Day five. No, you're not reading things, I actually remembered to write in this thing three days in a row! Nothing too interesting has happened. Still no progress on the summons either. Also, fought with some dude who could fly a couple of weeks back. I really need to learn me that. Think of all the ramen I could steal. Or public baths...

Damn you Ero-Sennin, get out of my mind!

Day five, out.

XxXxXxX

Naruto now sat in front of a large collection of curiously dressed individuals, all of them peering at him like he was the latest circus freak that had just come to town. He looked around nervously as they all chatted away, totally unable to understand a thing they said. Mirajane seemed to be happy to speak on Naruto's behalf though, and was answering their questions as best she could. A shout off to the side caught Naruto's attention and he looked over, thankful for the distraction from the crowd of eyes.

Natsu for some reason was going toe to toe with what appeared to be another member of the guild. He had dark shaggy hair, eyes that slanted down at the ends and a fairly well toned body. The reason Naruto could tell that last fact was because he was staring into Natsu's eyes angrily, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His other clothes had somehow managed to end up strewn all across the basement, his shirt over near the kegs of booze, his pants at the other end of the room near the bathrooms, shoes dangling from the rafters above.

Turning to face them fully, Naruto smiled as he readied to watch the fight. What he wasn't expecting however, was for Natsu's opponent to begin to pull his boxers off, seeming like he didn't even realise what he was doing. Seeing way too much butt cleavage for his liking, Naruto quickly spun back to the mass of eyes. Atleast they weren't naked.

Trying to mentally scrub away what he had just seen, Naruto looked up as the massive man he first tackled stepped forward, an enormous paw of a hand extended. He had a respectful look on his face as he patted his chest.

"Elfman."

Standing and taking his hand, Naruto managed to get a better look at him. Standing up close to this guy really drove in just how tall he was. While Naruto wasn't the smallest person, his height of one hundred and sixty-six centimetres had him only just coming up to the chest of the two meter plus giant, his spiky white hair only adding to his impressive height. He was decked out in a large full sleeve shirt with a high popped collar in a deep blue. He also had a matching set of long pants, finished off with a set of simple sandals. He had a hard face, with a scar running down from his left eye to disappear under his chin.

For some reason though, Naruto could get the feeling that this guy saw him as a worthy equal after he tackled him. Smiling up at the newly dubbed Elfman, Naruto nodded his greeting.

"Naruto."

The blond then heard a bit of a commotion behind the massive man and looked around him to find most of the men and women of the guild jostling for a place in the line up behind Elfman, seemingly all wanting to shake his hand. A bewildered look crossed his face as fights along the line began to start. Was he really that important?

Levy then jumped in to rescue Naruto, holding her arms wide and shouting at the group. A few of them seemed to object but were ignored as Levy ran back at Naruto and took an arm, scooping him up and dragging him away. Naruto just let himself be hauled along; at a complete loss to everything that was going on.

It took a minute or two, but eventually Naruto and Levy found a quiet (or as quiet as it could get) corner of the guild away from the prying eyes of the curious members. Naruto still had that owlish look of loss on his face as he numbly watched Levy reach into a bag she had with her and begin to pull out sheets of paper. Sensing her companion's discomfort, the girl looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile. She dug about in her bag and pulled out a piece of paper and started writing on it. Finishing up, she spun it around.

"Oh, sorry about that. They tend it get a bit rowdy when someone new comes down, especially when that someone tackles Elfman."

Nodding slightly, Naruto reached out for the pen. "So... that's just normal? Does that mean that line up was normal too or am I for some reason super important?"

Levy shook her head. "No, after you shouted at them, they all just wanted to hear you speak again. You're more of a novelty to them now."

"Ah..."

Sweat dropping, Naruto didn't quite know how to feel about that. On one hand, he was relieved that it wasn't some ridiculous traditional greeting he'd never heard of, but on the other... he's now just a play thing? Sighing dejectedly, Naruto let his head drop to the bench top in a thump. Levy patted his head and said something, probably along the lines of, "It's ok, don't let it get to you."

The girl got back to work, quickly lining up pages and arranging them in some format known only to her. Smiling as she finished, she tapped Naruto's head and pushed the paper forward.

"Alright! Now that I have your written language mostly worked out, I want to try learn to speak it. This may take a little while, but it will benefit us both."

Lifting his head, Naruto browsed through the note before scribbling something back down. "Yeah, you have the important symbols worked out so that's alright. I guess I best learn it too then. Do you have any way of writing down your words above mine so I can learn to read them?"

Nodding happily at Naruto's forethought, Levy started shuffling through her bag and came up with some blank pages.

"I can copy the notes onto this if you'd like. I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly if you study nightly."

Placing it over the translator page, she then focused and a small, bright yellow ring shot out from her hands, apparently copying everything onto it. Again, Naruto flinched as the circle stretched out. It didn't matter if he'd seen it a few times already, it still creeped him out. Once it was done, Levy handed him the page, now covered with both languages, Naruto's original word on top and the translation below.

Browsing through it, he nodded. Grabbing the pen, Naruto scratched another question down. "Can you make a few more copies? Like say, fifty or so?"

Levy's eyebrows raised, but she nodded and in a few seconds had fifty copies at her disposal. "Here you go. I don't understand though..."

It was Naruto's turn to send her a knowing smirk accompanied by a mischievous wink. "Just follow me to the door quickly."

Standing, they ran to the front of the guild and stopped a short way away from the doors. Grinning again, Naruto crossed his fingers and spoke. "Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)."

In a scream of total surprise, Levy fell backwards onto the ground, eyes near popping from her head as suddenly fifty Naruto's filled the area, all of them wearing the same annoying grin. They then ran forward as a group, grabbed a piece of paper and then disappeared into the rain, some running the streets, others jumping the roofs.

Naruto started laughing as Levy just sat there, eyes unblinking and mouth gaping like a fish. Looking around, he noticed the few other people present were staring at him in total disbelief. Shrugging, he walked over to her, picked up the shell shocked girl and carried her back to their seats. Everyone was going to work out his abilities at some stage. No use keeping them hidden forever. He dropped her back onto her spot and sat down, resting his chin of the back of his interlocked fingers after writing something down. He began mentally counting down to the imminent explosion as he saw the lights start to flicker in Levy's eyes.

"Four, three, two, one."

Naruto then closed his eyes as Levy screamed a question at him, his hair blowing back from the force. The moment passed and Naruto then simply pushed forward a pre written answer to the shouted question.

"That was a skill of mine, shadow clone. It allows me to create solid replicas of myself that have a full independence of their own. They all just went to find a nice quiet spot to study what you gave them. Once I dispel them, I'll gain all the information they studied and be fifty steps closer to knowing the language. Understand?"

Blinking several times, Levy tried to speak but found that her voice had deserted her. She looked around for a bit longer before just shaking her head in disbelief and awkwardly begin to shuffle through her papers with no real direction. Chuckling to himself, Naruto wrote another note before standing and walking off.

"You gather your thoughts. I'll get us a drink."

XxXxXxX

Several cups of water later, Levy felt stable enough to continue with the lesson. Her hands hadn't stopped shaking yet though, much to her displeasure. Sighing, she took the pen and paper and focused, managing to keep her handwriting legible.

"Right, what we've got to start off with is the basic things. What I wrote down for you... on those sheets of paper would be a good place to start. Teach me how to say the words, then later we'll work on the grammatical structure of the sentences."

Seeing Naruto nod conceding, Levy smiled and pulled out yet another sheet of paper from within her bag, quickly copying the information onto it. Supposing she should start with their home, she pointed at 'guild'.

Naruto nodded and spoke the word. Listening intently, Levy jotted down the word, spelling it as best she could in her own language so she could revise later. Motioning for Naruto to say it again, she then watched his mouth so she could visualise the way he enunciated it. Beside the word, she then quickly scratched down a rough diagram of how Naruto's mouth was positioned. Nodding, she then tried it out.

Her attempt drew a chuckle from Naruto as she stumbled over the word. Pouting, Levy looked down and tried again. It wasn't that the language wasn't interesting in its construction; it's just that it was a bit harsher than Earthlands. The vocals and sharp muscle movements made it hard to correctly form the words. Trying it out a third time, she heard an approving noise and then Naruto repeating the word. Smiling happily, Levy nodded and moved onto the next one.

'Twas going to be a long day.

XxXxXxX

Stretching, Levy grinned down at the progress. The two of them had sat working on the language for a good eight hours, despite Naruto's protests thirty minutes in. That whole time, it had been raining heavily outside too and was only now beginning to show signs of finishing. Looking up at Naruto, she rolled her eyes as she saw the boy with a cheek resting in his hand, looking like he had never been so bored in his life. Grinning, she decided to try out what she had learnt. Flicking through the pages, she found a few words and concentrated as she spoke.

"Came on... it... no... bad."

Looking up lazily, Naruto smirked at the attempt. He had to give it to the girl, she was damn persistent. Dropping his hand, he corrected the mistakes as he stood up. The teen nodded happily, correcting herself and then gathering her papers. Looking up again, she noticed that Naruto had left a note and was currently walking towards the basement.

"So happy that's over. I'm gona find something to eat."

Laughing to herself, Levy pulled the rest of her material together and stuffed it into her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she twisted her head from side to side before following Naruto. She heard a voice call her name and waved at the person; an occasional fan that stopped past the guild to say hi to everyone. Walking down the stairs, she opened the door and saw Naruto sitting at a table, glaring intently at a menu in front of him. Mirajane was also standing beside him, eyes wide as she wrote down his orders, not quite able to believe that Naruto was actually able to understand some of what was before him. Seeing Levy, Mira held a hand out to call the girl over as she finished up. Falling into step with the beautiful lady, Levy smiled up at her knowingly.

"So what exactly did you and Naruto get up to up there? Barely a day's gone by and he's already grasped the basics of reading!"

Levy looked up in wonder as she replied. "Well, it appears that Naruto over there is a lot more talented than we already knew. While we were studying, he asks for a thesaurus of a sort, about fifty copies. Basic words of ours with his translation beneath it. This is where it gets interesting. He ran to the front of the guild, said something, and POOF, he created fifty identical replicas of himself!"

Mira gasped softly in surprise at the explanation and glanced over at the blond enigma, who still looked very smug at being able to read small amounts.

"Each then grabbed a copy of the thesaurus and disappeared out the door to go read over it for the day. From what I could understand, once they finished memorising the information, they... popped... and the gathered information returned to Naruto. If that's the case then, and assuming each copy studied the full eight hours we were, that means Naruto just did the equivalent of four hundred hours of studying in just one day!"

"Wow..."

Mira turned and looked reverently at the boy who had decided to start picking his nose as he waited. Finding something sizeable, he pulled it out and flicked it across the room. Nodding with her, Levy sighed. "Honestly, his capacity to learn far out strips me. Should he put his mind to it, he could very well learn any single thing he wanted to within the space of a month. Sooner even, if it wasn't that difficult. And that's just with fifty of the things. Who knows, he might even be able to create a hundred!"

Reaching the bar, Mirajane walked behind it as she began to prepare the meals, still bewildered by Naruto's hidden ability. Dropping to a seat, Levy rested her head on her arms and sighed. Hearing the scraping of a cup, she sent Mirajane a thankful smile before sipping the water placed before her. A few moments later, the seat beside Levy was pulled out and Lucy dropped into it with a huff.

"Honestly, Natsu and Gray are impossible! They just won't stop fighting, and then they wonder why I get angry at them when I get pulled into it!"

Levy giggled to herself as Lucy shook her head in disgust at the two rivals. Looking over at the two mentioned boys, Levy saw Natsu and Gray scrapping on the floor, Gray's clothes getting thrown everywhere as he unconsciously disrobed mid fight. Shaking her head with a small smile on her face, Levy couldn't help but wonder if Gray would ever learn to keep his clothes on around people. Yeah, it was a habit he picked up from his teacher years ago, but still.

Swirling the water around in her cup, Levy giggled again when she heard Gray cry out in disbelief when he found himself naked again.

"So what did you and Naruto get up to all day today?"

Turning back to Lucy, Levy bit her lip in wonder. "Well, I tried to learn how to speak some of his language, while he learnt how to read a bit of ours. If you want, I can show you the notes?"

Raising a hand hesitantly, Lucy declined pleasantly. "N-no, no need for that just yet Levy." Leaning forward, Lucy then rested on her arms, unaware of the amount of chest that started spilling from her top. "So how long till you will be able to talk to him?"

Taking the cup up in both hands, Levy smiled as she looked down into the liquid. "Well... honestly, I believe Naruto will learn how to speak ours first. He has a remarkable ability to learn things at over thirty times the normal speed. I'd even say that by the end of the week, he'll not only be able to speak our language fluently, but read and write it as well."

Placing a delicate hand to her open mouth, Lucy gasped and looked over at Naruto who was now digging into his meal with great fervour. "Really? He's that smart?"

Laughing, Levy took a sip. "Well, I wouldn't say that... he's nothing like Erza in that regard I don't think, he just has a technique that helps him learn really, really fast. Sort of like the gale-force reading glasses, only better."

Lucy nodded, trying to grasp an idea of what Naruto did. She envisioned him wearing the red, wing rimmed glasses that she had and giggled. She highly doubted he'd wear such a thing, even if the model capable of allowing the reader to read at six hundred times the normal speed had been released.

Hearing a hiccup beside them, the girls looked over to see the Master now sitting beside them, a schooner of beer in one hand. He hiccupped again and looked up at them, a light flush adorning his cheeks.

"How ya doin' my fine girls? Things going swimmingly?"

Backing away slightly from his rancid breath, Lucy did her best not to pinch her nose. "Y-yes, Master! Me and Levy were just talking about Naruto."

"Naruto hey?" Taking another hefty swig from his mug, Makarov let out a sigh that was invaded by a burp. Not noticing, he continued. "That boy... that boy... he's a strange one! Knew it from when I first laid eyes on him. Knew it I did I tell ya."

Leaning in, his voice lowered to a whisper. "I think he might be an alien."

Both Lucy and Levy had to place a hand over their mouths as they struggled to hold in their giggles. Hearing the muffled laughter, Mira came wandering over to their rescue, an amused look on her face. "Master, are you tormenting the girls again?"

Looking up at Mirajane, Makarov snorted indignantly. "How could you say that? I was merely disgu... disges... discussing Naruto and his oddness with them. I haven't even tried to peek on them yet."

Taking another gulp, the little man missed the glares sent at him. Slamming his mug down, he levelled them with an intense gaze. "But still! Naruto wanted to go see his home, where Lucy stole him from."

"Hey!"

"So I hereby authorise – hic – Natsu, Luffy... and whoever else who gives a damn to take him out tomorrow and give him back to his home."

Lucy's eyes thinned in despair as yet another guild member got her name wrong. "It's Lucy..."

Feeling a tug on her sleeve, Lucy looked over as Levy sent her a smile, clapping her hands together. "Oh Lucy, can I come? I still wana learn stuff from Naruto!"

Laughing, Lucy nodded. "Of course! Why did you even ask? You knew you were more than welc – HEY!"

Jumping to her feet, Lucy glared daggers at the seedy old man after he had discreetly reached out and gently patted her bottom several times. He even had the nerve to continue patting the air as he drank, looking like he wasn't even aware of what was going on. Grumbling to herself, Levy watched as Lucy stomped off, complaining about why she was subject to all the unwanted attention of the guild.

XxXxXxX

The next morning, Natsu, Lucy, Naruto and Levy stood at the door entrance, Happy floating about as per usual. Mirajane and Makarov were there to see them off, one nursing a bit of a headache after his bender the previous night. Yawning, Natsu scratched his pink hair irritably and picked something in his teeth with his tongue.

"So why did we have to take Naruto back out there? It's too early!"

The question got him a smack over the back of the head from Lucy, though the blow did nothing to him. "We're taking him out there because we know where he landed! It may be early, but an early morning start for once in your life would do you good."

Grumbling to himself, Natsu fell silent. Turning back to Mira with a beaming smile, Lucy waved at them. "Well, if that's the case, we'll be off then!"

Bowing slightly, Mirajane bid them farewell. As they turned, Naruto paused and tugged at Levy's sleeve. Turning, she saw Naruto motioning for the paper.

"I wana stay here with Mirajane and practice speaking and reading. Just give me a moment."

"Huh?"

Dropping his bag, Naruto crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)."

In a scream much similar to Levy's yesterday, Lucy fell backwards in horror as three extra Naruto's appeared around the original. She squeaked through her wide open mouth, pointing at the new group. Running to her side, Levy took her friends hand and patted it. "There, there. This is how Naruto learned things faster, remember how I told you that?"

Seeing Lucy nod hesitantly, Levy smiled encouragingly. "That's a good girl. Now, just try to ignore them and everything will be better. Trust me."

Standing numbly, Lucy nodded again before turning and walking out the guild doors stiffly, Levy leading the way. Natsu however, had finally woken up and was taking a great deal of interest in the new technique. He was running around the three, poking and pulling at the clones in total fascination as Happy circled above, just as interested as his friend.

"Wa-ha! This is so cool! How'd you do this huh? What kind of magic is this?"

The clone currently afflicted with Natsu's affections was holding its hands out, trying it's best to convey it couldn't understand a single thing he was asking. Makarov and Mirajane were also equally surprised at the ability, though not quite so badly since they had been forewarned of it. Grinning at their faces, Naruto held out a note to Mira.

"So I was hoping to leave a clone here with you to learn how to speak your language if that's alright."

Sighing, Mira shook her head apologetically and replied. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I'll be too busy with work today to do anything."

Frowning, Naruto called over one of his clones. "What if you had help then? Could you talk as you worked? That's all I want."

Raising an eyebrow, Mira looked at Naruto uncertainly. "Uh, I suppose... no offence intended though, but it'd be a bit weird having a male serving."

Reading this, Naruto just sent her a wide smile. Signalling to his clone, it grinned and formed the ram seal. "Henge (Transform)!"

Instantly coughing and spluttering, Makarov and Mirajane waved the air before them as smoke filled the area. It dissipated quickly and their jaws dropped when they got a good look at the clone. Where the male once stood, now posed an extremely leggy, blond girl with her hair pulled out into twin pig tails, each golden cascade reaching down to her lower thigh. A chest that rivalled Lucy's was barely contained behind a skimpy maid outfit and above that; she had an absolutely breathtaking face, comparable even to Mira's beauty. Three scars adorned each cheek giving her an exotic look and with a wink, sealed her position in the Guild Masters heart.

"HIRED! HIRED! THAT GIRL IS HIRED! MIRA, GET HER A UNIFORM, NOW!"

Not even bothering to calm the excited man, Mira then turned to an impassive Naruto, hands in his pockets, shrugging nonchalantly. She sent him an incredulous look as he just smiled at her.

"What... you know transformation magic too?"

Tapping his nose with a grin, Naruto took the offered pen. "My dear Mira-chan, that be called chakra, remember? No magic here."

Slipping back into a seat behind her, Mira raised a hand to her forehead, trying her best to understand just what this boy could do. Seeing another note passed under her nose, she looked up.

"So... can she stay?"

A defeated sigh left her lips as she looked up at the cheeky blond. Smiling, she shook her head and took the paper. "You really have a way with people, don't you Naruto?"

Grinning sheepishly, Naruto just squinted his eyes happily and scratched the back of his head. Shaking her head again, Mirajane stood and looked over to the clone who was currently entertaining Makarov.

"You are a spectacular specimen my girl! Truly, first class material!"

The clone just giggled and placed an index finger to her lip demurely. Makarov blew something when he saw this, his small form being rocked backwards by a powerful nose bleed. Rolling her eyes, Mira chuckled and took the girl's hand. "So what am I going to call you..."

Catching Naruto just before he left, she quickly scribbled him a note. "Do you have a name for her?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno, Naruko would work. That sound ok?"

Smiling, Mira nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Now scoot, all of you, before the Master comes to."

XxXxXxX

The road to Naruto's point of arrival was more of a gentle stroll than anything with the group happily taking their time, basking in the warm light of the mid morning sun. Naruto's creation of the extra clones had become apparent rather quickly when he set each one with a member of the group to learn each ones individual speech quirks. He had Levy give each one a transcript paper, and sent them over.

The clone with Natsu and Happy ended up playing games with the excitable pair, jumping around the trees and rocks, screaming incoherently more often than not and setting fire to random things even more frequently. This resulted in Naruto needing to continually replace clones that were popped due to the harsh treatment. Not much was actually learnt during this, but it was a lot of fun.

The clone with Lucy was treated to the girl's explanation of her magic and abilities, once she stopped being weirded out by the fact she was speaking to a chakra copy of the original. It turned out she was a Celestial Mage, capable of summoning creatures of varying strengths and abilities, assuming she had the key connected to it. She even had a number of rare gold keys which connected with the spirits of the zodiac, which held immensely powerful beings that far outweighed the standard spirit key that could be bought in a store. So far, she had four of a possible twelve.

Levy was lucky in that she got to be paired with the original Naruto. The whole trip, the girl had her books and papers out, struggling to handle them all as she tried to catalogue Naruto's words. Even with the help of her blond companion, the group had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to pick up papers that spilt from their arms. Despite this, they still made good time, mostly due to the group having to run to catch up to Natsu and Happy who consistently drew ahead.

About an hour or two in, they took a break and Naruto dispelled his clones, closing his eyes as he sifted through the information gathered. It was all rather clumped, some areas of the language being clearer than others, but that was just because of the specialised information each individual spoke on. Hearing Levy and Lucy chatting, Naruto tried his best to join in, disjointedly throwing in comments whenever he thought he understood something. His speech was a great deal better than what it was when they first started walking, but it still wasn't quite right, what with Natsu's habitual cursing occasionally rearing its head in Naruto's speech.

It managed to get a few laughs out of the group though so Naruto was happy, even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted. After a few light refreshments, Naruto created another batch of clones and they continued on.

XxXxXxX

Finally reaching the area, Natsu jumped forward, nose in overdrive. "Yeah, yeah this is the place! It still smells weird. So what ya lookin' for Naruto?"

Happy floated down and came to rest on Natsu's pink hair. "Hey, hey, will you be going to get sucked back into the air? Are there any yummy fish over there too? If there are, bring me back some!"

Having dispelled the second round of clones, Naruto understood the majority of what they wanted. "No... looking for clue. Maybe...teac - learn how I arris... got here by check."

Grinning, Natsu dashed forward. "Great! We'll help ya look!"

"AYE!"

Before they could get too far though, a hand caught Natsu's vest and another Happy's tail. "Wait! You maybe... mess up clue. I go one."

"Eh?"

Lucy walked up to the energetic pair and sighed as she looked at them. "What Naruto means to say is that he'll go first. He must have something he can do that will help him find anything."

Natsu's eyes widened unhappily as he began to argue. "But that's boring! Why can't we help search? I can fly around with Happy, we won't even touch anything! AH, THIS SUCKS!"

Letting the pair go, Naruto stepped past them. "Check up sky... look down ok."

"What?"

Struggling to find the words, Naruto resorted to the piece of paper. "I mean, fly up with Happy and check the area from the sky. You won't be able to damage much from up there."

"Woo! That's what I'm talking about! Come on Happy, TO THE SKY!"

"AYE!"

Dipping in, Happy then grabbed the boy by the back of his vest and lifted them off, quickly disappearing into the trees. Watching them go, Naruto nodded. Taking a deep breath, Naruto then exhaled slowly and became completely still. Both girls shared a look when he did this, not used to his lack of energy.

"Naruto... what are you doing?"

When he didn't respond, they walked around in front of him, just as his eyes flicked open. Gasping, they took several steps back, not able to understand what had just happened.

Everything about the boy was completely normal, except for his eyes. His usual crystal blue irises had undergone a strange transformation, now a strange yellow in colour. His pupils had also changed, elongating out sideways from the usual circle to an odd rounded rectangle shape. Finishing off the odd altercation, Naruto's upper eyelids were now rimmed with a reddish-orange pigmentation, the colouring coming to a shallow point as it reached towards his ears.

Looking at their shocked faces, Naruto let out an awkward laugh and scratched his cheek. "Uh... sorry. I explain in... moment."

Tentatively passing the still gaping girls, Naruto tried smiling disarmingly again before turning and running down the path. Looking over at each other, the girls looked at each other before shaking their head.

"Wh... what was up with those eyes?"

Levy shook her head, understanding just as much as Lucy. "I don't know... every time I think I learn a little more about him, he goes and does something else like that. I wonder what else he's hiding..."

Swallowing, Lucy nodded. "Y – yeah. I just hope he really is a good guy, and not just hiding it."

Beginning to walk, Levy shook her head. "No, he's definitely good. You can't hide evil intentions completely unless you had total memory loss, and even then you can tell sometimes. From Naruto though, I sense nothing but good from him."

Holding a hand to her chest, Lucy worried her lip, but nodded all the same. "I just hope he tells us a bit more about himself sooner rather than later."

Humming softly in agreement, Levy fell silent as the pair followed the mysterious blond.

XxXxXxX

Following the sensation of chakra, Naruto dashed over a hill before skidding to a stop, eyes darting around. Where ever he landed was somewhere close around here. There was a definite chakra signal nearby that wasn't native to the strange aura of the area. Closing his eyes, he focused. Reaching out with his enhanced senses, Naruto silently thanked his late teacher for forcing him to complete Sage training. Without it, Naruto was one of the worst sensor ninja in Konoha.

Following the fading blue tinge in the air, Naruto walked right up to the spot where he was dropped. Reaching out tentatively, Naruto let his hand swirl around the remaining chakra. Nodding, Naruto easily confirmed it was indeed Kakashi's energy. So he had accidentally sent him here, probably during that explosion. Waving his hand through the air gently, Naruto cocked his head thoughtfully.

Chakra signals were usually left when a ninja used a technique. The spike would then fade and follow the ninja as he or she moved, leaving a trail. The difference here though was that Kakashi's trail was focused on a spot right in the centre of the chakra mass. Licking his teeth as he thought, Naruto brought a hand to his chin. Did that mean then that the chakra was following itself back to Kakashi? If so, would that mean it was possible to track the chakra and open up the wormhole again?

Raising his eyebrows at the possibility, Naruto began to channel some chakra into his hand. A quick thought entered his mind though and he shut off the stream instantly. What if it needed Kakashi's chakra to reopen the gateway? There clearly wasn't enough here to do that, but he wouldn't want to go and contaminate what was left. Frowning, Naruto pulled out a scroll. He didn't know if sealing chakra was possible, but it was definitely there, even if it was invisible to the naked eye. Waving the seal through the mass of blue, Naruto channelled energy into the seal and crossed his fingers in hope.

A poof went off and Naruto grinned. Success. A chunk of the blue had been absorbed into the paper upon sealing. Quickly labelling and storing the scroll, Naruto then reached back out into the blue mass. Again channelling some chakra, Naruto felt for the point of infinity in the middle of the shrunken blue mass and tried to coax it open. Frowning in concentration, Naruto played with the tip, desperately trying to push even the smallest of holes into the nonexistent point.

After a little while, Naruto sighed and gave up. He could feel something there, but it was impossible to push open. Feeling Lucy and Levy watching him from the top of the hill, Naruto sighed and opened his eyes. It didn't seem like there was much else here, all other possible physical evidence having been washed away in the rain yesterday. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto called out to them.

"Be no... scared, k?"

Blinking several times, Levy and Lucy just raised their eyebrows and nodded. Guessing that'd have to do for the moment, Naruto turned back. With Kakashi's chakra slowly dispersing, the only way to find this exact spot again would be to leave another, longer lasting chakra spike. And to do that, what better way could it be than a ball of pure chakra? Frowning in concentration, Naruto held his hand out as the air above it began to swirl about.

The rapid rotation began to distort the air as energy began to form above his palm, condensing in on itself until it took the shape of a tight blue ball. Focusing on that, Naruto then began to grow it until it was the size of an average human head. The power the thing generated was enough to whip the surroundings winds up into a strong breeze, causing the trees and Naruto's clothes to begin to flap around.

Halting the balls growth, Naruto then relaxed and let it destabilise. It wobbled around a bit, quickly turning into an egg before the chakra lost form and went up in a noisy bang. Nodding to himself, Naruto dropped his hand. That spike would be good to last for atleast a week or two easily.

Sighing, Naruto relaxed and the odd pigmentation around his eyes faded as his irises returned to normal. A sudden out pouring of sweat then coated him as the transformation ended, strangely exhausting the boy. It passed in a moment though and Naruto turned, wiping away the beads on his face.

Smiling up at the girls, he beckoned for them to come down. Looking around cautiously, they took a hesitant step forward before Naruto started laughing at them. Huffing, they pouted and stomped down. Reaching him, the teen sat down and motioned for them to join him. Doing so, they then turned to their bags and pulled out a few snacks, sharing the treats around. Looking to the sky, Lucy then cupped her mouth and called out.

"NATSU! HAPPY! FOOD!"

Barely a heartbeat later, the two appeared over the trees, crowing happily at the development. Happy got a little too excited however and dropped Natsu from a fairly decent height onto the ground. Though the group heard him impact and saw the puff of dust, it didn't seem to faze the boy as he sprinted over and dropped down next to Lucy, grinning from ear to ear. Happy then landed on Natsu's shoulder, eyes twinkling as he sucked up a stray strand of drool. Lucy just rolled her eyes and threw Natsu a snack bar and Happy a small fish. Now having dealt with those two, Lucy turned her attention back to Naruto.

"So, is it ok if we ask you a few questions?"

Wiping his mouth, Naruto put down his water flask and nodded.

"Alright... well then, what was that weird transformation from before?"

Seeing Naruto not quite understand, Lucy dragged her fingers around her eyes, simulating the colour changes. Nodding, Naruto held his hand out for the pen and paper.

"This is too hard to explain with speech. That was a little ability called Senjutsu (Sage Techniques). It has a couple of uses, but the one I used it for then was to sense where the exact point I fell from was. Normally I suck at trying to pinpoint energies, but that allows me much finer sensory abilities."

Lucy raised her eyebrows at the response, but merely accepted it as another oddity the boy had. "Why did you do that?"

Again, Naruto took up the pen. "Well, if I knew where I fell from, there may have been a chance that I could have forced it open and got back home. It didn't work."

Naruto sitting there was proof enough of that. Levy then leaned forward, looking at Naruto with glowing eyes. "So what was that blue ball you had? It was beautiful."

She mimed holding a ball, just so Naruto fully understood. For the third time, Naruto took up the pen and paper. "I can't wait to learn to speak fluently; this writing business is driving me barmy. That was a technique called Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere), one that my dad created. It's a strong attacking style technique, but I just used it to leave a chakra signal here so I can follow it back here later."

Not quite fully understanding how that was possible, Levy frowned in concentration. She went to speak but was cut off as a loud roar in the distance made everyone look up. It rapidly drew closer, throwing everyone on edge as screeching noises began to accompany the initial roar. When Erza driving some strange wagon like thing popped over the hill though, everyone relaxed except for Naruto, who was still wondering just what the hell that contraption was.

It looked like a standard, four wheeled horse drawn carriage, though the shell of it was made from metal instead of wood. The difference however was that at the front of the wagon, there was a single person seat screwed down onto a flat platform, which was currently occupied by Erza. She was holding a joystick that seemed to control the steering of it, and from her right arm, had what looked like a tourniquet wrapped around it with a tube that lead from the arm band, into the brace surrounding the seat.

Skidding to a stop in front of the group, Erza looked down at them sternly. "There has been an emergency. I need you all to come with me right now."

A hushed intake of breath sounded through the group as Naruto just stood there looking confused. Stepping forward, Lucy looked up at the Mage. "So what happened?"

Looking off into the distance, Erza sighed. "It seems that an old magic has fallen into the wrong hands. The dark guild Eisenwald has somehow found the black Mage Zeref's evil magic Lullaby and is planning to attack the upcoming Guild Masters meeting with it. Master obviously knows this, but is going never the less to warn the others. He has explicitly asked me to gather the best team I can and try cut off Eisenwald before they can make it to the meeting. You are the group I chose. Now get on."

Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, the two girls nodded once and ran to the doors either side of the wagon and slipped inside. Natsu and Naruto however remained standing outside, looking at the thing.

"NATSU! GET IN!"

Cringing at the barking order, Natsu looked up at Erza pathetically as his cheeks began to take on a green tinge. "B-b-but I HATE transport! Can't Happy just carry me?"

The cat had already flown into the car and looked out the window at Natsu. "Natsu, you know I can't fly as fast as Erza drives. She's a lunatic when she gets driving."

A shaggy head Naruto recognised then poked itself from the window and smirked at Natsu's obvious discomfort. "What's wrong ash breath? Can't take a little rocking?"

He then began to sway the wagon from side to side, laughing as Natsu grew ever greener.

"B-b-bu..."

Frowning, Erza unstrapped her arm and jumped off the seat. Grabbing the woozy boy by the scruff of his neck, she walked him over and then threw him in through the window. A slimy groan then floated out the window as the carriage rocked with the force. Turning to look at Naruto, she sighed. He wasn't a part of her initial plan, but she couldn't leave him behind.

"Brilliant."

Walking up to him, she pointed at the wagon and began trying to drag him towards it. His eyes widened as she tried to pull him along, but Erza quickly found him very firmly attached to his spot. Frowning, she put more effort into the tug but still Naruto didn't move. She was about to grab him with both hands when Levy leaned out the window and called out.

"Naruto! It's ok! Just get in, I'll explain everything along the way."

Looking over at the girl, Naruto swallowed. "Safe?"

Levy nodded, smiling encouragingly. "Safe!"

Nodding hesitantly, Naruto walked over to the wagon and got in, leaving Erza standing back with a slightly confused look on her face. 'Why couldn't I move him? It was like he weighed over a ton! And how does he already know bits of our language?'

Shaking clear the thoughts, Erza focused. She could ask those questions later. For now, the focus was on finding Eisenwald and stopping Lullaby.

XxXxXxX

A/N – I've had a few people ask where the story is set in the timeline and why Erza is there even though it's set before the Phantom Arc. Naruto slept for close to 2 days so missed Erza returning, as well as Lucy gaining her third Zodiac key. Also, due to Naruto's arrival and my omniscient awesomeness as the author of this fic, I took a little creative licence and have postponed the Lullaby arc until now. I could have said it earlier but hey, life is full of surprises and following cannon to the word is boring.

Again, big thanks to everyone who reviewed too. The ONLY reason this thing is getting updated as frequently as it is, is because of you guys. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Don't forget to let me know if I missed an error too.

Lanky Nathan