Vt owns nothing!
Sorry this chapter took a bit, it was very hard to elaborate it in my head and I probably re-wrote this half a dozen times.
Next chapter won't take nearly as long.
''The best gift that you could EVER give someone is your TIME. Because when you give your time, your giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back.''
-?-
''You should stop now before it is late...'' Said a voice, the sound echoing through the front of the Church and coming from all side.
In the center of it was Raynare, what remained of her clothes were now gone, several pierce wounds spread across her torso.
''Fuck you!'' She snarled, looking around and trying to find him, a spear of light forming on her right hand.
''You're wasting your efforts, and my time... Go home, little crow...'' The voice continued and Raynare created a spear of light on her right hand.
''Show yourself you coward! You scared?!'' She taunted, scanning the area for the source.
''Me, scared?'' He asked, his voice coming out much clearer.
Raynare was quick to pinpoint 0aathe source and quickly turned around to see Naruto sitting on
top of a rock with a board expression. Thinking quickly, she quickly threw the spear towards him, only for the blond to dissipate in black smoke as soon as it came in contact with him.
''Dammit!'' She cursed under her breath. Every time she thought that she had him, the blond would pull something on her of the sort.
''You need to try better than that,'' Naruto said, from besides her and she immediately flipped towards him, another spear forming in her hands, ''You already know that wo-''
She threw the spear at him, interrupting him mid speech, only for him to turn into black smoke once again
''You seriously need to get those anger issues checked, sweetheart.'' He said once more, appearing a few meters away from her.
Quickly turning towards him, a spear of light in each hand, she tossed them both at him. Though instead of dispersing into smoke, the spears simply passed through him as if he were a mirage or a hologram and only a few moments later Mitelt passed through him from behind and threw a spear towards Raynare.
Reacting fast, Raynare quickly jumped out of the path and avoided the spear. It wasn't the first time that it had happened, not much after it was Dohnaseek and Kalawarner. By the time she had gotten up, there was no sign of either of the blonds.
''It hurts to be attacked by your own huh?'' His voice rang though her mind.
''You know nothing, bastard! I'm going to fucking kill you, you prick!'' Raynare snarled, somewhat regaining her footing and creating two spears.
''You're a very stubborn child, I give you that, but... Illusions and dreams are my two of the things that I specialize in, you are still very far from killing me...'' He continued, chuckling a bit to himself.
''Illusions and dreams, huh? I get it, this is all a illusion then...'' She grew a large grin, ''None of this is real! I get it! If this is a dream, then I can simply do this! She brought her right arm up and prepared to impale herself with her own spear.
Ba-dum.
She couldn't do it, her arm stopped mid-way with the spear only inches of her chest, every instinct of hers screaming at her to stop.
''Can't do it?'' Said a different voice from besides her, ''I gave you one simple task, 'watch the boy' and you failed at that!''
''A-Azazel-sama...'' Rayanare gasped, the spear dispersing in her hand, Azazel fading away in black smoke moments later.
''You failed our organization...''
''Your mistake could bring a war!''
''Shemhazai-sama... Barakiel-Sama... Just kill me already you bastard, finish me!'' She snarled, a few tears falling down her face.
''Killing you is something I have no intention of doing, little fallen. I don't enjoy killing children, and I don't go out of my way to kill them either.'' Naruto said, appearing a few meters in front of her, ''When I hunt, I take down the entire pack, not just a handful of youngsters like you and your group... I also have a certain tolerance for you fallen, Azazel is a good leader, one of the few that know the true meaning of the word.''
''What do you want then?'' Raynare asked after contemplating his words.
''Nothing.'' Naruto answered simply, shrugging his shoulders, ''Actually, by 'nothing', I want something, I want you and your group to go back to Azazel, tell him what you have done and what happened in this city... Your friend already paid the price.'' He said the last part to himself, the sound of it not reaching Raynare's ears.
''You will just let me go? What's in it for you, I'm not doing you any favors or anything of the sorts.'' She said, but Naruto only chuckled in response.
''Don't flatter yourself child, you don't have anything of my interest, were you Kokabiel then maybe I could find some use of your wings, perhaps make them into some pillows... Never mind that, opportunities will come, I am sure of it... You can go now.'' After he finished talking, cracks started to appear in the air around Raynare and the world shattered into pieces, a bright light flashing from the sky above and blinding her eyes.
The first things she came to notice was that she was now on the ground with her back on the grass, her clothes were back on and the pain of the previous stabs were all gone, besides her also on the grass were Dohnaseek, Mitelt and Kalawarner, the latter without any type of damage on her body, all of them with their wings out.
''What the... When did you cast the illusion?'' Kalawarner asked, checking herself for her bast burns.
Naruto shrugged, ''You three send Azazel my regards, would crash into the Grigori myself, but I have a more important appointment now''
''Three?'' Dohnaseek asked, getting up and looking at his fellow fallen.
''Correct,'' Naruto pointed at Kalawarner, ''You will stay in the hotel, the first tip was free, but because I had to come here to solve your issue, then you used up your second favor and the only payment that I accept or that interest me are souls... I will decide on what I do with you later, I now have your soul marked, so don't even think about running, you won't go very far...''
And with those words said, he vanished.
- In a Garden somewhere else-
''You guys don't need to stay, it is not like I'm going anywhere, or have anywhere to go.'' Said a young blond girl in her early twenties.
It was now around seven in the evening and the perfect time for Valerie, to go to the castle's garden, the sun was just setting in the horizon and all the vampires of the Tepes factions were waking up.
''Orders are orders, you have twenty minutes.'' Replied a young blond man with a doll-like face.
''Yeah, yeah, I know...'' She sighed, going to the center of the garden.
''If you know, then you shoul- What is that?!'' Another blond man said, pointing upwards, making everyone there present turned their attention towards the sky above, the clouds were parting quickly as if something was soaring through them.
''It is just a passing jet, nothing to worry about...'' One of the men there present said offhandedly, trying to identify what it was, though failing due to how high it was.
''Jets don't fly like that...'' Another one said as the 'thing' started to circle around the city, gaining more and more speed after each passing second until it suddenly, made a full, 90 degrees arc downwards, straight towards them.
''Shit, everybody insi-!''
BOOM!
The thing impacted against the garden, lifting up dirt and sending a huge shockwave through the entire castle, blasting away everyone that was nearby. Valerie took the worst of it, being just two meters away, the wave sent her crashing through the fountain towards one of the pillar. Her vision became blurry and a ringing sound echoed through her ears, but slowly the feeling faded away as she regained her senses.
The first thing that came into her view was a tall, blond, humanoid creature with a pair of very large dragonic black wings staring down at her with sharp grin, making him seem even more menacing for the poor dhamphir.
''Sephiroth Graal... I have found you at last.'' The 'man' said, leaning forward, but stopping mid-way when the piles of rubble on either side of the room started to shake and her four guard crawled out, each with a blood thirsty snarl.
Taking a step backwards, his wings retracted into his body. Valerie noting that his wings also had the same colored pattern as the rest of his body.
Naruto then opened his right hand, a blue orb appearing on his hand and expanding over himself and Valerie, ''Heh, it is so good to finally meet you, wielder of the Sephiroth Graal. I have been searching for you for a long time and I traveled a lot to come here.''
While he talked, the four pounced on the dome, only to be sent flying back towards the walls.
''You have been looking for me? What do you want with the me.'' She asked, trying and failing to get up.
''For a very long time, the previous possessor of Sepiroth Graal have evaded me. I admit that I have never taken any of them seriously and may have allowed some to flee, but I cannot allow myself room for mistakes anymore.'' Naruto replied while more and more vampires joined outside of the barrier.
''What are you going to do to me? What do you need the Graal for?''
''What am I going to do with you...'' He repeated, ''You see, there is a certain creature that I must destroy and I need the Graal and it's ability to connect with the principle of life to localize it... You can localize the beast or I can remove the Graal from your body and do it myself, you have some time to think, your friends aren't getting inside my barrier and you're not going anywhere.''
Now Valerie was no fool, nor rookie when it came to the Graal, she had yet to get in contact with the Principle of Life, but thanks to her brother and his experiments, she knew how it worked somewhat, and that it was very dangerous to do. She also knew of the consequences of having one's Sacred gear ripped out from their body, so either alternative seemed pretty bad to her.(1)
''I-I don't know how to get in contact with the Principle, what is this creature that you are searching for, you found me now, finding it shouldn't be difficult.'' She said, and much to her surprise, Naruto chuckled.
''Finding you wasn't that hard, and you don't compare to the creature that I seek, if it can even be called a 'creature'. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, it is impossible even for me to find it.'' He shrugged.
''...'' Valerie stared back at him in silence, the vampires outside the dome didn't seem to show any signs of hearing them and instead continued to launch their attacks onto it.
''Interesting...'' Naruto said to himself, his eyes glowing a bright golden color briefly.
''What is?''
''You're Gaspar Vladi's sister.'' He stated and she widened her eyes.
''You know my brother?'' She asked surprised, trying to straighten herself, but not finding the strength in her body to do so.
''I don't know him personally,'' Naruto shook his head, ''I know his master, your brother serves the heir to the house of Gremory. Resident devils of the city I was recently in, Kuoh, in Japan.''
''Kuoh...'' She repeated, ''Is he okay?''
''The Gremory brat...'' Naruto scratched his chin, ''she is alright for a devil, could use a few kicks in the right direction and is completely ignorant about her own family history, but otherwise she is alright.''
''Alright for a devil...'' She repeated and Naruto shrugged.
''She's young, ignorant about the world, still has a lot to learn. Hopefully she won't become a disappointment like her brother... I think we have chatted enough, time to sleep.'' He said and her body went numb and slack.
Glancing around, he looked at all the vampires that had accumulated around the barrier, carefully analyzing it for a possible weakness. Returning his attention to Valerie once more, he knelt in front of her and placed his hand on top of her chest. ''Here you are...'' he grinned, though it was short lived and he quickly started to blink owlishly, ''One, two... Three?'' He said to himself in contemplation, moving his arm around her chest for a few moments then pulling out a golden cup from her body.
''Not one, not two but three Holy Graals? Talk about luck.'' He said to himself, looking at the golden cup in his hand and sending it to another dimension and making himself upright, ''I suppose I can do you this one favor.''
Narrowing his eyes, he glanced once more at the vampires and released the barrier. The vampires all hesitated and glanced between themselves until one of them took a step forward and tossed a dagger at Naruto's back.
Without even glancing at their direction, Naruto caught the blade right before it reached his back and tossed it at another vampire on the other side, who was getting ready to jump towards him, the dagger going straight through his heart.
The adrenaline rush and the smell of blood was the incentive that all the others seemed to be waiting for, and not a second later one of them lunged towards Naruto with a rapier in hand, full intent on stabbing the cross-eyed blond through the heart, but instead Naruto side-stepped and grabbed his sword hand, then guided the rapier through his chest and pushed him towards another vampire, making the blade pierce him as well.
Two more vampires lunged at Naruto, from either of his side, this time with nothing but their fangs. However like the previous, their attempt was also unsuccessful, and the two ended up crashing against each other thanks for Naruto leaping a few feet upwards. Unlike his jump, his landing was nothing as graceful, for he landed with each of his foot on top of either of their heads, which got crushed, and shattered along with the ground underneath them.
From behind him, another vampire with a long and thick chain rope seemed to want to test his luck and threw the chain towards Naruto, wrapping it around his left arm.
Glancing towards the vampire trying to pull him, Naruto grabbed the chain and pulled on it, sending the vampire holding onto the other end straight into the cold hard wall of the castle, then he started to roll it around his hand loosely like a rope.
''Flank him! Take him down!'' One vampire commanded, but the others around didn't seem as certain as himself,
''What are you all waiting, now!'' He charged and several other young vampires followed, the older and more sane among them choosing to stay behind and observe.
Casually side-stepping the first, Naruto struck him on the back of the head with the coiled chain, spun around and struck another's face with the chain, then he released it and threw it towards another, the tip glowing red for the fraction of a second and piercing right through his heart and killing him, then yanking it and sending the tip through another one coming from behind.
''Enough!'' Shouted a blond vampire with authority, Naruto instantly recognizing the person to be Lord Tepes, ''What is the meaning of thi- You! What are you doing here?!''
Naruto didn't answer, there was no need, silence said everything that needed to be spoken, nothing.
''I see...'' Lord Tepes frowned, ''To think that the Harvester would come for us... But for some reason, I'm not surprised.''
Truly, his appearance really didn't surprise the Vampire Lord. He was aware of how his own faction acted, he had tried to put in some sense into them, but it was all for no use, it was only common sense that he would appear sooner or later.
"Ao you really do exist, is there nothing you would like to say? My father used to tell me stories about you, how you would one day come knocking at our door. I wish we could sit down and discuss this, but I fear it is too late for that." Lord Vladi then said, more and more vampires appearing, until the entire area was crawling with them.
Naruto recognized some of the newly arrived as Ultimate Class Vampires, centuries old, for a moment he wondered how many grunts he would have to put down to attract their attention.
"... So that is how things are, don't like to talk with your prey? Well, let's find out if you are just as strong as the legends say..."
(2)
-In Naruto's hotel room-l
A hour and a half had passed since Kalawarner had went to confront her former partners and her newest 'Boss' came to separate them. She had just arrived in the balcony of Naruto's hotel room after a long stroll around the city to think about her curret situation.
Which she still didn' quite understand, was she a slave, a servant, a concubine or all three? She considered running away for her liberty, but she refrained from doing so for various reasons, for one she wasn't sure how far she would get before he tracked her down, another was that she was now a completely rogue, she had absolutely nowhere to go.
Stepping inside the room, she looked around and sighed, "Great, he isn't here... At least that means I'm not late!"
Her moment of happiness was cut short by a cold, morbid feeling. Making her quickly turn around and see a cloaked figure with a blank ceramic mask.
"You must be my master's newest servant." The masked person said in a shrill, distorted voice.
Kalawarner blinked owlishly, "You mean Naruto? I guess I am... And who are you?"
"I am a servant, his Commander. It is best that you don't know my identity until you become strong enough to keep it." The masked person replied.
While Kalawarner wasn't the smartest fallen angel around, she knew an insult when she heard one, "So you're a servant like me?"
"Don't fool yourself, I am a servant, but not like you. I'm incapable of seeing what he saw in you." It said, a bit of anger in it's strange, distorted voice.
"Maybe that is why he is the Master, not us." Kalawarner replied with a smirk, then sighed, "I don't think he even cares."
"But he does, and I don't understand why. He used illusions on you and your former partners?" It asked and Kalawarner nodded, "master only uses them when he cares, if he didn't he would have allowed you to lose an arm or a leg."
"Oh..." Kalawarner muttered, "You said that you're a Commander, so he has more servants?"
"Master is a God, it is only natural for him to have some followers. Although Master prefers to walk alone. He has prefered it like that for the last millenia, which brings one of the reasons for me coming here."
"Reason for coming?" Kalawarner repeated and the cloaked figure nodded.
"Yes, I came here to explain some things to you before Master arrives. There is no need to bother him with something so trivial. He should get here any moment, so sit" It ordered, pointing towards a couch.
"Great, because I don't understand anything that is going on." Kalawarner replied, sitting on couch.
"That is understandable, given who you are." It said and Kalawarner twitched.
"You trying to start something, pal?! Just tell me what is going on, who and what is Naruto and what does he want of me."
"You will not adress him by his name! As of now you are a slave, probably for your own well being, don't forget your place. As for what Master is, he is The World Guardian, that is all you need to know about him... As for what he wants with you, I don't know, I don't see anything special in you."
"Kalawarner twitched again, but chose to ignore the not-so-subtle remarks about herself in favor to the more important things, "World Guardian? Never heard of that title."
"I'm not surprised, few have heard it, the title is self-explaining. Most however know him as the Harvester."
"But isn't he supposed to be a fairy tale?" Kalawarner asked in disbelief.
"My peace is directly proportional to the amount people think I don't exist. Makes things easier." Said Naruto from the balcony, Kalawarner going stiff at the sound of his voice,"You came, that is good."
'Not like I hade much choice...' Kalawarner thought, her eyes na Srrowing slightly.
"Well... You can still go back to the Grigori if that is what you wish." Naruto said as if reading her mind.
"What?" Was her intelligent response.
"I don't force any of my servants to do anything unless they are active. As of now, since you became a servant, you are in the reserve, you can do whatever you want and join whatever faction you feel like." He shrugged, walking towards the bed.
The area on top of the bed shimmered and a sleeping Valerie appeared on top of it.
''The wielder of Sephiroth Graal, so you brought her. Given that she is here, then it is safe to assume that it all went well, but why is she still alive? Have you not extracted it yet, master?'' The cloaked figure asked Naruto, observing the sleeping vampire.
''It all went without problems, you will hear about it later, in some supernatural newspaper later. As for why she is here and alive, it is because she is a special one, had three Graals inside her, I removed one already, the remaining two are what is keeping her stable.'' Naruto answered the cloaked figure.
''Three Graals? Special indeed, I apologize for questioning your decision. If I am allowed to ask... Why did you bring her?'' It asked and Naruto shrugged.
''With the Graal in my possession, I can finally find Trihexa, you can say I am in a good mood, so I decided to do her a little favor. Her dream is to be together with her brother again, which is a part of the Gremory girl's peerage, so I will grant her a chance at that. Because of how my body was made, me and Red share the common domains of dreams, wouldn't hurt me to try hers.''
The cloaked figured nodded, ''That is understandable, Master... But what about her?'' it pointed towards Kalawarner, who was quietly watching from a sofa.
Kalawarner tensed a bit at being mentioned, but remained silent.
''I have plans for her, but for now, nothing major.'' Naruto answered simply and the figure nodded once more.
''I see...'' It said to itself, ''Is there anything else that you require of me, master?''
Naruto nodded, ''There is, I need you to call my General, the time is coming near and a storm is approaching, Crom has been looking for a fight.''
''If that is my God's wish, I will obey. I must be going now, master. Must keep my cover, will return as soon as I am needed.'' It then added and created a blue magical circle underneath it.
After the cloaked figure left, Naruto stared at Valerie for and a black blanket appeared on top of her, then he turned towards Kalawarner, ''I will be away for the rest of the day and you're going to stay here and watch her in case she wakes up meanwhile. Tell her that I will arrange for her to meet her brother later and that it is best for her not to wonder around the city.''
''So you want me to babysit?'' Kalawarner asked and Naruto nodded.
''Yup, that is exactly what I want you to do, shouldn't be too hard.'' He shrugged
Kalawarner groaned, if Naruto heard or cared, he certainly didn't show it, ''Don't think I have a say in this...'' she said to herself and Naruto nodded.
''Thought so... Is this really all you need of me?'' She asked and received a blank look in response, ''How long are you gonna take?''
''I should be back at night, will have to see the Gremory girl and do some stuff, feel free to order anything for lunch and dinner within reason.'' He said, walking towards the balcony.
A light twinkled in Kalawarner's eyes for a brief moment, ''Wait, there is something I need you to do for me.''
''Hmm?''
Seeing him turn his gaze on her, Kalawarner fidgeted slightly, ''Raynare had this plan to take the Sacred Gear from a exiled nun to give to Azazel, the nun should be arriving today along with a group of exorcists and I don't think Raynare remembered to call it off before heading back to the Grigori. Maybe she could be of use to you.''
Naruto stared at her for a few seconds blankly and sighed, for as much as he himself disliked bringing others into his problems, he knew that he would need help if he were to destroy Trihexa then he would need all the help necessary, if not to aid in the fight, then to keep the other factions busy,''Do you know who this nun is and what is her Sacred Gear?''
Kalawarner nodded, ''Her name is Asia Argento, she was exiled for using the Twilight Healing on a devil.''
''Twilight Healing...'' Naruto repeated and then disappeared.
"He really should stop doing that..." Kalawarner said to herself, looking where the masked person was, only to ser that it was also gone, "Great..."
-Kuoh bus station-
"Umm... Excuse me, do you know where the old church is?" Asked a polite blond girl wearing a nun's outfit to another woman in Kuoh's bus station.
Unfortunately for the nun, the woman just ignored her and went on her way.
Looking around worriedly for a few moments, the blond nun nodded to herself and went out of the bus-station.
Ploft.
"Auunn~!" She tripped on... A rock. The people around stared as the clumsy girl got back to her feet with some tears in her eyes.
Patting her clothes to remove the dust, she looked around towards where the majority of people were going and wandered off in that direction, ocassionally asking the random pedestrian for information, but only to be ignored.
After around thirty minutes wandering around, she came to a street with a park in the end of it, thinking of it as a nice place, she decided to go to it.
Bump.
So distracted that she was, that she went face first into something hard along the way and fell on her bottom.
"Ouchie~!" She rubbed her face with the hem of her shirt.
"Why hello there." She heard somebody say in front of her. It took her around ten seconds to realize that she actually understood what was said.
Opening her eyes, she saw a shirtless, blond man with whiskers staring back at her with ocean blue eyes.(3)
"I'm so sorry, wasn't paying much attention. Are you alright?" Naruto asked, extending his hand to his fellow blond.
"I-it was my fault, I'm sorry mister..." The nun started after getting back to her feet.
"Naruto." He replied, flashing her a smile.
"Ah, I'm Asia Argento..." She shifted around nervously.
"Is something wrong?" He then asked with a worried expression.
"Umm... Do you know where the church is? I just got here and am lost." She said timidly and Naruto blinked.
"I can tell." He deadpanned, "You're in luck, I do know where the church is. But you seem to me like you could eat something, so how about I show you the city? We got plenty of time."a
"Umm, I don't know if it is okay. I really have to go." She shifted a bit nervously and Naruto grinned.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Church stuff normally happen at night, right? We got plenty of time, might as well show you around." He said and a twinkle of light passed by his eyes.
Asia thought for a bit and nodded enthusiastically,
"Great, so lets go!" He grabbed her hand and started to walk with her, "I'm sure you will like Kuoh, this place is real fun. Where do you want to go first? The mall isn' far and they have lots of stuff to do there."
"That sounds nice, mister Naruto..." She replied, staring at their hands.
"Oh no. No no no no no! None of that 'mister' stuff, makes me feel strange, call me 'Naruto'. Friends don't need such formality." He chuckled.
Lots of teenagers passed by in the sidelines, a few still using Kuoh's shirt. Among them was Issei Hyoudo. Who watched the tattooed man with a strange feeling, as if something was very wrong. Chalking it up as his imagination, he simply just continued down his path.
"Friends?" She repeated to herself but Naruto heard it loud and clear.
"Well we aren't already, but you seem alright so I'm sure we can be friends." He smiled and Asia's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
-later-
Naruto and Asia had a good day, the former took the latter all over the city, as of now we find the two in front of the hotel that Naruto is staying at.
Looking around Naruto saw a wooden bench and sat on it, then gestured for Asia to do the same, "It was fun, huh?"
"Yeah..." Asia replied, a bit sad. On her hands was a orange fox plushie named 'Kurama-kun' that Naruto had bought for her.
"Don't be such a downer, I'm sure we will see each other often. Would you like that?" Naruto asked and then grinned.
"I would like it a lot." She replied with a tiny smile.
"I'm serious though, you really don't need to go. The fallen angels left." He then said, surprising the nun.
"I-I, y-yo-" She stammered and Naruto got up from the bench.
"Yep, I know... You see, I had a 'talk' with the fallen angels and convinced them to leave and abandon their plans. Some had left in such a hurry that forgot to abort the mission and warn the exorcists. There is no need for you to go with them, they are a headless group and they don't even know that yet."
"Oh..." She said to herself, "You knew?"
He nodded, "Yep, I did. I have known for a while and no. I have been honest with you and am starting to consider you a friend. I didn't lie to you when I said that we can be. You are pure hearted and very kind, I like those qualities."
"So we really friends?" She asked and he nodded again.
"Of course silly, and you don't need to go to the old church. I happen to own this hotel," he pointed at the building behind him, "and you can stay in any room on the top floor, I keep it for my myself and associates, you can pick any, my room is 1408, in tl-"
He was stopped by Asia, whom tackled him into a hug. The difference in height between the two was then made very evident, compared to the whiskered man, Asia seemed quite small.
"There there..." Naruto patted her head, "So you will stay, that's good. There are two nice people in my room that I would like you to meet, one is a fallen. They can also be your friends if you talk to them, as for me, there is something that I must do, so I need to go for now, will you be okay?"
"Yes! If you say then I believe." Asia replied with a smile and Naruto patted her head once more.
"Good girl, I won't take long, but before I go, I have a gift for you," He flicked her forehead, earning him a 'yelp' from the nun, "talking won't be a problem anymore," he patted her once more and turned away, "Just tell the lady in the desk that you're my friend, I already told them about you."
And with those words said, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Asia to wonder when was it that he told anybody about her.
-Streets of kuoh, sometime later-
"So much to do..." Naruto said to himself and then sighed, his hands tucked into his pockets, "at least now I can find Trihexa..."
Just the thought of the beast was enough to make him scowl. The Biblical God had done a good job hiding it, so good that he couldn't find it even with a chunk of his soul.
Trihexa and the Biblical God were both nothing to scoff at, normally it would probably take the collaborate efforts of both Dragon Gods to get rid of the Chimera. Naruto felt confident that he could take it out on his own, his body was the perfect combination of the power and flesh of both the original Dragon Gods.
Yet there was a problem, even with all the power he had accumulated and harvested, he knew that eliminating it would be difficult. Were the two to clash then it would be no better to the worlds if Great Red were the one fighting it.
"It can't be a battle..." Naruto said to himself, his eyes narrowing, "I will have to strike before it gets a chance to fight back. The factions will undoubtedly get in my way..."
Pushing away his thoughts of his nemesis, Naruto shifted his attention to his newest target, Diodora Astaroth.
All it took was one quick glance in the nun's memory to find the wreched devil. Maou Ajuka' little brother, the type of creature that he despised the most.
Stopping in front of a sushi restaurant he went to the door but was blocked by two of it's workers.
"E-excuse me s-sir, this is a restaurant of r-respect, you can't come in with no0 shirt." One of the workers said.
"..." Naruto stared down at the two, in truth he found it all amusing, two common humans telling him that he can't go. Who did they think themselves to be? To lay claim over a piece of land, a piece of Nature and say who could or couldn't go in it.
A simple thought and they would vanish, never to be seen in anywhere but pictures and portraits. Yet luckly for them, the situation was easy to fix.
Destruction was easy, very simple and universally understood, yet creation was much harder. To destroy a chair, a table, a continent or a soul was easy, especially for himself, but to create was much more difficult. To create a soul even more so than regular mundane things, it required time, patience and lots of knowledge
Both their eyes went dull for a second and gone was the topless blond man, replaced for a elegantly and noble black haired man. A simple illusion for those of low minds.
Walking into the restaurant, he glanced around and spotted a familiar shade of crimson, Rias, and she was accompanied by her best friend and queen, Akeno, whom seemed very distressed.
On top of their table was a paper, a note that he himself had left at the heiress's desk before he had went to meet Asia, which said to meet him in the very restaurant.
Going over to their desk, he silently took a seat in front of Rias, whom had tensed up completely along with her friend the moment they saw him in front of their desk.
"Be at ease, I didn't call you here to kill you, yet. I called you here to talk, the ambient seems more adequate this time." He said to Rias and then shifted his stare to Akeno, "While I didn't call you, you're welcome to stay, granted you don't become an annoyance."
Rias coughed into her hand to try and regain her posture and then straightened herself, "I need her here with me. I came as you asked, what is it that you want to talk about?"
Picking up the menu and opening it in front of him, Naruto chuckled, "Straight to the point huh? How is your progress? The fun thing about Magic is that you don't really need much understanding of a technique to use it. Rediculous actually, all one needs is a vivid imagination and persistence to make things possible... "
It was then that a waitress stopped on their table. "Ma'am I want everything from here to here in double doses." Naruto told the woman, showing the menu.
"Are you sure, sir?" The waitress asked and Naruto nodded.
"Yup, I'm sure. Off you go." He then dismissed the woman and placed his elbow on the table to rest his head on his hand.
"I'm trying a technique of my bro-"
"Forget it." Naruto interrupted rudely. "Stop trying to follow his steps, you two are different people, he is a failure and a disappointment. You're better off trailing your own path."
Rias gritted her. "What is it that you have against my brother? He is the Maou, he isn't a failure."
Naruto snorted, "A title like that doesn't mean anything to me. Did he never tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Rias asked Naruto back, her anger rising. Naruto didn't even bother to feign interest.
All it took was a simple tap in the desk, a simple touch in it and all of Rias's power went away. How? She had no clue, one moment she was glaring at the man in front of her, the next she felt weak, very weak.
Akeno felt like she should say or do something, but was too afraid to make everything worse. The people around were all none the wiser.
"Figures, of course he would hide his greatest shame. Truth is, like you, your brother also tried bringing me into his peerage. He was young, barely in his prime, confident in his strength and much more arrogant than you were when we met for the second time." Naruto paused, waiting for her to regain her posture.
"What happened?" She asked, a million things running around her mind.
"If you really want to know, then you should ask him. While your at it, ask him how his right arm and leg are... You see, I high hopes for him, he could have been the one but all he turned out to be was one big disappointment." Naruto replied and then sighed.
"I didn't call you here to talk about Sirzechs, he can burn in holy water for all I care. Since you like be direct, I will get to the point. Gaspar Vladi." Naruto grinned, but before a misunderstanding could come up, he continued, "I personally have no use for him or his Sacred Gear, but I have his sister under my care and she wishes to see her long lost brother."
It was then that tqlhree workers each holding two large trays filled with the exorbitant amount of stuff that Naruto ordered came to their table and started placing the trays on it. There was hardly any space left.
Rias blinked, for as much as she was surprised that he knew about Gaspar, there was an opportunity right there, "Gaspar's powers are uncontrolled, I can't let him out." (4)
"His powers won't be a problem with me around." Naruto answerd simpy, filling his plate.
"There is still a little problem... He is a hikikomori and he doesn't erm... Know how to interact with people." It was a strangely embarrassing thing to admit, that she didn't have control over her own servant, but nonetheless it was what it was.
"But let's say I get him to come out, what is in it for me?" Rias then asked, using all of her willpower to suppress the upcoming smirk. Akeno seemed to like her king's trail of thought and adopted a small smile.
Naruto leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes, "What do you want?"
Sweeter words couldn't have been said to Rias.
"I want you to help me cancel my engagement with Riser." Rias said, loud and clear, filling her plate.
"No." Naruto declined simply, opening his eyes and meeting Rias's own. This time instead of the normally bored or amused stare, his golden cross shaped eyes were void of any emotion, a mirror that reflected his current feelings perfectly, nothing.
Thankfully for them, the feeling soon passed and his eyes regained that one 'sparkle', "I am a neutral mediator, my job is to annihilate and destroy any and all creatures and factions that threaten the world. I can't simply meddle with a teenage devil's wedding. You can be sure that if I put my foot down just for that, the consequences will be severe."
"So something else then..." Rias said mostly to herself, rubbing her chin in thought, "How about information?"
"Information?" Naruto repeated with a raised brow.
"Yes," Rias straightened herself, "I have been thinking, in the books especially the ones about the Great War, they always show you as a monster or some type harbringer that cares about nothing more than destruction... Yet here we are, eating sushi."
"Ah those books... Some people just have too much free time," he sighed, "I lost control, I had went to stop the two Heavenly Dragons, then kill all the leaders and generals in the place. God, Maous, Seraphs, Azazel among others, but I lost control."
"You lost control...?" Rias asked, and Naruto sighed once more. Something that he noted to be doing quite a lot recently.
"I was fighting the two Heavenly Dragons, happened right after I tore off Albion's wings, my mind went blank... I probably should have died that day, losing conscious in the middle of a gigantic war, but I suffered not a scratch. I woke up in a pool of blood, none of it apparently my own."
Wasn't one of his proudest moments, but he had moved past it.
"I see... Do you remember what happened that day?"
"Soo many questions, what is it to you?" He asked, glancing between the two devils, "It isn't like any of this information is going to help you with your problem."
To rias that pretty much marked her limit of liberty with him. "It won't, I just wanted to know the whole story. It isn't everyday that you get to have dinner with the boogyman."
Naruto's brow twitched in annoyance, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other two, "So we are agreed about letting Gaspar's sister and himself meet, after you convince him to get out?"
"Not quite, there is one more thing I need of you." Rias said testing her luck.
"One more thing? You know, I have been in a very, very good mood today. I have tolerated and humored you against my better judgement of simply just smiting you and taking the boy, now I wonder if I shouldn't just erase you two right here and now. Please, do tell, what is it that you want?"
It was at that moment that she realised that she had fucked up. But now that she maid her bed, then she should sleep on it.
"I want you to train my peerage." It came off a bit different from what she had imagined and intended but it was what it was, nothing more subtle came to her mind at the moment.
Closing his eyes, he stared to turn his head around as if removing the stiffness from his neck and thinking.
"Mmm... Take an apprentice... It has been so long..." He said to himself, then opened his eyes and stopped, "I can do that... But it would be something apart and I don't ever take more than one apprentice at a time."
Rias sighed, wondering why it would be something apart, but even if just one, it could end up being worth it. "So can you train one of my peerage then?"
While she probably wasn't counting, Naruto certainly was. His first advice had came to her as a book and now it was the time of a favor, it was all a matter of time and moment, if he were right, then he wouldn't have to do anything at all.
"I suppose I can, but neither of the two of you, Gaspar Vladi and the pervert are compatible with my style... Well the pervert could be compatible but it would take too long."
"So only Kiba and Koneko?" Rias asked and Naruto nodded.
"My fighting style is very unique, requires an extreme amount of speed, strength and endurance. The knight has high speed but lacks on strength and endurance, while the rook has high strength and resistance but low speed. While you," he pointed at Akeno, "have the aspects of both pieces, close combat isn't your area."
Akeno pouted, he had a point.
"How is your type of training and fight style? Or the one you plan to teach if it isn't your personal one." Rias then said, trying to get as much information as possible.
"Wild and aggressive, though when you have my strength and power, any type of style is impossible to use my style to it's fullest without a combination of various skills that only I have, but the style in itself can be taught and passed." He went back into eating.
While it may have seemed that he was giving a lot of information, he really wasn't. There wasn't anything that they could do with what he was saying.
"How long will the training be?"
"That is up to you to decide, though you should know that you will have to be the entire time without seeing my apprentice, my training is harsh, both for the body and for the mind. There can't be any distractions. You can expect that during it, the life of your servant will be reduced to training, eating and slee.,"
"Rias are you sure of this?" Akeno asked her friend, "We can train on our own like how you have been doing."
Rias bit her lip, it was a tough decision to make.
"He's right." She finally said, "That is how it has to be. To beat Riser, we need to train harder, we all can't drop out on school but if only one of us did for a while, then there wouldn't be that big of a problem... I accept, do you know which one will you teach?"
Akeno didn't like the idea of letting Kiba or Koneko on his hands for an indeterminate amount, but it wasn't her call.
Naruto continued eating, "The nekomata, between her and the knight, she is the one most compatible with my style and the most likely to adapt better to it. Also, she doesn't know any type of martial art, nor has she had a proper tutor, so she is easier to teach."
His reasoning was sound but something bothered Rias, his interest, "I thought you didn't like us, yet you researched my peerage?"
"I don't like any of you, nor do I have any dislike, I also didn't need to research any of you, I could tell after five minutes observing, wasn't all that difficult..." He shrugged as if it were something natural.
Rias sighed, for some reason she should have expected something along the lines, "When is Koneko going to start?"
"That is for you to decide, this is something only of your interest. I don't need or want a apprentice, my last one caused me enough trouble." He said, remembering his last apprentice of a long time ago, a monkey. "You have time to think, lets finish this meal?"
(1) - She doesn't know that she has three Graals in her body yet, and the previous generations of users didn't have them either. So it is a new thing.
(2) - To be more clear on this part, in case I wasn't enough. Lord Tepes came in to see Naruto murdering everyone in there, he didn't know that Naruto had taken Valerie.
(3) - That is how normal humans see Naruto, reason why people don't notice or comment about his tattoos or eyes. If I meantioned any normal human seeing him differently before, was a mistake. Some people just get intimidated by his aura and size.
(4) Let's face it, she doesn't let any opportunity pass by. It is how she is, she is manipulative, deal with it.
Some of the things in this chapter will pretty much change the course of DxD.
No Naruto isn't friendly with Rias, he doesn't hate nor like them. He is aware of her tacticts that she is manipulative to a certain point, but he doesn't care about her manipulating Issei or her peerage, they aren't his problem.
Note for Guest Hayate of this very chapter: Naruto is NOT going to be all nice with Rias. Agreeing to train Koneko has nothing to do with him liking her in any way shape or form. It is another thin entirely.