Fairy's Ace

'Thoughts'

"Normal Dialogue"

(Word count: 1,683)

~ A week later, with Naruto ~

During the first week, Naruto had mostly kept to himself, despite Warrod's insistence. There were two main reasons for this.

The first was for practical and logical reasons. Naruto had wanted to avoid putting himself into a situation where he slips up and reveals his other origin. To do so, he decided to take as much time as he possibly could to familiarize himself with the two set of memories, as well as the new surroundings that he had found himself in.

The second, however, was more personal in nature.

Naruto's life in Konoha had by no means been an easy one. In fact, he would argue that instead of living, it felt more like surviving in his point of view.

His few positive interactions were the rare, far between visits from the Hokage – whom he rationalized was initially nice to him only because it was his duty as the Hokage. The only other positive interactions were also from Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame.

The duo owned and operated a ramen shop, where Naruto was first indicted to the food of the gods. Moreover, for reasons unknown to him, whenever he could not secure food and groceries for himself, Ayame would volunteer to do so for him.

Naturally she did so in the guise of buying ingredients for their ramen shop, and since their shop was popular and had high traffic during peak periods, the customers and villagers were none the wiser to their secret arrangements, save for the Hokage and a select few individuals.

Any other interactions he had with the villagers had almost always devolved into a screaming contest, with a few sessions where Naruto would leave with a bruise or two. It had even gone into the extreme in the most recent beating he received, in which he had actually died to his injuries.

Even in the academy, Naruto was always treated as the rotten apple. He had made zero friends, though not for the lack of trying. And the teachers never gave the time of day to teach him, let alone answer any questions he might have had.

As a result, Naruto had unconsciously developed a mild fear for strangers. For the past week, his subconscious had caused him to reactively avoid interacting with Warrod. Even the initial sharing he did when he first woke up did not help him overcome that fear.

However, on this very day, Warrod's efforts would finally bear fruit.

"Naruto, dinner is ready." He called out.

For the past week, even though he could not reach out to Naruto, he had still done his best to ensure that Naruto would be well-fed and taken care of – providing a room for the boy and a wide variety of food, with every meal consisting of new and different dishes.

Indeed, Warrod had opted to employ a shameless tried and true tactic to warm up to children – through their stomach.

As Naruto made his way to the dining table, a familiar scent caught his attention. 'Is that what I think it is?'

The dish that was prepared for dinner was one that Naruto knew intrinsically well, ramen.

"Come, my boy. Tonight, I thought we'd have something simple." Warrod said.

However, Naruto did not move as he kept his gaze at the bowl of ramen set out for him. Seeing the boy's reaction, Warrod tilted his head in confusion and curiosity.

"Naruto?" He called out, receiving no response yet again. "Naruto, it's best you get seated now. Otherwise, the food will get col-"

Rumble~~~

The sound of an empty stomach piqued Warrod's attention. He knew it did not come from himself, as the moment he had mastered Green Magic and gained the ability to transform his body, he had long since transcended the boundaries of normal humans and only requiring nourishment every once in a while.

Moreover, he was certain that he had fed Naruto with as much as the boy would eat, which was no small amount by normal standards for children his age. So why was there such a response for a normal and simple dish?

Looking at the boy, realization hit Warrod. In the boy's eyes, he saw a mixture of longing and sadness, as though the sight of the ramen had brought forth a memory that had been tucked away.

Warrod's normally jovial expression softened as he made his way to Naruto. Gently, he guided Naruto to take his seat, before taking a seat himself.

"Well, eat up. It'd be a shame if the food went to waste now, wouldn't it?" Warrod teased.

Naruto's gaze did not leave the ramen, but upon hearing Warrod's words, he gave a small nod. Slowly, he picked up the chopsticks and placed them between his fingers, his movements hesitant.

Warrod watched on in silence, sensing that this moment was more delicate than it appeared. Before Naruto began eating, he finally spoke, his voice quiet and almost trembling.

"Teuchi-jiji used to make me ramen whenever I had nothing to eat." He started. "Even when I couldn't pay, he'd always say 'Eat up, Naruto. When you're big and strong, you can pay me back by coming to eat at my shop as often as you want.'"

Chuckling to himself, Naruto continued, not once stopping to think about what he was about to say.

"He ran this little ramen shop, Ichiraku Ramen, with his daughter. It wasn't fancy or anything, but. . ." He paused, his eyes distant. "It was like the only place I ever felt. . . welcome, y'know? Like they didn't care about all that other stuff. They just saw me."

Naruto admitted. Although Naruto's admission raised some questions in Warrod's mind, but the genuine emotions in his voice was undeniable. "I guess. . . I never really realized how much I missed them. How much I miss home."

Warrod leaned forward, a warm smile on his lips. "You know, food has a way of carrying memories, doesn't it? A familiar taste, a familiar smell. It can take you right back to a moment."

For the first time, Naruto raised his head and met Warrod's kind expression. In response, Warrod simply nodded his head, indicating for Naruto to try the ramen.

Naruto hesitated, then lifted the bowl and took a sip of the broth. The flavour hit him immediately, and for a fleeting moment, he could almost hear Teuchi's hearty laugh and Ayame's cheerful voice.

A small, bittersweet smile spread across his face, as a single tear traced down his cheek.

"This. . . this is really good." He murmured.

Warrod beamed, leaning back in his chair. "I'm glad to hear it! You know, Naruto, I may not know or have the skills of this Teuchi-jiji person you spoke of, but if you ever want another bowl, my kitchen is always open."

To Warrod's surprise, the only form of acknowledgement that he got from Naruto was for the boy to begin eating the bowl of ramen like it was the last meal he would ever have.

Naruto had finally opened up to his caregiver voluntarily, and over the next few weeks, the bond between the two would only get stronger as Naruto realizes that Warrod would become someone who he could rely on in his new lease in life.

~ Three weeks later, with Naruto ~

"Naruto, are you sure you don't want to come along? You could finally get to meet with other kids around your age."

A full month has passed since Naruto had found himself waking up in the body of a parallel version of himself from Earthland. Warrod had quickly became a staple figure in his new life, to the point where he had been honoured with a nickname by Naruto himself.

"I'm fine with staying here while you're away, Koboku-jiji. Besides, you know how I feel about funerals." Naruto replied.

"I know, I just thought that it might be about time you made some friends."

Naruto simply gave a blank stare.

"Besides, aren't you interested in seeing Magnolia Town and the members of the number one guild in all of Fiore? The current guild master is an old friend of mine, I'm sure I can introduce you to them." Warrod offered.

In truth, he wanted Naruto to join Fairy Tail. Not because he was a co-founder of the guild, but because he felt that it would do wonders for Naruto as he grew up.

Being surrounded by people he could call friends and family was what Naruto needed. If Naruto stayed with him, then the only person he could talk to was Warrod himself, since Warrod's home was relatively isolated, and the location was not public knowledge.

Naruto did not hesitate to turn down the offer. Although he understood Warrod's worries and concerns, Naruto was just simply used to the isolation and did not see the point in changing things at the moment.

He would much rather work on himself now that he had gotten Warrod to agree to training him after he returned from the trip.

"It's fine, just remember to bring back anything useful for the training you promised me!" Naruto said cheekily. "Oh, do give my condolences to the Strauss siblings. It must have been hard losing their sister at such a young age, but instead of regretting what could be, they should take comfort in what once was."

'That is a refreshing way of seeing things.' Warrod mused.

"I will. Though I hope you do not forget to start the physical training that I've told you about. When I return, we are going to go full throttle with your training because~~~" He trailed.

"I'm going to be the greatest Mage that Earthland has ever seen, and then some day become a Wizard Saint and take over your title as one of the Four Gods of Ishtar -ttebayo!"

Chuckling, Warrod made a final check on his belongings before finally heading off towards Magnolia.

And for Naruto, today marked the very beginning of his adventure to become a great mage.

~ End of Chapter 04 ~

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