Whew. This took a while for various reasons. Had spring break, got sick, had tests, had job searching, and I was also quite lazy. I figured though after being a week late I would give you guys a long chapter. I also didn't really start typing a lot of this until over a week after the post of the last chapter so I really went kind of fast respectably. Also I wanted to give you guys a good chapter since the last chapter got the second most reviews out of any chapter in this part 2. So I give you a chapter that has surpassed my previous longest chapter by several thousand words. This might as well be considered around 3 chapters in one as I give you this 18K word chapter!
Chapter 23: The Plot Progresses
"Where is the pain?" Yasaka had her arms crossed as Naruto sat on his bed with his shirt off. He pointed at his chest towards the center of it but there was no mark there indicating an injury. She rubbed her chin in thought as she got a closer look at his chest and poked the center with her index finger.
Naruto just looked down at her focusing with a raised eyebrow. "What are you trying to cope a feel of me?"
She coated her finger with magic and chakra before flicking him in the chest sending it rippling through his body. A series of glowing cracks formed branching out from the center of his chest where she flicked him before disappearing a second later.
He buckled as he bent over to the side and started coughing while Yasaka stood back.
"Just as I thought. I noticed it a few days ago and was suspcious when you got to Kyoto so fast. Also you've been acting a little off at times. Well more than usual. The condition your body is right now. I take it you already know?"
He stopped coughing after a bit and sighed as he sat back up. "From the book I got from Oji-san I'm pretty sure I'm developing the same problem Tou-san had?"
"So you do know? Then you do know how fatal it was?"
Naruto nodded. The book his grandfather gave him not only had historical information it had a collection of memories that could be viewed. "Yes I've gone through his chapter repeatedly. I honestly thought I wouldn't have to deal with this but I guess since I was born human unlike Shio and Miso it would hit me harder even if I am the Juubi now?"
She nodded as well as she had him stand and turn around to inspect his back. She had put a seal there of a giant X. She noted it was no longer there so he must have gotten rid of it recently.
"I'm surprised to. I thought you wouldn't have to deal with this curse. I suggest taking it easy for a while. I know you are strong but don't push yourself too far. The sickness activates when you move too fast. A human's body would be destroyed going at near the speed of sound and while your body is much more durable to where it doesn't affect you externally it causes your body to flare up on the inside wrecking havok on your body."
"Well I don't need much speed for a while as I'm faster than almost everyone I know. I have no plans on stopping regardless though."
"What?! Naruto this isn't a game you really could die from this!"
"I'm not going to die from this. If I can last long enough I can figure out how to bypass the curse so I have to keep pushing even through the pain."
"Naruto." He took it more seriously when he heard her serious tone. Yet it was last with depression that caught his attention. "The same curse that you are dealing with lead to your father's death and by extension your mother when she tried to ease the burden if just for a little while. Kushina was my older sister and someone I admired and now you are suffering a similar plate. I know you rarely ever listen to my orders but could you please... could you please just...?"
Her voice started to shake as she leaned her forehead against his back. She was always a strong and cunning woman. But now she was falling apart. Naruto felt bad as while he thought about it in the past he never considered it in detail what it must have felt like for Yasaka to lose her sibling. He could just ease her heart and worry by agreeing to what she wanted. But he couldn't as his stubborness was too strong as he gritted his teeth.
"No."
It was a hard an direct response that he gave her. She lost her voice a bit as she thought he would listen to her request.
"W-What?! Then I'll just lock you up then to keep you out of trouble!"
"That's not going to happen either."
She glared at him hard despite how thing were going. "Naruto do not forget I am still the clan head and faction leader. I can revoke your title as heir. I-I can have you detained. I'll-."
"You'll what?"
Naruto glanced back at her his violet eyes glowing beneath the shadows of his hair. The way he did it actually reminded Yasaka of Kushina at that moment when she was angry. She shook under the gaze feeling small. Naruto wasn't a kid anymore nor was he beneath her. If anything it really felt like a fox shouting at a wolf. The wolf may listen but only for so long.
Naruto turned around on the bed crossing his legs and leaned close to Yasaka in an intimidating way, the shadows over his eyes ever present.
"Let me tell you something Yasaka. The moment everyone saw me as the Juubi in the stadium was the moment you lost what little authority you may have had over me. I am the Juubi. I am every Youkai's god by right. Which means I am also your god. You can try all you want to get me arrested or take away my clan heir position if you even have the gall to do that but in the end I can very easily get the people to do what I want. Who do you think they will follow more? Their leader or their god?"
She glared at him for as Naruto kept up his gaze unrelenting. She wasn't expecting him to ever pull the god card against her. After a few seconds her eyes shook before she was forced to look away to relieve the building anxiety.
Her fox ears dropped a bit as she looked down. She had hoped she could scare him into obeying her for once but she didn't want them to be at odds with each other either.
"Do you hate me? I've done so much for you and yet you rarely listen to me and I don't get a whole lot of respect from you either."
"I've always held a great deal of respect for you. Even if my childhood wasn't the best you made up for it with letting me travel and train and for that I am grateful to you. But did you forget the reason I left in the first place?"
He rose an eyebrow at her as he stared at her silence. Her eyes widened slightly after a few seconds after she remembered and looked a bit embarassed.
"You wanted to get strong. To prove you could survive without the help of others. And most of all, you didn't want to be protected out of weakness and confined to being left out of the loop like when you were younger..."
"Not exactly what I said but correct. I'm not about to throw all that time away because of some curse I managed to inherit. Not when I have people after me too. But for you I will make sure to have my condition checked out regularly by my familiars and Rei-chan if that makes you feel better."
"Thank you."
It was all she could say. She felt it would be wise to try not to push the subject anymore though she so desperately wanted to that it pained her.
They sat there for a short while as Yasaka continued to looked down at her hands. Naruto let out a breath as he lost his predatory presence and relaxed.
"I'm not used to seeing you like this. You're always so collected and on top of things if not a bit sly in the way you do things. I wonder if Kunou-chan will be the same when she grows up? Though she does seem to be a bit bolder and more direct than you are. I wonder how far that will go?"
He scratched his chin in thought as he stood up off the bed.
"Stay away from Kunou."
He blinked and looked back at her to see him looking hard at him again.
"What? I told you I didn't do anything!"
"I don't care looking at your habits it's only a matter of time."
"I... I'm not going to... It's not like..."
Yasaka actually looked surprised and disgusted that he started stuttering.
"You can't even properly deny that?!"
"I can't help it children are getting sexier these days and she's so adorable!"
"..." They stared at each other, Yasaka wondering how he was able to say that so easily and in the end not wanting to know how. Her eyes suddenly slitted in maternal fury without warning and she claw swiped Naruto.
There was a blur as her nails hit nothing running through an afterimage of Naruto. The next second later she was suddenly pinned to the bed with her hands held back.
Naruto grinned as Yasaka looked uneasy. "Of course Kunou is the splitting image of you. Having the older version might make me lose my interest in her?"
"Are you trying to bribe or blackmail me with my daughter? You and I both know you wouldn't lose interest that easily."
"Maybe, but it would make me more patient."
Naruto got a gleam in his eyes that made her own widen slightly. He leaned down to her neck and open his mouth, her throat just inches away from his teeth as she was able to feel his hot breath.
"Naruto no."
Naruto stopped for a moment and moved up to her face his eyes half open.
"If you really want me to stop you have to convince me."
She started to push back against him causing Naruto to stare at her before suddenly slamming her back against the bed. He chuckled as she gasped in startled surprise.
"Ah ah ah. Had this been a few months ago this could have gone differently but I am currently physically stronger and faster than you. But now you have to actually put some effort into it if you want, and I mean really~ want me off of you because I hold the power now. Well you might be more powerful than me... if you used your ley lines."
She shivered from the situation she was in and she could quickly see where it was going.
"N-Naruto please. Kushina wouldn't-."
"-Be able to stop me right?" He cut her off as he really didn't care. He leaned down from her face to in front of her ample chest and with his teeth tugged at the hem of her miko haori getting some of her ample cleavage to show. "Come on Yasaka aren't you going to stop me? Where is your fox fire? Where is your magic or the power you have as a faction leader? If you don't do anything I might not be able to control myself!"
She was starting to feel hot now. No man ever had the balls to force her down like this. Naruto never showed any interest in her this much other than the occasional glance at her body when he was growing up so she just thought he wasn't interested which she figured was for the best since she was her nephew. Even if he did go after his sisters he still needed some kind of mother figure with Kushina being gone. In the end she failed at being a mother figure as she didn't get better in that aspect until Kunou was born and by then Naruto was roaming the world.
She tried to move but noted Naruto's arms were no longer budging even an inch causing her to give up quickly.
'W-When did he get this strong?' "If you are okay with me then I don't really mind. Just leave Kunou-chan alone..."
She looked to the side acquiescing to his advances while still trying to feign some dignity. She couldn't push him back and secretly she didn't really want to fight him over this either.
"Khmhmhm..." Naruto's face shown with mirth at Yasaka's reaction. He slowly moved his head up and bit softly on her fox ear making her yip softly in surprise before she moaned.
His own wolf ears suddenly twitched as he sensed a presence and heard a grunt coming from the door. He shot his head up to look at the doorway to see Miso standing their with her arms crossed before she signed and walked away.
"Yep the tree of this family won't be branching out much at all..."
Naruto chuckled as the moment had passed and he got off Yasaka to stand at head of the bed. She covered her face with her hands, having turned flush red in embarrassment. An awkward silence filled the room for a while as Yasaka just laid there. Finally it was Naruto who broke the silence having his bored expression again.
"Generic vixen."
Yasaka glared at him with one eye under her hands despite the blush on her face.
"Juubi-sama we want to thank you once again for gracing us with your presence."
Naruto stood back in the main conference room with his hands in his pockets while the other elders and clan head members. Yasaka was there in her seat while Ahri stood as her attendant this time.
"Yeah whatever."
A rigid looking middle aged man stiffened at Naruto's informal demeanor. "Boy you may be the new Juubi but you should still show respect to your elders."
Naruto shifted his eyes to the man. The weight behind Naruto's gaze was enough to make the man suddenly rethink his words. Naruto scratched his head as he let out a breathe.
"I don't have much patience for men as I do women. If you excuse me I'm going back home."
Yasaka and Ahri blinked owlishly at that. 'That was fast!?'
Naruto turned on his heel to leave causing the grown ups to frantically call out to him.
"W-Wait Juubi-sama! We still have requests to go over! Power distribution, endorsements, marriage contracts."
"Don't care." He waved over to Yasaka who was still looking surprised at Naruto but waved anyway. If he was going to leave this quickly he might as well have not showed up to their summons. It was like he showed up just to spite them.
"Well I'm going back to Kuoh Yasaka. Feel free to stop by whenever." He looked over at Ahri and winked at her. "You too Ahri-chan. It's a shame we weren't able to get to know each other longer. If you are ever down in my area of Japan, even if it's just to visit know my home has more than enough room for you to stay at."
Ahri gained a small smile as she nodded.
The elders still tried to get their say in hoping to persuade Naruto to listen since he clearly had his own agenda.
"Juubi-sama please! Blood like yours is one of a kind in this world. The world isn't exactly a peaceful place so to cement your bloodline it would be best for you to have an offspring of your own to continue your legacy! And so we went about collecting a sum of marriage contracts for you of who we feel would be a suitable carrier of your progeny." If the first Juubi was able to advance Youkai so much imagine what a new one could do.
Naruto stopped in his steps in thought causing the elders to let out a breath feeling they had convinced Naruto to listen. So he could be controlled they just had to learn how he ticked is all. Naruto scratched his head before looking back at the old Youkai. They broke out in a heavy sweat as the pressure given off by Naruto's gaze was like an intense gravity darkening the room leaving the only lit path being from Naruto leading to them, his line of sight. Naruto's eyes had dilated Armorer-like.
"Why would I worry about having an heir if I already have one?" Those were the words Naruto said but from his body language and presence they knew what the other message was.
Keep pushing it, keep stalling me, keep trying to exert some kind of control over me and I will kill you, is what Naruto was think.
What they got was: Don't test me.
Much simpler but close enough. If you weren't guilty the gaze wouldn't bother you nearly as much.
- Kuoh -
"And that's what happened." Naruto gave off the narration to the group now having finally returned back from Kyoto. The others sat around him as he had returned a few hours ago with Tama, Kaga and the twins from Kyoto. Of course this time he was transported via magic seal to ease Yasaka's nerves. He was now squatting on the floor as he Kaga held onto his fingers standing on her little legs. She was a lot like her mother in that regard that even though she didn't always express it on her face despite being a baby she still enjoyed herself. It didn't matter to him. Whether she giggled loudly or stared at him blankly watching everything that was going on he still found it adorable.
Rias was currently digging through the fridge while the others watched and listened to him.
Issei furrowed his brow as something about what Naruto had told them didn't sit right. "So that Sora prick raided your ancestor's grave? How was he supported for that long?"
"The higher-ups likely didn't know. Though I have a feeling at least someone knew it's no longer my concern. I killed Sora and with him destroyed his sacred gear. Sora was completely Youkai from birth so their was no reason he should have naturally had that sacred gear in the first place which means he stole and killed it from some human. No one will be using it anymore though."
"Still though even after that he still even went and stole your power? I mean sure it's a great idea but after what he just did how much of an asshole can someone be?!" Naruto laughed at that gaining a look of confusion from Issei.
"Hahaha that's the funny thing Issei. Everyone thinks he was actually able to steal power from me. No one ever thought about how it was so easy for him to do so."
"Eh?"
"Issei there would have been a limit to his gear. One of that caliber which could have potentially become Longinus class like yours would have had a limiter to keep the user from taking in more power than he or she could handle. Similar to how you can only boost so many times before you reach your current limit. Sora would not have been able to keep absorbing energy from me to the point he lost control of his mind and body."
"What? Then how-."
Kiba interjected from the side as his eyebrows rose in realization.
"You forced it didn't you?"
Naruto grinned at the young knight. "Bingo! From the first time he took my power every moment from then on I forcibly flooded his body with more and more of my energy. Even my eyes! Those are a genetic adaptation. They can't be gained by something as simple as absorbing energy. Which means when Sora made contact with my eyes I gave him a copy of mines willfully. The combination of two of my gifts in his body he couldn't help but explode."
Issei shivered in unease. It always made him wary how easy Naruto could kill things and people. Even when it was necessary Naruto talked about it like it was a sport or if it was on the same level as pranking someone.
Naruto got a weird feeling as he noted Rias had really said a whole lot and had been in the kitchen a while. He picked up Kaga and walked into the kitchen while the others started to converse more.
He walked into the kitchen and tilted his head, his face showing mirth as he saw Rias's ass shaking as she dug into the fridge.
"Rias?"
"Mmph?!" She jumped startled and looked back at him. His mouth twitched when he saw a fish in her mouth and in her arms she was holding eggs. All of it raw. He face started to slowly turn red as her eyes watered for some reason.
'What is this? Is she having cravings now because of the baby? Maybe a little moody too?" He had a sweatdrop as he tried to give her a warm placating smile.
"Ano, Ri-chan do you want me to cook that for you or are you good...?"
"Don't look at me!" She yelled at him crying as she fell down on her knees. Her hormones were all messed up and the embarrassment made her as sensitive as a 7 year old girl.
Kaga and Naruto just stared at her lost as he wasn't sure what to do. 'Should I help her up right now? Should I even touch her?"
He stood there not sure what to do until finally he just called for help. "Akeno!"
"Ara?" She poked her head into the doorway wondering what was wrong. Her line of sight went to Rias and she frowned at him.
"How could you Naruto-kun. You made a pregnant girl cry!"
"I-I didn't... I don't know what happened." He stuttered causing Akeno to look at him weirdly. She walked passed him to Rias and helped her up.
"Now now Bucchou it's okay. Lets leave that mean guy." Rias nodded sniffling as the walked away.
As Akeno helped Rias walk away with her food Akeno glanced back at Naruto who looked out of sorts.
'Did I just find your weakness Naruto-kun?'
Naruto stood there in silence with Kaga after the two girls left thinking about what just happened. Figuring it was just one of those things he sighed and got ready to go back into the other room when Rias came back into the kitchen. She quickly went into the fridge and pantry and got out a jar of peanut butter, hot sauce, and flour. She made sure to shoot a glare at him with her puffy eyes before running off again.
Naruto had his eyes fixed on where she was for a few seconds before sporadically his eye just started twitching.
Naruto stood in front of the mirror with his shirt off looking over his body. His animal features were ever present as were his horns. He was currently thinking about what his appearance would be when he went back to school. Those parts were a simple matter to get rid off. His hair color was the issue. His hair hadn't been it's golden blonde for most of the summer break. Sure he could turn it back to blonde but it wouldn't be super accurate. So then not going blonde that would leave him with grey or white and red. He could explain either one the question would just be which one was more believable.
With grey hair it could be explained as some kind of condition he had developed or it could be written off as stress. With the red hair it could be explained as something he just grew into. Though rare cases, people's hair do some times change color in the human world and since Shio's hair is red and is his sister it would be seen as a family trait. He would think about it more he supposed.
Shrugging he put his shirt back on and walked though the hallways of his home. It was late so he supposed everyone else was doing their own think. He had been skipping out on his sleep lately so he was feeling more drained than usual. It's a good thing school was starting again as that would be the perfect time for him to catch up on his sleep. He yawned as he turned and walked by a room with it's lights on. It was the room Tama used every now and then but he didn't think much of it. The door was shut but still left slightly open to where it was cracked. When Naruto walked by he caught a glimpse of something that caused him to backtrack in his step automatically. He slowly opened the door and peered his head in to see Tama sitting up in the bed with Kaga in her arms. He noted her shirt was up as attended to Kaga. His eyes slowly widened when he quickly realized Kaga was sucking on Tama's breast. It was at that moment Tama spotted Naruto and blushed as her eyes turned into white circles comically as if she had been caught.
"I... That... Tama... since when... have you been breastfeeding... Kaga-tan?" His voice was shaky as he wasn't sure what to say. She tried to cover herself and Kaga with a blanket suddenly feeling insecure as Naruto kept staring.
"T-That's not important!"
"B-But Tama-chan... You birth Kaga-tan via an egg. Biologically speaking there should have been no need for your body to lactate if she was-."
Naruto didn't even realize that his teeth had started to sharpen and he drooled a little which made the situation worse.
"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" He flinched when she yelled at him and quickly had knives in her hand while the other one still held Kaga protectively.
He quickly shut the door feeling it was safer to just leave her alone and keep note of what he saw for later. His otherworldly instincts suddenly tipped him off and he stepped to the side away from the door as several knives suddenly stabbed into it and kept going out through several walls of the house.
Naruto leaned his back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling as he sighed.
"Ha..." He materialized a tablet in his hands and started to right something in it. "Well time to add another to my list of fetishes." Yes he actually had a list for this kind of thing.
He heard short shrieks of surprise throughout the house likely from the projectiles Tama just through but he ignored it as he sent his tablet away and kept walking again as he grabbed a lock of his hair.
"Yep I think I'll go with the grey hair from stress story."
- Next Day -
Naruto had his head on the desk as the teacher went on with her lesson. He could feel so many eyes on him he actually stopped noticing it. The hair thing excuse was half accepted but many defaulted to just saying he became a delinquent over the summer. That combined with his slightly more filled out body making him even look more intimidating when he wanted to even if his uniform was worn loosely didn't help things.
On the plus side the hair color change actually improved his standings somewhat. Girls found him hotter as he looked even wilder than before with his slightly longer hair and more toned frame but what really surprised him was the fact that the male population hated him less as they thought he was cooler now. They supposed if the king of the school was really a bad boy then he couldn't be all that bad. Naruto wasn't sure how that worked but guys were entitled to be stupid. Tama was no longer attending school to an extent. Seeing as she had Kaga now she would be taking leave of school for a while only stopping in every now an then. The cover story for her to the rest of the school body was that she was traveling on important business trips and so would rarely be able to attend school. Wasn't completely a lie since she did have things she had to do every now and then but even if someone still did see her around town it wouldn't matter since no one knew where Tama lived (that she lived with him), and Tama was hard to find for normal people to begin with if she didn't want to be seen.
Ultimately neither of them really needed to be in school anymore since both Tama and him had an above high school education. Naruto was just there to keep up appearances.
That's right... he had to keep up appearances...
"*Snore*..."
The teacher stopped in her lesson as the sound of snoring could be heard throughout the classroom. Shio and Miso looked over at their brother with expressions of disbelief that Naruto would dare do that so boldly. It was the first class of the day having only started 15 minutes ago and already he was out cold.
Others snickered as the teacher addressed the issue timidly.
"Ano could someone please help Naruto-san?"
Raynare who was sitting attentively behind Naruto rose up her hand. "I'll take care of it sensei!"
"Thank you Rei-san!"
Everyone watched her as Raynare stood up and put her bag on her desk. She slowly lifted up Naruto's head and pulled a pillow out of her bag to put under it as if she had been waiting for this. She then went back and sat down in her seat like nothing out of the ordinary happened.
The teacher shook comically as her voice stuttered. "R-Rei-san that's not what I m-meant by helping him!"
Miso covered her mouth as she giggled while Shio simply shook her head hiding her mirthful expression.
Naruto groaned as he stirred awake and stood up in class. He rubbed his eye groggily as he simply walked out of the classroom.
"I'm going to the infirmary Sensei."
"O-Oh. Okay." The teacher, poor thing, couldn't bring herself to stop Naruto. Shio stared at him as he walked away. When he finally left the classroom to silence she turned around to Raynare.
"He took the pillow with him."
- Flashback 4000 years -
Several years had gone by since Menma had taken Tamano and Gilgamesh under his wing. Gilgamesh came along will showing he had a powerful body. He just needed to condition the boy over the last few years to prepare him for the next step.
Tamano on the other hand he had to monitor more closely. The small girl was a bit frail and timid though that evened out more over time to where she became more cheery kept close to Menma like a puppy. In a way it as good that she did as the girl was sickly for a while and Menma had to watch over her keeping her health up as he studied her beast physiology. Apparently her kind had a terrible lifespan, living only a little longer than their animal counterparts. Thanks to his testing he was able to prolong her lifespan. Not immortal or anything but as long as he is around he can keep her living. With his power flowing through her it's likely that if the girl ever had offspring then with each generation their lifespan would get longer on their own until they reached pseudo immortality like that of angels and the rare other beings.
He did not though that she had a talent for using magic so he took to teaching her what he could.
Right now she was in a white robe to match Menma's cloak as they both watched over Gilgamesh who was laying on a table stretched out looking nervous in only his shorts.
Menma took out of his pocket a black vial of some kind of substance. "In this is the prototype of the power I've isolated. As you've heard me mention in the past I call it the Armorer gene. It's something I've created from my own body and blood with rules set in place. With the mindset of weapons in your thoughts your combat prowess can be near unrivaled. Combine that with your own unique talents and you can be unstoppable. Now note that while part of lives on inside of Tamano now-." The young girl blushed to which Menma supposedly didn't notice as he continued.
"She and her kind are originally the results of my meddling anyway so her body is naturally more compatible to accepting my influence regardless of your godly blood."
Gilgamesh turned his head to look over at Menma and eyed the vial in his hands.
"Yeah but even still I'll be okay right?"
Menma shrugged which didn't assure the boy at all. The earthbound god put the vial on Gil's bare chest causing the boy to look confused. He waited for a minute for something to happen but there was only silence. "So... what now-!?" The boy's words died as the vial pulsed and lost it's shape turning into a black mass that started to burn into the boy's body. Gilgamesh gritted his teeth as the pain hit him. As the irregular substances seeped into his chest his veins started to bulg out over his body. His nails clawed into the wood table as the pain increased. It felt like nails were filling his body skewering him repeatedly over every inch. He started to convulse and scream as his eyes and the veins over his body glowed brightly.
"Ahhhhh!" Tamano had to shield her eyes from the intensity of the light. Menma just continued to watch mostly expressionless if not a little excited as he patiently watched whether this boy would survive or not
There was an increasingly loud hum before light shot out everywhere from his body in an explosion. The small home they were in was engulfed in a doom of light before an explosion rocketed the desert wilderness. When it finally died down half of their home was blown apart and the ground was scorched. As the smoke cleared Menma had one arm over Tamano protecting her from the blast with his cloak. He swung his arm and the smoke quickly dispersed allowing them to see the results of his experimenting.
Gilgamesh had changed both on the inside and outside. The boy laid unconsciously on the ground and charred wood in a cold sweat. Now over his body and torso he had a series of white tattoo tribal markings.
Menma smirked as he picked the boy up. "Tamano get my scrolls. We are going to be traveling again. Not like we can live in this ruined house anymore anyway.
"Yes sir!" The girl saluted before scurrying off to go get his research materials. He looked down at the boy with an unreadable expression.
'Looks like I was right. Though humanity is tenacious it was the tenacity of his mixed blood that allowed him to survive the concentrated power I bestowed upon him. If he had been completely a god it would have had no effect in this amount and if he had been completely human he would have been torn apart. Still though something in the back of my mind is warning me about this boy...' His face grew into a rare sharklike grin. 'But if I'm creating the ultimate warrior to fight me then it's only natural I would feel threatened! The history of Armorers start here!'
"Master?" Tamano tilted her head at the back of her owner wondering why he had gone so silent while holding Gil. Menma looked back at her with a dark look, a shadow casting over his face forgetting where he was. The girl jumped slightly as she was frightened by the gaze. Menma's expression quickly softened at seeing her and all the scrolls she was carrying in a haphazard way as if she tried to grab them all at once. He didn't know what to think of her but he at least found her amusing every now and then.
He put on a warm smile to the girl, one that couldn't be recognized as being real or fake even to the ones who knew him closely. "Come Tamano we have much to do."
The girl lost her momentary fear at that smile and followed after her master who started to walk off with a hop to herself animatedly. She lost her fear but she did not forget.
- Few Months Later -
The sound of metal slicing through the air met one's ears as Gilgamesh continued to train in the woods.
Menma sat with his legs crossed on a boulder as he watched the boy go at it. Gilgamesh had a sword in his hand as he swung it at nothing. He didn't know what it was but as soon as he grabbed the sword or rather any weapon for that matter it was like it became a part of his body. He wielded it with such natural ease that one would think he had formal training.
Right now he was swinging his sword a few feet away from a tree. Though the blade never touched the tree small cuts had started to appear along the trunk of the wood. He didn't like the results as he expected more. He tensed his arms as he held the sword two-handed and swung harder with the continued flurry of slashes.
"It's not so much about strength. Power is good but what you need right now is imagination and instinct. If you want to cut the tree without making contact then will your slashes to it. Imagine it happening and project those results from your mind into your actions."
Gilgamesh stopped in his movements and held the sword in front of him. What Menma was saying didn't make a whole lot of sense to him and yet somehow he understood what the otherworldly being was saying. The boy close his eyes letting him see only darkness as he found his center and focused. He found a ticking. A repetitive ticking echoing in the back of his skull as he dug into his own mind.
His eyes snapped open and dilated, shrinking as he somehow hyper focused in on his target the tree, and yet somehow was aware of what was going on around him in a limited range. He wasn't looking at the tree and yet at same time he was looking right at the tree and it's vulnerabilities as everything else went dark with only that tree highlighted with a dull glow in his mind's eye. He didn't understand what it meant and yet somehow he knew exactly what he had to do. A wind went by him blowing into his hair as if signaling him to act.
He pivoted on his feet swing his sword in a high slash in a sharp motion with such speed that it looked like a blur. He let out a breath as the serious aura about him vanished and he blinked at the tree waiting for results. A second later there was a diagonal split that appeared on the base of the tree before it was suddenly cleaved all the way through and fell down to the side along with the tree behind it getting cut halfway through.
He looked pleasantly surprised as he smiled happily and turned around to see what his teacher thought. He saw Menma yawning and the light died from Gilgamesh's eyes for a second before his expression went stale. He sighed and turned back around to walk off to another tree and keep practicing.
"Well done."
The boy stopped in his tracks shocked that the one devoid of most natural emotional response and compassion just praised him. Gilgamesh's cheeks flushed as his face twitched into a goofy grin that he hid from his teacher as he continued to walk away.
Menma watch the boy walk to another tree and then looked back at the cut up wood. 'Looks like the Armorer gene is steadily progressing in it's development. The boy is gifted but his progression is too slow that its starting to bore me.
His eyes shifted over to Tamano who just walked past the trees up to them holding a few dead birds for their lunch that she caught.
"Ah Tamano you're back. I'm going to go rest for a short while. Look after Gil for me will you?"
The fox girl nodded happily at her master's request as Menma got up and left them. Silence filled the area as Gilgamesh kept trying to recreate the slash he just did. He was too excited internally now so he couldn't perform right now as his mind was too hectic. It caused him to miss the range on his slice still creating the extended blade but at the wrong times thereby missing the tree all together. This made him frustrated which then cause him to slash more and more frequently and sloppily.
Tamano watched him get irritated until she got tired of being silent. She set her game down and walked up to him, not at all afraid of the sword and his swinging which startled him as it was eerie compared to how frightened the girl used to be.
"You need more instinct."
"Huh? What?"
He stopped swing so as not to strike her as she came up to stand next to him. "What master would probably say is you're too human."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
She shrugged as he looked annoyed at her. "I don't know but ever considered that maybe you're overthinking it?" He looked at her as he lowered his sword and waited for her to continue. "You're overthinking it if it's taking you that low to hit your target. It doesn't matter how crowded or empty your mind is as long as your instincts are set on your target."
At the end a duck flew by them and without even turning her head to follow it her hand shot out and grabbed the bird around the neck snapping it quickly in one smooth motion.
Gilgamesh's eyes widened. While the girl was decent company to have around all this time he thought she was useless and thought Menma only kept her around as a toy or pet. He was rethinking the first thing now but he was still sure about the last part.
The girl still looked a little sickly but she was growing over time. Gilgamesh scoffed before going back to his sword to which Tamano just shrugged and walked back to where she left the other dead birds. He had his pride but internally he still put what Tamano said to work.
The two preteens weren't aware that Menma hadn't left yet and was still watching them.
- 5 Years Later -
A 17 year old Gilgamesh leaned his cheek on his fist as he sat in his throne. After a year of being an Armorer he had more strength than any human in terms of fighting ability and he long sense had the physical strength. With his strength he quickly rose to become the ruler of Uruk and as king he brought the kingdom to glory with every battle over the past 3 years ending them quickly and almost singlehandedly. He didn't know why he didn't chose this right sooner. A ruler is much more satisfying than being some circus show.
Menma had taken to traveling and sometimes he took him with him but other than that Gilgamesh was pretty much left to his own devices which surprised him honestly because he always felt like Menma wanted to mold him into some kind of weapon.
Gilgamesh didn't know why but he felt driven to not disappoint Menma. He kept up his training and even started to use magic, or mana as it was called. He cherished the memory of when he first showed Menma his ability with magic by making a sword float. It was insignificant and yet Menma praised him. Or rather Mei, which they called his female form, praised him. It was weird that the god still switched genders but it felt more natural to receive encouragement from his female form rather than the male one who was less emotive. Maybe Menma knew this and so did it purposely. The boy never had an older sister or mother figure. Maybe that was to fill a void of some kind?
Anyway when Mei praised him for his use of magic it was a happy day for him. A second later the Juubi resumed his male form and Gilgamesh could see in Menma's eyes that the wheels were turning in his head. As if he was seeing the possibilities behind the weak display of magic that Gil presented.
And yet... it was hardly noticeable at first but Menma really did start to favor Tamano more. It was more like treating her like a pet. Making sure the girl was fed and healthy, things like that. It made sense since the girl used to be extremely frail and Menma was usually expressionless when he watched over her but Gilgamesh knew even still that the Juubi was showing favoritism. To that fox runt over him. That burned him up inside just thinking of it. He was chosen first! She was chosen by chance and yet she had more luck than even he did. What made it was that the girl, and it pained him to even think it, was the more talented of the two. Gilgamesh was gifted and he had potential beyond that of any mortal human his growth rate was only a little above average. He had the power but not the skill to back it.
Menma even explained it to them a while ago that it would be interesting to see how the both of them grew as while Gilgamesh had all of that Menma theorized that because Gilgamesh was somewhat immortal, as nature would have it there would be no need for him to have a fast growth rate as his body wasn't under any kind of stress and he was naturally meant to survive.
Tamano on the other hand from the day she was born had to struggle to survive. Seeing as her original lifespan would have only been around 20 to 30 years before she met Menma she had to learn fast or her life would get cut short even shorter than it already was. So that combined with her talent increased her growth rate to a genius level.
In turns of threat level starting out Gilgamesh was the one to watch out for but as time went on the girl caught up to where now she's not far behind. And he's not talking about in a normal fight. He's talking about using his Armorer talents too that even then it would be a close match. He had weapons, she had magic ability that far surpassed his own.
In fact from what Menma said it was a little different than normal magic as it was a closer match to his own. As magic was energy of the body more so leaning towards spiritual energy and the power of will the girl used physical energy which magic used only a little of, spiritual energy, and fueled it with her imagination. Menma called it chakra and said it was actually similar to the innate power that Armorers use to enhance weapons and slice through objects. Though he didn't have a name for it he said it was similar to chakra but with more emphasis on the power of the mind.
The girl was friendly and had a cheery disposition but for some reason, deep down inside, he feared the girl. He didn't even know why he kept thinking of it but he felt like if the girl ever snapped or got angry it would be ground zero. Nowadays when he pictured the girl's presence she saw a silhouette of something that resembled Menma's beast form in the place of her shadow.
- In the East -
"Acchoo!" Tamano suddenly was overcome with the urge to sneeze.
"Bless you." Came from Menma as he sat under a tree in the wilderness watching her. The fox girl blinked as she looked at him confused.
"I didn't know you were religious!?"
"H- What? No this is what we Gods say to each other when we sneeze. It'll probably become a thing for ordinary people one day too."
"Gods sneeze?!"
"What kind of question is that?" He glanced over at the girl who was overly fascinated by such a thing. "Is there something wrong with your head? If you're feeling ill you should rest."
"No I'm fine! If I sneezed randomly then that means someone is probably talking about me!" He rose his eyebrow at that.
"Is that so?"
"Yes! This will be a thing."
He chuckled at the stupidity and leaned his head back against the tree. He felt eyes on him and squinted open one eyes as he looked to the side to see Tamano in her face with stares in her eyes.
"You laughed! Master never laughs unless something is wrong. I'm not used to seeing master express himself in such a way!"
He gave the girl a dry look and close his eyes again and laid on his side on the grass facing away from her.
"My apologies. I'll make sure not to do it again," he grumbled trying to sleep as Tamano started to try to shake him away as she pushed.
"Master I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings! Master! Please look at me! Look at Tamano!" Her eyes started to water as she looked a little frantic. Menma continued to ignore her as he faked sleeping all the while the corner of his mouth started to twitch.
Several hours later after Tamano finally calmed down and let her master sleep he watched her train again. She sat cross legged as a light red aura covered her body. The girl took to using the energy like it was water. Once he saw her talent with magic he was basically was set on starting an experiment of his own on the girl. He was already strengthening her body and that was working as time went on but he wanted to push it even further and enhance the abilities she had. He infused his own aura into her which gave birth to her chakra. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that through meditation the girl was actually able to gain her own youkai chakra similar to his own.
Looking her over she had come a long way over the years. Tamano had taken to growing out her pink hair to where long bangs framed the sides of her face and a white ribbon tied in her hair in the back. Her body was blossoming well in a womanly way as from her breasts to her hips. She wore a white toga robe now with gold bangles on her wrists.
He sighed as he had something he need to tell her.
"Tamano." Her ears twitched as she opened her eyes looking over at him as her aura dispelled.
"Huh?"
"I'm leaving."
"Alright let's go."
"I meant alone."
There was an awkward silence as random leaves blew by. She shot up on her feet with a scared look in her eyes.
"What?! You're leaving me!?"
"No I'm-." He tried to explain the reason to her but was suddenly cut off when she got in front of him and grabbed the front of his cloak. She pulled him up and slammed him against the trunk of the tree making it shake surprising him as she shout at him.
"Did I did something wrong?! Please Master tell me what I did wrong! I'll take whatever punishment I need to. Burn me, beat me, break me, do whatever I don't care! Just don't leave Tamano!" She kept slamming him against the tree with each one as she went hysterical.
'I didn't think she was still so fragile inside.'
"Tama- you're- a- big girl- now- you'll be- fine." His head shook like he was a ragdoll as he kept hitting the tree.
She lost track of where they were and slammed him right through the tree breaking it as she brought him down to the ground with a crash as a shallow crater formed.
"I can't I'll die!"
He looked a little dazed as she shouted at him. He had twigs and leaves in his hair as Tamano sat on top of him still holding on to his cloak.
"I-I think you're strong enough to take care of yourself now..."
She blinked as she realized what she did and shakily let go of him. She start to rub her eyes with the backs of her hands trying not to look at him as she started to cry.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.-"
He laid there as the animal girl kept crying. His eyes shimmered with light as he gained a look that was rare to him. A look of sympathy. Menma sighed as he sat up bracing himself up with one arm and put his other hand on the girl's head as he pulled her in to his chest causing her to stop with a jolt at the contact. Her eyes snapped open widen on her tear streaked face.
"I've been around for a long time Tamano. I have other things to take care of afterall. You can't be selfish and keep me all to yourself. She started to whimper at that before he added the next part.
"I do have something I need you to do though. Gilgamesh has united his people into a kingdom and to do it so young in such a short period of time is impressive. He likely doesn't know I continuously watch over him. I feel you can do so much more than even him. Unite your own kind and find some place for them where they can all commune and live. I hope you can do this as this is very important to me."
She nodded hastily to listen but still had her face buried in the warmth of his chest. 'Master's scent is nice.' It calmed her down for some reason.
"I will be checking up on you repeatedly over the next 100 years so make sure you do a good job alright.
She choked on her saliva upon hearing that. "O-One... hundred... years?! Master I won't live that long!" It was a miracle she lived as long as she did. She sniffled as she started to cry again looking up at him.
He rubbed her head in a soothing manner and smirked a little to himself. "You will. As long as I'm around you will live a very long life. So please you can handle things a few months to years time without me can't you?"
"I-I'll do my best."
"Good girl." He smiled as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. "My faith is with you."
She blinked before her face started to turn red at how close they were and all the attention she was recieving from him. Just receiving physically contact from him was rare and so she had begrudgingly gotten used to it but this just skipped passed that. Her eyes started to shake dizzily as it was too much for her. A puff of steam came off her head before her head lolled back and she fainted with an odd smile on her face.
He looked confused as held on to her shoulders to keep her from falling back? "Tama? Tamano are you alright? I guess she was feeling overwhelmed. Maybe she was feeling sick as well? I suppose I'll stick around a few more days to make sure she is able." He picked her up bridal style to carry her over to the tent to rest. As he glanced down upon her sleeping form he couldn't help but smile again at the sight of her.
'I don't know why but I can't help but feel the need to spoil her.'
As he laid her down he sat next to her a few moments before his face went to a drier expression. "I need to hurry up and leave. All this smiling is starting to hurt my face..."
- Flashback End -
Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he woke up from his short nap on the couch in the ORC club room. He got up and stretched as he looked around as he got up and stretched to see Koneko and Selene looking at him as they sat in across from him in the opposite cough.
"Hey Neko-chan, Sele-chan."
"Master/Senpai." They nodded to him with their respective greetings. He focused his gaze on Selene and suddenly the small dhamphir girl felt very nervous. Naruto pulled out a kunai from his pocket and spun it on his finger before sending an evil grin at the girl whose eyes looked frightened. Quick as lightning Naruto threw the kunai dead at her. Her eyes glowed red reflexively as she flinched and shielded herself with her arms.
Expecting the impalement of the sharp object that nervous came she peered around her arms and saw Naruto and the kunai frozen. The kunai only a foot from his outstretched hand and a few feet away from her face. A gust of wind hit her a moment later from the force of the throw. The color had inverted in the area for a second from the pulse of stopped time. Selene looked at Naruto's face apprehensively and a second later with a shatter of red light Naruto broke out of the stopped time.
Naruto looked at the kunai frozen in the air critically. "Well you stopped the kunai but you also stopped me or rather part of me which was not the goal. Really stopping part of a person may be worse than stopping them as a hole as it could have caused simulated organ failure."
"Gomen!" Selene gave a deep bow worried that she had hurt him. He waved it off not carrying.
"But you did stop the kunai as I said. Though looking at it's position in the air I'd say you activated your Balor View as soon as I made the motion to throw it at you. That's not bad but this shows that there is some lag time between when it activates no matter how minor it is. Course this is the closest I've ever thrown something at you and it was out of training so I understand. But because it's out of training you should have reacted more instinctively which you did but if this is the fastest you can do in such a situation then we have to work on your reflexes. I want you to be able to stop objects that have already been thrown near instantly."
Koneko ate from a plate of cookies before sending a light glare at him.
"That wasn't nice master. You shouldn't throw sharp objects at girls just to test something."
He gave a weak smile as he scratched the back of his head.
"Heheh sorry but you do know that I could have done worse if I was really trying to hurt her right? I could have not made it obvious I was about to throw it at her. I am an Armorer afterall. Or I could have just done it with empty intent. Selene wouldn't have even felt it coming if I did that."
Selene looked a little pale as she sweated. 'I-I wouldn't have felt it? What does he mean by that?!'
He heard chatter coming from the doorway before all the rest of the club members walked in. Issei waved at them before seeing Naruto grab the kunai out of the air that was pointed at Gasper.
"Uh what happened here?"
"Don't worry about it." Naruto responded to Issei quickly. He nodded to the rest of the small crowd and noticed an odd one amongst them. "Oh Irina's here." It was a statement more than a question as he saw the twin tailed brunette standing amongst them.
"Hiya Naruto-kun! Since I'm a student here should I call you senpai now?" The bubbly girl winked at him playfully as she waved at him.
"If you want." That was all he had to say to that. Issei looked between them and groaned.
"Wait you aren't going to ask what she's doing here?"
"..." He stared at Issei for a few seconds before he simply shrugged. He didn't really care. Actually having Azazel as a teacher of the school and now an advisor of the club annoyed him more than having Irina randomly show up as part of the student body.
Back at home was an awkward little group.
Tayuya chose not to look at Tama and focused on the TV. Tama was currently putting a collar on Kaga who behaved standing on her little legs while looking at the piece of leather curiously. It was noticeably oversized but that just made it look adorable on the little hybrid pup. Tayuya didn't have to say anything about it as their current guest would do that for her. They currently had company in the form of Rosseweisse who somehow found her way to their house.
"W-What are you doing to your child?!"
"Putting a collar on her? I thought that was obvious."
"No I meant why?! She's not a pet." Tayuya's hand subconsciously went to her neck when the valkyrie said that and grumbled. Tama tilted her head in confusion at her fellow silver haired female.
"So if she ever gets lost people people will know where she belongs." Rossweisse's mouth was left agape at how much was wrong with this. She wasn't sure where to start as she tried to bring up a retort but her brain started to hurt not sure where Tama's logic was actually sane. She was stopped out of her thoughts when the door opened to show Naruto, the telltale spiked up red hair of his dragon form present as he had a towel around his neck while wearing a tank top which looked singed and was smoking. A layer of sweat coating his body.
He went over to the counter and got a pitcher of water drinking it all before finally looking back at the living room and seeing the girls staring at him.
"Oh hello Rossweisse. I was just doing some light training so I didn't know you were here."
She couldn't help but eye the sweat coating his arms and chest as his tank top clung to his body before looking back at the fact that it was smoking.
"Hello Naruto-sama. What kind of training were you doing for you to smell like smoke if you don't mind me asking."
"Oh well when I said light training I meant that as in lighting myself on fire."
"...Why?!" Rossweisse shouted as Tama ignored them.
"I wanted to train my heat resistance. Turns out I'm so hot that even fire is drawn to me." He winked at the valkyrie who blushed shyly and looked away as he flexed his pecs at the end just to add emphasis to what he said.
"I don't like cheese..." A certain Death God quipped.
"Shut up Tama. Anyway why are you here Rossweisse?"
She started to cry comically as she recounted what happened. After all the dramatics Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he summarized what she said.
"So basically Odin abandoned you and you have nowhere else to go?" She sniffled as she nodded.
"Azazel-san said that I should come here."
He deadpanned off in the distance upon hearing that. 'Well as long as he's sending me women I guess I won't complain about him volunteering my home for now.'
"Well there is more than enough room so you can stay here as long as you want."
"Thank you Naruto-sama you're too kind!" He grumbled to himself as she continued. "If it's not too much can I ask of you a simple favor?"
"Shoot."
"I'd like to challenge you to a duel."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Wha- But you are an Armorer aren't you? Doesn't your kind love to do battle?"
"Well usually yes. But I'm also one who likes a challenge and right now... I'm not seeing it." He looked her up and down as she felt like she had been stabbed through the chest. Her eyes shadowed as she balled her fists in raged making her look angry.
"Are you saying I'm easy?..." She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face again. "I've never even been with a man!"
"..." She blinked feeling eyes on her and looked around to see Tama, Naruto, and Tayuya all staring at her. She turned red from embarrassment and tried to make herself look as small as possible. Naruto gained a wide grin showing a row of sharklike teeth
"Challenge accepted."
She looked happy that he agreed to the duel. Tama and Tayuya suddenly both spoke up from the background.
"Back out now." "Say goodbye to your pride..."
She looked at them confused wondering why they would say that.
They went out to the clearing behind the house along with Tayuya who decided she would watch. The girl had quickly gotten into her battle outfit while Naruto looked bored.
He stood 5 meters away from her holding his hand on his head. "Well you can start whenever you want. First one to fall to their knees loses."
She brandished her broadsword and looked at him skeptically. "Aren't you going to bring out your weapon?"
He looked at her as if having trouble believing she was serious about that question. "Armorer's are very picky beings. Though we use weapons we rarely do so if we don't feel the need to."
"Are you saying I'm not worth drawing your weapon against?" She pointed her sword at him with anger building in her eyes.
"No I'm saying you aren't worth fighting seriously." He tilted his head antagonizing her as she gritted her teeth. She used magic under her feet to propel herself forward as she dashed leaving kicked up dust behind her. As she dashed towards him with her tunnel vision she supposed looking back on it that she would note the slight change of Naruto's expression from a bored one to a more malicious and sadistic one.
She swung her sword at his chest in a downward diagonal slash. Before she could react Naruto stepped forward further within the range of her swing. He opened his mouth, his fangs catching the sunlight before biting down on the sword. He jerked his neck back and roughly yanked the sword out of her hands making her stumble forward. He pivoted slightly to the side and crouched slightly from the height difference.
Facing sideways he thrusted her sword to his right back at her. The hilt hit her hard in her stomach causing her to cough up saliva. After the first strike he did it 5 more times in rapid succession causing her to be knocked across the field a short distance on the last blow smacking her back against a tree stunned.
Naruto spun doing one rotation forward as he let go of the sword in his mouth and point one hand at her like he was about to shoot her. The sword embedded itself in a tree perfectly in the opposite direction.
"Break."
An invisible force came at her but she was somehow able to see it as it pressed her harder against the tree before it disappeared. When it vanished the pain from the attacks before that struck her and she fell down to her knees clutching her abdomen weakly from the hurt. She heard the sound of metal hitting the ground and turned her head to see pieces of her battle suit and torn fabric scattered on the ground. She felt a breeze and realized she had been stripped as she went from hugging herself to hiding her delicate parts with her arms and hand.
"Kyaa!"
"How arrogant. You should know your place. To think you were worth my time is like saying you could have fought Loki on your own? If an Armorer decides to not use their weapon do not use a weapon against them unless you can keep it from getting stolen. Because that is free game." He was already standing in front of her as she shivered trying to hide herself. He looked her over and hummed in approval.
"For someone who is supposedly pure you do have quite the lewd body. I guess girls these days do tend to grow like that considering..." The look in his eyes, it was like he wanted to eat her as his sharklike teeth showed themselves when he grinned wider.
"How does it feel to lose your dignity? To lose your pride? I want you to relish in the feeling because it will happen more often now that I have taken ownership of you."
"Ownership?! How can you-." She looked at him surprised before he cut her off.
"Did you lose your sense of honor too little Valkyrie? Was this not an official match? Or did you just want to spar with me? If you wanted me to treat you seriously in a spar I will take that as an insult with your skill level. Don't get me wrong you are indeed talented, but I'm not just talented. Since you lost doesn't that mean I get winner's rights? And what I want is you."
She blushed and turned away from his eyes which he ignored.
"Course you could just refuse. Many would love to be in your position. Not like you have anywhere to go. Odin abandoned you afterall. How would that look if you returned to Valhalla with that rep? At least this way you can say you quit to join the servitude of the Juubi who is also an Armorer. As of now though it hasn't been officially state I do outrank Odin politically now anyway. Well in the end you can do what you want. The final decision is up to you."
That last bit surprised her almost enough to make her forget she was naked. Almost. Naruto walked away from her passing Tayuya on the way back into the house who was snickering at Rossweisse's predicament.
"Go on and help her Tayuya. She may want a bathe too after falling in the dirt but out of independence and pride would not request one. Fix her one anyway."
"You sex offending gentleman."
He stumbled a bit and glared at her lightly as she stuck her tongue out at him but chose to not argue with her as he closed the door behind him.
- Back at School -
Several hours later after school had ended the club members went on various errand runs. Naruto laid on the couch sleeping while Rias sat in the in her armchair to the side of him enjoying the silence as Akeno stood neck to her holding a tray.
Rias glanced at him and rose an eyebrow knowing he could hear her.
"Are you alright Naruto-kun? You seem to resting much more these days. I also heard about what happened in class earlier today."
"Mmm I'm fine. I'm often tired anyway so it's really not hard for me to sleep all the time. Canines do often sleep for long periods of time anyway whether they need the sleep or not to conserve energy. Also I am maintaining another body back at home who is intensely training. It's not really affecting me at this point but eh might as well."
"Issei wait!" They heard Asia's voice call out causing Naruto to open one eye as he looked over at the door along with the others. Issei barged in looking angry.
"I can't stand that prick! That look on his face. I felt sick just from him getting close to you!"
Asia ran after him clumsily as he fumed. "Just don't let it get to you. I'm fine!"
Rias blinked wondering what was up with the children of her household.
"What's going on."
Issei turned to her trying to calm down a little. "Rias-buchou are you familiar with the name Diodora Astaroth?" Her eyes narrowed at the name. She definitely knew who that was but why would Issei suddenly bring it up.
"Go on."
Issei gave them the rundown of how they met Diodora in the city and how he had gotten creepily close to Asia. They could understand why Issei was upset but couldn't think much on it.
"Well I'm sure he's just thankful to Asia for saving him those years ago and wanted to show his gratitude." Rias gave him the benefit of the doubt. Without saying it out loud both Rias and Naruto shared similar thoughts.
Why was a high class devil out in such an isolated area wounded to where he would need Asia's help. Surely he would not have gotten undetected and so such a thing would have been common knowledge. There was also the fact that because Asia helped him that lead to her getting kicked out of the churched and caused her all kinds of problems. Hard to believe that Diodora waited until now to confront Asia and knew nothing of her whereabouts before now and if he really did no nothing of the one who saved him... well they didn't know which option was worse.
Naruto sat up on the couch and scratched his chin. "Well in any case it looks like our little lamb may be getting preyed on. Keep a close eye on her Issei if you want to watch out for this stalker."
"Will do." Issei nodded as that was probably all he could do about the matter for now.
"We can worry about that matter later. Now I have news I want to tell you all. We will be going to the underworld again very soon. A tournament is being held for the next generation of develops so all kinds of competitions will be held including rating games which we are apart of. It was supposed to happen during the break when we were all down there but then Loki and attack and that messed up all kinds of planning."
"Rias..."
Naruto's voice came hard and she gave him a gentle smile having a feeling she already knew what the issue was. "Don't worry Naruto-kun. Because I'm expecting I likely won't be participating in any rating games unless the necessary magical precautions take place. Or someone could always replace me as king for my peerage? At least temporarily?" She looked coyly at Naruto with a sweet expression. Naruto just turned his head over to her with half lidded eyes.
"No."
"B-But Naruto-kun you've never helped me with rating games before I thought that even if you are only loosely connected you would at least help with one match..."
"I can't do that."
"But you didn't even help with the Riser game."
"Hey I made up for that! Besides Rias I thought you knew this already..."
His voice went lower causing her to eye him suspiciously. "Knew what?"
He cursed under his breath as this could go badly if she didn't know already. "I'm not one of you pieces anymore. I haven't been for a while."
The girls glared at him as Rias started to get teary eyed. "Y-You... Divorced me?!"
He face vaulted backwards falling behind the couch before he quickly recovered looking slightly disheveled. "What? No! Rias during my training over that month long session I reached a point where my body broke through all connections It actually caused some pain but the connection was fragile to begin with but you knew that already so you really shouldn't be surprised. It was only a matter of time."
She sniffled as she wiped her eyes with her hands. "You should have still told me."
"That's what I'm doing now isn't it?"
"I meant sooner Naruto! You broke our bond!"
The others just looked back and fought at the drama between the two not sure if they should jump in or not. Naruto mentally grimaced as he sniffed the air. 'Shit her hormones are at it again. But I can handle it this time.'
He sighed and walked around the couch to hug her from the side softly.
"Don't touch me!"
"Sshh Ri-chan why would I need such a fragile connection with you-?" He grabbed one of her hands and placed both of this one top of her growing stomach. "When we have something so much stronger together. This child is proof of our bond and my love."
Feeling the tender moment, him hugging her so securely, she cheered up drastically at that but tried to play it off as she pouted and looked away from him.
"W-Well I g-guess I can overlook this since y-you said you love me." Naruto chuckled as he held her a little tighter.
"I have my own peerage now anyway. It really shouldn't have been a big deal."
"Ara ara." Akeno put a hand to her cheek as she giggled at the display of affection. Now that she had something to judge she was thinking that maybe, it wouldn't be such a bad idea for her to have a child as well. Asia stole glances at Issei feeling jealous. Xenovia for some reason felt the urge to pat her belly experimentally before looking over at Naruto. Selene had stars in her eyes as she gushed while Koneko just pouted eating more of her sweets looking down at her plate while stealing glances at Naruto.
Issei and Kiba however shivered with deadpanned expressions as they expressed their own respective opinions.
"I feel depressed."
"This makes me extremely uncomfortable."
Naruto's ear twitched as he heard the two boys and narrowed his eyes at them dryly. "If Tama were here in Rias's place she would kill both of you for that."
Naruto finally went home after the day was over and merged back with his other body. Rossweisse couldn't make eye contact with him which he found amusing. Currently he had a bowl of mandarins to which he was peeling for Kaga and sharing with her as they sat on the floor on a blanket. Kaga had gotten to the point where her teeth started to grow in. Two little sharp canines in the upper row of her mouth. She opened her mouth whenever Naruto gave her a little orange slice to eat. She rubbed her cheeks cutely not used to the tanginess of the mandarins.
Naruto had a stupid look on his face as he eye smiled at Kaga with a dopey grin. There was basically sparkles around him as he gushed.
"Kawaii~."
"I didn't know you at fruit."
Rias tilted her head as she sat in her own seat at the side of the living room watching them.
"I didn't know Tama did chores." Was Naruto's response. Tama who was in the kitchen leered at him ominously feeling insulted. She wanted to be more helpful damnit! If Kaga wasn't with him right now the plate in her hands would have met the side of his head. "But really I can eat anything. Even if I'm see usually eating either ramen or large quantities of meat it really shouldn't be a surprise that I eat oranges. So of course Kaga-tan can eat anything as well most likely."
He started peeling another mandarin as Kaga had finished the last one. Apparently he was taking too long as Kaga held her arms to him and moaned.
"More."
"Hai hai Kaga-tan be patient for tou-chan." He smiled happily as he kept peeling before he froze and blinked along with the others in the room as they thought they misheard.
'K-Kaga's first word.'
Naruto lost control of himself as he couldn't handle it.
"Hhnnnnggggggg!" He spazzed as he started rolling on the floor. Shio ran across the room and kicked him in his stomach making him fly out of the room from the force.
"What is wrong with you?!" Shio heard a plate shatter as it hit the ground and turned around to see Tama suddenly sitting on her knees in front of Kaga who looked lost. Tama had out a smartphone to record a small video of Kaga.
"C-Can you say that a-again for mommy Kaga-tan?" Shio's mouth was agape along with Miso's on the other side of the room and Tayuya who just entered. 'Did Tama just stutter?'
Tama had a blush on her face as she breathed a little hard as she shakily held the phone in front of Kaga with the camera on. Shio couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"You guys are like the parents that live only for their children..."
"Yes we are very devoted." Said Tama with a surprisingly clear voice this time without looking back at her.
"That wasn't a compliment..."
Rias had a sweatdrop as she looked down at her own stomach and rubbed it. "Maybe he'll calm down a little when mine finally arrives..."
- 2 Days Later -
The air was tense as the Occult Research Club saw to their unexpected guest. Diodora Astaroth had summoned himself to their clubroom unannounced. Though Rias had no problems greeting one of her peers she never socialized with Diodora often on a friendly basis and his intentions were pretty obvious to her right now.
He folded his hands as he sat across from her in the sofa, a coffee table separating them. The rest of her peerage stood behind the Sofa at Rias's back while Naruto sat next to her with his arms back. Diodora had that gentle eye smile about his face as he stayed calm and collected but that just made Naruto not trust him more.
"Now to get to the business of the matter. I'd like to offer a bishop trade Lady Gremory."
Her peerage went tense while Rias simply crossed her arms. "I assume you want to trade for Asia?"
"Am I really that transparent?" He laughed to himself at getting caught so fast."
"*Cough* Yes *Cough*." Came the antagonism of Naruto under his breath but Diodora ignored it. He held up his finger and the images of two young women appeared before them.
"I promise you a fair trade. Two bishops for the price of one. Both are very diligent workers as well I assure you-."
Rias held up her hand stopping him. "Sorry but your offer is rejected. Asia is not only a valuable member of my peerage, she is also a part of our family and is like a little sister to me."
Asia got emotional at that as she looked grateful to Rias for her words while Issei held her hand for reassures. Naruto glanced back at the two second years seeing the interaction and gained a small discreet grin before turning his attention back on the devil before him.
"Also using a roster trade to try and get the girl who turned you down shows that you are not only uncouth but that you also have no idea what a woman wants. You look more like a little boy with his toys than a man courting a fair maiden."
The rest of her peerage blinked in surprise while Issei looked shocked and Akeno giggled. Naruto let out a whistle at hearing her rip into the guy.
"Damn I'm so turned on right now."
Rias didn't even entertain what Naruto just said with so much as a glance though inwardly she felt smug and had to take a sip of her tea to calm herself down. When she put her tea back down she did have a small, somewhat condescending smile now showing that Diodora would be hard pressed to get anything out of this and that what Naruto had just said someone egged her own.
Diodora's expression actually faltered a moment as his eyes opened enough to become visible showing that red with yellow around it for irises with black pupils. Just like Rias his expression too changed minutely to a less polite one.
'No wonder he always squints. It would be hard for him to get past a girls defenses with such creepy eyes like that. The look on his face says he's won't be giving up so easily.'
Diodora made the images fade as he stood up and donned his old expression again. "How disappointing that you did not find my offer acceptable today but I won't be deterred so hastily." He walked around the couch to where her peerage was and went down on his knee as he grabbed Asia's hand putting the others on guard while Issei looked angry.
"It was fate that we met and fate that we have met again No matter what I won't let anything stop us from being together. Until we meet again my fair Asia." He gave a small peck to the back of her hand making the nervous girl gasp while Issei finally had enough.
"Get you damn hands off of her!"
Issei went to grab the man's shoulder but the moment he made contact it was like Diodora smirked as his eyes reopened and he smacked Issei's hand away surprising him. Naruto who was simply glancing back at the scene's hand twitch before Rias put her hand over his. It was a silent signal but he got it. To be ready to act in case he needed to was not what the message was. It was to not kill him.
"Low ranking trash should know their place. I can't stand being touched by a disgusting dragon such as yourself. It's revolting." He covered his nose as if the air around Issei was something foul. In a way he was insulting Naruto too with that comment.
"You asshole!" Before Issei could say or do anything else the sound of flesh being smack echoed throughout the room as Asia slapped Diodora. She still looked meek but she was also upset. "I won't let you talk to Issei or any of my friends that way!" He put on his fake mask again as he smiled.
"Yes my apologies. Well then I will see you all in the rating games. Until next time my sweet Asia I will take my leave."
He waved as he vanished via magic circle.
It was night time now and so several of the peerage was out doing client work. His own didn't do it much as they had select people they attended too. Usually those who were his followers as it made things easier. But he had nothing to do right now so he figured he might as well see what Koneko was doing. Her clients were kind of weird being fans of puppets and photographers. One was even a psuedo-otaku who had Koneko cosplay in different outfits which was the client she went to today. Naruto liked that one a lot much to the Nekosho's embarrassment as he watched from the sidelines. He kept to his animal form however appearing as a grey and black wolf that almost rivaled the size of a horse. Now on their way back home Koneko was seen riding on his back as he walked through the dark narrow streets of the neighborhoods as said giant wolf.
"Why are you still like this?"
"It's a nice change of place to change my form every now and then."
His voice was a little gruffer but he was still capable of speech in his canine form she saw. Sure the mouth movements didn't match the words all that much and it was mostly telepathy but it was still speech.
"But what is someone sees you?" An oversized dog walking through the streets at night would definitely cause a panic.
"My senses are always projected so don't worry. We are walking through closed in areas which would make it hard for a human to get near without me picking them up. My range of detection does go farther than the width of these streets after all. Also I can appear unnoticeable to the minds of mortals anyway."
She nodded as that sounded acceptable. "Wait... but then what about me? If you turn invisible would I as well from the close contact? Or would I just look like a young girl floating awkwardly through the streets?"
"Hmm yes that is indeed a problem." Her eye twitched as he didn't answer her questions at all. She was about to repeat her question a bit more sternly when suddenly Naruto stopped in his step to her confusion. A few seconds later her own senses went off to the person nearby. Sitting on top of a wall to the side of them was none other than Kuroka who was smiling at them with a mischievous glint. Naruto already sensed her before they rounded the corner actually and only stopped to be polite and greet her, not because he didn't detect her beforehand.
"It's been a while my two favorite people in the world~."
Koneko narrowed her eyes at the appearance of her sister. "Hello Big Sis." As Kuroka jumped down to them Naruto stood up on his hind legs and his body shrunk shifting down to his usual appearance with his wolf features. Because of his change in position Koneko was now holding on to him piggy back. He yawned as he put his hand to the side of his head cracking his neck.
"Hey Kuroka. Was wondering when you'd show yourself again."
"After your offer I couldn't stay away for too long now could I, nya?"
'Offer?' Koneko's eyes shifted to from her sister to Naruto wondering what she could mean.
Kuroka moved up to him and pointed a delicate finger along his chest as she gained a sultry smile. "You know I've been watching you lately, even your fight with Loki I saw all of it and I know about that fight with that Sora character. Strong, hot, and apparently fertile too. Not a bad combination in my book. Would you by chance maybe want to children with me? It wasn't the time or place down in the underworld but you see to be free now?"
"Sure why not." He shrugged with an unreadable expression. Koneko's mouth was agape while Kuroka looked lost at the quick and easy response.
"I-I... That's it? Damn I thought you'd at least struggle a bit and be difficult, nya. Maybe play hard to get or something. Seeing you agree to mate me so readily and without enthusiasm makes it feel a lot less appetizing..." She grumbled as she turned to the side.
"Have it your way then." Her ear twitched as she heard receding footsteps and to see Naruto walking away. She quickly ran after him and appeared in front of him.
"W-Wait! I was joking!" He tilted his head at her as Koneko just held on to him pouting but otherwise kept silent.
"What? I thought you didn't find me all that appetizing anymore?"
"You can at least show some interest, nya!"
"You want a powerful seed right? To rebuild your race? Wouldn't someone like Vali be a suitable choice in the gene pool too? I mean he has strength and looks too and has the blood of a dragon."
"Vali may be a good option but you were my first choice. You're stronger than him, smarter than him, and look more like a man than he does. Dragon blood is definitely appealing but then both Vali and that Issei guy are basically hand-me-down dragons whereas you have the richest dragon blood, god blood, youkai blood, and you're also the Juubi."
When she stopped she noticed Naruto's fanged grin pointed at her smugly and she looked away with a scowl as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Naruto put his finger under her chin turning her face back to him and lifted her up off the ground. Her arms went limp as she lost her strength and she was forced to look directly at him as he rose her to almost eye level with just his one finger. He leaned in close as she blushed feeling his hot breath on her lips.
"You had me at first choice. Everything after that simply made it better. I have to say I wouldn't mind enjoying the taste of a cat again."
"A-Again?" He moved his hand letting her drop back down to the ground as she caught herself with shakily legs feeling a little dizzy. Naruto moved his hand to his back and pulled Koneko off of him holding her up to Kuroka by the back of her shirt. A pulse of his aura went from his hand into her body and she moaned out as her body grew by an inch or two and cat parts became apparent. A slightly forked tail and slightly larger breasts. They were still small but still... She blushed embarrassed as Kuroka stared at her wide eyed at her and pointed with a shaky hand.
"Y-You didn't..."
Naruto ran his elongated tongue over his sharpening teeth looking very much like a criminal before he nuzzled his cheek against Koneko's own making her squirm.
"Canine's can be pretty affectionate at times. I have to say Neko-chan held up well but there are of course limits to having such a small body. Frankly if it wasn't for my own aura she probably wouldn't have survived."
She jumped at him making him drop Koneko as she watched the two fight. Kuroka tackled him and grabbed at handfuls of his shirt as she glared at him.
"I told you not to touch her -urrf!" She froze and slowly looked down seeing Naruto's hand stabbed into her chest. He yanked out his hand quickly removing a purple and whitish orb with a two tails. She fell to her knees as she felt weak and vulnerable and light disperse off of her showing her in a smaller form. Koneko's eyes went wide at the state of her sister. No longer was she the alluring sexy Kuroka. No now she was slightly smaller than Koneko having the body of a loli with short black hair and one lone black tail. She looked herself over seeing her new state and held her clothes up to her which were starting to fall off her now petite body. A shadow loomed over her and she looked up frightened to see Naruto's glowing eyes peering down at her with his sadistic grin.
"Since Nekosho's bodies grow based on their own physical strength and accumulation of senjutsu if I remove the bulk of your nature chakra I can force you to revert back to your more childlike forms if I so want to. I guess you can say that well endowed body you had really was al naturale." Okay that attempt at a pun he acknowledge was painful even for him. It went over better in his head. He shrugged before turning his attention back on the mini Kuroka and stroked his chin.
"You know this form of yours is pretty cute as well. You're only use now would be as a stuffed kitten. Now then on to the problem at hand. You are mad that I had sex with Koneko yes I know. But the majority of your anger comes from the fact that she got to me before you? Well you are the only one to blame for that. Jealous is a bad thing and I can be really sadistic in my ways of dealing with it." He brought an outstretched hand over her head and she looked fearful as she had an idea what he was going to do to her based on what happened to her sister and that perverted look growing on his face.
'I don't want to lose my chastity like this!'
She grabbed at his pant leg from her spot on her knees and cried up at him with those big hazel eyes.
"Pwease! I'll be good! Just turn mye back!" Naruto looked down at her for a few hard seconds before eye smiling as light shimmered around him.
'Aww so cute little cat girl.'
Koneko deadpanned at him. "Naruto..."
"You're being disgraceful Kuroka."
They turned their gaze to a magic circle that appeared in front of him before Vali showed herself. Koneko put herself on guard at his appearance while Naruto didn't look perturbed at all.
"Why are nyou here Vali?" He blinked at the small voice Kuroka now had as he stared at the now little girl before he shook his head ignoring the scene.
"I heard from Ophis that you were a possible candidate to leave the Khaos Brigade. If this is your reason for leaving I can't say I'm all that surprised." That could have either been an insult or a compliment neither Kuroka nor Naruto were all too sure but they decided to be charitable in the conversation and give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I don't think Ophis-sama would mind too much if I joined the Juubi, nya. Supposedly they were acquaintances a long time ago."
'That reminds me I need to go visit Ophis some time.' Naruto thought of the matter while the two spoke to each other. "Vali why are you even here? I know you knew I was here before you even came into the area so looking at how things have gone in the past you must have a good reason for showing yourself to me?"
Vali turned to him and gained a serious look.
"I thought I'd throw some caution to a fellow dragon is all. I heard your lady is going to be in the rating games real soon. Keep an eye out for the Asataroth heir. Also Ophis gave me a message to give to you. Beware of Gilgamesh for he overshadows your peerage."
Naruto went silent as his eyes widened slightly at the message. Vali feeling he did his job put his hands in his pockets as he turned around to walk off as a large magic circle appeared in his path to transport him.
"W-Wait for me, nya!" Kuroka ran after him with a stumble tripping over her kimono before remembering something and ran back towards Naruto. She held out her hand making him look confused before he realized what she wanted.
"Oh right!" He dropped the orb in his hand into her outstretched arms as she hugged it to her flat chest and ran after Vali into the magic seal. She stopped mid step and gave him a weak glare.
"I-I'll be b-back, nya!" She then quickly scurried after Vali as the two vanished from the area. Naruto walked and picked Koneko back up as he headed on his way home but he was still thinking about the words given to him.
'So Gilgamesh is even on Ophis's watch now? What did she mean by overshadow? Does she mean Gilgamesh is stronger than all of my peerage together? Or that his peerage is stronger than my peerage? Or that he has so many in his peerage that it drowns out the small number that I have? Oh well I won't worry too much about it right now."
- Week Later -
In a flash of light the gang appeared at the Gremory estate again. They had to make some last minute preparations before they got ready for they got ready for their rating game with Diodora the next day. Naruto however went up ahead as he had something he wanted to discuss with Sirzechs. Currently the super devil was currently having a meeting with his parents and the other Satan beings discussing important matters.
But that didn't mean shit to Naruto. He made it to the huge door to the conference room ignoring the protests of the poor maids. He kicked the door suddenly and loudly putting everyone on guard.
"SIRZECHS!"
Sirzechs suddenly stood up from his seat with his hands on the table as he looked worried. "WHAT?! Has Rias-tan gone into labor!?"
"I challenge you to a 1on1 rating game!"
- Kyoto -
Yasaka could be seen in the bathroom nude with her daughter as she sat on a stool washing her hair. Suddenly Yasaka's hands clenched as she gained a dark look.
"I feel like Naruto-kun just lied to me about taking it easy.'
"Itai! Kaa-chan your nails! Your Nails!" Kunou cried in pain as her mother's nails started to dig painfully into her scalp.
The others choked and did spit takes. Grayfia who was standing behind her had eyes looked like her brain stopped while Serafall who had been eating candy at the time was hitting her chest struggling to breathe as she chocked on it. Ajuka just stared at Naruto before looking away like he lost hope. Sirzechs looked at him before sitting down and calmed down drastically.
"Oh..."
"Well damn you don't have to sound so disappointed. Here I'll say it again and you better give me an acceptable response this time. Sirzechs I challenge you to a duel!"
"You have to fight Sairaorg first..."
"I challenge Sairaorg to a duel!"
"Do you have a fever or something or under some kind of medication?" It was weird how quickly Naruto switched his objective. Naruto shrugged as Sirzechs rose an eyebrow at him.
"Not really. I just forgot about that guy. If he's the strongest young devil I guess it would make sense for me to fight him first. But after that I'm coming for you." He pointed at Sirzechs with a pose before moonwalking backwards out the room."
An awkward silence filled the room as they stared at where Naruto just was before Sirzechs spoke up again.
"What were we talking about again?"
"Politics."
"Thank you Serafall that clears up so much." Sirzechs's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he deadpanned at the girl.
- END -
AN: Yatta! I did it! Lots of stuff going on in this chapter. Next chapter will likely be most if not all of the Diodora rating game and possibly the beginning of the rating game. It might have a lemon but not likely because of the timing. It may have more of Menma's flashbacks if I need the word count as that too is important and we are getting close to where that particular part of the story reached its climax. The next chapter may also have the first part of the Sairaorg fight as I've decided to have soon as it was necessary for this story. It will likely have a cliffhanger cuz I like to fuck with people tho.
I've watched all of Konosuba, Rakudai, the second season of Monogatari, and I'm fully caught up with Haikyuu which is almost done. All great anime I recommend watching in their respective genres.
Give me a lot of reviews again guys! I also have a number of drawings done for Naruto, Kaga, and working on another one for Tama. Some are better than others but expect them to be posted on my deviantart later today. Next chapter I will try to have posted in a week but bank on it being around 10 days simply because of the days of the week I usually post on. It could be sooner or later than that even with how long this chapter was but count on that anyway.
ZRAI OUT!
