Chapter 14
The streets of Kuoh Town were packed with people of all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Why shouldn't it be? It was a Saturday after all.
So most people who had nothing to do today were now outside, trying to actually do something.
Naruto was not one of those people.
He was a man on a mission, a very important one at that.
Of course, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him. He was decked out in a black t-shirt which was covered by a burnt-orange sleeveless hoodie. The hoodie was badass to the blond because he managed to get a stylized red swirl on the back as well!
He completed his set up with dark blue jeans and a pair of white-blue sneakers. He didn't care enough to check out what brand it was though.
Naruto frowned at that, he was beginning to sound like he belonged in this world. It would take him a while to get used to life back at Konoha when he got back...
Back to serious stuff though.
After their most recent...torture session. Yuki proposed that they meet in front of the mall in order to go meet the Hero Tribe leader together. So he left on his own in order to meet her.
...At least he was supposed to.
"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Who are you gonna meet in this super-secret date of yours? Are you gonna elope!?"
The blond felt the tick on his head grow slightly bigger.
"Maria! How many times must I tell you! Naruto is obviously not going on a date! He said it himself didn't he? He's going to meet some sort of spy! Get your facts straight Maria."
The shinobi felt his annoyance begin to bubble up to the surface. He wasn't doing either of those things! They were both literally just making stuff to suit their own crazy imaginations!
"Eh!? Awww...that's so boring!...Unless! That's what Naruto-sama wants you to think Mio-sama! Maybe he's going to go the red-light district in order to have some fun time...! Mio-sama! What will we do!? Naruto-sama is going to have an illicit relationship that doesn't involve you!"
"Wh-!? What the hell are you talking about Maria!?"
Naruto finally stopped walking and immediately turned heel in order to face the two followers. "...Why are you two following me?" Naruto deadpanned with a slightly twitching eyebrow.
Both young devils glanced at each other for a moment before turning to face the blond.
"...We were heading in the same direction?" Mio said, but her attempt at a decent excuse caused her statement to be framed as a question.
Honestly, they legitimately were just heading at the same direction as her psuedo-brother, but his mysterious meeting with...someone had piqued their interest.
But it seemed that Naruto wasn't amused by their active attempt at finding out what he was up to. So he decided to express his disapproval.
Naruto walked up to Mio and grabbed her cheeks, much to the girl's confusion.
Then he pulled.
"Ah...ah! Ah! Ow! Owwwwww!"
The shinobi kept his deadpanned expression as he pulled his psuedo-sister's cheeks, much to her discomfort. His brand of punishment for not listening to him.
"Mioooo...listen to me. I gotta meet with someone important, so you can't come. I'll tell you two about it as soon as I can, but I really can't mess this up." Naruto said seriously, he wasn't willing to lay the fate of this meeting to chance.
He also just flat out didn't like the idea of either Mio or Maria being close to the Hero Tribe leader. He led an organization that essentially specialized in killing devils after all, that was more than enough of a reason to be wary.
Mio held her aching cheeks with a cute pout at the blond, slightly upset that she was denied her curiosity. "...Fine. But you promise to tell me all of the juicy details later?"
Naruto sent her an amused smile. "I practically promised not to keep you out of the loop already didn't I?"
The red-headed half-devil crossed her arms with narrowed eyes. "...Promise not to forget this time?"
"Hey! It happened once!...You're not gonna let this go are you?" Naruto said with dull eyes, he wanted to pull her cheeks again.
Mio flashed him a wry smirk at his question. She'd definitely hold that over him for a while.
"...So...there won't be any super-ecchi time...?"
Naruto and Mio glanced at a depressed Maria, she seemed to be thoroughly despondent at the lack of spicy get-aways.
"...No Maria...there will be no 'super-ecchi time'...By the way, what's with the video camera?" Naruto mumbled with a wary glance at the little camcorder, whatever she intended to use it for...he could guess that he wouldn't like it.
The silverette beamed at the question. "I'm glad you asked Naruto-sama! You see...as a responsible guardian of Mio-sama and as a succubus, it's my duty to catch any and all ecchi scenes! Especially ones that involve Mio-sama!"
Naruto simply stared at the proud succubus while the red-head gave her a blank stare.
"...So that's why you bought the camcorder..." Mio mumbled with a sporadically twitching eye. She should have known that Maria would do something like this.
The shinobi finally made a response by moving towards Maria and pointing his index finger in-between her eyes.
"Oi. The fact that you genuinely thought that I was going to do some racy stuff while I was out has already made me question your sanity. So I think it's better for everyone...if I take that thing away from you before you do something that someone will regret." Naruto stated dryly, and by 'someone will regret'...he meant that Naruto would regret.
The thought of a video camera-wielding Maria was just a terrible and horrifying idea.
The succubus' purple eyes trained themselves on the offending digit pointed at her, before she gave Naruto a dull stare in response.
"...You say that...but aren't you much more dangerous with that weapon right there?" Maria asked seriously while looking at his pointing finger.
Naruto stared at her in dumbfounded confusion, he had no idea went through her head sometimes. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Kuh...! So you are still playing innocent Naruto-sama? Well you can't fool me! You intend to use that finger to violate my mouth don't you!?"
...
...
"HUH!?" Naruto exclaimed with wide eyes, he quickly turned around to check if anyone heard her words...
"Mommy! Mommy! That girl said something weird about that boy's finger and her mouth! What is she saying?" a little boy asked his mother, before said mother quickly tried to steer him away from the scene.
Not before she sent Naruto a dirty look though.
She wasn't the only one though, as several civilians around them were giving the blond dirty looks.
Ah...his reputation...
As Naruto lamented the loss of prestige he was receiving, Mio was currently facepalming and shaking her head. She really didn't want to get involved with this conversation right now...
But if she didn't want the situation to escalate further, she'd better try and stop her annoying guardian.
"Hey Maria...don't you think that you should stop now?" Mio said with a horrible attempt at a comforting smile, her annoyance at the whole situation made it difficult for her at the moment.
Her guardian stared at her for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization.
For some reason the thought didn't comfort her.
"Can it be Mio-sama...that you're jealous that Naruto-sama wanted to use his finger on me...? Does that mean that you want to be violated by his finger...?"
"THAT'S WROOOOOONNNNGGG!" Mio screamed out with her face as red as her hair.
But before the red-headed devil could get any sort of vengeance on her guardian, she stopped and checked to see if anyone heard Maria's words...
The dirty looks that she was receiving from the civilians around her was answer enough.
Ah...her reputation...
Maria blinked as both; Naruto-sama and Mio-sama sat on the ground. Seemingly depressed over something.
"...Did I do something wrong?" Maria wondered aloud.
"...We'll be on our way now Naruto. Be safe ok?" Mio said with a slightly strained smile.
Naruto nodded before waving goodbye, ignoring the indignant cries of a certain succubus that was being dragged away by the daughter of the Original Lucifer.
She was upset that Naruto confiscated her camcorder.
Too bad. He needed some compensation and that was one of the few options.
He grinned though, despite how tired he was from the debacle...those two helped make his day more lively. A sharp contrast to what will lay ahead with this meeting he was sure.
So he shook his head and refocused, he left early in the first place so he had time to meet Yuki so that they could meet the Hero Tribe leader.
But he had to mentally prepare himself for it first, he had no idea how close they would be to where they were supposed to meet the leader. The time for psychological preparation had already begun!
So he pumped himself up for the inevitable showdown as he jogged towards the meeting place.
By the time he arrived at the agreed upon place, he was a little bit early on the agreed upon time.
He was currently waiting in front of practically the only mall in Kuoh Town; literally dubbed the Kuoh Mall.
Creativity...some people seriously needed some of that.
The mall as a building wasn't something too large for him, but as a shopping center...it was pretty damn big.
So that was why he was standing in front of the structure in order to wait for his friend. She should be here soon.
He glanced up to watch the many pedestrians that was passing through the area, many of which happened to be young people that attended the many branches of Kuoh Academy.
College students, high schools students, middle school students...
Huh. He guessed that this was a pretty popular place to hang out.
"Hey! Guys, it's Naruto-san!"
Naruto blinked as a group of teenaged boys walked up to him. He didn't recognize them at all.
"Hey...uh...can I help you?" the blond said with a questioning gaze.
"Hey, you probably don't recognize any of us since we're just a bunch of normal guys. But we sure as hell remember you!" the lead boy said before he raised a clenched fist and threw it at Naruto.
Naruto tensed as the fist went sailing but...
The fist landed on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.
"Man! That prank you pulled on the student council the other day was hilarious! I was dying! Ain't that right boys!?" the boy said to his buddies, much to their roaring approval.
Naruto widened his eyes at that. Someone actually liked his pranks?
That was kind of new.
"Hey Naruto-san! We're gonna hang out at the mall today. Wanna come with?" another boy spoke up with a grin on his face.
"Uh...sorry. I'm waiting for someone, thanks for the offer though." Naruto said with a hesitant smile, he wasn't used to such friendly greetings from total strangers yet. On the contrary, he was more used to their hostility than anything else.
This was...nice.
The group of boys seemed slightly saddened by his rejection, but before they could speak further.
"Naruto. Sorry for making you wait."
The group of boys gaped as they were graced to see a beautiful sight, to them at least.
"Ah. Glad to see you made it Yuki. Should we get going?" Naruto asked with a smile and a wave towards his friend.
Though he couldn't help but stare, as the prospect of a 'casual' Yuki was pretty new in his head. She was wearing a light-pink cardigan and a pair of white pants, it gave off a very wholesome picture of her.
"...Naruto-san...you gotta teach us your ways." one of the boys said seriously.
The shinobi just ignored them in favor of walking up to Yuki. "Ready to go? Where we headed?"
Yuki nodded and went inside the mall. "Follow me Naruto. The meeting place is inside."
Naruto made to follow her, but he couldn't help but sweat-drop at the comments that were made by the group of high-schoolers.
"...You...! To think that Naruto-san managed to get a date with the school's ice queen...! You truly are a man among men...!"
"Banzai! Banzai!"
"Show us the way Naruto-dono!"
He really didn't know how to handle their cheers...
"So...what should I be expecting in this meeting? Any ideas?" Naruto asked while they were walking around the mall.
Yuki shook her head in the negative. "No idea. All I know is that he's very interested in the happenings surrounding Kuoh Town lately and that he's very interested in meeting you Naruto."
The shinobi sighed before brushing the golden locks on his forehead in frustration. He had no idea what to expect right now.
"...By the way Naruto. I've been meaning to ask, but I never had the chance due to all of the craziness of recent events...but is your arm ok?" Yuki asked quietly, she glanced at the blond through the side of her eye in order to gauge his reaction.
Naruto caught Yuki's eyes with his own and grinned at her. "Well, those burns that I got were pretty superficial so they wouldn't stay with me for very long. But I also have a very fast healing rate. So no worries, I've been fine ever since I went to sleep after the battle."
The young hero's eyes widened, Naruto could heal himself that quickly? Her curiosity of the blond's abilities just continued to grow the more she knew about him.
Well, maybe she could learn more with the training trip planned.
Naruto in turn glanced at Yuki in curiosity, her question reminded him of something. "Hey Yuki, where were you the day after the incident with the fallen angels? I was honestly surprised that you didn't take advantage of our agreement the second I got back to school."
Yuki gave him a dull stare at the reminder of her absence. She's skipped class so that she could help her blond friend and she's skipped school entirely the following day!
Not a good day for the serious class representative.
"I was busy coordinating with the higher-ups back home on when the meeting should be and where it should start. I didn't exactly have a say in the matter." Yuki mumbled, upset at the turn of events.
Naruto just gave her a strained smile, unsure how someone could possibly be upset over missing school. The concept was thoroughly foreign for the young man. So he decided to try and change the subject.
"So. Where are we supposed to be going?" the whiskered teen asked, he has been following Yuki the entire time and had no idea what they were looking for or searching for.
"Here." Yuki said quietly while staring at a café that they were approaching.
Naruto glanced towards what Yuki was talking about and felt a sweat-drop begin to form on his head.
"...It couldn't be more obvious Yuki..."
"...I think that this is a play at reverse-psychology Naruto. A case of 'no one would be stupid enough to do this'...at least I think."
The café that they were looking at was dubbed the 'Café of Heroes'.
This world was too much for Naruto sometimes...
The duo broke through their temporary stupor and entered the building to meet with who was possibly one of the most strongest individuals in this dimension.
Naruto was pretty underwhelmed when he entered the restaurant though, it looked so...ordinary. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it didn't really look like somewhere where such a high-level person would stay.
Yuki walked up to the cashier, a woman that gave her a warm smile in greeting. "Welcome to Café of Heroes. How can I help you?"
Yuki didn't respond until she leaned towards the cashier and whispered something to her.
Naruto looked on in interest as the cashier's expression turned serious for a moment before the happy smile from before was plastered onto her face again.
"Oh! If it isn't one our best patrons! Please please! Come in to the VIP section!" the cashier lady announced as she used a key to open the door to the back of the restaurant.
When he looked inside, the door led to a more elaborate eating area but...that was pretty much it.
Yuki motioned for Naruto to follow her as she entered through the door, the blond followed shortly after while ignoring the stare of the cashier lady.
The second he entered the door though, the scenery...changed.
What was once a more elaborate dining area transformed into a very fancy hall which was occupied with men and women in capes.
"How...?" Naruto gaped as he didn't sense any of this prior.
"Remember Naruto...you didn't sense me while I was guiding you around Kuoh Academy when we first met. Heroes practically specialize in hiding any energy signals that they may emit to the supernatural, it was a necessary measure to ensure that our organization didn't get destroyed." Yuki stated as she walked past several of her comrades-in-arms towards the meeting place.
"Also...although I'm sure you know about this...humans happen to be the best species when it comes adaptability."
Naruto just grinned at that statement.
The duo finally reached a set of doors that was made from some sort of metal that the blond has never seen before.
Yuki knocked on it.
After a few moments, the door was slowly opened by an elderly man with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face. "What do you want?"
If Yuki was offended by his rudeness, she didn't show it. "The Great Hero has summoned me. Please let me through. Also, tell him that he is here as well."
The elderly man glanced at Naruto for a moment before looking back at the young hero.
"...You come in here first, girl. The blond stays put until the Great Hero allows him to." the elder hero grumbled as he motioned for Yuki to enter.
The bluenette gave Naruto a small smile as she entered through the door.
The old man slammed the door on Naruto's face.
...
"...So damn rude." Naruto grumbled to himself, he really hated to wait when the action was literally happening behind the door. Although he hoped that he has matured enough to be more patient in that regard.
But he had to be at least a little polite here, maybe this was how they did things?
Naruto was staring at the ceiling as continued to wait for these bastards to come out already.
It's only been about about fifteen minutes, but he was still incredibly bored. It seemed that he still had no patience when something interesting was happening nearby.
As he contemplated whether he should act out on his frustration, the door...mercifully...opened.
Game time.
"...Uzumaki Naruto? The Great Hero of the Hero Tribe is ready to see you now." the elderly man from before said, although he seemed to be more subdued than before.
The blond internally shrugged though, he had to worry about something far more important at the moment.
The old man made to let him pass as Naruto entered the room.
The first thing that he noticed was the fact that the room only held held a small table with food on it and two chairs.
One of which was currently occupied.
He looked around with a frown, Yuki was seemingly on standby as she stood near the wall and didn't acknowledge his entrance at all. While the guy on the chair was probably not the man he was looking to talk to, he just looked way too messy.
The man he was referring to was a brown-haired man with messy long hair, kinda like his as a matter of fact. He had brown eyes which was framed by glasses and two scars on opposing sides of his chin. He was of average size and wore a plain white dress shirt which was unbuttoned at the collar. He finished off his look with plain brown pants and plain brown shoes.
Obviously not someone that looked very classy.
Although Naruto didn't believe for a second that he was here for no reason at all. The man was probably one of the elite heroes that this Great Hero-guy...well...led.
Kakashi-sensei always did tell him to look underneath the underneath after all!
So he walked up to the man with a frown marring his face and pinned him with a stare, which the man seemingly ignored for picking up a cigarette and lighting it.
Naruto's eye began to twitch at the treatment that he has been getting.
"Oi...where's this Great Hero guy? The old man said that he wanted to see me now, so where is he?" Naruto asked with slight annoyance.
The messy man didn't say anything, he just continued his own devices and began to puff out smoke from his cigarette.
The shinobi was about to try again with more insistence before the man spoke.
"...Uzumaki Naruto huh?...You look like a total idiot." the man spoke blandly while glancing at the whiskered teen.
...
"...Are you picking a fight with me?" Naruto asked with a pulsating tic on his head. He was ready to throw down with the old man.
The man didn't say anything for a moment as he continued to stare at the irritated blond before speaking again.
"...You're some kind of delinquent aren't you? I mean why else would you conveniently have those perfectly shaped whisker marks on your face? Also, what the hell is up with you spiking your hair? The simple fact that you're asking if I'm 'picking a fight' would suggest that you're pretty violent..." the man wondered aloud.
The man looked surprised when he was hoisted up by a clenched fist grabbing onto his collar. The source of the fist was an eerily calm Naruto that had another fist reared back, ready to fire.
"...Clench your teeth asshole."
But before he could make due with the punch, he felt a small hand land on his shoulder.
He looked back to see Yuki give him a stern look.
"Naruto. Please put down the Great Hero." Yuki said sternly.
All was quiet for a moment as the shinobi blanked out at that piece of information.
He took a quick glance at Yuki for a moment before turning back towards the messy man with a hard stare.
The man just waved his arm in greeting. "Yo. Say, care to let me down anytime soon?"
Naruto was silent as he stared at the man before turning back to Yuki with a horrified expression plastered on his face. "...You're joking right? I didn't just make a stupid mistake right!?"
Yuki shook her head. "Naruto...this is Toujou Jin; current leader of the Hero Tribe, the strongest hero alive...and my adopted father."
Nothing more was said. The shinobi simply let go of the older man and began berating himself for his stupidity, he was also internally apologizing to Kakashi-sensei for not looking further underneath the underneath. How his sensei would be ashamed!
The bluenette sighed as her friend berated himself, to be perfectly honest...it wasn't exactly unreasonable to assume that her adopted father wasn't the leader of a faction. A powerful one at that.
Even the worst leaders had to at least look like a higher-up, her father looked more like a lazy salary man than a very powerful hero...
Toujou for his part had simply sat down and lit another cigarette, his last one fell off of his mouth in the confusion.
After Naruto had regained his bearings, he immediately turned to the the confirmed 'Great Hero' of the Hero Tribe.
"...Sorry old man. I thought that you were just some random asshole that was talking shit. I didn't know that you were some high-class asshole that was talking shit." Naruto said gruffly, annoyed that he was tricked.
The man just guffawed at the roundabout insult.
"Ha! You sure as hell don't mince words do you? I mean...shouldn't you be trying to win me over to your side or something, instead of insulting me?" the older man asked humorously.
Naruto sighed, unwilling to admit that he was right. "Hey...I just call it as it is ya know? I treat others as they treat me no matter who they are. I only give the 'deference' treatment if it's completely necessary and that person isn't a bad person."
It was true. One of the few times he ever bowed to someone was to Rias, and that was because he needed to convince her in his sincerity. He needed her to give him a chance to earn her trust when she had absolutely no reason to.
Another example was with Azazel, while he was annoying...he wasn't really an asshole about it. More like it was friendly ribbing.
So he treated the man well because of it.
This guy was just a flat-out asshole. How could he not call him out on it?
"Hoooh? So you're an honest guy huh? Well, I don't dislike people like you." Toujou said with a small grin. He then motioned for the blond to sit down. "Come. Take a seat."
Naruto nodded and sat down, quickly taking a quick survey of his surroundings just in case.
The 'Great Hero' then motioned towards his plates, in a split-second a man came in and took the plates. He blurred away once he was finished.
The blond looked at the old hero with curiosity, why didn't that man from before interfere with his manhandling of their leader?
He narrowed his eyes, unless he was ordered not to by him...just what was his game exactly?
"...Uzumaki-san. I hear that you were responsible for my daughter's change in outlook. I have to thank you for that." Toujou finally spoke with a small smile.
Naruto snapped his head back to the older man. "Ah...there's no need to thank me for that. I wanted to be her friend anyways so it wasn't too big of a deal..." the blond said while bringing his hand to scratch the back of his head.
"...Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to ask you something Uzumaki-san. What is your ambition in regards to the world as a whole?" Toujou asked bluntly while he steepled his fingers together.
Naruto gave him a dubious stare.
"Don't give me that look kid. Don't you know how irregular you are?...No one knows much about you. Not even Yuki-kun here knows that much..." Toujou said with narrowed eyes and a serious voice. "In a world where everyone knows what their enemies are and their basic abilities...you are an 'unknown'. You are dangerous in more ways than one Uzumaki-san, for the simple fact that we have no idea who or what you want. So...I'm asking you about your intentions."
The shinobi blinked at this, he didn't think that his entrance into the limelight could cause these many issues. So basically he was messing up the balance of power or something like that...?
"...When you put it like that, I can understand I guess. Well Toujou-san...I want to promote peaceful talks between as many supernatural factions as possible. Not really anything more than that to be honest." Naruto said seriously.
The older man stared at him for a moment, keeping eye contact without saying anything. He finally leaned back into his chair with a thoughtful look on his face.
"...I suppose that makes sense. Your actions against the fallen angels speak well of your intentions. So I have a proposal for you then, if you're so intent on continuing your path." the old hero said with a smirk.
The blond looked on in interest at this, not at all noticing that someone was giving the 'Great Hero' a disapproving frown.
Yuki wasn't happy about what her father was about to do. But he told her to stay out of these talks, she just hoped that Naruto would understand later.
"So what do you suggest then Toujou-san?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
"I suggest that you kidnap the little sisters of the current Maous."
Naruto felt his blood suddenly turn cold.
"...Wait...what?" Naruto asked hesitantly, unsure that he heard what he said correctly.
The older man looked on in curiosity, seemingly not aware about the magnitude of what he just suggested.
"You didn't hear me? I suggested that you should kidnap the little sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan." he said again simply.
Naruto shook his head slowly. "No...I heard you. But...are you insane? How the hell can that promote peace in any way...?"
Toujou gave him a wicked grin at that question. "Think about it. If you team up with my faction and hold the little sisters of two Maous...you can force them to the bargaining table. Force them to offer a favorable peace deal with one or both of the other biblical factions. If the other factions are provided with a favorable and binding peace deal...then even if there are some who don't want peace, many of them would accept for the excellent terms wouldn't they?"
The shinobi just stared at him, wide eyed at what he was suggesting.
Toujou continued. "It's not like many don't want such a peace you know? Despite the methods, it wouldn't be totally against their collective wills to make peace. All you'd be doing is pushing it along. Besides...it's not like they'd be able to stop you could they?...My daughter told me of your creative ways of getting out of danger...if you wanted to...you could do this couldn't you?"
He could.
He could.
He could see it in his mind's eye...it wouldn't be hard.
He could crush Rias and Sona as well as their Peerages. He could hide them away, use fuinjutsu to muffle their energy signals so that they couldn't be found.
Once the ransom was sent out to the Maous, Lucifer and Leviathan would no doubt do their best to locate their missing siblings...but they wouldn't find him. Not unless he wanted them to.
He could meet them in person...and they would no doubt attack him and retrieve their sisters from him...
Only to find that they were clones and henged versions of their precious family members.
The stalemate would stretch out, with the Maous desperately searching for their lost loved ones, until he finally gave them an ultimatum.
Bargain or they die.
He wouldn't be serious, but they didn't know that.
Maybe Lucifer could resist the threat, but he doubted that Leviathan could.
He could do this...
"...You could see it now can't you? The peace deal that's formed between factions that loathe one another so thoroughly could begin a chain-reaction. It could be the jumpstart that could cause other supernatural factions to follow their example. Isn't that what you want Uzumaki-san...?"
Yeah. He did want that...
"...Yeah I do want peace between the supernatural factions...that is one of my end goals." Naruto said quietly, acknowledging that fact.
Toujou grinned. "Then we are in agree-"
Naruto slammed his hand onto the table, turning the small wooden structure into splinters.
The old hero stared in shock as he peered into cerulean eyes that...changed.
Blue eyes that now had a slit instead of the usual pupil.
"...But more than a simple peace between the supernatural factions...I want long-lasting peace...! One that promotes coexistence rather than teeth-grinding tolerance!" Naruto snarled, thoroughly pissed off at this man's words.
"Your way...do you really think that everyone will just accept it with a smile!? That the Maous who felt the fear of the loss of a family member would be ok once all is said and done!?" the shinobi shouted, enraged at the idea. Furiousat the idea.
"More than that! Do you really think that devil society would have no idea about what was going on!? Or maybe, you're thinking that the Maous will just hide the fact that two high-class devils were kidnapped because of their loss in prestige? How the hell do you know that their anger and rage at what has just occurred won't push them over the edge and make them want war!? Push them over the edge and do whatever is necessary, destroy those that threatened those that they cared about!?"
Naruto knew...he knew how easy it was to shift from ideal to ideal, to change irrevocably over one event.
Nagato quickly appeared in his head...the prime example...
Leviathan and Lucifer...they would feel the hopelessness and fear of losing someone they dearly care about. That fear...would very very quickly turn into hate.
Hate against those that nearly took those loved ones away.
Prestige loss? Thousands of casualties?
No...Rias told him herself.
Devils were selfish creatures by nature. They could so easily be capable of such mindless destruction if pushed hard enough.
The cycle of hate would continue...
Nothing would change...
They wanted peace for their loves ones...if he went through with this...they would want war for their loved ones.
"...I'm leaving." Naruto said quietly, golden locks shadowing his eyes.
He had to leave. He was too pissed off to try and reason with him rationally.
He would explode again, best to just leave.
Naruto couldn't help but be bitterly disappointed though...was this really what the leader of heroes thought?
Toujou said nothing, he just waved his arm towards the door and let the blond walk past him.
The room was silent as Naruto left the room.
"...Why did you do that otou-sama?" Yuki asked quietly.
"...It was necessary Yuki-kun." the old hero mumbled quietly, taking another cigarette to light it.
He said nothing for a while, just allowing the nicotine to calm him down. Once he was calm enough, he turned towards his expectant protégé.
"...I don't dislike honest guys like him. As a mater of fact...I like them a lot." he mumbled quietly, staring up at the ceiling.
Yuki said nothing, she just continued to stare at her adopted father.
"...But I needed to know if he was the real deal Yuki-kun. He was dedicated to his mission, but how far would he bend before the cost of his dream would be too much?"
The young female hero widened her eyes in shock. "You...you wanted to test how far he would go for peace?"
The male hero shook his head. "No, I wanted to see if he would take the easy way out for peace. To see if he was stupid enough to take a shortcut when taking the long road to peace is the only way to ensure anything long-lasting..."
Yuki walked up to her father and gave him a steady stare. "...That's not all is it?"
Toujou Jin stared at her back, giving her a sad and quiet look. "...I have many enemies in the Underworld you know...? How easy it would be for many of them to promise that boy a peace treaty if he got back at me...by taking away someone I dearly care about..."
An image of a boy, a small boy with vibrant green eyes and wild brown hair appeared in his head.
"...Otou-sama..." Yuki said quietly, empathizing with all of the pain he has gone through in his life.
"Yuki-kun...please forgive this foolish old man. I...just don't want to lose anyone else. Please tell your friend that I'm sorry..." the Great Hero apologized quietly.
Lithe arms wrapped themselves around the man as Yuki placed her head on top of his.
"...It's ok otou-sama...Naruto is a good person. He will forgive you once he hears why you did what you did."
"...He really does sound like a good man. I'm happy that he's your friend Yuki-kun..."
Yuki smiled.
"Me too...me too..."
Naruto was staring at the ceiling inside his room.
He's calmed down a lot since his talk with the Toujou Jin. But he was still pretty sore about how it all ended up.
Those thought would keep gnawing at him for the rest of the day, he had no doubt of that. He seriously needed a distraction or something...
As he was thinking of that, someone knocked on his door.
The shnobi got off of his bed and walked to the door and opened it, not too much to hide that wasn't seen already so not too big of a deal by this point.
"Mio? What's up?" Naruto wondered, his moodiness was pretty obvious so both female half-devils seemingly decided to give him some space.
"Naruto? It's Rias-sempai. She wants to talk to you." Mio said while holding out the home phone towards him.
The whiskered teen blinked. Rias was on the phone?
Naruto thanked Mio and took the phone from her. He placed the device on his ear and spoke.
"Yo Rias, what's up?" Naruto said blandly.
"Naruto. First off, I can't believe I never asked but do you have a cellphone?" Rias asked.
Naruto deadpanned even though there was no way Rias could see it. What the hell would he have needed a cellphone for? He was trying to keep a low profile for a long-ass time, no need to have something like that.
Although it did look badass.
"...Nope." Naruto said without a change in facial expression.
"That has to change. I'm going to get you one since it's way too hard to contact you without it." Rias said with exasperation on the other end. Though she quickly coughed to get back to her original topic. "Naruto, everything is set up now. We can leave to our training trip on Monday at the earliest. Still up for it?"
Naruto blinked. This was a pretty good distraction as far as distractions went. Not only that...but he got to skip school!
"You bet I am! I'll drag Mio and Maria with me if I have to as well!" Naruto said with exuberance.
"R...Right..." the red-headed devil said, she still had no idea who Maria was though.
"Alright then, meet you at front of Kuoh Academy. See ya then!" Naruto practically chirped, before hanging up the phone.
This was it! This was what he needed!
No annoying protocols! No ridiculous diplomacy! No double-dealing!
Just straight up fights.
This would be one hell of a stress reliever.
He couldn't wait to get started!
Chapter 15
There was something to be said about rich people.
But really...Naruto could say absolutely nothing about the Gremory and their wealth.
To say that the Gremory family was filthy stinkin' rich was overwhelmingly downplaying the sheer magnitude of their amount of cash.
He just had to look around at the friggen' mountainside that they owned in this summer home of theirs to prove it...as well as the forest.
"Hey! Naruto, slow down!"
The shinobi stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to face the stragglers.
"Slow down? I'm not even walking that fast ya know? I think that you lot should move faster! Move those muscles people!" Naruto announced in defiance, before turning around and walking forward.
Mio just sighed at his stubborn refusal. It wasn't that theywere moving too slow...it was more that Naruto was moving way too fast.
He seemed to be in high spirits, for better or for worse.
"Sorry Rias-sempai. It seems that Naruto's having one of his eccentric moments. I'm sure that you must be annoyed of it because it reminds you of your own brother's eccentrics right?" Mio said apologetically to her fellow red-head besides her.
Rias just smirked at her, Naruto's eccentrics was absolutely nothing compared to her brother's. Until the blond began using a videocam to record Mio's sleeping face, her nii-sama was very much the biggest sis-con in the entire world.
Although she was sure that Sona would object to that quite harshly.
"No worries Mio-chan. Instead of getting annoyed at him...his enthusiasm is pretty refreshing. It makes me feel like we're going on an adventure rather than training, isn't that right Akeno?" Rias said before turning to her best friend.
"Right Buchou! His demeanor is quite infectious." Akeno agreed with a gentle smile.
Mio glanced at the bright ball of energy that was Naruto at the front.
Despite her words, she did agree that Naruto was simply the kind of guy that would bring smiles through his upbeat attitude.
She was lucky to have him as a friend.
But it was also her duty to make sure that his head didn't get too big! He already had an insane amount of self-confidence as it was!
"...Hurry up pervert-sempai. You're moving too slow."
"...Damn it...it's not...my fault that...everyone is so crazy strong!"
"Ah...sorry. If you'll excuse me Issei-kun."
"...Even...even the pretty boy is stronger than me!?"
Speaking of having too much self-confidence...
Whereas Naruto had a lot of self-confidence but still managed to come off as personable and likeable...this one...
Came off as very annoying.
She of course was referring to Hyoudou Issei, the newest member of Rias-sempai's Peerage. Recently inducted and was being forced to join the training trip to improve his abilities.
He wasn't the only newcomer to tag along though.
"I-Issei-san! Be careful! Do you need help?"
"Eh? No way Asia! You don't need to help! I'm doing just fine on my own! Just...give me a second..."
Mio had no idea why a blond nun was hanging out with one of the biggest enemies of womankind...ever.
At least...before she would've had no idea. Now that her blond brother has filled her in on what has been happening around Kuoh...she knew why.
It warmed her heart to know that under that extremely perverted exterior, that there was a genuine good heart in there. She would have liked to become friends with him if it wasn't for the fact that she was sure that he would try to peek under her skirt...
Although she made a note to try to get to know both Asia and Koneko, especially Koneko. They had a shared distrust and disgust of perverts.
Fast-friend material right there.
Although...she should be worrying about the friends she already had rather than ones that she could make.
She chanced a glance at the lone wolf among the group, concerned at her friend's reticence.
Yuki was very distant with everyone at the moment, she's been in her own little world for a while now.
If she didn't break out of her funk soon, then some friendly intervention might be called for soon enough.
"Mio-sama, what do you think Naruto-sama has planned for us? It shouldn't be too strenuous right?"
Mio glanced down at her guardian; Maria. The red-head absolutely had no idea.
Though considering how strong he was and his pranking inclination...she'd guess that everyone was in for a rough couple of days.
When the ragtag group finally made it to the summer home itself...it didn't disappoint.
"...It's literally a mansion..." Naruto said in awe, genuinely looking forward to sleeping in high-quality beds during their stay.
"I'm glad that you're enjoying this Naruto...but I'm pretty sure that I will get lost in here." Mio said quietly while looking at the mansion
The blond grinned at her, they would probably get lost while they were here. But that just gave it a feeling of excitement to him!
"So...what torture do you have planned for us today Naruto? Run hundreds of laps? Don't eat for several days? Stand still as you pelt us with objects to increase our pain tolerance?" Mio asked partially in jest, she was sure that he planned something difficult for them. But nothing quite up there.
"...Admittedly I was giving that last idea some thought." Naruto mumbled while glancing away uneasily.
The young half-devil just gave him an incredulous stare. Was he serious?
"Hey. Don't give me that look. I need to have as much fun in this trip as possible, by the time I come back...the student council will try and give me detention again..." the shinobi said mournfully, feeling physically tired from the imagined stunts he'd have to pull once back at Kuoh Academy.
"Well, you have been skipping quite a few classes Naruto-san."
The duo turned to see Kiba Yuuto walk up to them with an easy-going smile.
"Yo Kiba-san. Ready for training today?" Naruto asked cheekily.
Yuuto just gave him a grin. "I'd like to think so Naruto-san. I'm eager to see what you have in store for us."
Naruto's grin turned slightly predatory. "Ya sure? I might be planning to absolutely wreck you guys ya know? I'm honestly not too sure you guys can handle it."
"You have nothing to worry about Naruto."
The whiskered teen watched as the rest of the Gremory group joined the conversation.
"Despite how we look...we are actually quite competent. If anything, you should be careful Naruto. We might just catch you off guard." Rias said while puffing her chest up. Her competitive nature was beginning to take hold it seemed.
"Ara ara. Don't take us lightly foxy-kun." Akeno chirped with a sly smile forming on her lips.
"...We won't lose easily Naruto-sempai." Koneko said quietly with a determined stare.
Naruto grinned at their enthusiasm, he was interested to see how strong they were. He'd also learn more about how devils fought as well, so it was pretty win-win in his books.
"Alright, get changed and we'll get started. That goes for everyone! Let's get our training session on the road!"
"""YES!"""
Outside of the group, a certain perverted boy was giving them a dull stare as he wondered if he would survive this training session at all.
After all...if Naruto claimed that the powerful members of Buchou's Peerage were going to get wrecked...then what the hell did that mean for him?
He looked at Asia through the side of his eyes, she looked really nervous because everyone here were new to her. She wasn't used to them yet.
So that meant that she was fretting.
Ah...she was so cute.
Issei hardened his eyes and nodded decisively, he promised that he would protect her smile! It didn't matter what that prankster from hell had in store for him! He would rise above it!
Later that day, he would question his sanity for agreeing to train with the horrifying sensei known as Uzumaki Naruto.
"Alright! I guess everyone is prepped and ready to go huh?" Naruto called out with a grin.
He received various affirmations from the assorted group that was facing him.
By this point, everyone has changed into more comfortable clothes for training. Well...mostly everyone.
A certain succubus was holding out.
He stared at Maria with a raised eyebrow, giving her a questioning look.
She turned her head resolutely in defiance. "You have no right to question me in my clothes Naruto-sama. You're wearing your casual clothes from before aren't you? So why can't I wear my dress?"
Naruto smirked at her. "It's because unlike the lot of you...I won't get my clothes dirty at all."
That got their attention.
"Naruto...are implying that none of us here can even touch you?" Mio asked while narrowing her eyes. This was what she was talking about...he was way too cocky!
"How cruel Naruto-sama! If you're like this...then I have no choice but to steal all your clothes and leave you naked as punishment!" Maria cried out in outrage.
The shinobi sweat-dropped at the retorts he received...actually he didn't mean his words to be a boast. He was saying that he was gonna use clones to train them...so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty at all.
But he wished he thought of that though! That was a badass boast!
It seemed that the Gremory group was keeping their cool though, so they knew not to let themselves get pissed off from a stray comment? Good.
"Alright alright calm down...now let me tell you about what I have planned for all of you today!" Naruto exclaimed, he sounded much like an overenthusiastic sales pitcher.
"I'm going to split all of you into groups, those groups will have a single clone to train with. That clone will spar with that group as a whole so that we can focus on what needs improvement!" the whiskered teen continued.
Everyone nodded at this reasoning and allowed him to continue explaining.
"The groups will be the following; Mio and Maria will stay as one group, Issei will be by himself, the Gremory group besides Issei will stay as a group, and...Yuki will be with the real me." Naruto said, hoping that no one noticed his slight hesitance.
Yuki was seemingly keeping to herself ever since this morning, he decided that they had to talk before anyone really noticed her odd behavior.
"Umm...Naruto-sama? Why are we being separated into groups? Why not just have us all spar individually with you?" Maria asked while raising her hand.
Looking around, Naruto decided that she asked the question that was on everybody's mind.
"It's for one simple reason Maria. Outside of wanting to find out how you guys are individually...I also want to see how well you function as teams. The only people who aren't in groups are those that have no experience with working together with other people here." Naruto explained patiently, he then made a cross hand-seal.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Immediately, three clones appeared next to Naruto in a puff of smoke.
"Asia-san. Please stay behind for now so that you can heal anyone who gets hurt from their spars ok? I'd also like Mio to stay behind as well."
Asia nodded decisively, wishing to help out in some way.
But Mio looked confused.
"...You're an aspiring...uh...what was it called...? 'Wizard-type' right? Well Rias-san and Akeno-san are both wizard-types. This is your chance to see how it's done and learn from people who have more experience." the blond teen said with a smirk.
Mio widened her eyes and nodded in understanding. Indeed, while she's very powerful when considering how little time she had to learn...she still lacked a lot of experience. Maybe she could learn something by watching the two 'Great Ladies'of Kuoh Academy fight.
Finally, Naruto turned to face the Gremory group and pulled out something from his pocket.
*jingle~*
Everyone stared at the small bell that was on Naruto's hand in confusion, what was that for?
"This...is the sound of hell ladies and gentlemen. One day you will flinch at the sound of this little bell. It will be your objective for everyone here. You don't have to do anything more than either; beat me, take the bell, or destroy the bell. That's it." the shinobi said with an easy-going smile.
Mio narrowed her eyes at that, it was too easy-going...
"...Aren't you taking us lightly Naruto? It's one thing if you yourself fought us, but just your clone?" Rias asked with a frown, slightly offended that the whiskered teen thought so little of their abilities.
Naruto just gave her a lazy smirk. "Then please...prove to me that I'm taking you lightly. If not...then I will lord it over your heads that you lost to my clone."
Rias turned towards her Peerage to confirm if they were feeling up to the challenge.
"Buchou...I want to prove Naruto-sempai wrong." Koneko said while putting on her cat-themed gloves.
"Yeah. We can't let him underestimate us too much Buchou." Yuuto said while jumping on foot-to-foot, prepping himself to fight.
"Absolutely Buchou. We can't let foxy-kun get too ahead of himself. Let's show him why he's our kohai." Akeno said with a sly grin.
Their opinions in hand, Rias gave Naruto a determined look.
"Alright everyone! Let's show him the power of the ORC!"
"""YES!"""
Naruto nodded in approval at their determination. He turned to his clones and nodded for them to begin meeting with their assigned groups.
His group was...
The blond sighed as he began walking towards the recalcitrant young hero, things were getting awkward between them...
He kinda hoped that the matter with Toujou could be dropped but he guessed that they needed to talk about it.
"...Welp, come on Yuki. Let's find our own little spot in the forest so that we could get started." Naruto said while tapping on her shoulder to get her attention.
Yuki looked at Naruto as if she was just registering his presence for the first time.
She must have been really out of it huh?
"Oh..ye-yes. Let's go." the young hero replied before following the blond deeper into the forest.
Mio watched as the two left silently, wondering why Naruto decided to personally train with the young hero.
As a matter of fact, from what she has heard...Naruto has been hanging out a lot with Yuki right?
Why?
"Mio-sama? Are you ok?" Maria asked worriedly, the red-head looked like she swallowed something sour.
"I'm fine Maria. Let's just focus ok?" Mio said with a slightly irritated tone. She had to focus on the spar, whatever was annoying her would go away once the battle started.
"Alright! You can call me 'Naruto-1' from now on. I'm the clone that will kick you all into shape! Hope you prepped your butts because they're about to get kicked!" the now dubbed Naruto-1 clone declared with a massive smirk.
But he stood still for a moment, obviously waiting for the roaring laughter that would come from his obviously humorous remarks.
...
"...You're jokes has taken a downturn."
"Ara ara. This clone isn't good at making jokes it seems."
"Sorry to say Naruto-1-san...but your jokes aren't too funny."
"That wasn't a joke Naruto-1."
Naruto-1 was shocked at the thoroughly unanimous opinion of the crowd. His joke sucked!?
He sat down, legitimately shell-shocked at this revelation.
But Rias widened her eyes at this.
An opening!
She turned to Yuuto and Koneko and gestured for them to take advantage of the situation.
They both nodded and quickly charged towards the unsuspecting blond.
They were about to attack...
But he almost as if he was an illusion, he vanished!
"...I didn't say start dattebayo."
Both Yuuto's and Koneko's eyes widened as they wheeled around saw that the blond had somehow gotten behind them!
Rias herself was shocked at the display in speed, she didn't see him move at all...
"At least you guys got the right idea, you won't be able to even touch me unless you take this seriously. So you better go all out!" Naruto-1 exclaimed before casually stretching the muscles in his arms.
"...Looks like this won't be easy at all Buchou." Akeno said with a rare tone of seriousness.
Rias couldn't help but agree.
"Akeno." Rias said, an inflection in her voice changed that simple statement into an order.
The queen understood immediately.
Akeno and Rias spread their bat-like wings and took flight into the sky to gain some distance, with the Naruto clone just standing there watching in curiosity.
He needed to see what they were capable of, so no blitzing until he wanted to end this.
The clone then turned to face Yuuto who had a slight grin on his face.
"I'll admit Naruto-san. I severely underestimated your abilities...even after I heard what happened at the abandoned church. You just didn't seem that strong at first glance. I won't make that mistake again." the bishōnen said with a confident grin on his face.
Naruto-1 wondered where all that confidence came from?
He was eager to find out.
"Well then, show me what you got Kiba-san." the blond clone goaded while making a 'come at me' gesture with his hand.
Yuuto obliged by slamming his sword to the ground.
"Sword Birth!" Yuuto shouted out.
Naruto-1 immediately had to move out of the way, as several swords ripped through the ground where he was standing.
The clone grinned at that, it was fitting for the 'Prince of Kuoh' to have such a power.
As he was sliding away from the sword attacks, he quickly allowed himself to fall onto all-fours in order to duck below the sailing tree that was aimed at him.
He could guess that Koneko was a power type...sounded familiar.
After dodging the large projectile, he got ready to defend himself as Yuuto dashed towards him with a sword covered in fire.
The bishōnen made to stab at the clone's torso, but he side-stepped the attack with minimal effort. Yuuto then quickly attempted to turn the stab into a horizontal slash.
Though he was way too slow, as the clone ducked under the slash before the arc could be completed.
Naruto-1 swiped his feet under Yuuto's legs which caused him to lose his balance and fall over. But before the maneuver could be completed, the clone had to get back from the incoming loli.
"Hei!"
Quite the battle cry from the quiet girl.
As Naruto-1 back-flipped away from danger, Koneko smashed the ground where he once laid.
The result was a small crater as big as she was.
She was definitely a power type.
"Alright. You two have some interesting abilities. But that won't be enough to defeat the great Naru-!" Naruto-1 was about to say, but before he finished his declaration...
Both devils immediately turned away from him and ran!
...
"Huh!? What the hell!? Where are you going!?" the blond clone called out in confusion.
Then he felt it.
Ohhhhhh...so that's what they were up to?
Naruto-1 looked up into the sky as Akeno and Rias had strong auras of their preferred demonic energy encircling them.
"Now Akeno!" Rias called out as she was covered in an aura of black-red demonic energy.
Akeno didn't respond, she only smirked and pointed both of her hands towards the clone and fired her concentrated demonic energy towards him.
What appeared was a large magic circle above his head.
"...That's probably not good." Naruto-1 guessed with a indulgent smile.
He had no doubt that they were getting their kicks out of this.
The large magic circle then released a large lightning bolt that screamed through the sky and shot towards the blond.
He was grinning when the magic lightning struck down to earth.
*BOOOOM*
Mio covered her face, as the debris from the lightning strike smashed towards where her brother's clone stood. The smoke from the explosion was easily covering up the entire area!
No way did the clone survive that!
But more importantly...was she really this far behind?
She supposed that she shouldn't be too hard on herself, she's only been studying and using demonic energy at allfor about half-a-year.
But seeing Himejima Akeno destroy the entire field with her attack was kind of disheartening.
She looked back towards the field as the smoke began to disperse...
Then Mio widened her eyes as something shot out of the plume of smoke!
It was the Naruto clone!
"But...how?" the red-headed half devil asked in shock. He was literally standing there, waiting for the attack to hit. There was no way he had enough time to dodge!
"Well...it's possible that he dodged, he just dodged so fast that you couldn't see him do it."
Mio gave the Naruto clone next to her a dull stare, she was getting vertigo at seeing so many versions of her pseudo-brother around...
"...I'm gonna call you Naruto-2. That ok?" Mio asked rhetorically, she was probably gonna call him that anyways.
The newly dubbed Naruto-2 shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to the skirmish. That attack by Akeno-san was pretty impressive, if looking at explosive damage...that attack was better than his Ōdama Rasengan.
Not including grinding damage of course.
But despite the superior damage...it took her quite a bit of time to concentrate that much demonic energy for that attack. Time which would have left her wide open if the clone was taking this seriously.
The Gremory team so far was without a doubt a highly offensive team...but they had some serious flaws that were easily exploitable.
Hopefully he'd get them to realize that before the training sessions were over.
Naruto-1 slid across ground using the momentum from his jump, he used it to get away from the wreckage of what was once a nice little patch of open ground.
Welp, it was a crater now.
Before Akeno-san's attack reached him from before, he made to move away from the blast radius of the attack. Faster than anyone there could have seen, he sped away from the attack at the last moment in order to hide behind a patch of bushes.
Far enough to get away from the explosion, close enough to get caught in the plume of smoke.
Simple and effective.
Although he was a little wary, there was one more individual who hasn't made their own attempts at attacking him yet...
"Got you!"
There she was.
Rias aimed her considerably concentrated demonic energy into the magic circle in front of her, all aimed at the blond that was sliding away from the smoke.
'I knew it would've been too easy! That's why I waited for you to come out! I've got you now!' Rias thought with a victorious grin.
The Power of Destruction grew in strength until the magic circle released the condensed ball of power towards the clone!
Naruto-1 knew full well that the trajectory of that attack would hit him if he stayed as he was. Rias was most likely counting on the fact that he had too much momentum to dodge it in time.
Too bad he knew just how to stop that plan.
He concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet...
Then he stopped dead in his tracks, the chakra sticking him into the ground, seemingly ignoring the momentum from before.
Rias' eyes bulged as the attack that she has been planning for has been dodged completely, how did he stop himself!?
The ball of demonic energy impacted itself into another patch of land that was untouched and...
*BOOOM*
Once more the land was destroyed in an explosion of energy, with nothing more than a crater to indicate that it was once a nice little patch of greenery.
Though the Naruto clone narrowed his eyes at the crater...
There was no debris there...
At all.
It was all obliterated.
That wasn't normal, so he guessed that the black-red energy probably had something to do with that.
Sheesh...they weren't trying to get the bell at all...they were obviously trying to destroy him.
Well, he allowed them their fun so that he could get a basic grasp of their abilities. Now it was his turn.
The first step?
Take away their home field advantage. Open spaces were obviously playing in their favor since they could coordinate better and use their destructive attacks more liberally.
So...
"I think it's time to move this fight to the forest!" Naruto-1 exclaimed with a grin, immediately after this declaration he sprinted inside the forest.
Rias widened her eyes, he was getting away!
"Everyone! After him! Don't lose sight of him!" the high class devil ordered, their objective was to get him. If he got away then it wouldn't do them any good at all!
The entire Germory group immediately gave chase after that order was given. Koneko and Yuuto on the ground...while Rias and Akeno stayed in the sky.
Mio watched them all disappear into the forestry, she wondered what was going on in Naruto...or rather...his clones' head right now?
"Alrighty then, I think it's time that we begin our training session huh?" Naruto-2 said with a smile, hopefully Mio got some good experience while watching two strong wizard-types work their magic.
Since they were gone now, there was no point in staying there any longer.
Yuki and Issei had already been sent into different parts of the forest with their own 'Naruto'...so they were the only one that needed to get started.
Although she did appreciate the chance that she had to see how strong Rias-sempai and Himejima-sempai were.
Now she had a goal to aim for.
"Alright Issei, Rias told me on the way that you managed to unlock a Sacred Gear? Well show me." the Naruto clone asked with his back leaning to a tree.
The perverted boy nodded enthusiastically. "Right! Get ready to be amazed Naruto! My Sacred Gear!"
Issei's left hand glowed red for a moment before his Sacred Gear manifested itself.
"Huh? What do you think Naruto? Impressed aren't ya?" Issei asked with a puffed up chest, obviously proud of his achievement.
The blond clone just stared at the small gauntlet on Issei's hand, it didn't seem like much.
"So what's it supposed to do exactly?" the clone asked hesitantly, he had no idea.
The perverted boy rubbed his scalp in an attempt to scrounge up the memories of what he remembered from Buchou's explanation.
He was too distracted by the sexy...
"Uh...I think it's supposed to double my abilities. Twice Critical or something...she said that this may not be the final form of my Sacred Gear though." Issei said while scratching his chin in thought.
The clone sighed at this, Sacred Gears were too complicated sometimes. So what? Sacred Gears could evolve now?
Speaking of complicated stuff...
"By the way Issei, call me Naruto-3. No doubt the other clones took one and two already..." Naruto-3 grumbled, before returning back to topic.
"So if your Sacred Gear in the future is anything like the one you have now...then you have to train your base stats. That way the doubles will be a hell of a lot more effective." the clone explained.
Issei nodded with enthusiasm, what did he have to do? Did he have to train using a sword? Maybe learn to use some magic? Maybe get some kind of armor for protection?
His imagination was running wild at the moment.
"So all you gotta do is some physical workouts. From spars to regular push-ups and sit-ups." Naruto-3 said with a reasonable tone.
The perverted boy blinked. "That doesn't sound so bad..."
Kinda boring though.
"About fifty of them since you're a beginner." the clone said with a small grin.
Issei's eyes widened to saucers at the request. "...Uhhhhh..."
He changed his mind...boring was fine.
Naruto-3 didn't either didn't notice or didn't care about the brown-haired boy's reluctance. "No worries Issei, in case you begin to lose motivation along the way...I got a little something here that will get you back on track."
The Naruto clone dug his hand into his pocket which had a noticeable bulge inside it.
He took out a little bag.
"...What's that Naruto...uh...3?" Issei asked, his head was beginning to hurt from all the copies.
The clone raised the bag into eye level with Issei. "This...is a bag full of erasers."
Issei took a step back with wide eyes...he wouldn't...
Naruto-3 shook his head. "Sorry Issei, this is the best way to motivate you. You may have a trauma of erasers for a while but...it will be worth it in the end! That's a promise!"
The old librarian taught him something worthwhile...even an eraser can be a deadly weapon in the right hands.
The perverted boy gave the clone a dull stare, he wanted to get stronger too...but he didn't want to die from over-exhaustion.
"Let's start Issei!" Naruto-3 said with a grin before taking out an eraser and waving it threateningly.
"...I'll feel this in the morning." Issei grumbled before getting started on his push-ups.
Mio and Maria were staring down a thoroughly passive Naruto.
Well...one of the Naruto clones at least.
It was pretty confusing suffice it to say.
"Alright...show me what you two can do. Your objective is like the Gremory team's, either; defeat me, take the bell on my waist, or destroy it." Naruto-2 said calmly while crossing his arms.
"You got it Naruto!" Mio said with a determined expression, she turned to Maria. "Let's go Maria!"
"Yes Mio-sama!" Maria shouted as she changed into her fighting attire.
Naruto-2 groaned at the sight, her clothes...or lack-thereof...made it hard to look at her.
Maybe that was the point though.
"I'm gonna take out all of my frustration on Naruto-sama now! This is for all your pranks against me! Don't think that I forgot!" the succubus shouted out while throwing a punch at the clone.
Naruto-2 twisted his body to dodge the sailing fist and grabbed her wrist.
"Too slow!"
He quickly threw the succubus back towards Mio.
The red-head widened her eyes as her guardian was sent towards her while she was concentrating her demonic energy. The silverette's body hit her in the abdomen and sent them sprawling to the ground in a heap.
The clone looked on in amusement, their teamwork was...questionable so far.
"Ugh...damn it...take this!" Mio shouted out while aiming a magic circle at the clone. It released a fireball as large as her head towards the blond.
'Naruto' rolled to the side to dodge the flaming projectile and righted himself for another round.
The devil team didn't disappoint.
Maria once more came charging in with sharpened eyes and her fist clenched, obviously to throw another punch.
Naruto-2 prepped himself for the blow.
However...
Instead of throwing her fist at the ground like was expected, she smashed it into the ground right next to him!
The clone widened his eyes slightly at the tactic, so she wasn't all brawn and no brains then huh?
He nearly lost his footing but 'Naruto' recovered quickly, the damage was already done however since Maria took advantage of the slip-up.
"Now Mio-sama!" the succubus cried out while moving out of the way.
Naruto-2 grinned as Mio had a blue magic circle in front of her now with water from a lake nearby charging towards him.
Smart. Keep him on his toes.
But...
"Not good enough!" the blond clone cried gleefully as he jumped up on top of the water stream and allowed chakra to flow to the soles of his feet.
He began to run on top of the artificially-made water stream towards Mio.
Mio's eyes bulged at this unforeseen ability and quickly tried to form enough demonic energy for another spell...
But it turned out that she didn't have to.
The Naruto clone jumped over and behind her instead of taking advantage of her open position.
Mio turned to face the clone with wary eyes as Maria returned to her side.
...What was he up to?
She tried to replay the short battle in her head in order to see if she was missing something important, but she couldn't think of anything.
Just what was going on in his head?
Yuki was staring at the back of her closest friend's head.
She had no idea how to talk to him...
No matter how many times she went over the conversation in her head...she just couldn't talk to him.
Just talk to him...
Just talk to him...
"Yuki?"
The young hero blinked as she was broken from her trance. She looked to see that the boy that was occupying her thoughts was giving her a worried look.
"...You ok? You've been out of it since this morning." Naruto said with a slight frown, she's been acting pretty dazed and distant for a while now. It's obvious that something was happening in her light-blue head.
He had an idea of what.
"...I'm fine Naruto. Just tired." Yuki lied through her teeth. Internally, she was annoyed at just how hard it was to say something...anything about what happened.
"...Does it have anything to do with what happened the other day?" Naruto asked quietly, staring ahead as they continued their trek to find a good spot to spar.
The young hero didn't say anything, she figured that he knew already.
She hoped that he would continue the conversation, to say what had to be said but...
He didn't say anything.
He just kept walking, his eyes continuing to look ahead.
...
Why wasn't he saying anything?
Did he hate her father that much now?
Why didn't she say anything?
She knew what she had to say...she's been going over it ever since last Saturday.
'Otou-sama didn't actually mean what he said Naruto. He was just afraid that you would do anything and everything for your goals. Even sacrifice his only daughter. I know his words hurt but...if you can...please forgive him.'
It wouldn't solve the problem but it would be a start.
They could converse from there, talking about the genuine grievances that the blond no doubt had instead of letting them fester.
But...she just couldn't speak.
"Hey Yuki..." Naruto finally said after a moment of silence.
The young hero perked at her name being called.
"Look...I know that you want to defend your father or something like that. But let's leave that for later ok? Let's go and-"
"I'm sorry." Yuki interjected quietly, her bangs shadowing her eyes.
Naruto turned to face Yuki in confusion, what was she apologizing for?
"I'm sorry..." she repeated again.
"Woah woah Yuki...what are you saying sorry for...?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.
"...Otou-sama asked for cruel things from you. Although he wanted to test you...he still said something terrible..." the young hero said quietly.
Why though? Why was she saying those things? She herself had no idea why...
"I know it doesn't excuse him but...he didn't say those things because he believed in them. He said those things for my sake..."
Why was she saying this? She wanted to give him a precise and thorough explanation of what really happened as well as an apology...
So why was she rambling on?
"He lost so much...so much...he was afraid that he would lose me too..."
Why...? Why was she so...so...
"Please...don't hate him Naruto..."
...Afraid?
"...Please...I don't want to lose you as a friend...please don't hate me too..."
...
Were those her true thoughts?
Was she afraid to lose Naruto's friendship?
Why? It wasn't logical. She said it herself.
Naruto was a good person, he wouldn't break their friendship because her father had done something like this.
Yet...
The thought alone terrified her.
Just the chance...just the sheer chance of that even happening made her hands clench and un-clench with stressful energy.
Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at the female hero. He honestly needed a second for his brain to catch up.
Then it finally did.
"...Hey Yuki."
Yuki looked up to face the blond...
*flick*
"Ow." the young hero complained as her forehead received a flick from an irate blond.
"Oi...do you take me that lightly? You're obviously underestimating me here Yuki. Like it or not...for better or for worse...you are my comrade now. To me, a bond like that is not so easily broken." Naruto said with an annoyed glare towards the female hero.
Yuki turned away uneasily. "...You say that but...my father said such horrible things and I didn't do anything to stop him. Even if it was for my sake, you should be pretty upset right?"
Naruto nodded. "Damn straight I'm upset. But if you expected me to take out my anger on you then you were dead-wrong. Nope...I was just planning on beating the crap out of your dad."
The bluenette blinked. He...wasn't upset at her?
"Why aren't you upset at me Naruto?" Yuki asked quietly.
The blond just rubbed the back of his head in a bashful gesture. "Well...despite how the so called 'Great Hero' seems...he's your superior right? It can't be easy to disobey him at all. Also, while you didn't warn me or anything, you also didn't take part in his little scheme of his. So why would I be upset at you?"
Yellow eyes stared at blue. Clear and crystalline blue, just like fresh spring water.
Those eyes wouldn't lie to her at such a moment.
She allowed for a slightly bitter smile to appear on her lips. How could she doubt her friend so easily?
Her friend...was the best kind of friend there was. Even though she didn't have much experience with such people...of that she was still absolutely sure.
She gave him a smile, one that truly came from the deepest recesses of her heart in gratitude.
"Thank you...Naruto."
The shinobi gave her a wry smirk in return.
"Don't thank me yet...you won't be so grateful once I kick your ass in our spar."
Yuki gave him a small grin in return, allowing for the familiar banter to ease her troubles.
"I wouldn't be sure Naruto...I might win this time."
They both lowered their center of gravity, with the hero equipping her hero's armor and weapons and the 'unknown' grabbing his kunai.
They were about ready to charge at one another...
"Wait. Time-out." Naruto said blandly, making the 'T' sign for a moment.
Yuki nearly tripped over herself at the abrupt end to their battle before it even began.
"Totally forgot to do something. No worries, this will be just a second!" the shinobi continued while grabbing an arbitrary rock from the ground.
The hero leaned against Sakuya as she gave him a dull stare in annoyance, the build-up was completely ruined and she was left feeling annoyed.
Naruto wrapped a small piece of paper around the rock and then threw it into the air.
Yuki watched in curiosity, what was he doing?
Naruto grinned as he set the exploding tag on the rock to explode when he made the hand seal.
The rock made a small explosion in the air, seemingly accomplishing nothing except lighting up the sky.
"...What are you up to Naruto?" Yuki asked with a suspicious stare. No way he did that for no reason at all.
The blond just gave her a cheesy grin. "Well...let's just say that we aren't the only ones who are about to fight seriously."
Naurto-1 was jumping from tree branch to tree branch, purposely leading the Gremory team further into the forestry. If he was a betting clone...he would say that...
A small explosion lit up the sky for a moment, coming from where the boss was.
Perfect. It was time huh?
He stopped on his most recent tree branch and turned back to face his sparring partners.
It was time to ramp up the difficulty!
Naruto-2 was grinning at the two half-devils that were prepping another attack against him. He wondered when the boss would give the signal...
His gaze was drawn upwards when a small explosion lit up the sky.
Ah...so it was time huh?
"Alright Mio...Maria...time to take the kiddy gloves off..."
Naruto-3 was staring at the brown-haired boy that was panting on the floor.
Issei looked pretty exhausted, especially after doing about three-quarters of the requested push-ups.
Even as a devil he was pretty out of shape...
The clone noticed that a small explosion lit up the sky for a moment.
...
"Damn it..." the Naruto clone cursed, Issei was way too weak to be any fun to fight against. Looks like he got the short end of the straw here...
Lucky bastards...
Asia had no idea what to do.
She was asked to help heal anyone who had any wounds from these spars, but she was currently on standby until then.
She didn't have to be, she could also proactively go to where one of the battles were taking place and heal someone as soon as they were hurt.
But she was having trouble choosing where to go...
She could go to where the Gremory group was since that battle had the most people and very likely the most wounds that needed healing.
She could go to where Mio-san and Maria-san were since they were had to face Naruto-san alone.
She could go to where Issei-san was since she really didn't like the idea of him getting hurt.
So she was stuck worrying over which choice to make and who to help first, moving from one side of the clearing to another in her indecisiveness.
One gets the feelings that because of her indecisiveness...she's about to get swamped by many wounded patients.
There was only one thing anyone with a heart could say...
...Good luck Asia.