Disclaimer: See chapter 01.

Chapter 17: Finally! A Freaking Vacation!… Oh, Come ON!

Sirzechs Lucifer, leader of the Four Maou, and basically the undisputed most powerful devil, was laughing hysterically. His Queen, who also happened to be his sole wife, was openly gobsmacked. Various other members of the thirty-four remaining Pillar Houses were in similar states at the annual poker game they held to touch base with each other. The other three Maou each had a different expression that was mirrored by one of the other Pillar Heads. Ajuka Beelzebub looked amused, Falbium Asmodeus had an air of resignation, and Serafall Leviathan...

...Was pouting? Okay, Naruto decided to leave that alone as much as devilishly possible.

The reason for the various reactions? Well, as this event was a way to touch base with each other, each of them told of what was perhaps the most interesting or important things going on within their territory in the past year. If they didn't have anything interesting they weren't really obligated to show up.

... And Naruto Asmodai had had a very interesting past eight-and-a-half months.

Naruto sighed in his place at the table, Tier standing behind him- yet another common thing, apparently, was to bring the Queen of your Peerage with you -his cards untouched this round, though he had stayed in the game with his bets. "I get it, I get it. The new Asmodai is interesting. Yeesh."

Ajuka got control of himself, "So that little vampire found that glitch in the system, right? What did you get for Pawns?"

"In order? Pyrrha was Rook potential, Taki was Knight, Scarlet was Queen, and Karma…. Bishop." Naruto ticked the names off on his fingers, then looked up into the amused expression of the Evil Piece creator, "Yeah, I know. One of each of the other Pieces. Gaara, Temari, Konan, and Yugao found it amusing, too."

Sirzechs snickered, but couldn't quite hide his smile. "Speaking of, how are those ladies? Getting close to birth, right?"

"Yeah, I'm told it shouldn't be much longer," Naruto shrugged. "They aren't too happy with me just now, what with the amount of time I've been spending with others. I think they're starting to feel neglected."

"That's no good, Naru-chan!" Serafall declared childishly as she traded out two cards from her hand to Falbium who was the Dealer this round. Naruto found that interesting, they traded out Dealers each round, and the Dealer wasn't allowed to play. Presumably because everyone at the table knew ways to cheat, but also because they rotated playing members every so often. At the moment it was Naruto, the four Maou, Lord Astaroth, and Zeoticus Gremory. The others were either watching or at the bar getting shitfaced. "You can't neglect the mothers carrying on your human blood!"

"I'm well aware of that, Sera-chan," Naruto sighed. He might have been more annoyed at her mention of his human blood like that, but most of the Lords and Ladies assumed that he used a ritual to separate his human blood for the use of impregnating two other humans just so his mother's line would be continued. They weren't entirely wrong. "And I do try to make time for them, really. And that'll be a bit easier now with Gaara and Temari's help to deal with more of the administration, but I'm at a loss as to what to do for Yugao and Konan."

"Why not take them and your peerage on a vacation?" Sirzechs suggested, raising the pot a bit higher. "I know that the Kuoh territory you got from my parents has some perfectly lovely forest areas, and even a mountain retreat with an absolutely gorgeous lake."

"Hm," Naruto rubbed his chin in thought, "not a bad idea. Now, call!"

As each member of the table flipped their cards, Naruto revealed he'd been given a Royal Flush in hearts. Cursing ran the table's circumference. Looks like he won again. He really shouldn't be playing anyway, Daikoku's Blessing was working overtime in a normal gambling setting.

He traded out on the next round with the lord of House Agares just so the murderous atmosphere could die down a bit. Besides, the vacation idea was a good one, and he was going to take a moment to think more on it.

Maybe he could even add a few dates with his girls to the mix?

XxXxXxX

Now, just a month after that poker game, Naruto stared down a large mob of men and women in various shrine garb in a forest clearing. Behind him trembled a young girl about Rias' age, her long dark hair dishevelled and her dark purple eyes wide with fear, her clothing tattered and ragged. Rias was there, too, as she had called for him through the bond between King and Bishop, and she was trying to keep the shivering girl from panicking any more than she already was. On either side of the young Asmodai head were his two newest peerage members, Nonaka Yuki and Akabane Karma.

"So," Naruto said, his voice deceptively calm and pleasant, "you lot want to chase down and kill a little girl, do you? I'm afraid I take exception to that, but even more… you interrupted the vacation I was taking with my family. So, do tell me exactly why I should let you all live?"

All four of Naruto's group were in various swimwear, testament to the idea of a vacation.

The leader of the group blanched, but held his ground. He was dressed as Naruto would expect a high-ranked priest to be, so the blonde figured him to be the highest ranking member of the group. "That thing behind you is not a child! It is a monstrosity! As true members of the Himejima Shrine, we must remove that stain upon our name from this world!"

Naruto held up a hand, the gesture alone being enough to stop the tirade in its tracks. "That is not what I asked. The question was 'why should I let you live after you interrupted my family's vacation?' I have as yet to hear a reason. For that matter, this is taking place in my territory, not that of the Himejima Shrine, which is, I believe, located somewhere between here and Kyoto. This is Kuoh."

The spokesman snorted, "if this is Kuoh, then it's the territory of the Gremory, not whatever you might be."

Naruto smiled pleasantly, but it in no way touched his eyes. "Yes, it did belong to the Gremory, now it does not. It was given to me when I took their daughter, the redhead behind me, into my peerage. A thank-you gift, if you will. Now, do answer my question."

The human blanched harder, and uneasy muttering started up among the others. Naruto was half-way certain that if the man could fade away, he would. There was no mistaking Rias for anything but a true member of the Gremory family. Anyone who claimed to be acquainted with the supernatural would recognize her as such from the hair alone.

The white-faced priest took a better look at Naruto, and if possible went even more pale.

If he loses any more blood to his head, he'll either asphyxiate or faint. Naruto commented to himself. But because his vacation honestly was being interrupted he was feeling a tad vindictive at the moment. So he decided to push things along.

"I'm waiting." He made a show of checking his watch, as if counting the seconds. "I'm afraid that if you don't hurry up, I'm going to have to conclude that you are all idiots and that the world will be better off without you..."

The head priest swept into a low bow, "I apologize, Lord Asmodai, but this is an internal matter of the Himejima Shrine-"

"Not anymore," Naruto interrupted. "You have brought it into my territory, thus making it my business. And I have as yet to hear a reason to let you all live."

"Um, well..." The head priest fumbled for a reply.

"You monsters already killed Kaa-sama!" The trembling girl suddenly screamed. "Isn't that enough for you?"

"No!" The old priest shouted in response, momentarily forgetting he had an audience now that his attention was focused upon the trembling child. "Your whore of a mother shamed us all when she spread her legs for that Fallen Angel! Then she compounded it by birthing you! You are the very symbol of your mother's bad choices in life, and a stain upon the name of Himejima Shrine! If you are not killed, that stain will remain forever!"

"Okay, yeah, I've heard enough of this bullshit," Naruto cut in, the priest once again looking at him. "This diatribe sounds far too similar to what I was given as a child."

"That's right, you're a half-breed yourself, aren't you? Your mother was just as much a whore as this wretch's! A stain upon not only her family, but all of humanity." The priest sneered, finding courage in his words. "Your mothers should have killed themselves the moment they knew they were with child!"

Naruto's gaze flattened. "You know, prior to that statement, I might have been willing to let you live if you just turned around and left. Now, however… yeah, you're a dead man."

Karma grinned evilly, "You really shouldn't have said that, Priest-man. Isn't talking ill of the dead taboo? You shame your robes."

Yuki grimaced, "I'm of a Hero clan, and even I agree, Karma-san. This scum deserves to die."

The rest of the priests and priestesses looked wary and moved slightly away from their leader. They knew only that the girl was a bastard, born out of wedlock, to a Fallen Angel. They just thought it was right to chase her off so they could go and purify the temple of the Fallen taint. They hadn't realized that the head priest wanted the girl dead.

… Okay, yeah, that last bit was blatant lie on their part, but they didn't want to piss off a High class devil just to kill one girl.

So they distanced themselves from him in an attempt to say without words "We want nothing to do with him and his insanity."

Naruto noticed their action and said to them, "If you leave now, you live."

The elder priest scoffed, and failed to notice his gang backing away from his vicinity as he said, "You really think we're scared of you? A child who cannot defend himself, let alone the ones he stands up for? I may not be as spry as I used to be, but my spiritual powers have not waned in the least, and I can assure you that those with me are powerful as well!"

"Making a lot of assumptions, ain't he?" Karma asked with a grin.

"He is, you wanna disabuse him?" Naruto replied.

"Why not?" Karma said as he casually stepped forward, hands in the pockets of his trunks. He wasn't really bored, the older man's words having pissed him off, but he wasn't the type to show anything but his utter confidence. Karma may never have met Naruto's mother, but he held sacred the bond of parent and child. The fact that this guy was throwing shit all over what bond Naruto had with his mother… yeah, that wasn't going to fly.

Naruto sighed as he watched the rather one-sided beat down. The old priest had some skill in Invocation, but certainly not enough to exorcise a devil that was physically in front of him. Probably could have handled a possession routine fairly easily, though. But Karma was there, it wasn't a possession, and the priest found his ass handed to him pretty quickly.

Karma then grinned evilly, pulled out a roll of duct tape, tied the man up and proceeded to… shove wasabi and hot mustard up the man's nose?

… Naruto decided to focus on the retreating other priests. But damn, he wished he'd thought of something like that a few times.

"Alright, while Karma is giving that man his slow- and no doubt painful -death by humiliation and suffering, I take it the rest of you are willing to negotiate?" Naruto asked the group of priests and priestesses pleasantly. They nodded warily, and his smile turned up a notch. "Wonderful! So, here's the deal, you all go away, back to your shrine, and the girl will come with me and mine. Sounds good, yes? Awesome! I knew it would!"

The group stared at him in sullen silence for a few moments, then turned around and left. They all realized that they didn't really have a say in the so-called negotiation. He was letting them leave. And all they had to do was hand over one inconvenient girl. An easy choice in their minds.

Naruto turned his attention to the girl in question and asked, "now, what are we going to so with you, hm?" He blinked, "actually, before that, what's your name?"

The girl looked up at him, eyes still full of tears, but no longer crying. "Akeno, Himejima Akeno."

"Well, then, Akeno-chan," Naruto's smile warmed the girl and made her feel safer, "what say we take you back to the manor house and get you cleaned up and get some food into you? Then we can talk about what comes next, hm?"

Akeno looked at him for a few moments, her tears eventually fading, and nodded. "Okay."

XxXxXxXx

Naruto and his group, sans Konan and Rias, had retreated to the mountain manor's study a few days later to talk about what exactly they were to do with the young girl. Said girl was pretty much out like a light the last they had checked, and was well on her way to demolishing their soup stores.

"Running long, builds appetite, but also exhaustion." Akitsu stated quietly once they were behind closed doors.

"The poor child, she must have been running for quite some time," Aayla said sympathetically. Her words were echoed by a nod from Lily.

"The Himejima Shrine is in Kyoto," Naruto said quietly, "that's a good three or four days on foot by road. We're in the mountains, though, so she might have been on the run longer for all I know."

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it, Naruto-kun?" Yugao said in an aside voice as she breastfed one of her newborn twins. Little Kushina, obviously named for Naruto's mother, was surprisingly unfussy unless hungry. Her twin brother, Inari, on the other hand...

The births of the children carrying on Naruto's human line had actually been fairly easy according to the doctors. Naruto's hands would declare otherwise as they still throbbed in remembered pain every so often. Yugao and Konan had apparently not only gotten pregnant at the same time, the children were even competing to be born at the same time. Enough so that he'd had to sit between the two women as they gave birth, holding one of their hands each.

Right, Reminder to Self: devil or not, a trained kunoichi's grip is nothing to scoff at!

In any case Yugao was now a proud mother to his firstborn, Uzumaki Kushina, and his third-born, Uzumaki Inari. While Konan was now mother to Uzumaki Hinata, who gave Kushina a good run for her money to be firstborn, and Uzumaki Yahiko. Two daughters, two sons, staggered between the two mothers, Naruto couldn't believe the timing on them.

Could that mean I did the deed with Yugao first, or more, or what? Not like I'm a professional, but even the doctors were surprised at the apparent order of the births…Then there were the names… We'd already decided on some names... my mother's was easy, a good way to honor a woman who had the strength to protect her child no matter the consequence… Hinata, to remember the shy yet strong girl who stood up for what she believed in… Inari, partly for the same fox-like whisker marks I have, and partly to remember that precocious little brat from Nami… and Yahiko, to honor and remember a man who fought and died for his ideals. Good names, all.

Naruto shook his head, not the time to be thinking about that! "Yes, reminds me almost of all the times I pissed off the Anbu enough to chase me for my pranks."

His joking tone easily hid his uneasiness at the situation. The truth was simply that if the villagers of Konoha had cared enough, he might very well have been on the run himself at an even younger age.

Though, in a way they did chase me out, by never truly acknowledging me. He mused.

Shaking his head again, he turned to Pyrrha. "So how is our latest foundling doing, Pyrrha-chan?"

"Surprisingly well, actually," Pyrrha said with a shrug. "I'm not sure if it just hasn't sunk in yet, or if she's really just throwing away her old life for a fresh chance, but she's already adopted a slightly modified maid uniform by adding in elements of what I assume were her shrine priestess robes. And it hasn't even been a full week yet, but she's already picking things up from Melanie and Militia."

"Almost as if she's afraid we'll kick her out if she's not helpful?" Naruto suggested softly.

Pyrrha looked stunned at the idea, then she thought about it and answered slowly, "Yes, very much like that, now that I think about it. From the moment she'd been cleaned up and fed, she practically attached herself to Rias, Yugao, and Konan. How strange..."

"Not really," Naruto corrected. "Rias called for me, in effect saving her life. So there's bound to be a kind of unrecognized debt there. Yugao and Konan are new mothers, and despite not being devils it is obvious that we all take their safety, and that of the children, very seriously. Attaching to them could simply be her way of trying to protect what, to her, could very well be a fragile lifeline. If she makes herself useful to the new mothers who are obviously important to your leader, in this case me, then it's less likely that this new chance at life will be taken from her."

Now it was the rest of the peerage's turn to look poleaxed.

"Surely she doesn't think that we'd save her, just to throw her back out there!" Titania protested.

"Titania," Naruto said gently, "think about the kind of reputation devil-kind has."

The woman winced. She'd forgotten about that. Naruto and the others she'd met hadn't seemed to fall under that stereotype, so it had slipped her mind completely. But a child, one raised in a shrine or church, would have been raised on the idea that devils were some of the worst beings out there. Right below their so-called progenitor, Lucifer himself.

Aayla cleared her throat, "so where is the youngling now?"

Naruto glanced out the window upon hearing a sudden noise, "outside, playing with Rias and Shirone. Konan volunteered to watch over them, which is why she's not with us right now."

"That brings us to a point I'd a like to bring up," Yuki said quietly. "The girl's half-breed blood. I can sense the power of her supernatural blood from here."

"The blood of a Fallen Angel," Naruto mused. "Not necessarily a problem, though. I doubt she's some kind of assassin. She has none of the obvious signs, for one."

Yuki shook her head, "That's not what I mean, Naruto-sama. I mean, if I can feel her from here, then no doubt other beings can as well. She has little or no control of her aura. So much so that she's practically a beacon to those with the right senses. It's not really subtle in any sense of the word."

"Ah, yes… sensory has never really been my strong suit, and with all the changes recently in my life I haven't had the chance to shore that area up. How do you propose to fix that issue?"

Yuki shrugged, "simple. I'll teach her. The Hero Clan uses magic a little differently than most other supernatural bloodlines, so it shouldn't be too difficult as she doesn't really have anything to unlearn. I'm fairly certain that Albedo-san could do so as well, if she weren't so set on getting pregnant with Gaara-sama's child as soon as possible."

Her last sentence brought a chuckle to the room at large. At the rate Albedo was going, Gaara wouldn't have much of an issue with his hormones for too much longer. It almost made Naruto jealous, but he wouldn't give up his current five ladies for anything.

Besides, he thought humorously, with Albedo's personality, Gaara may just end up with multiple women as well!

"Alright then, that's the current plan," Naruto said with an air of finality. "Yuki will teach Akeno how to control and conceal her rather unique presence, and for the time being we'll let the girl continue to assist Yugao and Konan while being dragged off by Rias for some fun once in a while."

Another round of chuckles came in response to the wry tone that ended his statement.

"In the meantime, while she's getting situated, I do believe we have a date, Pyrrha-chan," He finished with a wink at the suddenly blushing redhead. "I'll meet you in the lobby."

Pyrrha just nodded and left the room quickly to the sounds of more amused chuckles. She wasn't the only date he had planned, but Tier had volunteered to go last, while up next would be Akitsu. Naruto intended to get to each of the women involved with him in time, and even had decided to spend time alone with both Yugao and Konan to not only know them better, but as an acknowledgement and thanks for what they had put with already.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto was having a difficult time not drooling over how Pyrrha looked. Her chosen outfit was both stylish and sexy, it was testing the limits of his control. A tight-fitting white blouse with an open neck, brown leather jacket, hip-hugging jeans so form-fitting he almost swore he could see camel-toe- probably just his imagination -a bronze chain belt and a pair of low-heeled strap-styled heels lent her an air of both sophistication and personal appeal that he could hardly blame the other men in the area for looking.

He did get a fair amount of amusement out of watching those men in relationships get their ears bent out of shape for it, though.

"Have I mentioned you look stunning, Pyrrha-chan?" He asked as he snaked an arm around her shoulders to draw her in.

Pyrrha gladly allowed him to pull her closer, resting her head on his shoulder. "Yes, but you can always say it again."

She had noticed the stares as well, but so long as the man for whom she had dressed up for liked it she would happily ignore everything else that might ruin her time with him. This was something she had wanted for so long, to be just an ordinary girl on a date with her boyfriend. She had always wanted to just do something "normal", to be treated as just Pyrrha. Right here, right now, she was getting her wish, and she wouldn't change anything.

She did giggle a bit, though, at the sight she and Naruto must have presented. Somehow he had a similar idea to her for an outfit, just replacing the heels with sneakers and the blouse with a wife-beater. In other words, they had matching outfits, and she found it both amusing and cute at the same time.

Snuggling into him a little more and sending smug grin to the admiring women in the crowd, Pyrrha asked, "So, what's the plan? I'm fine with just spending the day with you, but I figure you have an idea."

Naruto grinned and placed a soft kiss on her head. "I thought, since you always wanted some normalcy, that we might try the old cliché of 'dinner and a movie'."

Pyrrha sighed in contentment, "That sounds lovely."

All in all, Naruto thought the date was a success hours later when he carried her home and put her to bed. He joined her shortly after, and wondered as he drifted off why he hadn't really had much in the way of his usual hormonal surges that day.

Damned teenage devil hormones... still not making any sense...

XxXxXxXx

Akitsu blinked at the sight before her. "Ah.. what's this?"

Naruto smiled, "it's a skating rink. Humans decided they actually liked the ice to play on, and created these places to do just that. I figured it would be fun for us, too."

"…I don't know how to skate," she admitted.

"Neither do I," he replied cheerfully. "But I'm willing to learn with you, Akitsu-chan."

"...Okay."

Naruto decided then and there that he really rather liked it when Akitsu smiled. Such a small thing, but it lit her face like nothing else. For a smile like that he figured he could stand to be made fun of for a bit while he learned to skate with her.

Besides, the sex at the end of the day would totally made it all worthwhile.

Fortunately for him, neither of them ended up making fools of themselves. Akitsu was a natural, no surprise given that it was her element. Naruto found his old balance training from the Academy came into play easily, allowing him to become competent enough to make some other people feel slighted. Their first time on the ice like that, and they were making everyone else look bad...

.. Eh, he didn't care. He was watching Akitsu. A much nicer sight than a bunch of glowering humans. Besides, the kids thought they were some kind of... Olympic paired figure skaters?

What the hell are those?

Shrugging it off as inconsequential, Naruto and Akitsu found themselves enjoying their time on the ice immensely. Only one thing ruined it for Naruto, though. At one point his mind flashed to another ice-user he knew, and he wondered if Haku had every enjoyed the ice in such a way.

Thankfully for Naruto's presence of mind, the thoughts of Haku were quickly chased away by Akitsu's smile. Skating with her, Naruto made yet another promise to himself.

Haku is my past, but I need to look forward to my future. I will never forget, but my past will not condemn my future!

Hours later he felt he was right. The sex at the end of the day was awesome.

XxXxXxXx

Lily laughed as one overly affectionate growlithe pup licked her cheek. She sat near a pond on a grassy shoulder being mobbed by the ever-loyal creatures. Naruto, Scarlet, and the male Arcanine stood off to one side and watched.

Honestly, Naruto had wracked his brain for a good date with Lily, and had decided that a ride on the Arcanine and playing with the pups was a great idea. While she had said that she enjoyed taking care of horses, he figured that a day with the pups and her new Familiar would be ideal.

Naruto grinned as he thought back to how she had obtained her Familiar, the male Arcanine. The pokémon had essentially knocked Lily over and then proceeded to lick her until she got the idea to choose him when she lamented once in his presence about being uncertain about finding her own familiar. Considering that Arcanine moved impossibly fast, and could act as a mount for her if she ever needed it, it was a good match for her in trying to find out where more of the pieces to Excalibur were. While Arcanine couldn't talk, the Familiar bond substituted with a minor telepathic link so they could communicate.

In short, while Lily watched the pups, Arcanine would run around the world sniffing out sources of Holy energy, compare it to what he knew of Excalibur, and then report back. This had actually been rather useful for Lily because she had already determined where three other fragments of the sword were.

The only problem was the fact they were in the hands of the Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic churches…

A sudden swarm of eager puppies brought Naruto out of his thoughts as he was assaulted by happy tongues. Laughing, he pushed the pups off as he tried to get back up only to be pushed back down by a playful Lily who sealed her lips to his.

A few minutes of bliss later and the two of them finally broke apart, panting for breath.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while now," Lily admitted breathlessly.

Naruto chuckled, "Then why didn't you?"

Lily shrugged as she sat up, her white blouse just wet enough with sweat to stick to her curves as her riding skirt lay bunched around her hips, just barely hiding her bottom section from his view. "The timing never seemed right, what with you already being in a relationship with Tier, Pyrrha and Akitsu. Then Taki came along and there went another opportunity. The fact that she was so against being with you at first didn't help matters." She gnawed lightly on her lower lip, "I guess, I just didn't want to be seen as a loose woman willing to chase after a man just because he saved her and gave her a new chance at life."

Naruto blinked, then reached up to cup her cheek with one hand, an action that Lily gladly accepted. "I would never have thought that."

"I know," she mumbled with her eyes closed. "Now. It took me a bit to learn more about you. Watching you, listening to you..." she trailed off for a moment, then opened her eyes to gaze into his, "loving you."

Naruto smiled and pulled her back down for another round of kissing.

When they broke again he asked, "So, does this mean you'll be joining us all in bed? If so, I'll need a new one, 'cause it's getting kinda crowded."

Lily swatted his nose playfully while laughing.

XxXxXxXx

Taki giggled. Naruto had just finished telling her about his greatest prank: the painting of the Hokage Monument!

"Did you really manage that in orange?" She gasped.

Naruto nodded with a satisfied grin on his lips. "Yup! Granted it was a bit faded, not really the bright 'kill-me-now' it started as, but still."

"Still," Taki agreed. It was her turn for a date with Naruto and she was pleasantly surprised that he had chosen a quiet and peaceful private picnic to watch some out-of-season sakura blossoms. It was uniquely beautiful, and Taki loved it. She had always enjoyed the quiet and stillness, the serene beauty of nature, and good conversation over a cup of tea.

This date was proving to have all of that, and she was glad she had dressed up for it properly. She had chosen a simple black kimono with gold trim and dragon designs, her hair held in her typical high ponytail with a gold pin bearing the Asmodai symbol, and just the lightest dusting of makeup to highlight her features.

Of course her partner for the date was just as nice to look at in her opinion. A simple black men's kimono and hakama, similarly gold trimmed like hers, but with kitsune designs instead of dragons. His own hair was styled into something of a messy-yet-elegant ponytail… and Taki had no clue how he pulled off that dichotomy.

Now the two of them sat together on a blanket, beneath a tree and large Japanese umbrella, drinking some tea, and just telling stories. Or, rather, Naruto was telling stories, since of the two he seemed to have the most.

They passed a bit of time in comfortable silence, before Naruto cleared his throat. "I have to wonder, Taki-chan, what made you tell me about that challenge deal? You know, the one where if you'd won you'd have been free of the marriage tradition of your previous clan?"

Taki shifted a bit, her gaze dropping to her lap, and thought. Why did she do that again? There was something… something important… then it hit her like a tonne of bricks.

"Because..." she hesitated, then looked up to meet his gaze, "because I wasn't being fair. To you, or me. I prided myself on being as unbiased as possible in my judgment of others, and I barely listened to what you had to say. On top of that, I was scared. Afraid of what this new, un-asked for life would bring my way, and I worried that I wasn't equipped to deal with it."

She placed a soft finger to his lips to stall the protest she could see forming. "No, let me say it. You saved my life. And I am grateful now, as I should have been then. But emotions and thinking don't work together properly in the heat of the moment. One must rule, and my resentment of being denied a proper death got the better of me. The fact that you had turned me into a devil, one of the kinds of beings I was trained to fight against, simply compounded the issue. But now I know better, having seen you work tirelessly on the behalf of not just your people, but also for myself, that I cannot apply the same universal label to every devil and demon I meet."

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly, "for opening my eyes and saving my life, I thank you, and I would be proud to be your wife." She smiled mischievously, "even if I have to share you."

Naruto swallowed heavily. Why did that suddenly sound so ominous?

"By the way, Naruto-kun… what's this I hear about a Hidden Village starting up?"

Naruto started sweating at the sweet tone she was using. He wasn't fooled for moment, and he quickly decided it was time to run distraction. Even if he wasn't really doing anything wrong, he really didn't want to put up with a demonically enhanced kunoichi possibly getting angry at him for whatever reason she dreamed up.

"Oh! Before I forget, I have a gift for you, Taki-chan."

The woman blinked, and then grudgingly admitted a temporary defeat. New Hidden Village? Interesting. Gift? Much more interesting. She didn't get gifts all that often, in fact the last one she remembered was Rekki-maru.

Naruto brought out a wood box. Nothing very special about it, it just looked like a box. Maybe about the length of a kodachi, and maybe twice as wide. As Taki took it, she wondered what it could hold. Opening it, a short gasp left her lips, and her eyes widened in surprise before filling with tears. There, lying in a bed of red and gold silk, were her two blades.

Reforged with contrasting varieties of orichalcum, Taki saws that Rekki-Maru now bore a distinct red tinge down the fuller and swirling along the edge, while Mekki-Maru was possessed of a definitive black sheen. She could even feel the power of the blades without having to actually touch them. The strength they both possessed now was easily more than previous.

Her eyes sought his with tears in them, and a question.

"A warrior without their weapons feels more naked than actually being naked," Naruto said softly, his forehead leaning in against hers. "Even we shinobi feel that way when it comes to our most cherished weapons. Before they were serviceable, now they are uniquely yours. Rekki-Maru will more easily channel your spirit, and Mekki-Maru's power and dignity have been restored. These are my gift to you, so that you may always protect yourself and those you hold dear."

Taki couldn't get words past the sudden lump in her throat. He understood, she could hardly believe just how well he understood. Then her mind went to the utterly plain, yet completely functional double-bladed sword he used personally, and it made more sense to her. He had yet to upgrade it, possibly for the same reasons she had held off on having her own fixed. It was a part of him, until it became necessary he would leave his battle companion as it was. And though part of her wondered just when he had taken her blades to be remade, a larger portion was unspeakably grateful.

Without thought her eyes closed as she leaned forward and kissed him. She allowed herself to be lost in the sensation, and the feelings, of the moment. To express herself with action instead of word was always her way, and right now she was doing her utmost to convey her joy.

When they finally broke apart, the two opted to just sit quietly and lean against each other. Each one basking in the moment. Naruto thinking about his change of luck in gaining the affections of such a woman, and Taki content in her choice of man.

XxXxXxXx

Tier stood clad in a new white one-piece swimsuit, this one definitely of a racing design, but with an attached skirt and full-throat collar. Unlike her favourite, this one wasn't naturally transparent, not even when wet. She had decided that the only man allowed to see her in any such way was Naruto, and had gone out of her way to make certain of it. But that wouldn't stop her from wearing her favourite colour to assist in catching his eye.

Next to her was Naruto in a pair of orange-and-gold trunks, and Tier couldn't stop herself from eyeing his defined musculature that was typically hidden by the suit. He wasn't heavy-built, but more like her old companion Grimmjow, a lithe body designed for speed and endurance with a great deal of surprising power for good measure. As she admired him, she couldn't help but think that those training sessions with Sebas and Cocytus were paying off for him.

Naruto turned a curious stare to his companion. "This is what you wanted to do? An indoor water park?"

Tier smiled and wrapped her arms around one of his. "And why not, Naruto-sama? You said the purpose of these dates was to spend time with each of us, yes? Well I want to spend my time with you at this place."

The moment she pulled him closer, Naruto could practically feel the jealous stares of other men, and even some women he'd bet. He shrugged it off, though. She was right. And if this was what she wanted, then he'd hardly turn it down.

Besides, he liked the look of her in that tight swimsuit. And he definitely liked the way her lips tasted. Though due to the public nature of the moment, he'd at least keep the action to a PG-13 rating.

Sorry, guys. I know I've got the hottest date here, but no free show for you.

"Well, that's certainly true," he admitted. "So shall we play, or did you have something else in mind?"

Tier gave him a half-lidded look smouldering with promise. "The best fun will come later, Master," she whispered hotly into his ear. "In the meantime, why don't we just enjoy what any other couple might?"

With a dopey smile on his face, Naruto happily complied, only to find himself at the top of the highest slide at the park...

Now, there are two things that should be mentioned. One, as a shinobi Naruto didn't really have a problem with heights. His training covered such things early on, and now that he was a devil with the ability to fly, it was even less of a concern. Two, this was an indoor water park, so naturally the "highest" was anything but dangerous to even a civilian.

Now that those have been said, neither one really does you much good when you aren't paying much attention due to your date's body being pressed up against you. So Naruto not only found himself at the top, but face-first into the pool below in short order. Tier's laughter as he finally pulled himself from the depths didn't help matters. So Naruto did the only thing he felt was the responsible, and adult, thing to do...

He dunked her.

Fun and hilarity ensued.

... Come on people, it's a public water park. There were children present. So none of that kind of fun in your imaginations, please. That was for later, as Tier promised.

XxXxXxXx

"So why bring me along to order a custom bed?" Yuki asked as she looked at her surroundings. Said surroundings were the inside of a mattress manufacturer that specializes in making beds for people who stylized themselves as sultans, and thus "required" a larger bed for their self-imposed harems. Which meant they were also savvy to the supernatural as many male devils wanted such things.

Naruto shrugged, "You seemed the least interested. Which means you're more alert than the others might be. Aside from Rias, the rest of us became devils less than a year ago after all. We're still getting used to that. The sunlight problem in general."

She eyed him skeptically. "And outside of Karma-san, who is over there scaring the piss out of the employees, I'm from a world that is almost exactly like this one so I have less to adapt to?"

Naruto gave her a sideways glance, "Something like that."

He turned away from her and muttered, "Plus I'll need help moving the damn thing, and Cocytus isn't the most subtle creature out there."

Unfortunately he wasn't as quiet as he'd hoped. "Oh? So you needed manual labour?"

Naruto sighed and turned to see Karma hanging off his shoulder. "Not really, it's more that you two are more tight-lipped when it comes to Rias."

Karma gave him a curious expression, and Naruto just motioned toward the head of the company. As he looked, Karma gained an evil look in his eye. The person in question was the spitting image of Treize Kushrenada from one of Rias' animes, Gundam Wing. The man looked- and sounded! -so much like Treize that Naruto couldn't even remember the man's actual name, and had just taken to calling him that.

Treize didn't even mind. It seemed that it was something the man found complementary, and he was tickled pink by the comparison.

Karma was already thinking of ways to tease Rias with this without telling exactly where this person was...

XxXxXxXx- Ending Notes

I am SO sorry for the wait on this! Character building has never been my strong suit, and this chapter had a fair bit of development of the relationships between Naruto and his harem. Thus it naturally took me longer than anticipated. On top of that, part way through I lost all motivation and became sidetracked by other things... My bad!

For those who think "Oh, it can't be that hard. He's just making excuses!"... I invite you to try it yourself. Some of us are good at this kind of thing, I am not. Never mind the fact that most of my notes actually ended last chapter. Never mind the fact that I'm primarily a discovery-style writer. I'm actually more surprised that this story has gathered the following it has.. lucky me.

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/Arcanine)

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/?)

Children:

Yugao: Kushina (F) and Inari (M)

Konan: Hinata (F) and Yahiko (M)

A special thanks to DocSlendy for his help in naming the children!

Naruto's Harem as it Stands: Tier, Pyrrha, Akitsu, Taki, Lily.