*NarutoxKuroka*
Summary: As he was called to the task of saving his world, he both succeeded and failed. In their moment of triumph, he let his guard down to the danger that had been there all along. As he died at the hands of his best friend, Naruto cheated death and was reborn as a Devil, as well as the son of the House of Sitri. Time Magic Naruto. Naruto x Kuroka
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14056666/1/
Word count:76k
Chapters:12
Chapter 1: The thrill of the Fight.
Everybody dies, sooner than later. Many have probably wondered at some point; how, or perhaps when they will die. He didn't think that was the most important. No, he thought it was more important to think about how you should live.
And especially when you should live.
Those questions won't resolve on their own. Just because you are alive, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are living in the moment.
The harsh truth was that the majority used their time speculating about what had happened in the past, and how it'd affect their future. Thinking about stuff that had felt terrible in the past, and thus tried justifying why the present was horrible, and how the future would only get worse.
Some might even question why the past had been amazing, and why the present paled in comparison, and if the future would continue to get worse.
And in doing so, you'd constantly prepare yourself for a world that doesn't exist, instead of the world that you were living in.
He had made the same mistakes when he had lived as Uzumaki Naruto. What baffled him was that the universe had taken his existence, and created it anew. Even after his death by the hand of his best friend, who he had failed to save, a greater power had decided this wasn't the end.
In the present day, he was still Naruto, something that he really appreciated. The sad truth was just that the surname he had come to cherish after he met his parents hadn't come along.
In this existence, he had come to be known as Naruto Sitri, of the House of Sitri. And he was now a Devil.
Yes, a Devil.
It felt ironic to him, that he had once been known as the "child of prophecy" that'd bring peace to a world of war, only to be reborn into another universe as a being that was considered the antithesis to peace.
It hadn't been all bad. Living in the luxurious mansion of the Sitri had its perks. Good clothes, good food, and so on.
He sighed at the thought, a small smile on his face as he stuck his hands into his pockets.
It wasn't just his name that had been changed, but also his looks. Damn genetics.
He had once been blond with blue eyes, now his hair was black with faint traces of dark purple, and his eyes as red as the Sharingan he had fought against so many times.
His clothes were relatively simple in comparison.
An all-black high-necked jacket with matching pants and dark dress boots.
It was so different from Shinobi attire, it had taken a long time to get used to. Not to speak of how long it had taken to get used to his new face.
"I wonder if I'll ever get truly used to it," He sighed and stared down at his reflection in the floor panels.
Their maids really went all in when they cleaned this place.
"Ever get used to what, Naru-tan?" A loud voice called out, and his brows raised in surprise.
He barely got to turn his body halfway before he felt somebody slam into him from behind, their arms dragged around his neck as they just hung there like a monkey on a tree.
It was hard to fight a chuckle escaping his lips, "I was wondering if I'd ever get used to you climbing on me… wait, that came out wrong."
A feminine giggle met his ears, followed by a jealous tone, "It's your fault for being taller than me. Who gave you permission to be taller than your older sister Naru-tan?"
"It's not like I chose my height, Nee-sama," He groaned and tapped her arms on his neck with his fingers, "Now could you please get off my neck, you're strangling me…"
The shorter dark-haired girl laughed and dropped back down to the floor, "It must be the Agares in you, but then again… even So-tan is taller than me."
Naruto gave a small chuckle at her antics, he reminded him so much of himself back in the Elemental Nations, "Not to ruin the mood Nee-sama, but aren't you like… stupid busy?"
Serafall nodded her head with a pout, "I might never have accepted the Leviathan title if I knew how much work it was. And stop the formal crap, it's Sera-nee to you."
He sweatdropped and laughed in a nervous manner, "P-Please don't joke about that…"
A pout crept onto her face as she waved her hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, as to why I'm here… I got good news for you!"
"For me?" He questioned with a surprised look.
She raised her brows in confusion, "Don't tell me you already forgot about that favor you asked of me, because I'm still holding you to your end of the deal!"
He seemed deep in thought for a second as his eyes widened in realization, "You got an answer from Kyoto already?"
A triumphant grin found its way onto his big sister's face as she struck a pose and handed a slip of paper to him, "Sure did! I moved your request to the top of the pile, and with this pass, you're free to enter and exit as long as you don't cause any trouble!"
A genuine smile found its way onto his face, "You're the best!" He grinned sheepishly and reached out for the paper slip, but gave a deadpan expression when she retracted her hand.
"Don't forget your promise!" She hummed and slowly handed him the pass after a few seconds.
Looking at her hand to see if she'd draw it back again, he slowly took it and nodded his head, "I'm a man of my word. I'll keep an eye on Kuoh, and inform you about Sona's progress. And what she isn't telling you."
A frown fell over her face like a ton of bricks as she sighed, "So-tan never tells me anything… last time there was an open-house at the school, I had to hear it from Rias!"
Naruto sweatdropped, "Don't worry, I'll keep you updated. Anyhow, I should get going, I think I'll take the train there."
The Leviathan leaned up against the wall as she watched her younger brother, well, half brother's form retreat with a bit more seriousness in her eyes, "Do you mind if I ask why you want to go to Kyoto so bad? It seemed urgent."
The former Uzumaki stopped in his tracks as he stared at the floor for a second, subconsciously touching a spot on his stomach before he turned his head to look over his shoulder, "I got a feeling I'll find someone interesting there."
Serafall's eyes glinted with interest, "Someone for your peerage?! It's about time! So-tan and Rias already have quite a few members, and you're their senior and haven't even started looking properly yet."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Maybe, I don't know if they're really there. I'll let you know though."
With a finger to her lips, Serafall thought for a couple of seconds, "It'd probably be good. We've tried to establish more… friendly connections since the Nekoshou incidents, and this could be a help if you did befriend one!"
He of course knew about that, a Nekoshou had apparently gone crazy due to the use of Senjutsu… though he felt it was sketchy. He might've been a late bloomer in regards to learning his inherent devil abilities, but if Senjutsu was anything like he remembered, then there was something sketchy about this.
"I'll give it a try, I just hope they don't try to kill me on the spot," He sweatdropped.
Serafall waved her hands dismissively, "You're my little brother, you'll be fine. You've got the pass, and Yasaka knows you're coming."
"Yasaka?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.
She nodded, "She's the leader of the Youkai faction, she accepted the request to travel through Kyoto. So don't worry too much!"
He gave a nod and raised his hand in a wave, "I'll keep it in mind, I'll see you soon Nee-sama."
Her face lit up a bright red as she raised a fist to the air, "I told you already, it's Sera-nee!"
With a shake of his head, he rounded a corner whilst chuckling loud enough to hear. Much to her dismay.
-
One thing he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to, was the technological advancement this world had compared to the Elemental Nations. He had seen a train before, in Koyuki's country, but this… this was on another level.
Not to mention it hadn't been this peaceful when he had been in Yuki no Kuni. So he hadn't actually managed to get an impression of what the technology was like, so now when he sat in a train, he just stared aimlessly out the window, at the trees passing his field of vision.
He could go there faster himself, sure, but he wanted to try new things once in a while.
"Mind if I sit here with you?"
Naruto blinked for a second, brought out of his wandering thoughts to meet the sight of a tall man with an average build, black hair, golden bangs, and… a black goatee. Speak of looking original.
He blinked again and just nodded his head in a polite manner, "Sure, go ahead. The seat is free anyway."
"Ah, thank you." He grinned and sat down with a sigh, as a silence fell over them.
Naruto turned his head to gaze out the window again, supporting his head with his arm that he rested on the thin windowsill, 'That's strange, I could've sworn there were plenty of seats available aside from that one.'
"Mind if I ask why you look so occupied? It's almost as if this was your first time on a train." The man chuckled.
With the urge to sigh fought back, Naruto leaned back in his seat, "Not the first time, perhaps the second or third. Haven't had much need for taking the train before."
"Ah, makes sense. So where are you going? On an adventure perhaps? I fail to see any luggage, if it is an adventure, it's not a thoroughly planned one."
He had to admit this guy was a bit strange, perhaps just talkative, but something felt off, "I'm on my way to Kyoto, I guess you could say I'm going sightseeing."
"For… Youkai perhaps?"
Naruto's eyes widened as he felt his guards rise to the sudden question, "How'd you…?"
The man waved his hands dismissively, "Don't look at me like that, Kyoto is an amazing place. All those shrines, and stands with figures of animals, it's the perfect tourist attraction. Been there a couple of times myself."
His posture relaxed again as he gave a nod, "I'll take your word for it then."
As the train came to a stop at the next station, the stranger stretched and stood up from his seat, "This is my stop. Thanks for keeping me company, it was entertaining."
With a raised brow, Naruto watched as he was about to walk past him, "I never caught your name,"
A smirk settled on the man's face as he stopped in his tracks, "Oh how silly of me, it's Azazel." He responded in a casual tone, and with that, he just walked off.
Faster than anyone could blink, Naruto's eyes widened as he rose to his feet, staring from the corner of his eyes at the man's retreating form, "...What?"
No reply came, as he was forced to watch idly as the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels exited the train.
With a confused look, he sat down in his seat again and let his eyes follow Azazel through the window. This couldn't have been a coincidence, there was no way that a person as important as him would take the train without wanting something.
'Does that mean he knows who I am?' Naruto questioned himself before he scoffed with a frown, 'Of course he does, there's no other explanation as to why he'd come to sit next to me, but what did he want?'
The question rang through his mind as the train conductor blew his whistle and the train started to pick up speed again.
The last thing he managed to see was Azazel just casually waving at him.
-
Kyoto, it's the cultural capital of Japan and a major tourist destination. It is home to numerous Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, palaces, and gardens. As well as the home and headquarters of the Youkai faction.
Naruto had no doubt they already knew that he was here. From the intel he could gather, they were beings with excellent skill in youjutsu and potentially senjutsu. And if senjutsu was anything like it was in his old life, then they'd have sensed him from miles away.
He just hoped his presence here wouldn't cause any problems. He had his doubts though. There was bad blood between his faction and theirs, and even if he swore upon his life and family, they'd have no reason to believe he was being genuine about it.
He sighed as he walked through the red gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha. It felt like the gates would never stop, there had to be several thousands of them. And not only that, it'd take him two hours to walk the entire way to where he was headed…
There wasn't a specific reason as to why he chose this location to visit first, he just thought it'd be a given that he'd run into them here.
The place was surrounded by forest and felt like the ideal spot for Youkai to watch him from a distance.
However, something bothered him. From the moment he had stepped out of the train, it was as if eyes were staring down his neck. And he didn't believe Youkai would be so careless as to let their presence be felt on their home court.
If he had to take a guess, it had to be a fallen. Azazel had after all been in his presence for a reason he didn't know as if he was keeping an eye on him.
What he could've done to intrigue the Governor-General of the Grigori was beyond him.
With a twitching eyebrow, he stopped in his tracks and made a turn to his right, walking out between the red gates and into the forest. With a careful glance, he looked around him, making sure no ordinary humans were around.
He stuck his hands in his pockets while grunting and stared up into the tree crowns.
"Why don't we stop this game of hide and seek? This is starting to annoy me." He called out into the trees.
Silence filled his surroundings, as no response came. With a raised brow on his forehead, he started to wonder if he had just imagined it.
He stood there for a while, waiting to see if his mind was playing jokes on him. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, a snicker from behind him met his ears.
With a surprised glance, he spun around on his feet, the branches that had fallen from the trees cracking beneath his feet as he stared at the person that had been keeping an eye on him ever since he arrived here.
What he came face to face with was a young man with short light-colored hair sitting on top of the gate he had just walked through, wearing what he'd guess to be old Chinese battle armor, with a staff in his grasp that he rested against his shoulder.
"Very impressive! You were actually able to sense me. Seems like the words about you were true, you're indeed an interesting fellow!" He bellowed with a grin on his face.
Naruto snorted, "Compared to what I had imagined the Youkai's ability to hide to be like, I'm sad to say I'm disappointed." He chuckled with a returned grin.
The stranger put a hand over his heart, "You wound me with your words devil, I shall endeavor to prove you wrong in due time."
With a chuckle, Naruto shook his head, "So who're you supposed to be, and what do you want from me?"
With a laugh, the man dropped from the gate and onto the forest floor, "I'm Bikou, a descendant of Sun Wukong himself. I had heard about you, and was itching to see what you're capable of"
Surprise filled him as he pulled his hands out of his pockets, and crossed his arms over his chest, "Bikou you say? Then you must be the Monkey King. Rumor had it that you had left your mountain. So, where did you, a vagabond, hear about me."
Bikou swirled his staff around and planted it into the ground, "I heard about you from a little snake. You seemed to have peaked her attention with your potential. And after hearing such praise, I had to see you with my own eyes."
"Sorry, I don't swing that way. Now, is there anything else, or can you just go away?
Bikou sighed and picked up his staff, "How unfortunate, at least I tried. Well, I'm sorry to say that I won't be leaving any time soon. Rather, would you care to join me for a dance?"
Naruto cracked his knuckles, "Well, if you are offering so much, how could I decline? Let's dance."
"Glad to see that we're on the same wavelength, I've been itching for a good fight!" Bikou smirked and twirled his staff around as his tail flicked behind him, and faster than the ordinary person could see he flew forward.
The devil's eyes narrowed as he took a fighting stance. Hand-to-hand combat had always been something he made sure to keep up with. People like Gai and Lee had always shown him the importance of being able to kick ass.
Also, he didn't want to reveal all his cards from the start. He still had no idea why this guy wanted to fight, or if he had any allies. Better safe than sorry
Bikou laughed as he flipped through the air and slammed the staff toward Naruto's side, watching with amusement as his opponent leaned back, letting the weapon pass right over his face.
"Quick on your feet I see." He chuckled and angled the staff to slam it down from a horizontal angle, but was surprised at the moment that the dark-haired boy put a hand to the ground and spun his feet into the air, kicking his staff right beside his hand.
Bikou watched as the staff was forcefully removed from his hand, an impressed grin splitting his fast as he reached forward to grab it out of the air again to resume his advance.
Not giving him a chance to do so, Naruto twirled back onto his feet and latched his hand onto Bikou's wrist, forcing his hand down toward the ground with a strong grasp.
Before Bikou could react to the sudden shift in position, Naruto spun around on his feet and sent a powerful roundhouse kick toward his chest. With a small smirk, he brought up his forearm to take the force of the hit, but not before latching onto his staff with his tail.
As the foot connected, he winced as the ground cracked beneath him. A shockwave followed as he was sent flying back toward the red gates where, with a grunt, he flipped backward and landed sideways on the gate with a thud, his arm latched around it for support as he used his free hand to grab his staff again from his tail.
"Not bad, you're faster than I thought, but if that's as fast as you can go, then you're shit out of luck." He shouted back and prepared to use the side of the gate as a springboard to fly back into the battle.
'So you want speed?' Naruto thought with an amused face. It had been a while since he had let loose, so perhaps he could take it one step further, "Then show me what you got."
"You asked for it!" Bikou accepted the challenge and let out a battle cry as he leaped with extreme force, breaking the gate's pillar in half as he thrust his staff forward and shouted, "Extend!"
Naruto's eyes widened as Bikou blitzed forward, and to top it off he watched as the staff suddenly extended in length at speeds that'd break the sound wall… a move similar to what old man Sandaime had used.
With a breath to remain calm, he dashed forward to meet his opponent head-on, much to Bikou's surprise.
Though the surprise turned into confusion and astonishment as the dark-haired boy disappeared from his senses, as if his entire presence had been removed from the timeline.
One moment he was there, the other he was gone.
Shock split his face in not even a second later, in a burst of magic, he flashed into existence just below him in a crouch down position in his ultimate Neji counter.
Naruto smirked as he thrust his palm forward into the air, "Time Magic: Infinite Sphere." Naruto chanted as he channeled magic into the palm of his hand only to take the form of a glowing blue sphere that radiated intense magic power.
With no time to evade or dodge, Bikou's eyes snapped the sphere as it neared his chest, 'Time Magic? Seems like Ophis was right about you, devil.'
'Burst.' Naruto thought with a grin as the orb exploded in a similar blue light to which a shock wave greater than any air cannon could produce.
Unable to comprehend what happened the moment the light collided with him, Bikou felt as if a mountain had been dropped onto his chest as he was sent flying back with blinding speeds, crashing through the gates splintering them in the process.
With a loud groan, a glob of blood exploded out of his mouth, all the air in his lungs had been forcefully removed by the ferocity of the attack as he felt several ribs crack in more places than one.
As he rotated out of control, continuing to crash through trees and small shrines, destroying the terrain, Bikou spun around and called out into the air, "Flying Nimbus!"
Upon his command, a golden cloud raced down beneath his face and directed him up into the air and out of harm's way.
Finally having stopped, Bikou let out a few pants and grabbed onto his chest over the now shattered armor, faint blue traces of light wrapping around his fingers as he channeled senjutsu to heal the worst damage done to his ribcage.
"You caught me off guard!" He shouted as he watched Naruto appear in a similar burst of speed above him with his fist cocked back, which he blocked with his staff, "Ophis was indeed correct, you're strong!" He mumbled through gritted teeth.
Naruto flipped off the staff and landed on a nearby tree branch, "And you're quite durable for a monkey."
'That sphere is no joke. I better not get hit with it again, or else I'll lose… Been a while since I felt this kind of rush in a battle, not even Vali had me this excited!'
As he felt strength returning to his body, he prepared to use the Nimbus cloud to go on the offense, again but that was when he felt something approaching. With a loud audible sigh, Bikou spun the staff behind his back.
Seems like he'd have to pull out of the fight… for now at least. Not that he'd admit defeat, this skirmish was far from over.
And even if he wasn't the one to finish, Ophis would make someone else do it for him.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stared the hovering cloud over, even after being blasted with a sphere that contained severely compressed air that was sent through sped-up time, he could still keep fighting.
'Letting him go now would be bad, especially since I'm not sure how Ophis is involved.' He mused and thrust his palm in the air toward Bikou as magic started to gather within his hand, "Time Magic: Chrono Sta-"
Much to his surprise, the monkey Youkai raised a palm with a loud laugh.
"Hold it there, you have my sincerest apologies devil, seems like our match must continue another day. Company is arriving, but don't worry, the next time our battle won't be this one-sided!" He shouted as the cloud picked up speed, and flew over the treelines.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he prepared to leap forward and stop Bikou's departure, but out of the corner of his eyes, he saw outlines of people gathering and lowered his palm to his side again.
The other Youkai must've come to investigate the commotion, seems like he'd have to stop the fight as well unless he wanted to cause trouble for his older sister's attempt at making an alliance with the Youkai.
As if fighting a monkey Youkai in Kyoto wasn't trouble enough.
With a frustrated sigh, he dropped from the tree and onto the grass below. He had wanted to beat Bikou and extract some answers out of him, if only to figure out why he was being targetted.
He had to make sure they heard of this back home, but for now… he'd have to deal with explaining what the commotion was about.
As he gazed around him, he saw several people appear from behind the trees. Many of them with unique animal features. Ears, tails, wings…
One of them stuck out as the Youkai started gathering around her. She appeared to be a young woman with quite a voluptuous figure and very long blonde hair with matching eyes.
'Man, Ero-Sennin would've killed to meet her and her two friends. She reminds me a bit of Baa-chan.' Naruto internally chuckled.
If he had to take a guess… this would be the Yasaka his sister had mentioned. The leader of the Youkai faction.
He must've caused quite the commotion for the leader herself to come out in person. Though it wasn't entirely surprising. After all, shortly after a devil was supposed to arrive, a fight broke out.
It made sense for her to assume the said devil would be a part of it. Not that it was wrong, he was very much involved in the fight. And he was winning too, not that that detail would help him.
"Am I in trouble?" He eventually asked with a small smile as he raised his hands in a relaxed manner.
Several of the Youkai appeared to calm down at the display, but the woman in the middle remained with a stoic expression yet spoke in a polite tone, "Please state your name and business here in Kyoto."
He nodded his head and lowered his arms, "Right, where are my manners, I'm Naruto of the House of Sitri. My sister Serafall Leviathan requested my visit here to be allowed." He finished and reached into a pocket and pulled out the slip of paper Serafall had given him earlier.
She stared at him, and then at the paper with a mix of a surprised and a relieved expression before she nodded her head in return, "That'd be correct. My name is Yasaka, and I'm the leader of the Youkai faction here in Kyoto. I do not mean to deny you hospitality, but the commotion in the area was concerning."
Naruto gave a small smile, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to, but this monkey guy came out of the blue."
"Monkey guy?" Yasaka questioned while raising a brow.
He nodded, "Yes, he said his name was Bikou. I don't quite get what he wants, but he wasn't exactly happy with me. He left when you came though." He replied, keeping some of the details to himself. Sharing the news of Ophis was not something he'd do before at least relaying the information to the Satans first.
The blonde woman's eyes widened just a bit, 'Bikou…' She thought with a quiet audible hum, "Your answer is acceptable. Mind if I ask why you decided to visit Kyoto?"
"Yes, of course." He quickly said, "I'm here hoping to meet someone. I suspect he is a fox Youkai named Kurama, but I'm not entirely sure."
He didn't know if Kurama had been lucky enough to receive his former name as he had been, but it was worth a shot.
Yasaka gave him a blank stare before her lips curled upward into a small smile.
"He has been quite eager to meet you as well."
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14056666/1/