Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Highschool DXD if I did this story would not be here
Vermilion Devil
Chapter 13: Operation
"Thank you, come again soon!" Naruto waved off a customer. It has been about two days since Kiba left. Yesterday, Naruto spent the whole day training and today, Naruto decided to skip school all together, not even bothering to send a clone. Instead he opted to put in some hours at the shop. He used this alone time to brainstorm ideas on how to talk Kiba out of his hunt for vengeance. Naruto grabbed the empty bowls and put them into the sink and started to wash them.
As he was washing the bowls, Naruto heard more people walk into the stand. Naruto quickly dried the bowls and went out to greet them.
"Hey, welcome to my ramen shop, how can I-Oh hey Koneko." Koneko nodded her head at him.
"Naruto-Senpai."
"So you really do own a ramen shop." Issei said.
"Does he even have a permit for this?" Another guy said. Now this was a first for Naruto. Koneko was starting to become a frequent customer of his so no surprise there. But Issei and the guy from the council?
Yep definitely a first.
"I take it you guys aren't here for a bowl of ramen?"
Issei looked at him in surprise. "That was quick. How'd you know?"
"Call it a hunch." Naruto said. Naruto and the others took a seat. Naruto put a hand under his chin. "Ok then, what do you guys want?"
Issei looked Naruto in the eyes, determination burning within them. "We want your help with Kiba." Naruto raised his eyebrow urging him to continue. "We were thinking that if we help Kiba, he'll come back to the club."
"Help him? Help him how?" Naruto asked.
"By helping Yuuto-Senpai destroy Excalibur." Koneko said. Naruto sat back and thought about what they had just told him.
"I'm still not sure about this, both Kaichou and your Buchou said that we wouldn't interfere with the church's mission." Saji said.
"I know, but Kiba is one of us, we can't just leave him out there."
"Man, Kaichou is gonna kill me. Then revive me then kill me again." Saji said as he slammed his head on the table.
"Well there's no point in crying about it now, we were gonna get involved anyway." Naruto said.
"What do you mean?" Saji asked.
"Come on, think about it. Two enemy factions both heading for a collision course in devil territory? We were getting involved whether we wanted to or not. All Kiba did was make it easier for us."
"I guess that makes sense. But still…"
"That's why we need to cooperate with Irina and Xenovia." Issei chimed in.
"But it's not like they're going to listen to you just because you asked." Koneko said
"And with Kiba acting the way he is, a fight just might break out between them just being near each other." Naruto added.
"That's why we're here. To ask for your help." Issei said.
"My help?"
Issei nodded his head at Naruto. "Back in the rating game you were able to hold off Riser long enough for Buchou to deal the final blow. You also took out his rook and queen." Issei scratched the back of his head. "I also thought that the more people, the better our chances. Heh."
"You could stop any in-fighting from breaking out." Koneko added. Naruto stayed quiet for a few minutes. Issei and Koneko waited with bated breaths. For all they knew, Naruto could say no and that would be that. They both have heard Rias complain about Naruto's stubbornness. Naruto finally looked at the three of them and smirked.
"Fine, I'll help you out." Koneko and Issei let out a small smile at Naruto. Naruto leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Truth be told, I was already planning on going after that idiot anyway."
Issei looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah, I was going to just tell you what I was going to do and just go but I guess this is fine too."
"You were planning on going alone, weren't you?" Koneko asked. Naruto looked sheepish as he avoided eye contact with her.
"Maybe…Anyway, how do you plan on finding those two girls?"
"Well, we were thinking that they should be somewhere in town." Issei said. Naruto nodded his head.
"Then you three will look for them there. When you find them, meet me back here at the shop." The trio nodded their heads and got up from the table. As they were heading out, Naruto called out to them. "Hold on." Koneko, Issei and Saji turned to him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Naruto asked. His tone was grave and his eyes were hard as he seemed to stare them in the eyes.
"What do you mean?" Issei asked.
"I mean, are you sure that you want to help Kiba? Because once you do, there is no going back. You'll be stepping into a real battle eventually. This will be nothing like the rating game. There is a chance that if you're not careful, you will die." Naruto felt the need to warn the three young devils. Of course, He would never let them die but he felt like they should know what they are getting themselves into.
A heavy silence fell upon the group. Koneko and Issei looked deep in thought but Saji looked nervous as the weight of Naruto's words sunk in. They had to admit that what he said was true. What they're doing could destroy the fragile truce that the three factions are in right now. But…
"We know that this could backfire, but Kiba is our friend. I don't know what that means to you but I won't give up on him." Issei said as he looked at Naruto.
Koneko stared at Naruto in his eyes, As if trying to convey a silent message to him. "We won't Yuuto-Senpai alone, he's a part of our family."
Naruto felt a genuine smile creeping up on his face but managed to keep it down to a small one. "Alright, just making sure you know what you're getting yourselves into." Issei nodded his head and he and Saji left the shop but Koneko stayed behind.
"Naruto-Senpai."
"Yeah, Koneko?"
"I'm expecting a bowl of ramen when we return."
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at how serious she sounded. "Sure, Koneko. It'll be nice and hot by the time you get back." Koneko nodded her head and went to catch up with Issei and Saji.
Rias turned off the shower head and she let out a relaxed sigh. She wrapped a towel around herself and proceeded to step out of the shower. As she exited the bathroom, she noticed that besides Asia and Akeno, none of her peerage members were present. Rias narrowed her eyes in suspicion. While it was common for one (Naruto) of her peerage members to be absent, but dang near all of them?
Not likely.
"Asia, have you seen Issei lately?"
Asia put a finger on her bottom lip in thought. "Hmmm, the last time I saw him was during the free period."
"Akeno, I don't suppose you have seen Koneko anywhere, have you?"
Akeno shook her head no. "I'm afraid not, Buchou."
"Naruto could be anywhere in Kuoh right now and Yuuto…" Rias said before sighing.
"Ara Ara, I think our fellow members are out there being naughty." Akeno said.
Rias put a hand on her head. "Don't they know how this will affect the underworld? Akeno."
"Yes?"
Rias opened her mouth to speak but at that moment the clubroom door opened to reveal Sona and Tsubaki.
"Excuse the interruption." Sona said.
"Sona?" Rias asked.
"Pardon me, but we are looking for Sanji and we were wondering if you have seen him." Sona said.
Rias let out a sigh and shook her head no. It was then Sona noticed the absence of Rias's own peerage. Sona raised an eyebrow at Rias.
"I think we might have a problem." Rias said.
"So it seems." Sona said.
Kiba walked through the streets of Kuoh, thinking about his actions over the past two days. 'Was leaving Buchou really the right thing to do?' Kiba then shook his head. 'I don't want Buchou getting caught up in this. This was for the best.' Kiba's thoughts drifted back to what Naruto had said to him two days ago.
"This Excalibur stuff is getting to your head. You're acting stupid! Do you really think getting revenge will solve anything!?"
"Tch, what does he know about it? And why does he care so much now?"
"Just because I'm not close with you guys doesn't mean I don't care."
Kiba shook Naruto out of his head and continued his walk through Kuoh. Suddenly, the evening sky turned purple and Kiba noticed that he was the only one in the area. Just then, Kiba's devil instincts screamed at him to move. Kiba jumped to the side and watched a light spear whip past him.
"Well how about this? Seems like the boss was right." A voice said. Kiba turned around to face the person who threw the light spear at him. The person was a man who had black spiky hair that was combed to the side and had black eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket and jean pants.
"Who are you?" Kiba asked. The man smirked
"It doesn't matter if you know my name or not, you're gonna die here anyway, devil." The man said.
Kiba narrowed his eyes at the fallen angel and a sword appeared in his hand. "This is perfect, I've been hoping to let out some steam." Kiba said.
The fallen angel smirked and created another light spear. "Me too, I can't stand being cooped up in one place for too long." The fallen angel spread his wings and flew straight at Kiba. Kiba raised his sword and blocked the incoming stab attack.
"Oh? You're pretty fast. And here I thought that this was gonna be a quick kill." The man complimented
Kiba did nothing but glare at the fallen angel before creating another sword in his hand and slashing at the man. Kiba managed to slice the man's chest before they broke apart.
The man looked at his wound before glaring at Kiba. A few seconds later, his eyes widened in recognition.
"Hey, you there, know anything about the Holy Sword Project?" The man got his answer in the form of Kiba gritting his teeth and the tightening of his grip on his sword. "Kokabiel-Sama said that there was a survivor among those dumb kids." The man suddenly raised his spear to block the downward slash by Kiba. "Oh? Did I touch a nerve?"
"Shut up." Kiba said with gritted teeth. The man just simply laughed it off.
"So you really are that lone survivor. How does it feel knowing you're the last of a bunch of worthless kids?"
"I said shut up."
"I guess if you were the only survivor, that means those kids were more worthless than you." The fallen angel cackled.
His words set Kiba off and Kiba broke their clash and surprised the fallen angel by cutting off his hand and kicking him away. The man groaned as he sat up and saw Kiba glaring daggers into him.
"You can insult me, hit me, or belittle me." Kiba said. His voice was even but his eyes were burning with rage. "But never insult my comrades. Kiba summoned another sword and gripped it tightly.
"Or I'll kill you."
Away from the fight, there was Naruto's shadow clone hidden in the trees. Naruto narrowed his eyes before dispelling itself.
"Here, eat up."
"Is there poison in this?" Xenovia asked, looking at the bowl of ramen skeptically. Irina, who was about to dig into her ramen, put her chopsticks down and looked at Naruto skeptically.
Naruto gave both Xenovia and Irina a blank stare. "Yes, I had my colleagues track you down and bring you to me while you were hungry just so I can kill you with food poisoning."
It was silent for a few seconds before Irina and Xenovia blushed in embarrassment and decided to eat the ramen in silence. A few minutes later, the two girls were soon asking for another bowl. After about 30 minutes or so Irina and Xenovia had their fill of ramen.
"So why did you send them to find us?" Xenovia said.
Naruto blinked. "I didn't actually send-nevermind." Naruto decided to take a seat. "To put it simply, these guys want to help out with your holy sword problem."
"Hm?" Irina asked
"It's just like Naruto said. We want to help you with Excalibur. You guys want to steal it back, right?" Issei said.
"Issei-Kun, I don't know…" Irina said.
"Same here, I don't feel too comfortable becoming allies with devils." Xenovia said. Koneko rolled her eyes at Xenovia's statement while Saji inwardly cheered.
"Oh come on, I promise that it won't be that bad. Besides, there's only two of you. We won't even have to be in the same group, we just want to destroy one excalibur." Issei responded. Neither Xenovia or Irina looked convinced. The two girls went to huddle to discuss their options.
"I don't trust these guys." Xenovia said.
"I understand what you're getting at. But Issei-Kun is my childhood friend." Irina said. Xenovia had a serious look on her face as she regarded her partner.
"Even so, he can't be trusted. Regardless of the history between you two, he's still a devil."
"I know, but…" Irina looked at Issei from her peripherals and sighed. Half of her knew that Issei might now be corrupted and that he couldn't be trusted. But her other half, her other half prayed that even if he was a devil, he was still the same Issei that she knew back then…
"If I were you, I'd accept the help." Naruto said, knocking the two exorcists out of their huddle. "I mean, just look at you two. Do you really think you're gonna be able to get all those stolen pieces by yourselves?"
"We came here knowing that getting the excalibur fragments would be difficult. Even so, we're determined to accomplish our mission."
"I admire your determination, I really do but determination alone isn't gonna get the job done." If it was, Sasuke would be back in the village and he would be Hokage right now. He had to learn that lesson the hard way multiple times before it stuck. "Do you even know where to start? Or even what you're gonna do if you get thrown into a situation you didn't account for?"
Irina and Xenovia didn't have a counterargument to his words and they stayed silent.
"Let's face it, the church sent you in blind into a dangerous situation. They practically sent you to your deaths." Naruto said. By the way their eyes widened a little bit, he could tell that his words hit their mark, making them see the reality of their situation.
"With the way you two are moving, you're dead before you even get near one of the excalibur fragments. With our help, not only do you have a higher chance of retrieving the pieces, but also coming out alive all together." Naruto added. Issei looked at Naruto and sent a grateful nod his way.
"So, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh?" Irina asked.
"Well, yeah that actually sums it up." Issei confirmed. Xenovia and Irina took another moment to think about Issei's offer, soon enough Xenovia and Irina sighed.
"I guess there is no denying your logic. Fine then, I guess we can agree to form a temporary alliance." Xenovia said as she held her hand out to Issei. Issei let out a breath of relief and shook Xenovia's hand.
"So, what now?" Saji asked after the two broke their handshake. Issei put a hand on his chin in thought. Naruto just felt his clone dispel and looked over to the side.
"I suppose we should start with looking for Kiba." Issei said.
"Kiba-San? What does he have to do with all of this?" Saji asked.
"Oh right, I forget you guys left early. So long story short, after you guys left, a fight broke out and Kiba went rouge." Issei said.
"Yuuto-Senpai could be anywhere in Kuoh right now." Koneko said.
"We don't need to search for him. I already know where he is." Naruto said.
"You do?" Issei asked. Naruto got up out of his seat and started to walk out of the ramen shop.
"Yeah, I've been tailing him using one of my clones. Come on, if we hurry up we can catch up with him before he gets too far."
"Do your clones share some kind of hive mind with you or something?" Issei asked
"I'll explain it later, now come on." Naruto, Koneko, Issei, and Saji walked out of the ramen shop but Irina and Xenovia stayed behind.
"Irina, are you sure we made the right decision here?"
"No, I hate to admit it but what that blond guy said is true. We won't make it back alive if it's just us two. Do we really have a choice?"
"I guess not." Irina and Xenovia walked out of the ramen shop and followed Naruto.
Up above, Azazel hovered above the shop watching the group. Azazel sighed. "Dammit Kokabiel, looks like I'm gonna have to get involved soon." Azazel put a hand on his goatee and stroked it. "Oh well, at least I'll get to see something interesting."
After about 20 to 30 minutes the group managed to catch up with Kiba.
"So, you guys are forming an alliance, huh?" Kiba asked.
"It's only temporary." Xenovia said.
"That's unfortunate. I was hoping I could take down all Excalibur wielders."
"Are you sure you want to do that? It hasn't been too long since we fought." Xenovia said as she began unwrapping her excalibur.
"Our fight got interrupted, didn't it? I'm all for round 2." Kiba said as he summoned his sword. However, before things could escalate, Naruto stepped in between the two of them.
"That's enough. We didn't come here to fight amongst ourselves. If you two refuse to listen, I'll take both of you down right here and now." Naruto's voice held a commanding tone and he glared at both Kiba and Xenovia. Kiba and Xenovia stared at each other for a few more seconds before conceding to Naruto's demand.
Issei walked up to Kiba and put his hands on his shoulders. "Listen Kiba, they agreed that if push comes to shove, we can destroy the holy swords like you wanted. With all of us we'll be able to find them faster."
"After that, you can come back to us, Yuuto-Senpai." Koneko said. Kiba thought it over before releasing a sigh.
"I'd rather not involve any of you in this, but if I can destroy the Excalibur faster then I'm willing to cooperate."
"Is everyone on board?" Naruto looked at everyone around him and they all nodded their heads. "Good. The plan right now is recon."
"Recon?" Issei asked.
"Information gathering. Right about now we're going in blind into a dangerous situation. That's practically suicide so it's important to know what we're dealing with. First of all, you two." Naruto pointed towards Irina and Xenovia. "Is there anything specific that we need to be on the lookout for?"
"As we told you all before, the excalibur fragments were stolen by fallen angels. However, what we left out was that the fallen angel who stole them was the leader of the Grigoris, Kokabiel." Irina said.
"Kokabiel? I've heard that name before." Kiba said. When everyone looked at him, he elaborated. "I had a fight with a fallen angel before you guys found me."
'Yeah, I can see that.' Naruto thought as he looked at the blood on Kiba's shirt.
"Another name to look out for is a man by the name of Valper Galilei." Xenovia said.
"Valper Galilei?" Saji asked.
"The man is known as The Arch-bishop of slaughter. We've gotten reports that he was the person responsible for the Holy Sword Project and is now working with the fallen angel." Xenovia said.
"So. He's the one responsible, huh?" Kiba said darkly.
'By the time this ends I'm gonna have a major headache…' Naruto thought. "Alright, we'll split into groups and search around town for anything unusual." Naruto pointed at Xenovia and Irina.
"You two are already a pair so there's no need to change that." Naruto then looked at Issei and Koneko. "You two and…What's your name again?"
"Saji." Saji said
"Right, you two and Saji will be the second group and Kiba…" Naruto looked Kiba in his eyes. "Kiba, you're with me. Any questions?" Naruto looked around at everyone and they shook their heads. "Good. Now, what time is it?"
Saji checked his watch. "Uh it is currently 6:00 on the dot."
Naruto nodded his head and put a hand on his chin. "Hmmm, Ok, in about 4 to 5 hours how about we all meet up back here? That's reasonable enough right?"
Everyone seemed to agree with Naruto. Xenovia and Irina exchanged their phone numbers with Issei and separated from the group. Issei, Koneko and Saji started to break away but Naruto called out to him.
"I want you guys to watch each other's backs out there. Remember, this isn't the rating games anymore. It's the real deal."
Issei, Koneko and Saji nodded their heads.
"Don't worry, we'll be careful." Issei said. With those last words, the three of them departed. After they left, Naruto turned to face Kiba.
"Let's go."
"I still don't like this."
"I know but we have to endure it."
Xenovia sighed. "To think that we'd have to resort to working with our enemies."
"Who knows? Maybe it won't even be that bad." Irina said. Irina held her hands together and sparkles appeared in her eyes. "And just think. If we can get back with those fragments, we just might be hailed as heroes. Like that guy in Lady K's stories."
Xenovia let out a groan. "Don't tell me you actually believe all of that stuff."
"What!? Of course I do! Are you telling me that you don't?"
Xenovia looked to the side. "Not as much as you do. You've been obsessed with Lady K's stories ever since she put that flower in your hair."
Irina pouted. "You're mean you know that?" Irina gave Xenovia a side eye. "I bet if the hero was actually here you wouldn't be saying this."
Xenovia looked guiltily to the side while whistling.
Soon enough hours had passed and no information about the whereabouts of the excalibur fragments came up so the group decided to try again tomorrow. The next day also yielded the same results and Kiba was getting frustrated on top of Naruto revealing that he was tailing him and why he paired Kiba up with him led to Kiba and Naruto getting into another argument. Now on the third day, Naruto and Kiba were sitting in a restaurant.
"Kiba."
Kiba looked at Naruto in question. "What?"
"What exactly happened during the Holy Sword Project?" Naruto felt that if he knew what happened to Kiba, he might be able to understand how to help him out of his revenge obsessed state.
Kiba had a grave expression on his face before he looked down at the table. "Behind the closed doors of the catholic church, there was a secret operation going on in order to produce wielders of holy swords. As you know, this was labeled the holy sword project."
Naruto nodded his head to signal that he was following along.
"The church collected young men and women with sacred gears and a talent for swordsmanship. I was one of them. Everyday were subjected to horrible experimentations and gruesome training. But we endured it, believing that we were going to achieve greatness for God. But…"
Kiba clenched his fists. "But none of us were able to truly wield the holy swords. Because of that they…"
"They executed them, didn't they?" Kiba looked Naruto in his eyes and that told him all he needed to know. Kiba nodded his head.
"One by one, all of them perished, but two of us escaped. It was me and another child named Yuki. They hunted us down. Soon enough, they caught up with us and Yuki…Yuki sacrificed herself to save me. She was the reason why Buchou was able to save me. That's why I have to destroy those holy swords. So that their deaths weren't in vain."
Naruto didn't have the chance to respond as two people walked into the restaurant.
"I can't believe that idiot went and got himself killed."
"I mean, are you really that surprised? He was always a hot head."
"Yeah but still, at a time like this?"
Naruto and Kiba perked up when they heard this and they seemed to have a conversation with just their eyes.
"Fallen angels?" Naruto asked.
"Could be."
"Then let's let them talk. See what we can find out." Kiba nodded his head. The two fallen angels ordered a table just a few clicks away from Naruto and Kiba.
"Kokabiel-Sama is going to be mad." The fallen angel said. This one was a woman who had black hair and looked to be in her early 20s. The other fallen angel waved the girl off.
"I don't think so. If he got himself killed that easily then he wasn't worthy to fight under Kokabiel-Sama." This fallen angel was another woman with brown hair who also looked like she was in her early 20s.
"Anyway, when were we supposed to meet up with that crazy guy? I forgot." The black haired one said as she put a hand on her cheek.
"I don't know the exact time but I know it was somewhere around midnight."
"Midnight? What is this a kids movie?"
"Hey, I didn't choose the time, take it up with the old man."
"I know I know. Still, they could've picked an earlier time. I hate staying up late."
Naruto and Kiba perked up as they realized that this was the information they've been searching for for the past two days.
"And by an abandoned church too, talk about creepy." the black haired fallen angel said. The brown haired one just sighed.
"Oh stop complaining already would you, Trinity? Like it or not we gotta help the guy for Kokabiel-Sama."
"Ugh, fine."
The two fallen angels didn't talk about anything noteworthy after that so Naruto and Kiba waited for them to leave before paying their bill and leaving themselves.
"We got something." Naruto said.
"What is it?" Issei asked
"Fallen angels. They're meeting up with someone around midnight." Kiba said
"Did you get a name?" Xenovia asked. Naruto shook his head.
"No but they did say "crazy guy" so we were thinking-"
"That the person they are meeting up with is Freed Sellzen." Kiba finished.
"Freed Sellzen? He's here too?" Irina asked.
"You know him too?" Issei asked
"Ok, can someone please give me a recap? Who is Freed?" Saji asked.
"Freed is this insane exorcist guy who takes way too much pleasure in killing people. We first encountered him when Asia became a devil." Issei explained.
"Terrible dude altogether." Koneko said.
"Freed Sellzen always got a kick out of hunting priests and monsters in general. And he never had too much faith either." Xenovia said.
"Then I guess that makes us perfect bait for tonight." Issei said.
"Bait?" Saji asked. Naruto nodded his head in agreement with Issei's statement.
"Yeah, Issei's right, we'll be perfect bait. This guy likes destroying priests right? Then let's just dress up as priests."
"That could work. Freed has his hands on an excalibur so we could corner him and destroy it." Kiba said.
"Or retrieve it." Xenovia said while sending a pointed look at Kiba.
"Did they say where they were gonna meet up?" Koneko asked.
"They said something about an abandoned church. Anybody know where it is?" Naruto asked.
Issei, Koneko, Kiba, Saji, and Irina all nodded their heads.
"Alright then, we'll meet back up at 11 and head out." Naruto said. He debated on using the shunshin technique to leave but quickly decided against it. As Naruto walked away, he wondered how things were doing back home. Was the village rebuilt? It should be, it has been a year since the events that led him to his situation now. Or maybe time moved differently here? For all he knew, while a year had passed for him, only a couple of weeks could have passed back home.
Elemental nations.
CLANG
The sounds of blades clashing could be heard and sparks flew as steel met steel. Two people were sparring in the middle of the forest. One of the two broke their clash and pointed his sword at the other
"You're getting slower, Suigetsu." The man said. This man has black eyes and long black spiky hair with a blue tint and has bangs covering part of the left side of his face. He wore a black cloak over a black shirt and black pants with a white belt and bandages that were wrapped up to his knees. This man was one of the last remnants of the near extinct Uchiha clan. This man was Sasuke Uchiha.
Suigetsu twisted his neck and it made a satisfying pop. "It's not that I'm getting slower. You're getting too damn fast, Sasuke." Suigetsu put his Kubikiribōchō on his back and slumped down to the ground. "Plus, you're not the one lugging this big thing around 24/7." Suigetsu pointed his thumb towards his sword.
Sasuke just stared at Suigetsu blankly. "Just work on getting faster so you don't slow me down." Sasuke spun his kusanagi sword around and put it in its holster before going to lean across a tree.
Suigetsu took out one of his water bottles on his belt and started to drink it as he observed Sasuke. 'He's been like that ever since he heard about that Naruto guy's supposed death. Well it's a step up from how he was about Itachi's death, that's for sure.' Suigetsu thought. About a year ago, Suigetsu thought Sasuke would kill anyone who even looked at him the wrong way.
While he knew that the Nine-Tails jinchuriki and Sasuke had history, he never cared enough to ask and Sasuke never talked about it. A few minutes later Jugo showed up.
"Sasuke." Jugo said.
"What is it, Jugo?"
"I just received some information from the animals. Apparently, the 5 Kage are holding a summit in a few weeks."
"A summit? What's it about?" Suigetsu asked
"Something about the power imbalance in the world right now."
"What does that have to do with us?" Sasuke asked disinterestedly.
"I was getting to that. I also heard that Danzo, the one you're targeting, is going to be there."
Sasuke stayed silent for a few seconds before getting off of the tree and walking away from Suigetsu and Jugo. "Find out where that summit is taking place, we're going." Sasuke said with an edge to his voice.
"Right." Said Jugo.
"Suigetsu, go wake Karin. We're leaving."
"What?! Why do I have to!? You know how irritated she gets when her sleep is interrupted."
"I don't care. Just go get her already." Sasuke said without looking back. Suigetsu grumbled some replies under his breath before leaving the area.
'Danzo…' Sasuke thought hatefully. The man behind his brother's suffering, the near extinction of his clan, had finally come out of his hiding place. Sasuke gripped his Kusanagi sword tightly and his mangekyo sharingan activated. 'Brother…I won't let his actions to you and our clan go unpunished. I'll slaughter that man with my own two hands!'
He will have his revenge.
DxD
Hours had passed and the clock was about to strike midnight.
"Alright, is everybody ready?" Naruto asked. Issei, Koneko, Kiba, Saji, Xenovia and Irina all nodded their heads.
"Where's your disguise?" Issei asked Naruto.
"Right here." Naruto said. When everyone looked at him in confusion, he smirked. Sometimes it was things like this that made him love being a ninja. Naruto did the ram hand seal and he felt the build up of chakra. 'Transform!' A puff of white smoke surrounded the immediate area and everyone started to cough.
"What's with the smoke?" Issei said as he swiped away the smoke.
"Could've given us a warning at least!" Saji said in between coughs.
"Sorry." Naruto said but the voice that said it didn't sound anything like him. When the smoke cleared, there was an old man wearing priest clothes where Naruto used to be. Everyone stared at Naruto wide eyed.
"What the hell!? Who are you?!" Issei exclaimed.
"I'm Naruto."
"No way! Naruto is a guy around my age, not some old geezer."
Xenovia put a hand on her chin as she looked at Naruto. "Hmm, devil magic sure is strange." Irina nodded her head repeatedly.
"Agreed."
"I know some devils use magic to change their appearance but I think this is different entirely." Kiba said.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you Senpai." Koneko said. 'Yuuto-Senpai is right. Not an ounce of magic was used for that transformation. That felt like…'
"You idiot, this is just a transformation. Now come on, we're wasting time." Naruto said to Issei. Issei however, just gave Naruto the side eye.
"Hmm, I wonder if the form you use with us is even the real you."
"We can save the interrogation for later. Let's go before we miss our window." Kiba said as he started to walk away. The others started to follow him. Issei however, stopped in front of Naruto and looked at him suspiciously.
"I will find out your true form." Issei did the "I'm watching you" sign at Naruto before following the rest of the group. Naruto rolled his eyes at Issei's antics and followed along.
Not long after, the group made it to the abandoned church.
"Are you two sure they said it was gonna be at an abandoned church?" Xenovia asked.
"This is the only abandoned church in Kuoh, they have to be here." Kiba responded.
"Everybody quiet!" Naruto ordered. Everyone stopped at Naruto's order and turned to look at him. Naruto heard leaves rattle in the bushes to his left.
"What is it, Naruto-Senpai?" Koneko asked.
"Seems like we weren't wrong after all." Naruto said before suddenly catching a light spear that was aimed at his head.
"Did he just catch a light spear?" Saji asked, bewildered.
"Hey what the-" Was the only thing Issei got to say before having to jump out of the way of another light spear. Koneko and Saji did the same thing as Issei but Irina and Xenovia both pulled out their excaliburs and deflected the light spears.
"YAHOO!"
Kiba sensed danger and immediately pulled out a sword and raised it to guard an incoming attack from above.
"Freed Sellzen!" Kiba exclaimed.
"Oh? It's you again, pretty boy!" Freed said. Kiba's sword began to crack and soon enough the sword shattered, forcing Kiba to jump back from Freed. "Man, I was really hoping to kill some priests but I'm definitely not complaining about killing some devil punks and two church bitches."
Seeing no reason to hide any longer, Koneko, Kiba, Saji, and Issei took off their priest outfits.
"Hey, where's that other blond punk, The one that kicked me in my pretty face? I wanna pay him back for that." Freed asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto dropped his transformation. "There you are! I was just talking about you!"
Just after he said that, around 18 fallen angels came out from the bushes. Freed started to like a maniac.
"Looks like we got ourselves an all out battle here!"
"We're surrounded by fallen angels." Koneko said.
"There's 19 of them and 7 of us. I don't really like those odds." Saji said.
Kiba and Freed dashed towards each other and clashed with each other's swords.
"Yeah! I've been waiting for round 3 with you pretty boy!" Freed said before laughing in Kiba's face. All he got as a response was a glare.
"Ok, so now there are 18 of them and 7 of us. Still don't like those odds." Saji said
"Then let's split 'em up. Everyone pair up and take em down. Six each " Naruto said as he threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached to it at the fallen angels.
BOOM
The paper bomb went off, forcing everyone to separate. Naruto and Koneko jumped out of the smoke and landed next to each other.
"You okay?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah. Kunais, shurikens, and bombs. You some kinda ninja fanatic?"
Naruto chuckled a little bit. "Rias asked me the same thing."
"Well are you?"
Just then, 6 fallen angels came out from the smoke. Naruto noticed that 2 of them were the women from the restaurant. Naruto brought out another kunai and spun it around his finger before getting into a battle stance.
"I'll tell you after all of this is done. So, since there's six of them I'm suggesting we get three each."
Koneko nodded her head in agreement as she put up her fists in a boxing stance. "Just got to make sure I don't get hit by those light spears."
"Don't worry, if that happens, I got your back. Let's go, Koneko!"
"Right."
Issei dodged the light spear that was thrown at him. Issei ducked under another spear aimed at his head. Issei countered by sending a roundhouse kick to his opponent, knocking them down. Another fallen angel tried to stab him in the back but was stopped by Sajis's Absorption line. Saji threw the fallen angel into the three that were about to attack him, knocking all of them down.
"Thanks Saji."
"Anytime, Hyoudou. Look out!" Saji pointed up and Issei looked that way before jumping out of the way of another light spear from a fallen angel that was in the air.
Saji used his absorption line to latch onto the fallen angel's leg and yanked him down to the floor. Issei took advantage of the opportunity by running towards the fallen angel and landing a hard left hook on the man's face before kicking him away.
BOOST
The fallen angels that Saji knocked over got back up and started to surround Issei and Saji. Issei and Saji sweat dropped.
"do you regret getting involved now?" Saji asked.
"Not gonna lie, a little bit."
"Irina, on your right!"
Irina brought up her excalibur and blocked the incoming lunge from the fallen angel. Xenovia ran and cut off the fallen angel's arm.
"In the name of God, we smite you! Amen!" Irina said as she and Xenovia came together and slashed upward. Blood burst from the two deep cuts on the fallen angel and the fallen angel fell to the ground lifelessly. Another fallen angel flew towards Xenovia and lunged at her but Xenovia parried it and kneed him away.
"Let's see you handle this." Xenovia raised her sword up and slammed it down to the ground, causing the ground to split in two and knocking the fallen angel off balance. "Irina, Now!"
"You got it!" Irina ran towards the fallen angel and did a quick draw slash across the fallen angel's chest.
"Ngh! You little-" The fallen angel didn't have time to finish that sentence because Irina immediately turned around and did an upwards diagonal slash, effectively killing the fallen angel. Irina and Xenovia went back to back as they prepared for the onslaught of the rest of the fallen angels.
"Two down…" Irina started
"Four to go." Xenovia finished.
Naruto blocked two right jabs and a left hook from the brown haired fallen angel. The woman tried to sweep his legs but Naruto jumped up and countered by landing a kick to the back of her head. The force of the kick caused the ground to crack underneath the woman's chin. The impact also knocked the woman out, taking her out of the fight. The black haired woman looked in surprise before flying in to clothesline him but Naruto ducked underneath it and grabbed her arm and slammed her into the ground.
"Gagh!" The fallen angel coughed up blood when she hit the ground. The woman did a kip up to get back on her feet quickly and regarded Naruto with caution. 'This guy…Is he human or supernatural? He has to be supernatural, he one shot Ariel like it was your average Tuesday. And she was stronger than me. But I'm not sensing anything from him. He could be superhuman. Supernatural or not, what I do know is that he's strong, very strong." Trinity summoned a dagger made of light.
Naruto took some shurikens out of the holster on his leg and threw them at her. Trinity deflected all of them with her dagger. Naruto used the shunshin jutsu to get behind her but to Trinity it looked like he just vanished.
"What? Where did he-" Trinity didn't even have time to finish her sentence as Naruto's foot slammed into the left side of her face, sending her flying and bouncing off the ground into a nearby tree. Naruto landed on the ground and cringed when Trinity hit the tree.
'Might wanna put some ice on that.' Naruto thought. His last fallen angel came at him from behind but Naruto just backfisted him.
BOOM
An explosion went off and Naruto turned his head in the direction the explosion went off and his eyes widened. Suddenly, Koneko came flying through the forest. Naruto jumped up and caught Koneko before she slammed into a tree.
"You okay?" Naruto asked as they landed.
"Yeah. Thanks, Naruto-Senpai."
"What happened?" .
"One of the fallen angels is stronger than the others. He had two pairs of wings." Koneko said.
"Two pairs of wings?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"A Fallen angel's power can be measured through their wings. The more wings they have, the more powerful they are."
"That's good to know-heads up!" Naruto suddenly caught a light spear that was aimed at Koneko's heart.
"Well, isn't this interesting." Someone says. Naruto and Koneko turned their heads towards where the voice came from and just like what Koneko had said, a fallen angel with two pairs of wings came out as well two more fallen angels that landed on both sides of Naruto and Koneko. "Never fought a devil that could catch holy light and not be affected." This man had shaggy brown hair and looked to be in his mid 20s.
"Maybe you're just not searching hard enough." Naruto deadpanned.
The fallen angel looked around and saw that everyone that was supposed to be fighting Naruto and noticed that they were all knocked out. 'All out for the count and there's not a scratch on the guy. Finally a challenge.' The man smirked. "Be that as it may, either way, both of your lives end here." The man said as he created a light spear in one hand and a light sword in the other.
Both Koneko and Naruto raised an eyebrow in response as if challenging the man's statement. Naruto and Koneko looked at each other and slightly nodded their heads at each other.
WHAM
Naruto backfisted the fallen angel on his right and Koneko punched the fallen angel on her left in the gut. Quickly taking those two out of the fight. The four winged fallen angel quickly threw his light spear at two devils but it was quickly countered by Naruto who palm striked the spear upwards a bit then kicked it back to him faster than he could react, stabbing him in one of his wings.
The man barely had enough time to recover when a literal tree came flying at him courtesy of Koneko. The man quickly sliced up the tree in rapid succession, leaving chunks perfect for a campfire. Just as he had finished doing that, Naruto used the tree to rocket towards the fallen angel and punch him down to the ground. Unfortunately, his punch was blocked by the fallen angel but the overall force of it sent him rocketing down to the ground.
The fallen angel didn't even have time to recover from the shock of the blow because Koneko had already started closing the distance between them. Koneko jumped up and tried to roundhouse kick him but the fallen angel easily ducked underneath it. That didn't deter Koneko however as she turned around and threw a fake left. The man flinched and that allowed Koneko to hit him with a right uppercut, sending him reeling back.
The man shook his head and quickly wiped the blood from his lip. Suddenly Naruto dropped behind him and time seemed to slow down for the man as the back of blond guy's fist came towards him. Only thing was that he found himself unable to move. Or so it seemed. In reality, Naruto was just too fast for him. The blond man's fist connected with the man's face and he went flying.
Koneko herself didn't see Naruto appear behind him until he sent the man flying. She didn't let herself think about it too much as she noticed the fallen angel get back up albeit much slower.
He did have two pairs of wings after all.
The man seemed to be in a daze from Naruto's backfist and Koneko noticed that. Seems like Naruto did too as he started running towards the man. As he was running, Naruto looked backwards to see Koneko right on his heels. Naruto focused back on the fallen angel and clenched his right hand.
The fallen angel was just barely able to shake himself out of his daze when he felt the blind guy's fist slam into his face 'This guy…' another fist slammed into the back of his head. It was the short one. 'Just blocking his hits hurt. I didn't know he'd be this strong.' Another fist connected with his chin. It was the blond one again. 'The little one too. Even though her hits aren't as strong as his, she still packs a punch.' The little one's fist connected with his ribs and he was sure one of them broke. 'This hurts. This really hurts!'
Back and forth back and forth. The fallen angel lost track of who exactly was hitting him as he was being passed between
Naruto and Koneko like they were playing ping-pong with his body, going hit for hit. A kick, a hook, an uppercut. The attacks just kept coming, never letting up. Naruto put the fallen angel into a full nelson and Koneko went to work on the man's abdomen. Left, right, left, right, just she would hit a punching bag.
By the time Koneko stopped, the man had gone limp in Naruto's arms. Naruto looked at the man's face and saw that his eyes were white and there was blood on his chin. Naruto let go of the man and he hit the ground hard. "Well, he's gonna be out for a while." He said.
"How'd you get behind him so fast?" Koneko asked.
"Training. Now come on, let's regroup with the others." Naruto said before he started walking. Koneko looked around at the fallen angels Naruto knocked out. She then looked at the four winged fallen angel and remembered the punch that sent the man rocketing to the ground. Koneko put the thought out of her head before catching up with Naruto.
Kiba and Freed were fighting on the roof of the abandoned church and Freed was currently pushing Kiba back.
"HAHAHAHA, come on pretty boy I know you can do better than that!" Freed taunted. Freed started to run circles around Kiba using his Excalibur rapidly. Everytime Freed lunged at him, Kiba just barely was able to parry it. Freed lunged at him again but unfortunately for Freed, he got too cocky and Kiba predicated his next action. Kiba leaned to the side and stuck his foot out and Freed ran into it, tripping him.
Kiba raised his sword and slammed it where Freed landed but Freed rolled away in time. Kiba smirked darkly. Freed's eyes went wide when a sword sprung up from the ground right next to his face.
"Uh oh." Freed continued to roll away to avoid being turned into a Freed-Kabob. Freed managed to get up off the ground and he saw that Kiba was gone. Freed quickly looked around for the knight but could not find him on the ground. Freed then looked up and saw Kiba dropping down from above. Freed raised his sword to block the downward slash and the two clashed once more.
Before long, Freed broke the clash and they both ended up back in a stalemate. Freed smirked. "You know, pretty boy. I always did love killing scum like you with my swords. But you wanna know what I love even more than that?" Freed slowly reached his open hand behind his jacket. Kiba didn't even attempt to indulge the crazed exorcist, opting for just a heated glare at him. Freed started laughing maniacally. "LIGHTING THEM UP WITH BULLETS!"
Freed took out a gun and aimed it at Kiba. Kiba's eyes widened and he started running as Freed started shooting at him. "YES THAT'S IT, DANCE SCUM DANCE!" Freed started running with Kiba while shooting at him at the same time.
Kiba ducked under another bullet. He's gotta find a way to get that gun out of his hands. Kiba then thought of the kunais that Naruto uses. Kiba deflected another bullet and fortunately for Kiba that was the last bullet in Freed's clip.
"Damn it, come on!" Freed groaned in frustration as he hurried to get another clip out. Kiba took advantage of the opening and created a short sword and launched it at Freed's gun. The short sword succeeded in knocking the gun out of Freed's hand. "Tch, you little punk." Freed took out a regular light sword. Freed suddenly raised both of his swords to block Xenovia and Irinas's slashes.
"Did you really think you two bitches could get the drop on me?"
"Freed Sellzen, I will smite you in God's name." Xenovia said.
"Blah blah blah, that's all you church bitches talk about. God this, God that, god just shut the fuck up already!" Freed broke their clash and jumped into the air. Freed readied his swords and started to plunge down to the ground. "Diiiiiee!"
Before he could hit the ground however, Naruto suddenly appeared behind Freed and kicked him in the face, sending him flying down to the ground.
"Naruto." Kiba said surprised.
"Kiba!" Kiba looked to where he heard the voice and saw Issei and Saji running towards him. Koneko and the original Naruto also came out of the bushes.
Freed sat up and started rubbing his jaw before spitting out some blood and glaring at Naruto. That's the second time he got kicked in his jaw after he was trying to kill somebody and by the same dude too! "Damn it, all of you are here!? Tch, good for nothing fallen angels." Freed got up off the ground and looked to see he was surrounded. "Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"Freed? Come in Freed."
Freed put a hand to his ear. "Oh? Old man Valper! What is it?"
Kiba's eyes widened when Freed said that name and Naruto could see the rage filling up in them.
"We got a report saying that the two out of the three exorcists are both excalibur users."
"Yeah…Kinda fighting them right now."
"I see. Then come back to base for now. There's also more information on the Excalibur fragments than I need to test out."
"Ohhhh. Ok!"
Kiba, Xenovia, Irina and Naruto all heard the conversation and Naruto prepared to run after Kiba cause one look at him and he knew what he was thinking. Freed pulled out a flashbang and prepared to throw it to the ground.
"Goodbye you sons of bitches!" Freed tossed the flashbang down to the ground and a bright light erupted in the area. Everyone covered their eyes to avoid being blinded. Once the light disappeared, Freed was gone from the spot he was standing in. Kiba however, saw the tail end of Freed running into the forest.
Kiba gritted his teeth together. "Oh no you don't!" Kiba lept down to the ground and started running after Freed. "You can't get away from me!"
"Damn it Kiba, don't be stupid!" The original Naruto said as he lept after Kiba.
"Hey! Kiba, Naruto, hang on!" Issei yelled.
Xenovia and Irina started running after Naruto and Kiba as well. "Come on, Irina! We can't let him get away!"
"Right!"
"Guys, wait!" Issei exclaimed.
"Save your breath, they're not coming back." The clone Naruto said. Saji looked at Naruto in suprise before looking in the direction that the original just left in.
"Wait what? How are you here? Didn't you just leave?" Saji asked in confusion.
"Naruto-Senpai can create clones of himself." Koneko explained.
"Like some type of cloning sacred gear?"
"Well-Wait, do you have a sacred gear?" Issei asked.
"No, I don't have a sacred whatever. Besides, we have more pressing matters at hand at the moment." Naruto walked over to the wall of the abandoned church. "By the way, you guys suck at hiding."
"Huh?" Issei asked. Naruto punched through the wall and he heard a small yelp before he grabbed the nearest person and yanked them out of the wall and threw them on the ground.
"Eh? Tsubaki-San? What're you doing here?" Saji asked before his eyes widened. "If you're here then that means…Oh no…" Saji gulped. Just then another voice chuckled.
"Ara Ara, looks like we've been caught, Buchou, Kaichou."
Issei and Koneko promptly froze and Saji visibly shook. "B-Buchou!?" Issei exclaimed.
"Even though we both agreed to not get involved you went behind our backs and got involved anyway." Sona said cooley.
"Kaichou, it's not like that!" Saji exclaimed fearfully.
"Then what is it like, Saji?"
Over by the Gremory group they were also discussing what happened.
"So, Yuuto and the exorcists chased after Freed?"
"Yeah, hopefully he'll call for help if things go south." Issei said.
"No he won't." Naruto said. They all turned to look at him. "Right about now his focus is on nothing but vengeance. It's been like this since the meeting in Issei's house. It's why the boss had him paired up with him from the jump. To keep an eye on him."
"The boss? You're a clone aren't you?" Rias asked. Naruto nodded. "Which means that the real Naruto is chasing after Yuuto right now." Naruto nodded his head in confirmation. Rias took a look at Koneko. "Why did you decide to get involved?"
"I don't want Yuuto-Senpai to go away. He's our friend."
"I'm more surprised that you agreed to help, Fishcake-San. Buchou had to fight tooth and nail just to get you to come to the clubroom." Akeno said.
"Yeah." Rias agreed.
"Me too to be honest. I wasn't expecting him to actually agree so fast." Issei chimed in.
"It was unexpected."
Naruto gained a tick mark on his forehead. "Oh put a sock in it! I'm here now aren't I?" Naruto sighed. Naruto heard screaming and he, Koneko and Issei looked over to the side to see Sona spanking Sanji. "Ouch."
"What is she doing?" Issei asked as nervousness started to creep into his voice.
"Not the 1,000 spankings." Koneko said.
"1,000 what now?" Naruto asked.
"What, 1,000!?" Issei exclaimed.
"His butt is cooked for the rest of the month." Naruto said.
"That looks painful." Issei said.
"That's because it is." Rias said in an even voice as she got up from where she was sitting. Issei cowered where he was kneeling but was extremely relieved when Rias wrapped him and Koneko up in a hug. "I'm just glad you guys are safe."
Issei cried tears of joy. To think that Buchou was gonna hit them with 1,000 spankings.
"Issei, Koneko, I'm sorry but I'm still gonna have to punish you."
Issei cried tears of sorrow. To think that Buchou was gonna let them off easy.
"Issei, Koneko. Stick out your bottom."
"Yes, Buchou…" Koneko and Issei said simultaneously. Rias readied up a magic circle.
Naruto stood there conflicted. He looked at Akeno and quickly concluded that she wasn't gonna do anything. Maybe it's not right to stand between a master trying to discipline their servants and Rias didn't seem to be the abusive type. Naruto would admit it only to himself that she was quite a nice girl all around. But…
Naruto ran a hand down his face. Oh man, the boss is gonna kill him for this. But then again, he and the boss were one and the same.
Rias was about to spank Issei first but before her hand could connect Naruto grabbed her wrist. "Naruto?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you hit them."
"Naruto, I know you're relatively new, but a good master disciplines their servants when they do something wrong. And it's not like I want to hit them." Rias said.
"Maybe so, but can you tell me something?" Naruto let go of her wrist and looked Rias in her eyes. "Is it really wrong for them to want to help a friend?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I mean, Kiba is a part of your peerage right, so you were gonna get involved anyway. All we did was just make it a little earlier than you expected. So there's really no reason to punish those two."
Rias had to admit, Naruto brings up some good points. "You say that like you weren't a part of it as well. This punishment applies to you too."
"No it doesn't."
Rias crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"
"Because I will never allow you to hit me with 1 spank let alone 1,000 but that's besides the point." Naruto let out a small smile. "I guess I'm just asking you to let it slide. Just this once."
Rias stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before sighing. "Alright, fine just this once."
"Buchou, really!?" Issei asked with hope in his voice.
"Yeah, you guys are off the hook."
Issei started crying tears of joy once more and even Koneko let her shoulders drop in relief.
"What!? That's how it ends!? OW!" Saji exclaimed.
"If that's how it ends on their side then so be it. They are not us! 950!" Sona said as she spanked Saji again.
"Ok then, that settles that. Still need to figure out what to do about Yuuto though." Rias said.
"Leave Kiba to me." Naruto said. Everyone turned to look at him.
"I've seen what hatred and anger does to people. It leads them down a dark path." Naruto closed his eyes and his mind drifted back to Sasuke. "Kiba is currently going through that right now and I won't stand by and watch it happen. Not when I have the power to stop it."
He couldn't stop Sasuke from walking into the darkness but he can damn sure stop Kiba from walking into it as well. Naruto looked every single one of them in the eyes. "I may not have been here long but I do care about you guys a bit. So I promise all of you this. Even if I have to drag him back by force, Kiba will be returning to you all."
After the clone had finished his sentence, he dispelled.
"Wow, I've never heard him talk so determined like that before." Issei said.
"Me neither." Koneko said.
"So, do you really think he can do it, Buchou?" Akeno asked.
Rias didn't answer at first. She thought about the way he spoke. It reminded her of the day they spoke on the gazebo before the rating game. She also thought about the way his eyes looked. The determination within them drew her in and she couldn't help but believe him. Rias smiled.
"Yeah, I think he can do it."
Naruto was jumping through the trees as he kept an eye on Kiba, Xenovia and Irina down below when he suddenly got the information from his clone.
"Tch, stupid idiot."
Chapter end
Man, last month had me burnt tf out. But, I don't mean writing this oh no I mean life in general. You see, I'm not a morning person, but all month I have been getting up early and by 5-6 I was out like a light for the rest of the night. So that really messed up my time with this chapter but I managed to complete it.
As always I thank you all for staying this far into the story and I'll take all reviews as long as they're not toxic. I'll see you guys next update.
This is The Devious Duckling signing off.