I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.
"Wh-what did you say?" Naruto demanded as he tried to get to his feet.
"What's wrong Brain?" Racer asked.
"An acquaintance?" Cobra surmised.
"It's definitely her. The Sky Sorceress…."
"Sky….Sorceress?" Naruto gritted out.
"What is that?" Wendy whimpered as she crouched behind her rock.
"Looks like I've picked up someone valuable. Come…." Brain smirked as his magic snatched Wendy from behind her rock. Natsu scrambled to his feet, followed by the rest of the reviving mages.
"When it comes to money…." Hoteye pointed his fingers at the rising group. "There is no difference between up and down."
"Argh!" Naruto grunted as the ground beneath him swirled and rose up around them. "Not this again…."
"Wendy!" Carla yelled.
"Happy!" Natsu cried. The two cried brought Naruto's attention to the vanishing duo, but there was nothing he could do with the poison still circulating through his system.
"I no longer have business with you scum….Leave my sight!" Brain commanded as he fired more beams of energy at the collapsed mages.
"I won't make it in time!" Naruto warned. "Take cover!"
"Iron rock wall!" Jura roared as several rock pillars rose to form a protective ceiling above them. Naruto's shoulders sagged in relief and he let his body sink to the ground, giving in to the numbing effects of the poison.
"Jura-sama!" Sherry cried.
"Ohh! Just now?" Gray asked.
"Amazing…." Eve gasped.
"Thanks for saving us," Hibiki grinned.
"Thanks for saving me too," Lucy groaned from underneath Hibiki.
"Where are they?" Natsu raged as he jumped to his feet. "They're gone?! Shoot! They ran away!"
"Wendy…." Carla said worriedly.
"We got owned," Ren sighed.
"They were too strong," Eve agreed.
"Thank goodness you're safe, Jura-san," Lyon said as he rose, clutching his arm.
"You're wrong. I was in critical condition," Jura said as blood seeped through the bandages wrapped around his waist.
"That wound…."
"For now Ichiya-dono's pain relieving perfume is suppressing it temporarily," Jura explained.
"So Oracion Seis ran away in fear at the sight of our arrival…." Ichiya posed. "Come everyone bathe in my pain relieving perfume."
"What a magnificent fragrance…." Sherry smiled.
"The….pain is….fading," Lucy said slowly.
"They kidnapped….both Wendy and Happy….Where are they?!" Natsu growled as he raced away. He was pulled to a stop as Carla snatched the end of his scarf and dragged him backwards.
"Wings?!" Gray exclaimed.
"The cat is flying…." Eve wondered.
"This magic is called Aera. Well….I don't blame you for being surprised," Carla sniffed.
"You're the same as Happy," Natsu said bluntly.
"What did you say?!" Carla snapped. She took a deep breath and regained her composure. "More importantly, even though I'm worried about Wendy and the male cat….We know we can't blindly charge into the enemy when we have no chance of winning."
"Just as Carla said, the enemy is stronger than we thought," Jura agreed.
"And about that…." she continued, pointedly looking over at Erza and Naruto.
"Please hold on Erza!" Lucy cried as she hovered above Erza, who was gasping in pain.
"It can't be….How can my pain relieving perfume not be working?!" Ichiya exclaimed.
"Sorry….Lucy….May I borrow your belt?" Erza asked as she grabbed said item.
"Wha….What are you doing….?" she stammered as Erza tied the belt around her arm.
"I'm still going to fight," she mumbled through a wad of cloth she jammed in her mouth. A sword appeared into existence beside her. "Cut my arm off!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Gray yelled.
"Understood, I'll do it," Lyon said, bending down to pick up the weapon.
"Do it," Erza gritted.
"We cannot allow this woman to die now," Lyon said coldly as he raised the sword.
"But…." Lucy protested.
"How naïve are you, fairy?" Sherry scoffed.
"What do you know about us?!" Lucy shot back.
"Do it, quickly!" Erza growled. Lyon nodded and slashed down with all his strength. The sword swung down, only to be stopped mid-swing Naruto and Gray stood before him, both glaring determinedly at Lyon. Naruto's kunai fell from his trembling hands and he collapsed, leaving Gray to hold the sword back with his burst of ice.
"Do you believe her arm is more important than her life?" Lyon questioned.
"There could be another method. Don't think about using such a nasty method…." Gray replied calmly.
"Don't….underestimate….us….." Naruto gasped from the ground.
"Ah…." Erza sighed as she faded into unconsciousness and collapsed to the ground.
"Erza!" Lucy cried.
"This isn't good! If this continues the poison will circulate….It's a wonder Naruto can move at all, much less Erza!" Eve said worriedly.
"Wendy can save them," Carla commented. "This isn't the time for comrades to be arguing. We should combine our forces and rescue Wendy and the male cat."
"Can she counteract magic?" Eve asked in surprise.
"Amazing…." Ren murmured.
"Not just counteracting but she also has her pain relieving healing which can counteract fevers," Carla sniffed.
"Well….yo….you see….that's my role…." Ichiya edged in.
"Healing you say….could it be Lost Magic?" Sherry asked in surprise.
"Could it be related to the Sky Sorceress thing they said?" Lucy wondered.
"She is the dragon slayer of the sky. Sky Dragon Slayer Wendy."
"Dragon Slayer?!" Natsu repeated in shock.
"I'll fill you in on the details later! Even though I shouldn't say anymore…." Carla said. "Right now we need Wendy….And even though we don't know where we're going, we know Wendy is important to them."
"So in other words…."
"We have one goal."
"To rescue Wendy…."
"In order to save Erza and Naruto…."
"And Happy too."
"Let's go!" the eleven mages shouted.
"Boys….Hurry….please….." Lucy sighed as she watched Erza worriedly.
"They are in the middle of the forest…. And you, why are you not with them?" Hibiki asked.
"I couldn't leave Erza and Naruto like that. And after all, I'm not the most powerful between us anyways," Lucy smiled softly.
"That modesty!" Hibiki exclaimed as his fingers raced across the keyboard of his Archive. "I have listened to rumours in which you won to a gorilla of three meters high and made the recovery of the Phantom guildmaster impossible. You're said to have fought Acalypha alone."
"You're exaggerating. But why aren't you with them?"
"I can't leave two women like that. Besides, my magic allows me to gather information about this place. Happy and Wendy disappeared here. If they cannot return to this place, there's no point, right?"
"Don't worry, Lucy," Naruto said quietly as he slowly sat up.
"Ah! Don't move Naruto! Just lie back and wait; Wendy will be back before you know it and heal you two," Lucy said, fretting over him.
"Heh, don't worry about me…. I heal pretty quickly and by now, the poison is mostly gone," Naruto said, clenching his fist experimentally. "Besides, I hardly think Wendy will have enough magical energy to heal both of us…. In my experience these kinds of things usually take up a lot of power. But as for Erza….she doesn't have much time. If she is going to survive until Wendy heals her, I'll have to use my power…." With that Naruto crawled over to her side and gently laid his hand on Erza's arm. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
"You're still not back to full power yet, Naruto," Kurama said worriedly. "If you go through with this, it will take longer for me to completely flush the poison out of your system."
"Perhaps, but Erza's life is hanging in the balance….. If I can save her life at the cost of speedy healing, then I will eagerly do so," Naruto replied simply. Kurama consented and golden chakra flared to life around Naruto.
"Remember to watch the amount of my chakra you put in her," Kurama cautioned. "My chakra may be less harmful than before, but it's still far too potent for any normal human to cope well with. Especially since you can't match it with magical energy yet."
"I know." Cutting off the connection, Naruto focused on Kurama's chakra. Once he had it under control, he carefully directed it towards the undulating poison in Erza's arm. The chakra flowed down his arm and into hers, blazing through the murky poison that pooled in the wound. When it began leaking into Erza's own magic, Naruto quickly cut the connection and pulled the rest of Kurama's chakra back inside him. He sat back, panting slightly.
"There, now she'll survive until Wendy gets back." He rose and stretched. "In any case, I'm going to head out and get a scope of the situation. Maybe set up a watch for Natsu and the others too. Don't worry about me, be back in a few!" With a smirk and a wave he dashed off into the woods.
"Eh, who are you guys?" Naruto asked casually as he surveyed the group of mages surrounding him.
"Oracion Seis-affiliated Archangel," the leader smirked. "You're surrounded, give it up." Naruto couldn't help but roar in laughter at the irony of that particular statement.
"Surrounded, eh?" he finally choked out, getting his laughter under control. "There must be what, twenty of you?"
"Thirty-seven," the leader growled. "And this is no laughing matter, you idiot!"
"My numbers can go from one to one hundred…. But I won't even need to bother with clones on scum like you. All I need…..are my fists!" Naruto snarled as he dived forward, slamming into the nearest mage. The mages scattered, trying to get out of the range of his fists and fire beams of magic at him whilst fleeing. Naruto easily dodged their attacks, all while taking down the mages around him as he did so. Soon enough, he stood alone surrounded by groaning mages. Naruto sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Hmph, that took a lot more out of me than I thought it would," he grumbled. "I'd better get back to Erza and the others before they start worrying."
"Ah! Natsu!" Naruto shouted as he spotted the pink-haired mage dashing through the undergrowth. Naruto flipped out of his tree and joined Natsu on the ground, slowing down his pace to accommodate for the mage as he did so.
"Naruto! You're feeling better!" Natsu grinned toothily.
"Yep! And you've got Wendy, this is great! We're not too far from Erza and the others, they're just a little ways ahead."
"Yeah, I know! That Hibiki dude talked to me telepathically and said something about uploading a map or something, and then I knew exactly where to go!" Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.
"Upload?" he questioned. Natsu shrugged.
"I dunno what he meant, you'll have to ask him. Oh and that reminds me, you still owe me a match!"
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that," Naruto said sheepishly. "Alright, I'll fight you after this job is over and we get home, deal?" Natsu grinned and clasped the proffered hand.
"Deal!"
"And….We're here!" Naruto announced as they burst into the clearing.
"What's going on? Suddenly this map showing me how to get here appeared in my head…." Natsu asked, turning to Hibiki.
"That can wait. Bring Wendy over here," Hibiki said, brushing aside Natsu's questions.
"Oh yeah! Wake up, Wendy! C'mon, you've gotta save Erza!" Natsu yelled as he dropped Wendy to the ground and began shaking her violently.
"Calm down, Natsu….!" Lucy screeched. Naruto rolled his eyes and went over to check on Erza, noting the feverish flush on her face and her moans of pain.
"Ahhh….!" Wendy cried as she awoke. "I'm so sorry….I….."
"That doesn't matter right now! Erza was taken out by a poisonous snake! You've got to help her! Please!" Natsu cried, falling before her.
"Poison?" Wendy repeated.
"We need Erza's power on our side in the battle against the Oracion Seis," Hibiki explained.
"Please….You have to save Erza!" Lucy pleaded.
"B….But of course! Right! I'll do it!" Wendy nodded.
"Thanks Wendy…." Naruto murmured as Wendy sat down by Erza's other side and placed her hands on the poisoned woman. She gave him a brief smile before concentrating on Erza. Her hands glowed, surrounding Erza in a soothing blue light. At last the glow faded and Wendy sat back, wiping the sweat from her brow.
"There….All done! There's no more poison left in Erza's body," she smiled. Erza slowly stirred and everyone cheered.
"All right!" Natsu laughed in relief. "Lucy, Naruto, high-five!"
"Thank goodness!" Lucy agreed.
"That was too close for comfort," Naruto nodded.
"Carla!" Happy cried.
"Just this once!" she said grudgingly as she accepted the high-five.
"Wendy!" Natsu grinned, holding up his hand. "Thank you!" Naruto held up his hand too, and Wendy hesitantly high-fived the two of them.
"She may not open her eyes for a while yet….But she'll be okay now," Wendy said shyly.
"Incredible….the colour really is returning to her face….so this is sky magic….." Hibiki said, bending over Erza. Naruto spun around and launched him away with a solid kick.
"Not so close!" he growled as Hibiki sprawled on the grass.
"Ah, right, my bad," he chuckled sheepishly.
"May I say something?" Carla interrupted. "I would request that you not force Wendy to use her sky magic any further. As you can see, using this magic takes up large quantities of Wendy's magical power."
"No, don't worry about me! I just…." Wendy hesitated.
"Now we just have to wait for Erza to wake up and then go on the counterattack," Hibiki said.
"Yeah! Time to take down the Oracion Seis!" Lucy grinned.
"Yeah! We're not letting them have Nirvana!" Happy agreed. Light suddenly flashed around them and in the distance a pillar of light rose from the forest.
"A pillar of black light…." Wendy wondered.
"Could it be….?" Carla began.
"That's….Is that….Nirvana….?!" Hibiki exclaimed.
"The Oracion Seis beat us to it already?!" Lucy cried.
"That light….Jellal is there….!" Natsu growled. Naruto froze, his mind spinning from the force of that name.
"Jellal?! Natsu! What do you mean Jellal is there?!" Lucy cried as Natsu dashed away.
"It's….It's all my fault…." Wendy whimpered.
"We can't let Erza meet up with that guy again.…! No matter what! I'm going….to take him out!" he roared before vanishing from sight.
"Jellal…."
"Oi, Naruto, Erza's leaving," Kurama growled, poking the dazed teen. "My guess is she's heading for Jellal. You'd better follow her; you need all the information you can get about how you got here if you're going to get home, and Jellal is just the person you need."
"Alright, I'm on it," Naruto agreed as he silently took to his feet and raced after Erza.
"Who's there?" Erza growled, spinning around as Naruto jumped out of the trees. He skidded to a stop, raising his hands in surrender.
"Calm down, it's just me." Erza relaxed and dismissed the sword she had summoned.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?"
"Jellal….he was there when I came to Earthland. He's the only clue I've got left that can help me get home, so I'm coming with you," Naruto replied determinedly. Erza smiled and nodded before returning to her dash through the woods with Naruto beside her.
"Erza….are you okay?" he asked in concern, noting the conflicting feelings crossing her face. Erza remained silent for a moment before answering.
"After everything he's done….. How….am I supposed to face him? I…."
"That's something you'll have to decide when you see him. But...no matter what….I will stand by your side," he said at last, clasping her shoulder comfortingly. "I promise."
"Thank you, Naruto. I…." She was abruptly cut off by a blast of wind that slammed into them. Instinctively Naruto raised his arms to break the wind as he peered through the clouds of dust. Slowly, a figure emerged from the haze, a figure with bright blue hair and a sinister tattoo. Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"Jellal…."