AN: Just as a PSA of sorts I've given up on talking about the whole Naruto revealing secrets topic. I haven't even scratched the surface of his power and who he is yet and quite a few are still outraged that I "got rid of all his mysteriousness".
I feel like I'm beating a dead horse with that topic so if you still have some gripes over that…too fucking bad. Feel free to express your discontent in my pm box or in the reviews section, but know that I will no longer be answering/talking about anything related to that topic whatsoever.
This does NOT mean I'll stop answering questions, etc. having to deal with anything else. I'm always happy to answer any questions or concerns….except those having to deal with the above stated topic.
With that said, this will be the first of many. While the chapters before used chunks of the previous incarnation of this story this is the first chapter that is COMPLETELY new. There was absolutely nothing taken from the last version of this story. From here on out blurbs may be seen but nothing more than a paragraph or two at most!
In a way I guess you could say that THIS chapter is the beginning of the new story so sit down, grab some snacks, and let's go on a ride!
Kyram's AN: One more thing on the whole Naruto revealing secrets issue: One of the core elements of his personality is that he's incredibly open, friendly, and helpful. On top of that, he has Negative Emotions Sensing, so he can tell that they're good people. On a different subject, namely devil/human relationships being forbidden: I really don't think that Naruto is just a human anymore, and even if he was, do you really think that'd stop him? For that matter, do you think the Satans would care all that much? Finally, to the people who thanked me: You are very welcome, and I greatly appreciate it.
"Breathe slowly Koneko, do not let anything bother you. You must be like nature, stoic and unperturbed," a calm Naruto said as he stood over his new white haired student.
After agreeing to train the young Nekoshou, Naruto had seen fit to start bringing her to his home after school each day and when she wasn't busy with contracts. They would meditate in his own personal sanctuary that he had built specifically for that purpose.
It wasn't anything too special, with a small pond at its center with various mid-sized trees encasing the clearing and an assortment of other greenery to add some color and life to the place; not to mention making it easier to practice Senjutsu. Although it served its purpose well, giving any who wanted some much desired peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Naruto had found that he much preferred the grove in the city park over his own thanks to the critters that called it home. His own little sanctuary lacked the warmth and energy that came with animal life.
Koneko was situated in the middle of the pond atop a smooth gray rock that protruded just above the shallow and calm waters. Her breathing was perfectly regulated and came slowly and evenly, filling her with the energy that filled the room.
Naruto stood barefoot and shirtless just behind her, letting the cool water of the pond coalesce around his ankles. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked down at his young Nekoshou apprentice.
It had taken a few weeks of arduous work to get her to this point. The hard part had nothing to do with Koneko's capacity for meditation; in fact the Rook was a natural at it. What had made the past few weeks so hard had been her deeper emotions and fears of Senjutsu.
She may have acted stoic and emotionless in front of almost everybody but deep down she was just a scared young girl with a plethora of built up emotions, most of them negative.
It had taken quite a bit of time and effort for Naruto to bring down the walls that she had built around herself; when he had finally succeeded the young neko had been rather emotional. Did she still hold any fear of Senjutsu? Not at all. Did she still have some problems with the sister that had abandoned her? Very much so.
Despite that though Naruto had been able to encourage her to move past those feelings and save them for the appropriate time.
Koneko was still mostly the person she had been since she was young; a stoic, blunt, young girl with a penchant for sweet treats, and dislike for perverts. However she had taken quite the liking to her sensei and whenever he was around she could be found seated on his lap or at his side clutching his arm, the whole time a barely noticeable blush present on her otherwise blank face.
Naruto had of course only chuckled and let the girl be as he remembered acting almost the same way with the Sandaime when he was younger. In the same way that the old kage had been a role model for him, he was now a role model for Koneko.
She still didn't exactly know how skilled he was with Senjutsu as, other than the one time in the club room, he hadn't used Sage Mode or even any Nature Chakra around her or any of the Occult Research Club members.
Speaking of said members he had gotten to know all of them quite well.
He and Akeno could frequently be found talking and sharing a few laughs with each other, usually because Naruto was telling her one of his pranking stories from his youth. That or they were simply sharing a cup of tea that the busty devil had made.
Naruto and Kiba had bonded over their mutual love of swordplay and were usually sparring with each other when the chance arose. The spars were never serious, both using bokken and talking as they traded blows. Kiba had yet to best Naruto in any of their skirmishes, but enjoyed them and appreciated the chance to improve that the spars presented.
Naruto enjoyed torturing Issei a great deal. He would often treat the wanna-be harem king the same way Kakashi had once treated him, and when he wasn't confusing or irritating the pervert he was pranking him because of his perverted tendencies. Rias and the rest of her peerage would often get a good laugh or two from watching the pervert suffer. Even Ophis had cracked a smile after a particularly elaborate prank that had left Issei wearing lacy lingerie and locked in the female locker rooms where the Kendo club had found him.
Needless to say Issei hadn't been able to show his face around school without being laughed at for a while.
His relationship with Rias was…interesting to say the least. The Gremory heiress was treating Naruto like a puzzle and was trying to figure him out; why, Naruto had no idea. That wasn't to say the two weren't friendly with each other, far from it in fact – the redhead could be found with him as often as Koneko. She wasn't as physically clingy as her Rook but she had no qualms invading his personal space bubble.
This had become even more apparent after Naruto had managed to beat his fellow red head at a game of chess. When she had explained that it was similar in concept to Shogi Naruto had agreed to a match thinking it would be fun. A half hour later a wide eyed Akeno and Rias stared at a smiling Naruto as he claimed Rias' king.
After that if Rias wasn't in the clubroom or in class she was either at Naruto's home or with the Uzumaki himself. It had become worse (or better, depending on who you asked) when the Sage had awoken one morning to a fully nude Rias using him as her personal pillow.
Had the former Jinchuuriki been any less of a man he probably would have passed out from a massive nosebleed or become extremely frantic at the sight. However, being friends with Anko and the student of not one but two perverts, one a self declared super pervert, had left Naruto a little dulled to such things though, especially after three years of following Jiraiya into various brothels and strip clubs for "information".
Sure his instincts were practically screaming at him to take the Devil right then and there and he would be lying if he said that he hadn't been highly aroused by the view, but he was still Naruto Uzumaki and Naruto Uzumaki's will power was the stuff of legends.
All of this meant that when Rias awoke, she was shocked to find Naruto not ogling her lustfully or panicking over her naked presence but simply gazing out his window as the sun slowly began to rise over the horizon. While being nude didn't bother her in the least she knew that her figure could turn the heads of any man, and some women, even fully clothed. She was further shocked when Naruto gave her a simple, "Good morning sleepy head," before getting out of the bed and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.
After that it became a routine for Rias to sleep with Naruto in his bed. She also became even more fervent in her pursuit to know more about Naruto, though trying to get a rise out of him though sexual advances had been added to that mission list as well.
Ophis' relationship with Naruto was an odd one. She wasn't always around, off doing whatever it was a Dragon God did, but when she was around she wasn't too far from Naruto. The gothic Lolita would usually return with questions about Naruto and more often than not he would answer her truthfully. None of the questions were too prying, but were more probing in nature instead, a little more subtle than Rias' own way of trying to get his story. Ophis had also taken to mocking Rias in her ever monotone voice any chance she got, and this had sparked a sort of rivalry, although nobody could tell if it was reciprocated or not as Ophis' blank face made it very difficult to discern her thoughts and feelings.
All in all it had been an interesting few weeks for all of them. Naruto felt a little more comfortable getting close to all of them knowing that as Devils them dying of old age was very unlikely, if it was even a possibility at all. That was another reason that Naruto had entertained the idea of getting to know both Koneko and Rias on a more personal level.
He dearly missed the relationships he had back home, but the redhead had long ago realized that he would have to come to terms with both his own immortality and his friends' and pseudo family's mortality.
With Rias and her peerage though that wasn't exactly a dilemma. Rias had once let it slip that her elder brother Sirzechs was actually a few centuries old, and her father and mother were much older than that as well, yet her brother looked no older than 20-something and her parents were much the same.
Even with this knowledge though Naruto was a little wary of starting any sort of relationship like that. It was true that he had zero enemies in this world with not one soul knowing his past and who he really was, with Rias, Koneko, and Ophis only knowing bits and pieces of it at the most. Still, his instincts were telling him that something big was in the works, and he had no doubts that he would more than likely be pulled into whatever it was, whether he liked it or not.
He had a strong feeling that it involved whatever it was that had left a scar on the planet and that odd light power that was with it.
For now though he would focus on getting everybody as ready as he possibly could, starting with Koneko and her Senjutsu.
"Good Koneko. Feel the energy that flows through the trees, the water, and even in the ground. Let it come to you," Naruto coached.
Despite not showing any outward sign that she had heard him he knew that Koneko was hanging on his every word.
The smile on his face grew larger as he noticed that the Nature Chakra present in his little grove was flowing towards Koneko in manner similar to a calm river's flowing waters. In fact the water of the pond began to ripple and form small barely noticeable rivers as the Nature energy flowed over it to get to the young Nekoshou.
This method was a lot harder than the way he had accomplished his Sage training as he had been exposed to massive amounts of Nature Chakra thanks to the Toads of Mt. Myoboku, but unlike him Konkeo didn't need to adjust her body and energy pathways to the power that Nature Chakra offered. The Nekoshou race looked to be born with a natural inclination to the earthly energy source, almost like the Uzumaki, Senju and Uchiha Clans.
The aforementioned clans had this because of their common ancestor, the Rikuduo Sennin. Naruto hadn't the foggiest idea why the Nekoshou had the same, if not much stronger, link to Nature but he wasn't a scientist or historian so it didn't really concern him all that much.
"Ok now you have to be very careful. You're going to experience a spike in power that will make you feel like you can take on the world, don't react to it. You must maintain your calm and properly regulate the Nature Chakra throughout your body before you can even think of using it," Naruto lectured in a soft voice so as not to disturb Koneko.
Heeding Naruto's words Koneko managed to quell the urge to burst out in happiness at the feeling of Nature's energy flowing through her.
She had experienced the sensation before several times but this time was different because she wasn't being controlled by her fear of the power or the power itself. She was one with the power of Nature and with that came a sense of surreal calm and awakening.
As soon as she felt that she had a proper handle on the Nature chakra within her the silver haired Rook opened her eyes and had to resist the urge to do something out of character.
Thanks to the Senjutsu she could now see much differently than what most anyone could. Before her she saw the life-force of everything in the grove. The plants, the little bugs that scurried to and fro in the underbrush of the bushes, the small fish that Naruto had in the pond. It was like seeing for the first time, but with the self aware realization of the act.
Koneko turned with a huge grin on her face ready to hug the life out of the person responsible for this whole thing, but was stopped because as soon as she turned to where Naruto was behind her she had to quickly close her eyes, letting out a yelp of pain at being blinded.
This all caused her to lose her control on the Nature chakra and with that control went the energy itself.
Luckily before she could fall into the shallow pond and get herself wet she was caught by a chuckling Naruto.
"What….what happened?" Koneko asked as she rubbed her eyes to get rid of the spots that still flitted in her vision.
"Um…well you looked at me," Naruto chuckled.
"Why was I blinded though?" Koneko asked as the spots started to finally clear from her eye sight.
"Well when you use Senjutsu your senses all get a pretty big boost and your vision allows you to see things that no normal eye, Devil or otherwise, could ever show you. What you saw was the energy that is present in all life, Chakra."
Naruto took a break in his speech noticing that due to her rapid increase then decrease in power, Koneko was left feeling pretty drained. The redhead picked up the young Nekoshou bridal style and started heading for the main part of the house.
"You may not be able to see it as clearly as my friend, Neji's clan was able to but it was still visible to you. Unfortunately, despite the lowered clarity my chakra reserves are still large enough to have blinded you. Neji once said that when he looked at me it was like looking directly into the sun through a pair of sunglasses."
Naruto wasn't at all surprised when he found Rias and Ophis in the kitchen, the former glaring at the latter. However Rias instantly took notice of her Rook who was currently snoozing and snuggling deeper into the Sage's chest.
"What happened?" Rias asked, concerned.
Naruto just shook his head, "Nothing bad. She's just tired from using Senjutsu. A good nap and she'll be good to go."
Rias smiled gratefully at Naruto for the reassurance. Her peerage was an extension of her family so all of them meant more than she could say. She of course knew she wouldn't always be there to rescue them and even that there were people far stronger than her around that wouldn't hesitate to do some less than savory things to them. Luckily Naruto had wandered into their lives and even with as little as she knew about her fellow red head she felt comfortable trusting that he would be there whenever they needed him to be.
"Interesting creatures, humans. Don't you agree?"
Before Naruto responded he observed the man that now stood to his right, sharing his position atop a rather tall building looking over the city of Kuoh.
Out of his peripheral vision Naruto could see that the man was well into his years looking to be somewhere in his 40's with red and blue eyes and matching gelled hair. If Naruto wasn't friends with an Uchiha and Hyuuga he probably would've considered the man's eyes to be odd, but as it was he barely raised an eyebrow.
The man continued, unperturbed by Naruto's lack of response, "Capable of amazing acts of bravery and intelligence, as well as power beyond what many think is possible, even by Devil standards."
Naruto decided to voice his own opinion, "Yes, but they are also capable of enough depravity, greed, and maliciousness to make one wonder who the real Devils are."
If the man was surprised by Naruto's answer he didn't show it.
"I see that you speak from experience, which is surprising for one as young as yourself. Your eyes though, they betray your body."
"And what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.
The man glanced at Naruto for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the city below, "Your body says you are still young and innocent, yet your eyes tell the story of a man who has gone through hell. A man who has loved and lost, whom has experienced the highs and lows of life. A man many decades older than you appear to be."
Naruto nodded, as a certain vixen he knew had once told him something similar. He then sighed before speaking again, "Thus is the price of war. The price of human ambition, perverted by darkness."
The man slowly nodded in response, agreeing to Naruto's sullen statement.
"Even now your eyes show that you are a loving person, willing to go to great lengths to help those close to you, or even those you barely know. Despite the hardships you have experienced you've managed to hold onto your happiness and sense of self. Impressive."
Neither said anything for a while, enjoying the quiet that was only broken by the noises of the city below them.
"Naruto. Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki."
"An interesting name. Maelstrom Wavewind Whirlpool," The man then turned to Naruto fully, stretching out his hand. When Naruto firmly grasped it the man smiled, "Mephisto Pheles."
The two returned to looking out over the city once more. After a few minutes, Naruto broke the calm silence again, "I have a feeling you may be able to answer some questions that I have."
"I may, depending on what those questions are."
"Do you know what a Shinju is?"
"My oh my, I haven't heard that term in a long while... but yes, I do."
"Then it's safe to assume that this world has a Shinju?"
Mephisto just nodded in agreeance.
"The Shinju… it's hurt or dying isn't it?"
"That is... a difficult question to answer."
Naruto turned a curious look towards Mephisto, "How so?"
"I'm assuming you are aware of the three factions and their leaders correct?"
Naruto just nodded.
"Well, in a time before recorded history, there WAS a Shinju. However due to some event or other its power was split into a number of pieces. These fragments gained sentience and became the various gods and goddesses, some stronger than others due to having more of the Shinju's energies. What was left formed the first generation of Devils and other creatures."
"Can you be more specific?"
Mephisto sighed, "I'm afraid not. As I said, this was before recorded history and most of the gods and goddesses from that time are either dead or have passed down their power; the same can be said for the Devils of that era. As a result, very few remember or even have knowledge of that time."
Naruto also sighed before gesturing for his companion to continue.
"As far as I know the Christian God decided that, since he had such a vast amount of power, more than all but a handful of beings, he would split it into three parts. Part of that divided energy gave birth to his servants, the angels. The other kickstarted the growth of life on this here planet. A couple of centuries later, which is nothing to immortals like them, humans had become sentient and self-aware; they had become rational beings not unlike the one that had given birth to them."
"That answers a few things I was wondering about, and I now have an idea of what it is that I can feel permeating this world, but one last question. There is a darkness that coexists with the light that I believe to be the remnants of that god, what is it?"
"That… is the darkness itself. I'm sure you know of the balance between light and dark correct?" Mephisto inquired, seemingly shaken by something.
"Of course. It's a basic rule of life, that there can be no light without darkness and vice versa," Naruto answered.
He had become acquainted with that particular philosophy when he saw that, although peace had come to the Elemental Nations, there were still bandits, thieves, murderers, and other such vile people. Although the numbers of such criminals and the frequency of their depredations had dropped severely, they had never been the problem in the first place.
The source of the hatred and greed that was the cycle of life had been the Hidden Villages and ultimately the ancestors of the Senju and Uchiha, Hagoromo's own two sons, Indra and Asura. Ironically, Madara and Obito had played a huge part in the bringing about of peace. It had been under threat of the Eye of the Moon plan that all the Hidden Villages discarded any distrust or hatred of each other and banded together; united in their desire to maintain their free will.
Ages of Darkness had brought about an age of Light.
"Yes, well, being that the Shinju, in and of itself, is life in the purest form means that it has equal parts dark and light," Mephisto continued.
Naruto nodded again. The darkness of his world's Shinju gave birth to the monster that was the Juubi. The light of the Shinju had turned Hagoromo Otsutsuki into the famed Rikudo Sennin.
"The light gave life to the deities and the Devils and such. The dark however birthed... something else. I do not know the full story but I do know that whatever it was eventually caused the death of the Christian God and several other deities."
Naruto had to resist the urge to facepalm at the information. Of course this world's Shinju turned itself into a damn deity level monster. He had managed to stop Obito and Madara from unleashing the wrath of an incomplete Juubi, but his furry former tenant had explained that had they not been able to there would have been very little hope for them as, even incomplete, the monstrous Juubi was a force of nature unto itself. Not even the combined might of herself and the Hachibi could hope to compare to the immense power that was the Shinju incarnate.
What made Naruto so annoyed was that he had no doubt that through some occurrence or another he would find himself having to either stop someone from awakening the beast or stopping the beast itself; something which he doubted would be even remotely possible, even with him using Sage Mode and every other trick that he had in his bag.
Nonetheless Naruto turned to the well dressed Mephisto, "Thank you for the information, it was indeed very helpful."
"No problem at all. Now may I ask a question of you?" Mephisto spoke.
When Naruto nodded the elder man continued, "What exactly are you Uzumaki-san? I can sense that you are indeed powerful, immensely so in fact, but I can not tell if you are a Devil, Angel, or even a Dragon; and I have been around long enough to acquaint myself with almost every race that exists here on earth, in the Underworld, and even those that reside in Heaven."
The red-head chuckled at the question and the annoyance that he seemed to be causing the elder Devil, "Well I can tell you for sure that I am none of those things."
Mephisto wracked his brain for an answer but refused to acknowledge the one possibility. After some time of wracking his brain, he finally came to a seemingly impossible conclusion.
"You can't be… human… can you?"
Again Naruto chuckled, this time at the expression of obvious confusion and shock on his new friend's face.
"Once upon a time, although even that is debatable thanks to the circumstances surrounding both my birth and my mother. But no, I don't think I can say I am human anymore."
Mephisto's face grew even more confused at the vague answer, "Then what are you?"
Naruto shrugged with an amuse smile firmly in place, "Nothing but a wandering Sage looking to see all the world has to offer."
As soon as Naruto had uttered the last syllable, he was gone in a flash of crimson.
Mephisto laughed aloud at the answer as well as the speedy exit, "You are a most interesting character Uzumaki-san. I wonder what surprises you'll have in the future..."
As Naruto was walking back to his home, getting the occasional odd stare for his choice in clothes, he noticed that both Rias and Issei were talking to a young girl who looked to be around Koneko's age. The girl was dressed in what looked to be a nun's habit, if Naruto had to guess, and had blonde hair that was just a few shades darker than his own hair's former color.
Rias was the first one of the small group to notice him and waved him over with a small smile on her face. Naruto returned the smile and strolled up to them, offering a grin to the nervous young girl.
"Hey Rias-chan, perv," The Uzumaki said with his foxy grin still in place, looking at Issei.
Issei decided it would be best for him not to respond to the jab and so he only nodded.
Naruto turned to the young nun, "And who would you be?"
The blonde girl smiled brightly up at Naruto, "My name is Asia Argento."
Kyram's AN: Well, that chapter's considerably longer than the previous one. The plot is picking up pace and we get to learn a few things about the world's history - you also probably spotted some divergences already. In any case, reviews are appreciated (flames will be used for chemistry experiments) and, as always, feel free to PM either of us if you think that there's things we ought to know and/or consider, or if you feel we've made a mistake and have a reasoned argument about it.
AN: Now I know a lot of you are going to ask about the whole conversation between Mephisto and Naruto and why a lot of what was said isn't exactly canon. Well DxD never explained things like that in such detail (to my knowledge) and so that was written to fill the gaps and such.
And yes I know some of what I wrote about the Naruto-verse isn't exactly true either but it's the same thing as DxD, too little to no details at all about those topics.
The last, or the lack of a last spot in the harem, is still being talked about between Kyram and myself so just be patient while we talk it out and figure what exactly is going to happen in regards to that.
This is the Harem list so far:
Rias
Fem. Kurama
Koneko
Ophis
Grayfia
Gabriel
Serafall (Thanks to a Mr. Rixxell Stryfe)
And POSSIBLY one more. That last slot is between Kuroka and Xenovia at this time so again just be patient as me and Kyram try and figure out what we're gonna do in regards to that.
I apologize for the wait for this chapter. Both me and Kyram are rather busy people and are still trying to figure out a schedule of some sort, this being new to both of us, but we will eventually get into a groove of some sort and start releasing chapters faster.
Do all that good stuff guys! Review, pm us, share this story, tell it over a campfire, whatever!
And thanks as usual for Kyram for being an awesome editor/beta/co-author
Until next chapter!
Peace!