Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
April, x787.
At the same time Alfonzo, Elicia, and their guests sat down for dinner in the Village Hidden in the Leaves…
*Bang!*
"Ugh, when is Fonzie coming back?' Cana asked in an exasperated tone as she slammed her mug of ale down on the table she and her friends usually sat at. "I don't think I've ever been away from him for this long."
"It's only been three months, Cana." Mirajane replied. "Stop being so melodramatic."
"Well, excuse me for missing my husband so much, Mira~!"Cana whined.
In fact, everyone felt a little bad for Cana. A few weeks after she got married to Alfonzo, he had to take the job in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And normally, Cana would have been one of those who accompanied him.
Unfortunately, Someone needed to keep an eye on Irene and the progress of her [De-Dragonization]. And there was naturally no better candidate than Alfonzo. So, that meant Irene was given one of the three spots to accompany Alfonzo. And Ikaruga was needed to keep an eye on Elicia. So, Cana had to stay at home on this trip.
"Um… So, which of you is getting married next?" Levy asked curiously, though it was obvious she was trying to change the subject.
"Oh, Me and Erza are gonna get married together." Sun said as she raised her hand excitedly. "And Alfonzo told me about the song we would be singing during our first dance."
Hearing that, everyone was surprised. However, the biggest reaction came from Cana.
"Seriously? How is that fair?" Cana asked discontentedly. "I begged him for months. Yet, he wouldn't tell me anything.
"Well, it's because I'll be singing with him." Sun replied while tilting her head.
That statement drew another round of surprised explanations. Meanwhile, Cana could only flop her mouth open and closed like a fish out of water.
Before anyone could ask Sun about the song, however, the sliding doors opened. And when everyone looked to see who entered, they found a person wearing a space suit. A moment later, after the doors closed, the person, who turned out to be Kai Mikawa, took off the helmet to his suit.
"Good evening, fine wizards of Fairy Tail." Kai said in a friendly, yet arrogant tone. "I've come to join such prestigious guild."
"Ugh… It's this guy again." Cana and Gozaburo said in a tone filled with annoyance.
Sun, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to punch Kai through the doors.
"Hey, Cana, who is this guy?" Lisanna asked curiously.
"*Sigh* He's the second richest man on the continent." Cana replied. "And…"
"Ah, Sun, there you are!" Kai shouted,, drowning out Cana's words. "Where is Alfonzo Marcus, the man you plan to marry?"
"Why, do you still plan on challenging him to a duel for my hand?" Sun asked as she stood from her seat with Kanade gripped tightly in her hand.
"No, no, no!" Kai replied quickly while frantically waving his hands. "I actually wanted the opportunity to apologize to him. And maybe start over. I think we could be great friends."
That last statement thoroughly confused everyone who knew about Alfonzo and Kai's first encounter.
"I mean, I think he's one of the few people on this continent that could truly be my friend." Kai continued. "Since he's richer than I am, there's no chance he would be getting close to me because of my wealth. Like so many have as I've grown up."
Hearing that was enough to almost make everyone feel sorry for Kai. Before it could get to that point, however, Ren stood up and started walking towards him.
"Mom, is there something wrong?" Sun asked curiously as her mother walked towards Kai.
"Nothing, Dear." Ren replied with a smile. "But I think I should have a talk with Kai for a little while."
Though everyone in the guild hall was confused, they did not say anything when Ren escorted Kai to the guild's infirmary. And when Shizuka exited a few minutes later with confusion written all over her face, they were even more curious to know what Ren was talking about with Kai.
About half an hour later, both Ren and Kai returned to the main hall. And when they did, they were surprised to see Kai smiling radiantly as he strode towards the guild hall's front doors.
"Well, good people of Fairy Tail, I'll see you later." Kai said energetically as he turned around in front of the guild hall's entrance. Then, just as he started putting on the helmet to his space suit, he continued. "I can't wait until we meet again. And someone please tell Alfonzo that I'm looking forward to meeting him again."
With that, Kai put on his helmet. Then, without giving anyone the chance to respond, he walked through the sliding doors into the sunset.
"What… was that all about?" Ultear asked in a confused tone. Based on the story Cana and Sun told, I thought getting him to leave wouldn't be so easy."
Although Ultear was the one to voice her doubts everyone at the table was just as confused. So, they turned their attention to Cana and Sun for an explanation.
Naturally, Cana and Sun had no idea what was going on either. So, they turned their attention to Sun's mother.
"Mom, what did you say to him?" Sun asked in an incredulous tone.
"Nothing special." Ren replied with a shrug and a smile. "I only told him that if he wanted to become friends with Alfonzo, the best place to start would be to become his rival. And that Blue Pegasus would be the perfect jumping off point."
"Well, I guess he'd fit in with that group of pretty boys." Gajeel said, sounding rather relieved. "At least we won't have to put up with such a spoiled rich kid."
Gajeel's statement received a nod from everyone.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
May, x787
A few weeks have passed since Naruto invited his friends to Alfonzo and Elicia's house. And since then, everyone from his class, with the exception of Sakura and a boy named Shino, has been coming to the house to get in some extra training. Though, they were a little disappointed that Alfonzo had not taken the time to train them yet. Instead, all their training has been conducted by Ikaruga.
Still, the kids could not deny that their physical states have been improving by a lot ever since their training started with the outsiders. Of course, this left two of their classmates feeling left out. And while one was too anti-social to ask about the others' improvements, the other was wondering what she did wrong to be kicked out.
"I just don't get it." Sakura muttered to herself as she walked through the village towards her home. "What did I do wrong? I mean, it's not like I said anything any different than anyone else in the village. So, Why was I the only one who was excluded? Even worse, Ino-Pig is getting the chance to spend more time with Sasuke. And although nothing has changed between them, she's getting ahead of me."
Ever since Elicia asked Sakura to leave their temporary home, Sakura had been having the same thoughts play on repeat inside her head. And because of that, even her grades at school had been slipping, as she had been unable to concentrate.
She did understand, however, that her attitude towards Naruto was the reason she was asked to leave. She just could not understand why that was a problem. And that was not her fault.
Because of rumors that had been floating around the village for years, rumors that only affected the lower-ranked shinobi and civilian population, Naruto had been labeled a demon by most of the village. And since Sakura came from one of those civilian families, she had also been calling him a demon and mistreating him for as long as she had known him.
Though, that was not Sakura's only reason for her dislike of Naruto. As previously mentioned, Naruto has had a crush on Sakura for a long time. Unfortunately, Naruto's attempts to get Sakura's attention usually resulted in him getting in the way of Sakura's, perceived, bonding time with Sasuke, which led her to disliking him even more.
With negative thoughts flooding her mind, Sakura walked back to her house on auto-pilot with her head lowered. So, when she bumped into someone, she was completely unprepared for the impact.
"Huh?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise before she realized she had lost her balance. "Kya~!"
However, before she could completely lose her footing and tumble backwards, a gentle hand gripped her by the arm and helped her regain her balance.
"Are you okay?" A vaguely familiar voice asked Sakura.
Reacting quickly to the voice, Sakura looked up to give her thanks and apology. However, when she saw the face of the person who helped her, the words were stuck in her throat. On top of that, her eyes opened wide, to a comical degree. Especially since she was certain that she was not at all liked by the person that helped her.
Standing in front of Elicia were a pair of women. The first, like her, had pink hair and green eyes. While the second had short, straight black hair, brown skin, and an obviously pregnant physique.
"It's you…" Sakura whispered absent-mindedly.
"Oh, you're the girl from that one night, your name is Sakura, right?" The brown-skinned woman, Elicia, said with a smile on her face. "Well, you really should be more careful. You could hurt yourself or someone else if you're not."
Taken aback by the bright smile Elicia was wearing, Sakura did not know how to respond. Still, she did manage to nod her head in acknowledgement of Elicia's words.
As it turned out, Elicia, having gotten bored with her time at the temporary residence the village lent to the wizards of Fairy Tail, decided to take a little stroll around the village with Ikaruga. Along the way, she tried some of the local snacks, and picked out some fabrics from the shops around the village, as well.
On a side note, Elicia had also invited Irene to join them on their little walk around the village. However, Irene was too engrossed in awakening her [Soul Armament Spirit] in the hopes that her [Dragonization] could be reversed.
And just as Elicia and Ikaruga left the dango shop they had recently entered, Sakura bumped into Elicia. And just as previously mentioned, Elicia caught Sakura before she could stumble to the ground.
"*Sigh* I can see it in your eyes." Elicia said after seeing Sakura nod her head blankly. "What I said to you before asking you to leave, it's still bothering you, isn't it."
Immediately, Sakura began gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. At the same time, she lowered her head to hide her irritation. Yet, she still managed to nod her head at Elicia's question.
"*Sigh* Well, why don't you take a walk with us." Elicia said while shaking her head with an exasperated smile on her face. "I guess I can tell you why what you said bothered me so much."
Then, without waiting for a reply, Elicia started walking away from the shop she had just left and headed towards her temporary residence with Ikaruga following her at a respectful distance. A moment later, though skeptical, Sakura also followed, falling in line with Ikaruga as the trio walked.
"By now, I'm sure you've figured out who Fonzie and I are, right?" Elicia asked after walking in silence for a short while.
"Yes, you two are Elicia Taylor and Alfonzo Marcus." Sakura replied. "I've read about the two of you in some of the newspapers that make it into the village from the outside world."
"Good." Elicia replied with a nod. "That cuts down the time needed for introductions. Then, what do you know about our pasts?"
"Not much, just that you're wizards of Fairy Tail." Sakura replied. "And that you're two of its most renowned members."
"You should also know, we're orphans… like Naruto and Sasuke." Elicia added.
At that moment, something clicked into place for Sakura. She finally understood why she so quickly found herself unwelcomed that evening. Before she could think about it for too long, however, what she thought she figured out was denied.
"That's not the reason why I asked you to leave that night, though." Elicia said. "That's only why we connect so well with them."
Hearing that, Sakura could only look at Elicia with confusion in her gaze.
"Tell me something, Sakura." Elicia said calmly. "Why don't you like Naruto? Or rather, what has he ever done to you to make you treat him like you did?"
Sakura could not actually answer that question. In reality, Naruto had never done anything to Sakura. Sure, she thought it was annoying how hard he tried to get her attention when she was already focused on Sasuke. But other than that, he had done absolutely nothing. He had never even played a prank on her like he had done to so many others.
"I… I don't know." Sakura replied with her head lowered after several moments to seriously think about the answer to Elicia's question.
"Well, if I had to guess…" Elicia said after hearing Sakura's answer. "… it's probably because you had been told to for as long as you can remember. 'Stay away from that boy, Sakura.' 'That kid is bad news, Sakura.' 'He's nothing but trouble, Sakura.' Does any of that sound familiar?"
Vividly, Sakura could remember hearing things like that about Naruto every time she saw him until the present. But she never understood by the adults around her said things like that. However, as a child, she eventually adopted the same mindset as the adults.
"Honestly, I've been hearing things like that ever since I came to this village, too." Elicia continued. "And instead of just accepting it, I asked people why they were saying that about Naruto. And do you know how they answered?"
Immediately, Sakura focused all her attention on Elicia's following words.
"They answered the same way as you did." Elicia replied with a shrug. "I don't' know."
Sakura was dumbfounded to hear such an unexpected answer.
"In fact, most of the people I asked about it had never even interacted with Naruto before." Elicia continued. "Yet, for some reason, they all hate him. Does that make any sense to you?"
At that moment, Sakura finally understood why she had been asked to leave that day. Like most people, Sakura had never properly interacted with Naruto. Instead, she just listened to the adults around her, shunning Naruto for no reason.
"I mean, it's one thing to not like the kid after trying to get to know him, or even just talking to him properly…" Elicia said as she shook her head. Then, she stopped walking and looked back at Sakura. "At least try to see what kind of person he is for yourself before you decide to hate him, okay?"
When Elicia stopped walking, Ikaruga and Sakura also stopped. And when Sakura made eye contact with Elicia, Elicia continued to speak. Then, after hearing what Elicia had to say, Sakura could only lower her head in shame.
With her head lowered, Sakura started to remember all the interactions she witnessed between her classmates and Naruto. And she noticed that only those from civilian families, like her, ever showed hatred towards Naruto. Meanwhile, those from shinobi families would show clear annoyance with Naruto. Though, that was most because of something he would do. Otherwise, they treated him normally.
"Well, I'm sure I've given you quite a bit to think about." Elicia said. "You should head on home before your parents start to worry about where you are. Hopefully the next time we run into each other, all that irrational hatred for Naruto will be gone. But if you still don't like him after getting to see what kind of person he is, that's fine. Just, at least, give him a chance. The same way you do with everyone else."
With that, Elicia turned around once again and started walking, Ikaruga following behind her. Meanwhile, Sakura was left to think about everything she just heard. And by the time she got back home, she decided she would do exactly what Elicia said. In the process, she would come to see that Naruto was not actually all that bad. Though, she still did not reciprocate his feelings.