Eh... day... three. I think. Yeah I missed a day or two, so what. You miss me or something? The only reason I'm back here is cause Mira-chan is breathing down my neck as I write. Yes, Mira, I know you can read this, goes to show I ain't got nothing worthwhile to write down.
Can I go now? Yes it's been ten sentences. Ok, now it has. Day three, out.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as Naruto regarded his acquaintances again. If ever there was a time he could scream bloody murder at his woeful luck, it was now. At least they understood gestures, if the refilling of the cup was anything to go by. Letting out another sigh, Naruto scratched his head. If only he knew where he was, he might have a chance at finding his way home. Hearing a cough to his left, he looked down at the old man.
A few unintelligible words popped out of his mouth that left Naruto looking at him with a completely blank stare. Hearing a pretty laugh, the first girl he saw stood forward and exchanged a few words with the old man. Whatever she said convinced him to nod and jump down off the bed. Smiling as she watched him walk back, the white haired girl turned and gave Naruto a slight bow. Placing her hands on her rather ample chest, she patted it a few times. It took a finger pointing up to her face for Naruto to realise the chest patting wasn't the main aim of the gesture.
The red headed girl was giving him a rather scary look while the girl before him just laughed humorously before repeating herself.
"Mirajane."
Realising she was telling him her name, Naruto nodded his understanding. "Mira...jane?"
Squealing happily, the girl clapped her hands and then held her hand out in a questioning manner. It took a moment but eventually Naruto realised she was asking him his name.
"Oh... uh, Naruto."
She raised a questioning eyebrow as she tried to repeat it. "Uhnaruto?" Snorting, Naruto shook his head and tried again. "Naruto, Na-ru-to." Smiling, Mirajane tried out the corrected name. "Naruto?"
She then burst into a flurry of weird words that Naruto suspected were greetings or something. Who knew.
Seeing his questioning look though, the girl stopped and gave him a sad smile before stepping back. She then said something which resulted in the pink haired boy running forward and leaning way too far into Naruto's personal bubble. It must have been an invitation for the others to introduce themselves. Trying to get some space, Naruto held his hands out and gave him a shove. The boys eyes widened before a sharp blow to the back of his head from the warrior girl calmed him down. Taking a breath, he locked eyes with his new plaything and dragged his name out like he was talking to a child, all the while pointing at his face with both hands.
"Naaaaatsssssuuuuu. Natsu."
Rolling his eyes Naruto sighed. "Right, Natsu, got it. Next please."
The blond had to resist the urge to face palm when all he got was a vacant look. He couldn't even insult anyone here. What a way to take away a guy's power. He wasn't allowed to lament the fact either before the strong redhead grabbed the boy and threw him into the back wall.
Looking past the girl, Naruto whistled when he saw Natsu embedded into the wall face first. This girl was strong. Hearing her growl, Naruto quickly sat up straight and focused. She mightn't have been as strong as him (maybe), but for the moment, it'd probably be wise to pay attention. The woman said her name once, expecting him to remember it well. Naruto made sure to.
"Erza."
Thinking it'd be polite, Naruto bowed his head slightly in her direction before repeating her name. Seemingly satisfied, she returned the nod with one of her own and a smile before stepping back. Next up was the bouncy blond girl who stuck her hand out with a smile.
"Lucy!"
Grinning, Naruto took her hand in his and shook. He was thinking he'd like this girl once he got to know her. Her squeal of pain though made him retract his hand in shock as Erza swiftly seemed to pull a sword out of nowhere. A kunai was instantly in his hand as he calculated this newest potential threat while scoping out the nearest exits. The tension was quickly broken though as Lucy jumped between them, holding her hands out and saying something rapidly. Erza seemed to be ok with whatever it was because the woman relaxed. She gave the girl a nod before her sword quite literally glowed before disappearing. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise but still had the mind to pocket his kunai. He hadn't seen a storage seal anywhere when that happened!
His attention was brought back to Lucy though as she gave him an apologetic look while saying something. It seemed she wasn't blaming him for the mistake. He accepted it with a sheepish smile of his own as he scratched the back of his head. How was he supposed to know her hand was that weak?
Finally that weird little man from before jumped forward and gave Naruto a healthy smile, raising a hand towards him in a salute.
"Makarov!"
The old man then extended his hand. Naruto hesitantly took it before quickly having to up the grip strength. For a little guy, he had a pretty strong hold. Dropping his hand, Naruto absently rubbed his knuckles as he looked around the group again. Mirajane said something to Lucy that had the girl running up the stairs, perhaps in search of something. Feeling his stomach rumble, Naruto held it unhappily. It felt like it had been forever since he had eaten. Looking at the white haired girl, it seemed like she had the greatest chance of knowing where the food was.
So in a universal gesture for food, Naruto opened his mouth wide and pointed.
Lucy stood back as the Master moved in to greet the new boy. She wiped away a few beads of sweat from her brow after having managed to successfully break up the fight that nearly happened between Erza and Naruto. Her hand still hurt from that shake. Even Erza's grip wasn't that strong! She shifted over slightly as Mirajane moved up beside her.
"Well, isn't this interesting?"
Lucy nodded, giving her hand one last rub. "Yeah, I know. I mean, he doesn't even speak our language. I've never come across anyone who couldn't! I wonder where he's from?"
Mirajane shook her head, just as confused as her friend. "I wouldn't know sorry. But to appear from thin air like that... I've never heard of teleportation magic like that. Especially if it was causing him pain."
Lucy frowned slightly. "It almost makes you wonder if he even wanted to come here. He might have been attacked by someone and had a spell cast on him."
Mirajane let out a light breath as she watched the blond boy interact with the Master. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as an idea came to mind. "Lucy, would you mind going and finding Levy for me? If there's anyone who could find out a way to talk to Naruto-san, it'd be her."
Lucy's eyes widened as she heard the suggestion. "Good thinking Mira-chan! I'll be right back."
Dashing up the stairs, Lucy looked over her shoulder as she heard her well natured friend let out a loud, pretty laugh. Reaching the main dining hall, Lucy skidded to a stop before looking around. Seeing a tuft of blue locks, she smiled before calling out and running over.
"Levy! There you are. Can I get you to come with me quickly?"
The girl looked up from the book she was reading. Seeing one of her close friends, she smiled brightly and waved.
"Lucy! What's going on?"
Reaching her, Lucy threw a thumb over her shoulder at the door she came from. "That boy we found has finally woken up! You'll never guess what though, he speaks a different language!"
Instantly, Levy's eyes widened exponentially in glee. "No WAY! THAT IS SO COOL!"
"Shh, shh!" Lucy put her hands out, shushing her friend. "I don't think master wants everyone to know just yet."
Blushing, Levy scratched her cheek. "Oh, sorry. I get carried away sometimes. But yeah, take me to him!"
"Hmmm!"
Gathering her stuff, Levy handed half of it to Lucy and they started walking. "So has he done anything cool yet?"
Lucy shook her head. "No, not really. We found out his name though! It was... Naruko... or something. Oh, and he's really strong too. I shook his hand and he nearly crushed mine without even meaning too! Erza almost attacked him for that though..."
Both girls imagined the outcome and shivered. "Yeah, we wouldn't really want that to happen."
Quickly shaking off the gloom, Lucy smiled as they neared the door. "It's ok but, I convinced Erza it was just a mistake. Mira-chan was actually the one who came up with the idea to get you down to see if you can do anything about the language barrier."
Levy giggled happily at the prospect. "I hope so! I love a good challenge."
Walking down the stairs and through the doors, both girls stopped dead and dropped their jaws with everyone else in the room as they watched Naruto tucking into what seemed like his fifth bowl of food, if the empty plates were anything to go by. Quickly licking the remaining crumbs from the plate, he handed the dirty ones to Mirajane as she passed him a full new plate. He sent her a beaming smile before nearly inhaling the most recent plate.
"He's a hungry one!"
Sweat dropping at the girl's casual remark, Lucy turned and whispered into her friend's ear. "I take what I said back. Here's something interesting about him, he's a bottomless pit."
Giggling into her hand, Levy nodded and walked over to an unoccupied table. Spreading out her things, she waved Lucy over. "I have an idea that may work. Just let me get my pen and a piece of paper and we'll get started."
Naruto nodded his thanks to Mirajane as she passed him another load of food. He had absolutely no idea what this stuff he was eating was, but it was delicious! Obviously it was no ramen, but still pretty damn good. Finishing off the plate, he sent his new most favourite girl in the whole world a charming smile while waving the plate, asking for more. When he didn't get a response, he opened his eyes and saw a small blue haired girl standing before him.
Her shoulder length hair was pulled back with an orange bandana and her lithe body was covered by a short, orange one piece dress with white straps to hold it up. Like the other women he'd met thus far, she seemed to have rather large eyes, hers being a light brown. Having another look at her lovely dress, he smiled happily. This was the second person who knew the wonders of the magical colour orange. He was rather quickly warming to these new people. They knew good clothes. Patting himself on the chest, he grinned at her.
"Naruto!"
Seeing her giggle, she nodded and repeated the motion. "Levy."
She then proceeded to lay out a sheet of paper before him and pulled a pen from within her blouse. As Naruto looked down at it curiously, the girl wrote some strange glyphs down and pointed at them.
"Naruto!"
"Eh?"
He looked at her blankly. Sighing patiently, Levy pointed at him, then at the marks. "Naruto!" Thinking for a second, Naruto nodded slowly. It seemed she had written his name down.
Seeing him begin to understand, Levy then handed him the pen. Looking at it curiously, she made a writing movement in the air, pointed at the paper and said his name again. Holding the pen out hesitantly, he looked at her. Seeing her nod and say his name once more, Naruto wrote his name down as neatly as possible. It seemed the girl had something planned.
Smiling thankfully at him, she took her pen back and then placed her hands on the paper.
She said a few weird words and then suddenly a bright gold circle filled with all manner of letters and pictures exploded from her hands. Instincts honed by years of battle sent him to the roof in an instantaneous jump, chakra flowing to his feet and gluing him to the ceiling as he stared down at her in surprise.
Hearing a cry of disbelief, Naruto looked over at the now upside down Lucy. Her eyes were wide and a shaky finger was pointing up at him like she'd never seen someone use chakra before. Pursing his lips, Naruto wondered if they even had ever seen someone use chakra. The weird language, coupled with the strange dress style, weird writing and subtle differences in facial structure was slowly convincing him he was somewhere very far away from home.
Grinning awkwardly, he stood up and released his hold on the roof, flipping down to land gracefully back on his bed.
During that time though, something weird had happened on the piece of paper. Ignoring the still pointing blond girl, Naruto looked in with interest. The writing had been absorbed into the paper and replaced with something else. Levy then took her pen and wrote something down. Turning, she called out to the still unconscious Natsu. Erza quickly woke him up with a slap to the face before pushing him over to Levy. She spoke to him before he grinned and lifted his hand. Again, Naruto found himself wanting to jump to the roof when his hand exploded into flame. Sending Natsu a wide eyed look, Naruto wondered what else these weird people could do. The boy just laughed at Naruto's unease and waved his hand around a little. This time, Levy pointed at the flames and said something in her language. She repeated the word a few times then pointed at the piece of paper.
Naruto quickly caught on now that he understood the game. She was trying to compare their written language for some reason. She must have found a way to translate it. Enjoying the new game, Naruto let a smile creep onto his face.
"Fire."
Laughing happily, Levy then handed Naruto the pen and he quickly wrote down the word. This time, Levy didn't need to do anything and the words faded into the paper together. Turning, the girl found a blank sheet of paper and pointed at it before writing down what it was. Nodding, Naruto took the offered pen and quickly wrote down what it was. He realised the process might take a while, but it'd be worth it in the end.
It was taking a few hours, but the excitement on Naruto's face was more than enough to keep the group entertained as Levy worked. Natsu had needed to be forcefully evicted a little while into the session after he started getting just as excited as Naruto and began to spew flames everywhere. After he had been kicked out, the group had found Naruto firmly attached to the ceiling again, staring at the door they booted Natsu out of with owlish eyes.
This time the shock wasn't as great and the group laughed at him, extremely amused by the blond's defensive reaction. Naruto had pouted rather heavily at this before flipping down to the bed, sulking to himself. Ignoring his discomfort, the brilliant girl before him had continued to toil away, slowly working through easily identifiable objects in the room. This continued on for another half an hour until Levy grinned and turned to face her friends.
"Alright! Hopefully this will work now. Fingers crossed!"
Looking down at the paper curiously, Erza frowned as Levy scurried around the room trying to find something that hadn't already been translated. "So, what are you hoping to do?"
Levy's small backside answered as she rooted around in a cupboard. "I think I have enough information from his language now to begin to translate our words to his. A lot of his characters have started repeating themselves in the words so hopefully now I can write it down so he can understand it. The best part now is if I misspell anything, he can correct it for me and speed up the process even more! So all I need is something... ah-ha!"
Crawling out, Levy held up an old rock that had been hiding down the back of the cupboard for who knew how long. Running back up to Naruto, she sent him a grin and wrote 'rock' down.
Seeing him reach out for the pen, she grinned and shook her head. "Not this time, sorry. Let's hope this works."
Quickly scribbling down some runes beside the word, it disappeared before reappearing as a word in the foreign script. Looking up hopefully, she saw Naruto's eyes widened and a massive grin split his face before he tackled Levi in a massive hug, spinning her around a few times before setting the now dizzy girl down.
He pointed at the piece of paper and started babbling away, probably asking how she did that. Holding her head, she stabilised herself before looking up at him and shrugging. "Sorry, I can't really tell you how until I understand you better."
The blond seemed to understand the sentence as he grinned sheepishly and jumped back onto the bed. Nevertheless, first contact had been made. Sitting there with wide eyes, Naruto waited to see what was to happen next. Levy then smiled and handed him the pen, motioning for him to write something. He grinned and quickly started scribbling down a few words.
Leaning back, he watched the paper intensely as it translated. Flicking up the result, the group leaned in.
"Hay, nise to meet yor gyes!" "Woo!"
Cheering loudly, Lucy high fived Levy and then gave her a quick hug. Letting the girl get back to work, Levy started studying what went wrong.
"Obviously this is just a first test, but we should be able to work out the lettering problems soon enough. There, that's fixed it up on our end."
She then sent him the edited version. Reading it, he gave her the thumbs up to show he understood. Leaning in, Lucy pointed at herself. "Do you mind if I have a go?"
"Not at all!"
Clapping her hands happily, the blond girl quickly scribbled down something. Standing back, they waited as Naruto tried to decipher the message. A moment passed before he grew a little pale and a small trickle of blood ran down his nose. Looking over in confusion, Levy questioned her friend. "Uh, what did you write?"
Looking equally confused, Lucy shook her head. "I just said he's wearing nice clothes and I'd like a girl's set?"
Naruto absentmindedly wiped away the small dribble of red from his nose. He had gotten excited when Lucy decided to write something down, but hadn't expected, "I want tobe in ur clothes like a girl pair."
There was no chance she knew about his female transformation technique, but it didn't help that his imagination ran overtime at the idea. Pausing, Naruto tried his best to correct the mistakes, making sure to put a rather big question mark at the end. When it went through, Makarov and Mirajane burst out laughing while Lucy buried her head in her hands, instantly bright red. Erza also had the most peculiar look on her face, like she couldn't believe what Lucy just wrote. Levy just laughed at her friend's expense and wrote down what she originally meant. Reading the updated version, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. That could have gotten messy pretty quickly if they hadn't been so understanding. Sakura-chan would have sent him through a wall for even thinking it. He didn't think Lucy would wana write him any more messages anytime soon.
Doing his best to compose himself, Naruto grabbed the pen and changed topics. "So, where am I?"
Seeing the message received, he saw Levy and Makarov quickly talk between themselves before settling on something. Her pen flashed as she wrote down a couple of lines quickly before letting them sink into the paper. A moment passed and then they appeared.
"Your in currently the guild Fairy Tail. The area though caled is Magnolia."
Frowning, Naruto tapped his chin. A guild called Fairy Tail? Magnolia? Just where is this place? Taking the pen, he wrote down his questions very carefully, not wanting to cause any confusion.
"Magnolia? Where is that located in regards to The Elemental Nations?"
It went through but took Levy a second to properly correct the words. Once fixed though, she frowned in confusion and looked up at him. Quickly checking something with Erza, she wrote down her reply slowly.
"I'm sorry, but none of us have ever heard of that place."
The fact her sentence had been correctly translated totally blew over Naruto's head as his eyes widened and his face paled slightly. Quickly snatching back the pen, he hurriedly wrote down, "How did I get here?"
Waiting for the group to discuss his appearance, he clenched his fists as he desperately tried to wait as patiently as he could. He was nearly biting his nails by the time Levy finished writing down her response. Grabbing the paper, he picked it up and read it as quickly as he could.
"Lucy found you. You seemed teleport to appear in the air by a whirlpool swirling air vortex."
Dropping the paper, Naruto tried to digest the information. If what he read was right, then someone sent him here via some crazy jutsu. Wracking his brains for answers, he didn't notice the gentle hands that rested lightly on his arms in support.
'Come on Naruto, what could have it been, what could it have been? I was with Kakashi-sensei at the time... I think I was too far from the village to have anyone else be there... wait, what about that cloaked guy standing over me? He would have just carried me though... But then
there was that explosion..."
Groaning as his eyes clenched in thought, Mirajane and Lucy looked at each other worriedly while rubbing each arm respectively.
"Mira..."
The white haired girl couldn't say anything so she just shook her head in concern.
'Ok, ok, think back, if Kakashi was there, what could he maybe have done?'
Trying his best, Naruto started running through the list of techniques his teacher had. The fact Kakashi had copied something close to a thousand techniques though made things a bit tricky for the academically challenged boy.
'Come on Kakashi, what was there, what was there, what was... wait, what was that?'
Thinking back, Naruto dimly remembered the fight with him, Kakashi and that weird chick looking guy from the Akatsuki who had mouths in his hands. Didn't Kakashi do something weird back then? He did say something about trying to suck his head into something. And according to his memory, it did seem to distort the air...
Opening his eyes, he finally noticed the gentle hands on his arms. Pausing, he tried to think of the best way to handle such contact. Biting his lip, he settled for an awkward smile before reaching out for the pen again. Tapping the tip a few times, he started writing.
"So... I came through a crazy spiral in the air?"
Reading the question, Lucy nodded and stepped back, trying to imitate the thing she saw. It wasn't all that great a description, but it served its purpose. Nodding unhappily, Naruto sighed and looked at the floor.
'Well that's just great. It must have been Kakashi's... Kamui (Authority of the Gods), I think it was, unless it was that other weird guy above me but I doubt it.'
Rubbing his head, Naruto looked up and wrote down another question. "Can you take me to where I appeared?"
Lucy hesitated, looking at the old man. He shook his head and said something. Through the paper, he said, "Not today. It's a fair journey and it's late. Maybe tomorrow, weather permitting."
Huffing, Naruto didn't care if it was midnight, but there wasn't a lot he could do without a guide. So grabbing the pen, he asked another question.
"So how long have I been here?"
Mirajane took up the pen this time, her elegant handwriting gracing the page. "I've been caring for you for close to two days now."
Naruto's eyes widened as he read this. Two days? Even after being kicked around like a ragdoll by the Akatsuki, he was alright after a good night's sleep. Whatever brought him here must have really taken it out of him.
At that moment, a memory flash of the unimaginable pain reared its head and Naruto growled before quickly slapping a palm to his forehead. The pain was gone as soon as it appeared but the after effects remained. He heard some worried chattering from the girls but just waved them off with a disarming smile. Stretching his neck, Naruto lifted himself up easily into a handstand before flipping off the bed. Winding an arm around quickly, he looked back down at the paper and asked if he was able to do some light exercises.
He was getting rather fidgety after sitting still for so long that a chance to unleash a little energy would do him good. Seeing Makarov nod, Erza stepped forward and motioned for him to follow. Looking back, he saw Mirajane and Makarov waving him goodbye while Levy and Lucy were grabbing some things to bring with them. It seemed they'd appointed themselves the official translators for Naruto. Shrugging, he bounced on his toes before running out the door and up the stairs.
Reaching the top, he paused and looked around the massive room he had entered in awe. It seemed he had been in the basement the whole time and was now in the main eating area of this Fairy Tail place. Massive stone pillars held up the roof that seemed to be close to thirty feet above him and a mezzanine floor off to the side, which also seemed to have a bar underneath it. If he could take a guess, he'd place his numbers on that Mirajane worked under
there. There was a board beside that which seemed to hold a bunch of papers all stuck haphazardly across it in no particular order. Scanning the rest of the place, he found it full of wooden boxes that sat off in the corners of the room, along with long benches that still had a few sleepy looking people seated at them. There were a few circular tables closer to the bar that had grubby looking wooden barrels as seats scattered around them.
Hearing a sharp call, he turned to see Erza staring at him pointedly, no doubt telling him to hurry up. He saw Lucy and Levy walking past him, chatting to each other animatedly about something, probably him if the little glances they were stealing were anything to go by.
Jogging out, he met up with Erza who looked to the sheet of paper Levy had. Taking it up in one hand, she quickly wrote something down and handed it to him.
"I'm take you to a trainin ground neer heer. Try keep up."
Looking at the two girls carrying the books, they just smiled and made a shooing motion at him. Grinning, he turned back to Erza and tightened his Konoha head band before grinning.
"Lead the way, Erza."
The woman didn't respond, instead closing her eyes and calling out in a loud voice. Naruto jumped back in surprise as Erza's entire body began to glow a golden yellow as several bright tendrils lashed out from her, wrapping around her now nude from. Opening her eyes after the transformation, Erza was now dressed in a set of long pants with the bottoms of them in a delightful orange, reaching up half her shins in the patterns of wild flames. A black line traced them, separating the colour from the vibrant red that made up the rest of her pants. White pocket things hung from each hip and from there up, there was skin. Lots of skin.
Naruto struggled to tear his eyes away from the barely covered chest of the woman who stood before him. Aside from some tight bandages that held her considerable bust in place, there wasn't a scrap of fabric elsewhere. A little voice in Naruto's head quietly mentioned that he never would have guessed she was that big under her chest plate.
Deciding he'd had a quick enough look, he peered up to see Erza smirking at him. Her hair had also changed. Before, it hung freely down her back to about her waist, now it was pulled back into a single ponytail. She crooked a finger at him in a 'follow me' motion. Turning, she knelt down before dashing off at a surprising speed into the dimming light. Naruto just watched her go for a moment in awe before a giggle behind him brought him back from his daze. Blushing
ever so slightly, he coughed and channelled some chakra to his legs, taking off in a high speed rush. The squeal of surprise from both girls behind him made the boy smirk. No one made fun of the mighty Uzumaki and got away with it.
Looking over her shoulder, Erza tisked in annoyance. That blond boy was easily keeping up with her for some reason and this was one of her faster suits. Granted, she wasn't anything near full pace, but it was far beyond what a normal human could run. Vaulting a bridge, she saw Naruto front flip the whole thing, land in a roll and pop straight back up, a cheeky grin on his face. Frowning, Erza started to pick up the pace.
"He thinks he's so good showing off? Let's see him try keep up with this!"
Leaning low to the ground, Erza gave a might kick and shot forward nearly doubling her speed. Hearing a cry of surprise from her companion, she allowed a little triumphant smirk as she left him behind in the dust cloud. The smirk quickly turned to a growl as she realised Naruto landed heavily beside her, seeming like he had just jumped from that cloud. Seeing a challenging grin on his face, Erza sent him one of her own before ducking around a tight corner.
The two of them began a game of tag across the city as they vaulted, dodged, swung and kicked off all forms of objects in a effort to one up each other. Erza couldn't say she wasn't surprised either when Naruto took to running along the walls of the buildings, sticking to them like he was running across flat ground. He noticed her shocked glance though and sent her another cheeky grin. Huffing to herself, Erza looked forward, determined not to let him catch her off guard like that again.
One final large jump later, Erza landed in an open field. Hearing the thump of a body behind her, she turned to face Naruto who was looking around curiously. Narrowing her eyes when he wasn't looking, she scrutinised the blond. He wasn't showing a hint of fatigue after all that running despite keeping pace with her. Erza probably had the highest levels of stamina in the guild so meeting someone who had just as much energy as her was unusual.
Dropping to the ground in a wide split, Erza reached for her toes as she warmed her muscles up. Seeing the girl stretching, Naruto gave her a curious glance before shrugging and beginning some gentle exercises himself.
If she wanted to fight him, who was he to say no?
Levy and Lucy were now standing at the training ground with both their mouths open a little as they watched the show going on before them. The conversation they were previously having was completely forgotten as they watched the two combatants dance for them. For how energetically they were going at it, the girls guessed that they must have been doing at it for over fifteen minutes. But with them having only just left maybe twenty minutes ago, that means they made it all the way out here in just over five minutes.
"Wow... I had no idea he's be able to keep up with Erza-san of all people..." "Uh-ha..."
What made them even more nervous though was that during the brief flashes they could see, both fighters had huge grins on their faces, looking like they were having all the fun in the world. Tearing her eyes away from the spectacle, Levy made herself walk to a free bench and start sorting out her books. Lucy followed and began laying out her pile as well.
"So, what's the next step with Naruto-san?"
Levy showcased some impressive multitasking abilities as she continued to talk while sorting through her material. "Well, now that we can talk a bit with Naruto, I wouldn't mind learning his language. I'm expecting that I'd be able to pick it up faster than he would, so doing that means no more annoying pieces of paper. It'll probably take me a few days, but I'll get it soon enough. For how weird it sounds though, I think his syllabary doesn't have all that many more characters than our own, so thankfully that will make it pretty easy to pick up. Every now and then though he throws in a new symbol I haven't seen. Some seem to double up on meanings though so it's becoming a game of pick and choose what character I'd like to use."
Lucy sweat dropped and just nodded, quite happy she wasn't the one tasked with translating Naruto directly. Dropping down beside her friend, she turned her eyes back to the two fighters and let out a sigh.
"What's wrong?"
Resting her chin in a palm, Lucy gave Levy a lopsided grin. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that all of a sudden, this random boy pops out of nowhere and he's as strong as Erza! I'm just wondering how long it'll be before I'm as strong as them."
Smiling up at her friend, Levy patted her arm. "Soon Luce, real soon, I'm sure of it! Just keep practicing and I bet in maybe a year or two, you'll soon be in the middle of fights just like that."
Lucy shivered as Levy went back to organising papers. "I certainly wouldn't be in something like that by choice..."
Hearing a final boom, both girls looked over to see Naruto and Erza spring apart, each wiping a light coating of sweat from their brows.
"Well done! It's been a while since I've had a fight like that. Come take a break before we get started again."
Erza then sighed as Naruto gave her a clueless look. Waving him over, she pointed at the seat and made a tipping motion with her hand like she was drinking something. Understanding springing to his face, he nodded happily and ran over, passing Erza as she calmly walked back.
Reaching the seat, he looked around for a bottle but didn't find one. Looking back at Erza, he shrugged. Rolling her eyes, the woman let out a sigh before pointing at a bubbler. Wondering what it was, Naruto wandered over to it, walking around the pole a few times. Tapping it, he grasped the handle and twisted, receiving a blast of water to his face. Coughing and spluttering, he stumbled back and wiped his eyes as all three girls burst out laughing.
Sneezing once, Naruto looked at them through a half opened eye and blushed slightly, though grinning all the same. Erza shook her head with a smile as Naruto tried again and looked down at the smallest of the three.
"So what do you think will be happening next? I'd imagine you'd want to learn his language."
Nodding, Levy flicked through a few pages that had most of Naruto's alphabet on it. "Yep! I nearly understand his written language so from that, I want to start talking to him without paper. Then, I can teach him our language!"
Erza smiled at her and placed a hand on her head. "As I'd expect of you. I do ask that you try and learn it as fast as you can though. I'm quickly growing tired of writing to him like he's my pen pal."
Chuckling to herself, Levy blushed at the praise. "Oh, it's nothing special, just doing what I can. Anyway, here's that pen and the translating piece of paper. I'd assume he'd have some questions for you. Oh, and I also tweaked it so it will pick up any mistakes and correct them as the chance comes."
Nodding, Erza walked over to Naruto and found him wiping his mouth as he finished drinking. Handing him the pen and paper, she refreshed herself as Naruto started scribbling away on the paper. Wiping her own mouth, she accepted the question.
"So howe did yu get so srong? Nd what was up with the glow body?"
Erza chuckled and started writing. "To answer your first question, just lots of hard work. As for the second, that's my magic, requip."
Handing it back, Naruto studied the paper before he looked up at Erza in confusion. He handed her the paper back.
"Magic?"
The red heads eyebrows rose at the question. "Yes, magic. It's something every living creature in Earthland has, but only a small percentage can actually use it."
The paper was handed over. "But, isn't magic jst a myth?"
Erza frowned at the question. "No, it is a part of everyone, even you I'd imagine. Why, how did you do the things you did?"
"Chakra. That's what's in me. Not magic."
Staring at Naruto, Erza wasn't convinced. "Show me." Shrugging, Naruto stood back. "Alright."
Assuming the 'Ram' hand seal, the blond began drawing upon his massive reserves. A slight blue glow began to encompass his form and Erza took a step back as a small breeze started blowing her pants and hair around. When it started buffeting her about a bit more, she held a hand out.
"Alright, alright, I believe you."
Hearing her speak, Naruto looked up and lowered his hands questioningly. Erza growled and grabbed the annoying piece of paper.
"I believe you now. I have a great many questions I'd like to ask but this method is far too cumbersome. Levy is working on learning your language so once she has that completed, we will talk more about it then."
Taking a moment to read the note, Naruto gave Erza a firm smile before scribbling back down something.
"That's fine by me. I also got a bunch of questions for you 'n' Levy 'n' Lucy baout magic too, dattebayo!"
Pausing, Erza considered the last word. "Dattebayo?"
Realizing his slip up Naruto just blushed and waved the question away. The girl smirked. A catch-phrase. How cute. Walking back over to Levy, she handed her back the paper. "My thanks. For now, myself and Naruto will continue to lightly spar. If you could stay with us until we finish, it would be greatly appreciated."
Lucy sweat dropped while Levy agreed cheerfully. That was a light spar? Shaking her head, she held her hair as Erza kicked up a small whirlwind as she jumped back to confront Naruto. Watching as they reengaged in their fight, Lucy couldn't help but lean in closer to her friend.
"So, what do you think that weird blue glow around Naruto was?"
Words were flicking across the translator paper and Levy was watching them intently. "I'm just going through the history to see."
Lucy's eyebrows rose. "You can do that?"
Levy hummed vacantly before pausing the words. "Here, Naruto-san is saying something about 'chakra'. I wonder what that is?"
Lucy shook her head. "When it comes to him, I don't think I understand a single thing. I can't wait to be able to talk normally with him."
Levy nodded in agreement as a plume of dirt was sent into the air via a missed kick from Erza. "Neither can I. Guess I'll just have to work doubly as hard to learn his language!"