Fairy's Ace

'Thoughts'

"Normal Dialogue"

~ With Naruto, flashback memory fragments ~

At the age of five, Naruto's village was attacked by a group of Dark Mages.

His adopted sister was out playing with the rest of the village children, while Naruto himself was severely sick and bedbound that day.

When news of the attackers arrived, Naruto's parents felt a sense of dread. They could faintly sense multiple B to A class mages, even three high A ranked mages.

One of them was even close to having S class level magic reserves.

This filled them with worry. Even they themselves had just reached the magic calibre of an A class mage, and they were the only A class mage the village had.

Naruto's parents quickly hid him in a hidden compartment under their house. This compartment was created for storage means, but also as a hidden resort should their village ever get attacked by the wild creatures that lived beyond, or by the Dark Guilds that infested their lands.

As Naruto was being ushered into the compartment, still unaware of what was happening, his parents maintained their forced calm in order not to worry their son.

Although they wanted to stay with him, their adopted daughter was still out in the village.

Moreover, being active mages of the only small guild that inhabited the village, they could not turn a blind eye to the destruction currently being caused by their attackers.

"Naruto, we don't have much time. A storm. . . A storm has appeared and it's a very strong one. We're going to keep you here, where it's safe. And then we're going to look for ᚢᛚᛏᛖᚨᚱ and bring her back here too."

With that being said, the father, a user of Solid Script Magic, began casting a silencing and presence-concealing barrier on the compartment.

"This is going to take a few minutes. You should say what you want to now, Kushina." The man spoke to his wife.

However, unlike his father, his mother was barely hanging on to the tears that were forming in her eyes. She knew that this would most likely be the last time they would see their son.

"Naruto. . .Don't be picky. Eat lots and grow strong. Make sure you bathe every day and stay warm. Also, don't stay up late. You need lots of sleep."

As the mother in his memories spoke, the Naruto of the present time began to see overlapping memories. He could not make it out well, but he was sure he was seeing two versions of his mother speaking to him.

"And make friends. You don't need a lot of friends. Just a few. Ones you can really, really trust.

I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice your magic/ninjutsu hard. Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. So don't get too depressed if you can't do something well.

Oh, and this is important. It's about the Three Prohibitions for a shinobi/mage.

Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money. Put your mission wages into your savings account. And no alcohol until you're 18. Too much can ruin your health, so drink it in moderation.

Another prohibition is women. I'm a woman, so I don't know too much about it. All you need to remember is that this world is made up of men and women. So, it's only natural to take an interest in girls. But just don't get hooked on bad women,

Find someone just like me."

As Kushina spoke, the five-year-old Naruto could only watch in confusion. His body and mind were too weak for him to respond, but seeing the tears flowing down his mother's face had elicited a sense of worry to rise within him.

"Naruto, from now on, you're going to face lots of pain and hardships. Be true to yourself. Have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true!

There's still so much, oh so much more that I want to pass on to you. I wish I could stay with you longer.

I love you.

Minato, I'm sorry I used up your time."

"It's okay. Naruto, my message to you is. Well, it's the same as your mother's."

Naruto could only watch as Minato closed his eyes. Not once did he ever think that this moment would be the last time, he would ever see both of his parents in either lives.

"Eight Trigrams Seal/Solid Script: Concealing Barrier."

~ With Naruto, present time ~

Lying on the bed once more was a 10-year-old Naruto Uzumaki, who had passed out after the climax of his mind integrating both sets of memories.

Hours had since passed, and Naruto was finally beginning to stir awake.

The abundant smell of nature remained the first thing that his senses picked up, followed by the soft humming of an unknown voice. Not wanting to alert the other party, Naruto remained still.

'Is this a dream? I can remember my life in Konoha, but I can also remember a different life lived in Verdan Hollow.

I should not even be alive right now. I remember dying to those shinobi.

And that weird, bandaged man. He knew who my parents were! And what did he mean that my parent's dying wish was for me to be a hero?!

I lived my whole life being treated like a monster!

Hokage-jiji always said that knowing who my parents were would never bring them back, but he never said anything about a dying wish!'

Inadvertently, the more Naruto remembered, the more a deep, dark desire for the truth began forming within him. He clenched his hands tightly on the bed he was lying atop of, trying to remain calm.

His increasing state of mind did not go unnoticed, however, as he heard the other party with him finally speaking up.

"You know, it's only common courtesy to not destroy the property of another person. Especially if that person is going out of their way to provide you with hospitality and nursing you back to health."

~ End of Chapter 04 ~