The Legacy of the Most Unpredictable Ninja

by RekkingPride

After checking up on a strange rift in space and time, Naruto ended up in a foreign land where new allies and enemies await. However, his wish to bring peace to his home still resonated...so he will do everything he can to return home, no matter what! 3 Crossovers mixed right, with a 4th on the way. A new narrative with believable characters! Strong!Naruto and mostly in-character!

41. Chapter 41

Raynare has had an interesting few days.

Or, at least, an annoying few days, to an extent.

Back at the Grigori institution that she was stationed in the Underworld, she had lived a life where everything was regimented by Azazel-sama, a predictable timetable to everything.

It wasn't necessarily bad, and it was kind of necessary in order to bring out whatever her de-facto guardian was trying to coax out of her.

A task that, if she were honest, he was too successful with.

Regardless, even before she began to serve directly under Azazel-sama, she had always been somewhat...regimented.

Yet, the moment that she stepped out of the Underworld, the moment that she had entered Kuoh Town, was the same moment that the order that was her life was completely obliterated.

...For the second time.

It ground against her, the thought of unforseen circumstances, the unknown.

So, obviously, from the time where Gremory's knight attacked her, to the time where she took part in a large discussion about the numerous events that plagued the supernatural residents of Kuoh Town, everything grinded on her.

One day to actually have a normal day without some random event throwing her off her feet would be appreciated, thank you very much.

She didn't want to end up like the supernatural residents of Kuoh Town, where they acted with borderline nonchalance to the unpredictable.

The 'unpredictable', in that case, being the young man that was partially responsible for her life's topsy-turvy trajectory.

Which was part of the reason why she left that grouping early, so that she could take some time to absorb everything and get away from the stifling atmosphere of the overrepresented devils.

Say what you will, but she couldn't be thoroughly comfortable with the idea of being surrounded by devils, even if they were nominally allies.

It would take a bit of time to get used to them.

So when the fallen angel returned to the house that she was staying in, she went to get some rest after she did some cleaning, feeling a little awkward sleeping there without doing some work to contribute.

But when she woke up...

"Mmph! Mmmmm! Mmmmrgh!"

She woke up to the sight of a strangely familiar man with priestly clothing and insane red eyes, screaming his head off and struggling against the bonds that held him down.

As well as the ball gag that was no doubt preventing him from yelling the obscenities that he so wanted to give voice to.

Though why someone would use a ball gag instead of a piece of cloth was beyond her.

Remaining still on the reclining chair that she has taken as her makeshift bed until she took in this, once again, completely out-of-left-field situation, she came to a realization.

It seemed that by the end of this, she'd be forced to adapt like the resident devils.

Damn it, that was a depressing thought.

Getting up from her 'bed', the young woman studied the man closely, scowl deepening as she could swear that she has seen him before.

Perhaps she was having trouble because of how thoroughly trashed he looked?

Ignoring the severe burns he was sporting, as well as his frayed clothing, his face looked like it was recently used as someone's punching bag.

Black and blue all over, with his cheeks puffed up like some sort of horrific chipmunk, the man that was practicing bondage was unrecognizable to a normal human, so she was probably fighting a losing battle in trying to remember him.

Shrugging her shoulders, she stretched her limbs in place in order to get the kinks out of her joints, then walked off to find the only one who could answer her questions.

She couldn't find him.

All she found was the small form of the silver-haired girl that claimed to be Mio's guardian, busy cleaning up some dishes in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" the silverette chirped, aware of her presence without having to turn away from the sink.

Raynare raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "Morning. Hey, do you know that you have a brutalized man tied up in your living room?"

Maria finally turned away from the sink, eyes wide. "...Oh yeah, we do, don't we?"

She then chuckled nervously, scratching her cheek. "Oops...I guess I forgot to give you a warning about that, didn't I? I hope it wasn't too surprising."

It was. She really could have used that warning.

Not that she verbalized her disgruntlement or anything. "And...he's there because...?"

"Not sure." was her reply, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders. "Naruto-sama dragged him into the house sometime last night, all tied up. He never explained where that weird guy came from when I talked to him this morning...so I'm as clueless as you."

The fallen sighed, pushing her bangs back in frustration. "And where is Naruto right now...?"

"In school." Maria claimed as if it was obvious. "He went with Mio-sama after he woke up and had breakfast."

Oh, is that where he went? Well then, she could easily-

...

"He goes to school?" Raynare had to make doubly sure that she heard that right. "Naruto goes to school?"

There was no mistaking the incredulity in the young woman's voice, unable to reconcile with the fact that the tirelessly energetic blond would willingly go to an institution of learning.

It just didn't fit with what she knew about him.

"Yeah...apparently he was tricked into going to Kuoh Academy, but he hasn't tried to get out of there yet." Maria admitted, going back to continue with the dishes. "It's kinda weird, but then again, knowing him, he might've forgotten about that. Who knows with him?"

Yeah, the silverette really couldn't tell anyone why the blond does what he does, just that he does it.

She'd like to figure out how his head worked someday though.

...As well as how to make him blush like a pre-pubescent boy.

She hadn't forgotten about that, it had much to do with her pride as a succubus after all.

Well...kinda.

She mostly just wanted to see his adorably red face.

"Ok..." Raynare was beginning to look more than a little exasperated with the situation. "Fine, then I'll just go to this school of his to ask him myself. There's just...something about that guy that..."

She halted there, shaking her head in frustration at the identity of the tied up man, something ringing at the back of her head when she looked at him.

And she hated the feeling of not knowing something that she should.

"E-Eh? You're going over there? Right now?" Maria stuttered, her memories harking back to the last time that she went to Kuoh Academy for a friendly visit.

If she remembered correctly, that was the day that an apple and a frog fought to the death.

She was understandably skittish about going back there, especially when one considered the fact that Mio-sama didn't want her there at all.

The fallen was undeterred though. "Yeah, I'm going. You don't have to come along, I know the way there."

Even as she made her intention known, the supernatural woman was already moving past the small girl to make her way out of the house, determined for some answers.

Maria watched her go, wide eyed, wavering.

She broke quickly. "Wait!"

Raynare stopped her forward gait and twisted her head to look at the silver-haired girl, wondering what she wanted.

She wouldn't get the chance to ask, as Maria had already ripped her apron off and ran off to the entrance that the fallen had entered through initially, disappearing to the next room.

A violet gaze was left with nothing to focus on as it stared at the kitchen entrance, their owner left confused.

At first anyway.

Raynare quickly caught an inkling of what the smaller female was up to however, when she heard a distinctly muffled 'Guh!' emerge from the living room.

This suspicion was somewhat confirmed when Maria trotted back in, all smiles, completely ignoring the bit of blood staining her cheek.

"Had to knock him out, just in case he tried anything weird while we are gone." she reasoned, wiping the blood of off her face. "So I hit him. Hard."

The other female in the room quirked an eyebrow. "How hard?"

"As in; 'I have no idea whether he's going to get up today' hard."

Raynare nodded, her dark satisfaction revealed due to her crooked smirk. "Good. Lead the way."

She could grow to like these people yet.

---

Sona blew out some air once again, holding her head up with her right hand as she massaged her forehead.

Another headache was rolling in.

Although she had recently skipped school not once, but twice, in order to deal with serious issues that affected the peace and stability of Kuoh Town...it seemed that her position as student council president refused to be curtailed.

Case in point; there was literally a huge stack of paperwork on her desk to fill out, ranging from requests for more club funding to questions about the Ball Tournament.

...

Oh, that's right, the Ball Tournament.

She forgot about that little schoolwide event...

Prior to Uzumaki-san's adventure to Kyoto, as well as before the school became vandalized by a frog and a...what was it...?

A 'Bapple', if she remembered correctly.

Yes. Before the school became vandalized due to the efforts of 'Gama-tan' and 'Bapple', she was in the middle of going through the paperwork that would allow for this club spanning event to occur.

She was forced to move that work to the side however, for obvious reasons.

Thankfully, the date for the event was never announced, so as long as she got to work immediately, she should be able to revive this school event.

More than anything else...she genuinely did want the students of Kuoh Academy to enjoy their high school lives, so working a little harder than usual wasn't going to be much of a bother for her.

At least the funds were secured prior to the series of debacles that forced her attention away from her work, all that really needed to be done now was to finalize the date with the faculty and coordinate which clubs would participate.

All she needed to do now was get started on the paperwork, which shouldn't take too long as long as there were no distractions-

"Yo, Sona-kaichou!"

And, of course, the king of distractions would barge into her office right at that moment.

Sona cautiously raised her head from her work to look at the duo that entered the student council room, lips thinning as she met with the dancing blue eyes of a troublemaker.

"Uzumaki-san." her queen thankfully intervened. "Kaichou is currently in the middle of catching up on her work, unfortunately she doesn't have the time to be speaking to you right now. Perhaps you could come back later?"

Her statement was perfectly concise as to explain the situation without being outright insulting, giving an air of finality to her words while dangling the possibility of a second meeting later.

Really, most people would have taken the hint.

"Eh...this is pretty important though. Sorry, this can't wait dattebayo."

Too bad the blond wasn't like most people.

Before Sona could irritably tell the whiskered boy that she really was too busy to deal with his usual shenanigans, she noticed someone pop up from behind said male.

A shock of red hair gave her a clue as to who it was.

"Mio-san." the Sitri heiress called out, raising a brow when the mop of hair flinched from behind the troublemaker. "What are you doing here?"

Indeed, Naruse Mio slowly peeked out of her hiding spot behind Naruto, allowing herself to be fully visible to the high-class devil.

Shuffling nervously in place, the red-head waved at her. "H-Hey. Good morning, kaichou."

"...I hope that you're not skipping class like your older sibling, Mio-san." Sona frowned, hoping that the young woman wasn't following her brother's footsteps in his lackluster performance as a student.

The half-devil glanced away from her, biting her bottom lip. "Well..."

"She is." Naruto cut in dryly, earning a sputtered reaction from his sister. "But she wants to keep me out of trouble today, apparently."

Seeing the dubious look that was passed between the king and queen of the Sitri group, Mio recovered enough to explain herself. "W-Well, Naruto's professors are probably really annoyed with him because of how many classes he's skipped, right? So I just thought that, at least for his first day back, that someone could keep him out of trouble...you know?"

The shinobi in question glanced at the red-head, expression dry, clearly not seeing the need for her to tag along.

A sentiment that Sona seemed to agree with, if her dull eyes were to be believed.

Before she could even begin to voice such an opinion though, the blond in the room saw fit to speak again.

"Ok, yeah, this conversation is cool and all, but I really, really do need to talk to you about something, Sona-kaichou!" Naruto declared, forcing their talk to go back to where he needed it to be.

The Sitri devil could only blow out some air, feeling her headache throb harder.

So much so that she was ready to punt the issue of the blond to someone else.

"Considering how busy I am, wouldn't it be better for you to go speak to Rias about whatever...'problem' you're having?" the devil tried to push the young man to her erstwhile rival, internally thanking her for her sacrifice in the name of the greater good.

Her sacrifice would be remembered.

"I tried that already."

Damn it.

"She was in the middle of class when I found her, and when I got her attention by knocking...well, she shooed me away." he continued, idly remembering how the red-head waved him away with a panicked expression on her face, strangely flushed.

Her reaction to his presence was a little rude though, and all he really did was grab everyone in the classroom's attention by knocking loudly.

What was she so embarrassed for exactly?

Shrugging it off, he took in the dull look that the student council president was giving him.

"...What?"

Sona shook her head, apologizing to her friend in her head for trying to pawn the blond off to her. "Nothing...really. But what exactly is so important that you have to interrupt my work for?"

Naruto didn't verbally respond to her query.

Rather, he dug his hand into his pants pocket to pull out a slip of paper and held it out in front of him, so that everyone in the room could see it.

He then channeled just a bit of chakra into it.

Sona stared at the piece of paper, puzzled. "What are you-?"

*Clang*

Her words died in her throat the moment that a wicked looking sword popped out of the paper in the blond's hand, clattering on the floor of her office.

More alarming than the fact that a sword just popped out of a piece of paper however, was the aura that it released.

An aura that immediately raised her hackles and made her skin crawl, instinctively making her shy away from the weapon.

One that she recognized as poisonous for her and any of her kind.

A holy aura.

Which meant that that was a holy sword.

"This..." Naruto drawled. "Is what I needed to talk to you and Rias about."

As soon as he made that statement though, the youth quickly huffed, his features belaying his newly displeased state of mind.

"But I'm positive that I could've gotten Rias' attention earlier if a certain sadist actually told her about what happened last night." the shinobi complained, crossing his arms as he completely missed the overall reaction of the holy sword's entrance.

Even Mio's reaction, who's hybrid status helped lessen her instinctual fear of the sword, was obviously negative, if the constant chills down her spine was to be believed.

Thankfully, everyone of devil blood within the room soon pulled themselves together to calm themselves down.

Which was why Sona took a deep breath, prepared to actually question why the young man had something so dangerous with him in the first place.

Yet, alas.

She forgot that she had sent Saji out to make photocopies of the entry forms that the clubs would need to fill out in order to join the Ball Tournament.

And, to her dismay, the Secratery of the student council chose that moment to walk through the door, a large stack of papers held close to his chest.

As soon as he did so, the aura of holiness that emanated from the downed sword immediately locked his body into place, throwing his balance thoroughly off it's kilter.

And with that balance came the stack of papers.

Papers were thrown up into the air, making the office snow paper as the forms slowly descended into a haphazard mess on the floor.

Naruto and Mio looked on with interest as all the forms drifted back down to earth.

Saji cursed under his breath.

Tsubaki sighed.

Sona slowly took off her glasses and massaged her temples.

A student council president's job was never done.

---

"Ara ara, you seem to be somewhat disgruntled, Buchou. Did our kohai's little stunt throw you off that much?"

Rias really didn't want to answer that question.

It was early in the school day, the first relatively normal day since the highway of problems that bombarded them during the past few days.

Honestly, she was looking forward to simply going to class and enjoying the stability that high school life provided.

It went without saying that she would continue to utilize the training center underneath the old school building, but enjoying the lax atmosphere was definitely something she wanted to savor.

The first clue that this day may not go her way however, came as soon as her queen informed her that she had subdued a man wearing clothing befitting of a priest with Naruto, and that he had secured a weapon that she thought she should see.

While slightly disturbed by this piece of news, she quickly determined that she could look at the weapon as soon as classes were done for the day.

Naruto, obviously, had other ideas.

It happened during her second period class, where the young devil was focused on jotting down notes, as a capable student should.

Until she heard the loud rapping of someone knocking on glass.

Knocked out of her state of concentration, the young woman hesitantly turned to look at the source of the noise.

She didn't look at the door to the classroom however.

No...she looked at the window.

The window that just so happened to be placed on the third floor of the Academy building.

Through that window, she met the annoyed blue gaze of a boy that completely lacked common sense.

She may or may not have squeaked out like a little girl at his surprise appearance.

Maybe.

So class eventually ended, with her fellow students still in an uproar at seeing someone push their face on the third story window.

And Rias was now storming her way towards the student council room, her pleasantly smiling queen trailing behind her.

She was going to see this damn weapon. Then she was going to pull the blond's ear off for scaring her half to death.

Reaching the doorway that led to her fellow high-class devil's office, Rias pushed the door open, striding in with a firm resolve.

A resolve that nearly broke as soon as she took her first step.

The sheer weight of poisonous light halted her unstoppable march forward, leaving her frozen at the door frame.

A fact that someone obviously didn't appreciate.

"Rias!" she heard Sona hiss, her alarm obvious. "Close that door right now!"

A bit dazed, the devil hesitated in enacting that order, leaving Akeno to close the door behind her instead, already prepared for the sickening feeling of overwhelming light.

As soon as Rias did recover though, she had to take a moment to blink at the sight that was presented before her.

Naruto and Mio were present first of all, flanking the student council president as they were peering over her shoulder as her fingers worked on her laptop's keyboard, glaring at the screen.

Tsubaki and Saji, on the other hand, were busy picking up papers that were strewn across the floor.

At least, that's what they were doing, until they focused their attention onto the two who barged into the room.

More eye-catching than the occupants though, was the singular object that occupied the middle of the room.

Held in a sphere of water that was kept suspended above the floor, no doubt thanks to Sona's power, a jagged sword was kept safe from everyone's bodies.

A blade that was, without a doubt, the source of the alarm bells that were going off in Rias' head.

Impatiently almost, the Sitri heiress waved them in, beckoning them to her.

The duo couldn't help but notice the wary look that she had sent the suspended blade.

With an air of caution, Rias indeed moved to join the group huddled around her friend's laptop, making sure to give the weapon a wide berth.

"Akeno..." she whispered. "Is that the...?"

Akeno merely nodded, expression turning serious.

The Sitri heiress' next words didn't help her deteriorating good mood. "Unfortunately, if my research is correct, then your fear is rather valid, Rias."

Not saying another word, the young woman leaned in to gleam at what everyone was looking at, her heart falling like a stone.

"Overwhelming holy aura, incredible durability, unable to be wielded by any random swordsman off the streets, and an ability to significantly enhance the speed of it's user. Those are the perimeters that Nar...I mean, Uzumaki-san told me." Sona explained, the light catching the lens of her glasses. "And only one blade...or should I say...blade fragment, could fit all of those categories."

No one there needed to go further than that.

"So...it's really here then." Mio started slowly, raising her head to regard the dangerous weapon. "Then...does that mean that...?"

"It could." Sona allowed, biting her bottom lip, considering the possibility. "At the very least, Kokabiel has a minor presence in Kuoh Town still, but I wouldn't go far enough to say that he's still here."

"Yes..." Rias spoke softly, glancing at the sword fragment that held so many had implications for all of them. "Perhaps we should try and contact the Underworld again, if only so that we could keep the Maous on notice with what's going on..."

At the mention of the leaders of the Underworld, the Sitri heiress' eyes narrowed. "I agree with the belief that we should try and reach the Underworld again, but involving the Maous? If anything, they could make the situation even more volatile, and you know it."

Gnashing her jaw, the red-head quickly retracted her idea, recognizing her fellow devil's point.

A point that she herself had noted before, but that she had allowed to slip from her mind due to her fatigue.

There had to be something else they could do...

"Buchou, Kaichou." Akeno intervened, butting in a bit. "Before you continue on with this discussion, it would, perhaps, be prudent to keep the holy sword out of sight and out of mind for now, hm?"

And she was very much correct.

Just having the fragment of the legendary blade would be considered to be damning evidence to anyone looking for it.

Like a pair of exorcists for example.

Not to mention that having it around Yuuto was not exactly the best of ideas, all things considered.

Agreeing to the plan, Naruto resealed the blade without uttering a word, slipping it back onto his pocket.

Watching the blond utilize his extraordinarily useful ability, Sona forged on with their previous talk, seeking to bring it to a close. "I think that, in light of this incident, we should keep everyone on alert for any suspicious activity. But beyond that, informing the Maous won't be necessary unless we have absolute confirmation that Kokabiel is in the area."

She closed her violet eyes then, looking tired. "...I don't wish to start a war. Not if I can help it."

Rias nodded at that, she was pretty sure that that was the last thing anyone wanted.

The room fell into an introspective silence, allowing the occupants to quietly consider their situation.

A few of them didn't bother to do so.

"...I'm not sure what's going on right now." Saji admitted readily, before pointedly looking at the stack of paper he has collected. "But, for now, we should just focus on getting these to the clubs around school, right?"

Bless the young man's simplistic mind.

"I like this idea." Naruto proclaimed, having made no secret of his opinion about needlessly worrying about things.

Beside him, Mio leaned closer to the student council secretary, peering at the stacks of paper. "What's that say? A...'Ball Tournament'?"

Thankful for the switch to a far more pleasant topic, the Sitri heiress answered. "It's an event that's meant to pit the various clubs across the school against each other through a sport that uses a ball. Tennis, football, baseball, and others like it are all fair game."

The red-head's eyes shined with enthusiasm as her elder explained what the tournament was, relishing in the thought of participating in something so unbelievably normal and mundane.

It sounded like a fun time that was just waiting to happen!

Naruto looked interested himself. "Oooh! That sounds like a great idea! I definitely wanna join this thing dattebayo!"

"Yeah!" his imouto cheered with equal intensity, raising her fist in the air.

Chuckling at their dual excitement, Akeno smiled. "Yep! It's definitely a nice change of pace from everything. All thanks to our indulgent student council president."

Said student elect coughed into her hand, just a little embarrassed.

Unfortunately, someone had to bring both siblings back to reality. "That being said; unless you're part of a club, you can't participate in the tournament...which means you two can't join."

Obviously, this brought a negative reaction from both younger teens.

For the most part anyway.

Naruto quickly switched from his obviously vexed disposition to a more considering one, thinking about something.

Mio on the other hand...

"Huh...? Oh...but there's no way that we could join a club in such short notice." she complained, disappointed.

It was by that point that the blond close to her nudged her, stopping her from continuing and getting her to look at him curiously.

His enigmatic smile was his only response.

"No worries." he assured, ignoring the suspicious looks he was receiving from both high-class devils. "We may have missed our chance this time, but maybe we could join in and have fun in the next event, eh?"

Mio stared at him owlishly.

Akeno grinned, expecting something outrageous.

Rias and Sona shared looks, expecting trouble.

"He's totally up to something." Saji grumbled from under his breath, saying out loud what everyone else was thinking.

Without warning, an eraser slammed into the blond's forehead, knocking him off of his feet and onto his ass, leaving an irritated red mark there.

The Sitri heiress slowly panned her head to regard her desk, noting the disappearance of her eraser that was placed near her pencil holder.

Then she turned to the blond that looked about as innocent as a new borne baby.

Yeah, right.

"Agh! Damn you, you blond delinquent!" the student council secretary cursed, glaring daggers at his suspect.

Still looking like a proverbial angel, the shinobi tilted his head in a confused manner. "Huh? What are you talking about? I would never hurt you, Saji! You're a member of the super student council, right? It's practically my duty as a scrub to have some respect for you guys."

Anyone with eyes could clearly see the light sarcasm that glinted in his eyes.

Before anyone could call it out though, the young man caught his sister's hand and made his way out, grinning like a fox while he ignored her sputtered protests.

"I'll see you guys later!" he chirped with that same foxy look, his eyes closed as he shut the door behind him.

Rias mutely watched this all play out, dull blue-green locked on the shut door, tapping her finger on her friend's desk.

"He's up to something." she declared the obvious. "And it probably has something to do with the Ball Tournament."

"I think so too, Rias." her queen chirped with a beatific smile. "Isn't it exciting?"

A grimace made it's way to the Gremory heiress' lips.

Considering how she was probably going to have to deal with the fallout of the blond's schemes...she'd say no.

But then again, even she had to admit that there was something...attractive about this spontaneous element in her normal high school life.

That being said, she was never going to admit as such to her queen. Ever.

By this point, Sona cleared her throat to gather everyone's attention. "Ignoring the troublemaker's exit for a moment...have you decided whether the Occult Research Club would take part in the Ball Tournament?"

As the young devil said this, her eyes sharpened imperceptibly, waiting for an answer.

A confident smirk was what she received. "Sona...you know perfectly well that I can't let the Student Council reign supreme completely uncontested without a challenge, don't you?"

The red-head received a smaller, yet rarer smirk in return. "I'm looking forward to it."

If one were to look at the two high-class devils now, they'd see the sparks lighting up in-between them in their rivalry, chuckling darkly in challenge.

Akeno and Tsubaki both shared looks with one another, amused and dry looks respectively.

Their kings were at it again.

---

"H-Hey! What's going on, Naruto!?" Mio cried out, stammering just a bit as she was dragged through Kuoh Academy's hallways.

She had a perfectly legitimate reason to be frazzled though!

How would a normal person react when their part-time delinquent and part-time warrior of a sibling drags you out of a conversation without any explanation?

Like she was, at least that's how she felt.

...Well, the feeling of Naruto's calloused hand tightly holding her own didn't do much to soothe her nerves either.

She couldn't ponder her own feelings any further however, thanks to the sudden stop that the blond had enacted.

Stuffing her face into the young man's back, the half-devil took a step back as she sniffed, glaring at him even when he couldn't see her.

Willing him to turn around without a word, the shinobi eventually complied and turned on the spot, apologetic. "Heh, sorry about that, but I had to get out of there quickly so that I could tell you what's going on."

The half-devil tapped her foot on the tiled floor, unimpressed. "Tell me what exactly?"

"I'm glad you asked!" the shinobi proclaimed with a fox-like grin, making his audience more wary no doubt. "We, as in; you and me, are gonna make a new club!"

Mio blinked minutely, processing and computing this information, before it finally clicked.

"We are?"

"We are."

"How?"

"By finding and forc- er...I meant 'persuading'. Yeah. Persuading others to join."

"You let your true intentions slip for a second there."

"...No I didn't."

Deadpanning, Mio poked his chest. "Naruto. We're not going to force people to join a club, ok? No blackmailing or arm twisting."

Taking a step back, the blond clicked his tongue, irritated. "Tch. Fine. Then we'll just do things the boring way and ask random students. And since the bell is about to go off, that means that we'll get our chance in a sec..."

Turning on the spot, he finished his unanimous declaration. "We'll split up and muster as many people as we can for our club! Let's do this!"

The young man was obviously ready to roll, as he bent down to a crouch in order to sprint to the stairs that numerous students would no doubt flood in a few moments.

He wouldn't really get the chance though.

"W-Wait!"

Naruto nearly slammed face-first into the pavement when Mio glomped his waist, stopping him short and ruining his balance.

Swinging his arms wildly in a futile attempt to right himself, the teen tipped over and crashed his chin onto the floor, rattling his jaw.

Needing a moment to grit his teeth to make them quit their shaking, the blond finally addressed his persistent hanger on. "...Yes, Mio?"

Peeking through red locks, her pink eyes wavered. "Don't...uh, let's not split up, ok? So that we don't lose each other in the rush to class and all?"

Naruto, with merely a tilt of the head, locked his eyes with her's, giving her the feeling that he was seeing through her, peeling away her uncertainty through those pools of azure...

"Alright then!" he chirped, breaking their locked gaze and nodding readily. "We'll do that then. You ready to go now?"

Mio's eyes fluttered, a smile blossoming at his easy acceptance, thankful that he didn't look deeper. "Yeah! Definitely!"

And she was. Without a doubt.

Whenever she was with him, she always felt like she was ready for anything.

His presence strengthened her like nothing else could.

And she was drawing on that feeling of security now.

She had to.

It was the only thing that kept her anxiety away.

---

As soon as the bells rang, students, who were already in the midst of gathering their things, escaped from their respective classrooms to leisurely make their way to their next class.

All while making sure to chat it up with friends along the way, of course.

Yuki wasn't one of those students, choosing to focus first and foremost on gathering the necessary materials that she needed for her next class and making it there in time.

She had quite a bit of work to catch up on, since she was absent from her classes for almost an entire school week.

More than that...she had no illusions about the likelihood of a certain classmate of hers attending class was.

Which meant that she, in reality, was probably going to have to show the stubborn blond what he missed instead of their teacher.

And she had no intention of giving him false information.

Nodding to herself in determination, the young woman navigated through the gaggle of lively students, expertly ducking under a bag of school supplies that one of the rowdier students lobbed to his friend.

Hearing the muffled cry of; 'Hey!' brought a small smile to the girl with light blue hair.

So did hearing the squeals of a group of teenaged girls discussing what one of their member's crush said to them during class.

Or the constant one-upmanship that a trio of fit teenaged boys were undergoing with one another, leading to rambunctious laughter among those that heard them.

It was all so chaotic.

Yet...so peaceful.

A strange, yet fitting dichotomy.

It was nice, seeing something so thoroughly normal and mundane.

Seeing it helped remind her that such a thing could so very easily be taken for granted...

Taking a deep breath, Yuki stepped forward again after stopping for a moment, her heightened mood infectious.

"Oiiiii! Yuki!"

And it only improved from there, thanks to the shout that rose above the conundrum around her.

Through the crowd in front of her, she saw a familiar head of spiky golden hair rush towards her, bobbing above the numerous sets of heads that covered his visage from her.

But she knew who called her.

Only one person could so thoroughly fit in, and yet, stand out at the same time.

"Naruto." she answered, her smile growing an inch wider when he finally pushed through everyone to reach her.

The blond student that she was already planning to see in her next class grinned cheekily as he shimmied up next to her, nudging her playfully. "Yo. What's with you? You're in a good mood and it's scaring me, ya know?"

"Is it that obvious?" the hero asked, more to herself than anyone, before lightly shaking her head. "Well...just look around you, Naruto. Isn't it nice? Watching and taking part in this environment?"

"What? Uh...are you taking about the lack of explosions everywhere?"

"That's one of them." Yuki replied dryly, her small smile growing a little more knowingly. "But I'm sure that you appreciate this peace too...even if it's happening at a school."

The shinobi scratched his cheek, swiveling his head away from her stubbornly. "I dunno what you're talking about..."

Really, considering his headstrong nature, she shouldn't expect him to admit that something that he commonly complained about actually had any positives to it.

Which was definitely highlighted by an exasperated sigh that rang out behind him.

"Really...you can't just be honest, can you?" Mio wondered, looking more vexed by his behavior than actually irritated, before shooting an apologetic smile at the other girl. "Sorry if he's troubling you, Yuki."

Ignoring the betrayed expression that flitted across the blond's face, Yuki answered with a polite nod. "Good morning, Mio. And you don't have to worry about your brother, he's not troubling me at all."

"Yeah!" the shinobi cried out, throwing a triumphant grin at the red-head that scooted up next to him. "I ain't causing trouble! You should have more faith in me, like Yuki here."

"Oh please..." the half-devil snorted, deadpanning. "Yuki has a super high tolerance of your antics...I don't really know why. Please stop abusing your friend's kindness."

"I'm not! I'm totally innocent dattebayo!"

"You say that...but didn't you literally just harass a random student earlier to join your little-?"

Naruto swiftly cupped her mouth with the palm of his hand, shutting her up before she could spill the beans.

Nervously, the blond turned back to the hero while he ignored the unperturbed stare that Mio was drilling into his skull, gauging her reaction.

What he got wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

A low chuckle rumbled in her throat, making the young woman look like a completely regular student as her yellow eyes shined.

Looking every bit like the teenager that she actually was.

Naruto beamed at this, infinitely preferring to see her like this instead of her borderline stoic persona that she took on in dangerous situations.

Or, for that matter, that side of her that was ridiculously obstinate in getting her way.

It gave him that nice and warm feeling in his heart, seeing her relax and act her age.

They should really treasure these moments more often.

...Speaking of which.

"Hey, Yuki."

The hero snapped away from the dwindling mass of students in the hallway, laying all of her attention upon him. "Yes?"

Beside him, Mio sighed via body language, since it was impossible to do so in the usual way with the borderline delinquent's hand stopping her.

Here came the pitch...

Nervously rubbing the back of his head, a habit that he had to knock himself out of, he made the pitch that his companion was expecting. "Care to join a club with me?"

Yuki blinked, staring at him, looking lost in how she should respond.

Then she gave him the only response that she could have possibly given as her brain grasped the concept that he was verbalizing.

"...Excuse me?"

---

"Woah...look at her..."

"I know, right? She's definitely daring, that's for sure."

"Psht. Desperate is probably the better word."

She should've expected these comments, should've known they were coming.

Honestly though, she tended to forget about the God of the Bible's least impressive creation, especially in light of recent events.

Azazel-sama consistently drilled her to be mindful of her surroundings, even with a race that she discounted on principle.

A habit that she has gained through the influence of her flesh and blood no doubt.

And one that she needed to break out of.

She has literally seen her own mother underestimate a human being, only to see her arrogance come back to haunt her with a beat down.

There was no need for time to repeat itself with her offspring.

...

All that being said...

"Kaa-chan! Kaa-chan! Why is that lady wearing so little clothing?"

"...Um...well...-Hey! Why don't we get some yakisoba for lunch today?"

A mother that just so happened to be passing by tried to steer her innocent daughter's focus away from the fallen angel, shooting the supernatural being a dirty look as a parting shot.

Raynare felt a vein bulge on her forehead.

...Why did humans have to be so annoying?

"...Huh. Strange. I'm getting a weird sense of deja vu."

Beside the annoyed supernatural being, her small silver-haired companion made such a comment, looking almost comically perturbed.

Maria shrugged her shoulders, chalking up the feeling as just a coincidence as she grinned at the ravenette next to her. "So? How's it feel to be around the ordinary again?"

Raynare dourly looked ahead, declining to answer.

Pouting, the loli tried again. "Oh, come on. There's no need to be sad! I'm sure that no one really means what they're saying about your clothes."

"...I'm not sad. Just annoyed is all." the fallen retorted bluntly, scowling at the other female's assumption.

Her scowl only got deeper when she saw the victorious grin spreading across Maria's face, only just figuring out that she got a kick out of riling people up.

That belief was only solidified when she heard her poor attempt at hiding her giggles.

So poorly hidden that she began to wiggle a little while walking, earning more than a few strange looks from the regular people around them.

Her mood souring further, Raynare was just about ready to scold the silverette.

Until she noticed something poking out of her gothic-style dress, probably thanks to her excitement.

Feeling only a little vindictive, the young woman quickly punted her foot onto the lower backside of her acquaintance's body, eliciting an 'Eep!' out of her.

Spinning on the spot, Maria gave her a petulant glare whilst rubbing the area right above her bottom.

Raynare could only shrug, a self-satisfied smirk tugging at her lips. "What? Your tail was threatening to pop out. Had to stop it somehow, right?"

The loli didn't look particularly soothed by this logic, judging by her flaring nostrils.

So instead of arguing, Maria just huffed and flicked her head away, keeping her nose in the air as she walked.

Grinning gamely, the fallen followed, assuming that they were getting close to Kuoh Academy grounds now, still ignoring the looks she was getting from the humans around her.

As a fallen angel, it wasn't exactly strange for a woman to wear a corset out in the open.

...Hell, it wasn't even that uncommon for some men to do it.

So she really wished that they'd quit staring now.

But seeing as they weren't going to stop anytime soon, the angel with two pairs of black wings decided to focus on something else to distract herself with.

And her focus just so happened to land on the 'little girl's' lower back.

Or, to be specific, on her hidden tail, and what it's existence entailed.

She could already feel her curiosity soar, and feel her interest pique.

Which was exactly how she was able to ask what she was about to ask so abruptly.

"Hey, how did someone like you get involved in all of this?"

Maria stamped her foot lightly to stop and twist about, facing the fallen angel, her features plainly curious. "What do you mean 'someone like me'?"

Raynare rolled her shoulders in a facsimile of a shrug, walking beside the smaller female since she stopped to look at her. "I just didn't think that your people would let you stay around in this dimension. Wouldn't they want you to stay close to the Maous or something?"

It was a minor shift.

The succubus, who up until now held her heart in her sleeve, suddenly became more...

...Guarded.

The crinkles next to her eyes deepened and the edges of her mouth tightened, just a bit.

It was hardly noticeable, really.

But, then again, when you're the technical apprentice of someone like Azazel, you tend to catch onto some things.

There were a few times her life depended on it.

"...I...I don't really know what you're talking about!" Maria suddenly shouted out, looking more than a little panicky as she unnecessarily raised her voice.

Well, she obviously wasn't too good at lying under pressure.

Which did nothing except increase her interest even more, making her pupils glint like a predator.

Now this was interesting...

"Oh! Look! We're almost at Kuoh Academy!" Maria proclaimed, jabbing her digit ahead as a sprawling group of buildings became visible to their gaze.

Shifting her focus to those buildings, the fallen angel gracefully let herself be distracted, thinking about her companion's strange reaction.

As well as how to respond to it.

...She supposed that she had more questions to ask Naruto than she initially thought.

---

"You want to make a club...? You?"

Naruto's lips curved, his sharp canines visible to his friend's line of sight. "Is it that out of character?"

Yuki didn't deign to actually answer that question, only opting to give him a level stare, yellow eyes unblinking.

Even with the blond's nearly limitless confidence, the young man was clearly feeling the weight of the expectant stare that was being lodged at him, making him squirm.

...Only a bit though.

He refused to admit that he squirmed more than a little.

"...Mow dat I hink ahot it..." Mio mumbled out, her words hard to understand thanks to the hand still covering her mouth.

Predictably, the shinobi couldn't help but needle her about it. "Heh...sorry. It's kinda hard to understand you right now, maybe you should again? Or, better yet, try to-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, since he was too busy whipping his hand back, gawking at the red-head that had a wide grin plastered on her face.

Expression switching from wide-eyed surprise to disgust, the young man waved his hand around in the air, trying to get rid of the saliva that coated his palm.

Satisfied, Mio repeated herself. "Now that I think about it, it does seem a little suspicious, doesn't it? But don't worry, Yuki, he's not making a club so that he could enjoy school life, or anything like that."

Not in the least affected by the completely typical back-and-forth between the duo, the hero quirked an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? Then why does he want to make one exactly?"

The half-devil expected such a question, as well as the other female's suspicion in regards to such an...out-of-left-field request.

This was the guy that had the unnatural ability to make messes out of the littlest of things; to create chaos from nothing.

Was that his special ability? To thoroughly mess with someone else's perfectly good day?

"...I feel like you're thinking about something incredibly rude about me right now." Naruto accused dourly, still occupied with getting rid of the spit on his hand.

Mio simply gave him a beatific smile. "Nope."

"See? Now I know you are..." he retorted dryly.

Taken aback, the younger teen placed her hands on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that whenever you try and be cute, you give yourself away. Duh."

"I wasn't trying to-!" the red-head stopped. Breathed. Turned back to Yuki. "He's totally up to no good."

"Oi!"

Yuki looked at both teens, idly noting that the bell was ringing as she sighed. "...Naruto. Are you up to no good?"

Both; Naruto and Mio, stared at her with stupefied expressions, unable to believe that she'd let someone like the blond give her an answer.

Hell, if anything, said blond was even more surprised than she was!

So the shinobi, blinking, decided to give her an honest answer.

"Absolutely."

Mio twitched.

Yuki nodded reasonably.

But the spiky-haired troublemaker wasn't quite done. "...That being said, this time around..."

His lips spread apart, flashing sharp canines as he exhibited a wickedly mischievous grin, blue eyes dancing with barely held anticipation.

"I'm planning for something that we'll all enjoy dattebayo."

The resident half-devil tried to keep her suspicious disposition, she really did.

But whatever magic that he just pulled to make such an expression temporarily made her catch her breath, forcing her to turn away lest she embarrass herself.

Yuki, for her part...

"Ok. I'll do it."

...Was totally convinced.

Seeing the whiskered teen light up with glee, the hero made sure to add one more thing before he got carried away.

"On one condition."

Naruto's glee fell flat, his features becoming vaguely huffy.

He still held hope though. "Alright...what is it?"

Yuki, always taciturn and reserved, tilted her head towards the floor, the faintest dusting of pink staining her cheeks.

"...Can you come by my house tomorrow, so that we can decide a name for it? I'd like to name it." she spoke quietly, her head angled downwards, her bangs covering her eyes as she fidgeted slightly.

Naruto blinked, never seeing the young woman look so...small before.

But if all she wanted was to have a say in the name of the club...then that was simple enough of a condition to fulfill for her help.

Beside him, Mio was scrunching her brows together in consternation. "Er...Naruto? I don't think-"

"Deal!" Naruto agreed readily, flashing a thumbs up.

Yuki raised her head, her small smile gracing her features. "Tomorrow morning then. Before class?"

With a mock salute, the blond accepted the given time, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Glancing at a nearby clock that was suspended high on the wall next to them, the human female took in the time and turned back to the blond with that same smile. "I need to get to class...so...see you later?"

Despite the fact that they literally just made a set time to meet up, the young woman almost seemed to be unsure whether or not he would actually show up.

She almost seemed as nervous as one of those schoolgirls that was going to ask their crush out on a date.

The ludicrous idea of Yuki acting like a schoolgirl nearly made him scoff rudely, unable to take the idea seriously.

Regardless, the shinobi would ease her nerves. "Yeah...see ya later."

Satisfied with that answer, Yuki spun on her heel and jogged to her next class, her short light blue hair bouncing as she moved further and further away from him.

Watching her go, the young man pumped his fist in triumph, eager that he was finally getting the numbers necessary for his new club to form.

He would definitely make this Tournament a hell of a lot more interesting, or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto!

Seeking to share his excitement, the blond twisted his body to face his imouto, his lips parting to speak-

And those words died before they even left his throat, along with his jubilant expression.

Mio, instead of sharing his excitement, dourly glared out the window, a prevalent scowl messing up her pretty face.

Er...

"I-Is something wrong, Mio?"

No response.

Hesitantly, the shinobi tried again. "Well...uh...I'm not sure what's got you down, but if you need to talk to me, you can do that, ya know? Don't hesitate to-"

"You're a jerk."

Naruto was very quickly left without a voice to utilize, trying to formulate some kind of response as his suddenly moody family member refused to look him in the eye.

What the hell did he do!?

As the blond began to rattle his head on how he should fix this crisis, the source of his worries was crossing her arms, clenching her teeth in frustration.

Frustration that wasn't even aimed at the young man behind her. Not really.

If anything, it was aimed solely at herself.

She knew that she was a bit...'sensitive' with the blond, no matter what she claimed verbally.

Or rather, she was sensitive with who he interacted with.

While she liked and trusted Yuki, she just couldn't quite help but be irritated when the two of them met up privately, going out and conversing or doing who-knew-what.

And her disgruntled response to their meet-ups were only getting worse, if her declining mood was any indication.

She didn't want to lash out, but it was seriously beginning to get harder to suppress these feelings.

It wasn't fair to Naruto if she allowed her self-control to slip, but she couldn't help it...

She was...selfish, she could admit. As she very much didn't like the idea of the blond's attention being so thoroughly dominated by someone else.

This was her family now, and she knew that some part of her, deep inside, felt insecure with keeping it together.

That was all that was motivating her bad attitude; her phobia of her new family disconnecting, that was all.

That was all.

"...Hey, Mio?" she heard Naruto call out, pressing his hand against her shoulder from behind, nudging her a bit.

He sounded worried.

Sighing lowly, the red-head wondered whether she should go to class and cool her head, if only so that she wouldn't worry him some more.

Ah...

Right.

That wasn't an option.

The half-devil wanted to, but it wasn't an option for her right now.

Because...

"It's all your fault!"

Words that haunted her whenever her thoughts were inevitably drawn back to that battle.

"How would he look at you...?"

Goosebumps racked her body, the image of a dying man lurching forward, his flaming body melting and falling apart as he rasped his poison.

She shivered again, trying to quell the rising fear that was beginning to clog up her throat-

"Mio?"

His voice was like a lifeboat for her drowning self, giving her the chance to drag herself out of her fit, calming her down.

His presence soothed her, kept the words away.

Mio had to be near him, until she was confident that her sanity wasn't in stake.

...Hopefully that would be soon.

She finally turned around, swallowing her misgivings in order to give him some kind of reassurance.

It would be hollow, but at least it would be something.

That was until, in the midst of turning, something caught her attention.

A shock of silver.

"What the hell!?"

A growl unintentionally left her throat as she snapped her attention back out the window, locking onto the 'silver' with a frightening intensity.

What she saw removed the cloud that had descended upon her, but simultaneously made her irritable all over again.

Just for entirely different reasons this time.

Shuffling next to her, Naruto followed her line of sight, deadpanning at what his crystal-blue found.

Mio didn't even bother to wait for his exasperated comment, she just twisted her body on the spot and began storming down the hallway to reach the stairs, feeling a vein throb on her forehead.

When she got down to the courtyard...she was obviously going to have to go all disciplinarian on a certain non-student.

...Again.

---

"This is it; Kuoh Academy!"

Even if there was no introduction given to the large western-style buildings that confronted them, the fallen angel would have already made the connection.

Still, Maria being Maria, wanted to give a dramatic introduction to the institution of learning.

Which was why Raynare was casually ignoring her, choosing to skim over the series of buildings, studying them.

If nothing else, it was a pleasant sight to behold.

But, of course, she wasn't here to sight-see. "Do you know where he is?"

The succubus, who was in the midst of another flourish, halted mid-action to answer. "Eh...all I'm sure about is that he's in the center building somewhere."

Warily sizing up said center building, the angel with black wings sighed. There was no way that they'd find him quickly at all if they were walking around blind.

And they weren't even technically supposed to even be on school grounds, she was sure.

Especially if the students looked at her like the regular civilians outside did.

"Heh. I know what you're thinking."

Violet eyes swiveled onto purple ones, looking about as dry as the Sahara Desert itself. "Do you?"

"Yep!" Maria declared, her confidence strangely firm. "Because, thanks to my personal experience, I can definitely guarantee that Naruto-sama will find us in within...oh...I'd give it five minutes?"

She frowned at that piece of information, a suspicion gnawing at her because of it. "...And why exactly would Naruto seek you out within such a small time frame?"

The silverette tilted her head to the side, scratching the back of her head with a chuckle.

"Probably because...I came here because I was bored. When I was told specifically not to."

Ah.

So...she was in trouble then.

That explained it.

...

"Wait..." Raynare scrunched her face, catching onto something.

"Maria!"

But, unfortunately for her, it would have to wait since a -very- irate scream echoed from across the courtyard.

Beaming, Maria waved at the origin of the scream.

She either completely ignored the scream and the accompanied high voltage glare, or was completely oblivious to it.

Whichever the case, Naruse Mio stormed up to the two of them with a heavy scowl, looking like she may actually try and blow someone up. "Maria...do you remember what happened the last time you came here?"

The succubus hummed, tapping her chin with an air of playfulness, pissing off her charge even more. "Eh...I don't really remember to be honest."

Trudging up from behind the red-head, Naruto arched a brow as he noticed his imouto's face twitch in excess anger, before turning to the fallen with a grin. "Mornin'. What brings you here of all places, Raynare?"

Raynare, who was watching both of the half-devils' bickering become increasingly charged, turned to the blond with a blank look. "...Well, I was going to come and find you so that I could ask you about that tied up man in your house...but then..."

She waved her hand in the direction of the continuously bickering family members, just in time for her to see the red-head grind her fists against the loli's cheeks as a malefic aura overtook her. "...Your crazy family happened."

If the shinobi's grin could grow any wider, it would split his face apart.

She didn't know why she expected anything else from him.

Just as quickly as that grin grew though, it was wiped away almost as fast. "Wait. A tied up man?"

His eyes widened, his mouth forming a perfect 'o' as slammed his fist onto the palm of his hand.

"I completely forgot about that guy!" he exclaimed.

The fallen angel face-palmed, groaning.

Part of her wanted to just stay there, marveling how he could forget about the guy that he probably personally beat to a pulp, or the fact that he was left tied up in his own home.

But, if nothing else, she has gotten some experience with dealing with eccentric personalities. "...Right. Anyway; do you know who that guy is? At all?"

"Not really." came the casual reply, Naruto's blue eyes turning to spare a glance at his imouto, who was busy verbally lashing at her guardian, before returning back to the fallen. "All I really know about him is that he's insane, he seems to have a habit of talking to himself, is kill-happy, and that he has...well...'had' a pretty badass sword."

Raynare's lips thinned, a spark of familiarity lighting in her head at this description, painting a picture of an individual that she'd prefer to never hear of again.

But she had to be sure. "Is there anything else? Anything that stands out?"

Scratching the crown of his head, the blond hummed in deep thought, scouring through his limited memories of the man when he was actually conscious.

He quickly hit the jackpot when one specific memory spoke out to him.

"He liked to say 'shitty' a lot."

Bingo.

Raynare's shoulders sagged, trying and failing to stop the tired sigh from leaving her lips.

Of all of the people she has known...it just had to be that freak, didn't it?

She didn't even care about the 'badass' sword he had, she just wanted to know why the hell he was still in Kuoh Town.

...Just thinking about the man that she had known as Freed Sellzen was giving her a headache...

Taking a moment to rub her temples with her fingers in order to nurse her headache, the blond that she was speaking to took a moment to size her up, a certain...something glinting in his pools of blue.

Yet it wasn't until said young man made his request verbally that Raynare actually noticed that glint. "Hey, you wanna help me out with something?"

The fallen paused in her ministrations to look up at her acquaintance, instantly becoming wary once she looked into his eyes. "...Depends."

Her feeling of uneasiness was not soothed when he seemed to outright sparkle in eagerness.

"...Can you join my team in the Ball Tournament?" he asked of her, clasping his hands together, like a prayer.

Everyone around him turned to him, taken aback by his request which seemed to have defied all reason and good sense.

Mio, who was in the midst of stretching the succubus' cheeks painfully, nearly let go when her grip slackened in her shock.

Maria for her part, with teary eyes, turned her head as much as she could towards the blond, giving him a look that resembled that of a kicked puppy.

Sparing them a look, the shinobi amended his statement. "And Maria too, if she wants to."

Now the red-head among them finally lost her grip against her guardian's cheeks, a chance that Maria seized without hesitation by falling backwards and rolling away frantically from her.

"I accept!" the silverette declared while rolling away like a ball, finishing her roll by ending up in a shrub nearby in the school's small garden.

Clicking her tongue, Mio glared at the shrub that Maria was hiding in, annoyed that she escaped from her clutches.

It was only after she tried to will the shrub to cough up her troublesome guardian with her gaze alone that she turned to Naruto. "You do realize that that's impossible, right?"

His response was about as typical as she could have expected. "There's no such thing as 'impossible' dattebayo!"

Raynare crossed her arms under her bust, unamused. "Oh? So you're telling me that I can just join this..."

She stopped there without warning, lips tightening.

Seeing the fallen flex her jaw, looking for the name to describe what the blond invited her to, Mio decided to help her out. "...School event?"

The raven-haired woman inclined her head towards her. "Yes. That. How exactly can an outsider just waltz in and join this...school event?"

Naruto raised his nose in the air, his confidence not diminishing at all under this line of questioning. "Heh...look at you. Doubting my ability to get you in on the action! Shouldn't you realize by now that I wouldn't make this kind of request if I didn't have something to back it up first?"

Mio paled a bit, recognizing that he wasn't bluffing in his words.

He really wouldn't make such a request if he didn't already have a way for that request to actually come to fruition.

And, looking at the fallen angel, she must have understood that too.

"You're up to something again. Something big." she declared with nary a doubt.

"Yep!" he affirmed positively, his features fox-like when his smile grew so wide as to turn into slits. "Come on! This is gonna be super fun! I promise! Besides, I bet that you never actually joined something like this before, right?"

Raynare wrinkled her nose. "Excuse me?"

For the first time in this conversation, the blond's confidence was cracked, leaving a bit of uncertainty in it's wake. "Uhh...sorry, but I thought that you never joined something like an organized festival before. My bad."

"Wh-" the fallen took a step back, scandalized. "Why would you think that!?"

Naruto shrugged helplessly, displaying a sheepish grin. "Eh...well...that's because you sounded kind of...uncertain about what this Ball Tournament actually was. So...I just guessed that you never did something like that before, ya know?"

Her silence following his explanation spoke volumes, at least to Mio, who was watching the two of them, uncomfortable by the void of quiet.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable with it.

"W-Well, ya know...facing others in a tournament for fun and without any high stakes seemed pretty cool to me...I'm sure that you know about that though." he apologetically murmured, staring at the floor awkwardly.

Once more, he didn't receive any response, prompting him to continue babbling without any clear direction.

"Yeah, I know, a stupid assumption. It's just...something that I wanted everyone to enjoy, ya know? Something normal and mundane, where we can just be young. For once in our crazy lives. I mean- that'd be nice, right?"

Pink eyes aimed at the young man that was unintentionally letting his true thoughts filter through, without any of the usual hubris that usually protected his intentions.

Was this how he truly felt? What he truly wanted?

Looking back, the blond didn't try too hard to invite regular students in his little 'club' of his...no, instead, he focused specifically on those who were involved in the supernatural.

Those who were involved in the tidal wave of trouble that rocked all of them just two days ago.

Feeling her breath hitch in her throat, a stray fear entered her mind.

...Did he know?

Did he sense the anxiety that she built up whenever he wasn't near? Did he notice her strange behavior that she exhibited recently?

Because she couldn't deal with it yet. Not yet.

She needed time, just a little bit...just a little...

"Fine."

To her gratitude, her rising apprehension cooled down when the incredibly unbelievable prospect of what she had just heard had entered her ears.

It was so surprising that even the babbling youth beside her fell quiet in wonder, unable to quite believe what he's heard himself. "...Really? Seriously?"

Raynare turned away from both pairs of incredulous eyes, cheeks heating up. "...What? Can't I change my mind about things? This Tournament, as you're making it out to be sounds...interesting. Taking a break from our hectic lives...that's an appealing concept."

Understatements abounded.

Their lives were pretty insane.

She chuckled then, quietly and bitterly. "Who knows? Since I'll probably be returning to the Underworld soon enough, this may be my last chance to do something 'normal'. When will I ever have such an opportunity like this again?"

And, indeed, this would be her first time doing something 'normal'.

Despite her claims earlier, she...really hasn't done something like this before, since her life was consumed with everything besides the mundane.

Her prior silence wasn't of incredulity of a stupid assumption.

It was of surprise that he was correct, even when she didn't want to admit it.

"So...you're really gonna...?" Naruto started, lips bending upwards with widening eyes.

"Yeah..." Raynare admitted with a huff. "You'd better not be lying about this Tournament of yours, Naruto. I want to have a good time."

The blond was practically hopping in place, such was his excitement at the prospect of his plans coming into fruition. "You won't regret this! Promise! Without a doubt!"

A wry chuckle unintentionally left the fallen angel without her permission, shaking her head at his obvious excitement.

It was almost frustrating how easily this guy could draw a chuckle out of her.

Mio, who was watching said blond 'whooping', was inclined to agree with her.

For practically everyone, the fallen angel was either rude or just incredibly snarky, preventing most from really talking to her without sometimes getting put-off by her attitude.

Yet, in regards to anyone that was connected to him, her demeanor became more...softer.

"...My, it seems Mio-sama has more 'rivals' than I thought."

So spoke up the bush beside her, sounding contemplative.

It was kind of impressive for a shrub, honestly.

"Puh! I see her game. Trying to act all stubborn and hardheaded when she's actually just putty! She's playing hard-to-get! Don't let her get away with it, Mio-sama!" the shrub declared unilaterally, urging the fifteen-year old to take action.

And maybe if she had more energy to spare, she would do something, but, as it stood...

Well. She didn't.

As a matter of fact, the red-head didn't even bother to look at the talking bush next to her, only managing to stop the tired look that nearly overtook her features.

Sometimes she wondered about the life she led...

---

Argento Asia never really liked fighting.

Never had, really, as fighting anyone for any reason always left someone hurt.

For as long as she could remember, she never liked the idea of anyone getting hurt.

And yet...

"Come on! Don't let up! Keep coming at me with all you've got!"

"Yes...!"

...She didn't mind this too much.

The nun winced slightly of course, when the spiky-haired boy's opponent was sent flat on her back after getting her legs scooped out from under her. But didn't do much else.

Once upon a time, she would have been horrified of the concept; of friends harming each other, even if it was a consensual affair.

But outside of her latest wince, the human girl only really took a mental note as to where either of the combatants were getting cuts and bruises on their bodies.

...Well, combatant, really.

The fight seemed to be a bit one-sided.

"Huh... really is giving it her all, isn't she, Buchou?"

"Indeed. As a matter of fact, I'm kind of hoping that she manages to knock that arrogant head of his. Just once."

Asia also didn't respond negatively to Yuuto and Rias' comments in regards to the training session in front of them, it was their way of having fun she knew.

Or letting off steam.

Both really.

"Yeesh...that blond bastard really isn't holding back too many punches here, huh?" her beloved perverted boy muttered beside her, scowling at the mismatch. "I kinda wanna join in and even the odds here. Either way; kick his ass, Koneko-chan!"

Koneko grunted as she blocked the kick that impacted against her crossed arms, sliding her feet against the ground, releasing a *screech* from the harsh friction.

Through the momentum she has obtained, she had hoped that she would gain some distance in-between them, seeking a moment to consider her options.

The fist that whipped past her right cheek told her that that option wasn't available unfortunately.

To the rook's eyes, her opponent's fists were barely visible to her, fading in and out of her sight, blurring, giving her the barest of time frames to properly block whatever was threw at her.

Even then, the blows that rained against her began to leave rather nasty bruises in their wake, forcing a hefty wince out of her.

Her momentum was slowly diminishing as another fist rocked against her crossed arms, this time managing to break them apart from each other, leaving the younger girl wide open to a single punch straight to the stomach.

Coughing harshly, a fist embedded itself into her and nearly made her bend like a pretzel, the angle of the blow leading her spread feet to dig itself into the ground, finally killing all of her momentum.

Naruto was bent in front of her now, his fist making the snow-haired girl bend over as she coughed, her features shadowed from him thanks to her bangs.

Figuring that she was done, the blond moved to straighten himself, retracting his arm in order to give his assessment.

Blue eyes crinkled however, when he tried to take back his arm.

"I..."

The shinobi regarded the shorter form in front of him, hazel eyes regarding him with the tiniest of smiles gracing her features.

"...I've got you." Koneko declared, clutching the captive fist with both of her own, keeping him in place.

Quirking a golden eyebrow, the blond didn't verbally respond.

No, all he did was raise his other fist up, preparing to knock down the devil into the ground without remorse.

Koneko didn't respond verbally to this latest threat either, and instead raised her foot and ruthlessly brought it down to the ground.

No. Through the ground.

Naruto frowned as his foothold from under him became unstable, the eruption of earth forcing him to back up lest he find himself in a bad spot.

That being said, feeling the younger girl clutch his arm even tighter and jerk it back to her gave him the idea that she wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

She had him where she wanted him; unable to move.

Too bad she was a hundred years too early to try and outmaneuver him.

Pushing off from the ground, the blond allowed the younger girl to pull him back to her, watching as she raised her unoccupied hand and balled it into a fist.

Before it could release it's deadly payload, Naruto thrust his legs out, squarely slamming them into Koneko's chest, knocking the air right out of her in the process.

Using her like a springboard, the blond then somersaulted away from her, landing softly on a piece of the floor that wasn't destroyed and immediately hopped back into the air, soaring over the wheezing devil as she tried to get off of her back.

As soon as she brought oxygen into her lungs again, the young girl tucked herself up and rolled to the side, barely avoiding an axe kick that blew apart the ground that she was once resting on.

Getting out of the roll into a crouched position, the young rook locked her gaze onto the cloud of dust, looking for the familiar shock of gold.

Her ear twitched.

Spinning on her heel, Koneko swung her right foot around in a sure-to-hit strike.

That very foot stopped mere inches from it's intended target.

"Hoh...? You heard me coming, eh? Those ears of yours are ridiculously sensitive, ya know that?" Naruto asked rhetorically, his good cheer not diminishing as his right hand clasped his opponent's right ankle.

The smaller girl, stuck in an awkward position, responded blandly as if there was nothing amiss. "...Yeah. I can't see you...but I can hear you."

She paused there, reconsidering.

"...Most of the time. When you give me time to."

The shinobi grinned ferally. "Let's keep going. I'm gonna take this up a notch, alright?"

Hazel eyes blinked.

That probably wasn't good-

"Ah."

Koneko couldn't ponder her friend's words any more than that, since the blond's grip on her ankle was tightened...

"Ah."

Then, with only a bit of exertion, he swung around her body over his shoulder and flung her into the air spinning, sending her world in a tizzy.

Even when she spread out her bat-like wings in an attempt to regain her bearing, she knew that she wouldn't be able to right herself before the knee that would come to lodge itself into her body arrived.

She was expecting it, along with a quip of 'You're not fast enough~' from the prankster.

Yet, with her wings aiding her, she was able to plop her feet onto the wall that she was initially swung at, hanging sideways like some sort of ninja.

Raising her head, she looked up to find out why exactly her sempai didn't take advantage of the situation, not sure whether to be thankful for the reprieve or cautious.

What she saw was a waving blond, beckoning her to him.

Nodding from her spot on the wall, she righted herself and began to float down to meet with her sempai.

Muscles loosened up as she fell back to the ground, letting her shoulders slump as soon as she was absolutely sure...

Sure that their practice was done, that is.

"Alright!" declared the blond with a clap, grinning like the idiot that he sometimes acted like. "That was much better than how you were in Rias' summer home, Koneko-san! You've obviously been practicing on improving what you've got; your strength and basic senses, and bringing them to new levels. That's always a good thing to aim for, at least to me."

She nodded, vividly remembering the strength and endurance training that she subjected herself to prior to the entire debacle with the knight's disappearance.

Looked like it paid off for her in the end.

Though, a part of her couldn't help but wonder about his words, seeing as their difference in power seemed to be roughly similar to how they fought last time...

It just didn't feel like she has gotten anywhere, really.

Naruto must have seen such an expression on her face though, since he patted her on the shoulder. "Hey now, I know how it feels when you don't think that you're getting as strong as you need to...but don't worry, you're getting there. And in the end, it'll be worth it."

His kohai met his eyes, hazel joining with cerulean, then flicked away from them. "...Yes."

Blue stayed on her, silent, disengaging as soon as he figured out that she had nothing more to say.

Roughly about a fourth of a kilometer away, their audience watched the blond pat the younger girl in a comforting manner, not at all aware of what was transpiring between them.

All they really knew was that their initial training was over.

Figuring this, Asia hopped off of her seat on the bleachers and began jogging towards the two, prepared to act out her primary duty as a healer.

Issei, who was sitting next to her, leaned back in his seat, grunting. "Well...that went well. Damn it, I was hoping that she'd knock him down once at least. She almost had him when she did that spinning kick too..."

A rude snort interrupted him, earning a growl from the perverted boy as it's owner grinned at his irritation.

"I seriously doubt either you, or anyone here for that matter, could actually score a decent hit on him. Let alone 'knock him down'." Raynare scathingly rebuked, her violet eyes hooded as she challenged him.

The Boosted Gear wielder glared at her sharply. "I know I can't beat him yet, but I'd like to think that I could at least touch him now. With the strength that I've got now at least!"

She simply snorted again, much to his rising aggravation.

She's seen that man face off against beings that would easily brush off the reincarnated devil like he was nothing.

What hope did he have against someone who could face against fallen angels with five pairs of wings and a genuine phoenix?

Frankly, it was downright insulting that he could assume to be anywhere near that level yet, at least to her.

Unfortunately, between these two strong personalities, Mio was tensely resting her chin on her two hands, which were in turn propped by her knees, staring ahead with narrowed eyes.

She chose the absolute worst spot to relax on, obviously.

"Alright you two..." Rias spoke up, noticing her kohai's predicament, preparing to throw her a lifeline. "There's no need to argue about something so silly. It's all in good fun, since we're all on the same side."

Issei, chastised, turned away from the fallen angel and swallowed his aggravated feelings.

The fallen also turned away from him, casually placing an elbow onto her knee so that she could properly prop up her head, which was resting on her palm.

Her eyes were drawn to the two fighters in the distance, inspecting them with something akin to how a scientist would inspect something under a microscope.

Rias watched all of this with a sigh, a little regretful that she allowed the rival supernatural being to watch Koneko's training after school ended.

It was truly interesting, seeing the fallen angel touring the school grounds while being accompanied by Naruto's little family.

So, she thought that it'd be far too rude to exclude the other supernatural woman from the happenings that she was about to remind the blond of.

Of course, she was now cursing her thoroughly drilled lessons about common courtesy.

"Food's here, everyone~"

Her blue-green gaze snapped to what was in front of her, getting intensely mixed feelings all the while.

And how could she not?

She was getting better.

For a little bit, she was back to normal.

But with her here...

Well...the young devil could only hope that her friend could keep it together.

Cheerfully humming a tune, Himejima Akeno was casually walking towards them after having exited the elevator, carrying a large tray of delicious-looking goodies with her hands.

Beside her, Maria was also helping out by carrying an assortment of beverages, as well as some finely brewed tea to boot, looking far too pleased with herself.

Completely missing the tension in his king's frame, Issei beamed as he saw the trays of food. "Oh...! Ouh! Food made by Akeno-sempai! Hell yes!"

Unbeknownst to him, he had just blew off the hard work of his sempai's partner, who had just puffed up her cheeks in agitation.

"Hey." Maria interrupted, tapping her foot against the ground when she stopped in front of him. "She wasn't the only one who worked hard on making all of this, I'll have you know."

The pawn blinked, looking at her oddly. "...You can cook?"

"Someone has to." she replied with a long-suffering sigh. "Neither Naruto-sama or Mio-sama are decent cooks. At all. It really makes me wonder how Naruto-sama has managed to survive by himself for so long..."

Actually, now that she thought about it, the blond probably just survived off of ramen cups.

Knowing him, that's probably all he ate too.

Stepping in front of the group with a relaxed air, completely unaffected by the bickering of the two beside her, she offered the tray that she was holding with an upturn of her lips. "I figured that everyone would be rather hungry after class, so I took the liberty to make some food and beverages. I actually finished faster than expected thanks to Maria-san over here too, so please thank her properly, Issei-kun."

Flashing a nervous grin, the perverted boy chuckled and scratched the back of his head, bowing his head a little in acquiescence.

Mollified, the succubus' bloated cheeks returned back to their normal sizes. "Ok! What's everyone waiting for? Dig in!"

Permission given, Issei jumped at the chance, feeling starving as far as he was concerned.

Yuuto, the more measured of the two, just took one of the tasty biscuits and began munching on it quietly, gaze focused on the two that were currently training.

Rias on the other hand, didn't move, watching warily as the encounter that she couldn't predict went underway in front of her.

Because while the pawn had no qualms with grabbing a delicious pastry from the tray, Raynare looked at the assortment of food and beverages like with barely held suspicion.

Still, despite this, she cautiously leaned closer to the tray, expectant.

Which kick-started the interaction that the Gremory heiress really didn't want to occur.

Akeno, probably having seen the slight movement through the side of her eye, turned to the sole fallen, her pleasant smile still on.

Unconsciously, Rias held her breath, preparing herself for the fallout.

Somehow, she felt that Raynare followed her lead.

"Ara? Would you like some snacks as well?" the young woman asked with a tilt of the head. "Well then, it can't be helped can it? This is all meant for everyone after all. Help yourself."

Raynare blinked.

So did Rias for that matter.

Whereas Issei just began chomping on a muffin, breathing out in absolute bliss, ignorant of the proceedings around him.

"S-Seriously?" the fallen questioned dubiously, looking shaken. "Are you sure?"

Akeno nodded cheerfully, swiveling the tray towards the other woman, no trace of any prior hostility.

Her king watched this with baited breath, daring to hope against hope that their private 'talk' actually produced something.

Just yesterday, Rias had dragged Akeno with her to one of the other rooms after the group meeting that they all had had adjourned, seeking privacy.

She had to speak to her, that was all there was to it.

Because right when the meeting was going to end, a conclusion that left everyone feeling almost universally better about their situation, she noticed that there was an exception.

A single grim exception.

And it seemed that Akeno herself realized how much her adverse feelings to the sole fallen angel was raising everyone's tension unnecessarily as well, since she bemoaned that very fact as soon as they were by themselves.

Back then, Rias didn't even have to say a word, she just had to listen to her friend release her true feelings about the subject, and then watch her reach a new resolve.

All without her input.

Honestly, she was rather impressed.

Then, to make matters more interesting, her queen unilaterally decided to work harder in holding her distaste for the fallen woman back and to make it up to her comrades for the unnecessary trouble she's caused.

Which meant, obviously, a full-blown delicious feast for everyone, filled with food that would probably take them all at least a week to burn.

In fact, Akeno was so dead-set on this idea of her's, that immediately afterwards she left to go get the necessary ingredients.

To put it bluntly; Rias expected Akeno to follow through with her attempt at making up with her friends, but she only held a dim hope of seeing herself hold herself back with Raynare.

She was shocked, really.

And so was Raynare, if her unhinged jaw was any indication.

Apparently done interacting with the other ravenette, her queen turned to her, then turned to the two figures that were off in the distance, still talking. "How's Koneko-chan's training going so far?"

Relieved by the ease that her friend held herself in, Rias answered. "Honestly, she held out longer than I thought. She even nearly managed to score a clean hit on him despite his speed advantage. That being said, Naruto apparently just wanted to gauge her current abilities...so I can't say for sure how seriously he took the sparring match."

"Not too seriously I think..." Yuuto murmured off to the side absently, eyes still glued to Naruto and Koneko. "But seriously enough to press her hard enough. At least, I think."

Neither of the 'Great Ladies' had an answer to that, opting to join the knight as their friends continued their discussion.

Meanwhile, one of the objects of their discussions twitched as a certain aroma hit her senses, causing her eyes to glaze over at the sweet smell...

"Oi, don't lose focus here. This is something important that you've gotta hear." Naruto criticized, lightly bopping Koneko on the crown of her head, bringing her back to earth.

Pouting just a bit, she turned her full focus back to her sparring partner, waiting to hear his verdict.

He gave it to her alright. "Like I said before; you've improved quite a bit. Faster than I thought you would, honestly. Really, all you've really got to improve on is your ability to get up-close-and-personal to your enemy, as well as your overall speed."

He stopped there, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, delving deeper in thought.

The rook tilted her head, feeling like her sempai wasn't quite done with whatever he had to say, feeling just a little bit of trepidation fill her as she waited.

She didn't know why but...

"Hey...Koneko."

But this felt...important.

"I need you to focus on me. Don't split your attention to anything or anyone else." the blond continued, looking at her with a mix of seriousness and apprehensiveness that she couldn't help but reciprocate.

Yet she could feel how important this was, despite how strange the request seemed at first glance.

So she nodded, and did as she was asked.

Smiling a bit in gratitude before it was washed away, Naruto studied her features intensely, doing nothing except standing there for a few sparse moments.

The two of them stayed like that, motionless, waiting for a reaction from the other as a light wind drifted past both of their bodies.

Koneko frowned, trying to ignore the brush that tickled her skin and focus on the boy in front of her, confused as to what they were doing and why.

Whatever the young man wanted her to see, feel, or hear obviously wasn't reaching her however, if his scrunched brows exemplified his state of mind.

"...I knew it was weird...but still, this close she should be able to..." the blond muttered, more to himself than anyone else, even though Koneko was able to hear him without trouble.

Then his eyes refocused on her, as sharp as knives. "...Stop thinking."

Feeling her confusion grow by the second, the devil opened her mouth to ask what he could have possibly meant by that-

"Stop thinking." he reiterated in no uncertain terms. "Don't try and control what you're feeling, just...let go. Let your instincts take control, and feel."

The wind brushed against her again, tickling her, shifting her pure white hair as she struggled to accommodate her friend's demand, unsure of how to go about it.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She closed her eyes.

This time, when the strange breeze tickled her skin again, begging for her to listen to it's whispers, she...very simply...

...Listened.

It was a strange thing to do, to just be quiet and pay attention to the environment around you, especially considering the sheer amount of things that one could pay attention to in this day and age.

For a moment though, she placed all of those distractions into the back of her mind, focusing on nothing.

Nothing except the breeze brushing her hair.

Or the light sound of rustling that whistled against her ears.

Or the clean air that rushed into her nose.

Or...the azure light that lit up in front of her closed eyelids.

Then, just like that, her eyes snapped open.

And that's when the reincarnated devil finally began to feel it.

It was subtle, and barely noticeable, but the feeling that tingled her senses and re-energized her couldn't be denied, or ignored.

Nor could the blue wisps of energy that simmered near her, acting like a wind that rushed around both of them, entangling them in it's warm embrace.

Her eyes stopped following the energy that surrounded her and focused on the blond again, a question at the tip of her tongue, begging to be asked.

She needn't have to.

His smile said it all.

"...You see it now, don't ya?" he muttered, his smile stretching to the edge of his face.

Koneko didn't move, as still as a stone. "...This..."

"Do you recognize it?" the shinobi questioned softly, peering at her with that calm air of his. "You should."

She did.

Except...she also didn't.

Koneko admitted as much when she raised her hands to look at them, feeling the 'wind' brush through her fingers, so intimately familiar...yet so foreign.

That was just it though, it felt familiar, but she...couldn't grasp what it was.

Fingers bents back to their palms, turning into fists once she closed her eyes, daring to wonder whether this 'feeling', which felt about as native to her as breathing could really be...

Could actually be...

"It's chakra."

The rook stiffened, raising her bowed head to look her sempai in the eye, growing wider than he honestly ever thought possible.

"...How?" was all she could ask.

What else could she ask?

How was it possible for a human being to have chakra? Let alone wield it with such ease and confidence?

But, at the same time, how could she have missed this?

Just looking at the young man in front of her, she could practically feel the chakra that was leaking out of him, all without much reserve, with plenty left to spare.

Simply put; it was obvious.

Naruto wasn't hiding this power from her or anything, to the contrary, he was exhibiting it for her to see in plain sight.

So why couldn't she-?

"Man...I have to admit, I was pretty worried there for a minute. I was starting to think that you completely threw away your instincts in regards to chakra." the blond admitted, filling in the gap in the conversation. "Seriously, I've used my chakra near you before, yet you've never sensed it. Despite the fact that you've also got chakra...I just thought that that was weird when I figured out that you had that power within ya."

Nudging her a bit with his shoulder, he continued. "...Until I figured that you were kinda like me, that is."

Koneko looked up at the taller boy, squinting at him. "...Like you? How?"

Scratching the back of his neck in a bashful gesture, he decided to elaborate. "Well...I know what it's like to do everything that I can to avoid using a power that I don't trust. Kinda like senjutsu for you, right?"

Hazel eyes hardened as soon as the word 'senjutsu' emerged from his sentence, raising her hackles like nothing else could. "...Are you going to begin lecturing me, Naruto-sempai...? Are you going to tell me that...it's selfish for me to not use...that power?"

Blinking in momentary surprise, Naruto propped his chin between his fingers, humming.

"Nah. Can't do that." he eventually claimed.

Nearly tripping over herself in her surprise, the young devil had to genuinely try and not gape at the other teen, which was really saying something for her. "What?"

"You heard me." Naruto reaffirmed. "I can't do that. The only way I would have any right to lecture you about something would be if I actually...ya know...followed my own advice. The thing is; I still haven't overcome the obstacle that you yourself are dealing with, so what right do I have to lecture you?"

While Koneko refused to touch the natural energy of this world, and possibly for good reason, Naruto himself was very skittish about using the kyuubi's chakra, even more so when it felt like a darker persona of himself took control in that state.

It was all so strange to him, but that only proved his point; he had no right to criticize her.

That being said... "I get why you don't want to use senjutsu, but I'll have you know that chakra and senjutsu, while connected to one another, are not the same. You have nothing to fear from not using it dattebayo."

He then patted his own chest, the azure fire around him becoming just a tad brighter at his action. "After all, I'm living proof of it, aren't I?"

The rook nervously watched the energy with all of the enthusiasm of a brick wall. "...Your chakra...it's different though. It's more...'alive' than any I've ever felt. What if-?"

"No 'What ifs'!" the blond cut her off, glaring sternly. "Are you gonna live life by pondering the 'what ifs'? Or are you actually gonna give it a try when you have no reason to believe that it will hurt you? I mean, senjutsu, yeah, I get that. But chakra? C'mon, I'm literally using it right in front of you!"

Going off on a mini tirade seemed to have at least given his 'apprentice' enough of a shake to actually consider what was, until that point at least, a forbidden venue of power.

But the way she bit her bottom lip and clenched her small fists by her side suggested that she was, putting it mildly, pretty conflicted about utilizing that power within her. Without a doubt because of it's association with senjutsu.

So, taking a breath of air, the blond decided to take a different tact. "Hey...you're frustrated by your slow growth, right? Well, to be brutally honest, unless you access that chakra within you, your growth will remain slow, since the only thing we can improve would be your basic strength, endurance, and speed. No, in my opinion, you need access to new powers to compliment your fighting."

Thumping his fist against his chest, the young man grinned now, supportive. "And I have just the techniques for it, but you could only use them if you have chakra."

Koneko stared at him, her face a mask of neutrality, keeping her thoughts well hidden now.

But her eyes showed him the truth; her conflict.

And she would stay like that, wavering in what she wanted to achieve in comparison to what she wanted to disassociate herself from.

Then she raised her head to lock her gaze with the young man, seeing the cool ocean-blue and the confidence that simmered within their depths.

And with that, made a decision. "I...I'll try."

Naruto's grin exploded into a full-blown smile. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

Swallowing her misgivings, the young devil got back into a fighting stance, prepared to restart their training.

"W-Wait!"

A squeak made the rook blink, slowly turning to the side to see a panting nun reach them with a brave attempt at looking stern crossing her features, which failed miserably. "K-Koneko-san! Naruto-san! Please stop! Koneko-san's body should be repaired first before you fight again, so please be patient!"

Both combatants looked at her, both prepared to inform her that her worries were unfounded and that they could keep going-

"Ah."

Until Asia poked the nasty bruise that formed on her stomach.

The rook bent forward a bit, her eye twitching as she did her best to hide how much that actually hurt her.

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't miss her reaction. "...Ah crap, sorry, I should've noticed that you were hurt. Let's stop our session for now, alright?"

"No, wait." Koneko protested softly, carefully straightening herself. "I can keep going, so let's-"

"We accomplished what I hoped we would for this session, don't worry." the shinobi raised his hands up in a calming gesture. "We'll continue this tomorrow, besides, you probably want to think about using...that energy, right?"

A small frown made it's way to his kohai's lips, seemingly to continue the argument.

Until she was shut down by a surprising source.

"Stop it."

This time Koneko did let out a yelp, snapping her head to look at the perpetrator of the hard poke that dug into her stomach a second time.

She met with a stern set of emerald eyes.

...Which very quickly morphed into panicked and worried comical swirls.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I-I just wanted to stop you from hurting yourself even more! Please forgive me!" Asia sputtered out in a near panic, waving her arms around frantically as she went on meltdown.

Looking at the nun with wide eyes, the devil's brain didn't catch up to current events until a roaring laughter echoed right next to her.

"Ha! Will you look at that? If even Asia is giving you this much trouble to take a break for the day, then I'd suggest doing it." Naruto advised, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Shooting him a glare, the reincarnated devil finally relented and nodded towards the human girl, giving her the go ahead to heal the admittedly painful wounds.

It seems that this was the signal that their audience needed to finally get off their butts and move towards them, no doubt with many questions.

The first to reach their little group was Mio, who had instantly seized his arm as she breathed out in relief, the tension that made her body rigid petering out as soon as she physically connected with him.

Seeing her like this, stressing about the fact that she wasn't within a certain distance to him, really made the blond question whether there was something more to her behavior than he thought.

For now though... "See? I told you that our session wouldn't be that long. That's why you need to trust my judgement more, it'd make life easier for both of us."

Mio raised her nose to the air, giving him a borderline imperious look. "Don't give me that, I didn't hear the words, but if Asia-san's actions are anything to go by, she had to really try to stop you two from going at it again. You'd probably be at it until it got dark out!"

Chuckling nervously, the shinobi couldn't really dismiss such a belief.

It probably would have happened if the young nun didn't intervene if he were honest.

Not that he'd admit it, since it felt nice to rub it in his sibling's face that he wouldn't take all day to finish this training session, especially since it took forever to convince her to let go of him and sit by the bleachers until he was done.

He managed to convince her in the end, as long as he didn't go further than a half kilometer away from the bleachers and she always maintained visual contact with him, she'd let go of him for a limited time.

Strange how he had to bargain for his own limb back...

"So! How is she, Naruto?" Rias called out with interest, approaching the duo with all of the grace of a noble woman.

Which...well...she was.

"Better than I thought." was the easy reply. "Her basic stats have definitely gone up since the last time we went at it, but I'm thinking of teaching her some new tricks that could definitely help flesh out her fighting style...for the most part."

"I see." the red-head murmured, rubbing her chin in thought. "Well then, it looks like you've got an idea of what to train her in. Good, then we can focus on our own training from here on in, right everyone?"

Practically everyone that were watching the clash between Koneko and Naruto nodded along with her, even Mio and Maria.

A fact that made the shinobi go rigid. "W-Wait...does that mean that..."

He raised a finger to shakily point at everyone around him, his tone accusatory. "...That you lot thought that I would screw up her training!?"

Rias turned away innocently.

Akeno giggled into the palm of her hand.

Yuuto flashed a nervous smile.

Issei became intensely interested in the ceiling all of a sudden.

Maria was in the middle of stuffing her face in with the leftover snacks.

Mio was still in the midst of trying to meld their bodies into some sort of fused state.

Asia was focused on healing Koneko.

Which...altogether, only really left one person to give him a blunt and straight answer.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did." Raynare claimed, no fuck's given. "I would do the same if I actually cared about that loli."

Damn the lot of them.

"Oi! What the hell!? I'm super trustworthy, aren't I!?" the blond complained loudly, petulantly folding his arms together as he glared at everyone around him.

Rias didn't say a word.

She merely shoved her hand into her pocket, picked something out, and then offered it to him.

Naruto regarded the item in her hand with a blank expression.

It was another phone.

"...Yeah." she deadpanned, wiggling the device in front of him. "Suuuuuper trustworthy."

...

...

"Shut up." was all the shinobi could counter with, snatching the phone from her hand and stuffing it into his pocket.

He refused to look at her smug grin.

Instead, with as much dignity as he could muster, the young man walked towards the elevator to get back upstairs in a brisk pace, unilaterally deciding that he was done for the day.

Watching him go, the red-head clapped her hands together. "Alright everyone, after watching Koneko-chan give it her all, I say that we all push ourselves today as well! Is everyone ready?"

Cheers erupted from those that were ready to get back to work after witnessing the rook's improvements, getting a fond smirk from the shinobi as he made his way to the elevator.

Now that was the spirit that he wanted to see.

---

"Ouch."

Koneko made the sound with such a flat voice that Mio wondered whether Asia's cursory poke actually hurt at all.

Whether it was or not to her was beside the point though, since she wasn't the designated healer here.

As soon as she made such a sound, green light raged back to life, brighter than before, making sure to engulf the area that the devil was trying to hide from the nun.

The rook obviously wanted to get out of the blond's grasp as soon as possible, but trying to hide her injuries was, ironically, making the process move slower than it could have if she was just honest.

There was a lesson in there somewhere, she was sure.

Mio, who was curiously watching the proceedings, jerked a bit as the ground underneath her shook almost infinitesimally.

"Yeesh..." she couldn't help but marvel. "They're really going at it today, huh?"

"Yep!" her brother agreed heartily beside her. "Isn't it awesome?"

Pink pupils shifted to send a sidelong glance to the blond next to her, noting the self-satisfied smile that was firmly plastered on his face.

Not that she could blame him for it, really.

"It is." she assented readily, crossing her arms under her bust as a contemplative air took hold of her. "Then again, considering the circumstances...I'd think that everyone would be motivated to reach new heights. Even me, even though I'm not a fan of training to be honest."

Could you blame her for that sentiment?

Training was hard, always left you tired, and only really helped reach new heights if you consistently pushed yourself to your absolute limit.

Doing something like that every day was exhausting to her, who was merely an ordinary teenaged girl just a few months ago.

She did it still, of course, but only because she had to.

Yet another difference that she could attribute between herself and the blond she casually called her 'brother', who practically loved to train.

"Hoh? Is that so?" Naruto wondered aloud, turning to her with a glint in his oceanic eyes. "If you believe that, then why aren't you going back down there to join them? You still haven't managed to accomplish that little task that I left for you, right?"

Because I don't want to leave you.

Her true thoughts almost leaked out to the forefront, but she managed to rally. "I'll get back into it as soon as I'm sure that you won't thoroughly destroy the ORC's living room again."

Let it be known to all that her sass was an excellent way to cover up her feelings.

Especially when it elicited such over-the-top reactions from a very expressive knucklehead. "Hah!? Oh come on! That wasn't even my fault!"

Unable to stop the grin that grew on her features, the teenaged girl refused to back down. "Didn't you instigate it though?"

"She had a damn shower in the middle of the living room!"

Ah yes, if he had the right to tease her relentlessly, then she bared the right to return the favor.

Too bad that it had to stop though. "...Can you not talk about that incident right now?"

By that point, Rias had stepped out of the elevator that led to the training center underground with a healthy hue of pink staining her cheeks, looking positively frazzled.

Both; literally and figuratively.

Her long crimson hair, usually her pride and joy, was currently jutting out everywhere, standing out on end.

Something that the blond couldn't help but point out. "What the hell is wrong with your hair?"

Mio elbowed her tactless sibling, which was expertly intercepted by one of his hands. "Naruto..."

"It's alright, Mio-chan." the Gremory heiress mumbled, combing her hair with her hand as a jolt of self-consciousness hit her, helping her ease her nerves. "As for what happened? Well...as you can see, I've gotten jolted by electricity. A lot of it, actually."

Naruto's eyes dully looked past the red-head to look at the pleasantly smiling offender of the act that was described. "...That was you, wasn't it, Akeno?"

"Ara, you know me so well." Akeno daintily covered her mouth with her hand, far too amused.

"She caught me in that new technique of hers." Rias grumbled, glaring at her queen irritably. "Even if it was a mock fight, couldn't you have dialed your power back a little bit more than that, Akeno?"

The raven-haired beauty nodded reasonably. "I could have."

She paused there, her beatific smile widening.

"But I didn't."

Huffing, the red-head turned away from her and strode towards the stall that was installed in the living room, preparing to strip and wash herself in a refreshing shower.

Before she could even take off her school vest, her eyes flashed towards curious blue orbs and the accompanying flash of golden spiky hair.

That shock of self-consciousness returned to full force then and there. "...If it's possible, can you guys go to a different room while I shower? I'll be quick."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, an imaginary question mark no doubt floating above his head.

His questions would have to wait however, as her queen seems to have understand the situation better than the blond ever could and began to push him lightly towards one of the guests rooms. "Ara, are you all going to make a lady spell it out for you? Come, let's take this to another room so that we can give Buchou some privacy."

"Ah...wait." Koneko spoke up, shuffling away from the nun as her queen began to herd all of them to another room. "I wanna go back downstairs."

Asia tried to protest the rook's decision, but the younger girl ducked under Akeno's arms and reached the elevator, determined to continue working until she knocked herself unconscious.

Seeing the nun's pleading eyes train themselves on her, Akeno could only shrug airily. "If she's that determined to continue, who are we to stop her? Don't worry, the three that decided to stay down there won't go too far. As a matter of fact...why don't you check up on our...'other' guest instead?"

Scrunching her brows together and puffing her cheeks out cutely, the human girl relented reluctantly and allowed herself to be shuffled into one of the many guest rooms along with Naruto and Mio.

The shinobi in question perked up as soon as they entered the room, interested. "Guest...you mean...Yuki's old friend, right?"

Instead of answering, the blond-haired girl led the way, heading straight to the door on the other side of the room.

Mio, aware that Naruto was going, and was curious about seeing this mysterious young man anyway, trailed after her.

Naruto made to follow as well, until a hand that gripped his shoulder halted his advance.

Turning his head to the side, he saw Akeno stare at him, her mouth partially opened, as if searching for words.

She found them eventually. "...Can we talk?"

The blond raised an eyebrow.

He wasn't gonna say no...so...

Might as well, huh?

---

Mio tilted her head, gazing upon the sleeping face of the resting young man in front of her.

So this was the guy, huh?

"How long do you think he'll stay like this? Unconscious I mean." the red-head questioned the nun who was skimming her glowing green hands over his body, checking for damages.

Asia, focused on her task, didn't falter at all in her response. "I'm not sure. Yuki-san said that the ones who tended to him before claimed that he should be waking up any day now. So I make sure to check up on him every no and again, just to be sure."

Mio inclined her head, seeing the logic in that sentence. "Got it. So I guess that means that we will be making a new acquaintance soon, huh, Naruto?"

The red-head expected either a hearty agreement or a random exclamatory remark from her beloved fool.

What she didn't expect to hear was silence.

Frowning, the half-devil swiveled on the spot, seeking a sunny and lopsided smirk in the room.

A sudden tension gripped her.

He's not here.

She did another three-sixty, eyes dilating as her heart beat faster.

He's not here.

"M-Mio-san?" Asia cut through her trepidation.

Going quiet, the red-head spun around one more time, the sinking belief that was overtaking her preventing her from answering.

In a delirious part of her mind, she wondered whether the blond young man that she was looking for was actually just playing a prank on her right now.

Grasping that slim hope, the teenaged girl convinced herself that Naruto would jump out any time now and terrify her, shouting; 'Ha! Got you, Mio~! You should've seen your face dattebayo!'.

Holding onto the idea, Mio finally stopped spinning, waiting, feeling that very slim hope begin to drift away within her.

Not getting any response and forced to watch the other female act strangely, the human girl tried to get through to her again. "Um..."

She wasn't able to go any further once wild pink eyes seized the nun and froze her in place.

There was a desperate quality that were held within those orbs, one that spoke of a genuine fear that Asia never saw in her eyes before.

...But she has seen that desperation before.

Staying eerily silent, the red-head turned right back around to the door she entered from, needing to be near him again, lest she face the prospect she has been avoiding for all of this time.

She couldn't bear the thought...of those blue eyes looking at her differently.

Of looking at her with disgust instead of warmth...

"Mio-san...I don't think that Naruto-san would hate you for whatever you've done."

The half-devil grabbed the door handle, knuckles going white as a dangerous amount of pressure pressed against it. "...Where do you go off saying that, exactly?"

The simple fact was, the nun had no idea what she was talking about.

Acting as if she knew what she was talking about...kind of pissed off the daughter of Lucifer.

But Asia, innocent to her thoughts, merely blinked. "Because Issei-san didn't."

Mio faltered there, turning around to look at the nun, her earlier stress and anger momentarily forgotten in her incredulity.

The blond girl smiled. "Mio-san...did you know that, once upon a time, I was an official part of the Church?"

Unwittingly, the taller girl let her hand slip off of the handle to fully face the other female, instinctively feeling that it was important.

Or, maybe, she was hoping that she truly had some personal experience with this...

"Well..." she trailed off, glancing at the ground nervously. "Do you know why I was sent to Japan in the first place?"

This time the half-devil shook her head, eyes remaining trained on her.

Now Asia smiled. "Well...I was exiled. For saving the life of a devil that was on the verge of death."

Mio stared at her, unable to fathom how she could possibly smile at such a memory when such a decision was obviously a blatant miscarriage of justice by any stretch of the imagination.

But the human girl wasn't done, her smile becoming sad. "At the time, I couldn't remember what he looked like, but something clicked in me after that attack in Rias-san's summer home...something that helped me jog my memory."

Finally, her smile faltered. "It took me a while...but now I can say for sure that the devil that I saved back then...was the same evil devil that tried to capture you."

All at once, the breath was knocked out of the young woman's lungs, unable to even contemplate what she had just heard, let alone process it. "You...wait, what?"

"I saved his life." the innocent young girl repeated, wording it as if she couldn't quite believe it herself. "I don't know whether it was planned, or if it was just coincidence...but I'm positive."

Taking a second to take a breath, the nun steadied herself and met Mio's eyes again. "I...I was afraid that Issei-san would be angry with me if he learned that I saved the man that brought him pain. I was afraid of how he would look at me. Whether it would change the way he looked at me now to something...else."

For a moment, the blond girl's unease with the prospect became obvious to her, exemplified by her small dainty hands clenching tightly into fists and how she bit her bottom lip.

Then, in a flash, it was gone.

Asia brought her hands together, the relief palpable in her form as her feelings uplifted, a sense of comfort replacing her angst.

All of which was explained in her next statement.

"I was wrong."

Mio stared at her, confounded to see the girl's confidence in her statement.

She could still remember how timid the nun was when she first met her, how fretful and full of uncertainty, about both; her place and her future.

And yet here she was, filled with a certainty and determination that she could've only seen reflected in herself through a life and death situation.

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't stop the feeling of pride leak into her heart.

"And if I'm wrong, then I'm positive that you're wrong too." Asia claimed without apology, nodding firmly, resolute.

The red-head stared at her, stuck in a daze, having nothing except the even breathing of Yuki's unconscious friend to remind her that she was not in some strange dream.

But still, Mio's uncertainty was by no means quelled. "...Your actions are less damning than mine though...and I'm just not sure..."

"If Issei-san can look past my mistake, then Naruto-san can look past yours." the blond insisted, her big green eyes beseeching her. "Trust him."

Trust him.

Was that what this was about?

Did she, deep inside, not trust him as much as she should?

She trusted him with her life, but...

'...I'm willing to bet that you don't even know your 'onii-chan' that well anyway.'

"...What if he...?" she questioned, whispering to herself in her confusion, wondering if those words, so casually thrown out, were more true than she cared to admit.

Did she actually know him that well?

She knew that he was loyal and protective over those he cared about, as well as some of his strange quirks, but...that was about it.

She truly had no idea how he'd react to the fact that her presence placed everyone in great danger.

Why did he go so far to protect those he cared about?

How did he reconcile the conflicts between those that he cared about?

What drove him to do what he does?

Never mind his motivations, she didn't even know where or when he was born.

So how could she tell...?

"...How could I tell...when I don't even know you as well as I thought I did?" she whispered solemnly, inexplicably sad that she had to make such an admission.

He seemed so open, but now that she thought about it...he never did tell her anything about his origins.

Maybe if she knew him better, then she'd be more willing to tell him everything...but as it was now...

"Why not talk to him then?"

Mio blinked, eyes regaining focus and locking onto the nun in front of her. "Huh?"

Asia tilted her head, having heard everything that the red-head was whispering to herself. "If you don't know him as well as you thought, then maybe you two can go and eat somewhere and...talk. That's what Issei-san and I do sometimes too!"

Pink eyes fluttered, just a bit, taken out-of-left-field by the sound reasoning provided to her.

Talk to him. Over a meal. Just the two of them.

"You know..." Mio spoke up, scratching her chin. "I think that's a great idea, actually."

Peering down at the shorter female, she had to offer her a small appreciative smile. "...Thank you for your words, they've...made me think about some things."

Asia beamed. "I'm glad that I helped! I hope that you're not as stressed as before now!"

She wasn't, strangely enough.

Maybe it was the prospect that she was, hopefully, going to venture to learn more about the mysterious blond that she called her 'brother' that cooled her off, or Asia's insistence that he wouldn't turn on her, but the end result was the same.

While still uncomfortable with the young man not being around her physically, it was brought down to...manageable levels.

Her fear of that possible future coming to pass remained in the back of her mind, but now it had taken a back burner, hopefully where it could disappear.

Now, all she really had to do was invite Naruto to eat dinner with her privately somewhere...

...

...

...

"Wait...isn't that a date!?"

---

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Akeno, a woman that prided herself on her 'onee-sama' behavior and demeanor, was currently looking at anywhere that was not the blond's eyes.

Instead of pushing her, as he was apt to do when he was impatient, he decided to wait it out, letting her gather her thoughts.

It wasn't like he forgot that they were in the midst of a bonding moment before a foul-mouthed bastard interrupted them.

Not that he was really complaining, beating the shit out of a piece of shit like that was actually a good stress reliever.

"I wanted to apologize. To you." the young woman finally managed to get out, aiming for an apologetic expression that came out as a tiny grimace. "I'm sure that everyone's getting a bit...tired of my attitude recently. I've heard as much from Buchou, at least."

Raising his arm to scratch the back of his head, the shinobi seemed to be more embarrassed than serious about her apology. "Uh...ya know, you don't have to apologize to me, right? As long as you try to stay cordial, it's all good. And...you have been trying., so..."

Unbidden, Akeno's lips stretched into a smirk. "You've noticed that, have you?"

And here she thought that she was being discreet about her...'new' attitude towards the sole fallen angel.

"I didn't hear any screaming or shouting, so I'm assuming that that's the case." the blond admitted bluntly. "And if I've got you pegged right, then that must've been quite the pill to swallow, eh?"

Understatements abound. "You could say that. Which is why I wanted to...apologize, actually. Not just for the distress that I might've caused, but also..."

She trailed off there, frowning, visibly uncomfortable.

It took a moment for her to recollect herself, until she spoke again. "...Because I can't apologize to the fall- 'person' that I should be."

Naruto, more bemused than anything else, tilted his head to the side. "...Now that I think about it, you never did tell me why you had such a problem with Raynare."

Not that it was her fault though, since a certain insane stab-happy priest was responsible for the interruption.

Possibly following his lead in recalling who had interrupted their talk last time, Akeno chuckled. "Ah, I didn't, did I? Well...I suppose you're due an answer, hm? But before I do so, may I ask you a question?"

Raising a brow while staying silent, the shinobi inclined his head in allowance, ready for whatever she had to say.

He wasn't really prepared for it. "Have you ever...hated someone before? And I don't mean hated, as in; severely disliked. No...I mean hated."

The young woman who asked such a thing to the whiskered teen wasn't sure what she expected as an answer, but she did know one thing.

And that was; there was no way that this happy and positive teen could've ever hated someone in the way that she was referring to.

Not him.

To hate someone in the way that she was referring to...one had to absolutely loathe the very fact that they were standing before you, perfectly alright.

Or, if someone really had it bad, then it was possible for someone to truly loathe the idea of their enemy's continued existence.

And, once upon a time, she had contained such a dangerous emotion within the depths of her heat, but that feeling had later simmered down into a cool hate; one of incredible disdain and barely contained anger.

That being said; that feeling was burned into her now, and it wouldn't be going away any time soon.

So how did one explain such an emotion to someone that hasn't experienced it?

It couldn't really, like all other powerful emotions.

Which was why Akeno wasn't really expecting anything out of her question.

Really, it was only asked on a whim.

So she'd be excused, if the answer she received had actually managed to catch her completely off guard.

"...Yeah. Yeah, I have."

If Naruto was paying attention to Akeno, he might've found her completely broken composure to be hilarious.

Except, he wasn't.

No. All he was paying attention to was the flash of steel-grey eyes that held a trio of concentric circles within it.

As well as the accompanying words that came with that memory that still sometimes haunted him.

'Know pain.'

You should have killed him.

"Maybe..." Naruto murmured without realizing it, his eyes clouded over.

"Maybe what?"

The clouds were blown away by the question that grounded him again, leading him to curious violet orbs. "Huh?"

Akeno, intrigued, leaned closer. "Maybe what?"

The shinobi, rubbing his head as he nursed his headache, answered. "Maybe...no, wait. Uh...what was I saying again?"

He stopped rubbing his skull and pondered the question, looking adorable, at least in Akeno's opinion, as he closed his eyelids and seriously tried to remember.

Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to stop the fond look that entered her features.

"So...you've hated someone before?" she prompted quizzically, interested.

"Ah!" Naruto snapped his fingers in a 'Eureka!' moment, then grew serious. "Yeah, I've definitely hated someone before. Hell...back then, there was definitely a second where, when I saw that guy face-to-face, I lost it and almost ripped him to shreds."

Just thinking back on it made the young man a little uncomfortable, vividly remembering all of the events of that day.

The day he saw his home in ruins.

The day he learned that his sensei was dead.

The day that he met the man who killed his godfather.

The day that he nearly lost control of the kyuubi.

The day that he met his father for the first time, and learned of Uchiha Madara.

...The day that he left the Elemental Nations.

That day...was the day that changed a lot, and challenged him like no other.

He was still dealing with the ramifications of that day.

"That's...hard to believe. To think that even someone like you have hated before..." Akeno marveled at the thought, breaking him from his thoughts once more. "What could someone have possibly done to make you feel such an emotion?"

Naruto rubbed his arm, glancing at the floor. "W-Well...back then...he-"

Don't let her in.

The blond then raised his arm up to scratch the back of his head, flashing her a nervous smile. "Well, anyway, that was a long time ago. So it's not like it matters anymore, right?"

Scrunching her brows as her kohai changed the subject, the queen decided to let the matter drop for now, albeit with some reluctance. "...I see. Anyway, since you've felt this ugly emotion before, then you'd be able to understand my...problem."

Akeno took a deep breath, allowing herself a chance to gather her thoughts, then forged ahead. "...When I was a little girl, there were only a few people that I knew personally, since I lived in a small shrine in the countryside. Of those people, there was one person that I trusted among all others to keep us safe..."

She smiled softly then, eyes glazing a bit as she delved into memory lane. "...He was someone that I admired above all else, and...trusted, among all else. I knew he was strong, I knew he was brave, and...I knew that he wanted to protect our small family."

That smile fell apart, her expression darkening as she continued. "I trusted him...and yet...when I needed him the most..."

Naruto watched the devil's expression twist, switching from sadness, moving to anger, until settling into a cool apathy.

He didn't push or prod, he just waited patiently, literally seeing the difficulty she was having in sharing this with him, in forcing her to remember.

"He failed." she stated flatly, gazing up at him with a blank expression. "When we needed him most, when I called for him the most, when he promised that he'd be there when danger called...he was nowhere to be seen."

She chuckled bitterly, shaking her head slowly in her disbelief as she met the blond's eyes again.

"My mother paid the price."

Naruto kept up their connection for a little longer, before glancing uneasily away. "...This person...is he-?"

"I loved him." she interrupted simply. "As of right now? I couldn't care less whether he's dead or alive. If he had just done as he claimed he would then..."

She trailed off, shaking her head suddenly, her dark demeanor wiped away when she looked at the blond again.

"...Maybe if he was more like you..." Akeno muttered out, giving him a strange look.

At least to Naruto it was. "Huh? Did you say something?"

Taking a step back, pursing her lips, the queen considered the young man before her. "...Naruto-kun, just out of curiosity, why do you fight?"

Blue eyes squinted in uncertainty at what he had just heard, but then widened comically as their owner's mouth slammed to the floor.

Did she just-?

"Naruto-kun?"

She did.

"Uh..." dumbfounded, the blond had to drag his mind back to the serious matter at hand. "Well...it's kinda obvious, isn't it? I cherish those that I have befriended and come to care for, so...I do all I can to defend them. That's all."

Akeno nodded, seemingly expecting as much. "I see, but why do you cherish those people? I mean, it sounds obvious, but not many go so far to protect others, even if they are loved ones, you know?"

Accepting this logic, Naruto didn't need to think of his answer, since he was well aware of why he went so far.

No, all he needed to do was put it into words.

"Because my life doesn't have meaning if I don't have those people." he claimed simply, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Watching the reincarnated devil's eyes slowly widen, the blond quickly backpedaled on his previous statement, cursing internally at his poor choice of words. "That's not to say that I don't value my own life, not at all! It's just that...well...when I was younger, I didn't really...have anyone, ya know? I didn't know what it was like to have someone to care for me, so...when I grew older, and gained such people, I cherished those bonds with everything I had. You get it?"

Calming down from her rather dark assumption about her kohai, she scrunched her eyebrows when she actually acknowledged what he had just said. "You didn't have any-? But what about your parents?"

Akeno instantly regretted asking the question when she saw the blond's face fall.

Oh.

"I...didn't have any of those." Naruto murmured, glancing down uncomfortably.

Both teens fell silent after that, neither sure of what to say next following such a revelation.

One that definitely came to shock the young woman, since, judging by his general attitude, she just assumed that the blond wasn't wanting for anything in his young life.

That he had lived a comfortable and enjoyable life.

How wrong she was.

There was obviously more to the spiky-haired youth than just bright smiles, a habit of pranking, and incredible strength.

He had a past that, now that she was thinking about it, no one was really aware of.

Akeno couldn't help but find herself intrigued, wondering what else her kohai had shrouded up in his past.

Moving back from that thought, the queen tapped her chin, studying the blond before her.

A fond smile eventually made it's way to her lips, nodding confidently for some reason or another.

Before he could even ask, the beautiful ravenette finally decided to speak up again. "As I thought. You're seriously determined to keep everyone safe where you can, right?"

"Of course!" the shinobi retorted, his tone implying that it was obvious.

Akeno bobbed her head once, a contemplative air about her as she continued to study him. "...Yes...as I thought. If he had that kind of determination, then I'm positive that he would've..."

"Akeno?"

Blowing out a small sigh, Akeno flashed him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm just thinking that...you're nothing like he was. Your determination to keep your loved ones safe, regardless of circumstance, marks you as the exact opposite of him. It marks you as someone who keeps his promises."

She drifted closer to him, her smile becoming brighter, and slightly mischievous when those blue orbs of his grew slightly wary at her approach.

With good reason too, since the very second that she moved close enough to the blond, she reached out and pulled his head towards her, comfortably nesting it onto her bosom while she soothingly combed his spiky mane.

She noticed with some satisfaction that the young man's ears began light up red.

Still, even if it was funny seeing the younger man fall over himself, she had finish what she had to say. "Naruto-kun...maybe it doesn't mean much to you, but looking at you, I see you to be the man that he wasn't and couldn't be. It's...soothing, having you be among the people that I could call a 'friend'. Please don't change that part of you, ok?"

Naruto tilted his head upwards as she kept her hold onto him, doing his best to ignore the soft feeling that he was pressing against. "Oi, oi...don't sound so sappy, alright? You're making this melodramatic dattebayo..."

"Ara." Akeno daintily placed her hand onto her mouth, looking amused if anything. "Sorry, but when a woman opens up a little bit, she retains the right to be a little inconsistent."

Watching her kohai proceed to complain loudly brought a grin to her face, any negative energy within her dispelled by the borderline-childish pout that he was throwing at her.

It only grew when he tried to wiggle a bit so that he could get some room, only managing to dig in deeper into the crevice he found himself in, making his cheeks grow hotter than before.

Truly, this young man had the uncanny ability to bring someone out of their funk, whether it be because of his bright personality or because of his silly antics.

Either way, she was grateful for it.

Letting go of his head, allowing the blond to take a step back and reclaim his dignity, the young devil twirled on the spot, facing away from him. "Thank you. For this."

Behind her, the shinobi quirked a single eyebrow. "For the talk?"

"Yep." she replied, her features content, even though he couldn't see it. "It was nice...getting that off my chest."

Nothing was really resolved or anything, but now that she actually told someone about something that she has been keeping close to her heart, she felt like she could redouble her efforts with the fallen woman.

Simply put, he has helped lift some of the weight that was holding her down.

In the spur of the moment, with this nice atmosphere, the young woman ventured to ask the blond a question that she hoped he would seriously consider. "Hey...do you think that, maybe, we could...do this again sometime? I mean, if you want to, of course."

Gone was the confident young woman that always went 'Ara ara' like a proper lady should, instead, in her place, was the teenager that had trouble dealing with her emotions, seeking help from someone she trusted.

And Naruto wasn't about to let her down. "Of course! Whenever you need a little pep talk, just find me. I've got your back!"

Still facing away from him, Akeno giggled at the enthusiastic response, taking a step to exit the room and enter the living room, sure that Buchou was done by now.

As she placed her hand onto the knob, she paused, another thought crossing her mind, one that could...possibly give her a new perspective.

It didn't hurt to try. "Hey...Naruto-kun."

Not waiting for a response, the young woman forged ahead without pausing. "That person you hated...you said that you met him face-to-face, right? But judging by what you told me, you didn't seem to have killed him even when you wanted to. So...why didn't you do it?"

At first, she didn't get an answer, leaving her words hanging loosely, leaving them to scrutiny.

It took quite a bit more waiting before she finally got something out of the recalcitrant blond. "...Because killing him out of hate would've restarted a cycle that I promised someone important that I would try my best to finish."

She turned around, eyeing him curiously as he smirked. "Besides, you should never let hate control you...it ends up badly, usually."

Akeno continued staring at him, even more interested in those small snippets that he lets slip about the life he led.

Chuckling into the palm of her hand, she smiled again.

Warmly.

"Naruto-kun..." she remarked with that same expression on her face, which refused to be wiped away. "I think I've said it before, but I'm pretty sure that you underestimate your influence on others. Which is why I'd like to give you...something of a warning."

She raised her other hand as she twisted the knob to the door, shaping it into a gun which was aimed at the bemused teenaged boy.

"If you keep doing what you're doing, then I can't be held responsible for the emotions that you'll unintentionally bring out from me...and from others for that matter."

Akeno then pressed the trigger, imitating it's recoil as she brought her 'gun' back, her features shifting into a slightly predatory one. "Be careful now...otherwise I might just come gunning for you."

With a giggle, the young woman then opened the door and stepped out of the room, leaving Naruto in a befuddled state.

"...Well, that sounded kinda ominous." he concluded under his breath, crossing his arms as he watched the door close.

He wasn't even sure where that 'warning' came from either.

More or less, he was just flat out confused to say the least.

Still wondering about the words that Akeno imparted him with, another stray thought wormed it's way into his skull, causing a frown to form.

"What the hell does this guy, that she hates so much, have to do with fallen angels?" he wondered aloud, scrunching his face in deep thought as he tried to form a connection that wasn't there.

Like a statue, he stayed there, attempting and failing to solve a puzzle that should've been solved when he got the damn package.

If it was a real puzzle, he would've asked for a damn refund by now.

...He really should've clarified with Akeno about the connection.

Blowing out air, the shinobi ruffled his spiky mane and made to followed the ravenette to the living room.

"W-Wait."

Pausing mid-action, Naruto turned around and witnessed a strange sight.

Mio was standing right outside the doorway to the next room, back rimrod straight, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights.

Huh.

"Yo, what's up, Mio?" he questioned, trying for the 'harmless' look, seeing as she seemed kinda tense in his eyes.

It didn't seem to work, since she still had the wide-eyed 'please don't hurt me' vibe going, in his professional opinion. "Well...I-I was just wondering whether I, no, wait, I meant you could...you know..."

Mio looked like she was about to blow up, her face was bright as a star and her eyes were turning into swirls, proving that she was on her last legs...for whatever reason.

Her stuttering wasn't improving that image either.

Then there was...the other person that may or may not have any idea what was going on.

"Go get him, Mio-san!" Asia whispered to the mess of a red-head, just loud enough that the blond could hear her as well. "I know you could do it!"

Now why was the nun providing her support like some kind of personal cheerleader?

So many questions he had right now...

"Um!" Mio squeaked out loudly, albeit with great difficulty. "You wanna...?"

She trailed off from there, clamping her mouth shut, a look of frustration crossing her features.

She then turned away from him, mood turning surly. "...Never mind."

Not saying another word, the half-devil trudged past the blond and went through the doorway to the living room with the air of a defeated samurai warrior.

Naruto watched her go silently, more and more baffled by the situation he found himself in.

"...Uhuuu..."

Deadpanning by this point, he turned to look at the teary-eyed Asia, who had her hands clasped together in front of her. "D-Don't give up...Mio-san..."

Yeah.

He had no idea what the hell was going on around him anymore.

---

"Rias-sempai."

Rias ceased wiping her long crimson hair down with the towel for a moment, focusing on the younger red-head that had just stormed into the room.

"I need some advice."

"Do you now?" the Gremory heiress asked rhetorically, placing the towel onto one of the intact couches in the room. "With what exactly? It must be quite the big deal since you've never actually come to me for advice before yourself."

Mio's lips thinned as she pressed them together, deadly serious, absolute in her resolve.

Her earlier embarrassment probably had something to do with it.

"I want advice on how to ask someone out to eat." she stated simply, leaving no room for interpretation.

Rias blinked, her brain malfunctioning at the request, forcing a reboot to take in this new information.

It was pretty quick, all things considered.

The next thing that the resident half-devil knew then, was feeling Rias' hands clasp her shoulders tightly, her face uncomfortably close to hers, with stars shining in her blue-green eyes.

"You have a crush!" she practically squealed, delighting at the concept of her adorable kohai crushing on someone. "This...! Ok, I'll help! I'll definitely help! Ask this onee-sama anything!"

Not even letting her get in a word edgewise, Rias leaned closer to Mio's face, the stars in her eyes somehow glowing brighter as her excitement grew. "So? Who is it? Come on, you can tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone."

Groaning, Mio shuffled backwards, trying to make some space. "Sempai..."

"Ok, that's fine. You want to keep it a secret, totally understandable." the high-class devil backpedaled on her earlier behavior, seeing that she was making the younger girl uncomfortable. "But man...to think that my cute kohai has her first crush...at the tender age of fifteen! And soon, if I have anything to say about it, she'll have her first date!"

Completely thrown off by her sempai's thoroughly girlish behavior, the daughter of Lucifer really had no idea what to say about this situation.

Nothing except nod pleasantly.

Turning around, she spotted Naruto walking out of the room that she left him in, no doubt after having checked up on the unconscious friend of Yuki's, since he took a while to leave the room.

He barely even acknowledged anyone as he entered the room, too busy grumbling about 'troublesome women'.

Unbeknownst to Mio, Rias tensed a bit at Naruto's entrance, but quickly recovered from it before anyone noticed. "Going somewhere, Naruto?"

Knocked out of his stupor, the shinobi looked at her as he continued on his way out. "Ah, yo. Sorry, but I think I'm gonna leave a little early today. Too many weird things have happened to me today...besides, I forgot that I need to pick up groceries anyway."

Next to the older red-head, the younger red-head scowled. "Oh...right. Naruto, can you make sure to grab some paper towels and some, wait, no, a lot of bleach, please?"

Still making his way to the exit of the building, the shinobi sent the red-head a deadpanned look. "...Maria? Again?"

Mimicking his expression, the half-devil nodded. "She wanted to try out this weird aphrodisiac that she found somewhere...so she splattered the stuff all over my room. I can't tell you how many noogies she still has to go through for that."

When the hell did she even find the time for that kind of stuff?

Newly exasperated, waved her as she opened the door to the exit. "Don't stay out too late, alright? And give Maria a couple of extra noogies for me."

Nodding at the reasonable request as Naruto closed the door behind him, Mio jolted a bit when the ground under her rumbled faintly, so much so that she barely noticed it.

"It wasn't me!" she heard her brother's muffled voice call out, declining all involvement with the latest strange event.

"Well..." Rias drawled lightly, grinning at the other red-head. "That rules out one possibility."

It really did too.

It wouldn't surprise her at all if Naruto really was the one responsible for the earth's sudden shake.

"Do you think that it has something to do with the people training downstairs?" Mio suggested, scratching her chin in thought.

---

One minute ago...

Koneko grit her teeth as her surge forward was halted mid-air.

Her hands were clasped against another pair of hands as small as hers, her hazel eyes locking with amused purple in the form of the scantily dressed loli known as; Naruse Maria.

"Hah!" she cackled with a competitive grin. "Did you think that you'd out-strength me!? Not in a million years will I let you! There's already too many super strong lolis as it is!"

The rook, focusing on overpowering her opponent, nodded briskly. "There can only be one."

Just like that, the two small girls stayed deadlocked with each other, unable to budge as the two of them refused to give up against the other.

While this conflict continued overhead, Yuuto was swiftly backing up as gauntlet slammed into the ground where he once stood, it's owner smirking.

"I'll catch you eventually, Kiba!" Issei declared, ripping his arm out of the ground in the process. "It's only a matter of time, ya know!?"

The knight, sweating a bit as he chanced a glance at the rather deep hole that his comrade made, couldn't help but wonder. "Uh...Issei-san? Aren't you a little...too eager to finish this fight?"

Slamming his gauntlet-covered fist onto his other hand, the pawn looked at the other devil with a look that suggested that he thought that that was a stupid question. "Of course! Do you have any idea what's coming out today!?"

Seeing the owlish expression on the handsome devil's face, the perverted boy growled. "...Today is the day that the next installment of my favorite hentai doujinshi comes out! I pre-ordered it about a week ago, and I want to get my hands on it! If I don't hurry up, then I know for a fact that some bastard is gonna sweet talk the vendor into selling my copy! I won't let it happen, damn it!"

Unfortunately for the brown-haired teen, a certain pervert-hating girl had just overheard what he had said from up above, earning a twitch on her usually stoic face.

Maria, noticing this, felt an absolutely evil smile make it's way to her lips.

She just had an idea.

An idea that could get her just a bit of innocent fun during this training session.

"Hey."

Koneko met with Maria's eyes, noting her dark grin.

"...Wanna take out the pervert first?"

The rook stared at her blankly for all of about two seconds.

Then she nodded firmly. "Truce."

As if through an unspoken signal, both girls let go of each other at the same time, seperating a bit as their devil wings were spread wide.

Then, as one, both girls descended towards the ground rapidly, gunning straight for-

"Ehehe...I can just imagine the erotic goodness that awaits my eyes when I get home~"

The completely spaced out perverted pawn on the ground.

Unlike Issei though, Yuuto had noticed the two small power types soar to the ground like twin comets, wisely coming to the conclusion that he'd better beat if before he was turned into a handsome pancake.

Said perverted boy would not notice the danger until it was too late...

---

Present...

"Very possible." Rias replied, switching gears immediately after her statement. "Anyway! Back to the topic at hand; your future date! Tomorrow, immediately after school, we're going to go over how to successfully ask someone out on a date! Be ready for it, ok?"

Mio, still unused to this energetic side of her sempai, nodded, feeling that maybe she had made a mistake in asking her of all people...

Still, her support had also managed to imbue her confidence with a much needed boost, especially after her complete failure earlier.

She'd get this down right, of that she would bet on.

---

Naruto had left the ORC's base of operations just as a minor earthquake shook the building.

Having no doubt that the two red-heads inside suspected his involvement, he quickly made sure to declare that he had no part in that whatsoever.

...Even though, if he were honest, they had justifiable reasons to suspect his involvement when things go weird.

Weird followed him around. All the time.

They may as well be best buddies by this point.

...Well, that and 'chaos' anyway.

Still, now that he had washed his hands of whatever new development had emerged, he could now focus on groceries.

At least, he could, if someone wasn't sitting casually on one of the trees, waiting for him.

"Yo, Raynare." Naruto called out blandly, not surprised to see her resting on one of the many tree branches up above as he passed through the small woodlands.

Obviously expecting him and waiting for him, the fallen angel didn't beat around the bush. "Naruto. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Altering his course slightly so that he could lean onto the tree that the young woman was resting on, he crossed his arms behind his head and did just that. "Sure. It seems that everyone wants to ask me something today anyway."

She wasn't deterred in the slightest by his sarcastic remark. "...Do you know that that silver-haired girl that you live with; Maria, is a succubus?"

Naruto, jerking only a little bit by her knowledge, only hesitated a little bit. "...Yeah."

Feeling the fallen's gaze bore onto the crown of his head, she continued. "...Do you know what a succubus is?"

The shinobi shrugged. "I know that they are seducers or something, and that they're not well liked in the Underworld for some reason."

Yeah, he figured that last bit out back when they were about to go and take part in that party in the Underworld following Rias' cancelled arranged marriage.

He could remember Maria's reluctance to go, claiming that she wouldn't be well received because of her race.

Even now, it infuriated him to hear such a thing.

"Yes, both are true, especially that last one." she answered him bluntly, her eyes hard. "But why do you think that succubi are reviled in the Underworld, Naruto?"

The shinobi finally looked up, meeting violet pupils, frowning. "Where are you going with this, Raynare? What's going on?"

"I just want to make sure that you're aware of who you're keeping under your roof, that's all." the fallen woman replied easily, crossing her legs as she dangled them from her position on the branch. "So; do you know why?"

Staying quiet for about a few moments, simply staring up at the dangling feet that were hanging above him, he would finally answer. "...No, why?"

Those feet didn't stop dangling, even when she told him this next piece of information. "It's because succubi are known in the Underworld to be one of the races that served the Original Maous, and for Lucifer and his line in particular."

Naruto stiffened from his position at the base of the giant plant, his mind racing.

Of course, the first person that popped in his skull was the one he knew had the blood of the Original Lucifer running through her veins.

Mio.

Somehow sensing his state of mind perhaps, the fallen above explained herself. "Being the psuedo-apprentice of someone like Azazel-sama, I was pretty much forced to learn more about the world around me...especially in regards to the other Biblical factions."

Her face became wistful as she reminisced of her time in Grigori, recalling the numerous mishaps and hijinks that went on thanks to the seriously dysfunctional personalities there. "Yeah...they really had to drive those history lessons into me. I don't remember everything though, but from what I do remember...it's that the Original Lucifer had a powerful mistress by his side as he ruled the Underworld against Heaven, one who's name has been used to grace the devil's Capital as a matter of fact."

Raynare stopped swinging her feet and looked down at Naruto, looking grim. "Lilith. The first succubus in recorded history. As well as the one who made a decree that all succubi born of her lineage were made to serve Lucifer and his descendants...no matter the cost."

Then she leaned back onto the tree trunk, turning away from him as she looked into the sky. "...Or so the story goes. No one really knows apparently, so for all I know, some stuffy historian could have fabricated it, who knows?"

She had finished saying her piece by then, content with waiting for the answer that the blond would give her following this information.

That being said, knowing him, he'd probably say something that could land anyone else besides him in a mental hospital.

She wasn't too far off. "Don't worry about."

Raynare turned on her spot to look at the teenager down below once again, her incredulous look saying it all.

Naruto himself, while slightly disturbed at this information that he wasn't aware of, swiftly crushed any doubts that he had over the resident succubus.

She's had plenty of time to do bad shit throughout their time together, there was just no way that she was intentionally working to harm either himself, or Mio.

...That being said, it wasn't exactly unreasonable to believe that maybe, just maybe...Maria was helping Mio purely because of her lineage?

The shinobi shook his head, wiping such damning thoughts about his friend away.

He had no doubt that she had a past, a story, of her own's to tell. One that could clear everything up.

So, just as others have been patient with him, he'd be patient with her.

It was only right, as her friend.

"...If you say so." Raynare pushed herself off of the tree trunk and flared her two pairs of wings, taking flight. "That's all I wanted to tell you about, just in case you weren't aware. I'll see you back at the house later...I think I'm gonna grab a drink or something."

She mumbled out that last part of her statement, drifting off to the sky to do just that.

Naruto watched her go, all at once perturbed and enthused by two things respectively; the new information, and Raynare's behavior.

In her own painfully clumsy way, she proved that she gave a shit.

The shinobi scratched the crown of his head once more, not sure what to do from there, before figuring that he may as well just...do what he was going to do anyway.

Buy some damn groceries.

So, with even more shit to think about, Naruto kept his chin up as he marched towards the market district, mentally going over what the house needed.

It was just another day in the life.

---

"...I'm so hungry..."

"Shut up! Just...just wait, ok? I'm working on it!"

"But...!"

"Look, if you didn't spend all of our money on that fake painting, then we wouldn't even be in this situation!"

The bustling market district was always pretty chaotic at the best of times, though the day seemed to be a tad more crazy than usual.

Mostly due to the presence of two cloaked women, arguing over something, while standing right next to a charity box.

A charity box that was meant for them.

Suffice it to say, neither of them were having a good day.

"But Xenovia...!" the other cloaked woman whined, stamping her foot onto the ground. "It was a painting of Jesus Christ! How could I take the chance and not retrieve a painting of our Heavenly Father?"

The aforementioned Xenovia just ground her teeth together in response, trying not to lash out at her dense partner.

Not that she was much better, but even she wasn't this bad.

Fact was; Irina, Xenovia's partner, had blown all of their money away on a fake painting of Jesus Christ by some scam artist, and now they were currently starving without any hope of getting food.

So, Xenovia had devised a plan to get money; by setting up a charity...for them.

It hasn't panned out so far.

Honestly, to both young women, it looked like they both might literally die not from an enemy's blade...but from starvation in a first-world nation.

Neither of them were too keen to go out that way whatsoever.

"...Oi, what the hell is all this? You both look way too suspicious dattebayo."

Both church agents snapped their heads towards the blond that had appeared in front of their charity, carrying plastic bags in his hands, and a sweatdrop formed on his forehead.

Like lightning itself, both cloaked warriors bolted up and teleported in front of the spiky-haired youth, one's eyes pleading with him whilst the other's burning with determination.

"Please! Find it in your heart to help this poor lamb of God, heathen!" Irina begged the young man, her hands clasped together in a fashion eerily familiar to the man and her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Meanwhile, her blue-haired partner was practically in his face, her eyes burning with such fire that it wouldn't really be out of place to be on the face of someone who was fighting for their very life. "God would look on you kindly for helping his Children. Would you be so cruel as to abandon someone in need, stranger?"

Said teen, whipping his focus between both warriors, was looking decidedly unamused by the double team. "...Aren't you two way too pushy to be asking anyone for anything?"

Neither of them seemed to have listened to the young man however, since they both stayed just as they were, in his face, and giving him their own best 'persuasion' attempts to give them money.

It took a little bit, but eventually Irina and Xenovia saw the sweatdrops that was beginning to pile up on the teen's forehead, becoming more and more exasperated with this borderline mugging he was facing.

"...Fine." he relented eventually, pulling out his wallet with a roll of the eyes. "I'll give you both enough to get at least three decent meals, so try not to blow it and-"

The blond was forced to stop speaking in his incredulity.

Mostly thanks to the efforts of the two idiots in front of him, who were both bowing deeply in front of him, their heads touching the cement street.

""Thank you very much!""

It was at that moment that the spiky-haired youth with strange whisker marks on his cheeks wondered how he got himself into these situations.

Swallowing his misgivings, he nudged the two bowing females with the toe of his shoes. "Alright, alright, I get it...no need to embarrass yourselves in public for my sake here. Just take the money and go get some food already."

Irina, with her bright violet eyes and her chestnut-colored hair now visible to the male before her, beamed so brightly that he felt like he was looking at headlights. "You have no idea how happy I am to meet a good soul in this foreign land! It soothes my heart to know that God's good will has even reached the Far East..."

Seeing the lost look that their forced benefactor was giving her partner, Xenovia intervened. "Basically; thank you for helping us out, even if we are foreigners."

"Yeah, that's what I thought she said." was his reply, turning his focus to the seemingly more level-headed one between the two. "So...you two are foreigners? What brought you two all the way out here to Japan?"

More relaxed around the man that helped save them from the very real threat of starvation, she answered simply. "We're on personal business you could say, for why else would we be so far away from home? Why else would anyone leave their home?"

Maybe motivated by her less than pleasant experiences in this strange land, the Church-aligned teenager was more than ready to finish this mission and return back to the Vatican.

Their acquaintance's blue eyes blinked. "...Home...huh?"

Irina cranked her neck to the side, her violet eyes scrutinizing the blond's face. "Are you ok? You look kinda...troubled."

Indeed, for some reason, the male teen had gained a far-away look after he spoke up, seeing yet unseeing, only getting knocked out of it by the question provided to him. "Uh...yeah, just had a lot on my mind is all. Listen, I gotta get back home, alright? So take this and get yourselves something to eat...and try not to lose all of your money a second time while you're at it."

Not waiting for a response once he placed the bills of yen onto Xenovia's palm, the blond spun on the spot and continued his trek back to his house.

Staring at the money that was casually placed on her hand, the blue-haired swordswoman snapped her head up to face the retreating back of the mysterious young man. "Wait! Can...you tell us your name at least, mister?"

He didn't stop to face her, only turning his head to the side so that a single cerulean eye could make contact with her's. "The name's Naruto. Now don't go starving, since I doubt I can bail you two out a second time!"

Watching Naruto blend into the crowds that still swarmed the market district of Kuoh Town, the wielder of one of the fragments of Excalibur clenched her fist, willing herself to remember that name.

If only to pray for that name when she returned back home, or maybe even to provide some kind of service to him in return for his aid to an official task force of the Church.

Either way, she'd do her best to remember him.

Little did she know, that they'd probably be meeting each other sooner than they thought.

---

Asia tiredly plopped onto a chair, her shoulders sagging as she earnestly continued to stay awake, refusing to knock out quite so easily.

Oh, but she really wanted to.

Those who stayed downstairs to continue training had just came back upstairs, with a few of them carrying some pretty heavy wounds.

Of course, it would be just Issei's luck to catch the majority of those wounds.

Not that the nun minded, if anything, her heart skipped a beat when Yuuto and Maria literally dragged the teen out of the elevator, deliriously wondering why he was hit by twin meteors.

Really, seeing him like that had only managed to reinforce her natural dislike for fighting in general.

But as soon as she healed him, he had sprung back up, eyes blazing at the sneak attack that he has apparently suffered from.

He was up and at 'em again, no worse for the wear.

And she just as quickly remembered why she had grown to tolerate the wounds that her friends inflicted upon each other.

In the end, even if the perverted boy raged, there were no hard feelings afterwards.

Only a drive to be better.

A tired giggle left her at the thought, forcing herself up to check up on the sleeping patient one last time before she left with Issei to go back home.

She made sure to check up on him at least twice a day, and this would be her last check up before the next day came.

Turning on her seat, she scanned the rhythmic breathing of Yuki's friend, noting the way the teenaged boy's chest expanded and contracted without a hitch, as well as the complete lack of stress on his face.

Nodding in satisfaction, the blond raised her hand and allowed a green aura to envelop it, placing it onto the sleeping man's chest, just in case.

Even now, she had to marvel how easily her powers came to her now, or how quickly it repaired bone and tissue.

In a sense, the role she had to play as the group's healer had done plenty more to improve her proficiency with her Sacred Gear than anything else ever has.

And she was doing it again, instead, using it as a method to detect anything wrong.

If she felt her power repairing something, that meant that there was obviously something wrong, something that may have to be looked at by a real doctor.

But at least they could use her powers as something of an alarm to problems down the road, if needed.

Any chance she had to help, she was trying to take. No questions asked.

It was the least she could do.

Concentrating back on her scan, Asia shut her powers off, closing her eyes as she breathed out.

It looked like he was fine-

"...Who are you?"

Green eyes opened, scanning around to find the source of the question.

Then they aimed down.

And met with another pair of green, blearily staring up at the nun with confusion plainly written on his face.

Her heart skipped a beat, but Asia managed to center herself and try for a brave smile.

"...Hello, Basara-san. My name is Asia Argento...and it's nice to meet you at last."

---

Chaos.

That was the word that could describe the current state of the Hero Tribe when the young hero finally returned from her latest duty.

All around her, there were small groups of heroes rushing about to complete whatever tasks that were assigned to them, some to check on the barriers that guarded their home, others to check on the alarm systems put into place, or some even to question eye witnesses to...whatever happened.

All the young hero could gather was one simple fact from the sparse information that she has managed to overhear around her.

Their home had been attacked.

Somehow, someone had managed to sneak through the numerous barriers that separated their home from the dimension that normal humans lived in blissful ignorance, killing several heroes without alerting the rest of the base.

It was only when the security system, that was meant to detect any foreign presences that wasn't in their database's entries, actually detected roughly seven new signals that the alarm was raised.

But by then, apparently, it was too late.

At the end of the day, several heroes were dead, another important member kidnapped, and no one knew who was responsible or how it was accomplished.

...Except, there were rumors going around that someone knew who was responsible.

And that was precisely why the young hero that had just returned from her latest mission was rushing towards the Hall of Heroes, the place where it was said that the Elder Council was gathering to speak about how to precisely approach this major breach in security.

Again. Since the last meeting didn't seem to bear much fruit, if the grumblings of the groups of heroes were any indication.

Her cape billowed behind her as she continued to run, ignoring the various looks that she was being given along the way by her fellow heroes, many of which she knew; were pity.

Pity for the situation she had suddenly found herself in.

Not even managing to reach her destination, the young girl stopped in her tracks, saying nothing as an important member of the Council passed her by, speaking with harsh whispers to a fellow member about something or another.

All around her were important heroes or retired heroes, making their way back from the meeting that had obviously just been adjourned.

The young girl sighed, frustration piercing through her, not sure what to do next.

"...Kurumi-chan?"

Kurumi snapped her head up, meeting the mahogany eyes of an old man, an elder that she knew was a veteran from the Great War that had consumed the Biblical factions many years ago.

His life lengthened purely to aid the next generations of heroes.

"...I see." the elder looked at her, gazing into her eyes. "So you've heard..."

There wasn't pity in the man's eyes or voice, unlike the numerous other heroes that passed her by on the way here.

There was, instead, understanding.

She appreciated that.

"Kurumi-chan." the elder spoke up, grim faced. "I'm not sure how much you've heard, but we are in a rather delicate position at the moment. The heroes on base are thoroughly split on what to do, your father has retreated inwards and has not given any further instructions in regards to current events, and the Council...well, they are as split as the general population."

Sighing, the wrinkles on his face deepening, he shook his head. "...And it seems that some of my fellow elders are taking matters into their own hands. Going behind the Great Hero and the rest of the Council's back. I fear that they will drag you; someone who is connected to the young woman that is allied with the suspect of the attack, as well as the leader of our faction, into it. Hoping to use your familial ties to make whatever scheme they present have more legitimacy."

Kurumi stayed silent throughout all of this, as silent as she had been when she first entered the Hero Tribe base in Japan.

What could be said about the situation that hasn't already been said.

The far older man before her had said it perfectly; the faction was divided, and that wedge was being driven further apart.

Regarding the young woman's quiet form, the council member combed his beard idly, looking upon her with compassion. "I do not envy your position young one, as you will no doubt be dragged into a conflict that could pit you against your own family. So, take the advice of a senile old man such as myself before you continue to walk the path that you are treading, if you could?"

Taking a knee and forgoing the walking stick that he has been using, the elder met her face-to-face. "Whilst I myself take stock in your father's words, as well as numerous other members of the elder council, I will not force my opinion upon you. No doubt, you will be forced to make a decision for yourself, but before you do, I simply ask that you form that opinion yourself instead of through the influences of others...as that decision could very well have meaningful ramifications if my old mind hasn't fooled me."

For the first time in the entire conversation, the young girl, barely reaching teenhood, answered him, her voice wavering. "...Why are you telling me all of this?"

Just a few days ago, she was reading one of her older sister's rare letters back home, regaling her with the events that led to her befriending a young man that she has gotten close to in recent times.

Just a few days ago, the Hero Tribe's base was as impenetrable as the day they were built in secret, watching over the populace of this section of the world as they have done for centuries.

Just a few days ago, her adopted father, a man that she knew as a parent for as long as she could remember, was the indomitable, powerful, and wise leader of their faction.

Now? All of that was turned on it's head.

Now...she was forced to form an opinion that could possibly make enemies of her own family.

The elder looked onto her with sadness in his eyes, which have already seen much throughout his long life.

"...Because the previous generations can't always solve the problems of the present." he said simply, closing his eyes in resignation. "There is nothing anyone in the Council could do, locked as we are. No...if anything, whatever scheme that is being hatched by those who aim for an immediate reprisal might actually break the stalemate. So it falls on those who could be dragged into this; the newer generation, to solve this crisis, and hopefully mend these divisions before they grow too wide."

Clasping the walking stick that he had dropped, the old man who had served with Toujou Jin during the crisis years of the Biblical Great War stood back up, smiling sadly. "I wish that it didn't have to be this way, but I was trained in my youth to look for possible ways to gain an advantage against my opponent...and I'm sure that the other higher ups have noticed this as well. I can only hope that you choose wisely, young one."

Standing as tall as he could with his bent spine, the old hero hobbled along with the numerous other heroes, no doubt making their way home or continuing whatever other duties that they have.

Kurumi just stayed there, conflicted.

She clenched her hands into fists, glaring at the ground as she bit her lip harshly, tasting copper with her tongue.

What should she do?

What could she do?

Because she had no idea. None at all.

The young hero had no idea how long she stayed there for, simply staring at the ground, her mind roiling with strife.

It had been long enough for the area around her to clear out, with nothing but the occasional hero walking past the large walkway.

A sense of time would only return to the thirteen year old girl when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Kurumi...there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Pivoting her head to the side, she saw another teenaged hero run up to her, a frown marring his features.

His shaggy blond hair and dark sideburns, as well as his sharp eyes gave her a clue as to who she was talking to. "...Takashi."

Takashi nodded seriously, taking a step forward to her. "Kurumi, listen, I need a favor. I've been given a mission from one of the higher ups in regards to...the attack that happened the other day. They need information, and I've been chosen to lead a team to retrieve that information. So can you help me out with this?"

Kurumi felt her cheek twitch, recalling what the elder hero told her before.

It was happening just as he predicted.

On principle, as well as for her sanity, she initially wanted to deny Takashi's request outright.

But then, realization hit her.

The best way to find the truth...was to go to the original source, and find it yourself.

This was the best chance she had to find out what was going on with her sister, and help her, regardless of the circumstances.

The only chance that she could see.

She had only one thing left to say to the young man that offered her a mission that she knew could possibly damn her relations to her family.

But damn it, if they were wrong about this blond that they placed their faith into, then she would make sure that he would pay for it. "I accept."

---

Shiba was having a bad day.

Not only was he literally kidnapped by a group that served under a man that he was nominally allied with, that would've been humiliating enough.

No, it was the fact that he was temporarily outmaneuvered that managed to truly get under his skin.

Basically, Shiba had already requested for the old man to extract him from the Hero Tribe, who's leader was becoming increasingly suspicious of his activities.

What he had expected was for a the old man to divide the Hero Tribe's attention more by creating a fuss somewhere in Japan, forcing Toujou Jin to focus on that instead of Shiba, and then allow him to leave the village using the chaos to his advantage.

It was hard to keep track of several heroes during chaotic times, it was even harder to keep track of a single one.

He may not have requested as such from the old man, but they were both manipulators first and foremost, he knew that the old man had read in-between the lines and realized that this was the most advantageous route for Shiba.

Which was why the old man had probably sent a task force to just retrieve him with all of the elegance of a horde of rampaging elephants.

Now Shiba couldn't use his high position in the Hero Tribe to sow dissent anymore, but even worse, he couldn't use the Hero Tribe as a possible proxy to get rid of his possible enemies down the line.

Like...the old man, in the future.

They may have been allies for now, but who knew how long that'd last, in reality?

Which was why the old man had most likely intentionally operated this 'rescue mission', to break his ties with the Hero Tribe, leaving him unable to go back unless he was forced to answer some hard questions.

It wasn't worth it anymore.

And to make matters worse, he was surrounded by thoroughly twisted young man and women to boot.

Old man Shiranui's pet projects were not exactly the epitomes of stability, that was for sure.

So, of course, he had to meet one of the crazier ones.

「Eh...don't you think it's strange, Shiba-chan? How obsessed Medaka-chan is with Naruto-chan?」

His strange manner of speaking wasn't helping either.

Shiba just stayed silent as he stewed over what to do next, annoyed that he was forced to allow himself to get caught without a fight, lest he answer questions as to why he was getting kidnapped in the first place.

「Seriously though, is Naruto-chan really that special? I've never met him, so I don't know. Isn't that a shame? If he's so special, then wouldn't it be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet such a person?」

Staying quiet, allowing the twisted boy right next to him to continue to talk as if he was partaking in a conversation, Shiba wondered whether he was actually going to go anywhere with his statements.

One couldn't really tell with this boy.

As if sensing his thoughts, the average-looking boy turned to him, his wide and innocent blue eyes meeting his closed ones.

Oh, how much of a lie were those innocent eyes of his.

「What do you think, Shiba-chan?」 the black-haired teen asked of him, as if giving him a say in the process. 「Do you think that I should go and see what all the fuss is about? Ah...but then again, what if I get my hopes up too high and ruin this momentous meeting by expecting something grand? I don't like being disappointed, you know? If that happens, then I'll have to do my best to make sure Naruto-chan is up to standard then, won't I? Don't want him to disappoint Medaka-chan.」

Nodding reasonably, as if his logic wasn't the most fucked up thing he has heard in a while, the one known as Kumagawa grinned at him.

It was such a twisted grin that Shiba genuinely wondered whether even someone as thoroughly selfish as himself shouldn't just do the world a favor and just off him.

「Ok, I made my decision! I'm gonna make friends with Naruto-chan! It's gonna be like in that Shonen Jump manga I've been reading! Where the hero gets brutally murdered by the antagonist in a fit of rage!」 Kumagawa exclaimed with excitement, spreading his arms out with a friendly smile.

That smiled faltered, becoming confused, before being replastered on like a new coat of paint. 「Oh. Oops. Wrong manga. Hehe, silly me.」

And with that, the boy disappeared from his sight, his disgusting feeling going away with him.

Now that Shiba thought about it, he never did correct himself about that manga comparison.

---

AN: I am so, so, so, SO sorry.

This took forever to crank out, mostly because of a perfect storm of circumstance.

For one, my computer wasn't fixed and handed back to me until last month.

For two, I was sick and tired of using my phone for another chapter, thoroughly burned out by that hell of an experience.

For three, I was busy as hell with my studying for my job in the Army, leaving only about an hour and a half of free time during the weekdays when I actually got my computer back.

Suffice to say, this took a bit of time to make.

But I hope that it was to everyone's liking, since I worked hard on this.

Like I said before, mostly relaxing time and healing time for now, and we're finally getting into a little bit of that romance bit. Finally. (Even I wanted to get to this.)

And, of course, events are happening in the background, as usual.

Anyway, hope this was to everyone's liking, I'm going to sleep now. Cya next time!

(PS I know all about the stuff that have yet to be resolved, no worries, they're incoming. (Looking at you, Underworld!))

-RekkingPride