Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
"Human Speaking"
'Human Thinking'
"Demon/Summon Speaking"
'Demon Thinking'
It was a nice sunny day. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and it was a clear day, with no clouds in sight. It was perfect. An epitome of peace. That is, until a sound interrupted it.
BAM!
The sound was extremely loud, causing the birds to fly off, startled. It was coming from the guild house of Fairy Tail, and so the locals ignored it, accustomed to random, crazy noises coming from the guild, among many things. It was also followed by a scream. Not uncommon, but only heard around the times Titania Erza returned- about once a month. This was the second time.
"Ah! Forgive me!"
CRASH!
BAM!
"No!"
"...Methinks she doesn't forgive me," Naruto muttered to himself, dodging chairs thrown at him by Mirajane. Yes, Mirajane. He had underestimated the fearful look Natsu's eyes had gained when he had told him that Mirajane was angry at him. He didn't understand it at the time. What was so scary about poor, kind, innocent, pure-hearted, Mira-chan?
It was unfortunate that Naruto didn't know about her history as The Demon Mirajane. Poor Naruto.
It truly was unfortunate for Naruto that his disappearing suddenly had reminded Mirajane of Lisanna's tragic death, and shocked her back into a partial demon form, upon which she almost tore up Magnolia Town searching for him.
Almost.
Luckily, it wasn't a full transformation, and using it after so many years had made her rusty. Her rampage was finally stopped by the combined efforts of Natsu, Gray, Cana, and Elfman, who were all later put into the hospital for the various injuries that littered their bodies.
Naruto was only partially lucky in that aspect. Her full transformation was still out of her grasp, but she had resumed her training, and had a terrifying mastery of her partial form.
Let it never be said that The Demon Mirajane was useless without her full form.
Naruto ducked hastily as he once more dodged a lightning-fast punch from Mirajane.
"Stop trying to kill me!" He yelled at her frantically. God, this Mira was scary!
"No! Take your beating like a fucking man, you pussy!"
It also seemed her demonic attitude took over while using Satan Soul. Naruto was so shocked by her words, he almost couldn't dodge the roudhouse kick that was making its way to him.
"Woah!"
He jumped up, his knees hitting his chest as he dodged the leg. Behind him, a few chairs and a table were cut in half by the sheer sharp magic energy given off.
He gulped, then breathed a quick sigh of relief, thankful he hadn't been hit by that.
His relief quickly turned into fear however as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned hesitantly, now face to face with Mirajane, who had an even more pissed off look on her face, her fist cocked back.
"Oh shi-!"
Her fist shot forward, knocking Naruto's head down, almost burying it into the ground.
Naruto slowly got up, only to fall back down a moment later when he felt a weight on top of him.
It was Mirajane, hugging the life out of him, now back to normal.
"Idiot. Why couldn't you have told us anything? I was so worried."
"I'm...sorry."
Naruto was shocked. He didn't expect Mirajane to be so emotional about his leaving.
"No, don't be. I understand you had to do what you did. Just...don't do that again. Please. Promise me."
Tears were gathering in her eyes as she recalled how Natsu had burst into the room, yelling that he couldn't find Naruto anywhere, and that his scent was faded.
Naruto smiled, bringing his hand up, wiping them away.
"I promise."
It ached him to say it. What if he could never come back once he found a way back? What if his plan failed, and the seals didn't work? But he did it anyway, for her sake. She was a precious person, and Naruto didn't like it when his precious people cried.
"Thank you."
"So. Are we good?" He asked. He didn't want her to be angry. She wouldn't give him ramen if she was.
"No."
"What?"
He checked his ears. He was sure he was hearing things. Did Mira say she was still angry? That would be bad.
"I'm still angry. Thus, as punishment, no ramen for...a month."
Naruto froze, his eyes wide. Impossible. She didn't just say that. He could't believe it. He wouldn't believe it!
He fell backward, knocked out from the sheer amount of time he couldn't have ramen.
Mirajane giggled, which was joined in by Katsumi, and soon the whole guild was laughing in joy.
The family was complete, and all was well.
...For now.
"Quite the rowdy bunch, eh?"
"Yeah. It's as if they've gotten worse since I left, old man."
The old man, or Master Makarov, as he was known to most people, grinned. "No, you've just been gone too long, Naruto. Though I feel the progress was worth it, I believe."
Naruto grinned. "Yeah. I learned a lot."
Makarov chuckled. "Your friends were quite intent on following your movements. I must say, you are quite a topic among the ladies here at Fairy Tail, Mr. Famous S-Class Mage."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't that famous. Right?
"C'mon. I just do what's right. And I'm not that famous."
Makarov snorted loudly, taking a sip from his cup of beer. "My boy, you're quite popular with the younger mages. Much like Natsu is Salamander, and inspires people, you do the same with your famous title. Many people believe you to be strong, and more than powerful enough to join the Ten Wizard Saints."
Naruto blinked. This was new. "The Ten Wizard Saints? Aren't they like, the strongest mages in the land?"
Makarov nodded. "Yup. Like me."
This caused Naruto to stare at him quizzically.
"What?! I am! Really!"
Naruto shook his head. "...Just...forget it."
Makarov cried silently.
"Kids these days. No respect."
It was currently night, and Naruto was standing by the lake at his old training ground, taking in the natural beauty of the scene. There was s slight breeze at night, and Naruto was enjoying how immersed he felt within the wind.
He was feeling pretty good. While he still longed, and worried for his friends back in Konoha, he was concentrating more on what he had here. He was making progress, and with some luck, he wouldn't have to abandon any of his friends.
He perked suddenly, glancing back. "You know, I was wondering when you would talk to me alone."
The figure from behind him approached until it stood shoulder to shoulder with him. It was Katsumi.
"I felt this would be the more appropriate time," She said lightly, glancing towards the full moon.
Naruto nodded. "So, what's up?"
"Nothing," She said, wrapping her arm around him hesitantly.
"I...I really missed you, you know?"
Naruto wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.
"Did you now?"
She nodded.
"Yes. If you leave again without taking me with you, I will personally hunt you down, drag you back, beat you up, heal you, then let you go wherever you were going with me on your back. Understood?"
Naruto gulped.
"Ehehe. Of course."
'You are so fucking whipped,' Kyuubi's amused voice came from his mind.
'...What?'
'And you with your primitive brain capacity don't even begin to understand it.'
'Right. Whatever,' Naruto told him, not quite understanding. What did he mean he was 'whipped'? As far as he was concerned, Katsumi wasn't even close to liking him.
Right?
Naruto walked into the guild building at early morning, arriving just in time to see Romeo running off with tears in his eyes, Natsu getting up and walking out with determination that Naruto had not seen on him for a long time, and the new girl, Lucy, yelling his name as she struggled to catch up.
Naruto blinked, then shrugged. Whatever it was, Natsu could deal with it. The new girl should be fine as well. She was a Stellar Spirit Mage, and if they were anything like summons, it meant that they were strong. Atleast, he hoped they were.
He sighed forlornly at the thought of summons. He missed Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. And Ma and Pa. And Gamabunta as well. After Jiraiya's passing, they had taught him Sage Mode, becoming almost like another family to him. 'Kichi and 'Tatsu were his brothers, Ma and Pa were his grandparents, and Gamabunta was...
'Nah,' Naruto decided. 'I'll just keep him as the Toad Boss.'
He walked over to Mirajane, who was busy cleaning the dishes, and Makarov, who was sitting at the bar, drinking a beer and looking oddly serious.
"What's up?"
Mirajane blinked in surprise as he arrived, then glanced towards the door. "Macao has gone missing. He took a job about a week ago to exterminate a tribe of Vulcans. He should've been finished long before now."
Naruto blinked. Now that was surprising. He didn't know Macao all that well, but he knew that he was a powerful mage in his own right, and wouldn't of been taken out that easily.
"And I'm guessing that Natsu saw Romeo crying about it and decided that he would save Macao?"
Makarov grunted. "Pretty much. These brats of mine are so troublesome."
He turned to Naruto. "Anyway, what are you going to do now? Go after them?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nah. No need. I'll just stick around for awhile, catch up with everyone. I bet you guys that Natsu will be back with Macao in five hours."
Makarov grinned. "Haha! Now you're talking! Ten thousand Jewels on it taking six hours."
Five Hours Later:
"Haha old man, pay up!" Naruto's jolly voice rang out as Natsu walked into the guild, Macao on his back, and Lucy dragging herself behind him.
Makarov grumbled, throwing him the money, and an insult as a tip.
"Cheeky brat."
Naruto grinned. "Well then you shouldn't have doubted Natsu's strength and bet so much as well."
He must've said it a bit too loud as Natsu appeared beside them immediately, yelling at Makarov.
"Old man, you doubted me?!"
Makarov waved his hands about, glaring at Naruto momentarily, who was grinning madly, before turning back to Natsu.
"Not at all. I just thought you would take longer to get there is all."
"Oh okay," Natsu said simply, going away to fight with Grey. Naruto simply grinned wider at Makarov, causing him to grumble.
Makarov settled down suddenly, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket, sliding it over to Naruto, who picked it up, reading it curiously.
His eyes widened.
"This is?"
"All true," Makarov said, uncharacteristically serious.
Naruto glanced at the paper again, checking again. The job that was written on the paper was, well, important, so to speak. Not to mention it wasn't quite the usual job. Hell, Naruto didn't believe the Council would even order this. They usually weren't so forward.
"A small squad of S-class mages, huh? To form an entirely separate Guild dedication to the annihilation of the Balam Alliance."
Makarov nodded gravely. "Yes. I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but the Balam Alliance as been getting into very serious activities."
Naruto tilted his head, urging Makarov to continue. He wanted to know what exactly was going on. Was it really so serious that the Council actively involved themselves?
Makarov drew a triangle on the table using magic. He scribbled in quick names at each vertex of the triangle.
Naruto squinted to read what was written.
Oracion Seis
Tartarus
Grimoire Heart
"As you know," Makarov began, indicating to each name. "These three allies make the centre part of what is known as the Balam Alliance. Out of these three, only the Dark Guild Tartarus has a strong army beneath their heavy hitters. Grimoire Heart also has underlings, but they are not of significant strength. Merely in numbers do you have to worry about them, as our spies have determined. Oracion Seis is a small, but powerful guild with six S-class mages, and the leader. You wit me?"
Naruto nodded.
"And as you know, they have other Dark Guilds which have joined them," Makarov said, drawing in lines spiralling from various points in the triangle of varying length.
"These Dark Guilds have some significant members, but many are, for a lack of better term, cannon fodder. The Balam Alliance, in all its entirety, still doesn't have enough raw manpower to oppose the Magic Council and all the Light Guilds in Fiore. As such, they are raising an army."
Naruto shook his head. "I don't get it. Even if they are raising an army, it would take them awhile before they can train any real heavy hitters. So wouldn't it all just be cannon fodder?"
"Normally, yes, that would be the case. however, they are not training an army. They are raising one. And one that is not human." Makarov closed his eyes.
"They're raising demons."
Naruto's eyes widened, flashing back to his fight with Go'grosh.
However, you will have delayed the plans of the one who summoned us if you kill us
Demons...He had fought the demons rather easily, but the fact that it had been going on since that moment worried him. At the time, it was only one tribe. That was months ago. Who knows how many they would have raised by now? Naruto was no fool. Being a ninja, while a rather empathetic one, he atleast knew people died in battle. He had experienced it a few times on his missions, and was no stranger to fighting. What he worried about was the younger mages, the ones who knew little of what war actually was.
A war was what this land needed least right now. It didn't need destruction wrought upon it. Just creation.
Makarov didn't have to ask again. Naruto merely nodded, and all his thoughts and feelings were conveyed to the old veteran mage.
He would fight. He would end the war before it began.
...Dattebayo.
The air was illuminated by bright flashes of light, as the sound of metal striking fiercely against metal was heard. It was late afternoon, but the sun was burning across the land, giving heat to all. The sky was clear, with naught a cloud in sight.
Two figures could be seen fighting each other, but were mere blurs of light and sound, invisible to the untrained eye. The only evidence of their existence was various bursts of flame that would erupt at random intervals, the fierce howling winds that followed, and the sound of clashing blades.
Naruto grinned wildly as he dodged another quick strike from Katsumi and her flaming blade, counterattacking with a forward thrust from Kitetsu, which was promptly blocked by her. That was rather annoying. Her defence had certainly grown much better, along with her speed.
Seeing a burst of red, hot flame coming his way, Naruto quickly moulded wind chakra around Kitetsu, slashing upwards through the flames. However, he was forced to hastily jump up as Katsumi swung her sword low, attempting to cut him.
"Ha! Almost got me, Katsumi-chan! But I'm too awesome for you!"
Katsumi narrowed her eyes at him, her lips beginning to form a light smile.
"Is that so?"
Fire burst from around Katsumi, swirling around her, and finally condensing into tight balls of densely concentrated magical energy. She drew her blade again, but in a much different stance. Her body was tilted slightly, her left arm in front of her face, and her right arm held out, stretching the sword across her back.
"Dodge this," She said grinning. With no more words, she disappeared, leaving the orbs floating in place. One by one, the orbs moved out, surrounding Naruto.
Naruto looked at them curiously as they did so. Oddly enough, he couldn't sense Katsumi at all. It was like she had completely left the area. But perhaps it was the orbs, interfering with his sensing ability. As they surrounded him, he noticed how slowly, his range of sensing shortened to inside the circle formed by them- roughly five metres in diameter.
Then, the orbs sent out bursts of fire from the sides, connecting, and forming a ring. A voice eerily called out.
"Sacred Fire Magic: Circle of Flames!"
The orbs suddenly erupted inward at blinding speeds, attempting to catch Naruto in the middle. However, he was too quick, and jumped up, is feet but an inch above the raging fires.
While in midair, Naruto could feel something was horribly wrong. He didn't know what, but something was wrong. His worried were answered a second later, when he suddenly brought Kitetsu down in a defensive arc to block a blade of flame that was thrusting his way.
The block was successful, but the blade exploded, knocking him back. He braced himself for being burned, but instead, he merely landed on the fire, and stayed as if it was normal ground.
"The hell?" He muttered to himself, testing the fire over and over. Yet it remained the same.
Then, suddenly, the fire disappeared altogether, causing Naruto to fall down. Due to his higher reflexes, he straightened out his legs and landed in a crouch. He looked up, sensing Katsumi finally, only to come face to face with a sword.
He chuckled lightly. "Well, looks like you win."
Katsumi didn't share his good humour, stabbing Naruto through the face, causing him to go up in a puff of smoke.
"One would think that you would know that I am well aware of your fondness of those clones and using them as duplicates," She said, glancing behind her towards the real Naruto, who stood with a kunai at her back.
"Hehe, I guess you're right," He said sheepishly. He then looked at her strangely.
"What?"
Naruto shook his head. "Just wondering exactly what that attack was?"
"One of the attacks that I developed over the course of the past year-" She paused, looking thoughtful. "-in preparation for the coming war we will face as part of the ESS, or the Elite S-Class Squadron."
Naruto blinked, shocked. Katsumi was joining too?
She seemed to have read his thoughts, and nodded. "Yes, I'm joining that one. As for the attack and how it works...Well, allow me to say that there is much more I can do with it. I only gave you a sampler of its abilities. No doubt, you would've broken free of course with some trick of your own."
Naruto just laughed.
Lucy was confused. Everyone seemed to look up to this Naruto guy for some reason. Sure, they still held much respect for the other known mages of Fairy Tail, but for some reason, they also really liked Naruto-san, who to her knowledge, was not in any papers or magazines, and therefore had no recognizable title.
She decided to ask Mira, who was beside her, working away. "Say, Mira-san?"
She continued working, humming slightly to acknowledge her, as if to say 'go on.'
"Well, I was just wondering, but who exactly is Naruto-san?"
Mirajane looked at her amused. "Well, he's a mage of Fairy Tail."
Lucy shook her head. "I know that. But everyone seems to like him, and I've never seen or heard of him in the papers. Is he that famous?"
Mirajane nodded once again. "When your an S-Class mage, you usually get very famous. And he does have a title."
Lucy stood up, wide eyed, slapping her hands on the table.
"Eh?! He's an S-Class mage?! Who is he?! What's his title?! C'mon, you have to tell me!"
Mirajane giggled softly at her antics, covering her mouth with her hand. Lucy was always so funny, in her opinion.
"Well, he comes and goes with the howling wind, so to speak," She told Lucy, hinting at his title.
Lucy's mouth went slack. Everyone knew that saying. It was associated with an uproarious S-Class mage who had popped up about a year ago. He was fairly average at the time, and still was, but as his accomplishments grew, people began to look at him as something more. Much like a symbol. They respected his power. Of course, Lucy had always thought he was over-rated. That people were blowing up his accomplishments unnecessarily, when mages such as the Titania and the Salamander, who had accomplishments of equal scale, were not given as much recognition.
Of course, she still thought he was pretty cool for a mage. His control over Wind Magic, mastered to a degree of perfection, powerful enough that people considered it a Lost Magic, rather than simple Elemental Magic. The saying created was to define how whenever he battled, it was as if the winds bent themselves to his will. As if the spirits and magic of the air howled in fury with him, battling alongside him. Not to mention that his battlefields were usually left in ruins. Scars in the ground, craters, upturned land- you name it.
But now, thinking of it all, Lucy never recalled any guild he was associated with. She smacked herself for not figuring it out with the clues.
Mirajane saw her mind go through these fifty different thought processes, and said it for her, confirming it.
"The world knows him as..."
"...the Wind Shadow."
The End
So that's the chapter. Once again, pretty short, very fillerish. Just some background about what happened to Fairy Tail in the past year, but not too much. The whole S-Class Squad thing was pretty much on the fly. But it will be the main thing that leads the plot away from regular FT plot. Hopefully, we'll see more Dark Guilds being active earlier, etc etc. There will also be other things, as you know.
Also, tell me in your reviews as to which mages you want on the S-Class team and reasons as to why. It can theoretically be anyone, as long as you prove exactly why this person could be useful.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. Once again, check my profile for updates on the chapters, and story progress. At times, it may not be updated right away, so keep watch.
And remember to review. It was a review from bloodyhound17 that caused me to push for that final homestretch in this chapter. Kudos to him. Thanks man.
HokagenoNaruto, out.