AN: Wow! That was a lot of reviews. Thank you guys so much. I read through every single one of them and I have to say, I am astounded by the interest in this story. It's a pretty cliched concept, but I think I've got what it takes to spice it up. You'll know what I mean when you finish this chapter ;D Anyway. Enjoy!
"That fucking- Urgh!"
Rias slammed her fist into the table, sending a spiderweb of cracks down its legs. The Power of Destruction flickered visibly beneath her skin. Boiled, more like, as she struggled to keep it from erupting to the surface.
The Occult Research Club's clubroom was, if rumors were to be believed, several hundred years old. She doubted Sona would forgive her if she burned the place down. She'd probably regret it herself.
Rias let out a shaky breath.
Even now, she could still see his eyes. Like chips of hard ice. They were everything she despised; they were Naruto Uzumaki's.
She grabbed a pencil and started writing. Words. Jagged phrases. Incoherent curses. It didn't matter. Writing helped calm her nerves whenever she was feeling a little too much of anything. And today, her nerves were frayed. The pencil's wood creaked and groaned under her vice-like grip. Her knuckles were white with anger. Before long, the room was filled with the sounds of furious scratching. It was only when somebody knocked on the door that she'd hurriedly paused and hid her notebook.
She took a moment to wipe the thin film of sweat from her brow. The room had gotten too hot; she was sure her cheeks were flushed. She brushed aside a loose lock of hair before saying as calmly as she could, "Come in."
Seconds later, and Akeno stepped in.
Rias offered her best friend a smile; the black-haired Queen offered one back.
"Tea?" she asked, holding two cups and closing the door behind her.
"Please," she said.
Rias leaned back in her chair as Akeno set the chinaware down. Her Queen blew on the teacups once, twice, before pushing one over to her. Rias took a sip. Like always, Akeno's tea was delicious. Not too hot. Not too cold. Complete with the perfect amount of honey.
The two shared a look over the rims of their cups.
"What?" she asked.
Akeno's lips twitched. "Nothing."
Rias rolled her eyes. "It's not nothing if you say it's nothing."
Her Queen stuck her tongue out at her.
She retaliated in kind.
"Look at us go," Akeno said. "A High-Class Devil and her Queen. Very mature."
Rias said the only thing that came to mind. "Yeah, well. You started it."
Akeno snorted. "Like I said. Very mature."
"Careful now," she said, taking another sip of her tea. "Wouldn't want your fans knowing you snort like a pig."
"Yes well, I wouldn't want your fans knowing you have a boyfriend."
Rias gawked, momentarily flustered by her friend's words. "I- You- What?"
"Oh come now," her Queen bared her teeth, smiling like a predator closing in on her prey. "I know you, Rias. Your cheeks are flushed. Your hands are shaking. You're thinking about something. Or should I say, someone."
"No, that's not-" she tried to say, but Akeno had already pounced in for the kill.
Her Queen licked her lips, smiling in a way that would've sent a hundred men to their knees, quaking in fear and pleasure.
"You can tell me," she said. "Come on. Who's the unlucky guy?"
Twin blue eyes, an image she killed in her dreams every night, flashed through her mind. Rias sagged in her chair, suddenly feeling very, very tired. She took a deep breath and turned to her friend.
Akeno paused, cocking her head.
"Rias?"
Rias only sighed.
"What do you know about Naruto Uzumaki?"
-xxx-
Chess pieces. They were chess pieces.
Eight black pawns, sitting atop the boy's chest and glowing with some unholy magic. He'd seen similar pieces being sold in sets. For children eight and up, was the usual precautionary label. For family fun. He watched these particular chess pieces dissolve into the boy's chest, imbuing him with some kind of dark energy; he was a hundred percent certain he'd never seen an advertisement for this.
"So uh," he gestured to the boy, who was now levitating. "Is that supposed to happen?"
The girl in front of him smiled, but he knew better. He took note of her stance. Defensive. Ready to move at a moment's notice. At least she had good instincts. And from the way she embellished her hands with dark arcane magic, the Power of Destruction as she called it, he could tell she was trying to intimidate him.
"I don't see how that's any of your business," she said. Her voice was sickly sweet. As if to scare him, her energy levels spiked, saturating the air with a heavy, oppressive presence. It would've brought a dozen lesser men to their knees. To the former shinobi, it was but a light breeze.
"Right," he said. He ignored the urge to overwhelm her paltry attempt at dominance by force. Not here, he clenched a fist behind his back. Not again. "Well, considering the guy's dying in my second favorite park, I think it's kind of my business."
The girl, her hair a great bonfire of crimson, merely sneered.
"You thought wrong."
The sudden spike of anger that stabbed at him wasn't a surprise. Vengeful. Wrathful. It threatened to clog his mind with the red fog of war. He quelled the urge ruthlessly. Blood, warm and slick, slid down his knuckles from the crescent shaped welts in his palms. The pain was good. The pain brought him focus.
He took a deep breath.
It was a part of him now, this addiction to violence. The insidious voice in the back of his mind telling him to rip her apart limb by bloody limb. It was a by-product of Kurama's sacrifice. It was a by-product of his weakness. And through it all he smiled.
"Well, you know," he said. "I happen to know the guy. I go to the same school as him." At least, he hoped he did. They were wearing the same uniform, after all.
The girl scoffed. "I do too. I'm not going to hurt him, if that's what you're worried about."
"That's great," he said. "Oh that's great. In that case, I'll just leave."
The girl blinked. He could see confusion in those seafoam colored orbs, palpable as the sunset behind them. She tilted her head. "What, is that it?"
"Hm?"
"You're not going to ask me what I'm doing?"
"Should I?"
She stood up straighter, and from behind her back, two bat-like wings unfurled. He could feel her energy level rise. The black lacquer flamers at her fingertips seemed to grow darker. He wondered if her new form was a powerup. He crushed the urge to test that theory.
"Nice wings," was all he said.
"Nice wings?" she sounded incredulous. "Are you not scared of me? Are you not afraid?"
"No." He'd seen worse. Far, far worse. "Should I be?"
"Yes!"
Naruto cocked his head. "Why?"
"Because I'm a Devil!"
"That's kind of mean. I think you're pretty nice."
"No!" she glared at him. "Are you an idiot?"
"Yes."
He'd always been the first to admit that. He wouldn't stop now.
"Urgh!" The she-devil stomped her foot on the ground, as if throwing a temper tantrum. Her cheeks burned the same color as her hair. And what beautiful hair she had. The color of the distant sunset. The color of… He smiled.
"You know," he said. "For a Devil, you seem pretty human."
"Excuse me?" Her voice gained a dangerous edge.
"I mean, you don't seem the type to steal babies and drink their blood."
The girl crossed her arms, her glare returning in full force. This time, marginally less severe. "That's a stereotype, Uzumaki."
"Huh," he said. "Okay."
She sighed. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just in the area."
"Uh huh. Sure."
"No, really." He pointed at the nearby bench. "I was sitting there, and then I saw this guy dying in a fountain so I decided to come check it out. Speaking of which," he looked at the boy, who had stopped levitating. "Is he still dead, or…?"
The girl stared at him for a few seconds, as if deciding whether or not to believe him. After a little more glaring, she turned to the boy herself. "No, he's not. I resurrected him as my servant. As my Pawn."
"Oh," he blinked. He wasn't sure what else to say.
"And what happened to the Fallen?" she asked.
"The what?"
"The Fallen Angel. The one that killed him."
She meant the crow lady. She wouldn't have to worry about her anymore. Nobody would.
"Um, I have no idea." He pointed at the boy on the ground, who was now very much alive, his chest rising and falling in steady intervals. "You should probably ask him, no?"
The she-devil shook her head. "He won't wake for another several hours."
"Oh," he said again. "Damn."
The girl massaged her temples. "Look, Uzumaki-"
"How do you know my name?" he asked.
She blinked. "… What?"
"My name," he said. "How do you know my name?"
A pair of verdant green eyes regarded him incredulously, before narrowing as one. "Are you messing with me?"
Naruto shook his head.
"We're in the same class."
"Which one?"
"English- Are you serious right now?"
"Yeah."
There was that damn glare again. "Where- Where have you been?"
"Here," he said.
"Do you know my name?"
"No."
"So you don't know who I am."
He shook his head again.
Her glare darkened to a poisonous green. Lacquered flames erupted at her fingertips once again. It was as if his very existence was an insult to her. When she spoke, her voice was sharper than a hiss. "I'm Rias Gremory."
"I'm Naruto."
"I'm Rias Gremory."
Quite honestly, he didn't care who she was. Her decadent eyes, however, were starting to get on his nerves again. He quelled the carnal anger bubbling beneath his skin with another well-placed smile.
He stuck out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Rias."
-xxx-
"He's human."
Rias nodded, still irked at the memory playing through her head.
"He's human," Akeno repeated.
"Yes."
Her Queen looked incredulous, as if she wasn't sure if it was one great, big prank. They were sitting in her office, feet propped up on her work desk. Grayfia would've had both their heads if she was here. But she wasn't, and Rias relished in her tiny moments of freedom.
"And he just stood there and took it?"
Her Queen was a skeptic, and rightly so. Even the strongest human wouldn't be able to contest with a pure-blooded Devil. Devils were stronger, faster. Masters of the arcane. They were superior in every way. So when Naruto Uzumaki withstood the full brunt of her aura, it meant he was either hiding a Scared Gear, or extremely, extremely stupid.
"Does he have a Sacred Gear?"
Rias shook her head. "I searched his energy levels. They were pitiful. Maybe a bit above the average person, but nowhere near the capacity needed to wield a Sacred Gear."
"So, then…" Akeno seemed hesitant, but Rias finished her thought for her.
"Yeah. He's just really, really stupid."
Her Queen shook her head in wonder. "And here I thought humans were supposed to be the ones with self-preservation."
Rias snorted. "Not this one."
She sat up in her chair and lowered her legs from the desk. Uzumaki aside, there were still tons to do. She still had to sort through the latest contracts her Peerage completed. She still needed to take care of her little dragon problem. Twin green eyes stared forlornly at her empty teacup. What she would give to be able to write about now.
"Rias?" Akeno touched her shoulder.
"Sorry." She looked up from the table. Originally, she'd planned to heal Issei herself. But now, with all this unfinished work, she wasn't sure she had the time. "Akeno, could you do me a favor?"
"Of course," said her Queen.
The answer was immediate, and Rias shot her a grateful smile. Akeno had been by her side since the very beginning. She dreaded the day they'd be forced apart. The image of a pair of arrogant blue eyes flashed through her mind. She straightened with determination.
"Heal Issei for me, would you? And afterwards, explain everything."
Akeno nodded. "You got it. The clubhouse, tomorrow?"
"At five." That would be enough time for her new Pawn to become situated. Then, she would start training him.
"Yes, Buchou."
"Don't call me that."
And as she exited the room with their cups, her Queen managed to get the last laugh. Before Rias could retaliate in kind, she'd stuck out her tongue, blown a raspberry, and shut the door behind her.
"Akeno!" she yelled, leaping out of her chair.
Her Queen's laughter stretched from all the way down the hall.
"You started it!"
Rias stared at the now closed door with something akin to wonder.
A small giggle tickled the back of her throat. Once, twice. Before long, she was shaking her head and smiling. It was just like Akeno. If her Queen had her way, they would still be children, both ten years old and sprinting around the bejeweled halls of the Gremory estate. They laughed a lot more back then. Now…
Rias sank down in her chair again. She took a deep breath and adjusted her reading glasses.
It was time to work.
But first, a pencil.
She looked around. Where…? Ah.
As she reached for a pencil beneath her desk, her fingers brushed up against the pages of her notebook. In her hurry from earlier, she hadn't bothered to close it. Now, the page she'd written on was on full display.
She pulled it out and stared at the slightly ruffled paper.
In her anger, she'd written his name across the page in big jagged letters. Every letter was carved in, traced over with strokes so hard it was a miracle the paper didn't rip. She felt her mood sour at the reminder of the blonde.
Naruto Uzumaki.
She'd known from the first time they met that he was trouble. It was his eyes. His hideous, blue eyes. They held a certain darkness in them that only the most attentive would notice. Rias counted herself among that select few.
She'd seen the anger lurk in those cold arctic orbs. Seen them betray their master's true intentions. Seen them mask wrath with stupidity. It wasn't anything to worry about; he was only human. And she relished in her power over him.
In the end, maybe she was superimposing. Maybe, instead of the blue eyes of Naruto Uzumaki, she saw another pair of similar-colored orbs. Either way, she was to burn them both. She demanded to burn them both.
It was her right to greed as a pure-blooded Devil.
And Rias Gremory, the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess, wanted nothing more.
-xxx-
Shaky hands hovered over a grand and complex seal, sprawled across the wooden floorboards like some kind of archaic map. Inked in blood and chakra, it was the very definition of a miracle. Naruto looked up from the very last cornerstone of his masterpiece. It was almost time.
The Command of Space-Time matrix.
The culmination of over two years of work.
When he'd first landed in this new world, sent careening through a great expanse of swirling colors and energies, he'd been left without anything. No clothes. No food. No shelter.
The primordial energies in the great expanse had lashed at him, tearing flesh from his bones and screams from his throat. It had taken Kurama the better part of a full month to knit him back together. According to the gripey old fox, it hadn't been easy. It certainly didn't feel easy.
But Naruto Uzumaki never gave up, or so he told himself, and he'd clawed his way to his feet. This new world was peaceful, and rich in time. So he'd gone to a library, written down what shreds of memory he still had of his father's Flying Thunder God Technique and extrapolated from there. Jiraya was many things during his three-year tenant with him, but useless, he was not.
He'd learned much from the Toad Sage, and when Naruto finally stood above a completed seal that would take him home, he realized something. The old pervert would've been proud. He would've been proud.
That was a full year ago.
Before the accident.
Now, he stared down at his second chance. His prodigal son.
He clenched his teeth, feeling the toxic chakra bubble up beneath his skin. A single tear pricked at his eyes, before evaporating before the heat of his power. Kurama's last gift to him roared to life with all its familiar impunity. A golden cloak of fire. A wrathful suit of armor. His Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, perverted with anger and darkness.
Still, he found solace in its familiarity.
He took a deep breath. The unpurified chakra didn't burn his skin anymore; it was part of him, just like it had been a part of his friend. And now, he would use it to fulfill his friend's last wish. To get them out of this hell-hole.
The last time he'd tried this, the resulting blowback was catastrophic. It had wiped out an entire mountain range, decimating over a two-mile radius, and all because one simple miscalculation. He would've died, if it wasn't for Kurama. He should've died.
Naruto closed his eyes and counted to three.
One.
Two.
Three.
The seal beneath his feet glowed. He gritted his teeth and began molding chakra, pouring it like a flood into the matrix beneath his feet. An ocean of it. A torrent of malice and anger and untapped energy. His tenketsu screamed in protest, but he kept going, folding layers upon layers of the potent stuff and releasing it all in one violent push. And slowly, before his very eyes, the space-time dimension rippled.
He grunted in pain.
One final shove, and the cornerstones of his seal strengthened. The air in front of him cracked. And then, a portal opened. Taunting with impossibility. Swirling with archaic energies.
An entrance to infinity.
Naruto wiped at his eyes, feeling the tears burn the back of his nostrils. He'd done it. He'd really done it.
"Kurama," he whispered.. "I'm coming."
He took a single step, and the world was bathed in light.
-xxx-
Rias Gremory leapt to her feet, wide-eyed and frantic. What was that?
Her Queen burst in only seconds later.
"Rias, did you feel-?"
"Yes," she nodded, squeezing her eyes tight in concentration. "Yes, just give me- give me one second. I need to find it. I need to…" The young King opened her eyes. "There."
She created a teleportation circle and stepped in. Akeno took her place beside her. They were both tense, she could feel it. Wisps of dark flame kissed her fingertips, her Power of Destruction, ready at a moment's notice. Akeno's lightning hummed in anticipation. And as the magic circle sent their bodies careening through space-time, she couldn't help but acknowledge the trepidation she felt.
Because whoever was causing this, this disruption to the natural world, was strong.
They arrived at a little apartment complex on the outskirts of the city. Or at least, what used to be an apartment complex. Rias had walked by this place many a time on her way to the bookstore. Now, it was a wasteland of ash and cement.
She shared an uneasy look with her Queen.
"We should call for back-up."
Akeno's suggestion wasn't unwarranted, but she dismissed it in the end. She shook her head. "No time. Kiba's probably still at school, and Koneko's napping."
Her Queen nodded, her lips tight and thin. There were no room for debates. Not now. Akeno gave a single nod before stepping inside, lightning crackling in her palms. Rias followed suit.
The inside of the ruins were dark. Akeno led the way with her hands, holding up garlands of electricity like a flashlight through tunnel. They walked towards the source of the power, pulsating and waning in random intervals. It was still several hundred feet in front of them. They made sure to be silent.
When they finally reached the center of the catastrophe, Rias was confused. The lingering source of power was all around them, scorching the air with its intensity. It'd gotten hotter and hotter the closer they drew to this place; now, it was like they were standing in front of the sun. And still, she couldn't pinpoint where any of this was coming from.
Akeno's breath hitched in her throat.
"Rias."
Rias followed her Queen's finger.
Seafoam colored eyes traced down a path of broken stones and jagged steel before coming to rest on a single ashen colored body, well camouflaged against the ground it was laying upon. She stepped closer, ignoring Akeno's tug against her sleeves.
The heat was getting unbearable now, and if it wasn't for her natural disposition for the natural heat of the Underworld, she was sure she would've been burned alive. As it were, she only suffered a slight headache. She climbed down a set of jagged concrete stones and kneeled before the figure.
It had once been a person, that much was obvious.
But now, there was only a vague humanoid form of badly singed sinew and shards of broken bone. She closed her eyes, silently lamenting at the loss of a life. Whoever this person was, they didn't deserve it.
She looked around.
Who could've done this?
Who even had the power to?
She was so lost in her thoughts that when Akeno's voice cut straight through the reverie like a sharp knife through butter, it took her a few seconds to respond appropriately.
"Rias, look out!"
She lurched back, alarmed.
Before her very eyes, the broken body at her feet bubbled with a strange kind of energy. Red and malignant. The same kind that scorched the air around her. Dust and ash covering the body turned to black and crumbled away like sand in a windstorm. And then, the hissing started.
Rias watched as sinew reknit together, bones come again in painful crunches, and the once broken form of a person in front of her take shape again. It was a human. A man. Her eyes widened.
And at the same time, a pair of familiar blue eyes opened.
AN2: That's a wrap! Please leave a review and let me know what you think. If you enjoyed it, hated it, have any suggestions etc. Until next time!