Naruto was well bored by the time he reached the council building. While the memories from earlier were pleasant, there were only so many times a guy could run over them in his head. He had offered to the council servant that he could just run ahead, but his suggestion had been politely refused and then asked to remain seated.

Before the cart had even pulled to a stop, Naruto all but kicked through the doors and landed heavily outside, stretching his arms wide. "Maaaan, why does that trip always seem to get longer and longer?"

While stretching, the well dressed frog walked up and bowed. "Mr. Uzumaki, if you would follow me."

Casting a lazy eye over the interesting creature, Naruto pushed his fists into his back, popping a few vertebrae before falling into line. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Naruto looked over the usual features as he yawned. Looked like nothing had changed as of yet. Being led to the usual wooden doors, he was beckoned inside. Wandering up to the raised pedestal, he sighed as he looked up at the shadowed faces of the council. Noticing one with a seemingly pale complexion and long dark hair though, Naruto grinned brightly and waved. "Ultear-chan! I'm back!"

While she didn't wave in reply, the blond saw the upturning of her ruby red lips in a smile. It seemed she had to be all important and official for the moment, so that would have to suffice until a more natural greeting later. As Guran Doma stood up, the rest of the council seemed to quieten, even though there was no noise from them before. Taking his position, the imposing man looked down at the boy. "Uzumaki Naruto. We have called you in today to offer you a mission of great importance."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto let him continue. "It has been brought to our attention very recently that a dangerous structure is in the middle of being constructed. What is more distressing is that it is nearing the stage of construction where it is operational."

Moving to say more, Naruto cut him off. "Hang on, you say this thing is nearly operational, yet you only just found out about it? That doesn't sound too great for the resume."

The tall man's eyes hardened as he glared down at the young ninja. Taking a moment to compose himself, he carefully selected his next words. "Be that as it may, we are still taking it very seriously, whether the information was given to us now or several months ago. Now, if I may continue..."

Steeling an angry gaze at Naruto, he saw the boy wave his hand in a proceeding manner. "What we wish to do is to officially record its progression of construction. We want to know how big it is, what kind of people are working there and anything else of information you can gather for us."

Nodding, Naruto leant on the guard rail before him. "Alright, sounds interesting. What will I get out of it then? This sounds pretty dangerous if you know what I mean..."

He locked his sharp eyes with Guran's and held a form of a staring contest. Neither budged until a shadowed council member stood up. Naruto couldn't see who it was, but instantly remembered his voice as the creepy fellow who stopped Erza all that time ago. "Guran, with all respect I believe he is right. We can't send someone like this off without some form of incentive."

His shadowed face turned to look down at Naruto. "Uzumaki, what would you say to Five Hundred Thousand Jewels as payment?"

Snorting, Naruto grinned. "I can make that much back at Fairy Tail in about five of the local jobs. This is a bit more risky than cleaning boats."

A hushed wave of whispers then ran through the elders at the statement. Another person, this time a lady, stood up and pointed down at him. "Preposterous. That is bordering an S Rank mission payment."

Shrugging, Naruto raised his hands behind his head. "Whatever you say. If you don't believe me, go check the job book."

It seemed the grumpy old lady had more to say until she was cut off by Erza's acquaintance. "Ha, you sure are an interesting fellow Uzumaki! Fine then, how does Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand sound?"

Yet another council member stood up in outrage. "What? How can you expect the council to pay a person that kind of sum?"

Laughing easily, the man held a hand out. "Please, relax everyone. I shall meet the council halfway in the amount. Is that suitable to you, Uzumaki?"

Narrowing an eye, Naruto looked up at the shadowed man. His speech was pleasant enough and the offer was incredibly generous, but his gut trusted Erza and Erza didn't like this guy. He still didn't know why, but she had her reasons. She wasn't the kind of girl to do anything without a solid reason. Still, he was supporting the council in a group forum, so there wasn't too much room for him to use to manipulate things. For the moment, Naruto decided he'd take the job. "Alright... sounds fair. Is there anything else I should know of for when I get there?"

Retaking his position, Guran looked down at the teen. "The building under construction has the title of the Tower of Heaven. It is an R System project that we thought we had destroyed. There were seven in total, but this eighth one has only just been found. It is a powerful magic, capable of resurrecting the dead but at a horrible price. Be on guard for powerful mages though as anyone capable of keeping such a massive construction hidden from us would take a great deal of strength and intelligence."

Beginning to stretch, Naruto nodded. "Alrighty then. Directions to it please?"

Frowning, Guran shook his head. "You need not worry. The tower is located off the coast of the Caelum Kingdom. We will have the council guard take you there by our fastest coach and then we will take you the remainder of the way via boat."

Swapping stretch positions, Naruto laughed. "Thanks 'n' all, but trust me when I say it'll be way faster if I just run."

Raising an eyebrow, Guran studied the teen. What he was claiming to do was nothing short of a human miracle, but not much was known about his abilities and he had managed to defeat a former member of the Wizard Saints. Internally shrugging, Guran held a hand out. "Travel south of here until you come to the ocean. From there, it is across the strait on the closest side to Caelum."

Winding an arm around in a windmill, Naruto nodded. "Lovely. Be back soon."

XxXxXxX

Standing outside, Naruto was doing some last minute leg stretches when he felt a familiar presence behind him. Checking over his shoulder, a smile broke out on his face. "Ultear-chan! Coming to wish me good luck on my first test from the council?"

She closed her eyes and allowed a small smile to grace her face. "You certainly pick up on things quickly despite your external appearances. Yes, I have come to wish you all the best on the mission. Master Siegrain wished me to come and pass on his well wishes as well."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto stood up. "Siegrain?"

The dark haired beauty nodded. "Indeed, he was the man who offered you the mission payment. He is a very generous individual."

A slight frown tugged at Naruto's eyebrows but he hid it. "Yeah, he seems to be. Say thanks for me will you?"

Again Ultear nodded. "I'll be sure to."

Grinning, Naruto then raised a hand. "Well, I'll be off. I'll be back in time for another walk around the gardens if you're interested?"

Giggling softly, the lady nodded. "I would enjoy that."

Turning, Naruto took a step then paused and looked over his shoulder. "Just quickly, do you know if Siegrain had any prior relationship with Erza by any chance?"

Frowning, Ultear placed a finger against her lip in thought. "Titania? No, not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

Naruto shrugged. "Oh, just curious. I seemed to get the impression she knew him at some point. Ah well, not to worry. Catch ya later!"

Nodding, the beautiful woman remained silent as Naruto kicked off the ground powerfully, rapidly surging away into the distance.

XxXxXxX

Dashing along Naruto couldn't help but wonder about that strange lady. She seemed like a reserved enough woman, but there was something odd about her. It didn't worry the blond too much though as he knew she'd tell him whatever it was eventually cause that's what friends do.

Jumping a rock, Naruto landed and crossed his fingers. Instantly surrounded by twenty or so identical replicas of himself, Naruto grinned. The distance required to travel was going to take a while by even his standards, so why not try a little training while at it?

The clones around him all brought their hands together in the Ram seal as they focused their chakra. Watching closely as the first of them began levitate from the ground, Naruto studied them as they managed to maintain control of their actions for a while before they lapsed and spiralled off, out of control until they hit the ground and dispersed. Sifting through the experience instantly transferred back to him, Naruto nodded. Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.

Holding the ram seal, Naruto started jogging along with his clones flanking him, all copying him. Pushing the energy into his feet, Naruto jumped and focused on turning the now wind natured chakra beneath his feet into a jet of sorts. Feeling the instant jump in acceleration, Naruto stretched his hands out wide with a cry, his arms flapping about wildly as he tried to control his trajectory. Hearing similar such results happening all around him, Naruto fought for control for a while longer before the jet overpowered him and sent him into a dizzying barrel roll. Seeing the flash of ground pass his vision, Naruto tensed and huffed heavily as the wind was knocked from him.

Closing his eyes as he tried to catch his breath, the blond heard his clones all smack into the ground around him like little meteorites. Feeling the influx of memories, he gulped in another breath as he organised his thoughts. Taking another thirty seconds, he then stood up. Coughing once, Naruto crossed his fingers again and once more was faced with a number of clones, this time closer to the number of fifty. Stuff being all restraint in his use of clones, flying was damn fun and he wanted to learn NOW. Narrowing an eye, Naruto contemplated the thought and as such, quickly raised his fingers and created another fifty more.

Grinning at his fellow blonds, Naruto raised a fist. "Let's get this down!"

Hearing a joyous cry of approval, Naruto laughed and jumped into the air again, flanked by the one hundred chakra constructs.

XxXxXxX

It took a few hours and many, many crashes, but eventually Naruto began getting the feel of the unique technique. He'd worked out that the reason he kept face planting was because the angle of his 'jet' wavered around from time to time. It had to be kept pointing down from his feet perfectly at all times no matter what his body angle, else he'd lose control and end up munching worms. Still though, all the unexpected snacks as paid off and the blond was now sailing along relatively comfortably about six feet over the ground, hands held wide to help try and stabilise himself. Another little thing he picked up was that he could bank and turn using his hands against the air currents. It felt kind of dumb flying along with his hands held out like some boy from a corny fairy tale (no pun intended), but he'd deal with that once he got the ability better under control.

Hearing a call from a clone beside him, Naruto looked over to see it pointing. "Hey, water!"

Naruto then watched as the clone lost control of his flight due to the removal of one rudder and was sent smashing into the ground with a puff. Turning his eyes away from the death of himself, Naruto squinted and sure enough, could spot blue growing in the distance. Smiling happily, he gently eased on the chakra output and raced towards the ocean.

Nearing the beach, a thought then hit Naruto. He'd spent all this time trying to fly, but never any time trying to land. Thinning his eyes to strips, he thought over the predicament. If he tried to land like this, he'd just belly flop the ground and ruin his jacket. That was something to be avoided at all costs.

Trying to work it out, Naruto then heard Lucy's voice start floating through his head. Frowning as he tried to recall what she said, the blond groaned. Remembering lectures was never a strong point of his.

As he tried to remember, several words like 'downward force' and 'greater than' began to flick through his mind. If he remembered right, then it had something to do with pushing yourself up. A light lit up in his mind as an idea sprung forward causing the blond to grin and let himself fall forward in a front summersault. The blond ended up on his back with his legs out in front of him, pushing the wind chakra out before him, grimacing as he fought for his control and balance as the powerful jet was now turned into a powerful break. He felt more than saw his clones follow his lead, the memory of several losing control and smacking into the ground colouring his mind.

Try as he might though, Naruto eventually lost control and flipped over towards the sandy beach. Throwing his hands out, he landed in a heavy handstand and cushioned his fall with a roll. Jumping to his feet, Naruto turned and looked back to see three or four clones execute the landing perfectly, the rest of the flock smacking into the ground much the same as he did. One of the clones closest to him then let out a laugh and pointed a mocking finger at him. "Ha! How do you feel? You face planted while us three landed perfect! We should be the original, not you."

Growling, Naruto pointed a finger back. "Yeah, well I'll be getting all your memories so in your face!"

Cancelling them before they could retort, Naruto sighed and rubbed his head. Stupid clones. One or two of them always seemed to pop up from time to time. Turning back to look out over the water, Naruto brought a hand to his brow and squinted out against the bright sun. It didn't look like anything was out there, so Naruto guessed that this kingdom must have been a long way out. Dropping his hand, Naruto grumped. Times like these called for a tree or something for an aerial view.

Rolling his eyes as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Naruto pushed the wind back under his feet and felt the unstable feeling return. Pushing against gravity, Naruto took to the sky, rising high above the ground and ocean. Looking out at the horizon as his view increased, Naruto squinted and tried to spot anything that resembled land. As he continued to rise though, Naruto began to find it difficult to see anything due to some weird fog that had started rolling through. It looked like there may have been something in the far distance, but it was hard to see. Looking around in frustration, Naruto tried to see where it was coming from. He then looked down and froze.

It seemed like while he hadn't been paying attention, he had accidentally risen high enough to touch some low lying clouds. Unfortunately, low lying still meant three hundred or so feet. Doing his best to hold himself steady, Naruto took even breaths as he tried to figure out what to do. 'Ok Naruto, just breathe, you got this. Cut a little power, drop slowly and all will be right.'

Cutting a bit more than expected, Naruto began descending rapidly, his arms flapping around wildly while he cried out. Quickly upping the power, Naruto felt himself level out and he heaved a sigh of relief. A three hundred foot plunge to the earth was not on his to do list. Composing himself, Naruto then took a breath and tried again.

Following that then were a series of uncoordinated drops and stops as Naruto did his best to get himself down safely. It took a while but eventually Naruto cut power about ten feet over the ground and dropped to the safety of the ground. Wiping his forehead, Naruto let out a nervous chuckle at how he managed to get out of that. Still, he had managed to spot a thin line of brown off in the distance so the unplanned trip to the clouds was a success.

Not quite willing to risk his luck again by flying over the water, the blond jumped out over the surf, landed on the salt water and took off into the distance.

XxXxXxX

Wiping his brow, Naruto shook off some stray dots of sweat and looked around. It felt like he had been running for an hour but it could have been anything out here. The land behind him had all but disappeared and the blond was left with nothing but the sun to keep his course straight.

As he ran though, Naruto began to notice some floating fish. Their physical appearance was incredibly weird, but their bodies were being rocked around by the gentle waved fairly lifelessly. Frowning, he detoured over to one of the closest ones and knelt down. Poking it, he wrinkled his nose and stood up. His finger had punched a hole through its bloated flesh easily, indicating it had been out here for a while. It was a bit interesting though that it hadn't been devoured by fellow sea life after its death. Turning to look out over the horizon, Naruto spotted another few fish scattered out at large intervals across the ocean. Frowning, the blond narrowed an eye slightly. One fish may have been a coincidence but two or even three was definitely an indication something was wrong. If they were all uneaten, then it meant their predators were also either dead or had fled the waters. While not an expert, Naruto knew that usually meant poison.

Turning to look up at the sky, Naruto noticed a gathering of dark clouds off in the distance. It didn't seem like much, but their rather localised position seemed a bit unnatural. The trail of fish seemed to be roughly clustered in that direction so with a kick, Naruto headed out.

XxXxXxX

Nearing the clouds, Naruto looked around cautiously as the ominous darkness enclosed him. He'd spotted a tall, dark pillar a way back and Naruto would bet his beautiful jacket that that was the so called Tower of Heaven. Dashing across the water, he neared the rocks and jumped up onto land. Crouching, he looked up at the massive building.

Riddled with shadows, the absolutely enormous building stretched way up into the sky, the tip of the thing a tiny bulb in the distance. Closer to the base, Naruto could see that massive metallic pipes made up the foundation of the thing. Chunks of oddly placed gold nuggets and giant cogs stuck out from the tubes, seemingly having no rhyme or rhythm to their placement.

Below that (and what Naruto was currently standing on) was an enormous craggy platform created from hundreds of spiky rocks jutting up into the air from the ocean, all varying in size from Naruto's height right up to seventy plus feet. Rugged paths twisted and wound their way along from the water's edge up to the base of the tower. That was where things got tricky.

Spotted along the pathway were numerous guards, all wearing the same grey trench coat uniform and mask that hid the upper half of their faces. Each also seemed to have a long spear that Naruto guessed was able to conduct magic. If that wasn't enough, about half the guards he could see had these massive... things leashed to them.

They were completely hairless, looking like massive pink rats with the legs of a bulldog. The largest of them stood at double the height of the guards, their gigantic, underdeveloped heads raised high in the air, their snouts twitching as they sensed the air. Where most animals had eyes, these things just seemed to have more mouth as the lip line seemed to travel right back to meet their thickly set neck. Vicious teeth protruded from the upper and lower jaws as they snarled, the gleaming white shards meshing cleanly but looking like they could cut smoothly through steel. Some of the things even looked like they had wings, indicating they could probably fly. Thick, studded collared were secured around their necks and Naruto guessed that those things were the only thing that stopped the creatures from turning on their masters and eating them whole.

While they had no visible eyes, ears or nostrils, they still seemed acutely aware of their surroundings. Reaching down, Naruto picked up a small stone and lobbed it over the guards. They didn't seem to notice, but the nearest of these things watched it intently. Suddenly one lashed out as the stone passed it, snapping its maw around the projectile before grinding it to a salivary paste. The guard cried out in anger, pulling on the things leash and making it sit beside him. "Damn things. Honestly, Master Jellal should have reconsidered using these as guard dogs. They are way too dangerous."

Another guard spoke up after the first spoke, amused with his reaction. "Perhaps, but you must admit they are amazingly effective in battle."

Grumbling, the first guard shrugged. "Maybe... but I still don't like the idea of it turning on me. I've seen too many other guys get eaten by their dog."

Laughing cruelly, the second guard shook his head. "Bah, that doesn't matter too much. Most of them were weak anyhow, so their dog must have sensed it and turned on them."

Tuning out from the conversation, Naruto frowned. So these things were extremely perceptive of their surroundings, much more so than their masters in any case. It seemed they were even able to feel the fear of the humans around them, turning on the ones that didn't seem like they were in control. Getting past these things by air or foot was going to prove a challenge, but Naruto had a bit of an idea.

They sensed fear. The most powerful ball of malice and fury lived within his stomach. If Naruto used even a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra, they should in theory feel the affect far more than anything else. So clasping his hands together, Naruto closed his eyes and dug into his subconsciousness.

Finding the never ending trickle of red flowing from the seal into his person, Naruto focused and pulled. He instantly began feeling a warm tingling spreading throughout his body and he absentmindedly ran his tongue along his teeth as they sharpened. His nails began to grow and he furrowed his eyebrows as he limited the amount. He didn't want too much and have an overload start alerting people to his position. He knew even this small amount was having an effect however because the dogs were now roaring dangerously. He could also hear the guards begin shouting nervously as the wave of evil washed over them.

He could hear them begin clambering around as the dogs pulled free from their grasp, the rapid stomps of the heavy beasts fading as they escaped from the feeling. Turning his enhanced eyes to the sky, Naruto also saw a few of the winged animals flying up the tower to land high up on its walls, their hallowing cries ringing out over the open expanse of water.

Waiting a moment longer, Naruto then looked over the rock he had taken cover behind and found that the coast was now clear. Swallowing, Naruto reigned in the inhuman energy and sighed as his form returned to normal. Wiping his brow with a sleeve, he crouched low and began heading towards the tower.

XxXxXxX

Creeping inside, Naruto kept a sharp eye out for any guards that mightn't have fled yet. The mangled doorway he had walked through was more like a cave opening than anything, but once inside the hollow structure Naruto frowned. Tools lay discarded about the place, the earth all chopped up like people had been digging for something. There were also some shackles that look like they had been ripped open, but these were far fewer in number.

Sticking to the shadows, Naruto made his way over to a staircase that lead up the wall of the building. Beginning his climb, Naruto passed a number of floors that seemed to wrap around the circumference of the tower. All along the walls were metal cages, doors wide open and looking like they were in a state of disrepair. He could almost hear the voices of the people past who used to live in those enclosures and it did not sound good.

Looking higher, Naruto saw the stairs continued upwards for another hundred feet before disappearing into a solid stone ceiling. He hadn't seen anything since setting foot in the tower so the blond picked up his pace.

Reaching the entrance to the ceiling, Naruto pushed up on the trap door and looked in. It was a clean room with nothing all that interesting to look at. Several corridors ran into the walls from where Naruto could see, so he guessed that was his next move.

Taking a quick look around, Naruto pulled himself out cautiously and dropped back into the shadows. Holding himself still for a moment, his blue eyes flashed around before confirming no one was present. Still alert though, Naruto stuck to the wall as he made his way over to the nearest corridor.

A shadow seemed to pass over the area and Naruto instantly froze in place, his breathing stilled to minimise as much movement as possible. As he waited though, the shadow seemed to get darker and darker until the room started to disappear into the inky blackness.

Instantly realising that wasn't natural, Naruto clapped his hands together and whispered, "Kai (Release)."

The black instantly dissipated but the blond was a moment too late as a strange tubular material suddenly jumped out at him and wrapped him up. Struggling against the bonds, Naruto felt them tighten to the point that he lost his footing and dropped to the floor. Landing in a heap, Naruto looked up and saw two figures walking towards him from the far right hole in the wall.

"You should stop struggling otherwise my Kitty Restraint Tube will tighten to the point where you can't breathe."

Stilling his movements, Naruto observed the first of the two as they neared him.

She was a young girl, maybe a bit younger than Erza and a bit shorter. She had the most interesting face however as she looked more like a cat than anyone Naruto had ever seen before. While most of her shoulder length hair flicked outwards at the tips, the top sides of her head had her hair pulled up in an exact replica of cat ears. Her wide brown eyes looked down at Naruto curiously, her tiny little nose twitching occasionally. Even her lips were like that of a cat with the very middle pulling upwards towards her nose. She had a pair of triangle tattoos wither side of her cheeks with the points of them facing her nose. Her actual clothes were fairly normal, her pretty pink blouse showing through an unzipped yellow coat. She had this short, frilly, pale pink skirt on that was topped off with white, thigh length stockings and blue shoes.

Nodding, Naruto relaxed to show he understood. "Alright. Mind telling me how you knew I was here? I couldn't sense anyone."

A snort drew the blonds' attention to the next person. "All I will tell you is that Jellal was right in wanting to capture you. To have reached this far with only his notice is impressive."

Frowning, Naruto tucked away that name for future reference. That was the second time he'd heard it. Whoever this Jellal fellow was must be pretty powerful to be able to observe him without detection. Still, Naruto catalogued the speaker as he walked.

He was a massive man, his size comparable to that of Elfman's. He was shirtless, revealing his broad chest and shoulders to the world. A wide, embroided cloth hung over his left shoulder though, draping down to be tucked into his sash along with a single green, wrist length sleeve down that one arm. A pair of long baggy pants covered his lowers, revealing a pair of simple boots below. His face however was incredibly distinctive, much like his partner.

His had a turban wrapped around his hair and an eye patch covering his left eye. The most unique part of him though was the massive armoured metal plate that seemed to cover his entire lower jaw line from ear to ear. Teeth were fashioned into it as well to give it a more intimidating appearance.

Watching them calmly, Naruto waited until their feet stopped in front of his face before looking up. The second he did though, the girl let out an amazingly high pitched squeal and knelt down right before the startled blond. Her eyes widened even more so until they seemed to fill her face, her hands clasped before her in an endearing manner. "AH, YOU HAVE WHISKERS JUST LIKE A KITTY CAT! That is just so cute!"

She then reached out and began stroking his cheeks, the girl literally purring with the excitement. Unable to really do anything, Naruto just looked at her companion. "Uh, must she really?"

The man shrugged. "She has a thing for cats and your interesting facial marks have aroused her curiosity."

Struggling to sit up, Naruto felt the bonds tighten around his chest. Hearing a disapproving hum from the girl before him, Naruto looked up as the girl sighed. "What did I just say? The more you struggle, the tighter they get! You can't even use any magic either because they suck out your magic power."

She then smiled sweetly at him and patted his head sympathetically. Rolling his eyes, Naruto looked up at the man. "So, will you just leave me here or..."

Shaking his head, the man bent down and lifted the blond up with ease. Draping him over his shoulder, he started walking. "No, you will be taken to a prison cell. We don't want you interrupting anything."

Doing his best to ignore the girl as she continued to stroke his hair, Naruto frowned. "You mean with the resurrection of someone or something?"

The man looked over his shoulder at him and hummed. "You seem to know a bit about what is going on. Yes, we must keep you away from things."

Shaking his head, Naruto heard the girl laugh sweetly in amusement and reach out to tickle him under the chin. "Seriously, are you going to do that the whole way to my cell?"

She nodded happily. "Yup, cause you look just like a kitty-kitty!"

Groaning, Naruto resigned himself to the affection as they continued to walk.

XxXxXxX

Finally reaching the cell he was to be kept in, Naruto was dropped against a stone pillar. He felt the tubes around him wriggle about as they expanded, most probably tying him to the rock behind him. Looking up at his captors, Naruto frowned. "You know, you guys don't seem all that evil. I mean, the guards outside were nastier than you."

The girl just shrugged and smiled while the tall man sighed. "I believe being evil or not has nothing to do with it. We simply need something that Jellal can offer us."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Surely there's gotta be a better way? I mean, is something like this really that important?"

The man shrugged. "It doesn't matter to you. All I can offer you is the advice to sit tight and just stay here. We will come for you later."

Turning, they began to walk away when Naruto called out. "Hang on, what are your names atleast?"

The girl giggled and ran back up to him for one last pat. "I suppose we can tell you that. I'm Millianna and that is Simon. We'll see you soon cutie!"

Turning, she then skipped out the door and disappeared from view as Simon turned back. Pulling a key from his pocket, he locked the door. Testing it with a shake, he gave Naruto one last look before following after Millianna.

Watching them leave, Naruto listened as their footsteps faded into the distance. Eventually they disappeared altogether and Naruto was left to his thoughts.

So, what he had worked out thus far was that this guy Jellal was manipulating Millianna and Simon for something that he probably wasn't going to uphold in the end. His type never did. Jellal however was a powerful dude that could watch Naruto's movement's even while he himself was completely hidden. That made silent travel pretty much impossible.

Nothing of any real interest was found on the floors he had passed though so Naruto guessed that the bulb thing on the top floor was where all the action was. It was also most probably where he'd find Jellal.

While he wasn't originally out to question him, Naruto's cover was well and truly blown so there was no real reason why he couldn't go and say hi quickly. All he had to do was free himself of the bands.

Looking down at them, Naruto tried shuffling around again. While elastic, they instantly tightened against him and restricted his movement even further. Had he been a normal mage, that would have presented a problem. It was a good thing he didn't have a drop of magic in him then.

Pulling chakra into his muscles, the blond began straining against the bonds. They seemed to squeak as they tried to pull back against the opposing force as Naruto's muscles bulged. Unfortunately for them, a highly conditioned ninja reinforced with chakra was something well past their strength thresh hold. With a final rubbery squeak, they snapped and instantly dissipated into the air.

Pulling himself to his feet, Naruto rubbed an arm as he looked at the cage. Holding out said arm, Naruto let his chakra begin to manipulate the air around it and then he pushed in some nature manipulation to sharpen things up. Walking over to the iron bars, he stuck his hand through the gaps and the mini tornado instantly shredded the barrier. Metallic clangs echoed through the empty hallways as Naruto stepped through, his ears ringing from the intensity as the bars hit the ground. Chuckling to himself, Naruto looked around. If Jellal hadn't known he'd escaped, then he sure as hell knew now.

Looking up, Naruto saw another ceiling a hundred feet up. The rapid tapping of someone running in his direction reached his ears so Naruto wasted no time. Channelling chakra to his feet, Naruto pushed off and began shooting up towards the roof. Hearing a disbelieving cry beneath him, Naruto grinned and held his arms out in front of him.

The handy tornado sprung to life as Naruto fed the chakra into the air, the vortexes picking up pace as more energy was forced into them. Hitting the roof with a thump, a grinding sound filled the room as Naruto bored his way into the ceiling easily, his body disappearing into the rock.

Exploding out the other side, Naruto found himself in a similar room, though this time it was filled with guards all along the floor and walls. Groaning as they all shouted in surprise, Naruto did his best to pick up the pace. Unfortunately word spread fast and a large number of guards and their dogs jumped into the air from above, all their sensed honed in on the flying blond. Crying out as the first attack just barely missed him, Naruto then had to start performing a number of mid air manoeuvres that he hadn't had a chance to try as he dodged the airborne assailants.

Twisting and flipping his way through the guards, Naruto found himself smacking into the sides of the dogs more than once, sending them flying away into the walls from the force of the hit. He never really planned any of those tackles but hey if it works, it works.

Bursting through the last of them, Naruto looked up to see the roof only a few feet in front of him. Crying out, instinct took over and Naruto thrust his hand out, a bright blue light exploding into life before eating away at the ceiling with ease.

Chunks fell down around him as he burst through, the chakra to his feet cutting off and sending him up into the air before gravity took hold again and pulled him to the floor. Landing heavily on his stomach, Naruto groaned and looked over. Turning to look back at his hand, he then realised he had somehow managed to pull a Rasengan out of his ass, no clones or anything. Sitting up, he looked at his hands happily. He must have finally learnt how to do it over time but never realised since he always used his clones!

"Oi, don't you move!"

Looking up, Naruto sighed as he saw fifty spears levelled at him, the sharp ends all glinting dangerously. Standing up, he then cried out in pain as something jabbed him in the back. "I said don't MOVE!"

Growling, Naruto crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin."

Instantly surrounded by seventy clones, Naruto pointed out at the shell shocked guards. "Sick 'em."

The floor then turned to chaos as an all out war started between the seventy identical blonds and the guards that once surrounded the original. An orange streak then popped out from the dust, propelled along by an air jet as he continued his assent. A frown was on his face as he glared at the next roof. He just hoped the next room was Jellal and not more guards 'cause he was not in the mood.

XxXxXxX

Two rooms filled with guards later, Naruto exploded through the roof and into an entirely different floor. Cutting off his energy, Naruto dropped to the floor and looked around. It seemed he had stumbled into the main overseer's room. A large blue crystal protruded from the floor in the middle of the room, a Lacrima if Naruto could remember correctly. Spreading out from it was an intricately designed decoration that encircled the base of it. A few doors sat at the front of the room, light shining in through them softly. At the other end of the room sat two massive pillars stretching up to the ceiling. The wall was cut back three dozen or so feet between the pillars to house a fancy looking stone throne.

Weird writing on the wall behind it looked down at the almost key shaped head piece. Frowning though, Naruto stopped looking at the decorations. There was someone lounging in the chair, their head lazily upheld by their fist. The male's legs were crossed and a smirk was on his shadowed face as he watched Naruto eye him up. Bringing his hands together slowly, he then began clapping. "Well done... very well done. I was not expecting you to be able to make it here so quickly. I guess I underestimated you."

Squaring his shoulders, Naruto jutted out his chin. "You Jellal?"

Laughing, the man shook his head. "So blunt and to the point. Yes Uzumaki, I am Jellal."

Widening his eyes, Naruto pointed at him. "Oi, how do you know my name?"

Smirking, the man stood up lazily. "Oh, I know one or two things about you."

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto tried to see his face. Something seemed familiar about him. His voice in particular. Trying to keep him speaking, Naruto looked around. "So this is the main control of the R-System thingy hey? Looks kinda boring."

Laughing, Jellal shook his head. "Blunt and dense. What a combination. Yes Uzumaki, I know it may look boring, but it has a certain charm about it when you know what it is capable of."

Widening his eyes, Naruto then finally put the voice to a name. "Hang on, is that you, Siegrain?"

Smirking, the man removed his head and Naruto dropped back a step in absolute shock. "Mystogan?"

The man's face was a picture perfect replication of the Fairy Tail mage, right down to the scruffy blue hair and tattoo. Frowning slightly, the man shook his head. "Mystogan? Why would I remind you of him?" His smirk returned after that though. "You were right about Siegrain however... he is my twin brother."

Blinking a few times, Naruto catalogued his thoughts. Siegrain and Jellal were brothers that looked exactly like Mystogan. The only thing Naruto could come up with was that Mystogan had come from that other world he had spoken of, so that must have meant that this man before him was his Earthland counterpart or something like that. Shaking his head, the blond focused. "Whatever. What I wanted to ask you was why you wanted to bring back some dead guy?"

Sighing, Jellal put a hand on his hip. "Really, all these questions and I don't even get to ask one? That's not very sporting."

Naruto gave him a flat look. "You just said you knew 'one or two things'. That usually means you know a whole lot more."

Shrugging, the smile returned. "Maybe, but I still have questions such as where do you come from? What is your magic? I know about a great deal of mages in this world and I know ones with your power level are hard to be kept hidden."

Treading carefully, Naruto shrugged. "Just lucky I suppose. I never went out in search of fame."

Jellal hummed. "I'm sure there's more to that than what you just told me, isn't there?"

Naruto remained impassive. "Maybe, maybe not. So you gonna answer my question now?"

Laughing, Jellal shook his head. "My, my, so abrasive! Still, you gave me an answer in a form, so I'll give you one. I'm not just wanting to resurrect a 'dead guy' as you so eloquently put it, I want to create paradise. I just need his help."

Pointing a finger at the mage, Naruto shook his head violently. "Oh no you don't. SO many people always slip something like that into their speech but then never get round to telling me what that is!"

Smirking, the man shrugged. "I suppose I could humour you then. I intend to bring back the glorious Dark Mage Zeref."

Blinking a few times, Naruto's eyes then thinned and he tilted his head to the side. "Seriously, what makes you think you can create paradise with an evil, dead guy? If anything, you'd bring back hell! Is your twin as dumb as you? Cause that would really suck."

The smirk on Jellal's face instantly disappeared and he levelled a dangerous glare at the blond. "What would you know? A rookie mage who got a lucky break into the Ten Saints couldn't hope to comprehend the wonders Zeref can provide."

Frowning, Naruto considered the mage. "You sure do know an awful lot for someone who's been stuck out here for ages."

The man didn't blink. "I have good informants. Now, I have much more pressing matters than my curiosity into one strange little blond enigma. If you'd just go back to your cell, that would save me much time. I doubt you'll do that for me though..."

Lowering his center of gravity, Naruto focused on him. "Nope, things to do, places to be."

A strange gold aura then began to glow around the mage as he heard Naruto's refusal. He began smirking and Naruto's eyes widened as he saw something in the man's eye begin to change. A strange, light purple, oblong ring began to encircle his left pupil, opposing arms sticking off either side of it. His smirk changed to a tainted grin as his clothes began ruffling around from the wind his power generated. "Well I'll just have to take you there myself, won't I?"

XxXxXxX

A/N – yes, I know that is a horrible spot to stop, but I couldn't help it. I'm going away soon for a week so I don't know if I'll get another chance to update before then. I'll leave you with that though so hopefully you'll be content enough for the moment. For anyone who cares, I also expanded on the morning after scene last chapter.

Also, I checked everything for errors, but then the damn program closed on me and I lost everything I edited. That means I got uber lazy second time around, so if you see anything wrong you now know why.

Lanky

P.S. I may... and I say MAY be able to get another update up before I leave. Fingers crossed but no promises.