Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto and DxD franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming.

Thanks for reading and please enjoy

Fluffy Foods Fantasia

-Chapter 2-

-Back to Back(stories)-

"No buts missy," The whiskered teen cut her off before they were both enveloped in a puff of smoke out of the blue. When it cleared Hana was surprised to find that they were now standing just outside 6-C, the apartment Naruto was letting her and her daughter stay in. Popping the door open, he gently coaxed the foxy lady inside as he gave her a serious look. "Now go get some sleep already, you look like you're gonna keel over any second."

Not waiting for her to respond, Naruto closed the door between them before yawning deeply as he vanished in another swirl of smoke.

-And Now-

[ …Go home! With the three of us together, we can rebuild this family!]

[ What… is… Family!?]

"Hm?" Naruto's eyes flickered open as that familiar dialogue echoed in his ears, rousing the whiskered teen from his slumber. Slowly lifting his head, he blinked a few times when he found himself on the couch with the TV playing Star Wars Visions. Watching the climactic battle between the adoptive siblings Lop and Ocho going down, one could almost see the question marks floating around the half-awake blonde's head. ' The hell? Who turned that on?'

He certainly didn't and he doubted it had been Dou since she'd always been more a Trekkie than a Padawan like him. Although as memories from last night flushed through his mind, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if his beloved wanted to get a better grasp on their new ward's situation.

Before he could mull on these thoughts for long the blonde was broken out of his thoughts when he felt something soft and fluffy rubbing against his calves. Figuring it was Dou getting comfy, he raised his head to tell her good morning…

…Only to be left befuddled once again when he saw Lop instead.

Seated at the other end of the couch the brunette bunny was huddled under his blanket with his legs laid across her lap as she stared at the TV intently. She was also cleaned up, her fur glistening a little from residual moisture still clinging on and he could smell the soft herbal scent of Dou's shampoo wafting off of her.

It didn't take Lop long to notice the blonde getting up though, and once she did she quickly grabbed the remote to pause the show. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Huh? Oh, no, it's no problem, I'm usually up by now anyway," Naruto muttered with a shake of his head after checking the time, a little surprised to find that it was almost half past ten already. Dou normally never let him sleep in longer than eight unless it was a day off or she'd been feeling extra frisky the night before. However, he quickly shook such thoughts off while turning back to the otherworldly rabbit and cocking a brow. "I'm just a little surprised that… I didn't think you'd um… h-how long have you been up?"

"A couple of hours, Dou said I should stay in bed a bit longer, but I just couldn't sleep," Lop admitted, fiddling with the remote. "And I got curious about this Star Wars thing everyone kept bringing up about me so I figured I'd check it out, took a while to find the right one," Glancing at the frozen scene of her beloved bot left broken on the ground still on screen, a shiver ran down her back. "Kind of regretting it now though."

"Yeah…" The blonde didn't know what else to say besides that, it's not like he knew what it was like to find out he was just an animated character whose whole life story can be seen all over the world by anyone after all. Seeing the negativity starting to well up in her eyes though, he knew he needed to think of something comforting and fast. "Uh… how are you doing?"

Almost as soon as that question left his lips Naruto wanted to smack himself. ' How are you doing?! Seriously Brain? That was the best you could come up with?'

"I honestly have no idea," The blonde was broken from his internal debate when the Lepi actually answered him. Shivering again as she rubbed her bandaged arm, she sank a little further under the blanket before playing the episode again. A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes flickered over the screen to keep track of her counterpart and adoptive sister fighting it out. "I don't feel freaked out anymore I guess, but that's only because I just… I just…"

"Feel numb, unsure, still half-believing that you're gonna wake up any second and find out this was all a very weird dream?" Naruto offered when Lop struggled to find the right words, causing the TV bunny to nod in agreement.

"Yeah, that's it exactly, and…" She had started to say only to trail off for some reason as her gaze drifted back to the blonde. Worried that he'd upset her somehow, he was just about to say something to apologize when she spoke again. "This happened to you too?"

"I'm so-huh?" Caught off guard by the abrupt question, Naruto stumbled over his words as his brain took a minute to understand what she said. "Uh… sort of, I guess. Wait, how did you know that?"

"I don't really know, when you talked it was like I could actually feel your sympathy and understanding," Lop explained as she scratched her chin unsurely. "I could just sort of tell that you knew exactly what I was trying to say better than I did. It's really weird to be honest."

"I see…" ' Right, I forgot that Dou-chan said she was an Empath,' Naruto sighed as he rubbed his eyes, feeling dumb at letting an important detail like that slip his mind already.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" His couch mate asked curiously, getting the blond to sigh again and push off the blanket as he finally sat up. Stretching his arms over his head he grunted softly when his joints all popped at once before standing up and heading for the kitchen.

"Well to put bluntly, I was an idiot," He stated as he fished out a tin of coffee grounds and scooped some into the machine while filling up the pitcher with water. "I messed around with something I shouldn't have when I was a kid that ended up blowing up in my face and right out of my own dimension. Been stranded here ever since."

"Oh, I'm sorry, your family must be really worried about you." Lop muttered sympathetically as she bundled up further under the blankets.

'Didn't have one to be worried.' Naruto decided to keep that part to himself, not wanting to make the bunny girl feel bad about unintentionally bringing up that little tidbit of his past life. She already had more than enough on her plate as it was and he'd moved past that years ago anyway.

Speaking of plates though, the blonde started getting out various cooking utensils and pans, neatly setting them up on the counter. Once that was done, he moved on to the fridge and grabbed a couple of eggs along with a few other odds and ends. "Are you alright with omelets, Lop?"

"Sure." Lop said while nodding her head as she went back to watching her show again, only to find the credits rolling already. Seeing this, she tapped a little metal strip stuck to the side of her head, causing a pink holographic lens to appear over her left eye, before flicking through different options.

Meanwhile, Naruto got to work on breakfast by cracking, separating, whipping, and seasoning the eggs with practiced ease. He then set the mixture aside and moved on to prepping the stove, setting the temp to medium as he dropped a small dollop of butter onto a pan, twirling it around till it was completely melted.

Before long the air was filled with the lovely scent of fresh cooking which caused Lop to perk up from her bundling on the couch and sniff the air curiously. As the smell flooded into the otherworldly bunny's nostrils the tension in her body slowly started to ebb away and she sank back into her spot with a content sigh.

'As Dou always says, "Nothing lifts up one's spirits than a fresh homemade meal."' The whiskered blonde thought, his lips curling upwards upon seeing this in the corner of his eyes. However, it quickly fell in favor of a puzzled frown when he glanced at the bedroom and didn't see his lovely girlfriend emerge like she always did when he started cooking, which confirmed his suspicion that she wasn't home. But that still begged the question… "Where is Dou-chan?"

"She went out shortly after I woke up, but she left this for you." Lop stated, getting the blonde to glance at the brunette bunny to see that she was holding up a small slip of paper. Before he could go over and get it from her though, the note slowly lifted from her hand all by itself and wobbly drifted across the room until it was right in front of him.

"Wow… you already got the hang of force telekinesis? Amazing, but how?" He muttered with an impressed look as he grabbed the paper out of the air while Lop sighed and let her arm drop back down to her side.

"I've been practicing with the remote since I saw all them doing it on the TV," The over-worldly brunette explained with a shrug before her ears drooped as she sighed tiredly. "And I wouldn't say I've got the hang of it, that was a lot harder than it looks."

"Still impressive for just a few hours of practice." Naruto stated with a supportive smile that caused Lop to perk up as her lips curled up a little. The blonde then unfolded the note he had been given whilst mincing up some ham and peppers with his free hand.

Naruto

Going to check on how those two strays you brought in last night are doing, be back soon

Love Dou

' Ah… should have figured that was the case.' He thought, chuckling to himself as he tucked the note into his pocket and focused back on his work. Gathering up the fillings and sprinkling them into the pan, Naruto made sure to add extra pork and less veggies in Lop's omelet before folding them. That was because Lepi, her species, were mostly carnivorous despite their iconic rabbit-like appearance, at least according to the official lore.

And based on the drool starting to dribble from the corner of her mouth the moment the smell of frying ham wafted her way, it was safe to say that was the case for her too.

A few more minute later and he was done with two perfectly made omelets steaming away as he slid them onto plates. After creating a clone to clean up the blonde scooped up a dish in each hand as made his way back to the couch, handing one to the otherworldly rabbit before taking a seat on the far side of the couch, wanting to give her some space. "Find anything you wanna watch yet?"

"Not yet, translator's running slow." Lop stated, tapping the side of her face just under the digital lens as she spoke, making Naruto nod in understanding. While their spoken languages were fortunately basically the same by some miracle he wasn't surprised that the written versions were different. He had had a similar issue, although not as bad as he just had to adjust to a few slightly altered versions of kanji, although he was also fluent in English, French, and semi decent with Spanish thanks to Dou's sister Lajiao.

He'd have to ask Dou about seeing if she could have her come over to help the girl out too later.

"You mind if I pick something then?" Naruto asked with his hand held out, getting Lop to nod as she tossed the remote over to him.

Then, while the whiskered teen started flicking through various channels, she grabbed her fork and scooped out a small chunk of egg, cheddar, and pork. Raising it up to her lips, the rabbit girl gave it a few curious sniffs before taking a tentative bite. The instant the food made contact with her tongue her eyes lit up and a soft moan escaped her lips as the flavor washed over her tastebuds.

' Oh… my… god! This is the best thing I've ever tasted!' Her stomach roaring for more, Lop scooped up almost a third of it at once and shoveled it into her mouth. The carnivorous bunny's cheeks were bloated out comically as she slowly chewed, savoring the taste for as long as she could. ' Ah man, I haven't had something this great since… since father and Ocho first took me in…'

Swallowing, her good mood faded away as memories flashed through her mind, of her adoptive father giving her the first family meal she'd had in years. It hadn't been anything fancy, just a simple home cooked meal of imported roast porg, but the euphoria of being freed from slavery alongside having a new family had made it seem like the most delicious food ever.

Now here she was, kidnapped from her home, almost turned into a slave again (A sex slave at that), ran away from her would be enslaver, and was taken in by a kind young woman.

' I hadn't really thought about it but it's almost like I'm repeating… and if that video is true than Ocho and father… but I'm here not… what if… and they… I…' So caught up in her thoughts Lop stabbed into her omelet with a bit more force than necessary, causing Naruto to look over in concern from the loud clink of metal against porcelain. That concern only grew when he saw her trembling hands which rapidly spread to the rest of her body as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Lop, are you alright?" He asked softly as he set his plate down and scooted a little closer when he didn't get a response. Gently grabbing her shoulder, he gave the brunette rabbit a little shake which seemed to snap her out of her stupor as she finally looked at him. "Hey, are you okay? Is something wrong with the food? I can-oof!"

That was as far as Naruto got before he found himself with a sobbing Lepi clinging to him, her arms wrapped tightly around him as she buried her face in his chest.

"Why does this k-keep happening to me?" She asked between sobs. "First my freedom, then my p-parents, now my home and f-family. So w-why? Why do I keep l-losing everything I love?"

"I… well…" Naruto stumbled over his words as he tried to think of something to say, to do anything that could help soothe her sorrows. But what could he say? He was sorry? That things would get better? This was major emotional trauma on his hands, not some little heartbreak that could be fixed by repeating a few sweet nothings.

But he couldn't just do nothing either. He'd been in her shoes before, alone, confused, wallowing in despair, desperately wanting answers and wondering why the world kept taking more and more from him.

So… he did the only thing he could come up with…

Pushing down his uncertainty, Naruto wrapped his arms around the crying girl, one around her waist pulling her deeper into a hug and the other against the back of her head. He slowly stroked his fingers through her hair while gently rocking back and forth, humming a soft nameless tune under his breath.

This went on for what felt like hours, in reality only a few minutes, with Lop's sobs eventually dying away into quiet whimpers. And it was to this scene that Dou would find herself walking into once she got back.

'What happened?' She mouthed with a concerned look, to which Naruto made a 'one sec' motion with his hand.

The blonde was then briefly enveloped in a puff of smoke as he switched places with his clone in the kitchen. As soon as the switch happened the blonde's hand shot down to catch Lop's plate which had been wedged between them the whole time, squashing what had been left of her omelet against his stomach.

Scraping off what he could back onto the dish, he tossed the ruined food into the trash while Dou walked up to his side. "So…?"

"Shock wore off and reality hit, hard," He stated softly, barely speaking above a whisper, getting his feline lover to sigh with an understanding nod. "How about Hana and Rina? Are they doing alright?"

"For the moment, but you weren't wrong about your suspicions. The mother's attitude all but screams Battered Spouse Syndrome," Dou's lips curled upwards in a tiny snarl as she started hugging Naruto from behind for comfort. "And she reeks of dozens of old wounds, I called Gu to come over tonight to check her over just in case."

…

"And Rina?" The blonde asked after a few moments of tense silence, a part of him already dreading the answer he might get.

"I could smell some bruises on her too but other than that she was… untouched."

"Thank goodness," Sighing in relief, Naruto leaned his head back and gave Dou a kiss right on the lips which made the orangette purr contently. "And thank you too, you really are the greatest girlfriend ever."

"And don't you forget it, Love." The tiger Yokai said as she nuzzled against the boy's whiskered cheek before playfully nibbling on one of his ears.

Smirking as she saw Naruto's cheeks gain a soft red hue, Dou was sorely tempted to keep going and see just how flustered she could make him. After all, if there was one thing she really loved doing it was turning her normally endlessly confident beloved into a stuttering mess of hormones.

But one quick look back at the still crying Lepi in the living room was enough to kill off any frisky urges she had. Instead, the striped kitty cat gave the blonde another smooch before nudging him towards the bathroom.

"You go get washed up while I see what I can do to fix that up," She said, jabbing her chin towards Lop and the clone as she spoke while shoving the original Naruto along. Checking the time along the way, the orangette's eyes widened before she started pushing even harder. "And you might want to be quick about it too, you've got a meeting with our new potential bartender in about an hour."

"I do? Since when?" The whiskered teen muttered in confusion, making Dou smile sheepishly as she pulled out a file from… somewhere and handed it to him.

"Since this morning when I set it up. Sorry Love, I meant to tell you earlier but I got a little sidetracked with…"

"Ah, gotcha, gotcha, well an hour should be plenty of time for me to get ready," Waving off the apology, Naruto quickly thumbed through the folder he'd be given with an intrigued look. "A Hellhound from the Rings? Don't see many of those topside. This ought to be fun."

And with that the blonde disappeared into the bathroom, the sound of running water soon filling the air a few moments later.

Meanwhile, Dou took a deep breath and-

Knock-knock*

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" A groan escaped the feisty feline's lips as someone knocked on the front door. Couldn't she get just five minutes without something new for her to deal with popping up?

Hoping it was just something like the mail man delivering a package she'd forgotten about or something, she made her way over to hopefully get it over with quickly…

Only to have those hopes quickly smashed to pieces when she was greeted to the sight of a certain peach furred kitsune instead. "Foxington-san?"

Standing just a few inches shorter than Dou, Diane Foxington was dressed in a light grey suit with a matching tie and glasses. The foxy lady had bowed respectfully while clasping her hands together and offering a polite smile. "Hello again Ms. Xingzuo, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Oh, um and you too," Dou said with slight bow back, before clearing her throat as she double checked the time again. "Although I have to say I'm a little surprised to see you so soon considering our meeting isn't supposed to be for another hour."

"Ah, yes, I do apologize, I expected it'd take me longer to get here so I left early, guess I'm still used to LA's shitty traffic," Diane muttered as she rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish chuckle, bowing again apologetically. "I hope this isn't too much of an inconvenience."

"Well…" The striped feline discreetly leaned her head back to look at Lop and the clone of Naruto on the couch. Upon meeting the copy's gaze, she was surprised when the blonde shook his head and mouthed at her to go for it. Sending him an uncertain look back as she gestured to the bunny girl in his arms with her eyes, he just waved it off before tossing her her purse. "I guess now is fine… how about we talk over some coffee? There's a nice little café just around the corner."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Diane nodded with a smile as she stepped to the side so Dou could go past her so she could lead the way.

As she stepped out though, Dou stopped to send Lop one last concerned look over her shoulder before closing the door behind her.

The instant it did however, Clone Naruto created a second clone that went over to the kitchen and got back to work cleaning up. Meanwhile, the original doppelganger made a ram sign before he was enveloped in a large cloud of smoke, startling Lop out of her emotional stupor.

Although that was nothing to when the smoke cleared and she found that the clone she'd been hugging now looked exactly like Dou.

Blinking in surprise and confusion, the otherworldly rabbit opened her mouth to say something, only to be abruptly cut off when the Dou doppelganger pulled her back into a hug, resting her face right in 'her' ample chest. The reason for this was soon revealed not a moment later when the real Naruto reemerged from the bathroom, all washed up and in clean clothes.

Fiddling with his collar a bit, the whiskered blonde smiled softly upon seeing 'Dou' comforting Lop on the couch.

"Alright, I'm gonna go make sure everything's all set up for later just to be safe," He said as he made his way to the window? "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Of course, now get going already ya big goof before you're late." 'Dou' said with wave of 'her' hand, getting Naruto to roll his eyes as he slid the window open.

"Fine, fine, if that's how you want it." The blonde said in mock hurt, complete with an overdramatic grasp of his heart, before he vanished in a swirl of smoke and the window slid back shut by itself.

Once again the moment he was gone 'Dou' was enveloped by smoke again to reveal the clone as he let Lop go and smiled apologetically to the confused girl. "Sorry about that, Boss needed to go to that meeting but he'd never just dump you off with a clone like me, not just for his benefit anyway."

"Oh… I see…" That certainly made sense from what she'd seen of the guy so far. And on the plus side, all those surprises had gotten her mind off her crippling depressive situation… for the moment at least.

However, Lop could already feel that encompassing dread slowly creeping back to the forefront of her mind. Her hands began to tremble again as those negative thoughts washed over her like an icy tidal wave.

Shaking her head in a vain effort to stave them off, the Lepi pulled the discarded remote into her hand and just clicked onto the first thing she saw on TV.

"Sonic X? Cool, boss has been meaning to check that show out." The clone said with a grin, flicking a switch that caused his part of the couch to recline with a raised footrest before laying back with his hands behind his head.

His cheeks ended up gaining a light red tint though when Lop snuggled up to his side, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest as she sniffled a little. One of her ears laid across his collar bone with part of it tucked under his chin with the fur lightly ticking against his chin.

Not wanting to be mean and push her off when she needed comfort, the blonde copy tried to subtly scooch to the side instead so as to put a little space between them. Unfortunately, he forgot to consider that the brunette bunny had him literally wrapped up in her grasp so she was just dragged along with him.

In the end all Clone Naruto ended up accomplishing was wedging himself against the armrest while Lop snuggled even closer on reflex, leaving him with very little wiggle room.

' Oh brother… this is gonna be a really long day.'

-Meanwhile-

Down at the Café around the corner, which was ironically named 'Café Around the Corner', Dou and Diane could be found seated opposite of each-other as a waitress brought them their orders. The former received a small glass of green tea and some dango whilst the latter just got a plain espresso.

"Oh wow, this place makes a great cup of coffee." Diane said after taking a sip of her beverage, sinking further into her seat with a relaxed sigh as the caffeinated beverage flowed past her lips.

"Indeed, my boyfriend is particularly fond of their cappuccino," Dou said with a nod while blowing on her tea to cool it before rapidly dipping her tongue into it, just like how an actual cat drinks. Slurping up about half the cup in just a few seconds, she set the glass aside and began nibbling on a stick of her syrup covered dumplings. "Shall we get to business then?"

"I thought you'd never ask," The kitsune stated, setting her cup down as she straightened up her posture and intertwined her fingers. Almost like a switch had been flipped her entire demeanor went from calm and casual to completely serious. "So, is it safe to assume this is a follow up interview?"

' Oh yeah, I can definitely see the politician in her now,' While seemingly unphased by the sudden attitude change, those with a keen eye would have seen as Dou's own posture became a tad more rigid. A thick tension grew in the air as both ladies silently sized each-other up, their gazes locked and searching for any signs of deception.

However, as quickly as it grew the tense atmosphere shattered when the tigress's lips curled into a smile and she offered a hand. "Actually Foxington-san, to be frank I already decided to hire you, so I guess I should start with saying welcome aboard."

"Oh," That knocked Diane right out of her seriousness as she blinked several times in surprise. Once she snapped back to her senses though, she quickly accepted the offered handshake with a bright smile. "Well that is fantastic news. And don't get me wrong I'm certainly glad to hear but… uh I must admit I'm a little surprised."

"You shouldn't be," Dou stated, finishing off the last few bites on her syrupy dumplings before picking at her teeth with the stick. Reaching into her purse with her free hand, she pulled out the former governor's file and set it down between them. "Your resume alone is quite impressive, your work ethic is nothing but commendable, and aside from that little debacle with the church you've got a spotless record. It would be nothing short of utter foolishness on my part to pass on such a promising candidate."

"You should tell that to the last dozen places I've tried to apply too." Diane muttered under her breath bitterly as she crossed her arms under her chest.

"Let me guess, got as far as former foreign politician before they told you to beat it?" The tigress asked, getting the kitsune to nod as an irritated snort escaped her lips.

"Usually with them saying something along the lines of 'Having no need for some crooked US scumball ruining our business'."

"Figured as much," Dou shook her head with an exasperated sigh, not the least surprised by Diane's unfortunate plight. It was a sadly not an unreasonable assumption that an on the run out of country politician was corrupt in some way which nobody was gonna want to deal with. "Well fortunately for you I don't judge anything by the cover, including resumes. Speaking of which, one of the other reasons I asked to see you was if I could hear more about this incident with the church if you didn't mind."

"I had a feeling you would," Her mood souring even further at the topic, Diane swilled down the rest of her coffee as she muttered something foul under her breath. "Do you want the long or short version?"

"Whichever you're most comfortable with." The tiger girl said with a 'go on' gesture while idly offering her new hire a stick of dango which she accepted.

"Well, you see I used to have a quid pro quo relationship with the church, I gave them increased public funding and in return they'd stay out of my and the local Yokai community's business. I was even friends with one of the exorcists who came by from time to time to deal with church matters," Diane explained, getting Dou to nod in understanding, before the Kitsune scowled and pulled up side of her suit, exposing a long and narrow scarred bald spot. Starting just a few inches shy of her belly button, it stretched along her waist to her hip and wrapping around her back. "So you could imagine my surprise when I asked them to deal with a group of stray devils and ended up getting stabbed by one of the exorcists they sent instead."

"Yeowch, how the hell did you survive that?" Dou couldn't help but ask with a sympathetic hiss. That was no mere flesh wound, just a glance told her that it had to have at least hit one of her kidneys and possibly the liver.

Rather than answering verbally the foxy lady just lifted up the front of her suit even further, exposing the rest of her stomach. Before Dou could question why she did that, her eyes widened in when she saw an incredibly faint but distinct sphere of orange light start emanating around her belly button.

"Oh… you're a spirit kitsune, that's nice to know. " Spirit Kitsunes, a sub-species of Kitsune that were born with the unusual trait of having a solid crystalline magic core in their bodies called a Kitsune Star Ball or Spirit Orb instead of the usual etheric one.

They were a highly coveted item in old times due to allowing whoever held them to have full control of the kitsune they originated from or to simply suck their power away and add it to one's own magical reserves. This was because Spirit Kitsunes were once considered one of the most powerful sub-species of Yokai, comparable to even a Satan class devil or Seraph class angel. So having one at your command or successfully stealing their power used to be considered a great way to boost one's strength.

"Once' and 'Used to be' being the operative phrases there since having their strongest members constantly hunted down meant that typically only the weakest of their kind were left to carry the species on. Thus the fox based yokai gradually lost more and more of their might with each passing generation until they had been reduced to a withered husk of their former selves. Where they had once been able to match off against some of the toughest of the tough, now one was lucky if they could hold their own against a lowly tier 9 foe.

And with their former glory faded into nothing more than old fable so too did people's desire to hunt them down, given that it was simply not worth the effort anymore.

Now that didn't mean they were entirely defenseless, as what they lacked in offense they made up with sheer difficulty to actually kill. They had an incredible natural healing factor so that most wounds would do little more than hinder one briefly. Generally, only light based magic or enchanted weaponry, like the Holy sword of an Exorcist, could cause lasting or permanent harm to a Spirit Kitsune.

Otherwise the only sure fire way of putting one down was by destroying their Core, which also happened to be the physical embodiment of their life force. Not such an easy task either though since being pure magic made them immune to most forms of physical attack and were often kept safely tucked away inside the owner's body like Diane apparently.

However, Dou was nothing if not observant as she noted how the sphere was flickering every few moments and how part of the foxy woman's scar overlapped with it.

"Only reason I'm not dead right now," The foxy woman stated, pulling her clothes back into place and took a bite from her snack, unintentionally chomping right through the stick. Not that she seemed to care as she just kept chewing, eventually spitting the broken stick out in even smaller pieces after she swallowed the dessert. "Supposedly it was an accident and the exorcist responsible had quote 'misunderstood the mission briefing' unquote."

"I'm sensing a 'But' coming up." Dou added rhetorically, getting Diane to nod her head with an irritated grunt.

"But, considering how sure that bitch was sure me dying was part of the job, I suspect that the church decided they'd be better off without me around."

"And so that's why you moved here? Because you didn't want to risk another 'accident'?" The tigress asked, using air quotes when she said the word 'accident'.

"Hell no, if all it took was a few death threats to run me off I'd have been out of office years ago," The former governor stated, palming her fist with a firm confident glare… only to quickly deflate into her seat as she stared at her hands. "Losing the ability to stay hidden amongst humans however, much bigger issue."

As she spoke Diane's hands were briefly enveloped by an incredibly hazy image of what Dou assumed was supposed to be normal human ones. She had to assume given that, aside from being almost entire see through, the projections were completely misshapen and constantly spritzing out before fading away completely as the kitsune cupped her side with a hiss.

"I see what you mean," Well that confirmed Dou's suspicions that Diane's side hadn't been the only thing scarred by the stabbing. And it made a lot more sense why she had to flee all the way to Kyoto, in this world an exposed Yokai was as good as dead outside of their territory. "I guess that means they got what they wanted in the end, huh?"

"Yep," The kitsune muttered as she scowled, before her lips curled into a vindictive smirk as she pulled out her cellphone. "But not before I got in one last laugh."

Fiddling with the cellular device, Diane flipped it over for Dou to see a video of a news report playing. The sound was off so she couldn't hear anything the stereotypical handsome reporter was saying but luckily there was plenty of scrolling text to fill in the blanks.

[ Beloved Governor Mysteriously 'Retires': Foul Play by the Church?]

Then, in the midst of the clip, the man gestured to the empty space beside his head as a picture popped up. Said picture looked to have been taken from a surveillance camera and showed a young woman, Diane in a human disguise based on their matching suits and build.

…Well and the fact the picture was showing the woman getting impaled in the stomach by an exorcist wielding a big ass sword.

"Wow." Was all the feline Yokai could say as she watched the clip continue, the footage switching show another reporter standing in front a very large and VERY pissed mob holding protest signs. Many included pictures of Diane's former human disguise along with various scrawled messages such as 'Avenge Her' and 'Where's our Governor?'.

"Oh yeah, had some of my remaining contacts leak that little beauty shot of me to the press anonymously about two weeks after I got the hell out of dodge. Just long enough for them to give some half-assed cover story that I had gone into 'spontaneous early retirement' to save their own hides," Diane admitted with a snicker, her grin growing even wider even as she turned her phone off and put it away. "Definitely poked a few holes in that plan to say the least, I'd like to see those bastards try to sweep their mess under the rug now."

"Damn… if that is how you handle a grudge then remind me never to get on your bad side." A comically sized sweat drop rolled down the side of the Dou's head as she unconsciously eased a few inches back from her new employee.

"You know what they say, you don't fuck with a politician, especially not one as well liked and connected as I was," The peach-furred fox stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she went to take a sip of her coffee, only to find that her cup was already empty. Waving down a waitress to order another, she was pleasantly surprised when it was delivered in just a few seconds. "Now that's service. So, was that all you needed to talk to me about?"

"Pretty much, but if you don't mind getting to work right away…" Trailing off while reaching into her purse once more, Dou pulled out a stack of papers which she laid out across the table one by one. Each one held various designs for various types of posters, ads, flyers, signs, and other such things needed to endorse a company to the public. "I could use a second opinion on the promotional materials we'll be using for the restaurant once we open."

"Oh, well in that case…"

-At Naruto and Dou's restaurant -

Naruto was humming a happy tune under his breath as he stood behind the Bar counter, casually sorting through the vast array of liquors that'd been stocked up.

"Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum~" He sang while picking up an actual bottle of rum in one hand and bottle of vodka in the other before tossing them both in the air. Pulling out a pair of glasses from under the counter, the blonde dropped several ice cubes into both before catching the liquors and popping their lids off with his thumbs so he could pour.

Once both cups were filled he set the bottles back in their rightful places, recapped of course, and grabbed the rum for himself. The glass of vodka on the other hand was given a gently flick, causing it to slide down the counter till it came to a stop right in front of young goth lady that had just stepped through the door.

Obviously caught off guard by this the newcomer stared at the beverage and then Naruto for a few moments with a raised brow before shrugging it off as she grabbed the offered drink. Chugging the whole thing down as she made her way over to the whiskered blonde, she slammed the empty glass onto the counter whilst taking a seat. "Blond hair and whiskers, you're that Naruto guy I'm supposed to be talking too?"

"That'd be me, which would make you Loona, nice to meet ya." The whiskered blonde said with a friendly smile, to which the gothic girl just rolled her eyes with a scoff.

"Yeah, salutations and all that crap." Loona muttered with a sarcastic wave, obviously not in the mood for idle chit-chat. However, her mood did perk up a little bit when he refilled her glass.

As she downed the fresh glass of booze Naruto took the moment to get a better look at her. The best way to describe her was stereotypical goth with pale skin, messy grey hair that was shaved bald on the side, deep red eyes, and plain punk clothes that were intentionally tattered in design. "Not a bad disguise you have there, although I don't see why you're bothering to use it around these parts seeing as it sticks out way more than your natural look."

"Hmph… force of habit I guess." She said with an uncaring shrug once she finished her drink before her body was enveloped by a brief flash of light. When it faded away, Loona's appearance was revealed to have completely changed to reveal her true appearance, that of a Hellhound.

The canine girl's mouth had extended into a short snout, her legs had extended to a digitigrade structure as her now bare feet tapped against the ground, and lastly her eye color had inverted to silver with red sclera. Her whole body was covered in a mix of white, grey, and black fur while a long tail nearly half as long as she was tall slowly swayed from her backside and a pair of pointed ears twitched atop her head.

Overall, she could easily be mistaken for some type of werewolf or a furry cosplayer, although Naruto had a feeling she would not like him pointing out that last bit out loud so wisely kept his mouth shut. "Now that's more like it, you look better this way."

"Don't bother with that sweet talk bullshit, flattery ain't getting you shit from me," The hellhound stated dryly while giving the blonde a 'Touch me and you're dead' look. "If you think you can get in my pants with some free drinks and a few cheap ass compliments then politely go fuck yourself. I'm only here for the job, nothing more, nothing less."

Rather than being intimidated or upset though, Naruto chuckled deeply while downing the last of his rum and putting the cup aside for washing. "Not afraid to speak your mind even to your future boss, that's certainly a refreshing change after all the ass kissing from the last few candidates I've dealt with."

"Whatever you say pal," Loona muttered sarcastically with an eyeroll before sitting up a bit straighter as she crossed her arms. "You gonna keep talking about my looks or-"

Whatever else the hellhound had been planning to say was left a mystery as she cut off midsentence when the whiskered teen disappeared beneath the counter. A second later he reemerged with a tray laden with the various things ranging from tequila to salt to a drink shaker.

"Well if you're gonna be a bartender," He stated after setting the tray down on the counter. Then, in a puff of smoke, Loona suddenly found herself standing in Naruto's place while he sat in her seat. "Then I need to see how well you can follow the four Ss of bartending by making me a margarita."

"What the…" Stumbling slightly from the unexpected switch, it took a moment for the wolf girl's brain to catch up with what was happening. Once it did though, her brow furrowed as she gave the young man an annoyed glare even as she got to work. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Trade secret." Was all he said with a cheeky smirk which just made Loona roll her eyes again as she poured Tequila and Triple Sec into the shaker.

"Ugh, fine, so what are the four Ss anyway?"

"Speed, Skill, Style, and Socializing, otherwise called the four Ss," Holding up four fingers, Naruto's grin grew as he started to tick them off one by one. "They are the most important things any decent bartender needs to follow to succeed."

"Okay the first two make sense, make them fast and make them good, but the fuck does style and socializing have to do with making drinks?" Loona asked with a raised brow while furiously shaking the cocktail mixer.

"Isn't it obvious? If you make making drinks look good it tends to draw more customers in to buy them and if they like you then it'll make it more likely they'll tip well," The whiskered blonde explained. "For example, you were in prison for a year, right? What'cha do to end up there?"

"Got involved with a bunch of dumbasses and their stupid problems." Scowling as she spoke, the hellhound's claws dug into the metal of the shaker before she slammed it onto the counter.

"Oh, how so?" Once more unphased by the outburst, Naruto intertwined his fingers together and rested his chin atop them as leaned onto the counter with a curious tilt of his head.

"…You're gonna keep nagging me about this, aren't you?" Salting the glass, Loona sighed in annoyance and exasperation when all she got in response was another smirk from the whisker faced teen. "Fine, about a year ago my adoptive 'father' Blitzo had the genius idea to start his own business in Hell called the Immediate Murder Professionals or IMP as he called it. Long story short, damned souls would pay him and he'd come up to settle any unfinished grudges they had, permanently."

"That makes sense, probably no shortage of assholes down there with a bone to pick and no qualms about paying for murder ," Naruto could see the logic behind such a company, it certainly had the potential to make a lot of easy money if done right anyway. And he couldn't fault Loona for working at such a job since, from what he understood about the Seven Rings, there wasn't many other work opportunities she'd have access too down there. "So then you guys got caught on the job or something?"

"If only it was that fucking simple. Turned out Blitzo and his little stooges were running around up here undisguised every fucking time they took a job so naturally they started getting attention we didn't need," Scoffing, the silver haired demon dog emptied the shaker into the glass before abruptly swiping a hand over a lime, slicing it into several thin slivers with her claws. Grabbing one, she slipped it onto the rim of the cup before setting the finished drink down in front of Naruto, who helped himself to it with a curious hum. "And as the secretary I had no idea until he got caught up in some grudge match with his ex-girlfriend over a parking space, which led to some retarded 'who can sin' dick measuring contest. Long story short, things got out of hand real fucking fast and before I knew it, we were all detained by some group calling themselves DHORKs."

"Oh man, the DHORKs got involved? That had to be embarrassing…" Naruto muttered with a sympathetic wince as he idly sipped at his drink.

D.H.O.R.K., short for Department of Hellish and Occult Regulation Keepers, a special group of law enforcement that worked to ensure the continued peace of supernatural communities across the world. Not aligned with any of the major factions, they were the go to group for dealing with any magical or mystical mischief makers causing trouble. Or at least that is how they tried to market themselves as, whereas in reality they were the magical worlds equivalent of petty crime division.

They were tasked with dealing with any and all supernatural problems that basically nobody else really felt was worth their time handling. From bank robbing shapeshifters to college mages doing prank summons, basically anything that was considered too 'low level' was promptly shoved onto DHORKs. Which in turn meant that to actually be arrested by them for any reason was considered a mark of shame and infamy that basically nobody wanted to admit too.

"You could say that again," Loona muttered, grabbing the bottle of tequila she used and taking a big swig from it. "Not much to say after that, was tried, convicted, and thrown into the slammer until I got let back out thanks to a technicality two months ago. Can't go back to Hell though because of this fucking thing keeping me here till my parole is over," Grabbing the hem of her shirt, she lifted it up a little to show a faintly glowing brand of a cross seared into her side. "Not that it matters since I don't even have a place to go back too since nobody's paid the rent for over a year."

"Yeah, that'd definitely be an issue," The whiskered blonde could relate with that problem since he technically had the same issue considering that if he got back to his dimension somehow he'd be homeless. Focusing back on the present, he downed the last few sips of his margarita before setting the glass back onto the tray. "Well on the positive side I'd say you've gotten yourself a job, that margarita was not bad at all, easily a five out of ten."

Normally this would be the point that the potential hire would cheer up or show relief upon hearing that they'd made the cut. However, Loona was anything but ordinary as instead her gaze narrowed into an offended glare. "Only a five?"

"You used a touch too much salt and triple sec which threw off the flavor, plus you forgot to wash your claws before slicing the lime. And your presentation was stiff, which'll discourage customers," Naruto stated before tapping the cocktail shaker, specifically the dents left in the side by her claws. "I also had to dock a point for damaging the equipment, that's a pretty big no-no."

"…Hmph, sure, sounds fair," She conceded sarcastically, before pushing the serving tray towards him as she cocked a brow with a challenging look. "So why don't you show me what a perfect ten looks like Mister critic?"

"Oh, well if you insist," Switching places with her again, Naruto quickly placed everything back on the tray which he promptly tucked away back under the counter. When he came back up, the whiskered blonde held six new shakers and six different colored little decorative umbrellas, three in each hand… and wearing a blindfold? "Then prepare to see a master at work."

With a flick of his wrists, he sent all six umbrellas up in the air while simultaneously popping the lids off the mixers and setting them on the counter. Naruto then grabbed a fresh bottle of tequila from the rack and spun the cap off with his pointer finger before flipping the bottle in the air, catching it sideways with the spout pointing outward in the crook of his elbow.

Folding his arms together, the blond then tilted them sideways while making an alternating waving motion. This caused the bottle to both roll down to his other elbow and dip up and down, pouring just the right amount into each of the shakers without spilling a drop. After all six had their fill, he jerked his elbow, launching the bottle into the air again and back into its proper spot on the rack before the blonde recapped it and repeated the process with a bottle of triple sec.

Next Naruto reached under the counter and pulled out six tiny different colored little bottles and poured them into one mixer apiece. This was soon followed up by a modest amount of crushed ice from a scoop, flicking the lids back on after each one was filled.

The blonde then proceeded to grab all the cocktail shakers, tossed them up into the air, and starting to literally juggle them with just one hand. Every time he caught one, he'd give a few quick but firm shakes before tossing them back in the air. Meanwhile, his free hand was busy prepping glasses with salt and lime slices that he laid out in a circle on an empty tray.

And finally, after tossing all the shakers up a little higher than normal, Naruto caught one in each hand and poured them into a cup after popping the lids off with his thumbs. He did this twice more with the remaining four, stacking the empty tin canisters together once he was done with then.

This left him with a tray of six lovely margaritas that were colored yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green respectively.

"How's that for ten out of ten my friend?" The whiskered blonde asked with a grin as he pushed the tray over to Loona, just in time for a matching umbrella to gently land in each glass.

The hellhound didn't say anything at first as she simply stared at the assorted drinks laid out before her with wide eyes. By the time the surprise wore off for her, Naruto had already removed his blindfold and was silently enjoying the look on her face.

"…Fucking showoff." She muttered eventually, grabbing the red glass and downing about half of it in one gulp. ' Holy fuck, that is a good margarita. And I don't even like them.'

"That was kind of the point," Disappearing in a puff a smoke, this time Naruto appeared in the empty seat beside Loona as he snagged the orange drink and held it up. "But enough about that, how about a toast to new coworkers?"

Rolling her eyes again, albeit this time with a miniscule smile on her lips, the demonic canine halfheartedly tapped her glass against his. "Still not gonna fuck me if that's what you're hoping for."

"Wasn't expecting to, besides I'm already in a committed relationship with an amazing girlfriend, who would also skin me alive if I so much as thought about cheating on her." The whiskered teen stated with a chuckle that proved contagious as a soft snort escaped his drinking companion's lips.

"Sounds like a real keeper you've got there."

"She sure is," Sighing nostalgically as he took a sip from his drink, Naruto took a long sip from his beverage before continuing. "Speaking of which, I saw in your resume that you're still staying at a halfway house on the other side of Kyoto."

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Loona asked defensively with a raised brow.

"Well, as it just so happens my girlfriend owns an apartment building that's a lot closer and we've got a few vacancies," He stated, "If you want she can set you up with one so you won't have to walk so far to work every day. And I'm sure you'd appreciate having your own place again."

"Hmph, that's an understatement," The Hellhound muttered under her breath as she finished the rest of her drink and grabbed another one. Nursing this one more slowly, she gave the blonde beside her a piercing gaze, searching for any signs of deception or ulterior motive in his eyes. Not finding any, she chewed on the inside of her lip with a contemplative look before nodding. "Fine, but only if my roommate can come with me."

"Oh… sure, as long as they don't cause any trouble I don't see why not," Not what Naruto had been expecting but he could work with it. Grabbing a pen and notepad from his pocket, he jotted down an address and handed it to the wolf girl. "Come by there tomorrow and we'll get you all settled in, work for you?"

"Not like I got anything else planned, if you'll excuse me I've got shit to pack." Grabbing the remaining margaritas, Loona quickly chugged each one down before wiping her muzzle and standing up. She was engulfed by a familiar glow as she returned to her human disguise while heading for the exit.

"Have fun with that," The blonde said with a wave which the hellhound ignored as the door slammed shut behind her. "…Well, I'd say that went well."

-End Chapter-

-Omake-

-Kiss it Better-

Dou sighed boredly as she cleaned up the last of the dishes used from the day's shift. Normally, she'd have some help, but she allowed her coworker to leave early because they were in a rush to catch the next transit home. She knew from experience the hells of commuting in Kyoto.

A sudden yelp caught her by surprise and she jolted while her tail and ears stiffened. After a moment, her ear twitched and she caught the sound of a familiar voice groaning in a mixture of discomfort and disappointment.

Curious about what Naruto could be up to, she left the kitchen and headed to where the smell of tequila emanated from; which was obviously the bar of the restaurant. There, she found Naruto dripping wet from booze while a variety of shakers were seen on both the bar top and the floor.

With a knowing smirk, she leaned against one of the booth walls and asked, "Still trying to get the Ferris Rainbow down?"

"Yeah," he sighed out while grabbing a small rag to dry himself off.

"I think you have a few kinks to work out, then," the Tiger Yōkai teased.

"Oh, haven't you heard?" he fired back with a sheepish smile, thoroughly embarrassed about how his crush had found him. "Dropping booze all over yourself is the new way of getting drunk!"

He laughed awkwardly at his – to him – lame joke, but was pleasantly surprised when Dou simply blinked once before snorting in amusement and hiding a laugh behind her tail. Thankfully, she didn't see him stare at her in amazement with a blush, because this was the first time he had heard a real laugh from her.

A snort or a chuckle on a rare occasion, but never a full laugh. And, like everything else about her, he loved it.

While still trying to calm her laughter, Dou walked over to him and grabbed another rag to help wipe off his face. "You're such a goofball, you know that?"

"I am what I am, and not what I'm not," he replied in a fake philosophical tone, earning another snort from her.

"Sure, you are," she fired back before, in a move totally unexpected to both of them, she leaned in and licked a running drop of tequila that started from his bangs and rolled down his whiskered cheek.

Both were bright red at what she had done, frozen in place and unsure of how to react while their brains attempted synchronized System Reboots. Dou was the first to recover, and she dropped her rag before clearing her throat awkwardly.

"Uh, b-be more careful next time, okay?" she warned him in a soft voice before muttering a goodnight and rushing to grab her things. While Naruto was still trying to mentally recover with his face still blushing brightly, she headed for the door and called out, "See you tomorrow!" before leaving in an embarrassed hurry.

After some time, Naruto's mind had rebooted enough for him to whisper to himself, "Did she just…?"

With Dou, she groaned softly and rested her head against the window of a bus she was standing in, unable to get what she had done out of her mind. "Way to go, Dou… Embarrassing yourself in front of the guy you might like… Fuck…"

Absently, she licked her lips and somehow tasted the lingering flavor of tequila on them, making her unconsciously smile to herself.

-End Omake-