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!

45. Chapter 45

Merry (Early) Christmas everyone! :D

---

Recap: Naruto went on a date with Mio and ended it with a sweet lil' kiss, but certain exorcists fucked that up.

Mio knocked herself out after getting pissed off at said exorcists, leaving Naruto with free time to deal with the shit going on in the Underworld.

Naruto makes a clone to chase after Freed after he escapes and Raynare follows the clone, with the exorcists following her in return.

And Kumagawa butts in to join the fun! What the hell does he want!? No one knows!

Recap: Over!

---

"Yo, what's up, Rias?"

Blue-green eyes, which had a similar shade as the clear oceanic surface during a bright sunny day, blinked openly in confusion. A reasonable response to seeing a friend ring her doorbell at this time of day. "N-Naruto?"

"Yep, who else?"

Rias took a step back, arms crossing over her body, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "Ah, yes, of course! Good afternoon, Naruto! How are you?"

Blue eyes narrowed a bit, not quite suspicious but still interested in her reaction to his presence. "You…uh…you ok?"

"Fine. Just fine." the red-head turned away, calming her beating heart. "What brings you here?"

Lighting up at the query, the blond smiled brightly, though his friend definitely couldn't see it. "Well, I was hoping that you could help me out by taking me to the Underworld, if you've got the time that is."

The Gremory princess craned her neck to glance at him, eyebrows rising. "Wait, what? Why would you want to do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to get this issue in the Underworld over with since I'm free for the rest of the day."

"You are? But what about-?" Rias clamped her mouth shut, aware that she wasn't supposed to know about his date. "Never mind. Why do you want to do this now though? Wasn't this planned for later?"

"It was, but things just kinda…changed. Like I said; I've got free time now right now, so why not use it?"

It was a genuine question, and the crimson-haired youth was at a loss on how to answer it. Why not indeed?

"I see." Rias pursed her lips, considering what she had heard and, more importantly; what has been implied.

She smiled after a period of thought, an idea popping at the back of her mind as she spoke again. "Alright then, give me a second to change, no peeking, alright?"

"I won't." Naruto sounded exasperated as he took a step back from the door in order to lean against the wall next to it. "I'll wait here, that alright?"

The shinobi didn't miss the playful shot sent over the heiress' shoulder. "Good boy."

Ah, she was acting like a mature 'onee-sama' once again. Huh…been a while since she did that.

Bonking his head against the wall with a dull *thud*, the blond idly wondered how his two clones were doing.

Of course he was referring to the clone sent to follow Freed, but he also had in mind the clone that was in the midst of training Koneko, helping her perfect the bunshin no jutsu.

They were still going at it, if his senses were telling the truth.

He could only hope that those copies of his weren't as stupid as he was sometimes prone to be.

---

Raynare was keeping a lookout for a very specific set of bright hair from her elevated position high above the clouds.

It was not lost on her that only a supernatural entity such as herself could really call an area so high above the earth 'elevated'.

Such heights were natural to her, as natural as breathing as a matter of fact, and it was purposeful for today.

She had no illusions about who she was following was an exorcist. An insane man, probably a stupid one, but an exorcist nonetheless.

On a usual day, she kept herself right above the clouds, but today she opted to play it safe and elevate herself higher the further away she flew from the original Naruto.

An extra precaution, who knew whether Kokabiel had lookouts posted around his secret base? One could never be too sure.

At least, that was what Azazel-sama drilled into her. Among other things, to her chagrin.

Her mind drifted over to the shit that she had to deal with while being taught by a man that could kindly be called 'eccentric', leaving her instincts active as she continued her search.

It was those very instincts that allowed her to retroactively tuck her twin set of wings and veer to the right to dodge a flying object that nearly slammed her in the face.

She growled, violet eyes narrowing into daggers at the near clean shot that her friend's copy managed to achieve.

He really was doing this on purpose, wasn't he? There was no way that he wasn't trying to knock her out of the sky with random objects.

Folding her wings, the fallen descended down towards a building carefully, making sure to keep herself discreet as she eyed the smug look that was aimed her way. "You're annoying, you know that?"

Naruto's clone, for his part, just smiled wider. "You love me anyway."

Raynare glanced away once she stepped onto the roof, refusing to answer as she crossed her arms. "Whatever. Where's Freed Sellzen?"

"He just waltzed into that gym over there." the shinobi flicked his thumb towards an expansive building near a bunch of other commercial buildings. "It kinda looks like a gym to me, and it's obviously been closed for renovations if the signs on it say anything about it."

Checking out the large building with the giant 'closed' sign hanging on one of its doors, Raynare could clearly see that the pair of double doors had been ripped open despite being locked in with wooden planks. It was recently tampered with, obviously. "It looks like a place where a loser like that would hide in, that's for sure."

「Aww…don't be mean to him, crow-chan. Maybe he's just shy?」

The fallen would never admit to jumping a foot into the air in surprise, never in a thousand years would she ever admit to that.

But she couldn't bullshit to someone that saw it. "Oh, right…I got a new friend by the way."

"…So I've heard." violet pupils flicked back towards the source of the strange voice, scowling at the face that was smiling innocently at her. "And what kind of circumstances brought this guy under your wing exactly? He's kinda creepy."

「Ohhh!」 the scrawny teen shivered, his smile widening. 「I'm being acknowledged by a pretty girl! This is beginning to look like one of those erotic dreams I had! Is this the power of the main protagonist that I've read so much about!? 」

Lips flattening, the supernatural entity moved her regard towards the blond that was hiding his features behind his hands. "…Just try and ignore him."

Pinching the bridge between her eyes, the fallen had to mentally count to ten in an effort to reign in her annoyance. "Naruto…if he's such an annoyance, why not get rid of him?"

"Can't. This guy knows something about the woman that targeted me when I returned from Kuoh Town. Apparently he learned of me through her. More than that; he came to warn me about some kind of plot against me by his brother."

「Kumagawa Misogi is a baaaaaad man, Naruto-kun.」

The blond twitched, but didn't say a word in regards to the other male's words. "…I'm gonna question him thoroughly in a bit, after we're done inspecting the area."

"I see." Raynare didn't particularly like the idea of another human hanging around them as they studied the building and the surrounding area, but she swallowed her misgivings and focused on the task at hand. "Learned anything about this so-called 'gym'?"

"Nope, it looks like an average public gym where normal people play sports in. Or, at least it used to, what with the closed signs everywhere." the Naruto clone crossed his arms, frowning at the large structure from his spot at the edge of the roof. "Why do bastards like to hang out in these creepy places?"

"That's a question that I've been wondering about myself, but when it comes to that creep; Freed…well, such places fit him like a glove." the ravenette obviously had no love for the insane man, and even less respect. "You want to take the split second to scout the area, or should I?"

"I'll do it. That insane bastard might have friends in there that specialize in finding supernatural beings such as yourself. Besides, I'm pretty good at sneaking around dattebayo."

"Ain't that the truth…"

Ignoring Raynare's snarky reply, the clone bent his legs in preparation for a jump, pausing for only a moment to turn towards the smiling visage of the strange addition to their group. "Try not to annoy the scary lady in the corset while I'm gone, alright guy?"

Not even waiting for a response, the blond blurred away, his exit so silent that the fallen had to take a moment to blink to register it.

It really was incredible how powerful that boy was, especially for a human. She had to wonder how he had achieved such strength…

「Naruto-kun is really amazing, wouldn't you say, crow-chan?」

Eyes flickering to the abnormal tagalong, Raynare couldn't help but scowl, unable to shake away the feeling that he evoked from sight alone.

Not taking the hint that her silence was supposed to convey, the scrawny boy turned his bright blue eyes to her, a practiced smile gracing his soft features. 「Say, what brought you into this situation anyway?」

His attempt at small talk wasn't working, evidenced by the entirely one-sided conversation.

A fact which, apparently, didn't dissuade him in the slightest. 「I know that Naruto-kun has an interesting ability to corral the people around him to do things that they normally wouldn't do. Is it his empathy that allows him to do this? His strength? His charisma? I have no clue. But did he, maybe, get you with that ability too?」

Despite her best judgement, Raynare found herself facing the strange boy next to her with a sharp gaze. "He didn't corral me to do anything. This was my idea from the start, so stop thinking up weird shit."

「Ohhh, I get it.」 Kumagawa smiled. 「So Naruto-kun is helping you out? That's nice of him, isn't it?」

"It is."

「…You don't seem to like me very much, crow-chan.」

"Very astute of you."

「Why?」

It was one word, and Raynare hated the fact that it managed to force a response out of her. "I don't really like humans in general."

「But you like Naruto-kun though.」

"He's different, that's all there is to it."

The human dressed like a typical high schooler didn't say anything, his smiling face still present, as if mocking her.

Newly aggravated, she didn't realize just how much her composure had slipped in this conversation. "He helped me with a situation which I couldn't crawl out of. Put simply; he saved the one woman whom I had poured my life into from doing something irreversible. Then convinced me to help her, despite what she's done. So yes; he's special."

「Hooooh?」 Kumagawa's expression didn't change, even as he scratched his cheek. 「Pouring your life into someone…I don't really get that. But that sounds like something Naruto-kun would do too.」

"She was…is family." the ravenette had no idea why she was telling this stranger this, but she felt compelled to explain herself. She felt…defensive, almost.

「So you'd do anything for her, because she's family?」 even after all of this time, the boy's face remained stagnant, but it still felt…darker somehow. 「Personally, I don't really see it. Are you sure that you want to help her because she's family?」

That feeling of defensiveness, which was building up for a while, had suddenly been cranked up to eleven. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Kumagawa's smile widened, somehow becoming more unwelcoming as it twisted up more.「You remind me of a story that I heard of a while ago. Of a boy that would also do anything for 'family'. I know only a little bit of his story, but my impression of his obsession is this; he wanted companionship, regardless of how he got it.」

He leaned towards her now, the edges of his lips managing to climb further up his cheeks, providing an almost cheshire-like grin. 「Could it be that you're just like that boy? Seeking affection when there's none to be had? So desperate for love that you'd want it from anyone?」

Unknowingly, Raynare shuffled back, her body tensing, cheeks burning in as she choked in raw anger.

Yet he continued anyway. Doing nothing more in response to the clear antagonism that he was inspiring than giving a cock of the head. Managing to transform the entire look that he was giving the supernatural woman into something bordering the malevolent. 「Don't worry too much about it though, I'm sure that Naruto-kun appreciates being a conduit from where you get your affection and care.」

The fallen shook, her breath short as she glared venomously, feeling violated on some level that she couldn't verbalize.

「Eh…you look hurt.」 Kumagawa's features switched back towards the innocent, removing any traces of the darker undertones without preamble. 「Was I wrong? Did I hurt your feelings? Sorry, sorry! I'm bad at this sorta thing, ya know?」

"I-I can't even-" Raynare really couldn't even. "What kind of bullshit did you just spout!?"

「Oh no! I am wrong then!」 the scrawny boy gaped openly, eyes wide with unshed tears. 「Please don't commit suicide because of me! I'm sure that okaa-chan will love you!」

Whether the ravenette cared to admit it or not, even she couldn't deny the air that was blown out of her lungs at the implication that was being thrown at her.

She really did crave her mother's affections, this much was true…but the idea that she wanted to be around Naruto just for that was…

It was wrong, it had to be. To regard that blond as nothing more than some kind of surrogate.

Yet she couldn't defend herself, blind as she was with such unrelenting anger that she couldn't even formulate a proper sentence, let alone refute the words that threatened her in some intrinsic level.

But…even as she tried, she recalled how warm she felt when around that weird human.

How comforted his words were when he confronted her right next to her unconscious mother, giving in a valuable favor towards the leader of the fallen angels; Azazel.

How much she wanted to see him again afterwards, and tried to be around him, even for a little bit.

Then a doubt crept in her mind, wondering, fearing.

All of that happened in a flash, before she pulled her head back to shout out her frustration-

「That's ok though! You look cute, so Naruto-kun will definitely give you lots of love!」

Then it petered out, leaving the fallen uncomfortably between wrath and embarrassment at the idea of being given 'lots of love'. "Y-You…"

She said no more after this, the human boy -was he human, really?- also turned away from her, smiling brightly as he inspected the area with blatant curiosity.

Raynare didn't do anything for a second, reigning her rampaging emotions in, and then raised her hand for inspection.

She was shaking, violently. Sweating too.

Just a few minutes of conversation, at most, and she already felt that her prior beliefs in her reasons for being here, in seeing that blond, and her own intentions…were shaken.

Drawing back into herself, taking a defensive posture, she decided not to speak to the boy beside her again until the blond clone returned.

---

"Ok, you can come back inside, Naruto!"

Already moving inside as soon as he heard her voice, Naruto waltzed inside and checked his surroundings, idly recalling that he had never actually been to Rias' home before.

By all accounts, it was grandiose. A western-styled mansion that contained clean white tiles for the floor, styled walls with beautiful designs lining with the numerous columns that were there for style as much as to hold the floor above up. Hell, she even had a large chandelier hanging from what looked like the third floor in the middle of a gigantic first floor.

Another reminder that this woman was so disgustingly wealthy that she could probably put that bastard; Gato, to shame.

Beautiful interior décor aside, blue eyes swiveled towards the crimson princess and an eyebrow was raised. "I know we're going to see a bunch of important people, but is that dress necessary?"

Rias blinked, and then glanced down at her dress. "What are you talking about? This isn't that ostentatious, is it?"

The shinobi had to groan. The woman in question was wearing a dark red dress that hugged her voluptuous figure, it was being held up with a thin black strap that hanged over her neck, a fact that left her back completely bare save for the straps of her frilly bra. Her clothes extended down right above her ankles and contained a frilly black ribbon right above her heart for stylistic purposes.

Oh, and she used a scrunchie to tie her long crimson hair into a ponytail.

Overall, to Naruto at least, she was completely overdressed, especially when one considered that they were probably gonna see some old farts with sticks lodged into their sphincters for thousands of years.

…Or maybe he was feeling self-conscious again; it wouldn't be the first time that day after all.

Literally, all he was wearing was a plain gray shirt under an orange and black hoodie, with dark jeans and plain sneakers. In comparison, he looked like a common peasant, which wasn't too far from the truth, if he were honest.

"Feeling self-conscious?" Rias smiled at him, as if attempting to soothe his ego. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure that your personality will do far more to provide a first impression than your clothes ever could."

"…I can't tell whether that's an insult or a compliment."

"Welp! Let's get started, shall we?"

"We're just gonna ignore that then, huh?"

Proving the blond's point, the devil heiress waved her hand and summoned a magical construct that had her family symbol emblazoned within, covering her home with an eerie crimson glow.

A transportation circle. "Normally, one couldn't just teleport into the Underworld without going through official channels. But my connection to one of the Great Houses of the Underworld gives me leeway in this regard, and lets me teleport inside my place of residence. So basically…we'll probably have to pass by my family before we see my onii-sama, Naruto."

"That's alright with me, as long as we get this whole shitshow dealt with as soon as possible dattebayo." the shinobi grunted, moving swiftly to stand beside her and grab her arm. "Ready when you are."

Feeling Rias jolt a bit at his touch, the blond couldn't fathom the idea that electricity coursed through her at the feeling, even if that was exactly what it felt like to her. Suppressed as it was. "R-Right. Let's get moving."

The glowing construct brightened further, coating them all in their totality, transporting the two teenagers into a world much different, and yet; so similar to theirs. At least, if the blond's impression of the Underworld was correct.

Unlike last time though; the young man found himself in a different place, in a massive room with windows that were roughly a story high, and with violet silk curtains that managed to drape over them.

The rug under his shoes, which had a similar shade to the curtains and the walls around him, conveyed their value through how ridiculously comfortable it felt just to take a step. The rug somehow transferred the feeling of its material through his shoes towards the soles of his feet.

It was beyond comfortable, and Naruto had to wonder what on earth this rug could've been made out of.

"…This is gonna be fun." Rias blew out some air, pulling some strands of her beautiful hair behind her ear. "Come on, let's go check the welcoming committee."

"Welcoming committee?" the blond echoed, not hearing an answer as she took a step forward, before pausing.

Arm snaking towards him, it wrapped around his bicep and tugged at him so that he stood right by her, forcing him to walk in lockstep as soon as she continued her gait.

Doing his utmost to ignore the soft feeling that his elbow was receiving, Naruto shot her a look. "What are you doing dattebayo?"

"Providing a united front." she murmured under her breath, slowing down in front of a massive pair of mahogany double doors. "Follow my lead, Naruto."

Not giving him any time to react, Rias boldly pushed the doors open in front of them, giving them a wide berth as they moved. Her swagger suggested that she was completely uncaring of the rows upon rows of maids and butlers that were assembled in formation on both sides of the literal red carpet that they were walking on.

""""Welcome home, Rias-sama!""""

The booming and heartfelt greeting nearly floored the sole human, as well as the sheer amount of people that came just to welcome them…or rather; the woman that was beside him. "Is this…normal?"

"Pretty much." the crimson princess replied, head aimed straight ahead, tightening her grip on his arm. "Let me do the speaking, if you don't mind."

Naruto definitely didn't mind. Just by taking a cursory glance, he could tell that he was out of his depth here.

Moving as one, the two teens moved forward across the long carpet, passing rows upon rows of maids and butlers who were bowing low enough to become horizontal to the floor. Obviously used to such behavior.

Though, thanks to personal experience, he could feel the heavy attention that was lent towards him as soon as he passed some of them. Searing him with their derision at the idea that their mistress was holding his arm close to her body, as if he was somehow her equal instead of her little doggy.

One would think that that would be a little much to assume from a couple of stares…but Naruto knew what those looks felt like, knew them at an intrinsic level.

They were leveled upon him all the time, once. And he could never forget them, no matter how much someone tried to hide their complete disregard of his humanity.

"Ara, Rias, isn't this a pleasant surprise visit."

Any more thought on the looks that were being sent his way was halted when a soft voice addressed the two of them, sounding kinda…familiar.

Raising his head an inch, he bore witness to something that kinda threw him off for a good few seconds. "…A twin?"

"Not quite." the smile in the mysterious woman's voice was unmistakable, the motherly look she was providing enhancing it as she descended from a massive flight of stairs that the red carpet was leading to. "But I do appreciate the compliment, young man."

Blue eyes flickering to the cyan of his friend's, he carefully regarded the curvy bruenette that had taken her first step on the floor that they were standing on, seeing a reflection Rias' features in her. "…I-I'm sorry then, you must be Rias' older sister then, right?"

A light groan escaped from the devil heiress' mouth beside him, earning her a side glare from him.

"Closer, but not quite." the Rias lookalike loftily remarked as she reached the two of them on the red carpet, her matronly smile still in place. "I'm sure that you could guess it correctly next time though, if you're willing to try?"

Pursing his lips, the young man squinted, trying his utmost to figure out this puzzle laid out for him, all while ignoring the look that Rias was throwing his way. "…Aunt?"

The unknown woman's lovely smile broke apart into a tiny fit of giggles, something that was explained when the red-head finally deigned to correct him. "That's my mother, Naruto."

Something spoken so dryly conveyed to Naruto that the answer to his question was obvious, an idea that he thoroughly disagreed with. "Wait, wait, wait! She's your mom!? She looks just like you!"

"Ara…" cupping her cheek, the woman that was apparently his friend's mother looked quite flattered. "Thank you for your kind words young man, I do like to take care of myself. But she is correct."

Lips twitching upwards, the brunette gazed upon the two teenagers warmly. "My name is Venelena Gremory; Rias' mother. A pleasure to meet you young man, I've heard nothing but good things from you from my daughter."

"O-Okaa-sama…" Rias felt her cheeks burn, glancing away as she pouted.

Naruto, on the other hand, gaped openly. "S-Seriously?"

"Indeed." Venelena giggled. "Come, I'm certain that Zeoticus would like to see you as well."

Turning on her heel, the woman that no doubt held considerable influence throughout the Underworld then began to walk back upstairs, moving with a grace befitting her position as the Lady of her clan.

Squeezing the blond's arm a little, Rias murmured under her breath. "…Let me handle this, please. I'm sure that you can tell, but this is a different ball game from Riser. This time, there are going to be plenty of eyes watching your every move. Compared to your last visit to the Underworld, where you spoke to my onii-sama in private, and fought Riser, this will be very…political. Understand?"

Once more feeling the stares bore through the back of his head, Naruto nodded. "Right. I'll be more careful."

Figuring this to be the best she could get from him, the princess pulled his arm and tightened her hold over his arm, back straight and eyes laser-focused.

This was her field now, something which she had been taught her whole life to deal with.

Feeling the regard around him intensify the higher he climbed the stairs, he had to wonder whether his clones were having an easier time than he was.

---

Racing back towards the stakeout spot that he had artificially created, the clone of Uzumaki Naruto hopped away from the many sprawling buildings of businesses near the closed gym, making sure to create a little bit of distance before he crossed over back to his spot where his friend and…acquaintance were.

Honestly, he still had no idea what to think about that guy.

But it didn't change the fact that he knew something about Medaka, and more than that, had some sort of clue or inkling about some attempt by his brother to come for him. At least, so he claimed.

…More importantly though, he might even know something about the mysterious old man that Medaka spoke of, who was it again?

Shit, she never mentioned his name, did she?

Whoever he was, that guy was the key here, he knew something about his world and wanted to replicate the powers from that world. Replicate the powers of the shinobi.

He had to learn more, in any way possible.

The opportunity to learn more from this guy was too good of an opportunity to miss out on, even if he was kinda creepy…and annoying.

Reaching the roof of the building that he left Raynare and Kumagawa on, his face twisted slightly, perturbed by the heavy atmosphere that he had arrived to.

For one thing; there was a considerable distance between the two of them, and the fallen looked almost…relieved to see him. One could attribute this to the idea that the atmosphere was awkward, but it felt a little more…charged than that.

"Naruto." Raynare walked up to the clone, her demeanor quickly relaxing in the blond's presence. "Good, you made it back. How'd the scouting go?"

"Enough. From what I can see, the gym has been closed pretty recently, though all of the windows have been completely boarded up for whatever reason. And I checked every nook and cranny for an opening too, at least, as much as I could without actually touching the building." the shinobi replied, shooting a look over her shoulder. "By the way, you…uh…you alright?"

Following his focus, she narrowed her eyes poisonously. "…As good as I can be."

Over her shoulder, Kumagawa was cooing over the sight of a little bird which had landed precariously on the ledge of the roof. 「Hey there, little birdie! Would you like to be my new friend?」

The little bird swiveled its head towards the boy, staring at him for a moment, before flapping its wings and soaring into the sky without looking back, leaving him with an unpleasant smile on his face. 「…Seems I can't win in the protagonist's town either.」

Gaze unfocused for a short time afterwards, the scrawny boy eventually noticed the two sets of eyes that were trained in his direction. 「Oya? Naruto-kun is back! Are you done with your uber-important mission now?」

"Yeah, you could say that." the copy smoothly replied, unsure whether he should feel disturbed or amused by what he had just witnessed. "Raynare, you've got anything left to do here before we head out? Remember; we're just here to scout the area and plan something more concrete once the boss gets back."

Taking a gander at the gym, violet pupils studied the structure with an intensity that she had tried to keep under wraps for a while now, only now just cracking through her carefully laid façade. "…You have everything you need to plan a proper assault if necessary, right? Should it come to that?"

"I do."

"…Alright then, I suppose that this is good enough for-"

The fallen paused, her breath hitching suddenly. Attention glued onto something with an almost trancelike quality.

Scrunching his brow together, the blond took a step towards the supernatural woman and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong. Something that was made evidently clear as soon as he locked onto what she was looking at.

There was no need for asking what was wrong, there was simply nothing right about the duo that had somehow found themselves in front of the closed gym's doors.

Cursing under his breath, Naruto quickly brought his hands together to make a familiar symbol, already aware that the option of retreat had been stripped from his hands. There was simply no way that that asshole of a priest hadn't already noticed their presence.

"Kumagawa, stay here with my clone, we'll handle this in a flash!" the shinobi ordered in no uncertain terms, creating two clones beside him.

"Naruto-"

"I know, Raynare. I know. But we can't just let them die!"

Raynare was clenching her teeth together hard enough to crush rock, watching in mute horror as the two idiot exorcists proceeded to smash the doors leading into suspicious building.

She remembered these two, she remembered them quite vividly. How could she not? These were the two bitches that threatened her after she met with the devil leaders of this territory.

The fallen could've sworn that they had left the area already, but apparently they decided to stick around and fuck with her one last time before they moved on. More than that; how did they even find this place!?

She had no idea, all she knew was that Freed definitely knew that these two exorcists were here. Raynare had heard that the Excaliburs thrummed when they neared other Excaliburs, disregarding the ones already near them. Something that tended to happen to fragments of a powerful magical item that sought to reform.

But if that wasn't enough to tip him off, the loud sound of doors getting ripped out of their hinges would definitely help.

Baring her sharp canines, the fallen could only growl lowly in her throat, even as the blond beside her urged her to action.

Damn them…they were ruining her chance to get to Kokabiel…!

"Raynare!"

"I know!" she finally snapped, viciously curbing her temper following that slip. "Just…just lead the way."

Sparing her a sympathetic pat, the clone followed through with her suggestion and jumped to the air, moving quickly after the exorcists that had just entered the building.

Taking another moment to center herself, Raynare spread her wings out and also prepared to jump, unwilling to let the copy handle things on his own.

「Good luck, crow-chan!」 she heard the annoying human chime behind her, practically hearing his near-but-not-quite twisted smile in his voice.

It was times like these that the ravenette had to wonder whether being a 'good guy' was all that it was cracked up to be.

---

Naruto was nervously walking alongside Rias, following her mother through a massive hallway decorated with various paintings from famous artists across the Underworld. As well as gorgeous drapes that lined up with the murals all around them.

Approaching another set of double doors, the third set since he's arrived at this massive mansion, the shinobi kept his wits about him as he stayed close to the young heiress of the House. This wasn't exactly his field of expertise…at all.

So when Rias' mother entered through that large gateway into another room, which just so happened to have a long and imposing table that stretched from one end of the large room to the other, he was understandably wary of what came next.

"Welcome home at last, Rias!" a booming voice rang out the second that Naruto took a step inside the room. "And greetings to you young man, your reputation precedes you indeed!"

Rias groaned next to him. "Otou-sama…"

"Zeoticus." Venelena's voice, soft and melodic, still retained a hint of steel when it was aimed at the owner of the booming voice. "Please retain your dignity when speaking to honored guests. If I recall; you still have the responsibility of representing the honored House of Gremory to individuals and organizations outside our clan. Please keep that in mind would you, dear?"

The shinobi zeroed onto the source of the booming voice that had fallen into a low chuckle, chastened a bit, and what he saw was someone that he could definitively say was probably related to the rich heiress right by him.

His long crimson hair was a big giveaway.

Standing at the end of the table that was long enough to take up the entire length of an average house, was a handsome man with crimson hair that was tied into a loose ponytail down his shoulders, a well-maintained stubble, and shining blue-green eyes that very much reminded the blond of a certain woman in his life. "Come now, dear, there is no need to be so formal in our home. Especially when this boy is obviously not just a simple guest."

"Let's not make too many assumptions yet, dear." Venelena's focus drifted towards the sole human in the room, a faint twinkle within her violet orbs. "Though I must admit that I wouldn't particularly mind if this young man would call me 'okaa-san' from now on…"

"Okaa-sama!" the squeak in their daughter's voice was unmistakable. "Please stop teasing me!"

"Ah…" the man at the head of the table bowed his head, deflating. "It seems that our daughter doesn't appreciate my humor anymore…"

"A shame, I'm sure."

Swallowing the retort that she oh so wanted to give, the devil teenager just attempted to move past the teasing that her parents were giving her. "Otou-sama. Okaa-sama. I'm sorry to say that this isn't…quite a social call, I'm here for a reason."

"Oh, we're aware." Zeoticus remarked, pushing himself off of his seat so that he may join his wife. "The young man standing by your side is proof of that. He's quite…the figure in the Underworld these days."

"We just wanted to have a little fun before we got down to business, call it a 'parent thing' if you want." Venelena folded her hands together in front of her white dress, lips curving in a tender fashion.

"You know then…" the red-head pressed the blond's arm closer to her. "How is it? The Underworld?"

"As well as it could be with protests springing up, it's a rather novel experience. The last time protests sprung up in the Underworld; it eventually kickstarted the fall of the Old Maou government." Zeoticus explained, stepping forward to stand in front of the teens with his wife behind him. "So you can understand that many of the elites are somewhat…wary."

His eyes, so much like Rias', flickered towards the silent youth with whiskers, inspecting him. "All aimed at the young man that defied the arranged marriage that I had set up."

Naruto's shoulders squared up, tensing at the possible threat. Something that Rias recognized and opened her mouth to quickly settle, lest it raise the tension.

"Dear, I hope that you're not actually upset that this young man gave our daughter her freedom to choose her spouse, are you?" thankfully, the bruenette mother and wife of the two red-heads in the room intervened with her gentle and knowing look.

"Of course not!" the father and husband of the family cried out, eyes bulging at the accusation. "I'm simply stating the facts of the matter, dear!"

His comically large eyes fell back to realistic proportions as he faced the spiky-haired male again. "If anything, that incident helped me grow as a father. I thought that Rias was like Venelena and I, who were brought together by an arranged marriage and grew to love one another. But I never imagined that she would be so determined to break the arrangement that she would enlist outside help…it was quite the shock. I should've been more considerate of my daughter's feelings."

Nodding his head, the older man smiled. "So, if anything, I should be thanking you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

"…You know my name." Naruto mumbled, uncomfortable with the praise given to him.

Perhaps realizing this, the Head of the House smirked playfully. "I've heard quite a bit of you from Sirzechs and Riser. Though the latter was quite unwilling to give you any compliments, for obvious reasons."

"Wait." Rias interjected, eyes sharpening. "Riser and Onii-sama? I think I recall Riser saying something about that…why are they working together, Otou-sama?"

"Oh, I suppose you don't know, do you?" Venelena walked up to her daughter, violet orbs trained on her. "If Riser is to be believed, he claims to have been manipulated to attack Naruto-kun here during your last time in the Underworld, leading to that little fight. By none other than Diodora, of all people."

Watching the two pair of eyebrows widen from the young adults, Zeoticus decided to drop another atom bomb on the conversation. "More than that; he claims that Diodora was affiliated with the Old Maou Faction, and that someone amongst their number empowered him to turn into that phoenix. Apparently the connection that empowered him allowed him to sense the user's intentions for chaos, or something along those lines."

"S-Seriously?" Naruto stuttered out, mind racing. He couldn't quite fathom the idea that a little shit like that could be associated with an actual faction.

Then again, considering the things he had heard about this group; he wasn't exactly too surprised.

"I see…well, then that man was more heinous than I originally anticipated." even the devil heiress didn't expect for that monster to fall that low. "Anyway, moving back to the topic at hand; can you take us to my Onii-sama? We'd like to speak with him to deal with this…'problem' that Naruto spawned."

Feeling the human set his sights squarely upon her, she made a quick amendment to her statement. "Accidentally."

"Ah, so this was your…friend's idea, hm?" Zeoticus took another second to glance at the blond before taking a step back. "Very well, I'm sure that Sirzechs would like to speak to him as well. Naruto-kun, if you would?"

Inviting him to follow, Naruto turned towards Rias, unsure whether he should do so.

She didn't give him any words of encouragement; she merely hugged his arm tighter to her soft body.

"Alright, let's go." forging ahead towards the real reason for his visit, Naruto followed his friend's advice and took a step to follow after the man of the house.

"Ah, Rias?"

That move was halted when the high-class devil's name was called by none other than her mother, forcing her to crane her head to look over her shoulder.

What she saw was a pleasant smile. A familiar pleasant smile. "Do you mind staying behind for a moment? I'd like to speak with you, privately."

Pursing her lips at the look that she had learned to listen to for most of her life, Rias spoke to the curious blond without taking her eyes off of her parent. "It's ok, Naruto. Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Taking one more second to study her, he nodded and did as she suggested, sensing that he shouldn't be here for the ensuing discussion ahead.

There was a reason why mother and daughter were staying behind, and the shinobi wasn't keen on figuring out why. That was a family matter.

Eventually left alone with her mother, Rias exchanged looks with the woman who birthed her, already aware of what was coming, expecting nothing less from her. "You have something that you wish to say, Okaa-sama?"

"Oh Rias…" Venelena closed her eyes, adopting a woeful expression. "You know precisely what I have to say. Your display in front of the servants will spread across the Underworld, especially to the other clans that had a vested interest in setting you up with their sons. You know how much our lovely servants love to gossip, don't you?"

Her violet gaze then narrowed faintly, a new suspicion lighting in those orbs. " …Unless that was your intention?"

Rias glanced away. "…If word spread that Naruto was arm-in-arm with me when I returned from the human world, then the nobles that would want to do him harm would recognize that he had the favor of the Gremory Clan's heiress. It would buy him some immunity."

The Lady of the House took a step inside her daughter's personal space. "Rias…is that the only reason that you decided to hold your friend as if you were lovers?"

"I-"

"Please don't lie to your mother, Rias. I was once a young woman too, if you could believe it."

The princess of the Gremory bit her lower lip, glancing away from the prodding focus that pierced through her. "…Where are you going with this, Okaa-sama?"

"I believe that you know where, dear." Venelena softly placed her hand onto the younger woman's shoulders, squeezing in comfort. "Rias…you know that it won't work between you two."

"I-" Rias' eyelids fluttered as she clenched her fists. "I just wanted to understand what it felt like, that was all. That's all. Naruto and Mio-chan have each other to-"

She choked on her words, a sharp pang disrupting her, leaving a horrid taste in her mouth at the idea of what she had implied.

"…Oh…Rias…" Venelena murmured softly, seeing Rias' eyes become glassy as she stood there silently, supercharging her motherly instincts. She took another step and brought her arms around her daughter, not meeting any resistance. "…Thinking about it, you always did have a fascination with heroes."

Feeling her beautiful princess jerk faintly at her last words, she continued. "Don't you remember? How you always loved to hear about the stories about the princess and her handsome knight in shining armor? How you always dreamed of your own knight as a little girl?"

Memories of times where Rias would rest her small head on a pillow, staring into the ceiling as her mother's soothing voice read her stories of brave devil princes rescuing their loved ones from the evil angels flashed through her head. She remembered opening her window by her bedside, staring up into the sky with wonder at how her prince would look like.

The fevered dreams of a young girl that wished for a hero to whisk her off of her feet.

"Perhaps this is a bit presumptive of me…but maybe you still have such feelings?" Venelena made sure to be careful with her next words. "Grayfia told me about how Naruto-kun cancelled your arranged marriage, and I must admit; many a young girl would dream of such an event. That isn't anything to be ashamed of."

"Are you saying that I'm shallow?" the red-head had to ask, voice nothing more than a whisper.

"Everyone is shallow when they're young. That being said; what if it was someone else that saved you that day? Someone else that became your 'hero'? Are you sure that you wouldn't have developed feelings for him?"

"I-" Rias shivered, the idea implanting itself upon her, refusing to let its grip falter. "I wouldn't go that far, after all; I didn't try and pursue him. He has someone else-" Oh, how it hurt to say that, even now.

"Which is probably the smartest thing you could have done, Rias." Venelena genuinely looked sympathetic to her plight. "He's human, dear. He won't live as long as you, and he will one day die; leaving you alone with a broken heart. And that's something that I don't want for you, as your mother."

Silence befall the two women, leaving the heiress to mull over the possibility, not liking it, but unable to dismiss it entirely. "…I don't know, Okaa-sama. I just don't know…"

"It's fine to be confused about all of this, dear." Venelena softly combed through long crimson hair, doing her best soothe her wavering daughter. "Just think on what I've said. I would normally indulge you with your…'romance', but I can see that this one will do more harm than good to you. Trust me on this. Even if you yourself can't see that you're truly attracted to that boy, I can. Recognize that fact…and deal with it properly, ok?"

"Yes, Okaa-sama." Rias managed to shrink into herself without moving a muscle, head bowed and listless.

Her mother's lips brushed her forehead. "I know this is difficult, Rias. But I have faith that you'll do the right thing. You are my daughter, after all."

---

Xenovia kept her grip firmly clasped around the hilt of her piece of Excalibur, hyper aware of her surroundings as she delved deeper into the inner sanctum of the -probable- enemy base.

She could feel her chosen weapon thrum in anticipation, alerting her to the presence of other Excalibur fragments, though that feeling was beginning to die down. Just like her Excalibur fragment's meeting with Excalibur Mimic, held by her ally; Irina.

Speaking of which... "Irina, do you feel that?"

"Yeah." for all of Irina's flaws, she could still be a reliable partner when the situation called for it. "It feels like we're being watched."

After the two exorcists followed after that fallen angel and eventually lost track of her; they were forced to search the surrounding area for any clues. Eventually leading them to the general vicinity of the gym, which apparently contained other fragments of Excalibur.

At least if their own fragments were accurate. "Keep your guard up, Irina. We don't know what kind of crazy heretic we might encounter here-"

"Yoooo, what's up, bitches!?"

Xenovia whipped out her Excalibur Destruction, who wielded it in a guarded position as Irina brought out a scrunchie that transformed into a katana; her Excalibur Mimic.

Before them; Freed emerged from the shadows of the stairs that led to the bottom floor, carrying himself like a man with class. "I knew I smelled some virgins around here! What does a couple of nuns want with little ole' me?"

"Freed Sellzen. Rogue exorcist of the Church." Xenovia refused to be distracted from her main objective; getting the Excalibur fragment. "We sensed one of the fragments of Excalibur within the confines of this building…and after choosing to inspect it, we find you. That can only mean that you, indeed, are associated with the Fallen Angel Faction, are you not?"

"Eh…why are you worrying about the small details, little girl?" Freed stuck his tongue out languidly, smirking even with it hanging out. "All you need to know is this; I'm gonna kill you and turn you both, cut you guys up, and then parade your bodies around like piñatas so that all the good little boys and girls could beat them with sticks!"

He cackled at the idea, red eyes glowing in anticipation. "And then I'll kill 'em! A happy ending for everyone!"

"…He's kinda crazy, Xenovia…" Irina liked to state the obvious, but this time Xenovia could understand her need to do so.

Even with the reports on the man's mental stability, or lack thereof, this was still more extreme than either of them could've predicted.

"Come on kiddies! Let's play!" from the depths of his dark coat, the insane man pulled a blade, it's material shining like stainless steel. Though that was really the only noteworthy thing about it; it actually looked quite plain. "Let's see how you like this! Excalibur Transparency!"

Raising his sword arm, the blade simmered sharply for all of a second, almost like a mirage in the middle of a horrifying drought.

Then, as if choosing to complete that analogy; the blade vanished. And it just so happened to take the user right along with it.

"Transparency…" the more serious of the pair of exorcists scowled, shrugging off her white cloak to reveal the standard exorcist battle suit that was hugging her impressive form. "This will be difficult, but not impossible! The sword cannot make a poor swordsman anything less than mediocre!"

"Exactly!" Irina followed suit, her own battle suit revealed, which covered just a tad more skin than her counterpart's. "With God on our side, there's no way that we'll lose!"

"Ohyo~! That's so fuckin' cute!" their enemy's voice came from all around them, though they knew that to be impossible. "But it won't be me who will die from how adorable you're both being!"

Moving back-to-back, both young women watched their surroundings and took extra care to listen for any disturbances, aware that that was the only real way that they could fight their adversary.

For a little bit, there was nothing but silence that met the ears of the fellow Excalibur users, raising the tension to a high that frayed on their nerves. In such things; it was always the wait that burned them.

So it was somewhat understandable for their hearts to nearly jump out of their chests when a blur barreled into the two of them without warning, sending them to the ground. "Get down!"

The whistling sounds of a blade cutting through empty air became obvious to all, as well as the whine that erupted from an invisible throat.

That blur, which had left them as soon as they stopped rolling, solidified into a more solid shape, turned away from them and focused onto the area that the whine had come from. "Get up you two! I ain't looking to get popped by a nobody like this bastard!"

Forced to quickly right herself, Xenovia's eyes widened at the familiar sight that greeted her as soon as she recovered her bearings. "N-Naruto!?"

The boy that she had seen merely minutes prior was standing before her, facing away from her and towards the spot that they had recently vacated. "Yeah, that's me. Now help me out here; the bastard is nothing if not slippery."

"Wait." Irina stood back up, legs a little shaky at the rough tumble. "Weren't you back at the commercial area or something? What are you doing way out here?"

Her violet eyes widened, a smile blossoming at the idea that popped in her head. "Can it be that you're a spy for the Church!? Oh! That would explain why you helped us earlier!"

"Wait-what?" blue eyes turned to look at the two in bewilderment. "How the hell did you reach that conclusion?"

"Oh! That would also explain why he was with that devil earlier! He must've been trying to ingratiate himself into the devil's inner circle!" Xenovia chimed in, exuberant that she figured out this anomaly of a man. "That would explain everything!"

The clone didn't refute them, finding the entire thing too bizarre to argue against, besides, he was too focused on the whereabouts of their annoying enemy.

It was only thanks to the copy's focus that he was able to hear the soft and tiny *click* that came from somewhere to his right.

The shinobi's arm became a smear of movement; sending off two shuriken to the general vicinity of the noise at such speeds, that the whistling sounds that they made seemed to ring out at roughly the same time to the sound of them connecting.

A gasp later, and the sound of a man crumpling to the floor vindicated the blond's strikes. "Y-You blond son of a bitch-"

Blood mysteriously dripped from thin air, giving the clone enough of a hint to the exact location of their little adversary. "Give it up already, buddy. You're outgunned and outnumbered dattebayo."

He heard nothing except an angry moan coming from the spot on the floor that Freed landed on.

Behind it, Xenovia leaned to her comrade. "…Dattebayo?"

Irina shrugged. "Sounds like a verbal tic to me."

"Let's not get that conversation started." Naruto groaned. "Back to serious shit; what did you want with this guy?"

"Oh, apologies. I didn't consider the fact that your stint undercover has left you in the dark. I'll tell you about our mission parameters now." smiling softly, the woman with short blue hair seemed to be all too willing to tell him everything. "We were sent by the higher ups to find and secure the Excalibur fragments from Kokabiel; a traitor that we think is harboring them in the area. Considering that the criminal; Freed Sellzen, is here…I'd say that Kokabiel's presence is pretty much confirmed."

The clone of Uzumaki Naruto narrowed his eyes at the rush of information, hearing familiar and unfamiliar things all at once. Given a far clearer picture of what was going on. "Alright then, if you want; feel free to take the sword he's got. But leave Freed to me."

"That's acceptable." beaming, the serious exorcist seemed more than ready to accept the compromise. "You have our thanks, Naruto."

Taking a second to look at the groaning mess that was bleeding out, the blond felt a spark of hope that this entire fiasco could actually end up blowing over without any real consequences. That the amount of shit that was thrown his way could be counted on a single hand this time around.

That hope was dashed when a group of men emerged from the flight leading downstairs, freezing in their tracks at the sight that greeted them.

They were all wearing clothes fit for priests.

"…I'm gonna stop hoping dattebayo…" the clone remarked, bringing out a kunai to get this over with as quickly as possible.

The staredown, which commenced as soon as the new challengers appeared out of nowhere, would have continued if it wasn't for the insane scream of their fucked up leader. "What the hell are you bloodbags waiting for!? Kill them!"

---

Naruto waited for something to happen, he felt the weight of the silence that had engulfed the room he has inhabited begin to grate on him.

Both; Naruto and Rias, were waiting for the go-ahead that they needed to access Sirzechs' palace. Apparently Lord Gremory needed to go through some kind of official channel to reach his own son, something that was necessary to prevent a conflict of interest, or something along those lines.

Quite a bit of time has passed since they went ahead and left to do just that, leaving the two teenagers in a guest room. By themselves.

With a strangely quiet Rias.

It took a while for the crimson princess to follow after him when Zeoticus told him about what he needed to do and left him in the guest room, but she was practically a different person when compared to when he last saw her.

Whatever talk she had with her mother must've left one hell of an impression on her, because he had never seen her so troubled before. It honestly left him kind of worried.

Something that was only made worse when he tried to talk to her, and she responded with only a strained smile, which she used to assure him.

It achieved the exact opposite. "Rias, are you sure-?"

"I'm fine, Naruto." she sure as hell didn't sound fine. "I'm just…thinking. That's all."

"Yeah, I get that. It's just that…well…you're kinda ignoring me. Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No!" finally, some life erupted from her eyes, removing the cloudiness that occupied it prior. "This isn't about you, I promise!"

The shinobi's frown remained, unconvinced. Which was probably why Rias stretched her hand out and moved to cup his cheek.

But she stopped as soon as her fingers brushed against his skin, her arm retracting as if she was just burned.

There was no way that she could've missed the flash of hurt that passed through his face. "Naruto-"

"Alright!" Zeoticus entered the guest room, boisterous in attitude and voice. "You two have been given express permission to teleport into Sirzechs' inner sanctum. You can leave when you're ready."

At first he smiled at the two teens resting in the room, but his positive demeanor faltered when he noticed the tense atmosphere. "Is…there something wrong?"

"Nothing." Rias remarked, swiftly getting onto her feet. "Let's get moving. Naruto?"

Standing up alongside his friend, he couldn't help but notice the distance she was keeping between them. "Yeah, lead the way."

It was painfully obvious that there was a shift in her attitude, and that belief was only hardened as their silence stretched on while they traversed to the waiting magical construct that would teleport them to their next destination.

Waiting for them by that very teleportation circle was Venelena, expressing a unique mix between maternal care and stern authority. "Rias, be careful while you're with Sirzechs. Last I checked; there were many powerful nobles that have been seeing your brother recently, probably to speak to him about the protests that have been inflicting our society. It's likely that you'll see some big names, so keep your chin high and remember your education."

"Yes, of course, Okaa-sama." used to her mother's tough love, the crimson princess knew full well that the older woman meant well. "I'll stay on guard."

Eyes that shared the same shade as the surface of the clean seawater tilted down to aim at the beautifully tiled floor, obviously troubled, even if they weren't verbalized in the presence of her friend and her parents. "I'll try not to disappoint you."

Even as she listened, the brunette's serious look melted right off, leaving the motherly love to shine through her eyes. "Rias…all we can do, as parents, is nudge you in the direction that we feel would benefit you. We can't control your actions. In the end; you make your choice. That's what your friend won for you, didn't he?"

Soft lips pressed onto the crown of Rias' head, brushing away some of her vibrant red hair. "Whatever you choose to do in the end, I promise to support you in the end, ok?"

Before her very eyes, her daughter's mouth fell open into a perfectly circular 'o', before clamping shut and twisting into a smile. "I understand, Okaa-sama."

"Good." Venelena looked pleased, especially when she glanced towards the young man that was owlishly moving his focus between the two women, trying to read between the lines.

Even if she didn't particularly approve of a relationship, physical or otherwise, between this boy and her daughter…she still had to admit that he looked adorable. "I hope to see you again, Naruto-kun. Please take care of my daughter in the foreseeable future."

"I don't really understand what's going on, but you got it!" Naruto offered her a classic thumbs up as the two teens stepped into the magic circle, ignoring the groan that Rias let loose next to him. "I'll always try and keep the people that I care about safe!"

"Hear that, dear?" Zeoticus commented, a wry smile edging its way onto his lips. "He considers our daughter to be someone that he cares about."

"I know, isn't that cute?" Venelena cupped her cheek, flashing a teasing smile at the flushed heiress of their clan. "I'm not going to lie, Rias, you sure know how to pick your 'friends', hm?"

"Okaa-sama!" Rias' embarrassed squeak rang out right after a crimson light enveloped her and Naruto, transporting them away from the Gremory estate.

That left the Lord and Lady of the House by themselves. "So, what do you think of our daughter's new friend?"

Zeoticus smiled at his wife, as positive as ever, a trait that was definitely passed down to their son. "I have no objections whatsoever."

"Of course you don't…" Venelena sighed. "Well, personally I hope that such a thing won't occur between those two. That being said…"

"That being said…?" her husband leaned closer to her, leaving a breathy whisper by her ear.

She shivered, suddenly wanting to move onto…other subjects. "…He's charming, and if push came to shove, I don't think that I'd mind it so much."

"I'm sure." an arm snaked around Venelena's thin waist, bringing her closer to him. "Speaking of which; I'd like to move away from this topic and partake in a different activity, would you care to join me, my dear wife?"

"Oh." the brunette giggled into her palms as her hands snaked across her Lord's chest. "I thought that you'd never ask."

---

After being ordered to fall under the command of Freed Sellzan, the middle-aged man with the scar over the bridge of his nose; a former exorcist under the Catholic Church, figured that he would probably die within the week.

He had come to terms with it. It wasn't like he had any other choice in the matter.

But when he was signaled by his insane superior to fall in onto his position after waiting on standby thanks to that little device he had, he found himself face-to-face with a group of young adults.

They did not look like friends of the fallen exorcist at all.

Then he received his directive. "What the hell are you bloodbags waiting for!? Kill them!"

And so their commander ordered them like dogs against a group of teenagers, whom all just so happened to be ready and willing to fight.

And yet the bearded man froze in place.

But that wasn't what made the man pause in the end, despite the vehement tone that was conveyed in their leader's order. It wasn't the fact that this small group of youths genuinely looked like they were able to fight like veterans. Nor was it the fact that their boss was nowhere to be found.

It was the fact that they all looked like a mere few years older than his sole daughter.

It shook him, and threw him off of his game for a moment, but he was able to swallow his misgivings. He didn't have a choice in the matter.

As one, he and his compatriots charged forward, aiming to take down the group that threatened their boss. Regardless of how they felt about it.

What happened next would burn itself into the mind of the bearded de-facto lieutenant of the group.

It happened so fast; one second the entire group of teens were staring at them as they made their attack. The next?

One of the teens just went up and vanished from existence.

It turned out that he didn't disappear; he was just fast.

To him; it felt like the boy was as fast as lightning, something which should've been impossible. But when he saw several exorcists around him suddenly fall over unconscious or get knocked several meters away, he began to feel his doubts wane.

With practiced hands, the leader unsheathed his blade of light and swung it at a wide arc around him, a roar emerging from his throat. "Don't let this speedster get close, men!"

Five men were taken out in a flash; but ten were able to follow his instructions and swing their own light swords to ward off their incredibly fast enemy.

This move seemed to be successful in keeping their enemy at bay for a bit, since the blond just so happened to appear in front of their formation in a crouched position; frowning at being thwarted.

He didn't seem particularly upset though…

A bad feeling crawled up the bearded man's spine when several of his men broke out of their formation to charge the solitary blond. Exactly five of them charged impetuously; with two moving towards the man's right, two going left, and one going headlong towards him.

All while a shadow of a smirk pulled at the teen's lips while he watched them come.

"Wait, everyone, it's a trap-!"

"Haaaaah!"

Appearing in front of the boy with wild hair and strange markings on his cheeks was one of the swordswomen; her shoulder-length blue hair framing her fierce eyes as she caught the first light sword that attempted to cut down her comrade through the hip. Something which was accomplished by carrying her massive blade in a vertical guard position in front of her.

Falling back onto what must've been instinct; the young woman then lightly pushed her broadsword towards the two fallen exorcists on her right. Nudging the blow away, quintessentially.

Which just so happened to create a vicious whirlwind that bodily threw the two men back, planting them on the wall despite the soft nature of the 'parry'.

Forced to think fast so as to deal with this new threat, the exorcist that was stopped by the woman with the large and powerful blade attempted to spin around her guard and slash at her side.

Something which failed miserably when a foot rammed into his face, courtesy of the blond that jump kicked over the Church-aligned swordswoman, covering her wordlessly.

At the same time; the two fallen exorcists on their left were scooped off of their feet when they pulled out their light pistols, thanks to the other teenaged female exorcist that had just casually changed her katana into a rope.

Behind the leader of the group of exorcists, the rest of his men watched their allies get taken down methodically by the young adults, making them wary of overextending like their brethren.

One of them had the misfortune of backing up a bit, finding resistance when his back pushed against someone's body.

A whisper brushed against his ear. "Now that's not very nice…friend…"

His body was literally lifted up off of the floor by a dainty hand and thrown against another poor shmuck; leaving only three exorcists, save for their leader and Freed.

Hearing the commotion, the entire group turned around to see nothing but pure leathery black in the form of two pairs of wings, which happened to be folded around the newcomer, cloaking them.

But no one could mistake the unique wings of the fallen angel. "K-Kokabiel-sama…?"

The fallen exorcist that muttered that out fearfully was slammed away along with his remaining comrades after the fallen's wings snapped open without warning, uncaring of the proximity of the humans.

With her wings fully extended, the ravenette glowered at the group that was blown away from her, grumbling under her breath at the mess she was dragged into due to the negligence and stupidity of the Church. At least to her point of view.

"A fallen angel…" the scarred man warily gazed at her, sending furtive glances back to her and her allies behind him. "For you to be here…have we been betrayed by Kokabiel-sama…?"

The supernatural entity's sharp pupils lazily dragged to the bearded man, barely bothering to acknowledge him. "…Sorry to say, I'm not with that man."

Chocolate eyes blinked, his form faltering. "Huh? Well then who are-?"

"Diiiiiiiieee!"

"No."

The screech that could've only come from Freed Sellzen was halted prematurely when the blond, whom he had targeted, shot his leg out and caught him in the air. Only to bring his heel down into the floor, with the hapless man caught in between.

Just like that, Freed was brought low, and his legendary sword was knocked out of his grasp. Meaning that his body had finally rematerialized and became visible to everyone around him.

The scarred man watched all of this unfold with morbid acceptance. He had already guessed that Freed Sellzen would lead him and his men to ruin, it just happened to occur faster than he expected it to.

"Geez, Naruto…" the fallen angel growled, obviously displeased. "Instead of forcing me to jump in, you could've just taken them out on the fly, right? Even with their little formation."

"Maybe." the boy with whiskers apparently conceded. "But I didn't want to run the risk of getting hurt, so I played it safe. Nice job flanking them by the way, Raynare."

It seemed that the group of young adults were just ignoring the bearded leader by this point, too focused on one another to care about his presence. "Naruto…is that fallen angel trustworthy?"

"She's with me, don't worry." the one known as 'Naruto' eased the woman with short blue hair, squinting his eyes at her after a moment. "And don't think that I forgot about what you did to Mio, by the way. I'm just here because it looked like that you needed help."

"You really are a good person, Naruto-san! God really has smiled upon us for Him to send you as His messenger!"

"…I don't know how to answer that dattebayo."

"Um…" the oldest male in the room felt it prudent to try and defend himself before the group before him attacked him.

Unfortunately, now that he was the last one standing, he could feel the weight of their stares lock onto him.

"So, what do we do with him?" the fallen felt the need to look down on the fallen exorcist, seeing nothing of value. "I don't recognize him, so I doubt he's high up there in Kokabiel's hierarch."

She wasn't wrong. "I'm nobody important, just a soldier doing as ordered."

"And why did you do as ordered?" the blond questioned, openly interested. "What made you side with Kokabiel, exactly?"

"I doubt that this man has anything meaningful to say on that subject matter, Naruto." the swordswoman with dark yellow eyes scowled. "I wouldn't take anything he says seriously whatsoever."

Despite her voiced doubts, the enemy exorcist answered the query. "Like most of my men; I didn't really have a say in the matter, kid."

"Everyone's got a choice." Naruto retorted, refusing to back down, as usual.

"…Then I didn't have any decent choices." the fallen exorcist amended, his dark eyes narrowing. "I could either do as I was ordered, or my daughter could face the consequences."

Many of the individuals who were involved with the Church also had family members who were involved with it as well. The fact of the matter was; the Church provided many under its purview with a massive safety net. It kept the families of exorcists and their agents fed and taken care of.

So, if a powerful bishop of the Church just so happened to have hidden sympathies towards Kokabiel's views, and just so happened to have control over your family's housings and general livelihood...well, there wasn't much that some could do.

Which was why the fallen exorcist was there; despite the fact that he was technically supposed to be in France.

"Blackmail, hm? That does sound like something Kokabiel…er…Kokabiel-sama would do." Raynare scowled, crossing her arms. "That doesn't mean that he's telling the truth though."

"I doubt that that monster could convince an honorable bishop of the Church to act in such a way…" the more serious of the two exorcists remarked, hoisting her massive sword over her shoulder.

"Then you don't go out enough, obviously…" no one could pretend to miss the sarcastic tone in the fallen angel's voice.

The target for her derision most certainly didn't, since she shot a dark scowl her way.

"Then let me give you another choice." Naruto cut in, ignoring the women that were glaring at one another next to him. "It may not seem that way, but Raynare over here actually has the ear of Grigori's leader; Azazel. If you help us, I'm sure that we could help you out by shining some light onto the situation…especially to the Church leadership."

The scarred man nearly broke his neck when he snapped it up, unable to fathom what he had just heard. "W-What? Is this true, miss?"

"…Naruto isn't wrong, so yes, I suppose it's true." Raynare felt the edges of her lips twist up at the gawking faces of the exorcists that ruined her stealth mission by being idiots. "Surprised?"

Taking a second to squeeze the wielder of Excalbur Destruction's shoulder in an effort to hold her back from jumping at her 'enemy', blue eyes trained themselves back onto the man ostensibly aligned with Kokabiel. "If you can help us out a bit, I'm sure that Raynare could help you out. And if that's not a guarantee enough; then I can help too. I actually have a bit of clout over Azazel as well."

"He's not lying." turned out that Raynare was pretty decent at being a wingman.

"Think he's telling the truth, Xenovia?"

"…If our assumptions about him were correct, then it's quite possible that this man has infiltrated deep into the Grigori's command structure. He must be a big deal…"

Everyone ignored the fallen's incredulous snort.

"How can I trust you to keep your word, though?"

Naruto gestured at the bodies around him. "What have you got to lose? No one will hear of your betrayal, and you don't want to keep your family at risk, right? If nothing else; I can respect that dattebayo."

This much was true; there really wasn't much for him to risk if he went through with this…he could easily play ignorant if need be. It wasn't like he was loyal or anything.

"What's your name, guy?" if the shinobi was going to get some info, he -it- felt it prudent to at least hear this guy's name. Even if he was just a pawn in a larger game; a nobody that was dragged into this by sheer circumstance.

He was still a man; and deep inside…Naruto didn't want to forget that.

"You're too soft…Naruto." the blond had to smile at the pinch of concern in Raynare's voice, even if she didn't agree with his actions.

"Kiyohira."

All eyes turned to the turncoat that had just given out his last name, a hard look overcoming the man's features. "My name is Kiyohira."

Meeting the scarred man's gaze, Naruto knew that he had just gained his first insider to Kokabiel's efforts in Kuoh Town.

---

Naruto's clone looked down onto the fallen form of his temporary student, intrigued and impressed all at once. "You've come far, I think that you almost have the jutsu down at this point."

"Really…?" Koneko didn't sound as confident as the copy was. "How can you…tell?"

"Trust me; I can tell. You've got the general form down, but you're still gonna need some practice in using it in live combat. That being said; you learned how to utilize that technique ridiculously fast dattebayo…"

The rook raised her head from the ground, her sweat sticking her bangs onto her forehead. "…How long did it take you, sempai?"

"A long time." Naruto drawled, eyes glazing over at the memories that this conversation had recalled.

Sensing her de-facto teacher's attention drift; Koneko swallowed her misgivings and asked something else. "What's left?"

"To work on? Well, outside of what I mentioned; you should try to imagine their movements, since they are most effective when acting as a decoy. If clones act like you and move like you; then you've got an invaluable tool in your favor. Got it?"

"Understood." Koneko dragged her body up, her legs shook when she began to rely on them to hold her weight up, but she managed to stay upright. "…Naruto-sempai?"

Blue eyes warmly gazed into hazel. The clone had to stop himself from reaching out and petting his kohai. "Yeah?"

"…Do you think-" she faltered, tripping over herself physically and verbally. "-that I'm stronger now?"

Koneko slipped, the lack of strength in her limbs contributed in her fall and was now preventing her from catching herself before she cracked her nose on the hard floor.

She had been forcing her body to utilize chakra to an extent that she has never done before, all that after she has completely avoided using her innate power in any meaningful capacity.

The progress she has made was only possible through her determination and unwillingness to stop; as well as the mental stress she put herself through. The technique was simple in theory, but more difficult than one would expect in practice.

Creating a copy of yourself down to the last detail…a useful ability.

She only hoped that her efforts would make a difference.

Resigned to the painful collision she was about to endure, the rook was surprised to feel a sense of warmth envelope her.

"Yeah." she heard the boy that was helping her say, the grin on his face obvious through his voice. "I do think you've gotten stronger. And I couldn't be prouder dattebayo."

A hint of a smile made its way onto Koneko's face, pleased to hear that from someone like her sempai.

Drawing out a smile from him in return, the whiskered teen turned away from the rook's resting features to glance over the ceiling railings, focused on something far off.

Just what was going on out there? He felt the boss disappear from existence and another clone go off to do their own thing way off in the other side of town.

Whatever was going on, the clone could only hope that he wasn't missing anything important.

---

"So it's true….Kokabiel really is trying to start a war. That must be why he's stealing the Excalibur swords."

"Can we be positive that this man is telling the truth? I also have my doubts about you as well, fallen angel…"

"Now listen here…"

Naruto's clone growled audibly. "Listen, Xenoiva, right? Quit antagonizing Raynare, she's with me, alright?"

The woman known as Xenovia flushed at being called out, which deepened further at the sly smirk that the fallen woman threw her way.

"Quit antagonizing Xenovia, Raynare." the blond sounded tired. The other female exorcist probably noticed that too, since she patted him on the back so as to soothe him.

"…How the hell did you even notice that…?" the ravenette had to wonder while she scowled at the sly look she was receiving from the more annoying of the two exorcists.

All of this happened while Irina stood between the two women, leaving her with a front row seat to the dark looks that were being exchanged. Her shaky smile the only proof that she was stuck in an unenviable position.

"I understand that what I claimed might be hard to believe, but I can guarantee its validity. I can also definitively say that many of his underlings are allied with him precisely so that they could reignite a war with the other Christian factions." the rogue exorcist continued to explain, disregarding the inner conflict in the young group in front of him. "There are some people who joined specifically so that they could get access to resources that they wouldn't be able to normally...especially when they aren't well liked to the main Christian factions."

At that last bit, Xenovia broke off from her glaring contest to look at her partner, seeing her realization get reflected in other exorcist's violet gaze, as well as her slight concern. Her focus then turned to the blond, who was giving her a pointed look. "...Well, this piece of information explains some things."

"Yeah, like why the Genocide Archbishop is associated with Kokabiel." Irina chimed in, her distaste obvious in her tone of voice.

"The Genocide Archbishop?" the Naruto clone felt like he was left out of the loop, and made his displeasure known. "Who's that?"

"Judging from the title? A bad man." Raynare noted dryly, before propping her chin with a finger in thought. "It also sounds a bit familiar to me..."

"Honestly, it isn't too important in the grand scheme of things." the Church warrior with blue hair assured, more to the teenager with whiskers than to anyone else. "The main focus here should be centered on securing the Excalibur fragments, seeing as that they definitely have the means to empower someone with the ability to wield one of those legendary blades."

Her gaze flickered to the unconscious form of Freed, scowling. "Even to those who are very unworthy."

"Right." 'Naruto' faced the recent turncoat from Kokabiel's group, smiling. "You've definitely cleared some things up for us, but do you have any idea where the main big bad actually is?"

The gruff man had to stare at the spiky-haired youth blankly for a moment before he understood what he asked of him. "Ah...well, unfortunately I can't say. I wasn't high enough up in the food chain to know about such things. But maybe Freed might know something?"

The sole fallen in the room groaned, and the clone could empathize with her frustration. Their original plan was literally based on following Freed to a hidden base so that they could piece together Kokabiel's presence in Kuoh. From there; they could've planned a course of action that could've flushed out the other possible locations that their allies were using. It wasn't like they would've known that they were watching or anything.

All of that went out the window the second the two exorcists invaded the closed gym though.

"Well..." the clone attempted to soften the blow that his fallen friend was definitely feeling by coming with a solution. "Maybe we could interrogate him and find something out?"

Even the blond knew how unlikely it was that the insane man would even give them accurate information, let alone fold to anything they tried, no matter how distasteful. So Raynare definitely recognized that fact too.

"Well, dealing with Kokabiel is outside of our mission parameters, so we aren't exactly looking for that fight, Naruto." Xenovia walked away from the group, kneeling in front of Freed's unmoving body. "Our objective is to collect the Excalibur fragments, so I hope that you don't mind that we confiscate Freed's weapon...?"

She left her words open ended, almost as if she wasn't sure what the strangely powerful human would do in response, even after he suggested as such earlier.

Turned out that she didn't have anything to worry about. "Eh, feel free. I don't really care for them to be honest."

Irina smiled brightly as her partner hastily followed through and grabbed the dangerous weapon. "Thank you so much for the assist by the way, we weren't expecting someone to be talented enough to effectively utilize an Excalibur fragment here. You have our thanks, Naruto-kun! Our Most Heavenly Father smiles upon you!"

"He must certainly does." the short-haired woman beside her inclined her head in respect and smiled softly. "This wasn't the first time that you helped us in our time of need. If we're in the area, and you need our aid, feel free to ask and we'll deliver."

She paused, thinking about her statement, and then made an amendment. "Within reason, of course. Agents need to work together, right?"

Her ensuing wink left the blond befuddled and the fallen bemused. "...Sure?"

Offering nothing more than an enigmatic smile, as if she were sharing a secret, the woman turned on her heel and made her way out of the gym with her ally in tow, mighty pleased with herself. Obviously.

Watching her leave, the blond tried to make sense of certain portions of their conversation, but came out short. He eventually decided to give it up and look at the turncoat beside him. "Hey, mister? Do you think it'd be believable if we 'kidnapped' Freed after knocking you lot out, y'know...just abandoning you guys here?"

"I doubt that there'd be too many questions, since not too many people are held accountable in this rogue group of ours." the scruffy man raised his head, lips thinning once he met the blond's eyes once more. "...Can you really help me?"

"Worried, eh?" the copy nudged the fallen next to him, giving her a meaningful look. "Azazel isn't looking for war, right?"

"He most certainly isn't." Raynare allowed a scowl to mar her beautiful features once she did a quick scan of the unconscious bodies around her. "Neither am I, for that matter."

Kiyohira, the man that was merely a pawn in the grand game that was power politics, nodded carefully, his mind firmly focused on what he could do. "It...should be fine then. At worst, we'll be punished for not trying hard enough...but Kokabiel is short on manpower, so I doubt that he'd kill us..."

"Try hard enough, huh?" 'Naruto' smirked, checking his surroundings. "If you want, we can make it more obvious that you lot fought long and hard, would that help your chances?"

The end of the lowly warrior's cracked lips twitched up, leading into a wide smile. "I'd like that, kid."

Maybe he could get out of this mess alive after all.

---

Naruto thought that all of the buildings that he has seen in the Underworld so far have been pretty ostentatious in design, and expensive. And big.

So, really, he shouldn't have been surprised to see the massive structure that essentially acted like the waiting area for the throne room, which consisted of a giant semicircular room filled to the brim with comfortable couches and seats that people could sink into.

And of course, there were the giant double doors that led to the throne room itself.

What was with devil architecture and giant double doors?

The second he and Rias had arrived to the waiting room via magic circle, the Gremory teen told him to wait as she spoke to her brother to explain the situation. So the shinobi was left to really consider his situation.

No matter how he looked at it, unless the blond had Rias by his side the entire time, he might actually make this entire issue worse then before...

"Ah, there's the man I was hoping to see!"

Naruto raised his head and found himself looking at a distinguished looking man with caramel-colored skin and short blue hair, as well as strange markings that were etched onto his cheeks underneath his sharp dark eyes.

In a word, he didn't look friendly. "Uh...were you talking to me?"

"Of course, of course!" the man bowed in a flourish of movement. "It is a pleasure to meet a man of such power; which is immense, as your battle against Riser Phenex proved all too well."

Breath hitched, the teenager checked the double doors that led to the throne room, finding no help there, forcing him to face this mysterious man alone. "...How do you know me? Was it because of my fight with Riser, or-?"

"That's precisely how I recognized you, young warrior. Your battle has been quite the topic for study by many devils in the Underworld you see, and your visage has been plastered across our television screens for quite some time now."

"I-I see." Naruto didn't like the sound of that. His entire modus operandi was based on hiding his powers from the wider public. If they were studied at length, then it could be countered by more and more people.

Well, at least not all of his powers were displayed in that battle, so he still had some leeway, thankfully.

"If I could be frank for a moment, I was actually quite surprised to see someone as young as yourself become such a topic of contention. Beyond the wrath you probably inspired from the Phenex clan, you've also made yourself into a target by the nobility of the Underworld and a figure of inspiration to the lower-class devils. That's rather impressive!" the man gushed, not aware that every word served to hammer the human's guilt deeper into his heart.

He should apologize to Rias when he sees her again. "Yeah, I suppose that that is pretty impressive dattebayo..."

The older male's countenance retained its positivity when he studied the blond's dampening mood. "Well, it's pretty obvious to me that you're not used to the way us nobles do things, if your attitude and opinions about us during the illustrious Maou Lucifer's party didn't make that clear enough. So perhaps this truly is a fortuitous meeting."

There was a twinkle in the devil's eye when the blond swerved his focus towards him. "Don't worry, I may be a noble, but I personally don't have any stake in retaining any status quo within this society of ours. As a matter of fact, I admire your straightforwardness. So much so that I'd be willing to work with you to soothe out the ruffled feathers of the nobility, if you'd let me."

Naruto's eyebrows rose above his hairline. "...Why would you help me?"

"Surely you don't find it too outrageous that there'd be nobles such as myself who'd like to see things change, right?" the man smirked now, his tatooes on his cheeks contorting. "I'm not high up the food chain myself, you see, and not many can rise higher the way things are. So I'm not too adverse to the idea of shaking the apple cart a little bit, so to speak."

Seeing the doubt still dance in the teen's blue orbs, the noble made a wide gesture towards the door leading to the exit at the opposite side of the entrance of the throne room. "Perhaps I could convince you of my sincerity by taking a stroll outside? We can hammer out the details as we walk and talk, I'm sure that you'll find what I have to say most pleasing."

Taking a second to consider the noble's words, the shinobi couldn't find a reason to decline the man's words, it wasn't like he was making a commitment or anything. What did he have to lose exactly?

Getting his rear end off of the comfortable couch he was sitting on, the blond figured that a little walk wouldn't hurt, especially if he got back before Rias returned-

"Ara, and what do you seem to be doing, Naruto-kun?"

Speak of the devil, literally in this case.

Both men turned to see the beautiful Gremory heiress in front of the huge double doors that led to the throne room, crossing her arms with a far too pleasant smile upon her lips.

"Ah, well..." for some reason, the shinobi felt like a kid again, facing his jii-chan after getting caught in the middle of doing a prank. It was a surreal feeling. "This guy here was offering to-"

"Oh was he now?" Rias didn't bother to hear him out, resolutely turning away from him to face the noble. "Well, I appreciate your kindness, but as his guide, I can assure you that he won't have any time to deviate from his set course."

"I see." the tattoos on the other devil's face crinkled when a slightly forceful smile plastered itself onto his hard features. "That's understandable, but surely he has some time on his hands to-"

"Your enthusiasm is noted, Lord Glasya-Labolas, but my Onii-sama would like to have a word with him." her arm hooped into Naruto's arm, locking them together to provide a unified front as she cocked her head with doe eyes. "I hope you don't mind?"

"...Of course." the older man uttered, his body tense. "Whatever the Maou Lucifer wishes."

Rias carefully pulled Naruto away from the noble, steering him to the throne room as the blond hissed low under his braeth. "What the hell was that, Rias!?"

Her long nails absently dug into his muscles, her focus straight ahead unwavering. "Saving you. What did he ask you to do?"

"He just wanted to talk."

"About what? Where? And how?"

"He just wanted to walk and talk, Rias. It wasn't anythings serious, just a stroll. There wasn't anything binding or anything dattebayo..."

The crimson princess bit her lip, sending her friend a sidelong glance. "You're right...but that doesn't mean that others will recognize that fact."

His blue eyes snapped to her, obviously confounded by her statement, which was why she chose to expand on her logic. "I've lived in the halls of power for my entire life, Naruto. Sometimes, appearances are more important than any kind of agreement between nobles. People around here talk, especially the servants. If anyone saw you and that man walk around the castle and whisper to one another in hushed tones, there'd be talks of you two working together...whether they were true or not. Just from that alone; you'd be tying your names together, which was probably what he wanted."

"...Wait...are you serious?" Naruto shook his head, breath a vehement whisper. "Can people seriously make that kind of assumption!?"

"Yes." Rias was deadly serious. "Any type of interaction in public can be construed as tantamount to an alliance, especially if one of those individuals just so happened to proclaim as such. That man has been petitioning my Onii-sama for the right to some of the Astaroth clan's land due to Diodora's actions and a betrothal between his son and I...amongst other things. He's a snake that's trying to crawl back to relevancy, so you should be wary, Naruto."

The shinobi didn't know what to say to that, still trying to wrap his head around what she claimed could have transpired from a fucking stroll in public. It was something so out there that he couldn't quite understand it.

"Also, one more thing." the high-class devil managed to drag his consciousness back to reality once she stopped in front of the double doors. "Try to keep the fact that you're a human under wraps, would you? The less people know about the, the better. There's quite a bit of stigma against reincarnated devils, the stigma against humans is...well, nothing to sneeze at. Best let people come to their own conclusions on that front."

"...Sure." Naruto drawled. "I'll try to keep that in mind, along with all of the other stuff you mentioned."

Rias shot him a reassuring smile at his dry humor, something which devolved into a playful grin by the end of her sentence. "Well that's why i'm here, isn't it? Didn't I tell you before? I said that I'd support you after you cancelled my marriage, and I meant it."

Her arm pulled his into her body, a devious tint in her curved lips when she saw his eyes snap to the locked limbs for an instant before refocusing back on her. "Let's do this together, shall we?"

Naruto, filled with self-depreciating humor, shared her deviousness with a crafty tilt of the lip. An expression that she privately admitted she adored. "Ladies first."

"Ohhhh, being a gentleman now of all times? You have impeccable timing as always, Naruto."

The shinobi laughed as he pushed against the throne room's doors, positive that he'd get out of this alive at the very least.

---

'Naruto' checked his surroundings, nodding firmly at the destruction he has wrought to the area around him, successfully making it look like a vicious battle has taken place across the foreclosed building, what with the shredded walls and the ripped up floor.

Now their resident exorcist turncoat should be beyond questioning, especially after Raynare helpfully knocked him out right after the clone finished.

"You're welcome by the way." the fallen called out, crouching next to Freed Sellzan as she inspected the body.

Yeah, he should've expected her to do such a thing. "Does he have anything worthwhile?"

"Maybe, actually." Raynare replied, clutching something in her palm as she smoothly stood up, her frown evolving into a scowl. "He had something in his hand."

The blond hummed, walking away from the ruined walls and the destroyed electronic scorekeeper, making his way towards the -formerly- conscious man that they were trying to help. "Probably a bomb or something, he'd be the type to blow himself up."

"No..." the woman's voice trailed off for a moment of inspection. "It looks like some kind of switch. Perhaps a device that could call for backup?" How else could the group of rogue of exorcists strewn about the area have known that Freed needed help?

It was a reasonable assumption, if nothing else, right?

'Naruto' didn't say anything about it one way or another, figuring that the fallen's musings were closer to the truth than anything he could come up with. While presumptuous, it wasn't too far out there that a base would have a device to call for backup.

Hell, it's what the shinobi would've done, if he was in a similar position...and thought about it.

Peering down at their new inside man; Kiyohira, peacefully resting after getting unceremoniously knocked out, the blond got ready to turn around and tell his ally that it was about time to go.

But he didn't turn around.

Rather, instead, he lurched forward, as if about to vomit something horrible and foul.

The clone would've preferred that to what he was feeling right at that moment, his insides had never felt more troubled. It wasn't pain that he was feeling either, it was more like...an extreme amount of discomfort.

Everything about body felt wrong, and after a second or two after nearly falling over, he knew why.

Or rather, he remembered why, thanks to the influx of memeories that hit him all at once.

Nothing but a hiss escaped the clone's mouth, vehement even though any sound barely left his lips. "Kumagawa...Yuki. No...that's not right...that damn lying prick..."

He shook his head and concentrated, holding his breath as he pushed out all of the senjutsu chakra that had been absorbed into him all at once. Feeling his body rumble and quake as it's human proportions nearly caved and transformed into something less...pretty.

Feeling his hands bulge, and then retract back to normal, 'Naruto' took a shaky breath as the last vestiges of senjutsu chakra filter out of his body, allowing the tension to leave his body and for fatigue to set in. Just like every other time he had utilized senjutsu in this world.

The clone didn't say a word, raising his hand up for inspection, flexing fingers almost reflexively, as if to check for any irregularities.

Deep inside, the blond had already figured that the natural energy of this world was...sick, at least when compared to his own world. But he never truly appreciated just how much it affected him.

"Hey, Naruto?" it seems that the copy's silence had caught the ravenette's attention. "What's wrong? Are you-?"

Her query ended prematurely as the ceiling exploded above them, knocking Raynare off of her feet and onto her knees as she instinctively raised her arms to cover her face.

'Naruto', for his part, stayed as he was, already aware that the attack was incoming.

Rubble fell all around them, but the amount of debris wasn't entirely too impressive; probably due to the small hole that their new adversary made.

He was also being kind of loud, no doubt because of the barrier he had managed to set up around them, isolating them from the real world. Yes, he recognized the feeling alright.

Hearing the stifled gasp coming from the fallen woman near him, he didn't need to glance up to acknowledge who, of all people, just crashed their party.

"Well, well, well..." a deep baritone and oily voice observed, sounding far too pleased with his findings for anyone's comfort. "It looks like Freed Sellzan was worth something in the end after all..."

---

Raynare was floored.

Right above her, for the first time, the young woman was staring at the face of a man that was as old as the Bible itself...and was decidedly less friendly than her de-facto mentor for the past month or so.

That wasn't why she was left speechless though. Far more importantly for her, unusually enough, was the visage of the powerful fallen angel that had appeared literally out of nowhere.

The fallen, in general, were beings that meant to have been seductive.

They alone represented the seduction of falling into sin, and their looks were part in parcel a part of that trait that dominated their species.

Where the angels were chaste in their beauty and good looks, the fallen were meant to be sexy, beings that tempted someone to commit acts that would cause them to stray away from the Lord.

That was the dichotomy between them, with the devils standing somewhere in-between.

She had heard rumors, once, of Kokabiel's devilishly handsome looks. Looks that would tempt lonely housewives and chaste teenaged girls into a life of sin.

Well, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that time has not been kind to the ancient being.

What may have once been glossy long black hair that a woman may want to comb through in the throes of passion were now lifeless and dull. What may have been a pale complexion that invited admiration was now a sickly pallor. What was once eyes that lovers could get lost in were now horribly misshapen and acted like a deterrent.

This was not how a fallen angel looked like, and it genuinely frightened the woman that was on her knees, unable to try and rationalize what she was looking at.

She could see why no one wanted to talk about this man within the Grigori institutes that she was attached to, who would want to contemplate about such a legendary figure and their fall from grace?

Even she, suspecting of such a thing, was almost unwilling to even think about this, let alone verbalize her disgust.

"Ah...to think that I'd meet the legendary figure simply known as the 'Unknown Variable'...I've heard many things about you, and I look forward to confirming whether everything I've heard if factual."

His words, slippery like grease, made her spine shiver. The fallen woman hoped that she could regain her bearings before his attention fell upon her, or better yet, that he ignored her entirely.

And yet, reality wouldn't allow her her comfort. "...You look familiar...girl."

Raynare tried to put some strength into her arms, but she could barely hold herself up let alone try and stand up. Talking was an impossibility to her.

She needn't had worry though, as the man narrowed his disgusting blood-tinted eyes upon her. "...Ah...now I see...you're her daughter, aren't you? Yes, yes, I recognize you now. What circumstances have you gone through to end up standing side-by-side with this man, hm?"

He knew her? How? Where? Raynare never met this man in person in her life...so how did he?

"How is your mother by the way? I've heard of her recent debacle. Is she well? I hope she's not dead, I have her to thank for getting information about this unnaturally powerful human here...as well as for the key piece of information that will jumpstart the newest Great War."

How was he even here? How did he know? Wait, Freed's device...did it, perhaps, allow for him to find them. That was the only possible solution. Wait. Her mother. What did he-

"It seems your mother raised you well, for you to have your second set of wings at such a young age...it's truly impressive. However, I'm far more interested in your...other abilities, girl."

What?

For the first time since the legendary figure in the Great War arrived, Raynare lifted her head, her surprise overshadowing her revulsion. "You...know about that?"

She regretted looking at him once his lips spread out into a grin, showing off sharp canines that were impossibly monstrous. "I relish in the chance to test the newest prototype weapon of my faction, especially since the balance between the light and darkness has become non-existent!"

Raynare breathed in air, shaken, lost for words and unsure of what action to take. Still wrapping her head around the idea that this man not only knew about her...condition, but openly welcomed her to use it.

She clenched her fists, raised her head, opened her mouth to make a request before she made her move. Aware on some level that this man had answers.

But instead of seeing the twisted smirk that adorned itself onto Kokabiel's features, she saw something else.

A grimace.

And blood.

A lot of blood.

"Hey..."

Kokabiel clutched his stomach, coughing as Raynare snapped her head to the source of the voice, unsure of what she would find.

She knew who it was...but...

"How about you stop fucking around and fight already?"

But it was different somehow.

She didn't know Naruto for very long, so she couldn't claim to be an expert on his personality on any level. But even she, as ignorant as she was, knew that that was not how the blond usually sounded like.

Finally on his feet after a prolonged period of sitting down, Naruto had his arms extended out as if he had thrown something, his head angled just enough to peer at the intruder through the side of his eyes.

"Because if you don't take this seriously..."

His eyes landed upon her for a fraction of a second.

Raynare didn't even notice herself taking a step back.

She had seen that look in someone's eyes before. Those were the eyes of someone who had absolutely no scruples about anything, of someone that didn't concern themselves with what was 'right'.

"...Then you'll die."

Those were the eyes of someone who could commit heinous crimes without flinching or a care in the world.

Those were the eyes of someone who had thrown away morality.

"...Because, unfortunately for you." even as he spoke, an assortment of metal stars emerged from the crevices between his fingers, glinting sharply in the low light. "I'm done playing the hero."

---

AN: Ok, I underestimated the size of this chapter. But everything's set up for the battle next chapter. Did you guys like the recap btw? I figured it'd be necessary due to the gap in time since last chapter. :3

Alright, politics and battles, not the most uncommon thing to happen at the same time. Why now, eh? I hope the political stuff made sense.

Ok, I'm rambling, hopefully this ain't too unpolished. Cya all next time alright, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! :D

Edit: Thanks to scl04, I found a plot hole I inadvertently made, thnx bro! Naruto never learned of Shiranui's name yet. :3

-RekkingPride