Chapter 1 - Left Alone

A/N : So this is a random idea that popped up in my head and this is also my first crossover so go easy on me. Feel free to point out my mistakes, but please no flames! And now here's the story and I hope you like it... And please review!

Time Line : When Naruto just got back to Konoha from training with Jiraya. So like when the time around Garra got captured by the Akatsuki.

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

Erza stepped inside her small motel room, stretching her tensed and tired arms. Today's sale was wonderful and they made a lot of money. Her boss even let her keep some of the money. She slumped her back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Tommorrow morning, she'd be leaving Otafuku City and heading to Konoha, one of the 5 Great Shinobi Countries, or at least that was what she heard. Sen, the merchant's daughter and also her best friend said it was a wonderful place.

"I'll take you on a tour, Erza! Konoha has everything! From good food to weapons! There's even a hotspring there! And I'll definitely take you to Ichiraku Ramen!" Sen squeaked.

"Alright alright. We'll go there as soon as we arrive," Erza said, trying to calm her ecstatic friend. Soon, she was blabbering about places she'd take her, most of them she didn't recognize. Though, Erza kept listening, trying to remember some of the names.

It reminded her of... Home.

Erza frowned after remembering the guild back at Magnolia. It had been 6 months since the incident in Edolas. She had tried so hard to forget them. Yet, the memory always found a way to dwell in her mind. She missed everything. Natsu's and Gray's tauntings and insults. Lucy's whimpering. Elfman's speeches about being 'real men'. Heck, she even missed Oraceon Seis. She wondered how was the guild without her now. Did they miss her? Were they looking for her? Knowing Natsu and the others, they'd probably be tearing the place into two by now.

"Erza! What's wrong?" The statement snapped her out of her thoughts and turned to Sen who just got into the room. It turned out that Erza had been crying without her realizing. Again.

"I-It's nothing, Sen. I'm okay," Erza said, wiping the tears from her face. Sen stared at her with concern for a moment before shrugging it off. She gave her a weak smile.

"Are you sure? You know I'm always here when you need me," she said, sitting beside her. Erza smiled back.

"No really, I'm fine. I'm just tired that's all," Erza reasoned.

"Alright then. You should rest Erza. We have a long trip tomorrow," Sen said, patted her back and went to her bed.

"Yeah," Erza laid her back on the mattress. "Night, Sen,"

"Good night, Erza," Sen said and turned off the light.

'I need to sleep' Erza told herself, closing her eyes. 'Forget everything for now' She told herself again.

Little did she know, that time was running out.

Erza didn't know where she was going or how long had she been running. Her grip on the limp body in her arms tighten. Don't die Sen, don't die! Not like this! She felt ward liquid dripping from the palm of her hands, tainting the green grass below her with red dots. Sen's blood. Erza's hastened her pace, crushing twigs and leafs under her feet. Her legs were starting to sore but she ignored it. Sen's life was more valuable than a one week cramp.

The cut on her chest wasn't big, but enough to kill. Kill a normal person at least. Unlike her, Sen had no experience in battles. Her untrained body wasn't strong enough to handle this kind of injuries yet. And pain became 10 times more painful.

The only thing that made Erza knew her friend wasn't dead was the small movement of her chest. Rising and falling slowly. Though, each breath became harder and shorter. At a time, Sen would wince in pain, sending waves of panic to Erza. Time was running out.

Once she spotted the giant gate to the village she screamed for help, attracting attentions from the citizens. 2 men who were guarding the entrance of the village quickly ran to her aid. One of them, the one with spiky black hair carried Sen's body while the other led them to the hospital.

Nurses acted quickly once they'd spotted Sen's body. They put her on a bed and ran her to the emergency room. Erza cried out Sen's name over and over again, crying. It was a few moment before she entered the emergenvy room did Sen opened one her bright blue eyes. They were not filled with pain, instead were filled with kindness? Erza froze that instantly. Completely ignoring the warm fresh tears that was causing her skin to feel damp and sticky, her eyes locked into hers.

"It's okay Erza. Everything will be alright."

Erza sat on one of the available seats in the waiting room patiently fidgeting with her fingers as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. For now. They were still coated in Sen's blood, dried of course. She refused to wash them off, even though the ninja guy told her to earlier.

~Flashback~

The sun was shining high in the sky. It was a good thing the trees in the forest were tall and big. If not, Erza would be swimming in sweats right now. Erza walked back to the small camp from her little potty break. According to Sen, Konoha wasn't far and they should arrive there in half an hour or so.

Her eyes widen when she heard a piercing scream coming from their camp. Before she knew it, she was already hot on her heels. In a few seconds she was already at her camp.

It was a mess. The horses that were pulling the carriages were dead. The boxes were torn open and lying on the floor. The merchandise were scattered on the ground. And the one that caught her eyes were the dead bodies. She looked at each and one of them. Mr and Mrs Ira, Sen's little brother and also her uncles and aunts. All of them, dead. Erza realized one person was missing. Sen herself.

Sen came out of the bushes with a man chasing her. He was carrying a weapon she recognized as a katana. Sen noticed Erza and stopped on her tracks.

"Erza, get out-!" She never finished her sentence as the katana cut her chest. Sen's body fell on the ground in a loud thump as a pool of blood started forming beneath her.

Erza was rooted to the ground and stare at Sen's body in horror. The man took this as a chance to attack Erza. He held up his katana in a battle stance and striked her. Erza pulled back in the last minute thanks to her fighting reflexes. However the tip of the blade did manage to graze her left cheek, leaving a thin gash on it.

Erza dodged the next few strikes slower than usual. She hadn't been fighting for months.

"Requip!" Instead of the normal red array, a puff of smoke covered her whole body. When the smoke cleared, she was already in her signature armor, a sword in her hands. Erza was confused at the odd reaction but chose to ingore it and striked the baffled man. He was down in one blow.

Pathetic. Erza thought just as one of his friends appeared. He noticed the man's body lying on the ground and turned to Erza with pure anger. This time, he threw about half a dozen kunais at her. She deflected them easily and retaliated. The man pulled out a similar katana and their weapons clashed.

"You're quiet skillful for a merchant," the man said.

"I. Am. Not. A. Merchant," Erza said pushing the man further. "I am a Fairy Tail's wizard," and with that, she ended the man's life.

~End of Flashback~

Bandits... She thought bitterly. They were easy opponents and sometimes annoying. But she didn't think they could actually hurt one of her dearest. She groaned and buried her face in her hands. She lost her home and now she nearly lost the only person she could call 'friend' in this realm. Everything's just going downhill.

The door of the emergency room creaked open, and Erza snapped back into reality. The nurse was a medium build woman with brown hair tied in a bun. A clipboard was firmly held in her arms. She looked at her sadly. Somehow, Erza felt she wasn't going to like the news.

"Ms. Scarlet?" She called.

"How is she?" Erza asked, standing up.

She hesitated before answering. "We did our best," the nurse said quietly. Erza froze and the world seemed to stop.

"We were too late. We're sorry," she said again.

She dropped to her knees as tears streamed down from her face. She was late. 'I couldn't save her. I don't deserve to be a Fairy Tail Wizard'.

She couldn't think straight anymore. She had lost everything. Her family, her home, her new friend. Everything. She refused to look at Sen's body. It was simply too painful. When the nurse asked her what to do with the body, since she was her only relative, she told her to she'd come back later for her body to be cremated.

Erza practically dragged herself out of the hospital, ignoring the stares she received from some people. She didn't realize she was still wearing her armor. It was already in the evening. Looks like she spent a while in the waiting room. The street was crowded of people, chattering, eating; all of them happy.

Erza felt useless for the first time in her life. She was a wizard. Heck, make that an S-Class Wizard. Her name was known all over town, and feared too. And now, the infamous Erza Scarlet failed to protect a girl from bandits.

'It's okay Erza... Everything will be alright,' Sen's voice kept repeating in her mind like a mantra.

"I'm sorry, Sen... I'm sorry..." She whispered. She bowed her head to hide her face.

Erza felt her left shoulder bumped into a strong one, pulling out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I wasn't looking," she automatically said. She looked up to see a man with spiky gray hair. His face was covered behind a mask, revealing only his left eye. In his hand was a small book. It seemed he had been reading. Behind him were two other teenagers. A boy in a orange jumpsuit and a pink haired girl. They both were staring at her.

The man looked boredly at her. He shrugged and said , "It's okay."

Erza nodded and continued walking. She felt the man's eye watching her, but Erza ignored it. She wasn't really in the mood right now.

"Who is she?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. I just came a few days ago. Maybe she's not from here?" Naruto said.

"I've never seen her before," Sakura said, still staring at the spot where the stranger was.

"Meh. Who cares. Maybe just some random tourist," As if on cue, his stomach growled. Naruto's mood suddenly brighten up. He turned to Sakura.

"Ah yeah! We haven't gone home or to Ichiraku Ramen yet!"

Sakura agreed with the idea quickly after remembering about her empty stomach. "Yeah, I'm a bit hungry after yesterday's training too," she added.

"Right! It'll be Sensei's treat!" Naruto said with a snicker.

"Alright, sensei!" Sakura said and turned to Kakashi, hoping he would agree too.

Hearing his name being called, he closed his book and shoved it into his pocket. His eye noticed his students were staring at him with an anticipating face. What were they talking about? Ah yes...ramen treat.

"Sorry, I have to create and submit a list of the new team formations. So it's goodbye for now," Kakashi said cheerfully and disappeared in a puff of smoke. His sudden disappearsnce made Naruto pout. His teacher just disappeared in times like this, always looking for a reason to leave. Same goes whenever they make an appointment. Always late.

"Saying something like that, he's just thinking to continue reading the book... Probably," Sakura said and let out an exasperate sigh.

Still sulking, an idea suddenly strucked to Naruto and he smiled sheepishly at Sakura. "So the two of us on our own now..." Naruto began, looking for the right words. "So... Is it a da-"

Sakura cut him off before finishing the sentence. She knew where this was going. "Fine, but it's all your treat!"

Naruto fished out his frog-purse from his pants' pocket and opened it. His spirit crumbled quickly at the sight. Definitely not enought for both of us... How was he going to treat Sakura like this? She'd kill him!

Sakura decided to ignore the grim look on her friend's face. She averted her attention back to the busy street of Konoha until something caught her eyes. Shikamaru and Temari, a ninja from the sand, were walking side by side. They hadn't spotted them yet so Sakura decided to call them.

Shikamaru's face split into a smile as he noticed Naruto standing behind her. Temari just stood there , baffled, while trying to recognize the two nins. Naruto grinned back at his friend, his money-problem long forgotten.

"So did you just come home then?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, I came back yesterday," Naruto replied.

Shikamaru chuckled slightly. "So, has you idiocy left you? And have you changed well?"

Naruto was about to open his mouth to speak but was cut off by Sakura. "No, he hasn't changed at all," she said, fanning her face with her hand.

"Ah really?"

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto said. He then turned to Shikamaru with a snicker and started to whisper something. Whatever it was, Shikamaru rejected it quickly. Yep, This would be a long long night.

After their little reunion, Naruto quickly headed to his most favorite place in the whole universe. Ichiraku Ramen. He had reluctantly parted from Sakura and the others, his stomach demanded so.

Just the thought of the ramen in front of him made him drool. He could smell it from a mile away already. It made him increase his pace. He spotted the familiar building and entered quickly. He sat on one of the stools there and greeted Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen. Teuchi put the bowls he was cleaning down and welcomed his most favorite customer. He smiled as he started their their first real conversation after years. Their chat was interrupted when another familiar figure stepped inside, making Naruto yelped happier.

"I knew I'd find you here," Iruka said, grinning. He took a seat next to Naruto. Naruto told him about his training. Once in a while, Teuchi would comment something and they all would end upnlaughing, They enjoyed the conversation until a woman stepped inside, silencing the 3 of them.

Naruto recognized her as the same woman who bumped into his sensei earlier that day. She sat down in the corner away from the 2 nins.

"Well hello there, young lady. What can I do for you today?" Teuchi said. The woman looked at him with solemn eyes which successfully replaced his smile.

"I'll have whatever you have," the woman replied quietly.

Teuchi tried to lighten the tension by offering her a warm smile. "Alright then. I'll make our best ramen we have!" Teuchi said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Naruto had stopped eating his ramen and found himself staring at the woman. She wasn't wearing any hitai-ates, which meant she might not be a ninja. Though her attire; an armor which covered her upper body, a short navy blue skirt, along with knee-high black boots; told him that she was not the type of women who work in stores nor houses. He then noticed her scarlet red hair, a color not very common here.

She must've realized that he was staring at her because her eyes caught his, making Naruto turned back to his forgotten ramen. He blushed slightly but dismissed it quickly before Iruka could tease him.

Apparently, Iruka had been doing the same thing as Naruto did. He spoke to the stranger, trying to lighten up the tension.

"Hello there," Iruka said. It took a moment for the woman to realize that he was actually talking to her. She then stared at him, unsure to reply or not. Iruka started to feel nervous and scratched the back oh his neck. This was going to be an awkward conversation.

"I haven't seen you here before. Are you new here?"

"Yes, I suppose you could say that..." The woman replied.

"I see. You don't come from here, I take it?"

"I come from far away," She said and lowered her head. Iruka felt the tension grew again and started to feel the urge to get out of here quickly. But that would be rude. Very rude.

Teuchi came out from the kitchen holding a bowl and placed it in front of her. Naruto's ex-teacher silently sighed in relief as the tension broke. He then heard her muttera small 'Thank you' before eating the ramen, reminding him of his own.

Naruto,too, had somehow lost his apetite, though he kept eating his ramen. Teuchi would kill him if he leave a single string of noodle.

"You a tourist?" Teuchi asked.

"No. I'm-" She hesitated. "A merchant,"

"I see," Teuchi asked, rubbing his chin as if he was thinking something. "Say... You don't happen to be one of the Iras, do you?" Teuchi asked.

Erza blinked. Sen's last name was Ira. How did he know? Maybe he knew her? She looked up at the man. "You know them?"

"Tohiro Ira..." Teuchi said. "He came up in my shop one day. Said he was a traveling merchant. He was a nice man. He also had this cute daughter... Uh... What was her name? Sun? Sai? Ah yes! Sen!"

Erza winched slightly at the mention of the name. Her mind were reluctantly drawn back to the memories of Sen's body. Tears started to build up in the corner of her eyes before she regain composure.

"No, sorry. I'm not," Erza said. She was surprised to hear her voice oddly calm. She decided it would be best for him to not know about the incident yet.

Teuchi frowned in disappointment. "I heard they're heading here. I wonder where they are now. Oh well. They'll be here soon anyway," Teuchi chuckled slightly, completely oblivious to Erza's mood.

Erza finished her ramen quickly and paid Teuchi. She muttered another 'Thank you' and left as soon as possible.

She wouldn't be going there again. In fact she'd be leaving Konoha tommorrow morning. This place reminded her of Sen too much. If she stayed here too long she'd go crazy. She took one last glance at the small restaurant before disappearing into the dark streets of Konoha, back to the hospital.

Thanks for reading and please review! I'll give you a cookie! :D