Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto franchise or High School DxD
Warning: Spoilers for High School DxD past Volume 4
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October 10th, five months ago…
At the Grigori Research Institute, fallen angel scientists scrambled due to an unexpected development. Alarm sirens rang off everywhere. Large energy readings in the dimensional gap overloaded all sensors and threw everyone into frenzy. Finally, Shemhazai, Vice Governor General of the fallen angels, stabilized visual connection with the dimensional gap, and what they saw was beyond anyone's imaginations. Great Red, the legendary and most powerful of all dragons, was thrown around like a rag doll.
Once other instruments came back online, better visual resolution confirmed other readings in the dimensional gap. The culprit appeared to be a pale-skin woman with extremely long, light colored hair, two protrusions sticking out from her forehead, and wore kimono detailed with intricate lines and tomoe running down the center and edges of her gown. Suddenly, someone else knocked away the woman. The new figure, with spiky blond hair, a high neck collar, flaming red-yellow robe tied with an obi around his waist, and nine magatama three-by-three markings on the kimono's back. Six black spheres hovered behind him like a halo, and his right hand held a staff.
For a fraction of a second, the two figures were visible, but in an instant, all monitors lost track of the two. The fallen angel scientists were only able to record clashes between the two. Each time the two made contact, the dimensional gap collapsed further. Great Red was not faring much better. The large dragon appeared to be fighting something invisible which even did not appear on any measuring instrument; yet whatever it was, it certainly put the Great Red on the ropes. It was apparent, however, that if this battle continued on without intervention, all known worlds, heaven, human, and the underworld were in grave peril.
"Someone contact Sirzechs and Michael!" Shemhazai ordered. "Where the hell is Azazel?!"
"Sir! We have made contact with both the Devil Lord and Seraph!" Penemue, Chief Secretary, shortly established connection to the other two factions. Though, most likely the other two had the same idea as the fallen angels. Two magical circles appeared before Shemhazai and projected holograms of Michael and Sirzechs.
"I can't say this is a good welcome since the world as we know may be coming to an end," Sirzechs Gremory, titled Lucifer, greeted grimly.
"The angels in heaven are keeping the dimensional barrier between worlds stabilized, but if this continues any further, the human world will surely get drawn into this as well," Michael, archangel and leader of the Seraph, reported.
"You have our full support. The Grigori Institute will aid in your endeavor," Shemhazai immediately announced.
"We, devils, will assist as well," Sirzechs chimed in. "To think such an event was necessary to join the three great powers together, even temporarily. The last time this happened was when the two heavenly dragons clashed. Though, this event is far beyond that fight."
"Without God or the former four Satan Lords, I don't think sending the armies of all three great powers will make a difference," Michael solemnly concluded. "All we can do is hope that we can contain the fallout, whatever that may be."
Suddenly, a major event turned the tide of the battle. As all three leaders witnessed, Great Red shrunk down and enveloped one of the figures in red armor. The dragon transformed into armor and combined with the fiery, blond entity. As seen in the past, sacred gears made from dragons had Scale-mail Balance Breakers. Whatever the reason for such a combination may be, it certainly turned the battle against the female entity. The now armored, dragon warrior, with a single stroke of his staff, launched a powerful wave radiating from him. The invisible entities dispersed from that single stroke of his staff. Even the woman was shocked at his power.
The armored warrior formed an unusual symbol with his hands. Out of nowhere, an entire army of dragon warriors exploded into existence. This seemingly simple act instilled great dread into the three leaders. If one, unknown individual can easily become an army comparable to the full strength of any of the three powers, the very balance of their entire world could shift. Yet, they were unable to stop him if the situation were to arise.
Acting as one, the army charged straight at their single opponent. In response, she spun clockwise at incalculable speeds which knocked a large number away. While spinning, she released innumerable spears which appeared to be made of bone precisely at her targets. A large smoke cloud ensued as many fell to the attack. However, using the smoke as cover, the remaining ones threw black spears right at the epicenter. Once again, she was forced to spin, but instead of bone, she unleashed wave after wave of refined wind that sliced through the army.
As the conflict dragged on, the further the dimensional barrier fell. Various colors spewed from each collision as if a supernova just exploded. The ground and rocks broke apart and floated within the vast "nothingness." The barrier separating heaven and hell fragmented and hovered in space as the two continued their extraordinary clash. Angels, fallen angels, and devils clamored to maintain any sort of stability under the given circumstances.
In what appeared to be another strategy, the remains of the army spewed pink liquid right at the spinning sphere. Although the air blades sliced through the liquid, they did not change its chemical composition. Slowly the liquid coagulated into a sticky substance and swirled with the sphere. Surely, the liquid suppressed her movement and paralyzed her. However, the liquid quickly was sucked into her as if via absorption. Holding up her right hand, an unseen force radiated outwards and knocked out the rest of the army.
From the smoke came an enormous lava ball. Instead of absorbing it, she evaded the incoming ball of molten rock. It collided with the dimensional barrier and broke through. The underworld's sky lit up in brilliant flames. Sirzech's connection with the fallen angels shortly cut off before reestablishing the link.
Instantaneous movement allowed the female to dodge that city-wide fire ball, but led right into another trap. Meeting her were two more armored warriors. The lava ball was a distraction to replenish that army. In response, the female threw up both palms, one facing each of the two. The same unseen force as before blew everyone away.
Reading their graphs and instruments, the fallen angels at the Grigori Institute discovered that the culprit was gravity. She had control over gravity itself. No known sacred gear possessed such ability!
The trap was a cover for an even more elaborate trap. When the army burst, instead of smoke, the armored soldiers erupted in orange-yellow glitter. The sparkles illuminated intensely and blinded not only the spectators, but the opposing female as well. After the light show faded, the visible portion of the dimensional gap was clouded with some type of gas. According to the instruments, the fallen angel scientists concluded it was water vapor, steam. However, this steam was not ordinary; it fried all sensors. It was to hinder the enemy's sensing abilities and restrict her movements! Whoever this warrior was, his cunning mind came up with so many varying strategies to throw the opponent off guard! If he were to battle against any of the great mythological powers with his strength and techniques…
Soon, the female dispersed the steam with her gravity technique. However, once the vapors went away, small animal-shaped, fiery blue creatures pounced on her. Each clawed, scratched, nipped, bit, and slashed at her body. Though the attacks seemed to be in vain due to her impressive regeneration, strange letters and markings appeared all over her body. Quickly, the markings spread all over. If anything, the symbols looked very similar to oriental characters, but different at the same time. The effect was instantaneous: she was restricted. The Grigori Institute deduced it was a seal, similar to magical seals magicians used. Unlike demonic energy and techniques, magic was formulaic and full of equations.
Sensors suddenly went off and even overloaded. Something was building massive energy. Looking through visuals, they noticed the armored warrior had two balls of energy in his hand: the left hand entirely covered with purple lightning, and the right holding a tan sphere with unusual black markings. In an instant, he was upon the female and smashed the two objects into her. Screaming from what appeared to be excruciating pain, she was engulfed by the black markings until they enveloped her entire body.
The man crushed her sealed body into a tiny sphere. With a clap of his hands and charging stance, he yelled at the top of his lungs. Large chunks of debris, rocks, and fragments from the barrier broke off and congregated around the sphere. Slowly, they coalesced into an ever-growing spherical rock. The Fallen Angels, Devils, and Angels stood in awe as the rock grew to monstrous proportions, as if a small planet was to be born.
However, the growing mass cracked. Ten arm-like appendages broke out of the rocky prison, and soon after, a weird, deformed head emerged. Its deafening roar shattered decibel meters at the Grigori Institute. The Cyclops-like humanoid creature of titanic proportions freed itself from the seals and cage. In size comparison, it made even Great Red seem tiny. Large, spiky protrusions jutting out from its head, one mouth, ear, and a single, red eye with concentric rings radiating from the pupil and tomoe, the monstrosity lunged at the much smaller armored warrior.
Instead of evading the enormous creature, he charged head on and punched the monster's face. The force actually flipped it onto its back, and the resulting impact further broke the dimensional barrier. Even the spectators felt the landing. Its ten arm-like appendages morphed into dragon-shaped heads, and each one started charging enormous black spheres. All ten locked onto their target. The armored one used the six spheres hovering behind him to form an enormous shield.
Ten immense black beams collided with the shield and exploded upon impact. Readings indicated the blast had enough force to take out a chunk of Eurasia! Suddenly, out of the smoke, Great Red, no longer in armor form, attacked the twelve-armed creature. An all out monster brawl ensured where the two traded enormous energy blasts and melee attacks. Any stray shots broke through the barrier and blasted heaven and hell. Michael, Sirzechs, and Shemhazai felt their world under siege from these attacks.
Though Great Red was much smaller, its speed allowed it race around the monster's torso and incinerate the one-eyed creature's hide. In response, the one-eyed monstrosity shed any brunt skin and immediately regenerated the missing flesh. Then, numerous hands erupting from the monster's skin constricted Great Red's limbs, body, wings, and month. Unable to move or launch an attack, the red dragon was a sitting duck as the twelve-armed monster charged a large black sphere aimed straight at him. Ten unarmored blond warriors cut through the limbs and knocked the grotesque creature off its feet.
The blond warrior landed on Great Red's head. A bright yellow light enveloped Great Red. One scaly, dragon tail split into nine, free-flowing yellow tails. The light covered the dragon's entire body, but then a purple, ethereal light erupted from the yellow and formed another layer on top. This purple substance took shape, and this time, the dragon was wearing a Japanese samurai-stylized armor. The newly-formed armor added three pairs of arms onto the armless dragon and additional masks adorning each cheek. In one of its left hands held a giant black, double helix sword, and in a right hand held an enormous shield. Regenerating its limbs, the other creature stood up and stared down with its singular red eye at the newly armored dragon.
Simultaneously roaring at one another, the two charged head on. Five hands morphed into dragon heads again and fired every element, fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning, in concentrated beams. Great Red protected itself with the new shield and tackled the twelve-armed creature to the ground. With a powerful gravitational repulsion, the ten-tailed monster blew away the dragon. Regaining its footing, the dragon fired an enormous fire ball, one larger than the lava ball earlier. The ten appendages wrapped around and shielded the main body from the brunt of the attack.
While the battle ensued, the three great powers watched on as an event of biblical proportions, equal to that described in the Book of Revelations, played out. The barrier was not lasting well, and if the fighting lasted any longer, the human world would surely get drawn into it. Each power was using all their resources just to hold up the barrier.
Building upon momentum, armored Great Red rushed in once more. Inside those nine tails, spiraling spheres formed that lead the charge; the spheres made contact and cracked a small opening in the twelve-armed creature's defense. Piercing through the armed defense, Great Red rammed the double-helix sword straight through its chest and emerged out the other end. The nine tails seemed to connect to the creature's innards and began pulled. The blonde one leapt off Great Red and landed on the other beast. Holding a ball of yellow energy in his right and a purple ball in his left, he slammed the two into the twelve-armed monster's head.
Suddenly, the creature underwent a dramatic change: it shrunk drastically, shriveled until it was like a skeleton, and the gigantic red eye closed. What replaced it was an earthen-colored humanoid statue with a blindfold wrapped around its eyes. Its back had spike-like protrusions where its ten arms once were, and hand cuffs bound its wrists and ankles.
Clapping his hands once more, the blond one attempted to seal off the creature again. The fallen debris, rock, and barrier fragments quickly congealed together and formed an even larger ball to imprison the humanoid statue. Black markings ran across the entire sphere and completed the seal. Just as how suddenly the fight began, it came to an abrupt end. A giant, perfectly spherical rock hung menacingly in the collapsing dimensional gap. Wobbling, the victor passed out immediately. Great Red, with its head, caught the unconscious individual as the warrior's power faded away.
"All units continue to stabilize the dimension," Shemhazai ordered. "I'm going to retrieve that being myself." The Vice Governor General of the Fallen Angels immediately cut communications with the angels and devils as soon as the battle was over. He would bet anything that the other two powers had the same idea as he. If that being, greater than the gods themselves, really died, then whatever information the body could gleam would be a gold mine. Shemhazai had to work fast and discreetly since the True Dragon, Great Red, held his body.
The vice governor general opened a gate to the dimensional gap. He'll have to be quick because even he will succumb to the "nothingness" inside the gap. Once inside, he traced angel and devil signals; his intuition was correct, so he had to hasten his mission. Where was the Governor General of the Fallen Angels when you needed him? However, by the time, Gabriel and Grayfia, the representatives Angels and Devils respectively, and he arrived, another figure intervened.
She was a small human child wearing gothic Lolita style attire. Simply covering he chest with two x-shaped black markings over her nipples, long black hair reaching down to her hips and gray irises, skin pale as the moon, cold gray eyes, the little girl levitated the unconscious man's body. Great Red allowing the little girl to come close and retrieve the body surprised all three powers. The initial plan for each of the great powers was to observe Great Red's actions and see if any one of them could retrieve the body for their own side to study. The appearance of this child completely changed everything. Just as quickly as she appeared, she disappeared with the body.
Three Months Later…
The older, gray-haired man sat across the table from a little girl wearing gothic Lolita clothing. Great, just as oblivious as usual, she blew his cover. Luckily, the store owner was the only other occupant in this rundown ramen shop and not paying them any attention. Instead, he was preparing to close up shop. Food slowly growing cold, he decided to continue the conversation.
"So, still tailing me, eh Ophis?" Naruto, under the guise of Jiraiya, groaned a bit. He really wanted to eat.
"I, am surprised you wear such a disguise. You, show your true self, Naruto Uzumaki," The little girl revealed as Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, ordered. As though like an innocent doll, Ophis stared at him as if he were going to concede to her whim.
"Man, still treating me like some kind of pet. I know I have whisker birthmarks, but I'm not some stray dog you picked up off the street! I'd rather play catch," Naruto admonished critically. Still transformed as his former, deceased master, Naruto quickly downed the ramen before ordering one bowl and sweetened iced tea for his visitor, and a second for himself.
"Catch; I, would like that," Ophis commented. "I, want to kill Great Red more." Though indescribably smaller, there was a small light shining her dull eyes.
"Yes, yes, I know," Naruto sighed. Yet again, like a child, Ophis made her point known that she wanted to go home and obtain silence. Still unable to get through her thick skull, he scratched the back of his head. "Unfortunately, I can't agree to that request. Great Red is doing something very, very important for me. Killing him is not in my best interest."
"You and I, we can defeat Great Red," Ophis continued on nonchalantly. At least she was consistent. Naruto had not seen the Infinite Dragon God's true form or power, but from what he'd heard, this little girl could give the Sage of Six Paths, Hagomoro Otsutsuki, a run for his money.
The new orders arrived in a timely fashion. This is the first ramen restaurant since Naruto had been in Japan. Two days ago, Thursday, Naruto just arrived in Japan, and his time with Issei deprived him of ramen. To fulfill his addiction, he will binge on ramen until his stomach could no longer hold anymore. Tomorrow, this store will be devoid of ramen. Ophis, whose ramen and sweetened ice tea were set before her, silently ate her meal. Even though she could be rudely truthful at times, at least she had table manners. After finishing the salty noodle soup, Ophis quietly drank her sweetened iced tea through a straw. Naruto remembered that she really liked sweets.
"Look, it's getting late, and I want some shut eye. I don't think you'll go back to them any time soon. I'll let you stay for a bit," Naruto motioned Ophis to follow him. If she hadn't shown up, he would have eaten this shop clean of ramen, but as the responsible "adult," he had to make sure this "kid" got a good night's rest.
Walking through the park side-by-side, Naruto and Ophis silently headed to wherever Naruto stayed in Japan. Under the moonlight, the trees cast an eerie shadow on the concrete path. Looking at the little girl next to him, Naruto wondered what was he going to do with a Dragon God? He left her with his first assistant the last time and hoped that she would have hidden herself forever, but apparently her drive to oust Great Red led her here. For now, he was tired and wanted rest. They arrived at an old apartment complex in the inner city. The close proximity of neighboring buildings reminded Naruto of home. Going up the stairs, Naruto led Ophis to his apartment. Much like his old one, it had a terrace from which he could look out and see the city. Inside, the studio was more western than Japanese. A single bed, small kitchen, bathroom, closet, Naruto had yet to furnish the room with other commodities such as cupboards full of instant cup-of-noodles.
"I'm going to take a bath. You can hang around and do what you want," Naruto stretched before going into the bathroom. Ophis, not wearing footwear, walked in barefoot.
She looked at the rather empty room. The only place to sit was the bed, so she took a seat. It was no different than her room, blank walls and a single stool upon she sat, back with the Chaos Brigade. With their promise of Great Red's death, she granted brigade members' wishes with her snakes and sat alone in the room until that fateful day. October 10th, she found an entity which had the capacity to defeat Great Red. Taking her chances, she went into the dimensional gap to retrieve the person. Great Red did not seem to care all that much. While she reminisced, the blonde had removed the transformation and came out of the bathroom with regular clothing. Instead of the usual jumpsuit, Naruto wore an orange, sleeveless plain jersey, black short-sleeved undershirt, orange sweats, and slippers.
"I should really thank my last assistant," Naruto commented while drying his blonde, spiky hair with a towel. "She really knew how to make the most of a sale. I guess that's why she's the '99¢ Valkyrie!'" Naruto smiled. Even with the income and royalties from Make-Out Paradise, the book was still only a month old. Much like home, sometimes it was tough to make ends meet. If Naruto hadn't met his assistant, he probably would be destitute, more so than he is now. The blonde adolescent looked over to the small Lolita seating on his bed. Like always, the great dragon god was quiet as a mouse.
"Here," Naruto made a Rasengan, "you wanted to play 'catch' right?" He tossed the spiraling sphere to the little girl. Like several times they've done in the past, the two tossed the sphere back and forth to each other. Strange how something so simple could be so gratifying for a dragon god? Until out of nowhere, Ophis threw the Rasengan out the window.
"Why did you do that!?" Naruto accusingly pointed his finger at the gothic Lolita.
"I, grew bored of 'catch.' You, go 'fetch,'" Ophis obliviously replied. Her unemotional face belied the fact that she found nothing wrong with what she just did. He was her pet, and pets go 'fetch.'
"I'm not your freakin' pet!" Naruto reiterated once again, but the message seemed to never register with Ophis. The lights went out suddenly, and a loud explosion shortly followed the Rasengan's toss out the window.
"…shit," Naruto cussed. Peeping out the window, he saw the destruction his Rasengan caused. The force knocked a car into a line of parked cars which crashed into an electrical pole and knocked out power for the entire block! Hopefully no one got hurt.
"We saw and did nothing, got it?" Naruto whispered to Ophis nodding. "Alright then, since you 'obviously' did not throw that out the window and took out the power, it's time to get some sleep," Naruto yawned. He then realized that there was only one bed and two people. Scratching his head, he decided to let the little dragon god sleep on the bed. He slept on dirt in the past. A hard wooden floor would be no different.
"Good night," Naruto lay down on his side while Ophis rested on his bed. She was indifferent to human sexuality, but Naruto knew that it was improper to sleep with a girl, dragon god, thing in the same bed when they were in nothing more than a platonic relationship.
The next morning, Sunday, Naruto woke up to Ophis staring at him from his bed. She calling him her pet was ironic; she's more of a cat waiting for the master to wake up and feed her. Today, he was supposed to meet Koneko at the old school building at Kuoh Academy. He did cancel on Issei, but last minute, he decided to put Issei on an assignment. He'll leave him to Sakura. Now, the first issue, what was he supposed to do with Ophis?
Koneko Tojo waited patiently for the so-called sage at the designated location. Much like Naruto deduced yesterday, she chose this location because Rias and her fellow peerage members were close at hand. She did not know much of Jiraiya, but she must take a chance, for her sister and her sake. This senjutsu trauma had plagued her for too long. Rias, Akeno, and Yuuto looked out from the club room window while Koneko waited at the front door.
"Yo!" Koneko immediately recognized the voice. She saw the older man walking down the path towards the old building. "You know, you could've given me directions or something. Instead, I had to sense your energies to find my way here. That includes your friends up there," Naruto, wearing Jiraiya's face once again, looked up and waved at a particular window. Koneko realized that he was the real deal right there. Only a senjutsu user could have so accurately pointed out the clubroom's window.
"I understand your friends' concerns. I'm just an old guy looking for some young girls, but believe me, I know the consequences and hardships facing those who fail at the sage arts," Naruto seriously explained with his arms crossed. Senjutsu was not something to mess with where turning into a frog statue was only one possible outcome. "It's your choice. You led me here. Where shall we train?"
"Track field," Koneko answered emotionlessly. The two made their way to the quarter mile elliptical track field. On the way, neither of the two talked to one another. He could feel her analytical, vigilant eyes glancing at him from time to time. Naruto also knew Koneko's allies were going to tail them. He'll have to do something about that.
"Alright, here," Naruto stretched. Before them was a typical high school track field. The running track wrapped around the central, artificial turf field. The deceptively older-looking man, with the adolescent following close behind, sat right in the middle of the fake grassy field. "First, I'll review what exactly senjutsu is. Though, it seems you have experience in this matter. Normally, your life energy is produced from your internal spiritual and physical energies. That is chakra. With senjutsu, you take that internal chakra and augment it with the energy surrounding you, natural energy. With it, you create a much more powerful chakra."
"How do you overcome the malice that's absorbed with natural energy?" Koneko, sitting in a meditative stance as well, went straight to her point. She stared hard at him with her golden eyes. Naruto had to admit, she had a good poker face, but it was only a mask for pain he could see past those eyes.
"I was getting to that. It's true that collecting the natural energy around you will also contain the 'feelings' nature encapsulates. Nature's anger that you absorb also fuses with your subconscious anger and forces it to the surface, much like the chakra aspect. The way to control this is to mediate how much natural energy you take and release. I don't know 'who' or 'what' caused your incident with senjutsu, but for the previous user to take in so much natural energy at one time, then the situation must have been dire. You have to 'look underneath the underneath.' That's the first step towards mastering the sage arts," Naruto lectured while holding up a finger as if he was pointing to notes written on a black board. In truth, he did know who caused Koneko's despair, but at this moment, he could not let that be known. In order to continue on with this training, Koneko needed a calm, empty mind.
Koneko looked down once Naruto indirectly mentioned her sister. "Look underneath the underneath?" What does that mean? Wasn't it her sister who killed their last devil master and abandoned her, right? Was there something she had overlooked? At such a young age back then, there may have been something she couldn't understand or clearly remember. That's why she's trying to understand the sage arts. Something drove her sister to go drunk off natural energy, and mastering that energy was the first step in understanding her past.
"The first step to make yourself 'one' with natural energy is to sense and draw it into your body. Once you make it a part of yourself, you can control its flow in and out of your body. Moving around disturbs the flow of natural energy. All living things mess up the flow without even knowing it. You have to remain completely still to feel nature's flow. If I had to guess, I think you've already past this first step." Naruto continued on with his lecture. Koneko nodded in response. It's true that she's able to intake natural energy, but she cannot control or mold it all too well.
"Now, the problem I think is that you cannot handle the flow coming and going from your body. When I first learned senjutsu, I already knew how to mold chakra, so controlling sage chakra was not that much of a problem. My problem was feeling the flow of natural energy and making it flow into my body. You're the opposite of me. You can feel the flow of natural energy, but can't control how much you take and let go. All three energies, spiritual, physical, and natural, must be in balance with one another to get around that stuff. Try taking in natural energy," Naruto asked the little girl. Without breaking his meditative stance, he stared intensely at the little girl to make sure nothing went astray. He didn't want to explain to Ophis why he had an animal statue at home or Ophis break it out of sheer obliviousness.
To his request, Koneko sat motionlessly and meditated. Over a few minutes, the still Koneko started to show strained facial expressions. Abruptly, two feline ears popped out of her head and a furry tail wriggled out of her back. However, a dark, menacing aura began to emanate from her. Once Naruto noticed the effects, he immediately knocked Koneko out of mediation with a simple flick of his index finger to the forehead. Groaning in pain, Koneko held the bruise on her forehead.
"As I thought, you can't balance the three energies in your body," Naruto diagnosed as if he was a doctor with a sick patient. So, the effects were individually based; he turned into a frog while, Kabuto turned into a dragonic snake, and Koneko turned into a cat. (What he was unaware of is that Koneko is a yokai.) Rubbing his chin, he had an idea. "When I learned sage arts, my master knocked me with his stick whenever I overshot the mark. Man, did that stick hurt," Naruto commented while rubbing his head. He was pretty sure Fukasaku had too much fun whacking him over the head with that stick. "I'll help you mediate how much natural energy you intake. Connect your fist with mine," Naruto held out right fist.
Koneko reached out her tiny hand in comparison to that of Naruto. Once their fists connected, Koneko returned to her mediation. Like before, cat-like characteristics appeared on her head and back. However, Koneko noticed excess energy not flowing into her, but drawn through her right fist to his body. Shortly, he broke the connection. When he did, Koneko stopped drawing upon nature and woke up from her meditation. Her body felt different. While the physical change in her body appeared as expected, there was no malice or dementia. Embarrassed, she covered her ears with her hands and white hair, and withdrew her tail. Across from her, she noticed the physical changes Naruto underwent: red pigmentation surrounded his eyes, his irises turned yellow in color, and his rectangular pupils. If anything, the characteristics reminded her of an amphibian.
"I took the extra natural energy from your body. Now, a reason I think is that you don't have enough chakra or the body size to control natural energy. Unlike other girls your age, your body is kind of immature. It's going to be hard for your body to maintain natural energy. You don't have enough chakra to control natural energy. You need to train more. With the body thing, I think that the fact you're not a human can help. Yeah, when our energies connected, I felt the difference. I don't know what you are, but if you're not human, your body may be able to get around the size issue," Naruto recommended while remaining in his meditative stance. His revelation shocked Koneko. He not only figured out her issues, but also noticed that she's not human. Though it appeared he did not know what exactly she was, the fact that he realized it immediately only proved senjutsu's versatility. Even though he knew she's not human, Koneko felt no prejudice or hostility from him. More correct to say, she felt nothing around him, as if he was the air.
"Train some more to increase your chakra levels. Find me after that. We can continue with sage training. There's one more thing. Sage art is a sacred tradition from where I come from and can't freely give out the information. I don't want your friends spying on me from now on. If you don't agree with these conditions, I won't finish your sage training," Naruto sternly warned. The emptiness surrounding him suddenly felt like a heavy weight dropping down on her entire body. To this, Koneko extended her sensing range.
"Where are my friends?" Koneko stood up from her meditative stance and took a fighting stance. If she had to, she would fight him here.
"I said it before: I can't give out the secrets of senjutsu so easily. My friend took care of them back at the old academy building. Don't worry, they are sleeping safe and sound," Naruto explained calmly. Unable to trust him, Koneko remained in her fighting stance with her left fist ahead, right fist guarding her chest, and a square base to maintain balance. "That'll be enough for today. Too much sage training will strain your small body. Get some rest. Come and find me again after you increased your chakra," And with that said, Naruto stood up and disappeared with a whirl of leaves right before Koneko's eyes.
Quickly rushing back to the occult research clubroom while expending the extra boost from senjutsu, Koneko flew over the empty school grounds and entered through the open window. Using up her senjutsu, her cat ears and tail disappeared. Inside, she found Rias, Akeno, and Yuuto asleep on the couches. There was no evidence of battle or resistance. Whoever did this was quick as an assassin; all three could have died. Thankfully, this person killed no one. Illusion? Genjutsu? Koneko shook her master awake.
"Koneko?" Rias slowly stirred awake. Sitting at the head desk, Rias stretched her sore body. "What happened? Where am I?"
"I'll explain everything later," Koneko answered and went to wake up the others.
Soon with everyone awake, the young cat retold the group about Jiraiya and his potential threat. The entire room was silent. The House of Gremory's heiress and next in line to succeed the head of the household, Rias, could have died due to their carelessness and lack of information. A war could have broken out over her death; Sirzechs would definitely look for revenge against whoever killed her. Though, Koneko benefitted from this encounter with Naruto. However, was it worth the risk?
"My, oh my, this is very serious," Akeno broke the silence while she sat on the couch right of the table in the center of the room. "These three certainly are a problem. They could kill us at any moment. Unless Jiraiya can be in two places at once, either Sasuke or Sakura placed a stronger illusion on us. We would have forgotten why we were at school today if Koneko didn't explain what happened."
"However, they didn't kill us or wipe out Koneko's memories," Rias added from the front desk of the occult research clubroom. "I don't know how to explain their actions. Koneko, is there anything else you can tell us?" The king asked her servant while Akeno decided to prepare tea to calm everyone's nerves.
"I don't know if I can," Koneko hung her head low and sunk into the cushion opposite of Rias and across the table. "He warned you all that if any of you continued to spy on him, he'll stop training me in sage arts." There are two options: let Koneko continue sage training and no longer interfere with Jiraiya's plans, or spy on those three, but lose her training. For Koneko, there may never be another chance to learn senjutsu, but is it worth her friends' lives?
"Koneko, I advise you don't meet that man again," Yuuto Kiba, standing next to Ria's desk, input his opinion. With his past, he certainly knew the dangers of men with hidden agendas. Koneko looked up at her brother figure. "That man may be using you to get closer to Rias. He already planted two spies into our school. If either Uchiha or Haruno had the ability to trap us in such an illusion, we wouldn't suspect a thing from them."
"This is my fault," Koneko brought her legs up to her chest, wrapped her arms around, and sunk her head down. "If I had been stronger and use senjutsu on my own, then she and you all would not be in this situation,"
"There, there, don't beat yourself up," Rias sat next to her rook and hugged her tightly against her body. She hadn't seen Koneko so weak and frail since those days after her brother saved Koneko from her fate. "We'll figure this out."
"I need to face this on my own," Koneko gently separated herself from her king and stood up. "I need to see him face-to-face and ask why he agreed to train me. If he doesn't answer, I'll reject his training from then on," Though not on her face, Koneko's determination was felt by everyone in the room.
"Ok, I trust your judgment," Rias Gremory smiled; not often Koneko stood up for herself in such a manner. "What kind of master am I if I don't have faith in my servants?" The red-head rubbed her rook's little head. "In a rating game or real life, the king needs to take a gamble and trust her pieces."
The same day, while Naruto dealt with Koneko, he issued an assignment for Issei Hyodo. Without knowing what the assignment was, Issei followed directions and waited at a clock tower downtown. Apparently, Jiraiya's associate was supposed to meet him here. Suddenly, a pink-haired beauty approached him. Sure, this woman was in Koneko's league in terms of bust size, but what she lacked up top, she made up down below. Those shapely, athletic legs, not too big, but not too skinny, fit nicely in those form-fitting jeans that hugged her tight hips. She wore red tennis shoes, a pink tank-top and breezy red jacket to go along with those jeans. Issei then remembered her conspicuous pink hair.
"Aren't you the new girl who sits behind me in homeroom?" Issei asked.
"Yeah, Sakura Haruno, pleased to make your acquaintance," Sakura shook his hand. Issei noticed how firm and strong her grip was. Pulling back, he shook his circulation-deprived hand. "That damn Jiraiya asked me for a favor. I bet anything that man is lollygagging somewhere and doing 'research,'" Sakura held up a folded fist to demonstrate her frustration.
"Um…" Issei took a slight step back from the dangerous, dark aura surrounding the pink-head. "So, what did Jiraiya want me to do?"
"Well, follow me. I'll explain along the way," Sakura motioned to the brown-hair teenager. He wanted them to go volunteer? Actually, Sakura was going to orientation by herself, but Naruto decided to tack Issei on since Jiraiya bailed on him last minute. Walking for fifteen minutes, they arrived at a soup kitchen? The line was really long just for food. He hadn't realized this many people needed food assistance. He saw many homeless men, women, children, and elderly who probably have been in line since early this morning. The two went inside for orientation.
After an hour long, boring, and tedious information session and complementary video, Sakura and Issei finally geared up with hair nets, aprons, and gloves. The two were ordered to serve food and wait at tables. When they arrived at the cafeteria, Issei was completely shocked at the numbers eating this packaged, processed food that may be their only meal of the day. It really hit home how fortunate he was. Unable to dwell on his lucky birth, Issei was handed a dish by Sakura to serve an elderly lady sitting in a wheelchair. As Issei found out, this lady lived on the streets. Immigrating to Japan at a young age, she was unmarried her entire life, and because of this, employers saw her unmarried status as a stigma. She had been in and out of low paying jobs until she grew too old to work. All she had to her name were the few plastic bags carrying precious possessions and her wheel chair.
"Stop standing there dumbfounded. Serve the next table," Sakura prodded the young teenager with another plate. This time, it was to a former war veteran. He survived World War II, but traumatized at what he had done in the past. Hunched over the table, the tattered man stared into empty space without any life in his eyes.
"From what I heard, that guy was a soldier who participated in the 'Rape of Nanking,'" Sakura added. "That other lady over there was a survivor of that atrocious event. Our history course just started going over WWII, but did you read anything about the 'Rape of Nanking?'"
"No, but if there was anything, I don't remember," Issei guiltily admitted. He was never a diligent student since elementary school.
"Well, that's because we haven't gotten to it yet, but I studied ahead of the assigned chapters. There was a single paragraph barely describing the event," Sakura said disgusted.
"What exactly was the 'Rape of Nanking?'" Issei asked. Truth be told, he didn't really care about Japan's history, or anyone else besides him as a matter of fact. Hell, today was the first time he realized there were so many in poverty and homeless right in his neighborhood, and never paid them any attention. All he cared about, before meeting Jiraiya, were beasts and women.
"A shameful, disgraceful mark on Japanese history, the Nanking Massacre, or Rape of Nanking, was an episode of mass murder and rape. Japanese troops captured Nanking, which was the Chinese capital back then. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese, civilians and disarmed combatants, were murdered and raped. The city was completely left in shambles," Sakura shook her head as she short-handed the information. Even here, war was everywhere, in the past, present, and foreseeable future.
"Then why is there so little information about it?" Issei, so-called righteous hot-blooded fury boiling inside, demanded.
"Because Japanese nationalists in the government want to promote a revisionist history, even though the common consensus amongst the public is that it really occurred and just as horribly as past veterans described," Sakura answered grimly.
"In order to protect their national interests, politicians in the Japanese government want to influence new generations of Japanese children. Nationalists, though a minority, have a say in the government and want to erase Japan's dark past through propaganda and manipulation of recorded history. However, look at those two," Sakura pointed out once again the lady survivor of the Rape of Nanking, and the male war veteran of the Rape of Nanking.
"See their pain? Jiraiya wanted you to see the hardships other people go through and to empathize with them. The anger you may be feeling right now, if you let it fester and eat away at you, that anger will turn to hatred. Where will you direct your hatred? At the government? At war veterans? At the entire world? Where will it end? You do something unforgivable out of hatred, others will come at you in vengeance," Sakura dealt a rude awakening at the naïve Issei. In her mind, she recalled a red-haired, frail man who once brought her home to its knees.
She was right; the longer she talked, the angrier Issei felt. He wanted to take out his anger on the elderly war veteran for the sake and justice of the old lady who survived the Rape of Nanking. Unable to stand anymore, Issei took a seat. Sakura sat next to him.
"Someone very close to me, a sibling student under Jiraiya, once said, 'we are just ordinary people driven to seek vengeance in the name of justice, and if one was to call vengeance justice, such justice will only breed further revenge, and trigger a vicious cycle of hatred. Right now, we live in such a cycle. I know the past and can foretell our future. It is the same as our history, so we believe that human beings can simply never understand each other, and never will. This world of ours is ruled by hatred, and hatred alone," Sakura closed her eyes as she finished her speech.
Issei, awestruck, had no words to say. Whoever this person was, he must have had been through all nine levels of hell to believe in such ideology. The vengeance Issei sought against the war veteran for the old lady's justice that will only breed more vengeance in the name of justice. Thus, continuing this vicious cycle of hatred. Issei clenched his eyes, griped his fists, and grit his teeth. Is this really what humanity is? What kind of society was Jiraiya trying to prepare him for? He's never felt so confused and emotional ever in his life so far. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Jiraiya wanted to lend this to you," Sakura handed him a book before returning to her volunteer duties. "Return it to him when you're finished. That's his only copy."
"Tales of a Gutsy Ninja?"
A/N: That's chapter two. Thanks to my beta reader for correcting character traits, grammar, and story flow and structure. I thank those who read and reviewed this story so far.
Again, reviews and constructive criticisms are welcomed.