Hey guys, how are you all doing today? First off, I'd like to wish y'all a Ramadan Mubarak. Also, I want to thank you all for your support so far even though my grammar and spellings are shitty.
Have a nice time reading today's chapter everyone.
I want to thank a guest who was harsh with his review. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have known that I was spelling shit. I'm very lazy when it comes to Proofreading my work but I ought to be ashamed of myself and my spellings. I'm very sorry about it so I'm going to correct my spelling. [How do you like me and my beta now?]
NekoElder: You see, normally, a transplanted rinnegan doesn't possess the ability of a Mangekyou Sharingan, but Naruto's Rinnegan is special as he can activate or deactivate them at will. I don't know what existing MS abilities i should give him or if i should create a new ability. I'm not giving him kamui though. That technique is OP.
thor94: Thanks.
: I'll try to find one.
goldshqipe: This isn't a harem fic.
nickclause: Thumbs up.
Anisuculenticate: You too.
Peroroncino: I will.
chase622: The pairing is actually a rare one.
puppy: My man, I'm alive! and here's another chapter.
Kanciano: I appreciate that.
SPark681: Spark-san, how have you been?
Lightningblade49: Plot no jutsu.
Dasgun: I sight you.
Guest: What about AU and cannon AU? This is fanfiction, unleash your imagination. Like I said, English isn't my forte so I'm bound to make mistakes. I don't know much about the DxD world and the anime didn't explain much about how magic works. This is my first time writing a story so don't expect it to be a masterpiece and Please! Guest-san Go easy. You're WiFi, I'm 3G.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu" for magic spells and jutsu
"The fat lady sings" normal dialogue
'Are those things real?' for thoughts.
"Insignificant human" Bijūs, Gods, summons and dragons dialogue.
'Puny humans' for thoughts
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden or Highschool DxD.
Chapter 7
The Moon was shining brightly like the Sun itself. Nine black tomoes defied the surface of the pale moon and the image of a woman was in the sky, her head was positioned in such a way that the moon was between her forehead like a Third Eye.
She smirked at the world as the veins surrounding her eyes bulged.
The landscape had changed to accomodate a massive tree that touched the skies in the center of Konoha. The land was dead and the air itself stank of rotten flesh. Numerous bones belonging to different kinds of animals and humans protruded from the ground.
A rotten Wood golem sat beside the God Tree radiating an intense aura of defeat and hopelessness. A massive tattered ethereal Tengu-like being was on the other side of the God tree with both of its massive swords impaled in the ground. Its wings were on the floor, broken and disfigured.
The planet was desolate and lifeless.
On the top of the kage mountains, a dimensional tear occured and out came a tall blonde man who was the only living being in the ruined planet. Naruto Uzumaki stood on the kage mountain in his orange and black jumpsuit staring at the Yin and Yang seal in his hands, his eyes drifting to the deathly silent streets of his village.
"Nii-san? Where did everybody go?" A little kid with spiky blonde hair in a white shirt and blue shorts asks.
Startled, Naruto took a step forward and turned around not expecting to see any living soul. He gazed at the curiosity reflecting off the kid's blue eyes, blue eyes similar to his.
"My beloved village," another spiky, blonde-haired boy in an orange jumpsuit appeared out of thin air, hot tears gushing out of his eyes as he stared at the disheartening state Konoha had plummeted to.
"Are we alone?" A blonde-haired four year old boy asked no one in particular.
All these kids were Naruto.
Naruto in different important stages in his life. He stared at all of them with melancholy and brought all of them into a hug.
An old man levitated on top of the Kage Mountain floating in front of the blonde shinobi. He had a black Shakujo in his hand and he sat above floating, black nine orbs.
He shook his head in disappointment at the sight that greeted him.
The little Narutos struggled fiercely wanting to get out of the hug Naruto had them in.
"Leave us alone!" they all screamed as red, bubbling chakra exploded out of them.
The shockwave pushed Naruto out of the Mountain top and down he went at neck-breaking speed under the influence of gravity. In his panic, he tried to use chakra to stick to the side of the great mountain but found out he couldn't.
He closed his eyes expecting the pain of falling from a great height like that only to land on the corpses of several shinobi beside the foot of the mountain.
He opened his eyes when the stench of rotten flesh hit his skin. He quaked in fear at the expression on the dead ninja's face and got off the dead mass. They all had a headband with the insignia of shinobi engraved on it.
"Naruto, why?" A hand crawled out of the dirt and out came Sakura who had bitter tears streaming down her face.
"You weren't enough to protect us, Usuratonkachi." A certain duck butt appeared out of nowhere like an evil surprise, the flat edge of his sword rested on Naruto's right shoulder. Light cracked around it as the sounds of chirping birds filled the area.
"Protecting your precious people?" A disinterested voice called out. He flipped a book page over and glanced at the blonde. "You are the greatest hypocrite ever, Naruto."
Naruto recognized that voice like the back of his hand. His sensei, Kakashi Hatake.
"Naruto boy, you are the child of prophecy. You either save us all or doom us all." An orange, old toad with a necklace made out of pearls was staring at an orb with all the Bijū chained inside it.
"I won't go back on my word! That's my nindo!" Hinata Hyuuga in the standard Konoha flak jacket stood in a Juken stance. Her normal pale eyes were purple with a black ripple pattern surrounding both eyes like a wave.
Zombies of the Konoha Twelve and everyone Naruto had ever helped or known crawled out of the ground with a weapon in hand
Naruto quaked at the sight of his dead comrades now back to life and took a step back in fear. "I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to." He begged , taking another step back.
"Where do you think you're going, Uzumaki?" Naruto heard Sasuke's crazed voice among the Zombies.
"I'll kill you for abandoning us, Naruto!" Sand tendrils rose toward Naruto.
"Where has your springtime of youth gone to?!" Two zombies covered in green chakra yelled
"You have failed, Naruto. You should have just given up and let me complete the Mugen Tsukuyomi." A zombie Materialized out of nowhere on top of the Gedō Mazō.
"The Senju side failed this time. You are worse than scum, Uzumaki," an Edo-Madara stated as he gripped his gunbai and did a half tiger seal.
"I gotta run." Naruto thought when he noticed he was fully surrounded.
Naruto, in his panicked state, didn't see his 13 year old self sneak on him and tackle him to the ground.
"Where do you think you're going? Na. Ru. To?" he asked in a sicko-like manner with spit flying from his mouth onto Naruto's face.
Everyone all grabbed at Naruto trying to tear him to pieces.
"N-no."
"Stop this."
"I don't want to fight you guys."
"Please!" he cried out hopelessly as they all dogpiled him.
"Naruto, wake up!" an eerie voice screamed.
Naruto jerked up from his sleep with a gasp breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. Tears streamed down his face, Rinnegan blazing purple.
All the Bijūs were on the bed in a circle formation.
"Nice going brat." Kurama chastised with a frown on his face.
"I don't have time for this, Kurama," he said as he flopped back into the bed and gripped his face, not the least bit bothered by the wet sheets.
Kurama tapped the power button on the TV remote in Naruto's room. It switched on and Kurama, with remote still in hand/paw, started changing channels until he reached the station he wanted.
A female journalist was on the screen with a mic saying something from some place in Kuoh. The headlines were blurred in Naruto's eyes due to the drowsiness caused by sleep. He strained his ears to listen to what the woman was saying instead.
"And we are here in Kuoh where a seismic event occurred all of a sudden..." The rest of the headlines and noises disappeared into the background.
Naruto could feel a nasty headache coming. He took a deep breath and sighed deeply.
"It was them and this time, Kaguya was in it." He said.
Kurama went silent in pity. He never had nightmares so he couldn't really relate to his jinchūriki right now.
"You're gonna take the day off?" He asked, more like suggested.
"Yeah." Naruto pushed his blanket aside and took off his wet shirt. He dropped them into the laundry basket beside the bathroom door and opened the bathroom to freshen up.
Naruto turned on the faucet and plunged his hands under the cold, running water. He splashed the water on his face, enjoying how cool it was. A few splashes later, he rubbed his face and stared Into the mirror, gazing at the fabled Rinnegan.
The concentric, dark circles were overlapped with a different pattern entirely. Something he paid no heed to as it went back to the default concentric rings.
Strands of blonde hair were on top of his eyelids. His fringes had grown out without an Hitai-ate obstructing them. Two side bangs had grown out more than the others on the side of his face, reminiscent of his father's hairstyle.
He really needed a new haircut. Maybe a new style entirely.
The shinobi had a lot going on in his mind as he washed his of them was his chakra which had been acting strange recently and he had to do something about it.
His Six Paths chakra reserves were much bigger than the amount he had when he fought Kaguya. Though he had his Six Paths Chakra sealed off, he could still see it in his mind's eyes growing in volume.
Gaining the Yang half of Old Man Sage's powers brought his chakra levels to a point that was otherworldly in Shinobi standards. He had an understanding of all things chakra related with the ability to use all five basic elements to boot. This abnormal amount of chakra shot off the roof when he gained the Yin part of Hagoromo's chakra.
The Rinnegan granted its user great chakra control and as a sage, he had learned to balance Nature energy with his chakra thus he was arguably at his best when it came to chakra control.
It's been pretty hard to keep his chakra at bay lately and he honestly didn't think chakra control exercises would work for him. It was like there was something disrupting his chakra control.
He got out of the tub and cleaned himself with an orange bathrobe. He wondered if it was stress caused by frequent nightmares affecting his control.
Maybe he needed more meditation? What better way to clear one's head and mind than meditation?
His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he heard a knock on his front door. He walked to the front door making subtle motions to the chibi Bijūs to be scarce.
He twisted the door knob and pulled back gently, peeking through the slightly ajar door.
Issei stood in front of Naruto's door with his uniform on ready for school idly wondering what could have caused a mini seismic event. He knocked a few times when he received no answer before he heard shuffling noises. The door knob twisted open and the familiar visage of his teacher peeked through the open door.
"Good morning, Sensei! How was your night?" he beamed.
"Hyoudou." Issei's name rolled off Naruto's tongue distastefully.
Issei broke out in cold sweat and immediately went to his knees in front of Naruto, his hands clasped tightly together.
"I'm really sorry, Sensei. I was powerless against Buchou and Akeno-san's boobs!" He gave a clumsy excuse and leaned forward.
"Ho, Oppai? Oppai? You betrayed me to get a feel of her boobs?" Naruto found it incredulous.
He betrayed him just for boobs.
"You don't understand, Sensei. The deliciousness of a heavenly Oppai." Issei quipped with a satisfied smile.
Naruto couldn't believe his ears. This boy was beyond obsessed with breasts and that would eventually turn to a weakness in battle.
Oh, if only Naruto knew how wrong he was.
"Good morning, Naruto-san," Issei's mom greeted Naruto from behind her son.
"Mom?" Issei stood up, fearing his mother had heard in on their conversation.
"A good morning to you too, Hyoudou-san." Naruto bowed.
"How are you today? I hope the sudden tremors didn't cause you any trouble?" she inquired with a smile on her face.
"Not at all, Hyoudou-san," he answered smoothly.
"Well, that's great. The damn earthquake just happened without a sign. It was weird, really," she mentioned and stared into space, no doubt trying to solve the mystery behind the sudden anomaly.
"That's true, Mom, and besides, why are you here?" he questioned.
"Oh, me? I came here to visit our handsome, decent, single neighbor. He's such a darling, Issei," she cooed out as she rubbed Naruto's arm affectionately.
The brown-haired pervert didn't like what he was seeing, Not one bit. There was an orange lunch box in her hands wrapped in white clothes.
Issei couldn't believe his eyes! That was his favorite bento. Oh that blonde shit was going to pay if he took that box from her. Sensei or not.
"I wanted to thank you for helping me the other day, Naruto-san," she said as brought the lunch box forward.
Naruto remembered helping her with groceries and a few other things when Issei was absent. She looked so pitiful struggling with the bags so he extended a helping hand.
"It's nothing really." Naruto shook his outstretched arms furiously "Just helping out a neighbor."
"I know single men like you rarely have home made food. Please take this as a token of my appreciation for the other day." She pushed the box into Naruto's chest.
Naruto gripped the box, a bit startled by the forceful behavior. "Thank you, Hyoudou-san." He expressed his gratitude.
"I hope it's ramen." He thought, bringing the lunch box to his side.
"Can I ask another favor, Naruto-san?" Mrs. Hyodou said.
Naruto cocked his eyebrows and nodded nonetheless.
"Please take care of my Issei," she blurted out. "He's an extremely perverted kid and he needs a lot of guidance." She finished, glancing at Issei disapprovingly.
"Mom!" Issei protested.
"He might be a handful sometimes but he's a good kid." She regarded Issei with pride.
"I can take care of myself, Kaa-chan," he protested with a blush on his face.
"You need to listen to your Sensei, son."
Naruto watched them both with a wistful look on his face. "It's really good to have a mom who dotes over you sometimes."
Naruto was orphaned three hours after his birth and consequently grew up without the love of a mother or father. He was all alone in a world where everyone hated him for something he wasn't. Something he could never become.
He was grateful he had the chance to meet his mother and father even though the former was a chakra imprint and the latter, an Edo tensei. He'd choose to be born the same way again, scorned and hated by all if it meant being the son of Minato and Kushina.
"I will, Hyoudou-san," he declared.
"Oh thank you Naruto-kun." She jumped up in joy. "If you ever feel lonely or you need home made food, just visit us, okay."
"Kaa-chan! Leave Naruto-sensei alone. He might run late for School." Issei tried to send his mother away discreetly.
He really was running late for school today. Maybe he would accompany the blonde teacher to School today. Mrs. Hyoudou bid them a farewell which Issei returned with a wave of his hand
"May I come in S-sensei?" he stuttered fearfully.
Naruto shot him a flat stare.
"Look, I can explain." Issei said.
Naruto blinked several times with his flat stare plastered to his face. The brown haired pervert shrunk under his stare before he sighed dejectedly.
"Why don't we do this while we trek towards school?"
He wanted to question the Shinobi about the mild earthquakes that happened today and, just maybe, if he could help with the Excalibur issue going on.
"Go away, Hyoudou" Naruto did a shoo motion with his hands.
"Are you still angry about that?" Issei asked fearful of his Sensei's wrath.
"Damn straight. And I'll still punish you for betraying me," he replied sardonically.
Issei cringed badly when he saw the look in Naruto's eyes. He really wanted to remain loyal to the Uzumaki but those jiggling Oppai were too much for him.
With a huge sigh of defeat, Issei stared at Naruto one more time before he turned around and walked away.
"Well... goodbye, Sensei." He waved with a dejected aura around him and his slouching back really helped augment his miserable look.
He jolted a bit when Naruto closed the door forcefully. He glanced at the door one last time glad that wasn't him instead.
Naruto sat comfortably in the living room staring at the lunch box on the table with hardcore intensity. He wondered when was the last time someone gave him a lunch box only to find out that this was the first time someone did this kind of thing for him.
He began unpacking the lunch box and a delicious sight greeted his vision.
It is by the eyes one recognizes a tasty treat, then followed by the nose and lastly the tongue testifies to the judgment of the eyes and the nose.
"You're gonna eat it or what?" Shukaku's gruff voice brought him back to reality.
"Yes. I'd be bad to let something like this go to waste." He answered as he split apart the pink chopsticks Issei's Mom provided him with and took a bite out of it,
His face lit up like a Christmas tree when the sweet deliciousness of the food assaulted his taste buds.
"Today might have been a total disaster, Naruto. It's a great thing you placed chakra blocking seals around the house."
"Wash id thad bawd?" Naruto enquired with a mouth full and all the Bijūs nodded.
"You really need to clear your head, Naruto."
The blonde ninja let out a satisfying sigh as a loud Burp escaped his throat. It's been so long since he had a good meal like this. All he had was ramen all day long and quite frankly, he didn't mind at all. It was after all a coping mechanism... Oh wait, that was a big lie. He was just too obsessed with ramen to stop.
"Oh how I wish that vixen was here," a certain flaming cat lamented.
Naruto squinted at the little, blue, flaming cat on the glass table licking its paws. What's with cats and their weird quirks?
.
.
.
The orange pigmentations of Sage Mode were present around Naruto's eyes as he breathed in and out, staying as still as a rock with no movement at all.
He took a deep breath and gathered as much Sage energy as he could in that moment. He then exhaled deeply and released the purified sage energy back to his environment.
Nature's malice wasn't as strong as when he first tried to use Sage Mode when he got here. A fact that gladded his heart. He could sense everyone in Kuoh in this state. From the earthworms underground to the birds in the sky. He could sense Hyoudou's unique signature; Dark and Dragon-like. He could feel three different pure holy energies and a whole lot of corrupted energy in the area belonging to several crows and one stood out the most.
It was blood thirsty and wild.
Naruto's forehead creased when he felt a familiar pull on his consciousness. It was quite similar to when Kurama brings his consciousness into the seal. He let the pull take him and a moment later, he couldn't feel the animals or people around the park nor the solid ground under his feet. All he could feel was the person in front of him in the empty vast space they were in.
"It's been a while, Naruto-kun," a beautiful, gray-haired woman greeted as he opened his eyes and was mildly surprised to see her new look. She was a far cry from the miserable woman he met back then.
"It's been a while... Hasn't it?" he asked, smiling at her.
(Flashback)
A huge cloud of dust and debris hovered over the forest due to the aftermath of Naruto and Perseus's joint attack. The landscape of the forest changed entirely due to different sizes of debris littering the floor due to the explosive force of the Rasenshuriken.
Nothing around the vicinity was spared as dead bodies were positioned in different places around the forest. Some had their head lodged into trees while some had their arms and feet bent in weird angels.
The forest itself was in no better condition as a whole lot of trees were uprooted from the ground all thanks to the powerful S-class forbidden technique Naruto threw at Perseus. The hooded man was down on the floor unconscious with blood gushing out from different wounds caused by wood splinters.
The sound of heavy breathing was coming from a deep large smoking crater below with different slash marks marring its inside.
Perseus had his shield over his head, trying to still his breathing and stop the quaking of his hands. He was kneeling inside the crater with blood flowing from his skull and temples. Tiny Bleeding Marks caused by tiny wind blades covered his skin and armor. He limped and struggled to get out of the deep hole in the ground, cursing Naruto.
For a second there, he thought it was over when the presence of the blonde man disappeared.
Perseus panted heavily when he made it out of the crater and scanned the entire area for his equipment but could not find any of it. He covered his nose and waved his shield to push away the dust surrounding him. The destruction was devastating and it was only a matter of time before unwanted guests found this place.
"This guy…" He thought, gazing at the destruction caused by their target. "It was the best solution." He concluded.a
Orders from above were to bring the shinobi in alive but seeing what he could do, there was no way anyone could pull that off. He inspected the unconscious body of his only surviving teammate and concluded he would live to see another day.
He looked like he was the only one standing until his eyes landed on a frozen Naruto, in a green statue made of green rocks, with both of his hands covering his face in a manner that shielded his eyes. He went forward and squinted at Naruto's pupils that were blue when he first saw him but now they were horizontal bars reminiscent of that of a toad.
Perseus had never faced or met someone like Naruto who could perform the impossible; a man wielding chakra on a level like this.
This was a groundbreaking discovery for the Organization.
A new Sacred Gear that grants the user chakra had been created but, unfortunately, it was lost in battle and returned to the God system in heaven to be reincarnated into its next human or part human vessel.
He heaved as he lifted his teammate on his shoulders and turned his back from the statue. He hadn't taken four steps before he heard a crack behind him. Perseus ignored it because he thought it came from the forest but another loud crack threw that thought out the window. A third long crack and a heavy pressure slammed into his body as his already weakened knees felt like jelly.
A cold voice sent chills down his spine, "It was a good thing I didn't go all out with that Rasenshuriken."
A crack traveled down from the head to toe of Naruto's frozen statue.
Perseus turned around with horror stricken wide eyes as the chin portion of the statue broke off and a huge burst of chakra sent gusts of wind and different shards of stones from the statue flying away. He could only look in horror as the chakra around Naruto rose higher as he moved nearer.
"That's impossible!" he raged in his mind. This guy was holding back when they fought?
"Now, about that place with a lot of chakra users..." Naruto stopped for a moment, trying to remember the name. "Ah, the Youkai, where can I find them?" he asked menacingly. This was augmented by the blue chakra surrounding him like he was inside blue flames.
Perseus didn't want to give a potential future threat information that would help further his ambitions greatly but he was in a tight spot.
"I could get that information out of you in so many ways and some would make Anko, an interrogation specialist, proud," Naruto finished and waited patiently for a reply.
Perseus knew he was toast in both ways but he had to try.
"Please, let my teammate go and I did promise you I'd tell you about them if you manage to defeat me." He said on his knees trying to save his comrade.
The shinobi was stunned by this. This guy was willing to sacrifice himself for his comrade and Naruto respected that.
"The youkai are a supernatural race native to Asia with human-like form and animalistic features. The form mostly depends on the species a Youkai belong to. They can use chakra and yojutsu a technique unique to their race. Most of them live in bounded areas which aren't easy to break into." He gave a brief introduction.
"Where can I find one?" Naruto questioned.
"I don't know their location. All I can give is a name, The Kyoto Faction," he finished.
"Thank you, Perseus-san." Naruto turned around, ready to go find Kyoto.
"You're not going to finish me off?" Perseus could not help but ask. The logical thing to do was to finish him off for good. What was he trying to do?
"You don't peg me as evil, Perseus-san," he said.
Perseus went wide-eyed at Naruto's words.
"Tell me, what do you really want? Is it what your organization brainwashed you into wanting or do you want to make a difference in this world?"
Perseus pondered this while staring at his feet. What did he really want in the first place? He joined the Human Faction because he respected Cao Cao.
"Until then, don't let people choose for you what to do and don't let others use you like this, Perseus-san," he said as he lowered his body, preparing to jump away.
"My loyalty to the Human Faction is unwavering. If you ever face someone named Cao Cao, run for your life, Naruto-san," Perseus told Naruto to show his gratitude for sparing his life.
"I never told you my name," he said.
"We know a lot about you, Naruto-san. I'd implore you to be vigilant; you don't know who is coming for you next" he said.
"Can I ask you a question, Naruto-san? Sometimes you disappear off our radar like your entire existence itself is hidden from us. Is it due to those eyes?" he said, pointing at the Shinobi's toad-like eyes.
Naruto appeared behind Perseus with his hand posed for a chop that would render Perseus unconscious.
"The Human Faction should be wary of me. Tell them this is the last mercy I can grant them." Was what Perseus heard before he went out cold.
.
.
.
It's been two days since Naruto had been trying to use Sage Mode to find Kyoto. He was in a shin-length, black cloak with a single button around the neck. He had salvaged the clothes from the carcass of those sent to capture him. He didn't want another Akatsuki after him in a foreign world so he tried to change his appearance.
He landed on a tree branch wheezing out hard due to the effect of using up Sage Mode. He stilled his breath and tried to absorb Nature energy again but this time he failed to absorb Nature energy.
He fell on his knees breathing hard again as he didn't have enough chakra to balance Nature energy anymore. Traveling for two days straight in Sage Mode wasn't an easy task even for someone like him. He had to be in constant Sage Mode if he wanted to remain safe from the Hero Faction.
For the life of him, Naruto couldn't wrap his head around the fact that these guys always knew where he was but lately, spending a lot of time in Sage Mode, he noticed something foreign in his body like a seal of sorts. It was invisible and it only gave a pulse of magic once a while. Whatever it was, he could not remove it from his body and it was quite frustrating.
There was also the problem he faced when he absorbed Nature energy. He felt a weak pull on his consciousness when he had Sage Mode on for an extended period of time. A silhouette of a woman calling out for help appeared in his mind when he stayed in Sage Mode for too long. He had first flushed out the sage energy he gathered when it happened for the first time but he had gradually gotten used to it.
Naruto had tried several times to locate where the pull was coming from but it was like there was a thick wall blocking him from tracking or responding to the pull he felt. He tried deep meditation and it still didn't work. So, here was about to do something stupid.
He hopped off the tree and made the clone hand seal in the air and eight clones appeared on their one knees with their palms on the floor. Black ink formed a circular pattern on the floor in front of all the clones as it raced across the ground and formed a star. The original Naruto landed on the center of the circle and sat down cross-legged and took a deep breath and dispelled all his clones.
The blonde shinobi was about to mix a higher form of chakra with this world's Nature energy to enter a super enlightened state accessible to him alone: The Rikudou Sennin Modo.
Two processes were involved to enter this mode, He had to knead Six Paths Chakra and Mix it with Nature energy to form Six Paths Senjutsu. As he channeled a pint of Six Paths Chakra, Nature energy entered him willingly like it desperately needed to become one with him.
Ten black, fist-sized orbs appeared behind Naruto in a circular formation and everything in the world became bare to Naruto. He could sense a massive group of beings in different dimensions with varying powers. Naruto gasped when he felt that pull again and it was stronger than before. Naruto let the pull draw him in so he could finally confront whoever was on the other end.
Reality changed around him as he opened his eyes slowly to find himself in a white plane. He stood up and scanned the entire area until his gaze landed on a black mass in the distance. He sped towards the black mass with caution as all ten Gudoudama followed their creator.
Naruto came to a halt when he finally neared the black mass which was actually a woman trapped inside some kind of seal which had black tendrils preventing her from moving.
"This woman... no, she's no human. She's a divine being," Naruto cogilated. Shoulder-length beige gray hair acted like a curtain covering her face. She had her gaze on the floor and sorrow rolled off her in waves but Naruto still kept his guard up around her.
"Hello," he greeted for the first time.
She raised her head and stared at him for the first time and she was astonished and happy to see and hear someone for the first time in ages. She thought a member of her family had come to visit her but she was highly disappointed when she saw a man—a human no less—in front of her. How did he get here in the first place? She sized him up and she saw he was no ordinary human. He was human but there was something about him... He wasn't a native of this universe it seems.
"Who are you human?" she spoke for the first time.
Her voice was pleasing to Naruto's ears. "Uzumaki Naruto," he introduced. "Who are you and why did you bring me here?"
"You are not one of us, are you?" she asked with a squint.
Naruto tensed when he heard that. How could his secret have gotten out that fast?
"Be at ease child. I'm not hostile," she reassured.
Naruto visibly relaxed when she told him to. There was this aura about her that reminded him of his mom.
"What are you and why are you sealed here?" he asked.
"I am Gaia, goddess of life and Earth." Naruto's eyes twitched when he heard the word goddess. That brought up memories of Kaguya. "As to why I am here, it's a long story."
"Why is nature's energy so vile here?" he asked as he sat criss-cross.
"It's because I am no longer around to keep it balanced. Humans, Angels, Devils, and even Gods have enraged Nature greatly," she answered.
"Well, that's wrong. How do human activities affect Nature? Nature was supposed to be without conscience. It wasn't supposed to have negative feelings at all," Naruto said.
"It is because I have grown angry, child. I have been betrayed by my loved ones and I crave justice. I have placed a curse on Nature energy to treat anyone who tries to harness its power as hostile, and the negative feeling is a result of that; anyone who loses control of Nature energy will go berserk," she explained.
"But you're different, Uzumaki. The curse is rendered useless when it comes to you," she said.
"Hn, vengeance," Naruto scoffed
"You disapprove of me wanting justice?" she asked.
"Tsk, even gods aren't exempted from the cycle of hatred," the shinobi said. He facepalmed at the clueless expression on the goddess's face and articulated the Circle of Hatred for her. Hatred bred vengeance and vengeance bred more vengeance.
"But forgiveness bred repentance,"—an image of Obito flashed in his mind—"salvation,"—a vision of Sasuke—"hope,"—a vision of Nagato—"and so much more." He smiled at her form.
"You mean to tell me to just forget about it all?" Her face darkened as the plane they were in shook mightily. Naruto had a poker face on until it stopped shaking. Naruto sighed again. This shit was getting out of hand, he wasn't some kind of shrink for a goddess.
"I was locked in here against my will thousands of years ago cut off from the rest of the world without a soul to keep me company! Don't act as if you know my pain boy," she replied menacingly.
Naruto stared at her beautiful green orbs and said, "I know you're not telling me everything about you and I respect your privacy but if you exact revenge and you taste the sweet nectar of revenge and all, what about the children of those you have exacted your revenge on? Wouldn't they cry for justice like you did? Wouldn't it be Justice if they killed you? Would you kill them like you did their parents? What about their loved ones too? Would you kill them too? I don't know about you but that sounds like what a monster would do and to be honest, I don't think you are a monster," Naruto gave her his honest opinion.
Gaia was silent, contemplating on what Naruto said. "Is vengeance what I really wanted? Did I want to kill my grandchildren so badly? What kind of grandmother or goddess was I?" she thought hard.
Naruto let her think for a while before he offered his help. She was the first goddess he met in this world so maybe there was a chance she knew a spell or a person that could help him on his quest to find a way back home.
"Look, I could help you get out of here and you could help me in return." He placed his offer on the table.
"How can you be of help to me?" she asked.
There was only one way to help her and that was if he unseal her or return her lost strength.
"You got me." Naruto had no idea, he had nothing.
If this was a chakra-based seal, then he could have been of help and, besides, this place wasn't even where her physical body was.
"This boy, could he do it?" Gaia mused. He was a perfect sage after all.
"Those seals are powered by magic, something I don't have. And studying a seal that complex would take centuries," he explained.
"There is a way Naruto Uzumaki. If you can help me purify nature, I will gain my strength."
"I don't get how I can purify nature's energy. I only know how to use it for ninjutsu," he explained.
"You can. Your chakra itself can counterbalance the hatred in Nature energy and when you mix it with yours, you achieve that state you've been using right." He nodded at the goddess's explanation. She seems to know a thing or two about Sage Mode. "The chakra you infused a moment ago was much more powerful but unfortunately, You can't use that chakra to its fullest ability because a lot of gods would feel it."
Naruto alarms went blaring.
"Gods?" They have more than one?" How many were they? It was a good thing he took precautions before he infused Six Paths Chakra.
"All you have to do is release the Nature energy you've gathered back to nature to purify it."
"Ohh... That's what I have to do! I don't get it?" The blonde ninja was still had his dumb moments it seems.
"Wouldn't making you happy resolve all of this?" He asked the obvious.
"I can only gain happiness when I get out of this place or when I have my vengeance," she said.
"Can you help me get back to my home world?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes.
"Yes," she answered.
Naruto's bangs covered his eyes. An impregnable silence descended on the space they were in.
"Don't lie to me, Gaia." Naruto said with an icy edge to his tone.
Gaia hid it well but she was flabbergasted he managed to see through her lies. How did he know she was lying? This boy...
"Unfortunately, No. I don't have that kind of power." Gaia looked away from him.
She became nervous when he stopped talking and silence graced the plane once again.
"I'll help you anyway." The shinobi cursed his hero complex. "I'll free you somehow but if I find a way back, I won't even hesitate," he declared.
"Thank you, Uzumaki Naruto. There might be someone out there who could help you." She tried to cheer him up.
"You think so? There might be someone that can send me back?" he asked with his hope rising again.
"Maybe. I'd suggest you start at Kyoto, a place with a high amount of chakra; The home of the Youkais. A supernatural race that can use chakra like you."
Naruto knew about the youkais but he couldn't pinpoint where they were.
"But I don't know where Kyoto is," Naruto complained.
"Don't worry, Naruto-kun, I'll help you get there," she replied.
Naruto bolted up and balled up his fists. "Really?" he asked with childlike glee.
"Yes, I will."
"Thank you, Gaia. You're the best." He gave her a thumbs up with his Naruto patented grin.
"Now, you have to go, Naruto-kun. The seal you placed on yourself won't hold for long," she warned.
"That's right!" Naruto remembered.
He waved her goodbye as she pushed him out the plane they were in and she remained in the hell that has been her home for the past thousand years, left all alone but, this time, Naruto's warmth lingered around her.
"Naruto Uzumaki... I'll be counting on you." The goddess went silent as she wondered about the circle of hatred.
(Flashback end)
Gaia was elated to see the knucklehead Ninja once again. He had grown tall and much more handsome. He had helped her a lot and she wanted to repay her debt somehow.
"How have you been Naruto-kun?"
"I've been fine," he replied with a smile.
"The link is very weak, ergo, I can't keep it for long," she said regrettably.
"That's unfortunate." Naruto added.
"A lot has happened to you, Naruto-kun. The spark in your eyes has dimmed," she said while staring at Naruto in the eye.
"Really, you think so?" he asked as his smile gradually disappeared from his face.
"Have you found a way back home?"
"No, not yet," he answered and shook his head negatively.
Gaia entered his personal space and held his hands. The black tendrils jiggle like a chain as she walks.
"What happened to you, Naruto?" she asked with a frown on her beautiful face.
"Nothing, Gaia. Nothing, really," he answered mendaciously.
"Don't lie to my face, Naruto-kun." Gaia wasn't having any of that.
This boy had been through a lot and he's been beating himself up about it. She had always tried to get him to tell her about his past whenever she could but he always dodged the topic.
Naruto's visage morphed back to his bored one at the goddess' probing. He wasn't ready for this question and answer session. And luckily, Gaia's form was disintegrating into tiny sparkles starting from the soles of her feet.
She stared at him one last time and rubbed his face.
"Don't lose hope, Naruto-kun," were her last words before she disappeared entirely.
"I'm afraid I already have," Naruto said to the sparkles that remained before he disappeared from the space he was in.
(Scene change)
"Stupid exorcist making Asia sad like that," Issei mumbled with rising exasperation.
Two female exorcists visited the school today and they were going on about the stolen true holy swords, the swords of Excalibur.
It seems like one of them was a childhood friend he couldn't remember.
Kiba had been acting strange lately so he confronted him and learnt that Kiba's goal was to destroy all Excaliburs due to his tragic past and Rias ordered them not to engage the Exorcists. He decided to help Kiba, anyway, with his goal of destroying the Excaliburs, and, soon, they met after school to talk about their next move.
Somehow, Koneko and Saji found out and now they want to help in any way they can.
The group of four decided to head to where Freed, the rogue Priest, was at night and a fight broke out between Kiba and Freed.
They watched as Freed manhandled Kiba like a child.
They tried to interfere but Kiba told them not to interfere. Soon, Rias, Akeno, Sona, and Tsubaki Arrived on the scene and Freed was forced to retreat.
Rias chewed them out and Kiba decided to leave, telling Rias the reason why he became a devil in the first place was to avenge his fallen comrades.
Issei and Saji were disciplined by their respective kings with one thousand spankings while Koneko had none.
Now, here he was in front of the front door of his house with Rias beside him.
"I'm home!" Issei opened the front door expecting an answer but received none.
He walked into the living room and the sight that greeted him was astonishing. His Mom and Naruto were talking and she was laughing.
Naruto Uzumaki was in his house! The lone teacher of Kuoh was in his humble abode.
"S-sensei!" he stuttered as he pointed a finger at Naruto with his mouth agape.
Rias walked into the room and saw what made Issei freak out. She was a bit miffed when Naruto stared at her with his ever-present bored face.
Said teacher was wearing an orange T-shirt with black shorts and Asia was sitting beside him.
"Ah, Issei, Rias, I didn't see you there. Welcome home!" she exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" he asked his sensei as he threw his backpack to the floor.
"Issei! He came to return the lunch box I gave him this morning," his mother chastised lightly.
"It's all right Hyoudou-san. I'll take my leave," he said as he stood up but was dragged down by Mrs. Hyoudou.
"Wait for dinner, Naruto-san, it's almost done," she said with a smile.
Naruto looked from her hand grabbing his sleeves to her face plastered with expectation. "... I don't want to be an inconvenience," he said as he closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head.
"Sensei is not an inconvenience. I enjoyed your stay," Asia responded boldly which made her look cute.
"Just stay, Naruto-san," Issei's mom finalized as she stood up to serve dinner.
Issei flopped on the seat his mother was previously occupying as all the stress of the day finally hit him. Rias took a seat opposite of Naruto with her eyes trained on him.
"Don't look at me like that, Bat," he said.
"Would it kill you to use my name, Naruto-sensei?" she asked with gritted teeth.
Naruto ignored her jab in favor of staring at the frames on the wall.
"It's just four letters!" She raised her voice a bit.
Issei could feel the animosity between them and it was bad.
"Let's not lose our heads here," he said with raised hands and Asia added her own two cents by nodding.
The hostility in the air disappeared when Mrs. Hyoudou walked into the living room with dinner.
They gave a quick quick "itadakimasu!" before they dipped into their food except for Naruto who ate at his own pace. They all ate in relative silence and Naruto took his leave when he was done.
"Thank you for today, Hyoudou-san." He replied on the porch.
"Oh it's nothing, Naruto-kun," she said with a wave of her hand.
"Well then." He bowed again and turned around.
Mrs. Hyoudou shut the front door and sighed happily.
"What a well-mannered man." she said, smiling to herself.
Issei stared at his mom with half-lidded eyes. She liked their new neighbor no doubt about that one.
"I wish someone would be like him." She blatantly said, glaring at her son.
"Mom!"
"Goodnight kids," she said as she walked away to do her thing.
Rias decided to spend the night in Issei's house and boy was he glad! He would get to see her majestic oppai tonight.
(In Naruto's house)
He was in bed with his wrist covering a part of his forehead thinking about everyone in the Elemental Nations.
"Minna, how are you doing? I promised you guys I'd come save you but I'm wavering. This boulder is getting too heavy for me. I miss you all." The house felt more lonely than ever as his breath was the only sound in the house.
He closed his eyes to get some sleep. The only time he didn't feel the weight of the world crushing him.
A comforting warmth entered his room and a wisp of Nature energy surrounded his House. Small eerie golden balls of light dancing around his sleeping form, chasing the nightmares away.
The end.
Till next time.
Stay safe and Ramadan Kareem.