Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: I wish to thank everyone that have added this story to their favorites and follows. I also wish to thank everyone that reviewed this story and I know that it has been a while since I updated and that this chapter is shorter than the last one but I promise that the next chapter will be longer.
"Gramps, why's Laxus here? And where's Ivan-ojisan?"
Naruko stared at her grandfather with wide eyes before flickering her eyes towards her cousin, who stared angrily at her grandfather. She frowned at him, receiving an angry glare from her cousin. Her frown deepened. What happened? Why's her cousin so angry with her grandfather? And why isn't her uncle with them?
Grimacing, Makarov kneeled down until he was at her eyelevel. "I'm sorry to tell you this but…Ivan is no longer apart of the guild."
Naruko blinked her eyes at her grandfather before furrowing her eyebrows. She tilted her head at him and asked. "What do you mean? Did something happen to him?"
"Gramps kicked Tou-san out of the guild! That's the reason!" Laxus scowled. "He kicked Tou-san out of the guild for no fucking reason!"
"I had a reason Laxus!" Makarov rose from his kneeling position and stared at the preteen boy.
"Well what was it! Why would you do that to your own family! Tell me the damn reason!" Laxus yelled. "Why would you kick Tou-san out? Tell me!"
"You're not old enough to know." Makarov said calmly. "All you need to know is that Ivan did something that put the guild in danger."
Laxus glared at their grandfather, before stomping upstairs to his room. Sighing, Makarov shook his head and took a seat on the couch while Naruko stared sadly at where her cousin had once stood. Not once had she seen Laxus looked so mad before, so heartbroken. She couldn't contemplate what her cousin was going through.
She took a seat on the couch and stared at the picture of her smiling father, uncle and grandfather. The love between all of them radiated like the sun, blinding and scotching her but now that was all gone. The love between her Uncle and grandfather had faded and all she could think that it was her fault. If she didn't tell her grandfather what her Uncle told her, would her Uncle still be here?
If she hadn't told her grandfather about what her Uncle told her then he would be here. If she hadn't told her grandfather then her cousin wouldn't be so angry with their grandfather. He would be smiling and be more like himself, then yelling at their grandfather.
This is all her fault.
"It's my fault that you kicked Ivan-ojisan out, right?"
"It isn't your fault, Naru-chan." She shook her head at her grandfather. "Ivan did something that put the guild in harms way and I had to kick him out to protect the guild."
"If it isn't my fault then what did he do to make you do such a thing? He would never harm someone!" She shifted her gaze towards the pictures. "He says a lot of bad things but he will never harm someone! Right? He wouldn't harm anyone in the guild!"
"Naru-chan…"
"I know Ivan-ojisan can be an asshole but he will never hurt anyone in the guild! He cares for the guild in his own way!" Naruko rested her head on her arms. "You had to have made a mistake Gramps! You have to bring him back! If not for my sake then for Laxus' sake! Tou-san and Grams wouldn't have wanted you to do this!"
"I'm not going to bring Ivan back! What he did was unforgivable!" Her grandfather yelled. "Neither you nor Laxus can change my mind! And that's final!"
The convection in his eyes told her everything. Asking him later about bringing her Uncle back would make him furious. Talking about her Uncle will make him loose his temper. She doesn't want that. It will raises his blood pressure and then he will get ill, making her feel even more guilty for what happened between him and her Uncle.
She shook her head and started to make her way towards her bedroom, ignoring the sounds of her grandfather calling her. Nothing he says to her would make a difference to her, because in the end he won't bring back her Uncle. It wouldn't change the fact that their family was now being torn apart from this sudden news.
Naruko jumped onto her bed and looked at the wall, where the posters of her favorite mages and bands plastered over it. Why couldn't her life be like the life of those people? They probably didn't have that kind of trouble in their life. They might have never the problem of their families being torn apart of a reason unknown. These people have it lucky, compared to everyone else in the world.
None of them had their whole world torn apart in just a couple of days. These celebrities didn't learn that their father was a shinobi, a murderer. They didn't learn that their father left the family to follow said occupation or, that their grandfather had lied to them about where they actually come from. They also didn't learn that people were thinking that they would leave their own guild to become said killer. None of them had an Uncle who despised them for being born. Not one of them had this problem. No one in the whole of Earthland had this damn problem.
She gulped and closed her eyes to prevent the tears that were trying to come out of her eyes. Was it her fault that her Uncle left the guild? Did she do something that made him go over the edge? Did he know that people were going to come after her and kill her because of her father? No, if he did know that then he would rub it in her face. He would have said it so gleefully to her.
"Why does he hate me so much? What did I do to deserve such hate from him?" Tears leaked out of her eye. "If I hadn't been born then maybe, he would still be here with Gramps and Laxus! And then maybe, Gramps wouldn't be so angry with him! Laxus wouldn't have yelled at Gramps! None of this would have happened if I had been born."
She hated being apart of this family because, she was the cause of all the trouble that was currently happening.
Maybe it will be best if she doesn't tell her grandfather everything.
Weeks passed since Makarov broke the news to his granddaughter about Laxus living with them and how he expelled his son from the guild. Since that day, neither of his grandchildren were talking to him, only speaking to him when necessary. The two of them weren't smiling as wide as they used to, giving fake smiles to everyone. He didn't want that from them. He wanted them to give their infectious smile, which never failed to make anyone smile. The smiles on their faces now were just a mockery to it.
He hated that he was the cause of those fake smiles but there was no way he would do as they ask and bring Ivan back. These two grandchildren of his were nothing like their own parents and he didn't know whether he should be happy about that or not. On one hand, Minato and Ivan would have understand what he did at their age while on the other hand, those two had done a lot of things to disappoint him.
His grandchildren hadn't done anything to disappoint him.
"Gramps, will it be okay if I go to the forest?" Makarov frowned at his smiling granddaughter. "It's just that I want to train in my magic and well I can't do it in the guild or at home because of the space and damage I might cause! If it's the forest well, I won't have to worry about you paying so much money because of the damage I made!"
"I don't know Naru-chan…"
"Please, Gramps! I promise to be a good girl! I'll have Cana watch me if that makes you feel better!" Naruko bit her lips. "Please Gramps, let me go to the forest! I can't train inside the guild or at home and you know that! Let me go to the forest, I'll be a good girl and I won't cause any trouble…just let me go to the forest to train!"
Makarov scratched his chin and looked at his blond-haired granddaughter with a thoughtful look. On one hand, he didn't want to send his grandchild outside to the forest, where anything could happen to her. Those shinobi after his granddaughter might find her outside, and kill her because of the fact that her uncle leaked her location to them. The shinobi that he hired have killed all of the informants but, he couldn't take the chance of one of them surviving.
Yet, he can't deny his granddaughter the chance to practice her magic. She was still a bubbling mage and was still trying to find her way in her magic. She still had a long way to go before becoming a very respected mage. She still needed to practice her spells as well as finding out, who she really is as a mage. It doesn't help that she was a prodigy in wind magic, mastering spells that would take a kid her age years to master.
It really doesn't help that Naruko loved magic with all of her heart.
"I'll watch you train." Makarov finally said, smiling at his young granddaughter.
Naruko blinked and smiled at him, babbling about how he was the best grandfather in the world and normally, her words makes him happy but not this time. The wide smile on her face was her fake smile and she rarely gave him such smiles but after what he did, he didn't blame her for giving him that smile. She was in pain but didn't want to show it to him, so she held it by giving him that fake smile. If he wasn't her grandfather then, he would have believed that things were back to normal but he knows that it would be a long time before he sees a real smile on her face.
"…Gramps, is it possible to make a new spell?"
"Of course, it's possible but it can be quite difficult to make new spells." Makarov frowned. "Why do you ask?"
The blue-eyed girl scratched her forehead. "Just curious you know. Most of the spells I learn are from books but, books can take me so far," she crossed her arms and tilted her head. "I want to do things that most mages can't do and well…"
"And you want to make your own spells."
The blonde nodded her head and looked down at her hands before, reverting her eyes towards the portraits that surrounded the room. "I want to be able to do things that most mages can't do, I want to become the most powerful mage in the whole of Earthland," she admitted quietly. "I want to be strong enough so that I would never have to go to you because of my troubles."
Makarov opened his mouth to protest against his granddaughter's words but closed it when he saw the determination in his eyes. Memories of Minato rushed through his mind, causing him to clutch his chest in pain at the memories. You would think after a couple years, it would stop being painful for him to remember his son.
He shook his head at his thoughts and followed his granddaughter to the forest, sighing when he saw that she was running even faster than usual. It feels like Naruko is even more active than when she was two years old, which was saying something. He can't count the number of times that he lost his cute little granddaughter in city and all because she couldn't sit still. She had even made him called the police because he couldn't find her anywhere in the city.
"Gramps! You're being a slow poke!" Naruko yelled, twisting her head to stare at him.
"I can't help it if you are becoming even faster than usual, Naruko!" His granddaughter laughed loudly. "It isn't funny brat! You should take some pity on your grandfather here!"
"If you can't handle me then how can you handle the guild, Gramps?" Naruko said, smiling innocently at him. "After all the members of the guild have more energy than me if you think about it."
"No, I think you have more energy when I think about it." He muttered under his breath as he tried his hardest to catch up with Naruko. He frowned when he noticed that his granddaughter had stopped running. His granddaughter was tilting her head and humming a small song, while having a small smile playing on her lips. She looked like she was on a world of her own, which he had no doubt she was.
"Is this where you want to do to practice your magic, Naru-chan?"
Naruko nodded. "It feels peaceful here and…it is also the place where you first began to teach me, magic, Gramps." She rubbed her hands together. "And, it doesn't help that I can cause so much damage here and nobody will care."
"You really want to cause some destruction, don't you Naru-chan?"
His blond-haired granddaughter grinned and nodded her head in enthusiasm at him before gesturing for him to move a couple of inches away from her. Shaking his head, he did as his granddaughter requested and took a seat on the tree furthest away from his granddaughter. He hoped that Naruko remembered his rule of not too much destruction in the forest.
Knowing his granddaughter, she wouldn't forget his rule.
BAM! BAM!
Makarov blinked his eyes at the sudden noise and looked up, gawking at the sight of the dozen of trees that was currently being destroyed. Why now? Of all the times, to forget the rule, it has to be today. Today was Sunday, which means the mayor of the city will walk into the forest and will see a couple of dozen broken trees. Which means, he will know that it was his fault because only his guild would do something like this.
Please for his sake that he doesn't have to pay too much money.
He opened his mouth to tell his granddaughter to stop practicing her magic when, he saw that she was furrowing her eyebrows as she put her palm forward against one of the trees. Her nose was crunch up like she always does when she is doing her homework. Can he really stop her from practicing her magic? She really was concentrating on it and it seemed like she was practicing the one spell that she can't seem to get the hang of. Maybe, it wouldn't hurt for her to practice a little bit longer.
So he sit there and watch in amusement as Naruko tried to get her magic through her palm, each time smoke came out of her hand. After the fiftieth time, his granddaughter yelled out in frustration and stomped her foot on the ground.
"Why is this damn spell giving me so much trouble huh?" She kicked the rock, sending it a couple of feet away. "I can do almost every spell in the textbook even the hard ones, but when it comes to a C-rank spell than I'm stuck! Why! I mean I could get a little bit of wind but now, I'm not feeling anything! Why is it? Why is there no wind? What am I doing wrong?"
"It might be because there is something bothering you, Naru-chan." His granddaughter furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Sometimes magic responds to emotions and so if you have too much emotions then it will dampen your magic."
"There's nothing that is affecting me!"
"Naruko! Don't lie to me!" She quivered at his harsh tone. "I thought I taught you better than to lie to me!"
"Fine! I am angry and sad with myself!" She admitted, shuffling her feet together. "It's my fault that Ivan-ojisan was kicked out of the guild! It's my fault that Laxus hates us! It's my fault to tell you that Ivan-ojisan had been saying horrible things to me! And I feel that if I had been any stronger than none of this would have happened because maybe I could have stopped it!" Tears were now streaming down her face. "It also doesn't help that I learn that the man that I used to look up to had left our family for a stupid job and had now cause our family to be torn apart! And I feel even horrible knowing that I'm the daughter of a killer! I mean what if it makes me a killer! And what if I do what Tou-san did and leave the guild because I was just so curious, what if…"
"Naruko, listen to me!" She stopped sniffing and stared at him with wide teary eyes. "None of it is your fault! I didn't kick Ivan out of the guild because of you! He did something that will cause everyone in the guild to be in danger and I had no choice but to kick him out!" he wrapped his arms around his granddaughter. "And listen to me, you're strong and you'll only get stronger but your strength have nothing to do what happened. And your father didn't cause our family to be torn apart, if anything he is the reason why I care about our family! And your father may have killed people but that doesn't mean he wasn't a good person!"
"But he killed somebody."
"What he did was wrong but his job required him to kill." He whispered softly. "I think he won't kill when his job doesn't require him to kill. And lastly Naru, you won't become a killer because you aren't your father. You're your own person."
"Really?"
"Yes, really." Naruko beamed. "You've traits that neither your father or mother had! You've skills that both of your parents dreamed to have and your personality doesn't come from them."
"They aren't."
"No, it is entirely your own personality."
His granddaughter smiled hesitantly at his words and gave him a tight hug before going back to where he stood before. She breathed in and held her palm forward; causing Makarov to leaned forward to see what is about to happen. A blue magic seal appeared and a huge gust of wind came out, destroying the rows of trees in front of her.
Naruko scratched her head and turned around to give him an apologetic smile about the amount of damage that she made. Sighing, Makarov shook his head at her. It had been too much for him to hope that the young girl would learn not to cause too much damage. The only bright side of this is that his granddaughter had finally done the spell that she had trouble with. Through it will be a while before she mastered it but knowing her, she liked the challenge.
Now, only time can tell when his granddaughter would be able to master her final spell.
Naruko peered over her cousin's shoulder, raising her eyebrows at what was written in his notebook. He was supposed to be doing his math homework but, by the looks of things, it seemed like he had other things on his mind. She sighed, causing Laxus to turn his head around to glare at her.
"Naruko, get out of my room!"
The blonde shook her head. "Nope! Gramps told me that you have been stuck in your room the whole day with no accompany!" she crossed her arms. "And that isn't good! Everyone in the guild is worried about you! Now get your ass downstairs and go to the guild or god so help me!"
Her cousin grunted at her words, before glaring at her. She blinked and crossed her arms at him, giving him the look that told him that he better do as she says or else. Grumbling, her cousin stood up and made his way downstairs, ignoring her as he did so. Naruko leaned against the wall and stared at her cousin's room, frowning as she did so.
It looked similar to his old room. The walls were covered with his favorite band posters and had a couple of girls wearing bikinis posters as well. She could see her cousin's favorite headphones on the table, next to his school's textbooks. There were some letters scattered around the floor, along with his clothes. At least, some habits didn't change. The only difference between the two rooms was the fact that the walls here were painted blue while his old room had been painted grey. The other difference was the pictures of his father were on the shelves, which his old room never had.
She traced the pictures, frowning when she noticed a pretty young woman with light brown hair standing beside her Uncle and was holding a baby. Was that baby Laxus? It must be…which means the young woman was his mother. Naruko traced the young woman's features, noticing how her cousin had more of his mother's features than his father. She frowned. What happened his mother? Now that she thought about it, her uncle never talked about his wife. Her grandfather never talked about her and she wondered why.
Was she dead?
Most likely, seeing as Laxus would have gone to her if that is the case. But still, there was a lot of things she doesn't know about her family and maybe, she should start asking her grandfather about the other members of their family.
She shook her head and walked out of the room, heading downstairs but stopped when she heard voices coming from the living room. She hesitated. Should she make her presence known? Or should she listen into the conversation? It wouldn't hurt her to listen into the conversation and it isn't like she would tell anyone about it.
"So you're the one that the Hokage had sent to watch over my granddaughter?" Naruko frowned. "You're barely a man! I don't know if I feel safe in letting a young man like you, watching over Naruko. Do you know what the dangers are?"
"The Hokage has told me, sir."
For some strange reason, she felt like she knew that voice but, how could she? She had lived all her life with her grandfather, not once had she lived in another city. Yet, this voice felt familiar. It felt like she should know who this man was but she couldn't find it in herself to remember whom the man was.
"You aren't one of those men that would hurt her, are you?"
"No! Of course not!" His tone was shocked. "I would never hurt sensei's daughter!"
"I want to be certain! I still remembered what happened when I left with Naruko!" Her grandfather snapped. "I don't want her to feel that hatred again!"
Naruko frowned at this and inched closer to hear what happened but found that she couldn't hear them. Damn it! It still wasn't close enough for her to hear! She couldn't go any further or else, her grandfather will catch her and scold her. Still, she was curious about what they were talking about. The man knew who her father was and it seemed like her grandfather doesn't trust this man.
And what did her grandfather meant by he remembered what happened with her? Did something happen to her? And what hatred? Why would some unknown guy hate her? There were so many questions that she now has but none of them can be answered. Not unless, she admits to her grandfather she had listened into their conversation.
"…By the way, there is someone is standing by the staircase." The man's tone held a hint of amusement.
"That would be Naruko!" Her grandfather sighed. "Naruko, you can come out now!"
The blonde stiffen and came into the living room, smiling sheepishly at her grandfather before staring at the man that her grandfather was talking to. He had spikey silver hair and has familiar dark-colored eye and had one eye covered by a headband and the rest of his face was covered by a mask. He had no emotions in his face but Naruko could tell that he seemed curious about her but that isn't what interest her, what did was:
"Why do you wear a mask? And do you really know my father? Can you tell me about him? And what did you mean by hatred? And why must someone protect me? And why does grandfather think you will hurt me?" She took in deep breath. "And why do you seem so familiar to me? Have we met before? Oh and what's your name?"
Her grandfather laughed at her questions while the silver-haired man looked at her with wide eyes. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. Your father was my teacher and I can tell you a lot of things about your father, and your mother." Naruko looked at him with wide eyes. "As for why your grandfather think I will hurt you is because well, a lot of people want to see you hurt because of who your father was."
"Because he killed so many people?" Naruko said sadly.
The man nodded and reluctantly said. "Yes because of that."
"And why do you seem so familiar to me?" She prompted. "Because I have a feeling that we have met before."
"I don't think so."
Naruko frowned but didn't bother pressing the matter, instead she asked the one thing that has been bothering her since, she learn that this man knew her father.
"Since you knew my father then you knew my mother, right?"
The silver-haired man nodded at her question, causing her to smile. She opened her mouth to ask even more questions but her grandfather shot her the look that told her to be quiet. Naruko crossed her arms at him and pouted, causing her grandfather to laugh at her and the young man to chuckle at her. Her grandfather shook his head at her and ruffled her hair, having an amuse glint in his eyes.
"Why don't you take Kakashi-san to the guild?" Her grandfather suggested. "And on the way, he will tell you all the stories about your parents."
Naruko beamed at this and took the man's hand, dragging him towards the guild.
This was going to be a fun day
~X~
Kakashi will be the first to admit that he had been hesitant in taking the job that the Hokage had been. He wasn't sure if he was ready to see his sensei's child, knowing that the young girl have her father's appearance but, as soon as he heard her speak, he knew that it wouldn't be hard not to look at the girl. She was a mixture of her parents; through she had more of her father's traits in her but the rest of her personality was herself.
"So Kakashi-san, how did my father come to teaching you?"
Kakashi frowned at her question and answered. "Well, the Hokage told him to teach me so he did."
"Oh." She raised her eyebrows. "Was he a good teacher?"
"To me, he was."
Naruko nodded her head and started to hum a little tune. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and scanned the area, trying to see if there were any assassins in the area. By the looks of things, there wasn't anything harmful in this area. If anything, it was quite peaceful, which makes him wonder why his sensei would leave this place. His father looked to be a kind man, reminding him of the current Hokage and it looked like life here is great.
He stopped walking when he noticed that the blue-eyed girl was standing in front of a big building. He frowned and raised his eyebrows at her. She shook her head at him, grinning as she pushed open the door and revealed a huge dinning hall in front of him. He couldn't help but gawk at the sight in front of him. There were just so many people in this place, there had to be more than three hundred people here and all of them seemed to be fighting.
"Kakashi, welcome to Fairy Tail!" Naruko said, grinning at him. She ducked as a table was thrown in their direction. "It's the strongest guild in all of Fiore as well as the most troublemaking one."
"I can tell…"
The blonde smiled sheepishly before scanning the room for someone while he looked at the guild with interest. Almost everyone in the guild was fighting, from the old people to some of the young kids in the room. Hell, he could see kids as young as Naruko fighting against older people and that was saying something.
What the hell was wrong with these people?
"CANA-CHAN!" Naruko yelled, snapping him from his thoughts. He watched in amusement as the blue-eyed girl tackle a pretty brown-haired girl to the ground. From the smile on the girl's face, it seemed like they are used to it and by the looks of things, they are very close friends. He frowned. He wondered if the girl would have a friend if she had stayed in Konoha, probably not. Even till this day, the village still despises the mention of the jinchuuriki.
"Who's the old guy behind you?" Her friend asked, staring at him with interest. "And Naru-chan, you're killing me!"
"That's Kakashi-san!" Naruko said, releasing her friend from her hug. "He is a student of my dad apparently."
"Really? So is he a…"
"Yup."
"They let old people become shinobi!"
Kakashi's eyebrows twitch at this comment and he couldn't help but say:
"I'm not old!"
"But you have silver hair!" They yelled. "Only old people have that! Are you sure that you aren't old!"
Kakashi sighed at the two kids and silently started to regret for taking this mission. Now he is stuck in this place for the next two years, watching over a little girl that seemed to believe that he is old and with her friend that has the same belief. Why oh why did he agree to do this job? He should kill himself the next time he is offered such a job.
"Kakashi-san, can you tell us a story about my parents? Pretty please! I promise I won't call you an old man." Naruko said, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Maybe, it wouldn't be so bad watching over her.
Replies to reviews:
God of all: I will continue this story but I won't be able to update it as often as I can and I do hope that you found this a good chapter.
Guest: I was thinking of doing that but I thought in the end that it wouldn't show the conflict that Naruko will have in the later arcs between her grandfather and cousin. Through, Laxus would learn the truth about it sooner than anyone thinks.
Atsirk Enoh: The new information Naruko learn will affect her throughout her life, and it will be shown strongly when she is older and I think that this chapter answered your question about whether or not she is meeting anyone from Konoha.
Nova-girl703: Naruko will meet Gray in the next chapter and their meeting will be seen as amusing to everyone in the guild and I'm glad that you think I'm an amazing writer through, I think I could do better and I won't be able to update as fast as I can but, I will try my hardest.
Ultima-owner: Thank you and I hope that you find the next chapter good as well.
XXMacaronsXX: Who doesn't like insane characters? They are fun to read about them and also great to write about.
Takei Daloui: I think that when he wanted to even hurt Laxus that he would be insane enough to try to kill his own niece and I think that is the best reason for why he became the leader of such a dark guild and to answer your question about other Naruto characters appearing, well you have seen Kakashi and others will appear but, not anytime soon.
ddcj1990: I'm glad that you found the chapter exciting and I hope that this chapter was also exciting for you.
Thank you for reading!
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