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"'Sup"-Normal Speaking

'Ah biscuits.' -Thoughts

"I condemn your soul to hell!"-Demon Speaking

'Oh come on!'-Demon thoughts

"How did I get here"-Flashback

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"FUS RO DAH!"-Attack/Spell/Transformation


Alright!

Hey everybody, Pixel here, back again to bring you the least chapter of Fox Among Fairies! And this one…this one's good as it took me nearly a whole damn month to write. I was stuck on how was I going to about with this and I was about to give up and call it quits and try again in September but my good friend: calebturner2016 helped me out and sparked the fire I needed to write. So thank him for that and thanks for waiting for the chapter.

I see y'all enjoyed the last chapter and that makes me feel better about myself and motivated on writing more chapters. So, thank you for continuing to read

Now with that out of the way, on to the chapter!


Warning: The following chapter contains mature themes.

May trigger some. Read with caution


Fox Among Fairies

Chapter 9: A friend in need…


[Universe 21458: Magic Dimension-Magix]

[Date: 3 September: Friday]

[Alfea]

[Time: 09:00 a.m., Morning]


It has been just a little over two weeks since the night of the party and the Minotaur attack and the damage that the school sustained from both the summoned beast and Naruto when they battled had been cleared away and repaired, the students who were not there when this occurred couldn't see something had happened and were blissfully unaware of the attack. However, things over with our group of fairies and humans were…not exactly as grand as they were before. And you're about to see why…


[Winx's Dorm-Alfea]


Inside Bloom's shared dorm room, the Earth fairy was in her bed, sleeping as she was currently tossing and turning in her sleep. Indicating that whatever she was dreaming about was strong and intense


[Bloom's mindscape]


Bloom was standing, in the middle of a dark void as she was hearing a voice calling out to her, one that sounded unknown, yet… it felt strangely familiar to her

"Bloom…Bloom…" The voice says, calling out to Bloom

"W-Who's calling me? Who's there?" Bloom asks, she looks around the space in search of the voice but saw nothing

"It's me, Bloom. Do you remember me? Do you remember my voice?" The voice asks, Bloom thought on it a bit before she realizes who this voice was

"I-It's you. you're the one who helped me out of Cloud Tower." Bloom says

"Yes, Bloom. Come to me." The voice says, Bloom looks around but still sees nothing but darkness

"But where? I can't see anything." Bloom says

"Come. Come to me, Bloom." The voice says, Bloom starts aimlessly walking around the space in hopes of at least bumping into this person

"Where are you?" Bloom asks, just then she feels something brush past her hand, causing her to stop. She turns around and sees that someone was standing behind her. And this person was a giant, Bloom had to look up to see just who this person was and her eyes widen at the sight of this person

It was a woman who had fair skin, long pale blonde hair, and amber eyes.

Her hair was styled in two pigtails that barely reached her shoulders, curling at the ends, while the rest of her hair fell to her shoulder blades. She wore a form-fitting, flowing, golden yellow dress with a plunging neckline. Around the waist was a thin pale yellow ribbon with three trailing ribbons with red oval-shaped designs at the ends. There were amber orange rings around her biceps and wrists that each had pale yellow flowing silks attached to them. Along with her signature orange mask, she wore a golden yellow crown with a red jewel in the center at the top, and a pale yellow headpiece resembling angel wings.

"I am here." this woman says, holding her arms out as light began to radiate from her

The light she radiated was too intense for Bloom, causing her to close her eyes and block the light with her hands

"I'm waiting for you, Bloom. Come to me and remember." The woman says, holding her hand out to Bloom who was utterly bewildered at the situation

"Remember what, who are you? Remember what?" Bloom asks, instead of the woman answering her, the space they stood in began to brighten up, causing the woman to fade away and Bloom to close her eyes once more as the light consumed her


[End Dreamscape]


"Remember? What must I remember?" Bloom mumbles, still in her sleep. Something began to shake her, causing her to stir properly and open her eyes and shut them upon having the bright sun hitting them, she opens them again and blinks as her eyes adjust to the light and as a familiar face staring at her

"For one, you shouldn't sleep in all day. Especially since there are no classes today because it's a holiday." The familiar face says giggles as Bloom lets out a yawn and smiles at them

"Oh, hi Flora." Bloom greets her roommate who smiles back at her

"Morning Bloom. You were talking in your sleep and you were saying "You have to remember." What were you dreaming about?" Flora asks, leaving Bloom's bedside and heads to her bed as the red-hair starts getting out of bed and walks over to her while picking up Kiko along the way

"I…I don't know actually. It was a really weird dream and it felt…real. I wonder why?" Bloom asks herself, the dream felt…too real to her and she felt that this was a sign, but for what? She then notices an open briefcase filled with clothes on Flora's bed "Hey, why are you picking?"

"Oh, I'm going back home." Flora says as she fills the briefcase with the last items and closes it

"Why?" Bloom asks

"Today is the Day of the Rose. It's a special day here in Magix. And thanks to that, there aren't going to class today or tomorrow since everyone's heading back to their home realms and kingdoms." Flora says, holding the briefcase and processes to walk out of their shared room, with Bloom following. As they leave, Bloom sees Tecna out in the lounge area with her own briefcase, indicating that she was leaving too

"The Day of the Rose? What's that?" Bloom asks, Tecna finishes her packing and turns to the Earth fairy. Knowing that she still hasn't been around in Magix to know all the customs and holidays

"The Day of the Rose is a special day in Magix where everyone celebrates their mother and show their appreciation toward her. Don't you have that on Earth?" Tecna asks, Bloom immediately knew what she was talking about from the explanation

"Oh, we do but we call that: Mother's day. Plus, it already passed months ago." Bloom says

"Are you going home, Bloom?" Flora asks, Bloom took a moment to think about it. She thought it would be a hassle to go back home now since it would be right around the time that school was still going on and she really didn't want to see anyone from her old school, plus she wanted to learn more about this holiday. She turns to Flora and shakes her head

"No, I don't think so." Bloom says

"Well, you'll keep us company." The trio turns and see Stella and Musa step out of their dorm room

"Yeah, we've got nothing here to do." Musa says, she had a roll of bandages wrapped around her abdomen, she was still in the recovery stage from the injuries she sustained that night but she was recovering.

"Great, we can find something to do." Bloom says, smiling at the two. She then thought of something that causes her to lose the smile and gain a concerned expression and turn to them

"Hey, have you girls heard anything from Naruto?" Bloom asks as each of the girls just shake their heads no. Ever since that night, they haven't seen nor heard from the blonde boy as he just disappeared. They even went to Griselda and Faragonda about this as they were worried about him, but all they gave them was that he was still in the school and was okay but he wasn't himself and they didn't know what to do either since he was locking himself in his room.

"No, we haven't. I'm really getting worried about him." Flora says, having a worried expression

"Yeah, after what he did to the minitour, I'm worried about his mental health. That event and the rage episode he got into could have long last effects on his psyche and could lead him to depression, minor or major and that's not good for someone who has amnesia as it could lead him to…deadly thoughts and decisions…" Tecna says, the girls were getting worried now, if Naruto was really having mental issues, did that night really push him over the edge?

Musa looks at everyone's faces and sees the concern, worried and scared expressions upon hearing Tecna's words and had an idea of what they were thinking. This sets her off as she clutches her hands and grits her teeth. This did not want she wanted to happen to her friend and she was going to stop this

"Okay, this isn't the time to think that, we can still fix this and help him through this, we all promised that we'll help bring Naruto to get his memories back and I'm damn sure we still can. That night was a hiccup in the road and it's caused problems, but we can get through them. Naruto's a scared kid and he needs help and we're the only ones who can really help him. I'm not going to let him down 'cause he hasn't let us down. I'm going to help him, 'cause that's what friends do." Musa says, gaining a fierce, yet determined expression. To her, she owned Naruto her life and she wanted to repay him, and if this was it. She'd gladly do it, even if it would take her years to do. He deserved to know who he really was at least

The girls look at Musa as her word stuck to them, she was serious about this, and that she was right. This incident did cause some issues with their friend and they just let him slowly lose himself in his thought, something that they should have stopped earlier but didn't but now that was going to change

"You're right Musa, we can't let this stop us. We're going to help Naruto get through this, even if it kills us all. He's one of us, he's a part of the Winx and we're going to be there for him. Right?" Bloom asks as one by one, the girls smile, now filled with determination in getting their friend back to himself

"Yeah!" The girls shout, pumping their fists in the air

Eventually, Flora and Tenca said their goodbyes and left for their home realms. With nothing left to do and seeing that all of the other students had left, Bloom, Musa and Stella headed to the dining room to get a bite to it. There, they sat and ate while discussing some things

"Man, it still feels weird in seeing the school so empty." Stella comments, that not hearing much noise around the school

"You're telling me, with all the other students and most of the professors are gone. This place has turned into a ghost place. It's just us, Faragonda and Griselda and Naruto…that is if he's still here." Musa says, looking at her bowl of cereal while fiddling with her spoon.

"Hey, Musa." Bloom calls out, making Musa look up to her

"Yeah?" Musa says

"Why didn't want to go back home? To celebrate with your mom?" Bloom asks. Musa flinches momentarily, thankfully as Bloom and Stella didn't notice this. She calms downs while gaining her words and speaks

"Oh…I really didn't want to, me and my dad aren't on speaking terms at the moment. It'd be awkward for both of us if I went back home…" Musa says, waving her hand, Bloom nods, taking the excuse with Musa looking back down at her cereal and gains a sad expression as she thinks of someone, one she's been thought of for years, and this day, hurt worse just as one other day.

'Since I have no one to celebrate it with…' Musa thought, seeing an image of a woman who looked eerily similar to her

"Oh, okay, and you Stella? Why'd you decide to stay?" Bloom asks, the blonde sighs and turns to the two

"Oh, guess I really haven't told you girls about this. Might as well say it since it'll probably be out anyway. I decided to stay since my mom and dad are getting a divorce." Stella says, causing the other two to look at her with open mouths

"What?" Bloom says as Stella lets out a sad smile

"Yep, the King and Queen of Solaria are spitting up. This was going to happen anyway, they've not been getting along for years and this was the final straw. I didn't want to deal with that during the weekend and I decided to stay and relax for once. That's my reason why. Why did you choose to stay Bloom?"

"I didn't want to go back home, even if I did just for one day, it'd just make me feel more homesick than I am right now.

"Guess we've all got home issues in a strange way huh?"

"Yeah." Bloom says, taking a sip of her tea as she then starts thinking of their missing male friend. Bloom looks at the Music fairy and thought of something

"Musa." Bloom calls to the Musical fairy who looks up

"Mmm?"

"What you said back in our dorm, how you wanted to help Naruto. Did you really mean that?" Bloom asks, making Stella turn to them as Musa sighs and looks at them

"I meant every word I said. He saved my life but he's hurt. He probably thinks that it was his fault that I got hurt and that he failed to protect us. And I can't help but feel guilty for letting him think that. I want to help and cheer him up. I just don't know where to start." Musa says, placing her arms on the table and blowing a string of her bang away.

"How are we going to get to him? None of us have seen him and I know none of us even knows where his room is. What are we going to do?" Bloom

"Why don't we call him?" "I mean, I have his number, we could call him but I'm not sure if he'll pick it up."

"Why?"

"I tried calling him not that long ago and he didn't pick up the call. I tried a few more times before giving up. I'm thinking that he could pick it up now. But I don't know if he'll do it this it

"It might be worth a try since it's our only option right now really. So, who'll call him?" Musa asks

"I'll do it. Stella, give me Naruto's number." Bloom says with Stella giving her the number. Once it was there, Bloom dials the number and lets the call go to loudspeaker to let the others hear. They heard the call ring and ring and this went on for a little bit and this was causing the girls to lose hope a bit, but the phone was picked up and…

[Hello…?] The girls hear a voice that they haven't heard in a long time. It sounded exhausted and had no emotion in it, but they recognized it, it was Naruto

"Naruto!" Bloom yells, relived in hearing his voice

[Oh…hi Bloom…] Naruto spoke, in the same flat, emotionless tone

"Naruto, are you okay? You sounded exhausted." Bloom asks, Stella and Musa lean in closer, frowns appears on all their faces, now noticing his

[Y-Yeah…I'm fine…Just tired…long night ya' know?] Naruto chuckles, but it wasn't filled with joy, just empty

"Naruto, where have you been? No one has seen or heard from you in the past two weeks?" Bloom asks

[…] There was silence on Naruto's side as no word was spoken to him. Sensing that Naruto might drop the call, Musa turns to Bloom

"Bloom, give me the phone. I need to talk to him." Musa says, Bloom hands her the phone and Musa silently clears her throat before speaking into the phone

"Naruto." Musa says as they hear movement from Naruto's side

[M-Musa…is that you?] Naruto asks, his voice has a bit of emotion to it now

"Of course, it's me you dork. Who else sounds this good?" Musa asks, giggling a little

[It's…nice to hear your voice again…I was...afraid that…I'd never hear it again…] Naruto stammers, Musa frowns

"It's nice to hear you too. But I'm worried about you. No one has seen you." Musa asks

"Naruto, we've been all worried about you. What's going on?" Stella says, joining into the call. Naruto didn't speak at first but eventually did

[…I've…been in my room…since that night. I…just needed…space…] Naruto says. The girls look at one another, the words Tecna spoke rang through their heads and that made them highly concerned about him. Bloom turns back to the phone

"Naruto. We need to ask, are you really okay?" Bloom asks

[I'm fine Bloom…Great fine…] Naruto says,

"But Naruto, we just want to know how you are right now." Stella says

[I said I'm fine. And lets it at that] Naruto quickly responds but this time, he sounded a bit annoyed

"But Naruto…" Bloom tries to interject but she was cut off

[Look, if all you're just going to do is bother me by asking me if I'm okay. I'm just going to drop the call.] Naruto says, sounding irritated and fed up

"Wait! Don-!" Bloom tries to prevent Naruto from leaving but it was too late, he hangs up. Bloom tries to dial back to him but the call was immediately declined. She tries again but she found that she was blocked by him

"Damnit! He's not picking up now. Great, all we've done is just make him angry at us." Bloom says, slamming her hands onto the table. They've just made things worse. Stella sighs

"Maybe we should give him some time to cool down. We did push too much." Musa says

"Yeah, maybe…" Stella says. Suddenly, she hears a chirp from her phone. She takes it out and sees what was going on and sees she got a message, from Sky (Brandon), she opens it and reads it

"Oh, Sky texted me, he says that he'll be in the city with Brandon (Sky) and Riven. And he's asking if we can come and hang out with them." Stella says

"Well, maybe we could go and hang out with them. Maybe this could help us think of something on how to approach Naruto." Bloom says

"Yeah, I mean, it's the Day of the Rose. There's got to be something in the city that can help us out." Stella says, standing up. Now feeling determined in helping her fellow blonde. She turns to Musa "Musa, wanna come with us?" Musa just shakes her head

"Sorry, not me. I've got something to do and I wanna do it alone." Musa says

"You sure?" Bloom asks with Musa nodding her head, feeling sure about her decision

"Okay, we won't push you to come with us if you do want to." Stella says as Musa smiles

"Thanks for understanding guys. Hope you have fun today." Musa says

"We'll try." Bloom says the three join in for a hug before separating "We'll see you later. Bye." Bloom says, she and Stella wave Musa goodbye as they walk out of the dining room

"Yeah, see you guys later." Musa says, waving them goodbye. Once she saw that she was alone, she left the dining room and processed down the hallways until she reached the closet, where she entered and went into the tunnels, she had a mission in mind

'Okay, now I can try and look for his room without no one around. Hope Naruto's not too mad at us.' Musa thought as she traverses down the maze of tunnels, in search of the missing blonde's room.


[A few minutes later]

[Naruto's Cave-Alfea]


[Insert Music: pissed by glaive]

Music was playing within Naruto's room as it was…for a better word: a dump. There were dirty, stained, and some of them, torn clothes, oiled stains, and oily tools on the floor. Along with various plastic bottles as well. There were various pages with runes drawn on them scattered around his drawing table with the ink bottles turned over with the contents dried out and brushes on the table itself, unorganized. Various plates and bowls were also on the floor, scattered on the floor with some broken.

As for the teen himself? He was currently laying in his bed, hair a bit longer and messier than it usually was, wearing a stained and dirty white t-shirt, and a pair of dirty black shorts. He had dark circles under his eyes and his irises were a little dull, lacking the light they were known to have. He looked slightly paler than usual. He had bandages wrapped around his wrists and arms as he was staring up at the rocky ceiling. His phone was next to his head, been there since the call with the girls and he was annoyed. He scoffs at the thought of the call

'Checking in on me, asking me if I'm fine? I'm fine, I'M FINE. Nothing's wrong with me. Nothing's wrong.' Naruto thought. Although he felt that he may have gone overboard on going off on the girls and hung up the call, he didn't need help. He was doing fine.

Sighing, he slowly sits up and goes off the bed and walks toward his bike, it's the engine was open with the Bernoulli Convergenator opened out in the open, he'd been up for the past few days with little rest, fixing and adding in a few things into the engine, why? There was the annual Day of the Rose race and he planned to enter and win it. that's why he's been locked in his room for a while, to prep Akira and himself for it but…he really wasn't even feeling hyped for it

As he grabs a few of the tools off from the floor, he began to think back to the girls and how he reacted to them asking about him

'Did I do too far with them? No, I didn't. I'm perfectly fine. They shouldn't worry me. In fact…I think they should…just forget about me and live their lives in peace. Since I can't even protect them from harm.' Naruto thought, saddened at the thought of seeing his friends, his only friends live their lives safely without him in it. but that was a necessary sacrifice to do if it meant they'd be happy. As he goes back to tightening the bolts on the Bernoulli Convergenator, a knock was heard from the entrance to the cave. Naruto might have thought that it was Faragonda again and was about to yell at her when he was greeted by a voice he wasn't expecting to hear so soon

"Naruto…it's me. Musa. Can we talk?" Musa spoke from outside the door. she had found his cave


[End Music]


Naruto remained still and quiet, hoping that Musa would think that he wasn't there and leave him away

"Naruto, I know you're in there. I can see your shadow moving around." Musa spoke, Naruto looks down and saw his shadow was stretched all the way to the door thanks to how the lighting in the room was, he mentally cursed on this. He remains silent as he quietly goes back to working on his bike

"Okay, okay. Still ignoring me, I get it. I do really." Musa said, "Look, can we talk?" Naruto remained silent but that apparently didn't stop Musa

"Look. I know you said that you're fine…but you're not. You're far from it. I know this because I've heard it before. I'm probably the only one in this school and out of our friends to not that you're not fine because I know what it's like to be hurt and depressed. I know this because…I was there before…" Musa admits, causing Naruto to stop working and slowly turn to the door

"You're probably thinking to yourself: How? How can Musa, this carefree, party-loving, musical girl go through the same thing? Well, I have, it's a long story but, I'll tell you if you're interested in hearing me out." Musa says, Naruto doesn't answer but she had a feeling he was listening

"I come from a family of talented people with music. My dad started as a young musician who wasn't making much money but that didn't bother him at all. One day, he went to a concert held in the city back home, and there, he saw my mom for the first time at her first concert. She was an incredible singer and her voice was heaven to listen to, my dad was awestruck by her voice, so much so that he asked her if she could perform this piece he wrote with him. She was leaving home in a day but she told him that he could come over the next morning, he agreed and went off.

He didn't write anything and he had to write the whole piece overnight from scratch. The piece wasn't special and my mom could see that but she could tell that he worked hard on it and that really stuck with her on him. from there, they began to talk more and more with each other and performed together in various concerts and eventually, they fell in love and got married. Over time, money got low and things got rough for them but my dad didn't care as he only wanted to see my mom happy and fulfill her dreams. Over time, they eventually had me, sure they were poor but they didn't care. they were happy, my dad used to tell me that it was the happiest day of his life.

Time passed and my parents were still doing want they loved, performing and playing music. But…one day, that came to stop. During one of their concerts, my mom suddenly got sick and collapsed on stage, causing my das to stop playing and rush to her side along with the others there. She got wrote and worse over time as we could barely afford food, let alone medicine. My mom fought the illness and pain back but…it was too late, I watched her die in front of my eyes, there was nothing we could do. Her death affected my dad and me a lot, more so with my dad.

He blamed music as it caused his wife to overwork herself and pass away from it, I watched him destroy his prized cello and anything else that was related to music, he's never played a single note since and I became the only thing left in his life. The thing that he loves. I was very traumatized by it, but I fell in love with music. I couldn't help it, I loved how it had the world around me just…fade and disappear and it left only me in its world. It's my only escape. My dad found out and he banned music from our house. I got upset, and we began to shout and yell hurtful things at one another until I left. I stayed over at my aunt's for a while to cool down and avoid my father.

I got depressed and went with the wrong group for a time. I isolated myself from everyone, felt anxious, and helpless, I was annoyed with the world and I was losing interest in the things I love, and that included music. I just…felt…empty. My aunt and dad saw that I was taking medics to sleep and they got me help. I'm better now and I haven't touched a single med bottle for 3 years now. but…I something still thinks over those things at times, it never really leaves you, it stays in your mind, waiting and seeing when is the right moment to come back." Musa finishes her story. While she was saying her story, she fell to the ground and leans her back onto the wall while facing the door, watching Naruto's shadow as she saw it move a bit while she spoke.

Naruto was in shock, he had no idea that Musa was like this in the past and that her past was so…tragic…he didn't know what to do or what to say. He hears Musa sigh


[Insert OST: Legacy from Straight Outta Compton]


"Look, Naruto…what I'm trying to say is, you may think what happened that night is your fault, and that you must have failed in protecting your friends and you're beating yourself over it. What I'm saying is…it's not. It never was. You haven't failed anyone, this…was an accident, me getting hurt was an accident. Naruto…" Musa says as she crawls her way t the door and looks down

"You have, friends and family. People who truly care and love you for who you are, and they are worried about you. This…is scaring them, it's scaring me. I know I've gone through the same thing but I don't truly know how you're feeling right now. You might be hurt, exhausted, frightened, and empty, and you can only see that you have to be alone to deal with this. But you don't have to be, we're here for you, we have and we're not going to leave you, not now, and not ever. You may have lost your old memories and you might never know if they'll return. But that doesn't matter right now, you can create new ones, with us. Your family and friends. I'm here Naruto…" Musa says as she places her hand on the door "And I'm not going to leave your side. Ever."

She saw the shadow move a bit, but what she wasn't aware of was that Naruto was by the door as well, on his knees, and had his hand on it as well, right on the spot where her hand was as if they were trying to hold hands but the door was perverting them. The light in Naruto's eyes had returned and tears were treading down his face, he was upset, upset with himself that he was doing to, and was hurting the people who were there for him when no one else was and the people who accepted him and became friends with him.

'What am I doing…?' Naruto thought, his mind was starting to get clear

"Look, I've said what I wanted to say and that's it. If you still don't want to talk, I understand, I won't push you to respond to me. I'll leave you alone for now. If you want to talk, I'll be here." Musa says, she takes her hand off the door and stands up, and turns to leave. She was about to when she heard the door suddenly open, she turns around and sees Naruto standing there, head down with his tears falling as he starts to shake

"M-M-Musa…" Naruto stammers, trying to find the words to say but Musa knows. She goes to him and hugs him, not even bothered by the stains on him

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay, let it out, let it all out. I'm here." Musa says, rubbing his back, which pushed Naruto over the edge as the damn broke, he finally broke down and embraced Musa as he cries while they fall on their knees to the floor

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Naruto just kept apologizing over and over again while Musa tried to soothe him while some tears were falling down from her eyes as this went on for several minutes. Eventually, he calmed down enough to separate from Musa


[End OST: End at 02:55]


"Feeling better?" Musa asks, a bit tear-stained but she wasn't bothered by it. Naruto nods

"Y-Yeah, I'm better." Naruto says, wiping the last of his tears away as he looks at Musa's eyes "Thank you, Musa. Really." Musa just waves this off

"It was no problem Naruto." Musa says, but Naruto just shakes his head

"No…Thank you. You…told me a lot of your past, even though you shouldn't have. I…don't know how to repay you for this." Naruto says with Musa once again waving it off

"It was no issue Naruto. You're my friend and you needed help. I decided to give the help you needed." Musa says with a small smile. The two looked at one another for a bit as emotions and thoughts ran through their minds. Slowly, they start to lean into one, staring into each other eyes, just as their mouths were just mere space from one another…

*Ring! Ring! Ring!*

A ringing sound went off, stopping the two teens from what they were about to do and they snap to reality as they noticed their faces were so close, causing them to blush and move away

"T-That's my phone, I should probably go and see what's up." Naruto says with Musa surprisingly nodding shyly while looking away from him

"Y-Yeah…" Musa stutters, Naruto gets up and walks into his room to the bed where the phone lies. While he was doing this, Musa was thinking of what just happened

'Shit! What was that?! What. Was. THAT!? What was I about to do!? Was I really going to kiss Naruto?! I mean…he is mysterious and he's a bit of a rebel…and fun to be around, boyish, kind and gentle, easy to talk to, one hell of a singer, and…wait…am I…falling for Naruto…?' Musa thought as her blush reddens while placing her hands onto her cheeks, feeling the heat radiating off them

"OH SHIT!" Musa was brought out of her thought by hearing Naruto's yelp. She turns and sees him panicking over something

"What?! What's wrong?!" Musa asks

"THE RACE! It starts in 15 minutes!" Naruto yells, he drops his phone on the bed and starts running around his room, looking for clothes to wear

"Wait, what race?" Musa asks

"There's a race in the city for The Day of the Rose called the Race of the Rose. It's held every year and I wanted to go there and maybe win this year's race, there is a reward and the winner gets it. I'm registered there since I signed up three weeks ago and I'm late! I have to get there quick!" Naruto shouts, he starts to undress, first was his t-shirt and then his shorts, he was about to take off his boxers when he stops and notices Musa was staring at him, eyes fixed on him as her blush had returned but this time, it was redder than last time

"Ah…Musa…could you…?" Naruto stammers, blushing as Musa snaps out of her state and realizes that Naruto saw her staring, her face went red, her eyes widening

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Musa yells, she grabs the door and slams it shut. Outside, she stood next to it, panting as she tries to calm down with her blush fading a bit but still remains. After a few moments, hearing stuff from the inside, the door opens with Naruto wearing a race suit that consisted mainly black with some orange in some areas of the suit, he didn't have gloves on and had his mask around his neck

"Alright, I'm about to head off." Naruto says, Musa nods

"Okay, good luck at the race. I'll see you later." Musa says

"Hey, do you want to come with me? To see the race?" Naruto asks, Musa was quick to shake her head

"I don't know, I mean, I am the one who's making you late as it is and I don't want to be a bother to you." Musa says but Naruto shakes his head this time

"No, you're not. You're not a bother to me at all. I do need someone who could…I don't know, cheer me on. But I understand if you don't want to." Naruto asks, Musa thought on it for a bit, she then looks at Naruto and saw his version of puppy eyes, or in this case

"Alright, I'll go with you. Besides, it's not every day you get to see a race in the city" Musa says, Naruto cracks out a bright smile

"Awesome! You won't be disappointed!" Naruto says, Musa couldn't help but smile as well, after seeing Naruto's smile, it meant that some of the darkness in his mind was leaving, not all but some. That was progress.

They head to his bike as Naruto closes the engine, sits on it, and starts it up. The engine roars to life as blue flames sprout out of the exhaust. He closes his eyes and revs the engine, loving how beefy it sounded, it was back. He opens his eye and turns to Musa, nudging his head to her

"C'mon, we've got a race to get to." Naruto says. Musa shrugs and heads over to him, sitting on the bike behind him, he grins and revs the bike up a bit more as it hovers off from the floor and jets out of the garage bay. Thanks to the jolt, Musa instinctively wraps her arms around Naruto's chest to pervert falling off the bike. The two zooms through the tunnel until they start heading toward the exit to the outside and they zoom onto the road toward the city. Musa looks at the surroundings and saw how the world looked like a blur as they were zooming at high speeds, it felt like the world was just an illusion and they were…just wind o it, it felt nice, it made her feel, freedom. She turns to Naruto and saw he was focused on the road ahead, smiling as his hair was flowing gracefully along the wind. She couldn't help but feel that he had this, bright energy to him, but that dark anger she felt that night was also there, while it was there the bright energy was overlaying it. Making it hard to really feel it. She places her head on his back and closes her eyes, letting the surrounding noises and engine fade away and she only was listening to one thing.

His heartbeat…

They were reaching the city as fireworks were going off about it, singling that the race was about to begin


[City Center-Magix]

[Time: 11:45 a.m.]


The city's center was packed with the citizens of Magix as a course was made with the city's streets, this was the course of the Race of the Rose.

Various racers were getting ready for the start of it and most of them were famous racers. Some of them were even students of Red Fountain and Brandon, Sky and Riven were among the racers.

Riven was seen, prepping himself for the race when he notices Bloom walking over to him, with her hands behind her back

"Riven…" Bloom says

"What do you want?" Riven scoffs, glaring at the redhair, angry at her for what she did to him when she and Stella met up with him and the others earlier. He had tried to flirt and ask Bloom out but she refused as he did it in a rude, cocky manner after trying to make a bet with his teammates on the race. He tried again but she wasn't having it, and she retaliated by splashing him with water from a pot. He got angry ad she tried to apologize but he left before she could

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did earlier. It was wrong of me. I'm sorry." Bloom says, feeling

"I wanted to give you this." Bloom says, pulling her hands from behind and had something in them, it was a box. She opens it and the box reveals a strange device in it. Bloom takes the device out

"It's a present, it's an apology for how I reacted to you and-"

'Give it." Riven cuts Bloom off as he snatches the device from her hands, he presses a button on it, and the device changes into a futuristic streamlined racing helmet. He places the helmet on his head and he liked how it felt. It felt good. He presses the button on top of the helmet and it changes back to its original form

"I like it, feels good. Thanks." Riven says, turning his attention back to his bike but before he went on further, he turns back to Bloom "Hey, was there anything else you wanted to say?" He asks, hoping that she took his offer on that date

"Just…good luck in the race." Bloom just says and leaves him alone back to his work. Unaware that people were watching them.

The racers hop onto their bikes and pull at the starting line as the crowd were cheering and ready for the race to start

"The race is about to begin! Ladies and Gentlemen! Are you ready?!" An announcer yells when the crowd responds to him loudly

"Now, you may notice something off with the line-up, we're one racer short. We have no idea where he could be but if he doesn't show up in time. He can't race, unfortunately." The announcer says, leaving some of the spectators to wonder where was this last missing racer

In an alleyway behind the crowd, Naruto and Musa were there as they had just arrived in the city center. Naruto looks up to a monitor and saw the racers lined up at the start

"Oh great, they're at the start line already." Naruto says, frowning. Musa turns to him

"Can you still race? Even if they're about to begin?" Musa asks as Naruto thought back to the rules and realized a loophole in them

"I can, if I can make it past the start line in 10 seconds after the race had started, they have to let me race. If I don't, I'm disqualified." Naruto says. Frowning as he looks around and saw that he couldn't enter the track in a normal way.

'I need a way to get onto the track and rush it. But how?' Naruto thought, he began to look around the area to see if there was a way to enter the track in time, he spots a nearby truck parked and it was a flatbed, he gained an idea

'That's it!' Naruto thought, he turns back to Musa and grabs her by her shoulders, causing her to turn to him

"I got a way to get onto the track and compete. It's risky but it might work. You can go and watch the race." Naruto says, Musa nods

"Okay. I'll go and look for Bloom and Stella." Musa says, Naruto nods and turns back to his bike and hops on it, he was about to leave for his plan when…

"Wait Naruto!" Musa yells, stopping him. He turns back and saw her rubbing her arm while looking to the floor for a little bit before looking up at him, staring into his eyes. "G-Good luck in the race. I'll be rooting for you."

Naruto was stunned at first at seeing Musa like this but he lets out a smile.

"Thanks, Musa." Naruto says as he zooms out of the alleyway and turns left

'Now, where are they?' Musa thought as she starts to look for the others

The racers were lined up and ready, and the announcer floated near them on a hovercraft near a

"These are the light singles gentlemen, when they go dark, that's when you set off! Are you ready!?" The announcer asks as the racers rev their engines, while looking at the lights

3…

Not that far down the street, Naruto turns onto the relatively empty road as he saw on the monitor that the first single light was on and time was out, he had to do this if he wanted to race.

'Hope this works…' Naruto thought as he places his mask around his mouth and a black helmet materialized over his head as he lines up to the truck

2…

Musa was walking through the crowd

'Where are they? I'd figure that they'd be here since everyone's here…' Musa thought, she looks around a bit more until she spots a strand of red ginger hair and blonde hair. she knew who the hair belonged to

"Guys!" Musa yells out and heading toward Bloom and Stella who turn and were surprised in seeing her here

"Musa? What are you doing here?" Stella asks

"I came here with Naruto to watch him race." Musa says, causing Bloom and Stella to be shocked by this

"Wait, Naruto's here? Where?" Bloom asks surprise and panic were filling her

"He's somewhere else but he said he has a plan to enter the race." Musa says, she notices Bloom was getting anxious about something "What's wrong? Why do you look panicked?"

"The Trix are here, I've been tricked!

"What?..."

1…

Naruto sets off, heading straight toward the truck's flatbed as he lines his path up for it. Bloom, Stella, and Musa were running down the sideway, passing civilians along the way

"What do you mean by tricked?" Musa asks

"I was given a helmet by someone who looked like Timmy but Stella told me that he's nowhere near the city today." Bloom says

"By why would they trick you?" Stella asks

"Yes, I don't know why but they're up to something. C'mon, we have to stop them." Bloom says, Musa thought back at what Bloom said to her earlier and remember something

"Wait, you said they gave you a helmet. Where is it?" Musa asks

"I gave it to…RIVEN! He's wearing it right now in the race!" Bloom shouts, causing the others to go eyes wide

"What!?"

GO!

As soon as the light went green, the racers set off with Brandon taking the earlier lead while Riven was hot on his tail. The crown cheer, seeing the race has started. As this happened, someone screamed, causing everyone to turn and see an orange supped-up hover bike soar over the crowd and land on the track, and pass the start line. The announcer noticed something on the line-up as the last name on the registry flashed and go black, telling him that was Naruto


[Insert OST: His World (Zebrahead Version) From Sonic the Hedgehog '06 Soundtrack]


"Wait, that's the last racer! He's made it in time before he could get disqualified! He's entered the race in a flamboyant way we've never seen before folks! This could be exciting!" The announcer yells, causing the crowd to realize what was going on and they cheer and turn to the screen in watching the race unfold

Naruto was in last place but he was surprisingly catching up to the other races as he maneuvered past most as they took sharp corners and made the elaborate drifts, with most of the racers wiping out due to something happening or couldn't keep control of their bike. Naruto was now in the top 3 as he was behind Brandon and Riven with the two duking out for first. Naruto lines up for a chance to past them and when he saw one as they separate, he shifts gears and Akira shot out a boost of speed and shot him forward and past the two.

'Whoa! Never had that happened before. Was that the Bernoulli Convergenator? If so, what the hell did Hank do to it?' Naruto thought, he shook his head and decided that was for later, right now, he had a race to win. He was in first with Brandon in second while Riven was in third but there was one last racer behind them, catching up to them. As they were heading down a straight, the announcer saw something fly onto the track

"What a race folks!? And we even have an unusual competitor who just flew onto the track. A red-haired fairy!" The announcer yells, causing Naruto to stop focusing on the road and took in what he said

'Wait, red-haired fairy? It couldn't be…' Naruto thought. He turns his head back and sees Bloom in her Winx form, flying on the track. He was shocked. He lets up on the accelerator and lets Riven and Brandon pass him as he slows down enough and rides next to Bloom

"Bloom! What's going on?! Why are you on the track?!" Naruto asks

"Naruto, is that you!?" Bloom asks and Naruto nods, showing it was him "We've got trouble Naruto. The Trix are here. they tricked me with having one of their minions disguised as Timmy and handed me a helmet and Riven's wearing that helmet right now!"

"What?!" Naruto yells, suddenly the last unknown racer passes them and heads straight toward Brandon. They lift their hand out to them and a purple magical beam shot out to Brandon's bike, causing it to go haywire and almost made him crash but he regains control and stops on the side, eliminating him from the race. Naruto had sensed the magical presence of the unknown racer and he knew who it was

"That's Darcy! I 'd recognize that Vertigo spell from anything!" Naruto says, the two saw that Darcy was now heading toward Riven as he was in first

"She's heading straight toward Riven. We have to stop her." Bloom says

"We've got to catch up. Hop on and hold on tight. I don't know if I can control what about to do." Naruto says, Bloom flies up to the bike and sits on it. Naruto shifts gears again and inside Akira, the Bernoulli Convergenator glowed and sent a pulse through the engine, causing the whole bike to gain a new speed and shoot towed Riven at high speed.

They easily pass Darcy and were catching up to Riven, once they were neck and neck. The two turn to Riven

"Riven! Bro, you've got to stop and take that helmet off." Naruto yells

"He's right, you have to stop and take it off. it's dangerous!" Bloom yells. Riven turns to them

"Wait, Bloom and…" Riven recognized Naruto's voice.

"The Mechanic…You two aren't going to stop me! No one can, not when I'm about to win." Riven says as he turns back and focus as he accelerates

"No! You did understand! That helmet, it's-!" Bloom was cut off when they suddenly hear Riven scream. They saw helmet was sending electricity, frying his head. This was causing him to start losing his balance and control before he crashed and was sent flying. Naruto and bloom saw this and reacted quickly. Bloom flew up and caught Riven but the force of catching him mid-air had caused Bloom to fall down. Naruto sped up and once he was under them, stops and caught them with Akira, sliding across the track as they pass the finish line.


[End OST]


Once they had come to a complete stop, Naruto got Riven off from Bloom and set him down to the ground and starts checking on him

"Is he alright?" Bloom asks, worried if Riven was hurt

"I don't know." Naruto says, his helmet has dematerialized but his mask was still on. Naruto saw a button on the helmet and presses it, causing the helmet to change into its basic form and he took it off. Brandon and Sky approach them and saw Riven on the floor

"What happened? What did you two do?" Brandon asks, approaching them along with Sky

"We did nothing, he lost control of his bike suddenly while we were trying to tell him to take the helmet off." Bloom explains. Riven groaned a bit before he started to stir awake. He looks around and saw the others were checking on him. He looks around and spots Darcy as she was taking off her helmet

"Hey, you okay?" Darcy asks, no one noticed that her eyes flashed momentarily and Riven's flashed as well. He smirks as he stands up and heads over to her

"I am now beautiful." Riven says, making Darcy giggle a little. Before she could say anything else, Bloom flew and got in between them. Musa and Stella approach the group and watch what was unfolding

"Riven, get away from her! She's one of the witches from the other night!" Bloom says, glaring at the witch who holds her hands out in defense

"Hey, chill out. I was only here to race, there's no law saying women can't race." Dacry says

"But I know you and your friends caused the accident. I don't know how you did it but I know you did!" Bloom yells, causing Naruto to get behind her and stop her from attacking.

"How about you get away from me? I saw you and the mechanic next to me. I don't know what you did, but it was you who did something to my helmet that made me lose the race. Just so your mechanic could win!" Riven shouts at Bloom in anger as he takes the helmet off and tosses it at Bloom, Naruto catches it and crushes it with his hand, letting drop to the floor in pieces before turning to Riven

"Hey, back off. she was only trying to help your ungrateful ass." Naruto says, glaring at Riven but the hotshot wasn't bothered by the glare and scoffs at him

"Oh, and of course, you'd defend this sorry excuse of a fairy. That's what all they are, useless excuses. I mean, that's why you'd hang around them since you're weak too. I saw how fucked up you were that night. Maybe you should have stayed down and let us deal with that monster. Not you, you untrained Specialist wannabe!" Riven yells. Naruto was getting angry, so angry that his irises starts to turn ruby red with his pupils constricted and were slitting

"You…" Naruto growls out, he was about to move toward Riven and knock his lights out, if Musa didn't grab his arm and made stop him as he looks at her

"Calm down Naruto! He isn't worth it. Please, calm down…" Musa pleads with Naruto. He saw that his anger wasn't helping her and he saw that the others were on edge. He takes a few deep breaths and calms down enough as his eyes were returning back to normal. Riven scoff at seeing this

"He, just as I thought. You can't do shit without your ladies' approval. Man, what a wimp/simp you are." Riven says, eventually Sky had enough of Riven's behaviour

"Riven, if you're going to be nothing but rude to the ones who saved you? Then I suggest that you get the hell out of here." Sky says as Riven scoff and looks at him with unimpressed eyes

"Whatever, I'm out of here. And I'm going to ask for a transfer out of this stupid team. You're all holding me back." Riven

"You stay away from me." Riven says to Bloom as tears begun to appear in her eyes

'Whoa, such anger, such power with it.' Darcy thought, surprised at the fact someone like Naruto processed such a thing. She lets out a power-lust grin as her eyes gain a certain glint to them 'I like it. I'll keep it a secret for now. up until I figure out how to crack you.'

"Wait Riven. Let me come with you." Dacry says, looking back to the group, and gives Bloom a discreet smirk. Once the two had disappeared into the crowd. Naruto roared in anger

"BASTARD!" Naruto roars, punching a large hole into a wall beside him, anger at Riven and how he was filled his mind as he looks up and glares at where Riven and Darcy had gone to. A hand places itself on his shoulder, he looks up and sees Sky looking at him

"I swear…if that guy pisses me off one more time…" Naruto mutters, a hand places itself onto his shoulder, he looks up and sees Sky looking at him

"Calm down man. Don't let what he said get to you. it's not worth getting so worked up over."

"Yeah...you're right…" Naruto says as he sighs. He takes his hand out of the hole and turns to Bloom who looked like she was about to break down "Are you okay Bloom?"

"N-No…I tried to help him, make him understand that it was the Trix and that I didn't do a thing to hurt him." Bloom says as the tears were close to falling. Naruto goes to her and pulls her in for a hug as he soothes her back

"It's okay Bloom. It's okay, there are people out there who aren't grateful for what they have or what people do for them. It's not your fault if Riven's like this." Naruto says as he continues to rub her back, she breaks down and sobs onto his chest. Stella and Musa go to them and place their hands on her shoulders, Bloom turns to them

"Yeah, things like this happen all the time. We have no control over how people act. That's life." Stella says with Musa nodding, Bloom goes to them and hugs them as she reverts back to her normal state. Sky lets out a sigh

"Looks like we've lost a member…" Sky says with Brandon sighing was

"Give him time. Maybe he'll calm down and see that he's in the wrong here." Sky says

"Maybe. And I hope so…" Brandon says.


Eventually, Naruto received his winning prize, seeing as he was the only one who was left and had crossed the line first, his prize was in the form of a wish orb that he can use at any time but he decided in saving it on a rainy day. Thanks to the event in the race, no one felt like going to the Ball and decide to call it a day. The guys said their goodbyes to the Winx as they parted ways with their respective schools.

Bloom had cried herself to sleep and Naruto opted to take her on his bike on the ride back to Alfea. Once the four made it back and saw that no one was still there. They enter the hallways toward the girls' dorm

"What a day…" Naruto sighs, carrying Bloom to her room, as Musa and Stella agree with him, they all felt exhausted, mentally and physically

"Yeah. I feel bad for Bloom." Stella says

"Yeah, but she's tough. She can get through this. I know that for a fact." Naruto says, looking down to Bloom as she slept

"So, what should we do now? Watch a movie back at our dorm?" Stella asks

"You guys go on ahead. I have something to do. I'll catch up once I'm done okay." Musa says. Naruto and Stella looks at her before turning to each other and turn back to her and nod

"Okay." The two blondes say, they left Musa as she walks in the other direction and walks all the way up to one of the school's tower balconies. She looks over to the night sky and sees the city in the distance, celebrations were still going on. She sighs and pulls out something from her pocket. It looked like an unbosomed flower. She set the device down on the balcony and sits on it as well. She then sends some magic to the device and a hologram video image of a fair-skinned young woman with shoulder-length blackish-blue hair that resembles a bob with pieces of hair tied back and dark gray eyes.

"Hi, Mom. Man, do I have things to tell you? This year so far has been interesting here at Alfea. I met some really great girls who are my roommates and we're great friends now and there's this…boy I met, he's strange, but I'm thinking it's either his amnesia or that's how he really is, but he's fun." Musa says as she giggles a bit while the video hologram of her mother smiles. Musa stops giggling and frowns as she looks at the hologram

"He's…a hurt and scared kid and he's like me. I want to help him, I really do. 'Cause…what would happen if he destroys himself?" Musa asks as the hologram frowns

"What do I do?" Musa asks the hologram, the hologram just looks at her, not answering, she sighs and shuts the video off. She sighs and looks onto the city

'I wish you were really here mom…I could really use some advice here…' Musa thought


つづく...

Looks like things are getting more complicated as time goes by with our heroes. Naruto and Musa bond a bit as both have similarities with one another and Riven becomes more aggressive with the others. Is it him or is something else at play here?

What will happen to our heroes next?

You'll find out in the next chapter of: Fox Among Fairies!


Hey guys, Pixel here, and thanks for reading my story. It really helps a lot that people are reading my story and I'm grateful for it.

This chapter took a while to write but I'm happy I got it done. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter

You guys can comment on the mistakes I made in the chapter, what you want to see in the story and how much you'd enjoy it.

You can ask me questions on the story in the reviews or PM me if you really want to get to it and what you want to be included in the story

And hope you all will find the references I put in this chapter apart from the ones I pointed out


Now, let's respond to the last chapter's reviews.:


gaaradamirel90: Thanks dude for the love. I hope you liked this chapter

R-King 93: Thanks man

jeremiahkelley93: Thanks man

calebturner2016: Thanks man, I fucking love music from games, it gets me all hyped up for like a big moment or just to vibe to it

Dragonkeeper10: It'll be one of many in Naruto's and the girls' lives. You'll see

drake wind: I'm going for more like how Kurama was back in Part 1 and earlier in Part 2 of Canon Naruto where he was sort of a prick. He'll lighten up...eventually

Jebest4781: Thanks man, I like to take it slow in the development of the girls' and Naruto's bond.

starravenwolf: Thanks for the love wolf. Yeah, this is the first glimpse of how powerful Naruto really is, let's get hope that the Trix don't piss him off to the boiling point of no return

QuestionMarkBob: That is, if I make him remember the technique

omar,cornelius,9: Here's a hint, it's a little feathered bird and calls on of the Trix 'mama'

NinjaFang1331: Thanks for the love man, but is Kurama really evil or is he just misunderstood?

Well, that's all I have to say.


Thank you for reading the chapter, please leave a review, follow me if you enjoy it and want more, please go vote on the poll, and please go check out my other stories if you wanna see more stuff like this. Stay safe and healthy and I'll check you all on the next chapter and story

This is Pixel, logging off and I'll see you on the next chapter and over to Deku 10 for the next chapter

Have a good day/night!

さよなら