Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: I wish to thank everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows. I am sorry for the long wait but I was a little bit stuck on how to write this chapter.

Whose idea was it for them to take the train? Naruto had to ask herself as she patted a groaning Natsu for what seemed to be like the twentieth time to her. It barely been ten minutes since the train started to move and already Natsu looked ready to kneel over and die. She knew from experiences with Laxus that it was kind of normal for a dragon slayer to be sick in any form of transportation. That was why whenever she used to take missions with her cousin, they would walk there because Naruto had the stamina to keep up and would never complain to her cousin about the journey.

Unlike the other people in their guild, Naruto actually enjoyed walking in the blazing sun and wonder around the landscape before reaching their destination. There was just something in nature that made Naruto never want to leave the forest.

"You're so hopeless, Natsu!" Gray snapped, bringing Naruto out of her musings. The blue-eyed girl sighed and stared at the scowling ice mage, knowing that Gray was saying this because of Natsu's moaning about his hatred of anything to do with transport. "Go sit somewhere else if you're gonna be annoying! Don't ride on a train! Just run!"

"He wouldn't be able to catch up with us if he runs Gray," Naruto pointed out to the ice mage, running her hand through Natsu's pink hair. "If it helps, I read in books that it's normal for dragon slayers to get motion sickness so it ain't exactly his fault. Besides, Natsu has never been good in handling transport so it was a bad idea of us to go on a train with Natsu with us."

"You think it would have been a better idea for us to walk?"

"I wouldn't have mind walking," Naruto informed them, shrugging her shoulder. "I have to walk long distances when I'm working with Laxus since he likes being in nature more then being transport."

"I bet Laxus wouldn't have complained if he was in the train, unlike the crying idiot."

"I think that you're wrong about that, Laxus complains about being in a train like Natsu but he does it so subtly that only I know the truth," Gray arched his eyebrow and Naruto simply rolled her eyes. "No, Gray I won't tell you anything else about Laxus, I still need material to use against him. Besides Laxus will deny all he want about it and will murder me if he finds out that I told you he whines."

"I keep hearing you talk about Laxus but who's Laxus?" Lucy asked, drawing Naruto's attention to her.

"Laxus is my cousin and Gramps' only grandson," Naruto answered, wrinkling her nose at her. "You're lucky that you haven't met him yet Lucy because he is an asshole that treats everyone like they're the dirt under his shoes. Unlike me, he isn't that friendly to newcomers, unless they prove to him that they're strong!"

Lucy gulped, causing Naruto to smile. She knew she should paint her cousin in a better light because he was not that bad. She could have told her that her cousin gave the best hugs and under that all rough layers, there was a man that had a heart bigger than the whole guild. It was just that her cousin did not want to seem weak or get hurt again but that was what Naruto thought. She hoped the only reason her cousin acted like an asshole was because of what happened to her Uncle.

"Hey Naru, could you use one of your seals to make Natsu shut up?" Gray asked, snapping her out of her musing.

Naruto arched her eyebrow and glanced at the groaning fire mage before shaking her head. "No way! I'm not using my seals for something like this! If you want him to be quiet then use your own magic. Besides, you know better than anyone that I don't use my seals on friends."

"He's being annoying."

"Well you're being annoying by asking me to do this."

"I never ask you to do anything! This is the only time I'm asking you to use the seal on Natsu!"

"I'm still going to say no to you."

"I'll buy you ramen for two weeks."

"Tempting but my answer is still no."

As the two continued to bicker, Lucy stared at the two teens and giggled at their interaction while Erza shook her head. The red head looked at the moaning Natsu and then to teens, who were still bickering about how Naruto should use her seal on Natsu. It was a wonder to Erza how those two could work so well together in missions and act like the best of friends yet when it came to Naruto using her magic on people, they would argue like a bunch of kids.

Well, in any case there was only one way to stop their bickering.

"Natsu," Erza said, fixing her gaze at the groaning pink-haired boy. "Come sit next to me."

The pink-haired mage glanced at Gray, Naruto, Happy and then finally fixed his eyes at Lucy before finally nodding his head at Erza. He wobbled as he walked to the seat beside Erza. Naruto bit her lips and only relaxed when the fire mage sat down beside Erza. A part of her was worried that Natsu might suddenly faint because of his motion sickness. She certainly did not want to deal with an unconscious dragon slayer.

As soon as Natsu was settled in his seat, Erza curled her hand into a fist and slammed it against the fire mage's chest. Naruto gulped and shivered as she watched Natsu slumped, banging his head against the red head's armour. That must have hurt, Naruto thought, wincing when she heard Natsu's whimpered cries. What the hell was Erza thinking when she punched Natsu?

"That should ease him a little."

"Or just make it even worse since your punches hurt like hell and he hit your armour," Naruto mumbled under her breath, frowning at the unconscious mage. Erza arched her eyebrows. Naruto smiled innocently, laughing nervously before slumping in her seat when the red head looked away from her. Gray snickered in response to all of this. Naruto scowled at him, clenching her hands into a fist and waved it at him.

"You know now that I think about it, I've never seen any other magic than Natsu," Lucy commented, flickering her eyes at everyone in the compartment. "I heard that Naruto use seals but what kind of magic do you use, Erza-san?"

"Erza's magic is beautiful," Happy said as the red head told Lucy to call her just Erza. "Plenty of blood comes out in the end."

Naruto sighed and whacked the cat on the head, who pouted at her. She glared at the cat, pointed at Lucy, who had turned pale at the cat's words. He frowned, opening his mouth to say something but closed it when Naruto glared hard at the cat. He gulped. Naruto smiled and looked at Lucy. The girl's eyes were now wide, flickering to the pale cat and then back to her. The blue-eyed girl shrugged her shoulder and looked out at the window.

"It's nothing special," Erza said, patting Natsu's head. "I think Gray's magic is more beautiful."

"Is it?" Gray asked, pulling a face.

Naruto tore her eyes away from the window and raised her eyebrow at him. "You know it is Gray and don't even try to deny it. Out of everyone's magic in the guild, your magic is the one that is the most beautiful. It's also the only magic in the guild that can actually be used to make art."

"You're only saying that because of the gift I gave you on your seventeenth birthday," Gray grumbled, crossing his arms. Naruto shook her head, smiled softly, and looked out at the window with a wistful expression. He frowned, opening his mouth to ask her why she was giving him weird looks but closed it when the memory of Naruto's birthday assaulted his mind. His face turned red as he remembered the birthday present he gave her on her birthday.

"Your present is one reason why I said that," Naruto muttered, glazing down at her hands. It reminded her eerily of the time when Gray made that present for her birthday. She avoided his eyes, he would flush red and deny anything to do with it. Not that Naruto knew what he was trying to deny because how could he deny that he made an ice sculpture of her father? There was only one person in the whole guild that could do it and it certainly wasn't Natsu.

"What is Gray's magic?" Lucy asked, glancing at the pair of them.

Gray sighed, put his hands together and a blue magic circle appeared behind his hands. Naruto grinned and Lucy looked wide-eyed at the sight of the Fairy Tail's symbol in his hand. The black-haired boy handed it to Naruto. The blonde held it with care, inspecting it with a bright smile, which earned a thoughtful look from Lucy. The brown-eyed girl glanced at Naruto, then to Gray, who was scowling at Naruto and giggled.

"It's just ice magic," Gray said dryly as Naruto handed the Fairy Tail's symbol to Lucy. "I don't see why Naruto makes it such a big deal. It isn't anything special."

"Says you," Naruto retorted, crossing her arms. "You don't think it's special but I do! I wish I've taken the time to learn a magic that makes such beautiful things!"

Lucy glanced at Naruto then to Gray and then finally to Natsu. Her eyes widened as she looked at the pink-haired boy and then to Gray. The brown-eyed girl slammed her fist on her hand, grinning at the two boys as if she discovered something that could change everyone's lives. Naruto raised her eyebrows at Lucy's gesture but the younger girl did not answer her silent question.

"Ice! Fire!" Lucy yelled, pointing to Gray and then to Natsu. Naruto raised her eyebrow further at this, tilting her head at the two males. Lucy smiled wider. "It's no wonder those two don't get along!"

"I don't think it has to do with that," Naruto said, pursing her lips as she stared at Gray. "I think it is to do with the fact that the two of them have two complete opposite personality."

"Who cares about that? Shouldn't we be talking about why Erza is asking for help?" Gray asked, staring at the red head woman.

"When you put it in that way, we should talk about what we signed up for since Erza-chan never asks for help," Naruto agreed, boring her eyes into the red-head's brown eyes. "What happened for you to ask for help Erza-chan? What's so dangerous that you have to ask for help?"

"As Naruto said, you never ask for help. It's very rare that you ask for it," Gray said, staring hard at the red head woman.

"Alright, I will explain," Erza said, sighing. "I was on my way back from work, when I stopped by a bar in Onibas, where mages gathers and it was there that some folk caught my attention…"

"Were they cute?" Naruto asked, tilting her head.

"Naruto!" Gray growled, glaring at the blue-eyed girl. "This isn't the time for you to ask about potential dates! They might be in the wrong side of the law!"

Naruto pouted. "So? It doesn't mean that I can't look does it?"

"Are boys all you think about?"

"Of course not," Naruto said, earning a raised eyebrow from him. "Don't give me that look! I also think about ramen, finishing my missions, taking care of Gramps and having a good time!"

"If that's the case then why ask Erza about if they were good looking or not?"

"Can we get back to the tale Naruto! Gray!" Erza said, narrowing her eyes at the two bickering teens. "This isn't the time for you two to bicker!"

Naruto and Gray stopped their bickering, looked at the furious red head before giving her a sheepish smile. Erza shook her head at them, muttering about how the two of them needed to start acting like adults, while Lucy stared at the two older teens. Those two were either arguing about the silliest of things or having one of the weirdest yet sweetest conversations.

Lucy glanced at the pretty blue-eyed girl and then to the dark-haired mage, noticing that the two of them seemed to be sitting very close together. She also noted that Gray subconsciously plays with Naruto's hair while the blonde would sigh and sometimes slapped the older boy's hand whenever it got close to his shirt. Looking at those two, Lucy had to wonder how close they were.

"…What the hell is Lullaby?" Naruto asked, snapping Lucy from her observation. The blue-eyed girl was frowning as she gazed at the redhead. "And did they mention what type of seal that was used on whatever Lullaby is?"

"I don't know what Lullaby is and no Naruto, they made no mention on the seal used," Erza answered, grimacing at her fellow S-rank mage. "We can come to the conclusion since it's sealed then it contained some powerful magic. There must be a way for you to seal this magic away if it's unleashed."

Naruto blinked her eyes at the order that Erza had given her and sighed, knowing that there was no point in arguing with Erza about not doing the seal. She could not tell the red head no. She could not just tell her that she may be good with seals but she did not know every seal in the world. Besides, the one seal that could possibly seal whatever Lullaby was could possible make Naruto lose her life. Naruto may love helping people but she was not going to sacrifice her life.

"I would do it Erza-chan since there might be a seal that I could use to seal it and if there isn't any, I will make one up," Naruto said, looking up at the train's ceiling. "Though I can't make any promises since I'm not yet a seal master. Also, what makes you think that Lullaby is magic? It could be something else entirely."

"What else can it be?" Lucy asked, tilting her head.

Naruto grinned, which made Gray roll his eyes. She glared at the black-haired mage, who simply ignored it. "It can be anything Lucy!" Naruto said when she was finally finished glaring at Gray. "Unlike what some people think, seal magic is very powerful. With just one character, you can put an animal into a pot and with two characters, you could decrease the flow of magic in a person. Seal magic is so powerful that it is possible to even seal a demon into an object! Lullaby for all we know can be a dark mage that has been sealed for a long time, who could potentially be pissed off at others!"

Lucy's eyes widened at her words and her face turned pale when Naruto's words finally sunk in. Erza grimaced, stared at the blue-eyed girl and then rubbed her chin at her words. Gray sighed and looked at Naruto, who kept her head down but had tightened her grip on the seat's handle. He shook his head, placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder, squeezing it. Naruto looked up at him and her facial expression turned from being anger to soberness.

He sighed, knowing that Naruto would never stop being anger whenever someone question her magic or whenever she thought someone underestimate her magic.

"Since Naruto has stopped ranting about seals and calm down, I want to know why we've to care about this," Gray said, removing his hand from Naruto's shoulder. "I mean you came across some people who wanted to break the seal of some unknown magic…maybe that's all it was, their job. It's nothing special."

"Yeah, that's what I told myself too and didn't give it anymore thought…" Erza admitted, narrowing her eyes at them. "But then I remember the name Eligor."

"Wait a second, were they talking about the Eligor? The Shinigami Eligor? The Eligor from Elsenwald?" Naruto asked, eyes glinting with eagerness as she sat up straight. Gray and Erza raised their eyebrows at the excited tone in Naruto's voice, which made the blue-eyed girl flush in embarrassment. "Why are you giving me those looks? You have to admit Eligor was and still is a badass man! I've always wanted to fight him!"

"Wait a second, Naruto, why did you call him the Shinigami Eligor?" Lucy frowned.

"I forgot that you're a newbie to the guild," Naruto said, bouncing on her seat. "I never gave him the nickname…he was just simply given it. Anyways, he got the name Shinigami Eligor because of the assassination missions he took. It's banned to take assassination missions in the guilds, but I've to admit that he had guts to break the rules."

"Y'know I don't understand your obsession with anyone that breaks the rules," Gray said, shaking his head at the eager blonde. "You know they're trouble but you always try to find out more things about them."

"Because if I track them, fight them, catch then and hand them over to the council then I get a lot of money," Naruto answered, rolling her eyes at him. "Anyways back to Eligor and his guild. From what I remember in the newspaper, six or seven years ago, the council gave the guild a choice either they stop the assassination missions or else they will be ousted from the mage guild league. Obviously, they pick the assassination missions since assassination missions pays a lot of money."

"Naruto, how do you know the assassination missions brings in a lot of money?"

"Hmm…someone once told me that," Naruto said, smiling widely at the brown-eyed girl. Lucy smiled nervously, glancing at the smiling blond and then to the others. Her smile dropped when she caught sight of the concern look on Gray's face. Lucy followed his line of sight and stared at Naruto, who still had a wide smile on her face. She frowned as she noticed that Gray ruffled Naruto's hair and said something under his breath that caused the smile on Naruto's face to falter.

She wondered what that was about.

"Anyways, Elsenwald is now a dark guild," Erza said, giving them a serious look.

"Dark guild!" Lucy yelped.

"Yup," Naruto said, fixing her eyes at Lucy. "The guild deserved it for not listening to the council. No matter how much I like breaking the rules and pissing off the council members, even I wouldn't choose those type of missions over being a light guild."

"Wait a second, if they got expelled…does that mean they didn't get punished?"

"They did get punished Lucy," Erza said as they step out of their train component. She grabbed her bags and placed them into the cart."Elsenwald's master was arrested and the guild was ordered to disband."

"Of course they didn't listen," Naruto added, placing her hands into her pockets. "Then again, who really listens to the council? If people actually listen to them then there won't be any dark guilds and we won't have to go to the trouble of handling them."

Lucy gulped. "Maybe it's better if I go back home."

"Don't be so scared Lucy," Naruto said, placing her hand onto Lucy's shoulder. "You're apart of our team ain't ya? And being a part of a team means that we're going to protect ya because nakama don't abandon each other. Besides Mirajane wouldn't have sent you here if she didn't think you weren't ready for this."

Gray snorted, which made Naruto grin and before the black-haired boy could react, the blonde had swung her arm around his neck. He shrugged his shoulder and groaned when Naruto tightened her grip on his neck. He scowled. She smiled cheekily and pulled him closer. He groaned, relaxed his shoulders, and simply stopped struggling against the girl's grip. Usually, he should not bother because whether he liked to admit it or not, Naruto was physically much more stronger then him.

"It was a blunder on my part," Erza said, narrowing her eyes at Naruto and Gray. Naruto pouted and released her grip on Gray, who sighed in relief as he finally felt the air in his lungs being released. "If only I remembered the name Eligor back then at the bar…I would've put them all in a blood offering!"

"Well you can't change the past Erza-chan so the only thing we can do now is stop them," Naruto said, frowning. She then added thoughtfully. "And hope not to face an entire guild because I doubt that even you would be able to handle them by yourself."

"They got hold of the magic of Lullaby and are plotting something," Erza said, nodding. "I judged that we cannot overlook this matter. We will march into Elsenwald."

"That sounds like my type of fun." Naruto smiled.

"Sounds interesting," Gray smirked. "So do you know where Elsenwald is?"

"We came to this town to find out about that."

Naruto wrinkled her nose but made no move to comment about Erza's plans. If she were in charge of this whole thing, Naruto would have done the research on where they were before coming here. Erza was also the type of person to do this so maybe getting information of Elsenwald's whereabouts wasn't easy as it looks. She grimaced at this realization. She didn't like being unprepared for this.

"Natsu isn't here!"

Naruto blinked her eyes.

Huh, they were all so busy talking that none of them noticed Natsu wasn't here.

Yawning, Gray took a seat beside Naruto and stared at Erza, who was now talking to the security guard about getting the train to turn around. He sighed and glanced at the blue-eyed girl, who glanced at him then to the ground and back at him. He stared at the railway then up at the sky, before peeking a glance at Naruto. The girl was biting her lips and had that hesitant look that said she wanted to say something but was not sure if she should. He mentally groaned. When Naruto had that look, it meant she needed to spill her heart out and she only did that if the two of them were alone.

"Alright Naruto! What's on your mind?"

"There's nothing in my mind," She denied, giving him a wide smile.

"Who are you trying to kid? I'm not Laxus or the Master so I ain't going to believe that bullshit lie or that fake smile of yours," Naruto flinched and looked down at her hands. "You're thinking about something and it has to do with me or why else will you be looking at me every five minutes? I know I'm good looking but I doubt that's why you're looking at me," The blonde glared at him, earning an eye roll from him. "Mind telling me what you're thinking about before the others come?"

"I was just remembering my birthday," Naruto admitted, looking up at the sky. "Do you remember how you deny making that ice sculpture of my dad? And Gramps' reaction to it?"

"How could I forget?" Gray asked her, looking down at the ground. "Even though I deny it, you still knew it was me who made it. You and the Master were so happy with the ice sculpture, I was afraid that you were going to order me to do more. Besides, the ice sculpture of your Dad took me a good two weeks to do since I needed to find the right picture to use. What about it?"

"I just realized that you don't do things for anyone but you did it for me and I have to wonder why? Why did you make such a nice gift for me?" Naruto asked, twisting her body around till she was facing him. "We might have known each other since we were eight but the same goes for Cana yet, you never do these type of things for her and she is close to you as I am. Yet, the most you ever gave for her birthday was paying for her drinks."

Gray blinked and averted his eyes from Naruto's curious ones. He hung his head down as he tried to figure a way to tell Naruto why he did it without making it complicated. Naruto was not wrong to say he was close to Cana, the girl was like a sister to him after all, but Cana had not always been there for him. Naruto, on the other hand, was always there for him. Where everyone else would leave him alone when he was being moody, Naruto would just barge in, grabbed him by the arm and then proceed to take him to his favourite ice cream shop, chatting about the most random things as she did so. If he needed a place to hide, the girl beside him would offer it. If he ever felt alone in his house, he could always count on Naruto to have a place in her room for him.

No matter how he looked at it, Naruto was always helping him. He always took it for granted. He did not even realized this until last year when Loke started to flirt with Naruto, who flirted right back at him. The girl had spent less time with him and more time with Loke, who kept showering the girl with compliments and flowers. He clenched his hand into a fist as he remembered how Naruto asked him to find out if Loke like her. Till this day, Gray was still pissed at the fact that Loke had lead Naruto on about liking her and for even flirting with her.

"Are you okay Gray?" Naruto asked, placing her warm hand onto his cold forehead. "Never mind you're fine!"

"I could have told you that Naruto," Gray said, looking up at the sky. "And to answer your question, I just wanted to show you that even though I don't say it, you mean a lot to me. Out of everyone in the guild, you have always been there for me."

"That's what best friends do Gray, we're always there for each other," Naruto said, smiling at him. "You've always been there for me too. You never abandoned me whenever I'm being my stupid boy crazy self and you always cheer me up whenever my cousin is acting his stupid self. Besides…you even let me cry on your shoulder on my birthday because I'm thinking about the what ifs on that day. You never tell me like Laxus that I'm stupid for thinking of what my life could have been like if my parents had lived or give me sympathetic looks like Gramps, you always listen to me."

"Because I know that's what you need," Gray answered immediately, staring into her eyes. "Your cousin is an idiot for thinking that you're stupid for thinking of the what ifs. It's only natural that you want to imagine a life with them. The old man thinks it's sad that you lost your parents on that day but it isn't sad because you always said that they gave their life to save their village, right? You don't feel sad because of that right?"

"No…I think it just showed how brave my parents were and how badass my Mum was," Naruto said, smiling. "Can you imagine a woman that immediately gave birth to go and continue fighting? I can say that my mother was like that."

"I think I can even imagine Erza doing that." Gray said, earning a laugh from Naruto. "If it makes you feel better, I sometimes try to imagine what my life would be like if my parents were alive."

"Oh? And what do you think?"

"I think I wouldn't have become a mage," Gray admitted. "I think I would have continued my Dad's job…so I might have become a blacksmith. I would probably have to deal with my mother trying to match me up with people since I remembered my mother used to do that with anyone who she found out was single. You?"

"I wouldn't have been a mage," Naruto answered, giving him a sad smile. "I would've been a ninja just like my parents. I probably would have brothers and sisters, who I would tease and prank. I would have more people kissing my feet because of my father being their leader. I would have made friends that I trust but I don't think I'll ever know if they were friends with me because who my dad was or not so I would have to test them."

"You make it seem depressing."

"It might have been because I wouldn't have people like the guild," Naruto said, looking at him. She tilted her head. "Y'know I wonder sometimes how my dad would have reacted to you. Would he have hated you because of your stripping habit? Or would he have like ya because you were my friend? I sometimes even wonder if we would have met if my Gramps hadn't agreed to raise me."

Gray blinked and then frowned as he tried to picture his life without this annoying girl beside him. It was difficult to picture it, to even think of a routine without the girl beside him but he could try to imagine it. It would have been completely different to now that much was certain. He would never enter the guild, expecting to hear the girl's loud voice as she greeted him, or hear Naruto's voice as she sang happy birthday to whoever birthday was it on that day. He certainly wouldn't have a place to crash whenever the loneliness of his apartment got to him. There would be no one who would just know to bring him spare clothes or slap his hand away whenever he was about to strip. He knew he wouldn't have found a person that knew him better than anyone else.

His heart grew heavy as he realized how much he counted on Naruto.

"We wouldn't have met," Gray said, staring at the crowd. "We've never met people from Konoha have we? So the chances of us meeting would have been slim," he curled his lips into a smile. "I wouldn't have to deal with your boy obsessed self."

Naruto scowled and hit him in the chest. "I'm not that obsessed with boys! And we both know that you love this part about me," he shrugged his shoulder, which made Naruto pout. "Even if you deny it Gray, I want you to know that I'm glad to have you as my best friend because I doubt I would ever find a guy that is as understanding as you."

"That's because I am the only guy who tries to understand you."

"I know and for that reason alone, I will never tell Laxus or Gramps about that kiss," Gray rolled his eyes, which made Naruto grinned. "I don't get why you keep rolling your eyes at me! Y'know you should be grateful because if Laxus or Gramps know about it, they will kill ya."

"They would but at least I can claim that I'm the only guy who ever kissed you," Gray raised his eyebrow when he saw Naruto look put down by his words. "Why do you look so sad? We were eight Naruto, I'm sorry if it wasn't your dream kiss but it was an accident! You could always claim it wasn't your first you know."

"I know… but it doesn't change the fact I've never really kissed a guy," Naruto looked at the couples and then to him before continuing, "When I meet a guy I really like, would he be upset that I've never really kiss anyone before? That I don't have any experience?"

Gray groaned.

"I am not having this talk with you."

"Why not?"

"Because it is weird."

"You are just making it weird Gray! I had to hear from you about how your exes kiss!" Naruto snapped. Gray winced and looked away from the scowling girl. The guys were right when they said it was going to bite him in the ass when he told Naruto about how his ex-girlfriends kiss. To be fair, he only wanted to kiss those girls because he wanted the experience of what it was like to have a girlfriend and being in a relationship in general. It was not his best idea. All his ex-girlfriends turned out to be the opposite of what he wanted in a girl. "So are you going to answer my question or not? Will he be put off that I have never kiss a guy before?"

"No," Gray answered, staring at Naruto as he thought about what he learnt from his experience. "He will be happy to know it because it means he can teach you everything he knows. If the bastard is put off by it then he isn't worth it."

Gray felt like vomiting as he said those words to Naruto, who was now smiling brightly at him. He knew he was being supportive by saying this but if the Master or Laxus found out about what he said then they were going to murder him, bring him back to life and then kill him again. It also did not help that he felt his heart tightened as he tried to imagine Naruto kissing another male. He should not care about who would be in a relationship with Naruto, it was her life after all. Besides, how the hell did he end up giving her girl talk? He was a guy! He should not be doing girl talk with her! Where the hell was Cana when he needed her? She would be better at this then him.

"Hey Gray…."

"Yeah."

"If I find a guy that is interested in me, can you promise me that you make sure that he is genuinely interested in me?"

"Why are you asking me and not your cousin?"

"Because my cousin will hurt any guy who even looks at me, you on the other hand won't do that to me," Naruto pointed out as she stretched her hands. She grinned at him and he wondered for the second time this year why he had to put up with this. He did not know why he couldn't say no to her.

"How do you know that I will keep that promise?"

"Because you always keep your promise," Naruto said, giving him that smile that made him want to throttle her. "And I know that I can always trust you to keep an eye out for any guy who just wants to get into my pants. Besides I would do the same for you."

Gray looked away from the smiling blonde, fixing his eyes at Erza and the others, who were now making their way towards them. He sighed and glanced at Naruto, who gave him a small smile before rushing towards the others. He raised his eye when Naruto stopped running and before he even blink his eyes, Naruto was in front of him and dragging him with her to the others.

It seemed like the two of them now had to go back to work.

They were lucky that they were able to find a rental magical four-wheeled vehicle as Naruto had no doubt that they would not have been able to catch Natsu from flying out the train. She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows when she saw Natsu in Gray's arms. The black-haired boy scowled, glared at Natsu before promptly dumping down on the ground while the others rushed out of the vehicle to check on their friend.

"Natsu are you okay?" Naruto asked, glancing at the groaning pink-haired boy. She glanced at Gray, who was rubbing his forehead from where Natsu's head hit him, and then back to Natsu. He had a straight face, which made Naruto worried since it was so unlike her friend to have such an expression.

"A better question to ask is: what the hell you were doing, Natsu you punk!" Gray yelled, crossing his arms at the pink-haired boy.

Natsu stared blankly at him. "How could you leave me behind Naruto! And who the hell is the guy beside you…I might have lost my memory from shock."

"Natsu this isn't the time for you to make jokes!" Naruto snapped, glaring at the fire mage. "And I am sorry we left you behind but we were having a discussion about Elsenwald that made us forget about you. Besides, be happy that you're safe."

The pink-haired boy snorted at her words. "How was I safe? Some weirdo tried to pick a fight with me!"

Naruto blinked her eyes while Erza and Lucy frowned. She really should have paid more attention to the people around them but why the hell would someone tried to pick a fight with Natsu? He couldn't cause trouble in a train because of his motion sickness. She rubbed her chin as she tried to figure out what on earth could cause someone to pick a fight with the pink-haired boy.

"IDIOT!" Erza yelled, punching the boy on the face. Naruto winced as she watched Natsu fly several feet away from his spot. She glanced at Gray and the older teen sighed before informing her that the weirdo who attacked Natsu was from Elsenwald. Her eyes widened at this piece of news and silently prayed Kami that they were able to get to Natsu on time or else the idiot would have been in more trouble.

"Why weren't you listening to my story?" Erza yelled.

Naruto shook her head at the red-haired woman and pointed out. "How could he pay attention when you knock him out Erza? If anything, we should have woke him up and told him about it but we did not so it is not his fault."

"See even Naruto say is not my fault!"

"Why the hell would I blame you for this?" Naruto argued.

"You always say it is my fault!"

"Yeah when you destroy a damn building!" She snapped. "Do you know how many letters my Gramps get from the council about ya? It is a hell lot more then any one else in the guild! You are the damn reason why Gramps always cry!"

"This is not the time for you two to argue!" Erza snarled at them, giving them a look that said if they did not shut up then she was going to shut them up themselves. Natsu gulped at her while Naruto reluctantly nodded her head, scowling as she did so. The two of them knew if they bother to argue then they would be greeted by Erza's fist and that was the last thing, the two of them wanted.

The red-haired woman smiled and nodded her head, glancing at Natsu before asking, "He was in the train earlier right?" She barely waited for Natsu's reply before saying, "Let's chase it! What did he look like?"

"Nothing special," Natsu said, frowning. "He carried a flute with a skull on one end of it. A skull with three eyes."

"That's gross," Gray commented—Naruto and Happy nodded their heads in agreement while Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at them.

"What's up Lucy?" Happy asked, glancing at the pale-faced blonde.

"A flute with a three-eyed skull…it's just a made-up story but if that flute is the cursed song…Lullaby…sleep…death, " Lucy muttered—her voice got louder as she said each word. She swirled her head around to her confused teammates, who frowned when they saw the fear in Lucy's eyes. "That flute is Lullaby! Lullaby…the magic of 'death'!"

For a couple of seconds, everyone stared at Lucy as they tried to process what the blonde had just informed them. Naruto opened her mouth to make a joke about it but closed it as the full force of what Lucy just said hit her.

"Shit." Naruto squeaked, saying the first word that came to her mind after her realization.

"What?" Erza said.

"Cursed song?" Gray asked, furrowing his eyebrows at Lucy.

Natsu and Happy simply gave Lucy a confused look.

Lucy gulped, took a seat on the front steps of the vehicle and stared at the sky. The younger woman took in a deep breath; bit her lips as she tried to regain control of her trembling hands and her racing heart. When she finally regained control of her hands and her heart had finally stopped racing, Lucy began to explain.

"I have only read about it in a book," Lucy waved her hands. "I don't remember which book it was but I remember how it stated that among forbidden magic, there is such a thing as 'murderer by curse' right?"

Naruto felt her heart stopped at Lucy's words. She knew what Lucy was talking about. In fact, she knew all too well about the type of magic Lucy was talking about. She should know it well, Naruto thought bitterly to herself as she remembered her Uncle's words to her. He always told her and Laxus about that magic, about how she would have been prefect for that magic. He always said that with what her parents did for a living, she had it in her blood to prefect it.

She tensed when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Naruto looked up, blinked her eyes when she noticed the concern look on Gray's face. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was fine but there was something in his eyes that told her he would not believe any lie she told him. Not that he ever did. Unlike the other people in the guild, Gray had always caught her in her lies and would pester her until she told him the truth.

Naruto could not tell anyone about what her Uncle told her. She did not want anyone to look at her differently. There was no way in hell she was going to show them her weakness. She was not going to let anyone know that her Uncle's words affected her deeply. If Gray knew, she had no doubt that her grandfather would find out and that was the last thing she wanted her grandfather to know.

It was already her fault that her Uncle was kicked out, she certainly did not want to be the cause of her grandfather's sadness if he learnt about what her Uncle said to her.

"Are you getting on or not, Naruto-san?" Lucy asked, snapping her from her thought.

The blonde grinned. "Of course I am."

They could hear the cries and complaints of the civilians as they rushed through the next train station. Each one of them cried about how men with scythes poured into the rain or about how it was the dark guild that took over the train. Naruto's heart broke when a man cried about how his work was in there along with his wife. She prayed that they could stop this before the situation could get worse.

"I can understand if it's a horse-drawn carriage or a boat but a train?" Lucy asked, looking wide-eyed as the people's cries faded into the background.

Happy nodded his head. "Aye…it can only run on the rails so it's not very beneficial to take over huh?"

"But it got speed," Gray pointed out as he tried to take off his shirt only to be stopped by Naruto, who slapped his hand and glared at him. He blinked his eyes and Naruto sighed, pointing to his hands. He glanced down at his hand that was still clutching his shirt. He grimaced and pulled his shirt down. "Maybe they are in a hurry to carry out something they have planned?"

"It is likely," Naruto agreed, slapping Gray's hand. "But where would they go? And why a train? There would not be enough people for them to kill. Also what the hell are they planning to do with that damn flute?"

"Does it matter?" Lucy asked, giving the two of them weird looks. "The military forces are already on the case, so it is probably a matter of time until they are arrested."

The blonde snorted. "Unlikely. The military force can do nothing right and they are all bloody corrupted! If you give them the right amount of money then they would turn a blind eye to it."

"Naruto-san!"

"I ain't lying! We are not the only guild that causes trouble but we are the only ones that are on the council's bad side because we don't give them the right amount of money for them to turn a blind eye to it," Naruto snapped, clenching her fist as she remembered one of the council member's grandson telling her that if she gave the right amount of money then they would turn a blind eye to their actions.

"And you know this because…?"

"Because that little shit told me," Naruto answered.

"Which one?" Gray asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

The blonde scowled at his question. "The one that tried to grab my ass and insulted our guild! If I ever see that bastard again, I am going to punch his face."

"You know if you do that then your Gramps is going to scold you again."

"Yeah well he should be proud that I am defending myself and the guild."

"Even if it causes the council members to complain about it!"

"It's better then the complaining about how you came up to them naked!"

"It was just one time!"

"It was more then once and you know it! None of the girls in the council can look at you straight in the eye without blushing because they can remember how you look like without your damn clothes on."

"It isn't like it is my fault!"

"I know it isn't your fault if you had brought me with you then you would not have been in that situation!"

"Naruto! Gray! Shut up! This is not the time for the two of you to quarrel!" Erza growled, causing the two teens to shut up and nod their heads at her. "If anything, the two of you need to work together because if someone plays that flute, many people will die. Human lives will end by the melody of the flute."

Naruto grimaced at this and glanced down at her hands. She knew by Erza's words that if they messed things up then so many people's lives would be lost. If they messed it up then there would be a chance that a whole town would be destroyed and it would be because Gray and her spent too much time arguing. She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. Maybe, she should stop arguing with Gray about this issue.

"You know we need to figure out their intention," Naruto pointed out to Erza, fiddling with her hands. "How the hell do we know that where we are not going into a trap? This is not our standard villains, this is a dark guild we are talking about!"

"There is nothing that gives us a hint on what they are planning," Lucy pointed out. "The only clue we have is that they have Lullaby, which can kill people and that is it."

"I know but why did they took over a train? Why haven't they used it yet? Aren't you curious about that?" Naruto asked, gazing intently out at the window. "I know very little about dark guilds but I do know one thing about them and that is they always have a reason for what they do. Their reasons can be twisted but it is still a reason, they don't do things mindlessly. They are not like thugs."

"Maybe they wanted to kill a lot of people," Gray suggested, shrugging his shoulder.

Naruto narrowed her eyes at him. "That is not a reason and you know it. If they want to kill a lot of people then why have they not use it yet? It is a lot bigger then this. No, there is something about what is happening that doesn't make sense to me. They have Lullaby but they are not using it. They had Natsu in their gasp but they did not kill him. There is a lot of contradiction. If I did not know any better, I would think they are waiting to use it."

"On what?" Lucy asked.

"I have no clue." Naruto answered.

Gray shook his head at the pair of them and looked out at Erza, who looked even paler then usual. He grimaced, knowing what might be the cause of the red-haired woman's paleness. "You should slow down Erza. Your magic power will be drained if you keep this up."

"I don't care," the red-haired woman replied. "If worse comes to worst, I will grab a stick and fight. Besides I still have you guys."

Naruto frowned and opened her mouth to convince the older woman to take break but closed it when she smelt the familiar scent of smoke. The blond-haired girl glanced at Lucy and then looked out at the window. Her heart stopped when she saw the smoke coming out of Oshibana station.

"This is going to be a pain in the ass isn't it?"

They nodded their heads in agreement and all of them came to a silent agreement that this situation could not get any worse. After all, what could be worse then a smoking building right? There was nothing that could make this situation go from bad to worse.

If only they knew how wrong they were

Questions and Answers:

Why is Naruto ashamed with what Minato did?

Naruto is ashamed with what Minato did because it went against everything her grandfather had taught her. There is also another reason for why she is ashamed for what he did, which would be revealed in the Tower of Heaven's arc. There will be clues about why she is ashamed of what her parents did for living when Team Natsu and her go to Konoha.

Thank you for reading

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