Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD, and I gain nothing except for some relaxation from this work of fanfiction.

~XxX~

~As Close as Siblings~

~XxX~

Devilish Interlude I

Naruto held the trembling girl in his arms, allowing her to take comfort from his presence, and he didn't care that he could feel the wetness of the girl's tears seep through his clothes.

This was the least that he could do after all.

He held her tight, wrapped up snug within a comfortingly tight hold and he ran a hand through her hair like he would when holding Rias. He could feel the girl shudder and heard her sobs, it was heart-wrenching. He may not know the girl, and he may know very little of her pain, but he could empathize, probably more than anybody else…

'Hey, it's that brat…'

'Just look at him…acting all shy and innocent!'

'I just wish that Lord Hokage would change his mind…my family is living here, and I don't want that monster anywhere close to them.'

Naruto closed his eyes tightly pushed those useless memories away and pulled the girl in even tighter. He stayed like that for what felt like hours, letting the pretty girl wail away until her throat went hoarse, and her shudders turned into soft spasms. He stayed like that, holding the girl in the middle of the street until she had tired herself out and was leaning weakly against his frame.

Naruto put a hand on the girl's waist to support her before he finally looked around. He smiled upon seeing his twin comfort the two white-haired children, it was a sweet sight, but pulling his eyes away revealed that they were still standing in the middle of an open street.

With peasants, hookers, and ruffians looking at them as if they'd grown a second head, and yes, admittedly what he and his sister were doing did not make for a very noble sight. And he reminded himself that they did promise their father to act according to their station.

But then again…isn't the Gremory family known for their kindness? So technically…they weren't acting unbefitting of their station either!

And that was good enough in Naruto's mind.

He looked down at the girl in his arms and noted that she had fallen asleep at some point.

'Poor thing's probably exhausted…'

The girl was pretty, he noted, very much so. Even though she seemed to be dirty and, he would never say that out loud, reeked a bit, it was undeniable that this girl was one of the prettiest girls that he has ever seen.

She had pale skin, a cute face and she looked to be a few years older than him, as he could feel that she already possessed a figure that was more woman than a child. But what stood out to him most was her hair, it was white as snow, several shades lighter than Grayfia's silver.

Just by looking at the girl in his arms he knew why scum like Maul would feel drawn to her.

He sighed again, something he felt like he did quite often lately before looking around the street they found themselves in. It was all so different yet familiar. The city was different, the buildings looked different, and the people dressed differently, but the sight of hookers, thugs, and addicts brought a feeling of nostalgia up in him.

And he didn't want to be here if he was honest with himself. But more importantly, he didn't want Rias or these three white-haired kids to be here any longer.

He hefted the girl in his arms into a princess carry and walked up to Rias who was kneeling in front of the other two kids. A gentle smile came to his face when he saw how Rias gently comforted the two siblings that stood before her.

He cleared his throat softly making them pay attention to him, "We should get going."

Rias looked over her shoulder to nod at Naruto before she stood up, keeping a hand on the cute little girl's shoulder.

"U-um, y-you aren't going to take our s-sister with y-you, are you?" The white-haired boy stuttered out fearfully, which caused Naruto to falter before he realized how this entire situation must've looked to the boy.

"Well of course we are," Naruto said, and Rias nodded, which made the two children look worried for a moment. "Why are you looking so afraid? Of course, you two are coming with us as well."

"Oh, um, are you sure?" The white-haired boy asked, "we don't have any money or valuables to repay you with."

"Don't worry about that." Rias said calmly, "we've heard enough to know about your situation, so again, don't worry about anything for now, alright?"

The two siblings looked unsure for a moment but agreed, nonetheless.

"Then if you would all step closer to me, please?" Rias was quick to appear right next to her twin and the two white-haired children followed soon after. Adjusting the girl in his arms Naruto nodded to himself, "alright then, Artemisia, if you would?"

No sooner than the young heir had said those words did the Knight appear before them in a burst of speed, and barely even a second later a large Magic Circle opened beneath the group of devils, whisking them away in a bright flash of crimson light, leaving behind nothing but softly swaying embers of light in their wake…

~XxX~

The girl twitched and writhed as she slowly came to again. She felt comfortable, more so than she had in a very long time. A soft and dreamy sigh escaped her lips as she felt her body being surrounded by a comforting warmth.

She stretched out her legs and groaned lightly before she let her blue eyes flutter open. She looked around and couldn't help but feel confused at what she saw. She found herself to be in a very luxurious-looking room, and letting the palm of her hand ghost over the soft mattress she lay on confirmed that she was indeed lying in a bed.

A very nice bed at that!

She fought against her inner demons, against the voices in her head that told her to lay back down and enjoy this bed for as long as she was able to, but she didn't. She sat herself up and took another look around the room…

Now how did she get here?

The last thing she remembered was crying on that young Lord's shoulder…

'Oh, Satan…did that really happen!?' The girl's eyes shot wide open, and her face heated up in embarrassment.

She covered her burning face with her hands while simultaneously pulling her knees up to her chest. She couldn't believe that she would do something so embarrassing, and to make it even worst, she did it in front of a stranger!

A stranger that just had to be a Noble Devil at that!

And then another thing came to the forefront of her mind, '…I've hugged a Noble Devil and cried onto him!'

Her face heated up even more as she remembered the feeling of that boy's arms wrapped around her lithe frame or the nice smell of expensive soaps and perfume that invade her nose when she had buried her face into his shoulder…

Oh, she felt so embarrassed right now!

But her embarrassment quickly faded when she recalled that she just found herself lying on top of an expensive bed, within an expensive room, after crying herself to sleep in the arms of a stranger.

'Where are Lisanna and Elfman!?'

Her eyes wide, the girl jumped up from the bed and ignored everything else as she quickly made for the door. She sighed in relief when the door opened without any resistance, and she quickly headed out the room where she found a long and well-lit hallway.

She bit her lips, left, or right? Where could her little siblings be? She closed her eyes and tried to feel out Lisanna and Elfman's magic, but she couldn't. Something was clouding her senses; as if something was activley blocking magic...

And that only made her worry more.

She didn't care if that young Noble took her with him. She didn't care if he wanted to use her or keep her as a toy and if she was honest with herself, she always figured that sooner or later she would end up becoming a whore, but she wouldn't allow either of her siblings to suffer such a fate!

She looked back and forth, left and right before she decided to simply go for it and went down the left side of the hallway. She fidgeted with her hands, a nervous tick of hers, and looked around as she walked, staring in awe at the expensive decorations and beautifully placed flowers that she passed.

After a few short moments of walking, she could faintly make out the sound of laughter and voices coming from somewhere down the hallway. She followed the sounds and soon found herself walking through an arch which lead into a large and luxurious living room.

And what she saw there nearly brought tears to her eyes.

She saw her little siblings, and they were having fun, both of them were! Lisanna was on a couch, her little legs tucked underneath as she was talking animatedly with the crimson-haired girl, Lady Rias Gremory she reminded herself, who was sitting across from the little girl, talking back just as animatedly as her sister.

And Elfman was sitting on the floor, seemingly playing some card game with the boy that was still haunting her mind. Her shy brother was smiling softly and seemed to be enjoying himself more than he had in a long time.

But what warmed her heart most was the fact that both of her siblings looked healthy and clean.

Not a speck of dirt could be seen on either of them, Elfman's hair was neatly combed back, and Lisanna's short mane looked smooth and had a pretty shine to it. Both her little sibling were dressed in fresh and expensive-looking clothes, with Lisanna wearing a beautiful white dress and Elfman being dressed in fine black pants and a white button-up shirt.

As much as it pained her to admit, she couldn't recall the last time that she could afford to get her little siblings a warm bath or let alone new clothes.

She was speechless, utterly lost for words, and when the young crimson-haired boy turned to look at her, she felt her eyes water before she did the only thing that came to mind.

She bowed her head at him in gratitude.

"Oh good, you're finally awake!" She heard his smooth, youthful voice and she fidgeted in place when she could feel that the attention of the room was now solely on her.

Which was proven to be true when she heard the voices of her little sibling call out her name before she was enveloped in a warm hug by both Elfman and Lisanna.

"Nee-chan/Mira-nee!" Both called and she couldn't help but smile before wrapping her arms around the two children.

"Hello, you two." She muttered softly, shyly even, as she tried not to pull too much attention onto her, a fruitless endevour indeed. "Did you have a fun time?"

Both siblings bobbed their heads quickly and Lisanna cried out, "yep, we did! Naruto and Rias-chan have been really nice to us!"

Mira's eyes widened and snapped towards the two nobles when she heard her sister address them so casually. And when she saw both smile at her, she didn't know what she could say, or if she should feel worried or relieved.

This wasn't at all how she imagined the nobility to act like!

"That's good," She finally muttered while rubbing Lisanna's head, feeling the softness of her little sister's freshly washed hair against her fingers. "I'm glad."

She then felt Lisanna grab her hand before the little girl bodily pulled her further into the room until she was left standing right in front of the handsome boy and his pretty sister…

"Naruto, Rias, I'd like you both to meet my Onee-chan, Mirajane!" The little girl said with a big, toothy grin splitting her cheeks.

Mirajane for her part felt mortified to suddenly be the center of attention, but she had to be polite! Not only because she found herself in front of two important figures of the Underworld, but also because they had taken care of her siblings while she was asleep.

And that kindness meant a lot to her!

"U-Um…" She cursed herself for stuttering like that and took a deep breath, trying to will away the heat that she could feel crawling up her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my Lord and Lady."

This time Mira bowed fully at the two noble siblings and quickly came to regret that decision when she heard the crimson-haired boy snort in amusement while both the noble Lady and her little sister giggled in amusement.

Again, she could feel her face burn in embarrassment…

"Now now…" She looked up and saw that the young Lord was walking towards her and mentally prepared herself for the worst.

Had she offended him in some way? She knew that she was still wearing her dirty and smelly clothes, so she wouldn't exactly call herself presentable, and maybe he'd taken offense to that? And then she felt his hands softly against her shoulders, so she closed her eyes and awaited the worst…

Only to be pulled to stand upright, she opened her eyes and saw him smiling at her, noticing that she stood just a tad bit taller than the boy who, if she had to guess couldn't be much older than Elfman, twelve, or maybe thirteen years old.

"Hey now, there's no need to be afraid." He said gently while rubbing her shoulders, "and I'm sorry if we should have embarrassed you, I just thought that we were past the whole formality shtick after you used my shirt as a tissue earlier."

'Oh, he remembers alright…' Mirajane worried that her face would combust any second now from how embarrassed she felt!

"Onii-chan!" The crimson-haired girl cried loudly while jumping up from the couch and pointing an accusing finger at her brother.

"What?" The boy turned his head slightly to look at his sister while still gently holding Mira by the shoulders.

"You can't apologize for embarrassing a girl and then say something like that!"

"Why not?" Naruto sounded believably confused.

"Ugh…why are you so dense!?"

"Because I'm not."

"Uh-hu, and my name's actually Satan!"

"Oh wow~!" The boy gasped, "actually Satan's kinda cute!"

"Naruto!" The girl flushed in embarrassment.

The boy laughed and shook his head, "you're far too easy to tease Rias."

The girl seemed to just shrug off her embarrassment before she too giggled, "and you're incorrigible."

Mirajane for her part felt a bit dumbfounded by the interaction she just witnessed. Were those two really nobles of the High Class? They acted so…normal!

When she thought about noble devils, she always imagined them to be cold, calculating, and utterly ruthless towards the lower classes.

And not like this!

But Mira felt thankful for the noble sibling's bickering, as it did give her the time to get over her moment of mortification. She took a deep breath, took a step forward, and lightly-hopefully politely-cleared her throat…

"Um Lord and Lady-"

"Just Naruto and Rias will do fine." The boy cut her off quite rudely at that, and a part of her wished to pout at the boy.

Alas, she was above such childish behavior, "a-alright, Naruto, I'd like to express my gratitude for taking care of my little siblings...and words cannot convey just how thankful I am for you treating them as kindly as you did." She hesitated for a moment as the words she was about to speak rang through her mind, words not spoken lightly within the Underworld. "I'm in your debt."

She rose her head slightly to look at the young Lords face and she gulped when she noticed just how serious he looked. And then he once more shattered her worldview by grinning and waving his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Now don't sweat the small stuff, alright?" Naruto said before giving her another grin, showing off his perfect pearly whites. "You don't owe us anything."

"Oh…" Mirajane once more found herself fidgeting before this strange boy that acted so differently from any other Devil she had met before.

'It's true what they say…' She eyed both redhaired siblings curiously, 'The Gremory's truly are different from the rest!'

"Now enough of all this formal and stiff business!" Naruto clapped his hands before grabbing Mira by the shoulder and pulling her towards the couch his sister sat on. "For now, why don't you have a seat, Mirajane. Just relax while I'm gonna order you a good meal and have a nice, hot bath prepared for you."

Mira's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head, "please, that's too much! You and your sister have already done so much for us, there is no need to bother yourselves even further for our sakes!"

"Nonsense!" Again, the strange noble waved her off and she 'meeped' in surprise when he gave her a light shove, just hard enough that she would fall back onto the couch. "Now just sit tight and relax, I'll be right back."

And with that, the boy walked out of the living room and left her sitting there on the couch, next to his sister. There was a moment of awkward silence before Mira felt her little sister take a seat next to her, whereas Elfman went back to the card game that was set up on the floor a bit in front of the couch.

She wrapped an arm around her little sister's waist and felt Lisanna nuzzle into her side.

"I apologize for my brother." Mira turned to face the pretty redhead sitting next to her, "he can be a bit forward at times, but he means well."

"Please don't apologize for your Lord brother's kindness!" Mira waved her hands which gained her a sweet laugh from the young lady.

"As my brother said, there is no need for any formality between us." Rias said while shaking her head, "just relax, alright? You're under my twin's protection, which is something that he takes quite seriously."

Mirajane frowned and looked down at her lap, "why would you do that? My siblings and I are nobodies and we have nothing to give you in return for all of this…"

"Do we need a reason to help you?" Rias asked before gently placing a hand onto Mirajane's shoulder, "is it truly so hard to accept that we chose to help simply because we wanted to do so?"

"It…" Mira shook her head before looking at Rias, "forgive me, but yes, it is hard to believe, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

Rias looked surprised for a moment before a sullen look overcame her features, "so it's true, huh?"

"What is true?"

"The cruelty of the Underworld." Mira looked at the young pre-teen in confusion, something said redhead noticed and she elaborated, "my brother and I grew up very sheltered. Our parents made sure that only our family's closest and most loyal servants were allowed to approach us, and today is the first time that we were allowed to leave our castle. But despite all those precautions our parents took to shield us from reality, we noticed, y'know? We heard rumors, listened in on a few conversations, and we managed to form our own picture of what the Underworld would be like. But, until today it was just an assumption at best. But neither of us would've ever figured that the living conditions for the lower classes could be this bad…I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Mira muttered with a small, and fake smile on her lips, "I've long since accepted that this is just how things are."

"You're an admirable woman, Mirajane. I doubt that I could've done what you managed if our roles were reversed." Mira once more felt a slight heat on her cheeks as Rias spoke those praises.

"I didn't do much." The white-haired girl muttered bashfully, "I just did what any older sibling would've done and tried to keep Elfman, and Lisanna as save as I could."

"And isn't that enough?" Rias asked with a small grin, "I mean just look at those two cuties! You did incredibly well in raising them, especially since you had to do so alone."

"…thank you." Mira smiled even as a few tears trickled down her cheeks before she felt them being wiped away just as quickly as they appeared.

"Now, now, there's no need to cry anymore," Rias said softly while wiping away the tears that dribbled down the white-haired girls' cheeks.

And it was at that moment that Naruto came walking back into the salon with two butlers following in his wake, both pushing serving trollies before them.

"I hope that no one minds, but I've taken the liberty to order us all something to eat." The young Gremory heir said with a big smile on his face.

And Mira for her part most certainly didn't mind at all!

Her tummy growled loudly when a heavenly smell invaded her nostrils. She could feel her mouth water and had to swallow the excess spittle that flooded her mouth. Her eyes were following the butlers as they worked quickly, elegantly, and precisely in preparing their accommodations for dining.

And in pretty much no time at all there were several plates and utensils set up before her on the couch table.

Once more a feeling of embarrassment welled up within her when she realized that she had no clue what utensils she was allowed to use, or with which dish she should start. Probably that soup, right? Or no, maybe she should start with those delicious-looking breadsticks and the small cheese platter?

She looked up helplessly and noticed that the two butlers were already done and in the process of leaving the room. She looked to her left and noticed that Lisanna was already digging in with gusto and looking down at the floor she saw Elfman do the same, eating while sitting on the floor with his meals set up before him on that expensive-looking carpet.

She looked at Naruto to see if she could learn anything from him and saw that he had taken a seat in a big, comfortable lounge chair while holding a big bowl of some sort of noodle soup in his lap, slurping away at a thick bundle of noodles that were hanging from his mouth.

But Naruto seemingly noticed her staring because he bit through the noodles, swallowed, and grinned at her. "Just eat alright? Don't worry about if it's proper or not."

Mira nodded before another question came to mind, "u-um, but what is all of this?" She gestured at the four different plates and the small little side dishes that were laid out before her.

"It's a Mushroom Cream soup as hors d'œuvre, the introductory course, then the plat principal, the main course, which is Steak au Poivre served with Gratin Savoyard and Glazed Green Asparagus, next there's a small Fromage, a cheese course, and finally a fabulous Tart Tatin as the dessert," Rias explained to Mira, pointing out each of the dishes to the white-haired teen girl.

Still, Mira didn't know what to make of most of the meals, but it sure smelled amazing, and with her stomach giving another angry growl the white-haired girl decided to do what she had wanted to do since she first took in the delicious aroma of the food…she dug in like she never had before.

With the first bite, all worries left her mind as if they'd never been there in the first place. What were table manners, and who needed them? There was an order of eating those dishes? Well not for Mira, who opted to dip some of the breadsticks from the cheese platter into the mushroom soup because it turned out to be tasty! And she found out that the cheese itself was very tasty when it was melting over a piece of steak!

And in no time at all Mira was moaning as the tastes of apples, butter, caramel, and sugar were melting over her tongue. The girl just discovered her favorite dish, and it was as if her tongue was experiencing a culinary climax!

She looked down at her dessert and bit her lip. She so wanted to destroy that delectable delicacy, but she also wanted to savor every speck of it…decisions, decisions…

"You know, if you want more where that came from then all you have to do is ask." Mira blushed cutely when Rias called her out on her little dilemma, but she nodded and took another bite of delicious, fancy apple pie.

So it was that Mira ended up devouring a total of three portions of Tart Tatin, and then promptly fell back onto the couch, well sated and utterly exhausted.

"Well, someone was hungry," Naruto commented after finishing off his bowl of delicious ramen. "I'm glad that you enjoyed that, as I don't know what to order for you."

"No, it was perfect, thank you." The white-haired girl muttered blissfully which caused both redheads and Mira's siblings to laugh.

"Good, and as I said earlier, once you're done resting for a bit there's a hot bath waiting for you," Naruto said which garnered him a small, lazy nod from the white-haired teen girl.

For the first time in basically forever Mirajane could say that she felt blissfully content. There were still worries on her mind, but they were much quieter now, and she could allow herself to relax for now.

She watched through lazy eyes how her little sister was going back to talking with the red-haired princess while her brother went back to playing cards with the boy that made her experience all this splendor.

How could she ever repay him for all of this, she wondered.

If she were honest with herself, she wouldn't even mind if this was all just an act for her to lower her guard. Had these two not intervened earlier then Mira would've accepted to become a pleasure girl, and what could be worse than that?

Oh, sure a few things came to mind, but she doubted that these two siblings could ever be such monsters. They seemed far too kind for something like that…well or so she hoped.

Still, the girl wouldn't care if they were to enslave her, use her or abuse her, if her siblings were kept from such a fate, then she wouldn't mind it at all. She was used to suffering already, so what if she had to suffer a bit more…

Then again, maybe, if she was lucky, then perhaps the two nobles were truthful…but she wouldn't get her hopes up just yet.

She sighed and pushed such thoughts away from the forefront of her mind and remembered that there was a hot bath waiting for her, and that, now that was something which sounded fantastic to young Mirajane.

She looked at Naruto who seemed to pick up on what she wanted before she even had to say it out loud…

"Ready for your bath?" He asked and she nodded, "alright, then let me show you the way."

"You don't need to bother, Naruto-kun." Rias spoke up from next to her, "I wanted to take a bath as well, so long as you don't mind sharing, Mirajane?"

"Oh, um, no…"

"Great! Then c'mon, let's go!" The girl jumped up and grabbed Mira's hand before pulling the white-haired girl up onto her feet.

And just like that Mira found herself being pulled after the excited redhaired girl, and once more she had to wonder if those two siblings truly were of noble birth…

~XxX~

A/N: Yo, small interlude, nothing more to say!

Still, hope you enjoyed it, and more plot next chapter!

And here are all the people that guessed correctly and said that the city I based Lilith on was from Attack on Titan:

Golden Wind God

KHARAKI TAKAN

JUANMARTIN202000

Spellbat

Uncle Dork

Saif Omar

Stormbringer080302

Hugo0974

If I forgot anyone, then please feel free to shout at me via a review or a PM!

And with that, I'm gonna take my leave!

Ciao!