Another day another chapter. I'm surprised on how many hits I got on this one. We'll see where this goes though. Hopefully it goes in a good direction. Anyways, I don't got much to say today so here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own either Naruto or Fairy Tail.

Chapter 2: Rebuilding

"WE'RE BAAACK!" Naruto shouted as he kicked in the tavern door to the guild. His state of dress was slightly different now from when he had arrived in Magnolia. Instead of his orange and black tracksuit, Naruto was now wearing black ninja pants, a sleeveless black undershirt. Over which he had on an orange chunnin vest that was left unzipped showing his black undershirt. On his right shoulder, stamped in orange, laid the guild's mark for Fairy Tail. Naruto tightened his leaf headband a little giving the rest of the guild members a huge grin.

"Guess what guys?!" He said excitedly, "We're no longer in debt!" Everyone's eyes widened as they stared at the blonde ninja who was grinning like a fool. Both Macao and Wakaba came walking through the door behind the shinobi.

"M-m-master?!" Alzack cried out. "Is it true?!" Everyone looked at the master for confirmation. Macao regarded the mages before he too let out a smirk.

"You better believe it." He said grinning along with Wakaba.

"Kinda felt like the old days if you know what I mean. He whooped their asses so hard, I'll be surprised if they even continue being a guild." He smiled. Everyone else in the room stood there shocked for a moment before smiles started forming on their faces.

"ALRIGHT!/YEA!" Cheers went out as they rushed the blonde once again celebrating the recent news. Naruto grinned at the other mages.

"Naruto….-nii…." Naruto looked down and saw Romeo smiling slightly. "Thank you…." He said quietly. Naruto smiled at the young boy bringing up his thumb in a Gai-sensei like pose.

"Yosh!" He cried out. "Alright. Now the only thing we gotta worry about is fixing this place up!" He said as he spread his arms gesturing to the entire guildhall. It was true. There were many patches and holes that could be seen scattered throughout the walls. The barmaid of the guild had cleaned the guild as best as she could, but they just didn't' have the finances to bring in the materials to fix up the guild.

"But how?" Droy said taking another huge bite of his chicken leg. "We don't have money to make the repairs necessary Hell, we're barely staying afloat as it is."

Naruto held his chin as he thought for a moment. "How do you guys normally make money?" Naruto asked after a minute. Jet responded by pointing his finger at the 'Request Board'.

"Usually people send in requests for us to undergo missions….. But ever since we've become such a minor guild, people have lost interest in us and now we barely get enough missions to get by each month." Naruto walked up to the board and looked at it. "Even the missions that we do get." Jet continued, "They are for such a low rate, that they're not even worth going on in the first place." Naruto squinted at the board for a second, looking at the couple different missions that were there.

"So kinda like our missions huh?" Nartuo mumbled to himself. Jet looked up at him.

"Your missions?" He asked getting the blonde to nod his head.

"Yeah." He said, "In our village, we would get mission requests as well ranging with difficulty. We rank the missions by letter, D being the easiest to S, double S, or even triple SSS missions. Those are the most difficult to perform and they go for a ridiculous amount of money." Jet nodded his head in understanding.

"I see." He said, "Sounds just like our own missions here. S-class missions are by far some of the toughest tasks out there… Yea these are barely enough to pass off as your D missions it sounds like." Naruto nodded his head before reaching out and taking the papers down. Turning around, he thrust his fist into the air.

"YOSH!" He cried out again. "Let's get these ones done as fast as we can!" He said grinning.

"B-but they're not even worth doing!" Warren said. Naruto just nodded his head.

"Maybe, but hey. You never know what could happen on the mission. You might get more than you thought you would. Or find something valuable. Regardless, we need money right?" He asked rhetorically. "We won't make any by just sitting on our asses here and doing nothing. So you and you." He pointed to Max and Warren. "We're going to be going on this mission right here." He said as he handed the poster to Max who looked down at the mission details.

"This mission is going to suck." He muttered as his eyes scanned the words. Warren nodded as he read Max's mind with his magic. Naruto created a clone next to him who just saluted him.

"You guys are going with my clone here to get it done. You should be able to get it done by late tonight if you guys hurry." He said, getting muttering from both of the men. He then turned to Jet and Droy.

"Alright, and we are going on this mission here." He said handing the mission to Jet getting a sigh from the man.

"I guess we have no other choice." He said softly.

"Hey…. Naruto-nii." Romeo said quietly, "What can I do to help." Naruto looked at the boy and blinked.

"Well, these are the only two missions that the guild has at the moment….. Mmm." He thought for a minute before snapping his fingers. "I got it!" He said smiling. "Why don't you meet me out back while I get some things here, we're gonna start with your training right now!" Romeo blinked before getting a huge grin on his face. He nodded his head as he ran towards the door to head out back. Many of the other mages followed curious to see what the blonde had in store for their youngest member. Macao chuckled.

"I dunno." He said slightly dejected. "Maybe you should be the Master of the guild here. I haven't seen this kind of hope in their eyes for many years." He smiled sadly as he remembered the tough years that they had endured. Naruto put a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.

"You did what you had to." Naruto said seriously slightly surprising the man. "You are the only reason why this guild is still afloat in the first place right? You kept their spirits here and that's the most important thing." Macao stared at the boy for a second wondering if this was the same goofball who had apparently entered into their guild. Naruto sighed.

"These people…. They trust you…. They love you…. They truly are your family Jiji. They look up to you…. And they'll follow you to the ends of the planet." Naruto looked at the man and smiled. "If that's not the makings of a good leader, then I don't know what would be." Macao's eyes widened at the blondes statement. "Sure you've had some rough patches…. But hey…. You're still here." Naruto stuck out his fist to the older man. "Let's not look back, but only forward from here on out." Naruto grinned. Macao stared at the boy for a moment, pondering the words that he had just declared before he sighed and put on a grin of his own.

'One last time I suppose….. We have hope.' He thought as he bumped fists with the younger man. "Sure thing….. Gaki." He smiled.

"I wonder what Naruto-san has in mind to help out Romeo-kun." Alzack said to the small group while they watched Naruto walk up to the excited boy. He wife smiled.

"No idea." She said, "But hopefully it's entertaining." Many of the members nodded their heads as their eyes followed the blonde who was trailed by the master and Wakaba.

"So Naruto-ni!" Cried out Romeo, "What are you going to teach me first?!" The boy was practically jumping up and down hoping that he would be learning some awesome fighting move.

Naruto stood there for a moment, hand under his chin thinking again before brightening up and snapping his fingers. "That's it!" He said as he flicked open one of the pouches on his vest and a small scroll dropped into his hand. Unfurling the scroll he added some chakra to it and in a puff of smoke, appeared a set of chains that were attached to kunai.

Everyone else looked on in interest at what the blonde had produced. "Well that's a roundabout way of using Requip magic isn't it?" Wakaba said as the Master slightly nodded his head still looking on in interest.

"These shinobi sure have some similar techniques as we do." Max said. Romeo stared at the chains for a second before looking up at Naruto in confusion. Naruto just smiled.

"Romeo, you said earlier that if you manipulate your flames in a way, they won't burn you right?" He asked getting a nod from the boy.

"Yea…. I can even grip onto stuff with it." He said as a magic circle formed in his hand and a stream of purple flamed gripped a nearby stone before being hefted into the air. Naruto grinned even wider before nodding his head.

"Alright! Then here is what we are going to do." He said, "We're…. going to play a little game called 'Catch the most awesome, handsome, powerful, sexy shinobi in the world!'" He cried out. Everyone slightly formed sweat drops on the back of their heads.

"Did he really need to name it that?" Warren asked while everyone agreed. Romeo looked up at the blonde.

"…..Uh….. What?" He asked confused. Naruto brushed him off.

"The key thing though, is that you can only use your magic to get me." Naruto said. "You can't run. You can't walk. The only thing that you're allowed to do to move yourself is to use your magic." Everyone stared at the blonde as if her were crazy for a minute.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! NO ONE CAN DO THAT!" Romeo shouted at Naruto who was still smirking.

"Oh really?" He asked as he threw one of the chains with the kunai attached, at a tree, sticking the weapon deep in the wood before yanking on the chain causing his own body to fly though the air until he landed neatly on the tree branch. Everyone stared at the blonde for a moment. Naruto grinned back at Romeo. "I'm also not allowed to do anything except use these chains. So come on Romeo-gaki….. Come get me!" He cried out waiting for the boy to make a move.

Romeo stared at the hyperactive blonde going over what he was supposed to do before letting out a sigh. "Alright then." He said, "Let's see where this takes me." A magic circle filled his hand once again as he launched a stream of purple fire at the branch the blonde was on effectively wrapping the flame around it. He then yanked on the fire, mimicking what he had seen the blonde do with his chains. The boy felt his body start to move through the air…. For about a foot before he fell flat on his face.

"WAH! Ooomf!" He cried out as his face met the dirt.

"HAHAHA!" Naruto laughed out loud. "Come on Romeo! I know you can do better than that!" The Blonde yelled out encouragingly. Romeo just growled as his hands lit up and tried again, only to move slightly farther before his flames died out. Everyone watched in amusement as the boy tried and tried again, only for his face to hit the dirt over and over again.

"Well…. That's an interesting training method." Wakaba smirked as he watched the boy start yelling at the blonde in the tree who was now goading the child by smacking his own butt. Macao nodded, analyzing the training.

"Yes it is…. But it is smart," Many looked back at their master. "Romeo may have Purple Flare down, but he is nowhere near a master of it." Macao elaborated. "This will help him to understand the meaning of actually controlling the flames with your own will. By lifting his own body off of the ground, he needs to make his own flames denser, otherwise his flames won't be able to grip the wood. To do this he needs to start releasing more magic." Macao paused as he watched his son fall on his face again. "This is not only training his control over fire, but it's also helping to expand his own personal magic reserves." Everyone listened carefully to what the master was saying. "But this training does not end there, it also works on his physical stamina as well. To be able to hoist yourself to that height takes some muscle. The way that Uzumaki-san lifted himself up there with ease goes to show you how strong he really is… It's going to be quite a while before Romeo-kun will be able to even come close to getting to our new addition to the guild." He said as he once again saw his son land on his head.

Everyone laughed as they saw Romeo begin to curse at his aniki while Naruto continued to make ridiculous faces at the boy. A few minutes later launched one of his chains and brought himself down from the tree. He then created a clone right next to him.

"Alright!" He said, "You know what to do!" He turned to Romeo. "Kay Romeo-gaki, my clone will take my place for right now until you can catch him. In the meantime…." He turned to the rest of the guild. "We have some missions to work on!" He yelled out as he and a couple of his other clones came and grabbed Max, Warren, Jet, and Droy… Well about three clones had to grab Droy, before effectively dragging them off.

"Oi! Oi!" Max cried out, "I can walk by myself you damn blond!" He yelled out as he struggled to get off of the blonde. Other complaints were heard by the other mages as well.

"YOSH! LET'S GO!" He yelled out ignoring the roaring complaints of his companions. Everyone else at the guild sweat dropped.

"….Y-you think they're going to be ok?" Laki asked slightly concerned. Macao glanced back at his boy who he noticed was able to travel a little higher in the air trying to probably strangle the laughing clone from the tree. He sighed before letting out a small smile.

"I'm sure that they'll be just fine." He said.

"pant…pant….Please….pant….. Naruto… No more…pant…..pant…..I'm begging you." A tired Jet panted out, soaking in sweat as he continued to chase after a chicken that was in their little ranch.

"Quit your whining!" Naruto yelled throwing his fist in the air. "You said you had some serious speed magic thing! Hell, I'm faster than you right now and I'm not even that fast!" During their little mission, Naruto had gotten to know both Jet and Droy a little better along with Max and Warren. When he had heard that Jet's magic was in speed, he was really excited until he actually saw it in action. Naruto deadpanned and easily beat Jet in a little race that they had. So to help Jet improve his training, Naruto took a page out of Gai-sensei's book and strapped on a ridiculous amount of leg weights with seals to increase Jet's leg muscle strength.

"Who the hell does this kind of training?!" Jet yelled back at the blonde.

"Would you just shut up and catch that damn chicken!" Naruto yelled back. "You're not even wearing an eighth of what my friend used when he was thirteen!" Jet continued to yell at Naruto how that was impossible when they both saw 'Shadow Gear's' largest member fall on his face right in front of them.

"pant….pant…..I-I can't... go on any longer….. pant." Naruto just slapped his face. These guys had some really powerful magic stuff going on, but if they couldn't even condition their body, against someone like him, they would be dead in like ten seconds. "Why….. do I have….. to do…. pant…. This again? My magic doesn't need me to run around." He gasped out. Naruto just sighed.

"Listen, just because your magic is stationary, doesn't mean that you can the same all the time. Sometimes you need to be able to move around to get to different areas. Besides…." Naruto deadpanned. "You could probably lose the weight." A tickmark formed on Droy's eyebrow.

"ARE YOU SAYING THAT I CAN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE I'M FAT?!" He shouted. Nartuo wiggled a finger in his ear to stop the ringing.

"No. Actually, I had a larger friend back in my village. But he was able to utilize his body and turn it into a weapon. He was still quick as well, and was able to move around easily without tiring out." Naruto responded before grabbing the fat man off the ground. "Now get to it, five more laps about the guild ranch."

"Why the hell should I listen to you?!" Droy shouted in Naruto's face who just sighed before walking over to the man and slapping a piece of paper in the middle of his back where he couldn't reach. "What did you do?" Droy asked. Naruto gave him an evil grin.

"That….. is a shock tag." Naruto said happily. "Every time you bitch to me about something, that little baby there, will light you up like a firecracker." Droy was about to yell at the blonde again before,

*BZZZZTTT!*

Droy yelled out in pain as the electricity coursed through his body. When the current stopped he glared at the blonde again, who was just shaking a finger at the man. "Ah ah. Go on now get moving. Unless you want some more electroshock therapy?" Naruto said with an evil grin. Droy grit his teeth as he got back up and started jogging slowly around the guild. Jet looked at the blonde.

"You're evil you know?" He said with a dull look. Naruto just grinned.

"Meh, he loves me!" Naruto said with a grin while Jet said something to the equivalent of 'Yea right.' "Anyways, we'll work on what he can do with his magic in a little bit. First he needs to get his body in order. I mean, what happens if someone comes around and can somehow counter his magic? He would be a sitting duck." Naruto said. Jet thought about what the blond had said and slowly nodded his head in understanding. It was weird. Jet thought the blonde in front of him, while being pretty strong from the looks of it, he was basically a moron when it came to everything else….. But then he had these ideas and other things that the blonde would say, that really made it seem like he knew what the hell he was talking about.

Jet glanced over in the center of the courtyard to see six more of Naruto's clones surrounding Max. They appeared to be throwing stones at the man, while he was blindfolded. Max grunted with effort as he tried to anticipate the attacks and used his sand to defend himself.

"Why am I doing this again?" He asked.

"Come on. I have a buddy back home who could do stuff like this in his sleep." Naruto decided not mention that his friend also had a huge mass of living chakra that was in his system that defended any oncoming attacks….. But hey, it still worked like that even after the Akatsuki had extracted the Ichibi out of him. "Besides look at it this way. If you never have to worry about defending again, you can mainly focus on your offensive moves." Max just sighed. It sounded logical, but it was a pain to be hit by these damn rocks.

Jet looked over to see both Warren and another clone sitting down in lotus position talking with each other.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that there is more to my magic than just telepathy?" Warren asked trying to see where the blonde was going with this. Naruto nodded his head.

"I think so." Naruto said honestly, "You say that your magic involves reading people's minds and being able to project your thoughts into theirs right?" Warren nodded his head. "Then you should be a freakin awesome genjutsu master!" Naruto said happily.

"Gen-jutsu?" Warren tried the word. Naruto happily nodded his head.

"Yea! Illusions you know?" Naruto said as Warren widened his eyes.

"I can't do that!" He exclaimed. Naruto just waved him off.

"I don't see why not." Naruto shrugged. "An illusion is just something that our mind thinks it sees right? If you can project certain thoughts into people's heads, you should be able to stimulate the brain just right to cause them to think that what they are seeing really isn't there." Warren looked at the blonde as if he were crazy until he really thought about the possibility of that. If that were true…. Then his magic abilities could really sky rocket.

"But… Where would I even start with that?" He asked trying to mull around the idea. Naruto shrugged.

"I dunno." He said simply, "I just thought it would be possible….. What if you just visualized a picture and tried to send that picture into my head?" Naruto suggested. Warren thought about the idea for a moment before nodding his head.

Jet then turned his head again to see Romeo cursing while falling out of a tree. He smiled lightly at the boy. He really had gotten stronger physically and with his magic. He was now able to get from the ground up into the tree and move from branch to branch. But he was still pretty slow on the uptake and nowhere near catching the blond yet.

'Maybe we can really rise up after all this time.' Jet thought as he started chasing the chicken with new determination in order. Naruto smiled as he saw Jet gain his 8th wind.

'You guys will be the best.' He thought.

Naruto stood in front of a large cage in what looked to be like a sewer. He put a hand on what looked to be wrinkled gray fur. It was cold to the touch and slightly slimy.

"Kurama…." Naruto said with wide eyes. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked more to himself. The gigantic beast, let out a whimper as it lay motionless in the sewer. The once proud and mighty 9-tailed fox, lay almost broken at Naruto's feet. His fur was gray and matted. It clung onto the beast bones and gave him more of a skeletal look.

Naruto looked at the beast again and rubbed its muzzle. "Don't worry buddy." He tried to say comfortingly. "We'll get you fixed up in no time."

Over the next month, rumors had begun to spread all over Fiore about the new addition to the lamest guild in all the nation. It was said that this mage was rebuilding the guild's reputation a little. If one ever walked close enough to the guild, they would hear the sounds of hammering and construction work going on.

There was little change with the state that Kurama was in. It did look like his fur was gaining more colour though. Naruto hoped that with time, his friend would regain all of his strength back.

Naruto was working on the rooftop of the guildhall, happily hammering away while humming a tune that he made up. Over this past month, jobs had started to come to the guild more frequently. In fact, many of the missions that were posted, Fairy Tail ended up usually bringing in more money than the reward was asking for allowing for repairs to be made on the structure of the guild. Finances were still tight, but at least they now had enough money to stay afloat easily enough.

Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow and stretched his sore muscles. He hadn't been able to really search out any possible route back to his homeland, but that wasn't to say that he was unhappy about that by any means. Fairy Tail quickly grew on him and he soon began to see the tiny guild as family. They had all made rapid improvements, both in magic and physical strength.

He was surprised to learn that Laki was able to use Wood Make magic. It reminded him a lot of Yamato-sensei….. Until she actually used it, creating tons of weird shapes that just popped out of the ground. Naruto tried to remember how Yamato-sensei utilized his jutsu and helped Laki be able to better control her magic. Instead of just slamming her fists into the ground to create the wood, she could now cast the wood out of her hands….. And instead of just random shapes, she could now focus on a single object and bend it to her will. She had been able to create a cage much like Yamato-sensei's to trap a bunch of bandits that were causing trouble on the road.

Alzack and Bisca were quite the pair when they worked together. Naruto was amazed at how flawless their teamwork seemed to be when they fought alongside with one another. Though Naruto still found a way to help out the shooting duo, he asked for a couple of their guns and for two straight days, Naruto worked on the weapons. Carving and engraving seals on both sides of the weapons. They were a little freaked out when he asked for their blood to be put on the seals, but they did so anyways.

When they got the guns back, they went wide-eyed with shock at the results that they produced. Bisca was shooting great balls of fire from her shotgun, while Alzack was shooting small rounds of lightning from his pistols. Naruto explained to them that everyone had a natural affinity to a particular element and that they could expand on it the more used to it they got. He told them that even though it looked like magic, it was actually chakra that they had used to produce the results. Since it was both a spiritual and physical sense of energy, they had to be careful in how they utilized the weapons, because if they weren't they could die. If they continued to condition their bodies though and train in their magic, Naruto was confident that they would be able to master their newly formed weapons.

Bisca was so excited that she gave Naruto a little thank you kiss on the cheek causing the blonde to light up from embarrassment. Alzack laughed before muttering something about him better not getting any wise ideas.

Vijeeter was an odd one to work with. Naruto had known people who were weirder, but still to say the least, it was different working with the man. The man was already agile and had a unique style of fighting that Naruto liked. His dance magic improved by bounds though. Naruto worked hard with the man to increase the radius of reach with his magic, which increased the strength, speed, and defense of his allies. In all honesty, Vijeeter was a valuable support mage. He also found that he could slow down the movements of his opponents, or even drain their magic quickly. He was having still trouble though, being able to bind his opponents still, but he was training hard so that it would be effective.

Nab was also on the Droy's-way-to-stay-lean fitness program as well. The man had amazing magical talent, but he couldn't support it long with his body's current edurance. The man's magic was the ability to channel various animal spirits. One second the man could be as fast as a cheetah, the next, throw out a strike with the strength of a gorilla. Naruto had helped the man learn how to channel through simultaneous spirits at once instead of relying on just one possession at a time. There was a danger to this though. The more animal spirits that he took on at once, the more he would lose tract of his humanity. The spirits would fight for dominance over the man's soul if he were not careful enough. So it was a slow process, but they were currently trying to work with three different spirits being channelled within his own soul.

The only member of the guild that Naruto really hadn't worked with were Reedus, Wakaba, and the Master. He was surprised to find out that Kinana didn't use magic being with the guild. But she expressed her love for the guild by saying that they were there when they needed her most, so she was returning the favor.

Naruto smiled as he thought about the barmaid. She was a very kind and sweet girl. Really did remind the blonde of a certain Hyuuga back in his land.

"NARUTO!" He heard a feminine voice and looked down to see said girl on the ground looking back up at him. He smiled and waved to her as he flipped off of the roof and landed neatly next to the girl.

"Hiya Kinana-chan!" Naruto said cheerfully. The girl smiled back at the blonde.

"Thank you Naruto-kun for working so hard repairing the guildhall." She said as she looked over his work. "It really helps us out a lot and I don't have to be constantly worrying that one day the roof would cave in over our heads." She smiled brightly at the blonde.

"Not a problem Kinana-chan. I used to do this kind of thing when I was in my village anyways." Naruto mentioned. Kinana looked around and saw various members of their guild training hard to become stronger. Droy was even beginning to look a little skinnier as well.

"Everyone is working so hard…" She said smiling a little sadly as she looked down at the ground. Naruto looked at her.

"Of course." He said, "If we want to be the best guild in Fiore, we gotta be able to back up our talk after all." Naruto said smiling at the girl. The girl didn't move for a moment. Causing Naruto to become slightly concerned. "Hey Kinana-chan…." Naruto started.

"Naruto-kun!" Kinana said shakily, "I-I don't want to be a burden on the guild anymore. I want to help create a better Fairy Tail as well. I really don't do much around here, and I'm useless when it comes to helping out with either missions or defending the guild." She looked up at the blonde staring intensely at him. "Will you train me as well?!" She asked desperately hoping that he wouldn't refuse. Naruto looked at her for a moment before turning away.

"You must be crazy…." Naruto said surprising the girl before she started to get slightly teary eyed. "The fact that you think that you're a burden to us, yea that definitely spells crazy to me." Naruto said grinning at the girl who looked up at him in surprise.

"W-what?" She asked confused. Naruto laughed.

"Do you know how much work you do here at the guild Kinana-chan?" He asked, "Honestly, things wouldn't even run half as smoothly if you weren't around to help out. Everyone here respects you Kinana-chan. Me included." Kinana blushed slightly at that statement. "Hell, if it wasn't for you, I might not even be here at this moment. But I don't blame you for wanting to get stronger. You have to protect your precious people after all don't you?" He said with a slight wink. Kinana's face slowly formed a smile.

"So you mean?..." The question was left hanging for the blond to nod his head.

"Of course I will Kinana-chan! When we're done with you, you're gonna kicking ass left and right!" Naruto said throwing his fist up in the air. He paused when he felt something embrace him. He looked down and the girl hugging him as slight tears went down her face.

"Thank you…." She said quietly. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and awkwardly patted her back.

"Umm…. It's fine Kinana-chan. I would've asked if you wanted to train a little eventually." He said as the girl let go and wiped away her tears as she shook her head.

"No." She said. "Thank you for everything else that you've done." She said smiling. Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Huh?" He said as he stared blankly at the girl.

Kinana was literally jumping up and down from excitement and curiosity for what the blond had in store for her. Many of the members of Fairy Tail were outside, including Naruto, who discreetly noticed another part of Kinana that was bouncing just as enthusiastically as the quiet girl. Naruto slapped his face to regain his attention.

"Neh! Neh! Naruto-kun! What are you going to teach me?!" She asked. Naruto looked at the girl for a few minutes not even replying. Kinana began to become self-conscious at the blonde's gaze. Finally the blonde took out a scroll and unrolled it, unsealing an item.

When the smoke cleared Kinana saw him holding a sturdy staff of some kind. He tossed the item towards the girl who frantically tried to catch the object. She juggled it trying to catch it for a moment before finally getting a good hold. It was definitely a lot heavier than she thought it would be. But other than that, there didn't seem to be anything special about it. It really just looked like a red wooden pole. She looked up at the blonde waiting for him to explain.

"This is what we're going to be working on Kinana-chan. It's called Bojutsu." He said smiling.

"Bo…Jutsu?" She asked getting the blonde to nod.

"Yep." He said, "Honestly Kinana-chan, you don't have the personality to be an offensive mage or fighter." He said. Kinana just listened to the blonde. "You're too gently and kind…. So I'm going to help you get started on how you can defend your precious people alright?" He said. Kinana thought about it before smiling and giving the blonde a determined nod. Naruto nodded.

"Now," He started rubbing the back of his head again. "I'm not the best at these forms….. In fact….. I kinda suck at them." He admitted. "But I do know the basics very well. My apprentice kinda forced me to learn these stances. So that's where we're going to start." He said excitingly. Kinana just stared at him.

"Your apprentice?" She asked. Naruto just laughed.

"Hehe…. Well more of a friend, but he always referred to himself as that to me." He said bashfully. "Until the little turd turned chunnin….. Little punk thinks he can order me around…." Naruto muttered before getting back on track. "His grandfather was a master at Bojutsu, he was learning their style from their clan. But he wanted to teach me some things as well because I helped him out a lot." Naruto smiled fondly at the little bouts that he and Konohamaru used to have. Kinana nodded her head with a smile, understanding that he must have been someone important in Naruto's life. Her head snapped up straight as she felt Naruto's arms come out from behind her.

"N-N-Naruto-kun!" She stuttered out, her face turning a bright red. "W-w-what are you doing?!" Her heart started pounding fast as she looked back into his cerulean blue eyes. He just looked at her confused.

"I'm going to be showing you how to go through the basic stance of course. What else did you think I was going to do?" He asked densely. Her eyes widened a little. She wasn't sure if she should've been relieved or not at the blondes statement. "Ok." He started, "So first off we're going to have you learn the proper way to hold the staff." He said as he started to manipulate her hands to hold the rod.

Mages on watching silently on the sideline grumbled slightly. "Lucky bastard!" Wakaba mumbled only to get a smack to the back of the head.

"You're married remember!" Macao yelled at him. Wakaba got right in his face.

"You want to go?!" He shouted back as they continued to butt heads. Everyone just sighed as they ignored their master and adviser.

"Whoa." Max whistled as he looked down at the mission request. "It's been a long time since we've gotten a request for this much." Everyone around him nodded as they looked down at the poster. It was a mission stating that there had been some disappearances in the northern region of Fiore in the Makoe Mountains. The request was asking them to ascertain the situation and deal with the problem accordingly. It was worth 5 million jewels.

"So who's gonna take it?' Laki asked. Everyone gained an evil glint in their eyes as they looked over the request. Macao then came in and solved the entire problem. He grabbed the piece of paper and held it out to Naruto.

"Naruto." He said, "I honestly think that you're the most qualified to take this mission." Naruto looked at the master in confusion for a moment before grinning and taking the request.

"No problem Jiji!" Naruto said, "Consider this request as good as done!" Everyone else gawked at the master's decision.

"WHAT?!" They all cried out.

"Master, he's the new guy. Why does he get priority on this mission?" Warren asked, while many of the other mages nodded their heads. Macao just crossed his arms.

"Cause quite frankly he's the strongest one here." He said getting everyone to stare at him blankly. "This is the biggest mission that we've come across for a long time. I don't want to screw that up. We could really use the revenue that the mission could bring." He looked up at the mages and saw that they were about to retort. He held up his hand. "I've seen the improvement that all of you have made in your magic and physical abilities. Do you think that you would have made the same improvements without Naruto's help?" He asked getting the members to think about that. "Think of the ridiculous training that he's put you through. I'm sure that he's done some crazier training than that to even be able to grasp how to make you guys improve." Everyone looked at Naruto and remembered their hellish training. All members of Fairy Tail hated to admit someone one else was stronger, they did know that Naruto was probably the strongest one there.

"Jij." Naruto said getting everyone's attention. "I actually haven't travelled too far out of Magnolia before….. And working solo really isn't my thing. Do you mind if I have someone else come along with me?" He asked getting an eyebrow raise from the master. "When you work in teams, your strength increases ten-fold jiji. You should know that." Naruto clarified. Macao sighed.

'This kid.' He thought. 'As much as an idiot he acts, he really does know how things work in the world doesn't he?' Macao nodded his head. "Who do you have in mind?"

"Listen I am happy that you decided to bring me along… But I have to ask…. Why me?" Warren asked as the two traveled in the back of a wooden wagon on their way to their destination. Naruto looked over to Warren and pointed to his head.

"I need intel…" He said, "We are basically going into an unknown situation. The mission, while making it sound like an easy investigation, can just as easily turn into Satan's butthole quite quickly. Your telepathy will be of help to us, letting us know if we're walking into traps of any sorts." Naruto said while Warren nodded his head in understanding. "That's why we're not going to tell anybody about your magic if anybody asks. For this to work, no one can know you're a telepath, otherwise they will find ways around your magic and that's not something we need right now." Warren nodded his head once again, kind of miffed that he couldn't brag to impress the ladies and such, but understood the blonde reasoning. "Plus, you're a pretty decent hand to hand combat fighter. If we do get separated, I'm not too worried that you would need that much help." Warren grumbled about the crack at decent hand to hand. Just because the blonde was a freak of nature, didn't mean that he wasn't strong too.

"We need to gain intel quickly and quietly once we reach the mountain ranges. Got it?" Naruto said seriously. Warren nodded his head in understanding. Naruto smiled. "Alright, then we'll stop at this next town for the night and then in the morning head out again." He said happily. Warren just nodded his head yet again.

Naruto and Warren were in the local tavern sitting in a booth. Both looked like they were just having a pleasant conversation between two friends. Naruto laughed as Warren took another drink of his beer.

"So… anything yet?" Naruto asked. Warren shook his head as he had gone through most of the minds of the people in the pub.

"They don't know anything." Warren said, "They only know that people who head up into the mountain of Makoe disappear." Naruto frowned. He had hoped that they would learn something a little more substantial. This town held the closest residents before you hit the mountain ranges. He sighed.

"Oh well." He said, "I guess we'll just have to play things by ear in the meantime." Naruto looked up and saw half a dozen soldiers walk into the bar. "Who are they?" Naruto asked. "They don't look like Rune Knights." Naruto had seen various Rune Knights roaming the city of Magnolia every once in a while. Warren looked back.

"They're with the Royal Guard." Warren said, "Personal army to the King of Fiore." Naruto nodded and frowned when he saw the men start to push around what looked to be a local drunk. He was wearing a maroon shirt with black pants. They looked wrinkled, but somewhat clean. His hair was black and he had an X like scar on the left side of his face. He wore what looked like to be a pendant on his left ear as well.

"I'm surprised to see you're knockin' back the booze like this." A guard sneered at the man who was spread over the bar.

"Hey I know this guy." Said another guard. "He's Gryder, a notorious drunk around these parts." Another chimed in.

"Nice that you're able to afford it." Said another. "While you're here drunk off your ass, we're racing around in the name of justice." This apparently caused the man to stir.

"Justice?" He questioned.

"That's right!" Another bragged. "We're out there risking our lives everyday so you people can rest easy. Justice for the citizens of Fiore." Gryder stood up from his stool.

"Gryder, you got any sense of justice?" One of the men pushed Gryder. Gryder grit his teeth as he took his beer filled mug and slammed it into the jaw of one of the guards.

"Justice, my ass!" Gryder yelled, "I don't wanna hear it!" The other guards clenched their fists.

"What the hell?!" A guard yelled. "You think you can get away with pickin' a fight with the Royal Guard punk?!" Gryder merely phased out of existence surprising the men only to reappear behind one of them knocking him out. He then phased out of existence again and did the same to the next guard. This happened three more times before all guards were lying unconscious on the floor. Gryder snorted at the men before he took his seat again at the bar.

"….Interesting…." Naruto said analyzing the man who just took out six men. 'That looked like some form of teleportation.' He thought. "Warren who is that?" Warren sighed.

"That would be Doranbolt." Warren said, "He used to be a prominent member of the magic council." Warren looked slightly depressed at the man. "Most of Fairy Tail used to not like him either. He infiltrated our ranks and pretended to be one of us to get dirt. He was going by the name of Mest Gryder at that time. He was trying to use any information on us to raise his status in the council." Warren sighed. "I'm sure you've heard about the incident regarding Tenrou Island." Naruto nodded, "He pretended to be a part of Fairy Tail to take part in the exam….. We're not sure what happened there. But something in his heart changed his mind about what he really thought of Fairy Tail…" Warren looked up at the man. "He looked so hard for our friends…. Years in fact…. He said he could never forgive himself…. Poor bastard." Warren said as he took a swig of his drink. "Looks like he still can't get over it."

Naruto was silent for a moment staring at the man at the bar who had resumed his position of laying flat out on the counter. "Hold on for a minute." Naruto said as he got up from his seat and started walking over to the drunk.

'Just what is he up to?' Warren thought.

"Yo." Gryder looked up to see a blond haired blue eyed man holding a bottle of what looked like to be whisky. "You mind sharing a drink with me? He asked. Gryder stared up at the blond for a moment before just mumbling and gesturing for the teen to sit. "Thanks." Naruto said, "Drinking alone is never fun." Naruto brought out some glasses and poured the drinks for the both of them. Gryder watched intensely from the corner of his eye as the blond poured the liquor, then take a drink of it himself before he made any motion to reach for his own glass. Naruto laughed.

"You're cautious I'll give you that." As he drained another glass. Gryder shot the drink down his own throat feeling the burning sensation coarse throughout his body.

"That's some pretty good stuff you got there." Gryder commented as Naruto grinned and poured him another glass.

"Fire whiskey straight from Mt. Myōboku!" Naruto said proudly draining another cup. Gryder stared at his glass again before downing the alcohol.

"What do you want with me?" He asked getting Naruto to look at him. "I know for a fact that you were with your buddy drinking and having a good time over there." He said. "I've been here this entire time….. You only made your presence known to me after I took care of these assholes behind us… So that means that either there's something that you want me to do…. Or some sort of recruitment offer." Gryder surmised. Naruto was slightly impressed with his analysis skills though.

'He's sharp.' Naruto thought. "You're right." Naruto said become a little more serious. "My friend and I are about to embark on a mission and we could really use someone of your skills to help us out." Naruto said. Better to be straight up with this guy than try to dodge any bullets.

"…..No…." Was all the answer Gryder replied. "I refuse." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You sure?" Naruto asked, "We would pay you well if you came with us." Gryder still shook his head.

"I told you no already. Now leave me alone." Gryder said. Naruto looked at the man for a moment longer before grabbing the bottle of whisky in front of him. Gryder watch through the corner of his eye as he saw the blonde make the bottle disappear in a scroll with a puff of smoke.

"You a betting man Mr. Gryder?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "In this scroll I have over 100 bottles of that whisky that you just tasted. I would like to make a bet with you….. If you can avoid me for 1 hour, not get caught, then all this if yours." Naruto said pointing to the scroll. "But, if not, then you have to come help us out on the mission that we're doing." Gryder stared at the blonde for a moment. He thought about the details.

'He must be pretty fast if he still thinks that he could keep up with me after my little display…..' He thought, 'But maybe he misinterpreted what my magic actually is….' He looked at the scroll. "Why do you have so many bottles there anyways?" He asked.

"Do you know how much a freakin' mountain sized toad can drink?" Naruto laughed out loud while Gryder just stared at the blonde as if he were crazy. "So how about Mr. Gryder?" Gryder looked down again. It was a very tempting offer….. And he was still quite formidable with his magic. He looked back up at the blonde.

"Very well." He smirk, "Get ready to lose all of your booze pal. I could use the exercise anyways." Naruto just smiled and held out his hand to complete the pact. Gryder shook it sturdily.

"I'll give you a five minute head start." Naruto said, "If I cannot catch you in an hour's time, we'll meet back here and you can have the prize." Gryder smirked.

"I won't even need 5 seconds to lose you pal." And with that, Gryder phased out of existence. Naruto grinned as he let the clock start.

"Oi! Oi!" Warren said walking up behind the blonde. "What do you think you're doing Naruto?" Naruto just looked back at the telepath.

"Saving someone from their own darkness." Naruto replied as he too phased out of existence.

"Well, it's been about five minutes." Gryder said to himself as he leaned his back against a tree. "He supposedly should be coming to get me any second now."

"Mah mah." Came a voice as Gryders eyes opened and shot above him. "You say that as if you didn't think I could find you." Naruto was standing horizontally on the tree above the mage. Gryder's jaw was slack.

"H-Ho-When did you get there? I didn't even sense you!" Gryder said. Naruto grinned.

"I just followed you that's all." Gryder growled as he disappeared again. Naruto chuckled as he too vanished.

Gryder couldn't understand what was happening. Whatever the blonde was using to keep up with him, it wasn't teleportation magic. It was close, but it was something different at the same time. Either way, even if he did possess teleportation, there should be no way that he would be able to track his movements.

They both appeared and reappeared several different times in different locations throughout all of Fiore, each time Naruto was getting closer and closer to catching the man.

"Well." Naruto said as they stopped for a moment. "This has been fun, but seeing as we only have 5 minutes remaining in the bet, I should probably wrap this up." Naruto smiled. Gryder growled.

"How do you suppose you're going to do that?" He said, "We're going to same speed everywhere else. All I have to do is avoid you for the next 5 minutes." Gryder's eyes widened as he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He looked back and saw that there was an identical blonde standing right behind him grinning like a fool.

"Gotcha!" He said. Gryder looked back to the blonde in front of him and watched as it went up in a poof of smoke.

"Clone magic…" Gryder mumbled. Frowning for a moment before letting out a small chuckle. "I have to admit…. I haven't worked that hard for a long time now." He said as he stood straight and looked at the blonde behind him. "Alright, a deal is a deal. I'll help you out on this mission…. But this mission only alright?" He said. Naruto just nodded his head.

"Sounds good to me Mest Gryder." Naruto replied as Mest's eyes widened.

"How do you know that name?" Mest asked. He hadn't used that name for over 5 years, but here stood a teen who had known of that name. Naruto smiled and took of his jacket revealing his guild mark. "Fairy….Tail…." Mest whispered.

"Yep!" Naruto said smiling. "Looking forward to working with you Mest!" Mests eyes widened.

"B-b-but you must know about what I did five years ago!" He exclaimed. "Why would you want anything to do with me?!" Naruto looked at the man for a moment before scratching his head.

"I dunno." Naruto shrugged. "You seem like a pretty cool guy?" He asked getting Mest to fall flat on his face.

"I'M BEING SERIOUS!" He yelled out.

"And what should I feel towards you Mest?" Naruto said seriously getting a look of confusion from Mest. "Should I hate you? Curse you? Kill you?" He asked." You've suffered enough of that shit already." Mest looked down in guilt.

"B-but Wendy…." He said softly.

'So that's it.' Naruto thought. "Wendy Marvell?" Naruto asked getting a nod from the man. "Tell me Mest, what would that 12 year old girl think of the Mest Gryder right now here in front of me." Mest looked up at the blonde. "Do you think that she would be happy with the way that you've drowned yourself in booze these past five years, or do you think she would cry at the pathetic man that you've become?" Mest looked at the ground and stared at it, contemplating his words. "Wake up!" Naruto said as he grabbed the man by his collar. "You want to make it up to her?! Then do it by helping others who might end up in the same situation! Make that different Mest Gryder!" Naruto said as he let go of the man.

"I-I-I….. don't….. KNOW!" He cried out as the man fell to his knees sobbing. What if she were alive to this day?! Would she be happy to see him? Or would she be disgusted with him? He continued to cry in the snow as the blonde simply let the man get it out of his system.

Warren tapped his fingers upon the bar table as he waited for his companion. All of a sudden he felt a wind pass behind him. From the feelings of the thoughts on top of the individuals' minds, he could tell one of them was Naruto. He persay couldn't quite read people's minds without focusing on the individual by using his magic, but he could detect what the emotions people were having towards him or his comrades. He turned around to see both Gryder and Naruto standing in front of him.

"I see you caught up with him Naruto." He stood up and held out his hand. "You're quite the formidable ally to have. It's good to have you on board Doranbolt." He shook the man's hand as Doranbolt shook his head.

"Don't call me that name please." He said, "I don't deserve that name after what I have done….. While I am with Fairy Tail…. Call me Mest….. Mest Gryder."

END

Alright guys here we go. I was going to go longer with this chapter, but that would take some time into the next chapter. Anyways hope you guys liked it. I wanted to get this thing up yesterday for Thanksgiving, but family, food, people yelling at you cause you needed to put things in the oven or watch the pies…. You know, normal Thanksgiving things. Also had family who wanted to do the whole 4a.m. black Friday shopping thing… The only thing that I can say about those people is that they're crazy! Honestly, I think I had some old woman check me into a wall or something. Now I like to think that I'm in shape and all…. I work out regularly….. But I just wasn't prepared for that…..

Anyways, enough about that. Hope you guys liked the chapter. Got an awesome beta for this story too. n0mster, awesome beta with awesome ideas. He gave me a couple for this chapter in fact. Gives awesome reviews as well. Next chapter will be getting more into the mission and some other stuff. Hope all of you in the USA had a great thanksgiving. Those of you who are not in the USA hope you guys had a good day regardless.

I got exams and tests to study for soooo…. I'll catch you guys later.