I don't consider myself an amazing author, so when people tell me they like my work, it always makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The second chapter, as always, had a smaller turnout than the first, but that's okay, because we reached 380 follows! In only 2 chapters! Why are you guys so amazing? Anyways, enjoy the next installment.
Living Shadow
Ever since its founding, Fairy Tail has had a mysterious protector who works in the shadows and never reveals his face. Only the guild master knows his true identity. But when things begin to snowball downhill, beginning with Phantom Lord's attack, it's time for the legendary guardian to step into the limelight. AU, Naruto x Fairy Tail crossover.
Chapter Two – Phantom Fury
Year X686
"Hey, N? Can I ask you something?"
N opened his eyes, turning his head to look down at the first guild master. "What is it?"
"Where do you stay during the night when everyone is away?" she asked curiously.
N laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I don't have a place here, so I just sleep on the roof," he responded.
"What? That's not a good place to sleep, N," she argued. "It's got to be cold and windy up there! And roof tiles can't be comfortable to nap on, either."
"I've slept in worse conditions before. A few roof tiles and a baby breeze don't bother me," he replied, leaning casually against the wall.
"No, no, that won't do," muttered Mavis, standing up. She crouched down and opened the bottom drawer of the desk, shuffling through the files neatly organized and stored in cream-colored folders. She drew out a large piece of paper, folded into quarters. N leaned over to examine it as she spread it out on top of the desk.
"Is this Fairy Tail's original blueprint?" he queried, his eyes roaming over every detail of the blue map.
Mavis smoothed out the fold-lines on the blueprint so she could see it better. "It is," she answered. "I kept it in case we needed to make any changes or major repairs in the future. I didn't think we would need to make a change this soon, though."
N gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? Why make a change when you just built the guild?" he asked.
Mavis looked up at him, a frown set on her face. "It would be remiss of me as Fairy Tail's guild master to allow one of my members to sleep in such unsavory conditions. Therefore, I'm sure we can find a spot on this blueprint to add in a private room for you," she explained, waving her hand over the map.
"You don't have to do that, Mavis-chan," N protested quickly. "I said sleeping on the roof doesn't bother me."
"No, you can't!" Mavis said, raising herself to her full height. It would have been a comical sight, a petite slip of a girl glaring up at a man who cleared the six-foot mark, if not for the seriousness of the situation. "Listen here, N, if you want to be a good shadow guardian, you have to start thinking of Fairy Tail as your new family. And as a family, we take care of each other, right?"
N nodded slowly. "But you know I–" he began.
Mavis stamped her foot on the floor. "I don't care about that right now!" she cried, feeling uncharacteristically frustrated. "N, you have to understand that Fairy Tail is supposed to be a big family, and a place that you can return to and call 'home'. You're not protecting a building, you're protecting a guild." She pointed her finger at his face, making him blink at her in surprise. "Promise me, N. Promise me that you'll start thinking of Fairy Tail as your new family."
Memories of his original 'family' – his parents, his friends from his homeland, the village that he lived in, his former fellow jinchuuriki – passed through his mind. The memories had eroded over the years, only tiny, significant fragments still holding out strong in his head. Then came bits and pieces from various years after the Elemental Nations fell to ruin, of people he had met, bonded with, fought with, and watched die. She wanted Fairy Tail to be his family, but how could it be when he was immortal, a relic from a time long past? All the 'family' he's ever had had already been cruelly ripped away from him by time. Labeling the guild with such a term would only hurt him in the long run. He shook his head.
"I can't, Mavis," he told her solemnly. "I won't promise something that I know I won't be able to keep."
Hearing her name without a suffix tagged onto it let her know that he was serious. Her eyes fell. "Why not, N?" she asked quietly, her hand dropping back to her side. "Is it because of how old you are?"
"Something like that. I'm old, little lady. Far older than you are," he replied, turning to look out the window. "I can't have a family. I'll just outlive every single one of them. I can't let myself get attached, because it'll just mean more pain for me in the end."
He didn't turn around when he heard the soft rustling of Mavis' dress behind him, but he did start when small arms wrapped around his waist. He felt Mavis whisper against his cloak, "You don't have to be alone, N – no, Naruto. I don't know how old you are, and I'll keep guessing until I get it right, but you've probably been really lonely, right? Well, not anymore. I'll make sure of it. Fairy Tail will become your new family, you'll see."
N stayed silent, staring out the window at the enormous lake that Magnolia had been built next to. Small waves lapped softly at the edge of the mini-beach. The sun was high in the sky, turning the sky a brilliant shade of baby-blue that was eclipsed only by a few lazy clouds. Fishermen were out on their boats, catching their meals for the day. Every now and then, a bird swooped out of the sky and plunged its beak into the water, pulling up with a wriggling silvery fish in its mouth. All in all, it seemed like a fairly normal day, but to someone like N, who had spent the majority of his long lifetime fighting in one battle after another, the peace found in Magnolia seemed like a dream come true. Maybe it was time to let go, after all.
He exhaled slowly, one of his hands moving up to rest on her arms. "…I can't promise anything," he finally answered. "But for the sake of my own sanity, I will try."
Mavis' arms tightened around him briefly. "Thank you, Naruto," she mumbled into his cloak. She stepped back, and smiled brightly at him when he turned around. "Now let's find a place to make a room for you." She bounced back to her desk and patted the blueprint.
N held up a hand. "That won't be necessary," he said. "I don't need a full-size room. Something small will be enough."
"Are you sure? You're a pretty big guy," Mavis asked, nibbling on her lower lip.
"What, you don't trust me, little lady? I'm hurt," N said, faking an insulted expression.
Mavis scowled. "N! I'm trying to be serious here," she whined, smacking a hand down on the blueprint. "Come on, at least help me figure out where to put you!"
N laughed. "So impatient, little lady," he teased, leaning over the desk again to look at the blueprint. "At this rate, you'll never find a boyfriend."
"Hey, are you making fun of me?" Mavis cried, narrowing her eyes at the grinning blonde. "N!"
"I'm just kidding around, little lady. You need some humor to lighten up your life!" N replied cheerfully. "If you frown all the time, your face might be permanently stuck that way, you know!"
"What? No, it won't! Stop trying to scare me, N!"
"But it's more fun this way, don't you agree?"
"No, I don't. Hey, quit it! What're you doing with that? Give it back!"
"You'll have to catch me first, little lady!"
As the two bantered back and forth, the serious mood completely vanished from the office, like it had never existed in the first place. But their talk wouldn't be forgotten, and, years later, N would realize that maybe he had finally found the right place after all.
Year X784
N rested quietly in a hidden alcove adjacent to the guild master's office. Hand-drawn paper seals camouflaged the opening to prevent it from being seen by the people in the guild. The alcove had been Mavis' final solution to solve the problem of N sleeping outside on the guild's roof. It was a small room, only big enough for a bed, a desk, and a small closet, but it was enough for N. He didn't need anything fancy, just a place for him to sleep.
He heard a strange noise outside, like the sound of steel hitting the ground. Silently, he stood up, sliding his mask over his face. He melted into the shadows, traveling instantly to the rooftop so he could get a full 360 degree view of the city. He appeared just in time to witness a huge iron rod being hurled towards the guild at full speed.
Reacting quickly, he used the Light Pen in his pocket to draw a seal in the air. "Barrier Seal: Activate!" A thick wall of purple light flared to life around the guild. The iron rod impacted with it a split-second later, ricocheting off the barrier with a loud clanging sound that reverberated through the street. The iron rod crashed into a building diagonally across from Fairy Tail, causing its fire alarms to blare piercingly. Thankfully it appeared to be vacant of people. Not wasting a moment, N summoned five shadow clones to aid him.
"You two, go after whoever is attacking the guild," he ordered to the two clones on his left. They both saluted to him and jumped to the nearby roof, rapidly descending to the ground.
He heard someone below exclaim, "What the hell?!" Gotcha.
"He's at two o'clock, fifty yards ahead!" he shouted to his clones.
"We know, boss!" They had already changed course and converged on the adversary. A loud curse, followed by the sound of metal versus metal, indicated that his clones had engaged the enemy.
N nodded, then turned to his other three clones. "You, go silence the alarms from that building. We don't need citizens getting involved in this," he said to the left-most clone.
"Yes, sir!" The clone took off running for the building, his hands already flashing through the hand seals for a water jutsu to put out the fire that began to blaze up from within.
"You two are going to help me set up more seals around the perimeter in case there are more enemies," N told the last two clones. "You both should have a Light Pen with you. You know what to do. But hurry!"
His clones nodded and leaped away to do their assigned duty. N turned his attention back to the battle being waged between the hidden opponent and his other clones. His battle clones were starting to overwhelm the enemy, it looked like. But a moment later, he was hit by a rush of memories. The enemy had gotten in a lucky shot right to the face, and dispelled one of the clones. The other one was still going strong.
From his clone's memories, he learned that the opponent was a young man with wild, spiky sable hair that reached down to his waist. He had slanted red eyes and multiple piercings on his face and his arms. He wore a studded waistcoat with a black, wing-like adornment attached over his right breast, white pants, and studded black boots. The man's attacks were rather interesting, because he could turn his limbs into iron weapons and extend them to attack. His footwork wasn't too shabby either. Given the nature of his attacks, it also appeared that his defensive capabilities were much more advanced than most people's tended to be. That was the extent of the analysis that the clone had performed before he had been dispelled.
Heh, the guy wasn't half-bad. The fact that he hadn't already been defeated and dragged back to N by his other clone said something about the man's fighting abilities.
The fire alarms went blissfully silent at last. N grimaced as he rubbed his ear. He hated alarms; they always grated on his nerves because of his sensitive hearing.
Having done his duty, the lone clone he had sent to take care of the building returned to the guild's rooftop.
"Thanks," N said, clapping a hand on the clone's right shoulder. "Those alarms were getting annoying."
The clone scowled behind his mask. "I had to get up close and personal with them, so don't blame me if your ears are still ringing when I dispel," he told N. "But aside from that, what's the plan now? Want me on evacuation duty?"
N surveyed the street, noticing that there were a few people coming out of their homes, wondering what all the ruckus was. "Yeah. Make sure those citizens are safe. I don't want them mixed up in this fight. I'll send some guys down after you to help."
His clone nodded. "Got it, boss!" he said, saluting. The clone descended to the street and swiftly made his way over to the people. N created an extra three shadow clones to help the lone clone out.
The Barrier Seal he had written in the air suddenly flared with a violent purple light. A rectangular, prism-like barrier shimmered into existence, completely encompassing Fairy Tail in all its shiny, translucent purple glory. Fairy Tail was now untouchable to most physical attacks and magic spells.
"We're finished, boss," the clones he had sent to set up the other Barrier Seals said, landing on the rooftop beside him. "All anchor points have been secured."
"Excellent," said N proudly. They both gave him a thumbs-up. "But someone might try to erase the anchor point seals, so I want you two to each guard one point. I'll send another clone out to guard the third one."
"Yes, boss!"
As soon as they leaped away, a gray funnel shot into the air from the direction where his battle clone had the enemy engaged. The clone had enough sense to dodge the deadly attack, but it clipped him on the shoulder. Muttering something under his breath, the clone rebounded off the nearest wall and rocketed towards his opponent again, this time forming a spiraling blue sphere of chakra in his right palm.
"Rasengan!"
A huge cloud of debris erupted as the swirling chakra ball impacted with his opponent and sent him flying into the building behind him. The building collapsed with a thunderous roar as the man broke through several of the building's supports, causing the top part to become unbalanced and fall forward.
The clone sweatdropped at the damage. "I guess I went overboard… sorry, boss," the clone said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
Then an iron rod blasted a hole through the collapsed part of the building and his opponent crawled out, panting heavily. His skin was covered by a hard, metallic sheen reminiscent of a dragon's scales, and he was chewing noisily on some scraps of iron from the building. When he was done, the man glared at the N clone and snarled, "I'm not finished yet, you bastard blonde! Iron Dragon's Roar!"
The same gray whirlwind from before spewed out of the enemy's mouth, heading straight towards the clone. "Ah shit," the clone sighed. "Thought I took you out already."
He took the Light Pen out of his pocket and was prepared to draw a seal to deflect his opponent's attack back at him, but he suddenly found himself on the rooftop, the pen still outstretched. "What the hell – that bastard!" the clone cried, realizing that N had switched with him. "He was my opponent, damn it! Fuck you, original!" He flipped the bird in the direction where the battle was now being waged between the original N and the enemy.
N grinned, his sharp hearing catching his clone's swearing. He nimbly sidestepped the attack, letting it roar past him. Then he leaped forward, smashing a perfect right-hook into his opponent's face. It definitely stung a bit because the man's skin was hard as steel, but the blow still made the black-haired man reel back in pain.
It was the perfect opportunity. N drew two fingers down the markings on his arm, grabbing the scroll that popped out. "Nighty-night, little Dragon Slayer!" he sang, opening the scroll and writing a seal in the air. The man's eyes widened in panic and he barely had time to say "fuck!" before he vanished into the scroll.
N hummed cheerily as he resealed the scroll back into the storage markings on his arm. "One Dragon Slayer to go," he said. N then leaped back up to the guild's rooftop to assess the damage. The building that the iron rod had landed on was definitely busted. So were the buildings in the area where his clones had fought the wild brunet. Several apartments had been damaged, too. But it looked like his other clones had done what they were supposed to and evacuated all the people out of the immediate area so they didn't get caught in the crossfire. N nodded. Not too bad, considering Fairy Tail tended to cause mass property damage wherever they went, anyway.
"What happened here? Who are you and what are you doing to the guild?!" A distinctly female voice shouted up at him from the street below.
N looked down, where a fuming eighteen-year old woman with long, wavy chocolate-brown hair stood, her cards clenched in one hand. He signaled for his clones to dispel because the fight was over and made his way down to the street. The woman slid one of her feet back and whipped out a few cards, snarling, "Don't come any closer! Answer me or I will blast you into the next century!"
"Easy there, princess," N said, holding up his hands. "I can explain. Long story or short?"
"Just hurry up and tell me who the hell you are and what that purple thing around my guild is!" the magic card user barked.
"Short story it is. Sheesh, women are so impatient sometimes," N muttered, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "To put it bluntly, I just saved your guild from being demolished in the middle of the night."
"Yeah, right, I wasn't born yesterday, you know," the woman scoffed.
"It's true. This purple thing you're referring to is actually a Four-Point Barrier that I activated to keep your guild safe from any attacks. See that iron rod over there?" N asked, pointing towards the busted building. "The barrier I set up deflected that thing. Otherwise your guild would resemble a pincushion by now."
The woman was still eyeing him suspiciously. "And where is the guy who did it, hmm?" she drawled. "The only enemy I see here… is you!" Three cards flashed in front of her. "Heaven, Reverse Death, Mountain – I summon lightning!"
Green lightning bolts struck at N from above. N sidestepped the attack with ease. "I'm not lying, you know. There'd be no point. If you want proof, you'll need to ask Makarov-san to be here. I've already captured the man who attacked the guild, but I'd rather not let him out right now," N said, chuckling. "He's rather volatile."
"Why would you defend the guild? I've never seen you before, so you aren't a Fairy Tail wizard. Tell me your name," the woman demanded. She held two cards between her fingers, ready to fly at a moment's notice.
"I'm not at liberty to say that, unfortunately. You'll have to ask Makarov-san," N replied pleasantly. Inwardly, he was just wishing that the woman would stop being so suspicious. Do one good thing and end up in a pile of shit a mile high. Well, as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions… "But if you want proof, then look here." He tapped a finger against the black Fairy Tail guild insignia stamped on his chest.
The woman gasped. She lowered her cards. "That's – but how? I've never seen you before. You're a Fairy Tail wizard?" she asked incredulously.
"I'm not a Fairy Tail wizard, per se," said N, scratching the back of his head. "But yes, I am a part of Fairy Tail. Believe me, I mean no harm to our guild."
The woman studied him carefully. "Take off your mask," she quietly commanded. "Let me take a good look at your face. Maybe I'll remember you if you do."
N shook his head. "You won't, I can guarantee it. There's a reason why I'm wearing a mask at all. What you want to know, you will have to ask Makarov-san. He may or may not answer you, though. I know I can't," he replied. "After all, that would be a breach of my contract."
"Contract? What contract?"
"Just ask Makarov-san. If you'll excuse me, I would like to sleep now, so good night." N vanished into the shadows before he could hear the woman's reply. Truthfully, he wasn't tired at all. He just wanted to get away from the nosy woman. He could understand that she was just trying to defend her guild from a potential enemy, but for heaven's sake, he had been protecting Fairy Tail for longer than she'd been alive.
He made it back to his alcove in record time. He unsealed the scroll that he had stored the enemy in and placed it on the chair at his desk. He slapped down a Gravity Seal, a Binding Seal, and a Nerve-Numbing Seal in triangular formation around the scroll. Satisfied that the three together should hold the man prisoner long enough to interrogate him, he released the seal on the scroll. The wild-haired Dragon Slayer popped out of the scroll with a gasp, falling onto the chair with a heavy thump.
N smirked when the man realized that he couldn't move. He loomed over the other man with a demonic glint in his eye, although the effect didn't have as much impact since he still had his mask over his face. To his credit, the man didn't show an ounce of fear in his body language, only a smidgen in his eyes.
"What do you want, you Fairy trash?" the man spat, looking enraged.
"You, my friend, are going to give me some answers," N said, smiling creepily behind his mask. Some of his ominous aura must have leaked out, because his prisoner suddenly looked a lot more wary. His eyes turned crimson, much to the man's horror, and began to gleam with an unholy light. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you… much."
The next morning dawned bright and early. As the sun began to ascend in the sky, bestowing the first rays of its golden light upon the city of Magnolia, it should have been a perfectly normal day. But it wasn't.
The havoc wrecked upon the city the night before had taken its toll. The building that had been smashed into kindling by the iron rod turned out to be a very important insurance company for home owners. Had their building not been damaged, they could have been covering construction costs for rebuilding some of the citizens' homes. But as it stood, with the fire damage and financial losses for their own company as a result of the destruction to their building, they were in no position to help the citizens. This made for some very angry Magnolians, especially the ones who had lost their homes to the previous night's battle.
Obviously, all of this damage was blamed on Fairy Tail, the rowdiest and most destructive guild that existed in their area. When Makarov found out, he froze in front of the guild and began to cry loudly about how the Council was probably going to come and put him in jail because of this.
"Master!" The diminutive guild master turned watery eyes towards one of his guild members, Cana Alberona. The half-naked woman marched up to him, wearing an unusually serious face. She stopped in front of him, biting her lip absently as she struggled to think of what to say. "Master, I met someone… strange, last night. He's the one who put this purple thing around the guild," she said, gesturing to the gently-shimmering barrier that was still visible against the bright sky. "He told me to ask you if I wanted answers. So give it to me straight: who the hell is he?"
Must've been N… thought the old guild master. No one else can do something like this.
"Did he have a black Fairy Tail mark on his chest?" Makarov asked. He had to be certain before he could think of how to explain N's presence to Cana.
"Yeah, it was right over his heart," Cana replied.
"I see. Will you tell me what you saw last night, Cana? I'd like to know what happened around here yesterday to cause all this damage," Makarov requested, glancing around at the ruined buildings. What had N done to cause this much destruction to the city?
Cana folded her arms over her chest, causing her significantly large breasts to pop out even more, to Makarov's secret delight. "I didn't see the whole thing. I woke up because I heard the sound of something crashing and it was extremely loud. I looked out of my window and saw this barrier thing over Fairy Tail, and rushed over as quickly as I could because I thought it was under attack. When I got there, someone was standing on the roof, and I confronted him. He's the one I want to know about, Master. Who is he?" she asked. "The thing I'm most confused about is how he is a Fairy Tail member when I don't ever recall seeing him around. Is he like Mystogan?"
Makarov reached up and stroked his mustache. "Something like that," the elderly guild master answered. "None know his true name, but we – that is, the former guild masters of Fairy Tail and I – have always referred to him by his alias: N."
"N? Wait a second, you mean he's the guy Natsu's always running his mouth off about? That N?" Cana exclaimed, incredulous.
"The very same, I wager," Makarov confirmed, turning to look at the glowing barrier around his beloved guild. "Have you ever heard of the term 'shadow guardian', Cana?"
The alcohol-addicted mage shook her head. "A shadow guardian? What's that?" she questioned.
"It is an ancient partnership made between a person and a guild. The person will become the guild's 'shadow' – meaning they will be the guild's secret guardian behind the scenes – and therefore are not allowed to reveal their name or face to anyone except the guild master or succeeding guild master once the contract has been accepted. The shadow guardian's natural longevity and durability is boosted to help them support their chosen guild better. The partnership usually lasts until the guardian dies or is freed by the current guild master. N is a bit of a special case, though that's all I can say about the matter. His secrets are not mine to reveal," Makarov explained.
"So that's what he meant when he told me he wasn't allowed to give me his name," Cana muttered, looking contemplative. She also turned to look up at the guild, watching as the translucent barrier rippled gently in the breeze. Her lips quirked into a brief smile. Last night, the barrier had seemed ghostly and evil in the darkness of the night. But during the day, it looked rather pretty, its shimmering surface reminding her of a sheet of sheer fabric swaying on a clothesline.
"Master!" Makarov pivoted on his heel when he heard someone call for him.
Levy, followed by Jet and Droy, approached the guild. "Master, what happened to the guild?" Levy asked, stopping in front of the old guild master. "I heard some noise last night, but I thought it was just a dream."
"You weren't dreaming," Makarov answered grimly. "Fairy Tail was attacked last night."
"Our guild was attacked?" Levy gasped, alarmed. "Why?"
"And what's this weird-looking thing around it?" Jet inquired, perplexed. He tried to poke it. To his disappointment, his finger just went through.
"Don't worry about it, it's a barrier to keep our guild safe from harm," Cana replied, giving her fellow guild members a small smile. "At least none of us were hurt during last night's attempt."
"What guild would be cowardly enough to launch an attack on us when we're absent?" Makarov snorted, walking forward. "Fools! They are not worth our time. Guild wars are forbidden by the Council, anyway." He walked through the barrier and headed into the guild.
"Well, if the Master says so, that's that," Cana said, shrugging. "Come on, let's get the day started. I'm ready to guzzle some alcohol." She stalked into the guild.
Casting one last glance at the purple barrier shimmering softly in the morning light, Team Shadowgear followed after her.
N looked up when the third guild master finally entered the office. "Good morning, Makarov-san," he greeted, stepping out from the shadows. Makarov jumped a little, having not expected anyone to be in the office when he came in.
"N," he returned, walking over to his chair. "Do you have answers for me?"
"Indeed I do. Although I also have the perpetrator with me if you wish to speak to him yourself," N replied, summoning his scroll. He placed the scroll on Makarov's desk.
"That will not be necessary if you've already interrogated him," said Makarov, seating himself in the chair and looking every inch the wise old guild master that he was. He laced his fingers together on top of the desk. "Now, please tell me what you've learned."
"The perpetrator's name is Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer from a guild called Phantom Lord. The intention behind last night's attack was to provoke a response from Fairy Tail, so that Phantom Lord can instigate a war and show us that their guild is superior," N reiterated. "Their other objective is to capture Lucy Heartfilia, a request from her father. Fairy Tail just happened to be in the way, which is one reason why it was targeted."
"Phantom Lord, huh…" mused Makarov, leaning back in his seat. He looked upset at the thought of his precious guild being attacked, especially when one of the members in particular was the target. "That troublesome Jose doesn't know when to quit."
"Would you like me to take care of them?" N inquired, picking his scroll back up and storing it away. "I'll make sure they don't bother us again. And I can return their Dragon Slayer while I'm at it."
"No, N. We will not be the ones to start the war," Makarov replied grimly. "Keep him in the scroll for now. We don't need to give them their ace back."
N smirked behind his mask. "As you wish, Makarov-san."
Makarov hopped out of his seat. "You can go now, N," he said, dismissing the shadow guardian with a wave of his hand. "I'm going to get a beer. I'll call for you if something comes up."
N bowed, silently slipping back into the shadows of the room. He traveled back to his alcove to plan out his next move. By now, the guild master of Phantom Lord was most likely aware that something had happened to his Dragon Slayer, and as such he would probably send more people to deal with the issue and get Gajeel back. Unfortunately for those poor suckers, even if they somehow miraculously got their hands on the scroll, he was the only one who could release the Dragon Slayer from it. Ha, serves them right for trying to bring down his guild.
He paused.
He really had thought that, hadn't he? His guild. It was just as Mavis predicted – over the years, Fairy Tail had slowly wormed its way into his heart despite his attempts to maintain some distance from it. He let an exasperated smile grace his face as he sat down on his chair. There was no helping it, he supposed. That's the way Fairy Tail was.
He pulled out a sheet of paper from one of the desk drawers and started to map out the area. If Phantom Lord was going to launch a second attack, they wouldn't send just a single person to do it. There were a few ways to approach Fairy Tail. First of all, the streets of Magnolia. They were all entirely straight and either went vertical or horizontal on a map. He scribbled a few arrows on his make-shift map to indicate the direction of the streets. They were created this way so that the city could transform into its Gildarts Shift at a moment's notice. Phantom Lord members could converge on Fairy Tail from there, although it wouldn't be considered an ideal plan of attack because the city's buildings were in the way. He'd call that method the 'front door' approach. Though if Phantom Lord planned an ambush instead, employing guerrilla tactics to pick off Fairy Tail members one by one, Magnolia would be the perfect battlefield.
N drew a large oval behind Fairy Tail, indicating the position and approximate size scale of Lake Sciliora to the city. If Phantom Lord had a ship or some other means of transportation to cross the lake, they could engage Fairy Tail on the mini-beach. That would be the 'back door' approach, and that place would be slightly trickier to defend because of the sand. The softer ground would hinder both guilds' movements, unless Phantom Lord chose to attack using long-distance weaponry and magic.
The last, but least likely option would be by air. A flying ship could drop bomb lacrima and attack Fairy Tail that way, although the city of Magnolia would also be involved. However, Gajeel had kindly informed him that no, their guild "can't fucking fly", so that method was out of the picture.
The most advantageous approach for them would be to attack from the back. So he would need to reinforce the anchor seal at the north point and add in some other seals to keep the guild safe. He hadn't been able to get Gajeel to tell him everything, so he could only speculate on a plan of attack at the moment. He scribbled an X at the north anchor point for the Barrier Seal and drew a triangle that linked it with the two hind corners of the guild. If he could create a Deflector there, then –
Suddenly he heard it – a low rumble that lightly shook the guild. It was like something extremely heavy was causing the earth to tremble. N frowned, and decided to go back up to the roof to check on the disturbance. The shaking got worse. That didn't bode well for the guild.
N teleported to the roof, gazing first over Magnolia, then out to Lake Sciliora. His eyes narrowed at the gargantuan contraption that was slowly moving through the water towards the guild. As he expected, Phantom Lord was taking the back door approach. He just hadn't thought that they would arrive so soon. There was no time to waste, then. He had to get that Deflector up, pronto.
He summoned two shadow clones and directed them to the appropriate corners. "We're setting up the Trinity Formation," he commanded. "Hurry, we have less than three minutes before they get here!"
"Yes, sir!" The clones saluted, jumping off the roof and moving towards their respective corners.
As N prepared to link the Trinity Formation to the north anchor point of the Barrier Seal to form a Deflector over Fairy Tail's backside, he saw Makarov and other members of the guild running on to the mini-beach. Even from this distance, he could see their shocked faces. Swearing softly under his breath, he worked as quickly as he could. He needed to keep Fairy Tail safe. How could he ever face Mavis again if he allowed her beloved guild to be destroyed?
N looked up sharply as the giant, mechanical guild halted in the distance. Something began to jut out of the front – a long, gleaming steel barrel for firing something that even his Deflector and Four-Point Barrier Seal combined might not be able to defend against. This was problematic; he hadn't anticipated that Phantom Lord would have such a powerful weapon in their arsenal. He was going to have to deal with this bitch himself.
He summoned a clone to take his place in concatenating the Trinity Formation and the Barrier Seal and prepared to join his fellow guild members on the beach. The cannon began to glow as a sphere of dark energy formed at the end of the barrel.
"Shit!" N swore. He didn't have time to set something up to help him. This was going to hurt.
"Everyone, get back!" He heard a female voice shout loudly from below. His eyes widened when he beheld Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard requipping into her toughest defensive armor, the Adamantine Armor. She combined the two swords in her hands to create a huge shield, which she slammed into the sand in front of her. Foolish girl!
The cannon fired.
N leaped off the roof. "Get out of the way!" he roared.
The woman yelped in surprise when he landed on the ground and shoved her out of the line of fire. "Hey! What are you doing?!" she yelled as she tumbled into the sand, her heavy armor kicking up a large cloud of dust.
N ignored her and closed his eyes. Kurama, my old friend… lend me your power!
A golden cloak made of pure energy enveloped his body. He held out his arms, spread his feet, and braced himself for the impact, only hearing Makarov's horrified cry of "N!" before the blast struck.
And that's a wrap, folks. Aren't cliffhangers fun? *shot* Anyways, I wanted to try something different. I don't think I've read a single crossover that has Naruto confronting Gajeel during his initial attack on the guild. So yeah, hope you liked it.
Mavis is kicking everybody's asses in the poll, by the way.
Please leave a review on what you think! I had hoped to pass 100 with the last chapter, but that didn't happen. Come on, guys, show some spirit!
See you next time.
MangaFreak15