Red String of Fate (NarutoxHighschool-DXD)
Disclaimer: This story is fiction. All the characters, names and places belong to their respective owners.
Let's see where we are with this story. This chapter feels like a rehash of the cannon, but next one should be different, I think? (Looking at the plot notes) – Yeah, about there ^^V.
=[For Her Hands]=
Part 2
"I told you to go with him so he could get a wife! Why are you bringing back a statue instead? Can a statue give me my grandkids?" The hot head woman shouted in frustration while manhandling a rather frightened blond-haired man. Next to the couple was a life size stone statue that their beloved son had brought home. He'd been awarded with it via a bet with one of the Satans; Lucifer. Kushina would be proud of her son for besting Sirzechs Lucifer in a single combat, but currently, she couldn't care less about something like that. She would definitely be overjoyed if he brought home an actual living and breathing girl, not some unmoving sculpture.
"Please calm down, Kushina! It wasn't like that, and it's more complicated than that. Please tell her, Naruto," the blond replied hastily, holding his hands up in defense while trying to squirm his way out of his wife's strong grip. It wasn't his fault that his son had brought that home. He did voice his opinion about such thing before leaving the Gremory's household. But what did Naruto had said then? He wasn't going to give his spoil no matter what. Sadly, the said child wasn't nearby to help as he already smartly headed back to his study the moment the argument had started.
"Minato! Why didn't you tell him off not bring junk home!?" Kushina growled and threw her husband at the wall without holding back her strength. Before his body crash into it and likely make a mess, Minato disappeared in a flash of yellow. Seeing that, she glared at the spot and leered around hallway for her husband, but he was nowhere to be found. She then dashed straight into the library in order to scold her son.
"Naruto! You better explain now!" She roared after kicking the door open. The said blond-haired boy was sitting behind his desk, hoping to read through a few things in silent, but it was not meant to be. He looked up to give the requested attention.
"Yes, okaa-sama…?" He acknowledged her presence politely as she jabbed the air in front of him.
"Why did you bring something like that home? Where's my daughter-in-law?"
"That? You mean the statue in the hallway? I'd thought you want to see what your future daughter-in-law looked like," Naruto replied calmly. Kushina blinked several times at the answer her son gave. It was technically a good answer, but knowing him, he always had a comeback to everything. Kushina bit her lower lip a little before speaking up again as her rage subsided.
"But couldn't you bring home a picture or a portrait? Why something big like a statue?"
"You're right, Okaa-sama. I could get a picture instead, but a statue is much better for you to check her out completely at all angles. It's to scale, and you can't argue that the picture only show her face and nothing else," Naruto replied with a smile. "And besides, I'd won it fair and square in a bet, it would be a waste to throw it out and have one made later on."
Kushina sighed several times then simply waved her hand before leaving the library. She was going to look for her husband hiding somewhere in the house. She hoped he was still in the house.
"I think you can come out now, Otou-sama," Naruto said in a normal tone of voice a few minutes after the door to the library was closed shut. He returned his eyes to the book in his hand again while the said man stood up from behind his chair and let out a breath of relief.
"Why didn't I think of that," Minato asked himself as his son gave a shrug. As long as a logical answer was given, his wife wouldn't argue any further, but in the heat of the moment, he couldn't think of anything to say. Regardless, he didn't really want his son carrying something like that home. It was just too weird in many ways.
Mintao eyed the books by looking over Naruto's shoulder and noticed it had some details about the Phenex clan; mostly about their ability and their overall battle prowess.
"Are you studying on how to fight them?"
"Yes, Otou-sama. Members of the Phenex Clan can regenerate from almost any form of fatal injury, including the head and heart. That makes them almost impossible to defeat in battle," Naruto answered while still reading through the handwritten notes.
Minato hummed for a bit in thought while walking to the front of the table and sat down on a spare chair he acquired from the sidewall. His son was going to pick a fight with the Phenex family from what he could conclude. Naruto, while very powerful in his own right, seemed to plan out things whenever possible. He must have studied whatever he can about Riser Phenix before attending the Gremory's meeting. Well, the first part of any battle was information; to know your enemies or friends.
"Yes, I suppose so. They are well-known to everyone for their nigh immortality. It gave them the ability to survive even the most fatal wounds. In addition, their tears also have great healing power, making it highly sought item and a great asset during the Great War," Minato said. "Because of that, they are likely targeted by the opposition since killing one prevented them from saving anyone in the future. A lot of them died in the war."
"So that mean they could still be killed," Naruto pointed out as Minato nodded in agreement.
"Many members of the Phenex Clan perished due to their arrogance and heavy reliance on their innate ability to heal from all wounds. There are ways to defeat them, like using holy objects to nullify their power for example. Unfortunately, that's not possible for you since holy relics would hurt you as well," Minato explained as Naruto frowned. It was obvious. He was a devil and all devils were weak against holy object regardless of how powerful they were. It was way too dangerous to carry such thing on his person unless he could find a way to nullify its effect, but then it would not be holy.
"Anyway, heaving holy relics aside, the best way to go about it is to deplete their demonic energy rapidly. The speed of their regeneration, thus immortality, depends solely on the amount of energy they have at one instant. Overwhelming them with powerful attacks in succession will do well as they would be force to use large portion of their reserve in healing themselves instead of attacking you," Minato continued with a smile.
"I think you already know this, the member of the Phenex family is immune to flames just like you. They are natural pyro-kinesis, and they with it, they can generate and manipulate fire at will so your flames shouldn't hurt them. Even if it did, it would be negligible amount."
"But then nor will their flame able to hurt me," Naruto pointed out as Minato gave a nod. It was kind of difficult to fight if both sides were immune to each other power. "So I should use lightning instead or pure hand to hand combat? But their regenerative ability is a hassle to deal with if my magic ability is not up to it, maybe I should master Senjutsu?" Naruto continued thoughtfully. Senjutsu allowed him to mix his own energy with nature one to produce something called chakra. It was a volatile and explosive energy that could boost his natural strength greatly.
Minato stared at his son for a moment to see if he was joking or not. That would be overkill in the upcoming fight. It wasn't going to be a fight to the death. "Say, Naruto, how fast did you say lightning was? I never really measure it."
"Huh? It's about… 100 kilometers per seconds through normal air, I think. Lightning can move much faster in ionized airspace, though. How fast in that case? I'm not really sure," Naruto answered questioningly as Minato smiled. Of course, in normal circumstance they could only move about half of that speed without putting great burden on their body. Even so, no one could keep up with them constantly, thus the Namikaze clan was boasted to be the fastest on the battlefield. As long as they could see where they were going, they were literally untouchable.
"Ionized air huh, another strange supportive technique you devised?" Minato asked. "Is it like superheated air with your mother's power? Sucking out all the oxygen and suffocating me, that was quite interesting."
Naruto gave a nod. It was just another simple technique he created. Lightning can move through charged airspace much faster than they normally would, so he simply electrified the air surrounding him. Sadly, even that kind of speed was not faster than his father's illustrious technique, Hiraishin, but it had its usefulness since electrified battlefield also paralyzed large amount of people as well as enhancing all his lightning base techniques to devastating level.
"Back to the speed thing, I don't remember anyone could move that fast. They could dodge lightning strike if they knew when it would hit, but that's all battle intuition and reaction. For pure speed from one point to another, I don't think anyone could catch you unless you wanted them to, Naruto. And I think you are a lot faster than you let on," Minato said as Naruto grinned a little. It was true. He was hiding some of his ability to use as aces. Revealing them all was stupid, and some of them were too dangerous to be used unless he really wanted to kill his opponent outright.
"If that the case then you shouldn't have problem fighting against Riser Phenix," Minato said finally. He didn't believe the youngest son of the Phenex clan could be that powerful of an opponent.
"I know, but I want a backup plan as well if the first one failed. Maybe at the upcoming game, I could see how Riser-kun battled and maybe his techniques as well," Naruto stated.
"Yes, and that's a good idea, but how are you going to challenge Riser to a game?"
"I will find a way, Otou-sama. From what I know, he's quite arrogance and it will be his own undoing," Naruto answered with a smile. Inside his mind, he already formulated the plan incase Rias lost. Even if she won, he still had other plans, but the chance she won was less likely since Riser had a full peerage while Rias was still missing a few. The Gremory heiress seemed to not ranked very high on the rating either so the upcoming battle was greatly mismatched.
"I still think I should master Senjutsu since I don't want to leave it incomplete," Naruto added another of his concern. Incomplete techniques were dangerous and likely backfired.
"Senjutsu," Minato murmured. "Fine, I will notify my old sensei about it. But I must warn you, Naruto. He's kind of a pervert… no scratch that, he's a super pervert. I don't want you learning anything weird from him!"
"I promise I won't learn anything weird. Anyway, I think you should go find Okaa-sama soon, she will get furious if you hid from her for too long," Naruto pointed out as Minato gulped.
"Right, good luck," Minato said and disappeared in a yellow flash, leaving his son to return back to his book in order to learn everything about the Phenex clan.
XxXxX
"What do you think so far, Naruto-kun?" Sirzechs asked while watching the screen, showing the battle between Rias and Riser in a replica of Kuoh Academy. It was not an official rating games, and they would not be ranked as such, but this was the first time Naruto had seen the rating game first hand.
The battle was reaching the conclusion while Grayfia Lucifuge had taken the role of referrer for the battle and assessed the situation as well as preventing anyone from dying via the grievous injuries they obtained.
"It's really interesting," Naruto answered, looking at the remaining position of everyone. "Riser has fifteen girls fighting for him while Rias only have five. It's three against one. In addition, Riser also has numerous advantages like using his family priceless tears to heal his peerage, but Rias have quite a few Sacred Gear users gathered around her."
"Yes, my sister is quiet lucky to have such good supporters," Sirzechs acknowledged while watching the battle on the rooftop of the school.
Similar to Sirzechs, what interested Naruto the most was Issei Hyoudou. The brown-haired boy was a pervert by all account through the techniques he used to strip the opponent's clothing. Naruto approved of its usage since in any battle, one would use all one had in order to secure a victory. He wouldn't stoop to something that low, however, but whatever worked he supposed. Everyone had their ways of doing things. Furthermore, the newly reincarnated devil from several months ago had eight pawns within him, which shouldn't have been possible unless there was great untapped potential.
'Issei Hyoudou… a possible rival…?' Naruto thought with a frown. He realized then that Rias' and Issei's relationship was not as simple as he had thought previously. The boy was effortlessly beaten to the brink of death by Riser, but he still stood up and tried his best to win for his King. No, it was not just a pawn of Rias, but something more. Before Naruto consciously noticed it, his hands were clenched tightly as he watched the one sided fight.
'I can't let them get any closer, but should I stand in between them? I only knew of her recently unlike Issei, who had months… I… what should father do in such case?'
The other person in the observation room wasn't an idiot. Sirzechs had noticed the posture of the blond and tilted his head lightly to the side. "I don't mind who my sister chose as long as she is happy with her choices, but a word of advice, Naruto-kun. If you don't go now, you will definitely lose to Issei. Don't worry about interfering with the game; this façade of a match have gone on long enough."
Naruto chuckled and unclenched his fist. He was about to give up before anything could begin. His father would never hesitate at something like this. The man had told everyone to shove it quite violently when they tried to break up the relationship with his mother those years ago. "You're right, Sirzechs-sama. Thank you for the advice."
On top of the Kuoh Academy's roof top, a brown-haired boy tried his best to land a clumsily punch at an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. "I'm not done yet!" Issei roared with all he had and threw a straight punch but coughed out blood when a fiery fist crashed into his chest, causing him to fall backward.
"Issei, please, you have fought well. It's over now," Rias sobbed heavily while supporting him from falling over onto his back. Issei, however, seemed to ignore her or not heard the words at all. The boy continued onward shakily to reengage Riser in a pointless battle.
"ISSEI! IT'S OVER!" Rias shouted in desperation. She did not want to see her pawn like this, and the damage to his body was extensive.
Issei fell forward as he was tripped and collapsed onto a new comer's arms that had appeared after an orange flash. "He's already unconscious, and yet he's still moving forward? Never give up? I really can't hate someone like this," Naruto acknowledged Issei's willpower.
"Tsk, who are you? Why are you interfering with this," Riser asked.
"I apologized for interfering with your fight, Riser of the Phenex Clan. I am Naruto, heir to the Uzumaki and Namikaze clan. Pardon me for now, I will speak with you once I've returned this person to where he should belonged," Naruto greeted as politely as he could before turning around. He carried Issei back to Rias and let him rest with his King.
Rias looked at the blond and already knew who he was from what her father and brother had told her. They also requested her to meet with him at least one, but stubbornly, she refused as she had more important things to do. She didn't expect him to interfere with the fight, however.
"Issei, I'm so sorry. You had fought for me and ended up like this," Rias sobbed heartedly as she hugged the unconscious brown-haired boy. Naruto pursed his lips when seeing such affection for someone who should be her servant. It was what he had realized and feared.
"He will be fine," Naruto assured and pondered why Grayfia hadn't teleport the boy away. Sirzechs might have a hand in that. The blond-haired petite girl, Asia, kneeled by Issei's side and tried to heal him with her Sacred Gear while tears constantly descended down her cheek. "I think he's lucky to have such friends."
"Riser, I have lo –
Naruto stopped her from resigning the game since that would mean she must marry Riser as the contract dictated. "Rias-chan, are you sure you want to do that? If you do, you will give up all that you are, who you are, to someone you seemed to loath."
"Then what should I do? I can't win this," Rias sobbed. "I don't want to marry him, but I don't have any choice in the matter."
"That's not true. There's always a choice," Naruto pointed out. "I know that you refused to see me since you probably think I'm just another person who wanted acquired you like some sort of trophy. I won't deny it, and I admitted that I don't feel anything for you right now, but allow me to be your sword for this one time. Accept me as one of your temporary peerage and I will try my best to release you from the contract that have caged you."
Hearing that, Riser roared at the sky. "Grayfia!? Lucifer!? Isn't that against the rule? Who do he think he is to interfere with this!"
"In an official match with full peerage on both side, it is not allowed," Sirzechs answered. "However, Rias-chan, I mean Rias Gremory has entered this battle without having a complete rank so any qualified substitute can fill in the missing position in order to give her a full peerage. Naruto Uzumaki is more than qualify. As long as both sides do not object, I will allow it."
"I object!" Riser shouted almost immediately.
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, paying all attention to Riser. "To think the great son of Lord Phenex would be contended and proud with this kind of fight. Is there any pride in beating someone in such an unfair match? You refused her a full peerage? Maybe you feared that I could overturn this battle and took the easy way out? What with the other people think of that? What will the remaining pillars think of you? To think the Phenex Clan had fall this low."
"What did you say!?" Riser shouted as flames erupted around him. "I'm not a coward, and you dare mock my clan?"
"How dare you! Onii-sama can defeat anyone! Who do you think you are!" shouted the blond-haired girl with dark blue eyes. Ravel Phenex was the younger sister of Riser Phenex, and she hadn't done anything during the fight besides gloating and praising her brother.
"All talk and no action, how can you persuade others like that?" Naruto questioned with venomous tone as Riser was enraged.
"Please allow me to get rid of him, Riser-sama," the purpled haired woman, Yubelluna, requested. She was Riser's Queen, also known as the Bomb Queen due to her explosive like magical attack.
"You want me to show you? I will show you! Lucifer-sama, I accept!" Riser shouted as Naruto formed a smirk as he had accomplished his task.
"And what do you say, Rias-chan?" Naruto asked while still facing Riser. "Do you object and resign to your fate, or do you accept and put your trust in me? Someone you've just met?"
Letting Issei rest on her lap, Rias looked at the blond's back and pondered why would he went so far for her. The engagement was setup by her father, Lord Gremory, and Lord Phenex long ago in order to ensure the survival of their race and the purity of their blood. Even as stubborn as she was, Rias understood that it was for the good of her clan, and she would have accepted it if Riser did not see her as Rias Gremory, but as Rias.
"Why? Why would you do something like this? What could you possible gain in helping me? Did my brother promis –
"Rias Gremory," Naruto interrupted by using her full name as she frowned. He knew what was going through her mind. Sirzechs had explained to him that Rias felt a great burden once she was made heiress after he could no longer be due to his Satan status. Naruto was in similar situation as the girl since he was heir to his own clan. "Your brother had nothing to do with this! I do what I want, not for my clan, but for myself, for me, Naruto. Why think so much on it? Even if I have ulterior motive, I wanted to help you because you're in need of one. Sometimes thing can be as simple as that!"
"Naruto," Rias muttered as she closed her eyes. She had misjudged him. With a deep inhaled, she opened it fully to reveal strong blue greenish eyes. "I accept you as my temporary Knight. Fight and win for me!"
"Yes, my King, please take cover," Naruto acknowledged as he unleashed his full suppressed demonic aura, forcing the area to shook heavily under its immersed pressure. Pit black bat-like wings sprouted from his back before they were enveloped in flames. Lightning erupted across it, crackling ominously.
"Shall we give our all, Riser?"
"This level of power...?" Riser questioned stunningly. It had exceeded his own level, causing him gritted his teeth in anger. Ravel and Yubelluna, on the other hand, were speechless at the amount of power generated.
"Yubelluna," Riser ordered his Queen as the shaking died down.
"Yes, Riser-sama," Yubelluna said as she sent forth a powerful blast of fire magic her King's enemy. It was far more powerful than the one that took out Koneko and Yuuto in a single blast.
"You should learn about your opponent's ability before attacking with all you have," Naruto advised calmly as he took the full brunt of the blast. The fiery explosion engulfed his body entirely before the flames became more intense. With a wave of his hand, the torrent of fire erupted upward into the sky like a soaring comet, revealing him to be completely unharmed. "I am immune to flame based magic. You can blast me all you want and I wouldn't feel a thing."
"What…?" Riser was shocked. If that was the case then he could not use his pyro-kinesis to attack the blond. That mean he would have to rely heavily on aero-kinesis, which was not as powerful as his two older brothers.
"Here have it back with extra," Naruto announced as he raised his hand above his hand and swiped downward at the trio before him. Yubelluna thought for a second what kind of attack was that before a comet made of pure flames crashed directly on top of her, enveloping her as well as her King while blasting the screaming Ravel away via the generated shockwave. The whole school building shook heavily from the force before shattering and crumbling at one end.
Needlessly to say, Rias was speechless at the devastation caused by a single attack while Asia still trying to fix Issei.
"Look like Riser-sama's army is now out of a Queen," Lucifer announced while his wife managed to save the girl from the full force of the incineration blast. It had enough power to vaporize the girl completely as he had fought against it before.
"You…" Riser growled angrily, floating up above the raging fire that now covered half the area. It did not hurt him as he was somewhat resistance to the fire. Whatever little injury he acquired was negated by his family's regenerative ability. Riser channeled his power and sent forth a torrent of wind. It surged at the blond while slashing through the damaged metal railing and concrete in the process.
Narrowing his eyes and realized Rias was still behind him so he couldn't evade like he would, Naruto condensed flames into the palm of his hand and blasted it forward with matching power. The torrent of fire crashed against the Riser's wind based attack before they both exploded violently, blasting everything away with powerful heated gust of wind and dust. Using the foggy screen created, Naruto vanished in an orange flash and landed a straight punch right through Riser's chest from behind with as much lightning power as he could muster.
"ARGH!" Riser roared in pain as a powerful bolt of lightning erupted from Naruto's electrified fist. It punched a hole through his back and heart right to the front while chirping like a thousand birds in unison. The residue force behind the attack blasted Riser straight into the building, sending up debris, before he went through it and into the courtyard.
"Onii-sama!" Ravel called out as Riser huffed and stood straight up. The wound he just acquired had healed completely. If it wasn't for his powerful regeneration, he would have died.
"This is troublesome," Naruto mumbled as he flapped his flaming wings. He had put great amount of power into that attack to pierce through anything in a small focus. It was one of his killing techniques. "I got to say, I'm amazed at your clan's healing ability."
"Did you ever think you could defeat Onii-sama with that kind of attack!?" Ravel gloated from his side, but he ignored the curly blond hair girl. "Don't ignore me, baka!" She fumed angrily, but he still paid her no mind since she was more or less a cheerleader.
"I guess I will step up my technique then? Let's see how long your regeneration last," Naruto announced as his aura condensed. Lightning crackled around him. Numerous powerful bolts erupted outward and crashed into the empty space; each condensed into spiraling sphere of pure electricity.
Dozens of them hovered around the blond before they spread out across the field. Without any further pause, one of them zapped the next one, causing it to pulse and zapped the one to the other side, which in turn zapped another. The cycle repeated several time, amplifying the thunder bolt's speed and destructive power each time it passed through another sphere. The final product slammed into Riser, vaporizing the ground standing on as well charring his body and wings.
Riser coughed heavily as his body was badly damaged. Before he could regenerate fully, another bolt slammed into him then another one then another in rapid succession. The spheres hovering around the battlefield were constantly zapping each other, amplifying their attack several times before assaulting its target with full force. Each subsequent bolt of thunder came faster and stronger than the one before with diminishing delay in between. Naruto felt he didn't need to create anymore spheres as this kind of attack was enough.
"GARHH!"
"Onii-sama…? S-S…TOP!" Ravel shouted in anguish, seeing her older brother was being torture with endless bolts of lightning. "Please stop!"
With the little girl's scream to his side, the seeming endless lightning bolts immediately halted under his mental command, revealing a blackened man on all four in a deep crater. The Phenix's regeneration power kicked in once more as his skin and hair returned. Naruto flowed down and landed on the ground before the man.
"I don't think we need to do more than this," Naruto said dryly. "If it wasn't for your sister's cry, I would let it continue until you are unconscious. It was design to constantly blast durable opponent into submission after all."
"Naruto! Don't think you have won yet," Riser declared, huffing tiredly after his body had finally returned to normal. He then tried to attack his opponent again with a furious fist.
Naruto evaded out the way while sighing. Several metal poles that were produced by Riser's attack moment before floated to him due to his electric power. "It's like dad said, you rely too heavily on your family's ability to regenerate," Naruto said as he knocked Riser over to his back with a leg swipe. "Let me show you that there is more than one ways to defeat a Phenix."
Riser roared in pain as the long metal pole impaled right into his chest and the earth beneath him, locking him in place. Riser screamed and tried to pull it out, but Naruto pressed it down with his leg.
Before Naruto could do anything further, a fire ball that came from the girl slammed into the side of his face.
"Let Onii-sama go!" Ravel demanded as she entered the battle for the first time. Her flames attack was more a nuisance than anything since she couldn't use wind base attack like her elder siblings.
"Do you want to die?" Naruto threatened with a sharp menacing glare, forcing Ravel to flinch. Water began to fill her eyes. He then sighed and pressed down the metal pole more. "Your so called immortality can beat easily and cheaply. Anyone can die if their heart is missing. You can't regenerate it at the moment can you?"
Riser eyes widened in fear as he realized the metal pole must be remove for that to happen. "You… you…"
"I've figured out as much from what was recorded," Naruto said, looking down at Riser, who tried to manifest his fire power. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Liquefied metal floating in your body will be harder to take out, and it would most likely kill you in the process after crippling you."
With that said, Naruto stomped the pole all the way down as his feet pressed hard against Riser's chest, causing the man to scream in anguish. "We're done," Naruto said and walked off, allowing Riser to pull him up and out of the pole. He held his chest in pain and admitted his defeat.
"Onii-sama," Ravel sobbed and tried to reach her brother in the crater, but slipped on the edge and fell over. She rubbed her watery eyes, but before she could pull herself up, a strong and gentle hand helped upright.
"No need to hurry, your brother is fine," Naruto asserted.
"I'm not going to say thanks!" Ravel called out haughtily.
"You just did," Naruto replied with a smile, causing the girl to blink several times, thinking what a strange person he was. Naruto left her girl behind and checked on Rias. He had accomplished his task and hope it made a good impression.
"Thank you," Ravel mumbled after checking her brother while Lucifer announced the conclusion of the battle.
Author Note:
This chapter is leading to Ravel's route since she, more or less, admired her brother and didn't believe he could be defeated. Naruto had showed a weakness to the Phenex's clan regenerative ability so that create a good impression to her. See Wing of Flames (oneshot?) for her ending. Also see An Improper Queen (Oneshot) for Aika's ending. Both are only possible if Naruto believed Issei is better for Rias.