"Why are you so tired Naruto?" Mio asked with concern.
Naruto has been yawning non-stop ever since she woke up, he did get a good night's rest right?
Naruto just gave a somewhat strained smile towards Mio as he continued walking towards Kuoh. He spent a bit too much time at the forest and was exhausted because of it. He supposed that in a life and death struggle he wouldn't be nearly as tired...but he wasn't, so he wanted to sleep like a normal human being.
But he had to keep up appearances, he definitely didn't want Mio or Maria to begin checking up on him during the night.
"I'm fine Mio, I just slept weird last night. As soon as class starts I should be fine." Naruto said with a smile. Mio continued to stare at him with doubtful eyes as he tried to give the impression that he wasn't that tired.
Thankfully he had a reprieve when another voice interrupted them.
"Naruto." Yuki said as she walked to join the group. She gave Mio a nod to signify her acknowledgement of the younger girl which Mio reciprocated. The young hero then turned to Naruto.
"We have to talk about scheduling tutoring sessions." Yuki said, Naruto just slapped his head in response. He totally forgot about that.
"Right right...we can talk about it later in class today ok?" Naruto said with a reasonable tone, but both of his companions gave him dull stares.
"...Naruto...class is for learning. Not for making plans." Yuki said with a sigh. Mio followed after her lead with an admonishment of her own.
"Seriously...how lazy are you? Sleeping during class and now making plans during class? You're a terrible older brother figure you know?" Mio said with a small grin, she finally got a measure of revenge for all the teasing she got her classmates about Naruto. She was feeling vindicated!
Naruto just groaned at their words, his head hurt and he couldn't come up with any decent come-backs so he just said what he could come up with.
"...Shut up."
Mio giggled at the pathetic comeback while Yuki smiled at the nice atmosphere.
How long has it been since Yuki enjoyed life like this?
But the tutoring session with Naruto wasn't only meant for helping her friend out, although that was the initial motivation. They also needed to have a talk.
The Hero Tribe was getting restless.
There were many elders back at home base that were suspicious of Yuki's standing with the supernatural factions ever since she changed her mind about the stance they should take in regards to her targets. They were all changed to 'observation' targets rather then 'elimination' targets. Some believed that she was being deceived by the 'unknown variable' and that they should send a team in order to 'save her'.
In all fairness, her change was abrupt if they didn't see what actually happened so their suspicion should have been expected. But the fact was that if she didn't convince them soon...
She shook her head of the dark thoughts, this was a happy time now. She'd deal with Hero Tribe elders as soon as she and Naruto were alone.
For now, she would enjoy the nice atmosphere.
Naruto stared at the ORC club room door.
It didn't have a note this time...he made sure to be extra careful in checking. Now he had to make sure that Rias was actually here so that they could have that talk that Naruto desperately needed to have.
He was an action guy at heart, waiting around for someone's opinion on the matter wasn't exactly his usual MO. But this wasn't his world, he had to check with Rias so that he wouldn't make some horrible mistake. After all, he was pretty good at detecting liars...so it wasn't like Rias was gonna lie to his face or anything without him noticing.
The shinobi nodded resolutely and knocked on the door.
After waiting for a moment he saw the door open to reveal Koneko, who had her usual expressionless...expression.
"...Naruto-senpai." Koneko said in greeting. Naruto just grinned at her, if she was here then it was pretty likely that Rias was too.
"Heya Koneko-san! Listen, is Rias-san here right now? I need to talk to her about something pretty important." Naruto stated. Koneko just nodded and moved to let him pass, Naruto quickly moved inside towards the main area.
He was finally face-to-face with the Gremory heiress again. Funnily enough, it felt like a couple of days since he spoke with her.
"Hello again Naruto-san, what do you need today?" Rias started with a raised eyebrow, she was curious of what her blond ally might want so soon after they talked. According to the restless energy he was practically emitting, she'd say that it was pretty important.
"Rias-san, what happens when a supernatural faction has a presence in a territory ruled by another faction?" Naruto asked quickly. This question caused Rias to narrow her eyes in suspicion, why the sudden interest now?
"...That is a very interesting question Naruto-san. Especially when there was an incident just a little ways away from here where an abandoned factory was destroyed...just yesterday as a matter of fact." Rias stated matter-of-factly.
The blond just widened his eyes at her statement, which only confirmed her suspicions.
"As a matter of fact, my Peerage and I went to that factory and noticed that there were damages done to the factory floor that could not have been done by humans...would you happen to know anything about this?" the young devil asked with a sweet smile.
Naruto just sweat-dropped at her play of detective work. Oh well, he was going to tell her about the fallen anyways so it wasn't too much of a big deal.
"As a matter of fact I do...if you let me actually finish what I was about to say, I might actually tell you." Naruto said dryly, even though Rias' expression didn't change, her cheeks grew a faint blush from slight embarrassment.
"Now, I think you have a group of fallen angels squatting in your territory Rias-san." the blond continued cheerfully. The news though caused both Rias and Koneko who was nearby, to snap their attention towards Naruto. Rias stared at him in shock for a moment before sitting back down on her chair to process this information.
"...Are you sure about this Naruto-san? Are you absolutely sure that the destruction of the abandoned factory was done by fallen angels?" Rias asked seriously. That kind of firepower was dangerous in the hands of either of the angelic factions, their light energy was the weak points of devils after all.
"Of course I know, I fought them after all." the shinobi replied, once more both sets of devil heads in the room snapped to the only male in the room.
"You were there...? Please tell me anything you can about the fallen angels. How many were there? How many wings did they have? Who was their leader? Whose orders were they listening to?" Rias asked in rapid fire, Naruto just stepped back at the sheer amount of questions being sent his way.
"Wait wait wait! Hold on Rias-san! I was going to tell you what I know anyways! I mean this is your territory right? Besides I suck at politics and diplomacy anyways!" Naruto said frantically, while waving his hands in front of him. At this, Rias stepped back and took a deep breath, only then did she turn back to Naruto and ask again.
"I apologize for my behavior Naruto-san, please...tell me what you know." Rias said sincerely, which Naruto nodded to and started his tale of brief lack-of-ramen induced insanity.
Kuoh Town was an old place, a very old place. It has met its fair share of 'special' individuals throughout that history.
A certain fallen angel was determined to have history paint her as among the 'best'. The best there ever was among her kind. So she believed that she would be counted among those 'special' individuals in Kuoh Town among the supernatural factions.
Almost like it was destiny.
But she couldn't do it alone, she needed something that would elevate her position to far greater heights than she could have done by herself.
She believed that her daughter had such a capability.
Which was why she was staring at her right now.
Thus two pairs of violet eyes were staring at one another across a broken table, in a run-down church.
"...What is it you need okaa-sama?" Raynare asked with a slight bow of her head. Her mother was a proud woman that would accept nothing less.
Even from her daughter. Especially from her daughter.
"I want you to surpass me. But that will not happen in a long time...too long, so I need to accelerate your growth rate." Vretiel said simply, but her words caused her daughter to flinch. Raynare was really young by fallen angel standards, practically a baby. Yet her mother expected her to become her successor ever since she was a child, it was absurd!
But in the end...she couldn't help but want her mother's love and respect again. According to her elder sister figure, her mother used to genuinely act 'motherly' towards her...but something happened. Something changed.
No one knew what exactly, but her mother soon began to push Raynare to become strong, far stronger than any fallen before her.
Stronger than even the great Azazel-sama.
She wanted that kind mother that she apparently had before...and she didn't care what she had to do to get it. Even if she had to follow her mother's insane ideas.
But still...
"Is this plan of yours really going to work mother?" Raynare asked with uncertainty, it was never tried before after all. How can a supernatural contain a sacred gear artificially? It was a power granted by God Himself onto human souls, it simply wasn't meant for individuals like her unless she was a human prior.
"Don't you worry about the details Raynare, I know what I'm doing. You will surpass me, one way or another. This is simply one of the most efficient ways to go about it." Vretiel stated without care, what was one human life to her? Nothing. But if one human life would give her daughter the power to stand by her side once they inevitably took control of the fallen angel faction...
Then life well spent.
"Vretiel-sama." spoke a fallen angel woman with a form-fitting business suit. "The human has arrived in Japan, what are your orders?"
Vretiel just turned towards the younger fallen and gave out her order. "You will locate her once she enters Kuoh Town and bring her here. We will begin the ceremony once she arrives. Don't fail me Kalawarner."
The now dubbed fallen simply bowed and moved to leave the church so that she may complete her mission. Vretiel just looked at her daughter and then stood up in order to prepare for the ceremony...it would take a while for it to complete properly. "You have been a disappointment so far Raynare...I have risked a lot in you...don't fail me child." the elder fallen spoke as she walked underground.
The younger fallen just sat there with her eyes stuck to the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world before shaking her head and running towards the entrance. She eventually caught up to one of her closest friends and older sister figure.
"Wait Kalawarner-nee, before you go." the younger fallen said out loud before she caught up to her old friend. In response to this, Kalawarner turned around and smiled at her former charge now that they were away from Vretiel's eyes.
"Now Raynare-sama...I could have sworn that Dohnaseek and Mittelt taught you about the social standing of an heir of a future member of Grigori when compared to a mere servant. You really should stop talking to me with such familiarity ojou-sama." Kalawarner said with a small and warm smile. Raynare just rolled her eyes at her former teacher's words and admonishment.
The three 'friends' that her mother wanted her to save were her mentors and caretakers when she was just a baby. Besides her mother they were all she knew.
She almost lost them all to the human at the factory.
They all almost died.
She was terrified at the prospect at the time, she just couldn't show it in front of her mother for fear of disappointing her even more.
But now she was sure of something terrifying after thinking about the human.
"Kalawarner-nee. This is serious, I doubt that okaa-sama would believe me but...I think you will. I think that there is another human as powerful as the one at the factory." Raynare said seriously, if she was right then she needed to make sure that her de-facto sister was aware. Kalawarner widened her eyes at the possibility of there being twohumans that could have such speed and power to challenge them.
"...Surely you are mistaken Raynare-sama? What could make you think that there are two humans with such power?" Kalawarner asked with caution, she could hardly believe that there was a human that could defeat her so easily...and the only reason she believed that was because she fought him.
She didn't want to feel the humiliation of getting defeated by a human so easily again.
"Yes, the voice of the human that my mother killed at the factory was nothing like the voice of the human that knocked me out in the first place. At first I thought that maybe it was another supernatural that knocked me out and the human just took me from their hands...but then I remembered something." Raynare said with uncertainty, she herself wasn't completely sure that her theory was right, but she had to make sure that her old friend was cautious at the very least.
"Well I remembered that...I don't know how to explain it...but I felt the same energy of the person who attacked me yesterday in the that human that you all fought. I can't explain how I know though." Raynare said uneasily, she was just as confused in her own words as she expected that Kalawarner was. But she was telling the truth, she somehow knew that the person that knocked her out had the same power as the person that held her at the factory.
They had the same energy...but not the same voice. That means that there were two separate humans with such power.
Kalawarner gave her a steady stare, but internally her mind was running at several miles per hour. As far as she knew, none of her fallen comrades sensed the energy of the pale human, hell none of them knew that he had any energy. Not even Vretiel-sama could tell! But apparently Raynare could sense the human's power...there was only one explanation for this.
Vretiel-sama would be pleased if she learned that her daughter was finally beginning to unlock her hidden power.
But she also had no doubt that Vretiel-sama wouldn't stop her plans now, if anything this would encourage them. So for now...
"I see...thank you for your concerns Raynare-sama. I shall be more careful as I complete my mission. As for you, I suggest you continue your training so that you finally may gain access to your second pair of wings. Hopefully you will gain them before your mother gets her fifth pair of wings...I'm sure that Vretiel-sama would be proud of you." Kalawarner said with a small smile, she knew that her young charge was obsessed with getting her mother's recognition.
She had a suspicion of why...but for now she would have to use it to her own advantage.
Hopefully Raynare would forgive her one day.
Raynare gave her a steady stare in response before nodding resolutely, she took a step back before speaking. "I'm holding you to that Kalawarner-nee, I better not hear you have any trouble out there." the young fallen spoke with a smirk. Her caretaker nodded and then spread her wings, she took off towards the center of Kuoh Town in order to look for a young Italian nun.
Rias stared at the whiskered blonde for what felt like years as her mind went through all of the possible problems that a group of fallen angels would have in her territory. She had no idea how bad the situation actually was until Naruto told her who exactly was at the abandoned factory. Fallen angels were bad enough, but for there to be a fallen with four pairs of wings among them...
But to think that the fallen would be the infamous Yuuma Vretiel...
Naruto was studying the range of emotions that were going through Rias' face at the information he passed on to her. Of course he didn't tell her everything, he made sure to leave out the info about how they got led there in the first place and that he used a clone to fight them. But maybe he should have bent the story just a little more.
"Naruto-san...just who exactly are you?" Rias asked seriously, after all...the teen in front of her managed to survive a confrontation from such a powerful fallen angel. If her Peerage were to fight someone like that then they wouldn't stand a chance, yet this boy in front of her did.
Koneko, who was still in the room, was also curious about this information. Although she hid it much better than Rias could.
"Uhhhh...I'm a magician." Naruto said lamely, he probably should have prepared a better alibi for himself. Especially when he saw the deadpanned expression on the red-head's face. "Look, I can't exactly tell you...uh...because there are some bad people after me and I don't want anyone getting caught up in my troubles." Naruto said, somehow making a somewhat coherent excuse on the fly. But a partial lie was still a partial lie, and he was absolute shit when it came to lying.
That was probably why Rias remained skeptical.
"Naruto-san, you're asking me to trust in your words when you won't even tell me the truth in regards to who you are. How can you ask something of me when you won't even follow your own beliefs." Rias reprimanded. Naruto looked taken aback by that statement. Then he opened his mouth to respond.
"You're partially right about me not being completely truthful Rias-san, at least about me being a magician. But I am telling you the truth about being hunted down by bad people, that is a secret that I want to keep hidden until I trust you more. Besides, I didn't want us to begin trusting one another completely...I wanted us to begin that process by helping each other out. I told you about the fallen angel problem and I told you that bad people are after me, so I am trying to trust you. I mean...are you telling me right now that you are willing to tell me why you are so desperate for Peerage members?" Naruto retorted, Rias just blinked at the quick change of the blond's demeanor. From a fool to a philosopher, she had a hard time figuring him out.
"...Maybe you're right Naruto-san, I don't want to share my personal problems or information with you. But remember that I would have been fine with there being a simple agreement of non-aggression. It was you who wanted to ferment trust between all of us, between devils and heroes. Those who want such a change must be the ones to show everyone their example! Yet you are doing no such thing. How can I trust you? How can anyone trust you?"
Koneko's eyes were glued towards the battle of wills going on in front of her. She was shocked at the sudden turn of events that erupted from the fallen angel issue. All was silent after her king's retort, but then Naruto spoke again.
"If you can't believe my words from before...then at least believe this." Naruto spoke solemnly, before slamming his hands in front of Rias and on her desk. This sudden action shocked both devils in the room before Naruto spoke, with eyes entreating them.
"I want people to get along no matter who they are or what race they belong to. I want to count all of you guys as my friends. I want to call of you comrades! So...if you can't believe anything I say then believe that! Please believe in me for a little bit longer so that I can prove to be worthy of your trust Rias-san! So that I can prove to be worthy of everyone's trust!" Naruto shouted while bowing his head.
The whole room was silent as Naruto finished his speech.
Rias was actually legitimately dazzled by the blond's words. Almost like it was spoken straight out of one of her favorite mangas. She wanted to trust him, in his words and in his motivations. She really shouldn't though, she should be cautious and wary since this boy in front of her was still an 'unknown' in every possible sense of the word. She had the lives of her friends and comrades to consider, if she made a mistake in trusting him then their lives could be adversely affected as well. She shouldn't trust him.
And yet she did.
He was dangerous.
Ever since she met the whiskered blond face-to-face, he had upturned every possible expectation she had for him. She simply couldn't get a proper reading on him.
His motivations, his power, his goals, his personality, his intelligence.
He was unpredictable.
So Rias agreed to the now dubbed 'Kuoh Pact' not only to get some breathing room to better understand the situation, but also to better understand Naruto.
She still didn't understand him. But hopefully she would soon enough, there was a reason she sent Naruto to talk to Hyoudou Issei and it wasn't just because he was the best person to send.
Rias waved her arms up in surrender. "Fine fine, I'll trust you. Now please pick your head up...you're embarrassing me." Rias said lightly, the tension in the room finally dissipated as Naruto picked his head up and scratched the side of his face lightly.
Maybe he got a little too passionate...
His truthful admission was definitely what convinced Rias at the very least.
Both of them seemed to have temporarily forgotten that Koneko was still in the room, but they could be forgiven since she was extremely quiet.
But it was more appropriate to say that she was speechless. His force of personality actually managed to push away Buchou's reasonable suspicions. The only reason she wasn't more affected by his speech was because she wasn't at the receiving end of it. Although she had to admit that it was a heartwarming speech.
More importantly, Koneko actually felt the convictions behind his words. The feelings and belief behind every statement. It was mind-blowing how thoroughly the blond believed in his convictions...she couldn't help but look at the admittedly silly boy in a new light.
Rias sighed and sat down in her chair again in order to give an answer to the blond about the fallen angels, they were pretty heavily side-tracked. After mulling it over a little bit more she finally gave her answer.
"After thinking about all of the possible risks and issues involved with the fallen...I've decided that we are going to stay out of this affair." Rias said simply, Naruto just nodded to her response, he sorta expected that.
But Naruto still had a slight problem with her ruling.
"Rias-san, is it ok to stay out of this entirely? You have no idea what their intentions are by this point and they are definitely here for some reason." Naruto reasoned, her ruling was better than going to fight the fallen. But to just leave them alone without knowing their intentions was still he didn't want to do since they seemed pretty hostile.
Although in their defense, that could have just been the fact that he kidnapped their comrade.
Rias raised an eyebrow in his direction. "If you wanted to know what the fallen angels were up to...then why didn't you follow them afterwards? I mean they thought you were dead yes? Even supernaturals aren't good at sensing other supernaturals when they aren't aware they are there." Rias said sensibly.
...
Ah...
Both Rias and Koneko just silently stared at the now depressed blond as he cried waterfall-tears on the ground. The red-head shook her head helplessly while Koneko just sighed at the fact that her new-found respect for Naruto was quickly waning.
He wasn't exactly the visage of power.
"Damn it...how could I have been such an idiot...it could have been easy for me to follow them..." Naruto said listlessly. But then a proverbial light bulb went off in his head.
"I can still find where they are! Rias-san! Give me a day or two in order to find their base and then find out what they're up to! Just please make sure not to call your onii-san!" Naruto said quickly as he wiped away the faux tears and then dashed towards the entrance of the club room.
"Huh!? Wait! Naruto-san!" Rias called out, but Naruto was too far gone. Rias stood there with her arm outstretched, slightly shocked that Naruto would go and try to solve the issue of the fallen angels on his own. Although his words did actually touch upon a concern she had when considering the fallen angels in her territory.
Should she call on her onii-sama?
No matter how she looked at it, the best she and her comrades could hope for in a battle with someone like Yuuma Vretiel...was to stall. They simply weren't strong enough to fight a fallen like that, even if Sona were to reinforce her. So one of the possible options she bandied about was to call upon her onii-sama. In the end she decided not to because she didn't want to start a war either.
But the thought still persisted.
But Naruto...if Naruto said that he could find out what the fallen angels were up to. Then she would do what he asked her to do.
Place some faith in him.
"...Naruto-sempai is an interesting person isn't he Buchou?" Koneko said, although Rias couldn't help but notice the small twitch on the side of her mouth that twisted upwards.
Rias just smiled.
"Yes he is Koneko-chan...yes he is..."
Naurto decided to skip class again.
He knew that he would get an earful from Mio and a disapproving glance from Yuki but it had to be done. He had a legitimate excuse to skip as always!
...He just couldn't tell Mio the reason. So yeah, she might be a little upset.
The shinobi was jumping from house roof to house roof quickly in order to get back to the abandoned factory. Hopefully he could find a trail that would lead him to the fallen's home base. All that would be left would be to leave a clone there to gather info. After all he couldn't waste too much time, too many questions would be asked by his friends.
Even if he did find out what the fallen were up to, he had no idea how long it would take to find their objective.
All of these thoughts were swirling in his head as he was jumping, but he stopped suddenly.
Then he turned around to come upon a curious sight.
"Issei-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly, he was looking at Hyoudou Issei talking to a...
"A nun?" Naruto asked hesitantly again, that had to be one of the weirdest combos he has ever seen. Also, what was Issei doing outside? Wasn't class on right now?
Then again maybe he wasn't the best person to criticize someone else for skipping school.
Naruto watched as the perverted boy scrambled around to get a decent conversation with the blond nun, it was pretty funny seeing him try so hard. Although Naruto couldn't help but notice something that helped elevate this boy ahead of his friend.
He was genuine.
Of course his partial motivation for helping the nun was probably perverted, but he wasn't faking his kindness. It wasn't much, but it was at least something.
So Naruto decided to just leave them to their talks and get back to work, though Naruto grinned a little. Issei was obviously trying to help the nun out, maybe it was in hopes of trying to get into her pants or maybe not...but it was a hell of a lot better than what the other one did.
More than that, the nun seemed to be having fun while talking to the perverted boy and the perverted boy seemed to be enjoying himself as well. While looking at her face more than her body.
That had to be something special right?
After meeting 'ero-megane' he didn't hold too much hope in Issei having a decent side to him besides his perversion. But after seeing that little display, he decided that Issei had a decent chance in being more than just a pervert.
Who knows? Maybe the girl's influence would be good for him.
So the blond dashed off, determined to find the fallen angels before they caused any damage.
Naruto would regret leaving the strange duo by themselves later.
After a minute or so of safe jumping, he found the old abandoned factory again. At least whats left of it anyways.
The area seemed to be under investigation by the normal human police, so he couldn't really get close and really investigate the area himself without attracting attention. So the young shinobi decided to do the next best thing.
He quickly went inside an alleyway in order to do his business.
...
A couple of seconds later, a bunch of normal human beings with different looks left the alleyway much to the confusion of the people walking by. Whenever any of those 'individuals' had a chance, they disappeared in a burst of speed towards the direction where the fallen flew after the battle.
Naruto finally left the alleyway himself and nodded resolutely, he didn't know specifically where the fallen were...but he had a general idea of which direction. So all he had to do was wait for for his clones to pop themselves so that he could get the info. The real question was what to do now that he was already skipping class?
He probably should take responsibility and go back to class now that his business was done.
...
Nah. He'd just go back home and see what Maria was up to. He had to pay her back for certain events anyways.
He'd deal with the consequences of his actions later, shits and giggles time is now!
Naruto started heading back home while snickering madly, causing a bunch of pedestrians to try and avoid him.
"Kaa-chan, why is that boy laughing so much?"
"Don't look at him darling...just keep walking."
How rude.
She should have expected it.
Mio was walking...or more like stomping her way to the place she has called her home for at least a week or so. Her eyebrows were twitching sporadically and her fists were clenched. Naruto had better have one hell of a good reason for skipping...again.
She finally made her way to the front of the house, she decided on a dramatic entrance in order to announce to the blond that he was in big trouble!
After quietly unlocking the door to make sure that no one noticed her, she dramatically slammed it open with an open hand in order to-!
"Would ya like to buy some steaks!?"
...
Mio stood stock still as she stared at the blond with a mustache with his eyes squinted. It was a bizarre look, but she new instantly who was asking the question.
"...What are you doing Naruto?" Mio asked, genuinely confused at what he could possibly accomplish with this. This was over the top even for him!
"Don't worry about the minor details! More importantly...would ya like some steaks!? I got some nice steaks in the truck right now!" the blond fool said exuberantly.
The young half-devil just continued to stare, utterly bewildered at what was happening right now. Did he somehow crack? Was this all some sort of alternate dimension that she had entered? Was this maybe a strange dream? If so...why steaks?
How should she answer him?
How the hell do you answer such a question to begin with?
"Um...no?" Mio asked hesitantly, asking as much as stating her answer.
"Don't be so formal! Here! Try a free sample!"
All Mio saw was a piece of raw steak before it was placed on her face.
"..."
Mio was silently contemplating how to kill the annoying blond.
Naruto just silently scurried behind the red-head towards the bathroom to watch the fireworks in peace.
"...Pffffft..."
As Mio heard someone desperately try to stop their laughter, she only thought of three things.
The voice behind the laugh sounded like Maria.
Naruto liked to prank but he never had done something so brazen before.
Thus Maria was the perpetrator.
A dark aura started to envelope the young girl as the owner of the snickering realized she had been caught.
"Wa-Wait Mio-sama! It wasn't me this time! This was all Naruto-sama's idea! Please believe me!" Maria pleaded, hoping that her charge would place her faith in the person she has known longer, compared to the blond who she has only recently met. Surely longer association meant something to-
"No."
Damn it.
The young succubus quickly got up from her hidden spot behind the couch and tried to make a break for it, but before she could gain momentum she felt the horrifying grip of a feminine hand filled to the brim with magic.
The succubus couldn't help but glare at the bathroom door which was opened just enough to allow a pair of blue eyes to peer through and wink at her.
This was war Naruto-sama!
Then she felt the grip on her head tighten.
...After she recovered from her wounds first.
Meanwhile, Naruto couldn't stop the satisfied smirk at the fruition of his well placed prank. He felt no remorse for the crafty succubus, she tried to get him in trouble several times with her mischievous ways. It was karmic justice in his eyes! How dare she try to prank the Prank King!
He couldn't help but remember all of the times she 'accidentally' told him that the bathroom was free...only for it to turn out that Mio was in the middle of using the shower. If it wasn't for her half-grin tipping her off he would have fell for it.
He was so ashamed.
The next time was when she convinced him to buy underwear for Mio, telling him that it was normal for a host to do such a thing for their guests.
He never had female guests before so he didn't know anything!
Mio still refused to let him in her room after that.
Those were only the recent pranks, it was obvious to Naruto that she had to be taught who was the true Prank King. So he engineered a prank against Mio and invited Maria to join in with a camera. Neither of them has ever seen Naruto pull a prank of such skill before so he knew that Mio would assume that Maria would put him up to it...
He has regained his honor.
Then he heard someone slam on the door.
"Naruto! Get out of there and accept your punishment like a man!"
Ah, so maybe he put too much faith in his own trustworthiness. Thats fine, he would just do what he usually did whenever he got caught in the act of a prank.
"See ya at dinner time Mio!" Naruto shouted towards the still locked door before jumping outside the bathroom window.
"Naaarrrruuuutttttooooo!"
The blond was reinvigorated after the prank, he got to see Mio's stupefied expression and got Maria back for her tricks! A beautiful day!
He could whistle a tune with how happy his prank made him, especially considering how long he made a prank he could be proud of!
Naruto's happy thoughts immediately changed after a set of memories hit him from a faraway clone.
A church.
An abandoned church.
He really shouldn't be surprised, at least his other clones probably received the information as well. So they would go and check the area out.
Naruto nodded resolutely before deciding to get some quick ramen. He was interrupted last time with the fallen angel's scouting, so while he was waiting for Mio to calm down he would satisfy his craving.
"Nice day isn't it 'unknown variable'? Although I suppose it's more like evening by now."
Someone was out to get him. He was sure of it now.
Naruto cautiously glanced at corner of his eye towards the owner of the voice, this one...he didn't sense him at all until he talked.
Hell, his shinobi danger sense didn't go off until he was practically right there!
That meant that this one was in a completely different league than anyone he has met so far.
"...Who are you?" Naruto asked, bending his knees in case he has to fight with little-to-no warning. The unknown man just smiled at this show of aggression before flaring his wings.
The shinobi stared.
Then he groaned.
Six pairs of black wings were presented to him.
"My name is Azazel. I have a proposition for you." the man said with a smirk.