AN: This is my next chapter. Boo Yah!
(Chapter 2)
It was raining as a nineteen year old, 6'2" Naruto made his way to the Fairy Tail cemetery. A fitting thing, the rain. It was as if the very world was sobbing, as if it knew what he felt. He was dressed in a black suit and shoes, on his left arm was Aries, as she always is, dressed in a black dress that fell to her shins and ballet slippers. She too felt what he felt, only not as deep.
They arrived at the cemetery, seeing everyone there. Giving nods to their friends, they made their way to the front of the small crowd. He saw Markarov standing there, his face solemn as he fought the tears that were trying to spill from his eyes. He looked at all the others of Fairy tail, seeing them in much the same state.
His eyes rested on Mirajane as she sobbed, no one holding her. He looked towards Aries, getting a nod from her, he went to the distressed girl. He walked, his footsteps quiet as he stood next to her. They said nothing as she sobbed. After a few minutes, she regained control of herself and said, in a quiet voice that he almost didn't hear. "It's all your fault."
Naruto said nothing as he stood there, looking at the tombstone of Lisanna Strauss. Mira continued, louder this time. "It's all your fault."
She turned to him, anger in her large, beautiful blue eyes, eyes that he felt pierced his soul. "It's all your fault." She said it louder, almost a shout, gaining the attention of the other guild members. Naruto continued to say nothing as he simply stared.
Mirajane, heedless of herself, continued. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU HADN'T OF BEEN BORN, HADN'T OF BEEN ALIVE, LISANNA WOULD STILL BE HERE! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, ALL YOUR FAULT THAT MY SISTER IS DEAD! YOU AND THAT MAGIC OF YOURS! ALL IT DOES IS TURN YOU INTO A DEMON! A MONSTER! AND YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU ARE ONE!"
Her words stung. They hurt him on a massive level. Naruto stood numbly, his movements stiff and unnatural as he did. He looked at Mirajane, looked into the anger as he said in a deadly quiet voice. "I am a monster, huh?" He turned, his sadness increasing tenfold as he started to walk away. Mira stood there, her anger only increasing as she shouted after him. "NARUTO, AS OF THIS MOMENT, WE'RE NOT FRIENEDS! I AM BREAKING MY BOND WITH YOU! IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, IT WILL BE TOO SOON!"
Naruto stood frozen, his back to the shocked Fairy Tail group. He didn't want anyone to see the tears on his face, the anguish her words brought him. He had made a mistake, not trusting his gut when it came to that mission. He had wished them luck, telling Lisanna to come back to her husband Natsu. Mirajane had simply smirked and asked if he would come along, which he denied.
But in the end, it had not mattered. It went south fast. The Beast had taken over Elfman and killed sweet, little Lisanna, the girl who would make him ramen. His surrogate little sister. Mira had been in shock, not talking to anyone after. Elfman, depressed and sobbing as he entered the guild.
Naruto continued walking, setting his face into an emotionless mask as he walked. No tears. Monsters didn't cry. They don't feel. Navigating the streets of Magnolia Town was easy to him, having memorized the city layout. He made his way home. He entered, his body and mind still numb as to what Mirajane had said to him. He took his clothes off, changing into a pair of old black pants, and left. No time for shoes or socks, just walking in the rain as he roamed the city.
(Fairy Tail Cemetery)
Markarov looked at Mirajane, disappointment on his face at what one of his daughters just said. "Mira, you did not have to say that. Naruto loved Lisanna, cared for her as his own family. He didn't go with you guys so you could stand on your own. He didn't want to be a crutch, an easy way out for you. Remember how he had said that as an S-Class mage, you needed to stand on your own, not relying on others. He was the reason you even got promoted anyway. Naruto is not a monster, he has never done anything to show as such. All he has done is try to strengthen his bonds. And I here you saying you want to destroy yours with him? Do you not realize how precious you are to him? How precious we all are to him? Foolish girl! In your blind anger, you lashed out at someone who understood your pain, someone who tried to be there for you!"
Mirajane stood there, her anger gone, replaced by guilt over what she had done. She tried to speak but Markarov wasn't done. "Do you know that he's depressed? That he feels nothing but sadness? Yes, Aries has helped him with his sadness, but for the most part he is depressed. All those years of repressing his anger and rage to keep us safe, to protect us from his uncontrollable magic, to keep us safe he tore himself up inside. All that anger turned to sadness, sadness that he could never truly protect us. Now, I fear you may have driven him over the edge."
As he said this, Mira burst into tears, understanding why he had stayed so distant, even when he tried to be there. Why he could never truly be a friend. Why he cherished his bonds. All of a sudden, they felt a burst of magic, a deep powerful magic. They immediately recognized it as Naruto's. All of Fairy Tail made their way towards it.
When they got to it, finding him deep in the forest, he was… different… when using the energy. Instead of seeing his body in a cloak of red, the energy seemed to condense, forming a red cloak that seemed to shift, as if it were thousands of nerve endings. Nine tails whipped around as the… thing… that Naruto had become sat in the clearing, just sitting there.
Naruto turned to them, speaking in a disjointed voice. "It… hurts…"
Markarov walked forward, slowly as he closed the distance. "Naruto? What hurts?"
Naruto brought his hand up to his chest, a long finger pointing at his heart. "It… hurts… bad… make… stop…Gramps…"
Markarov approached, even as the cloak receded, showing Naruto. But the closer he got, the more to his horror he saw Naruto's state. It appeared as if… his skin had been pealed off. He could see muscle and tendon on Naruto's body in some places. He looked into the dark eyes of the boy he had found on the doorstep of his guild, the tired, pained look in his normally warm eye.
Naruto collapsed to his knees, his body wracked with spasms as he was filled with pain. He had only tried his Version 2 cloak once with Gildarts, and only for a few seconds. The cloak took his blood to make a more durable cloak, leaving him in a weakened state.
The last thing he saw before the blissful darkness took him were the blue eyes of Mirajane.
(Sometime Later)
Naruto cracked his eye open, his other closed so as to not be seen. He felt something soft under him. A bed. He sat up, despite his body screaming for him to stop. His eyes looked around the hospital room. A standard room. He looked to his right, surprised at what he saw. Sitting in the chair, fast asleep, was Mirajane. He looked at her. She was wearing a short skirt and sleeveless top that showed her belly. She had her thigh high heeled boots on, her legs curled up to her chest as she slept. Naruto wanted to scream, wanted to hate her, but he couldn't. He blamed himself for what had happened to Lisanna. His little sister, who helped ease his conscious of its burdens, who made him ramen when he was down. He felt a weight on his legs and looked won, wondering why he had not already. Laying on his legs were Erza and Cana.
Seriously, why are they here? Did they come here to gloat at his condition? To laugh and mock him? Was their friendship a lie? Their bond? Did they hate him? His dark thoughts were cut off as Mira awoke, blinking and yawning her sleep away. Her eyes fluttered open, looking around before she spotted him, widening at his already healed state.
She didn't know what to say. What could she? Her words the other day rang in her ears. How she wanted to take them back, to hold him and apologize. She never told him, but she had fell deeply in love with him years ago, when he had taken her on an S-Class mission. She would never say it. She couldn't say it. Not after Lisanna's funeral. She had never seen his apartment before, so when Markarov had taken her to it, she was slightly shocked at what she saw.
His apartment was full of pictures. Photos of all the members of Fairy Tail, from Natsu to Wakaba. Framed and hung, she had noticed that he took very good care of them. When she had looked around, she had found his book on interactions with people. When she asked why he needed it, Markarov smiled sadly and told her of his parentage.
She stood slowly, making her way to his bedside. Not a word was said, never breaking eye contact with each other. When she reached him, she grasped his hand softly, her voice even softer. "I-I-I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I was sad and angry. Can… can… can… you ever forgive me?"
Naruto looked deep in her eyes, saw the guilt. He saw how she had been eaten by it. He slowly brought his hands up to her face, gently grasping her cheek as his lone eye filled with the familiar warmth. "Mira, what is there to forgive?"
Mira smiled, tears flowing down her cheeks as she leaned forward and captured his lips. Fireworks went off in her minds. She felt Naruto's surprise, but felt his thumb rotating in small circles on her cheek. It wasn't a deep kiss, but it held all sorts of emotion. She held him there, savoring his warmth.
After a moment longer, she back away and spoke. "Erza, Cana, and I talked with Levy and Aries. We had planned on sharing you, helping you understand your emotions. We still do, and I hope you can accept us. We all love you. Erza because you gave her your eye (Tell me who this reminds you of!) and Cana because you are helping her try to gather the courage to speak to Gildarts. Levy loves you because you talk with her and treat her fairy, taking her with you on missions. Aries loves you because you saved her from her former master. We all love you, for different reasons, but still we love you."
Naruto was shocked. He had never thought that he would be loved by a woman. He had prepared himself to die alone. But now, now he felt a warm feeling in his chest. He was loved. He knew that Markarov loved him as a son, but there was an underlying fear in him of his magic. Now, Mira had told him that at least five girls loved him.
In as strong a voice as he could, not noticing the other girls had awoken, he spoke. "I love you all too. I had prepared myself to die alone. But, if you are willing to teach me, I would gladly try and understand these feelings."
AN: Okay, I am done. Enough emotional crap. Next chapter, we get to the funny shit. And we have Naruto meeting Angel and her infatuation with him begins! And before you ask, no Loke will not be joining Fairy Tail. Due to my changing of the circumstances of the whole 'Karen thing' he has no reason to be there. However, Lucy will have his key now. TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!
