Getting to the meat and taters here, folks!

Chapter 12: A True Disciple

Naruto (or rather, the clone he had sent here discreetly) was rather impressed at this kid. Appearances can be deceiving, but if he were to go off appearances, she looked to be around 15 or 16, and here she was utilizing senjutsu. The last person he had seen that could do that at this early an age was… himself. She seemed to be a natural genius though, more akin to Sasuke where things came easy to her. He himself learned jutsu at record paces, but that learning was still hard for him within that time frame.

He dodged another chop meant to sever his life force.

"Damnit, stop dodging!" Kuroka was getting frustrated. This toad-eyed freak could apparently use senjutsu as well if what she was feeling was right, but it was some weird, off-brand type that felt… foreign. She didn't know how else to describe it, really, but what she did know was that she had to win this fight, and quick. She couldn't use any of her more destructive devil magic (and she wouldn't use that tainted power even if she could) since it would draw attention to them from the faction that occupied this area, and the longer it went in, the more likely someone would sense them out.

Senjutsu users were rare, and 2 in the same area was almost unheard of.

In her haste, her open-palm strike was caught, and the vice-like grip on her right wrist was back. She struggled futilely to escape his grasp, but he wouldn't even budge.

"You're doing it wrong", Naruto's doppelganger started. "You're letting all the hate and rage bubble up to the surface. That might win you the fight, but you'll lose yourself in the process." Naruto had known about all the malice that gets pulled in when you use senjutsu since he arrived in this reality. It hadn't been difficult for him to filter it out. Dealing with Kurama's hatred amplifying his own when he was a kid, and then directly confronting that hatred in his battle with the beast to obtain his power had him more than prepared him to handle what this place threw at him.

Bearing the brunt of Sasuke's hatred and burden in their final battle also played a part.

"Shut up! I don't need you to tell me how to use senjutsu! I've made it just fine on my own up to now!" There was no way she was going to let some random stranger lecture her on how to make use of her birthright. She'd be damned if she let some devil flunky tell her how it's done!

Naruto sighed, and let go of her wrist. She retreated back to her fighting stance, baring her fangs at him.

"See? You're already so consumed by it, you can't even properly identify what I am." He knew what she was, though. He'd felt that dark energy the first time he got here, and would never forget it.

Devils.

Beings of debauchery, avarice, and sin. The devils now are a lot more easygoing than the ones back then, though. Back then, Rizevim-types running around weren't so uncommon (he had put down a few of them himself for trying to trespass on his training area. No one wanted to challenge him, one of the "slayers of the Heavenly Dragons", so he got away with it). Now, devil society is a lot more civilized and human-like. Most devils her age were no different from ordinary human schoolgirls now.

Though that was clearly not the case here.

"I know exactly who you are, and who sent you." Kuroka shot back with her venomous tongue. Her body started to glow and radiate a white coloring around it. The aura settled, and her whole body from head to toe was incased in the ethereal energy. "It doesn't matter anymore, though. You're dead."

Naruto whistled. This kid really was a genius. He could tell at a glance that all her physical attributes had been improved dramatically with that show she just put on. It looked like she was trying to end this. For herself, and for that little girl cloaked in an illusion nearby.

"Now…" Kuroka said nothing else as she dug her heel into the ground and then took off on it at blinding speeds. Naruto's danger perception went off, but he stood his ground. She had been noticeably targeting all of his vital points earlier on, leading him to believe that she was no stranger to killing. She was a prodigy in the art, if anything. A tried-and-true assassin.

She would've made a fine shinobi.

Kuroka appeared before him, thrusting her fingers together and thrusting them straight towards his heart. The clone made no attempts to guard himself in that split second, but she wasn't gonna complain if he was just gonna lay down and let her kill him. She was an inch from making contact when, suddenly, a tail covered in golden fur shot out and enveloped her hand, making the Touki surrounding it disappear.

"W-what!?" She looked towards the direction of the offending appendage, and nearly paled at the sight.

"I'll thank you to not try and kill my guests, young one." Yasaka, leader of the Kyoto youkai, stared back at her. The situation went from bad to hell on earth very quickly. She figured that, in the event she got sensed out, whoever ruled this land would just send out scouts, relative nobodies who she could give the slip after killing this prick. She never imagined the head honcho herself would show up. As confident as she was in her abilities, she didn't like the idea of facing down somebody on par with an ultimate-class devil.

Yasaka's power and her power alone were the very reason this populace of youkai were able to stay neutral in Judeo-Christian conflicts.

"Wait a minute… a guest?" She turned and looked at the guy she just been battling. He sported probably the biggest, most shit-eating grin she had ever seen. It pissed her off. If there was anything she hated just as much as those devil scum who tried to harm her sister, it was smug bastards like this. She wanted to growl, but wasn't exactly in a position to make threatening gestures.

"Yes, a guest", Yasaka answered. "This man you see before you is very important, and I gave my vow that no harm would come to him while he roamed these lands." She left out the part that she wanted to be the one doing the harming when she first met him (though that was due to a misunderstanding).

"I can sense that you are one of my own, but I also smell the stench of devil coming off you. A hybrid, then? Who is your superior?" Yasaka questioned her, hoping to resolve this peacefully. This young hybrid was trespassing, and from the looks of it, planning to steal. She'd contact her superior and let them handle the punishment, all she had to do was ship her back from whence she came.

Yasaka loosened her tail's grip, and Kuroka swiftly pulled away. Both her wrists were hurting from being gripped so tightly today. She wanted nothing more than to take a bubble bath and find some shady place to take a nap in, but life didn't work that way for her. She looked up to the two figures of authority, trying to find any chinks in their armor. She was hoping she could exploit something and run away with Shirone in tow, but they weren't making it easy.

"I have no superior", she shot out. "My former master…. is dead." She let the unnamed perpetrator's identity hang in the air. She wasn't ashamed of what she'd done. She'd do it again if she had the chance. The bastard had it coming.

Penance for trying to experiment on her dear little sister.

"Oh, you're a stray then? That means you fall under the jurisdiction of whoever's land you're currently on." Yasaka held back a sigh. It appeared that she wasn't going to get off so easy after all. Dealing with strays of her own kind was exhausting.

Dealing with stray devils was a death sentence.

Dealing with hybrids meant she already had a foot in the grave and might as well be dead.

"I'd much rather just leave you to your own devices, but I'm afraid I can't do that. You and that other hybrid over there are going to have to come with me." Yasaka almost huffed in frustration. This was turning out to be a very long day. Kuroka flinched, Shirone having been found out. She supposed she couldn't help it though; this was the leader of the Kyoto youkai after all. Her sensory abilities had to be top notch.

"Actually", the clone spoke up for the first time in a while, "do you think I could handle this?" Yasaka did an about-face, looking at the clone as if he had proposed going to war with mother nature herself.

"And just what exactly do you mean by that, Naruto-san?"

"I mean that I want to teach them. It's been a long time since I've had a pupil and the one I've got right now is more of an annoying sister than a student." The scowl present on Kuroka's face was downright vicious. The confusion on Yasaka's was clear, until it turned into clarity. The youkai leader seemed to have a sudden epiphany, and then smiled. She'd avoid having to do this work yet, it seemed.

"Welllllllll, since it is up to me to decide what to do with them, and you're a trustworthy individual that has earned my Lady's respect, I don't see why not." Never had she been happier to dump a workload off on someone else. Normally, she was a diligent leader, but today's events have left her drained to her roots. Thank Amaterasu for blonde-haired, charitable, hunky deities. The clone smiled, making her heart flutter against her wishes.

"I refuse", Kuroka spat out, interfering in the moment. "Even if he's not who I thought he was, that doesn't mean he's a good person. Just let us be on our way, you won't ever see our faces again."

"Strays get killed, ya know?" Naruto said. "Is that the life you want? Constantly on the run, constantly hiding from the shadows of your past? Is that what you want for yourself? Is that what you want for her?" Naruto pointed at Shirone for emphasis, who moved into holding Kuroka's hand. He felt really bad about playing this card, but, beyond his own interests, he needed to get her to see that living a life on the run was no life at all.

"I already told you, we've managed this far. We'll make it, no matter what it takes." She responded to him with conviction in her eyes, which made him have a healthy amount of respect for her. That tenacity, that will to live was exactly what one needed in times of turmoil. She was a strong young woman, both in body and in spirit.

All the more reason for him to train her.

"I like you, kid. That's why I want to help you." Without warning, the clone disappeared and reappeared right next to Kuroka, landing a hand on her shoulder. She turned towards him, wide-eyed and shocked. Yasaka wasn't surprised (he is a god, after all), but still, she didn't even see him move.

"H-how did you-" Kuroka struggled to get her words out. This was no illusion; she would've seen through that with her own senjutsu. That was pure speed.

"This is what I'm offering to teach you. The power and the skill necessary to never have to live like you've been living. To never have to see yourself or your sister in danger again. The power to protect." She didn't respond, at least not right away.

It had all clicked for her in that moment.

This man… could annihilate her. He never even so much as threw a punch her way, only defending himself and lecturing her. He didn't even have a guard up at times. That wasn't a fight to him. It was a game. One that he could've won with ease. She couldn't even process his speed, he was so fast.

How many more people like him were out there? The thought made her blood run cold. Absolute, unbeatable monsters. He had been using senjutsu, but it seemed to be more for showing that he could rather than would against her. What would've happened had he actually attacked her back?

She looked at Shirone out of the corner of her eyes. Her little sister was clinging to the side of her leg, scared for herself and scared for her big sister. Was it truly worth it, letting her pride and anger rule her? Was it worth turning down the offer from this obscenely powerful man, to keep subjecting her sister to this harsh life? She had made a vow when they both ran away.

'Anything to keep you safe', she idly remembered.

There was safety in strength, and this man had it in spades.

"Well?" the clone asked. "How about it?" Kuroka stood frozen on the spot, but soon balled her fist up and gathered her resolve. This is for her sister, she told herself. She couldn't risk an encounter with a behemoth that she wouldn't be able to defeat one of these days.

"If… if you'll have us." She practically hid her face, cat ears drooping down out of embarrassment for essentially being scared into compliance. Naruto made a "V for Victory" sign with his fingers and turned back to Yasaka.

"So, I guess that's that. Thanks again, Yasaka-chan!"

There he went again with that damn informality, she thought. She wished she wasn't putty in his hands, but every fiber of her being told her that he was someone to be desired. She hadn't even met him, but he had this strange pull on her. Combine that with the memories and her own unwilling fantasies, and you get the mess of a woman she is around him. She gathered herself, deigning to respond to him in a way that wouldn't make her sound like a lovesick middle schooler.

"You're welcome", was the simple reply. "Alright then, she is officially your student. Do what you will from here on." The big, shit-eating grin came back on his face.

"By the way, I'm just a clone. The real me is still at the shrine. See ya later!" He popped into a cloud of smoke, causing the three people there to momentarily cough. Once they all gathered their bearings again, the two older females simultaneously voiced their thoughts.

"What?"

A double whammy, to make up for going a month in between each upload (school blows sometimes, man). This one's a bit shorter, but hopefully it's still up to the same quality. Let me know what you all think!