Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Author note:

6 chapters of this exist on fanfiction net. feel free to go read there (same names), however here I'm making spelling and grammar edits, and eventually I think I'll just post here and my discord server exclusively. If you want in on my discord then message me or ask in the comments and ill reach out or post the invite next chapter.

(Unknown place)

“Ah there he is, my favorite little assassin! Do you finally have time to take missions again now that your guild is number one again?” A man said with a grin. This man is Tatsuo, or better known as the infamous Dark Shadow, leader and founder of the strongest Assassins Guild, Dark Shadows. He had shoulder length black hair with bangs that swept over his right eye, his eyes were black, he normally wore black t-shirts, black and red cargo pants and black boots, his most noticeable marking though was the scar along his left cheek.

“Yeah yeah, shut it Dark, just tell me who the target is so I can shake the rust off, it has been seven years since I had a little enjoyment” A man with spiky blood red hair said with a toothy grin with sharp K9 teeth, his eyes were a dark forest green with traces of gold that shown when he was excited or angered, his eye pupils were like slits, he was wearing a one sleeved black coat that reached below his knees, black knee-length pants, and black combat boots, the coat sleeve covered his right arm, and black fingerless gloves with dark blood red stones on the knuckles. This man is known as the Dragon Shadow, second in command in the assassins guild Dark Shadows, his power is mostly equal to Tatsuos.

“Eager are you Dragon, perhaps the dragon has been playing with the fairies too long and needs to be let off the chain for a bit” Dark said with a grin, Dragon growled, “Don’t get so upset, you know I was only teasing” Dark said with a laugh.

“Cut the crap already” Dragon growled.

“Alright, I got a special hit waiting for you, one that will scream to the world “DRAGON SHADOW IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER” I think you will really enjoy this one” Dark said with a grin as he handed a mission flier to Dragon who took it and read over the info, as he read the gold in his eyes became more pronounced and a huge grin formed on his face.

“Magic council court judge” Dragon said with excitement in his voice, he then looked back up at Dark, “Consider it completed and in the most ruthless way possible” Dragon said, he turned around and left Darks office yelling something about him leaving for some fun. Dark watched with a smile as his second in command left, he missed the red haired man, never once did he give his spot as second in command to anyone during the seven years Dragon was missing.

To Dark, Dragon was his most important friend and assassin in this Guild of assassins. To this day it still surprises Dark on how Dragon was also a member of that light guild yet also lived as an assassin.

“If only the world knew” Dark mused in his thoughts, “That Dragon Shadow, Fiores most feared Assassin seven years ago, doubled life as their famous Salamander, hero of Fiore from the dragon apocalypse, and the heart of their most trusted Guild Fairy Tail” The thoughts made Dark laugh as he then looked back to his desk to figure out who he was going to assign the next hit too.

(Two Days later Fairy Tail guild)

Natsu Salamander Dragneel kicked open the guild doors and cheered he was back, many greetings from most of the guild members greeted him back. Natsus hair was pink, he was wearing a one sleeved coat that reached past his knees with the sleeve covering his left arm leaving his red Fairy Tail guild mark out for the world to see, he wore white knee length pants and black strap on sandals, and his precious white scaly scarf.

Natsu walked through the guild and sat at a table with his team that consisted of Erza, Gray, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Gajeel, and Pantherlilly. Though most of the guild greeted him like normal, Natsu could tell that the guild wasn't as lively as it normally was. After a while Natsu got the answer as to why that was when Makarov walked out of his office followed by Lahar and Doranbolt from the magic council head of security. Makarov shouted down from the second floor.

“I need Team Natsu, and Levy to come to my office immediately” Makarov called, Natsu smiled and he started to head up the stairs to the office followed closely by his team and Levy. As soon as everyone was crowded into the office Natsu notice runes appear around the room so that no one can overhear the conversations in the room.

“Are you sure this group will be able to pull this mission off Makarov” Lahar asked.

“Yes, Team Natsu is by far the strongest team in this guild, and Levy is our strongest mind and best problem solver, if anyone can do it it is this group right here" Makarov said with a confidant and proud smile.

“What is going on Master” Erza asked.

“Allow me to explain” Lahar said as he stepped forward and set a lacrama on the desk, suddenly a projection image appeared showing a building burnt to a crisp with Black flames still burning some of what remains, in front of the burning building was a old looking man wearing a judge outfit, and in ashes on the ground beside the man was a message.

“Two days ago someone attacked the council court building and murdered the judge named Jason Folley, the attacker then proceeded to burn the entire building to ashes, killing a total of two hundred thirty two people, he left the dead body of Jason in front with a message”

The group read the message In the image, it read:

“Here is a gift, let the world know that Dragon Shadow has returned, let all perish in my black flames of the dragon.” The message then had a insignia of a back shadowy person with dragon wings with the letters D.S. Under it.

Everyone gasped at the message except Natsu who just stared at the image, the gold in his eyes more pronounced as he looked over the damage.

“Who is this Dragon Shadow exactly” Gray asked. Lahar was going to answer when someone the group never expected answered instead.

“Dragon Shadow is an assassin who was one of the best at what he did seven years ago, I heard he vanished not long before we got stuck on Tenrou, to think that man is back after all this time” Natsu said, everyone stared at Natsu with wide eyes because for once when not in a fight Natsu is being smart and serious.

“How do you know that Natsu” Lahar asked, Natsu just looked at the captain with a blank look.

“It’s not like it was kept secret, besides I liked to keep tabs on the guy, he uses a black form of Fire dragon Slayer magic, rumor has it he looked similar to me too, thought he may have been a long lost evil twin brother or something” Natsu said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“That was basic knowledge that the council allowed out, but we actually know more about him, like he is a part of an Assassin guild called Dark Shadows, the current strongest Assassins guild we know of” Doranbolt said, He then tapped the lacrama and a new image popped up, this time of the shadowy person with dragon wings and the initials D.S. under It.

“This is the mark of the Assassin guild Dark Shadows, they all have this mark like any normal guild, but the mark is small and not where people can easily see” Lahar said earning a nod from the gathered mages, Lahar tapped the lacrama and a chart of people showed up.

“There are currently only five known members of Dark Shadows, but we only know what two of them look like and that is because they were or are the most active members of this Assassin guild” Lahar said as he tapped on one persons image causing it to get bigger and reveal more info on the person.

The person who was now shown was a tall muscular man with green hair and greenish brown eyes, he had a scar over his left eye, he wore a white t-shirt and black pants and boots, he had a green sash wrapped around his waist as well as three swords strapped to his right side of his waist. Everyone knew he was nothing but a image portrayed by a lacrama buy when they looked into his one good eye they felt like they were being watched.

“This is the one known as Demon Shadow, he uses his swords as his primary force, but it is rumored he has a magic that helps him to control his blades when they are not in his hand or his mouth” Lahar said.

“Mouth?” Erza asked.

“Yes mouth, he uses three sword style, he has a sword in both hands as well as in his mouth, the guy is strong enough to cut steel using his swords” Doranbolt said, he then tapped the lacrama and a new person showed up that man Natsu tense a little as the gasps from the rest of the guild.

“This image is a little out dated because it is from seven years ago, but this is a image of Dragon Shadow” Lahar said.

The Group kept looking between Natsu and the image of the person, they were identical, except the guy in the image dressed in black trench coat, black cargo pants with red chains, and black combat boots, his hands had black fingerless gloves with dark blood red gem stones on the knuckles. Dragon had black flames all around him, and a sinister grin with a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

“Damn, Flame-brain, that looks a lot like you” Gray said as he looked between the two, “Even the eye colors and shapes are the same” Gray pointed out.

“But I have salmon hair, and my flames are a bright red and orange” Natsu pointed out, “Not to mention this Dragon guy kills for a living, I saved the world multiple times”

“We are not accusing you of being him Natsu” Makarov said, “But the resemblance is a bit shocking, he may actually be related to you”

“Cool, I always wanted a brother, to bad he will be put in jail and possibly killed” Natsu said with a sigh.

“Dragon Shadow is rumored to be second in command in the guild, he is rumored to have equal strength as the master, he is rumored to be the one who helped start Dark Shadows, but without knowing the master we will not know if these rumors are true or not, his main fighting ability is the black flames that we are lead to believe are just a black form of Natsus dragon slaying magic, he is also rumored to use a black and red katana from time to time” Doranbolt said as he stared at the image of the red haired man with narrowed eyes.

“Any idea where he has been these past seven years” Erza asked earning curious looks from everyone.

“No idea, he dropped off the face of Earthland around the time you and the other guilds went after Oracion Seis” Lahar said with a frown, “But it was only him that went missing, the other four members continued their usual murders”

“So why exactly are you telling us this information Lahar” Natsu asked.

“It is because the council personally want Fairy Tails strongest team to find and put an end to the Assassins guild Dark Shadows, with the recent return of Dragon Shadow, we can not sit by and watch as he starts burning town and killing people again” Lahar said with a commanding tone that showed he was definitely the head of the councils security.

Now to most of the gathered group, the news of their new mission was exciting, but to a certain pink haired Dragon slayer his mind was running a thousand miles a second as he thought of what he was going to do, but on the outside he acted his normal self and cheered at their new mission.

(Later that night)

Natsu sat up in his hammock and looked to the hammock above him to see Happy was sleeping peacefully. Natsu sighed as he stood up and silently wrote a not to happy before silently leaving the small house and heading deeper into the woods walking a hidden path he knew all too well.

As he walked he slowly channeled color magic to his hair causing it to slowly turn red, he then used re-quip magic to change his clothes…it wasn’t nearly as fast as Titania can change, but it helped. He now wore a one sleeved black coat that reached below his knees, black knee-length pants cargo shorts with red chains, and black combat boots, the coat sleeve covered his right arm making it so that his Fairy Tail guild mark was covered up, and black fingerless gloves with dark blood red stones on the knuckles, and his prized scarf was tucked away nicely in his pocket dimension.

Soon Natsu came across a cliff with a water fall, he jumped down landing in a crouch in a newly made crater, he stood and walked through the water to the waterfall. He walked through the waterfall revealing a small cave with a black door that had the Dark Shadows guild symbol on it.

Natsu used his his normal red and orange flames to dry himself off before walking over to the door.

“Password?” a quiet ghostly voice asked, The door was enchanted to only open with a password that only the members knew.

“Occide” Natsu said and the door clicked before slowly opening revealing a dark narrow cave path that Natsu entered, the door closed behind him leaving it pitch black but Natsu didn’t need a light source because he knew these caves like he knew his magic.

At the end of the path it opened into a large cavern with a door to the right and another cave path to the left, the cavern had a table with a map of Fiore and its surrounding countries (There are three surrounding countries in this story) there was also a large book shelf along the back wall. This was the group planning room, where the group would gather and work out a plan for Hits that were too big to carry out on their own.

“Natsu sighed and walked straight to the door on the right side, he didn’t even knock as he opened and stepped in to the masters office. The masters office was simple, a desk with a chair, a few piles of paper on the desk, the back wall covered in books of all kinds, a few pictures of the guild members hanging on the wall, and a comfy couch in front of the desk where masters visitors sit.

Natsu looked around the room and smiled at the photos on the walls. Many people would think that most of the members of an assassins guild would fight each other and just be there for the money, but Dark Shadows wasn’t like that, they were like a small family with bonds that Natsu believes are stronger than most bonds at Fairy Tail. The five members respected each other and their individual abilities, and unlike Fairy Tail there were less brawls.

“Well this is a surprise, normally you would stay away for over a week after a Hit like that” Dark said as he stood from his seat at his desk. Natsu looked at him and smiled.

“Well I have some news” Natsu said with a grin.

“Well lay it on me, what is this news that brings you here today” Dark asked.

“My light guild has been hired to find and eliminate the Assassins guild Dark Shadows, and I am one of the members on the mission to do so” Dragon said.

“Well this is ironic, tell me do they know who Dragon Shadow looks like” Dark asked, this situation didn’t make him nervous, just made him excited.

“The council showed images of both Dragon Shadow and Demon Shadow, the rest of the guild members have yet to be seen” Dragon answered.

“Well, do they suspect you” Dark asked.

“They think that Dragon Shadow is a long lost brother to Natsu Dragneel” Dragon said with a laugh to his voice. Dark laughed at this news.

“You have hidden your identity well, they have no clue you two are one in the same, who knew just a change of hair color and a different outfit could do so much” Dark said while laughing, “Anyway, I trust you to handle this anyway you see fit, I know you will not betray us” Dark added in a serious mood after he finished his laughing.

“I have never let you down before, they will not find this guild, and I will continue to live both my lives” Natsu said with a grin, he then turned around and left the office, he crossed the planning room and went down the cave hall that lead to an even larger cavern.

This cavern is known as the lounge area, it was about the same size as the main hall of the Fairy tails guild hall, it had a small bar with a kitchen behind it in the left back corner, a bunch of tables and chairs, on the right side of the room there was a small stage like area next to another cave hall that lead to the training area, in the back right corner there was another cave hall that lead to the living quarters for members that wanted to stay here, so far Natsu was the only one that did not live in here.

“Welcome back Dragon” Natsu looked up to the bar where he saw a tall man with blonde hair smoking a cigarette while chopping a few vegetables, he wore a suit minus the black jacket part, his sleeves were rolled up while he worked, he had curly eyebrows that Natsu thought strange at first. This man is Sanji, also known as Black-Leg Shadow. He Is the head cook and bartender in the guild as well as an assassin known for only using his legs and speed magic in a fight or while killing.

“Thanks Black-Leg, mind making me a steak and setting it on fire” Natsu asked, he knew Sanji hated to set the food he makes on fire, but he always did it for him.

“You make me sick” Sanji growled as he continued to chopping the vegetables, “Besides, I’m already cooking the guilds dinner, you are welcome to join, but it will not be steak, I will set in on fire for you if you really want me too” Sanji said.

“Alright, thanks” Natsu said, he then looked around and saw a short long golden haired teen reading a book, he wore a long red jacket with a black shirt and pants as well as combat boots, he had golden colored eyes. This man is Edward Elric, also known as Fullmetal Shadow, he is called that because he had a metal arm and leg, he was mostly a guy who loved to study the facts and the human body, he says he is a man of science and his magic was an advanced form of Alchemy. Fullmetal is also the youngest member of Dark Shadows.

Natsu continued to look around and noticed Demon Shadow was sleeping on a table again with his swords laying right beside him. His real name is Roronoa Zoro, and he wants to be the best swordsman in the world, Natsu had to admit Zoro was already better than Erza by a long shot, but when Natsu used a sword Zoro and him were practically even.

This was Dark Shadows, a Assassin guild consisting of only five members, living deep in the East forest outside Magnolia, a small family, and one Natsu doesn’t want to lose as much as he doesn't want to lose Fairy Tail.

Natsu smiled and decide he was going to tell the rest about his mission during dinner, for now he wanted nothing do do but jump on Demon and ruin his peaceful sleep… and that is exactly what he did.

(Morning, Fairy Tail)

Happy came into the guild holding the note Natsu left for him last night and flew over to the table Team Natsu was sitting at talking.

“Hi Happy, where is Natsu” Lucy asked the flying blue cat.

“Natsu left last night, he left me this message” Happy said as he handed the note to Lucy.

“Happy, I am going to be gone for a few days maybe a week, I am taking a trip to the place Igneel raised me, it has been seven years since my last visit, sorry I didn’t tell you about this sooner, let the guild know, I will be back, sincerely Natsu” Lucy read the letter out loud for the group to hear.

“Who knew Flame-brain could write such a good letter” Gray said.

“I was the one who taught him to read and write, of course he can write a good letter” Erza said.

“Does anyone else think that is strange” Gajeel asked but he was ignored as most the group started to argue about how smart Natsu is, Gajeel sighed and went back to being his quiet self.

After a while of arguing they all settled back down.

“Now that I think about it, why would he wander off now that we actually have a mission to do” Lucy asked.

“Who knows, but if it involves that dragon of his then it is obvious that would come before anything else” Gray grumbled, “Besides we don’t have any leads at the moment so it is not like we would need him right now” Gray added.

“I guess so” Lucy agreed, “Does he usually leave for visits to his old home” She asked Happy.

“Aye, at least once for a week every two months” Happy said with a smile.

“How come we never noticed” Erza asked.

“His visits were less often after the team formed, and he would usually take a mission at the same time so that no one asks questions” Happy said.

“Did he ever take you with him” Wendy asked.

“No, just him” Happy said with a frown, “I asked to go with him many times but he always said no” Happy was now pouting.

“At least he let us know where he went, if he is not back in a couple weeks we will go looking for him” Erza said earning nods from the rest of the group.

(Dark Shadows hideout)

“Your still here” Sanji said as he entered the lounge area, he slowly made his way to the bar/kitchen area to start making breakfast for the rest of the guild when they wake.

“Yeah, I will be here for a while, maybe a week or two” Natsu said with a grin.

“Well this place is more lively when the whole family is here, glad you are staying for a bit” Sanji said as he started cooking, “I will be needing to make a supply run into Magnolia, mind joining me” Sanji asked.

“I’m not sure that is a good idea, or have you forgotten that the resident light guild is trying to find us” Natsu pointed out.

“Well if your light guild notices you they will not recognize it as their Natsu Dragneel, plus you have more magic than you let on so I am sure you will get away, as for me my speed alone will be enough to get away” Sanji reasoned, “Besides the thought of getting caught is exciting to you” he added when he realized the gold in Natsus eyes were shining.

“Well since you put it that way I guess I have nothing to lose” Natsu said with a grin, “and it is very exciting” Natsu said as his grin got bigger.

“Then after breakfast we will head out” Sanji said as he lit a cigarette and continued to cook.

“Oi, Dragon” Natsu looked over to see Zoro walking over to him, “What are you still doing here” He asked.

“I will be staying here for a week or two” Natsu said with a grin.

“But don’t you have a mission to do at your light guild” Zoro asked with a grin.

“Don’t really care for that mission” Natsu said. Zoro shrugged before sitting down.

“Oi, Shitty Cook, give me some beer” Zoro said.

“You know dam well I will not give beer until after lunch you dam Marmio” Sanji growled. Sanji and Zoro always fight, their relationship is similar to Natsu and Grays, but they have a stronger family bond than Natsu and Gray have, they would always have each others back and do anything for each other, same for the rest of their five person family guild.

“Good morning Dragon” Edward said as he sat at a table alone and began to read.

“Morning” Natsu replied, they didn’t talk much more because Edward was already deep into his book.

“Good morning Dragon, glad to see you stuck around, did you sleep in your reserve room” Tatsuo asked as he joined Natsu and Zoro at the bar.

“Yep, I was surprised to see it was still the way I left it seven years ago, you must have had complete faith that I was alive” Natsu said with a smile.

“Even if you had really died I wouldn’t let anything happen to your room, it was a reminder of my best friend” Tatsuo said with a grin.

“Breakfast is served” Sanji said as he placed large plates of pancakes in front of everyone.

Natsu took a large bite of the syrupy goodness and moaned at how good it was, Sanji was the best cook ever, even better than Mira.

“Glad you enjoy it” Sanji said as he made himself a plate.

“Who wouldn’t enjoy it, Sanji is the best” Natsu cheered letting his childish side show earning small laughs from the rest of the members, including Edward.

After breakfast Sanji got dressed in his full black suit, Natsu was wearing his normal Dragon Shadow attire. They both left the guild through the front door and Natsu used his flames to dry them before starting the hike to Magnolia to gather supplies for the guild.

When they reached the town Sanji instantly pulled out a list.

“This is the list Zoro wants, I will leave this list to you because you will know more about this stuff than me because you also use swords” Sanji said as he handed over the list, Natsu looked it over and nodded.

“I know exactly where to get these” Natsu said with a smile.

“When you are done with that meet up by the food store, I will need help carrying the stuff back to the hideout” Sanji said.

“Alright, just one question” Natsu said as he stared at Sanji.

“Yes” Sanji asked.

“Why are you ordering me around” Natsu asked.

“I am not ordering you around, just suggesting a plan” Sanji said with a smile.

“Alright” Natsu said with a grin as he started walking away.

(The streets of Magnolia)

Gray sighed, today was just boring, he had hoped to get in a good fight with Natsu this morning but the Flame-brain decided to go on a trip today. Of course Natsu visiting his old home had made Gray think of his home town and the possibility of going to visit his parents graves, but he also didn’t want to go back there yet. To ease his boredom and chase away the thoughts of his home town, Gray decided to go for a stroll through town.

Gray Looked around the busy streets with bored eyes but froze when he spotted Spiky blood red hair walking his way, Gray blinked and stared for a moment, it was definitely that Assassin guy Dragon. Gray quickly hid in a alley and watched as the assassin walked past while looking at a piece of paper in his hands. Gray thought for a few moments, he thought about attacking the assassin but then thought he could get more information by just following the guy, maybe even find out where the guild is based at, he thought about going to report to the guild, but realized he might lose track of the red haired man.

Gray slowly followed the Red haired man through the streets of Magnolia, suddenly Dragon stopped causing Gray to freeze and hide behind a barrel. Dragon entered a Black smith/swords shop. Gray slowly entered after him and made it look like he was just shopping. He watched as Dragon walked straight to the shopkeeper, Gray prepared to attack in case Dragon was actually on a job to kill this man, but he froze when he heard Dragon start talking.

“Mr. Jerry, guess who” Dragon said with a smile, Gray stared at the red haired guy.

“Dam, he even sounds like Flame-brain, hopefully he never decides to dye his hair pink” Gray thought as he decided to listen to the conversation.

“Oh my, Dragon is that you” The shopkeeper named Jerry said with a excited grin.

“The one and only” Dragon said with a smile and slight playful bow.

“Where have you been these past years, I thought that you may have kicked the bucket” Jerry asked.

“I was in a bit of trouble, I am actually lucky to be alive and stronger than I have ever been” Dragon said with a grin.

“I heard about the council judge, Went big for your return didn’t you” Jerry said.

“It was just the Hit master Dark sent me on, but I can not deny that it was fun. But enough about me, Demon wants these” Dragon said as he handed the list to Jerry, Jerry looked it over and nodded.

“Top grade cleaning equipment, as well as sharpening tools” Jerry said as he pulled the items from under the counter, “What about you, you are a sword user also, but you never buy” Jerry asked.

“That is because my sword will never dull or break, and my father taught me a plant mixture that works perfectly when it needs cleaning, my sword is made of dragon scales and needs special treatment” Dragon said with a grin.

“Can I see this sword you always talk so fondly about” Jerry asked.

“Nope, you may be a good friend, but my sword stays hidden” Dragon said with a grin, “But I have a question” Dragon said while looking seriously at Jerry as he counted out the jewels to pay for the stuff Demon wanted.

“What is it” Jerry asked.

“Tell me about Salamander, How has he been living these years since I have been gone” Dragon asked, knowing very well that when he first met Jerry as Dragon, Jerry asked about his looking like Natsu Dragneel, so Dragon told Jerry they were brothers.

“Oh your brother, well to be honest he also disappeared seven years ago” Jerry said. Gray gasped at that, so Dragon really was Natsus brother.

“I told you not to call him my brother, I have no right to call him my brother, he is light and I am dark, our flames are prof of that enough, not to mention I walk a dark path while he stays in the light.” Dragon growled.

“Sorry, have you seen the grand magic games” Jerry asked, Dragon nodded.

“Basically that is the biggest news in the past seven years about Salamander” Jerry said with a frown.

“Oh, thanks then” Dragon said as he grabbed the bought supplies and a light engulfed them as they disappeared into a pocket dimension, “Well, I will see you later Mr. Jerry” Dragon said as he quietly left the shop. Gray decided to talk to the shopkeeper later, right now he had to follow Dragon some more, so he also left the shop and spotted Dragon walking down the street with his hands in his cargo shorts pockets.

“He was sent to go shopping for his guild, is he really second in command” Gray thought while still watching, they were passing a book store when Dragon stopped and stared at the window of the store with wide eyes.

“Oh, that is something Fullmetal would enjoy” Dragon said with a smile as he entered the store, Gray watched through the window as Dragon talked to a shopkeeper and pointed to a book that was in the window, the shopkeeper grabbed a book from the window and handed It to Dragon who gave the man money while putting the book in his pocket dimension and left the store continuing walking down the street with Gray silently following.

“For a dark assassin he sure does act like a normal person” Gray thought. Suddenly Dragon sped up and walked over to a tall blonde haired man who was smoking in front of a food store, he was wearing a black suit, by his feet were several large boxes of food and other supplies.

“There you are Dragon, did you get Demons supplies” the blonde haired man asked.

“Yeah, what about you Black-Leg, did you get all the food and other stuff” Dragon asked.

“Yeah, now put them in your dimension till we get back to the hideout” Black-leg said. Dragon began to store the supplies.

“So that is another member of the assassins guild, shit any attempt of confrontation would be suicide now” Gray thought as he looked over the blonde haired man, he didn’t look too strong, but if there was one thing Gray learned over his time as a mage was that looks could be deceiving.

Gray was so busy examining the blonde that he didn’t realize Dragon had slowly snuck up behind him until he placed a hand on Grays shoulder and leaned so that his mouth was next to Grays ear, Gray tensed and readied to attack but froze at Dragons words.

“If you wanted to follow someone make sure you keep your clothes on and the guild mark covered up” Dragon whispered.

“Who is this” Black-leg asked as he walked over and stared at Gray, his eyes landed on the guild mark, “Oh, it is a fairy, what are you planning to do with him Dragon” Black-leg asked. Gray felt Dragon lean away from him with a small thinking hum.

“We could tie him up and return him to his guild so that he will stop following us, after all I refuse to let him find where my family lives, but I also do not want to hurt Salamanders family either” Dragon said with a small smile.

“I swear, Fairies are the only thing you will not kill, I’m sure if it wasn’t for you that guild would have been destroyed long ago” Black-leg sighed, Gray looked confused, Fairy Tail was safe from Dark Shadows because of Dragon Shadow.

“Black-leg, you are giving to much information, and there are actually a few of the fairies I wouldn’t really care got murdered, besides I also never would kill my own family” Dragon growled, “Anyway, if we tie him up and return him there is no guarantee that we will not be spotted by the rest of the guild”

“We could break his legs and leave him here, the rest of the fairies are bound to find him eventually” Black-leg suggested earning a growl from Dragon, Gray watched as Black-leg flinched at the growl.

“How strong is this guy” Gray thought.

“So stripper boy, I have a deal for you” Dragon said as he let go of Gray and moved to stand in front of the ice mage next to Black-leg, this was the first time Gray actually got a good look at the red haired assassin.

“Why should I make any deals with you” Gray growled trying to sound intimidating, but Dragon just smirked.

“Because this deal decides weather or not I actually hurt you or not” Dragon said with a serious voice that sent shivers down his spine.

“What is it” Gray asked.

“You leave us alone and stop following us, and I will not have to knock you out, but if you continue to follow us I will have to knock you out” Dragon said.

“How is that a deal, that is just saying ‘stop following us or I will knock you out’” Gray asked with a growl in his voice.

“So do we have a deal” Dragon asked.

“I am not stupid enough to push my luck, but let me tell you that this is not the last time we will see each other” Gray growled.

“Good, that is a wise choice stripper boy” Dragon said as he and Black-leg turned and started to walk away. Gray watched silently as they disappeared from his sight and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as shivers went down his spine.

Gray turned and instantly ran for the guild hall to report his encounter to the others assigned to the mission, he had just had a talk with the very person they were trying to find and capture as well as another member of the five man assassin guild that until now no one even knew what he looked like.

As Gray burst through the guild doors he went straight for the table his team was sitting at with the added Levy who was sitting with Gajeel. Gray was panting from his run to the guild and it was a few moments until he was able to tell them anything at all.

“I saw him” Gray said as he sat at the table and took a sip from a glass of ice water that Wendy handed him.

“Who did you see Gray” Erza asked.

“Dragon Shadow” Gray said, the rest of the group instantly looked at Gray with wide eyes.

“Did you catch him” Erza asked, Gray shook his head no with a frown.

“I decided to follow him to see what he was up to and try to find out some more information, and boy did I learn some things” Gray said.

“What was an assassin of his caliber doing in Magnolia” Lucy asked.

“Shopping apparently, I followed him to a blacksmith and watched as he bought some supplies for the Demon Shadow guy, it was also there that I learned so interesting information” Gray said as he looked over the shocked faces of the team.

“Well what did you learn” Levy asked as she took out a notepad and a pen getting ready to write any information.

“The shopkeeper and Dragon were talking like old friends, Well apparently he was missing the last seven years because he got into some trouble, he said he was lucky to be alive and stronger than he ever was”Gray said, “They also talked about his sword, apparently it is made out of dragon scales and he rarely shows it to people, and the most shocking thing I learned was that Natsu really is Dragon Shadows brother” Gray said and the group gasped.

“How did you learn that” Erza asked.

“Dragon was asking the shopkeeper how Natsu was living in the years he was gone, then when the shopkeeper said Natsu was his brother Dragon growled something about not having the right to call Natsu that because he walks a dark path and Natsu walks the light, he then left when the shopkeeper said the only big new over the years was the grand magic games, I followed him” Gray said.

“As soon as Natsu returns we have to tell him, he deserves to know that Dragon is really his brother” Lucy said earning reluctant nods from the group.

“What else did he do Gray” Levy asked.

“He stopped at a book store, said something about a guy named Fullmetal enjoying something, he then went in a bought a book and I continued to follow him, He met up with a tall blonde haired smoking guy that was wearing a black suit like Loki wears, the guy had boxes of food and supplies around him that Dragon used re-quip magic to store, I was going to follow them more but suddenly Dragon was behind me with his hand on my shoulder telling me that if I was going to follow him to try and not strip and to keep my guild mark covered at least” Gray said while shivering at the memory of Dragons somewhat powerful voice whispering in his ear.

“You were caught” Lucy asked with wide eyes. Gray nodded.

“The blonde guy was called Black-leg, and he said some interesting things, for instance he said to Dragon, and I quote “I swear, Fairies are the only thing you will not kill, I’m sure if it wasn’t for you that guild would have been destroyed long ago” Gray said

“So this dragon guy is protecting us in a way” Gajeel said with a confused look.

“Dragon said there were a few people in this guild he would not care about, but I also think he is not attacking us because Natsu is his brother” Gray said.

“That makes sense” Levy said with a thoughtful look.

“Did you learn anything else” Erza asked.

“No, Dragon said he wouldn’t hurt me if I stopped following them, With two trained assassins there I reluctantly agreed and then they left, I came right here to tell you guys” Gray said with a frown.

“Well at least we have our first lead, Gray take us to the blacksmith Dragon was talking to” Erza said with a smile

(With Dragon and Black-leg)

“Black-leg, we need to leave no lose ends, come with me, we have a blacksmith to kill” Dragon said as they both jumped onto a roof and used the roofs to travel faster, they were at the shop within three minutes, and Dragon and Black-leg entered the shop calmly but froze when they noticed the fairies were already there, the fairies being Erza, Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, and Levy.

The fairies stopped talking to the shopkeeper and looked to the doors with wide eyes. Dragon and Black-leg stared right back at them with calm expressions.

“Oh my, looks like we may have been too late, do you think they managed to get any information from him yet” Black-leg asked Dragon.

“I do not know, but whatever they may know, I will not allow them to find out more” Dragon growled, his gaze shifted to Jerry, “You are a great friend, please keep in mind that if the stripper boy did not follow me, this wouldn’t have to happen” Dragon raised his hand and the Fairies prepared themselves for an attack from the Red haired man, they watched as Dragons dark forest green eyes got traces of gold in them in excitement and each Fairy thought it looked exactly like Natsus eyes.

But instead of an attack, Dragons hand rose and he snapped his fingers, in less than a blink of an eye Black-leg was gone, and they heard a thud from behind them, slowly they turned around to see Black-leg standing over the now dead Jerry with his foot smashed into the shopkeepers brains, blood and brains littered the floor and the shoes of the blonde haired assassin who slowly lifted his foot and shook as much blood and brains from his shoe as he could before he disappeared again and reappeared back next to Dragon. The fairies stared at the Shopkeepers dead body for a moment when they started to smell something burning, they looked over to see black flames burning something into to wooden counter… the Dark Shadows guild mark was now permanently burnt into the wood.

“I love the coppery smell of blood, always puts me in a good mood” Dragon said earning angered looks from all the fairies present.

“Why would you do that, I thought he was your friend” Gray yelled.

“He was my friend, however Black-leg here has never even met the guy, besides, if it means I keep my family safe from meddling people like you then I will kill anyone, even a friend” Dragon growled as he glared at the group of fairies that glare sent shiver down the groups spines, that was definitely a glare of a Dragon protecting what he loved…they had seen the exact same glare many times before. “Lets go Black-leg” Dragon said as he and the other assassin turned and in the blink of an eye they both were gone before any of the fairies could do anything to stop them.

“Gajeel, can you track them” Erza asked urgently.

“No, they both have no sent, it is like they blocked them somehow” Gajeel said as he sniffed around.

“Dam, they were right there, we had them out numbered! We didn’t do anything, they killed that man right in front of us and we didn’t do ANYTHING!” Erza yelled.

“Erza, we may have out numbered them, but did you feel the power the blonde radiated” Levy asked. “That was power rival to Laxus, and Dragon is suppose to be the second In command, that means he is stronger than the blonde, but I couldn’t get a read on his power, I think he had it blocked”

“I felt it too” Gray said, “That is the main reason I didn’t confront them earlier”

“Lets report about this guy, then try and figure out what to do, there goes one of our only leads” Gajeel said staring at the dead man.

“His death is my fault” Gray mumbled, Lucy was the only one who heard him.

“Don’t say that Gray, his death was not your fault, it is the assassins fault” Lucy said.

“But if I didn’t follow Dragon then the shopkeeper wouldn’t have been a lose end they needed to tie up” Gray growled, “I knew I was following a dangerous assassin, I should have known he wouldn’t want to leave anything that could give information about him or his guild away”

“It is not your fault Gray, none of us knew they would actually kill this guy, you said yourself that they talked like friends” Erza said as she walked over to try a comfort her friend.

“Yeah, but a Assassins guild is like a dark guild, they don’t care for friends” Gray said.

“On the contrary Gray” Levy said, “If you listen to his words it was obvious he cares about his guild enough to call them family, enough to have one of his other friends killed to protect information that could put his family in danger” Levy said.

“I have to say, his sense of protecting the ones he cares about rivals Salamanders” Gajeel said with a frown, “It is also obvious from the info we know about him that he is most likely a dragon slayer, dragons will protect what is most important to them at any cost”

“Guess a sense of protection runs in the family” Erza said with a slight smile, “If only Dragon walked on the light side like Natsu”

“But he is not, and we can’t let him kill like this, especially when we can do something to stop him” Gray growled.

“Right” Lucy agreed.

“I think I should go to Blue Pegasus and see if Hibiki can gather any information on Dark Shadows that might be useful” Levy said.

“I will go with you” Gajeel said earning a thankful nod from the blue haired girl.

“Make sure to carry a communication lacrama with you and inform us if you learn anything” Erza said earning a nod from the two as they left.

“I hope Natsu returns soon” Lucy said.

“Me too” Erza agreed.

(Dark Shadows hideout)

“So Jerry is dead, that’s a shame” Zoro said as Natsu gave him the supplies and told them all about what happened.

“You know the rules Demon, we can not leave any loose ends” Tatsuo said with a frown.

“Yeah yeah, but now I have to find a new blacksmith to get my supplies from, I can not trust the care of my swords to just anyone” Zoro said with an annoyed groan.

“Anyway, for the time being I want each of you to wear these lacrama communication wrist bands, I want for each of you to keep in touch while out of the hideout, if anything goes wrong tap it five times and I will tell one of the others to go aid you, the lacrama is also a transportation device that will allow someone to transport to the one in need. Tap it three times and say the code name of who you want to talk to and it will connect like any other communication lacrama with a hologram projection and everything” Tatsuo said as he handed them out and watched as everyone put the wrist bands on.

“I guess that also means me” Natsu asked as he took off his normal black wristband and put on the new one moving it around until it felt right.

“Especially you, out of us all, you are in the most dangerous position. I hate to say it, but I think you will have to choose a side for this one, I do not think you will be able to pull it off by playing both sides” Tatsuo said with a frown.

“I was thinking the same thing actually, problem is that I honestly do not want to choose, and if I have to I do not know who I will side with in the end” Natsu said while running a hand through his red hair.

Tatsuo watched his best friend with a understanding look, he knew Natsu was conflicted between two places he saw as family, he could only hope Natsu will side with them in the end, but if he chose the Fairies he would not hold any hard feelings towards him.

“Whatever you decide, I will always see you as family, and there will always be an open spot here encase you change your mind, we are a family” Tatsuo said, the other members all cheered in agreement.

Natsu smiled, these were his friends, his family, yes what they all did was wrong, but they were far from the average dark guild, and Natsu didn’t know what he would do if he lost any of them. Yes he knew that he would eventually have to make a choice, but right now he could wait and hope things turn out where he can keep both of his families.

“Thanks guys” Natsu said with a smile. He then decided to hit the bed for the night. As he layed in the his bed over the black flame print covers with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed he started to remember how he Met Tatsuo. It was about a month before he met Makarov and joined Fairy Tail, Tatsuo and him were the same, both with no parents and alone, they quickly became best friends during the time they only had each other. When Makarov asked him to join his guild Natsu instantly asked Tatsuo if he wanted to join as well, but the black haired boy said he wasn’t cut out for the life Fairy Tail offered.

He remembered Tatsuo telling him about his mentor, how he learned to art of the assassin, and how his mentor was killed, Tatsuo shared his dream to create the strongest Assassins guild in the world, and Natsu remembered he promised to help his best friend achieve his goal even though he already had Fairy Tail. Tatsuo taught him the ways of the assassin just like his mentor taught him, Natsu had a natural talent for being an assassin and he actually enjoyed it. Natsu took it upon himself to learn magic that would change his appearance so that he could live his life in Fairy Tail and as an assassin.

He had already knew how to use both black flames and red flames because he was not only taught by Igneel, but also by Igneels brother Kuroneel the black fire dragon, he had also already learned re-quip because of the sword that Igneel and Kuroneel gifted him made from both of their scales. He had studied more kinds of magic along with Tatsuo and together they hand made the cave that is now known as the Dark Shadows hideout as well as Natsus home away from home.

Together Natsu and Tatsuo built this guild from scratch at the ripe age of around eleven (Neither of them know their actual age), and within a year of creating Dark Shadows they Met Sanji and Zoro, both who had nowhere to call home and each with so much potential. Both Sanji and Zoro were thirteen when Tatsuo and Natsu met them and offered them a place in their assassins guild and soon those two became the first two members of Dark Shadows other than the two who created the guild.

Sanji was soon made in charge of all food and meals made in the guild because cooking was his talent, he also was skilled in speed magic and only fights using his legs and feet. Zoro had ambition and a skill for fighting with swords using a rare three sword style, he dreams to become the greatest swordsman in the world, he also uses magic but it is rare because he prefers h/is swords.

Just like Natsu, Tatsuo taught Sanji and Zoro the ways of the assassin, and just like Natsu they each had a natural talent for it and even enjoyed it. Tatsuo always said it was fate they all met, and the natural skills of the assassin proved that is probably their destiny to be assassins.

Soon the small group of four became close like a family, they grew together and slowly became recognized as one of the strongest and most elusive Assassin guilds in Fiore, That defiantly made Tatsuo proud.

When Lissanna was thought to be killed, Natsu had left Fairy Tail for a while and stayed at Dark Shadows for a couple of months, his friends were there for him and provided support, they all understood the pain of loss, after all they each experienced it before.

About a year later Natsu found Edward Elric in the remains of a destroyed village, he was only twelve and had extreme potential, Natsu thought about bringing him to Fairy Tail, but during the long journey to Magnolia (They walked because Natsu refused to ride any form of transportation), Natsu realized something about Edward… his eyes held a blood thirst for revenge that Natsu knew he would never fulfill in a light guild, so he offered Edward a place as an assassin, and watched as the eyes lit up in excitement as he instantly agreed to the proposal, and over time that decision turned out to be a great choice as Edward quickly caught on to the assassin ways and learned magic.

Then soon the events at Fairy Tail were taking up a lot more time, Lullaby, Galuna, Phantom, Tower of Heaven, Oracion Seis, Edolas, and then the fateful Tenrou that kept him away from Dark Shadows for over seven years. They had believed him dead for seven years but kept his stuff just like he left them, and when he returned they each secretly came to his little hut and welcomed him back to the living with open arms and happy/relieved smiles and tears.

Now his light family wants to end his dark family, and he was torn between the two, caught in a tangle of lies that he should have known would eventually be found out. He knew what would happen if Fairy Tail finds out who he is outside of their guild. The only family he has ever been completely honest with, that accepted everything about him, was Dark Shadows. Natsu sighed, he will just have to play both side and make a decision when the time came, whenever that may be.

Again, I'm trying to edit this. if i missed a lot please let me know. I'm also open to criticism.

Chapter Text

Dark shadows 2

Still do not own anything except Tatsuo and the plot.
Onto the story.

(The next morning, Dark Shadows hideout)

"Oh Natsu" Tatsuo called while knocking on the door to the Dragon boys room, heard Natsu shuffling around in the room before the door opened revealing a semi-awake Natsu.

"Yeah" Natsu said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Sanji says breakfast is ready and if you want anything to get out there now or you will be catching your own breakfast that he will not cook for you" Tatsuo said with a grin.

"Okay, be there in a minute" Natsu said through a yawn.

"Oh and after Breakfast I have a Hit you may like to take" Tatsuo said with a grin. Natsu nodded and closed his door, got re-dressed and ran to the lounge were his plate of food was still sitting at the bar waiting for him.

"Look who is finally awake" Sanji said as he lit a cigarette.

"Sorry, I over slept" Natsu said with a small smile, he didn't normally sleep in when he stayed here, he usually was the first to wake up.

"That is unusual" Sanji remarked, "Maybe the stress from the past few days"

"Maybe" Natsu agreed as he began to silently eat.

After eating Natsu made his way to Tatsuos office to discuss his new Hit.

"This is all the information on your new target, this time it is to be quiet, no other people are allowed to die on this" Tatsuo said as he handed Natsu the information sheet.

"Ha, someone actually put out a hit for this guy, who would have guessed" Natsu said with a grin, "wonder who he pissed off enough to want him dead"

"Who cares, all you have to worry about is getting to him, killing him, and getting away from the guild without killing anyone else" Tatsuo said.

"Consider it done, hell even I hate the guy" Natsu said with a grin, "Creeps me out whenever I see him"

Natsu then left the hideout and made his way to Magnolia where he quickly passed through town without being seen and made his way to Blue Pegasus Guild a few towns over. When he saw the guild hall he grinned and jumped in through a window on the second floor, quickly leaping into the rafters to avoid being seen until he strikes his target. He scanned over the hall until his eyes locked on his target, Ichiya, the parfume obsessed pervert, but Natsu frowned when he realized who the guy was fawning over at the moment was Levy Mcgarden, and beside her was an already irritated Gajeel Redfox.

"Shit" Natsu whisper-cursed. Levy was talking to Hibiki as the man typed away on his info magic thingy that Natsu never really bothered to learn about, no doubt they were trying to gather info on Dark Shadows. The thought of them figuring out more about his dark family the more he wanted to growl and attack Hibiki too so that he can not pull out more info, But Natsus hit information was very clear that he is not allowed to kill anyone else or he will not be paid.

Natsu watched silently as Ichiya fawned over Levy until Gajeel growled for him to get away, then watched as Ichiya silently walked towards a secluded booth to pout. As soon as Ichiya sat down alone was the moment Dragon sprung into action, coating himself in black flames and launching himself at the target.

At the spike in magic most of the people in the hall looked over to see a black blur launch at Ichiya, before anyone could react the blur reached Ichiya and a loud snapping sound was heard, then a smell of burning flesh. They stared in horror as the black flames died out to reveal a blood red haired guy holding Ichiya in the air with one hand, Ichiyas head rolled around freely... obviously dead with a broken neck, and his shirt was burned off revealing the insignia of the Dark Shadows guild burned into Ichiyas stomach flesh.

Gajeel instantly recognized Dragon Shadow and launched to attack the assassin, but Dragon threw Ichiyas corpse at Gajeel and dashed out the front guilds door. He was gone before anyone else got over their shock enough to do anything, but Gajeel was not going to give up yet. This was the SECOND time that bastard killed someone in front of him, and he dammed well will try and catch the assassin. But after following for a few moments Dragon engulfed himself in black flames and when the flames vanished... Dragon Shadow was gone too.

"Dammit" Gajeel growled as he searched the area to find anything, anything at all he could use to track the deadly man... but he couldn't find anything, no scent, no tracks, nothing at all. So after half an hour of searching, he reluctantly returned to Blue Pegasus to see the guild was devastated.

After what happened today, Blue Pegasus was now dead set on finding Dark Shadows and Hibiki worked harder to find any information he could... but in the end he was only able to find the code names of all five members, and a little information that Gajeel and Levy already knew about Demon Shadow, and Dragon shadow. They learned there were three more members named Dark Shadow, Fullmetal Shadow, and Black-leg Shadow who Gajeel and Levy knew more about already with having met the blonde guy once.

Levy and Gajeel left Blue Pegasus at the end of the day with no new information, other than the death of Ichiya, and heavy hearts because just like Jerry, they couldn't save Ichiya.

(Two Weeks Later, Fairy Tail guild hall)

As soon as the pink haired Salamander entered the guild hall everyone grew quiet, Natsu froze at the quiet that greeted him when normally they were usually so hyper and happy to see him. Suddenly Erza walked up to him with a frown.

"Natsu we have some bad news" Erza said, "That Dragon Shadow guy we were assigned to find, we found out he is your brother" Erza said calmly, Natsu stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"Erza, I already knew he was my brother" Natsu said with a sigh, the rest of the guild stared at him with wide eyes.

"YOU KNEW" Erza yelled in shock, Natsu nodded at the knight.

"Igneel told me that when he found me there was another boy with me, we were twins and the only difference between us was the hair color. Igneel told me he gave my twin to his brother, the black fire dragon, to raise because a dragon can only raise one slayer at a time. I never met my brother in person, but when I heard of his black fire magic that was similar to mine, I knew right away he was my twin" Natsu said with a frown.

"While you were gone, Dragon Shadow, your brother, killed at least six people, including Ichiya and a shopkeeper here in Magnolia" Erza said with a frown.

"Were you able to find anything more about him" Natsu asked.

"No everything we learn we already know, but we did find out code names and at least what one more of the members look like" Erza said.
"So nothing useful" Natsu sighed as he went to sit down.

"How was your trip Natsu-San" Wendy asked.

"It was alright, I cleaned the cave Igneel raised me in, it was covered in vines over the last seven years" Natsu said with a smile, "Now I kind of want to take a mission" Natsu said while looking around the table at his team.

"A mission sounds nice, since we are at a standstill in our investigation, and money is running tight" Lucy said with a smile.

"How about a s-class mission" Erza said with a smile, Natsu pumped his fist in the air and cheered.

"Yes, S-class, one with lots of fighting and monsters" Natsu said childishly causing his team to laugh and smile at the childish fire user.

"Alright, I think I saw one about a dark guild that has been terrorizing a village using weird monsters" Erza said as she went to go get the mission.

(After the mission)

The team was sleeping outside in a make-shift camp, the mission was really easy for an S-class Quest and they all actually agreed to walk instead of using a train simply because they had time and they now had two Dragon Slayers who got Motion sickness.

Gajeel awoke to a small buzzing sound that if it was not for his dragon enhanced hearing he wouldn't have heard at all. He opened one eye and looked around, he noticed Natsu sit up and raise his wrist and stare at his wristband that was now glowing blue. Gajeel saw Natsu look around the camp, Gajeel closed his eye when Natsus gaze passed over him, he then heard shuffling and opened one eye to see Natsu was silently sneaking away from the camp.

Gajeel frowned and quietly started to follow the Salamander, he kept himself downwind from Natsu, using what Metalicana taught him about hunting and stalking prey, he followed and watched as Natsu jumped into a tree and tapped the wristband, a holographic image of a black haired guy popped up with a grin directed at Natsu.

"What do you want, do you even realize what time it is" Natsu said with a small yawn. The guy in the image laughed at the tired Salamander.

"It is two in the morning" the black haired guy said matter-of-fact.

"Why did you wake me, is everything okay" Natsu asked, the sleepiness fading from him the more he talked.

"Everything is fine, I wanted to know how your mission is going" the guy asked.

"It was kinda boring actually, wish there was more fighting, and that Erza will stop hitting me every time I try and pick a friendly fight with the ice pop" Natsu said as he leaned his back against the tree trunk and placed his hand on his knee so that he had the image in clear view without having to hold his arm up the entire time.

"Oh, When do you think you will be back" the guy asked.

"In about two days, Gajeel and I were able to convince the rest to walk the journey, why is there something for me" Natsu asked.

"Yes, quite the exciting one too, I thought about taking it myself but you enjoy the bigger ones most, so I am saving it for when you return" the guy said.

"Oh, almost makes me wish we took the train so I can take it already" Natsu said with a sadistic grin.

Gajeel stared at Natsu with wide eyes while listening to this conversation, the look on Natsus face looked very wrong for the cheerful dense Salamander he knew. He had no idea who the man was Natsu was talking to, but apparently they were friends.

"Natsu, You know you are like a brother to me right" the guy asked. Natsu instantly flushed and started stuttering.

"H-hey, what is with the mushy talk all of a sudden" Natsu asked with a slight growl to his voice, "Are you sure you are okay, did you challenge Zoro to a drinking contest again" Natsu asked.

"No, I didn't challenge Zoro, and I do not think I am sick" the guy said while laughing before he sighed , "But with everything that has been going on, the nightmares have returned"

"Hey, listen to me Tatsuo" Natsu said with a serious face as he stared hard at the guy, "You, me, Sanji, Zoro, and Edward, we are a family, we will not disappear on you, we will not leave you, and we will not, I repeat NOT die on you. Yes I have my life in Fairy Tail, yes Fairy Tail is also like a family to me, but no matter where I am, where I choose to stay, you guys will always be my family" Natsu said with a voice full of complete devotion.

Gajeel stared in shock at Natsu, his voice and words sounded like these strange group of people meant the world to him, his voice sounded so full of devotion to this guy that it paled in comparison to his devotion to Fairy Tail.

"Thanks Natsu, that is exactly what I needed to hear. I honestly do not know what I did to survive without you these past seven years" Tatsuo said.

"You lived in denial to the fact I was thought to be dead" Natsu said with a smirk and a teasing tone.

"I did not" Tatsuo said with narrowed eyes.

"Whatever" Natsu said with a smile, "Anyway, I need to get back to camp before the others wake and realize I am gone, Tell the others I will be back in about three days, and Tatsuo try to get some sleep tonight, there are dark circles under your eyes that should not be there" Natsu said.

Gajeel didn't wait to hear the end of the conversation, he quickly and quietly made his way back to camp and layed down in his sleeping spot and pretended to be asleep, he heard the footsteps of Natsu returning to camp and quietly laying back down, he yawned and a few minutes later Gajeel heard the soft snores that told him the pink haired slayer was now sleeping.

"Who exactly is that guy Natsu was talking to, who is this other family that he is keeping hidden from us" Gajeel thought, he was too busy thinking that he didn't realize the sun was rising until Natsu awakened again and left to the bushes to take a leak. Shortly everyone was awake and headed out on their journey back to Magnolia. Gajeel noticed Natsu was now walking faster than before, probably in a hurry to see his other family.

"Oi, Salamander, slow down" Gajeel growled.

"Yeah flame-brain, we need to rest, we have been walking, trying to keep up with you for hours, how are you not tired yet" Gray grumbled.

"Come-on guys, I want to get home already" Natsu whined.

"Why are you in such a rush Natsu" Erza asked.
"Because I remembered I have something to do as soon as we get back to Magnolia" Natsu said with his usual toothy grin.

"What could you possibly need to do that would make you rush" Gray growled.

"I have somewhere to go" Natsu said seriously.

"Where" Erza asked, Natsu sighed before looking at the group, he guesses he can tell them some of the truth.

"If you must know, I have a few friends that I want to see" Natsu said.

"who could you possibly want to see, we are your closest friends in the guild" Gray asked.

"You do not know them" Natsu said earning confused looks from the group except Gajeel.
"Who are they then" Lucy asked.

"Well I met one of them before I even joined Fairy Tail, and together we met the others, we basically grew up together in a sense, but I rarely get to see them because they travel a lot while I mostly stay in Magnolia as a Fairy Tail mage" Natsu said.

"So I guess your friends are in town and you want to see them" Erza said with a smile, Natsu nodded.

"Can we meet them Natsu" Lucy asked excitedly, Natsu visibly tensed at that question.

"No" Natsu said, "I rather send as much time with them alone as I can" Natsu added with a smile, "Maybe next time they are around I can introduce you"

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at Natsu, he knew he was lieing through his teeth, but he had to admit he wouldn't know the guy was lieing if not for listening in on the conversation last night, but Gajeel did not voice his thoughts on the matter, he really didn't care if Salamander has friends outside the guild... it was just how Natsu was acting so secretive about them that got on his nerves.

"Lets take a small lunch break and then we will continue walking, is that okay Natsu" Lucy asked.

"Yoosh, food" Natsu cheered as he sat down and waited patiently for Erza to pass him his sandwich for lunch.

"While we eat, why don't you tell us more about your friends Natsu" Wendy asked, Gajeel noticed Natsu tense for a moment before relaxing and smiling.

Natsu looked around at his team and thought about what to tell them, they do not know who his friends look like or the real names of Dark Shadows members.

"Well Tatty was my first friend I ever made after Igneel left, his guardian died around the time Igneel left leaving him all alone like me, so we traveled together. About month after I met Tatty I met Makarov, I asked Tatty if he wanted to join Fairy Tail with me but he didn't want to, he stayed near Magnolia though. About a year after I joined Fairy Tail, I was with Tatty when we came across two kids that were around our age, they were lost and alone, Tatty offered for them to live with him, soon they became close friends just like Tatty was to me, their names are Zo and Ji" Natsu said with a smile, but a moment later his smile turned to a frown.

"Erza, Gray, do you remember when I left after Lissannas death" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, you just disappeared for over two months, I always wondered where the hell you went" Gray said.

"I went and stayed with Tatty, Zo, and Ji" Natsu said, "Tatty came up with a crazy idea to help me get over my grief faster and together we all went on a two month travel together"

"We were all worried sick about you, and you were traveling with friends we never even knew about" Erza asked while glaring at Natsu.

"Yep, and I do not regret it, they helped me feel better, and my friends discovered they like to travel" Natsu said, "I was going to continue traveling with them, but I knew I had to return to Fairy Tail. A year later They returned to Magnolia with a twelve year old kid they took him in, the kids name is Ed and his home village was destroyed by a dark guild. They stayed in town for a while and just like the rest Ed became a good friend of mine"

"Do they do any magic" Happy asked.

"Oh yes they do, and if any of them decided to join Fairy Tail I have no doubt they would all be S-class, even Ed" Natsu said with a smile, "Enough talk about my friends, lets get going already, I want to see them" Natsu said as he stood, the group groaned but did not complain as they all set back out on their walk home.

Gajeel kept staring at Natsu, the entire time he was talking about his friends Gajeel noticed Natsu was leaving a lot of things out, like he was hiding something. Normally Gajeel wouldn't care, but something was bugging him about Natsu and his friends...and Gajeel was dead set on finding out what.

(Return to Fairy Tail)

They were all walking towards the large guild hall and were about to enter it when Natsu turned and started to head for the East forest earning semi-confused looks from his team.

"See ya guys later" Natsu called over his shoulder as he continued walking.

Gajeel silently went into his hunting mood and began to follow the pink haired teen when Wendy stopped him for a moment.

"What are you doing Gajeel-San" Wendy asked.

"I am going to follow Him and try to figure out more about those friends of his, didn't you guys notice how guarded he was when talking about them" Gajeel said.

"Now that you mention it he did seem kinda tense" Erza said.

"And the fact that he kept them secret all this time" Gray added.

"Well it is not against guild law to have friend outside the guild" Erza stated.

"Well I am still following him" Gajeel said as he turned and started to follow Natsus scent now that Natsu was out of his sight, when he heard footsteps following him he turned to see Gray, Erza, Happy and Lucy following too.

"We are curious about them too" Lucy said, Gajeel shrugged and began to follow Natsus scent again. The scent mostly lead east, took a few turns in town, after a while Gajeel just stopped with a confused look.

"Oi, why did you stop shitty metal head" Gray growled.

"Because the scent stops here" Gajeel said, "It's not even in the air, it just stops, like he masked it or something"

"Why would he do that" Erza asked.

"He may have figured that we would follow him so he masked it so we wouldn't bother him and his friends" Lucy suggested.

"Something just doesn't feel right" Gajeel said with a frown.

"What do you mean" Happy asked.

"He keeps these friends hidden from you all the entire time you guys known him, he was tense while you guys were asking questions and he didn't go into too much detail about them, now he masks his sent so that we can not track him, not to mention he knows how to mask his scent in the first place." Gajeel said, "And then there was this conversation I over-heard him having with some guy named Tatsuo a couple nights ago"

"What conversation, I'm sure we would have realized if there were people near the places we camped at" Gray said.

"Salamander is wearing a communication lacrama, the black wrist band he wears is the communication device. He was called in the middle of the night by some guy named Tatsuo, Natsu left the camp to talk without waking everyone. The way Natsu was talking with that guy was weird, the guy said something about having something Natsu would enjoy and asked how long until he would be back, there were other people mentioned too" Gajeel said as he thought about what he heard.

"And the guy said something about nightmares, then Natsu went on to say they were like family, and even though he is a Fairy Tail mage and Fairy Tail is also like his family, and no matter where he chooses to stay the guy would always be his family. When Natsu said these things he had a voice full of devotion that sounded stronger than his devotion to Fairy Tail" Gajeel said with a frown.

"Apparently this Tatsuo means a lot to him" Lucy said.

"Wait, what if this Tatsuo guy is the Tatty guy he spoke of, Gajeel can you tell us if any other names were mentioned during the conversation" Gray asked.

"Well there was Tatsuo, Zoro, Sanji, and Edward, those are all I heard" Gajeel answered after a few minutes of thinking.

"Tatty could be Tatsuo, Zo could be Zoro, Ji could be Sanji, and Ed could be Edward" Lucy said as she thought over all the names.
"I don't know what he is trying to hide, but whatever it is it makes me uneasy" Gajeel admitted.

"There is nothing we can do right now if Gajeel can't track Natsu further, we should return to the guild and wait for Natsu to return" Erza said as she turned and started to walk back towards the guild.

"Aren't you wondering why he is keeping things from us" Gray growled earning a glare from the mighty Titania that quickly softened.

"I am wondering why he is keeping things, but then I realize that we all kept things from him too, Gray you kept your past about how Ur died and Lyon, I kept my past in the Tower a secret, Lucy kept the fact she was the daughter of Heartphillia." Erza listed, "To be honest, if he wants to keep secrets then we have no right to judge him for it" when she said this Gray and Lucy looked guilty, but Gajeel shrugged.

"Lets get back to the guild" Erza said and the group left.

(Dark Shadows Hideout)

Natsu entered the door to the hideout and walked the small hall to the planning room where he saw everyone gathered around the table while Tatsuo made some markings on the map.

"Now Sanji your target will be in Oak Town around noon in two days, be there and be ready, also be alert your target has requested help from light guilds to protect him" Tatsuo said seriously.

"So the guy who sent us the Hit must have threatened the target, target got scared and called for help. Any idea idea who answered his request" Sanji asked as he looked at the picture of his target that was placed over Oak town on the map, his target was a middle aged man with short brown hair, black eyes with glasses.

"I think the guild Quarto Cerberus answered his request" Tatsuo said after a thoughtful look.

"Ha, piece of cake" Sanji said with a grin.

"I could use a piece of cake right about now" Natsu said now making himself known to the group.

"Welcome back Natsu" Edward said with a grin, "Took you long enough"

"Shut up shorty" Natsu teased.

"I am not short" Edward yelled but everyone ignored him.

"So what is going on" Natsu asked as he walked over and looked at the map, aside from the picture over Oak Town there were four other pictures, a tanned lady with long blonde hair and golden eyes over the town called Freesia.

There was a picture of a rough looking guy with a lot of scars on his face over Hargeon Town. There was a old perverted looking bald guy over Oshibana. And lastly there was a fancy looking guy wearing a council uniform over Crocus.

"Natsu, we are all going to take a Hit and and make some money for supplies and a few adjustments to the hideout" Tatsuo said.

"What kind of adjustments to the hideout" Natsu asked looking at Tatsuo with confused look.

"I wanted to expand the training room, and I was thinking of making our rooms a little bigger as well as create a new room. Edward wants a library room, and Sanji wants to upgrade his kitchen" Tatsuo explained.

"All of those sound really nice" Natsu said as he looked at everyone, "But have you all forgotten that we are currently being tracked by my light guild. Now I want you all to keep this in mind and use all of your skill to try and stay undetected during these Hits"

"Natsu is correct, I expect each of you to use the skills I taught you to remain undetected, even you Sanji, if you can avoid fighting the light guild guards then avoid them, I want clean hits from each of you" Tatsuo said with a serious tone.

"You can count on me" Sanji said with a grin.

"Now Zoro, your target is the blonde lady, her name is Sara, the client didn't give much info on her so I want you to be careful" Tatsuo said.

"Yeah, I got it" Zoro said as he picked up the girls file.

"Edward, you have the pervert man, he has a hit put on him by a rape victim, he apparently uses some kind of motion prevention magic so the best tactic is to take him when his guard is down and he is not looking, remember that if you get into trouble you can use your lacrama and we will come to your aid" Tatsuo explained.

"Why do I get the pervert" Edward whined.

"Because I want the scared up guy, and I'm sure Natsu wants the big Council guy" Tatsuo said with a grin.

"Dam right I want the council guy, besides I am the most known member of this assassins guild so it wont matter if I make a big scene like always" Natsu said with a grin as the gold in his eyes shown brighter.

"Right, but I still want you to try and stay undetected" Tatsuo said.

"Okay Dark, promise to try and stay undetected" Natsu said.

"Okay, now another thing, I want each of these hits to take place in exactly two days around noon, all the deaths at the same time is bound to draw up confusion between the authorities" Tatsuo said with a mischievous grin.

"Sounds like a contradiction to me" Zoro stated, "You want us to remain undetected, yet you also want us to cause a lot of confusion"

"It's not really confusion though, we leave our mark every time we kill, they will find out it is our guild" Edward said.

"Yes, but even if I want to cause the council problems, I do not want them to find out who any of you are, they already know too much about Dragon Shadow and Demon Shadow, and at least Fairy Tail knows what Black-leg Shadow looks like. I do not want them to know anything about Me or you Fullmetal, If they figure out what we all look like then we will all have to learn appearance magic like Natsu so that we can do anything outside the guild when we are not on hits" Tatsuo explained.

"As a matter of fact it might be a good idea for us all to learn appearance magic anyway" Tatsuo said after a moment of thought.

"I'm not much of a teacher, but I can lend you all the books I studied it from" Natsu said earning a nod from his black haired friend.

"Yeah, so as a second order I want each of you to begin learning appearance magic" Tatsuo said, "Unless any of you have any questions or anything you want to run by everyone then I think this meeting is over and we should begin our missions" Tatsuo said earning nods from everyone before they all went to start their preparations for their jobs.

(Later that Day, Fairy Tail)

Natsu calmly walked into the Guild hall with a frown, instantly he earned his teams attention as he quietly headed for the bar, but he didn't notice their gazes because he was too busy silently cursing Sanji in his mind because the blonde haired cook refused to make him anything sweet to eat because he was too busy getting ready for his Hit.

Natsu sat at the bar and waved at Mira.

"Hello Natsu, are you okay" Mira asked the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Hey Mira, I'm fine, but can I have a fire whiskey and a cinnamon cheesecake" Natsu asked.

"You don't usually ask for sweets, are you sure you are okay" Mira asked while making him his drink.

"I'm sure, and you are right, I don't usually ask for sweets, but today I just have a craving for something sweet" Natsu said with a smile, "And Sanji wouldn't make me anything" Natsu added in his mind.

Mira handed him his drink and Natsu took a sip without even caring about the flames that licked his lips, when Mira went to get him a piece of cake he noticed Gray and Erza came over and sat at the bar on both sides of him and Lucy was standing behind him...they had boxed him in. Natsu glanced at Gray and Erza through the corners of his eyes before sighing and setting down his drink.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that" Natsu asked them.

"So how was your visit with your friends" Erza asked.

"It was good to see them again, they will head back out on travels in a few days so don't expect to see me much in the next few days" Natsu said with a small smile.

"Where are they staying" Erza asked.

"In Tattys house of course" Natsu said.

"He has a house here in Magnolia" Gray asked.

"Of course, Its where he and the others stay whenever they are in town, I help Tatty keep the rent paid while they are out on their adventures" Natsu explained.

"So you pay two rents" Lucy asked, she actually felt a little bad about complaining about her rent when Natsu is paying two rents.

"No, just Tattys rent, I built my own house in the woods and there is no rent to pay on that" Natsu said as he took another sip of his flaming drink.

"Why don't you just live in Tattys house if you are the one paying for it" Gray asked.

"Because I prefer living in the woods because that is where I was raised, Tatty was raised in an actual city so he feels more comfortable in a city or town" Natsu explained.

"So why are you paying his rent" Gray asked.

"Because I want my friends to have a place they can come home to, just like Gildarts, although they show up more often than Gildarts, Magnolia is their home and I want them to always feel welcome" Natsu said with his voice so full of devotion... that they understood what Gajeel meant when he said it rivaled his devotion to Fairy Tail.

"That sounds nice of you Natsu, it also sound so mature" Mira said as she set his Cinnamon Cheesecake in front of him, Erza and Gray looked shocked at the sweet desert Mira placed in front of the spice loving fire head. They watched as Natsu took a bit and hummed in enjoyment at the sweet taste.

"Since when do you love sweets flame-breath" Gray asked.

"My entire life, I just never really want them most of the time" Natsu answered before taking another bite of his cake, "Anyway, like I said, do not expect to see me a lot in the next few days, I will be staying with my friends" Natsu said.

"Can we meet them sometime before they leave town" Erza asked.

"I will ask them if they want to come here one day, but I doubt they will, they always say guilds just aren't their thing" Natsu said as he finished off his cake and placed a few jewel on the table, "Now if you excuse me I need to go" Natsu said as he placed a hand on Lucys shoulder and moved her aside so he can leave the bar and exit the guild.

"Something about his friends is odd, even if they don't like guilds they could still visit for Natsu right" Gray said.

"Yeah" Erza agreed, "And you would think Natsu would be excited to introduce his friends to each other" she added with a frown, "Something isn't adding up"

"Maybe we should keep a closer eye on him" Lucy suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, I really want to see these mystery friends of his" Erza said.

(With Natsu)

"so I have two days to make it to Crocus and find my target" Natsu said as he started his walk down the road that lead out of Magnolia, held in front of him was the flier with details of his next kill, "So he is a guard captain for the magic prison, Franky Howl, rune magic as well as a bit of sword magic, simple sneak attack and he should be easy" As Natsu was walking he was also planning his possible attack plans. After walking for an hour his wristband started to glow and buzz.

Natsu tapped the band and an image of Tatsuo appeared.

"Hey Tatsuo" Natsu greeted.

"Natsu, I have something else for you to do during your mission" Tatsuo said with a grin.

"And what would that be exactly" Natsu asked.

"There was a prisoner that was recently placed into the prison that your target works at, he is a old friend and very talented, his name is Senji Kiyomasa and he was my mentors best friends student" Tatsuo said with a smile.

"What do you want me to do with him" Natsu asked.

"I want you to bust him out and offer him a place in our guild" Tatsuo said, "He should fit right in and quickly become a member of our small little family"

"So that is why you want to add a new room to the living quarters" Natsu said with a smile.

"Exactly" Tatsuo said with a grin.

"I'll get him out" Natsu said with a smile.

"Thanks Natsu, see you when we all return to the hide out" Tatsuo said before his image faded and Natsu continued his way to Crocus but this time at a run.

(Crocus, day of the assassination)

"Ugh, This city is so boring when the Games aren't happening" Natsu said as he headed towards the prison his target was suppose to be at. He ran his hand through his red hair and sighed as he looked around the large city streets at all the people that were not aware that a deadly assassin was walking among them, the thought made Natsu grin, not many people would look at him and immediately recognize him unless they were somehow associated with the magic Council or have personally seen one of his assassinations.
Natsu reached the gates of the prison and instantly went into his stealth mode, using black flames to launch himself quietly to the top of the prison building where he ran into a guard who stared at Natsu in shock.

"Y-Your D-D-Dragon Sh-shadow" The guard stuttered as he reached for his spear weapon in fear.

"The one and only" Dragon said as black flames engulfed his fist and Natsu punched the guard in the face hard enough to smash his face in and knock out the guard, Natsu looked down at the guy with a frown, "You must have a thick skull, that was suppose to kill you, not knock you out, grr why do you council shits always like to piss me off like this" Dragon growled as he bent down and lifted the mans head to quietly snap the guards neck.

"There" Natsu sighed as he burned the Dark Shadows mark on the guards face, "Now where is the door" Natsu said as he looked around, he soon found a door in the roof and he lifted it slowly open while using his black flames to block any light from shining down and alerting anyone.

He slowly climbed down the ladder closing the door behind him, at the bottom of the ladder was a small room with one guard sitting at what looked like a control panel. Natsu silently crept over to the guard and before the guy could turn Dragon snapped his neck and dragged his body up the ladder and disposed of it there with a Dark Shadows mark on the mans neck.

Dragon silently climbed back down and examined the control panel, he learned this was the surveillance room and the panel had video lacrama that showed all of the prisoners in their cells, each video lacrama was labeled with the prisoners names and Dragons attention was instantly grabbed by the one labeled Senji Kiyomasa as well as the one that showed the guard captains office.

Senji was a tall muscular man with short black hair in spikes to the back, he wore a eye patch over his right eye. He wore a black long coat, Dark blue pants with a black belt, and black combat boots. When Dragon first saw the guy that is apparently the guy he was suppose to bust out Dragon thought that this Senji guy is going to be an anti-social asshole worse than Gajeel when the iron dragon mage first joined the guild, but Tatsuo said Senji would fit in the family so Dragon will bust him out.

Dragon looked at a map that was on the wall and noticed the head office was on the same floor as Senjis cell...and they were on the same floor as this surveillance room.

"Oh this is too easy" Dragon laughed, "Maybe I will set the whole thing in flames after wards" he said with a grin, "Ha, but then Tatty will be mad I didn't keep undetected" he sighed.

Dragon then looked at the videos again to see if there was any guards in the hall outside this room before he quietly left the room.

(Head office)

Franky sat at his desk filling out paperwork, it has been another long day and it is only around noon, he still have seven hours until he was allowed to go home. He loved the pay this job has...but sitting around guarding prisoners that are locked tightly in cells that prevent them from doing magic can be really boring.

"I really hate paperwork" Franky sighed, "I wish something exciting would happen"

"They say you should be careful what you wish for" a voice said as the door opened and closed. Franky looked up and instantly stood from his seat as a light engulfed his hand and a sword appeared.

"What the hell are you doing here" Franky asked.

"Well lets see, I am an assassin, now what do you think I am here for, here is a hint, it's in this room" Dragon said as black flames flickered on his finger tips. Frankys eyes widened at that and he charged for Dragon with his sword ready to attack. But at the last moment Dragon grabbed his hand stopping the attack.

"Oh now how were you able to become the head guard here if you can't even use your sword correctly" Dragon asked as he yanked the sword out of Frankys hand and twirled it a little to get a feel of it while still holding onto Frankys arm, "The smarter thing you should have done that might have helped you would have been to not attack, run and call for all the remaining guards in the building to back you up"

"Remaining Guards?" Franky asked.

"Yes remaining Guards, all the guards that are not in the cell blocks on this floor are already dead" Dragon said with a grin, "Even if you are my actual target"

"But there were over twenty guards on this floor, how is it that none of them rang an alarm" Franky asked in shock.

"None of them had time to ring an alarm let alone yell for help" Dragon said, "Now how should I kill you, a clean cut across the neck with your own sword, burn you with my black flames, or a silent break of the neck" Dragon mused as he thought over his options.

"Oh I know, since you are a swordsman then it is the ultimate shame to be cut with your own blade, so I think I will kill you with your own sword" Dragon said with a sadistic grin as he raised the blade up to Frankys neck, "Any last words"

"One day you will get caught, and I hope to god that they sentence you to the most painful death imaginable you sick son of a bitch" Franky growled.

"Hmm, you are able to face your death without fear, I admire that about you, and it will be hard for them to sentence me if they find me out because they will know who I really am" Dragon said.

"Who are you then" Franky asked.

"Trying to get me to reveal my true name in front of a camera, very sneaky, but I am no idiot" Dragon said as he slit Frankys neck and watched with a smile as the man choked and bleed to death. When the life finally left Franky, Dragon dipped his hand in the blood and used the guys blood to draw the Dark Shadows symbol on the wall.

"Now lets see, the master cell key should be on this guy or at least in this room" Dragon said as he wiped the blood off his hand using the guys coat that was hung on a coat hanger by the door.

After a while of searching he found it and silently made his way to the cell area.

(Cell block)

Senji lay on his cell bed staring at the ceiling in complete boredom, suddenly he heard a slight scuffle and got off his bed to look into the hall to see what was going on. That was where he saw a wild blood haired guy strangling the cell guard to death. When the guy was out the red haired guy snapped the guards neck just to be sure that he was dead and layed the guy on the ground, then the red haired guy used black flames and burnt a symbol on the guards bald head.

Senji recognized the man as the rumored Dragon Shadow assassin guy and grinned.

"Well now, what is the famous dragon assassin doing in a prison like this, you must be extremely talented if you were able to make it here and not have any alarms set off" Senji said as Dragon stood from burning the symbol.

"I had two reasons to be here today" Dragon said as he turned his gaze on Senji and started to walk over to the cell.

"Lay them on me" Senji said.

"One was a hit for the head guard of this prison, that has already been carried out. Two is more of a personal request from my best friend and master of my guild." Dragon said while looking directly into Senjis grey colored eyes, "Senji Kiyomasa, I have come to offer you a place in our assassin guild Dark Shadows"

"hmm, that is interesting, the strongest and most elusive assassin guild is asking me personally to join them, even busting me out of jail to get me. I think I will give your guild a shot" Senji said with a grin.

"Just so you know, if you betray us, I will not hesitate to burn you until even your ashes are gone" Dragon growled.

"Hey, I may have been an independent assassin before, but I have a code of honor" Senji said with a grin. Dragon nodded and pulled out the master key, unlocked the cell allowing Senji to come out, as soon as Senji was out a bright light engulfed his hands and when the light faded two silver rings were now on his thumbs.

"Lets get out of here, my job is complete" Dragon said as he headed back to the surveillance room and out the roof with Senji following closely, they silently jumped off the roof and dashed away from the prison before anybody found the dead guards and rang any alarms, once they reached the city edges they distantly heard alarm bells ringing and they both laughed as they continued to run from the city.

(East Forest of Magnolia, one day after assassinations, hidden path to the hideout)

"Alright Senji, there are a few things I need to tell you before we reach the Dark Shadows Hideout, first off our master is called Dark Shadow, and I am second in command called Dragon Shadow, whatever Dark and I say is law in our guild" Dragon said with a serious tone.

"Alright, I can deal with that" Senji said.

"There are currently three others in the guild, Demon Shadow, Black-leg Shadow, and Fullmetal Shadow" Dragon explained.

"I take it I will get a code name that ends with Shadow" Senji said with a grin.

"Yes, that is just how our guild runs, another thing, Dark Shadows is a family, if you join you become part of our family, and we protect each other, we do not hurt each other unless in a friendly spar" Dragon said.

"Now that is surprising, any assassin guild I ever met was at each others necks, no sense of loyalty or honor in any of them" Senji said.

"Not Dark Shadows, we are friends, family" Dragon said with a happy smile.

They walked in quiet for a while until Senji finally spoke again, this time with a observation.

"You know the resemblance is amazing" Senji said, Dragon looked over with a questioning look.

"What resemblance" Dragon asked.

"In that prison people that have seen you before said that you looked similar to a guy called Salamander, the guys a light guild member, people also say he is a hero, I saw a picture of the guy as well as some of the recent grand magic games the guards let us see, now that I have met you I agree with the other prisoners that you and Salamander look very similar" Senji explained.

Dragon started to laugh after a few minutes he stopped and looked at Senji with a grin.

"That is because I am actually Salamander" Dragon said, "And that is one of the biggest secrets of Dark Shadows, I double life as a light guild member as well as an assassin"

"Seriously, how the hell you pulling that off" Senji asked in shock.

"I learned magic to help me change my appearance so I wouldn't get found out, my light guild has no idea because they believe Salamander and Dragon Shadow are just long lost twin siblings" Dragon explained, "Dark Shadows is fully aware that I live both as a Fairy Tail mage and as a Dark Shadows assassin"

"Dude, that is actually pretty cool" Senji said.

"Yeah well I fear it will be coming to an end here shortly, my light guild has been hired to find and stop Dark Shadows and I am on the team that was assigned to do so, I may have to choose what side I will stay with and I don't know who I will side with" Dragon said then sighed.

"Oh" Senji said with a frown. They soon came to the cliff and Dragon jumped down with Senji following, they walked through the water and Dragon walked into the waterfall with Senji cautiously following, "Now this is a pretty good hideout you guys got here, who would think of creating a hideout in the middle of the woods hidden by a waterfall"

Dragon used his normal red fire to dry off as well as dry off Senji.

"A couple of kids around the age of eleven or twelve" Dragon said with a grin, "Dark and I created this entire cave from scratch when we were kids" He then walked over to the door.

"Password?" the door asked

"Wow, the door just talked" Senji said.

"Occide" Dragon said and the door clicked before opening, "Yes the door talks to ask for a password, I created that door myself, took me forever to get it to work correctly"

They then entered the dark cave and the door closed behind them, Dragon used his normal red flames to light the path for Senji until they reached the planning room. Dragon sniffed the air.

"Well the others are not back from their hits yet so I will give you the tour" Dragon said.

"sounds fine with me" Senji said with a grin.

(Fairy Tail, next day)

"Dark shadows has made a huge move two days ago" Lahar said. Team Natsu and Levy as well as the master and Lahar and Doranbolt were all in the masters office discussing what happened.

"What did they do" Natsu asked.

"They committed assassinations in five different cities at the exact same time, Oak Town, Freesia Town, Hargeon Town, Oshibana, and lastly Crocus. But the assassinations are not just a problem, this meeting is mostly about what else happened in Crocus" Doranbolt said with a frown, he then pulled out a lacrama and tapped it, an image of a prison showed up.

"Dragon Shadow attacked the magic prison and assassinated over twenty people including the head guard, not even one alarm was triggered" Lahar said, "Not only that but he busted out a former lone assassin named Senji Kiyomasa who was one of the strongest lone assassins there was before he was caught a little over half a year ago"

Doranbolt taped the lacrama and an image of Senji showed up, but on his arms were two red curved blades.

"We do not understand what his magic is exactly, but it allows him to control his blood, his most common move is to use the blood and create these red blades on his arms to use as weapons" Lahar said.

"Wow, those look so cool" Natsu said as he looked at the red blades on Senjis arms with amazement, Senji never told him what magic he used but Natsu never even asked.

"They are not cool, they are deadly" Erza stated firmly.

"I don't care, they are still cool, Blood Blades" Natsu said as he crossed his arms to act like he was crossing two blood blades of his own, this earned many sweat-drops from the gathered team.

"Dragneel, focus please" Doranbolt said, Natsu quieted down and began to listen to the rest of the info the council people had witch wasn't much more than the rest of the team already knew.

After the meeting was over Erza, Gray, Lucy, Natsu, and Levy sat a a table in the guild hall to discuss their next moves, Gajeel and Pantherlilly went to look around the places they spotted Dragon for any clues to where the guy went, Wendy and Carla went home with Happy following them trying to get Carla to go out with him.

"I think we should involve more guilds and have them all set up watches for towns that surround their guild city, so that we can at least try to prevent more deaths" Erza said.

"But this Dragon guy was able to break into a prison and bust a guy out without setting off any alarms, what makes you think a simple patrol in each city will stop them" Gray pointed out.

"They would slip by the patrols and kill without anyone ever knowing" Lucy said with a frown.

"What if we ask around towns to see if there are any people who might have someone willing to hire people to kill them, then focus mostly around the places the possible targets are" Levy suggested. Natsu stared at Levy for a moment.

"Damn, she is too clever" Natsu thought.

"That sounds like a good idea Levy, and maybe we can also get Crime Scorer to help us out" Erza said with a smile, "I will go ask Master Makarov to help get the other guilds in on this"

"We should start patrols here in Magnolia, Gajeel and Natsu you two should be on full alert, your dragon like senses are able to at least hear if anyone gets attacked or causes a commotion" Levy said.

"I'll keep an ear and a nose out, if anything happens I will stop them" Natsu said while raising his hand that was engulfed in red flames.

"What will you do if you run into that Dragon guy" Lucy asked causing the rest of the small group to look at Natsu who frowned at the question.

"Yeah Flame-brain, what are you going to do knowing the guy is your brother" Gray asked.
"Not to mention is a trained assassin who is probably immune to fire like you" Gajeel added.

"That bastard kills for a living, he is no brother of mine" Natsu said firmly, "I am good at hand to hand combat, I will beat him to a pulp" Natsu added with a grin.

"just Be careful" Levy said.

A/N
Well now this is the end of Chapter two

Chapter Text

Dark shadows 3

still do not own fairy tail
on to the story

Natsu sighed as Erza told the team that they would be headed to Hargeon for patrol in the morning, they have been patrolling towns for the past month now and haven't come across anything related to Dark Shadows since they busted Senji out of prison as well as assassinated four other people on the same day in four separate towns. To Natsu the most interesting thing the past month was to watch as his team grew more and more frustrated at the fact they can't find the assassins guild, and that almost made Natsu want to laugh, when the plan for patrols was first made Natsu suggested to Tatsuo that they lay off the Hits for a while as well as not try to contact Natsu until Natsu tells them it was clear.

Erza was getting so frustrated over the month that her already short tolerance was even shorter...much to Fairy Tails displeasure due to the fact her 'punishments' were currently life-threatening causing the guild to be calm and quiet for once.

Gray was much like Erza with a short fuze that Natsu loved to light, picking fights with Gray when he was frustrated actually was more fun than picking a fight with a normal Gray, the ice mage became unpredictable with his movements making a spar harder to win.

Lucy and Levy were mostly tired because they were the ones that were in charge of keeping in touch with the other guilds, as well as searching for any clues or information about the assassins guild, they were currently working on a large map of Fiore and the surrounding countries with markers that pointed the locations of all the kills Dark Shadows was responsible for in current times as well as in the past, they were trying to pinpoint where most the kills are centered around in hopes that there could be clues to where the guild itself may be based at. Natsu had to admit that was a clever plan, but he also knew Tatsuo was the one who sends everyone out on hits and he knew Tatsuo was smart enough to make sure the hits were not centered near one area... well except Crocus maybe... Tatsuo and him really like to cause trouble for the council.

Wendy, Carla, Pantherlilly, and Happy for the most part acted like themselves, except Carla was even more strict and protective of Wendy.

Gajeel ….was just getting on Natsus nerves. Natsu noticed the iron dragon slayer has been keeping a very close eye on him for the past month, even going as far as following Natsu secretly, but Natsu was very aware of Gajeel following him. Natsu was not stupid, despite how he may act... and apparently Gajeel was more observant than he let on. Natsu knows his fellow dragon slayer suspects him of something... if Gajeel suspected Natsu of being an assassin, Natsu did not know.

After getting orders from Erza about being ready to leave in the morning everyone went about their own business leaving Natsu, Gray, and Erza sitting together at the table in the guild.

"I just don't understand, why would they be so active after so many years just to stop" Erza sighed/growled as she signaled Mira to bring her a slice of strawberry cake. Natsu wanted to laugh at how frustrated the red haired knight was.

"Well they are Fiores most elusive Assassins guild for a reason" Gray growled. Natsu was inwardly proud at that angry comment that came from the ice boy.

"They could just be taking a break, after all the last thing they did was pretty big" Natsu said.

"Maybe, but we must not let our guards down" Erza said with determination, Natsu always admired how determined Erza was when she had her mind set... of course right now he was also annoyed by that same determination. He looked over at Gray and saw a determination of his own reflected in the night blue eyes.

They sat there at the table for a while in silence before Natsu decided to head home for the day, he had to pack for their leave in the morning.

As Natsu walked home he felt like he was being watched and he knew Gajeel was following him again. Natsu growled at the thought of the Iron mage following him again, at this point Natsu just wanted to turn and find the stalking slayer and burn him till he stopped following him, but he knew that would only cause problems he didn't want to face right now, so Natsu ignored the iron gaze and continued to head home.

(Natsus house)

Natsu sighed as he entered his small house and finally felt the feeling of being watched leave. Natsu looked around his small house and then headed for the small kitchen to get a snack before he got to packing for the patrol. He opened his cabinets and smiled as he saw... nothing.

"Damn" Natsu sighed as he went to check the fridge, he opened the door and grinned as he grabbed his last pudding cup as well as an apple before closing the fridge and going to sit on his couch to eat his small snack.

Natsu finished his snack and headed to go pack his stuff in his room. He was silently packing when suddenly he smelt a familiar sent before being tackled to the ground, Natsus Grinned and fought the person that dared to sneak up on him and after a few moments of scuffling Natsu managed to toss the intruder out of his bedroom window before following him by jumping out the window to stand in front of his attacker.

"Dammit Tatsuo how many times have I told you not to do that, what the hell are you doing here" Natsu yelled at the black haired assassin.

"No need to get so angry Natsu, I just came to say hi" Tatsuo said as he stood up and dusted his t-shirt and pants off. Natsu glared at his best friend for a moment with a frown.

(Few minutes earlier)

Gajeel sat in a tree and watched the house with a somewhat bored expression, he briefly wondered why he was doing this again, he has been keeping a close eye on the fire dragon mage for the past month and has not found anything out of the ordinary, but Gajeels instincts told him something was up with the fire dragon mage.

Gajeel sighed as he prepared to leave and head back to town when he caught sight of something coming from deeper in the woods, he stayed still as a black haired guy came to sight. He wore a black t-shirt, black and red cargo pants and black boots, and he had a scar along his left cheek.

Gajeel recognized the man as the guy he had caught Natsu talking to that one time. He watched at the man slowly approached the house and glanced into a open window with a smirk, suddenly the man jumped into the house through the window. Gajeel heard loud banging coming from in the house and thought about going to help Natsu but stopped when he saw the black haired man get launched back out the window with Natsu jumping out right behind him.

" Dammit Tatsuo how many times have I told you not to do that, what the hell are you doing here" Gajeel heard Natsu yell. Gajeel couldn't hear the guy reply as he stood and dusted himself off with a grin. They talked for a bit before Natsu and him re-entered the house.

"So that is one of his secret friends, guy is pretty sneaky" Gajeel thought as he continued to watch the house. After a while Natsu and Tatsuo left and headed for town, Gajeel decided to follow.

After a while of following the two it was obvious they were just hanging out while walking through town, it was also starting to get late.

"Race you home" Gajeel heard Tatsuo yell at Natsu and Natsu grinned.

"You're on" Natsu yelled back as red flames engulfed his feet. Gajeel watched as a black shadows seemed to engulf Tatsuos feet and they both took off faster than Gajeel could see.

"Damn" Gajeel growled as he began to try and track their scents, but there was none, so he decided to head back to Natsus house and see if that was where they were going.

When Gajeel reached the small house in the woods there was nobody there as far as he could tell.

"Where the hell did he go" Gajeel growled as he took a seat in a tree to wait and see when the fire mage would return.

(With Natsu)

"Finally we lost that damn iron head" Natsu growled as they reached the small cliff that Dark Shadows hideout resides in.

"You been dealing with him for a month already?" Tatsuo asked earning a nod from the still pink haired fire mage.

"Yeah, I think he is trying to find something out or he is trying to confirm something, I don't know what, but then again he could just be stalking me in a perv way" Natsu said with a frown.

"I think he might be a danger, he might find out about you being Dragon Shadow, if he hasn't already figured it out" Tatsuo mumbled while he brought a hand up to his chin in a thinking pose, "Natsu if he becomes more of a problem we might have to take him out, regardless of him being a member of your light guild" Tatsuo said.

"But...it's Gajeel, sure the guy can be a prick and an asshole most of the time, but he is still a close friend" Natsu said with a frown.

"Natsu, he could get us all exposed, maybe even killed if we are caught" Tatsuo said. Natsu sighed, he knew Tatsuo was right, if Gajeel finds out who he really was... there would be a lot of trouble. "He is not too much a problem right now, so you do not have to do anything about it yet" Tatsuo said.

"Yeah" Natsu sighed.

"So, you are heading to Hargeon in the morning, why don't you stay for some dinner before heading home, Sanji made your favorite" Tatsuo said with a grin.

"Alright" Natsu said with an excited look as they jumped over the cliff and walked through the waterfall.

(Next morning)

Natsu met the rest of his team at the guild with a small travel pack, he slightly noticed Gajeel narrowed his eyes at him but ignored it as he checked in with Erza and they all started to head to the train station, when they got on Erza, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, and Levy were able to fit in one car with Happy and Carla being held by Wendy and Lucy, Gajeel and Natsu had to use a different car, luckily Wendy cast Troia on them so they wouldn't have to suffer in the other car.

Natsu decided he was going to confront Gajeel now about his stalking and try and find out why the iron dragon mage was following him everywhere.

"Why do you keep stalking me" Natsu asked bluntly as they sat in their seats across from each other.

"I don't know what you are talking about" Gajeel tried to deny but Natsu just glared at him.

"Don't give me that shit, you must have forgotten that I was raised by a dragon too and can tell when I am being followed, you have been following me around for the past month, your sent is all over the area around my house, it's creepy so stop it" Natsu growled.

"Maybe if you weren't keeping so many secrets lately then I wouldn't feel the need to follow you around, like those friends of yours that you don't want anyone to meet, just what about them are you trying to hide" Gajeel growled back with Narrowed eyes.

"Who I hang out with out side of Fairy Tail is none of your business, if I catch you following me again I will burn you" Natsu growled, Gajeel is out for information about his friends after all, Tatsuo was right Gajeel is a threat, he couldn't risk Gajeel finding out.

"What the hell Salamander" Gajeel said in shock of the obvious threat.

"Just don't follow me" Natsu growled. The rest of the train ride was quiet and when they got off and met up with the rest of the group Natsu was back to his normal childish self, Gajeel was acting normal but Levy saw something was wrong.

(A few days later)

Gajeel sighed as he knocked on the door and waited for the person to answer. A few moments later the door opened to reveal a tired looking Levy who looked confused.

"Gajeel, what do you want, it's two in the morning we are not due to patrol for another two hours" Levy said as she yawned.

"I need to talk to someone about Salamander" Gajeel said as he walked into Levys room.

"What about Natsu" Levy asked as she closed the door.

"I think he is hiding something big" Gajeel said bluntly, he then told her about his feelings towards the secret friends and how he followed Natsu for a month, he told her how Natsu threatened him on the train.

"He is hiding something and I need help to find out what" Gajeel ended his story while looking at Levy. Levy Nodded.

"I will help you" Levy said, to be honest she was just as curious as to what Natsu was hiding as well.

(A week later)

Erza told the group they had a week to relax once they returned to Magnolia, everyone was happy to finally have a break, but for two people it was actually the beginning of their own little mission. So here was Gajeel and Levy, two days after break began, in Gajeels house as Levy got Gajeel ready to follow Natsu some more.

"Are you sure these will work" Gajeel asked as he slipped on a mask, he wore a full body black suit and a black ski mask (Like a NINJA).

"As long as you don't make any noise or use any magic then you should not be found out" Levy said as she clipped a black pin to the front of Gajeels suit.

"Couldn't you just make the runes to cancel out sound too" Gajeel asked.

"I'm a solid script mage, not a rune mage, you're lucky I was able to cancel out your smell" Levy said, "There you're ready." Gajeel nodded as he left the house and headed out into the quickly approaching night.

(Natsu)

Natsu left the guild after Erza stopped one of his fights with Gray, today was boring. Happy went on a mission with Wendy and Carla, so he had no one to keep him company at home, he briefly thought about going to bother Lucy tonight but decided against it when he heard Erza invite herself over to Lucys for a sleep over. So he decided to go home for a while then go see what was going on at the Hideout since he hasn't heard from them since that night Tatsuo came for a visit.

Natsu looked up to the sky and noticed Night was quickly approaching and grinned when he saw the Moon slowly rising in the sky was full but it also had a tint of red color to it. Dark Shadows was no doubt preparing a Blood moon party tonight.

"I must be really lucky, Erza let us have a break just in time for a Blood Moon" Natsu said with a Grin, "Maybe I should head straight there and help set up" Natsu said then Nodded. When he reached his house he didn't enter, he walked right by it and headed deeper into the woods.

He didn't go to the Hideout, instead he ended up walking past the hideout and followed the small river to a pretty large crystal clear lake. At the edge of the lake was a few picnic tables and chairs, Sanji and Tatsuo were setting plates and trays of food on the tables. Sanji was dressed in an outfit similar to his normal suit only the white shirt was black and the jacket and pants were blood red with black shoes, Tatsuo was wearing a blood red trench coat over his normal attire, the coat was designed to look like pitch black shadows were creeping up from the ends with a black Dark Shadows guild mark on the back. Tatsuo noticed Natsu first.

"Natsu, you made it, I was worried your guild would keep you busy this time" Tatsuo greeted.

"I got lucky, Erza gave us a week off, I just noticed it was going to be a blood moon on my way home so I came here" Natsu said, "Need any help setting up"

"Nah, we just finished, and Ed can take care of the ice statue. We are very lucky, this is Senjis first Blood Moon so he will be receiving his Dark Shadows code name tonight, it wouldn't feel right if our second in command missed this event" Tatsuo said with a smile, "You on the other hand are not dressed for the occasion" Tatsuo said as he pointed to Natsus clothes and then his hair.

"Well maybe I should fix that" Natsu said with a toothy grin as his body enveloped in a bright light, when it faded Natsu now wore a black sleeveless shirt, black jeans with red chains hooked to the belt loops, Black combat boots, and a blood red trench coat just like Tatsuos only instead of shadows on the ends it was a mixture of black and red flames, his scarf was neatly tucked into his pocket dimension and in its place was a blood red choker necklace with a black dragon pendant on it. He then channeled color magic into his hair and it slowly turned blood red.

"Is this better" Natsu asked with a smile.

"Much better" Tatsuo said with a grin.

A few minutes later Zoro and Edward arrived, Edward was wearing his normal attire, but Zoro wore a red t-shirt, black pants, red shoes and a red bandana tied to his upper arm.

Edward instantly walked over to the waters edge, he clapped his hands together and placed them into the water, a light shined and a ice sculpture appeared a little ways out in the lake, it was a sculpture of all the members of Dark Shadows standing in a slight V formation. Tatsuo and Natsu stood at the front back to back both with grins on their faces, slightly behind Tatsuo was Sanji with a small plate of food held in one hand, behind Natsu was Zoro with his left hand over the hilts of his three swords, behind Sanji was Edward with his hands clapped together, and finally the newest addition to the guild, Senji stood behind Zoro with a grin he had one arm held up with his blood blade on his arm out, and above them all was the Dark Shadows guild mark.

"You outdid yourself this time Ed" Natsu said as he went to take a closer look.

"It was nothing" Edward said with a proud smile.

"Where is Senji" Tatsuo asked as he looked around the area looking for the newest member.

"He was still trying to decide on an outfit that fits the Blood Moon theme when we left the hideout" Zoro said as he sat at one of the tables and reached for a slice of ham only to be kicked away from the table by Sanjis foot.

"I tell you every Blood Moon, do not touch till the moon is at its peak you stupid Moss head" Sanji yelled at Zoro.

"Shitty cook" Zoro yelled back before walking over to Natsu and Edward to look at the Ice sculpture.

A few minutes later Senji arrived and looked around the area, the first thing that really caught his eye was the ice sculpture in the lake and he walked over. The details were amazing. Senji was wearing a simple red long sleeved shirt with black pants and shoes.

"Oh there you are Senji" Senji looked over and saw Natsu looking at him with a grin, "Are you excited to become a full fledged member of Dark Shadows tonight" Natsu asked.

"Yeah I guess, when did you get back" Senji asked.

"two days ago" Natsu said with a grin, "I was given a break for the week, I'm lucky it just so happened to be during the time of a Blood Moon"

"What is so special about the Blood Moon" Senji asked.

"Well Tatsuo and I actually finished making the guild on the night of a red tinted moon, it made the Hideouts waterfall and the river look like running blood, we followed the river and came to this lake, it looked so amazing, Tatsuo and I agreed that when the moon has a red Tint it would be called the Blood Moon and that it would be a celebratory night for the guild, we also decided later on that we would give any new members a code name only on a night of the Blood Moon" Natsu explained with a smile.

"Sounds like the Red moon marked the beginning of a great assassins guild" Senji said with a smile.

"Well we never saw the moon turn red before that night so that may just be true" Natsu said as he looked at the slowly rising moon, "Our guild has grown strong since then, and the members have grown from just guild members to a small family"

"NATSU" Natsu looked over at Tatsuo, "Come on I need to go over some things with you before we give Senji his code name" Tatsuo called, Natsu nodded.

"See you in a little bit" Natsu said as he walked away and headed with Tatsuo to talk.

(A Tree Nearby)

"I can't believe Salamander was Dragon all this time" Gajeel thought as he watched the red haired Natsu talking with the black haired guy who was apparently the master of the assassins guild that was right before him, "I must report this to the others" Gajeel said as he left the area and headed back for town, he didn't want to risk being found stalking them, there were six highly trained assassins there including one that knew almost all his moves.

(Levys room at Fairy Hills)

Levy stared at the viewing lacrama screen in complete shock and slight fear. She couldn't believe the hyperactive loving fire head friend that she thought of as a brother was actually the very person they wanted to find and capture. She watched as the video showed Gajeel has turned and started to head back to town, She stood and left Fairy Hills to go and meet Gajeel at the edge of the woods to discuss what they were going to do now that they know exactly what Natsu was hiding from them all this time.

(Back at the lake)

The higher the moon got the more red the water and the Ice statue looked red like blood, now the moon was at its Highest and the water just looked like a lake of blood, but the statue actually looked crystal red and shined brightly. The red parts of everyones outfits shined in the red light of the moon.

Tatsuo and Natsu returned to the area and walked to stand by the waters edge in front of the ice statue, their outfits somehow shined the brightest, like the moons light knew they were the two masters of the Assassins guild, the wind picked up blowing the ends of their trench coats in a way that made the shadows and the fire designs look like they were moving... like they were alive. Even Natsus blood red hair shined in the light.

The rest of the guild gathered around the two masters as Tatsuo began to speak.

"Tonight is a night of a Blood Moon, and we gathered here to celebrate like every other Blood Moon night, however this Night has a special part to it than our regular Blood nights. We have gained a new member not too long ago and Tonight under the Blood Moon Dragon Shadow and I Dark Shadow will give him his Dark Shadows Code name and make him a full member of our assassins family" Tatsuo said.

"Senji Kiyomasa please come here" Natsu said, Senji walked up and the two masters smiled at him.

"Are you ready to learn your code name that Dragon and I have decided to give you" Tatsuo asked.

"Yeah" Senji said with a smile.

"Then, under the Blood Moon that marked the beginning of our Guild" Both Natsu and Tatsuo said.

"I Head Master, Dark Shadow, of the Assassins Guild Dark Shadows" Tatsuo said.

"And I secondary master, Dragon Shadow, of the Assassins Guild Dark Shadows" Natsu said.

"Give you the Name... Crow Shadow" Natsu and Tatsuo said at the same time, "We welcome you as a full member of our assassins guild"

"Crow huh" Senji said with a grin, "I like it"

Sanji, Zoro, and Edward cheered for their new full member and his new code Name. Then Tatsuo pulled a black wristband out of his pocket.

"Crow, as a full member of out guild you now receive a Communication lacrama wrist band, if anything goes wrong tap it five times and I will tell one of the others to go aid you, the lacrama is also a transportation device that will allow someone to transport to the one in need. Tap it three times and say the code name of who you want to talk to and it will connect like any other communication lacrama with a hologram projection and everything" Tatsuo explained as he handed the wrist band to Crow who put it on with a grin.

"Now I say we should all celebrate and enjoy the rest of the Blood Moon Night, LETS PARTY" Natsu yelled as he raised a fist in excited way. Cheers erupted from the rest of the small guild as everyone sat at the tables and began to feast. The rest of the Night was full of food, small challenges and small spars, but mostly bonding between Family members.

"Natsu" Tatsuo called, Natsu walked over and sat on the ground beside his best friend, "When will you be heading back"

"I will stay for a day, but then I will have to return, I didn't tell anyone I was going anywhere so they might try and go looking for me" Natsu answered.

"I have a feeling something big is about to happen" Tatsuo said with a sigh.

"Are you okay Tatty" Natsu asked, "What do you think is going to happen"

"I'm Fine Natty, I don't know what it is" Tatsuo said, "Just be careful okay"

Natsu just nodded. They both looked up when they heard Metal clashing with Metal, near the waters edge was Zoro and Senji, Zoro had two swords out blocking an attack from Senji who was using his blood blades on his arms. Both of them were grinning as they pulled apart and began to attack each other again.

"I wonder who will win that fight" Natsu said with a grin.

"How should I know, your the one who knows more about sword fights than me" Tatsuo said with a grin.

"Maybe you should learn more about it then, after all three out of six of your guild members use some kind of blade, four if you count Edward" Natsu said with a grin.

"Yeah yeah" Tatsuo said as he rolled his eyes, "I just might do that, maybe even take up being a sword master, maybe I'll be the best swordsman in the world"

"Zoro will cut you if he heard that" Natsu said with a grin. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes watching the small spar, it was obvious that both Zoro and Senji were drunk and they were pretty much even when Drunk.

The party continued until the Mon started to sink and the Red shine on everything started to dull, it ended with Natsu sending a fireball at the ice statue causing it to melt in his black and red flames. They then all went to the Hideout to sleep for a while after their long night.

(A day later)

Natsu smiled as he saw the Fairy Tail guild come into sight, he thought of what he was going to do today, maybe pick a fight with Gray, or maybe bug Lucy for fun, maybe take a small job before Erza decided to drag the team onto another patrol.

However as soon as he entered the guild he froze when he saw everyone staring at him with angered looks, some in slight fear. He felt the magic of Runes activate behind him trapping him in the guild, and he started to shake when Erza, Laxus, Mira, Gray and Makarov started to walk towards him.

"Hey guys, what’s up" Natsu asked with a slightly nervous tone trying to act somewhat normal even though all his instincts told him to run. He didn't receive any answer except an armored fist to the face from a very pissed off Erza. "What the hell was that for Erza" Natsu yelled from his new spot on the ground as he rubbed the spot Erza hit.

"How could you" Erza growled as her bangs shadowed her eyes, but Natsu could smell and see the single trail of tears running down her face, he was confused, "How could you lie to us all this time, how could you kill all those people you murdered"

Natsus eyes widened as realization dawned on him at those words, "They know" Natsu thought in slight panic.

"What do you mean Erza" Natsu asked trying to play dumb, but the next attack was a lightning bolt from Laxus, that didn't really hurt much due to the fact he was also a lightning dragon slayer thanks to Laxus giving him his magic on Tenrou island during the battle with Hades, but it still stung.

"Don't play dumb, we know who you are, WHAT you are" Laxus growled.

"I have no clue what you are talking about" Natsu yelled defensively. The Next attack was an Ice blast headed straight for him that he managed to avoid by rolling out of the way.

"You know damn well what we are talking about" Gray yelled, Natsu stared at Grays eyes, they were full of betrayal and anger.

"Natsu" Makarov said, Natsu looked over at Makarov, he looked sad and very disappointed as well as hurt and angry, "We know you are Dragon Shadow" Makarov said, Natsus eyes widened as Makarov just confirmed his biggest fear.

"But Gramps" Natsu tried one last time, Makarov just shook his head No as he pointed to the stage where a large lacrama vision TV was set up.

"Play it" Makarov said and a video started to play.

It showed Natsu walking along the river, it showed him approach Tatsuo and Sanji by the lake, it showed Natsu talk with them for a few minutes it even caught everything they said, it showed everything up till Tatsuo and Natsu left to talk some things over before giving Senji his code name.

When the video ended Natsu was frozen to the spot in complete shock, he never sensed anyone following him, now they know who he really was as well as what the rest of his assassin family look like, he was so in shock that he barely noticed that the guild was now looking back at him with even angrier looks than before, some were crying, and some were fearful. After a few moments Natsu finally calmed down and accepted that they found out, now the one question that rang in his mind was...

"Who" Natsu asked quietly, his voice held no anger just sounded empty and in pain, his hair covered his eyes to hide the many emotions and fear in them.

"Why should we answer that, you might kill them" Mira yelled.

"I simply want to know who was the one who was able to slip under my detection and manage to uncover my deepest secret" Natsu said in the same tone as when he asked the question.

"It was me Salamander" Gajeel said as he stepped up to stand with the group that was standing in front of Natsu.

"I see" Natsu said, he then looked up and looked around the guild with calculating eyes for a moment.

"They probably have every exit blocked with runes, I could fight them but even though my true power is much more than I ever showed them, I stand no chance against the entire guild like this, especially since I don't really want to hurt them all" Natsu thought, he then looked at Makarov.

"So what are you going to do to me now" Natsu quietly asked earning slightly shocked looks from most of the guild.

"Your not going to fight us and try to escape" Levy asked.

"Despite how I may act, I am not an idiot, I know I can not take on the whole of Fairy Tail alone" Natsu said with a sad look.

"You have broken the one real law that Fairy Tail has, you have killed many, it sickens me that one of my children went down that path, I hereby expel you from Fairy Tail" Makarov said, as he said that Natsu glanced at his shoulder to see his red Fairy Tail guild Mark slowly disappear off his skin, as soon as the Mark was Gone Natsu felt something in his mind shift, "We will interrogate you on where that Hideout of yours is, so we can capture the rest of your guild. You will all face trial by the council" Makarov said, Natsus eyes widened as he stared at Makarov.

"I Truly hope all your good deeds you did as a Fairy Tail mage will at least save you from a death sentence, however I can not say the same for the rest of your guild" Makarov said.

As Makarov finished that sentence something snapped in Natsus mind. He glared at Makarov and the heat in the air raised to extreme heights, Gray started to release his own ice power in an attempt to cool the air, but it only kept it low enough that it didn't burn everyone.

"I will not reveal the Hideout" Natsu growled, as he glared at Makarov, his eyes looked golden with slit pupils that made everyone who looked at them slightly tremble as they were reminded of the dragons that Natsus Magic represents, and the fierce protectiveness that was usually in their own defense. Everyone took up a fighting stance.

"I will protect them with everything I have!!" Natsu growled, "please just stop trying to find them, I really do not want to hurt you guys" as a small tear ran down his cheek.

"You said yourself you can't take us all on by yourself" Gray yelled.

"He is right, I can't, I don't want to" Natsu thought as he looked around not letting his guard down at all, he then glanced at his wrist band, "If Tatsuo shows up then we would have a chance of escaping, he is gifted in rune magic and his strength is practically the same as mine" Natsu said as he slowly moved his left hand over and slightly tapped on the lacrama wristband that was on his right wrist.

ONE.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gray asked.

TWO, THREE.

"Why do you keep tapping your wristband" Erza asked with a guarded tone.

FOUR.

"It’s a communication lacrama!" Gajeel Yelled as he started to charge to try and stop Natsu.

FIVE...

"Please Tatsuo come yourself, bring others if you want to, but please you have to come" Natsu thought, his wrist band started to blink red and Natsu jumped out of the way of Gajeels attack only to be hit by a punch from Mira.

Natsu saw Erza charging him while wearing her flame empress armor, he quickly re-quipped his own sword and blocked Erzas attack causing a huge shock wave in the guild as people slightly froze.

In Natsus hand was a black and red katana with no guard, the swords blade had a red dragon and a black dragon design on both sides of the blade with a mixture of Black and red flame design on the hilt that Natsu held.

"Consider yourself special Erza, as well as the rest of Fairy Tail, you are all the first ones to see my blade since we all returned from Tenrou, I only reveal my blade to those I respect and those I see as worthy enemies, very few of my enemies have actually lived to remember ever seeing my blade, I hope this is not true with you all" Natsu said as he glared at Erza who was still in a sword lock with him, his glare would have been scary if it wasn't for the thin trail of tears on his face.

"Just give up Natsu, you can't take us all on" Erza said, she had tears of her own on her face.

"I can't give up Erza, I have people who I want to protect, and I want to see Igneel again too" Natsu said as he used his strength and flames to push Erza away and turned to block a blast of ice coming from Gray, he quickly turned to block an iron pillared fist from Gajeel, and tried to ignore the sting from one of Laxus attacks.

As he was blocking Gajeels hit, Mira managed to hit him with one of her dark beams, it knocked the breath out of Natsu and flung him into the wall.

(At Dark Shadows Hideout)

Everyone was sitting down ready for lunch when all of their wristbands started to glow red and ring. Tatsuos eyes widened with concern.

"That is Natsu calling for help, something BIG must have happened" Tatsuo said as he stood from the table, "Everyone, channel your magic into the bands, we are all going to help him, NOW" Tatsuo ordered, for once completely serious, everyone nodded as they started to channel magic into their wrist bands and a light engulfed them.

(Back at the Fairy Tail Guild)

Natsu lay on the ground and looked up at the people he once thought of as Family, he was right, he couldn't take them all on, they were too strong together and he truly couldn't fight seriously when he didn't want to really hurt most of them.

He saw Erza charge in to attack him while he was down, but a bright light appeared accompanied by the sound of Metal clashing with Metal.

When the light died, Natsu saw Zoro standing on top of him using two swords to block Erzas attack. And standing in a protective circle around him in battle stances was the rest of Dark Shadows guild. As soon as Erza realized who everyone was she backed up. Everyone backed up in surprise and shock of the sudden arrival of the entire assassins guild.

Natsu felt relieved at the sight of his family, but he also felt scared at the fact that all of the people he was trying to protect were now right here in front of the very people he wanted to protect them from.

"By the looks of things here, I can safely guess that your secret is out" Tatsuo said as he turned around to face Natsu, Zoro stepped so he was no longer on top of Natsu and was blocking anyone from attacking Tatsuos back while it was turned, he kept his fierce gaze trained on the members of Fairy Tail.

"They all know, Gajeel managed to follow me during Blood Moon and saw me changing" Natsu said.

Tatsuo sighed as he held out a hand for the dragon mage to grab, Natsu accepted the offered hand and Tatsuo helped him stand.

"We knew this day was bound to happen the day you decided to help me achieve my goal" Tatsuo said. The Fairy Tail members looked slightly confused.

"Yeah, I know" Natsu said with a small sad smile, "Looks like I will be full time now" Natsu added as he engulfed in a bright light and changed into his normal Dragon attire, he made his hair turn red, giving Fairy Tail undeniable prof he really was Dragon Shadow.

"Yeah, but first we have to get out of here, Think you can help us with that" Tatsuo asked, Natsu frowned slightly.

"Don't kill anyone" Natsu said with a slightly commanding tone that shocked Fairy Tail slightly.

"You heard him, no deaths allowed" Tatsuo backed up his order.

"There should be a Green haired man wearing mostly red, his hair is styled with lightning antennas, knock him out and the runes keeping me locked in the guild will be disabled" Natsu said as his eyes gazed over the guild looking for Freed, he spotted Freed on the second floor. "Second Floor" Natsu whispered to Tatsuo, Tatsuo grinned as his whole body became engulfed in shadows and he started to sink into the ground.

"Oh no you don't" Gajeel yelled as he ran to Grab Tatsuo before the man sunk into the shadows. But was stopped by a Black flame covered fist.

"Ya know, I remember something I warned you about not to long ago, I told you if I caught you following me again that I was going to burn you" Natsu said with a frown, "I always keep my promises" Natsu said as he lit his fist in black flames igniting Gajeels arm and willing the flames to rapidly spread. Gajeel yelled in pain.

"These flames are different from the red ones I usually used around you all, these flames burn everything, including ashes until I actually put them out, I have no control of their heat and I can't tell them not to burn things like I can with the red flames" Natsu explained as he watched Gajeel burn. After a few more scream filled minutes Natsu released the flames and they went out revealing Gajeel laying on the ground looking like a burnt corpse.

"I thought you said not to kill anyone" Sanji said as he kicked Elfman away and turned to kick Juvia but his foot went right through her water body, he used his speed magic to get out of the way of a water slicer that Juvia attacked him with.

"He is not dead, but I bet he wishes he was, he should have never followed me, he should have listened to my warning and left me alone" Natsu said. Suddenly a giant hand came crashing down on Natsu creating a large dust cloud, everyone froze in their fights to see what happened, when the dust cleared almost all the Fairy Tail members were in shock.

Makarov had gone giant and was trying to smash Natsu with his enlarged fist, but Natsu managed to block and hold back Makarovs attack, even Makarov seemed shocked

"Don't look so shocked Makarov, I have always held back my strength and magical power" Natsu said with a deadly serious tone.

"And you are only second in command" Makarov asked.

"Yep, but Dark and I are pretty much even, he is head master because it was his idea to create Dark Shadows. I'm secondary Master not only because it was his idea, but because I had my responsibilities to Fairy Tail too" Natsu said.

Makarov frowned as he quickly glanced around trying to spot Tatsuo, Natsu took that chance to push Makarov back and slash at him with his sword leaving a large cut across Makarovs chest.

"Not only are Dark and I almost SS-class, nearly all our other members are definitely S-class." Natsu said, suddenly something dropped from the ceiling, everyone looked to see a knocked out Freed laying on the ground, they all looked up to see Tatsuo grinning.

"Hey Natsu the rune mage is out" Tatsuo said as he jumped down and stood next to Natsu.

"Good, Dark Shadows RETREAT" Natsu yelled as he started to head for the doors.

"Lets go" Tatsuo said as he followed Natsu quickly.

Zoro Sighed as he sheathed his swords and ran after his masters.

Sanji was nothing but a black blur as he sped out the guild.

Edward ran following Zoro.

And Senji followed slightly pissed he had to cut his fight short, a thin whip of blood retracting back into his arms.

"WE CAN'T LET THEM GET AWAY" Gray yelled at the same time as Erza, all of the guild rushed out the doors to chase the assassins but they didn't see them anymore.

"Search this city, everywhere, leave no place unturned, search the woods too! " Makarov yelled and all the members headed out to search for Dark Shadows.

(At the Hideout)

Everyone entered the Hideout quietly, Tatsuo put runes on the door so that nobody without a Dark Shadows guild mark could see the door even if they looked under the waterfall. Now everyone was gathered in the lounge area.

"Natsu" Tatsuo said.

"Not now" Natsu said quietly as he gripped his right shoulder that now felt bare without the Fairy Tail mark there, even though his sleeve covered that shoulder, "I'm gonna go rest, don't disturb me for any reason other than if we have been found out" Natsu said as he turned and headed for the living quarters. The rest of them heard as he opened and closed his door and then silence.

"Tatsuo, I'm worried about Natsu" Edward said with a slight frown.

"He just lost a very important part of his life Edward, it will take a while before he feels better" Tatsuo said, "If he ever feels better" he added in his mind, "Until then we should all show him that we are here for him, he is family after all" Tatsuo said, "Now all of you should go rest up, I will take first watch"