AN: Alright, so I've gotten some new Betas, and had apparently misunderstood the words of another, so my Beta list stands at: StarBlaze24, Zazuki Kurosuki, and MCRasengan. Thanks to all of them for their assistance.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 01
Chapter 16: Adjustments Pt10, The Only Man, and The Final Rook
Naruto watched as Scarlet, his newest Pawn, was put through her paces by Shalltear two weeks after acquisition. The small vampire said she had an idea as to which other Piece the Arcanine was suited for, and she wanted to be there to see it. She'd done the same with Taki, who had proved to be highly suited for the Knight unsurprisingly.
Kurama sat not far from him which had become more common lately. Naruto was uncertain as to the fox's motivations, but he didn't mind the added company. Besides, Kurama had taken a shine to getting his ears scratched, and Naruto was only too happy to oblige as the fur there was incredibly soft.
Shalltear was going on her typical rant about how Pawns were always suited to at least one other of the Pieces, and explaining in detail about what each Piece did. Scarlet listened intently. She understood the general gist of things, and she wanted to be the strongest to help her new Master who had proven to be both fun and kind. So Scarlet would put her all into doing just that.
"Naruto-sama, if you would grant her permission?" Shalltear all but demanded. She may serve him, and she may have acknowledged that he was the new Lord of her beloved House Asmodai, but nothing would ever change Shalltear.
Naruto sighed with a smile and locked eyes with Scarlet. "Permission to Promote, granted."
A moment later and Scarlet was surrounded by a rising column of energy, one far more impressive than that of Pyrrha's Rook transformation, or even Taki's Knight. Naruto's eyes widened when he realized which Piece Scarlet must have chosen, and why Shalltear waited two weeks.
Shalltear was smirking, "Not every day I get to see a Pawn who could have been a Queen."
"Should I be worried about whether or not she can handle that power?" Naruto asked the petite vampire.
"Not really. For some reason rather than acting as a full devil, Scarlet over there seems to act more like a Familiar. She's leeching off you somehow to strengthen herself." Shalltear shrugged.
Naruto hummed a bit in thought at the power surge dropped to a nimbus of golden light surrounding Scarlet. "It may have to do with the way my Pawns work and something with how Scarlet herself thinks. From what we've observed so far, the Pawns seem to grant a boost to natural endurance. With how things generally worked in her world, at least from what we've seen on T.V.," he grimaced a little at the thought, "we can assume that her thought process may have twisted her Pieces to depending on me for her rise in power somehow. Much like how a Trainer would be viewed as the reason for his Pokémon's rise in ability."
"So the likelihood of her getting a Familiar..." Kurama started the thought.
"Isn't very high." Shalltear finished. "If she doesn't need to complete contracts, but instead leeches off Naruto-sama, then she has no need for one. She can simply remain by Naruto-sama's side at all times."
The nimbus around Scarlet died down as the power boost was allowed to drop. She'd heard everything of course. Her hearing was much sharper than a humans, and even these not-humans in some cases. But their discussion seemed odd to her. Was she not supposed to rely on her new Master? Would he not rely on her? This was how things were supposed to work, right? Each relying on the other to rise to even greater heights?
Naruto grinned and motioned Scarlet over, and began scratching under her chin in the way he'd learned she liked with his free hand. "Well that's fine, isn't it? That's the kind of peerage I'm trying to build anyway. One that works together, relies on one another, and grows together. Scarlet just understood it instinctively. Nothing wrong with that."
Kurama grunted and closed his eyes as Naruto's skillful scratches lulled him back into a daze. "Works for me."
Scarlet licked her Master's face in joy. He understood! He would guide, she would protect, and together with the others she could sense bonded to him, along with her mate and brood they would become a true Pack.
Naruto looked over to Shalltear and asked, "What made you certain she was suited for Queen?"
The vampire shrugged and looked away in embarrassment. "I looked up her species with Rias' help. The personality of devoting herself to her Master is ingrained into her very genetics, while her body is ideally suited to both speed and power, and her race is known for powerful attacks of both the physical and elemental natures. Combined this presents the best case for someone who is well situated for the Queen position."
Naruto blinked, looked at Scarlet again, then shrugged. "Meh, well it's all good."
XxXxXxXx
Naruto's eyebrow twitched heavily the following day as he stared at the Mirror of Remote Viewing. "NOW?! Now one of my Pieces reacts to a male?! What the ever-loving fuck?"
Kurama snickered beside him, and Scarlet tilted her head in confusion. Whatever could be wrong? So the floating picture-thing was showing the image of a depressed human boy, was this not what it was supposed to do?
Naruto noticed their reactions and sighed. "You see, Scarlet, this is a device I use to see into other worlds, like where I found you. In this case it's showing me the image of a potential pack member."
Scarlet let out a sound of understanding. So that's what it was! Okay, she could work with that. And this sad child was a potential pack member? She wondered what it would take to make that reality.
"Fuck it, what do you say we deal with this ourselves?" Naruto asked the two at his side. "I'd take the others, but he doesn't seem to be one to be swayed by numbers."
Scarlet barked in acceptance. She would gladly go with her Master.
Kurama thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Why not? Not like I'm doing anything otherwise." He saw a smirk form on Naruto's face and quickly headed off any thoughts the young man might be having. "That doesn't mean I'm willing to distribute those flyers of yours!"
Naruto deflated, that was exactly what he was about to mention. "Okay..."
He couldn't help it. The picture of Kurama running around and delivering those flyers was funny!
With a sigh, he sent a brief message to Gaara that he'd be out for a bit. The redhead's Domination of Authority ability really cemented Naruto's plans nicely as it allowed Gaara to temporarily expand his presence and "authority" in a situation to command damn near anyone he wanted. This in turn got Albedo so riled up and hot under the collar that she had practically jumped him. And unlike Naruto, Gaara had no problems with returning the favour to the beautiful woman.
Ah well, at least Gaara didn't have to put up with suppressing his hormones like I did, and Albedo's finally happy with an Asmodai. Double Win! And Temari's able to suppress her own lusts rather easily thanks to her Domination… Lucky little...
With one last disgruntled grunt, Naruto, Scarlet, and Kurama vanished in a flash of gold.
XxXxXxXx
Why did they kill him? Sure, he said he was gonna destroy the planet, but he was the only one to recognize us. He was the only one to realize what we each needed, and he gave that to each of us.
And Nagisa killed him. Why?
These thoughts swirled endlessly as a young man with bright red hair wandered around town aimlessly. He had been part of a special project over the previous year, to assassinate an incredibly fast and powerful individual that was threatening the very planet they lived on. His class in particular was the guinea pig for this project, as they were taught various assassination techniques.
The best part of it all? They were being taught these techniques by their target! In an ironic twist the very target of their assassination job was their teacher for their third year of Junior High. They had that one year to kill their target, or the very Earth was doomed.
It wasn't as easy as it sounded.
First, their target wasn't human, but some strange yellow octopus thing. Second, it was immune to bullets, but not to a special kind of plastic. Third, it was charismatic and caring, easily bringing around even the most introverted student to believing in it as both a person and a teacher. Fourth, and this was perhaps the most irritating one, the son of a bitch could go from zero to Mach 20 in an instant! Never mind the other dozen-or-so one-off tricks, the fact that it could- and did! -commonly travel to other countries just to get it's freaking lunch irritated the hell out of everyone in the class.
To top things off there were a couple of extra human teachers. One was a government agent highly versed in the methods of assassination, the other was an actual Femme Fatale assassin. The woman, well, Karma barely paid any attention to her outside of learning something new and potentially useful. Mostly language lessons, if he was to be perfectly honest. Vitch-sensei(1) was, to be perfectly frank, annoying. Karasuma-sensei, on the other hand, was a man after Karma's own heart. Well, not as playful, but the skill the man showed on a regular basis was the kind of thing that Karma wanted to believe he himself possessed on a certain level. And in the past year, Karma was fairly certain he had achieved that level of skill, that awareness of his surroundings.
"Hey."
Karma whirled around. Someone other than Nagisa, Mister "No Presence" himself, had snuck up on him? Impossible!
Yet there was the evidence. A blonde man about Karma's own age, three whisker marks, charcoal business suit, black shoes, and a- was that an annoyed expression?
"So." The blonde said dispassionately, his bearing something Karma couldn't quite read. "You're in despair about something, huh? Normally I'd say 'tell me about it', but right now... I just can't be stuffed. So, I'm gonna give it to you straight from the outset. My name's Naruto Asmodai. I'm a devil, the real kind, from Hell. We call it the Underworld, but pretty much the same thing. I'm here to give you an offer to join a group I'm putting together. It'll increase your lifespan, give you some neat magical powers, and allow you to piss off damn near anyone you want, up until I say otherwise. You interested?"
Karma just stared at him. "Mmm, say I was, what would be the catch?"
The blonde just deadpanned at him. "You'd be serving me as a member of the group, you wouldn't be human anymore, and light- sunlight or whatever -would be somewhat draining on you."
Karma raised one red eyebrow, "We're standing in sunlight now."
"I'm aware," Naruto said. "And it's having an effect on me, just not one you can currently sense."
"Hmm, what if I were to just kill you here and now?" Karma asked, a knife appearing from his pocket.
"I kill you instead and go find someone else," Naruto replied easily. "Considering the effort it takes to get to some of you, I'd rather not do that, but if you attack me that will be the end result." He paused for a moment, "either that or they'll kill you first."
"They?"
Naruto just made a motion to either side, and Karma saw two large reddish beasts. One was distinctly fox-like, with multiple tails, glowing red eyes, and a grin that just begged Karma to do something stupid so it could rend him limb from limb.
Okay, that is not something I want to piss off.
He turned his head the other way to study the second beast and...
...He blanked out for a moment upon seeing it. That couldn't be what he thought it was, could it? Almost mechanically his head turned back to Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
"...Is that a pokémon?"
"Yes."
"A real one?"
"Said I was a real devil, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Said I was looking to make a group, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And that some of you were hard to get?"
"...So that's what you meant?"
"Doesn't get much more difficult than travelling between universes."
Karma felt a sweatdrop form, "Yeah, I guess so..."
Naruto sighed and waved a hand in the air, dismissing the topic. "So, you interested or not? I could stand here all day, but I'd rather not. Kurama would probably get a bit annoyed."
"Which one's Kurama?"
"You really need to ask?" Naruto stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously, between a giant fox and a giant dog, which is more suited to that name? Come on, man, you're Japanese! You should know this one by heart."
Karma felt like facepalming, so he did. "The fox."
Naruto nodded, "the fox. And no, he's not a Ninetales. Figure I'd get that outta the way."
"Ah."
Karma dropped into thought for a minute. Then he shrugged. "Why not? Cannot honestly be more boring and disappointing than what's left for me in this world."
Naruto shrugged in response, "couldn't tell you. I have no idea what might be left for you to do here, but I suppose you should be right. Trouble seems to follow me like a scorned lover."
"Cool," Karma gave a strange grin that was entirely too wide. "So, how do we do this?"
Naruto held up a transparent red dragon sculpture. "You take a hold of this. It then enters your body, binding you to me as my servant- a Pawn if you're curious -and then I take you away from boredom."
"Sounds good to me," Karma said confidently as he grabbed the piece.
Naruto watched as Karma's eyes glazed over and crumple to the ground, only to be caught by Scarlet, and said, "Why do I get the feeling I've just unleashed hell on the Underworld?"
Kurama barked out a laugh, "Because you can see as readily as I can that this boy loves chaos, and will go to great lengths to get a laugh."
Naruto looked at the crumpled body of his newest Pawn laying over Scarlet's back, and sighed.
"What is it with me and redheads?" Seriously, this guy made four!
Scarlet licked his cheek in an attempt to lift his spirits.
It didn't really work.
XxXxXxXx
"So this is Hell, huh?"
"Pretty much."
"Not quite what I was expecting."
"Never is for the first timer. Everyone expects fire and brimstone and screams of the damned, but that starts one level down from here."
"There are levels?"
"Seven levels of Hell, each one pertaining to one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and then there's this place. We're kinda more in the gateway, so to speak."
"So we're not quite in Hell, but not quite outside it either."
"Yup or so I'm lead to believe."
This was the enlightening conversation between Naruto and Karma taking place with the rest of the peerage. The women could seem to decide if they should be laughing at just how similar these two were, or worried at the same thing. It was quickly looking like it might end up a combination of the two.
"Is that mirror supposed to be doing that?" Karma asked, looking off to one side and seeing a mirror through a set of doors.
"At least once more, yes. Looks like my last Piece found my final member already." Naruto said as he got up from his chair to look, "This outta be interesting... Oh, come on. I thought I broke that trend!"
"Apparently not." Karma grinned. Even he had noticed that Naruto's peerage seemed to tend toward the "Babes N' Blades" profile. It looked like aside from him that trend would be continuing.
"Damn." Naruto sighed, "Well, who wants to come along?"
"I believe that this would be a good experience for everyone, Naruto-sama." Tier said.
Naruto shrugged, "alright. Then get ready, looks like a minor war zone in there this time. Not unlike when we had to go get Aayla."
Karma blinked, Oh, I have got to get that story later.
XxXxXxXx
W-what's going on? Why is all of this happening? She thought to herself as her world was practically reduced to ash around her. Her short blue hair tossed about in the wind did little to hide the sight around her from her amber eyes. Her blue tabard and silver armour were tattered.
"Man, why do war zones have to be so.. messy? I mean, this just reminds me of the shape I found Konoha in..."
The sound of a young man's depressed voice from nearby brought her out of her stupor. Her gaze shifted around just enough to see a blonde man in a rendition of traditional shinobi garb and carrying a double-bladed sword. Amber met silver-blue with incomprehension, as if unable to understand how there could be life still in the world, let alone the area.
"I imagine because no one has cleaned up yet, Naruto-sama."
Amber eyes travelled a short distance to another blonde. This one was a tall woman in incredibly revealing armour and skirt and boots, but the giant sword held easily in her hand indicated a certain amount of familiarity to combat.
"You have a point, Tier-chan, but that's not really what I meant." The young man said.
"Aren't you getting off-topic, Naruto-kun?"
The girl's amber gaze swivelled to the opposite direction. A teen girl with bright red hair the colour of freshly spilled blood stood there in armour reminiscent of ancient Greece, and the javelin and shield combo for weapons assisted in hardening that image.
"That's true, Pyrrha-chan," the blonde man said, bringing the blue haired girl's attention back to him. "So, aside from the fact that it seems like Armageddon has been unleashed, what seems to be the problem?"
"You mean other than my entire village being wiped out only a few days before I was to be sent on my first assignment?" The girl replied bitterly, yet in a strange monotone.
The young man shrugged, "I kinda put that in under the 'Armageddon Unleashed' part."
"Then nothing much, aside from not knowing where my best friend or my younger sister are." She paused for a moment, glancing around to see several other people besides the first three. One red haired girl that could easily be mistaken for the sister of the previous girl, a red haired boy, and a red haired woman in armour. Two blonde women, one of which as absurdly tall and wearing the most revealing set of armour the girl had ever seen, the other gave off the image of a Holy Knight despite how tiny she seemed. One brunette that seemed to have a fetish for chains to go with her white and blue miko outfit, one raven haired woman in skintight red kunoichi garb, and a blue skinned woman with… were those tentacles coming from the top of her head? Well, not the weirdest thing out there. And finally a…
The girl blanked for a moment, then brought deadpan eyes back to the blonde boy who seemed to be the spokesman of the group. "Is that a pokémon?"
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Scarlet's a pokémon, an Arcanine to be exact. And before you ask, no, Kurama is not a Ninetales."
Kurama snorted, "I should think not. I am far more powerful than some animal."
The girl stared at the fox for a moment, then turned her blank gaze back to the blonde man. "So? What do you want?"
"I'm looking to build a group, a family to look after each other and fight by each others side. I have one position left, and I believe you would finish it well."
"And you are?"
"Ah, forgot my introduction again, did I?" He looked sheepish for a moment, then his stance and gaze firmed. "Naruto Asmodai, head of the Asmodai House. Just not the one I believe you are familiar with."
The blue haired girl blinked in obvious shock. "You can't be a devil. I'm of the Hero Clan, we are taught to sense devils, and I can't sense you."
"That might be because I was originally human." Naruto shrugged. "I'm not entirely certain, as this is the first time I'm meeting a legit hero. Plus, like I said, I'm not the kind of devil you're used to."
The girl frowned, "what do you mean?"
Naruto shrugged, "well, to start with we're not from this universe, just kinda accepted for the time being. For another I'm pretty sure that we don't give off the same feeling as those descendants of fallen Angels you're familiar with. We aren't 'Unholy' and we aren't 'Corrupted Light'. We are supposedly 'Shadow', though most of the devils were I come from would prefer 'Darkness'... but they're mostly pretentious, dramatic asshats with dreams of glory."
The girl looked at him like he'd lost his marbles for a moment, then her face cleared into a blank mask. She focused on him, extending her senses. As the leader of this group he would be the best possible subject to feel out for what he spoke of.
He feels... like sunlight on the beach... a warm blanket on a cold night... but also like a barely contained vortex of power, like the Wind itself flows through him, but in a timeless sense... otherwise he just feels... human. She thought as she tried to make sense of what she was feeling from this young man.
After what seemed to be an eternity for the on-guard devils, the girl nodded once firmly. "Nonaka Yuki of the Hero Clan. What would joining this group of your entail?"
Naruto blinked. This was going far better than he had thought it would. Well, aside from being in the middle of a war zone, surrounded by potential enemies that might decide to ambush them at any moment for standing still. That part was at least mitigated as he motioned Karma and Akitsu and Titania onto roving guard duty.
"Ah... let's see.. well let's get the part that you'd probably like the least: you would become a devil with all the ups and downs included, such as increased lifespan with a sensitivity and weakness toward sunlight."
Yuki didn't bat an eyelash and simply made a "keep going" motion with her hand. She wanted as much information as possible as she could get.
"Then there's the magic, and since I'd be reincarnating you with this item," Naruto held up what looked like a small transparent red sculpture of a castle on a mountainside for a moment, "You would become my 'servant'. This item also brings a couple of nifty tricks, such as greater physical strength and defence, and a small amount of regeneration(2)."
So far the benefits outweigh the cons... Yuki thought to herself. The real question within this so far seem to be whether or not I'm willing to become a devil and serve under this man? Under normal circumstances I probably would have turned down his offer without a second thought, but do I really have anything left to live for here?
"That's pretty much it in a nutshell," Naruto said, only to thump his fist into an open palm a moment later. "Oh, I almost forgot about the Familiar. A magical companion that is bound to you for life and will do various things for you. Kurama here is my first Familiar, though my deal with him is a little different."
He held up a hand as he saw her draw a breath to ask the obvious question, "in the interests of expediting this, I'll just say that my deal with Kurama is not really pertinent at the moment." He paused for a moment, then added sheepishly, "though I should mention you also get one wish granted within my power. I'm limited at the moment, because I'm not really that experienced, but I'll do my best to abide by your desire."
Yuki blew out the breath she had drawn to ask about that very subject. He was right, though. His deal with the kitsune wasn't pertinent, though that wish was interesting. Instead she looked around at the scenery around her. Burning buildings, dead humans and demons and devils littered the ground and even a few roofs. Her home village was pretty much wasted. Her assignment, something she was supposed to be given today, was probably moot and pointless now. Her friends were gone, and her family with them most likely. They had been gearing up to celebrate her first official long-term mission, and she could see the blood pooling from the burning doorway from her current position only a few dozen feet away.
Yuki knew, if she looked inside and saw her friends and family dead, or dying, she wouldn't be able to hold herself together. Yet she couldn't stop herself from taking those steps, those self-destructive strides. Unknowing and currently uncaring that Naruto and his his group followed her at a respectful distance, Yuki found herself suddenly looking inside what was once her home. Many would wonder why she hadn't done this earlier, but a tiny portion of her mind realized that Naruto had showed up when he had to try and distract her from this, to save her from having to witness what lay beyond that door.
Her mind froze, unable to properly process what she saw. Blood by the bucket splashed the area liberally, dismembered limbs and eviscerated torsos littered the floor and even decorated the walls in some cases. Her parents' heads stared up at her blankly from the floor just beyond the door while her little sister's was seemingly put in place of the dinner feast. Her friends had been brutally torn to pieces and added to the side dishes, and there were several demons dancing and laughing. It looked to be the demons' version of the very celebratory feast that was supposed to be her send-off.
One of the demons looked at the doorway and smiled grotesquely. "Would you look at that? Looks like we missed one! Hahah!"
Naruto stepped up behind Yuki and placed his hand on her shoulder, eyeing the demons dangerously. He forced her to look at him, turning her away from the gore spattered room beyond. "Yuki, is this the wish you have? If you wish for me to give your family justice, I will. You have but to say the word, and every last demon here will die for their crime."
The demon spoke in an arrogant tone, "As if one human could kill all us! Who do you think you're kidding?"
Naruto gaze snapped to the demon and held it with a burning hatred that caused it to step back a little. "I wasn't talking to you, asshat. So be silent until she has made her decision. But, Yuki, remember there is always a price to be paid."
Yuki shuddered at the raw authority in his voice. He meant it. If she gave the word he would kill each and every demon in that building. If she wished for it. If she paid the price. If she joined his group, if she herself became a devil and served him.
It wasn't honestly much of a choice, in her opinion.
She nodded once, decisively. "I wish it. In return I will join you."
Naruto nodded, and stepped around her, cracking his knuckles and then producing his double-bladed sword. "Then the Bargain is struck. May not even God Himself break this Sacred Contract. Now, don't blink asshats, this will be all over in a moment."
Yuki didn't blink. She didn't even turn her head. She wanted the sight of these demons getting the justice they deserved to be branded into her mind for all time. Behind her two of the women shuddered in a combination of fear and arousal. Tier and Akitsu felt their King's raging emotions of righteous anger, vindication, exultation, and a strange calm overriding it all. There was no doubt in their minds that this would be another form of stress relief for their lover, and they would so be jumping his bones later.
Naruto summoned his magic, his power over Time understanding that this was not the time for playing and responded appropriately. To Naruto's vision everything stopped, the fires no longer crackled, the air was no longer heavy, the demons ceased to even breathe. He did a quick head count of those he could see. Seventeen. That would be a difficult number to deal with with his current control over wide areas, so he shifted his magic's parameters. Time around him began to move normally, but Naruto became a blur. A single streak of gold flashed between every demon in sight.
Yuki finally blinked. He had been correct. It had taken but a moment and the demons were reduced to crumbling corpses. He eyes had done their best to track his movements, but they had been unable to catch anything but his back trail. That kind of speed shouldn't be possible! At least not without heavy repercussions...
Then she found him. He was kneeling, holding one hand to his chest as he gasped for breath. The pain he felt was evident upon his face as she slowly approached him from the side.
"What was that?" She asked, awe slightly colouring her voice as she stared at the teen who had just given her family justice.
"Time Alter: Pentacle Accel.(3)" Naruto gasped out heavily. "Give me... a minute... to catch my breath... Tier-chan... set up the others around this house... Titania... by me, please..."
His peerage leaped into oiled movement, each to their place in a guard formation, Titania at Naruto's side as his final line of defence. He was obviously exhausted, his still gasping form was testament to that, yet Yuki saw the loyalty of his people in that instant, and the charisma needed to obtain said loyalty. She knew, without words, that these people followed this young man because they wanted to, because he gave them something they each longed for in some way.
And Nonaka Yuki, last known member of the Hero Clan, found herself falling into place opposite Titania on Naruto's other side, a flash of green energy and she stood with her blade drawn to defend him.
"What was that item he spoke of, Titania-san?" Yuki asked as she held her position.
"A Rook from a very special chess set known as Evil Pieces," the redheaded woman explained. "For some reason the creator of the pieces has something of an obsession with that game, and made the items after it. It is the catalyst needed to force a reincarnation into a devil."
"Where you human before?"
"Yes, a Paladin in my world."
"Paladin!" Yuki was shocked. What could a Paladin want so badly as to become a devil, the very beings they were sworn against?
Titania gave a small chuckle, though her guard never dropped. "Not a Paladin as you may know it. In my world I was a high-ranked knight with a rather large amount of experience, which dropped me into the classification of Paladin. In fact I had just been promoted to the class of Great Knight when Master Naruto came for me."
"Why would you go with him when you had received such prestige?"
"Because he was honest with me from the get-go, and gave me a new purpose when the world I was born to was about to head into an era of peace and prosperity that would likely deny the need for such a person as I," Titania said simply.
Yuki's face twitched into the barest minimum of a smile. "Something tells me that's a recurring theme."
"Very similar, yes," Naruto said, his voice no longer nearly so strained. "Many of your future teammates have a rendition of 'despair turned to hope'. It was one of the things I had the Pieces actively search for, so I could at least give someone else the chance at a new life like I had received."
"Why?' Yuki asked, honestly curious.
"Wasn't born a devil any more than the rest of you," Naruto admitted easily as he moved to a cross-legged position. "I was born Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, though they died the same day I was born so I didn't get to know them. Lord Gressen Asmodai used a ritual to exchange Minato's blood in me for his own. So I'm now Naruto Asmodai."
Yuki blinked once. "Devils can do that?"
"Not easily, and there are more complications for me with this than for you with the Rook piece."
"Complications? Like what?"
"Increased sexual hormones from puberty, but a mind that can't quite control or process them," he replied dryly. "You ever wonder why devil's are pictured as a promiscuous race? It's due to an increase in testosterone and estrogen- and a few other things -that came about as a response to our low birth-rates."
"What?"
"We have a ton of sex, but we aren't exactly surrounded by children," Naruto said bluntly. "We live so long that the Universe Itself put a limit on our potential numbers. Just think of what it could be like if a long-lived race like devils, a race that can live pretty much indefinitely, were to be able to reproduce at the same speed as humanity. The world would pretty much be overrun by immortals. We'd have to live in a constant state of war in order to return nutrients to the planet, that otherwise takes place during physical decomposition, to produce things for the future. In short, there needs to be a limit placed on us."
Yuki blinked more. She hadn't thought of it like that.
"There's also the fact that devils, angels, and the like are more of spiritual beings rather than flesh and blood," Naruto said wryly. "Which is part of why we live so long. Our spirits transcend our physical shells, and Nature took things a step or two further."
"Oh." She didn't quite understand, but she figured it would come with time.
He waved the conversation off, "That's a discussion for another time, and honestly it's more of a personal theory that isn't quite fleshed out yet... no pun intended."
Yuki just stared at him. It really was a bad pun, and poorly timed at that. Talking about physical bodies and then throwing out that comment of "fleshing out" a theory... yeah, that was bad. So she figured she'd let it pass.
"So how do we do this?" She asked, a rare trace of nervousness in her voice.
Naruto held up the strange red statue again. "Simple, you take this and allow it to enter you, to change you. The process will most likely knock you out for a while, but when you next wake you'll be a devil and I'll have taken you away from this nightmare."
He waved a hand around him at the nightmare in question. Yuki had to agree that this was her personal nightmare, and she wanted dearly to leave it behind. The only thing keeping her steady through all of this, in any shape, was her training as a Hero.
Yuki didn't bat an eyelash as she stared into Naruto's eyes while taking the Rook into her hand. Her last vision was of his kind smile, his understanding eyes, and the silent promise both held that he would be there for her when she awoke. She smiled a true smile and allowed the blackness to take her, remake her.
Nonaka Yuki, Rook of Naruto Asmodai, was born.
XxXxXxXx- Ending Notes
1- Vitch-sensei: I know there are going to be people on my case about this, and I'm going to set the record straight right now! The Japanese don't do "V" any more than they do "L", so they substitute. And while, yes, the students are indeed saying "Bitch-sensei", they are merely mispronouncing "Vitch" as a common running gag.
2- Naruto's Rook: remember people, that his Pieces gained something extra from him. In this case the Rooks gained a small amount of his regenerative/healing ability. Not to the level of what Kurama could induce, but certainly greater than what a human would have otherwise.
3- Time Alter: yes, this is indeed the same thing Emiya Kiritsugu uses in the Fate Series. He went up to Square Accel, which was a Four times boost. If you can't figure out on your own that Pentacle Accel is a five times boost... then I weep for the future of mankind.
Inferno Phoenix asked me to add in which world each member of the peerage is from, so I will.
Current Peerage (World/Familiar):
Queen: Tier Harribel (Bleach/Undine)
Bishop: Rias Gremory (DxD/Devil Bat, Magic Bat), Akitsu (Sekirei/?)
Knight: Aayla Secura (Star Wars/Gryphon), Saber Lily (Fate Series/?)
Rook: Titania (Fire Emblem/Celestial Charger), Nonaka Yuki (Shinmai Maou/?)
Pawn: Pyrrha Nikos (RWBY/Magic Wolf), Taki (Soul Calibur/?), Arcanine (Pokémon), Akabane Karma (Assassination Classroom/?)
Akabane Karma from Assassination Classroom! The only other male in the group! That ought to be interesting, no? And then there's the final Rook, who would have guessed Nonaka Yuki from Shinmai Maou no Testament? Answer: To date, no one. Seriously, Shinmai Maou and DxD are so compatible it's kinda like they're the same world with slightly different view points. Not entirely, of course, but the similarities are there.
So the Peerage is complete! Quite the group, ain't it? Gotta wonder just how this will work when I get to canon. Even I don't know! Only time will tell, and so far it's been a fun ride, so let's all hope for that fun to continue.
I'd like to point out to someone who mentioned Rias' peerage to me, that Rias first met Akeno when she was 11. Currently she is 10, maybe just turned 11. I have time if I want to save Akeno from being killed. Not much, theoretically, but there is some.
~Dreaming of the Phoenix