Fairy Tail's Shinobi

Hey guys this is a beta'd version thanks to Reikson who helped in proofreading this chapter. Thank you guys for reading my story even thought it was just random.

Normal Speech: "Naruto"

Important or Emphasized Speech: "Naruto"

Thoughts: 'Then I will break that curse. If there is such thing as peace, I will find it. I won't give up!'

Spells canting and Jutsu Names: "Doton Jutsu, Ice Make Shield!"

Demons and Dragons Speech: "Now then... Who do you want to kill...?"

Demons and Dragons Thinking: 'The question is what to do with him…'

The Kingdom of Fiore is a neutral country of seventeen million people.

It is a world of magic.

Magic, bought and sought every day, is an integral part of the people's lives.

Moreover, there are those who use magic as their occupation. These people are mages or sorcerers.

The mages belong to various guilds, and perform jobs on commission.

There are a large number of guilds throughout the country of Fiore.

In addition, there lies a certain guild in a certain city.

This guild hosted legends in times long ago, and would continue to host more such legends long into the future…

…and its name is Fairy Tail!

Chapter One: Erza's Secret

A very unusual day in the life of the Fairy Tail Magic Guild started as it usually did.

Natsu and Gray were arguing again, Happy was eating something, Mirajane had just finished serving some more beer, Erza was eating her favorite cheesecake, and Lucy was waiting for her package to arrive.

It was a nice day and everyone was happy, as they'd just finished learning about S-Class mages and missions. Natsu wanted to go on one, but Guild Master Makarov had just stopped him and slammed him to the ground like a squashed bug.

Lucy was sitting at a table, sorting out her Celestial Spirit keys, when someone called her name and she looked up from her work. A uniformed figure stood at the front door, and she realized that her package had come in the mail. After thanking the mail carrier and running back to her seat, she started tearing open her package with such enthusiasm that both Natsu and Happy took notice.

Popping out in front of her, from practically out of nowhere and scaring her half to death in the process, Natsu asked, "Hey, Lucy, what do you have with you?"

Happy joined in, saying, "Hey, is it food?"

"No, you stupid cat!" Lucy barked angrily. "It's a book!"

"Book? What kind of book is it, Lucy?" asked a half-naked Gray.

"Why are you stripping?!" she shrieked, huffing indignantly. "Besides, this is a novel by the legendary and brand-new writer of beautiful romance novels, Hokage-sama!"

"Ha…" Natsu began, Happy continued, "ge…" and finally Gray finished with, "-sama…"

Then the three of them asked in unison, "Hage-sama?"

"No, you brainless hooligans!" Lucy shrieked at them. "Hokage-sama, not Hage-sama!"

"So, Lucy, what's the book about?" Mirajane asked. She'd never heard of this name before.

"Yes, Lucy, why are you so interested in this book?" Erza added.

With all eyes now on her, Lucy cleared her throat. "This book is the latest installment in a saga about a young man's journey through a world of strange and destructive magic, and how he fights to protect his loved ones. This series of novels started about three years ago, and popular with both men and women because Hokage-sama is able to balance adult scenes, true romance, and intense fight scenes, all in his Life of a Shinobi book series."

Suddenly, an awkward silence fell down upon the Guildhall. Everyone, except for Lucy, had inexplicably frozen in place. Looking around, she found everyone pale and terrified; almost as though they had seen a ghost. No, more like an angry demon.

Under his breath, Natsu hissed urgently, "Lucy, what did you just say?"

"I said, the book's called Life of a Shi-" the blonde Celestial Spirit mage began, before she had her mouth covered by her new friends. A sudden surge of oppressive force suddenly fell upon, seemingly intent on crushing her and everyone else in the guild.

Lucy looked around, trying to see where that feeling was coming from, and came upon a terrifying sight. Erza Scarlet, the Titania of Fairy Tail, was angry.

No, angry wasn't enough of a word to describe her current emotional state.

Erza was boiling with rage, her eyes glowing red and about ready to explode in their faces.

They could see her anger make an ocean of red magical power beneath her feet.

"Sh… shinobi!" The redhead screeched, going on the attack as an explosion destroyed all of the tables in the room. Natsu and Gray were the first to end up fighting for their lives.

Lucy escaped with Happy behind the counter of the bar, and found Mirajane already there with them. Doing the smart thing, Lucy asked, "Mirajane-san, what's all this about?"

"Oh, I forgot you're new," the white-haired young woman shrugged. "You wouldn't know."

"Know? Know what, Mirajane-san?" Lucy asked.

"The taboo word!" Mirajane hissed under her breath.

"Taboo? What taboo word?"

"Heh heh heh… 'shinobi' is the taboo word," Mirajane giggled. "Sorry, I just like to mess around sometimes. Anyway, my explanation's a long story. Listen carefully because I won't repeat myself."

"I'm all ears, Mirajane-san," Lucy nodded, and Happy added, "So am I!"

"Okay…" the white-haired Demon of Fairy Tail sighed. "The story begins two years ago, when Erza went on an S-class quest to find some man with a bounty, I don't remember how much. Anyways, she went to some forest out West, found the man she was looking for, and battled him."

{Flashback; Two Years Ago}

Seventeen-year-old Erza Scarlet was walking around Crocus, capital city of Fiore. She was investigating rumors of a mage that was far more powerful than even an S-class mage. A man that was unaffiliated to any Guild, had resurrected recently deceased loved ones without having to sacrifice another person's life, and even killed a few of Zeref's nastiest demons. He'd pulled off all of those feats within the last five months.

She wanted to capture this mage, to see if he is any danger to her guild, Fairy Tail. She had no idea what to think about that actually managed to accomplish anything even remotely similar to the Tower of Heaven. Not with Jellal having taken command of the project and obsessed with finishing its construction.

As she was walking past a small group of guards, one of them said, "You okay, Sam? I thought that monster near the valley had killed you." Wanting more information, she pinned herself up against the nearest alley wall.

Another male voice, apparently Sam, agreed. "Yeah, I would've died if that stranger hadn't saved me. See, he even healed my wounds. I don't even have a scar. Guy said he only patched me up, but the doctors say that he completely healed the wounds." Peeking out of the alley, the Titania noticed the guard in question pulling up his shirt to reveal his torso being unmarred by scars that normally accompanied the healing of skin-breaking injuries.

Erza was very interested in this piece of information. Walking up to the guards, who saw her and whispered among themselves about her beauty, she asked them, "What do you know about the mage in the western forest?"

"Uh-" one of them began.

"Well, that's to say-" another started.

Out of patience, she knocked them both unconscious with a single punch each.

As she advanced on the last one, Sam, he shouted, "Okay, what do you want to know?!"

"I'm looking for the mage that rescued you because I'm investigating him," she said imperiously. "What does this mage look like? Where was the last place that you saw him or her? Was there anything special about this mage that stood out to you?" As she bombarded the hapless guard with more questions, he couldn't help but remember how she'd knocked out his compatriots and gulped nervously.

But when he noticed Fairy Tail's Titania getting irritated, he sighed in resignation. "The mage that saved my life and healed me was a powerful young man. There was a demon of some kind that attacked my squad in the western valley…" He pointed to his left, where she could see the valley beyond the open city gates.

"This unknown mage used some kind of powerful Fire magic to destroy the demon," Sam added, rubbing at his head. "I've never seen any kind of magical fire that could instantly cremate a corpse, bones and all, to ash and certainly not in the span of several seconds."

Erza frowned at the guards' words.

Turning his gaze to the forest beyond the western valley, he added, "Once he'd patched me up, or so he said, I noticed him walking into the forest."

"The forest at the far end of the valley in which you were ambushed?" Erza prodded him, and he nodded wearily.

As she headed out towards the forest, he muttered, "He was a strange man if I ever saw one." When she turned back and stared at him, he sighed. "He wore a long-sleeved black coat with a white flame pattern on the hemline. I did see strange writing written down the back of his coat, though; that might be his native language. He was wearing some kind of hood, so I could not see his face. Please don't hurt him. I owe him my life."

Erza said nothing, narrowing her eyes as she walked away. She couldn't afford to be softhearted, not when there was anything even remotely connected to Zeref was involved.

Later that day, she reached the western forest and started to look for any clue that she could follow. Unable to find anything significant, she plodded onwards until she found a huge lake in the middle of the forest. She noticed a figure with its back turned to her, which was nothing worth noticing. No, the problem was the fact that this figure was meditating on the water as if it was sitting on solid ground.

Another thing worth noticing was that the lake water swirled around the stranger's body, generating a gentle whirlpool that tugged at the lake's edges. Then Erza remembered what that guard Sam had told her, and noticed that the stranger on the lake was wearing the same clothing as the description.

After a while, the man stood and extended his hand over the water. As if nature itself was obeying him, bubbles of water rose from the lake and then actually began rising from its confines. She had to rub her eyes before believing that she was seeing bubbles of water floating in midair as though they were soap bubbles! To make things even more astonishing, the bubbles had fish in them!

As he turned towards, Erza hid behind a nearby tree and watched in silence as he walked to shore and started collecting pieces of wood and twigs. Once he'd fashioned a campfire, he made… no, he breathed out a fire, in the same way that Natsu's Karyuu no Houkou spell worked, and quickly had a nice blaze going.

Moving back to the water bubbles, which were still hanging in midair, he reached in and plucked them out one at a time. Spitting their bodies on wooden skewers, he set them near the fire and actually started to cook them.

The aroma wafted through the trees and Erza's nose twitched. As her mouth began to water, and her stomach gurgled angrily, she belatedly realized that she hadn't eaten ever since she'd left the city. Now, she was starving.

Her quarry sat down near the fire and waited patiently. After what seemed like an eternity of aromatic torture, his fried fish was ready. Picking one up, he was about to bite into it before stopping. She instantly hid herself behind her tree, but winced as he called over to her. "Hey, pretty lady, would you like some fish?"

She was surprised in spite of herself. His words implied that he'd known of her presence but hadn't said anything. Walking out from behind her tree and into his line of sight, she could feel herself blushing sheepishly after he'd caught her.

Then she remembered her original mission and steeled herself. Walking up to the man in black, she sat down opposite to him as he then passed a fish on a stick to her. Warily biting into its fried flesh, she couldn't help but notice that his simple fare was remarkably flavorful.

As they ate in silence, Erza found herself curious about her target. She was certain that he was the man that she'd been looking for, the same man rumored to be able to mimic Zeref's infamous Black Magic and his Resurrection magic. The fact that he seemed so unassuming, but possessed and could use such dark power so cavalierly, also made her wary.

While on his trail, she'd heard the stories.

How he could resurrect the untimely dead.

How nature-based combat magic, such as fire magic, seemed unable to hurt him.

How- she was snapped out of her thoughts when he asked her, "Well, pretty lady, what's a beautiful girl like you doing out here?" When she bristled as his question, he held up his hands in surrender. "Relax, girl. I'm not saying that you're weak or anything, but people coming here is rather rare."

Strangely, she was surprised that he didn't think of her as weak like regular girls, but his assumption might have been because she'd been wearing her armor. Strangely heartened by this logical reasoning, she said, "I'm looking for a mage who's said to be stronger than most S-class mages. He's unaffiliated to any of the known magic guilds. My own magic guild, Fairy Tail, sent me to confirm his existence and determine his threat potential."

The man smiled beneath the darkness of his hood before saying calmly, "Well, I'm not a mage, per se, so I'm guessing that you've found your target."

'I knew it!' the redheaded swordswoman smiled grimly. 'This man… he's the one whose power might as well rival Zeref?! Jellal…'

Snapping out of her thoughts, she said, "Very well. I challenge you to a duel."

"A challenge, you say?" the hooded man parroted, intrigued, before shrugging in fatalistic acceptance. "Very well, I accept. But I would first like to know my challenger's name."

"I am Erza Scarlet, from the Fairy Tail Magic Guild of Fiore," she said proudly.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, Erza-chan," the hooded man said cavalierly, apparently not noticing the way she'd blushed as he bowed to her formally at the waist. "Naruto Uzumaki, displaced shinobi at your service."

Having never heard the word shinobi before, she was about to ask before the hooded man answered her question.

"I am a ninja, a mercenary to be hired to do any and all kinds of jobs," he shrugged. "I work in the same way that mages like you would take any task available."

She found herself frowning. The way that he'd mentioned that ninja took all kinds of jobs implied that they also took jobs usually taken by Dark Guilds. "But…" Naruto added, popping his neck, "…I've more or less retired from that life. Now, I'm a nomad."

"But enough about me and my story," he said, standing up and stretching a bit. Turning to her, he bowed grandly and gestured to a nearby clearing. "Shall we?"

She stood up and magically equipped her favorite one-handed sword, entering a battle stance. But before they could start, the shinobi called out. "I'm saying sorry in advance."

Frowning, she asked, "Why are you sorry? We haven't even started, yet."

A puff of smoke revealed a katana with an ornate oval black guard and a braided gray wrap on its hilt. The scabbard was also black, made of simple traditional lacquered wood with a crimson cord hanging near its mouth. Pulling the katana out with his right hand, he held it parallel to the ground, its jet-black blade seemingly absorbing the light around it.

The hooded man replied, "I said that I'm sorry because I'm apologizing in advance for beating you in combat."

Erza twitched in irritation. Who exactly was this nameless mage, that he could just insult her and get away with it? "Kansō... Tenrin no Yoroi!" she shouted, as her Heart Kreuz glowed and morphed. She reappeared out of a flash of light, wearing a new set of elaborately gleaming silvery armor and wielding a sword in each hand.

All Naruto could do was whistle at the sight. Not only was Erza beautiful and sexy, but her hair reminded him of his mother. As a compliment, but also to rile her up, he asked, "Did you know that you look beautiful in that armor?"

The unexpected compliment made her blush and stammer before she remembered that she was about to kill this fool for insulting her strength. Reigning in her anger, she took a couple of deep breaths as she scowled at him. Crossing her arms, she charged at him and shouted, "Trinity Sword!" as she slashed at the hooded man. A glowing delta-shaped energy wave escaped from the tips of both of her swords and soared towards him, promising death and destruction.

Then the hooded man disappeared, escaping the blast to reappear a few feet behind her in a crouch. As he sheathed his sword, its guard made a loud clicking noise. Erza, shocked at his speed, had no idea what just happened. Before she could ask him, her swords quickly splintered into shards and her armor fell to pieces. She counted herself lucky to have been wearing underwear, otherwise Naruto would've seen her naked.

To make matters worse, though, he commented on her predicament. "My, my, my; an angel in that armor and so sexy when you're not wearing it."

She could feel the heat rushing to her face. She had no idea whether to be embarrassed at her humiliation or enraged at the man's perverted comment. But just as she was about to act on both emotions, he vanished in a swirling whirlwind of dust and leaves.

His body gone, his voice reached her ears on the wind. "We'll meet again, Benihime-chan…"

{Flashback End}

"…and that's how Erza was defeated for the first time in her life," Mirajane sighed. "If she heard rumors about a strange mage, she'd automatically go and investigate, to find out if that Naruto the shinobi character was the source of the rumor. If he was indeed there, she'd challenge him again, and the results would always be the same; she'd be defeated, her swords broken, with her armor shattered into pieces and leaving her in her underwear."

"I see… but who is he?" Lucy asked. "How strong is he to play with Erza-san like that?"

"That's the problem," the Demon of Fairy Tail sighed. "A lot of different Guilds want him to join them, but whenever they sent mages out to recruit him, he'd beat them up pretty badly before dumping their bodies in random places. When simple offers didn't work, they began resorting to bribery. Even the King of Fiore tried, but Naruto would simply refuse all incentives. As for us… we only sent Erza that one time, when he beat her for the first time, but all the other times he humiliated her was because she kept after him for a rematch."

"I see…" Lucy murmured thoughtfully. As those words left her mouth, a stranger entered the front door and all the fighting stopped. The stranger headed towards the bar, and the mages there noticed that he was quite tall, about six feet tall or so. He had on a black cloak with a hood that shrouded his face in darkness. Erza was silent, gritting her teeth in impotent anger. She knew this man, and was angry with him about something.

The slightly muffled sound of clanking metal indicated that he wore armor on his body. As he sat on a stool in front of Mirajane, she said, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, sir, how can I help you?"

The hooded man's voice was cold and deep. "I'd like a beer first, and then talk to your master about joining your guild."

A dead silence fell upon the room, a split-second before chaos erupted.

To be continued…