Author's Notes: As promised, a chapter a day, until your fanfic addiction goes away! There aren't any reviews I thought I needed to address, but given that it's only been a day, I don't really have a lot of reviews to read. No matter! What's important is that I enjoy writing, and you guys enjoy reading this stuff. Never understood the desire for reviews myself, even if they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

Chapter 4: Mystogan (X777)

Cana always thought her adoptive brother was kind of weird. She loved him, really; he was smart, caring, and really powerful, even though he never advertised his strength. But his obsession with hiding his face was something that always irked Cana in a nonviolent way. She had tried ways and means to force him to reveal his real face, from aiming at his face when sparring to stalking him in the bathroom. He always managed to cover his looks though. Using a towel in the bath, an illusion when eating, and even his blanket drawn up to his nose when he slept. Cana's attempts to sneak into his room and either expose him or destroy his masks always met with failure too; he had an uncanny ability to wake up whenever a devious plan struck Cana, and she was always foiled.

That also proved to Cana that her Ráfa-nii was hiding his skills. She was a strong mage for her age, and in the guild, she was already touted as one of those who had the potential to hit S-class. It also helped that Ráfaga worked with her on her Card Magic, developing combinations and techniques that often left Cana demanding him to just show her the move instead of explaining all his technical jargon to her. For him to know so much about her Card Magic despite being a B-class mage left Cana very suspicious. He was a Hair and Chain Magic user that was supposedly terrible at everything else, even the basic Transformation. For him to understand Card Magic's intricacies meant he knew a lot more than he let on.

Often, he would be gone for weeks on C or B-rank missions when they would take mere days. When he returned, he always brought home some new cards for her, appeasing her ire for his long absence (which she likened to Gildarts' tendency to be away). Cana supposed it was a ploy to distract her from his long disappearances, but she was eleven, and she wasn't that naïve anymore. Any questioning was deflected with surprising ease. Cana persisted with invasive queries about his activities before she heard sobbing behind his door one night. It was a heart-wrenching sound, something Cana would never have associated with Ráfaga before. He always seemed so collected, so impervious to emotional breakdown. After that incident, she decided to respect his privacy.

That said, she desperately wanted to know when Gildarts and her Ráfa-nii got so chummy. A year ago, they started to seek each other out for drinking company, and along with Wakaba and Macao, made up the Old Men Gang, as Gray so eloquently called them. Of course, there were other members just as old as them, but they weren't always hanging out together like the four invariably did (when Gildarts or Ráfaga were in town, at any rate). She often wondered if it was the alcohol that brought her blood father and adoptive brother together as friends.

Cana was thus inspired; she had been forbidden from alcohol by her Ráfa-nii, but she was planning to try soon enough. She just wondered when she would be reasonably sneaky enough to grab some beer from the guild's bar without his notice.

Beyond all of the mysteries that surrounded her Ráfa-nii, she found herself enjoying her time with Gray. He was a cool guy, and bar her mild amusement at his stripping problem, they got along well. Erza was still as aloof as when she first stepped into the guild, but recently she had begun to open up. Cana supposed it was the constant challenges from Gray, or her disapproval of Cana's newfound desire to try alcohol. Laxus was building his own gang, which meant the three of them usually teamed up on missions. Cana had pestered Naruto about going on missions with him too, but he was steadfast in refusing her requests. Sure, sometimes he took her out on C-rank missions for some pocket change, but beyond those, he was adamant she couldn't come with him.

Even though Ráfaga had refused to allow Cana to pay rent, she managed to push him into accepting some jewels from her for housekeeping. It gave her a sense of satisfaction at having contributed to their household, and it kept Ráfaga from going on more missions using money as an excuse. She didn't see why he was so enthusiastic about saving up money though. She managed to peek into his bankbook once, and was astounded by the amount of money he had stored up. It seemed somewhat impossible given the type of missions he had gone on, but she guess he must have done more than she thought.

He must have spent quite a bit of the money already too, given as Cana had seen his stash of equipment in the attic. She surmised even Erza would have been hard-pressed to say no to the high quality steel that Ráfaga kept in their home. The weapons were all of weird construction though; they were nothing like the type that she had spotted in the shop Erza usually shopped at for her equipment. There were throwing stars, knives, and a vast number of tri-pronged daggers, each with a piece of paper wrapped around the handle. There was also a huge sword larger than even her, and she reckoned it was as long from hilt to tip as Ráfa-nii, who was no slouch in the height department. That one, she didn't think even Erza could use properly.

When Cana asked about the weapons, Ráfaga promised to let her use them if she was willing to learn. And so she learnt the art of shurikenjutsu, which she put to good use with a deck of throwing cards Ráfaga presented to her. He gifted her one of the tri-pronged weapons he called a kunai, and told her to keep it on her at all times. It wasn't a very special gift given he had hundreds of them, but it was a present from her Ráfa-nii nonetheless. He told her that when she was in danger, she just needed to throw the knife and he would be there. Skeptical, she assumed it was a metaphorical thing older people liked to say, and put the knife in her card bag with the rest of her deck.

All in all, she found the last three years staying with Ráfaga to be some of the best in her short life. She only hoped it could continue.

And that people would stop treating her like a kid. She deserved to know stuff too, damn it!

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Naruto's eyes glazed over a little as his Kage Bunshin in Era informed him of a new mission via Telepathy. He was glad to have picked up that particular skill. It saved him a lot of trouble forming and dispelling clones for sending messages to and fro. Once he had taken note of the mission specifics, he excused himself from the lunch table, headed over to the mission request board. Nab was already standing there, the teenager pondering endlessly about which mission to take. Peering at the various papers tacked to the board, Naruto grunted and grabbed one that involved eliminating monsters that were attacking a town in the mountains. Spotting an easy D-rank, he snagged that, and stuffed it into the protesting Nab's hands.

Waving goodbye to Wakaba and Macao, and kissing an embarrassed Cana's forehead, he left the guild headquarters. Kurama was held tightly in Cana's arms, the fox desiring a bit of rest time for that day. Once he was certain no one could spot him, he slipped into an alley. As he focused his senses, the Hiraishin seals on his various kunai called out to him like bright signal flares. Given the Hiraishin no Jutsu was a space-time technique; time and distance had barely any significant impact. Ignoring all the other Hiraishin markers he had planted everywhere (including on Cana, but she wasn't to know of the invisible seal on her back), he concentrated on the one in Era. With no disturbance but a light whoosh, the blond man disappeared, leaving behind nothing in his wake.

Reappearing in the middle of a modest apartment, Naruto greeted his clone casually. The doppelgänger nodded, before dispelling, leaving all of his memories with Naruto. The blond man had rented a small apartment in Era as the missions from the Council stacked up, and there was a need for him to be nearby more often. He usually posted a Kage Bunshin there to collect the missions from Yajima's desk; the apartment was for convenience of travel between Magnolia Town and Era, allowing Naruto to avoid the Rune Knights at the gates via Hiraishin. He was amused to learn of the additional workload the Rune Knights' commanders forced their men into, still in the belief that Naruto entered Era via the main entrance.

As he whistled at the high reward for the mission (a whooping ten million jewels), he briefly wondered if Cana was aware of his secret activities. Over the past three years, he had been slowly unveiling more and more of his clandestine life by leaving small clues here and there. He could easily just create a Kage Bunshin to replace him whenever he was out on a Council mission or another infiltration gig, but he chose not to.

He could tell Cana was suspicious, but she never wavered in her trust of him. He felt dirty; to omit the truth from, then try to manipulate a girl towards the facts. He was sure in the next few years, Cana would be smart enough to note that his finances didn't check out; he had deliberately funneled all his money (through various dummy names) into one account, and left the bankbook out for her to see.

He hoped that on the day she confronted him on his activities, he could be completely honest, and she could accept him in spite of his flaws and his secret life. He didn't think he could stay on in Fairy Tail if she couldn't embrace the intent behind his actions. He knew he could count on Gildarts' and Makarov's support, but that was not enough in the family that was Fairy Tail. Family didn't keep each other in the dark. He had already made preparations for leaving the guild if there was ever a need; money had not been an issue as the amount of work picked up, and that money would solve most problems. The hole he had dug for himself grew bigger and bigger everyday, as Makarov always reminded him, but he was mentally ready to fall into the pit right from the beginning.

He frowned minutely as he mentally reviewed the Hiraishin tags he had planted. He had no Hiraishin tags in the area where he was supposed to go for his missions, but that was easily taken care of by just teleporting to the nearest one, and travelling from there. He estimated himself to have covered over sixty percent of Fiore's towns with his tags by now. He hoped there wouldn't be some sort of karmic backlash from abusing the technique. His father was a real genius for inventing it.

As he disappeared without a sign, his clone slouched on the couch and pulled out a Sorcerer Magazine to read. There was nothing better to do anyway.

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Naruto grunted as he slid the bloodied blade from the body of the last creature, the thick, coagulating blood flowing off his sword in rivulets. There were dozens of the forest green, scaled reptilian monsters that resembled giant snakes with legs. He didn't even know what they were called; he wasn't too concerned about the monsters that lurked in Fiore's wilderness when he arrived in Earthland. It didn't really matter to him anyway; nothing bar a dragon would pose any sort of threat to him. Hefting Kubikiribōchō on his shoulder, he left the corpses of the creatures to feed scavengers as he approached the town for his mission reward.

Using Kubikiribōchō was a new thing for him. He had initially taken the weapon as a sign of respect to Zabuza. He had heard of how Suigetsu took it from the man's grave, and afterwards, Kabuto handed it to Edo Tensei Zabuza. Kakashi handled it for a bit, then it came into Naruto's hands. There was no way he would just pass it on to some unworthy person, and thus held on to the massive cleaver until he could find a successor. However, things went to hell and stayed that way, and Naruto didn't even realise he was carrying the weapon in a scroll until he was in Earthland and doing some inventorying. He wasn't particularly eager to use the weapon, given he was no kenjutsu specialist. But as time went by, he felt Zabuza would be quite annoyed if his beloved Dantō wasn't put to good use.

Given it was a massive beast of a weapon; there was only one real way to use it. Naruto didn't see the need to learn kendō or any specific sword skills. He needed brute strength, and his reflexes would take care of everything else. If he planted a Hiraishin seal on something, it was almost guaranteed dead with Kubikiribōchō. It was a weapon for bloodthirsty killing however, and even the ability of absorbing iron to repair itself alluded to the undeniable fact. Hence, he usually only used it for things he didn't mind killing. Like monsters terrorising a small town, for example.

Making sure he was in his usual Ráfaga outfit, he collected the reward from the grateful townsfolk, earning an appreciative smile from the chieftain's pretty daughter. He guessed if he was exuding killing intent, then the bloody sword on his shoulder would look far more imposing than it did then. He tossed the gigantic weapon into a handy storage seal on his right wrist, and casually asked for directions. Thanking the chieftain, he headed for his true destination, a small community that lived near the edge of Worth Woodsea, north of the mountain range he was currently in. They had reported an alarming number of people disappearing in the night, and recently, some had just vanished in midday. The place was experiencing some freak weather patterns as well, with large storms constantly hovering over their small village.

Taking off at ninja speed, it took him a mere hour to cover the distance. Even from afar, he could see the large swirling storm situated above the village. It was strangely localised however, which only added to Naruto's suspicion. Sure, the climate did support a few rainy days here and there, but it should be nowhere as intense as it seemed. Furthermore, the clouds were centred on the village, and nowhere close to the scale of a real thunderstorm. He had heard of localised rain before, but for it to be so small yet so intense was a serious cause for concern.

Ditching his crimson coat and donning his Maelstrom one, his looks immediately changed to that of a brown-haired, emerald-eyed man, without the distinctive whisker marks on his face. It was a detail no one knew of him due to his mask, but he knew the value of caution. His braided hair bounced off his back in an uncomfortable way until he tossed it around his neck, and hooked the hood over his head. Satisfied that he looked like his alter ego, he pulled up his sleeve. Tapping a small seal on his left wrist, he armed himself with a Hiraishin kunai. He took nonchalant aim, and hurled the weapon as hard as he could.

The throwing knife sliced through the air at speeds far beyond what most people can throw them at, and at the apex of its flight, it found itself in Naruto's hand once more. One would think a man in midair would plummet to his death quite quickly. That wasn't exactly the case for Naruto, however. His mastery over wind had improved by leaps and bounds since he had arrived in Earthland; he had managed to find some quality training and innovation time.

Continuous spiralling jets of wind billowed from his feet, keeping him afloat. It was no substitute for actual flight; Naruto had no idea how to accomplish that yet. But hovering in midair looked cool in his opinion, and it worked a treat when intimidating dark mages who were frightened out of their skin just to hear Maelstrom was hunting them.

The village wasn't too far away, but Naruto wasn't about to risk his ass diving into the storm and trying to end it like he would have five years ago. Instead, he merely observed the crazy phenomenon that looked increasingly manmade. There was no way a storm cloud would just materialise above the town. If questioned, Naruto would hazard a guess and say the dark cloud, which was shaped like an upside-down funnel opening, was sucking people up and some mad scientist was using those people for experiments. Naruto didn't have high opinions on scientists or their experiments, not after what he had seen from Orochimaru and the dark guild Infernum.

Slipping into Sennin Mōdo, he expanded his senses to better study the strange storm. All of a sudden, the clouds spiralled inwards, shrinking until it disappeared without a whisper. With his enhanced vision, he could spot people rejoicing over the disappearance of the aggravating weather pattern. Everything seemed to be returning to normal, but Naruto's senses told him otherwise. There had been another presence, one that used its magic to nullify the swirling cloud. There were other forces at work here, forces Naruto was keen to uncover and hopefully prevent something like that from happening again.

His mind honing in on the signature of the mage in question, the currently brown-haired man tossed his weapon in that direction. The Hiraishin kunai flew unerringly true, and while it didn't make it all the way to the mysterious person, it allowed Naruto to get close enough. The mage was surprised to see that it was not some crazy old man, nor a mad scientist, but a young boy holding onto a wooden staff. He had a messy mop of striking blue hair, what looked like a tribal tattoo around his right eye, and a large backpack hung on his shoulders. He was dressed in a simple shirt and shorts, but looked far too wary of his surroundings to be anything less than a mage in training.

Naruto scratched his chin, pondering his options even as he tailed the boy carefully. He supposed to could approach him as Maelstrom, and demand some answers. However, judging by the looks on the young mage, he didn't seem too likely to divulge his secrets. He realised he was starting to think like Makarov when he considered reaching out to the blue-haired child as Ráfaga, and invite him back to Fairy Tail. The kid would need some support doing whatever it is he was doing, and Fairy Tail was one of the most accepting guilds in Fiore. Man, now I'm helping Makarov pick up strays. What's next, I become the Fourth Guild Master?

Swapping cloaks quickly was now an invaluable skill of his, and once he had his usual look (deactivating Sennin Mōdo as he did so), he hopped off the branch he was perched on, and landed behind the boy, crunching several leaves under his feet. As he expected, the boy whirled around, staff already held in a defensive posture. Naruto held his hands up high, indicating his desire for nonviolence. Unconvinced, the kid aimed the tip of the needle-shaped staff at Naruto, a deep scowl adorning his face.

"What do you want?" the boy growled threateningly.

Naruto smiled behind his mask. He doesn't look like a bad one. "I saw your handiwork, helping that village. Care to explain?"

"It's none of your business," the boy scoffed, putting his staff back on his back, turned back around and started walking once again.

Gotta teach him not to be so trusting, to show his back to a stranger like that, Naruto mused, as he fell in step with the boy. "I can help you with whatever it is you're doing you know. You're just a kid. You don't have to shoulder all the responsibility that you're carrying right now."

"It's a family matter," the boy responded carefully. "So I would appreciate if you didn't meddle in this business."

Naruto frowned. He could tell the boy wasn't lying, but the answer was as vague and evasive as they came. "I think I have a right to know when that thing sucked up some innocent civilians of the village. I'm a citizen of Fiore, and I'm frankly quite worried when it will be my turn to be sucked away from my home."

The boy paused in his step, casting an uneasy gaze at Naruto. The blond man stared back, almost beseeching the young mage to accept the offered aid. Biting his lip, he broke the stare. "Will you really help me? This isn't your problem, you know."

"And it shouldn't be the problem of a young man your age, either," Naruto retorted mildly. "So, what is the issue then?"

The boy stared at the clear sky, sighing rather forlornly for a child who ought to be enjoying his youth. "I'm not from Earthland. I'm from Edolas, a parallel dimension."

"And?" Naruto cocked an eyebrow, earning a befuddled glance from the blue-haired boy.

"What do you mean? Aren't you at least a bit shocked by that revelation?" the boy inquired, looking far more bewildered despite being the one with more information on hand.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "I know of someone who came to Earthland from Edolas, but that's unimportant. Continue with your story."

Casting a suspicious look at Naruto, the staff-wielding boy nevertheless did. "Our land has limited magic, while Earthland has unlimited magic. My father created the Anima, to collect people with magical power, and turn them into lacrima crystals so we can utilise that magic."

"And you decided it was something you couldn't watch your father do, consigning people of Earthland to die to replenish Edolas' magic?" Naruto inferred, to which the boy nodded. "Wait, you said your father created Anima…if Edolas needed magic, and your father is in charge of collecting it…is he some sort of important figure in Edolas? Head scientist? King's advisor?"

The boy shook his head rather miserably. "He's the…king of Edolas."

"You're a prince," Naruto deadpanned, shaking his own head in disbelief. "Who risked life and limb to come to Earthland to protect us from your father's schemes."

"In a way," the boy flinched.

Naruto groaned as he realised what it all meant. "You're going to have to hide your identity here, right? Edolas is a parallel dimension, which means there's an alternate you of Earthland. You definitely need my help, kiddo. There's no way you can go walking around, countering those things the way you are now."

"And I suppose you have a plan for that?" the boy glowered.

Naruto nodded at the rhetorical taunt, to the boy's incredulity. "Well, I'm shouldn't be saying this at all, but given you are even more in need of anonymity…I'm actually using a false name right now. To be more exact, I have at least five identities running about in various guises, without anyone suspecting a thing. Does that reassure you of my capabilities?"

"That sounds reassuring in a very twisted way," the boy replied, looking a bit frightened.

Naruto chuckled weakly. "Look, I'm just doing some on-the-side work here and there, with a bit of spying and espionage thrown in for good measure. And because of that, I deemed it rather important to keep my real identity secret. Not even my guild members know of my alter egos besides the guild master and the Ace, and even the information they have is limited. I'm not doing it for my own profit. As for why I'm confiding in you…well, you're going to face similar issues trying to hide your real self from people whom you consider family. I just thought it would make it easier for you if you knew there was someone you can confide in. I should know. I was desperate for a confidant when I began my work."

"Okay," the blue-haired mage smiled softly, convinced. "I'm Jellal, son of Faust, prince of Edolas. You are?"

Naruto's eyes widened at the name. "Wait, wait, wait. Jellal? Oh balls, that just complicated things by a lot. You'll have to hide your face and hair from everyone in Fairy Tail besides the guild master and myself…this is going to be tough."

"Is there something wrong?" the boy panicked slightly. "Is Jellal of Earthland an enemy of your guild?"

"No, but he has a deep history with one of our newer members, Erza Scarlet," Naruto sighed. "It's not my place to tell her story, and I only have secondhand accounts from the guild master anyway. You'll just have to be even more thorough with your disguise then."

"Oh," the boy sighed, relief flooding his veins.

Naruto ruffled his hair playfully. "Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. In Fairy Tail though, you'll have to refer to me as Ráfaga Remolino."

"It's nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san," the boy grinned cheerfully. "I hope to learn many things from you!"

"Likewise," Naruto smiled, though his mind was far away by then.

Dimensional travel, huh?

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Roubaul smiled wistfully as he watched little Wendy Marvell interact with his guild members cheerfully, brightening up everyone's day with her sweet demeanour. He certainly didn't regret doing what he did, to provide Wendy with a home she could call her own for as long as she needed. However, that didn't mean he forgot his true purpose. "Are you after Nirvana?"

From the shadows behind him, a voice chuckled. "No, though I suppose my method of approach must have made you quite suspicious of me, Roubaul."

"You know my name?" the elderly mage croaked, a tad surprised.

"The young boy who brought Wendy here told me," Naruto replied, emerging from the tent to stand beside Roubaul. A handy illusion masked his presence beside the older man, preventing Wendy from noticing him. "You are quite the special mage, old man. To think, conjuring an entire guild of spirits, all to fulfil a little girl's dream."

Roubaul, stupefied, stared at the tall man beside him. Naruto's eyes, lined with red markings around his toad-like eyes, smiled back. "I can detect life force, and I don't sense a hint of it around this guild except for little Wendy over there. You're a spirit too, are you not? Your magic is incredible."

Roubaul sighed sorrowfully. "Yes. I died about four hundred years ago. When Wendy asked me if I was a guild master, I couldn't deny her request to join a guild. These are all illusions, but they are based on my former tribesmen. You won't tell her, right?"

"No. I'm only fulfilling the request of the boy who brought her here," Naruto crossed his arms. "I'm just watching out for her. I don't think she can join the guild he's joining though. She knows his real name, and that cannot be allowed to leak out. Will you take care of her?"

"Of course, without question," Roubaul nodded firmly. "Cait Shelter will be her loving home until she grows old enough to leave."

"Even for such a peaceful world, it's still built on lies," Naruto murmured, staring intently at his gloved hands. He composed himself soon after, his gaze never wavering from the raven-haired child named Wendy. "I'll leave her in your care. Don't mind me if I drop by once in a while to check on her."

"Do as you will," Roubaul responded. "It's not like I can stop a mage of your caliber while I'm a spirit, after all."

The man disappeared in a puff of smoke before Roubaul could finish his words, but the elderly mage knew the blond man had received the message anyway.

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"Ráfaga, you have got to stop sneaking into my room like this," Makarov groaned, as he shut his door. "It's wrong on so many levels."

"Shut it, you old coot," Naruto snapped, unhappy about the guild master's dig at his sexuality. The guild master had been harping about relationships in the last few months, and enjoying insinuating that he was gay. He was straight, damn it! Just because he didn't (and couldn't) have a girlfriend… "Look, I got you a new recruit. Mystogan, meet Makarov Dreyar. Old man, meet Mystogan."

Makarov cocked an eyebrow as he studied the young boy in front of him. The boy had a bandanna around his head, obscuring his hair from view. A metal plate was affixed to the bandanna, protecting the forehead. A green piece of cloth was wrapped around his face, allowing only the eyes to be seen. The rest of his clothes were more in line with what children of his age would wear; a black shirt and white shorts. A wooden staff longer than the boy was tall was strapped to his back. Makarov also spied a brown backpack on his floor behind them.

"Where did you find your mini-me?" Makarov sighed. "Please, Mystogan, don't be frightened to show your entire face in Fairy Tail, unlike that idiotic man behind you."

Naruto turned his head to the side, whistling. The boy shook his head, even as he removed his headgear. "I'm sorry, but I cannot, Master Makarov. I am from Edolas, and I hear from Uzumaki-san that a girl named Erza Scarlet has a rocky past with the Earthland version of me."

Makarov could only gape at the sight of the blue-haired boy before him, looking rather apologetic. "Ráfaga, what the hell?"

"Look, he's here for some very important work that only he can do, and I'm going to help him with. It also means you can call me Naruto in front of him," Naruto answered. It was true; only Mystogan could close Animas with his Edolas-made equipment. Naruto could (and was going to) make one to mimic the staff's abilities, but that would take a long while. "So just let him into the guild already. Aren't you the one who's always picking up strays anyway? I noticed you found a dragon slayer for our guild."

"Wendy's a dragon slayer too," Mystogan mumbled, as he fiddled with the bandanna in his hand. "Maybe she should join Fairy Tail after all?"

"She's safe at Cait Shelter," Naruto denied the request, as much as he would like to do the same. "And it'll be easier for you to maintain your disguise without her to smell you out. So, what about it, Makarov? He's a brilliant little mage, and mature as heck for his age. A bit too much like Erza, if you ask me."

"Fine, fine, but you're going to be in charge of him. That includes teaching him life skills and whatnot," Makarov grunted, waving his hand dismissively. "Now get out of my room, unless you want to see my wrinkly butt again, like that night when you sneaked into my room?"

Mystogan gagged at the implications of the guild master's words, as Naruto seethed at the cheeky wink Makarov sent at him.

"Stop putting weird ideas in others' heads, you old bastard!"