has to be setting them loose. But for what purpose?"
"That's what we'll need to find out." Makarov responded. "As long as we're seeing the future, we can prevent a number of things and be prepared."
Naruto was happy for them but wished this had been available just prior to his birth. Maybe his parents would've been ready for the attack.
"What do we do?" Lucy asked as she stared up at the monster that seemed to be ignoring them entirely.
"What we came here to do. Natsu, take a crack at it." Naruto declared getting a wild cackle from the dragon slayer.
"Let's start with a heavy hitter first! Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu screamed as he drew in a deep breath and released a massive blast of flame toward his target.
"No hand signs needed" Hiruzen noticed. That would have been quite the edge back home.
As the fire struck the creature it stumbled back and blinked as if surprised before chuckling in an inhuman tone of voice. The fire slowly dissipated, leaving only a small section of the creature's chest seared.
"Oh, so a new set of wizards have arrived to play? Thank goodness, I've been ransacking these farms and villages for weeks and all they've sent to try and get rid of me were seven mediocre fools that hardly lived up to the name. I had begun to think that this plan of mine wasn't as fool proof as I thought." The demon said.
"It can talk." Sai pointed out.
"Not sure why you're so surprised. This is hardly the first time we've come across talking animals and what not." Naruto shot back.
Erza paused. "You heard happy the cat talk, but this is what surprised you?"
Feeing a tad bit embarrassed, Naruto simply nodded. Erza had to concentrate down below before she flung herself at him. Her mind constantly struggled with the fact that this wasn't her Naruto. Even if he did look like him and kiss like him.
The group of wizards didn't engage in conversation. The only engagement they wanted was combat with the monster. Naruto and Erza each sprinted toward opposite flanks of the monster gaining his interest but before he could do anything about it a lance of ice slammed into his jaw from the front followed by another ball of fire similar to the one that had initially gained his attention.
Gray, Lucy's summons Taurus, and Natsu all attacked from the front while Lucy and Happy remained further back as…moral support for the impossible battle that was beginning before them.
Naruto lashed out with his sword against the creature's leg scoring a painful blow and dropping the giant beast to its knee. Just as he was about to continue on through the monster's claw swiped down and it's titanic strength ripped his sword from his grip and sent it flying away from him. Narrowly dodging backward from the strike to avoid letting it impact his own body, Naruto began avoiding the creature's strikes as he planned a better move. He sucked air through his teeth in agitation as he watched the wound he had given the monster heal in seconds.
On Erza's side of the fight things were going much the same. Sadly, unlike Naruto she couldn't dodge out of the way of the monster's strike toward her in time and took the blow directly, sending her careening away. Her armor shattered but thankfully it did it's job and Erza remained mostly undamaged by the attack. Having to requip again, Erza dressed in faster armor that allowed her to not only attack faster but hopefully avoid the demon's attacks all together.
"So your thing is different types of armor." Naruto pointed out.
Erza nodded proudly but didn't get the chance to elaborate as the host made sure to remind them to stay on topic.
"At the break I can tell you more about it." She promised.
"I'll hold you to that."
"This is getting nowhere!" Gray shouted as another wave of his ice attacks seemed to just fall away from the demon's body as he shook himself loose.
"Wait I got it. Let me try this. Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" He roared, slapping two hands filled with flame together before launching an even larger fireball at the demon's chest. Once more though the fire did little more than stagger the creature.
"We already saw that it didn't work. Why did you just try it again you moron?" Gray shouted.
"That is a completely different attack!" Natsu replied.
"No, it wasn't. It was just bigger than the last one and it still did nothing!" Gray hollered back only for both boys to scream in fear and roll out of the way of an oversized foot slamming down right where they had been arguing at beforehand.
"Just give up! You little humans can't do anything to me. I am the demon Talmos, the quaking thunder! Quake as I draw-" The monster boasted.
"Why does it feel the need to monologue?" Sasuke wondered.
Mira shrugged. "It's a villain thing. Most of them do it."
"Shut the hell up you overgrown dairy cow!" Naruto bellowed as he bent down and slammed a palm into the ground.
"You little ant. Try this!" Talmos roared as he lifted a foot to stomp down onto Naruto only for a thick webbing of vines to spring forth from the ground and ensnare the creature pulling it off balance and slamming it onto it's back against the ground.
"Natural m-" It began with surprise in it's voice only to be interrupted yet again.
"Yeah. Exactly as you think." Naruto said confidently as his vines began to tighten on Talmos's body slowly constricting like massive pythons.
"Wait. You can use wood style?" Hashirama asked excitedly.
"He can apparently." Erza replied, wondering when he'd learned that. Or from who rather.
"This isn't enough, wizard." Talmos snarled as he began cutting himself free with the giant claws he possessed.
"That's just the opening act." Naruto said calmly as suddenly the vines sprouted thick thorns the size of a full grown man each stabbing into the demon painfully eliciting a scratch of agony from it.
"Hey Natsu, you like hollering the names of your attacks all the time. Well, I named this Mother's Rip Saw." Naruto said getting a confused look from Natsu.
"Mother's Rip Saw? Why?" Natsu asked.
"Cause it comes from Mother Nature and it does that." Naruto said while snapping his fingers and causing the tightly bound vines to suddenly twist and tangle in such a fast and furious manner that the demon wasn't just killed, it was absolutely minced into pieces.
Hashirama whisted. He'd never made a saw out of plants before but it seemed like a pretty unique idea. If he wasn't already dead, he'd have been taking notes to potentially use that technique.
"Damn. Talk about overkill." Sakura commented.
Gray looked over at the pink haired girl with a raised eyebrow. From what the shinobi had said she was usually the first to destroy things. Not wanting his head to be one of the things on her list, he kept his mouth shut.
The rest of the group grimaced at the brutal nature of the attack. It worked and the demon was definitely dead but that attack was even more terrifying than the demon itself had been. The fact that Naruto so casually handled it and seemed used to the violence of it added on to the disturbing nature.
"Stop standing around you guys, we should go tell the people the good news. They're going to have to rebuild for a while but things should be pretty much back to normal for them from now on." Naruto said as he started walking back toward the makeshift inn.
The group stared after him for a while as Naruto walked away. Erza soon followed after him, catching up and walking beside him, easily getting over the display. The others weren't quite up to that.
"Naruto is kind of a scary guy." Lucy pointed out.
"Yeah, well that's Oberon for you I guess." Gray said with a shrug of his shoulders. He still had a haunted look in his eyes though.
"They're traumatized now." Tobirama noted. How weak if something like that had them shaken up.
Hashirama noted the tone in his brothers voice and shook his head. "They're not trained killers like we had to be. They probably don't see this kind of thing often."
"Natsu…you have to stop challenging Naruto to fights. You are gunna die." Happy warned his friend.
"Are you kidding? That whole show just makes me want to fight him even more!" Natsu said before he slammed his fists together and sprinted off toward the blond.
"Hey Naruto, when we get back home fight me!" Natsu shouted only to catch a fist to the gut, this time by Erza and have Naruto slinging him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
"At least it will be quiet on the ride home." Gray said with a sigh as he, Lucy, and Happy caught up to the others.
"See. They're fine" Naruto said with a wave of his hand.
Lucy highly doubted the blond knew what fine was. There was no way she'd be fine seeing something like that.
"They're strong. Nothing short of death will stop Natsu." Erza replied.
Fairy Tail
When they had gotten back the team had cashed in on their quest and largely gone their separate ways. Erza was headed home, she planned to finally make that dinner for Naruto that she had wanted to make when he first returned to the guild. Lucy had to run off and pay her bills before she received an eviction notice from her hag of a landlady, and Natsu and Gray had both been sent outside to settle whatever issue they had made up to fight about now. Happy had gone off to bother Lisanna as much as possible for a fish, leaving only Naruto to talk with Master Makarov.
That worked out for the best though as Naruto had some worries he needed to bring to the master's attention. The primary one being the fact that something was causing the Demons of Zeref to become active in greater frequency. That and the fact that the magic council seemed to be trying to sweep such dangerous issues under the rug.
The conversation he had with the Master though wasn't one that left him in all that good of a mood.
"Chances are we're about to get a lead." Sasuke said. "This council also seems to be making things worse too."
Naruto agreed. "Councils can be a good thing sometimes but right now they're proving to be a nuisance."
The book disappeared and found itself situated in Tobirama's lap. Looking up at everyone with a bored expression, he asked. "Continue or wait?"
Once again, the group decided to wait as they had questions they wanted to ask the Fairy Tale gang. Likewise Erza had some thing she wanted to talk to Naruto about too.