AN: … This chapter is being released pretty quickly, I know. I wouldn't be expecting ch4 this quick if I were you people. Releases will be as I have them. Also, one last thing… have I not said that the Peerage is decided? This means that even if you have an interesting idea, I'm not gonna change it for you. And the pairing remains as Undecided at this time.

Props go out once more to my friend, Dreaming of the Moon, for his help in making sure this at least looks good. … You know what, unless I say otherwise, you can pretty much take it as said that he's looking this stuff over.

Disclaimer: See chapter 01. I ain't writing it out again.

Chapter 3: The Ins, The Outs, The What?

An enormous explosion rocked the landscape of the hidden valley behind the Asmodai mansion. A cloud of smoke streaming up from the center of a nearly thirty meter area indicated just how much combusted. And standing some fifty feet from the outermost edge were Naruto and Albedo, he with a raised eyebrow and a wry expression, she with a dumbfounded look.

"That shouldn't be possible," Albedo muttered softly, "Fireball is the first offensive spell any devil learns, and it's never this destructive! Especially on the first try!"

"I told you, didn't I?" Naruto asked, his wry expression never changing by so much as a hair, "I am incapable of the concept 'small'."

The woman shook herself slightly and answered in an awed voice, "This goes beyond what I expected. Your affinity for destruction is… enormous!"

"You know, as my teacher in the arts of devil magic, I expected a bit more in the way of acceptance for destruction."

She snorted, which seemed very out of character for her, "The fireball spell is very similar to your world's Hitodama no Jutsu. It is simply not designed to cause this!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "I'd ask how you know about some of my world's techniques, but I figure you probably read through, or watched, something from there to give you an idea."

"The Malachite sisters were very thorough in their reports during their stay in your world," Albedo explained primly, "I simply had to read through those reports, and your time adjusting to your new devil body gave me ample opportunity. Plus the extra time that the doctors took to confirm your connection to Gressen-sama."

"Ah, that would make sense." Naruto noted calmly.

He had taken nearly a week to get the feel of his new body, the differences were rather astounding honestly. The natural increases to his physical limits were off-setting, so he had to retrain his mind to get used to it all. He was also trying to get used the more aggressive hormones, but thankfully he had a great deal of control in that area. Apparently that was one of the major differences between the ritual Gressen used and the Evil Pieces he had been briefly told about, the Pieces would automatically reformat the brain so it could understand the fundamental changes that had occurred and deal with them.

Naruto looked forward to getting his own Evil Piece set. The chance to create a group of people to fight by his side through thick and thin was practically a dream come true. Sure he'd had comrades in the Konoha Shinobi Corps, but he could rarely feel any real connection with them.

Though he'd admit that the first thing he did when he felt comfortable enough was to see if he still had access to chakra. It was possible, considering he left his mother's blood in place, and his euphoria at being proven correct was incredibly high. He had then immediately tried the Summoning for the Toads, calling his old friend Gamakichi…

When the large orange toad appeared, Naruto's joy couldn't be contained. He'd then told Gamakichi his choice, and what had taken so long. The visit lasted for a fair amount of time before the toad had to return, promising to tell everyone in the Toad's realm what happened.

A shaft of underworld sunlight cut through the smoke and straight into his eyes, causing him to wince heavily. There were two more things he was still getting used to. The Underworld's day and night cycles were approximately similar to a well-known human world, but the "sun" down here only really showed for a few hours, and new devils were barely resistant to it's strength-sapping effect.

The fact he was still getting used to his new eyes wasn't helping him either. He had opted against waiting to get a new eye for his right socket before the ritual, as there had been one in that jar of murky liquid. Actually, there had been two eyes in that liquid. His mother's, to be precise. The greyish eyes were labeled as final gifts to him from her should he ever find himself in need. Then the ritual somehow fused his two separate eyes into a matching pair of silver-flecked blue, which were surprisingly not unheard of in the Asmodai family line, allowing for Naruto's admittance to the family lists to go through without issue.

Oh, that had not been a fun dance. He'd been poked, prodded, and bled to the veracity of his claim to the Asmodai name as Gressen's son. The doctors came away only slightly disappointed, however, when they had to admit that his blood was indeed that of the Asmodai Family Head. Their only vindication came when the mother's blood came out as a human's, instead of Gressen's Lady, Kethry. Instead the detecting spells created an image of Uzumaki Kushina, to which Gressen had pulled one hell of a con.

Gressen Asmodai, the Head of the great Asmodai House, General of the Great War, and one of the oldest living devils, had looked to one side and whistled in an innocent fashion. He admitted nothing, only saying that woman on display was one any man would be happy to have been with. Considering that statement neither confirmed or denied a possible liaison, the doctors could only turn away with mutters of agreement. Even a few of the female doctors there had snuck extra glances at the image of Kushina.

Naruto still snickered when he thought about it. He was grateful to Gressen though, for allowing his selfish request to use an extraction of Kushina's DNA in the ritual instead of Kethry's. That genetic extraction was part of what delayed the ritual a few extra days. The implantation of his mother's eye, followed by a distilling of his own blood to separate out his mother's portion, aided by the DNA that was contained in the remaining left eye, and Naruto had been too drained to go through with the ritual any sooner.

"Naruto-sama!" Albedo's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Now that you are paying attention again, I thought we might try another spell. This time it will be of Wind, a simple spell to call a breeze to clear this smoke. This should be quite easy, I believe that Wind is supposed to be your primary chakra element?"

Naruto grunted an affirmative. Wind was his only chakra element. It was the one element that his human parents had shared,(1) though his mother had apparently also had a minor affinity for Water he hadn't gotten.

Well, he had gotten a small affinity for Yin, but it wasn't something he was very good with. Yin was primarily used in Genjutsu, not exclusively perhaps, but Naruto still sucked at the illusion skill. As a result he didn't really practice with his Yin abilities very much.

He followed Albedo's instructions, feeling for his new magic and drawing on it to power his spell. Holding one hand palm out, a small golden(2) circle formed and spun in front of it. A moment later a torrential blast of wind howled through the valley, blowing out the smoke and uprooting several trees in the process.

Albedo stared at the destruction with a blank expression. Slowly she fell to her knees, her hands coming up to cover her face as her shoulders shook. This level of destruction couldn't be merely described as natural talent. The fireball spell, yes. This? Not a chance in any level of Hell! This seemed more as if her new prince had called the Wind, and it had answered like an eager puppy!

"He can turn a Fireball into an Inferno," She cried from between her hands, "And a simple GUST became as a downburst! This-! This-!"

Naruto looked at her worriedly. If Albedo lost it he'd be screwed. Dying or not, he was sure Gressen would leap out of that bed and strangle him to death.

The young man was therefore surprised when, instead of breaking down, Albedo jumped up and kissed him!

"This is wonderful!" She exclaimed passionately, "With power like yours House Asmodai can hold its head high! Oh, Naruto-sama! This is beyond what anyone could have hoped for!"

Naruto eyed her strangely. He knew she loved Gressen, so what was with her practically jumping ship to his side? If it weren't for the fact that she was still clothed, he'd almost expect her to be in Heat like a bitch…(3) He shrugged internally, if she wanted him to have sex with her, he probably would just because she was incredibly hot.

Damned teenage devil hormones!

Unfortunately, at least in his libido's opinion, this was not the case. Albedo pulled away and stood demure once more, her voice again taking on an instructing tone. "However, simply because you have power to spare, does not mean our lesson is done for the day. I want to make sure you can make them subtle, scale them back down to their original levels."

Naruto winced. Control was something he'd always had problems with.

"I don't suppose there are control exercises for magic like there are for chakra?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course, Naruto-sama," Albedo replied with a beatific smile, "It's called 'repetition', and 'practice makes perfect'."

"Practice makes permanent, more like," He grumbled. Yet at her glare he started trying to siphon less power from his core, focusing on the Fireball spell, as it had caused the least amount of destruction of the two. He focused on the feeling of power, mentally compared it to his first attempt, and judged it to be too much.

In a burst of creativity, Naruto decided to try something. His hand came up, the circle lit into existence, and a volley of small balls of flame shot forth, each one impacting the targeted tree trunk in rapid succession.

Grinning, he turned to see another dumbfounded expression on his teacher's lovely face. "Katon: Hosenka, magic style."

Albedo sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "How did you manage that?"

He shrugged, "I measured the amount of power as too much, again, but I remembered one of my former teammate's techniques from our Chunin exam, and figured I could easily stagger the released power instead of one giant conflagration."

Albedo could feel the headache forming. She had read the reports from the Malachite sisters three times over, but she had given little credence to the stories of Naruto's magnetism for on-the-fly tactics. Now she had first-hand experience, and knew she owed the twins something of an apology. Perhaps she could talk Naruto-sama into giving them a small bonus?

"I'm not getting paid enough for this."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You get paid?"

"No." She shook her head, "That's the problem right now."

He laughed.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto looked around his current setting, which honestly seemed to come out of a B-rate horror flick for a mad scientist's lab. It had nothing on one of Orochimaru's labs, but nowhere else would ever be that level of creepy for him. He was seated on a tall stool across from a frumpy-looking older devil, whose eyes seemed to look right through him.

The man reminded him of an older Shikamaru really. The lazy attitude, but sharp mind behind that, and generally accepting air. This man was an annoying combination of relaxing and off-putting.

Ajuka Beelzebub, current holder of the Beelzebub position of the devil hierarchy, and the brain behind the Evil Piece system. Albedo had decided against explaining the PIeces to Naruto, and instead dropped him off on the man who designed it, and the one who personally made each and every set. And who, undoubtedly, was already aware that Naruto was not Gressen's child by birth.

If he was as intelligent as Naruto suspected, Ajuka had probably known from the get-go.

Ajuka sighed, passing a hand through his messy brown hair. "Look, kid -Naruto- let's get something straight from the start. I don't care if you're not really Gressen-dono's offspring originally. You are now Naruto Asmodai. As far as I'm concerned, that's all I need to know."

Naruto let go of an explosive breath. "Okay, I can work with that."

The older man chuckled, and the tension in the air immediately dropped. "Alright, now I just have a bunch of questions that I typically go through. Shall we start?"

"Questions?"

"Your answers are inputted when I create your Evil Pieces, making them easier to attune to you." Ajuka explained.

Naruto blinked. "That's great and all, but what the heck do the Pieces even do? Albedo refused to try and explain it to me more than she felt she had to. Which basically amounted to differences between the Pieces and the ritual Father used to make me his son."

Ajuka frowned slightly. "That's odd, she's usually eager to help her Master." He sighed and shrugged. "Alright, I'll give you the short version. The Evil Pieces allow a High-class devil to create what is known as a Peerage. The pieces are each shaped and named after the pieces in the game of chess-"

"Chess?" Naruto interrupted with a curious expression.

"It's similar to the game of shogi, only fewer pieces, and a few different ones." Ajuka explained, "Instead of the Generals you have a Queen… Tell you what, I'll just tell you the names of the pieces using a standard, non-magical set.

"The Pawn," Ajuka held up a rather boring and small piece. "You get eight of these, each are worth a single point, and a resurrected member doesn't gain much in the way of abilities. The big one, though, is the ability called Promotion. This allows them to Promote to any other Piece except King, either with your permission or in enemy territory.

"The Rook." He held up a castle tower-like item. "There are two of these. Resurrected members from these gain incredible defense and physical strength, but nothing really in the way of magic. It's worth five points.

"The Knight," Here he held up a piece shaped like a horse head, "Again, there are two of these. Resurrected members from these gain incredible speed, and a body that can withstand the extra forces that such enhanced speed brings to bear. It's worth three points.

"The Bishop," This time it was a tall and thin piece that looked like it was wearing a weird hat. "Once again, there are two of these. Resurrected members from these gain increased magic reserves, and somewhat increased spell potency. This is also worth three points.

"The Queen." A piece that was slim with a small crown, "Aside from your King this is often seen as the most important piece. You only get one, but your Queen will gain all the bonuses of the Rook, Knight, and Bishop. It's worth nine points.

"And finally, the King," this was a larger version of the queen. "This is your Piece. It doesn't do much, acting more as a bonding agent and imprinter. This piece is, simply put, a template, something from which the other Pieces draw strength and purpose. If the King is too weak, then it's fully possible for dissension to occur, and one of your members could potentially target you for assassination.

"Now, I'm not saying this is common," Ajuka continued with his hand raised to forestall any questions. "I'm saying it's possible. After all, not every devil is as warm-hearted as the Gremory family, or as -hmm- justice-inclined as your own Asmodai. There are times when a King has had to force a member's cooperation through the use of the old deal: 'if I win, you fall in line'."

Naruto nodded. That was something he could understand, vaguely. It was similar to the military structure of Konoha, where the stronger and more experienced you were, the better chances you had of being promoted. Hell, he'd heard that the Inuzuka clan had dealt with internal problems like that, with duels and whatnot. It was very much like saying "the Strong rule, and the Weak submit." Old fashioned, but not without its merits.

Ajuka rubbed his hands together, "Now, about those questions of mine…?"

XxXxXxXx

Upon his return to the Asmodai mansion with a small box under his arm, Naruto was informed by Sebas that he had a couple visitors waiting for him in the main reception room. When he asked who would be visiting at that hour -it was quite late by that point- Sebas replied with five words.

"Lucifer-sama and the Gremory family."

So Naruto hurried to greet his long-waiting guests, who had been waiting for almost the same length of time as he had been stuck dealing with Ajuka. The man had had more than a "few" questions, and Naruto had spent a great deal of his time there wondering about the possible relevance most of them had.

Entering the room where his guests were, Naruto was greeted by the sight of two men, one in robes and the other in a white suit, obviously related if their matching hair and eye colors were any indication, one lovely brunette woman, and a napping young redheaded girl. If he didn't know better he'd have assumed the two men were brothers, instead of father and son, though the son had been forced to renounce his family name when he took up the position of Lucifer. On the other hand, the woman was obviously supposed to be the mother of said son, and presumably the girl-child as well.

Clearing his throat gently, Naruto caught the three older devils' attention. "Lucifer-sama, Lord and Lady Gremory. I do apologize for the wait. Had I known of your desire to visit I would have been here to receive you-"

The redhaired man in long robes held up a hand to stop Naruto, and the young blonde tilted his head in question. "I assure you, Naruto Asmodai, that we have a very good reason for being here without that very warning, and why we were willing to wait as well."

The brunette spoke next, keeping her voice low so as to not disturb the child. "What my son is trying to say, is that the Gremory have come to you for help."

Naruto blinked, then took a seat in one of the many comfortable chairs in the room. "My help? With what, exactly? I am sorry to say that I'm rather new to position as an heir to a devil House…"

The man in the suit nodded, "We are aware of that, of course. However there are few we could discuss this with, and fewer we feel we could trust with it. You see, it concerns our daughter here."

"Gerard Gremory!(4) You would do well to not insinuate that this is any way Rias' fault!" Venelana scolded quietly.

The man winced, "Yes Dear. I didn't mean it like that at all, of course." He ran a slightly shaking hand through his hair, "I know it's partly my fault, and none of it falls on Rias. I'm just frustrated with the whole situation, and Rias' refusal-"

"Um, not to interrupt, but can we get back to why you think I can help you?" Naruto asked, a little bit of annoyance in his voice.

The married couple had the grace to look sheepish. Venelana opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a soft voice.

"Momma, can we go home yet? I'm bored, and Naruto-sama isn't here..."

Ah, young Rias decided to wake up, rubbing one eye cutely as she struggled to sit up. Naruto couldn't help the chuckle that formed at the sight, and the obvious innocence of the child. Well, he called her a child, but he wasn't more than fourteen himself, and she looked to be about nine or ten years of age, though he could easily tell she would be a real beauty in just a few more years.. His quiet laugh drew her attention and her eyes widened when they saw him.

Rias immediately shot up and over to Naruto, hugging his waist tightly. "Save me!"

Naruto blinked, his arms unconsciously wrapping the girl in a hug. He sat there for a minute or two, and finally said the only thing his mind could clearly think of.

"Say what?"

Several minutes and a long explanation later, Naruto was rubbing his temples to try and rid himself of a headache. Sighing, he turned to the closed doors. "Sebas! Could you see if Father is able to join us for a little while? I know he's getting weaker, but I don't believe this is something I should do without his knowledge or approval."

The door cracked open slightly, "I will ask, Naruto-sama."

The door closed again, and the sound of quiet footsteps could be heard.

With a sigh, Naruto sank into the back of his chair. "I apologize, Lady Gremory, but as I said earlier, I am still getting used to my position, and while I'm fairly certain I can do as you ask of me, I feel the need for a more practiced mind to advise me."

Venelana blinked once, "Why apologize to me alone? There are four of us here."

The blonde chuckled weakly, "Yes, but no one cares about the men, while Rias is a young girl once again napping. However, it is bad manners to make a lady wait, so my apology goes out to you."

"I'm Sirzechs Lucifer, leader of the Four Maou, and yet this boy says candidly, to my face no less, that no one cares about me?" The man sweatdropped while seemingly addressing a wall.

Gerard snickered at his son's grumbling. "Don't worry about it, son. I hold the title of Duke and I don't matter either."

Venelana raised one eyebrow and said with amusement, "And young Naruto will hold the title of King. I'd think he would outrank you just a little, dear Husband. It's one of the reasons we've come after all."

"How true, young Lady," Came a rasping voice from the open door. Gressen was brought into the room in a wheelchair by Albedo, and despite his emaciated frame he managed to give off a presence that easily cowed the other devils. "Now, it is rare for my son to ask for my opinion on anything, so perhaps we could get down to business while my strength holds out."

Naruto nodded, "In short, it seems that Gerard Gremory signed a contract with Rexal Phenex some time ago that says the Heir of Gremory and a scion of Phenex should be wed to continue the pureblood devil lines. However, he did so without the support of his wife, Venelana, or the agreement of said Heir, which would be the child currently sleeping over there. Now, by tradition he has the right to do anything he wishes with the members of his House, but both young Rias-chan and Venelana-san are violently opposed to the contract. Or at the very least, they highly disapprove of the Phenex scion that has been chosen."

Gressen sighed, and tiredly rubbed his brow with one hand. "And? I see that there is obviously a problem, but as you said it is Lord Gremory's right by tradition to do as he wishes with his House. What could they possibly need from us? Certainly it is not too late to cancel the contract in favor of another? Gremory holds the rank of Duke after all, while Phenex is merely a Marquis. He has the ability."

"Ah, yes, about that…" Gerard broke in awkwardly, "The contract has stood now for nearly two centuries, since the end of the Civil War between the Devil Factions, and while I'm quite certain we were incredibly drunk, the contract has some injudicious terms that make breaking it a very large issue."

The old devil turned his attention to him. "Such as?"

The Gremory Lord gulped nervously, "The destruction of the House that breaks the contract."

Members of House Asmodai as one blinked rapidly, then facepalmed. Dragging his hand slowly down his face so he could see through his fingers, Gressen's voice resonated incredulity.

"You put the very existence of your House on the line?!"

Gerard grimaced, "Not my proudest moment, I will admit."

Naruto snorted, "No shit. Even growing up among the humans I can barely recall anything quite that stupid!"

Venelana raised an eyebrow and filed that information away for a later time. So the young prince was raised among humankind? That was interesting indeed. Fortunately for Naruto, she seemed to be the only one to take note of his statement in any way but depressing as both Sirzechs and Gerard dropped their heads in shame.

"Son," Gressen's warning tone told the young man that he was approaching disrespect.

Naruto had already experienced the punishment for too much disrespect once. He shuddered at the memory. Never again.

"My apologies, Father. Lord Gremory." Said Naruto with a small bow of his head to the two devils. Too bad for the older devils, they didn't see Naruto's brief smirk.

Gressen nodded in acceptance, "Now, what do the Gremory propose that requires my possible permission?"

"Ah," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck while smiling a little nervously, "They want me to take Rias into my Peerage. While she would remain a Gremory in name, it would remove her from the position of Heir as it effectively removes her from the Gremory House and Lord Gremory's authority."

The elder devil blinked, then threw his head back in a loud barking laugh. "Oh! That's a clever little scheme! Yes, that is one aspect of the Evil Piece system that very few have even considered, and they don't dare change! If they did change it, it could potentially give one House power over another through an Heir!"

Gressen sobered quickly though. "However, this move would position House Asmodai between Gremory and Phenex, forcing us to deal with the situation. Do you understand, Gerard Gremory? You will be placing the future of your House in the hands of my inexperienced son."

Lord Gremory swallowed heavily, and nodded. "I understand, Lord Gressen, but I have little choice. My wife is unhappy with me, and as a widower I'm certain you can understand how bad that can be for my health."

A small chuckle escaped Gressen at the poor joke. "Indeed. 'A happy wife means a happy life' as they say."

He paused for a few minutes to consider all the angles, the possible benefits as well as the potential consequences. Certainly this would put the Gremory in his son's debt, and would most likely cause them to support Naruto in a great many things. This alone would be invaluable, but then there was the possible fallout with the Phenex family, which could breed aggression or outright hatred for Asmodai's interference.

Gressen coughed, his lips staining with a small amount of blood which Albedo quickly wiped away. "If we do this for you, what are you willing to give us as thanks?"

Gerard grimaced as if he had swallowed a lemon. He knew this was coming. While he was giving up his daughter, his Heir, it was still a request on the behalf of the Gremory. As a result, should the Asmodai agree, the Gremory would owe them some form of compensation… compensation that the Asmodai could choose.

"Eh, who cares about that, Father?" Naruto interrupted the now-tense atmosphere, "Sure, we could ask for more, but really, they'll be giving up their child. Even though they'll be able to visit, this will be Rias-chan's new home. Besides," he grinned widely, "I think if can we can help them, then we should."

Gressen frowned, "Then why ask my opinion or permission?"

"I wasn't, not really. That was more for Sebas' benefit than mine," Naruto admitted with an insolent shrug. "This was more to inform you of the situation, and maybe get some ideas as to what I'd be getting into. Honestly I was going to accept the request no matter what you said, but your approval would have been a nice bonus."

The old man sighed theatrically, and gazed mournfully at the stunned Lord Gremory. "You see what I have to put up with? Incorrigible, that's what this boy is!"

Gressen started chuckling, "Though in this case I am inclined to agree with him. We will, of course, aid our ancient friends of the Gremory. Little Rias shall join my son's peerage."

Sirzechs, standing to one side of the room during all of this, began laughing. These two! If I didn't know better I'd think that young Naruto really was Gressen-dono's true son! They played us from the very beginning! Gressen played the hardliner, while Naruto was the dutiful son to start and is now the insouciant brat! … I wonder how they were so in sync like that?

Gressen's amused expression caught Sirzech's eye, and one eyelid slowly slid down in an unmistakable wink. So the old codger knows I know, huh? Well done, Gressen-dono. This game goes to you.

Venelana and Gerard finally seemed to catch on that they were being played with, and began laughing in relief, and if there was a bit of hysteria mixed in who could really blame them? And with the laughter, Rias awoke again, trying to understand just why her parents were laughing like mad-people.

Venelana hugged her daughter, "They agreed, Rias-chan. You'll be free of the contract, and become part of Naruto-sama's peerage."

Rias' eyes widened in delight, "Yes!" She rushed over to Naruto and threw her arms around his middle, "I'll be the best Queen! You'll see, Naruto-sama!"

"Woah there," Naruto stopped her, "Queen? I never said what you'd be."

Rias blinked in confusion, "Bu-but! The Queen is perfect for me! I'm the Heiress of my House, a Princess! What else could I be?"

The blonde shrugged, "I dunno, but those points aren't enough to be a Queen in my opinion."

"Well child, what are you good at?" Gressen asked gently.

Rias swiveled her head to see the old man. "Hello! Who are you? I'm Rias Gremory! And I like anime!"

Gressen chuckled, "I'm Lord Gressen Asmodai, Naruto's father. I'm very pleased to meet you, Rias-chan. Now, my question?"

The girl blinked again, and said uncertainly, "Oh! Um- I have the Power of Destruction! Is that what you mean?"

"Power of Destruction?" Naruto asked, confused about the term. The name itself was fairly obvious, but what made it special?

"Ah, the Bael family possesses an ability that allows them to destroy pretty much anything at the atomic level," Gressen explained with a wave of his hand. "It's fairly impressive to see, but useless if it doesn't hit its target. It is rather slow, but I suppose it would hit anything shy of the average chunin of your world pretty easily."

"Ah, so… she's a magic-type?" Naruto guessed, looking toward the girl's family for confirmation.

Venelana nodded, "Yes, she has proven to have an aptitude for the magical arts, so she has been training as a wizard-class combatant."

"Then I'd think that Bishop would probably suit her better," the boy said, one hand stroking a box by his side in an unconscious gesture.

Sirzechs chuckled, "Yes, but it's fairly common to use the Queen first. After all, they are the one's that are your second-in-command, and if they've been with you long they tend to get a bit more respect from the others."

The Maou shrugged, "Or at least, that's what most young devils these days think. I know I didn't get my own Queen until about two hundred years ago, but she was a stubborn one."

"I'll be sure to tell Grayfia you said that, Sirzechs." Venelana said with a mischievous smile. "However, we are forgetting something, Gerard."

Her husband grimaced again, "I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up yet."

"Bring what up?" Gressen asked.

"Ah, as thanks for your help we were going to hand over a bit of our territory in the nearby human world," Gerard said with a sheepish expression. "I was going to mention it on our way out."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "One little prank just to feel like you one-upped us, huh?"

"Something like that."

"Meh, it would've been a good one," Naruto admitted.

"By the way son," Gressen started, his voice beginning to grow weak, "I assume that your Pieces are in that box? Did you get anything interesting?"

Naruto shrugged, "You mean any of those Mutated Pieces you mentioned before I left?" Gressen nodded, "Nah, not really. Well, nothing big, rather," Naruto said, "Just a minor enhancement to a Rook and one Pawn. Barely a single point of value more in both cases."

"Ah," Gressen sounded satisfied. The boy was his son now, but he didn't want the kid to have too easy a time of things. "Now, I am tired, and require rest."

With that Albedo carefully wheeled her Lord out of the room. The others each gave a small bow of respect, and waited a few moments in slightly awkward silence.

Naruto popped open the box holding his Evil Pieces, drawing out a beautifully-crafted bishop. "Well, shall we get this done with? Then we can all copy my father and head to our beds."

Venelana gaped at his Pieces. They looked to be from some kind of fantasy set!(6) The Pawns were all shaped like dragons, the Rooks were towers on mountainsides, the Knights were rearing unicorns, the Bishops were proud wizards, and the Queen looked like a regal miniature of the real thing! The brunette drew a shaky breath.

"I thought you said you didn't get anything big?"

Naruto gave her a deadpan stare. "I didn't. Father asked about mutations."

"Those aren't mutations?" To the best of her knowledge the Evil Pieces only looked like transparent red versions of a standard chess set! Well, these were still transparent and red, but the shapes were breathtaking in their detail.

The blonde shrugged. "Not really. As far as Ajuka-sama could tell, aside from the shapes, there's nothing special about these. Unless the special properties are hidden just that well or he didn't want to tell me of course."

"Of course," She responded faintly. Now she really needed to go home and sleep. Today had been too much!

XxXxXxXx

For a second time that month, Naruto was in the heart of the Asmodai Ritual Chamber. This time he was alone, and stripped to the waist, the Seal on his stomach clearly visible. Grumbling to himself about something not being fair, he closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He sought his center, the entrance to his mindscape, where he had previously conversed with the being called Kyuubi.

Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of a dimly-lit sewer. A grimace crossed his face, "I know that I didn't have the best education, but this is still depressing."

"You're telling me," a heavy voice came from behind him.

Turning, Naruto saw the great fox at rest behind a large cage, head on paws. "I assume you've heard everything so far?"

"Heard most of it, still having trouble believing it all though," the fox admitted. "Devils, a new life for you, kits on the way from your human life, and now you have the former Heiress of another devil family as your servant."

Naruto nodded, and with a twist of his will formed a chair to sit down on. "Yeah. Wouldn't have believed it either if I haven't been living in it. And apparently, at least according to Demiurge, it's at least partly because of that thing."

He gestured to an object embedded into the wall to his right. A small statue of of an incredibly fat person made of gold sat in a small alcove, giving off a feeling of incredible luck. A random Sacred Gear that apparently gifted its bearer with incredible luck in gambling, whether monetary or otherwise.

Considering some of the gambles Naruto had taken in more than a few of his fights, he was glad to have it with him!

The fox snorted, "Daikoku's Blessing.(5) A pretentious name to be sure, but it ain't wrong. Never thought I'd actually see one of those stupid Sacred Gears that biblical bastard created. And in my own Host no less!"

Naruto chuckled, getting the fox's attention. "Hey, Kurama, remember when we used to rant at each other? We just couldn't get along. At least until I asked if you had a name besides 'Kyuubi'."

They both had a chuckle at that. As Kurama thought back to that day, shortly after the training trip with the boy's teacher started actually, Naruto thought about what he had told Yugao and Konan the previous month.

He had lied to them. Though he did indeed get vague feelings from Kurama most of the time, he'd actually become great friends with the fox during those conversations they'd had. And though Naruto felt a little guilty, the remembered look of panic on Yugao's face put a small frown on his own. Kurama had a bad rap from the attack he did on Konoha all those years ago, but it honestly wasn't his fault. The trouble is in convincing others of that fact.

"So what brings you here today, Naruto?" The fox asked, genuinely curious.

"Albedo finally told me what that damned bat Rias has is about," Naruto groused. He had seen the little ball of fur and wings with eyes commonly flying around the mansion and had wondered just what purpose it served. "It's called a Familiar, and apparently is much like a magical pet that does things for you. A whole range of things from being a companion to handing out those stupid fliers that allow humans to form contracts with us devils."

"And?" Kurama wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"I was wondering," the boy began, hope in his voice, "If you might be willing to become my Familiar. It would probably get you out of this Seal without killing me, and allow you to get back into the sunlight and wind you love so much."

The fox sat there for a few minutes, obviously thinking things over, before saying in a tone that brooked no opposition, "I'll tell you now, Brat, I won't be handing out those summoning fliers of yours!"

Naruto shrugged and waved the comment aside. "Eh, that's fine. I got an idea to handle that shit. All you have to do is stand around and look badass. Maybe scare the shit out of some people, possibly eat the occasional asshole. Can you do that?'

Kurama blinked in confusion. "Uh, yeah... sure."

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in triumph.

"Just what did you have in mind for those fliers though?" Kurama asked curiously.

"Ah, that? I'm gonna take a leaf out of Ajuka Beelzebub's book," The boy said blithely, as if it was of no real importance. "You see, I managed to wheedle out of him that he gets all of his contracts done by designing and releasing videogames for humans. Each of them has a 'user agreement' that is actually a pretty long-winded version of the general contracts people sign for a completed job."

"Yeah, heard that. So?"

"So, I figure if he can do that with games, why can't I do that with books? Merely attach a kind of waver stating that the buyer will not hold anything in the book against me, or something like that."

The fox blinked several times, then a vicious grin split his lips. "Naruto, it's times like this that make me proud to have you as my vessel."

Naruto buffed his nails on his chest in a joking display of arrogance. "Why thank you, I do try when I feel like it."

The two of them held their respective poses for a moment, then convulsed into laughter together. Finally Naruto pulled himself back up into a sitting position, wiping his eyes clear. Shaking his head he had to wonder what kind of unholy terror he was about to unleash upon the Underworld.

"Alright, enough lazing around," the blonde said, his mirth still clearly evident in his voice. "I got the spell from Albedo, and double-checked it with Demiurge and Sebas to make sure I had it right, so I'll see you on the outside soon enough."

XxXxXxXx

Uzuki Yugao, former cat-masked member of Konoha's Anbu corps, and currently expectant mother, would admit that her day had been pretty good. While it had been a few weeks since Naruto had decided to become a devil, the ritualistically fused blood of Gressen Asmodai causing his human blood to go dormant, neither Yugao nor her counterpart, Konan of Ame, had really had anything to do except keep their skills as sharp as they could. Considering both of them were doing their level best not to chance a miscarriage, the two women had settled for light-contact sparring and chakra exercises for the last few weeks to at least keep their bodies in shape.

Today had been especially peaceful though. Naruto hadn't caused wanton destruction by accident, Yugao had actually gotten the better of Konan in their spar, and she had just finished an incredibly relaxing bath in the mansion's one divergence from the otherwise European-style design. Oh, that large indoor bath was Heavenly! Yugao absolutely loved it.

However, all of her contentment and relaxed state went out the window when she returned to the room she shared with Konan, and sometimes Naruto who had become much like a giant teddy bear for the two women, only to see a very large red-furred fox-like creature napping on one of the couches. Konan wasn't there, but this giant animal, which looked to be about the size of a large pony and looked vaguely familiar, was just laying there. Sleeping.

However, a memory from when she was only ten years old surfaced, and she immediately began comparing this creature to that memory. It was something she doubted would ever leave her, if only for the fact that it had been etched in through an intense fear.

Tail? Nine of them… Ears? Long and floppy like a rabbit's… Opposable thumbs on the front paws… Long black stripes around the eyes that look to reach into the ears…

The large fox opened one eye at the sudden draft, then raised its head to look at her fully. Red eyes met brown, and in that moment Yugao knew exactly what Naruto had been up to that day.

"Uzumaki Naruto Asmodai, you have so much to explaining to do," she muttered under her breath.

The fox sweatdropped, rose with a stretch, and slipped out of the room past the quietly fuming woman in search of a peaceful spot to resume his nap. "I am not dealing with hormonal human women! Mito and Kushina were more than enough, thank you very much!" Kurama muttered as he stalked away.

"Hold it right there!"

Remarkably, the fox actually stopped, spine rigid as its head turned back to see the pissed off woman. With a quiet gulp, Kurama swiveled his entire body back to face her, and dropped to his haunches, his nine tails waving lazily behind him.

"Yes?" He asked calmly.

Yugao glowered at him, "Aren't you supposed to be bigger?"

Kurama raised an eyebrow, looking both ridiculous and pitying at the same time. "Woman, are you aware of just what it means to be a kitsune?"

"Uh, no."

He snorted, his expression changing to that of a teacher whose student was failing. "It means that I have an innate gift for transformations, illusions, cunning, stealth, and a couple random things my creator thought would be entertaining. In this case, let us focus on the transformation aspect of my previous sentence."

Her eyes widened, "This a Henge?"

Another snort, "Not as you humans practice it, of course, but essentially, yes." He rose again, and turned to continue on his way, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find a nice, quiet place, and resume my nap."

"Ah, sure," Yugao said, her mind racing, and she could feel the headache forming. Quietly she entered her room, and proceeded to the bed. She had quite suddenly discovered a desire to sleep away the madness of the past few minutes.

Either that or strangle Naruto, but she didn't want to die just for the satisfaction of wringing his neck.

XxXxXxXx- Ending Notes

In one of the movies, Minato said that chakras of a similar nature resonated. To me this meant that like Naruto, Minato also had Wind Natured chakra. This is supported by Narutopedia which says that Minato has Fire/Wind/Lightning/Yin/Yang chakra natures. And Kushina's element(s) are recorded as Wind/Water/Yin.

Yes, the Asmodai Family is getting a gold color to their magic circles. Gremory have red, and Phenex have an orange, so I figure most families have a signature color. Thus the Asmodai and their gold.

For those who don't know, Albedo's original personality was that of a nymphomaniac, or "bitch". She was designed to pretty much follow and desire the most powerful people/creatures that she came across. Doubly so if they proved to be stronger than her.

Those who have read my Master of His Fate story will recognize this as the name I am using for Lord Gremory until such a time as the author officially gives him one. The same goes for Lord Phenex. ~I have been informed, multiple times, that Lord Gremory has been given the name Zeoticus. I have checked it out, and I will use it in further chapters. I'm just not gonna bother changing it in this one.

Daikoku's Blessing is Naruto's Sacred Gear. Daikoku is the member of the Seven Lucky Gods that deals primarily with wealth and gambling, but in my opinion all of life is a gamble.

I actually have a copy of this very Fantasy Chess Set. It's rather cool, and it was a gift from my Mother some years back, so I figured I'd use it. Will there be something special about it for Naruto? … Maybe. I'll be rolling the dice on that.

Yes, Rias is his first Bishop, and the one the hint in Chapter 1 was about. I'd almost be willing to bet no one saw that coming! … Almost. What does this mean for Rias' canon Peerage? Well since she didn't receive her Pieces until she was 14-15 in canon, nothing's happening with her canon peerage just yet.

Queen in the next chapter!

~Dreaming of the Phoenix~

Peerage Hint: Queen - I'm the hot, female version of Kisame Hoshigaki… (lol)

Dreaming of the Moon