"Well, that's unexpected," Macao said, taking a seat next to Finn as he watched Gildarts disappear outside the guild.
Finn shrugged before finishing his breakfast and gulping down his orange juice.
"That was delicious... time to work," he said to himself while extending his hand to Makarov.
Makarov looked at Finn's hand, understanding what he wanted, but turned his back on Finn anyway and kept drinking his beer.
"You just got back, why don't you take the day off?" Makarov said, looking at the energetic guild.
The guild was filled mostly with adult wizards; only a few children like Levy and previously Cana were in the guild.
"Because I'm poor and I need money," Finn replied immediately. "Besides, these are requests given by other masters, we can't let Fairy Tail look bad, can we?"
Makarov rolled his eyes at the mention of doing it for Fairy Tail; he knew Finn was only doing it for the money.
"I just gave you the payment for your previous mission, did you already spend it?" Makarov asked, surprised.
"No, but it never hurts to have a little extra saved up, does it?" Finn asked.
"Didn't you have something important to do? Why don't you focus on that?" Makarov asked, evading Finn's previous question.
"Come on, master, I don't have much time..." Finn said desperately, noticing it was already 7:30. "Besides, I can do everything at the same time. It's a new trick I learned on my mission!"
Finn kept insisting desperately; he knew that after 8:00 the rest of the guild members like Natsu, Gray, Erza, and the Strauss siblings would arrive, and he wanted to disappear before they got there.
Without them in the guild, staying there was acceptable, but once they arrived, the guild went from rowdy to a battlefield, and for some reason, he always ended up in the middle of the conflict no matter how far away he stayed.
(Stay away from the tomato girl!) Kurama reminded him immediately.
"No," Makarov said firmly. "It is also your duty as a member of this guild to spend time with your comrades and enjoy day-to-day life as you should."
"I enjoy making money!" Finn replied immediately.
"Come on, master, give the kid a mission. Not many show this much dedication to the guild," Macao supported.
"No means no... but you, go on a mission. You've gone more than two weeks without doing one, lazybones," Makarov answered, sending Macao to look at the request board.
Finn slumped onto the bar while complaining about how unfair Makarov was, but the master didn't care in the slightest. Finn kept insisting for 15 minutes until he saw Laxus arrive at the guild, realizing he had very little time left.
"Master, please!" Finn pleaded again, now on his knees.
"What's wrong with you?" Laxus asked, sitting at the bar next to Makarov.
"He wants to go on another mission, but the master won't let him because he just got back from his previous one," explained Levy, who had been watching the exchange between Finn and Makarov for a few minutes.
"The brat wants to leave before Erza, Natsu, and the others get here," Makarov continued.
"Normal, I'd do the same," Laxus admitted before ordering. "Old man, have you seen father?" Laxus asked suddenly.
Makarov looked at Laxus for a few seconds before nodding calmly.
"He left for a mission a few minutes ago," Makarov replied.
Laxus simply nodded; he understood that a wizard's life was very busy, especially for the strong ones.
"Finn, you're back!" a female voice came from the guild door.
Finn turned around in fear, seeing only a white-haired girl with short hair. It was Lisanna, and she seemed to come alone for some reason.
"Oh, Lisanna, it's just you," Finn sighed in relief.
Lisanna nodded while running with a smile in their direction, stopping next to Levy.
"If you're going to do a mission, you should leave as soon as possible. You're lucky that on the way here my sister ran into Erza and they started a fight, but if they finish and she arrives at the guild with you still here, you're not going to have a very good time," Lisanna warned with a kind smile. "She's very angry with you because she feels you've been avoiding her on purpose."
"Master!!!" Finn pleaded again upon hearing Lisanna's words.
"I already said, no means no. Focus on what you have to do first, then you can do missions," Makarov repeated firmly.
Gradually, Finn could hear some voices approaching in the distance; it was a small group of kids.
(The tomato is approaching, hurry up and get away from her!) Kurama warned.
"Master, I promise you I will make the phone, I'll be in the library, but please give me the requests so I can go do them as soon as I finish the phone!" Finn pleaded with desperation in his eyes.
Makarov looked at Finn for a few seconds before sighing in defeat, and from the orange coat he wore, he pulled out several requests, handing them to Finn.
"But I want to see the phone before you leave," the master demanded.
Finn nodded quickly with joy while taking the requests and running toward the guild library to hide and make the phone.
"Sometimes I think Finn loves money more than people..." Lisanna commented.
"No... I think the missions are an excuse to stay away from your sister and Erza," Levy replied, remembering how Finn always ended up beaten up by the fights they had. "Poor guy."
After a few seconds, Natsu and company entered the guild; they were all covered in dirt except for Happy and Elfman, who were the only ones who hadn't fought.
"Hey master, we're back!" Natsu greeted, heading toward the bar, but he stopped halfway and began to sniff the air. "This scent... Finn!"
The words echoed in the ears of Mirajane and Erza at the same time. On one hand, Mirajane wanted to do a mission that was on the same level as the one Finn and Erza did. On the other hand, Erza wanted to go on a riskier mission than the ones she usually did, and she felt Finn was one of the only ones who could keep up with her pace and follow her orders to the letter.
"What a great sense of smell, Natsu!" Lisanna congratulated cheerfully. "But I'm afraid he just left. You arrived too late because you were wasting time fighting," Lisanna lied; she wouldn't dare reveal that Finn was still in the guild.
"What?! This must be a fucking joke!" Mirajane exclaimed angrily. "That crazy guy spends all his time doing missions, are you not planning to stop him for a while, master?!"
Makarov sighed at Mirajane's words, but he wouldn't say anything either for Finn's sake. He knew Mirajane tended to be quite rough with him.
"He just went to pick up his things, if you hurry you can still catch him," Laxus commented with a half-smile on his face while eating breakfast.
Mirajane didn't hesitate for a single second and shot out of the guild at full speed toward the boys' dorms. Erza was about to do the same, but she stopped upon seeing Natsu still sniffing around.
"No..." Natsu smiled wildly before turning to look toward the door that led to the library. "He's here!"
Natsu ran off, ignoring Lisanna's shouts. Erza, knowing Natsu's incredible tracking abilities, didn't hesitate to follow him into the library.
"Well, we did what we could... at least my sister fell for the trap," Lisanna said before ordering an orange juice.
————
Fairy Tail, Library.
Finn was sitting at one of the tables reading a book about magic lacrimas, while at the same time hundreds of Finn's clones were scattered around the library searching for and reading any communication information they could find.
He didn't waste the opportunity either and sent several clones to complete the missions given by Makarov. He promised him that he wouldn't go on the missions, but he didn't say anything about his clones.
"This is going to be a very long and boring day..." Finn commented, remembering when Minato made him read about fuinjutsu.
(They found us!) Kurama exclaimed in surprise, startling Finn at the same time.
"What, who are you talking about?!" Finn asked, startled.
At that instant, the library doors flew open, revealing Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza looking at him—or rather, looking at them.
"But what is going on here?!" Natsu asked in amazement.
"There are so many Finns!" Happy exclaimed in awe.
"I'm fired up!" Natsu exclaimed, generating fire in his fists. "I'll fight all of them at the same time!"
Natsu was ready to launch himself into the fight, but a hit from Erza stopped him instantly before she walked toward the center of the library and demanded to know.
"Who is the original?!" she ordered.
All the clones turned to look at Finn, who was sitting down, hiding behind a book.
(Traitors, we're supposed to be the same person!) Finn thought, disappointed.
Erza nodded in satisfaction and walked toward Finn, sitting down across from him with a serious expression. Gray did the same, but sat next to Finn, interested in what he was reading.
"Finn, we are going to do a mission again," Erza demanded; it was not in her plans to take no for an answer.
"I'm sorry Erza, but by order of the master I can't go out to do missions until I fulfill a very important task," Finn refused quickly. "Why don't you take Natsu and Gray? You could form a team together."
Erza huffed at the idea before crossing her arms and crossing one leg over the other. She didn't seem to want to budge.
"I'll wait. Natsu and Gray aren't a mission if I want another flawless mission like the one before," Erza admitted.
"What is it that you have to do?" Gray asked curiously.
"I have to..." Finn was about to explain when he realized that Gray was naked very close to him. "Hey, hey, hey, three steps back and point your sword the other way!"
"Ugh, what?! At what moment?!" Gray asked, surprised, quickly picking up his clothes.
"Hahaha, besides being smelly, he's a stripper," Natsu laughed before starting to sniff the room. "Now that I smell it properly, we all stink... and is that blood I smell?"
Erza didn't hesitate to smell her dirty clothes; apparently, her fight with Mirajane had left her stinking.
"This is your fault, if you hadn't started the fight everything wouldn't be full of dirt so early," Gray exclaimed.
"What did you say, stripper?!" Natsu asked, getting up on the table, ready to fight. "Besides, who is the one who smells like blood?"
Finn looked at his clothes, remembering that he hadn't showered and that it was probably Hidan's blood or his own blood that Natsu was smelling.
(You spilled a lot of blood when the Shinigami cut open your stomach,) Kurama commented.
"There's no need to look for someone to blame, we all need a bath!..." Erza assured firmly. "We will all go to the baths."
"Fine, go have a good shower. I'll bathe later in my room," Finn said in relief, returning to his reading.
"That includes you," Erza said, grabbing him and dragging him out of the library. "We will all bathe together like the great friends we are."
"Wait, Erza, I don't want to! We can't!" Finn replied quickly, but it all fell on deaf ears.
———
10 minutes later
They were all inside a jacuzzi wrapped in towels. Erza couldn't help but notice that Finn had several wounds on his body. Multiple cuts and marks on his back, a large scar on his stomach, and a strange tattoo on his stomach as well.
"What the hell happened to you?" Gray asked, seeing the wound on Finn's stomach; it was clear that it was deep.
"An ugly, crazy old lady stabbed me with a knife..." Finn replied, looking at the wound. (I thought it had healed.)
(It is healed, but it's inevitable that you'll have a scar. My chakra can heal wounds quickly, but it doesn't perform miracles,) Kurama replied.
"What about the ones on your back?" Happy asked from behind Finn.
"A perverted old man attacked me with powerful magic and I fell onto some rocks," Finn explained.
"And that tattoo?... I don't remember you having it before and to be honest, it doesn't look normal..." Erza admitted; something in her told her it wasn't a simple tattoo.
"It isn't," Finn replied, touching his stomach. "It's a seal."
"And what does it seal?" Natsu asked curious.
"A powerful soul from my Take Over," Finn lied.
"How powerful does a soul have to be to need help from a seal?" Gray asked incredulously.
"Can I fight it?" Natsu asked quickly and excited.
"No, you cannot" Finn responded immediately "It's not just powerful, it's corrosive," Finn replied again.
"Minato?" Erza asked by instinct, making Finn laugh.
Natsu didn't show much interest after his fight was denied, but Gray did show curiosity about that name. He remembered the time Finn used his Take Over magic for the first time, making the guild shake. From what he knew, it was a transformation that Finn couldn't use completely without passing out or losing his magic almost instantly.
"Great try, but no," Finn replied.
Then, the four of them continued bathing for a few more minutes until Erza decided it was enough. Finn didn't hesitate to head back to the library to work on the phone; unfortunately for him, Erza, Natsu, and Gray had no plans of leaving him alone.