Naruto sat against a stone wall, arms and legs crossed, his brow also furrowed in annoyance at his current predicament.
After having brought back Natsu and Laxus, the former was instantly swallowed into the medic's arms and patched up while Laxus was dragged in to see Makarov upon the Master's demand. It seemed that due to a timely appearance of his old medical friend Porlyusica, he was going to be alright. As such, the old man was extremely agitated and desperate to get things dealt with as fast as possible.
As soon as the blond menace was gone though, Erza had swept down on Naruto, dragged him into a small back room and requested he waited there until she gathered everyone. She didn't expand on what was going on, but there was no real need as it was pretty obvious what it was.
Sighing as he waited, Naruto turned his thoughts inward and wondered what he would do if he was Hokage and placed in a position like with Laxus. What would be a suitable reprimand for a ninja who had tried to kill an entire village? The simplest answer any leader would give would be execution, plain and simple. The risk of leaving someone like that alive was just too great.
Shaking his head though, Naruto frowned to himself. That wasn't what he wanted and he wasn't sure that's what Jiraiya-sensei would have wanted either. Perhaps a measure of their repentance could be taken? They would have to be put under strict watch for a few years along with a stripping of rank and abilities, but if nothing happened during that time it could be an effective rehabilitation. Death would have to be a last resort, saved only for the worst.
His thoughts were interrupted however as he sensed Laxus leave the medical room and begin walking away. What he didn't expect though was for the mage to turn, open a window and jump through it. Blinking in surprise, Naruto realised whatever had been said must have been of great shame to Laxus. Turning to watch the energy signature move away, Naruto looked back up to Makarov and realised he must have expelled him or something along the lines of that.
Frowning, Naruto shook his head. Expulsion isn't an option in his world as that would just drive the ninja to revenge against the village. It'd probably turn into something like the mess with Orochimaru, if he understood the story correctly. In any case, the Master seemed to be hesitant about telling everyone, if the pacing back and forth was any indication.
Anything further he may have pondered though was cut short as the door to the room was opened, revealing Erza flunked by several people. Striding inside, Erza glanced down at the teen on the floor as Mirajane, Cana, Elfman, Natsu and Levy all filed in behind the imposing woman. They mostly stayed on the other side of the room though, Levy in particular trying not to too blatantly hide behind Natsu. The door then swung shut and cut off the soft chatter from outside.
"What are you doing on the floor?" Breaking the silence before it got awkward, Erza raised an eyebrow as she motioned to the table and chair just off to her left.
Not making eye contact, Naruto put a hand to his knee and lifted himself up. "Sometimes I just like the floor better."
"Ah." Accepting the answer, Erza shrugged and let it pass. As per her usual blunt personality, the mage then bypassed any banter and cut straight to the chase. "So Naruto, I assume you know why we are all here?"
Sighing, the blond scratched his head and looked away. "Yeah, pretty obvious hey."
Interrupting anything Erza was about to say, Mirajane stepped up and quickly filled him in. "We are all just curious about that power you gained back there. I think I have a bit of an idea, but you'd best explain it to everyone. I haven't said anything in case I got it wrong…"
Looking over at the ivory haired beauty, Naruto allowed a small smile of thanks onto his lips. Before it could be taken any further though, Erza spoke again. "We wish to know what it is and why it felt so evil. I understand it was still you beneath all that, but it didn't stop it feeling like you wanted to tear myself and the entire village to shreds."
Tisking, Naruto let his eyes drift across the few faces that were there. Most were only curious, maybe with a hint of caution but otherwise alright. Levy however looked a bit more apprehensive despite her brave face.
Looking down once more, Naruto swallowed. No matter how often he spoke of it, he still never liked the topic. "Alright, but just try keep it amongst you guys. I don't need everyone knowing about it."
Nodding sternly, Erza crossed her arms as her eyes glinted resolutely. "I promise nothing of what is spoken today will go beyond these walls. Except for the Master."
Quickly adding Makarov to the list Erza tilted her head slightly, challenging Naruto to say anything otherwise. Rolling his eyes, the ninja nodded conceding. "Fine, fine. Actually, what about Juvia? Wouldn't she want to be here?"
Elfman shook his head as he chuckled deeply. "I wouldn't think she'd mind missing out on this. She was completely unconscious while you paid Cana and myself a visit."
Shrugging, Naruto breezed over it easily enough. "Eh, ok. Well, I suppose I should start by showing you something."
Reaching down, he gripped the hem of his jacket and pulled it up. Gently stirring his chakra system into life, he watched detachedly as a large, intricate spiral appeared on his stomach, the epicentre located right on top of his belly button. There was a soft intake of air as the group gasped quietly, not at all expecting that. Pressing forward, Naruto began.
"Well, this goes right back to when I was born. The day of my birth, a giant chakra monster attacked my home village. It was called the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or in this language, Nine Tailed Fox. It was ridiculously strong, capable of levelling mountains with a single swipe of only one of its tails."
He sensed more than saw the group's faces tighten at the information. Frowning, Elfman's fists cracked as he processed what he heard. "A single tail of nine… I have never heard of such an incredible creature."
Glancing up at the giant man, Naruto quirked his head slightly and then carried on. "Yeah. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Yondaime Hokage faced it down. He –"
"Wait, Yon… dime Hokage?"
Hearing Erza, Naruto nodded as he clarified. "Oh, that means the Forth Fire Shadow. Basically, he's like the Master, only over an entire city, not just a guild. He's also recognised as one of the strongest ninja of all time."
Blinking in surprise, the group quietened down as Naruto continued. "So yeah, he faced it. Everyone expected him to kill it, but it was too much. It was just too strong. Now, you have all seen that scroll with the seal on it? That one I keep everything in?" Most of the group nodded. "Well, the Forth was a seal expert. The best that had ever lived. So to defeat the Kyuubi, he sealed it within someone at the cost of his own life."
Everyone expect Natsu instantly picked up on where the blond was going with this. Their eyebrows began furrowing as thoughts began running through their heads, all questioning the validity of Naruto's statement and the safety of the guild assuming they had guessed right. Natsu however was completely oblivious to this and began looking around in frustration as everyone went silent. Pursing his lips, he stomped a foot and shouted, "Oi! I don't get it! Someone tell me what he meant!"
"Natsu." Hearing his name, the fire mage looked over at Naruto. "That someone was me. The Kyuubi is in me."
Blinking as everyone around him let out a breath, Natsu's eyebrow dropped in confusion as he smelt the change in the air. Oblivious as ever, the teen just crossed his arms. "Yeah, well that's pretty cool. It's in you. So what's the big deal?"
While the rest of the mages faulted, Naruto began calculating Natsu in a new light. "Well, that power you felt, that horrible sensation of bloodlust; that was me."
Snorting, Natsu raised his arms to the back of his head. "Pfft, no it wasn't, that was the fox. It's sealed in you right? How does that make it you?"
Smiling in relief, Naruto reached out a hand and dropped it onto the mages shoulder. "You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that."
Composing herself the fastest, Erza let out a single pop of laughter as she crossed her arms under her bosom. "Honestly Naruto, you thought that lowly of us to think we would hold such a shallow view on your predicament? You couldn't be more wrong."
Eyes softening slightly, Naruto noticed Levy still wasn't quite meeting his gaze but didn't bring attention to it. Forcing a smile to his face, the ninja focused instead on the acceptance everyone else was giving him and found the smile became more natural. "Ha, just blame old reservations then. Thanks guys."
Walking forward, Mirajane gave him a quick hug before stepping back again. "You silly goose. We'll never think of you as anything other than our blond haired boof-head."
Poking his tongue out, Naruto chuckled sheepishly as he shuffled his feet around. "Yeah well… you know what? Who cares? It's ok now."
The group before him relaxed as the tension left Naruto and Cana stepped up this time, punching him gently in the arm. "Well, enough of that. This seems like close of enough of a celebration to me so let's go get slaughtered. First barrel is on Naruto!"
Hearing a cheer, Naruto started as he saw several fists rise. "Oi, hang on a second who said anything about that?"
Giggling, Mira patted Naruto's bicep comfortingly. "Oh come now, we all know you have Jewels to spare. Be nice?"
Grumbling, Naruto just crossed his arms. "Whatever. Go get me some then before I change my mind."
Hearing another cheer and feeling several happy hands slap him, Naruto tried to pout and look away but struggled to hold back the smile that tugged at his cheeks. Looking back at the group, Naruto saw Mirajane wandering out with the rest and suddenly remembered something. Reaching out, he grabbed her and pulled her back in.
Squeaking softly in surprise, the barmaid turned a questioning gaze over her shoulder. "Naruto?"
Waiting until the door swung closed behind the last of them, Naruto then let her go, stepped back and jumped straight into it. "Mira-chan, I gotta talk with you about that Satan Soul of yours."
Hearing the name, Mirajane's eyes widened and a blush began dusting her cheeks. Biting her lip, she crossed her arms in front of her and bowed at the waist. Naruto blinked in surprise as he got a fine look at the back of Mirajane's while the girl began apologising. "I… I am so sorry about how abrupt and… vulgar I was back there. You see, when I take on this magic of mine, my personality is altered and I become… rougher. You caught me at a particularly bad time then as I hadn't used it in such a long time that I wasn't able to reign in my temper quite as well. I promise you though, it will never happen again."
Not at all expecting that, it took Naruto a moment before he realised the girl was still bowed and waiting for a reply. Waving his arms awkwardly around, the blond jumped into speech without thinking much about it. "N-no! Not at all! I mean, I was just as cranky too! I wasn't quite expecting the 'punch Laxus a new asshole' line, but I don't mind! Actually, it's kinda funny now that I think back on it…"
Letting his words trail off, Naruto scratched his cheek as he remembered the fired up lass and her choice set of words. He snickered to himself, but then realised Mirajane's ears were suddenly quite red. Rolling his eyes, Naruto reached out and pulled the rosy faced girl upright. "But seriously, it doesn't matter. No apology necessary, ok?"
Nibbling her lower lip, Mirajane's blush didn't fade and her eyes didn't leave the floor but she still nodded. While enjoying the cute, embarrassed shuffle, Naruto shook his head and got back on with the original topic. "So yeah, back to what I was talking about. It actually has something to do with the Kyuubi too."
Blue eyes lifted to meet blue eyes and Mirajane finally began fading back to her natural colour. "The Kyuubi?"
Nodding, Naruto crossed his arms and looked out the window. "Yeah… remember how I said I started leaking it involuntarily?"
Placing her index finger against her lip, Mira looked up in thought. "Well, yes I do now that you mentioned it."
Happy she remembered, Naruto then nibbled his lip for a moment before laying it out. "Well, I think it was you who did it."
Wide eyes blinked several times before the surprised girl offered a soft, "What?"
Holding his hands out helplessly, Naruto filled her in on his theory. "Well, when it started getting all crazy and covering me, it was then that I noticed that big black pillar of energy coming from you while you were transformed. It had to be you!"
Reaching out to grab the chair, Mira rested on it as she stared into Naruto's eyes. Neither said anything for a moment as the information sunk in. Looking around as her mind worked, Mirajane's eyebrows then furrowed and she looked back up at the blond. "Naruto… it wasn't me."
Naruto smiled. "I thought it was crazy at first, but it makes sense after a while."
Shaking her head, the teenager pushed her point. "But it can't! Sweetie… my abilities… takeover, they are exactly that. I take over the soul and in the process of that, I take the abilities of that soul. To draw on the Kyuubi… I imagine I'd have to be sealing or unsealing something."
The resolute smile on Naruto's face flickered a moment as Mirajane's words washed over him. The room seemed to drop in temperature and the blond opened his eyes, doubt beginning to flicker across his expressive orbs. "So… you don't do anything like summoning the soul?"
Looking down unhappily, Mirajane shook her head. "I do in a way, but I am almost certain it isn't the way that would be needed to pull the Kyuubi out from inside you, and it certainly wouldn't be strong enough to, even if it was me."
While his expression remained relatively unchanged, the blonds' thoughts quickly turned internal as he struggled to work out what this meant. 'Wait… so that means I have absolutely no idea what was pulling Kyuubi out. This is bad, this is very bad. What if it happens again? Who could it be? What could it be? Awww this is not good, not at all.'
Through it all, the blond could swear he heard the deep, mocking laughter of the fox the whole time he was stressing. He was so absorbed in his frantic thoughts that it took a moment for him to realise Mirajane was holding his shoulder and trying to talk to him. "Naruto? Are you ok, you've zoned out!"
Naruto's eyes focused after a second and a wide grin suddenly stretched across his face. "Oh, haha don't mind me! You know what, it was dumb to think it was you pulling it out in the first place!"
Still worried, the barmaid rested a hand on Naruto's arm. "But what if it happens again?"
Winking, Naruto shrugged. "Nah, I bet it was just a weird one off thing. I mean, I'm not native to this place so it was probably some freak natural occurrence. Nothing to worry your pretty little head over."
Reaching out, Naruto grabbed her in a one armed hug and began walking towards the door. "Forget this now. Everyone is now outside and partying it up while we grow old behind closed doors! Besides, first barrel is on me, remember?"
Examining the blond worriedly, Mirajane watched him for a few more moments but the blond just squeezed her tighter as he kicked the door open. "Come on, let's grab a mug of that horrible stuff Cana loves so much!"
Seeing the boy acting so natural again, Mirajane couldn't help but relax. If he was that unworried, then it mustn't be that bad. Relaxing into his grip, Mira allowed a small smile to grace her face and permitted Naruto to guide her through the mess of guild members.
Within the confines of his mind however, Naruto was anything but relaxed. 'I gotta try and fix this as soon as I can. Who knows, next time I might lose enough control and kill a bunch of people. I'll pack my stuff tonight and head out once everyone is asleep.'
Making their way over to the bar, Mirajane jumped behind it and began filling up a mug of ale from a random barrel. That was stopped short though as Cana suddenly ran forward out of nowhere and collided with Naruto with enough force to knock him clean off his feet. "No, no, not that one! You gotta give him that one!"
Arm outstretched and finger aimed firmly at a strangely coloured barrel, Cana let a wide smirk split her face as Naruto pulled himself off the ground. Winking at the confused teen, the brunette bumped him with her hip. "If anyone other than me can handle that stuff, it'll be him. So fill him up!"
Dropping into a seat, Cana almost wriggled with excitement as Naruto cautiously took his own and eyed up the strange bubbling liquid Mira pushed before him. Glancing up at the barmaid, he saw her looking down at Cana, an eyebrow quirked oddly as the brunette rocked back and forth. "Are you sure? I know Naruto can hold his liquor, but that?"
Wrinkling her nose cutely, Cana nodded and spoke up as the voices within the room rose sharply for a second. "Yeah, no sweat! He might end up blind but that's just half the fun!" Turning back to her quarry, the girl then leaned in and grinned. "Alright, now chug, no breaths."
"Hang on, are you really gonna drink that?"
Naruto looked up from his poison as Wakaba and Marco wandered over. They never seemed to be far from Cana and the mischief she got up to. Looking back at the frothing substance, Naruto shrugged and nodded. "I guess so. Can't back out of a challenge like this."
Before the blond could move though, Cana suddenly screamed out, "DEATH DRINK, TEN JEWELS SAYS NARUTO COLLAPSES AFTER TEN SECONDS!"
A chorus of voices suddenly lifted above the usual noise as rampant betting began over how soon the boy would succumb. Sweat began trickling down his cheeks though as the ninja slowly realised none of the bets were rising over much more than thirty seconds before he collapsed.
Looking back at the drink, Naruto dryly realised it had begun forming a sort of film over its surface. Leaning in, he gave it an experimental sniff and wrinkled his nose. It smelt like acid. A tentative dip of the tongue had him recoiling in disgust as it tasted much like what he thought acid would too.
Internally sighing, Naruto looked out at the sea of mages readily watching him. Eyes twinkling, Cana then leaned in. "That's Fairy Tail's special. Never really touch the stuff unless it's a special occasion. Thought it was good enough a time for you to try it babe though, so bottoms up."
Looking back at his drink, Naruto wondered just how he seemed to always end up in similar such predicaments within this guild. That wasn't the main problem right now though. So firming his resolve, the teen jutted his chin out and sank it.
The cheers of support didn't really register as Naruto forced the horrible stuff down. It burnt, it made him choke and it tasted like something only Cana would like. Still, he successfully finished it and slammed the mug down with only a few drops remaining.
A round of applaud went up before a loud counting replaced everything and it was then Naruto realised just why it was called the Death Drink.
The entire room seemed to swim grotesquely, like being viewed though a stirred fish tank. His stomach began violently protesting the stuff within it and everyone's voices began to float from falsetto to bass and back again.
Holding his head, Naruto gripped the bench as a wave of vertigo hit him and threatened to send him to the floor. He managed to recover, but a second tsunami sized one washed over him and sent him straight to the ground amidst the loud crashing of stools and the odd plate. A noisy cheer went up as the winners claimed their rewards, but to Naruto everything was just one blurred mess.
Blinking once as sleep quickly overcame him, Naruto managed half a yawn before he dropped off.
XxXxXxX
"Hmmm… owie…"
Raising his head, Naruto struggled to pull his eyes open and blearily look around as he attempted to make sense of his surroundings. From what he could see, he was still in the guild but it was too quiet to actually be the place. Groaning again, the blond dropped his head back down and registered that his head hit a pillow instead of the floor.
Not really trying to understand why, Naruto groaned again as footsteps neared him. "Oh you woke up! How do you feel?"
Shaking his head slowly, Naruto took his time to reply. "Absolutely horrible. What is wrong with me Mira-chan?"
A sigh reached his ears as the girl explained. "This is the hangover of legends that that horrible drink gives. I knew this would happen."
Moaning, Naruto slapped a palm to his forehead and massaged. "So this is what it feels like to be really sick? Holy crap, I have not been missing out on anything… actually, can I have a bucket?"
There was a rustle of rushed movement and a bucket appeared at his side just as he rolled over. Heaving, Naruto then emptied a black substance into the pale that smelt absolutely awful. This carried on for a minute or two before with one final spit, the ninja collapsed back onto the floor with a moan.
Mirajane pulled a face as she pinched her nose and reached for the bucket. Holding it as far from her person as possible, she nasally made out, "I'll be back in a moment", before rushing away to dispose of the vile liquid.
Naruto could do nothing but lay there a moment longer as he caught his breath, his accelerated healing finally able to do something to kill off the hangover now his stomach was empty. Hearing Mirajane return, Naruto held his hand out pathetically and waved it around. "Can I please get a drink? Mouth, disgusting, need rinse, now."
Having expected something like this, the barmaid simply grabbed a mug she prepared earlier and handed it over. It was quickly put to good use and finally after a clean, Naruto pushed himself upright and rested his back against the bar.
Breathing evenly, he was feeling a world better than he did when he woke up, but any sudden movements could still threaten to send him to the bucket again. Hearing a thump beside him, Naruto opened one eye a slit and saw Mirajane now sitting beside him. Moving a hand to his rumbling stomach, the blond started talking as a way to try take his mind off things. "So where is everyone? It is way too quiet to be normal. How long was I out anyway?"
Nodding, Mirajane leant back with a relieved sigh. "Yes, normally. However, the Fantasia parade is tonight so everyone able to partake is off getting ready and anyone who can't is trying to find a seat to watch. And you've been asleep for a few hours now. I'm actually surprised you're awake as soon as you are."
Humming softly, Naruto rested his head back. "Ah." Then his brow crinkled and he turned to Mirajane with a hurt look on his face. "Didn't they want me in it or something?"
Giggling, the girl shook her head. "No, I think Cana just had a bit much faith in how well you can tolerate alcohol. When they realised you weren't waking up any time soon, they all attacked her and took back any winnings she made off you. You lasted just over the ten second mark she predicted so she would have made a killing. So after that someone found you a pillow and then they left."
Appeased, Naruto grinned and rested back again. "Good. She's always trying to make money off me. So why aren't you out getting ready?"
Leaning into his field of vision, Mirajane raised an unamused eyebrow. "Well someone had to look after you."
Looking at her, Naruto grunted accordingly and put a hand on his knee. Pushing himself upright, he ignored the worried hands and exclamation from Mirajane and centered himself with a deep breath.
"You shouldn't have done that! You're still sick!"
Grinning tightly, Naruto gave her a shaky thumbs up. "I heal fast remember? I'll be right. You go get ready for this parade and I'll meet you out there."
Unable to really argue, the girl just looked into his eyes worriedly before nodding slowly. "Ok… but if you're not out there in thirty minutes I'm coming back for you."
Waving a hand as he nodded, Naruto accepted the condition. Happy he'd listen, Mirajane smiled pleasantly and leaned up to kiss his forehead. "That's a good boy. See you soon."
Turning, she then sashayed away with her usual grace, closing the door behind her. Once certain she was gone, Naruto then groaned again and dropped into a seat. Clamping a hand to his head, the blond moaned pitifully to himself. Being hung-over sucked. It didn't matter if in a short while he'd be ok, currently it was all about the moment and the moment felt horrible.
Bringing his hands together, Naruto forced a small amount of chakra through his fingers and brought forth a clone. Instantly, the replica slapped a hand to his mouth and puffed his cheeks out desperately to try and hold back the instant rise of vomit. Swallowing painfully, he gagged and dropped into a chair beside his creator. "Wh-what the hell did you create me for, now of all times! You could have waited until you felt better so I didn't have to suffer!"
Naruto supposed he could have waited a bit longer, but he didn't have much time to organise things. "You know why. You need to go grab me that black suit from the locker."
Shaking his head pathetically, the clone moaned defiantly. "Awww you suck! You should have gotten it yourself!"
Growling, Naruto shook his head back. "What if Mira-chan comes back huh? What then? Get moving, she might come back early."
Almost crying, the clone pushed himself up and held his stomach before staggering off to find the locker. Savouring the quiet moment, Naruto let his head rest back and tried to doze for a minute. It didn't last long enough though as a crash jolted him awake, his clone slamming into the bench beside him. Dropping the black bundle on the table, the clone coughed and dropped to the floor. "I hope you're happy. Now put me out of my misery, please."
Complying, Naruto dispersed the clone and sighed. He really didn't wanna move, but he had to otherwise Mirajane would come hunting. So pushing himself up, Naruto tucked the bundle away and stumbled out of the guild.
XxXxXxX
Sitting atop a magnificently designed float, Naruto looked down over the crowds of people lining the streets of Magnolia as he slowly moved through it. He was on a large, intricately designed one, with sparkling waves and a number of large, pink love hearts surrounding the base of it.
Leaning back, Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time as he cursed his luck for getting him stuck on this float of all things. Sure, it had a bit of orange on it, but the shear girliness of it outweighed any benefit. The only up side of it was that he didn't have to do anything except sit on the chair at the top and nurse the remains of his hangover whilst waving occasionally at the crowds.
"I hate you SO much, dattebayo! I will kill you in your sleep, I swear."
"Kill me and you kill you. Keep dancing."
Grumbling, Naruko stepped away from Naruto to return to her position of waving to the crowd and running around. The eight clones had all drawn the short straw when Naruto created them to entertain the crowd while he recovered. Unfortunately for them they were all left feeling as sick as Naruto with no relief until he dispersed them, so the curses and threats rained down on the original ninja.
Naruto never took much notice though, simply opting to sit back and smile though the headache that was stubbornly refusing to go. He just had to hold on a while longer and then he could escape.
XxXxXxX
Later that night well after everyone had departed the guild and headed back to their respective homes, a shadow crept along the stone wall surrounding the Fairy Tail headquarters. Its darkened head looked left and right to make sure it was completely alone before sliding in and dashing over to a window. Opening it soundlessly, the shadow slipped inside and pulled the window closed, leaving not a sign of ever having passed through.
Once inside, a hand reached up and pulled a black hood off of the shadows head to reveal a blond mop of hair that instantly sprung up in apparent agitation, almost angry at being smoothed flat for so long. Rubbing his hand though his hair, Naruto chuckled quietly as he undressed and folded his black clothing in a neat pile. While almost certain everyone had gone home, he couldn't be too careful. There always seemed to be someone floating around the guild.
Unruffling his usual orange garb, the ninja slipped back into it happily and patted himself down. He never could wear black all that long. It was a depressing colour.
Picking up the black pile, Naruto then began walking though the quiet halls in search of his clothing he left there. After that shopping spree with Lucy, the blond had found himself with a distinct lack of storage space in his scroll so had opted to leave most of it hidden in a locker Mirajane rented out to him.
Opening the locker, Naruto dropped the clothes into a deceptively large storage space. Magically expanded or something like that was the explanation given. As it was, Naruto was shuffling through what few clothing items he wanted to take when the light clicked on. "I knew you'd be here."
Naruto instantly froze, caught red handed. 'Damn, she sure is sneaky.'
Turning to face the voice, the blond pushed a smile to his face. "Hey Mira-chan! What are you doing here?"
The smug girl walked forward as Naruto spoke, reaching out and poking his chest in the process. "Probably for the opposite reason you're here."
Pursing his lips, the ninja played dumb. "Uh, opposite of what?"
Rolling her eyes, the barmaid poked him again. "You know perfectly well what. You thought you had me fooled back then, but I like to think I know you a little better than anyone else."
Well, if she was able to predict his moves like this then she certainly earned that position of most informed. Not waiting for an answer, the girl sighed and continued. "I know that whatever it is that is drawing on the Ku… Kyu… the Fox is really worrying you. You nearly had me fooled. The only thing that made me come back was just to check and see if you were going to sneak away."
The blond grunted and turned back to rummaging. "Well, fine. But you can't stop me. I really gotta go and work out what is happening."
Reaching out, Mirajane gently held Naruto's shoulders and turned him around. "Silly, I wasn't coming to stop you. I was just coming to say I understand more than what I think you give me credit for. I also was hoping you'd maybe wait a day extra so you can properly recover from that drink. Mostly the understanding part though."
Looking into her hopeful eyes, Naruto saw them softening and he instantly realised he'd been had. That wet-eyed ability every single female was born with was being activated and it was unavoidable. Add in the worrying of her bottom lip and Naruto caved in faster than a wet tissue. Scratching the back of his head, the blond rolled his eyes and nodded. "Fine, but only one day. For you."
Squealing merrily, Mira jumped forward and planted a kiss on Naruto's cheek. "Thank you so much! It'll put you in a better mood for your journey, so you can thank me later."
Standing back, the girl then crossed her arms behind her back. "So… what are you gonna do now?"
Shrugging, Naruto wrinkled his nose as he thought. "Not sure. I originally planned to be heading out right now."
Flushing lightly, Mirajane looked down slightly. "Well, would you wanna stay at my place again?"
Realising she was actually being shy about it, Naruto smirked. "Oh, I might. Any reason why you're so red?"
Puffing her cheeks out, Mira looked back up at him. "Well, I've never asked any boy to actually stay at my place before. That one time you stayed was just because you couldn't look after yourself."
Laughing, Naruto reached out and gently flicked the bridge of her nose. "Of course I'd like to stay."
Rubbing the injured spot, Mira crinkled her nose but still smiled happily. "Yay! Let's go then. You've had a big day."
And grabbing his arm, the girl dragged Naruto away.
XxXxXxX
The next morning brought a pleasant wake up to Naruto with Mirajane attached to his arm again in her bed. This time, the teen didn't disturb her and let himself just enjoy the moment.
Staring airily at the roof, Naruto couldn't help but smile softly as he heard Mirajane let out a little snort. It really was a good life here sometimes. No assassinations, no imminent threats, no wars… 'I wish it would last forever.'
The unbidden thought jumped into his mind but the blond didn't deny it. Such peace was something Naruto had dreamed of for so long and here it was. The sooner those toads called him back the better. After seeing everything here, the blond was even more motivated to bring happiness into his home world.
Another snort and the release of Naruto's arm brought the ninja from his musings. The bed bounced as Mirajane rolled over and Naruto gave a little chuckle. Remembering how much she enjoyed that breakfast he had brought in when they had stayed at Cana's, the blond grinned and quietly left the bed. Mira was always looking after him so it was time he gave a little something back.
Dashing into the kitchen, Naruto then proceeded to mash up something that passed for a fairly lavish breakfast. Walking it back in, a big pair of blue eyes stared up into his and Mirajane squealed happily. "Oh thank you so much! You have no idea how nice it is to have this happen! I can't even remember the last time this happened."
Chuckling, Naruto rested the plate on her lap and the girl tucked in. "You mustn't have a very good memory then."
Pausing, Mira blushed and then slapped his arm gently. "You know what I mean."
Smirking cheekily, Naruto dropped back onto the mattress. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, once you're done, can we go? I really wanna get moving early."
Nodding, Mira popped another spoonful into her mouth and sucked. Letting it out with a pop, she then pointed the utensil at her chef. "So why were you gonna leave without telling anyone?"
"Ah… because I didn't wanna create a fuss?"
Raising a disbelieving eyebrow, Mirajane swallowed another mouthful. "And what makes you think that wouldn't?"
Unable to really come up with an answer, Naruto grumbled a bit before coming clean. "I'd rather everyone angry at me for that rather than they find out the real reason."
Placing the spoon down, Mirajane sighed. "So why didn't you just come and speak to me?"
Looking down uncomfortably, Naruto didn't reply. Realising he was beginning to withdraw, Mirajane quickly changed the subject. "Well, it doesn't matter. I can cover for you. Anyway, I'm done so let me up. We can head out soon."
Naruto smiled thankfully at the girl. "Thanks."
They then fell silent for a moment before Mirajane realised what was happening. "Well shoo! I'm not getting changed with you just sitting there."
"Awww…"
Disregarding the whine, Mirajane shook her head and pointed at the door. "Nope, out."
Begrudgingly pulling himself to his feet, Naruto traipsed out of the room.
"Door?"
Moaning again, he pulled it closed behind him. Chuckling to herself as she began to undress, Mirajane couldn't help but really wonder what Naruto's old teacher really was like.
XxXxXxX
Walking into the large guild, Naruto and Mirajane gave a wave to all the people who called out their morning greetings.
"Walking Mira to work again I see, Naruto?" Looking over at Macao and seeing the wide grin on his face, Naruto winked in reply and gave him a thumbs up. "You know it! Don't get too jealous now."
Just laughing, the man returned the gesture. "Can't say I won't have problems there my boy."
Suddenly a massive presence loomed over the teen and in an instant a muscular set of arms lifted Naruto clean off the ground. "What a man to walk my sister here! Thank you Naruto!"
Eyes wide from having the breath squeezed out of him, Naruto wheezed out, "No problem. Can you let me down now?"
Realising the boy was starting to go pale, Elfman grinned sheepishly and dropped him. "Ah, sorry. I was a bit taken with your manliness."
Waving a hand at the giant, Naruto swallowed as he nodded his forgiveness. "No problem… just let me sit down a moment."
Dropping into a chair, Naruto waited for the dots to clear from his vision as Mirajane walked up beside him. "I gotta get into the bar so you take care now ok?"
Nodding vacantly, the blond didn't really register Mira pat his head and then disappear into the guild.
"Yo! Good morning Naruto my boy. I see Elfman has already given his greetings?"
Hearing the cheery welcome, Naruto looked over to his right to see Makarov jump up into a chair beside him. Taking one final breath, Naruto exhaled and nodded. "I wasn't quite ready for it."
Chuckling, the old man nodded. "Most people aren't." The man then looked away and changed topics. "So how are you enjoying Fairy Tail life?"
Leaning back to look at the sky, Naruto grinned widely. "It's great! There's always something happening, the people are awesome and it's so peaceful."
Letting an eye stray over the blond, Makarov waited a moment before asking his next question. "So no regrets then?"
Looking down at the man, Naruto realised what was happening. "No, no regrets. And yes, you told me so."
Nodding once, Makarov grunted happily. "Damn right I did. Oh and Naruto…"
Turning more of his attention to the old man, Naruto waited for him to continue. "You have some fans waiting to see you."
"Eh?"
And then, the teenage boy was blindsided by several bodies, the weight of them all throwing him to the floor with a loud cry of, "SURPRISE!"
Blinking in shock, Naruto wondered who just sat a horse on him. He quickly had to change his mind though as several sets of arms all snaked their way around his torso and squeezed. "We've missed you so much!"
Unable to turn over, Naruto tried to place the voices. They were familiar, but he couldn't quite place them. Lying flat on his stomach, Naruto eventually gave up. "Alright, alright, let me up, you got me."
As the bodies got off him, Naruto sat up and dusted himself down. Turning around, his eyes then widened as he got a look at who just attacked him.
Three identical girls all with long, flowing pink hair grinned widely at him, their faces scrunched up in joy at finally meeting their idol again.
Jumping to his feet, Naruto blinked as he remembered who they were. "You three! From Magic Mountain!"
Crying out in joy, they all dived at his middle. "You remember us!"
Unable to do much, Naruto just looked over the girls in bewilderment. As much as he had enjoyed their affections, he hadn't expected to see them again to be honest. Awkwardly patting the three of them, they all then hustled back, oblivious to the surprised stares from the surrounding mages.
Chuckling, Makarov dropped from his seat and wandered into the guild with a wave. "I'll let you four get reacquainted then. They told me they wanted to surprise you this morning."
"Uh… thanks… see you in there." Not able to say much more than that, Naruto turned his gaze from the small man back to the three girls before him.
Trying to pick them apart was like trying to work out the real Naruto in-between his Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones). They were all wearing the same deep red bow in their hair, all on the left side. They all had a white, figure hugging button up blouse on with a pattered hem that hung perfectly over a long, beige dress that came down to just above their ankles. Each had a pair of slightly steeped, brown shoes with a little bow on them that looked like they had seen a bit of wear.
Blinking again, Naruto looked up into their expectant faces and desperately tried to remember who was who. They obviously noticed, but instead of being offended like he had expected instead giggled and pointed at their faces. The triplet on the left winked and scratched at a little scar under her left eye. "Don't stress if you can't remember who each of us are. We get it a lot. I'm Kelly!"
The girl in the middle with no scars grinned widely and curtseyed. "It's so good to see you again Naruto! I'm Shelly!"
The final of the three pointed to a little scar under her right eye and winked mischievously. "So that leaves me. Sally, at your service, my hero."
Unable to say much, Naruto swallowed and forced his mouth to work. "G-girls! Long time no see! How have you been doing since that mess?"
Sally made a face at the mention of their capture back then. "Well, we had to clear up a fair bit of controversy as we were spotted occasionally. Once everyone realised we were being manipulated though, things got a lot easier."
Shelly then took over. The actual transition to her talking though was so similar to her sister that Naruto wouldn't have picked it unless he was watching her speak. "So from there we hung about, did a few small jobs to make up some money and then from there started hunting for you!"
Naruto's nose twitched slightly at this. 'Oh boy.'
Not noticing, the girl continued. "So we were asking around trying to find out who you were and I gotta say gorgeous, you are really hard to find! We searched for days trying to find anyone who had any idea where you were from until we ran into a certain someone."
While not too sure about how to deal with three girls out rightly admit they'd been stalking him, Naruto was curious to find out how they had tracked him. He had an unpleasant idea who though when they mentioned a 'someone'.
"Turns out, this guy had been looking for information on you too! He'd been running around Hargeon asking way more questions than us, so already had an idea as to where you were. Turns out he was right!"
That time it was Kelly talking, but unless you were looking you couldn't tell. Naruto's eyes had thinned though and the blonds' fists had started curling. "When you say 'him', who exactly do you mean?"
"Oh!" Gasping in surprise, the girls looked at one another. "Does that mean we beat him here? I wonder how? Ah well." Turning back, they all smiled widely. "Well you're in for a shock! Only the greatest reporter for Sorcery Weekly, Jason!"
While a number of the guild members eavesdropping gasped in surprise, Naruto was internally growling up a storm. 'Good, the second he gets here I'm wringing his neck! All that crap he made up about me and Fairy Tail is unforgiveable! I'll be a little gentle though seeing as he accidentally helped me out with the old farts in the council. But still, I'm gonna tan his hide!'
Unaware of the internal threats, the triplets simply took Naruto's rigid silence as shock. Making adoring noises as they 'realised' this, they all jumped on Naruto again and began rubbing their cheeks on his. "Awww you're just so cute! We never thought you'd be so surprised! Don't worry, we made sure to tell him everything we knew about you!"
"WHAT?"
Anything else the perturbed blond wished to say though was caught in his throat as a screaming body flew in and attached itself to his head via a vice grip. "What are you doing to my Kitty-kitty?"
While they screamed in surprise, the trio didn't let go. "What do you mean Kitty-kitty? And what do you mean by yours?"
Eyes clenched shut tight; Millianna howled to the sky, "Naruto is my Kitty-kitty and no one else's! Leave the Kitty alone!"
Growling, the girls only gripped the struggling blond tighter. "No! Naruto is OUR hero! He saved us! Not you, US!"
Only clenching tighter, Millianna screamed again, "MY KITTY!"
"Yeah, well he – huh?" Cut off mid sentence, all four girls all looked down in confusion as the pillar they were all attached to began sinking to the ground. Slowly letting go, they all took a look at Naruto's pale face and realised he had passed out from a lack of air.
"What a crazy mob." Having come in halfway through the fiasco, Cana had parked herself over near Wakaba and Macao to watch the show. "A little too much love for the kid I think."
Suddenly, a cacophony of noise broke out over the teen as the girls began fighting between one another over who got to give Naruto mouth to mouth. Grabbing the ever present flask of alcohol from her hip, Cana tipped some of the fluid down her throat as several mages around her broke out into laughter.
Just then, Shou and Wally came running in, both panting and looking fairly stressed. Skidding to a stop, they took one look at Millianna before trying to jump in and grab her.
"Ah-ah, leave her. This is something you don't want to get involved in."
A hand gripped each of their shoulders and pulled them to a stop before they could move more than a few feet. Each turned to see Macao holding them, a knowing grin on his face. Shaking their heads though, the two mages pointed at the downed blond. "But what about Naruto? He's really getting beaten up in there!"
Hearing a chuckle, they turned to see Wakaba casually take a slow drag from his ever present pipe before answering. "I'm sure it would take much more than a few careless women to put him out for long. Why don't you just relax and enjoy it? Free entertainment like this doesn't come along often."
Though still worried, they didn't move when the older man released them. Gripping their fists, Wally could help but murmur, "That poor lad. I do hope Millianna goes easy on him, ya know? That dandy affection she has may just end up being the death of him."
Biting his lip, Shou could only nod in agreement. The laughing of all the other mages around him wasn't really helping him either as he watched Naruto collect a few careless stomps to the chest. "Yeah… they all have a bit much affection for him I think."
XxXxXxX
Naruto took a deep breath and shakily sipped from the warm mug of milk provided. He was now a safe distance away from the four crazy young lasses but kept glancing over at them just in case they decided to pounce again.
Thankfully though, it seemed Mirajane had it under control and was currently chastising them over their actions. "You can't expect to fight amongst yourselves while Naruto is on the ground out cold! Look at those foot prints on his chest! You even stepped on him while you were arguing!"
All girls had their heads bowed in repentance before the ivory haired judge. They especially flinched when reminded of their accidental stamps. Turning, they all dropped their heads further and sniffled as they apologised.
"We're sorry for scaring you! And suffocating you, and stomping on you, and for crushing your ribs, and for trying to all give you mouth to mouth at the same time…"
Naruto touched the sides of his lips when they brushed over that part. At least he now knew why his mouth hurt. Nevertheless, he was never one to hold grudges so he held his hands up and grinned. "No, it's fine, honestly! I just wasn't expecting so much… hugging."
Eyes instantly bright and brimming with tears, the triplets all clasped their hands and cried out in joy. "Oh thank you Naruto for understanding! You are so forgiving, you are just prefect!"
Millianna opted for the physical approach and attempted to tackle-hug the blond. Before she could show her thankfulness though, a hand caught her mid air by the scruff of her neck and held her there. Turning, the girl saw that the hand belonged to Erza. The titan of Fairy Tail had her eyes closed and her face was marred by a frown of irritation. "What did Mirajane just say, Millianna?"
Ignoring the question, the brunette instantly turned her affections to her friend and slithered from her grip to wrap her arms around Erza's middle. "Erza! When did you get here? We missed you!"
"Uh, you did see me yesterday, remember?"
Not at all caring for that detail, the girl buried her head into Erza's bust and began purring contentedly. Sighing, Erza just shook her head resignedly while the male half of the guild looked on with interest.
"I bet she's done that before. Lucky girl."
Thankful for the momentary rest from the attention, Naruto took another relaxing sip from his cooling mug. Sighing, the blond then cocked an ear as he heard his name called. Turning, he spotted a little blue cat flying towards him in happy spirals. "Naruto! How are you? Why are you all dirty?"
Making space on his lap, Naruto leant back as the cat alighted on him to stare up at the footprints on his chest. "People have been standing on you? Do you like BDSM?"
Quickly steering Happy's thought train away from that, Naruto flapped his arms hurriedly as he explained. "No! I just got into a little mishap with those girls over there."
"Hmmm?" Looking around the orange jacket, Happy stared at the triplets. "So you can kick Natsu around like a bug, but those three can beat you? HA, wait till Natsu hears you got beat up by three girls!"
Snorting, Naruto dropped a heavier than normal hand onto the cats head. "Oh? What about all those times he got beat up by Erza?"
Laughing, Happy shook his head. "But that's different! Erza's Erza. Completely different."
Not really understanding how it was so different, Naruto just decided to let it go. Hearing his name again, the blond looked over to see Natsu, Gray and Lucy strolling in through the doors. Well, Gray and Lucy were. Natsu was running in at full pace. Skidding to a stop in front of his rival, Natsu instantly threw a finger out at the blond and grinned widely. "It's decided! You and me fight today! Nothing else to be said!"
Blinking as he had that dropped in his lap, Naruto looked over to Lucy and the girl sighed loudly. "Oh come on Natsu! We've already said he won't want to fight you! No one ever does, except maybe Gray here or Gajeel. Just leave him be."
Spinning around, Natsu groaned loudly and pointed at Gray. "But I'm over fighting him! He sucks, he always gets naked while we're fighting and to top it off I always smell damp after it. Besides, I'm way stronger than he is now so I need a new challenge!"
Snorting, said mage rolled his eyes. "You get it lucky. I smell like singed hair and ash for days after. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wash that smell off you?"
Turning on him, Natsu got right up in his face. "I've never needed to!"
Pinching his nose, Gray turned away. "You obviously haven't asked anyone that lately, have you. You stink!"
Watching as the verbal argument degraded into a physical one, Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop. It was turning into a very busy morning.
Ignoring the fight ball that ensured, Naruto looked down to his cup and swirled the last of his milk around before lifting it to his mouth. Savouring the taste, Naruto sighed happily. Brushing Happy off his lap, the ninja then took his feet and casually kicked away Natsu and Gray when they got a bit close to him.
Walking past them, Naruto wandered over to Lucy and gave her a warm smile. "So good morning to you! Sleep well?"
Puffing her cheeks out slightly, Lucy crossed her arms as she glared at Natsu rolling on the floor. "Well, it was going alright until this nimrod decided to crash-tackle me awake." Moaning, she let a crocodile tear slip from her eye. "If they keep this up I'll be grey before I turn twenty! A beautiful girl like me needs her sleep!"
Raising his arms to the back of his head, Naruto nonchalantly took a look at the girl's hair. "You sure? What's that there then?"
Instantly stiffening, Lucy twisted her torso to face Naruto before disappearing in a cloud of dust as she screamed for a mirror. Allowing himself a smirk, Naruto nodded successfully. You couldn't say no to a prank when it presented itself that easily.
Hearing another shout behind him, the blond jumped back to dodge Natsu, Gray and now Gajeel and Elfman as they barrelled past. Watching as the four feuding mages absorbed more guild members into the ball of death, Naruto decided he'd wasted enough of the morning being distracted and that it was about time he left.
Stealthily slipping into the shadows, the blond began making his way towards the lockers when pins and needles started running up and down his spine. Sneezing once, Naruto blinked in surprise before another sneeze rocked his body, this time almost blowing him off his feet. "Damn, who the hell is talking about me? It better be something good."
"Coooooooooool…"
Naruto's ears pricked as he heard the distant shout. Something about that voice just screamed 'irritating'. Turning to face the front door, Naruto noticed that a large number of mages were also looking over in surprise. Rapid footsteps brought Naruto's attention back to the door and he was just in time to see an extremely excited male slide through the opening on his knees.
"Fairy Tail is the COOOOOOOOOOOOLEST!"
Blond hair covered the pale man's head, one single spike sticking up straight, right in the middle of his skull. A pair of what looked like designer sunglasses sat upon his fringe, the eyewear resolutely holding onto its place despite the hectic shaking of the man's head. A vibrant pink shirt covered his torso while a satchel hung from his right shoulder to hang at the opposite hip. A rather expensive looking camera was draped from his neck, the poor piece of equipment jolting around as its owner bounced about in enthusiasm. Finishing off the look was a simple pair of blue jeans that flared out at the bottom to cover what looked like a set of cowboy boots.
"Jason! What are you doing here?" The now named Jason turned to see Erza staring at him in surprise, the woman not at all expecting his arrival.
His body seemed to quiver in excitement before Jason exploded into a rush of movement as he danced up to Erza. "It's you, Titania! In the flesh! Unreal! Incredible! COOL!"
Not quite sure how to handle him, Erza let him have his moment before repeating the question. "So Jason, what brings you here unannounced? I thought you weren't due for another few days?"
Unable to help himself, Jason pulled his camera out and began snapping away at Erza while he answered her question. "Yes, just like that! Well, you know about how I have been travelling… raise your head a little… COOL! While on my travels, I stumbled across a mage you have somehow managed to hide from us! I have no idea how you did it but that is seriously the COOLEST! I just had to come and find him so I unfortunately didn't have time to organise things. Especially after I met these wonderful sisters that helped me learn so much more about Fairy Tail's Orange Rock –"
A thunderous punch suddenly cut off anything Jason was about to say as the force of it snapped his jaw shut and sent him barrelling into the far wall. Leering over him, a dark shadow covered most of Naruto's face as he shook uncontrollably. "Don't you EVER say that again! Do you have any idea just how lame it is?"
Ignoring the bruise blossoming into life on his cheek, Jason just cried out in joy and grabbed his notepad. "It's you, it's really you! The Oran-"
Naruto thumped him over the head again. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY, DATTEBAYO?"
Muffed by the floor a bit, Jason lifted his still widely grinning face to look up at him again. "I can't believe it! I'm so lucky!" Hesitantly extending a hand, Jason squeezed his eyes shut. "W-Would you please shake me by the hand?"
"Humph." And shake him by the hand Naruto did. Dust was kicked up as the man's body thumped into the floor a few times before the disgruntled shinobi let go. Leaning back, Naruto crossed his arms and glared down at him. "I hope that teaches you. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and don't you forget it! Not some lame-ass 'orange rocket'. Seriously, it makes me wanna barf."
Pen in hand, Jason was furiously scribbling down every last work Naruto uttered. "Cool… cool… cool, cool, COOL!"
Pushing himself to his feet, Jason ran and grabbed two chairs before offering Naruto one. "Please, would I be able to ask you a few questions? I'm so curious about you! The world is! I must learn more for the sake of mages everywhere!"
"Eh…" Not quite ready for that, Naruto looked over at the door. He really wanted to leave but now was his chance to clear things up. Shaking his head, the blond decided his trip could wait a little longer. His pride was currently at stake.
Dropping into the chair, Naruto grunted acceptingly. Realising this, Jason's eyes began sparkling cheerfully and the reporter slid into his seat. "Fantastic! So Naruto, it's ok if I call you that? Or Uzumaki? Which would you prefer?"
Naruto frowned. "Naruto. Definitely Naruto."
Grinning, Jason wrote it down. "Alright! So Naruto, can you tell me a little about yourself?"
Having a quick think, Naruto shook his head. He really didn't want any information people didn't otherwise know written about in some worldwide book. "Nope, my life is for me and my close friends only."
"Ooooh… mysterious!" Writing down the answer, Jason continued. "Ok, can I at least have your age?"
Naruto shrugged. Why not? "I'm sixteen. Not sure when my birthday is here."
Eyes bulging, Jason couldn't help but lean right forward into Naruto's personal space. "Are you serious? So young and yet so powerful? COOL!"
Really not liking the face to face contact, the uncomfortable blond shuffled back. "Uh, yeah..."
Not taking the hint, Jason grabbed his chair and scraped it along after the retreating teen. "Well, can you tell me how long you have been here?"
"Ah… Mira-chan!" Swinging around, Naruto caught the attention of the barmaid. "How long have I been here?"
Cupping her mouth, Mirajane called back, "Do you mean since you arrived, or since you joined the guild?"
"Since I joined the guild!"
Nodding, the girl counted down the days on her fingers. "Umm… close to a month now I think!"
Eyes wide, Naruto turned back around. "Wow… its felt way longer than that."
Grinning, Jason scribbled down the answer. "Only a month and yet you have managed to create such incredible ripples within the magical world! COOL!"
The blond teen grumbled and crossed his arms, muttering under his breath, "Not by choice."
"So, next I'd like to ask –" The reporter then cut off as a flash of light caught his eye. A small badge pinned to Naruto's chest to be exact, in the shape of a cross. Naruto didn't realise this though and began backing away as Jason rapidly began to swell.
"What the…?" Eyes wide, Naruto dived behind the chair as Jason literally exploded into stars and sparkles, the excitement overflowing from his body in rivers of light.
"I HAD NO IDEA YOU WERE A WIZARD OF THE TEN SAINTS! SOOO COOOOOOOOOL!"
Thoroughly deafened by the outburst, Naruto looked up at him in surprise as the reporter towered over him, eyes blazing in awe and pen nearly snapped within his grip. "When did this happen Naruto? You must be the youngest Saint EVER! The world needs to know this!"
"Uh…" Deciding to leave out the dirty details, Naruto explained. "The day I joined actually. I'm just temporary though so it mightn't be for much longer."
If anything it just made Jason even more excited. "A temporary Wizard Saint? I have never heard of that either! COOL!"
He then started scribbling down furiously, his notepad almost smoking from the friction. Thinking it was about time to leave, Naruto pushed himself away from the crazy reporter and began slinking away. "Well, I gotta go now. You better remember my name though! U-Z-U-M-A-K-I N-A-R-U-T-O!"
Bowing rapidly, Jason began shedding tears. "Yes, yes, yes, I will never forget you! OH, WAIT ONE MOMENT!"
A blinding flash of light suddenly went off and Naruto bunched his fists into his eyes in pain. "Damn it, dattebayo! Warn me first!"
Ignoring the complaint, Jason checked the picture and cried out, "Perfect! I couldn't ask for anything more COOL! I will be seeing you very soon Naruto!"
Desperately hoping that wasn't the case, Naruto just nodded before stumbling away from the ball of energy. Collapsing near the bar, he dropped his head to the bench top. Hearing Mirajane giggle, Naruto gave out a little moan.
"He's quite a lot to take in at first, but you get used to it soon enough."
Pushing his head back up, Naruto shook his head. "I don't think I'd want to get used to it. Besides, I'm leaving now. I've waited long enough."
Smiling understandingly, the barmaid wiped her hands on the dish towel at her waist. "Ok. I'll go and write down in the book you have a job. Make sure you tell the Master before you leave though yeah?"
Hearing Jason cry out ecstatically as he ran into another of his idols, Naruto nodded and pushed himself up quickly. He'd heard enough 'cools' to keep him happy for a year.
XxXxXxX
Now sitting inside the Master's room, Naruto sighed thankfully as the door cut off all sound. Chuckling, the old man wandered past the blond and jumped up onto his chair. "I see you met Jason?"
Shaking his head, Naruto growled. "More like he stalked me all the way here. It's creepy."
Raising an eyebrow, Makarov looked at the irritated teen. "You might want to take advantage of the service he provides. You can use your space in there for more than just entertainment purposes. If clever enough, you can intertwine deeper meaning into the articles for rival guilds to read."
Snorting, Naruto shook his head. "If I wanted to say something to someone I'd just walk over there and tell them myself. Stuff all that subtle reading crap, it's just stupid mind games."
Shrugging, the Master peaked his fingers. "Very well. So why are you up here then? I'd imagine there'd be other places you could escape to if you were avoiding Jason."
Nodding slowly, Naruto rested his elbows on the desk. "Yeah… Mira-chan actually told me to come and tell you this. You probably already felt what happened during that mess with Laxus."
The old mage nodded. "You mean with the Kyuubi? Indeed, I'd have to dead to miss a beacon of power like that."
Naruto looked up in surprise. "You know its name?"
Makarov nodded. "Erza filled me in."
"Ah, that explains it." Pausing, Naruto then pressed on. "There is more you don't know though."
"Hmm?" Leaning in, the Master gave him all his attention.
Continuing before he decided otherwise, Naruto closed his eyes and started. "When you felt its power coming from me… it wasn't because I wanted it to. Something had pulled it out through the seal. At first I thought it had been Mira-chan when she went demon mode, but afterwards she told me she had nothing to do with it."
Filling in the blanks with ease, Makarov nodded. "So now you're worried it will happen again and need to leave to work it out. That the gist of it?"
Blinking, Naruto hadn't expected to be worked out so easily. Still though, it was the Master. So nodding, the teen sat back. "Yes. I must find out what is going on because if it happens again, I could lose myself to it entirely."
Sighing, the small man crossed his arms. "You wouldn't take any help with this would you?"
Naruto shook his head. "I couldn't. If I lost control…"
Sighing again, Makarov nodded. "Fine. You do what you have to do. Just make sure you keep me informed, ok?"
A smile slipped onto his face as Naruto looked at the diminutive Master. "Yeah, I can do that. Thanks so much Old Man!" The boy's look then slowly was replaced by a more reserved one. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone."
Makarov studied Naruto for a moment, the intelligent Master running a few things through his head. "That is no problem Naruto. However, I think you need to realise that this power you contain can be used for good. You're hung up on something in your past, aren't you?"
Hesitantly, Naruto nodded. He wasn't expecting the Master to open him up quite so much. "Yes… I hurt a very close friend during an episode where I lost control. I really wanted to never use it again."
Sighing, Makarov closed his eyes as he spoke. "Well, can you tell me if you know what went wrong at the time?"
The blond nodded glumly.
Peeking open an eye, the Master noted the motion. "Well, if that's the case you know what not to do next time, don't you? Master this power of yours. You easily have the strength of will to control it, so should it come forward again, you give it your damnedest to keep it under control. I have faith in you lad. Maybe have a little more in yourself."
Naruto's eyes widened a fraction as the words registered. He hadn't heard words quite like that since Jiraiya died. Looking up, Naruto couldn't help but smile when he saw the strong gaze he was currently being fixed with. Chuckling softly, Naruto sat back up straight and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for that."
Nodding, Makarov sat back too. "Everyone has moments like this Naruto, so don't think you're the exception. You may have a unique situation, but I can assure you many other people have mastered their demons. With that in mind, so can you."
A confident smile stretched across Naruto's face and the blond slapped his palms down on the table. "Damn right! If Mira-chan can control her power, so can I!"
Grumbling as Naruto's voice got rather loud, Makarov hopped down from his seat. "Yeah, yeah. Oh, and one more thing."
Walking to the door, Naruto looked down at the Master. The blond couldn't help but notice the small vein pumping upon Makarov's forehead. Before he could comment on it though, a gigantic boot came soaring in out of nowhere and kicked him out of the room powerfully. "I'M NOT THAT OLD!"
XxXxXxX
Now standing out in his old training field, Naruto hitched his little travelling pack off his shoulder and dropped it to the ground. He had only just managed to escape Jason again by stuffing everything into the bag and fleeing the building. Once outside though, he came across Mirajane and the three sisters all sitting down at a table talking quite animatedly. The blond wasn't quite sure what to make of the news when Mira cheerfully informed him that they were now going to be working part time in the guild to help take a little bit of the load off her shoulders.
So quickly excusing himself after three rib crushing hugs goodbye, Naruto hopped to the roof of the nearest house and began leaping away.
Twisting his spine so it popped back into place, the ninja grimaced and rubbed his sore muscles. He then reached into his pocket and pulling his scroll out, quickly sealed his equipment into it and popped it back into its place. Straightening, a determined smile stretched across his face. Tightening his headband and then fixing his badge, Naruto crouched.
It was time to put his title of Temporary Wizard of the Ten Saints to use and visit the council for a little bit of information.
Gathering chakra within his limbs, the teen's clothes ruffled a moment before he lifted off the ground and shot into the distance.
XxXxXxX
A/N – Hey everyone, it's been a while! How are we all doing? Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a big Author's Note this time =D
I suppose I should probably start off with an explanation to you in regards to this 5 month delay.
The first reason it took so long was because of that abominable last chapter -_- I swear, I have never had such problems with an episode ever! I occasionally receive a bad review on a chapter on what people don't like, but this one must have ended up with like half of them telling me I sucked, and with good reason. After thinking about it, I realised I had begun to pump chapters out simply because I was trying to force myself to keep up with a schedule and quality was suffering badly.
So, I took a break. I only planned on a month or 3 at first, but then real life hit me with a mallet and I suddenly was flying all over the country and even overseas for work and family and stuff. I was away more often than I was home and any time I was free I was using it to recover from the last travel.
So while you may have had to wait, I thought that in the end I'd rather have my readers cranky with me because I was really freaking late, rather than having you cranky cause my latest chapters sucked and then giving up reading all together.
As for other things, I actually have a couple of anime and fanfics I'd like to promote for anyone interested. I found a couple of really interesting things while on my time off so here they are.
The first is a new Fanfic called "Guardian Rising" by Eilwynn. You may remember I promoted a story of hers in an earlier chapter. Well, this is the sequel and it is just as incredible. The main reason I do this is because despite it being such a masterpiece, she is getting nowhere near the number of reviews she deserves. I just really want to help a fellow author out here and push this forward to any Bleach fans who want to read a truly captivating story.
As for anime, I have a couple for you good people. The first is one I found called "Kokoro Connect". This is for anyone interested in Gender Swap topics and I know there are a large number of you out there. It's about a group of friends (2 boys, 3 girls) who swap bodies and a number of other things. It has the humour you'd normally associate with such a topic, but then it actually asks a number of really relevant questions about what would happen psychologically if something like this actually happened. Quite worth the watch as it really makes you think.
The next is a new anime to 2013 and it goes by the name of "Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sō Desu yo?", or in English, "Problem Children are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?" It's about 3 kids with CRAZY powers who get transported into another dimension to participate in these things called 'Gift Games'. I won't say much more on it, but I will say the main male character is a total badass. So awesome and seriously that funny I've nearly pissed myself several times.
Anyway, I'll finally sign off now, so I will leave you all to yourselves until the next update. It won't be as regular as once a week as it once was, but I'll try keep it to at least once a month. Take care until then!
Lanky Nathan
P.S. Happy birthday to me! \ ^_^/
