Training

Chapter 4: Training

Fairy Tail had made their way to the beach, at least the members of Fairy Tail that were stuck on Tenrou Island. While normally it appeared odd that they would go to the bridge to train but Naruto had a twisted mind. He wanted them to have fun for at least a day and then he would beat the crap out of them until they got stronger.

The Blond shinobi heard a laugh rumble from within him. Apparently someone was being entertained.

"Natsu," Gray yelled after the pinkette. "Wait for me!" he called as he chased after him. His shirt had come off already as he dove straight into the water.

"Forty laps… loser gets to be buried in the sand."

"You're on," Gajeel also said as he jumped in after them.

Naruto smirked as he watched them. The girls were already in their bikinis and were having fun by the shores, pretty much afraid that they might get sucked into the boy's swimming competition should they go too far.

He however noticed that Laxus had opted to stay behind on the shore and just meditate.

Naruto, while this was pretty much a sight to see for him, opted to do a little research on the Grand Magic Games. He made a seal with his hand as he summoned about twenty clones.

"You know what to do," he told them. They nodded and then they scattered.

While they gathered information about the games, he would stay behind and map out a training regime for them. One that should be effective enough.

He summoned another clone and instructed it to keep watch over the area while he sat cross-legged on the ground. He closed his eyes and he was pulled into his consciousness. A pool of water was beneath him and in front of him stood nine behemoths. Nine beasts or rather monsters who had pretty much been an influential part of his life.

"So you've finally come to visit us," a large red fox with nine tails swaying behind him said.

"You know I can never leave you Kurama," he told the fox with a grin. Kurama had been worried about Naruto for a while but he was glad to see that the blond was still his usual self whenever he was in their company.

"I didn't think that you'd come see us," a female voice said.

Naruto turned to look at the large flaming cat in front of him. He smiled. "While I would love to just visit and chat, I am actually here to plan a proper training regime for Mavis' brats.

"I see," a behemoth of sand with black markings around his body said. "I was quite interested to see that there was one of them with, what do they call it, magic similar to my abilities in this era."

"Yes but if I must, he is nothing compared to the likes of Gaara when we were young. He can't even begin to fathom how to stack up to you in the slightest, Shukaku."

Shukaku nodded.

Naruto took out a scroll and wrote with chakra on it. When he was done, the scroll showed ten names. "Natsu, Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Laxus, Elfman, Mirajane, Juvia, Lucy and Wendy."

"These are their names. These ten are Fairy Tail's choice for the Grand Magic Games." They were inside Naruto so they already knew what the Grand Magic Games.

"Alright," Gyuki said. "Well let's see what they are capable of."

Naruto nodded. "Wendy is a small and frail looking girl. Oddly enough she has access to very deadly abilities. She can use what they call Sky Dragon Slayer Magic, a magic that is used to kill dragons. It is in many ways similar to wind release and what's more is that she can eat air."

"Oh… so it is similar to one of the dragons we met all those years ago."

"We met a dragon with one of those abilities?"

"You may be old to the world but to us you still haven't aged a bit. Still the same stupid Naruto."

All the Tailed Beasts and Naruto laughed.

"How about she just work on her overall abilities. Since she is a dragon slayer, a little polishing up here and there should do the trick."

"I was thinking that too," Naruto nodded as he thought back towards the girl. Her heart was in the right place but at times she was doubtful of her abilities.

"To make things interesting, why not train her with your wind release?"

"That would be a good one," Naruto said as he turned to the scroll and wrote it down. He might forget it if he were to leave it like that.

"What about this Lucy girl?" Isobu asked.

"Lucy, Lucy. Her magic is something akin to summoning. She can call on the help of creatures from another dimension."

"So it is like the summoning technique in a way?"

"Yes. The contract she makes is through the keys."

"So that's the zodiac magic thing."

"Yes."

"If that's the case, have her work on her magic power and her defense. If that is all she can do then she will need a lot of defense and maybe some evasive abilities."

"That's pretty okay."

He wrote it on the scroll and turned to the next name, Juvia. He smirked.

"Isobu… I have a feeling you might like this one." The large three tailed Turtle in front of him inclined his head slightly as if to wonder what Naruto meant by that.

"Juvia is a mage that uses water magic. She uses it quite well but as always there is room for improvement. Isobu will be the perfect choice for this one… what do you suggest we do."

He had seen what Naruto meant when he made that statement. He had the water element and he wanted to use his help to teach this girl who apparently had a very high affinity for water.

"Hmm… her abilities and a little physical training would do no harm. She will need the physical training if she is to properly use the water to its fullest… it can be unforgiving at times."

Naruto wrote on the scroll and turned his eyes towards the next name. Mirajane.

"Mirajane is a rather special case. She takes over demons and can transform into them at will."

"Is it something similar to the way you and I switch?"

Naruto nodded. "I suppose so."

"Working on the connection between her and her demons would be a nice improvement for her."

Naruto nodded. That would also lead her to work on her magical ability, so he wrote it on the scroll.

"Elfman is rather similar to his sister Mira. They both use takeover but Elfman's takeover is for beasts. So I guess something similar to Mira's training, but alongside his physique."

The beasts agreed with this.

He moved unto the next name on the list. Laxus. As he called the name, he seemed to notice the Tailed Beasts' smile. Apparently they might just have taken a liking to the blond.

"He shows promise… he is levelheaded and pretty domineering."

He had to nod his head. Kurama wasn't wrong in that analysis. Laxus was the person he liked the most and not because he used lightning, but because he seemed as though he was the only one who would see reason in anything.

"His magic power and his physical abilities should be improved."

"Why his magic power? I would have preferred he work on his skills with his magic a little bit more."

"That's because," Kurama said as he huffed, "like you, one can never have too much power behind his skills. His skills are good enough so his magic power and his overall physical abilities should be improved."

Naruto nodded and took note of it. The next name was Gajeel's and they pretty much called a similar training with Laxus.

Gajeel was strong but he, Laxus, Wendy and Natsu had similar issues, except for Natsu. Natsu had more power than them but the reason he was being lumped in was because his magic power was variable. He pretty much figured out that the training regime for the dragon slayers would be similar.

Perhaps Naruto's favourite was the next name. Gray. His trying to be cool reminded him about Sasuke when they were younger. He sighed. He still missed his friends and as he thought about it, his mind flashed back towards Hinata. He missed her especially a lot and he wanted to see her, if that could be possible but he didn't want to use any illegal abilities to bring her back.

He pulled himself back to reality as he thought towards Gray. A similar type of training to Juvia would do him good and the tailed beasts agreed with it.

Two names were left on the list and they were some of the members that he was more interested in. Erza was independent and liked to shoulder everything herself if she could. She only ever involved others except she felt that the situation called for it. She was strong and was very reliable, easily one of the more reliable people in the guild.

Natsu was strong but what impressed Naruto was not his strength but rather a peculiar trait of his. His strong sense of bond was impressive, probably even more impressive than Naruto's and that was why he had prepared a special form of training for him and Erza.

"I think that should be all."

"What about those two?"

"Oh… I have something special in store for the both of them. I guarantee it."

With that, the blond pulled himself back to reality. He dismissed the clone that was keeping watch over the area and awaited the arrival of the other clones. They had about three months till the tournament and they were going to follow his training plan within those three months.

His training regime required that he create a few constructs to handle this and he had a couple of them mapped out in his head. It promised to be a painful one he thought as he walked out of the field, with a smirk playing on his face.

-Break-

What they saw was water as they squirmed for life. Gargles and bubbles told him that they were wide awake now. Naruto released the seal that he had made and dragged the bodies of the people he just tossed into the water to shore.

He ignored their gasps and cries for life as he stood in front of them. The aura he emanated had increased enough to suffocate those that were weak-willed.

"Yesterday was a day of grace. It was the only time that you were to have fun throughout this training period. You want to be the best right? Well there's a price to pay to be the best. I am going to ensure that you all will never sleep peacefully for the remainder of these three months. I will work you to the bone starting today and I promise not to go easy on you. I will not go all out but you will be sorry."

He made a seal and summoned ten clones to his side. Before he could continue, something revealed itself.

"Virgo!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Lucy-sama."

"What are you doing here?"

"Hime, the Celestial Realm is in danger of extermination."

"What happened?"

"I don't have time to explain. The Celestial King is waiting for you."

"Then let's go help them."

"I thought humans can't enter the Celestial Realm."

"You can enter in celestial clothes," Virgo said as she was about to generate a magic circle.

"That's enough."

Everyone turned to look at Naruto who had just spoken for the first time since Virgo came. Virgo's eyes widened as she saw him.

"Uzumaki N-Naruto."

Now it was Virgo's turn to be looked at. It seemed as though she knew about the blond.

"Virgo," he said plainly. "No one's going to the Celestial Realm. Why? Because the Celestial Realm is not in danger."

His voice held no room for arguments as he told them the inevitable.

"How do you know that the Celestial Realm is not in danger?"

Virgo was now sweating a bit. She had no idea that the blond would be present and would be with them, especially seeing as he never bothered himself with getting involves with humans. He was usually solitary and had no involvements with others. She backed away a bit and immediately faded away, back to the Celestial Realm.

"What was that about?"

Natsu turned to look at Naruto who just wore a look of boredom on his face.

"Why'd you stop us from going to help the Celestial Realm?"

"Like I said earlier, it is not in danger. Anyone capable of destroying the Celestial Realm is presently here and not there. My guess is that the Celestial King just wants to party."

Everyone was put off by his answer except for Laxus and Erza who had pretty much gone with his reply, seeing as Virgo had disappeared without a word.

Now that the interruption had been dismissed, he turned to them. "Now, each of these clones will train one of you. They are me and they know what to do and as a result, you are expected to follow them to the tee. Any questions?"

They didn't say anything. His order was concise and clear. There was nothing that could be misunderstood from what he had said.

"Good. Let's get started."

-Break-

A kick was what met Wendy as she was sent sprawling on the ground.

"Wendy, Wendy," the clone said as he approached the girl. "Not everyone is going to stand by and wait for you to perform a spell. You're not physical, so your advantage lies in the amount of space that exists between you and your opponent and how fast you can use your enchantments."

Wendy nodded as she fought to her feet. Those were nasty blows that she was just dealt and she saw his reasoning for doing that.

"I understand," she said as she held a fist.

"Good. Now we move unto physical combat. The fact that you aren't good at it doesn't mean that you will do nothing to be at least decent in it. Now for the next ten minutes, no spells or enchantments, just a pure physical brawl."

She was about to say something when he suddenly appeared next to her. "There will be no countdowns on the battlefield," were the last words she heard before she was kicked again, this time into the air.

She felt the full brunt of the attack as she didn't have the chance to even put up a guard. She had steeled herself. She would fight back and deal damage to him.

The clone looked at the now falling Wendy. "I may have overdone it a bit."

-Break-

"Bring out another spirit."

Currently, Lucy had about two of her spirits out and Naruto wanted to force her to bring out yet another. Lucy held a key and was gritting her teeth as she felt the strain of the result of opening the gates.

"I don't think I can do it."

"You have to try. A celestial spirit can only be as strong as the celestial mage allows them be. For that you need to train. And train you I shall. Now bring out your spirits and let me work you to the bone."

His tone was forceful and it left no room for questions. He knew she had potential and he would have to forcibly draw it out if it meant she would grow stronger. After this, she would be going a few rounds with him and she and her spirits would be forced to evade.

-Break-

"That's enough," Naruto said as Juvia fell to her knees. She had been doing a whole bunch of exercises for a long time. From push-ups to squats and everything in-between. She was exhausted but he was not done with her.

"Now," he said as he made a couple of hand seals. "I know and I understand that you are well-versed and are well capable of using large volumes of water to attack but I am interested in seeing how well you can manipulate and control them individually, especially one that you haven't seen before. Water shuriken (mizu shuriken).

Water burst forth from beneath Naruto's feet and immediately started to separate themselves into spheres that soon flattened and began to shape themselves into the familiar four-pointed star. The shuriken immediately began to spin as they circled Naruto. There were at least two thousand of them and all of them were being individually controlled by the clone.

"This is what I need you to do."

"I-impossible… I hardly think I would be able to do that."

"Don't downplay yourself. You haven't even tried it yet." His face became extremely stern as he said this. "Now do it."

-Break-

Two clones watched as both Elfman and Mira were sat in the lotus position. Both held a wooden stick in their hand as they watched both Strauss' with interest. Suddenly one clone lashed out with his stick, hitting Elfman dead center in the head.

"Stop twitching."

"This is hard," Elfman said as he flinched slightly.

"That's why you need the training. A calm mind is able to draw upon more magic and you need to be well rested because after this, you will be switching from takeover to takeover without stop. I'd avoid the chit-chat if I were you."

Elfman grumbled but didn't say anything just as Mirajane giggled. She was met with an even stronger blow to her shoulder.

"Owww," she said as she rubbed her shoulder. "Can a pretty girl like me not be spared from your torture?"

"On the battlefield, everyone is equal. Everyone's life is placed on the line and anyone can die. Death knows not a pretty face."

Mirajane held her head low as she composed herself to resume the meditation as both Naruto's watched once again.

­-Break-

Laxus shot another lightning dragon's roar at Naruto who dodged as he jumped forward, flipping as he landed and turned towards Laxus. Laxus seeing the incoming form of Naruto held both hands in the air as he generated lightning and shaped into a spear before hurling it at the incoming form of his current trainer.

Naruto took the brunt of the attack and Laxus was about to smile when he saw the figure vanish. It was an afterimage. Naruto ran past him as he tossed shuriken at the lightning dragon slayer.

Laxus slammed both hands on the ground as he caused a huge explosion of lightning around himself, destroying the shuriken with ease.

"Is that all Naruto?" he taunted as he got up with a grin.

"I don't understand. You're yet to hit me. If I do recall, this entire exercise if hell bent on you hitting me, and you haven't done that. Now tell me… do you want to continue with this chit-chat or would you like to hit me."

Laxus frowned as he gathered lightning in his fists once again and prepared to launch it at him.

­-Break-

Gajeel and Wendy huffed as they pulled themselves together. They were squared off against two of Naruto's clones and frankly they weren't faring well. Gajeel jumped forward as he attempted to strike at a clone but it moved too quickly.

"Sky dragon's roar," Wendy yelled as she roared with the little might she had left. One of the clones caught Gajeel and tossed him into the direction of the roar. Gajeel bnore the full brunt of the attack as Wendy tried her best to send the blast in the direction of the clones.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," one of the clones said as he tossed random shuriken and kunai at them.

Gajeel steeled himself as he parried all the kunai, keeping Wendy safe.

"Vernier x Ile Arms," Wendy shouted as she enchanted Gajeel, giving the iron dragon slayer enough power to perform his next move.

He raised his arms above his head as he held both together, causing his hands to morph into a gigantic sword before swiping down with the sword.

"Eat this!" he yelled as the sword came crashing down.

­-Break-

"Missed," Naruto said as he dropped under a swing from Erza's sword and then a follow-up and then another before flipping back to give her some distance. As soon as his legs met the ground he surged forward. A punch was released from him as he struck her in the abdomen and sent her flying.

Erza met the ground hard but Naruto didn't let her up, he was already on the move as he kicked her raising her into the air before watching her fall.

"I am not impressed Erza," he said as he walked up to her, taunting her. He wasn't going all out but it seemed as though she could not handle it. Maybe he should reduce the weight of his punches. "Should I go easy on you?" he asked as he squatted slightly.

"No!" she said as she got up with a cough, barely holding herself up. "Mercy is for the weak and I will not be weak for the sake of Fairy Tail." She held her sword and pointed it at him. "Attack me… I can take it."

He smiled. She was strong but he would still have to lower it down a notch or two. Of course he would not be telling her this. A smirk was what told her that he was about attacking again. She was ready as she in kind lunged at him.

-Break-

"Ahhh," Natsu screamed as he was tossed into the air by Naruto who proceeded to follow and continue giving him beatings as he was pushed higher and higher into the air before Naruto kicked him down.

Natsu made a huge crater as he impacted the ground. He couldn't fully outmaneuver Naruto, seeing as the blond had banished Happy from the training area. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Naruto descending and was forced to stand up and face him. To make matters worse, he couldn't use his flames either.

Natsu charged Naruto but the blond just stood there, not even daring to get into a stance as he parried all of Natsu's blows without moving from his spot.

"You're full of openings," he said as he pushed an axe kick from the pinkette back.

"I am not," Natsu said as he came rushing with a right hand. Naruto didn't give him a response as he simply pushed his neck out of the way before catching Natsu by the elbow and flipping him into the air. Rather than slamming him to the ground, he kicked him in the stomach before he had the decency to hit the ground.

"I am going to enjoy beating you to a pulp," Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles and ran.

-Break-

Naruto stood in front of the clones he had disbursed that day. The sun had set and it was time for Naruto to accumulate the experience that he had gathered for the day. He made a seal with his right hand and all the clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The blond nodded his head as he assimilated the experiences each of the clones had gathered. It was worthwhile but it showed that they had a long way to go.

-Break-

Naruto stood tall and almost proud at the growth that the team he had trained had displayed over the past three months. He had to admit that he had a lot of fun whipping them into shape.

"It has been a wholesome and hectic three months but I feel that my work is done. I have tried my best in training you all and I am happy to see that you all took to my teachings and worked on yourselves into becoming stronger versions. As you stand now, you all have a chance of winning the Grand Magic Games…"

As he said this, he noticed a bird land on his shoulder. The bird appeared to have a piece of paper attached to its feet, something that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto's eyes. He took the paper and he opened it, smiling after reading the contents.

"Erza," he called to the scarlet haired mage, "I think it would be in your best interest if you handle this." With that he walked away after giving her the piece of paper.

She held it in her hands and looked at the words that were written on it. Everyone watched her silently as she read and soon wore a look of confusion on her face. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Naruto's voice telling her that they should be back before the sun sets.