A little bit earlier than I expected to get this out, but here, have a chapter.

ᓚᘏᗢ

Koneko

I woke up the next morning, nose twitching to the smell of a "traditional" western breakfast. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausages, french toast, chicken and waffles… basically everything that might come to mind when that phrase is said, the smell of it existed within my room. I'd decided to spend the night at the mansion set aside for the peerage instead of my own home, so that I wouldn't have to deal with waking up in time to get ready before coming over. If I overslept in my room here, Rias would just wake me up herself, since she tended to live here full time.

That I was smelling something at all meant there had to be enough food to feed four families for a whole day in order for the smells to reach this far from the kitchens.

In other words, the normal amount for a Saturday brunch between the two peerages.

Groggily kicking the covers off, I crawled away from the center of the massive plush bed. It was easily big enough for four or five people to lay on, which made sense considering it was the same bed Rias got for me when she first took me in. Back in those days, she and Akeno used to insist on the three of us staying in bed together and watching movies until I fell asleep, with Sona occasionally joining in.

I wouldn't admit it to them, but sometimes I missed being snuggled between them at night. All that useless fat on their chests was good for warmth, if nothing else.

I swung my legs over the edge, my feet landing on ultra soft carpet as I stood. Unlike the rooms at the Gremory estate in the underworld, where they were all lavishly decorated while somehow still maintaining a sense of homeliness, the rooms of the Gremory-owned Kuoh mansion were designed to be a mixture of purely modern aesthetics and casual comfort.

Aside from the fact that my room was something like three times bigger, the only thing that made it stand out from an average person's bedroom was the Victorian-style canopy bed frame. Smooth, light cream colored walls were adorned by a couple poster-sized album covers, with a TV mounted on the wall directly across from my bed. I had a study desk off to one side that I never used for anything but reading manga, and next to it was a bookshelf that was stuffed with manga, light novels, anime DVD cases, and CD's. Aside from a couple smaller shelves, a dresser, and a body length mirror, that was it. No walk in closet, no attached bathroom, none of the things that really make you think "this person is rich."

Of course, it was still a larger bedroom than ninety five percent of the population's, inside a mansion bigger than some apartment complexes, but, you know. It's the small things that count.

Ten minutes later, I found myself walking into the primary living room still half asleep and bleary eyed, changed out of my nightgown and into an oversized white shirt and black shorts, before plopping down into the corner seat of one of the multiple couches, mumbling in response to the greetings I got from everyone else present.

Tsubaki might have directed a question towards me at some point before walking away, but I was having enough trouble keeping my eyes open and head upright to bother paying too much attention and grumbled something unintelligible in response.

Damn my nose. I might have been able to keep sleeping if it weren't for its sensitivity.

It probably wasn't a good idea to binge-watch the Angle Beats anime last night, considering it was already past 12 AM when I started it. I had planned on watching it to relax at the end of the day following my scouting mission, but I'd gotten back from the arcade an hour or two later than I originally planned after the unexpected run-in with Uzumaki.

The indistinguishable sounds of people talking and moving around me slowly sharpened as I continued waking up. I began picking up snippets of conversations, like Meguri trying to explain to Kiba why katanas were the greatest types of sword while he politely voiced his disagreement, or Akeno, Tsubaki, and Hanakai talking about types of tea over in the kitchen.

After what must have only been a couple minutes but felt like an eternity, I shifted my head to look around, blinking the rest of the sleep out of my eyes while I stood up and stretched with a yawn. I saw through the glass doors that Rias and Sona were sitting on the back patio and talking, Kusaka and Nimura also with them but seeming to be having their own conversation. That only left one person– well, two if I included Gasper– that I hadn't noticed around the-

My thought was derailed by an overwhelmingly enticing aroma. The smoky, tingling scent of spiced breakfast meats and the sweetness of maple syrup filled my nostrils, my mouth salivating with a suddenness that made me notice just how hungry my gurgling stomach was. I glanced down to see a large plate stacked high with french toast and sausage and bacon and more, held directly beneath my nose. Following the arm holding it to its source, my eyes took in Yura Tsubasa towering more than a full head over me with a lazy smile, another smaller but-also-full plate held in her off hand.

"Akeno asked me to bring you some food while there was still some food left," She joked with a wry smirk. "'Said that you might need a little fuel to finish waking up."

The joke, for those unaware, is that we always had leftovers from these gatherings nowadays. The first couple times we did them, we ran out of food even after having accounted for how many people we had, so now we always overdo it.

The peerage members who do the cooking don't make mountains of food because we have a lot of mouths to feed, they do it because I always end up eating more than any other four members of our groups combined.

"Thank you." I nodded up at her, taking hold of the offered plate with both hands. A fork and knife were already stabbed into the stack of food, so now all I needed was a nice place to sit and eat. I looked around again, eyes gravitating towards the patio where the warm sun shone on its guests.

Yura followed my gaze. "Gonna eat outside with the others?" She asked idly.

"Yep," I nodded, beginning to make my way to the door. She made to walk with me, longer legs easily catching her up despite my head start.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Mm. Feel free."

We dragged some lounge chairs and a small table into a nice spot in the sun, then sat down and began eating in relative peace and quiet, the sounds of the others' voices reaching us from a few meters away. The patio– being relative in size to the rest of the mansion– had more than plenty enough room to host both peerages with space to spare, and overlooked a large backyard that didn't have much decoration other than a hedge wall along the back fence.

It was only after I had gotten up to get seconds and sat back down that she broke the unspoken silence between us.

"So," She began, "I happened to overhear something Yuuto said when he was talking to Tomoe." Hm?

'… I thought she wasn't interested in Kiba?' I thought.

"According to him, one of your classmates wants to fight him," She said with a little smirk, "Said you spoke pretty highly of the guy's skill."

'Ohhh.' It dawned on me.

This was a fighting thing. Out of everyone in both peerages, Yura would probably be considered the closest to being a battle-junkie, with the katana-fanatic Tomoe being a close second. Neither of them were that bad, not really, but Yura enjoyed fighting and used to battle weaker spirits and monsters before she even became a devil. She wasn't even from a special family of exorcists or magicians or anything, she was a normal human girl who just so happened to be able to see evil spirits, and decided to go around fighting them.

I nodded at her, mouth currently of syrupy, buttery pancakes. I finished chewing and swallowed, before elaborating.

"Uzumaki Naruto." I said while cutting my pancakes to prep the next couple bites. "On the first day of school I saw him practicing his martial arts on the roof. Yesterday he mentioned being interested in sparring with the Kendo Club, so I recommended he try Kiba instead. Kiba's closer to his skill level."

The Kendo Club girls were good at kendo, but even Murayama-senpai– who was a kendo prodigy by normal human standards– couldn't really compete with someone who had real combat experience. Even if her technical skill was at a similar level to Kiba's in a sport's setting, the sheer fluidity of deliberate motion I'd seen from Uzumaki told me that he would mop the floor with her in actual sparring, winning a hundred times out of a hundred.

She might start getting the hang of actual combat by then and begin making him have to work for it, but still.

"Hohhh?" Yura made a sound of surprised interest. "He's stronger than Yuto?"

I paused, a forkful of pancake hovering just short of my open mouth, then lightly shook my head.

"Yes and no." Lowering the fork for a moment, I explained. "He's more skilled at hand-to-hand, but he's purely human." I shrugged. "I think Kiba would win, but he'd have to be extra careful hiding his speed as a [Knight] to do it." I tilted my head. "I didn't see Uzumaki actually fighting; just practicing, so I could be wrong. He could be stronger or weaker than I think he is."

Yura hummed at that, before thankfully going quiet and letting me eat in peace.

I ended up going back for thirds, then fourths, and even fifths over the next two hours or so, in between being dragged into various group conversations. It was around 1 PM that the first person left, Sona needing to answer a summoning contract that she was keeping tight lipped about. After that, people started clearing out, having other things they wanted to do today.

By the time 2 o'clock rolled around, it was just the four of us left in the mansion. Rias had retired to her personal office to do some paperwork while Akeno was busy cleaning up with the use of magic, leaving me and Kiba alone in the massive living room, each of us lounging on opposite couches with a low table between us. He was enjoying a cup of tea and I was slowly eating one last slice of french toast while texting.

Today 2:03 PM

Koneko1123: im free for the day now, u?

Naruto's jPhone 3: i dont remember downloading this app thingy, did my phone come with it?

Koneko1123: nope

Naruto's jPhone 3: oh. Was it you?

Koneko1123: yep

Naruto's jPhone 3: thanks!

(Naruto's jPhone 3 is typing)

Naruto was understandably slow at texting, this probably being his first experience with it, so I had plenty of time to relax. I managed to take a couple bites of my snack before his next text finished delivering.

Naruto's jPhone 3: by the way, why is your name so different

Koneko1123: u can change ur username 2 whatever, instructions here: link

I set my phone down on the table and leaned back into the couch. There was a comfortable silence between us for a few minutes as Kiba sipped his tea and I continued eating.

My phone dinged and I glanced at it, my enhanced eyesight easily reading the screen from my seat.

Today 2:14 PM

9SageNaruto: cool. And yeah, im ready to hang out.

9SageNaruto: where are we meeting?

I ignored it for the moment in favor of finishing my food.

'"9Sage," huh?' I thought to myself. 'Interesting.'

I saw Kiba's light-blue eyes glance from my phone to my face

He smiled at me. "I take it you enjoyed the food as usual, Koneko-chan?" He asked me with some humor in his tone. I was nibbling on my last bite of the cinnamon-coated bread.

"Mm," I paused and nodded, "It was very tasty. Akeno's gotten really good at cooking." I popped the last bit into my mouth and started chewing.

"That's high praise, coming from you. I'll let Akeno know you said that before she leaves." He said with a chuckle. "Speaking of-" he planted his hands on the cushions and pushed himself up into a stand. "-It's almost time for me to get going myself, so I'll go do that now."

"Wait." I said. I picked up my phone and began texting quickly. He looked at me curiously but humored my request without a question.

9SageNaruto: where are we meeting?

Koneko1123: ill send you the address in a minute

Koneko1123: its second home for all my clubmates to share

Koneko1123: so my other friends are still around, but Kiba is going to be busy for a while

Koneko1123: should I ask him to meet up with us when he's done?

There. Now to wait.

(9SageNaruto is typing)

"I invited Uzumaki Naruto to hang out with me here today." I informed Kiba. "I've been meaning to talk to him somewhere more private than at school, and today is the first chance I got." I glanced down at my phone as it beeped.

9SageNaruto: sure, sounds good!

Looking back up at Kiba, I posed the question. "Have you decided yet to have that sparring match with him, or not? He's interested in meeting you in person if you make it back in time, so he'll probably ask about that."

"Ah…" Kiba rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, giving off an entirely different air than Uzumaki despite his frequent use of similar gestures. "I've been putting off coming to a decision. I felt that it would be best to wait until the next school day, so I could meet him face-to-face and get his measure as a person first," He said. "That being said, I wouldn't mind taking advantage of the opportunity." He continued with a nod. "How does around 5:30 or 6 o'clock sound?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head.

I thought for a moment. It was currently almost 2:30, meaning that if Uzumaki got here within the next hour, we would have two more hours at a minimum to learn more about each other's people. So, not a lot of time to get in depth about a lot of things for either of us, but plenty enough to give each of us the broad strokes.

I nodded at the [Knight]. "That probably works."

Kiba returned the nod with a smile, before continuing on his way towards the kitchen. "I'm just going to talk to Akeno for a bit before I leave, so I'll see you later then," he said over his shoulder as he walked past my couch.

I gave him a thumbs up, already starting to text the address to Uzumaki with my other one.

"See you then."

Naruto

When Koneko sent me the address to her club member's "shared house," I was mentally prepared to find myself arriving at a quarter to 3 PM to a house that, while bigger than the average for a town like Kuoh, was within a reasonable limit.

Standing on the street in front of the gate, a well maintained decorative brick wall stretching around the place, I could definitely see that "bigger" was accurate. I wasn't quite expecting just how much bigger, but I supposed that a whole club of unrelated people would need a bigger place than single-family sized housing, so I guess it makes some sense–

'The hell it does!' I screamed internally. 'Their fucking "house" is as big as my entire gated community! Who the hell decided a group of teens need a place like this!? It's so out of place too!'

If someone decided to walk to the other side of the street and take a look– because there's no way you'd be able to see the whole thing from this close– they'd see that each side of the giant property stretched all the way down the block, while the other side of the road just had a bunch of normal sized houses set side-by-side. It wasn't even a "rich" area, just completely normal suburbs. Where the other houses in the area seemed to be largely made from the same common materials with mostly smooth walls and a couple small windows in specific spots, the mansion was a mix of intricate masonry, intermittent balconies, and large windows evenly spaced across practically the entire building

"Does no one else see any issues with this?" I muttered out loud to no one, utterly baffled. "How'd they even get the property rights to build this here?"

"The perks of being a Devil."

I turned my head towards the increasingly familiar voice. It seemed I wasn't as alone as I thought, because I saw Koneko's golden eyes looking back at me from the other side of the gate as she opened it to let me in.

"There's a perception barrier covering the property that makes normal people dismiss it as nothing out of the ordinary." She explained, giving me what I thought was her version of a 'considering' look. She gave a firm nod after a moment. "I guess that just confirms there's nothing normal about you. It takes a serious weirdo to be able to ignore what their brain is telling them and see through it."

"Hey!" Uzumaki Naruto does not take that kinda thing lying down! "Who are you calling a weirdo, you washboard!" That'll teach her to make fun of me before even offering a greeting!

'Wait, no, she shouldn't be making fun of me in the first place…'

Thirty seconds and a bruised shin later, I was following her gesture to step through the gate with a minor limp, thinking back to when she first showed up at the gate.

'Maybe she really is some sort of ninja,' I thought to myself jokingly, studying her form semi-suspiciously as I stepped into the property. 'She's seriously quiet herself. I didn't notice her approach.'

She was wearing a cream-colored mini-jacket that ended at her midsection, left open on top of a short, light pink shirt/dress thing that hugged her modest chest, but flared out a little bit around her waist and hips. For bottoms, she was wearing a pair of blue denim shorts that were only barely longer than her Kuoh uniform's skirt was. Unlike when she was in uniform though, she wasn't wearing the usual calf-socks, so her smooth legs were left bare from the mid-thigh down.

All in all, despite my 'washboard' comment earlier, she wore her body type way better than many of our classmates. Honestly, I kinda thought she was cuter than Sakura-chan had been at any point in my memory.

She turned and started to walk down the path to the front door, the muscles in her legs flexing with each step she took.

"Come on," Her voice cut through whatever that weird train of thought was. I shook my head lightly to dispel any distractions, her eyes meeting my own as she looked over her shoulder. "We can grab some drinks from one of the kitchen's fridges, and go up to one of the balconies for privacy for a while."

I blinked. "Ah, yeah, sure."

I quickly followed after the white-haired girl, about to enter possibly the most impressive building I've ever been in.

And I'd been in literal castles!

Unlike the arcade where most games were electronic in some way, the room behind us was full of different table based games, like table tennis and poker. I didn't know many of the others by name, but I did recognize the one with the pockets on the edges of the table.

We ended up sitting in reclining chairs outside of the mansion's game room on the fourth floor. She had taken off her half-jacket thing and hung it on the chair's back, and I followed suit with my school blazer. I wasn't actually in uniform, just wearing some black cargo shorts and an orange t-shirt, but I liked the way the jacket looked and felt hanging off of my shoulders.

While I had a glass of plain water sitting on the table stand next to me, Koneko's drink of choice was a strange milk-based soda flavored with strawberry that was apparently pretty popular.

"So, how do we want to start?" I asked once we both settled into our seats, taking in the sight of Kuoh. Our chairs were angled so that we could easily see both each other, and the view. "I'm not sure how to describe my home to someone without missing details that are normal to me, so maybe if you ask me questions first, I can answer them and go from there?" The sun wasn't particularly close to setting, it being just past three o'clock, but this side of the property faced the east, so the roof lip of the building did block the sun at this point, keeping it out of our eyes and us in the shade.

Koneko took a moment to consider, tilting her head. "You're new to the supernatural world, so let's trade questions." She offered. "I'll give you an overview, then we'll go back and forth."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

"First," Koneko began, "is that most myths and legends are real, or based on real events…"

Koneko explained the basics of this new world to me, staying light on the details. Whether this was to stay in the spirit of 'a question for a question' or because she simply didn't know more, I couldn't tell. But what I did notice is that the more she talked, the less she kept up with her usual act, that being her clipped way of speaking. Considering that she spoke in that way even when she was relaxed, I had to guess it was something she did intentionally instead of unconsciously, but found it was too much of a hassle to keep up when talking at length.

In summary, I learned that the various religions and gods in this world's myths did in fact exist but kept to themselves, the "Abrahamic" faction was the most influential around the world and also split into three main sub-factions, which the Devils were one of. The three factions had warred against each other in the past, but were currently in a ceasefire, and the Devils had had a civil war about 400 years ago that was won by the more progressive and accepting faction.

In addition, one of their Maou's (the title given to each of their four leaders) was a genius inventor, and had created a method for devils to transform other races into Devils in order to replenish their race's numbers.

The fact that the transformation was tied to servitude under the devil doing the 'reincarnating' was immediately concerning to me, but I'd hold my thoughts about that to myself until I knew more. For all I knew, it could be similar to a shinobi being bound to either serve their village or be declared a nuke-nin. It would definitely be something to ask about though.

"Okay, I think I get the gist of it," I said after taking a sip of water. "So, it's your turn. What do you want to ask first?"

Koneko hummed for a moment. "You mentioned a 'Konoha Ninja Academy' in your weird rant yesterday. How big is your clan, to be trained in an academy instead of using traditional apprenticeships?"

"Ehhhhh…" I scratched my head awkwardly. "There's a bit of a misunderstanding there. Konohagakure no Sato is a whole ninja village with dozens of clans. To answer both parts of your question, my clan in particular was all but completely wiped out in a war against some other ninja villages some time before I was born, but the Konoha Academy has hundreds of applicants every year from both civilian and clan children." I explained, sidestepping the fact that I was actually an orphan. How exactly do you tell someone that both your parents died the day you were born, 'oh and by the way, I met them both recently and they told me they love me'? Awkward. "The academy teaches the students the basics. Those who graduate get put on a four man team with an experienced adult leader, while the rest are weeded out."

"Hundreds?" Koneko questioned with slightly furrowed brows. "How many graduate?"

I smirked at her, shaking my head.

"Nuh-uh, you already asked your question! My turn."

I paused realizing I hadn't answered a part of her question. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Apprenticeships are still done sometimes, but that usually only happens when an older ninja wants to pass down a particular skill and a newbie catches their attention," I finished.

She hummed at that, but otherwise let me have the floor, or however that saying went.

"Alright, my first question!" I grinned. It fell off pretty quick, when I remembered what I wanted to ask. "So, uhh, no offense, but that peerage system seems super sketchy to me. I know you said it's meant to repopulate the Devil's race or something, and can give normal people longer lifespans and magic, but it sounds like the type of thing a bunch of jackasses would try to abuse." I grimaced at the thought of people with the same or similar mindsets as that Danzo guy or Orochimaru getting ahold of such items. "Is there some sort of system in place to regulate them, a way to prevent them from being used to enslave people, or prevent abuse of their servants after the fact?"

Koneko shook her head.

"Not really. There's no official regulation on their use," she said with a frown, "but they are restricted to High-class Devils and above. Since reputation is more important the higher in devil society you get, the majority of devils treat their peerages fairly, even if it's just because they want to maintain an image as a good leader," She explained.

"There are cases where some devils are known to abuse the system, but the only way to reincarnate someone as a devil is for them to be willing, recently dead, or dying. For the most part, this stops the worst potential cases from happening, and many [Kings] treat their peerages well." She gave a slight nod towards the room at our backs. "The noble family my [King] is from, the Gremory, are known to treat all of their servants like family, to the point they had a mansion built for us," She finished with a hand gesture aimed at the property.

I hummed at that, not entirely happy with the result, but satisfied at the complete answer. I also made note of her use of 'us.' I wondered if she'd forgotten that she never actually told me outright her fellow club members were also devils.

'Then again, it's not like I even know the name of any of them other than the Yuuto guy,' I mentally shrugged. Maybe she just didn't actually care that much about keeping it a secret, what with the whole mansion thing.

We continued like this for the next hour or so, going back and forth, asking each other questions about the places we grew up while luxuriating in the breeze. She told me about her time spent with the Gremory's and the Underworld– a whole planet in another realm without any major bodies of water larger than a small sea– and how the four Maou created an artificial sun and moon for the sake of newly-reincarnated denizens, while I told her about the Hokage monument, the Ichiraku Ramen stand, and how the First Hokage used his abilities to turn thousands of acres of grassland into a forest within a single day back before the village was founded.

There were a couple points where each of us didn't want to answer a question, but considering that both times it happened the question was related to either of our childhoods, we both wordlessly agreed to steer clear of that landmine-riddled topic from then on.

I couldn't speak for Koneko, but I'd more or less come to terms with my shitty childhood already, ever since I confronted my darker emotions on the Island Turtle. I wouldn't be against telling her about it if she really wanted to hear about it, but I felt it would needlessly bring down the mood of our first official hangout.

I'd leave that conversation for when we were closer than just recently-met acquaintances.

Looking out at the clouds lazily drifting in the blue sky and the tall buildings made out of concrete and glass, I was reminded how far a society can progress in a few short years. According to my research in the early days of my stay in this world, the general technological level of this place twenty years ago was roughly the same as the various big cities in the Elemental Nations at the time the fourth war kicked off, and it rose rapidly. Because of this, the culture was forced to shift nearly as fast due to the sudden ease of access to practically unlimited information in the new era.

Things that would have been seen as acceptable behavior were no longer the case, and vice versa, due to more widespread knowledge and understanding. Also according to my research, in this case being done over the past week, the devils of old mythology were depicted as soul-stealing demons and malevolent tricksters. If those depictions held any truth back then, then it would seem– based on my sample size of one (Koneko)– that those days are long past, and Devil society is also capable of change.

So, while as a society it had some issues I found to be super messed up, I could at least content myself with the thought that what little I knew of it implied it was changing for the better, too.

I glanced at Koneko, who was also using the moment of silence to think something over in her head.

'And if they keep using these 'Evil Pieces' to repopulate their race with people like her, that change will come faster and faster,' I thought to myself.

I cleared my throat, seeing her eyes turn towards me as I did so. "Your turn."

She nodded seriously.

"What's ninjutsu?" She asked with a head tilt that I was coming to realize was a common gesture of hers. "Most ninjas call all techniques they use 'ninjutsu,' including regular sleight-of-hand, but you spoke like it was specifically something supernatural."

I was kind of expecting a follow up on one of her previous questions about Konoha specifically, but this worked too. I smiled, happy to explain something I was more familiar with and found interesting.

"For us, Ninjutsu is one of the main schools of techniques we used, alongside Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Fuinjutsu. At its most basic level, ninjutsu is the combination of a person's physical and mental energies, shaped and controlled to achieve an effect," I lectured, feeling a nostalgic connection to Iruka-sensei. "Some basic examples are manipulating the elements, creating clones, transforming yourself and other objects, and a lot of other crazy stuff that would take too long to list out."

Koneko looked confused, if I was reading her slight frown correctly at a glance. "Physical energies? Mental? You mean like Chi and psychic energy?"

It was my turn to tilt my head. "I don't know anything about psycho energy or whatever it was you just said–" Her stare turned even more deadpan than usual at my (intentional) butchering of the unfamiliar word, "–but from what I've read on the concept of Chi, it's not too far off. We also called the two parts Mind and Body, Yin and Yang, life force and spirit, it didn't really matter. Very few people could do much with either one alone, because we were taught from a young age to combine them unconsciously. Slap 'em together–" I clapped my hands together loudly in front of me, before interlocking my fingers and clasping them together. "–and mix them to get Chakra, which can be used for practically anything if you train it right."

Koneko sat up suddenly, drawing my undivided attention. Her eyes were open wide and eyebrows raised higher than I'd seen them on her before. It was honestly the most lively expression I'd seen her make since I met her. If I'd thought she looked like some sort of doll before (I didn't, I was pretty good at reading physical cue's nowadays, but if I had), I definitely wouldn't right now.

With the way she was staring at me, I might as well have told her I was a time-traveler, or immortal. Or from a different world.

You know, something crazy.

"You okay over there shorty?" I asked her with a little bit of concern. Was it something I said?

Her eyes instantly narrowed. "Don't call me short, midget."

"Don't call me a midget!" I shot up in my own chair, incensed. "My name's Naruto! Na! Ru! To!"

"Hmph."

"Hmph!" We both turned our heads away from each other and I crossed my arms.

'See if I show any concern for you next time you freeze up!' I thought with what was definitely not-a-pout.

"..."

"..."

"... You said your village taught hundreds of kids, human kids, how to use chakra?" Koneko asked quietly after a moment. "Every year?"

I turned back and squinted at her. "Huh?" Was that what she was surprised about? "Uh, yeah. Our shinobi used it for all kinds of stuff." I shrugged. "Why?"

"Chakra is mostly only used by youkai. It comes more naturally to them than other creatures." She answered in an almost detached way, gazing at the horizon. She closed her eyes and seemed to gather herself for a moment.

"The name you chose, '9SageNaruto.'" She opened her eyes, and I couldn't decipher the look she was giving me. The way she was speaking now, and subtly tensing and forcefully relaxing herself, it was clear to me she was nervous, but I couldn't tell in what way.. "... Did your people also teach Senjutsu?"

Despite the serious air that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, I couldn't help myself.

I snorted.

"Pffffft! No way! That stuff is way too dangerous for the village to teach on any sort of scale. Only the best of the best are even capable of learning it, let alone it being taught to a bunch of teenagers." I chuckled at the irony. "As far as I'm aware, our village only had four sages since its founding. You have to be pretty damn strong already just to even meet the requirements."

"So you aren't a sage, then." Her tone and posture relaxed back to normal, but something about the way she spoke made me think she was just the tiniest disappointed.

If so, she's in luck.

"Hold on now, I never said that, did I?"

I smirked slyly at the look of surprise on her face. It seemed constant mental whiplash was the easiest way to get her blank-faced mask to crack, heh.

"You're looking at the youngest master of Senjutsu in the Hidden Leaf's history!" I exclaimed with my fist out, pointing a thumb at my chest.

Nevermind the fact that Konoha is less than a hundred years old… it's not like she needed to know that though.

Koneko visibly broke out of her shock and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, I cut her off for the hell of it.

"Or at least I was. Nowadays, my chakra network is such a mess that I can't even feel my own internal life-energies. I'm surprised every day I wake up that I'm still alive." I sighed with a little smile. The life I still had was way more than I was expecting after entering the void, to be honest. "Hell, it's part of the reason I went from being the type of dumbass who skips classes, to being a model student. I've been focusing on studying biology in the hopes I can do something to heal myself."

I chuckled and rubbed my head. "I also kinda want to make my parents proud. One of the last things my mom told me before she died was that she wanted me to study hard and eat my vegetables, so I might as well accomplish one of those, haha!"

Koneko stared at me with a look torn between annoyance, concern, and disbelief. She struggled for a moment, before closing her eyes once more and schooling her face. I grinned sheepishly, hand moving to scratch my cheek and averting my eyes as I chuckled at her expression. That I only learned about my mothers last words because she told me herself seventeen years after the fact would've probably broken Koneko's composure beyond repair.

Watching her open her eyes again, this time I was going to let her speak uninterrupted, my gaze becoming serious as I read her body language.

She opened her mouth, and—

Knock knock knock

"Hello? My apologies if I'm interrupting something."

We both turned to the sound of a soft-spoken young man's voice, though I noticed Koneko was glaring petulantly– for her, that is; more like a slightly scrunched brow from anyone else– at the newcomer.

He had short straight hair, a lighter shade of blond than my own that framed his features seemingly perfectly, and a small mole under his eye that many people would call a 'beauty mark'. Standing at around ten-to-fifteen centimeters taller than me and looking like he could be a couple kilograms lighter, I could definitely see what Mitsuri meant when she called him a 'lanky pretty-boy.'

"You're here early." Koneko grumbled. Well, not really, she spoke perfectly clearly, but it was definitely meant with that intent.

His blue-gray eyes that glanced curiously between me and Koneko, before settling on her with a sheepish smile crossing his lips.

"Sorry for barging in without texting ahead, Koneko-chan," he apologized, "My final client canceled on me at the last minute, and I needed to come here anyway to tell Rias, so I thought I'd introduce myself while I'm at it." He turned to me.

I decided to take a page out of Kakashi's book, just for fun.

"Yo." I gave a lazy two-finger salute with a bored expression on my face. "You the help or something?"

He just smiled politely back at me. "I don't believe we've met before, please allow me to introduce myself; My name is Yuuto Kiba. Would I be correct in assuming that you are Uzumaki Naruto-kun?"

The smile on his face had remained completely relaxed, looking perfectly natural on his features. He even kept eye contact and everything.

I grinned and sat up, my act falling away before I even got any real use out of it.

Damn, he was good.

~,,––,,^^-

Two more chapters till the next arc begins, woo.