Chapter 6: Face Your Rival

"Are you sure about this, Asura-sama, Indra-sama?" Yasaka was gobsmacked at what they had decided. It had been about a week since their fight with Ophis. True to their divinity, they recovered from the battle quickly. Naruto within the 1st day because of his natural vitality and Kurama, and Sasuke within the 2nd.

"Yes. If we are to come across any more beings like that, we must return to our original levels of strength." Sasuke wasn't one to beat around the bush. Death didn't phase him, but it was not as if he would just let anyone kill him, that's why he was so old in the first place. Naruto felt much the same way. Shinobi were creatures of pride, similar to devils almost in the amount they held.

"Yes, but, an entire year?" Yasaka cast a brief glance to Asura. It had gotten more lively with them around, and Asura was growing on her faster than her mammary glands did when she hit puberty.

"Ahh, cheer up, Yasaka-chan! It's not like we're going far", Naruto cheerfully rang out.

"You're going to an entirely different dimension, dumbass. I swear, if your head was any further up your ass, you'd be able to pull out Sasuke's penis from where it got lodged", Kurama spoke over their mental link.

"What'd ya say, Kurama? It sounded like you were asking for an ASS-KICKING!" Naruto pulled up his shirt and prepared to undo his seal, comically wrestling with his belly button. Yasaka had to suppress the urge to trace his seal with one of her dainty fingers, instead settling for unapologetically ogling him with a light blush. She could never get over how just how fit he was, and this was him supposedly out of shape! What would he look like in his prime, she wondered?

Naruto was promptly set on fire, courtesy of one raven-haired Uchiha. "If you're quite done, we should be leaving now." Sasuke wanted to rekindle the old flame he had for battle immediately. He was less sharp than he wanted to admit, and the meeting with Ophis had only made him realize it more than he already did. "Grab on when you're ready."

Naruto stopped prancing around, Sasuke having shut off amaterasu. He turned to Yasaka and looked her in the eyes.

"Was there anything you wanted to say to us or do with us before we left, Yasaka-chan?" His trademark grin punctuated the question.

Yasaka thought. There were many things she wanted to do to or with him, some of them being... less safe for work than others. Indra, not so much, he seemed a bit too moody for her tastes. There was one thing she wanted above all else at the moment, though.

"I remember you telling me that you had a nine-tailed fox yokai like myself sealed in your stomach, Asura-san. Is there any way I can meet him?" There were very few nine tailed yokai to begin with, so meeting another one was very rare, even if they were all in the same general area (which they weren't). Yasaka hadn't met any of her brethren in years, so she wanted to take this opportunity to meet one, even if it was a fox from a different dimension.

"Hehehe, there is a way, but I'm not sure that's the best idea..." Naruto sweat-dropped, Kurama meeting Yasaka couldn't end well in any scenario. Not only was the furball an unapologetic perv, he was liable to gloat about how superior he was to her as well with his inflated ego. Yasaka was strong, don't get him wrong, but she would probably only be about as strong as he was in Sage Mode back when he first learned it. Kurama would've mashed his face in back then, hell he had trouble beating him with Killer Bee and his mom's help.

"Why not? He can't be that bad, right?" Yasaka pressed on, sure that a beast contained within Asura would be benevolent at best and neutral at worst.

"Well... if you say so." Naruto shrugged, whatever happened, happens he guessed. Reaching out and grabbing her shoulder (which surprised her and made her shudder a bit), he began connecting their chakras. He had gotten the ability to understand the very nature of chakra from the Sage back in the war, so he knew that chakra wasn't just a means of attack and defense, but a means to connect people as well.

Yasaka's eyebrow twitched and her mouth stood in a firm, emotionless line. She was trying her hardest not to mewl at his touch, since their chakras were intermingling and caressing each other. This man had far too many techniques to drive a woman wild, she thought. He could form a harem if he wanted! Her high began to settle down, though, and she found her consciousness being thrust into a different location. The grandeur and elegance of her palace halls was replaced with... a beach?

Naruto was worried. His mind was a literal filthy sewer most of the time. Kurama wasn't locked behind bars anymore, but the place still looked like something you'd see in a low budget horror-game. Pulling his own consciousness inside himself to make sure Yasaka was ok, he came upon a sight he wasn't quite sure what to make of.

"So... come here often?" Kurama was currently lazed about in a giant hammock hanging from two giant trees. His gutter mindscape had been turned into a beach! And that goddamn furball was wearing a speedo!

"..." Yasaka's brain shut down. She didn't know what to say. She had met numerous lechers, but this... was on a whole different level.

"We've both got 9 tails, but we can make it 18 if you catch my drift- Stop dumbass!" Kurama was interrupted by Naruto rocking his hammock, trying to flip him over in sage mode.

"Who give you permission to remodel my mindscape! It's MINE! And stop being a pervert towards Yasaka-chan! Why are you even wearing a speedo when you're naked most of the time anyway!"

"It's not my fault you finally decided to let me get some pussy!"

"Who said anything about pussy! Stupid fox! You know what, party canceled, this was a bad idea. Everyone out!" Naruto shut off the link to his mindscape, returning everyone back to their own bodies and, in Kurama,s case, back to the sewer with one tiny modification.

Yasaka blushed, and it was almost as red as Naruto's blush.

"That was... an experience", Yasaka managed to croak out. What should she even say?

"I told you it wasn't a good idea. Now you know the horrors I have to put up with." Naruto turned and grabbed onto Sasuke's shoulders, genuinely sorry Yasaka had to see that. They teleported away, leaving Yasaka dumbfounded. She stood there with a blank stare for a good 10 minutes before she heard someone knock at her palace doors. She snapped out of her daze and went to greet this newcomer. Hopefully it wasn't someone that'd cause her trouble.

Except, it kinda was. She heard a large number of voices singing praise, many of which she recognized as her men. Opening the door, she came upon a woman flanked with most of her soldiers, all of them having hearts in their eyes. The woman was average height, but had stand-out pink hair in a low ponytail style, dressed as if she was from the 1800s, and had an eerily calming aura about her.

Yasaka almost paled. Great, she thought, little miss Queen of the Damned.

"Oh my, I'm sorry this happened, Yasaka-san."

"It's no problem. I see you're still as popular as ever, huh, Ms. Bloodriver?"

-Desert-

Naruto and Sasuke landed in what could only be described as a desert, rows of sand and sweltering heat included. They instantly felt their bodies being pressed down, taking a bit of time to acclimate to the pressure so they could stand straight up again.

"So glad she didn't destroy it. Knew this place would be good for something", Naruto chirped out.

"I'll admit, this is one of your better plans, dobe." Sasuke could dimension hop, so if they needed a place to train, all they'd have to do is go to a deserted dimension (no pun intended). Kaguya's dimensions were still around, which was a godsend. This particular dimension had the added benefit of being heavy on the gravity, forcing one's body to adapt if they wanted to even move, let alone survive. They decided to come here for a year (at least they think it's going to be a year, no idea how time flows differently from one dimension to the next), and train until they couldn't anymore.

"Heh, yeah. We're the only ones in history who are able to do this gravity training thing, so I'm a little proud."

Somewhere in the multiverse, a muscular man with an orange gi and strange hair sneezed. He sneezed on a shorter, but just as muscular man with just as strange hair, causing him to fly into a rage, change his hair color to blue, and challenge the man in an orange gi to a duel.

"Now then..." Sasuke flew out of his cloak, running towards Naruto. Naruto did the same, picking up speed. They met in the middle, clashing their arms and causing a shockwave, similar to their last serious fight all those years again.

"No holding back, no dragons, and no wimping out", Sasuke listed off the rules they had come up with.

"Who do ya think you're talking to, teme? Didn't I beat your sorry ass last time?" Naruto was always the best at getting under his skin, as much as Sasuke loathed to admit it.

They separated, weaving hand-signs at an incomprehensible speed compared to when they were younger.

"Fire-style, fireball jutsu!" Sasuke shot out a giant ball of fire from his mouth, the flames hotter than the hear of the dimension they were in and the size blotting out the artificial sun.

"Water style, water dragon jutsu!" Naruto's understanding of chakra naturally meant that he could perform techniques from every branch of jutsu. He didn't like to, but if in a pinch, he had the versatility to do so.

The dragon collided with the fireball, producing a large amount of steam that covered the immediate area they were and Sasuke disappeared into the steam. The only thing the naked eye could see where the sparks that would fly from them clashing kunai at high speeds. Eventually, the steam vanished, but the men were nowhere to be found.

The ground shook in the next instant. Naruto and Sasuke resurfaced about a mile away, slight battle scars appearing and healing on them very rapidly.

"Tch, that bastard is still so good at shooting down my rasenshuriken with those damned purple arrows of his."

"Is that all you've got? I thought you were the savior of the shinobi world!" Sasuke had gone back to his pompous, ego-driven attitude. It only felt right after all this time to demean Naruto in a way only he could. He didn't truly mean any of it, not anymore, but it was always fun to see Naruto's reactions.

"I don't know about being a savior, but I'm definitely good enough to kick your ass, Teme!" With that, the two changed at each other again. This would be the start of a long and ridiculously destructive training session.

-Yasaka's Palace-

"So, what brings you here, Ms. Bloodriver?" Yasaka had gotten her men to stop drooling over Akasha long enough to send them back to their posts, and lock her doors.

"Ah, you don't have to call me 'Ms. Bloodriver' all the time, Yasaka-san. Just Akasha is fine." Akasha was unfailingly polite, but was mostly informal with people she considered friends.

"Alright then, Akasha-san. What sends you, the infamous Queen of the Damned, to my doorstep?"

"Geez, you're still calling me that? I was young and dumb back then. Anyway, I caught wind of some new deities arriving here and saving a swath of Yokai from that Ophis being. I merely came to thank them for saving those of my species."

Yasaka wasn't surprised. Surviving a fight with Ophis would grant one instant fame, it's no different than doing well against the champion of a sport.

"Yes, their names should be familiar. Asura and Indra", Yasaka said calmly.

"Oh? I thought those were already the names of deities? Oh well, it's not like there's any rule against duplicate names. If you don't mind me asking, where are they? They are the reason I've come so far, after all."

"They're currently training... in a different dimension."

"A different dimension? Gods sure do like to go to extremes. When will they be back?" Akasha wouldn't mind sticking around for a while. It's not like she had much to do after the whole Alucard debacle, and her precious daughter was in capable hands with that young Shinso. She would have to check on them whenever she crossed back over into her realm.

"A year..." Yasaka was just as shocked as the expression on Akasha's face when she had first heard.

"Ack. Gods sure do like to go to extremes", the pink-haired yokai repeated. What would she do for a whole year? She had the time, but not the slightest hint of what to do. Kyoto was certainly an interesting place with many interesting activities, but a lot of them didn't suit her. Most people thought she was dead. She's not even entirely sure how she survived the last ordeal she was in. She was supposed to have sacrificed herself along with Alucard and left the land of the living altogether, but something snatched her soul away from the process at the very last second. Yasaka, her goddess, an informant of Akasha's, and Yasaka's soldiers were the only people who knew she was still alive. She hadn't even told her own daughter yet.

Akasha's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar-feeling aura. She turned around to see Yasaka coated in a yellow aura, a bright and vicious smile on her face.

"Oh, I can think of something we can do for a year, Akasha-san", she said as her aura began to leak out of the room they were in.

"Ah, that's right. I don't like fighting much, but you're a bit of an alpha female, huh, Yasaka-chan?" Akasha closed her eyes and smiled her gentle smile, a pink aura leaking from her as well. The auras clashed, fighting for dominance over one another.

"You should know., Akasha-san. You're the only one I consider my rival." Yasaka was a very shrewd person. She knew that behind all that incredible politeness and elegance of Akasha's, was a fierce warrior who could decimate an army. Both of them stood at the top of the world of Yokai, and both were proud and confident women. Something had to give.

"I never could understand your words, Yasaka-san."

"That's fine. When you reach a high level, you can understand one another through your fists." She opened her eyes narrowly, her aura exploding. "I think we'd better take this outside, wouldn't want to ruin any of my architecture."

"Hai." The pinkette followed the blond to their battleground. Rivals were abundant, it seemed.

-Desert-

"Shadow clone jutsu!" A thousand clones of Naruto popped into existence, all of them wielding a rasengan. They charged at Sasuke.

"Enton: Honoikazuchi!" A moat of black flames appeared around him, the flames growing sharp and stabbing all of Naruto's clones.

Naruto instantly transformed into his version 2 state, red, densely packed chakra covering his skin. He ran at Sasuke on all fours, and jumped into the air, howling. The flames of Amaterasu were fanned, swaying towards Sasuke.

"Tch..." with but a thought, Sasuke put the flames out. Naruto had gotten a lot smarter, before he would've tried to just simply run right through them. He could do it, as the flames didn't hurt him, but they obscured his vision. Now, he had learned to use them against Sasuke, knowing that the wielder could still be injured by them. They couldn't be put out, but they could be redirected.

"Hope you're ready for this", Naruto said in a distorted, demonic voice. He formed a ball just above him, amassing chakra into one densely packed point, similar to a rasengan. He promptly swallowed it whole, and grew into a red blob. Opening his mouth, he let all of the energy out at once as a bijuu dama, and returned to his original size. The bijuu dama traveled half the distance to Sasuke, before it vanished.

"Same old tricks, Naruto", Sasuke whispered to himself. He opened his rinnegan, replacing himself with a nearby sand dune. It took a bit more out of him than he would've liked, he had to get used to this increased gravity and the strain it brought. The bijuu dama reappeared and obliterated the sand dune as well as the area surrounding it in a large radius, leaving a crater.

"Stealing moves from your son. How... uncool."

"Oh shut it, you stole the chidori from Kakashi-sensei and haven't even gave him a thank you for your signature technique", Naruto shot back with his distorted voice. He appreciated HIS mentors and references, damn it!

"Same old Usuratonkachi. Let's get back to it." They ran at each other and traded blows, Sasuke's katana struggling against Naruto's claws. At the same time in another dimension, two females were in that exact same position. One having thrown a kick, and the other having blocked it with her tails. The clash left behind a dent in the wall, revealing the force they were going at it with.

Annnnnnnnnnnd cut. There's gonna be a lot of time-skipping next chapter, I think 6 chapters is enough time to establish the characters I wanted to establish before the official canon. 2/3 of Naruto's harem is next-gen, after all. Don't worry, though, Sasuke and Akasha will get their proper development, I won't just skip 15 years and then she's suddenly in love with him and he her.

I WILL be skipping through Naruto and Sasuke's training, and the immediate time period after that since I want to start bringing the usual DxD characters into the mix (and giving away Albion and Ddraig to the worthy). Till next time!