Sorry I haven't written anything for a while. I was working on my other story, one with a crossover of Naruto and Rosario+Vampire. And I announced this in the latest chapter for that, I don't want to write any more disclaimers. Why? They're a pain to write. Or copy-paste. Whatever.

(Natsu's POV)

Natsu woke in a state of nostalgia. The trees, their shadow, the moss, the plants, the bugs, the animals. Why were they so noticeable all of a sudden?

"I see you're awake," Natsu rolled over to look Igneel in the eye. The boy raised his arms to the sunlight, clenching his hands as if trying to do the impossible and grab it.

"What are you going to do to me?" Igneel raised an eyebrow, making Natsu boost himself into a sitting position.

"Now what gave you the idea I would do anything to you?"

"Why?" Slamming his fist into the dirt, he tucked in his knees and kept his hands clenched.

"Because I gave away your flower!" Still, Igneel's face remained impassive. This infuriated the child even further.

"NANDEH!? WHY!? WHY AREN'T YOU MAD AT ME!? I EVEN DISOBEYED YOU!"

"Are you finished?" Natsu nodded, not wanting to say more.

"Good. Then I will answer your questions… When you finish your training. Get up we start your training today. To start with, you will jog along the path I created where we first walked together. Any questions?"

Natsu gritted his teeth, and tried to keep his anger in check, but despite his attempts, all that caused him to do was become even angrier.

"CHIKSHOU! JUST TELL ME!" Igneel snorted smoke.

"Well, if I was going to tell you, I would've said something by now wouldn't I? But I wont and all this yelling is annoying. I will be watching you from the skies. When you have finished jogging 20 laps, starting now, I shall give you your next instructions" Flapping his wings, the dragon left the child on his own.

Muttering and swearing street slang profusely, Natsu began his 20 laps around the forest.

(Igneel's POV)

The boy was in a state of turmoil. His personal sense of justice needed answers to justify his actions. He had disobeyed Igneel's wishes. And Natsu wanted to have the dragon punish him. His actions wouldn't be justified, but it would be a way of owning up to what he had done. He wouldn't run just because he disobeyed. It was the total opposite. Natsu was coming to him for punishment. The boy would feel at ease if he were punished, or at least rest with the knowledge that he had taken it like a man.

But Igneel could tell how this boy thought. It was quite simple in the dragon's mind. After all, he had lived for a countless number of years, thousands at the very least. And there was the little devious trick. His punishment would be… nothing. He wouldn't be punished, and that was the funny part. By not punishing the boy, he would continue to seek punishment and beat himself up in the process.

But he wouldn't be told that. What was the fun in that? If anything, he was already being punished by doing these extra drills. And Natsu would throw all his effort into the drills that Igneel had given him.

Well, it's not as if Igneel had a problem with that.

(Natsu's POV)

Breath torn and ragged, Natsu plopped himself onto his moss bed, drowning in sweat. Igneel landed beside the depleted boy, giving a cooling wave of air.

"20 laps… finished… What's… next?" Igneel gave an evil smile.

"Well, isn't that obvious? More exercise. See that tree? Climb to the top and back down 10 times. I'll tell you what to do after" And so it began. This tiring, meaningless pattern of run, climb, push, pull, left, right, forward, back, drill after drill, run after run. The boot camp continued, and Igneel had no end of amusing tasks for Natsu to do. Job after job, little by little, Natsu forgot about wanting to know the reason for not being punished. The tasks were already punishment enough, and by noon, he was so tired, it hurt to think.

Finishing up his latest job, gathering all the apples on a tree more than 50 meters tall, Natsu let his legs collapse and lay on his back. He needed to rest in what little time was available to him.

Igneel was sitting in his favourite tree, one with a large enough branch to hold his weight, while giving him a front seat view of Natsu's adventures. His tail lay dangling down, flicking back and forth, not unlike a cat…

"Gokurosama. Good job kid. Now is the time I will allow you to ask any question you might have. But I will limit them to three, and you have 5 minutes to think and ask. Begin" Without a second thought, Natsu asked

"Why haven't you punished me?" Chuckling, the dragon replied,
"Because it's a punishment" Shocked by the sudden and simple response, a minute on Igneel's internal watch ticked by.

"4 minutes left boy. Better think quick and careful" The next one was another question the boy had had on his mind for a while.

"Can I become friends with Z one day?" This puzzled Igneel. Z? Then it clicked, and he groaned.

'He means Zeref. Friends? Imposs—' But even that thought died as soon as it appeared. Nothing seemed impossible with this brat.

"I cannot answer that, because I do not know. Maybe. Last question"

Natsu wracked his brain. He hadn't thought that far. What could he ask? Something embarrassing? No, he probably wouldn't even consider answering something like that. But something had been bothering him. He could ask that… Wording his question, very carefully, so it didn't count as two, he asked

"Why are you teaching me how to live when I gave away the Shibusa to Z?" This time, Igneel let out a bark of laughter.

"That's right, I haven't told you yet. You see boy, the flower you picked wasn't the Shibusa," Natsu blinked. What? Igneel was giving a bemused look. "Yes, that's right, that wasn't it. What I didn't tell you was that you couldn't find the Shibusa. Not really anyway. You see, the Shibusa is a special flower with a mind of it's own. You go to where it plants it roots, and then IT finds YOU. It will show itself to those who either planted them, or to the ones who protects it's rooting place" Realization dawned on Natsu's face. He HAD drawn the Rabbit-Bunny away from the flowers to go pick it himself. Did that really count?

"But, dad, if that's true, then were how did I pick it?" Natsu stomped his heel. That had already been three questions. But out of the blue, Igneel answered the question. Maybe because of how Natsu had asked?

"Look in your pack" Natsu puzzled, obeyed without question. And inside his backpack, was a simple white flower. The incredulous boy removed the flower from his bag. It had been here the whole time?

"It found and chose you son. And there is the proof you have passed my test. Now eat it" Why was life so confusing? Natsu picked at his ears and gestured for Igneel to say it again. The dragon sighed. Was what he was saying really all that complicated?

"You heard me. Eat the Shibusa, or I'll stuff it down your mouth myself" Spurred into action, Natsu greedily ate the flower. It tasted funny, not at all appetizing, then sort of exploded in spores partway down his throat. Coughing, Natsu tried to spit out the pollen but Igneel held a claw to his lips.

"Don't. Or the past few days will have been for nothing" Gathering the rest of his courage, the boy swallowed the last bit of powder.

"Congratulations. We will now begin the magical part of your training in a few hours."

Natsu started to protest but then Igneel snapped his teeth in front of his child's face, growling impatiently.

"Don't start that 'I don't need rest' crap. You're going to need all the energy you can get. If you're going to protest, then I'll say this now. If you think you can do what I'm going to show you next without rest, you have another thing coming. And if you keep badgering me about it, I have a condition. When you fail, you will leave the forest and go back to town. Don't ever look for me again. Is that clear?" Igneel stared Natsu straight in the eye, showing how serious he was. Natsu held back the string of insults at the back of his throat. This was no light matter. He would really leave Natsu. And would never be found again.

"Fine" was the curt reply. The boy turned to his side, looking away from the dragon. Satisfied, Igneel laid his head on his claws and also preparing himself for the next hours to come.

(Igneel's POV)

"Are you ready? If you wish to learn what I'm about to teach you, it will prevent you from learning other styles of magic. Do you still want to continue?" Natsu nodded, Igneel doing the same.

"Very well. Let us begin. Concentrate on focusing on breathing through your nose. Arms out, inhale, look up, exhale, look down, and inhale. Repeat this until I say so. Do not think of anything else" They were sitting opposite of each other on flat-faced rocks, the river's waterfall pounded directly behind them.

'Seriously? A waterfall? That's so stereotypical, can't we do something cooler?" As soon as the thought was projected into his brain, Igneel flicked his tail slapping Natsu in the face. Hard. The boy was sent flying into the gushing rush of water, the combination of gravity and weight, pulverizing his body. It was over as fast as it had happened. Igneel had hauled him back to the rock with his tail in one swift movement.

"Again" He growled.

They repeated the sequence, over and over, Natsu always failing shortly after because of some form of distraction. The most recent one was because he had tried to concentrate too hard, causing him to shake and slip off the rock and into the water.

The dripping wet boy got back into his position and stood there, sneaking a quick peek at the dragon. Igneel was as still as ever, not once had he made a mistake. He wasn't even using his claws to hold his balance. This small glance earned him another lashing from Igneel. This time the little boy was hit in his precious spot. Natsu whimpered fell to his knees. He would be feeling that in the mornings to come.

(Igneel's POV)

The boy was slowly getting slowly better. Making fewer mistakes as time went by, it seemed as though he would be able to concentrate for at least 20 minutes without interruption.

ACHOO

Igneel groaned inwardly. Never mind. He slapped Natsu into the waterfall again, this time waiting for seconds longer than the last time. Then he placed the helpless boy back in place. Soon now, he would be able to go for half an hour of this. That was the time HE had done it in. Anytime now…

(Natsu's POV)

Sweet. He could now go for a really long time without doing anything. Didn't that mean he was finished? Natsu sighed. This really was going on for a long time. When would he be finished? How long was it going to be? Why did Igneel make Natsu do this? Why—

SMACK

GAH! Thinking was literally becoming painful. So he used the solution that always worked when tried to think too much. He forgot to think and begun to listen to the liquid water rain from the heavens, to the bugs and birds of the forest. Huh. Kind of felt like this morning… This wasn't so bad…

'I think I'll just stay like this for a while…'

(Igneel's POV)

There! The moment Igneel had been waiting for. A spiritual flash in his son's soul resonating inside of him. Keep it up! Almost there son!

(Natsu's POV)

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Breath in. Breath out. Again. There was something building in his mind, but Natsu stubbornly refused to come out of his state of calm. Terrible memories he had thought he had buried were resurfacing. The feeling persisted. His nightmares haunted him again, but Natsu kept it his body still. The internal battle followed. Let it all go. You have to… Memories of his first stolen purse flashed in his head.

'No, I don't. Leave' The memory left, only to be replaced by something worse.

You have to. It's inevitable. Just give in sooner… His last fight with the street bullies.

'No, I won't'

It's easier to just give in… The emotions and feeling of pain that flared in his chest when he was caught stealing.

'But then all my time will have been for nothing! I refuse!'

… Are you sure…? The memories all turned to face him. They were smiling.

'LEAVE!'

Then a new voice entered the conversation. It was his father. The darkness was dispelled away, the dragon's voice carrying power.

"Wisely said my son. Now breathe in as long as you can" Wordlessly Natsu did as he was told. Breathing in as long as he could, he thought his sweat was sliding down his face faster than usual…

(Igneel's POV)

Igneel could see the fiery orange aura surrounding his son, as he battled the urge to let it consume him. Now was the time to release it.

"Relax, and let your breath go, son, and yell out to the world"

And with that, Natsu screamed his years of fury, sorrow, and hate to the sky.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

The waterfall was cut in two and evaporated in the haze of steam, the blast still going strong, streaming past clouds and birds alike.

(Some place far away…)

Makarov Dreyar, guild master of Fairy Tail looked up. Again? He hadn't felt this in a while. His serious face showed, and he gripped his staff tightly. This could mean be misunderstanding, but it was better to make sure of it before he did anything hasty.

"Master?" The old man directed his gaze down, spotting a small child with silver hair staring at him.

"Master?" repeated Lisanna, the youngest of the Strauss family "What's wrong? You have a scary face on" Master forced his facial features back into a smile.

"Nothing's wrong child, I'm just getting old. Don't mind me, I think I'll go use the restroom. Ohohoho!" He emitted his trademark elderly laugh, and the little girl was all smiles again.

"Ah, ok. Good luck with that" She said cheerily turning back to the conversation she was having to her brother and sister.

As soon as she had turned, the frown had placed itself back on the old man's face. This wasn't good. If Igneel had crowned a successor… Did that mean he was getting ready for war?

Hehehe… You guys like having Fairy Tail now involved? They'll play a large part later. Don't worry.

After this chapter, because of Bertius Maximus, a fellow author and friend of mine, he has allowed me to somewhat copy his story. His ideas inspired mine, and it wont be an outright rip-off, but some of the ideas will be the same. Please read his stories and provide him support guys!

u/4418499/BertiusMaximus

Thanks a bunch for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed this! If you did, please check out my other stories!

Please review and suggest what I can do for the next chapters and what I should fix.

Thanks again!

- Justin, Lover of anime, enemy of haters, and family to all my otaku brothers and sisters. Welcome to my world! XD