AN: Just a small reminder of Naruto and Mirajane's current ages - Naruto is now 23 years old (October 10th has passed) and Mirajane is now 20 years old (November 5th has passed).

"Hello" - normal talking

'Hello' - thoughts

Chapter 28 - Sisters

A tall and skinny old man whose appearance was obscured by a hooded grey cloak came out from a dilapidated inn. He looked to his right and then to his left and, after making sure he wasn't being followed or spied on, he rushed into a nearby alley. A soft gale of wind blew and his body disappeared. He reappeared several streets away, into another district of the city altogether. Then, a puff of smoke covered him and when it dissipated, his appearance was changed radically. From a very tall and skinny old man, he turned into a well-built young man with a height just a bit above the average. The man took off his cloak and threw it into a nearby street bin, revealing his appearance.

It was Naruto. His face showed an expression of annoyance. He was disappointed because he did not manage to achieve his objective. The reason he came to Era was to obtain a Magic Tome on Teleportation Magic. Naturally, the fact that he could not obtain it via legal means did not surprise him considering how bad was his relationship with the Magic Council. While the request he put forth was not refused outrightly, the clerk's response was to ask him to complete some forms. Apparently, from what the clerk said, the Magic Council was very busy as of late and his request did not make it on their list of priorities. The Magic Council was going to evaluate his request and give him an answer through the mail within the next 2 months.

As the former 'right hand' of the previous Magic Council, how could Naruto not know what that meant?

'They basically told me to piss off. Oh well. Not like I was expecting anything else from them.'

From the beginning, he had never thought that the Magic Council would approve his request. He merely came to try it, just in case. His hopes had always been on finding what he needed on the black market. But he had not managed to get it from there either.

Unknowingly, as he was thinking about those things, he arrived at the place where he and Mirajane had decided to meet at 2 pm. It was a rather beautiful plaza in the centre of the city. In the middle of the plaza, a very large and imposing statue of an old mage with a long beard and dressed in a magic robe looked like it was guarding over the entire city. A straight stone staff with a real lacrima on top of it that emitted a yellow glow was in the statue's right hand and an opened grimoire was in his left hand. Despite its enormity - at its height of over 100 feet and its width of over 30 feet it was one of the biggest statues not only in Fiore alone but in Ishgar too - the statue was carved exquisitely. It was the symbol of the Magic Council's rule over Ishgar. Naruto was not an art enthusiast but even he could not help but admire the grandiose of the statue.

There was still around one hour until Mirajane was supposed to arrive so he took a seat on a bench and just admired the scenery. It was not the first time he came to Era given that he used to be the previous Magic Council's proxy but he had never really taken the time to just sit and enjoy the atmosphere of the elegant but still bustling centre of the city.

After a while, suddenly, two hands covered his eyes and a sweet voice came from behind:

"Guess who!"

Despite that he would recognize that voice anywhere, Naruto made a show of pretending to not know who was it.

"Hmm, lemme see... Lucy? Wait, I know! Cana, right?"

The hands covering his eyes moved and started to pull and twist his ears instead.

"Ow, ow, it was a joke!" Naruto laughed while trying to escape from her clutches. "You're still as jealous as ever."

When Naruto had first joined the guild, Cana had made some rather blatant advances to him despite knowing that he and Mirajane were a couple. Cana had often shown disdain towards men and said - especially about the ones in the guild - that they have no class but, when she saw Naruto for the first time, she went even as far as to ask him to write an autograph on her boobs. It goes without saying that Mirajane's friendship with Cana deteriorated after she warned her seriously to say away from Naruto. (1)

As for Lucy, that Celestial Mage had an entire list with male celebrities that she loved, the "Perfect Boyfriend" list. The Raven was ranked all the way up in her Top 10 as well and, when Naruto just joined the guild, Lucy used to act like a lovestruck fangirl for a good while whenever she saw him. It was only her secret fear of Mirajane's demonic persona that had kept her in line.

Naturally, Naruto had never shown any interest in other girls but Mirajane still got jealous. By nature, she was very jealous and possessive.

"You're acting as I'm jealous for no reason! I didn't know you were such a player before joining the guild."

Naruto rolled his eyes at her.

"If you think I'm bad, you should've seen Sasuke."

He had told her many about his former world and Sasuke had been an important subject at some point too. She knew who was he talking about.

"The Uchiha avenger?"

"Mhm. I swear every girl in the academy didn't have eyes for any other boys except for him. After the classes were over, there was a literal stampede of fangirls chasing after him." Naruto said and laughed as he remembered a particularly hilarious memory.

"One time, they actually managed to drive him into a corner. Back then, we were very young, around 10 years old or so. None of us knew the tree and water walking yet so he couldn't escape by climbing on walls and jumping from a rooftop to another. Luckily for him, I happened to be close by... back then, I always carried around some paint bombs with me for pranking purposes. Those girls never saw it coming. The Hokage monument was nothing compared to what they went through. Haha!"

Mirajane giggled at him in amusement. Over the years, Naruto told her many stories about his misadventures in the Elemental Nations. Obviously, he had told her how he had vandalized the Hokage monument too.

"I just can't imagine you as a prankster," Mirajane said and giggled again at the mental image of a tiny boy running around in an orange jumpsuit and annoying the heck out of everyone.

"What can I say, I grew up. People change, they're slowly becoming more mature as years pass by."

Of course, believing that he was betrayed, dying in the Blood Prison and then fighting for his life for half a year against Satori's possession had played a very important role in his change of personality but Naruto was not going to mention that again. Around 6 years had passed since that incident and his wounds had gradually healed up. It no longer stung him as much as before when he recalled his past.

"Ne, Naruto, transform yourself into your younger self!" Mirajane suddenly said in enthusiasm. "Oh my god, can't believe I haven't thought of asking you this before! Come on, show me!"

"I don't really-"

"Pretty please?" Mirajane said, her baby-blue eyes looking up at him pleadingly.

"You and your goddamned puppy eyes..." Naruto muttered under his breath but she conveniently pretended not to hear what he said. She knew that he rarely ever managed to resist her when she gave him that look.

"Alright, alright, but don't you dare laugh!" he eventually relented and stood up.

His hands formed a ram seal and a plume of smoke engulfed his body. When the smoke cleared out, a very short 12-year-old boy with spiky blonde hair, whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks and wearing a bright orange jumpsuit appeared in his stead.

The now young boy looked up at her apprehensively as if expecting her to start laughing at any moment, but he was startled when Mirajane suddenly jumped at him with hearts in her eyes.

"KAWAII!" she squealed and took him into a vigorous hug, squeezing his head into her large breasts, smothering him. (*)

Even after she broke the bear-like hug to let him breathe, she continued to gush at him incredibly excited.

"Oh my god, Naruto! I can't believe you were so incredibly cute! Oh my gosh!" she couldn't help repeating herself while she was pinching and caressing his whiskered cheeks.

"Don't pull too hard or the henge will get dispelled." Naruto reminded her but she seemed too far lost to hear his words - and a proof of that was that, a few moments later, she unknowingly dispelled the transformation technique, making him revert to his original appearance.

"You were soooo adorable!" Mirajane cooed after she saw him turn back into his adult form.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. In his mind, he had lived with the impression that everyone hated him when he was young. He hadn't expected that reaction from her.

"Y-You think so?" he asked almost shyly.

Mirajane nodded repeatedly still excited.

"Are you kidding me? Of course! God, if we're gonna have a baby boy in the future, I wish he'll look just like you! I can't believe you're telling me girls didn't like you when you were young!"

Naruto dressed his voice awkwardly.

"Well, I was Kyuubi's container back then and my behaviour didn't help my image either. In comparison, Sasuke was many times better in their eyes. He had a terrible personality but he was what you'd call a pretty boy and his grades in the Academy were at the top of the class. Look:" he said and another puff of smoke covered his body.

When the smoke cleared out, a 12-year-old boy with black hair, pale skin and wearing Uchiha-themed clothes appeared in his stead. He was rather handsome but the scowl he wore on his face kind of shaved away a part of his charm.

Mirajane looked at Sasuke's form with a critical eye.

"Hm, yes, he looks pretty. Coupled with his tragic story, I can see why he was the heart-throb of all the young schoolgirls in your academy." Mirajane said "But he's not cute! Turn back to your younger form, let me love you more!"

With a puff of smoke, Naruto turned back to his original form instead and said:

"You can love the real me too."

"But you're not cute all grown up!"

"Oi!" he complained making her giggle. "The younger me is still me!"

"Yeah but the current you is too much of a badass to be cute." Mirajane pouted and Naruto felt the corner of his lips curl into an involuntary smile.

"Great save there," he said and narrowed his eyes at her, "but you're on thin ice." She burst into laughter.

But true to her words, his appearance as an adult was far from what one would call cute. Except for the orange whirlpool imprint on the back of his coat, he wore predominantly dark-coloured clothes, fitting the image befitting a man that was nicknamed 'the Raven'. But it wasn't his physical appearance alone that made Mirajane say those words but the overall impression he gave off. There are certain people that one could tell after only one look at them that they were dangerous. Naruto fitted in that category very well. It wasn't necessarily his appearance that was striking but the suffocating pressure he was unconsciously emitting. It was something characteristic not only to Naruto but to all the mages that had reached the pinnacle of power. Even when they were not in a combat mode, they unconsciously released a kind of intimidating pressure coming from the strength of their magic. Very few managed to fully reign in their aura and be completely laid-back like Gildarts - but then again, he was so careless most of the time that an entire city had to be modified for the sake of him not destroying anything in his way just by walking.

She came to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Although you're not cute now, you're completely adorable every time I get to wake up before you in the morning and watch you sleep. I love seeing you purr like a kitten in my arms," Mirajane said and they both chuckled.

She raised herself on her tippy toes and kissed him sweetly. They parted soon though because they were in public.

They sat back on the bench and Mirajane asked as though only now she was finally remembering about it:

"Oh right, how did it go? Did you get it?"

Naruto shook his head in negative and said:

"Nah. The Magic Council told me they'll give me an answer in a few months -" he laughed sarcastically at that "- and the information broker I contacted told me he's only selling information and access tickets to the Black Market's auctions. He doesn't sell any merchandise himself. Which makes sense now that I think about it. I mean if he happened to get robbed, who would he go to complain to? The Magic Council? He'd be arrested on the spot."

"Right, it's not safe for him to sell stuff alone... so when's the auction? And where will it take place?"

"At the beginning of December, in the Pergrande Kingdom."

Mirajane frowned.

"Why so far away?"

"I think that just like the Magic Council rules over the entirety of Ishgar, there is a joint Black Market for Ishgar too. From what the information broker told me, since this is the last and the biggest auction of the year, it will be held in the Pergrande Kingdom because it's the country that's the farthest place from the Magic Council's HQ. There are 12 of such auctions every year, one per month and they're never being held in the same place twice."

If the Fiore Kingdom was located in the Westernmost point of the Ishgar Peninsula, the Pergrande Kingdom was located in the Easternmost point of it. One would have to pass through 2 or 3 other countries if they wanted to travel from Fiore to Pergrande and would spend several good days on trains. Another option would be to go by sea; it could cut a bit on the time but it would be more dangerous and more tedious. Unless they were merchants, ordinary people usually chose to go by train.

"But how come you didn't arrest this guy while you were working for the Magic Council if you knew of his existence," Mirajane asked curiously.

Naruto shrugged helplessly.

"The Magic Council is clearly aware of the Black Market's existence but they understand that it could never be fully stopped. As for these information brokers, they're just middlemen. If they get arrested, others will easily rise to take their place. But if the Magic Council lets them do their thing but keeps tracks of their actions and their identities, they can use them to their own ends. This way, the Magic Council gets valuable intel and a certain degree of control over the Black Market. Of course, they're not going to intervene for small stuff like stolen goods/artefacts and other similar things because it would blow their cover meaninglessly. But, when major things appear for sale, they will strike. In fact, that's how they got wind of the massive slave-trading operation a few years ago, around the time when you became an S-class mage if you remember. They could not stop the kidnappings from taking place but they did manage to find the place where the auction was going to be held - somewhere in Bosco - and they sent me to investigate their trail and stop them before they reached their destination." (2)

They chatted for a while longer but, at some point, Naruto stretched and stood up.

"What do you say we go back to Magnolia?"

"Already?" Mirajane asked, seemingly not wanting to return just yet. "Ugh, the weather was so terrible in Magnolia. Why is it raining there like it's the end of the world while here, in Era, it's so warm and sunny? They're only a few hundred miles away. Also, you'd think it should be colder in a city located so close to the mountains..." (3)

"Um, I don't mind staying here a few days more until the weather in Magnolia settles down a little but I thought you wanted to go back because...you know..." Naruto said and trailed off towards the end.

The thing that he was hinting at was the anniversary of Lisanna and Elfman's disappearance. It was the 20th of November - that was also the date when Lisanna and Elfman disappeared 3 years ago, during that disastrous subjugation S-rank job. In previous years, Mirajane would normally be at home, cleaning the bedroom that she was keeping untouched, in pristine condition, almost like a shrine for her siblings and looking through the old photos that she had together with them. It was the hardest day of the year for Mirajane.

However, this year, it was different. This time around, she was living together with Naruto. He showered her with so much love and care every day that she couldn't feel too depressed even if she wanted to. Whereas last year and two years ago she cried herself to sleep for several days in a row around the date of 20th of November, this year, ever since she got engaged with Naruto and they started to live together, it was as though she was always on cloud 9. There were even moments when she actually felt guilty for being so happy while she didn't what really happened to her siblings. Today, although she was very sad at the memory of her siblings, she wasn't as broken as before. Time and love did alleviate her pain a little.

\\\\\

Several hours later, in the evening, the train stopped at the station in Magnolia Town. The sky was still covered by a thick blanket of black clouds and it was still raining but the wind had decreased a lot in intensity. That said, although it was not night yet, the sky was so dark that it made it look like it was.

As they got off from the train, Naruto and Mirajane put their raincoats back on. The semi-darkness, the seemingly unending rain and the reminder that that day was the day when her siblings disappeared took their toll on her mood. Due to the fact that ever since he came to Earthland, Naruto had always been in a constant Sage Mode-like state, if he concentrated on it, he could feel the changes in one's emotions based on the fluctuations of their magic power. With his attention focused on Mirajane, he naturally sensed the changes in her emotions.

He slightly tightened his hold on her hand and said:

"You're not completely alone this time, Mira."

She stopped and looked up at him. The droplets of rain falling on her face made it hard to notice that silent tears were also falling from her eyes but Naruto was aware of it. He cupped her face in his hands and caressed her cheeks gently with his thumbs, softly wiping the drops of rain and tears on them. He couldn't tell her stuff like 'Don't worry, I'm sure you'll one day see your siblings again'. They would be empty words. All he could do was to assure her he would never leave her alone.

"You're my lover. The mother of our soon to be born little girl. You're not alone, little bee. You have us now. We are family."

More tears poured from her eyes but she smiled through them and Naruto embraced her to his chest. Although it was pouring, they held their embrace in the middle of the rain for a long time. But eventually, he broke the hug and said while looking at her tenderly:

"We should go home, Mira. You'll catch a cold if we stay for too long in the rain."

"Okay." she nodded and grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

On their way home, they passed by Kardia Cathedral and Mirajane couldn't help stopping again. She asked Naruto in a small voice:

"It's been 3 years since Lisanna and Elfman disappeared... Do you think we should make them graves?"

Naruto felt his heart break in tiny pieces when he heard her trembling voice.

'What could I even say to something like that?'

He let out a deep sigh.

"Let's go home, Mira. We need to get some rest. We'll think about this matter again tomorrow, what do you say?"

She nodded obediently and they started to head towards their home again. Soon, their house came into view. Mirajane fished out the key from her purse and was about to push it into the lock when Naruto grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Wait. There's someone inside the house."

She looked at him startled. She knew better than to doubt him. She was aware that the sensing ability of his Sage Mode was formidable. If he concentrated on it, he could lock onto anyone's magic signature and find them in an instant. There was no hiding from it - that's how he could find her when she ran away from his shop when he moved in Magnolia for the first time (4) and that's also how he managed to pursue Obra and capture it despite that the demon shape-shifted countless times and even tried to burrow itself into the ground - ultimately, it couldn't escape his detection. That said, Naruto kept his sensing ability suppressed most of the time, ignoring it when he was relaxed, but, due to how much attention he was paying to Mirajane's emotional state, he naturally took notice of the foreign magic signature inside their house.

After he made a cross-shaped hand-seal, 10 Shadow Clones popped up around Mirajane. He was not going to take any chances when it came to her safety. He was about to stealthily make his way in through the window but he suddenly froze in his place.

"This... !"

Noticing the look of shock on Naruto's face, Mirajane asked worriedly:

"What's wrong? What happened?"

He swallowed the node in his neck. Although he had complete trust in his Sage Mode's sensing capabilities, he still didn't want to risk giving Mirajane false hopes. Even so, he couldn't stop himself from saying.

"This magic signature... there's no way..."

Mirajane's heart trembled. She suddenly found it hard to breathe. Her intuition was telling her something that seemed too good to be true. Just when she was about to ask Naruto the vital question, the entrance door of the house opened and a figure appeared from within. It was a young girl, around 17 years old, with pale white skin and short silvery-white hair. Her baby-blue eyes were filled with tears and she was covering her mouth with her gloved hands, muffling her uncontrollable sobbing.

"Mira-nee!" the girl cried, slowly taking a few steps out.

Mirajane was petrified, as though she could not believe what she was seeing.

"Lisanna!" she uttered in a pained voice.

Tears started to pour from her eyes unbridled.

The younger girl's cries intensified and she cried out again:

"Mira-nee!"

She threw herself at her and cried into her older sister's bosom,

"My little sister! Lisanna!" Mirajane kept saying while crying and squeezing her tight in her arms.

A new set of arms wrapped around the two sisters and they found themselves in Naruto's embrace. A few tears were falling from his eyes too. He had not been particularly close to Lisanna and Elfman before their disappearance because, back then, he had tried to keep everyone except for Mirajane at an arm's length but the scene in front of him was enough to make even a grow-up man cry.

'What about Elfman? Where is Elfman?' Naruto suddenly had a thought.

It looked like, between him and Mira, he was the only one clear-headed enough to realize that Elfman was nowhere to be seen. He had not sensed his magic signature either. However, for the moment, he chose to stay silent, letting the two sisters have their moment of happiness. He could no longer think about it either for the moment because the younger girl called out to him:

"Naruto-nii!"

While Naruto may have not truly let Mirajane's siblings in his heart a few years ago, that could not be said about the younger kids too. Lisanna and Elfman had looked up to him like he was truly their big brother. After all, Naruto had saved them just as much as he had saved Mirajane. Furthermore, he had always been nothing but kind to them.

The young girl wrapped him tightly in her arms. Mirajane smiled through her tears when she saw Naruto hugging Lisanna back. It confirmed to her that Naruto in the present was not the same as he was in the past. His heart was now opened wide enough to let Lisanna in too. Soon, she joined in the hug too, making it a group hug again.

Eventually, when the cold started to bite at their bones due tue their rain-soaked clothes, they ran inside the house. It was then that Mirajane finally asked:

"Lisanna, where is Elfman? Did the two of you come together?"

AN: I've rewatched the episode when the Strauss Siblings are reunited (Episode 95). The last 5 minutes, at the end, brought tears to my eyes ngl. The sad, emotional song in the background when they reunited at Lisanna's grave in the cemetery hit me hard. The song is called "Mirajane's theme".

(1) It happened in Chapter 19. Might be just my bias but, for some reason, Cana always struck me as kind of slutty. I mean always wearing just a bikini and being permanently half-drunk... Anyway, don't read too much into it. It was just a side-incident that was mentioned in passing. I won't be focusing on it.

(2) It happened in Chapter 5.

(3) Era is located at the outskirts of the central mountain range of Fiore.

(4) It happened in Chapter 4.

(*) Imagine the scene from Kaguya-sama anime when Shirogane and Kaguya saw each other wearing cat ears lol. If you don't know the reference, search on youtube "Kaguya neko kawaii"

Just a small cliffhanger about Elfman's fate. Been a while since I ended a chapter in a cliff - don't know if this can be counted as one though since most people don't really care about Elfman. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Till next time!

(Not an English native and I have no beta either. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made.)

PS: the black market auction that will take place in the Pergrande Kingdom holds a lot of importance for the story. Look forward to it.