Fearful Symmetry

by Act 3

Both angel and human, both delinquent and hero, both tiger and lamb. Duality is defined as possessing the quality of being dual. An existence consisting of two parts, of two elements. Trapped somewhere between those elements, a young blonde seeks the truth. He is caught in duality, forced to draw lines, to pick sides, as he becomes further entangled within life's fearful symmetry.

3. A Darker Forest

When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd Heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

~.~.~

Chapter 3: A Darker Forest

~.~.~

Despite his troubles as of late, Naruto still considered himself to be quite lucky, all things considered. Sure, he had been cut down in his prime by one of God's servants, and yes, he had almost been both devoured and digested by an insane Devil with a taste for human flesh, but he was still alive and kicking, wasn't he? Plus, he had superpowers now—the blonde figured that had to count for something. Though the world itself seemed to be gunning for the blonde's demise, he had stood tall and overcome everything the Grim Reaper had thrown his way thus far.

Yet, here he was, just inches away from his own inevitable demise. His luck had run out, it had abandoned him and escaped to safety while he stayed behind to meet his fate. With this sense of doom hanging over his spirits, it was with a bittersweet taste in his mouth, with shaking hands and a rapidly beating heart, that he reached out to grasp the threshold of his death.Like taking that first dreadful step over a gaping precipice, his blood rushed to his head as he opened the door and reluctantly entered, cringing as a pair of voices—one desperately panicked and the other calm and assuring—met his ears.

"Please, Iruka, he hasn't been home since he left for school two days ago! You have to find him!"

"C-Calm down, Kushina-san. I've already put in a call to the station and I assure you that we have all available patrol cars out looking for Naruto right now!"

"What if he's hurt? Or kidnapped? Or worse!? Oh, that's it! I can't take it anymore! I'm going out there and finding my son!"

"H-Hey, hold on! I told you, we have to wait here in case Naruto comes home!"

Creeping silently over to the living room entrance, Naruto carefully peeked around the corner to catch a glimpse of the scene playing within.

As he had expected from the snippet of conversation he'd overheard, Naruto found his raving mother going into hysterics as Officer Iruka attempted to ease her worries. From the look on her face and the state of the living room furniture, it was rather clear to the delinquent that the policeman was quickly losing control of the situation. It was only a matter of minutes before his mother would bust through the door—or the wall, whichever was quicker—and take to the streets to deal out her own "justice" and find her son. Gritting his teeth, Naruto did the only thing he could think of to save the city from that sad, sad fate.

"I, uh…I'm h-home?" Naruto spoke up as he entered the room, silently praying to whatever deity would hear his wishes that the upcoming catastrophe would play out as smoothly as possible. As his voice drifted over to the pair of adults, the duo went rigid, slowly and mechanically turning their heads to stare at the youth. With their stunned gaze upon him, Naruto dreadfully realized that his prayers were about to go unanswered, 'Well…shit.'

"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kushina wailed, charging at her son faster than lightning and sweeping him up in her arms. Caught in the spine-crushing hug, Naruto could do little else then groan in pain as his mother twirled him around the room, sobbing and hiccupping as she did so, "Y-You idiot! Do you have any idea how worried I was!?"

"S-Sorry, Mom," Naruto choked out.

Kushina abruptly stopped twirling her son around, adjusted her grip so that she held him by the collar, and began to shake the teenager to and fro, "Don't you ever worry me like that again, young man!"

Both mentally and physically exhausted from having spent the evening keeping Kushina's rampage at bay, Iruka sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his brow. Rather than interrupt the…touching…mother-and-son moment taking place before him, he decided it would save him a lot of trouble to simply quietly excuse himself from the situation and head back to the station to report that the situation had been resolved. Thus, quietly wishing the young boy luck, Iruka left the room and exited the house, leaving the mother and son alone.

Setting Naruto back on the ground, Kushina firmly took a hold of his shoulders and looked the delinquent in the eye, "Naruto, you know I love you, right?"

Naruto's heart froze. Wherever this was going, every instinct in his body was screaming that it wasn't good, "Y-Yeah."

"And you know that everything I do, I do it because I love you, right?"

'Please don't actually kill me, please don't actually kill me, please don't actually kill me,' Naruto gulped, "R-Right."

"Good. I'm glad you understand that," Kushina nodded, patting her son on the shoulder, "Because I am going to do the loving thing…"

The blonde's head snapped up, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes. As though the storms clouds had parted, like the sun was breaking through the turbulent horizon and shining down upon him in all of its pristine glory, his heart soared with renewed vigor. Was this his moment? Was he going to escape this hellish death sentence with both mind and body intact? The gloom of the inevitable that had taken shelter on his visage disappeared as he realized he would live and, with a newfound appreciation for life, he resolved to go forth and—

"And give you a ten second head start," Kushina finished, her violet eyes stony and cold.

'…I'm honestly not sure what I was expecting,' Naruto sighed.

"Ten…nine…eight…"

He needed no further prompting. Naruto turned and ran for the only destination he could think of at the moment, that being absolutely anywhere but there. Quickly finishing her countdown, Kushina wasted no time in leaping forward and pouncing on her son. As the blonde broke through the threshold of the living room, he felt a vice-like grip encircle his ankle and he fell to the floor with a dull thud. Clawing fruitlessly at the floor, Naruto could do little else but scream as he was dragged back into the room, his mother's laughter echoing behind him.

~.~.~

"Mandatory what?" Kiba blinked, shooting his friend an incredulous stare as he shut his locker. The handsome young man hadn't quite known what to expect from Naruto today, given that their last encounter had ended with the delinquent flipping the bird and storming out of the Occult Research Club. He was sure that Naruto would still be frustrated or suspicious over how Rias had attempted to hold him against his will the other day—at the very least, the reincarnated Devil had expected there to be some kind of awkwardness when they next saw each other.

Yet, true to his surprisingly straight-forward nature, Naruto seemed to be his usual self when Kiba walked into Kuoh Academy that morning, if not a tad grumpier than usual. Apparently, however, the smoker's bad mood had nothing to do with his encounter with Rias. When Kiba had inquired about what was wrong, rather than cite the redhead as the source of his problems, Naruto had given quite the unexpected answer.

"Mandatory guidance counseling," Naruto repeated, a blatant hint of disgust in his tone as he shut his own locker, "After she put me through the wringer last night, my mom wouldn't stop grilling me for info on where I was and what I'd been doing the past few days. Only way I could get her to let up was to agree to meet with the school counselor to "work out my issues" and I have to bring her the counselor's signature as proof I went."

Kiba tapped his chin, humming in thought, "It might not a bad idea, actually. I mean, you have sent more people to the hospital than most trained military officials and you're only seventeen."

"Bite me, Old Scratch," Naruto dryly retorted, snorting, "With the way my life's been these last few days, I don't need a guidance counselor. What I need is access to a small armory and a tanker's worth of iodine…or anesthesia—preferably the anesthesia."

"Point taken," the swordsman relented with a small smile, "If it's extra protection you're looking for, though, you could always try and joi—"

"Not happening," Naruto interrupted, adjusting his grip on his bag as he and his fellow blonde headed off to class.

"Not even going to let me finish? That's just plain rude, Naruto-san," Kiba chided jokingly, shaking his head with a sigh, "I can see why your mother's worried about you."

"You know, something tells me she'd be more worried if I chose to become an agent of Satan," Naruto sarcastically informed as the pair ascended the stairs, "From what I understand, joining up with Beelzebub is generally frowned upon in most societies."

"Since when have you cared about what society thinks anyway?" Kiba smiled.

Naruto frowned, "You're really not going to drop this Peerage thing, are you?"

"Only because I'm legitimately worried that you're going to be an idiot and get yourself killed," Kiba spoke nonchalantly, belying his true anxiety over the matter of his friend's wellbeing.

"You and my mother both," Naruto sighed, "Look, I'm not planning on doing anything that's gonna get God or Satan or Cthulhu or whatever the hell's out there after my ass, alright? I just got some questions I want answers to and, once I get 'em, I'll try and stay as far off the supernatural radar as I can, okay?"

'I knew you'd say something like that,' Kiba thought to himself. Even now, after months of knowing him, it amazed Kiba how Naruto managed to be both stunningly unpredictable yet so foreseeable at the same time. There wasn't a person on God's green earth that could predict what decision Namikaze Naruto would end up making, but once he made it, the delinquent would stubbornly keep to it with all the predictability of a sunrise. The handsome youth sighed, "You saying that just makes me believe you're actually going to end up pissing off God."

"Yeah? Well, when he comes looking for trouble, I'll let you get the first punch in," Naruto drawled.

"You should be careful with your promises, Naruto-san—I might just hold you to that one," the blonde chuckled, nodding a greeting to a few of his adoring fans as they entered into the second year's hallway, "Also, when you meet with the counselor today, I would avoid talking about punching God. It might help."

"He started it," Naruto shrugged, "Anyway, do you know who our guidance counselor is? I've never actually met the guy."

"Of course you haven't—you've barely met your actual teachers this year," Kiba smirked, lightly shoving Naruto on the shoulder, "Let's see…I think our counselor is Tsunematsu-sensei."

"Tsunematsu? Isn't she the nurse?" Naruto frowned.

"Since Shōyō-sensei transferred, I think she's filling in until they find someone to take the position permanently," Kiba smiled as he gave his explanation, "Well, it should at least be interesting, right? Considering how many students you must've sent to the nurse's office by now, you two should have a lot to talk about."

"You never run out of those jokes, huh?" Naruto shot his friend a flat stare.

Kiba shrugged, "I just work with what you give me."

"Just keep giving me reasons why I should hand out your phone number to all your fans," Naruto gave a short, lazy wave to Kiba as he reached the doorway to his own classroom, "We'll see who gets the last laugh then."

"Have fun in therapy," Kiba teased, returning the wave with a friendly one of his own. Now alone, Kiba placed his hands into his pockets and proceeded down the hall to his own classroom, occasionally greeting a few of the braver girls who had planned to use the brief period before homeroom to flirt. Rounding the corner, Kiba's eyes fell upon his destination and, with a sigh, the trained swordsman resolved himself to another admittedly tedious day of politely refusing his female suitors and avoiding those who had taken their obsession with him to the next level and become stalkers.

"Ara, ara. I do believe Rias told you to respect Namikaze-san's decision, Kiba-kun."

Kiba hummed, glancing at the approaching form of Himejima Akeno, "Ah, good morning, Akeno-senpai. How are you?"

The raven-haired beauty touched a hand to her cheek, her ever-present smile not quite reaching her eyes, "I'm doing fine, thank you, though I am wondering why you are disobeying Rias' orders."

"Disobeying orders? I don't follow," Kiba frowned, "Buchou told me to respect Naruto-san's decision and I have—I haven't tried to force him to join or anything like that, after all. I don't believe I ever heard her forbid us from attempting to convince him to reconsider, either."

"Is that right? Funny, I distinctly remember her saying that we are to hold off on trying to convince Namikaze-san and merely observe him," Akeno's soft and sisterly tone had a sharp edge underlining it as she spoke, "I believe she was very much worried that any further attempts right now would only hurt our chances of recruiting him and I just so happen to agree with her."

Kiba chuckled, a sheepish grin overtaking his features, "Did she say something like that? I don't quite recall."

Akeno dropped her pleasant façade with a sigh, "Kiba…"

Unlike their redheaded leader, who was strongly independent in nature, Akeno understood what drove Kiba to actually form a friendship with the person he was supposed to be observing. She knew from experience that some people just possessed magnetic personalities, holding certain traits and qualities that made people want to be near and support them. Rias herself was one person who possessed such a personality and it was that charismatic disposition that had led Akeno to befriend and trust the Gremory Devil as deeply as she did. Though Akeno never once would've guessed it from the violent rumors she had heard, after watching Kiba and Naruto interact, it had become clear to her that the delinquent, in his own down-to-earth and blunt sort of way, also held a semblance of a similarly welcoming personality.

"Regardless, we shouldn't be dragging our feet in recruiting new members," Kiba argued, stepping towards Akeno, his voice dropping to a whisper, "Particularly with Buchou's upcoming engagement."

For someone like Kiba, however, that was both a blessing and a curse. Having been present when he was reincarnated, Akeno knew all about Kiba's sordid past and the many difficulties the knight carried with him. Having lost so many friends in his short life, Kiba generally kept most people, even his fellow Peerage members, at a healthy distance to protect himself from experiencing such loss again. Naruto was the rare exception to that rule. The delinquent's personality had broken through Kiba's polite and charming shell and established a firm bond. Now that they were friends, however, Kiba, who had previously been unable to protect his companions, felt the need to keep his fellow blonde safe.

If that meant convincing Naruto to join a Peerage, which would make him untouchable for both Angels and the Fallen alike lest they rekindle the Great War, Akeno knew Kiba would keep at it, regardless of what she or Rias said. She was honestly somewhat surprised Kiba hadn't attempted to force the blonde to join for his own good.

"…I won't tell Rias about this," Akeno shook her head, frowning, "Thistime, at least. If I catch you trying to pressure Namikaze-san into joining again, I will have to go to Rias."

"Thank you, Akeno-senpai," Kiba gave an appreciative smile to his upperclassman. He knew it wasn't easy for Akeno to lie or hide the truth from her best friend, so he was all the more grateful that she was willing to do so even once for his sake, particularly when he had gone against Rias' wishes, "I'll try not to cause any trouble."

Akeno nodded, "Just be sure to try and smooth things over with him for us in the meantime. Rias still has a lot of questions she'd like to ask Namikaze-san, after all."

Kiba winced slightly, "It won't be easy. Naruto-san's as stubborn as they come, particularly if you're not on his good side."

"I suppose we're lucky then that Rias is as well. Have a nice day, Kiba-kun, and please remember to bring Hyoudou-san to the clubroom after school," Akeno giggled to herself, reassuming her typical pleasant mannerisms as she turned and headed off to her own classroom. Alone once more and weighed down by his stress, Kiba released a tired sigh and entered into his class, making it to his seat just as the bell began to chime.

~.~.~

For two people who had spent all of an hour together and exchanged maybe six or seven sentences with each other, there was an oddly relaxing silence hanging between them now. It was a blunt sort of atmosphere, in which neither felt or displayed any awkwardness or animosity while also not taking any particular comfort or joy in the other's presence. They were completely indifferent to one another, apathetic to a point that surely would have offended anyone else. However, in their shared neutrality, they had quickly developed a simple form of acceptance, with one idly staring up at the clouds and the other enjoying baked sweets.

As much as he enjoyed the quiet, though, he supposed that if they were to be…lunch-buddies? Mealtime acquaintances? He honestly wasn't sure what term he could use to describe their budding relationship, if there was one. Regardless, however, he decided that if they were going to be the only ones up here for the rest of the school year, he might as well try to get on speaking terms with the little lass.

"I wasn't expecting you to show up here again," Naruto stated, breaking the calm silence between him and the only other current occupant of Kuoh Academy's roof.

Forced by his mandatory counseling to once again endure the torturous experience of a full day of school, Naruto had quickly ducked out of class after attendance had been taken, assuring that he would not be marked as absent for the day. He had headed up to the roof, where he planned to spend some of the most boring hours of his life doing absolutely nothing (because, yes, staring at the clouds all day was more exciting than sitting in a classroom) until the end of the day, where he would sneak back into class, take care of whatever cleaning duty he was assigned (which was another thing Sona routinely nagged him about) before heading off to meet with the counselor.

Laying out under the clouds, he had ended up falling asleep again, just like two days ago, and, again, just like two days ago, Naruto was awoken by the lunch bell to find that the snow-haired Devil he had met the other day eating a few feet away from him.

"Why wouldn't I come back?" Koneko wondered aloud, taking another bite of her cookies.

"Well, I kinda told your boss to go fuck herself yesterday," Naruto shrugged, glancing at the Devil, "That kinda thing generally doesn't go over too well with people."

The petite girl simply shrugged in response, "Buchou didn't dwell on it, so why should I?"

"She didn't?" Naruto murmured, turning his gaze back to the sky, "Huh. I always sorta figured she'd be the type who'd freak out over being flat-out rejected like that. Goes to show how much I know people, I guess."

"You'd know more people if you didn't terrify them," Koneko bluntly stated, her amber eyes dancing over to the delinquent. Naruto chuckled a bit, pushing himself up into a sitting position as he met his underclassman's gaze with a wry stare of his own.

"So you have heard all the rumors about me," he smirked, "I didn't think you had, what with the way you told me off the other day for smoking."

"Everyone in the school knows you," Koneko mumbled, picking another cookie from her lunch, "You're as famous as Buchou and Akeno-senpai."

"I don't think famous is quite the right word for it…" Naruto winced slightly, "Try infamous. Anyway, if you heard all the crap people say about me, why'd you stick around for lunch? Most people are afraid to be in the same room with me for a minute, let alone spend a full hour on the roof of a building with no witnesses around."

Koneko shrugged, "I've seen you around with Yuuto-senpai. You're not as bad as everyone says…"

That simple statement actually put a smile on the delinquent's face. It wasn't every day that someone actually cut the blonde some slack and acknowledge that he wasn't actually that terrible of a person. Moments like these were rare, welcomed reminders for Naruto that not everyone bought into what they heard through the grapevine, that he did have some peers who weren't completely horrified by the mere sight of him, that—

"…and I could take you in a fight if I had to, anyway."

"…I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you quite right," Naruto frowned, "Could you repeat that?"

Koneko nodded, "I said that I could take you in a fight."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I thought you said," Naruto returned her nod with one of his own. In his defense, Naruto kept both his expression and his tone completely straight-faced after Koneko had repeated herself, displaying a level of skill and control that a professional gambler would be jealous of. So, when the delinquent shortly burst into an uncontrollable laughter a few moments later, Naruto could at least argue later that he had tried not to laugh.

Watching as tears of mirth poured out of her upperclassman's eyes as he clutched at his sides, Koneko's typically stoic expression gave way to one of annoyance. Standing up and moving towards the blonde, she gave a light glare, "You don't believe me?"

Her indignation at the delinquent's insulting laughter only increased as Naruto found himself unable to answer her, as his guffawing had increased to the point that he was unable to keep himself upright and had no choice but to fall onto his back. By the time he finally stopped and had the opportunity to respond—five whole minutes later, as counted out by a thoroughly frustrated Koneko—Naruto was gasping for air and his smile was actually starting to physically hurt.

"S-Sorry," Naruto offered an apologetic smile as he wiped his eyes, "I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but I have two whole feet on you and I'm pretty sure I can bench-press at least ten of you at the same time."

Koneko's response was to join the blonde on the ground, sitting down and planting her elbow firmly on the tiles of the rooftop while leaving her hand outstretched and her palm open for the delinquent to grip, "Prove it, then."

Naruto blinked, staring at the girl's hand as though it were some strange, foreign object, "…You want to arm-wrestle me?"

"I do."

"I'm the guy who routinely sends entire groups of muscle-headed punks flying a good ten feet into the air and you want to arm-wrestle me?" Naruto questioned again, gesturing to himself for emphasis as he did so.

Koneko offered a curt nod in response, "Yes."

"Look, kid, if we do this, I'm likely to accidently tear your arm off," Naruto attempted to reason with the amber-eyed Devil, "And I really don't think you want to suddenly become left-handed."

"I'm not a kid," Koneko glowered, "Stop stalling and grab my hand."

The moments where Koneko allowed herself to get worked up over such trivial matters were few and far between, but when she felt the need to prove herself, she didn't let anyone prevent her from rising to the occasion. One glance was all it took for Naruto to see the fiery determination burning in those eyes of hers and, with a hesitant sigh, the blonde realized that he would not be getting out of this without complying with the petite student's demands.

"Alright, alright," Naruto reluctantly wrapped his calloused hand around Koneko's distinctly smaller and softer appendage, "But I'm gonna warn you now—I'm not holding back."

"Unfortunately for you," Koneko spoke with a collected edge in her soft voice, "Neither am I."

Unable to suppress a smirk at hearing the young girl's taunting, Naruto nodded, "Okay then, on the count of three. One…two…thr—"

The shock of feeling the back of his hand slam into the rooftop with enough force behind it to send a web-like pattern of cracks across the tiling quickly numbed any pain Naruto felt from the action as well as the unpleasant sensation of Koneko's crushing grip on his hand. As soon as he had reached 'three' in his countdown, Koneko had sprung forward and claimed victory for herself, drumming up a power in her tiny form that Naruto would never have expected the Devil to possess.

It was with a smug smile of satisfaction that Koneko released Naruto's hand, her amber eyes dancing with gratification, "I won."

"…That was part of some weird Devil thing I haven't learned about yet, wasn't it?" Naruto offered a flat stare in return.

Koneko's smile grew just a bit wider, "It was."

The young girl expected a number of things from the blonde in response. She expected first and foremost that he would feel either emasculated or embarrassed at having lost to a petite girl such as herself. Secondly, Koneko anticipated he would grow angry or frustrated and she predicted a number of excuses Naruto might make to save face in light of his defeat. When he did none of these things, Koneko suddenly understood why Kiba had once described the blonde as being utterly unpredictable at times.

Instead of getting angry or embarrassed, Naruto merely chuckled, "I guess you already know my name, but I never actually got yours, ya know."

"…It's Koneko," she mumbled in response, surprise overcoming her features as she blinked bemusedly.

"Well, Koneko, it looks like I was wrong. You're pretty tough," Naruto grinned, setting his elbow back on the rooftop, "But I'm not about to go down without putting up a fight! What do ya say we have ourselves a little rematch?"

It took a moment for Koneko to fully register the delinquent's request, but when she had, an amicable smile sprouted on her face and she grasped Naruto's hand, "I'm not about to lose."

That was how the pair spent the rest of their lunch break—going back and forth between victory and loss, playing match after match until they were both completely certain that their arms would fall off if they risked another game. By the time the bell chimed, signaling that classes would soon be resuming, the duo were sitting at a tie, with ten wins and losses each. Releasing a tired yet satisfied sigh, Naruto fell onto his back, rolling his shoulder as he did so.

"Looks like we're out of time," Naruto noted, "So how about we call it here then?"

Koneko bobbed her head in agreement, moving to retrieve her leftover cookies before heading for the door that would lead her back downstairs. Taking hold of the handle, the Devil paused and turned back to her delinquent upperclassman, who was once again nonchalantly eying the passing clouds.

"You're skipping class again?" Koneko questioned.

"Yep," the blonde answered unabashedly, "But at least I'm not sneaking out and ditching school completely, so I like to think I'm making good progress. Besides, this is the closest thing I'm gonna get to a break today, so I'm planning on enjoying it to the fullest."

Offering Naruto a flat stare in response, Koneko gave an exasperated sigh as she opened the door and stepped through it, "Yankii-senpai…"

"Oi, I resent that! For one thing, this is my natural hair color and…" Naruto sat up, prepared to argue his case, only to trail off as he noticed the sudden absence of the snowy-haired youth. With a snort, Naruto laid back down, rummaging around in his pockets to retrieve his smokes and lighter. Idly sticking a cigarette between his lips and flicking on his lighter, the blonde brought the flame up to the stick of tobacco and lit it. Taking a long drag before finally exhaling, Naruto sighed, "That better not become her nickname for me."

~.~.~

The delinquent stalked through the halls of Kuoh Academy with all the trepidation of a prisoner taking that long final walk to the gallows. Dread hung over him, reluctance hovering around him like a stormy overcast, and he had no other choice then to continue to march directly into the brunt of the tempest. In other words, Namikaze Naruto was most certainly not happy at the moment and anyone who took one glance at the blonde could immediately tell.

Ignoring the fact that the students crowding the halls to get to their club activities were literally tripping over themselves in a mad dash to clear a path for him, Naruto instead focused on eying the small signs that hung over every doorway as he searched for the nurse's office. Having never actually gotten hurt enough at school to require a visit, he had very little idea as to where it was actually located in the building. But, if he wanted to meet with Tsunematsu-sensei—and he didn't, but that beside the point—then he had to hunt the room down.

'I still can't believe I actually have to do this,' Naruto groaned mentally, finally spotting what, judging from the sign above the door, was presumably the nurse's office. Stepping over to the door, Naruto lightly rapped his knuckles against its wooden frame, "Oi, Tsunematsu-sensei, you in?"

"Ah, just a minute!" a familiar rich, masculine voice called back.

"Sure, sure..." Naruto sighed, falling back to lean against the wall as he waited, 'It's weird, though—I thought Tsunematsu was a chick, but that sounded like a dude. Hell, it actually sounded a lot like…'

Realization had struck like a bolt of lightning as a wide-eyed Naruto pushed himself off the wall and took hold of the handle, sliding the door open and rushing inside. Sure enough, after only taking a few steps into the room, the blonde found himself face-to-face with a familiar mop of dark hair and an equally recognizable pair of violet eyes. Before Naruto stood the grinning form of the leader of the Fallen Angels, Azazel, garbed in a similar suit and lab coat to those he had worn the day before.

"Good of you to stop by, Naruto-kun," Azazel smiled, welcoming the boy with a nod and a wave, "Now, what's this I hear about you not getting along with your peers? Youth is something you can't go wasting, you know, and there is no better way to waste it than to spend it alone."

"What the fuck are you doing here!?" the blonde hissed, storming up the Fallen Angel, "Where's Tsunematsu-sensei!?"

Azazel sighed disappointingly, shaking his head, "You really should watch your language, Naruto-kun. Is that anyway to speak to one of your teachers?"

"…What!?" Naruto felt his heart stop as Azazel's blindingly bright grin grew even larger.

"But of course! You, Naruto-kun, are looking at Kuoh Academy's newest member of the faculty—I, Azazel, am both your new school nurse and guidance counselor!" Azazel laughed heartily, slamming his fist against his breast as he proudly presented his new titles to the blonde, "Not to worry, however! Tsunematsu-sensei is safe and sound on an extravagant all-expenses-paid vacation, courtesy of yours truly! What's more, the other faculty members are none the wiser thanks to a few simple yet effective illusions! Everything is covered and I even…are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

Azazel blinked, coming out of his reverie as he noticed that, somewhere in the middle of his prideful tirade, Naruto had wandered across the room to one of the cots reserved for sickly students and had fallen face-first into the comfy material.

"I just want one goddamn break, just one day where I don't have to deal with any of this paranormal bullshit," Naruto groaned out, his voice muffled by the pillow he had buried his head into, "Is that so much to ask?"

"Oh, come now," Azazel chuckled to himself as he moved over to the entrance and quietly slid the door shut, "This will be fun! Besides, it's the perfect way for me to keep an eye on your development and monitor your growth. This is an excellent research opportunity!"

'Should've figured that'd be his reason for doing this…' Naruto growled, remembering the terrible wake-up call he had received from the mad scientist the other day, "And how exactly is that going to be any fun for me?"

"Well, it certainly helps you get out of those nasty mandatory guidance counseling meetings," Azazel shrugged, stepping over to his new desk, which was already completely cluttered with a mess of memos and notes, and grabbing hold of a slip of paper, "Actually, now that you're here, come give me your opinion on this wallpaper. I was hoping to spruce this room up a bit—it's far too drab for my tastes."

Lifting himself off of the cot, Naruto sighed as he stepped over to the man, "Do I even want to know how you knew about the mandatory meetings?"

"Probably not," Azazel bluntly answered, handing the blonde the decorative sample, "I am older than mankind's recorded history and the leader of one of the largest organizations to ever exist—I have quite a few different ways of getting information quickly and efficiently, you know."

"I don't have a private life anymore, do I?"

Azazel shrugged again, "Not really."

"The good news just keeps coming," Naruto muttered sarcastically before looking at the paper, "Black wallpaper for a nurse's office? I don't even think the school will allow this."

Azazel hummed as he snatched the ornamental paper out of the delinquent's hands, "Well, what they don't know won't hurt them, I suppose."

Naruto slapped his forehead in an exasperated response to the Fallen Angel's oddity, though Azazel was far too enraptured with his decorating plans to notice. Releasing a groan, Naruto ran his hand down his face, "Look, can I just get your signature so my mom will get off my back?"

Azazel answered with a smile that Naruto just knew meant he wasn't going to get out of this so easily, "Well, I could just give you my signature…"

"But?" Naruto sighed.

"But," Azazel grinned, "I have a better idea."

"I seriously doubt that," Naruto flatly commented. Azazel paid his remark no mind and instead began shuffling through the many papers scattered around his desk's surface, running through the clutter to find a specific page of his notes.

"You see," Azazel continued on nonplussed as he successfully pulled out the paper he sought, "It occurred to me last night that, if left to your own devices, you will have very few proper foes against whom you can truly make use of your Light's capabilities. That simply won't do. How can your Light be expected to develop and grow without a proper challenge in which to make use of it? So, I have another proposition for you."

"And it is?" Naruto questioned. In response, Azazel held out the paper for the blonde to take. Grasping it, Naruto quickly scanned over its contents and recognized it as a short yet detailed summary of another Stray Devil, complete with its name, personality, history, and abilities.

"I want to offer you a job, Naruto-kun," Azazel held a certain twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, gesturing to the one-page biography in Naruto's hands, "It will be a simple and mutually beneficial position. I will give you information on the Stray Devils that are wandering into town and causing trouble and you will go and use your Light to exterminate them. You'll come back, I'll see how your Light and abilities have developed for my research, and you will receive both my signature and monetary compensation for your hard work."

Naruto frowned, "Maybe you're forgetting, but I almost got killed by one of those fuckers just last night. I'm not too eager to go out and start hunting those things down."

"Ah, but you didn't die, now did you? I believe we covered this last night," Azazel recalled, rubbing his chin, "I've already told you that your powers are more than enough to protect yourself in this new environment. Furthermore, I wouldn't be sending you after any opponent I didn't think you could handle."

"Yeah, I get that I don't need to be afraid of dealing with those guys, but that doesn't change the fact that fighting her was a pain in the ass," Naruto snorted, handing the paper back to Azazel, "Besides, the only thing I care about right now is getting info on my old man. If you don't have the answers I want, I doubt any run-of-the-mill Stray Devil walking around town is gonna cough up anything I can use."

Don't get him wrong—Naruto had no problem with laying down the law on any bastard Stray Devil that saw fit to waltz into his neighborhood and start hurting innocent people, but he had other priorities that he had to take care of first. His goal right now was to find some kind of lead on finding out his father's past, considering that he was currently stuck at square one without any idea how to proceed. Azazel had been his best chances of finding out anything, but other than the fact that his father had been the Archangel of Mercy, the man knew very little, having fallen out of contact with Zadkiel during the Great War.

"Have you thought about asking your mother if she knows anything?" Azazel frowned, momentarily changing the topic, "There is a possibility that she might, you know."

"I didn't really get the opportunity last night," Naruto winced at the memory of his mother's carnage, "Besides, I'm not sure how to even begin asking her or if I should. What am I supposed to say? Mom, was Dad a mythical being of holy origin that was just using us as shields to hide from God? She already thinks I need therapy! If I asked her that, she'd toss me right into the nearest insane asylum!"

"Fair enough," Azazel hummed, "But if you can't ask your mother, have you considered the idea that mastering your powers might be the key to finding a lead on your father? If it is, then my proposition is too important an opportunity for you to reject."

"Mastering my powers is the key?" Naruto blinked.

"It's simply a suggestion—a hunch, really," Azazel shrugged, pointing at the blonde, "The Throne that killed you clearly took offense to the fact that you are Nephilim. Perhaps there was some deeper reason for its anger, something that lies in your innate abilities as a Nephilim?"

"That thing just said that God didn't approve of me. It sure did seem to hate my Dad, though," Naruto glared as he remembered the Angel's words, "Doesn't seem like much of a lead, but I guess it's all I got to go on right now."

"So we have a deal then?" Azazel smiled as he extended his hand for the delinquent to shake.

Naruto frowned, "I'm still not entirely sure…"

"Well, it's either this or we start meeting after school for a few hours to discuss your adolescent feelings and emotions."

"…Goddammit," Naruto sighed, reluctantly reaching out and shaking Azazel's hand, "Fine, you've got yourself a bounty hunter, Azazel."

~.~.~

The woods just outside of town were most certainly not the kind of place you'd want to go to for a spirited nature walk, especially at night. The foliage was thick and, even on the brightest nights, easily obscured any natural light gifted by the moon, leaving the entire area as a pitch-black maze that stretched on for miles. Hell, even during the day, the forest somehow always managed to stay submerged in a thick and blanketing fog of shadows. To say it only took a few small missteps to get hopelessly lost in the sea of trees was an understatement. Even those who brought compasses and maps of the area found navigating in the deeper parts of the wilderness to be a nigh impossible task.

Of course, it wasn't the fear of getting lost that had people avoiding the forest like a plague. The previous two summers had seen a dramatic increase in the number of disappearances in the local area and almost all of them were linked closely to the dreaded woods. A grand total of fourteen people had already gone missing and any attempts to search the forest for them had ended with absolutely nothing to show for the local authorities' efforts.

With all this going on, it hadn't taken long for a number of rumors to begin their circulation around the city. Kids were whispering tales of demons luring their peers into the woods at night for meals, teenagers were gossiping about the angry spirits of the missing people dragging new victims into the woodland to join them for eternity, and even some adults were joking over drinks about escaped mental patients claiming the forest as their new home. Regardless what story one believed, people generally steered clear of the forest in fear of becoming the fifteenth victim of whatever was lurking within it.

So, naturally, the blonde delinquent found himself traipsing through the supposedly-haunted location as the sun set, hunting the one responsible for the disappearances.

'Now that I think about, a few places in town sound like they're the setting of a cheesy horror movie,' Naruto frowned as he brushed aside a low-hanging branch, 'Is it all because of Stray Devils?'

His target apparently went by the name of Stolas, a former prince in Hell who had fallen on rough times in the years following the end of the Great War. With his territory, subordinates, and wealth all taken in the conflict, Stolas had no other option than to subjugate himself and join another Devil's Peerage. The shame and embarrassment at having fallen from the lap of luxury and aristocracy, however, frustrated Stolas to no end and had fostered a strong sense of contempt for his new master. Shortly after joining the Peerage, under the cover of night, Stolas murdered his King and fled with as many stolen riches as he could carry.

'And now he's apparently living out here in the middle of nowhere and eating people,' Naruto snorted, stepping deeper into the forest, 'Bastard must be real bad with money.'

Hopping over a fallen log, the delinquent briefly stole a glance down at his watch—it was currently six o'clock. He frowned, noting that he had only two hours remaining before his mother, who had made it very clear that he was now to be home at eight o'clock as opposed to nine, would undoubtedly and ironically crucify him for missing curfew again. Turning his focus back to the task at hand, Naruto rolled his shoulder as he pressed on, 'Two hours to take Stolas down and report back to Azazel. Normally I'd say that'd be plenty of time, but I've already been at this for at least an hour and I've yet to even catch a glimpse of this asshole.'

A cool breeze—the first he had felt since entering the woodlands—blew past his shoulder, carrying with it the unpleasant reek of flesh and iron. As the odorous scent assaulted his senses, Naruto felt himself stiffen instinctively as the uncanny feeling of being watched by a piercing, hungry gaze fell over him. Turning, Naruto wasn't surprised to spy a figure peering down at him from atop a particularly tall tree, "Speak of the devil…"

Hunched over and clinging to a branch with gleaming metal talons, Stolas offered Naruto a famished grin that literally ran from ear to ear on his bulbous head. Standing just over three feet, the Stray Devil wasn't a particularly tall individual, but he was certainly had some of the oddest features the delinquent had seen yet. Rather than clothes, it was a blanket of dark feathers that covered Stolas' body, from his pointed claws up to his chin. The feathers, along with his beak-like nose, which jutted out from his face to reach a foot in length, resulted in a creature that looked to be more bird than man.

Stolas laughed, revealing row after row of sharp, needle-like teeth that twitched individually, as though every singular tooth had a mind of its own, "A human! It's so rare that a human comes to greet Stolas in his own domain!"

Naruto eyed the monster as it reached a bony arm up to wipe the drool from its mouth, "Man, noneof you Strays managed to dodge the ugly stick, huh?"

"Oh?" Stolas' bloated, coal-colored eyes were overtaken by curiosity, "A human that has met other Devils? A human that isn't afraid of Stolas? How rare indeed…"

"Well, I could tell you all about the week I'm having, why I'm not really afraid of you, and how God has a fucked up sense of humor," Naruto spoke, reaching into his pocket, "But you wouldn't actually give a shit, so let's skip that part. Now I'm going to hazard a guess here and say you're Stolas of the Twenty-Six Legions, right?"

"A human that knows Stolas!?" Stolas laughed, hopping on his branch, "How interesting! Yes, human, Stolas is indeed Stolas of the Twenty-Six Legions, he who taught man of poison!"

"Good for you," Naruto frowned as he pulled out his lighter and cigarettes, "See, the problem is that you're also the fucker who kidnapped and murdered fourteen innocent people."

"Murdered? Stolas?" the Devil twisted his head at a sickeningly inhuman angle in a show of confusion, "Stolas murdered no one! Stolas hasn't murdered since leaving the Underworld!"

Naruto glared, biting down on his cigarette as he scowled, "Then what about the people? Where are they?"

"Right here!" Stolas cackled as he reached down and stuck his hand into his own shadow, submerging his limb as though the darkness was water. Briefly fishing around, Stolas' grin turned malicious as he slowly pulled out the severed and decomposing forearm of a child and waved it at Naruto mockingly, "Sadly, this is all that's left of them. A shame, really. This one was Stolas' favorite—very tasty."

This had been the power that Azazel had mentioned in his notes, the unique talent that Stolas was famous for—the ability to move through shadows. The Fallen Angel had spoken of it with distaste, calling it a coward's strength and denouncing it as unsightly. For Stolas, however, it was the best gift he could ask for. Not only did it allow him to move quickly and unseen, but it also granted him a useful way to store his belongings, including his stolen riches and food.

"You sick son of a bitch!" the delinquent gave a low growl as he clenched his fist, "What's the point of lying to me and saying you didn't kill anyone if you're just gonna show me that, huh!?"

"Stolas didn't lie! Stolas didn't murder anyone!" the Stray Devil asserted, bringing the arm up to his lips and ripping off a chunk of flesh, "Humans are food and nothing else! You wouldn't call yourself a murderer for hunting a pig or a cow, would you? So why should Stolas?"

"I don't know if you Strays go back to Hell or if you just disappear when you die," Naruto muttered, flicking on his lighter and igniting his cigarette, "All I know is that wherever I'm about to send you, it's way too good for you."

"How impotent!" Stolas spat, ripping at the flesh of the arm, "Humans used to praise and worship Stolas just to learn even a morsel of knowledge that he had to offer and Stolas was generous enough to share his precious secrets with those worms! Now, they scream at Stolas! They run from Stolas! And now you say you want to fightwith Stolas, human!?"

"Fight you?" Naruto glowered at the beast, "No, bastard, I wanna kill you."

"Is that so?" Stolas tossed the limb away, returning Naruto's glare with one of his own, "How kind of you, human. How very, very, very kind of you to do Stolas the favor…of becoming his next meal!"

Stolas wasted no time, diving into his shadow just as Naruto summoned forth his Light, leaving Naruto to sit and wait until the Devil decided to reemerge and attack. Glancing around, Naruto surveyed the area with a grimace as he took note of the rather large disadvantage he was at. His opponent was one who could swim through shadows and they were fighting in a forest at sunset—there were no end to the number of shadows cast on the ground by the tall trees and foliage for the Stray to use to better his mobility and surprise the blonde.

'Well, that's just the nature of the beast, ain't it? Even Viser stuck around that house because it made her prey easier to hunt,' Naruto clicked his tongue in frustration, bringing his glowing arms up to defend himself at a moment's notice as he eyed his surroundings for any sign of Stolas, 'These Strays aren't gonna hide in places that would make things harder for them.'

He was in Stolas' world now and it was the Devil who had the upper hand.

"Pay attention, human!" Stolas screamed as he erupted out of the shadows behind Naruto, flying at the blonde with the speed and force of a torpedo. The delinquent had only just enough time to duck forward in an attempt to dodge and even then his efforts were rewarded with a sharp pain as he felt the beast's cold talons rake across his back. Gritting his teeth and stumbling forward, Naruto hissed in pain as he felt the claws cut across his skin, tearing into his clothes and freeing his blood.

Leaping up to another branch, Stolas turned and smirked as he stared down at the delinquent, "You will learn to fear Stolas before you die."

Ignoring his pain, Naruto gave a haughty smirk of his own and pointed at his foe, "Three minutes."

"What?" the avian-like creature blinked, twisting his neck in bemusement.

"You heard me, bastard. I've already come up with a surefire way to beat your ass," Naruto taunted, "So you'd best enjoy these last three minutes, because as soon as they're gone, I'm going to plant you right in the ground."

"Trying to intimidate Stolas? Fool!" Stolas giggled, "You don't have another three minutes! Stolas will finish you now!"

Sinking back down below into the comfort and safety of his shadow, Stolas slithered his way into position, carefully judging which angle was best to strike from. Naruto, meanwhile, crouched his knees in preparation to dodge whenever the next attack would come. When it did, it came in the form of Stolas once again leaping from the shadows behind Naruto, talons poised to strike.

"Stolas is going to tear out your throat, human!" Stolas roared, rocketing towards the blonde, "Die!"

This time, however, Naruto leapt backwards, dodging the blow and countering by launching a fist charged full of holy Light at the Devil, "The same trick won't work on me twice!"

Aiming his attack at the demon's elongated nose, Naruto was intent on smashing the creature's face in a single devastating hit. To his surprise, however, a mere few seconds away from connecting with his target, Stolas gave out an arrogant chuckle. Without warning, Stolas entire head was sucked into his torso, causing the delinquent's fist to sail through the empty space the Stray's cranium had previously occupied and strike nothing but air.

Stolas retaliated by burrowing his talons deep into Naruto's gut in a powerful dropkick, launching the blonde backwards and knocking the cigarette from his mouth. Stolas' head reemerged with a mocking smile on his face as Naruto collided roughly with a nearby tree, its bark shattering under the force of the attack. Stolas snorted as Naruto slid to the forest floor, groaning, "Stand, human. Stolas is not yet satisfied with your suffering."

'Bastard's really is fast, I'll give him that,' Naruto frowned, glaring at Stolas as he pushed himself up, 'Pretty damn strong, too, for someone so short. Then again, that's nothing new…'

"What's the matter, human? Where has your arrogance gone?" Stolas barked, hopping in place as he observed the delinquent, "Stolas wants to hear your words, boy. Stolas wants to hear your pleas for mercy!"

"Do you now?" Naruto murmured as he stood, "That's a pretty stupid waste of time if you ask me, considering you have a minute and a half left to live."

"Insolent to the bitter end, eh?" Stolas smirked, "Let's see you mock Stolas when you're in his stomach!"

Stolas launched himself forward, talons trained on Naruto's face with the intent on ripping it clean off his body. Rather than meeting flesh, however, Naruto quickly leapt out of the way and Stolas found his claws sinking into the wood of the tree that had stood behind the blonde. Naruto dashed for the cover of another tree as Stolas unlatched himself from the timber. The blonde ducked and slid to his target just in time to evade another strike from the Stray, who sailed overhead and landed atop a nearby branch.

"You can't run away from Stolas forever!" Stolas roared, frustrated as the delinquent slipped past his attack once more.

"Then hit me already!" Naruto called, weaving back and forth between the wooden towers of the thicket as he continued to elude Stolas' clutches. Growling, Stolas sunk below the shadows again as he passed by Naruto, swiftly reappearing from the smoker's own shadow and slashing out at his prey's legs. As the agonizing sensation of Stolas' knife-like talons slicing through the back of his ankle struck Naruto, the blonde fell to the ground, crying out in pain and clutching his leg.

Stolas cackled, leaping in the air with joy at his opponent's suffering, "No more dodging, human! No more running at all!"

Naruto, despite his pain, offered a smirk, "I don't need to dodge anymore, dumbass. You're time's up."

"Still on about that!?" Stolas laughed, "Is this what they call blissful ignorance? Stolas is going to kill you, human! You are about to become Stolas' meal!"

"What are you waiting for, then?" Naruto chuckled, staring down his target, "Come and get me!"

"As you wish!" the Stray screamed, lurching forward and leaping towards his downed quarry, "Die, huma—what!?"

As Stolas had lunged for the blonde, Naruto gave a simple quick and firm tug with his right hand, causing a web of thin wires to spring up and wrapped tightly around the creature. The wiring dug into Stolas' feathers as he struggled to break free, only to find that he was completely and utterly bound by the strings. Sighing in satisfaction, Naruto slowly stood up as he eyed his immobile opponent with an air of superiority and opened his hand to reveal the end of a thin line of wire, "Three minutes exactly. It's nice to see some things go my way for once. You really should pay more attention to your surroundings, you know."

"What is this!? What have you done, human!?" Stolas squawked, trembling in outrage at having been caught in such a manner, "When did you—"

"Have the time?" Naruto smirked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a roll of the same wiring that now grasped Stolas, "See, when I heard about your power, I figured it'd be a pain in the ass trying to land a hit on you, so I asked my new boss for something to keep you in place. I've been weaving my little trap wherever I went since I first set foot in this place, hoping you'd be stupid enough to walk right into it and it turns out you were. Lucky me, right?"

Stolas seethed, "You…you dare to insult Stolas like this!?"

"I do," Naruto grinned, watching the Devil attempt to fight against his bindings, "I wouldn't bother trying to break those, by the way. Boss said they could hold down an elephant—apparently that's like a standard for him when it comes to trapping things. Go figure."

"You…you..." Stolas snarled, "Stolas will not stand for this! Release Stolas! Release Stolas at once!"

"You want out?" Naruto raised a brow, stepping over to the Stray as he cracked his knuckles, holy Light flaring on his hands, "Don't worry, buddy—I'm about to take you out."

"W-W-Wait!"Stolas' eyes widened as the blonde stepped forward, his rage and frustration banished as fear settled in his voice, "Stolas can offer you riches from the Underworld! Diamonds and rubies and a sea of gold coins! Stolas will give them all to you!"

"You really are a coward, aren't you? Pathetic," Naruto spat in distaste as he came to stand before the trapped beast, "You murdered fourteen people, bastard. I want you to say it, I want you to understand what you did."

"Y-Yes! Stolas m-murdered t-those people!" Stolas cried, frantically shaking as he spoke, "S-Stolas murdered them all and it was w-wrong! Stolas understands that now!"

"Then you should understand that you can't pay back what you owe with money," Naruto muttered as he pulled his fist back, "Breakdown!"

The delinquent rained down holy strikes upon the monster's body, his fists colliding with feathered flesh brutally and without any mercy. Stolas buckled under the force of every single punch, being tossed backwards by their power, only for the wires holding him to pull taught and throw him back towards the next approaching blow. With every strike came the holy Light, burning and disfiguring Stolas' face as his mind ran blank under the agony of the assault. Tears welled up and poured from Stolas' bulging eyes as he felt his skin slowly turn to ash, as his teeth began to fall from his mouth and tumble down his throat, as the copper-like taste of blood that he had so admired in his meals filled his mouth.

Finally, Naruto reared back and, packing all the power into his fist that he could, let one final blow fly. His fist sailed through the air, smashing into Stolas' long nose and shattering the facial feature beyond recognition, sending the Devil's black blood flying into the air. The power of the punch tossed Stolas back, the wires finally snapping and giving way under the force of the onslaught. Stolas was sent twirling back through the air at the speed of a bullet, slamming into a tree headfirst before collapsing to the ground, twitching and weakly squeaking out a few quiet gasps of pain.

Stolas tossed his head to the side, staring at the shadow of a nearby stump before weakly reaching a trembling hand out towards it.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Naruto's foot slammed down on his outstretch wrist, snapping the bone in two and drawing an anguished wheeze from Stolas' split lips.

"…N-N-No…S-Stolas…w-w-was…" Stolas struggled to speak, trembling. Naruto gathered his Light in his left hand, staring down at the pathetic creature in contempt. Kneeling, Naruto touched his palm to Stolas' forehead and allowed his gathered energy to enter into the Devil.

"Like I said, I don't know where you Stray Devils go when you die, but when you get there, if you ever meet a chick named Viser," Naruto drawled, "Tell her I said she's a real bitch. Death Magnetic!"

Moments later, Stolas was nothing more than a pile of ash on the forest floor and a bad memory. With a tired sigh, Naruto stood and dusted himself off before reaching for his lighter and smokes. As he lit one and began to make his way out of the woods to report back to Azazel, Naruto found himself lost in thought about his two most recent conquests against the Stray Devils in town. The fights between Viser and Stolas were as different as night and day in his mind.

During his fight with Viser, he had been completely caught off guard and forced to think and act on his feet. Though he had risen to the challenge place before him, it was not lost on the blonde that it hadn't been an easy victory. Stolas, however, was a much different scenario. Where he had struggled with Viser, Stolas had gone down relatively easily. He had access to all the information he needed prior to the fight and, with the time and resources with which to create and enact a plan, he was now walking away with only a few scratches and bruises.

'I won with my brain, not my brawn,' Naruto thought as he exhaled the smoke from his cigarette, glancing down at his hand, 'I don't really feel any stronger than when I fought Viser. If Azazel's right about me needing to master my powers to find some kinda lead, this might take a while.'

Pausing for a moment, Naruto shrugged as he took another drag on his cigarette. He could worry about how long it would take later.

'I have time, after all,' Naruto chuckled to himself as he gazed at his watch, 'Speaking of which, I've got an hour and forty-five minutes left to go until curfew. Looks like I'm coming out on top today.'

The delinquent picked up his pace, leaving the forest behind him as quickly as he could, not once looking back. Had he looked back, his good mood would have surely been soured, as it was at that moment that Rias Gremory and her Peerage decided to step out from their hiding places. Glancing between the pile of ash that previously went by the name of Stolas and the direction that Naruto had walked off in, the newly reincarnated Issei gulped.

"I didn't know Naruto-san was a part of all this Devil business," Issei murmured, "How brutal…"

"Well, he's not really associated with we Devils, but that's just Naruto-san for you, though," Kiba sighed, scratching the back of his head, "He's not the type to hold back if you anger him."

"Personally," Akeno smiled beautifully, giggling as she raised a hand to her blushing cheeks, "I think Namikaze-san did an astounding job, wouldn't you say, Rias?"

"If we're are still going by the idea that Namikaze-san only recently came into his powers, then yes, I'd say his performance was fairly impressive," Rias commented, eying the remains of the defeated Stray Devil.

It had only been a few hours ago when she received a notice instructing her and her group to eliminate the Stray Devil Stolas of the Twenty-Six Legions, a being who had apparently managed to stay under the Underworld's radar for quite some time now. Deciding that now would be as good a time as any other to give her freshly minted Pawn, Issei, a visual demonstration of a Devil's duties, she wasted no time in arriving on the scene with her Peerage, only to find that Namikaze Naruto, the young man who had so rudely rejected her offer the other day, was doing their work for them. Though they had been prepared to jump in and help the delinquent should he need it, it seemed as though their presence was completely unnecessary. Still, it had allowed the group to make a number of interesting observations.

"Not bad," Koneko noted with some interest, before shrugging, "I would still win, though."

Rias raised a brow, but didn't question her Rook's odd sudden interest in defeating Naruto. Instead, she chose to focus on what she had seen of Naruto's powers, "You're more familiar with the holy element than I am, Akeno. What did you make of his abilities?"

"Well, his shibari technique could use some polishing, but he was under excruciating circumstances, so I will give him the benefit of the dou—"

"I meant his Light, Akeno," Rias interrupted with a sigh, reaching up to massage her brow, "What did you make of his abilities with his Light?"

"Ara, ara. Why didn't you say so?" Akeno giggled, ignoring the fact that Issei had grown fairly pale from her little joke, "His Light was potent, but he wields it in a very crude manner. I think we're right in our assumption that he only very recently gained his powers. Still, it's not everyday someone who only recently learned of the supernatural can successfully fight off a Stray Devil without any backup."

Rias hummed, quietly toying with Akeno's comments in her mind, "And what do you think, Kiba? You know Namikaze-san better than any of us."

"I didn't notice anything supernatural about Naruto until just a few days ago and even then, until he started fighting, I didn't sense anywhere near the amount of power he used in that last attack," Kiba spoke evenly, "Something doesn't add up here. If Naruto just got his powers a few days ago, how has he become so good at hiding them that quickly?"

"Maybe Naruto-san is some kind of genius," Issei offered, though he wasn't entirely sure what the other Devils were talking about, "His godfather certainly is, so it's not impossible or anything."

"It is suspicious, isn't it? Namikaze-san was able to beat us to the Stray Devil that we ourselves only recently learned about," Akeno shot a meaningful glance at her long-time friend and King, "It makes you wonder how Namikaze-san even found the Stray Devil's location in the first place."

Koneko frowned, "Maybe he's getting help. He did mention a boss."

"Actually, now that I think about it, Naruto-san said he had to meet with the guidance counselor today," Kiba added, "That's the only person I can think of who Naruto would've met that he doesn't normally meet with. But Tsunematsu-sensei isn't aware of the paranormal, is she?"

"So if Namikaze-san did unlock his powers recently, he must be getting help and information. Apparently, the one most likely to be Namikaze-san's mysterious benefactor is the guidance counselor, Tsunematsu-sensei," Akeno surmised as she turned to the redhead, "What do you think, Rias?"

"...From what I've seen these past few days, Namikaze-san is either getting help from this Tsunematsu-sensei or from a very annoying Fallen Angel that I had a run in with a few nights ago," Rias muttered, "But who knows? Perhaps we've overlooked some details. For now, we'll stay the course with Namikaze-san, though Akeno and I will personally look into Tsunematsu-sensei's background. Understood, everyone?"

"Yes," her Peerage chorused, though Akeno did shoot Kiba an unseen and knowing stare.

"Good," Rias smiled in satisfaction, "Let's head back to the clubroom for now. Issei, I wanted to give you a personal demonstration of how the Evil Pieces worked, but it seems you'll have to make do with an explanation until we receive our next Order of Suppression."

"Y-Yes, Buchou!" Issei called, drooling at the idea of receiving a "personal demonstration" from the beautiful Rias-senpai. As the group departed, the sun finally sank completely beneath the horizon, allowing the first few stars of the night to twinkle into existence. The forest was now completely silent, devoid of any intelligent life, as it was plunged into the darkness that it so comfortably rested in.

~.~.~

The heavenly aroma of his mother's cooking was the first thing that greeted Naruto as he got home and the delicious scent had the stress and exhaustion he had piled up rolling off his shoulders. With a smile, Naruto kicked off his shoes and made for the kitchen, patting his pocket once to assure himself that he hadn't lost Azazel's signature on the walk home. After reporting on a job very well done, Naruto had the Fallen Angel patch both him and his uniform up before receiving both the signature and "monetary compensation" he had been promised.

'One thousand yen,' Naruto snorted as he moved down the hallway, 'Stingy bastard.'

Regardless, the blonde was relieved to have the Fallen's signature in hand. It was his ticket to a safe evening after all, his only guarantee that he would avoid incurring his mother's wrath tonight.

"I'm home," Naruto called, stepping into the kitchen, spotting diner set out at the table. From her seat at the table, Kushina silently greeted her son with a smile and a wave, adjusting her grip on the phone in her hands as she laughed.

"What's that?" Kushina spoke into the telephone, "Oh, Naruto just walked in. Yeah, we're just about to have dinner. Alright, just make sure to keep in touch now, got it? Good, good. We love you, so be sure to take care of yourself. I'll talk to you later."

Taking a seat across from his mother, Naruto glanced curiously at the phone as the redhead set it aside, "Who was that?"

"Oh, just Nagato calling to check up on us and make sure that we're doing okay," Kushina answered, her eyes narrowing into a glare as she noticed her son had begun filling his plate, "Not so fast, buddy. I believe you have something you want to give me, right?"

Kushina held out her hand expectantly, giving the delinquent a flat stare. Naruto sighed, rummaging through his pocket for Azazel's note before handing it to his mother, "Just so you know, my counselor's crazier than I'll ever be."

"So it went well, did it? Good," Kushina nodded her approval, smiling as she pocketed the note herself, "It's nice to hear you finally have someone you can talk to, other than the voices in your head, I mean."

"You're a regular comedian," Naruto retorted dryly before gesturing to his plate, "Can I eat now?"

"After you've washed your hands, my little psycho," Kushina grinned, giggling to herself as the blonde gave another sigh and stood up from the table. Grumbling under his breath, Naruto made his way over to the kitchen sink and turned on the hot water. Grabbing the soap, the blonde quietly yet diligently began scrubbing away at any dirt he may have had on his hands. Glancing between her son and the note he had brought home, Kushina gained an inquisitive look, "When do you think I should meet with your counselor?"

Suddenly, despite the warm water that ran over his palms, Naruto felt very, very cold.

"W-Why would you need to meet my counselor? I told you—he's crazy," Naruto questioned, attempting to maintain a calm façade despite his internal panicking, 'No. No way. No goddamn way. There is absolutely no way that I can let Mom meet Azazel.'

He wasn't exactly sure what would be the outcome of Kushina meeting Azazel, but given his luck these past few days, Naruto was absolutely convinced that having both his mother and the mad scientist in the same room at the same time would spell his doom. Perhaps Azazel would let something slip about the supernatural or try to involve Kushina in his research or some other weird experiment. Perhaps his mother would flip out and end up punting the leader of the Fallen Angels through a few walls. Whatever was going to happen, there was no way in hell that Naruto was about to let it occur without a fight.

"Well, I am entrusting the wellbeing of my child to him, at least for a while," Kushina raised a brow, "Why wouldn't I try to meet with him?"

Both the soap and grime had already been rinsed from his hands, yet Naruto stood stock-still at the sink, his body frozen while his mind raced to come up with a response.

'Think, you dumbass! The most absolutely insane person you know and your worrying, ex-gangster mother are about to meet up in the same room!' Naruto screamed internally, masking his anxiety by giving a small chuckle, "I-I mean, c'mon, Mom, I just started these counseling sessions today. If you meet him now, you're not gonna have anything to discuss, right? Why not wait a while longer?"

Humming in thought, Kushina tapped her chin as she weighed her son's suggestion, "…Fine, I'll give it a few weeks before I get in touch with your counselor. Still, I want you meeting with him at least three times a week, got it? And you'd better bring back his signature every time!"

'A few weeks, huh? At least that buys me some time to think up another excuse,' Naruto gave a relieved sigh as he shut off the faucet and dried his hands, "Sure, sure."

Moving back over to the table, Naruto retook his seat and began helping himself to the meal. After the past few days he'd had, a nice quiet dinner with his mother was like a godsend for the exhausted blonde. Leaning back in his seat, Naruto took a deep breath and allowed both his mind and body to relax, "So, Mom, how did your day go?"

~.~.~

Bliss.

The screams of agony as entrails were pulled slowly and purposely from their owner's breathing, conscious body. The hot splatter of sanguine ichor across his face and hands as he artfully dragged knife after knife across the thin skin of a sinner before forcing them down in between the bones of his victim. The tormented, sniveling pleas for mercy in some pathetic hope of living another day, of seeing one's friends and family one last time. The soulless eyes of a crushed toy as they finally wished for and welcomed the sweet embrace of death, only to prolong their suffering and anguish as long as possible.

Pure, unadulterated, magnificent bliss.

His tongue darted out, running over his dried lips and dipping into the gore that had sprayed onto his face. Savoring the metallic taste, he deftly stuck another hand into the flayed body of his latest work of art and tore out another rib. To his great and pleasant surprise, the broken mess of what was once a human being still had enough spirit within him to mutter a weak whimper.

'You'd think the first few hours of nonstop screeching would've worn his vocal chords raw,' he noted as he tossed the bone aside. He grinned, "Well, we're going to have to fix that, aren't we?"

A presence, a very, very unwelcomed one, appeared behind him suddenly, interrupting the typical processes and rituals he used to go about his work.

"It seems Azazel's found himself a new toy."

He scowled, grabbing hold of one of the few intestines he had yet to pull out, "Oi, what the fuck did I tell you about interrupting me?"

"Do you honestly think I care about your worthless projects?" she scoffed, placing her hands on her hips, "In case you've forgotten, we have a job to do."

He ignored her in favor of slowly and painfully twisting the guts in his grip, watching in pleasure as his victim twitched and convulsed with every bend and curl. Then, with a single mighty tug, the organ was ripped from the flesh and cast aside like all the others had been. With a satisfied sigh, he took a small reprieve from his work and turned to the newcomer with a scornful gaze.

"Yeah, a job we'd already be done with if you weren't such a slow little shit," he remarked, jabbing a single bloody finger in her direction, "You're the one we're waiting on, so hurry up and finish the ritual if you want the job to be over with already, ya annoying bitch."

She glared, snarling, "The full moon is in four days and I need it to complete the ritual, you sick fuck, and it's yourjob to make sure nothing gets in the way! Azazel has a new kid cleaning house in town and you're going to put an end to it, got it!?"

He snorted, turning back to his masterpiece, "Fine, fine, I'll put a goddamn bullet in his brain if it'll just shut you the fuck up. What is it about one stupid fucking brat playing hero that has you so worried, anyway?"

"I'm not worried," she retorted, "But if Azazel's taken an interest in him, I want him out of the picture before I do have something to worry about."

"Well, I'll take care of the shitty brat, so why don't you get lost already?" he muttered.

She growled, "His name's Namikaze Naruto and if he's not dead and buried by the time the full moon rolls around, you're going to wish death was all I had in store for you."

Even without turning back in her direction, he felt her presence vanish just as quickly as it had appeared and he knew he was alone with his passion once more.

'Worthless bitch,' he grimaced, 'She's lucky I'm on orders to let her live or I'd gut her like a fish.'

Moving back over to the man he had purposely left teetering between the lines of unbearable consciousness and an unobtainable unconsciousness, Freed Sellzen gave a wide, crooked smile and clapped his hands together. Plunging his hands back into the man's chest, Freed's wide vermillion eyes leered down at the sinner with glee.

"You hear that, buddy? I've got a new target, so I'm gonna have to go get ready to make some heads roll. Unfortunately for us, that means playtime's over," Freed crowed, taking hold of the few innards that he'd purposely left untouched, "But don't worry—you're gonna be feeling this last one all the way down to Hell, I guarantee."

As he pulled and tugged with his iron-like grip, his victim had found the verve to release one final, ear-splitting shriek, which echoed harmoniously with Freed's mad cackling.

Bliss.

~.~.~

Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

~.~.~

Still alive, everyone. Sorry for the long while it took to get this out, but between my classes dumping all their projects and papers on me at once and my computer literally burning to death after trying to run a game of Terraria and costing me all the progress I had originally made in making this chapter, I was a bit busy. But I'm back on a newer computer that is just as shitty as the last one and, with the start of a new semester, hopefully I'll have more free time.

That being said, you'll notice that this chapter is shorter than the others, sitting just over thirteen thousand words and there are a few reasons for that. For one thing, I wanted this chapter to be more of an interlude between Naruto first awakening to his powers and the first actual arc of the DxD series and I'll probably do similar relatively shorter interlude chapters between each major arc just to let the characters breathe. In addition to setting up some important points, such as Naruto working for Azazel, teasing Kushina's and Azazel's meeting, and the introduction of Freed, I also wanted to have some characters interact a bit more before really going into the first arc just to kinda set their relationships in motion. I think that's probably why this chapter seems to me to be more dialogue heavy than the others.

I also wanted to show off a bit more of Naruto's ingenuity, so I had him fight Stolas, who is probably going to be the only OC who will ever appear in this story…unless I decide to really focus on another fight between Naruto and another stray devil, which I probably won't. We may see the end of fights with strays every now and then, but for the most part, Stolas is the last of them.

Fun fact: this chapter was originally titled "Judas Priest" and was planned to be much longer and actually feature Naruto's first encounter with Freed, but I decided to cut it down and save that for next chapter in order to better fit the idea of an interlude chapter that I had.

Okay, so let's address some questions/concerns.

Will Naruto be strong enough to face off against the Gods and Demons of DxD? I can safely say that, if all goes as plans, he certainly will. I do have plans involving the nature of being a Nephilim and Naruto's abilities and a few things I haven't yet revealed about the story that will bring Naruto to a stronger tier. Hopefully I'll pace it right so that it feels realistic and well-earned, but rest assured that he won't be stuck fighting low to mid-level guys forever.

Will Naruto have wings? A few people have asked me this and, while I did toy around with the idea, I'm ultimately gonna have to say no. In DxD, the number of wings an angel has isn't just coincidental. It shows their rank in Heaven, which is why a normal angel has two whereas Michael, a seraph, has twelve. Naruto doesn't have a place in Heaven, so he wouldn't have wings. Now, that being said, I know a lot of DxD characters have the ability to fly, meaning it gets incorporated in fights a lot. For that, Naruto will be finding ways to adapt his Light to have attacks reach.

Will Naruto save Issei? Someone asked if Naruto would be saving Issei before he becomes a Devil and, as you can see in this chapter, he won't be. Issei has already been reincarnated. I didn't really want to focus on Issei's reincarnation, primarily because it probably wouldn't matter if Issei was saved. As soon as he would've learned that he can build a harem as a devil, he would take the offer regardless.

Did Naruto's Light heal him? I left it a little vague at the end of the last chapter, but no, it didn't. Naruto's patch-up work is all courtesy of Azazel and, considering I've established that he can bring someone who is mostly (there's a big difference) dead back to life, minor and semi-serious injuries shouldn't be too hard for the man.

Is Kushina a demon? A lot of people seem to have this idea that Kushina is a demon because apparently, in the DMC games (I never actually played them myself), Nephilim are born half-angel and half-demon. The Nephilim lore that I am drawing on isn't from DMC, but the actual biblical lore, which if I'm not mistaken, states that Nephilim are half-angel and half-human…it also states that they're giants, but hey, I'm free to take some creative liberties, right?

So, with all that said, please review and tell me what you think. How is the interaction between the characters going? How are you liking the characterization of those characters? Do you think the relationship between Naruto and Kushina is believable? How about between Naruto and Azazel or Naruto and Koneko? How's the pacing coming along? Are you liking where the plot seems to be going or not? Anything you have to say will not only be appreciated, but it will also hopefully help me give you a better story to read.

As always, thanks for stopping by and have a good one.