A New World, The Story Of A Lost Shinobi
Day something. Training hurts. Need more sleep.
Day something, out.
Naruto held on for dear life as the unstable vehicle bounced along the rugged road. More than once the boy checked out the window to see if they even were on the road. Levy sat beside him, trying her best to calm him and take his mind off things by harassing him for new words to study. Natsu hung halfway out the window, continually vomiting inhuman amounts onto the speeding ground despite having emptied his stomach of all its contents long ago. Lucy sat beside Natsu, half rubbing his back soothingly, half holding onto him so he didn't topple out the window as Erza hit another rock. His little blue companion had even actually managed to fall asleep on the cushion between the dark haired boy and Lucy. The previously mentioned teen Naruto had recognised from before had also introduced himself lazily as Gray. Getting the troublesome preamble over with, he now sat with his head resting on his fist, looking out the window like he was sitting on a motionless bench. He didn't even flinch as he repeatedly punched himself in the face as the carriage bounced about. To Naruto it just looked like he was trying to uphold a 'cool' look or something.
Feeling the hell-damned contraption lurch again horribly, Naruto sank his fingers into the cushion under him, not realising he was punching holes into the fabric with his fingertips. Levy did however, and jumped straight into an explanation of the wagon, trying to alleviate his fear.
"W-what we're currently riding in is a magically powered four wheeler. There are a couple of different types about but this one is – ", she paused as the cart momentarily grew airborne as Erza drove the thing over a sharp hill, "is one of the safer models."
Naruto sucked in a terrified breath and sent her a wide eyed, incredulous look as he felt the thing rise up onto two wheels. She knew he couldn't understand much of what she was saying but pressed on anyway. Hopefully her talking would be enough to calm him. "The only reason we're driving like this is because the engine is powered by the driver's magical power. The faster you go, the more magical power is used. And with Erza having one of the highest levels of magical power in the guild, she can afford to drive like this."
Looking out the window, even Naruto's iron stomach gave a heave as the cabin bucked again, the outside world flipping around like it was being shaken around by a pair of gigantic hands.
'I gotta get outa here!'
Levy watched cautiously as Naruto reached out and grabbed the window. She then screamed in horror as Naruto quickly pulled himself out it, disappearing from sight.
"What the hell is that moron doing?"
Pushed aside, Levy saw Gray lean out the window trying to see what happened to the boy. Looking around, he failed to find a trace of Naruto until a finger tapped the top of his head. Looking up, Gray's eyes widened as a relieved Naruto looked down at him.
"What are you doing up there? Get your ass back inside now!"
Naruto shook his head and pointed at the roof. "No, safe here!"
Just then Levy squeezed out the window with Gray and held a hand out worriedly. "Naruto! Take my hand and climb back in! Slowly now!"
Laughing, Naruto shook his head again. "It ok! Watch!"
Before they could say anything, Naruto stood up, arms wide as he caught the wind with his body, laughing loudly the whole time. The thing that shocked Gray and Levy the most though was that despite the incredibly harsh driving, Naruto stuck to the roof like a magnet, his feet not budging from their spots. Slowly pulling her hand back in, Levy blinked a few times before calling out again.
"S – so you'll be ok?"
Looking down, Naruto smiled reassuringly. "Yes! Ok!"
Sharing a look with Gray, the boy just shrugged and pulled his head back inside. Waiting a while longer, Levy looked up at a beaming Naruto with a mixture of concern and awe in her eyes. She then pulled herself back inside, only to come face to face with Gray, an eyebrow raised.
"So, you obviously know a bit more about him than I do. Care to explain?"
Holding a hand to her chest, Levy looked out the window. "I don't really know what to say... everything I do know about him is minimal at best. Every time I discover something new though, it just raises more questions about him."
Unimpressed, Gray crossed his arms. "Well can you atleast tell me about a few of his abilities? I heard one skill is the ability to create solid clones. The new girl at the bar back at the guild is meant to be one of his, but that shouldn't be possible."
Levy's eyes widened as she brought her eyes up to meet his. "Really? There's a new girl?"
Gray nodded. "Yeah, looks a little like Naruto, same whiskers, blond hair and eyes, but the only problem is that she's a girl. Mira said that Naruto created her though so..."
Shaking her head, Levy let out a humourless chuckle. "I didn't see that happen, but I wouldn't put it past him. So far, I've seen him stick to the roof of a room like he was kneeling on the floor, create fifty clones in an instant; learn the basics of our writing in a day and basics of our language in about the same time, maybe a little longer. I've seen him change the colour of his eyes to yellow to help him sense energies better and create a shining blue ball of light in his hand, letting it pop and then explaining that it's so he can track his way back to it via the yellow eyes I said. And honestly, I believe there are possibly hundreds of other things he has still yet to show us."
Falling silent, Levy looked around before taking a fresh breath. "I don't sense anything bad from him but... I find it hard to trust a guy with that many secrets, you know? We all have our own skeletons in the closet, but Naruto seems to have whole rooms filled with them."
Nodding understandingly, Gray looked at the roof. "No one expects you to trust him straight from the get go. It would be foolish to anyway. Despite the outward appearances, even Master Makarov is cautious of him, he's just very good at hiding those kind of emotions."
Nodding unhappily, the blue haired girl rubbed her arm. "I know, but I can't help but feel like we're betraying Naruto's trust in us because we don't trust him."
Having listened to the conversation, Lucy smiled and gently kicked Levy's shin. "Hey, don't let it get to you alright? I'm sure when he's ready, Naruto will tell us everything. Just give it time."
Letting a small smile light her lips, Levy nodded. "I guess you're right. I'm just being impatient."
Laughing as the wind buffeted his body around, Naruto had to admit that once outside the evil box of doom, the ride was A LOT more fun. It was totally worth catching a few bugs in his mouth for. Seeing Erza line up a hole, Naruto chuckled as the woman pumped more power into the wheels and sped up, hitting the edge with enough velocity to carry them through the air and land them safely on the other side of the five foot wide dip. Steadying himself, Naruto had to admit that although she was a maniac, she knew how to drive this thing damn well.
Wanting to see exactly how it worked, Naruto walked forward and sat down behind Erza. He found out that wasn't all that smart as Erza's long red hair whipped around in the air like a pit of angry vipers, snapping into his skin and eyes as he tried to see what she was doing. Wriggling to the side, he watched intently as Erza fought with the stick in front of her, muscling it around as the wheels tried to break free of her control.
After feeling firsthand the incredible grip she had, Naruto wondered if there was anyone else alive that could drive so close to the limit. Dropping down beside her, Erza let out a startled scream as he landed, causing the car to veer off course harshly. Naruto flapped his arms around wildly as Erza fought to get control back. The screams of fear from the cabin behind them weren't really helping the situation either. After a terrifying few moments, Erza pulled the wheels straight before sending Naruto an absolutely livid glare.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?"
Realising he was in trouble, Naruto backed up slightly, holding his hand out. "I – it ok! Sorry!"
Releasing a hand, Erza pointed at the carriage behind her. "INSIDE, NOW!"
Sweating, Naruto nodded affirmably, slowly backing away until he was within reach to climb back into the window. Moving out of the fiery redhead's sight, Naruto waved at the wide eyed looks he was getting through the window before climbing back onto the roof. Screw going back in there. He'd rather face his death head on.
Just as he was about to sit down, Naruto whipped his head around to look off to the left. While he wasn't all that great at sensing things, he could definitely feel something wrong off in that direction. It wasn't all that strong though so pinpointing it was impossible. As they rounded a bend, Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a long, snake like creation speeding along a set of tracks.
It had long, segmented body parts, connected by a coupling bolt and a few chains. The front of it looked like it was doing all the pulling though as smoke belched forth from a chimney near the nose of the thing. Squinting, Naruto could swear he could make out people sitting in the compartments behind the main engine part. Raising his eyebrows, Naruto guessed it must have been another type of magical contraption like the one he was currently sitting on.
As they neared it though, Naruto could feel the wrongness increasing. Whatever it was, it was on that long snake. Leaning over the edge, Naruto looked in. Seeing Lucy being the closest, he reached out and tapped her shoulder. She screamed and jumped, holding a hand to her chest as she panted in fright. Ignoring her stress, Naruto pointed over at the track borne thing.
"Over there! Something wrong!"
"Huh?"
Looking out the window, Lucy calmed her breathing and looked at what Naruto was pointing at. "Yes, that's a train Naruto."
Pausing, Naruto considered the new word. A train hey? Interesting. Shaking his head, he got back to what he originally was on about. "Inside train! Not right... something."
Seeing her frown, Naruto growled and held his hand out for the pen and paper. Grabbing it off Levy, Lucy handed it to him and Naruto leant in through the window, writing on the underside of the roof. "No, I meant something inside the train feels wrong. Can't you sense it?"
Reading it, Lucy handed it to the other two as she looked up, now curious as to what was going on. "No, I can't feel anything. Can either of you?"
Turning to Gray and Levy, she saw them shake their heads. Turning back, Lucy frowned. "Are you just imagining it?"
Rolling the words over in his mind, Naruto started shaking his head as he worked out the question. "No... no imagine. I go check. Back soon."
"Wait, what?"
To the immense shock and horror of all people in the cart, Naruto flipped his legs over and held himself at a solid horizontal line from the roof, before flipping off.
"NARUTO!"
All able bodied people rushed to the window, jostling for position as they tried to see what happened to the blond. Lucy ended up pushed to the back and was now scratching at Gray and Levy's backs, trying to get past. When they relaxed, she paused before assuming the worst.
"Oi! Let me through! Let me see!"
They weakly gave way, pure disbelief on their faces as they continued looking out the window.
"What, what is it, what... oh, my..."
Beside the speeding wagon, Naruto was running, his legs nothing more than an orange blur as he easily kept up with them. His arms were stretched back in a streamline angle, head bent forward as he squinted into the wind. Turning to face them, he grinned before giving them thumbs up and veering off to the side and shooting off towards the train. The gobsmacked group watched as he rapidly caught up to the train, grabbing a hold of one of the railings and pulled himself up with ease before disappearing into one of the carriages. They watched the now empty landscape for a few more seconds before falling back into their seats, eyes wide but not really looking at anything.
Levy was the first to break the silence, blinking slowly as she turned her gaze to the other two. "So... I didn't imagine that?"
Swallowing, Gray ran a shaky hand through his hair. "If you did, then we're all going mad."
Lucy slipped down her chair as they spoke. "Uh – ha... he said he'd be back soon too, right?"
Nodding, Levy looked over at the train again. "He really is a mysterious person."
Gray sighed and looked out the other window. "Too right he is. Oh and Lucy, you might want to grab Natsu before he falls out the window."
Looking over, the blond screeched and dived at Natsu, just managing to catch his pants and pull him back in. "WHY DIDN'T YOU GRAB HIM?"
Gray just shrugged, happy that things were mostly normal again. "Why should I babysit him? Besides, you looked like you were having so much fun that I thought I'd leave you to it.
Looking around the area, Naruto ignored the surprised looks as he slipped through the door. The roof was of a fair height, though someone Elfman's size would have to duck. Windows covered both walls, with seats just beneath them, facing each other so travellers could talk with each other. There was also a small path down the middle of the carriage to get to the seats. Curious really.
Shaking his head Naruto started walking. He wasn't here to gaze at details. That weird feeling was much stronger in here and Naruto had to find it. The only thing was that it was a very general feeling despite being stronger. It was like it was being suppressed so pinpointing it was going to prove a challenge.
Walking down between the seats, Naruto's eyes flicked from side to side, trying to work out where the sensation was coming from. It was similar to something he was quite familiar with, but it just didn't seem plausible. He had only felt it a handful of other times in his life, and that was only when around someone like Gaara. It felt like a Jinchuuriki was nearby.
Seeing nothing interesting, Naruto opened the door and stepped through to the next carriage. Browsing over the people, Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a spiky hair style, very much like one of his hometown friends.
"Shikamaru?"
The man looked up at him, seeming to calculate Naruto potential as a threat and then went back to looking out the window. Holding his jacket, Naruto let out a breath. The similarities between the two were astounding, but it was just a surprise. Naruto continued to look around, slowly stepping past the seats. Just as he passed the Shikamaru lookalike, Naruto saw him glance at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. Pausing, Naruto continued on into the next carriage.
Sitting down in a seat towards the back, Naruto looked at the wall behind him. The glance mightn't have meant much to the average person, but Naruto was a ninja so anything like that was a warning beacon. Someone seemingly distracted with the window wouldn't have any reason to glance at him twice. And if he really was surprised by his outfit, he would have kept discreetly checking him out, like the rest of the passengers. No, something was off about him.
Looking around and finding this carriage empty, Naruto created a clone. Nodding at it, it opened the window and climbed onto the roof before running back down the train. Let the clone relay the message while Naruto waited. Settling down, Naruto got comfortable for the ride.
The clone jumped off the end of the train, legs out in preparation for the hard impact. Landing, his shoes skidded a bit before his legs blurred into motion. Taking one last look at the train, Naruto looked off into the distance. Seeing a slowly disappearing cloud of dust in the distance, Naruto charged off.
"So how much longer will Naruto be?"
"Happy, we already told you several times, we don't know!"
The blue cat had awoken from his nap and had begun to repeatedly ask the whereabouts of the blond, quickly irritating everyone in the confined area. Taking him up in her lap, Lucy started stroking his fur in an attempt to keep him quiet. Thankfully it worked, the cat closing his eyes in bliss and leaning back into Lucy's firm stomach.
"Hey, that might be him!"
"WHERE?"
"Damnit Gray I just got him quiet!"
Leaning out the window, Gray covered his eyes from the sun and squinted at the dust cloud that was approaching from behind. It took a moment but Naruto came into focus as he caught up. Jumping, he landed on the roof and slid in through the window.
"Wha – "
Butting in, Naruto flicked a few times for the paper and quickly started writing. He adjusted to the blue cat as it flew into his lap, sitting down in the road of everything, peering at what he was writing. "When I got onto the train I saw someone suspicious. Also, I can definitely sense something that shouldn't be there. I'm guessing that guy is connected with them. Tell Erza to follow the train, because that might be the Lullaby you're searching for."
Reading the note, Lucy frowned. "Why haven't you told Erza then?"
Seeing Naruto shiver, Lucy instantly understood he must have had an altercation with her. "Scared."
Levy had a think for a moment before looking out the window and saw the town Onibus rapidly approaching. Leaning back in, she nodded to herself. Looking up, she drew their attention. "Alright, I have a plan. The train docks at the upcoming town before departing after a thirty minute wait, so if we can beat it there, which we probably will, we'll be able to head off this suspicious guy. And while there, Naruto, you can tell Erza about what you felt and not get in trouble!"
Nodding, Naruto smiled. "Ok, I lead you to me!"
Pausing, the group gave him an odd look. "Uh, sorry?"
Patting itself on the chest, Naruto smiled wider. "I clone."
Everyone's eyes widened at the admission as Lucy began to hyperventilate again. Gray looked at Naruto suspiciously before turning back to the window, not fully convinced. He had to see this with his own eyes. Levy however just 'ahh'ed and accepted it. All things considered, one clone compared to fifty wasn't too bad.
Sliding into the town sideways, Erza pulled the cart up into a perfect parallel park, stepping off the driver's seat and onto the ground before everything had even finished shaking. Natsu flung himself from the prison with absolute relief, landing face first on the ground, kissing it and swearing he'd never set foot in another motor vehicle again. Happy drifted out the window slowly, still yawning and rubbing an eye as he woke up after a second nap. Lucy stepped out gracefully and stretched her arms above her head, turning quite a few heads in the process. Gray and Levy were chatting about something and Naruto staggered out, not at all happy with that last sideways slide.
Holding his head, Naruto made his way up to Erza and pulled on her sleeve. He flinched at the glare and held his hands out. It wouldn't do much good to get hit and dispel. "I sense... weird something in train behind."
Still glaring at him, Erza crossed her arms. "What?"
Seeing Naruto trying to explain, Levy ran up. Quickly discussing things in a mixture of his native language and hers, Levy was able to understand what he was trying to say. "Erza, while we were driving, Naruto could sense something odd in that train we passed. He sent a clone out to investigate it and found someone suspicious on it."
Sending a now annoyed glare at Naruto, Erza raised a hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Cringing, Naruto shivered. "Didn't want hit."
"No excuse!"
Swinging down, Naruto cried out and danced around the blow before coming to hide behind the small blue girl by his side. Internally laughing her head off, Levy held a hand out to Erza, trying to calm the woman. "Erza! Please forgive Naruto? He was only trying to help as best he could. He can lead us to the guy anyway, right Naruto?"
"Yes..."
Rolling her eyes, Levy smiled. "See? So what do you say, let's go catch us this creep. First stop, the train station!"
Taking Naruto's hand Levy then began to walk him away from the redhead, all the while casting cautious glances over at her. Erza just watched them walk a bit before sighing and calling out to the others. "Alright, we're headed to the train station to hopefully catch a suspect. Gray, please bring Natsu."
Shooting the unofficial leader a hurt look, Gray began protesting. "What? Why should I have to waste energy dragging that dead weight around? It'd be better to just dump him in the nearest bin... and..."
He trailed off as Erza levelled a gaze of legends on him. "What was that?"
Sweating bullets, Gray quickly retracted what he just said. "N-n-nothing Erza! I'll just grab him..."
Nodding, Erza turned away as Lucy watched on, a bemused expression on her face as she watched Gray get scolded. She sweat dropped though when Gray just grabbed Natsu's foot and began dragging him along behind him, face down in the dirt.
Watching him pass her, Lucy shook her head and began walking. They had a strange friendship.
Nearing the Onibus station, Naruto stood up and stretched. It seemed there was to be a half hour break before the train began moving again. Stealing a look through the window behind him, Naruto saw the Shikamaru lookalike stretching as well, looking like he was ready to get off.
'Good, now to just try and lead Erza and the others to him.'
Feeling the train draw to a halt, the doors opened and Naruto walked out the door casually, watching his target from the corner of his eye. He watched the man look around before popping his collar up high and tucking his hands into his pockets, disappearing into the crowd seamlessly. He had done this before it seemed.
Quietly, Naruto created a clone and dispersed it, the brief presence of a random extra not being noticed by the busy crowd around him. The smoke didn't seem to be a problem either with the majority of people around him lighting up various pipes as they left the train. With the knowledge of where he was transferred to his clone, Naruto stretched and began following the man lazily. He made sure to stop and look in a few windows that were dotted around the station to put off even the slightest hint he was tracking him.
When the man turned a corner into the main street, Naruto frowned and ducked into an alleyway. Getting away from the crowd, Naruto jumped to the roofs and silently ran across them, sliding to his stomach and peeking his eyes over the edge of a gutter. His eyes flicked around a bit before spotting the guy. He watched him wander through the crowd and head for a bar that looked like it said something about Mages. Squinting, Naruto ran the symbols through his mind and managed to come up with the word 'Onibus Bar – Mages Only'.
Smirking, Naruto watched him disappear into the door. The fact this guy was a mage instantly made him an even better subject. Naruto would have loved to just jump down there, scoop the guy up and run him off for interrogation, but he could just imagine how well that'd go down when he couldn't even speak the language.
Sighing, Naruto looked around and to his surprise saw a flash of long striking red hair walking down the street, people breaking around her to give her space. Trailing behind her was Levy on one side of his clone and Lucy on the other, obviously there to prevent any of the harsher knocks dispelling him. And rounding out the group was Gray and a dirty Natsu, glaring into each other's eyes as Happy floated above them, chirping gaily.
Creating another clone and dispelling it, he saw the clone with Lucy and Levy pause before looking up over in his direction. He made eye contact with it and gave it a slight head nod.
"Kawarimi (Body Replacement)."
Feeling the usual rush that accompanied the technique, Naruto blinked before tapping Levy. "Am here."
Looking up at him, Levy raised an eyebrow. "Yes Naruto, I know."
Shaking his head, Naruto pointed at the roof. "Look slow. I real me."
Frowning, Levy looked up and saw a smile on the roof before it disappeared in a burst of smoke. Blinking several times to make sure she saw what she saw, Levy turned back to Naruto.
"So you're the real one now?"
He nodded. "Yup. That's me."
Biting her lip, Levy realised she was beginning to accept his strange abilities. Smiling to herself, she looked back at him. "So where to now?"
Naruto pointed over at a bar. "In there."
Tapping Erza on the shoulder, Naruto gained the group's attention. "Ok, man with spiky hair black in topknot, and ear rings with big collar. That is the man and in that bar."
Nodding, Erza crossed her arms. "Good work. We'll trail him to see where he goes. We should also probably send a few people out to ask about Eisenwald. Gray, Lucy, you two can – what?"
Naruto had his hand up and when noticed, pointed at himself. "I can do. Clones better ok?"
Frowning, Erza shook her head. "No, it would be too suspicious having fifty blonds wearing orange running around. Gray, Lucy... WHAT?"
Again Naruto had his hand up and grinned once noticed. "I change. It ok, no one know it me. Watch."
Forming the ram seal, he muttered something and he went up in a puff. Erza's eyebrows raised while everyone else gasped as now a second Erza stood before them, grinning like Naruto usually did. Another puff went off and then Naruto was standing there again happily. "See?"
Sighing, Erza looked at the group and gave in. "Fine, do it your way then. Be quick about it though, we only have twenty five minutes left until the train leaves."
"Right! Be back quick."
Disappearing into the crowd, the group watched him head for an alleyway. A moment later, a barely noticeable cloud of smoke was visible above the roof, and then Naruto came strolling back out. Walking up to them, he nodded. "Ok, let's go."
Heading towards the bar, Lucy took one last look at the alleyway and saw person after person slipping out and into the crowd. She counted atleast fifteen before a sharp call from Erza had her running.
Inside the bar, the group got a table and ordered drinks, leaning back into their chairs as they waited. Tapping a finger to a beat in her head, Erza looked over at Naruto and leaned in. "So can you see this fellow?"
Casting a gaze around the room, Naruto nodded. "Corner behind Lucy. Big spiky hair."
Leaning back, Erza took a look and nodded. She could see the guy. He was hunched over his drink, doing his best to blend into the shadows and not attract attention, back to the wall. Erza wouldn't have even seen him had Naruto not pointed him out. He also glanced about from time to time, checking his surroundings. It seemed normal, but the intensity of his glances as well as his hunched appearance and hands free for action begged to differ. Smiling as the waitress brought them their drinks, Erza paid her and took a sip of her root beer. Placing it down, she looked at her friends, glaring at Natsu and Gray.
"Alright, it seems Naruto was right. Lucy, directly behind you is the guy we're looking for so unfortunately you can't see him."
The girl's face dropped and her neck began to prickle, now aware of the person. "Awww why'd that have to happen? Can't I swap places with someone?"
Shaking her head Erza explained. "No, that could be counted as suspicious and scare him away. He looks like he needs to get back on the train so we'll all follow him on alright? One person on each carriage will be good enough."
Naruto rocked slightly as a memory came back to him. "Yep, something happening with Eisenwald. Heard someone talk someone about rumour attack."
Raising an eyebrow, Erza looked over at Levy as she explained. "Naruto's clones can pop, and when they do, anything they've learnt comes back to him. That's the reason he's picking up the language so fast."
Smiling grimly, Erza took another sip of her drink. "Well, in any case, now that we know that this man is most likely a member of that guild, we'll have to capture him. Wait till he leaves and then we'll head him off."
Seeing various levels of agreement, Erza returned to her tapping, watching the man out of the corner of her eye. About ten minutes passed before the stranger looked at his watch and stood up, leaving a few coins on the table. He then moved out and slipped into the crowd. Giving him enough time, Erza then stood up. "Time to get him. Natsu, Gray, with me. Lucy, Levy, Naruto, you follow back a bit and watch out backs."
Nodding, Naruto and the girls watched as Erza led the boys out, a tight grip on each of their wrists to stop them from mucking up. Waiting a moment, the second group then stood and wandered out. Entering the crowd, Naruto looked around to find Erza. Unfortunately the majority of the people were too tall so Naruto turned to Lucy and wrapped his hands around her slender waist.
"What are you – NARUTO!"
Lifting her into the air easily, Naruto let her head stick up just over the crowd. "See anything?"
Holding her skirt down, Lucy blushed a bright red and kicked around. "Nothing like what you'd be seeing right now! Put! Me! DOWN!"
"Come on Lucy, just have a quick look! Naruto has his eyes closed so don't worry."
A little white lie never hurt anyone as Naruto currently had a light flush on his cheeks as he got a fine look at one of the best backsides he had ever laid eyes on. Levy was glaring at him but he wasn't too worried about that. Lucy's legs crossed in embarrassment but she stopped kicking nonetheless.
"E-Erza is over near the t-train station. Can you please put me down now?"
To her relief, she found the ground under her feet again and looked up at the taller boy, pouting. He just smiled back at her, his eyes a little less focused than usual. Blinking, he then began walking and clearing a path for the girls, the smile never leaving his face. As they walked Lucy moved up beside Levy and leant down to her ear.
"Liar."
Giggling sheepishly, Levy stuck her tongue out and scratched her cheek.
Reaching the spot Lucy described, Naruto looked around. Frowning he lifted up onto his tip toes but couldn't see the other Fairy Tail members. Looking back at Lucy, he raised a questioning eyebrow. Looking around Lucy tried to see them. "I don't understand, they were just here!"
"There you are!"
Turning, the group saw Erza striding towards them, a furious look on her face. The group cringed under the glare, hoping they hadn't done anything wrong. Naruto however noticed a lack of members.
"Where Natsu? Gray?"
Erza growled and just barely stopped herself stomping a foot. "Natsu decided that he'd jump the guy and so tried to run ahead. Gray and I managed to stop him but by that stage, the commotion had caused our quarry to startle and run. When I tried to spot him, Natsu kicked Gray off and Happy decided to take him for a fly. I have no idea where they are now and Gray is unconscious by the controls. Honestly, this couldn't have worked out any worse!"
Hearing the train whistle, Erza let out a frustrated cry and actually did stomp her foot this time. "Damnit Natsu!"
While Erza fumed, Naruto's ears pricked as he heard a familiar retching sound. Turning to look at the departing train, Naruto also felt the wrongness begin to fade.
"Erza-san."
Naruto mentally congratulated himself for taking the death stare without a flinch.
"Wrongness just left on train, so man gone. Natsu there too, heard vomit."
Slapping a resigned hand to her face, Erza sighed. "Trust that boy. Oh well, back to the SE."
Naruto leant down to Lucy. "SE?"
Lucy looked up at him. "Self Energy. Short for that magic four wheeler."
Nodding Naruto began following Erza. "I want roof again then."
Climbing onto his seat, Naruto looked over as Lucy called up to him. "Naruto, by the way, what's going on with your speech? It's clearing up really fast!"
Scratching his cheek, Naruto chuckled. "I left lots of clones here. They all talk with people and I just learning."
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "How many, exactly?"
Pursing his lips, Naruto had a quick think. "Uh... one fifty hundred?"
Lucy's eyes widened. "What, really?"
"Naruto, in the carriage."
Looking at Erza, Naruto shook his head. "No, I ok here."
Rolling her eyes, Erza didn't push it any further and jumped into the driver's seat. "Fine, but if you fall off I'm not stopping."
Naruto nodded and crossed his legs. Looking over, Lucy had already climbed into the car. Shrugging, he let it go. Grinning as the vehicle reversed, he then let out a joyful laugh as they shot off down towards the tracks.
Naruto held on tight and they bounced across the rocky ground. He raised a hand to his headband and held onto it as he felt the wind continue to tug it lose. Frowning, Naruto tightened the knot behind his head and stood up. They were rapidly catching up to the train and Naruto prepared himself to jump and board the last carriage. The opportunity was lost when Natsu was suddenly thrown through a window and into direct line with Naruto. Crying out, Naruto caught the boy's head fair in the gut and subsequently had the wind knocked right out of him, causing him to lose focus on his feet, lift off the roof and hit the ground solidly before rolling away.
Watching the train begin to draw away, Erza was faced with a tough choice. Follow the man or grab Natsu and Naruto. After a moment of indecision, Erza groaned, pulled the breaks on and skidded to a stop. The Kunugi station was just ahead so the train would have to stop anyway, so they'd be able to catch up without too much hassle. Turning around, she got back to the duo and jumped off.
"Get on, NOW! I've wasted enough time on you Natsu!"
Groaning, Natsu held his head, looking up at Naruto weakly. "What the hell is your gut made out of? Steel?"
Gasping in measured breaths, Naruto looked up. "I could ask... same thing."
Lucy, Levy and Gray all popped their heads out the window, watching the boys lie there in pain. Lucy jumped out first and jogged over, her more nurturing nature desiring to make sure they were ok. Checking them both, Lucy puffed out her cheeks.
"So how did you get thrown from the window anyway?"
Sitting up, Natsu rubbed his head a bit more. "That spiky haired bastard we were chasing threw me out."
"IDIOT!"
Lucy jumped to the side in shock as Erza pushed past and slapped Natsu hard across the cheek. "How could you let him get away? You KNEW we needed him!"
Walking over, Gray smirked. "You got beat up by him? How was he?"
Pouting, Natsu drew circles in the ground with his finger. "Not much. He kicked me in the face but I didn't even feel it. I managed to get a good hit on him though till the train lurched. Some weird skull flute fell out of his pocket but that's when he kicked me out the window."
Listening in on the convocation, Lucy gasped in horror as Natsu's description drew a memory. "D-did you just say a skull flute? Did it have three eyes?"
Crossing his arms, Natsu frowned. "Hmmm... I dunno, it could have. I didn't really see."
Looking over, Erza sent Lucy a look. "What do you know?"
Her eyes dropped in fear as she began to give details. "Lullaby... it's actually a cursed song. I've only read about it in books, but one of the forbidden spells is the death curse. A horrible black magic that can suck the very soul out of the person it's cast on. Well, apparently this Lullaby is even worse! The flute itself was never used for anything other than curses until the Black Mage Zeref got his hands on it. He turned it into a demonic flute; one with enough power that whoever hears the melody played by it will die! The mass death curse, Lullaby!"
That instantly brought on a mass discussion between everyone as they tried to understand what was just described. Naruto however, merely sat back, holding his stomach gently as he repeated Lucy's words in his head. A demonic flute hey? Apparently demons back in his own world had been able to be locked into inanimate objects before, so this wasn't impossible. That would explain the strange feeling and why no one else could sense it too. If this thing really was going to be released and it was anything like the demon in his stomach, then it had to be stopped at ALL costs.
Standing, Naruto started walking past the group. "Get in car or I go on ahead alone."
Everyone paused when they heard the tone of his voice. No matter what the situation, Naruto had always seemed to be carefree, much like Natsu. But now, this seriousness he was displaying was enough to make everyone, even Erza, quieten and quickly make their way back to the car. Pausing by the boy, Levy looked up.
"Are... are you ok?"
Naruto shook his head and looked down with a sad smile. "I seen demon in my home. I just want to stop it here."
Returning the smile, Levy nodded and climbed into the car. Taking a breath, the cabin rocked as Naruto jumped onto the roof. Another smile made its way to her lips as she felt her trust in Naruto grow. It didn't matter if she didn't know everything. Just knowing Naruto wanted to save people was enough for her.
Erza skidded to a stop on a cliff above the Kunugi station. The carriages were left there in front of the station, with the engine and first compartment gone. The group listened in on the bits and pieces that they could pick up from the distance. Things like, 'hijacked', 'Dark Guild' and 'giant scythe' floated up to their ears and Erza nodded gravely. Quickly piecing together the puzzle, she turned and looked over her shoulder.
"Well, it looks like Eisenwald has stolen the train, thanks to you Natsu. We would have made it too."
A pathetic whimper floated from the windows as Natsu clutched his swirling head. Naruto looked down at the station, not quite understanding the point of their motives. "Why steal train? It goes only on tracks."
Happy poked his head out the window and looked down. "Aye. Eisenwald must have a blond for a leader cause that's really dumb."
The cat received two indignant cries at the comment but ignored them. Erza chuckled at the cat and spoke up. "No, I can see the reasoning. It may only follow tracks, but it is fast, one of the fastest things in Earthland. The only reason we can catch up to them is because of me."
Lucy nodded, seeing the simple fact behind the arrogant sounding statement. "Yeah, but the military should be able to catch them yeah? Or atleast, head them off at the next station..."
Naruto meanwhile had begun fidgeting, anxious to catch up to the dark guild. "Can we go?"
Looking up at him, Lucy gave him a sad look. "You really want to stop this don't you?"
Naruto said nothing and just grabbed his headband as Erza took off.
Skidding into the next town of Oshibana, Erza floored it towards the station, desperate to make it in time. Leaning out the window, Gray called out a warning to her. "Don't go too fast or you'll run out of magic power!"
The woman laughed. "I don't care; I just want to get there before anything bad happens. Besides, I have you and Natsu here. We'll be ok."
Pulling his head back inside, Lucy gave a shriek as she noticed that he was naked again. Naruto however ignored them and kept looking ahead, trying to see their stop. Smoke was billowing up in the distance and an ominous feeling settled on the blond. Finally seeing the station, Naruto swallowed as he saw it as the source of the smoke. Feeling the vehicle beneath him lock the breaks on, Naruto crouched and jumped, using the momentum of the car to carry him over the crowd and officials, landing behind them and sprinting up the stairs in a flash. He heard someone shout at him, but he ignored it.
Looking around, he could feel that strange wrongness return, smothering the area. Running from door to door, he found nothing. Dashing up the stairs, he stopped when he saw what looked like over fifty guards all lying on the ground, either groaning in pain or completely knocked out. The lack of spirit from a few of them made Naruto guess they might already be dead too. Kneeling beside one who was awake, he gently tapped his face.
"What happen?"
Groaning, the man opened an eye to a whiskered face. "A – A train derailed and hnnn... and a dark guild came running out. They beat us down and pushed every... everyone else out. I don't know what they want!"
Naruto nodded. "Thanks. Now sleep."
Tapping a pressure point on his neck, the man lost consciousness. Straightening up, Naruto heard the rapid tapping of about five feet drawing close. Turning, Erza and the group appeared around the corner, Natsu draped over Lucy's shoulder, still apparently affected by the motion sickness.
"Do you know what happened?"
Naruto nodded. "And you?"
The redhead nodded. Frowning, she cast a gaze over the fallen men. "This is horrible. Who could do such a thing?"
Lucy sighed as she looked around as well. "Horrible people I guess. I just hope they aren't too strong."
"Indeed." Turning, Erza pointed a finger at Levy. "Levy, would you please run around the area and set up a few support and trap runes? Anything that could help us at all will be greatly appreciated."
"Sure! I'll be off then."
Waving, the blunette then turned back down the previous hallway and started running. Smiling, Erza cracked a few knuckles. "Now to put these people in their place."
Running the stairs, she drew level with Naruto and the two dashed down the main hall, the others not too far behind.
Skidding to a stop, the four mages, one ninja and one cat came face to face with the guild they had been chasing. Apparently, it was the entire guild too, if anything to judge by the numbers. They all turned and looked at the group, smirking as they saw the pitiful assembly.
Erza stepped forward and looked around. As she did do, a deep laugh echoed out to greet them. "Ah, flies of Fairy Tail, welcome. I had a feeling you'd turn up."
Scrutinising the owner of the voice, Erza frowned. "So, you're Erigor I presume?"
Naruto glared at the man as he laughed again. The pale human had a sharp face with a rather long fringe hanging down and covering the left side of his face. A small dark blue arrow tattoo reached down from each of his lower eyelids, stopping just in line with his nose. The rest of his hair stuck up backwards in a similar fashion to Sasuke's, only his was a light gray in comparison to the Uchiha's deep black. A ragged black cape was tied around his neck, hanging halfway down his bare back, his whole chest and upper arms covered in blue spiralling tattoos. Below his bare torso was an equally raggy white belt and pair of faded blue pants, each looking like they'd be better off in the bin than clothing someone. A large death scythe hung lazily over his shoulder too, just begging to be used on someone, anyone.
The man said nothing though as the Shikamaru lookalike spoke up, venting his frustrations at Natsu. This seemed to snap the fire child out of his sickness as he heard his voice. Pushing himself to his feet, Natsu turned and levelled a dangerous glare at the spiky haired man. "You might as well bend over and show me your ass now because I'm going to kick it so hard your grandkids will feel the bruise!"
Interrupting further threats from Natsu, Erza cut him off with a worthwhile question. "What do you plan to do with Lullaby?"
Laughing again, Erigor then stood up and actually floated off the roof of the carriage. The small batch of Fairy Tail mages all widened their eyes as they saw the evil man do a couple of lazy spins through the air.
"H-he's flying!"
"That's wind magic!"
Hearing Lucy and Happy shout out, Naruto looked up at the smiling devil. Wind magic hey? Had Naruto not seen that with his own eyes, he would have just laughed, but now that he knew it was possible, an idea began to form in his mind. Reluctantly pushing it to the back for the moment, Naruto focused as Erigor spoke.
"Oh, you didn't realise? In a station this big, what could there be?"
The group's eyes widened as he then alighted on the speaker system. So that's what they had planned.
"You intend to broadcast Lullaby?"
Erigor laughed again. "There are currently thousands of people surrounding this building. Turn the volume up enough and the whole city hears the beautiful song. Simple isn't it?"
Growling, Erza took an aggressive step forward. "You want to play this to innocent people? Why?"
He laughed again. Naruto bristled at the grating noise. "Because these ignorant people don't even know that while they enjoy their rights and safety, others are denied these simple privileges! Living life ignoring these things is a sin of the worst kind. So the death god has come to punish the sinners!"
Lucy then stepped up, appalled by his logic. "So what, this is all about you wanting to get your rights back? You're a Dark Guild for a reason! You committed hundreds of crimes! You've even killed people!"
Erigor shook his head. "No, we haven't come this far for rights; we've come this far for power. By gaining this, we can wipe the slate clean and control the future! Isn't that wonderful?"
Just as he threw his head back to laugh again, a resounding crack echoed loudly through the room, quickly followed by one of the train carriages exploding as Erigor was brutally kicked through it and into the ground. Wide eyes all around looked at the destruction, then up at where the man was standing. In his place was Naruto, his eyes hidden as a malicious aura began to press down on everyone present.
"You... you scum! You don't know how much human want to just live in peace. You try break this, I will KILL YOU!"
The majority of the dark guild swallowed when the blond shouted at them. He was not mucking around. The group from Fairy Tail however was now looking at Naruto in shock. Did he really just threaten to kill these people? Evil or not, death was never allowed. Growling, Erza frowned. This was just what she needed, another loose cannon. Pulling a sword out, she knelt down in preparation for the fight. Something told her it was not going to be pretty, not by anyone's standards.j