Okay guys here's chapter four and I can promise that it's longer than the previous chapter, sorry for the previous chapter being so short but it was the best I could make to establish Naruto into the Fairy Tail world. Now as a few people might notice the poll on my authors page is a blind poll this is too make sure that people are voting for the one they want to win and not just who's popular. This being said I'm sure most of you can guess who's currently winning. Now as for when I plan to get to canon well it will be soon enough, probably within the next five chapters or so, this is so I can lay groundwork to build my story onto, as a house without a strong base will topple over, this is easily said for stories as well. Now onto the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Naruto, if I did I would be one rich person.
Chapter 4: Chasing Fairies
Three years, that was how long Naruto has now been in Earthland for. Three years of enjoying a childhood in a new place where he could actually get to know people. Shinba truly was a place for everyone to start again or to become a new leaf like the town's name. Throughout the entire town were people repenting for their previous lives or getting past their own pasts. This didn't stop anyone from becoming happy in this new place, a bonus to everyone was that no one asked about the past knowing that each person that was here wanted to move forward beyond their pasts.
Naruto was just waking up, in the same room he had gotten three years ago from the old woman who he later learned was named Maria. Maria was kind enough to let Naruto stay in the room for as long as he was here, provided he helped around the inn or somehow got money through some other way. The deal was fair to both of them, Maria got help around her inn where she was the sole employee and Naruto got a place to stay. The two had made this deal one week after Naruto arrived at Shinba.
One downside to the town of Shinba was that there weren't many children at least not yet. The town was fairly young, only being about three years old before Naruto arrived. Currently there were twenty two kids in the town, seventeen of them were younger than two years old, the other four other than Naruto were only four. Naruto himself was the only seven year old in the village. Though the town was small everyone got to know everyone, this was common across many small towns in the country of Fiore.
Naruto slowly got up, rubbing his eyes to truly wake him up. He got up and went to the bathroom to begin his daily routine of showering and doing his daily hygiene. After wards he headed downstairs to begin helping Maria make the breakfast, one habit that had transferred from his old life was the idea that he needed to cook to himself, this though wasn't bad thing. Maria certainly appreciated his ability to cook. While Maria might be a great inn keeper, a great cook she was not. This wasn't to say she wasn't decent in the kitchen she just wasn't that great.
Naruto pushed a pulse of ethernano through the powering lacrima, as he did this the main kitchen came to life, lights came on and controls for the stove and over lighted up as well as the controls for the rest of the kitchen. Naruto got to work creating breakfast for the entirety of the inn, though that was a relatively small number as Shinba did not get many over night tourists. After making the breakfasts, Naruto placed them in a simple Fuji Hoho stasis seal freezing the food in time at their current states, the sealing method would wear off in about two hours which is when breakfast at the inn was served. Naruto went by the front desk and left a note for Maria telling her that he would be back in a few hours after he trained.
Naruto then left the inn and went to a clearing in the forest that he had found a couple of years back. The clearing was perfect for him, it was in the middle of a forest, no one could see into the clearing but a person in the clearing could easily see anyone outside of it. It was a secret hide away for Naruto and an easily accessible place for him to train in. Naruto sat down in the clearing his legs crossed and his fists pressed against one another. His eyes were shut as he concentrated on mixing his body's ethernano with the ethernano of the world around him. He eventually found a balance as the area surrounding his eyes took on an orange hue and plants began to spring up around him. Naruto opened his eyes revealing his once blue cerulean eyes to be a vibrant orange.
It had taken him the entirety of two years to gain a satisfactory level of Shizen no Maho: Seji no Karada. This spell was the gateway into Shizen no Maho, a magic that allowed one to utilize the world around them to fight for them. While Naruto hadn't mastered it yet as he still needed to sit and gather the ethernano, he had gotten it to the level where he could begin other Shizen no Maho spells. This opened up a whole new world for him as he had found out that he could use techniques similar to the ones from his previous life, he also found out that bloodline limits did not apply in this magic as he could form spells that utilized trees, lava, and more.
All it took was determination and the will to never give up, which Naruto had in plenty. Naruto stood up and began going through the frog Kumite as a warm up for his magic training. After finishing Naruto unsealed the scroll of seals from a sealing tattoo on his shoulder. He preceded to release the scroll for Shizen no Maho and began to read on the next spell to learn. The next spell he had decided to learn was one that utilized wood and trees much like the Shodaime Hokage from his old life. The spell was Shizen no Maho: Ki no Foresu(1), it allowed the user to create trees that would form around them and bend to their will, ensnaring opponents, hiding themselves, even striking opponents. While the spell itself was simple in explanation, in practical it was another matter. The spell ate through ethernano like Naruto does ramen.
Naruto pushed his palms against one another as a green magic seal appeared, the seal had three circles the outer most layer was a pale green with six black tomoes spinning around, the second layer was black with pale green tomoes spinning, the center held a dark brown outline of a tree with green leafs, on each side of the tree leaves could be seen falling.(2)
"Shizen no Maho: Ki no Foresu!" Naruto Called out as he slammed his palms onto the ground. The ground shook for a moment before small saplings sprung up in the area around Naruto, the saplings continued to grow till they reached seven foot high and two foot in diameter. In the clearing were thirty of these trees, Naruto fell onto his back panting from the amount of ethernano the spell used. He allowed himself a moment of rest before getting up, the magic seal appeared again as Naruto called out the same spell creating more of the same trees as he had already created, only this time they were larger and taller than the previous. After the clearing was full Naruto dismissed the spell, the trees sank back into the ground releasing ethernano into the world as they went away.
After repeating the process till his Seji no Karada ran out, Naruto sat down to catch his breath. While Shizen no Maho was powerful, it was also very draining. After Naruto was able to breath easily again, he sealed Shizen no Maho back into the scroll and continued onto the Fuji Hoho scroll. Naruto was easily able to understand the magic and the theory behind it. He was currently on level six out of ten, each level being much more difficult than the last, if one was to compare the difficulties between levels they would see that the Fuji Hoho levels were like exponents, the second level was twice as hard as the first, the third was four times as hard and so on. This meant that the level Naruto was on was sixty four times harder than the first level. One of the most interesting things Naruto had learned in Fuji Hoho was that once you got to level four you began to learn the basics of flight and how ethernano when properly molded could give one the ability to fly, this was in preparation for the end of the level which taught Fuji Hoho: Furaito (3). The seal once it was activated granted the user wings made up of ethernano that they could use to fly. Naruto had practiced with these wings on multiple occasions, the first time he attempted to fly though he fell straight onto his face to which Kurama had laughed loudly inside of his head never letting Naruto forget the moment. The second try though was much more successful, Naruto had been able to float, he could move anyway but he was floating above the ground, to him that was immense progress. It was finally on the tenth try that Naruto actually flew for the first time.
Naruto sat on the clearing reading Fuji Hoho for three hours before packing everything up and resealing it into the tattoo on his left shoulder. The tattoo was a simple outline of a tree. Naruto ran back through the forest and into town where he saw that the vast majority of people were gathered in the town's square. Naruto saw Maria near the back and approached her.
"Maria what's going on?" Naruto asked the innkeeper.
The innkeeper turned and looked down to the seven year old boy, "Apparently there's some kind of magic beast in the forest around here and the mayor is asking everyone to gather a little money to pay for a guild mission to eliminate the beast." Maria said.
Naruto then realized what beast they were talking about, as he had encountered it once or twice wile training in the forest. The beast was a Bakeneko, a bakeneko was a beast that was in the shape of a large mountain cat, it had two tails and could control blue fire. While not a threat to mages it was to townspeople who had no magic power. The town readily agreed as they didn't know of anyone within their town to have any magic power.
After the townspeople put a little of their money into a donation for the mission and dispersed, Naruto made his way to the mayor's office. The mayor was an elderly man, his body looked to always be tired but the mayor himself never showed it as he always greeted everyone joyfully. His hair was almost completely gray showing his age more than anything else.
"Ahh Naruto-Kun what can I do for you today?" The mayor asked.
"Well Mayor Tsuyoi(4) I wish to lend my knowledge to whatever team from the guild you sent that mission. You see I know where the Bakeneko usually travels around as I myself am in the same general area training my magic." Naruto told the mayor.
"You know magic Naruto-Kun?" Tsuyoi said with surprise evident on his face.
"Yes I know a little bit, though I'm still training to get stronger and eventually join a guild." Naruto said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"But back to the subject on hand I know where the bakeneko is usually as it tends to run away from me when I'm training." Naruto said to the mayor.
"I see" The mayor said before continuing, "I think that would be just fine Naruto-Kun, when the mages arrive then I'll direct them to you to show them where the beast is." Tsuyoi said to the boy.
"Thanks Tsuyoi, I want to do everything possible to help Shinba after all it's my home and place of new beginnings." Naruto said to the mayor.
The mayor chuckled before speaking, "I think everyone who lives here has the same idea Naruto-Kun, that's why I created this town, it was to be a place of new beginnings for everyone as everyone should get a second chance if they truly mean to use it." Tsuyoi said as he got up from his desk and made his way over the large window in the office. The window showed a majority of Shinba in all it's glory.
"You know I never get tired of looking out and seeing this town and how it's grown Naruto-Kun." Tsuyoi said.
"I know. The town is a truly amazing place." Naruto said in response.
"Indeed it is Naruto-Kun and how many times do I have to tell you that you could just call me jiji I wouldn't mind it since that's what everyone likes to call me." The mayor said in mock seriousness.
"As many times as you want but I'll continue calling you Tsuyoi or mayor, as it sets me apart from the rest of the town jiji." Naruto replied to the elderly man.
Tsuyoi laughed, "Indeed it does Naruto-Kun, well I need to continue my paperwork now so I see you another time, I'll hopefully make it to the inn in time for dinner, I do enjoy the meals you provide there."
"See you then Jiji." Naruto said as he left the office.
It had taken a week before any mage came to Shinba. In that time the bakeneko had left the town completely alone and Naruto had stayed in town all day awaiting for the mage or mages to come.
In the mayor's office.
In the office there were two people the first being the elderly mayor Tsuyoi and the second was a seven year old girl with crimson red hair, the girl had on armor scraps and an eye patch over her right eye. The other eye was a dark brown. On her upper left arm, a blue guild stamp could be seen, the stamp depicted a fairy with a tail. The girl stood at three foot eleven.
"So the bakeneko has been terrorizing this town for how long now?" The red haired girl asked.
"For several weeks now, miss?" Tsuyoi said.
"Erza, my name is Erza mister mayor." The newly named Erza replied.
"Pleased to meet you then Era my names Tsuyoi but everyone around here calls me old man or mayor." Tsuyoi told the little mage.
"Head over to the town's inn, you'll see a boy a little bit taller than you with blonde hair and cerulean eyes. The boy's name is Naruto, he'll lead you to where the beast rests." Tsuyoi said.
"Alright then, the bakeneko should be gone in two days at the latest." Erza told the old man.
Erza left the Mayor's office and went to the inn where the person with information on the town's terror was located. Once she arrived at the sole inn of the town, she went inside. She headed to the front desk where an elderly woman sat and played with several strings intertwined between her hands.
"Um, excuse me miss I was told that someone at this inn had information on the beast that this town needs slayed. Where can I find him?" Erza asked the elderly woman.
"Oh, you must be talking about Naruto, right now he's in the kitchen, its down the hall to your left and the third door on the right." The elderly woman said.
Erza nodded and followed the old woman's directions. After opening the door, she saw a boy about her age working about the kitchen.
"Excuse me, are you Naruto?" She asked the boy.
"Depends on who wants to know." The boy replied never stopping his work.
"The person who wants to rid this town of the bakeneko, that's who wants to know." Erza replied, a tiny bit frustrated at the boy's answer.
"Well in that case, yes I am Naruto. Let me finish making lunch for the inn, then I'll take you to where the bakeneko is usually." Naruto replied to the mage.
After Naruto finished and served the inn's lunch, he took Erza to the clearing where he usually trained. The two began searching the area looking for any trail of the beast. Finally after a half an hour of searching the two found a trail and began following it. The trail led them deeper into the forest, the deeper they went into the forest the less amount of light shined through.
Then a shadow jumped at them. Erza requiped a single sword to defend herself while Naruto Jumped back. The shadow went completely over both of them landing across the section of forest they were in. Light then shined on the shadow revealing it to be a large mountain cat with two tails. It's fur being completely blue with black marking spread across it.
Erza charged the beast, her sword ready to kill it, the beast jumped back before it could be hit and created a ball of blue fire at it's tail's tip. The beast launched the fire at Erza who requiped a different sword and sliced through the blue fire. It was then that a second bakeneko that was hiding in the trees tried to pounce Erza. This Bakeneko was not able to do so since Naruto saw it as the beast jumped.
"Fuji Hoho: Binding Chains!" Naruto said as he pressed his palms together creating his usual magic seal and slamming them onto the ground. Kanji characters sprouted from the area that Naruto placed his hands down upon. The characters shot out to grab the second Bakeneko, the chains grew longer gaining more and more kanji as they went. The chains were a golden color that wrapped all around the second bakeneko and pulling it straight into the ground.
"Erza!" Naruto shouted gaining her attention. "There's more than one of these bakeneko, be on the lookout for anymore that try to attack you." The blonde haired mage informed his companion who was still defending against the first Bakeneko.
Just as Naruto said that, Thirty pairs of slitted eyes could be seen in the trees all around the two mages.
"Shizen: Seji no Karada." Naruto said creating his magic seal focusing ethernano from the area around him to gather and compress inside his body. Once the process was done, Naruto's eyes became vibrant yellow, the area around his eyes took an orange tint.
Erza on the other hand had just gotten the upper hand on the first bakeneko and managed to critically wound it, ending the beasts life. She turned around to see Naruto with his magic seal formed in front of him, she looked around and saw all the pairs of slitted eyes looking at them. She tossed her sword into her personal separate dimension and requiped a pair of daggers.
Then the battle truly began, the bakeneko's began throwing themselves at the two mages, only to be beaten back time and time again. Several of the cat like beasts saw this and stayed back for a moment grouping together.
The small group of beasts waited for an opportunity to strike, they found this the moment Erza took a breath after finishing off a large amount of Bakeneko. The group of four Bakeneko pounced at her from all sides not allowing a single opening where Erza could dodge or get away at. Naruto finished off his portion of the cat beasts and turned to check on Erza, he saw the four Bakeneko's pouncing. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it in time to take down all four in the air, he still ran trying to help his temporary companion.
No matter who it was life was precious, Naruto did not want to see anyone die ever. As he ran Naruto's eyes gained a single comma that began to spin. His body was suddenly lighter, he could move faster and everything slowed down. The world was moving slower to Naruto as he made his way to Erza's side. Using his increased speed Naruto hit two of the bakeneko, and using the extra force from his sage body spell made the beasts fly into their compatriots, making them go off course and land across the way from Erza who quickly made her way over to the fallen beasts and ended their lives, with a single strike from her daggers.
"Thank you for the help, Naruto." Erza said to the blonde.
"It was no problem, besides no one knew that there was more than one of these things, if we had then the town would have definitely sent for more than a single mage." Naruto replied.
"So you know some magic?" Erza said, curiously since she didn't know her companion was a mage.
Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "A little yeah, but I'm still learning. That's why the town needed a proper legal guild mage to get rid of the problem."
"Do you plan to join a guild sometime then?" She asked.
"Eventually yeah, probably within the next few years." Naruto told the red haired girl.
After resting for a few moments the two mages left the forest and went back into town. They then went to the mayor's office to report the mission. Once inside they were greeted by the mayor. Naruto choose to stand off to the side as Erza told the mayor about what happened. The mayor was shocked to hear that there were more than one bakeneko in the forest. He profusely thanked Erza for her help and promised more than the original reward considering that Erza had more to deal with than originally.
"Naruto why don't you take this opportunity to go and join a guild." Mayor Tsuyoi said out of nowhere.
"Why would you say that now old man?" Naruto asked.
"Well your over seven now, and I know that you plan to in a few years anyway. This town may be a home to you but you still want to gain more friends and family. That is why you wanted to join a guild if a remember correctly. Take this opportunity then and get going, besides traveling alone is never enjoyable, besides if I remember correctly my old friend Makarov is the leader of Fairy Tail." Tsuyoi began.
"This village will always be a home to you Naruto but I know that you're destined for bigger things, so go, go and join fairy tail. That guild was always a fun place to be back when I was younger, and I remember distinctly that every member in the guild is family." Tsuyoi said, his eyes shut remembering his past.
Nothing was said for the next few tense minutes. The silence was deafening. Naruto walked out, not saying a word. Tsuyoi moved over to the window. He looked out at his town, the town of new leafs. A town offering a new beginning to everyone.
"That boy," Tsuyoi began, "That boy has always had a problem with saying goodbye. He never told me but I know it." Tsuyoi said.
Memories of all the times Tsuyoi played with and talked to the people of the town started appearing the in the eyes of the old man. All the good times and bad. All the conversations he had with Naruto and the other residents of the town. All the dinners he ate that were cooked by the boy.
"Erza, please look after him, I know he's going to leave with you and join Fairy Tail." Tsuyoi said, asking the red haired girl to look after the boy he considered a grandson. Erza didn't say anything, she only nodded.
Naruto walked down the streets and straight to the inn. He collected his belongings and sealed them into his sealing tattoo. He looked over the room, remembering everything since his beginning at the town of new leafs. All the new people he met, all the good experiences he had since beginning his new life. All the fun conversations with the old man, all the smiles he would receive from his cooking.
Naruto slowly walked out of the room, he gently closed the door and he began walking down the stairs. All the memories of his time at the inn replaying themselves as he walked. All the times Maria helped him with something because he was too small or just because she wanted to. Naruto finally reached the main desk where Maria had just finished a cat's cradle using her string. It was the same one she had been trying to do since Naruto arrived at Shinba.
"So it's finally time for you to leave, huh Naruto." Maria said putting the cat's cradle down.
"Yeah. Thank you for all these years Maria." Naruto said attempting to give the elderly woman the room's key back.
"Keep the key Naruto, that room is yours and yours alone, it'll always be here if you need a place to come home to." Maria said refusing the room key.
Naruto chuckled and put the key deep into his pocket. He then started walking over to the door, "Maria, really thank you for all these years you've been like a grandma to me." He said before walking out.
A single tear flowed own Maria's face, "I know." She said knowing that Naruto heard her despite how quiet her voice was.
"Know that there will always be a place here for you Naruto." The old woman said knowing that no one heard her.
Naruto walked to the town's gate. Erza appeared a while later and saw Naruto who was sitting against the town's gate. She walked over to him and stood over him.
"So you're coming with me then?" She asked the blonde boy.
"Yeah, Tsuyoi's right, this leaf gotta leave on the wind to explore the world." Naruto said as he got up from his sitting position.
Erza nodded and the two mages began walking away from the town. However before they got to far a voice called out to Naruto.
"Wait a moment Naruto!" The aged voice yelled. The two mages saw that it was Tsuyoi who walked as quickly as he could over to them.
"This is from us as a town to show that no matter where you are, we'll always be with you. Since we're all the family of leafs from a single tree." Tsuyoi said as he pressed an object into Naruto's hand. Tsuyoi smiled and began to walk away back to the town. Naruto opened his hand and saw a green crystal, it had six sides that all came together at a single point. The crystal was connected to a leather necklace. Naruto took the necklace and placed it over his head and around his neck, the crystak falling onto his chest. He let out a dew tears at his home's gesture. Just as the two mages began to walk again they heard a loud noise and turned behind them. The town was launching fireworks. The fireworks all exploded at once, the explosion was a message. The message said "Make Shinba proud Naruto!".
"They don't even have to ask, they know I will." Naruto said before continuing to walk.
The two young mages continued walking, Naruto only looked back one more time when the town was on the horizon, he smiled before walking forward leaving his home town behind.
Chapter end
Well that was a long chapter. So a lo happened this chapter and if you guys have noticed the poll is closed and Erza was the winner with twenty three votes to six, sorry if you guys wanted levy to win. I hope to put out a few more chapters before next week but I don't know if I will be able to. Canon is on the way, it should be two to three more chapters before we reach canon.
Extra information
(1)Shizen no Maho: Ki no Foresu – Nature magic: A forest of trees
this is basically just like the wood release of the elemental nations, essentially it acts just like the first hokage's Nativity of a world of trees
(2) this is the cover image of the story, if you want to see it. Look at the cover image then.
Till next time, this is Amxal and I'm signing off.