Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

"Human Speaking"

'Human Thinking'

"Demon/Summon Speaking"

'Demon Thinking'

'Wow, this place is run down as hell.'

This was Naruto's primary thought as he gazed at the small town that was the sight of their job. The town had certainly seen better days, and was run down, with graffiti on every wall and an oppressive feeling was hanging in the atmosphere, as if all the negative emotions had gathered to warn people away from the town.

Behind him, Cana whistled. "Damn, this town is really in some deep stuff. No wonder they put urgent on the job request."

Grey nodded. "It's probably worse than it looks."

"Yeah, most likely. C'mon, let's get going and do this job." Naruto said. On the inside, his thoughts were going a mile a minute. 'Something's not right here. This feeling in the air...It's not natural...Shit. The bandits must be causing this somehow, probably through a mage in their ranks.'

Naruto sighed, frustrated. 'Great. The first mission I get here is pretty much the same as the Wave mission. Just on a smaller scale, and we're not protecting someone. But it's still under-ranked. I wonder if Gray and Cana have noticed yet?'

Looking at his team mates, he noticed that they were idle, and were casually walking while looking around town. Speaking of the town, it was a complete ghost town. Doors were closed and windows were boarded shut.

"Damn. This place is pretty much dead. There's no people here." Cana said, looking around to find signs of life. Naruto shook his head.

"No, there are people here." He said, sensing people inside the buildings. "We're being watched."

Instantly the 2 quieted down slightly.

"What should we do?" Gray asked.

"We'll go to the place their mayor is most likely to be. He is the one who sent out the request, so it's best to find him." Naruto explained. "I don't think we need to worry about the people because chances are that they're the townspeople."

Cana nodded. "Sounds good. But where is the mayor?"

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno. The easiest thing to do would be to ask these people, but it would also be risky in case they mistake us for enemies and attack."

"I say we just get it over and done with. You said it yourself, these people are the townspeople, so they won't hurt us if we explain." Gray suggested.

"Let's do it. C'mon Naruto." She said, agreeing, before leading Gray towards a random building. Naruto sighed, feeling suddenly frustrated.

'Dammit. These guys aren't being careful at all! Shit. Now I have to follow them to make sure they don't get themselves killed.' Growling lightly to himself, he followed Cana and Gray to the building.

Naruto ran to get in front of the two mages, and raised his hand. "Hold up. Lemme go in first in case."

The two mages nodded their consent. "Lead the way."

Naruto placed his hand on the door, his other hand inching towards his kunai pouch. Pushing the door open, Naruto was forced to duck as various objects sailed at him.

"Woah! Hold up! Don't shoot! We're the mages you hired!" He yelled. 'Well more like 2 mages and a shinobi, but who gives a crap about details anyway?"

Hesitantly, his assailants lowered their makeshift weapons. "Who are you and what's your name?" A rugged looking man asked with a wary eye, ready to attack him if needed.

Naruto spoke. "Like I said, we're the mages you guys hired. My name's Naruto. The other two are outside." Looking at the man as he spoke, he noticed he was a very tall man. Looking at his arms and face, he noticed some scars.

'Probably from fighting the bandits.' He mused. Looking around the room, he noticed roughly 5 other people. There were 2 woman, the rest being kids. Looking closely, he noticed that they to were in a similar state to the man, some harsher than others.

"How can I trust you?" The man asked.

Not bothering to speak, Naruto handed him the job slip that he had with him, then pulling up his sleeve and showing the man his Fairy Tail mark.

"This should be proof enough."

The man looked at him, still not fully trusting him. "And your companions?"

"Outside. They are also from Fairy Tail." Naruto said. The man looked at him, sizing him up before sighing.

"Bring them inside. If you are who you say you are, then only you can help us."

Makarov stared at the mage in front of him, his eyes narrowed in a serious manner that didn't seem to suit the normally jolly old man.

"Are you absolutely sure?" he asked finally.

The mage stared at him, her eyes equally serious.

"Yes, Master. On my latest mission, I heard rumours that the people terrorizing the town are part of the dark guild, Black Fire."

Makarov's eyes hardened. "If that is true, Erza, then I need you to assemble a small team and help them. They are unaware of their situation, and need all the help they can get. It's not a strong guild, but Black Fire has a severe numbers advantage. They can't take them on directly. Plus, they've enlisted bandits to help."

The mage, Erza, nodded in agreement.

"Who should I bring?"

"Take Mystogan with you. The job was originally a high C level assignment. But with a large dark guild present, then I suspect the difficulty has been raised to at least an A-rank. Between the two of you, plus those three, you should be able to handle it." Makarov told her. He had complete faith in Erza and Mystogan's abilities. In fact, they might even be over kill.

"Just make sure nothing happens to them."

"You can count on me Master. I'll leave immediately after gathering Mystogan."

"So these bandits have been looting your town and kidnapping the people for about 4 months now?" Naruto asked for confirmation of the information he had just heard.

'Something's not right with what this guy is saying. Bandits aren't that coordinated. Plus, with the energy I felt over the town, a mage has to be involved somehow.' Naruto groaned mentally. 'This better not be like the Wave mission.'

The man nodded. "Yes, that's right. They don't care who gets in their way. Mean, woman, children, even the elderly- nothing matters. They kill whoever tries to stop them. They kidnapped our mayor and took the the Communications Lacrima from his office. We barely managed to send out a message."

Cana shook her head. "That's horrible."

The man nodded. "It is. So please, I'm begging you! Save our town!" The man cried, getting on his knees and bowing. Naruto frowned. 'I have a really bad feeling about this. I should probably call for backup from Fairy Tail if we're gonna do this mission.'

However, before he could say anything, Gray interrupted.

"We'll do it." He said.

Naruto groaned mentally once more- it seemed to be becoming a habit.

'God dammit! Doesn't he realize the situation?'

The man looked at Gray, his eyes gleaming with hope. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Naruto sighed quietly before speaking. "We'll go scout out the bandits and formulate a plan. Is it alright if we use your town as a base headquarters?"

The man agreed, eager to see the bandits gone as soon as possible.

"It's fine. Whatever helps."

"Thank you. We'll be heading to their camp now."

As soon as they were outside of the building, Naruto turned towards his team-mates. "We'll need to be very careful when we go to the bandit camp. Normally, bandits aren't this organized, so there are probably some mages involved. Keep your guards up."

Gray looked mildly shocked. "Mages? But this mission is only a C-rank, not a B or A-rank!"

It was Cana who replied to him. "Yeah, but sometimes missions are mis-ranked," she said, pausing briefly. "They're a real pain in the ass to deal with," she added.

Naruto nodded. "Exactly. So we have to be careful. Let's go and see how many there are." With that last sentence, Naruto began walking towards the entrance of the town, with Cana and Gray following him a moment ago.

Now in the forest once again, the three stopped for a break to plan. "Alright, we don't know where they are, so I'm gonna go scout them out."

Cana shook her head. "That's too dangerous!"

"Yeah! It's too dangerous to go alone." Gray agreed.

Naruto shook his head in denial. "It's fine. I'm a user of Wind Magic, so I can sense them using the wind." Inwardly, Naruto face palmed 'Listen to the wind? That was terrible. Oh well, it's better than telling them I'm actually gonna use Sage Mode to sense them.'

After a minute, Cana and Gray relented. "Fine, but be careful."

Naruto nodded, before heading deeper into the forest until he was out of sight. Looking around him, Naruto judged that this was far enough from his team mates. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Naruto stilled his body and mind, and began gathering natural energy. A minute later, he opened his eyes, his pupils in the distinct shape of a toad's.

"Odd. Gathering the energy was faster than usual. Maybe the natural energy is richer in this world?" he mused idly.

Shaking his head to clear the currently irrelevant thoughts, he closed his eyes once again and spread his senses.

'Let's see, where are you?'

His eyes snapped open a moment later, spinning sharply to his right. A light grin formed. "Found you."

Shooting his eyes open, he got up and began sprinting towards where he had sensed a large gathering of humans. Arriving in a clearing, he hid behind a tree and looked discretely at the clearing. He noticed many tents, and half as many people mulling around. They were dressed like bandits, and were in just as bad a condition.

'There must be over fifty in the clearing. What about that mage I'm suspecting though?'

Spreading his senses again, Naruto attempted to find individuals that had a higher concentration of energy than the bandits he had been sensing. Pinpointing their locations, he looked to the north-west end of the camp, where three people were arguing. Their energy levels were much higher than the bandits. 'Those must be the mages.'

Stretching out his senses a final time, he attempted to find the hostages. Finding them, he groaned. 'Wonderful. They're in the middle of the freaking camp. Just great.'

'Time to head back and tell Gray and Cana.'

Turning around, Naruto sprinted in the direction of his team mates, eventually letting his Sage Mode dissipate as he neared them. Walking out of the trees, he raised a hand in greeting.

"I found the bandit camp. There were three also mages with them, just like I thought."

Pausing before continuing. "But, we should be fine. It's only three mages and fifty bandits. If we're careful, we should be able to free the hostages and beat them."

Seeing their nods, Naruto began jogging towards the bandits camp once more, with Gray and Cana hot on his heels.

They arrived shortly at the camp, Naruto stopping suddenly just before the treeline gave way to the camp entrance, almost causing Gray and Cana to bump into him.

"Why'd we stop?" Gray complained, having almost smashed his nose against the back of Naruto's head.

"We're almost there, so I'm gonna tell you guys the basic plan. Gray, you told me you used Ice Magic. And Cana, you use Card Magic," Naruto confirmed. The two nodded, causing Naruto to grin.

"Alright, so here's what we'll do..." As they listened, Gray and Cana couldn't help but grin.

"You two got the plan?"

They nodded.

"Good. Gary, start us off."

He didn't need to be told twice, entering the clearing and slamming his open palms onto the ground.

"Ice Make: Floor!"

A floor, made completely of ice, quickly covered the ground as it shot out from in front of Gray. The bandits, who had risen upon seeing the stranger, charged towards Gray; they all slipped on the ice and tumbled to the ground, tripping over one another. Naruto grinned at the amusing sight of grown men flailing around as they were.

'So far, so good.'

"Cana, you're up."

Stepping forward, Cana grabbed a handful of cards and threw them around the camp, carefully avoiding the middle. Her aim true, Cana activated her magic as soon as the cards landed, causing the cards to blow up. A few nearby bandits were thrown away by the concussive blast of the cards, sowing further panic among their current enemy's ranks.

"Explosion Cards, success," she muttered.

'Looks like it's my turn.'

Gathering his chakra, he sucked in a deep breath.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

A large and violent gust of raged blew through the camp, picking up dust and sending the bandits flying. Leaping forward, Naruto used chakra to run on the still frozen ground towards the tent where the hostages were being held. Knocking aside any bandits that were in his way, Naruto arrived outside the tent shortly.

Opening it slightly, he noticed the hostages huddled together, some shaking in fear. Upon the sight of him, they began shaking even more, thinking him to be a bandit. Noticing this, Naruto quickly reassured them.

"Whoa! I'm a ni-mage! I'm here to help!" Naruto said.

'Looks like I'm not used to calling myself a mage yet.'

Creating a few clones, he noticed the hostages were still reluctant to go with him, clearly not trusting the stranger after the time spent with less than agreeable bandits.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Look, we have to hurry. There's not much time left, and you don't have much of a choice here."

The hostages finally relented, and allowed themselves to be picked up by the clones. Nodding to his clones, Naruto ran out of the tent with his clones following him.

The bandits, now thoroughly disorganized, were slowly being defeated one by one as Cana continued to use all manner of cards, while Gray was using his Ice Make at random intervals to attack and herd the bandits into large groups for Cana.

With the hostages now safely secured behind the tree line, Naruto also joined the battle to execute step 4.

"Here's what we'll do. Gray, I need you to cover the ground with ice. That's step 1. Then, Cana, you'll attack using your cards around the camp, but not in the middle- that's where the hostages are. Anything that causes mass panic will be good. Then, I'll use my Wind Magic to blow the bandits away and cause more panic. That's step 2. Then, while you and Gray continue to attack the bandits, I'll rush in and save the hostages, and hide them. That's step 3. You guys with me so far?" At their nods, Naruto continued explaining the plan. "Then, after the hostages are safe, I'll join the battle and we'll take out the rest of the bandits, that being step 4. After the bandits are out of the scenario, we'll attack the mages. Right now, their at the opposite side of the camp. That's step 5. Then, we high tail it back to the town, get our pay, and head back to Fairy Tail."

Weaving in and out of the bandits ranks, Naruto was knocking out bandits left and right. Using the smoke from the explosions to his advantage, the bandits didn't stand a chance. The mages however, were far from fooled, viewing everything from their end of the battlefield.

"Those Fairy Tail mages are rather strong, don't you think?" The first, a large man with a massive axe rested casually on his shoulder said.

"Yeah, they are. That's good, I've been itching for a good fight!" The second, a man standing easily over six feet and rippling with well toned muscle, said, a maddened grin splayed across his face..

"Do not underestimate them, Tetsuhiko." The last mage, a petite, but beautiful red-haired woman, reprimanded the man. A katana hung at her side, upon with her hand rested.

The mage, now dubbed Tetsuhiko, sighed slightly at her scolding.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. They won't stand a chance against my magic. Honestly, Katsumi, you're so uptight."

Katsumi narrowed her eyes.

"It will not be my fault if you go and get yourself killed."

Her teammate shook his head, shrugging in dismissal as he once again returned his attention to their new enemy.

"Whatever! I doubt those mages can beat me. No one can!"

The first mage, laughed. "Tetsuhiko, if I recall, Katsumi kicked your ass the other day."

"Shut up, Benkei! I'll kick your ass!"

"Quiet, the both of you. Observe our opponents, and prepare yourselves for battle. Benkei, prepare the Communications Lacrima."

The two mages nodded stiffly, quickly following the orders of their superior, before quietly returning to observing the three Fairy Tail mages.

Back on the battlefield, the bandits were all but gone. Gray and Cana had come from cover and were attacking the bandits head to head. Well, Gray was at least. Cana was on the part of the ground that was not covered in ice as she lacked the ability to move on the ice.

Naruto had abandoned his smoky cover, and was running circles around the bandits. However upon feeling a spike of energy, Naruto quickly jumped back, pulling Gray with him, just in time to avoid the attack.

"Earth Make: Spires!"

Multiple spires of earth burst from the ground, easily breaking through the icy floor, some with spiked tips and others without, picking up lots of smoke and finishing off the remaining bandits. As the smoke cleared, Katsumi, Tetsuhiko and Benkei were each standing on a spire, looking down on the three Fairy Tail mages.

"I'm sorry, but we will not let Fairy Tail interfere with our business here," Katsumi said, her eyes focused on her opponents as she slowly drew her sword from her scabbard. "I shall give you once last chance to surrender yourselves."

Her first statement caused Naruto to narrow his eyes. 'They're here for something. But what?'

"Whatever! We won't let you harm this town anymore!" Cana yelled at her, her magic flaring itself as she drew three cards.

Tetsuhiko chuckled at the feisty girl. Battle was always more fun when they resisted. "I'm sorry sweetie, but you say it like you can beat us at all."

Naruto decided that now was the time to cut the trash talking. He'd let his fists do the talking.

"Oi, Cana, you got the guy who just spoke. Gray, take on the big guy with the axe. I'll get the last one."

As he said this, his eyes didn't leave his enemy. A slight smirk played on his face as he flaring his chakra.

Tetsuhiko laughed. "Pretty confident are-"

'BOOM'

He was cut off by an explosion, which caused him to fall from his now broken spire. The other two were also in similar situations. Katsumi narrowed her eyes as she looked around the camp area. The spires were all breaking down due to similar explosions.

'A pre-emptive strike.'

Naruto on the other hand was grinning. 'Gotta love exploding tags.'

"Watch your backs! Oh, and you might wanna win," Naruto advised light before jumping to engage his opponent. While he didn't think they were weak, he didn't know their full capabilities to know for sure whether they could handle themselves or not.

Glancing at each other as their third teammate leapt forward, Gray and Cana nodded before running to engage their targets.

"Card Magic: Explosion Cards!"

The three cards in Cana's hand flew forward, attaching themselves the ground at Tetsuhiko's feet before quickly exploding, kicking up dust and debris.

Once the smoke cleared, she was surprised to find that Tetsuhiko was still standing, completely unharmed by the point-blank ranged explosions. Her eyes narrowed, carefully watching her opponent. While her explosion cards weren't the strongest, taking three head on and looking unfazed was definitely not what she expected from most opponents.

"I'll have to admit, that attack was certainly surprising," he said, a wild grin playing on his face as his blood pumped. He crouched down, breathing out lighting, before he shot forward with surprising speed.

Cana's eyes widen as she hastily crossed her arms in front of her, bracing for the blow. It proved to be too much for her as the strength behind his punch easily tore through her guard, nailing her hard in the stomach.

She flew backwards, landing on her back as pain flared from her stomach. She hastily raised herself to one knee, finding her opponent standing with his arms crossed, his skin a dark grey colour.

"Too bad it didn't work."

"Ice Make: Geyser!"

A large geyser of ice erupted just in front of where Benkei was standing, shooting out to hit him. Benkei, moving quickly for a man of his size, blocked with the flat side of his axe. The ice struggled to push forward, but he held it back with raw strength alone.

Grey frowned, before quickly adjusted to the new situation. Rather than fight against the axe, the ice gave it way, moving around it as it once again tried to strike at his opponent.

Benkei grunted in surprise as the ice moved, throwing him off balance. However, he did not fall forward as the ice slammed into his face, straightening him out. However, to Gray's surprised, the man did not move an inch after that, despite the attack constantly shooting at his face. In fact, the ice broke almost on contact, shard flying everywhere as Gray created more and more.

Seeing it was doing seemingly nothing, Gray let his attack go, not keen on wasting his magic for no reason. He glanced at his opponent, irritated.

Benkai was grinning back at him, the crumbling remains of something on his shoulders falling to the ground below.

"Good attack, but you're gonna have to do better than that," he said. Lifting his axe easily with one arm until it pointed straight to the sky, he slammed it into the ground, causing a large tsunami of earth to rush towards Gray, who watched wide eyed as the attack engulfed him.

Naruto drew a kunai as he advanced on his opponent. Thrusting it forward in a reverse grip, sparks flew as it collide with Katsumi's katana. She didn't allow the stalemate to hold long; shoving his kunai back, she retaliated immediately with a slash aiming to take his head off.

It was promptly dodged as Naruto leaned his head back, before once again trying to run her through with his kunai.

"You are stronger than the other two," Katsumi said between their traded blows.

"Speak or yourself. Your magic levels are much higher than your team mates," he said as they continued to dance around one another, trying to outpace the other. Naruto was relying on his past experience and fast reflexes to counter against the shocking speed and strength of his opponent's blade.

'Holy shit! She's a lot faster than what I've seen from mages.'

Using his kunai to redirect a sharp stab, he suddenly leaned back, aiming a side kick to catch her in the stomach. It was checked by Katsumi's own leg as she swept the kick aside. Naruto leaped backwards, making some distance between them.

"You're fast," Naruto said, impressed. Her physical capabilities were much better than what he had seen from other mages.

"Yet I can't manage to land a hit on you," she said, her lips pursed. Her sword was held loosely in front of her, ready for their next clash.

"I'm just awesome like that," he replied, a grin playing at his lips.

She frowned lightly, before her magic levels began steadily rising. "This is getting rather redundant. I do believe it's time to take it up a notch."

Focusing her energy through her sword, fire burst from the base of the blade to the tip. Holding it in one hand, she pointed it at him, the flames wildly raging on the blade as embers flew off.

"I hope you can keep up."

"My thoughts exactly," Naruto replied, channeling his own wind chakra through his kunai, coating it in light blue hue of sharp chakra. A moment of silence passed between them, the only sound being the crackling of flames. As if on a mutually understood signal, they rushed towards each other, clashing blades once more.

"Card Magic: Wind Edge!"

A massive wave of wind rushed towards Tetsuhiko, attempting to stop his charge at Cana. It did little to slow him down as he burst through the wind like a hot knife through butter, a heavy leg thrust at her as he neared. Cana physically threw herself backwards to avoid the attack, throwing another explosive card at him, this time aiming for his body. It exploded, though the effect it had was the same as before- none.

"Ha, it's useless girl! With my Iron Body Magic, I can turn my whole body into iron, giving me great attack and defence. But best of all, it doesn't weigh me down at all. You're weak attacks can't break through my defense."

Cana breathed heavily, her stomach still flaring from the earlier punch. She wasn't used to fighting face to face with opponents- that was the business of monsters like Erza and Mirajane, back when she was an active mage. Frustrated, she tried her best to think of ways past his defence.

'C'mon Cana, think! Iron is a metal. What do metals do? Metals conduct electri- I'm an idiot! This had better work.'

Placing a few cards around herself as Tetsuhiko prepared for another charge, she pulled out a few more just as Tetsuhiko appeared in front of her with his fist once again cocked backwards.

"Cards Magic: Prayers Fountain!"

Four pressurized streams of water burst from the cards around her, slamming into Tetsuhiko, who quickly crossed his arms in front of him to weather the power of the water. He grunted, struggling to stay put, but found he was slowly being pushed back. Not quite done her assault, Cana activated two more cards.

"Cards Magic: Icicle!"

Icicles shot forward at Tetsuhiko, who quickly broke from his stalement with the water, and ducked and weaved through the new attack. Instead of being disappointed at the seemingly failed attack, Cana was relieved- it had done exactly what she hoped it would, which was give her time. Quickly drawing more cards as the last of the icicles shot at him, she threw them behind him.

"Cards Magic: Wind Edge!"

The cards levitated in the air, releasing a massive gust of wind, which, unlike last time, sent him stumbling face first towards her. Skidding to a stop a few metres away from her, Tetsuhiko groaned as he got up, having crashed head first into the ground.

"That's it girl, you're going down," he looked downright murderous. "I usually don't use this, but you've really pissed me off!"

"Iron Body: Pure Iron!"

Tetsuhiko's skin turned a darker grey colour than before, seemingly having powered up his ability even more. Crouching down, he prepared to launch himself towards her. However, rather than being scared of this like the times before, Cana merely smirked, ready to counter whatever he may throw at her.

Just as Tetsuhiko launched himself forward, Cana yelled fiercely, "I'm not gonna lose. You are! Card Magic: Summoned Lightning!"

A total of six cards floated in front of her, all glowing a fierce yellow. They all released their potent energy in the form of six lightning bolts, all of which met a wide eyed Tetsuhiko, intercepting his fierce charge. Tetsuhiko screamed in pain from the electrocution as thousands of volts of electrical energy coursed through him, amplified even more by the metallic properties of his body. The attack finally ended, allowing his charred, unconscious form to fall to the ground, still twitching slightly.

Exhausted of nearly all her magic from the last barrage of attacks, Cana fell to one knee, panting heavily.

"It's finally...over," she said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Creak

Hearing the sound, she froze in horror, looking forward. Tetsuhiko was slowly standing up, with spikes erupting from random points of his body in a deformed sort of armour. Wisps of smoke still flew off his body as the smell of ozone continued to permeate through the air. His face betrayed nothing as he stared at her.

"Iron Body: Attack Form."

Cana closed her eyes as he appeared in front of her, a spike that emerged from the centre of his palm millimetres from her face.

As the tsunami of earth finally settled down, it revealed Gray surrounded by a crumbling dome of ice. A huge shield of shield was held in front of him, cracks playing across its surface.

"Hoho, so you survived that?" Benkei asked rhetorically, sounding vaguely amused. "That's good. It would have been a shame if you died after so confidently coming to take me on."

Gray breathed heavily before smirking, letting his shield dissipate.

"Ha! That was nothing."

Benkei smirked at him. "It was nothing eh? Deal with this then! Earth Make: Titanic Hands!"

Two giant hands burst from the ground on either side of Gray. Reacting quickly to avoid being grabbed, he somersaulted forward to avoid the hands. Coming up on one knee, he quickly retaliated.

"Ice Make: Lance!"

Multiple lances of ice emerged from Gray's hands as they rushed forward to impale Benkei. Cursing quietly, Benkei quickly blocked.

"Earth Make: Wall!"

The wall of earth burst from the ground, blocking Gray's ice lances, leaving Benkei unscathed. "Pretty strong attack for a kid, but let's see you hand this. Earth Make: Dragon!"

A large dragon burst from the ground with it's jaws wide open, intent on ripping Gray to pieces. He cursed at the size of the dragon, but didn't allow himself to break composure further.

"Ice Make: Knuckle!"

Gray froze the ground in front of him, from which a massive fist of ice burst, flying straight at the dragon. They two attacks collided, each trying to overpower the other, before finally reaching a mutual accord in breaking apart.

Gray panted in exertion, having already drained a good portion of his already average sized reserves. Ice Make relied more on finesse and control rather than raw power, but he had already been forced to create rather large structures that were saturated with magic to defend against the monstrous man.

"Wait, where'd he go?!" Gray exclaimed as he suddenly noticed that Benkei was no longer standing before him.

"Right behind ya kid!" Gray spun around to face Benkei, preparing to defend, only to receive a heavy earth-encased fist to the face, which sent him flying. Benkei was not done however as he once again rushed forward as Gray attempted to pick himself up. Pulling his axe from his back, he slammed it onto the ground, realizing that Gray was out of his physical reach, causing a wave of dirt to fly at Gray, sending him careening.

"Earth Make: Hammer!"

The hammer burst from the ground and levitated above Gray, ready to crush him at any time. Gray groaned from the barrage of attacks, struggling to get up from his place on the ground

"It's over kid," his opponent told him, smirking cockily. However, Gray was not done just yet. Managing to force himself into a kneeling position, he ignored the pain he was feeling and put his hands together just as Benkai made the earthly construct swing down.

"Ice Make: Rampart!"

A rampart of ice burst upwards, colliding with the hammer. Unlike the earlier struggle with the earth dragon, Gray's attack easily broke through the weaker hammer. Ice formed beneath his feet, giving him a boost as he jumped on top of his rampart.

"Ice Make: Knuckle!"

Like with the dragon, massive fists burst from the rampart, aimed quickly towards Benkei. He managed to block one with his axe, and stopped another with his own encased fist. However, he was left almost helpless against the third as it collided with extreme velocity into his stomach, sending the large man stumbling backwards as he let go of his axe.

His defense now broken, the fists did not stop their assault, continuing to assault him over and over. By the end of it, a bruised and bloody Benkei lay nearly unmoving on the ground. Only the light rise and fall of his chest told Gray that he had only pummeled the man into the land of dreams, and not outright killed him.

Gray himself let out a sigh of relief, allowing himself to drop to his butt. The battle had taken up a great deal of magic condensed into rather few spells.

"Looks like I have to work on that," he said as he stood up, dusted himself off and began walking away from his opponent.

"Earth Make: Dragon!"

Gray spun around in shock as Benkei's injured voice reached his ears. Somehow, the man had remained conscious through the beating. He came face to face with another earth dragon, even larger than the last, barely a metre away from him. With no time to form a spell, Gray braced himself as best as he could.

Cana's face was set in a defiant look at the impassive face of Tetsuhiko, a stark contrast to his earlier boastful self. The sunlight glinted lightly off his metallic spikes, particularly the one held to her face.

He continued staring at her for a few more seconds, before finally speaking. "You did well, girl. But unfortunately, I'm not so stupid that I don't know my own weaknesses. That hurt, yeah, but I've trained myself to feel worse."

She grit her teeth, angry at herself for underestimating her opponent. Of course someone would know where their weaknesses lay, and work to overcome them to the best of their ability. Any mage worth their salt knew that.

'Not the best time to be berating myself,' a dark little voice in the back of her head muse as she stared death in the face.

"I'll grant you a quick death. You're the first person to actually hurt me in a long time."

He drew his arm back, preparing to run her through. Cana struggled to move, but her strength had seemingly left her.

"Goodbye," he told her, just as he thrust his arm forward.

Just as his arm made contact, a concentrated beam of energy blasted him to the side, instantly knocking him out in his weakened state. Cana wearily looked to her left, from where the attack had come, and sighed in immense relief as she saw Mystogan standing there, holding out one of his many staves.

"Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song."

"Thank goodness," was all she said before collapsing from exhaustion.

Just before the attack, a voice filled with fury cried out somewhere behind him:

"Sword Magic: Circle Sword!"

With it, swords all around the dragon, slashing and stabbing as one on the signal of their owner, hacking the dragon into pieces. It fell quickly into multiple segments, which further crumbled back into dirt, the concentrated earth magic escaping them. The swords were not done however, as they flew at Benkei, repeating their pattern of slashing and stabbing.

The large man remained conscious, despite the numerous cuts and resulting bloodloss, before he finally slipped from reality when the pommel of one of the swords was bashed into his head several times.

Already knowing who had saved him based on the attack, Grey had never been so thankful to see Erza, clad in her Knight Armour.

"Thanks. Thought I was a goner there."

Erza nodded, a small smile on her face. "No problem. Now sleep."

"But I'm not-" Gray protest, only to be cut off as Erza chopped his neck, knocking him into unconsciousness.

Naruto and Katsumi were still clashing blades, magic and chakra fighting to overpower the other. Katsumi once again nearly took his head off with a rapid slash, having only missed by a last minute raised kunai.

'What the hell? She got even faster?!'

Once again thrusting her blade forward, Katsumi attempted to gut him. Using his kunai, he knocked her sword to the side before he leaned to the left, his right leg snapping up in a powerful front kick that connecting with her stomach. She flew back, her body naturally folding in half, but managed to straighten out and land in a crouching position. Standing up, she brushed herself off before addressing him.

"You are stronger than expected. I did not think I would need to go this far against you," she said, pulling her sword to the side in the beginning of a slashing motion. Naruto was immediately on guard as he felt, rather than sensed, the temperature surrounding them getting much hotter as she gathered a large amount of magic.

"Flaming Crescent Moon Destroyer!"

A large, blazing arc of fire left from the tip of her sword at each angle of the slashing arc, expanding more and more the farther it flew from her. Naruto cursed, managing to think of only one thing in his current arsenal that might halt it, despite the weakness of his element to fire.

'I know this is going to be a very bad idea, but I'm going to do it anyway. Oh well, I can always Kawarimi the hell out of it.'

Gathering his chakra, Naruto breathed out:

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

The powerful gust of wind shot forward as Naruto continued to blow out more and more, towards the blazing crescent of fire. They collided spectacularly, the crescent of fire flaring out to form a massive wall of fire. It continued to move forward, albeit at a slower pace, before finally being halted by the widespread wind technique.

On the other side of the wall, Katsumi stared at the wall, her katana no longer encased in fire.

"Where did he go?" she mused, only to turn around a second later upon hearing something whistling through air. Her instincts proved true as she barely managed to block Naruto's wind charged kunai. The sword showed itself to be incredibly resilient, suffering only minor scratches from the chakra rather than being cut apart instantly.

"You're good," Naruto told her, disappearing in smoke a second later. Katsumi looked around, immediately on guard as she tried to sense her opponent.

Behind the tree line, Naruto was planning his next move. 'Gotta finish her fast, before she pulls out some other annoying move.'

It was at this moment however, that she managed to pinpoint him him. Quickly sheathing her sword, she exploded her magic outward, massive waves of fire coming out from her, in a manner reminiscent of shock waves. Naruto didn't have time to exclaim as he was engulfed by the raging flames. Katsumi, sensing that they had overtaken his position, released the technique, allowing the magic to dissipate till only small embers remained.

She breathed hard, having used a much larger amount of magic than she was used to using. "I still am not proficient with the spell, but at least it got him."

Making to move towards where she had sensed him, she was interrupted as his voice sounded from behind her.

"Sorry, but you didn't get me. At least not all of me."

Rushing to draw her sword at the realization that he was still conscious, she was too late as he ripped her sword from her side, following up with a heavy punch to the back of her head.

Naruto wasn't done however; he dashed in front of her before she finished falling forward, and kicked her a few metres into the air. Quickly making his favourite seal, five clones burst into existence, immediately jumping to his opponent, beginning his signature barrage.

"U!"

A kick to the stomach, sending her higher.

"ZU!"

This time, a punch to the cheek, staggering her as she tried to compose herself midair.

"MA!"

Another kick.

"KI!"

A final upwards kick to send her to an optimum height. The final clone leapt, easily reaching the point where Katsumi would be nearing the peak of her ascent. His leg stuck out, he brought his leg down in a brutal axe kick aimed at her back.

"Naruto Rendan!"

However, Katsumi, realizing the danger she was in, quickly spun around midair, crossing her arms. A burst of fire left them, hoping to displace the kick. Doing just that, Katsumi was still hit with the impact of her makeshift fire barrier imploding. She fell to the ground, though much more aware this time. Grabbing a clone near her, she maneuvered so he was beneath her, forcing him to take the impact.

Naruto was impressed at how she managed to pull that off. Last he had checked, she was barely standing as it was.

"I didn't expect you to have that much magic left," he said casually, drawing her sword from its sheath. The workmanship on the blade was definitely beautiful, though it was currently ruined by new chips on the edge of the blade, courtesy of his very own wind chakra.

She didn't dignify him with a response to her question, instead slowly forming a katana of fire to makeup for her lack of an actual one. "Enough of this. Though I suppose I would like to know the name of the opponent who pushed me so far."

He grinned slightly. "Naruto Uzumaki, at your service. And you?"

"Katsumi Mitsuwa."

Her name was all she said before she disappeared suddenly, only to reappear behind Naruto, her flame sword slowly dissipating as its use was over.

"Fire Sword Magic: Flames of Eternity."

It dissipated fully a moment later, and blood flew.

Katsumi fell to the ground, a large slash from her right shoulder to left hip bleeding profusely.

"H-How?" she whispered hoarsely. "No mage...has ever countered that attack."

Naruto smiled. "No mage huh? Too bad for you. I'm not a mage."

"Then what are you?"

"A shinobi."

-End-

Holy crap! Finally done this chapter. I'm not sure how well the mission turned out, so be sure to let me know in your reviews. It was pretty tough to write this, but also pretty fun. So be sure to review.

I've put up a poll for what Naruto's second nature affinity should be, so please do vote on that.

Anyway, not much to say, other than thank you for everyone who reviewed, and thanks for the moves you sent me.

HokagenoNaruto, out.

1/1/2017: FINALLY EDITED THIS THING. EACH FIGHT IS NOW MUCH LONGER AND BETTER (AN INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY 2500 WORDS), AND I'M PRETTY SURE I IMPROVED THE GRAMMAR A DECENT ENOUGH AMOUNT. I JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW WRITING A NEW CHAPTER IS MUCH EASIER THAN EDITING CUZ I HAVE TO LOOK TO IMPROVE MY SHITTY OLD WRITING. ALSO, ALL CHAPTERS BEFORE THIS ONE HAVE BEEN EDITED AS WELL.