The Tale of Devilish Fox - chapter 3

-DXD-

The day after the date (and dealing with the fallen angel, but we need to have the priorities straight) Naruto arrived at Kuoh Academy practically jumping. He and Hinata walked hand in hand, generating an obscene amount of rumors. They also completely missed the glares that Issei was sending them.

Their merry day was interrupted when Yuuto Kiba entered the classroom.

"Uzumaki-san, Hyuuga-san. If you would please follow me?" His ever-polite would fool most if not all students, but to a trained ninja, he might've as well said 'I'm annoyed with something and you were a part of it'. That and he struck Naruto as an Avenger, like Sasuke.

Behind him, Issei seemed to be tailing him too. He gave Naruto a dirty look that the teen shrugged as jealousy.

They were led through the school to the old academy building, which now housed the Occult Research Club. Which was also a cover-up for the Rias Gremory's Peerage that was active in Kuoh. Same as Students' Council was Sona's cover. Damn, Naruto needed to figure out his own cover soon. He still had to stay here until he graduated, which would be a pain.

"Hey, why's he coming with us?" Naruto pointed at Issei. "I thought that… you know… they're not supposed to know."

"Buchou will explain everything." Kiba shrugged. He led them into the building but didn't enter the main club room.

The trio did though. When they passed over the doorstep, the sound of a shower running hit their ears. Wait, what? Who would take a shower in the middle of the day in a semi-public place?

Their collective confusion was short-lived when Rias Gremory stepped into the room, followed swiftly by Akeno. Luckily (not so for Issei) she actually put some clothes on. Rias' lush, red hair was still wet though, which was a tell that she was indeed under the shower just a moment ago.

"Hey, Rias-chan. Why's the pervert here?"

"Ara ara. Feeling threatened, Naruto-Kun?" Akeno grinned. "Don't worry. I'll be ready to console you if Hinata decides to drop you for some other guy. I promise to be gentle… at first." She giggled, making Issei almost trip. Where did the Yamato Nadeshiko go and who was that impostor. Not that he would mind… if she wasn't only focused on the irritating blond.

"He's mine." Hinata possessively grabbed Naruto's shoulder and pulled him to her. The fact that her generous chest now enveloped his arm was completely unintentional. Once she realized what she did, the girl blushed but didn't back down. She trusted Naruto with a lot more important things. Like her life in battle for example.

"Ufufu… For now." It sounded like a promise, which made the Hyuuga just short of murderous.

"Akeno, don't tease Hinata-san. Naruto-dono." She took a seat behind her desk and motioned for him to sit on the opposite of her.

Uh-oh. He was in danger. Rias never referred to him like that unless he was in big trouble.

"Come on, Rias-chan. Whatever you think I did, I can assure you it's not as bad as you think." He raked his brain, trying to figure out what he might've messed up. "Sona-chan didn't rope you into one of her punishment schemes again?"

"Ara ara. You know very well what you did. Maybe a little punishment will restart your memory."

"Okay. That's slightly disturbing." The shinobi looked at Rias' [Queen]. She started to remind him somewhat of that crazy proctor, Mitrashi Anko.

"Now, Naruto-dono. Do you really have no idea what you did wrong? Perhaps last evening? In a park?"

It finally clicked. "You mean the fallen angel thing? I did send you a letter about it."

"A… letter?" Issei looked at the blond like he suddenly sprouted a second head. "You mean an email, right?"

"What's an email?"

This made the other boy start laughing. "A good one. I almost believed you."

"...He isn't joking." Toujo Koneko spoke from the sofa, startling the pervert. Naruto and Hinata seemed unaffected. Probably because they already knew she was there.

"I sometimes forget that you are still unfamiliar with most of the modern technology."

"You're for real?"

"Sadly, yes." Rias shook her head in dismay. "I thought Sona-chan would've already covered it."

"We're still stuck at the history and customs." Naruto scratched his neck in embarrassment. "We might've… well, there were some incidents." He gave her a cheeky grin. Everyone knew what sort of incidents he was talking about.

"You don't know what's an email?" Issei was somewhat slow on the catch-up. In his defense, what kind of teenager didn't understand emails?

"Why is Hyodou-san here?" Hinata asked.

"Why, you're looking at my newest [Pawn]. All my [Pawns] really."

"Him?" Naruto asked for confirmation.

"You bet! I'm a devil now." The boy proudly displayed his wings. "Before you know it, I'll become a true Harem King!" He then turned to Hinata. "I'm accepting applications."

Naruto bonked him with a large stick. "Down boy."

"Ugh… you don't have to be so brutal. Just because you don't believe in me…"

"Who said I didn't believe in you?" Naruto asked, somewhat confused. "Quite the opposite actually. I met enough perverts to know not to doubt one." Kakashi-sensei, Hokage-jiji, Ebisu-san, Ero-sennin… There was a lot. "But Hina-chan is mine."

The girl blushed at the possessiveness in Naruto's voice.

"So you think I can get a Harem?"

"You're not the first to try, certainly won't be the last." Naruto smiled. "But if you truly follow your dream, nothing is impossible."

"Yes!" Issei seemed almost revitalized. Gone was the jealousy. "Will you teach me?"

"Huh?" Everyone seemed confused at the last one.

"You already have girls all over you. There is even a fan club. You're so far ahead on the road to have a Harem. I want to learn from the best."

"Well, if you pass my test…" The grin on Naruto's face spoke of trouble.

"Naruto-Kun! Don't you dare!" Hinata protested, but it was already too late.

"What-" Rias' shout was interrupted when Naruto formed a single Hitsuji (Ram) seal.

"Oiroke no Jutsu" (Sexy Jutsu). In a burst of smoke, Naruto was replaced by a slightly older, female version of himself. She was now dressed like the day she was born and the only thing covering her privates were thin wisps of smoke. She leaned closer to Issei and breathed close to his ear. That was enough to overload the perverted boy. A fountain of blood sent him flying away. That done, Naruto dispelled his transformation.

"Always gets them."

"Ufufu… It got hot in here. Or is it just some brain boiling?" Akeno laughed, looking at the poor knocked-out pervert.

"What… was that?" Rias looked only slightly scandalized. Mostly because of how perfect and detailed that illusion was. It was… a bit disturbing.

"My ultimate pervert killer. After dealing with several perverted senseis, I developed a range of different transformations. Works like a charm every time." He giggled before receiving a gentle smack to the head from Hinata.

"That aside, I called you here because you apparently failed to properly erase Issei-Kun's memory. It was lucky that he had one of my summoning pamphlets. His desire for answers was enough to call me."

"I'm pretty sure my clone erased everything about devils' existence from his mind."

"What about fallen angels?" Hinata asked.

Naruto searched for the right memory for a bit before finally remembering. "Oh…"

"Well, perhaps I shouldn't fault you… it was your first time actually doing it after all."

"Yeah. Quick question. What's a summoning pamphlet?"

"You… don't know?" Rias was stunned. It was basic knowledge. How was Naruto supposed to grow in power without contracts? A short explanation later, Naruto was pacing the room. He called two Shadow Clones to bounce ideas with. It was a total mess since they mostly spoke in half-sentences.

"If we…"

"It might…"

"But what about…"

"Did you…"

"It might…"

It went like that for a few minutes, causing a headache to anyone listening. Hinata was somewhat used to this, but to someone who had limited interactions with Naruto, it could even be scary. The three copies kept each other focused on a task and what one thought out, the others would as well with only slight prompting. It was something Naruto discovered during his training.

"What's the effective range of those things?"

"Well… in theory, they can reach to earth from Hell… so as far as I can tell, there is none."

"Okay, but does the distance matter? Like… is summoning more taxing based on distance? Or responding?"

"I don't believe so. At least I've never heard of any. It's mostly basic teleportation magic. The spell might take longer to zero in on the summoner, but it's not that hard."

Naruto dispelled the two clones and summoned a different one. "Go write down everything and send it to Ajuka-Sama."

Naruto was being official. This was big.

"Naruto-Kun?"

"I might have a way to get us home. All this time I was experimenting with Fuinjutsu whereas an answer was right in front of us!"

"Were you able to return to your world and establish a teleportation circle… you might create a stable passage for your peerage to move between two places easily!" Rias realized. "You and your clan would have a monopoly on a continent half the size of Europe at the least!"

Shinobi never bothered to measure the entire continent. The individual lands often argued over specific strips of land or something like that, but no one to this date just calculate left to right in a straight line. The fact that Shinobi travel distance was much too unreliable to use, Naruto and Hinata weren't able to actually compare the Shinobi world to Earth.

"He's from another world?!" Issei has awakened.

"It seems you'll have your hands full."

"Are you sure you don't want to take over our education, Rias-chan?" Naruto pleaded. "Sona-chan refuses to teach me anything useful and it seemed that Tsubaki-chan isn't much better for Hinata."

"She… uh… she mostly teaches me things like appearances and management. It's not that different from back home." The girl lowered her head a bit.

"I will talk to Sona-san," Rias promised. How hard could teaching those two be? And if she managed to get Naruto to take her on a trip with him, she might find some shinobi interested in joining her Peerage. From what she heard about his world, there were plenty of ninjas that would be willing for such an offer. If they were a tenth as talented as Naruto, she might still have hope. She could think of several right off the bat from his tales.

-DXD-

It wasn't as easy as they thought. Because of course. Why would it be? Then again, the word impossible for Naruto meant roughly the same as 'hard' for most. Demanding was just another Tuesday.

On the bright side, it gave the two shinobi some time to learn more practical talents for devils of their standing. Basics of magic, teleportation circles, the works. Hinata at first found herself unable to use all but the simplest of techniques. She was able to teleport and her innate power translated well to the boost of the [Queen] piece, but it would take some time until she was able to match Akeno in a pure magic battle. In turn, she had no match in hand-to-hand, but that's not there and then.

Naruto once more proved to be a walking definition of anomaly. Despite fulfilling no contracts, he somehow had a near-immeasurable amount of demonic power. At that point, Ajuka was about ready to pull his hair out. The boy seemed to be able to just throw spell after spell if he so fancied without feeling even a little bit tired. It was almost as if his chakra capacity directly translated to his demonic power capacity. Asked about it, Naruto had no idea what they were talking about.

That being said, neither shinobi slacked off in their ninja training. Hinata now had an unlimited supply of targets that she could practice Juken (gentle fist) on without worrying about hurting them. Naruto meanwhile mostly practiced his chakra control. In the notebook of Jiraya that quickly became his most prized possessions, he found some notes on his training. He resolved to learn how to make a Rasengan without any aid from shadow clones. Then to make two Rasengans at once.

To do so, he went back to the basics. Only this time, he had two dozens of shadow clones to help him. And another dozen making sure no Kyuubi chakra got out. Strangely, the fox seemed to be almost docile ever since Naruto arrived on Earth. Eh. A worry for another time.

Naruto was so close to a breakthrough. He could feel it. With every popped clone, his Rasengan was getting better. He got the rotation and power down, now he only had to figure out the containment. Maybe if he…

"Naruto-sama!" Hyodou Issei broke through the doors of the spacious training room like a bulldozer. "Please! I need your help!"

"Hiya!" Hinata dropped on the intruder before she realized who it was.

"He earned it," Naruto reassured her when she started to feel guilty.

Once they managed to bring the boy back to consciousness, he pulled a giant wad of cash. "You're a ninja, right? They're like some ancient mercenaries or something. I want… no, I need to hire you!" He shoved the giant wad of cash at Naruto, who was too confused to refuse.

"Calm down, Hyodou-san." Hinata placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Explain what's the problem."

"So I met this girl…" Seeing the unamused look on the kunoichi's face, he quickly backtracked. "It's not like that! She was a nun and I was just helping her around. We became friends, but then the same fallen angel as when I first saw you, well, the real you, came and kidnapped her. I tried to stop it."

"You wanted to go after her, but Rias has forbidden you. So you're now assembling a ragtag team to rescue her?" Naruto figured out. "By the way, Kiba-san, Koneko-san, you can come out." The two walked from behind the tree.

"We're going into the enemy territory. I need your help." Issei pleaded. "It's not about me. Asia-chan deserves something better than to die as a sacrifice for some fallen angel to get more power."

Naruto understood. He should've been the responsible [King] and stop the foolish excursion then and there. It was the correct thing to do. Risking war to save one life was…

Exactly what he would do. He was Uzumaki Naruto, the number one most unpredictable knucklehead ninja.

"Fine. Let's go." He summoned three shadow clones and had them start gathering nature energy. Koneko frowned at that, but she didn't comment.

-DXD-

Freed Sellzen sat patiently in the main hall of the abandoned church where the fallen made their base of operation. He knew that the little devil would come running to try and rescue the nun. He would be able to gut him.

He heard some commotion outside. They were almost here. He could almost taste the blood of his victims. Soon.

The doors were blown to pieces by something. A girl with long hair was standing there.

"Knock, knock." A male voice chuckled. Before freed even realized what was going on, a powerful punch sent him flying through the back wall.

"There is a secret passage behind the altar," Hinata informed. "A large group of enemies. Mostly humans, but I count four fallen angels. The ritual has started!" She was about to start moving when she spotted something on the edge of her vision. "The exorcist is coming back." Naruto's initial punch sent him almost off the hill, but the man seemed dedicated if nothing else. He had several broken bones, but it didn't stop him.

"I'll take him." Kiba volunteered, but Naruto shot the idea down.

"No. Hinata is better suited for one on one combat. You'll be more help in clearing the path downstairs."

Without much issue, Naruto crushed the stone plate that was blocking their way. Only a short run later, they've arrived in a spacious hall. There, on a stone platform, a blonde girl was crucified. Four angels stood around her and worked some magic while the human cultists chanted.

"I thought that mad pervert was supposed to take care of any strays." The only male fallen grumbled.

"Let Asia go!" Issei shouted. He was ready to launch himself forward.

Naruto recognized the girl. This was the same girl that healed him and Hinata when they first arrived in this world.

"Hah! As if some small fries like you could fight all of us!" A fallen that looked like a young girl laughed.

The situation was disturbing Naruto on many levels, but one thing stood out strongly. This was like when he had to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki.

His eyes turned red.

"Issei." Naruto's voice was now hoarse. "Grab the girl and get away. The others will secure your retreat. Tell Hinata to follow you when she's finished with the trash."

Waves of Killing Intent started to radiate from Naruto. He did his best to reign the red chakra in, but he could feel his nature fight against him. Devils were more in tune with their desires. Now, he desired the fallen angels' blood.

Issei gulped but nodded.

Red Rasengan formed in Naruto's open palm. The orange pigment was gone from around his eyes, giving space to oppressive wisps of red chakra that occasionally radiated from the shinobi.

"You. You're the one that caused me so many problems!" Raynare recognized their opponent. "You'll die." Despite the threat, she suddenly lacked conviction. In the face of such overwhelming killing intent, she realized that she might actually be out of her league.

"Right back at you." The devil growled.

In a blink, he was gone.

He reappeared in front of the child-like fallen angel with a red Rasengan in hand. The ball of chakra slammed into her stomach, sending her flying away.

The other devils took it as a signal to attack too. Issei used promotion to get the speed of a [knight]. He would get Asia out, no matter what.

Dohnaseek was the first to begin counter-strike, but he was nowhere near close to countering Kyuubi-powered Naruto. A clawed fist slammed into his shoulder, dislocating the arm and making him stumble back in pain. He didn't make a sound… yet.

Kalawarna conjured a light spear and sent it out, but Naruto simply caught it. His hand sizzled for a moment before he crushed it into pieces, dispelling the light magic.

The angels then fully realized just how screwed they were.

Raynare didn't waste time and plunged her fist into Asia's chest. She pulled two glowing rings that she put on.

"Looks like the ritual was enough of success after all. A shame. That exorcist freak asked to get the body undamaged."

"No!" Issei cried. He reached the podium and grabbed Asia's body. Raynare laughed at the boy's tears.

"Take her and run," Naruto ordered through gritted teeth.

Issei obeyed, but Raynare decided to chase after him. Naruto was ready to follow, but Dohnaseek, Kalawarna, and Mittlet stepped in his way. The trio didn't look that great anymore. Dohnaseek fixed his shoulder somewhat, but he now favored his left arm over the right. Mittlet had a bleeding hole in her stomach. Not enough to kill her on its own, but certainly not pleasant to fight with. The Rasengan was able to grind some of her organs.

"Bad mistake."

He saw his fellow devils retreat from the room. The attackers were trying to follow them, but Koneko broke the ceiling, causing a minor cave-in. Not that he was worried. Teleportation circles existed.

A large glowing circle of holy magic formed in front of the three angels. Dohnaseek summoned a spear of light and aimed it at the center.

"You shall not pass!" The array exploded in blinding light.

When it died, Naruto felt himself in shackles with no access to his demonic powers or Kyuubi chakra.

"We've got you. This spell was designed to hold devils. No malicious power will be able to get. If you so much as move, the chains will burn your body with the pain of a dozen suns.

Not move… did those angels wanted to make it easier for him?

Nature energy was, by definition, neutral. When he became a part of nature, he allowed the energy to flow through him. He allowed it to be mixed with his own chakra to create Senjutsu chakra.

That knowledge was foreign to the angels. All of the sages they've heard of simply took the nature energy, together with the malice of the world. Thus, the spell should've held the young sage. The expression of surprise when he broke the bonds with ease would've been gold if Naruto didn't have more important things to focus on.

"Futon: Rasenshuriken!"(Wind Release: Rasenshuriken).

The powerful ball of wind blades slammed into the group of fallen angels, annihilating them in a matter of seconds. Another such technique tore through the cultists and reopened the exit. Naruto didn't bother with the remaining enemies. They were inconsequential. He had to make sure the others were safe.

He chased through the corridor and arrived back in the main room. The exorcist was nowhere to be found and Raynare was now kneeling on the ground in front of Issei. Her wings were broken and she sported several large bruises. She was bleeding too. Despite that, there was a flicker of defiance in her eyes.

"Your friends are no more… please surrender." Naruto had enough killing for the day. There were already too many deaths.

"No. I will still kill you all!" The green light from her rings started to travel across her body, healing any injuries she had sustained. Naruto was about ready to spring into action and restrain her when a beam of red-and-black energy slammed into her from the back, burning her head, torso, and limbs. The only thing that remained were two silver rings. Rias walked through the broken doors with Akeno in tow.

Hinata walked to her boyfriend and pulled him into a hug.

"You gave her every chance, Naruto. She was about to attack again."

"It's still hard."

"It'll always be." The girl took no pleasure in killing, but they were shinobi. It was in their job description.

-DXD-

The next few weeks Naruto spent trying to figure out how to create a stable connection to his world. Ajuka frequently visited the Uzumaki Compound and helped with the research. Their plan to use Devil powers instead of chakra seemed like a perfect solution if not for two problems. First was that the Devil's Teleportation between worlds required either to have an invitation or know a very specific combination of energies. After millennia, all devils knew how to get to Earth just fine. The problem was that for Naruto to zero in on his dimension was near impossible at the moment.

The other problem was much simpler: Naruto had little reason to return to his world for now. Yes, having a method was perfect, but until Tsunade managed to somehow reverse the mess with his exile, it was better if he remained in hiding. He was all for going on another merry chase after Sasuke. Sadly, given that the Uchiha was now the number one most wanted shinobi on the continent, the Hokage and Hinata threatened to tie him up and feed him only super-chili and no Ramen if he so much as entertained any thought of such chase without proper backup from Konoha.

As such, they were still stuck, although there was a much more tangible chance of having a way home.

Now, Naruto walked over to the Occult Research Club for some more practical lessons about being a Devil. Who knew that all it took to convince Sona to let go of him was a pink dye in the shower water supply?

He was almost at the doors to the main room when he heard some lively talk inside. He at first thought that he heard Kiba and Issei, but then another male voice spoke. Something was not right. He crept toward the doors. There was a small gap, signifying the doors weren't closed. Happy with his luck, Naruto entered without making any sound.

"Why, Rias-Sama is Riser's fiance of course!" A blond man declared, pulling the clearly uncomfortable Rias closer to him.

Naruto absentmindedly reached for one of his kunai. That went beyond pervert and right into creep territory. That guy was really full of himself.

"I already told you, Riser. I won't marry you." She tried to free herself from his clutches, but it was proving to be a tedious task.

"Let go of Buchou!" Issei protested. Kiba was alternating between nodding in agreement with Issei and glaring daggers at the man.

Naruto sneaked next to Akeno and tugged her sleeve lightly. She looked at him and was about to make a noise, but he made a gesture to have her remain silent. Using the fact that no one was looking he stood next to her and relaxed. If he looked like he was there all the time, no one would notice he wasn't there at first.

"My parents promised I could finish College in the human world before I married."

"And you will. After we are married." Riser was persistent. "I don't understand why you want to stay with this filth." He gestured at the room. He probably even didn't realize that he insulted his fiancee's peerage.

Rias followed his hand and actually spotted Naruto standing there. He made a quick gesture to tell her to remain silent.

"Riser promises that after we are married you will be allowed to return. Riser will even visit you in this… place." Riser took note of the deadly glares that some parts of the ORC were sending him. "After Riser takes care of some unruly servants." A wave of Killing Intent washed over the room, making some of the weaker devils shake in their feet.

"No. I don't think you will." Naruto chose to reveal himself then. He released his own Killing intent that's been gathering ever since he started to actually look at the man. His eyes turned red with black slits and his nails elongated.

While Riser's KI might've seemed strong, it was nothing compared to Naruto's focused emotions. Even if Phenex was a powerful Devil [king], he had nothing on the Shinobi. Naruto has been trained since a young age to fight and even kill. And when he fought to protect those he considered precious, there was no holding back. So when Riser threatened Rias and her Peerage, Naruto simply showed his displeasure in the most efficient way.

On the sidelines, he noted that Issei, Kiba, and Koneko were now openly shaking and hugging one another. Akeno seemed torn between fear and… for Naruto's sanity let's go with adoration. Rias seemed unaffected at first, but she was completely still. Finally, Riser was trying to be brave while he searched for an escape route. Even Grayfia looked slightly uneasy.

"I'm not sure who do you think you are to threaten Riser, but you've made a mistake!" With a snap of his finger, fifteen teleportation rings appeared behind the couch. From each, a woman or a girl appeared.

Seeing that the flexing content moved past just the sheer Killing Intent, Naruto also created a teleportation ring through which Hinata appeared.

"I wasn't told there was another [King] in Kuoh." Riser scoffed. "Then again, with a peerage like that, you can't be anyone important."

"I think Ajuka-Sama would disagree." Hinata quickly caught on to the situation and joined in the discussion. "After all, he chose Naruto-Kun to be the first to receive an improved [King] piece."

"Whatever. He is still a no-one compared to the might of the Phenex." While he tried to sound confident, it was clear that Riser actually stopped feeling so confident. "You would stand no chance against Riser and Riser's peerage."

"Really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Out of all your peerage members, I count only seven are actual fighters."

"They are all veterans of many Rating Games." Riser argued. "You are clearly an amateur." He seemed to think on something for a moment. "In fact, Riser can prove it. Mira. Kill that boy." He ordered, pointing at Issei.

The [Pawn] moved, releasing some killing intent. Rias got up from her seat, but she would be too late. No one expected such a blatant attack. And the pawn moved faster than even some knights. Therefore, it was an even bigger shock when shortly before she reached Issei, Naruto intercepted her.

He was even farther away than Rias was, and definitely farther than Mira. It didn't stop him from getting in her path. "Rasengan!" The blue orb of swirling chakra slammed into the girl, sending her flying with enough power to send her flying through the wall and out into the corridor.

Everyone was suddenly in arms. Rias' peerage all took a ready stance with Kiba summoning a sword and Issei calling his sacred gear.

"You overstep, Riser." Rias coldly accused. "Issei-Kun is still my servant."

"Ufufu. He must be… punished." A shiver seemed to go through Akeno at the mere thought.

Hinata didn't say anything, but her Byakugan was now active as she glared at Riser.

"I agree." There was a puff of smoke in the corner and Naruto gained orange pigmentation around his eyes.

"Enough!" Grayfia's voice carried through the room, making everyone back down slightly. Naruto and Hinata remained ready to take action at the slightest threat, but the other Devils weren't as eager for a brawl as they were before. "Stop acting like children and start behaving as proper for your station."

For a moment, there was a tense silence. No one was quite willing to be the first one to back down. Finally, Riser relented under Grayfia's glare. Slowly, the others also relaxed. Not Naruto and Hinata though. The duo remained ready.

"I stand by what I said," Naruto growled, looking at Riser. "You and your servants are just a group of pompous chickens." Before anyone from the insulted group could protest, Naruto continued. "And I'll prove it. You insulted my friends. And tried to kill another. I demand satisfaction."

"Naruto-Kun!" Hinata protested.

"Naruto-San…" Akeno and Rias were sure the boy didn't know what he was doing.

"Is that so, Uzumaki-Sama?" Grayfia cocked an eyebrow. Otherwise, her entire body language remained completely unaffected. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Yes." The teen nodded, unyielding.

"Please. What chance do you stand? You only have your [Queen] whereas I have a full peerage." Riser dismissed him, but not without a slight hesitation. "You can't even participate in official Rating Games."

"True. But I believe that none of the Maou-Samas will have any problem with an unofficial rating game." Grayfia interjected.

"I see no problem with that." Naruto nodded.

Riser scoffed. "Fine. I will give you… a week to train. Maybe at least you won't embarrass Ajuka-Sama." He was preparing to leave, but Naruto stopped him.

"Why don't we raise the stakes. A little bet to make this battle actually worth something?"

"Oh?" Riser smiled in a way that would make little children cry in their cribs. "If you so generously offer… I want your [Queen]." He pointed at Hinata.

"Are you trying to insult me?" Naruto growled.

"Fine." Hinata surprised everyone, especially her boyfriend when she agreed. "But in exchange, when we win, you will break the engagement to Rias."

Riser laughed. "That's perfectly fine by me. Cling to your hope for victory for just a little longer. It will be that much sweeter to crush you!"

"You are wrong," Hinata spoke. She didn't yell, but in the silence, her words carried just as much power. "We will not lose. And do you know why? Because you fight only for yourself and your own twisted pleasure. But we? We fight for our precious people. We are both Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. And all Konoha shinobi thrive when they fight for their family, friends, home. This is the Will of Fire passed to us by the Shodaime Hokage. Compared to that, you are nothing." Hinata's chakra started leaking from her, creating a visage of an angry lioness. "You threaten those we l-love, so we will take you out." The lioness roared, making some of the girls from Riser's peerage jump in fright. Even the more experienced ones were showing signs of unease.

"Tch. Will of Fire. I am of the fire! I am the great Phenex!"

"And you've overstayed your welcome," Rias growled. "Begone."

The peerage vanished in a large teleportation circuit. Once they were gone, the atmosphere finally relaxed. Hinata seemed to be barely standing on her feet. That display took a lot of her both mentally and physically.

Naruto rushed to her and swept her off her feet.

"You were amazing, Hina-chan!" He pulled her into a deep kiss, completely oblivious to anyone else in the room.

When they finally came back for air, Kiba let out a low whistle. "I must say, I did not expect such a show from you, Hinata-san."

"I… Ano… He…" The girl stumbled upon her words, all courage seemingly gone when she got flustered.

"Ufufu… You sure work fast." Akeno teased, pointing at the fact that somewhere during the kiss, Hinata shifted all her weight on Naruto and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Now, pretty much everyone, Naruto included, expected Hinata to start blushing and perhaps even fall to the ground. Instead, the Hyuuga only smirked. "What? Jealous?"

Now, this was certainly the biggest shock of the day.

-DXD-