The trip to Balsam Village had been more eventful than had been expected. They had enjoyed the hot springs, the food and even pillow fights in their room. Even if Naruto's had been turned into bombs of fluff and feather while Gray's had suspiciously felt like they had been filled with rocks, and Erza constantly selected the hardest pillows possible. Lucy had decided to avoid death by pillow at all cost and went out to explore the town.

It was during this time that she ran into Loke of all people and after an… odd date with Fairy Tail's resident playboy, Lucy had been able to figure out that Loke was in fact the Zodiac Leo the Lion. The strongest of them, however, Loke had lived in the human world for three years after inadvertently causing the death of the Celestial Wizard he was previously contracted with. Though it was in defence of another spirit, Aries, his banishment was still put into effect.

Normally, three years in the human world would have killed any other member of the Zodiac but Loke had been able to survive but was soon to die. In her desperation, Lucy had tried to forcibly open his gate, catching the attention of none other than the Celestial Spirit King. In her anger at the king's rather flippant nature in regards to his punishment, Lucy had been able to summon all of her other spirits, both Zodiac and Silver. That display had actually convinced the king to lift Loke's sentence, though he would need to serve Lucy as his wizard instead.

In thanks for returning him home, Loke had given Lucy six tickets, one for her and one for the other members of Team Natsu each. They were for the resort town of Akane Beach, known for its white, litter-free sand despite the popularity. Numerous water sports were available to do and the amusement park which ran through the Akane Hotel.

"Wahoo!" Naruto screamed with delight as the rollercoaster began a spiral. The hot springs of Basalm and the water sports were enjoyable to an extent in spite of his hatred of water. But this was what he wanted was quick-paced or climactic rides. The feeling of the wind in his hair and fur, the rush of adrenaline and the thrill of his heart pumping was what he craved from enjoyment.

He could be like Natsu, who despite having motion sickness still maintained tagging along as a passenger on a jet ski with Lucy as the driver was a good idea or Gray and Erza, who preferred sunbathing. Yet, this is what he was meant to do. After their night of mostly relaxation in Basalm Village and what would be a week at the resort, the new Fairy Tail guild hall would be complete. Until that time, the team would be content to just sit back, relax and enjoy a vacation.

Then there was the games, racks filled with all manner of toys and other items. All different shapes and sizes, cat dolls as big as he was, figurines depicting fearsome creatures and even snow globes containing a scale replica of the resort. The absurdity of that last one clearly didn't affect its popularity as a souvenir as several people who actually managed to win the games picked them as a prize.

Naruto shook himself off, his legs still feeling-jelly like after being on the ride, "What should I do next? The Ferris Wheel could be a good way to relax before I head back to the hotel, then again the drop tower is always a good bet." He began mulling over. They had arrived at noon, meaning some activities weren't available. Luckily, the evening would soon be upon them. That would be when the hotel would open its restaurant and casino to all guests.

Stuck in his pondering, Naruto walked straight into someone. He was a young boy, Naruto would guess maybe having recently turned thirteen. Short, spiky red hair, piercing but featureless green eyes with a lack of eyebrows and strangely, a scar resembling the kanji for love on the left side of his forehead. As well as that, the guy looked like he needed sleep, if the dark rings around his eyes were any hint. He wore a black bodysuit with leggings, leather strap crossed from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist, supporting a massive gourd used for containing something. A white sash also helped the strap in supporting the weight of the gourd.

"Sorry buddy." Naruto apologized, the kid said nothing, "You're not hurt are you?" He asked, slightly concerned. The kid continued staring up at him, blinking only once, maintaining an unreadable stoic expression. Then, the strange child walked off.

"That was a little creepy," Naruto muttered to himself, "Well, I guess the drop tower is the best way to get my mind off of that." He continued, not noticing that the teenager who he'd bumped into had stopped, glaring daggers into his back.

An hour later

Of course, there was a dress code that needed to be adhered to if he was going to show up at the casino. After showering, Naruto had gotten changed into a burnt-orange tuxedo and matching trousers. He wore a white shirt with an orange and black striped tie. Thankfully, the trousers were custom made for him, a small hole at the back allowing him to fit his tail through. This way it wouldn't be so uncomfortable. Since his feet wouldn't fit into any shoes, he had be barefoot.

Having spoken with the others before getting changed, he knew they would be down at the casino before they went to get dinner. So, that's where he headed, intent on getting to the blackjack table. Seemed he was early enough to beat the rush as the venue was still starting to fill up with people. He noticed Natsu was with Happy trying his hand at the roulette tables, Gray was testing his luck at the slot machines while waiting eagerly for Natsu to inevitably lose and show his sore side and lastly, noticed Erza and Lucy heading off to a different section towards a beat the house poker table.

The blackjack tables were actually in an outside area, located on a patio that was directly connected to the beach. In spite of there being several tables, only one was manned by a dealer. The man was dressed like a Bunraku, a kind of puppeteer. A black, baggy full body suit with red and yellow circles on the front. A hood was pulled up that made it look like he had cat ears. He sported purple face-paint around his eyes and lips. Four triangles were painted respectively in the middle of his forehead, one on each cheek and the final one on his chin. The other stripes around his face made him look like a tiger

Naruto didn't find this strange, many employees of the resort walked around in elaborate costumes. Quite frankly, this wasn't that flamboyant in comparison to a guy who wore a fish outfit and obnoxiously large, clown-like pants, gloves and shoes.

"Good evening sir, may I offer you a game?" He asked, shuffling the deck of cards.

"Sure," Naruto agreed, "Bit of a slow night for you though, isn't it?" He said, taking a seat.

The dealer nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I guess, but I prefer the peace of a slow night believe it or not. Too many ungrateful customers." He said, dealing out two cards turned over to conceal their suits and dealing two for himself, one hidden, the other turned over, an ace of diamonds.

Naruto raised his eyebrows at the comment, the guy wasn't exactly wrong sure but it was a little odd that he chose to disparage customers behind their backs, "Can't say I disagree." Naruto said, hoping to avoid any awkwardness. He flipped over his two cards, a two of clubs and a three of spades.

"So you here alone or with friends?" The dealer asked as Naruto made the gesture to get another card.

"Just friends." Naruto replied, a bit of an odd question to ask so soon into small talk, the card was a five of hearts.

"Care to be more specific?" The dealer asked, his tone sounding a little pushy.

"Not really." Naruto said curtly, a slight growl to his tone, "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"Then how about a bet?" He got in response, his question being completely ignored, "I win this, you tell me what I want to know, you win, I'll do the same." He didn't wait for any confirmation as he gave Naruto another card. A king of diamonds, meaning the total value of Naruto's cards went over twenty one he had lost, "Oh, tough luck friend, now tell me one thing. Where is Erza Scarlet? I just want to-" The dealer didn't get a chance to finish as the table began glowing yellow and Naruto leaped backwards, the dealer realised something was wrong, following Naruto's example. The table then promptly exploded, shattering into splinters.

"Listen, I didn't actually want any trouble." The dealer began to explain as Naruto ran at him.

"Like hell you didn't!" Naruto retorted but before he could reach the clearly fake employee, he was ripped from the patio by whip-like construct made from sand. He crashed roughly but quickly got back to his feet, his tux now covered in it.

"Dammit Gaara, I told you to let me handle this!" He shouted at someone, an associate of his obviously. Who then stepped out from around the side of the patio, he had been listening in.

"You were taking too long, Kankuro!" Gaara responded, a rough, slightly scratchy voice. Naruto looked surprised at who it was. The kid from before, the one who he had bumped into at the amusement park.

Now at least, he knew the names of his attackers but who they were and what they wanted with Erza he couldn't be sure of. She always had kept her past a secret, looks like these guys were a part of it. That didn't matter at the moment though, what did matter was that Gaara was now manipulating the sand to try and restrain or kill him. A beach was a perfect environment for a sand-user and Naruto didn't want to find out what was going to happen if Gaara got his mitts on him.

Now, Naruto's clothes were specifically enchanted to expand whenever he transformed, his combat ones at least. The tux he was wearing was not one of them. He let out a regretful sigh, it was a good suit but it was too restrictive when it came to a fight. He began to transform into his Etherious form, ripping through the sleeves of both shirt and tux, effectively turning them into a pair of waistcoats. The trousers didn't fare much better but at least they only ripped up to just past the knee, turning them into shorts.

"Bomb burst!" He yelled, blasting away the tendrils of sand attempting to grab him while launching himself into the air with successive smaller explosions to get him out of Gaara's reach. If he wanted to beat Gaara in his home environment, he would need to strike fast and strike hard, hoping to beat him in as few blows as possible. For that, the more the merrier!

"Clone magic: Triple Threat!" He declared as he split into three copies, deciding Anger, Psychotic and Sloth were best suited to dealing.

"Wahoo! You boys ready?! Let's give these fools a show!" Psychotic declared, generating an explosion to propel himself downwards, towards Gaara.

"Have I mentioned how much that guy pisses me off?" Anger growled, though he soon followed Psychotic's example, heading for Gaara.

"Every. Single. Time. When you're summoned together at least." Sloth muttered once Anger was well on his way towards their sand-using opponent. Sloth splayed himself out like a skydiver, taking note that the other one, who Gaara had called Kankuro had now taken out something wrapped in bandages from underneath one of the tables. It was human-sized with a mop of what looked like hair but otherwise completely concealed by the wrapping.

Sloth chose to instead dive towards him, the bastard clearly had a trick or two up his sleeve. He noticed his fellow two clones had already reached their mark. Gaara, jumped back, occasionally throwing up sand to soften the force of any explosions and block their claw swipes. Sloth decided he would join them once he dealt with Kankuro.

Psychotic had had the right idea, but needed some refinement. Sloth put his arms to his side and joined his legs together then went vertical, to minimise air resistance as he started hurtling towards the ground like a bullet. Just before he reached it, he reached one arm out, generating a small explosion to make sure he didn't hit the ground. Using the new momentum he gained, he managed to flip over until Kankuro couldn't hope to dodge his next attack. He used a larger explosion to launch himself at his opponent.

Grabbing Kankuro with a clawed hand, he could feel the tips breaking the skin and forced Kankuro's head onto the table at a near breakneck speed. There was an audible crack from young man's head hitting the table and for a moment Sloth was worried he'd actually killed him. Though, when he looked at the table, no blood pooled underneath Kankuro's. That… wasn't normal, he then noticed something in his peripheral, Gaara the sand-user had apparently entombed himself in a sphere of sand. Psychotic and Anger, were naturally, quite pissed off as every time they struck or attempted to blow up the construct it would simply regenerate the damaged area.

"Come on you little punk, get out here!" Anger yelled, furiously swiping at the sphere but making no leeway in its defences..

"This bastard is trying to mock me, he's making an artistic statement about how something that lasts forever is superior to an explosion!" Psychotic stated in an annoyed tone as he tried blowing a hole in the side but found no luck in breaking through completely.

"That's not what it is you idiot!" Anger retorted, causing Psychotic to growl deeply and Anger responded back in kind. Just escalating the situation.

Sloth realised at that moment, Anger was half-right. Why would a sand user go on the defensive while on a beach? Something that provided a practically limitless arsenal for him? There was only one answer.

"He's stalling…" Sloth realised.

"That's right!" Kankuro's voice said gleefully as his head suddenly turned with such force that Sloth had to pull his hand away. An audible clicking sound was heard as Kankuro's head spun one hundred eight degrees, something no ordinary human could manage. The clicking though, was not the sound of breaking bone, it was more like gears and cogs turning like it was some sort of machine. Cracks had appeared on his face, centred around the nose. That had fallen away, revealing a wooden texture underneath.

This wasn't human.

That fact was only proved further when 'Kankuro' exploded with a shower of sand, blinding Sloth briefly. Six wooden, segmented arms shot towards him, grabbing him by the wrists, ankles and throat. Sloth heard Psychotic and Anger cry out briefly before they 'poofed', essentially dissipate to combine back into Naruto.

What had grabbed him was… well something with a long, bucket-shaped face with two devil-like horns, dishevelled black hair and three yellow eyes. It wore a long, black shawl that reached down to what would have been its ankles given its humanoid appearance.

Naruto didn't have time to dwell on the sudden surge of memories from Psychotic and Anger's fighting. Something in this… thing's hands must have been able to dispel magic. The shawl was flung open by a pair of doors that opened from its torso, revealing a compartment inside, dragging him inside before sealing itself shut. Naruto was forced to shrink down to his normal size before the damn thing nearly broke his neck trying to cram him inside of it. While this happened, a hand slipped out from underneath the bundle 'Kankuro' was handling, pulling on one of the wrappings to unfurl it, revealing the real Kankuro.

"Let me out of here!" Naruto yelled, generating an explosion but finding no luck in escaping, seemed the inside of this construct was resistant to attacks from the inside if the abilities couldn't be nullified. Though he had limited space, he tried to throw himself against the doors, though they wouldn't budge.

"I wouldn't bother with that if I were you," Kankuro spoke up, Naruto was able to hear his voice through slits in the torso, "Black Ant is pretty solid, unless you're freakishly strong you won't be able to escape. A bit surprised you can use magic inside it though."

"Kankuro, kill him now." Gaara ordered.

"Chill out Gaara, we came here to find Erza, not kill her friends." He retorted calmly.

"We were her friends too!" Gaara yelled venomously, beginning to sound upset, "Why should I care about that traitor's allies?!"

"Gaara, I know you're angry and I understand why," Kankuro said, trying to sound comforting, "But trust me, the quicker we can get in and out with as few casualties as possible, the less likely we are to draw attention to ourselves." Gaara huffed caustically at that, but at least he wasn't demanding Naruto's death, "How about you go inside, check on how the others are doing?" Kankuro suggested.

"Fine." Gaara said succinctly, his footsteps becoming fainter as he got further away. Kankuro breathed a sigh of… relief?

"I was being serious you know? When I said I didn't want any trouble." The puppeteer admitted.

"Oh yeah, I can definitely believe that." Naruto responded, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Believe what you want to," Kankuro retorted, "You want to save Erza though, don't you?" He asked.

That threw Naruto off a little bit, "Yeah but it would be a lot easier to understand why you creeps are trying to kidnap her in the first place."

"Can't tell you that, not enough time, plus I think Erza needs to tell you herself. Get her side of the story first before you make a decision." Kankuro stated, "But I will tell you one thing, I and a friend of mine don't exactly agree with our boss's plans for her. If you want to throw a spanner in his works, come to the Tower of Heaven, it's located south of here. Once I'm out of range, Black Ant will dispel and you can feel free to cut loose." In spite of his seriousness, his next tone sounded like he was almost begging, "Please, you and your friends, might be the one chance we've got to save Erza and bring that infernal place crashing to the ground. So, what do you say?"

Naruto thought it over, on one hand the guy had locked him in here but he hadn't killed him as he would have easily been able to do so. Plus, if his and his group's objective really was to capture Erza and bring her to this 'Tower of Heaven' place, why would he tell Naruto where to find it?

"I'll do it," Naruto agreed, "But, if at some point, you turn out to be a liar. The, I'll kick your ass."

"Hm," Kankuro chuckled, "I wouldn't expect anything less, I'll find you at the tower. Just make a ruckus and I'll come running to you guys."

"Ha," Naruto laughed, "That's something Fairy Tail wizards do best."

"Good." Kankuro said, following his ally's example and walking off into the casino, "Don't keep me waiting. But before I go, scream, loudly. I'm gonna need some kind of evidence."

A few minutes earlier

Natsu eagerly watched the ball clicking along the roulette wheel, he'd bet everything on seventeen against several other betters. The ball landed for a brief moment on seventeen but then landed on sixteen, stopping there instead.

"What?!" Natsu cried indignantly as he watched all of his chips be raked away, "That's not fair, it landed on seventeen, then went to sixteen instead."

"Yes, sir, that's more or the less the point of roulette…" The dealer said, though that didn't placate Natsu at all, if anything it just agitated him even more.

Gray laughed at that, he knew Natsu's straightforward mind wouldn't get how roulette actually worked, in fact he'd probably complain if he lost any game, no matter how simple.

"Um, excuse me, Gray?" A voice asked behind him.

"Yeah," He asked before his eyes went wide with surprise. Juvia of the Element Four was right behind him though not dressed in her woollen coat. Instead she wore a backless dress with a necklace of the Fairy Tail emblem, "Juvia! What are you doing here?" She looked ready to speak up before more yelling from Natsu cut her off, the Dragon Slayer was making a complete spectacle of himself, still ranting and raving about the number seventeen, "Let's go to the bar, shall we?" Gray asked.

"Sounds good," Juvia agreed, "I see your guild's Dragon Slayer is a bit like Gajee. He hates losing."

"You got that right, and Gajee, huh?" Gray asked in an amused tone.

Juvia giggled at that, "Yes, I suppose a cute nickname doesn't really suit him but he didn't seem to mind me doing so."

"Oh yeah, how have you been? Since Phantom disbanded I mean." Gray said as they took a seat at the bar.

"It's been an… experience." Juvia admitted, "I'd been in Phantom for so long I almost forgot what it was like to be a freelance wizard. I was thinking of joining up with a guild again… do you think that I would make a good Fairy Tail mage?" Gray went slack-jawed at that, of all the guilds to join, Juvia wanted to choose the one that had a hand in the dissolution of her previous one, "I'm sorry, would it not be appropriate?" Juvia asked, sounding a little concerned.

Gray corrected his composure, "No, it's okay, you just caught me a little off-guard is all. Master Makarov would probably accept you into Fairy Tail and I'd even be willing to vouch for you. Might be a bit awkward at first but I'm sure you'll get into the swing of things eventually."

"Thank you!" Juvia said happily, clearly grateful as she practically tackled Gray and nearly took him out of his seat, "I'm so glad to hear that."

"No problem." Gray said, awkwardly reciprocating the hug.

"Gray Fullbuster?" Oh great, another person who wanted his attention.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning around as Juvia let go of him to greet the tall, muscular man with a turban, an eyepatch and even a steel jaw.

"Where is Erza Scarlet?"

Back at the roulette table, Natsu was still sulking from his loss, that was all the chips he could afford at this place. What was he going to do now? He'd already attracted a crowd that had witnessed his spectacle but was in the process of dispersing.

"You know kid, if you want to really enjoy adult entertainment, you best start acting like one." A voice that sounded like it belonged to a chain smoker said mockingly.

Natsu looked in the direction of the voice, causing him and Happy's eyes to go wide with surprise. The one who called them out was dressed in a dapper purple suit with a matching hat and sunglasses. There was one odd thing about this man, every portion of his body seemed to be made of either a cube or a rectangular cuboid.

"What are you talking about blockhead?" Natsu asked caustically.

"What I'm talkin' about is there are only two paths a man can really take in life," He began, Natsu and Happy looked at each other in complete confusion, that wasn't even what he had asked, "He can live his life the dandy way," He began spinning rapidly in his chair, launching himself at Natsu with enough force to pin him to the roulette table, "Or he can lay down and die." He finished, his right forearm beginning to change into the barrel of a gun proportional in size to it, "Now, tell me somethin' pal, where's Erza?"

At the poker table, it was players against the house and so far Erza had been extremely lucky. Lucy even complimenting it when she got what was second royal flush of the night. She was feeling elated, prior to this, she'd had a dream about that place but now she couldn't have been farther from thinking about it.

"Dealer change." The new dealer announced.

"It seems luck is on my side tonight, right now, I don't feel like I can lose no matter who I'm up against." Erza stated, she normally didn't like bragging but she felt it appropriate in her jovial mood.

"In that case, let's play another game. But not one involving coins." The new dealer said, a tan-skinned young man with spiky, blond hair and an S-shaped tattoo on his chin. He dealt out five cards, but they didn't have a suit, instead they each had a letter, D-E-A-T-H.

Erza looked closely at the new dealer, her eyes going wide, her mouth feeling dry and her body began to tremble, "It can't be… Sho?"

"Glad you recognize me, sis." Sho said with a malicious grin.

"Sis?" Lucy asked, slightly alarmed.

"You were safe?" Erza asked, ignoring Lucy's question.

"Safe? Really?" Sho asked, sounding rhetorical.

"No… I meant…" Erza said, trailing off. Lucy had never seen this side of Erza before, she had always carried herself so confidently and now… she was genuinely afraid of this man, Sho. The lights suddenly cut out, causing several people to scream. A gunshot sounded, only causing more panic. There was a snap of fingers and the noises of the guests ceased.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, starting to panic, the lights then came back on.

"Sho?" Erza asked as he no longer stood behind the dealer table.

"Over here sis." Sho said, having moved behind both Lucy and Erza in the darkness. He dropped cards from his hand, the cards having been used to trap people of the casino and clear the area. All of them trying in vain to escape.

"You can use magic now?" Erza said in shock.

"Not just me." Sho said confidently.

"Meow!" A feminine voice called. Lucy screeched as an orange tube began to wind itself around her, binding her ankles and wrists together and beginning to pull them close to her back, "Surprise, Erzy Werzy." The newcomer said playfully, revealing herself. A young girl with shoulder-length brown hair, the ends tied into ponytails and the top of it fashioned into cat ears. She had facial tattoos, two red whisker-like markings on each cheek. They fit together well as she also seemed to have a cat-like nose and mouth. She wore a yellow jacket over a pink dress, a cat collar-like choker with a bell on it and white leggings.

"Millianna, you can use it too…" Erza said, almost meekly "Please, let Lucy go, there's no need to hurt her. She's my friend."

"Your friend?" Millianna asked, almost sounding genuinely curious but with underlying sarcasm.

"We used to be your friends too, didn't we?" Sho spat in an accusing tone, "Until you betrayed us!"

"Hey, Sho, no need to get your feathers all ruffled up." The gunman said, materializing in a cloud of pixels, "True men know how to maintain their composure."

"That voice… Wally?" Erza asked, "You can use magic too?"

"Yeah, I'm a lot more well-rounded since the time you saw me as Mad Dog Wally." He said giving a nonchalant shrug.

"Why are you so surprised, traitor? It's been nearly a decade, things change in that time." Gaara spoke up, drifting in on a cloud of sand.

"Gaara…" Erza said, looking sadly at him, only to be met with a scowl.

"He's right you know Erza." The steel-jawed man said, seemingly appearing from thin air.

"Simon… it's, been a long time, I can't disagree." Erza said, looking away from Simon almost shamefully. An ear-splitting scream sounded though the hallway, Erza recognising the voice that it belonged to.

"Naruto!" She called out, though with so many people around her prepared to attack she couldn't very well run to help him.

"He's already been taken care of." Kankuro said, "Benn a while Erza, hasn't it?"

"Kankuro… so you're, all alive and what about..."

"Jellal," Gaara finished, "He's been well since your betrayal but he isn't here."

"Erza, who are these guys?!" Lucy asked despite having landed roughly on the floor thanks to her bindings, "Why are they calling you their sister? What's this about a betrayal?!"

"They're old friends…" Erza said meekly.

"What do you mean? I thought you'd been at Fairy Tail since you were a little girl?" She asked, in truth, some Erza's statements would probably raise more questions than they answered given how she currently seemed to be feeling.

"This was before then, what are you all doing here? Please, let Lucy go." Erza said, almost begging.

"We're just here to bring the gang back together." Wally explained cryptically.

"No," Erza said, seemingly understanding his meaning, "No, I can't go back there, never again." She said, her tone beginning to become panicked, her eyes starting to dart around wildly, looking for a potential escape route.

"Well if you insist on being difficult," Wally said, his arm becoming a gun once again and aiming it at Lucy, "We have our ways of getting you to comply."

"No, don't!" Erza managed to cry out before there was a bang, but Lucy was not the target. It had come from behind Erza, the shot going into her back. She tried to keep standing, but soon fell unconscious, being caught by Simon before she could hit the floor. He tucked her under his arm.

"Our target has been acquired, let's go." Simon said affirmatively.

"Wait, where are you taking Erza?" Lucy screamed.

"Hey Millianna, I gotcha a little something." Wally said, flippantly ignoring Lucy's question. Millianna's eyes lit up in delight.

"Happy!" Lucy cried out as she saw the other beginning to coddle him, despite the cat being unconscious. She winced as the ropes began to tighten further.

"Meow," Millianna said, "A few more minutes in that rope and you'll be twisted up just like a pretzel." She stated mockingly, walking away from Lucy alongside Wally.

Gaara looked at Lucy briefly with a stoic apathy, by contrast, Sho was visibly happy, "Finally, our big sis is coming home."

Though there was none of the retreating group noticed, Kankuro and Simon exchanged a grim look, neither knew what was about to transpire but they hoped that it would turn out well for them.

It had been just a few minutes since Erza's old friends had kidnapped her and just as Millianna had said, Lucy's body was beginning to contort. The rope nullified her magic, meaning she couldn't summon a spirit to help her. She didn't know where any of her other friends where, the only comfort she could have positioning herself just right so that the bindings didn't feel too bad. Though that also meant she was directly on top of several cards that had people trapped in them.

"Ow!" Lucy shouted, feeling something prick the back of her hand.

"Whoops, sorry." Someone said apologetically, it was one of the casino attendants, now sporting a pocket knife, "I was trying to see if I could cut my way out of here but I must have got you by mistake." He explained.

The dots connected in Lucy's head almost instantly, if a knife could pierce objects outside of where he was imprisoned, then maybe… "Sir, I need you to do something, see if you can cut the rope." She said, rolling the binding holding her wrists in place was directly above his card.

"Well, I suppose I could give it a shot." The attendant said, sounding hopeful, being cheered on by other trapped people. Not like they had any other options really, thankfully the binding was soon cut through, dissipating the magic binding completely. Lucy stretched herself out, it was good to get herself out of that position.

"Thanks, now could you help us out?" The attendant who cut her free asked after the cheering had died down.

"Sorry…" Lucy said awkwardly, "I don't know how, but I'll try and alert who I can. For now though, I've got to run." She continued, giving the attendant still trapped in the card a kiss, much to his joy so he didn't seem to mind being left behind as Lucy ran off.

"Gray!" Lucy called out, seeing her teammate slumped against the bar, "Are you okay?" She asked putting a hand on his shoulder but quickly pulled it away at the ice-cold touch. 'Gray' then promptly shattered, falling apart as chunks of ice, "What the?"

"Don't worry," A voice familiar to Lucy said as Juvia materialised, water forming her body as Gray came out of it, coughing, "I had to take Gray inside of me to save him…" She said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Yeah, I managed to make a copy before he got to us, but it let the jerk who attacked us get away." Gray said regretfully, looking disappointed in himself.

"Guys!" The three heard a voice call.

"Naruto!" Lucy responded, she'd been worried about her fellow blond after hearing his scream before.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Juvia, "Okay I'm going to need an explanation soon as to why you're here." He said, "But first, where's Erza?"

Lucy looked down apologetically at the question, "They took her, they said they were old friends of hers. They restrained me, so I couldn't do anything to help."

Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, they ambushed us and they were pretty good about. I mean they put some puppet that stopped my magic working, forced Gray here to hide and I don't know what they did to Natsu."

"Agh, my teeth!" The voice of the guild's Dragon Slayer yelled, "What kind of guy shoots someone in the mouth?!" He exclaimed, the others all looking at each other in abject confusion as to how he even survived that.

"Natsu, hold up a sec, you need to hear what I'm about to say." Naruto called out to his friend.

"Fine but don't be too long, I need to get Happy back from the blockhead who shot me!" Natsu stated as he jogged up to the group.

"Basically, I think two of the group that took Erza might be conspiring against someone, whoever it is actually leading them." Naruto suggested.

"There was six of them, so which two do you think could want to betray them? None of them really seemed eager to do so." Lucy said.

"I think myself and Gray encountered one." The other four looked at Juvia, confused, "The one we encountered was also the one who used his magic to kill the lights, I think he knew the Gray he attacked was just a copy, so why would he do it if he knew it wasn't the real Gray?"

Naruto brought his hand to his chin in thought, "Guess he wasn't lying. The guy who told me looked like a cat."

"That narrows it down to two people." Lucy quipped dryly.

"Wait there's another cat-guy?" Naruto said, sounding like he didn't want to know the answer,

"Cat-girl." Lucy corrected, "She's the one who has Happy."

"Good," Natsu said, cracking his knuckles together eagerly, "Let's get both of them back!" He continued, grinning before putting his hand in the centre of the group.

Understanding his meaning, Naruto, Gray and Lucy also put their hands in. The four of them looked at Juvia expectantly, "Well?" Gray asked, "What are you waiting for? If you're gonna be our friend, you should probably join in."

"Your… friend?" Juvia said, surprised. She reached her own hand out, even if she had helped them in the conclusion of the conflict between her guilds, she was still the wizard who captured Lucy. To see them actually want her to come along left her both comforted and speechless.

"Get them both back!" The five of them shouted together once Juvia's hand was on top of the pile.

"Right!" Natsu said, sniffing the air, "There's Happy's scent, follow me guys!" He said, running quickly, not willing to lose the trail.

"What does he mean?" Juvia asked.

"Natsu might have a spark where his brain is but he's got a nose like a bloodhound, if anyone can find where they went, it's him." Gray admitted, "Though, Naruto, you want to get some clothes on?" He asked, taking note of the blonde's torn tuxedo.

"Says the guy with the stripping habit." Naruto responded with a deadpan tone, the two though soon laughed together as they ran off after Natsu, Lucy and Juvia following close behind them.

Omake: The Wildfire Begins!

Fiore, Magnolia, X779

"Well we've got come up with a name for our team." Lisanna said, lying on her bed, arms splayed out. She, Naruto and Natsu had been trying to brainstorm ideas for the team name, it needed to be fitting but none of them could think of anything.

"I know," Natsu griped, "Why couldn't a name just pop into our heads?" He asked rhetorically, glaring at the bin full of paper with all their discarded ideas on it.

"I mean we've got bombs, fire and shapeshifting, how could we not come up with a cool name for our team." Naruto stated.

"Hov abot Tem Wildfir?" Happy tried to ask through a mouthful of mackerel.

"What was that Happy?" Naruto asked.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, Happy." Lisanna scolded lightly, happy nodding in confirmation that he understand. He at his fish before rephrasing his question.

"I said, how about Team Wildfire? I mean, Naruto looks like a fox, Natsu can breathe fire and is the son of a dragon, and Lisanna can turn into animals." The three all looked at each other at the cat's statement, he wasn't wrong, to the two twelve year olds and one eleven year-old had a solid reasoning.

"Team Wildfire." Natsu said, getting a feel for how it sounded, "I like it!"

"So do I. How about you, Naruto?" Lisanna asked.

"It sounds great! One, two, three." He stated, realising what the countdown was for, the other two joined in.

"Team Wildfire!"

A/N: Roll credits! Hey guys, I know I said I would get this done after my exams were over but I had a creative itch, wrote a story for the poll winner (Temari), known as The Rise of a Slayer and now this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it, reviews are appreciated and for real this time, I'll see you once my exams are done. Edit: Decided to change the ending scene to Naruto's fight so it would make a little more sense.