A/N: I want to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.

He always has the worst and best timings.

The tightness in her throat seemed to have faded away like the morning rain, replaced with the desire to laugh at her protective cousin's behavior. He really is an angry little puppy. Naruto rubbed her eyes and flickered her eyes to Shouto. Her boyfriend looked torn between sighing at her cousin's behavior or laughing at the misunderstanding between him and Kakashi.

With another deep inhale, she shook her head and looked away from the guilty eyes of her former teacher. While it was crappy of him to break the news so close to her birthday, it was just like him to be blunt about these things. Honestly, if he knew the right words to say then we wouldn't be in this awkward position. She shook her head and stared at the fuming boy.

"Kakashi is just terrible at breaking news," she reassured her cousin. Bakugou narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired man, who nodded, and then stalked his way to her and Shouto. The couch hissed just a little bit as the blond-haired boy took a seat beside her. "He just told me that my step-grandmother loved me…and that she was murdered on my second birthday."

For a brief moment, no words were spoken between them as Bakugou blinked wolfishly at this news. She ignored the burning sensation behind her eyes and the tightness in her chest, chose instead to focus on her cousin's expression. He looked almost guilty, probably for jumping to conclusion, and then it turned to irritation.

"Did your parents drop your head when you were a baby?" her cousin finally barked, clicked his tongue and darted his eyes to the envelope in her hand. Naruto tugged on his sleeve and shot him a warning look when Kakashi flinched at those cruel words. "You don't just break that kind of news to someone."

Shouto pinched his nose. "While I agree with you, how was he supposed to break a news like that? It's devastating no matter how he broke it."

Yeah. She fingered the locket and ignored the argument between her boyfriend and cousin, decided instead to open the letter that Kakashi had given her. This letter was from the first person that probably loved her, the person that was probably the reason that she hated her birthday. It couldn't be coincidence that the woman died on her second birthday and that she just hated her birthday.

They were linked and…

"Naru-chan is prettier than any flower in this forest."

Warm eyes came to her mind and Naruto ripped open the envelope. There were probably two pages but that probably meant that her step-grandmother had wrote this letter long before her death. Then again, if she was dying from blood loss then how could she write a letter. She exhaled and looked down at the letter.

Dear Naru-chan,

If you are reading this then in all probability, I must have died before I could tell you the truth about your heritage or even your father. I have always planned to tell you this on your 16th birthday because you would be old enough to handle everything. While I'm writing this, you are playing with Sasuke and it seems like he can't stop clinging to you.

She blinked at this piece of information and felt a nagging sensation washed over her before she shook her head. This was definitely not the time for her to ponder over what had been said. Naruto steadied her wrists and closed her eyes. Yeah, she definitely shouldn't be focused on the fact that she had been playmates with Sasuke when they were babies.

No, she should go back and continue to read the letter.

I'm not your biological grandmother, Naru-chan but it doesn't mean that I love you any less. Your father was the Fourth Hokage as you know but not many people know that your father wasn't born in Konoha. You see your grandfather had a relationship before he met me but he didn't feel ready for a child. It was an excuse if you asked me because it didn't take only one person to make a child. He had every intention of leaving your father with Narumi but your grandfather and I…found that I couldn't have children. I loved children but that might be because my mother always left me the responsibility of raising my siblings.

When I found out that I couldn't have children, it was the worst day of my life. I cried for days because I always wanted children, dreamt of my first child since I was a little girl. I was a woman without a child to nurture and your grandfather probably thought I wanted his child…but I wanted any child. I wanted to adopt because there were so many orphans created from the war, but before I could tell your grandfather, he just left without a word.

I didn't know where he went until he came back, three months later, with your father. I knew he only had one child and I had an idea that he probably took your father without the consent of his mother. I confronted your grandfather and he would deny it until I threaten to ask Minato, and then he…confessed. I fought with your grandfather over taking Minato from his mother but your grandfather said that Minato was his son as well. We fought for days and I threatened to leave him, but it was your father that convinced me to stay.

Your father loves his mother and sister but he felt suffocated, that he let them down by not having a Kekkei Genkei and he wanted to be a hero. I don't know what lie your grandfather told your father but he doesn't need to be a shinobi to be a hero. Being a hero didn't mean having jutsu or Quirks, being a hero came from having a good heart. Anyone could be a hero but it was sad that he lived in a society that made him feel worthless. That made him feel ashamed for not having a Kekkei Genkei.

I just couldn't divorce him for those reasons and I certainly couldn't leave him alone with your grandfather because in a sense, I'm responsible for what happened. I couldn't take him back to his mother, not when we were in a difficult position and my lack of knowledge in the shinobi arts. I did try to get him to meet his mother again but the war began once again and then he became Hokage, so things became difficult. Your mother tried too because she understood the bond between a mother and a child, thought of how she would feel if it was you. But Minato inherited his father's stubbornness and not even your Mom could convince him to do the right thing.

When your parents died, I contemplated about sending you to Narumi but no one knew the truth. You were a special child and I was worried that you would inherit her gift. What do I do if you had such a wonderful Kekkei Genkei? But then I remember that you were a jinchuuriki and that your freedom had been stripped away from you. Although…I hope that you never became a kunoichi and maybe I steered you away from it, because I wanted you to have a normal and safe life. A life where you can be free but the council members weren't happy, neither the Hokage nor Danzo but they still let me raise you.

They probably knew that if you were raised with love then you had better chance of reigning in the Kyuubi. That you would be more willing to protect Konoha but my child, I want you to live your life as a free bird. If you wish to be free then…go and see Narumi. Narumi is your biological grandmother and while I never met her, your grandfather had nothing but praise for her.

I think no matter what he said, he will always love Narumi for giving him Minato. Despite what your father believes, Souta had always love him and maybe he took him because he did want to know his son. Maybe because he realized that Minato was his one chance of being a father and that he was an idiot for not being there when Narumi needed him.

But your father made it hard for them to bond because in his eyes, your step-grandfather was his Dad. I think if he had a second child, he would have named his son after him…or his daughter after his Mom. He was going to name you Narumi but something stopped him from giving you that name. So they settled with the name that they were going to give you if you were a boy…Naruto. You are our little maelstorm and I'm sure that your biological grandmother will agree when I say that our little maelstorm is the perfect little angel.

It is up to you to decide on whether or not to meet your biological grandmother but Naru-chan, if you do meet your grandmother then tell her that I'm sorry for that fool, sorry for not stopping my husband and that I whacked him real good for that selfish actions. No words could make up for the loss of her child but if I could ever go back in time, I would stop Souta.

No, I probably wouldn't have stopped him because your parents wouldn't have met…and they would never had you. You, my dear child, had always been the most precious gift that they could give me. I love you, Naru-chan and please forgive this old woman for leaving you behind.

Happy 16th Birthday Naru-chan and I hope that all of your dreams come true,

Love your Granny Keisuke.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked to Bakugou. Her cousin had suddenly grown quiet and looked at her with furrowed eyebrows but Naruto just stared at the letter. Should she hand this letter to her grandmother? It would clarify that her step-grandmother had never intended for her grandfather to do this.

That the fault lay on her grandfather.

"Katsuki," she whispered, and her cousin turned to face her with his red eyes shone with concern. Her throat tightened and Naruto rubbed her eyes before she handed him the letter. "I want you to give this to Grams when you see her and can you tell Aizawa-sensei that I need some time alone today. I'll be back in school tomorrow."

Her cousin opened his mouth to argue but then shook his head at her. He looked down at the letter while Kakashi stared at her with sad eyes. Did he know? Did the Third Hokage read this letter? No, it was doubtful. The knowledge that her father hadn't been born in Konoha and that there had been a potential for her to gain her grandmother's Quirk.

He eyed the letter in his hand. "Are you sure that you want her to read this letter?"

"Grams needs to know what my step-grandmother's stance was when it came to Dad and my grandfather," she said flatly. "My step-grandmother never wanted my Dad to stay here when Grams is still alive."

Now she just needed some time to process everything that Kakashi had told her and the contents of the letter.

"And what brought my troublemaker to my office during his lunchtime?"

Bakugou grunted and made his way to the couch as his grandmother looked away from her paper. Even from where he sat, he could clearly see that his grandmother had been busy marking some papers. The red ink even looked fresh if that little smudge told him anything. But why is she even marking? She wasn't even a teacher in this school.

His grandmother stared at him, bright blue eyes implored him to answer her question, and Bakugou looked down at the letter. Naruto probably wouldn't have like the fact he read the private letter from her step-grandmother but how could he not read it? He wasn't like IcyHot and Deku when it came to these things and his cousin looked almost shaken by the letter.

He just had to know if the letter had some clue on how his cousin's step-grandmother died, but it didn't give any clues.

"Old Crone, why did you date Naruto's Gramps?" he asked and his grandmother blinked, before she raised her thin eyebrow at him. He knew why his grandmother was curious to know about his sudden interest but the letter brought out a lot of questions. Questions that he had never wondered until now.

Narumi eyed him for the longest time and sighed. "Before I answer that question, do you know how old I was when I started to date your grandfather?"

Only the sounds of the footsteps could be heard in the room. The laughter of the side-characters echoed in the room but all he heard was his own heartbeat. What was even the point of asking him this question? Everyone knew the story of his grandmother and his grandfather. A story as old as time as Izuku's grandfather would say.

"17 or 18," he finally grumbled.

"Your grandfather and I never broke up until we were in our early twenties," his grandmother said, staring at the photo of his grandfather. There was grief in her eyes before it faded into nothing and the old woman looked back at him. "Y'know everyone had this expectation that we were going to be one of those couples that will get married and have our happy ending."

"Your grandmother always hated when people try to predict things. People expected that your grandmother would go for politics or try and be a hero but she ended up doing the opposite, because she hated being put into a box."

That was his grandfather's observation when it came to his grandmother. He always said it with fondness and some kind of lovesick expression while his grandmother baked cookies for him. He couldn't remember why his grandfather brought it up, could not remember what made them talk about these things but he did know his grandfather probably had a point in telling him.

"You and Gramps still ended up getting married."

"We did," his grandmother chuckled and offered him a smile. "But with the constant knowing looks and our parents acting like it was done deal, I began to wonder if I was going to marry your grandfather because I love him? Or because it was expected that we ended up together? So I broke up with your grandfather with the excuse that we needed to find ourselves outside of our relationship."

"Your Grandfather only had eyes for your Grandmother and I'm sure once you outgrow the cootie phase then you will be the same way."

He wasn't going to be like his grandfather or his father when it came to those relationships. He was going to put himself first and not be bossed around by a bunch of nagging women. I don't even fucking understand how IcyHot can put up with Whiskers. There had to be something in his grandmother's genes that made every man they ended up dating, look so disgusting.

"Gramps said that he never dated another woman other than you."

So why couldn't you do the same thing? He wanted so badly to ask the question but decided against it. This would only make his grandmother furious with him, would only get him into trouble with his grandmother. But his grandmother must have known his hidden question because she offered him a knowing look.

"No, your grandfather tried but his brother would always steal any woman that tried to get with him," Narumi chuckled and smiled slightly before she glanced at her feet. "Your great-uncle has always been a player and never believed in love but he believed in your grandfather and me. That we made the idea of love less scary for him."

He blinked wolfishly. "So you have to thank him for Gramps unwillingness to move on from you?"

His grandmother smiled and offered him a smile. She looked at the photo of his grandfather for the longest time, lips curved into a sad smile and blue eyes darkened for just a little bit. There was almost a mournful air around his grandmother. It threatened to choke him, and that only made him want to look away from her.

"He stopped your grandfather but he was too late to stop me when it came to Souta," his grandmother confessed and a loud laugh escaped from her lips. "I wanted to be with someone that is different from your grandfather and Naruto's grandfather was the complete opposite of your grandfather. I thought I wanted a man like that but it turns out that I wanted your grandfather."

There was some fondness in her tone, an upbeat tone and he wondered if his grandmother had that tone for his grandfather or Naruto's grandfather. Should I really give this letter? The right thing would be to bury it, to never allow her to know that Naruto's grandfather had always thought of her with fondness despite his selfish action, and that he did love her.

But Whiskers wanted their grandmother to know that selfish man's wife never wanted this to happen.

"Did you ever love Naruto's grandfather?"

The question hovered in the air, lingered for the longest time as his grandmother inspected him. It didn't matter. His grandmother already ended up with his grandfather, had his mother and that meant something. It had to mean something. I don't even know why I'm shaken by the letter. It was none of his business when he considered everything.

"He gave me your Uncle and for that reason alone I'll love him as the father of my child," she explained, locked her eyes on him. "But I didn't love him and he certainly didn't love me. Of course, there was potential for us to grow to love each other but we were two different people that weren't suited for each other."

His grandmother had so much confidence in her tone, offered him a smile and looked out to the window. The sunlight offered a glow to his grandmother, almost offered a frail glow to her but his grandmother wasn't frail. Your grandmother had more strength than anyone. That was what his mother had always said about his grandmother.

She was probably stronger than most people when he considered the hardship that they endured.

"Whiskers wanted me to give you the letter that bastard's wife wrote for her," he admitted, slid the paper to his grandmother. She blinked and gingerly lifted the letter. "From what Uncle Minato's student told her, her step-grandmother was the one that has been taking care of her until she was murdered."

The white-haired woman closed her eyes, trembled a little bit before she looked down at the letter. For a brief moment, Katsuki saw the anger in her eyes. The undeniable twitch on that visible vein in her forehead but then it faded as soon as it appeared. Instead, she lifted the letter up and began to scan through the letter.

"Souta told me that his wife couldn't have kids," his grandmother commented, looked away from the letter. He blinked and the old woman curved her lips downwards into a sad smile. "He always said that he was never ready to have kids, that he didn't know how to raise them but his wife was a woman that was a mother without a kid. I thought he was dramatic and being silly but it seems like he was right because she would have been happy with an orphan."

He stared at his grandmother. "Do you hate her less?"

"I never hated his wife, if anything I had to wonder what woman would be able to handle a man that refuses to communicate," she scoffed and Bakugou bit back the urge to snort. His grandmother shook her head and looked down at the letter. "It seems like not even his perfect wife could handle him but…I always felt sad for her. While I never thought of having kids, this woman did…and god was almost cruel to her."

But what about you? He took away Uncle Minato because of her. If that woman could give birth then Uncle Minato wouldn't have been taken away. No, if the world was just a little bit different then his Uncle would never even considered leaving their home for a world that refused to treat his cousin with kindness.

He exhaled. "That's all?"

"She didn't ask for Minato and I'm grateful that she tried to raise him and Naruto," she admitted. "The fact that she wanted Naruto, despite of what she had inside of her and called her a precious gift tells me that she truly loved Naruto and Minato. Besides, it is so difficult to hate when she told Naruto all of these things."

You and Whiskers are more similar then anyone can understand. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck before he looked back at his grandmother. There were no words spoken between them. All Narumi did was stare at the letter with a bitter smile and that made an uncomfortable feeling grow in his stomach.

"It worked out in the end because Whiskers is here now."

Those were the only words that he could say before he made his way to the door with a bitter taste in his tongue and his grandmother fixated on the letter.

"But she will have to go back to that hell instead of being here with her family and all because of that beast inside of her."

Right, they couldn't have everything but Whiskers would come back here. What did she even have in that place? Parents? Aunts and Uncles? A boyfriend? She had a family here and friends as well. Whiskers will always come back here. That was something that he was certain about because not even that girl would harm herself by staying in that place.

He would drag her by the ear before she even thought about staying in that awful place.

A/N: Please do tell me of your thoughts about this chapter.