Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Highschool DXD if I did this story would not be here

Quick Author's Note: I don't know why it took me so long getting this chapter up. Ok I know why it took me so long but I don't think you guys wanna hear it.

Vermilion Devil

Chapter 8: Bonding?

Naruto jumped back as Koneko slammed her fist into the ground he was standing on, large chunks of the earth spread out underneath the force of her punch. It was early morning when Koneko had asked him for a spar since the others were not up yet. During the spar, Naruto noticed that while she was a great fighter, she had a glaring problem.

Her speed

Naruto watched as she threw a back fist when she got close enough. Her form and execution was excellent. It was more than enough to put an average fighter down for the count. But to a shinobi like him, it was way too slow. Naruto caught her wrist and did a judo throw right over his shoulder. Koneko came right back at him with a flurry of punches all of which he dodged.

Another problem he noticed was that she was predictable. Koneko threw a chamber punch at him which he parried that made her stagger. Taking advantage, Naruto hit her with a quick back kick that pushed her back a good distance. Koneko was going to come at him again when Naruto held his hand up to stop her.

"That's enough for now." Naruto walked over to one of the spots that was unharmed by their spar and grabbed a water bottle and tossed it to her. A few seconds passed as Koneko drank her water bottle. Naruto took a few minutes to think about how to break down Koneko's performance to her.

"Overall you're definitely better than the average fighter but you have some problems." Koneko nodded letting him know she was listening. "Your form and execution were great, excellent even but you're too slow and it leaves you open for counterattacks." Naruto said. Koneko nodded her head in understanding but a question came to her head.

"How do you know so much about fighting?" She asked. Naruto knew they were gonna have questions regarding his abilities so he was prepared for this.

"Took some self defense classes when I was younger. Got interested and studied hand to hand combat." Koneko nodded her head, that somewhat explained his skill in hand to hand but that didn't explain how he was able to keep up with Kiba and go toe to toe with her as well as how he was able to escape when she swung that tree at him. She was about to voice her questions when Naruto started speaking again.

"Some of your moves are also predictable to the experienced fighter. Like that chamber punch and the backfist you threw at me." He said. Overall she's definitely a good fighter but she lacks experience. "You need to work on your speed first and foremost, all that power you got won't matter if you can't hit your opponent." Man he sounded so much like Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei he wanted to laugh. Naruto then started to walk away towards the mansion. "The others should be up by now."

"You're weird Naruto-senpai." Koneko said before following him towards the mansion.

"I get that a lot."

After walking into the mansion Naruto split from Koneko and entered his room. That spar had felt good, it's been a whole year since he fought someone that strong and he was getting back into the swing of things himself. Naruto thought about how he was gonna help Koneko increase her speed. He then thought about Lee's fight with Gaara four years ago.

Lee had been wearing some training weights, sure they were basic but they sure as hell did wonders for his speed. After that day, a young Naruto made sure he always had a pair of weights with him. He looked in his ninja pouch to see if he still had some and he soon found it in a scroll with his training equipment he used to use when he was 13.

There were also some scrolls on wind style jutsu Kakashi-sensei had given him during his training for the Rasenshuriken as well as some scrolls he got from his godfather 4 years ago. He never bothered opening these so he forgot he had them. Other than that there was nothing else but his basic ninja tools.

After he grabbed a pair of weights for Koneko and himself, Naruto made his way out of the room to find Koneko. Eventually he found Koneko after about 10 minutes and gave her the weights and after a brief talk with the peerage about their training exercise, Naruto decided to do some meditating in one of the open areas of the forest. Well at least he's trying to, his mind however refused to relax.

'What if this training isn't enough? If this Riser guy was as good as he makes himself out to be, these guys are toast.' He thought. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, Naruto was a little worried about these guys, just a little bit. Issei was the weakest of the bunch, Koneko was slow, Kiba was an excellent swordsman but there were a lot of holes in his defense that he saw when he was up close with him and he hasn't really fought Rias and Akeno head on. Their teamwork was decent enough, much better than when he was on squad 7 when he became a genin. Magic is completely out of his element so the most he could do for them right now is help them with their hand to hand and teach them about their surroundings.

He wanted to help these guys fight that asshole, how could he not? It was his nature to help people when they needed it but if he joined them how would he get back home? Could he be turned back into a human? Would it be worth it? What if he lost everything again? So many questions in Naruto's mind yet none of them could be answered. Realizing that his mind wasn't gonna relax anytime soon, Naruto got out of his meditating position and put on the weights he brought with him before doing some one handed hand-stand pushups trying yet failing to ease his mind.

"Long ago we devils, angels, and fallen angels were in a big three sided war. There has been neither victory nor defeat on either side and the battles have left lasting damage on every faction and due to the war and the low birth rates of devils, as well as having lifespans that are nearly eternal, our species as a whole is at risk." Rias explained. She was currently explaining to her peerage about the purpose of a peerage. She had invited Naruto to sit with them but he yet again declined, opting to do some training outside.

Issei rubbed his chin in thought. "Is that why you got set up with that guy Buchou?" Rias sighed before answering his question

"Unfortunately you are correct Issei, following all of the fighting, almost all of the great family lines consisting of pureblood high-class devils were wiped out. Those family lines make up what is known as the 72 pillars. This is the reason why devils turn humans into devils to increase their household." Rias waited for Issei and Asia to process her words before continuing. "This is how the rating game came about. Through this the masters of the devil households are able to provide them with combat experience as well as display their own abilities. It also has a huge influence on one's status."

Rias let out a breath. "Whew, that was a lot, what do you say we take a break?" As everyone nodded their heads, Akeno and Asia got up to make some tea. Issei had a look of deep thought as a question came to his mind.

"Buchou, are there any humans that can do what we do?" Issei asked

"Well as you know there are some humans aware of the supernatural, besides Naruto I don't think there are any who can do what we do, at least not that I know of."

"Well it's just that when we were sparring he got behind me somehow I didn't even see him move." Issei said, internally cringing at the memory. That night Asia had to heal his ass, boy was that embarrassing.

"Same here he's fast enough to react to my speed." Kiba added on to which Rias and Issei's eyes widened

"As well as beat me in hand to hand combat." Koneko chimed in. At her words everyone looked at her in surprise. By this time, Akeno and Asia, who had come back just in time to hear Koneko's words, started setting the table with the tea . Koneko was their best hand to hand fighter so to hear she lost was a little shocking.

"We had a spar about an hour ago, didn't even touch him." Koneko said. While she had shown no emotion on the outside, on the inside she was a little disappointed in herself.

"Did you learn anything about him?" Rias asked

"Took some self defense classes when he was younger. I think he's lying." Koneko said. Despite what Naruto had told her, she knew that someone who only took defense classes wouldn't have been able to beat them like he did yesterday. Rias just sighed at her answer.

"Lie or not it's a start at least. Anyway, Asia I'd like to hear your story as a former sister."

"Oh, okay." Asia said before grabbing a bible and a bottle of holy water. After Asia finished explaining her story, everyone went to go do their own training, well not Issei and Asia, those two still needed help. It was afternoon time when Naruto gathered the peerage and led them to the section of the forest where he set up his training exercise.

When they got there Naruto drew a line in the dirt to mark the entrance before turning to speak to them. "Welcome to your next training exercise, I call it the F.O.D." The others looked at Naruto with confused stares.

"What the hell is F.O.D?" Issei asked the question on everyone's mind right now. Naruto took a minute to sort out his answer. Sure he could just tell him what the abbreviation means but where's the fun in that.

"The F.O.D is a survival training exercise of sorts. This training will test the limits of your perception skills and reflexes." The peerage nodded their head in understanding.

"Ok but what does F.O.D mean specifically?" Rias asked, and for the first time ever, the Gremory peerage aside from Kiba see Naruto smirk. It was a quick smirk but that smirk didn't fail to put a shiver down everyone's spines.

"You're smart, you'll figure out what it means. Anyway your objective is to make it out of this section of the forest. I marked a tree nearby that signals your exit. Find the tree and your home free." Naruto then started walking away and motioned Asia to follow him. "Asia you're with me." Though Asia did not look like she wanted to separate from Issei, she nodded her head and started to follow him.

Akeno, not one to miss an opportunity to tease, sent a teasing smile at Naruto. "Ara Ara Fishcake-san, giving special treatment to Asia-chan are we?" To her surprise, her words did not have the desired effect as Naruto had another smirk on his face as he turned around to face her.

"Nope, Asia is just not ready for this kind of exercise." His words caused everyone to have confused looks on their faces as they tried to decipher his meaning.

"All we have to do is get out of this forest, right? Should be easy enough. Any parting words for us Naruto?" Rias asked. Naruto looked at Rias and she could swear she saw amusement in his eyes but it was quickly masked.

"Any parting words? I guess I have one word." Naruto then looked at every single peerage member besides Asia in the eye, the smirk on his face now gone.

"Survive."

A couple of minutes later the Gremory peerage minus Asia were currently walking through the forest Naruto had whipped up for them.

"How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Issei questioned as he pushed a tree branch out of his face.

"Naruto said he marked a tree somewhere nearby so we need to find that tree if we want to get out of here." Kiba said.

"Well that's easier said than done. All of these trees look the-" Issei didn't finish his sentence as he and the peerage heard something snap. Apparently, Rias had stepped onto some kind of wire leading it to snap.

"Watch out!" Kiba exclaimed as about 10 kunai shot out towards them from their hiding spot. The peerage dodged the kunai by ducking down to the ground. When they got up from the ground they heard a sizzling noise. Rias turned to the source of the noise and she saw a kunai that was shot at them embedded in a tree that had a tag on it that was quickly dissolving. Rias could barely make out the kanji on the tag that meant "explode". Rias's eyes widened.

"Oh shi-"

*BOOOOM*

"W-What was that!?" Asia asked worriedly from the other side of the forest.

"Looks like they triggered the first trap I set up." Naruto said. Asia looked at him in surprise.

"Trap!?"

"Relax, it's not gonna kill them…I think." Naruto said as he pulled out his dragon ball manga from his pouch and started reading.

"I hope they make it out ok." Asia said

"They won't come out unscathed but if they're hurt too bad well that's why you're here."Naruto said nonchalantly as he flipped to the next page. Asia looked at him in curiosity. She could see the bags forming under his eyes. She had never seen someone so try so hard to not want friends and it bothered her.

"Naruto-san, why do you not want friends?" Asia asked him. Naruto paused his reading to look at her. No one had ever asked him that question before. He honestly didn't have an answer, well he did but it's not like he just could say "Oh I have friends they just come from a different world."

"It's just that I was alone before I met Issei-san and everyone and I remember wanting a real friend back then. But you want to push us away, why?" Naruto was about to answer with a cold reply but when he looked at her his words died in his throat. There was concern in her eyes. Naruto sighed and took a few seconds to gather his words.

"Let's just say I'm not used to having friends." Naruto told her. Asia nodded her head in understanding. She was going to say something else but when she opened her mouth she heard a scream.

"AHHHHH IT HURTS!" Asia's head whipped in the direction of the scream while Naruto silently chuckled.

"That's Issei-san!" Asia said in a worried tone.

"Yeah you might wanna have that healing of yours on standby."

About a couple of hours of screams and explosions later Naruto and Asia heard the bushes in front of them rustle. Out of the bushes came the roughed up forms of Rias and the others. Naruto looked up from his spot and saw the damage his training exercise had done. There were rips and blood patches all on the group's clothes. Asia ran over to the group, twilight healing at the ready.

Issei looked ready to pass out right there, Rias had blood running down her arm and half of the chest part of her tracksuit was gone revealing her bra, Koneko had scorch marks and holes on her shirt and , Kiba was missing a sleeve on his tracksuit and was using his sword as a back scratcher and Akeno…

Naruto tried his hardest to keep a smirk off his face

Akeno was glaring at him with bubble gum pink hair . Naruto noted with satisfaction. He was hoping she would be the one to trigger that trap. She's been teasing him for weeks and it was about time for some payback. Hey, he might be a little more serious since coming here but he couldn't pass up a good prank opportunity when it presented itself.

"Have fun?" Naruto asked, managing to keep his facial expression neutral.

"Have fun!? We could've died in there!" Issei exclaimed. The others nodded in agreement.

"Why didn't you say anything about traps?" Rias asked indignantly. Kiba and Koneko gave a hum of agreement

"Well if I told you all about the traps it would've defeated the purpose of the challenge." Seeing their angered expression turn into confusion Naruto sighed.

"I told you this exercise was one to test your perception and reflexes. When you go into unknown territory, always check for traps." Naruto said, his voice unintentionally taking on that of a teacher. "Seeing as how you all look the way you do, your perception and reflexes could use a bit of work. So, even after your match you will continue this exercise until you walk out without so much as a scratch."

The peerage cringed at the idea of going back into that forest but nevertheless they nodded.

"Good, as for the rest of your combat training you will be doing one on one sparring. I already sparred with Koneko so I know what her problem is, but I need to get a grasp on the rest of you." After he had finished speaking, Rias restored everyone's clothes to their prime condition before giving a sigh.

"How does dinner sound to everyone? It's getting pretty late." When they started the survival training it was still well early into the afternoon now the sun was setting which was a testament to how long they'd been in there. Issei's stomach rumbled in agreement to Rias's question. He scratched behind his head in embarrassment.

"Dinner sounds pretty good, buchou." The others nodded their heads in agreement as they started to walk back to the mansion. Naruto tried to walk away from the group but Rias wasn't having it, not this time.

"You're coming too Naruto." She said, Naruto turned around with an eyebrow raised."You're cooking us dinner with Asia and Issei."

"What? Why me?"

"Think of it as punishment for throwing us in that forest."

"You can't be serious." But the look in Rias's eye told him that she was dead serious. In fact each member was staring at him, well Akeno was glaring at him but that's besides the point. Naruto groaned before reluctantly following the peerage.

Now the group was at the table eating what Issei, Asia and Naruto made for them, Naruto made himself a bowl of ramen though.

"So what did you all think of the training from these past two days."

"It's rough but that's probably because I'm still the weakest out of us." Issei said.

"While that may be true, your boosted gear and Asia's twilight healing are very important. That's why we are training, to make sure you don't become a hindrance." Issei and Asia nodded their heads in understanding.

"I think that the training is a little…extreme." Kiba said while looking at Naruto to which he rolled his eyes.

"I think it's effective." Koneko said. At least somebody thought his training was good, if you didn't feel like you were dying while training are you really getting stronger?

"It's…unorthodox." Akeno said, still a little peeved at her pink hair, Naruto stifled a snicker but Akeno heard it causing her to look at him. "Have something to say Fishcake-san?"

"Nope." Naruto said without looking at her. Sensing another argument Rias spoke up.

"Unorthodox or not, we're all glad you decided to help us, Naruto." Naruto looked up to see Rias smiling softly at him. He looked around to see the other peerage members nodding their heads with small smiles on their faces.

"Hmph you can thank me by not getting your asses kicked by that guy." Naruto said. After a while Naruto and the others finished their plates.

"Now that we are finished, I think it's time we got the baths." Rias said. Issei got up from his seat with a very perverted grin on his face. "Oh, do you want to watch us bathe Issei? You can come, I don't mind. How about you Akeno?"

"Ara Ara, I don't mind either."

"How about you, Asia?"

"I-I guess i-its ok." Asia said embarrassingly.

"Koneko? Rias asked. Issei was ecstatic, Him and the girls were going to bathe together. Oh he could see it now all those beautiful oppai, he was so close and now all he needed now was for Koneko-chan to agree and-

"I'd rather die."

Damn it!

"Oh well sorry. Maybe next time, Issei." Rias said in amusement. Issei slumped down in his chair with comical tears and Asia patted his back trying to comfort him. "How about you Naruto, wanna join?"

Naruto who was ignoring the whole conversation up until when he heard his name called lifted his head up with a raised eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Did you want to bathe with us?" Rias asked again. Naruto looked at her like she was crazy before looking at Kiba for confirmation. Kiba, seeing his confusion, just nodded his head at him.

Naruto actually looked flustered as he figured out how to answer her, something Rias positively noted.

"U-uh I-I think I'll pass." Naruto said before getting up from his seat and awkwardly walked out the room. Rias giggled at Naruto's behavior.

"Well at least he's not made out of stone."

After they had gone to bathe, everyone had gone to bed exhausted by today's training. Everyone but two. Rias couldn't sleep because she had a lot on her mind regarding the rating and Naruto, well his subconscious wouldn't let him sleep for long. Rias found Naruto awake when she walked to the gazebo.

"Naruto? Why are you still up?" Naruto looked at her in slight surprise, he didn't think anyone else would be up at this time.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well I guess it doesn't matter, up for a chat?" When Naruto just shrugged his shoulders, Rias sat on one of the edges across from Naruto and opened her book.

"What ya got there?" Naruto asked. Rias looked up from her book at Naruto. He looked tired, well not really, as usual he did a good job at hiding it but his eyes gave him away. She could see the bags forming under his eyes. She put these observations in the back of her mind and answered his question.

"It's my battle manual, it's supposed to help me with my attack plans but it's not really helping at the moment." Naruto nodded his head as Rias continued to talk. "The person we're up against is no easy win, Riser from the house of Phoenix."

"Phoenix? As in the immortal bird?" Rias nodded her head at his question.

"As the name implies he has the powers of the saintly beast. He's practically immortal, He generates immediately upon attacks and he's considered a marquis among the 72 pillars."

"The what pillars?"

"72 pillars, it's a line of great families of high-class pure blood devils. Riser is a part of one of those great families, The House of Phoenix." Rias didn't see it but Naruto rolled his eyes at her information, making comparisons to his home village's clans. "Anyway, Riser's win record is 8 wins and 2 losses. Those losses however, came on purpose to a family he was on good terms with."

"Seems like quite the foe for you all." Rias nodded her head in agreement the odds were very stacked against them.

"Yeah, ever since the rating game was established, the House of Phoenix has risen up dramatically." Rias sighed. "That is to be expected though, if you're immortal there's no way you can lose."

"I don't think so." Naruto mentally cringed, he didn't mean to say that so fast but the words just came right out of his mouth. Rias looked at him in question, Naruto closed his eyes and elaborated. "I mean just because he's immortal doesn't mean he can't lose the fight right?" He said, thinking about his fight with Kakazu when he used Rasenshuriken for the first time.

The man had 5 hearts and if it wasn't for his then new technique he wasn't sure if would've won that fight. Rias looked at Naruto in surprise before she started to chuckle, catching Naruto's attention. Naruto opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"You are very strange, Naruto."

"Huh?"

"I mean here you are completely human and yet over the past few days I've seen you do things that's impossible for humans. On top of that you had absolutely zero reaction to the existence of the supernatural. And those kunais and shurikens you always seem to have as well your impressive stealth, if I didn't know any better I'd swear that you're a ninja." Rias said in a curious voice and her eyes had this certain gleam to them.

Wow all that from a guess?

Naruto mentally whistled at her deduction skills, this girl hit that bullseye- no the double bullseye on that one.

"Look,I'm usually a quiet person these days so I guess it's easy for me to blend into the background and as for the kunais and shurikens, I just got them from a blacksmith I met a while ago." He said. He's not exactly lying to her, he's just telling her a bullshit truth.

"Oh." She said in disappointment as the gleam in her eyes disappeared.

"Anyway, we're getting sidetracked. Why are you so miffed about marrying that guy anyway? It's none of my business but I'm curious." Naruto asked in hopes of a change in subject. In truth he already knows why he was just eager to steer this conversation away from him.

To his relief Rias sighed and answered his question. "It's because I'm the heir of the House of Gremory, my family name hangs over me. No matter what I do I'll always be known as Rias Gremory."

Naruto could sympathize with her here, her situation was reminiscent of Konohamaru as well as his, well mostly Konohamaru. For a long time he was known as the "nine-tailed brat" and Konohamaru the "Honorable grandson of the third Hokage". So he could say he understood how she felt, even if it was a little bit.

"I'm proud of my name but for once I wish someone could see me not as Rias Gremory but just Rias." Rias said a bit solemnly.

"I can understand that, you want people to see you for you and not your name. If it makes you feel any better I don't know shit about devil society and I don't really care either but you've always been Rias to me." Rias looked at him in surprise but he didn't stop. "That same Rias who's annoying and irritatingly stubborn and won't leave me alone for two seconds." Rias nearly fell over and she was about to glare at him until she saw his face.

He was smirking. It was small but it was there.

He was messing with her, her glare softened into a small smile before chuckling again. "Thanks Naruto, I needed that." Naruto nodded his head at her and they went into a comfortable silence. After a while Rias let out a yawn.

"I'm gonna head to bed ok, Naruto." Naruto grunted a reply "Thank you for the chat Naruto. If you ever need to talk to someone we're all here." Naruto nodded his head again and Rias walked away from the gazebo, turning in for the night. Once she was far enough away Naruto ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

He was not expecting to have a conversation with Rias when he came out here to clear his head but he was a little glad to give her a little peace of mind and he wished he could say the same for himself. Naruto decided to get some late night training in so he hopped off the gazebo and went walking into a part of the forest that was quite a bit aways from the mansion.

As he was walking he heard something that sounded like clothes ripping and he decided to follow the sound. What he found was Issei training with clothes tied to a tree. Women's clothes specifically.

Ok now he was confused. Stepping out Naruto confronted Issei

"What are you doing?" Issei nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Naruto's voice.

"Oh it's you. How long were you standing there?"

"Not long, what are you doing?" Issei tried to come up with some flimsy excuse but he ended up finding none so he just sighed.

"It's this move I'm working on, Asia's helping me by giving me some of her clothes." Issei explained as he motioned his hand to the ripped up clothes across the floor.

"And you need her clothes because?" At his question Issei's face took on a look he was all too familiar with.

Perversion. He should've known.

"The move isn't complete yet but when it is it'll leave girls completely naked. I'll be able to see their oppai, I call it , Dress break!" Issei declared as he took a stance and laughed victoriously and for a moment Naruto felt like he was with his late godfather again.

On the outside it was a bit of an awkward silence but Naruto broke it.

"Ok, carry on." He said before turning around and began walking away from the boy. He wasn't gonna criticize Issei, Knowing what his first ever jutsu was, he didn't have the right to criticize Issei.

Seeing Naruto made questions Issei had forgotten about earlier come back and seeing how this might be his only chance to talk to him, he said the first thing that's on his mind.

"How can you do what you do?" Naruto paused in his steps and turned his head slightly as Issei continued. "I used to think I was weak because I used to be human. But when we got here, Asia showed more talent than me while I could barely do 1 push-up." Naruto still didn't turn around but the side of his head could be seen. Issei closed his eyes and sighed hard.

"And you, you came here and beat all of us without so much as a scratch. You're still human and yet you can do all of this. I guess it just makes me feel a little worthless." It was here Naruto fully turned around to face him. Naruto could sympathize with Issei here, god knows how many times he had felt worthless when compared to Sasuke.

Naruto sighed before running his hand through his hair as he thought about how to answer Issei. After about a few moments of silence, Issei dropped his shoulders, taking Naruto's silence as an answer.

"You remember our little skirmish yesterday right?" Naruto had asked him. Issei lifted his head and nodded. "And do you remember what happened after I had gotten behind you?"

Issei glared at him this time. "Pain in my backside you blond haired bastard!" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, after that." Issei blinked and he put his hand on his chin in thought. It took a minute but he was able to recall what happened. "I fired that beam at you." Naruto nodded his head.

"Only you didn't hit me but you hit that mountain behind me and you almost destroyed it." Issei started to realize Naruto's point. "No one who's worthless is able to nearly destroy a mountain. You might not be strong now but if you work hard you can be someday."

Even though Naruto didn't really sound like he meant it, his words ended up restoring Issei's self esteem as the depressed look in his eyes disappeared and a look of determination replaced it.

Naruto turned around and walked away from the determined Issei, this time actually making it to his training spot. Issei watched Naruto leave and he turned back to the semi-ripped shirt tied to the tree and smiled.

'I'm going to get strong, to be useful to Buchou and protect Asia. I'm the one who got her into this mess, I should be strong enough to get her out of it. I'll become strong enough to achieve my dream. To become THE HAREM KING!' With his confidence restored Issei got right back to training.

He had a move to complete.

The next couple of days went by rather smoothly. Most of the time the peerage would help either Issei and Asia when they needed it, Koneko was progressing in her weighted gear. When she first put them on she could barely move, it might not make her improve her speed drastically but every little bit helps. He had pointed out some of the holes in Kiba's defense and helped him cover them whenever he sparred with him.

The only ones who he really couldn't help were Rias, Akeno and Asia. Asia wasn't a fighter and Rias and Akeno used magic more than anything else. He did make sure to teach them the basics of hand to hand though. Issei had also improved on his hand to hand combat throughout the week and he had Koneko and Naruto to thank for that.

If you'd asked Issei though, he would easily take Koneko's sparring session over Naruto's. While Koneko made an effort not to hurt him too badly,he was convinced Naruto didn't give a damn about his safety.

Let's just say him and Asia had a lot of healing sessions throughout the week.

On the plus side Naruto had also grown a little more comfortable with the group. He was still very distant but he wasn't completely shutting them out anymore. Now he actually hung out with them when they weren't training, although he was just reading his dragon ball manga whenever he was in the same room which wasn't too often.

Now we have the girls in the hot springs bathing their wounds from another session in Naruto's forest of death. Rias gave a relaxing sigh as she slumped down into the water.

"Whew, who knew that training could be so exhausting."

"Yes, especially if it's coming from Fishcake-san." Akeno said a little bitterly. Rias giggled at her queen's behavior. Ever since Akeno came out of their first trip to the forest of death with pink hair, she had been getting a little irritated whenever Naruto's name came up in a conversation.

"Akeno are you still mad about the pink hair thing? I think it was kind of funny." Her comment earned her a mock glare from Akeno but Rias brushed it off. Akeno has always teased her when it came to things like this so to see the glove on the other hand was quite amusing for her, she would have to thank Naruto for that later. "Besides I think his training is really helping, despite it being very harsh."

Akeno couldn't argue against that. It was true that despite them usually coming back with injuries, Naruto's training helped them all improve somewhat, especially in Issei's and Asia's case. "It does make you wonder how he set all of that up." Rias nodded her head in agreement. Over by the shower heads were Koneko and Asia scrubbing themselves. Asia gave a strained sigh.

"What's the matter?" Koneko asked while scrubbing over some scratch marks.

"I'm a little worried about Issei-san, he's been coming back with more bruises from when Naruto-san trains him."

"Naruto-senpai might be a little harsh but it works."

"I guess so."

"You are also improving which is good." Whenever Issei came back with injuries Asia would heal him and seeing as how often he came back with them, Asia's healing capabilities improved a bit. Asia smiled at the compliment and resumed scrubbing herself.

If Issei was getting stronger by the day then that was good enough for her she would just stay by his side as he got stronger by the day.

"Okay, one more time Issei."

"Got it Kiba here I come!" Issei ran at Kiba with a wooden sword in hand. He tried to slash horizontally at Kiba but he parried it.

"That's better than last time, but not good enough." Kiba said as he parried another one of Issei's slashes. Issei tried to close the distance by lunging at Kiba but he dodged it by moving to the side. This left Issei open momentarily, something which Kiba took advantage of. Kiba used his wooden sword and smacked Issei on his back which sent him stumbling forward. "Remember what I told you Issei."

"R-Right watch your surroundings and my opponent." Issei tightened his hold on his sword and ran right back at Kiba. Once again he tried to slash at Kiba and once again he parried it, Kiba tried to hit him with a counterattack. However, Issei learned his lesson and parried his counter attack, He then thrusted his wooden sword into Kiba's chest, pushing him back a bit.

Kiba looked at his chest and smiled a bit. Issei was improving, that was good. Kiba got back into a ready stance and came right back at Issei faster than before. Throughout the spar Kiba kept the upper hand as the better swordsman but Issei didn't do as bad as when he first started. Issei was still an amateur that was for certain but he was slowly getting better.

After the spar was over Issei and Kiba were sitting on the ground drinking some water. Well Issei was laying across the floor catching his breath.

"You did better than last time, Issei." Kiba said in between sips of his water.

"Huff…huff…thanks." Issei said. Issei sat himself up and grabbed his water bottle and started to drown it. After a few big gulps Issei sat his water down and let out a sigh of relief. "That hit the spot."

"Hey Issei?"

"What is it, Kiba?"

"You and Asia were both saved by Buchou, and now we're in a similar situation. We have to get stronger and make sure we come out on top in the rating game. For Buchou's sake." Kiba said.

Issei nodded his head. "Absolutely! We'll both get stronger for Buchou's sake. To save her from the asshole!" Issei said with determination. Kiba gave a small smile at Issei's resolve before getting up and getting into a ready stance.

"Alright then let's go again if you will."

Renewed with energy, Issei got up and grabbed his wooden sword. "Here I come, Kiba!" He said before running at Kiba.

Naruto just stepped out of the shower with a relaxed sigh. He hadn't had a shower like that in… well ever. He had to admit wherever Rias got this shower from it was a great decision. He walked over to the counter where his fresh clothes were and looked in the mirror. Well he couldn't because of all the steam from the shower. After wiping away some of the fog Naruto looked at himself.

He's definitely seen better days that's for sure.

There were bags starting to grow under his eyes from all the restless nights. Now he was no stranger to all nighters but going months on end without a good night's rest was starting to take its toll. Now that he was really paying attention to himself he hadn't noticed the changes in his appearance.

Naruto combed his hand through his hair. It was starting to look like his dad's now that he had a good look at it. The thought brought him a little comfort. Naruto put his hand on the mirror and sighed hard and suppressed the tears that threatened to leak.

"God I miss you all." He said, his voice nearly breaking at the end.

"Hey, what the hell are you sulking around for?" Naruto whipped his head up and looked around the bathroom only to see that the doors were still closed.

"Oi over here dumb-dumb." Naruto turned his head to the source of the voice and was surprised at what he was seeing. It was his own reflection that was the source of the voice. Only it wasn't his reflection that he was looking at here. It was him per say but something was off, way off

He was younger. 4 years younger to be exact. In his bright orange and blue tracksuit and ninja headband in all its glory.

The young Naruto smiled at the older counterpart. "What cat got your tongue?" He asked with an antagonizing tone.

"How in the world is this happening?" Naruto asked.

His younger counterpart rolled his eyes and waved his question off. "That's not what you should be asking. What you should be asking is-" The young Naruto's smile dropped into a glare. "What the hell are you doing?"

Taken aback by the sudden 180, Naruto shook his head clear and answered his reflection a question of his own. "What are you talking about?"

The young Naruto's glare intensified. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're really just gonna stand by and let them fight on their own like that!?"

"Their fight is none of my business. Besides, I've already helped them enough." Naruto replied with an indifferent tone.

The young Naruto scoffed. "Yeah right, like one little training exercise is gonna help them win that battle."

"Whether they win or lose their battle is up to them. I did what I could. "

"So, what? You're just gonna abandon them when they need you?" The young Naruto asked with disbelief. His older self turned around and leaned back on the counter.

"Hmph, they don't need me and you can't abandon someone if you weren't with them in the first place." Naruto said in a cold tone.

The younger Naruto balled his fists. "You're a coward!"

"What did you say?" Naruto asked, turning his head to glare at his young reflection. His reflection immediately returned that glare.

"You heard me! You're a coward! They're asking for your help and you're just running and giving up! What happened to our nindo!?"

"That doesn't matter now, what matters now is my goal and that's getting home."

"You…you sound just like him." The young Naruto said quietly. It went quiet between the two Naruto's for about a minute before the young Naruto spoke up again.

"Do you remember what Kakashi-sensei told us that day on the test? Heh of course you do you're me. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." Naruto, who had his head down, lifted it up at his words. "If you're too hellbent on going home that you abandon your friends then I don't think you deserve to go home." Naruto whipped his head to make a reply but when he looked at the mirror it was just his reflection. His true reflection.

Naruto clenched his fists in frustration before letting out a growl of frustration before putting on his clothes and walking out of the bathroom.

It was now the night before the rating game and Naruto was sitting on the bed of his room doing some heavy thinking.

"It's because I'm the heir of the House of Gremory, my family name hangs over me. No matter what I do I'll always be known as Rias Gremory."

"I-I was alone before I met Issei-san a-and he became my first friend. I-I know you said no earlier b-but please give us a chance Naruto-san." Asia's voice rang through his head

"If you're too hellbent on going home that you abandon your friends then I don't think you deserve to go home." Young Naruto's voice echoed loudly in his head."Damnit."

Naruto clenched his fists tightly before quickly getting up and heading to his door. He stopped when he grabbed the doorknob and let out a sad sigh.

'Baa-chan, Kakashi-sensei...everyone just… wait a little longer for me'

Naruto opened up his door and walked out.

Chapter end

Yeah I'm not gonna give you guys an excuse for taking longer than I said I would. Y'all can flame me in those reviews. I deserve it. Just know I am working on the next chapter right now.

Tbh I don't know how I feel about this chapter. This is my first story and all but I feel like this could've been better. I hope I did a good job with the dialogue between the characters. How would y'all feel if I start answering some of your reviews before chapters? Would y'all like that?

Anyway thanks for reading this story and I hope y'all stick around for the rest of it. With that being said, thank you for your patience and I'll see you guys in the next one.

This is The Devious Duckling singing off