Uhh... Happy Id el Kabir in advance. With my greetings out of the way, this chapter is going to be a flashback and I'll be putting an end to the Kyoto war arc. Enjoy reading and please leave nice reviews. I need good compliments.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" for magic spells and Jutsu
"The fat lady sings" normal dialogue.
'are those things real?' for human thoughts
"Insignificant human" Bijū, gods, summons, and dragons
'Puny humans' for Bijū, gods, summons, and dragon thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Highschool DxD. It belongs to their respective owners.
Chapter 10
The prison door creaked shut as Naruto landed roughly on the cold concrete floor in a heap. He slumped to the ground and let out an exhausted sigh.
Naruto was giving it his all, he was trying his hardest to keep cool because snapping in a situation like this would do more harm than good and the confined space he was in wasn't helping.
Of course, Naruto could have escaped if he wanted to but he needed to prove his innocence one way or another and the main factor behind that was Kunou, she was like a little sister to him and the mere thought of her labeling him a traitor felt sickening.
Naruto sat on the floor feeling helpless as he heard the hurried footsteps of brave youkai soldiers rushing to battle. He should be among them. Curse his hero complex but this was his fight! They came for him! Naruto told it all to the nine-tailed leader and managed to reduce her anger but her suspicion was still there.
Everything hurts. His seared face, Yasaka's distrust, The Hero Faction, The Hero Faction's latest stunt… The Hero Faction. How Naruto loathed that organization. This was like the Konoha invasion all over again!
"You want to prove your innocence? Stay put!" Yasaka's voice echoed in his brain.
Naruto sat cross-legged and willed his eyelids shut as he placed both palms face up on each other and for the first time in months, he could sense chakra signatures running around. Yasaka stood out the most as she was drawing energy from Kyoto itself. It was very similar to Senin modo but this method only absorbed spiritual energy, an enormous amount of spiritual energy.
Naruto's eyes snapped wide open when he sensed Perseus's life force accompanied by four others fighting Yasaka and Genryu, whose signature was moving away from the battle at a rapid pace.
His eyes would have widened even further if it could as an 'out of the world' signature entered his senses. They were lifeless, black without form or shape as they stormed the gates of Kyoto mixed with a fair number of humans. Naruto frantically searched for Kunou's signature and his blood went cold when he sensed her location.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Three clones sitting crossed-legged appeared in the cell as the original Naruto flexed his chakra and broke the weird suppression seal on his chakra and the door before he took off at amazing speeds.
(In the Front lines)
Yasaka rolled over a huge fist from a huge monster as it unearthed a huge portion of the soil. The shadow beast had the likeness of a huge one-eyed Ogre equipped with a huge spiked club. For now, she's managed to reactivate the barrier thus stopping the huge number of shadow beasts from entering the capital and she ordered an evacuation of all citizens near the battlefield. Genryu left the frontline under Yasaka's orders to keep her daughter safe.
"Give up and let yourself be captured."
Leonardo, the wielder of the Longinus-tier Sacred Gear, Annihilation Maker, spoke as he watched her struggle against one of his creations. Leonardo is a dark-skinned young boy with purple eyes and gray-blue hair.
Yasaka spared a glance at her childhood friend who was stuck with two humans with blue eyes and blonde hair. Golden orbs flashed with anger when a certain blue-eyed human flashed through her mind. That treacherous bastard will be hanged as punishment for his sins.
"A shadow's greatest weakness is light."
She said as she released a massive stream of fire from her hands setting the horrendous creature and its brethren in a blazing inferno. Leonardo walked out unscathed from the fire shaking his head in disappointment.
Shadows appeared from Leonardo's feet and they extended and grew five times the height of Yasaka. The shadows broke into five parts as they took the form of the giant Ogre she set ablaze but this time, it was as if they were covered in mist, a black liquid substance trickled from their bodies as they charged forward. Yasaka threw a fireball proportional to their size which erupted into a curtain of fire as it smashed into the Charging creatures. She had little time to react as the first one burst through the flames slightly charred with its leg swung backward for a devastating kick. Thanks to her small and nimble form she was able to propel herself at the Ogre's head with her fist covered in golden flames, she punched the monster right in the face sending it back at its creator. She suppressed a smirk as the mass of shadow flew back at its owner,
"You're wide open," Leonardo said as he stretched an arm forward and absorbed the oncoming monster, and retreated to his shadow. A huge palm slapped Yasaka away, making her release a short cry of pain as she bounced off the floor.
"Yasaka!" The blonde Neko called her friend in worry. She made haste forward but a thin stream of light stopped her courtesy Le fay, Pendragon. She wanted to go assist her friend but these two blondes were in the way. A skilled swordsman and a powerful magician were a handful for her.
"Hang tight, Yasaka I'm coming."
(In Kyoto)
"Kunou-sama! Where are you?!" Genryu screamed as he raced across the desolate streets of Kyoto. The smell of blood filled the air as he ran around. Houses were toppled and massive shadow monsters roamed the streets, eating the corpses of women, children, and men alike. He searched, pushing his body past its limit as he searched around for Kunou. He fell to his feet in pure defeat as he saw Yasaka's fox form, something he was honored to see once in battle, fall to a two-headed, eastern dragon. It coiled around her form and one head latched onto her neck and the other opened its mouth wide open and charged up a purple orb.
"Haha-ue!" A high-pitched shriek emanating from behind the Youkai general tore through the air, A voice he recognized well. He watched as Kunou ran past him, her kimono stained with so much blood he almost couldn't recognize it anymore. Genryu fell face-first onto a heap of dirt with a thought resonating with the despair he felt.
"W-we lost."
"Genryu."
Genryu heard someone call his name. He thought he was hearing things but a nasty pain in his face tore him from the illusion he was placed in.
"W-what's going on?" he said as he opened his eyes. He winced as his memory caught up to him.
He raced across the street and spotted Kunou alone before a human ambushed them and a fight ensued. His opponent was quite skilled but when he slashed him in the face he grew ballistic and activated his Sacred Gear and from there, Genryu blacked out and now he woke up feeling a searing pain on his cheek.
"Thank goodness, I thought you were dead," Kunou said with relief present on her face. Bruises littered her body and a tiny stream of blood was on her cheeks and her temple.
"You little bewitching misery, your wall-walking tricks saved you, huh?" Marcillo, a black-haired man with black eyes dressed in a suit, held his face as he glared daggers at Kunou. "I greatly underestimated you, little child. Your mother must have been captured by now."
Genryu stood and put Kunou behind him.
"What is the motive behind this?" Genryu asked.
"Well, we have two motives. The first one is to kidnap the leader of the Youkai Faction and the second is a termination order of one Naruto Uzumaki."
"What do you want with my Onii-chan?!" Kunou spoke up behind Genryu.
"Naruto? What's the relationship between them?" the youkai general mused.
"That bastard is a pain in the ass that needs to be removed. An S-class threat to the Hero Faction."
"So he wasn't a traitor, the whole thing was just one big misunderstanding. What he was running from caught up to him."
"Kunou, I want you to run towards that building." Genryu pointed at Naruto's location - where he believed Naruto should be, in prison – but it was all a gamble. With Kunou out of the picture, he should be able to fight more efficiently.
"But…" she tried to argue but Genryu cut her abruptly.
"Kunou, I know you can make it. I believe you will one day lead Kyoto to greatness."
Genryu's strong words drew a tear from Kunou before she took off.
"You'd better come out alive." She stopped for a second at the entrance of the building. "That's an order."
"Now, how did he put me under an illusion?" Genryu wondered as he took a sword stance.
(Scene change)
Naruto raced across Kyoto running full speed towards Kunou's signature. He came to a halt as Genryu's signature disappeared all of a sudden. He grits his teeth and sped off towards Kunou's signature getting closer to him. He landed on the ground roughly and raced across the land before he stopped when he spotted Kunou.
"Onii-chan!" she cried as she embraced Naruto.
"Kunou, are you alright?" He knelt and inspected Kunou's form for any injury. He didn't have Tsunade or Sakura's mastery over healing but he was able to heal the bruises and tiny cuts which were most of her injuries. The little kyubi felt a warm sensation wash over her and her fatigue disappeared all of a sudden.
"Genryu, he's fighting a strong, mean human. He said their orders were to kidnap Haha-ue and Kill you."
"So it's a kill order this time."
"Kunou, take me to Genryu," Naruto said as he scooped her little form.
(With Genryu)
"You're really strong for a human," Genryu complimented Marsillo, breathing hard trying to regain his lost strength.
"Not bad for a Youkai," Marcillo complemented Genryu's prowess.
Genryu was having a hard time due to his illusion-based abilities. He attacked from the shadows, a master of stealth, something Genryu had a little counter for.
"This shit has gone on for long enough, it's time to finish this."
"Balance Break: Paraserene Yutopia."
Marsillo trapped Genryu in a barrier space where he can control a person's perception of time and block people from using their powers to a certain degree as he influenced them and lulled them into a fake reality.
Marsillo walked out of his hiding spot.
"It's time to go find this Naruto guy." Marsillo barely took two steps before Naruto appeared ten feet away from him. Marsilio knew he was the one instantly. Perseus was right, his presence was almost non-existing.
"Where's Genryu?" Naruto asked with a frown. Genryu's signature was flicking in and out of his senses.
"Well, well, well, I finally got to meet the famous Naruto Uzumaki."
"I'm famous?" Naruto asked.
"But of course, you're a big celebrity in the Hero Faction," Marsillo started with a sneer.
"Genryu is somewhere around here." Naruto walked around a specific place, pacing back and forth in random motion.
"What's he doing?" Marsillo wondered.
"Hmm... Guess I'll have to beat the shit out of this guy and make him return Genryu somehow or…"
The genin's thoughts trailed off when he suddenly thought up a crazy plan. He commenced his plan with a mad dash at Marsillo engaging in a quick taijutsu battle.
Marsillo ducked under a haymaker and pushed Naruto's incoming knee away. He tried to sweep the blonde boy off his feet but the Shinobi narrowly dodged the leg that would have surely swept him off his feet and delivered four lightning-fast roundhouse kicks at Marsillo's upper body. The member of the Hero Faction blocked Naruto's brutal kicks with his forearm and countered with two open palm thrusts to Naruto's stomach, sending him skidding back.
Naruto tottered backward as Marsillo's flying kick connected with his chest and from then, Marsillo released a flurry of consecutive kicks and punches which Naruto found hard put to counter even with his advanced Sage Mode precognition
"Something's wrong. He shouldn't be able to keep up with me in a taijutsu fight in Sage Mode."
"Oi, I'm really angry right now so spare me the effort of beating your ass to the ground and tell me where you sent Genryu," Naruto said, taking slow steps forward.
"You noticed? That's impressive but I'm really disappointed." Marsillo shook his head with shut eyes. "You're not what I expected. Why are you holding back? Show me the power Perseus spoke of or can't you?"
Naruto got serious and performed a wind shunshin to Marsillo's blindside, a blue swirling ball in hand, mid-swing.
"It's too late," Marsillo said from behind Naruto as he kicked Naruto away.
Naruto spat out blood when he was launched forward and he was pretty sure his spine was fractured from that attack. The Rasengan spun lazily in his left hand as he stood up.
"What the..."
Naruto's blue orbs widened when he took a glance at the Rasengan in his hand. It was small, too small. [A/N: Think of Boruto's weak-ass rasengan]
Naruto dispelled his father's technique and charged at Marsillo with Jonin-level speed. Marsillo weaved around the Uzumaki's attacks like water and seeped through his assault landing some of his own.
"Tch, Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three clones poof beside Naruto.
"No way..."
There was supposed to be a mini-army of shadow clones behind him but all he got was three. There's something fishy going on.
"What did you do to me?" Naruto glared at his opponent, earning a chuckle from the said opponent.
"I commend you, Naruto Uzumaki, out of them all, you were the only one to have ever noticed something was wrong but now, it's game over for you. Your defeat was inevitable right from the start." Marsillo's voice took on a strange quality.
The black-haired man jumped away from the spot he was standing and snatched something out of the air, a Kunai from a clone's sneak attack from underground. It was like he knew Naruto's clone would pop out of the ground and throw a Kunai at him.
"It was fun fighting you but now, it's over."
Marsillo turned his back to Naruto and threw the Kunai back at him, sending it deep into the Shinobi's stomach.
"Tell me, what is your greatest nightmare?" Marsillo said before Naruto's pupils shrunk to the size of a mustard seed.
.
.
.
"Now Ojou-chan, Didn't your mother teach you not to play hide and seek with strangers?" Marsillo yelled as he searched around for Kunou.
This mission was going far easier than expected and it could go much smoother if the little fox would have just let herself be captured and spared him this foolish game of hide and seek
"Come out now and I promise no harm will befall you." He tried to coax her but he didn't get a reply. Ticked off, he tries again.
"If you won't come out I guess I'll just have to kill those two," he threatened and still the little Kyubi remained silent in her hiding spot.
Kunou had both her hand over her mouth shit scared to her bones at her hiding spot. She was upside down on the ceiling looking at Marsillo's head as he searched everywhere for her. Her heart skipped a few beats every time he gazed up but thanks to the illusion she cast over herself, she was able to stay hidden. That wouldn't last much longer because she was running low on chakra faster than expected. The tree walking exercise took a lot out of her but Naruto told her she would get used to it in a few weeks. The distressed girl tried to even her breathing lest Marsillo finds out her location.
A communication magic circle appeared around Marsillo's ears as he relayed information to his comrades.
"I have the subject under capture. Commence plan B," Marsillo spoke as he inspected the seemingly empty building.
"That was pretty fast. Plan B isn't going smoothly as yours did, after all, she's on the level of an Ultimate class devil." A female voice replied.
"This could end swiftly if we used her daughter as leverage," he proposed.
"No! That's despicable and it's an insult to our capabilities," the person on the other end disagreed.
"I don't give a rat's ass about your sentiments, Le Fay Pendragon. I'll do anything for Cao Cao-sama."
"Marsillo, you—" Marsillo cut the connection between them, irritated by Le Fay.
Kunou made a huge mistake in letting her focus slip when she heard Marsillo's words. The stream of Chakra she supplied to the sole of her feet to stick to the ceiling fluctuated and without something to hold, gravity pushed her back to the ground.
"Found you, Ojou-chan!" Marsillo screamed like a little child having a moment of Eureka in a hide and seek game.
Kunou dropped from the ceiling and made for the door but stumbled backward when her face hit Marsillo's midsection. He cleared the distance between them in an instant. Marsillo squatted beside the little girl as if he wanted to check her body for any injury.
"You're one bratty kid, Ojou-chan," he said.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked as she scurried away in fear of the dangerous man.
"Naruto Uzumaki killed someone from our organization and you know killing is bad, right? So, we have to punish him."
Kunou didn't believe that for a second.
"You're lying! Why attack a whole faction just to get one person?!" Kunou yelled vehemently.
"Come over here and this will be over in a minute." Marsillo grabbed her kimono and lifted her on his shoulders.
Kunou slapped him screaming at him to unhand her, to let her go but the older man completely ignored her.
"Stay still you little brat!" He screamed at her when her fingers tore through the fabric of his clothes and into his skin.
A blue magic circle appeared underneath Marsillo and he vanished a moment later.
(In the front lines)
Multitudes of Youkais, Humans, and Shadow monsters fought in a fierce battle. The youkais defended their home against the intruders, trying their best but some of those Shadow monsters were smarter than they look, always adapting and evading their tactics and their numbers far exceeded the defenders but the army of Koto held strong. Their leader was outside of Kyoto battling the mastermind behind the assault, the best they can do is to prevent these monsters from entering Kyoto.
.
.
.
(in a field miles from Kyoto)
"Tch, Troublesome woman!" Leonardo spat in annoyance as Yasaka took down his creations.
Leonardo, a member of the Hero Faction whose Sacred Gear is Annihilation Maker, asked as he watched as a dozen shadow monsters tried to catch Yasaka but anyone that got too close got burned up. Annihilation Maker, a top-tier Longinus, allowed him to create anything he can imagine from his shadows, and what's next, he could create a special type of creature called Anti-monsters.
"Perseus, you've been quite disturbed recently," he said as he recreated the shadows Yasaka destroyed. The plan was to wear her out with a continuous barrage of shadow monsters and move in for the capture.
Perseus had his sight on the burning gates of Kyoto and the chaos in the distance. It felt wrong to kill innocent people just to get to Naruto but he believed in Cao Cao's vision. He jerked his head at Leonardo who was having a hard time fighting Yasaka. The other blonde Nekomata was on her last leg with Arthur and Le Fay teaming up but the star of the show, Naruto Uzumaki, wasn't here yet.
"Is all this bloodshed necessary?" Perseus asked.
"They won't give up their leader without a fight, Perseus. I don't like this but it's necessary," Leonardo said as he kept conjuring more shadow monsters at a rapid rate.
Marsillo emerged from under a magic circle with Kunou on his shoulders unconscious.
"Objective A accomplished," he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
Perseus' eyes widened at the news.
"You captured Naruto?" he asked.
"Yep and this little girl was a bonus for me." He dropped her limp body to the ground.
Fear gripped Yasaka's entire being when her eyes landed on the form of an unconscious Kunou.
"K-Kunou!" Yasaka screamed.
Her terror-filled scream managed to wake her daughter up. Kunou Shook her head and blinked twice to rid the drowsiness and blur in her vision. She glanced around the unfamiliar space filled with unfamiliar people with trepidation till her eyes landed on Yasaka's horror-filled face.
"Haha-ue!" she cried, trying to free herself of the binding magic placed on her.
"I'm going to kill you if a strand—"
"Yeah, yeah, spare me the empty threats; you are in no position to do that. In fact, it's the opposite."
"Please, let my daughter go." the leader of Kyoto begged.
Marsillo knocked Kunou unconscious again when her incessant struggling ticked him off.
"I'm going to kill you for that," Yasaka bared her fangs.
"As I said, you're not the one making threats here... I am." The bad man placed a foot on Kunou's body.
(In Kyoto prison)
Three clones paced around the cell arguing back and forth.
"What do we do?! Oyanbu's signature disappeared all of a sudden! I'm afraid." Clone one stopped to yell all of a sudden.
"Stay calm, the original isn't dead yet." Clone two, the calm one, said.
"He must have been sent to a different space," the third clone proposed.
"A different dimension!" Clone one screamed rhetorically. "This is bad… How are we going to save him? We only know of a single space/time Jutsu!"
"Serves him right, he should have drowned his enemies in despair when he had the chance." Clone three didn't look worried at all. He sat back on the floor and started running circles on it with his fingers, bored to his mind completely, ignoring the fact that his sole existence depended on the original.
"How could you say something like that!" Clone One grabbed Clone Three's shirt.
"Unhand me, Simpleton," he said impassively.
"Fighting won't solve anything guys I know the original is in danger. He needs us." Clone Two pushed them apart.
"He should have launched a large-scale attack on their base but he kept running away like a pussy," clone-two said.
"You wanna go!" Clone one raised his fist again in defense of his creator.
"They are just a bunch of humans, how hard could it be to kill them?" Clone three said, brimming with arrogance.
"We're humans too!" Clone one retorted.
While both clones argued back and forth, the first clone's word struck a chord deep within the second clone.
"Human..." the second clone trailed off.
The second clone took two steps forward and slammed his palm on the floor.
"Please work!" he mentally hoped.
"Ningendo!" the second clone screamed.
In a poof of smoke, the original Naruto, with Genryu on his shoulder, appeared instantly.
"Oyanbu!"
"Good work guys, I couldn't have gotten out without you," Naruto complimented the trio.
The third clone yawned and poof out of existence and the memories of everything that transpired between the clones and excess sage energy hit Naruto.
"What are you going to do?" the second clone questioned.
"I'm going to save everyone. I won't let another invasion happen on my watch."
The memories of Konoha turned to rubble. The remaining clones nodded at Naruto, eager to prevent something like that from happening to another country under their watch.
"Heal the wounded and help them any way you can," the Original ordered.
"Osu!" They both fist pump.
"I'm going to the frontline… it's time to end this." Naruto bent his knees for a massive leap.
Naruto's takeoff created shock waves as he traveled a long distance with a single leap. Naruto's enhanced sight caught a mass of humans and shadow beings trying to break through the gate; some had already breached and the Youkai army was struggling to repel them. Some have even breached into the city, it wasn't something too big for his clones to handle.
Naruto's touchdown created a little crater on the ground catching the attention of the youkais behind the front lines.
"Kyuubi-sama!" a high-ranking fox youkai called out when he turned around to see what caused the disturbance.
"What's the status?" Naruto had the aura of a general around him when he spoke.
"Our best fighters are in the frontlines fighting but some enemies slipped past. Yasaka-sama is a bit far from the frontlines fighting the powerful ones."
"Alright. You've all done well." Naruto took steady steps forward.
"Do you have a plan to lead us to victory? I can spare a few men," the youkai conferred.
"Don't worry, I'm going to finish this in an instant," Naruto said confidently.
"In an instant?" he repeated but Naruto was already gone by then.
Naruto took a massive leap to the sky, gaining a bird's-eye view of the battlefield. The majority of what he could see was black masses moving around tiny colored dots but it was an entirely different image if he closed his eyes. The whole world went dark at first but then, little by little, tiny blue flames ignited below. Those tiny flames were the signatures of youkais on the battlefield and all he had to do was avoid them, make sure they didn't suffer the effects of the Jutsu he was about to unleash. Naruto used the chakra sensing abilities of Sage Mode like a divining rod for the youkais and his senses encompassed the battlefield like radar in a ship on water.
The youkais made it much easier to differentiate friend from foe in there. Naruto released six Kunais from the seal on his wrist. He held three on between both fingers and crossed his arm in an "X" Fashion.
"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto intoned the name of the Jutsu before he threw the kunais.
Six Kunais multiplied to 36 and with the help of gravity, they rained on the enemies on the battlefield.
The moment the Hiraishin Kunais buried itself into the ground, Naruto disappeared and a blink later, the only ones standing on the battlefield were the Youkais with Naruto standing in the middle of the battlefield holding a Hiraishin Kunai in hand.
"W-what the hell..." a youkai soldier began.
"... just happened," another youkai finished.
The youkai Naruto talked to couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him.
"H-he fi-finished it in an in— What just happened." He was losing his mind slowly.
"No way!"
"We won!"
"We won!" Kyoto rejoiced like never before.
"I can't believe it! He actually finished it in an instant!" The youkai who was having a hard time grasping what was happening found his voice again.
"Kyuubi-sama! He did it! Kyuubi-sama!"
Like wildfire, the screams of Kyūbi-sama traveled around the battlefield and those near Naruto gazed upon him.
Naruto moved to the next place he was needed.
"All I saw was a yellow flash!" a bloodied youkai pointed at the spot where Naruto was.
"I saw a yellow flash before they dropped dead."
"Yeah, me too."
Naruto chuckled lightly as he ran to the next destination.
(With Yasaka and the Hero Faction)
Arthur, Lee Fay, Perseus, Marsillo, and Leonardo stood confident against the combined might of Yasaka and the blonde Neko whose name we don't know yet.
"Give up and let yourself be captured, Yasaka-dono," Arthur said.
"I promise we will stop the attack on Kyoto." Perseus gave her his word.
"You're asking me to abandon my people?" Yasaka sneered her eyes on Kunou's unconscious form.
"What a stubborn woman," Leonardo lamented as he created yet another Anti-monster shaped in the form of a Kyuubi.
"Ojou-chan here will make a fine Queen, no?" Marsillo placed a foot on Kunou.
"Get your filthy legs off her." Yasaka's voice took an icy edge. Marsillo Ignored her threat and stopped his foot on her shoulder.
"Hey, Marsillo, get your foot off the girl this instant!" Perseus warned.
"What the heck is wrong with you, Perseus? Can't you see we've given her a fair deal? If she can't swallow her pride and agree to our terms then this girl is not useful to our cause anymore."
"But still, involving a child..." Arthur tried to say but Marsillo cut him off.
"What's it gonna be, Yasaka? Your daughter, Kyoto, or You?"
Yasaka balled her fist and gritted her teeth. She sighed in defeat before she turned to her childhood friend.
"Take care of Kunou while I'm gone," Yasaka begged her friend.
"Wait, what If you never come back?" The blonde Neko knew Yasaka was going to trade herself for the safety of everyone and she would have gladly taken her place but she wasn't relevant to them. Where is Amaterasu when you need her the most?
"Please, Ku-chan, this is a request as a friend," she said as she walked to her doom.
"I do not approve of his ways entirely but this is much more effective than launching an assault on Kyoto," Leonardo said.
"Yasaka!" Ku-chan yelled hopelessly in vain.
Leonardo gazed into the distance ready to call his shadow monsters back but then his eyes widened in shock when he didn't pick up any shadows in the distance.
"What the..."
Yasaka stopped when she saw the look of bewilderment on Leonardo's face.
"What's wrong, Leo?" Perseus asked for everyone present.
Leonardo's eyes were still wide open in shock as he shakily pointed a finger at the distance where the battlefield was supposed to be.
Perseus, Arthur, and his little sister turned their sight to the battlefield and their reactions mirrored Leonardo's.
Marsillo's ears caught the whistling of a projectile traveling through the air and his eyes caught a brief sight of a back tri-pronged knife before he tilted his head to dodge the knife that would have surely skewered him to death… A big mistake.
"Rasenrengan." Marsillo heard someone's voice he thought he would never hear of anymore before he felt unholy pain in both shoulder blades and he was smashed face-first to the ground. Naruto capitalized on the distraction his earlier little stunt created and threw a Hiraishin kunai at Marsillo.
The new presence behind them made the rest back off and regroup to access the situation. Naruto safely secured Kunou on his shoulder before he retreated to her side.
"Are you alright, Yasaka?" Naruto asked as he kneeled and placed a hand on Kunou revitalizing her and bringing her back to consciousness
"Naruto?!" Ku-chan couldn't believe her eyes.
"Onii-chan?" Kunou's voice was filled with gladness. She was glad her favorite human was fine and whole.
"Kunou!" Yasaka pushed Naruto away and pulled her daughter close.
"Kunou, my baby." Yasaka held her daughter close, afraid to let go.
"Why'd you push me?" Naruto asked as brushed dust off his Kimono.
"Stay away from my baby!" she screamed.
"What the hell? In case you didn't notice, I just saved her life!" Naruto exclaimed
"What do you expect? A gold medal or my hand in marriage?" the single mother retorted.
"A thank you would suffice!" Naruto said.
"You brought this upon us in the first place!"
"I..." Naruto visibly deflated when he couldn't think of a witty reply. "Well, that's true." He placed a hand on his chin in thought.
"I can't believe they're bickering right now," Ku-chan said in disbelief.
"Hey, Neko-san, you alright?" Naruto asked out of concern for Ku-chan. He liked her enough to care.
"Why thank you, Naruto, I'm fine." Her voice filled with a jeer.
While this was going on, Le Fay managed to retrieve Marsillo's injured body and cast a recovery spell on him but the damage caused by a twin Rasengan isn't something to be taken lightly.
"I-i-mpo-ssible, ho-w di-did he get o-out?" The dreamlike curse Sacred Gear user managed to say before he coughed up blood. Le Fay was healing him but the damage of a Rasenrengan was deep, much less two Rasengans. It was a miracle he survived the attack.
Marsillo's balance breaker, Paraselene Utopia, can send a person into a barrier space that Marsillo can control, like Tsukuyomi but on a greater level. Marsillo can also suppress people's powers inside the barrier to a certain extent. Luckily, Naruto managed to notice he was under an illusion inside a barrier. Using his experience with genjutsu, he found Genryu in time before his clones summoned him back to the real world.
"So, that's Naruto Uzumaki?" Arthur asked Perseus.
"Blonde hair, blue eyes? Those eyes aren't blue." Leonardo remembered reading Naruto's file and his eye color was stated to be blue.
Leonardo squinted his eyes at the blonde who completely disregarded them after taking one of them down in an instant. What he couldn't wrap his head around was how two thousand shadow monsters and a handful of humans disappeared suddenly. It definitely had something to do with the blonde.
"Naruto-san, we meet again." The edge of Perseus's lips curved a bit.
"Oh, Perseus, it's you," the shinobi said with a smile but wiped it off his face when he saw the look Yasaka gave him. "You know I'll have to fight you if you come after them, right?"
"Yes. I came here fully aware of that," Perseus responded.
"Knowing you were going to lose?" Naruto said, referring to the group he brought with him.
The two blondes look like they would pass as his distant cousin and the little gray-haired boy looked constipated but they had pretty strong auras, his instinct told him not to take them lightly.
"These three surpass my battle prowess," Perseus admitted brazenly.
"Ne, Naruto-sama, do you know about the story of Camelot?" Le Fay asked.
"Camelot?" Naruto, in all his time in this world, had never heard of Camelot.
"Le Fay, don't get friendly with the enemy, he's someone we must kill. Direct orders from Cao Cao," Leonardo warned.
"Hey, the girl dressed in a weird costume with a broomstick..."
"It's a staff, Naruto-sama, not a broomstick," Le Fay corrected, a bit miffed at Naruto for calling her staff a broomstick. It looks nothing like a broomstick.
"Leave here. This is no place for a child and take that constipated kid too." Naruto pointed at Leonardo.
"Stay back and let me handle this." Naruto's voice wasn't as warm as it was when they first met, Yasaka noticed.
"No, we'll fight together. Those guys ain't pushovers!" Yasaka replied.
"You said it yourself, I brought this upon you and I'd like to clean the mess I made myself. Besides... this is a fight between Humans so leave it to me."
Naruto's words filled her with assurance somehow, almost like arrogance but she knew Naruto would come out victorious. Yasaka had to put her faith in Naruto once more.
"Thank you Naruto," Yasaka said before she retreated to a safe distance.
"See... if you had just swallowed your chivalry, the Kyuubi wouldn't have escaped!" Marsillo lamented under Le Fay's healing spell.
Le Fay slapped Marsillo on the head, adding to his injury. She figured what harm could one more injury cause? She'd heal them all eventually.
What's up with his eyes? Looks like a goat's?" Leonardo asked Perseus, the only person with enough info on Naruto.
If Naruto was offended when Leonardo compared his eyes with a Goat's eyes, he hid it well.
"It's a heightened state which grants him increased strength and his presence is completely erased for some reason in that state."
"How strong?"
"Strong enough to break out of my Balance Breaker ultimate move in seconds."
"That strong?" Arthur took calm steps forward and summoned Excalibur Ruler.
"Yes. Proceed with caution," Perseus gave his last warning.
"It's nice to finally meet you Naruto. I'm Arthur Pendragon, allow me to retort." Arthur charged forward at once.
Naruto did the same but instead, he brought a Kunai to a sword fight. He raised the twin Kunai in caution. The sword in Arthur's hand had a massive amount of pure energy.
Arthur rushed forward with great speed, almost blindsiding Naruto before he turned around and parried the horizontal slash at his waist. As Kunai met a two-edged holy sword, it split into two and Naruto determined, lowered his center mass, and quickly spun around enforcing the other Kunai with Earth Chakra giving it a dark hue only to slash thin air.
Sage Mode's danger senses prompt him to bring the kunai upward in time to block a vertical slash behind him. Arthur readjusted his glasses and held the hilt of the Excalibur ruler with both hands applying more force to it. Naruto's enhanced strength won the battle as he pushed Arthur back and tried to back kick him. The holy sword wielder leaned backward evading Naruto's fist and threw his weight forward with both hands on the Excalibur ruler, and swung his sword diagonally at Naruto's back. The shinobi evaded the slash, spinning in the air to the left out of the sword's path creating enough speed and momentum before Delivering a roundhouse kick in the air at Arthur's side only to be stopped by the bespectacled man's forearm.
Arthur had a little smirk on when he grabbed Naruto's offending right foot, a smirk Naruto didn't like at all. Excalibur Ruler cut through the air towards Naruto's heart. Naruto kicked his left foot off the ground and kicked the Excalibur's tip away, landing a backflip on one knee. Arthur didn't give Naruto room to breathe as he proved the superior swordsman releasing different slashes Naruto found hard press to parry. The cut on the Ninja's cheek and his side made him realize he was no match for Arthur's sword skills so he switched tactics. Mid to long-range attack would work on a swordsman.
"Kicking the tip of an Excalibur with the sole of your foot? That's wild," Arthur said.
The memories of his clones in Kyoto hit him and the remaining sage Chakra they had filled his decreasing reserves.
"Katon: Endan!" Naruto ran through four hand seals, puffed his cheeks, and released a stream of fire from his mouth.
Black shadows formed behind Arthur and a huge monster took shape shielding the older Pendragon. A stream of water gushed out of a magic circle putting out Naruto's fire and filling the area with smoke. With a wave of her staff, Le Fay blew the steam away.
A small group of ten huge 16 feet tall humanoid shadow monsters stood behind Arthur ready for battle
Arthur stood still as the monsters went past him knowing Leonardo created them to test Naruto's abilities before he worked on a full assault.
The first one to reach Naruto tried to crush him to bits with a huge spear. Naruto grabbed the spear with both hands and braced himself, did a full 360° turn lifting the monster attached to it off its feet before he smashed it into another monster taking them out.
"Doton: Yomi Numa." Naruto slapped both hands on the ground. The ground beneath the horde of monsters turned to a massive swamp, ensnaring the monsters before he burned them up with a fire Jutsu.
Leonardo took things up a notch and created dozens of 30 feet tall Anti-monster. This time, Naruto speed blitzed one of the mindless creatures and punched it in the face. It groaned as it tumbled and fell to the floor. Naruto did the familiar shadow clone hand signs and a rain of clones descended into the battlefield.
"I wasn't expecting this," Leo said.
Leonard watched as a group of clones threw one of his creations up and another with a blue ball jumped higher before he drilled a hole through his minions with a blue ball in his hand. Naruto's clones overpowered his monsters and when they were done, all the clones poof away into nothingness leaving a slightly worn-out Naruto.
Naruto ran towards Arthur with both hands clapped together and Leo had a gut feeling not to let Naruto complete whatever he was about to do.
"Le Fay, keep him busy for me," he ordered.
"Aye, Leo-sama!" The short blonde girl replied.
Naruto himself was what one might consider a walking army due to his mastery over the Shadow Clone Jutsu with his vast pool of chakra but spamming high-level jutsu and a large number of clones was tasking on even his reserves. Prolonging this fight was out of the option, he needed to end this fight swiftly.
Naruto had them in his field of vision and his blue orbs were solely on Leonardo, the most dangerous one. His peripheral caught a bright flash of light and his body jerked sideways all of a sudden avoiding a lightning bolt. He snapped his head up and his eyes couldn't count the number of magic circles in the air above him, all directed at him.
Le Fay spoke in a weird language and brought the tip of her staff down at Naruto.
Countless thunderbolts struck Naruto's position over and over and over again. The Barrage stopped and Naruto was on one knee breathing hard in a damaged wall of earth.
"Standing up after taking a series of high-level spells. Impressive," Leo said.
"I've used up most of my sage chakra." The blasted downside of Sage Mode.
Naruto rushed forward again, this time, Perseus shot beams from the eye of his shield and Naruto expertly evaded them. He puffed his cheek and breathed out huge fireballs that dispatched into little ones homing in on their target.
Le Fay cast a defense barrier to take the damage. The barrier held strong and did its job but the fire was just a decoy, a distraction. A Big Ball Rasengan clashed with the defensive spell and they both canceled each other out.
Naruto shunshin between the group kicked Perseus away delivered a lighting chakra enhanced Lariat to a partially healed Marsillo and drop kicked Arthur in the throat. Leonardo turned to face Naruto but a high-pitched shrill made him look behind. Another Naruto in the sky reared his hand and threw a Rasenshuriken at them
"This is bad! Get out of there!" Perseus screamed.
"Le Fay!" Arthur yelled in worry.
A sense of dread engulfed Leo as he saw the dangerous technique clear the distance between them at incredible speed. He made a 40-foot monster to intercept the attack but the wind blades of the Rasenshuriken cut through the Monsters. The S-rank Jutsu was just sixteen-foot away from Leo and Le Fay before a sense of dread engulfed the former.
The Rasenshuriken detonated upon hitting its target. Naruto waited on the edge to see the result of his attack. He frowned when he saw the silhouette of a giant. His eyes almost popped out of their socket as a massive rocket fist, the size of a story building neared him. Naruto acted quickly and created a Rasengan proportional to the incoming fist. Both forces slammed together and the rocket punch easily overpowered Naruto's Rasengan, sending him a good distance away, crushing and skidding on the floor before he hit a rock.
Naruto groaned as he sat up from the attack dazed, the last of his Sage energy spent fortifying his body from the rocket punch. He sobered up when he saw a massive giant the size of Gamabunta armed with a Machine gun raining bullets on him. He acted quickly and brought up a defense of mud wall. As the onslaught of bullets stopped for a moment, Naruto peeked over the wall, a beam crushed his defense and its bright rays blinded him. Disoriented, he stumbled backward, losing cover. The giant fired a continuous barrage of bullets at the vulnerable Naruto, destroying the space around the blonde.
Le Fay Pendragon summoned Gogmagog, a giant she was in contract with at the last second saving them from Naruto's earlier attack. The giants were created by ancient gods as a weapon of mass destruction. Le Fay was lucky to have a contract with one.
"Le Fay!" Arthur ran towards his sister.
"I'm okay, big bro," she replied on a flying broomstick.
"Good job, shrimpster. That was one nasty Lariat." Marsillo patted her shoulder.
The Hero Faction members regrouped to Launch a counterattack Luckily, all of them came out unscathed.
"Let's finish this in one move. I'm tired, I need to rest," Leo, the leader of the mission, said.
After creating two thousand shadow monsters and engaging in a brief fight with the leader of Kyoto, Naruto was wearing the boy out.
"Let's kill this bastard once and for all." Marsillo took the first step forward before Naruto's voice stopped him.
"Wow, you guys are stronger than I thought." Naruto stood up wobbly, covered in blood, and both eyes closed.
Poof.
Naruto stood back up, rejuvenated. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. The injury on his body released steam as it healed itself rapidly.
"I've underestimated you lot." Naruto opened his eyes, back in Sage Mode.
Naruto clapped his hands and the ground started rumbling and shaking due to the jutsu Naruto was about to unveil. With his hands still joined together, the ground beneath him split apart and from it, rose an extremely long, wooden dragon. Its golden eyes shone brightly under the sun and it had a curved beak for some reason, it looked demonic.
Naruto stood on the eastern wooden dragon's head gazing down at his opponents. Taking risks defined a shinobi's life. The ninja braced himself mentally for what he was about to do might seem over the top, even for him.
He stretched his hand forward and the wooden dragon opened its mouth wide. Spider cracks appeared below the wooden dragon as Black Chakra and White Chakra came out of its fang and gathered around the center of its mouth. It condensed into a tiny ball, the size of a fist looking harmless. The dragon snapped its mouth shut, swallowing the mass of condensed Chakra. Numerous cracks appeared around its head and beams of light escaped its body.
"What the—"
Boom!
A huge beam of condensed chakra tore through the ground carving a straight path of destruction through the clearing they were in and the forest in the distance and beyond. The sky darkened as smoke from the burning forest rose into the atmosphere. The beam snuffed itself out when the Chakra feeding it stopped.
Naruto rose from the ground coughing harshly. The wooden dragon coiled itself around Naruto giving him protection before its short life ended. Nostalgia hit him when he saw the destruction he caused. And it wasn't even at full power. Naruto had to put all the sage energy his clone gathered into that last technique. The power of a Bijū wasn't something to be underestimated.
Naruto watched his adversaries on the floor groaning and panting in worse conditions. He felt a little satisfaction, knowing that he was inflicting pain on the people who tried to destroy Kyoto.
"He completely one-shotted the Gogmagog," Le Fay said in awe. Gogmagog absorbed most of the attack and only the combined defense spell they conjured saved them. Naruto was this close to killing them when he got serious.
Indistinct battle cries filled the air as the youkai army rushed to the scene.
"Protect Kyuubi-sama!"
"Protect our hero!"
Armed to the teeth, they all gathered behind Naruto with high spirits. They stared at the massive trench in the ground and the burning forest in the distance. Yasaka herself was awed by the display of destruction. She wondered how strong Naruto was if this was the result of their battle
Naruto let his trademark foxy grin grace his face when he saw the Youkais ready to protect him.
"This is the might of Kyoto! Don't mess with us!" Naruto accentuated his words with a massive blast of KI.
His words were met with a roar from the crowd.
"And tell Cao Cao, one day, I'm going to come after him and I'll crush the Hero Faction to the ground."
Defeated and demoralized, Leo ordered their retreat.
"Naruto Uzumaki... I'll never forget this humiliation," Marsillo sneered as Le Fay conjured a magic circle.
"Let's meet again on friendly terms, Naruto-sama!" Le Fay Pendragon winked at the orange-loving ninja. What a weird girl.
"Naruto-san..." Perseus nodded at Naruto with a smile which Naruto mirrored.
"If you ever change your mind..." Naruto began. "Never mind," he finished.
Naruto watched as the magic circle rose and encompassed the group of five until it disappeared with them.
"Naruto," a battered and bruised Genryu greeted.
Kunou got off her mother and ran towards Naruto, squeezing her tiny frame to his body in relief.
"I'm sorry. I didn't intend to bring you guys into this," Naruto apologized.
"It's okay. All that matters is that she's safe now and Kyoto stands tall, thanks to you."
Before Naruto could say Rasengan, the armies seized him and hoisted him In the air.
"What the hell happened?" Ku-chan asked her childhood friend.
Yasaka glanced at Naruto who was being pushed around by the youngsters in the army with a smile on his face.
"It's Kyuubi-sama. He defeated the invading enemies," a youkai answered.
"You mean he saved Kyoto singlehandedly against the monsters and humans?" she questioned.
"I find it hard to believe but that's what happened. A high-ranking officer recorded it all. I can arrange for an in-depth explanation of what happened," Genryu explained.
Yasaka cut him off with a wave of her palm.
"There's no need for that. I believe Kyoto's hero needs all the rest he can get." She laid her eyes on Naruto who was busy grinning like a man who just won the lotto. He just became an instant celebrity in Kyoto.
.
.
.
After the battle, Naruto was crowned hero by the villagers of Kyoto and everyone feasted and celebrated with joy for a Powerful savior in the form of a male Kyuubi has graced their land once again, the world will remember Kyoto's might when Naruto marries Yasaka and by default, become their leader.
Naruto declined the throne and did something that left most of Kyoto shocked to their bones. He came clean and told them he was hundred percent human. Of course, some people didn't believe it but Yasaka reaffirmed that for them. The populace whispered around themselves in disbelief but one young Youkai stole the spotlight with his words, He said "Youkai or not, he saved us all so why care if his intentions were good?" And so, the people roared Naruto's name over and over again. No one cared which race he belonged to. Kyoto was the first to accept Naruto in this world.
In the following days, Yasaka tried to teach Naruto the politics of the supernatural world and the human world when she knew how clueless he was. Naruto totally ignored her lesson in favor of playing around with Kunou. Yasaka almost had a heart attack when Kunou pulled a prank on her by creating another perfect copy of herself. She demanded to know Kunou was able to create a clone of herself but her blood pressure shot up when she saw two Narutos walking toward them. Her daughter waved her concerns off, telling her it was a secret between her and Naruto-nii. Naruto awakened the prankster in Kunou which was ironic as most fox youkai in human legends are known to be notorious pranksters.
(One week later)
"I can't believe I still got duped into doing this!"
Naruto flapped his arms by his side.
"You're not the miserable one here, I am," Yasaka said with a cloud over her head.
"You enjoy seeing me suffer don't you?"
Naruto and Yasaka stood by the riverside as they watched Kunou play in the river. Kunou made them promise to take her to the nearest river to play with her. The play session turned into a training session when Kunou decided to run along the water surface. Naruto noticed she took wobbly steps as she ran around and decided to help her refine her control over the water walking exercise.
"Kunou! Don't venture too deep in the water!" Naruto called in concern.
"Don't worry sensei! I'll learn that super difficult exercise in no time!" She shot him a thumbs up.
"Dream on!" Naruto yelled back.
Yasaka raised her left eyebrow at Naruto and her daughter's bickering. "Another of those… jutsus of yours? what's it this time around? You're going to teach her how to walk in thin air?"
"Hn, you're just jealous because you don't know our secret," Naruto said.
"I can't believe your Chakra is far superior to ours. You're nothing but a human but I still can't wrap my head around how you guys walk on walls or run on water."
Naruto had a great quality and quantity of Chakra in him to make even Yasaka, a nine-tailed Kyuubi, jealous, and his control over it was godlike. Naruto took every opportunity to rub it in, the fact that his Chakra was far superior to theirs. Yasaka was more than happy to respond with little violence sometimes—slow down... It's not on Sakura's level, just a punch in the shoulder or a jab to the cheek—and she always challenged him to a fight to know who's the superior fighter and Naruto always declined saying "No thanks, I don't wanna marry you."
Yasaka took a sideways glance at Naruto who had his eyes on Kunou as she tried to do the Impossible with Chakra. Naruto looked like a caring Father as he gave instructions to Kunou which wasn't of help to Kunou.
"Do you really have to go?"
The words escaped her lips before her mind caught up to what she said."
Yes, Naruto told her he belonged to an ancient race of humans who could use chakra A race called Shinobi. He also told her that they've had a neutral stance since their founding and they lived in a binded field which is extremely hard to breach. Naruto somehow got displaced and ended up on Earth and ever since then, the Hero Faction wanted him to join them for his power. The prospect of billions of people with these strange abilities intrigued her but Naruto told her they were a toddler compared to the Human population due to war. Everything he told her about his past wasn't a total lie, it was the closest thing to the truth... Call it Selective Omission if you will or Truth bending.
"I have to go back and find them," he said.
"What if you can't come back anymore?" Yasaka knew she was selfish but she's never seen her daughter this happy before and Naruto was the reason behind that. She feared his leaving would dampen her daughter's mood greatly and, deep down, she loved the blonde's presence. There's this part of her that regrets branding Naruto a traitor and ever since the war, she's been trying to get to know Naruto for the better.
"Huh, what's this? Are you going to miss me, love?" Naruto said jokingly, earning a light punch from Yasaka. "Don't worry, I'll find a way back here," he said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"I figured that if there's a way to DxD then there's a way back home. All I have to do is find a way back home and then come back using the same method."
"Everyone will miss you... especially Kunou. She adores you, looks up to you, You're like the last puzzle piece she's been looking for."
"I'll miss her too," Naruto said sadly.
They both stood in relative silence watching the little girl take steady gaits on the surface of the river.
"What if the attack never happened and I lost to you? Would you leave?" Yasaka asked all of a sudden.
"Well... I would have lost anyway... I'm too young for marriage," Naruto said like it was the obvious thing to do.
"How old are you?" Yasaka probed.
"... I'm not telling. What are you thinking? There's no way I'm going to marry someone as ancient as you."
"I'll have you know I'm one of the most desired women in the world," she shot back.
"Hmph, then why are you not in a magazine in the Human realm?" Naruto's voice had a smug quality to it.
"This is why I told you to listen when I was teaching you how the supernatural world works, Fool."
Naruto gritted his teeth due to rising anger and frustration. "I know about the big three factions. Doves are Angels, Crows are fallen Doves, and Bats are Devils. Right, old hag?"
"Simpleton," Yasaka sighed.
"Grinch," Naruto replied sharply.
"Obnoxious Human."
"Abominable Vixen."
Both blondes burst out laughing after throwing verbal insults at each other. Right there and then, Yasaka decided to aid Naruto on his quest to find a way back home but before that, she entered his personal space and placed a finger on his chest.
"Come to my chambers tonight. I have something to show you." Yasaka bit her lips and winked at him, her sexy tone unnerved Naruto. Blood rushed to his cheeks giving them a pink hue and he backed away flustered.
"I won this round!" Yasaka squealed. She turned her sight back to her daughter.
"Oi, Kunou, you're doing great!" She cheered
Kunou glanced at them both and threw them another thumbs up.
"Haha-ue! I approve of Naruto-nii chan!" she screamed.
She saw their little display.
"What the—What do you mean you approve?" Naruto shot back, flustered. Yasaka's face went red at her daughter's insinuation.
"Naruto-nii, can I call you stepdad?"
A water dragon rose out of the river in response to her question. A fire dragon twice the size of the water dragon came to life behind Naruto. The smile on Yasaka's face promised a world of pain if he acted rashly.
(Two days later)
"These throwing knives are weird."
Naruto held a black diamond-shaped knife in between his thumb and index finger. The sharp edge glinted dangerously as he pushed it back into the black mechanism on his wrist that housed the knives. Naruto pulled the hoodie off his head which had orange stripes running along the end of the hoodie and tightened the black, fingerless gloves on his hands. Yasaka made him a custom long sleeve, black cloak with white vertical stripes running over white horizontal stripes on the back and front parter by an orange zipper. Orange flames ran along the helm of the clock and the Uzumaki clan symbol was on both shoulders.
The shin-length cloak had special properties that protected its wearer against harsh weather conditions and fair protection against elemental attacks. Under the cloak, Naruto wore a full-body black suit with a belt around the middle holding his pouch and other items. Black Shinobi open-toed Sandals adorned his feet.
"Wow, is it too late to fight for your hand in marriage?" a familiar voice joked.
The blonde Neko waltzed in on Naruto and hugged him from behind.
"You know, you never told me your name," Naruto replied. He was totally used to things like this from her. She was super cuddly, maybe it was due to her feline nature, Naruto thought.
"Hmm... since today's going to be your last day in Kyoto, I'll tell you."
Naruto got dangerously close to her face, eager to know her name.
"It's Kurama but my friends call me Ku-chan."
"Ehhhhh!" Naruto screamed so loud the birds in the forest flew away.
.
.
.
"I can't believe they made a statue of me," Naruto deadpanned.
That's right, a bronze statue of Uzumaki Naruto doing the peace sign, holding a Hiraishin Kunai with his index finger, winking with a foxy grin, stood by the gates of Kyoto.
"Naruto! What took you so long..." Yasaka's words died in her throat when she laid her eyes on Naruto. Who knew Naruto would look so cool in black.
"I'm here you impatient woman," he spat out.
Naruto was tackled by a white and red blur.
"Don't go, nii-chan, I'll miss you. I promise I'll always listen to you so please stay with me."
Yasaka's eyes softened at her daughter's plea but Naruto needed to leave.
"Kunou, something important came up. He won't be gone for long," she tried to explain.
"I'll go with him!" The little Kyuubi gripped Naruto's cloak and buried her face deep in it as she bawled.
"Kunou! Let him go this instant," Yasaka said in a stern voice.
Everyone had a gloomy look on their face. Naruto sighed as he detached Kunou from his cloak and held her at shoulder length. Naruto knelt to her eye level and wiped her tears away.
"Close your eyes, Kunou," he said.
Naruto brought out a necklace from his pocket with a mini-golden kunai inscribed with the hiraishin formula, hanging on the thread. Naruto put the piece of jewelry on her and It matched her blonde hair and golden eyes perfectly. Kunou grasped at the jewelry resting on her neck, probing it before she opened her eyes to see what it was.
"Kunou, This Is something that will bring me to you but you can only use it in extreme situations, okay?" Kunou's eyes widened a bit at the piece of info. The young heiress clutched the piece of jewelry tight. She's just found her most treasured item.
"This will bring you to me?" She repeated earning another nod from the older blonde.
"Only for emergency purposes, remember." Naruto raised his index finger, earning a nod from Kunou. He brought her in a deep hug and kissed her head.
"I'll miss you my little fox," Naruto whispered.
"I'll have that technique mastered the next time we meet! I never go back on my word... Believe it," Kunou said, unaware of the Nostalgia on Naruto's face.
If Genin Naruto was here, there'd be a shit-eating grin on his face but the present Naruto's chest swelled with... pride. Was this how Jiraiya felt every time he tried to master a technique with determination and attitude? Nah, the Pervert would have been too busy peeping on girls to pay him attention.
"Guess this is it, Blondie. See you soon." Kurama hugged Naruto.
"Yeah, you too Ku-Kurama..." Naruto stuttered. It was weird calling the Nekomata Kurama.
"Naruto-san. Have a safe trip." Genryu extended a handshake.
"Keep them safe, Genryu." Naruto shook Genryu's hand.
Now, Yasaka was the only one left.
"Well... this is it, Yasaka. Just like you wanted... I'm finally leaving," Naruto said, trying to rouse her for the last time. Yasaka elbowed him in the gut in response.
"Thank you for everything, Naruto. As the leader of Kyoto, I can't express my and my people's gratitude. As a mother, I can't thank you enough for saving my daughter." Yasaka's eyes gleamed softly.
"What's this? Is your face leaking?" Naruto laughed.
"Get serious, Naruto. The place you're going to is very dangerous. It's like walking into a lion's den."
"Dangerous is my middle name."
Yasaka shook her head in shame and exasperation.
"Don't worry, I'm going to be extra careful. Sneak in, find it, and get out unnoticed."
Well, guys, let's hope it works this time.
"Well... I'm ready."
Naruto took four steps backward and put on his most powerful smile to prevent tears from escaping his eyes.
A magic circle created by Yasaka hovered around Naruto's feet. Naruto gave them all one last glance and for some reason, it lingered on Yasaka. He was going to miss those golden orbs. A white light engulfed his form slowly and when the light surrounding him intensified, Yasaka rushed forward and placed a sheet of paper in his pocket.
"Come back to me in one piece," she whispered into his ear and kissed him on his cheek. Dangerously close to his lips.
Naruto's face resembled the color of his mother's hair.
"Another win for me," she said with an eye smile.
Fwip.
Naruto Uzumaki disappeared from Kyoto under the orange rays of the setting sun. A rainbow appeared in the sky for some reason, beautifying the sunset on the horizon.
Yasaka heard her daughter's muffled cry and sniffs. She pulled her daughter close and patted her head gently.
"Naruto-kun will come back to us one day... He promised, remember?"
Kunou didn't trust her voice so she nodded rapidly.
"Naruto..." Remembering the last night Naruto spent with her, the last conversation with Naruto, the last time he was in her room.
(Unknown Location. In the blue yonder.)
Naruto closed his eyes when the light became too much to bear for the safety of his beloved blue orbs. He experienced weightlessness all of a sudden and opened his eyes to a clear sky.
"Whoa, the sun looks so big!" Naruto exclaimed.
That was the first thing he noticed.
"Why is It so big...?"
His feet were upside down and he was fast approaching a bed of clouds. He flinched as he went through a group of clouds. A surreal experience for him as he's never touched or seen one so close before. That's when his brain interpreted the situation at hand.
"Oh, fuc—No way! Oh shit."
Naruto dived through the clouds as gravity drew him back to the ground at frightening speeds. Naruto fished the sheet Yasaka crumpled into his pocket. "Payback's a Vixen." He read the words written in red out loud. He gripped the paper till his knuckles hurt.
"Yasaka!" He screamed with majestic fury as his descending speed increased even further.
"Ok, calm down Naruto. I'm free-falling, I'm over the ocean and there are huge ass structures below in the distance... Maybe a city, That's pretty cool... Now, what would Kaka-sensei do?"
Naruto hung his head in shame when he couldn't think of a plan.
"Gah, I'm hopeless!"
Inside the darkness, a single eye snapped open all of a sudden.
A familiar sensation struck Naruto. Almost like Deja vu, Naruto saw a little kid falling deep into a cavern with stinging pain around his forehead and a sense of dread and death. The sound of his erratic heartbeat filled his ears.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Darkness filled his vision.
.
.
.
"Oi, Kozo!" A voice boomed suddenly.
That voice...
Naruto recognized the familiar sewer that was his mind. He turned around and, for the first time in months, he was gazing at a red, slitted eye.
"Ku-Ku-KURAMA!"
Naruto rushed forward, tears streaming out like a broken faucet. His arms stretched out wide as if they could fit the mountain-sized fox. Naruto leaped at the orange mass of chakra given form and sentience. His target: its black snout.
Swish.
An orange-furred tail sent him crashing into a wall.
"What the hell, Naruto? I was asleep for a while and I woke up to you free-falling from the Sky?! This isn't time for that! I thought you would've found a way back home, Baka!"
"Kurama!"
Naruto ran towards the beast crying. He shrugged off everything in favor of hugging his partner. Kurama let Naruto hug him this time around. From Naruto's behavior, Kurama noticed the boy's been through a lot and just let him cry to his heart's content.
He glanced at his brothers and his huge eyes Narrowed at the sleeping form of his siblings.
(Unknown Location)
"We deserve a death sentence for our failure, Cao Cao-sama."
The group of five kneeled in the presence of their boss. The leader of the Hero Faction.
A handsome young man with short black hair and blue eyes dressed in ancient Chinese attire stood up from the throne he sat on and went past the group.
"Stand up my brother, this is but a minor setback."
A long staff levitated towards him and he snatched it out of the air.
"Where are you going, Cao Cao?"
A two-meters tall man with a well-built body with shoulder-length gray hair asked.
"If you want something done right, Heracles, you have to do it yourself," Cao Cao said before he left.
(Unknown Location. In Naruto's mindscape)
"So that's what happened so far."
"Yep. You're proud of me right." Naruto beamed.
"Tch." Kurama rolled his eyes.
"Hey! I handled the situation very well on my own. You're proud aren't you?" Kurama remained silent. "You're just afraid to admit it," Naruto added.
"So, where are we?" Kurama asked."
"A spell that can take us back home is somewhere in there and I... No, WE are going to find it and free everyone from the effect of Mugen Tsukuyomi." Naruto's eyes were filled with determination.
"What's the name of this place?" Kurama question.
"Naruto rested on Kurama's soft fur on top of the beast's head.
"Well, this place is called... what was it again?"
Kurama sighed, feeling a massive headache coming. He might as well perform brain surgery on someone one day.
"What did Yasaka call it again... something to do with a garden?" Naruto pondered. "No, that's not it. It's something with a..." Naruto forgot the name but it'll come back to him eventually.
"You're hopeless, Naruto."
"Hey! I'll remember the darn name. Just gimme some space here!"
"Go die in a ditch, Naruto!"
"Whadya say, you overgrown fox!"
"Uzumaki Naruto... You never change."
"Don't distract me, Kurama, I'm brainstorming here."
Joy filled Naruto's entire being today. His friend, Kurama, was finally awake. The story of a shinobi and Bijū on a quest to find a way back home continues.
Both human and Tailed Beast were in for a wild ride.
The end.
Ahh... I'm done with the Kyoto arc. I hope you had a great time reading this chapter. Thank you all for your love and support and reviews. Stay safe.
Goodbye for now. (Gives two-fingered salute).