Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Fairy Tail.

Plot: inspired from Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison where Naruto was convicted for an assassination attempt on the Raikage and sent to the Blood Prison where he had his chakra sealed. However, he was sacrificed to Satori's Box before Konoha 11 and Killer Bee could come to his rescue and tell him the real reason he was imprisoned. He died thinking that he was wrongly accused of murder, thinking that everyone betrayed him.

Note: this story will not be as dark as my other Naruto xover. It will be focused more on Naruto looking for a new purpose, a new reason to live in the new world, in the second chance at life that he had received. Romance+friendship will be an important part of the story (alongside action).

Pairing: Naruto/Mirajane.

"Hello" - normal talking

'Hello' - thoughts

Chapter 1 - A fateful encounter

A lone silhouette was sitting by the fire, staring vacantly at the red-orange flames. He seemed to be in his mid-teens, probably around 16 years old. His body was wrapped in a dark grey cloak, but one could clearly notice that he was very well-built. It was his face that stood out the most though - with three pairs of whisker-like scars on his cheeks, he was certainly hard to forget.

'In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.'

'That's what Kakashi used to tell us. It was his motto. Yet...'

The young man suddenly yawned and the pensive look on his face faded away, an expression of tiredness taking its place. He sat up and went to a pile of wood that he had gathered before. Grabbing some of the thicker ones, he lightly threw them into the fire. He was going to sleep and he wanted to keep the fire burning for a while longer so the embers would continue to radiate heat even in the wee hours of the morning.

He crawled into his tent and took out his sleeping bag. He never slept in a tent unless it was raining. He was more comfortable with sleeping outside, more comfortable knowing that he had a better awareness of his surroundings because, in his opinion, Earthland was just as dangerous as his former world, the Elemental Nations. Though, if the danger of the Elemental Nations came from a large number of rogue ninjas and criminals roaming the continent, in Earthland, the main cause of danger and deaths in the wild was the presence of monsters and other magical beasts.

He had made his camp in a small clearing of the forest. After he laid down in his sleeping bag, he turned on his back, looking at the starry sky above.

"It's been almost 6 months, huh?" he asked himself.

Talking to oneself was a habit common to those people that spent a long time in loneliness.

For a moment his mind went back to the life that he used to have. He had worked his way up from the bottom of his class in the Academy to becoming the most powerful shinobi in his village. He had attained even the Sage Mode, something that his sensei was not capable of properly using. And, with that new power, he battled against the god-like leader of the Akatsuki and managed to defeat him.

He had saved his village and he had even convinced his enemy to actually bring back to life everyone that had been killed. 'Hero' was a word not good enough to describe him.

'Yet, in the end, nobody cared. They forgot how much I sacrificed for them, how much good I did for the village.'

'Nobody stood by me, not even baa-chan...'

He felt betrayed. Even the ones that he had considered as his family in all but blood ignored his plight when he was wrongly convicted to prison for an assassination attempt on the Raikage which he did not commit. Imprisoned and with his chakra sealed, he was thrown into a box with an ancient demon. A demon that took his life.

'They didn't believe me!' he said bitterly. 'I thought that I managed to make them acknowledge me. I thought that they saw my efforts and that they were grateful. But I was wrong... I guess that, in the end, I've always been only a demon for them.'

He huffed in derision at himself and tried to think about something else. He didn't want to trigger another stampede of the forest's creatures because of his killing intent getting out of control. Closing his eyes, he imagined a steaming hot pot of ramen. It never failed to calm him down. Then, he started to count all the noodles he could see in the pot - it was his own version of 'counting the sheep' method for falling asleep.

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Although the sky was clear and there was a full moon that night, its rays of light could hardly protrude through the foliage of the trees to illuminate the ground below. Because of that, a small group of three children was walking in circles through the forest, almost no better than a blind man.

Mirajane Strauss and her younger siblings were banished from their village. It was a small rural settlement surrounded by forests from all sides. But, despite being only 13 years old, the girl was not afraid of having to travel on her own, through a forest. The reason for her situation was also the reason for her confidence. Her curse was also her source of power - her demonic looking right arm. The only thing she was afraid of was her siblings being harmed. They were not like her.

'They are just normal children. Innocent.'

'But I'm a monster. It's my fault the villagers forced us to leave.'

She quickly turned around when she heard the sound of one of her siblings stumbling and falling to the ground.

"Aw!" Lisanna cried out when she fell but tried to sit up quickly.

A bruise appeared on her elbow and blood started to trickle from it but the little girl tried to smile and forced back the tears that threatened to spill from her big blue eyes.

"I'm alright, Mira-nee!" she said trying to sound chirpy.

But the older girl was not fooled. Her demonic looking arm clenched under the cloak that was covering all but her face. However, she composed herself. She was angry at their situation but she didn't want to blow up on her little sister and brother. They had no fault. If anything, Mirajane thought it was her fault. Taking out her normal, human hand, she patted her sister's head and said in encouragement:

"Don't worry, Lisanna. I won't let anything bad happen to you! I promise!"

The younger girl nodded and said:

"Un! I trust you! Mira-nee always takes cares of us!"

Their brother grabbed Lisanna by the hand and the two continued to follow Mirajane as she led the way through the forest. A while later, the smell of smoke reached them.

"Smoke. That means that there's a campfire close by!" Elfman said, mirroring Mirajane's thoughts.

And true to his words, soon enough, they saw a flicker of light coming through the trunks of the trees ahead of them.

Mirajane hesitated.

'Just what kind of person would camp in the middle of the forest?'

She knew that the options were not pleasant: most likely, said persons were either bandits or dark mages. But when she heard Elfman's stomach rumbling out of hunger, she stopped hesitating. Against all odds, she hoped they would be kind enough to at least spare her a piece of bread for her younger siblings.

'I just have to be careful to keep my arm hidden away.'

With her mind set she told Lisanna and Elfman:

"We don't know what kind of people are ahead. You stay here and hide, I'll go by myself. But, if anything goes wrong, I want you to leave me behind and run away! Do you understand?"

It was only after she got a very reluctant nod from them that Mirajane finally started walking towards the clearing where the campfire's light seemed to be coming from. She knew it was dangerous but she was confident in holding her own against whoever she might encounter.

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Naruto was counting the 20th noodle from the imaginary ramen pot in his mind when his ears flinched, catching the sound of the leaves' rustling.

Mirajane barely had the chance to make two steps into the clearing when three shurikens hit her with deadly accuracy, pinning her from her clothes into the trunk of the tree behind her. Eyes wide in shock, for a second, she was unable to react. But when she finally realized the situation, her demonic looking arm quickly wrenched the shurikens out and freed herself. In the next moment, however, she was abruptly caught by the throat in a steel-like hold.

The physical power of her demonic arm was formidable but it was as though she hit a rock when she punched her attacker in the ribs.

"It was just a little girl, huh?" the one who caught her said to himself.

Seeing her continuing to struggle in his hold and punching and kicking him with everything she had, his fingers clenched tighter around her neck.

"Hold still!" He ordered. When the girl started to struggle even more desperately, he said threateningly:

"Hold still or the two runts hiding in the bushes behind are gonna get it as well."

Mirajane froze.

"Please... please don't hurt them!" she tried to say despite being choked.

A pebble hit the young man in the back of his head and a boy cried out:

"Let Mira-nee go! Stop hurting her!"

Am expression of despair appeared on Mirajane's face.

'Elfman, you idiot! You should've taken Lisanna and run away!'

The man was getting a headache. A portion of his magical power burst from his body along with a sliver of his killing intent. The three children became petrified, paralyzed in fear. Satisfied with the result of his actions, he let the young girl fall to the ground as there was no need for him to physically restrain her anymore.

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"So, what are three children doing at night, in the middle of a forest swarming with magical beasts and monsters?"

Surprisingly, it was the youngest of three children that answered:

"The villagers threw us out! Mira-nee actually defeated the demon at the church but they're now saying that she was the demon!"

"But Mira-nee is not a demon! Mira-nee is... she is our big sister!" the little girl said on the verge of crying.

A hollow look appeared in Naruto's eyes and Mirajane hid her demonic arm inside her cloak and looked to her feet. She was waiting for his reaction, anticipating him showing hostility. However, completely opposite of what she had been expecting, Naruto's wary expression morphed into one of sympathy.

"What about your parents?" he asked.

"We're orphans," Mirajane replied quietly.

"Mira-nee has been taking care of us since forever." Elfman also said.

"What's your name, little girl?" he asked, his voice kinder than it was expected from someone looking like he did.

Still, for the girl, it sounded weird that someone only 3 years older than her was addressing her like that. Even so, she didn't comment on it. She was aware of the fact that she and her siblings were at his mercy.

"Mirajane. Mirajane Strauss."

"Mirajane, will you show me your arm again?"

Though hesitating at first, the white-haired girl took out her hand out of the cloak.

"People are stupid everywhere, regardless of the world," he muttered under his breath as he studied the girl's demonic arm but the children still heard him. "You're not a demon,"

To further enforce his words, he said again:

"Hey, look at me!"

The girl moved her long white hair away from her face and looked him in eyes.

"You are not a demon, nor are you a monster. I've seen many monsters in my life but I've never met one that would willing throw itself in mortal peril for its younger siblings."

Mirajane couldn't keep the eye contact anymore. She never allowed herself to openly cry in front of her siblings because she had to appear strong for their sake but Naruto's words struck a cord in her heart. He was the only one besides her family that acknowledged that she was not a demon. Tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"Then why do I have this arm?" she asked as she sobbed. "Why do I have a monster's arm?"

Naruto sighed, sympathizing with her. He had felt just like Mirajane a few years before - actually, exactly when he was her age, when he was 13 years old, Naruto found out the reason why all the villagers seemed to ostracize him and why some people even hated him with a passion from ever since he could remember - Mizuki told him that he was a demon; the very demon that nearly destroyed the village and killed the hero of the village along with thousands of others.

'Probably she's had it even worse than I did. At least I had the old Hokage. He has always been nothing but kind to me. For better or worse, I also got a monthly allowance from him and a small apartment. But this girl was banished from her village together with her younger siblings.'

Naruto raised his hand and gently patted Mirajane on the head. At the gesture of affection, it was like a dam broke inside of her; the girl's cries became louder. She appeared to have forgotten that only a few minutes before she had been afraid that he was going to kill her.

"Shh... it's alright..." Naruto said, not knowing how else to comfort the crying girl.

He looked almost pleadingly towards the younger sister of Mirajane but the girl appeared to be keener than her looks and age suggested. Lisanna understood how much it meant for Mirajane that someone besides her and Elfman believed that she was not a monster.

"Listen, you're not a demon. The reason your arm became like that, is because of your magic: Take Over."

"Take Over?" Mirajane asked, her eyes still swimming with tears.

"Yes. It is a type of magic that possesses the soul of an animal, a beast or a demon. It grants the user various benefits, depending on the soul they captured. If you captured the soul of a bear, you could get some physical characteristics specific to a bear alongside with its formidable strength."

"Take Over is a very powerful kind of magic. One of the most powerful. And since you captured the soul of a demon without even knowing about it, that means you're very gifted at it. You have a real talent for this brand of magic."

By now, Mirajane's tears fully stopped. She was drinking in every word that came out of his mouth.

"How do you know that? How can you be sure that I'm really very talented at this and that I'm not really what the villagers say I am?" she asked almost like she was afraid to believe what he said was true. It sounded too good to be real.

"I know that because I'm a Take Over mage too," Naruto said and his eyes became pitch black, even the sclera.

It happened for only a split of a second but it was still enough to make Mirajane, Lisanna and Elfman quickly back away startled.

"Unlike you, however, I was not born with an innate talent for this magic. Actually, it's only half a year ago that I even discovered the existence of magic."

"Where I am from, magic does not exist like here. And children of the same age as your little sister are learning how to fight others while some of your age even receive assassination missions. That's also why I attacked you when you snuck into my camp even though you seem to be just a 12 or 13-year-old girl. Where I am from, a 13-year-old child can be just as deadly as an adult."

The three Strauss siblings looked appalled by the revelations.

Done explaining himself, Naruto sat up and went to his tent. He took out some bread, some jerky and a piece of clean cloth from his backpack before coming out next to the fire. He spread the cloth on the grassy ground and put the food on top of it.

"Come, eat."

The children looked at each other unsure of themselves at first but when the smell of the smoked meat reached them and their stomachs started to growl, their hesitation vanished. Lisanna and Elfman threw themselves at the food like a pair of starved wolf cubs.

It was only Mirajane that turned towards him and bowed deeply as she said:

"Thank you for the food, sir."

He wasn't much older than her but his power and his maturity made her look up to him as such.

"It's Naruto," he said, introducing himself.

Understanding flashed in the girl's eyes.

"I'm Mirajane Strauss and my younger siblings are Lisanna and Elfman."

"Thank you for the kindness you showed us, Naruto-san!" Mirajane said and bowed again.

Naruto had no idea how much did he change the three siblings' lives with the small kindness that he was showing them at that moment. He just looked positively uncomfortable at her display of gratitude.

"Think nothing of it." He muttered and waved his hand.

He was sympathizing with the girl's situation because it was eerily similar to what he had experienced as a child too. Both were treated as demons for something out of their control. However, he still hadn't forgotten how Konoha betrayed him after he had been acclaimed as the village's greatest hero. He didn't like being shown gratitude because it was those whose lives he had saved that turned their back on him.

Half an hour later, Lisanna and Elfman were sleeping huddled together in Naruto's sleeping bag. Mirajane was still awake, by the fire, watching over her younger siblings.

"What are you planning on doing tomorrow?" Naruto asked.

The young girl whispered:

"I don't know."

They had no plan whatsoever. Mirajane was only 13 years old while her brother and sister were even younger. Furthermore, only a few hours passed since they were chased out from their home. She was at a loss of what to do.

Naruto laid on the grass, his blue eyes pinned at the glittering stars in the sky.

"I was not exaggerating when I said that you are very gifted in Take Over. You are a prodigy."

"If you join a guild, you could make a name for yourself very soon. Once you do that, various requests will start to flow in. A powerful mage will never be poor."

The girl mulled over his words.

"Joining a guild does seem to be the best option. I have to take care of Lisanna and Elfman."

After a while, she asked:

"Ne, Naruto-san, are you in a guild too?"

He snorted as if the mere idea of being in a guild was ridiculous to him.

"Nope."

Mirajane continued with her questions, her curiosity aroused:

"If being in a guild offers so many advantages, why are you not in one?"

Still watching the starry sky above, he replied:

"I don't trust humans. I don't like people. They will betray you without a moment of hesitation if it suits their interests."

"Then... why are you being kind to me?" The girl asked.

At her question, Naruto lifted himself in a standing position. Resting his arms on his knees, he looked at the burning campfire, his eye vacant.

"It because just like you, I had also believed at some point that I was a demon."

Nobody was forcing him to speak about his past but Naruto used to be a very sociable and friendly person. While, in the past 6 months, he had barely had any contact with humans and society, now that he met a kindred spirit, even if it was a girl a couple of years younger than him, he felt the need to talk about his tragedy with her.

"The day I was born, the most powerful demon in existence attacked my village. My father, the leader of the village, fought against it but the demon proved to be too powerful for him to defeat it."

"In the end, he was left with only one choice: he used a forbidden technique to defeat the demon - in exchange for sacrificing his life, he jailed the demon in the body of a newborn child. His child. Inside of me."

Mirajane's eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth.

"He considered the well being of his village as more important than the life of his son. Because of what he did, for the following 13 years, everyone hated and shunned me, thinking that I was the reincarnation of the demon that nearly destroyed the village and killed thousands of people before. They never understood that the person they hated was, in fact, the only one holding back a monster that could bring about their doom."

"I worked hard. Despite all the adversity, I became powerful. So powerful that I single-handedly defeated someone even more powerful than the deadly demon sealed inside my body. A man who claimed to have the eyes of a god."

"I saved the entire village more than once and I lost count how many times I nearly died in the process of doing that. In the end, people acknowledged me."

"I thought that they started to love and respect me. But it was only a facade. A few weeks later, I was accused of attempting to assassinate the leader of one of the neighbouring countries."

"Nobody took my side. Nobody believed me when I said I'm innocent. I had my powers sealed and I was thrown in prison. A prison where I ended up dying as a sacrifice to a demon that was said to be able to grant any wish."

"That's why I hate humans. That's why I don't need a guild."

"You, however, understand my pain. Just like me, you've also saved your village from a demon only to be shunned and banished by the very people you saved. You've also been treated as a monster."

"I sympathise with you. That's the only reason I want to help you."

A long silence followed. But after a while, Mirajane said:

"I also don't like people. They've done nothing but hurt me and my little brother and sister... I don't want to join a guild."

She chewed on her lower lip before begging:

"You said I will become very powerful, didn't you? Take me with you! I won't hold you back! Not for long! I will help you with everything I can! I will never betray you! I swear!"

Naruto snorted again in derision. The person he saw as a brother had shoved a lightning-encased fist through his chest with the clear intent to kill and the one he looked up to almost like at a mother figure emotionlessly sentenced him to prison, a prison where he was killed... how could he possibly trust the words of a stranger, of an easily impressionable little girl?

However, he didn't say that. He chose another way to deal with the situation.

"What about your little sister and brother? Are you going to abandon them? Just like my father abandoned me when I was just a baby?"

Mirajane looked down in shame at her selfish thoughts. For a moment there, she had nearly forgotten about her siblings.

"Those who abandon their comrades are trash. But those who abandon their family are even worse than trash."

Little Mirajane did not reply but she ingrained those words deeply into her heart.

Naruto knew that in order to become powerful, one needs a goal, a purpose. That's why he told Mirajane the following words:

"Watch over your siblings until they become strong enough to tackle life on their own. Become a powerful mage yourself - an S-ranked mage - one of the most powerful in your guild."

"Then, in a few years, after you grow up and mature, if you still want to follow me, I will take you."

"This is a promise. And I never go back on my word."

That was the last thing Mirajane heard before a sudden feeling of sleepiness overwhelmed her.

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When she woke up there was no sign of Naruto. The endless forest was nowhere in sight either - she found herself and her still sleeping siblings at the outskirts of Magnolia, one of the most prosperous cities in Fiore.

When she looked at herself she realized that clutched in one of her hands were a letter and a bag full of jewels. Hurriedly, she ripped the envelope and pulled out the white sheet before starting to read anxiously. It was a very short letter, addressed to her.

To Mirajane,

Fairy Tail is one of the most popular guilds in Fiore and their rules for joining it are very lax. Even your siblings would most likely be accepted as members. Their guildmaster claims that Fairy Tail is like a family. Maybe you will find a home there.

I left some jewels for you to rent a place and feed your family for a few months until you become adept at using your power and earning money on your own. Take care of yourself and remember the last thing we talked about.

Naruto.

It was a blunt way of writing, with no formalities and no more words than necessary. But to her, it meant so much more than that. It was a memento from him. Her eyes became wet and despite trying her hardest not to start crying, tears began to fall down her cheeks. Holding the letter and the bag of jewels tightly to her chest, she promised through her sobs:

"Naruto-san, I will not disappoint you! One day, I will surely repay you for everything!"

Mirajane was not aware of it but Naruto was much closer than she thought. He was just a few tens of feet away, watching over her and her brother and sister. He just didn't want them to see him and give them a chance at expressing their gratitude once again.

After seeing the three Strauss siblings starting to walk towards Magnolia, Naruto finally stopped watching them and prepared to leave. He had an important appointment: after half a year of continuously eluding the Magic Council, he finally agreed to meet them face to face.

AN: this is just a trial chapter for a new Naruto/Fairy Tail fic. I do not have a full plot in mind yet. As the saying goes, I only wanted to test the waters first, to see if there are enough people interested in it or if I should think about doing a crossover with another anime.

In this fic, Naruto learned Take Over: Satan Soul magic in order to take control of Satori - as you all know, whoever was thrown into the Box of Ultimate Bliss became possessed by its resident demon, Satori. Satori was an incredibly powerful demon that was playing around with Killer Bee in bijuu mode + all Konoha 11 + Naruto in Sage Mode + Gamabunta, all at the same time. Him being so powerful came mostly from how he was instinctively dodging all of their attacks. They couldn't even hit him. It took Naruto getting himself stabbed to lock the demon in place, to finally allow the others' attacks to meet their mark.