The knight nodded. "I...placed everyone in danger today, foolishly thinking that I could just make everyone forget everything that we had done together. Thinking that if I acted coldly, then they wouldn't try and help me. That they'd just leave me alone."
Rias moved up to him, nervous about how the stoic whiskered teen was taking this since she didn't want her precious family to get hurt.
But while she feared for her knight's safety, she also genuinely didn't want to force Naruto's hand, getting him to hurt an ally to drive home a point that, perhaps, needed to be made, but that she was unwilling to follow through.
Like a mother that didn't want to discipline her unruly child, she didn't want the 'father' in this situation to force himself to do what had to be done.
"Yuuto..."
He shook his head with a shallow smile, regret dripping from his voice, refusing to be curtailed. "I...forgot, no, ignored the fact that a true family wouldn't let one of their own push them away without a fight. And that made my actions disgustingly selfish. Truth be told, I don't think that I could apologize enough for the pain I've put everyone through."
The shinobi narrowed his eyes faintly, cold pools of freezing ice locked onto the other male.
He hadn't fully fallen to the trap.
Initially, as soon as the psuedo-avenger claimed that he wanted to destroy the legendary blades of the Church, he had half a mind to simply knock him out and wrap him in a strait jacket somewhere.
But he gave him the benefit of the doubt, and was glad that he did, since he seemed to have stepped back from the edge of the abyss that he was precariously standing on.
He grasped that those that truly gave a shit rarely just let sleeping dogs lie when their loved ones start to push others away.
Still...the blond was stuck in indecision, simultaneously proud and outraged at what the teen in from of him had done within a single day.
So, stuck in this rut, Koneko intervened.
"Naruto-sempai."
He didn't need to be a mind reader to guess what the rookwas about to ask of him.
"Please don't punish him, Naruto-sempai. He's learned his lesson...he won't do something like this again, I promise." she pleaded quietly, hazel irises wavering a bit as she met his cold blue.
Yet she never turned away, choosing to stand fast instead.
Seeing the dark bags under her fierce eyes, her paler than usual skintone, and numerous scratchas across her body, he had to ask, just to be sure. "Why are you going so far for him?"
He knew the answer of course, but he still needed to hear it regardless, from her mouth.
Koneko didn't dissapoint.
"Because he's family." she stated, her small body quivering, with fear or determination, or a mix I both, she had no idea.
Still, when she lowered her head, he wasn't sure what he expected.
What he did not expect to see though, was the nigh-beforeseen emotion that nearly overflowed from her hazel eyes, sticking him in place.
"But more than that..." she started, fists clenching. "I...don't want to lose another precious family member...! Not again!"
The raw emotion in her words were shocking enough, considering her stoic nature, as was the glassy complexion of her orbs.
But nothing compared to what her eyes shifted into during her emotional state.
Right before his eyes, the young girl's relatively normal pupils stretched out horizontally, thinning as it did so, creating a slit that gave her a cat-like appearance.
More jarring than that was the simple disturbing fact that dominated his mind when he saw those eyes.
He's seen those eyes before.
But where did he...?
Then, in a flash, those hazel pools filled with heavy emotion and framed by her girlish features and snow-white hair was momentarily replaced.
For a breathe of a moment, those hazel slits were filled with a teasing glint, far more sensual, framed by the facial features of a young woman in her prime as well as her raven hair.
Opposites almost, yet...so similar...
'Nya~'
Naruto jolted, physically taking a step back as something clicked into place, making far too much sense for comfort in the limited timeframe he was given.
That young woman that was with Ophis back when they trapped him...the one that wanted to jump his bones was...
"Naruto-sempai?"
The shinobi was forced to hastily collect himself as the rookin front of him gave him a concerned look, seeing him step back without warning.
He managed nicely. "...I'm beginning to think that maybe we should continue this talk later, a lot of people are going to start waking up to go to work soon, and plus...I don't think that anyone here had gotten a rest recently, right?"
Yuki, curiously chancing a quick peek around, easily saw what the blond saw. "I agree, everyone here looks like they need some rest, lest they make foolish decisions while sleep deprived."
"There's just one problem with this idea." Sona quickly interjected, idly pushing her glasses onto the bridge of her nose as it slid down. "We have class in a few hours, so if we go get some rest now then we will miss most of school."
Rias winced, forgetting for a second how much her fellow high-class devil was a stickler for going to school.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you asked, Naruto didn't particularly give a shit then and there.
"So? Let's just skip school today then." he declared bluntly, preferring to sleep on a bed rather than on a desk.
He was gonna sleep regardless anyway, so may as well choose the comfier option.
Of course, as any could have guessed, the Sitri heiress was balking at the idea.
"S-Skip class?" she repeated, such was the young woman's complete shock at the mere suggestion that they all skip school. "Don't be foolish! We are students! We can't simply just-!"
The shinobi groaned, knowing what was about to come. "Oh please don't start the lecture...I have enough of a headache today. Besides, we all need to be decently rested so that we could go over some important stuff...which could put people's lives in danger. Isn't that a bigger priority?"
Sona felt her jaw unhinge, just realizing that she was put into a position where she had to compromise one of the things that she valued most to make sure innocents were kept safe.
It was a frustrating thing to come to terms with, especially considering who was giving this suggestion.
Thay feeling was only dampened a bit when Tsubaki, her queen, patted her on the back in a soothing manner.
Thank you, Tsubaki.
Seeing the most troublesome of his obstacles back down from his plan to skip school, the blond fist pumped in triumph.
A decent night's rest, here he came!
Now...
Well, he got his rest, and now it seemed that it was time to get back to work.
Though apparently some people didn't get the memo.
When the shinobi opened the curtains to let light filter in the living room, he saw at least three people resting peacefully in various positions.
First, obviously, was the sleeping red-head that used his clone like a teddy bear, hugging it for all of it's worth.
But besides her, Maria was also resting in the same room, using his leather coffee table like a mattress as her head hanged over the edge, letting her long silver hair cascade to the floor.
She was...technically sleeping peacefully, if you ignored the occassional perverted giggle that she let loose, as well as the heavy blush.
Yeah, he wasn't gonna look into that.
And then...that left the newest addition to his little band of freeloaders.
Leaning back onto his soft reclining chair, with her feet propped up, was the fallen angel; Raynare.
Before the group split up ridiculously early in the morning, Raynare requested, no, practically demanded that she stay over his home for the night.
Still smarting over how her life was flipped upside down because of a certain blond's addiction for ramen, she refused to pay for a place to sleep and instead wanted to crash with him for her remaining stay in Kuoh Town.
And...well, yeah. Looking back, even if it was for the better, his actions still essentially took the fallen woman off of the driver's seat of her own life for a bit.
...Where the blond essentially then took the wheel of the car that was her life up until that point and promptly slammed it into a brick wall.
If she was an enemy, then he would have a bit of sympathy, but as an acquaintance or friend?
He kinda felt bad.
So he flopped to her 'request', not at all seeing the mixed reactions he had elicited from the people around them.
So here she was, resting with her arms crossed, her lips parted just enough to breathe in and out.
Well...at least that 'outfit' that she wore back around a month ago was replaced by something more tolerable.
Better than black straps that barely covered the essentials anyway.
Now she donned a dark grey, nearly black corselet that framed her upper body, as well as a long skirt that stretched to her ankles with a long slit up the side that allowed anyone to sneak a peek at the band of her lacy black underwear.
It would still attract the attention of literally everyone that wasn't a supernatural being, making her the focus of attention as soon as she walked out that door.
Not exactly something that he wanted, but he doubted that he could change her mind, so he just shrugged helplessly.
Checking to make sure that they were all still deep within the confines of their own rest, the shinobi carefully turned back to the curtain to open the window, making a gaping hole for someone to crawl out of.
Someone like himself.
Naruto crawled out of the window, knowing that his clone would keep watch to make sure no unsavory characters would interrupt anyone's sleep.
As to where he was going? Well...he had to meet with someone before everyone involved in Kuoh Town would converge again in the Rias' club room.
All he had to do was find her now.
It didn't take too long to find Yuki's home.
There were multiple occassions where the shinobi and hero traveled together in Kuoh Town, whether it be for small talk or...
...Or when she dragged him off to teach him something, as a tutor.
Shivering in spite of himself, the blond gazed at the small house that he knew was probably his friend's residence from his spot on the sidewalk.
This was it, he had no doubts about it.
Many times, whenever they stuck around for a bit, Yuki would head to this area in order to get back home, leading him to this small cul-de-sack area at the edge of Kuoh Town's limits as a settlement.
And the house he was looking at just so happened to have a residue of the young woman's energy signal, kinda like how Kuoh Academy felt thanks to the devils that were taught there.
This was much more faint, I course, but a combination of...uh...'triangulating' her home's general area and a little bit of luck made it possible for him to find it.
Good thing too, since on the outside, it looked like another cardboard copy of every other house next to it.
Walking up to the front porch of the seemingly innocent home of yet another citizen of Kuoh Town, the blond lacksadaisacally knocked on the door, thankful that there was literally no one around to see him since everyone was still at work or school.
Waiting for about a minute in the entryway with no response, Naruto then figured that he was patient enough to completely throw away his conventional way inside out of the metaphoric window in favor of...his way.
Grinning from ear-to-ear, the shinobi once more was thankful that no one was around as he leaped up a story to reach the window attic, touching down on the windowsill to open it up.
With ease, the window was opened from the outside, letting Naruto slither right on in with minimal trouble.
As soon as he stood back up to survey his surroundings, he was forced to duck right back down as something literally came flying towards his head, crashing through the window that he entered in.
Without a moment's hesitation, a young woman came barreling towards the home invader with sharp eyes and an even sharper steel, prepared to-
"Heya there, Yuki!" Naruto chirped, waving to the hostile hero.
Yuki paused in her charge, eyes fluttering rapidly as she actually took in the features of her intruder.
As soon as she did so, she had to refrain from loosening her grip on her katana completely, some part of her training managing to hold fast when frozen stiff.
"...Naruto?" she sputtered out rather uncharacteristically, such was her surprise. "Is that you?"
"Yeah." the shinobi confirmed sheepishly. "Sorry for scaring you, I...kinda don't have a way to contact you. And I knocked on the door earlier too."
The hero swiftly allowed Sakuya to dematerialize, releasing a sigh as she did so. "You couldn't have possibly found a better way?"
"I got impatient."
Having no way to truly respond to that line of reasoning, the swordswoman turned on her heel to return to whatever she was doing. "So, what brings you here, Naruto?"
Pleased by the fact that she didn't even bother to try and question how he found her home, the young man answered. "I was hoping that we could talk before we met with everyone else...about some stuff that I know you're not comfortable with them hearing."
Placing her hand onto the smooth wooden surface of a stool in the middle of the attic, she bit her bottom lip. "I was hoping that you have forgotten about that."
"Sorry, but I haven't." the blond retorted, crossing his arms. "But seeing as we're a little strapped for time, I'll let the...other thing go for now, ok? I know that you had it pretty rough recently too."
Twisting her head, the teenager sent her blond friend a thankful look, too tired to deal with that terrifying idea that he was trying to convince her of.
Back while they were in Kyoto, Naruto had concocted an idea in order to deal with the remnants of a faction that they had severely weakened during their fight in Kyoto.
The remnants of the so-called 'Hero' faction, where her former sensei; Cao Cao, was it's faction leader.
At least he was, until Naruto dealt with him.
The young hero narrowed her eyes, uncomfortable with the idea that there was another faction of heroes out there, still following her former sensei's perverted ideals of what the word 'hero' represented.
For all intents and purposes, the faction that he has built was what remained of him, still haunting her and those she cared about beyond the grave.
If it still presented a threat, and she did nothing to stop it...
"Oi, Yuki, are you listening to me!?"
Yellow met with pools of blue, marvelling at how bright and beautiful they seemed to her, full of life, despite how they were tinged with annoyance.
It was so strange that her thoughts so easily switched from the seriousness of dealing with the other faction based on her own, to marvelling at her friend's sapphire eyes, but her friend sometimes had that effect on her.
It was disconcerting, yet she didn't necessarily feel worried about it.
So when she opened her mouth to make a comment, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do in his presence.
She didn't even think about what was coming out of her mouth. "You have beautiful eyes."
Naruto, who was about to call her name again after getting no response was taken aback by her out-of-left-field comment.
He could do nothing except look at her, seeking some kind of explanation.
Yet she couldn't really provide one, as she genuinely had no clue why she did what she did.
So both parties were forced to stay quiet as they suffered together under the oppressive awkward silence.
It literally took all of about a minute, which seemed to last about an hour to them, for someone to break the silence.
"...What were you talking to me about, Naruto?"
The shinobi saw the question as a clumsy attempt to kill the silence, so it should come as no surprise that he eagerly jumped at the opportunity.
"R-Right." the blond coughed. "As I was saying before; what should we do about our story in Kyoto? I don't really want to hide what happened, but if we give everyone the full story, then we'd have to mention Cao Cao's origins in the Hero Tribe ya know?"
Plopping herself onto the sole stool in the attic, the hero considered her options, recognising her dilemma.
No matter how she looked at it, her former sensei's actions were in direct response to what he perceived as an organization that created intrinsically flawed heroes, which spurred him on to build his so-called Hero faction.
His motivations; to test the absolute limit of a human's prowress and triumph against beings that were well and truly beyond them, no matter how insane, that was one of his key beliefs of what a 'hero' was.
A being that overcame the beings that used humans in the past, completely disregarding the idea that not all supernatural beings were like that.
To put it mildly, his entire reason for trying to take control of the yokai faction leader was to take on the most powerful and prevail over them; Great Red.
So she had to make a request of her friend, aware that the anonymity of the Hero Tribe was paramount for it's continued existence and future success.
"...If you can, please skip over the motivations behind his attack, Naruto." she solicited softly.
The shinobi nodded, accepting her decision without rancor.
The existence of the Hero Tribe was not his story to tell, it was her's, so he'd respect his choice to keep it a secret.
As he would with his other friends and their secrets.
"Is that all you needed?" Yuki questioned, peering at him in curiosity.
"One more thing...well, actually, more like two, though that last one isn't really much of a question." Naruto claimed dryly, before switching gears. "I wanted to know if you knew anyone else that might have left the Hero Tribe besides Cao Cao dattebayo."
"Anyone else?" she repeated, wondering why the blond wanted to know something like that. "Well...I know that there are people who leave the Hero Tribe amicably compared to Cao Cao's betrayal, in order to live out their days as regular citizens, though they make a vow to never divulge any information about our faction. Outside of them, I can't think of any..."
She stopped, brows scrunching together in thought. "Well...there was one incident before I even began my training that I heard about. It was about some sort of seer that left his duty post quite a few years ago...it was a big deal at the time because apparently he was pretty important to the higher up's decision making process. Allowing them to coordinate where and when heroes should intervene, or something along those lines."
The shinobi bobbed his head up and down, expression thoughtful. "...I see. Thanks, I wanted to confirm something."
Then, without another word, the young man twisted about and trudged back to the broken window.
As soon as he reached it and began to step out of the attic, he faced the curious hero with a good-natured smile.
"Hey..." he started softly. "...That friend of yours; Basara, was it? I can already tell that he'll fit right in with everyone else around here, he's gone through an entire journey unconscious after all."
This brought out a small smile out of Yuki as well, marvelling at how the blond could see through her worries. "Yes...I hope so too."
Naruto's earnest expression shifted into a sly grin as he pointed at something out the window. "By the way, before I go, do you want me to go and grab your cellphone?"
The hero felt her cheeks heat up a bit as she nodded.
She didn't have anything to throw at the intruder when they came in, so her reflexes kicked in and conspired to get her to throw her own phone as a distraction so that she may close in on her enemy.
It was somewhat embarrassing.
Offering her a thumbs up as he slipped out of her attic, he leapt out of the window and ran straight to her phone. "Make sure to tell your pops that I said hi, ok? And that his son better be a good guy when he wakes up, unless he wants a foot rammed where the sun doesn't shine!"
Yuki's cheeks grew a little bit warmer, but in return, her smile bloomed a tad brighter than before.
Leave it to her friend to make a positive spin to her less-than-stellar attempt at contacting her adopted father.
Did he know about her difficulties? Her fear of Toujou Jin's reaction to his blood son?
Her trepidation as she wondered if his two adopted children would be supplanted by his suddenly-living son?
Clenching her fists, she resolved to do it today, to stop agonizing over this call in a dark attic where she could feel pity for herself.
She would do this, no question.
As her determination was solidified, something came flying through the sole window of her attic, sailing over her head as it broke through the wall in the other side of the room.
Her deadpanned expression said it all.
She'd contact her father...after she retrieved her phone.
Naruto knocked on the door of the ORC's base of operations, cautiously checking his surroundings as he did so.
It was roughly around the afternoon when everyone had decided to meet up again to continue their serious discussion, centered around what has happened to everyone throughout the last three days or so.
And it was one that needed to happen, considering how seriously they were all attacked by various groups.
Everyone needed to be on the same page here, including the shinobi himself.
So he was definitely taking this seriously.
...That being said, did they have to be so close to Kuoh Academy? He didn't want any teachers to find him out here...
Still wary about his surroundings, the door eventually opened up, a pair of violet eyes lighting up as they locked onto him.
"Foxy-kun!" Akeno chirped, all smiles as she swung the door open in order to let him in. "You're looking much better than earlier this morning, had a good night's rest I hope?"
Naruto smiled in return, falling into a familiar sense of camraderie. "Yeah, I feel energized and ready to get this show on the road. I hope everyone else is also feeling better after yesterday's chaos too."
The young woman's lips lifted up a little higher. "Everyone seems to be doing much better, thanks to you."
"Eh...? Do you really think so?" the shinobi inquired, scratching the back of his head bashfully. "I don't really think so, I'm pretty sure that you're all much stronger than you all think."
And he was being honest too, as the young man felt that for the most part, everyone who had remained in Kuoh Town had handled the situation to the best of their abilities.
They just needed a little bit of time to rebound, that's all.
A tiny shake of her head, almost unnoticeable if not for the accompanying movement of her long ponytail was the response that he received. "Maybe, but if we're underestimating our strength, then you're underestimating your influence to it."
Naruto frowned, he didn't want his friends to think that their accomplishments were all thanks to him, how would they become badasses if they kept doing that?
Maybe she saw this displeased expression, because Akeno swiftly changed the subject. "You may come in if you want you know? No need to stay outside like a stranger."
The shinobi coughed into his hand, just now realizing how stupid he must look as he stayed outside. "Yeah, right. I knew that."
But before he even took his first step inside, the young man halted, stricken by a stray thought that stayed stuck in his head for a bit following his brief reunion with everyone.
It first struck him as he quietly dragged his curiously clingy imouto while he was going over his brief meeting with everyone.
There was one person in the entire group that stayed strangely quiet throughout the entire conversation.
And he meant strangely quiet.
Issei and Asia were mostly quiet, but that was because the nun was focused on tending to him initially, and then they had a moment where they just sorta stared into each other's eyes, as if they were caught in a trance.
While they were acting...well...weird, they still had a decent reason to be ignoring anything and everything around them.
However, there was one person that stayed quiet almost the entire time, disincluding that one time after he finished his little speech.
And that person was...
"...Say, Akeno?"
Akeno tilted her head to the side in curiosity, her violet gaze pushing him to confess to what he was thinking.
Naruto peered through his golden locks, wondering, yet serious. "...Do you hate Raynare?"
He never saw someone's good mood wiped away so quickly before.
The queen shifted her gaze away from his, unable to meet his. "...Why would you ask me that?"
Raising his chin, the blond answered. "...You were acting normally when we all met up again after all of this chaos, you even teased me as you always did. But...afterwards, after we all began to talk, you suddenly clamped up."
His eyes narrowed just an iota. "...And I think I have an idea why."
His blue eyes, sometimes as warm as the ocean waves under a tropical summer day, were now more like a landlocked lake.
Steady and calm, yet carrying a great depth that could surprise the casual observer.
Akeno saw this, all of it, and a shiver shot through her body, partly from her growing apprehensive feelings that was emerging as the blond continued to probe her.
The other part on the other hand...
She shivered again, the intensity that his pools of cerulean were giving out conspiring to force her to remain rooted on the spot.
Despite the fact that this was the first time that she has truly saw this part of the young man that has so thoroughly disrupted daily life in Kuoh Town, she knew that this part of him existed for a while.
How could she not? His display of power and dominance against Riser in both of their confrontations more than proved that there was an experienced warrior underneath his happy-go-lucky persona.
But nothing really prepared her for the young man's transformation when it was aimed soley at her.
Her legs grew weak when her kohai leaned forward just a bit, observing her, seeing through her.
"You clamped up the second that Raynare spoke up and grabbed my attention." Naruto stated matter-of-factly, searching for anything in her facial features that gave away her true feelings.
Akeno took a deep breathe, collecting herself as she felt her cheeks grow a little red, how could she concentrate on a response when he was looking at her like that?
Nevertheless, she -somehow- managed to recall that moment which the blond was referring to within the depths of her mind.
It was that moment when the fallen angel received Naruto's cheeky greeting as she descended towards the ruined streets.
That moment, where she saw the ravenette's features soften from her dark scowl into something resembling an exasperated, yet...fond version of that very same expression.
It was something that validated the fallen's claim that she, indeed, was their blond troublemaker's ally.
Yet, instead of feeling secure that their mysterious new acquantice was genuinely not an enemy, all it managed to do was bring out a question from the very core of her being.
'She's not leaving yet?'
The queen clamped down on that thought, lest her kohai -could she still call him that with how her knees shook?-notice.
Naruto noticed something amiss anyway.
He took a step forward, making her heart hammer just a bit harder against her chest.
"Akeno..." he murmured, moving to take another step. "You..."
*Briiiiiiiing*
An annoyingly loud sound echoed across the Academy grounds, signalling the end of the school day for highschoolers.
Something that had an immediate effect on the blond.
Suddenly, the warrior in front of her grew pale, horror replacing determination and confidence.
"Shit!" the shinobi cursed vehemently under his breath, before shooting her a wild-eyed look. "Quick, hide me before anyone from school sees me!"
Akeno didn't even manage to get a word in before the teenaged boy scooted past her to rush inside, leaving her at the door's entrance.
Where she stayed.
At least until her wobbly legs finally gave out from under her, forcing her to use the frame as a support.
The young woman's breathing was just a little ragged as she tried to stand back up, a weak chuckle accompanying it.
She did not expect such a start to her rather late day.
But after regaining control over herself again, a part of her wondered about the fallen woman that should have been staying in her kohai's home temporarily.
Did she hate her?
She frowned, growing contemplative as she bandied that question over in her mind.
As she did so, she completely forgot about a certain fact that she neglected to give to the blond that had rushed inside.
Naruto barged inside the main room of the ORC building, not paying attention to anything else besides the outraged screams of his teachers that likely would want his blood by this point.
He slammed the door the second that he caught his balance, before pressing his ear against the decorated wood to listen for blood-curdling screams.
None came.
The shinobi let go of the breath he was holding, happy that he wouldn't be saddled with the exorbitant amount of work that those monsters gave their hapless students for the last few days.
He knew their ways, he wasn't stupid.
"...N-Naruto...?"
Naruto perked up, recognizing that voice, getting him to turn on the spot. "Uh...sorry about that, Rias. I had to avoid the teachers that were about to flood out of the school-"
He stopped speaking the second that he met the Gremory heiress' eyes.
Or rather, the second that his eyes registered her.
In the middle of the room, installed to the side, was a small shower that the blond genuinely never noticed before now.
Well, he most assuredly couldn't miss it now, thanks in due part to the young woman that was currently bathing in it, staring at him with wide eyes.
And she had good reason to, as she was as naked as the day she was born.
Everything about her was practically visible to him, with only a curtain to give her some modicum of protection from his roaming gaze.
Yet it still left nothing to the imagination, as the silhouette of her bare body behind the shower curtain gave him more than enough of an idea of what she looked like under her clothes.
The supple curves of her hips, her smooth porcelain legs, as well as her hypnotically large breasts were practically in full display to the blond.
And yet, as the red-head's cheeks flared to the same shade as her hair, the young man could only really say one thing.
"...You had a shower in the middle of your living room the entire time?" Naruto asked, his exasperation clear. "And you actually use it...?"
That comment may have just been the last push that the young devil needed to actually react to the blond's presence.
And as Rias gulped in quite a bit of air, Naruto already knew that this would be a doozy.
"Get out!"
"...So...what exactly happened?"
Rias glanced away, cheeks puffy.
Naruto just grunted from behind the table that he overturned as a shield, peeking out to glare at the newcomers, daring them to try and dislodge him.
Mio sighed, looking resigned if anything.
Raynare quickly decided that she was among the last sane individuals in Kuoh Town as of this moment.
The girls that were sleeping in the blond's house woke up about a half an hour ago, egged to move by the eternally energetic ball of energy that was Naruto.
Or, at least his clone.
Even now, thinking about it, the idea of a perfect copy of another person didn't really sit perfectly in the fallen's mind.
If they were a copy, then they weren't the original, right?
So could you treat a copy just like the original, or would that be kind of weird considering that the copy was literally just a vessel that held the memories and skills of the original without experiencing it themselves?
Could a friend be a friend to a copy?
Could a lover kiss a copy without it being considered 'cheating'?
The fallen angel immediately stopped her questions there, annoyed that she had adopted something of Azazel-sama's endless curiosity as her own.
Well...at least Naruse Mio had far less qualms with treating the clone just like it's creator, since she has refused to stay less than six feet away from him the entire damn time.
Even when she went to the bathroom, where she demanded that the clone stay by the door.
Did she always act like this while around the blond? If so, then the fallen had to question her sanity too.
Much like her older sibling.
...As well as her guardian for that matter.
Still, even she couldn't quite believe that everyone's sanity was so out of whack that they just casually shrugged their shoulders at the chaos that was the Gremory devil's headquarters.
Yet the succubus did just that, literally, while everyone followed her lead figuratively.
So, obviously, it was up to her to bring some much needed logic into this upcoming conversation.
Besides, Naruto's behavior needed to be...tempered, just a bit.
She remembered how the blond intervened on her behalf with Azazel-sama, and how he paved the way for a new path for her to take, away from the self-destructive one she was willingly walking into.
For the sake of a woman whom she craved affection for, she blindly followed her ambitions until that fateful day around a month ago.
And now she has learned that it all started because of the whiskered teen's reckless behavior, which was no doubt partially responsible for the mess she was currently standing on.
So her next move became obvious; help him as he helped her by tempering the flaw that was plaguing him as he once did for her.
After all, the people around him was, if anything, encouraging his behavior despite the dangers that it could lead him into.
This was her way of expressing her gratitude, even if the massive shift in her life was initially because of the crazy blond's lack of ramen.
...However, to initiate that kind of change, she would have to stay close to him for a little bit to provide an example for hik to look to.
A prospect that, if she were being honest, was nowhere near as unpleasant as she made it out to seem at times.
Actually...it was...kind of nice.
Besides, she could kill two birds with one stone this way anyway.
"Hey..." the shinobi mumbled out crossly, taking the fallen's silence as a chance to defend himself. "I have never heard of someone taking a shower in the middle of their living room before, mostly because it's a stupid idea. I'm the victim here dattebayo..."
Predictably, the red-head bristled, but surprisingly didn't retort.
Mostly because she herself was shocked by her own explosive reaction to the young man walking in on her.
Normally, the young woman would simply brush off such an accident without much rancor, as she didn't have much qualms with people seeing her body.
She was proud of her beauty, and she had no reason to hide it in her mind.
Yet...when he saw her...
White-hot embarrassment seized her, preventing her from doing anything except gawk at the one who saw her birthday suit.
At least until he spoke, which knocked her from her reverie.
Then, just like that, her embarrassment transformed right into anger.
It was, simply, so foreign for her to be so embarrassed that she literally couldn't think of anything better to do than chase the source of it out.
But why him? Why was he an exception?
She had no idea.
...Except, she probably did.
She just ignored it.
Seeing that she wasn't going to get a response from the high-class devil, Raynare turned to the one person that she didn't want to turn to for a fair explanation of what happened.
Akeno was standing just inside the room, right beside the doorway as she surveyed the battered area with barely contained amusement.
The group that traveled from Naruto's place found her in a daze right at the entrance, introspective.
Right up until the moment that they reached the building, when a brief burst of the Power of Destruction suddenly shattered the windows above them.
Which led to seeing this mess, of course.
So maybe the other woman knew about the circumstances that led to this situation?
Raynare was about to give it a shot when the devil turned and accidentally met her gaze, violet with violet.
For about a milisecond, the queen looked somewhat perturbed by her stare.
Then the faint bit of distaste settled back in, with their momentary connection cut off when she jerked her head to the side, shunning her.
There went that idea...
"Raynare-san..." Mio started, letting go of the clone that they traveled with just long enough to speak to her. "Just let it go. Everyone else will be here shortly to talk, so don't waste your energy on this."
The raven-haired woman opened her mouth to protest, cut herself off, then slammed her mouth shut.
"Whatever." the young woman grumbled, crossing her arms.
As Maria skipped over to the blond that was still using the large coffee table as a shield, poking fun at his reluctance to leave his shelter, the psuedo-apprentice of Azazel couldn't help but note that dealing with these people would probably give her more stress than anything else she has experienced so far.
It took a little bit for both; everyone else to arrive, and for Naruto to get coaxed out of hIs happy place.
When Sona arrived, with her Peerage in tow, she merely raised a brow at the chaos of the Gremory group's headquarters, abstaining from commenting.
That didn't mean that her Peerage members stayed quiet though.
"What the hell...? Why is literally everything getting destroyed these past few days?" Sona's pawn grumbled, vividly recalling the destruction that had plagued Kuoh Town recently.
As well as the hundreds of minds that they literally had to wipe clean in order to protect the anonymity of the supernatural.
Before any of his fellow devils could reassure him though, a hand clasped against his shoulder, putting an immense amount of pressure.
Saji gulped.
"Oh shi-"
"Mornin' Saji!" Naruto exclaimed, interrupting the curse that was no doubt about to leave his fellow blond's throat with a sickly sweet smile. "Nice to see you again, old friend! Hope you're doing well and...ya know...not saying weird shit about people behind their backs."
Just yesterday, there was a certain conversation where the devils of Kuoh Academy were trying to figure out why Kiba Yuuto disappeared.
During this conversation, Saji mentioned that Naruto could have been a suspect considering how the handsome blond disappeared shortly after the troublemaker left.
His suspicion was dismissed easily enough, but apparently the whiskered teen heard of his supposition.
The student council member licked his lips, nervous. "I-I didn't actually accuse you of anything, Uzumaki. I only claimed that you might have had something to do with Kiba's disappearance."
The shinobi regarded him for a bit, making him squirm.
"Oh? Is that all? Well then, that's alright." the shinobi allowed, taking a step back to give Saji some much needed breathing space. "Suggestions are alright, I just thought that you accused me of driving him away without proof. Now that would've pissed me off."
Sona shook her head as her Peerage member was allowed to breathe again, figuring that that was bound to happen.
Saji wasn't trying to implicate the blond in the knight'sdisappearance, he was just making a possible theory as to why he left.
And if Saji's suggestion just so happened to be true, she was more than positive that he would have considered it to be an accident rather than any kind of intentional cruelty.
...That being said, her pawn had that coming, soley for the ridiculous amount of holes in his theory.
Musing over her servant's somewhat dangerous misstep however, almost left the young devil completely unaware of another individual coming up behind her.
Almost.
"Sona-kaichou." Yuki greeted cordially, walking past her to enter the main room.
She didn't even pause when she noticed the condition of said room, brushing it off as a normal occurance.
The Sitri heiress silently watched the hero pass her by, surprisingly at ease with her presence despite their groups' natural animosity.
At first, hearing of a human that claimed the name of 'hero' within Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy no less, filled her with uneasiness.
Yet, seeing her now after all they've been collectively fighting against external forces...
Well, she wasn't so bad anymore, was she?
She supposed the phrase: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' applied here.
Shortly after the hero's entrance, the infamous pervert of Kuoh Academy rushed in with a nun in tow, sputtering an apology about being late.
Grinning, the blond prankster of Kuoh Academy returned the greeting gamely, trading pleasantries with the pair.
Until he noticed something peculiar.
"Why do you two look so...ruffled?" he wondered, leaning back against a wall in a lacksadaisacal manner.
Saji, who was still nearby, turned to check the duo, and he immediately reached a conclusion in regards to what happened to give them such a disheveled appearance.
And he obviously did not like it.
"...No...that's impossible. You couldn't have..." the newest member of the Sitri group began with barely a whisper, his state of denial quickly morphing into rage.
Which Issei was obviously basking in at the moment if his shit-eating grin was to be believed. "...Maybe I did though."
Saji could only see red after hearing his fellow pawn'sresponse. "Hyoudou...! I refuse to believe it! I refuse to believe that you managed to do...that before me!"
Yet, despite his fierce unwillingness to believe, the evil cackling of the wielder of the Boosted Gear all but crushed his resistance.
He could only fall to his knees while crying bitter tears.
Naruto, who was giving the scene the barest bit of his attention, gave the rest of it to the blond nun who had walked up to him looking decidedly nervous.
"Um...Naruto-san? May I ask you a question?" Asia requested, staring at her feet with a troubled expression.
The other blond shrugged, figuring that something like this was going to happen eventually.
Just like Mio, he knew that someone as innocent as the nun needed to learn about the 'birds and the bees' eventually.
So it was only fitting that the shinobi, the reliable source of information that he was, give her his worldly knowledge so that she could-
"Is it wrong to sleep with somebody?" she asked innocently, tipping her head just a bit.
...
Wow, ok, they skipped level one and skipped right onto the last boss, huh?
"Issei-san's parents seemed to be very distraught when they found me in his bed..."
Those poor, poor parents of his...
"...And while Issei-san says that it was ok, I can't help but wonder whether we did something bad." she finished, her face scrunched a bit with worry. "I even had on those pyjamas that they said I looked cute in, but they were still mad at him..."
Naruto blinked, opened his mouth to answer, then thought better of it when he went over what she had said in his head.
"You were wearing pyjamas?" he requested for confirmation.
"Yeah." came the reply.
Which left the shinobi a little stumped at first, as he wasn't sure how someone could do that with clothes on.
Unless...
"Hey, did either of you take off your clothes while you were sleeping together?" the shinobi tried to clarify, needing it to understand-
"...Why would we do that?" the nun inquired, her innocence shining through his doubts.
They literally just slept together, that was it.
Nothing explicit or raunchy happened, as his parents no doubt feared and Saji no doubt hated to think about.
So, with this fact in hand, he gave his answer. "Nah, you're good. Sleeping together is totally alright. Hell, I sleep with Mio sometimes too dattebayo!"
Said half-devil, who only heard the last bit of his sentence due to his emphasis of them, blushed furiously.
Much to the clone's horror, as her grip on him grew vicious thanks to her embarrassment.
Which, in turn, led to the inevitable-
*Poof*
Naruto blinked, an influx of memories entering his head unbidden to his whims.
With those memories, came the cherry-faced Mio that lost the blond copy, looking like she wanted nothing more than to hide her head underground somewhere.
Yet she still moved close to him, pulling at his ear with a pout.
It hurts a little, but he figured that he would let her have her way for a bit.
He was gracious like that.
"Perverted bully." he heard her say under her breathe.
A comment he took offense to. "Hey! I'm many things; a badass, a ramen-worshipper, a fighter, a decent writer of calligraphy...but I ain't a perverted bully!"
Seeing the unimpressed look he was being given only spurred him on to try and prove his point.
He turned to the entrance of the main room to face the pretty boy of Rias' Peerage. "Isn't that right, Kiba?"
Jerking just a bit at getting called out, Yuuto Kiba smiled hesitantly as he entered the room, wondering how his fellow blond knew that he had arrived without looking. "Er...I definitely wouldn't call you a pervert at the very least."
The shinobi beamed, both; at getting his backup, and because the knight was genuinely trying to normalize his behavior with everyone.
He was just a bit proud.
At least until he realized what he left out. "Wait, you think I'm a bully!?"
The handsome blond turned away from him uneasily, the ends of his lips twitching, barely. "...You have your moments, sometimes."
Naruto took a step back, betrayed. "I-I would never-!"
"Naruto-sempai...can't be called a pervert." a monotone voice interjected. "...But he can sometimes be called a bully."
Koneko threw in her own opinion as she emerged from Kiba Yuuto's back, sure that she was correct.
Yuuto shot the younger girl a wry smile, as she pretty much had traveled with him to make sure that he didn't run off again.
Not that he could blame her, he had to re-earn everyone's trust again.
"So you think he can't be called a pervert?" Mio asked from behind her brother.
"...Only one person can really be called a pervert." the rookclaimed, pointing at a certain someone as she continued. "...And that's him."
Issei stopped lording over Saji to gape at the loli.
He hadn't even done anything yet!
Meanwhile, the shinobi was grumbling under his breath, annoyed.
She was only saying that because he blew her up that one time at Rias' summer retreat.
It happened once damn it!
"Really?" the half-devil wondered, raising a hand to check her nails casually. "Because I recently just heard that he had just peeped on your king while she was taking a shower."
Completely at ease with the verbal bomb she had just lobbed, Naruto now wondered why his imouto seemed to be in such a sour mood.
He had no idea that she was still nursing her embarrassment from before and thoroughly unsettled with the idea that he had saw Rias-sempai naked.
It brought forth an ugly feeling, so she was letting a lot of steam out in something relatively harmless.
But the blond himself didn't feel that way when Koneko turned to him to stare.
"...Pervert."
He may just cry.
Hearing Issei's triumphant 'woop!' at not being the only one on the recieving end of the white-haired devil's frosty stare only gave him the motivation to glare at him.
Koneko thankfully shut him down quickly.
"Shut up, Pervert the Second."
"I've been given a title!?"
Hearing Issei's indignant squawk had never felt so justified.
It took a little bit for everyone to calm down after seeing each other again, but eventually everyone was gathered around to begin their little meeting.
Their game faces were officially on.
"Ok, everyone's here now." Rias affirmed as she commenced the much-needed talk. "I'm sure everyone is aware, but multiple events have taken place ever since Naruto went off to Kyoto, so it'd be prudent if we all help one another get caught back up to speed."
A series of nods were her collective answer, with the sole fallen angel of the group giving Naruto an inquisitive look.
"You went to Kyoto?"
The blond smiled and tipped his head. "Yep! With Maria and Yuki too!"
"That's right." Sona intervened, sensing that the conversation was about to be derailed. "So we were hoping that you could enlighten us on what has happened during your trip, as your two comrades came back with a cast and a series of bandages. Something obviously happened."
Chancing a glance at the hero, the shinobi acceded to her request. "Well...while we were on our way to Kyoto on the train, our ride was kinda...hijacked."
"Hijacked?" the bespectacled high-class devil repeated. "By whom exactly?"
Sparing one more look at Yuki, Naruto surged forward. "...By a group that called itself the 'Hero Faction'."
Inevitably, all eyes turned to the sole hero in the room.
Thankfully, none of them seemed to be hostile, just curious and interested.
"I know what you're all thinking." Yuki admitted without hesitation, expecting this. "But those...'heroes' are not aligned with me. As a matter of fact, I've never heard of them prior to this...incident."
Accepting this answer, Rias took over. A faction of...'heroes' is a dangerous prospect to think about. What could they have possibly been after?"
No one noticed the very faint wince that the teenaged girl with light blue hair exhibited following the red-head's words, hitting far too close to home to her liking. "I'm...not entirely sure what they sought in the long run. But from my limited contact with them, they seemed to have aimed their efforts on kidnapping the daughter of the yokai faction leader...in order to lure out her mother."
Those who knew of the power and importance of the yokai faction leader; Yasaka, reacted with understandable surprise and disbelief at what this new faction was aiming for.
While those such as Issei and Saji were left confused, not seeing how big of a deal it was.