Stranger in a strange land

By Quick-n-Popular

Disclaimer: "Naruto" and "Fairy Tail" are not mine, nor will they ever be.

A/N: I apologize in advance for the fighting in this as I have hard times writing fight scenes.

Chapter Four: Take it to the limit

Ultear Milkovich hummed to herself as she waited for her co-conspirator, Siegrain, to come back from a meeting he was having with some of the other members of the Magic Council. She herself was a member as well but today she decided to sit out on a meeting between old fools trying to govern all of the magic of Fiore.

However, now that she was waiting, she still felt bored. Looking around Siegrain's office, there was nothing of particular interest to dissuade her boredom. Siegrain had collected many books over the years in his hunger to learn about everything in the Fiore Kingdom that was magical. Be it rumor, be it the gospel truth; if it had anything to do with magic then he would look into it. Though he didn't know it, he had her to thank for his pursuit of knowledge.

Looking at his desk, she was quick to note that he had been getting in many reports of new mages from various towns in Fiore. Not unexpected, but there were very few as it showed for their minority of magic users.

Taking one of the reports off the pile, Ultear briefly scanned it before tossing it aimlessly out of her hand and letting it float to the ground. She then picked another off the pile and skimmed through it. However, unlike the previous one, this one had her going back and reading it more thoroughly as she read the type of magic reported as a "Lost Magic".

"Arc of Holy Judgment...Naruto Uzumaki, Mage of Fairy Tail." Ultear looked over the paper and to her annoyance there was no photograph that went along with the document. Irked but not put off completely, the female Magic Council member looked at the description of the magic itself and her eyes went wide.

"Has shown the ability to resurrect the deceased."

Her thoughts went rampant. This was the first time she had read about a magic associated with reviving the dead that wasn't related to Dark Magic or Zeref. To the Magic Council, it was forbidden and a taboo topic. She mused at what the looks of those old fools on council would become if they heard of this.

Ultear's thoughts then turned to her current Master, Master Hades.

'Does he know about this?' She wondered. Hearing footsteps from the hallway she quickly hid the paper within the folds of her ceremonial outfit and put on her usual smile as Siegrain walked inside.

'Naruto Uzumaki...I think a trip to Fairy Tail might be in order.'

It has been a month since he had arrived at Fairy Tail's doorstep and since that time, Naruto knew he was getting out of his rhythm.

The Master was quick to point out that the East Forest would provide everything he needed to try his new magic and to get back into shape; so he was forbidden to use any part of the guild or Magnolia as the other guild members had worn out their welcome in the past.

There was an additional restriction placed on the Uzumaki by both the Master of Fairy Tail and by Faun, prior to her disembark from the guild. While practicing his magic was acceptable, resurrection should be handled with the utmost care. He was told, mostly by Faun, that resurrection of humans was forbidden by the Magic Council and he would be facing dire consequences should he be found out.

Naruto took it in stride but told Makarov that, having seen many deaths that could have been prevented by this ability, that he'd be using it when it mattered most and to damn with the consequences.

However, that prospect was quite a ways off from where he was now. He still had to figure out all of what his magic actually did. And so, he was here in the East Forrest.

The forests of this world were different than the ones back on his. The trees were taller in his world but the ones here looked more exotic. That and he was told that the wildlife of this world was not for the faint of heart.

Going without his vest and leaving his mask behind, Naruto started the warm ups of his regular routine, then followed with a light jog, swerving through the trees in a snake like pattern until he reached the sixteenth one and then turned back, repeating the process till he reached his equipment. He then did the rest of his core exercises until he felt satisfied.

Naruto then did some breathing exercises before putting a foot forward and getting into his usual attack stance.

'Now...let's see here.'

Drawing on the magic within him, he proceeded slowly drawing enough to where his hands glowed brightly. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he began going through a series of Taijutsu moves and stances he learned from Jiraiya during their three-year trip together.

Pushing his elbow out, in front of him, and then with a thrust of his palm of his other hand; his glowing hands seemed to get brighter with every exerted move he did. Pausing, he turned to the nearest tree and completed the katas. Stepping back, he observed the tree and noticed the scorched, indented, wood and whistled in awe.

Suddenly he was put on guard as there was a loud rumbling from the trees several feet in front of him and a large figure jumped down from the tree tops followed by a purple massive fist slamming down on top of him.

Years of good instinct and good reflexes prevented Naruto from being smacked like a bug as he jumped back landing on all fours before crouching and gazing up slowly at the big being that had tried to squash him.

It...sort of looked like an ape, albeit a massive one with green hair, purple skin, a horn on it's head and strangely pointed ears. Naruto had to do a double take to make sure he was seeing things right as there seemed to be pink hearts running up it's arms.

"Who or what are you?" He asked, eying cautiously the grinning face and malicious look in its eyes.

"Hmmph, puny little wizard doesn't know about Gorians. That's funny."

Naruto seeing that the thing had human-like intelligence decided to proceed cautiously.

"I'm sort of new around here. I take it I disturbed you with my training?"

The Gorian rubbed it's chin as it looked down on him with a menacing smirk.

"Wizards always training here. You're not the first. However, I'm going to beat you like the other ones. It'll be more fun that way, Wizard."

Naruto ducked as the thing charged forward and swiped at him with it's massive hand. Going on the offensive, Naruto threw his leg forward and struck at the Gorian's side, only to jump back as it slammed it's fist down on top of him. Wincing from the sudden pain in his foot from hitting the green ape, he rolled as the creature jumped and landed where he was previously. Kicking his foot up, he caught the monster under the jaw, which caused it to take a few steps back as it clutched at its tender jaw.

Growling, the Gorian broke off a thick branch of a tree and charged towards him. With his back to a tree, Naruto had limited options. Diving under the legs of the ape as it smashed the poor tree limb where he had been earlier, he spun around, jumped, and performed an ax-kick down on top of the beast's pointed head.

The Gorian grabbed his leg and swung him around, causing immense pain lower body. It then thrust him back to throw against the bark of a tree like a ball. Thinking quickly, Naruto drew on some of his magic to his leg, which then glowed brighter and severely burnt the hand of the ape, causing it to drop him and clutch at his now smoking palm.

"I'm getting tired of this." Naruto said, under his breath. Sending magic to his hands and legs, he charged at the Gorian.

"U!" He kicked at the ape's torso. Drawing on more energy, he found himself flashing behind it and performed a roundhouse kick. "ZU!" Pivoting on his foot, he jumped to the left and then found himself in front of the Gorian's face and he punched it across the face. "MA!" The green ape angrily swung it's fists in front of him but missed as Naruto was crouched at it's feet, drawing up more energy as he sprung up and threw an uppercut underneath the Gorian's jaw send it up and skyward. "KI! Combo!"

The green beast was sailing up high before it unceremoniously fell down to earth with a resounding crash. The thing moaned pitifully and had spirals in it's eyes, it's whole body smoking.

Naruto took long ragged breaths as he got up and walked back towards his things. However, when he got there, he found what looked like a blue cat picking up his mask and peering at him through the eyehole of the mask.

"That was a cool fight! Not as good as Natsu's fights but it was fun to watch."

Naruto blinked. First it was human-sized frogs, giant green apes, and now blue cats that talked. He idly wondered if this world was where summons come to hang out.

"You have some pretty bad injuries."

Naruto looked down at the cat and noticed it was trying to be discreet but the blond could tell it was talking about the scars on his chest, arms, and face.

Naruto sighed as he grabbed the towel by the anthropomorphic feline, "I do but they remind me to never let my guard down, ever again."

The cat looked up at him with a twinkle in it's eye, "Sounds like a great story. Tell you what, you go catch me some tasty fish and I'll listen to it! What do you say?"

Naruto gave the blue feline a flat look. Gamakichi had better methods of getting him to do what he wanted than this little guy did.

"Oi! Happy! Where are you?" A voice came calling.

The peculiar blue cat identified as Happy called out. "I'm over here, Natsu!"

Soon another person came into the clearing, seemingly unaware of Naruto or the knocked out Gorian.

He had pink hair that was spiky, a open vest and white baggy pants. Around his neck was a scale-like patterned scarf. Naruto took notice of the Fairy Tail mark on the teen's shoulder.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, buddy. What are you doing over here?"

Happy looked smug, "Watched a fight and am now going to get rewarded with fish for being a good spectator."

"A fight?" The teen named Natsu turned away from his friend and looked from the scorch marks on the trees and ground, to the Gorian, and finally at Naruto, who choose that moment to dry the sweat from his hair.

"You smell familiar. I could smell you back at the guild a couple of times."

Naruto turned to face them, thus showing his guild mark on his bicep to the pair.

"Hey! You're a member of Fairy Tail! How come you didn't tell me?" Happy asked, incredulously.

Naruto chuckled as he bent down and grabbed his orange vest, "You never asked."

Natsu, however, was staring intently at the blond and then briefly looked at the Gorian, then back to him. A twinkle appeared in his eye and he grinned big.

"Fighting a Gorian, huh? These jerks are a pain but make sparring fun sometimes. Say, what magic do you use? You wanna fight sometime?"

Naruto blinked and then closed his eyes and chuckled, "You guys sure like to fight. I don't see why not. As To what magic I use, well..." Sending magic to his hands, they glowed brightly causing the cat to put his hands over his eyes and Natsu to also shield his vision.

"Man, that's bright!" The pink-haired teen exclaimed.

Naruto grinned as he turned it off, "I use Holy Magic."

"Holy Magic?" Happy repeated as he rubbed his eyes.

The scarred teen nodded, "Yup. Not too sure how it all works as I've only been using it recently and no one can teach it to me, exactly."

Natsu grinned as he held his hand out. "Natsu Dragneel."

Naruto took his hand and shook it, "Naruto Uzumaki."

"So, you're going to have to come clean with me."

Levy looked away from the Job board to Fairy Tail's Card Magic user.

"Come clean about what, Cana?"

The brunette set down her drink and smiled, coyly. "About you and our flashy new member."

The Solid Script Mage blinked before looking up at the ceiling, thoughtfully, before looking at her fellow guild member confusedly.

"You mean Naruto?"

Cana nodded, "You two seem to be spending a lot of time together, so I can't help but wonder..."

Levy looked down and blushed slightly. "Well, I-"

"There's nothing happening between them, right, Jet?" Droy interrupted as he and the other male member of Team Shadow Gear joined their female member.

"Absolutely. They're just friends." Jet concurred.

"Isn't that wishful thinking on your guys' part?" Cana quipped as she took another drink.

Jet scoffed and looked away while Droy scratched the back of his head while looking a little sheepish.

Levy, ignoring her teammates, cleared her throat.

"Cana, Naruto is new and doesn't have any friends like he used to. I'm just trying to help him adjust to his new life here."

Cana smiled, "That's not a 'no', girl."

Levy, struggling for a forthcoming answer, was saved by the arrival of both Naruto and Natsu as the two came to a screeching halt inside the guild hall with the young Dragon Slayer tripping and crashing into some of the tables.

"Saved by the dimwit." Cana smirked as she continued her drink.

Levy didn't hear her as she was attending to a panting Naruto, who looked a little scuffed up.

"What happened to you?"

The blond, scarred, Uzumaki flashed her a grin as he gathered his breath.

"Met up...with...a Gorian and then...Natsu decided...we should race...here."

The Solid Script Mage sighed and then looked over to the figure slowly emerging from the pile of wooden debris.

"You okay, Natsu?"

A roar of fire coming out of the teen's mouth followed by his fists slamming into each other was an answer.

"Come on, Naruto! Let's see what you got!"

However, the pink haired teen was stopped in his wish for a fight by a large massive fist slamming down on top of him, courtesy of Master Makarov.

"Natsu! Stop wrecking up the guild, you imbecile!"

Levy let out a sigh of relief as she helped Naruto up off the ground and to a seat at the bar. She had no doubt in her mind that the guy was strong but she knew Natsu could be dangerous if provoked too hard.

Though, looking at the newly made member of the guild, she could see that the Gorian and whatever else he had found out in the East Forest seemed to have thrashed him quite well.

Naruto must have heard her thoughts as he grinned before his hands slightly glowed and some of his wounds started healing instantaneously.

"It's not as bad as it looks. You should see the other guy."

The bluenette blinked before she finally processed that he was talking to her.

"Are you sure you and Natsu didn't fight before coming here?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Levy smiled and chuckled, ruefully. "If I had any doubts of you fitting in here..." She let her message hang while the blond looked at her in confusion.

"Nothing." She replied to his unspoken question. She then noticed the slightly drunken Card Magic wielder, give her a coy smile and nod.

Naruto had always been used to being given missions, never to selectively choose them for himself. So when he was told to find something for him and Nab to do together, he was surprised.

As to why the quiet bulky guy was selected as his temporary partner, Naruto could only find out that it was a punishment from the Master for loitering or something.

Naruto couldn't complain all that much, being new and all he wasn't exactly screaming confidence and the fact that the only few people who he had met had partners of their own and had gone out on their job assignments as soon as the sun came up early this morning.

The skull-ensemble mage was now with him at the board looking for something to do for the two of them, for Naruto's first experience.

"Well," The tall man said, scratching the side of his face, "We could go on this one for weeding out some poisonous horse-eating plants. Should be easy with my Seith Magic and...wait, what magic do you use, again?"

"Holy Magic."

Nab nodded, "Right. Well, I think this sounds the easiest one on the board here, today. Don't really have anyone to dress up as a maid for that mansion-gig."

Naruto nodded, however, he was visibly relieved that he couldn't do his Ninja Centerfold Jutsu anymore as he may have been pressured into using it for obviously some pervy creep's pleasure. That and he was also relieved that he had someone to read these job requests as he still was having a hard time recognizing some of the words, despite the cheat sheet Levy had made for him.

"Hey, Mira! We're going to take the job in Cottonton!"

Mira looked over the job request and nodded before giving them the contact name and location.

"Well, Ultear, what have you contacted me for, child?"

Standing a top of a building of an abandoned town, The Arc of Time user looked into her orb which was projecting the image of her Master, Master Hades.

"Sorry to disturb you, Master Hades. I know I sent you my last update on the Tower of Heaven project not too long ago. However, there's been a new development that I know will catch your attention."

"What is that?" He inquired.

"Have you heard of the Lost Magic, The Arc of Holy Judgment, before?"

There was a silence before the Master of Grimoire Heart spoke.

"I've heard of it once. The last known user died in his time from magical exhaustion. What of it?"

Ultear smirked. It was a rare treat to be privy to information even her master didn't have.

"Through the Magic Council, I've come across some information of a person who uses this magic who resides in Fiore."

Another impregnated-pause before her Master's voice called out, cautiously.

"Has this been confirmed?"

"I had plans to confirm it myself. An ex-member of the Magic Council was the person who recorded the user and specifically mentioned that the person resurrected a dead lizard in front of her."

'If that doesn't tempt him...'

"While we already have everyone needed for the Seven Kin of Purgatory, it would be fortuitous to have this person on our side, if need be in secret if not willingly. Tell me, Ultear, is the person with a guild?"

"Yes, Master Hades. Fairy Tail."

Yet another pause, however this one was shorter than the last.

"Do what you think best, Ultear, however make sure that Tower of Heaven and the Council are your first most concerns." With that the transmission ended.

"What is that thing called?"

Naruto and Nab were at the train station, which was a source of child-like wonder for the blond Uzumaki.

"It's a train. Seriously, you've never seen one before? No offense, but have you been living underneath a rock?"

The Holy Magic user ignored his temporary partner and continued to look around at wonder. Neither Jiraiya or Kakashi had ever mentioned or told about moving steel boxes that took people places so he assumed it was only in this world.

Getting their ticket and moving to one of the unoccupied seats, Nab was praying that he wasn't going to be dealing with someone who gets motion sickness like Natsu does, or so he heard. From what the big man could tell, Naruto and Natsu shared some common traits, he was hoping not all.

The trip, however, was easy going, despite worries. Naruto tried to kill the time to their destination by asking Nab everything he knew of the town they were going to. Unfortunately, his knowledge was limited, other than that Cottonton was mostly known for it's horse racing. Glad that some species of his world existed here, Naruto told some stories to Nab as they continued their trek to their destination.

"You mean to tell me that you actually fought someone who used his bones as weapons?" Upon the blond male's nod of confirmation, Nab visibly shuddered.

"Remind me never to go where you used to live. I don't think I could stomach it."

Naruto scoffed, "Oh, come on, it's not that gross. There was this one guy, Orochimaru, who swapped bodies with people. He tore off the face-"

"STOP IT! I'm not listening to your stories anymore! To think, I would have preferred it if you would be barfing the whole way to our job, like Natsu..." Nab had his hands on his ears and was looking up at the ceiling.

Naruto rolled his eyes and looked out the window and noticed that their "Train", or whatever this thing was called, was slowing down to a wooden platform next to a small little town that had an arena next to it.

"I think we're here, Nab." He motioned out the window, which caught Nab's attention once he was looking down again. Removing his hands from his ears he nodded and followed the Uzumaki out of their compartment.

"Tell me, miss, is there a Naruto Uzumaki here? My Mistress asked for me to fetch him and bring him to her for an inquiry in his papers that he sent to the Magic Council."

Mirajane turned around and saw a short man with spiky brown hair dressed in the robes of the Magic Council's staff.

"I'm sorry, no. He went out on a job today and shouldn't be back at least till tomorrow." She replied politely.

"Is there a problem, Mira?"

Mirjane turned around once more and noticed Erza Scarlet walking to her in her usual armor and skirt flair.

"No, Erza, Mr., uh..."

"Vildy, Miss Mira."

She nodded, "Mr. Vildy's here from the Magic Council asking for Naruto. I just told him that he's gone on that job to Cottonton with Nab, so he shouldn't be back until tomorrow."

Erza nodded but then rested her hand on her chin as she looked to the floor in contemplation.

"Naruto...Naruto...is he new to the Guild? I haven't seen or heard of anyone new joining."

Mira shook her head, "I'd be surprised if you had. He joined the Guild a month a go while you were slaying that Wryvn."

The red headed Wizard nodded before scowling and looking past Mira to the Magic Council's staff member.

"He hasn't caused trouble, has he?"

The man grinned broadly and shook his head, "Far from it. My Mistress was very pleased by what she read of what Faun and Makarov had reported and was interested in meeting with him in person." He sighed, dramatically, "But if the gentlemen isn't here then it means it will have to wait until a more convenient time. Well, I must take my leave of you ladies. Good day." He then turned around and walked a little march out of the Guildhall.

Mirajane chuckled, "What a funny little man. I wonder who this is "Mistress" he spoke of is?"

Erza shrugged and then proceeded as well out as her luggage on her cart out there was waiting for her.

"As far as I know, there are two females on the Magic Council. I'm leaving now, Mira. Make sure everyone stays in line by the time I get back."

"Vildy" arrived outside the edge of town shimmering to reveal Ultear smirking.

'Time shall always be on my side. Enjoy your life at Fairy Tail for now, Naruto Uzumaki. For we shall meet very soon.'

To be continued...

A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed. I apologize for this having arrived late. Circumstances at the time could not be changed.