{words -4737}

{SmallBasilisk28 here! -I'm not home right now please leave a message after the beep, BEEP!- Stories coming along great but I have to do a disclaimer again! I own nothing except the OC things I think up.}

Chapter 7

Asura yawned slightly walking out of the forges he had in the back of his store heading upstairs towards his bathroom after leaving his tool belt on the counter. 'It took me almost all of last night but I finally finished the rush order job.' He stretching his arms out trying to crack his stiff bones from falling asleep on his table again before quickly getting out of the grim covered clothes he currently had on. Tossing them into the nearby basket Asura stepped into the shower ignoring the noises coming from his kitchen knowing only a few people could get into his home without him knowing about it.

Asura let out a small tired sigh feeling the hot water trickling down his body as he grabbed the bottle of shampoo and lathered it through his grim covered hair. 'I really should have started on it sooner but they wouldn't leave until all the desserts were gone. Maybe I should just cook for Natsu for a month or two to get back at them.' Asura thought with a small laugh trying to picture their faces if he ever did threaten to stop cooking for everybody but his Salamander. Humming a small tune under his breath as he cleaned himself off Asura didn't hear the door to his bathroom opening or Natsu slowly closing it with a small grin forming on his lips seeing the outline of his boyfriend in the shower.

A smile graces his lips when Asura starts thinking back to the to things he never had before leaving that village behind and the small pleasure that comes with even the smallest things most people would normally take for granted. "Maybe Natsu would like something simple for lunch if we take a mission later today."

"I've always liked tasting your seafood." Natsu's voice whispers in his ear causing Asura to let out a girly scream (not that he'd ever admit it to anybody ever) before turning around slamming his fist into Natsu's stomach smashing him into the nearby wall.

"D-don't do that Natsu." Asura stuttered out slightly quickly reaching for one of the towels hanging on the rack nearby when his boyfriend stopped him catching his hand in a strong grip. His face was getting redder by the second when Natsu pulled him back into the shower letting Asura see him covered in flour, what looked like eggs and an assortment of other things that belonged in his fridge.

"Sorry I just figured we could shower together and save a little time." Asura felt his whole face heating up seeing Natsu's eyes trailing up his still wet body. Natsu didn't give him any time to respond when he slid the glass door to the shower close while trailing feather light kisses down Asura's neck trying to keep him distracted for a bit.

Twenty minutes later a flustered, blushing Asura walked out of the bathroom followed by Natsu who had a large grin on his face even if the side of his head was covered in bandages from trying to pin his boyfriend again. Looking inside the bathroom they just left anyone could see it looked like a warzone hit it with the mirror busted, parts of the floor ripped up, and pieces of the walls and sink caved in from where Natsu tried pinning him. Both of them knew it was just their draconic instincts fighting for the dominant position in the relationship so they didn't hold it against each other and Natsu loved getting patched up by Asura after trying his luck so in his mind he won either way. 'Maybe next time I'll pin him.' Natsu thought until he saw Asura just standing in the opening of his kitchen staring at the large stack of dishes that he knew weren't there last night.

"Sorry about that I tried cooking breakfast for us again." Natsu told him scratching the back of his head when Asura's eyes went from looking at the large stack of dishes to the two plates waiting for them on the table. Asura gulped slightly seeing the skull rising from the burnt bowl of rice with an evil laugh but fought back the urge to run knowing Natsu really tried his best. "We can eat at the guild if you don't want it." The offer was really, really tempting but Asura wouldn't take it after seeing the hopeful puppy dog eyes Natsu was giving him.

"It's fine. Just let me get my morning tea started." Natsu's grin came back even larger than before after Asura planted a quick kiss on his lips before he moved over towards the sink.

"I can help with that." Taking the kettle from the shorter blond's hands after he filled it up and seeing Asura smiling softly at him before lightly shaking his head was worth the effort it took to try not burning the food that badly.

Watching Natsu's hands glowing red slightly as he boiled the water for him Asura walked over grabbing two clean cups from the nearby cabinet. Most people at the guild wouldn't believe his boyfriend could act like this but Asura didn't care knowing Natsu only did things like this for him.

Natsu really does try his best not to act like an idiot around Asura not wanting to give him a single doubt about the chance he was given after confessing to the Water Dragon Slayer. There were a few times that stuck out in Asura's mind even before they started dating where he would come home from an overnight solo job or delivery to find Natsu fast asleep on his couch having stayed up waiting on him to come back. Asura even remembered the night he asked why him when the subject about Lisanna was brought up after a small argument that turned into an all out fight with some former guild members that had a thing against him. The answer Asura got when Natsu showed up at his doorstep in the middle of the night looking like he was angry at himself and flustered at the same time as he tried apologizing helped more than anything else.

{Flashback}

"Th-this was just a mistake." Asura says trying not to lose his temper seeing Natsu standing there looking truly defeated with an apologetic look in his eyes. "I should have known something happened for you to pick me of all people." He tries to close the door to his home when Natsu stops him pulling Asura into a tight embrace looking scared of what might happen if he let go.

"I'm sorry please, please believe me." Natsu pleads even as Asura struggles in his grip trying to break free. "Gramps said he'd talk to them about what they did and I didn't care for Lisanna like that, please just stop for a second a quit running away from me."

"Just let me go Dragneel." It broke Natsu's heart hearing Asura say his last name like that and seeing the hurt look in his eyes from everything he overheard at the guild moments ago. "You didn't say a word until after I left so why should I believe anything you say now?" He bowed his head still struggling to be let go but Natsu held him his lean muscled hands gripping him tighter so Asura wouldn't run again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry for not saying anything at the time but I didn't hear them from across the guild until after Mira told me what they said to you." He looked completely miserable but kept talking desperately trying to get Asura to believe him. "I did care for her but as a close friend maybe a sister at best but never anything more than that no matter what you heard them say." Asura stops struggling and Natsu could see the unshed tears in his eyes and that only made the guilt eating away at him ten times worse knowing he should have told him about Lisanna before something like this happened.

It hurt him even more seeing his body trembling slightly because Natsu was the only person that knew about Asura's past before Ryujin took his fellow Dragon Slayer in and why when he laughs it helps to hide the phantom pain nobody else can see except for him whenever Asura sees a mother playing with her child or a brother holding his younger siblings hand. He was the only person Asura trusted with his darkest secrets and knew why the tears were there with everything that happened to him behind that villages walls before his escape. "You're always helping me, always willing to drop anything when I need help or I'm sick. I've been entranced from the moment I saw you all those years ago so give me a chanc-."

"Please." Asura's voice was barely a whisper when he cut him off. "Just let me go Natsu, I can't afford to go back there again. I can't let my thoughts drift to that hell when they kept reminding me that demons don't deserve a family or any kind of love or family. If I do I don't think I'll be able to come back from that point again. I can't break after everything my father did to pull me together so please just go away." He looked up staring Natsu in the eyes with a far away look like Asura was seeing past him looking at something that wasn't there. "I don't lo-." He gasped slightly when Natsu pulled him closer kissing him on the lips.

"Y-you can hate me for anything I might do but please don't ever stop loving me Asura." Natsu murmured into Asura's blonde hair only to hear the shorter mage crying. "I'll prove I can be what you wanted and more just don't say those four words to me."

{Flashback End}

Asura chuckled under his breath remembering the look of joy on Natsu's face when they made up with each other after their first big fight. That along with the grin his boyfriend had for the rest of the week when Natsu never left his side even trying to help out around the store helped Asura put a lot of self doubts he had about himself to rest. Walking back over with the cups in his hand Asura glanced over towards the old-looking radio he still hasn't gotten around to fixing sitting near the open window before rolling his eyes hearing their cats snickering at them from the living room.

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A few hours later Team Natsu was leaving Magnolia with Gray and Cana tagging along since they knew Erza was going to be back soon. "I still can't believe you did that to Lucy, the poor sucker." Cana said trying her hardest not to laugh at what Asura did to his fellow blond.

"She's a worthy sacrifice to appease the blood thirsty beast known as Titania." Asura replied in fake sympathy not regretting throwing the rookie into the beast clutches so they could escape her attitude problems. Glancing into the carriage they were escorting to Clover Town for the guild masters conference Asura looked at the one woman who had a hand in almost every merchant guild in Fiore, Mary Kaufman. The guild master of Fortune's Market who could talk her way out of anything if given enough time and a B-Class mage that's shown Asura a few tricks during the few times they ran across each other when he was trying to get a vending license.

"You can ask me whatever you want instead of talking about your monthly sacrifice to Mt. Erza. I won't bite with your boyfriend watching your back all the time, not much anyway." The last part was whispered but Natsu who was walking behind Asura heard it and growled slightly in warning to back off.

"I was wondering if you could tell me why you sent the escort job to Fairy Tail and if we had enough time maybe give me a few more tips about running a successful store." Asura told her looking away embarrassed at wanting to pick up a few tips on running his store better than the other stores in Magnolia. There just wasn't anyone better in his mind that he could ask then the woman who runs Fortune's Market and built a successful guild from the ground up and they were going to be traveling together for a few days so it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

"You run a store like Asura does. I thought you were the top merchant guild's master?" Gray asked from his seat opposite her since him and Cana were inside riding along with her incase something happened.

"I'm more of a businesswoman actually." Mary corrected placing the book in her hands down on the empty seat beside her. "My guild has connections within the King's courtroom so I don't count myself as a merchant that much anymore. Merchant's buy and sell goods like your little friend guarding me does when he's not out on jobs while I buy and sell stores or anything else that has the potential to be something great later down the road. That's one of the reasons why I own thirty-three percent of his store while the other reasons are me just being slightly curious about another mage trying to be a merchant like me could do."

"So she's your supplier dad?" Cole asked landing on Asura's head after flying around the carriage with his big brother for the past twenty minutes trying to extend the amount of time they could stay in the air before their transformation runs out. Cole was also working on another spell that would blow everyone away when they saw it but that was still tough to figure out with only his big brother helping.

"Asura really doesn't need my help with much since he finds or makes a good sixty percent of his store but yes I'm his supplier and he helps me by keeping his eyes open for a few things I'm looking for." Mary answered for Asura finding it cute when Natsu started walking closer to the blond after she looked him over for a third time. She smirked slightly seeing the look the Fire Dragon Slayer shot her way when he thought no one was looking but ignored it knowing Natsu didn't mean anything by it. "As for why I sent the job to Fairy Tail instead of my regular is simple really. Phantom Lord tried cheating my men on a job the last time we hired them to guard a shipment of metals and I got tired of listening to Jose whine like a child over ever little thing when we were forced to negotiate prices." Her eyes then trailed up Gray's body a gleam in her eyes that sent chills down the mage's spine. "I really don't mind if you work in nothing but your boxers but where are your clothes?"

Cana laughed watching Gray jumping out of the carriage running to pick up his clothes while Asura looked down at the onyx colored ring on his index finger when it started glowing slightly. "You were right Loke, Erza did try searching our homes when she couldn't find us in the guild hall." Asura called out causing Loke who was riding in the front near the driver to chuckle while Cana marked it down in her book leaving a reminder to pay him later when they stopped for the night.

"How mad do you think she'll be when Erza finds out you took the last bit of cheesecake in the guild?" Cole asked his father looking down at Asura from on top of his head.

"Who knows but I'm guessing she'll have another eruption." Asura answered Cole with a shrug not caring that much since he needs his sweets almost as much as Natsu needed fire. 'That's what she gets for trying to force her way past my barriers.' He thought with a small shudder remembering the look on Erza's face when she found out killing his clones couldn't hurt him physically. Mentally, that's another story all together after the last batch she went after in a dominatrix outfit. They might have been just clones to her but most of the men in the guild prayed for them after hearing they were trapped near Fairy Hills during her last eruption.

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It took them three days traveling by foot since Mary made stops in a few of the trading towns along the way but they finally arrived at Clover Town right on time for the annual guild masters conference. Team Natsu after getting paid for completing the first half of the job tried catching glimpses of Makarov through the windows without getting busted by the soldiers guarding the building but gave up after Natsu and Gray started a fight that drew a few looks. They were easily looked over because people were wondering why Mary Kaufman came in person instead of sending a proxy in her place like she normal did for almost every meeting they had.

"Makarov dear, I'm jealous that all those cuties you have in your guild are so full of life." Master Bob said glancing over at the window nearby seeing Natsu, Asura and their cats peeking through the window watching all the different branches of guild masters chatting amongst themselves. "I even heard about your newest rookie that took down over a hundred gorilla warlords single-handedly on her very first job and your Twin Dragons are on everybody's lips with everything they've done so far. Though they're nothing compared to my newest member Utakata, I just love the Acid Magic he uses with all those colorful bubbles." Makarov caught the cold look that flashed in Bob's eyes when the both of them saw Aries trying to pull them away from the window and mouthed later since he knew what his old friend was worried about. He mentally cursed himself for forgetting about the letter informing his old friend about Aries that he still hasn't gotten around to sending with all the paperwork his children cause him. It was something a few guild masters agreed to help Bob out with when he asked them to keep an eye open for anyone with Aries key after Karen's death and could guess some of the thoughts running through his head right now.

"Oh you must have heard about the job Lucy went on with Gray." Makarov tapped his chin trying to remember the rumor he heard about his newest child and hopping to distract Bob. 'Wasn't it more than that, maybe a giant robot or something...' "Asura though, that boy's a god send." He looked up towards the heavens crying tears of joy. "He never lets Fairy Tail shoulder Team Natsu's bills no matter how bad they get. He'll pay for it out of his own pocket for any damages his team members might have caused during a job even if it means waiting a little longer to completely pay off his store."

"I wouldn't test my luck on that since we all know the amount of damage your guild causes when you're not around." Goldmine cut in after overhearing what they were talking about.

"Spoken like the man who just didn't get two new A-Class mages to join his guild a few months back." The amused voice of Mary said from the seat beside Makarov startling the guild masters that didn't see her come in. "Haven't learned their names yet but it shouldn't be that hard since only a handful of people bother to learn Lava or Steam Magic." Some of the people nearby laughed seeing the annoyed look on Goldmine's face since he wanted to keep the pair a secret until they reached S-Class but Makarov took it the best out of everybody thanking the heavens above that none of his children knew any Lava type Magic.

The good mood of his was suddenly ruined when a messenger flew in carrying a letter from Mirajane. "Hi master I'm glad you were able to make it to the conference safely." The small holographic image of Mira appeared when he set the letter down. "You won't believe what happened but Erza finally formed a team with Alzack, Bisca, Elfman, and our newest member Lucy even if its only temporary. Oh, Asura even let Gray and Cana join Team Natsu for a mission so they should be in the area working on a job if you happen to run into them." Makarov couldn't hear the rest of Mira's letter because he was currently in a state of shock hearing that Erza formed a team.

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It was getting dark out and most of the team was asleep for the night since they still had another day before the guild masters conference ended and they had to escort Mary back to the nearest port town where here ride would be waiting for her. Cana and Gray were already asleep after she drug him to the nearest bar getting both of them wasted since they were on an easy job. That and Loke offering to keep an eye on Mary made her choice to relax for the day even easier than it should have normally been when on a job.

Though while they slept and Loke worked most of Team Natsu was wide awake with the clanking of needles being the only sound heard over Natsu training in the open clearing near the inn they were staying at. His shirt was off to the side with sweat running down his body as he kept attacking the largest tree he could find while Happy cheered him on. He's been training almost none stop every chance he has to catch up to Asura's rank so he could protect him better. Natsu would sooner admit Gray was better than him at everything than confess that he enjoyed the times he got to be the hero Asura called when he needed help with a tough job or even just helping out around the store. Natsu really couldn't help but grin knowing he got called first before Asura's jerk of a big brother figure or anybody else at the guild that offered to help his boyfriend and it makes him want to train even harder so he can meet anything that might come their way in the future.

Taking a quick break to catch his breath Natsu glances over at the shaded tree nearby seeing Asura leaning against Aries as she knitted a shirt using the wool from her Wool Magic with a small smile on her face. With his blond hair falling over his barely open eyes and the carefree smile on Asura's face as he held Cole in his arms it was easy to see the shorter Dragon Slayer was trying his hardest to stay awake and failing miserably. So distracted watching Asura fighting to stay awake Natsu didn't notice anything was wrong until he felt the wind shift slightly with the scent of blood filling the air.

"Well, if it isn't more fairy tale flies buzzing around in the dark." His head snapped up towards the moon with a low growl escaping his lips seeing Erigor the Grim Reaper floating in the air in front of the heavenly body. "I've got a lullaby for your master to hear but I guess I can start things off with the three of you."

Author's Notes -

Really hope you liked the chapter and I hope whoever's reading this has a happy holiday.

I wanted to bring up the Lisanna topic sooner whether than later and showed part of it during the flashback when they made up after their first fight so I hope it turned out right.

Yea I changed a few things around but if Natsu and Gray wasn't at the guild she'd grab the next best thing to back her up in a fight. Lucy just got the short end of the stick again since she didn't know to run when Erza comes calling and without Natsu to chase him down Erigor would get to Clover Town without anybody to stop him.

I have two poles going since I keep getting different opinions on the main pairing and Loke's key. So I polled some of the readers who followed my story to ask their opinion and counted the reviews that you left me to put it together.

{Asura pairing.}

Natsu x Asura 7 votes.

Natsu x Asura x Loke 5 votes.

Natsu x Asura x Gray 1 vote.

Natsu x Asura x Jellal 2 vote.

Natsu x Asura x Cobra 3 vote.

Depending on which pairing wins will decide on how the story changes later on and some of the things I might do differently. I have a few thoughts on the second pairing since it's in second place but mostly they'll switch a few times when Asura flips things on them or gets flipped but most of the time he'll be the uke in the pairing who gets rebellious some times. I only see it that way because Loke is the leader of the Zodiac Keys and since he's a lion spirit he'll have the same type of instinct to be the seme in the relationship. I don't see Naruto/Asura giving up that easily though and with him being a Dragon Slayer Loke or anybody else trying are going to have to work for it. (In my mind at least.)

{Loke's key.}

Naruto/Asura 9 votes.

Lucy 7 votes.

Depending on who wins this one will decide whether Lucy gets more OC keys to even things out or just the ones I had planned to even out the gold keys Naruto/Asura gets.

Neither of them are a real poll I'm just counting the reviews and PMs people send me since I can't set up two polls at once. Sorry for the confusion.

Somebody mentioned making one of those stories where the characters from the crossovers read the story I made about them. Would anybody like that idea?

Response - (Thanks for your reviews.)

gonefishern: Writing, Solid Script, Jutsu Shiki, Orient Solid Script all fall under different branches of Letter Magic. I looked up Rune Magic too and it is a type of Letter Magic so in my mind at least their all the same thing just used differently. I might add-on some Rune Magic alongside Solid Script when Naruto/Asura learns more but for now I like the choices I've made so far.

blueguy100: ShiroHollow96 suggested it first and you're the third reader to bring it up so I might have Naruto/Asura learn a few basic healing techniques to start off with then have him or a clone learn more alongside Wendy when she joins Fairy Tail and finds out about all the books in his store.

AngelFaux: Sorry if I screwed it up canon wise because I haven't got that far yet. Right now I'm only at the Eclipse Arc so if I did screw the timeline up then I'm sorry. If anybody has a way to fix the timeline without drastically changing things then I'm listening. Because the Elemental Nations will make an appearance later in the story.