Chapter 1: Awkward Encounters

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fan-based story. Naruto, Naruto: Shippūden, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations are all owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail Zero are all owned by Hiro Mashima.

"Hit your chakra with mine."

"Are we going to play chakra tug-of-war again?" Naruto smirked, staring up at the colossal orange fox behind bars.

"You idiot, we don't need to do that this time."

…

"You're no longer the monster fox," Naruto's back was turned but he could tell the fox had a massive smirk plastered on his face. "You are a partner of a citizen from the Hidden Leaf."

'Partner?' Shock crossed the fox's face, his jaw dropping open slightly.

"Let's go, Kurama!"

…

"At this point, nothing surprises me anymore." Sakura said.

Naruto looked across the field and noticed Kurama speaking with his siblings. In his excitement, he rushed over to the fox.

"Hey Kurama! Were you lonely being separated from me? I missed you!"

…

"Stupid Kurama, I miss you and you're off playing hide-and-seek."

Naruto Uzumaki peered up at the sky, watching the rain fall from the clouds, from his makeshift shelter. It wasn't anything impressive, he just drilled into the side of a mountain and formed a cave that he could escape the rain. Sighing to himself, he checked his bag and pulled out the last remnants of his rations before plopping down on the floor to eat.

He was worn out.

He had gotten an early start, determined to reach his destination before the end of the day. Vague reports from the locals stated there was a monster terrorizing the countryside. When he pressed for more information, the man shook his head and begged him to reconsider stating that challenging the beast was not in his best interest.

Had he been a lesser man, Naruto would have obliged. While the advice was appreciated, it was not needed. He gave the man a small bag filled with coins, a token for the information, then made his way towards the village.

Then, the rain came.

He bit into the small bar of granola and immediately spat out the content in disgust. It tasted like cardboard and in hindsight, the wet dog smell reeking from it should have been his first clue.

"You are the acid in what would otherwise be so heavenly," He threw the bar out of the cave and watched it plop into a puddle of mud. "You revolt me."

Normally, he would leave the task to the local guilds in the area. It was their job, after all. The Sage knows Guilds were better suited for the level of destruction needed to tame such a terror. Fiore's military was nice and all, but in this situation quality was a thousand times better than quantity.

No, it was better this way. Less bloodshed.

He placed a bag of carrots in front of his horse, rewarding his companion for his valiant effort. It wasn't a taxing ride, he weighed a buck eighty and all of his valuable items were tucked away safely in a scroll, but a day's ride was difficult and he wasn't too keen on going to court over animal cruelty charges. Besides, this small reprieve allowed him to prepare for the battle looming over the horizon.

He was well aware of the strength of the creature. It was said to be as large as a mountain and could topple buildings as tall as Kardia Cathedral in a single swing of its massive fists. Impressive, but it was a candle in the sun compared to the Tailed Beasts. The Beast, while imposing, would not be much of a challenge, but he couldn't care less for battle.

Naruto's ear perked up when he heard the squelching of feet meeting mud. He looked back and noticed travelers, two girls, and a man. Siblings, if their white hair was any indication. As they approached, his horse began to gallop around, clearly distressed by their presence. He stood and urged the horse to calm down, grabbing more carrots for it to distract itself by eating.

The group watched Naruto settle the horse down before approaching him.

Naruto scratched his head, "Sorry about that, he's a bit grumpy from the ride."

He watched as they looked at each other, contemplating their next course of action. The youngest of the three looked at their male companion, urging him to step forward and introduce them, but he shrugged her off; clearly not interested in diverging from their path.

Finally, their silent leader stepped forward, having grown tired of their antics. Her ivory hair was tied into a ponytail by way of a red ribbon. He felt bad because it seemed like her attire, which consisted of a black tube top that showed ample cleavage and a short skirt, weren't enough to keep her warm in this rain.

"No worries," she looked over at the horse, admiring its shining coat and comparing its ebony coat to her own white tresses. "We're just passing by, we didn't mean to cause any trouble."

Naruto waved her off before unbuckling the large scroll tied to his horse's saddle. They watched as he unfurled the scroll and weaved through weird hand signs before slamming his palm on the scroll, producing four cups of piping hot tea in a puff of smoke.

"You guys look beat and the rain is getting worse, how about some tea?" He said, passing along the cups to her brother and sister. She eyed the drink, cautious of its content. She may be immune to poisons, but her brother and sister were not. Noticing her apprehension, Naruto took a sip of his tea and made sure they watched him gulp the content down his throat. Satisfied with the demonstration, she nodded, signaling the "go-ahead" to drink the tea.

"Name's Naruto, nice to meet you." He extended his hand to the youngest of the group.

"I'm Lisanna," a smile caressed her lips as she firmly took his hand in hers and shook. "This is my older brother, Elfman." Naruto nodded, "and this is our older sister, Mirajane." Once again, Naruto extended his hand and watched as Mirajane cautiously took his had in hers and squeezed.

'Strong grip' Naruto awkwardly chuckled as he retrieved his hand from her clutches.

Lisanna frowned, she turned to Naruto and opened her mouth to apologize but he shook his head and smiled.

"What are you three doing all the way out here? It's pretty dangerous."

"I can protect my sister's just fine." Elfman scoffed, flexing his muscles to show Naruto he could easily crush his head if he wanted to.

"Ah, I don't doubt that," Naruto smiled, amused at the younger male, "But there's a giant monster roaming around these parts. The entire countryside is doing their best to get away from it; and here you three are, moving towards it."

"That's our target. We're mages, from Fairy Tail." Lisanna turned around to show a bright red stamp on her right shoulder. "We're on a mission to stop the beast!"

Mirajane shook her head, her sister was too trusting.

Naruto whistled, he had been expecting them to say they were lost, separated from their family from the monster's attack. To hear the young girl casually state their mission, was impressive. As he took a closer look at the three, he grew aware of their posture. They weren't scared, Lisanna was a bit apprehensive, but Elfman seemed eager to fight the beast and test himself against its strength. Mirajane just looked aloof, as if she had done this a thousand times before and this was just a walk in the park.

"Surprised?" Mirajane's face barely concealed her glee.

Naruto poked his fingers together in a fashion similar to Hinata's habit. He was ashamed to admit that he had underestimated the group. They looked young, but he should have been the last to base a person's power on age alone.

Mirajane pounced, her ego not allowing the slight against her strength to go unpunished. "You shouldn't underestimate us. I am the strongest female S-class mage in Fairy Tail." A smug grin crept on the girl's lips and Naruto couldn't help but shudder, inching away from the slightly deranged teen.

The quiet, reserved girl was a distant memory as Mirajane paraded her accomplishments; it seemed that she held a victory over some girl named Erza as one of her biggest accomplishments. From what he gathered, there was no love lost between Erza and Mirajane, it seemed like the two hated each other. He couldn't help but recall his own rival and their animosity.

Lisanna couldn't stop her palm from slapping her forehead in exasperation; humility was definitely not a virtue her sister possessed. Erza and Mirajana had a habit of destroying the guild when they got into an argument, but she could hardly call their last battle a win. The two had knocked each other out, but her sister claimed she had woken up before her rival and thus deemed herself the winner.

"Wow, it sounds like you and this Erza girl really like each other." Mirajane sputtered as her bravado died down when she heard the man's claim.

"Are you stupid," Lisanna gasped at her sister's insult. Her hand rushed up to her cover her mouth in surprise, "What on Earthland would make you believe that I would ever like that stupid, flat-chested, tomato-head?"

Naruto grinned, teeth looking like a row of Kisame's teeth, "Because only friends would talk to each other like that!"

"Erza and Mira. Friends?" Elfman stammered. The word just felt wrong when applied to those two.

Naruto frowned up at the sky, watching the sunset make room for the moon to appear, "Are they not?"

"Well..." Elfman paused, not sure if he wanted to continue the conversation. He looked to his left and noticed his sister's rage simmering. It wouldn't be wise to anger the volatile teen anymore; it was bad for his health. Only idiots would keep pushing her buttons.

"You guys are pretty young, so maybe you don't understand. Yet."

"We're young?" Lisanna giggled, "You don't look any older than 17."

Naruto shrugged. "I have good genes."

"So how old are you?"

"You shouldn't ask a gentleman how old he is."

"Who cares how old he is," Mirajane interrupted, "We have a village to get to and we're wasting time." She stood, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Mira-nee! Stop being rude," Lisanna grabbed Mirajane's arm and pulled her back to camp. "It's still raining," sure enough, the torrent falling from the sky had increased in the time they spent in the cave, "We shouldn't travel at night. We should stay." Her eyes began to water, an effect she taught herself at a young age to use in situations like these.

Mirajane looked up at the sky and frowned. They were supposed to have reached the town hours ago; it was too late to travel now. While she was confident in their abilities, she wasn't foolish enough to keep walking in the rain. Rest was needed. Lisanna seemed to be ready to drop like a rock, and while he didn't show it, she knew Elfman was reaching his limit as well. She was not comfortable making camp with some stranger, but she could not sense any ill intentions from him. If he were waiting for them to let down their guard, then the cover of night would be his best opportunity. She would be ready if the situation required.

Mirajane let out a sigh and nodded, noting Lisanna pump her fist in satisfaction. She didn't like it, but she'd rather deal with a known problem than an unknown one later down the line. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Naruto blinked, surprised to see Elfman address him.

"I'm looking for a friend."

"When did you last see them?" Naruto looked down, pondering the question, not too sure of the answer. Unsatisfied, he shrugged.

"I can't say exactly, I just know it's been a long time and I miss him dearly."

Mirajane frowned. She focused on his wistful blue eyes. They reminded her of the eyes she saw when she looked in the mirror when the villagers branded her a demon. When they would shout obscenities and deny them basic privileges like food and water. She still remembered the cold nights, huddled together trying to preserve their warmth, stomachs growling and digesting whatever lipids they had stored. Her siblings suffered because of her. That look in his eye really annoyed her.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find him. He's probably looking for you too! Just look up at the sky and think of him. I'm sure he'll be watching the same sky, thinking of you!" Lisanna placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. Naruto's heart ached at the young girl's words. She was a lot more thoughtful than she let on, still, he was thankful for the kind words and returned her smile. He clapped his hands together, causing Mirajane to snap out of her thoughts.

"It's getting late, what do you guys say we get some rest?" He suggested.

"Lisanna, Elfman, hurry up and get ready for bed. We'll wake up early in the morning to catch up on the time we lost." Lisanna nodded and helped Elfman unpack their sleeping bags. Mirajane looked back at Naruto and watched him pull firewood from his scroll, her curiosity rose as he went through a series of hand signals and blew fire out of his mouth to light a campfire.

"That was so cool! You have Requip and Fire magic?" Lisanna cheered as she abandoned her task to analyze the campfire Naruto had made.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Naruto looked at Lisanna.

"I just thought it was,"

"Lisanna. Elfman needs your help. Don't get distracted." Mirajane shouted from the other side of the camp.

"Whoops, gotta go!" Lisanna flushed as she ran to help her brother.

After camp had finally been prepared, Naruto watched the family settle down into their bags and took a seat next to his horse. His exhaustion had evaporated from the earlier altercation with Mirajane. He glanced over at the mage and froze as she stared back at him. She smirked, satisfied with scaring the shit out of the blond before turning to her side and nodding off.

He looked around at the group and noticed Elfman and Lisanna sound asleep, but he noticed Mirajane shift slightly.

"So, do you really hate Erza?"

Mirajane froze and contemplated the question. She didn't hate the annoying redhead, but she didn't particularly like her either. What did this guy care anyway? It's not like they were going to become the best of friends overnight.

"You should mind your own business and go to sleep." She looked over her shoulder to see him sitting on the wall, watching the cave entrance.

Blue eyes blazing, he turned to look at the mage. "When I was younger, I had a friend that I always competed with. The guy was crazy strong, a genius." He scratched his chin and chuckled, "I felt like I would never beat him. I greatly disliked him, but over time I came to respect him and eventually he became my best friend." His voice was low now and she could feel the pain in his heart as he recalled the memories of his friend.

Mirajanes eyes softened and she understood: He saw her rivalry with Erza to be similar to his rivalry with his friend. She wondered what happened to his friends, but she could picture a couple of scenarios that would require this kind of reaction.

"When Erza first came to the guild, she wouldn't talk to anybody," She offered, pleased to see his eyes focused on her, "I-I didn't like the way she shut herself off from us. The look in her eyes reminded me of something I disliked." Naruto stared over at the girl and noticed her downcast expression.

"I realized how lonely she was on her own and I wanted to change that." He nodded.

That was the end of their conversation. Having said enough, Mirajane turned around and rested. Her mind may have been racing, but she couldn't help but smile as she felt the pressure in her heart leave her.

'Maybe this guy isn't so bad after all.'

He chuckled as he heard the girl's soft snores. He was glad to have crossed paths with the family. It was nice to be around other people, his journey did not allow him to settle down in one town and make friends. Still, he could not help but recall Mirajane's words earlier while he looked up and noticed that while there was no rain falling from the skies, fresh tears trailed down his face as he remembered his loved ones.

XxX

"Yo, Whiskers?"

"Me?"

"No dumbass, the tiger behind you."

"There's a tiger behind me?!"

"Gods, you're an idiot!"

"Mira-nee!"

"Enough! Why are you following us?"

Lisanna shifted nervously and couldn't keep the blush from appearing on her face. While not as bad as the previous night, it was clear Mirajane wouldn't warm up to their companion any time soon. Still, it would help if she were a bit nicer; there was no need to be rude after he went out of his way to help them.

"I thought you liked having me around!" Naruto beamed, making sure that he kept a firm grip on his horse's reins.

"I'd rather spend an afternoon with Erza than spend time with you." Mirajane grunted in annoyance.

"I thought you hated her." He teased.

"I hate you more." She huffed, picking up her pace to further herself from Naruto. She could feel her brain cells committing suicide as they listened to the idiot talking. Not even Natsu and Gray were this bad.

Naruto smirked as he watched Mirajane stroll away, glad that he could still ruffle a few feathers in his advanced age. However, with her departure, there was a huge hole in their formation. As he looked over their set-up, he noticed one thing. Tactically, it was shit.

But, he supposed he could let it slide. He was hard-pressed to believe somebody would attack them in broad daylight, and if any bandits dared, he was confident Elfman would be more than enough to scare the aggressors away.

Speaking of Elfman, he had terribly misjudged the boy. While understandably protective of his siblings, it seemed like he was nothing more than a huge teddy bear. He learned that he was a bit of a crybaby when he was younger and according to Lisanna, he was a great babysitter. Having taken great care of Lisanna's child, Happy. He was surprised when he overheard Lisanna mention the child, but he brushed it aside, he was not one to judge.

"Mira-nee, try to be nice." Lisanna frowned as Mirajane ignored her.

"It's okay Lisanna, she has her reasons." Naruto patted her head, messing up her silver locks. The girl did not seem to mind though.

"She should know better. Master would be very disappointed."

Naruto blinked, turning to look at her as his eyes grew wide in concern. "Master?"

Lisanna shook her head, "We're not slaves, Naruto," She chuckled. "Master Makarov is one of the Ten Wizard Saints, he's the guild leader, and he took us in after our parents died." Naruto frowned, ready to offer his apologies for dredging up bad memories. Lisanna waved him off, she had come to terms with her parent's death a long time ago. Fairy Tail was her family now.

"Sounds like a cool guy." Naruto could relate.

"Of course Master is cool, he is a man!" Elfman slapped Naruto on the back.

Naruto blinked, he was not aware he had confused their Master for a woman.

"Don't mind him, he's always raving about 'manly' things, you get used to it," Lisanna explained, smiling up at her older brother and his quirks.

"If you guys walked as fast as you talked, we'd probably be there by now," Mirajane shouted from the distance.

Naruto grabbed Lisanna and threw her up on his horse, ignoring her cries of protest. He then proceeded to jump on the horse and kicked its side, signaling it to stride into a gallop before waving back at Elfman.

"What can you tell me about Fairy Tail?"

"We're a family." Lisanna gripped the reins while staring at the autumn leaves fall. "Everybody has a past they struggle with. Fairy Tail is our sanctuary."

"It sounds beautiful."

"You mean cheesy." Naruto's eyebrow rose when he saw Mirajane stick her finger down her throat and pretend to barf.

Naruto reigned the horse in to match Mirajane's pace.

"You see that hill?" Lisanna pointed out to the distance to a small hill. Naruto squinted his eyes and noticed the fauna growing near the top. He also noticed a small tree that they could use to rest. "Once we're over that hill, we should see the village."

Mirajane stopped and tightened the ribbon around her hair. Naruto watched as Elfman warmed up with a set of fifty pushups. Lisanna just studied the environment, watching the animals interact.

"Where do you go from here?" Naruto turned to look at Mirajane, surprised at her question.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you can't possibly be thinking of going with us." He could see her eyes widen, similar to the old man from the previous day.

"Why's that?"

Mirajane frowned, did he think that they would escort him? The tea and companionship were nice and all, but they had a job to do. She didn't bring her siblings along to babysit some weirdo.

"Look, Naruto was it? This is a dangerous job."

He nodded.

"You could get hurt."

He shrugged.

She clenched her jaw in frustration. "Even if your health isn't important to you, we can't be responsible with taking care of you and defeating the monster. You'll only be in our way." She huffed, watching as the wind blew his annoying blond hair into his face.

"Careful Mira-chan, it sounds like you're worried about little old me."

She growled at his comment and made her way over to the irritating blond. Fine, if he wasn't going to listen to her, then she would have to take matters into her own hands. She dropped her bag and felt Lisanna and Elfman become tense. She rolled her eyes, she wasn't going to maim him, yet. She smirked as she thought of the various ways she could punish this stranger for making her life difficult. As she moved closer she decided she would knock him out and leave him tied up to the tree by the hill. Sure, he might be a little irritated, but she was sure she'd thank him for saving his life.

Having made her way behind him, she noticed that Naruto seemed to be lost in thought. He didn't seem to have heard her approaching.

Perfect, this was her chance. She raised her fist and quickly brought it down only to blink when she found her fist had come nowhere near the blond. In fact, he wasn't even in front of her anymore.

She turned back to look at Lisanna when she heard her gasp. Lisanna was pointing at the tree on top of the hill.

Next to the tree was Naruto.

'No way, that has to be at least 800 meters. How'd he get there so fast?'

Lisanna grabbed the reigns of Naruto's horse and urged Elfman to follow her. Mirajane watched her siblings make their way to their traveling companion, momentarily distracted by the events that had just transpired.

"Mira-nee, hurry up!"

Mirajane shook her head and ran to catch up with the group.

The Strauss siblings trudged up the hill and Elfman couldn't help but wonder how Naruto had reached the top so fast. Maybe he had teleportation magic as well? If he did, then the blond was definitely more powerful than he let on.

"Naruto!"

Naruto ignored the call, too busy analyzing the scene in front of him.

"What's the big idea, you shouldn't run off without us!" Lisanna shook her head at the man's impatience. "What if the monster was here?"

"He's not."

"Huh, How do you know that?" Lisanna moved to Naruto's side and gasped. Soon Mirajane and Elfman had joined the group as well and dropped their belongings as they noticed the destruction in front of them.

Naruto snarled as his knuckles turned white, "The monster destroyed the village and left. Everybody is already dead."

The scene in front of her would forever burn in Mirajane's mind as she thought back to the previous night. She should have been here to help, it was her job. Now people were dead because she wasn't here on time. She shouldn't have stopped.

The village they were supposed to have protected was burnt to the ground. The ground was filled with the bodies of the deceased as the pungent smell of blood filled the air. Mirajane grits her teeth and watched Elfman envelop Lisanna into a hug.

'What's the worst that could happen?'

We fail the people.

End.

Before you leave, I would like to ask you to provide feedback on the chapter. It may be a little short, but I hope I stayed true to the characters. Please be aware that the answers to your questions regarding Naruto will come with time. Anyway, that's all for now. Enjoy!

Nishi No Kaze.