A/N: Next! Now we see the first NarutoxEdoErza pairing (To my knowledge) in existence! And my personal thanks to Vandenbz and GaijinSamurai for the rockin' ideas inspired in this fic! I apologize in advance for any OOC behavior in this chapter, but, given the circumstances, I think its excusable, no? Anyway sit back, grab a snack, pull up a chair, and...

...ENJOY!

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes...

~William Shakespeare

Walker

Edolas.

A world that is slowly losing its magical power. A world that uses devices known as lacrima to store magical power. A world that uses Anima to drain vast sources of magical energy from other realms in order to provide magical power. A world that has disbanded nearly all wizard guilds in order to conserve magical power. A world that thrives and depends on magical power.

A world about to be forever changed.

Because a stranger had just been invited to its hallowed halls. Perhaps invited was not the right word. There had been no formal invitation requesting his prescence in Edolas, nor had he been invited there to begin with. Perhaps captured, fit the bill. Torn from his own dimension by an experimental Anima designed to target vast sources of magical power in other realms, he'd awoken, not to find himself as a giant lacrima, rather, but to find himself in a strange new world alien to his own. Then the soldiers had descended upon and he'd awoken once more, this time to find his hands bound, his vision blocked by a black hood, and his entire body-save for his feet-wreathed in chains.

He walked for a while with the bag over his head, lead by his captors as he arrived; a small, dark room. He couldn't see anything, but he could overhear people snickering and talking as he was lead to his destination. Not very discreet, are they? he thought as a rock was thrown at him.

Then he was thrown into a chair and chained to it before his black hood was ripped off.

He was a handsome youth, if intense. His blond hair was disheveled, his blue eyes intelligent, his features balanced. Whisker marks tripled each cheek cheeks that once dimpled with a constantly bright and enthused grin; no matter the situation, no matter the mission. Now, he was intense, his visage free of the baby fat that had cursed him in his younger years. Chiseled and nigh but expressionless, that face squinted as jagged shards of light stabbed into his retina.

His eyes hadn't even been allowed time to adjust to the bright light focused on him before the first punch was thrown. When his head finally stopped spinning, he saw that he was surrounded by four large men, dressed in silver and grey from head to toe, even wearing helmets to hide their faces, each with some sort of insignia emblazoned there.

"That's funny," He said as the first bit of blood began to trickle out of his mouth. "The guys that brought me in here were wearing all white. I liked their masks better, too. I couldn't see any of their faces." He looked at the soldier closest to him. "I can see your little fuckin' pig-eyes through yours."

Okay, He thought as another punch hit him in the side of the head, bringing him back to the present. Maybe I've been provoking them. A little. But why stop now? Lord knows they aren't gonna.

He was about to let loose another string of insults when the door to the room opened and a figure entered. At this person's entrance, his four assaulters ceased the beatings they were doling out and stood respectfully still as the figure walked closer to the light.

Ah, shit. he thought at the new arrival. This might not go well for me.

But as the person came into view, he saw that it was a woman, almost a full head and neck shorter than he was. Her hair was a long, rich, flowing scarlet; wavy red hair with an elegant, loosely tied knot at the back. Her outfit was as provocative as her appearance, comprising of a revealing, halter-type armor breastplate top, that left much of her cleavage and stomach exposed, accompanied by light-armored gauntlets and greaves on her forearms and forelegs, respectively, as well as her thighs. Last, but certainly not least-in his mind-he noted that in place of the soldier's restrictive garb, she wore a dark bikini bottom with a piece of cloth obscuring her hips. Complimenting the outfit, dark and brooding, a scarf could be seen wound around her neck, but his attention had already been drawn elsewhere.

Is that a thong? He wondered incredulously. Well, at least the view has improved...

"My name is Erza Knightwalker," she spoke with authority, bringing him out of his brief pipe-dream. "I am the Royal Army Captain of the Second Magic War Division."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, little captainess," The blond said, his lips parting in a vicious grin that was more smirk than smile. "Uzumaki Naruto, class-clown, genin, and Hero of Konoha, at your service. I'd love to make this proper and shake your hand, but these fine gentlemen here seemed to figure that I'd be able to block their punches if my hands weren't chained behind my back."

The captain almost smiled at his remark. "Well, I am terribly sorry about the restraints, Naruto," she said in an overtly apologetic tone, blatantly feigning concern. "I trust that my associates here have not caused you too much discomfort?"

The boy known as Naruto chuckled.

"Considering the weak-ass punches your boys have been throwing at me so far, I'm feeling just peachy-

His train of thought was interrupted when his vision was filled with stars as a fist plowed across his face. Hell, that one didn't make stars, he thought, as his head hung, blood dripping out of his mouth and nose. Those were whole planets. His head rolled forward onto his chest, his vision narrowing in from the sides of his eyes, only to be filled with a flash of scarlet as Erza Knightwalker stepped forward.

She crouched down so that she was eye level with him in the chair. She was so close to him that he could smell her, the smell of her hair and sweat and a soft perfume all melding together in his nostrils. She smelled powerful. She smelled beautiful.

She smelled dangerous.

"How about that punch, boy?" she asked in a low tone, her face only inches away from his, her voice husky and almost sultry. Or perhaps he was just imagining that. "Was that a real punch?"

He brought his head up from its hanging position and looked her dead in the eyes, his icy blue orbs meeting with her onyx black irises. She returned the stare with the same amount of silent intensity and subtle ferocity as his. They were locked into a frightening staring contest, one that neither would allow themselves to lose. Neither would break the impasse of crushing silence; nor would they yield to the other.

So Uzumaki Naruto smirked and spat the blood that had been filling his mouth into the face of the captain in front of him. "A punch like that," he snarled at her, "couldn't even knock me out."

The silence was deafening.

"That is not our intention." Knightwalker said at last. "But make no mistake. If words will not sway you, then we will resort to force." When her captive said nothing, she rolled her shoulders, stepped three paces away from him, and flexed her fingers. One of the guards stepped forward, placing a spear into her outrstretched hand. Inclining her head, Knightwalker turned, brandishing the clawed weapon at the blonde's throat.

"You are going to tell me," She began, her voice firm, taut, brimming with overwhelming confidence, "What you were doing when we discovered you on the border of the royal city. As things are now, you stand accused of stealing magical energy from the people of Edolas and using it for your own personal gain." She folded both arms over her bossom, awaiting her captive's inevitable reply. She knew that he would break. She knew that he would bend to her will, as all men in this world did. No one could resist Erza Knightwalker, Erza, the Fairy Hunter. Not even King Faust was beyond the scope of her influence. It was only a matter of time now; because he would break. He would tell her what she wanted to know, and then, depending on the King's final judgement, he would either be harvested for Magical Energy, or left to languish in the dungeons for the rest of his young life.

Her captive didn't so much as bat an eyelash.

"No."

Erza's smile, smug and supreme, much like her countenance shattered like so much glass. Suddenly, she was incredibly aware of everything. Of her soldiers behind her, staring, their eyes boring into her back as they watched, stunned by their prisoner's defiance. Of her captive, staring at her, the ghost of a smile alighting upon his lips. Of her spear, inches away from his throat; ready to sever his head from his shoulders at the slightest provocation. Oh, how she wanted to crush him! She wanted to cut and stab and slice him into pieces; she wanted to eviscerate his body until there was nothing left but a pile of blood and bone! She wanted to do unspeakable things to him, to leave him on the brink of death so that he could heal; in only for her to beat him within an inch of his life again and again.

Instead, all she managed was a small, weak-sounding:

"What?"

"I said no." Naruto repeated stonily. "I have nothing more to say to you, than what I've already said. One moment I'm in the middle of a mission with Sakura-chan, the next, I find myself sprawled out in a crater, here, and the next you and your goons drug me, truss me up in chains, and lead me off like I'm some kind of criminal." His voice had become increasingly agitated as he spoke, and now, it bordered on downright feral. "I'll tell you nothing." Naruto continued, his voice reduced to little more than a bestial snarl."Now let me out of these chains and send me back, little captainess, or face the consequences."

For a moment, his eyes held hers. For a moment she stared into them; those windows into his soul, and trembled at what she saw there. Those eyes. She hated those damn eyes! They made her feel weak in the knees! They threatened to evoke such feelings from her that she'd never felt before!

There had been something strange about them when she'd first seen him. Something deadly. Something eerie. Something foul. Something lurked behind them, beyond them, and more, within them. Something cold and ethereal, filled with so much malice that it had truly, genuinely, frightened her. It was as if a great beast slumbered inside of him, or so she'd thought; roused by her persistent efforts to rile its master. A fierce, furious entity just itching to get out.

When she looked at Naruto now, he appeared as exactly as he had then. A face so hansome in its sternness, its icy façade, belied by the gentle person underneath it. Only tonight, underneath his stoicism, deep within those burning blue eyes, was grief. Though it did not show on his features or in his voice, it was there as tangible as tears, as palpable as flesh.

Abruptly, Knightwalker's smile returned.

"It would seem that the Anima was a success, after all." She breathed, her relief returning as she resumed control of the situation. "Though not in the way we had hoped." She allowed the briefest surge of satisfaction to flicker across her face as she watched disbelief and confusion cloud his features. Oh, yes. This was the way it was meant to be. She was in control once more; because she was always in control, and there was nothing anyone could do to strip that strength away from her again. Not this time.

"What the hell is an Anima?" Naruto asked.

"It is a magic spell that we use to draw magic in from Earthland." Knightwalker clarified, a twinge of pride touching her words. "That is what brought you here." She'd half-expected him to be mollified. He didn't even blink, let alone honour her with a response. Instead he just stared at her; orbs of brilliant, emphatic blue boring into unamused onyx with a terrifying intensity, almost as if he were searching for something there, hidden within her gaze.

"R-Right." Erza continued, cursing herself for the slight stutter. "Now then, are you or are you not a Dragon Slayer?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Answer my question." Erza none-too-subtly pressed the tip of her sphere against the nape of his neck. "If you are indeed a Dragon Slayer, then that would explain why you did not turn into a Lacrima upon your arrival here." She wanted him to wince; wanted him to flinch, as she edge of her weapon pricked his skin and drew blood. When he did not, it sent her rage spiraling to new, destructive heights.

"ANSWER ME!" Her hand cracked across his face and sent him sprawling, chair and all. He groaned, the first real sound of pain she'd heard him make since their "interrogation" had begun. Elation surged through her veins. Superhuman or not, he could be hurt, after all. It didn't matter how many soldiers he had taken down during his capture. It didn't matter, because Erza Knightwalker was no common soldier; because she could hurt him. It was an overwhelming, empowering sensation. She reached down for him, gathered a handful of his hair in her fist, and pulled.

This time he did not cry out, but she could see the pain, reflected in his eyes. She dragged him to his feet and brought his face close to hers, savoring the moment as she silently reminded that she was the captor, and he the captive.

"Your answer," She purred, her voice deadly soft like that of a stalking cat. "If you please."

"A Dragon...Slayer?" He spat at her through another mouthful of blood. "I don't even know what the hell that is."

"I see." With that, she released him, righted the chair, and turned to face him, all in one smooth movement. "Then there can only be one possible conclusion."

"And that would be?"

"It seems that you do not have any magical power to speak of." There. She'd baited the hook. Now all that remained was for her him, her prey, to bite. If he was any bit a man, then he had to have pride. And pride, could-would-be used against him him. She had him now. All that remained was to await his eventual outburst; for him to admit he was in fact, a mage. There would be time later to figure out why he had not turned into a lacrima upon arrival through the Anima. At the very least, some adjustments would have to be made to the Anima. At the worst...well, she could always use another servant.

"Magic?" Naruto snorted in disbelief. "There's no such thing as magic."

Knightwalker wasn't smiling anymore.

Was he mocking her? Did he really think to deceive her with more of his petty lies? Dide he truly wish to prolong his suffering?

"Do not lie to me, boy." She snarled through thin lips. "Even a newborn knows the importance of magic in this world."

"Well, I don't." Naruto answered.

"It is foolish to resist the inevitable," Knightwalker continued. "You will tell us. The only variable you control is whether you do so quickly, or slowly." Her spear slashed a bitter bloody swathe across his face tearing into his cheek; biting deep into waist as she brought it around for a second sweep. Blood fountained forth from his lips, spattering across her face, and still, that small smile of his did not lessen in the slightest.

"Ain't...nothin' to tell." Naruto mumbled, his voice trembling, ever so slightly; his words, taking on a gravelly edge. "And I'd advise against hitting me again, were I you. You're making me angry. And believe me when I say, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

"Is that so?"

Kniqhtwalker stepped back, calmly wiped the blood and spit from her eyes and cheeks, and punched Naruto in the nose with a sickening crunch. It was a mistake. No sooner had her knuckles sank into the cartilige of Naruto's nose, twisting and snapping the bone beneath, than a curtain of crimson came boiling out of the pit of his stomach. It knocked her back on her heels and plastered her men across the walls and ceiling.

With a wordless cry of rage and despair, Naruto's head snapped up.

"I was waiting for that!"

An overpowering sensation of pressure bore down upon her like an invisible hand. She sensed something enormous nearby, silent in the dark, like a giant passing within arms reach. A gravid deadly prescence too huge to grant her notice. She glanced to Naruto and saw him grin, grin, as her fingertips pressed against her temples. A droplet of blood fell from her nose and struck the floor; falling in rhythym to the floor alongside her hands and knees. Her stomach twisted beneath the incredible force pinning her to the ground. It felt as if an entire ocean had just crashed down upon her shoulders, leaving her paralyzed; powerless to do anything about her current predicament.

He leered down at her from his chair, peering at her with narrow eyes that were little more than pinpricks of crimson in the dark. He said nothing and she in turn held her silence as she watched his broken nose mysteriously realign itself, the cuts and bruises upon his face simply fading away as though they'd never existed to begin with. Round irises snapped into vertical slits, leering malevolently at her from within the flare of red energy that surrounded them.

It's magic, she thought, amazed. Even I can feel it...Magic!

That was her last thought before her vision filled with red light and she was thrown back against the wall. She painfully blinked away the tears that filled her eyes, her head already aching.

And she was behind Naruto.

In front of him, most of the doorway was gone. As was a good bit of the wall. In the hallway, he was standing, the chains and shackles that had once bound him having rusted away beneath the corrosive energies boiling within his flesh. As she watched, as she bore witness to this hideous transformation, the crimson taint receded, leaving his skin all but boiled, as though he'd been standing in a pot of boiling water. And as she looked on, even those hideous burns receded into his flesh.

"W-Wait!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded his once fallen opponent. A look of irritation crossed his eyes as he regarded the recovering woman behind him.

"I suppose I should thank you, woman. Your little "interrogation" provoked the boy so much that I was able to subvert the seal, for a moment." He spoke at her with a voice that was not entirely his own. The voice was hollow, mocking, but with a feral undercurrent that made the hairs on her neck rise up. Naruto's free hand rose, and red energy coalesced around it, forming claws of fire that grew longer even as she watched.

He shoved them at her with a contemptuous flick.

Knightwalker hissed out an expletitve as her forehead kissed the concrete; shoving her body down closer to the floor. Scarce had she done so than it-he-stepped back into the room, his sandals crunching over broken gravel and granite. He stalked toward her, his eyes smoldering with all the intensity of a caged beast. She struggled to rise, struggled to scrabble backwards, struggled to retrieve her spear, but it was all in vain.

"I wouldn't, if I were you."

He held the fingers of his hand outstretched, cupped around nothingness. Then, with a whirling hiss, a vortex of spiraling energy manifested within his palm. Erza balked; both at the swirling sphere of vermillion energy and the wicked snarl that escaped his lips as he thrust it forward.

The strange sphere roared forward and tore against Erza's body. The attack had been too close for her to block, much less avoid; she had no choice but to take the impact directly to her chest. She flew back in agony as the dark wave ripped at her face and chest, her scintilating attire burning away from her flesh. The blast seemed to last for aeons before blowing past her as gravity took over, her body spiraling towards the ground limply.

She slammed into the soil with a pained gasp, her back arching in agony as her entire body spasmed in pain. She groaned, made as if to rise, but before she could do so, both her hands were bound and he was upon her, straddling her for a terrifying instant. But only an instant. Abruptly, he stood, his knee driving the air from her lungs and the fight from her body, rendering her helpless for what came next.

His fingers closed around her throat in a hairsbreadth of a second, and then she was rising rising, as he lifted her from the earth, and into the air. He held her there for a span of two beats, as if to make perfectly clear that he could snap her pretty little neck, should she resist. When she did not, he inclined his head a fraction of an inch, and released her, dropping the woman on her ass with a small sigh.

"Now," It-Naruto-began, "It would be very easy for me to kill you as you are now and escape. But for some reason the kit's feeling merciful today." His body shuddered then, as if trembling from within. "And it would seem that my time is nearly up. So, here is what I want you to do for me, little captainess. You are going to treat my vessel with the respect that is due to him. He and I, we, are not from this realm. He is not a mage, nor am I. We are something more. We are an outcast. We are superior. We are what you folk might call a mercenary. Which means, thought it irks me to say this, that I owe allegiance to this kit and his village superior. Not you. So, unless you wish to continue our discussion in a more...visceral setting, I would suggest that you refrain from harming him further." Abruptly, his gaze shifted, southward. "Oh, and you might want to put some clothes on. It simply wouldn't do for your men to enjoy this splendid view...

Knightwalker's gaze oh-so-subtly slid to her tattered attire, reduced to little more than garbled strips of fabric and twisted metal in the wake of his attack. Despite the terror that made her want to rail and retch and rally against him, she still felt her face redden. The fiend! How dare he look at her in such a way! But before she could bite back, a subtle tremor ran through the possesed blond that loomed over her.

Despite that, he-it-grinned.

"Until next time, little captainess."

With that, Naruto's eyes faded back to their normal blue and white as they rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the floor. Knightwalker barely managed to catch him before he cracked his head open. She stole a glance around the room, glancing in turn at each of her guards; each of whom had yet to stir from where they lay. Judging by the odd angle of their necks, she doubted they'd ever rise again. What power this was! She was almost tempted to call it magical power, but the warning she'd received still ran echoed clearly through her mind. He'd said it wasn't magic, but what was it, then? Clearly he used some sort of energy in his techniques, an energy that the Anima had doubtlessly detected and responded to. So how was it then, that he wasn't magicalized into a lacrima like the rest? How was it then, that the Anima had collected him, and only him, when there were doubtlessly other sources of power to be harvested?

Knightwalker had too many questions, and not enough answers. She knew only that he claimed not to be a mage, that he was apparently a mercenary, and he appeared to have a ridiculously high tolerance towards pain. But appearance could be deceiving. She'd learned that a young age. No, there was still more about this boy that she did not know, that she still wished to know. Doubtless, he was powerful; powerful enough to overcome her when she wasn't wielding the Ten Commandment Spear. Somehow, she had the strangest inkling that he might be an even match for her even with her weapon. He was impressive. Most impressive. She could admire that in a man, no she could admire that in a subordinate.

As Knightwalker cradled his limp form in her arms, the beginnings of an idea began to form in her mind.

Perhaps she was going about this the wrong way after all...

A/N: Huzzah for dominant Kyuubi! I always thought Edo Erza was just a little bit misunderstood. I mean, if you're told as a child that stealing magical power from other realms and slaughtering enemies of your country will save your world from falling apart, and it actually DOES, then what would you do? Expect plenty of NarutoxKnightwalker next chapter, as Natsu and co. arrive in Edolas many months later and I wrap things up! Oh, and btw, this will have a happy ending for the both of our favorite outcasts, so no worries X3

Don't forget to review! I am writing these solely for your benefit and entertainment! In case I haven't already said it, this and Letters to Heaven will each be a two-shot due to their length and overall integrity! So, for now, enjoy the overall badassness and fluffy goodnes of this fic!