"So, Lucy…" Naruto trailed off as they continued their tromp through the woods, back towards Magnolia. The city was in sight now, but it would still be several minutes before they arrived at the outskirts, and even longer before they arrived at the guild hall.
"What now, whiskers?" She grumbled. "Haven't you tormented me enough for one lifetime?" She could almost feel him grinning at her response.
"That remains to be seen, so I'll have to get back to you. But anyways…" The nature of his grin changed, and Lucy found herself feeling decidedly less comfortable. "Can I see them?"
"Eh? See what?" She asked, perplexed by the random question.
"Oh, come on! Don't play dumb; they're all Loke would talk about last time I saw him, and he said that you flashed 'em to Natsu, Gray and Happy. Even big sis saw 'em! Fair is fair, so now I figure it's my turn, neh?" He stated resolutely, although the serious tone of his words was definitely done away with by the creepy grin on his face.
Now she definitely didn't feel comfortable.
"What?! No way, you creepy perv! Just because your sister and everyone else likes to sneak into my apartment when I'm in the shower, and see lots of things that they shouldn't, doesn't mean you get a free peep-show!" She emphasized her outrage with a swift blow to the side of Naruto's head, only to find that he was suddenly a few yards ahead, steam flowing from his legs. "STOP DOING THAT, TAKE YOUR HIT LIKE A MAN!"
His easy grin still in place, despite Lucy's threatening glare, Naruto shook his head and waved off her rage like it was puff of the steam drifting around his form. "You really need to stop hanging around my closet perv of a sister, Lucy." His grin turned sly. "I only meant those tickets Loke, well, that Leo gave you for Akane Resort. Sheesh, try getting your mind out of the gutter, you know?" He narrowly dodged the speeding rock that flew for his head, before sprinting down the hill towards the city.
"Apparently, she doesn't appreciate my sense of humor." He grumbled, Lucy's enraged shout and footsteps following close behind as he fled.
. . .
"Have you calmed down yet?" The blonde takeover mage asked snarkily as they drew closer to the guild. Lucy's muffled and nearly unintelligible response caused him to smile. "Nuh-uh, I'm only letting you out if you promise not to attack me." His smirk widened. "I remember Happy saying that Celestial Wizards always keep their word, right?" His question caused the other blonde to purple with anger as she recalled getting roped into the Everlue job by Natsu.
Before she could even think to dignify his question with any sort of response, he snapped his fingers, causing the large bubble imprisoning her to burst with an audible *pop*, allowing her to unceremoniously fall to the ground.
"Ow!" She hissed as he helped her to her feet. "What the heck was that anyway? Some sort of bubble prison? I've never seen magic like that." After having chased her fellow blonde halfway through the city, she'd found herself trapped inside the oily walls (?) of a large bubble, with Naruto grinning just on the other side.
"It's one of the powers of my sixth form, Saiken the Six-Tails. To a small extent I can manipulate the base powers of my forms even without a partial takeover, but only with the simplest of things. When I blasted Natsu into the water the other day, I was exercising the powers of my third form, Isobu the Three-Tails. Unfortunately, I've never been able to manipulate the powers to anywhere near the extent that I'm capable of when in takeover."
"Why do you talk about them like that?" She asked suddenly as they began walking again, the construction now in sight at the end of the boulevard.
"Eh? Talk about what like what?" The two walked on in silence for a moment more before Lucy decided to elaborate.
"Your forms."
Naruto couldn't help but grin at the simple answer. "Oh, gee, that's awfully specific… What about them?"
Lucy huffed irritably at the obvious attempt to rile her, but otherwise ignored it. "You talk about them as if they are living, breathing beings. You call them by name, and act as if they each have minds and personalities of their own, but that's the exact opposite of Mira and Elfman. They treat their forms like means to an end, not like people."
Naruto's gaze grew distant, like he was remembering something unpleasant, or he had spaced out, but he replied nonetheless. "I treat them like living, breathing beings because they are." He stated simply, and judging from his tone, he intended for the discussion to end with that.
Lucy, on the other hand, had no such intention.
"How do you mean? That's almost like saying you're carrying around nine extra people in your body, and you take turns being in control." She giggled at the absurdity of the prospect, but was brought up short by the pained look in Naruto's eyes. "Naruto?"
"Well, it's not like that, not really. You know how I said that my power was passed from parent to child at birth?" He paused and waited for Lucy's nod of confirmation.
Receiving it, he led her off the main road onto the patio of an outdoor café, seating himself at an empty table and beckoning for her to join. After she was seated, he continued.
"For generations, my family has possessed the ability to take on the forms of the nine Tailed Beasts. This isn't some strange coincidence. Nearly a thousand years ago, before dragons became masters of the world, the most powerful creatures in existence were the Tailed Beasts. Before the Tailed Beasts came to be, there were merely humans, and one great tree that spanned the entire world."
"This tree was known as the Tree of Life, or the Tree of Knowledge. Seeking the means to end the countless wars ravaging the world, a single human queen dared to partake of the forbidden fruit of the tree. In doing so, she unlocked the potential of the human race, and became the first wizard, the very first practitioner of the magical arts."
"Wow." Lucy wondered out loud. She had read hundreds, maybe even thousands of books, but she had never even heard mention of a story like this.
"With this knowledge, she single-handedly ended all conflict in the world, and brought about an era of peace and prosperity, and eventually gave birth to two sons whom inherited her power before she passed from the world."
"Did they fight each other?" Lucy asked. After all, when two all-powerful beings are left alone with each other, what else would happen? She'd learned at least that much in Fairy Tail. Naruto's weary sigh was a clear warning that he did not appreciate her pondering. "Sorry."
"The two brothers banded together to ensure that the world their mother had left to them would prosper, and for a time, the peace continued. Then, everything came undone when the Tree awoke." He stated grimly.
"The Tree of Life became twisted as all of the hatred and strife faded from the world, and was drawn into the Tree itself. This grim perversion of its nature, coupled with the actions taken by the queen when stealing the fruit of the Tree, caused it to warp and shift until it was the Tree of Life no longer. It had become the Ten-Tails, the One-Eyed God capable of destroying the entire world with a single swipe of its tails."
"The battle between the children of the queen and the Ten-Tails lasted for decades, until finally, the younger sibling gave his life to seal the beast into his older brother. The elder brother gained all of the power of the beast and spent the remainder of his life attempting to calm the Tailed Beast within him, along with passing on the knowledge of magic to the rest of the world. Eventually, he gave up on calming the Ten-Tails, and decided to instead divide the beast into nine parts, granting them their own minds and personalities before he too passed on, joining his brother and mother in the afterlife."
"His only child became the progenitor of my family, the Uzumaki's, who took on the responsibility of protecting the Tailed Beasts from the rest of the world. When dragons began their rise several hundred years ago, rather than battling the dragons for territory and supremacy, the Tailed Beasts instead opted to gather into a single host, and pass along their knowledge and memories through the bloodline of that person, so that their spirits would live on through the ages. Since the day of my birth, I have been the host of those spirits. I can feel their thoughts brush mine occasionally, and at times it really feels like I can hear them speak to me. That's why I treat them like living beings, Lucy. It's because they live on through me."
"That… well, uh. That's definitely not what I was expecting." Lucy finally spoke at length. "So, basically, your power comes from the imprinted memories and thoughts of ancient all-powerful entities descended from one massively powerful monster that was responsible for the creation of the world?" She asked incredulously.
"Essentially."
"And you can take on their physical forms through the use of takeover magic?"
"Yep."
"… You do realize that this sounds-"
"Completely insane?" The boy chuckled. "You should imagine my surprise after my mother explained to me that it was completely natural that I accidentally burned down our first home when I was four, or that I obliterated our third when I was six."
"Oh, geez, that's absolutely… What about the second house?" She asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
Naruto's nervous chuckle confirmed that she really didn't want to know. "That's a taboo subject, you know?" He mumbled as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, history lesson is over." He stated as he stood. "Let's head home, neh?"
"Yeah, I'm right behind you." She replied as she rose, only to find that she was alone at the table, along with the owner of the establishment, who was staring expectantly at the insanely large pile of dishes left on the absent blonde's side of the table. When did he even order? Lucy thought in a haze as she forked over almost a quarter of her earnings from the recent job. I honestly think I'm gonna kill him one day…
. . .
~The Next Day~
Naruto chuckled warmly as Team Natsu strolled into the train station, bags packed and hearts set on a week of fun and relaxation at Fiore's foremost seaside resort, courtesy of Loke-turned-Leo.
"This is gonna be a blast!" Natsu crowed as they took their seats. Just as they got situated, the train began its steady journey to Akane. "I'm all fired- oh please kill me now." He gurgled half-heartedly as the motion took its toll.
"Oi, Natsu, don't tell me Fairy Tail's strongest Dragon Slayer still can't handle a little transportation? Even after all this time?" Naruto nearly felt sorry for the guy. Nearly. "That's just too rich!" The blonde chortled.
A swift blow to Natsu's stomach by Erza rendered the unfortunate pinkette unconscious, saving him from the torment of the train. As Naruto's laughter died away, his gaze drifted to a young woman towards the rear of the train, who was staring intently at Gray. She was dressed all in blue and white, her clothing a typical north-eastern fashion, and she seemed completely oblivious to any other person on the train, minus Gray, who in turn was completely oblivious of her.
If I remember correctly, that's the girl from Phantom… Gruvia? No, no it's Juvia from the Element Four. If I didn't know better, I'd think she had a crush on- His thoughts were interrupted as the girls face flushed a furious shade of red and she nearly fell from her seat. A subtle glance to his side confirmed his suspicions; Gray had somehow managed to strip down to his boxers without anyone noticing, other than the poor girl down the aisle, who looked like she was practically steaming. Oh, geez, I guess she does… Eh, I'll let Gray deal with that one. He thought with a lazy smile as he drifted off to sleep.
. . .
"Narutooo~." A voice called sweetly, nearly rousing him from his dreams.
"Urgh, just five more minutes." He grumbled, annoyed at the unwanted interruption. He immediately realized his mistake as the voice took on a colder tone, one he recognized all too well. Uh-oh.
A pair of gauntleted hands grabbed ahold of him roughly as he was very unceremoniously tossed out of the window of the inert train, to the shock of Lucy and Gray who were waiting outside. Just as Naruto picked himself up and began dusting off, a large, heavy bundle followed through the window, which he managed to catch easily before tossing it to the ground as well.
"Ouch!" The 'bundle' cried out as it struck the station floor. She threw Natsu at me? "What's your deal Naruto!? What's the big idea, throwing me around like that?" He nearly shouted as he jumped to his feet.
"Wha- but I- it wasn't-" Naruto sputtered, angered by the accusation.
"That does it Naruto! You and me, one-on-one tonight! Loke told me that this place had a fighting ring made especially for wizards, so me and you ae gonna finally settle which of us is stronger!" His gaze shifted at the sound of Happy trying to hold back his laughter. "What?!"
"Oh, nothing." The cat said innocently. "Just wondering what kind of material you want your coffin made of." He muttered loud enough for the whole group to hear.
"Wha?" The Dragon Slayer coughed out in surprise, turning and kneeling to come down to eye level with his partner. "You don't think I can stomp this bozo into the dirt?"
Gray actually had to laugh out loud. "Well, when you put it like that, someone'll definitely end up in the dirt. You, six feet down."
"Oh, whatever!" He said heatedly. "You just think that since an ice princess like you couldn't beat him, that means I can't! Well, I can!" He turned to face Naruto again. "So whaddya say?" He asked the blonde. The way his eyes were shining, Naruto knew that he was dead serious. He wanted to test himself, and Naruto could respect that.
Silence clung to the group as they gathered their belongings once Erza exited the train and headed to the hotel. Lucy filled Erza in on the predicament, and she simply said that it was up to Naruto. The silence dragged on until finally, as the group climbed the stairs to their rooms (Natsu flat out refused to suffer from motion sickness twice in the same day) Naruto clasped Natsu's shoulder.
"I'll tell you what Natsu. We unpack, go relax and play on the beach, sis and I get our gamble on-" as he said this, his pupils seemed to shift into massive green jewel symbols. "-and after we've had a full day to just unwind…" His trademark grin plastered itself onto his face. "Then, I'll pound you into the ground to your little hearts content. Deal?" He held his arm out at chest level, hand clasped into a fist.
The Dragon Slayer's eyes lit up in excitement as he met the outstretched fist with his own. "You've got a deal! And you better not expect me to hold back either, Naruto!"
"Oh don't worry, I'd feel insulted if you thought you could afford to." He shot back easily, the fire in Natsu's eyes mirrored in his own.
As the two made their pact, the rest of the group couldn't help but shudder.
There goes the resort.
. . .
The day passed rather quickly. The beach had been exactly what everyone needed to wind down after all of the drama from the conflict with Phantom, and it offered their stalker a chance to view Gray in all his glory when he managed to lose his trunks during a swim.
Naruto disappeared on his own, ghosting off to the resorts luxury bath houses, muttering something about 'research' for a novel he had become inspired to write. Lucy, upon discovering another up-and-coming author, had offered to accompany him to trade writing tips, but he had already disappeared in a puff of steam, cackling madly.
"Weirdo." She muttered, opting to instead follow Erza to go gambling. While Akane Resort was famous for its seaside locale, one-of-a-kind waterpark and luxurious hotel, the main attraction for many of the tourists was, of course, the casino.
*Winner* The slot machine roared out for everyone to hear. The loud clinking of coins falling from the machine was audible throughout the establishment, followed by a girlish shriek of excitement.
"Wow, Erza! You're on fire tonight! That's like the fifth one in a row!" Lucy exclaimed in wonder. Her red-headed compatriots luck astounded her.
"Indeed." Erza said with a knowing smile. Naruto had been right; q little gambling to take her mind off of everything was just what the doctor ordered. "I hear they have black jack in the back room, shall we?" Erza asked, gathering up her coins into a small purse before sending them into her pocket dimension.
"Sure thing! Sounds like fun!" A cry of outrage rang out over the casino, and Lucy couldn't help but chuckle sadly. Looks like Natsu lost. Again.
As the two strolled towards the rear of the casino, they passed Gray who looked like he was being accosted by the former S-Class mage of Phantom Lord, Juvia Lockser.
"Erm, Erza?" Lucy whispered as they passed the two. "Should we be worried about her following us here?"
Erza laughed kindly at the question. "No, I wouldn't worry. She's only here to try to win over Gray, according to Naruto."
"Oh, okay. That's…"
"Sweet?" Erza supplied.
"No…" Lucy sighed. "I was gonna go with creepy."
As the two seated themselves at one of the several tables designated for blackjack, Erza couldn't keep the joyful twinkle out of her eye. This day is going perfectly! She smiled triumphantly as hand after hand went to her in victory. "I don't think this day could get any better!"
As the dealers switched, a young man with tanned skin and bright blonde hair took the place of the previous dealer. "I'm inclined to agree with you." He said smoothly. "Tell you what. How about we up the stakes?" He smiled strangely.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Lucy asked, put off by the new dealer's strange attitude. Erza felt her body tense as alarm bells sounded in the back of her mind. This man seems oddly… familiar.
"I mean…" He continued, dealing out five cards face-down in the center of the table. "Instead of betting with chips…" He trailed off with a sinister smirk, flipping all five cards face-up in a single swift motion, each bearing a single bold letter to spell out one word. Death.
"How about we bet with our lives, big sis?"
Erza felt the blood drain her face as the 'stranger' spoke, and his identity finally registered with her.
"Oh- oh my… Sho? Is that you?" She whispered in a haze.
. . .
Naruto huffed sadly as he limped back towards the hotel, cradling the tattered remains of his shredded notebook. The nerve of those women. He thought sourly. Calling me pervert and ripping up my notes. Not my fault the stupid branch broke and dumped me into the women's bath…
As he wandered back into the hotel, he felt himself drawn towards the casino, despite wanting to head up to the room for a good night's sleep before his bout with Natsu tomorrow. What's with this strange vibe I'm getting?
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and the crowded casino went into a frenzy as the gamblers fled for safety. Naturally, Naruto went towards the sound, slipping through the screaming group of people with practiced ease. Once he finally escaped the crowd, the sight before him caused his blood to run cold.
Natsu lay on the ground before him, eyes glassed over, with a small trail of smoke weaving out of his mouth. A discarded shell casing nearby gave Naruto all the evidence he needed to piece together what had happened. The young dragon slayer had been shot.
Naruto knelt down beside him, placing an ear over his mouth as his fingers worked at the base of Natsu's throat to find a pulse. Finding one, he heaved a massive sigh of relief upon finding the boy had just been knocked out by the bullet. Which he had apparently tried to eat, if his smoking mouth was anything to judge…
"You idiot!" Naruto shouted, back-handing the unconscious dragon slayer into an awake state.
"Wha- ow-ow-ow! Na-ow-ru-ow-to?!" Natsu said in shock as he pulled himself away from his enraged friend. "What are you hitting me for?"
The silent glare he received from Naruto evidence enough that he should be silent.
"You fire-breathing idiot…" Naruto said quietly. "Just be more careful, alright? You aren't invincible."
"R-right… My bad…"
The blonde waved off his apology, rising to his feet while helping Natsu to his. "So what happened?"
"I was at the machine over there, and then this weird blocky guy attacked me and Happy, and then- hey, wait a second. Where is Happy?" Natsu's head shot left and right, searching the entire area in sight, but his blue feline partner was nowhere to be seen. "Have you seen him?" He asked, his tone of voice rising in concern.
"If he was with you when you were attacked, but he wasn't when I arrived…" Naruto pondered as the two walked, following Natsu's sense of smell to Gray. "… then there's a good possibility that he was taken by the man who shot you." Sensing the young man tense up at the news, Naruto placed a comforting hand on Natsu's shoulder. "We'll find him, don't worry."
"Yeah…" Natsu said slowly. "Yeah, you're right! No doubt about it."
There was a muffled crash from their right as a familiar-looking body burst into shards of ice, before Gray and his tag-along appeared from behind the bar. As Naruto sent a playful wink at Gray, the ice mage could only scowl, his discomfort evidenced by the fact that he couldn't seem to extricate his arm from the vice-like grip of Juvia.
"You two alright?" The blonde asked innocently. "Having a good time together?"
Juvia's eyes seemed to light up at the thought of someone finally recognizing the love shared between her and her beloved Gray. Gray, on the other hand, was not amused.
"We were attacked." He replied seriously. "A big guy with an eyepatch, and some kind of metal frame over his jaw. He made the whole room go dark, but I managed to switch myself out with an ice copy."
"A full-body copy of yourself? Wow, Gray, that's really impressive." The amount of concentration and finesse required for something like that is immense… How strong have you gotten while I was away?
A scream shattered the relative quiet of the now deserted casino, setting the four wizards on high alert.
"That sounded like Lucy!" Natsu shouted, charging forward to find the source of the noise. "I'd know her screaming voice anywhere!"
As Gray followed behind him, Juvia in tow, Naruto couldn't help but snicker at the fire mage's choice of words. Her screaming voice? Geez, it's getting harder and harder to tell who's in charge in that relationship. Chuckling quietly to himself, Naruto followed the trio towards the rear of the casino.
. . .
As Naruto finally caught up to the rest of the group, he was caught off-guard by the sight that met his eyes upon entering the room.
"So, er, I realize that you two have a rather… odd arrangement as far as relationships go but, uh, why is Lucy all tied up? Natsu…" He continued, turning his gaze to the young fire mage. "I really don't think now is the time this kind of stuff." While Natsu's blank face showed that he clearly had no idea what was going on, Lucy was practically livid,
"Why you- ow-ow-ow!" She cried out as the strange ropes binding her visibly tightened, forcing her back to arch in an obviously painful way. "Help-ow-me."
"Magical bindings? Why haven't you taken these off of her yet?" He growled out, startling the others with his sudden shift in mood as he strode forward. "Do you have any idea what'll happen if these aren't removed?" He continued as he knelt beside Lucy, running his hands over the bindings.
"We already tried." Gray said shortly. "They nullify magic and we don't have anything that can cut through them." He gestured to the cards scattered around the room. "Apparently whoever attacked Lucy was able to trap everyone else that was in the room inside these playing cards. We aren't sure how to free them either."
"I'm not concerned with them. It's a form of space-time manipulation magic, capable of moving objects or people into their own personal reality. Nothing dangerous." He picked up the nearest card, imprisoning an odd man dressed as the mascot of the resort who seemed to be shouting and waving around a- "I take back what I said. I'll free them."
Natsu stiffened is surprise. "You can do something like that? How?" Naruto smiled knowingly before grasping the card with both hands.
"Finesse." He replied cheekily, before unceremoniously ripping the card in half. A flash of light blotted out the vision of the watching trio, slowly dying down to reveal the mascot of Akane Resort.
"I'm free!" He crowed wildly, hopping from one leg to the other in glee. "Oh thank goodness, I thought I'd be stuck in there forever." He turned to face his savior, beaming proudly. "How could I ever repay you for-"
"Your knife, if you please."
The man blinked in surprise before digging into his costume, fishing out a simple one-sided blade. He held it out gingerly, hilt-first towards Naruto, who whisked it from his fingers faster than the eye could follow. Within seconds, he had cut cleanly through the ropes binding Lucy, freeing her.
"Thank you very much for your help. Say, do you mind if I hold on to this?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the knife.
"Oh, of course you can! And thank you!" He replied before running down the hall, hoping to escape any remaining danger, leaving four dumbstruck mages and one snarky blonde mage.
Gray was the first to recover, his demeanor cool as ice (ha). "I'm just gonna pretend that it makes perfect sense for you to be able to shatter what you called a separate dimension with your fingertips."
Naruto shook his head with a sigh.
"What are you being all mopey for?" Natsu asked heatedly (oh-ho, two-fer).
"How have you all survived in the magical world as long as you have? Magic or no, a card is still a card. It just makes sense that the magic would dispel if the card was destroyed."
"Juvia is concerned… Are you implying that you did not know if ripping the card would free the man trapped inside?" Juvia asked, her voice dripping (eh? Eh? Ok, I'll stop now) with concern.
Naruto's head sagged in disappointment at the sheer lack of faith his comrades had in him.
Surprisingly, it was Lucy who managed to get everyone back on track. "Quit fooling around, you guys! We still have to save Erza from those weirdos, before they get to that tower they were talking about."
Gray tensed in shock at Lucy's statement. "They took Erza?"
"There's no way that blocky bozo's gonna get away with kidnapping Happy and Erza!"
"Lucy…" Naruto said quietly, his face a mask of deadly calm. On the inside, his entire being was thrumming with barely contained rage mixed with anxiety. "This tower. What did they call it?"
Despite her confusion at the seemingly unimportant question, the set of Naruto's body and the odd look in his eyes told her that it wasn't as pointless as she believed.
"The blonde-haired boy called it the Tower of Heaven, or something weird like that. Why?"
In response, Naruto turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Before anyone could register he had left, a massive surge of magical energy flowed throughout the entire resort, followed by a bellowing roar that shook the very foundations of the hotel.
"Take Over: Sanbi Soul." Following the tremors flowing through the ground, which was nearly enough to force Natsu's motion sickness to act up, the four mages were stopped dead in their tracks as they came upon the beach.
Rising from the surf to tower nearly as high as the Lullaby demon, a massive, monstrous turtle seemed to glare down at them with a single eye, the other shut tight as if were injured. Before anyone could react to the sudden appearance of the beast or even wonder where it had come from, three scaled tails surged from the water behind the beast's back, each one easily wider than the train they had arrived on.
The monstrous turtle stared each of them down, its gaze paralyzing them with a mix of fear and shock as its tails hung in the air behind it, as if waiting to surge forward and crush them.
This is insane! Gray cursed inwardly. First Erza gets kidnapped, and Naruto disappears. Now we have to deal with this thing, too? How in the world are we gonna-
"N-Naruto?" Lucy called uncertainly as she stepped ahead of the others, much to the surprise of Gray.
What the hell are you doing?!
"That's you isn't it, Naruto?" The beasts gaze shifted to her, nearly forcing to freeze in place. Its head cocked to the side as if it were studying her, before it merely shrugged. The tense atmosphere evaporated almost immediately as the other three wizards released breaths they hadn't realized they were holding.
"I am… sorry if I frightened you." The creature's oddly soft voice stated slowly. "This is… the first time I've accessed this form. I am… not used to it yet, but that will come… with practice. This is… my three-tailed form, Isobu." As he spoke - his answers stunning the three mages who had not witnessed his third state of take over before - one of his tails curved downward to rest on the beach. "Climb aboard… I know where we must go."
"You do? How?" Gray demanded as he helped Natsu climb the tail, the motion of the waves playing on his motion sickness.
The three-tailed Naruto was silent for several minutes as everyone settled themselves atop his massive shell. He did not speak again until his tails began fluidly roiling through the water, propelling himself and his passengers forward.
"Naruto?" Gray asked tentatively.
"Suffice to say… the place we are going was once mine and Erza's home… if you can call it that."
"Your home?" Juvia asked, just as perplexed as the others. "Why would we be going there?"
"To… reacquaint myself with my old friends, you could say."
"Re- aw, geez – reacquaint?" Natsu managed to croak out, the rapid speed of Naruto seriously playing with his sickness.
"That would be the… polite term, yes."
"And the not polite term?" Lucy wondered aloud, echoing the thoughts of everyone aboard the turtle.
They could all feel the shell beneath them rumble, a good sign of Naruto's own inner turmoil.
"Take your pick." He replied, his tone unsettlingly cold. I'm on my way, big sis. Jellal… if you hurt her… I am coming for you. The foaming waves left roiling in his wake mirrored the great storm of emotions raging in his heart. You just couldn't leave us be… Could you?