Reading A New World, The Story Of A Lost Shinobi

By SandewrPally

Original work by Lanky Nathan

Chapter 1

It was just another day in the home of the magic guild Fairy Tail. Booze and fights were per the norm, wild and out of control. Several members were perusing the job board, and a certain white-haired barmaid was cleaning a stein as she smiled at the normal festive air that was Fairy Tail.

Mirajane Straus, one of the three Straus siblings and S-class mage, let out a content sigh as she placed the glass she had finished cleaning with the others she had cleaned. With no one currently needing food or drink she leaned on the bar her thoughts wandered of the past few months. More specifically of a certain blonde by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. The young man that had come into her life had been like his apparent namesake, a maelstrom of events for her and the guild.

She couldn't help but smile as she remembered the several dates she had gone on with him, even to the point of kissing. She wished he was here right now, even as Team Natsu burst through the guild doors with satisfied smiles on their faces. As Natsu, gray and Happy split off from the group to get involved with the brawl already in progress, Lucy and Erza approached Mirajane, who had the guild's ledger out for the returning team.

"Another success?" Mirajane asked as she took the flyer. Ezra nodded before putting a book on the counter as well.

"Indeed. In addition to the money we received this book."

"Oh?" Makarov rose an eyebrow as he picked the book up. "A New World, The Story Of A Lost Shinobi?"

Mirajane rose an inquisitive eyebrow before taking the book from the guild master. The only shinobi she had heard of was Naruto, and she was sure that there hadn't been a book published about him. Unless it was one of those books that Ezra thought she was hiding while reading and blushing at the same time. Suddenly the book jumped out of her hand to slam onto the bar, causing those gathered around it to take a step back.

"Mira, you slammed the book down right?" Lucy nervously asked. The take-over mage shook her head before her eyes widened when she realized she couldn't move. Apparently none of the other gathered mages could move, even Makarov who was by far the strongest mage in the guild. The book opened to start shining a bright light that overtook the group of four, before snapping shut. The guild collectively turned towards where the book lay, more than worried that three of the strongest mages had apparently been kidnapped. Lucy was trying to clear the spots out of her eyes as she rolled around on the ground, blinded by the light rather than taken by it.

Konoha

Tsunade frowned as she read over the last report from the toads of Mount Myoboku. The opportunity to summon Naruto back to their dimension was fast approaching, and she was certain that certain former elder would try to capitalize on her grandson's return. It was lucky that whatever jutsu the Akatsuki leader had used restored her as well, though the fact she was back to full health was kept hidden on her order.

Which was fortunate as the old war hawk had attempted to subvert her orders in case she fell while fighting against Pain. The abject look of shock on Danzo's face made her surprise revival worth it, and also headed off any actions that the now fugitive Danzo would have made had he been named Hokage. Sai had been more than helpful in dismantling Root to the point where he and Yamato had been charged with dismantling and integrating the shinobi that were under the previous elder.

Though that was the tip of the iceberg since Naruto had been sent to another dimension. After nearly beating Kakashi to death twice (one for her and one for Sakura) the man had gotten more serious as of late after losing the Akatsuki member that had attacked them. The kage summit was also on the horizon, on the same day that reports had come in that Uchiha Sasuke had attacked the Ichibi jinjuriki, also the Raikage's brother. The fact that he had apparently joined the same organization that was actively hunting Naruto had made the situation between her and her apprentice tense to put it lightly. Before she could actively search for her sake that her other apprentice had hidden Kakashi and Sakura came through the doors, expectant looks on both of their faces.

"Ah good you're both here." Tsunade said as she abandoned her search for her precious sake. "I got another scroll from the toad summons about Naruto."

"What does it say?" Sakura asked, wanting nothing more than for her teammate and brother figure to return. Kakashi nodded in agreement with Sakura's question, wanting nothing more than to get Naruto back so some of the heat would, hopefully, go off him in regards to the two women in the hokage's office.

"I was waiting for you two to get here before opening it." Tsunade responded "Now that you're here I'll go ahead and-."

AS she broke the seal on the scroll a bright light blinded the three shinobi, before paralyzing them at the same time. Before they could attempt to break the hold the scroll apparently had on them they were enveloped completely in the light, before it dissipated with a snap. The three hinobi were gone with the light, leaving a rather distressed Shizune after she discovered that they were gone an hour later.

?

Makarov as the first to appear in a velvet blue room, before being crushed under the combined weight of the two Fairy Tail women that appeared after him. Erza and Mirajane immediately were on guard as they swept their gaze around the room, which looked to be a sitting area with several velvet blue couched arranged around a screen similar to a viewing lacrima. Recovering from the crushing weight of a plated Erza and to a lesser extent Mirajane Makarov rose from his prone position to take stock of wherever they had landed from the magic of the book Erza had brought with her. In the moment that Makarov took stock of their location the ambient magic washed over him, magic unlike any he had ever sensed before.

Mirajane and Erza felt the wave of magic a moment after their guild master and like him had never sensed something to this level before. A door to their right opened up to reveal a blonde woman with eerie yellow eyes in a velvet blue uniform. Makarov knew that the magic coming from this woman was not to be trifled with, though the woman merely smiled as she took the lone chair among the couches.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. I hope you trip was alright?" The woman asked with a smile. Erza immediate response was to summon a blade from her armory, only for her eyes to widen in shock as her outstretched hand was not holding a blade. Mirajane was in the same boat as her recently reacquired take-over magic was out of reach as well. Seeing his family members shocked looks Makarov merely grunted as he took a seat across from the blond woman.

"You could say that." Makarov responded as he motioned for the two S-class mages to take a seat "Though we are curious as to why we were summoned here.

"All in good time. Our other guests should be arriving soon."

Not a second later three individuals appeared in the room, causing the three Fairy Tail mages eyes to widen when the three newcomers were revealed. Their eyes instantly zoned in on the head band of the silver haired individual. A familiar sigil that the three had seen almost every day they had seen Naruto.

Makarov instantly could tell that these people had killed, and extensively in the case of the older two. Though he did gain a perverted look as soon as he saw the rather buxom blonde.

Tsunade didn't know why, but she had the inane urge to pummel a small older man as her vision cleared. The first thing she noticed was the velvet blue all around them even the furniture had the same shade of blue! The second thing she noticed were the four people sitting on one of the couches and lone chair in the room. The two women whose looks would rival some of the kunoichi of Konoha. The lone diminutive man on the other hand was giving her a look that she knew all too well because of her perverted teammate.

Before she could act on the urge to pummel the man the woman sitting in the lone chair clapped her hands together, gaining everyone's attention. "Good, now that we're all here introductions can begin. I am Margaret, a helper of the Velvet Room."

The red-haired armor mage of Fairy Tail spoke up before anyone else "Erza Scarlet, Mage of Fairy Tail."

"Makarov Dreyar, Guild master of Fairy Tail." The older man piped up while taking a seat on the rather comfortable couch.

"And I am Mirajane Straus, another mage of Fairy Tail." She, along with the other two Fairy Tail members had recognized the insignia on the one-eyed man's headband. An exact match to one Naruto Uzumaki's.

The first one of the group form Konoha to introduce themselves was Kakashi, who took a seat while opening his copy of Icha Icha Tactics, much to the two Konoha females ire. "Hatake Kakashi. Jonin of Konohagakure."

Knowing that Kakashi only introduce himself with basic information Sakura took the reins. "Haruno Sakura, chunin of Konohagakure and member of team seven." Shooting her sensei a venomous glare as she sat down Tsunade fininshed introducitons.

"And I am Senju Tsunade-"

"Hokage of Konohagakure." Mirajane fininshed, much ot the shock of the three ninja's. Seeing their confused and shocked expressions Mirajane continued. "Naruto talks about you a lot, as someone he looks up to."

"Wait you know Naruto?!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping up in hope." Tsunade and Kakashi were of the same mindset, though both adult shinobi had noticed the familiar tone the white haired mage had sued when she said Naruto's name.

"I say we should." Makarov muttered, getting looks from the three shinobi "Brat's caused nothing but trouble since he arrived through that portal Natsu and Lucy found him at."

"No more trouble than any other member of Fairy Tail causes master." Erza piped up, causing a cloud of depression to settle over Makarov as he muttered something about ungrateful brats.

"It's for that reason" Margaret spoke up, getting everyone's attention "That you were brought here." For those of Naruto's home dimension" Margaret pointed to the three Konoha shinobi "Is to see what Naruto experienced being a member of Fairy Tail."

For those of Fairy Tail themselves you were bought here to see Naruto in a new light, though I'm certain one of you has already realized some things your fellow guild members haven't."

Lifting the book up MAragaret smiled as she regarded the assembeled group. "So who would like to read?"

Unsurprisingly, at least to the Fairy Tail members, Mirajane offered to read first. Taking the book she opened it, suppressing a snicker form reading the first few sentances. As she started to actually read out loud the screen popped up with an Image of a dairy or journal, one htat Mirajane and the resto f the Fiary Tial members knew all too well.

So yeah, I guess this is the first day of my diary. Damn it feels weird talking to myself like this. I mean, do I really have to write every single day down? I've been here for ages already and I haven't needed one. Even if Mira-chan said it's a good habit and could help me get home, I still don't see how this'll actually help do that.

Mira smiled, remembering the day Naruto had put that in his Diary. She was amused that the blonde wrote about her influence on him more than anything.

Stupid women for being so persuasive.

Stupid Ero-Sennin for making me so soft.

Bah, I've had enough of this already. Writing sucks anyway, I'm gonna train.

Day one, out.

"Just like Naruto." Sakura muttered, not the least bit surprised by the tactless writing her teammate had. Though a pang of longing echoed through her at the thought of Naruto still missing.

*A few weeks, maybe months earlier*

Kakashi was carrying an exhausted Naruto on his back after a monumental clash between the blond and the leader of Akatsuki, a being simply known as Pein.

The three konoha shinobi's eyes widened, non-more so than Kakashi's.

The deluded man had attacked the hidden village of Konoha without hesitation, announcing his decision that it was time the village felt a pain comparable to his own. In one fell swoop, the self proclaimed god turned the whole of Konoha into a crater, killing hundreds and injuring hundreds more. That was when the unpredictable blond on Kakashi's back had arrived and confronted him.

The three Fairy Tail mages were appalled at the actions of said man, though Makarov was reminded of a certain empire that was loyal to Zeref. While Naruto had talked about the fight before, he hadn't told Mirajane the grittier details of that particular instance in his life.

A whole lot of seemingly impossible things then happened that the Jonin could hardly begin to describe, such things like Naruto nearly losing himself to the Kyuubi, Hinata stepping up to Pein, the basin that once was the village being turned into a lake... honestly, if he hadn't had it verified by several reliable resources, he wouldn't have believed it himself. He had been dead the whole time this happened though so it was kind of understandable. Then after all that, Naruto had managed to confront the true Pein, coerce him to stop the madness and then, somehow, the man gave back life to every single person that was killed in the assault. It was as farfetched as you could hope to imagine but here he was, running through the trees, as alive as he was the day before the attack. But even with all the evidence, he still couldn't quite believe it.

'The brat is even more impressive than we give him credit for.' Makarov thought in wonder. It was humbling that one that has accomplished so much could still, himself, be humble about his accomplishments.

Erza had gained a whole new respect for the blonde ninja, somewhat regretting her actions when she had first met Naruto. She was happy that they had worked through it and had helped her in a way.

Despite this, Kakashi wasn't one to really pick at the details when something worked as well as this had, merely opting to just go with the flow. Smiling behind his trusty mask, his eye shifted to the side to view the blond mop of hair resting on his shoulder.

"How you holding up there Naruto-kun?"

The mass of blond shifted and a blue eye became visible. "Yeah, holding in there. I'll be right after a good sleep, dattebayo.

Mirajane giggled at her boyfriend's verbal tic, noticing that the konoha shinobi had amused expression as well.

Kakashi's eye twisted upward as he smiled happily at the response. "Good to hear. We're nearly back so just hold tight."

Shifting his grip, Kakashi vaulted over a branch and suddenly twisted as a kunai nearly lodged itself in his throat. His feet landed on the side of a tree trunk and he pushed off, shooting over to a large branch that was almost complete concealed by the foliage. Backing Naruto up against the trunk, Kakashi shielded his body as he withdrew a kunai from his leg holster, looking around suspiciously for the enemy.

By this point Kakashi had completely ignored his book in favor of getting a better visual on the man that had ambushed him and Naruto.

He sweat dropped when Naruto let out a soft snore behind him. Trust the boy to sleep through something like this. He had used up an incredible amount of chakra through the passing events though so Kakashi couldn't blame him. Swinging around, the grey haired Jonin deflected another kunai in line with his heart. Frowning, the Jonin snuck a glance at Naruto. It was clear whoever it was had no interest in Naruto. It probably wasn't the Akatsuki either; intelligence indicated that they operated in pairs. Naruto had told him that Pein's companion had taken the body away somewhere to be buried so they were accounted for. Suddenly, Kakashi had to catch a shuriken that nearly lodged itself in his belly. Ignoring the stinging cut on his palm, he flicked his hand and sent the weapon back in the direction it came. He was rewarded with a rush of movement as a body shifted out of danger. Stealing another look down at the boy, Kakashi shook his head ruefully. This was exactly what he didn't need right now. Sighing, he lifted his headband and revealed his sharingan, looking to finish the fight quickly. It was frustrating though, because he couldn't leave Naruto undefended in such a state.

Everyone was on the edge of their seat as Naruto and Kakashi were thrust into an unfavorable position. Kakashi merely clenched his fist until his knuckles were bone white, angry at the circumstances that would happen in the next moment or so.

Kakashi's one red eye managed to pick up the tiniest amount of movement off to his left and quickly let off a hail of kunai. Instantly using the distraction, he bit down on his thumb, flicked his hands through some familiar seals and slapped his palm down on the branch. There was a puff of smoke and a small pug was suddenly sitting before the masked man.

It raised a small paw in greeting. "Yo, Kakashi. What's doing?"

The three Fairy Tail mages looked on in shock at the talking dog. They knew that Naruto had talked about the toads he would summon, but had no idea there were other 'contracts' with other animal's as well.

Shaking his head, Kakashi pointed in the direction of Konoha. "No time, I'm currently being attacked and I need backup now. Naruto is with me and unconscious so hurry!"

The small dog's eyes widened before nodding once and disappearing in a blur of motion. Silently wishing his friend safety and a swift trip, Kakashi hunkered down and waited. Whoever it was that decided to attack was now taking a breather, gathering themselves for the next round.

"Cowardly tactic." Erza commented.

"A common one for a shinobi." Tsunade replied, knowing this type of attitude. One did not get ot her age nad not have a good read on people, after all.

The Jonin's eyes flickered around cautiously, taking in every single movement within viewing range. Drawing a breath, Kakashi knew another attack was due any second now. Had it been under any other situation, he would have led the attacker away from his student. Damn this guy's timing.

"You couldn't have done anything Kakashi. More than likely he was backup in case Pain's attack and retrieval of Naruto failed."

Kakashi let out a tired sigh has he relaxed back into the couch. "I know Tsunade-sama. It still doesn't mean I couldn't have tried."

Throughout the small talk Sakura couldn't help but feel helpless as she watched her teammate and sensei ambushed by another member of Akatsuki.

A hand flicked two kunai at Kakashi, which he quickly deflected. Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi wondered what the attacker was trying to do. Thus far, all he had managed to do was waste a few kunai and shuriken. It was almost like he was stalling for something.

The three Fairy Tail members were more than a little worried for their fellow guild member and, in Mirajane's case, boyfriend as the man was obviously out to kill and take Naruto by any means necessary.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he suddenly became aware of a sizzling sound behind him. One of the kunai had been tagged. Diving backwards, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shirt and flung the boy away just as the tag exploded. Taking the brunt of it, Kakashi was thrown backwards as he fell through the trees, bouncing painfully off the branches that filled the forest. He bit his lip as an old dead limb crunched under his weight, the sharp wood piercing his right thigh. Finally after that, the ninja broke through the last of the branches to land solidly on his left leg, heavily favouring his new injury. Groaning, he grabbed the wood piece and ripped it out. Blood squirted out of the hole but quickly fell back to a trickle down his leg. Thankfully, it seemed it hadn't nicked an artery.

'Still hurt like a bitch.' Kakashi thought, remembering the rather stern lecture he had received after returning from his failed attempt to bring in the one that attacked both him and Naruto. He shared Naruto's fears of medics during the lecture from Sakura.

Ignoring the pain, Kakashi started running towards the direction Naruto had been blown. He had to have taken some form of damage after something like that. Being asleep meant he couldn't have tensed for the shock and probably knocked him out cold. Diving around a rock, Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw a man in an Akatsuki robe kneeling over Naruto. He cursed his luck. Of course now had to be the one time a solo agent was around. They must have been planning this from the start.

The three Konoha shinobi tried to identify which member this was, though they were having little luck. Before anyone could blink a feeling of pure dread washed over the group. Looking to where the dread was coming from the group sweat dropped as Mirajane had a purple aura of power coating her with an all too sweet smile on her face as she continued to read.

That first attack on Kakashi was all just a distraction from the man's real goal. Something weird was happening before the man too. It seemed like the very air before him was being warped for some reason, spirals of matter twisting around in front of his face. Naruto seemed to be affected as well, as his body seemed to start dematerializing right before Kakashi's very eyes.

With no time to think about it, Kakashi's sharingan began to twist as it upgraded to the Mangekyou stage. Widening his eye, Kakashi zeroed in on his target.

"Kamui (Authority of the Gods)."

"Of all the times the gaki's luck had to turn on him." Tsunade muttered, getting a nod from both Kakashi and Sakura. The Fairy Tail mages were somewhat torn on how to feel about this. On one hand the events had taken Naruto from his home and friends. On the other hand they wouldn't have ever got to know Naruto and welcomed him into the Fairy Tail family.

Quite a conundrum.

Instantly, the air around the mystery man began to twist as well as Kakashi's original technique began to suck the villain into a separate dimension. Sensing the attack, the Akatsuki member dived out of harm's way, growling loudly in annoyance. Unfortunately though, this left Naruto behind as the agent's self preservation instinct didn't involve grabbing other people. The boy fell from the suction of the first technique right into Kakashi's own. Instantly aware of the horrific accident, Kakashi nearly cut off the technique but remembered back to when he fought Deidara. He'd stopped the technique early and had successfully ripped the blond man's entire right arm off. And with Naruto now halfway absorbed into the technique, Kakashi didn't even want to think about the end result of that.

The nightmarish image that appeared in everyone's mind was disheartening, to say the least.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the Jonin had no choice but to finish the technique. His eyebrows quivered as the boy disappeared into the air, struggling not to show any emotion. He could only hope Tsunade-sama wouldn't completely decapitate him for this. He managed to take some comfort in the thought that Naruto was indeed being sent alive to another realm. Hopefully the boy would find a way to escape and get back. It didn't matter if Naruto didn't anyway because Kakashi would be sending himself off to that dimension as soon as he was done here. Finishing up, Kakashi wiped his eye as a single tear of blood trickled out of it. Turning to face the Akatsuki agent, Kakashi's gaze hardened as he saw him running away. Whoever this person was, he was guaranteed a very painful death for what he had just done. Completely blocking out the pain from his leg, Kakashi vanished in a flicker as he raced to catch up with the offender.

Kakashi sighed as he relaxed back into the couch he was sitting on. It was just one more regret on the pile that he had built, though It seemed to be the best for Naruto if he had made allies like the three sitting across from them. Though Mirajane's expression of agony made Kakashi feel a little worse at the moment

XxXxXxX

All Naruto knew was pain. Every single cell in his entire body was screaming at him. Unending agony, the likes he which he had never experienced before. If his eyes were opened, all he could see was white. Immeasurably bright, pure, painful white. If his eyes were closed, all he could then see was black. Filthy, burning, hated black.

'Naruto…' was the thought on everyone's mind. Tsunade and Sakura were sharing similar expressions of worry. Despite their prowess in the medical arts they could do nothing but watch as Naruto was subjected to horrendous torment form whatever was happening. Sorrow could be seen on Kakashi's lone eye, wanting nothing more than to take his students place at that moment. Makarov and Mirajane now knew part of the reason the blonde was so injured when Lucy and Natsu had brought him in. though seeing it happen in real life caused the three Fairy Tail mages no small amount of agony.

He tried to scream, but found himself unable to. It seemed that where ever he was, there was no air. Had he the presence of mind, he would have wondered how even being alive was possible. Writhing in his torture, Naruto reached out feebly, trying to touch something, anything to ease his suffering.

"Dammit why you?" Sakura whimpered, having flashbacks of him returning with horrific injuries after he had tried to retrieve Sasuke years back.

For what seemed like hours, he reached out, unable to cry, unable to keep his eyes open; unable to keep them closed, unable to do anything. He didn't know how long he reached, but eventually something grabbed onto his hand with a suction like grip. His hand flailed around, desperately trying to drag himself towards it. Whatever it was, it felt cool, like a waterbed mattress only a thousand times softer.

"Must have been where he appeared in our world." Makarov said, getting nods of agreement from the two Fairy Tail mages next to him.

His hand seemed to fall through it as he shifted and as it did so, sweet relief came to the limb. That single fact pierced his consciousness like a bucket of ice and with a mammoth effort, Naruto reached out with his other hand and let himself be pulled through. Peaceful respite flooded his body as he was pulled free from the world of pain, flopping to the ground outside with a solid thump. The last thing Naruto saw before he passed out was a number of odd looking trees surrounding him and a strong feeling of natural energy. His eyes closed and just as darkness claimed him, a strange voice called out in the distance.

"Natural energy?" Tsunade muttered, familiar with the term form both Jiriaya and her slug summons. She had never pursued the training, though it was available to her if she wanted it.

"What we call Ethernano." Makarov supplied, getting a nod from the three Shinobi's.

XxXxXxX

"Natsu! Quit stalling already! I wanna get home and have a bath."

"Nah, hold on a second, I smell something funny that way."

"But what about Macao? We really should get him home to rest."

"He'll be alright. Come on, let's go check this out! Happy! Go on ahead would ya?"

"Aye, sir!"

While the three shinobi were rather shocked to see a flying cat of all things they quickly shrugged it off. It wasn't the weirdest thing they had seen, especially with the two older shinobi.

Voices carried through the forest easily in the afternoon light as three curiously dressed individuals veered off the road and began following the nose of the boy who had been identified as Natsu. A larger man was leaning heavily on his shoulder, looking like he had just come out of a rather brutal fight. He didn't look too much like he wanted to take this unnecessary detour either, but didn't really have a choice as he was dragged along energetically.

The three mages of Fairy Tail sighed, more than a little miffed about Natsu taking said detour. Though who knows what would have happened to Naruto if Natsu and Lucy hadn't found him and brought him to Fairy Tail.

Rounding out the three was a rather pretty young blond girl, the type you'd expect to see in a fashion magazine and not trekking through the mountains covered in dirt. She had a pout on her face as she stomped along after her companions, trying her best to convey her displeasure through physical means. She failed spectacularly.

Both Kakashi and Makarov started to giggle perversely, before stiffening in fear as three massive amounts of killing intent filled the room. Wisely, they kept whatever thoughts they had to themselves, knowing that deep down their end was sitting close and, in Kakashi's case, within easy reach.

"Natsu, Natsu! There's something weird just over that hill!"

Looking up, Natsu was greeted by a long time friend floating in the air. A small blue cat with white fluffy wings protruding from its shoulders hovered just above them, pointing energetically over towards the anomaly.

"Hurry up! You might miss it!"

Quite literally smelling an adventure, Natsu let out a howl of excitement and charged off in a cloud of dust, leaving his female friend behind, squealing in embarrassment as she tried to stop her skirt blowing up and revealing everything underneath. Dashing over the hill, his eyes widened as he skidded to a stop.

Mirajane merely giggled at the rather flustered look on Lucy's face while the two Kunoichi's could only sweat drop.

"Natsu? *cough* Where are you? I can't see anything cause of this stupid dust cloud you created."

"Hmm?"

The girl ran from the dust, only to smack heavily into the backs of her two friends. Crying out, they all toppled forward and landed in a tangled heap. Happy floated down, looking curiously at the group as they tried to free themselves from one another.

"Lucy, it's not really the time for cuddles ya know?"

"Is it just me or is that cat…."

"It's not just you." Kakashi responded in answer to Sakura's question. Kami the creature was a birdbrain!

Growling, Lucy pulled her arm out of the group and glared at the cat. "It's not my fault Natsu stopped so suddenly! You could have been of more use and let me know while you floated up there."

Happy just shrugged and looked down at the still fallen men. "I just thought you'd be fast enough to avoid them. It's not my fault if you're too fat and slow to stop in time."

Tsunade and Sakura merely had similar twitching veins, making a silent promise to beat the cat for whatever worth. Erza merely shook her head in exasperation while Mirajane and Makarov chuckled at the familiar blue-haired- cats antics.

The girl started grinding her teeth together, glaring at the blissfully ignorant cat as she muttered death threats under her breath. Her grumbling was interrupted though when the strange occurrence caught her eye. Her eyes widened in surprise as she actually saw an arm floating in midair, looking like it was crawling from the center of a strange airborne whirlpool.

Having remembered what Naruto was going through the readers sent a silent plea for the pink haired boy to pull the blonde out, to at least get him out of his suffering at the moment.

"N-N-Natsu, w-what's that?"

Heaving Macao off the top of him, Natsu jumped up and looked at the strange phenomenon before them. "I dunno, looks like an arm."

Lucy smacked the back of his head in frustration. "I know that! But like, what's it doing in the middle of the air?"

Walking up to it, Natsu gave it a few experimental sniffs as he tried to work it out. "No idea. Pretty cool but hey!"

Seems like I'll have to punish Natsu when we get home." Ezra stated matter of fact, nodding as if it was already decided. Mirajane merely had a sweet smile as she imagined her own form of 'punishment' she could bring to the dragon slayer.

The girl shivered as the arm continued to grow rapidly from the hole. "S-someone's coming out!"

Hearing a groan, Lucy looked down at Macao who was trying to push himself over. "Can you help me out here? I can't see what the thing is and I'm too weak to roll over."

Pursing her lips, Lucy dug her toes into the man's side and gave him a kick, flipping him onto his back. "Much better, thanks."

The two medical shinobi had eye twitches at the rather blatant injuring of an already injured person.

Just then, a pained cry sounded out from the thing behind them and Lucy dived behind a large tree in fear. Natsu just continued to stare at the torso that was being spat out from the hole. In a final heave, a blond haired boy popped out of the air and fell flat onto his back. His eyes flickered a few times before they closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.

'Naruto.' Everyone thought, seeing the state one of their favorite blondes was in. Mirajane winced, knowing htat his injuries were only half as bad once Natsu had gotten him to the guild.

"N-Natsu!"

"Lucy, I think he heard you the first five times."

"Shut up you useless cat!"

"Oi Lucy, come have a look at him! Do you think he's dead?"

"And the pink-haired boy as well." Sakura muttered, cracking her knuckles menacingly.

"I certainly hope not..."

Cautiously approaching the unmoving human, Lucy looked over Natsu's shoulder. Seeing the slight rise and fall of his chest reassured her enough to walk past her friend and take a closer look. He didn't look all that unusual except for his clothing. He had a strange black and orange jacket on, along with a set of bright orange pants with a bandage wrapped around his right thigh. Actually, those strange marks on his cheeks were also a bit curious...

Mirajane and Erza smirked, knowing full well what those whisker marks would do to the young man.

Hesitantly reaching out, Lucy touched the mark before sharply pulling her hand back. Natsu and Happy were instantly besides her, looking in keenly.

"Oh, what happened when you touched him? Did he bite you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes and ignored them as she rubbed her fingers together. "Those whisker like marks... they're actually in his skin."

"We've actually never got down to how he got those." Tsunade commented. Sure the two theories were they were birthmarks or appeared after the sealing of the Kyuubi, but the people who had seen Naruto first born were gone, leaving the question up for anyone's guess.

Blinking owlishly, Natsu stared at the marks before taking in a huge whiff through his nose. "Heh! He smells super weird!"

"What was that Natsu?"

The boy looked over his shoulder at the still incapacitated man lying several meters back. "I said he smells funny! Like nothing I've ever smelt before!"

The three shinobi flinched, realizing that the boy's nose was possibly more sensitive than an Inuzuka's, who could sniff the 'fox' scent Naruto had on him.

"Really? That's rare for your nose. Think we should bring him back to the guild?"

A smile broke out across Natsu's face when Macao suggested the next move. "Yeah, sure! Lucy, you carry this guy. I'm'a grab Macao 'n' we'll head back!

Stiffening at the order, Lucy whipped her head around as Natsu quickly picked up his partner. "Wait, what? You want me to carry this guy all the way back to the guild?"

"She's like a civilian, no she is a civilian!" Sakura said in disbelief. Maybe the requirements to be a mage were different?

Happy floated down beside her and looked at the boy. "Well, he couldn't be much heavier than you. I struggle to fly when I carry you."

Taking a swipe at the cat, Lucy missed and settled for shaking an angry fist at the animal. "Shut your mouth! If you think he's so light, you carry him!"

By this point the three Fairy Tail members were laughing or giggling at the interactions between Lucy and Happy, more than amused by it.

The shinobi were just wondering what the hell was going on with the talking cat with wings.

Happy had already started floating away, ignoring the girl's protests. "No, I can't, I'm just a little cat. How would I carry him? He's too big."

Stomping a foot angrily, Lucy pointed at his back. "You always carry around Natsu without a problem!"

Hearing no response, the poor blond was left to grumble about crappy team mates and struggle to lift up the deceptively heavy boy.

'Mmm, the fact that its mostly muscle is rather nice.' Mirajane thought to herself.

XxXxXxX

'Ohhh... my head...'

Naruto's mind slowly began to kick back into gear as consciousness started to spread over his senses. His eyes twitched as he struggled to think back over what happened. There was that fight with Pein, then Kakashi came and caught him, then... sleep? It started getting fuzzy about that stage and Naruto racked his brain to try remember what happened.

"Of course he oewould forget the important things." Sakura grumbled, before AKkashi spoke up.

"To be fair he was exhausted, enough to be easily knocked out by an exploding tag."

Sakura nodded, remembering the events leading to Naruto's departure from their dimension.

An explosion, then a hard landing, then someone standing over him? He remembered splitting an eye open and seeing someone in a black coat standing over him. Akatsuki? That would explain the pain that followed. But it was too fast, wasn't it? But still... did that mean he was dead?

All six of the readers flinched at Naruto's thoughts. Tsunade and Kakashi merely sweat dropped after a moment, while Sakura muttered about 'Baka teammates.' Makarov merely shrugged, while Ezra scowled at the image on the screen of a injured Naruto. Sure the start of their relationship was rocky but Naruto had solidified himself as one of Fairy Tail.

Mirajane released a pent up breath as she read that part. Naruto just seemed so strong, even underneath the mask he would use to hide his true feeling at times. She was slowly chipping away at him, loving each part that he revealed to her

Groaning, Naruto wriggled a few fingers to try and test out the theory. There was something solid under his hands, a mattress perhaps? But why would heaven have a bed? A soft gasp off to his side made an ear twitch and Naruto tried to roll his head towards the noise. Who was that? Didn't sound like anyone he'd ever met before. Forcing all his willpower into muscle power, Naruto pulled his eyelids up and a blurry world came into view.

Everything was pretty white, so it could even be the hospital. It didn't smell artificially clean enough though so it probably wasn't. There was a hazy mound standing off to the side which Naruto assumed was a person. The mound called out in a soft voice but he couldn't make out the words. He shut his eyes and shook his head to try clear the fogginess. A wave of vertigo and nausea hit him which instantly made him stop. Very bad move.

"Exhaustion on top of whatever he suffered when he traversed through the dimensions. I'm shocked he wasn't more injured when Natsu and Lucy brought him in." Makarov noted.

"Gaki has always had a great healing factor." Tsunade stated with confidence, having read Naruto's, regrettably, thick medical file.

A pair of hands came to rest on his person, one on his chest and another under his head. They gently lifted him up and he felt a cup rest against his lips. Taking a test sip, he found it to be full of probably the sweetest water he had ever tasted. Quickly sinking the lot, he tried to say his thanks but his voice just growled around in his throat. Giving up for the moment, Naruto just tried to work on clearing his vision. The water granted him some form of strength which was very well received and quickly put to use.

Blinking a few times, the mound he saw previously came into focus. It turned out the mound was actually a white haired girl in a poofy maroon, full body dress. It had a few frills around the neck which held the strapless piece up, the frills continuing down the front like he had never seen before too. She had very large, blue eyes that seemed to exude nothing but concern and peace. The delighted upturn of her lips finished off her rather inviting appearance very well. The groggy boy decided he rather liked the strange look.

Mirajane had a radiant smile on her face as she continued reading, not noticing the rather confused scowl that Sakura had before she went back to a more neutral one. Unluckily the three older readers had noticed.

Looking down, he saw another girl, this time blond with a part of her hair pulled up into a ponytail on the side of her head, holding the cup which he suspected he drank from. She also had rather large eyes, this time brown but just as inviting as the first woman's. She had a weird white and blue striped shirt on that looked like it was struggling to deal with the mass of chest beneath it. She also had a rather short skirt on, but nothing Naruto hadn't seen before. Ino wore shorter.

Sakura snorted, knowing her best friend choice in clothing let her charms be known. Though she knew that both Ino and her would kill for even half of the bust size that the woman pictured had.

Meanwhile Tsunade had sent rather potent arrows of killing intent to Kakashi and Makarov, dissuading them from any perverted actions. One developed quite a knack for sensing perverted things when Jiriaya was ones teammate.

Letting his eyes drift across the room, Naruto picked up on another person in the room, this time male. Seeing his hair, he could now count all of two people he had ever seen that had naturally pink locks. He had a strange sleeveless black and gold trimmed, unzipped waistcoat over his shoulders with no visible shirt on underneath and a weird scaly scarf wrapped around his neck. His lowers were covered with the remaining half of his waistcoat, the open front revealing short white trousers that were tied off at the knee with black ribbons. He seemed to be abnormally interested in Naruto too if those wide staring eyes were anything to go by.

Both Makarov and Mirajane chuckled while Ezra narrowed her eyes at Natsu's staring. Seemed like the fire dragonslayer was in need of more etiquette lessons.

Elsewhere Natsu felt a shiver of dread as the guild examined the book that had taken three of their strongest members to who knows where.

Unconsciously creeping back into the wall behind him, Naruto cast a wary glance around. Seeing a striking red headed woman decked out in complete torso armour, Naruto finally found the strength to push himself up.

The first two girls reached out quickly as he sat up, hands held out to catch him in case he toppled forward. Taking another look at the warrior girl, Naruto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Her entire chest was hidden behind a medieval style chest plate which sharply contrasted with the simple, mid thigh length skirt that covered her upper legs. A pair of matching metal gauntlets covered her crossed arms up to the elbow. The entire uniform was then finished off with long, knee high black boots that were probably a lot tougher than they looked. Her piercing brown eyes never left him, obviously gauging his potential as a threat.

Ezra merely blushed in embarrassment as both Mirajane and Makarov sent her knowing smiles. The three shinobi had to concede that if they were in the same position they would have done the same. It Didn't mean they couldn't be worried for Naruto.

Groaning, Naruto held a hand to his forehead and shut his eyes again as a headache made itself known. He heard what sounded like a male voice call out, but he still couldn't make out the words. Something must have been clogging his ears. Taking a deep breath, Naruto held his hand out towards the blond.

"More water, please?"

It took a moment, but the cup was placed back in his hand and he downed the second lot in a flash. Running his tongue over his lips, Naruto sighed happily. At that exact moment, what looked like a bald old midget decided to jump onto his bed.

Makarov merely closed his eyes, trying not to think of the ways he could beat the blonde for those thoughts. Perhaps having Natsu bug him when he returned?

Ezra merely gave her guild master a smirk while Mirajane giggled behind her hand. The three shinobi nodded in agreement with their fellow shinobi's thoughts.

Crying out in surprise, Naruto backed away and the thing was quickly reprimanded by the white haired girl. Again he couldn't understand what was said, so he stuck a finger into his ear and wriggled it around. Popping it out, he sniffed and took another look at the man on his bed.

"We have different languages. Speaking of-"

"The velvet room automatically allows for everyone to understand each other. For everyone's convenience." Margaret piped up. The readers nodded, more than a little thankful of that perk.

He was definitely short and old, but still had some hair in the form of these comical tufts sticking out from the sides of his head, along with a matching white moustache that covered his upper lip. He was also dressed in a crazily coloured orange and blue shirt and some blue shorts with these little gnome shoes sticking out from under him. The thing that stood out most to Naruto though was the odd hat he was wearing. It was like a brimless cap but with these two long, thin antenna things that sprouted from the top of it and fell back over his head. It was striped blue and orange and looked positively stupid. It seemed the old man knew the benefits of orange, but even that mighty colour couldn't make the hat look any good.

Tusnade burst out in laughter, getting confused looks form both Mages and Shinobi's. After a straight minute she calmed down enough to tell htem why she was laughing.

"I-I just imagined the Third in that getup!" Tsunade said before she started to laugh again. Both Shinobi had a moment of silence before they snorted and started to laugh along with their hokage. Makarov merely pouted as his fellow fairy Tail mages sent him teasing smirks.

Naruto snorted and stifled a bark of laughter. What did this guy think he was? A magician? Shaking his head, Naruto looked around the group and eyed each person individually.

"So... where am I?"

The room froze and looked at him with surprised eyes. Frowning, Naruto clicked his tongue and repeated himself. "Oi, I asked where I am?"

"So how did you get past the language barrier?" Sakura asked, interested in how her teammate, who was notorious for being more of a physical learner, had learned an entirely new language.

"An ingenious mage by the name of Levy." Mirajane responded.

"And lots of clones." Makarov supplied.

"Ah." The three shinobi responded back. Remembering that Naruto had learned one of the benefits of Shadow clones the three shinobi could easily see how the blonde had learned an entirely new language considering the memory feedback.

The small man before him coughed and drew his attention. He then spoke in a typical old person's voice, the only difference being Naruto couldn't understand a single word that he said. This time, Naruto's eyes widened as he realized something. It wasn't his ears that were wrong, it was just that they were speaking an entirely different language. Not quite sure what to do next, Naruto just looked around the room before sighing.

"Well doesn't this just suck."

"To be fair it did." Mirajane said, more than happy to understand her blonde boyfriend. Would they had even gotten together had he not known their language? Mirajane shook those thoughts out of her head as she passed the book to Sakura who had asked to read next.

And my promise has been kept! Anyway Read, Review and favorite!

SandewrPally