Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > River of the Night - Part 1
River of the Night - Part 1 (Chapter 5)
0 reviewsShe found him on the remains of a battlefield. Wrapped in the arms of a red haired woman as she lay on the ground struggling to hold on to the last remains of her life. He looked at her with blue e...
0Unrated
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Naruto. If I did I would find some way to get Naruto out of Konoha and into Fairy Tail. As it is I shall make do.
Author's Note: Sorry, the last chapter may have seemed like a bit of a filler chapter, but I needed some of that to happen before he got to Fairy Tail. Creates a better flow if there's some sort of journey. After reading your reviews I can see several ways I could have made that chapter better, but what's done it is done and I'm not going to change it. I do blame my irritating need to rush things for its perhaps lack of quality.
Artwork: I recently added a link to and artwork I did for this story. If your having trouble with the different artwork styles and combining them in your head so that it really is Naruto in Fairy Tail then I think it will help. Either way just go to my profile on fanfiction.net if your interested and let me know what you think.
'Fishing' - Normal
'Fishing' - Spells
'Fishing' - Thoughts, Flashbacks and Dreams (Use logic to differentiate!)
Chapter 5:
Naruto swore.
He couldn't believe that in only a few days he had already been forced to stay outside during the daytime. It was beyond annoying. He supposed it would have been more so if not for the fact that there was a good reason both times. The reason for this one being the giant orange door he was starring at.
He'd come there last night. Hoping they'd be open, but he'd been most unfortunately wrong. To be fair to them though it had been around one in the morning. He was sure that most guilds wouldn't be open at that time.
Muttering under his breath he silently pushed the large orange door open - he found himself oddly liking the colour - and sliding inside with hardly a sound. He took a quick glance over the room. Noting the largely wooden interior and bright colours that decorated what seemed like some kind of food hall. The atmosphere was quite warm if a bit loud and were it not daytime he probably would have had better appreciation for the familial feel about the room. As it was he was only grateful he wasn't standing outside anymore. It really did make a difference.
Looking over the room a second time in search of someone to ask for the guild'd master he spotted a boy who he guessed was about two years older then himself sitting at the bar. There were other kids younger then himself, but he didn't figure they'd be much help in this situation. Twirling a piece of hair between his fingers he slouched over to the boy his bear feet not making a sound on the floor.
He slid into the seat next to the boy and raised a hand, "Yo."
The blonde haired teen nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the unfamiliar voice next to him. Spinning round in his seat he took note of the pale boy sitting next to him. He then realised that the boy was dressed rather oddly given that he was missing his shirt and his shoes. Never mind the odd way he'd wrapped material round the bottom of his pants.
"Ohayo," he greeted hesitantly.
The boy looked back at him after the returned greeting though he continued to fiddle with his hair. "Can you tell me where I can find that master of this place?" he asked.
Laxus raised an eyebrow, What does this kid want with the old man? Maybe…
"Why, you interested in joining?"
"Hai," he replied quite simply.
"Oh… a newcomer is it," said a voice behind them.
Twirling round in his seat he came face to face with one of the shortest men he had ever seen. To be fair to the old man he hadn't seen too many people in his life, but still. Even he was aware the man was tiny. Naruto was surprised though, that he hadn't felt the man approach. He had good senses, something being a dragon slayer had granted him. To be unable to detect him was… odd.
He blinked at him several times. "Are you aware that you are an incredibly short man?"
The Guild Master nearly fell off the bar, "Yes I'm aware! You think I lived my whole life being unaware of it!?"
"Well, if you'd grown up in a village where everyone was the same height as you and no-one else ever visited then yes, I would assume you were unaware of your situation," he said as he looked it the man on the bar.
"Are you saying that just to mess with me or do you seriously think that?" he asked as he took another swing of alcohol from his bottle.
"Both," was the deadpan reply.
They stared at each other for several seconds until the old man laughed. Laxus shook his head, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Clearly the teen didn't know who he was talking to. He might be relaxed with his grandfather now, but if actually who he was he'd no doubt turn into another awe inspired little fanboy. Well, maybe fanboy was a bit harsh of him - the kid didn't look the type - but he was sure he'd be awe inspired anyway.
"What's your name kid?" his grandfather asked after he stopped laughing.
"Naruto Uzumaki at your service," the pale teen replied after a moments hesitation. "You?"
Here it comes, thought Laxus.
"Makarov Dreyar," he replied giving the youth a big grin.
The boy accepted the name with a nod. Nothing? Not even a twitch to indicate he's familiar with the name? Has this kid been living under a rock!? Laxus mentally exclaimed.
"I'm also, the Guild Master here," he added after taking several long gulps of his drink. Out of the corner of his eyes Makarov noticed the necklace the boy wore. Why would he be wearing a necklace from that guild? But, they'd been… disbanded a while back and the boy looked to young to have been a member. Besides he looked interested in joining Fairy Tail. He pushed such thoughts from his mind.
Now that knowledge certainly got the boys attention. The hand that had been twirling his hair froze and he looked at Makarov with a raised brow - now knowing how he'd snuck up on him.
"Are you being serious or just saying that to mess with me?"
Makarov chucked the wooden tankard at him. Ducking to the side Naruto grinned.
"So, you were being serious," he joked.
The old man jumped to his feet, "Yes, I was being serious!"
Even Laxus laughed then. However, his laughter and the Guild Master's shouting was enough to attract the attention of the guild members - the younger ones mostly, the older ones decided it would be best to stay out of it and find out later on. Ultimately they were just to lazy to get up and ask.
A girl with red hair and a plate of chest armour on looked up from the table she was sitting at when she heard the laughter. It wasn't too often something got Laxus laughing. She frowned, wondering what caused it. That is until she noticed something she'd completely overlooked.
There was a boy sitting next to him.
How she'd managed to completely over look him was something she couldn't understand. He appeared to be about a year or two older then her with a long lean build, though it was clear he was in the middle of a growth spurt. His chest and feet were completely bear leaving him in only a pair of pants. She shuddered and prayed he wasn't another Gray. She wasn't sure she could handle another stripper.
Standing up from her lone spot at the table she made to walk over to the Master, only to find her pathway blocked mid walk by none other then the stripping boy she'd been thinking about only moments earlier.
Gray.
"Master!" he shouted. "Who's the half naked kid?"
Erza raised a brow. Like he's one to talk, she thought, and he really shouldn't talk to the Master that way.
Raising a hand she smacked him on the head from behind. Sending him flying into the wall. Catching her movement the pale boy immediately turned his head towards her and stared for several moments with an odd look on his face, she was unaware he'd been surprised by her similar appearance to his human mother. Especially the hair. However, he seemed to become aware of the fact that he was staring and gave her a grin in apology.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked feeling a bit… indignant over his odd reaction. There weren't many people who would smile about one child sending another flying into a wall and she was pretty sure most of them were in Fairy Tail.
"Nothing really, you just reminded me of my kaa-san for a moment," he replied not that she knew he was referring to both. One for the hair colour and the other for her violent streak.
The red head gave him a look somewhere between a scowl and confusion before turning her attention back to Makarov, "Master, who's the stranger?"
"He said his names Naruto, seems interested in joining the guild."
She turned her attention back to boy who now had his head resting on the bar and seemed much more interested in fiddling with his hair then anything they were talking about. Frowning she turned her attention back to Makarov, "Are you going to let him, Master?"
The old man shrugged and chugged back some more the drink in his tankard before replying, "I see no reason not to."
"Shouldn't you test his power first?" asked Gray, having recovered from his Erza induced wall slam.
Makarov raised a brow, "Did you or Erza have to?"
"No, Master," replied Gray sulkily folding his arms. He just wanted to see the guy's magic, was that so bad?
"He doesn't have to anyway, he can probably sense my magic. It's a skill most mages put in the effort to learn, especially powerful ones," said Naruto from his slouched position. "Which is probably why he didn't test either of you when you joined the guild."
"Oh…" said Gray feeling surprised. The teen's answer made sense though. Makarov never tested anyones magic when they entered the guild seeming to just know their magical power and even some of their abilities. He must be good at this sense thingy, thought Gray.
"Cana!" shouted Makarov, nearly scaring Gray out his last piece of clothing.
A small girl with brown curls hanging either side of her face looked up from the cards she was busy placing on the table to scan the room. Finding Makarov, the source of the shout, she quickly shuffled her cards back together and hurried over, smoothing out the invisible creases on her orange dress.
"Master?" she inquired once she'd reached them her gaze shifting occasionally to the newcomer among them.
"Can you get the guild stamp for me?" he asked.
Her eyebrows rose as she nodded, taking one last look at the pale boy relaxing with his head on the bar before heading off to find the stamp. Quickly locating it she headed back over, rubber stamp clasped in her hand. Unfortunately for Gray she arrived just in time to stop Naruto answering his question about what kind of magic he used. Erza had also been interested in hearing the answer, though she'd never admit it, and found herself having to resist challenging Cana to a fight. She would have punished the girl from preventing her receiving the answer.
"Here Master," said the dark haired girl with a smile.
He looked at the guild stamp in Cana's hands for a moment before looking back at the girl and giving her a smile, "Why don't you do it Cana?"
"Me?" she asked in surprise.
"Sure, anyone with the Fairy Tail mark is capable of marking another with the stamp," he explained.
"Oh, okay," she murmured turning to face the pale newcomer. "So, where would you like it?"
"Like what?" he asked lifting his head up and rubbing his eyes.
Cana frowned in confusion, "Your stamp, weren't you listening?"
"Not really," he replied playing with a piece of hair close to his eyes. Oh, he had been listening, but it was better they thought he hadn't been. That way at a later stage he was more likely to overhear people saying things without paying him much attention.
Noticing Erza looked like she was about to turn her wrath on the teen she quickly intervened with an explanation, "Your official guild mark, everyone who joins a guild receives a mark to show they are a member of that guild."
He thought about it for a bit before nodding and turning round, "Right shoulder blade on my back."
"Colour?" she asked.
"You can pick that?" he asked spinning back round on his stool.
She nodded.
"Oh, I'll take black anyway," he replied starting to spin round before stopping, seeming to realise something. Hopping off the stool he gave Cana a quick smile and knelt down so she could have easier access to his back.
"Arigatou," she muttered before marking his back with the official insignia. It glowed and shimmered briefly before settling on his back.
Waiting for a few more seconds Naruto stood back up, giving the smaller girl a grin before settling back on the bar, his head resting on it sleepily.
"He doesn't seem particularly excited about it," said Erza as she looked at the tall boy.
"Seems pretty tired to me," replied Laxus. "Probably too exhausted to show much enthusiasm."
Though they'd soon learn his attitude wasn't a one time thing.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As soon as the sun's last rays disappeared beyond the horizon Naruto felt it. Like his spirit that had previously been chained was now free from the constrains the sun put upon it. Shaking his limbs to free them from the last straggles of fatigue he jumped to his feet. Energy now flowing through his veins.
"Alright, mission time," he said with a grin.
"Going on a mission?" asked Laxus as he walked past.
"Hai," he replied with nod.
"Want some company?"
Naruto paused and thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm fine."
"Sure, but before you go, there's probably someone you should meet," he said.
"Oh, who?"
"We got a new member today, while you were sleeping," Laxus replied.
Naruto paused for a moment. Should he… nah. He looked at Laxus and shrugged. "I'll meet them when I come back."
"You sure? Could be someone interesting," he said teasingly.
Naruto waved him off. He could here the hinting tone in Laxus's voice, but didn't care to pay it too much attention. He could meet them when he came back, easily enough. It wasn't like they'd just wonder off and join a new guild while he was gone. Besides he had too much to do or at least he would when he picked out a mission from the board. Then he had to go and do the mission. After which he could get down to some training. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed money to survive he wouldn't even bother doing missions and would just continue his training constantly. He was so close to perfecting the dragon force state he could practically taste it. Unfortunately perfection remained elusively out of his grasp.
Shrugging off his annoyance with his recent lack of progress he turned his gaze to the board scanning over the list of mission requests until one caught his attention from the corner of his eye. It was stuck right up on the left hand corner of the board in an out of the way place. Reaching up a hand he grabbed the mission and looked it over, his eyes immediately checking to the money being offered. His brows nearly jump off his head and he had to check again just to be sure.
10,000,000 Jewels is a lot of money, he thought with a raised brow. Checking the difficulty rating he nodded his head, the offering making a bit more sense. It was A-class in difficulty, which was only a step away from S-class. He was just glad the downstairs board was spelled to keep people from seeing missions considered above their abilities, otherwise there would be people getting killed off left and right.
Checking the sponsor he almost reconsidered taking the mission when he saw who it was.
The Council.
But, why send the mission out to the guilds? he thought with a frown. He knew for a fact that the Council usually used the Rune Knights to do any missions they required. He was curious now. Why would they ask a guild to do their work. It even mentioned on the request that utmost discretion would be needed. It was clearly something they didn't want well known, but it also wasn't put on the S-class board, which meant it wasn't overly difficult. In fact he considered that it might only be given A-class ranking because of the pay and the fact that it was from the Council.
Not that it really mattered. He was too interested now, he wanted to know what it was that the Council wanted kept hidden and what it had to do with the Bureau of Magical Development.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
First he had to meet the client, which was unsurprisingly the Council. Apparently they had more information to give him regarding the mission. Which was a good thing to because there wasn't much information on the request. Just that they needed help with something to do with the Bureau of Magical Development.
Knocking on the door he took the time to get a better look at his location. He'd never been there before, but the height of the Magic Council's location certainly provided a well enough view. He'd also expected the place to be a lot bigger. Not that it was small by any means. It even had its fair share of orange, a colour he was growing rather fond of. But, even if the place was big enough to crush fairy tail with only a small corner of the building he'd expected it to be so big it would only take a pillar of the place to crush Fairy Tail. Though he supposed that it was only the Fiore branch, not the main one. It was a okay looking place, though he'd probably have had better thoughts on it, if the time of day hadn't required the sun to be out and shining in his face.
He heard footsteps coming and quickly spun round to face the door.
Thinking quick he pulled his magic forth.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Tsuki no kurai sokumen," he muttered under his breathe. It was better to be safe then sorry. As far as he knew any body of great political power only spelled trouble. A glowing white magic circle appeared both above and bellow his body. A wave of first silver then black seemed to shimmer over his body before slowly fading away. His body tingled slightly at the use of magic, but he shook it off with a shrug of his shoulders.
The towering door then opened a small crack. The head of a frog like creature popping round the door. He'd been told the Magic Council employed some odd creatures, but he'd never thought they'd been telling the truth.
"Who are you?" asked the creature.
Naruto was surprised it could speak at all.
"Naruto Uzumaki a mage of Fairy Tail answering the councils recent mission request," he replied, quickly showing it the guild mark on his back. Not sure if he should give any details on the mission or if he should keep that from the servant. However, it seemed his answer had been clear enough. The frog like humanoid opened the door wide enough for Naruto to slip inside before closing it abruptly behind him.
"Follow me," he… she… it said. Leading him through the towering building.
Keeping pace with the creature Naruto did his best to keep track of where it lead him incase he needed to make a quick getaway though he hoped it didn't come to that. Feeling a nervous shiver go down his spine he steeled his nerves and hurried his pace, tapping footsteps echoing round the high ceiling hallways. After what felt like an eternity of twisting routes the humanoid finally bade him stop and he halted his steps outside another large door that curved up into a pointed arch.
"Please wait here a moment," said the creature as it entered the room, presumably to announce his presence.
Taking the time to steel his nerves Naruto, observed the area he was waiting in. Noting the almost open feel granted by the railings. It was an oddly comforting feeling. Being so high up really did remind him of home. Fiddling with a piece of shaggy hair he walked over to the railing and whistled when he looked over the edge. It was a long way down.
Hearing footsteps on the other side of the door he returned to his previous spot.
The door opened wide enough to let him through before once again closing quickly behind him. There was definitely something odd going on. Normally big doors were put there for big dramatic entrances not so that people can slip in and out with barely anyone noticing. Looking round the room he noticed no one, but a dark figure whose face was shadowed by a dark pointed hat keeping his identity hidden. Still, Naruto felt it best be safe and sent out his magical senses in case anyone was hiding undetected.
"You can stop that, I assure you we are the only ones here," said the dark figure.
Naruto's head snapped in his direction. This man was powerful. It was one thing to detect a person's magical signature, even the power they used as their main magic, but it was another thing entirely to be able to detect when someone was sending out their magical senses. Halting his actions Naruto walked closer towards the man stopping a respectable distance away giving a small bow.
"Naruto Uzumaki, a member of Fairy Tail Guild," Naruto introduced knowing it was unlikely he'd get an introduction in return, but still offering it nonetheless.
"One of Makarov's brood, eh? Hhhmmm… makes no difference. You answered the request and therefore understand the discretion we require for this mission," said the tall man.
Naruto nodded.
"I will be asking you to take a magical oath keeping what you discover a secret. You understand what that requires, do you not?"
Naruto paused for a moment, but there was no chance he was turning back. His curiosity had been piqued and while he'd heard curiosity killed the cat they'd never mention it killing the Naruto. He almost snickered at the thought it was so lame, but the seriousness of the situation kept him silent. He nodded to show his acceptance of the man's terms, "Hai."
"Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now, let me explain what you will be required to do."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Author's Note: I know you were expecting a louder noisier Fairy Tail and it eventually will end up that way. It's just that you have to be aware that most of the cast that causes all that noise isn't there yet. Got to have a little patience you know. As for the mission I hoped you noticed that this isn't a part of the normal Fairy Tail plot line. I don't want to just jump straight there - as one of my reviewers stated and I agree with - it shows a lack of originality.
As for the passage of time between his arrival and the mission think of it as round about a week plus minus a few days.
Anyway, next chapter we continue with the mission! It does in some ways tie in to the main plot futuristically, but you'll only get to see how later on. Other then that I once again request you to please review! I enjoy hearing what you have to say. It's actually helped me make several decisions along the way.
Peace out, GeekySoundCat!
Author's Note: Sorry, the last chapter may have seemed like a bit of a filler chapter, but I needed some of that to happen before he got to Fairy Tail. Creates a better flow if there's some sort of journey. After reading your reviews I can see several ways I could have made that chapter better, but what's done it is done and I'm not going to change it. I do blame my irritating need to rush things for its perhaps lack of quality.
Artwork: I recently added a link to and artwork I did for this story. If your having trouble with the different artwork styles and combining them in your head so that it really is Naruto in Fairy Tail then I think it will help. Either way just go to my profile on fanfiction.net if your interested and let me know what you think.
'Fishing' - Normal
'Fishing' - Spells
'Fishing' - Thoughts, Flashbacks and Dreams (Use logic to differentiate!)
Chapter 5:
Naruto swore.
He couldn't believe that in only a few days he had already been forced to stay outside during the daytime. It was beyond annoying. He supposed it would have been more so if not for the fact that there was a good reason both times. The reason for this one being the giant orange door he was starring at.
He'd come there last night. Hoping they'd be open, but he'd been most unfortunately wrong. To be fair to them though it had been around one in the morning. He was sure that most guilds wouldn't be open at that time.
Muttering under his breath he silently pushed the large orange door open - he found himself oddly liking the colour - and sliding inside with hardly a sound. He took a quick glance over the room. Noting the largely wooden interior and bright colours that decorated what seemed like some kind of food hall. The atmosphere was quite warm if a bit loud and were it not daytime he probably would have had better appreciation for the familial feel about the room. As it was he was only grateful he wasn't standing outside anymore. It really did make a difference.
Looking over the room a second time in search of someone to ask for the guild'd master he spotted a boy who he guessed was about two years older then himself sitting at the bar. There were other kids younger then himself, but he didn't figure they'd be much help in this situation. Twirling a piece of hair between his fingers he slouched over to the boy his bear feet not making a sound on the floor.
He slid into the seat next to the boy and raised a hand, "Yo."
The blonde haired teen nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the unfamiliar voice next to him. Spinning round in his seat he took note of the pale boy sitting next to him. He then realised that the boy was dressed rather oddly given that he was missing his shirt and his shoes. Never mind the odd way he'd wrapped material round the bottom of his pants.
"Ohayo," he greeted hesitantly.
The boy looked back at him after the returned greeting though he continued to fiddle with his hair. "Can you tell me where I can find that master of this place?" he asked.
Laxus raised an eyebrow, What does this kid want with the old man? Maybe…
"Why, you interested in joining?"
"Hai," he replied quite simply.
"Oh… a newcomer is it," said a voice behind them.
Twirling round in his seat he came face to face with one of the shortest men he had ever seen. To be fair to the old man he hadn't seen too many people in his life, but still. Even he was aware the man was tiny. Naruto was surprised though, that he hadn't felt the man approach. He had good senses, something being a dragon slayer had granted him. To be unable to detect him was… odd.
He blinked at him several times. "Are you aware that you are an incredibly short man?"
The Guild Master nearly fell off the bar, "Yes I'm aware! You think I lived my whole life being unaware of it!?"
"Well, if you'd grown up in a village where everyone was the same height as you and no-one else ever visited then yes, I would assume you were unaware of your situation," he said as he looked it the man on the bar.
"Are you saying that just to mess with me or do you seriously think that?" he asked as he took another swing of alcohol from his bottle.
"Both," was the deadpan reply.
They stared at each other for several seconds until the old man laughed. Laxus shook his head, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Clearly the teen didn't know who he was talking to. He might be relaxed with his grandfather now, but if actually who he was he'd no doubt turn into another awe inspired little fanboy. Well, maybe fanboy was a bit harsh of him - the kid didn't look the type - but he was sure he'd be awe inspired anyway.
"What's your name kid?" his grandfather asked after he stopped laughing.
"Naruto Uzumaki at your service," the pale teen replied after a moments hesitation. "You?"
Here it comes, thought Laxus.
"Makarov Dreyar," he replied giving the youth a big grin.
The boy accepted the name with a nod. Nothing? Not even a twitch to indicate he's familiar with the name? Has this kid been living under a rock!? Laxus mentally exclaimed.
"I'm also, the Guild Master here," he added after taking several long gulps of his drink. Out of the corner of his eyes Makarov noticed the necklace the boy wore. Why would he be wearing a necklace from that guild? But, they'd been… disbanded a while back and the boy looked to young to have been a member. Besides he looked interested in joining Fairy Tail. He pushed such thoughts from his mind.
Now that knowledge certainly got the boys attention. The hand that had been twirling his hair froze and he looked at Makarov with a raised brow - now knowing how he'd snuck up on him.
"Are you being serious or just saying that to mess with me?"
Makarov chucked the wooden tankard at him. Ducking to the side Naruto grinned.
"So, you were being serious," he joked.
The old man jumped to his feet, "Yes, I was being serious!"
Even Laxus laughed then. However, his laughter and the Guild Master's shouting was enough to attract the attention of the guild members - the younger ones mostly, the older ones decided it would be best to stay out of it and find out later on. Ultimately they were just to lazy to get up and ask.
A girl with red hair and a plate of chest armour on looked up from the table she was sitting at when she heard the laughter. It wasn't too often something got Laxus laughing. She frowned, wondering what caused it. That is until she noticed something she'd completely overlooked.
There was a boy sitting next to him.
How she'd managed to completely over look him was something she couldn't understand. He appeared to be about a year or two older then her with a long lean build, though it was clear he was in the middle of a growth spurt. His chest and feet were completely bear leaving him in only a pair of pants. She shuddered and prayed he wasn't another Gray. She wasn't sure she could handle another stripper.
Standing up from her lone spot at the table she made to walk over to the Master, only to find her pathway blocked mid walk by none other then the stripping boy she'd been thinking about only moments earlier.
Gray.
"Master!" he shouted. "Who's the half naked kid?"
Erza raised a brow. Like he's one to talk, she thought, and he really shouldn't talk to the Master that way.
Raising a hand she smacked him on the head from behind. Sending him flying into the wall. Catching her movement the pale boy immediately turned his head towards her and stared for several moments with an odd look on his face, she was unaware he'd been surprised by her similar appearance to his human mother. Especially the hair. However, he seemed to become aware of the fact that he was staring and gave her a grin in apology.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked feeling a bit… indignant over his odd reaction. There weren't many people who would smile about one child sending another flying into a wall and she was pretty sure most of them were in Fairy Tail.
"Nothing really, you just reminded me of my kaa-san for a moment," he replied not that she knew he was referring to both. One for the hair colour and the other for her violent streak.
The red head gave him a look somewhere between a scowl and confusion before turning her attention back to Makarov, "Master, who's the stranger?"
"He said his names Naruto, seems interested in joining the guild."
She turned her attention back to boy who now had his head resting on the bar and seemed much more interested in fiddling with his hair then anything they were talking about. Frowning she turned her attention back to Makarov, "Are you going to let him, Master?"
The old man shrugged and chugged back some more the drink in his tankard before replying, "I see no reason not to."
"Shouldn't you test his power first?" asked Gray, having recovered from his Erza induced wall slam.
Makarov raised a brow, "Did you or Erza have to?"
"No, Master," replied Gray sulkily folding his arms. He just wanted to see the guy's magic, was that so bad?
"He doesn't have to anyway, he can probably sense my magic. It's a skill most mages put in the effort to learn, especially powerful ones," said Naruto from his slouched position. "Which is probably why he didn't test either of you when you joined the guild."
"Oh…" said Gray feeling surprised. The teen's answer made sense though. Makarov never tested anyones magic when they entered the guild seeming to just know their magical power and even some of their abilities. He must be good at this sense thingy, thought Gray.
"Cana!" shouted Makarov, nearly scaring Gray out his last piece of clothing.
A small girl with brown curls hanging either side of her face looked up from the cards she was busy placing on the table to scan the room. Finding Makarov, the source of the shout, she quickly shuffled her cards back together and hurried over, smoothing out the invisible creases on her orange dress.
"Master?" she inquired once she'd reached them her gaze shifting occasionally to the newcomer among them.
"Can you get the guild stamp for me?" he asked.
Her eyebrows rose as she nodded, taking one last look at the pale boy relaxing with his head on the bar before heading off to find the stamp. Quickly locating it she headed back over, rubber stamp clasped in her hand. Unfortunately for Gray she arrived just in time to stop Naruto answering his question about what kind of magic he used. Erza had also been interested in hearing the answer, though she'd never admit it, and found herself having to resist challenging Cana to a fight. She would have punished the girl from preventing her receiving the answer.
"Here Master," said the dark haired girl with a smile.
He looked at the guild stamp in Cana's hands for a moment before looking back at the girl and giving her a smile, "Why don't you do it Cana?"
"Me?" she asked in surprise.
"Sure, anyone with the Fairy Tail mark is capable of marking another with the stamp," he explained.
"Oh, okay," she murmured turning to face the pale newcomer. "So, where would you like it?"
"Like what?" he asked lifting his head up and rubbing his eyes.
Cana frowned in confusion, "Your stamp, weren't you listening?"
"Not really," he replied playing with a piece of hair close to his eyes. Oh, he had been listening, but it was better they thought he hadn't been. That way at a later stage he was more likely to overhear people saying things without paying him much attention.
Noticing Erza looked like she was about to turn her wrath on the teen she quickly intervened with an explanation, "Your official guild mark, everyone who joins a guild receives a mark to show they are a member of that guild."
He thought about it for a bit before nodding and turning round, "Right shoulder blade on my back."
"Colour?" she asked.
"You can pick that?" he asked spinning back round on his stool.
She nodded.
"Oh, I'll take black anyway," he replied starting to spin round before stopping, seeming to realise something. Hopping off the stool he gave Cana a quick smile and knelt down so she could have easier access to his back.
"Arigatou," she muttered before marking his back with the official insignia. It glowed and shimmered briefly before settling on his back.
Waiting for a few more seconds Naruto stood back up, giving the smaller girl a grin before settling back on the bar, his head resting on it sleepily.
"He doesn't seem particularly excited about it," said Erza as she looked at the tall boy.
"Seems pretty tired to me," replied Laxus. "Probably too exhausted to show much enthusiasm."
Though they'd soon learn his attitude wasn't a one time thing.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As soon as the sun's last rays disappeared beyond the horizon Naruto felt it. Like his spirit that had previously been chained was now free from the constrains the sun put upon it. Shaking his limbs to free them from the last straggles of fatigue he jumped to his feet. Energy now flowing through his veins.
"Alright, mission time," he said with a grin.
"Going on a mission?" asked Laxus as he walked past.
"Hai," he replied with nod.
"Want some company?"
Naruto paused and thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm fine."
"Sure, but before you go, there's probably someone you should meet," he said.
"Oh, who?"
"We got a new member today, while you were sleeping," Laxus replied.
Naruto paused for a moment. Should he… nah. He looked at Laxus and shrugged. "I'll meet them when I come back."
"You sure? Could be someone interesting," he said teasingly.
Naruto waved him off. He could here the hinting tone in Laxus's voice, but didn't care to pay it too much attention. He could meet them when he came back, easily enough. It wasn't like they'd just wonder off and join a new guild while he was gone. Besides he had too much to do or at least he would when he picked out a mission from the board. Then he had to go and do the mission. After which he could get down to some training. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed money to survive he wouldn't even bother doing missions and would just continue his training constantly. He was so close to perfecting the dragon force state he could practically taste it. Unfortunately perfection remained elusively out of his grasp.
Shrugging off his annoyance with his recent lack of progress he turned his gaze to the board scanning over the list of mission requests until one caught his attention from the corner of his eye. It was stuck right up on the left hand corner of the board in an out of the way place. Reaching up a hand he grabbed the mission and looked it over, his eyes immediately checking to the money being offered. His brows nearly jump off his head and he had to check again just to be sure.
10,000,000 Jewels is a lot of money, he thought with a raised brow. Checking the difficulty rating he nodded his head, the offering making a bit more sense. It was A-class in difficulty, which was only a step away from S-class. He was just glad the downstairs board was spelled to keep people from seeing missions considered above their abilities, otherwise there would be people getting killed off left and right.
Checking the sponsor he almost reconsidered taking the mission when he saw who it was.
The Council.
But, why send the mission out to the guilds? he thought with a frown. He knew for a fact that the Council usually used the Rune Knights to do any missions they required. He was curious now. Why would they ask a guild to do their work. It even mentioned on the request that utmost discretion would be needed. It was clearly something they didn't want well known, but it also wasn't put on the S-class board, which meant it wasn't overly difficult. In fact he considered that it might only be given A-class ranking because of the pay and the fact that it was from the Council.
Not that it really mattered. He was too interested now, he wanted to know what it was that the Council wanted kept hidden and what it had to do with the Bureau of Magical Development.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
First he had to meet the client, which was unsurprisingly the Council. Apparently they had more information to give him regarding the mission. Which was a good thing to because there wasn't much information on the request. Just that they needed help with something to do with the Bureau of Magical Development.
Knocking on the door he took the time to get a better look at his location. He'd never been there before, but the height of the Magic Council's location certainly provided a well enough view. He'd also expected the place to be a lot bigger. Not that it was small by any means. It even had its fair share of orange, a colour he was growing rather fond of. But, even if the place was big enough to crush fairy tail with only a small corner of the building he'd expected it to be so big it would only take a pillar of the place to crush Fairy Tail. Though he supposed that it was only the Fiore branch, not the main one. It was a okay looking place, though he'd probably have had better thoughts on it, if the time of day hadn't required the sun to be out and shining in his face.
He heard footsteps coming and quickly spun round to face the door.
Thinking quick he pulled his magic forth.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Tsuki no kurai sokumen," he muttered under his breathe. It was better to be safe then sorry. As far as he knew any body of great political power only spelled trouble. A glowing white magic circle appeared both above and bellow his body. A wave of first silver then black seemed to shimmer over his body before slowly fading away. His body tingled slightly at the use of magic, but he shook it off with a shrug of his shoulders.
The towering door then opened a small crack. The head of a frog like creature popping round the door. He'd been told the Magic Council employed some odd creatures, but he'd never thought they'd been telling the truth.
"Who are you?" asked the creature.
Naruto was surprised it could speak at all.
"Naruto Uzumaki a mage of Fairy Tail answering the councils recent mission request," he replied, quickly showing it the guild mark on his back. Not sure if he should give any details on the mission or if he should keep that from the servant. However, it seemed his answer had been clear enough. The frog like humanoid opened the door wide enough for Naruto to slip inside before closing it abruptly behind him.
"Follow me," he… she… it said. Leading him through the towering building.
Keeping pace with the creature Naruto did his best to keep track of where it lead him incase he needed to make a quick getaway though he hoped it didn't come to that. Feeling a nervous shiver go down his spine he steeled his nerves and hurried his pace, tapping footsteps echoing round the high ceiling hallways. After what felt like an eternity of twisting routes the humanoid finally bade him stop and he halted his steps outside another large door that curved up into a pointed arch.
"Please wait here a moment," said the creature as it entered the room, presumably to announce his presence.
Taking the time to steel his nerves Naruto, observed the area he was waiting in. Noting the almost open feel granted by the railings. It was an oddly comforting feeling. Being so high up really did remind him of home. Fiddling with a piece of shaggy hair he walked over to the railing and whistled when he looked over the edge. It was a long way down.
Hearing footsteps on the other side of the door he returned to his previous spot.
The door opened wide enough to let him through before once again closing quickly behind him. There was definitely something odd going on. Normally big doors were put there for big dramatic entrances not so that people can slip in and out with barely anyone noticing. Looking round the room he noticed no one, but a dark figure whose face was shadowed by a dark pointed hat keeping his identity hidden. Still, Naruto felt it best be safe and sent out his magical senses in case anyone was hiding undetected.
"You can stop that, I assure you we are the only ones here," said the dark figure.
Naruto's head snapped in his direction. This man was powerful. It was one thing to detect a person's magical signature, even the power they used as their main magic, but it was another thing entirely to be able to detect when someone was sending out their magical senses. Halting his actions Naruto walked closer towards the man stopping a respectable distance away giving a small bow.
"Naruto Uzumaki, a member of Fairy Tail Guild," Naruto introduced knowing it was unlikely he'd get an introduction in return, but still offering it nonetheless.
"One of Makarov's brood, eh? Hhhmmm… makes no difference. You answered the request and therefore understand the discretion we require for this mission," said the tall man.
Naruto nodded.
"I will be asking you to take a magical oath keeping what you discover a secret. You understand what that requires, do you not?"
Naruto paused for a moment, but there was no chance he was turning back. His curiosity had been piqued and while he'd heard curiosity killed the cat they'd never mention it killing the Naruto. He almost snickered at the thought it was so lame, but the seriousness of the situation kept him silent. He nodded to show his acceptance of the man's terms, "Hai."
"Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now, let me explain what you will be required to do."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Author's Note: I know you were expecting a louder noisier Fairy Tail and it eventually will end up that way. It's just that you have to be aware that most of the cast that causes all that noise isn't there yet. Got to have a little patience you know. As for the mission I hoped you noticed that this isn't a part of the normal Fairy Tail plot line. I don't want to just jump straight there - as one of my reviewers stated and I agree with - it shows a lack of originality.
As for the passage of time between his arrival and the mission think of it as round about a week plus minus a few days.
Anyway, next chapter we continue with the mission! It does in some ways tie in to the main plot futuristically, but you'll only get to see how later on. Other then that I once again request you to please review! I enjoy hearing what you have to say. It's actually helped me make several decisions along the way.
Peace out, GeekySoundCat!
Sign up to rate and review this story