Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD
A/N:
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
...o0o...
Naruto & Highschool DxD: Scorched spear of Heaven
Chapter 2: Welcome to Kuoh
...o0o...
Five years later
A seventeen-year-old blond boy stood on the roof of the highest building in Kuoh.
"So that's Kuoh, huh?" he mused aloud, "I sense fallen angels here so that means that both Sitri and Gremory heiresses don't do their job well... Unless they have some use for those birds..."
His whisker marks, blond hair, and black and orange jumpsuit gave him a look of a delinquent. And even though his mother was from Japan, his father's looks made him look like a foreigner.
"Let's see what the devils here are up to," he said and left via instant teleportation.
Friday
"E-excuse me... Are you Issei Hyodou?" said a beautiful girl with black hair and violet eyes shyly.
"Eh? Sure, yeah, that's me," answered an average-looking brown-haired boy. Never a girl came to him while blushing. Not to mention that this girl was super hot!
"Issei, will you go out with me?" she asked after what looked like gathering courage.
"Eh, sure!" Issei answered barely hiding his excitement. He got himself a girlfriend! Ha, one step closer to being a harem king!
Sunday
A red teleportation circle appeared in a middle of a room.
"Eh? I thought when I would call a devil I would see a red-skinned humanoid with horns, not a schoolgirl," said an old man with a thin beard in a raspy voice. His face was full of wrinkles, and he looked like he would kick the bucket any minute. He was dressed in a white traditional Japanese kimono and wore wooden geta.
"I'm sorry for that misconception," the girl answered, "my name is Rias Gremory. And I am indeed a devil and a schoolgirl." A pair of bat-like wings appeared on her back as a proof of her claim.
"Ah, don't worry about, I was just joking," the old man waved his hand, "it's not the first time I deal with supernatural, in fact my first wife was from the supernatural world... Or so she claimed. We divorced because she sacrificed my pig to some sort of spirit. It was my favorite pig amongst all other twenty!"
"And what did she gain by that?" Rias asked curiously.
"Who gained?" the old man asked.
"Your wife," Rias looked at him weirdly.
"Ah, my wife, I divorced with her, that's what she gained. What did you think? Immortality and eternal fame? Ha!" he laughed.
"I didn't catch your name," Rias said.
"Of course you didn't, I didn't tell you it yet. Name's Uzumaki Ashina by the way," he answered, sat in the chair, and pointed to another chair for Rias to sit.
After she sat here, she decided to ask, "so why did you summon me?"
"Ah, well, I'm an old man, I don't have much time left. But what's worse is that I'm lonely. My granddaughter rarely visits me, the only companion in my lonely life is my cat, Yoru. We live together for many years already. Ah, and there is a girl that cooks for me sometimes, but she rarely comes. Her dishes are amazing, when I will have them I will share with you, I promise."
"Ah, and where is your cat?" Rias asked curiously.
"I don't know, finding food for herself maybe? We ate all her food yesterday," he waved his hand, dismissing her question.
Rias nodded understandingly, but a second later she asked in a shock," You ate cat's food?!"
"Of course not, what gave you that idea?" Ashina asked incredulously.
"But you just told that!" Rias pointed out.
"I did not," he disagreed firmly.
'I got summoned by a nut job,' Rias sighed inwardly, 'I can see why his granddaughter doesn't visit him.'
"I want you to comment this book for me," the old man went to the other side of the room to take a book from the table. This provided Rias the chance to look around the room.
And she liked this room. It was gothic-styled, much like her own clubroom, but instead of being huge and stately like her clubroom, it was small and cozy. Many bookcases full of different literature, mostly about myths or something supernatural or occult, stood all around the room. There was one window that was hidden behind a semitransparent white curtain, another source of light was a small chandelier with candles. In the middle of the room stood two armchairs with a small table in-between. And there was a single door that lead to the corridor, from which you can either exit or go to the kitchen. Overall, the room with its owner gave a weird Lovecraftian vibe and only the fact that she was a High-class devil that was way stronger than this human calmed Rias down.
"And here it is!" he gave her a book.
"Alice in Wonderland?" she asked.
"Yeah, I know what this book is too," he answered with sarcasm.
"So, what do you want me to comment?" Rias asked dismissing his remark.
"Is it true?" he asked, and there was as much curiosity in his eyes as there are in the eyes of a kid.
"Eh? I don't think so... I mean that there is the world without any rules, but every real magic has some rules it has to follow," she said.
"I'm not talking about the magic here!" he snapped, "I'm talking about the cat!"
"Ah, the cat... I don't know if such cats exist," she answered hesitantly.
"That's bad, I hoped that it's possible to turn my cat into an immortal magical creature," he answered sadly.
"And why do you want that?" Rias asked curiously.
"Ah, I live with my Yoru for almost forty years, and I'm afraid that she won't last much longer. We could have many years ahead!" he pumped his fist in the air.
'Forty years with the same cat? It's impossible unless the cat is already supernatural,' Rias thought, but didn't want to destroy old man's delusions.
"And did something interesting happen in your life?" he asked.
"Well, I can get a new pawn," she answered.
"Pawn?"
"Yeah, devils nowadays can turn another people into devils using this," she summoned a pawn piece, "modeled after a human game of chess."
"Oh, so all devils play chess?" Ashina asked.
"Well, they are taught, though not all of them can be considered professionals," Rias answered.
"Ah, chess, amazing game. I remember how I played with both USSR great champions. Kasparov and Karpov. Yeah, each of them visited Japan once. I managed to win both of them, by the way," he said in a sage-like manner.
"Really?" she asked disbelievingly.
"Of course! When did I lie to you?"
"Then what about a game?" she asked.
"Sure, I will never back down from a challenge," he said without hesitation.
Then Rias felt something. It was Issei's flyer. It was disappointing for a high-class devil not to fulfil the contract, but getting a powerful sacred gear into her peerage was more important.
"I'm sorry, but it seems my future pawn needs some help," she said with a smile.
"Ah, what age do I live in! A princess goes to save a prince! Disgusting!" he shouted disapprovingly.
"Well, sometimes princesses can also kick some asses. Sorry, I have to go, "Rias said and produced another flyer, "We can play another time. The next summon is free."
"Sure, I'll summon you tomorrow then," he nodded.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Rias nodded, and instantly she was gone in the transportation circle.
Ashina's posture changed from one of a weak old man to one of a powerful person. Then a woman entered the room.
"It was hilarious to see you act that way, she seemed irritated," said that woman.
"It's fun to play around," Ashina answered in a younger voice.
"So, what is your plan? Wouldn't it be simpler to approach her with no disguise?" the woman asked.
"She is a Gremory, they are considered to be kind devils, but they are still devils, so they are very shrewd. If she saw some profit she could get, then she would try to gain it. It's easier to fish some information disguised like a crazy old man. I don't seem like a threat, and she has nothing to gain," he answered.
"You overthink it," the woman said.
"Maybe," he shrugged, "if I won't get what I want, then I can approach her the usual way."
"I suppose so..." she agreed.
"And I have an excuse to fool around," he said, laughing.
"Tsk. Man-child," she reprimanded him.
Monday
A red teleportation circle appeared in the middle of the room.
"Ah, Rias, my girl," Ashina greeted her cheerfully.
"Hello, Ashina-san," she greeted in response, "how was your day?"
"Ah, an amazing and wonderful day," he said and sat in his chair. A black cat with golden eyes appeared from under the bookshelves and jumped into his lap," here is my Yoru-chan, my amazing cat and eternal partner. Yoru-chan, greet Rias Gremory."
"Meow!" said the cat.
"Ah, hello, Yoru-chan," Rias answered. The situation was kinda surreal.
"So, how is your future pawn?" Ashina asked.
"Well, he is no more a future pawn. I wanted to approach and recruit him the usual way, but he was killed by a fallen angel today, so I had to resurrect him as a devil without asking him," Rias answered honestly.
"Wow, you can resurrect people... Can you resurrect me and Yoru? We will be forever grateful," he said, and scratched the cat behind the ear.
"Meow."
"See, Yoru agrees," he said as if it was an important argument.
"Ah, I... Can't... Unfortunately," Rias tried to find a way to refuse him without angering him, she didn't want to lose a contract after all," there are certain limitations, pets cannot be reborn via Evil Pieces."
"Evil Pieces? That's how you call them?" he asked, "on one hand, it fits. On the other hand, it's a bit lame. I would call it... The chess pieces from Hell: the ultimate devil resurrection. Doesn't it sound way better?"
'No, it doesn't...' thought Rias facepalming inwardly.
"Well, maybe their creator had a worse fantasy than you do," she said with a smile.
"That's right. I have an amazing fantasy. I even advised Picasso, you know," he told her proudly.
"The same way you played with famous chess champions?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, I gave him some advice, sure," Ashina seemingly didn't notice the sarcasm in her words.
"We were going to play chess yesterday, right?" she asked," I hope you are fine with playing right now."
"Ah, sure, I am fine with that," he went to a bookcase at took a chessboard from it. Then he placed it on a table between chairs where he and Rias were sitting.
"Black or white?" he asked.
"White," Rias answered. White pieces are considered "stronger" because you go first, and you have the initiative, and Rias wanted to have all possible advantages against this liar.
"Fine, I'll play for black then," he set the pieces on the board.
"E4," Rias said, and made a move.
"C5," responded Ashina.
"Sicilian?" she asked.
"Eternal classic," he nodded.
It took Ashina twenty moves to win. Rias was shocked. She was pretty sure that an old man was already insane and just spouted lies and delusions, but he managed to win. Sure, she was no Sona, but she was a very capable player. It hurt her pride, but she calmed down and complimented her opponent.
"You did pretty well," she said with a smile, "I see that you are way stronger than I am, I can see that power that you used to win against two world chess champions."
"Ha! You thought I lied?" he laughed.
"I admit, I did," Rias nodded, "but you proved me wrong, so I apologize about that."
"You did nothing wrong," he shook his head, "even my own granddaughter doesn't often believe me."
"That's sad," Rias said. Then she saw as Yoru jumped from Ashina's lap, ran to a door and started to scratch it.
"Meow," the cat meowed. Rias looked at Ashina questionably.
"Ah, someone is going to come soon," he said, "cats are amazing creatures, don't you think? I sit in front of a devil, and my Yoru still seems more supernatural than you. Maybe you should start turning cats into devils? I think people would like it."
"Yeah, cats are quite popular in human society," Rias nodded with a smile.
Then the door was opened and a short black-haired girl entered. She wore a black Chinese dress and black sunglasses.
"Did you hire another whore to talk to you, you old geezer?" she asked rudely, "and now she is dressed like a schoolgirl! Are your crazy fetishes again out of control?"
Rias was pissed. Nobody called her a whore and got away with that. She was no whore, she was a proud heiress of one of the most powerful households of the whole underworld.
"I am a schoolgirl, and I am not a whore!" Rias answered, gritting her teeth.
"They are younger and younger each year," the girl shook her head. Meanwhile, Yoru jumped into the girl's hands and that girl started to pet the cat.
"My name is Akua, I am this geezer's granddaughter," the girl finally introduced herself.
"Rias Gremory," Rias bowed slightly, "I was hired to spend time with your grandfather. Maybe if you visited him more often, you would have less reasons to complain."
"I visit him every weekend," Akua deadpanned, "what kind of bullshit did he tell you?"
'But today is not a weekend, and you weren't here yesterday,' the Gremory heiress thought.
Now, Rias was in a very weird state. She thought Ashina was an old man who was almost forgotten by his relatives and was slowly going insane from his loneliness, but now she thought that either he was already insane or he was pranking her.
"What does he eat?" Rias asked.
"I don't know," Akua shrugged," the fridge is full of food but for some reason he likes that weapon of mass destruction that our neighbor cooks."
"Inoue is a godsend!" Ashina protested, "her food is straight from heaven!"
"Maybe she is. I'm pretty sure the best way for God to kill the Satan is to feed him what Inoue cooked. The Seraph of an unintentional murder by food."
Rias choked on her laughter from Akua's joke.
"That food can't be that bad," Rias tried to argue.
Even through Akua's sunglasses, the Gremory heiress could feel the deadpan glare of Ashina's granddaughter.
"Believe in what you want to," Akua said dryly.
"Akua, did you know that Rias is a devil? I summoned her via this flyer!" Ashina told his granddaughter, "I told you that supernatural exists, but you didn't believe me."
"If she is a devil, then I am Santa Claus," Akua answered.
"And what about this cat, Yoru?" Rias asked the girl, "isn't she forty years old?"
"Meow," the cat meowed.
"This is his fourth cat," Akua answered, "what bullshit did he tell you?"
"Eh?"
"Did he tell you about his achievements in chess?" Akua quickly asked. Meanwhile, Yoru jumped from Akua's hands and came back to Ashina.
"Yes," Rias nodded.
"In arts?"
"I suppose," Rias answered hesitantly, thinking about how he 'inspired Picasso'.
"Math?"
"No."
"Soon he will tell you how he helped to solve Fermat's last theorem."
"Eh?" now Rias was surprised. That was a very obvious lie.
"I feel sorry for you even if you are a whore," Akua looked at Rias with pity.
"I am not a whore," Rias hissed, but Akua just waved her hand.
"That's our new generation, Yoru. Here I am, an old man who doesn't have much left, and they say all those rude things about me in my presence," he told sadly. The cat meowed in response.
"Shut up, you old coot!" Akua shouted, "I'm going to the shop, what should I buy for you?"
"Ah, Yoru's food ended," he said.
"Did you eat her food again?" she asked suspiciously.
"No," he answered and lowered his gaze.
"Look into my eyes, old man," she said and apparently narrowed her eyes even though it couldn't be seen because of her sunglasses.
They had a stare contest, but Ashina didn't waver.
"Fine, I believe you for now," she said and left the room.
"Don't listen to Akua, she is a skeptic. She believes in science," he said mockingly, "ha! As if her science even know about devils!"
"I will be back in an hour!" was heard Akua's shout, and then the sound of a closing door followed.
Rias was torn. She didn't know whom to believe. A probably insane old man or his over skeptical granddaughter. She decided to follow old man's version. Mostly. He was her contract, after all.
"Well, we still have about an hour to talk," Rias said with a smile and returned to her seat.
"Sure," Ashina cheerfully replied, "let's speak more about the devils. I want to compare the knowledge from literature to the real information."
"Okay," Rias nodded," ask away."
Another hour was spent in an interesting discussion about devils, their history and their society. Rias even started to question if the old man was even slightly insane, but decided not to be hasty with her decision. And the payment satisfied her greatly. Old watches made from pure gold. If after their first meeting she returned simply because she interrupted their meeting herself, so she was still bounded by the contract, but now she wanted to return because Ashina was an interesting companion and payment was way higher than it should be. Devils are greedy, after all.
Thursday
A red teleportation circle appeared in the middle of the room.
"Ah, Rias, my girl," Ashina greeted her cheerfully.
"Hello, Ashina-san," she greeted in response, "how was your day?"
"Ah, a nice day. Akua left for her work, so she won't be here for another month. But thankfully, Inoue promised to bring me some of her cooking. I will share with you, don't worry. I'm sure you will like it."
Rias remembered what Akua told about that food, but then decided to try it. This food couldn't be that bad, right?
"I will be happy to try," she said politely.
"So, how was your devil day? School must be boring. I've heard that one devil went to school and slept with all teachers to have at least small entertainment from that torture that is called education. Do you do the same?"
"N-no," Rias said, disgusted by the mere thought of it, "I'm not like that."
"Ah, your loss," he told her, "and how is your pawn? I'm pretty sure he was surprised by his new life."
"Yes, he is. But he was destined to know about the supernatural world. He doesn't know it yet, but he is this generation's Red Dragon Emperor," Rias said proudly.
"Ah, one of those Sacred Gears. Ddraig, right?" Ashina asked.
"You know about that?" Rias asked surprisingly.
"Yeah, sure. I have slept once with a fallen angel. Or so she told me. Well, she told me that there are such things as Sacred Gears! I even wielded one myself a long time ago. It was a Longinus by the way," he told her sagely.
"Right," she nodded. She felt that he was bullshitting her, but there was a Longinus that changed its owner. Everything he told her didn't sound like truth, but it was possible.
"So what did your pawn do? You told me he is quite a pervert. Did he use his dragon charms on some innocent girl?" Ashina asked.
Rias smiled and answered, "no, he didn't. I suppose. He befriended some nun, and as you can guess that's prohibited for a devil. The relationship between three biblical factions are not as good as many would want them to be. While there is no war, all three sides are ready for the conflict, and even the smallest transgression can become the cause of said conflict."
"That's bullshit," he exclaimed, "I'm sitting with a devil in the same room! I've slept with a fallen angel! I've befriended a Seraph! Gabriel was her name, if I'm not mistaken... Yes, that's right, Gabriel. Beautiful woman, God bless her soul."
Rias grimaced from a slight pain.
'I don't believe him, but he knows that Gabriel is a woman. Argh, how confusing,' Rias thought.
"You are a human, you don't belong to any faction," she answered him.
"Ah, yeah, you are right," he said and scratched the back of his neck nervously.
Then the doorbell rang, meaning that someone wanted to come.
"Ah, it must be Inoue, she must have brought some of her delicious cooking, I will be back soon," Ashina said.
Rias heard their voices but couldn't recognize words. Two minutes later, Ashina returned with two plates with some food in them. The food looked like a some sort of salad.
"Ah, here it is, amazing dishes," and he started to eat. It looked disgusting, he ate almost without chewing and slurped.
Rias elegantly took a spoon and tried a bit. Her face turned green, then yellow, then blue, then red, then violet, and she finally managed to swallow it. Akua's words didn't do justice to this food. What she did just taste couldn't be described in words. It was the weirdest and the most disgusting thing she ever ate.
"Tasty, isn't it?" Ashina asked slurping.
"Yes, it is," Rias nodded with a strained smile, "but I'm not hungry now."
"What? How can you show such a disrespect to the food? Eat while it's still hot!" he commanded.
"Sorry, but I'm full, I ate right before coming here," Rias stood on her own.
"Ah, fine. The more, the merrier," Ashina said and continued eating.
Then he choked. From his facial expression, Rias thought that he would throw up. He coughed and a piece of that food got on her face. She turned green again and used a napkin to remove it as fast as she could before she would puke.
"What are the ingredients of this... Dish?" she asked.
"Ah, want to make your boyfriend happy?" Ashina asked.
"Yeah, exactly," Rias nodded, "you got it right."
"Well, pickles, sour cream, bread, eggs, jerked sheep meat, licorice candies, ketchup and wasabi. Maybe I missed something, but you can always add something of your own," he answered and Rias wanted to puke again. She wasn't sure that even her devil body would be able to survive this experience.
"So, what can you tell me about your boyfriend?" Ashina asked.
"I don't like him, but our parents want us to be together," she said in a bitter voice.
"Ah, arranged marriage, I didn't think that they still exist. So, do you have any ideas how to break your engagement?"
"Well, I still have time, but I think that the only way to break it would be through some sort of challenge like my friend did," she mused, "the only one I think about is the Rating Game, but my peerage is not ready yet."
"Ah, those pieces of yours, right. So, why don't you train them?" Ashina asked more seriously.
"As I said, we still have time," Rias didn't waver, "but I will be ready."
"You are a nice girl, Rias," Ashina told her, "I can help you if you want. After all, I've fought supernatural beings before you were even born."
Rias didn't believe him, but still answered, "I'll keep that in mind."
"I have the weirdest contract," Rias told her Queen after arriving back to the clubroom.
"Really? And what's so weird about him?" Akeno asked smiling and then added just to be sure, "it's 'him', right?"
"Yeah, it's an old man... And he is crazy. But he is knowledgeable about supernatural, that's for sure. And through him, I can meet a girl that can help me kill Riser if I were to marry him," Rias added with a smirk.
"Really?" Akeno's smile got slightly wider.
"Her cooking can kill. Unintentionally."
"Wow, what a wonderful talent, do you plan to learn from her?" Akeno asked giggling.
"That's possible," Rias didn't deny this possibility.
Friday
A red teleportation circle appeared in the middle of the room.
"Ah, Rias, my girl," Ashina greeted her cheerfully.
"Hello, Ashina-san," she greeted in response, "how was your day?"
That kind of greeting became some sort of tradition for them.
"Ah, pretty nice, Akua will join us today and bring some pizza," he said cheerfully.
"Well, that will cost you double because I'm here for the two of you," Rias said. It was bullshit, but she wanted to get more from an old man.
"Sure, it's not a problem, dear," he answered kindly.
Rias heard some footsteps in the kitchen, "I thought you told me Akua isn't here yet."
"She isn't, we are alone now. Only I, you, and Yoru-chan," he confirmed.
"I swear I've heard footsteps in the kitchen," she said and small flickers of her family's power of destruction appeared around her fingers, "maybe there are thieves?"
"Of course not, it must be Yoru," Ashina denied, "here, let me show you."
He went to the door that lead out of the room and opened it. Nobody was there.
"See?" he asked her.
"Well, maybe you are right," she reluctantly agreed.
Ashina turned around and went back to his chair and didn't close the door. Rias still looked into the corridor, and then she saw that Yoru jumped from a closet and went to the kitchen on her hind legs.
'Okay, it was just Yoru...' Rias calmed down and looked at Ashina who was sitting back into his chair, but then she jerked her head back, 'Yoru went on her hind legs?!'
"Ashina-san," she started.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Can your cat walk on her hind legs?" Rias asked.
"Of course, not! Cats don't walk that way!" he told her loudly.
"I swear I saw Yoru walking like that," Rias said.
"Nah, that's just impossible," he waved off.
"I'm sure I saw that!"
"I don't think so," he shook his head, "I know my Yoru for many years, she definitely doesn't walk like that."
"Maybe some Yokai impersonated your cat?" Rias asked.
"Hey, I've lived in Kyoto for twenty years! You think I won't be able to differ a cat yokai from a usual cat? One of my son's girlfriends was a cat yokai, a very beautiful woman," he told her dreamily.
"Really? You didn't tell me you had a son."
"How do you think I have a granddaughter? Granddaughters don't appear from thin air, you know," he reprimanded her.
"But I'm sure I saw that!" she shouted.
"Then prove it! You can't? What a pity. Now stop all that useless polemics," he ordered her and then muttered under his nose, "stubborn youngsters."
Then came the sound of the front door unlocking.
"I've brought some pizza!" Akua announced as she entered the apartment.
"Great! Now we can eat!" Ashina exclaimed, and then he asked Rias, "did you eat before coming here?"
"No, I did not. I have some things I want to do today, so I didn't want to feel heavy," Rias answered.
"Ah, another client?" Akua asked, smirking as she came back from the kitchen with a chair for herself.
"I. Am. Not. A. Whore." Rias answered angrily.
"I did not say that you are," Akua's smirk grew wider, "you said it."
"I don't like you," Rias said while taking a slice of pizza.
"The feeling is mutual, devil girl," Akua answered.
"So now you believe I am a devil?" Rias wanted to find a way to tease the annoying girl.
"Sure, even whores stopped coming here after trying to eat Inoue's food. You must be something unnatural," Akua answered with an honest expression on her face.
"There is nothing wrong with Inoue's food," Ashina tried to protest.
"Yeah, it may be even better that the cat's food you eat sometimes," Akua said sarcastically.
"You have no proof of that," he protested.
"We both know what the truth is," Ashina's granddaughter said and then looked at him meaningfully, "we both know."
"Meow," Yoru jumped into Ashina's lap.
"Oh, my dear Yoru, do you also want some pizza?" he asked, cooing.
"Meow."
He tore off a bit of his slice and gave it to the cat, that happily ate it.
"Don't feed her with pizza, it's unhealthy," Akua reprimanded him.
"Let an old man enjoy his last days," he defended himself and tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, "both I and Yoru don't have much time left."
"That's what you tell us for ten years already," she muttered.
Rias smiled, looking at the weird banter between two family members.
"So, you told you have something to do today, Rias. What's that?" Ashina asked her.
"Well, one of my servants had his new friend kidnapped by some fallen angels, so we'll have to save her," she answered with a smile, "it's that nun I talked about yesterday."
"Wow, what weird activities you schoolgirls have," Akua commented, "devils, fallen angels, servants, nuns. What's next? Easter Bunny?"
"You can believe or you can not believe. It's your choice," Rias answered.
"Hey, Rias, show her those Evil Pieces!" Ashina said.
Rias summoned her unused Rook piece in her palm, and it appeared in a small flash of red light.
"Pieces like that are called Evil Pieces. They allow a high-class devil to recruit people into his or her peerage," Rias explained.
"Wow, you schoolgirls have a nice fantasy," Akua nodded irritating Rias 'cause the girl didn't notice how flashy the piece appeared, "don't you have a Santa pieces? I want to be a Santa."
"No, we don't," Rias said with a slight anger noticeable in her tone, "and why do you want to become a Santa?"
"I want to show how easy it is to be a better grandpa than my old geezer," she answered with a mocking smile.
"Why you, brat?!" he burst with a mock anger, while Akua just laughed.
Now Rias noticed something weird. For a moment, when Akua turned her head and Rias could see her eyes, it seemed like Akua's eyes were red. But that must be impossible, right?
"Akua-san, why do you wear sunglasses here?" Rias asked.
"To look cooler, of course," she answered as if it was obvious.
"Right," Rias nodded as if that was the answer she expected, "can you please take them off for a second?"
Rias applied her magic to hypnotize the girl to do as she said.
"Sure," Akua nodded and showed that she had usual for Japan black-colored eyes and put the sunglasses back.
'This place is weird,' Rias thought, 'I am a devil, I must see perfectly with this weak illumination. Then why do I keep seeing things? These two are definitely humans... So what's wrong? Maybe a cat?'
"Meow," it seemed like the cat answered her thoughts.
"You are not the usual cat, right?" Rias asked quietly.
"Meow," Yoru meowed again.
Rias shook her head. It was too troublesome.
Later that day
"So Rias plans to attack the church?" a black-haired woman asked.
"Yeah," Naruto nodded, "it's time to act."
"So she indeed told you what you wanted to know?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, but she keeps quiet about Riser. I suppose that can wait," Naruto answered.
"We could have simply raided the church."
"We could, but that would bring questions and a possible investigation. I don't need us to be in the center of attention, not before the Youth Gathering," he told.
"You know better, my king," she said.
"Now let's move out," he commanded.
Inside the church
Rias Gremory and her peerage dispatched of all the stray exorcists and now cornered the leader of the fallen angel's group, Raynare.
"What? How is it possible?!" Raynare snarled, "it was supposed to be a mere Twice Critical!"
"Oh, but it's not a Twice Critical," Rias Gremory answered, "this is the Red Dragon Emperor's gauntlet, the Boosted Gear."
"What?!" the fallen angel was surprised, 'but that does make sense. Why else would Azazel-sama ask us to observe him. But then...'
"Any last words?" the Gremory heiress asked.
"Wait till my friends will come..." Raynare started, but Rias quickly cut her off.
"Nobody will come," she showed her three bloody feathers and Raynare knew whom these feathers belonged to.
She tried to use her Yuma voice to make Issei doubt his choice, but he simply told Rias to kill Raynare.
And in a flash of the Power of Destruction, the fallen angel was gone.
Or so Rias and her peerage were made to believe.
"Your illusions are as great as ever, Kurenai," Naruto praised.
"Thank you," she said with a smile.
Yuhi Kurenai was a beautiful woman at her age of twenty-five. She had a nice figure, untamed black hair and unique red eyes. She was dressed in a black blouse and pants of the same color, tied by a red belt.
She was a magician and while she knew a lot of different spells, her forte was illusionary magic. She became one of the last Naruto's peerage members, and she was worth two pawns.
Her skills with illusions allowed her to make Rias and her peerage believe that they killed Raynare while in truth Naruto used his speed to snatch the fallen angel right before she was obliterated by Rias' attack. Then, Naruto forced Raynare to leave nun's Twilight Healing. And all that under Rias' nose. And now that fallen angel was lying bounded on the floor of Naruto's temporary apartment.
"What do you want, human?" Raynare asked angrily.
Naruto just laughed, "no need to be angry, dear, your furious snarl takes away all your beauty. And what do I want? That's simple. I know you don't serve Azazel directly, you are a traitor. So I have a question. What does Kokabiel plan?"
"What?!" she was surprised by his knowledge, "how do you know all that?"
"Oh, I was tasked by Azazel. He wants to keep an eye on his subordinates, he sees no reason in their needless deaths. And I have a personal interest in Kokabiel's machinations," Naruto explained.
"And what now? I tell you and I will live?" she asked.
"Yeah, simple as that," he nodded, "you answer my question truthfully, and I allow you to go through that door," he pointed to the exit.
"And how will you know that I'm truthful?" she asked.
"That is a very good question, my dear," he smiled, and a spear appeared in his hand along with his demonic power, "this spear has a power to see the truth."
"That's the True Longinus!" Ray are exclaimed with awe.
"Indeed it is," Naruto agreed.
"But... But... You are a devil! How?" she was dumbfounded.
"I am a half-human," he said, "so, what does Kokabiel want to do?"
And his spear glowed menacingly with the holy energy.
"I don't know all his plans," Raynare decided to spill everything, "he wants to collect Excaliburs and bring them here, in Kuoh. We were his first vanguard. He told me that Azazel's orders changed from observing Issei Hyodou to killing him. Now I know why. He wanted to get rid of this generation's Red Dragon Emperor before he could become a devil. And I only hastened the process."
"Issei Hyodou was under the watchful eye of Rias Gremory for some time, he would become a devil either way. He is a perverted idiot, they are the easiest to please," Naruto said, and his Longinus disappeared along with his demonic presence.
"How? You are a devil, but you feel like a human!" Raynare didn't understand.
"That's pretty simple actually," Naruto smirked, "how do sensors find you? They don't search for the core of your power, no. They search for the passive output. That's how I'm doing it. I am half-human and half-devil, so my passive output is a mix of a human and a devil signature. I use the holy energy of the True Longinus to erase the output of my demonic energy, leaving only human energy that I have to suppress. Sure, I feel stronger than a normal human would feel, but not enough to alert someone. Neat, isn't it?"
"Yeah..." she nodded.
"Now shoo," he said and pointed to the door, "I don't want to see you anymore."
She opened the door and gasped.
"A-Azazel-sama," she stuttered.
"Hello, Raynare, we have to talk," the leader of the fallen angels told her seriously.
"Azazel-sama, I'm sorry," she tried to apologize.
"I couldn't care less about your apologies. You disobeyed me. Now Boosted Gear is in the hands of devils, and you lost three subordinates," he told her seriously.
"But Kokabiel..." she tried to explain herself.
"I heard what you told Naruto. And I gave you that order, not Kokabiel. Only I had the right to change it. You should have double-checked even if the order was from Cadre."
"I'm deeply sorry, Azazel-sama. It won't repeat," she pleaded.
"True, it won't repeat," he nodded, "Naruto, would you like to have a fallen angel in your team?"
Raynare gasped. Her leader was going to give her away. She was going to be a devil's slave. Just a pawn in this devil's peerage.
"I have no need in subordinates with anger issues," Naruto answered, "and my peerage is complete. Even though having another holy light user in a peerage is a good thing, I can't take her. She would be a liability either way. She is weak and she is unreliable."
"I am not weak!" Raynare shouted.
"You are, and your anger issues acted again," Naruto answered calmly, "you are as strong as an average mid-class devil, that's at best. Any member of Gremory's peerage could take you down. Well, except for the pervert and the nun, but they don't count. Both Rias and Akeno are high-class in power, they would destroy you in battle. And you have no special skills that would make you worthy enough to overweight your lack of power. You have no self-control what will lead to mistakes, and you are an egoist what will lead you to making wrong choices. Where am I wrong?"
Raynare didn't know what to say. She wanted to shout, but she knew he was right. She remembered the difference between her power and Rias' power. And she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Azazel.
"You are right," she whispered.
"The first step to improving yourself is to accept your fault," Azazel said.
"That's why you are still a laughable pervert," Naruto joked.
"Disrespectful brats..." Azazel grumbled.
A silver teleportation circle appeared in the middle of the room. A blue-haired girl about nineteen years old materialized in the middle of that circle. She wore a white female business suit and a white peaked cap. This was Esdeath Lucifuge, the Queen of Naruto's peerage.
"Esdeath-sama," Kurenai greeted.
"Hey, Esdy," Naruto waved his hand.
"Hello, Ice Queen," Azazel bowed slightly.
"Hello, Kurenai. Hello, beloved. Hello, pervert," Esdeath greeted everyone in response.
"No respect," Azazel muttered.
"What brings you here? I thought you still had some things to do in the Underworld?" Naruto asked.
"I am still in process, but there is something you would like to know," she told, "Riser is rushing the marriage forward."
"How much time do we have?" Naruto asked.
"Not much. Half a year at most," Esdeath answered.
"That's good," Naruto nodded, "now Rias will have no choice but to accept our help. And we can ask any price."
"I thought about that too," Esdeath agreed, "by the way, what are you doing in the company of two perverted crows?"
"I'm not a pervert!" Raynare protested.
"Sure, that's why you are dressed like a girl from the BDSM dungeon," Esdeath sarcastically replied.
"Kokabiel betrayed Grigory and plans to attack Kuoh with holy swords," Naruto summarized, stopping possible chat between his Queen and Raynare.
"So, what is the plan?" she asked.
"I don't know," Naruto said, "I didn't want to show myself in public before the Youth Gathering, but it seems we will have to. While I can train Rias without revealing much, Kokabiel is another matter. He is strong and he is crafty. He managed to prepare a seal that blocked my father's teleportation spell, and that speaks a lot about him. Even though I should be able to deal with him without using my Balance Breaker, I'd rather not risk it."
"Well, we can always go together," she said with a slight blush.
"No, I'd rather take weaker members of my peerage," Naruto shook his head, "that way we will be an unknown despite taking part in two major events and keep most of our abilities in secret."
"I still wish to fight alongside you again," Naruto's Queen insisted.
"You will have your chance," Naruto smiled.
"Now that you finished flirting with each other we still have some matters to solve," Azazel interrupted them, "I'm leaving Raynare in your care. And I will send Vali as a backup if you will have troubles with Kokabiel."
"Why not to make him help us?" Naruto asked.
"And miss the opportunity to see your Balance Breaker? Not a chance," Azazel laughed and activated the teleportation spell.
"Hey, take her with you!" Naruto shouted, but Azazel just waved him and disappeared.
"Ehm, take care of me," Raynare said nervously.
"Esdeath, send her to Shikamaru, it's time for our favorite sloth to have at least some work. Let him be her babysitter," Naruto commanded.
"Wait, I don't need a babysitter," Raynare tried to protest, but Esdeath's transportation circle was already activated, and the fallen angel was gone.
"So what now?" Kurenai asked.
"Now we face Rias," Naruto commanded.
Tomorrow
A red teleportation circle appeared in the middle of the room.
"Ah, Rias, my girl," Ashina greeted her cheerfully.
"Hello, Ashina-san," she greeted in response, "how was your day?"
"Pretty nice," he answered, "did you manage to save your pawn's friend?"
"Yeah, there were no troubles. Now she is my precious bishop," she said with a smile.
"Ah, then congratulations with a new member of the family, even though she is a nun," Ashina told her.
"What do you mean?"
"Devoted people are very weird. I knew one nun, she would always pray, talk about some blessings, try to make me a Christian. She was a kind person, but sometimes it was too much," he explained.
"Well, Asia is indeed a very kind person," Rias agreed, "though I can't say she is annoying us with her faith."
"Good for you. It's better to talk to a skeptic than to a too faithful person. You can prove the skeptic wrong, while the faithful person will just call you a lost soul and try to set you straight," he told with a slight anger in his voice.
"Well, there are not many people like that," Rias told, "only servants of church. Most people who call themselves Christians are not real Christians."
"That's true. They are just hypocrites that hide behind the cross," Ashina agreed.
"Well, the church matters aside, did anything interesting happen in your life?" she asked.
"Ah, what interesting event could happen in a life of an old man? Nah, nothing," he said and waved his hand, "we old people live a boring life till the end and our only joy are our children and grandchildren. Though, Akua is more a pain in the ass than a joy."
"Yeah, your personalities don't mix," Rias nodded.
"That's fine, I'm used to it," he waved off, "and what about your parents or grandparents?"
"My parents..." she paused for a few seconds, "we had amazing relations for the most of my childhood but then... That marriage contract," she said with a spite.
"Ah, yes, you've told. An arranged marriage you don't like," Ashina remembered.
"Yeah, I hate my fiancé and I have no desire to spend even a few spare seconds with him, let alone my whole life. He is a disgusting pig that doesn't value me as Rias, only as a hot girl from the Gremory family."
"Yeah, I've seen such people. I pity them to be honest, they miss the joy of life. Love," mused Ashina and Rias smiled, agreeing with him.
"I am of the same opinion," she voiced her agreement.
"I can help, you know. I know some magic tricks," he said.
"I'm sure I will be fine," she answered with a smile. She was sure she could get more powerful teachers than this old man and while she liked to spend her time in a company of a weird but knowledgeable old man, she didn't want to spend too much time with him.
"Ah, your loss," he wasn't bothered by her rejection, "but I still want to say that you should keep your relations with your parents, it is the most important thing you have in your life. And I'm pretty sure they love you."
Rias smirked sadly, "I'm not so sure about it now. They didn't even try to break the contract, they know whom I will have to marry, and they don't even try."
"Maybe they want you to solve this problem on your own?" he asked.
"What?" Rias was surprised. She didn't think about that.
"I've thrown some tests to my kids too. Ah, great days. They were so pissed," he smiled melancholically.
"And what did you do?" she asked.
"Once my son moved to another city, he started to rent a room in one apartment. It took him half a year to realized that I owned that apartment and was simply siphoning off money from him. Or another situation when I faked the letter from his University, I've written that if he would get at least one B he will have to pay twice for the semester. And he managed to get all A! Lazy sloth, I've known he could do better," he laughed.
"Your challenges are kinda weird," she said, "but the last one makes sense."
"Yeah, I know that that challenge was great," he nodded with a wide smile, "I once locked Akua here with only Inoue's food for a week. She managed to climb out of the window to free herself, and it's the fourth floor. She took climbing as a sport in her University later."
'That's kinda cruel,' Rias thought.
"Or once I've tasked her to give to my friend, who worked as the Headmaster of a school, a package from me. The security guard didn't let her leave 'cause he thought she was a kid who tried to ditch her lessons," he laughed loudly. Rias smirked at that one. She didn't like Akua so any jokes about her were worth it.
"Recently I've got a bird to look after from my friend. Well, I didn't want to look after that bird, so I've sent her to my son who was on his vacation. He was so pissed," Ashina continued to laugh, "he complained that it was a burden for him," then he laughed even more, "Ah, how funny. Did you get it? A bird - a burden."
"That's not funny," Rias said in a deadpanned tone. It was one of the lamest jokes she heard.
"I think it is," argued Ashina, "what do you think, Yoru?"
"That was a lame joke, even for you," answered Yoru in a deep masculine voice.
Now Rias was dumbfounded. She did not expect that. And neither did Naruto under Ashina's disguise, they planned all their dialogues with Rias and that improvisation threw him off. So after he looked at Rias' facial expression, he laughed again and Yoru started to laugh in response.
That was one of the weirdest things that had ever happened with Rias and that's considering that she had found her brother's album with her embarrassing photos. But a weird old man laughing with his own cat is something that she would expect to see in a weird horror movie, not in her life.
"Stop this instant!" she shouted in a commanding voice.
Ashina and Yoru tried to stop, but it didn't happen instantly. After two minutes, they managed to calm down. Ashina's body was instantly set on fire. His greasepaint burned away, revealing his real looks.
"It's nice to meet you without disguise, Rias Gremory," he said in a serious voice, "my name is Uzumaki Naruto and I have an offer for you that you can't refuse."
A/N:
And that was a new chapter, and it was kinda weird. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it.
I want to thank you all for your support, 87 favs and 123 follows for one chapter in just a few days, that's a great result for my stories. Many positive reviews. I like reviews even more than favs and follows because this way the feedback feels more real, it's always better to talk to the audience than just get likes, that's the only way the author can improve.
I congratulate iiNeo who guessed 3 members of the peerage correctly. I promised to introduce Naruto's peerage in this chapter, but it will have to wait till the next one. But all members of the peerage except for Naruto's fallen angel-dragon pawn and OC knight are pretty obvious after this chapter.
Another thing I want to make clear about the last chapter. Naruto lost his powers because his Sacred Gear poisoned his with the holy light. His demonic powers were not gone, they were all wasted to heal him from poisoning. So when he awakened his Sacred Gear completely it stopped poisoning him, so his powers came back, and it was described in the first chapter. I got some reviews about it, so I had to comment it.
Now about the new chapter. The whole chapter was dedicated to show Naruto's personality. I got in review that Naruto is an OC, I can't completely agree with that for several reasons. And those reasons are:
1) What makes Naruto Naruto? Is it a bad childhood? Being a jinchuuriki? Maybe his ramen obsession or his desire to be a Hokage? I think not. His most important personality traits are defiance and idealism, and I think that's what makes him himself. Speaking of idealism, I don't mean just the canon Naruto who walked around like a Jesus and forgave all his enemies. No, I mean idealism in general. And I don't specify the means he would use to make his dream come true. His defiance is self-explanatory.
And both these traits you will see in my Naruto here.
2) Another trait I borrowed from the canon Naruto is his love for pranks. Basically, this whole chapter is just one prank on Rias.
3) And possibly the last thing I want to note here is his empathy and his love for his precious people. I won't use it like it was in canon where he tried to understand everyone, no. Here it will be just towards his peerage.
All things considered I can't call this Naruto a completely original character, sure he differs from his canon version, but you will be able to see the canon Naruto's traits in this one.
And there is a reason why this Naruto is so different. Well, several reasons, actually.
1) The first reason is that he is smarter. I don't mean just book smarts, I mean smarter in general. The canon Naruto is not really dumb, he is mostly uneducated, so his smarts are not a big problem, even though watching a dumb protagonist is kinda annoying. The biggest problem is that canon Naruto doesn't evolve. That's what every fanfiction writer changes, and I do the same thing too.
2) Another reason is that he is a devil. He is born in a different society, and he is a being of a different race.
Would Naruto try to prove himself if he grew up in Kumo as a normal person? Would he want to be a Hokage that way? No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't try to get attention, he would have all he needs. Sure he won't be an ordinary person, he would try to make the whole world better or at the very least some part of it. Would he want to become a Raikage to do that? Maybe, but that's not necessary.
Here he is a devil, a being of sin. A sly creature that was born to trick and seduce. No matter how good a devil is, he is still a devil. So Naruto will act as a devil. He is ready to trick, he is ready to play dirty. And yes, he is ready to act noble when it is needed to.
3) And the third reason is that he is more ninja than the canon Naruto. He will hide his powers, he will rarely go all-out. He tries to keep quiet and be secretive. That's what should have been changed in canon after Naruto's trip with Jiraiya, but it didn't happen.
Another thing I want to discuss is pairings. He will be paired to some of his peerage members, that's obvious. And he is married to Esdeath already. He won't be paired to Rias, I promise you that. He may have some relationship with Sona because they have common goals, but I can't be sure yet. No Kuroka, one nekoshou is enough. I also got a request to pair him with Ophis and Gabriel. Gabriel is a maybe, but Ophis is a solid no. I see Ophis as a cute little sister, so I won't pair her with anyone.
That's all for now. Write reviews, rate my story.
Till next time