A/N: Wow. I just read the latest chapter of Fairy Tail. And I gotta say; Jiemma is a dick! We all knew he was already, but after seeing Minerva's flashbacks, realizing the pure, unadulterated hell he put his own daughter through...god, that just pissed me the hell off! Who does that to their own daughter?! Not even the most saddistic, depraved madman would make his own kin strip and stand NAKED in the forest just because they were crying! Seriously!

On another note...

Here it is, and thank you all for your support in this hard time! Its been really hard with my uncle having died; I knew him ever since I was little and the thought of him being gone like that...by his own hand no less...it makes me wonder if I really knew him at all. So once again, thank you for all the support.

I love you guys so, soooo much! *Cries*

I suppose I'm still writing on this site this as a result of his death. My uncle never really had many friends, you see, and sometimes I wonder if just one would've changed that. It was either continue writing as always fic, or drown my sorrows in alchohol. And as much as a might enjoy the occasional beer, I'd much rather pour out my grief into something productive, that will hopefully make me feel better, rather than get drunk and angry. Now, without further adeu, with an idea hours in the making...

So I'll skip the introduction, but might I advise you all to leave your assumptions behind you! This...is going to be one helluva story. Also the timeline has been changed, ever so slightly, so please, forgive the discrepancy...

"You've got enemies? Good. It means you've got some backbone."

~?

Weakness is Beauty

"Why are you as weak as this?"

Minerva cringed aside, from her father's words, refusing to look into his eyes. It was the penultimate sign of weakness and she knew she would be beaten for it, but she simply couldn't do it. To stare into that cruel face was to evoke memories of sleepless nights spent in the forest, the cold winter breeze frigid on her skin. Looking only made her want to cry again and whenever she cried she only had bruises to look forward to. It didn't matter whether or not she had incredible magical power, in Jiemma's eyes that power was only one thing if she could control it.

Weak.

"Please forgive me, papa." Minerva begged, trying-and failing-to fight the tears that came with those harsh words. "I...I'll do better next time...

"Don't beg for forgiveness, you stupid girl!" his palm lashed out, cracking across her cheek in a painful blow, viciously slapping her petite body off the ground of the air and into the forest. The wind rushed painfully out of her lungs when she hit the ground, her right arm breaking as she landed awkwardly upon it. She quickly rolled onto her back, squinting her eyes as the fadng sunlight drenched her face, her mind racing through the pain as she struggled to think and her progenitor approached her fallen body. She stared up in silent horror as his shadows swallowed up her body.

"Attack me!" he demanded!

Minerva only cringed. Her reward was another blow.

"Hiiii!" she whimpered, turning her face aside to lessen another blow. That served only to anger him further.

"If I am to raise a daughter, it must be strong,"he roared! If it were to be weak, I would erase it...Daughter or not." When she continued to weep he did not take pity upon her, instead striking again. "How long will you shed those worthless tears?! Tears are the ultimate apex of weakness! How many times must I tell you that before you get it through that thick skull of yours?!"

"Please forgive me." she pleaded, chanting the word as though it were a mantra, "Please forgive me. Please forgive me...

There was a silence. Then his dark face crinkled into a scowl.

"Take off your clothes."

No. Not that. Anything but that!

Yes, that. It was the worst possible punishment her father could think inflict upon her in his quest to strip her of what he considered to be weakness. Complete humiliation. Minerva struggled desperately, but it was all for naught; Jiemma tore them from her in an instant. Once again, she found herself alone, standing naked in the forest. Mercifully, her father didn't take it any farther than that. This time. Instead, he left her standing there broken and bruised, her body shivering in the light of the setting sun.

"Papa!" She called out to him as his brawny body receded into the distance.

Jiemma stopped in his tracks, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded his once fallen daughter. A look of subtle irritation crossed his single eye as it regarded the recovering girl behind him, her knees knocking together as she struggled to stand. And even then, he did not relent.

"When your tears have finally dried, you can come home." he said, leaving his back turned all the while. "Until then, I have no use for you."

Just like that, he was gone, and her clothes with him.

Minerva sank to her knees, cheeks darkening in shame as she keened softly and clutched her arm to her side. It wasn't just the broken limb that ached, it was something far deeper. Her heart. The pain of thirteen cold years without a mother tore at her, more than a decade worth of heartache all bundled up into one tiny cry.

"Noooo...

Weak.

It was all she was, all she had been, all she ever would be. And she hated it. Her father had drilled her relentlessly, over and over and over again pushing without remorse for all the years she'd spent on this earth, yet she'd only become marginally stronger in that time. But even that wasn't enough. Nothing short of absolute perfection was good enough for the sadist she called father. She didn't understand. What did it matter, if she was weak? Did strength truly matter? Would it lead her to happiness? Years from now, she would've accepted that power equalled happiness. But not today.

Today she just hurt.

Why couldn't she be allowed to have a normal life? One of her own? One with friends, a real family. She wanted no part in the Guild her father was trying to form. She was just a girl. She wanted a life, freedome, all the trappings that came with being a person. Not a tool; not some instrument of her father. It was always about him-his goals, his motives, his grand plans for the fledgling guild of Sabertooth to be better than Fairy Tail or some other guild, always striving for more than he already had. And had that got her? A broken and a lonely heart, here in the dark.

What about me?

As if to puncuate that very question, a deafening boom rumbled above her head. Minerva started violently at the noise, cringing as a body plummeted through the canopy, crashing through branch after branch until she realized it wasn't a something after all-but a human. A human body! It landed beside her with a hars crack and Minerva scrambled backward like a drunken spider, desperate to get away from what she assumed to be a corpse or worse, some sort of zombie-

"Ow!"

"Eeep!" the ebon-haired mage squeaked softly as the body bolted upright, covering herself with her arms as best she could. But even then she couldn't quite conceal her budding body. The stranger startled in the dark, his blue eyes flying wide open as he realized he was standing before a very naked girl and he was staring.

"Pervert!"

"Whoa!" a low voice exclaimed in the dark! "Sorry! I didn't know you were um...you know!" Still sputtering, he fumbled with his coat and tossed it at her haphazardly. "Here! Wear this!" Minerva frowned as the garment hit her in the face and fell away at her feet.

"Aren't you going to use it?" he asked.

...I can't."

"Eh? Why not?"

"My arm is broken." she said at last, hiccuping softly as her limb twitched painfully in response.

"Oh, crap." the boy muttered. "Do you um...need any help?" At her tentative, nod he reached around and awkwardly tried to drape the jacket around her shoulders. Minerva clutched at it with her good arm. It was still a far cry from proper modesty, but at least it was better than nothing. She flushed slightly as he -for this was clearly no female!- tried to pull the zipper up without touching her skin, a difficult feat, especially when one considered how large his hands were...

Wait, what?

Minerva tilted her head up from the ball of pain that was tearing at her arm, her eyes widening as she looked up into the face of the new arrival. He was just a boy, only a few years older than her. His body was trapped in tattered orange and black rags even without the jacket; truly he looked as though he'd seen better days. And what was that battered metal plate worn round his forehead? He carried himself with poise in spite of this weary state she saw him. There was strength in him. And somehow, despite the pain, it fascinated Minerva.

"Who are you?" she asked softly as he helped her to her feet, clutching the now zippered coat to herself. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, the name's Naruto. As to the here," he shrugged, rubbing at his shoulder, "I don't really know where here is. The last thing I remember was defeating Pain; then this weird masked guy tried to suck me in with that jutsu of his-now here I am, I guess." The slightest of chuckles tugged at his whiskered visage as he gazed up at the gaping hole. "Hell, if it weren't for my Senin mode, I might have a few holes in me after a fall like that."

"Sage?" Trying to wrap her mind around that proved difficult for Minerva. She knew all manner of spells and sorcery, but a sage technique? What was that?

"Like this."

Naruto closed his eyes, allowing the power of nature to flow through him as he stood upon the grass. Minerva frowned slightly as she watched the edges of his eyes brighten, his lids dusting with orange. Well, here was a trick she hadn't seen before. Such a strange technique. This Naruto was certainly full of surprises, it seemed. She could feel his senses expanding, moving outward to encompass this forest and then beyond-spreading outward for miles in either direction. And the power! His eyes seemed to thrive with magical power, those now-golden lids veritably thrumming with untapped power.

Senin Mode.

"Anyone can do it, in a sense." he explained.

"It doesn't matter." she turned away pitifully, reminded of her own inadequacy. "I'm weak."

The battered blond blinked.

"What're ya talking about?"

Tears stung at Minerva's eyes, the salty drops painfully pricking at her very soul. Naruto was just a stranger to her. She shouldn't be telling him any of this. And yet she was desperate-grasping for anything-any chance to escape from the hell that was her life. And he seemed strong...

"My father...he...

"He what?" He was staring at her keenly now, intent. "What did he do to you?"

She told him.

"WHAAAAT?!" Naruto sputtered, and for a moment-just a moment-she could've sworn those golden eyes flashed crimson. "He did that! To you?!" At her meek nod a muscle jumped in his jaw. His fingers, already left clenched and white-knuckled, bit into his palms with enough force to draw blood. He looked as though he were on the verge of storming off to find Jiemma and tear strips out of his hide. With an attitude like that, he just might, she thought.

"No father should treat his daughter like that!"

Despite that very thought, she faltered.

"But I'm weak-

"Again with that crap?" Naruto frowned, his whisked cheeks dimpling in confusion. "What kind of attitude is that? I wasn't always like this, ya know. I had to scrape and fight and struggle to get to where I am today, but now look at me! I can do...this." With a grunt two copies -clones!- appeared beside him, conjured from nothingness itself. Minerva yelped in surprise. But Naruto was not yet done. Raising their arms, the dopplegangers helped him to summon something massive, a shrieking malestrome of wind and energy gathering up into his outstretched palm.

"See?" he shouted over the wind, gradually allowing the technique to die. "This is the kind of power I'm talking about. And I worked my ass off for it."

Minerva couldn't find the words. Numbed, she pushed a strand of ebon hair behind her ear.

"I've never seen a mage in all of Fiorre who could do that." she whispered.

"Wait, Fiorre?" the blond blanched and began scratching at the back of his head. "Ah, crap...something tells me I'm a long way from home...but in any case!" Plopping down beside her, he folded his legs seiza style and began staring intently into the woods, eyes narrow. "I think I'll just wait here until your pops shows up again. I'd like to have a word with that old asshat...

"No! You can't do that!"

"Why not?" he snorted, defiant. "I'll kick his ass!"

Oh, I don't think so...

Panic flooded Minerva, filling her veins with ice water. Memories of her father's terrifying power, his ability to erase something from existence overwhelmed. You couldn't fight a force like that. You got the hell out of the way or took him by surprise. A demon the likes of him was not to be trifled with under any other circumstance. That was part of the reason she'd never tried to run away before; the thought of being hunted down like a dog in the wilderness had always terrified the young mage.

"You just can't!" she cried. "He'll kill you!"

Naruto seemed to consider it. "Alright." he decided at last, standing woodenly. Then...come with me."

Those words were a ray of light to her in the darkness. Go...with him? She'd never considered such a thing. She was in little shape to do much else-it was either go with him or continue to accept the harsh brutalities of her father's rule. Really, the choice was obvious. Minerva would rather risk her own safety with a stranger who might offer her kindness, than stay with the father whom she knew would not. At least this way, she had a very real chance of escaping Jiemma's iron fist. Anything was better than this.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Honestly? I have no idea." His whiskered face pinched in a sudden frown. "Now that I think about it...I never got your name."

Minerva smiled softly.

"Its Minerva."

"You're odd." she said. "You just thought to ask that just now?"

Naruto laughed. "What can I say? I'm a people person."

When the shinobi offered her his hand she accepted it with only the slightest hesitation. His grip was strong yet gentle, his calloused palm meshing smoothly with the soft skin of her own. It could be said that there was a certain beauty to be said for strength, but there was also something to be said for the opposite.

Minerva realized it on that fateful night as her blond angel took her out of that dark place and into the world. Weakness was not always something to be mocked nor was it an infestation to be purged as her father'd had believed it to be. There was beauty in weakness. This was who she was. Whom she was meant to be. Not some puppet of her father-a tool to be used and cast aside as he saw fit. No, she was a person-just like this odd boy holding her hand. It was then that she truly knew:

Weakness was beauty.

A/N: And there we be! Despite my illness, I was so fixated on the idea that it just came to me, the idea of Minerva actually having a decent life, rather than being trappd under that asshole of a dad known as Jiemma. I'm almost glad a friend suggested this me. And I'm quite satisfied with the way that this chapter turned out. Minerva's going to be well taken care of, actually has a friend in the rotten childhood inflicted upon her, a bit of training under her belt, and she's not even a teenager yet! Not to mention the fact that she's befriended Naruto. And yes this it Shippuden Naruto we're talking about here, but only so far as Sage Mode. He's not a god in his own right, just a very, very dangerous opponent.

All hell's about to break loose here people! But all is not well, and there are stormclouds on the horizon...

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review Would You Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview!

(Preview)

"A guild, huh?"

Naruto cocked his head aside, seeming to consider the notion as he peered at the empty lot. Nearly a week spent in Fiorre had done much to improve his outlook on life. Once he realized he was essentially trapped in a different dimension he'd despaired at first; but with despair had also come acceptance. He was in a strange new land. One in which the concept of chakra was rather asimilair to that of magic. It was only natural that he thrive once he accepted that principle. This new idea of his however, even with all the money they'd earned doing odd jobs...was nothing short of insanity.

"I think I'll make one of my own." he decided aloud. "A guild, that is."

Minerva's anxiety was barely concealed, fingers nervously stroking at her cast. Likewise, a week away from her father had made her more bold, but only just. "You're crazy."

Naruto whined.

"C'mon, I'd make a great Guild Master!"

R&R! =D