Hello guys, how have y'all been? There's an important notice at the end of that chapter so take your time and read through before you skip to the end. As always, thanks for the follows, faves and reviews. I also thank my readers for their support.
This chapter was betaed by destructo08. That's right, I got a beta. Destructo08!
Dasgun: (^_^;)
Petrox: 'The original Naruto Uzumaki' would never kill unless absolutely necessary and there's a big difference between the present Naruto and Naruto in flashback.
Plums: The fight would have been boring if I had him busting out S-rank technique right from the start.
Peroroncino: Let's see how far their love story sails.
R.I.U.K: Garcias, mi amigo. Words I picked up from Spanish movies.
MundoOfis: Thanks man.
PrintedSnail11: alright.
thor49: Kurama would throw a fit.
VincenteVanCoco04: Thanks. I wanted to drop two chapters but I fell ill and I just recovered
SPark681: Osu!
Midnightscar17: The first scene's dedicated to you.
Luis: Yes! I'm going to finish this story whether it takes a year or two.
AcidESP: Thanks
Jose19: Naruto told a white lie to cover his origin. From a youkia's perspective, given what Naruto can do, don't you think they'd have a counter for memory wiping abilities?
"Kage bunshin no jutsu" for magic spells and jutsu
"The fat lady sings" normal talking
'are those things real?' for thoughts
"Insignificant human" bijuus, Gods, summons and dragons
'Puny humans' for thoughts
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. It Belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. The same applies with Highschool DxD, property of one Ichiei Ishibumi.
Chapter 12
Naruto took leisurely steady steps trekking the streets of Kuoh going to work completely ignoring the fact that he was being followed by someone discreetly. Car. The stalker was pretty good, keeping his presence well hidden from a seasoned ninja, blending into the shadows like a ninja.
Recently, Naruto noticed someone was watching his every move. From grocery stores to the park, to work, to the arcade, and even when he was just rambling around. The only place he felt safe away from the stalker was when he was inside the confines of his house. He thought eventually, the stalker would tire out and stop following him but it was getting increasingly troublesome to ignore.
Taking a turn towards an alley, the presence following him followed suit. The silhouette of a man's head popped from the shadows casted by the tall buildings inspecting Naruto's back. He raced towards the end of the alley wondering where his target wandered off to.
"Are you stalking me?" Naruto asked with his Naruto-ish voice.
The stalker's soul almost jumped out of his body when he heard a sudden voice behind him. Souji Okita berated himself when a voice of all things spooked him. He turned around and beheld the alleged source of his ire ad humiliation. The human, Naruto Uzumaki.
"Do I know you? Why have you been following me around since morning?..." Souji stoned his features as Naruto accused him without proof ignoring the blonde's rant. "...Sorry, I don't swing that way." Naruto finished.
Hinata, though a good friend, was a source of training in more than one way. Naruto handed it to her, she was damn good at stalking so he had something like an in-built radar for stalkers like his pervert radar.
"What?" Souji wondered before he grasped the meaning, finding Naruto's Character more and more impulsive.
"I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else." Souji said and was about to turn around before Naruto spoke again.
"Who were you looking for?"
"A friend of mine"
"Hmm... Didn't peg me as one who'd have friends. I thought you were the kind that'd stay indoors all day playing video games like Sonic the Hedgehog but i guess I was wrong."
It took all of Souji's will power, and the fact that he was under orders from the great Maous, to hold back and ignore the voice in his head screaming at him to behead the blonde or at least torture him before wiping his memories. It only helped to further his suspicion of the blonde.
"I could help you find your friend ya know" Naruto proposed.
Souji clenched and unclenched his fist reining on his anger. "Come on Souji, calm down, don't lose your cool, you're- Argh"
The knight of Sirzechs Gremory exhaled deeply before replying through gritted teeth. "Aren't you running late for work?"
"Work? How'd you know I was running late for work?" Naruto placed his palms over his mouth aghast pointing a finger at Souji. "Are you perhaps a talent scout?"
Souji's glare more than answered his question.
"Wouldn't be the first time a scout approached me because of my looks... Well, I bid you farewell, Stranger-san."
Naruto walked past Souji missing the strangling motion he was making with his fingers.
"Stranger-san..." Naruto's voice took on an icy edge which made Souji turn around taking a defensive stance. "Please make sure you're certain before stalking others... I almost called the cops on you" Naruto resumed his trek back to work like his voice taking on an icy edge was a normal occurrence for him.
(In the underworld)
"... My conclusion; He must be dealt with Swiftly. With lethal force if necessary."
Sirzechs massaged his temple after the long assessment of Souji on Naruto Uzumaki. The knight spoke about Naruto and the eerie figure he chased, declaring them one and the same, which was impossible.
Though, the blonde could make living copies of himself, turning to a video game character was out of the question. He wanted to investigate further but Sirzechs worried for his sanity, his self-esteem took a blow when he chased a fictional animal around.
"Are you sure this... Hostility isn't personal?" He questioned.
Souji opened his mouth to deny that accusation but the words died in his throat. Yeah, he was out for blood, he craved vengeance like he never had before.
"This isn't like you at all, Souji. You've been stressed out lately ever since you saw-" Sirzechs was interrupted abruptly.
"Don't. say. it." Souji's pupils dilated and half his face was covered by shadows.
"Ugh. Take the week off, Souji. You're dismissed." He did a shoo motion with his hands. Souji nodded and left via teleportation circle.
A knock on the door stole Sirzechs's attention from the stacks of paperwork on his table. Those blasted papers kept growing and growing and he always complained to his wife and she always told him she had a method to stunt the growth of those blasted stacks of paperwork… Diligence. He'd berate himself for hoping Grayfia had a magical panacea to his problem. The irony, devils command magic and yet Sirzechs Gremory, the great Maou, couldn't do shit about paperwork with magic. The sight of Venelana Gremory walking into his office eased his worries like a river carrying a paper boat on its surface.
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Souji. He seems stressed out lately."
The great Maou sighed and relaxed into his chair rocking it back and forth.
"I haven't seen you this tense in a while." She said as she moved behind her son and massaged his back. "Work problem? Care to share it with Mom?" She asked.
"It's a human living in Kuoh." He answered.
"Isn't that Rias's territory? Did something happen to my baby?" She asked in fear.
"No, nothing like that Kaa-san. It's just that... I don't even know where to begin."
"I have all day..." She said
"You remember the piece of paper with strange markings?"
"Never heard of it." Venelana had a clueless look plastered on her face.
"The paper with the ability to suppress a Phenex regeneration?" He explained.
"Yeah! I remember that. That was quite a dangerous combination of paper and ink." She joked.
"It was created by a human who helped train Issei."
"A human? Top tier or Twice Critical?" She asked in reference to the type of Sacred gear someone capable of creating something that dangerous possessed.
"That's the thing Kaa-san. He doesn't have one" He said.
"Ancient magic then"
Sirzechs shook his head negatively. "Zero magic. Not even an ounce in him"
"And he helped train Issei to the point where he could go toe to toe with Riser and even gave him a ridiculously powerful item?" She said referring to the seal.
"Yes. At the Leader Summit, I think he came there and I didn't notice him until he was near. I ordered Souji to track him down and Souji had trouble keeping up with his speed - The fastest Knight in the underworld - And when he finally caught up to him, What he found was... Bizzare to say the least."
"What did he see?" She asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, heck, i'm having a hard time believing it"
"Try me!" She challenged her son.
"Sonic the Hedgehog."
Venelana's eyebrow shot up to her hairline and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Sonic? That thing that Millicas loves to play?" She asked incredulously
"I shit you not."
"Watch your language!" She slapped him on the head.
"I'm a father now Mom!" He yelled nursing his head.
"And you're still someone's precious Son!" She shot back.
"Look, Sirzechs, this guy helped save your sister from a fate worse than death and all he gets from you is this? You should be grateful." She said.
"But, what if he was just playing nice? What if he had an ulterior motive behind helping Issei?"
Venelana turned her son's face around and spoke to him. "If he had a motive, he would have already been in the underworld asking for a favor and I'm pretty sure he would have mass produced that piece of paper with ink on it and sold it to our enemies. He'd have the two things a corrupt man wants the most; Power and Wealth."
"... You have a point."
"And, a single human should be the least of your worries. Lord Odin is coming to the underworld in a few months and who knows, the Khaos Brigade might be audacious enough to intrude."
"You're right. Thank you, Mom."
"Anytime, Son." She hugged her son.
Lord Gremory stood behind the door watching his wife alleviate their son's worry like she did with him anytime he was stuck in deep shit.
"Since when have you been there?" Venelana asked her husband.
"Long enough." He replied.
"Sirzechs, there are other important things to worry about than a lowly Sacred gearless Human."
"Yes father." Sirzechs replied.
"Venelana a word?" Lord Gremory wanted his wife's opinion on a private matter. Venelana left her son and followed her husband out curious about what he wanted to say.
"Oh and Mom, he's a teacher at Kuoh Academy!" Sirzechs yelled.
"What!"
(Scene change)
Naruto cursed under his breath, washing his hands furiously in the running water. The exams were just minutes away and he was the invigilator of his homeroom class. The source of Naruto's ire was none other than the new Occult research club's advisor, a black haired man with blonde fringes, Azazel aka Governor Crow. The blonde Uzumaki detested the idea of having Azazel as a co-worker in Kuoh Academy. Naruto reached for the blonde fringes getting in his vision, shifting them sideways before he left the restroom.
"Naruto-san!"
Speaking of the devil or in this case Fallen Angel, The eccentric former angel had a bright smile on his face as he jogged to catch up with Naruto who ignored his call.
"Naruto-san,- a nice morning, isn't it?" He asked.
"None of that Naruto-san stuff. Naruto is fine" Naruto said looking forward.
"The holiday is drawing near Naruto. How do you usually spend your holiday?" Azazel questioned genuinely curious.
"Home." Naruto answered.
"Home? Come on Naruto, the whole point of holiday is to have fun away from all the work and stress" Azazel said.
"Fun? What's your idea of fun? Lemme guess, Visiting an Oppai club?" Naruto guessed Azazel's idea of fun is to visit an Oppai club with him being a pervert.
"My, have you been stalking me? How did you know?" Azazel asked surprised
Naruto scoffed at the idea of him stalking Azazel. "As if I don't have better things to do" Naruto took the last flight of stairs and his mood alleviated a bit when he spotted class 3-B in his line of vision.
"Ouch, but I find you more interesting Naruto. How about we talk over a bowl of Ramen"
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.
"Governor Crow," Naruto turned sideways. "I have a class to invigilate" Naruto finished, entering the class.
"Settle down, brats" Naruto said his normal greetings before he grabbed the stack of question papers on the table.
Naruto shared the question sheets around the class and took a seat in front of the entire class, a spot where his eyes could track everyone in the class. The two perverts who normally hung around Issei were scratching their heads with great confusion marring their faces. Xenovia on the other hand, wrote at an alarming speed, her face betraying no emotion. Asia, as always, had a smile on her face writing the answers, sometimes stopping to count her fingers and glance around to check how her friends were doing. Her green orbs sometimes made brief contact with Naruto's stone-cold blue and she'd quickly direct her gaze away.
Issei on the other hand… Well, the Sekiryutei, the brown haired pervert, son of Mr & Mrs. Hyodou, The pawn of Rias Gremory pulled at his hair as if he believed that if he pulled hard enough, the answers would magically appear in his head. He shook nervously, hitting his fingers, glaring at the question paper on the table. The little pieces of what Issei thought was the answer to the questions he was facing swirled around chaotically with the power of an F9 tornado… Pun intended.
"Ho? Did I look that pathetic during the Chunin exams? Naruto mulled.
In Issei's mind, a chaotic storm was rising with the power of an F-5 storm ripping and tossing around violently, the little pieces of ideas Issei thought were answers to the questions he was faced with.
"Ddraig? A little help buddy" Issei tried to consult the ancient dragon residing in his sacred gear.
"Sorry partner, if this was a fight scene then I would have definitely offered my assistance. You're on your own" Ddraig said regrettably.
"What do I do? At this rate, I'm not gonna write anything!"
Issei's inner turmoil was interrupted when a slim fair hand grabbed his sheet and placed another in its place. Issei traced the hand to its owner and was faced with Asia's warm smile. She bent her neck a bit, widening her smile further before she turned around.
"Pulling a stunt like that when I'm present? She had more spunk than I thought… Or are her feelings for the pervert that strong?"
The rest of the exams duration passed in decorum. Naruto glanced at his wrist watch now and then with his legs crossed.
"Times up brats!"
Naruto stood behind the yellow table as the kids dropped their sheets. Naruto picked up Asia's sheet and wrote a minus ten on it, doing the same with Issei's times 2.
"You're lucky I'm letting you go with a slap on your wrist" Naruto told Issei when Asia was out of earshot making the Sekiryuutei gulp nervously.
Soon, the students left the classroom and Naruto was left alone. It took a while before he rearranged the papers and kept them in a file.
Naruto was three feet away before he heard a commotion downstairs. He could sense Issei's anger and wondered if he was venting it out on a poor student. The shinobi's trained ears picked up the whispers of the students below.
"Oh my God, why would he steal Asia's stuff from her locker? That girl is the gentlest soul I've ever known"
"What a jerk"
"He deserves what happened to him"
"I hope Issei breaks his bones"
Naruro resumed his walk back to the staff room wanting the day to end quickly.
Rias had a good time answering all of her questions. As expected, she had to keep her reputation as the great onee-sama of Kuoh Academy. Akeno, Sona, and Tsubaki walked alongside her. Her mind wandered to her perverted pawn Issei, she wondered about him a lot recently, his likes, his dislikes and the rest. These days, she found herself wanting to know every little detail about him, making a little blush stain her cheeks. Her mood soured though when she spotted Naruto's unique shade of blonde hair.
Naruto's mood dampened all of a sudden when he saw Rias's red hair and his face morphed to his extremely bored one.
They both walked faster wanting to go past each other. Naruto went past her brushing his shoulders with her. A simple brush for him but for Rias, she almost tripped and fell. The red haired girl turned around and leveled a hate filled blazing glare at the back of Naruto's head. The students in the hallway stopped and the students had looks of surprise on their faces as her glare was quite menacing and it was directed at none other than the resident Madao, Naruto-Sensei, the stoned face cold jerk.
Naruto stopped in his tracks feeling Rias's gaze. He turned around and frowned at Rias's glare. He pointed his index and middle finger at His eyes and redirected them at Rias before drawing a vertical imaginary line down. The effect did the opposite of what it was supposed to do as Rias's glare intensified.
"You got a problem with me?" Naruto asked.
Whispers burst out of the surrounding students before he knew it, wondering what the heck was going on between their beloved onee-sama and the snobbish Teacher. Rias only doubled her effort letting everyone know she was glaring at the blonde teacher.
"Tsk, lower your gaze, bat" Naruto placed one hand on his waist and pointed the other at Rias repeating the same motion he did earlier.
"Buchou" Akeno whispered in worry looking from her King to Naruto. Right now, Naruto wasn't someone they could take on, Akeno knew and accepted that fact but Rias's ego wouldn't let her and add in the fact that Naruto was in her territory and I just got so much worse.
"I'm sorry Sensei, she's just under the weather, the questions you set were quite hard" Sona diffused the situation grabbing a hold of Rias's shoulders pushing her along. The ruin princess glared at Naruto till they moved out of sight.
"Tsk, Bratty bat ruining my mood" Naruto complained. "What are y'all looking at! Get busy!" Naruto yelled at the students in the hallway resuming his walk back to the staff room.
.
.
.
"God! -Ow, I just can't stand him sometimes!" Rias screamed in anger. She dropped heavily into a chair pushing it backwards.
"Buchou, what was that?" Akeno asked worriedly.
"I'm really starting to dislike Naruto Uzumaki." She tightened her fist glaring at the walls.
"Rias, I'd advise you not to do anything rash. That man respected us enough to stay out of our business and he helped defeat Kokabiel - single handedly - saving Kuoh and Kuoh Academy '' Sona warned.
"He could become a nuisance if left alone, Buchou," Tsubaki said, staring at her King.
"Just Lea…"
"We're coming in!" The rest of the ORC walked in. The gloomy look on Issei's face made Rias uncomfortable.
"Ise, is everything alright?" She said
"Buchou! I… I think I'm gonna fail!" He wailed releasing anime tears.
"Oh Ise, don't worry, you're going to pass. I believe in you" She encouraged.
"I ended up dragging Asia into my mess again. I'm so sorry Asia" Issei grabbed her hands and laid his forehead on it.
"Issei-san?" Asia said, confused.
"I'm so sorry, Asia, if you hadn't exchanged papers with me Sensei wouldn't have given you a minus ten."
"What?!" Xenovia screamed.
"And me, a minus 20" Issei said, totally defeated. That means if he had a forty then it's gonna be reduced to twenty!
"Minus 20!" Rias yelled shocked. "I'm going to Rip that blondie to shreds. Who does he think he is?" She was angry and an angry Rias cannot be reasoned with.
"Stop Rias, I think they deserved it." Sona said. Asia bowed her head in shame.
"You think? Whose side are you on?" Rias queried, stomping her foot.
"Well… I think you guys were lucky. That was just a slap on the wrist" A voice said suddenly.
The students in the room all jumped at the sudden voice before they turned to face the source of the voice, Azazel.
"Hey! It's you." Issei exclaimed, pointing a finger at Azazel.
"You guys need awareness training. You didn't notice I was here" Azazel smirked at Rias.
"Azazel, what are you doing here?"
"Well, you're looking at the new consultant of the ORC. Yeah, I pulled some strings'' Azazel clarified before his face morphed to a serious one. "Listen, Rias, Never engage Naruto without an ultimate class devil around to protect you. In fact, don't engage him at all and maintain a neutral peaceful relationship with him. Leave Naruto to us leaders and he isn't at fault here, instead you should reprimand them" Azazel gestured at Issei and Asia. "Naruto was just doing his job"
"But- Ugh! I understand" Rias said. She found it frustrating when everyone sided Naruto and she couldn't make a comeback. Maybe she's labeled him a bad guy from the start so everything he did no matter how big or small, good or bad, would always be a bad thing to her.
"Well, you guys could use some help if you want" Azazel spared a glance at Sona.
"I don't need a pervert's help," Sona replied.
"Damn, the disrespect around here is real" Azazel exclaimed, totally unaffected by her impression of him.
"Well, see you around Rias." She waved the ruin princess goodbye.
.
.
.
Gaia sat in a restaurant sipping hot tea from a black mug, she released a gratified sigh. She paid her order using Naruto's debit card. He gave her a golden debit card and told her to do whatever she wanted with it.
"Here you go Ma'am" The waiter gave her the debit card blushing.
Gaia wore black pants hugging her legs and a white leather jacket over a black turtle-neck long sleeve. Skinny black pants and black trainers.
The goddess smiled and took the card putting it in her back pocket. She exits the restaurant staring at the clear blue skies.
"I wonder how they're doing," Gaia said quietly, thinking about her former husband and her children, the gods of Olympus.
If the Olympians learned of her escape, all hell would break loose and Zeus, especially, would hunt her down. Gaia didn't want to create trouble for Naruto, someone who's been through so much in his life that Gaia sometimes wondered how he remained sane. He held on to sanity well and now he's lost his motivation, the present Naruto paled in comparison to the past Naruto and what he did just to find a way back home. The past Naruto smiled more often, was caring, honest, Exuberant, and extroverted and most of all, A Hero but The present Naruto was the opposite. He only cares for a few people in this world and she was among the very few people he gave a fuck about.
Gaia sighed walking back home with a grocery bag.
"Gimme all your money" Someone said from behind.
The boy had a beanie on with Khaki shorts and a green top armed with a swiss knife. He jerked around brandishing the sword at her.
"I don't care if you're pretty Lady. All I want is your money and your groceries" He yelled this time moving forward raising the knife for added effect.
"Hm? Naruto's near" She noticed his peculiar energy around the area.
"You think I don't see you walk around flashing your debit card? I want that and your password" The boy no older than twenty four sniffed several times scratching his nose and neck, jerking his head around. Drugs, Gaia noticed.
"You deaf or what!"
Gaia entered his personality space and placed a hand on his cheek making sure they had eye contact.
"Listen, little boy, you have to stop taking those drugs, they won't do any good and if you'd invest the money you spent into purchasing illegal drugs, you wouldn't be here brandishing a knife at an innocent defenseless woman" Clearly an understatement. Gaia wasn't a defenseless woman, had the boy known who he brandished a knife at, he'd piss his pants.
"So be a good boy, take these and go buy something nice for your mom" She said patting him in the head and putting a Twenty thousand yen bill in his hands.
Throughout the entire talk, the boy's eyes glazed over as if in trance and when Gaia finished, he breathed out a sigh of relief and tears streamed down his face.
"Thank you," He said, wondering why he was taking her before he stumbled backwards going home to his mother.
"Youngsters these days. The human world blossomed into a beautiful flower, a beautiful flower with thorns." She said resuming her walk back home.
Swish
Naruto appeared in a swirl of leaves in front of her. The corners of his lips curved up a bit when she saw him. Naruto rarely smiled and when he did it was almost unnoticed but she was used to it so she could spot them instantly.
"Let's go home," Naruto said and walked beside her.
"How was work today?" She inquired.
"Worse. The red bat ruined my mood." Naruto responded.
"Red bat? Oh, you mean Rias?" Gaia corrected. "Same thing" Naruto said.
"Naruto-Chan, it's rude to call others names. How would you feel if someone calls you Narutomaki?" Asked Gaia.
"I'd…"
"...You see, " Gaia said.
"Well, it's hard to remember people's name"
"Try harder! You're a teacher for crying out loud"
"It's troublesome and I don't want to"
"Come on Naruto, let's get home fast. I'm gonna make you a mean bowl of ramen" Gaia said, shaking the grocery bag in Naruto's face.
Gaia put her hand between Naruto's elbows, staying pretty close to him looking around. Naruto didn't mind much but the look on the men's faces was quite… Disturbing. He might bash in a head or two if they don't look elsewhere.
"You don't talk much about your homeworld. Why?" Gaia asked all of a sudden.
"There's not much to talk about"
"Oh come on. We're talking about an entire different world here."
Naruto kept his eyes glued to the phone ad going on the huge tv screen besides a building wondering why he didn't have one of those.
"Your people must have been great sages back in your homeworld" Gaia tried to make him open up.
"Actually, only a small number of people could command the power of Nature back at home" Naruto replied.
"How small?"
"Five"
"In your entire world?"
"Senjutsu isn't a walk in the park y'know. I came this close to death several times before I mastered it." Naruto created a tiny circle with his fingers.
"Who taught you?" Mother earth often wondered who taught him how to wield and Balance Nature energy. Naruto was in a caliber of his own.
The blonde placed a finger on his own cheek having an internal debate on whether to tell her or not.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you"
"Try me" Gaia challenged
"A toad taught me senjutsu. A little green talking toad" Naruto deadpanned
The mother goddess went silent for a while finding it hard to believe that. Though, she's a goddess living with a dimensionally displaced human, how bizarre would it be to learn sage arts from a talking toad? She's seen and heard much stranger things. "And you said there's nothing much to talk about? Tell me, do dragons exist in your world?"
Naruto shook his head. "Nope"
"Devils?"
"Never heard of them"
"Angels?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Gods?"
She was firing questions at the blonde boy who provided honest but short answers. Sometimes, Gaia wondered if he was a god in Disguise that commited a grave sin and escaped his home planet considering his power level but she threw that thought out the window when they got closer. So if gods existed in his homeworld, was he related to one?
"Gods? Yeah there's a god in my homeworld, The Shinigami."
"A Shinigami!" Gaia yelled astonished.
"Yeah, I know there's a shinigami in this world but he's way different from mine."
"What's the difference?"
"He's mostly neutral but the pale grotesque dude can be summoned to seal an enemy in his stomach for eternity. The only downside is that the caster's soul is the price for summoning the Shinigami. You'd be surprised by the amount of Shinobi living inside that dude's stomach."
"I see..."
Gaia went silent speaking no further. Her black boots tapped the cold hard ground. "Naruto-chan, what's a shinobi?"
Naruto sometimes called himself a Ninja or a shinobi. She thought it was one of his quirks but now, she highly doubted that.
"A Shinobi is a person specialized in the art of manipulating Chakra to create techniques" Naruto gave her a brief comprehensive answer.
"You were a shinobi? Like a soldier?"
"Hm" Naruto took a left and the familiar street of his neighbourhood greeted his sight.
"What rank were you?" Gaia questions looking at Naruto's eyes which he averted for some reason.
"G-genin, the lowest rank" Naruto admitted reluctantly. I missed the promotion exams." He added.
"Have you ever fought in a war?"
Naruto nodded. "Two wars."
"I pay my respects, war veteran-sama" She unclasped Naruto's arm and gave a two finger salute making Naruto snort at her joke.
"War is filled with horror and evil. It's a bad experience, war forces you to grow up and you'll never see the world in the same way again. War should be avoided but sometimes, in order to have peace, war is necessary." Naruto said, suddenly looking like a real war veteran.
"I'll remember your words o great sage." She bowed her head and let out a giggle.
"Stop it." Naruto said with feigned anger.
The blonde ninja relaxed, pocketing his hands, looking around the Neighborhood noticing a new house.
"How did you get here?" The goddess asked.
"I was in a war" Naruto straightened his back.
Naruto was about to take another step before Gaia's question stopped him.
"Who were you fighting? Neighboring villages? Tyrants? Civil war?"
Of all things, Gaia didn't expect Nauto's answers.
Naruto turned around, his face devoid of emotion and spoke. "A goddess"
"A goddess?"
"Yes," Naruto turned around, taking quick steps back home.
"What happened in the war? How about the evil goddess? Did you defeat her?"
Naruto stared at his palms with a gloomy expression. The yin and yang seal are still present in his palms, a constant reminder of Sasuke's sacrifice and his failure.
"I killed that bitch myself." Naruto scoffed.
Gaia's eyebrows shot to her hairline and her pupils dilated. The mother goddess didn't know she was living with a god slayer but now that she knew, she wasn't cautious or afraid at all, if anything, the respect she had for him increased.
"I don't remember much about how I got here. Anytime I try to recollect, I get this mean headache. It's like my memories are surrounded by a thick black fog. I remember waking up in the dimensional gap and feeling unbearable pain and the next thing I know, that blasted Faction's on my tail." A deep frown appeared on Naruto's face at the mention of the Hero Faction.
"You killed a goddess? Why? I thought you were the kind who'd avoid taking a life unless absolutely necessary."
"That bitch killed my friends and she..." Naruto bit his tongue trying to rein in his anger. Mugen Tsukuyomi was a tough subject for him. "She killed my friends and my sensei"
Gaia placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"I'm really sorry. I must've been a constant reminder." She said dowcasted.
Naruto flicked her forehead. "You're not Kaguya. You're you, Gaia. My alleged Older sister"
"Tsk, you little brat" Gaia slapped his shoulder playfully.
(The next day)
Naruto inspected his face, staring at the mirror, keeping an eye on the clock every now and then. Today was the last day he'd be proctoring his homeroom class so that means no more school, no more annoying students & no more bat problems... For a while. The holiday's around the corner and the exams are coming to an end! He was feeling great today. He brushed aside stray strands of hair from his eyelashes fastening an orange watch to his wrist. He felt good for some reason today all due to his beauty sleep and his dreams weren't plagued with nightmares considering his conversation with Gaia stirred up memories he'd rather kept buried.
Squeaky clean.
Well fed.
Well rested.
I think today's gonna be great, Naruto's thoughts before he looked out the window.
"What the..."
He stopped his sentence midway when his brain tried to interpret what his eyes were seeing.
Issei's house underwent a major renovation overnight. Certainly, his perverted student's residence was a normal two-story terrace house yesterday but now, it was a six story house with an elegant exterior design not to talk about the interior. Naruto didn't need sage mode to sense the female members of Rias's peerage inside the house and that led to a single conclusion.
"Damned Akumas."
Too bad though, because that wasn't enough to dampen his mood, so he moved on whistling. Naruto slammed the door to his room shut and waved at Gaia.
"Aren't you going to have breakfast? It's almost ready" Naruto was already halfway through the living room garbed in an Orange shirt with a steaming ramen bowl depicted on the front and blue jeans.
"Nah, i'm skipping breakfast. Goodbye!" Naruto yelled behind the closed door.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he checked around for a certain devil stalker and found none.
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"Naruto-san, the principal requires your presence in his office" A fellow teacher told Naruto.
Naruto, who was busy going through the stack of papers on his desk, raised his head up wondering why the principal wanted to see him. He pushed the stack aside and walked straight to the principal's office.
Staring at the black wooden door, Naruto took a quick breath before he knocked on the door.
"Come in" A voice said from inside the room.
Naruto opened the door and the principal gestured at him to take a seat.
"Naruto, it's been a while. I won't beat around the bush and get straight to the point because it concerns the well-being of the students. You, Naruto, are one of the best young teachers I have ever employed graduating from a prestigious school and to be honest, I thought you were too young for the job but your CV was really compelling and the fact that you wanted your real age hidden which i respected your request and gave you the job anyway." He said.
"Yes, sir,"
"Now I know some of these kids might be a handful sometimes but recently, a lot of students have been complaining, Class 3-B to be precise about your lack of charisma and enthusiasm. Some students go as far as to say they find your presence threatening and subsequently, they don't feel 'same' when you're around and I fear it may affect their academic performance greatly. Naruto, I'm hereby relieving you of your duties as a homeroom teacher" The principal said, readjusting the blue goggles he wore.
Naruto's mood shot down after the principal's rant.
"I should have done this a long time ago but I couldn't find a substitute for you until recently" He said.
"A substitute?" Naruto asked again.
"Yes. A new homeroom teacher for Class 3-B and the new civics teacher"
"I see…"
"Naruto, you're one of the best teachers in school and It'd hurt to fire you so please, get rid of your lackadaisical attitude towards work and be diligent."
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
"Come in" The principal answered his eyes on the door.
Naruto had a little frown on his face throughout the entire thing, thinking about the principal's sudden change. The principal of Kouh was a great disciplinarian who Encouraged teachers to discipline students accordingly if they broke the rules so why the sudden change?
"Oh, Ms. Rossweisse"
A sliver-white haired woman wearing a green suit bowed at her new boss.
"Oh, it's good you came in. Meet your predecessor."
Rossweiess turned around staring at Naruto who seemed lost in his thoughts. Clearing her throat, she greeted him. "Hello, I'm Rossweise, it's nice to meet you"
Rossweisse's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. A mane of hair filled his vision and he turned to face the new teacher. White, he noticed before rossweisse straightened her back. The moment his eyes made contact with her, Naruto's eyes widened a margin and his mouth opened a fraction. Receiving no answer, Rossweisse squinted her eyes at Naruto looking from one blue orb to another.
"Naruto?" The principal said, receiving no answer from the blonde.
"Um, sir, is there something on my face?" Rossweisse asked a disoriented Naruto.
"Naruto!" The principal yelled. It did it's trick pulling Naruto out of his disoriented state.
"What? I, um, nice to meet you um, Miss… If that will be all, I have to go" Naruto said before he made haste leaving the principal's office.
"I forgot to tell him you'll be joining us next term. Anyways, have a seat"
Rossweisse moved to occupy Naruto's seat.
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Naruto sat on one of the wooden benches around school resting his chin on both hands, his hands folded on each other. Thinking about the next homeroom teacher. Her name totally slipped his mind, and even though her face was blurry in his mind, her hair and green eyes were still fresh in his mind.
Feeling a glare on his person, he whipped his head to the source and met one Rias Gremory's green orbs. The edge of her lips gradually curved till a full smirk graced her lips.
"That bat… " A mean grimace graced his features.
For a moment, he pondered what kind of sound her neck would make if he snapped it. A cracking sound or crunching sound or a squelching sound if he ripped it off her body?
Rias felt great satisfaction from punishing the blonde. If she was forbidden from fighting him head on then she'd try other tactics.
She was about to lean on the windowsill when she felt an eerie sinister presence behind her sending shivers down her spine before she coughed a mouthfull of blood. A lightning covered fist protruded from her chest, spearing through her bountiful chest. Her whole body went stiff with the exception of her head. She turned her head around slowly and met a terrifying monster out of her wildest nightmares, a red flaming beast with two horns stretched it's lips wide baring it's sick fangs dripping with red viscous liquid. It's white eyes stared at her and all she could see inside was dirty anger and her death all over again, a thousand times in different ways, the latter grotesque than the former. The beast ripped it's hand out of her chest, her heart covered in blood nestled on it's palms, white sharp claws a millimetre away from her eyes before It squashed her heart to mush, blood splatters over her face. a feral smirk graced it's features as her prone body hit the floor
"Rias?"
The ruin princess gasped, falling to the floor on her hands and knees shaking uncontrollably. Her pupils dilated, sweat glistened down her face and she lost the ability to speak for a while.
"Rias? Buchou?" Her peerage member called out in worry.
"What happened? we felt your magic flare up all of a sudden!" Akeno held her red haired friend in her bosom.
Rias tried to form words with her mouth but her voice box disobeyed her command, petrified with fear.
"You're okay Rias, I got you" whispered Akeno.
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Outside the school gates, Naruto walked back home with a certain glow to his countenance.
"Stupid bat. Stupid principal. Stupid school. Stupid student. I ought to rip-" Naruto sighed, swallowing his anger.
Too bad though, Naruto would never know what sound Rias's neck made because if he did, it'd ignite a series of events that would shake the supernatural world to its foundation and that's something he's actively trying to avoid. He couldn't kill her but that doesn't man he couldn't blast her with a potent KI. His red slitted eyes would haunt her dreams for a while.
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"Ahh, why can't I remember what she looked like?" Naruto said to his reflection in the mirror, lather at the edge of his lips. He sloshed a mouthful of water inside his mouth before spitting it out resting both hands on the basin. The image of Naruto with an open mouth was reflected by the little wall mirror as he inspected his teeth for any stains left. Seeing none, he ran his tongue through his canine, back to his incisor getting a smooth fresh feel.
"Nice" He sighed. "It's time to visit the park!"
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"This is bad! I haven't been doing well in school lately with devil business in the way" Issei grabbed his hair in frustration as he complained to his companion, Kiba.
"It's gonna be fine, you'll see your result tomorrow. What could possibly go wrong?"
Issei slapped a hand on Kiba's mouth dramatically. "Don't jinx it!" He yelled.
They walked the rest of the journey home talking about devil business and their plans for the holiday. Issei stopped for a moment to stare at Naruto's house.
"Issei?" Kiba glanced between Issei and Naruto's house. That was tantamount to a demilitarized zone for them.
"Let's pay Naruto-san a visit" Issei grabbed Kiba's hands before he tried to protest.
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Ding dong
Issei clicked the button once and waited for a reply. Hearing none, he hit the button twice. The door opened suddenly and Issei braced himself, expecting Naruto's poker face but what he saw was gold.
"Oh, Naruto's students."
Gaia wore white skintight leggings and a white midriff length singlet. Her impressive bust put a strain on the singlet leaving an outline of her nipples. She had her hair in a high ponytail and sweat glistened on her heavenly body.
Gaia took the headphones off her ears before she invited them in. "Naruto's gone out for a bit, He's going to be back shortly. Tea or Coffee?"
Issei leered at her shamelessly with a pink blush on his cheek. Kiba had to elbow him out of his haze.
"What?" He rubbed his ribs absentmindedly.
"The Red Dragon Emperor of this generation, Poor Ddraig. Does he know of Ddraig's theft?" Gaia wondered.
"Tea or coffee?" She asked again.
"Coffee, Ma'am." Kiba answered before taking a seat and dragging Issei down with him. Trying his best not to look at Gaia's impressive behind. She was beautiful, almost godlike. If he was having trouble averting his eyes, he wondered how Issei would be fairing. As expected, he was giggling perversely staring at the goddess in disguise's behind.
"Whoa! Kiba, Did you see that?!" He said pointing at Gaia who was in the kitchen.
"It's rude to point." He corrected with an eyesmile.
"She's... She's... Words can't describe her beauty! How come someone like her's living with sensei? It's not fair!" He cried anime tears.
"Issei-kun." Kiba sweatdropped. All the female members of the ORC lived with him and nonetheless, he was still jealous of Naruto.
Gaia walked in with two cups of tea.
"Milk or sugar?"
"Both" The students replied at the same time.
Um, Miss, You're pretty" Issei said blushing like a fanboy
Gaia giggled into her sleeves. She managed to grab a shirt while making tea to cover her body from prying eyes.
"Thank you. I get that a lot but never from Naruto."
Issei spit the hot coffee back in the cup and dropped it on the glass table before he shot off to his feet indignantly.
"That's blasphemy! I knew sensei would be the kind to treat his girlfriend like anyone else around him" He said disappointed. "I hope he's not boring?"
"What do you mean, girlfriend?" Gaia questioned.
Kiba's taste bud rejoiced after a sip of hot coffee for the taste was heavenly, just like Naruto's all edged girlfriend was.
"He's my brother." She said with a smile.
"Ehhhh!" Issei and Kiba exclaimed at the same time.
"Oh! He's here." Gaia's mood lightened up all of a sudden.
Slam!
Naruto walked in letting loose string of curses.
"What happened to you?"
Naruto shook his head heading towards the kitchen to make a bowl of ramen. He turned around when he noticed Issei and Kiba staring at him with astonishment.
Gaia took a sip from Kiba's cup making him flush while Issei burned with jealousy.
"Why are you brats here?" He asked with folded arms.
Issei pointed a hand at Gaia.
"You never told me you had a hot sister!" Issei exclaimed.
"Why would I tell you about my sister?"
"What- I don't believe this." Issei hung his head.
"What brings you here, Yuuto?"
Kiba pointed at Issei.
"You've been doing those exercises?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Gaia.
"I don't know why you bother with fitness exercise when you're already perfect."
"Sensei, How have you been?" Issei inquired with a smile.
"What's wrong with you Hyodo" Naruto questioned finding Issei's behavior awkward.
"Just dropping by to ask how everyone's lovely sensei's been doing." Issei blurted out.
Naruto squinted his eyes with suspicion at Issei.
"You're nothing like your sister, sensei." Kiba noted. Where she was an angel, Naruto was a demon.
"Yeah. We get that all the time" Gaia rocked her body back and forth with a warm smile on her face. She clearly enjoyed playing Naruto's sister just to see people's reactions.
"Um, Sensei, about tomorrow..."
Naruto made an 'o' with his mouth when he finally figured why Issei decided to see him."So that's why you're here? Nope, I'm not going to the underworld" Naruto said.
"Issei, I think it's high time we left." Kiba whispered to Issei.
Issei stood up, composed himself and cleared his throat."Well then, Sensei, Sensei's sister-"
"Call me Gaia."
"My Goddess" Issei yelled and kneeled before her making Gaia somehow uncomfortable. "I've never had this kind of courage but Please, Give me your number!"
Naruto grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and kicked his ass out of the house.
"I'll sue you for sexual harassment!" He yelled behind Issei.
Kiba Scurried behind Naruto and bowed at both adults before he exited the house.
"What a strange kid." Gaia said after the whole ordeal.
"He's a good kid but his perverted tendencies are over the top." Naruto sighed. Issei talked about the holidays with Naruto and when he learnt of Naruto's plan for the holidays - Naruto had no plan at all - He decided to extend an invitation to Naruto. The blonde turned him down but Issei told him to think about it
"He might corrupt you."
"Ha! That's impossible. I was trained by a self-proclaimed super perverted for three years" Naruto said with pride on his face.
"So that makes you a pervert?"
Naruto deadpanned. "Do I look like a pervert to you?"
"Was your sensei more perverted than your student?"
"He's the author of a best-selling erotic series in my homeworld tittled, Icha Icha and he forcibly made me the chief editor when I was just thirteen. He shamelessly proclaimed himself a super pervert and he peeped on women justifying his acts as 'research' for the next erotica he'd write"
"He's that much of a perv?"
"Yeah"
"What was his name?"
"One of the legendary three sannin, The toad sage, Jiraiya" Naruro said with a small nostalgic smile.
"Jiraiya?"
"Hm"
"Tell me more about him…"
And so, Naruto told of his escapades with Jiraiya putting a smile on her face. She laughed at the funny stories he told and the weird things they did together. Night came and they had dinner before saying their goodbyes retiring to their individual rooms.
Alright, That's it.
Announcement: From today till late October or early November I'm going to take a quick hiatus cause I have exams, a month long exams. I wanted to drop two chapters but I fell and unfortunately, I couldn't complete the second one so I'm going to leave a preview of sorts.
(Preview)
"Get that off my face" Naruto said, leveling a glare at the huge man standing in front of him. Said huge man laughed out loud poking Naruto's forehead with an Uzi. "What are you going to do, pretty boy?" He sneered looming over Naruto.
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Twin blue pistols pulsated a deep blue aura lifting off the ground, levitating in the air. "Balance brea-" Someone tried to say
"Funk no, you don't" Naruto sucker punched him in the face sending him crashing out.
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"Naruto el ramen" A handcuffed Naruto replied looking around the police station.
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"Do you think this increase In crime rate is ordinary?" Gaia asked Naruto who was busy doing nothing. Just lying face down in a long chair.
"Don't know. That's bat business"
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The blonde shinobi walked in, a frown on his face, blood stains on his knuckles and clothes.
"Naruto! Why'd you run away all of a sudden?!" Kuroka yelled upset, standing beside the window holding a broken shard.
"Naruto?" Gaia stared at the blood stains on his body.
"It happened again…" He said staring at Gaia.
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"Do you know us?" A possessed child slammed over a wall asked with a disembodied voice, his eyes glowing a sinister red.
"Oh my God!" A human behind Naruto exclaimed, full of fear, for the child had his neck bent at impossible angles, sharp claws replaced fingers, green veins spread across his neck.
"Get out of that child" Naruto ordered with a calm face. The child's feet dangling in the air as it struggled against Naruto's hold.
"Silence, Lowly human! Your likes can't order me" The possessed child clawed at Naruto's face trying to break free. The grip around his neck tightened the more he tried to break. The more Naruto tightened his grip. His fingers dug deep into Naruto's Hand injecting him with black viscous liquid in the process.
"N-naruto-san, w-what- a-are you going to-" He couldn't believe it but for the first time in his life, he was in a dilemma very few are faced with. His hands shaking uncontrollably, he took aim, the trigger squeezed halfway. His conscience wouldn't allow it but Naruto's grip on the child's neck was so tight the child could choke to death. His glowing red eyes softened, the madness in it gone like it was never there before, eyes misty with unshed tears pleaded to be freed and right there, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He closed his eyes and hoped his baby sister would forgive him.
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Well, that's it. The preview.
Till October or November. See you then everyone goodbye.
Stay safe.