PA: Chapter two in here already, it was much, much easier to write this time around. I am glad that so many people enjoyed the new revamped version. As I have stated this is going to be a bit of a deeper fic, with more emotions placed into it. Also I feel that it is a little different, well you might see what I am saying throughout the fic.
Also yes, Rias is still a part of Naruto's small harem, I had accidently left her off the character roster sorry. In saying this, I picture Rias as someone who would bush her boundaries with others, this is shown a little in this chapter, along with building tension.
Anyway, onto your reviews.
Wrandral: Alpha has a bit more of a meaning than that, though it becomes more apparent later on.
adammaslowski79: Even though Naruto is stronger in this chapter, it makes sense in a way how he was able to defeat his opponent when you look at some of the information given by Alpha in this chapter.
ruce: It was not a full change of opinion, more like she became willing to give him a chance to show he meant well. Even though she is a Devil and a Fallen Angel, I like to think she still has the mindset of a teenage girl, meaning that she is able to get flustered. Being flustered and showing an attraction to someone are two different things at times.
LordChrom: Maybe, or maybe that is what being hooked up to the system will do to a Sacred Gear?
yezzus: Akeno, Rias, Xenovia and maybe Kuroka.
Almighty Spartan: The shield, I guess in this sense you could call Alpha the perfect partner for Naruto. Naruto is someone who likes to go with things on the fly, at least when it comes to fighting, that is something that Alpha can react to, in the last chapter it was his desire to protect Kiba, in this chapter it is his desire not to cause his opponent pain.
Blackseal84: Never was into Power Rangers, so I have no clue what you are talking about.
LordGhostStriker: I am glad that you do, also I do not have plans on having a massive time skip, mostly because Naruto and Kiba were only picked up a year or so before canon begins.
The Platinum King: I was a little torn, once I posteed the chapter I started thinking, 'Maybe I should have just left it with Rias appearing?' And things like that.
Mikaeru346: Yeah, he will.
Cerulean Knight: I like to think that when a human is brought back as a devil, they are still a human, it is just devil DNA latching onto their human DNA, so while calling him a Nephalem is not wrong, neither is calling him a Nephilim.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
"No."
"Come on~"
"It's not happening."
"But Naruto everybody else is doing it?"
"Red I refuse."
"Nii-san..."
"Not happening Kiba, just no."
Rias and her peerage sat around a room, spread out on lounges in the apartment that Naruto had managed to acquire from Sirzechs in a game of poker... They didn't want to really pry into how Lucifer lost hundreds of thousands to a newly reborn devil in a game of luck and skill, but they all knew it happened.
Rias, Akeno, Kiba and Koneko sat across from Naruto on a long lounge that was a deep ebon in color while Naruto sat in a resting chair. Between them was an older styled table where their refreshments sat. Red, or Rias Gremory, was currently pouting, Akeno was straining to keep a smile on her face while Kiba looked plain exhausted.
Koneko was currently happily nibbling on a stick of pocky, she rose a brow in Naruto's direction, "Go to school..." She stated calmly.
Yes, the entire argument that had been going on for nearly half an hour now, had to deal with the eldest blonde going to high school, "Not you too Chibi?"
Koneko gave him a stoic glare for his use of her new 'nickname'. There was a flash of light and a blue orb appeared next to Naruto hovering in the air for a moment before starting to orbit Naruto, "Ah~ But don't we need to go to school to accomplish your dream Naruto~?"
Alpha's words seemed to gain the interest of everyone else, much to the blonde's displeasure as he sunk a little in his chair, "Oh does our angel have a dream he wants to accomplish?" Akeno taunted him lightly, she was willing to give him a chance, not much more than that, but he seemed to be 'good' in the sense that he didn't judge right away.
"It's silly, I don't want to talk about it."
"Ah~ He wants to be a hero."
A loud thud rung out through the room as Naruto's head found its way to the table between the two sides, "Really?" Rias questioned quite surprised, "A hero?"
Naruto let out a tired sigh, "There are times when you need to stop talking Alpha..."
"Ah~ But you never told me not to say it?"
"I never told you to come out, yet you did..." Naruto trailed before picking himself up and looking across to Rias, "This world is crap and bleak, in all honesty it is fucked and it looks like no one is trying to do anything to fix it, we are all too busy fighting against one another... In this world where heroes no longer exist, I want to create new ones that people can hold onto, to think fondly about when the times get tough and maybe even give life lessons to those in need... For this, I want to be an author, a hero that creates heroes."
A pin drop could be heard in the room as people were giving shocked looks to the blonde. He was surprisingly deep, much more than they had thought, plus from what they had seen he was well versed in literature, along with being quite intelligent, it was a possibility for him. Rias slowly let her eyes return to normal as she gave a small smile to the blonde across from her, "Going to school would be helpful for that dream... What don't you like about school that makes you so against the idea?"
"...I..." The rest of his worlds were mumbled.
"Pardon what was that?" Rias questioned a little hopeful as the blonde hung his head down.
"I've never been to school before..."
Kiba paused in shock, thinking back Naruto was right, he was always working so that Kiba could attend and then he became 'sick', "Nii-san..."
Something wasn't adding up and Akeno was the one that decided to question it, "If that is the case how do you know so much?"
Naruto jabbed his thumb out in the direction of Alpha, who was now hovering around the table trying to put a straw inside of himself to drink tea, "Believe it or not, despite his looks and the stupid things that he often does, Alpha is incredibly smart. He taught me most of what I know regarding my schooling."
"Ah~ Easy task, Children of Light learn much faster than any other race~."
"Don't you think you're being a little bias Alpha?" Rias questioned, after all this sentient Sacred Gear, though they seemed to often wish he lost the ability to talk, was created by God, much like the Angels, or Children of Light, were.
"Ah~ Probability low, am basing my conclusion on facts. Children of Light are able to take in and process information faster than the other races by thirty to fifty percent. It is one of the many reasons they are so dangerous in combat, while the minimal time that you can all gather your reaction time to is 0.21 seconds, at least currently, a Child of Light can bring that down to 0.1 when their body reaches its maximum possible power`," Alpha responded calmly. The Sacred Gear did enjoy every chance he got to tell Rias that Angels were better than Devils, and he took every chance he got to do so.
Rias crinkled her brow slightly, "That doesn't sound all that impressive..." She trailed lightly.
Naruto though looked like he was able to answer a question that had long since escaped him, "Is that how I was able to match that Fallen when I just woke up?"
"Ah~ Correct, it is nice of you to put that together so quickly. You were simply able to react faster than him as the battle continued. At first you were quite slow in doing so, mostly because you were still in the process of waking up after a long period of rest, but once fully alert it was quite easy for you to see what he was doing correct~?"
"Yeah I could see what was happening, but my body was still pretty slow. I guess I need to really increase my speed if I want to be able to fight against people like that," He saw the look that Rias was giving him and chuckled, "Do you honestly expect me to believe that I am not going to have to fight people now that I am protecting an heiress to one of the great devil pillars Red?"
Rias pressed her lips together in thought, "I see you are more aware of your surroundings and the proceedings that happen around you than you let on. Very well, how about we make a compromise Naruto, I wish for you to attend Kuoh Academy so that you can be closer to myself and the rest of the peerage, I could speak to my father and see about having you enrolled into a 'Self Study' course. You will need to report your progress to the board of directors every now and again, but you will be mostly able to do what you wish."
"I can accept that," Naruto mused picking up his cup of coffee and placing the damned straw inside of Alpha to stop the gear from giving him another headache, "Be grudgingly that is."
A smile weaved across Rias' face, this had been an argument she didn't want to have with the blonde, though in the end it had turned out quite well. She learned more about her new Rook and managed to convince him to come to the same school. Though he wouldn't be in their classes, though that was to be expected anyway, he was older than them, though it would be nice to have an attractive looking senior around.
She gingerly picked up the tea cup that was placed on the table for her and sipped at the contents, her eyes going wide at the taste. Naruto noticed this and gave a light chuckle, "I figured you might like that, I ordered that tea in from India as Akeno said it was your favorite drink," Naruto waved his hand lightly and spared a glance to Akeno, who indeed looked quite surprised, "What? Did you honestly think that I just didn't listen to all that nagging you tend to do?"
"Quite honestly yes," Akeno quipped earning a dry glare from Naruto.
A tired sigh rung through the large empty room. In the library of Kuoh Academy, in between a large pile of book resting either side of him, with another resting on his face, his feet kicked up while he leaned back on the hind legs of the chair. He had spent the better part of a week brushing up all of his literature skills. With the abilities of Alpha he had found it all too easy to read through the large amounts of information... Now he was bored, he needed a topic, for some reason he thought one would just drop out of the sky and land in his lap.
He awoke with a jolt as something struck the table across from him, the only reason he didn't fall from his chair was due to his quick reflexes allowing him to grab the table and pull himself back into place, his other hand grabbing the book from mid-air and placing it back on the table, glaring across at the smiling raven-haired woman across from him, "You shouldn't mess with your seniors like that Akeno..." He trailed out.
"Oh my, I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about Naruto-senpai, I was just placing my books down so that I could study more effectively," Her smile didn't falter in the slightest and that is what irked him the most.
Naruto stretched his arms out and gave a tired sigh as he sat properly, stealing a glance at the books she placed down, "And you just needed to use the library for this 'studying' of yours? You know, the only one place that I would possibly be during school time?"
"Indeed, this is the only place I can get reliable information on the English language. The fact that you just happen to be here, alone is just a coincidence," Akeno replied her smile stretching a few fractions further.
The blonde gave a small yawn at which he tapped his mouth a few times before scratching his chin, "Well congrats, because of 'Language' you just had a conversation in English. The fact that you didn't know shows just how scary that ability is though."
Akeno rose a brow at him, "But that can only happen if someone else is spea- You can speak English?!" She practically shot out of her seat and stared at the man.
"Latin, Spanish, French, Romanian, English, Japanese , Chinese, Greek and Italian, I have spent quite a bit of time with a wealth of information so I did all I could to learn what might be useful in the future... Kinda seems pointless now that we have this perk of ours," Naruto rolled his hand across the table and let out another sigh, "I guess I'm gonna head into town, maybe pick something up to eat on the way home..." He stood up to leave only to hear the chair across from him squeak out in a movement as well, "Is there something that you wanted Akeno?"
"C-can I get your help with English... I can speak it find when it comes into a conversation, but I can not read or write it," She looked at the blonde only to see him continue to get up, inwardly she sunk a little, no one had really been able to connect with him, he seemed to shut them out, even Kiba to a degree but eh always would help his little brother without question.
"Well are you coming?" A voice questioned from the door. Looking up she saw Naruto standing there was a questioning look.
"But my boo-"
"Leave 'em," Naruto waved a light hand at her, "You can stare at books all day and try to pound it into you that way, or you can learn it while you are out and about. Do you really think I spent so much time seated in a test tube doing nothing but learning things from Alpha? I mean he didn't teach my about being a special child... But he taught me how to use his powers, I trained with them everyday while he was teaching me about the world."
Akeno looked to her books for a moment before placing them into her bag and moving to stand next to Naruto, he closed the door behind them and lead the way down the halls. This though had started people talking, the library used to be full of students, though now no one tried to go there, the girls while they believed the collage student to be incredibly attractive they also seemed to think of him as something like a sleeping dragon. He was best to be left alone and admired from a distance.
So when they saw one of the great Onee-sama's walking by his side with her hands tucked behind her back seemingly in a good mood, they didn't know what to think. There were a handful of boys, mostly from proud families, though they all resided in the first year and were honestly beyond scared of the blonde, calling someone a Yankee only to have them rip through you in perfect Latin in front of a group of teachers who actually clapped at his performance was enough to leave some marks.
Naruto let out a small sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "This is ruining my image..."
Akeno let a smile spread across her lips, "Being seen with a beautiful girl is going to ruin your image? I would hate to know what you think your image is Senpai..."
Her words earned her a small glare which she shrugged off. This kind of back and forth continued as they passed through the shopping district, apparently Sirzechs had lost much more money to Naruto than they had thought, that was if the amounts he was spending was anything to go by. It didn't really seem like Naruto was doing much to teach her, she hadn't even noticed he was doing it, though at the end of the day he gave her a piece of paper written in English and got her to read it without her even struggling once.
She gave him a confused look which he shrugged off, when she went back to her books later that night she found it made so much more sense, sitting on her bed she twirled the pen around in her fingers musing over the book in her hands only to be disturbed by a knock at her door.
Now living all alone in an old run down shrine had very few benefits, one of those though was that she was mostly left alone. Meaning it was one of the devils that she attended school with, jumping off her bed she walked through the old shrine and came to the large door, creaking it open just enough to see a distraught Rias standing in front of her, "Bucho... What brings you all the way out here?"
Her response was for Rias to lift up her workbook, sticking out of the side was the assignment sheet that Akeno herself had just completed earlier, "Have you finished already? Please tell me you have!" Rias asked almost desperately.
Akeno though gave a light giggle, "Ara ara, did Bucho lose track of time watching and reading her collection again?"
Rias gave her a small glare at the way she said 'collection', making it sound like her large collection of anime and manga were dirty, it wasn't her fault that she found them so entertaining and addictive, "Possibly..." She trailed, already knowing that Akeno had convinced herself that this is what happened, so lying about it wouldn't help her out in any way.
"I have finished yes..." Akeno trailed carefully, wondering where Rias was trying to go here.
"T-then could I possibly look over you work and make sure that I haven't done anything wrong?"
"You mean you want to copy my assignment? The one that asks us to individually, work on translating a menu and giving an accurate description of a Japanese themed restaurant in English?" Akeno tapped her bottom lip a few times, the assignment was due tomorrow, "No you can't copy mine," She saw Rias give her a look of pure shock, "Though I can help you... If that isn't enough I suppose you could always call Naruto. He was the one that helped me, though I still don't know how, but after spending the afternoon with him this subject is much, much easier now.
Rias gave Akeno a confused look, "Naruto knows English?"
"He knows quite a lot, plus he has spent the majority of the week in the library just reading, as much as he could," Akeno watched as Rias went to grab her phone before sighing.
"I don't have his number, and I kind of don't want to show up unannounced, last time was strange..."
"Last time? Oh my what happened?"
Rias fumbled the pages in front of her lightly as they walked down the lonely halls of the abandoned shrine, she didn't know why Akeno decided to live here, though she appeared to be happy with it. Maybe it was because it reminded her of home somewhat? Either way she thought back to her long time friend's question and blushed deeply, "I may have made a mistake and teleported into his bathroom... while he was on the toilet."
A small blush formed on Akeno's cheeks as she let out another giggle, "Ara ara."
Naruto rubbed at the back of his head as a yawn passed by his lips, "So Red... Does everyone have to do this kind of thing?"
The reason for his question was somewhat simple, Rias had asked him to take care of a Stray Devil, by himself. That was the oddity, at least for the rest of the peerage, though they had been told to just go along with her words for the time. It was the reason why Kiba was not present, he had protested against having to lie to his brother, so Rias told him to wait in the club room, "Indeed. It shouldn't be much of a stretch for you though, should it?"
There was a loud pop as Naruto put his back into place and stretched out his arms, "I am still majorly out of shape, but it is only a Stray Devil, not even a high ranking one... I can do this easily."
Rias gained a small smile at that, though she did not like playing her peerage like this, she needed to know how strong Naruto was so she could put him to better use in her strategies. This stray devil was once a mid-class devil that rebelled against her master and managed to escape to the human world. Her power now was quite strong, more than Akeno or herself would be able to handle in a straight fight, if they got the drop than it would more than likely be no issue as they could cause a large amount of damage leaning the battle into their favor.
In saying that though, Rias had contacted her older brother in regards to her new Rook, turning an Angel into a Devil had never happened before with allowing them to keep their wings, normally they would either revert to a human if the cause was just, or become a Fallen if they did so out of a sinful reason.
Her Rook was one of a kind and that was not wasted on her, no one could tell what his potential was, that was without the added fact that he held the first Sacred Gear, a sentient machine, or energy, they weren't sure on the mater yet, which held the ability to at the very least aid in the construction of Sacred Gears alongside the Biblical God was nothing short of amazing.
Not to mention there seemed to be some investment in her Rook from the Heaven Faction, at least if the words of 'Alpha' rung true, 'God chose you to be the next wielder of me long ago. He has plans for us.' God had an interest in her Rook, the man that created everything and could quite easily take everything, wanted her Rook for something, it must be important, that also had to mean that he was different from any other human.
Well that much was clear to her already, he was part Angel, a strong one at that from the light that poured off of him when he released his wings. It had sent shivers right down her spine. This was the reason why her getting him to do this task was so important... She needed to know if she could deal with Naruto if he became a problem for her in the future, holding out her hand a small anime styled bat came into play, it's body was much to big for its wings, yet that didn't seem to be an issue for the small creature, "I hope you do not mind letting my familiar watch over you?"
"Don't have much of a choice, but whatever," Naruto gave a small shrug before turning on his feet. The bat familiar following closely behind him as he entered the large concrete tunnel and vanished into the darkness. His target was further inside, using this old maintenance system as a hideout for the time being.
Once he was out of earshot Akeno turned to Rias, the smile that was on her face dropping, "This is much more than you should be giving someone to do alone. No, you wouldn't have even taken this request when it was just myself you and Koneko. "
"Are you worried about him Akeno?" Rias mused, it was actually strange to see her Queen show an interest in anything really, normally she was detached from her surroundings, there, but not really there.
"I am worried about you Rias. You're changing, it hasn't been all that long since Kiba and Naruto joined us... Kiba has accepted us and acts as somewhat of a medium between us all... I just fear that you may be putting a wedge between yourself and your Rook," Akeno answered, though that wasn't the real reason. She would miss the playful banter between Naruto and herself if something were to happen to him.
He didn't treat her like she was different, some avoided her because of her Fallen statues, or even because of her title as 'Great Onee-sama'. Others tried to wrap her up in bubble wrap to protect her... Naruto, well he was blunt, straight to the point, if you irritated him he would say it, he talked to her normally, sure he omitted the fact that she was a Fallen Angel from their conversations, though they didn't talk all that much about the supernatural. It was more just about how school was, how his book was going and small things like that. If anything, she would have to admit she had taking a liking to their interactions, passing him in the hall and seeing him flash that small grin of his made her day seem a little brighter, or even receiving his deadpan glares when she teased him warmed her normally cold chest.
So no, the reason was not for Rias, not fully at least, but it was okay for her to be selfish wasn't it? Weren't Devils meant to be greedy? To act on their desires? If so wasn't she only doing what was natural?
"Thank you for worrying, but I am fine Akeno. I just need to see where he is at. I do not believe him capable of losing to a creature like this," Rias spoke with a small smile.
That... That irritated Akeno to no end, though she let a smile slowly stretch across her face. How could Rias possibly know what Naruto's level was like? She had openly admitted that she didn't even know that Naruto had fought against a Fallen until he had mentioned it, all she had really seen was Naruto, seemingly raise himself from the dead to protect his younger brother, which in turn caused her to bring them both back after finding that Kiba held a Sacred Gear, as did his older brother.
All of Rias' information came from Kiba, and Akeno could not picture the smiling young blonde actually giving her anything really worthwhile, no, she figured that Naruto didn't even let Kiba know how strong he was so that the boy wouldn't feel conflicted. She pressed her lips together and tried her best to hold her smile firm, though something would need to be done, there was a rift forming in the peerage and as its Queen it was her job to fix it.
"Ah~ You know she is lying to us right~?"
Naruto pressed his lips together in thought, checking behind him on the familiar, making sure that it was still there just in case, "I know. Kiba would have been jumping up and down on the couch trying to tell me about something like this. That boy really just wants to prove himself..."
"Ah~ When you look at how you were both raised... Well that isn't really the right word now is it~?"
A frown crossed Naruto's face, Alpha wasn't wrong, yet he wasn't right at the same time. Kiba and himself had been alone for nearly longer than they had anyone but each other, "That's wrong, we raised ourselves."
The path opened up into a wide room, using the corners of his eyes Naruto scouted it fully, taking in everything he could, watching as a black robed figure slowly rose to its feet, "It was only a matter of time I guess..."
Slowly the figure turned to face Naruto, it was a girl, young looking in appearance with faded red markings on her face, her eyes a deep blood red, "Stray Devil Akame. A borderline S class criminal, your piece was the Knight, giving you increased speed, this matched with your Sacred Gear 'Wounding Edge', which causes your attacks to leave wounds until you either release your Sacred Gear or you die."
The young looking girl widened her eyes a little at him, "You looked into me?"
"My master, I guess she is using this as a test of my strength, the familiar of her's behind me watching over and possibly recording this situation for her is more than enough to tell me that I am right. That along with the fact that the only reason I know who you are is because of the markings on your face and your deep eyes... Well you could say that I was expected to walk into this situation blind," Naruto gave a small shrug of his shoulders.
Akame gave a sad smile and looked at Naruto, "There is no chance I can ask you to just walk away is there?"
Naruto thumbed at the familiar next to his shoulder, "Not a chance, sorry. Though you do seem too sweet to have killed your master out of a shallow reason, I would ask, but this already has a sour taste in my mouth."
"Forgive me then," Akame said as thee ground exploded out around her and she appeared in front of Naruto, her sword already raised to strike, she watched with slight awe as he dodged the strike. It should have been impossible for him to respond so well from the position he was in unless he started to move as soon as she did.
It was only just able to class as a dodge as she watched the blade pass so close to his skin that she would have been able to claim giving him a light shave, she went to change her direction only for her blade by strike against metal before being thrown off to the side, she took a split second to get her bearings and stance back, standing across from the blonde and seeing the metal gauntlet on his left hand.
"I was going to say the same thing. Sorry to ask this, but do you think I can take my jacket off first? I really like it so I don't want it to get damaged. Hell if you beat me you should take it, I reckon it would look pretty good on a cutie like you," Naruto saw the faint tint come to her cheeks as she gave him a forced stoic nod.
Once the jacket left his body and was placed inside of a metal ball that appeared from the blonde's hand, Akame took in the state of the blonde's body. He was a fighter, the muscles were there, slim yet strong, not overly bulky meaning that they didn't get in the way of his attacks, "You're not like the others."
"Apparently I am one of a kind, though that isn't important," Naruto flickered from her view for a moment appearing again not far from his position lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet, another gauntlet now present along with a pair of boots that looked to be made of a sturdy and hardened material, meaning it would be difficult to cut unless she hit his shins directly. Giving the normal movements of the legs though, that was awkward, a glancing hit was much more normal, though those boots would more than likely protect him from one.
The arms were another thing entirely though. They were much more likely to take a direct hit, meaning that it made more sense for them to be heavily armored like they were. Akame drew her blade up to her eyes and took a strong and low stance, her skin started to darken as the light markings grey much brighter and more definite against her skin, "I am sorry, but I won't hold back any longer."
Akame dashed forward and thrust her sword out watching as the blonde curled around it and landed a fist into her stomach, she could feel the strong force behind it, though no pain came from the impact. She was forced to lean over and cough, spittle flying out of her mouth, though it didn't hurt at all, her eyes widened as she felt a sudden impact to her ribs sending her flying across the room.
She managed to flip herself over in the air and see one of his legs still extended from where he had kicked her, it felt like a strong push, though with the force she was sent it had to have been an incredible kick. Akame stabbed her blade into the ground, halting her movement right away as she looked down at where had been struck, the clothing had been completely destroy, feeling a creeping embarrassment surge inside of her she looked to the blonde with a blush adorning her cheeks.
"Sorry about that, but I don't want to hurt you. Because of this I am using weapons that numb the areas that they hit, though it also destroys any barrier between them and the skin underneath," Naruto opened and closed one of his armored fists, an awkward expression on his face as he did.
Akame nodded, "You really are different," She stated that so clearly that Naruto widened his eyes at her before letting a smile cross his face.
"Yeah... I guess I am," He drew his power into his shoulders and let it burst out behind him, the ground around him exploding under the new found pressure.
Akame took a small step back at the sight of his wings, the devil ones she had expected, it was the ones of pure white that caught her off guard. Then again, he had been nothing but nice to her, even as they were fighting to the death he was trying to make it as painless as possible for her. Slowly she formed a smile and showed it to him, "Maybe if we had met earlier in life we could have been friends... may I have your name?"
"It's Naruto."
"Fishcake or Maelstrom?" She questioned further, showing that she had some knowledge of Japanese names.
Naruto let his own smile roll across his face, "I sometimes wonder that myself," He gave a small flap of his wings and craned his head to the side, "If you are giving it your all, I should do the same."
Akame widened her eyes as he vanished in a burst of speed, her body only just able to turn to her left in time and bring up her blade to defend against the metal fist that appeared on the edge of her vision. The force behind his fist was incredible, though she knew that if it hit her, she wouldn't hurt anymore, it would take away her pain, this pain that made her who she was, that reminded her of why she ended up living this way.
She was torn, feeling the crushing weight before she was lifted off the ground in by his other arm. She tried to turn, to see from which direction he was coming but he was too fast, his punches spinning her and lifting her higher and higher with each strike, it was a brutal onslaught, though at the moment they felt like nothing but friendly taps.
How much damage had he done to her body now? Could she even stand? Her back hit something hard and solid, looking over her shoulder she saw the ceiling and felt a small pit rise in her stomach, it was well off the ground, so much so that from ground level it was blacked out by the lack of light in the area.
Akame felt her body start to fall down to the ground only for it to stop as a warmth surrounded her, stopping her fall before she could strike the solid ground below her. Naruto had caught her and was lowering her to the ground.
She looked at the blonde in light confusion, feeling herself get laid out on the ground, she attempted to swing her sword, only for nothing to happen. Turning her head ever so lightly she could see that her arms were beyond destroyed, yet she couldn't feel a thing, it didn't hurt anymore, nothing did. Tears slowly started to spill from her eyes as she gave a wide smile to the blonde standing over her, "Thank you Naruto, for making it go away."
Naruto dispelled his gauntlets and twirled his fingers around, drawing a pristine looking silver dagger from the air, "I hope you can meet with your sister again Akame..."
Her eyes widened at his words, "You knew?"
"I have a little brother myself, and between you and me... I would have done the same thing, I couldn't hate you for the actions you took, no in fact I think I admire you a little, something akin to a hero... Do you think, that it might be okay if I share your tale with humans in the form of a book?" He questioned, he had in fact been researching her before this all happened. To him she was a hero and he hated himself and Rias for what they were doing to her.
Akame gave him a smile, "Of course, I don't think it would sell very well though..."
Naruto returned her smile and rested his dagger against her chest, watching as it slowly rose and fell, "You should rest now Akame, you've already done more than enough," His response was a small nod to which he plunged the dagger inside, watching as she gave a confused look to him before she fell still.
Her body slowly vanishing up into the air, leaving behind Naruto who twirled the dagger around in his hand before it broke apart completely, sending itself into the air much like Akame's body had, the small particles of energy swirling and intertwining as they faded away into the darkness above him.
Spinning on his feet he locked eyes with the small bat, who quickly stiffened under his gaze, "You're recording this aren't you?" The tone from Naruto was icy, the familiar quickly nodded with its strange body/head in response, not wanting to end up like the girl had just moments before, "Tell Red... "
Rias was watching the recording with wide eyes, Naruto had far exceeded what she had expected him to do, that was even before he brought his wings out, after that the borderline S-rank didn't stand a chance. It was completely one sided, if she were less composed she may be drooling at the prospect of having such a strong piece under her command.
That was until he turned his gaze onto her familiar, "Tell Red... I want everything available on the Akame case... Also I don't want to see her for a while, this has left a foul taste in my mouth and I don't think I would be able to hold back how I feel."
Her high had dropped in an instant, now serving as a reminder of how cold the ground could really be, she had not believed herself to be making a mistake, thus she called for the information on Akame and looked through the first couple of pages, her hands stiffening on the paper as her skin turned pale. Because of how close Naruto had been to her, Rias' familiar hadn't been able to pick up their conversation, but it appeared that Akame had become a stray after failing to protect her sister... She was driven to the point of insanity and murdered her King and peerage in cold blood.
She wondered if it was pure chance that this had come her way, or if it was just a warning for Rias' future. She had taken the brothers in to use them for her own gain, much like Akame's king had, if something happened to Kiba, would she face a situation where she would be on the receiving end of Naruto's fury?
Rias let out a sigh, if she could hit the blonde with her Power of Destruction, then the fight would be over. But he was fast, much faster than her Power of Destruction could move, not to mention he could create shields to block her power for a few moments to buy himself more time, this situation was not looking good for her.
"-I don't think I would be able to hold back how I feel."
Rias looked up at the recording being played again, seeing Akeno looking at the screen through eyes of uncertainty, "I-" Akeno went to speak, only for Rias to cut her off.
"I don't need to hear that. I can see when I have made a mistake Akeno," Rias pressed her fingers to her temples and gave them a light massage.
"I was offering to attempt to smooth things over," Akeno sighed out, letting go of the familiar in her hands and letting to fly back to Rias.
The redhead looked to her Queen in confusion, "He said he doesn't want to see us for a while."
"No, just you Rias," Akeno let out a small sigh, "You're the only one that he has an issue with. It may be because you haven't tried to actually talk to him. You just expect him to follow your orders... I think that you forget that you never asked him if he wanted to come back... Kiba is the one that asked you to bring him back, Naruto had no say in becoming a Devil, yet he doesn't ever say that aloud because it might hurt Kiba... I believe that Naruto cares more about Kiba than his own life."
Rias slumped down and rested her head against the club room desk, "I didn't want for this to happen, I just wanted to see how strong he was... I couldn't think of another way to actually see him in action."
"He trains Kiba often in swordplay, recently it would seem that he has started doing some hand to hand sparring with Koneko as well," Akeno crossed her arms under her bust, "Either way, I do plan on seeing Naruto at some point over the next few days, would you like me to give him the files on Akame?"
Her response was for Rias to nod her head against the desk, "Umm... Could you ask him to see me when he thinks he is ready?"
Akeno rose a brow at her King, "I will see, but first it would be best to ask if I could come over," She pulled out her phone and quickly found his number, it was saved under 'Dove-Boy', then again it was done out of spite for the fact that she was 'Raven' in his phone, she brought it up to her ear and heard the tone dial before it was picked up instantly, "Hello?" She questioned.
"Ah~"
'Oh great, why did it have to be Alpha that answered.'
"Hello Fallen One."
'Really? He is still calling me that?'
"Hello Alpha, though I would prefer if you called me Akeno," She forced a smile onto her face, she had heard once that people can hear if you are smiling or not over the phone.
"Ah~ Under stood Ake- Error error- Fallen One. What can I help you with?"
Akeno blinked wondering if she had just heard correctly before shaking her head, "I was wondering if Naruto was accepting company tonight?"
"Ah~ Naruto is accepting those at are not called 'Red'... Are you called 'Red' Fallen One?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Akeno saw and heard Rias groan as she sunk further into her desk, much more and she might fuse with it completely, was that possible? If so it would make for an interesting study, maybe she could do that as part of her science course to earn extra marks? "I am not, 'Red' refers to Rias, at least I am quite sure that is the case."
"Ah~ That would make sense, thank you for clearing that up Fallen One. Have you eaten yet, or would you like for us to prepare something for you?"
"If it is not an intrusion I would not be opposed to having dinner with you and Naruto," Akeno gave a slight nod as she picked up the files from Rias' desk and started to walk towards the door, flashing a smile to her King who gave either a wave or a halfhearted flip of the finger, to be honest she wasn't sure at the moment, "I should be around in half an hour or so, I would like to change first."
"Ah~ Understood, I shall inform Naruto so that he can prepare. Kiba should also be home around that time."
Akeno nodded, "Thank you, I will see you soon than Alpha."
"Ah~ Yes, you too Fallen One."
Akeno smoothed her top down, she had decided to wear something much less formal, a simple long sleeved sweater and a pair of jeans. It would keep the slight chill in the air away from her, while also helping to hide her rather generous chest, she was well aware that it drew more than normal amounts of attention towards her.
Reaching up she knocked at the door, waiting as she heard footsteps on the other side, it didn't take long for it to open leaving Kiba standing there with a confused look on his face, "Akeno-senpai? Is there anything I can do for you?"
Akeno blinked a few times, taking in the more, much more casual look of Kiba. He was in a pair of tracksuit pants and a long sleeved sweater-like-shirt, it was incredibly strange to see the normal formal looking boy so, so not normal, "Ara ara, seeing you like this Kiba-san, what would the others think of you?"
The younger blonde narrowed his eyes a little, "No offense Akeno-senpai, but I am not really in the mood to trade barbs with you today."
Seeing the direction this was heading Akeno rose her hands in a placating manner, "Naruto, or rather Alpha said that it was okay if I came over, plus I brought something that Naruto asked for."
Kiba watched as she pulled out a folder that seemed like it was ready to burst open of its covers, on the front had the name Akame, seeing Kiba's eyes widen slightly she figured it wasn't the first time he had heard the name. The younger blonde opened the door a little more, "Come in then. Nii-san is in his study, I'll let him know you are here."
"Alpha already told me," Came a voice from behind Kiba, both him and Akeno turned around to see the older blonde standing further in, Akeno had to stop the blush that rose to her face, it would seem that the older blonde had gone with jeans and a tight t-shirt, showing off the work he put into his body, though she wondered when he did, because mostly she either found him sleeping in the library or out shopping, "Dinners nearly done, no doubt you've already checked but it's that slow roast that Mum taught me."
Kiba gave a small blush and rubbed the back of his head, having been read so easily by his brother, "Well I may have had a peek."
"Anyway, get inside and close the door, you're letting the warm air out," Naruto waved them both inside and entered the living room himself, where tea and coffee had already been prepared with Alpha hovering back to the kitchen. Naruto picked up his cup of coffee and walked into the kitchen, pulling the roast out and quickly carving it up.
Akeno found herself lost in the smell, it was warm and inviting. Nothing like how the shrine she lived at felt, she fumbled her fingers as she sat down on the lounge next to Kiba, there was no sound coming from the kitchen, though she could see Naruto working with a strange level of intensity, Kiba seemed to pick up on her confusion, "Nii-san likes to keep things rather quiet around here, it allows us to focus on our studies better, to be honest when the club was over was the loudest it has ever been... Apart from family movie night of course."
"Family movie night?" Akeno questioned, she hadn't heard of something like that before.
Kiba scratched at the side of his face, "Nii-san goes out and buys some rather terrible movies and we sit down with deserts and watch and talk... It is pretty silly but it is nice."
Akeno tried to picture something like that but couldn't find the idea of Naruto sitting down and just watching a movie with Kiba within her mind, then again it seemed like it was special to Kiba, possibly because he was the only one that saw that side of his brother, their own special kind of bond. She sipped lightly at the tea and was surprised by the taste it left in her mouth, it seemed that Naruto had once again spared no expense with the tea.
"Potatoes?" Came a question from the kitchen.
"Hai Nii-san," Kiba replied without a second thought.
Akeno paused on the question a little, how long had it been since she last had a potato? "If it is no trouble?" She offered, was it just her or was the house getting warmer? The sound of plates sliding across the counter snapped her out of her inner thoughts and she looked up to see Naruto putting stuff in the sink and leaving them to soak while they would be eating.
"Dinners up," Naruto called and Alpha came zooming through the apartment, he was more than likely in Naruto's study prior to the call.
Akeno and Kiba moved up to the bench and found what looked like a feast waiting for them on their plates, large amounts of meet, cheese, gravy, potatoes, a small side of rice along with what seemed to be some loose salad that would complement it. Akeno found it strange, she looked up to Naruto and saw an even stranger sight, he had a goofy smile on his face, "I may not be the best cook, but I like to think I can do a pretty good job when it counts."
Kiba nodded as he took up a stool, eating out the counter was something that was done in this apartment, it made Naruto's job easier plus they didn't really have room for a table. While Naruto had spent the money from Sirzechs to get a nice place, it was not over the top. It was a place where 2-3 people could live easily, having bought it outright he didn't have to worry about rent, mainly just the bills, but they didn't use too much, leaving a lot left over for Naruto to spend on food and materials for the brothers, "Nii-san's cooking is amazing Akeno-senpai, he is just trying to be modest."
Incredible.
That was the only word Akeno had to describe the meal she had just eaten, the conversation was light throughout the meal, mostly just Naruto teasing Kiba about the following of girls he had at school, and Kiba of course retorting saying if he didn't seem so standoffish he would have the same, Akeno had mostly stayed out of it, though she did bring up that Naruto apparently had an image he wanted to maintain, which earned her a small glare.
Now she remained seated at the counter as Kiba went to his room to finish his homework. Being a Friday night he had decided to get it all out of the way before the weekend truly set in, he was a good kid like that. This left Akeno and Naruto alone in the kitchen, she watched as he quickly scrubbed the dishes before placing them on a rack to drip dry. He turned around, wiping his hands with a washcloth as he did, Alpha had floated off to go do... well whatever it was that he did when he wasn't with Naruto, "So what brings you here?"
Akeno quirked a brow at him, "I have the files of the Akame Case that you wanted?"
Naruto pursed his lips together in thought and gave a slow nod, "To be honest Akeno, I am quite tired of playing these games with Red and her group, just be honest. Red could have sent a familiar over with those, there was no reason for you to come personally."
The raven-haired woman hung her head a little, "I chose to do this, I just want to say that firstly."
"Uh huh."
"Rias is important to me and while I may disagree with the course of action she has tried to take with you, I can see her reasoning behind such actions... We can not ask you to trust us if we do not trust you first. I can not tell you her reasoning, but she is in a tight spot at the moment and we need people like yourself and Kiba, she wanted to test your strength, while she went about it in a round about way, she got the result she wanted, just the final outcome was not something she had planned," Akeno was about to place her head against the counter only for a cup of tea to be placed in front of her.
"It isn't poisoned if that's what you're thinking," Naruto offered her a small smile, "Besides, Red would know right away, her familiars are not doubt watching this place again."
"Does this happen often?" Akeno questioned. Thee look she got from Naruto was the only answer she needed, sighing she sipped lightly at the tea, "Well it seems like she has decided to stay away for now, though she has asked to speak to you when you think you're ready."
Naruto gave a small scoff, "When I think I'm ready? Akeno let me be frank with you, I didn't ask for this shit, Alpha says he could have healed me even if Red didn't come along, myself and Kiba would have been fine without her intervention. To be honest, the only one that seems to have gained anything out of this is Red. I am more than ready to talk to her, when she starts to see me as a person and not some tool to meet her goal. Because right now, it feels like that is all I am to her. She says that she treats her peerage members as family? I don't see that."
Akeno didn't even try to hide the frown on her face, "Is that how you really feel?"
"You don't want to know how I really feel... Let's just leave it at that shall we?" He lifted up a cup of coffee and sipped at it lightly before peering over to the cloak on the wall, "It is getting late, your parents must be wo-" He stopped himself when he saw the sad look cross her face, "Sorry... Do you want me to walk you home?"
"N-no... It's fine I will show myself out... I left the case file on your coffee table," With that she gave a light bow and walked out the door, pausing as she stepped outside to see one of Rias' familiars sitting on a nearby rooftop watching the house, shaking her head from side to side she nearly ran down the steps.
Rias was playing a very dangerous game, Akeno could see that already, Naruto was on the edge at the moment he could go either way and she felt that Kiba would be dragged along with him, they were closer than she had thought, much closer, they acted like siblings, they were an actual family, not some pretend one.
Brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear she reached the bottom of the stairs before starting the long walk home, she wanted to be able to blame his toxic words on Alpha, though she knew that it wasn't the truth, Naruto had every right to be as angry as he was, if not more so.
She knew all to well that Rias could not defeat Naruto, he was simply too fast for her, not to mention Rias had never actually been struck before, the first time would more than likely break her focus completely, allowing him to completely destroy any defense she had put in place, currently, the best way to describe the situation was a kitten poking a sleeping tiger. It was only a matter of time before the kitten poked a little too hard and the tiger woke up and she knew very well who the kitten was in this case.
PA: And that is a wrap. Like I said, things are getting a little steamy in the peerage, Akeno is having to act as the go between for Rias and Naruto due to them both being quite stubborn, though she can see that the blonde is right in his line of thinking. Rias is not treating him like the others, though it is also because he isn't really making any effort to try to get to know Rias, then again he has become somewhat close to Koneko and Akeno, the young Nekoshou will appear again in the next chapter so don't worry too much.
Also Akame was added for a few reasons, the first because her character is easy to recognize, the second is because most should know her story by now, that being that her sister was used as an experiment and twisted into such a thing that the only way to save her was to kill her, along with killing anything that got in her way of that goal.
I wanted to use Akame so that it would give Rias something to think about constantly, wondering if Naruto would turn out like she did if he was pushed too much. I guess you could say that in the end, Akame is being used as a mirror in this sense to Naruto, showing that tools can bite back if they are treated wrong.
Though I don't have much else to add, so until next time and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
