HI!
Yikes, I got some VERY mixed reactions about last chapter, through nearly every negative comment was about Venelana's attitude, which I completely understand.
Also something I just noticed. I managed to post 7 chapters between June 7th and July 7th. Just something I found pretty cool.
I enjoyed the responses to my question, I got some detailed answers which made me smile at the thought into it, and I also got some answers which boiled down to "They're hot" which I don't judge anyone for btw, almost half of my favourite anime characters are only my favourites for the same reasons XD
Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter, its not intentional but so far all of my 'arcs' are four chapters long XD Once again not necessary information but I just like to share some of this stuff with you guys.
Also some extra information about the question, at the moment of writing this Kuroka won with 4 picks, if that changes or anything ill put that in the end A/N.
With that done. ONTO REVIEW REPLIES!
The Storm Master 567: Omg! Absolute best first review I've ever gotten. I usually end up posting these chapters at like 10-11PM and after I post them I go for a shower and go to bed. I got out of the shower and genuinely laughed when the first thing I read of the first review is 'F*** Rias and Venelana.'
Guest00000000000(Guest): Jesus that's a lot of zeroes….Anyway! I get that it may seem like that and it is, for Rias. For Venelana she does care for Naruto, its just hidden under a thick layer of anger and disapproval. I understand that wasn't communicated well, if at all. So for that I apologize.
Flick(Guest): Very heated response. Nothing wrong with that, I like to see it as you being invested in my story XD Hopefully it hasn't turned you off the story…
Moonlight Slayer: Whoooo boy. This post has made me wonder if a tad more direct or less subtle hints about why Naruto does what he does in certain scenes are needed. This is not to be offensive but I get a lot of reviews saying things like they don't understand his actions or thinks his actions are stupid but I also get a lot of reviews saying the opposite. So I don't know if its me or the readers… Anyway Naruto acted meek at the dinner table because he isn't used to interaction outside of his peerage at all, overt shows of behavior make him draw in on himself, more so with aggressive ones.
Hawkeyestratos1996: If you would like to, you can~
Dark-feel: This made me feel better about my decision, thank you
Dragonkeeper10: I'm glad you enjoy my story enough to send this, also I'll be sure to let Rias know to watch herself XD
Shadow overlord279: Thank you! I'm very happy that you and others enjoyed the development on Natsumi's part.
(Also I realize that this is the review replies but I just got a review while writing this. Too perfect!)
X-ownz: technically this chapter, though non-hostile interactions will be in the next arc, anybody excited about hearing the word "Kyoto"?~
Cruzcartoon: From the start; Thank you! I'm glad. I have a few good line ups~ So do I, maybe against Sairaorg?~ Eventually, yes
Rolphy03: The Naruto nobility? I think I know what you might have been going for and possibly, I was planning on having Irina join 'Team Issei' but if enough of you guys want it, I don't mind having her join 'Team Naruto' :P
Ryujomaru15: Reading the first few sentences hurt my head… But im happy you enjoyed the chapter
Umbra proeliator: No. Its actually Cuben Fiber. A completely different material, I can understand the confusion though.
Le Phoque Blanc: No judging shall be done by me, though I agree hehehehehehe~
Emrys Akayuki: Not to worry! No fingernail painting will be done, well…maybe 1 or 2 of the girls might.
Welp! That's the reviews done! You know what time it is..
ONWOARD! TO THE STORY AND PLOT AND STUFF!
XXXxxxXXX
A loud siren blasted throughout the town/outpost as civilians ran to shelters in fear while various sized and shaped figures ran in the opposite direction, towards the fire and sound of explosions.
Walking calmly towards the chaos was a single figure. Standing at about 1.7m (about 5'7ft) was a brown haired woman with Ice spikes on the back of her jaw and ice needles in her hair, wearing a tight fitted shirt that clung to her D-cup breasts and tight pants which looked like it was trying to cut off the circulation in her legs. Her ice blue eyes calmly looked ahead of her as she walked with a noticeable sway in her hips which drew the eyes of all the men around her, even while they were tying to escape the danger. On the back of her shirt it said 'Captain 5'.
Looking up as a winged serpent like creature made of ice landed in front of her she stopped walking and cocked her hips while placing a hand on said hip, grinning in satisfaction as the serpents eyes very greedily trailed over her body before quickly snapping up to her own eyes.
"Ma'am! Intruders! 7 of them! 1 male and 6 females! The leader seems to be the male!" The serpent quickly, yet in a panic, relayed the information "They're taking out the other 'Frozens' in moments" He continued.
"Oh~" She purred as she returned her attention to the fight in the distance "A male leader you say~" She began walking again, the serpents eyes quickly gluing onto her behind as it followed after her like a love starved puppy.
Reaching the battle she saw five of the six reported females battling various 'Frozen' while one stuck next to the male, obviously protecting him as he worked on a glowing spell matrix underneath him.
"Such a cute one~ He'll make a fine addition" She purred while walking forward, the serpent still following after her.
Without pausing or hesitating the girl grabbed the serpent by the neck and pulled it forward so that it perfectly covered her form from the right as multiple earth spears stabbed into it from a stray attack, killing it instantly. Dropping the body carelessly she continued to saunter towards the leader of the group of what she now realized was teenagers.
XXXxxxXXX
The day had started out fairly normal, with Naruto constantly going through permutations of his teleportation formula for the Demon's home dimension. His entire peerage (plus Rossweisse) was in attendance, though of course today had to be the day that he finally got the combination correct, which had lead him to a very annoying situation.
"If you are going to go in then we're coming with you" Tsunade said resolutely, the rest of the girls in agreement with her statement.
Naruto opened his mouth to argue back before seeing the look in all of the girls eyes and closing it with and audible click before groaning in annoyance. Seeing this Natsumi, Sayuri and Tsunade all smiled largely in victory while the rest of the girls simply held victorious smirks.
"Okay. Any objections to me going through first?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and annoyed glint in his eyes.
Was he surprised when they all objected? Not really. Was he surprised when Natsumi grabbed him and held him still against her and Saeko "accidentally" pushed Esdeath through? Yes, incredibly so. Unfortunately as nice as it felt to be 'cuddled' by Natsumi in this way his mind was far more focused on something else.
"Saeko?! Why!?" He asked in worry, his voice actually raising above its regular quiet tone as his mind whirled about the potential danger Esdeath could be in.
"She took my pudding last night" Saeko said with a shrug and mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Right as Naruto opened his mouth they heard the distant maniac laughter of Esdeath and the familiar sound of ice being created by her magic, his panic slowly died away as his features turned from alarm to bland acceptance as he stared at an innocently smiling Saeko.
"You purposefully did that to get a rise from me didn't you?" He accused his purple haired Knight.
"Never~" She replied innocently before jumping into the portal.
Staring at the portal dryly the teenage King sighed and stood up straight, staring down the portal his Pawn, and Knight had just left through and walking calmly through it.
Upon walking through the portal he automatically felt something strange about the land surrounding them, it felt almost…..artificial. No, it wasn't the land itself that felt artificial….it was something else. Before his thoughts could delve further into that his attention was brought to the familiar Kitsune girl who stood besides him and the girls behind him as multitudes of strange ice creatures and people surrounded them, those that weren't fighting Esdeath and Saeko that was. Naruto droned out the twin pairs of maniacal laughter with practiced ease as he stared down the ice creatures.
There was a crackle and bang behind them and Naruto sighed as he felt his connection to the portal break as the portal destabilized and collapsed after they had all come through it. He felt a familiar spark of anger ignite in his mind as he now sat in Cocytus, surrounded by multiple enemies of unknown strength while also worrying about getting his Peerage out alive. Glaring at he Demons he began to take a step forward when multiple bolts of lightning zipped past the boy and struck a few of the Frozen who had been trying to walk forward towards the group.
Looking out of the corner of his eyes, violet orbs caught the lightning still sparkling around Rossweisse's outstretched palm as deadly narrowed aqua eyes glared at the Frozen around them.
"Ah~ I can't exactly let you get too close to my Master~ Danger hazard and all~" She said innocently despite the dark look on her face, taking her job completely seriously as she slipped into 'guard-mode'.
Using Rossweisse's attitude he reined his own anger in and forced himself to look at the situation in a calm and calculated manner, purple eyes darting around quickly as he tried to take in all her could while he still could. Tapping two fingers to his ear a magic circle quickly sprung to life over his ear, a similar magic circle whirled to life on the other girls ears as he calmly spoke.
"Keep the ice creatures off of me. I need to create a portal back, use any means necessary" His unusually cold voice said as he kneeled down and began to cycle through magic circle formula's and permutations on the ground as all the girls other than Natsumi sped off to take on the ice creatures.
And that was how five minutes later the young boys attention was drawn away from the fairly one sided bout from the energy signature stronger than any of the other Demon's and a seductive chuckle. Looking up from his work he met eyes with the seductress Captain and glared, already able to tell that she was a leader of some sort.
"Continue your work Naruto-sama. I wont let her touch you" Natsumi spoke resolutely while stepping between them.
"Aw~" The woman whined, the sound setting off alarms in Natsumi's head "Come on cutie~ Call off your guard dogs and we can have some fun~" She attempts to persuade Naruto, leaning to the side to look around Natsumi and expertly showing off her bust.
A low, animalistic growl snapped the Captain's attention to Natsumi, said girl glaring at the Captain who smirked widely as she realized where the animosity was coming from.
'A lover? Or perhaps just a crush' The Captain thought with a predatory grin.
"And who are you?" Naruto's voice chimed out calmly.
The woman looked at him and noticed the steely gaze on his face, seeing the gaze she knew that a fight would break out with her in it, no matter how much she seduced him. Though that didn't mean that she couldn't seduce him, just that his pet would attack once she tried.
"I, dear Lord~" She began with a bow, guessing that he was someone of importance, and even if he wasn't it didn't hurt to stroke his ego "Am a Captain-class Demon~ My name is Merulla….but you can call me anything you would like~" She purred sexually while locking her half-lidded eyes with his, letting him know exactly the sort of names she was expecting and enjoyed.
Naruto regarded the woman in front of him. Clearly she was stronger than the ice creatures. He had heard someone refer to one of the ice creatures as 'Frozen' and this woman, Merulla, had just introduced herself as a Captain-class Demon. So he was facing down grunts and a low-class leader was he?
A howl of rage from next to him dragged his attention away and he felt a blast of cold air hit his face as Natsumi threw herself at Merulla.
"Natsumi! No!" He shouted in panic, able to see the woman pulling three needles of ice out of her hair and preparing to stab his Queen with them.
Merulla smiled in satisfaction as the fox girl closed in on her. The boys last line of defense before she could sink her claws in him. Thrusting her hand forward she was surprised when the girl fazed straight through her ice needles.
'Afterimage!' She internally cried in panic.
A shift of air to her left was all she needed though, showcasing why she was a Captain she caught the heel heading towards her temple and threw it down quickly before leaning back and to the right on one foot to dodge the three tails that swung right past where she had been standing. Clicking her tongue in annoyance as the fox girl landed on her feet easily even after the intense spinning she had just been doing, the sexual Demon created a wall of ice to block the Kitsune Fire the teen shot at her. Seeing a shape coming out of the steam to her left she threw the needles towards it only to blink in shock as it turned out to be a decoy as an already dead Frozen appeared out of the steam. By the time Merulla noticed the fist it was already a few centimeters from her face.
Naruto blinked in shock as the ice wall cracked and broke, showing the outlines of the two girls to him and his heart suddenly felt like it was made of lead as he noticed the Captain holding Natsumi's wrist so that her fist was just barely not touching her face.
"That was pretty good sweety~ To bad I'm not a Frozen~" She purred while stabbing Natsumi in the stomach with the three needles in her hand and kicking her away.
Natsumi gasped in shock as she skidded along the dirt, digging her tails into the ground momentarily to flip herself onto her feet. Idly she shook her tails to rid them of the dirt and mud covering them while pulling the tiny needles out of her abdomen, her advanced healing factor already helping the damage done. She saw the Demon turn to Naruto and blow a kiss and her already red tinted vision became even more red as she roared and charged the Captain.
"Stay away from Naruto-Sama!" She roared while caving in the ground with her heel and attacking the Captain in a flurry of attacks.
Merulla on the other hand fended off the attacks like it was as easy as breathing, it really wasn't, she may be making it look like it was easy but it was far from it. Making use of her natural beauty and skin tight clothing she tried to make herself look as appealing to Naruto as possible to try and win him over, something Natsumi noticed and only caused her to become angrier. Merulla smiled cruelly as she continued to make the girl more angry.
Naruto froze, unable to breath as a familiar feeling washed over him, one that he never wanted to feel from a peerage member ever again. His wide unblinking eyes watched as a black aura began spilling out of his Queen's body and her snarl began to turn from pure anger to maniac joy. This joy was different from Esdeath's and Saeko's though, this one was something that terrified him.
"Natsumi! Calm down!" He yelled desperately, trying to get his friend to calm down.
"Shut up!" She snapped back at him, making him freeze in shock once again "I'm keeping her away from you! Can't you see that!?" She screamed as she attacked the Captain with greater speed and strength than before.
'I-I've lost Natsumi…..I-I wasn't strong enough..' He thought in despair, knowing that if he was stronger her power wouldn't be able to overcome his magic in his Evil Piece and she wouldn't be able to become a Stray.
"I can help you…" A dark, chilling voice murmured in his ear. He tried to move his body but found it unresponsive "Ah ah ah~ No moving now. That would break our connection~ And neither of us wants that…..now do we?" Despite his best wishes the boy felt himself falling into some sort of lull from the voice "I don't ask for much~ Just accept my power. You can save your precious girlfriend~" It jingled in his head.
Being unable to move the boy saw the, now, heavily muted battle between Merulla and Natsumi. Even with his senses seemingly dulled by the strange voice he could tell that Natsumi was close to the point of no return.
'I…I can't let her do that, I just can't…' He thought in defeat.
"Excellent~ Here is a mere modicum of my power. Now go….my new Sage!~" The voice cried and suddenly he felt an influx of energy which forcefully entered his body and harmonized with his own Devil magic.
Naruto bit his lip as pain racked his body from the forceful invasion of energy but as it harmonized with his own he suddenly felt like he had all the power in the world, his senses suddenly sharpened and his skin hardened. Blinking as he could suddenly move again he saw his Queen stumbling as her sudden influx of power left her.
Natsumi gasped in shock as her Stray induced strength left her in an instant, with the fog now gone from her mind she felt a great deal of regret. Knowing that seeing her going Stray must have killed her King. Her eyes widened as her weakened body stumbled and she watched as Merulla stabbed an ice spike down at her.
Golden eyes stared blankly as the needle neared her head before suddenly in a shockwave that came from nowhere the Captain was thrown from her feet and into the air before harshly hitting that ground, a large red mark on her cheek in the shape of a fist.
"How could you do that to me?.." A soft voice spoke and Natsumi winced at hearing how fragile her King sounded.
"Naruto-sama…I-" She began but was cut off as he began walking away from her and towards Merulla.
"So the big boy is here~ That was quite a hard hit~ Don't worry, I can be quite a good masooooooo….." Her voice trailed off and the seductive smile on her face vanished as the King stalked towards her.
"I don't appreciate what you did here" He said ominously as a large magic circle lit up on the ground beneath her.
"H-hey you don't need to d-do this" She shakily tried to negotiate "W-we can work something out" She stuttered in fear.
Naruto said nothing and only kept his eyes locked with hers as he walked forward. Merulla screamed in fear and tried to scramble backwards across the ground while throwing some ice spikes at him. Her hopes were dashed however as the ice needles either fell to the ground uselessly or shattered upon meeting his skin.
"That tickled~" He cooed with an evil grin while his power mixed with the unknown voices power flowed around him, completely undetectable from everyone around them even though it could be seen very clearly.
Though unfortunately, two people could sense it: Natsumi and Sayuri. Both girls looking at Naruto in confusion and fear. The strange power which they knew wasn't his, sent chills up their spines.
"P-PLEASE! WAIT! I-I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING YOU WANT!" Merulla screamed out in fear, the few Frozen who were still left looked between Naruto and Merulla in shock and fear that he made the famously seductive Merulla plead like she was "ANYWHERE! ANYTIME! JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" She screamed while beginning to cry and rolling into a ball as fear over took her mind.
If he was in a normal state of mind he of course wouldn't have left her alive but he would have killed her by now so that the reputation she worked up wouldn't be ruined, a mercy if you will. Though at the current moment mercy was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Wish denied!" He spat before the magic circle underneath her activated and lightning enveloped the woman, her screams haunting in their pain before all went quiet as the overpowered spell disintegrated her body.
Looking away from the ashes of the former Captain he felt the power from the voice beginning to fade and seeing the last of the Frozen he disappeared from everyone's sight and reappeared next to Natsumi. His peerage and Rossweisse looked at Naruto in shock as all of the Frozen fell over dead.
Naruto felt the vestiges of the power boost waning and began to grow worried about being stuck here before once again the voice came to his rescue.
"Here you go Sage~ This should be the right formula~" It spoke, without thinking he tapped his foot on the ground and the formula that had appeared in his mind appeared under him and all of his peerage + Rossweisse before sucking them all into the formula's.
The only evidence they had ever been there was the bloody landscape of what had once been a fairly nice town center.
XXXxxxXXX
The seven teenagers dropped onto the ground outside their warehouses. The purple eyed leader of the teens fell to his knees as the power boost left him, his eyes wide and unblinking as what he had just done impacted his mind.
"N-Naruto-sama?" Natsumi asked in fear at seeing his reaction.
The response she got to her question was a sickening cough which stained the ground red before he vomited on the ground.
"So-Taichou!?" Sayuri exclaimed in surprise while running over and gently rubbing his back as the teen panted.
Tsunade knelt besides her King and carefully traced his body, a green magic circle lighting up on the backs of her palms. As she scanned in body her face became more and more ashen.
"internal bleeding, broken ribs and fractured calves. Multiple muscle tears and internal bruising. Natsumi! What happened to him?!" She asked the kitsune before freezing as the girl looked ready to cry.
"Its all my fault. I-I nearly turned into a stray…Naruto-sama suddenly gained this boost of power and stopped me but….It's obviously not safe" She sniffled as she struggled to maintain her composure "I-It's all my fault Naruto-sama is this injured….." tears began to stream down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and looked down.
"N-Naruto-sama!?"
"Please don't move! You're very injured!"
"He can move even with all those injuries!?"
Natsumi's eyes snapped open as she felt a gentle hand on the back of her head and smooth and warm skin against her forehead. Her tearful golden eyes travelled up to see loving purple orbs staring back at her as Naruto rested his forehead against hers.
"silly, silly Sumi-chan~" He mutters loopily with a smile "sss not your fault. Just glad y-your fine~" He mutters as his eyes bore into hers.
Natsumi felt her cheeks light on fire as she tearfully tried to explain about why it was her fault he ended up like this, though what came out was more gibberish than actual words.
*Tap*
The kitsune girls words died in her throat as Naruto leaned back and poked her forehead with two fingers.
"No matter what, it is a King's duty to protect his peerage" He quoted while smiling at her with his eyes closed "And no matter what….You will always be my precious Queen" He mumbled to her before falling forward.
The Queen found herself unable to move as his words repeated in her head, meanwhile Naruto continued to fall forwards, his body twisting as he fell so that he didn't fall on Natsumi while his fingers slid down Natsumi's face. His fingers leaving a trail of blood from her forehead to her chin as he hit the ground with a thud. (Anyone recognize the scene this was based on?~ *Wiggles eyebrows while trying not to cry*)
Suddenly the girl could move again and she quickly dropped to her knees as the other girls ran over.
"Naruto-sama!"
XXXxxxXXX
A groan reverberated through the large room as dazed purple eyes fluttered open. Looking to the left he saw a blob of silver which as his vision cleared he recognized as Sayuri who had just realized he was awake and happily hugged him, nearly crushing his weakened body.
"So-Taichou! I'm so happy you're awake!" She cried happily while hugging him.
"Im glad" He says gently with a small smile "how long have I been out?"
Sayuri lets go of him and sits up nervously.
"Only 3 days" She says before fidgeting "So-Taichou….What was that power you used?" She asked carefully.
Naruto sighed and rested a forearm across his forehead while staring at the ceiling.
"To be truthful. I don't know in the slightest. One moment I was watching Natsumi about to turn into a stray and the next im frozen on the spot with this voice in my ear offering me power. The only reason I took it was because Natsumi would have turned into a stray otherwise. Of course you know what happened after the power left me" He says as Sayuri nods.
"That power was scary….It was like standing next to Ken but tenfold. Please don't use it again. Please" She begs in a rare moment of seriousness.
Naruto smiles gently and rubs her head between her wolf ears slowly.
"I'll do my best to avoid it" He says gently with a small chuckle.
"…..So-Taichou" The boy looked at his Knight and blinked at the steely gaze in her eyes "I want to up my training. I don't want regular Knight training like I've been getting so far. I want something that will make me on the same level as Sirzechs' peerage" She said in determination.
Naruto stared at her blankly for a few moments before a smile lit up his features.
"Of course Sayuri, you aren't the only one stepping up their training after that trip…..I-I nearly lost Natsumi, you of all people should know how badly that would effect me" he said with a bitter smile which the wolf spirit returned.
"Of course. Im going to go now. Please take care So-Taichou, I can't beat you black in blue in your own bed after all~" She giggles, the atmosphere of the room lightening as she skips out.
Naruto blushed and looked away as he realized he was staring at her ass while she skipped out of his room.
"Stupid hormones…" He muttered in annoyance.
"Yes they are quite annoying aren't they?" A smooth voice said in humor next to him.
Whipping his head around his blush brightened as he saw the teasingly grinning form of Sirzechs.
"What are you doing here?" He asked calmly while trying to force his blush down, not realizing that Sirzechs may have just come to check up on his injured brother.
"I can't just check on my brother who's been unconscious for 3 days?" He asks cheekily.
"I did not realize that we were that close" Naruto said as he cocked his head to the side in genuine confusion.
Sirzechs then found something more painful than getting stabbed by a holy sword, his brothers words and the unspoken meaning behind them.
'That was far more painful than it realistically should be' He internally groaned while easily hiding his wince from his thirteen year old brother.
"Doesn't mean that I can't~" He responds easily in a sing song voice before sitting in a chair next to his bed and levelling his cold blue-green eyes at his brother "Though you are right, sadly this isn't a social visit. How did you gain these wounds, would it have anything to do with these 'Demons'?" He questions his brother.
"Where did you?-….Nevermind. Yes, they came from a group of Demons" He proceeded to explain to Sirzechs what had happened 3 days ago.
"I see…..That voice and its powers are disturbing. So is the news about the Demons, their own dimension…..The Frozen and Captains sound fairly easy to combat but logically there would be stronger than a Captain" He mutters to himself as he begins to formulate plans and hypothesis' based on the knowledge that his brother had given him.
"Sirzechs. There is something else….the land, it felt.." Naruto trailed off as he tried to find the right words "unnatural. Like it had been changed….terraformed!" Naruto said snapping his fingers as he found a suitable word "It felt sort of like, nature, had been terraformed" He said analytically as he tried to search his memories for any more useful information.
Sirzechs added that snippet of information to his growing hypothesis' and knowledge of the Demons and their world.
"That formula. The one you used to get into their dimension. Would you be able to give it to me so that I can have Ajuka look at it?" Sirzechs asked his brother seriously.
"Do you have a piece of paper on you?" Naruto asks politely.
The elder Devil raises an eyebrow and pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it to his brother in curiosity. Whatever Sirzechs was expecting, it wasn't the ink magic circle formula which seemed to form out of his finger tips when he touched the paper and pulsed his magic (I wonder where we've seen this before?~).
"What was that?" The elder Devil asked curiously while staring at the piece of paper he had just been handed back.
"Something simple I figured out a while ago" Naruto responded simply, because he didn't see it as a big deal.
The teen had figured out that trick when he was 11 and had taught it to his peerage. Him and the girls had used it so casually over the past 2 years that the boy had completely forgotten that being able to do something like that was unheard of without preparing a special magic seal on the paper first. The elder man had always known that both of his siblings were smart, prodigies all on their own; but for the first time the Maou finally saw in its entirety why Naruto himself deserved that title and wondered what else he had hidden up his sleeves.
This realization also brought a pang of guilt as he realized how shitty their family had been to him, first focusing on Rias for her PoD then with Rias and Venelana ignoring him due to the 'incident'. Blue-Green eyes mentally narrowed as he vowed to at least get his mother talking to her youngest son again while outwardly, his eyes shone with excitement.
"Hey. I sorta just realized that Millicas has never really met his uncle. Would you mind taking care of him for a day?" Sirzechs kindly asks his younger brother who freezes.
"Ah. Thank you for the honour but-" He is cut off by Sirzechs laughing and ruffling his hair, and action which garnered actual annoyance from the teen.
The Maou was quick to retreat as he saw the very real annoyance in his features, not wanting to damage the tentative relationship he had painstakingly been trying to create the foundations for.
"Please, one day. Rias usually takes care of him but I thought you would enjoy doing that instead?" He asked his brother who scoffs.
"That's because Rias is a child" He says coldly, the words themselves usually would have made the older Devil laugh but the tone and meaning behind the words killed that laugh before it could escape.
"Please Naruto. I want you to meet your nephew for longer than five minutes. If not for me then for Grayfia" He pleads with his brother.
Purple eyes dances between his brothers hopeful/pleading face and the rest of his room before finally he cracked and nodded his head slowly, obviously not thrilled by the idea.
"Thank you. That honestly means a lot to me" Sirzechs says gently with a small smile, one reciprocated by Naruto "Anyway I gotta go now bro. See you in a few days with Millicas~" Sirzechs says cheekily before teleporting away.
XXXxxxXXX
Naruto sighed in relief as he rested his forehead against the smooth metal table in the Research Warehouse, currently hiding in this building to get a break from his nephew who had obviously picked up more than a few mannerisms from his sister and brother.
Hearing someone sit next to him he turned to see an exhausted Saeko who was fanning herself with a traditional Japanese fan, her cheeks a bright red from exertion.
"Training myself before Millicas-sama came here was not the smartest decision" She explains while continuing to fan herself.
"How does he have so much energy?" Naruto asks in genuine confusion, getting an exhausted giggle from his Knight.
"I don't know but I'm glad that Sayuri-chan is taking care of him" She said, knowing the fellow Knight was a bundle of energy most days.
Naruto nodded and looked around at the machines around him, looking at Saeko's practice metal katana he suddenly had an idea. Snapping his fingers as he suddenly sat up and scared the purple haired girl.
"Saeko. You want a sword to truly call your own don't you? We could make one, obviously not right now but we could begin planning it" Naruto says as he hops up to grab some paper and a pencil.
Saeko felt a blush ignite across her face at not only the thought of what a weapon specifically tailored for her could do but also due to the fact that it would be made by her and Naruto. As her Master came back she happily smiled as he sat down on the seat next to her and began to sketch out a plan for the sword, instantly they ran into a problem though.
"Saeko, I know it sucks. You can laugh if you want" Naruto said dryly as Saeko looked like she was about to explode.
"W-What would I laugh at?" She asks, her voice shaky from the laugh trying to escape.
"Don't play that game with me, my drawing. I know it is horrible, just laugh"
Saeko managed to recompose herself and smiled prettily at Naruto.
"Protecting a mans pride…" Her calm façade broke for barely a second "…is a woman's duty" She says with determination.
Meanwhile the teen boy just stared at Saeko before holding his drawing up into her line of sight once again. Staring dryly as the girl finally lost her self control and nearly fell off her chair laughing so hard.
After a few minutes and one burning of paper later purple eyes stared into blue which had just calmed down.
"I apologize for my outburst Naruto-sama. Please forgive me" Saeko bowed and Naruto waved his hand before turning back to the desk with a new piece of paper on it.
As they began to right down ideas for the sword and each one occasionally shot one down using their own knowledge on various subjects, to the point where Naruto had roughly 15 books floating around the two for them to reference while using his program on his computer to create a very, very basic image of how they wanted it to look.
XXXxxxXXX
Meanwhile, Sirzechs and Grayfia could be found sitting opposite Venelana and Zeoticus in the Gremory estate, all four calmly drinking some tea as Venelana smiled at her eldest son.
"Its nice to have you around again son. The house hasn't quite been the same since you moved out" She said fondly while smiling at Sirzechs who smiled back.
"I'm glad to be back. Hey, dad. Did you read that report I sent you?" Sirzechs asks curiously.
Both women in the room looked at the men curiously as Sirzechs says this, neither knowing about this report. Meanwhile Zeoticus nodded his head.
"It is disturbing, especially about that voice and the power boost. Neither of them fill me with any particular sense of ease" He said to his son, both women still being out of the loop.
Gently coughing the grab her husbands attention the brunette raised an eyebrow at her husband who made an 'oh' face and nodded.
"Sirzechs handed me a report last night about Naruto-" He didn't get to say anything further as Venelana whirled to look at Sirzechs.
"What could possibly be so important that you had to write a report that your father had to take time to read?" Venelana asked accusingly and curiously.
Sirzechs was quick to round on his mother, his normally blue-green eyes blazing a dark red with small flames from his power of destruction leaking out of the far corners of his eyes. Venelana flinched back in her seat as her eldest son glared angrily at her for, as far as she could remember anyway, the first time ever.
"That. That right there is something that needs to stop" He declares angrily.
"What? What needs to stop?" Venelana asks calmly, a bead of sweat trailing down her cheek let the Maou know that she was nervous of his anger.
"You. Putting down my little brother all because he killed one person" Sirzechs said angrily, his words making his mother glare back at him.
"He killed a peerage member!" the Lady of the Gremory family shouted, losing her composure.
"That was trying to kill him! How is that any different from what you did during the civil war!? Any different from what I did during the civil war!?" The red haired Maou yelled back, his composure slipping as well.
"It was war!"
"Don't give me that! That's the excuse people give to commit crimes against life and try to get away with it. War excuses nothing" Sirzechs retorted heatedly.
Venelana groans in a very un-lady like fashion and glares at Sirzechs.
"So, mother. How is this any different?" Sirzechs seethed.
"BECAUSE HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER!" Venelana screamed while leaping to her feet and glaring at her son.
The whole room looked at the normally composed woman in surprise and slight amounts of fear as she huffed angrily.
"You think I don't regret killing Faylinn every single day!? She was my best friend but her clan, those conniving, power hungry fools! They tricked and manipulated her into joining the Old Devil Faction! She didn't have to die! If I had just tried harder!..." Venelana suddenly seemed to run out of energy as she tiredly sat back down "..If I had just tried harder….I would still have one of my best friends here, alive. They say that the next generation is supposed to learn from the last, right? Yet there he is, making the same mistakes the rest of us did…..He's supposed to be better than me.." She mumbles brokenly.
Sirzechs' anger dies away at seeing the form of his mother, usually proud and confident in her looks and mind, now almost curled up into a ball as she stares sadly at the table.
"I-I was angry with him because he kept making the same mistakes but at a far younger age than I ever did. I was scared and worried" She weakly explains while curling into herself even further.
"I get that, but what you and Rias have done….That's too far. I didn't say anything earlier because I thought that you and him would have worked it out by now, but.." Zeoticus replied while gently wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulder.
"You really hurt him mum. He doesn't really think of us as his family anymore. Did you know that?" Sirzechs asks gently as Grayfia.
Venelana stiffens and slowly shakes her head.
"No…I..I didn't" She said truthfully.
"I don't know how long he's felt like that but…It doesn't feel nice when he has to physically force himself not to call me 'Lucifer-sama'" Sirzechs mutters sardonically.
Venelana shakes in her husbands embrace as tears begin to fall out of her bright purple eyes, a trait she shared with her youngest child now that she thought about it. Seeing her look up at him in such a sad and broken state, with tears streaming down her slightly puffy red eyes, the current Lucifer felt guilt and sympathy pulse through his being.
"Please, Sirzechs. Please tell me what the report was about!" She begs her son, before turning and looking at her husband, silently begging for the same.
So it was with a heavy heart and conscious that Sirzechs began speaking, relaying everything that Naruto had told him and his own speculations on the matter. When the young Maou finished he felt his heart break further as his mother was now full-on crying without any reservations what so ever.
"D-Does he need anything? Anything at all!?" She asked desperately, her bright eyes glittering with tears.
Sirzechs smiled gently, glad that her mind had been changed by their little spat.
"I think that there may be a few things" He says happily.
XXXxxxXXX
Naruto sat in the recreation Warehouse as he calmly played a video game with his nephew, having been (quite literally) ditched with him on the second floor of the warehouse while the rest of the girls went off somewhere to do something.
"Uncle! Stop cheating! Aunty never cheats!" The eight year old boy cried as the teenager easily moved his character away from his nephew's
"You told me to do my best" Naruto said with a slightly teasing smile.
After Millicas' character died to Naruto's for the eighth time the boy screamed in anger and threw his controller on the couch between them.
"Aunty was right! You don't care about anyone but yourself!" Millicas yelled before his brain caught up with his angrily spoken words.
Naruto calmly put down his controller while his hair shadowed his eyes and stood up.
"U-Uncle…I'm so sor-" Millicas began tearfully before being cut off.
"No. You have a right to an opinion like any other person. Never feel sorry for that" Naruto said blankly while walking over to his nephew "Time to go home" He says monotonously.
"I'm sorry! Please let me stay here, its really fun!" Millicas said hopefully.
Naruto froze and nodded, his hair still shadowing his eyes.
"I'll get one of the girls back for you" He replied as he turned to leave the room.
"I-I wanted to spend time with you though!" Millicas says, his uncle freezing once again, this time in mid step.
"Don't lie to me kid" He spat coldly "I only care about myself, remember? Who ever wants to spend time with someone like me?" He asks sarcastically, the young boy flinching at his words and tone.
"I'm sorry….You aren't like that. I was just angry. Aunty never beats me that easily" Millicas said, and suddenly Naruto understood where the anger had come from.
With this understanding his own anger died away as he turned back to Millicas and knelt down so that they were face height, showing his eyes to the boy once again and smiling sympathetically.
"Not used to having to face something you can't overcome easily?" He guessed and Millicas shyly nodded his head.
"I get a lot of things just by asking…I don't really have to work for anything" He explains to his Uncle who nodded.
Naruto smiled gently and ruffled Millicas' hair.
"Sorry kiddo. That isn't how things quite work around here. Think you can handle?" He teases Millicas lightly.
The young red haired boy puffed his cheeks up angrily like a squirrel and nodded resolutely before whining when Naruto lightly poked his forehead.
"Then no whining when you die again~" He says standing back up and smiling at Millicas' embarrassed whine.
Hearing hurried footsteps the two turn to the stairwell to see Sayuri running in excitedly while holding a bunch of cloth, a large smile on her face.
"So-Taichou!" She says excitedly before turning to Millicas and nodding mockingly "Pipsqueak" She ignored his squeak of outrage "New shipment of materials and goodies has arrived!~ That means our uniforms are here!" She cheered while throwing Naruto his cloak.
The red haired boy easily caught it and grinned at the soft yet durable fabric.
"Ill check it out but I promised Millicas a few more games, want to watch?" He asks while slinging the cloak over his shoulder.
"Watch you demolish the Pipsqueak? Absolutely~" She says in a sing song voice while sitting next to her King happily, moving over when Millicas sat down just so that she could be closer to him, not that he realized the true motive.
"Okay boys I want a nice clean match!" Sayuri exclaimed excitedly, giggling at Naruto's amused snort "Begin!"
XXXxxxXXX
AAAAAAAND DONEZO!
Holy fuck I am so goddamn sorry about the time that this update took to get out. I actually started writing this chapter the day after chap 7 was released. This chapter honestly should have been out weeks ago but life is a dick and loves making me miserable. First school holidays started and I couldn't do anything because my mum and dad had me constantly working because apparently school holidays aren't meant to be a break from work their an excuse to have MORE work. Then on the second week of school holidays my extended family came up and because of them I got banned from my computer until the holidays left. Then the day before school holidays I got uber sick and couldn't go to school but also couldn't go on my computer because if I go on my computer while I'm sick I'm "Not actually sick, you're just faking so that you can go on your computer all day" That was a direct quote from my parents btw.
Then after that I was just playing games because like 2 days before I got banned I FINALLY got a graphics card for this computer so I can now play games and have been doing that much more than writing.
I realize that I likely don't have to apologize for any of this but I still do because I feel like I should be better for you guys!
Anyway, this chapter and arc is now done! Say goodbye to 13 year old Naruto and Co! Say hello to them after a timeskip XD
Also I began thinking about this a few days ago and realized that I no longer have strong opinions on keeping this particular girl in one harem or the other so I've made a poll (That two of you found already -_-) on whether Rias should end up with Naruto or Issei!
u/6768526/Plasma-Assassin#
There ya go ya crazies! The poll is on my profile page (Can someone pls teach me how to directly link a poll? I can't figure it out XD)
Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter. Have fun!
Adios!