A figure sat on a cliff as he rested his hands on one of his knee. The figure stared at the magnificent view of the city Magnolia in its glory, as the night drowned the entire sky in its darkness. He stared endlessly at the view when he sensed a familiar energy entering the city.
"He he! The Raijin squad is back, huh? The time has finally come," the figure smirked as he adjusted the cloak on his purple shirt. "The fairies will hunt one another. Jiji, your era is over!"
Few days prior to Magnolia Harvest,
"It seems everyone is in the festive mood," the old man Makarov said as he carried a bag of groceries. Though he is the master, he doesn't mind running occasional errands for the guild, especially during one of the important times for the guild.
"Everyone is busy preparing for Fantasia," the cheerful girlfriend of Naruto said as she walked alongside the master.
Makarov had a proud smile on his face, "That's because the grand parade of Fairy tail is the pride of the entire continent."
"Laxus should have joined us as well," Mira said.
The expression of Makarov changed from a cheerful one to an annoyed one. Laxus is the grandson of Makarov, one who is believed by many to inherit the guild after the Third master retires, but he was manipulated by his father to some extent and had a lot of arguments with his Grandfather occasionally questioning his way of handling the guild.
"Don't bring him up." Makarov said, "more importantly when did you and Naruto get to together? I would have been happy to take you by myself!" the master replied as he went to his pervert mode. His teasing grin turned into a smile when he saw the blushing Mira averting her gaze.
He looked down as they walked, "He is a nice kid! That boy… though he may act like Natsu sometimes, he is a lot more mature than he looks. I believe you had heard of his past?" Makarov questioned but it sounded more like a statement.
"Yes," she replied after a slight pause.
Makarov sounding like an adult rather than his usual childish manner, "That boy has got guts. And he is strong too. We cannot change his past but we can take away his loneliness at Fairy tail. I am sure you'll be a lot happy with him" he said. He cares a lot for his children, so the last statement sounded more like a parent giving his daughter away at the altar. Mira looked down as he spoke, a slight guilt making its way into her heart. They still hadn't declared about her going with Naruto to his world, or better yet they didn't know Naruto would be leaving the guild. But for some reason, the master has figured it out as he is the only one who knows of his past. He also suspected Mira knows of this and that they had reached to some conclusion.
But he didn't press the matter any further. He was sure they would let them know when the time actually comes.
Magnolia harvest day,
Gray, Lucy, Naruto and Juvia stood at the foot stalls as they saw Natsu walking wearily and Happy assisted him.
"Naruto! Aren't you going to try the food stalls here?" Lucy asked.
"I tried but they aren't as good as Ichiraku's or Mira's!" he said as he kept his hands on his head.
"Ichir-raku's?" Juvia asked.
"It's probably one of the places in Naruto's hometown. Right Naruto?" Gray asked.
"Y-yeah!"
Juvia asked Naruto, "By the way, where are you from, Naruto-san? I have been wondering a lot about it as your magic seems a lot unique!"
"Yeah! It's been on my mind too for a while!" Lucy said as she remembered the thing that had been bugging her for a while.
Naruto started to look nervous but Gray unknowingly came to his rescue, "Lucy! Did you forget? he already told us that he's from a far island and that their people used hand signs for magic!"
"Oh yeah! I forgot about it. Sorry for asking again Naruto." Lucy said.
Thanks Gray… "Nah! Don't stress about it." Naruto said as he turned calm.
"Hey! It's been a while guys." They heard a voice and turned around to see a lean guy walking to them.
"Warren!" Gray greeted him with a hug.
"I managed to make it to the festival" he said.
"You are taking too many jobs."
Juvia stepped forward, "I'm new here. My name's Juvia."
"Ah, I've heard of you" he said as he turned to Naruto, "And you must be Naruto!" he said as he gave Naruto a hand shake.
"I must have become quite famous if you know me!" Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You are right! You are currently one of the hot topics around. You are after all the boyfriend of Mirajane Strauss, the number one model in Fiore." Warren said. "I was actually surprised when I found out our Mira-san was in a relationship. But seems like you have quite some following too Naruto!"
"R-right!" Naruto said. This was to be expected as not only Mira was the current number one model, she was also famous in the past known as the 'Devil.' Naruto on the other hand had also become quite famous. He was first brought in the headlines when he stopped the Phantom's attack and when he was involved in defeating Jellal, one of the wizard saints. He also played a key part in team Natsu, or rather he played a key part in destroying stuff.
It had never happened when he was in Konoha but his teammates tendencies seemed to have rubbed on him.
"Oh crap! Miss Fairy tail contest is about to start," Lucy yelled shouting about her rent as she ran towards the guild. Juvia followed her declaring this as a love contest leaving the boys behind.
"I think we should go too. We wouldn't want to miss your Girlfriend's participation" he teased as Naruto's cheeks reddened when he thought of Mira in a fancy dress.
"Stop day dreaming and let's go!" Gray said as he nudged Naruto disturbing him while he was fantasizing.
"Yeah! I wouldn't want to miss that, not for even ALL RAMEN IN THE WORLD… no not all, it would be bad, so not for EVEN SOME RAMEN IN THE WORLD!" he yelled as he also ran leaving Gray and Warren behind in the dust.
At the contest,
Lucy stood behind the curtains as she watched Cana and Juvia display their beauty in their swim suits well it made no difference for Cana as she was always wearing a bikini top.
"I see. So that is also a good way" she heard a voice and looked behind.
"ERZA-San!? You are also participating?" she questioned.
"I cannot back down whenever I hear the word duel!" Erza declared, 'I am also curios to know whether this would work on him at all.'
Lucy got depressed as she her rent money flying away. "Next is Mira-san!" the announcement got her attention as she turned to the stage to see the favorite of today's competition, Mirajane Strauss.
Mirajane appeared on the stage as she spotted Naruto at the back,
"My specialty is transformation magic. So here it is…" she smiled as she transformed her face into happy.
"AYE! I am happy" she said as the entire crowd turned white in shock and Naruto's jaw hung down.
"And now…" she wasn't finished yet as she turned into Gajeel as Gajeel spat out his drink, the crowd turned towards Naruto throwing few glares at him.
Next was Bisca as she also got in a swim suit and displayed her skill in her unique style. Up next was the surprise candidate, Erza Scarlet.
"No introductions needed, it is Titania…," the Anker shouted as Erza jumped onto the stage in her normal armor, "… ERZA SCARLET!"
"She's come"
"Wow! I didn't know she was participating"
"Erza, you are so cool" the crowd cheered.
"I shall let you feast your eyes upon this special ex-equip" she requipped into a Goth Loli. The crowd even the judges were stunned by this surprise. It wasn't what they expected, but it turned into a pleasurable surprise. Naruto had walked out the moment Mira's turn was finished as he got depressed and didn't bother to watch the rest of the contest.
Erza scanned the room as she received the crowd's cheers and praising. 'Looks like he isn't here… my experiment failed' she almost sighed in disappointment but didn't as she still on the stage.
"You were here huh, Sasuke?" Naruto said as he climbed the tree Sasuke was sitting.
"Tch. What do you want Usuratonkachi(loser)?" he asked as the blonde sat beside him.
"Nothing… just wanted to go for a walk after some disappointment" he sighed, "by the way, why didn't you come for Miss fairy tail contest?"
"Hn. Those are of trivial importance to me" he said as Naruto stared at him blankly.
"What are you… Gay?" Naruto asked his friend which he completely ignored.
"Shut up loser!" he said as he narrowed his eyes at the ground.
"It has started."
"Huh?" Naruto looked at where Sasuke was seeing and understood what he meant. He observed purple glyphs on the ground having some language which they didn't understand. But Naruto knew that magic. It was Freed's glyph magic and immediately turned his head in the direction of the guild.
"Something is happening in the guild right now, Sasuke. Let's go!" Naruto yelled as he got down. He started running in the direction but stopped and turned around to watch his friend still sitting in his position.
Sasuke stared blankly in the guild's direction but did not move from his place.
"What's wrong Sasuke? Laxus is plotting something and we have to stop it," he said but after getting no response from Sasuke. "Oi! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME!? Laxus is PLOTTING SOMETHING!"
"I heard you the first time, Loser. No need to yell." Sasuke said but he still didn't move from his place.
"Then why? Didn't you say you were gonna protect the Guild and its members?"
"Yes, I did," he replied, "But Laxus is also its member and what is happening right now is an internal conflict and it doesn't concern me!"
"D-doesn't concern you?" Naruto repeated as it sounded disbelieving, "Are you even listening to yourself? You are also its member and it does concern you!" he yelled but was annoyed as the Uchiha didn't pay any attention to him.
"Naruto, Naruto! Can you hear me?" a voice spoke in Naruto's head.
"W-Warren?! Is that you? What's going on over there?" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked at Naruto as he talked to himself, or at least that's what it looked like to Sasuke.
"Laxus… he started a game called Battle of Fairy tail where he's making everyone fight each other, or we are forced to as he made Evergreen convert the girls participating in the competition to stone statues!"
"WHAT!? All the girls are converted to stone statues including Mira and Erza?" Naruto yelled. The mention of Mira and Erza caught Sasuke's interest but he didn't show it in his face.
"Yes! He got all the girls."
"What is his end game?" Naruto asked as he clenched his wrists.
"We have to search the Raijin squad including Laxus and defeat him or have Master retire and hand over the title to Laxus."
"Laxus…that bastard! He shouldn't be handed the title, that's not an option anymore. I will find them and defeat them." Naruto said.
"Be careful. Freed has set traps as he intends to make us fight each other. I just now stepped into one of his traps myself. Ok, good luck. Warren Out!" Warren said.
"Did you know about this?" Naruto asked Sasuke looking behind his shoulder.
"I just knew he was plotting something. Don't worry, he won't do anything to hurt them." Sasuke said as he tried to reassure Naruto.
"You don't know Laxus like I do. He might go through with his plan as he is of now. So, are there any traps in this place set by Freed? Warren said he placed them all over the city." Naruto asked as he knew Sasuke had been on that tree for a while.
"You can have that as a good news. When Freed came here earlier to set few traps, I warned him that I would kill him if he placed any traps near me. He challenged me but was stopped by Laxus and they withdrew." Sasuke said as Naruto was annoyed even more.
"Then why didn't you inform the guild or at least me that they were planning something?"
"I am not obliged to tell it to either you or the guild. Now go and do your thing." Sasuke said as he grew annoyed at the constant questions thrown his way.
"You knew about this, didn't you? Don't you even care about what will happen to Erza? Teme, we will talk when this is over!" Naruto said as he jumped on the roof top of a nearby building before jumping of again.
Sasuke's body winced slightly at the mention of Erza. 'Why did he even bring about her? Hmm, she is strong and she might be able to defeat Laxus. But, her being converted to a stone statue is troublesome. On the off chance he really does something like this, I must have her fight him as a backup.' He thought as he covered his left eye unconsciously with his hand.
He got down and raced in the opposite direction, towards the guild. 'I'll convert the hostages back to how they were so that on the off chance, if something like that really happens and I'll have to see the situation for myself.'
"At this rate, we have no choice but to handle it ourselves." Gray said as he stood outside the guild's entrance ready to head out. Makarov was helpless as he could only stay in due to the rune's conditions.
"Gray…"
"I don't give a damn whether he's your grandson or not. I won't go easy on him" Gray said to Makarov narrowing his eyes as he headed out.
Makarov turned back looking at the stone statues 'Is there anyone strong enough to beat Laxus?' as he looked at Erza's statue, 'Erza might stand a chance. But in her current condition…' he noticed Reedus standing behind a pillar.
"Reedus! You did not go out?"
"Laxus scares the hell out of me. He is so different from Naruto who is the complete opposite of him." Reedus said.
'Naruto! That's right! I don't know much about that boy's abilities but I believe he can stand a chance against Laxus. Heck, He might even defeat him. There's also Sasuke and – right there is also Natsu' he thought as Natsu got up from Laxus's earlier attack. He yelled as soon as he got up after Happy explained the things to him.
"Natsu! This is a search and destroy mission. Laxus is somewhere in the town. Find him!" Makarov said as he pointed his finger outside.
"GOT IT!" he shouted as he ran towards the door but his face against an invisible wall. Makarov and Reedus paled as Natsu tried in vain to get outside.
"Natsu! Are you above eighty or a stone statue or a non-magic user? Why can't you get out?" Makarov shouted as it seemed ridiculous.
"Like hell I am!" they both looked as a figure swooshed past them from the outside. They both looked back to see the Avenger appear in front of them.
"Sasuke!" the both said in unison. Sasuke turned back and saw the list of current battles going on. But what troubled him were the conditions written, -a non-magic user cannot go out.
'Shit! My bad. So the condition works only one way, huh?' he thought as he stared at the statues in front of him. 'Looks like I won't be fighting this fight after all, Naruto!'
"Sasuke! Do you think you can find Laxus and defeat him?" Makarov asked as he moved near the boy.
"I might. But right now, I am here to take care of these stone statues. I'll see if I can find a way to turn them back normal." Sasuke said as he got onto the stage where the statues stood. 'I cannot let them know that I am a non-magic user as it will certainly raise a few doubts.'
"There is a way if you can force Evergreen into submission." Happy said.
"Evergreen?!"
"She is one of the members of the Raijin squad." Makarov informed him.
Sasuke looked down, 'Since I am inside, I cannot go outside and defeat her. I will have to trust Naruto to be able to do it. Until then I will focus on what I can do to return her back to her normal form.' He observed the statues and concluded it was some petrification and not something he could change using his sharingan.
He noticed Erza's dress as she wasn't in her armor again. It was weird for Sasuke to see her without her armor so often now-a-days. He noticed that she wore a Goth Loli and noticed others wearing a swim suit except Mira, Levy and Lucy. He saw Mira in her regular clothes. Sasuke sweat dropped thinking about the blonde's actions earlier. 'So that's why he was disappointed, huh?' Then he turned his attention back to Erza as he examined her. "I got to admit, she does look pretty in it, kind of different if I compare it with others" Sasuke mumbled in a low voice giving out a small laugh as he thought about the weird things she did for someone to be coming from a past such as his. "Baka! I bet you couldn't back down after hearing the word duel." He slightly scolded the statue while Makarov and Natsu were busy talking.
He finally sat on the stage giving up and saw Natsu and Makarov arguing about Laxus's true intentions. In the meantime, Makarov ordered Reedus to contact Polyrucia by going to East Magnolia forest.
"Laxus is a part of Fairy tail. He wouldn't hurt them." Natsu protested.
ONLY 42 REMAIN.
"That's what I have been trying to tell Naruto as well" Sasuke voiced his opinion supporting Natsu.
'You both still think Laxus is a part of Fairy tail and consider him as a Nakama?' Makarov thought.
A projection appeared behind Natsu and the people present there turned their attention to the projection. It was none other than Laxus's projection.
ELFMAN VS EVERGREEN…. WINNER: EVERGREEN.
FREED VS REEDUS… WINNER: FREED.
"Jiji! Give up your position as Master and I will turn the girls back to normal. Admit it, without Erza, you no more warriors left with Natsu standing here as well unable to battle."
"There is still Gray. He is the same as Natsu." Happy said ignoring Natsu's protests.
"Gray… I wouldn't put my faith in that brat," Laxus mocked.
GRAY VS BICKSLOW… MATCH IN PROGRESS.
"We'll have to wait and see if it actually works." Laxus said as he watched the score board with interest.
After some time,
GRAY VS BICKSLOW… WINNER: BICKSLOW. ONLY 12 REMAIN.
"So, now that your strongest fighter is gone, what will you do?" Laxus asked in a mocking tone.
"There is still Naruto and Gajeel out there. Yes, there's even Sasuke behind you." Happy said pointing behind him.
"I wouldn't count on those two, Gajeel and Sasuke. Gajeel doesn't care on what happens to this guild and Sasuke cannot go out like you Natsu." Laxus said. Makarov who knew Sasuke's past through Itachi, realized then that he was a non-magic user. That's why, he wasn't going out of fear of exposing his identity.
"Is it real Sasuke?" Natsu asked.
Sasuke answered after a brief moment "Yeah."
"DON'T TELL ME YOU ARE ALSO ABOVE EIGHTY?!" Natsu yelled.
'How annoying…' "No… I mean it is somewhat complicated." Sasuke said as he rested his hands on his knees.
They heard a grumpy voice, "What's all this ruckus?"
"Gajeel!" Makarov and Happy yelled in unison. Gajeel popped up from behind the bar. This whole time, he was eating the utensils being the Steel Dragon Slayer. He smirked as he understood the situation.
"Leave this to me!" he said as he moved towards the exit before he too hit the invisible wall which Natsu had hit earlier.
"What the hell? Don't tell me you are also above Eighty?" Natsu screamed.
"Do I look that old to you?"
"How would I know!" he said head butting Gajeel as Laxus amused himself watching those two fight. Sasuke just sighed as he face palmed himself. 'Two idiots. This whole thing is starting to get ridiculous.'
Another announcement popped on the screen catching Makarov's and Sasuke's attention.
ONLY 4 REMAIN.
Gajeel and Natsu kept on arguing as Makarov realized something as his jaw hung down to the floor.
"Four? It's YOU THREE AND NARUTO?!" Makarov shouted.
Another announcement pooped up catching everyone's attention.
NARUTO VS BICKSLOW… MATCH IN PROGRESS.
"So the demon brat's finally in action, huh?" Laxus said as he eyed the match up.
"Naruto!" Makarov said as he began to see a glimmer of hope.
The alley way now consisted of Fallen Fairy tail comrades as Bickslow stood alongside his four dolls. A trail of dust swooshed as he observed an orange jumpsuit emerging out of the smoke.
Bickslow heard a voice, "I finally found one of you!"
"Naruto! Just because we rescued you when you came to this world doesn't mean I am going to go easy on you." He declared.
"Then, you wouldn't mind if I do as well, do you?" Naruto spoke as he stopped walking as he stood at some distance from Bickslow.
"You can try all you want. You are currently in my range and it wouldn't make a difference even if you go all out. Right babie- " he stopped talking midway as he gasped at what he saw next. In an instant, the palm of Naruto was near his face.
CRASH! The ground underneath shattered as Naruto smashed his head against the ground. His mask broke in the process. 'I had extra cushion in my clothes but it didn't help at all. What speed and power… this guy…'
"You are a monster…" he managed to say.
"You guys were the ones who started it. I didn't hit you strong enough, just enough to make you unconscious." He said as Bickslow became unconscious before even Naruto started talking. Naruto summoned a clone and made him carry Bickslow. "Take him to Sakura Oba-chaa." He nicknamed Polyrucia as Sakura oba-chaa.
NARUTO VS BICKSLOW… WINNER: NARUTO.
"How do you like that Laxus? One of your squad was defeated in an instant." Makarov said grinning,
"I knew Bickslow stood no chance against him. But I didn't think it would be over this fast!" Laxus said sounding surprised before vanishing from there. His last words 'This got a whole lot interesting!'
"NOOO! I don't want that. Naruto will take away all the fun. That's enough, I guess I'll revive Erza. I thought I could show up Naruto and Erza, but doesn't look like I will be able to. If Erza somehow manages to defeat Freed, then even I can join and rush towards Laxus before Naruto reaches him." Natsu said as he reached to the stage and laid down Erza's statue. He lit his arms on fire.
'Revive? By this idiot? But how?' Sasuke thought as he got up and followed Natsu.
"How are you planning to do that Natsu?" Happy asked.
"Won't she melt if I rub some fire. You know the stone will melt…" Natsu said as Makarov and Happy shuddered. Sasuke was rendered speechless at the simplistic ideology of his fellow guild member. But before either could react, the statue cracked a little near her face due to the heat of Natsu's flame.
"NO, SHE BROKE! HAPPY, SOME GLUE. I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT! SORRY ERZA!" Natsu started begging as Makarov and Happy started panicking.
"Quick, take some of my steel and we'll weld her." Gajeel said as he hurried near Natsu. But before they took any further action, Sasuke stepped in blocking them.
"That's enough!" Sasuke said as he activated his sharingan. 'Her right eye… Yes, I remember now. When I held out my hand to her near the lacrima in the paradise tower, I got to see her memories. This eye must have weakened the spell. In that case, I can…'
He placed Erza's head on his lap as he sat down. He channeled some chakra into his left palm and placed it on her right eye. Her entire body glowed before the hard rock body turned into a normal one. Sasuke was stunned for once, which even Naruto's sexy technique couldn't do. It was totally different after all seeing a stone version of her and the real one, but seeing her in that dress seemed to have taken some effect on him. Who wouldn't be when they have a girl as hot as Erza on their laps in that dress?
"It's hot… it's you, isn't it Natsu?" She said as she got up and punched him, which sent him crashing against a wall. Sasuke got up as he cleared his head.
"Thank goodness… But how?" Makarov asked.
"I don't know, maybe it is because of my right eye…" She started as Sasuke finished the explanation. "Her artificial eye must have lowered the effect of the spell. When I channeled some energy near her right eye, it worked!" Sasuke said careful in not mentioning the word Chakra.
"Erza, do you know what's going on?" Happy asked.
"Yes, even though I was turned to stone, I could hear you." Erza said as Sasuke froze.
'Shit! She must have heard my earlier remarks on her dress and me scolding her.'
"Erza! Does that m-mean you even heard when I talked…" Sasuke asked as a faint blush adorned his cheeks.
Erza looked back and was surprised to see the Last Uchiha, 'Sasuke!? When did he get here- OH!' she covered her mouth as she remembered Sasuke saying something near her. As she remembered his words, her face turned into the reddest shade rivalling her hair. "You both liiike each other," Happy giggled to himself as steam erupted from both of their heads, Sasuke due to embarrassment and Erza due to his words.
"Both of you! Get a hold of yourselves. You both can go out and have fun after this is over." Makarov shouted scolding them as they both got into a depressing state. They both looked at each other as Makarov spoke before both of them looked away at the mention of date. They both got up as Sasuke and Erza regained their composure.
"OK! Time for a counter attack."
REMAINING CONTESTANTS- 5.
"I see. So, it updates accordingly, huh?" Erza said.
REMAINING CONTESTANTS- 6.
"Six? But who?" They looked back to see all the remaining girls still in stone form.
"Then who?" Gajeel asked.
"There is one more outside the city, remember?" Sasuke said as he relaxed himself in a chair not having to do much.
"You don't mean… him?" Natsu asked.
"He's back?"
"This war is about to begin. This is going to get a whole lot interesting!" Erza said smirking.
"Who are you talking about?" Gajeel asked.
"Another possible candidate for strongest of Fairy tail… well second to Gildarts, Mystogan."
-AND CUT
Next chapter- possible fight between Sasuke and Mystogan; Naruto and Laxus.
DO REVIEW AS THEY ALSO HELP US IN GETTING IDEAS AND MOTIVATION. BY THE WAY, SEEKING ANSWERS HAS BEEN UPDATED AFTER A LONG TIME. DO READ IT IF YOU LIKE READING SASUKE CENTRIC FICS!
Until then, Later!