Chapter 2. The Demon Family
Naruto walked cautiously behind Laxus, constantly checking their surrounding for anything suspicious. The elder brother on the other hand snorted and looked over his shoulder.
"Why are you so on edge Naruto? We haven't even made it to the village or met with the client." The lightning mage pointed out.
Naruto continued to check his surroundings while he and Laxus descended down a hillside towards the town. "According to the job request the demon is somewhere in the outskirts of the village. I'm just trying to observe our surroundings and see if I notice anything that is off."
"What is that supposed to mean Naruto? It's a straight forward mission. We go in, get the demon's location from the client and then kill said demon. Which ends with us getting paid the reward."
Naruto walked to his brother's side and placed a hand to his chin. "Still, the closer we get to the village the more my gut is telling me something is off. It's like the time me and Gray took a mission that was a trap set by a dark guild. Sure they were no threat to me and Gray, but you can never be too safe." The younger brother explained honestly.
"So you think this mission is a trap?" Laxus asked in a board tone, as he really didn't care if it was since he was a little overconfident in his own abilities.
Naruto shook his head. "No that's not what I'm saying. I just have the feeling that something isn't right."
Laxus rolled his eyes and walked through the gates of the village. "Well I can obviously tell this isn't a trap. Just look around Naruto, the town seems perfectly fine. There are shops booming with business and look over there. A play ground with kids happily playing about. Don't you want to help keep this peace?"
"That's the thing Laxus-nii, everyone is too happy." Naruto replied causing the older mage to groan.
"Just listen to yourself Naruto. Everyone is too happy? Face it you are just being paranoid." The eldest Dreyar sibling accused as he took the lead once again and walked off.
Naruto frowned, his gut was never wrong. And add the fact that the town looked untouched and perfect only increased the blonde's suspicion that something wasn't right. Regardless he followed his brother into town and was occasionally greeted with a friendly hello by townsfolk passing by.
Soon the two Dreyar siblings found themselves at the town-hall where the mayor who set the job request up was located. Laxus looked over his shoulder to Naruto and noticed his brother was still scanning the area.
"Listen Whiskers I'll do all the talking, you just hang back and follow my directions." Laxus ordered in a stern voice, causing Naruto to pout and cross his arms. "Is that a problem?"
"Why do you get to be in charge? It's my mission." Naruto grumbled in an annoyed tone.
Laxus pushed Naruto's head back with a poke to the forehead. "Because I'm the older brother, so what I say goes." He explained before walking into the front door of the town-hall.
Naruto mumbled something about an annoying older brother under his breath before following Laxus inside. As they arrived in the interior, they were greeted by a friendly woman seated behind a small reception desk.
"Greetings. Do you two have any business with the mayor?" The woman asked in a sweet voice.
Laxus stepped forward and held out the job request. "We are mages from Fairy Tail. We are here in regards to the mission of eliminating a demon." The Lightning Mage explained before rolling the job request up. "So would you show us into the mayor's office?"
The woman gave the two a warm smile. "That's wonderful news." She cheered happily before looking down to Naruto. "Oh my, you look awful young to be fighting a demon young man."
Naruto's eyebrow twitched, he was plenty capable of protecting himself regardless of his size and age.
"Heh, trust me this kid is fine, he's my little brother after all." Laxus said proudly while crossing his arms and giving Naruto an approving smile. "But we are wasting time talking about trivial things. Where is the mayor's office?"
"Just head down the hall and it should be the fourth door on the right." The woman instructed before giving a bow of respect. "And thank you for helping our town."
Laxus nodded and walked off, making a jester for Naruto to follow. The small blond followed after his older brother and quickly made their way to the office doors.
Wasting no time, Laxus knocked on the doors to the office. "Hello, we are mages from Fairy Tail. We are here to fix your demon problem." The S-class mage spoke through the door.
"Ah excellent, please come in! The door is unlocked." The elderly voice of the mayor replied.
Laxus placed his hand onto the doorknob and walked into the office with Naruto lagging shortly behind. As the duo entered the room, Naruto was reminded of his grandfather's office back at the guild since the mayor's office was rather plain, but had seats for guests and a large desk where the mayor would sit and do his duties.
Speaking of the mayor he was a fairly old gentlemen; with large circular glasses, no hair and an all-black suit. Honestly Naruto wasn't too impressed with the man so far.
"So you are the ones that accepted our job request... Well you look capable, but," The man took a pause and looked over to Naruto. "Could a child his age deal with a demon?"
Yup. Naruto already decided he hated the man.
"Don't worry about my brother's ability. He is young, but he is already one of Fairy Tail's most promising wizards. Though I've done enough talking about my brother. Tell me about this demon we are here to eliminate." Laxus demanded in a firm tone.
The mayor nodded. "Well it's a straight forward explanation. A mile northwest of the town, you will find a small cottage. The demon uses that as its home. Also I should warn you, this demon will try to take the form of a young girl and try to trick you. Don't buy into its lies, it must be eliminated."
Laxus placed his hands in his pockets and walked towards the door. He had all the information that he needed. "Alright we should be back in an hour or two. Have our reward waiting for us." The Lightning Mage instructed before leaving the office, leaving Naruto temporarily alone with the Mayor.
"Need anything my boy? Or are you afraid to go after the big bad demon?" The mayor asked, talking down to Naruto who merely narrowed his eyes.
Part of him didn't trust what the man said.
"Hurry up Naruto!" Laxus shouted from the hallway.
Naruto gave the mayor one final look before leaving the office, quickly making his way over to his brother.
"Sorry Laxus-nii I was deep in thought." The Gravity Mage explained while taking his place by his brother's side.
"Whatever Naruto. Let's just kill this demon so we can get paid and be done." Laxus replied impatiently, already walking off. Not leaving Naruto any time to voice his concerns with the mission.
Instead the blond just slumped slightly forward and sighed. "Yeah let's go Nii-chan." The blond mumbled unenthusiastically.
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(Outskirts of town; inside the small cottage)
Sitting together in a small corner of the cottage, three siblings latched onto each other for support. They had experienced and lost so much; as their parents had died years ago and now they were currently marked as the family of demons.
Though, this was because of the white haired girl who was seated between her little brother and sister. See the girl's name was Mirajane Strauss and she was the one marked as a demon by the entire village. Her little brother Elfman and Lisanna refused to believe such lies, they knew what there sister was. But fear is a terrible thing and because people feared Mira, their whole family had to pay the price.
"Mira-nee I'm hungry." Lisanna cried in a weak voice, causing her sister to squeeze her tight.
"I know Lisanna and don't worry, after sundown your big sister will get food." Mira replied sweetly, deciding to leave the method she's used to obtain food a secret from the girl.
Elfman on the other hand knew what his sister would do and frowned. The towns people stopped selling them goods and allowing them in shops. So during the night, Mira would sneak into the village and steal what they needed to survive.
"Maybe we should skip dinner tonight." Elfman proposed, trying to discreetly tell his sister not to steal.
Mira turned red in anger. "You and Lisanna have to eat. It's my job to make sure that happens." The eldest of the siblings replied emotionlessly while standing to her feet.
Lisanna caught a glimpse of Mira's right arm; which had been altered to resemble a demon's arm. Mira, seeing her sister's gaze, jerked her black cloak in order to hide her arm.
"Mira please don't." Elfman began as he stood up and faced his older sister, hoping his plea didn't turn into another argument.
Mira took her good arm and pointed a finger at her brother. "If the towns people didn't shun us, we wouldn't be in this predicament now would we? They should be thanking us for taking care of that demon."
"We can't control other people, but what we can do is not act like the monsters they think we are." Elfman shot back before leaning close in and whispering. "Stealing isn't right, Mira."
Lisanna watched her two siblings silently argue, she hated watching them fight. Though under the circumstances that they lived in, it happened too often to even get upset about. Instead she stood up and walked over to a broken window. However, as she peered outside, Lisanna's eyes grew wide.
"Mira-nee, Elfman-nii, we have a problem." The youngest of the three spoke up.
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(Outside the cottage)
"I don't like this." Naruto admitted honestly as he looked over to the house.
It was a one story run down home, with all the windows broken in and graffiti all over the walls and door. Reading words like 'Demon', 'Evil', 'Leave town' and so many more terrible things.
"What's not to like?" Laxus asked as he walked slightly closer. "The graffiti shows we are in the right place."
Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes. "If the demon is such a threat, why would people risk their life's placing graffiti where the demon lives?" The blond asked, while inspecting signs of damage inflicted onto the house. "Just look Laxus, it looks like a mob attacked this place. I've already said it a dozen times today, but I have a bad feeling. And this right here only proves my feeling to be correct."
"Ok then, say I believe you might be right. What do you say we do?" The elder brother asked, looking down to Naruto for a response.
"Simple; we walk forward and do a peaceful investigation. If things turn bad, you and I are plenty strong enough to protect ourselves." Naruto explained as he drew closer and closer to the house.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" A voice of a young female shouted out.
Naruto stopped mid-step and looked forward, trying to locate the voice. Not taking much time at all, Naruto spotted a mess of white hair poking behind one of the broken windows.
Laxus snorted and lightning danced around on his fingertips. Then without giving a warning, he fired a bolt of lightning towards the window, causing the female voice to shriek in fear.
"Laxus stop!" Naruto ordered while making a bolt of his own lightning and throwing it in order to cancel Laxus' attack.
The two spells exploded with a loud crack of thunder, causing Laxus to growl and glare at his bother.
"What the hell are you doing Naruto?" The second generation dragon slayer asked while getting in his brother's face.
Naruto sighed and pushed a hand forward, causing his gravity magic to push Laxus back. "I told you already, we need to investigate what is going on. Can you restrain yourself from attacking someone for five minutes?"
Laxus crossed his arms and walked over to a tree, then leaned against it. The mage closed his eyes and held up five fingers. "Five minutes, then I destroy that house and everything inside it."
Naruto's eye twitched at his brother's literal reply. "That's plenty of time I guess." The blond replied, already walking towards the house. "Hello, I'm sorry for that little incident. My brother just likes to jump the gun ever now and then."
There was a pause of silence, causing Naruto to stop.
"My name is Naruto Dreyar, I'm a Fairy Tail wizard. My brother Laxus and I are on a job to hunt a demon. Is there one within the house?"
Laxus laughed and shook his head. "Really Naruto? Do you think a demon will tell the truth if one is inside or not? The mayor already said the demon takes the form of a small girl."
"My Nee-chan isn't a demon!" The voice from before shouted back in anger.
Naruto looked to his brother with a plain expression. "I don't remember the mayor saying anything about siblings. Seems like he didn't tell us everything. Are you starting to believe me now Laxus?"
His attention slightly peaked, Laxus walked over to Naruto's side. "You have two minutes left." The eldest blond declared. "Everyone within that house come out now. Or I will make you."
Naruto looked at Laxus with disappointment, his brother wasn't helping at all. "Laxus..."
"Will you leave me and my family alone!?" An older female voice shouted, as a white haired girl wearing a black cloak walked out of the cottage. She seemed to be around Erza's age and had the same lifeless eyes that the scarlet haired girl had when Naruto first met her.
"Why do the town's people want us to come here to hunt a demon?" Naruto asked, trying to figure the situation out. "Who are you?"
"My name is Mirajane and there is no demon here so leave!" Mirajane replied with venom in her voice.
Suddenly a small wind blew by, opening Mira's cloak and revealing her arm causing her to freak out and quickly hide her arm. Seeing this, Laxus instantly charged lightning in his hands causing Mira to retreat in fear.
"So you are a demon." The eldest Dreyar sibling growled. "Well in that case you're going to die."
"No!" A voice of a boy and the girl from before shouted. Before two child ran out of the house and stood in front of Mira. "Leave our sister alone!"
Mira's eyes grew wide when she say her siblings in danger. "Elfman, Lisanna, what are you two doing? Get out of here it's dangerous!"
"We are not leaving you alone Mira-nee." Lisanna replied, glaring at Laxus and Naruto, though she was too afraid to move any further. None of her family knew magic, unlike the two standing before her.
"Yeah big sis, the three of us have to stick together no matter what." Elfman explained, as he was slightly shaking in fear, just like both his sisters were.
Naruto walked forward and held his hands out. "Will everyone just chill the hell out?! Laxus, she is not a demon, her arm is just an incomplete Takeover. And you three, we are not going to hurt anyone." The youngest of all the people present spoke up, showing his superior intelligence and his maturity when handling such a situation.
Laxus lowered his hand and turned around. "That stupid mayor." The eldest sibling growled in anger the moment her realized Naruto was right. "He wasted both our time. He's going to pay for that."
Suddenly Laxus disappeared in a bolt of lightning, leaving the four children behind. Naruto looked off towards the town and chuckled. "Don't worry about him, when Laxus-nii gets pissed off it's best to let him blow off some steam."
None of the siblings said a word. Instead they stayed still and looked fearful at Naruto, who was smiling wide while bolts of lightning were firing down onto the ground near the town behind him.
"You said something about an incomplete Takeover." The girl known as Lisanna spoke up, earning Naruto's attention. "What does that mean for my sister?"
"Well did your sister seem to absorb any animal, monster or even possibly a demon?" Naruto asked while taking a seat on the ground.
The three children looked between each other and nodded.
"Yeah I think she did. A demon tried to attack the village a few months ago, but we ran into it on accident. Mira-nee jumped in the way to protect us and the demon disappeared into her body." Elfman replied, explaining the situation for Naruto.
"Yeah, and ever since then Mira-nee's arm has looked all weird and demon like." Lisanna added in, causing Naruto to nod.
"Yup that's an incomplete Takeover, but unfortunately I don't know how to help you. Though my grandfather is really smart, he is Fairy Tail's guild master. If anyone could help you fix your arm it would be him." Naruto pointed out while giving the siblings a wide smile. "So why don't you come back to the guild with me and my brother. Even if you don't want to join the guild, wouldn't you want to be normal again?"
Mira looked to her demon arm, then to her siblings. "What do you guys think?"
"I don't think it's up for debate. We can't pass up a chance like this." Lisanna reasoned.
"Yeah and besides there isn't anything left for us here. We could all join Fairy Tail and start a new life for ourselves." Elfman spoke happily, as the prospect of getting out of their current situation was too good to pass up.
Mira nodded and brought her siblings into a hug. "Alright we shall go together, as a family." The eldest sibling mumbled happily, causing Naruto to smile.
"Alright then, why don't I help you guys get everything packed. Magnolia is quite a trip away." Naruto explained as he walked over to his three new friends.
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(Seven months later)
It has been seven full months since Mira, Elfman and Lisanna had joined the guild. And the three siblings were a perfect fit for the guild. Over the first couple weeks of their time at the guild, Makarov helped Mira master her demon form and even showed Lisanna and Elfman how to do their own Takeover.
Once Mira became able to control her magic she was a lot more social. Though this wasn't the best thing as she would typically butt heads with Erza, causing the two to fight. Elfman would always try to calm his sister down, but he had very little success calming his sister down once she got started. He was too bashful and reserved to have the guts to tell his sister when she was out of line.
Then finally there was Lisanna, who over the last two months became Naruto's best friend. She owed a lot to the blond for what he did for her family, and she choose to repay him by being the best friend she could be. This was a friendship that slowly turned into something else for Naruto. See, even though Lisanna was his best friend and they spent all their time together, Naruto slowly found himself having feelings for the older girl. This growing to a point to where his older brother Laxus had taken a notice, but no one else did as no one truly knew Naruto like his brother did.
Though Naruto never said anything because he knew his feelings were not returned the same way. He just hoped in time something might change. So that is where we join in on Naruto, as he is currently enjoying his favorite dish ramen while Lisanna sat beside him and observed him eat away.
"You know that stuff is bad for you." Lisanna warned, but the blond didn't seem to care. "It has too much salt."
Naruto placed a mouthful of noodles in his mouth and waved the girl off. Then by swallowing he smiled. "Well if it kills me, I'll die a happy man."
Lisanna rolled her eyes. "Idiot, don't say stuff like that. I'd be lost without you, you're my best friend."
Naruto looked to the side and stirred his noodles. He really needed to find a way to get Lisanna to understand his feelings. "Yeah sorry, I'd be lost without you as well. You are very precious to me Lisanna." The Gravity Mage replied, turning back to the girl with a soft smile.
Though when he looked towards her, he instantly frowned. Her attention had been moved over to Mira and Erza, both of whom had started another one of their little scuffles.
"I better stop Mira-nee before it's too late." Lisanna began before taking a deep sigh. "For the fourth time this week."
Naruto watched as the girl hopped off the bar stool and walked off. Leaving Naruto alone with nothing besides his ramen and thoughts.
'Why do I keep thinking things are going to change between us? Sure we are best friends, but I think that is all we will ever be.' Naruto thought to himself as he sunk into a depression.
"Hey would you mind if I sit here?" A female voice asked, breaking Naruto from his daze.
Looking to his left, he saw a girl around Gray's age with long brown hair and a yellow dress. She was holding a small glass of juice and she standing beside the seat where Lisanna was moments ago.
Naruto motioned for her to sit and nodded. "Knock yourself out." The blond replied, while placing his attention back to his ramen.
The girl took Lisanna's old seat and looked to Naruto. "I've only been here for a week and I thought it's time I introduced myself to someone. So hi, my name is Cana Alberona."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know we had a new guild member." The blond commented back. "The name is Naruto by the way, Naruto Dreyar."
Cana nodded and shot a sideways glance towards Lisanna. "You're always so preoccupied with your little friend over there, I'm not all too surprised that you were unaware of my presence."
Naruto looked away as her words held a lot of truth. He had been spending a lot of his time with Lisanna and maybe it was time to give the girl some space.
"Guess she doesn't see how into her you are." Cana added in, causing Naruto to nearly slip out of his seat in surprise.
Slowly recovering from his surprise, Naruto looked over to Cana. "Did Laxus tell you?" The blond thought with a small amount of anger. The older brother would always threaten to tell people about his crush, but he never thought Laxus would do so.
"Nah I don't even know who this Laxus is. I've just observed a few people inside the guild. And I've noticed the way you look at her, it's a look that she doesn't return." Cana explained causing Naruto to deflate in depression. "Hey don't get so down in the dumps on me. I came over here to have a nice conversation."
Naruto nodded. "Sorry about that, but I'm curious Cana. What brings you to Fairy Tail out of all the guild's in Fiore?"
This time it was Cana that turned slightly depressed. "I've been looking for someone." She admitted.
Naruto waited in silence for a moment, but she never elaborated further. This caused the boy to tilt his head.
"Who are you looking for Cana?"
Cana gazed down to the liquid in her glass. "Someone that doesn't know I exist." She replied cryptically, before turning towards him. "Listen I really don't wanna talk about it. So could we change the subject? Maybe talk about our magics or something."
Naruto nodded, but made a mental reminder to remember this conversation. He wanted to help every member of the guild and Cana just made his list.
"Well I know Lightning, Fire and Wind Magic, but my main magic is my Gravity Magic. Then there is my..." Naruto took a pause and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry can't talk about that one, Jiji-chan's orders."
Cana looked at the younger child with surprise. "Wow I just started learning Card Magic and you already have over four types of magic." The girl replied in an unbelieving voice.
Naruto gave the girl a cheeky smile. "Yeah I'm trying to learn more, but Jiji-chan and I think its best I hold off on learning more magic. I mean I'm only ten and people already call me the Yōsei Kami."
Cana's mind was going in overdrive. The kid sitting beside her was only ten years old. Two years younger than herself, but yet he was powerful enough to be called the Fairy God.
"You must be very powerful." Cana commented trying to hide her surprise. "Though you've mentioned your Jiji-chan. Who is that?"
Naruto smiled and noticed a small elderly man walking across the guild. "Hey grandpa!" The boy shouted out as he waved to the short guild master, causing Cana's jaw to drop.
"Hey Naruto, glad to see your making new friends." Makarov called back as he went on his way.
Cana snapped her head over to the giggling blond and pointed a finger at the retreating Makarov. "Your grandfather is the freaking master!" The girl shouted in surprise.
Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah and my big brother Laxus is one of Fairy Tail's two S-class mages."
Cana nodded, that means his brother was placed in the same tier of strength as the man she was looking for. Though before she could say anything a voice caught her attention.
"Hey Naruto what's up?" The voice of a completely naked Gray asked while taking a seat by Cana.
Naruto sighed. "Cana this is Gray Fullbuster and Gray this is Cana Alberona. And while I'm at it Gray..." Naruto stopped and shook his head, he didn't have the patients to tell him this time.
"Nice to meet you Cana." Gray spoke coolly before looking to Naruto. "What is it Whiskers?"
"Your clothes are gone!" Cana yelled before Naruto could even say a thing.
"Ah shit!" Gray yelled loudly while finally noticing his situation.
Naruto held his hands out and used his Gravity Magic to grab Gray's clothes from across the guild. Then at blinding speeds he threw them in the mage's face, causing him to fall and crash on the floor. "Don't go streaking around girls you pervert." Naruto scolded, showing a little bit of Erza coming out of him.
Speaking of the armor clad girl, she walked beside her favorite blond and ruffled his hair. "Way to punish Gray for his foolishness." Erza commented before holding a hand out to Cana. "Greeting I'm Erza Scarlet."
Cana took the hand and smiled. "Cana Alberona." She introduced with a slight hint of nervousness, she wasn't expecting to talk to so many new people yet.
Naruto smiled and looked up to Erza. "So tell me Nee-chan who won the fight? Was it you this time or did Mira get the better of you?" The blond asked, causing Erza to get fire in her eyes.
"I would have beat her little whore ass into the ground, but..."
"Nee-chan calm down." Naruto laughed calmly, knowing his surrogate sister's rivalry wasn't a pleasant one at times.
Cana just blinked at Erza's shift of mood and noted to herself: Never piss Erza off.
"My apologies Naruto, I'm supposed to set a good example for you. Please strike me for my penitence." Erza begged as she bent over to be hit.
Naruto sighed and looked over to Gray, leaving Erza in suspense. "Gray can you tell me what happened?"
The Ice Make mage had just finished placing his clothes on and he ran a hand through his hair while he spoke. "Flame brain showed up with some huge ass egg and said it was a dragon's egg. It distracted Erza and Mira long enough for me and Elfman to pull them apart."
"Wait Natsu found a dragon's egg?" The blond mumbled in surprise. "How come I didn't see any of this?"
Gray reclined against the bar counter. "I don't know, you must have been busy talking to Cana." The black haired boy replied smoothly, not really caring much about Natsu's egg.
Cana giggled. "I can account to Naruto's inability to not notice things when he is talking to someone." The brown haired girl teased, thinking of their talk earlier about Lisanna.
Erza smiled and took a seat by Naruto. "Regardless of how forgetful Naruto is," The scarlet haired girl began causing Naruto to slump over in annoyance. "Natsu and Lisanna ran off to take care of the egg. So we shall see soon what it holds inside."
Naruto looked to Erza. "Lisanna ran off with Natsu?" The smallest of the group asked, causing Cana to slightly frown at the tone of his voice. It sounded cracked and depressed.
Erza nodded. "Of course, they are very close friends." She explained not picking up on Naruto's reaction.
"Yeah Whiskers it's not very surprising they ran off together, they are always together." Gray replied, not even noticing Naruto's downward look.
Cana however picked up on Naruto's depression. So she did the best thing she could think of. She jumped off her seat and grabbed Naruto by his hand. "Come with me Naruto."
Naruto was pulled out of his seat and looked to Cana, who was busy pulling him out of the guild. "Hey Cana where are we going?" The Gravity wizard asked.
Cana smiled and looked to Naruto. "You're my first friend from Fairy Tail. So since I'm new to town it's your duty to show me around." Cana ordered in a stern voice.
Naruto smiled he knew what the girl was doing. "Alright Cana I'll show you around town. Just follow me." Naruto said as he took the lead. "And thanks."
Cana nodded and walked beside the Yōsei Kami. "Don't mention it Naruto, it's what friends are for." The card using wizard replied.
Naruto nodded and started to point a few things out as he walked with Cana. He showed her the local magic shop, the best places to eat in town and even a few of Magnolia's landmarks. During this entire time Naruto didn't think of Lisanna ditching him and leaving with Natsu. Instead he enjoyed his time with his new friend Cana.
And the two were starting to grow closer and closer as the time went by. Speaking of time, the sun was starting to go down though Naruto and Cana didn't mind. They were busy enjoying each other's company.
"So tell me Cana-chan, what do you think of Magnolia and Fairy Tail?" Naruto asked with a small grin.
Cana placed her hands behind her back and then she looked to the sky. "I like it here, it's calm and the people are very nice. What about you, this has been your home longer than me. What do you think?"
"I love this town and I love the guild even more. So I'm gonna keep growing stronger to protect what I love. I won't stop until I'm the ace of Fairy Tail. That is what I live for and that is my goal in life." Naruto declared boldly, sharing his dream with Cana. "What is it that you strive for Cana-chan?"
Cana didn't have to think long, she knew her goal. It was to find her father, but she wasn't willing to share this knowledge with Naruto yet. Instead she was going to tell him a lie about being a great wizard, but a voice stopped her.
"So you want to be Fairy Tail's new ace. Well that would mean you have to be stronger than me." A voice spoke from behind, one that Naruto easily recognized.
Turning around both children were met with the sight of a tall, muscular man with shoulder-length orange hair that was slicked back. He wore a long, black, high-collared and tattered cloak with shoulder plates while around his waist is a simple belt. He was also sporting loose-fitting dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard bearing plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple black boots.
"Gildarts." Naruto addressed normally, causing Cana's eyes to widen. "You're returning from another job already?"
Gildarts nodded and looked over Cana. "Yeah I probably won't be hanging around for long, but tell me fish cake. Who's the girl you are with, is she your girlfriend?" The elder wizard asked in a teasing manor.
Naruto rolled his eyes and looked over to Cana, quickly noticing something was wrong with her. Though he choose to ignore that for the moment. "No, her name is Cana Alberona. She joined the guild a couple days ago and I'm showing her around town."
"Well it's nice to meet you Cana, I'm Gildarts." The orange haired father introduced, not even knowing his own daughter was standing before him.
Cana nodded and looked down, she didn't have the courage to confront her father about her identity. Soon the trio fell silent and Gildarts made a long sigh.
"I'm exhausted from all my traveling so I'm headed home. And Fish Cake it's been awhile since we sparred. Why don't you meet me outside the town in the forest for a friendly fight?" Gildarts proposed, getting excited about testing the blonde's strength.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, I'm down to kick your old ass into the ground."
Gildarts threw his head up and started to laugh. "Alright we will see if you can back up your words tomorrow." The Crash wizard laughed out while he started to walk off. "See you kids later!"
Cana looked to Naruto's with wide eyes. "You can't really be thinking about fighting him tomorrow?" The female wizard spoke up once Gildarts was gone.
Naruto looked over to Cana with a serious gaze. "You seem to know Gildarts is a powerful man and you acted rather weird when he was around. So I'd assume he is the person you joined the guild to meet. I'd even go so far as to say you are his daughter." Naruto concluded causing the girl to drop her jaw. "Yep, definitely his daughter. Your magic is almost identical to his."
Cana looked down and rubbed her arm. "Yeah he's my Tou-chan. Though he doesn't even know I exist. My Kaa-chan only told me about him and where to find him before she passed away."
Naruto looked down. "I'm sorry for your loss, it must have been hard to lose your mother."
Cana nodded. "Yeah it hurt."
"Though in a way you are lucky, you still have your father. And you got to meet your mother and know that she loved you. I've never met my parents before. Jiji-chan told me about my father once before, but I could tell he was lying." Naruto explained in a dry voice, his emotions completely void. "I don't know why he would lie, but I didn't nor do I care now. My family is the guild and that will never change."
Cana smiled a little bit at the boy's words. "You know for someone so young you're pretty mature."
Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Whoever my real parents were must have been level headed individuals. Though I don't care to know who they are, so could you keep what I said between us?"
"Of course Naruto my lips are sealed." The brown haired girl promised.
Naruto bowed in gratitude. "Thank you Cana, but speaking of parents. Are you going to tell Gildarts the truth about who you are? If you want I can be there to support you when you do it."
Cana brought the blond into a hug and started to tear up. "You would really do that for me?"
Naruto chuckled as he felt the girl squeeze harder. "Yeah we are friends after all, I just hope you don't get mad if I kick your dad's ass tomorrow."
"Baka." The girl mumbled in a low voice. "Thank you."
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(The next day)
Gildarts stood in a small clearing, his arms were crossed and his emotions were blank. Standing across from him was Naruto; who seemed on edge and ready to fight. Off to the side was Cana and the master Makarov, the latter of whom wanted to supervise over this spar the moment he heard about it yesterday when Naruto came home. The blond excitedly proclaimed that he was going to fight Gildarts and win. So the master wanted to watch over the spar and see what would happen.
Cana on the other hand wanted to come and watch her new friend battle against her father. She had never seen either of the two in action and she was slightly interested to see what would happen.
"So Naruto, are you ready to begin?" Gildarts asked in a calm voice as he slowly cracked his neck
Naruto punched his palm and grinned. "Yeah old man, let's go."
Gildarts held his right arm out and made a come at me sign. Naruto, not wanting to waste any time, charged straight towards the S-class wizard.
"Head on attack." Gildarts mumbled in disappointment as he raised a hand to strike the blond down. "That is something Natsu would do."
Naruto smirked and electricity danced around his body, then before he could touch Gildarts, his body turned into lighting and fazed straight through the Crash wizard, sending hundreds of volts through his body.
"What was that?" Naruto asked with a snicker, his body reforming a few feet behind Gildarts. "Looks like I already got the first hit in."
Gildarts held back his laughter and turned his body towards the blond. "Getting a solid hit in and tricking your opponent are two different things. Besides that didn't even tickle, I thought the great Fairy God was better than that. I mean look, you didn't even move me."
Naruto growled and raised his hand up. "Oh I'll move you then." He fired back, using his Gravity magic to rip the ground up beneath Gildarts, sending the Crash Mage floating into the air.
Gildarts smirked and held his hand onto the floating ground. Then by channeling his magic, Gildarts destroyed the floating earth; causing it to rain down at high speeds at Naruto.
In response Naruto held both hands up while showing no emotion, causing the chunks of earth to float midair. Then without a warning he sent everything flying back at Gildarts.
"Won't work." Gildarts proclaimed, before sweeping his hand to the side and casting his Crash Magic, resulting in all the rocks and clumps of dirt being blasted into dust.
Naruto huffed in annoyance as he watched Gildarts land back onto the ground. He was standing in a crater where dirt and rock use to be, but he didn't take any step forward or backwards. All Naruto managed to do was move the man up and down and that pissed the blond off.
"I'm going to send you flying!" Naruto announced, lifting his hand up.
Gildarts didn't move, instead his body faintly radiated a white magical cloak of his Crash Magic. "Oh? I'd like to see you try." The elder mage challenged.
Naruto gritted his teeth and raised his magical power, causing the dirt and rocks around him and Gildarts both to fly up into the air. Even Naruto's hair seemed to defy gravity, but still the Crash Mage did not budge. This made Naruto lose his temper and push even more magic into his attempt to move Gildarts. Though it felt like the blond was lifting something that wasn't there and this never happened before.
Over with Makarov and Cana, the two saw the lines of sweat pouring down Naruto's face. They could easily tell the young mage was straining himself. Makarov knew his grandson and he knew beating Gildarts was his goal. So he could see why Naruto was pushing himself so far. Though he also knew that at his current level, no matter how powerful he was, Naruto stood absolutely no chance against Gildarts.
"Master what is going on? Why is Naruto's magic not working against Gildarts?" Cana asked the short grandfather while looking towards her new friend with worry.
Makarov sighed deeply. "Gildarts is using his Crash Magic to counter Naruto's magic. See Gildarts magic can destroy any type of magic and structure as long as he can over power what he is trying to destroy. So as you might be able to see, Gildarts is slowly pumping out his magic and countering the effects of Naruto's Gravity Magic. So unless Naruto could over power Gildarts, he cannot touch the man."
"So basically Naruto is screwed." Cana summarized, her voice laced with sadness for her friend.
Makarov narrowed his gaze on his grandson. "I wouldn't say that. Naruto has an interesting ability to rise to new levels when against a difficult challenge. If anything I believe this fight will help Naruto grow tremendously."
Cana looked forward with wide eyes. "Do you really think so master?"
Makarov crossed his arms and watched the fight closely. "We will see Cana-chan, we will see."
Back over with the fight, Gildarts was starting to grow board of how things were going. "Are you done yet Naruto? Cause so far you've shown me next to no improvement." The S-class mage began in disappointment before rising his magical pressure. "Looks like it's time to end this."
Naruto gritted his teeth and pushed his Gravity Magic even harder. For a split second his eyes flashed white and Gildarts was slightly moved upwards and back. Though this phenomenon didn't last long as Naruto stopped altogether and started to pant. He was exhausted and getting nowhere with his current method of attack.
Gildarts on the other hand was momentarily stunned, he didn't know what actually happened. He just knew that somehow, Naruto summoned up enough magic for a brief second to overwhelm his magic. And that was something Gildarts didn't expect to happen.
"Impressive." Gildarts mumbled to himself before looking over to Makarov who signaled him with a nod. "Let's see what your real limits are Naruto."
Naruto slightly tensed his body when he noticed Gildarts dash towards him. Without even thinking about it, Naruto raised a hand above his head and summoned a bolt of lightning.
"Heavenward Halberd!" Naruto cried out as he tossed a spear of lightning magic right at Gildarts.
Pivoting his foot, Gildarts slid across the dirt and held one hand forward. Then with his Crash Magic he easily dispatched Naruto's lightning. As he continued to slide, he prepared his other hand behind his back for a devastating punch.
"End of the line Naruto!" Gildarts called out as he prepared to finish the fight in one punch.
Time seemed to slow down for Naruto and everyone watching. Cana looked towards her father and newly found friend, not wanting harm to be brought to the latter. Makarov watched with anticipation to see what his grandson would do, he knew Gildarts never held back. Though he was very confident he wouldn't hurt his grandson.
Finally there was Naruto who had his hands held slightly in front of his body. He could attempt to block the punch, but he wasn't physical strong enough to stop a fully grown man. Especially one who was as strong as Gildarts was.
Though as all seemed lost and Naruto was about to accept his fate, something clicked inside of him. He didn't know where it came from or what it was, all he knew was two simple words.
"Shinra Tensei!" Naruto mumbled with power behind his voice and his eye glowing white once more. This was followed by a tremendous force of gravity slamming into Gildarts and sending him rocketing backwards. Though Naruto wasn't done there, he held his right hand forward and reached out towards Gildarts.
"Banshō Ten'in!" Naruto called out, causing Gildarts to stop mid-air for a brief second. Before he even knew it, he found himself being forcefully pulled back towards Naruto.
Readying himself, Naruto's left fist danced to life with Lightning Magic. Though it was not the normal yellow lighting like Laxus had taught him. This lightning was a pure white color and it radiated unreal amounts of magic.
Enough amounts of magic to even cause Gildarts to sweat. So to save his own skin he pushed one hand forward and sent a wave of Crash Magic forward hoping to force Naruto to move away, but the blond held his ground and refused to move. Instead he held his hand outward and allowed Gildarts magic to collide with his lighting. The end result was Naruto's lightning slicing through Gildarts Crash Magic like butter.
Makarov saw this shocking phenomenon and could tell Gildarts was in serious trouble. "Naruto that's enough, stop this at once!" The grandfather shouted in a commanding tone.
Naruto took notice of his grandfather's order and stopped Gildarts in midair. This made the Crash Wizard hover in the air while Naruto's lightning sparked a few inches from the man's chest.
"I'm impressed Naruto. You really got me there." Gildarts chuckled nervously, he still didn't know what to make of the situation. Though for now he figured why not compliment the blond on his surprising strength.
Naruto's eyes stopped glowing and reverted back to his normal bright sapphire blue color. "Thanks Gildarts, I'm guessing our spar is over then?" The blond droned back, already lowering Gildarts down to his feet.
"Yeah I think it's best we leave this one as a tie." The older Mage replied, inwardly thinking that wasn't the outcome that was about to happen. Gildarts for the first time almost lost a fight to another Mage and it was a ten year old child none the less.
"That's fine. I'll just beat you and become Fairy Tail's Ace another day." Naruto replied with a shrug, earning a tick mark from Gildarts. Though after his little display the man didn't argue.
Instead the master walked over and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I'm proud of you Naruto, you've grown so strong for someone your age. And you didn't tell me you practiced new gravity and lighting spells."
Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "The gravity spells were something I just tried for the first time, but I didn't use any new type of Lighting Magic Jiji-chan."
This time Makarov looked toward Naruto with confusion. "Then what was that white lightning you used? It was powerful enough to cancel out Gildarts Crash Magic, I've never seen anything like it before."
"Yeah best don't keep secrets, what was that you did back there?" Gildarts chimed in wanting to know the answer as well.
Naruto looked between the two elder men with confusion. He didn't know what he did and he had no proper answer. Instead he held his hand out and summoned his regular yellow colored lightning. "See my lighting is its normal color, tell them I don't know what happened Cana."
The master and Ace of Fairy Tail looked over to Cana. She seen the exact same thing they did, but she knew the blond had no clue what happened.
"Whatever Naruto did earlier I can tell he had no clue what happened. So I believe it may be something to look into in the future." Cana explained trying to be honest and take up for her friend at the same time.
Makarov nodded completely agreeing with the girl's words. "Yes Naruto is filled with plenty of surprises, maybe this was just the newest one he had to show."
Gildarts smirked and looked down to Naruto. "People call me a monster brat, but I can see why you are called a god. I was nowhere near your power level when I was your age. You almost made me go all out."
Naruto and Makarov both formed sweat drops on their heads. Though they both knew Gildarts didn't give his all, but they did know if the fight didn't stop when it did… Well Gildarts would have regretted not taking the fight as serious as he should have.
"Yeah sure old man, but since our spar is over, I believe Cana has something she wants to tell you." Naruto revealed, earning Makarov and Gildarts attention while at the same time making Cana turn red from embarrassment.
"Oh, what would that be?" Gildarts asked the small brown haired girl.
Cana looked towards Naruto for help and the blond gave her a warm smile. He silently mouthed the words 'you can do this' at Cana.
"I'm..." Cana stopped and took a hard swallow. "I'm yo..."
Gildarts raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl struggle to speak. "Yes, what are you?"
Makarov looked between Cana and Naruto, his skin turning pale as he started to read the situation. Thinking to himself Gildarts was in for a shock if his hunch was correct.
"I'm... You are... Uhhhh." Cana drifted off and couldn't find the words to reveal the truth.
Naruto groaned at his friend's backward behavior, so he decided to take matters in his own hands. "Listen here Scruffy." Naruto spoke up, while walking in front of Gildarts and looking the man in the eyes.
"Scruffy?" The man mumbled the name which was a shot at his rugged beard.
"She." Naruto pointed a finger at Cana. "Is your." He moved his finger towards Gildarts. "Daughter!"
Gildarts jaw hit the floor and Cana's eyes grew wide. The cat was out of the bag and Makarov was smirking on the inside about being right once again.
"WHAT!" The Crash wizard yelled in shock, running over to Cana and looking her over. "Who is your mother? Rukia? Anko? Robin? No the eyes are off. Nami? Yoko? Bulma? No that isn't right either. Ummm Olivier? Kushina?"
"How many freaking women have you slept with?!" Cana yelled out in anger. "You know what I don't care to know. I just wanted to tell you that I exist, I don't expect you to be around or be a father to me. So see you around Gildarts!"
Cana then turned on her heel and stomped off, but before she could move more than two feet. Gildarts wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"Cornelia." Gildarts whispered her mother's name into her ears. "Now I can see it as clear as day. You are Cornelia's daughter."
Cana started to trembled and tears flowed down her cheeks. "Yeah." She mumbled in a weak voice.
Gildarts smiled. "Cornelia was the only women I ever loved. She was the only women I ever married. I was devastated when she left me, but I never knew we had a child. If only I knew I would have been there for the both of you."
"It's fine, you don't have to be there for me." Cana replied in a weak voice.
Gildarts gripped tightly onto his daughter. "Beautiful and stubborn, just like your mother. I promise from here on out I will always be by your side. That's if you will allow me too."
Cana turned around and allowed Gildarts to see her tear filled face. "Of course Tou-chan that's all I want from you baka." The girl cried before latching onto her father.
Naruto smiled at the father daughter moment, but he quickly found his grandfather's hand on his shoulder.
"Why don't we give them some time alone?" The short man proposed.
Naruto nodded and turned away. "Yeah let's head back to the guild. I'm sure they will catch up to us later." The blond replied, sending one more happy look at his new friend.
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Chapter End
Ok so here is the thing, I literally made the next chapter too big. I don't know what the hell is wrong, but I can't upload the full chapter to the site to be posted. So I'm chopping the chapter in half and posting the rest as chapter 3. So good news, two updates in one day lol anyways thanks for the support and enjoy the double chapter lol