Naruto smiled as Mirajane handed him a bag of sandwiches, "Peanut butter and jelly," she grinned, "whipped them up while you and the Master were talking. Eat up and we'll head into the city."

"Thanks Mira-chan!," the lost shinobi beamed. While the stigma of being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki that he had been labeled with for all of his life had gradually begun to pass since the start of his shinobi career, becoming nearly nonexistent after his battle with Nagato, he still took each acceptance from people full heartedly.

Fairy Tail, eh? Strange name, but if everyone in the guild is like those two then I think I could make this work. He grabbed the bag and practically inhaled the food, satisfying his stomach in seconds.

"Wha? I blinked, what happened?" Mirajane exclaimed, looking at the now empty bag.

"Hehe I guess I was hungry," came the reply, a fox-like expression nearly reaching his eyes as he scratched the back of his neck.

"I can see that. Now come on, lets go."

Mirajane had never quite met someone like Naruto. It was as if the ninja radiated charisma and compassion. His smile was infectious, but his eyes… she could see hidden pain in them. It was subtle but it was there. His grin seemed out of place when matched with those blue orbs.

Acting on impulse she looped her arm through his and guided him out of the Guild Hall with a grin on her face cheering, "shopping!"

She pulled him out before he could be surrounded by the other members. Mira could tell he was getting a little overwhelmed by everything, and figured he could at least face that fiasco when properly dressed. They made their way down the busy roads to the nearest clothing store.

Mirajane proceeded to sling items of all varieties in Naruto's direction seemingly without looking, "Go try things on! We'll see how they fit and then go from there."

She watched him go in with a grin, I love shopping.

Shopping however was something Naruto was now beginning to view as something nearly as intermittently evil as Uchiha Madara. He had found a bright orange jump suit similar to his old genin days hidden in one of the clearance racks, but when he went towards the changing room it was snatched from his hands.

"Naru-kun, while orange is a nice color I am not going to pay for something that painful to look at. Now be a good boy and try these on," the formerly sweet turned maniacal girl stated, with scary gleam in her eyes.

He wanted to argue, but even after facing down the most powerful shinobi on the planet, the look in her eyes made him freeze, "O-of course Mira-chan…"

She tossed him a few more sets of clothing before ushering him towards the changing room. When he shut the door and turned to the mirror he gasped in shock.

"Is everything alright?" came Mirajane's voice from outside.

Naruto had no reply. His hands slowly reached up towards his cheeks where the whisker mark signs of his possession had always been so prominently displayed… were absent.

Could this mean… I'm free of the furrball? He thought, his voice quivering even within his own mind. Even after witnessing the state of the cage, he believed that somehow, someway the demonic presence would end up coming back. That it was just hiding and replenishing its powers. To see proof like this… The thought was humbling. He had yearned to be rid of the demonic presence within his coils since the day Mizuki, his traitorous instructor had slipped the information.

It was then that he got a closer look at his eyes. The sign of a true Toad Sage wielding Nature Chakra was the frog-like yellow eyes and the change in pigment over his eyelids to red. This however was much different. His cerulean eyes held a soft glow to them, almost as if they were gentle blue lights. He could see the deeper blue swirls lazily floating this way and that in seemingly no distinct pattern. That's when it truly hit him. Even after listening to the Guild Master's theories he had a small amount of hope that he would be able to make his way back home, but Nature Chakra didn't lie. The chain reaction between his Senjutsu and Kyuubi Chakra must have caused some sort of anomaly much like a summoning justu.

"Naru-kun?"

I'll save those thoughts for later. Right now I need to gather more information about this world. He sifted through the clothes Mirajane handed him before throwing a set on and walking outside… before being thrown back into the small changing room.

"Next!"

It continued for what felt like days. Naruto would try on a set of clothes, and the she-devil would launch him back inside with more. His jump suits were both gifts, one from the Sandaime Hokage for completing the academy, and the other one from his former sensei Jiraiya for completing the three years trip so he had never experienced something quite like… this. It made him glad that he instinctually resisted all of Sakura-chan's attempts to get him to go with her.

Sakura… If he closed his eyes, he could still see her laying so peacefully in the dirt almost as if she was sleeping. She had given her life to protect him. All of his comrades had. In a way with the destruction of Madara and the Kyuubi he had given those left alive a chance at peace not seen since before the coming of the Sage of the Six Paths. He could only hope that some of his friends were still alive to rebuild and enjoy it.

Shaking his head he forced those thoughts back down to the depths of his mind. Grieve for them later.

He pushed his thoughts back to the task at hand. As he slipped on the jacket and stepped outside, he was relieved to finally see a grin of approval on the supple lips of the ivory haired beauty.

He wore a loose pair of dark blue cargo pants that he taped up to the tops of his shins and a skin tight sleeveless black shirt with a small fairy tail emblem emblazoned on front at his sternum in white. On top of that was his favorite piece, a long sleeved jacket reminiscent to his sage coat and the one his father wore while he was Hokage, white with an orange flame pattern licking the bottom of the hem.

He searched for a pair of sandals like the open toed shinobi ones he had grown up with, but nothing truly held that comfortable feeling. Instead, he just elected to do without and go barefoot.

"Perfect!" Mirajane exclaimed as she beamed up at him and collected the massive pile of discarded clothes.

"There's one thing missing, but I can get that later." Naruto said as he brushed one of his long golden bangs out from his eyes. He picked up a long strip of cloth and tied it around his forehead.

"I went ahead and had the cashier bag up a few of the other sets of clothes that looked good. I'm going to head to the counter and take care of it. Can you put these back where they go?"

"Sure Mira-chan, thanks!" As he took the massive mound of clothes from her, a curious thought came to him, I wonder…

"Eternano Make: Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He forced the energy out and watched as four blue diagrams sprouted in mid air in front of him, followed by four exact replicas of himself. Whew, I still have my shadow clones. I put enough energy in that to made about twenty though… I guess it takes more of this Eternano stuff to make them then it does chakra.

He tossed clothes towards the other clones and they quickly got to work sorting through the pile and hanging everything back up. By the time Mirajane was finished at the counter he had already finished and dispelled the group.

"That was fast, ready to head back to the guild? I think its time to introduce you to the others now that your fed and clothed."

"Sounds great, and thank you Mira-chan for all of the help. I really appreciate it," Naruto said solemnly. It was rare to find a person willing to go this far out of their way to help someone they hardly knew.

"Nonsense Naru-kun. You saved me from a fate worse then death. Clothes and food is the least I can do." Her smile was one thing he didn't ever think he could get enough of.

"Hai, then lets head back to Fairy Tail," he said, a soft true smile on his face.

One couldn't become as good at transformation magic as Mirajane without learning to be extremely attentive to detail. She knew there were parts of his story that Naruto omitted and with the way that he had sailed past her questions about the war, she knew that he was trying to deal with whatever he had seen.

Fiore hadn't seen true war in centuries, not since the Dark Mage Zeref. Mages had their petty squabbles between guilds, but it usually ended in all out brawls instead of the bloodshed of that era. While the Council was useless in most areas regarding magic, they were very well structured at preventing war with all of the laws established on maintaining a peaceful and cohesive magical and non magical nation. There were occasionally mishaps due to the Dark Guilds that had been outcast by the Council, but it hadn't reached the destructive levels of an all out war.

As she let him back towards the Guild, once more looping her arm through his and guiding him through the streets she gave him a make-shift tour of the town. They took an opposite route back then they had taken to get there. She walked him around the town's Magic Shop, where he walked around almost like a child in a candy store, Kardia Cathedral which was one of the towns most prominent land marks, a couple of her favorite restaurants, and a few other important stops. As she pointed out the sights, she continued her lecture on guilds that they had begun while in the forest.

"The Guilds were established to keep mages in check by the council and take sanctioned jobs throughout the lands for money. Like I said, a Guild that doesn't follow the Council's rules is branded as a Dark Guild. The Balam Alliance that the man you saved me from mentioned is an alliance of sorts between the three strongest Dark Guilds. Not much is known about them though. Killing is the biggest taboo for mages and it will immediately brand you a criminal. If it was sanctioned by your guild, then your entire guild is branded as well…"

She continued to explain the intricacies of the system to him, how each job was ranked all the way up to the highest class, S-Class. She smiled as he mentioned it was a lot like the Shinobi system was before the start of the war, although he didn't elaborate.

The sun was beginning to set as the pair finally made it back to the Guild Hall when they heard yelling from inside of the building, along with loud crashes. Mirajane could only giggle at Naruto's alert expression, "Don't worry, it sounds like just about everyone is home so you can meet the group."

She chuckled at his arched eyebrow and led him inside.

To say Naruto was confused would be an understatement. It seemed as if the quiet and peaceful Guild Hall he had left had been transformed into a chaotic melee of limbs, dust, and magic.

"Ohayo everyone!" Mirajane chanted and waved as they walked in, causing the room to freeze.

It seemed word traveled pretty quickly in the guild because everyone's eyes fell immediately on the shinobi. It was hard to look at the room without laughing as each person seemed to be in mid attack as they gazed on him.

"Fairy Tail! This is our new member Namikaze Naruto! Naruto, this is Fairy Tail," she announced. He could see the pride etched across her face as she spoke of her guild. He took a closer look at everyone and noticed the large grins on their faces. There was no malice in their fight, no hatred towards anyone in the room. It almost… playful? Before he had a chance to think more on it the members had all lined up to meet him.

The first man in line strolled casually towards him with a cheerful expression on his face. He looked to be one of the older members of the guild with dark blue hair and an outrageously large S shaped pendant hanging from a chain around his neck, "I'm Macao, welcome to Fairy Tail. We heard about your battle. Thanks for saving our Mirajane."

Naruto firmly grasped his outstretched hand, "Thanks, I couldn't just leave her."

The next man who came up to him towered over him, "You must be very manly to defeat such an enemy so easily! Thank you for saving my sister, I'm Elfman."

Naruto repeated his sentence and continued as he began to commit faces and names to memory. There was Wakaba, a man who reeked of smoke with a very odd hairstyle who gave him a solemn look before asking what his intentions were with 'his' Mira-chan, Team Shadow Gear consisting of two males named Droy and Jey, along with a petite blue haired girl Levy, a scantily clad card reader named Cana, a severe red head named Erza…

"Fight me!"

The yell broke Naruto out of his concentration. A boy with hair the same color as Sakura was standing on top of one of the tables pointing at him, a look of determination on his face. Naruto arched his eyebrow at Mira who only smiled up at him.

"Why?" Naruto said in confusion.

"I want to see how strong you are! Lets take this outside! Come Happy!" He yelled enthusiastically as he marched out the door, flying blue cat in tow.

Flying blue cat?

"Aye sir!"

Correction. Flying blue talking cat with a tiny green backpack. Huh. That's new.

He looked at the other members of the guild who were staring with anticipation. Mira was nudging him with her elbow trying to get his attention, "Its almost an initiation."

With a shrug Naruto turned to follow the pink haired boy outside. Just as before he passed through the doorway he heard the scantily clad woman named Cana begin shouting out odds to the other members and saw money rapidly changing hands. Two to one odds that this guy wins? What do they take me for?

He blocked it out and looked at his opponent who had stopped in the middle of the courtyard. A grin matching his own was stretched across the mans face, "My name is Namikaze Naruto, what's yours?"

"Natsu Dragneel. Mira says your strong, and that you beat that Erigor guy with one spell."

"It wasn't much, I don't believe the man was at full strength. I assume you have an idea what the revenge on Fairy Tail he was talking about is?"

"I kicked his ass and stopped him from killing the Guild Masters," Natsu boasted, puffing his chest and squaring his shoulders, "Here I come!"

Naruto watched as Natsu ran at him in almost disbelief. It was as if he was staring at himself back in his early genin days. There was no subtlety to the approach at all, and the cocked back flaming fist left little to the imagination of where he would strike.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" the rose haired Dragon Slayer screamed as he slammed his flaming fist forward.

Naruto called on the training with Kirabi and quickly analyzed the attack, putting his enhanced reflexes and shinobi speed to good use. With Eternano flowing through his body he shot out his left arm in a blur, catching Natsu's arm just below the elbow and stopping him in his tracks.

"Huh, those flames are kind of hot," the shinobi said, glancing at the fiery fist inches away from his face. He parried a round house with his forearm and took advantage of Natsu's open stance by planting a push kick to his abdomen sending the man flying back in the air, causing him to land on the ground with a grunt.

"Damn…" cursed the flame wielder as he bounced back to his feet and attacked again, "Fire Dragon's Claw!" He yelled, flames kicking up underneath his feet and propelling him at high speeds towards the former Jinchuuriki. Natsu smirked as he made contact, only to fly right through the blond and blast into the trunk of a tree.

Those watching the fight had begun to make a wide circle around the match, leaving more then enough room for Natsu's destructive tendencies gasped as the image of Naruto vanished when Natsu blew through it.

Natsu stood up quickly and looked around frantically before sniffing in the air and looking up. His expression turned to shock as he saw Naruto standing upside down on a tree branch directly above him, looking at him with a grin plastered on his face, "Eternano Make: Clone Jutsu."

It was times like this when Naruto understood exactly why Kakashi-sensei screwed with him so much when he first made the team during their spars. It was hysterical. This Eternano stuff is a lot easier to control then chakra. Could it be because the Kyuubi's chakra isn't interfering with my techniques anymore?

It was a question he would ask himself later. Now was a time for action. Before Natsu had a time to react, Naruto released his hold on the tree and let his momentum tackle his opponent where the two engaged in a tight taijutsu match. The boy impressed him, even with his enhanced reflexes the boy was managing to keep up with him with a line of unorthodox strikes and parries, if just barely. Flames raked through the air as the two danced between each other, strike and block, kick and parry. There was no thought, no plan, just reflexes and grins. Natsu enhanced his strikes with the power of a dragon, while Naruto utilized the years of intensive training and experience as a Leaf Ninja.

As they punched they learned. For fighters like them the truest way to identify with a person was with their fists. Emotion between warriors was something that could not be spoken or heard, only felt. Time slows down, everything around blends into the background.

Before long, Naruto broke through a hole in Natsu's defense and landed a brutal uppercut to the underside of his jaw. The attack lifted him into the air and propelled him to the other side of the courtyard.

Naruto's worries that he may have hit his new guild member too hard were immediately erased as the boy pushed himself to his feet, smiling wide with determination brimming in his eyes. Damn this kid can take a hit. Looks like he wants to turn it up a few notches.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" he bellowed. A red diagram materialized in front of him as he shot a large stream of fire at Naruto. The flames swirled in a tantalizing dance of destruction as they grew closer and closer, until the heat was licking Naruto's cheeks.

Naruto waited just before the fire touched before reacting.

Mirajane watched the battle with excitement. She knew the new member was strong, but there weren't many people who could overpower Natsu in close combat. His abilities were one surprise after another and she could hardly wait to see what he would pull out next.

She watched as Natsu's roar quickly reached him and grew worried when Naruto showed no signs of movement. Just before the attack landed she saw his eyes widen in what looked like surprise before the area he stood at was encased in flames.

Smoke replaced fire as his breath attack expired and there was no sign of movement. Mirajane felt her heart clench. Silence was deafening. It seemed as if everyone held their breath as the air slowly cleared. She watched as hope, anticipation and horror each battled for supremacy within her.

The anticipation made the wait agony. Finally the ground came into view, but there was no Naruto. In the place he had stood was a charred piece of the tree the two had nearly destroyed in their hand-to-hand match.

Everyone's eyes scanned the grounds as they searched for the missing member.

"Eternano Make: Oodama Rasengan"

The voice came from behind Natsu, and Mirajane watched in shock as a very large blue orb appeared through a magical seal in the outstretched hand of Naruto.

She looked on as Natsu slowly turned around, eyes wide at the sight of the attack. She remembered how much damage the smaller attack did to her kidnapper even through his armor and she didn't want to imagine how bad an upgraded version would be without protection.

"Submit," he said firmly as he maintained the attack just inches away from its target. The energy in the attack was palpable even from the other side of the field. She didn't think she would ever see the day when Natsu would fear anything until she caught the subtle shakes of his shoulders.

"Y-yeah…" the dragon slayer said quietly, the sound barely audible in the wind. Everyone let out a breath they didn't know they held as the attack dissipated into nothingness and the stern expression Naruto had morphed into a fox-like grin.

"Good spar," he said as he held out his hand to Natsu.

Natsu hesitated a second before squaring his shoulders and grinning back, "Yeah! How'd you dodge the roar though?"

"Super awesome ninja skills, duh. I switched places with a part of the tree behind you. You have a lot of potential, you just need to work on not projecting your attacks so much."

"Cool! Fight me again one day!"

"Hell yeah," Naruto agreed. A grin Mirajane equally matched as she took her winnings from Cana. 5 to 1 odds? How could I resist? The former S-Class mage knew at that moment that Naruto would fit in just fine.

"NATSU! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT DESTROYING MY COURTYARD!"

Mira giggled as she watched Makarov stomp out of the guild hall and Natsu take off in a cloud of dust. The guild master grumbled before taking a long drink from the mug in his hand and walking back inside followed by the rest of the members. She waited where she stood with her hands clutched together in front over her waist as Naruto walked slowly up to her with a disarming smile, "I think I'm going to like it here."

"I'm glad. We're happy to have you Naruto. Come on, I'll give you a tour of the guild." she said as she once more looped an arm through his.

Naruto sat at the bar listening to stories of other mages exploits and learning the history of Fairy Tail. A lazy smile stretched over at his face as he nodded during the pauses and occasionally took a gulp of his drink. He couldn't ever remember feeling this kind of peace. He only hoped that with his defeat of Madara that those who survived would feel it too. With Kirabi and the Hachibi being fully merged he was confident that when he died they both passed on. Typically when a Jinchuuriki died the beast would either manifest right there or the chakra would leak back into the world where it would eventually reform. Neither event occurred at Kirabi's death, and the Kyuubi being gone as well… Hopefully the cycle could be broken.

He knew his friends wouldn't want him moping around because of their deaths. They would want him to move forward and find happiness. And that's what I'll do. For them. The more and more he thought about trying to find a way back, the more excuses he came up with to stay. He and his friends had done enough for the Shinobi lands, it was now their turn to take that gift and make something of it. I did it Ero-sennin.

"What's on your mind, Naru-kun?" came the calming voice behind him.

He tilted his head back to look at Mirajane pouring a drink behind the bar, "I'm thinking this vacation has been years in the making Mira-chan."

Her smile was infectious, the way her lips curved gently upwards and her eyes closed in mirth. He couldn't help as one of his own sprouted along with her.

"You'll always be welcome here, take a look at the requests board when you get a chance though before you drink too much. I just updated it so none of the good jobs should be taken yet. You can stay in one of the guest rooms until you get your feet under you but most of the guild members get their own places in the town," she said as she gestured towards the board towards the end of the room. It looked like it was covered haphazardly by different post-it notes tacked into place.

Naruto smiled and thanked her before making his way over to them and reading the jobs. He got the brief rundown on the money system by Mira earlier when they were shopping.

He scanned the pieces of paper pinned up haphazardly by thumb tacks. It almost made him chuckle how similar it was to the shinobi missions, with the exception of the assassination and espionage of course. They were broken down as D-Class to A-Class, ranging from monotonous chores around the city that one of the more rich members of society offered to pay for to get entertainment, to ridding vicious beasts from villages on the other side of the continent.

So there's a bridge that needs to be defended as it's built… I think this one would be perfect. Naruto casually plucked the piece of paper off the board and walked back to the bar where Mirajane was standing guard over his drink for him, "Got this one, wanna come with?"

Mirajane smiled at him and shook her head. "Sorry Naru-kun but I haven't gone on a mission in years. I'm not much of a fan of fighting anymore. That one has a rather large reward on it for one person though, did you want to ask someone else in the guild for help?"

Naruto took a deep gulp of his drink before smiling at her, "Nah, I wasn't really looking for help. It would have been nice to go there with a friendly face though."

"Maybe next time Naru-kun. You'll have to give me a bit more time in advance so I could have someone cover my shift. Be safe though Naruto, they don't offer rewards like that for nothing," the woman cautioned, filling a mug with amber ale.

The blond chuckled, "You don't need to worry about me Mira-chan, I'm a badass shinobi. Believe it."

Mirajane looked at him with a warm glint in her eyes, making his heart beat fast, "I know Naru-kun, take care."

Naruto flushed and quickly hit his face behind his mug, draining the rest of it's contents. "I'll be back before you know it," he declared as he wiped a frothy mustache from his face.

The way he did the math, 300,000 Jewels was roughly the amount one would get for the completion of a B-Rank mission back in Konoha, and those were loads more dangerous… Right?

Author's Notes - Thanks for the constructive criticism for last chapter, I'll get right to work correcting the mistakes. I've learned that posting chapters while still slightly inebriated isn't always the smartest decision to make xD.

Toa Naruto Thanks for the save, I do appreciate it.

Lord Arkan I thought about that, but after years of everyone knowing about the Kyuubi and seeing all of his friends still fight for him seems to me like it would take the sting out of it. Its become less of a stigmata attached to him and more of a defining characteristic of how he turned out the way he did. I do respect your opinion though and thank you for sharing it. If anything else comes to mind by all means run it by me.

Revised 6/3/2012 - Didn't add much to this one. I wanted to put an extra quest or two in here to try and make it seem a bit less rushed, but I decided to keep the pace where it was for this arc so people wouldn't feel the need to come back and re-read something they had just seen fo ronly a few seens of him walking around town kissing babies and painting fences. Removed the few random Japanese words in it and tried to smooth the dialogue and help it fit a bit better with the previous updated chapter. Hope everyone enjoys it.