New story for you guys, been talking about this one for a while with some buddies and pretty excited by my plans for it.

Big thanks to Dragonkw213 for being in the investor tier. Huge help.

Lets get to it.

Chapter One

Different Life, Different Circumstances

He had always had a sort of melancholy about him despite the friendly and smiling demeanor he presented to others. Naruto Phenex was someone burdened with something no others could seem to properly understand but that did not mean he wasn't happy or loved.

Naruto grew up surrounded by family in the lap of luxury. House Phenex was blessed by fertility that most devil families, especially those among the remaining pillars could only dream of. The current generation of the family was large, and that was excluding the more extended family and those born of mistresses and the like.

Raxus and Nyla Phenex had no less than five children. The youngest two of which were Naruto and Ravel only a scant year apart in age. That sort of close age was unheard of outside of twins in the underworld.

Naruto and Ravel were particularly close because of it…as well as the influence of their mother who adored her youngest babies being practically bound up to one another by the hip.

Still even Ravel struggled to understand the strange underlying wistful sense of loss that her brother possessed beneath his easy smiles and warm words. Maybe that was why she was so focused on embedding herself into every part of his life.

Such as now as he got his peerage pieces and she demanded to be given one of them. Their older brother Raiser had wanted both of them in his own peerage but that had never been likely to happen.

Naruto had suggested she might find herself a better fit keeping Raiser in line than tagging along with himself. Ravel had narrowed his choice down to her becoming his bishop or queen.

Now as her brother's bishop she couldn't help but think maybe, just maybe that melancholy was because he missed someone. Someone he wanted to make his queen.

Someone that without even knowing if they existed or not, Ravel did not like.

She had always been the most distant of the three sisters. Setsuna Himejima wasn't exactly sad or anything like that. More like she was waiting for something. Her sisters, and before her passing, her mother had long since grown to accept that there just seemed to be something she was looking for.

She didn't let her family feel as if she took them for granted. She was the middle child of the family but both of her sisters would argue that Setsuna was the most mature and possibly most violent of them. She hadn't been like that before their mother died.

Afterward though, she had become protective of their little family. Enough so that she was often the one that seemed to keep them going in the time spent homeless and drifting. Akeno tried her best, but there was just a drive in Setsuna that both Akeno and Rukia tended to look to.

Despite that, she didn't really lead. She made sure Akeno, Rukia, and herself were safe and as comfortable as possible. Nothing more.

So when things began to spiral and Akeno met Rias and believed that she had found them a safer and all around better life than they had been living, Setsuna followed along.

She still seemed to be waiting for something. Something neither Rukia and Akeno could understand.

It sometimes bothered the King of the peerage that they had joined. Rias Gremory truly cared about her friends and peerage members but she struggled the most when it came to connecting with Setsuna.

The girl was a perfect subordinate and honestly a good friend though she never opened up to Rias like Akeno and to an extent even Rukia did. She didn't cause problems but she didn't get closer to this new family she now had as a devil either.

That soon began to bother all of her peerage members though they couldn't say what exactly it was that they felt so annoyed at. Eventually, and without any sort of real agreement all of them slowly settled any annoyance they felt toward whatever or whoever it was that seemed to have so much of Setsuna's attention without even being present.

Rias especially though she had her own troubles as she learned of betrothals and clan agreements made long before she was born.

Naruto enjoyed the feeling of his muscles straining as he worked through another violent bout of sparring with his eldest brother. He was still young though and while he was straining against the absolute might of his elder sibling, Ruval was barely working up a sweat.

"So unfair." He gasped out between breaths as he held off another kick that would have at the very least folded most devils over at the waist.

"Heh, that's just training for you baby brother. You're on your way to the same sort of strength given enough time." Ruval replied.

"Then maybe I can bruise you up a bit." Naruto replied as he tried to chamber a kick of his own only to have to lean back and shift his center of balance to avoid the blow from his brother.

Ruval just snorted at the idea of them bruising for very long. Even if their forms were not impossibly durable they were Phenex. The purest of the family too. Their bloodline meant that almost any damage to them would be instantly repaired unless they had expended too much of their demonic energy. Something both brothers had in ridiculous amounts.

"I am just glad to have someone to actually spar with that isn't in my peerage. Nasir and Raiser are not interested in the physical side of training or battle. I don't really think I could bring myself to rough up Ravel like this either." Ruval said as he pursued Naruto who was trying to gain enough space to properly organize some kind of counter attack.

"Me either…and I am supposed to train her now." Naruto grumbled as he avoided his older brother narrowly and actually managed to land some glancing blows. As much as he had a past life to reflect upon, it didn't quite match up to the multiple centuries of divine warfare that his older brother had experienced. Not to mention the difference in his former life's powers and those he possessed now.

"Nice job." Ruval said, somehow managing to not sound condescending. He was the nicest member of their family despite being the strongest member as well…for now.

"Heh I try- oh!" Naruto began to reply only to yelp in surprise as Ruval picked up the pace suddenly forcing him to practically bend over backward to avoid the punch toward his face, he twisted into a spin to avoid the next set of strikes before lashing out instinctively with his legs as he stood on his hands.

Ruval's eyes widened at the display of acrobatics his little brother seemed to be randomly displaying before catching the triplet of kicks against his forearms. He started laughing at that while Naruto rolled to his feet and seemed to strike up a stance to keep fighting before he paused as Ruval took a moment to appreciate the sudden shift.

"You fight a hell of a lot better when you aren't thinking about it little brother. Weird." Ruval chuckled though he was peering at the younger blond with a bit of curiosity. Nothing suspicious just wondering where he had picked up the moves.

Naruto only chuckled and shrugged, causing Ruval to drop it for now. He would rather give some advice on training their baby sister instead.

"You mentioned training Ravel earlier, any thoughts on that at the moment?"

Naruto sighed. Clearly he did have some but was still conflicted.

"It would be easiest to just lean into her strengths. She has a decent amount of demonic power, less than the two of us or our brothers but still nothing to scoff at. That and her skill with using wind and fire magic could really advance quickly if she focused down on it." Naruto explained.

"But-" Ruval let it hang, causing Naruto to click his tongue.

"But then either myself or one of my future peerage members will need to be by her side to support her. She either needs to really get into magic beyond what our family naturally hurls around or…I need to start teaching her to fight like us."

"Well, you aren't wrong. Remember you made her your bishop though. She might act like your queen but she isn't one. Her focus really should be on magic anyway, not that a bit of self defense and conditioning would hurt either." Ruval advised.

Naruto nodded but still seemed a bit annoyed. "She is going to pout the whole time"

"Maybe even whine a bit too." Ruval chuckled.

"Heh, I doubt it. Shenis far too dignified and if I ever claimed otherwise she would never let me forget it."

The brothers chuckled. It was quite nice to just relax for a moment and talk. Naruto might have been close to Ravel, closer even than he was to Ruval but she sort of commanded all of her favorite brother's attention when together.

Raiser and Nasir didn't interact with them all that much either. Nasir was just a loner type of guy. He had no real issues with his sinkings but his best friends were books and whatever else he got up to in his room with his solitary peerage member. The family has long stopped being curious after realizing it really was the quiet ones that had the most…weird fantasies.

As for Raiser, well he had always been jealous of Ruval and when Naruto not only refused to join his brother's peerage but took Ravel as his bishop, their relationship went from friendly if a bit cordial for siblings to outright cold. Raiser cared too much about his family to ever outright hate his siblings for something like that but his pride was still stung. It didn't help things that for whatever reason Raiser had managed to develop into the most prideful of the Phenex siblings, followed by Ravel at an honestly distant second.

"Have you started looking for more peerage members yet? I know mother was considering trying to get you to take a couple of maids on as pawns." Ruval said.

"Because she thinks they are cute and wants me to be seduced by them. She thinks having some Phenex, even if they are extended members of the clan without the usual blonde, would be neat." Naruto replied with a bit of derision.

Ruval could only chuckle at that. Their mother didn't take the peerage system very seriously. In fact she had been the one to encourage Raiser to turn his into a harem of women and girls from around the supernatural world. She tended to have an unhealthy interest in her children spawning grandchildren for her to fawn over.

After all she was the one that had made sure little Ravel had Naruto so securely wrapped around her finger.

"So, that is a no then? You really should start looking. Most devils your age have more than a single peerage member…and they aren't their little sister."

Naruto shot a mild glare at his brother that caused the elder blond to push a bit more.

"I heard that your betrothed even has four peerage members and only the pawn took more than one piece."

That mild glare turned a bit harder. Naruto had never been too fond of the betrothal situation but he also was very dedicated to his duty to the House of Phenex. Which meant an alliance with the Gremory was within his power to acquire and he was not going to mess it up.

"Alright, so first, I gave Ravel both bishops because it made her stronger and I don't need to double up on positions in my peerage like everyone else. Not if I get the right kind of recruits." Naruto said as he held up a finger to count only to be cut off by Ruval before he could get to the second finger.

"Yeah, sure. It isn't because Ravel demanded it in exchange for not becoming your queen. That and letting her move into your room. How is that by the way?" Ruval asked.

Naruto grumbled. His brother knew precisely how that was. Ravel was cute as could be, and honestly he didn't see a problem with what she and their mother had planned out for them in the future….one day. The brat currently hogged his bed, hogged the bathroom when he wanted to get cleaned up, and had redecorated everything since she moved in.

Granted their room was more like a full sized apartment within the Phenex estate but that was beside the point. He ignored Ruval's grin and tapped a second finger.

"I am not going to just start asking every witch and yokai I meet to join my peerage. It has to feel right. We live for so long, I don't get what the hurry is. Same thing for marrying the Gremory girl. I haven't even met her but the clan keeps complaining about moving the wedding by years for no reason." Naruto complained after dropping his fingers and forgetting about counting out his reasoning for his peerage.

Ruval grimaced slightly. He could see his younger brother's reasoning but he also had been alive during the last few major conflicts their people had faced. He had seen the underworld when the population had been more than double what it was now. He had also seen when there were only purebloods. When there had been far more Pillar families as well.

"Some things are out of our control, Naruto. The clan just wants to ensure what they can control works out well and they see the finalization of our ties with the Gremory as very high on that list of priorities in their heads."

Naruto sighed and nodded before looking off toward the horizon. He seemed a bit saddened about something but before Ruval could really say anything he turned back to face him with a resigned and determined look in his eyes.

"You're right though. I will take Ravel on a trip to the mortal world and look for peerage members while we train." Naruto said.

Ruval stared at him for a moment before ruffling his younger brother's hair and getting a glare in response.

"You are a really responsible kid underneath everything. Just wish you whined less." He teased.

Naruto hopped up ready for another bout of woefully one sided sparring. He couldn't let Ruval get away completely scott free after all.

Setsuna often lost herself in her training. It kept her mind mostly clear of things she knew were best left in the past. It was why she preferred training alone as well.

Akeno and Rukia had their strengths, but almost as if mirroring the fact she was the middle sister, Setsuna seemed to be as skilled at melee combat as she was at casting unlike her sisters.

There was also the fact that when push came to shove, Setsuna was simply more capable than either of them. Perhaps it was because she was more ruthless or more cold or something along those lines.

At least that is what her sisters thought. A different mindset could account for a lot of it. Truly most of it was experience though. After all she had that different point of view on their life because she had experienced one before.

One where she hadn't just lost a mother but all of her family and then had thrown away any chance at a second one forming when she became a kunoichi.

It wouldn't happen in this lifetime. Her sisters were the most important things in her life, and slowly Rias and little Koneko had wormed their way into her heart as well. Only one other thing came even close and well she didn't really even know where to begin looking for it.

Setsuna's normally stoic face peeled back into a sneer as she realized that training today was not in fact clearing her head as it normally did. She needed a better distraction and usually either Akeno or Rias could provide that for her.

Whether or not it would come at the cost of some of her sanity as her elder sister tried to impress her own brand of insanity onto her or Rias tried to 'reach out' to her. It wasn't really that bad, but Setsuna doubted she would ever really thrive in social settings or interactions. Not like her elder sister did.

"Done yet?" A voice called out to her causing Setsuna to turn back to look at her younger sister.

Rukia was a year younger than her, and Setsuna herself was a year younger than Akeno. Something that was unusual for supernatural children, even half breeds like them. At least it would have been if Setsuna hadn't learned just how frequent her parents had been trying for more kids back in the old days. Before whatever it was that had pulled their father away had started them down the road that led to…

Setsuna shook her head free of the darkening thoughts.

"No you aren't or what?" Rukia asked as her hands settled onto her slight waist.

The two younger Himejima sisters hadn't inherited the figure that Akeno had from their mother. Sure they were both beautiful in their own ways, though at her current age Setsuna considered Rukia more inline with cute than beautiful.

"Setsuna…" The younger girl growled.

"Ah, sorry I am very thoughtful today." She said, sharing a small soft smile with the younger girl.

Rukia lost any annoyance and couldn't help smiling back. Setsuna struggled with expressing herself and both she and Akeno knew that even a small smile like this was quite a bit more than Setsuna normally allowed herself to display.

"What did you need, Rukia?" Setsuna asked, though her words were blunt they were spoken softly as well.

"Well it isn't what I needed." Rukia replied, her smile fading away as she recalled why she had come to get Setsuna.

Setsuna raised an eyebrow, curious as to what was going on.

"Rias wants to go on a sightseeing trip in Europe. Her parents just gave their okay so she wants us all to pack."

"Oh, then I will go clean up and get my things around then. It shouldn't take long." Setsuna replied.

Rukia only nodded before taking off back toward her room to also begin packing. Rias took them on outings like this from time to time. She was always a bit fascinated eith the human world, something that Setsuna was thankful for. One of Rias' many adventures in the human world was how she had encountered the Himejima sisters as they fled from their former extended family after their mother had died.

Theh had been on a few with her since then, though this was the first time that Koneko would be going with them so it was a bit of a special occasion.

The little yokai was perfect for their group in Setsuna's opinion. Quieter than even she was, the younger girl didn't pry where she was unwanted and was pretty easily bribed because of that sweet tooth she had.

Plus as much as Setsuna loathed to admit it, it was impossible not to think the younger girl was absolutely adorable. She was immensely biased in Rukia's favor but no one could compete with a literal kitten.

With thoughts about her small family, including Rias and Koneko if a bit begrudgingly, Setsuna tried not to get her hopes up of accidentally encountering who it was she was waiting to find again.

The earth was beautiful to Naruto. At least most of it. It reminded him of his old life, at least when he was in areas like this far from the large bustling cities the humans of this world had made. While he was now far more comfortable in the home of the devils, and found it beautiful in it's own ways with purple nighttime skies and a comforting warmth despite it's somewhat arid nature.

This area actually was similar. Arid. Where the cultures of europe and asia had often clashed and mingled. Unfortunately, beautiful as it was humanity had fought for the region pretty much since settling here.

Thankfully Naruto and Ravel were staying a ways away from the main human settlements of the area. While that might limit his opportunities to recruits for his peerage, Naruto figured that the most notable possible recruits would be connected to the supernatural world already and among those the more powerful would be more likely to live away from crowded places.

"The village should be up here right?" Ravel asked, having become annoyed at walking down the dusty roads.

"Yeah, we have to be careful not to miss the turn from the road though. Little mage villages like this are known to use magical shields to hide themselves." Naruto replied.

"Why don't we just fly there then?" Ravel whined.

"Because we would be even less likely to find it then. Most average humans don't believe in magic anymore so they just pass through a small village if they find it…other supernaturals might not be so innocent."

"I would still rather fly." Ravel complained but fell quiet as they came around the bend in the road.

The nature of the magical barrier should have made it more interesting to stare down the road on toward more commonly visited places. Instead neither could turn away from the sight of a small hamlet engulfed in flames. Whatever protection the little village had once held was long gone as was most of the village.

"Come on!" Naruto called to his sister as he sprouted his wings and took off toward the burning town.

There were no screams of panic or shouts for help. He would have thought that odd if the villagers hadn't clearly been culled in whatever attack had come for their home.

"Ravel stay close to me and if I tell you to run you teleport back home immediately. Do you understand?" Naruto said sharply.

She hesitated a moment. The mere idea of leaving her brother and king here to run away rubbed her the wrong way, but she wasn't going to disobey him either.

"I understand." She replied, trying not to stare at the mutilated bodies of several villagers near a busted van.

Some of the people had attempted to flee but hadn't made it very far. Some of the wounds were clearly done by blades while yet others could only be caused by magical attacks. There was also a sense in the air that had both Naruto and Ravel on edge.

"What caused all this?" She asked.

"I don't know, but there could be survivors. We need to be careful, the attackers could still be hanging around too." Naruto warned as he led Ravel toward the bulk of buildings.

Here the fires had spread between the old wooden buildings with ease and it was clear the people had tried to put up more of a fight. Naruto could only grimace at the sight of a pair of dead exorcists. They had defaced the cross on their clothing but their weapons still possessed the trace amounts of divine light that made them so effective against devils.

"The church?" Ravel muttered in mild fear. Facing a well trained group of exorcists could be dangerous. Their weapons gave huge advantages to them against devils even if devils were stronger and more potent magically than humans were.

"I think they are rogues. Maybe mercenaries, but to take on a village with mages…they had to either have a lot of numbers or something more powerful on their side." Naruto said as he kicked one of the dead exorcists over to make sure he really was dead.

Ravel made to say something but a scream of pain followed by a crash from a nearby barn. The wall nearest them collapsed revealing a pair of rogue exorcists trying to back away from a bloodied and injured man stalking after them.

It was clear that whoever the man was, he had resided within the village prior to the attack. The small wound across his chest was bleeding heavily but he paid it no mind at all as he pursued the two fleeing exorcists.

"Just couldn't leave it alone. Couldn't take no and leave well enough alone." He growled without raising his voice to shout. Still at this distance Naruto and Ravel could hear him.

"If you had just agreed, it would have been-" One of the exorcists began before his body appeared to disappear beneath one of the beams that had been in the barn's sagging roof. A section had broken apart and the beam had fallen directly on top of the man.

The apparent mage turned his attention to the last exorcist.

"Please. I just did what I was told. I'm sorry." He begged.

"Naruto, maybe we should leave." Ravel whispered to her brother and tugged at his hand.

The bloodied mage turned his eyes over to look at them both before narrowing his eyes for a moment. In that moment though the exorcist slipped a divinely blessed revolver from beneath his robes and fired at the mage. The first shot slammed into the man's shoulder and caused him to stumble while the second hit him more squarely in the chest if only because he flinched from the blow. The third and fourth shots went wide.

Before the rogue could continue to fire he was engulfed in flames by Naruto and rendered to ash before he could even scream. Despite being stopped short of killing the mage, the exorcists' shots had dropped the man onto the ground where he knelt and held his wounds.

The only sound was the crackling fires that covered the small village until Naruto gently shook free of Ravel's hand and stepped forward toward the man.

"What are you kids doing here?" The man asked. It was one of the languages local to the region, but the man spoke with a clear accent. Thankfully Naruto didn't need to truly understand human languages to comprehend the man. One of the many perks of being a devil.

"We were told mages lived in this village…" Naruto said as she knelt down beside the man only to have his hands batted away gently.

"You speak english?" He asked in surprise.

"Not exactly." Naruto replied, lifting a hand to stop Ravel as she approached. While he might be trying to help the injured mage, he was still an unknown and Naruto would be damned before he risked her unnecessarily.

The man only narrowed his eyes before letting loose a sigh and sinking down onto the ground while Naruto attempted to ease his collapse as best as he could. Unfortunately Not only was he fully grown while Naruto wasn't, he was a somewhat big guy.

"Well whoever you are, you came too late to meet with any mages. Those assholes made sure of that." He chuckled weakly as blood spilt out of his mouth.

"Who were they?" Naruto asked.

"Not sure really. They came a couple days ago. Said some other mages had joined up with them and were looking to make some sort of alliance. I told them to keep on the road and move on. They came back as we all sat down for lunch together today. Set all the houses on fire." He growled angry at how easily his people had been caught off guard.

"You didn't think they would attack after you turned them down?" Naruto asked a bit shocked.

"Didn't think I needed to worry. They seemed to accept it well enough. Then…" He looked past Naruto toward one of the burning houses.

The house nearest to the barn was fully engulfed and nearly six dead rogue exorcists laid in a circle around the front entrance. Near to them were another pair of bodies. A woman and a child.

"They killed your family." Ravel gasped as she ignored Naruto and joined them.

"Yeah…all I could do was get these few that stayed behind to mop up. The guy that I spoke with wasn't even here this time." He grumbled in anger at not killing all of those responsible.

Naruto remained silent for a moment before he turned to look at his sister. She stared back at him in confusion before turning around realizing what he meant to do. She wasn't one for gruesome sights and the things they had seen in the village had already been enough for her today.

"What's your name, old man?" Naruto asked as he began digging into the wound in the man to pull the blessed bullet out.

It was a testament to how quickly he was fading that the man barely seemed to register the immense pain he should be feeling from Naruto fishing the bullet out of his body.

"Heh, old man? Maybe compared to you…my name is Gildarts." He practically whispered.

"Weird name, but I've heard worse. Tell me, you want to get back at the guys that did all this? The ones that got away?" Naruto continued, ignoring the stinging pain in his fingers as they removed the blessed metal. It was nothing compared to what Gildarts should be feeling but the man had already lost so much blood and Naruto's actions were worsening it, he was sure to die any moment now.

"More than anything." He muttered.

"You give up anything for it?" Naruto asked.

"Anything I have left. Not much to give." Gildarts laughed, spraying Naruto with a bit of mixed blood and saliva. The fluid sizzled and boiled off of him in an instant with a tiny application of his power.

"Then you got a deal. I can feel you're strong, and you have a sacred gear. You'll do well." Naruto said.

There was no response. Gildarts was already dead. Not that it mattered much. He wouldn't be in a moment.

Naruto held up a hand and a magical circle appeared before an evil piece fell out into his palm. He pressed the piece into place above Gildarts' chest and muttered the words necessary to resurrect his newest peerage member.

"Your queen?" Ravel asked. She was a bit annoyed that the random stranger was getting such a piece from her brother.

"Trust me. I can sense the magic reserves he has and the sacred gear he has will only help. He'll be a perfect queen…I think." Naruto said as the piece sank into the man's chest and he suddenly took in a deep breath of air.

Setsuna stood watch with her blade drawn beside Rukia and Koneko while Rias and Akeno focused on the boy they had found. Their trip had led them to Italy, and somehow Setsuna was less than surprised that they managed to stumble onto something troublesome.

Before he had managed to pass on from the exposure he had suffered prior to their finding him, the boy had demanded to know if they had come from the church. After relaxing when he felt that they weren't lying about not in fact being from the church…well he had promptly died. Whether it was the battered body, the starvation, dehydration, or freezing from snowy mountains that they had found him in, Setsuna wasn't sure.

It mattered little. The boy held a sacred gear. He created blades out of thin air when he encountered them and that would be enough. If he happened to be actually capable of wielding them then perhaps he would be worth the Knight piece that Rias was resurrecting him with.

Either way Setsuna would be far more comfortable once they were far away from this place, preferably back in the underworld. She may still prefer earth but being in friendly territory after picking up an obvious victim of their rival faction.

"That will do it, he just needs some rest…and a good meal." Rias said as she stood up and turned back to her friends.

"And a bath." Koneko muttered with a scrunched up nose that got both Akeno and Rias to giggle.

"So we just take him? What happens when he wakes up?" Setsuna asked.

Rias paused and glanced her way.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Rias said before starting the magical circle to teleport them back to the Gremory estate.

Setsuna only sighed. Of course that was Rias' answer. She could be such a princess sometimes.

"You know this is supposed to be the kind of thing you do!" Ravel snarled while trying with all her might not to lose her dignified manners as she glared up at the man before her.

"But then you will just come back and have to do it all again anyway. You know I don't really have the patience for that paper work." Gildarts replied, looking down at the cute teen before him.

"That's your argument?" She squawked in genuine shock.

"Pretty much. This just makes it a lot easier on you. I mean I go out of my way to help you and Naruto out as much as possible, it's my job as the Queen of the peerage after all." He said with a far too innocent grin.

He struggled to keep his face straight as small trails of smoke began filtering up from her pretty red dress. Too much more of his teasing and she might actually lose it and blow up into a little ball of flames.

"Where is Naruto?" Ravel hissed out trying to control her fury.

Gildarts hummed at that. He might avoid the paperwork and bureaucracy type crap he was expected to do, the actual important aspects of being Queen. He made sure both Naruto and Ravel were both safe and healthy and went out of his way to help them with pretty much anything that they wanted.

Especially Ravel. She might pretend to hate doing the majority of the 'queen work' but he had seen how she acted when she reported her tasks to Naruto. That flare of pride at his praise was too adorable. It reminded him of his own daughter whenever she had shown him something she had learned at school.

That thought stung, though not as badly as it used to. Thanks to the two kids he looked after now.

"Gildarts!" Ravel stomped her foot as she barked his name.

"Easy, easy. He just got called up to chat with your parents for something. Figured it was best I leave him to talk with them in private. Didn't seem like he was about to have a normal conversation catching up with the folks." Gildarts explained.

"You should have told me sooner. It could be a mission or something in one of our territories. It's been a while since we were allowed to go on one after the last time."

"Heh, yeah that was a bad day." Gildarts agreed before rolling his eyes at the glare the girl sent his way. So high strung. Naruto was a lot more relaxed.

"It was your fault."

"It was their fault for being there." Gildarts shrugged.

Ravel turned away from him to head toward the stairs after that. They had argued about that point before but unlike in most cases, in this instance Naruto always weighed in on Gildarts side of things. It was a sore point for Ravel who was very much the spoiled princess no matter how much she might deny it.

Still, whenever they encountered Rogue Exorcists, well Naruto had made it a condition of his 'employment' so to speak. Gildarts was free to question them however he saw fit unless it endangered innocents. Unfortunately Rogues like the ones he typically ran into never seemed to have much information on the ones he was looking for.

The church really had a problem with defectors and deserters. Sure the other factions had it to some extent but for every stray devil that Naruto led them to terminate they seemed to have to handle either a small handful of rogue exorcists or one heretical splinter faction no longer protected by the heavenly host.

Both were free game, and peace agreement or not Gildarts had quickly learned that there was very little holding each faction back from taking whatever shot they could at one another. Truth be told, his home and family were pretty much victims of that same conflict. On top of that the ideology seemed to be that if you weren't under the umbrella of one of the factions or an ally then you were to be killed at the earliest convenience.

Didn't mean he would have taken the offer given him. He couldn't change anything anyway and Naruto at least promised vengeance in a controlled way as well as a new lease on life. It was something better than just dying back home alongside his wife and daughter.

"Wait, they must have finished." Ravel said as Naruto stepped out of a room down the hall from them.

He looked a bit exasperated and annoyed honestly. Which meant that whatever was going on was really annoying since the kid was pretty good at keeping that playful cheery facade up even when he was agitated.

As if hearing his queen's thoughts, Naruto's body language and expression shifted back to his normal demeanor. Too late to truly hide anything from GIldarts and Ravel though.

"So bad news, huh. Definitely not a mission you get pretty giddy with those." Gildarts said as they neared their king.

"I must be spending too much time around you if you can read me that well, old man." Naruto chuckled before letting out a small sigh and glancing over toward his sister.

"Not a mission, at least not a normal one. It's clan business."

Ravel understood immediately. "So Raiser pushed them into it after all."

Gildarts glanced at the scowling girl beside him. Neither of the kids were particularly close to Raiser. They didn't usually have too many issues with him, but sometimes the older boy really pushed their buttons and could be awfully petty.

He wasn't exactly Gildarts' favorite person in the Phenex family either. More than a few snide comments about Naruto's pick for him as Queen had been said. Normally that wouldn't get under Gildarts' skin, but eventually it was less the content of the insults and more the frequency that became annoying.

"My grandparents and the extended members of the family are supporting it now too, so to keep the family happy…" Naruto trailed off.

"Your parents are giving them a show. So what happens now?" Gildarts asked.

"Well, it will probably be a rating game. Raiser is the favorite to win with a full peerage and being the elder sibling…but then again they really don't know what all we have been up to the last few years." Naruto said slowly, starting to grin more naturally.

Ravel's grin made her brother's look almost saintly. "Good. I have a few points to prove with his whores."

"Ravel." Naruto scolded lightly.

"Whatever, they think because they sleep with Raiser that they are really Phenex, we get to show them that he barely fits the bill himself."

"I love it when you too start getting riled up. This will be fun. Three of us versus…how many again?" Gildarts asked.

"Sixteen including Raiser. It probably won't be that good of a fight though. I have seen how they train. It's nothing like what Ruval and his peerage put us through."

Gildarts laughed at that. There was unlikely to be anything that really matched up to what Naruto had convinced his eldest brother to do to them over the last few years. It had made them all very strong but despite considering himself pretty hardcore, Gildarts wouldn't wish that training on anyone.

"One more thing before we head out to start getting things around…this is going to be our debut for official Rating games. Raiser managed to get some strings pulled somehow. Or maybe Sirzechs did since the winner will probably have a rating game with his sister shortly afterward to decide the betrothal once and for all."

"Televised." Ravel scowled.

"So much for keeping our tricks under wraps till we went on stage with a full peerage. Oh well, gotta take it as it comes sometimes." Gildarts said as he gently settled his large hands on the heads of the two blondes.

Naruto chuckled and nodded while Ravel yanked herself free and worried over her pristine locks.

Rias had called her peerage together to watch the rating game that was coming up. If things continued as they were she had maybe two or three years before her family and the Phenex house pushed to have her wedding. Although it might be sooner than later if this rating game went a certain way.

The redhead had been a bit stiff and surly since learning about the event. She wasn't exactly pleased to have two boys she had never met fighting over the right to essentially use her as a broodmare. That feeling had spread to the rest of the peerage.

At the very least they hoped to see some of the winner's capabilities to prepare for their own eventual rating game against them. After all, even if her family was insisting on the match, Rias wasn't going to take the betrothal laying down.

Setsuna respected that about her leader. She did not however respect the fact that Rias had chosen to avoid learning anything about her possible future opponents. She didn't even know the younger brother's name. Then again unlike Raiser Phenex the younger brother had kept himself far from the limelight.

As it was though, Raiser had a full peerage and had made a small name for himself in the Rating Game circuit already. If the younger brother was going to face him in a rating game publicly then they could assume he was of a similar strength which was concerning for Rias' peerage as a whole, although Setsuna was pretty confident she could turn the tide.

They sat around the lounge room in the Occult Research Club building as the sponsors for the Rating Game played across the screen. Lady Leviathan's show was advertised as well as six different aphrodisiacs. Seems the devils were growing ever more concerned about their population and trying to influence the masses to have more sex. It would be funny considering the over sexualized nature of devil society. That is if it wasn't tragic due to their damaged population and difficulty with fertility.

"It's starting." Akeno murmured with thin lips, her eyes glued to the screen along with everyone else.

Announcements about the challenger Raiser Phenex were made. They introduced him as challenging his younger brother for the betrothal agreement between the Gremory and Phenex clans. It also introduced his peerage which was clearly more of a harem than a proper fighting force.

They knew better than to underestimate them though. Harem they might be but some of them, especially Raiser's Queen, Yubelluna, had proven to be extremely powerful. Raiser himself was also a high class born with the abilities of the Phenex family. That alone was problematic.

"Now making his first debut in a public rating game, Naruto Phenex, to defend his betrothal rights." The announcer said, causing Setsuna to freeze as the screen showed a calm and confident Naruto step out in front of the cameras.

He was missing his whiskers and was taller and somehow even more cut than he had been when she fought him in their previous life. Yet, it was him. She would recognize him anywhere. He had been practically right under her nose this entire time, for years, and she had never known.

A sudden mix of elation and worry, and so much more ran through her body. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She'd hoped to find him in the world one day or be found by him more likely and convince Rias to add him into the peerage. It would have been perfect.

Now though he was facing off against his own brother, which was surprising though she supposed she had new sisters, to marry her king. It sent a sliver of pain through her heart though her rational mind also noted he was a high class devil from a pillar family. Had he not been set to marry Rias he would have been betrothed to another woman and likely would have a harem no matter what. Such was devil society. It was primarily populated by females now but was still dominated almost entirely by men.

Most of the women seemed content with it as well which was surprising with her past life's experience. The only one she knew to truly try bucking the system so far was Rias and even that consisted more of the Princess pouting and running off to the human world with Sona.

By the time she had processed the information the rating game had already started.

"Wait, aren't they going to announce his peerage?" Setsuna asked, turning to the others.

A couple gave her confused looks. Thankfully Akeno just shrugged before answering.

"The younger brother only has two pieces. A queen and a bishop and the bishop is his younger sister."

"This might be more one sided than we were expecting. At least we have plenty of other footage of Raiser in rating games so when he wins we can use them to train to counter him." Rias said.

Setsuna frowned at that. "Don't write Naruto off easily."

The others turned to her with confused stares. She mentally kicked herself for coming to the idiot's defense. She'd been dreaming of meeting him again for too long and now that it was close she was acting stupidly.

"I just mean they wouldn't have allowed this to be a public match if they thought it would be humiliating to a member of their house, especially their ruling family." She managed to say quickly.

"Hmm, that is a good point." Kiba thankfully came to her rescue, though she doubted he realized it.

"Look they are making a…move…" Rukia began to say before trailing off as the Queen of Naruto's peerage used some ability to utterly dismantle the buildings and cover on half of the battlefield.

The arena fell to chaos as debris crashed down around the elder brother's peerage. Several of the pieces were buried in rubble and retired after that singular move. It seemed like a completely overpowered ability until Setsuna noticed something.

"They lured Raiser's peerage into those buildings before collapsing them. They knew exactly what they were doing." She pointed out.

"So they have better tactics than Raiser then. He just either charges forward himself to finish things quickly or he sits back and lets his peerage pummel his opponents without too much strategy." Akeno nodded her head.

They continued to watch as Ravel, Naruto's sister and bishop flew forward and let loose a cataclysmic amount of fire supported with hurricane scale winds from her brother. The arena was engulfed. Whole sections were converted to nothing but a raging inferno and after the Queen's attack there were areas where there was absolutely nowhere to hide.

"They're monsters." Koneko stated in a matter of fact tone.

"How?" Rias demanded after seeing the power unleashed by Ravel Phenex. The girl was younger than her and she shouldn't have been able to have such power yet.

"They must be training a lot. Maybe that older Phenex brother helps." Setsuna slyly said. If anything she imagined it was primarily Naruto's doing. If there was anything she knew him for it was his work ethic. No doubt he would drag his followers into training as well.

That just begged the question, what about Naruto himself. This wasn't like back in Konoha. He wasn't held back by his difficulties with chakra control or biased teachers and mentors. She could feel her pulse quickening at the thought.

She never admitted it, but he was always strong and she loved it. It was partially why she remained distracted by him even when she hadn't seen him for nearly two decades now. How strong could he have gotten in this life? Was he stronger than her? She wanted so badly to find out.

For now, settling for the spectacle as he faced off against his elder brother would have to suffice.

The tables of the Rating game had fully turned by this point. Ravel and Gildarts, Naruto's Queen, had torn the opposing peerage to pieces and then double teamed what remained before cornering the opposing Queen.

Yubelluna was known as the Bomb Queen. A fitting title with her abilities. It mattered little in the face of her two opponents though. Whatever abilities Gildarts possessed seemed capable of countering her attacks and with that done, she was easy pickings for Ravel who shot her with a large arrow made of fire from behind.

That single attack told Setsuna all she needed to know. Naruto had most definitely been working with his sister to broaden her abilities. That attack was nothing less than a weaker fire based version of her Indra's Arrow attack from her final fight with Naruto in their previous life. It was touching that he would teach his sister such attacks. After all mimicry was the height of flattery.

"The brothers are squaring off in that crater." Rias said. The girl had a knuckle between her teeth and was staring at the screen with a pale face. No doubt seeing the competition now was daunting as could be.

On the screen neither Phenex paid a mind to the torrent of fire that they confidently strode through. It was their element; it looked almost as if the flames wrapped and twisted around them without issue. The pair stopped a few paces away from one another staring at the other.

Raiser had an angry sneer on his face, clearly having not expected the results of the competition with his younger brother. Naruto simply stared back with a slightly exasperated expression. That look made Setsuna wonder if he had changed a bit from the boy she had known.

It was a foolish thought she supposed. She had changed dramatically, so why wouldn't he. That thought made her more worried than it should have.

"You rely on your peerage to handle everything for you little brother? Had I known Ravel was so strong I would have insisted she join my peerage instead of yours, if just to ensure she had better prospects to show off her skill." Raiser called over to his brother.

Naruto simply rolled his eyes before cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck to loosen up.

"We fighting or talking, Raiser?" Naruto asked.

Raiser scowled before throwing his hands up and engulfing his younger brother in a blast of flame that made Ravel's look somehow tame. It took quite a lot out of him, but if he intended to beat a fellow Phenex with fire there could be no holding back.

Unfortunately Naruto didn't feel the same way.

The viewers watched as Naruto raced around the left side of their little engagement leaving the fire behind and closing in on his brother almost instantly. He was terrifyingly fast. Setsuna gauged him at nearing her own speed when she wasn't using her cheats that she had figured out.

The punch to Raiser's side was brutal, but for as devastating as the blow would normally be, Raiser was not a simple opponent. He backed away rapidly but Naruto didn't let him gain space as he planted another fist into his chest and then came back around for another strike.

"Why isn't he using his fire?" Rukia asked as she watched the younger brother begin pummeling his elder sibling.

"He doesn't need to." Setsuna replied simply.

It was quick. Far quicker than most fights between Kings in a rating game. Naruto never used a single spell except perhaps using his wind control to speed him up somehow. She couldn't confirm that just by watching him on the TV though.

Raiser was torn down by Naruto with punches and kicks and nothing more. He managed to get a few shots off against his brother but the fight was already decided. Soon it was called and Raiser was retired, ending the match.

Rias turned the TV off after that and sank back into her seat, staring at the black mirror of the screen. Everyone was silent as they looked at her.

"That is going to suck." Koneko commented helpfully, getting a small glare from Rias before she blew out a sigh.

"I'm going to go take a bath or something. You all have the rest of the day to yourselves. See you in the morning." Rias said before heading up to her room.

Setsuna watched her go and suddenly found herself torn. That was her friend, one of the few people she cared about deeply. The situation made her a bit sick to her stomach.

Despite that though, she needed to meet with him. Soon. She knew where to go now.

That is the chapter I hope you enjoyed and yes it's a new story. Oh well here we go again.

Anyway

Till Next Time