AN: I don't own the rights to any animes, manga, songs or TV shows that appear in this story. I also want to send out many thanks out to the many people who've helped me with ideas and beta reading this story. SC CloudStrife and his wife, Dadlop3 (Who also is to blame for the omake in this chapter), HurricaneLaurk, Ice of Darkness & Ogremen.
Also just want to throw this out so nobody thinks I've dropped the story, but I am spending the holidays with my family so I'm not going to be writing anything till into the new year.
Also because of many reviewers have asked about it; All Omakes in my stories are jokes. They didn't and won't really happen, it's me and friends being insane and sleep deprived.
Merry Christmas all.
Trying Again 8
Fires starting
Naruto released a loud groan as the sun pierced his eyelids, he did not want to wake up yet. Even if he could stay awake for 4 days at a time, that didn't mean he didn't like his sleep, even if it was on the couch in his study. Despite wanted to go back to sleep, Naruto rolled himself up to a seated position, his bare feet landing on the cool wooden floor, giving him a slight shock from the temperature difference. Ruffling his hair with one hand, the blonde stood up, letting the throw blanket fall from his body back to the couch; leaving him standing only in a pair of dark gray and red sweat pants.
Staggering around for a few moments in his sleep-induced haze, Naruto finally managed to make it out of the study and made his way to the kitchen. Coffee was his top priority. Then he'd try to figure out what day it was. Last time he'd stayed up for three days and then let himself sleep, he'd been out cold for 20 some hours. It wouldn't due for him to have been asleep for more than a day and not know it. He made it to the kitchen, only for his body to be enveloped in smoke the second he opened the door. Fighting down the coughing fit that came from the acrid smoke, Naruto moved through the room and forced open the windows before heading to where he knew the sink and spray head was to hose down the stove.
He didn't need to be fully awake to know this was his sister's fault, so if she was in the way of the water, it wasn't his problem. The loud squawk of surprise, one loud enough to wake the rest of the household, let him know that she was indeed in between the water and whatever that was that was burning. Naruto, who couldn't find the brain power to open his eyes more than half way, only grunted at the girl's cries of dismay at getting soaked. Her attempt at cooking was again unsalvageable.
"Nii-san, you scared me." Hikari said as she wiped the water off her face, and moved to make his coffee. "Everyone was up late worried because you slept so long so I thought I'd surprise them with making breakfast." By now the air in the room was starting to clear, showing a clearly burnt black pan and what might have been eggs and bacon. Hikari herself was also now visible, wearing a soft green sundress that seem to mix well against her purple hair and scaled tail. She was also clearly pouting that her attempts at cooking only seem to get worse the more she tried.
The door to the room crashed open as everyone from the ORC rushed into the kitchen, worried from the scream they had heard. The sight they came upon was not what they had expected. Though they really should have, Naruto had barely reacted as he seem to start falling asleep again while standing half naked, spraying the sink while Hikari had managed to jump completely onto the counter between the electric kettle and the stove.
"Are you okay Hikari-chan?" Asia asked. The blush on the nun's face was very apparent from the look of Naruto's upper body on clear display, as he finally stopped flooding the destroyed breakfast attempt. A blush that was shared among all the girls besides the boy's sister figure, however her concern for her friend overcoming her desire to stare at her savories body.
"Yeah I'm okay Asia-chan, Nii-san just surprised me." Hikari answered while she reached down and picked up her Nundu kitten and cuddled it to her chest. "Nii-san is such a meany in the morning, right Kuro-chan?" The cub glared and hissed at Naruto until a deep growl start emanating from the boy's shadow. Tabar slowly lifted from the ground behind his master, growling loudly at the Nundu, who responded by turning it's glare and hiss toward the large wolf.
Everyone in the room could feel the tension starting to rise as the wolf and panther stared off between their masters until the silence was cut off by Naruto in the least expected way. "ZZZZZZZZZZZ" everyone facefaulted as the blonde dragon-kin let off a loud snort; having fallen back to sleep because of the quiet tension.
"NII-CHAN!" Hikari's cried out as she heard him. Let it be known that Naruto was never good a reading the mood.
It was close to two hours later before the group sat down to breakfast. Yuto and Akeno had dragged Naruto off and tossed him into the prepared Furo, the water waking him enough to get up and correctly bathe before he returned to the kitchen. Asia and Akeno had been cooking and Koneko cleaned up and aired out the kitchen so that it could be used, while Rias had left to get everything ready for the day.
As everyone sat around the table eating, Hikari silently moping, depressed by another culinary failure, Akeno stopped eating long enough to pour Naruto another cup of coffee and send a pointed look towards her club president. Feeling the look being sent her way Rias also set down her chopsticks and took a moment to steady herself. She was not ready for this by any means, but she also knew if she put this off now, she'd never do it until it was too late. "I need to talk to everyone about something important." The girl finally said.
"That explains the espresso." Naruto muttered to himself while everyone turned their attention to the red-haired King. He had to ignore the kick he received under the table from Koneko as he tried to both pay attention and not spill his coffee on his lap. "What's up, Red?"
Rias favoured the boy a small smile, as his quips did in fact ease her nerves a bit. "I need you all to know that, while I didn't want to tell you all this. It was because you all not knowing helped me forget about it for a while, it was not because I didn't trust you." While Akeno and Koneko lowered their heads, showing that they were aware of what was coming, the rest of the table, other than Naruto, gave the girl confused looks. Naruto himself just kept sipping his extraordinarily strong coffee while he had his eyes locked with the girl. Seeing that most of the group was giving her their full attention, Rias continued. "Several years before I was born, my parents set up a marriage contract between House Gremory and House Phoenix. It was after the Devil civil war, so the number of pure blood Devils were low while the number of reincarnated Devils were rising rapidly. Many pure blooded Devils were worried that their family lines would lose their standing as they died out, and their ways would be forgotten. I wasn't told until much later when House Phoenix came to enact the contract between their youngest son and me." Everyone could see a look of pure loathing cross the teen's face as she spoke of her fiancé.
"By that look, I'm guessing this guy is a really charmer." Naruto remarked dryly, his cynicism clear in his voice.
"I like him as much as you like Hyodo, Naru-kun."
"I'm still not used to you calling me that."
"Ara ara, to give you an idea of how bad this engagement is, Ghosty-kun, I like this man as much as you like Hyodo." Akeno said, causing everyone to blink. So far the only people Akeno actively disliked were Fallen Angels. She seemed to be able to tolerate ANYTHING else, even Issei's pure creepy level of perversion. For this girl to dislike this guy was very surprising.
"Creep." Koneko added in just adding to the case.
"Okay, so the guy's a grade A dirt bag. Why are you telling us?" Naruto decided he'd have to meet this guy before he made a final judgment, but as he was making his 'Family' upset, he wasn't likely to be getting along with him.
Rias sighed as she rested her arms on the table and cradled her chin in her hands, her eyes losing focus as she remembered something. "I've spent the last 10 years trying to get myself out of this engagement. It was set up so that if both parties agree, we could end it cleanly, but no matter how much I try, Riser, my fiancé, refuses to let it end. He doesn't take any bets, won't listen to reason... Hell, he even is refusing anything I try to bribe him with." Rias had to momentarily shudder as she remembered the look in his eyes for both her and her female Peerage members. Shaking off the memory, she missed the cold look that flashed through Naruto's eyes. "I've been looking over every record I could get my hands on to try to find a way out. The best options I've found were to challenge him to a rating game or soil myself before the wedding." She said while looking down, clearly upset.
"Ano, what's a Rating Game?" Asia asked, unaware of the term.
"A Rating Game is a match where two Kings challenge each other's peerages to battle. The matches take place in an arena that is monitored so the battle can be recorded, and the Peerage members can be pulled out if they lose the fight so there are no fatalities. Rating Games came into play shortly after the Evil Piece system was created, as many high class devils often bragged about their Peerage as compared to others, often leading to duels. Now they are used for many reasons, and often seen as a status symbol or a way to settle disputes." Akeno explained for her friend, who seemed to have locked eyes with the silent blonde boy at the end of the table, unable to look away from him.
"Does 'soil' yourself mean what I think it does?" Naruto asked in a dead calm voice.
Rias held his eyes with a sad look. "To give away my virginity, yes."
"Answer me this, honestly. Were you planning on getting me to do it?"
"Originally, yes." Her voice quiet, eyes down cast while she responded to his question.
"What changed your mind?" Naruto voice was still calm and cold.
Rias took a deep breath to settle her nerves again, she knew she had to tell him straight on or he may not believe her."I didn't want to hurt what little trust you have in me." She said while looking him straight in the eye. "Although I trust you, and like you enough that I wouldn't mind the act, I wouldn't feel right having used you for such a thing; and I know you would be hurt by the thought of me using you like that. Even if I still think that is my best bet to get out of this marriage." Her voice was firm and eye unwavering.
Naruto keep his eyes locked with her for a few moment before a small smile made its way to his lips, there wasn't a hint of deceit in her words. Nodding his acceptance for her answer, Rias released a sigh. While it was a bit of a gamble admitting that to him, it would have been much worse had she lied and he found out. "So what makes the Rating Game such a bad option?"
"Riser is a mature devil, and has been for a few years now so he already has a full Peerage and has participated in many Rating Games." Rias said as she pulled some files from her carry bag that she had with her. Passing the information to the blonde, she continued. "As I'm not a mature devil, I can't enter any official Rating Games, so we don't have a lot of combat experience, nor do I have a full peerage. Although it's much more full now than it was last year at this time. I also don't really have any idea what our full combat power is, so I can't even plan accordingly."
Setting his coffee off to the side, Naruto started shifting through the records and pictures from Riser's past rating games. "This is why you were so motivated to gather Peerage members, I take it?" Naruto asked, basically ignoring her unasked question at the moment. Rias nodded, a little let down that the boy still wasn't forth coming with any information about himself. Naruto's eyes sharply moved across the pages of stats about each of Riser's peerage, the most notable members besides Riser himself were his queen, and the notably non-combative Bishop. "Fine, ask." the blonde finally said, his eyes not leaving the pages while he contemplated how to fight this group.
Rias eyes flew open in shock, before she smiled, gabbing Hikari's hand unconscionably in her excitement. "How strong are you really?"
"No clue, don't really have a measuring stick, but I would have lost to Mastema had he not been playing with us." Naruto said honestly. He knew he got lucky with that fight, even if it seemed to have messed up his Flames after whatever happened.
"Are you a Ninja?" Yuto asked, having wanted to know this since he'd met the slippery blonde bastard he called his best friend.
"Yes." Naruto said simply, causing a defining silence to fall over the household. Everyone was too shocked to say anything by his announcement, leaving the boy to enjoy his coffee as he considered how to deal with this new threat to his family's happy life.
"You do know that just silently staring is creepy, right?" The two-tone-haired man said as he shifted slightly under the slitted gaze of the boy in front of him. He may be old and more powerful than him, but the boy always had this look like you were never in control and it was better to let this dangerous wild animal have what it wanted. The boy's now slitted pupils only added to the effect, making the staring contest they had been having a very uneven match. "FINE! What do you want to know?"
"See, that wasn't so hard." Naruto said as a smirk made its way to his face. Azazel just grumbled about cocky, know it all brats while he waited for Naruto to ask his questions. They had met up at a Café in Tokyo proper after Rias dropped her little bomb on them this morning. As it was Sunday, they didn't have school and Azazel had finished most of his meetings in the area for the week, now was the best time for them to meet. "How did no one there notice you were a Fallen Angel? They all had various ways of sensing energy, and Kitten's got a wicked nose on her. I was sure they'd have caught you."
Azazel's face changed from one of resignation to one of glowing pride in heartbeats when he heard the question. Reaching a hand into his business suit, he pulled out a fist sized semi-circle-like object that had a ribbed lip around the lower half of it. The object seemed to be made of black crystal, while the lip had a dull look of hard plastic or non-processed metal. "That was because of this. It's a type of artificial Sacred Gear I made based on the idea of your own hiding abilities. It's a prototype with more than a few issues so far. I never really got to study your abilities very thoroughly, but it allows for the user to cast a glimmer over themselves that completely hides their energy signature. Down fall is that while the glimmer is in place, the person can't use any energies or spells without the glimmer falling. It consumes a LOT of magic to hold the disguise and can only be held for a week maximum." Azazel explained, becoming frustrated at the shortcomings of his device. "Your house was the first real field test of it. While the energy drain would be less if it was truly implanted, I needed to test the length and limits of it."
"I see. That would make for a very useful spying tool." Naruto said as he looked over the device.
"Not really. Well, not yet anyway." The man said as he leaned back in his chair a little. "It makes the user appear to be pure human for now, as it can't fake the energy signal of a Devil or Angel. So it's not useful for spying on most beings. While it would work on humans, most humans can't sense our energies anyway so it's a bit of a waste of time right now."
"Seemed pretty useful while you were staying with me." Naruto countered while he sat back sipping his coffee.
"Your friends already thought I was human so they didn't look into it too much." Azazel countered the boy. "Your ability, which is what I was trying to reproduce, makes you invisible to any form of senses. Unless someone is looking right at you, it's like you're not even there. Well, until you started producing those Void Flames of yours."
Naruto raised an eyebrow when Azazel explained this. "So you're saying that I'm pretty much the ultimate spy, and you want to make more of me? Isn't that pretty counterproductive for you? If more beings like me were out there they could spy on you too."
"Well yes, but at the same time it would give us the ability to blend in better. As the church is still hunting any of us it can find, even the ones that simply want to live a normal peaceful life, this would be a perfect way to prevent them from being followed." Azazel explained.
"And the perfect way to sneak into an enemy camp and kill them all without being found out. Perv, you may have the best intentions, but there are so many ways that can be turned against you. Just look what happened with the atom bomb humans built. The original idea was to make cheaper, safer power plants. Instead, it was weaponized." Naruto argued. Though his voice was calm, his face was dead serious. Seeing the other man about to defend his faction, Naruto pushed through. "You already said yourself that there were rogues in your group. What do you think would happen if they got their hands on this sort of ability?"
Azazel winced at that thought. He had thought this sort of thing would be great to escape hunters, or when he wanted to go fishing so others couldn't find him and bring him back. Just imagining the amount of damage a battle maniac like Kokabiel could do if no one could track him was frightening to the peace-loving pervert. "I hadn't thought of that." he finally admitted as he sunk into his seat.
"I'm not faulting your motives Uncle Az, just your forethought. The ability to completely disappear may not seem like a very destructive thing at first glance, but in the wrong hands could cause another war as easily as it could end one."
"Damn, now I know I'm losing my touch. I'm being lectured by a teenager, and he's right." Azazel moaned half-jokingly.
"Haven't you heard? Teenagers know everything." Naruto shot back with a cocky smirk.
"Watch it brat, I still pay your allowance."
"Speaking of, think I could get an advance on that? Food money is running kind of tight." Naruto asked, holding in a chuckle when Azazel dropped his face to the table.
"Why did I adopt you again?"
"Because you'd be bored otherwise?"
"Damned Brat." Azazel muttered.
The two other-worldly beings sat there for a while longer, allowing their conversation to travel across many other topics, from their different jobs to day to day life. Azazel finally was able to explain what he did in far more detail than their original conversation; which was more focused on Azazel trying to explain why he hid what he did from the blonde boy.
Koneko fell to her knees, panting as sweat dripped from the side of her face onto her hand. Her shirt, the same one she had taken to wear during the dodge ball match, was soaked and torn in many places, just barely maintaining her modesty. Yuto was a few feet behind her, equally as beaten but passed out, leaning against one of the many trees in the area. The opponents, the two had been facing stood before her, tired and sweating lightly but still able to continue. "I do believe that we are finished for tonight."
Koneko tried to stand and protest, only to fall again. "Don't wanna."
Naruto sighed before motioning his Shadow Clone to go collect Yuto, while he himself moved to pick up Koneko. "Kitten, any more and you'll do more harm to yourself than good. Yuto knocked himself out an hour ago, but you kept pushing. I'm proud of how far you've come, already able to train at level 5 gravity, but if you don't slow down and rest you'll just end up hurting yourself."
"Need to be stronger." The girl muttered as she was lifted onto the blonde ninja's back. "Like you."
"Kitten, I'm the exception, not the rule. Like I told everyone this morning. I was a Ninja last time around, a trained fighter; now I'm a Dragon, I don't follow the rules of normal, and likely never will." Naruto said with a chuckle. "However, you're learning very quickly, you're already starting to move in step with my attacks."
"Still can't hit you." The white-haired cat-girl said tiredly, already starting to fall asleep while being carried through the forest they'd been training in. Naruto had just returned from his meeting with Azazel when both Yuto and Koneko had appeared before him, requesting he step up their training. Akeno had even insisted that she be allowed to cook so he could help the two, as she and Rias trained Asia and Hikari in magic. While slightly surprised at them all seeming to be so fired up about the training, he wasn't about to turn them down. Even he knew he needed more training after the incident with Tabar.
Losing use of his flames greatly bothered him. They had been the deciding factor when he was fighting the fallen angels at the church to save Asia. Their release had been what saved Akeno and Rias from the Death worm after he'd died, but now just calling them out caused him to cough up blood and lose control of them. He'd spent weeks just getting enough control to make them come out without them trying to consume everything around him. Now he had to start all over. Only this time they may even try to consume him as well. With Rias's future on the line, he couldn't afford to play with a handicap like that.
He'd had to have a couple of his Shadow clones train with the two for several hours while he tried to regain any form of control over the flames. It had taken him two hours and more pain than he'd care to admit, but he had managed to summon and dispel a small amount of flame without losing control. However, he'd been coughing up blood for 20 minutes afterward. Once his chakra healed whatever was damaged, he gave up for the night and returned to training with his friends. While the two seemed to want to know what he was doing, they didn't push for answers as he replaced one of his clones in their sparring sessions.
Naruto didn't even make it to the backyard of his property when he started to hear light snoring in his ear, taking a quick glance back over his shoulder the boy started to chuckle lightly. Koneko, despite her insistence to continue training, was already asleep just from the walk back to the house, her small hand clenched tightly to his shirt. Looking over to his clone, he saw that Yuto was still passed out even as he was in a fireman's carry over the clones shoulder. Said clone was chuckling while shaking his head. "Well they have spunk, if nothing else." His copy said quietly to prevent waking either of them.
"That they do, but I'm starting to wonder about Yuto. He was a light sleeper in chemistry, but now he seems to always be in a near coma. That can't be healthy." The original replied.
"He's bringing it on himself, even when we tell him to take a break he just starts doing something else."
"Wonder if we can make some sort of equivalent to solider pills with alchemy?" Naruto said as they finally reached the house.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Called a new voice from the back door. Looking up, the two Narutos saw Rias standing in the doorway. She was leaning her left shoulder on the frame of the door while watching the approaching group. "They okay? You've been gone for quite awhile."
"They're fine, nothing a few hours of rest and a big meal won't fix." The Naruto holding Yuto said to the girl.
"Any dinner left, Red? I'm starving. I'm pretty sure the smell will wake these two up as well." The original announced.
Rias smiled lightly and nodded while she moved out of the doorway to let the weary group enter. "Yes, Akeno made sure to put aside a good amount for you three. Asia and Hikari also prepared the Furo for you; we figured you would want to clean up after training."
"Thanks, we'll need it. Prep's been napping in the dirt for an hour and Kitten didn't want to stop until she almost drowned in her own sweat." Naruto said with a chuckle while he and his clone laid both down in the dining room. Sending his clone to get a couple of towels for the two, the blonde boy made his way to the kitchen to reheat some food with Rias following him. "So what's on your mind Red? I know it was more than this Rating Game that's got you thinking."
Rias stopped as the two entered the kitchen. She started nibbling on her lower lip while she tried to come up with a way to ask her question. "What do you think of me?"
Naruto looked back at her oddly while he stopped portioning out the food. "How do you mean?"
Rias sighed as she moved to lean against the wall next to the door. "Well, I know we didn't really get off to the best start, with you being mad at me for how I revived you, the only way I could. Then the trust issues, arguments, and everything else; but you got along with everyone else so much better than me. You never told me anything about yourself, but from what I saw when you were explaining stuff this morning, Koneko and Hikari already knew about it. So I just want to know what you really think of me."
Naruto sighed as he set down the plates he'd dished out. "I'll be blunt Red. When we first met, I thought you were a spoiled rich kid that got by on her good looks and had everything handed to her. Your introduction to Devil life style didn't help matters, by the way. It basically sounded like 'Hey! You died for me, so now you're my slave'. Not the best way to say this stuff Red, you really need to work on that." Rias winced at that, as she remembered how badly that whole conversation went. Naruto shook his head while chuckling, putting the first plate into the microwave, before he continued. "But, I'll admit I wasn't completely right about you. Yes, you were a bit spoiled and you could get everything handed to you because of your good looks, but you don't want that. You work hard to get people to see you as yourself. You're very caring about those close to you, and aren't afraid to get dirty when it comes down to it. I can respect that. You are also getting better with this whole servant/master outlook which; while okay in the bedroom, I'm really not a fan of otherwise." Rias blushed a bit at the comment about bedroom games, something she would have expected from Akeno, not the blonde Dragon-kin in front of her.
"So I'm kind of your friend?" Rias asked, a bit unsure of what he was saying.
"Nope." Naruto said simply, switching the plates that he was heating up. Rias's whole demeanor dropped when he said that, sadness clearly building in her eyes before Naruto finished his statement. "You're family."
"Wha?!" Rias's head shot up in shock, earlier depression gone.
"What, you don't think I'd have gone out of my way to get this house for all of us if I didn't consider you close enough to think you part of my life, did you?" Naruto said with a grin. "As I've told Koneko before, I may not know love, or really any true emotion, but I am empathic to a degree. I know you care about us all, and worry about us, at first I thought it was a possessive worry like that of an item. However, the longer I was around, the more I saw that it was a genuine caring that you had. Admittedly odd ways of showing it, but you truly care for all of us as family, as far as I can tell. If you think of us as such, then I can do the same, at least."
Rias smiled tenderly with a blush of real happiness on her cheeks before she walked up and hugged him. "You know, for someone who says he can't feel emotions, you really have a way of drawing them out of others."
"Really?" Naruto asked while he awkwardly patted Rias back. "Cause I have no idea what I said to make you want to hug me."
"Just shut up and hug me back." Rias said with a small giggle.
Sona and Rias walked side by side towards the club room. Sona couldn't hold back the twitch in her eyebrow as she knew where this coming meeting would lead. She had seen the other two of the perverted Trio; both were covered in pink feathers that wouldn't come off so she knew the last was likely the same. Since the boy knew the person who likely did the punishment, she assumed he was likely here to find the way to remove them. She had come to collect him and add to his punishment, and likely have to ask forgiveness from the blonde dragon.
Rias had warned her she would have to be quick, as a meeting was going to be happening very soon that would not be pleasant. Grayfia was already in the room with Rias's Peerage, and Riser would be arriving soon so she was hoping that she could just get her wayward Pawn, apologize and leave. The high pitched scream coming from the room down the hall ended that thought quickly, and only caused the student council president to sigh aloud. "I'm starting to believe that Hyodo-san is more trouble than he is worth." The pink eyed devil muttered out.
"I am beginning to think I got off lucky, having you end up with him." Rias agreed quietly with her old friend. Shaking her head, they made their way towards the club room door. They, however, weren't able to open it before it was smashed into the wall across the hall; propelled by a pink and blue rocket. Blinking a few times to clear the surprise from almost being hit by the door to the room, both girls looked to where the door landed and saw it was Sona's pawn. He was frozen upside down to the door while still being completely covered in pink feathers. Looking in the direction he came from, they saw Grayfia standing behind one of the couches with her arm extended towards the frozen boy, her eyebrow twitching dangerously.
"The difference between Perverted and annoying is I get hit less violently, moron." Naruto's voice called out from the club room.
"Hai!" Issei managed to groan out before passing out.
"I apologize Ojou-sama." Grayfia said as she bowed low to the young red-haired girl in the doorway. "I'm afraid my temper got the better of me when he tried to touch me."
Rias sighed and was about to reply when Naruto decided he should cut in to the conversation before the maid decided to take the blame, and likely get herself in trouble. "Hey Red, don't listen to Maid-chan; I was riling everyone up before Perv came busting in, got a little to full of himself and tried to get a handful for himself."
"Naru-kun, when AREN'T you riling people up?" Rias asked, a smirk on her face. Something that she very much enjoyed about Naruto was his way of lightening the atmosphere. The boy was sitting on the couch across the room from her brother's queen, Koneko once more seated on the boy's lap. Yuto was sitting next to the pair, enjoying a cup of tea that Akeno was serving to everyone.
"Is that a trick question? Oie!" Naruto turned to mock glare at Koneko, who had started poking his ribs.
"Baka." Asia, who was standing behind Naruto, giggled lightly at the white haired girl's comment.
"Ufufu, Ghosty-kun you really should behave yourself with Koneko-chan so near." Akeno said even as she was having trouble trying to control her laugher. "Oh Sitri-sama, what can we do for you?"
"I'm only here to collect my wayward pawn, again, and express my apologizes to your group Akeno-sama." Sona said as she bowed to the group. As her head was down, she missed Grayfia's wide eyed look, as the heir to the Sitri house referring to a servant as 'sama'. "I also express my deep apologizes to you Lucifuge-sama for Hyodo-san's actions against you."
"No Sitri-sama, it is I who must apologizes for my actions against your pawn. It was not my place to discipline him. Also, please do not refer to one such as me so highly, it is unbecoming of the Heir to House Sitri." Turning her bow toward Sona as she did so.
Sona quickly turned her eyes towards Naruto, only to see the boy shake his head slightly. Grimacing slightly, Sona swallowed her pride and spoke. "I'm afraid, due to extenuating circumstances, I cannot do that Lucifuge-sama. As it is a matter of family honor, I cannot explain further, but for the time being I must continue this course." Naruto raised an eyebrow, as he expected her to say it was his fault rather than defy the powerful maid.
The group's conversation was once again interrupted, only this time by a flaming teleportation circle which marked the entrance of a blonde man. The man was dressed in a well tailored black suit coat and pants, along with shining black dress shoes. The high collared white button down shirt he wore under the coat was left open down to his stomach exposing his chest, while black undershirt could just be seen under it."Ah my lovely, I've come to see you."
"Wow, this guy's got the douchebag flashy entrance down to a tee." Naruto whispered over to Yuto, who was seated next to him and Koneko.
"Flashy fried chicken." Koneko muttered, her eyes narrowed and glaring at the man as he approached Rias.
"Now, I know its sudden Rias, but let's go and look over the ceremony site, the date has already been set." The man said as he gave a close eyes smile and wrapped an arm around her.
"Let go of me, Riser!" Rias growled out loudly while throwing him off of her, causing Naruto to gain a glare to match Koneko's. Seeing the man reaching for Rias again, his eyes still closed Naruto decided to act.
"Ahhh, Rias, you're acting so embarrassed." Riser said, his hand finding its place on a shoulder, a surprisingly hard one.
"I think it's you that needs to be embarrassed, as well as getting your eyes checked. I'm a blonde not a red head." An annoyed male voice said while brushing the hand off. Riser quickly opened his eyes in shock, which turned to anger.
"Who are you?" The youngest Phoenix son demanded.
"The guy you just tried to cop a feel off of. Sorry idiot but I'm straight." Naruto shot back coldly, his new found temper barely in check.
Flames started flickering around Riser's body as his own anger started to show from being mocked by who he thought was a lowly servant. "You dare mock me?! Do you know who I am?!"
"Do you really think I care?" Naruto countered, his eyebrow rising mockingly. "All I need to know is that you're NOT wanted and NOT taking the hint."
"I am the third son of the noble house of Phoenix, a pure-blood high-class devil!" Riser started to yell as Naruto simply turned his back on the yelling devil and approached where Rias was now sitting with Koneko on her lap. Both where very confused. "ARE YOU LISTENING!?"
"I already told you I don't care who you are, you charbroiled peacock." Naruto said, waving the other man off.
This only served to piss the arrogant man off more. Losing sight of his surroundings, Riser screamed and launched a large fire ball toward the waving blonde. Feeling the heat of the flames, Naruto whipped around. His once waving hand covered in black flames, sliced through the ball, causing it to disperse into the air. When the rapidly fading smoke cleared, Riser was treated to a sight that shook him. Naruto's eyes had shifted from icy blue to glowing garnet that radiated primal power, his teeth had also sharpened and lengthened.
Growling loudly, his anger starting the get the better of him, Naruto was about to launch towards the flame covered man, intent on ripping Riser to pieces as he had almost hurt his family. He didn't get a chance, as both his arms were caught by the two girls he'd just defended while Riser was restrained by a glowing Grayfia. Ice was covering the ground around the women and slowly starting to form on Riser's suit jacket. "You will stop now or, for the honor of my Master Lucifer-sama, I will not hold back." The silver haired maid said, staring directly into the young Phoenix's eyes.
"Naruto-kun, please calm down." Rias pleaded as she and Koneko were starting to move towards Riser and Grayfia, even while pulling back as hard as they could. The rest of the Peerage had to join the two girls to hold the whiskered boy from making it to his target.
The boy suddenly stopped his advance, his eyes and teeth returning to normal. He snorted and turned his back to his target when he saw Riser cowering from the silver haired women. Feeling something on his lip, he quickly reach his hand up and wiped away what his was sure was blood. As he turned away from everyone trying to hide it the boy growled under his breath "Coward."
"Since this obviously will not be settled peacefully." Grayfia started, keeping an eye on Naruto as he retook his seat, Koneko quickly joining him to keep him calmer. "If you insist on not willingly taking part in this wedding then how about settling this in a Rating Game?"
"As you know, Ojou-sama is not a mature devil so she cannot participate in an official match, but if it is an unofficial match, then even non-adult devils can participate." Grayfia explained.
"Which says that Father and the others knew I would refuse and decided to set up a Rating Game match beforehand. Just how far will they continue to interfere with my life before they are satisfied?" Rias grumbled to herself before turning to Riser. "Fine Riser, I challenge you to a Game."
"Really now? You know I've been in and won many matches already, even still you still wish to fight me?" Riser asked, his arrogances returning to his voice.
"Yes, I will make you disappear!" Rias said strongly, no hint of hesitation.
"Very well, but is this your entire Peerage?" Riser asked while waving to the group of devils that had taken to standing around Naruto to prevent the boy taking another run at the arrogant devil. "Because this game will be a joke if it is." The man flaunted as he swung his arm out, "Let me show you my cute servants!" A second flaming teleportation circle appear on the far side of the room releasing a full group of women from it.
Naruto raised an eyebrow while he looked over the group of woman that the man had summoned. While he could admit some of them felt strong, Naruto was sure that Riser had picked them more for looks rather than tactical value, as each was beautiful in their own right. He started putting names to faces he remembered from the files he'd looked over with Rias. The two strongest were a purple-haired women in a flowing white cape, who stood in front of the rest, Yubelluna. The other was a smaller blonde girl with hair in two drill-shaped ponytails. She seemed to be trying to come off as haunting but to Naruto she just looked like she was pouting cutely; Ravel Phoenix.
Directly behind the purple haired woman stood three slightly weaker girls; in terms of power. They didn't look much weaker in appearance compared to the drill haired girl, thought their energy level where a good deal smaller. The first was a black haired girl with a colourful Kimono who had a polite smile as she looked around, Mihae. Naruto would have sworn he just meet the black haired version of Asia with the way the girl's eyes traveled around the room with slight wonder and oddly polite happiness. She was placed between two women who were holding swords in ready but relaxed stances.
The woman on Mihae's left was covered in light-plate gray armor made for speed while still offering fair protection, Karlamine. She had sandy brown hair tied up by a white bandana and short broad sword. The swordswoman on the right had a white battle dress on with black gauntlets and greaves, Siris. Her hair was long and black, held up in an odd looking top-bound ponytail that broke into several smaller ponytails that were tied off at their ends in gold bands. Her sword was what really caused Naruto give her his full attention. She was easily holding up a giant Zweihänder as if held no weight to her, intoning that she had a great deal of practice with her choice of weapon and the strength to wield it correctly.
Standing at the outer wings of the group were two girls that stood more in defense stances. One of the girls had a mask covering half her face, with orange tinted brown hair with red streaks in her bangs, Isabela. She wore a tight leather jacket that was cut to expose her stomach, and jeans that had the right leg ripped off. Naruto would have guessed she was in a gang before becoming a devil, or based her clothes on that assumption. The other girl looked slightly younger than the gangster and looked like a Chinese martial artist; including hair buns and kung-fu dress, Xuelan.
The back line of girls were slightly eclectic. Two young, identical, green haired twins in school gym clothes wielding chainsaws, Ile and Nel if he remembered correctly. Two mid-teen twin cat girls in skimpy sailor type school uniforms, one with blue hair, Ni, the other with red, Li. Next to the cat girls were a couple of girls dressed in full black French maid uniforms, one with brown hair, Marion, the other with almost black, Burent. Following her was a women dressed like belly dancer. If he recalled right, she was named Shuriya. The final girl, Mira, was dressed like a shrine worker with a Bo staff that had both ends wrapped with a cloth bundle.
All and all Naruto could say, although attractive; something that could be attested to by the crying he could hear from the still frozen Issei in the hall, he was not overly impressed with their power. If they all were as strong as the purple-haired women or the drill-haired girl, he'd be worried. But as of now, he only saw three of them as a threat.
"Wasn't he just cowering in fear not three seconds ago?" Naruto muttered to the group around him.
"Baka, fried chicken." Koneko said again.
"I wonder if I can breathe fire?" Naruto randomly muttered.
"What?" Yuto asked.
"Well I just thought I could use the time this hot air bag was wasting to contemplate something more intelligent, so I was wondering if I could breathe fire now." Naruto replied, causing Akeno and Rias to start giggling while Asia actually starting considering it. Koneko and Sona, who had decided to stay and watch the meeting, only sighed while Yuto looked worried.
"Please tell me you're not going to try to perfect doing that on me?" Yuto asked in worry.
"Have to figure out if I can first." Naruto said, waving off the other boy's worry. Most of the women in the room started to giggle at the two boy's banter. Even a couple of the girls in Riser's Peerage had trouble holding back their laughter.
"Are you quite finished, you low class, trash?" Riser demanded again, aggravation clear in his voice.
"Are you still here? I'm fairly sure no one ordered fried chicken for lunch, so you can go." Naruto's mockingly countered, his posture seemingly relaxed.
"You dare mock Riser-sama?!" One of the girls from the man peerage shouted before she launched herself at the seated whiskered boy. The girl lifted her double ended staff to try and strike him in the chest, even if Koneko could have been hit as well. All the girl's speed was stopped instantly as her staff hit Naruto's out stretched hand, which didn't move a bit from the impact. Daring to look up, the staff-welding girl froze in place as sweat started to form on her brow, glowing slitted red eyes glared down at her from his seat.
"I dare." Naruto growled back, as his energy started to fill the room, all of Risers peerage took an involuntary step back. Riser himself was about to make another attempt to attack, hoping to encourage his servants more, but a loud deep growling stopped him and frightened his Peerage even more. From behind Naruto's chair, the large form of Tabar entered the room through a shadow, his wings and fangs on full display.
Riser's eyes opened even more in shock as he watched the legendary Monarch shadow wolf take up a position of guarding the blonde that had mocked and insulted him since he had entered the club room, to retake what was his from the human world. Riser couldn't help but snarl as he saw how shaken his Peerage was from the blonde's display. Even his pawn Mira had quickly retreated behind him after the wolf appeared in the room.
Rias was having the opposite in lines of thought. The small display Naruto was showing; even if he hadn't called up his black flames, was truly inspiring hope in her. She had no doubts that Akeno and Koneko were feeling the same, as watching the arrogant man's entire Peerage flinch back from a glare and a small flare of power from her friend was truly a sight to behold.
"Hmph, Fine, the match will take place in 15 days' time. You can even pick the battlefield. Come, we're leaving." Riser barked out, as he activated his teleportation circle.
"The ass even barks like a chicken." Naruto snorted out just after the spell started, allowing him to be heard but too late for Riser to do or say anything back. Reaching down, he started to scratch Tabar's neck while he let everyone laugh to relieve some tension the meeting had caused. "So I think we're going to need a place to train, cause the woods behind my place aren't going to be big enough for fast pace long term training like we are going to need."
"Yeah, we're just going up to Red's vacation home for a few weeks." Naruto said into the phone. He was in his study at his place with all the others; they were currently packing their things for the extended training trip, something both Yuto and Koneko were excited for. "Nah, it's already been cleared with the school as a club activity, so I'm good there." It surprised him with how eager they seemed to be to do more of his training. Even when they often passed out right after he finished, and now they were likely to do so before he finished. "Ah okay, thanks, I'll need it before we leave." He was currently explaining to Azazel what was happening, even if it was slightly vague.
"Nii-san, Rias-nee-chan says they should be ready to go in 5 minutes." Hikari's voice called out through the closed door.
Naruto pulled the phone away from his head before he called back. "Okay I'll be done in a minute." Going back to the phone as he turned away from the door. "You hear that?… Okay, yeah I'll let you know when I'm back in town, just let me know if you hear any more about the deal with the devil that set Asia up." That was something Naruto had learned during his conversation with Azazel on Sunday.
Raynare had made it back to Azazel with Karawarner, who was excused of wrongdoing when she had added a good deal to the black-haired fallen's report. A devil was apparently the one that had set up Asia's excommunication and then offered her up to the fallen angels for her Sacred Gear. While they didn't know the devils name, or why he had done it, none had counted on Naruto's interference. Now while Asia was safer due to her being a devil, Azazel and Raynare both warned him that the devil wasn't likely to give up.
He'd also been warned that Kokabiel was very upset about Mastema's death, and demanding that the fallen's killer be found. Azazel was blocking all of Kokabiel's attempts to find out who was involved but warned Naruto all the same, as the Fallen was already on the verge of being declared rogue.
"Right, thanks Uncle." Naruto said before finally hanging up. Grabbing the storage scroll with all his extra equipment, Naruto started for the door, though he didn't show it as much as the others that he was looking forward to this trip as well. He'd remembered his training for the Rasengan last night, so he now had three things he was planning on working on. Azazel had called him to let him know he'd paid of Naruto's credit card, so he now had money for supplies for his training as well.
Picking up the full backpack, which he had his clones prepare for him while he spoke to Azazel, the blonde boy walked out to see everyone else was just arriving in the living room. "Everyone ready?" Getting nods from all, Naruto nodded back and started towards the door. "Okay, lets lock up then head to the store, I need some training gear for myself. If anyone else needs anything, get it."
"We have a lot of stuff at the house Naru-kun, what else could you need?" Rias asked, she was fairly sure all the training equipment they would need was already ready at her family vacation home.
Naruto only grinned "Trust me when I say you won't have it. They'll seem pretty random."
"Nii-san, everything you do seems random." Hikari deadpanned at him. Naruto turned to defend himself, only to get matching looks from everyone in the group. Even Asia couldn't stop herself from giving him a flat look.
"Am I really that bad?"
"Who carries around contact cement and dyed pink chicken feathers?" Yuto questioned, showing a bit of the random acts Naruto seemed to do.
"They came in handy, didn't they?"
"You crawled across the teacher's desk to sleep at lunch, Ghosty-kun."
"I was tired, and the other desks weren't big enough to lie down on."
"You took the coffee maker from the staff room and plugged it in on my desk during chemistry class." Yuto added in again.
"Hey, that one helped you stay away for an entire class for once." Naruto cut in.
"It also got me detention."
"Blah, you were out again in like 10 minutes 'cause your fangirls scared the teacher." Naruto said, waving off the other blonde's near detention as he lead them out of the gate of his house. By this point, everyone else was laughing as the two blonde boys traded shots with each other. Their interaction a clear indication of how close they had become as friends; to the point that most passerby's would think they had been friends all their lives rather the only a few months.
Naruto didn't even stop his back and forth with Yuto when Koneko slipped forward and took hold of his hand. He did raise an eyebrow when he saw Hikari copy the cat girl's actions with the blonde Knight. The fact that said Knight copied his actions; holding her hand without turning away from the whiskered boy, just seemed oddly amusing to the ninja.
Hikari holding Yuto's hand without protest would be spreading like wild fire by the time they came back from the trip, leaving a lot of girls heartbroken; and with Yuto to have to clear up a lot of rumors. Naruto would have felt sorry for what the boy was doing to himself if it wasn't so funny. From the looks of mischief and amusement in Rias and Akeno's eyes they were thinking the same thing.
Pushing the thoughts aside for now, Naruto lead the group into one of the malls in the nearby area to his house. He had a large supply of balloons and rubber balls to buy.
Back in the swirling chaotic nexus of colour and stone, the short gothic girl with a purple dress and long black hair stood before two kneeling figures. The first was a sharp-faced teen with side swept silver gray hair. He was dressed in a black leather jacket and a dark green undershirt. His pants were made of black denim with a chain hanging from his left side; combat boot finished his outfit off. The teen was tall and thin, giving him a strong yet wiry look, but he didn't look unhealthy or underfed.
Next to the silver haired teen was a young woman with long black hair and voluptuous body, she was dressed in a loose-fitting black and red kimono that was tied closed with a large golden ribbon. The woman looked to be slightly shorter than the teen but her face showed a matured yet playful woman. The most defining features on the woman were her two large cat-like ears rising out of her hair and the two black tails that peaked out the bottom of her kimono.
The young-looking girl let her eyes scan over the two people before her, while her face betrayed nothing of her thoughts or emotions. "Vali, Kuroka. I have felt a great release of energy from within Japan. A being with powers not unlike my own has awakened there, find him and bring him to me."
"Yes Ophis-sama." The two said in unison. After a moment of waiting for more details, the silver-haired teen looked up towards the young looking girl "Ophis-sama, is there anything else you can tell us about him?"
Ophis sat back down in her throne-like chair and closed her eyes for a moment, while the two waited patiently. After a few moments, Ophis opened her eyes once more and looked toward the silver teen. "Only that he is a dragon, and he was in the area of Kuoh two weeks ago. He has an ability to completely conceal himself."
Vali's eyes narrowed slightly while he staring downwards in thought, such ability would be both very handy and very irritating. While they had an idea where the target was in general, without the ability to sense him in any way it was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack. "Very well Ophis-sama, we will leave immediately."
Ophis looked at the two for a moment as they stood up to leave her realm. "He is a dragon, so he's not to be underestimated. Bring him to me, it matters not how long is needed."
Vali almost sighed in relief when he heard that, he held it in successfully but just barely. "As you wish, Ophis-sama." The teen said as he led Kuroka out of the portal to the powerful being's realm.
Once they were outside, Kuroka released her own sigh of relief. While she wasn't as restrained as her silver haired team leader, she knew she shouldn't act out in front of the girl that was known as 'the infinite dragon god' if she wanted to live for long. "If she can't even sense this guy, how exactly are we supposed to find him?" she asked while stretched out her back by leaning backwards with her arms held out over her head.
Vali looked back at the stretching cat woman for a moment before he turned his eyes forward. "When you are looking for a needle in a haystack, you use a magnet. Ophis-sama said the target is a Dragon. Dragons naturally seek out strong opponents. So all we need do is stay in the area while surveying the town, and he will appear before us."
Kuroka blinked, until she remembered his Sacred Gear had a dragon sealed inside of it too. "That makes sense, and it's a good thing Ophis-sama didn't give us a time limit then. But isn't Kuoh under Devil control? How are all of us going to get in and stay unnoticed?" At the end of her question, she tilted her head to the side and blinked cutely at him, while having her index finger touching her chin lightly.
Vali didn't even look back at her, thereby ruining her attempt to get a rise out of him. He'd become all too used to her flirting by now, so he could ignore it mostly. Although she could still catch him off guard once in a while. She acted like this with almost everyone so he knew that there was little point in trying to stop her or comment on it. "Once there, we will have to suppress our auras until La Fay can set up a barrier around our base of operations. We will work out surveillance after we are there and have a lay of the land."
Kuroka pouted a bit at the fact that the boy didn't even look her way, but quickly pushed the thought out. Thinking over what he had said, she nodded. "I'll be able to get a quick scan of where most of the supernaturals are generally located so we have an idea of who we are looking at. Can we assume the target will be with one of the groups?" Even if she was flirty, she knew she was here for a reason, and she had to be serious sometimes.
Vali nodded as she went over her idea. He stopped and turned to her as they reached the door to his team's lounge. "No, while it is possible that he is affiliated with one of the supernatural groups, Ophis-sama said that he has just awakened, so he may not have come in contact with any other supernatural beings yet." Vali explained. The silver haired teen didn't give the woman behind him another chance to talk before he pushed open the door and entered.
The lounge was a very well decorated room. Set up like a manor home in a classical time period. Large flowing dark red drapes half covered the wall-length window on the far wall from the entrance, allowing in enough light without it being blinding. The windows themselves were magically set to show a mountainside view of a valley that was parted by a river. Vali never could figure out if the view was of a real place or if the caster had simply made the place up.
In the center of the room was a large square low set table, surrounded by padded wood couches, one for each face of the table. The couches were all identical, three seats on burgundy cloth covered padding and swooping high backs. Decorative vines and leaves were carved into the wood that lined the couches. The walls were lined with bookshelves and work desks, each covered in various different items and topics of study. The stone floor was covered in a large throw rug, black in colour.
Scattered around the room in different places were the rest of his teammates. Arthur Pendragon, who was another teen around his age, with blonde hair that was tied in a braid the hung in front of his left shoulder. Arthur wore nobility-styled dress suit complete with a flaring blue tie. He wore silver wire-rimmed glasses, giving him the air of a well-to-do student from a protégés school, rather than the deadly swordsmen Vali knew him to be. Arthur was sitting next to his sister, going over an old journal trying to translate it.
Arthur's sister, La Fay Pendragon, was a cute blonde girl who was dressed in a light blue stereotypical witch outfit, including pointed hat, a cape covered in small pink flowers and broom off to the side next to her. The girl's demeanor was practically night and day from her brother's. Where Arthur was stiff and noble, La Fay was happy-go-lucky. While she would worry about the others when they were on missions or hurt, she never stayed that way and returned to her cheerful personality soon afterward.
The last of his team was the Monkey youkai, Bikou. Bikou was a normally loud and boisterous person who could match Vali's own battle lust. Currently however, he was snoring very loudly as he lay sprawled across one of the couches in the room. The monkey was clothed mostly in a tight armor vest and loose fitting black pants; his short normally spiky hair was now matted down from sleep as a line of drool ran down his cheek.
Vali stared at the sleeping man for a moment before turning to Kuroka. "And you WANT me to act more like him?" He asked while pointing towards the drooling man.
"Err, not exactly like him, just relax more." Kuroka tried to say, the sweat drop running down her head indicating she was thinking similar thoughts upon seeing the sleeping Youkai. "Forget I asked. Please?"
"With pleasure." Vali replied.
Naurto sat silently, staring up at the full moon in the night sky, wind gently brushing his hair. Koneko was sleeping soundly, using his chest as her pillow, while his back was pressed in to a tree near a cliff face. Naruto was in a muscle shirt and pants, his jacket folded beside him; while Koneko was in a light shirt and track pants. Both of them were covered in a light sheen of sweat, their clothing damp and clinging to them. All around the pair were a good thirty some copies of the blonde boy, each quietly holding a water balloon in their hand with looks of concentration on their faces.
The mountain and forested area around Rias' family vacation home was surprisingly comforting to the normally high strung blonde. Even if he'd never been here before, Naruto found himself feeling a surprising amount of familiarity with the environment that put him at ease. Even just sitting here with someone leaning on him, an act that would almost always cause his muscles to tense in the past, he found himself relaxing more easily.
He still had a lot on his mind; things from his past, his Rasengan training and how he got his necklace. Thoughts of things from his present: such as what had happened during his fight with Mastema that caused the void flames to start hurting him, and the upcoming battle against Riser and his Peerage. He even had thoughts for the future, such as what he was going to do with everyone here if he could travel to other worlds once his magic evolved enough, and what he really felt about the people he had surround himself with.
Before, he could have easily said he'd leave everyone behind and not look back. He'd done it enough in his youth in this world, but now he was not entirely sure if he could truly leave. He had meant it when he'd told Rias he thought of them all as a part of his life, and he wanted them there, but until right now; with this unique calm allowing him to relax his overworked mind, did he realize how truly understand how important to him the group had become. The girl currently snuggling into his chest had been a constant companion to him, always reminding him that he wasn't alone anymore, even when he had said he didn't need such, she didn't leave him.
His taking in Hikari had been a whim originally, as he honestly thought she'd have been on her way within a few days, a week at most. To him, helping her had been a simple impersonal good deed, like with his vigilante fights: get in, do what needs doing, and be on his way. Then they could put the experience behind them and move on with their lives, never seeing him again and never feeling indebted to him. His new memories made him now realize why he fashioned his fighting ethic off Ninjas, even if they were very different from the Shinobi of his world. Things didn't turn out the way he planned, and she had made her way into his heart, that was something he didn't thing possible at the time.
Between the two younger girls, Naruto had finally opened his walls a bit, allowing for the others to worm their way into his life. He openly admitted he still wasn't used to this many people and had trouble dealing with them sometimes, but all of them were patient with him. Yuto would stay up with him some nights just being normal guys, watching action movies, playing cards and talking about weapons. They'd even swapped funny stories of stupid things they'd done in the past.
Akeno and Rias had even had an effect on him. He was getting used to people touching him without him reacting instinctively, either by moving away or lashing out. He was very glad that Akeno was the Queen of Rias's Peerage, as her speed allowed her to get away when she had surprised him, and he spun around with a fist. He'd managed to pull it when he saw who it was, but she had also reacted, quickly stepping away. That had been very embarrassing for him, as he thought he had better control of himself then that. Akeno had forgiven him and apologized quickly for scaring him, but that reaction had confirmed for them he was very troubled.
The fact that they had doubled their efforts to get him used to them, rather than back away, confused and comforted him. 'Koneko was right, this group is what I needed. For all their faults, they really are family.' Naruto thought, with a small smile crossing his lips. The proof of how much good they had done him could be seen in Asia. He'd made an effort to interact with the girl. He had been the one to reach out rather than pick up the pieces like he had with Hikari, or what the ORC had done with him. Now the girl was truly smiling when they talked or were hanging out. She always seemed to gravitate towards him more than anyone else, with Hikari as a very close second; but he put that off as hero worship more than a connection, something that would pass with time.
Feeling a purr and slight rustling, Naruto looked down at his white-haired training companion. The girl had pushed herself to the point that she'd fallen down asleep without even making it a step towards the house, and as Naruto hadn't even started his private training, he couldn't return. He could have sent her back with a shadow clone, but most of his Chakra was going to be needed to heal him as he worked on his flame recovery, and what he had to spare was being divided to relearn the Rasengan. He also noticed goose bumps' forming on the girl's arms as the light breeze was enough to pull away the body heat from the pair. While this was fine for Naruto, as he was still very warm, the resting girl was likely to catch a chill if left alone.
Naruto slowly adjusted himself so that his arms were free to move, and carefully reached around himself to grab his discarded jacket. Pulling the resting girl up a little more towards him, he pulled the coat over her upper body as well as himself a little, just enough that both were covered and comfortable. Once he was sure the girl wasn't going to wake, he leaned himself back more onto the tree. "One of you guys wake me once you are done. Someone has to replace me while I work, but I don't want her waking up." The boy called quietly to his clones. The closest clone nodded before he moved to inform the rest. Confidant he wouldn't over-sleep, the blonde boy closed his eyes to rest and enjoy the fresh night air with his once again purring companion.
He was awakened several hours later to his clone leaning over him with a cup of coffee, a very small campfire burning a few feet away in a cleared out area of the forest. Naruto surprisingly wasn't as tired as he normally was in the morning, and was easily able to switch himself with the body pillow his clone had insightfully gotten them when he was resting. Looking over the girl while he took the coffee with a nod; to which his clone dispelled after receiving, Naruto saw that his clones had covered them both with an unzipped sleeping bag at some point in the night.
Naruto grinned a bit, taking a sip from the metal camping cup. He really hadn't been expecting to have a fully furnished mansion waiting for them when he'd set out for this trip, and as such had packed for a camping trip. He had a tent out here that he could sleep in if needed, as well as all the needed equipment to hunt, fish or anything else he may need during the time he was away from town. He'd told Yuto that to get the best results from this trip he should rough it as well, and the other boy had taken his words to heart and carried a blanket and pillow in to a separate section of the woods to train, saying he'd be back for food the next day.
Naruto had a clone watching him, and would let the whiskered Dragon-kin know if Yuto needed anything or was in need of help. As both Yuto and Koneko had their gravity seal adjusted to use magic now, they could control them themselves, so his assistance wasn't needed. He refused to just end his training of Yuto there however, so a clone without the gravity seal would always be around to spar with Yuto at noon this allowing the blonde Knight to get used to dealing with faster opponents, and inform the boy when he should increase his seal level.
Finishing his coffee, Naruto returned to the present. Forming two more clones, one to go replace the one watching over the blonde boy and one to cook breakfast. Naruto heading towards where he knew there was a rocky area of the mountain so that he could start his own training. He knew that if he tried using his flames in the forest there wouldn't be anything left of the area he trained in. Also, he enjoyed the feel of the forest in this area, so he wasn't going to take the chance of losing it by mistake.
Once he entered the rocky area, he spotted the gorge that one of his clones had located. It was only a hundred meters or so away from the forest but it was also a good fifty meters deep as well. That was what made it perfect for him to try and regain control over his Void based abilities. That was something that he knew he needed to do, even if he was very sure it was going to be incredibly painful to do. He took several steps toward the gorge before stopping. Thinking over what he was about to do, he sighed aloud. Looking up into the star filled sky, he wondered how he was going to go about this to ensure he wasn't caught. He knew if his companions were aware of how much this was hurting him, they'd either worry or try to stop him. This was something he couldn't allow on either account, they had their own problems to worry about, and he was their support, not the other way around. They were already doing so much for him, he couldn't ask them to do more. On the other hand, if he didn't relearn control of the flames, they could come out at the worst moments and hurt the others, something he couldn't allow to happen.
Thinking over his options for a few minutes, Naruto nodded to himself and crossed his fingers into a plus shape with his index and middle fingers from both hands. In moments, another of the blonde stood in the clearing next to the original. "Stay out of view for now. If the flames stop but I'm not up in 10 minutes, come get me."
"Got it boss, if Kitten comes looking before you're done?" The clone asked.
"Make two clones, one to dispel to warn me, and one to come get me while you distract her. She's the one that would worry about us most." Naruto said after he thought about it for a minute. After the clone nodded and jumped into a tree, the original moved to the edge of the gorge. He only hesitated a moment so that he could find the flames of nothingness inside himself. Tilted forward, he let himself fall into the fifty foot drop before calling his newest power out once more.
The clone that was left to guard the area between forest and the gorge, which his creator had dropped into, was treated to the sight of the entire landscape being lit up by a massive ball of black fire expelled into the night sky. A few moments later, the process repeated itself, then again and again.
After two hours, the clone dragged a exhausted and soaking wet Naruto back into his camp site; Koneko still sleeping, though less contently, under the tree. "Damn boss you look horrible." The clone that stayed behind said as he saw the boy carried into the camp.
"I feel it too." Naruto barely managed to say, his voice harsh and cracking. The clone quickly grabbed a towel and handed it to his creator. Said creator took the towel, only to start to fall forwards from pain and exhaustion. However, he was caught by a large collection of shadows pulsing up from the ground and holding him in place. "Thank you, Tabar."
From the shadows cast by the camp fire, Naruto's new familiar slowly raised and moved towards his master. The large being gave a low whine when he saw the state of his Alpha, nuzzling the man's hand with his snout. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Just overworked myself." Tabar whined lightly before licking the boy's hand, to which the boy responded by petting him.
"We really need to think of a real name for him. Tabar's a great joke, and can be what we call him at home as a nickname, but it just doesn't feel right for him." One of the clones said as he started digging out a dry shirt for the original.
"I know and I'm working on it. Nicknames are easy; coming up with real names, not so much." Naruto commented as he toweled himself off, pulling the drenched, ruined muscle shirt off. "I'm looking through as many legends and myths as I can find, just haven't found anything fitting yet." Naruto explained. As he caught the shirt his clone tossed to him, he saw the slightly confused look on the wolf's face and chuckled, "You didn't really think Tabar was all I was going to call you, did you?" He laughed a bit more when the wolf nodded. "Nah that's just among family, just like how I nicknamed everyone else. Once you've done something that inspires a name, I'll give you a real one."
The wolf nodded and started panting lightly, almost like he was smiling at the boy, happy that the threat of become a car part was more joke than reminder now. Nothing else was said as he followed his master back to where he slipped back into bed next to the white-hair cat youkai. Before both dropped off to sleep, tomorrow all would start the new training schedule to prepare them for the battle that would decided their red-haired friend's future.
To be continued
Omake: The Other Birth of the Void Dragon (Totally blame this one on Dadlop3)
18 years ago...
Ophis, the Infinity Dragon God, glares at the person in front of her. It was the face of her nemesis, the only being in the universe that could challenge her power, one that did so at every given opportunity: The Dragon of Dreams and Illusions, Great Red.
"Why have you called me here?" The Strongest Being asked in her current human form. She was around 5' 11" with long black hair reaching her knees, crystal amethyst eyes, and very well endowed breasts that borderlined E-cup. Covering her body was a long, dark-purple evening dress with black accents. She was currently standing on a large platform made of pure white marble that floated in the middle of a sea of colours.
": I've come with a challenge for you. :" The large dragon called back, his voice reverberating through her mind. ": Should you win, I will leave the gap and not bother you again for at least 1000 years. :"
Ophis stared back with narrowed eyes filled with suspicions. "And if you win?" she asked carefully with some hint of anticipation.
": If I win, you must only use a child form when you're in a human body for an equal amount of time. :" Great Red proposed.
She paused briefly to think about it. A chance for Great Red to leave her home for millennium at the sake of her being in a childlike form for said amount of time? "Very well." It was a no brainer. "What is your challenge?" Ophis inquired with some eagerness.
The True Dragon suddenly seemed to shrink into himself slowly while moving towards the platform that Ophis waited on. Soon, where was once a mountain-sized dragon now stood a 6'2 buff man with bright red hair and golden bangs. He was dressed in a sharp, dark-red business suit that had the top two buttons of the shirt undone. Holding one hand to the side, the human form of Great Red summoned four tanker sized barrels.
Rising a golden goblet and smirking all the while, "Why, a drinking contest of course."
Present...
"... and that leads us to here," the young girl form of Ophis explained before stepping up to the people standing before her. They were once again on the marble platform that she had been in the past. With her were two other people: one had 12 large, jet-black angel wings from his back and black hair with blonde bangs; the other had large black and red draconic wings, bright blonde hair and whisker marks on each cheeks. Off to the side of the platform, also floating aside Ophis, was the dragon form of Great Red.
She extended a hand. "Now, come. Join me Naruto, for I am your mother."
": No. :" Great Red's voice called out, echoing in everyone present's minds. ": Join me, Naruto, for I am your father. :"
Naruto stared hard at both of the dragons in front of him as he tried to absorb what he had just been told.
"So let me get this straight," Azazel started slowly. Shooting a sideways glance, Oblivion Dragon could see that if Uncle Az widened his eyes any farther, they were likely to fall out of his head. "You," he pointed toward Ophis, "and you," he pointed Great Red, "had a drinking contest and during said drinking contest you made him," he then pointed toward Naruto.
"Yes/Yes. :"
Azazel blinked.
Slowly turning his slitted blue eyes back towards the waiting dragons that were claiming to be his parents, Naruto tried to discern how he should feel about this development. It only took him a few seconds before he glared at his empty coffee cup to come to a conclusion: "Fuck this shit." He then proceed to throw said cup on the ground, shattering it instantly. Turning toward Azazel, "We're going drinking: I'm going to need something a HELL of a lot harder than coffee," he exclaimed. "And you're buying," he added as an afterthought.
Azazel looked to his charge.
Then back towards the dragons.
Before looking back at Naruto once more.
Nodding, "Deal."
Dadlop3: A drunk Great Red hitting up Ophis was the best idea I've ever had.