"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'Kurama' Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

"Rasengan" Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners

Chapter 5

The Hidden Sword of the Mist

Train Station of Magnolia

"I know I already said this before but… I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Erza" the blonde mage known as Naruto said while scratching the back of his head with his hand.

"And I already told you to stop apologizing, Naruto-san. We're guild mates and you needed help so I decided to help you, no big deal" the younger red-head known as Erza was quick to answer, her tone calm while her arms were crossed over her armored chest.

The two members of Fairy Tail were waiting for their train to reach the station. The sun was high on the sky and a multitude of people were walking around in the station, some leaving it while others stayed and waited for their train just like Naruto and Erza.

The reason for them being here was something rather simple in the lives of mages: A mission. It was not any mission though, which was the reason that Erza was now accompanying Naruto.

It had been a week already since Naruto, Wendy, Natsumi and Carla had joined the guild. In that time the blonde mage had done what he intended, this was of course to make sure that his fellow dragon slayers and talking cat were comfortable in the guild.

Wendy had definitely found the guild a fun place. Naruto had thought that the girl's shy behavior might make it harder for her to make friends, especially in such a rowdy place like Fairy Tail, but apparently his worries had been for nothing since Wendy had easily found friendship in both Levy McGarden and Cana Alberona, two other girls that were a little older than her.

Natsumi for her part definitely fitted the part of a Fairy Tail member. There was no doubt that she and Lissana Strauss were friends, but what had gotten Naruto confused was the little rivalry that Natsumi had with none other than Grace Fullbuster. No one in the guild could understand why such a relationship had been formed, and the only explanation that they managed to come up was the fact that their style of magic were complete opposites of one another's.

Naruto just guessed that a little bit of friendly rivalry couldn't hurt anyone. There was also the fact that the newest member of the guild, which was the blue cat known as Happy, was always keeping Natsumi company, apparently thinking that she was his mother or something.

The fact that Happy thought Naruto was his father also just brought a lot of teasing towards Natsumi from both Grace and Mirajane's part, which if you knew the pink-haired girl meant trouble.

Stuff like that were what normally started fights in the guild.

Naruto had yet to start training both Wendy and Natsumi. He first wanted to make sure that they settled in the guild. Not only that but Naruto also wanted to find a place to live. While Makarov had told him that they could stay at the guild as long as they wanted Naruto just didn't want to abuse of that kindness, and decided that as soon as he got the money by doing missions he would find a new home for his little entourage.

That's pretty much what brought the current situation.

The blonde had finally decided to go in a mission. This had been something that Naruto had wanted to do every since he had joined the guild but he had stopped himself for his group's sake, but now that he knew they would be fine while he was not there, something that Makarov had promised to the blonde, Naruto had decided to finally do his job as a member of the guild.

Of course there were plenty missions for him to pick up, from little jobs that anyone could do to more long and difficult tasks. While Naruto understood the necessity of such easy jobs, especially for the younger members of the guild, he could not help but to crave for a challenge, which is why he ended up taking one of the missions that had the biggest reward.

The mission itself was quite simple. It was simply to find what sounded like a very rare sword that said to be guarded in some very old ruins.

Naruto didn't take the mission just because it sounded interesting though. It also offered quite the reward, which considering what he wanted to do was something he needed to get as fast as he could.

Of course as soon as he told his guild Master that he wanted to take that mission is when the problem began.

First there was the fact that Natsumi wanted to go with him. She had been adamant about that and only the promise of him training her after getting back had managed to stop her from following, although barely.

The other problem was that Makarov didn't felt comfortable enough by letting someone that had just joined the guild with such a young age to go on a mission like that, at least by himself. Naruto had protested of course, he tried to convince his guild Master that he had enough skills to accomplish such a quest by himself.

Makarov had not changed his mind and tried to convince Naruto to take an easier missions, but Naruto proved to be as stubborn as someone of his age could be, prompting Makarov to reach to an agreement.

He would let Naruto go as long as he got someone else to go alongside him.

Makarov had asked loudly to everyone in the guild if anyone wanted to accompany Naruto on his first mission. Some looked interested and Naruto knew that getting a partner for the mission would not be hard, but the whole guild had been left speechless when Erza of all people ended up volunteering first.

Naruto himself had been surprised too at first, but he welcomed the red-head's help, so with a few more extras farewell and words of their Guild Master both Fairy Tail members had set themselves to accomplish their mission.

And now came what Naruto believed would be the hardest part of said mission: actually surviving the train trip.

"Is there something wrong, Naruto-san?" Erza asked with a frown, noticing how the blonde was looking as the recently arrived train with no little amount of distrust.

"N-no" the blonde answered a little bit shakily, wondering how much would he be able resist now without Wendy to help him. Oh well, the trip to Hargeon wasn't that long anyway, so he was sure he would be able to handle it.

Five minutes later he was proved completely wrong.

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Hargeon Town

"You…really can't handle trains, can you?" Erza said with a deadpanned expression, rubbing the back of her guild mate, who was pretty much hunching over, doing his best to recover his breath after traveling in what he considered a dead trap by now.

"It's just… a side effect" Naruto said between breaths, already feeling way better than before "of my magic"

"That's…specific" Erza commented, honestly not knowing what to think about that. Something then clicked on her mind "You do realize we'll have to get a boat later for the mission…right?"

"I'm aware, yes" the blonde answered, a shiver going through his spine at the mere thought of getting into a boat "but I'll just let the Naruto of the future handle that" he finished while stretching a little bit, his eyes looking around at the unfamiliar town before looking at his companion "Well, lead the way"

Erza nodded in response and the two members of Fairy Tail started moving through the town, Erza's eyes either normally fixed in front of her or in the paper she had in her hand explaining the mission, while Naruto simply walked with his hands behind his head, looking around with no little amount of curiosity, considering how he wasn't used to such big towns like this one.

He could actually smell the salt coming from the ocean, while his eyes wandered through the buildings and people hanging around. Most of then looked like civilians, in fact there didn't look like there were any mages around, which Naruto thought it was honestly weird considering how common it was to see mages in places like Magnolia.

"Hargeon is mainly a port town, so is rare to find mages living here. Most are just here for missions or are just passing by" it seemed that Erza had read his mind or something, since the red-head dutifully explained as she apparently had noticed his own confusion.

"Ahh I see…" Naruto said while nodding in understanding "So we just have to meet the guy and then find a sword in an island, right?" the blonde asked, already knowing the details but wanting to be sure he didn't make any mistakes. It was his first mission after all.

"In theory, yes, but…" Erza responded, a small frown appearing on her face at the end, something that got Naruto curious.

"But?"

"Considering how simple the mission looks, and how big the reward is, there's a chance that someone else might have taken the mission already"

"Eh?! But no one in the guild looked interested about it!" Naruto said, remembering how there didn't seem to be anyone particularly interested in this specific mission. Wasn't Erza being paranoid now?

"You're right, but it's not rare for missions to be send to multiple guilds, so there's still a chance that someone from another guild might have taken it too already" Erza answered, her eyes glued to the paper in her hands. However she was forced to stop once she noticed that her blonde companion wasn't walking besides her anymore.

The red-head turned around, a confused look on her face as she looked at Naruto, who was just standing there, no emotions showing on his face. She was about to call out to him, but the only thing she was able to do was to squeak of surprise as Naruto's next actions were to suddenly snatch the piece of paper from her hands, grab her by the hand and then pretty much drag her as he made a mad dash towards god knows were.

"C'mon then, we can't lose time!" Naruto said with urgency. There was no way he was going to let anyone steal his first mission like that!

"W-wait, Naruto-san!" Erza tried to stop the older boy, understanding why he was in such a hurry but honestly thinking it was too much. Sure, someone could have taken the same mission, but she honestly thought it was rather unlikely.

If only she knew.

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Minutes later

"This is my mission, blondie, so you better back off!"

"Yours? Who died and made you the owner exactly?!"

"We got here first, so of course this mission belongs to us!"

"You just made that up!"

Such discussion would have probably continued for hours if it wasn't for a hand, courtesy of Erza, slapping Naruto right on the back of his head, stopping him from continuing his rant and making him rub the spot in which he got hit, however a glare was still present in his face, the girl at the receiving end of said glare doing nothing but glaring back.

"I'm sorry for my guild mate's lack of… tact" Erza apologized with a formal bow.

"I should be the one apologizing for my charge's actions" a bald man, looking to be on his early twenties, answered back, he too making a formal bow.

Meanwhile Naruto simply glared at the girl that was already ticking him off, said girl having no issues with returning the glare with the same amount of heat. The girl had long messy black raven hair with two bangs framing her face, black eyes and pale skin. She looked about the same age as Naruto, with her sporting a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar, white shorts, and what looked like white arm warmers. There was also a strange symbol on the back of her shirt that Naruto had never seen before.

Just besides her was a massive man looking to be on his early twenties, with a bulky build and a completely bald head. He also had two weird marks above his eyes, while his outfit itself was eye-catching enough, considering how…tribal it looked, at least in Naruto's eyes. However what caught most of the blonde's attention was the aura of the guy.

To put is simple, while he looked like a peaceful fellow, there was no denying that he was definitely powerful.

"The youth of today can really be problematic sometimes" the bald man spoke, a smile present on his face as he looked at both teens still glaring at one another.

"Indeed" Erza answered with a sharp nod, completely agreeing with the man.

"Jura stop acting like an old man!" the raven-haired girl said.

"I'm older than you, Erza!" Naruto also complained towards his guild mate, however just like the girl he was promptly ignored.

"I think working together would be the best for our current situation" the man, whose name was apparently Jura, said in a kind tone, earning everyone's attention.

"B-but Jura!" the girl to his side obviously didn't like the idea, but the only thing she got was a ruffle of her hair from the older man.

"Good relationship between guilds is important, never forget that" he said towards his young charge, only earning an irritated huff in response.

"Thank you" Erza once again spoke with respect on her voice just before motioning towards herself and Naruto "I'm Erza Scarlet and this Naruto Uzumaki, and in Fairy Tail's name we thank you for your cooperation!"

Jura just chuckled at how formal Erza sounded, while both Naruto and the raven-haired girl looked at her as if she had grown a second head or something.

"No need to be so formal, our guilds have a pretty good relationship after all" the man continued with a small "My name is Jura Neekis from Lamia Scale" he introduced himself before signaling to the girl to do the same, even though she looked more than reluctant to do so, but she finally did so after a few seconds.

"Sasuki Uchiha" the girl finally introduced herself, crossing her arms over her chest. That attitude itself was already annoying Naruto, but Erza took it in a stride. She was already used to Mirajane after all.

"Very well then, shall we enter now? I'm sure our client must be waiting" Jura talked, taking the lead as he was the older one of the group. His eyes, alongside everyone else's, were then directed towards the mansion they were standing in front off.

It was probably one of the biggest houses Naruto had ever seen, and whoever lived there was obviously more than just rich. Apparently who ever lived there was also their client, so that definitely explained the amount of money offered in the reward.

So with a little bit of tension, coming mostly from Naruto and Sasuki, the group moved towards the house, intending to get this mission done.

BDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBDBD

"Do you know about the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist)?" the owner of the mansion asked to his guests. He was a really old man that honestly couldn't look more fragile, with wrinkles everywhere, a rather slouch posture, completely white hair and a cane. He even had an attendant by his side just in case something happened.

"I've heard rumors about them" It was Jura the one that answered while rubbing his chin, apparently in deep thought "They're said to be a group of the most powerful and deadlier swordsman that have ever existed"

"What makes them so special?" Naruto asked, sitting besides Erza in the rather large living room. Just in front of them were Jura and Sasuki also sitting, while the old man and his attendant sat at the head of the room.

"Besides their incredible strenght they also possessed a particular set of skills" Jura was more than happy to inform them of course "Their name come from their ability to call forth mist itself with magic, and then using it in order to end their targets in a swift, deadly movement… just like a ninja" he finished in a grim tone, knowing that there were no small amounts of mages out there that were willing to kill.

"There is another thing" the old man suddenly spoke, his voice dry "They also own a very particular set of swords, with each member owning one. These swords have especial properties each, making them among the most looked after magical artifacts out there"

"What does this have to do with the mission exactly?" Sasuki asked with a raises eyebrow.

"It was my brother the one that forged said swords many years ago…" the old man continued, earning surprised looks from the bunch "He called them his greatest master piece… and it saddens me that his creations are being used by nothing but mere criminals" he ended, obvious anger in his tone, with even his fragile-looking hands holding his cane with surprising strength.

"You want us to recover all of them?" Erza asked with a frown. Finding one sword was a thing, but seven? Especially when it meant facing people with such reputation? She couldn't say she was looking forwards to it.

Luckily enough the man just shook his head before releasing a deep sigh.

"I know that would be too much to ask" he said "However, even if it has been years after my brother's dead I still would like to conserve at least one of his treasures…this is where you all come in"

This got the young mages to lean forwards in obvious interest, while Jura simply looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.

"If the information that I have is correct then one of the swords, the Hiramekarei, was hidden in a island not far from here by its previous user before dying. I want you to go and retrieve that sword for me..." at this the man let out a small chuckle, a tint of nostalgia shrouding his eyes "Even if it's just one, I would like to be able to preserve my brother's legacy"

Erza looked at the man with sadness, and even Sasuki looked a little moved by his story. They didn't expect to hear something like that from a mission that originally sounded just like a meaningless treasure hunt.

And for Naruto? The blonde suddenly stood up, his right fist meeting his left palm as a confident smile appearing on his face, surprising everyone.

"Don't worry old man; we'll get that sword for you and for your brother" the blonde said, turning towards Erza and giving her a nod, to which she returned with a small smile. Jura for his part simple smiled and nodded at the young mage and Sasuki simply smirked.

Maybe this mission wasn't going to be so boring after all.

"Thank you" the old man said, gratefulness spilling from his voice as even his butler bowed in appreciation.

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Later, Mizu Island

"Heh, it looks like we have some company" an incredible imposing man sad, his whole form hidden from the world by a black tunic and a strange hat, although if you were to look closely you would be able to notice light blue skin and teeth sharp as those of a shark on the man's face.

"I guess finding that thing can wait, I can feel someone interesting enough in that boat" the man continued, throwing of the binoculars he had been using to watch the ocean surrounding the small island. His gaze had been centered in the boat that was currently moving towards said island, a grin of anticipation forming on his mouth as he grabbed the handle of the massive object on his back.

"Let's have some fun, Samehada" and with that the man disappeared in a swirl of water, an exited chuckle being the last thing to escape him.

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Meanwhile

"G-guh" the blonde dragon slayer groaned, his head sticking out of the ship just in case he actually puked, the captain of it not waning any mess on what he proudly called his baby.

"There there" meanwhile Erza could do nothing but just pat him in the shoulder, deciding to ask their Master if there was something that could be done to help the blonde with.

And while Naruto wasn't looking, he could feel the smirk he was receiving from Sasuki from behind him. He would be growling or saying something, but his current situation made him unable to do so.

"Hmm, curious side-effect" Jura muttered while looking at the dragon slayer with a look of interest and pity. Of course since they were all working together now Jura had told them to share what type of magic they used, in order for the mission to go flawlessly.

Erza's magic had not been a surprise for him, but Naruto's? This was his first time seeing an actual dragon slayer, and although he would have liked to know more, the blonde seemed pretty reserved when it came to how he obtained his magic.

Jura had not pressed more out of pure politeness, Sasuki because she didn't care at all and Erza because she understood not wanting to talk about his past. She would admit that she was curious though, after all being a dragon slayer meant that he was trained by a real dragon.

And those were pretty much creatures of legends.

Natsumi and Wendy seemed far more open about their dragon parents, so Erza couldn't help but to wonder why Naruto was so secretive about it.

"We're almost there!" the captain of the small ship said, causing everyone, with the exception of Naruto, to look towards the island in which the sword they were looking for resided.

It had been definitely a fast trip, which was no surprise considering how luxury the boat they were riding looked like, especially since it was being fueled by magic itself of all things.

And as soon as they were close enough Naruto had pretty much decided that enough was enough, and threw himself out of the boat, failing on the water with a splash and earning shocked disbelieving looks from the rest of the group, which quickly moved to look at him.

Deadpanned expressions formed on their faces once they saw him swimming like a madman towards the island, almost as if his life depended on it.

"Finally…" the dragon slayer muttered, his hands on his knees as he did his best to recover his breath, just the thought of having to get on that boat again making him shiver . Maybe he could just swim back to Hargeon?

The blonde looked back at the boat, deducing that it would only take them a few minutes to get here. His eyes then swept over his current location, he had never been on an island so this definitely a new scenario for him.

The island itself didn't look that big, Naruto's eyes focusing on the jungle in front of him that separated the center of the island with the beach surrounding it. With the information they had received their best bet was to simply go towards the center, since apparently one would find the entrance of a cavern there.

Of course from his position the blonde wasn't able to see anything about that cavern, the jungle in front of him being too thick. Not wanting to make any mistakes he simply stood there and waited for the rest to arrive, which honestly didn't take that long as the boat had been pretty close to the island already.

He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

It only took a few minutes for Erza, Sasuki and Jura to join the blonde, the red-head of the bunch looking at Naruto with a frown, her hands on her hips.

"Please refrain from doing that again" Erza said with a glare, deciding that what the blonde had done was a little too impulsive for her like. Sure he had it bad in the boat, but it couldn't be that bad to just jump out of it, right?

"Sorry sorry" the blonde waved away her complains, a grin present on his face, getting nothing but a sigh from his guild mate.

"We should just get going with this" Sasuki said with impatience, not wanting to be delayed just because of someone else's problems. Jura nodded besides her, his right hand rubbing his chain as he looked at the jungle in front of him, thinking of what the best way to walk through it would be.

"Very well, let's move along then…" Jura announced, moving towards the front of the group with the obvious intend to lead them, and the three younger mages would have followed him willingly, if it wasn't for that suddenly took them by surprise.

A sudden feeling of dread washed over them, their wholes body tensing, their eyes widening in nothing but shock, all of them moving wildly around them, trying to get at look at whatever was releasing such a presence.

Their first warning then came, as a burst of water from below the ocean pierced the boat that they had been on just a couple of minutes before, completely shattering it in nothing but bits, making it their focus.

Having being launched into the air the captain of the ship washed away at the shore, and the group of mages would have moved to help him if more pillars of water didn't suddenly sprang from the sea, these ones moving directly towards the mages.

"Move!" Jura was the first one to recover, pushing Sasuki to the side while jumping to the opposite side himself. Naruto and Erza were quick to get out of their stupor to avoid the blast, landing just besides Sasuki.

They weren't even given a second to rest though, as the same feeling of dread washed over them, only that this time it was ten times worse. Cold sweat appeared on their foreheads as Sasuki's and Erza's breath became shallow, while Jura and Naruto being able to handle it better, Jura for the experience he had with dealing with dark guilds and Naruto because of the time he spent with Acnologia.

However that didn't change the fact that it brought flashes of memories into the head of the younger mages, memories that they would rather never have to see again.

Death and blood filled Sasuki's head, her eyes flashing read as she shook her head in a vain attempt to stop it.

Betrayal and torture was brought forth in Erza's mind, her childhood playing over and over until she was forced to grab the sides of her head just try and stop the images.

A desolated village filled with nothing but corpses is what Naruto remembered, the mocking laugh of the Apocalypse Dragon ringing on his ears as he gritted his teeth, his hand pressing so much into fists that he almost drew blood with his nails, his head moving everywhere, trying to see who was releasing such a powerful amount of killing intent.

Yes, the blonde had recognized it, it had not to, considering how many times Acnologia had flared his own during training, but to feel one like this is a whole different thing.

"Enough!" however the killing intent suddenly stopped, as Jura's words echoed in the empty beach, his visage being one of angriness, a scold present of his face as he looked in front of him, his arms ready to his side.

"Heh, trying to ruin my fun?" it was as if someone had summoned a monster, for just a second later a swirl of water appeared a few meters away from Jura, the water disappearing and showing everyone just who was see that was tormenting them with a grin on his face.

Black robes with red clouds moved with the wing, as what could barely be considered a human in everyone's eyes suddenly appeared. His skin a light tone blue, with his grin showing a row of sharp, even deadly looking eyes, that made everyone think he looked more like an animal than an actual person.

On his back was a massive looking object, completely hidden with bandages of some sort, however if the handle was any indication it was definitely a weapon, one that this monster of a man was apparently ready to use as he moved one of his hands towards the handle.

"Kids" Jura said with nothing but seriousness in his tone, cold sweat going down his neck as he eyed the blue-skinned man in front of him, his voice moving the rest of the groups eyes towards him "Get away from here, go find the item, I shall deal with him in the meantime"

"W-what?!" Ssaku asked with shock, her eyes looking straight at Jura's back "I'm not going to leave you alone!" she yelled.

However what she got a firm look from her fellow Lamia Scale mage, one that told her that there would be no discussions here. Sasuki was stubborn though, and she would have said something if a hand hadn't suddenly landed on her shoulder, courtesy of certain dragon slayer.

"We'll leave him to you then, Jura-san" Naruto said with a nod towards the man "We will only get in your way if we stay, won't we?"

"Indeed" the bald man said, his eyes moving towards his opponent once more "This is not an opponent you kids could hope to handle right now"

"Of course…" Naruto muttered, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Considering how powerful the killing intent on that guy was, he couldn't even imagine how strong he actually was.

They would only be a burden if they chose to stay.

"I'm sorry to trust you with my charge, but please look after her, Naruto-kun" Jura requested, and Sasuki would have definitely complained about this if she had been given a moment to do so, for the next thing Naruto did was to grab both hers and Erza's wrist and pretty much dash away from the place, his objective being the center of the island.

"You better not lose!" Those were the last words the blonde said before the three mages disappeared from sight, leaving only Jura and his opponent standing in the beach.

Alongside the passed out captain of the destroyed ship of course.

"Finally they're gone!" the monster said, his grin getting wider by the second as he slowly moved towards Jura "Now I can get some fun with you, looking for that stupid sword was really boring after all!"

"So you were here for that too…" Jura muttered, trying to piece together who he was facing exactly. He had never seen this person, as he was sure he would remember someone so…unique.

"Let's have fun, little guy!" the shark-looking man suddenly declared, and with one swift motion he dashed towards Jura, the object on his hands moving with a swiftness that should be impossible to obtain on something that looking so heavy.

And at that moment Jura prepared to fight for his life, as his magic filled his body and the earth became his weapon.

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I can only apologize for taking so long to update, but I assure to everyone that is still sticking to this story that I won't abandon it. Next update will come a lot sooner than this one.

In fact I planned to continue this chapter some more, but that would have taken too much time for me and I really wanted to update it before New Year.

And yes, FemSasuke! Is in this one. What can I say; I did put that warning in the summary for a reason.

Also just to be clear on something, this story won't focus much on OCs. Whatever characters appear will be either from Fairy Tail, Naruto or some other anime/manga (I'll be sure to keep those to a minimum though) as some of you wondered if the villains were going to be just a bunch of OCs.

Also I want to make a statement. Obviously when I started this fic a lot of the stuff happening in the Fairy Tail manga had yet to happen (I'm looking at you Alvarez arc). Of course I can't just rewrite this story every time Mashima decided to throw a curve ball at us, so for this fic I'm only using everything that happened up until the end of the Tartarus arc as the base.

That doesn't mean I won't use anything that appeared after that (I can assure you the Alvarez empire and the Spriggans will appear), just that I will be picking on what I can use that can fit the plot of the fic without having to just scrap everything.

Thank you all for your patience and for supporting this story!

Next Chapter: Resolution of Partnership