The Fox Scroll

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto Or Fairy Tail

A/N: Shout out to my beta redlox2 for really helping me out with this chapter!

"Ah~ It feels good to be back…" Lucy said as she rested her head on the cool bar. Having returned from her job with Hinata the day before, she was now resting in the guild to wait for her partner's return.

Hinata had been with her a few minutes ago before the girl left with Sakura, saying something about a meeting with the other ninja. But none of that mattered to Lucy now, she was just going to take it easy for the rest of the day.

No more emotionally stressful talks, no more tricky old geezers, just a peaceful and relaxing day at Fairy Tai-

"Hey! Is Naruto back yet? I wanna fight him again!"

"Keep it down Natsu! Some of us are trying to have civil conversations! Not that a fighting obsessed freak like you would understand."

"What'd you say Gray!? Are you picking a fight with me?"

As the teens began to scrap, Lucy maintained her peaceful appearance.

'Yup… Just another peaceful day at Fairy Tail…' The girl thought with a twitching eyebrow.

"Aren't you worried about him Lu-Chan? Naruto, I mean… This is the first time you haven't gone with them on a job before, isn't it?" Levy asked worriedly, but was quickly dismissed by the busty blonde.

"Oh please, this is Naruto we're talking about! If by any slim chance those two had some sort of development during one job together, I'd personally read one of those articles from the Weekly Sorcerer's magazine to Sakura-San!" Lucy said and began laughing to herself, that is until the front doors of the guild swung open.

When the guild suddenly went silent, Lucy and Levy turned around to see what everyone was looking at and gulped when they saw Juvia, Erza, and Jellal walk in.

Everyone was dead silent as the three walked towards the bar, even Natsu and Gray had stopped fighting to watch nervously. The person they were watching, more specifically, was Juvia.

But it was to be expected. If the rumors of Mirajane falling in love with Naruto were true, then it would only be natural Juvia would be furious.

"It's Juvia, do you think she's gonna pick a fight with Mira-Chan?" A guild member whispered.

"If that happens, I'm getting the hell outa here!" Another said.

"Hey, Naruto isn't here… Do you think something happened?" Macao whispered to his old pal, implying something happened between the ninja and the water mage.

Wakaba scoffed. "That Naruto? No way!"

Cana watched Juvia with a calculating eye. 'If Naruto's not here, then something must have happened. It's weird for him not to show up with them… That would also explain why Juvia isn't going for Mirajane's throat right about now.' In all honesty, she had expected the girl to barge in here and wreak havoc. But seeing as the girl was perfectly calm, it only proved to support Cana's suspicions.

"We're back, Mira." Erza said, oblivious to the whispering as they walked up to the white-haired beauty behind the counter. "Where's master?"

"Master's out for a meeting regarding "that"." Mirajane said as she placed down the dishes she had been cleaning. The upcoming conversation would require her full attention. She wanted to ask where Naruto was, but that was clearly not an option at the moment.

Erza hummed. "Is it that time already? Well, no matter. I better find Sakura and apologize for leaving without saying anything…" With that said, Erza turned on her heal and walked off to find the pink haired girl. She glanced at Natsu, who seemed to be watching the bar with a nervous Gray. 'Hm… Juvia should be able to tell him about the dragon skeleton in my stead.'

"Um…" Jellal mumbled, eyeing the two girls in front of him wearily. He did not want to be in the middle of them if they began to fight. "I'll uh… Go with Erza."

As Jellal scurried off to follow his redheaded friend, Mirajane gave the best smile she could manage.

"Welcome back, Juvia…"

The guild went completely silent as everyone focused on the two girls, but this didn't seem to affect the barmaid as she stared directly at the girl in front of her. She had made her decision.

"Juvia… I-" Mirajane started but Juvia put a hand up to stop her, and Mira felt her heart sink.

She knew it. Deep down she knew Juvia wouldn't forgive her betrayal… But she wouldn't back down now! Even though she felt bad, Mirajane Strauss still had her pride as a woman. A woman that was in love!

Everyone gulped as the atmosphere became more tense. This was a showdown between two very powerful women, both fighting over the same man. A man named Naruto Uzumaki.

Lucky bastard.

Juvia looked up at the girl in front of her, a wide range of emotions swimming through her eyes. The memories of their almost student/teacher relationship flashing before the both of them.

Mirajane almost gulped from the intensity of the stare. This was it. The moment she had been dreading for the last couple of days. In just a couple seconds she would lose one of her dearest friends, and that girl was now smiling-

"It's okay!" Juvia chirped rather cheerfully, catching the entire guild flatfooted.

"EH~!?" They all screamed in unison.

Mirajane blinked, she too hadn't expected the girl to outright forgive her so easily. "B-but I… I mean, I was supporting you and I-"

Juvia shook her head. "Juvia understands, because Naruto-Sama is the best! It's only natural Mira-San would fall for his charms. Besides…" She gained a smug look. "Juvia is now one step ahead of ALL her rivals."

"I-is that so?" Mirajane said awkwardly. She wanted to know what the girl was talking about, but couldn't bring herself to ask. Juvia was already lifting a huge weight off her shoulders as it was, and Mirajane didn't want to push her luck.

"I can't believe it…" Macao muttered in awe.

"That girl is either the nicest girl I've ever seen, or the craziest… I'm gonna go with the second choice." Wakaba said before a hand stretched out in front of them.

"Chalk it over, boys." Cana said with a cheeky grin, and the two drinking buddies sighed in defeat as they handed the girl the jewels they owed her. They had made a bet whether there would be a fight or not. Cana, the winner, had bet the two wouldn't fight and would make up. 'Good for you, Mira.'

Elfman was balling his eyes out, overwhelmed with happiness that his sister was able to make up with her friend. 'Nee-Chan!'

Levy gaped and turned to Lucy to see her friend's reaction, but she was surprised found the girl smiling. "You knew this would happen, didn't you Lu-Chan…"

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Lucy responded innocently, the smile never leaving her face.

Juvia loved Naruto more than anything in this world, that much was obvious. But right after that, her friends held a big place in her heart and Lucy knew Juvia wouldn't be able to bring herself to truly hate Mirajane for falling for Naruto as well.

'Speaking of Naruto, where is that guy…?' Lucy thought as she looked around for her fellow blonde, but found he was nowhere to be found. There was obviously more to the story, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. Lucy was happy for Juvia, but she had her own love to worry about.

Juvia giggled at the guild's obvious surprised state, before she blinked when remembered something important. "Oh, and Juvia's a Dragon Slayer now too."

"EH~!?"

Naruto sat in a meditative position on a tree branch just outside of the town. Birds had begun to gather around the sage, one even perching itself on his head. He had taken off his sage cloak, the sleeves of the things were a shredded mess. He'd have to ask Mira or Hinata if they could stitch it up for him later.

'You better make Juvia-San happy, or I'll never forgive you…' Sam had told Naruto before he and the others had left the excavation site, and those words echoed in his mind. The guy had been dead serious, and Naruto knew it.

'Make her happy… huh?' Naruto thought and sighed. He still couldn't believe this was happening.

Juvia loved him.

Not just as a comrade and friend, but a real, romantic relationship! She wanted to be with HIM! Never in his dreams did he think someone would have those sorts of feelings for him. Just the thought of Juvia saying those words again made him feel something he had never felt before.

Excitement, and that giddy feeling you got that felt like there were butterflies fluttering around in your stomach.

Naruto chuckled softly. All those times she had been super nice to him, like cooking him food or latching onto him affectionately. They were all showcases of Juvia's feelings for him, and he was a fool to not have noticed earlier. Naruto could only imagine what the others thought.

If only he knew.

But what was he going to do now? He had to respond to her feelings. That's what people did after being confessed to, right? Even he knew that much. The only problem is, he was in a really, really, complicated situation.

Naruto was from another dimension, and he had to find a way home no matter what. He had so many promises to keep, dreams he had to fulfil. But now a girl from another dimension was saying that she loved him! What would happen if he left and couldn't come back?

An image of Juvia's crying face flashed in Naruto's mind, which struck a stinging sensation in his heart.

Naruto growled in frustration. "Argh! Why do I have to make decisions like this!"

'…You really are the most thickheaded human I have ever met.' The deep voice of the Kyuubi echoed in his head.

Oh yeah, he had come out here to talk with the demon fox to distract him from his twisted feelings. He had untightened the seal so the demon could speak with him again, but he ended up becoming lost in his thoughts.

'Don't start with me…' Naruto thought sourly, which caused the ancient being to chuckle darkly.

'There is only one other human that could compare to your level of denseness, only it wasn't as amusing as this.'

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled with burning cheeks, causing the birds around him to take off flying. 'You know what I wanted to talk about…' He could almost feel the demon snicker.

'Yes, yes. The demon you fought in the cave… A pale imitation of a tailed beast. That overgrown ape could have incinerated that cheap knock-off in an instant!' The fox shouted almost angrily.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'Overgrown ape? No, never mind… So it was a demon made by Zeref…' Then did that mean there was more of those 'tailed demons'? This last one had been the biggest and most powerful out of all of the demons Naruto had faced her in Earthland, and he could only assume the rest of them would be stronger.

He would need to be ready for them.

'It seems you're planning on coming for my power soon…' The Kyuubi said, a hint of challenge in its tone.

So, the old fox knew? Well it was to be expected, with their minds being connected the way they were. 'Yeah, I'll be coming for you soon fuzzball. You better prepare yourself or you'll be in for a big surprise.'

'Big talk when you can't even use four tail's worth of my chakra without going berserk!' The demon shot back, and Naruto almost lost his meditative position.

'Wha- Just you wait! I've been working on some techniques that'll shock even you!'

'Heh, we shall see… But know that this has all only been the tip of the iceberg, kit.' The Kyuubi said in a cryptic tone before going silent.

Naruto was about to question the fox when he heard a voice down below.

"So this is where you were."

Opening his eyes and tilting his head down, Naruto spotted Lucy looking up at him. She had a serious look on her face, but didn't seem angry. 'Oh yeah, I didn't hi to everyone at the guild before coming here… She must be wondering why?'

Hopping down from the tree, Naruto waved at her half-heartily. "Hey... Sorry I didn't show up at the guild. I just… had something on my mind and I needed some time to think."

'Something on his mind? And he seems kind of down… Something did happen.' Lucy deducted before crossing her arms. "Well, out with it. Did something happen during your job?"

Naruto blinked at the girl's sudden command, he really couldn't get away with much when Lucy was involved. Though he hadn't even try to mask his troubled state. "Something, you say…" He blushed, the image of Juvia kissing him still fresh on his mind.

Lucy narrowed her eyes on the boy, but deep down she was worried. That was a very flustered look Naruto was giving, and flustered looks like that only came from one thing. "Did something happen between you and Juvia?"

Naruto flinched, before he sat down on the grass and held his head. "I'm in trouble Lucy… During the job, she kissed me and said she loved me out of nowhere! I'm so confused right now and don't know what to do…"

Lucy's head drooped, her bangs shadowing her features. She didn't think the girl would be so bold as to do such a thing, but she did it. Juvia kissed Naruto. "…How did you respond?"

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "I'm so bad with these sort of things… I was completely caught off guard. I didn't know what to do, so I came here when we got off the train… It's just like that time with Edo-Wendy…" He said, mumbling the last part to the point where Lucy missed it. The cat was out of the bag, so he might as well come clean.

Lucy knelt in front of Naruto, until they were face to face.

Feeling her do so, Naruto looked up and saw stars.

BONK!

Naruto held his now thumping head in pain. Did Lucy just hit him?

"Honestly, how could you be so inconsiderate of a girl's feelings!" Lucy huffed and stood back up, crossing her arms in a fit.

Naruto held his head down in shame. He would take his punishment, because she was right. He could only imagine what Juvia had felt every time Naruto called 'Oh yeah, Gray… I gotta apologize to him too.'

Lucy continued to scold the boy. "I understand you were confused, but when a girl confesses to you, you have to give her a straight answer!"

"I really have been messing up a lot recently, haven't I?" Naruto said, chuckling softly at his own stupidity.

Lucy frowned, before she took a seat next to her moping partner against the tree. "It's not your fault… Okay, maybe it kinda is your fault. But you need to realize how hard it is to convey your feelings to the one you love… Juvia knows that it's a difficult situation for you right now, but I can understand why she would do it despite all that." She said with a knowing look in her eyes, because she was in the same exact situation. "One day you might leave us and never be able to come back, and… I'm sure Juvia just doesn't want to regret never telling you the truth."

Naruto looked at his fellow blonde in slight surprise, before lightly shaking his head. "You know Lucy… out of everyone in the guild that I've come to know, you've always been the one person I could always rely on." He said, which brought a surprised look to the girl.

"What are you talking about? I'm not that reliable…" Lucy said with a sad smile. "I'm always relying on you for things… You're always saving me when I can't save myself. I doubt I even would have made it to Fairy Tail without you…"

"Then I guess we rely on each other." Naruto said and the two smiled at each other.

"Quit trying to change the subject… Baka." Lucy said and pushed Naruto playfully, and the boy chuckled before standing up and stretching.

"Thanks, Lucy. I know what I have to do now."

Lucy looked up at the shinobi and his new look of determination. 'Well, looks like I helped Naruto sort out his feelings. For better or worse…' She would find out when they got to the guild.

After Naruto helped the girl up, the two began to walk back into town.

"Since you mentioned it, I have been paying for the rent a lot recently. It's like you're staying with me now!" Naruto joked, and Lucy fumed.

"Hey! I'll have you know I went on a job with Hinata, and we made quite a bit of rent money!" Lucy claimed and Naruto pat her head playfully, much to the girl's annoyance.

"Hai, hai."

Fairy Tail…

"Y-you're really a dragon slayer now?" Natsu asked Juvia, sniffing the air around her a couple times. While she did smell like a dragon slayer, her scent was more like Laxus than his own.

"Yes, Juvia found a Sea King dragon slayer lacrima and absorbed it. Now please stop smelling Juvia, Natsu-San." Juvia said with a flat look.

"Amazing…! Then that means we have four dragon slayers in the guild now…" Wendy

Carla huffed. "So much for being a rare magic…"

"Hoho! I see you in a new light now! Fight me!" Natsu roared and jumped at the girl, only to splash right through her body and into a table along with the people sitting on it.

"Looks like Juvia is Natsu's antithesis." Happy said, laughing when the people Natsu knocked over began to bury him under the pieces of the now destroyed furniture.

Gajeel hummed in thought. "But still… To think you actually found the skeleton of a dragon. And you said it spoke to you?"

Natsu popped his head out of the rubble. "Did the dragon say anything about Igneel!?"

Juvia shook her head. "Tiamat-San didn't mention anything about him, sorry Natsu-San…"

Natsu's head drooped back under the rubble. "It's okay…"

"I guess that means the same for me and the kid then…" Gajeel said before grunting. "Whatever, I'm outta here. If you see Uzumaki, tell him I'm still waiting for our match. It pisses me off that he never takes me seriously!"

The group then disbanded, everyone finding something to do. With the tension between Juvia and Mirajane resolved, and the girl's explanation of her new magic, everything was beginning to go back to normal.

Juvia was about to go searching for Naruto when a certain scent hit her nose. 'This scent… Naruto-Sama!' Ever since they had gotten off the train, Juvia's sense of smell had undergone some serious changes. She was able identify objects by their smell from greater distances, as well as people. Right now, she could smell Naruto's scent growing stronger, indicating his approach.

The water mage's heart skipped a beat when she turned around and saw the doors of the guild open, and Naruto walked inside.

The two instantly locked eyes.

Naruto already felt his cheeks lighting up as the girl waited patiently for him. How did he know she was waiting for him? The girl was standing with her hands together instead of jumping on him like she usually did.

Beginning his advance towards the girl, Naruto noticed the guild members staring at him. 'I guess they already know…' He thought with a sweatdrop as he stopped in front of the blue haired beauty. "H-hey, Juvia. Do you have a second?"

Juvia nodded shyly. "Y-yes, Naruto-Sama…" Her heart was pounding! This was it, the moment she had been waiting for! Naruto's answer to her feelings…

"Um… Do you think we could talk somewhere a little more private?" Naruto asked while scratching his cheek awkwardly.

Juvia tilted her head in confusion, before looking around to see guild members adverting their gazes from her. Some were even whistling innocently. "Yes… Juvia thinks that would be for the best."

Finding a spot to talk privately, Naruto and Juvia sat at an empty table located in one of the corners of the guild.

The two sat in silence for a couple minutes as Naruto finished gathering his thoughts.

Juvia sat completely straight in her chair as she stared at the top of the table. 'Ah~ Juvia is so nervous! What is Naruto-Sama going to say…' Wait a second.

What if Naruto rejected her?

The thought hit Juvia with the force of a train. She had been so busy thinking of their future, the thought of Naruto rejecting her love had never even occurred to her. But realistically speaking, it was actually quite possible.

Juvia began to squirm in her seat.

She wasn't the only girl after his heart. In fact, there was even the possibility that Naruto was already in love with one of them!

Was it Lucy? Mira? Erza? Cana? Sakura? That weird shy girl with the pale eyes?

'Oh my gosh! Is it Wendy-San!?' Juvia scouted the little girl

A dangerous rival indeed.

Noticing the girl's intense expression, Naruto decided he was done stalling. "U-um… Juvia?"

"HAI!" Juvia suddenly shouted, causing the boy to jump in his seat.

Naruto took in a deep breath to calm himself, before he finally spoke. "Thank you."

Juvia blinked in confusion. "What?"

Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Sorry, I mean... I wanted to thank you, for saying what you said. This is the first time anyone's ever said anything like this about me… When you said what you did back then, it made me happy." He said, and Juvia's face lit up.

"R-really?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. In all honesty, it was one of the happiest feelings I've ever felt. When you lived a fife where something as simple as (something to remind people of Naruto's tragic backstory) brought you joy, that meant something. "But…"

Juvia's heart nearly stopped. "…But?"

Naruto rubbed his arm. "But I can't return your feelings..."

And just like that, the world around Juvia seemed to collapse into nothingness. It was all over for, she had failed. Naruto rejected her, and there was nothing she could do to change his mind.

Maybe it was for the best. Her feelings would only get in the way of Naruto's search for a way home.

"…Yet" Naruto finished.

Wait… Yet?

Juvia's eyes shot open as she stared at the blonde in hope. "?"

"If I was being honest with myself, I think I might have developed feelings for you too… But I'm kinda bad with this sort of thing, ya know?" Naruto said and Juvia brought a hand to her gaping mouth.

'Naruto-Sama… might love Juvia back!?' This meant she had a chance! A huge one!

Naruto continued. "It's just a really awkward time right now, ya know? I'm stuck here in another dimension and I have to find a way back. I know I'm being selfish, but there's a lot of things I need to take care of before I can even think about having a relationship with someone. I hope you understand…"

Juvia nodded, mentally giggling at Naruto using his verbal tick so many times in one setting. "Mm… Juvia understands."

Naruto blinked. "Really? Are you sure that's okay with you? I feel like I'm being super unfair.

And in most cases, he would be. But luckily for Naruto, Juvia was content with this conclusion. After all, there was a great chance she would end up with her one true love.

"Juvia loves Naruto-Sama. So much that it hurts... and Juvia would do anything to make Naruto-Sama happy! So if that's what Naruto-Sama wants, then Juvia will wait for as long as she needs to." Juvia said and smiled with a warmness that could melt the coldest of ice.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed to hear the girl say those words again. That gone a lot better than he had expected. He had thought Juvia was going to kill him for asking something so selfish. 'I'm sorry, Juvia…I don't deserve your kindness…'

Juvia poked her fingers together nervously. "B-but… Juvia has a small request…"

Lee burst out of the library and jumped onto the railing of the second floor. "Yosh! Now that the meeting is complete, I'm going to see if Elfman-Kun will go on a job and take me with him! Therefore, I might be able to scout out some information!" He announced to the guild, earning a couple chuckles from the guild members.

"You just want to go on another job, Lee…" Tenten said as she followed her hotblooded companion with an embarrassed look on her face.

"How naïve of you, Tenten! If I go on a job, not only would I be able to scope out some possible information, but I get to help this wonderful guild who has taken such good care of us! It's the least I can do!" Lee said and jumped off the railing when he spotted his giant of a friend. "Elfman-Kun! Let us investigate the darkest corners of the land, and light the way with our flames of youth!"

Elfman roared in agreement. "What manly thing to say, Lee-San! Let's go!"

'He just wants to fight mages…' Tenten thought with a sigh, not that she could blame him though. Taking on odd jobs with your friends was actually really fun. Maybe she'd go find Erza to see if the girl wanted to take on a job herself, but first she'd have to find the missing knight.

"Which job should we do?" Elfman asked, and Lee searched the board with a critical eye.

"GWOHHHHH! I found the perfect job! A band of traveling circus clowns are having trouble with thieves and need protection!" He turned to his manly friend and saw the boy giving him a thumbs up.

"Youthful men!" They both cheered.

Nab, who was choosing a job for himself, sweatdropped at the weird scene playing out before him. 'I'm glad I don't look like that while choosing a job…'

'…Maybe it would be better to keep an eye on those two.' Tenten thought and turned back to the rest of the ninja. "I'll make sure they don't get into trouble."

"Thank you..." Kakashi said appreciatively. Maybe he'd have Neji lead their squad next time, watching over Lee was a handful. At least Tenten could mostly keep the energetic teen mostly under control.

"Are you sure it's okay for them to go out like that? Wouldn't it be better to stay together?" Sakura asked. She still didn't like Naruto going out on jobs by himself, and Lee was no exception. Should also would have prevented Hinata from going with Lucy had she have been searching for Erza at the time. With the Akatsuki's whereabouts still unknown, she thought it was best that everyone stayed close together.

"They'll be fine. Besides, Lee's right. We owe it to this guild for taking care of Naruto for as long as they did, us as well." Yamato before someone shouted up to them.

"Yamato-San! Could I barrow you for a moment? Natsu and Gray got into a fight again…" Mirajane asked politely from bellow them.

"I say that… But these people sure are a rowdy bunch." Yamato said and began to walk towards the stairs. "At the rate these kids keep breaking things, it's a miracle Makarov-Dono's kept this place afloat financially…"

Kakashi pat his old friend on the back. "Work hard, Tenzo."

Yamato looked back and moped. "That's cruel, senpai…"

Noticing the last of their team was being strangely quiet, Sakura turned and saw Hinata standing by the railing. She seemed to watching something, a look of sorrow showing on her face.

Kakashi had noticed this as well, he stretched his arms over his head before walking towards the stair as well. "I'll leave this to you, Sakura. Makarov-Dono wanted to talk to me about helping the guild with something coming up after we were done."

Sakura nodded and walked over to her friend. When the pale eyed girl didn't say anything, Sakura followed the girl's gaze and found Naruto sitting at a table with Juvia. From the way they were acting, it was something serious. 'No wonder Kakashi-Sensei left this to me…'

But before the medic ninja could say anything, Hinata spoke. "It feels like I'm beginning to lose him… Though, I guess I never really had him in the first place."

"Hinata…"

The Hyūga heiress turned to her friend and smiled softly. "I'm going to back to the house… Tell Mira-San I'll take care of dinner tonight."

Sakura watched the girl walk away, a knowing feeling raising in her gut. 'It's just like me with Sasuke-Kun…' She frowned and looked at the boy responsible for this situation. 'Naruto, you idiot… Don't you know what you're putting Hinata through?'

Deciding it wouldn't do her any good to lose her anger, Sakura walked downstairs and sat down at one of the free tables to cool her head.

Looking across the room, Sakura noticed Naruto and Juvia get up from their seats and leave the guild. She sighed, things weren't looking too bright for Hinata's love.

Mirajane walked up to Sakura's table, seemingly oblivious to the girl's increasingly bad mood. "Sakura-san, would you like to eat something?" She asked in her normal polite voice.

"Just some dango would be fine, thanks Mira-san." Sakura replied in a forced calm voice to avoid causing a scene.

Mira, not noticing anything amiss, went back to the kitchen and prepared the small treat for the pink-hair ninja.

While Mira was cooking her snack, all Sakura could think of were the worst-case scenarios for Hinata's love with Naruto. Especially since Naruto was starting to get all chummy with that rude and clingy girl who was pretty much throwing herself at the guy. Why couldn't she be more modest and respectful, like Lucy?

A few minutes later, Mira came back with a plate to a slightly irate Sakura, who gave a halfhearted "thank you". Mira shrugged her shoulders and walked to another table to get their order.

After taking a few bites of the unusually amazing sweets, Sakura decided she was done waiting around and wanted to give that blonde idiot and blue hair girl a piece of her mind. She stormed out the building quickly without paying for her half-eaten food.

Mira heard the guild doors open and turned to see Sakura's empty table. "Oh my, what happened to Sakura-san?" She asked and noticed the area around Sakura's table was vacant.

The guild members capable of sensing an angry girl had shuffled to get out of her way, knowing full well what she could do.

"Two rainbow snow cones please." Naruto said, and paid for the frosty treats when the man working the stand placed them in front of him. "Thanks."

"Out on a date I see?" The man asked slyly as Naruto picked up his purchases. "And with a beauty like that too. You're quite a lucky guy."

Naruto laughed, his cheeks turning red. "Hehe… Yeah, I am pretty lucky huh?"

Juvia's small request had surprised Naruto for sure. She had asked if they could go on a small date. Nothing too flashy, just a walk in the park.

'And you said yes… Aren't you contradicting yourself by doing this?' The Kyuubi's voice echoed as Naruto neared the bench Juvia was sitting on.

'Hey, this is the least I could do for what I did… Besides, we're just taking a walk through the park. What could go wrong?' Naruto thought back, shrugging off the beast's comment.

After making it to the bench and taking a seat, Naruto handed his date one of the snow cones. "Here you go, Juvia-Chan"

That was the other part of the girl's request. Juvia wanted him to refer to her in "Chan" from now on, and who was Naruto to say no? With how selfish he had been with his description, he'd fight a tailed beast with his hands tied behind his back to make up for it. Something like this was nothing in compression!

"Thank you, Naruto-Sama." Juvia said and accepted the cup of ice. It was like a dream come true! Here she was, on a d-d-d-date with Naruto! They had walked through the park, just the two of them, and not a single person had disturbed them! A simple date that revolved around enjoying the other's company.

Juvia scooped some of the rainbow-colored ice with her spoon and took a bite, shuddering slightly from the coldness. "Mmm… Delicious!"

"I've been wondering… How are you going to learn dragon slayer techniques? You're a dragonslayer

Juvia tapped her spoon on her lips in thought. "Hm… It's hard to explain, but when Juvia absorbed the dragon lacrima, a bunch of knowledge seemed to come with it. Juvia knows of some of the Sea King Dragon slayer techniques, but now it's a matter of practicing them!"

Naruto smiled, he was glad Juvia was having fun. All they had been doing was walking around and talking. But if that made Juvia happy, then Naruto was happy.

"Here!"

Naruto blinked when he noticed Juvia holding out her spoon out to him.

"Say, ah~" Juvia cooed, and Naruto blushed furiously.

This wasn't the first time she had fed him, but something about the situation made super embarrassing for some reason.

"O-okay… Ah~" Naruto stuttered and was about to chomp on the ice when his instincts flared.

"NARUTO!"

Reacting instantly, Naruto swooped Juvia into his arms and jumped to safety. Not a second after he moved, the bench they had been sitting on exploded into smithereens.

People began to gather around to see what had happened.

After a couple seconds, the dust fell, revealing a furious looking Sakura standing in the small crater she made. Did she trying to kill him just now!?

"Sakura-Chan!? What are you doing? I don't why you're angry with me, but what if you hit Juvia-Chan!?"

"I must not have noticed her." Sakura simply replied.

Naruto sweatdropped as he put Juvia down on her feet. He knew Sakura and Juvia didn't along very well for some reason, but that was going a little too far in his opinion.

Juvia frowned and looked at the now empty cup in her hands, a cup that was once filled with ice that she was about to handfeed to her beloved. "This was supposed to be Juvia's alone time with Naruto-Sama… and Sakura-San ruined it!"

Charging forward, Juvia brought up one of her hands as water began to collect around it that roughly shaped a set of claws. "Sea King Dragon's Claw!"

Sakura smirked, she had been waiting to get back at the girl ever since the last time they had fought. She ducked under the half-finished spell and slid her leg along the ground to trip Juvia, but Sakura's foot harmlessly splashed through the girl's legs. Sucking her teeth in annoyance, the medic jumped back when the water mage swiped at her again to put some distance between them.

"Wha-Hey! Wait a second guys!" Naruto shouted in attempt to stop the two from fighting, but his words fell upon deaf ears as the two stared each other down.

'That water ability is gonna be annoying…' The last time they had fought, Sakura had only gotten in a couple clean hits in due to the nature of Juvia's water magic. It annoyed her to no end when she couldn't hit her opponent.

'So long as Juvia plays this smart, Sakura-San shouldn't be able to hurt her. The victor has already been decided.' Juvia thought and swung her arms out. "Water Slicer!"

Sakura rolled out of the way and threw a kunai.

The knife flew right through Juvia's body and into the ground behind her. "Physical attacks are useless against Juvia, remember?" She said, but frowned when she saw her opponent smirking at her. Juvia was about to question the girl when she heard a sizzling noise behind her.

BOOM!

"Kyah!" Juvia screamed mostly out of surprise when the paper tag exploded, her magic negating most of the damage. But when the smoke cleared her eyes widened when Sakura was nowhere to be found. She spun around and the pink haired girl was behind her, fist cocked back. Instincts that Juvia didn't even know she had took over, and she put her arms up coated in water to defend against the incoming attack. The punch made contact with the water, and Juvia slid back a couple feet.

'It actually made contact…' Sakura thought, surprised her attack landed. She had coated her hand with chakra. Perhaps that was how she had landed those hits in their last fight?

Still staggered from the force of the blow, Juvia was too late to react when Sakura was at her again.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled and cocked her chakra infused fist back. With the girl's weakness finally discovered, there was no way Juvia would be able to get out of this last punch unscathed.

CRASH!

The concrete shattered as a crater that put the previous one to shame when Sakura's fist made contact with flesh.

Sakura smirked. 'That should be the end… of… it…' Her thoughts trailed off when the dust cleared, and her eyes made contact with an angry pair of crimson red eyes. Naruto was standing in front of her, holding her fist in his hand as he gave her a look that said "this fight was over".

"I said… That's enough." Naruto said calmly, his feature returning to normal as he exited sage mode.

Juvia opened her eyes and saw Naruto standing in front of her protectively. He had come to her rescue... "Naruto-Sa-" Her words stopped in her throat when Naruto looked back and frowned, he almost looked sad.

Naruto shook his head and sighed. "Why are you guys fighting in the first place? If you had something to say to us, you should have just said so Sakura-Chan…" He said, grimacing at the property damage he KNEW he was going to have to pay for.

Luckily the townsfolk had long since evacuated the area so no one was caught up in the explosions.

Shaking away her surprise state, Sakura glared at blonde. "Oh, I have something to say to you. What are you doing right now!? Are you even taking your situation seriously!?"

"What are you talking about? We were just-" Naruto started but was interrupted.

"Here we are, working our butts off to find you a way home, and you're what? Enjoying a date with HER!?" Sakura all but screamed at her teammate while pointing at the blue haired girl behind him accusingly.

Naruto flinched at his friend's harsh tone, but he held his ground. Sakura had a right to be mad at him, but she didn't need to take her anger out on Juvia. "Right now, I was trying to make it up to Juvia-"

"Juvia conveyed her love for Naruto-Sama and stole a kiss from him! Sakura-San is just getting in our way, so please leave!" Juvia blurted out, and Naruto gained a mortified look.

'Juvia, no!' Naruto fruitlessly screamed in his mind, but it was too late, and he could feel the malicious intent oozing from Sakura's form.

Sakura lowered her head. "You seem to be enjoying yourself here… Naruto."

"You know what Sakura? On my third day here, I tried to summon the toads so they could reverse summon me home." Naruto said, dropping the 'Chan' suffix to show that he was serious. Sakura had a right to be angry at him, but she didn't need to take it out on him like this. "It's not like I'm lazing around here, I'm doing what I can… But things got complicated and-"

"Save it! It looks like I'm only getting in your way, so I'll excuse myself…" Sakura said and turned around. "You didn't even tell us you were back… Are we just second rate to you now? What's more important to you, these people you met a couple months ago, or your friends back home?" She didn't give Naruto the chance to answer and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Juvia stared at the blonde's back, tears forming in her eyes.

"Sorry, Juvia… But could we finish this date another time?" Naruto asked without turning to face her.

"Hai, Naruto-Sama…" Juvia said solemnly, disappointed that they couldn't continue their date. But she understood, and could only imagine what Naruto was going through right now. He had just fought with one of his friends, and it was all her fault.

'Well that could have gone bett-Gak!" The fox didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence when his jailer tightened the seal, cutting their connection off. The shinobi just wasn't in the mood for the demon's snide comments…

Naruto looked up at the sunset, it would be night soon. "I'll walk you home."

By the time Naruto walked into the apartment, it was well into the night. There was a single light still on and he could see Lucy had already fallen asleep.

He was exhausted.

With his battle with the four-tailed demon, Juvia's confession, and his fight with Sakura, it had all taken its toll on Naruto's physical and emotional levels.

Not bothering to change into his pajamas, Naruto sprawled out on his couch and turned off the light.

'I really gotta step it up a notch…' Naruto thought before his mind fell into sweet, blissful unconsciousness.

A/N: There you have it! Juvia's feelings, Naruto's response, as well as some of the reactions! Note how I say some… *Wink*

This was quite a depressing chapter to be honest… Hopefully everything will turn for the better in the next chapter for our blonde hero!

This is probably going to bring some people to hate on Sakura, but I want you all to think where she's coming from. In Sakura's eyes, all she's been seeing from Naruto was him goofing off. The first time she saw him since his disappearance was him participating in a race(and kissing Lucy XD). So when she happened to see him acting all 'lovey dovey' with a girl that she not only dislikes, but is also not the girl she is supporting in her love(Hinata), so it's only natural she'd blow a fuse.

Anyways, I can't make you guys like Sakura, but I hope this can ease the hatred for the girl. Even if it's just a little… :)

In case anyone is wondering why I haven't done a full fight between Juvia and Sakura, it's actually because I don't know how Sakura would be able to beat her... I just don't understand the limits to Juvia's water body to be able to write a full fight scene between the two. If anyone could explain this to me, I'd really appreciate it. :)

As always, review or P.M. me if you have any questions/comments/concerns! Seriously, I'll take anything!

Okay, I'm done. I hope to see you all in the next chapter of The Fox Scroll!