The streets of Kuoh Town were packed with people of all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Why shouldn't it be? It was a Saturday after all.
So most people who had nothing to do today were now outside, trying to actually do something.
Naruto was not one of those people.
He was a man on a mission, a very important one at that.
Of course, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him. He was decked out in a black t-shirt which was covered by a burnt-orange sleeveless hoodie. The hoodie was badass to the blond because he managed to get a stylized red swirl on the back as well!
He completed his set up with dark blue jeans and a pair of white-blue sneakers. He didn't care enough to check out what brand it was though.
Naruto frowned at that, he was beginning to sound like he belonged in this world. It would take him a while to get used to life back at Konoha when he got back...
Back to serious stuff though.
After their most recent...torture session. Yuki proposed that they meet in front of the mall in order to go meet the Hero Tribe leader together. So he left on his own in order to meet her.
...At least he was supposed to.
"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Who are you gonna meet in this super-secret date of yours? Are you gonna elope!?"
The blond felt the tick on his head grow slightly bigger.
"Maria! How many times must I tell you! Naruto is obviously not going on a date! He said it himself didn't he? He's going to meet some sort of spy! Get your facts straight Maria."
The shinobi felt his annoyance begin to bubble up to the surface. He wasn't doing either of those things! They were both literally just making stuff to suit their own crazy imaginations!
"Eh!? Awww...that's so boring!...Unless! That's what Naruto-sama wants you to think Mio-sama! Maybe he's going to go the red-light district in order to have some fun time...! Mio-sama! What will we do!? Naruto-sama is going to have an illicit relationship that doesn't involve you!"
"Wh-!? What the hell are you talking about Maria!?"
Naruto finally stopped walking and immediately turned heel in order to face the two followers. "...Why are you two following me?" Naruto deadpanned with a slightly twitching eyebrow.
Both young devils glanced at each other for a moment before turning to face the blond.
"...We were heading in the same direction?" Mio said, but her attempt at a decent excuse caused her statement to be framed as a question.
Honestly, they legitimately were just heading at the same direction as her psuedo-brother, but his mysterious meeting with...someone had piqued their interest.
But it seemed that Naruto wasn't amused by their active attempt at finding out what he was up to. So he decided to express his disapproval.
Naruto walked up to Mio and grabbed her cheeks, much to the girl's confusion.
Then he pulled.
"Ah...ah! Ah! Ow! Owwwwww!"
The shinobi kept his deadpanned expression as he pulled his psuedo-sister's cheeks, much to her discomfort. His brand of punishment for not listening to him.
"Mioooo...listen to me. I gotta meet with someone important, so you can't come. I'll tell you two about it as soon as I can, but I really can't mess this up." Naruto said seriously, he wasn't willing to lay the fate of this meeting to chance.
He also just flat out didn't like the idea of either Mio or Maria being close to the Hero Tribe leader. He led an organization that essentially specialized in killing devils after all, that was more than enough of a reason to be wary.
Mio held her aching cheeks with a cute pout at the blond, slightly upset that she was denied her curiosity. "...Fine. But you promise to tell me all of the juicy details later?"
Naruto sent her an amused smile. "I practically promised not to keep you out of the loop already didn't I?"
The red-headed half-devil crossed her arms with narrowed eyes. "...Promise not to forget this time?"
"Hey! It happened once!...You're not gonna let this go are you?" Naruto said with dull eyes, he wanted to pull her cheeks again.
Mio flashed him a wry smirk at his question. She'd definitely hold that over him for a while.
"...So...there won't be any super-ecchi time...?"
Naruto and Mio glanced at a depressed Maria, she seemed to be thoroughly despondent at the lack of spicy get-aways.
"...No Maria...there will be no 'super-ecchi time'...By the way, what's with the video camera?" Naruto mumbled with a wary glance at the little camcorder, whatever she intended to use it for...he could guess that he wouldn't like it.
The silverette beamed at the question. "I'm glad you asked Naruto-sama! You see...as a responsible guardian of Mio-sama and as a succubus, it's my duty to catch any and all ecchi scenes! Especially ones that involve Mio-sama!"
Naruto simply stared at the proud succubus while the red-head gave her a blank stare.
"...So that's why you bought the camcorder..." Mio mumbled with a sporadically twitching eye. She should have known that Maria would do something like this.
The shinobi finally made a response by moving towards Maria and pointing his index finger in-between her eyes.
"Oi. The fact that you genuinely thought that I was going to do some racy stuff while I was out has already made me question your sanity. So I think it's better for everyone...if I take that thing away from you before you do something that someone will regret." Naruto stated dryly, and by 'someone will regret'...he meant that Naruto would regret.
The thought of a video camera-wielding Maria was just a terrible and horrifying idea.
The succubus' purple eyes trained themselves on the offending digit pointed at her, before she gave Naruto a dull stare in response.
"...You say that...but aren't you much more dangerous with that weapon right there?" Maria asked seriously while looking at his pointing finger.
Naruto stared at her in dumbfounded confusion, he had no idea went through her head sometimes. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Kuh...! So you are still playing innocent Naruto-sama? Well you can't fool me! You intend to use that finger to violate my mouth don't you!?"
...
...
"HUH!?" Naruto exclaimed with wide eyes, he quickly turned around to check if anyone heard her words...
"Mommy! Mommy! That girl said something weird about that boy's finger and her mouth! What is she saying?" a little boy asked his mother, before said mother quickly tried to steer him away from the scene.
Not before she sent Naruto a dirty look though.
She wasn't the only one though, as several civilians around them were giving the blond dirty looks.
Ah...his reputation...
As Naruto lamented the loss of prestige he was receiving, Mio was currently facepalming and shaking her head. She really didn't want to get involved with this conversation right now...
But if she didn't want the situation to escalate further, she'd better try and stop her annoying guardian.
"Hey Maria...don't you think that you should stop now?" Mio said with a horrible attempt at a comforting smile, her annoyance at the whole situation made it difficult for her at the moment.
Her guardian stared at her for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization.
For some reason the thought didn't comfort her.
"Can it be Mio-sama...that you're jealous that Naruto-sama wanted to use his finger on me...? Does that mean that you want to be violated by his finger...?"
"THAT'S WROOOOOONNNNGGG!" Mio screamed out with her face as red as her hair.
But before the red-headed devil could get any sort of vengeance on her guardian, she stopped and checked to see if anyone heard Maria's words...
The dirty looks that she was receiving from the civilians around her was answer enough.
Ah...her reputation...
Maria blinked as both; Naruto-sama and Mio-sama sat on the ground. Seemingly depressed over something.
"...Did I do something wrong?" Maria wondered aloud.
"...We'll be on our way now Naruto. Be safe ok?" Mio said with a slightly strained smile.
Naruto nodded before waving goodbye, ignoring the indignant cries of a certain succubus that was being dragged away by the daughter of the Original Lucifer.
She was upset that Naruto confiscated her camcorder.
Too bad. He needed some compensation and that was one of the few options.
He grinned though, despite how tired he was from the debacle...those two helped make his day more lively. A sharp contrast to what will lay ahead with this meeting he was sure.
So he shook his head and refocused, he left early in the first place so he had time to meet Yuki so that they could meet the Hero Tribe leader.
But he had to mentally prepare himself for it first, he had no idea how close they would be to where they were supposed to meet the leader. The time for psychological preparation had already begun!
So he pumped himself up for the inevitable showdown as he jogged towards the meeting place.
By the time he arrived at the agreed upon place, he was a little bit early on the agreed upon time.
He was currently waiting in front of practically the only mall in Kuoh Town; literally dubbed the Kuoh Mall.
Creativity...some people seriously needed some of that.
The mall as a building wasn't something too large for him, but as a shopping center...it was pretty damn big.
So that was why he was standing in front of the structure in order to wait for his friend. She should be here soon.
He glanced up to watch the many pedestrians that was passing through the area, many of which happened to be young people that attended the many branches of Kuoh Academy.
College students, high schools students, middle school students...
Huh. He guessed that this was a pretty popular place to hang out.
"Hey! Guys, it's Naruto-san!"
Naruto blinked as a group of teenaged boys walked up to him. He didn't recognize them at all.
"Hey...uh...can I help you?" the blond said with a questioning gaze.
"Hey, you probably don't recognize any of us since we're just a bunch of normal guys. But we sure as hell remember you!" the lead boy said before he raised a clenched fist and threw it at Naruto.
Naruto tensed as the fist went sailing but...
The fist landed on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.
"Man! That prank you pulled on the student council the other day was hilarious! I was dying! Ain't that right boys!?" the boy said to his buddies, much to their roaring approval.
Naruto widened his eyes at that. Someone actually liked his pranks?
That was kind of new.
"Hey Naruto-san! We're gonna hang out at the mall today. Wanna come with?" another boy spoke up with a grin on his face.
"Uh...sorry. I'm waiting for someone, thanks for the offer though." Naruto said with a hesitant smile, he wasn't used to such friendly greetings from total strangers yet. On the contrary, he was more used to their hostility than anything else.
This was...nice.
The group of boys seemed slightly saddened by his rejection, but before they could speak further.
"Naruto. Sorry for making you wait."
The group of boys gaped as they were graced to see a beautiful sight, to them at least.
"Ah. Glad to see you made it Yuki. Should we get going?" Naruto asked with a smile and a wave towards his friend.
Though he couldn't help but stare, as the prospect of a 'casual' Yuki was pretty new in his head. She was wearing a light-pink cardigan and a pair of white pants, it gave off a very wholesome picture of her.
"...Naruto-san...you gotta teach us your ways." one of the boys said seriously.
The shinobi just ignored them in favor of walking up to Yuki. "Ready to go? Where we headed?"
Yuki nodded and went inside the mall. "Follow me Naruto. The meeting place is inside."
Naruto made to follow her, but he couldn't help but sweat-drop at the comments that were made by the group of high-schoolers.
"...You...! To think that Naruto-san managed to get a date with the school's ice queen...! You truly are a man among men...!"
"Banzai! Banzai!"
"Show us the way Naruto-dono!"
He really didn't know how to handle their cheers...
"So...what should I be expecting in this meeting? Any ideas?" Naruto asked while they were walking around the mall.
Yuki shook her head in the negative. "No idea. All I know is that he's very interested in the happenings surrounding Kuoh Town lately and that he's very interested in meeting you Naruto."
The shinobi sighed before brushing the golden locks on his forehead in frustration. He had no idea what to expect right now.
"...By the way Naruto. I've been meaning to ask, but I never had the chance due to all of the craziness of recent events...but is your arm ok?" Yuki asked quietly, she glanced at the blond through the side of her eye in order to gauge his reaction.
Naruto caught Yuki's eyes with his own and grinned at her. "Well, those burns that I got were pretty superficial so they wouldn't stay with me for very long. But I also have a very fast healing rate. So no worries, I've been fine ever since I went to sleep after the battle."
The young hero's eyes widened, Naruto could heal himself that quickly? Her curiosity of the blond's abilities just continued to grow the more she knew about him.
Well, maybe she could learn more with the training trip planned.
Naruto in turn glanced at Yuki in curiosity, her question reminded him of something. "Hey Yuki, where were you the day after the incident with the fallen angels? I was honestly surprised that you didn't take advantage of our agreement the second I got back to school."
Yuki gave him a dull stare at the reminder of her absence. She's skipped class so that she could help her blond friend and she's skipped school entirely the following day!
Not a good day for the serious class representative.
"I was busy coordinating with the higher-ups back home on when the meeting should be and where it should start. I didn't exactly have a say in the matter." Yuki mumbled, upset at the turn of events.
Naruto just gave her a strained smile, unsure how someone could possibly be upset over missing school. The concept was thoroughly foreign for the young man. So he decided to try and change the subject.
"So. Where are we supposed to be going?" the whiskered teen asked, he has been following Yuki the entire time and had no idea what they were looking for or searching for.
"Here." Yuki said quietly while staring at a café that they were approaching.
Naruto glanced towards what Yuki was talking about and felt a sweat-drop begin to form on his head.
"...It couldn't be more obvious Yuki..."
"...I think that this is a play at reverse-psychology Naruto. A case of 'no one would be stupid enough to do this'...at least I think."
The café that they were looking at was dubbed the 'Café of Heroes'.
This world was too much for Naruto sometimes...
The duo broke through their temporary stupor and entered the building to meet with who was possibly one of the most strongest individuals in this dimension.
Naruto was pretty underwhelmed when he entered the restaurant though, it looked so...ordinary. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it didn't really look like somewhere where such a high-level person would stay.
Yuki walked up to the cashier, a woman that gave her a warm smile in greeting. "Welcome to Café of Heroes. How can I help you?"
Yuki didn't respond until she leaned towards the cashier and whispered something to her.
Naruto looked on in interest as the cashier's expression turned serious for a moment before the happy smile from before was plastered onto her face again.
"Oh! If it isn't one our best patrons! Please please! Come in to the VIP section!" the cashier lady announced as she used a key to open the door to the back of the restaurant.
When he looked inside, the door led to a more elaborate eating area but...that was pretty much it.
Yuki motioned for Naruto to follow her as she entered through the door, the blond followed shortly after while ignoring the stare of the cashier lady.
The second he entered the door though, the scenery...changed.
What was once a more elaborate dining area transformed into a very fancy hall which was occupied with men and women in capes.
"How...?" Naruto gaped as he didn't sense any of this prior.
"Remember Naruto...you didn't sense me while I was guiding you around Kuoh Academy when we first met. Heroes practically specialize in hiding any energy signals that they may emit to the supernatural, it was a necessary measure to ensure that our organization didn't get destroyed." Yuki stated as she walked past several of her comrades-in-arms towards the meeting place.
"Also...although I'm sure you know about this...humans happen to be the best species when it comes adaptability."
Naruto just grinned at that statement.
The duo finally reached a set of doors that was made from some sort of metal that the blond has never seen before.
Yuki knocked on it.
After a few moments, the door was slowly opened by an elderly man with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face. "What do you want?"
If Yuki was offended by his rudeness, she didn't show it. "The Great Hero has summoned me. Please let me through. Also, tell him that he is here as well."
The elderly man glanced at Naruto for a moment before looking back at the young hero.
"...You come in here first, girl. The blond stays put until the Great Hero allows him to." the elder hero grumbled as he motioned for Yuki to enter.
The bluenette gave Naruto a small smile as she entered through the door.
The old man slammed the door on Naruto's face.
...
"...So damn rude." Naruto grumbled to himself, he really hated to wait when the action was literally happening behind the door. Although he hoped that he has matured enough to be more patient in that regard.
But he had to be at least a little polite here, maybe this was how they did things?
Naruto was staring at the ceiling as continued to wait for these bastards to come out already.
It's only been about about fifteen minutes, but he was still incredibly bored. It seemed that he still had no patience when something interesting was happening nearby.
As he contemplated whether he should act out on his frustration, the door...mercifully...opened.
Game time.
"...Uzumaki Naruto? The Great Hero of the Hero Tribe is ready to see you now." the elderly man from before said, although he seemed to be more subdued than before.
The blond internally shrugged though, he had to worry about something far more important at the moment.
The old man made to let him pass as Naruto entered the room.
The first thing that he noticed was the fact that the room only held held a small table with food on it and two chairs.
One of which was currently occupied.
He looked around with a frown, Yuki was seemingly on standby as she stood near the wall and didn't acknowledge his entrance at all. While the guy on the chair was probably not the man he was looking to talk to, he just looked way too messy.
The man he was referring to was a brown-haired man with messy long hair, kinda like his as a matter of fact. He had brown eyes which was framed by glasses and two scars on opposing sides of his chin. He was of average size and wore a plain white dress shirt which was unbuttoned at the collar. He finished off his look with plain brown pants and plain brown shoes.
Obviously not someone that looked very classy.
Although Naruto didn't believe for a second that he was here for no reason at all. The man was probably one of the elite heroes that this Great Hero-guy...well...led.
Kakashi-sensei always did tell him to look underneath the underneath after all!
So he walked up to the man with a frown marring his face and pinned him with a stare, which the man seemingly ignored for picking up a cigarette and lighting it.
Naruto's eye began to twitch at the treatment that he has been getting.
"Oi...where's this Great Hero guy? The old man said that he wanted to see me now, so where is he?" Naruto asked with slight annoyance.
The messy man didn't say anything, he just continued his own devices and began to puff out smoke from his cigarette.
The shinobi was about to try again with more insistence before the man spoke.
"...Uzumaki Naruto huh?...You look like a total idiot." the man spoke blandly while glancing at the whiskered teen.
...
"...Are you picking a fight with me?" Naruto asked with a pulsating tic on his head. He was ready to throw down with the old man.
The man didn't say anything for a moment as he continued to stare at the irritated blond before speaking again.
"...You're some kind of delinquent aren't you? I mean why else would you conveniently have those perfectly shaped whisker marks on your face? Also, what the hell is up with you spiking your hair? The simple fact that you're asking if I'm 'picking a fight' would suggest that you're pretty violent..." the man wondered aloud.
The man looked surprised when he was hoisted up by a clenched fist grabbing onto his collar. The source of the fist was an eerily calm Naruto that had another fist reared back, ready to fire.
"...Clench your teeth asshole."
But before he could make due with the punch, he felt a small hand land on his shoulder.
He looked back to see Yuki give him a stern look.
"Naruto. Please put down the Great Hero." Yuki said sternly.
All was quiet for a moment as the shinobi blanked out at that piece of information.
He took a quick glance at Yuki for a moment before turning back towards the messy man with a hard stare.
The man just waved his arm in greeting. "Yo. Say, care to let me down anytime soon?"
Naruto was silent as he stared at the man before turning back to Yuki with a horrified expression plastered on his face. "...You're joking right? I didn't just make a stupid mistake right!?"
Yuki shook her head. "Naruto...this is Toujou Jin; current leader of the Hero Tribe, the strongest hero alive...and my adopted father."
Nothing more was said. The shinobi simply let go of the older man and began berating himself for his stupidity, he was also internally apologizing to Kakashi-sensei for not looking further underneath the underneath. How his sensei would be ashamed!
The bluenette sighed as her friend berated himself, to be perfectly honest...it wasn't exactly unreasonable to assume that her adopted father wasn't the leader of a faction. A powerful one at that.
Even the worst leaders had to at least look like a higher-up, her father looked more like a lazy salary man than a very powerful hero...
Toujou for his part had simply sat down and lit another cigarette, his last one fell off of his mouth in the confusion.
After Naruto had regained his bearings, he immediately turned to the the confirmed 'Great Hero' of the Hero Tribe.
"...Sorry old man. I thought that you were just some random asshole that was talking shit. I didn't know that you were some high-class asshole that was talking shit." Naruto said gruffly, annoyed that he was tricked.
The man just guffawed at the roundabout insult.
"Ha! You sure as hell don't mince words do you? I mean...shouldn't you be trying to win me over to your side or something, instead of insulting me?" the older man asked humorously.
Naruto sighed, unwilling to admit that he was right. "Hey...I just call it as it is ya know? I treat others as they treat me no matter who they are. I only give the 'deference' treatment if it's completely necessary and that person isn't a bad person."
It was true. One of the few times he ever bowed to someone was to Rias, and that was because he needed to convince her in his sincerity. He needed her to give him a chance to earn her trust when she had absolutely no reason to.
Another example was with Azazel, while he was annoying...he wasn't really an asshole about it. More like it was friendly ribbing.
So he treated the man well because of it.
This guy was just a flat-out asshole. How could he not call him out on it?
"Hoooh? So you're an honest guy huh? Well, I don't dislike people like you." Toujou said with a small grin. He then motioned for the blond to sit down. "Come. Take a seat."
Naruto nodded and sat down, quickly taking a quick survey of his surroundings just in case.
The 'Great Hero' then motioned towards his plates, in a split-second a man came in and took the plates. He blurred away once he was finished.
The blond looked at the old hero with curiosity, why didn't that man from before interfere with his manhandling of their leader?
He narrowed his eyes, unless he was ordered not to by him...just what was his game exactly?
"...Uzumaki-san. I hear that you were responsible for my daughter's change in outlook. I have to thank you for that." Toujou finally spoke with a small smile.
Naruto snapped his head back to the older man. "Ah...there's no need to thank me for that. I wanted to be her friend anyways so it wasn't too big of a deal..." the blond said while bringing his hand to scratch the back of his head.
"...Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to ask you something Uzumaki-san. What is your ambition in regards to the world as a whole?" Toujou asked bluntly while he steepled his fingers together.
Naruto gave him a dubious stare.
"Don't give me that look kid. Don't you know how irregular you are?...No one knows much about you. Not even Yuki-kun here knows that much..." Toujou said with narrowed eyes and a serious voice. "In a world where everyone knows what their enemies are and their basic abilities...you are an 'unknown'. You are dangerous in more ways than one Uzumaki-san, for the simple fact that we have no idea who or what you want. So...I'm asking you about your intentions."
The shinobi blinked at this, he didn't think that his entrance into the limelight could cause these many issues. So basically he was messing up the balance of power or something like that...?
"...When you put it like that, I can understand I guess. Well Toujou-san...I want to promote peaceful talks between as many supernatural factions as possible. Not really anything more than that to be honest." Naruto said seriously.
The older man stared at him for a moment, keeping eye contact without saying anything. He finally leaned back into his chair with a thoughtful look on his face.
"...I suppose that makes sense. Your actions against the fallen angels speak well of your intentions. So I have a proposal for you then, if you're so intent on continuing your path." the old hero said with a smirk.
The blond looked on in interest at this, not at all noticing that someone was giving the 'Great Hero' a disapproving frown.
Yuki wasn't happy about what her father was about to do. But he told her to stay out of these talks, she just hoped that Naruto would understand later.
"So what do you suggest then Toujou-san?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
"I suggest that you kidnap the little sisters of the current Maous."
Naruto felt his blood suddenly turn cold.
"...Wait...what?" Naruto asked hesitantly, unsure that he heard what he said correctly.
The older man looked on in curiosity, seemingly not aware about the magnitude of what he just suggested.
"You didn't hear me? I suggested that you should kidnap the little sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan." he said again simply.
Naruto shook his head slowly. "No...I heard you. But...are you insane? How the hell can that promote peace in any way...?"
Toujou gave him a wicked grin at that question. "Think about it. If you team up with my faction and hold the little sisters of two Maous...you can force them to the bargaining table. Force them to offer a favorable peace deal with one or both of the other biblical factions. If the other factions are provided with a favorable and binding peace deal...then even if there are some who don't want peace, many of them would accept for the excellent terms wouldn't they?"
The shinobi just stared at him, wide eyed at what he was suggesting.
Toujou continued. "It's not like many don't want such a peace you know? Despite the methods, it wouldn't be totally against their collective wills to make peace. All you'd be doing is pushing it along. Besides...it's not like they'd be able to stop you could they?...My daughter told me of your creative ways of getting out of danger...if you wanted to...you could do this couldn't you?"
He could.
He could.
He could see it in his mind's eye...it wouldn't be hard.
He could crush Rias and Sona as well as their Peerages. He could hide them away, use fuinjutsu to muffle their energy signals so that they couldn't be found.
Once the ransom was sent out to the Maous, Lucifer and Leviathan would no doubt do their best to locate their missing siblings...but they wouldn't find him. Not unless he wanted them to.
He could meet them in person...and they would no doubt attack him and retrieve their sisters from him...
Only to find that they were clones and henged versions of their precious family members.
The stalemate would stretch out, with the Maous desperately searching for their lost loved ones, until he finally gave them an ultimatum.
Bargain or they die.
He wouldn't be serious, but they didn't know that.
Maybe Lucifer could resist the threat, but he doubted that Leviathan could.
He could do this...
"...You could see it now can't you? The peace deal that's formed between factions that loathe one another so thoroughly could begin a chain-reaction. It could be the jumpstart that could cause other supernatural factions to follow their example. Isn't that what you want Uzumaki-san...?"
Yeah. He did want that...
"...Yeah I do want peace between the supernatural factions...that is one of my end goals." Naruto said quietly, acknowledging that fact.
Toujou grinned. "Then we are in agree-"
Naruto slammed his hand onto the table, turning the small wooden structure into splinters.
The old hero stared in shock as he peered into cerulean eyes that...changed.
Blue eyes that now had a slit instead of the usual pupil.
"...But more than a simple peace between the supernatural factions...I want long-lasting peace...! One that promotes coexistence rather than teeth-grinding tolerance!" Naruto snarled, thoroughly pissed off at this man's words.
"Your way...do you really think that everyone will just accept it with a smile!? That the Maous who felt the fear of the loss of a family member would be ok once all is said and done!?" the shinobi shouted, enraged at the idea. Furious at the idea.
"More than that! Do you really think that devil society would have no idea about what was going on!? Or maybe, you're thinking that the Maous will just hide the fact that two high-class devils were kidnapped because of their loss in prestige? How the hell do you know that their anger and rage at what has just occurred won't push them over the edge and make them want war!? Push them over the edge and do whatever is necessary, destroy those that threatened those that they cared about!?"
Naruto knew...he knew how easy it was to shift from ideal to ideal, to change irrevocably over one event.
Nagato quickly appeared in his head...the prime example...
Leviathan and Lucifer...they would feel the hopelessness and fear of losing someone they dearly care about. That fear...would very very quickly turn into hate.
Hate against those that nearly took those loved ones away.
Prestige loss? Thousands of casualties?
No...Rias told him herself.
Devils were selfish creatures by nature. They could so easily be capable of such mindless destruction if pushed hard enough.
The cycle of hate would continue...
Nothing would change...
They wanted peace for their loves ones...if he went through with this...they would want war for their loved ones.
"...I'm leaving." Naruto said quietly, golden locks shadowing his eyes.
He had to leave. He was too pissed off to try and reason with him rationally.
He would explode again, best to just leave.
Naruto couldn't help but be bitterly disappointed though...was this really what the leader of heroes thought?
Toujou said nothing, he just waved his arm towards the door and let the blond walk past him.
The room was silent as Naruto left the room.
"...Why did you do that otou-sama?" Yuki asked quietly.
"...It was necessary Yuki-kun." the old hero mumbled quietly, taking another cigarette to light it.
He said nothing for a while, just allowing the nicotine to calm him down. Once he was calm enough, he turned towards his expectant protégé.
"...I don't dislike honest guys like him. As a mater of fact...I like them a lot." he mumbled quietly, staring up at the ceiling.
Yuki said nothing, she just continued to stare at her adopted father.
"...But I needed to know if he was the real deal Yuki-kun. He was dedicated to his mission, but how far would he bend before the cost of his dream would be too much?"
The young female hero widened her eyes in shock. "You...you wanted to test how far he would go for peace?"
The male hero shook his head. "No, I wanted to see if he would take the easy way out for peace. To see if he was stupid enough to take a shortcut when taking the long road to peace is the only way to ensure anything long-lasting..."
Yuki walked up to her father and gave him a steady stare. "...That's not all is it?"
Toujou Jin stared at her back, giving her a sad and quiet look. "...I have many enemies in the Underworld you know...? How easy it would be for many of them to promise that boy a peace treaty if he got back at me...by taking away someone I dearly care about..."
An image of a boy, a small boy with vibrant green eyes and wild brown hair appeared in his head.
"...Otou-sama..." Yuki said quietly, empathizing with all of the pain he has gone through in his life.
"Yuki-kun...please forgive this foolish old man. I...just don't want to lose anyone else. Please tell your friend that I'm sorry..." the Great Hero apologized quietly.
Lithe arms wrapped themselves around the man as Yuki placed her head on top of his.
"...It's ok otou-sama...Naruto is a good person. He will forgive you once he hears why you did what you did."
"...He really does sound like a good man. I'm happy that he's your friend Yuki-kun..."
Yuki smiled.
"Me too...me too..."
Naruto was staring at the ceiling inside his room.
He's calmed down a lot since his talk with the Toujou Jin. But he was still pretty sore about how it all ended up.
Those thought would keep gnawing at him for the rest of the day, he had no doubt of that. He seriously needed a distraction or something...
As he was thinking of that, someone knocked on his door.
The shnobi got off of his bed and walked to the door and opened it, not too much to hide that wasn't seen already so not too big of a deal by this point.
"Mio? What's up?" Naruto wondered, his moodiness was pretty obvious so both female half-devils seemingly decided to give him some space.
"Naruto? It's Rias-sempai. She wants to talk to you." Mio said while holding out the home phone towards him.
The whiskered teen blinked. Rias was on the phone?
Naruto thanked Mio and took the phone from her. He placed the device on his ear and spoke.
"Yo Rias, what's up?" Naruto said blandly.
"Naruto. First off, I can't believe I never asked but do you have a cellphone?" Rias asked.
Naruto deadpanned even though there was no way Rias could see it. What the hell would he have needed a cellphone for? He was trying to keep a low profile for a long-ass time, no need to have something like that.
Although it did look badass.
"...Nope." Naruto said without a change in facial expression.
"That has to change. I'm going to get you one since it's way too hard to contact you without it." Rias said with exasperation on the other end. Though she quickly coughed to get back to her original topic. "Naruto, everything is set up now. We can leave to our training trip on Monday at the earliest. Still up for it?"
Naruto blinked. This was a pretty good distraction as far as distractions went. Not only that...but he got to skip school!
"You bet I am! I'll drag Mio and Maria with me if I have to as well!" Naruto said with exuberance.
"R...Right..." the red-headed devil said, she still had no idea who Maria was though.
"Alright then, meet you at front of Kuoh Academy. See ya then!" Naruto practically chirped, before hanging up the phone.
This was it! This was what he needed!
No annoying protocols! No ridiculous diplomacy! No double-dealing!
Just straight up fights.
This would be one hell of a stress reliever.
He couldn't wait to get started!
AN: Hey peeps! Another chapter here! This one was pretty tough to write, had to make sure everything made sense without it causing people to just roll eyes at the flawed logic. Hoped I did a god job in that endeavor.
So the training trip begins next chapter! Much easier to write so look forward to it. Technically the Riser Arc should be starting soon, but of course it won't really end like in canon for obvious reasons .
Welp, cya all then!
-RekkingPride