NaruPrinny! Revive the Boss, Dood!

by Nasha Rei-Kun

Within death, Naruto expected the Pure Lands to be a little bit... Better than what he was seeing. It was weird to think that his parents were here but then the now penguin-shaped ninja found himself under the care of an odd man. No, a DEMON. A kind, virtuous, demon, weird. This man gave him a place of employment to pay off his sins, this King Krichevskoy, dood! Naruto x multi.

11. Down Time Dynamics

~NRK~

The five of them blinked as they 'fell', the sight of something below them gaining their attention.

"The heck?!" The Prinny balked as he and Clarissa's eyes widened. "... the mural?"

The same one that Clarissa had experienced but… it was different?

This one only had the two pairs of wings by the back of her head along with the said head in question.

"Huh?" Sardia blinked as she looked at it. "The heck's this?!" She squealed before Enigma frowned in the air next to her, visor glowing green.

"Wait… there's something below it?" She said, confused. "... MORE murals!" The Android declared as they reached the first.

Their forms floated to a stop, their feet landing gently against the 'glass' of the 'head mural'.

"T-This… d-did it take us in for one of my 'trails'?" Clarissa asked the Prinny who frowned while crossing his flippers before freezing.

"H-Huh?!" He choked as Etna frowned.

"What? You feel something?" She asked with a bit of concern, spear coming out with but a thought.

"I-I can't transform!" Naruto realized as they all balked before Enigma frowned while cupping her chin.

"I might have an idea on that," she said. "Remember, these are Class-Up Trials. What if that's just it? Each 'trial' is another piece of her body that will be changed until she's fully-inherited?" Enigma offered as Clarissa frowned.

"If that's so…" She looked down at the mural before feeling the back of her head. "Why can't Naruto change? How did we all get sucked in for my trials?"

"... I don't have the answer for that."

There was a rumble as Etna frowned, looking around the space before something ahead caught her eye. "Yo, ahead," she said to them as they blinked.

There, in front of them, formed a black being from the 'wings' of the mural whose colors began to drain into white as the black in them formed a wing creature above it.

She, it looked like a female, was a tall being with nothing but vague features. Her shape wasn't dressed but it didn't reveal anything illicit, the feminine form's curves, appendages, body, head, and 'hair' all that was there, an outline.

The wings behind it, though, were detailed, a quarter of bat wings that floated her down to the mural's smooth surface with an unreal grace.

"Is that… the trial opponent?" Sardia whispered as she pulled her staff out before inching back a bit. "... That's pure energy," she realized.

And the moment she did, the black figure's face cracked as a familiar red 'grin' sat in place.

"... oh," Enigma realized. "That's not pretty," she said as a spear appeared in one hand while an axe formed in the other.

Then it 'yelled'.

No sound came out of those chattering jaws that 'roared' to the 'sky' but the group braced themselves against the explosive red energy that shot out from the creature.

"Whoa!" Naruto's flippers crossed in front of his face, eyes narrowed before he swung out with his Nakano Dagger, a powerful wind fighting back against the enemy before the two forces canceled out. "Hmph!" He grinned as he flipped one dagger in his flippers. "Real good, I should get Nakano a present-"

Naruto blinked as he found some chompers in front of his face before yelping as he was lifted up to a vague but embarrassingly decent set of bosoms.

"Wait! Hold on! Don't do this to me!" He begged as he struggled in 'her' grip before they floated away from the gawking others. "Help!"

"Let him go!" Etna and Clarissa growled as the women gave chase.

"Mega Fire!"

"Mega Star!"

Flame and light shot into the air towards the Carnage Shadow, the name they'd give it in unified thought, before the being's wings curled around its front.

They flared out a moment later, powerful winds slamming against the flames and star power before they ended in a stalemate.

"Tsk!" Enigma's spear glowed gold before she threw it like a javelin. "SPEAR GATE!" She declared the technique as a purple magic array formed around her flying spear.

The Carnage Shadow shifted around with a grace that none of the group sans Naruto's wind form possessed, the wings atop its back shifting the two's forms back and forth before the spears that shot up below her from within a magic circle grew more numerous.

Three wings were clipped for a moment before the creature's form pulsed.

"H-Huh?" Naruto blinked as dark energy formed around him before he floated in the air ahead of the dark shadow. "G-Guys?! She's doing something!"

"!" The creature raised its hands and the group balked as her wings flapped harshly and darkness-based shockwaves repelled the oncoming spears before attacking a wide area around her.

"Whoa!" Sardia jumped back before sending out several bursts of Star spells, the others also dodging the attack of darkness. "Dual-Element: Star-Ice System - Auto!"

Ice and Star spells formed inside a small machine she pulled out from her back, the Professor cranking the lever on the side and spewing out spells like a machine gun.

The Carnage Shadow simply folded her wings to block the minor spells but left her wide open for attacks on her back.

Etna and Enigma took aim before jabbing down with their spears, the blows sparking against the back of the feminine creature before she was sent into a shaky downward flight, form stuttering just barely above the mural only to find a waiting Clarissa there.

The Dark Apostle's form charged in both Alt. Performance and Abyssal Usage as she raised her staff at the Carnage Shadow's face.

"MEGA DARK!"

An explosive pulse of darkness sent the dark creature flying across the expanse of the ridiculously long-in-diameter mural.

"The heck?" Naruto groaned as Clarissa sweatdropped apologetically.

"S-Sorry!"

"Quick!" Sardia wound up her machine before Naruto blinked as he was sucked out of the shadow's grasp.

"T-The heck?!" He flew towards the grinning Sardia who caught him with one arm. "I really need to figure out everything you have," Naruto said flatly as she snickered before putting him down as Enigma and Etna hurried over, Clarissa walking towards the four. "So, uh… I'm not sure where we go from here," he admitted as they looked at the being made of darkness.

Her form floated off the ground before she shot into the sky once more, looking down at them her mouth clamped together in a pensive smile… assumably.

"So, the aim of these 'trials', what is it?" Enigma asked with a frown. "Do you just beat it? Is there a special way?"

"I have to cast the killing blow seems to be the only thing," Clarissa said as Etna huffed.

"Then do it, it's not like this is hard with the five of us here," she said as the Dark Apostle nodded. "Besides, if this is like any sort of Battle Tower, it gets harder the farther down we go. This is as easy as it gets before it starts throwing bullshit rules at us."

Naruto sweatdropped as Enigma smirked, Sardia grinned, and Clarissa's ears twitched.

"Well… she's got a point," the tallest of them agreed before they watched the Carnage Shadow's wings flap and expand in size.

The wings grew to the sizes of carts before darkness pulsed off them, several portals forming over their membrane before the group dodged out of the way of a barrage of dark bullets.

"Auto-fire!" Naruto warned as the group separated before moving out of the way of dark arrows and the like. 'Is she mixing all of Clarissa's skills?' If so, why not start from a distance? 'She went straight at me… s-so,' was it more than that?

Did this Shadow incorporate all of Clarissa into her being?

Clarissa was thinking as much. 'My affection for Naruto had it focused on him,' she thought as she barely stumbled out of the way of some attacks, a wall of Shadow Conjuration forming in front of her to block the hits. 'My Bow skills as well,' though was it so cut-and-dry?

She couldn't pull off this skill yet, she thinks. Wasn't this Chaotic X Circle but applied to her wings? Clarissa didn't know she could do that.

A familiar Professor slid behind her cover. "Yikes! She's just mix-and-matching all your stuff!" Sardia squeaked as Clarissa nodded. "Alright, alright, I've got this," she said as she held her hands together before burning flame and slicing wind formed within both palms. "... this is probably gonna be dangerous… into the MACHINE!"

A familiar small 'crank' machine formed in front of her before her elements mixed together, the bright green and orange-red forming a powerful, turbulent, white that throbbed before Sardia pushed it into her machine.

The machine burned white and Sardia nodded to Clarissa who raised her hands.

Her shadow's form shifted around her, leaving Sardia to stand in defiance of raining darkness.

"EAT MY SCIENCE!" The Professor grinned as she cranked her machine. "Taste-"

She was thrown off her feet as an explosion of white flames tore across the distance between them and their 'opponent'.

The Shadow was caught and the heat coated the area as the air tossed back their hair… save for Naruto but he still checked his tail's fur, at least.

"WHOA!" Etna jumped as she lifted the Prinny as her shield, Naruto shrugging. "That's way too hot!"

"It's effective, though," Enigma said as she landed by them. "There's no way that thing-"

Something crashed in front of them, emphasizing her words.

"-Left unscathed, yikes," she blinked as Clarissa and Sardia hurried over. "Ya hit her where it hurts."

Looking down on the Carnage Shadow, her form currently shuddered as back-head wings twitched.

Her form was currently buzzing as she struggled onto all-fours, wings back to normal size as her body was full of missing chunks and hissing 'skin'.

"So, it's over? I expected something harder," Etna said as she looked down at the Shadow with a smug grin. "Hehehe."

"I don't like how smiled like that," Naruto said as he looked at the still-grinning Etna.

"Well, maybe if someone wasn't too busy smothering-"

"Don't you dare!" Naruto blushed. "L-Look, I know, I was just… confused."

Clarissa blushed a bit while Enigma snorted and Sardia snickered at his own embarrassment.

"Alright? Besides, I was trying to figure out its whole… situation. I can feel some emotions coming out of her."

"Ya don't say?" Enigma asked.

"Don't."

"Chill, chill, I'm not teasing ya… right now," she grinned as he groaned. "What I mean to say is that if that's true, isn't it obvious where it comes from?"

Clarissa and Sardia nodded, the former blushing only a bit.

"It's basically the manifestation of my skills and, I'd assume, myself?" The former Cleric said, unsure. "She is my power, she's 'me' in a way."

"Probably just mixed-in with all that Carnage energy," Etna offered with a shrug. "So, go deal yer kill shot."

Clarissa nodded before blinking as her tome formed in front of her. "Huh?"

The magic book popped open before a familiar dagger-key floated out of it and she blinked at it.

"I guess that's how you open each 'gate'," Naruto offered even as he looked at the Shadow. "... but do you actually need to kill her?" He wondered with a frown as Sardia raised a brow.

"Why ya say that? I mean, that was the whole point of us coming here, after all," the Professor raised a brow.

"Well… okay, so, I've done something like this before but not as a Class-Up," Naruto explained as they tilted their heads. "Back when I was a human, I had a demon in my stomach…" He explained his relationship with Kurama.

The bijuu's beginnings, initial feelings, his situations, and then his sealing. Following that, Naruto explained their relationship up until he and the giant fox actually worked together.

"Whoa," Etna blinked. "So that's where your weird attitude comes from?"

"It's not weird," Naruto rolled his eyes as the Shadow looked up at him and Clarissa. "All I'm saying is, this is ridiculously different from what Avarice said, right? So, why would this be the same as it was for her?"

"Still… what happens if we're wrong?" Clarissa asked with a frown as she looked down at the Carnage Shadow. "We don't even know what will happen as is."

"True… then I'll handle it. It's me saying it, it's my responsibility if something I said goes to hell and back."

"... very well…" Clarissa looked down at the dagger before looking at the creature. '... didn't I do something different before, though?' She remembered.

She'd chained this being down, the creature's fate was in her hands. It was her power, she realized, at the end of the day.

"... Hmph," she lowered the dagger to the ground.

It sunk into the mural halfway before she turned it.

A loud 'clunk', the sound of unlocking, reached their ears before they were all pushed back by an invisible force, even the Carnage Shadow.

When the force ended, the six were left staring at a large black pulsating hole that now sat in the middle of the mural.

"Whoa… I guess that was the 'right' answer?" Enigma asked the group who got up, Naruto blinking at the oddly confused-looking Shadow.

"Heh," he chuckled, gaining its attention, before holding out a fin to the confused dark shadow.

She looked between him and the flipper as Clarissa tilted her head.

Taking it, the Celestia Prinny helped her up, leaving the Shadow and her Master to stand to the same height, locking 'gazes'.

"If you step out of line, there won't be 'another time'," Clarissa declared to it as an insignia formed on the Shadow's chest. "... but, while you remain peaceful, I don't mind calling on you at times," she smiled as the emblem on its chest grew complete before the dark on its form fell away… leaving behind an actual being? "What?"

"Yes, Mistress," the creature… the woman before her said as she took a kneel, the group's eyes widening.

Where before she was but a vague form, she was now a vague form via shadows but with glowing red eyes with slit pupils. Her form, womanly as before, now wearing a pair of bangles around her ankles that glowed with a dark red set of symbols, her wings bearing similar marks along the membrane.

"... what are…" Clarissa balked before her book glowed and it opened to another page.

Sporting a new skill and upgraded Aptitude.

{

SKILLS:

Shadow Conjuration Summons

APTITUDES:

Books (Shadow Creation): S+

}

"Hehe," Naruto grinned as Etna huffed while Sardia tilted her head. "Less war and more 'bonds', I'd say," the Prinny declared as Enigma raised a brow at that.

"Huh, didn't know that he had more of a point," she shrugged as the man shrugged in response. "Still… aren't we supposed to leave?" The Android asked.

And the… Shadow Conjuration answered.

"If you wish to leave, our Mistress must simply wish it," the shadow woman explained as the group blinked.

"So, uhh, I guess that's good to know… but that also means we can just keep going, right?" Naruto asked the spirit before she chuckled.

"Yes, Our Liege, that is the case."

It took Naruto several seconds to process that before coughing into his flipper as Clarissa blushed like a Christmas ornament.

Etna's eyebrow twitched something fierce while Sardia and Enigma snickered.

"Y-Yeah, uh… right, you can just call me 'Naruto', please," the Prinny pleaded.

"Naruto-sama, it is."

She was doing it on purpose, it seemed.

"U-Um, please, let's just leave!" Clarissa pleaded.

~NRK~

Flonne held the book in horror while the others, still without their missing members, looked on in as much mystery.

"I don't follow, is getting sucked into books not something that happens?" Kagami asked them as they balked. "I and Kana have been sucked into quite a few in our travels."

"W-Well… he does have a point," Kana admitted. "You can learn skills by being sucked into books. Some use them to trap others but if you beat it, you can not only get out but you can leave with a skill, we've gone through quite a few of those."

"I'd bet that Sardia would have done this," Gordon suggested as the others chuckled nervously. "Are there more books like this, Kagami?"

"Yep. All over though, to be fair, it's not like they're something rare. Well, rare in being found, you can make a book one that eats you, it just needs a magician's touch that isn't exactly weak," the Samurai explained. "The book's power simply depends on its contents, their rarity, and the availability of it."

"Hmm," Avarice frowned as she prodded the item with one of her wings' tips, looking on the sides of the empty cover. "Mmm," she wilted a bit and Jennifer smiled kindly.

"I'm sure they'll be back, it's not like this… well, I'm sure they'll break out without too much trouble!" The human woman said as the Harpy pouted, getting a chuckle out of her. 'Awww, that's cute,' with basically the other half of that group gone, she bet Avarice was just a bit lonely without her foxy prince charming. "...?" She blinked as her eyes went to the angel woman at her side.

Tramaris looked a bit put-out, the normally shy angel messing with her glasses as she looked longingly at the book… No way?!

'Naruto's more 'dangerous' than we ever knew!' And Jennifer lived for that!

"Hmm, I could run some diagnostics on it," Kurtis offered. "Do you guys have a science wing?"

"WE DO!" The Android group declared as he jumped.

"I-Is that so? W-Well… if we have the right machinery, I could do some energy reading."

[BEEP, BEEP… SIGNATURES RISING!] Thursday said as the group blinked.

Then the book within Flonne's hands pulsed as they all jumped, the angel trainee swallowing before she gripped its covers and opened it.

"WHOA!" A familiar group of five appeared out of it, the females of said group falling in a pile atop a struggling Prinny.

"A-Ack?! H-Help! H-Help!" He wheezed for life that they sweatdropped at, the group on the top of the table. "G-Get them off-!"

"BACK!" Avarice's eyes regained a powerful fire before she grinned and pulled the Prinny out of his female dogpile, holding him close to her chest. "Mmm!"

"Not one fucking second?!" Etna lifted the others with both hands, eyes twitching as she threw them to the side. "Back up, bird woman!"

"HARPY!"

"I don't care!"

Plenair, in the back, sighed in relief before putting a rabbit doll-like being atop the desk.

"Huh?! Where the hell am-you?!" He choked at the sight of her. "Why wait until now?! I was suffocating in that God-forsaken Hold!"

"Usagi-chan," she said simply and the doll flinched before groaning.

"Hmph?" Clarissa blinked as she floated in the air by the table on her black mantle, looking around. "How long were we in there?" She asked the group.

"Give or take ten minutes?" Flonne offered. "What happened?"

They revealed the experience of being there for one of Clarissa's Class Trials and the group blinked.

"Huh," Kurtis blinked. "I didn't think you'd… well, I guess that's how it's done?" He asked Avarice without his eyes so much as ticking downward.

She shook her head as she piggybacked on a Werefox Naruto, the human soul's head resting against a pair of powerful mammaries as Etna huffed off to the side, tail curling in annoyance.

"Mm-Mmm, not normal," she said as she rested her chin atop Naruto's head. "Weird Class-Ups."

"I see," Gordon nodded as Clarissa looked down at the side of her tome.

She blinked as her four head wings twitched a bit, the woman's eyes trailing the new cover of her magic book.

A familiar mural sat upon it, the color of the platform and the figure within now a stark-white and pure black.

Then the black head of the mural of her 'final form' puffed before revealing her face and hair down to her neck, her head wings now on display.

'The more I uncover, the more powerful I become,' she wondered.

Were there more powers she was missing? Or was she not looking?

Opening up the book once more, she found what she'd expected.

{

SPELLS:

Shadow Conjuration Summons

→ Shadow Woman

CARNAGE SPELLS:

Rampage

Servant Spell (Monster ATK. Manual/Auto. Max Chain: N/A. Debuff: DEF Break)

}

"Hmm," she hummed softly as she noted the new changes. 'I'll have to test them tomorrow,' Clarissa hoped Naruto would be up for it.

~NRK~

The following morning found a familiar Celestia-based Prinny sitting outside on the lawn of Krichevskoy Castle.

Naruto just laid on his back as he looked up at the always-there moon, its lights a soft orange like it usually was in the 'day time'.

"Hmm, dood," he changed into his Werefox form before stretching out, body groaning as he heard the normal pops and cricks. "Ahhh," Naruto hummed quietly as he got it all out of his system. "This is nice," he said to himself as he just looked to the side of the lawn, out towards the lava and curling lands. '... Ya know, maybe I should do something about the land around here?'

Not to offend the Netherworld in which he lived but Naruto would like more grass, fields, flowers, and just life. He wanted green pastures and meadows with rolling hills.

'... maybe I should just buy some land?' One day, maybe, but he really didn't have those kinds of funds, not with last night's expenditure. 'I really just bought them all expensive-as-hell pudding. Ugh,' now that he was on that thought… 'Thinking too much like a human?' He remembered Sardia's words.

Was he weird? Naruto was sure, on some sane level, he was but this was a whole different thing, wasn't it? Was he weird for acting with more human morals when he was destined to stay here?

He'd even brought it upon himself but he'd not said that for the sake of his perverse nature, which definitely existed, but to help his Boss. Now that he wasn't gonna be going to heaven, on the dying-side, he'd be living out his life, hopes, and dreams in the Netherworld.

'What am I even thinking about?' He asked himself, confused before his cheeks reddened a bit. '... it's them, isn't it?' Naruto groaned as he facepalmed in oni form. '... why'd Sardia say that of all things?'

Was she implying they all liked him? The random human soul? Would that work? Naruto didn't know if it mattered, the storyline wouldn't change if it didn't. Ignoring that, he was left unsure on what to do with the possibility that Sardia had meant something more romantically involved.

IF she was right… What would he do? Would he have to choose? Did he even like these women? And, yes, it was women despite Etna's recent looks, she'd surpassed him in age a good bit so it wouldn't be right to call her a 'girl', especially with her recent second Puberty.

'So, what do I think?' He wondered as he closed his eyes, breathing out slowly. 'Do I like any of them like that?' Naruto was, oddly, aware of the high chance he did.

Well, for one, Etna's red hair always had his attention, the young woman's powerful personality also making him intrigued by her and how she was as a person.

Learning more about her in the recent months, Naruto was sure that he could find something there if he were to accept affections from her even if he wasn't so sure about her. He also thought her care for Aramis and the king were admirable as well as cute while also thinking so about the way her tail showed more about her emotions than she did.

Next was… well, the next woman who he didn't see as a family member like Flonne or Circe.

Clarissa was, for lack of a better phrase, a 'weak point' for him. Someone who was pained by her own past and choices but was pushing forward to become the person she wanted to be. The former Cleric was his responsibility despite how little he understood how far that went.

Did he want to always be at her side and protect her? Lead the way? Lead to what and for how long? Was he just naive?

And with their recent developments, their learning, training, understanding, fighting, and recent kissing together, what was he feeling besides warmth in his chest? This ever-growing affection? There was a high chance he liked Clarissa enough to call that very possible.

The blonde blushed but kept going, wagging his feet back and forth as he focused less on them and more on his… love life.

Sardia was interesting, to say the least. Sure, she was a bit excitable and could be an idiot beyond his performance but she was amazingly resourceful, capable with magic in ways that he was left curious by, and seemed capable of rolling with all sorts of crazy they'd likely get involved with.

… and, okay, so… yes, she did look cute in glasses but he'd never tell a soul except for maybe Laharl when he found he liked someone.

For her, he didn't feel too much, just a sort of nice friendship, something pretty rad.

Last… oh Lord.

Avarice.

If there's anything that could be said about the Harpy, it was that she hit all his preferences, embarrassingly enough.

Bright vibrant red hair that didn't make it easy to look away from.

A courageous personality, she was seemingly impossible to befuddle for too long, like Sardia, and was willing to move forward with confidence.

Lastly… o-okay, so, yes, she had a chest that made sure he nearly suffocated every other day, so did Clarissa and Sardia, but it was her thighs for some reason.

Her hips, thighs, the lengths of her legs that then became bird-like which he knew he wasn't as against as he thought, the Harpy's legs made him weaker than he felt he should have been around an attractive woman.

For her, Naruto wasn't sure if he felt more embarrassment than emotional attraction, though. He didn't know, it was that simple. She kept shocking his sensibilities but he wasn't sure outside of knowing she was cute, to him.

"... that's it, huh?" Was it wrong for women to make more sense to him? Really? "I'm hopeless."

"Whatcha talkin' about, bro?" Aramis asked him as he sat next to the shocked Naruto.

"W-When did you get here?"

"Umm," Aramis considered the question. "A minute ago?"

"Ah… Good morning, Aramis," Naruto said as he sat up in Divine Spirit form. "What's going on?"

"Hmm, well, I'm just considering some stuff, ya know? We're about to go to Celestia."

"You want to go?"

"Yeah! What if I can find out about Celestia ZOMBIES?!" The boy grinned as the spirit man chuckled. "A-And, well, what if we can find something to deal with m-mom?"

Naruto looked at the downtrodden boy before ruffling his hair.

"We'll deal with things one step at a time. I don't know what your mom's deal is, Rams, but we'll handle this like always," the spirit grinned as the boy blushed a bit.

'R-Rams?' Well, it's not like his name got easier to shorten. "A-Alright! S-Still… we're almost four months in, bro."

"Yeah," the oni frowned. "But, with this, hopefully things will chill, you know? We've fought, demons, human heroes, ghosts, apparently," he looked confused. "Machines, super machines, a Senator, and the human's defense forces. We're literally on a crash course with-"

"T-There you are," came a voice from above, Naruto looking up to see the slowly descending Tramaris who landed by them. "G-Good morning," the angel woman said to them, wearing a comfy-looking set of white pajamas.

"Mornin'," Amaris said.

"Good morning, how's it been going?" Naruto asked the angel woman who smiled brightly, forcing a blush out of him. 'Oh no, I'm not adding Tramaris onto that list, am I?!' He hoped not!

Not to say she wasn't attractive, she had a set of creamy-looking legs that his mind flashed to before he cleared his throat.

"Well, I've wanted to… thank you," she said before thinking about something and just outright thanking him, bowing to the human soul who rubbed the back of his head as he got up.

"You don't need to do that, you know? I'm not doing this for praises and stuff," Naruto said with a chuckle as the holy woman smiled as she stood before him. "All things considered, consider it the help of a friend," he grinned as she blushed before blinking, messing with glasses that weren't there.

The way she seemed to realize in embarrassment was forever cute.

"U-Um, that is… I could use more friends," she smiled with a whisper as Aramis hummed, looking out into the horizon. "... a-actually, there was another thing," Tramaris said as Naruto hummed.

"What's up?"

"Flonne wants to go on a picnic," the woman smiled. "I think it'd be good for us to rest as we said. A-Also, maybe it'd be good to show Sicily around the Netherworld while helping her bond with her family?"

"Sounds like a plan," he said in Werefox form. "What's everyone else doing?"

~NRK~

They arrived in the Training Rooms to find Laharl, Etna, and Flonne on the Hyper-Speed Treadmills.

"H-Heh!" The prince grinned in some red workout clothes, Etna in black, and Flonne in blue. "Not so… fast! Are… ya?!"

Etna growled as she upped her speed while Flonne gasped, trying her hardest.

"W-Why… are you… so fast?!" She whined as Aramis snickered. "M-Morning-?!" Flonne noticed them.

And stopped running.

"EEEEEEEYIIIIIIIII?!" She flew off and only Tramaris's speed saved her at that moment. "T-Thank you!" The younger angel cried tears of joy as the woman smiled shakily.

"P-Please be careful," she said as she set her down, Etna and Laharl raising their brows at her.

"Huh? Tramaris-chan," Naruto began to say, the woman blushing a bit before nodding. "When were you so fast?" He asked as she giggled a bit, stunning him. 'Noooo…' Another woman?!

"Well… when it comes to the children," she began as she looked at Aramis who shrugged. "Hm, hm, they get into so much trouble when I'm not watching them sometimes," Tramaris sweatdropped. "I'm always looking for them, especially since they've got their wings, some are flyers, others like to dig into the clouds and dirt, while many just like hide-and-seek," she spoke fondly as Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a nod. "I-I was also on standby as one of the Scouting Angels, I was always pretty fast so I figured that working on that would help with minding all 400 children and my job!" She smiled.

The others sans Flonne froze. "FOUR HUNDRED?!" They all choked as the woman blinked.

"Yes? I mean, there aren't a lot of angel caretakers, that's why we typically use magic and our abilities to monitor the children. With the many Guardian Angels, those who protect heaven's expanse, and those who help the Seraph, there's not always a lot of help around so one Host could deal with as many as 500 kids."

"T-That's still ridiculous!" Etna choked while the woman smiled.

"But they're such joys!" She said brightly as Laharl blinked while Flonne giggled and Naruto blushed some more. "Getting to know all of them and their little quirks is enjoyable as much as it is fulfilling," Tramaris said with her hands on her hips, chest puffed out, and light emanating from behind her.

"I was in a group of 200," Flonne said as Laharl leaned back in horror. "I had so many childhood friends!"

"Y-Yeah?" He asked before facing the amused Aramis. "Don't, your prince demands it," Laharl said monotonously before walking off, grabbing a towel off the wall as he left. "It's good that we have speedy members like Naruto, Corrin, and, now, Tramaris."

"Hmph, you up for this whole picnic thing?" Etna asked the Werefox Naruto who hummed before nodding with a grin.

"It sounds like a relaxing time. Hopefully, we don't run into some crazy things. Like, I don't know, a pop star or something," he suggested as her face became pensive.

"... uh," she looked ready to say something before shrugging. "Know what? Never mind," Etna smirked as he chuckled, the woman patting him on the shoulder as she left, making sure to get a good grip. 'Hmm, it is firmer than I remember,' she smirked wider with a perverted grin.

Tramaris blinked at the feeling of sin and huffed a bit, grasping Naruto's bicep with a look of reproach at nothing but everything at the same time.

Etna's eyebrow twitched as she left. 'Another one?!' These invasive women were getting on her nerves!

"Alright, when are we going, Flonne?" Naruto asked the grinning angel trainee.

'Not even a clue,' well, love found a way! "Hmm, me, Jenny, and Kana decided that 11 o'clock would be good. There are amazing mountains in the Sea of Gehenna that aren't that hot and they have amazing views!" Flonne cheered. "So, be ready to relax!"

The Wind Spirit chuckled. "Will do," he said as she hurried off. "She's a good kid… young lady," he corrected himself as Tramaris smiled.

"Y-Yes, well," she blushed as she felt where her hand was and rescinded it like it burned her. "I-I'll go and get ready!" Tramaris burned as she disappeared in a burst of wind.

"Huh…" Naruto looked at Aramis who tilted his head. "Alright, Rams, let's go and get ready!"

"Cool!"

~NRK~

Wearing their swimwear, the group including Draconis, Kana, Kagami, Nakano, Corrin, Bellona, and Sicily, walked atop a mountain in the Sea of Gehenna, the feel of only slightly warm temperatures pleasant and the wind gentle.

Perfect picnic weather.

As a quartet of Prinny Naruto clones set up the biggest blanket known to man-, and demon-, kind, the group looked around the area.

"It's got some ice, huh?" Laharl wondered as Sicily hummed next to him, finger on her chin, the two of them wearing red swim trunks and a one-piece white swimsuit, respectively.

"But isn't it called the Sea of Gehenna?" She wondered.

Circe chuckled, wearing a sunhat and a pair of sunglasses. "Yes, and there are actual waters here but the 'sea' here is a 'sea of LAVA' that's more water-like. We can literally go in for a swim if we feel like it," she said as Sicily's mouth dropped.

"R-Really?! Is that a demon thing?!"

"I think it's just about Resistances," Laharl admitted with a shrug. "I've got a 50% in my fire resistances and 25% in every one of the other ones save for Star magic."

"O-Oh! I do, too! Though, I've got this thing!" Sicily said as he quickly sent her screen around.

{

Evility: Lil Sis Aura

Lil Sis Aura: Elemental damage taken reduced by 75%

}

"See?!"

"That's scarily potent," Draconis said with a sweatdrop, naked as usual save for a pair of sunglasses. "She'd essentially ignore all my fire attacks."

"Sounds rather convenient," Kurtis said in some black swim trunks, Jennifer snickering next to him in a dark blue bikini. "Now, I'll go and see just how hot this so-called 'watery lava' is. I've prepared for all instances of heat!" He declared as Gordon smirked in a one-piece swimsuit that followed his color scheme.

"It'll be a test for the ages!" The hero declared as they turned to the cliff. "See you at the bottommmmmmm!" He dived.

"Heh," Kurtis smirked before flipping off.

"We'll be back, you guys!" Jennifer giggled before just falling off.

"Man, humans are bold!" Corrin laughed in a pair of yellow spats and a tube top. "But they've got the right idea!" She grinned as Bellona hummed with a smile.

With her plantness, it was really only enough for her to put on a 'one-way' black swimsuit, the Floral Beast stretching as she took in the two suns' rays above.

"Good luck with that, I've got to look into all the recent news about this Map," Bellona waved her fellow Senator off who ran before jumping off the cliff. "Honestly, she's been so active as of late."

"That's likely our fault," Flonne admitted in a white and blue one-piece swimsuit, a unicorn floaty around her waist. "Hehe~! I'm going to go ahead!" She grinned, rushing after the others while Laharl snorted but gave chase.

"CANNONBALL!" They shouted in unison, leaping at the same time.

"Huh? Bro?! Hold on! I'm coming!" Sicily squeaked as she ran after them before jumping off. "I'LL BEEEE BACCCCKKK!"

"S-Sicily?!" Tramaris choked while Avarice grinned.

Wearing what was notably known as a light blue 'school swimsuit', an orange hoodie that clearly didn't belong to her, and a small straw hat, the modest angel paled at the disappearance of the second-youngest of the group.

"E-Eeeee?!"

"Hehehe," 'dressed' as the day she was 'reborn', Avarice smirked before taking flight. "FLY!"

"H-Huh? Flying? U-Um," she blushed as she scuffed the floor with her foot, eyes going to the side where a familiar Frog-Oni stood in some black swim trunks. "I-I'll just-"

"Perrrvvvv," the bird woman whispered with a smirk as the angel froze before she burned bright red.

"W-What?!" She yelled in horror as Avarice floated over to Naruto?! "N-No!"

She gave chase in an instant as the Harpy grinned.

They tore across the skies like shooting stars as Naruto raised a brow at them.

"The heck?" He asked the grinning Etna beside him before turning back around, the man rubbing the back of his head. "... y-ya look fine, Etna."

"I'm FINE now, am I?" She asked with a smug look and a tail that curled in pleasure.

Wearing a black tankini, she looked pleased with his response, her hair's usual pigtails released to allow upper-shoulder-length hair to fall freely.

"Hehe, thanks."

"Yeah, well… you're welcome."

She looked more pleased with herself before something shot past them with a motorized hum, a familiar cackling woman on it. "... GIVE ME A SHOT!" Etna ran after the green plunge-bikini-wearing Sardia who cackled.

"YES! My creation's the greatest!" She grinned as the two of them went over the edge, Etna latching onto the back with a smirk. "A volunteer?!"

"Gimme!"

He shook his head as Aramis popped up next to him in some similar black trunks. "You're looking pretty happy, bro," he said simply as his small imp tail curled a bit.

"Well, it's good to have my precious people also feeling happy, the best way to explain it," Naruto said simply before he heard chuckling behind him.

"That sounds like a 'you' thing to say so it must be true."

"He's always like this."

Turning Naruto's face grew nervous as he blushed at the two women.

Enigma, as it turned out, could take off most of her metal armor, the almost-Majin woman's form still covered in a black bodysuit-like outfit that allowed her femininity to shine through in her golden bikini, her visor still on and her cheeks a bit red.

Clarissa… oh boy Clarissa, the 'best of all worlds', in body, Dark Apostle grinned at his red face.

Wearing a green high-top bikini, the former Cleric's body was accentuated in all the 'worst' ways for him, punctuated with extra embarrassment as she had on a copy of the hoodie Tramaris had on but a red one.

The way she'd told him how she didn't care that it clashed had a meaning that left him with residual embarrassment even now, hours later.

With the pair in front of him, Naruto chuckled nervously some more before blushing.

"Y-Ya both look great!" He squeaked as the taller woman grinned while the Android huffed a bit, cheeks a bit redder. 'Oh, crap, I didn't know Enigma did blushing super well!' Naruto thought as he grinned shakily.

"We're glad," Clarissa said. "Still… I-I'm not a great swimmer," she said in embarrassment, confidence completely gone, while Enigma smirked.

Ah, order had been restored.

"Well… I don't know if swimming in lava is different compared to water but…" Naruto offered and the Dark Apostle perked up before smiling. "I'm here? You can swim, yeah, Enigma?"

"... if I told you I couldn't, would ya hold it against me?" Clarissa blinked at the doubly-embarrassed Android. "It was always a weakness of mine but I found ways around it, ya know? I never had to go swimming if I could help it."

"Well… now's as good a time as ever," the older woman said as Enigma whined. "Hm, hm, lead the way, please," Clarissa said to Naruto who beckoned a clone over from helping Circe set up. "Alright!" She grinned as she walked forward and pulled on Naruto's arm.

The tall human soul blushed as he walked away with her, arm tucked by her chest and eyes trembling in perverted horror.

"Huh, she's just downright going at it, huh?" Enigma said to the clone who transformed into his Werefox form. "Hmm? Oni form too strong?" She asked before chuckling as the Werefox grinned.

"The boss doesn't seem to remember the Frog-Oni form has crap Resistances," he said as she giggled a bit. 'Oh no, she giggles,' the clone realized with a blush before holding out his hand. "Come on," he said, lifting Aramis onto his shoulder before Enigma grinned, allowing him to lead her to the cliff face. "So, when you said you had no swimming ex-"

"Naruto, I'd likely sink after thirty seconds."

"Hey, 30 seconds is decent."

As they walked off, Draconis, Bellona, Thursday, Kagami, Nakano, and Circe shook their heads at the oblivious ninja man.

---

Down below, three large explosions of watery lava shot up as Naruto, Enigma, and Aramis reached.

"Nice!" The boy breached the surface with a grin, lava falling out of his mouth before he spit it out. "It's way too nice! What was that? A 200-yard drop?!"

"H-Heh," Enigma chuckled nervously as she scrambled onto Naruto's shoulders, arms around the Werefox's neck. "Please don't drop me."

"I won't," the clone said with a chuckle as he saw his Boss currently in Werefox form as well and being healed by an amused Clarissa on the shore. "Haha, knew it," the Android perked up before snorting and laughing along with him.

As they made it to shore, they watched the others play around, none more so than Flonne, Sicily, Laharl, Sardia, and Corrin, the five messing with both normal Fire spells and splashes of lava before Aramis joined in moments later.

"Hmph, look at all those swimmers."

"You'll be one, too, in time."

Making it to the shore, Naruto chuckled as Enigma released herself into the waist-deep waters before sighing in relief.

"Thanks, this is kinda embarrassing," she blushed a bit more, rubbing the back of her head. "God, what kinda Majin is crap at swimming? I was a Serpent for Christ's sake!"

"It's not like I'm gonna make fun of ya for it, it's just something you'll have to work on, you know?" Naruto said helpfully as she huffed, the two of them standing in the water.

"You realize this is why your love life's in as much trouble as it is, right?"

"Will you tell me what I'm doing?"

She blushed a bit before pouting.

"No. Now, help me, slave."

He rolled his eyes but held out his hands and gestured to the lava.

Enigma grimaced the whole way, laying down into it and allowing the Werefox to lead her out.

As he did, Naruto's eyebrows kept flicking to the Android's rather amazing behind, eyes dilating as he looked away only to find himself admiring Etna's oddly powerful-looking shoulders.

If he looked to his other side, he found Clarissa's long Naruto-destroyers currently mesmerizing the Base-Him.

And if he looked behind or in front of him, Sardia, Avarice, or Tramaris were about bouncing.

'I am in hell,' he realized melancholically before choking as he doubly realized that that wasn't the best overly dramatic comparison! "Why's the Netherworld so… demony?"

"Is that a trick question?" The Android asked as she spat out some more lava. "Dammit! How do people stay afloat?!" She growled as he blinked before chuckling.

"You'll get used to it, promise," just focus on his cyborg friend and not her amazing ass. "So, we don't know a lot about you, Enigma," despite her current situation, she smirked. "Hmph, smart, so what is your deal anyway?" Naruto offered as he pulled on her hands gently, the cyborg humming.

"I just want to become a Majin, it's been my dream for as long as I heard legends about 'em. They get clout, total respect, and there's not a lot of women Majin so that's another checkbox."

"Huh, I'd have thought there was a tragic backstory in there."

"Hehe, sorry, not like every other person in this party. Well, maybe not Sardia, Avarice, and Tramaris but I ain't a complex gal. I wanna do something, I do it, no questions."

"No real plans for anything else? Ya know? Besides the Majin thing?"

"Yerp, just because I'm a Majin doesn't mean I'm the BEST at everything. I want to become the skillful demon in the Netherworld, this whole thing with Makoranta is just ruining what's kept me going for all my life."

"Hmm," Naruto nodded before grinning. "You've been doing the floating thing pretty well for a while now, ya know?"

Enigma blinked at him and looked down before humming a tune.

"Well, someone's a psych, huh?" She smirked as he chuckled.

~NRK~

With their swimming done for the moment, the group had made the climb back up the cliff with most of them actually climbing.

"Hup!" Naruto flipped over the edge of the cliff with a grin, Aramis in his arms, landing first even with the flying squad right behind them. "Made it!"

Following him was Laharl, the prince grinning as he jumped over the edge before landing by the blonde with his proud huff.

"Haha!" He grinned before Enigma broke past the cliff edge mere moments later.

"Dammit! I was this close! Damn you swimwear!" The Android growled as Sardia, Etna, and Sicily came riding on the Professor's newest invention the normal way. "Best two out of three!"

"After lunch," Naruto smirked, shifting into his Oni-Frog form. "Hehe~ I got a good bit of fun out of that."

The Android blushed with a huff. "It never came up," she groaned.

"I'm just messing with ya."

As the others arrived, Tramaris and Avarice landing from their intense game of aerial tag, Clarissa on her magic carpet with Flonne and the human trio, the whole group gathered around a large stone table.

Time to eat!

"I didn't know lava could feel so nice!" Sicily grinned as she pulled out her book and wrote in it, mutton the size of her head sat in front of her on a plate. "Awesome!" She preened next to Laharl who huffed before rubbing the back of his head.

"It's alright, doesn't beat a nice warm bath but it works," he admitted as he observed her some more. 'I have a sister,' this fact had sunk in before breaching for another gulp of insane air. "... Sicily."

"Hmm?"

"... nothing."

Etna rolled her eyes from beside Flonne, the angel trainee grinning at the siblings as Circe served them their food.

"I know you're enjoying this," she said to the human soul who giggled a bit herself.

"I am," Circe said as she placed Etna's food down, the young woman nodding her thanks.

"Thanks, Queen," she said a bit bashfully.

"No problem, I've helped serve everyone, it's not going to be easy to adjust. Like someone's hmmm."

Etna blushed as Flonne grinned, Jennifer doing so once she sat down on the angel's other side.

"Something interesting happened, huh?" The human woman asked the two as Etna squawked.

"N-No, it didn't!" She hissed.

"It's all fun, Etna, besides," Circe began in a motherly tone. "When it comes down to it, it's a simple matter of do you want to?" She asked her rather curiously as the redhead's tail curled into a heart unbidden. "Hm-hmm, I guess that's the answer."

"S-Stupid tail!" Etna huffed as she bit into her food. "Hm… Mmm."

"It's what it is, Etna," Jennifer said.

"Glp, what about you, JENNY?"

"H-Hmm? Well, I… w-well," she blushed a bit in thought. "I don't know what the right time would be," Jennifer admitted as the redhead blushed more.

'D-Dammit!' She'd thought she could turn this on the younger woman b-but that just seemed to backfire! "Mmm!" Etna ate more aggressively, looking both done and reluctantly thoughtful. '... I know,' she just… s-she'd never done this before.

What? Was she supposed to just spring it on him? Hint? Let things play out?

But then the Queen had told her, hadn't she? It was only a matter of if she wanted to. Etna did, she realized, and if the woman who could bag the King said this, she might need to very much take it to heart.

If a normal human witch could get someone who was basically the ruler of the world, Etna should have a far easier time trying to… t-to date Naruto, oh Satan.

She grumbled as Aramis sat next to her, the boy raising a brow at her behavior before shrugging and starting to eat.

'Girls are weird,' or was that wrong?

His 'Bro' just seemed to make them weird and somehow like him a real lot. Aramis never really got it with other demons but he could see how it worked with Naruto.

The guy was a class act in things Aramis thought were stuff women liked. Like, he was cool, super-super STRONG, all capitalized for a damn good reason.

Aramis could still feel his blood pumping from him ripping open a plateau.

So, yeah, Naruto was strong and that was something demons liked.

Next, well, Aramis thought that being nice and kind and stuff was super awesome. He'd never been treated so well outside of this place, even his mother had more often than not forgotten him when she was busy with her work.

No, Aramis was sure this had to be the best place he'd ever live at…

Then he felt his hair get ruffled before the seat next to him got taken by a familiar Prinny.

"You good?" He asked the boy who blinked at his food before nodding. "... alright, I'm here, ya know," Naruto reassured him and Aramis was once more reminded about why the human soul was so popular.

He was reliable and seemed to get emotions on a level the boy wasn't sure he ever would. Naruto was strong, kind, funny, reliable, and just an overall amazing person, Aramis noted.

He was what he wanted to be… someone GREAT.

"Hmm," Clarissa sat across from the Prinny who nodded. "So, I looked up some things and there's an event going on nearby, maybe twenty miles that way," she pointed behind her as everyone settled in.

Tramaris next to her person of affections which, honestly, didn't incite Clarissa's ire in the least. Maybe she was getting good at this?

Avarice whined behind him before looking pensive and grinning, leaving Clarissa with a raised brow for but a few moments before she snorted, the Harpy picking up the flat-faced Naruto and placing him in her lap so she got her way and he could eat.

Clarissa had never been so amused by the Prinny's sheer sense of 'adaptability'.

As in, the way that he just shrugged at what life threw at him and started feeding himself and the happy Harpy without missing a beat.

"Bro, you're way too good at this, you know that, right?" Aramis asked with a sweatdrop, Enigma and Sardia taking up Clarissa's left side while Circe sat on her right. "Like, you don't even react anymore."

"My afterlife is insane, dood, I've just learned to run with it at this point," Naruto said as Avarice stole the food off his fork. "Hey! I'm feeding you, don't take my food away from me-dattebayo!" The Prinny fluffed as she grinned.

The Android smirked. "Trouble in paradise? Most would love to feed a pretty woman."

"It wears off. Now? It's only kinda nice."

"Ouch, tough life."

"I barely know how to use the word but don't patronize me. I'll have you know, being this portable isn't easy," Naruto huffed as her grin grew in size while Sardia snickered. "I'm fluffy, apparently, and barely taller than Sici over there," he said as Sicily perked up.

"Sici?! Ooh! Then I'll call you 'Naru'!" The angel girl grinned as Draconis and Gordon snorted.

"This atmosphere, hmm!" Kagami grinned heartily as Kana chuckled.

"It can be calm sometimes," she said sarcastically.

"For everyone else," Nakano muttered as he drank. "So, what was that thing you heard about?" He asked.

"A performance," Clarissa smiled as her black headwings twitched a bit, much to Naruto's amusement. "As it turns out, there's some sort of up-and-coming music festival setting up here."

"It sounds like a roarin' good time!" Sardia noted. "I've been wondering if the changes to the Netherworld have hit this place yet."

"Yes, that has been kinda on the backburner," Circe said as Laharl nodded.

"Honestly, Naruto, Thursday, send out a ton of clones to the other Maps and stuff, if we can do some recon ahead of time, it'd save us a headache," he said, getting a nod out of Naruto.

"Sure, I'm guessing that things will be a bit more hectic if we don't know," the Prinny said.

"Hmm," Kurtis looked at the orange chicken, not 'Orange Chicken' but 'orange' chicken, before him and hummed at its taste. "It's like slightly sharper chicken," he noted as Gordon sweatdropped.

"Right."

~NRK~

Traveling via their numerous methods of aerial travel their group possessed.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked down from his wind ball and saw the beginnings of a large, long, thick strip of earth, stone, and molten rock forming into a strip that held a series of stands, event-goers, balloons, and music. "I'm guessing that's the event?"

Clarissa nodded with a smile as their group went down before landing, Naruto transforming into his oni form immediately after.

"Damn… -50%... Resistances," he gasped as the group chuckled. "Guh…. Invigorate," Naruto cast as Tramaris blinked in surprise.

'W-Wait, what did he just say?' Was she hearing him right?

"Ahhhhh…" Naruto sighed in relief. "Thank God for that Skill and its upgrades," he said as he jumped to his feet. "Hmm, alright, let's-"

"N-Naruto? Can we talk? Privately?" Tramaris asked seriously, the look on her face telling. "There's something I need to ask you about when it comes to your Skills."

"Oh? Well, alright-"

"Hold on!" Avarice screeched, stalking over before latching onto the former ninja's back like always. "Sneaky."

"H-Huh?" Tramaris looked confused before Etna rolled her eyes but they also bore some suspicion.

"Hmph, just go with one of his clones," she said, none of her secret intent revealed.

The way Tramaris pouted a bit had her suspicions revealed.

'Gotcha, bitch,' someone might have also wanted some Alone Time with their most notable blonde member. "Yeah, Naruto doesn't need to just separate from us."

"Huh?" The man-in-question raised a brow. "Like, it sounds important, so-"

"Nuh-uh, you've gotta be impartial, bud," Sardia pat his shoulder with a calm grin. "Just give a clone to everyone you can and go hang with Aramis, I bet he'd enjoy that."

"H-Huh?!" The salmon-haired boy blushed. "H-Hold on! I-I didn't say anything-!"

"Alright let's go," Naruto said immediately, ten clones created in seconds and the boy on his shoulder. "Pick which one we're going to first."

"U-Uhhh… that one."

They were gone in an instant and Kagami tilted his head.

"Correct me, Kana, I believed he wasn't related to anyone here," the Samurai asked the quickly grinning Lady Samurai. "Is Naruto's wife around?"

"YEP!"

"WHO?!" The notable six 'romances' of their group asked in an instant.

"Hm, hmm~" Kana smirked. "Apologies, brother, I jest."

"That wasn't funny," the Naruto clones groaned. "You're gonna get me into trouble for no reason, dood."

She looked ready to start laughing.

Nakano got three steps before a hand latched around his neck and dragged him back.

"D-Dammit, my freedom!" The Warrior whined.

"Come now, Nakano, I have to regale you of this blacksmith I once met!" Kagami grinned as he grabbed Kana and a Naruto clone.

"Wait, what?" Nakano perked up. "... fine, go ahead, give me all the details."

"Heh."

---

"Hmm, alright, let's see what's up," Laharl said. "Mom, Sicily, one Naruto," he spoke again as a clone nodded, coming over before the four of them walked off. "Honestly, are you going to do something about all that? Like, it's not my business and stuff but… team synergy."

The clone rubbed the back of his head before noticing Sicily's waiting look.

Snorting, he transformed into his Prinny form before she grinned with him in her arms.

"And… I-I don't… know, yet," Naruto admitted as Circe hummed with a nod. "... I did some thinking about it this morning, you know?" He told them as Laharl blushed a bit but nodded.

"What's this even like?" He asked him and Naruto's face became… oddly apathetic. "That bad?"

"It's… Like, dude, I've never had girls like me often, yeah? There was one girl, Hinata, apparently she had liked me for years but I was a total idiot who didn't notice. To be fair, I did have both a crush on a girl I knew and a friend I needed to beat up to help him make up his mind so I think I have some leeway?" He said unsurely as Sicily put him down and grabbed his flipper.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"My… love life?"

"That didn't sound so sure."

"I'm really not."

"Hmm…" Circe tapped her beak before nodding. "Naruto, Kage Bunshin Tag, on me, if you will."

The Celestia-based Prinny blinked before nodding, applying his Skill.

Moments later, he also made another clone for that clone of Circe to walk off with.

As they did, she pointed to a large molten rock outcropping where they went to sit down.

"So… tell me about it, honestly, I might have some good input," the Circe clone said and he nodded.

Naruto explained his thoughts to her, his opinions, his feelings, the women who were giving him odd mental situations at the moment, Sardia's last bit of 'advice', and just his general approach to it all.

"I don't want to hurt 'em, I don't know how to approach this, and I don't even know if I'm seeing what I think I am," Naruto admitted. "I'm just someone trying to help his Boss, this isn't something I ever expected to possibly deal with."

"Hmm, I understand your situation, I do, not so much from experience but from what I know about the Netherworld," Circe nodded. "I also understand your conundrum, we were humans, Naruto-kun, it's not wrong for us to still have those sensibilities."

"So, what's your idea?"

"Well, for one, maybe use our current situation to feel out the situation some more. Consider the personalities of the women around you, talk to them, see where their feelings lie and just try to let yourself enjoy the time around them. When you can, I think you'll know your answer."

"Is telling the women of my life I want them all in a harem really a good idea?"

"Probably not."

He groaned before making a clone and popping it.

"I hope this works out, nee-chan," Naruto said.

---

The Naruto clone with Tramaris blinked before he blushed at the memories.

'Oh, God, why would you have that conversation now?!' He wondered with a small groan as Tramaris blinked at him, her straw sandals turning around as she did.

"Naruto? Is everything alright?" She asked the oni as she kept her eyes above his chest. 'S-Stop looking at his ab-stomach!' Tramaris burned as she looked away.

"... yea, I'm just… dealing with some thoughts, you know?" Naruto admitted. "I'm just… C-Can we focus on our talk, please?" He didn't want to bring the kind, motherly, angel into it.

Lest he mixes up his feelings with her and make their lives difficult.

"W-Well… I never really paid attention to it, not at first," Tramaris said as he nodded before gesturing to a small pool of lava at their side.

Going over, they sat down before letting their feet slip into it… well, Naruto allowed his Werefox form's feet do so.

Had to watch those Resistances.

"It's just… in Celestia, our current Seraph's rise to the position is well-documented. His skills, travels, the beings he's met, and even the angels he's had to debate with, all the way down to his Skills List, Naruto," Tramaris explained. "Invigorate is… that's an old Skill from his time, he used to use it back before he gained his Grand Grace Skill."

"Whoa, really?" He asked and she nodded. "Well… right, you don't know about how I came to be… me, specifically."

"You said an angel gifted you your powers?"

"The Holy ones, at least. I could still do everything I do now save for my Tags and Transformations. Those were also from the Angelic Language II Skill."

Tramaris considered his words, slowly swirling her feet in the lava below them, Naruto's eyes going down her long creamy legs towards her feet…

'I'm out here trying to sabotage myself,' but it was seemingly hard when he noticed their attractiveness outright.

Naruto was sure he never noticed that about her before, not saying she wasn't attractive, but he never really focused on those kinds of things in most situations.

He just focused on her feet, the well-taken of toenails getting a small chuckle out of him, getting a bit of a blush and confused look from Tramaris.

"H-Hmm?"

"It's nothing, I just noticed your toenails are super well taken care of," Naruto smirked as she blushed, looking down at her feet with a bit of a pout. "Come on, I'm just messing with you a bit, it's clear you take good care of yourself."

She kept pouting for a bit but smiled despite it. "I… I-I like taking care of my body, it was one I was blessed with and I don't want to let that blessing go to waste," Tramaris blushed. "T-Though, crying all the time p-probably doesn't help my skin."

He chuckled a bit. "It's just fear, as long as you don't let it overtake you, you're fine, I promise."

"... I suppose, I-I feel like we got off track," she said bashfully as he smiled some more. "... I still liked it."

"It was fun, we can do something like this again. Just let me know ahead of time and we can just hang, maybe we can race," she perked up and the blonde grinned. "I knew it, you and Avarice were at it for a while."

"I-It's just nice to fly."

"I know, I ain't knockin' it, it just seems like you like it more than normal and I'm wondering if you fly a lot in your free time."

"O-Oh! Well, I do," Tramaris smiled and Naruto blushed but smiled along with her. "To feel free, to look at the world around me pass by, and to use my s-speed to its utmost," she blushed but looked a bit proud. "I-I'm the fastest of my fellow angelic sisters, I-I even got a medal!"

"The Seraph hands out trophies?"

"Y-Yeah! It's a bit fun!"

Naruto smiled at that.

They chatted for a time.

---

"Hmm," Clarissa smiled as she held onto Naruto's arm, the two of them walking past stall after stall as the others fluttered about behind and around the area. "Oh, these are cute!" She said as Naruto ran with it, the memory of his other clone's talk with Circe allowed him to just go along with Clarissa to do as she pleased.

Looking at the stall, Naruto hummed at the octopus dolls, the one she'd chosen being a rather ridiculous-looking one that was completely black with an orange diamond atop its head, cross-button eyes, and a small banjo tied to its chest.

"Ah, I see, tryin' ta win your girl one of our 'Squigglies'?!" The country-bumpkin-like Witch, the Country Witch, in front of them grinned beneath her straw hat before she really looked at the two, blinking at them. "Damn, you guys big, holy hell!"

Clarissa chuckled a bit while Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, we are," they said in unison, just chuckling a bit more at their unified answer.

"Huh, well, nothing like more tall people, I guess," the short woman shrugged. "Now, about my Squigglies?~ Hmmm~ The ma'am seems to like it."

They both blushed bright red at that, Clarissa's ears twitching as her eyes snapped open before peeking at the equally embarrassed Naruto.

"... let me just get one for her, yeah?" He said, not a denial in sight.

The fact made her face burn but her heart soar.

"Hehehe~ Alright, it's a simple game, ya see?" The Country Witch explained as she twirled her hands.

The array of Squigglies flew into the air before floating behind a series of moving circles that rowed back and forth in front of a bullseye target on each plush.

The one they chose just so happened to have a quarter-sized one.

"The aim of the game," the woman said as she widened her hands and the plushies moved back for distance as a rifle popped into existence in front of Naruto who grabbed it. "Is to shoot it three times. You get the toy if you can nail it twice and I'll throw in a small bracelet if you can nail it three times."

"Hmm, this is more than just a gun, right?" Naruto asked her as he weighed the hefty rifle in his arms. "I can feel my Skills getting sealed by this," the Country Witch looked surprised.

"You can tell? Yeah, I have to enchant it to stop some people from trying to use broken spells like Target Lock and stuff, it got annoying," she huffed as Clarissa tilted her head before Naruto held out the gun to her. "Oh? Not a good HIT stat?"

"Clarissa-chan has a way better one than me," Naruto admitted as the Dark Apostle nodded before trying to level the gun.

"I-It's pretty heavy," she said in surprise. "I-I'm decently high level, I don't understand, why is this…"

"That's because it's based on Aptitudes and not your Stats, it helps level the playing field a bit by not letting high-level folks with shit Apts to get a free pass, my business has been doing quite well if I say so ma self," the Country Witch smirked.

The two looked surprised by that before humming.

Then Naruto got an embarrassing idea.

Clarissa loved every second of it.

Standing behind her, arms around her own and helping level the gun so she could aim, the former Cleric's and ninja's faces reddened something fierce as they took up a Gunner's stance.

"Geez, talk about being slick," the woman smirked slyly as Naruto blushed harder while Clarissa beamed like she won the lottery. "Trust me, I doubt she'll care even if you lose, this is a lustful piece of heaven for her."

Clarissa didn't even deny it, taking several 'happiness-enhanced' breaths before nuzzling into Naruto's grasp more. "Focus, focus~," She said with a bright grin as he muttered before tightening up his grip and she grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

The first shot went off without a hit, slamming into the bullseye as Clarissa's eyes opened.

The next shot skidded on the side of a ring a bit, hitting the target barely.

"One more for a free prize!"

Clarissa nodded at that, taking aim before gasping at the feeling of energy thrumming against her back.

"Focus, Clarissa-chan," Naruto whispered as she breathed out a hot breath. "I'm going to match our energies together. I'm not really that good at it in this form but it fits us the most," he admitted with icy blue eyes as she felt it.

Him, the feeling of the energy thrumming even in the magically deficient body of his current form, she felt that warmth and ocean of power that enveloped her before seeming to become her own. Their energies' frequencies matched and the Dark Apostle's body sung at the feeling of synchronicity.

The next shot, to say the least, hit before driving through the target and plush through the back of the stall.

The stall owner jumped as Clarissa let out rapid gasps of breath, the feeling of matching energy leaving her to whine as Naruto blushed all the way before chuckling.

"Sorry, sorry, I know," he admitted even as his front remembered. 'I'm going to be so messed-up for a couple nights,' Naruto realized as the Country Witch scrambled.

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Here!" She threw another copy of the plush they destroyed at them before rushing to the back of her stall. "Don't make me pay bills, dammit!"

"Heh," Naruto chuckled, having caught the Squiggly before giving it to the red-in-the-face Clarissa who was huffing rather heavily. "... U-Um, are you-"

Naruto barely caught on as he was dragged out of view behind the stalls before Clarissa set her reward on some Shadow Conjuration shaped like a shelf.

Then she attacked him, tackling the oni, making sure he caught her, and then locking her arms behind his head as their lips pressed together to make beautiful 'music'.

"Ack?! For the love of Satan, not behind my stall!"

---

"Hmmm!" Avarice flew above, high into the sky, with a Wind Spirit Naruto clone, the copy breathing a sigh of relief as they got into cooler temperatures. "Much better?" She asked him as they tore across the sky at powerful speeds.

"Yep!" The clone grinned as they looped around the area before shooting off into the distance. "I wonder what else is in this place?"

They traveled through the sky without a thought, just looking over the lands below and considering everything they saw.

"Here! Here!" Avarice grinned as she took the lead before leading him over to a large mountain.

They rounded on it, curving up to the tip with powerful shifts in the air before landing moments later.

"Whoa…" Naruto grinned at the sight before them, the large circular area they'd landed in also giving them a view of the world around them but from heights that were only beat out by literally being in space. "This is awesome, Avarice."

The Harpy preened with red cheeks, walking over before looking out at the world around them as well.

"Mmmm, very small," she said as Naruto tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Netherworld… More of them?"

Oh, he got that. "Yeah, when you think about it, we're not the only Netherworld in the universe, there are others out there that we'll need to learn about to find Baal," Naruto frowned as she tilted her head at him.

"Scared?" She asked, resting a wing around the Wind Spirit's form.

"Heh, thanks but, no, I'm not," Naruto admitted before his windy cheeks burned a brighter green as he rested an arm around her waist.

Avarice's eyes widened in awe before he was nuzzled without hesitation by the grinning Harpy.

"So… uh, you seem the most gung-ho about… u-us, as a thing, alongside Clarissa… is that going to be a problem?" The human burned. 'Did I really just ask her if she's okay sharing?!' He must have changed something fierce if he was outright asking that!

"Hmmm?"

"U-Uuuhhh, no, well, forget it-"

"Don't mind, Want MINE," she said simply, confusing the Spirit to no end. "Demons~" Avarice grinned as he blinked, looking up in total bafflement.

"I don't think I get the Netherworld anymore."

She giggled as he was left blushing.

~NRK~

"Hmm?" Enigma tilted her head at him as they rested outside the little event in some lava, the Android still in her bikini while Naruto was in Prinny form. "Oh, you mean how's this all feel?" She repeated his question, touching her visor.

"Yeah, I was curious, I didn't know your armor was removable but then you also didn't remove your visor," Naruto said as he placed a black hand towel over his forehead. "All things considered, I was just wondering if that is your real eye or if it's just a helmet."

"Oh, well, i-it's just a bit weird with it off when I'm the actual Class, ya know?"

"I get it, it'd be like me zipping out of my Prinny Suit if that was possible."

"Exactly," she smirked as she leaned back in the 'waters'. "Though, I could show ya, it's not really much more than my real face with my eyes sewed shut," he looked alarmed. "Yep, not a pretty-"

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked with a frown as she blinked, the Celestial Beast frowning. "When it happened to you… did Gallen-"

"What? No, no, no, no!" She blushed a bit. "I told you, my soul was just put into this body through an altered True Reincarnation process, I didn't suffer in a body so much as out of it… so, wanna see? Like I said, they're sewn shut, it's not pretty," Enigma offered as Naruto tapped his chin.

"As long as you're cool with it, I don't wanna step on a friend's toes."

"Not surprised by your answer," she smirked before raising her covered hands to her visor before clicking on two almost invisible buttons on the sides, the headpiece clicking and hissing off her head.

Pulling it off, Naruto blinked as two long dark blue bangs fell to the sides of her face down to her chin, more of her bangs coming over her sewn-shut eyes where he saw some scarring across them.

"Ta-da, not a real pretty sight, huh?"

"Huh?" He blinked as she tilted her head. "What are you talking about, you hella pretty," Naruto admitted with some red across his beak as she flinched with some red on her own face. "Like, I get that some people don't like scars but it's not like it makes you ugly, f-far from it,"

Enigma blushed some more before 'looking' away. "I-I mean, like, it's not like everyone hates it I just… I miss my eyes," she said, surprising Naruto with a non-robotic voice.

Listening to it, he was surprised by how rough and yet soft it was, Enigma's usual confident tones now carrying more femininity in them than he ever heard.

"You had amazing ones?"

"Yeah… it was like… I don't know, if I had to say what made me stand out as a Valkyrie before all this, it was that my eyes were the coolest thing I ever got from my deadbeat parents," she admitted with a grin as Naruto balked. "And don't get sappy on me, I get you, I do, but I'm long over it."

"... alright, I won't say anything but now I'm curious," her eyebrows rose. "When you get back to normal, would you want to stay a Valkyrie?"

"Nope!" He laughed as she looked excited with the biggest grin. "We've got MORE Classes now and I know which one I want!" Enigma said with a vicious smirk. "Beast Master."

"R-Really? Any reason?"

"Well, outside of how compatible that'll make us when it comes to Magichange," she blushed at her words. 'Ack?! Compatible?! I don't like the knucklehead!' Enigma was sure she didn't but she knew she was kinda attracted to him.

Only a bit, though!

"A-Anyway, it's also good with a spear, like, to right ahead of Valkyries."

"I did notice, you like spears and axes."

"Yep, range and power I can attack up-close with, I like that kinda combat."

"We should seriously spar sometime, maybe tomorrow while I'm sparring with Draconis," he offered as she perked up with a big grin, getting a slight blush out of the Prinny. 'Well, it's not like I didn't know her grins were pretty awesome,' considering it was the most human part about her, not to say her other parts weren't… attractive, it really shined through in contrast to her robotic form.

"Sounds rad, I have been wondering how you'd all fare against our future opponents. Honestly, out of all of us, Draconis, Avarice, you, and the prince have the best combat prowess to handle that bitch and her pet," Enigma frowned as Naruto nodded.

"I get it, we'll beat her, we can't let her have her way. Besides, we are on a time limit and we've got this angel business with this Vulcanus dude, have to meet the Seraph, and I'm still not sure what the human world will do after Carter got away with his ships."

"Well, in that thread, I think we don't really need to worry," she said. "Damn near, you, Laharl, me, and Draconis folded them," Enigma chuckled as Naruto snorted. "I doubt they could handle all of our demons."

"True," he raised a brow at the Android rolling her shoulders. "You feeling tight?" Naruto asked as he transformed into his Werefox form before getting out.

"A bit, ya know? Whenever I take off the armor, it's like a weight off my shoulders," Enigma said before shivering as he moved behind her and pressed his paw pad-claw-hands against them W-Whoa… a bit to the right," she hesitated before giving him direction.

"I can kinda sense it," he said as she hummed in confusion.

"What do ya mean?"

"The energies in your knots are like little clusters," he said with focus, gripping her slightly broad shoulders entirely before pressing his thumbs, and some energy, into those points. "Hold on."

"Hold on for whaaaaaattttt~?" She moaned mid-sentence, hands coming around to cover her mouth as a spot just HIT different. "W-What?!" Enigma squeaked out as he blushed a bit before chuckling.

"I bet you haven't released tension in these shoulders for years."

"... a-a bit?" The woman burned like a candle. 'T-That felt way too good!' Enigma realized in embarrassed horror. "I-I wasn't… e-expecting," she said bashfully.

"I know… want me to stop?" Naruto offered.

"..." She mumbled. "... no…"

"You sure?"

"... Yeah."

"... Alright then, I'm going for another one by your neck."

"W-Wait, um, let meeeeeeeee~" She moaned again as he hit another spot. 'Oh no,' Enigma felt the sheer relief that flooded her with each 'dispersal' and realized she might get addicted to this, badly. "W-Well… if you're gonna do those, g-go all the way, m-my dude."

When he hit another one, she knew she was toeing a dangerous line but simply could not care.

This felt like heaven. A hot guy massaging her shoulders in nothing but shorts?

She'd be damned if she'd never had a fantasy like that.

~NRK~

Flonne giggled as she moved about with Draconis, the Earth Trio, Corrin, Bellona, and a Naruto clone who was currently carrying all their prizes and the Floral Beast Senator who looked at peace with the world in the oni's arms.

"Y-You know, this is nice!" She'd said earlier as if reaching an epiphany for the ages. "This is DIVINE."

The others had been more than amused.

"There weren't things like this on my Netherworld," Draconis said with interest as he saw another giant koi fishing contest. "One moment," he hurried over before paying to try.

As he tried to catch a giant koi, to eat, by the way, Flonne giggled a bit with Jennifer while Kurtis and Gordon hummed ahead.

"Let's see, my rival, there are those hoop contests," Gordon said.

"Oh please, you've got better HIT, it'd be no fair," Kurtis countered. "There is that whack-a-"

A snake's head popped out of a hole before disappearing from Aramis's stuffed hammer blow.

"Dammit!" The boy complained as Naruto chuckled behind him.

"-Snake. Whack-A-Snake," he corrected as Jennifer grinned. "I'm surprised and not that there are so many demon-versions of human things down here."

"More than a few cultures come through here, Witches and Mages from the human world can come down here, Kurtis," she explained as he perked up.

"Wait, really? H-How?!"

"We honestly don't know," Gordon said before Corrin grinned as she skidded next to them with some on-fire cotton candy. "... that doesn't even make sense."

"Netherworld," she countered.

"That's barely an argument," Kurtis sweatdropped.

"Anywho," deflecting like a champ, Corrin smirked. "The thing is, don't you all know about rituals humans do to interact with demons," their eyes widened. "Exactly, it's not hard to figure out. Then you have the Prinnies, the Reaper, and more, there are all kinds of ways for different cultures to come down here."

"That makes sense, Celestia is the same way," Flonne said as the Naruto clone with them nodded.

"It makes sense, remember, the Stellar Graveyard has all kinds of stuff from the human world and space," he reminded them. "Honestly? It's only a matter of something landing there."

"Exactly," Bellona said with a small giggle, a pair of shades and a sunhat on her face and head. "Now, come now," she grinned as she patted his bicep before pointing to a stall with several kinds of volcanic mulch. "Let's go and see that one!"

He snorted.

---

"Hmm, hmm, I see," Sardia blinked as she and Naruto sat down by a series of rock outcroppings farther away from the event. "Its way of transferring energy is outright interesting," she said with a chuckle as she leaned back into her 'Naruto chair', the man-in-question blushing as he sat with her in between his legs in his vulpine form. "Hmm~" She looked up as she leaned back with a grin that had his face in his hand.

"Why are you so bold today?" He asked with a huff as she chuckled a bit.

"Because it's that kinda chapter."

"What?"

"Just spendin' time with ya, it doesn't need to be complex, ya know?"

"I wish understanding women was that easy," he pouted and she chuckled, patting his cheek.

"Oh, come on, I promise you'll get something good out of this," Sardia promised with a red face but a salacious gaze as his ears perked up, the blue-eyed blonde blinking in surprise.

"A prize?" He asked.

"Yep."

"... well… okay, while I do like the idea, I would have just hung out with you if you wanted, you know that, right?"

"Of course, I do," Sardia hummed before sweatdropping. "T-Though, maybe having you pay for that much of that expensive-ass pudding was a bit much," she said as his eyebrow twitched.

"Sardia-chan-"

"Love the ring to that."

"-I've never spent that much money in EITHER of my lifetimes, it's unreal," Naruto rolled his eyes as she chuckled. "Hmph, though, I guess seeing what you consider a present would be interesting," he hummed before chuckling.

She was going to ruin this man.

"Now, with this, I've got to look at that seal you guys said you have," Sardia said before patting his bicep. "Oni-Frog mode, please," she said professionally as he rolled his eyes but did as asked, noting how she stood up.

"Hmm? We're going some-" He began to say, blinking as she turned around before she grabbed his face and made sure his lips met hers. "?!"

The feel was different compared to Clarissa and Avarice's lips, the Professor's kissing machines seemed to hold a 'spark' in them that rammed into his brain.

Sardia moaned a bit as she pressed against him, powerful chest to powerful chest, as Naruto held her close, rear-grabbing his hands' main mission. Her own slid down his cheeks to his neck to his shoulders and then up through his hair, their tongues lashing out against one another's.

Still, she grinned into it as they separated, breaths fast, cheeks red, and hands grabby.

"O-Oh, you're an ass man."

"... maybe?"

Sardia chuckled as she grinned slyly. "Knew it."

~NRK~

Etna huffed as she took aim once more before scoring another prize from a stall, the Prinny Naruto behind her chuckling as she did, a cart full of her prizes pulled behind him.

"You're being mean to them by this point," he snorted as she smirked a bit, the stall owner's look of horror very amusing. "Come on, I bet they've already put you on a black list for the gun games."

As if summoned, Etna squawked when a floating list of just that appeared in front of her.

"Leave!" The Treant man barked. "Leave my wares alone, you fiend!"

"Nyeh," she longed out her tongue before brooding as they moved on, Naruto snatching up the prize she'd won from the horrified stall owner. "Hmph, it's a paid event, why do I gotta get blacklisted?" Etna's tail curled in irritation as the clone nodded.

"You're right, it is pretty unfair, it's not like they shouldn't be prepared," he admitted. "Still, maybe this is new so they don't know better yet?"

"Hmph, I'm hungry."

"Alright, let's go and nab some food!"

Leading the way, the Prinny Naruto hummed as they kept looking around.

"Watcha feeling for? I'll buy-not too much!" Naruto immediately said as her tail pointed up for a bit and Etna wore a smirk.

"Hehe, nah, nah, it won't be that bad," she said, getting a sigh of relief out of the Prinny. "Alright… hmm, dango?" Etna blinked as Naruto perked up.

"Oh man! I haven't dango in forever!" He chuckled. "Wanna try some?" Naruto offered as she hummed before shrugging.

"Sure, I'll try anything once."

Going over and purchasing a quartet of jumbo-sized dango, Naruto brought over a large teapot with two ceramic cups.

"It's always good to drink sweets with tea," he grinned as she raised a brow at him once he put the items down and sat down on the other side of the food items. "Hehe," transforming into his Frog-Oni form, Naruto bit down on the side of one of his two dango sticks, biting off the dango and chewing on it as she hummed.

Looking at her own, Etna picked it up before copying his movements, taking the sweet, squishy, stretchy dessert with a hum.

"Hmm…" She chewed for a time as Naruto nodded, pouring out some tea for both of them before taking his cup and sipping in Werefox form.

"Mmm… haaa," he swallowed with a grin as he drank some more tea with a chuckle. "This takes me back," Naruto said as she nodded, drinking some of the offered tea.

"Muwaahhh, what times?" She asked, already reaching for her first stick's second dumpling. 'It's alright,' and free food was free food.

"Well, there was a long trip I took once," he said. "It was after a fight with my best friend that changed where we stood for a long four years. Me and Jiraiya-sensei, I fondly call 'im 'Ero-Sennin', went on a training trip for me to gain control of the power of Kurama before we were friends. I didn't know it at the time but he was my godfather," Etna perked up.

"Sounds complicated, how come you didn't know?" She asked.

"I'm not really sure outside of, maybe, how often he was never in the village in the first place and… I never really said it to him outright but I think he felt guilty, it's kinda what I think Kakashi-sensei was feeling when he kept handing me off to different teachers when I was younger. Of course, I could just be making excuses but I also know that just because you're an adult, that doesn't mean you've solved your life, it's a complicated mess."

Didn't she know it? "Well, it seems like you ended up being big and tough without 'em, anyway."

"Haha! Well, they still helped, down the line, I mean Jiraiya-sensei did take me on a large training trip as is. It's just, they could have done more but I'm glad for what I did learn."

'Once again, ever the optimist,' Etna knew she'd take a lot longer than four years to get over such a weak excuse for betraying her trust. "Hmph, so you two ate dango often?"

"Yep, it's a favorite snack of on-the-road travelers so most outposts, stations, and stalls will have it."

She could see how that worked, it was a bit filling, had all kinds of flavor from the stand they went to, and was easy to buy enough to tide you over.

They ate in comfortable silence, drinking tea, eating dango, and just taking in the atmosphere.

Then it hit Etna what this kinda was as she froze mid-sip, spewing out tea. "P-Puwah! Puwah!"

"You cool?" The now-Prinny Naruto blinked at her as she kept thumping her chest.

"Y-Yeah! I am!" She squeaked a bit, coughing up the last bit of 'wrong-piped' tea. 'Crap!' Why'd she have to make it all weird now?! "J-Just, uhh… I'm a woman now!" Etna spat out without thought as Naruto blinked, in fox form once more. "A-And, uhh, well… things are… uh," come on!

Say something intelligent, dammit!

"I guess you are," Naruto admitted with a focused look that confused her. "You used to just look like a teenager and stuff but you've got the age advantage on me," he said seriously, stopping any anger at her 'age' being brought up.

Her mind cooled as she considered his confused look.

"Ya got something on your mind?"

"Etna, do you like me?"

She froze, face glowing red, eyes shrunk, mouth agape, and… and tail curled into a heart.

"H-Huh?! W-What the hell?! I, uh, w-well, you're not… I'm not," she flailed about, trying to answer in a way that didn't let him…

Naruto's eyes went to her, seriously. There was some red on his face, a fact that had her pride and femininity feeling proud, but he looked… oddly pensive but considering her answer.

"... W-Why?"

"... I'm… okay so be honest with me, alright?" He asked her with as much pleading as he could, the young woman looking surprised. "I know Clarissa and Avarice like me, that's the truth, right?"

"... yeah, it is, those two dames like you a lot, especially the former."

"Thanks… and you do as well."

She blushed a bit, messing with her fingers. "Y-Yeah, I do," there, she'd admitted it in front of him.

Etna told Naruto that she liked him.

"... Being a bit more honest, I'm surprised," he rubbed the back of his head as she pouted a bit, face glowing but the fact that the truth was out allowed her shoulders to drop. "I… I only really had one girl who liked me, ya know? Back when I was alive, it was a girl I ignored because I was interested in someone else… it still bothers me to this day," Naruto looked concerned and Etna blinked at how severe it was. "I don't want to not address that again if I end up dying."

"Don't talk like that," she frowned as he nodded. "... besides, you know now," Etna said with one eye closed and a whirling hand. "It's different now."

"Heh, yeah, it is."

"... so…?"

"... O-Okay, uhh," he blushed and now she was very intrigued. "So, uh… look, I'm not trying to have you all hate me if I turned you down but I'm not exactly all-in on this idea-"

"The harem thing?" She cut him off and he choked, switching to Prinny form in embarrassment.

She snorted at that, the human soul's scrambling more than enough to clear the air a bit.

"You're trying to form one?"

"I-I don't know, dood!" She laughed at his response. "I-It's just, um, okay so I did a lot of thinking this morning and I don't know what to do. I like some of you, Clarissa's got this whole thing where I want to protect her," Etna considered that before nodding. "You've got this fire I find hard to look away from."

The young woman's entire face turned red as her hair raised, her eyes trembled, her mouth struggled to hold back her full-blown grin, and her tail curled into two hearts.

All in all? She was very happy to know he had something going on in his heart for her.

"Avarice and you also have this whole red hair thing I really like."

"Yeah? How come?"

"My mom had amazing red hair, she even said it was the thing that connected her and my dad together."

Etna's tail wagged as she wore a sly grin he huffed at in Frog-Oni form but scratched his cheek regardless in embarrassment.

"D-Don't make that weird, she's also got a fiery no-crap attitude that makes her kinda hard to turn away from."

"Hmm, I guess," Etna could admit, she agreed with a lot of the Harpy's mannerisms but envied that sexy body she had. "Honestly, I wish had had bazongas like those."

He blushed but grumbled as she obviously fished for compliments.

"You're so evil."

"Yu-huh~ Now, spoil me."

Naruto snorted at that but rubbed the back of his head. "Honestly? Back muscles, don't know why," even Etna looked surprised by that, looking behind her at her slowly flapping wings. "You just seem to have strong attractive ones," he shrugged as she blushed a bit but hummed either way.

"Well, since we're already on it, what are the other kinks you got?" She snickered as he pouted.

"I don't have kinks, ugh," he grunted but blushed regardless as he thought about it. "Okay so, apparently, I'm a very big leg man."

Etna looked down at her own legs and hummed before nodding in satisfaction, getting a laugh out of the blonde.

"Oh please, you win in some categories, not all of them."

"Doesn't hurt to know my standing… then again," her expression turned flat as he laughed. "I-I'm really up against the walls with this competition."

"Yeah, Avarice is around your level, though, so you can feel good about that."

"Wait, why? Hold on, let me guess, it's the actual bird parts, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm not gonna say I hate them but it's, like, not the full thing. Like, my God, Clarissa wears LEATHER well."

Etna considered that before remembering the former Cleric in leather pants. "Yeah, I see what you mean," if Etna felt like she had competition, Clarissa's legs blew her out of the water, like goddamn.

That woman's legs went on until next week.

"Next?"

"... I only really noticed this today, yeah?" He blushed as she snickered. "Enigma's butt is something hard to look away from, especially when it's wet."

"... n-now, when you say 'wet'-"

"Etna, I'm not that much of a pervert!"

"Okay, okay!" Her blush died down a bit. 'O-Okay, so he hasn't done any of… that yet,' but she doubted it'd be for much longer.

Likely, they still had things to focus on with Makoranta and getting people preggers wasn't exactly 'EXP Grinding' if you caught her drift. Couldn't just be popping kids out left and right.

A-And she was now very legal, in age and looks now, so that was something she had to be mindful of.

"Next?"

"... honestly, I'm noticing legs a lot more as of late, I've never looked at Tramaris, you know, like that," she nodded. "But her legs look so… soft."

"Eh, I'm sketchy on her," Etna said with a small blush. "If we were to make this whole 'harem' thing work, have you even considered your current, or future, numbers?"

He blushed as she did some more as well, looking concerned.

"E-Etna, I barely have any idea of what I'm doing. I-I can't just be adding women left and right, that'd make me some kinda super pervert!" Naruto said in alarm as she grinned in relief.

'So, he's really just that kinda idiot, huh?' Someone who just didn't want to hurt their numbers' feelings. "Honestly, just by being that way you've got the right head for it all but that still doesn't mean you know your current numbers, do you?"

"D-Do you?"

"... I wish I could say 'yes'," she admitted with a wince. "I really don't, Naru," Etna blushed as she said the nickname.

Naruto just kept going without even giving it a second glance, likely already accepting it… hmm!

"Naru?"

"Yeah?"

Oh, this was amazing.

"So, what about your current numbers? What about Sardia? Hell, what about Tramaris? Or Bellona?"

"I mean… I don't feel anything for Bellona, I promise, same with Corrin, not to say she isn't cute, she is," he admitted as Etna hummed. "But Corrin feels like she's not one for… you know?"

"Actually being clear about a relationship?"

"Yeah. As for the other two? I… I want to help them, that's all I feel, right now. I don't want to hurt them, ya know? Or, really, I don't want to get in their ways. Tramaris is still an angel, Etna-chan," she grinned while her tail curled into a heart. "She can't stay here… right?"

"Well, I know Flonne has a pendant that protects her from the Netherworld's… energy?" Etna frowned as Naruto blinked.

"Wait, what? Why would she need a pendant? I'm confused."

"I… I never asked, you know? It just seemed like a one-off plot but I don't know why she'd need a pendant to stay down here. Is the Netherworld really toxic to angels?" Etna considered as he hummed.

"I'll ask when I get the chance. On that track, like I said, Tramaris doesn't really deserve to be stuck down here."

"What if she went back and forth, though?"

"Would she even be allowed?"

That was true, they still didn't know the whole deal with the Seraph after all. And this 'Vulcanus' guy was clearly bad news.

"Well, what about Enigma?"

"She has her dreams, you know? I'm sure the clone with her is talking to her about hers because I've been really curious since I was helping her swim. I'd love for all of us to work through things until the end."

"You've thought about this a lot?" She asked. "That seemed pretty prepared."

"Nah, I know that some people need space to achieve their dreams, I had to go through a whole character arc about that, you know?" Naruto said as she nodded.

"Kana?"

"Oh please, even if Kagami wasn't clearly trying to pair them up," Etna cackled as he smirked. "It was obvious they like each other, she once showed me her screen during training and I saw her chosen Subclass, it's Warrior."

"Oh, that's deep."

"Yep."

"Hmm… ya know, when I think about it, we really don't know that many women outside of our group, you know, MC-material ones."

"I'm not surprised you didn't ask about Jennifer."

"Dude, come on, we'd all have to be blind and dumb to not know she has the biggest crush on Gordo."

"True."

"Speaking of crushes," Etna snickered as he raised a brow. "The Prince and Flonne."

"... wait, seriously?" He asked in shock as she nodded. "Well… I don't know how things were before I came back, what really started this whole crazy adventure you three went on?"

She explained to him about Flonne's true arrival and the events leading up to his return.

As he listened, Naruto whistled.

"I'm pretty sure she's been making wicked headway ever since I got back and then we got back Circe-nee, geez," he rubbed the back of his head. "Honestly? I don't think they'll ever admit it without something happening."

"Thinking about playing matchmaker?"

"I'm an idiot by trade," she laughed. "I'm barely able to handle my own love life, Lord knows I can't handle someone else's."

"That's fair," Etna said with a smile as they drank some more tea. "So… I'm not against it, not that much, I've never liked someone like this before, I want to see it through. I bet most of the others haven't either."

"... I'm really about to suggest having a harem to a bunch of women I know."

"Yeah, crazy right?"

"Absolutely-dattebayo."

~NRK~

There we go. With this, I've written three chapters for NaruPrinny, Unlimited Courage, and Respectably Ordinary. Following those, I'll be writing another True Guardians chapter which will be followed by Void Breathing. I'll update whatever I want following that.

So, with this chapter, the group chills before widening their dynamics a bit. Sicily becomes more accustomed to her family and the demon world while Naruto finally addresses the women around him who've gained some decent affection for him.

Naruto's not exactly unaware as it seems, he's an adult, he's gone through experiences that most of his group of demons haven't, and he's not the kid or even teen he used to be. He's calmer and a bit smarter though he's well aware of his mental limits. So, he figures out that he needs to figure out what he feels about his female comrades.

And you get that, outside of Plenair, he's shown attraction for all of them but she'll get her time to shine eventually. She's likely working on it even now.

And Etna has finally come clean while gaining a sort of relieved wisdom that allows her to slip into 'her groove' that allows her to talk with Naruto easily and simply, making their dynamic officially different in her favor.

Alright, I'll see you all in the next one.

Ciao.

~NRK Out~