A/N: ...I'll be honest, I feel like the emotional depth is REALLY WEAK in this chapter.
But my beta reader says it's good? And to be honest I re-wrote this thing THREE TIMES and STILL couldn't get it right, so at this point I'm just crying and throwing up my hands and saying DONE IS DONE.
If I look at it much longer I'm going to scrap it all and go for re-write number FOUR and who knows how long it'll take for me to get it out to you if I do that.
So here's to hoping it's not as bad as I fear, and my beta reader's actually right on this one.
I JUST FEEL LIKE I DID KIZASHI REALLY DIRTY OKAY, I LOVE MY VERSION OF HIM AND WANT TO DO HIM JUSTICE AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE I DID. BUT IF I DON'T CALL IT DONE NOW I NEVER WILL.
So yeah, here's the much late and much-redone chapter, hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!
The Harunos are a merchant family, and not particularly noteworthy at that, Takahiro thinks as he flips through the records, lingering on Haruno Kizashi's brief time as a genin of Konoha before moving on.
Haruno Mebuki, formerly Ito Mebuki before her marriage, is a merchant from a family of merchants and small-time craftsmen going back as far as Konoha's records have bothered to keep. And even those records only go as far as they do because six generations back Ito Akisane married Chikime-san of no recorded family, who was a vassal of the Uchiha clan and the clan head of the time did a thorough background check of the man marrying into their civilian line.
Aside from his time as a genin, however, there's surprisingly little in Haruno Kizashi's file. Notes on him, his parents (small-time craftsmen, fitting with the rest) and his grandparents (similar jobs for his father's parents, absolutely nothing listed for his mother's-), it's almost amazing they let someone with such empty records join the academy to begin with.
There are pictures in the file, and Takahiro flips through them absently: Kizashi himself (dark pink hair, larger build, eyes on the bluer side of dark green), his father (brown hair, brown eyes, definitely enjoys his food), his paternal grandparents (the man again brown-haired and brown-eyed, the woman black-haired and hazel eyes), his mother (blue-green eyes, strawberry blond hair, well-muscled), and… her parents.
If Sekiryu Hisako is a well-muscled woman, her parents are… undeniably shinobi. There's no mistaking that sort of appearance, that sort of posture, even in a candid photo like this. Sekiryu Fukumatsu, no maiden name listed, has the same green-blue eyes of her daughter and grandson, and bright blond hair. Sekiryu Makoto, though. Black eyes, pink hair. Bright pink. Not Kizashi's muted color, but as bright as Sakura's.
There's no mistaking their occupation. And while bright colors don't always mean a kekkei genkai, the shade is… distinctive.
And there are no records of the Sekiryu, and no matter how much he tried to backtrack, Uzumaki-kun spoke very clearly about Haruno Sakura's split personality as though it were just another person, not a side-effect of intense trauma.
There's something to investigate here, Takahiro muses, drumming his fingers against the table. Perhaps something in ANBU's records? He doesn't have the clearance for that, but the Gazelle will look it up for him if he asks…
Takahiro takes his time as he puts away the records, making sure they don't look disturbed as he gets ready to leave, more a matter of habit than necessity.
Though he'd hate to be banned from his new interest when he hasn't even figured out the mystery yet.
Humming idly, he puts the finishing touches on his work and then strides out of the records room at a brisk pace. He's got some paperwork to wrap up before he can leave the office and hunt down his friend for some… off-duty sleuthing.
He can hardly wait.
"A dragon?"
"I don't know… what else to call it. Its shape was like no drawing I've ever seen, less serpentine, closer to a long-necked lizard with wings. It was very reptilian though, and 'dragon' feels like the only possible descriptor…"
Inoichi slumps into his chair, exhausted as much from his time in Natsu's mindscape as from Ino's antics.
He doesn't even know where to begin addressing everything she did and-
He should tell Hokage-sama.
He doesn't.
"And there was no trace of a seal?"
Inoichi sighs. "No - it moved freely throughout the connection point of Natsu and Sakura's minds, and went just as freely back to Natsu's mindscape once we were done. It also didn't allow me to follow, and I thought it wiser not to push, but… Hokage-sama. The path connecting Natsu's mindscape to the bridge was… I don't know. For someone as kind as that boy, I can't understand why it looked like that. I don't believe he's lied to us about anything, so I can only assume it's the creature influencing him but even that doesn't explain-" Inoichi drags a hand through his hair, scowling.
Nothing makes sense. And every time he thinks he's starting to understand the situation between Natsu and Sakura, something comes through and makes it even more complicated and now he has to wonder if the dragon has something to do with why they're both stuck, but if that's the case, how is Inoichi to help? If it's the will of that creature for them to be trapped together, they can't just leave it but Inoichi saw what it was capable of and he can't fight that-
The imminent invasion is its own cause for concern, on top of everything else, and Inoichi has barely slept in the past two days, making reports and doing his job and chasing after Ino and-
He doesn't have time to worry about anything else.
At this point though, he doesn't have much of a choice either.
"Let them out."
"Hokage-sama?" Inoichi snaps back to reality, turning to look at his leader in confusion.
"We know Orochimaru still has a spy somewhere in the village. We need to keep him from realizing we know about the invasion as long as possible. He's very proud of his work. The idea that we could have removed the curse seal will offend him, hopefully distract him long enough for us to put the last few things in place to minimize any damage. If we're especially lucky, he may make a second attempt at targeting them, allowing us a chance to capture him or whoever he sends to do the job. I won't count on it, but it's a possibility that works in our favor."
He pauses, taking a drag at his pipe, before continuing.
"And perhaps having their child back where they can see her will stop the Harunos from raising such a fuss every time a jonin stands still long enough for them to catch up to them. I've got a number of complaints still on my desk from shinobi blindsided by them and would like that number to go down."
There's a lilt of humor in Hokage-sama's voice, but none in his eyes. Inoichi takes the reprimand gracefully.
He may not have tried quite as hard as he could have to convince them to have patience, so it's only natural they went to other sources to find information.
"If that's all then, Hokage-sama?"
"Nn. For now. Please keep me updated on the situation."
Inoichi bows sharply and leaves the room. And considers.
Letting Ino see Sakura and Natsu when he's already avoided reporting her for her behavior would… basically be giving her what she wanted.
But she's distressed and upset and Konoha emphasizes in the Academy how important care for one's comrades is.
As a genin, she hasn't really had to learn how to put aside that care in order to do her job. Genin are meant to build bonds both to their team and their village, it's only after they're promoted that learning the exceptions becomes more important.
She's not ready to learn those lessons. Not yet.
Tomorrow. He decides.
The kids probably need the extra time to rest anyway, so he can go down to T&I in the morning and then let Ino visit her friend for dinner. Enough time for it to feel like a punishment, hopefully.
Perhaps he should have a talk with her, just to stress the seriousness of the situation…
There's Nothing happening.
Nothing at all.
His father hasn't been more stressed the past two days and his mother did not make a trip to the forest to stockpile medicine and there is Nothing Happening.
Shikamaru's pretty sure getting out of bed this week was a mistake.
It's not even half over.
Perhaps he can talk the deer into letting him nap in the forest…?
…well. In order to do that, he first has to escape Ino, and she's in a fit.
Shikamaru doesn't like his chances.
If he gives her what she wants, the odds of her going away faster…
Acceptable. He decides, and makes sure to look as exhausted as possible when he finally gives in to her pestering.
"What, Ino?"
"I'm grounded - Asuma-sensei's been told to walk me home after training so I don't sneak off-"
Wait, what?
"So I need you to take that genius brain of yours and do me a favor."
Troublesome.
"Grounded, huh? Sounds nice."
"I'm being serious Shikamaru! I need you to find out everything you can about what Sakura's been doing since we graduated the Academy! Everyone she's talked to, everywhere she's gone-! I'd do it myself but I'm stuck for the next week, alright? So just find out everything you can and let me know afterwards, alright?! That whole thing with them being banned from group training-"
"What, you care about that now? I thought you said it wasn't important! And anyway, there's more important things to be doing than spying on your rival," Shikamaru grouses, steadfastly refusing to be curious.
Looking into something about Sakura got her grounded…? A piece of him wonders, and Shikamaru shoves it away.
There is Nothing Happening, this has No Relation to anything that's up with his dad, and Shikamaru will Not look into it.
No matter how many puppy eyes Ino gives him.
Asuma-sensei's arrival saves him from the threats Ino starts unleashing beneath her breath, and Shikamaru's going to have to plan an escape route if he doesn't want to get caught after training ends…
"Natsu? Are you sure it's okay-?"
Natsu laughs, hands latched around Naruto and Sasuke's wrists, dragging them forward gleefully.
"Of course it is! Besides, you guys haven't been home in so long, all your food is probably rotten anyway, so just eat at my place! We can go shopping later!"
Sasuke scowls, but doesn't protest, which-
It's not that Naruto doesn't want to hang out with his team more! It's just-
He's pretty sure it's not okay to just show up at someone's house without warning, and he's got enough money for Ichiraku's, and there's no need to intrude…
Natsu doesn't hesitate though, dragging them through Konoha's streets eagerly, heedless of both his bare feet and Naruto's feeble attempts to pull away.
He catches sight of someone he would swear is Shikamaru, but before he can decide if he wants to call out to him or not, Natsu turns down a somewhat-familiar street, and the next thing Naruto knows, they're barging into a house at-speed.
"I'm home! And Naruto and Sasuke are staying for lunch!"
Something shatters deeper in the house, and Naruto flinches-
And then a warm arm catches him about the shoulder, and the next thing he knows he's squished into a group hug, and he's pretty sure Sakura-chan's mom is crying.
"Mebuki? I thought I heard- ah. You're back! Welcome home!"
"Ehehe, sorry it took so long! I'm surprised you're both home!"
Naruto's finally released from the crushing hug of Sakura-chan's mom, and he won't admit to how relieved he is when he sees Sasuke looking just as uncomfortable as he feels.
He just wants that guy to be as miserable as he is, 'ttebayo! That's all it is!
Sakura-chan's dad just laughs, swooping in for his own brief hug. "Ino-chan came by and let us know you guys were back in the village, so I was hoping you'd come home soon… I took a couple days off. You'll have to tell me what you've been up to, how is Sakura? …and why don't you have any shoes?" he glances pointedly at Natsu's feet as he hustles them towards the kitchen, and Naruto hastily shucks his own sandals before following.
Natsu launches into talking about their fight with those shinobi, and how he melted his shoes and his spare set got stolen and-
And Sakura-chan's mom has a scary look on her face, that keeps getting scarier with every word Natsu says and Naruto's pretty sure he should do something, but he doesn't know what-
Sasuke looks really uncomfortable.
And then Sakura-chan's dad is there, ushering them into seats and asking if they have any food preferences and Natsu's still talking and Sakura-chan's mom looks like she wants to stab something and-
Naruto hastily mutters that anything's fine, elbowing Sasuke when he doesn't respond until the Uchiha grunts a casual, "Whatever," in their general direction, and Kizashi laughs as he sweeps into the kitchen.
"They just left you alone, after all that work to take you out of the village, is that what I'm hearing you say?" Sakura-chan's mom cuts in, voice thick with displeasure, and Natsu just laughs it off.
"Yeah, pretty much! It all worked out though, Kakashi-sensei found us before things got too bad, Jiraiya was pissed, apparently he wasn't supposed to be there, but it was important or something so we just came back! Sorry they didn't let me come back sooner, I did try to convince them before we left but they just ignored me…"
Sakura-chan's dad comes back with the food before anything else can be said, and- it's weird, sitting at a table like that, Sakura-chan's mom asking them all questions about their time outside the village, humoring Sasuke's wordless grunts and Naruto's own nervous answers, Kizashi getting up and making more food without a word when Naruto glances mournfully at his empty plate-
It's warm, Naruto thinks, answers getting longer and more energetic as the conversation goes on, it's- their eyes, they're warm…
Sakura's parents aren't ignorant civilians, blathering on about civilian things.
Sasuke would like them better if they were.
Instead, they listen to Natsu and Sakura speak (though he doesn't think they've caught on quite yet, that not all the words are Natsu's - it's clear the moron's forgotten to tell them, but Sasuke's not going to bring even more attention to himself) and they eagerly ask questions and interact and-
They're a family.
Sasuke wishes they weren't.
I̶t̶ ̶h̶u̶r̶t̶s̶.̶
When Sasuke refuses to engage, the adults trade knowing looks and- and Mrs. Haruno keeps including him in the conversations, even when he doesn't respond, and her husband smiles when the dobe drags him into an argument (he should know better than to respond to the dobe, he's not so childish as to be goaded but the dobe will never learn if no one teaches him, is all-) and-
Kakashi-sensei can lecture about team-as-family all he wants.
Sasuke doesn't want another family.
He doesn't need one.
And he doesn't need a bunch of civilians inviting him into their conversations and their homes and-
And then Natsu brings up the fact that all their food rotted and that they've got to go shopping and-
And the Harunos just offer to take them.
Just like that.
Willing and eager to spend more time with Natsu, more time with them, as Mr. Haruno immediately asks what kinds of food they usually buy so he can plan their route through the markets and his wife asks if they lost any other provisions to the foreign shinobi because she knows a few shops they can go to to resupply and-
They care.
Sasuke wishes they wouldn't.
"We'll do the dishes." Uchiha Sasuke stands up suddenly, hands planted on the table as he meets Kizashi's eyes.
Kizashi tries not to think too much about how very like his cousin Sasuke looks at that moment.
"You're guests," his wife starts, immediately turning towards the kitchen, before she's cut off.
"You fed us, without warning or preparation, from your own stores. This is the least we can do, in respect to your generosity."
Kizashi hums. "The offer's appreciated, but please don't feel obligated. You're our child's teammates, so the rules of hospitality don't have to hold you."
Sasuke grimaces for a moment. "You guys should- talk to Sakura anyway. We don't need to be there."
Kizashi can't help raising a brow, curious, and he'd nearly push the argument, because now that Natsu's back they can talk to Sakura whenever they want, but Mebuki immediately takes the Uchiha up on his offer before Kizashi can say anything more, and-
Well.
He's missed his daughter too.
"Alright. All the stuff you need should be in plain sight, I pulled it out when I was putting the dishes back in the kitchen, but holler if you need anything."
Sasuke nods sharply, grabbing Naruto by the wrist.
"Let's go dobe."
Kizashi keeps half an ear on their argument as his wife hustles Natsu up the stairs to find spare sandals, idle curiosity dragging his feet.
"Why are we doing dishes? Since when do you even care about all that polite stuff, teme?!"
"Do you really want to go shopping with them?" the Uchiha snaps back quietly, and Kizashi quietly backs down the stairwell.
"Wha- what's that got to do with anything?!"
"We can't just run out the door, not with how much you ate dobe, but if we finish the dishes before they get done talking we can leave a note or something saying we've gone on ahead and then we just need to not be in the same parts of the market as they are! Now hurry up and grab a rag!"
"We're just running away?"
"What, you want them to spend more money on you? They're not your family!"
"Well- no, I just- won't they be mad?"
"...that's why we're doing the dishes first dobe."
"Oh! Oh, okay- um. How do you do dishes?"
"...what."
"Well- it's just- I only really have like, ramen and cereal right? So I just rinse the stuff off and then use em again but last time Kakashi-sensei was over he said something about how that was bad for you and stuff and he was going to show me how to do it properly but then you guys broke out of that safehouse and everything got crazy and he never got around to it so, uh-"
"...if you weren't a demon dobe, you'd be dead. Fine. Idiot. Get over here, I'm only showing you once and you'd better not slow us down because I am not going shopping with them, are we clear?"
Kizashi bites back his amusement, creeping up the stairs again as the boys start arguing against the background noise of water, and finds his wife and kids in Sakura and Natsu's room.
Natsu rolls onto the balls of his feet, grimacing at the pair of sandals he's put on, a small pile beside him.
"They definitely pinch a bit, but I guess we're going shopping anyway so I can get new ones… I think it'll be fine til then."
"They certainly look like the best we've got," his wife muses, playing with the straps a little before standing up. "Better?"
Natsu hums, moving around. "...not much, but it's only a couple hours."
"That's good to hear," Kizashi offers, leaning against the doorway, "-though your teammates are quite the plotters, I've found." Natsu laughs, and Kizashi can't help but smile in return.
"Yeah, I heard 'em! It's not like I can't find 'em anyway even if they do leave before us, I'm better at trackin' than they are at hiding." Natsu's grin is sharp, and then it falls a little as he tilts his head to the side. "Yeah, that's fair, they do fight a lot huh? Hopefully they don't break anything else!" Natsu laughs again, bright and happy, but this time it feels like ice slipping down Kizashi's spine.
Mebuki asks Natsu what he means, why he said it like that, but Kizashi doesn't need to wonder. Natsu's been doing it over the entire meal, after all.
"Sakura?"
Natsu tilts his head again, a blatant (new) tell, and grins. "She says hi! Hey! Fine, fine, she's mostly just crying about how much she misses you guys- can we just do this in the mindscape Sakura-chan- I'm not saying that no way-! I-"
"Is this-" Kizashi starts, then stops. He doesn't quite know how to ask, doesn't quite want to ask, but- "Has Inoichi-san… found a way to undo this?"
Are we going to have to say goodbye?
He can't quite find the strength to ask the second question, and will never be able to put into words how relieved he feels when Natsu shakes his head.
"Nah, Sakura-chan's still really stuck, some things just got knocked loose when that Orochi guy stuck that seal on us, so now she can see and hear things. It's cool, because she's really smart so she can come up with awesome plans all the time! But she can't really talk herself, so y'guys'll still have to come into the mindscape for that, but it's probably not a good idea to do it right now cause that seal messed up so much stuff and Inoichi was goin' on about being safe and not doing anything stupid til he was 100% sure we were okay which we are he's just bein' stupid, but Sakura-chan's responsible so she's sayin' we gotta listen to him and all…"
Natsu trails off, looking away, scratching awkwardly at the back of his head and Kizashi shoves away thoughts of Orochi for later. "We… did miss you guys. Both of us. So- it's- nice to be back?" Natsu smiles a bit awkwardly, looking back up at them, and the only reason Kizashi doesn't sweep him into a hug is because his wife beats him to it.
"We missed you too," she murmurs into his hair, "both of you."
Natsu opens his mouth, closes it again, then tucks his head into Mebuki's shoulder.
He doesn't hug her back, but-
Kizashi sees his fingers twitch.
Natsu's never really shown himself to be the self-conscious sort, but some things should never go unspoken, as Kizashi's mother always warned. So with that in mind, he steps forward and ruffles the boy's hair lightly. "She's right, Sakura isn't the only one we missed, Natsu. And whenever you find your way back home, we're going to miss you then, too. You're part of this family, no matter how unexpected your arrival. Alright?"
Natsu's arms come up hesitantly, and Kizashi isn't really surprised when he brushes them both off himself with a laugh. "Alright, alright, I got it I got it- we can finish this later though, cause unless we actually wanna let Naruto and Sasuke run away, we need to head down now!"
He slips between them and bolts out the door, and even from upstairs Kizashi can hear the shouts of the kids as Natsu foils their plans.
He turns to his wife, grabbing her hand. "Seems like our kids really want to stay as only children, huh?" he teases, and Mebuki laughs wetly in response.
He wipes her tears casually, a smile lighting her face at the action.
"Well, Sakura always did say that she only wanted a little sister and that boys were stupid… but I think we can win them over."
Kizashi laughs and pulls her into his arms. "With a lady as clever as you on our side, it'll be no difficulty, hm~?"
She lays his head on his chest, and Kizashi thinks it's quite impressive that he resists the urge to sweep her off her feet.
A shinobi's strength has more uses than killing, after all.
"Seems like their teammates could use an eye or two looking out for them too," she muses into his shoulder, and Kizashi hums in response.
"You think? Uchiha-kun seems a bit prickly."
"They're our kids' team, right? My shinobi husband taught me once that teams were everything to Konoha's forces. We're just taking care of our childrens' teammates, as any good parents would. Hm?"
Kizashi remembers how much his wife stressed when he learned their daughter was on a team with the Uzumaki boy, how worried she was that Sakura would be hurt by him, or more likely, by the demon he hosted.
He remembers how upset Sakura was at that team posting, how much she'd vowed to ignore him and focus only on Sasuke-kun - completely heedless to all her father's attempts to remind her about how important teamwork was to Konoha.
He's certain both of his ladies would have come around on their own, to understand that jinchuriki were victims and not threats, because they're both bold, brilliant women who could never be blinded for long and certainly not in the face of the sheer sincerity Uzumaki-kun radiates like sunshine.
Sooner or later, they both would have understood.
Kizashi does think Natsu might have had a hand in hastening that, though.
He's wise enough not to say as much.
"We should probably head downstairs and make sure their teammates don't tie Natsu up and make a break for it - they're both a bit uncomfortable, I think."
Mebuki draws back, a serious expression on her face.
"Boys!" She scoffs, shaking her head. "All three of them, they're going to be stubborn about this aren't they?"
She doesn't wait for an answer, marching downstairs briskly, and Kizashi laughs as he follows her.
Now is probably not the best time to remind his darling wife just who did the pursuing in their relationship, because then she just might accuse him of infecting the boys with his "emotional stupidity" as she so fondly dubbed it all those years ago…
But at least he knows she has experience in winning over stubborn, traumatized boys who don't know how to handle the idea of family. It may have taken her some time to warm up to Natsu, but…
The boys are in good hands, even if they won't admit it.
Kizashi will stand back and let her work her magic.
"Wait. Wait do we have to go back there again?" Horror creeps through Natsu as Mebuki-san leads them down a very familiar road, and he stops dead in his tracks. "O-on second thought, I'm gonna go back with Kizashi, make sure he knows where to find Sasuke's place, you guys go ahead without me-"
Sasuke's fingers close around his wrist in a vice-grip, Naruto quickly grabbing his other.
Oh crap.
"W-wait, you guys don't understand, you don't want to go there either, it's awful-!"
"Oh I don't know, putting Naruto and his awful orange fashion sense in front of Mikki-san might be a show," Sakura muses, and Natsu groans.
"Sakura-chan, don't encourage them! S-seriously I can get new clothes somewhere else! Anywhere else! Mebuki-saaaaaaaan-!"
Sakura-chan's mom just laughs, the traitor, and holds open the door of the shop to wave them in.
"Ah?! What's this! My favorite little customer! Saku-chan, have you finally changed your mind about-"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! NO RAINBOWS!" Natsu shouts, pulling free of his teammates and beelining straight for where he found the black qipao before.
…they aren't there.
Natsu flips through the clothes, squinting, but-
Nope.
Nothing.
"Oi, where's your normal clothes, ya jerk!?"
"Those? I got rid of them boring things, c'mon Saku-chaaan, I've got some lovely new options for you-"
"Teme, look, it's orange-"
"...I dare you to buy that and wear it to training."
"Only if I get to pick one out for you too, 'ttebayo."
"Hn."
Natsu panics. "Nonono you guys can't seriously be looking at this stuff they're ridiculous, don't encourage him-"
Mikki spawns in front of him, arms full of brightly-colored outfits.
"Ah, come now, don't be like that~! Here, take a look at these, yeah? Perfectly lovely outfits! And if ya find one ya like, I might be able to dig up a borin' black qipao outta storage. Maybe I missed one or two when I threw em out. Whaddya say, Saku-chan?"
Natsu snarls. "This is extortion, you-"
"How does this one look?"
Natsu scowls as Mebuki-san holds out a pale orange cream colored qipao with white flowering designs on it.
"Oh wow where did you find that, Haruno-san?! It looks amazing! Natsu, you gotta try it on! Lemme see, lemme see!" Naruto interjects, leaning over to get a better look at the outfit.
"Since when is Mom 'Haruno-san'?!" Sakura-chan wonders, and it takes everything Natsu has not to tell her to focus on the much more important things going on.
Especially when he sees that Naruto's got some weird orange monstrosity tucked under his arm, Sasuke trailing behind him and comparing two outfits of his own.
One pale green and the other in lilac and Natsu wants to scream.
…if he doesn't pick out a colorful monstrosity himself, those three will absolutely gang up and choose one for him.
Scowling, Natsu tosses a glare at Mikki before suspiciously going through the man's suggestions.
Sakura-chan herself is suddenly… and suspiciously… silent.
And giggling.
And useless.
That orange abomination really is the best of the lot!
The look of satisfied victory on Mikki's face makes Natsu want to punch him and then light the whole store on fire.
Mebuki-san is a little too eager as she makes the purchases, and Natsu's 90% certain she adds some sort of hair accessory to the pile, but he's too relieved by Mikki actually adding some black and gold qipao to the pile and he can't swear he didn't imagine it-
Maybe he can burn the thing when he gets home…?
"Ne, Haruno-san, can we try everything on at your place?" Naruto asks, grin fox-sly and full of mischief.
Sasuke smirks, in clear support as he reorganizes his own purchases, and-
Natsu is going to make them pay for this.