A/N: Ladies, Gentlemen, and ambiguously gendered people, I present to you, The Slayer. So, this is my First fic, I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail and this fic contains spoilers for Fairy Tail recent chapters.

Note that this is also a semi-Natsu-centric fic. Been reading fan fiction for a while and even though this is the Fairy Tail and Naruto Xover section... Natsu is usually being shifted to the background and put on a bus despite being a major protagonist. If he is in the story, it's as an extra or as Naruto's younger brother or apprentice or shadow, weird right? So here's to what I hope will be an original plot...

~~ The Slayer ~~

Prologue

Natsu was not a superstitious person. He really wasn't. In all his years of staying in Fairy Tail, he often butt heads with several characters, was sometimes slow on the uptake when it came to highly intellectual matters, he was quick to insult and disrespect those who garnered his ire, and even quicker to ignite the flames of conflict against said people. All these, but yet, he was never one to believe in omens or premonitions, irrespective of the ironic fact that he lived in a world in which absurdity was normalcy, and mortal men could breathe fire and turn to water.

Yet, when his innermost instincts had felt that something would go wrong, that something terrible would happen, he had shrugged it off, willing to place his faith in his Nakama. Only, when the urging feeling heightened to the point in which he could no longer he ignore it, had he decided to take action.

It was a mistake that had cost him dearly.

"Are you sure I can't follow you guys?" he asked, his face uncharacteristically serious.

"No means no Natsu! This is a strictly Strauss sibling bonding mission, and you're not invited!" Mirajane uttered sternly.

"I dunno, I just have a weird feeling about all this." He said as he scratched his chin.

"Natsu! You must learn to place faith in your Nakama, as they would place faith in you, that's what it means to be a man!" the large and only male member of the Strauss siblings stated with a dazzling smile. Natsu was not amused.

"What Elf-nichan is trying to say Natsu, is that we'll be safe, we've got Mira-nee to look out for us, and she's really strong!" Lisanna, stated with a smile, as she looked into the boy's eyes, and he stared back at her.

They both knew that they liked each other, but they both never admitted it. Natsu couldn't count the number of times he'd fallen asleep in her lap, or the times she did his. It had barely been a week since a memorable event for both of them, one in which they both kept quiet about.

He was her first kiss, and she was his, but neither knew how to go any further. Neither knew, if they wanted to go any further.

"So while I'm gone, you'll take good care of Happy like a good father right?" she teased with a gentle smile, her smile which had eased his concerns a little, making them melt away as only she was capable of vanquishing his inner demons.

"Fine." He stated with a pout, before looking back at her once more "Be safe."

"I will." She added, eyes gazing once more into his, a fluttering moment, which lasted eons untold.

"If you two lovebirds are done…" Natsu and Lisanna instantly jumped away from each other, sputtering and denying the accusation "…we have a schedule to keep Lisanna."

"Coming Mira-nee" she stated, more like whined.

"Besides, it's just a simple monster elimination." Mirajane added confidence radiating her form "With all three of us, how hard could it possibly be?"

As Natsu wandered lifelessly into the guild, covered in bruises, as he carried a body covered in white cloth, and as he glanced at the battered and bandaged forms of Mirajane and Elfman who trailed in front of him with their empty soulless gazes, their pale faces which hid not the tear marks that ran through them, and their shivering, wretched forms, he could not help but think.

'It was hard enough.'

_-The~Slayer-_

The guild was silent, as it's members sat at various places in eerie solitude. Cana had stopped drinking, Macao and Wakaba had stopped smoking, Gray had all his clothes on and even Levy could not find the heart to continue reading her novel. The thunderstorm which rained overhead seemed to amplify the effect, as though the heavens themselves where grieving at the loss of a dear companion. No one wanted to believe that Lisanna was dead, no one wanted to accept the overwhelming fact of their own mortality.

Out of everyone there, the most surprising person was Natsu. Most people had expected him to be screaming, denying the fact that Lisanna was dead, or even yelling at the top of his voice in denial. Instead, he had said nothing all the while, since he had walked into the guild with her corpse, and throughout the burial ceremony, he'd been completely silent. It was understandable, as according to Mirajane, Natsu had arrived on the scene just mere seconds – mere seconds – before Lisanna had received the fatal hit that killed her. He most likely blamed himself for the incident, as he witnessed her death first hand, and felt most likely, that if he had arrived just mere seconds earlier, he would have been able to save her.

As a result, Natsu hadn't spoken to anyone for a week. He'd been going directly out of his way to avoid everyone in the Guild, even more so for Elfman, after the older teen had explained to everyone the cause of Lisanna's death. No one wanted to blame Elfman, as it wasn't entirely his fault, however, once Natsu had heard the full story, he had given Elfman the coldest possible glare anyone had ever seen the Dragonslayer emit. They could feel the sheer hatred emanating from him at that moment, and Erza had stepped in, just in case the now psychologically troubled Dragonslayer would attack the teen.

Instead, Natsu had simply glared at him and walked out of the guild. No one knew what was going through his head, and at the rate it was going, with him pushing everyone away, no one would.

Mirajane however, had decided against letting the Dragonslayer wallow in his misery, and she found him. She found him in the spot he'd been for several days straight, standing in front of Lisanna's grave for nearly a week, without food, without water, through the heavy rainstorm and cold nights.

Mirajane was dressed in black mourning clothes and had an umbrella over her head when she approached him from behind. If he had detected her presence he made no indication of doing so as he stared at the gravestone in front of him. His entire outfit was drenched from head to toe, but he made no indication of even realizing such.

"Natsu this has to stop." She stated softly, her persona having changed since her sister's death.

If he had heard her, he made no indication of such.

"It's been a week. If you go on this way you'll end up killing yourself!"

Only the harmonious melancholy of rhythmic raindrops crashing on objects answered her. She shivered slightly as a cold breeze hit her, the temperature having dropped several levels.

"How do you think Lisanna would feel? Do you think she'd want you to kill yourself!"

"…." This time, he had responded, but it had been too low for her to pick up, though she'd seen his lips move.

"This isn't what she would have wanted!"

This time, she did hear him. "It doesn't matter what she wants. She's dead."

The uncharacteristically cold remark from the normally bubbly boy stung and she recoiled as though she'd been slapped physically.

"How… could you…"

"She has no regrets. No last wishes. No expectations, no burdens, no guilt, no emotions, no nothing!" he spoke spitefully, his voice cracking slightly from the lack of use as he clenched his fists and his tone increased.

"From the minute she died, she stopped being Lisanna. All that's left of her is a corpse, a dead body, a body which no one calls by name. There's nothing left of her except memories… memories which all do nothing but remind me constantly of the fact that she's gone."

Mirajane looked at the boy with an appalled expression, and if he noticed, he didn't seem to care.

"Gone! She's gone! So what she would have wanted doesn't matter, it doesn't make a-"

SLAP!

Natsu did his best not to flinch, but was still stunned, shocked into inaction and speechlessness by the fact that he'd been slapped.

"Lisanna wanted you to be happy. It's all she's ever wanted." She stated, pausing as she looked at the Dragonslayer with narrowed eyes and a bit of burning anger "…If you can't honor her one wish, her last wish…" Mirajane turned around and slowly walked away "Then you never deserved her in the first place."

Natsu's eyes widened as a particular memory came to the forefront of his mind like a divine vision.

"Wow! A shooting star! Quick let's make a wish!" Lisanna stated

"Hmm! Yeah!"

"So… what did you wish for Natsu?"

"I wished I'd be strongest mage in Fairy Tail! So I can put Laxus in his place, protect everyone in the guild and find Igneel!"

"That's just like you Natsu." She giggled.

"So, what did you wish for?"

She smiled as she held his hand together with hers, causing the pink haired teen to blush slightly "I wished…"

"Lisanna, what are you-" the Dragonslayer could barely get any more words out before the younger girl leaned forward slowly.

"…for us…" she gazed into the boy's eyes, before slowly planting a soft chaste kiss on his cheek "To be happy."

"Lisanna…" The teen leaned forward,

"Natsu…" the Dragonslayer leaned forward,

"Did someone call me, aye!"

And both teens promptly kissed the small blue cat on both sides of his cheeks.

"Gah! Happy!" Natsu groaned as the mood was ruined and as he tried to get the cat's hair out of his mouth, all the while enjoying the sound of Lisanna's melodious laugher.

Natsu stared at the retreating form of the older girl, a bittersweet smile came to his face as he realized just how far deep he'd gotten.

"It's all she ever wanted…" were the last words on his mind, as he finally felt his legs give out from under him, and he embraced a world of darkness.

"NATSU!"

Magnolia

Fairy Tail Guild

One Week Later…

"Are you sure about this Natsu?" Gray asked, the black haired teen uncharacteristically serious.

"I mean, we all know that you're upset but still…" this came from Cana, who, in her usual blunt way pointed out the obvious.

"It's something I have to do guys. It's something I need to do."

"But…" Gray tried to interrupt once more, but was quickly cut off by Erza.

"Don't bother. Natsu has set his mind to the task, there's no changing him." Erza looked at the pink-haired teen and looked into his eyes as her gaze softened.

"At the very least… you'll return eventually?" her tone was hopeful, almost pleading, a combination which surprised Natsu and shocked him to the core.

"You can count on it!" he stated, with his brilliant dazzling smile that eased her worry, and made the guild members somewhat relaxed.

The smile was completely fake.

Irrespective of which, it was something he truly had needed to do for a long time. As of now, the pink haired Dragonslayer stood with a backpack on his back which contained most of his personal belongings, as the entirety of the guild had come to see him off. He had decided, that he'd never be weak enough to do nothing and let his comrade die, he'd be strong enough to protect everyone and everything he had ever cared about. That was the purpose of his training trip, first of all, was to gain strength, and then, to continue his search for Igneel.

Natsu paused suddenly as he spoke to his guild mates, realizing slowly, that he'd subconsciously shifted his goal of searching for foster parent to being his secondary objective.

'Maybe…' Natsu thought with a bittersweet smile '…There are more important things to do with my life than chasing after the shadow of the being who abandoned me without a second thought.'

"NATSU!"

The pink-haired Dragonslayer turned with surprise to see someone he didn't expect. He was barreled into by a blur of blue and white, only to gaze at the sight of Happy's weeping face.

"Eh? Happy? What are you-"

"Take me with you Natsu!"

"What?" The Dragonslayer asked with uncertainty.

"Don't leave me behind!"

"Oi! Happy! Be serious! I'm going on a very dangerous journey, you could get hurt!"

"I don't care!" the cat responded fiercely, stunning Natsu with the amount of fire in his eyes.

"You'll face life threatening challenges."

"I'll overcome them!"

"You could be eaten."

"Then I won't be digested!"

"Burnt."

"I'll become fireproof!"

"Drowned."

"I'll learn how to breathe underwater!"

"Buried alive."

"I'll claw my way out!"

"Don't you get it!" Natsu nearly snapped at this point "You could be hurt, maimed, wounded or killed!"

"Is it that you don't want me to follow you because I could die…" Happy began, the cat's demeanor being directly opposite to his name "Or because you won't be able to handle it if someone you care about dies in front of you again?"

Natsu flinched subconsciously, as his hands tightened, his gaze diverted from anywhere apart from the cat and the rest of the guild members who looked at the teen sadly. His silence was all they needed to confirm Happy's theory.

"Tsk." The Dragonslayer murmured to himself silently before staring at the little blue cat that was his partner and pet.

"Fine. You can follow me." The cat's eyes widened in joy before Natsu continued "But we're going to train to be the strongest there is! So no whining about the training! It's going to be the harshest you've ever had!"

"Aye sir!"

The members of the guild smiled as the tension diffused and everyone shared a chuckle at the antics of the eccentric cat.

"Alright… we'd better get going then."

"Oi… aren't you waiting for the Master?" Gray asked.

"Curious, Mirajane is also suspiciously missing." This came from Erza who frowned at the fact that Mirajane had not come to see the Dragonslayer off.

"Mirajane isn't coming. I'd be surprised if she did after what I did."He muttered the last part silently to himself, before he began walking away "Knowing Jiji, he'll probably meet me off on my way."

Natsu allowed Happy to stay on his head and nap as he slowly began departing from the guild. He needed to do so before he began having second thoughts about leaving, he had made up his mind, and didn't want to change it.

His goal was there in his sights, to gain as much strength as possible to make himself an S-class mage, and then surpass that limit to become an SS-Class mage to become stronger than even Gildarts himself. Natsu however, knew his first problem would be knowledge. Admittedly, growing up with a foster-dragon parent ruined his basic knowledge skills, as he found himself not even understanding references people twice his age did. He wasn't the sharpest knife in the shed, and that was his ultimate weakness. Well, at least other than transportation.

It was common knowledge – even by Natsu's standards – that the strength of a mage was indicated and determined by the knowledge they possessed on their magical power, the amount of eternano they possessed, and of course their creative imagination which allowed them to come up with ingenious ideas for their unique powers.

Natsu was never going to let himself be blinded by naivety or stupidity ever again.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL!"

The Dragonslayer turned as he spotted to his surprise, both Mirajane and the Guild Master Makarov as they stood at the gate of the Fairy Tail guild, with the Master's hands crossed as he closed his eyes.

"This is the Fairy Tail Farewell Ceremony! You must never forget the three laws!" the Guild Master yelled, as he pointed at Natsu, and Happy – though the latter was asleep.

"First! You must never, for as long as you live, reveal any tactics which could prove to be a handicap of Fairy Tail!"

Natsu grinned as he stared at the determined face of the old man with equal fire in his eyes.

"Second! You must never contact past clients of the Guild for personal Gain!"

Natsu nearly laughed at that as he looked at Mirajane, and noticed, that her eyes were trained on him.

"I forgive you." She mouthed softly, before smiling.

"Thank you." He mouthed back as he watched the guild's mixed reactions to his departure.

"And finally, Third! Though our parts may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might! You must never consider your own life to be of little value!"

"And you must never!" Mirajane continued smiling as the entire guild followed in to yell the final rule.

"NEVER FORGET ABOUT THE FRIENDS WHO LOVED YOU!" the voices echoed as one and Natsu had to bite back the stingy tears which threatened to leak out from his eyes.

"Remember Natsu, there's nothing you can't do as long as you have the spirit of the guild, because…"

"WE ARE FAIRY TAIL!"

"Oi, you wanna go matchstick?"

"I'll take you on anyday you popsicle!"

"Stop fighting!"

BONG!

"Hahaha! *hic* Erza took them out *hic* with one punch!"

"I think you've drank enough Cana."

"Says the guy who smokes eight packs a day; Wakaba, I'm surprised you haven't killed yourself yet!"

"Oi! I don't smoke that much Mira. And put some more acceptable clothes on! You're showing too much skin!"

"Ha! As expected, she has no sense of decency whatsoever!"

"At least I have skin to show, and I don't cover up my body in armor like you chubby!"

CRASH!

"My cake…"

"Uh-oh…"

"FIGHT!"

"Noo! I just finally replaced the Furniture yesterday!"

"You should have expected this from these idiots, Jiji. This is Fairy Tail after all."

"Sigh… yes, this is Fairy Tail."

"RRRRAAAAH!" the Dragonslayer roared at the top of his voice as a stream of fire shot out, to everyone's surprise, the fire morphed and turned, until it became the shape they were all familiar with.

It became the symbol of the Guild, burning brightly in the sky as a giant embodiment of the hopes, dreams and trust possessed by each and every member.

'Yes… we are Fairy Tail.'.

'But… in my life…' Natsu thought as the now hooded Dragonslayer turned away from his work.

The symbol brightened, before vanishing from the sky, and once everyone had recovered from the awe of the excellent pyrotechnics, they all realized Natsu Dragneel was nowhere to be found.

'…there are no fairy tales.'

_-The~Slayer-_

Fiore

Barren Wasteland

Mard Geer was a genius. He was a demon of the book of Zeref who'd ranked amongst the most powerful. Mard Geer was a strategist, a masterful manipulator of thoughts and emotions. He was all of these things and more, and yet, in all his years of existence, he'd found out today, that he was pitifully weak.

It all began simply enough, with the aid of immortality on his side, he'd uncovered a legend of an ancient being that was sealed away from a time even long before his master Zeref was born. Zeref himself had spent eons roaming the earth trying to find the ancient tome, but however the god Ankersham had intentionally misled and prevented Zeref from finding it.

This was because the god knew that the being Zeref sought was strong enough to kill him. The being was the herald of apocalypse and the avatar of chaos and destruction. It would be capable of more than just killing Zeref, it would kill the god himself.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on however one decided to look at it, there was a loophole that would allow Zeref to free the being. That loophole was his creations, the Etherious demons.

After an eternity of searching, the Nine Gates of Hell had found and undid the seal which was said to hold back unspeakable evil.

They immediately regretted their decision.

The beast, had come forth, long red locks of hair that flowed down his back, shirtless bare torso which revealed an ungodly toned body and frame that could make a woman weak at the knees from the sight. He had black pants on and black sandals, being the only thing on his frame apart from a necklace which hung on his shoulder. His eyes were red with slits, and he had long sharp black claws for nails.

The most stunning feature, was the long, flowing ten furry red tails which encased behind him like a magnificent peacock.

As soon as he was freed, they attempted to reason with him, to get him to work with them. Ignorant as Mard Geer and the other Etherious were, they had no idea that Zeref had ordered them to find this being, in order for the being to kill him, and had instead supposed that their goal was to make him an ally.

Their ploy had failed miserably.

"Since when does the lion become friends with the bacteria that rots the remains of its meal?" The creature had asked, amused smirk plastered on its face.

Effortlessly, the ten-tailed being attacked the Etherious, and proceeded to decimate them as though they were mere kindergarten children facing a fully grown military veteran. None had escaped from the onslaught unscathed, and several of their members had actually been killed. In those moments, Mard Geer felt an emotion so foreign to him, he questioned the very plausibility of its existence.

He felt pure, unbridled, primal, fear.

"You claim to be immortal demons? Allow me to examine the true extent of your immortality…" The demon grinned "... as you regenerate from ashes.''

With those words, he created a concentrated ball of energy that was foreign to the demons, and slowly, a loud screeching sound was heard all across the clearing, so loud that the Etherious demons had to cover their ears. The being smirked as it whispered the name of the attack. The name of the attack would forever remain ingrained into Mard Geer's memory for as long as he lived.

"Bijūdama Rasenshuriken."

With those words, Mard Geer realized he had released unto the world, a being capable of creating total destruction, a being that had intelligence but no morals, power, but no restraint, chaos and absolutely no sense of order.

They had released a being that would bring about the apocalypse as the sky rained blood and the earth was replaced with mountains of dead mutilated flesh. They had unleashed a creature that would sit back and laugh as the entire earth caught on flames and as every living being was snuffed out of reality.

They had unleashed the very end of existence.

And its name… was Kurama.

A/N: I think this is the first Fairy tail/Naruto Crossover fic to introduce Kurama as a major character/antagonist, that I know of... so expect it to a bit edgier and darker than most. Next Update will be Christmas Day!

R&R!

Silent Songbird.