Fuss made by friend, say (7)
I believe the answer is:
palaver
'fuss' is the definition.
(both can mean a commotion)
'by friend say' is the wordplay.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'say' becomes 'aver' (aver means to state or claim something).
'pal'+'aver' is 'PALAVER'.
'made' is the link.
(Other definitions for palaver that I've seen before include "Rabbit" , "(Talk of a) conference" , "Prolonged fuss" , "Long tedious fuss" , "Powwow - a lot of fuss" .)