Chapter 4
"We're back!" Naruto called out once he and Issei had returned to the Occult Research Club's clubroom.
"Ara, ara," Akeno greeted them with her usual prim giggles. "The two of you certainly made good time tonight."
"…Fast," Koneko observed from her usual spot on the sofa with another plate of food before her. "Could be record."
Issei blinked as the whiskered blonde shut the door behind them. "You mean you guys keep track of that stuff?" the younger teen asked the group of Devils.
"We do," the voice of their crimson-haired master answered. Naruto and Issei then both turned and each witnessed a fresh-out-of-the-shower Rias Gremory emerge from the Club's private bathroom with her drying her still-damp, lengthy locks with a grey towel. "Kiba currently holds the record, and while you came close, you didn't get the record."
"Damn," the cerulean-eyed youth grumbled. He then turned towards the only other blonde and guessed, "One hour flat?"
"Fifty-nine minutes three seconds, actually," Kiba informed him.
Naruto let out a low whistle in appreciation and complimented, "Now that's pretty quick. So what's your secret, pretty boy?"
"I'm just very fast," the devil-boy returned vaguely without expounding any further.
"So how did it go tonight?" Rias prevented anything further from developing. "Any new contracts?"
"I got two, Buchou!" Issei proclaimed proudly.
"Very good, Issei," the beauty behind her desk congratulated him. She then turned and directed to Naruto, "And just how many did you get tonight, mister four-a-day?"
"I only got the one," he shrugged in response.
"YES!" Issei exclaimed excitedly. "I finally beat Naruto!"
"Too bad my one contract was worth more than both of yours combined," the shinobi taunted airily with a sly smile, making Issei's victory dancing stop cold.
Issei's golden eyes creaked around until they were looking directly at his friend. He then gulped and asked, "Just how much was it worth?"
"Take a look for yourself," the spiky-haired blonde instructed before taking out a slip of paper and handing it over to Rias for inspection.
The azure-eyed beauty took the receipt from him and looked over it quickly, causing her eyebrows to shoot up and hide under her bangs from the shock caused. "That's…pretty good, Naruto," she complimented him with legitimate impressment in her tone. "Although I'm wondering why you were the one called for such a job instead of me…"
The shinobi shrugged in response as he watched Issei's jaw drop down to the floor once Akeno had handed him the contract receipt. "I'm just that awesome, I suppose," the whiskered teen answered.
"How-How-How did you manage that!?" Issei shouted in disbelief once his jaw had returned to its normal position. "I mean, I could buy a house with this reward!"
"Deception and infiltration are my specialties," Naruto told his friend as he sat down next to Koneko while making doubly sure he didn't attempt to steal any of her food while she sent him a suspicious glance. "Besides, I've got plenty of money already."
"Wait, you're rich!?" the brown-haired boy nearly shrieked in shock.
"I wouldn't say rich, per se," he told his longest-tenured flesh-and-blood friend. "Comfortable is the better word. Thanks to my book royalties, I don't even really need to work for a few years unless things go south pretty quick."
"What do you mean, Naruto-kun?" Kiba asked him confusedly.
"Rias," the jinchuuriki then requested, "could you pull the book out of your desk's second drawer. It's under the false bottom."
A solid dust of red appeared over Rias' cheeks as she turned to glare at her oldest friend. "You promised that you'd never tell," she growled at the Japanese beauty.
"Ara, ara," the raven-haired young woman giggled, "but I never broke my promise, Buchou. After all, it wouldn't be good for them to find my secret."
"It's under a tile in your kitchen, Akeno," Naruto informed everyone lazily, causing Akeno to freeze still as well. Ah, the joys of Kage Bunshin Henge (Transformation), he thought with a superior grin hidden beneath a seemingly uncaring face.
"Ara, ara," the Yamato Nadeshiko turned towards him with a decidedly dangerous grin on her face that reminded Naruto way too much of when Tsunade found him doing something remarkably stupid – like beating her at gambling. "Have you been peeping on me in my own home, Naruto-kun?"
"Nope," he truthfully denied smoothly while crossing his hands behind his neck. "As I said, infiltration is one of my specialties. I didn't ever go near your place while you were there, Akeno. It was just that your house seemed like the most secure one out of all of ours and I wanted to see if I still had it.
"But enough stalling," he finished. He then directed, "Rias-chan, if you would?"
"Fine," Rias groused with cherry-red cheeks. The Buchou then opened one of her desk's drawers, removed the false bottom, and pulled out a certain item. She threw it on the desk like it had burned her and she huffed, "There. Happy now?"
"Very much so," he grinned his foxy grin at her greatly-embarrassed red cheeks. Naruto then pointed to the desk and revealed, "That is why I'm not hurting for cash."
The entire room was so silent upon that declaration that the sound of a pin dropping would've echoed. Issei's eyes were as wide as saucers and his jaw had dropped so far that it somehow seemed to create a wormhole in the floor and the slacked jaw was currently pressing down on the crown of his brown-haired cranium. Koneko had frozen mid-bite and her blue ice cream was now dripping onto her school uniform. Kiba's traditional grin had suddenly turned very nervous while he stood rigid in the corner of the room. Akeno's smile had turned into a seedy smirk and she just let out more and more of her giggles, and Rias' gobsmacked face had now changed into a shade of scarlet that could've even competed with Hinata's nuclear blushes.
"You-You-You mean," Issei finally managed to stammer out, "YOU'RE NAMIKAZE-SENSEI!?"
"Yep," Naruto nodded in confirmation. "My full name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."
"Ara, ara," Akeno giggled while she turned her smirk on her oldest friend – who now looked positively mortified as she buried her face into her hands and let out a groan.
While he attempted to bask in Rias' shame, the jinchuuriki was suddenly wrapped in an absolutely bone-crushing hug from the lone true pervert within the room. "You're writing is amazing, Naruto!" Issei wailed as he cried anime tears of joy. "I have Deluxe First Editions of both Icha Icha books! Can I get you to autograph them for me?"
"Sorry, Issei, but I don't do autographs," the author told him, causing the boy to suddenly become downtrodden. "Also, you can't tell anyone that I'm Namikaze. I really don't wanna deal with rabid fans." He then turned and grinned towards the furiously blushing red-head, "And I'll be honest here: I'd have never suspected you were into that kind of thing, Rias-chan."
"It's all her fault," Rias told him childishly while pointing an accusing finger at her giggling friend. "Four months ago she wouldn't stop pestering me about 'these awesome stories' of hers until I gave in and read them both. You absolutely cannot let my family know," she finished with a heated glare directed in his direction that would've cowed most had her face not still been beet-red.
"My lips are sealed," the smirking blonde promised innocently while making a zipper-sealing motion over his mouth.
"Naruto-senpai hentai also," Koneko observed from her spot. "Books porn."
"And how would you know that, Koneko-chan?" the stories' writer queried curiously with an arched eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've read this 'porn' as well?"
A faint tint of red dusted covered the younger girl's face before she turned away with an indignant huff. "Perverted classmates," she denied petulantly. "Found in Kiba-senpai's house."
"Oh ho," both Issei and Naruto's eyes glinted dangerously in the room's dim light as each then turned towards the visibly sweating pretty-boy of the group.
"A-A classmate introduced me to them," Kiba attempted to explain with a nervous smile that did anything but convince the pair of his obvious farce.
"You're really a terrible liar, Kiba," Naruto chided him.
"Yeah!" Issei agreed. "Even I'm a better liar!"
"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Issei."
The sound of a throat clearing ended Naruto and Issei's further banter and caused them both to look toward the sound's proprietor at the lone desk in the room. "As…enlightening as this conversation has been," Rias began with a small hint of crimson still staining her facial features, "we really should get a move on with tonight's major order of business."
"Okay then, what's up tonight?" the still-smirking shinobi asked.
"We'll explain once we arrive," the master responded while finally managing to throw off her embarrassment after hiding the book beneath the false bottom once again. She then stood up and instructed, "Akeno, prepare the Transportation Circle. You know where to."
"Hai, Buchou," the Japanese beauty acknowledged. She then held out an open palm and an Magic Circle large enough for the entire Occult Research Club to use appeared over a blank area of the room's floor.
"Uh… You guys do remember that Naruto and me can't jump, right?" Issei asked timidly.
"…Weak," the white-haired girl spoke in her usual monotone as she stood, making Issei hang his head sadly and mumble incoherent apologies again.
"Ara, ara," Akeno came over and grabbed one of Issei's hands before then beginning to lead him across the room and towards the glowing Circle. "Come along, Issei-kun. Your Akeno-senpai will take care of you no problem."
A perverted and dopey look crossed over the boy's face and a few drops of blood made their way down from his nostrils. "Okay, Akeno-senpai," he agreed wistfully.
Naruto shook his head at his friend's antics before he looked up once he felt a shadow over him and discovered the crimson-haired master looming over him. "And are you going to help me make the jump, Rias-chan?" he asked childishly with a slight grin.
"As a matter of fact, I am," Rias replied with a slight upturn of her lips. "Seeing as how you and little Issei-kun are so hopeless, each of you need someone to hold your hands like a little baby."
"So if I'm the baby, then will you be my mommy?" he returned while attempting to sound like an infant.
Her azure eyes rolled in exasperation before she simply reached down and pulled Naruto up off of the couch. "Come along now," she chastised playfully. "We have important things to do now."
"Okay," he pouted without any deep meaning before simply following everyone out onto the Transportation Circle. "So how am I going to use this thing?"
"Like Akeno with Issei, you and I will simultaneously activate it," Rias explained to him. She then took his hand in one of hers and continued, "For now I want you to trust me and let me handle this, Naruto, and allow me to guide your trip. Transportation may be one of the simplest spells, but even a single misstep can end up sending your body into two different places."
Naruto nodded once to her in acceptance of her terms and the next thing he saw was a coat of crimson blotting out everything in his vision.
His cerulean eyes blinked only once and he quickly realized that the entire Occult Research Club had just had a complete change of scenery in a literal blink of an eye. So that's what a teleportation feels like, he noticed while he flexed his fingers and tested out his body to ensure nothing was misplaced. Felt kind of like my old man's Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God).
"Um, Buchou," Issei called over from his position next to the dark-haired beauty. "Where are we?"
"About thirty miles outside of town," the azure-eyed leader replied, making Issei's eyes widen in astonishment. "We're here to deal with a Stray Devil that has been luring the local humans here and devouring them."
The teenaged wielder of the Boosted Gear grimaced in disgust at hearing her words while Naruto wondered, "And we're here because…"
"As the Devil placed in charge of this area, it is my responsibility to hunt down any Strays that are found to be in my jurisdiction," Rias explained. "Usually for a Stray Devil at only this one's level I'd only send Akeno and Kiba to handle it, but this is a good chance for the two of you to see how we Devils fight."
"So what exactly is a Stray Devil?" the whiskered youth requested an explanation.
"A Stray Devil is a servant – usually an Evil Piece like us – who has given into their urges and left their masters," Akeno expounded for the two not in the know. "This one ran away because they desired more…everything than their master would give to them."
Sounds a lot like the nuke-nin system back home, Naruto realized the parallel. "Are there classifications for a Stray Devil's power?"
"Indeed there is, Naruto-kun," the crimson-haired master congratulated him with an appraising look in her eyes. "There are seven categories for a Stray Devil to be classified as: D, C, B, A, S, Double-S, and Triple-S." Naruto noticed Koneko's cheek twitch at the 'Double-S' class and he made a mental note to seek out and research Stray Devils in that classification. "D, C, and B class our group can handle, and this one here is a simple C-Rank. However, any Stray Devils of A-Class and above are dealt with by a more experienced group that is allied to the Gremory Family."
"Ss this one's basically cannon fodder then," the shinobi observed from all information granted. Oh well, he mentally shrugged. At least I shouldn't need to care about using up too much and showing my hand too early against this here Stray Devil.
"In essence, yes," Rias told him. "There shouldn't be any risk, but I don't want either you or Issei to directly engage Vizer; only observe tonight and act as my defense. Okay?"
"Gotha," the whiskered blonde accepted with a mock salute. He then added on in a high-pitched voice, "Aye, sir!"
"You've been watching too much anime," Issei told him while shaking his head in shame.
"And you've been watching too much hentai."
"How'd you know that!?"
"Oh man, you really do!?"
"Ahem," Rias cleared her throat once more and stopped the two friends' bickering from degenerating even further again. "Now, if we could get back on subject, please? We have a Stray Devil to deal with."
"Okay, let's go!" Naruto proclaimed energetically while he bounced on the balls of his feet in excitement. Man, I've been aching for a little action!
And it's about damn time we get some! Kurama expressed his fellow dissatisfaction at how boring the world was being the past week. I need good entertainment in here! Just looking at the same sewer is annoying!
"Ara, ara," Akeno giggled at his energy while both Kiba and Koneko merely shook their heads in exasperation.
"Let's," Rias nodded in agreement. She then directed to the trio of long-standing members of her peerage, "You all know the drill."
"Hai, Buchou!" all three confirmed their orders. They group of six then made their way into the decrepit, dilapidated building with Kiba and Koneko in front, Rias and Akeno together in the middle, and both Naruto and Issei taking up the rear guard.
"Issei, stay alert and keep watch," the shinobi instructed his nervous friend. "Even if our enemy isn't that strong, never let your guard down while in their territory. Home-field advantage is a legitimate concern in a fight."
"H-Hai," Issei acknowledged his words before the boy's posture relaxed a slight fraction and he joined the blonde in glancing about in search of any potential threats to their group.
The crimson-haired beauty looked back over her shoulder and gave the blonde an impressed look and nod. He returned with a fellow inclination of his head and then went back to scanning his surrounding for any territorial disadvantages he'd need to account for.
Whoever this 'Vizer' is isn't very good in picking their hideouts, the whiskered warrior thought with an unimpressed frown. Too much clutter and no potential openings for either an ambush or an escape route on their part. Not even a Genin would've picked this place without some serious remodeling first.
You would've, Kurama snarked.
"Hold," the group's leader commanded once they reached a large chamber that granted maximum maneuverability. She then stepped forward until all of her servants were behind her and she called out authoritatively, "Come out, Vizer! I am Rias Gremory, the Devil placed in charge of this district, and I am here to render judgment for your crimes. You have no chance of defeating either me or my servants."
"Isss that ssso?" a voice hissed from behind a stack of destroyed chairs and tables.
"This is your lone warning, Stray," Rias warned, and for an instant Naruto could picture her as a legitimate leader with how easily she sounded so strong. "Turn yourself over to our mercy and you might receive a trial in the Underworld, but should you choose to resist you will be obliterated," she finished with an icy glare directed towards the voice.
"They never choose to give up, do they?" Naruto asked Akeno under his breath.
"No, they don't," Akeno answered him with a positively delighted smile. She then licked her lips hungrily and let out a pleased moan and a small shift of her hips before saying, "And it's always such fun to see them squirm."
The jinchuuriki quickly recognized the tell-tale signs of a legitimate sadist, grabbed a shivering Issei, and dragged the boy back a large step away from the Japanese young woman. Now I know why he acted like that last week, he realized.
"Come and get me then," the Stray Devil replied to Rias' ultimatum arrogantly. A few pieces of wood creaked and a full grown woman's completely bare torso and head appeared out of the pile.
"Oh!" Issei's eyes went wide in amazement and a few stars appeared in his golden orbs. "Such a beautiful onee-sama with such a marvelous pair of oppai!"
"Issei," Naruto warned him in an even voice, causing the perverted boy to freeze. "What did I tell you about being a pervert in the middle of a fight?"
"To not be one and hold off until it's done," the brown-haired teen admitted sadly. "But we're not fighting her yet!" he protested.
"Actually," the shinobi told him before suddenly moving faster than the eye could see and grabbing a green tentacle-like appendage that had nearly gotten to his friend, "the battle began as soon as Vizer accepted the challenge." He then pulled out a kunai from his coat sleeve and severed the wriggling tentacle with his blue eyes colder than the Artic.
Issei took in a nervous gulp before stuttering out gratefully, "Uh, th-thanks for that, Naruto."
"Just don't let it happen again," he warned. "I've taught you better than that."
"Right," the gold-eyed boy acknowledged with a firm nod after shaking his jitters away. He then looked towards their opponent and both had their eyebrows shoot upwards while they watched the Stray Devil begin to fondle her nude breasts right in front of them. "Um… Naruto? Can I –"
"No," the shinobi answered after regaining his composure. What the hell!? Not even Anko would do that!
While the group just stared at the woman blatantly exposing them all to a teenaged boy's ideal peep-show, a pair of red Magic Circles appeared over her now-pert nipples. Naruto's danger senses went haywire just before the Devil's areola both expanded and suddenly began firing beams of energy at them all. However, before he could even warn them all, a small surge of power came from Rias' position at the head of the group and a gigantic crimson Magic Circle expanded outwards from her outstretched palm and absorbed the impact of each and every booby-bullet.
"What the fuck am I seeing here?" Naruto couldn't help but voice his disbelief – not at what Rias was accomplishing, but the attack Vizer just used. He rubbed his eyes and thought out loud, "I mean, I've heard of some pretty explosive tits, but that's just ridiculous."
Kiba just smiled his usual smile at him while Rias informed the new Devil, "There are a great variety of attacks and magical abilities, Naruto-kun." She then allowed her magical power to subside once the barrage of bullets had ceased and the Stray looked at them all with an arrogant disdain.
The Stray Devil let out a deliberate hiss in anger and then over a full dozen writhing green tentacles slithered out from underneath the mass of broken wood. "Let'sss sssee how you like thisss!"
"Koneko," Rias simply spoke without batting an eye as each of the visible writhing appendages all converged towards her.
"Hai," the smallest person present accepted before sprinting forward from her position and merely punched aside each and every one of the green weapons with her pink gloves on. She then crouched and leapt towards the nude form of the Stray Devil with her face never changing its expression in the slightest.
"You can't hope to defeat me, chibi," the Stray taunted her, causing one of the white-haired girl's eyebrows to twitch in annoyance.
"…Chibi?" Koneko repeated in her usual monotone once she landed in front of the enemy, but Naruto quickly noticed her body tense in what he perceived to be anger.
Vizer let loose an arrogant laugh and then stood herself up and revealed her true, monstrous body to everyone present. Issei blanched in disgust as a centipede-like body more than ten meters long was revealed with multiple wriggling appendages extending out of its sides showed itself.
"See just what I mean, Issei?" Naruto pointed to the disgusting form of their opponent and the pale boy followed the direction. "Not every pair of tits means a beautiful body. That's why you need to make sure the hips are there and that's why I keep telling you the ass is better than the boobs. Boobs can be faked, but a good ass never lies."
"That's positively disgusting!" the perverted boy howled while covering his eyes from the sight. "Why must you lie to me, O' oppai!? Why deceive me so? That's a crime against all of nature! I'll never forgive you for this, you damned Stray Devil!" he screamed in rage, but his ranting and raving was silenced by his friend slamming a fist atop his skull and creating a small lump. "Ow! But thanks for that, Naruto."
"I'm here to help," he grinned back.
"Issei, Naruto," Rias' calm voice carried over and cut through the crashes of objects being thrown at the enemy and called out to them, "do either of you know much about Chess?"
"The game?" Issei checked, and received a nod from their master as an answer. "Not really. Naruto tried to teach it to me a few months ago, but it never really stuck with me."
"That's because the queen didn't have a pair of tits for you to ogle," Naruto grumbled in a huff. "But yeah, I am. An old buddy of mine taught me how to play something similar, and Chess wasn't that hard for me to learn afterwards."
"That's good," she complimented him with an appreciative nod. "You see, the Evil Piece system – the method used to reincarnate you both into Devils – is heavily based off of the game."
Before she could continue, however, the centipede-like body of the Stray Devil suddenly split open down the middle of the underside to reveal rows upon rows of dagger-like teeth within a great maw. "Koneko-chan!" Issei attempted to warn the girl, but was too late. The youngest member of the Occult Research Club was swallowed up by the large mouth.
"Relax," Rias assured the nearly frantic boy while Naruto watched on with a keen eye and Vizer continued to laugh victoriously. "Koneko may be small, but she is my Rook." Just as she finished informing them both, the maniacal Stray's gigantic body shuddered once before the large mouth was forced open from the inside, revealing a mostly fine – aside from her tattered uniform – Koneko. "The Rook Piece grants a person exceptional strength and an almost impenetrable defense."
"…Gross," Koneko spoke without emotion before she clenched her small fists tight and shattered the few teeth she'd been gripping. The small girl then hopped out of the three-meter length maw, turned towards the shrieking Devil, and sent the ten-foot-plus tall Stray hurtling across the observatory room with a single punch.
Naruto let out and an appreciative whistle while Issei's jaw hung slack at witnessing the tiny girl's might on full display. Well, now I know how she crushed my hand, the blonde thought while feeling a phantom ache in his left hand.
"Kiba," the master then called as multiple more tentacles burst out of the rubble covering the crazed former servant. "If you would."
"Hai, Buchou," Kiba accepted with a respectful bow. He then held one of his hands out to the side and a bright glow suddenly manifested in his hand until it dimmed and unveiled a sword in his grip that came seemingly out of nowhere.
"I'm guessing that's his Sacred Gear?" the whiskered blonde deduced.
"Indeed it is, Naruto-kun," Rias nodded to his conclusion while the swordsman suddenly disappeared from sight. Naruto's experienced eyes were more than capable of following the speedy swordsman's path while she continued to further explain, "Kiba's Sacred Gear – Sword Birth – works marvelously well with the Knight Piece. You see, the Knight grants its owner exceptional speed."
The golden-eyed boy next to Naruto looked absolutely flabbergasted as he watched Kiba seemingly teleport across the room while continually slashing the many writhing appendages that attempted to make their way towards his master. "How's pretty boy teleporting?" Issei asked no one in particular.
"He isn't," the blue-eyed shinobi answered for him before anyone else could while he continued to observe Kiba's sharp movements. "Kiba's simply moving faster than you can see him. You'll be able to keep up with his movements once your eyes have grown accustomed to dealing with people going at speeds equal or greater than his."
"That's quite the claim, Naruto-kun," the azure-eyed teenage woman told him. "Kiba's sensei told him that my Knight is possibly even faster than him. I'm guessing that you can follow his movements?"
"I can," he nodded in response, but didn't elaborate any further than that.
"Take this," Koneko's voice interrupted any further probing as she jumped down from the room's rafters and buried a Rook-enhanced fist directly into their enemy's skull. Vizer loosed a primal scream in pain as it was forced onto the ground, its body littered with shallow slashes from Kiba's blade, from the blow's force and the shaking building dropped tons of debris atop the Stray Devil.
"Issei, summon your Sacred Gear," Naruto instructed him under his breath. "I want you to move and cover Akeno's back. Right now, that Stray's about to pull a desperate sneak attack."
"How do you –" Issei made to ask, but stopped once Naruto's icy eyes turned towards him with the 'Yamato look.' "Uh, sure, Naruto," he accepted uncomfortably before his left arm glowed and his red gauntlet formed. He then slowly moved behind an Akeno surprised at his initiative and his golden eyes then joined Naruto's in searching for any potential hostile movement directed at either of the two busty beauties.
"Akeno," Rias then commanded, shaking the girl away from her grateful smile.
"Hai, Buchou," the Japanese young woman acknowledged and her uniform then glowed brightly. She then thrust her arm into the air and her entire Kuoh uniform – plus all undergarments – seemingly evaporated into mid-air – leaving her body nude for all to see. Naruto had to smack the back of Issei's gawking head while holding his nose shut from seeing the positively beautiful girl's bare body. She then turned and her stunning legs were covered by a set of red hakama and her nude torso was then concealed beneath a white haori.
"She looks like a priestess," the brown-haired boy noticed out loud.
"Indeed she does, Issei," the red-haired beauty responded to his words. "Akeno is my Queen, and is also known as the Priestess of Thunder –"
"Issei, now!" Naruto cut her off in an order, and his friend immediately jumped into action once he also saw the movement coming from behind the duo of master and Queen.
Vizer's monstrous form suddenly exploded in full form from out of a pile of debris they'd not paid any attention to due to Akeno's transformation. "Take this, you ugly creature!" the Boosted Gear-wielding teen shouted with a war cry as he slammed a gauntlet-covered left into the massive centipede-like body at the very same instant that Naruto delivered a devastating left haymaker to the Stray's nude torso. The force of the two simultaneous blows sent the entire massive creature sailing through the air at such great speeds it whistled until it crashed through one of the building's foot-thick concrete walls and landed outside hit a great 'thud.'
The jinchuuriki stood up from the knee he's fallen on and dusted off his hands while musing aloud, "Well, I guess she's not gonna get up from that one." That felt good to finally fight again. Even if it was only at fifty-percent, that still was a good measure of my new strength.
"We did it!" Issei exclaimed gleefully while bouncing around in excitement. "That was awesome, Naruto! I can't believe I actually got a good hit in!"
"It's not quite done yet," the shinobi cut him off from his premature celebration while his eyes met with the curiously observing pair of his supposed master. "Sorry, but you were saying, Rias-chan?"
Before she could speak to him, a haunting shriek came from outside the building and they all turned to look out the huge hole in the wall and saw a grievously wounded Vizer attempting to crawl away from the group and preserve its life. Rias simply shook her head in pity and ordered evenly, "Akeno."
"Ara, ara," the raven-haired beauty giggled while a few sparks of electricity danced in her open palm. "Come now," she spoke with a decidedly pleased grin on her face directed towards the quivering Stray attempting to flee. "I never said this was over, Vizer-san." She then pointed her palm towards the heavily injured enemy and so much lightning danced in front of him that Naruto had to cover his eyes.
Yellow electricity completely coated Vizer's entire body and the foe let out a bloodcurdling shriek in absolute agony for a good solid thirty seconds before Akeno cut off the attack with an orgasmic moan and a coat of red staining her cheeks. The sadistic young woman licked her fingers sensually before she let loose another fit of giggles and flew out of the hole over to Vizer and reengaging her lightning.
"As I was saying," the crimson-haired beauty continued over the screaming of the Stray with a slight grimace while Akeno kept letting out pleased groans. "Akeno is my Queen, which has traits of each Evil Piece and is usually the strongest member aside from the King. Akeno, however, specializes in Magical attacks and the Queen Piece drastically increased all of their effects. She's also quite possibly the largest sadist you'll ever meet."
She's not kidding! Naruto realized with his eyes shooting wide while Issei shuddered as if he was reliving a harrowing experience.
She's almost on par with that Snake woman,the biju within him noted with awe.
"Ara, ara," Akeno gasped in positive rapture once she'd ceased her continuous rain of lightning onto the almost-corpse spastically twitching in the grass. "Shall we continue our lesson then, Vizer-san?"
"Please just…kill me," Vizer begged them piteously.
"Allow me to grant your wish then, Stray Devil," Rias answered the request as she walked out of the hole in the wall with both Issei and Naruto trailing after her protectively. "This is Checkmate."
The King then spread her arms and a mass of dark energy coalesced in each of her open hands. The nature behind her power caused Naruto to shiver as the energy writhed about in her hands before a small, single stream of the mass came up from each of her hands and met together above her head. Rias' attack then quickly enveloped the entire smoking body of Vizer and completely obliterated any and all trace of the massive bulk.
The shinobi blinked dumbly at the display before him since he'd never even heard of such a technique before. He rubbed his eyes to check if they were still working right and he asked, "Just what kind of jutsu was that?"
"That," the perpetrator behind his befuddlement answered, "was my power, Naruto-kun: Known as the Power of Destruction. Anything my power consumes is completely obliterated down to the cellular-to-atomic level; leaving no trace whatsoever of whatever I attack behind."
"Damn," the veteran of the Fourth Great Shinobi War breathed out in awe. Not even Madara could do that. Not to self: Don't seriously piss off Rias-chan.
"Um, Buchou," Issei chimed in nervously once the deed had been done. "You never said what Piece Naruto and me are."
The azure-eyed girl turned toward the pair of friends and answered him with a soft smile, "You, Issei, are my Pawn."
He tried to hold it in, he really did, but Naruto suddenly barked out in laughter while the brown-haired boy's jaw dropped in disbelief and he howled, "You mean the one closest to the fuckin' front line!?"
"Oh…Oh man," the blonde breathed out as he wiped his wet eyes once he had managed to regain control, but still a few chuckles came from his throat once he saw his friend sulking with both Akeno and Kiba attempting to console him. He then asked, "And me?"
The crimson-haired young woman hesitated in her answer, causing his curiosity to peak. "I…don't honestly know," she answered reluctantly. Every member of the Occult Research Club then stared at her in curiosity while she further expounded, "The Piece I used on you, Naruto, was a Unique Piece – the first I'd ever seen. A Unique Piece is quite literally a one-in-a-billion Piece that no one really knows anything about aside from the Evil Piece's creator: Ajuka Beelzebub-sama. I've only ever heard of Three Unique Pieces through all of the Evil Piece system's history, so to be honest, I don't know for certain what Piece you are or even what boons the Piece gave you."
Naruto simply stood stock-still as her words worked their way into his cranium and his brain worked overtime to attempt to digest just what he'd been told. Eventually he shook his head to break his trance before growing a toothy grin and saying with a slightly teasing lilt, "So what you're saying is that I'm a one-in-a-billion, is that right, Rias-chan?"
"Don't get too full of yourself, Naruto-kun," she returned with a playful smirk.
He already is, Kurama piped up, but since no one other than his container could hear him he was ignored.
"By the way, Rias-chan, that was pretty heartless of you with that Stray," he continued to say, but hid the message under a teasing banter. "Now I worry if you have anything but ice in your chest."
"I have a heart," she returned with a slightly intense look in her eyes at the barely-hidden accusation. She then continued their playful banter, "But I only have a heart for my cute little servants."
"Am I the cutest?" the whiskered blonde asked her with an innocent look, only for her reply to be a few shakes of her head in bemusement.
"I wanna be the cutest!" Issei whined despairingly as his shoulders slumped.
"Ara, ara," Akeno turned toward the Sekiryuutei wielder with a few of her usual giggles and her small smile back in place. "Don't worry, Issei-kun, I think my darling kouhai is the cutest."
Unbidden, both Issei and Naruto simultaneously felt shivers travel down their spines as the image of ten minutes ago came forth in their minds.
"Something's off here," Naruto realized as he stood outside the home of one of his regular customers. He then made his only clone and instructed it, "Go back to the Clubroom and get Rias-chan and the others. I get the feeling this is a trap."
"On it, boss," the mirror-image saluted before jumping onto a rooftop and departed towards Kuoh Academy.
I hope I'm just being paranoid here, but I've fallen into too many traps to think that. He then added, I really hope Shiina-san is okay.
As soon as Naruto opened the unlocked front door and entered he felt a strange feeling completely wash over him that ended up giving him goosebumps. His eyes narrowed in concentration once he realized he'd just walked into a barrier and he pulled out a kunai in preparation for a battle. Just to be certain, he pulled at the entryway's door once again only to discover that it was sealed shut and couldn't be opened without forcing it by using more power than he was comfortable releasing in such a populated area. Steeling himself for a fight, the shinobi slowly crept along the length of the hall towards the living room without making a single sound with his bladed weapon held at the ready.
Once he reached the doorway into the den, a scent he'd never wished to smell again assaulted his acute olfactory senses. He closed his eyes and quickly squashed the guilty feeling clawing at his chest as he reminded himself of his sensei's lessons on keeping focused on the task at hand. His cerulean eyes then slowly opened with a burning intensity behind them while he allowed his anger to drive him but not to cloud his judgment.
The jinchuuriki took in one last deep breath before quickly turning the corner and his eyes quickly darted around the room in search of an assailant. After a few tension-filled minutes, none of his senses were able to detect the perpetrator and he silently moved around the large puddle of blood on the floor until he was at his contractor's side.
The blonde knelt down and one of his hands went to the man's neck in order to check for a pulse only to discover that there was none. A pang of sadness wormed its way into his chest and the Devil silently offered a prayer to whatever deity that would listen for his now-deceased friend to find peace in whatever afterlife there may be.
It was the same instant that the deliberating headache came unto him that his ears heard the sound of clothing rustling. His danger senses going positively haywire, Naruto quickly leapt away from the fresh, still-warm corpse and took cover behind one of the room's small sofas while grimacing in pain. It was just as he managed to get behind the cover that he heard a trio of 'bangs' ring out and three 'thuds' then collided with the blood-red piece of furniture.
"Praise the Lord!" a crazed voice echoed in the room. "A shitty Devil has come just for me to kill him!"
Shit, the blonde thought through a haze of searing pain in his head. I can't focus with this headache. Kurama!
I'm working on it, the being responsible for his supernatural healing told him. However, it'll take a minute to force it out.
I don't care, just hurry up! "Who are you?" he demanded of the as-of-yet unseen foe in an attempt to help buy Kurama time to heal him further. "Did you kill Shiina?"
"Indeed I did kill that shitty devil-lover!" the enemy – a man, Naruto guessed, based on his voice and weight judging from his steps – answered with glee. "And why should I tell my name to a devils who's about to die?"
"Because you're about to find out I'm a lot harder to kill than you think," Naruto responded icily. Still fighting through the aching behind his skull, he rolled out from behind the sofa and let his kunai fly in the direction the voice had come from.
His opponent, now revealed to be a young man wearing an odd arrangement of clothing and white hair, jumped to the side in order to avoid the sailing weapons. He then directed a metallic weapon Naruto realized was similar to the ones he'd seen a few police officers carry around and squeezed the trigger.
A tremendous 'bang' came from the small firearm and Naruto's instincts quickly took over. The blonde fell to the ground to avoid the speedy projectile and he immediately rolled to the side to avoid the multiple follow-up shots sent his way.
The jinchuuriki used his arms to jump to his feet once he'd rolled against a piece of furniture while simultaneously sliding the end table towards his foe to temporarily stop the assault. The white-haired enemy nimbly stepped out of the way and had an insane grin on his face as he pulled the trigger once more. Now that he'd found time to compose himself a little, Naruto quickly tensed his legs and jumped back onto the wall to dodge the bullet fired. Knowing he still couldn't stick to the wall yet, the shinobi instead pushed his feet off of the wall and went soaring through the air towards his attacker.
Reacting far faster than Naruto had believed possible for a normal human to be capable of, the red-eyed foe ducked under the charge and the Devil suddenly felt a searing pain erupt from his left calf once he felt something pierce it. The blue-eyed warrior grunted in a grimace as he somersaulted into a crouch with white-hot agony swimming through his leg.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" the man taunted him. "That's the power of what Light weapons do to you shitty devils! They completely destroy you!"
Fuck, he silently cursed as he shakily stood. The blonde winced in pain as he turned towards his foe and glared at the young man in smoldering fury. Kurama?
Working on it, the biju answered him. That red-head wasn't lying, apparently. If you didn't have my healing factor working with you, you wouldn't even be able to stand right now. That's how much damage Light is doing to your body, Naruto.
Good to know you're still good for something, you mangy fox, the whiskered teen quipped with a wry grin making its way onto his face.
"Oh? What's this? A shitty Devil who likes being stabbed? You must be quite the M!" the white-haired enemy declared with a mad cackle that reminded Naruto far too much of a certain Snake Sannin. The young man across the room was now equipped with a glowing, pulsing white blade in the hand opposite the one with the gun which just the sight of made the blonde's hair stand up on end.
Where'd he pull that thing out of? the shinobi couldn't help but wonder on the meter-long blade.
"Here then, have some more pleasure!" the crazed youth screamed in glee before firing a trio of projectiles at Naruto from his gun.
The blonde moved faster than the naked eye could see as he avoided each bullet sent his way easily aside from the burning scrape one of his hands received. He winced in pain as more agony arced up his limb and he turned back towards his foe while pulling out another kunai in order to block the vertical slash coming down at his head.
Naruto winced as another lance of hurt came from the hand both holding his kunai and keeping the blade of Light away from his body. Once he realized that his kunai was being steadily sliced through, the whiskered warrior quickly raised his left leg and kicked out at his foe's torso. However, the man's quickness and agility proved to be enough to disengage from the battle of wills and avoid the leg by jumping back.
He's good, the shinobi realized as his hand's scrape was covered in red energy and finished healing over. Probably on par with quite a few Jounin in his taijutsu ability alone. He's also got a fair tactical mind as well, since he forced me to use both my wounded leg and hand together to prevent his sword from reaching me. Had I not been so gifted naturally, I'd probably be dead right now. His icy blue eyes narrowed at his opponent and he demanded, "Just who the hell are you?"
"Just a priest who enjoys killing all of you shitty Devils!" the priest exclaimed with a crazed grin. "And your executioner!" He then pointed his gun at the Devil and squeezed the trigger once more, only this time for his weapon to 'click' in a lack of reaction.
Seeing his opportunity, Naruto leapt into action and moved towards his enemy before he could attempt to reload. The man's beady red eyes widened in surprise for a moment until he noticed Naruto's movement, threw the empty gun away to the side, and moved to reengage the blonde in close quarters. The Light blade and one of Naruto's kunai met between the two fighters and their faces were barely an inch from one another until Naruto suddenly spun out of the engagement and swept the priest's legs out from under him.
The white-haired youth hit the floor hard and immediately rolled to the side and out of the way of the trio of kunai that buried themselves into the floor right where he'd been, and in the same movement he managed to make it back to his feet. The shinobi threw one last kunai at his foe only for the youthful enemy to slice the kunai in half with his own blade and each half collided with the wall behind him.
The two warriors stared at one another for one more brief, strained moment before they both charged once more. The priest horizontally slashed his hissing blade once they'd gotten close enough for him to, but Naruto simply slid down under the blade and went under the young man's legs, catching his foe completely by surprise. The shinobi quickly righted himself and spun a tremendous back-kick directly into the center of the priest's back before he could offer any kind of resistance, sending the red-eyed male careening across the room and into one of the bookshelves. The shelves were emptied by the impact and each tome fell atop the limp body and the wooden piece shuddered once, but it didn't fall on top of the defeated young man as well.
That should've taken care of him, the shinobi thought, only for his brows to shoot upwards in surprise once he witnessed the pile of books shake and the man emerge. The young enemy shakily stood from the pile of knowledge with his sword now deactivated while he cradled his non-sword arm. "What– How!? I put enough into that kick to shatter your spine!"
A trail of blood joined multiple others in trickling down the priest's face as he spat out a glob of blood and grew another insane, albeit painful, grin. He chuckled bitterly and answered, "Oh, it hurts like a bitch, but you'll have to try much harder if you wanna put me down for good. I've killed more of your kind than I can count, and each and every one of them was stronger than me physically."
That was actually pretty sane of him, the blonde thought, slightly impressed at this turn of events.
"Girl, get in here!" the priest suddenly shouted, taking Naruto completely by surprise. "I need to be healed!"
"Huh?" the whiskered teen wondered aloud, curious as to whom else was there, since he'd not felt any other presences that had negative emotions at all.
"Freed-san!" a young girl's worried voice made Naruto turn towards its source to confirm if she was another enemy, only for his eyes to go wide in shock as he realized just who she was.
Asia, he thought, stunned, as the blonde girl with the emerald-green eyes in the nun outfit hurried across the room toward her supposed partner.
"Here," Asia soothed the man – Freed, now that there was a name to that insane grin – as she held up her hands to the man's grievously wounded body. A bright green glow then came from a pair of silver rings on her fingers and Freed's wounds closed up as if they'd never even existed – even his broken arm looked good as new!
"Gotcha!" Freed proclaimed victoriously as he pulled out another pistol and fired it at the stunned Naruto.
A pained grunt escaped from the whiskered youth as the bullet directly collided with his left shoulder and buried itself deep into his collarbone. The sheer amount of agonizing agony swimming through his body's veins from the direct impact with a Light bullet forced him to a knee. "Shit," he cursed under his breath. "Kakashi-sensei would've had my head for that lapse."
"Naruto!" a worried voice he immediately recognized as Issei's came from behind him, and the blonde felt a smirk form as he realized that the cavalry had arrived at long last, though he shouldn't have even needed them. "We're here to help, buddy!"
"About damn time you guys showed up," the injured youth quipped dryly through gritted teeth as he stood up and continued to glare at his opponent.
"Apologies for the delay," Rias professed, "but there was a fairly high-level barrier surrounding the place. We couldn't get in until it went down."
"Well," Naruto winced, "better late than never, I suppose."
"Well lookie here, more shitty Devils to kill," Freed gleefully stated while his sword hummed into being from the golden hilt in his hand. He then crossed his gun over the hilt of his blade and everyone prepared for another round.
"I-Issei-san," Asia's timid voice carried across the room. "Is-Is that really you?"
"Yeah," the brown-haired boy admitted to her with a resigned air about him. "I didn't' want you to find out, so I didn't plan on us meeting ever again. I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but I'm a Devil, Asia."
The green-eyed nun's eyes were wet at hearing the admission and her hand rose to cover delicate mouth, "But…But you were so –"
"Shut it, witch!" Freed scolded loudly as he suddenly backhanded the innocent girl across the face.
"Asia!" Issei cried out instinctively and move to help her.
"Issei, don't –" Rias tried to warn him, but was too late.
Freed's pistol immediately went towards the unaware teen and two shots were fired; both pierced each thigh. The boy let out a cry of pain and was sent tumbling onto the floor while blood began to spurt from his wounds.
"Issei-san!" the blonde girl shouted. She was then whisked away from the mad priest's side so quickly that nobody noticed until she reappeared in Naruto's arms next to the injured teen.
"Can you heal him?" the blue-eyed friend asked the female as he set her down. "I saw you heal that bastard."
The shaken girl looked directly into his icy blue eyes and she barely managed a nod. "I…I can," she revealed to him.
"Oh no you don't!" the mad priest shrieked. He then pointed his Light pistol at the trio but was forced to abandon his potential attack in order to avoid a strike of Akeno's lightning.
"Ara, ara," the Japanese Queen giggled as she licked her lips hungrily. "Now you look like you could use some instruction, Exorcist-san."
"…Here," Koneko's toneless voice came and Freed had to jump to the side to avoid her floor-cracking fist.
While Koneko and Akeno both occupied the priest's attention, both Rias and Kiba made their way over towards the odd trio with Kiba keeping a keen eye on their foe in order to make certain he couldn't sneak past the other two. "What are you doing?" the master hissed and Kiba summoned one of his swords – this one pitch-black.
"Helping Issei," the deadly jinchuuriki answered in a steady voice. He then nodded towards the small nun and implored, "Please help that idiot."
"I…I will," Asia promised with a firm nod. She then placed both of her hands over the groaning Issei's legs and the same green glow from earlier came into existence. The two Devils who hadn't seen her power in action before stared in wonder as the boy's wounds were completely healed to the point that it seemed as if he hadn't even been shot in the first place.
Naruto helped his friend sit up while Rias breathed out in awe, "A Sacred Gear that can actually heal a Devil."
"Are you fine now, Issei-san," the green-eyed girl asked gently.
"Yeah," the teenage boy answered her with a grateful smile. "Thanks for that, Asia."
Before she could say anything further, however, Freed interrupted the moment, "You're in deep shit now, you witch! Not only did you let the barrier fall, but you just healed a Devil!"
The gentle girl paled right as Naruto's acute sensory abilities picked up a group of four Fallen Angels approaching their position speedily. While he was certain he could defeat them all on his own, he realized that engaging so many in such a well-populated area was a bad idea. "Rias," he warned.
Freed let out a few mad cackles as a purple-and-black portal began to form above their heads on the room's ceiling. "And now you bunch of shitty Devils are really done for!" he exclaimed. "Here come my friends!"
"Let's go," the King commanded, and both Akeno and Koneko immediately returned to her side. "We came only to retrieve Naruto, and our objective has been accomplished. Akeno, take us back."
"Hai, Buchou," the Queen accepted with a nod. She then held out a hand and a large crimson Magic Circle formed underneath them all.
Rias' azure eyes softened as she turned her gaze towards the smaller blonde girl and told her, "I thank you for helping my servant, Asia-san. However, I cannot bring you with us. You should return to your church."
A single tear trailed down the gentle young woman's cheek and she nodded in acceptance of her fate. She then stood back up, turned away from the group of Devils, and began to walk back towards her fellow exorcist, only for him to slap her so hard across the cheek that the action echoed in the room's silence.
"Asia!" Issei's frantic cries echoed as he frantically tried to get away from Naruto's firm hold. "Buchou, please, let's take her with us!" he pleaded.
The crimson-haired master only shook her head sadly and informed him, "This Magic Circle only works for members of my House, Issei. That nun can't come with us."
"Asia!" he tried again before turning towards his friends cold eyes, and the betrayal within those golden orbs nearly made Naruto let him go, but he managed to right the hitch in his throat. "Naruto," he practically begged of his friend, only to be bitterly disappointed when the blonde merely shook his head.
"Issei-san," Asia's soft voice came to them, and the pair of Devils turned to see her shakily attempting to push herself off of the ground. Her right cheek was burned red and pulsed from the blow she'd just received and she told them, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I promise."
"Asia," Issei nearly sobbed as a few tears of dismay made their way down his face. "I swear I'll rescue you, Asia! I promise I will!"
"Goodbye, Issei-san," the teary-eyed blonde nun parted with him once the teleportation magic activated and the entire group of Devils was whisked away from the heart-wrenching scene.
A/N: And that's a scene!
Before someone asks why, yes, I did take some creative liberties with the Vizer battle in comparison to how the anime did it. Answer: Because I felt like it, and I am the God of this story. The real answer is that I just liked Issei's quote in the first season's second OVA (Otherwise referred to as episode fourteen), "Why is it that all of our opponents have tentacle-like abilities. Not that I mind, though."
And so the Asia arc is going to reach its climax in the next chapter. Hope I got you all riled up enough for it, because it's a doosy, I'll say.
No doubt there will be the usual, "How could Freed challenge Naruto? I mean, isn't Naruto a God?" Answer: No, he isn't a God, but he is quite powerful. So much so that he is in the same boat as Superman, I guess, in how he has to continually hold back his full power or risk harming people he doesn't want to hurt. Also, Freed's weapons cause damage Naruto hasn't ever faced before; not even back in the Elemental Nations. So, there's that as well.
Whelp, there's Chapter Four. Chapter Five will be out next week.
Ja ne!