This chapter took a bit longer than expected, both for I needing to cover a lot more ground than the previous, my chapter lengths are always the size that they need to be. And because I'm on a trip with my wife, and I only really have time to write in the morning and at night :D
Give me some credit, I'm working without many guidelines here by not starting in canon time. Appreciate my manly, heroic and fatherly perseverance to getting this written and posted fast while trying to keep a decent story line.
Rule #3: The best information is hard to obtain, go the extra mile.
''So many people just for little ol' me, I'm flattered.'' Naruto raised his hands and grinned beneath his orange spiral mask. he was surrounded by at least twenty devils of varying auras.
He stood in front of a dented and ruined armored van, on the driver's seat there was a dead devil bleeding out to the floor. Inside the van there were three large crates.
On one side there was a blond man seemingly in his 30s, wearing a very distinctive gold-trimmed red noble clothes, with 15 more devils behind him. On the other side there was a beautiful young woman with long, curly cherry-blossom colored hair, seemingly in her 20s, wearing a seductive dress with high slits, she had around 10 devils behind her.
Their Aura's were the largest, and from their positions, they were probably the leaders.
''Step away from the van and I'll grant you a quick and painless death.'' The blond man said and Naruto lowered his arms, an action which made them all tense.
''So jumpy…'' Naruto glanced around, ''what happens if I say 'no'?''
''Well, then it will be a real pity, I'm sure there's a handsome young man hiding beneath that mask. I can feel your vitality, it's… exotic.'' The seductive woman gave a smile, not unlike Sai's usual fake ones. ''We just want the crates, there is some space in my peerage for another pet, if you be a good boy.''
''Sorry lady I don't think I'm fit to being anybody's pet. I'll take these crates to Diehauser territory and there is nothing you can do to stop me.'' Naruto smiled beneath the mask and the devils charged their magical attacks, lifted their swords and prepared themselves, the blond man in specific seemed especially furious. ''This ends now."
-The previous day-
Naruto slept confused and woke up confused, he hardly ever understood his partner's reasoning and way of thought. He knew that she sometimes joined him in bed naked when he fell unconscious from studying with clones, he'd woken up a few times to her staring at him. It creeped him out on the start, but he'd come to accept that she would do strange things every once in awhile.
He hadn't the slightest clue from where the kiss came from.
Sometimes he wondered if he was becoming as crazy as her.
When he woke up, she was still asleep. She must have worked hard, she rarely slept, maybe once in two weeks, and for just a few hours. The only time he could remember of her sleeping as much was when they both arrived.
He had to admit that she was beautiful, her silky white hair, eyes and eyen her horns were a part of her charm. But she was his ancestor, the grandmother of his reincarnation, not to mention she was still in Madara's body.
From personal and past experiences he knew that she would most likely wake up hungry. It was still early in the morning and there was some time till the meeting with Cleria so he went off to the coffee shop.
He ate breakfast there and bought a milkshake and carrot cake for Kaguya, it was her favorite. He was in a good patch, no hallucinations, no pain, it was a beautiful day, and through experience he knew that it would be a long day.
Arriving at his apartment, he placed the stuff on the table and sat on the sofa. He heard a shifting coming from the bedroom, Kaguya had woken up, probably from the smell of the cake.
Moments later she walked into the living room, dressed, and went straight to the table.
"Good morning to you too." Naruto said as she sat and prepared to eat.
"Ah, good morning." she looked at him and then at the table. "Thank you."
"It isn't like you don't get food for me too." He got up and joined her at the table. " Today is going to be a long day, so let's enjoy the moment."
Kaguya raised her eyebrow slightly, he seemed unusually cheerful, "Right we are helping some devils get back to the underworld."
"Yea,but we got a few hours till then, want to talk about anything? " he leaned on the table.
"Are you sure we can trust these devils?" She began eating the cake, even while starving her table manners were impeccable.
Naruto thought for a few seconds and shrugged. "I don't trust them, but at least it is something."
Cleria seemed to be nice, but still, she was a devil and he couldn't trust her completely it was a risk that they'll have to take.
"Is there anything that I should know about them?" Kaguya asked and wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
"Well, they are three, there is Brian, he doesn't seem very tough, there's Mana, she uses weapon similar to of this world human military and their leader is Cleria, her boyfriend died yesterday, so be kind to her." When Naruto said the last part Kaguya stopped eating.
Her history with boyfriends and such was bad, she had one during her life and she ended up killing him. Nevertheless she understood that the devil might be fragile about it and nodded slowly. ''I will keep that in mind.''
Naruto stayed silent for a few seconds, glanced around the room then back at Kaguya. ''What about the dimensions, how did it go?''
''I made two, the first was the most difficult due to being discreet, the most difficult thing was finding a place to start it, afterwards it was a matter of shaping it and using it as a gateway to another dimension.'' She sighed and frowned. ''That eye connects with a dimension, it would have saved me time and effort if you had implanted them earlier.''
''Yea… I was worried about the effects tho, since this is Obito's eye and we traveled in time, I was worried that it would connect to his Kamui dimension and risk bumping into him.'' Naruto rubbed the back of his head.
''It should have… it is possible that due to being in a different reality, the eye is accessing a different dimension than that of the original.'' Kaguya resumed eating. Serious problems could have happened if his eye was connected to that of past Obito's past eye. He could end up messing the entire timeline and maybe even erasing himself, and Kaguya.
''Right… can you take me to them, or tell me about them?'' Naruto asked and she continued to eat and drink until she had finished.
''These dimensions are close, closer than the other ones comparatively, but it would be an unnecessary use of chakra if I am to save for later.'' She stared at him blankly with a stoic expression, then tilted her head slightly downwards at the remains of the cake that he brought. ''The first one is unfinished… I wanted your opinion… it is to be our base, so I thought you would like to help. The second is plain, heavy, like one of my previous dimensions, for emergencies.''
It was rather thoughtful and nice of her to want his help on shaping a dimension, too nice, almost suspicious. From what little she explained of the second one, Naruto understood it as a simpler version of her gravity dimension, which could be very useful.
''You still hungry? We got plenty of time to go back and get some more, or watch TV.'' He looked around and chuckled, it was rare for them to have free time, rare as in never.
''You are strange today.'' Kaguya stated in a monotone voice, staring back at Naruto blankly.
He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, ''things are strange. Felt like was yesterday that we arrived, clueless on this world's language, and with no clue on where to start.''
Kaguya knew that he wasn't telling all the truth, that it wasn't the reason for his strange behavior. She got up from the table, and went towards the couch, "I could watch TV.''
Before joining her on the couch he went to the wardrobe and from one of the inner drawers pulled out a plain black high-collared robe along with an orange spiral mask. A mask made in the image of a previous one, once used by a man that was willing to do whatever it took, even if he was on the wrong side of it all, a man whose eye he now possesses.
"That mask, it is shaped after the mutated Zetsu." Kaguya noticed him pick up the mask as she was about to turn the TV on. He stared at it through Sasuke's deactivated eye, a replica of the mask that he hated for so long.
"Yeah, I had it made shortly after we arrived in this city, after we began to grasp the language of this land. Obito used to use one just like this, he probably made it after the Zetsu." Naruto said and sat besides her on the couch.
"I know when you had it made, I didn't know that he used it as a mask before. What intrigues me is why you kept such an object and why you are contemplating the option of using it." Naruto's sole open eye, widened in surprise. "Do not be surprised, even with my Byakugan deactivated you are still simple to read."
"Huh, okay then." Naruto placed the mask on her lap. "Black Zetsu manipulated Indra, Madara, and Obito. For you he created wars, massacred entire bloodlines…"
Kaguya opened her mouth and Naruto raised his finger to her lips and shushed her.
"I'm not finished, do not interrupt me. I'm just stating facts, I've came to terms and I'm moving past what has happened and my feelings to the destruction and hate that Black Zetsu did to my world so that we can save it together.'' He placed his hand on the mask and ran his fingers on the lines and curves running along it. ''Obito was a good man, he dreamed of becoming a leader and in the end he did what was right, gave his life for us to get this far. This mask reminds me of him, and despite everything, his memory isn't a bad one.''
''I did not mean to offend.'' She returned the mask to him. ''I cannot see the sentimental value of this mask. But if you wish to use it, then go ahead.''
''It's not only the sentimental value, I was actually thinking on whether or not we should allow the supernatural world to know of our faces. If maybe we should be anonymous, faceless?''
''Our faces do not mean anything to these people, but there is merit in hiding our identities.'' Kaguya began to focus on the TV, it was showing a soap opera of doctors that Naruto never bothered to learn anything about.
''Cleria and the others know my face, but I guess I'll be using the mask for this mission, what happened to that mask I got for you too? I couldn't find it.''
''I threw it away.'' Kaguya answered simply in a heartbeat. ''I refuse to wear such a ridiculous mask.''
''Aww… but it was so cute.'' Naruto frowned and Kaguya's left eyebrow raised slightly. ''We should find you one before the mission then.''
''I already found one.'' She opened her left hand and a ceramic, Japanese oni-mask appeared on top of it. It bore a striking resemblance to the Shinigami of his world, minus the horns, Kaguya's natural horns made up for the lack of them on the mask.
''Oh… okay.'' Naruto looked away from the mask, it freaked him out. "You know what, it is probably for the best that you don't use any masks at all, leave that to me."
With nothing else to talk about, they watched TV together in silence. It felt strange talking and being near her after the kiss, even if it was just on the cheek. While she watched TV, he went through some of the memories and information that he kept from the devil.
There were a lot of useful stuff, few information on the Underworld and the Maou, a vague understanding on their powers, on the magic and energy that devils use, evil pieces, rating games, passages to the Underworld. His inner self had ejected anything personal about the devil's life and kept only the useful historic information.
After they were done and the time for the meeting had come, they wore their human disguise and went to the cafe and found Cleria along with her peerage waiting for them.
They were all stressed, from first observation it seemed that they had no sleep, they were 'jumpy' and alerted.
The two took a seat on the table opposite to the devils and Naruto gave a friendly smile. "Guys, this is my partner that I told you about, Kaguya. Kaguya, these are the devils, Cleria, Mana and Brian."
They were quite the odd pair, even with their disguises, Naruto with his messy golden hair and Kaguya with her silky white. Kaguya's disguise for the day included a white long sleeved shirt with nine black tomoes on three rows and the Rinne-Sharingan on top and thigh shorts.
"We are ready." Cleria said, going straight to the point.
"Very well then, I thought of a simple enough plan for us… well, simple for you guys, my end is going to be a bit complicated." Naruto smiled, his sole active Sharingan glowing slightly beneath his shades.
"And what will that be?" Mana asked and he leaned forward.
"Okay but before we get started, can you tell me more about the shipping companies?''
-Later-
There were several special shipping companies that took stuff to the underworld. When somebody had certain objects that they needed delivered fast, and safely, they hired one of these companies.
Most of the major companies, had human bases and functioned as the usual human postal delivery system as a cover. Now that they knew what they were looking for, Naruto and Kaguya were on an empty apartment on a building a mile or so away from a large shipping company called DevEx.
Kaguya was observing them with her Byakugan while simultaneously writing down what she saw on a notebook for Naruto to read. She'd drawn 3 dimensional sketches of the rooms and was now transcribing their work pattern and behavior. Her artistic abilities surprised him, he didn't expect her to be one for that, actually he didn't really think of her with any hobbies. The image that came to his mind of her gardening wasn't a very pleasant image, involving a gigantic tree.
Some problems could be solved by going head on and turning said problem into a smoking crater on the ground, this one wasn't the case. It required a certain fitness, patience and tactical planning.
They had to be very thorough, they needed patterns, schedule, they needed to know who would be going to hell for deliveries, their response time, how they got there, everything. They watched and observed for hours, Kaguya writing down every detail, from every creature in the facility.
Naruto now wore a black cloak above his usual clothes and held the orange spiral mask loosely on his left hand with the tip of his fingers. Behind them both were three large somewhat large boxes wrapped up with several 'fragile' tapes and with devil magics protecting it.
"Hmm… this should be enough, I'll have to get a closer look for more details. You got any questions on the plan?" Naruto asked and Kaguya deactivated her Byakugan.
"I am ready." She placed down the notebook and turned towards him.
"Okay then, I'll sneak in, do some research the initiate the plan." He went to pat one of the crates, but stopped mid way upon feeling the itch on his arm return, on the surface of his hand worms crawled and dug through his skin. They aren't real, I must resist…
He placed on the mask and activated Obito's Mangekyou, then erupted in smoke. When the smoke died down, he was the same as without mask, cloak, whiskers, and black hair. His eyes were as blue and bright as when he first arrive. Sometimes the best disguises were the most obvious ones, even if it meant as disguising himself, with himself.
He hoped that when and if he dispelled it, or if he was found out, then they'd think he isn't like the illusion and that the person of the illusion is a completely different person. Plus the situation demanded that he was in disguise at the same time that he wasn't.
"Well you be ready." He sent the crates to the Kamui dimension and left to the company.
He walked in through the front door and glanced around. There were a lot of devils and supernatural creatures, working in disguise of a legit human company. The place was filled with human customers, but the grand majority of the workers were devils, he had to be cautious.
Alright, a work schedule would be great, but they must be on the computers… Naruto glanced at the people working behind computers.
"Not necessarily, from what we know of Devils is that they like to stick to the old ways. Even if they are getting modern now, it doesn't mean all of them are. The heavy lifting and actual work is all going on in the back. Maybe we can find something useful there." 'Outer' Naruto appeared besides the original, pointing to a passage to the back.
His hand was burned and Naruto caught up on it, wondering if it had something to do with his most recent 'itches' and 'visions'.
"What, you thought you're the that one having a hard time?" It rolled it's eyes and disappeared.
Regardless of what it said, Naruto was already going to have to check the back, but there was still things for him to see before he moved on. There were a lot of people waiting, seated for their ticket to be called, so he got a ticket and sat down to observe.
The main objects of his attention were devils, which could be sending things to the underworld because he needed to know their response time and protocols. Most importantly he needed to find out the time it took for them to deliver things of varying urgency.
There were two devils and another creature that went and had their objects mailed, he observed their forms of payment, and noted that it varied between jewels, gold and silver coins and memorized each of the packages that they wanted to deliver. When the last one was taken to the back, he used the Kamui to sneak his way there as well.
Obito's eye was perfect for this type of assignment, it should have been getting easier to use, but the more he used the eye, the more painful it got. He tried healing it, but while it repaired the damage on the eye, his head continued to pound.
It could be that he should have implanted both eyes, and that was the issue, but it seemed unlikely, and the long range Kamui wouldn't be as helpful as Sasuke's Rinnegan could be. On maybe another occasion he could replace either of the eyes for their counterpart, but right now he had exactly what he needed.
Unlike in the front, the creatures in the back walked freely, there were familiars and creatures of all sorts and shapes sizes, all wearing the company's uniform in some way. The place was huge, as he expected and saw before, much larger than the actual structure.
It was there that all the 'magic' happened, where they loaded the trucks and prepared them to wherever it is that they must go. That being either outside or through a portal.
He quickly scanned the area and found the three packages among others, one of them being loaded into a truck while the others were placed along with other things.
Naruto took his time to look around and observe the workers from the shadows, watch how they know what and where they were needed. He studied their routine.
The package that was separated from the rest, was dispatched through the portal within the hour along with three creatures. Naruto noted that the different shipments had different care, some had only one person handled dozens of packages, while in that case it was three for a single object.
Different prices for different services and priorities.
With that in mind, he made sure to identify those in charge of deliveries. There were some workers on standby doing nothing in particular, and a select few that helped their peers with their jobs like packing and sorting, but didn't seem to work on the function.
Which meant that they were either bored and trying to score points on their free time, or really lousy with their jobs. Either way Naruto memorized all of them and waited for other shipments to know more.
He confirmed his theory when a few of the workers that were helping others along with some on standby went and took vans outside or through the portal. He also noted that only the ones that were helping the others went to the Underworld.
Alright, now I just need to find a way to turn the odds in my e, it would be great if I could know which of them would take which package… Naruto glanced around at the workers. Maybe they could be influenced by genjutsu… if I knew how to use any.
"Well Iruka-sensei tried explaining it in class once, but we weren't paying attention. Kakashi, Sakura and Jiraiya also said about it before too, try to remember, I'll help"
Huh? Okay then…Naruto closed his eyes and focused on his past lessons and conversation. It was surprising how much he did remember, and how clear his memories were. He could remember almost exactly what they said, even if he wasn't paying attention back at the time.
Throughout his life a lot of people had talked about genjutsu, snippets here and there, but together the gave him an 'okay' understanding on the subject. Didn't change the fact that he had zero practice and his control and understanding of chakra, while better, still wasn't ideal.
The vivid memories of his friends saddened him, the clearer the memories were, the more painful they got.
Not worth trying genjutsu now. They could sense it and the whole plan would be shot down. I should get some practice, and now isn't the time for that… I'd have a better shot somehow getting in to their system to know more about their delivery times and patterns...
-several hours later-
Naruto indeed succeeded in gaining access to their computers through ninja shenanigans involving henges. He found out that the workers are all organized to take out deliveries every thirty minutes based on their specialty for the priority of the delivery
A disguised Naruto dragged each of the three boxes outside the shipping company's lobby with considerable effort, he made it seem like they were heavy for him and had a couple of workers help him bring them in. It is night now and he wore a backpack, his same trusty backpack that he had crossed the sea with, and that he had obtained when he first arrived.
When they were all inside, he glanced around at all of them, the flow of devils had increased with dawn, and were a lot of people waiting.
He ignored the lines and went straight up to the 'man' that seemed to be the manager, who was writing things down on a notebook. He seemed fairly built, wore oval glasses and had short black hair.
''Umm, excuse me." Naruto asked the 'man', who took his eyes off his notebook to give Naruto attention. "You're in charge here, right?''
''I'm the manager, yes. How can I help you?'' The man tucked away his pen and Naruto glanced around nervously.
''Well you see, is there a place we can talk more private?'' Naruto's shoulders were slightly hunched forward and his entire overall posture had changed into a submissive and nervous one. All to make the devil more comfortable, with the illusion of being in control over him and the entire situation.''It's about those three crates over there, can we go now.''
The devil stared at him for a few seconds and nodded. ''Yea sure, this way.''
He led Naruto through a door and into a hallway, the itch on Naruto's arm intensifying as his urge to scratch it, but he did his best to remain calm to not alarm the devil.
They both entered a office, presumably his office, which was rather bland, having a wooden table, three comfortable chairs, a bookshelf, compute and the usual office material. ''What is it that you'd like to discuss? Please hurry, I don't have much time.''
''Right to the point huh? You see man, I was hired to get you guys these crates to have them delivered to this address.'' Naruto opened his backpack and pulled out a sheet of paper from it and handed it over. ''My employer said that it is urgent and that they need to be delivered with utmost discretion. She said that you guys are the best for this type of thing, yea?''
''Hmm…'' the devil carefully read the contents of the paper and then handed it back to Naruto. ''I'm sorry, you must be mistaking our company. We cannot help you sir.''
''Wait,'' Naruto called out to the disguised devil as he was at the door. ''My employer said that you might react like that, she gave me this to give it to you.''
Naruto reached into his backpack and paused for a few seconds as spiders crawled out of it and up his arms. He closed his eyes and grabbed something hard inside his backpack and placed it on the desk, then opened his eyes. The spiders were gone and he had pulled out a large, shiny golden bar, then pulled out three more.
''These are for the service, for them to be a priority and delivered fast.'' Naruto took out three more bars of gold and placed them on the table near the other bars. Kaguya had made the gold, their little secret, even Cleria didn't know. As far as she was concerned, he would bill her on it after the mission. ''This is a bonus, for an extra incentive. What do you say?"
The devil turned back and eyed the golden bars. Cleria had told him that her kind could be greedy, it seemed like this one certainly was a bit. He mentally debated on whether he should or not for a few seconds before smiling. ''I say, 'we of DevEx are the fastest and most reliable delivery company there is. Your package will be delivered safely within the time frame of 24 hours.''
''Well said, what should I do? Do I have to sign anything?''
''In this case it you probably don't want that, I imagine you need discretion, right? Just leave it to me and I'll have them sent.'' The manager left the room with Naruto and guided him out.
On the way, right before Naruto left the company, the manager gestures for a few workers to take the crates. ''It was a pleasure doing business with you, have no worry, your package is in good hands.''
''Oh I have no doubt.'' Naruto smiled, turned around and went down the street. Okay, they bit, they are taking the crates to the back…
''All right, let's take a look at the situation.'' Naruto's inner self appeared on a dark alley, and Naruto entered it. ''We have a forty percent chance that if they find out it is there now, they destroy the crates in there, no delays. In which case we need to hurry. Fifty-nine percent chance that they know it, ship it out and then intercept it in a more favorable place, and one-percent chance that they don't realize anything.''
Since when you-me, we're good at math?! Naruto looked at his inner self with a 'wtf' face. He had a rough idea of the estimates and chances on his own, but nothing numerical.
''C'mon, we're you, but the 95% of stuff that you don't notice and do without even realizing. Now c'mon, time is short.'' 'Outer' Naruto rolled his eyes.
Naruto nodded to 'Outer' him and activated Obito's Mangekyou.
He used the Kamui to sneak in the company and get to the back.
Alright, they aren't going to destroy the crates, now, a good sign… now where are those two... he scanned the area quickly and found two workers heading towards the bathrooms. One was bad, he was very large and fat, while the other was slim with short, light red hair.
''Hey man, you noticed? Fiona was eyeing you all day.'' The slimmer of the two said as they entered the bathroom.
''Who, the one from maintenance?'' The other replied, going to one of the toilets and unzipping his pants while his friend stayed to look at himself on the mirror.
''No dude, the blond one from the east wing. Word is it that she broke up with her boyfriend, think you got a shot there big guy.'' He washed his hands and straightened his hair.
''You think so? Her boyfriend was a real freak, don't think I want that kind of luggage.'' He flushed the toilet, zipped his pants and went to wash his hands.
''For sure man, gotta be careful.''They dried their hands and stared at the mirror, under the impression that they saw something move behind them. Not finding anything, they both prepared to leave the bathroom.
''Gentlemen, a moment of your time?'' They heard from behind and were both tapped on the shoulders. There was nothing behind them when they turned around, but had they seen the mirror to their side, they would have seen Naruto chop at both of their necks. ''Sorry fellas, you two will have to do.''
With that said, Naruto grabbed their bodies and sent them both to the Kamui dimension. His head throbbed and he closed Obito's eye, it should be getting easier to use with time, but the more he used the eye, the more painful it got. He tried healing it and his head, but nothing seemed to work.
He closed the eye and leaned his back against the wall, then slowly slid down.
"Two minutes should be enough…" he rested his head on the wall and waited in silence for a short while, then got up, activated the eye and ejected the two men.
They wheezed, coughed and then made themselves straight after a few seconds.
''Heh, let me guess, you're Cleria and … you're Mana and Brian.'' Naruto pointed at the two and they nodded in sync. ''Heh, do I even want to know how you two are… must be very uncomfortable.''
''You took your time, how long were we in there?'' The disguised Cleria asked while looking around the bathroom.
"Something around fifteen hours, give or take. I told you guys it would take a while and that you should sleep if you could." Naruto shrugged and watched as the two/three stretched themselves.
"Okay then, what we need to do?" The tall man said with Brian's voice. It was kind of odd for his voice was youthful and jovial.
''The plan is still mostly the same, those two guys work on delivery, they should be making one now to the Underworld.'' He opened the bathroom door and gestured for them to leave. ''You'll be going in their place, Kaguya will be following in the distance and back you up till you get to your cousin's place.''
They both walked to the door and Cleria turned around right before leaving. ''And what will you be doing?''
''Somebody has to go with the decoys. I also want to have a chat with the people after you, see what I'm dealing with. There are good chances of them appearing.
''No, no you can't! They'll kill you if you go, I already told you that this is about protecting the status quo between Heaven and Hell.''
''Look, I know that isn't all. I need to know what it is that I'm dealing with, and if you don't want to tell me, then it's fine, I will find out by myself.'' He pushed them through the door. ''Now go… the two guys you are in the body of, are scheduled to go out in around two hours. They usually help around and get tasked to go together for mid-priority deliveries to help. In the meantime, help around others with their jobs and try to do what they would, good luck."
Naruto sighed and closed the door of the bathroom behind them.
Chances were slim for them to take his package for it should be leaving on a different time-cycle than theirs, and a priority level off their grade. But the priority would depend on the intentions of the manager, if he want to send his best to try and get the job done, or cannon fodder to die on the job.
His head ached and his vision blurred, and his ears buzzed, he felt like shit. His arms tingled and itched, beckoning for him to give that one little scratch.
C'mon, get it together. I need to do this part flawlessly. He grunted and peeked outside, there was a worker heading towards the bathroom and the crates were being loaded into a armored van. It's show time!
He used the Kamui to phase through the floor and sneak his way underneath the van. He latched onto it the bottom, closed his eye and waited for it to depart.
Fortunately nobody noticed him underneath it and he didn't have to wait long, just a handful of minutes. Unfortunately the passage through the portal was harsh, it was a long kaleidoscopic tunnel void of air and gravity. Completely inhospitable, his henge dispersed and he wouldn't last much without using the Six Paths Sage Mode.
Thinking quickly, he used the Kamui to phase inside the back of the van where two devils were inside, strapped to the wall.
They were both surprised by his sudden appearance, and on a very unfavorable position. Naruto capitalized on those two things and quickly knocked them both unconscious, the last thing they both saw being the red glow of Obito's Mangekyou through the mask.
Shortly after the van exited the portal and stabilized, presumably having arrived in the Underworld. There were no windows to see the exterior, and no way that the driver suspected anything. The pain in his head, the ringing in his ears and the itching of his arms intensified more, but there was still no time to rest, yet.
He still had to get rid of the two devils that he knocked out, place them somewhere that wasn't inside the Kamui dimension so they wouldn't get caught into the mess when the van was inevitably attacked. His solution was using the Kamui to leave them behind in a way that the person driving didn't notice.
For if he found out that something was wrong, then he would stop to see what was up, and Naruto needed him to stick to whatever course he was on.
Afterwards, he sat down, closed his eye and rested. The pain slowly easing up, along with the itch and the buzzing on his ear.
As the buzz receded, he felt as if he were hearing whispers, faint indiscernible sounds on the back of his mind, being muffled out by the blessed noise of the van's engine.
He didn't want to know what it meant and what the whispers were saying. All he wanted was to rest, and rest he did, eventually falling into a nap on the floor, mostly unaffected by the rocky and unstable floor.
-a few hours later-
The nap was interrupted as Naruto felt a large buildup of energy outside of the van, he made a handsign and his hair changed to black behind the mask, held onto the wall with chakra and braced for an impact of some sort.
The impact came from the sides, flipping the van into the air, it was struck two more times while still in the air then sent downwards. The crates were firmly anchored to the ground of the van and so was Naruto to it's wall.
A rift in space appeared and sucked the door out. Naruto detached himself from the wall and walked out, Obito's eye in it's Mangekyou stage.
So many people just for little ol' me, I'm flattered.'' Naruto raised his hands and grinned beneath his orange spiral mask. he was surrounded by at least twenty devils of varying auras.
He stood in front of a dented and ruined armored van, on the driver's seat there was a dead devil bleeding out to the floor. Inside the van there were three large crates.
On one side there was a blond man seemingly in his 30s, wearing a very distinctive gold-trimmed red noble clothes, with 15 more devils behind him. On the other side there was a beautiful young woman with long, curly cherry-blossom colored hair, seemingly in her 20s, wearing a seductive dress with high slits, she had around 10 devils behind her.
Their Aura's were the largest, and from their positions, they were probably the leaders.
''Step away from the van and I'll grant you a quick and painless death.'' The blond man said and Naruto lowered his arms, an action which made them all tense.
''So jumpy…'' Naruto glanced around, ''what happens if I say 'no'?''
''Well, then it will be a real pity, I'm sure there's a handsome young man hiding beneath that mask. I can feel your vitality, it's… exotic.'' The seductive woman gave a smile, not unlike Sai's usual fake ones. ''We just want the crates, there is some space in my peerage for another pet, if you be a good boy.''
''Sorry lady I don't think I'm fit to being anybody's pet. I'll take these crates to Diehauser territory and there is nothing you can do to stop me.'' Naruto smiled beneath the mask and the devils charged their magical attacks, lifted their swords and prepared themselves, the blond man in specific seemed especially furious. ''This ends now."
"Indeed it does, kill him." The blond man ordered and two men stepped forward from his side, dark blades filled with energy appearing on their hands.
Naruto stayed still and waited for them to attack, which they did, one going to swipe his midsection while the other backed him up for whatever evasion Naruto would do.
While he was still, he was gathering natural energy, which seemed very different in the Underworld, not that he had time to be picky about it. When the first swordsman came near him, he'd just about entered sage-mode, and he raised his right palm to intercept the blade.
It shattered in contact and he continued to punch the devil, striking him on stomach and sending him flying backwards at the other one and being dragged back to their leaders. All in the span of two seconds
Naruto then pulled a kunai from inside his cloak and flicked it at the leader, to gauge his reaction. And right as it reached him, a hole opened in space and it went through. Not a second later, Naruto's instincts beckoned him to dodge and he stepped to the side, the same kunai that he threw struck the ground where he once stood.
Woah, that was dangerous! What was that, some type of space technique? I got to watch out with what I throw at him from now on. Naruto thought and made a cross handsign, and then six masked copies of him appeared. I got to be careful with him.
"Ooo~ now that's a fun trick." The curly haired woman licked her lips and the copies launched themselves at her, her peerage and the blond man's peerage. Four clones for her and her peerage, 2 for the other, while Naruto went for the blond man.
Every step had to be calculated for any moment the devil could open a hole or do something. Through the Sharingan he anticipated that the man would punch, but from the distance it shouldn't reach him.
A portal opened in front of his fist to Naruto's face, but the masked' blond's senjutsu enhanced reflexes kicked in and he dodged the punch and kept running.
Portals opened around and in front of Naruto as he ran, beneath his feet, directly in front of him, trying to swallow him, but he avoided every single one of them by the hair of his arms. When he reached the devil he cocked his fist backwards as if preparing a punch
A portal opened in front of the devil, and Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed, leaving an after image behind to enter the portal in his place. A millisecond later he reappeared behind the devil and kicked him to his own portal.
Meanwhile the clones fought and held back the remaining devils, blurring around the battlefield and keeping everybody away from the main Naruto. It was surprising how coordinated they were, the Sharingan helping them to not get in each other way and fight in total sync.
Although they weren't doing much damage and the curly haired woman was dispatching them one after the other.
Wherever it was that the portal sent the devil, it was far, for he completely vanished from Naruto's senses.
Naruto looked around, made a cross-sign and created ten more clones, seven to help the ones that were already fighting and three to stay with him and wait for the devil to return.
They didn't have to wait much for after a few seconds one of the three clones popped courtesy of a demonic aura covered fist. The remaining two jumped backwards and he appeared through a portal, punching the space where they stood.
Both Narutos took out kunais and imbued them with wind chakra. For some reason, the wind was dark, but they paid no mind to it and launched themselves at him. They had to keep moving, otherwise they would be easy targets.
He coated himself with demonic magic and warped away as the reached him, coming out to the side of one of the Narutos with a punch aimed to it's ribs. Which he parried with the flat of the wind blade, then jumped away just as a hole appeared where he was. Were he not quick on his feet, then it would have sent him far away.
Meanwhile the other Naruto went around and tried to cut him with the Kunai, but he warped away right in time. To appear directly in front of him, crouched slightly and going after Naruto's leg. He failed to dodge and the devil chopped it off.
Naruto screamed in frustration and glowed, then exploded.
"Stop playing around Bedeze, let's just end this!" The woman yelled from the sidelines as she threw a ball of energy at Naruto, who had his back turned to her.
The devil, now identified as Bedeze, had protected himself from the explosion with a portal, was a few meters away from Naruto. He was closing the portal just as the very fast bolt neared Naruto's back. However instead of it exploding on him as expected, it phased through him kept on going towards Bedeze, who wasn't fast enough to re-open the hole.
The blast destroyed the small, closing portal and caused a massive explosion.
The remaining clones took the distraction of the explosion to kill or maim many of the devils by slicing body parts such as heads, arms and waist with wind coated kunais.
Naruto created a dozen more clones and sent them to the remaining devils, it was a massacre. Their moral was low and their numbers were quickly dwindling, while the clones went straight for the kill with any given opportunity.
There were about nine devils remaining altogether from both sides when the smoke receded, counting the curly haired woman. With the smoke gone it was revealed that Bedeze was still standing with his arms crossed. The upper half of his clothing blown away while his skin was badly burned.
His dark energy flared and he charged at Naruto, going through a portal and appearing besides him, magic covered fists ready to tear a hole through Naruto's chest.
But his punch was sidestepped and as Naruto was about to slash him on the back, he warped away.
Naruto felt him coming from behind and instead of trying to Dodge, he reached for his mask and slid it to the side, revealing Sasuke's Rinnegan. Everything happened too quickly for anything to be done.
The tomoes spun in slow motion as Bedeze's hand reached Naruto's back, but just as it was about to hit, Naruto vanished and was replaced with the curly haired woman.
She coughed blood as his fist went through her stomach. One second she was staring at them, the other she was looking back at the masked man, who was standing where she once stood, followed by a searing pain.
A rock besides Bedeze erupted in smoke and from it appeared a Naruto, swiping at his chest with a dark wind kunai. While the original covered his the Rinnegan beneath the mask.
Both Bedeze and the woman fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from their wounds. Their remaining peerage ceasing to fight and surrendering upon their defeat.
"I told you that this ended now." Naruto walked to the dying devils and crouched in front of them. "Strong devils like you terrorising a weak girl, you should be ashamed of yourselves."
"Fuck… you." Bedeze spat blood on Naruto's feet. On the ground besides Bedeze there was a severed arm still holding a long black sword. Naruto pried the fingers from the sword and picked it up. "Wait, no don't kill me, I can pay you! Money, land, anything!"
Naruto's hands sank into their bodies and pulled out red king chess pieces. Their overall magical aura and reserves shrank tremendously after he removed the piece and they wouldn't last much longer. "Don't you think it is humorous that you guys lost everything for nothing?"
"What are you talking?" The woman asked and Naruto stood up, then turned his back to them and began walking to the destroyed van.
"How about you see for yourselves." He pulled out the crates from the van and clapped his hands three times.
They opened up to reveal Rick Astley posters and radios.
"Never gonna give you up,
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you…"
The devils opened and closed their mouths as the radio went on.
"The song was Brian's idea, he has an odd sense of humor. Cleria and her peerage are probably in Diehauser's place by now." Naruto walked back to the two devils who tried and failed to get back on their feet.
Naruto plunged the sword through his heart, the blade sinking into the ground below, all the way to the hilt, killing him instantly. Then he turned to the woman.
"You don't need to kill me, I can help!" She struggled and crawled t his feet, not being killed, she felt that he was waiting for her to continue. "I'm Roygun, you should know me. Bedeze wanted to kill Cleria because she found out about the King Piece, but he wasn't who ordered. If you kill me then you can't clear her name! Take me to Diehauser, I'll come clean, I'll say everything, I promise!"
A devil wanting to come clean, and promising, how ironic. Naruto stopped to think about it and one of the devils that had surrendered, ran to him with a sword. He turned around and saw it, a female devil, she was very beautiful, her face was the spitting image of Shizune's, but her hair was long and messy.
She shoved the sword through his chest, his blood spraying and falling on Roygun's face, who was just behind him
The devil was about to try and yank the sword and him out, when he grabbed her wrist with his right hand then her throat with his left hand.
She was crying, possibly from the death of her master and friends. For some reason, Naruto felt no sympathy for her.
"How brave, and foolish." He lifted her to his eye level and crushed her wrist, forcing her to let go of the hilt. Obito's Mangekyou spinning hypnotically. He pulled out the sword from his chest with his free hand and shoved it through her heart, then watched as she breathed her last breath and the light faded from her eyes
He felt numb, uncaring. He didn't care about whether she was a living being or not, she had to die, it was as simple as that. He had read somewhere that when taking enemy soldiers hostage, he had to break their wills and make them give up hope so that they don't fight back, use an example if he must.
He dropped the corpse on the ground and his wound closed. "You better be speaking the truth. I'll take you to Diehauser."
- I could end here, but this part was necessary to be on this chapter still-
Diehauser's territory was very extensive, only slightly smaller than the Gremory's household. Having mountains, farms, lakes and lots of villages, cities and industries. The place was well treated, there wasn't much poverty, Diehauser took care of his people.
They had to be careful because it was still possible and very much probable that there were devils waiting for them inside. Which there were, plenty, but they were no issue for Kaguya. Every now and then as they walked, some devil would recognize Cleria and attack, but Kaguya would instantly kill them with her sharpened hair needles.
To say the least, Diehauser was surprised when they finally arrived in his castle. He had Cleria and her Peerage brought to the main living room on the ground floor for them to explain what had happened, which is where we find them now, on couches with a small table in the middle.
The place was very fancy and furnished, the walls, like the entire castle was filled with books and tomes of all sorts. Diehauser's worthlessness required him to study and know about a spell for it to be nullified, so he was constantly researching.
"And that is what happened. Naruto helped us get to the Underworld and went as a diversion while Kaguya escorted us here." Cleria finished explaining and Diehauser nodded, a maid brought in tea and lunch and left it on the table.
"I see, you did well coming here, you are safe here." Diehauser looked at Kaguya, she was exotic, she stopped hiding her horns as soon as they arrived in the Underworld, with the variety of devils and demons roaming. "You and your partner are mercenaries, I don't think I have enough wealth to pay for what you have done for my beloved cousin and I. It has been a long day, you should stay and rest, tomorrow we can discuss some type of payment."
"I will stay, for I gave Naruto my word that I would watch her until he found me." Kaguya replied in a monotone voice taking a sip of the tea.
"Well, you can stay here for as long as you'd like." Diehauser looked at Cleria and smiled, he loved his cousin dearly, more than anything that he had.
Kaguya nodded and then tilted her head to the side. "Oh… he's here, on the garden."
"We should go greet him then, before somebody mistakes him for an intruder." Diehauser got up and led the way to the garden.
It didn't take long for them to arrive and find Diehauser's queen, a noble looking woman with long purple hair, pointing magical circles at the masked Naruto. In her defense, Naruto's hands, feet and cloak were drenched in blood.
Kaguya didn't need to activate her Byakugan to sense him, he was the only other person with her type of chakra on the world. Although it was hard to recognize it, he was in sage mode and his chakra signature was cold and sinister, even darker than her own.
"Stand down, he is our guest." Diehauser ordered his Queen and joined her along with Kaguya and the others. When Kaguya appeared in sight, Naruto deactivated Sage mode. His aura changing from cold and sinister, to gloomy and sad.
"You must be Diehauser." Naruto glanced at the man and then at Cleria. The Sharingan was unnerving to stare at, Cleria preferred when he just used shades. "I'm glad that you at well."
"Me too, I was worried that you were captured." Cleria approached him and examined him for wounds, his cloak was torn and trimmed on a few edges, but he seemed unharmed. "What happened?"
"The delivery was intercepted as predicted, there were many, around thirty, I can drop them here, but it will be messy." Naruto glanced around at Cleria and the others.
Diehauser looked at them, and they all nodded.
''We can handle it.'' Cleria prepared herself.
''Do it.'' Diehauser commanded and the Mangekyou spun and space distorted around his eyes, then he began to eject on the floor corpses and bodies of every devil he captured or killed.
There were many of them indeed, their bodies covered the garden's floor. Decapitated heads, armless and legless corpses upper halves, some moved and groaned, signalling that they were alive, Diehauser, his queen and Cleria recognized two of them instantly. It was a strong sighting, not for those of weak stomachs, Brian and Cleria were having a hard time while Mana and the rest were more used to death.
Diehauser's Queen was still on edge about Naruto.
"Roygun Belphegor and Bedeze Abaddon and their Peerages…" Diehauser inspected them. "So they were a part of this too huh… you defeated them, alone? Very impressive."
Diehauser was surprised, this Naruto person took on two entire peerages by himself, and not just any peerage, the 2nd and 3rd strongest and highest ranking ones, while remaining unharmed. That was no small feat.
"You know them? She is still alive, she agreed to talk and help. I'm tired, can we continue this later, I want to take a bath and sleep." Naruto deactivated the Mangekyou and sighed.
"Of course yes." Diehauser glanced at his cousin and noticed her discomfort. "Cleria go with them, you should rest too. The room on the end of the eastern hallway is empty for surprise family visits. I will stay here and get this organized and sorted."
"Yes, let's go Naruto, Kaguya." Cleria turned away, she was turning green and was in a hurry to leave the garden. "This way."
They left the garden.
It was a long day, except maybe Kaguya, they were all tired and ready to take a hot bath and call it a day. Not a word was spoken between them on the way up to the room. The castle was enormous, the first and second floor was were the servants rooms, kitchen. Cleria's room was on the top floor, where Diehauser's peerage and the devil himself stayed.
"This is your room." Cleria said as they arrived. "Our room is on the northern wing, the one with a pink door if you need anything. "
"I'm sure he would just call a maid if he needs something…" Brian began but quietly stopped as Cleria glared at him. "Buuut who's to say really… we are good company too, good to pass time, you know… I'll be quiet."
Cleria cleared her throat and Mana elbowed him on the ribs. "Naruto, I can't thank you enough for all that you've done… you too Kaguya. We wouldn't have gotten here without you. I should stop bothering you two now..."
She turned around along with Mana, who dragged Brian with her and out of the hallway. Cleria glanced back at him a few times as she left, but didn't say anything else.
It wasn't the adoration that she was used to, or wanted, but Kaguya was satisfied. And once they were out of normal eyesight, the two entered their room.
It was fancy and large, but Naruto could hardly care about those details, all that he wanted was to take a bath and sleep, maybe even sleep on a bathtub. He went straight through a door in the room, that he presumed to be the bathroom.
When he got in, he came face-to-face with a large mirror. And through it he saw himself, wearing a an orange mask, with Obito's, eye, black hair and covered in blood.
What's becoming of me? He thought and approached the mirror, then took off the mask. His face looked tired, and pale as if he hadn't slept in days, he stared at himself for a few seconds and ceased to flow chakra through his hair to make it black.
He turned the sink's water valve and began washing his hands, but the blood wouldn't go away. Memories of the devil woman that stabbed him came back. He murdered her, he remembered it as clear as the day. He remembered thinking that it was the right thing to do, and he remembered doing it, but he felt nothing.
He shoved a sword through her heart and watched as she gave her last breath and he felt absolutely nothing. Why didn't he feel anything back then, it was like he was an entirely different person, could it have been the senjutsu?
The blood wouldn't come off his hands, and the buzzing in his ears increased. He tried harder to remove it and the harder he tried, the more disorientated he got. Wherever he looked he saw blood, he couldn't escape.
And then it wall went black…
-with Kaguya a few moments earlier-
While Naruto had went to the bathroom, she took a seat on the bed and analyzed the room. It was very fancy, a different type compared to when she was a princess, but nonetheless aesthetically pleasant. The bed was very comfortable as well, she made a mental note to herself to get one just like it later for their home.
Still, something felt wrong, she activated her Byakugan and watched Naruto in the bathroom.
It is getting worse… she thought as he began move around erratically. She'd known that he was in turmoil since she had first seen him after he transplanted the eyes. Maybe it is about time I do something…
She opened the bathroom door and found him looking around with an insane expression. She knew what insanity looked like, she had seen herself in the mirror on her darker days, even if she hadn't noticed at the time.
Naruto didn't seem to notice her entering the bathroom, it was as if he had no awareness of his surroundings. So he didn't notice when she reached for the back of his neck and pinched.
Kaguya caught him as he fell unconscious. What should I do…
She deactivated her Byakugan and glanced at the tub.
I should take him to the bed, but first I should clean him. She removed his clothes and placed him on the tub, then turned on the water.
Cleaning him reminded her of when Hagoromo and Hamura were babies and the troubles that they caused her, even if there was a substantial difference between Naruto and her sons when they were infants.
If his mind continues to worsen, then he will become a nuisance… if he became a rock in her path then she would have to take his chakra to continue with the mission by herself. I can't let it come to that point, I need him.
She placed her hand on his forehead, activated her Byakugan and opened her Rinne-sharingan.
-Representation of inside of Naruto's head-
Kaguya appeared floating above a village it was night and the city was on fire and falling apart. The village was fairly large, there were giant rock statues on each of the four corners of it, with different faces, and a large oval structure on the center.
The floor was black and white like a chess board and there seemed to be small black and white things moving around.
She floated down to get a closer look and noticed that the moving black and white things were creatures, they resembled blank dolls with no remarkable faces, like a child's drawing. They were incredably simple, had two dots for eyes and a line for mouth, no ears and their limbs had no fingers. They wore vibrant orange jumpsuits.
What's happening? Kaguya floated around, the creatures were putting off the fires, repairing the houses, and building more, they didn't seem to notice her, one of the black ones walked through Kaguya's stomach as if she weren't there. The structures must be his brain, and these creatures his body's attempt at repairing, cute.
They reminded her of Zetsus, but cuter.
Every person has different manifestations for their inner mind and soul, this is unlike any I have seen, they are in complete synchronization and much more active… could this be why he is so efficient? Kaguya observed as the creatures rebuilt houses, working together as a well-oiled machine. The damage is forcing his mind to evolve and adapt… what is in the dome?
She floated towards the dome on the center of the city and entered it. Inside were a bunch of monitors passing by different scenes, and on the middle was Naruto. His body flickered with orange energy and electric currents, every time changing the direction that he faced, as if teleporting on the same spot.
He turned to Kaguya's direction and blinked, then all of the screens paused. "Huh, what you doing here?"
"You were going crazy, I want to know what is wrong." Kaguya answered and he nodded, then teleported in front of her.
"that's easy, have you seen this place? It was much worse before lights out, was raining fire, thunder and a bunch of the good stuff. It always gets worse the more we use the eyes. Should be fine by morning, till we begin using the eyes again." He shrugged and glanced around at the monitors. "You staying long? I got things to sort in here."
"I am just about leaving… but first, how are you awake in here? I knocked him unconscious, so this place shouldn't be this active." Kaguya told him and he rubbed his chin.
"So it was you that shut us down. Thanks for that, things were getting out of hand." He gave her a weak smile, he seemed tired. "I'm his subconscious. I'm always awake in here, organizing this place, making sure we don't fall apart, that type of thing."
"You're his subconsciousness? That explains so much." she had never seen a subconscious so active as the one in front of her, even if it was just a manifestation and representation. Most subconscious were slow, the difference between a turtle and a cheetah. It suddenly made sense why he was so efficient lately.
"It is what I said, Alpha personality calls us his 'outer self' when we manifest ourselves outside, for irony purposes, but we are his inner side. Now can you leave, we have a lot of work to do." He seemed anxious and nervous of her presence.
"Very well, is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well, when he is asleep we get some progress in fixing him. So if you want to help, then you can watch over our body and make sure nobody wakes us up. You can help with that type of thing, just leave the rest to us."
"Very well…"
-real world-
Kaguya finished cleaning and drying him up, then laid him down on the bed. She wasn't sure on how to feel, she wanted to help him for their mutual benefit, but she couldn't.
It bothered her.
She spent the night besides him on the bed, observing him sleep.
Tell me what you guys honestly thought about this type of approach, the more cautious and planning type. as well as the development between Naruto and Kaguya
Naruto has obtained two king pieces and Bedeze was killed. Fuck the DxD timeline.
his head was damaged with dimension hopping and he worsened things by stressing it with clones and eye same damage he get from abusing his brain, is also making it more efficient, his observation skills, deduction, memory and strategic planning are all increasing if you guys noticed.
P.S Edit - No Naruto doesn't have a split personality. I've yet to graduate in Psychology, but I think I can explain this well enough. By some thesis, 95% of our composition is subconsciousness. Inner Naruto isn't a separate Naruto, he is the same guy. It is as if the 95% of him that doesn't speak, began speaking, meaning that the true 'subconscious' became part of the consciousness.
Instead of being 5% conscious, he is more like 70%. Which is great and bad, like your brain having a brain of it's own. Split personality is a whole different ball game, an entirely different issue.(I can't make this part bold through my mobile)