Geez, I nearly laughed my head off when I read some reviews. I mean honestly! This Naruto is negative and childish because he what? Still had feelings for the girls? Him forgiving them was bull?

Well apparently, I've lost touch with reality.

Let's see, Guest: first off you are not seeing the connection here. You are basically pissed that Blondie's still got feelings for Rias and Akeno. Well, in case you didn't notice, he'd been with Akeno since they were children. That's a lot of years of friendship to throw away. Same goes for Rias. Note that he was just friends with both before he developed more than 'friends' feelings. They may have broken his heart but he isn't the kind of person to completely cut off his heart's call. Yeah, he respects their decision but he won't let his initial jealousy kill him or his friendship.

If you read chapter 2, you'd note that he had cut off someone that betrayed him, a fear Akeno had which was why she asked the specific questions she did: 'if we can't go back to the old ways, will you be cutting us off like you did him?'

As for Slayer... If you think Naruto is being childish then read the line where I stated that he had MOVED ON and he wanted them to do the same. Sounds pretty mature to me.

And anger at Azula?

You misread that man. He let Azula vent to a point but he cut her off as soon as she was about to turn it into a bout of insults. Had she finished, she'd have called Ris and Akeno less than filth.

Issei is a good kid. Yes. However, judging by how the first chapter describes things, I'd say Azula hasn't had time to see the good in him. By my guess, Blondie may have been off working his anger and frustrations with Sairaorg while the church mission went on and Azula wasn't present for the Rating Games.

Remember, I didn't write chapter 1, i'm simply working with it and tossing in my own stuff.

There was a certain guest reviewer who understood Naruto's behaviour there. Essentially, Naruto has a heart big enough to still consider a guy who shoved a chidori through his chest a friend. Sorry, brother.

This Naruto may not go so far but he's still got an element of that guy in him.

Sorry if this was a tad too long.

Let's roll.

Chapter 4

"You didn't have to be that harsh." Naruto sighed as he leaned on one of the pillars leading into the small verandah and trained his eyes on the vixen idly lounging on the twisted, crack bannister. "You may not want to accept it but I don't think you needed to be that brutal."

"I was being honest." Azula replied with an indifferent shrug. A few seconds of silence followed then she sighed. "Though I may have gone in guns blazing. Sorry."

"No problem." He walked up to her and lazily scratched behind her ear. "I knew you had to let it out."

"Should have stopped before insulting them, though."

"That's why we're partners." The blond smiled. "You get my head outta my ass and I stop you from saying stupid shit."

Azula groaned in pleasure as her partner's fingers dug deeply into one of the sweet spots only he seemed to be able to find so easily. Resisting the urge to go all the way and shudder, she pawed his hand away and glared at him. "I'm still not sure why you're the only one that gets that reaction out of me."

Naruto knew the secret lay in a single word: chakra, but opted to stay mum on the subject. "I'm just that good. Wanna go check on our napping independent?"

It took a few seconds for the vixen to recall. "Sure she'll still be there?"

"I sincerely doubt that she could snap that wire." The blond scoffed. "Nothing against her but I whipped out Ajuka's work for this job. If Sairaorg couldn't get out of that well... her chances are pretty slim ne?"

"And if she's got some ability to escape?"

"That's what the suppression seal I slapped on her is for." He grinned as they walked toward the spot they'd left the girl.

"Speaking of seals!" Azula growled before pushing off the ground to smack a paw upside his skull. "You, shinobi-san, don't deserve that title! What the fuck was up with that spot of talent exhibition you pulled back there with Suien?"

"Aha... That..." The blond laughed as he rubbed the spot she'd hit. "Well, something felt off about everything, particularly the whole 'Suien's working with someone else' shtick' so I decided to goad him into playing his ace. I didn't think-"

"That he'd have something like that crystal? Of course you didn't! You decided to wing it remember? Ya didn't think!"

"Forgive me Azula-sama!" Naruto wailed as tears streamed down his face. "Without thine immense wisdom that I imparted unto thee where wouldst I be?"

"Har-de-har-har."

"You know you love me."

"Yadi-yada." The vixen rolled her eyes before locking her gaze onto the figure a few feet across from them that had somehow maneuvered into a seiza, dark blue hair framing a beautiful face and sharp blue eyes. "Well, someone's up."

"Oh? I'd expected her to be out for about three hours." Naruto stated, a hint of interest in his voice. "Uzumaki Naruto at your service miss. And you are?"

"Tied up." The young woman replied coolly, eliciting a smile from the blond.

"Well, Tied-san, interesting as your name is, I have to wonder what you were doing here seeing as how a Stray devil was just apprehended here."

A small crease appeared on her forehead. "Stray?"

Azula caught Naruto's eye and nodded almost imperceptibly. The girl was genuinely confused.

"Forgive me, Uzumaki-san, but I don't know of any strays within this vicinity. The only devil I'm certain resides here is Suien-san of the Sitri pillar."

A hint of suspicion crawled back into the blond's mind. "And how did you get to know of Suien?"

"I'm an acquaintance of the Sitri family, seeing as theirs and my family have had a loose partnership running back quite a while now." She replied. "As such, I've had reason to work with Suien-san a few times in the past. We typically work on apprehending more powerful stray devils."

"Is that why you're here?" Azula asked.

The young woman shook her head. "Unfortunately, my memories of the past day are quite muddled, I believe, as a result of the battle that undoubtedly lead to my current predicament."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "And you aren't wary of me?"

"You are Uzumaki Naruto are you not?" She asked to which he slowly nodded, wary of whatever unknown might crop up. He need not have bothered. "Father told me of your induction into Leviathan-sama's peerage. As such, I understand that you are an ally."

Again, Azula glanced into her partner's eyes and gave a slight nod, affirming the truthfulness of this young woman's words and earning her a sigh from the blond man.

"Hold on," he called out as a magic circle surrounded them. "I'll get us to Serafall-sama."

The blond flooded the circle with his magical energy as he focused on the anchor to his destination; in this case being the King piece in the Leviathan Maou that resonated with his Pawn piece. As the connection clicked, he waited for a confirmation from her that he could appear in her presence.

The 'confirmation' stage of magical teleportation was just a case of simple manners, akin to knocking on a door and waiting for a 'come in'. It was definitely not impossible that a devil would just appear in the presence of another as seen when Grayfia barged in on Rias' activities with Issei.

Unless, of course, one was a Maou or a clan head. For these two exceptions, barging in could be taken to be an act of negative intent and the surprise visitor may be killed faster than they could blink. No, for these honoured exceptions, even amongst each other, it was only acceptable that one 'knock' first. Should there be no response, then it was advisable that the visitor teleport to the next available marker, often the Queen of said person's peerage.

In this instance, Naruto was spared the 'whole next of kin' thing as he felt his King accept his probe.

"Here we go!"

—~®~—

The set for the most famous show in the Underworld was bustling with cast and crew as the team worked together on their next production. In the midst of a certain scene, the star of the show flashed a prearranged signal to the director who instantly jumped to his feet.

"Take ten everyone! We'll use this time to work on some of those flaws in the sixth scene! Marko, Gregoria, let's go!"

It was a sign of how used to the sudden cutoffs during scenes they were that not one person so much as whined. They were, after all, working with a Maou who undoubtedly had other functions to attend and people to meet. It would be really stupid to think they could completely own the star's time.

So, it came as no surprise to anyone when a blond man, a dark haired woman and an obsidian vixen materialized a few feet away from the star.

"Zula-chan!" The bubbly media sensation cried happily upon seeing the vixen. "Zula-chan is back! Then that means-"

"Serafall-sama." Naruto bowed to his King just as she noticed him. It was also a testament to how many times the blond had appeared in this studio within the past month that he didn't even blink at his surroundings.

"Naru-tan!" Serafall cheered happily as she jumped onto the blond and wrapped him in a glomping hug. Naruto gingerly hugged back. He knew she was much older than she seemed, as her large chest could attest to, but he always found it a tad strange to hug back as intensely as she wanted, a fact that always had her pouting and reprimanding him. "Mou, Naru-tan! I told you to call me Sera-tan! Or Levi-tan! I don't like the whole formality thing! And hug back too! With lots and lots of emotion~!"

Naruto sighed. Nearly a month of being reprimanded as such had certainly gotten him used to the bubbly Maou's behaviours but damned if she couldn't seem persuasive when she felt like it. A combination of her childish mannerisms, the all-too-innocent aura she could project at will and her beauty was the extremely powerful mix that made her excel both at her duties as a Maou and her life a media star.

"All right Levi-tan, I'll try to remember."

"Yay!" She smiled happily as she jumped off him, taking his hand as she landed and began dragging him toward her on-site office. "Come on Naru-tan! Let's go!"

"Sera- I mean Levi-tan!" The blond quickly corrected himself upon seeing her glare, an action that earned him a few snickers courtesy of his familiar. "I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Serafall stopped to see who the blond was referring to before letting out a happy squeal upon seeing said person.

"Saeko-chan!"

—~®~—

Saeko Busujima, heiress to the Busujima Family, was not one to be easily surprised. Furthermore, she wasn't one to show her surprise facially.

Yet here she sat in the office of the Leviathan Maou, watching as the powerful and incredibly popular devil joked and laughed with the blond her father had told her to watch out for.

Honestly, it wasn't the Maou's behaviour that stunned her so much as the authenticity of her laughs. Of all her talents, Saeko knew that her ability to read people was quite possibly her most valuable. As a future Family Head, being able to read people would allow her to know when to take certain deals, the optimal time to cut certain associations and more. As such, she had catalogued her impressions of everyone she had ever read including the former Sitri family heiress who she'd seen as a powerful woman who used her childish behaviour to mask the powerful, deadly and incredibly intelligent war veteran. To her, Serafall Leviathan was an extremely guarded woman beneath the layers of childishness.

As such, it was surprising to see her interact with the blond and his familiar with not a hint of her typical guardedness. From her experiences, she knew that such freedom denoted absolute trust which was almost solely gained from shared experiences.

That this blond, whom her father had personally spoken to her of, could foster such trust in a Maou meant her interest in him was well and truly peaked.

The young heiress was snapped out of her musing when she noticed that the conversation was directed at her. "So, Saeko-chan, what happened with Suien?"

There it was; the guardedness the Maou always concealed had sprung up again. Saeko decided to think on it later due to current circumstances, frowning upon hearing the question. "I'm honestly not certain, Leviathan-sama. As you know, Suien and I have worked together a few times since my temporary separation from my family to live as an independent. As such, we have means of communicating should one require the other's assistance. All I remember now is that I was called on by Suien-san and I teleported over to his location, the same one Uzumaki-san found me tied up in."

"You don't remember anything else?" It was the blond that spoke up now, his eyes narrowed and all traces of mirth gone from his visage. Interesting.

"Nothing Uzumaki-san."

"Mou, that's no fun!" The Maou pouted. "Now I don't know what Suien-baka was trying to do!"

"Suien? He did something?" Saeko asked.

"Sure did." The vixen drawled from her position under Serafall's active hands. "The bastard stole a Sitri heirloom and tried to bail. Blondie and I took him on and managed to retrieve the heirloom."

Saeko eyes narrowed nigh-imperceptibly as her brain jumped into action. The vulpine familiar had avoided speaking of the Bishop's fate which meant he'd likely escaped. However, if he truly had done as the familiar said then he must have done so before calling her in which meant... "Uzumaki-san, did you catch a glimpse of the one who left me in my state as at when you met me?"

"Haven't had time to look in the mirror recently, Tied-san." The blond replied casually.

The Busujima family heiress closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. "So he used me..."

"Yes. Azula and I believe that it might have had something to do with his intention to destroy the Sitri family. Being the heiress of one of the Family's most prominent partners, he likely believed that he could discredit the Busujima by having you take the fall for attacking me. These are mere conjecture but-"

"He should have done me in himself." The indigo haired beauty cut in coldly. "He can be assured that I will have his head."

"Sorry, Saeko-chan!" Serafall piped up. "This is kind of a family issue so we'll take care of it, ne Naru-tan?"

The blond nodded firmly. "Of course, Sera- I mean Levi-tan, in fact. I'll personally get it done."

The seriousness of the declaration by the Maou's latest addition was somewhat ruined by the slight slip-up in between it but that's on a side note.

Saeko wanted to argue but she doubted if it would have made a difference. Not only had a Maou spoken, she knew that in the same position she'd have done the same. So she nodded in acceptance. "May I take my leave now, Leviathan-sama?"

"Sure thing Saeko-chan! Oh wait! When are you gonna take me up on my offer?"

"I'd like to, Leviathan-sama, but I truly do have quite a bit to do at the moment do my rise to stardom will have to wait a while." Saeko let a small smile cross her lips. The Leviathan Maou had been trying to rope her into acting in at least a single episode of her TV show to no avail, unfortunately.

"You're no fun!" Said Maou frowned petulantly. "You and Naru-tan are boring."

"I an so not boring!"

'Huh. So she's offered Uzumaki-san a spot too? Interesting...' Saeko thought as she walked out of the office.

The moment the door clicked shut, the atmosphere within the office changed, becoming more serious.

"Good job on getting Suien, Naruto." Serafall sighed as she sat back, pulling Azula into her lap as she went. She sounded serious, more serious, in fact, than most people had ever heard from her. "Father was considering sending in assistance but I convinced him that it would be unnecessary."

"Suien is a decent opponent but he isn't that strong." Naruto replied flippantly though his voice retained a slight edge to it. "So, was it the Eiyū no Mizu or the Kotoamatsukami that made him such a threat?"

"Latter." She answered instantly. "Definitely the latter."

Naruto nodded. "I certainly agree. Which brings up my question-"

"We'd only just discovered that he had it. Your presence there in search of what we had known was missing is the only reason Father was just considering sending backup. We believe Suien took the Eiyū no Mizu as a bonus and not the main target."

"That's a disturbing power for a bastard like him to have held, however briefly the duration." Naruto shuddered, peaking his King's interest.

"You know of the Kotoamatsukami? Did Suien gloat about it or something?"

"Oh he gloated alright. The thing is, I already knew of the Kotoamatsukami. In fact, I've known about way before getting here."

Serafall inhaled sharply upon hearing his response. "How? Your memories?"

Naruto nodded. "In my first life, back in the Elemental Nations, the Kotoamatsukami was a technique utilized by a man named Uchiha Shisui. His clan, the Uchiha, had special eyes that granted them a plethora of abilities including that one."

The Leviathan Maou looked baffled by his explanation. "Eyes? That's odd."

"How so?" Azula asked. "Does it have a different origin in our world?"

"It does." Serafall replied. "During the Anti-Satan War, we discovered the existence of some extremely powerful artifacts that Ajuka took to calling the 'Altermeres' due to their ability to potentially alter the battlefield in favour of whoever wielded them. As time went on and we noticed that the Old Satan faction seemed to possess all the Altermered, it became a priority that we take possession of as many of them as possible such that, by the end of the War, we possessed quite a number of them. By order of the four Maou, each of the Families possessed at least one Altermere, a secret not known to any but the Maou, the Family Head and possibly their single most trusted spouse."

"As a guess I'd say that the Altermeres were given to each Family by the Maou in order of how powerful the Altermere was in relation to how powerful the Family?" Azula asked, earning her a nod and a thorough scratching of her ears.

"Could you describe the effects of some of these Altermeres?" Naruto asked.

Serafall leaned further back into her chair and closed her eyed, trying to recall fragments of a time she'd rather have forgotten. "There was one that unleashed an unholy black flame on those it touched. I heard that its target burnt until there was nothing left."

"Amaterasu."

"Another allowed the wielder to unleash beams of light that utterly disintegrated its target."

"Jinton: the Particle Style."

"The one I went up against allowed its wielder to control some oddly shaped orbs of scorching intensity."

"Scorch style."

"Sorry, Naru-tan, but that's all I remember for now." Serafall shook her head and slowly opened her eyes to see the intense scowl on her Pawn's face. "What is it?"

"Each of those Altermeres matches an ability back in the Elemental Nations. The Uchiha's Amaterasu, old man Tsuchikage's Particle Style and Pakura's Scorch Style."

"That's quite the coincidence." Azula muttered. "You sure no one else from your world crossed?"

"I am. The entity that allowed my rebirth here basically told me that my case was a unique one."

"Speaking of which, Naru-tan, any new memories?"

"Nothing." The blond sighed tiredly. "All I know is that I died in some fight and the entity told me that some people pleaded for me to find peace, hence its decision to have me reborn here if I so chose."

"Don't worry, Naru-tan, it'll come back to you." Serafall smiled softly at him, receiving a tired but absolutely, genuinely, appreciative smile in return.

The office was quiet, save for Azula's purrs, until Serafall perked up.

"Naru-tan! A month is up!"

The blond tilted his head questioningly.

"Time to fulfill your promise!"

—~®~—

Hyōdō Issei never thought he'd like Mondays.

At a point in his life, he'd shudder at even the tiniest whisper of that most dreaded word. That cruel word that marked a return to slavery and torture and all things boring.

Monday.

Now?

Issei absolutely loved Monday! That most wonderful word that marked a return to fantasy, joy and all things oppai!

So, it was with a joyful heart that he arrived at the Occult Research Club, having spent the past few periods flitting through classes and enjoying the sight of the wonderful works of nature that so plentifully abounded in the school.

Just as he began pushing the door, he heard voices and decided to eavesdrop a bit.

"… so, now that you're back, you realize that you have quite a bit of work to do for you to catch up to Rias and I right?"

"Maa, maa, Sona just relax. I think I'm up to the task."

Dread filled Issei's being as he felt his heart drop into his shoes. No him! Please not him!

Deciding to disprove himself of his baseless fears, he pushed the door open and walked in.

And promptly wished he hadn't.

There, sitting comfortably in a chair with Koneko in his lap, nuzzling into his chest, sat the bane of his existence. The one person he truly feared. The one over whom Buchou and Akeno had shed tears.

The only one he knew could take the hearts of the two he had so completely fallen for.

Uzumaki Naruto was back.

—~®~—

Took a while to get this one out but I am here! Next up: Kuoh Academy.

I'd like to chat some more but I really don't feel like it so I'll stop here.

For those who read my other stories, Altered 14 will most likely be up before A New Life 6.

On a totally unrelated note, check my profile out for my ramblings on the Mangekyō Sharingan and lemme know whatcha think via reviews and PM's.

Read and Review Please.

The Ethereal Lord.