There was something to be said about rich people.

But really...Naruto could say absolutely nothing about the Gremory and their wealth.

To say that the Gremory family was filthy stinkin' rich was overwhelmingly downplaying the sheer magnitude of their amount of cash.

He just had to look around at the friggen' mountainside that they owned in this summer home of theirs to prove it...as well as the forest.

"Hey! Naruto, slow down!"

The shinobi stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to face the stragglers.

"Slow down? I'm not even walking that fast ya know? I think that you lot should move faster! Move those muscles people!" Naruto announced in defiance, before turning around and walking forward.

Mio just sighed at his stubborn refusal. It wasn't that they were moving too slow...it was more that Naruto was moving way too fast.

He seemed to be in high spirits, for better or for worse.

"Sorry Rias-sempai. It seems that Naruto's having one of his eccentric moments. I'm sure that you must be annoyed of it because it reminds you of your own brother's eccentrics right?" Mio said apologetically to her fellow red-head besides her.

Rias just smirked at her, Naruto's eccentrics was absolutely nothing compared to her brother's. Until the blond began using a videocam to record Mio's sleeping face, her nii-sama was very much the biggest sis-con in the entire world.

Although she was sure that Sona would object to that quite harshly.

"No worries Mio-chan. Instead of getting annoyed at him...his enthusiasm is pretty refreshing. It makes me feel like we're going on an adventure rather than training, isn't that right Akeno?" Rias said before turning to her best friend.

"Right Buchou! His demeanor is quite infectious." Akeno agreed with a gentle smile.

Mio glanced at the bright ball of energy that was Naruto at the front.

Despite her words, she did agree that Naruto was simply the kind of guy that would bring smiles through his upbeat attitude.

She was lucky to have him as a friend.

But it was also her duty to make sure that his head didn't get too big! He already had an insane amount of self-confidence as it was!

"...Hurry up pervert-sempai. You're moving too slow."

"...Damn it...it's not...my fault that...everyone is so crazy strong!"

"Ah...sorry. If you'll excuse me Issei-kun."

"...Even...even the pretty boy is stronger than me!?"

Speaking of having too much self-confidence...

Whereas Naruto had a lot of self-confidence but still managed to come off as personable and likeable...this one...

Came off as very annoying.

She of course was referring to Hyoudou Issei, the newest member of Rias-sempai's Peerage. Recently inducted and was being forced to join the training trip to improve his abilities.

He wasn't the only newcomer to tag along though.

"I-Issei-san! Be careful! Do you need help?"

"Eh? No way Asia! You don't need to help! I'm doing just fine on my own! Just...give me a second..."

Mio had no idea why a blond nun was hanging out with one of the biggest enemies of womankind...ever.

At least...before she would've had no idea. Now that her blond brother has filled her in on what has been happening around Kuoh...she knew why.

It warmed her heart to know that under that extremely perverted exterior, that there was a genuine good heart in there. She would have liked to become friends with him if it wasn't for the fact that she was sure that he would try to peek under her skirt...

Although she made a note to try to get to know both Asia and Koneko, especially Koneko. They had a shared distrust and disgust of perverts.

Fast-friend material right there.

Although...she should be worrying about the friends she already had rather than ones that she could make.

She chanced a glance at the lone wolf among the group, concerned at her friend's reticence.

Yuki was very distant with everyone at the moment, she's been in her own little world for a while now.

If she didn't break out of her funk soon, then some friendly intervention might be called for soon enough.

"Mio-sama, what do you think Naruto-sama has planned for us? It shouldn't be too strenuous right?"

Mio glanced down at her guardian; Maria. The red-head absolutely had no idea.

Though considering how strong he was and his pranking inclination...she'd guess that everyone was in for a rough couple of days.

When the ragtag group finally made it to the summer home itself...it didn't disappoint.

"...It's literally a mansion..." Naruto said in awe, genuinely looking forward to sleeping in high-quality beds during their stay.

"I'm glad that you're enjoying this Naruto...but I'm pretty sure that I will get lost in here." Mio said quietly while looking at the mansion

The blond grinned at her, they would probably get lost while they were here. But that just gave it a feeling of excitement to him!

"So...what torture do you have planned for us today Naruto? Run hundreds of laps? Don't eat for several days? Stand still as you pelt us with objects to increase our pain tolerance?" Mio asked partially in jest, she was sure that he planned something difficult for them. But nothing quite up there.

"...Admittedly I was giving that last idea some thought." Naruto mumbled while glancing away uneasily.

The young half-devil just gave him an incredulous stare. Was he serious?

"Hey. Don't give me that look. I need to have as much fun in this trip as possible, by the time I come back...the student council will try and give me detention again..." the shinobi said mournfully, feeling physically tired from the imagined stunts he'd have to pull once back at Kuoh Academy.

"Well, you have been skipping quite a few classes Naruto-san."

The duo turned to see Kiba Yuuto walk up to them with an easy-going smile.

"Yo Kiba-san. Ready for training today?" Naruto asked cheekily.

Yuuto just gave him a grin. "I'd like to think so Naruto-san. I'm eager to see what you have in store for us."

Naruto's grin turned slightly predatory. "Ya sure? I might be planning to absolutely wreck you guys ya know? I'm honestly not too sure you guys can handle it."

"You have nothing to worry about Naruto."

The whiskered teen watched as the rest of the Gremory group joined the conversation.

"Despite how we look...we are actually quite competent. If anything, you should be careful Naruto. We might just catch you off guard." Rias said while puffing her chest up. Her competitive nature was beginning to take hold it seemed.

"Ara ara. Don't take us lightly foxy-kun." Akeno chirped with a sly smile forming on her lips.

"...We won't lose easily Naruto-sempai." Koneko said quietly with a determined stare.

Naruto grinned at their enthusiasm, he was interested to see how strong they were. He'd also learn more about how devils fought as well, so it was pretty win-win in his books.

"Alright, get changed and we'll get started. That goes for everyone! Let's get our training session on the road!"

"""YES!"""

Outside of the group, a certain perverted boy was giving them a dull stare as he wondered if he would survive this training session at all.

After all...if Naruto claimed that the powerful members of Buchou's Peerage were going to get wrecked...then what the hell did that mean for him?

He looked at Asia through the side of his eyes, she looked really nervous because everyone here were new to her. She wasn't used to them yet.

So that meant that she was fretting.

Ah...she was so cute.

Issei hardened his eyes and nodded decisively, he promised that he would protect her smile! It didn't matter what that prankster from hell had in store for him! He would rise above it!

Later that day, he would question his sanity for agreeing to train with the horrifying sensei known as Uzumaki Naruto.

"Alright! I guess everyone is prepped and ready to go huh?" Naruto called out with a grin.

He received various affirmations from the assorted group that was facing him.

By this point, everyone has changed into more comfortable clothes for training. Well...mostly everyone.

A certain succubus was holding out.

He stared at Maria with a raised eyebrow, giving her a questioning look.

She turned her head resolutely in defiance. "You have no right to question me in my clothes Naruto-sama. You're wearing your casual clothes from before aren't you? So why can't I wear my dress?"

Naruto smirked at her. "It's because unlike the lot of you...I won't get my clothes dirty at all."

That got their attention.

"Naruto...are implying that none of us here can even touch you?" Mio asked while narrowing her eyes. This was what she was talking about...he was way too cocky!

"How cruel Naruto-sama! If you're like this...then I have no choice but to steal all your clothes and leave you naked as punishment!" Maria cried out in outrage.

The shinobi sweat-dropped at the retorts he received...actually he didn't mean his words to be a boast. He was saying that he was gonna use clones to train them...so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty at all.

But he wished he thought of that though! That was a badass boast!

It seemed that the Gremory group was keeping their cool though, so they knew not to let themselves get pissed off from a stray comment? Good.

"Alright alright calm down...now let me tell you about what I have planned for all of you today!" Naruto exclaimed, he sounded much like an overenthusiastic sales pitcher.

"I'm going to split all of you into groups, those groups will have a single clone to train with. That clone will spar with that group as a whole so that we can focus on what needs improvement!" the whiskered teen continued.

Everyone nodded at this reasoning and allowed him to continue explaining.

"The groups will be the following; Mio and Maria will stay as one group, Issei will be by himself, the Gremory group besides Issei will stay as a group, and...Yuki will be with the real me." Naruto said, hoping that no one noticed his slight hesitance.

Yuki was seemingly keeping to herself ever since this morning, he decided that they had to talk before anyone really noticed her odd behavior.

"Umm...Naruto-sama? Why are we being separated into groups? Why not just have us all spar individually with you?" Maria asked while raising her hand.

Looking around, Naruto decided that she asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

"It's for one simple reason Maria. Outside of wanting to find out how you guys are individually...I also want to see how well you function as teams. The only people who aren't in groups are those that have no experience with working together with other people here." Naruto explained patiently, he then made a cross hand-seal.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Immediately, three clones appeared next to Naruto in a puff of smoke.

"Asia-san. Please stay behind for now so that you can heal anyone who gets hurt from their spars ok? I'd also like Mio to stay behind as well."

Asia nodded decisively, wishing to help out in some way.

But Mio looked confused.

"...You're an aspiring...uh...what was it called...? 'Wizard-type' right? Well Rias-san and Akeno-san are both wizard-types. This is your chance to see how it's done and learn from people who have more experience." the blond teen said with a smirk.

Mio widened her eyes and nodded in understanding. Indeed, while she's very powerful when considering how little time she had to learn...she still lacked a lot of experience. Maybe she could learn something by watching the two 'Great Ladies'of Kuoh Academy fight.

Finally, Naruto turned to face the Gremory group and pulled out something from his pocket.

*jingle~*

Everyone stared at the small bell that was on Naruto's hand in confusion, what was that for?

"This...is the sound of hell ladies and gentlemen. One day you will flinch at the sound of this little bell. It will be your objective for everyone here. You don't have to do anything more than either; beat me, take the bell, or destroy the bell. That's it." the shinobi said with an easy-going smile.

Mio narrowed her eyes at that, it was too easy-going...

"...Aren't you taking us lightly Naruto? It's one thing if you yourself fought us, but just your clone?" Rias asked with a frown, slightly offended that the whiskered teen thought so little of their abilities.

Naruto just gave her a lazy smirk. "Then please...prove to me that I'm taking you lightly. If not...then I will lord it over your heads that you lost to my clone."

Rias turned towards her Peerage to confirm if they were feeling up to the challenge.

"Buchou...I want to prove Naruto-sempai wrong." Koneko said while putting on her cat-themed gloves.

"Yeah. We can't let him underestimate us too much Buchou." Yuuto said while jumping on foot-to-foot, prepping himself to fight.

"Absolutely Buchou. We can't let foxy-kun get too ahead of himself. Let's show him why he's our kohai." Akeno said with a sly grin.

Their opinions in hand, Rias gave Naruto a determined look.

"Alright everyone! Let's show him the power of the ORC!"

"""YES!"""

Naruto nodded in approval at their determination. He turned to his clones and nodded for them to begin meeting with their assigned groups.

His group was...

The blond sighed as he began walking towards the recalcitrant young hero, things were getting awkward between them...

He kinda hoped that the matter with Toujou could be dropped but he guessed that they needed to talk about it.

"...Welp, come on Yuki. Let's find our own little spot in the forest so that we could get started." Naruto said while tapping on her shoulder to get her attention.

Yuki looked at Naruto as if she was just registering his presence for the first time.

She must have been really out of it huh?

"Oh..ye-yes. Let's go." the young hero replied before following the blond deeper into the forest.

Mio watched as the two left silently, wondering why Naruto decided to personally train with the young hero.

As a matter of fact, from what she has heard...Naruto has been hanging out a lot with Yuki right?

Why?

"Mio-sama? Are you ok?" Maria asked worriedly, the red-head looked like she swallowed something sour.

"I'm fine Maria. Let's just focus ok?" Mio said with a slightly irritated tone. She had to focus on the spar, whatever was annoying her would go away once the battle started.

"Alright! You can call me 'Naruto-1' from now on. I'm the clone that will kick you all into shape! Hope you prepped your butts because they're about to get kicked!" the now dubbed Naruto-1 clone declared with a massive smirk.

But he stood still for a moment, obviously waiting for the roaring laughter that would come from his obviously humorous remarks.

...

"...You're jokes has taken a downturn."

"Ara ara. This clone isn't good at making jokes it seems."

"Sorry to say Naruto-1-san...but your jokes aren't too funny."

"That wasn't a joke Naruto-1."

Naruto-1 was shocked at the thoroughly unanimous opinion of the crowd. His joke sucked!?

He sat down, legitimately shell-shocked at this revelation.

But Rias widened her eyes at this.

An opening!

She turned to Yuuto and Koneko and gestured for them to take advantage of the situation.

They both nodded and quickly charged towards the unsuspecting blond.

They were about to attack...

But he almost as if he was an illusion, he vanished!

"...I didn't say start dattebayo."

Both Yuuto's and Koneko's eyes widened as they wheeled around saw that the blond had somehow gotten behind them!

Rias herself was shocked at the display in speed, she didn't see him move at all...

"At least you guys got the right idea, you won't be able to even touch me unless you take this seriously. So you better go all out!" Naruto-1 exclaimed before casually stretching the muscles in his arms.

"...Looks like this won't be easy at all Buchou." Akeno said with a rare tone of seriousness.

Rias couldn't help but agree.

"Akeno." Rias said, an inflection in her voice changed that simple statement into an order.

The queen understood immediately.

Akeno and Rias spread their bat-like wings and took flight into the sky to gain some distance, with the Naruto clone just standing there watching in curiosity.

He needed to see what they were capable of, so no blitzing until he wanted to end this.

The clone then turned to face Yuuto who had a slight grin on his face.

"I'll admit Naruto-san. I severely underestimated your abilities...even after I heard what happened at the abandoned church. You just didn't seem that strong at first glance. I won't make that mistake again." the bishōnen said with a confident grin on his face.

Naruto-1 wondered where all that confidence came from?

He was eager to find out.

"Well then, show me what you got Kiba-san." the blond clone goaded while making a 'come at me' gesture with his hand.

Yuuto obliged by slamming his sword to the ground.

"Sword Birth!" Yuuto shouted out.

Naruto-1 immediately had to move out of the way, as several swords ripped through the ground where he was standing.

The clone grinned at that, it was fitting for the 'Prince of Kuoh' to have such a power.

As he was sliding away from the sword attacks, he quickly allowed himself to fall onto all-fours in order to duck below the sailing tree that was aimed at him.

He could guess that Koneko was a power type...sounded familiar.

After dodging the large projectile, he got ready to defend himself as Yuuto dashed towards him with a sword covered in fire.

The bishōnen made to stab at the clone's torso, but he side-stepped the attack with minimal effort. Yuuto then quickly attempted to turn the stab into a horizontal slash.

Though he was way too slow, as the clone ducked under the slash before the arc could be completed.

Naruto-1 swiped his feet under Yuuto's legs which caused him to lose his balance and fall over. But before the maneuver could be completed, the clone had to get back from the incoming loli.

"Hei!"

Quite the battle cry from the quiet girl.

As Naruto-1 back-flipped away from danger, Koneko smashed the ground where he once laid.

The result was a small crater as big as she was.

She was definitely a power type.

"Alright. You two have some interesting abilities. But that won't be enough to defeat the great Naru-!" Naruto-1 was about to say, but before he finished his declaration...

Both devils immediately turned away from him and ran!

...

"Huh!? What the hell!? Where are you going!?" the blond clone called out in confusion.

Then he felt it.

Ohhhhhh...so that's what they were up to?

Naruto-1 looked up into the sky as Akeno and Rias had strong auras of their preferred demonic energy encircling them.

"Now Akeno!" Rias called out as she was covered in an aura of black-red demonic energy.

Akeno didn't respond, she only smirked and pointed both of her hands towards the clone and fired her concentrated demonic energy towards him.

What appeared was a large magic circle above his head.

"...That's probably not good." Naruto-1 guessed with a indulgent smile.

He had no doubt that they were getting their kicks out of this.

The large magic circle then released a large lightning bolt that screamed through the sky and shot towards the blond.

He was grinning when the magic lightning struck down to earth.

*BOOOOM*

Mio covered her face, as the debris from the lightning strike smashed towards where her brother's clone stood. The smoke from the explosion was easily covering up the entire area!

No way did the clone survive that!

But more importantly...was she really this far behind?

She supposed that she shouldn't be too hard on herself, she's only been studying and using demonic energy at all for about half-a-year.

But seeing Himejima Akeno destroy the entire field with her attack was kind of disheartening.

She looked back towards the field as the smoke began to disperse...

Then Mio widened her eyes as something shot out of the plume of smoke!

It was the Naruto clone!

"But...how?" the red-headed half devil asked in shock. He was literally standing there, waiting for the attack to hit. There was no way he had enough time to dodge!

"Well...it's possible that he dodged, he just dodged so fast that you couldn't see him do it."

Mio gave the Naruto clone next to her a dull stare, she was getting vertigo at seeing so many versions of her pseudo-brother around...

"...I'm gonna call you Naruto-2. That ok?" Mio asked rhetorically, she was probably gonna call him that anyways.

The newly dubbed Naruto-2 shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to the skirmish. That attack by Akeno-san was pretty impressive, if looking at explosive damage...that attack was better than his Ōdama Rasengan.

Not including grinding damage of course.

But despite the superior damage...it took her quite a bit of time to concentrate that much demonic energy for that attack. Time which would have left her wide open if the clone was taking this seriously.

The Gremory team so far was without a doubt a highly offensive team...but they had some serious flaws that were easily exploitable.

Hopefully he'd get them to realize that before the training sessions were over.

Naruto-1 slid across ground using the momentum from his jump, he used it to get away from the wreckage of what was once a nice little patch of open ground.

Welp, it was a crater now.

Before Akeno-san's attack reached him from before, he made to move away from the blast radius of the attack. Faster than anyone there could have seen, he sped away from the attack at the last moment in order to hide behind a patch of bushes.

Far enough to get away from the explosion, close enough to get caught in the plume of smoke.

Simple and effective.

Although he was a little wary, there was one more individual who hasn't made their own attempts at attacking him yet...

"Got you!"

There she was.

Rias aimed her considerably concentrated demonic energy into the magic circle in front of her, all aimed at the blond that was sliding away from the smoke.

'I knew it would've been too easy! That's why I waited for you to come out! I've got you now!' Rias thought with a victorious grin.

The Power of Destruction grew in strength until the magic circle released the condensed ball of power towards the clone!

Naruto-1 knew full well that the trajectory of that attack would hit him if he stayed as he was. Rias was most likely counting on the fact that he had too much momentum to dodge it in time.

Too bad he knew just how to stop that plan.

He concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet...

Then he stopped dead in his tracks, the chakra sticking him into the ground, seemingly ignoring the momentum from before.

Rias' eyes bulged as the attack that she has been planning for has been dodged completely, how did he stop himself!?

The ball of demonic energy impacted itself into another patch of land that was untouched and...

*BOOOM*

Once more the land was destroyed in an explosion of energy, with nothing more than a crater to indicate that it was once a nice little patch of greenery.

Though the Naruto clone narrowed his eyes at the crater...

There was no debris there...

At all.

It was all obliterated.

That wasn't normal, so he guessed that the black-red energy probably had something to do with that.

Sheesh...they weren't trying to get the bell at all...they were obviously trying to destroy him.

Well, he allowed them their fun so that he could get a basic grasp of their abilities. Now it was his turn.

The first step?

Take away their home field advantage. Open spaces were obviously playing in their favor since they could coordinate better and use their destructive attacks more liberally.

So...

"I think it's time to move this fight to the forest!" Naruto-1 exclaimed with a grin, immediately after this declaration he sprinted inside the forest.

Rias widened her eyes, he was getting away!

"Everyone! After him! Don't lose sight of him!" the high class devil ordered, their objective was to get him. If he got away then it wouldn't do them any good at all!

The entire Germory group immediately gave chase after that order was given. Koneko and Yuuto on the ground...while Rias and Akeno stayed in the sky.

Mio watched them all disappear into the forestry, she wondered what was going on in Naruto...or rather...his clones' head right now?

"Alrighty then, I think it's time that we begin our training session huh?" Naruto-2 said with a smile, hopefully Mio got some good experience while watching two strong wizard-types work their magic.

Since they were gone now, there was no point in staying there any longer.

Yuki and Issei had already been sent into different parts of the forest with their own 'Naruto'...so they were the only one that needed to get started.

Although she did appreciate the chance that she had to see how strong Rias-sempai and Himejima-sempai were.

Now she had a goal to aim for.

"Alright Issei, Rias told me on the way that you managed to unlock a Sacred Gear? Well show me." the Naruto clone asked with his back leaning to a tree.

The perverted boy nodded enthusiastically. "Right! Get ready to be amazed Naruto! My Sacred Gear!"

Issei's left hand glowed red for a moment before his Sacred Gear manifested itself.

"Huh? What do you think Naruto? Impressed aren't ya?" Issei asked with a puffed up chest, obviously proud of his achievement.

The blond clone just stared at the small gauntlet on Issei's hand, it didn't seem like much.

"So what's it supposed to do exactly?" the clone asked hesitantly, he had no idea.

The perverted boy rubbed his scalp in an attempt to scrounge up the memories of what he remembered from Buchou's explanation.

He was too distracted by the sexy...

"Uh...I think it's supposed to double my abilities. Twice Critical or something...she said that this may not be the final form of my Sacred Gear though." Issei said while scratching his chin in thought.

The clone sighed at this, Sacred Gears were too complicated sometimes. So what? Sacred Gears could evolve now?

Speaking of complicated stuff...

"By the way Issei, call me Naruto-3. No doubt the other clones took one and two already..." Naruto-3 grumbled, before returning back to topic.

"So if your Sacred Gear in the future is anything like the one you have now...then you have to train your base stats. That way the doubles will be a hell of a lot more effective." the clone explained.

Issei nodded with enthusiasm, what did he have to do? Did he have to train using a sword? Maybe learn to use some magic? Maybe get some kind of armor for protection?

His imagination was running wild at the moment.

"So all you gotta do is some physical workouts. From spars to regular push-ups and sit-ups." Naruto-3 said with a reasonable tone.

The perverted boy blinked. "That doesn't sound so bad..."

Kinda boring though.

"About fifty of them since you're a beginner." the clone said with a small grin.

Issei's eyes widened to saucers at the request. "...Uhhhhh..."

He changed his mind...boring was fine.

Naruto-3 didn't either didn't notice or didn't care about the brown-haired boy's reluctance. "No worries Issei, in case you begin to lose motivation along the way...I got a little something here that will get you back on track."

The Naruto clone dug his hand into his pocket which had a noticeable bulge inside it.

He took out a little bag.

"...What's that Naruto...uh...3?" Issei asked, his head was beginning to hurt from all the copies.

The clone raised the bag into eye level with Issei. "This...is a bag full of erasers."

Issei took a step back with wide eyes...he wouldn't...

Naruto-3 shook his head. "Sorry Issei, this is the best way to motivate you. You may have a trauma of erasers for a while but...it will be worth it in the end! That's a promise!"

The old librarian taught him something worthwhile...even an eraser can be a deadly weapon in the right hands.

The perverted boy gave the clone a dull stare, he wanted to get stronger too...but he didn't want to die from over-exhaustion.

"Let's start Issei!" Naruto-3 said with a grin before taking out an eraser and waving it threateningly.

"...I'll feel this in the morning." Issei grumbled before getting started on his push-ups.

Mio and Maria were staring down a thoroughly passive Naruto.

Well...one of the Naruto clones at least.

It was pretty confusing suffice it to say.

"Alright...show me what you two can do. Your objective is like the Gremory team's, either; defeat me, take the bell on my waist, or destroy it." Naruto-2 said calmly while crossing his arms.

"You got it Naruto!" Mio said with a determined expression, she turned to Maria. "Let's go Maria!"

"Yes Mio-sama!" Maria shouted as she changed into her fighting attire.

Naruto-2 groaned at the sight, her clothes...or lack-thereof...made it hard to look at her.

Maybe that was the point though.

"I'm gonna take out all of my frustration on Naruto-sama now! This is for all your pranks against me! Don't think that I forgot!" the succubus shouted out while throwing a punch at the clone.

Naruto-2 twisted his body to dodge the sailing fist and grabbed her wrist.

"Too slow!"

He quickly threw the succubus back towards Mio.

The red-head widened her eyes as her guardian was sent towards her while she was concentrating her demonic energy. The silverette's body hit her in the abdomen and sent them sprawling to the ground in a heap.

The clone looked on in amusement, their teamwork was...questionable so far.

"Ugh...damn it...take this!" Mio shouted out while aiming a magic circle at the clone. It released a fireball as large as her head towards the blond.

'Naruto' rolled to the side to dodge the flaming projectile and righted himself for another round.

The devil team didn't disappoint.

Maria once more came charging in with sharpened eyes and her fist clenched, obviously to throw another punch.

Naruto-2 prepped himself for the blow.

However...

Instead of throwing her fist at the ground like was expected, she smashed it into the ground right next to him!

The clone widened his eyes slightly at the tactic, so she wasn't all brawn and no brains then huh?

He nearly lost his footing but 'Naruto' recovered quickly, the damage was already done however since Maria took advantage of the slip-up.

"Now Mio-sama!" the succubus cried out while moving out of the way.

Naruto-2 grinned as Mio had a blue magic circle in front of her now with water from a lake nearby charging towards him.

Smart. Keep him on his toes.

But...

"Not good enough!" the blond clone cried gleefully as he jumped up on top of the water stream and allowed chakra to flow to the soles of his feet.

He began to run on top of the artificially-made water stream towards Mio.

Mio's eyes bulged at this unforeseen ability and quickly tried to form enough demonic energy for another spell...

But it turned out that she didn't have to.

The Naruto clone jumped over and behind her instead of taking advantage of her open position.

Mio turned to face the clone with wary eyes as Maria returned to her side.

...What was he up to?

She tried to replay the short battle in her head in order to see if she was missing something important, but she couldn't think of anything.

Just what was going on in his head?

Yuki was staring at the back of her closest friend's head.

She had no idea how to talk to him...

No matter how many times she went over the conversation in her head...she just couldn't talk to him.

Just talk to him...

Just talk to him...

"Yuki?"

The young hero blinked as she was broken from her trance. She looked to see that the boy that was occupying her thoughts was giving her a worried look.

"...You ok? You've been out of it since this morning." Naruto said with a slight frown, she's been acting pretty dazed and distant for a while now. It's obvious that something was happening in her light-blue head.

He had an idea of what.

"...I'm fine Naruto. Just tired." Yuki lied through her teeth. Internally, she was annoyed at just how hard it was to say something...anything about what happened.

"...Does it have anything to do with what happened the other day?" Naruto asked quietly, staring ahead as they continued their trek to find a good spot to spar.

The young hero didn't say anything, she figured that he knew already.

She hoped that he would continue the conversation, to say what had to be said but...

He didn't say anything.

He just kept walking, his eyes continuing to look ahead.

...

Why wasn't he saying anything?

Did he hate her father that much now?

Why didn't she say anything?

She knew what she had to say...she's been going over it ever since last Saturday.

'Otou-sama didn't actually mean what he said Naruto. He was just afraid that you would do anything and everything for your goals. Even sacrifice his only daughter. I know his words hurt but...if you can...please forgive him.'

It wouldn't solve the problem but it would be a start.

They could converse from there, talking about the genuine grievances that the blond no doubt had instead of letting them fester.

But...she just couldn't speak.

"Hey Yuki..." Naruto finally said after a moment of silence.

The young hero perked at her name being called.

"Look...I know that you want to defend your father or something like that. But let's leave that for later ok? Let's go and-"

"I'm sorry." Yuki interjected quietly, her bangs shadowing her eyes.

Naruto turned to face Yuki in confusion, what was she apologizing for?

"I'm sorry..." she repeated again.

"Woah woah Yuki...what are you saying sorry for...?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.

"...Otou-sama asked for cruel things from you. Although he wanted to test you...he still said something terrible..." the young hero said quietly.

Why though? Why was she saying those things? She herself had no idea why...

"I know it doesn't excuse him but...he didn't say those things because he believed in them. He said those things for my sake..."

Why was she saying this? She wanted to give him a precise and thorough explanation of what really happened as well as an apology...

So why was she rambling on?

"He lost so much...so much...he was afraid that he would lose me too..."

Why...? Why was she so...so...

"Please...don't hate him Naruto..."

...Afraid?

"...Please...I don't want to lose you as a friend...please don't hate me too..."

...

Were those her true thoughts?

Was she afraid to lose Naruto's friendship?

Why? It wasn't logical. She said it herself.

Naruto was a good person, he wouldn't break their friendship because her father had done something like this.

Yet...

The thought alone terrified her.

Just the chance...just the sheer chance of that even happening made her hands clench and un-clench with stressful energy.

Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at the female hero. He honestly needed a second for his brain to catch up.

Then it finally did.

"...Hey Yuki."

Yuki looked up to face the blond...

*flick*

"Ow." the young hero complained as her forehead received a flick from an irate blond.

"Oi...do you take me that lightly? You're obviously underestimating me here Yuki. Like it or not...for better or for worse...you are my comrade now. To me, a bond like that is not so easily broken." Naruto said with an annoyed glare towards the female hero.

Yuki turned away uneasily. "...You say that but...my father said such horrible things and I didn't do anything to stop him. Even if it was for my sake, you should be pretty upset right?"

Naruto nodded. "Damn straight I'm upset. But if you expected me to take out my anger on you then you were dead-wrong. Nope...I was just planning on beating the crap out of your dad."

The bluenette blinked. He...wasn't upset at her?

"Why aren't you upset at me Naruto?" Yuki asked quietly.

The blond just rubbed the back of his head in a bashful gesture. "Well...despite how the so called 'Great Hero' seems...he's your superior right? It can't be easy to disobey him at all. Also, while you didn't warn me or anything, you also didn't take part in his little scheme of his. So why would I be upset at you?"

Yellow eyes stared at blue. Clear and crystalline blue, just like fresh spring water.

Those eyes wouldn't lie to her at such a moment.

She allowed for a slightly bitter smile to appear on her lips. How could she doubt her friend so easily?

Her friend...was the best kind of friend there was. Even though she didn't have much experience with such people...of that she was still absolutely sure.

She gave him a smile, one that truly came from the deepest recesses of her heart in gratitude.

"Thank you...Naruto."

The shinobi gave her a wry smirk in return.

"Don't thank me yet...you won't be so grateful once I kick your ass in our spar."

Yuki gave him a small grin in return, allowing for the familiar banter to ease her troubles.

"I wouldn't be sure Naruto...I might win this time."

They both lowered their center of gravity, with the hero equipping her hero's armor and weapons and the 'unknown' grabbing his kunai.

They were about ready to charge at one another...

"Wait. Time-out." Naruto said blandly, making the 'T' sign for a moment.

Yuki nearly tripped over herself at the abrupt end to their battle before it even began.

"Totally forgot to do something. No worries, this will be just a second!" the shinobi continued while grabbing an arbitrary rock from the ground.

The hero leaned against Sakuya as she gave him a dull stare in annoyance, the build-up was completely ruined and she was left feeling annoyed.

Naruto wrapped a small piece of paper around the rock and then threw it into the air.

Yuki watched in curiosity, what was he doing?

Naruto grinned as he set the exploding tag on the rock to explode when he made the hand seal.

The rock made a small explosion in the air, seemingly accomplishing nothing except lighting up the sky.

"...What are you up to Naruto?" Yuki asked with a suspicious stare. No way he did that for no reason at all.

The blond just gave her a cheesy grin. "Well...let's just say that we aren't the only ones who are about to fight seriously."

Naurto-1 was jumping from tree branch to tree branch, purposely leading the Gremory team further into the forestry. If he was a betting clone...he would say that...

A small explosion lit up the sky for a moment, coming from where the boss was.

Perfect. It was time huh?

He stopped on his most recent tree branch and turned back to face his sparring partners.

It was time to ramp up the difficulty!

Naruto-2 was grinning at the two half-devils that were prepping another attack against him. He wondered when the boss would give the signal...

His gaze was drawn upwards when a small explosion lit up the sky.

Ah...so it was time huh?

"Alright Mio...Maria...time to take the kiddy gloves off..."

Naruto-3 was staring at the brown-haired boy that was panting on the floor.

Issei looked pretty exhausted, especially after doing about three-quarters of the requested push-ups.

Even as a devil he was pretty out of shape...

The clone noticed that a small explosion lit up the sky for a moment.

...

"Damn it..." the Naruto clone cursed, Issei was way too weak to be any fun to fight against. Looks like he got the short end of the straw here...

Lucky bastards...

Asia had no idea what to do.

She was asked to help heal anyone who had any wounds from these spars, but she was currently on standby until then.

She didn't have to be, she could also proactively go to where one of the battles were taking place and heal someone as soon as they were hurt.

But she was having trouble choosing where to go...

She could go to where the Gremory group was since that battle had the most people and very likely the most wounds that needed healing.

She could go to where Mio-san and Maria-san were since they were had to face Naruto-san alone.

She could go to where Issei-san was since she really didn't like the idea of him getting hurt.

So she was stuck worrying over which choice to make and who to help first, moving from one side of the clearing to another in her indecisiveness.

One gets the feelings that because of her indecisiveness...she's about to get swamped by many wounded patients.

There was only one thing anyone with a heart could say...

...Good luck Asia.

AN: Yo everyone! Managed to scrounge this up in my spare time. I think I managed the scenes pretty well.

Now if it wasn't obvious, Naruto and his clones are about to take their fights more seriously. I'm sure most noticed it, but none of the clones used weapons or jutsus yet.

That's about to change.

Also, this was the first time Naruto was getting a glimpse at the almost everyone's abilities. So he was playing observer during these clashes, next chapter is when he begins to note their major weaknesses, look forward to my impeccable logic!

Lastly...holy crap! I think this chapter will break the 100k barrier! Not only that! But I have over 1k followers and nearly 1k favs! All of you are awesome! Especially the reviewers! :D

Milestone reached! To think that I almost didn't start the story at all a bit more than a month ago...

Who knew eh?

Until next time!

-RekkingPride