Hey guys! Cross here! Here with a new chapter in Naruto's journey.

I won't say much here so let's get on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own either Fairy Tail or Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Though, I wish I did, then I could have enough money to create the Dragonslayer sword from Berserk and flaunt it off to my friends.

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A Maelstrom's Journey

Chapter 3

Bonds

Location: Natsu and Happy's House

"Nice…place you guys." Naruto replied not knowing what to say. After the trio said goodbye to Lucy, Natsu and Happy lead our blonde shinobi thorough a forest. It took some time, but they eventually reached a small clearing with a white house with a red roof. Interestingly, there were two branches sticking out from the front of the house. Leading to the house is a small dirt trail with a cat-like sign on the side that "Natsu & Happy". Though, nothing looks out of the norm to Naruto as the house just looked….normal.

"Glad you like it Naruto!" Natsu said as he walked towards the door and opened it.

"Yeah!" Happy exclaimed as he ran inside with Naruto following after the blue cat.

When Naruto went inside, he was met with a baffling sight.

"I think someone robbed you guys!" Naruto exclaimed to the cat and wizard duo.

"What do you mean Naruto?" Natsu said as he came inside the house and closed the door. "Everything is the same as we left it."

"What?"

What Naruto saw was one of the worst interiors of a house that he has ever seen. Everywhere he looked, there was just so much junk that littered the place. Littered o across the walls were multiple sheets of papers with random pictures and numbers, but Naruto could not read the letters and the symbol after the numbers. Though, Naruto probably should not judge the house too harshly as he can relate to having a messy living space.

"I wonder how everyone is doing." Naruto said to himself as Natsu walked passed him and started to rummage through the pile of junk.

How is Kakashi-sensei and Sakura handling his disappearance? Is Ichiraku doing fine? Man, he could go for some miso ramen right now. How about everyone that helped him in finding Sasuke? Did they beat the Snake's henchman? What about Ero-senin? He is trying to find him? And how about Tsunade-baachan? She's going to be so mad at him for leaving Konoha without telling her.

Naruto started slump as he thought at what Tsunade was going to do to him when he got back to Konoha. Images of a terrified Naruto hiding in his apartment with an enraged Tsunade holding the Hokage Mountain above her head angrily could be seen in Naruto's head.

"Here ya go Naruto!" Natsu said as he disrupted Naruto's current thoughts, and handed Naruto two clothes. One was made of wool and was the size of Naruto's body while the other was a large beige tarp.

"Knew we had a spare somewhere!" Natsu exclaimed as he put his bag down and started to unpack its contents.

"What am I supposed to do with this Natsu?" Naruto asked, confused on what Natsu just gave him.

"Just find a spot anywhere Naruto and just tie the tarp. If you need any help, just call out for me or Happy." Natsu exclaimed.

"Aye, Naru!"

Naruto nodded and just looked around for a spot in the messy house. He spot a good hanging point near the big tree that was growing in the house and started to prepare his hammock. Happy was just watching both Naruto and Natsu, waiting for them so they can all sleep.

As he was tying the ends of the tarp, Naruto spotted Natsu pulling a piece of paper out of his bag with the strange letters from before.

"Hey Natsu?" Naruto asked.

"What's up Naruto?" Natsu asked as he grabbed a nearby knife.

"What does that say?" Naruto asked again as Natsu froze at Naruto's words.

"Do you not know what it says Naruto?" Natsu asked while his skin started to pale.

"Yeah. In fact, there was a lot of stuff I couldn't read back Hargeon and Magnolia Town" Naruto said while wondering why Natsu started to become so stiff. Unbeknownst of Naruto, Natsu was having flashbacks to a girl with red hair yelling at him for hours as she forced him to set at a desk with multiple books open.

"Well, someone should probably teach you then." Natsu said as he became unfrozen and quickly planted a knife through the autograph Bora gave him when he was called Salamander.

"Yeah." Naruto said without a care in the world as he finished setting up his hammock and jumped into it. Luckily, Naruto seemed to tie it well as the hammock did no collapse under his weight. As Naruto prepared for the night Natsu looked back at Natsu and stared at the autograph in confusion. "What is that Natsu?" Naruto asked the pink haired adult while pointing at the autograph on the wall.

"I think his name was Mora? He gave it to me before you arrived Naruto." Natsu said while he went to his hammock.

"Mora? Ah! You mean that wimp who was posing as you!" Naruto exclaimed before becoming confused again. "Why do you have that?" Naruto asked. Why would Natsu have that? That guy was just trying to use Natsu's fame for himself and acted like an asshole to them.

"Well, it's because we first met you and Lucy when we got that paper. We want to keep that so we remember how we first met you guys." Natsu said while getting into his hammock with Happy letting out an "Aye!" before saying good night to Naruto and Natsu.

"Night you guys." Natsu said.

"Night." Naruto said. He didn't know what else to say! Natsu and Happy really seem to like him and want to treasure something that no one else would think about keeping. Do other people do that to people they like?

Naruto held up his necklace and looked at the greenish-blue gem and just stared at it in deep thought. "Did Tsunade-baachan feel the same way when she had this thing?" Naruto thought as the first time he meet the gambling addict Hokage told him that it was cursed and spat on his dreams. Why did she keep this thing if it was really cursed? Shouldn't she have just sold this thing for more money as it was apparently pretty valuable?

Naruto just stopped thinking at that point and closed his eyes for something he needed after a long day….Sleep.

Everything was peaceful at Natsu and Happy's house as all the residents became quiet and entered the realm of their dreams. Naruto though, didn't actually dream for most of the dream.

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Location: ?

Drip, drip, drip

….

Drip, drip, drip

….

"Huh?"

He stared at the empty ceiling above him as the pipes around him glowed an unusual yellow sheen. As he stood up, he felt the familiar water, but could not feel himself get wet at all. He was in a massive sewer with multiple paths that anyone can easily get lost in, but how could he? After all, this was his mind and he knew where he had to go.

Splash

As he traveled around the sewers with only the sound of the water splashing echoing in his ears. He observed the grim walls that encompassed the entirety of his mind wondering just why his mind looked like that. Many people called him dumb or idiotic, but that's not the reason why his mind looks this depressing and empty…was it? *Splash* *Splash* He took many turns until he knew he was getting closer to his destination, but something bothered him. The pipes usually stayed unnoticeable in his mind, but everywhere he went, they would be lit up with yellow lines running though them. After what felt like hours walking, Naruto finally arrived to his location and what he saw confused him.

In front of him was a massive fox with nine tails and orange fur, this was the Kyūbi. The Kyūbi easily outsized Naruto and just a look at the fox made Naruto feel like an ant compared to the behemoth in front of him. Though, something was wrong as all the glowing pipes Naruto has been seeing all over the place seemed to be at their brightest at where the beast was. Something was different with the fox as Naruto could actually see the veins of the fox glowing. The veins were glowing a yellow color, but the Kyūbi did not seem to mind it. Interestingly enough, the fox's veins were glowing the same yellow as the pipes he saw earlier. To finish it all off, the Kyūbi was behind massive bars reaching from the floor to the ceiling and in the middle of all these bars, was a paper seal with a glowing kanji. And currently staring at Naruto, was deep, slitted red eyes.

"What do you want?"growled a deep voice from the Kyūbi.

"What did you do to my chakra control!?" Naruto yelled at the fox with no fears in his eyes.

"Why should I tell you anything!?" the fox barked back at the insect in front of him. This brat has done nothing, but waste his time as he sits in this cramped cell.

"Cause if I die, you die to fox! Now what did you do to my chakra!?" Naruto yelled once again. As Naruto did this, the yellow veins in the Kyūbi flashed a bright yellow before a hand like claw shot out.

Clang

The claw did not go far as it was stopped by the metal bars containing the massive fox.

"AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Kyūbi yelled as he thrashed the bars with all his might causing Naruto to take a few steps back just in case. Luckily for Naruto, the bars held strong and did not give in and the fox was forced to give up his aggression…for now. The fox snarled and anger and backed away from the bars, never taking its eyes off of Naruto.

"Why do you even try to do that? You know stuck in here, so why don't you just help me out?" Naruto asked with a frown on his face.

"The day I help you is the day I die brat! It's because of you that I'm stuck here in the first place!" the Kyūbi roared at the pre-teen.

"How is this my fault you overgrown fur ball?!" Naruto yelled while pointing at the Nine-tailed fox. The Kyūbi suddenly started to smile in one of the most horrifying ways Naruto has ever seen.

"Would you liked to know?" the Kyūbi sinisterly said to the blonde kid. The Kyūbi's eyes widened in excitement as he bellowed, "Did you really think I would waste my time on that pathetic village of yours 13 years ago?" The Kyūbi asked but to Naruto, it didn't feel like a question. "I was finally free from my last jailor when the damned UCHIHA took my freedom away from me!" The Kyūbi roared while putting venom in the word "Uchiha".

"W-What?" Naruto asked, baffled at the Kyūbi's words. So the fox didn't just attack Konoha out of anger like everyone had told him. To be honest, no one in Konoha actually knew why the Kyūbi came out of nowhere and attacked the village 13 years ago. People just believed that they did something wrong to anger the Nine-tailed fox and it attacked them out of spite. Now here he is being told a different story and this fox used to be in someone else, and how does Sasuke's family fit in any of this!?

"I was stuck in my previous jailor for so long and when I got my first chance of freedom, HE TOOK IT AWAY FROM ME!" The Kyūbi roared at Naruto with his voice actually pushing Naruto back. "Those damned eyes of those Uchiha scum." The Kyūbi growled in a low tone. "If you want me to help you, then the next time you see that Uchiha brat, do us all a favor and KILL HIM!" the Kyūbi roared once again.

"I'm not going to kill Sasuke you psychotic fox!" Naruto yelled back. He would never kill Sasuke. After all, he would keep his promise to Sakura and he would do whatever he can to bring his teammate back. He would rather give up ramen than follow what the Kyūbi wants him to do. How could he trust this thing after all the times the fox stated he would break free and kill him!?

"Then you're a fool, just like the rest of your pathetic village." The Kyūbi said venomously. Naruto was angered at what the Kyūbi said about his village, but he needed answers. He doesn't care how the fox destroyed the village, he still destroyed it in the end and that's all that matters…right?

"At least tell me where we are." Naruto asked, but he stayed far from the cage just in case the Kyūbi decided he wanted skewered Uzumaki for dinner.

"More demands? Hmmph!" The Kyūbi grunted, but he did answer Naruto's question

"I know next to nothing of this land, but I have heard of it and the miracles this place has." The Kyūbi replied smoothly, but as he was saying this his face became still for a moment. Naruto noticed this and to his confusion, the Kyūbi seemed to me reminiscing on something.

"Oi fox!" Naruto yelled and as he was going to speak again,

"Leave…" The Kyūbi said in a low tone. "I have had enough of your ramblings brat."

"Hey!" Naruto said, but everything else Naruto tried to say just went deaf to the fox's words. Even though Naruto wanted to yell at the fox and demand for more answers, he felt that it would be pointless and he proceeded to leave the area and eventually fading away.

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6 hours later….

"*Yawn* ….Good Mornin." Naruto said as he woke up and stared at the roof of his friends' house. Though, no one responded back as Naruto began his stretches and jumped out of his hammock and started to put on his shinobi sandals.

"*Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz*" Natsu snored.

"Mmmmm, no Mr. Fish come back…..you look so tasty." Naruto did not want to know what Happy was dreaming about.

Seeing that everyone was still asleep, Naruto silently opened the door of the house and stepped outside.

It was still dark, but little hints of the sun rising in the horizon could be seen.

"Whelp, time to do my work out." Naruto thought as he began to stretch his body more before laying down on the grass and started doing some push-ups. As, Naruto was doing his morning routine, he thought back on what the Kyūbi said to him last night. "So Sasuke's family caused the fox to destroy Konoha. Did the Sharingan have the power to do that? If it did, then how did Sasuke never use it on me?" Naruto thought, before flipping his body around and proceeded to do some sit-ups. "And just what does he mean when he said previous "Jailer"? Does that mean someone else had to deal with that prick?" Naruto thought as he continued to do his morning routine with only the soft sounds of the winds and chirping of crickets accompanying him. After a while, Naruto finished his routine and went back in the house to see that Natsu and Happy were now getting up.

"Good morning Naru!" Happy said as he stretched his small body.

"Mornin Naruto." Natsu said as he jumped out of his hammock and grabbed a nearby pile of clothes so he can get dressed.

"What were you doing outside Naru?" Happy asked as he walked over towards Happy with a sleepy expression on his face.

"Just doing my work out for the morning Happy!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's neat. Natsu also does the same thing, but you got up pretty early Naru!" Happy said as he started to slap his paws on his face to wake himself up.

"Yeah, had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep ya know." Naruto said as Natsu finally changed and went outside as he told the two that he was going to warm up.

"So why do you guys live here?" Naruto asked Happy as Natsu was busy warming up his body. Naruto curious as Natsu and Happy seemed to live a little far from the guild.

"Natsu found this place after he blew up the male dorms at Fairy Hills." Happy said as Naruto looked at him in surprise.

"He blew up what!?" Naruto asked. He knew Natsu was explosive sometimes, but Naruto destroyed a build- "Wait how big was this "Fairy Hills"?" Naruto asked the blue cat.

"Aye, it was pretty big and because of what Natsu did, every male who joins Fairy Tail has to find their own place to stay." Happy said as Naruto imagined a chibi Natsu blowing fire out of his mouth with a burning mansion behind him.

"Really…" Naruto said while sweat dropping. Happy just nodded until the door to the house opened back up again.

"Alright you guys! Let's go to the guild and meet up with Lucy!" Natsu yelled as he grabbed his green back pack.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "Lucy said she se would go stop by to get some clothes first." Naruto said as he remembered his fellow blonde's conversation from last night.

"Yeah, you should get some new clothes Naru or else you'll look like a hobo!" Happy exclaimed

"Alright let's go!" Natsu said as he raced down the path outside towards Magnolia Town with Naruto easily running close behind him as Happy hung onto Naruto's head.

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Three Hours Later…..

"No Naruto, you cannot wear that!" Lucy yelled at Naruto who had an orange track suit in his hands.

"But it's so cool!" Naruto complained. Lucy said that he could pick out anything and that she could pay for it. He looked for the closest thing that was orange when they entered the shop and asked Lucy to buy it. Lucy just looked at the thing and told Naruto to put it back. This caused the two to have an argument with Natsu and Happy currently sitting at a nearby bench inside, bored out of their minds.

"Can you just get something already!?" Natsu yelled back into the store gaining the attention of a few shoppers who were previously watching the two blondes arguing.

"It's not that simple Natsu! Naruto has no taste in clothing and won't listen to what I'm trying to tell him." Lucy cried back.

"Just get him something already. We've been here for soooooooooo long and I'm booooooored." Happy cried, but he went unheard of to the two arguing blondes.

"Is everything all right with your son miss?" A worker asked Lucy shyly. This caused Lucy to freeze and look at the worker with a surprised look on her face.

"What? Naruto's not my kid!" Lucy exclaimed to the worker who started to sweat.

"Sorry miss, that boy looks a little similar to you and that man you keep talking back to angrily."

"What!?" Lucy said as she gained a blush on her face. She was way too young to have kids. Even more so have one with a guy she barley even knew. Lucy did look back at Natsu who was bored out of his mind and staring at the ceiling of the shop. The worker just left Lucy and Naruto alone and went back to their jobs, they weren't paid enough for this.

Naruto did have the spiky-like hair, but it was shaped differently and even though he was blonde, his face showed an entirely different person. "I mean neither of us have whisker marks on their face and Naruto has blue eyes!" Lucy thought as she looked back at Naruto.

"Look Naruto." Lucy said gaining Naruto's attention. "I know you want to get that….."Thing", but there are other clothes out there that I know that looks good on you. If you want me too, I'll find one that's orange, but it won't be completely orange okay?" Lucy asked with a calm tone.

"Finnnnnnnnnnnne." Naruto said as he handed back the cool tracksuit to Lucy who just put it back and started to search around the store. After about 5 minutes, Lucy came back with a pile of clothes for Naruto and asked him to at least try them on before he said anything. Naruto was confused at what Lucy said, but he just nodded and Lucy led him to a changing room.

Natsu and Happy on the other hand….

"FFFFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!" the duo daydreamed as they lost all awareness around them.

With Naruto and Lucy…..

"Thanks for the clothes Lucy" Naruto said behind a changing room's door. Lucy kept her promise as there was at least some orange in the pile that she gave him.

"No problem Naruto, but I wished this didn't take two hours to do" she said dryly. Naruto just had a sheepish look as he continued to change.

"Nobody has really done this for me before Lucy, so thanks a lot!" Naruto yelled back. Lucy gained a look of confusion on her face at Naruto's words.

"What do you mean by that Naruto? Did your parents never take you clothes shopping before?" Lucy asked.

"…."

Everything became silent as the only other sounds were conversations coming from the customers around the two.

"I….don't have any parents Lucy." Naruto said softly causing Lucy to have a pained expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry Naruto! I didn't know!" Lucy cried back.

"It's okay Lucy, I never really knew them. I always wondered who they were, but nobody told me anything." Naruto said. There was one time he remembered asking Jiji where his parents were, and all he gave him was a pained look. The look on Naruto's face made Naruto upset, but he also didn't want to see that look on the old man's face anymore, so he just stopped asking people. It bothered him a little that he never got to know about his parents, but at least he could thank the elderly Hokage for always making sure he got his allowance and would check up on him every two days. To him, the only family he had was Jiji and the workers at Ichiraku, Teuchi and Ayame.

Lucy was just lost in thought at Naruto's words. "He never knew his parents?" Lucy asked herself. "Is this why Naruto acts so immature?" Lucy questioned herself at all the times she has seen Naruto so far. When she first met him, he was having an argument with Natsu, but that quickly changed when she asked if they were okay. Then there was that time yesterday where Naruto kept calling Makarov, "Gramps" naturally and almost like he has done that before. In fact, what happened at this morning when Naruto argued about the clothes; the way he acted was like a kid arguing with a parent. "Maybe he just needs a positive influence." Lucy thought as she knocked on the changing room's door. "Are you almost done Naruto?"

"Yeah, I'm about done." Naruto said as he opened the door.

Naruto was now wearing a blue short sleeved hoodie where the sleeves reached near his elbows. The front and back of the hoodie was a deep blue while the hood and sleeves were carrot orange. Adorning Naruto's legs was a black cargo pants that went a little pass his knees. Across his right thigh was his kunai pouch and on the back of his waist was his pouch that held his various shinobi tools. Still adorning his feet was his undamaged sandals. Finally, the necklace Naruto received from Tsunade hanged proudly around the front of the hoodie.

"How does it feel Naruto?" Lucy asked.

"It feels great! Even though, there isn't a lot of orange, it looks nice." Naruto answered the smiling blonde.

"See! I told you that you could trust me! I'm an expert at this!" Lucy exclaimed proudly before she told Naruto to change back so she can buy more pairs for him and some night clothes.

"Are you sure you're okay with this Lucy?" Naruto asked the blonde as the group left the shop with Naruto carrying the clothes in plastic bags.

"Don't worry Naruto. I still have enough money on me to last me for a few weeks." Lucy said.

"Okay now! Let's go to the guild and look for new requests!" Natsu exclaimed as he prepared to run.

"Aye!" Happy cried while mimicking Natsu actions. Honestly, they were just happy to be out of the shop. They could only wait for so long; could you blame them?

"Wait you two." Lucy said as she grabbed both Natsu and Happy.

"Come one juicy!" Natsu cried only to get wacked on the head by Lucy.

"We have to put Naruto's clothes back at your place first Natsu!" Lucy said angrily.

"Fine!"

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A little while later….

Location: Fairy Tail Guild

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" Naruto thought as he and Lucy waited at a table for Natsu and Happy to pick out a request.

"Hey Naruto?" Lucy asked the pre-teen. "How do you use your abilities?" Lucy questioned. She was always curious on how Naruto was able to just create clones of himself and summon toad without using a Magic seal.

"Back where I'm from, we channel our chakra and we have to use hand signs to Jutsus. " Naruto answered. He hoped Lucy didn't ask him for an in depth explanation on what chakra was as he only learned it months ago.

"What is chakra Naruto?" Lucy asked, intrigued on the mysterious powers of the Elemental Nations.

"Crap!" Naruto thought before he started to reply to Lucy to the best answer he could make.

"I don't really know that much about chakra, but all I know is that everybody has it back at Konoha and it involves the energy of your body and spirit." Naruto said.

"Interesting." A voice said at their table, surprising both of the blondes.

"Makarov-san!" "Don't scare me like that Gramps!" both Lucy and Naruto said at the same time.

"Heh! Sorry about that." Makarov said while sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "I was nearby when I heard Naruto talk about this "Chakra" and I just couldn't help but butt in." Makarov said. "This chakra of yours sounds a lot like Ethernano kid." Makarov replied to Naruto.

"Athormano?" Naruto questioned before Lucy corrected him.

"Ethernano Naruto. It's the energy all mages have so we can use magic." Lucy said with Makarov nodding at her words.

"Yes, just like Lucy said. Ethernano powers our magic and it exists everywhere. Mages like us have a special "container" that allows us to use the Ethernano from our bodies and lets us cast spells." Makarov said with Naruto nodding his head at the old man.

"It is like chakra! Though what happens when you run out?" Naruto asked.

"We have to wait a while for our bodies to absorb the Ethernano so we can use magic again Naruto!" Makarov said. "Though I am curious about this chakra Naruto. From what you said, everyone has it, and that just baffles me!" The old man exclaimed to our blonde shinobi.

"You mean not everyone has this Aethernanu?" Naruto asked with Lucy shaking her head and correcting Naruto.

"It's Ethernano Naruto and yeah. Only 10 percent of the population can actually use magic, so hearing that everyone can use something similar to magic in your land is shocking Naruto." Lucy replied in awe.

"Huh. You learn something new every day. What if I could use magic?" Naruto thought to himself.

"Hey you guys!" Natsu yelled as he ran towards the group. "We got a good one!" he said happily before handing the request paper to Lucy.

On the paper was a picture of a creepy man and off to the side was text that explained the request.

"Shirotsume town huh? 200,000 jewels for taking a single book from the mansion of this Duke Everlue person?" Lucy said as she read the request.

"Wow! That sounds like a lot!" Naruto said with Makarov nodding along. Though, he couldn't really say anything as he doesn't know what the currency system is like in this land, but 200,000 ryo was a lot of money back at Konoha!

"I know isn't it a steal?" Natsu smugly said.

"Aye!"

"Caution." Lucy said as she continued to read the paper out loud. "He's a dirty old pervert and currently recruiting blonde-haired maids." Lucy said while going pale. Naruto also froze at Lucy's words.

"What!" Lucy yelled at the smug Natsu. "You don't really expect me to go along with this did you!?" Lucy screamed as she started to shake Natsu violently.

"What the hell Natsu!? If you think I'm coming along to be a maid. Then you're dead wrong!" Naruto yelled as he started to shake Natsu along with Lucy.

"Okay,okay, break it up you two." Makarov stated to the blondes as he jumped off the seat of the table he was on. "Let's listen to what Natsu has to say before you two shake his head off." Makarov said calmly.

Lucy and Naruto let go of Natsu and he landed on the ground with a loud Thud. After, regaining his balance, he told the group his plan.

"It's simple, Lucy will be disguised as a maid and sneak in to help me, Happy, and Naruto get in. Also, Naruto is a shinobi, so he must have a lot of experience with these types of things!" Natsu said with a grin.

"Aye! Lucy is a blonde so she will an easy time getting in and Naruto is a ninja so he can get me and Natsu to the book." Happy said while dancing happily on a nearby table.

"Ugggh. Well it is 200,000 jewels and all we have to do is sneak in and take the book." Lucy said thoughtfully.

"I'm pretty good at sneaking into places after all." Naruto replied wanting to add his own two cents in the conversation.

"Then it's decided! This will be our first mission as a team!" Natsu exclaimed as he grabbed the paper back and rushed towards Mirajane, so she could stamp it for them.

"Team?" Lucy asked

"Aye! Everyone here is an ally, but people who get along well for teams. A request that might be too hard for one person can easily solved by a team!" Happy said.

"Ah! I got it!" Lucy exclaimed. "I guess I can understand why you two wanted to form a team with us right!?" Lucy asked.

"Aye! Me and Natsu like you two!" Happy replied while closing his eyes.

"Really? That's why he wants to form a team? Well, I hope we get along better than me, Sasuke, and Sakura did in the beginning." Naruto thought. He liked Team 7, but he wasn't dumb enough to know that they did not work together that well in the beginning. Though, it does feel strange; Natsu and Happy want to form a team with him? This didn't happen back at Konoha.

"Okay you guys! Mirajane stamped the request so let's go!" Natsu yelled as Happy, Lucy, and Naruto ran with him. They could be seen running in the distance until they were just dots to the human eye.

"Heh, seeing youngsters like that just brings backs some good old times." Makarov said while he shook his head with a smile. Nobody noticed a bird fly in with a note that was meant for the Guild Master until Natsu's group left.

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Some Time Later….

"Just end my suffering!" Natsu moaned.

We can now see the group traveling in a carriage to their destination. Natsu is currently out for the count as he lies on the bench with Naruto looking at him with pity.

"Ya know? I though Natsu's magic was cool, but if that's what happens to me every time I went on some type of transportation, then I wouldn't even want to learn it." Naruto said.

"Shut it Naruto. My magic is awesome." Natsu said weakly.

"Ah!" Lucy exclaimed. How could she have forgotten!

"What is it Lucy?" Naruto asked his fellow blonde.

"I almost forgot to make a contract with the spirit back at Hargeon." Lucy said as she whipped out one of her six keys.

"What do those keys mean Lucy?" Naruto asked. Lucy had six keys on her and three of them were silver while the other three were gold.

"Each key represents a Celestial Spirit Naruto. The silver keys are ones that you often find in stores." Lucy explained as she talked about Horolgium, Crux, and Lyra. "The gold keys are the super-rare keys that open the twelve gates of the Zodiac." Lucy explained. The gold keys Lucy had were: "The Golden Bull," Taurus who Naruto saw yesterday, "The Water Bearer," Aquarius, and "The Giant Crab," Cancer.

"Mmmmm! Craaaab." Happy said while drool appeared from his mouth. Naruto and Lucy sweat dropped at this, but Lucy prepared to summon her new Celestial Spirit.

"Gate of Canis Minor, I open thee! Nicolas!" Lucy chanted as a blue magic seal appeared in front of her and out came a…snowman?

"Did you do something wrong Lucy?" Happy asked.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Lucy exclaimed. The creature had snow white skin and had two bland eyes with golden-horn like nose. The creature was also shaking nervously. Lucy didn't care as she picked up the creature and started to hug it close to her body. "How cute!" Lucy exclaimed.

"What does it do Lucy?" Naruto asked.

"Nicolas's gate doesn't take a lot of magic to open up, so they're really popular as pets!" Lucy exclaimed causing Naruto and Happy to sweat drop.

"I don't think the toads would ever let me do that." Naruto though as he imagined himself walking Gamabunta around Konoha with a leash around the chief toad.

Lucy put the creature down and started ask it questions.

"Why are you asking it days of the week Lucy?" Naruto asked.

"It's a part of the contract I make with these spirits. It's crucial to Celestial mages as we work by contracts. Promises are everything to us because of that, I will never break a promise." Lucy explained. "I think I will name him Plue!" Lucy said as she picked up the now named Plue.

Naruto just thought for a moment before a look of a surprise appeared on his face.

"Crap! I have to summon Pa today!" Naruto exclaimed as his body was engulfed in a familiar chakra.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as a seal appeared on the floor of the carriage and out came a familiar old toad.

"Nice to see you again ki- what is that?" Fukasaku asked as he pointed at Plue.

"It's Lucy's summon Pa, but you asked me to summon you today and I want to know why?" Naruto asked the old toad holding a scroll.

"Yes, I came to tell you that Jiraiya and Tsunade are aware of your location and they tasked me to give this to you." Fukasaku said as he gave Naruto the scroll in his hand. Naruto grabbed it and opened its contents:

Hey brat,

He can already know who wrote this.

You scared a lot of people in Konoha and sent everybody in frenzy. Luckily, Fukasaku was able to tell us where you are.

He made people worry?

Jiraiya is trying his best to learn about how to cross the fog so just hold on for us ok? I hope your safe Naruto, we don't know what it's like over there so keep safe. Me and Jiraiya are going to keep researching into this so you'll probably hear from us soon.

Stay safe

Tsunade

"If you need to send a message or item to them, just summon one of us and we'll be fine in helping you kid." Fukasaku replied before he dispelled himself.

"What does the scroll say Naru?" Happy asked as he looked over at the scroll, but couldn't read it.

"Just someone important to me just telling me that they're doing fine and hope I stay safe too." Naruto said.

"It's strange that it's written in a dying language though Naruto." Lucy said

"What'd you mean Lucy?"

"That language is never really used anymore, but it is still taught in Earthland. Apparently it existed a long time ago, but it was only preserved as a marker in history." Lucy answered.

"Huh, it's the main language back at the Elemental Nation, but at least it exists here too." Naruto said as he put the scroll in Natsu's backpack.

The rest of the ride went smoothly as the group arrived at their destination.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Location: Shirotsume Town

"I'm never going on a carriage again." Natsu said.

"You say that everytime." Happy said.

"Let's just get some food." Natsu said with a tired face.

"Why don't you just eat your own fire Natsu?" Lucy asked. This made sense as Natsu was able to eat fire, so why not eat his own fire to satisfy his hunger?

"You're really cold-hearted, you know?" Natsu said.

"What's wrong with that Natsu?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"It's like asking to eat Plue or that cow Lucy has." Natsu said while horrifying Lucy with the imagery he gave her.

"Then how about we go there?" Naruto asked while he pointed at a nearby building filled with people eating and drinking while servers tended them.

"You guys go on ahead I have something I need to do." Lucy said as she left the group.

"This sucks, at least Naru is still here. We can still enjoy a meal together!" Happy said.

Some Time Later (Again)….

"You guys sure do eat a lot don't you?" Naruto asked Happy and Natsu as they had bowls and plates filled with various types of meat and sushi with Naruto having a simple slice of beef.

"Yeah, nothing is better than eating before a mission!" Natsu exclaimed with Happy agreeing with him.

While the trio were eating their food a voice called them out. "Hey you guys!"

The trio looked towards the voice of the sound and saw Lucy dressed up in a maids outfit while her hair was in pigtails.

"Lucy?" the group asked.

"How do I look?" Lucy said as she did a twirl while checking herself out.

"Perfect!" Natsu and Happy exclaimed. "That perv won't know what hit him!" Natsu said.

"Looks great Lucy." Naruto said with a smile. Seems that they got the disguise, and now it's time to meet their client.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

15 Minutes Later….

The whole group was brought into a mansion by a woman wearing a pink dress and lead them to a room where an aged man with pink skin, gray hair and a small mustache wearing a green tuxedo was sitting on a couch.

"Welcome! Please have a seat!" The man said as he beckoned the group to sit to the couch opposite of him.

Once they were all seated the man introduced himself.

"Hello you all! I am your client, Kaby Melon."

"Melon!?" Happy exclaimed.

"What a tasty name!" Natsu replied while drooling.

"Knock it off you two!" Lucy said but the man just laughed it off.

"It's alright. I get that all the time." The man said as he waved off Natsu's rude comment.

"I feel like I've heard that name before." Lucy thought.

"So all we have to do is steal a book?" Naruto asked.

"Actually, I want you destroy the book. It's called Daybreak and I don't care what happens when you get the book. Rip it, burn it, or disintegrate. I don't care how you go about." Kaby told the group.

"If you want us to burn it then why don't I just light up the whole mansion?" Natsu replied with while lighting one of his fingers on fire to prove his point.

"Then we'll be thrown in jail Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed. "Though I do want to know the reason why you want us to destroy the book." She said.

"Maybe it has something embarrassing about him?" Naruto said.

"It doesn't matter you guys. We'll get 200,000 jewels!" Natsu exclaimed.

"No, it's actually 2,000,000." Kaby said.

"WHAT!?" the whole group yelled.

"Think of all the food we can buy!?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Aye! Sooooo much fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!" Happy cried out while drooling.

"2 m-million!" Lucy said not being able to comprehend the reward money.

"What are we gonna do with all that money!?" Naruto asked with confusion plastered all over his face.

"Didn't you guys know?" Kaby asked. "I want to destroy that book no matter what. I don't care about money. I just want to see that book destroyed." Kaby said while looking to the ground.

"Then lots not wait any longer!" Natsu yelled as he grabbed Naruto and Lucy and ran out of the mansion with Happy flying behind him.

"Daybreak…. It is a book that must be destroyed from this world." Kabby said while closing his eyes and the woman in the pink dress looking at him worryingly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Location: Duke Everlue's Residence

"I've come because I heard you're recruiting maids!" Lucy exclaimed at the gate leading to a pink mansion.

"Get in, get the old perverted man's attention, destroy the book, and get the 2,000,00." Lucy repeated in her mind. This was a lot scarier than she thought it would be. She looked behind her with Natsu and Naruto giving her the thumbs up with Happy grinning at her. "Remember, it's for the money." Lucy thought.

All of a sudden the ground broke around her as a large shadow jumped out of the ground and landed in front of Lucy.

THUD

Standing in front of Lucy was a gigantic maid with pink hair. She had a gorilla like face and was currently looking at Lucy as if she was judging her.

"She's huge!" Lucy, Happy, and Natsu thought with shock on their faces.

"MY EYES! WHAT ABOMINATION IS THIS AND HOW CAN I GET RID OF IT!" Naruto screamed in his head as he closed his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the image of the gigantic maid, but kept failing to do so.

Unbeknownst to anyone…..

"BY MY ALLMIGHTY FATHER! WHAT IS THAT THING!?" A certain nine tailed fox yelled.

…..

"A maid recruit?" the giant said.

"Yes!" Lucy cried out.

"It seems that you came because of the advertisement our Master placed for maids." The maid said in a monotone voice.

BOOM

"AYAYA! Did you call for me?" a short grinning, rotund man with a small tuft of brown hair and mustache coming out of his nose. The man also wore a black tuxedo with a rose on the left side of his chest and a gigantic gold button on the center of his stomach. Interestingly, the man seemed to have come from the ground too. "Let's see here." The man said as he looked at Lucy.

…

"Nah. Go home, ugly." The man said with a disgusted look while turning his back towards Lucy. An imaginary arrow pierced itself through Lucy as she was not able to comprehend what the man just said.

"WHAT!" Natsu, Happy, and Naruto said as the gorilla of a maid just picked up Lucy.

"That's that. Go home ugly." The maid said

"Urggh!" Another imaginary arrow pierced Lucy right at that moment.

"Don't you understand" the man said as he looked back at Lucy. "For a person as magnificent as myself….."

CRASH

More maids appeared from the ground. Shocking the trio hiding in the trees.

"Only beautiful girls will do!" the man said while twirling his mustasche.

"PFFT!" the hidden trio spit take. Those ladies did not look beautiful at all!

"What the hell?" Naruto asked. He thought Lucy would pass the part and they would be able to get in with no problem. He knew he got stronger, but he doesn't exactly know how much stronger he got, and he's pretty sure he doesn't want to have to test it out on the gorilla maid.

"Oh Master….."

"You're so wonderful….."

"Master you're so cool…"

"Ugly, go home now, 'kay?"

Lucy's shocked face just froze even more at those words.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well so much for sex appeal." Natsu said disappointingly while Lucy sat next to a tree and started to draw circles in the ground.

"To be fair. His taste in woman is something none of us would have expected." Naruto said while shuddering at the memory of the giant maid.

"That's just excuses." Happy said plainly causing Lucy to cry.

"Then it's time for plan T!" Natsu exclaimed with Lucy and Naruto looking at him I confusion.

"It stands for trash the place!" Happy said.

"Wait, maybe Naruto can get us through or-"Lucy tried to say before she was cut off.

"I don't know if I can Lucy." Naruto said with a hand on his chin. "I can make a few Kage Bushin, but if we wanted to sneak in, I would need to know where I was going to let us through and I need more info on where the book is if I want to get it silently." Naruto replied.

"How do you know this stuff Naru?" Happy asked the blonde pre-teen.

"I pulled off so many awesome pranks. I even painted a mountain once and nobody saw me until the morning!" Naruto exclaimed while grinning.

"Woah! Great job Naruto!" Natsu exclaimed excitingly with Happy crying out in agreement.

"I don't think that's something you should be proud of Naruto." Lucy thought.

Unbeknownst to the group, there was a small crystal orb hanging from one of the trees in hidden view.

Back at the Mansion

"So more of those foolish mages showed up." Everlue said as two shadowy figures were besides him and in front of him was a crystal orb. "Haven't they already learned their lesson?"

The orb closed in on Lucy's guild mark and Everlue let out a chuckle. "So they're from Fairy Tail this time?" Everlue said while letting out a large creepy smile.

Back at the Front Gate

"Can I do this Natsu? I want to test my strength?" Naruto asked the pink haired mage.

"No problem Naruto. Be my guest!" Natsu said while grinning. He wanted to see how strong Naruto actually he was. For a 12 year old, he is actually pretty strong and Natsu wants to envy him, but he has grown to like Naruto so much too actually care.

"Are you sure about this?" Lucy asked. She wasn't doubting the plan, but she didn't really know how strong Naruto really was.

"My, my, Loogie. Already giving up on your team." Happy said causing Lucy to gain a tick mark.

"Dorya!" Naruto shouted as he punched the huge metal gate.

BAM!

CRASH!

The gate flew off its hinges like a golf ball being hit by a golf club and became embedded to the ground.

Naruto looked at his fist in awe as Natsu ruffled his hair.

"Good job Naruto!" Natsu said to the pre-teen.

"Woah!" Lucy and Happy said.

"Okay you guys let's go!" Natsu shouted as he ran towards the mansion and kicked down the doors. Happy flew in with his wings while Naruto ran after him while holding to Lucy who yelped at the sudden increase in speed.

BAM

"Alright asshole where's the book!?" Natsu yelled to the empty front entrance.

As the group went into the mansion a bulge appeared from the ground until…

BOOM

The five maids the group saw earlier jumped from the ground with four of them holding bo staffs and the last was the gorilla maid who seemed un armed.

"Intruders!" the four maids shouted.

"Get them!" the gorilla said.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as three clones appeared besides him. He was actually trying to summon five clones, but he can work with three for now.

The clones and Naruto jumped into the air at blurring speeds and knocked four maids into the walls and knocking them out of the fight.

"Flying Virgo Attack!" the gorilla said as she leapt into the air and starting coming down fast towards the ground.

"Move!" Natsu yelled as he grabbed Lucy and jumped out of the way with Happy flying out of the way.

CRASH!

The maid slammed into the ground with a mighty force as cracks started to appear from the ground.

"Take this!" Natsu exclaimed as he drop kicked the maid with a flaming kick. The maid was sent flying into the wall and stopped moving.

"Okay guys let's go!" Natsu yelled as he opened a door.

"Do you know where we're going Natsu!?" Naruto yelled, as him and his clones ran besides Natsu with Happy flying above them and Lucy running behind the group.

"Not really, but we were going to do this anyways!" Natsu said as he opened some more doors.

It took them a while as they searched around the mansion. There were some room that stood out, like a room filled with old artifacts that had medieval armor stored in glass cases, another room was just filled with gold, but it was the bathroom and the toilet was made out of solid gold with the Duke's face at the end of the toilet.

"I wouldn't use that even if it was the last toilet on the planet!" Naruto yelled with the group nodding their heads in agreement.

It took some time, but they did eventually find a room filled to the brim with books.

"Woah! Look at all these books!" Naruto yelled as he looked around the massive room with his clones following his actions.

"I never would have thought that the Duke is this much of a reader." Lucy said as she looked at the amount of books in amazement.

"Do we have to look through all of these books?" Naruto asked out loud.

"Well, there is only one way to find it!" Natsu said in excitement.

"Let's search!" Happy cried out.

The group started to search around, but Naruto came a sudden realization very quickly.

"Guys, I forgot that I can't read this language." Naruto said sheepishly with his clones also becoming sheepish.

"It's alright Naruto just grab anything that catches your eyes." Lucy said kindly towards Naruto and his clones. While this might have been a problem if Naruto did sneak in by himself, but luckily there were three people here to help him and Lucy wasn't going to be mad at something Naruto couldn't have fixed in just a few days.

"All right!" Naruto and his clones yelled.

5 Minutes Later….

A large pile of book were now in the center of the room with Naruto and his clones just grabbing ones that had pictures that looked awesome to them.

Natsu and Happy were looking in on section, but they just seemed distracted."

"How much porn does this guy have!?" Natsu yelled as every book he seemed to pull out was just littered with pornographic literature.

"I found one on fish!" Happy said excitingly to Natsu.

"Take this seriously you two!" Lucy yelled at the cat and mage.

One of the clones spotted a book that was a different color than the other books.

"Oi!" the clone said getting everyone's attention. "There's one book that's gold!"

"What?" Lucy asked as she walked towards the clone and retrieved the book the clone was talking about.

"This is it you guys!" Lucy exclaimed. The book was in fact a golden color and had the title Daybreak on the front in blue letters. In the middle of the book was a picture of a sun setting, but something else caught Lucy's eyes.

"Woah! This is written by Kemu Zaleon!" Lucy exclaimed while the others tilted their heads in confusion.

"Kemu?" Natsu asked.

"He's a wizard who was also a novelist!" Lucy exclaimed before she hugged the book closer to her. "I'm a huge fan of his works!" She said while aweing at the book. "I thought I read every book he wrote, but maybe this is an unpublished work?"

"That's good and all, but let's go ahead and burn it!" Natsu said igniting a flame in his hand.

"What are you talking about? This is important cultural heritage!" Lucy said.

"You're abandoning the mission." Happy said in a monotone voice.

"I'll grab the book." Naruto said as the group started to close in on Lucy who was backing away.

"I see, I see." A voice called out to the group gaining everyone's attention.

BOOM!

Everlue shot out of the ground and landed in front of the group.

"So you intruders are after Daybreak are you?" the portly man said.

"How do you guys keep jumping out of the ground!?" Naruto asked out loud.

"It's my magnificent ma-*BAM!* Oof!" Everlue was saying before Naruto socked him in the gut. Sending the portly man flying.

"Naruto!" Lucy yelled out surprised at Naruto's sudden attack.

"Come on! Let's destroy the book!" Naruto yelled back at the group.

"At least let me read it first!" Lucy yelled as she sat down and opened up the book.

"Right now!?" the group yelled.

"Vanish Brothers!" the rotund man yelled.

Rumble….

Two bookcases parted ways as an entranced was revealed with two men stepping out. One was taller than the other. The tall one wore a blue and yellow jacket with light blue pants and brown shoes. The tall man has an orange headband around his head with his dark blue hair being separated into four spikes. The other man was smaller, but he had white high-collared coat with black pants and sandals adorning his feet. This man has his hair styled in a ponytail and had four red kanji on his face representing "up", "down", "left", and "right". Behind the shorter man was a…..Frying pan?

"What are they going to do to us? Make us some breakfast!?" Naruto mocked at the two men.

"What did you say brat!?" yelled the taller brother.

"Ah!" Happy exclaimed gaining everyone's attention. "That mark! They're from a mercenary's guild called the "South Wolves"!" Happy yelled.

"So you hired back up." Natsu said while cracking his knuckles. Naruto got into a brawler's stance as his clones followed his leads.

"Attack them now!" Everlue yelled at the brothers.

"Buy me some time you guys!" Lucy called out. "This contains something that I got to solve." Lucy said as she ran out the doors.

"Why did she do that? Is there something about that book I haven't discovered?" Everlue thought before he started to sink in the ground.

"Oh no you do-!" Naruto said as he and his clones rushed towards the sinking Everlue until a metal pan knocked him and his clones away.

POOOF

"Keep them busy for now. I'll go after the girl."

"Are you okay Naruto!?" Natsu yelled as he ran towards Naruto to help him up.

"I'm fine, but we need to get that old perv before he gets Lucy!" Naruto shouted back.

"You two are going nowhere." The shorter of the two men said as he aimed his frying pan at them.

"Go after Lucy Happy!" Natsu said to his best friend who nodded and quickly flew out while dodging the multiple grabs coming the two men.

"Drats! One got away." The tall man said.

"Don't worry brother." The shorter one said in a calm tone. "We'll chase after them after we defeat these two." He said while getting into a stance. "Come at us you two!" He yelled.

"All right!" Natsu yelled as he lit his hands on fire.

"I'll get the big one Natsu!" Naruto yelled as he rushed towards the tall man and leapt to punch him. The tall man quickly doged to the side, but was caught in Natsu's line of fire until a metal pan blocked his attack.

CLANG! (A/N: I'm getting Berserk 2016 flash backs as I'm writing this.)

"I'm sorry to say this, but the two of us are prepared for fire mages and we already know what you're going to do brat, your way to predictable!" the shorter man said while the taller man jumped up and delivered a mighty axe kick to the two Fairy Tail Members. Naruto and Natsu jumped to the sides as the kick hit the area they were previously in.

CRASH!

The floor cracked as bits of stone flew in the air from the impact.

"I'm too predictable!? I'll show them!" Naruto thought as he landed on the floor only. Not noticing a giant metal pan was behind him.

CLANG!

"AAHHH!" Naruto yelled as he was launched through the doors and into an open area with a giant Everlue statue.

Natsu rushed at the tall man with a lit fist, but the man dropped down below and kicked Natsu back towards the same doors Naruto was sent through.

"That stupid pan!" Naruto gritted out as he stood back up on the floor to see Natsu sent flying out of the same room, only to land on the Everlue Statue.

"So I can't get close to them. What can I do?" Naruto thought to himself as he saw the two men come out.

"You two might be from Fairy Tail, but in the end you're just mages. You two are no match for professional fighter like us mercenaries." The tall brother said.

"Grrr…" Naruto growled out loud. He did not like to be made fun of. Espescially on people looking down on him!

Naruto channeled chakra through his hands, preparing for another strike when he felt something strange.

"Is that all you two got!?" Natsu mocked the two men with the tall one gaining tick marks on his face.

"They're mocking us brother!" the tall one exclaimed.

While Natsu was arguing with the two brothers…

"What is this?" Naruto said as he felt something around his right arm. It wasn't the usual feeling of chakra. It felt like a foreign energy coming from the air around his right arm. It felt like it was going into his arm and powering something he never knew he had.

Naruto's right arm began to glow softly as the energy Naruto felt from before start to burst out of his arm. It was almost like it wanted him to just let it all out!

A red and yellow magic seal formed from Naruto's right arm in the shape of a swirl and something shot out.

BOOM

The brothers stopped yelling at Natsu as soon as they saw Naruto and prepared for another attack until something shot at them.

"Brother!" the taller man yelled to his brother as he saw the shorter man sail past him towards a wall and dropping his metal pan on the ground.

CLANG!

CRASH

"Woah Naruto! When did you learn magic!?" Natsu yelled back as he saw Naruto's attack.

Outstretched towards the second floor was a familiar ethereal red claw that Naruto recognized, but the color was a bit lighter than usual and it had glowing yellow veins inside the claw.

"I don't know Natsu!" Naruto yelled back as the claw stretched back towards Naruto and hovered over his right arm protectively.

"You'll pay for that!" the tall man said as he leapt towards Naruto out of anger.

"Not on my watch!" Natsu yelled as he quickly drop kicked the man with his fire infused leg into the ground.

CRASH

"Aww man! The fight's over all ready ?" Natsu said disappointed. Those two were two weak. They barley caused any damage to him and Naruto got out without a single scratch. Speaking of Naruto…

"Woah." Naruto said as he inspected the ethereal appendage. The seal where the arm was coming out of was hovering over his right shoulder, but he felt that he could move the seal around his whole body. As he did this. The arm started flying in many directions around Naruto as he moved the seal to his other appendages and it even shot out of his chest!

"Having fun Naruto?" Natsu asked while grinning at Naruto's new magic.

"You bet Natsu! Never thought I could use magic!" Naruto exclaimed with stars in his eyes and fists in a pumped up motions. Funnily enough, the claw seemed to repeat Naruto's actions as it closed its fingers into a fist motion.

"What can it do Naruto?" Natsu asked.

"I….I don't really know. I guess we got to test it out." Naruto said while grinning sheepishly. So far, he is liking this new thing. The best part about it was that he could barely feel his reserves drop as he had the claw out.

"That's fine. Now come on! Happy and Lucy are waiting for us!" Natsu exclaimed as Naruto nodded with him and they both went back into the library to go through the door Lucy went through earlier while not noticing a familiar pink haired maid following them.

Meanwhile….

We now see Lucy in a sewer like place reading Daybreak with red glasses on her face. She seemed to be flying through the pages as a blue magic seal was in front of her face with small ethereal letters flying from the book.

The glasses Lucy was wearing are called Wind-Reader glasses. These glasses are a magic item that allows the user to read books at extremely quickly!

"I can't believe this book contains such a secret." Lucy thought to herself quietly. There was more to this book than it looked and the more she read it, she felt that she couldn't let this book go back to Everlue or let it be destroyed.

BOOM

A hand shot out of the wall grabbing Lucy's hands. From the hole appeared Everlue with a creepy smile on his face.

"What did you find? Tell, me the secret to my book!" Everlue said with a sinister smile on his face.

"You're the worst! You are an enemy of literature!" Lucy exclaimed as she struggled to get out of Everlue's hold.

"An enemy of literature?" Everlue said. "A sophisticated, culture individual such as me, myself and I?" Everlue said with disdain in his voice.

"Any person who is happy to have a freaky collection of maids isn't cultured!" Lucy exclaimed.

"There is nothing to of my beautiful blonde maids!" Everlue yelled back while grabbing onto Lucy's arms harder causing her to cry out in pain. "Is it a treasure map? A spot to hide valuables? What kind of secrets does this book have!? Tell Me!" the portly man commanded. "If you don't, then I'll snap your arms in two!" He yelled.

*BLEEEEGH*

Lucy just stuck her tongue out to mock the man. He doesn't deserve to have this book at all!

This caused the Duke to put more pressure onto the Lucy and shoving her to the ground.

"I guess this girly doesn't recognize the situation she's in!" Everlue said gleefully. "I got Kemu Zaleon himself to write that book for me! Therefore, any secret in that book is mine!" he exclaimed.

BAM

Since Everlue was so fixated on the book in front of him. He never noticed a flying Happy drop kick him in the face sending him off of Lucy.

"Happy!" Lucy cried out in joy "Nice one!" she yelled until Happy's wings disappeared and he fell into the sewer waters.

"Why you…What's up with this cat!?" Everlue yelled as he got back on his two legs.

"I'm Happy." Happy gargled out of the water with a portion of his head still above the sewer water.

"Anyways, just get back up here." Lucy said to Happy.

"The water feels nice." Happy said as he started to float away from the two.

"That's sewer water Happy." Lucy said as she put a hand in her face before she grabbed one of her golden keys and pointed it at Everlue. "Looks like the tables have turned." She said as Everlue looked at her golden key in interest. "If you let me have this book, I'll consider forgiving you. Though I really want to smack you for earlier!" Lucy threatened.

"A Celestial mage?" Evelue said as he took a step back from Lucy. "For a bookworm, you sure misuse language!" Everlue said. ""The tables have turned" would imply you have the upper hand!" he rambled. "But having a stupid cat isn't going to make you able to defeat my Diver magic!" Everlue yelled as a gold magic appeared behind his back. Everlue started to chuckle before he dug himself into the ground.

"So that was magic?" Happy asked as he was finally out of the sewer water. "And that means Everlue is a mage?" Happy questioned as he and Lucy looked around for Everlue.

Drilling noises could be heard all around the open space Lucy and Happy was in.

CRASH

Everlue shot out of the ground making a reach for the book, but Lucy dodged Everlue as he went back into a wall. Only to shoot out again causing Lucy o be dodging at every moment. Everlue would not relent.

"It's written in this book!" Lucy yelled at the portly duke. "It's a horrible adventure story with you as the main character, Everlue!" Lucy exclaimed with hate in her voice.

"It's great that I'm the main character. But the story is crap!" Everlue said as he went into the ground again. Everlue kept using his magic to fly all over the place; shooting out of the floors and walls at high speeds. "For Kemu Zaleon, of all people, to write such rubbish!" Everlue yelled as he flew all over the place until he came up from the ground behind Lucy, "It is such a disgrace!" He yelled as he attempted to grab the book again, but Lucy dodged out of the way again.

"You forced him to write it! How conceited can you get!?" Lucy yelled out to the man as he drilled himself into the ceiling.

"Concieted? I'm a great man!" Everlue voice replied back to Lucy, but she could not pinpoint his location. He kept attacking her at a fast rate. Everlue seemed to always make sure that Lucy had no breathing room, or allow her to summon any of her Celestial Spirits. "It's an honor for someone to write my book!" Everlue said in an unknown location.

"You blackmailed him!" Lucy cried out and Everlue shot out of the wall behind her.

"Blackmail? What about it?" he said with a grinning face. "It was his own fault for refusing me in the first place!" Everlue said.

"What do you mean?" Lucy said with a questioning look on her face.

Everlue just started swimming on the ground as his magic parted the stone in front of him as if it were just clay. "I told him to write a book where I was the main character, but that idiot refused!" Everlue said with glee. "So I told him to either write the book, or I'll revoke the citizenship for your entire family!" Everlue stated.

"Eh! If you did that, they wouldn't be able to join the merchant of the craftsman guilds!" Happy exclaimed in shock. "Is the Count really that powerful?!" Happy questioned aloud.

Lucy was baffled at just what this person has done.

"I told you that I'm a great man!" Everlue said as he dived out of the ground once again causing Happy and Lucy to move out of the way. "And in the end, he wrote it!" Everlue yelled happily. "But I was annoyed with his first refusal, so I made him write it in a prison!" he said.

Every time this man talked, it made Lucy more hateful at the man in front of her.

""I'm an author!" he said. "A master craftsman!" But broke that pride and haughty attitude of his!" Everlue yelled out as he spun himself and turned into a living cannon ball that attacked Lucy and Happy at high-speeds!
"How dare you do such things to satisfy your own desires?!" Lucy yelled at the horrible man. "You put him in prison for three years! Do you know how he felt!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"T-Three years!?" Happy cried out.

"Perhaps he noticed how truly great I was?" Everlue said as he shot out of the ground.

"No! He was fighting that pride of yours!" Lucy said angrily. "If he didn't write it, then his family would be in trouble. But he couldn't allow himself, as an author, write you as the main character!" She yelled.

"How do you know this you pest?" Everlue shouted in anger.

"It's all in this book." Lucy exclaimed as she held up Daybreak

"Really? I read the book as well. Kemu Zaleon never appears in it." Everlue said angrily.

"It's true that if you read it normally, it's a work that would make any fan cry!" Lucy explained. "But you should know that Kemu Zaleon was originally a wizard!" Lucy said

"Could he have…." Everlue started, but was cut off by Lucy.

"He used all of his remaining strength, and cast a spell on the book." Lucy proclaimed.

"Hehehe. So that was his scheme! When the spell ran out, it'd turn into a book defaming me?" Everlue asked.

"He left something in this book, so that he can hide it from you." Lucy said "That's why I will never let you have it!" Lucy proclaimed as she grabbed one of her gold keys and summoned a Celestial spirit.

"Drat!" Everlue spat. He shouldn't have stopped to listen!

"Gate of the Giant Crab, I open thee!" Lucy shouted as a blue magic seal appeared in front of her. "Cancer!"

Appearing from the seal was a human man with crab legs coming from his back and his hair was styled as a crab's pincers. He wore a blue striped shirt and dark trousers and had a golden chain around his neck with a gold ring belt coming out of his right pocket. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses with green lenses and in his hands were two scissors.

"It's a crab!" Happy exclaimed with stars in his eyes. Happy started dancing while drooling and kept saying random things that involved crabs.

"If you don't shut it he'll pinch your paws." Lucy told the dancing cat.

"Lucy, how would you like your hair done today….-ebi!" Cancer said smoothly.

"Shrimp!?" Happy cried out.

"Pay attention! We're in battle!" Lucy exclaimed to the cat. "Beat up that old man!" Lucy said while pointing to the now sweating Everlue.

"Okay-ebi." Cancer said smoothly.

"The real secret? Could it be he wrote down the illegal underbelly of my various business enterprises? I have to get the book back before this ugly girl reveals my secrets!" Everlue thought as he grabbed a golden key.

Before anyone could do anything, Everlue started chanting:

"Gate of the Maiden, I open thee!" Everlue shouted as a purple magic seal appeared in front of him. "Virgo!"

BAM

"You rang master?" came the deep voice from the gorilla maid.

"Virgo, get that book!" "Everlue shouted, but he noticed something that shocked him.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?" Naruto yelled as he was holding onto Virgo's left arm with the ethereal claw around her neck.

Natsu was holding onto Virgo's back with a confused expression on his face.

"Why are they with Virgo!?" Everlue demanded.

"How did you two…" Lucy began."
"There you guys are!" Natsu began. "Me and Naruto were searching for you guys when she-" Natsu pointed at Virgo, "…grabbed us."

"I don't know what happened next though." Natsu ended.

"Wait, she grabbed them. Does that mean they came through the Spirit world with her!?" Lucy thought to herself. "That's unbelievable!" Lucy exclaimed.

Virgo started to try and grab Natsu off of her while also trying to get the ethereal claw off of her neck.

"What should we do!?" Naruto yelled as he pushed off of Virgo's arm. Naruto did not realize at that time, but as he leapt off of Virgo, the ethereal claw did not do the same as it pulled itself towards Naruto, bringing Virgo and Natsu down to the ground.

"Good job Naruto! Now get this man!" Lucy exclaimed as she pointed towards Everlue.

"Wait. They think I did that on purpos? ….They must never know." Naruto thought to himself as he launched the claw towards the rotund man

"Virgo!" Everlue cried until a red claw wrapped around his right arm.

"Got him Lucy!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I got the maid!" Natsu said as he prepared his magic and puffed up his cheeks.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

A jet of flames flew towards the downed Virgo and launched her away from the group.

"Bring him here –ebi" Cancer said.

"You got it Crab man!" Naruto said as he flung Everlue towards the celestial spirit.

"You don't deserve anything after all this!" Lucy yelled as Cancer sliced at Everlue with a flurry of slices.

SHHIIING

"Sir, what do you think of this look-ebi?" Cancer asked the downed, now bald and mustache-less, Everlue.

"Nice one crab! Wait, ebi?" Natsu asked as he leaned on the downed Virgo.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

The sewers were shaking as the ceiling collapsed on everyone, but miraculously….nothing hit them as the mansion fell down around them.

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Location: Outside the Crumbling Mansion

Lucy and Naruto looked at the destroyed mansion in shock as it crumbled right in front of their eyes.

"Nice and flashy, you guys!" Natsu said while grinning. "You two made us Fairy Tail mages proud!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Aye! But we ended up destroying things again." Happy replied.

….

Naruto was speechless while Lucy just questioned if the falling building in front of her was her fault. The claw Naruto had earlier now disappeared as if it was never even there.

No one noticed Virgo carrying Everlue out of the mansion.

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Some Time Later….

The group was now back at Kaby's home as they explained what happened and showed Daybreak to him.

"The composition and style of this book is awful. There was no way I could have imagined it be written by Kemu Zaleon."Lucy said while handing the book to Kaby.

"What it is the meaning of this?" Kaby asked as he looked at the book in disdain. "I'm quite sure I asked you to destroy it." He told the group.

"Destroying it is simple. You should be able to do it yourself " Lucy said

"Then I'll eliminate it!" Kaby said angrily. "I don't want to look at it!" he said.

I understand why you don't want to see this book. You want to protect your father's honor, don't you?" Lucy asked Kaby. "You're Kemu Zaleon's son, aren't you?" she asked.

"Why do you know that?" Kaby asked.

"Have you read this book?" Lucy asked without answering Kaby's question.

"No, I have not. I can't bring myself to read it." Kaby replied. "It's trash. My father said so." Kaby said with a sullen look on his face.

"So that's why you want us to destroy it!?" Natsu yelled

"Yes." Kaby said simply.

Natsu ran towards Kaby and lifted him in the air.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled. With Naruto prying Natsu away from the aged man.

"You want to burn it because it's trash!? Isn't that going too far, man!?" Natsu yelled as he tried to break free from Naruto's grip.

"Stop it Natsu!" Lucy yelled. "He's doing it to protect his father's honor!" she exclaimed.

Kaby just nodded and told what happened after his father wrote the book.

"31 years ago…. He finally came back home after being gone for 3 years." Kaby stated. "It was the angriest that I have ever seen him and the first thing he does is chop his arm off."

"What!?" Naruto, Lucy, Happy, and Natsu yelped in shock.

"He was angered after writing Daybreak and it broke him. That day…. I said some things I would regret." Kaby said with a shaky voice. "I yelled at him for disappearing for three years. My whole family was worried and it turned out he disappeared for three years just to write a book he calls rubbish! He told me that he did it for me, but I was too consumed on hatred at the time." Kaby exclaimed with tears coming out of his eyes. "He died later that year and over time; and I hated him, even after he died." Kaby said quietly. The woman in the pink dress from earlier looked at him worryingly. Natsu stopped trying to get out of Naruto's arms as Naruto just looked at the old man with a sad look. "Though over the years, my hate changed to remorse and I cannot apologize to my father anymore." Kaby said as the woman started to hug him.

"So I felt the least I can do for my father was destroy this last, worst book of his." Kaby said while he grabbed a match.

"You don't have to do that." Lucy said as she stopped the aged man.

"Why?" Kaby asked.

"Look at the book right now." Lucy said.

Kaby looked at the book and the book started to glow.

"What?" Kaby said out loud as a magic seal appeared in thin air above the book.

"Your father was a mage Kaby and his real name was Zekua Melon." Lucy said as the title of Daybreak started to change and a new title appeared on the book.

"Dear Kaby?" Kaby said slowly.

"That's right. He wrote that book for his beloved son, Kaby!" Lucy exclaimed. "He casted a spell that changed the entire letters of the book!" Lucy stated as the book's pages started turning at a rapid pace until golden words shot out of the book.

Natsu, Happy, and Naruto looked at the book in awe as they saw the golden words flying all over the place.

"The reason quit being an author is not because he wrote the worst book ever, but he instead wrote the greatest story of his life. This incredible book is a letter to you, !" Lucy yelled as the spell stopped and in front of Kaby and the book fell into his hands.

"I was always thinking of you." Was the only thing Kaby could think of. His father did this all for him….

"Thank you!" Kaby yelled as he got on his knees and bowed to the group.

"Woah. You don't have to do that." Naruto said as Kaby just sat on the floors, not being able to say anything as he held the books in his hands.

"I hated him for writing this book when all along….He wrote this for me!" Kaby said as he hugged the book closer to him. He felt as if he could finally have the chance to apologize to his father now that he had this book. "Thank you father." Kaby said while shakily smiling. The woman next to him looked at him with worry, but at the same time…happiness.

Natsu just turned around and headed towards the door. "I guess we don't need the reward then!" Natsu said aloud.

"What?" Kay said while looking at the pink haired mage.

"Our mission was to destroy the book wasn't it? Well, it's a failure. We can't accept the reward."

"What Natsu? But…."

"Nah Lucy, let's just go home." Natsu said as he opened the doors. "You too, Melon. Go back to your real home." Natsu said as he left with Happy following him. Lucy ran out asking questions on what meant by "real home". Naruto was unusually silent as he watched the scene. He would usually be yelling in joy at something like this, but he was only silent.

"Mr. Kaby?" Naruto asked gaining Kaby's attention. "Now that you understand the whole situation. Do you forgive your dad?" Naruto asked softly.

Kaby gave him a small smile as tears came out of his eyes, "Yes, I do child. I now understand how important this book was to him and the anger I had for him died long ago, but now I feel….happy."Kaby said as he looked at the book softly with the woman behind him smiling too.

Naruto looked at him with a soft smile.

"Should I do the same with the Kyūbi?"Naruto asked himself as he thanked the man and woman and chased after his friends.

One closes and another one opens. What else will our lost shinobi face? Well dear reader, I think that is best for another time. Thank you for your listening to

A Maelstrom's Journey

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Whoooooooo boy. I thought this would be a good place to end this chapter as it closes some doors while opening others. Sorry it took a while, but I had to deal with some stuff in real life.

Naruto's magic was introduced here and theirs is more that I have still not revealed about it. I like the ideas people gave me, but I wanted to go with the one I planned for Naruto. When I first started this story, I thought about Naruto's magic HARD. I decided not to go for any slayer magic as it has been used in so many other stories and I want this version of Naruto to have something different. I thought about giving him a magic that existed in the Fairy Tail universe, but I decided on something more unique to Naruto. The claw has more purposes, but its abilities will come over time as I want it to grow as Naruto grows.

I hope this was an enjoyable read to you readers. I hope I didn't drag out a scene too long or made one too short.

Thank you to all the people who Favorite or Followed this story and I want to also thank the people who PM me and talked with me about the story. I love the discussions we have and I hope we can have more in the future.

Well, this is all I have to say other than.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY EVERYONE!

Cross,

Signing out.