Hey everyone! I hope you liked my last chapter! I hope you all like my jaded Naruto and I like to tell you all that the focus of the fic will move around the characters meaning it will rarely be on his POV to keep his mysterious persona. Though that doesn't mean we won't get a glimpse of his thoughts every once and a while! I hope you all like!

Also I got to congregate one of you for noticing that the Key dialogue foreshadows the story! You so smart Su! (Su does not want to be named so you will know her as Su)

Anyway on with the show! Here is chapter 3!

~~~~~x~~~~~~~ KEY ~~~~~X~~~~~X~~~~~X

"W-what are you? A-are you even human?" = talking

'Naruto has gotten stronger! I need to train harder too!' = thinking

"What's wrong? It's almost like you never seen a demon before. He he he are you scared little mortal?" = Kurama talking

'Oops I made Kit mad….I'll make him some ramen then! Kit can't stay mad forever after a bowl of ramen!' = Kurama thinking

~~~~~X~~~~X~~~~~X~~~~~~X~~~~~X

Chapter 3

What did he think of the new guy?

Gray Fullbuster wasn't so sure.

On one hand he respected the skills the blonde showed when he arrive and when he was beating flame breath into the ground but on the other something about the whiskered boy made his hair stand on end and set off warning bells in his head. It wasn't because Naruto did anything threatening, far from it in fact as the boy had a soft, calm and collective demander the whole time, yet Gray's subconscious had deemed him a threat.

After surviving two encounters with the demon Deliora, Gray's young body has somehow began to notice when something as vile as that monster was near him. He guessed it was a survival instinct that developed from the fear of staring into Deliora's ugly face after the demon destroyed everything he ever knew not once but twice.

He wasn't so sure really what it was, but he knew it had gotten him out of plenty of bad situations in the past where jobs took a ugly turn for the worst, ones that would have ended with him dead for sure if he hadn't been able to sense danger like he could. The fact that he managed to stay alive when a pack of lizard men ambushed him on his way home after a mission, long enough for Macao and Wakaba to find and save him was proof enough of how affective his sense of danger was. Most children his age wouldn't have been able to boast the same.

Because of his pride for his ice make magic he named this instinct to survive "Ice sense"

Ice sense was screaming that Naruto was a threat so he needed to run as far and fast as his legs could carry him. Normally he would have done just that but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Why did he need to run? Why was he so scared of the shorter boy? Why did the boy remind him of…of….DELIORA?!

It was hard to explain but when those darken blue eyes swiped the room for a brief instant after the boy straighten from a bow, Gray had felt his blood run cold.

As an Ice wizard, the only way to make his blood run cold the way it did was if something was life threatening to him or one of his comrades.

Gray liked to believe he gave everyone a fair chance, to never judge until he got to know a person but he couldn't stop his body from freezing in place when the blond boy's gaze rested on him after he let out a laugh at Natsu's easy defeat. Their eyes locked for what was only a second or two before the boy turned back the Master asking for the membership application yet that was all the time needed for him to react.

His body had fallen into a defensive position without a second of hesitation determined to live. Gray had been highly confused about his body's actions as his mind screamed 'Demon! Demon! Can't win! Run! RUN!".

This should have made him dislike the new comer or at least wary of him . It should have made him know to stay away from the boy and to keep out of his way.

However he felt conflicted over what he saw in Naruto's gaze for those few seconds forcing him to mentally step back and rethink his first assumption of the boy even while a small voice in the back of his head continued to scream ' Demon! Demon! He'll kill us! Run! RUN!'.

The reason for his mix feelings towards the Uzumaki was that he had seen complete and unbearable guilty loneliness in the boy's blue eyes.

The same he saw every time he looked into a mirror following Ur's death. The look of someone who has lost it all even after fighting his damnest to keep it.

It was well hidden though almost impossible to spot. Gray would hand it to the seemly younger boy ( he assumed Naruto was nine at the time later to be shocked he was actually eleven) for how well he managed to trick people into thinking his eyes were emotionless voids that told nothing.

The rest of the guild could not tell the misery the boy was in.

He knew this because he had asked other guild members later on if they saw something in Naruto's eyes always receiving a negative answer from each one if he didn't know any better the ice make mage would have assumed that Naruto hid it purposely but Gray knew what to look for so he wasn't as easily tricked at the rest.

Whoever Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze was, he suffered from survivor's guilt like him. Survivor of what, he didn't know but Gray would bet his necklace on it being pretty horrific if it left the blonde's eyes to look like that.

So while his body and mind screamed Run when it came to the new guy, his heart and soul screamed heal like it had when he found Erza crying by the river bank a few years back.

He didn't know which one to listen to leaving him conflicted with his feeling towards the whiskered lad but he did knew one thing for sure: Naruto was the new member of Fairy Tail and Gray had made a promise to himself a long time ago to never see one of his comrades wither away like Ur had.

He would help the new guy anyway he could even if Naruto didn't want him to.

~~~~X~~~~~~~X~~~~~ TIME SKIP~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~X~~~~

It was currently three days since anyone had last seen their newest member.

Gray sat in his usual table with Levy, Cana and Lisannna, watching the guild members go about their lives in silence. He was currently enjoying a bowl of his favorite food after an easy job as a form of celebration for completing his twenty mission mark. While Gray had been at Fairy Tail for years he had never been an active member capable of taking missions till his eleventh birthday a few months back.

Since then he had done his best to keep count of how many missions he was allowed to take, placing goals for the future in hopes of being able to go on higher leveled ones soon. Along the way to those goals he had chosen every tenth mission to be marks or check points to further motivate him into working harder. At every mark he passed he would take that mission's reward money and treat himself to whatever he liked and could buy with it.

Counter to what everyone outside of the guild believed, Fairy Tail did have difficulty level system for the jobs on the quest board. This was created by the second fairy Tail Master to hopeful stop sending wizards on jobs that could lead to their deaths if the mission they took turn out to be too much for their abilities to handle. In order to go a job you must either have the magic that is specifically asked on the request or have enough missions under your belt to have experience out on the field that prove you could handle it.

The more missions you took and successfully completed the more of a chance the Master would let you take harder ones. Depending on the age of each mage, there was a certain amount of completed missions needed for one to go solo when taking a job.

However if you were someone under the age of fifteen when you joined Fairy Tail then the only way for you to go out and complete a job by yourself was if you completed fifty missions with a much more experienced mage who could vague for you if they believe you can raise in the ranks because of your skills.

This could be a problem since the ranks of the missions went from easy jobs such as babysitting, gardening, and finding a rare flower in the woods to the most difficult ones such as fighting a herd of lizard men, stopping a dark guild or fighting a monster meant those who could take some of the higher jobs rarely took time out of their lives to accompany a newbie on the lower ones.

This left the younger mages to either complete as many missions as they could when someone offered to go with them or nag a veteran member to take them on a harder mission in order to prove they have earn their promotion. Once a mage managed to reach that number of finished jobs however it meant they didn't need a more experience member to say they could go on hard solo missions anymore for they had proven it with their work.

This was something Gray wanted badly, for he preferred to fight alone instead of going with a partner or group and he decided that he would not ask an experience member to take him on a harder job until he managed to near his goal of thirty missions. While sounding simple it was a lot harder to find someone who would be his partner or team into taking him on a job because of they need to be a certain rank before they could take him.

Added to the fact he wasn't the only child who needed a chaperone on the jobs made it that much harder.

But that's what made meeting his marks all the more rewarding, as it reminded him he was getting closer and closer to his goal. So that meant he could enjoy his favorite after a long day with a satisfied smile at a job well done.

Gray hummed softly scooping up more of the vanilla ice-cream from his bowl as Cana read the fortunes of Levy and Lisannna for the day to his right via magic cards. When Cana began to learn Card magic she started give people card readings for that day. Her predictions seemed to always come true but weren't very specific varying from "today will be your luckiest day" to "you will meet the one".

She liked to do so for everyone because the more she practice the better chance she could one day predicted someone future further then a day and with specific detail too…..at least that what she said anyway. So far Gray, hasn't seen her come close to a clear reading yet.

"Today looks like the day you meet your future husband." Cana said slyly to a heavily blushing Levy. "You better look your best Levy!"

Gray felt a smirk pulling at his lips knowing full well that Cana was kidding mostly likely making up the fortune when all she got from the reading was a boring normal day and couldn't help but enjoy it. Levy was just someone easy to tease because the girl got easily flustered at the simplest things.

Playing along Gray put in his own two cents "Wow. Levy already getting married? You sure move fast."

The tiny blue haired girl let out a scream of protest, hands waving in a panicked manner as she listed reasons why Cana's card reading was wrong using logic that made no sense. She talked so fast that it all become a clutter of embarrassed noises after a while making Cana and Gray burst out laughing at her reaction, which only worked in further embarrassing the blue hair girl. Not bothering to pause for breath Levy launched in a flustered lecture on why they were wrong to assume she would marry the first unfamiliar guy she would meet that day.

Lisanna had to jump in when the book girl looked about ready to faint as she tried to defuse the situation by making comments that even if she meet her future husband later on in the day they wouldn't be married yet meaning she could enjoy falling in love with him starting today.

This in turn did manage to calm down the book lover for a few minutes before she noticed what Lisanna said then she squeaked out a whiny "Not you too Lisanna!"

Laughing until his stomach hurt Gray almost forgot to turn his head in the direction of the guild door when it open not a few seconds later hoping it would be the young Uzumaki. He felt disappointment drop heavily onto his shoulders when it turned out to be another team of mages returning from a job. That was the fifth false alarm today.

"If I didn't know any better I say you have a weird obsession with blonde, Gray." Cana said noticing his frown as the returning team greeted follow guild members closing the door behind them as they did so.

Gray turn a annoyed scowl to the card user's smug smirk as he returned his attention to the table, taking note of Levy's and Lisanna's interest. "I don't have an obsession Cana. I just want to know where the hell he is, alright?"

"Really? Because I would think asking people about another person's eyes and almost giving yourself whiplash ever time the guild door opens to check if said person was back is obsession, but I could be wrong." The brunette answered with a sly smirk laying her head on her crossed arms upon the table.

Gray felt a vain pulse at his head as he tried to stay calm grunting out "Yeah that makes you wrong."

"Or it makes you unaware of your own feelings. Don't worry Gray it's okay to like other guys" The girl replied watching him with eyes full of mischief. The girl lived to tease who she deemed "light weights" regardless if they were drinkers or not. (Which Gray didn't understand seeing as she was underage herself and thus could not drink either) In the brunette's opinion light weights didn't know how to have fun.

"I don't like boys! I just want to know what that guy's deal is!" Gray snared losing his temper. For the past three days the brown haired girl took it upon herself to question his sexuality at every chance she got after Gray had asked her what she thought about Naruto's eyes. The ice mage believed she only did it to annoy him.

Cana opened her mouth to say who knows what but before the argument could get out of control however, Levy cut her of asking "It's weird that he hasn't come back yet though. I mean why can Naruto be able to take solo missions already?"

Gray wished he had an answer to that.

After turning in his application, reading all of the rules and guidelines of the guild (Who actually reads that? Most would have just skipped it but for some reason the blond boy hadn't, determined to follow the rules to the letter) Naruto's eyes had snapped the quest board. Already searching for a job from across the hall not bothering to interact with any of the other members as the Master read over what he had written. This would have seemed rude to others but in the short time Fairy Tail known Naruto they came to realize he didn't interact with anyone willingly.

It wasn't something the new guy hadn't done before.

A good example was when he asked if there was a quiet place he could go, so he could fill out his application in peace and though it was said in a polite tone the rest of the guild had gotten the hidden message in his words. Leave me alone.

While some tried to at least introduce themselves to him as the blond boy read over the papers all were stared down by an unnerving gaze that left them wanting to run away. This happened a go Do not bother me od twelve times by rather foolish members.

Not many tried again after Naruto's eyes swiped the hall telling them with a gaze Unless it is an emergency, do not bother me because you will make me mad. Do not come near me.

The guild made no move to do so.

And the boy promptly return to whatever guide line he was on not noticing how much he had distress the rest of Fairy Tail with that simple action Gray included, who had to clench his hands into fists in order to not run away like his legs screamed for him to do. The black hair boy had been planning to go over and introduce himself after Naruto finish his paper work but that cold icy stare made him rethinking his idea.

It had felt like they were being ordered by a general of the army and the rest of the guild were merely chore boys who saw no real fighting throughout a war. Almost like they were reminded that the boy had lives of his people in his hands and any time wasted on foolishness that they offered would cost more than they could ever know. It terrified them.

The guild had turn away their stares from the boy, the braver ones taking curious glances at him at the corners of their eyes but none moved to speak to him. Not even the hotheaded Nastu or the rebel Mira tried to do so until the blond boy finished his reading. Even then they were calm if somewhat shaking as they were stopped with an icy blue stare something that rarely if ever happened.

Another thing about the blond was that he was never scowling or even frowning; if anything the boy's expression stayed a calm blank mask. Not giving any of his thoughts away making it impossible to know what he was thinking not that any of the Fairy Tail members tried to figure out what he was thinking.

Something about Naruto made him unapproachable.

The Master had looked over his application with a raised eyebrow before a worried frown pulled at his lips as the blond child eye's ran over the offered jobs. "Hallowed out tree? Your current living place is a hallowed out tree?"

At that Naruto turned his attention from the board to give the master an unashamed stare. "Yes." He answered plainly as if it was the most common thing in the world.

Gray had felt himself blink along with the rest of the guild. While it was true the kid had said he had a problem with housing earlier on the blacked hair boy had at least thought he lived in a building or something. No wonder the fact that his guild had dorms for the members made an important part in Naruto's reasoning for joining them.

"I see." The Third replied plainly not really fazed by the child in front of him "I noted your missing a lot of the information."

The Uzumaki had tilted his head asking in a polite manner "Did I leave any blank?"

At this the Makarov shook his head "No. But you left half of it with MIA, classified and the strangest thing of all does not exist. I hope you can explain why that is?"

The boy had nodded as if he was satisfied with something before a small smile that didn't reach his eyes brock through his blank face. "I will explain when we have a smaller crowed Master Makarov."

This left the hall in a hushed silence as they waited for the Master to answer. Both man and child seemed to have a conversation with their eyes as the silence went on. After a while of a silent staring contest between them not one backing down Makarov nodded. "Very well if that is what you like."

Happy the boy gave a respectful bow to the man "Thank you Master Makarov."

The short man waved away his politeness with a laid back air around him falling into what Gray liked to call "grandpa mode". He then began to answer any lingering questions Naruto had about the guild like how much the rent for the dorms were, who he had to report to when accepting a job and the likes. Gray had been impressed that Naruto seemed to talk like a high class adult, speaking to the Master like an equal.

Though the ice mage noticed when Naruto's eyes flared with rebellion, hand moving to touch the strange swirly mark on his forehead protector when the Master had brought out the magic stamp. It lasted only for a few seconds however before the whiskered haired boy locked away his emotions once more. Without much care the boy peeled off his shirt while mumbling more to himself then to the hall "This mark will tell the world my loyalty."

Gray wondered it he said more it more to convince himself, that he was now loyal to them and if the mark on his forehead was of his old home.

"Yes. Where would you like it my lad?" Master Makarov asked

Naruto pointed to his bare left shoulder, a few inches above his elbow.

This wouldn't have been so strange if it wasn't for the tattoo that the guild could see on his right shoulder in the exact same place.

Gray had never seen a tattoo like it before. Almost as if the artist had simply brushed it on instead of ripping the skin with a needle, the tattoo curved with grace to form a flame accompanied by a small line underneath it. It was colored black and about two inches long, though it was skinny in shape. The Ice make wizard would bet it could have been easily missed if one wasn't looking for it.

What an odd tattoo to have. Maybe it meant something to Naruto like that forehead protector?

It seemed Gray wasn't the only one to notice it because Makarov made a point to ask about it as he placed the dark green- the color of leafs Naruto said- Fairy Tail mark on the child. You could almost hear the curiosity of the rest as they lean in slightly when Naruto touched the tattoo almost longing. A few second passed as the blond child lost himself in thought, then he snapped out of whatever memory he was in before putting on his shirt with a indifference air about him.

"It means ANBU" the whiskered boy said plainly not evaluating further.

His reply only raised more questions then answered. What was ANBU? Why was it a tattooed upon children? Was it good or bad?

It bugged Gray that he might never know with the way Naruto refused to speak about anything relating to him. It was almost like the boy didn't want to make any form of bonds outside the ones he was forced to make. Sometimes it felt like the short blonde thought everyone would try to kill him if they gain enough information on him. He acted like he never seen friendly people before.

Why was that? What happened to him to think everyone was the enemy? Why did he act with such politeness if he wanted nothing to do with them? Why did he seem to calculate every step, action or movement before making it?

Nothing about Naruto made sense.

This was further proven when the boy had walked up to the least likely person in the guild to welcome strangers not even five minutes after officially becoming part of Fairy Tail and asked the teenager to join him on a easy job.

Laxus had full out laughed at him when the whiskered faced boy held out the request – catch a runaway cat – and made a show of turning him down as rudely as possible. Gray knew that the teen was angry at the world because not even a month ago his father had been banned from the guild leaving him behind. It was obvious that the grandchild blamed the Master for this and tried to make Makarov's life more difficult at any chance he could. This included making those he considered weaker to feel inferior to him.

Instead of being insulted like most however, Naruto had simply said "If you believe you cannot handle the mission, I will understand and find someone more suitable for it."

Laxus had nearly growled at him. "What did you say?"

While this would have intimated others, Gray came to realize Naruto wasn't like the rest quite quickly to know that no matter what the teen said he wouldn't be scared off. If anything the boy almost seemed puzzling disappoint in the Master's grandson's come back.

The blond boy stared at the older with a look that seemed to look into his soul. One that moved past the walls Laxus placed around his heart to never be hurt again until he found what he was looking for. Whatever it was Gray may never know much to his frustration. Almost too fast to follow, the new comer was suddenly near the teen's ear whispering something that cause the lighting user's eyes to widen. When he finished what he said Naruto went to the bar to sign them out on the job leaving the Master's dumbstruck grandson behind.

Gray didn't know what Naruto had said but Laxus did end up going with him on the job without much of a fight only mumbling "If your weak don't expect me to help you brat."

To which the shorter boy nodded along instead of taking offense. The boy seemed used to people like the lighting teen by the way he spoke to Laxus. "I wouldn't want it any another way." the newbie said

They then set out- much to the shock of the guild- in what could have been friendly terms. Not even an hour later they return for another job, after stating they finished the first one. This went on for what could have been two days. Both blondes arrive long enough to read the quest board, take two or three new missions and be gone in less than thirty minutes. If one was to squint, tilt their head slightly to the right and wait for just the right lighting they could see the beginning of a great friendship.

Gray was shocked to find that Laxus calmed down greatly in the presence of the younger boy. While he still seemed snobby when interacting with the other members he no longer harassed the "weaker" ones. He didn't go out of his way to bug anyone, preferring to stay near Naruto even though they never spoke a word to each other while back at the guild hall. If anything they acted as if the other existed but only when it was convent to them at the time.

On the fifth day of Naruto membership, he had gone on enough missions with Laxus to earn a promotion through the older teen's recommendation.

Gray hadn't been there at the time for he was on his nineteenth mission with Macao but when he got back the tail was spreading so fast between the members he might have well been. From what he gather from the present members that day, both blonds had return like usual in almost shadow like manner but this time instead of immediately walking pass the challenges from Nastu, Erza and Mira (who all decided they needed to beat Naruto for some odd reason) without a second glance and heading straight to the quest board they made both turn towards the Master.

"hey old man" Laxus had called out gaining the attention of the hall "Brat here wants to talk to you. It has to do with his past, and he doesn't like have unnecessary ears around so let's go to your office."

Makarov for his part had token it all in stride moving to the room that was behind the bar without much complain while the two males fell into step with him. Both blonds paused right outside the office door, giving each other a nod. They passed a message between them that no one else understood before following the age man into the small room closing the door behind them as they did so. There were some who tried to overhear what was being said inside but the closed door began to glow with odd markings resembling a written language that canceled all noise as they pressed their ears to it.

Levy who had been present that day had managed to write down some of them in a panicked attempt to study what everyone assumed to be Naruto's magic but still hadn't made heads or tails of the foreign langue. She seemed to enjoy the challenge though as she happily buried herself in books trying to find the answer in the following days.

Anyway after an hour the three resurfaced from the office acting normally besides the fact that Laxus had thanked the short man with a respectful bow then joined Naruto who had already excused himself to see what new missions were added to the board (somehow getting pass every present member with them knowing it.) The lighting user had gotten one that was two levels higher then what the whiskered faced boy should be able to go on with a grin and a slightly challenging glance at the shorter one.

In return Naruto had smirked –and he missed it! Gray missed the emotionless drone smirk! – back with a tilt of the head. "You're on. Loser cleans the house for a week."

After the third day of non-stop missions both boys had somehow managed to buy a house with the reward money and started living together. It was odd that they hadn't even blinked when they came across a house for sale somewhere across the town in an isolated district, buying it without a second thought, paying up front in cash. That same day they somehow moved everything they own in to it and still managed to go on three new jobs the next day. The oddest part however was how both behaved as if they known each other all their lives and have been sharing a roof for just as long.

The teen had given him a raise brow but amusement could be seen on his face no matter how hard he tried to hide it "Good thing I'm going to win then. Race you."

What happened next was somewhat of a blur to Gray for most members hadn't gotten to really seen what happened because it was so fast.

Lighting covering his body the young Dreyar shot out of the hall at neck breaking speeds followed by a yellow flash that blinded most of the members who were god smacked with Laxus's new ability. He certainly hadn't had that much control over his magic five days ago to pull off a move that impressive. Periphrases it was due to the new guy's influence? After all, the shorter blond had almost complete control of his magic.

No one had even seen Naruto blink before he was gone in a yellow flash. If that didn't scream master of his magic Gray didn't know what did.

It wasn't till three minutes after both blonds left did everyone realized that they had token separate missions, signing out two of the hardest ones in Laxus's level. While the lighting user had gone west to deal with a group of bandits that were terrorizing a village Naruto had gone east in the search of a monster's horn that could be used in a rare medication. This could only mean one thing.

Naruto was on a solo mission.

And the Master had allowed it to happen, even after Erza made a show of how much rules have been broken in that simple act, not to mention the danger the short boy was in. All her worries however were waved off by a cheerful Makarov who merely said "the lad can handle himself just fine. Leave Naruto alone."

And that was that.

Now it's been three days a no word of the blond kid had reached the guild even though Laxus had come back yesterday. He didn't seemed worried that Naruto could have been killed somewhere in the mountains without none the wiser.

"He'll turn up in time. Probably got distracted with a new project along the way, never stops to find a way back after all." The lighting user answered when Gray confronted him about the whiskered face's whereabouts.

A way back to where? How strong was he if Laxus believed he would have been waiting for him back at the hall since it was a "easy" job for the young blond? Why every mission he has done, had no recorded of Naruto using magic? Why was he walking around with a tattoo no one's ever seen before? What langue were those markings in? Why did he move like a shadow? Why was meeting that blue gaze so nerve wrecking?

What is Naruto hiding?

Gray really didn't know what to think of the new guy at all.