Where have you been?

Disclaimer: I do not own in Naruto and Fairy Tail.
All credits goes to their rightful owner.

Chapter 2

"Oi, Natsu! What's the mission about?" The blonde Celestial Spirit mage asked her pink haired nakama, speed walking a bit to catch up with him. They were on their way to the Magnolia Train Station; from there they are going to Hirobana, a town near the Stone Forest. If they didn't go with the train it would take three days, with train maybe two days. The dragon slayer turned his head to look at his friend, "We're going to pick up Oji-san and escort him back to Fairy Tail!" He answered, folding his arms behind his salmon –'pink haired!' – Head, his blue cat flying just above the two.

The red-haired requip holder glanced back from the corner of her eyes at the two teens at the mention of the guild's master, her scarlet hair moving with the movement. "Master?" She asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Where had he been?" The redhead named Erza turned her head and stared at Natsu.

Natsu shivered slightly at her stare and gulped the nervousness away. "M-Mira told me that he was visiting some place called..." He trailed off, as he rubbed his chin in a thinking position, soon enough he pointed his index finger to the sky and grinned. "Konoha!"

Not only Erza but also Lucy and Gray looked at Natsu in confusingly, they never heard of this town called Konoha. Would there also be a guild full of wizards? "Where is this Konoha?" It was Gray who was again almost naked, luckily his underwear was on but he was close enough to strip that also.

"I honestly don't know!" Natsu shrugged but grinned nonetheless, making his nakamas falling anime-style at his straight forwardness. After they picked themselves up from the ground, Erza glared at the pink haired boy. "Natsu." She growled, in which said boy whimpered in fear of Erza's wrath. "How would we know where to pick Master up?" Letting another growl with each step she took towards the scared boy until she was eye-level with him.

"M-Mira said to pick him up at S-Stone Forest." Natsu stuttered out, backing away from the Titania ever so slowly but with ever step he took, she took a step forward. Suddenly her mood changed and a very out of character smile appeared on her face before she turned on her heels and walked away from Natsu who let out a deep sigh.

When the three mages noticed that Erza was way farther than them, they wasted no time in catching up with her. "E-Erza, wait up!" Lucy yelled after her but said person didn't stop walking, soon enough they caught up with her.

The blonde haired girl rubbed her chin in thought as she walked, probably thinking about the mission. "Where is Stone Forest?" Lucy asked to no one in particular, she scrunched her nose a bit, she never heard of the place before until now. "It's somewhere in Hirobana, or something." It was Gray who answered her question, in surprise she looked at him.

"Really?" Gray just nodded, unconsciously stripping himself again.

"Gray, you're clothes." Erza said without looking back at the now half naked ice mage who looked in shock at his half naked body. "G-Gack, when did this happened?" He cried out, running back to fetch his clothes.

"I wonder if the people in Konoha are strong people, I want to fight them!" Natsu suddenly exclaimed. "Aye!" Happy cheered, pumping a small paw-fist-something in the air and Erza just nodded in agreement.

It didn't take too long for Team Natsu to arrive at the Train Station; the train was going to leave in five minutes. Natsu was feeling his motion sickness again; unfortunately Wendy wasn't here to use her Troia on him.

"Natsu, come here." Erza waved her hand to him to sit next to her, meaning Lucy –who was currently sitting next to Erza– to move to sit next to Gray. Natsu shook his head, not wanting to feel what Erza is planning to do, which would be knocking him unconscious again. Gray, who was staring at the window, glared at Natsu who disobeyed the Titania's order and grabbed the collar of his vest before throwing him, head first at the Heart Kreuz armor Erza wore. Making him unconscious immediately.

Lucy sighed and stepped over Natsu, who was still laying on the ground and went to sit next to Gray as the Scarlet colored woman dragged Natsu on the couch beside her in a not so graceful way.

Even though Natsu was unconscious, he had a calm look on his face making the blonde haired Celestial Spirit Mage smiling a bit at the look of his face.

Lucy glanced at Erza who was surprisingly, asleep with Happy on her lap and the same goes for Gray. The blonde pouted slightly, they're already asleep and now she's bored. Lucy looked at the window, it was very quiet but it wasn't comforting. She actually missed the bickering of Gray and Natsu, or Erza's wrath. The still awake girl looked at the source of the sound when she heard something.

"Nnngh." Came from Natsu's mouth, he had a sad expression on his face and there was sweat rolling from his forehead. Lucy looked worriedly at him, was he going to be okay? Does she need to wake him up?

"S-Sakura.." Lucy looked in surprise at Natsu, cherry blossoms? Was he dreaming of those? "Don't l-leave m-me.." Now Lucy looked worried at him again, he was sweating and mumbling things in his sleep that doesn't even made sense, cherry blossoms that should not leave him? Sighing, she stood up from her seat and walked over to Natsu, giving him a slight nudge on the shoulder his eyes suddenly shot open and wer– are those tears?

"It's almost unbearable, isn't it… the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling, I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me.
I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I'll never give up, I will stop you, even if I have to kill you! They saved me from myself, they rescued me from my loneliness, they were the first to accept me as who I am. They're my friends!" – Naruto Uzumaki to Gaara no Subaku

"So… You're a wizard?" The familiar voice of the Kyuubi container asked, narrowing his eyes at the short but old man in front of him. The latter nodded his head at his question. "I'm a guild master, actually."

"Guild… Master?" This time it was the rosette that asked the question, furrowing her brows she cocked her head to the side and frowned. "What is that?" She asked again, to Makarov.

Makarov smiled kindly, it was only to be expected to receive these kinds of questions. He cleared his throat to get the attention of the young ninjas and stood on the log.

"I'm the head of the Guild that I'm in;" he started explaining. "Fairy Tail." Thinking back of his lively guild he smiled, he really missed his kids already. Natsu and Gray's bickering and then Erza would shut them up, Cana's constant drinking, Happy who would try and get Charle's attention…

Shaking his head again, he looked at the three young ninjas in front of him. In some way they remind him of the mages of Fairy Tail, even though they do not look like them… Their personality is what it is. "Fairy Tail is the most strongest, destructive but loyal guild I've ever known, they're my children and I'm the loving Father. They are all individual really strong, but when they work together they are even stronger." He stopped talking for a moment, "Maybe even stronger than me!" Makarov laughed softly and looked at the fire in front of him. "There's one thing they all have in common, though…"

Naruto raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the right with a confusing look on his face. "What is it?"

"They all carry a sad past." Was all he said, smiling slightly as he remembered what all of them went through. Luckily they found comfort in eachother, making them a family.

Naruto's eyes gleamed in excitement, now he really wants to meet them. "Oji-san, do you know who we'll meet at the meeting point?" Naruto so wants to battle them, who are the strongest, a ninja or a mage? The ultimate showdown "Yosh!" Naruto suddenly yelled, standing up pumping his fists in the air. "When I meet them, I'm going to fight them." He stated, grinning from ear to ear. Both Sai and Sakura smiled and nodded in agreement.

Makarov smiled at his enthusiasm, he was just like Natsu.

"Do you maybe have any idea who will be escorting you to… Fairy Tail?" The pale boy asked with a fake smile plastered on his face.

The short man thought for a bit, rubbing his chin as he did so. It could be anyone, Team Shadow Gear or even Gajeel and Pantherlily or it would be just Mirajane and Elfman. Shaking his head at his assumptions, it would be Team Natsu especially since Natsu was always down for a mission.

Makarov gave a short shrug at Sai's answer. "It could be anyone, but I have a feeling that I probably know who it would be." He simply said with a smile. Naruto grinned and fixed his headband, leaning closer to the fire, looking at the tiny man. "Who do you think will come then, Oji-san?"

Said man glanced at the rosette who was also waiting for him to answer before fake coughing, before talking again. "I think, it's going to be the strongest team in Fairy Tail." Nodding his head, he truly found them the strongest team in Fairy Tail, but he has to admit he fears them also. The team members are very strong and have great teamwork, but they are also careless and he –and the council– is afraid they will destroy an entire city.

Naruto grinned again. "Alright, the strongest team in Fairy Tail versus the strongest team Kakashi!" Sakura sweat dropped and ushered her hand. "Oi, who said we're the strongest." Sakura mumbled to Naruto, who just grinned again. "I did, didn't you heard me Sakura-chan?" the medic kunoichi just shook his head while smiling a little.

Sai looked up at the sky and saw that it was already dark and that the stars are already up high in the sky. "Dickless, Ugly. Shall we?" The artist stood from the log, giving Sakura a hand that she gladly took and hoisted herself up. However she her grip on his hand was a little too… Tight. Sai bit his lip to prevent noises; luckily she loosened her grip on his hand.

Sakura's emerald colored eyes looked at Makarov, giving him a gentle smile she walked over to him. "Would you like to join us in watching the sky?" She kindly asked, leaning down a bit to his height. Makarov blinked, once. Twice. But eventually nodded, giving her a kind smile of his own. Jumping from the log, he dusted his orange pants and looked at the two boys bickering. Apparently, Sai has commented to Naruto about his… You know that.

Sai was the one that led the group, because when he was searching for wood he found a nearby hill where they could watch the stars. Watching the stars was pretty much a tradition nowadays. Whenever they're on a mission, at night they would find a hill and watch the stars, shining so brightly.

The hill was almost in sight, Sakura quickly ran up to the hill with Naruto in tow, laughing along the way and leaving Sai and Makarov behind to catch up.

"They're quite lively, aren't they?" The wizard commented, watching Sakura jumping on Naruto's back but since he wasn't paying attention he lost his balance, making both of them falling over. Sai, being a man of few words, just nodded his head.

"Have you guys been friends for a long time?" That question took him off guard, friends? He never really considered them as friends but more like comrades, after all he's only a replacement for Sasuke and helping them with finding him. After that he'll leave the team. That thought kind of made him sad, he would be lying if he said that he has kind of, maybe, possibly grown attached to his team.

Shrugging a bit he looked to the two again who was currently at the top of the hill, waving at them for being so slow.

"I guess so."

Makarov just smiled and nodded with a knowing look on his face.

The four of them were now on the top of the hill; all of them were laying down and watching the stars above. Sai. Sakura. Naruto. Makarov.

Sakura sighed dreamily, looking at the stars. "The stars are so pretty tonight.." The others couldn't help but not in agreement. Sakura looked at Naruto from the corner of his eyes to see that he had a sad look on his face. Turning her head to fully look at him, she smiled a bit. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Said boy turned also his head to look at her and smiled sadly.

"Would Sasuke be watching the same stars right now?" Sakura looked in surprise at the boy with the whiskers next to her, before giving him a sad smile as well. "Who knows, he maybe is or maybe not." She simply said. 'Are you looking at the stars, Sasuke-kun?'

Makarov heard their conversation and wondered who this 'Sasuke' person could be, he wanted to ask but he seemed that he's kind of a touchy subject, especially after seeing Naruto smile like that.

"I am not alone. I can hear them... I can hear everyone's voices... I can sense everyone's feelings..
. I am not alone... everyone's feelings... they support me... they are what give me the will to stand and fight!" – Natsu Dragneel to Brain

End Chapter 2.

Thank you so much for those who reviewed/alerted/favorite this story! I'm glad you guys like it, so I hope you also enjoyed this chapter! Happy Valentine's Day, I probably will be posting a V-Day-shot later or tomorrow. Don't forget to review if you like it!