Chapter 19
The remaining occupants of the mansion were currently watching the nun healing an unconscious Issei. He was pretty roughed up from the fight earlier that day and required quite a bit of healing.
"Now that things have calmed down a bit. Mind telling us what happened? In detail if you can, Naruto." Mio stated calmly, watching the soothing green aura of Asia's Sacred Gear do it's work.
"...Not much to tell. One second everything was fine. The next...we were attacked by this group of devils." Naruto replied, a far-off look in his eye as he relayed events prior.
"I think we understand that much. But who were they? What were their objective? Why attack you guys specifically and not the rest of us? Stuff like that." Mio retorted seriously. Not understanding why Naruto was being so vague about this.
"Well, it's obvious that Naruto-sama took care of the problem at the very least. But obviously, not everything went according to your expectations right?" Maria deduced, reading in-between the lines of the blond's attitude and demeanor.
"...I agree. But we won't get any asnwers by speculating between ourselves." Yuki said resolutely, before turning to Naruto for answers.
The shinobi didn't reply to any of it, he was too busy staring at the duo that was confined in the comfy room. Issei and Asia-san.
They almost died.
They almost died.
If it wasn't for the fact that Issei managed to push that masked man far enough to use more powerful magic attacks...he would have never saved them in time.
A slight change in fortune, and he'd probably have to bring back their corpses back to the mansion.
This was unacceptable.
"Naruto!"
Naruto blinked, then turned to the small group of girls that was watching him with worried eyes.
Mio was very much among them, she's never seen him like this before. He's been angry, happy, shy, apologetic, even sad.
But never this...grim.
As if she wasn't staring at the happy-go-lucky psuedo-brother she has come to know.
As if she was staring at some sort of survivor of some sort of terrible event.
Like her...
But...that was impossible right? Not Naruto...he was too happy for that.
Nevertheless, this was disturbing for her.
Everyone there was having similar opinions of the blond in front of them.
"...Maybe we should talk later? When you've properly come to terms with whatever happened?" Mio asked hesitantly, unwilling to push him for answers when he was like this.
Naruto stared at the group next to him, before turning to glance at the would-be victims of the day.
"No. We should talk. But let's give them some space. We'll talk at the dining table...we'll be close to their room enough to react to any trouble, while at the same time giving them some space." the whiskered blond said quietly.
Right after he said this, he moved to the dining room to begin their talks.
All three females glanced uneasily at one another, unsure if Naruto was at the right frame of mind to be talking about this.
But after a moment of hesitation, they moved as a group to follow the blond to the dining room table.
Naruto took a moment to gather his thoughts as Mio, Yuki, and Maria took seats for themselves and made themselves comfortable.
After a moment of silence, the shinobi finally decided to get started.
"Alright...well soon after I woke up from my nap earlier today, I went to the forest in order to find Issei and Asia-san. Mostly because I was bored." Naruto began his explanation.
Mio nodded at that. She figured that it would be something like that, they did appear from the forest after all.
"But soon after I began my relaxing trip, I was attacked by this group led by a masked man." the blond continued, he was interrupted soon after he said this.
"Naruto...was this group affiliated with any of the groups that we have encountered before?" Yuki asked seriously, wondering if a group such as the fallen angels have attacked her friend with revenge in mind.
But the shinobi shook his head in the negative.
"No...they were devils."
Everyone gave Naruto shocked looks. What would devils want with Naruto?
"Before anyone asks, I have no idea why they were there or why they aimed for me. But I at least have a suspicion for why they attacked me...it has to do with Issei and Asia-san." the shinobi claimed with a serious expression.
Seeing that everyone was staying silent, urging him with their eyes to continue, he obliged.
"...After I initially met the group, the masked leader broke off to complete his own mission, while his all-female group stayed behind. There were fourteen of them...sound kinda familiar?"
Everyone narrowed their eyes at that information.
That number was the same amount as chess pieces excluding the king piece.
Taking into account that there was a clear leader...then the answer became obvious.
A Peerage.
But more importantly, a high-class devil blatantly attacked the guests of the Gremory family.
"...This guy either sounds very foolish...or is very confident in his abilities to get out of trouble." Yuki mumbled with a frown. Either case wasn't exactly favorable to them.
Especially when they had no idea who this person was.
"Naruto-sama. Did you manage to get a glimpse of this man's face? Maybe we can ask Rias-san if she knows anything." Maria pointed out, trying to find a solution to the mystery.
"Sorry, but no. He used some kind of mask to hide his face. All I know is that he's got orange eyes, a shit personality, and probably a very bad wound on his face." Naruto replied, head on the palm of his hand. Eyebrows scrunching together with annoyance.
"You hurt him badly? As expected of our Naruto-sama." the succubus said wryly, not surprised to hear that the blond managed to get a parting shot.
"What did you hit him with exactly? Maybe we could recognize the wound later on." Mio said, hoping that the wound was pretty bad. She hated the thought that someone was out to target her psuedo-brother.
Or any of her friends in general.
"I hit him full in the face with a rasengan." Naruto said, a wry grin making it's way to his lips.
Well-deserved in his eyes. Anyone that could make someone look as dead as that woman did...deserved that and more.
"Wait...a rasengan? I've seen that attack do damage to that five-winged fallen angel at the abandoned church. How come it didn't do more than serious damage to a high-class devil?" Yuki asked, confused at how such a concentrated attack didn't complete it's deadly mission.
"...That's because it wasn't a normal rasengan. I didn't have time to make a clone to form it correctly, so I had to use my own two hands to make an imperfect version. Glad I did too...he almost managed to kill Issei...and maybe Asia-san too." the shinobi replied with a dark look making it's way to his eyes.
The thought seriously pissed him off.
After checking that everyone was on the same page, Naruto decided to continue the initial story.
"I quickly took down the all-female group without much effort. But I made sure to keep them alive so that I could get some information to where their leader went, specifically...I left one conscious. But before I could get any information...she committed suicide." the blond spoke somberly, remembering how easily the woman took her own life.
The room was silent as the information sank in, the fact that a young woman took her own life not too far away from where they were relaxing and resting was...discomforting
"Do you have any idea why she would do such a thing? Maybe out of loyalty or something like that?" Mio asked after a moment of silence.
Naruto remained silent, he was staring down at the table as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Not sure if he should voice his opinions...
No. It was best that they remain knowledgeable.
"...I think that her master abused her or something like that. Her eyes were...dead...there's no other way to explain it. She practically welcomed her death rather than it being a last resort." Naruto said quietly, feeling down at the unnecessary loss of life.
His audience glanced at one another, questioning gazes steadily turning darker at the implications of this information.
But there was no confirmation of these dark assumptions, it was best to not allow their imaginations to take the place of real facts.
But still...
"...I hope you got him good, Naruto." Mio said after a while.
"...Yeah...I did." Naruto confirmed, not feeling sorry for the damage he's done at all.
Another moment of silence passed, everyone thinking about the information that they've heard.
Then one of them realized something.
"Hey Naruto, you keep mentioning how you've badly hurt this masked man...but I've never heard you say that you've defeated him yet." Yuki said with a frown. She was slightly worried that she was reading too much into her concerns though, but what she said was true.
All eyes turned back to Naruto, curious to how he would respond to this statement.
"...Right, good point Yuki. I've been meaning to mention this earlier, but other questions side-tracked me. As a matter of fact...I didn't defeat the masked man...he managed to escape unfortunately." the shinobi said with a frown, visually displeased at the memory.
Now this was a shock.
"Wait...he got away!? But how did he escape, Naruto-sama!?" Maria incredulously asked, shocked that a high-class devil could have had the speed or strength to escape from the blond in front of her.
The whiskered man pointed at the succubus. "That is a verygood question. Which brings me to the next important point that I wanted to bring up. This masked guy has the ability to completely mask his own energy signal as well as his comrade's."
Maria's eyes widened her eyes in understanding.
"...So the reason you were so desperate to get us inside the mansion..." Maria started, this last piece of information made the blond's behavior make more sense.
"...Was because you were afraid that we could get caught off guard by this guy...right?" Yuki finished the succubus' sentence. Reaching the same conclusion as her.
Naruto nodded.
The shinobi then snapped his head up, eyes glazing over slightly due to the knowledge seeping into his head.
A clone just dispersed their chakra.
"Girls, expect some company from my clones. They're bringing in the unconscious bodies of that masked guy's Peerage." Naruto quickly interjected, before moving out of his chair to get to the front of the mansion.
Yuki and Mio immediately made to follow the blond, intent on getting a look at the intruders themselves.
Only one person stayed behind.
Maria was staring at the table, seriously considering the implications of the knowledge she has received...specifically about what this masked man could do.
She knew for a fact that devils had no way to hide their energy signals properly, the only acceptable way would be to flat-out seal some of their power away.
But there was a way...one hidden through her family line to be specific.
The line of succubus that served the Lucifer family ever since their ancestor; Lilith, knew of a way to hide energy signals to better serve their masters to the best of their abilities.
It was passed down from generation to generation...
Yet this mysterious individual had the knowledge to utilize it? Not only that...but she's never heard of someone having the power to hide energy signals of others so thoroughly before...
This was somewhat disturbing news, where could this man have received such information?
"Hey! Maria! What's taking you so long? Hurry up!" Mio called out from the other room impatiently.
"R-Right! I'm coming Mio-sama!" the succubus called back, she rushed out of her chair to join her 'charge'.
The small group was staring at the unconscious bodies of the all-female Peerage. Their cloaks were still covering their features.
The question was...what to do about them?
"...Considering what you told us about them, maybe we should try to talk to either Rias-san or that maid from before to help them out." Mio suggested, not wanting the group in front of her to suffer anymore.
"Yeah, that's probably the best option. We have no idea what to do in this situation...so best to ask someone who's more knowledgeable." Naruto agreed, but his facial features betrayed his disgruntlement of the situation.
He wanted to help them personally...but it would be bad for everyone involved if he helped out this group without some proof of abuse from their master. The worst that he could claim were that their master were overworking them, as his clones took a quick peek at their faces and noticed that they had bags under their eyes.
The problem was, that high-class devils were mostly affiliated with the remaining Devil Pillars...or something like that.
Anyways, apparently those major clans were extremely rare by this point, so to place his own words against that of a noble from a possibly prestigious clan...
Well...he doubted that a human's word would count for much. Even if he managed to get Rias-san's support in this, he still needed undeniable and major proof of abuse.
Something he couldn't really give.
But if he sent these girls to Maou Lucifer, with information about their attack on Gremory territory...that might get the apparently bro-con Maou on his side.
Especially if he could find out who had these people as servants.
"Alright. Let's tie them up and put them inside the living room. I will sleep there for tonight, just in case they try anything." Naruto declared after a quick thinking session. That was definitely the best policy here.
After waiting a bit to check if anyone had any objections, he continued. "It's getting late and I'm sure that everyone is pretty exhausted with what happened recently. So I think that this is a good time to head to bed, any objections?"
Once more, no one objected to this logic. Everyone there was pretty tired...learning that you were very close to some sort of psycho could do that to you.
The shinobi then clapped his hands, urging everyone without using his words to get ready for bed.
No one needed much convincing.
The lights were off and presumably, everyone was asleep at the moment.
But Naruto couldn't sleep.
He was staring at the ceiling, trying to force his eyes to close and his brain to stop thinking.
But he couldn't.
Whether he liked to admit it or not...he was more affected by the day's trials than he liked to admit.
From the fact that hostile people made their way inside a secure barrier...
To the fact that this devil could hide his energy signal from the blond...
To the fact that this guy nearly killed two of his friends...
To those eyes...
He shook his head, willing the thoughts of the day to go away.
He'd deal with them later. Now he needed some rest for when Rias-san came back...they had a lot to talk about.
"...Naruto?"
Naruto turned his head to regard his pseudo-sister.
"...What's up Mio? Can't sleep?" the shinobi asked quietly, not wishing to wake anyone else up.
Said half-devil shifted her feet, clearly uncomfortable. Glancing at him and then turning away the second they made eye-contact.
The blond raised an eyebrow. What was up with her?
"Um, Naruto...is it possible that I can...well...you know?" the red-head mumbled, tripping over her words repeatedly.
Naruto squinted his eyes at her, not understanding why she was having trouble asking him something.
"Oh come on Mio. You should know that I'm not gonna bite by now. Say what you want to say."
Mio bit her lip, drudging up the courage to ask something embarrassing from her 'brother'.
"...Can I sleep with you?"
...
"...Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."
Mio was as red as a tomato as she frantically shook her head in denial. "No no no! That's not what I meant! I meant if...I can rest in the same bed as you. Just for tonight."
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief at that, she almost gave him a heart attack...
"Now why would you want to do that, Mio?" Naruto asked reasonably, figuring that she had a good reason for it.
The half-devil looked down at her feet. "...I had a nightmare. Hard to sleep by myself."
The blond's eyes softened.
That's right...she's not entirely used to this kind of lifestyle, right? She's only been involved with the ever-present danger of the supernatural world for...what? A year?
About a year ago, the worse thing she probably had to worry about was her homework and tests, not death threats.
"...Yeah. You can sleep with me." Naruto responded with a smile.
Then his eyes widened.
"I meant...uh...the safe sleeping of course. Not the...you know...other one."
Mio just gave him a small smile of gratitude, gracefully ignoring his misstep, before slowly walking up to him and snuggling into his futon on the floor.
He made sure to give her a spare pillow as well as some space, but the futon was quite small...so he didn't exactly have much space to give.
This led to the somewhat uncomfortable situation of the 'siblings' being too close to one another.
But the blond didn't mind too much.
He then turned back to what he was doing, still wishing to fall asleep...but having trouble doing so.
"Naruto...got something on your mind too?" the red-head asked, she was peering at him from half-lidded eyes from her comfortable position.
The shinobi shrugged, unsure if she saw the gesture or not, but nevertheless continued.
"I guess you could say that...I made a lot of mistakes today." the blond mumbled quietly, narrowed eyes staring into the darkness.
Mio tilted her head, unsure of what he could be referring to. "From what you told us, you've made nothing but the best decisions in a pretty bad situation...so I'm not too sure what you're talking about."
Naruto gave her a slightly bitter smile, he forgot to mention it in all of the commotion didn't he?
"I guess...I just feel like I failed. That masked guy...I doubt that what I did to him will stop him, if anything...it probably just made everyone here into a target for that sick bastard. But that could've been avoided if I just finished him off after I hit him with my attack...after I made sure that Issei and Asia-san were ok." Naruto said quietly, stewing in his mistake.
"...Why? Why didn't you finish him off if you had the chance to? Help me understand." the younger girl whispered, wishing to understand what has the blond in such a mood.
Blue eyes connected with pink.
Then the blond sighed.
"...When I managed to stop that guy's attack, I was intensely aware of just how close I was to not getting there in time...if I was even a split-second later then Issei and Asia-san would've died. Add in the fact that I was already spooked by this guy's abilities and to what happened to that woman..." Naruto trailed off, eyes gazing past the ceiling as if he was in a trance.
Mio decided to wait, allow him to take his time. He needed this.
Then he finally took a deep breath and continued.
"To be blunt, I was afraid for their safety. So hyper-aware of my near-fail that...I didn't even consider going after this masked guy seriously at all. I felt like...that I barely lucked out at saving those two, that just trying to push that luck by doing anything to finish him off would damn them. I know it sounds stupid...hell...it sounds stupid to me too...but I wasn't thinking properly at the time." the blond admitted shakily, the frustration beginning to get to him.
How could he have made such a mistake in the middle of a battle? He should be better than this. He was better than this!
...Or was he?
Back in the Elemental Nations...he always fought alongside people that were at the very least near his level or above it. He never really had to worry about protecting someone weak by himself, especially when he was part of a squad.
Even Sakura-chan, who wasn't exactly the strongest shinobi back when they were kids...could at least stall enemies long enough with the jutsus that she knew at the time.
But Issei and Asia-san...hell...most of his new friends and allies weren't like that.
They weren't on his level.
They didn't have too many ways to get out of immediate danger.
If they fought someone stronger...then that pretty much meant that they were going to die.
To put it simply, maybe he just wasn't used to worrying about the well-beings of his comrades to such a degree before. To the point that when he almost failed in protecting them, that his entire approach to the situation was to protect Issei and Asia-san and to ignore any other objective.
To him at the time, the masked man wasn't worth the effort, even to spare a single second to make a clone.
What mattered was that they were alive to fight and laugh another day.
...But it was still a stupid mistake, especially when he was used to keeping his cool in the middle of a fight.
Naruto groaned as his jumbled mind cross-analyzed what happened and why. Even if he had all of the reasons in the world...it didn't change the fact that the masked bastard had the chance to hurt his friends again.
"...Naruto."
The blond stopped his thinking process for a moment to look at young girl next to him.
She was giving him a frown.
"...You can't go on thinking like this Naruto. You can't blame yourself for every little misstep that you make or every little accident that occurs along the way." Mio reprimanded quietly.
Naruto merely shook his head.
She didn't understand...she couldn't understand how close it was.
He can't afford to make mistakes. If he failed, then people he cared about would suffer...
"Naruto! Listen to me!"
The shinobi snapped his attention back to the red-head, shocked at how she raised her voice to grab his notice.
She placed her hand on his chest.
"I don't know what you are dealing with right now Naruto...I'm not sure I can ever understand to be honest...but I do know this. That you are human Naruto...!" Mio said, a plea laced in her voice for the blond to listen to her words.
He did.
"Humans make mistakes...they do stupid things that defy logic...they fail. But you can't obsess over every one of those missteps right? But there is something that you can do...something that I believe my foolish...foolish brother is really good at."
She then smiled at him, a gesture that revealed her trust in him.
"Doing his absolute best to make sure that he doesn't make the same mistake again. Isn't that right?" Mio asked rhetorically, knowing the answer before she even asked.
...
"You're right. You don't really understand what I'm dealing with." Naruto responded quietly, eyes still looking past her and staring at something conjured in his head.
An image of a crater...where his home once stood.
He sighed.
Then the shinobi turned to face a worried younger sister.
"...But I really shouldn't be moaning and bitching about something that happened right? Instead...I should be making sure that I don't make that mistake again." Naruto said finally, a grin making it's way to his face.
Mio returned his grin with one of her own, pleased that his good mood was returning.
Right...the bonds he forged in this new world was new and untested. But bonds in general weren't one-way streets...they were two-way.
Just as he had to help them, they were there to help him in return.
Looks like he forgot about that after having to help his new friends for so long. Man...being without comrades for so long messed him up in an important way huh...?
"...Look at you. Who knew that my little sister would be lecturing me? Ah...how time flies eh?" Naruto teased, a sly smirk making it's way to his face.
Mio just pouted a little bit. Now feeling annoyed at how quickly he switched personas.
"Well, I gotta learn something from all of your talks after all of this time. Although I didn't do anything serious, someone just needed to give you a reminder of what's really important. That's all."
The young half-devil then preceded to scratch her cheek slightly, a bashful gesture.
"I'm actually a little happy that you messed up."
The blond gave her an incredulous look. How could she be happy that he messed up? It wasn't exactly a good thing that the masked guy got away by any standard.
Seeing his expression, Mio decided to elaborate.
"You seemed so...infallible to me before now. So much so, that a part of me thought that you were some sort of demi-god instead of a regular human. But now, knowing that you can make mistakes too helps me see you as a regular person." the red-head claimed, slightly embarrassed that she admitted that.
She couldn't help but look up to him, see him as something greater than she was. It was inevitable, seeing how he seemingly handled every issue that was dealt to him without much trouble.
But she shouldn't.
When you looked up to someone, sometimes you can't help but place them on a pedestal. When they are on that pedestal...you want them to live up to your expectations and ideals, even if they are thoroughly unreasonable and unfair.
You would be seeing them in their ideal selves instead of their real selves.
When they don't meet those ideals and expectations, then you feel betrayed and disappointed, despite how selfish your expectations could be.
For Naruto, her expectations could have easily swelled to the belief that he was guaranteed to never fail at something he put his mind to. A guarantee that when he fought an enemy or faced a difficult situation, that he would always prevail. No matter how difficult the battle was.
A very nice and comfortable fairy tale. One that would ease her mind and heart. Allow her to live the life she wanted to, without truly facing any of the consequences.
But completely and thoroughly unfair, as she'd be placing a heavy burden onto him.
She didn't want to do that to Naruto.
The young red-head shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, whoever this guy is...I'm sure that you'll get him eventually. You're just stubborn like that."
Naruto was still giving her an incredulous stare.
Just for a different reason.
"...Mio...since when were you so smart?"
Mio's eyebrow twitched.
"...I was always smart. Just that when it comes to battles and the supernatural...I still have to play catch-up with everyone. I'm doing the best I can here." the half-devil complained, childishly folding her arms together.
The shinobi just gave her a wry grin. "Right. Completely forgot about that. But seriously though...I can't help but feel proud as an older brother. Is this what it feels like to watch your little sister grow up?"
Mio 'hmphed' and shook her head. Was he taking her seriously at all? She couldn't tell with him sometimes.
"...Whatever." the red-head sighed melodramatically before facing away from the blond, rolling her eyes in the process as she tried to stop the slight smile tugging at her lips.
Despite how annoying the blond could be, she much preferred it when he was his usual self than when he was sad.
Then she felt something.
Mio felt her eyes widen slightly as Naruto's arms wrapped themselves around her, holding her in a hug from behind.
"...Thanks Mio. I really needed that."
She allowed for her head to lay on one of Naruto's arms, feeling his warmness through the physical contact.
It felt...nice.
"It's ok Naruto...though if you really want to thank me...let's just stay like this for a little longer...ok?"
The shinobi grinned.
Nothing more was said as the pseudo-siblings drifted off into sleep.
It was late at night.
That much was obvious.
How late? Now that was an interesting question.
He woke up with a start, still in his comfortable position with Mio.
Naruto sensed something.
To be specific, something that immediately made his eyes snap open and adrenaline to course through his veins.
Demonic energy.
After what happened earlier today...or was it yesterday now...? Anyways, he had ample reason to be alert.
Which was why he was alarmed to realize that the use of magic was coming from the room they were laying in.
Was it that bastard again!?
Then the room lit up with red light, coming from a magic circle that looked familiar...
Then he felt the tension leave his body.
False alarm, he knew that magic circle.
It was...
From the magic circle, appeared the Gremory Peerage in all of their glory.
Although, only about half of them seemed to be alert. So they didn't look too 'glorious' at the moment.
Rias was looking significantly more stressed than the last time that the shinobi saw her, obviously the discussion with the maid didn't go well.
The second that Rias seemingly got a sense of where she was, she spotted Naruto.
She raised an eyebrow, then she opened her mouth to question why he was on the floor and using a futon.
Then she froze.
The reason was simple, and not just apparent to her. Her entire Peerage was looking around in confusion at the strange scene.
In their eyes, several things were apparent all at once.
Naruto was on the floor using a futon for some reason.
Mio happened to be in the same futon as he was.
They practically seemed to be spooning together.
To top it all off...there were some strange women that were all tied up and left haphazardly on the couch.
"...Someone mind telling me what's going on here." Rias said after a moment of silence, feeling a headache coming.
She left the mansion for not even a day...and this happens.
What even.
Naruto glanced at the still-sleeping Mio and then turned to look at the Gremory heiress.
"...Give me a sec." the shinobi said quietly, not wanting to wake up his sleeping companion.
He slowly maneuvered his hands which were wrapped around Mio to make a certain hand seal...
"Kage bunshin no jutsu." Naruto practically whispered.
A clone appeared right next to him, going through some hand seals himself.
"Kawarimi no jutsu."
The clone then replaced the original Naruto with himself, allowing for Mio to rest as the real Naruto got up to address the confused Gremory group.
After stretching a little bit, he turned to the Gremory team.
"...Many many things happened while you were gone." Naruto said dryly.
Looks like he had a long night ahead of him.
"Are you serious Naruto? Did all of that seriously happen while we were away?" Rias asked with unbelieving eyes.
Not because she didn't believe Naruto...mostly because what happened seemed like such an impossibility. Yet the proof was there when she first returned to the mansion, the unconscious women were hard to argue against.
Naruto nodded gravely.
The high-class devil bit her lip, this was bad...this was really really bad.
Her guests were attacked, her security was compromised, some sort of insane maniac had the ability to hide their energy signals, and to top it all off...this information brought up a disturbing possibility.
A traitor among the Gremory.
Her family was famous for being very loving and trusting to their servants, for there to be one that would betray her family...
Rias shook her head, she was getting ahead of herself. Best to just stick with what she knew.
"...Naruto-sempai. May I ask you a question?"
The shinobi turned to face Koneko with a nod, she seemed to be struggling to ask him something.
After a moment of gathering her wits about her, she asked her question.
"...Are you sure that this person's energy was demonic? Absolutely sure?" Koneko asked seriously, her eyes intense.
Rias and Akeno glanced at one another uneasily, knowing where this line of question was going.
Naruto frowned and thought about it.
"Nope. It was definitely demonic energy. Do you have an idea of who this masked guy could be, Koneko-san?"
Koneko bit her lip for a second, contemplating on the situation. Hiding energy sources sounded like something that a proficient senjutsu user could utilize...
Was it possible for her big sister to be involved in this...?
She shook her head, Naruto himself said that he sensed demonic energy...senjutsu shifted the ki flow inside the body to make it extremely difficult for people to sense them properly. So her big sister couldn't have been involved in this incident.
The young silverlette let out a sigh of relief at that.
Naruto stared at her for a little while longer, wondering what the deal was, before leaving her to her thoughts.
He had to address something else.
"Rias-san. Is it possible that you could call that maid here again? I'd like to send those women to your brother so that they can get treatment and maybe find out who led them." the shinobi asked, giving her a slightly apologetic look.
He knew damn well that Rias probably didn't want to see any of her family members right not. For obvious reasons, but this still had to be done.
Rias sighed and rubbed her brow in her stress, she also knew that this needed to be done. Leaving emotionally damaged women on the couch was something that needed to be dealt with and she wasn't anywhere near heartless enough to leave them without getting some help.
Something that her 'onii-sama' could very well have.
"Naruto-san, perhaps this discussion should continue after we get some rest? We are all quite exhausted after all." Yuuto said quietly, his eyelids were closing by themselves due to his exhaustion.
Koneko was also beginning to nod off.
The only ones who were seemingly fine at the moment was Rias and Akeno...but the red-head was obviously looking more 'tired' than usual.
Naruto sighed, the knight was right. He didn't mean to talk about more than what happened. The Gremory team obviously needed some rest.
"Alright then, we'll talk about this tomorrow. Get some rest, everyone." Naruto declared.
Rias gave the blond a grateful smile, everyone really needed some rest.
So as one, everyone filed out of the room in order to do just that.
But before everyone left, he felt a dainty hand place itself on his shoulder and squeeze.
His eyes glanced at the owner and watched as she gave him a smile and mouthed something to him silently.
'Thank you.'
For even Akeno-san to be worried...Rias-san must have had a rough day huh?
He sent a grin her way and gave her a thumbs up.
Akeno giggled slightly and began her own trek towards her room.
As he was left alone in the spare room where they held the discussion, he sighed and realized that he pushed another issue onto the red-headed devil at a time when she already had a lot on her plate.
He wasn't wrong in telling her about it...he just could've had better timing.
Ah well...not like he could have dealt with the issue at another time. It was that masked bastard that had the bad timing.
Just another thing to take him down for.
Naruto quickly checked outside, wondering whether he should get back to bed or not.
It was still night.
Well, back to bed it was.
He quickly went back to the futon in the living room in order to switch back to with his clone.
A quick kawarimi later and he was back to his original position.
The blond closed his eyes and tried to get some more sleep...
Uzumaki Naruto was beginning to hate magic circles.
Like the last time he sensed one, he immediately jolted awake. Aware that yesterday's experience made him hyper-aware of any and all demonic energy used in his close vicinity.
But like last time, it was a false alarm.
He knew this demonic energy.
That maid was back.
He blearily looked away from Mio's red hair for a moment in order to check a window and determine what time it was...
...
Dawn maybe? The sun looked like it was just beginning to peek over the horizon...also the night wasn't entirely gone yet.
His internal clock must be pretty messed up right now.
After that, he pushed his face back down to the futon, trying to get some more sleep and trying to ignore the shuffling movements of the maid. She was obviously here to pick up the Peerage members of that masked guy.
Did that mean that Rias-san was awake too? Or did she alert Grayfia-san before she headed to bed?
Either way, after a couple of minutes of rustling clothes, he felt another magic circle form and whisk the powerful energy signal of the maid away.
Well...at least that issue was taken care of.
Since the unconscious women were taken by the maid; Grayfia, it allowed for her energy signature to disappear, and for another to become more prominent.
Well, it turned out that Rias-san was awake.
He figured that since his adrenaline was coursing through his veins...again...that he may as well wake up for good this time around.
A good chance to talk to the Gremory heiress now that she was awake.
So just like before, he made a clone and allowed for the clone to use a kawarimi to replace the two.
He followed the source of demonic energy to one of the many balconies of the Gremory-owned mansion.
Naruto stared at the slightly older girl, who was obviously going through some...issues.
He knew because she had an aura of demonic energy surrounding her form; the Power of Destruction.
He walked up to her and fearlessly placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Rias-san."
That knocked her out of her trance.
"N-Naruto? You're awake?" the high-devil asked, her shock caused her eyes to widen in surprise.
Her Power of Destruction petered out like so much hot air, whatever emotion that caused her power to leak disappeared from her facial features.
But Naruto wasn't convinced that she was alright.
"...You ok, Rias-san?" the shinobi asked quietly, his eyes revealing just how concerned he was.
Rias turned away from the blond, her eyes staring up to the sunrise.
It was a beautiful scene.
"Can I ask you a question? Naruto?"
The blond blinked at her, unsure of where this was coming from.
He decided to answer. "Sure, ask away."
Rias finally turned to the blond, with a confused expression on her face.
"Is it selfish of me to do everything I can to get out of my arranged marriage? My family made a promise with Phenex clan, where the heir and heiress of the clans would marry for the good of their families...and for all devils. So...is it selfish of me to defy their wishes?" Rias asked finally, her eyes downcast as she considered her own question.
Naruto looked up, considering the question seriously.
He remembered when the red-headed devil explained how the devils of the Underworld lost a lot of their powerful clans...how endangered the 'pure' devils were.
He thought that the concern was ridiculous, but that was the reality of the situation.
So...was it selfish for Rias-san to push back against her family in this situation? When the creation of more 'pure' devils would reassure a large chunk of the population?
"...Yeah. You are being selfish." Naruto finally said seriously.
The Gremory heiress eyes stayed downcast...so she really was...
"But why is that suddenly a bad thing?"
Rias' eyes snapped back to the blond, confused.
"...Well. You said it yourself right? Devils are inherently selfish creatures, even more so than humans. But being selfish by itself isn't exactly bad. It depends on how you use it right? Like protecting people you care about because they make you happy isn't bad right? Maybe not exactly the best of reasons...but not bad." Naruto said reasonably, confused on why this was a big deal.
"Besides, aren't your parents being far more selfish? Pushing something on their child without their consent? If you agreed to the marriage before and then decided at the last minute to decline it...then you'd be in the wrong. But that's not the case right? So I'd say that you have every right to push against this marriage." Naruto finished decisively, sure that he managed to answer her question to the best of his abilities.
The high-class devil stared at the blond next to her.
She never even thought about her situation in such a way before.
She felt her heart soar, that question was eating at her for the longest time...whether her actions were justified or not. Whether she should accept the arranged marriage as a child of the Gremory family or whether she could rebel against it as an independent teenager.
A weight was lifted off her shoulders.
"...Thank you, Naruto. I needed to hear that." Rias spoke gratefully, glad to know that she had some sort of moral standing in this.
The blond grinned in return, he just gave her the most honest answer he could have managed. Nothing to thank him for, really.
But just as quickly as Rias' weight was lifted, another took it's place.
"...I still need to find a way out of this marriage however. I don't have that many options left, unfortunately. At this rate...I only see one way." Rias spoke solemnly, a frown marring her face.
The only way...was to lose her virginity. She may become 'spoiled goods' in the eyes of high-class society and may even disgrace herself, but at least she may have a chance to get out of this predicament.
A far better alternative.
"Woah woah...you made this plan of yours sound pretty damn final, so before you do that...tell me about this arrangement. Maybe I can do something about it?" Naruto interrupted quickly, not sure he was liking how solemn her idea sounded.
Rias glanced at the blond, then nodded quickly. Not like she had anything to lose.
"The marriage was concluded between Lord Gremory and Lord Phenex, as an attempt to create more pure devils for the next generation. It was just as much a publicity stunt at it was a necessary measure, as it would prove to every devil that the Phenex and the Gremory clan were taking steps to fix the issue at hand. That is to say, the dangerously low amount of pure devils left alive. The marriage could only be cancelled if the two who initially agreed to the arrangement came together to cancel it or whether the two who were going to get married got together to cancel it." Rias explained, speaking like a drone who has rehearsed those lines over and over.
She then gave the blond a dry glance as she realized that he only managed to understand up to half of what she said.
"...Basically, only my father and Lord Phenex or Riser and I could cancel the marriage officially." the high-class devil reiterated in a simplified version.
Naruto finally nodded in understanding. That was really all he needed to know.
He thought about it, obviously this Riser-bastard didn't want to cancel the marriage. Maybe the blond could trick the guy into canceling the marriage? But then the guy could call foul play...which could cancel out the blond's own meddling.
So what could be done...
Then something clicked.
"Hey Rias-san. Is it possible to make another contract? Like the one that your father made?" Naruto asked, his eyes gleaming with a certain something.
She recognized that gleam, he had a devious idea no doubt.
"...I suppose. But it would have to be based on Riser' and my own consent. That would be impossible with Riser..." Rias trailed off sadly, shaking her head.
The man may be arrogant to a fault, but he wasn't stupid. He had a first-class education just like her.
Naruto only grinned. "I see. Well then, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I think I've got an idea. Do you have any idea when this Riser-guy is coming by?"
Rias frowned, but thought about it.
"I have no idea. Perhaps I could ask Grayfia when she comes by to report about those women you've captured. I'll ask her then...but what do you have in mind exactly?" the red-head asked cautiously, this boy in front of her was dangerous in more ways than one.
The blond just gave her a foxy grin. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Just follow my lead when the time comes, alright?"
Rias stared at him carefully, before sighing.
She did need his help. So while she wasn't sure that trusting him to get her out of this mess was entirely smart...she didn't really have any better options.
"...Ok. I will."
"...I see your...'hobbies' have finally caught up to you. I was wondering when you would suffer such an injury. Though I must admit...I thought that the injury would've been...loweron your body."
Diodora Astaroth grit his teeth imperceptibly, at least as much as he could with the right-side of his jaw. He was kneeling in front of his lord and master, so he couldn't make any disrespectful gestures towards him.
Not unless he wanted to die.
"Milord...I have made personal contact with Uzumaki Naruto." the green haired man spoke, a slight lisp to his voice due to the fact that half of his jaw was not exactly...in working order.
Said superior devil raised an eyebrow in interest. He has been hearing that name more and more often recently...
"...Your opinion then? Be warned...I don't take the concept of liars too well..."
Diodora gulped.
"...He's extremely powerful milord. A protector fitting for that girl; Naruse Mio, that you've been targeting. I think that a test of his abilities should be in order."
The powerful devil turned away from the little cretin and thought about it. As much as he knew that the little Astaroth was trying to use him to get back at this Uzumaki...he also knew that he was truly a threat.
He needed Naruse Mio's inherited power. Pure and simple.
Uzumaki Naruto stood in the way. They would come to blows one way or another. Sooner or later.
So for now...he'd tolerate his foolish subordinate's actions...up until his abilities were no longer required.
"...I suppose you have a solution to my dilemma? Diodora Astaroth?"
The younger heir of the Astaroth clan grinned. "I have heard some interesting things during my spying activities in the Gremory summer home...Lucifer-sama."