The Golden Devil

by Oturan Namikaze

A fateful meeting between two people can change so much. Naruto knows this after meeting a spirit who had been sealed away for centuries. Now attending Kuoh Academy, his eyes are opened to a world full of Devils, Fallen Angels, and other supernatural beings. Watch as he fights with a power never used by a Devil before. NarutoXHarem.

21. The Truth is Hard

Disclaimer: I do not ow Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or High School DxD, unfortunately. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Ichiei Ishibumi respectively. I also don't own any other anime or video games, its characters, names, or abilities that might appear in this story. And so, without delay… Sit back, relax and enjoy the story.

People speaking: "A true king stands with their men."

People thinking: 'I will live in the now, not the past.'

Creatures/Weapons speaking: "With this blood/I vow to win."

Creatures/Weapons thinking: 'To fight is to live/And to live is to fight'

Techniques:Shatter to pieces!

Chapter 21 – The Truth is Hard

"So, how many did we lose?" A male voice spoke up as a large figure sat in one of the three expensive-looking chairs in the room, all three of them surrounding a destroyed table. Covered mostly in shadow, the only thing visible was his thin pale-white arms and his equally pale face which revealed yellow slit eyes. The rest of him was covered in a large cloak with a bulge coming from his back, the large mass shifting slightly under the cloak.

"Five, including Kabuto." This time a female voice spoked up, belonging to a long dark-haired woman sitting in the second chair wearing a white kimono and a black choker along. Over her face was a curse mask with a red snake coiling around the forehead before descending the middle of the mask, two circular eyeholes that had two yellow slit eyes peeking through. "It seems the improperly mixture of the Senjutsu injection with his own absorption ability reacted badly for Jirōbō and allowed Rias Gremory's Knight to deal the decisive blow. Both Kaku and Kabuto were killed by that traitorous feline while Naruto Lucifer decapitated Toby and Rias Gremory's Pawn killed Trooma with one punch."

"Interesting, I thought Trooma's body was enhanced from our brother's experiments to withstand a weak punch from Surtr Second." The cloaked male commented as his eyes narrowed.

"It was thanks to his Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear, that Rias Gremory's Pawn, Issei Hyoudou, managed to defeat Trooma. Though to be honest, those three Pawns were not very strong in the first place compared to Kabuto and the others." Orotsuki's voice called out making the two turn their heads to the Botis Head walk towards them. "Do not let it bother you, Iwamaru, Kasumi."

Iwamaru let out a huff as he crossed his arms over his cloaked chest, "Be that as it may, Brother… That fact remains that we lost more of Brother Sutairi's Evil Pieces and we still don't have Shirone in our grasps. Not to mention losing a powerful Rook like Jirōbō."

"Yes, but thanks to that, we were able to get valuable data from the battles." Orotsuki said before raising a hand and summoning several transparent orbs over the broken table that showed all the battles with the Gremory and Lucifer Peerage members, a smirk forming on the pale man's face. "Thanks to the Surveillance Bacterium that Sutairi had implanted into most of his Peerage without them knowing, except for Kuroka, Jūgo and his final Pawn."

Kasumi let out a dramatic, disappointing sigh as she leaned her head back against her chair. "It's a shame that none of them were able to deal any fatal blows. I was hoping that at least one of them would kill their opponent and make things easier for us."

"It wasn't as if we weren't expecting them to win in the first place, Lady Kasumi. Let alone survive. Do not forget that we are after someone killed both Lord Sutairi and his Queen before going into hiding." A voice spoke up from behind Kasumi, two female figures emerging from the shadows. "Not to mention, a handful of them have Holy Swords and Sacred Gears. Experimentation or no, those fools were bound to lose."

"Those guys may have been Pawns like me and Shin, but they were a lot weaker than us." The second female figure said with an easygoing smile as she shrugged her shoulders, "They didn't even give their opponents a proper fight before they tried to use the injections, not that they even got to use them."

"The only ones that managed to do damage of any kind was Jirōbō, who died fighting Durandal, and Kabuto, who injected himself with a double dose of Senjustu." The first voice said with disappointment in her voice. "But, even they were destroyed. Pathetic."

"Ah, Guren, Mez. I take it you two were successful in your mission?" Kasumi asked as she looked back at her servants, well, one servant. While Guren had served her ever since she was young, Mez was one of her deceased brother's former Pawns that had been added as her servant/bodyguard not long after.

Guren was the tallest of the two with dark eyes and light blue hair that was kept in a spiky ponytail that had two long strands of hair framing her face. Her skin was fair and she had red lipstick, with a pink crystal earing on her right ear. She had a green dress with a long-left sleeve while the right sleeve was short and reached her triceps, a red one-piece suit with a turtle-neck that had a white, fluffy collar and brown gloves and sandaled shoes. The second girl, Mez, was a short considerably tanned girl with blonde hair that was styled in pigtails and decorated with horseshoes that served as weights and green eyes. She wore an outfit that complemented her petite build as she wore long leggings and a shirt, which was left open, displaying a bikini/swimsuit top and the armored plating on her forearms.

"Yes ma'am, we located and secured a location thanks to Mez's abilities and stealth." Guren explained as she bowed her head.

"Perfect. Then that means that I can go ahead with my own plans." Kasumi said with a smile as she stood up.

Orotsuki laughed as he made his way to the final chair and sat down with his legs crossed. "I take it you have a plan of your own, little sister."

"Well, you did fail in getting Shirone like we planned. So, I'll just have to get her myself. Cases like these require… a woman's touch." The female Botis said to her brothers before she turned around and started walking away from the two, her servants following her before they all disappeared into the shadows.

"… Are you alright with her leaving, Brother?" Iwamaru questioned as he looked over at his remaining sibling. "Kasumi has always been the most easily angered out of the four of us, who knows what she'll do when she crosses paths with Kuroka or Shirone."

"That is what I am counting on. Remember, the original goal of us fighting them was to make them aware of us. To make them panic and cautious," Orotsuki said to his brother with a cold smirk still on his face, "The more they worry about what might happen, the more that they will try to raise their security and prepare themselves for what is to come. If the prey raises their guard too much around a predator, it leaves them opened and unprepared for the others that are waiting to strike."

Iwamaru let out a low chuckle, "Spoken like a true snake."

Bringing a hand up to his chin, Orotsuki closed his eyes with the smirk still on his face. "Tell me, how is our other matter progressing?"

"Hmph. It is going smoothly, though we have had some issues." Iwamaru admitted as he waved one of his hands in a dismissive manner, "Thankfully we left Shin down there to monitor the situation and keep things under control."

"Wonderful, simply wonderful." Orotsuki replied as he opened his eyes and lifted his head to look up at the ceiling, "Sutairi certainly left us a lot of his research and experiments behind for us to continue ourselves. Hehehe, he's probably in the afterlife, either overfilled with joy at the fact that his younger siblings are making such advancements with research or seething in jealousy that he isn't doing it himself."

"Knowing him, he's probably doing his own experiments out of sheer boredom." The laughter coming from both members of the House of Botis carried throughout the room and out into the main hallway. Meanwhile, down in the lower levels of their hideout, a man could be seen within the darkness, watching a bunch of cages that had hundreds of glowing eyes staring back at him.

(Naruto's Headquarters)

"Are you okay now, Xenovia?" Asia questioned as she lowered her Twilight Healing from the blunette, who flinched as she rubbed her newly healed side where Jirōbō's detach fist had impaled before he died. "Please, take it easy. My Sacred Gear may have finish healing your injuries but that doesn't mean you should do any major movements just yet."

"I understand." Xenovia replied as she slowly leaned back on the chair she was sitting in, letting her body relax against the back cushion. "Your healing powers are amazing Asia."

"Makes you kinda regret all those insults you made back when you were a member of the Church, doesn't it?" Mito said with a small smirk, her words making the swordswoman bow her head with a frown.

"Don't be say that, Mito! Xenovia and I have already made amends for what happened." Asia stated with a frown on her face as she chided her sister, who looked away with crossed arms.

Mito let out a huff as she pointed her nose in the air, "Maybe so, but that doesn't mean I forgive her completely for what she said."

"Mmmh…" Asia frowned for a few seconds and looked like she was going to say something, only for Xenovia to speak up first.

"I can accept that. You certainly have two very protective siblings, Asia." Xenovia commented with a small smile, which Asia mirrored with a nod of her head before moving over to where Issei was sitting and raised her hands to his shoulder before her rings started to glow.

Opening one of her eyes to see Asia focusing on healing Issei, the young Lucifer turned her attention to the remaining person who was sitting quietly in the corner with a blank look on her face. After their group had transported to Naruto's Headquarters, Koneko hadn't said anything to anyone as she immediately followed the injured up the stairs, most likely to get as far away from the older black-haired woman, who she learned was Koneko's big sister and a Stray Devil named Kuroka.

After the battle at the movie theaters, the two Peerage groups, and one Stray Devil, retreated to Naruto's Headquarters to recover. Moving to the third floor of the building where two guestrooms and an infirmary was located, Asia took the wounded into the infirmary and had quickly gone to work to finish healing all her friend's injuries, focusing more on Xenovia's first, since her wounds were the worst of the groups. Meanwhile in the Main Room/Library on the first floor, Rias and Akeno were following through with their promise to get answers out of Naruto while off to the side, Gawain was sitting near Kiba, Arcueid, and Len, who was sitting on her master's lap in her cat form, discussing their fights against their specific opponents and their abilities.

"So, the both of you fought other swordsmen with unique abilities. One of them capable of turning himself into a liquid state, while the other used his own bones as weapons," Arcueid narrowed her eyes as she thought about what the two Knights had told her. "From the sound of it, Gawain, you fought a member from the Hōzuki clan. And Kiba, you were fighting a Shikotsumyaku user, which is amazing since I thought the clan was extinct. He must be the last of his kind."

"You know about those two?" Kiba questioned as he remembered how powerful and flexible Kimimaro was during their battle. "What can you tell me about this Shikotsumyaku?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. Like I said, I thought they were extinct… Shikotsumyaku users are Extra Demons that can use their demonic energy to enhance the calcium in their bones and manipulate their shape into whatever they desire. It is thanks to this ability that they can also regrow bones that they lose and harden their endoskeleton to create an armor that makes their bodies virtually indestructible." Arcueid explained as she rubbed the top of Len's head, a frown forming on her face. "From what I heard, most of them were known to be very savage and battle-hungry before they were all killed off a few decades ago."

'And that man is the last one, huh? He was passionate about serving the House of Botis, but he didn't seem bloodthirsty…' Kiba thought to himself with a hand under his chin.

"Suigetsu certainly was troublesome to fight with that strange ability, though it seemed like Mito's chains were able to hold him in place." Gawain crossed his arms as he thought back to his own battle. "Not to mention that guy he was with, the one that refused to fight Mito and Asia."

"I can't really tell you about the latter, but if I had to guess, that was Senjutsu he used to break the chains. Which means that he was a former Yokai reincarnated into a Devil, since only Yokai can channel it without those injection needles that you all saw those guys use." Arcueid closed her eyes briefly before reopening them, "While I can't tell you much about this Jūgo fellow, I can that the Hōzuki are Extra Demons that can liquefy their body at will, and while the ability is a pain, I can tell you that is has two major weaknesses. One is that they need to stay well hydrated at all times and the other is that just like any water user, the Hōzuki are extremely vulnerable to lightning attacks."

"Which means that Akeno would be the best one to fight him…" Kiba deduced making Arcueid nod her head.

"Correct, though when it comes to the other guy, I think it would be best to let me or another user of Senjutsu fight him. I learned a method to fighting them from a few run-ins in the past." Arcueid explained, though as soon as she finished, the two Knights glances over to the side.

"Someone who also wields Senjutsu…" Gawain started to say as his gaze focused on a certain female that was lazily resting on the couch, just like a cat with one hand resting on the floor. "Hard to believe there's a SS-Class Stray Devil just a few feet away from us… Just what is going through her mind?"

'Well, this is just great. I didn't want to have a reunion with Shirone like this.' Kuroka thought to herself as her tails wagged slowly back and forth. Letting out a sigh as she raised her body up, absentmindedly noticing the shoulders of her kimono lowering further down her arms before dismissing it. It wasn't like she had anything to be ashamed of, she was proud of her figure and knew how to use to get what she wanted… And right now, she wanted some sake. 'I'll go bother Naruto for some Silver Vine Sake.'

But before the Former Nekoshou hadNekoshou had the chance to do anything, the doors leading to the outside hall opened allowing Issei and the others to make their way inside. Though the brunette came to a halt when he got a good look at Naruto, Akeno and Rias, which made the others in his group copy his actions before their eyes widened in surprise. The reason for their surprise were the two bright-red slap marks on both of the Lucifer heir's cheeks and a messed-up appearance covered in soot and smoke coming off his clothes, almost as if he had been electrocuted. Avalon was sitting at the edge of the table silently with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

"Whoa! Are you okay, Naruto?" Issei asked as he watched the blonde turn towards him for a second before bringing a hand up to his head and started brushing off all the dirt from his head. "What the hell happened?"

"That's what happens when you keep secrets from your fiancé." Rias answered in Naruto's place while her Queen laughed in her hand, closing her eyes and crossing her arms as she turned her head away from Naruto. "Akeno and I made sure Naruto learned his lesson through punishment."

"Big words for someone who was given permission to hurt him," Kuroka's voice spoke up making the Gremory heiress snap her eyes open and turned to see her Rook's older sister standing next to Naruto with her arms wrapped around his torso. "We both know that if he didn't have Avalon lower her defenses, you wouldn't've been able to even scratch him. I should know."

"… Why are you here?" Rias questioned with a twitching eyebrow at how the feline Yokai was rubbing up against Naruto. "Are you responsible for the House of Botis taking action after all these years?"

"Nope, I had nothing to do with it, nya!" Kuroka answered as she rested her head on Naruto's shoulder, resting her cat ears against his cheek. "Hey Naruto, do you think I could have some of that sake?"

Letting out a sigh, Naruto lifted a hand and gently pushed Kuroka's head back. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Ah, come on! Have a little fun, nya~!"

"Be silent! This is not the time to partake in any alcohol!"

"I could actually use a drink too."

"Not now, Arcueid!"

Issei blinked a few times as he stared at the black-haired hottie that was rubbing against Naruto with a chest size that rivaled both Rias and Akeno, before moving closer to Kiba and whispered to the blonde. "Okay, I know this Nekomata is dangerous and all since she easily defeated that Kabuto guy and she has ties to Koneko… but who is she really?"

"… She's a SS-Class Stray Devil that used to be the Bishop of Sutairi Botis before she killed him and his Queen, Suzuka Rakshasa, and went into hiding. Like Koneko, she is one of the only remaining survivors of the Nekoshou species." Kiba replied with a frown on his face as he glanced briefly at their white-haired friend before looking back at Kuroka's smiling form as she spoke to Naruto, while Rias and Akeno stared at the two in annoyance. "Kuroka is also… Koneko's older sister."

"Her sister?!" Issei repeated in shock as he looked back and forth between the two, comparing the adorable, petite emotionless white-haired girl with the beautiful, voluptuous black-haired playful woman standing several feet away. "… You're not messing with, are you?"

"Not in the slightest. In fact, after the manhunt failed to capture Kuroka… Koneko was sentenced to be executed to prevent another incident like that would ever happen again." Kiba whispered back as one of his hands clenched into a fist, his words making Issei and the others stared at the blonde Knight in shock. "It was only because of Lord Sirzechs that she was saved and later put in Buchou's care… but the damage had already been down and Koneko nearly took away her emotions."

"…" Koneko said nothing as she stared silently at her sister before turning her head with a frown.

"That's horrible." Asia said as she brought her hands to her mouth. Gawain and Xenovia had solemn looks on their faces as the former placed his hand on Asia's shoulder.

"I don't understand though, if Kuroka was the one to kill this Sutairi guy and his Queen, how come they are after Koneko?" Mito asked as she looked at her friend with concern.

"As far as the House of Botis is concerned, going after Shirone is the same as going after me." Kuroka answered as she let go of Naruto and turned to face the others. "It's a simple quest for revenge on their part, nya. I took away something precious of theirs, so they are targeting something that I consider precious."

"How precious could I be if you abandoned me immediately after killing your master?" Koneko finally spoke up with venom in her voice, shocking all of them as they watched the young Nekomata clench her fists tightly as she glared at Kuroka. "Going after the kitten that was given pity after being left alone and nearly killed. They're wasti-"

"She didn't abandon you Koneko, not by choice." Naruto interrupted as he looked down at the floor while rubbing the back of his head. "… All this time, she had to go into hiding since she knew that if she contacted you in any way, there was a strong possibility that you would've lost everything Rias gave you."

"That isn't true and you know that! Everything I've done for Koneko is because I care about her, because in my house family is something to treasure. Unlike you, who betrayed her own sister in exchange for drowning yourself in power-" Rias' sentence came to a quick halt as Naruto pulled her back in time to avoid Kuroka's claws from connecting with her face. The Stray Devil's actions made everyone except for Arcueid and Naruto to get into fighting positions.

"You don't know anything about what you're talking about, Gremory Devil!" Kuroka hissed as her eyes dilated and a purple octagon-shaped Magic Circle appeared behind her. "Do not presume to know me or my feeling for Shirone!"

Raising his hand up with a serious look on his face, Naruto surprised everyone as he quickly moved in front of Kuroka, facing them instead of her. "Enough! This isn't the time to start fighting one another! That goes for you too, Kuroka!" His words made the black-haired feline narrow her eyes at Naruto, to which he mirrored with as he turned around to face her, only for a look of concern to appear on his face. "… Please… We all want to protect your sister, so please… let us help you."

Taking a few breaths while lowering her claw, Kuroka started to relax as her Magic Circle faded away and the aura around her disappeared. The other copying her actions as they dismissed their weapons and magic, "… Alright."

"… The report stating that I had gone made with power after harnessing Senjutsu was a lie that the House of Botis had told everyone to prevent the truth from coming out." Kuroka explained as she lowered her hands to her side, her head lowering as she closed her eyes and remembered everything that had happened back then. "The real truth was that Sutairi was a power-hungry scientist more than he was a master, in fact, he saw everyone in his Peerage as experiments and test subjects. It was under his order that I even started to learn Senjutsu since my magical abilities were so great… I was actually worth both of his Bishop Pieces."

"His experiments weren't limited to just his Peerage either, from what Kuroka told us, he even used their families and his own to further his scientific breakthroughs. But it was after the discovery of Senjutsu that everything started to change and he pushed further into its capabilities." Saber continued Kuroka's explanation as she floated near Naruto's shoulder, much to the horrors of the others as she seemed hesitant to continue with her next sentence. "Besides Kuroka, there were only two people that could truly handle the power of Senjutsu, one of them was the man that you had met, Jūgo… and the other being…"

"Shirone… He intended to use her for his experiments, to test the power of a Nekoshou and see how the power-ups he created would affect one at an early age. It never bothered him on who he was doing his experiments on, as long as they brought results." Kuroka let out a heavy sigh as she raised her arms and crossed them under her chest, "… So I did the only thing I could do to protect my baby sister, I killed him and his Queen, Suzaku. I destroyed as much research as I could before going into hiding, knowing that if I could watch Shirone without being detected, then the House of Botis would leave her alone."

"After that, Kuroka went on the run since she knew that it would've been dangerous to bring young Koneko with her." Naruto said as he placed his hands in his pockets, "I first ran into her during the match you guys had with Sona's Peerage, we had a little fight before going our separate ways before we attracted any unwanted attention."

'So, that's why he had her scent.' Koneko thought to herself as she remembered the familiar scent coming from his jacket when he lent it to her.

"We met up a few times after that, and then she finally told me the truth. I told my grandmother the situation but it seemed like she already knew everything." Rias and the others couldn't help but sweatdrop at that info since it seemed like the matriarch of the Lucifer Clan knew everything about anything that happened in the Supernatural World. "But as you can see, the House of Botis was plotting their revenge and decided that now what the time to take action."

"Seems foolish on their part to knowingly attack another House and the Lucifer Clan, especially with the risks of those Senjutsu injections." Arcueid pointed out as she waved her hand in front of her face in a dismissive manner. "And it looks like things aren't even close to finished."

"… What do you think, Buchou?" Akeno asked after a few moments to look at her King, who had a calculative look on her face.

Rias closed her eyes briefly before placing a hand on her hip with a sigh, "Regardless of whether she is telling the truth or not, the House of Botis has practically called for war with us. With our current situation, we need to inform my brother and Grayfia on what has happened and to see if Sutairi Botis was really the monster you say he was… Akeno, set up a link."

"Very well," Akeno bowed her head lightly before walking passed Naruto. "Is it alright is I use the other room, Naruto?"

"Sure, go ahead. Let us know if they need us." Naruto replied earning him a warm smile from Akeno before the buxom girl walked away, causing him to tilt his head in confusion before taking notice to Rias avert her eyes. "… Is it alright if you contact my grandmother and let her know what is happening with the House of Botis, Arcueid."

"No problem!" Arcueid saluted Naruto with Len resting on her head, the cat looking at him with a blank look before the former Ancestor followed Akeno to the next room.

Watching his Queen head into the next room, Naruto turn his head to the others and nodded his head. "While they are doing that, why don't the rest of you let your bodies relax for the time being. And don't worry, there is no way for any of us to get attacked while we are here thanks to the Lucifer barrier ." Getting several nods back, Naruto watched as they started heading out one by one until Koneko, Kuroka and Mito were the last ones beside the two Heirs. As the two petite girls were walking out of the room, Kuroka walked closer to them with a smile on her face.

"Hey Shiro-"

"Don't call me by that name. My name is Koneko Toujou…" Koneko replied without looking back at her sister, refusing to let the older Nekoshou see the sadness in her eyes. "Even if what you and Naruto were saying is really the truth… that doesn't change the fact that you left me behind." With that said, the white-haired Rook walked out of the room, not looking back to see Kuroka look down at the ground sadly with her ears folding down. Mito silently looked back and forth between the two sisters before following after Koneko.

"… Avalon," Naruto called out to his partner as he kept his gaze on the dejected black-haired Stray Devil. The tiny spirit turned her head to look at Naruto as he looked down at her, "Could you do me a favor and show Kuroka where I keep the Silver Vine Sake, you remember right?"

"Of course, but are you sure?"

"Yeah… I need to talk to Rias about something." The Lucifer heir replied making the redheaded Devil turn to look at her fiancé. Avalon was quiet for a few moments before nodding her head, moving closer to Kuroka, who seemed to perk up a little before following Avalon out of the room. Happy for a chance to drink some Silver Vine Sake again. Naruto and Rias stood in silence as they were the only ones left in the Main Library, the former rubbing the back of his head. "Rias, is there something wrong?"

"… Well, you did hide the fact that you were meeting up with a dangerous SS-Class criminal." Rias pointed out with a deadpanned expression.

Frowning lightly at her words, Naruto shook his head. "I know it isn't something that can just be thrown under the rug, but I really am sorry for not telling you. I just didn't want you to get into trouble."

"That's part of being in a relationship, Naruto. We're supposed to share the good times and the bad, and not hold back secrets, especially ones like these." Rias replied as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Promise me that you'll be honest with me from now on, and I will do the same, alright?"

"I promise," Naruto said as he placed a hand on Rias' shoulder before bringing her into a hug. "But you know that I would never let anything bad happen to you or the others."

Rias smiled as she wrapped her arms around Naruto, "Yeah, I know."

"… Now that we got that out of the way, is there something going on between you and Akeno?" Naruto questioned as he pulled back enough to look at Rias' face, "The two of you have been acting weird since we left the movie theater."

Before Rias could say anything, however, the girl in question poked her head through the door. "Buchou, Naruto, I managed to contact Grayfia and informed her on what's happening. She wants to you both and Kuroka before she gets Lord Sirzechs."

NLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAH

Staring down at her hands as they wrapped together over her lap, Koneko couldn't help but feel relieved that she was alone in the Occult Research Club building despite the current scenario they were facing. She needed to be alone to think about everything she had just learned, to get as far away from that woman as possible… For so long, she thought that Senjutsu had corrupted her sister and drove her to become mad with power and killed her master because of it. To find out that Kuroka had killed him, to protect her… it was hard to process.

"… Are you okay, Koneko?"

The white-haired girl perked her head up at the familiar voice and turned to see who was standing at the entrance. "Mito … Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Mito replied with a small smile. "I saw you teleport away and I was a little worried." Walking closer to the couch, the young redhead plopped herself next to Koneko, who turned her head to look away from Mito. "It's dangerous to just go off on your own."

"… I needed to have time to myself, besides, it's not like this place isn't protected. Rias' barrier is a lot stronger than it was when Lady Kaguya first appeared." Koneko replied as she stared at the opposite couch with a blank expression. "I'll only be here for a little bit before heading back."

"Then I'll stick around until you do!" Mito said with a smile making the petite Nekomata turn to look at her, "It's better for us to stick together than alone."

"…" Knowing that nothing she would say would change her mind, Koneko only nodded her head.

The two girls sat in silence for several minutes before Mito spoke up, "So… You really did have an older sister, I guess that's why you were so defensive and dodgy about it back then… She's really beautiful."

"… I guess so… Back when I was younger, I used to dream of becoming just like her." Koneko admitted making Mito blink a few times as she turned to look at her friend. "Strong, beautiful, kind… not a genius by any means, but I still thought she was one of the smartest people I knew. It had been the two of us for a while before the House of Botis found us. I don't really know much about our parents, according to Kuroka, they died just after I was born… She used to say that I got our mother's hair color." Looking up at the ceiling, Koneko closed her eyes as she let her body fall back on the couch, "Sutairi used to have her do all sorts of missions and keep her busy with training… but even then, she always made sure to spend as much time with me as she could."

"I remember that water guy saying that that Jūgo guy used to babysit you when your sister was on missions." Mito said before a sour look appeared on her face, "That guy sucked! He wouldn't fight me or Asia because we were girls."

"You both being girls means nothing to him, especially whenever he goes into rage mode… I saw it once, him, destroying everything while fueled by the power of Senjutsu. It was always Kimimaro, the one that Kiba fought, that helped keep him calm and could snap him out of it… But he's always had a soft side for children and animals, that's why Kuroka only trusted him and one other person to watch over me when she had to leave for a bit." Koneko explained as she recalled those days when all she wanted was to be with Kuroka, before everything went to hell and her fear of Senjutsu started, "They were the only people tha-"

Whatever Koneko was about to say was put to a halt as the two girls felt the building around them shake heavily, cracks forming on the ceiling. After feeling the building continue to rumble a little more, Koneko's eyes widened as she shot up from her seat and ran towards one of the windows, pulling open the curtain in time to see what looked like giant pink crystals crawling up the building's walls. Eyes narrowing as she sensed Mito run up behind her, Koneko quickly kicked opened the window before grabbing onto Mito and leaping out. Using her shoulder to smash through the crystal, Koneko flipped her body forward and rolled on the ground to soften her landing before getting back on her feet.

"Are you alright Mito?" Koneko immediately asked as she looked at her friend, who shook her head to get the crystal shards out of her hair.

Rubbing the side of her head, Mito looked up at Koneko and nodded her head. "I'm fine…?! THE BUILDING!" Both girls watched as several crystal pillars erupted from the ground around the building, another crystal layer covered it completely and slowly crushing it from the outside. The large hole that Koneko created quickly sealing itself until nothing remained to show that the Rook had leaped through it. "Who did this?"

"There is only one person who has control over crystals like this, but since when did she have this much control over something so large?" Koneko questioned to herself before she heard footsteps and turned to see three women standing off to the side. "Kasumi Botis, and those two are…?!"

"Hello Shirone, it's been quite a while, hasn't it?" Kasumi said coldly as she placed on her hip, her yellow eyes glowing behind the mask she was wearing. "Not since your traitorous wench of a sister killed my beloved older brother."

(Meanwhile)

"I see… So that's the current situation." Sirzech said as the holographic image of him stood over Naruto's desk, both he and Rias were standing closest to the magic circle while their Queens were a few feet behind them. It didn't take them long to inform Grayfia of the situation before she brought her husband to speak with the couple. "To think that the House of Botis would actually take action."

"Brother, did you know that they were going to attack us?" Rias questioned as she narrowed her eyes, something that was mirrored by Naruto and Akeno while Arcueid kept a calm expression.

"Whoa, Rias, nothing of the sort! Like I would willingly ever let harm come to you or your Peerage." The Lucifer Satan waved his hands in front of him with a smile still on his face before it was replaced with a semi-serious expression. "That being said. There is one thing that I haven't told you. For the past few years, the House of Botis has been making demands for the House of Gremory to hand Koneko over to them. It goes without saying that I continuously denied them their request and warned them to not try anything."

"A lot of good that did." Arcueid commented as she shrugged her shoulders, "You should've expected them to go against your orders, hatred always lead to conflict."

"Very true… But then again, that House has always caused problems, especially when it came to their experiments. Not even Ajuka would do some of the things Sutairi and his family have done." Sirzechs's head turned lightly as his gaze actually went passed Naruto and Rias to something behind them, making the two turn their heads to see serious Kuroka standing at the door with a bottle of Silver Vine Sake in her hand and Avalon floating near her head. "Of course, with this new information, we will have to look into everything that we collected that involves the House of Botis and will take immediate action… That includes your crime of murdering your former master, Black Cat Kuroka."

Lifting up the bottle to her lips, Kuroka shrugged her shoulders as she looked away from the image of Sirzechs. "… Do whatever you want, as long as you don't have any issues with me destroying what is left of the House of Botis, nya. Though, considering the fact that Sutairi and the other members of his family were planning on using their research to overthrow the Devil Faction using those enhancements of theirs…"

"… Is that truly what they were planning or are you just making speculation?" This time, Grayfia's image appeared next to Sirzechs as she spoke. "Such an accusation is not something you can shrug off."

"You are free to believe me or not, but if there is one thing that hasn't changed with that House, it's the fact that they are all power-hungry. Sutairi was just the one that desired to put his plans into action before I killed him and destroyed most of his research." Once again, Kuroka shrugged her shoulders as she turned away from the two powerful Devils. "Not that I really care about the Devil Faction, but hey, after you reincarnated my baby sister into a Devil, I suppose there is some importance to it."

"Kuroka, please, if these guys are really that dangerous, then we need to take action soon." Naruto said as he turned around to face Kuroka, who did a side glance at him as she watched Naruto walk closer to her. "I'm sure Sirzechs can look into doing something in exchange for your help, like getting that death sentence off of you so you can go wherever you want. It is possible, right?" The Lucifer heir turned his head around to the small image of the redheaded man, who closed his eyes in thought.

"… In theory, I might be able to remove that kill on sight order for now, and if your information hold truth than I am sure we can make some sort of deal… but that is only if you work with us. So how about it?" A small grin formed on his face that reminded Naruto of Rias as the older man focused his attention on the Stray Devil in the room.

Kuroka stared at Sirzechs' image for a few seconds before a coy smile formed on her face, "Alright, I suppose I can do something… But, only on two conditions, nya." Almost everyone was cut off guard as Kuroka moved close to Naruto and looped her arm around his, pressing her chest into his side. "The first one, I get to work only with Naruto here until everything gets resolved, I don't really trust any of you Devils but he seems the most dependable at the moment."

"Agreed," Sirzechs answered as the grin he had grew in amusement as he noticed the annoyed looks on his sister and her Queen's faces. "And your second condition?"

"I want you to promise me that you will do everything in your power to keep my baby sister safe from now on." Kuroka said making Rias' eyes widen, and she wasn't the only one. Naruto only frowned as he felt the arm Kuroka was using to wrap around his, tremble. "I thought that she would be safe before since she was going to be a Peerage member of Lucifer's little sister, and I could watch her from the shadows… But something like this still happened. So, I want you to swear to me, nya."

"I don't think you are in any-"

"Done. I swear nothing will happen to her." Grayfia was caught by surprise as her King quickly interrupted her and agreed to Kuroka's demands so easily. "I will be meeting with you all personally to prove that I am serious about working with you. If you don't mind Naruto, I would like us all to meet at the Lucifer Mansion, it is a neutral area between the four of us."

"I have no problem with that." Naruto answered with a smile, only for it to disappear as he heard Rias let out a gasp and turned to see a shocked expression on her face. "Rias, what's wrong?"

"T-The barrier around my headquarters… it's been completely destroyed!?" Rias said in shock making the others in the room mirror her expression, "I sensed Koneko and Mito teleporting there earlier! Akeno, we need to head there immediately!"

"Right, Buchou!" Akeno stated as she started to summon a teleportation circle, with a worried Kuroka already teleporting away before the magic circle could appear.

"Forgive me for cutting this short, Sirzechs."

"Don't worry. Focus on your headquarters. I'll send Grayfia to meet you there to keep me informed." Getting a nod from his sister, both Sirzech and Grayfia's images vanished as Akeno's transportation circle appeared.

"We're going too! Arcueid, inform the others!" His Queen nodded her head before rushing out of the room, and Naruto turned his head to look at Avalon. "We're going too Avalon!"

"Yes, Lord Naruto!"

Rushing into the circle as fast as they could into the center of the magic circle, the room flashed a bright red before teleporting the four out of the building.

(A Few Minutes Earlier)

"… Well now, this is interesting." Kasumi said to herself with her arms crossed as she stared at the battlefield in front of her. While she herself hadn't moved from her spot, Mito had managed to cause quite the problem as multiple spiked chains emerged from her back and went into the ground before shooting up at various points around her and Koneko to form a barrier of some sort. It looked like it would be nearly impossible to move through the small, narrow openings unless you were incredibly flexible. Guren had attempted to force her way through with her crystal attacks only for it to repel her and tear up her arm. "It seems like there's more to the youngest Lucifer sibling than originally thought."

"Haaa… Haa…" Mito panted hard as she suddenly fell to her knees, "I won't… let you… touch Koneko!"

"Mito!" Koneko rushed to the younger girl's side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Sending a reassuring smile at the white-haired girl as she wiped the sweat falling down her forehead, Mito slowly got back to her feet. "I am fine, the Adamantine Hell Chains take a lot of energy to form a barrier like this. Though it's not even close to the level that my mom can do, hell, she could probably make several barriers at the same time and each one at full power."

"But this is dangerous, I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Koneko warned only for Mito to shake her head.

"I don't care… You are my best friend, Koneko. The first one I've ever made by myself," Mito said causing Koneko's eyes to widen slightly as she could see the resemblance in the young Lucifer's smile to the one her older brother had. "So how could I let someone precious to me get hurt?"

"… Mito."

"Aww, isn't that sweet." A voice spoke up, making the two of them turn to see Mez standing on the other side of the chains with her hands resting behind her head. "You are totally adorable, but do you think this kind of thing will really stop us. Though it must be pretty strong to injure Guren like that." A clicking sound could be heard as the tanned girl lifted her hands away from her head and the horseshoes in her hair fell to the ground causing cracks to form.

To Mito's surprise, moisture started to build up all over Mez's body as a cool smirk formed on her face before they were sent flying towards the chains. Feeling Koneko lower her body to avoid the liquid, Mito's eyes widened as she saw them cover her chains and put extra weight on them while dripping to the ground. Feeling some of it drip in front of her, Mito held a hand out and caught a single drop before bringing it up to her face.

"What is this? Liquid?" Blinking a few times before taking a small sniff of it, the young girl recoiled with a scrunched-up face. "EW, GROSS! IT'S SWEAT!"

"That's right. You see, thanks to Lord Sutairi's experiments, I have been given complete control over my body which means I can do a lot of freaky stuff with it." Mez explained as sweat continued to form on every inch of her skin. "So, yeah, consider your barrier ruined and your chains worthless." With those words spoken, the petite enemy dashed forward at incredible speeds as she moved around the chains without touching a single one.

"Whoa, she's so fast!" Mito exclaimed as she tried to track Mez's movements, only to let out a gasp as she appeared in front of her and Koneko with a fist pulled back.

Koneko was quick to move in front of Mito and pushed Mez's fist out of the way before sending out a punch of her own, only for her eyes to widen slightly as her fist slipped across Mez's skin and caused her to expose her side to the tanned girl. Seeing the opening, Mez reared a leg back and slammed it into Koneko's side causing the her to fly into Mito, knocking them both to the floor a few meters back.

"Nice try, but my body oil also acts likes a defense since it makes any blunt attacks just slide off my body." Mez stated as she walked closer to the two girls, who were slowly trying to get back up. Standing over Koneko as she grabbed the young Nekomata by her hair and pulled her up. "It's a good thing for that girl that you got in the way Shirone, your durability as Rias Gremory's Rook really saved her. Though it looks you got pretty hurt yourself. Too bad it doesn't matter since we're gonna kill her anyways."

"Her… is…eko."

The turned her head to see Mito crouched on her knees with one of her hands covered in dark-colored Darkness Magic. "What did you say?"

"I said… her name…" Snapping her head up as she reared her arm back, Mito snapped her hand forward and a kunai knife connected to chains shot out of her palm. "Is Koneko!"

"Hmph…" Easily dodging the attack by tilting her head and raising her other arm, Mez had a disappointed look on her face as she looked down at the panting Mito, "Don't do that, it's so desperate." Dragging Koneko by her hair as she moved closer to Mito, Mez raised her glowing hand up as her nails grew longer and sharper. "Oh well, too bad. Say goodnig-"

Mez's eyes widened as she felt something painful press into her back followed by a fanged mouth chomp down on her clawed hand. The next thing the tanned girl knew, Koneko escaped her grasp while her body was slammed against the ground with a heavy pressure on top of her. She wasn't the only one who was surprised as both Guren and Kasumi stared at the battlefield in shock.

A small smirk formed on Mito's face as she dismissed the chain coming out of her palm vanished before bringing the hand to rub her other arm, "Sorry, but Kitchi doesn't like people who he believes is a threat. But don't worry, his venom will finish you off in a few moments."

"W-What?" Feeling the intense pain of something ripping her hand off, Mez's gaze shifted to look at it and her eyes widened to see a large reptilian eye staring back at her. It's mouth opening wide allowing her dismembered hand fall out of its mouth, and the venom Mito was talking about could be seen dripping from its fangs. "N-No way…!"

"Is that a Hydra?!" Guren questioned in shock as they watched the Hydra lift itself from Mez's body before moving close to Mito and gently rubbed its head against the smaller girl, who brought up a hand to pet it. "But how? A little girl like that has one of the most dangerous Familiars under her control?! Just what is she?!"

"Apparently her brother isn't the only one with something special about him." Kasumi pointed out with a fascinated tone in her voice. She had seen the young girl summon her Familiar, who appeared in her hand the size of a small ball, before instantly creating chains as a distraction to prevent Mez from noticing the Hydra riding the chains until it was behind her. "… Something like this is impossible to ignore. Change in plans Guren, we are taking her with us as well."

"Are you certain, Lady Kasumi? It might be too dangerous to try." Guren asked as she noticed Mez's body started to thrash from the agony she was feeling.

"You will follow my orders Guren, and do not forget, you have something that can help you win this fight. Or would you prefer that I dirty my hands by assisting you?" Kasumi replied causing her servant to flinch as she fearfully spun her head around to see Kasumi's glowing yellow eyes staring at her through the darkness of her mask.

"N-No, of course not! I can handle this." Guren said shakily turned around and reached into her pocket.

Meanwhile, Koneko and Mito were staring down at the still thrashing Mez. Even if the girl did have complete control over her body, Kitchi's poison was still considered to be very powerful and deadly since it could spread throughout the body in seconds, and depending how strong the victim was, could kill just as quickly. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Koneko opened her eyes before slowly walking towards Mez until she was standing over her.

"S-Shirone…" Mez whispered as tears formed in her eyes as she stared up at Koneko, the pain coursing through her body overwhelming her.

Positioning herself over the dying girl with a sad frown on her face, Koneko had only one thing to say as she concentrated her demonic energy into her fist. "Thank you… for always bringing me sweets when I was sad… Goodbye." Mito couldn't look away as Koneko delivered the final blow to finish Mez off. This may have been a battle with them versus Mez, but even she knew that what Koneko just did was her being merciful compared to letting their enemy suffer from Kitchi's poison.

"Impressive. Very impressive." Both girls turned their heads to see Kasumi starting to clap her hands as she took a few steps forward, "Mez may have been worth just 2 Pawns, but she was still strong enough to fight off several Rooks and Knights at once… Such a sneaky little Devil you are, Mito Lucifer."

"And you're next!" Mito exclaimed as she and Koneko moved next to each other while Kitchi let out a hiss behind them, the Adamantine Hell Chains coming out of her back replacing themselves to create a new barrier. But to their surprise, the Botis woman simply crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I don't think you both realize just what kind of situation this is… This isn't going to be a battle where you could stop us." As soon as she said this, a powerful burst of energy could be felt coming from the side making the two quickly turn to see Guren covered in a bluish aura. A demonic expression on Guren's face with no pupils in her eyes and her hair spiking up in the air. "I'm sure you know exactly what this is, don't you Shirone~?"

"Another injection of Senjutsu?! B-But… this feels different from Kabuto." Koneko's body started to tremble as she felt an intense pressure coming from Guren as the woman turned her head to look at them.

"That's because the injections that those fools had were only the weak, incomplete doses that we created after we first went through our older brother's notes." Kasumi let out a laugh as she brought a hand up to her mask where her mouth would be, "It was guaranteed that they would fail, but those were only the prototypes. Let's see how you handle a Level Two dosage."

"Raaaaaaaah!" Letting out a powerful roar, Guren crouched her knees before leaping at the two as crystal blades appeared on her arms. Before either girl had a chance to prepare themselves, Guren had already tore through the chains until she was hovering over them. Kitchi was the first one to reacted as he tried to bite the crystal user only for her to kick his head away with enough force to knock his body back. "You won't interfere anymore! Jade Crystal Prison!"

"Kitchi!" Mito called out worriedly as a circle appeared under the Hydra, a flash of light covered it for a few seconds before dispersing to reveal the Familiar incased in a collection of crystals, frozen completely in its preattack pose. "What did you do to him?!"

"I got your little pet out of the way. I suppose you are lucky that Hydras are immortal, otherwise he'd be dead from the crystals grip." As she was saying this, another bunch of crystals covered Mez' corpse before shattering seconds later, leaving nothing behind by tiny fragments that dissolved into the air.

Ducking under several chains that Mito created, Guren shifted to the side as Koneko tried to tackle her from behind and countered with a slash of her blades. Koneko evaded the blades and brought her hands up to intercept Guren's follow up with a kick before grabbing onto her ankle tightly. Delivering a powerful punch to her stomach, Koneko's eyes narrowed as she watched Guren retreat a few feet back to reveal crystal shard coming from her stomach. Guren's body was soon covered in crystals before breaking apart, causing the Nekoshou to gain a look of surprise before turning her head as she sensed something diving at her from behind and turned to see Guren surrounded by three Crystal Dragons. But as the crystal user and her creations got close, more of Mito's chains formed and securely wrapped around the dragons before tightening to the point that they broke apart. This didn't seem to bother Guren as she extended a hand, and to Mito and Koneko's shock, grabbed one of the chains before giving it a strong tug that pulled Mito closer to her. A layer of crystal formed over Guren's free arm and fist before she delivered a sharp blow to the redheaded girl's stomach, complete knocking the air out of her lungs and made the girl lose consciousness.

"Mito! Let go of her!" Koneko said in a fierce tone as Guren landed on the ground with an unconscious Mito under her arm, before charging forward as fast as she could. Sending out a barrage of punches and kicks, the Nekomata tried her best to retrieve Mito from Guren's hold, but the blue-haired woman easily used her free arm to block each of Koneko's strikes.

"Don't bother trying! My Crystal Armor is strong enough to break diamonds and with the added boost of Senjutsu, you don't stand a chance at one-on-one combat!" Guren stated as she continued to block Koneko's attempts to land a hit, before knocking away her arms with a swipe of her hand leaving Koneko open. Quickly taking out another injection capsule from her sleeve, Guren broke the casing and stabbed the needle into Koneko's neck before the petite girl had time to react. The liquid in the capsule injected itself into Koneko's body causing her body to go completely numb before falling forward to the floor. "Don't bother trying to get back up. That was a special paralysis serum that temporarily disables your ability to move and will knock you out within moments."

True to Guren's words, Koneko started to feel her consciousness start to fade as she watched the Senjutsu aura around Guren's body fade away, though her physical appearance did not return to normal. Shifting her gaze to the out-cold Mito under Guren's arm, Koneko noticed everything starting to turn black. '… Mito…'

"Looks like our work here is done." Kasumi said as she made her way to Guren, who was picking Koneko up with her other arm, "Such a troublesome pair they were. But in the end, Senjutsu is still way out of their leagues." Raising a hand in front of the two, Kasumi summoned a Teleportation Circle. "Now, let us return home. We need to prepare."

"… Yes, Lady Kasumi." Guren nodded her head before following her master into the Magical Circle. But as the circle under them started to glow, they were greeted by two different teleportation gates appearing before them. The first to appear was Kuroka, who landed in a crouch, while the other revealed Naruto, Rias and Akeno in the other.

"Hmmm, look who finally decided to show up. A little late though." Kasumi laughed as she saw an enraged look on Kuroka's face.

Kuroka's eyes dilated as she ran at the Botis woman and her servant with her claws ready to strike, only for a large crystal to form a barrier in front of the two and block Kuroka's attack. "Let my sister go! Guren! KASUMI!"

"Oh, don't worry Kuroka. My brothers and I won't kill her yet, the House of Botis have big plans for her execution and we want you, the guest of honor, to be there when it happens when we kill her. We're going to make you feel the same thing that we felt after you killed our brother," Kasumi said while she crossed her arms. "In fact, we plan on killing her with the same power you used to kill him."

"Kuroka, move out of the away!" Naruto exclaimed making the black-haired Nekomata turn her head back to see Naruto holding a glowing Excalibur, leaping out of the way as the blonde swung his sword at the large crystal. "Excalibur!" Slamming a wave of energy against the Senjutsu powered crystal, Naruto gritted his teeth as he put more power into the attack and caused the crystal barrier to quickly break apart. But as soon as the crystal was destroyed, the Teleportation Gate under Kasumi and Guren flashed brightly and teleported the two away. "Damn it!"

"It looks like they got away." Rias had a grim look on her face before turning to look at her headquarters, which was still encased in crystal. "For them to do this and take Mito and Koneko, they will pay for this."

"Lord Naruto!" The blonde turned his head at the sound of Avalon's voice as saw that she was hovering in front of a large cluster of crystals with Kitchi in the center, "From the looks of it, he is still alive. But need to get Kitchi out of there soon!"

NLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAHNLRGAH

"So, it looks like the House of Botis has really made of mess of things." Kaguya stated from her seat as she looked at everyone in the room. All the members of Naruto and Rias' Peerages, as well as Sirzechs, Grayfia, and Naruto's parents were all located at various points of the office. Besides Kaguya, the only ones sitting were Sirzechs, Rias and Kushina, while Kuroka was leaning back on the windowsill near Naruto and Avalon. "Not just attacking my grandson and his friends, but to kidnap Mito and Koneko is practically declaring war on the House of Gremory and the Lucifer Clan."

"I agree. They must be taken out before anything else happens." Sirzechs said as he looked at Kaguya before turning his head to look at his younger sister. "However…"

"The issue that we have is that we don't know where they are located since they no longer live at their previous estates." Grayfia explained from her position behind Sirzechs, "After the incident with Kuroka killing their family's Head, the House of Botis went into hiding and haven't been seen since."

"Do you know anything, Kuroka?" Naruto asked as he looked over at Kuroka, who responded with a deadpanned look.

"If I knew where they were, do you think I would still be here, nya?"

A sweatdrop formed on the back of Naruto's head at that, "I guess that's true."

"Is there any way we can track them down? The sooner we find them, the better." Issei said as the brunette remembered the condition that the Occult Research Club building was in, not to mention what happened to Kitchi. The Hydra was currently being looked after by some of the Lucifer Branch members to find a way to release him out of his prison, and hopefully they could use that knowledge to free the building next. "Who knows what those guys will do to the two of them… But I don't understand why they took Mito as well."

"There are two possible reasons." Kuroka closed her eyes as she gripped the fabric of her kimono tightly, "The first is probably as a way of keeping Koneko in check in case she tries anything, not to mention, she could be a hostage for the Lucifer Clan itself. The second probably has to do with the House of Botis' favorite thing in the world, experimentation and research."

"… They must've been somewhere near Rias' headquarters and waited for their chance to strike, waiting for Koneko." Arcueid deduced as she crossed her arms with a sigh, "I can't believe that I didn't suspect they would try something else so soon after their last attempt."

Minato lifted his head up from comforting his wife and turned to look at his son, "Naruto, you said that Kasumi Botis said something about her family planning something big for Koneko's execution, right?"

"Yeah, though I don't have any clue what that is." Naruto answered before noticing Kuroka subtly looking away with an uneasy look.

"Whatever is it, chances are it is going to take time to prepare, especially if it involves Kuroka being there." Minato turned his head to look at Kaguya and Sirzechs, who nodded their heads in understanding, "That should give us plenty of time to find the girls before something happens."

"That is good in thought form, but if Kuroka has no idea where to look, how would we?" Asia asked, only for her father to flash her a smile.

"It's simple. We use this to track them down," Minato said as his hand glowed briefly before what appeared to be a triple-prong kunai with a thick handle that had writing on it. Xenovia and Gawain both let out gasps as they stared at the weapon in shock.

"But that's-"

"The Flying Raijin kunai?!"

"Flying Raijin? What's that?" Issei tilted his head in confusion while looking over at Kiba, who had a surprised look as well before turning to the brunette.

"Is a special technique that is said to allow the user instantaneously teleport themselves to anywhere they wish using special marker." Kiba explained from what he remembered from his time during the Holy Sword Project, "But it is incredibly hard to use, let alone master, and requires a large and unique Holy Magic affinity to do it."

"Whoa, and Naruto's dad has something like that?!" Issei was taken aback by this info as he looked at the man in shock… but that wasn't the end of it as Xenovia spoke up next.

"But the only person who ever used that kunai was the former Paladin of the Church and one of the two strongest Human warriors of the Angel Faction! How do you…?!" Xenovia's eyes somehow widened further as she stared at Minato. "… Of course, that is why I thought that something was familiar about you. I read about you in the text, you're Minato Namikaze! The Yellow Flash!"

"Hehe, it's been a long time since I used that name." Minato said as he rubbed the back of his head with a small smile, "But, yes, I used to be a Paladin of the Church before I met Kushina and had a family with her… But anyway, back to the manner at hand. The key to my Flying Raijin technique is the formula seal you see on the kunai's handle, this is my marker that allows me to teleport wherever it is located. After the incident with the Fallen Angel taking Asia and Mito, I made sure to place my markers on all of my children to help me track them down if anything goes wrong."

"A marker? Where?" Feeling a warm tingle near his stomach, Naruto lifted his shirt to reveal a glowing seal over the right side of his abdomen. Asia copied his actions as she fell a tingle as well and saw the seal on her forearm.

"As you can see, the markers are holding strong and only appear when I activate them. The best part is that it is impossible for them to be removed." Minato explained before placing his kunai onto Kaguya's desk, "The down side though is that while I can teleport nearly anywhere that a marker exists, I cannot do so if it's in a different dimension… Luckily though, we are still able to locate where exactly the marker is if I have the right tools, since they have my energy signature."

"So all we need to do if help you find where Mito's marker is, and issue a rescue/assault on the House of Botis." Kaguya narrowed her eyes as she rose from her seat, "Minato, I want you to meet up with Karin and the other sensor-types and see if they can detect anything."

"I can ask Ajuka for his assistance, he might have something that can help you out." Sirzechs suggested to which Minato nodded his head.

"Any help would be appreciated." Turning his head to look at all the younger Devils, including Arcueid and Kuroka, Minato gained a serious look on his face. "I promise we will find them soon, so everyone, prepare yourselves for battle." Getting nods from members of both Naruto and Rias' Peerages, and Kuroka, most of them left the room with uneasy looks on their faces with Naruto and Kuroka being the last to leave.

Naruto turned his head to look back at his father, "When this is over, I hope you plan on telling us more about your past."

"You have my word." Minato said before grabbing his kunai while Kushina moved up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "… Now get ready, this battle will be a difficult one, so you all need to prepare."

"Right," Turning around as Kuroka walked passed him, Naruto followed the Nekomata out of the room before watching her start to walk away. Before he even realized it, the blonde Lucifer reached out and grabbed Kuroka's hand, causing her to come to a halt. "… Kuroka, don't worry, we will find them before anything bad happens."

"… I killed Sutairi and because of that, Shirone was put in harm's way as a way to get back at me, nya." Kuroka said as she turned back to look at Naruto, before lowering her gaze towards the floor. "I told you before that I would do anything to protect Shirone, even if that means giving up me li-"

"That's not going to happen.' Naruto interrupted with a firm tone, making the black-haired Stray Devil look up at him in surprise. Neither one noticed a single female figure standing on the other side of the corner near them, listening in on their conversations. "I promise you this, I will protect Koneko and Mito, and I'll make sure you survive this battle. That way you can make thing up to Koneko in the future, I know that things will work out between the two of you."

Kuroka stared at Naruto for a few seconds before she started to laugh, flashing Naruto a warm smile that was different from the playful ones that she's had in the past. It was beautiful. "Be careful now, saying things like that could come back to bite you. A girl could fall in love with words like that, especially with a strong, good looking guy like you, nya."

"D-Don't joke about that." Naruto said with a small blush on his cheeks as he looked away from the girl, who continued to smile as she took her hand out of his grip.

"But even if we do manage to find them, we need to stop them before they try anything… Because if Kasumi and the others are really planning on killing Shirone with the same power I used to kill Sutairi, with Senjutsu, chances are they might try something dangerous like one of the forbidden spells that Sutairi tried to have me learn or something." Kuroka explained as a worried expression replaced the smile she had, closing her eyes as she continued. "And that's not the worst of it… The House of Botis has… something else, nya."

Naruto stared at Kuroka with a small frown on his face, meanwhile, the hidden figure disappeared from around the corner.

(Meanwhile)

"Mmmm… Huh? What is going on?" Feeling a strange cold wet drop hit her cheek, Mito slowly opened her eyes and raised her body up, flinching as she felt a sharp pain coming from her stomach. Rubbing it a few times, Mito started to look around a bit and noticed they were in a prison of some sort with two beds. She continued to study the room until she saw a familiar figure lying a few feet away from her. "Koneko!" Rushing to her friend's side, Mito started shake the white-haired girl's shoulder. "Wake up! Please!"

"M… Mito?" Koneko's gold eyes opened to see her friend's worried face before slowly raising her body up, her ear twitching on top of her head… Wait, her ears? Slowly reaching her hands up Koneko felt a familiar sensation of her cat ears on top of her head, before looking behind her to see a single white cat tail slowly swaying in the air. "I'm in my Nekomata form? But how?"

"This is what you really look like in your true form, it's so cute! No, wait! Now isn't the time for this!" Mito exclaimed as she waved her arms in the air in a cartoonish manner, "I think we've been put in some kinda dungeon!"

Blinking once to process Mito's words, Koneko looked around and saw that they were indeed in a prison of some kind with other cells visible through the bars. Clenching her hands into fists as memories of their battle with defeating Mez before a Senjutsu powered Guren joined the fight and knocked them both out with ease. "If we are here after our fight with Kasumi and Guren, then this must be the House of Botis' dungeon in their basement."

"You would be right to think that, but unfortunately we no longer live at the House of Botis estates."

Snapping their heads towards the bars, Mito and Koneko were greeted by Orotsuki, Kasumi and large figure standing outside the jailcell, and behind the three were a silent Jūgo and Kimimaro. Koneko defensively moved in front of Mito with her arms stretched out. "Orotsuki Botis, Kasumi Botis and Iwamaru Botis. All three of them are here."

"Heh. Welcome Shirone, Mito Lucifer. I do hope you are enjoying your new place of residence." Orotsuki said with a mock bow, making his siblings let out a laugh. "But don't you worry, the two of you won't be here for long… well, you won't at least, Shirone. Oh right, you prefer to be called Koneko Toujou."

"What do you mean by that?!" Mito demanded as she moved passed Koneko's arms and placed her hands on the prison bars, only to recoil with a painful scream as it electrocuted the palms of her hand. Koneko instantly went to her friend and pulled her back a good distance away, getting a look at the small burns on crying girl's hands before sending hateful glares at the three.

"Our sincerest apologies, I should have warned you about the spell casted on the prison you are in." Kasumi spoke up with a mocking voice as she gestured to the cell they were in. "You see, it negates all magical usage, meaning your spells, abilities and such are no longer available as long as you both are inside this cell. Try to escape, and well… you already saw what happened."

"Why did you even bring us here? Just kill me and get it over with, but let Mito go, she has nothing to do with this." Koneko said as she held the redheaded girl in her arms, not meeting her worried gaze as she looked up at the Nekomata.

"Unfortunately she did become a part of this when she interfered in your capture earlier. Not to mention, we've taken an interest in her and want to study her abilities for ourselves." Orotsuki replied before bringing a hand to his chin, "As for your execution, I'm afraid we have already come up with the perfect way to kill you. The down side is that it will take some time for us to prepare, not to mention we want to make sure that your sister gets a front row seat to watching you die before we take her life."

"D-Don't talk to h-her like that…!" Koneko turned her head slightly to see Mito glaring at Orotsuki and his siblings, ignoring the pain in her hands as she continued to speak. "I don't care who you guys are… there is no way we are going to let you kill Koneko!"

"We?"

"T-That's right… My brother and the Lucifer Clan, Rias and everybody else… Even Koneko's sister… There's no way they are going to sit back and let you kill us." Mito slowly got out of Koneko's hold as she narrowed her eyes. "There is no way they will ever forgive you for what you have done."

"Forgive us… Hahahaha, trust me, little girl. We don't want anyone's fucking forgiveness. All we want is to make that traitorous cat-slut pay for what she's done." Iwamaru chuckled as he and his brother smirked down at the girls, while Kasumi only crossed her arms. "As for your ideas of being rescued…we're counting on them showing up. We have a 'welcome party' ready and waiting."

Almost as soon the cloaked Devil said that, Koneko and Mito heard sounds of rustling and banging against bars. The two girls looked towards the other prison cells and were shocked to see hundreds of red glowing eyes staring back at them, deformed shadowy figures could be seen moving around. Orotsuki let out a chuckle as he glanced at the figures in the other cages before looking back at the girls. "I see you noticed your fellow dungeon dwellers. Most of them were test subjects that Sutairi had been before he died, but as you can see, the three of us have added to the collection of experiments. The House of Gremory and the Lucifer Clan can bring all the fighters they want, because as you can seem we have our own special security ready to fight them off."

Off to the side where Jūgo and Kimimaro were standing, the former retained his strangely calm expression as he subtly glanced over as Kimimaro before turning his attention to the two girls locked in the prison cell. The man said nothing as he watched the three Botis siblings walk away from the prison cell and started making their way out of the dungeon, following close behind them with Kimimaro at his side. The orange-haired man glanced back at the cell where the girls were locked up, and no one noticed one of his eyes changes colors with his iris become a pale yellow color while his sclerae turn black. In the reflection of his eyes, a close-up look of Koneko and Mito could be seen before his eye returned to normal as he turned back towards the exit of the dungeon.

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Chapter Twenty-one is finally done as we continue into the Black Cat Arc. Koneko and Mito have been captured by the House of Botis, but they did not make it easy for them. Now we are getting close to the final collision between these groups and the final battles. As some of you noticed, I didn't use suffix in this chapter besides calling Rias, Buchou. That is because I wanted to see what the chapter would look like without it and see if you, the readers, prefer it like this or what it was originally. If you like the original, then I will change it back next chapter. So, like always be sure to leave some nice reviews, but remember that all flames and insults will be IGNORED, so don't bother writing them. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter and I hope to see you again.

A/N: The next stories I will be working on are the next chapter of Guardian of the World Tree and then after that will be Red Threads of Fate

A/N 2: After getting a few messages about Openings and Endings to my stories, I am wondering if I should create a separate fanfic that focuses solely on the Opening and Endings only. Let me know what you all think.

A/N 3: As I stated above, lately I've been wanting to see what it would look if one of my stories was written with that Reading/Watching Genre that been getting very popular lately. I don't know who would be interested in doing it with one of mine, but I really hope someone could give it a try.

Until Next Time!