Chapter 9 - ch 9 - a time of foxess and parties

Naruto woke up to find himself lying on his back. Up above him lay an infinite well of darkness. He couldn't tell if he was inside of a building or not. There were no stars out, and it was simply too dark to see the ceiling, if this place even had one. Only the hard surface underneath him, which reminded him of granite and contained trace amounts of water, gave him a hint as to his possible whereabouts.

A frown grew on his face. He wondered how he got here, and just where here was. The last thing he remembered was Rias' bluish-green eyes shedding tears before darkness had claimed him. Tears. Rias had been crying, and those tears had been for him.

"I made her cry," he sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before a self-depreciating smile came to his lips. "I must be the biggest bastard in the world to hurt one of the few people in this world who I really care about."

"I wouldn't call you a bastard." Naruto's eyes snapped wide open. "But I would certainly call you an idiot."

Scrambling to his feet with all due haste, the blond's eyes shot towards the source of the rumbling voice. A voice that was as familiar to him as his own. The voice of someone who had been with him since the day he'd been born.

"Kurama!"

Resting on his haunches sat a large kitsune. It's fur, a reddish orange, stood in stark contrast against the darkness of the room. Surrounded by black rings were a pair of startling blood red eyes. The fox was monstrous, taller than the Hokage Monument back home, towering over Naruto like he was an ant standing before a giant.

The kitsune's upper body looked very similar to a humans in structure, even his arms and clawed hands looked human. Naruto knew that the creature before him was even capable of making hand seals like a human ninja could. Two large, pointed ears stood high on his forehead. The inside of the ear was completely black, which extended well past the ear and moved to surround his red eyes. Two sharp canines poked out from beneath his upper black lips, which were pulled back in a grin that showed off the large array of sharp teeth he possessed.

"It's good to see you, brat," Kurama's deep rumble resounded throughout the inner world that Naruto now knew was his seal. "You don't know how long I've been trying to―O-Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Kurama cut off what he was originally going to say as Naruto bulldozed into him and began hugging his clawed hand, which, by the way, was nearly as big as Naruto was, maybe even bigger. "Dammit, Naruto! Get off!"

"I can't..." Kurama stopped himself from trying to shake his crazy partner off his hand when Naruto's whispered words reached his ears. "I can't believe you're actually here... I thought... I thought that..."

"Are you crying?"

"I thought you had disappeared too!"

"Oh gods, you are crying!"

"I kept trying to reach you! But no matter how many times I tried channeling chakra into the seal, I could never get in! I couldn't even use chakra and you weren't healing me and I thought it meant you were gone because I remember you healing my coils back when I first used my Rasenshuriken! I didn't... didn't..."

Kurama sighed as his first and only human partner (or was that devil now?) cried against his hand. He couldn't really blame Naruto for being so emotional and, even though he would never in a million years on pain of death admit to this, it actually felt nice knowing that his partner had missed him so much. There was this strange, fuzzy feeling in his gut that Kurama was sure was happiness.

Or indigestion. That was also a possibility.

A loud sniffle brought his attention to Naruto again. He looked down and what he saw made his eye twitch.

"Brat!" The ancient kitsune roared as he flicked Naruto off his hand. The blond tumbled onto his backside as Kurama began wiping his hand against the ground. "Log dammit, Naruto! Look at this! You got snot all over my fur coat! Do you know how long it takes to make my fur coat this soft and shiny! Months! That's how long! And now it's covered in your disgusting, putrid nasal excrement! I can't believe this!"

"Ah, ah hahahaha..." Naruto scratched the back of his head as he gave his closest friend (literally) a sheepish grin. His tears were also inexplicably gone, as if he'd never been crying in the first place. "Sorry about that, Kurama. I didn't mean to get so, ahem, emotional. It's just... I've really missed you, ya know?"

Kurama sighed and sat back down on his haunches. "The feelings mutual, kid. You don't know how long I've been trying to reach you. This entire past year I've tried calling out to you, but you never heard me."

"Speaking of which," Naruto frowned, "Why couldn't you reach me? I mean, I've had my coils damaged before. I kind of expected them to heal within a few weeks after arriving in this strange land."

"There were a number of reasons why I couldn't heal you this time," Kurama answered him, his tails swaying about in an almost lazy manner behind him. "The first is because of the amount of damage done. When you damaged your arm with that Rasenshuriken, the chakra coils there were severed. That type of damage is easy for someone like myself to repair. However, the damage you received after that insanely stupid and reckless stunt you pulled was far, far worse. Your coils were not severed, they were destroyed, demolished almost to the point of disrepair. I think, of the three-hundred and sixty tenketsu you possessed, only about thirteen of them were still left. You cannot restore what's no longer there. Even I don't have that kind of power."

Naruto's eyes squinted shut as he tried to work his mind through what Kurama was telling him. While not exactly an idiot, and pretty quick on the uptake these days, Naruto still wasn't one for theoretical stuff like this. "So it wasn't that you couldn't repair my coils," He said slowly, "but just that my coils were no longer there for you to repair."

"That's only part of the problem," Kurama told him.

Looking at the giant fox in front of him, Naruto could only stand there and look stupid. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember what happened during your final battle with Ōtsusuki Kaguya?"

Naruto grimaced. "No. The last thing I remember was, um, oh! Right! The last thing I remembered was using my Sexy: Reverse Harem Technique to land a sucker punch on her!"

Kurama stared at Naruto, deadpan. "That's it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep. That's it. Why?" He looked at the big fox inquisitively. "Did something else happen?"

Kurama sighed. His friend was such an idiot.

"Okay, Naruto, listen up." Naruto immediately perked up, listening to his friend intently. "You and Sasuke tried to fight against Kaguya, however, she ended up teleporting Sasuke to a different dimension so that she could kill you two individually." Kurama paused to see if his friend was listening. "This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Without Sasuke around, you were able to go all out and bring your full might to bear without fear of your friend getting caught up in your techniques."

"Unfortunately, Kaguya proved to be every bit as powerful as legends claimed. The two of you fought through the various dimensions she had created, destroying everything in your path. You were nearly killed several times and only managed to survive because our chakra had become completely in sync with one another, to the point where we could actually pull in the surrounding chakra in the air through a technique similar to sage mode and use it to help regenerate any damage done to your body."

"During your last clash with Kaguya, you attacked her with all ten of your truth-seeking balls. She attempted to match your strike, however, in doing so, the combine power of your attacks overloaded her dimension and caused the entire thing to implode on itself. This caused both you and Kaguya to be thrown into the void, the gap between dimensions."

"But what about Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto's eyes widened. "They were also in those dimensions, weren't they?"

"I don't know what happened to your friends," Kurama admitted. "I was more focused on what was happening to you. I assume that, with the dimensions collapsing on themselves, your friends were thrown back into your original world, but I can't be sure."

Naruto bit his lip, before shaking his head and smiling a false smile. "Yes. Of course. I'm sure they're alright. They have to be."

"Indeed."

They both knew they were lying. There was a good chance his friends had died during the implosion, but neither wanted to say it.

Kurama coughed and got back on track. "Anyway, we were sent hurtling through the void, and your body began to deteriorate. Humans are not meant to travel through a void. The very concept of a void is that nothing can exist within it. Only those whose power reigns supreme would ever be able to live in a place like that. And so your body began to vanish. Even myself, Shukaku and Gyūki, along with the portion of chakra you received from the other six tailed-beasts, were unable to do anything but watch."

"So what happened then?" Naruto asked, frowning even more. "How am I still alive."

"Luck and Kaguya's own foolish arrogance," Kurama said, grinning. "While your body was dispersing, Kaguya tried to reclaim the last of your chakra. Most unfortunately for her, she did not realize that her own chakra had not fully assimilated with her body, which is how the other tailed-beasts were able to manifest inside of your subconscious." Kurama paused again and looked down at Naruto. The young devil's eyes were now completely focused on him. "When she attempted to take us back into herself, the other tailed-beasts rebelled and fought against her. They tore her apart from the inside out and traveled into you."

"That's how I'm alive, isn't it?" Naruto said suddenly, his eyes widening in realization. "I'm alive because the combined chakra of you and the others saved me!"

"Yes." Kurama nodded, pleased to see Naruto using his head. The boy was quick, even if he was still dumber than a brick wall. "The combined might of all nine of us, along with your own impressive chakra and the power granted to you by Hagoromo, managed to restore your body and keep you alive."

"I imagine that is also what finished off my chakra coils," Naruto said.

"It is. Regrettably, in our haste to keep you alive, we overloaded your body with our chakra. The combined power was simply too much for you to take in, especially when you had not even grown accustomed to it. As a result, what few tenketsu you had left were destroyed, along with the rest of the coils themselves. Had we been a little more cautious, maybe we could have restored them, but, well..."

"Meh. It's fine. I'm alive and well, so I'd say everything worked out in the end."

"I suppose it has," Kurama said, admiring Naruto's unwavering optimism. Even in times like this, the young man he befriended refused to let himself get down.

"Speaking of the others, where are they?" Naruto began looking around. "I don't see Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokoū, Saiken, Chōmei, or Gyūki anywhere."

"That is because they are... no longer here," Kurama said, grimacing.

"What do you mean? Did they leave?"

Kurama blew out a large breath. "No," he said, "they did not leave. They are simply no longer with us." When Naruto just looked confused, Kurama began to elaborate. "Even working together, we were still unable to keep you alive. Too many consciences all trying to accomplish the same task in different ways, you understand. It was decided that we would combine to form a single entity in order to wield our full power with a single consciousness. As you can already guess, I was the conscious chosen to become the wielder of that power, due to my being with you since birth. I suppose, in a way, you could say that I am the new Jyuubi."

"The new Jyuubi?" Naruto blinked.

"That's right."

It was only now, after Naruto got over the shock of seeing his friend alive and hearing about what happened, the he saw something he hadn't noticed before. He looked at the tails waving about behind Kurama, their forms arching in lazy patterns that followed no sense of rhyme or reason, moving about with a mind of their own. Naruto held up both hands and began counting on his fingers.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Huh." Naruto frowned, his face scrunching up. "Kurama, I might be seeing things, but I could swear you have ten tails now."

"You're not seeing things," Kurama told him, grinning. "When myself and my eight brothers and sisters combined, I gained another tail." He looked back at his tails, then shrugged and looked at Naruto again. "I don't know why, but I assume it has something to do with our powers being the combined power of Kaguya and the Shinju, which manifested as the Jyuubi, though that's only a theory."

"Uh huh..."

"So what do you think, brat?" Kurama asked. "You're looking at the new Jyuubi. Pretty impressive, right?"

Naruto stared at the giant nine-tailed―or is that ten-tailed now?―Kitsune, blinking stupidly as his mind tried to comprehend the words spoken to him. Kurama sat there, grinning and puffing out his chest for several seconds, before he began to feel worried.

"Oi! Say something, dammit!"

The staring continued for all of ten seconds, no sound, not even a peep emerged from Naruto's mouth during that time. Just when Kurama was about to hit the blond over the head with one of his tails to see if that would snap the idiot out of his stupor, the young Devil's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he crumbled to the ground in a heap.

Kurama stared down, blinking as Naruto's body dissolved into spirit particles. A second passed, then two. Finally...

"Bwahahahaha! I can't believe the brat passed out!" Kurama snorted and chuckled in a manner that was most unbefitting of a being as awesome as himself. "Ha... good to see that idiot's still, well, an idiot."

Laying down and using his massive, clawed hands as pillows, Kurama decided to get some shut eye. He would allow Naruto to adjust to the new knowledge he'd given the boy, as well as the changes his jinchūriki would be going to go through now that they had made contact before speaking with him again. If Kurama was lucky, he would get some more entertainment from the brat during that time.

With one last snort of amusement, Kurama fell asleep.

Yeah, he was lazy like that.

~KatCHRP~

When Naruto opened his eyes again, it was to find himself staring at a familiar ceiling. He was back in his bedroom, which was good to know as it at least gave him a frame of reference to figure out what had likely happened after he passed out. Someone had most likely dragged his sorry, unconscious ass back here after the Rating Game.

Remembering how he had passed out made Naruto remember the tearful eyes that had been the last thing he saw before entering the seal and meeting Kurama again. He scowled a bit as he recalled that meeting. No doubt the ancient kitsune was going to make fun of him for fainting like that. Kurama would never let him live that down.

Ah well. That was a small price to pay to have his friend back.

And speaking of friends... Naruto suddenly become very aware of the body that was lying pressed against his own, as if the person doing so wanted to meld with him. He could feel her large breasts as they smashed into chest and her legs as they hooked over his own limbs. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist and her head had made itself at home on his shoulder, where he could feel her hot breath hitting his neck, which actually felt very nice. If the familiar feel of her body did not tell him who this was, then the red hair that he could see in his peripheral did.

Naruto's first thought was to wake her up, but after a moment his growing sensing abilities detected how much power she had. That is to say her energy levels were in the red, making him realize that Rias had probably been using her own power to fix all the damage he had suffered during his fight with Riser.

That also let him know that only a few hours had passed since his battle, but that wasn't really something he was concerned with and just noted it as a passing thought.

After realizing that the girl was exhausted, Naruto decided that it may be best if he just let her sleep. It wasn't even light out anyways, and besides that, he was just too damn comfortable to want to move. He could always talk to her tomorrow.

Naturally, just as he was about to let sleep claim him again, his bladder decided to shatter his dreams of sinking back into the gorgeous red head's embrace and letting mobius take him.

Swearing within the confines of his mind, and nearly growling when he heard a mild chuckle echo in the back of his skull, the blond tried to solve this new dilemma. He couldn't wake Rias up, that would just be cruel. At the same time, he really, really had to pee.

Trying to simply sneak out of bed proved to be an effort in futility. Rias was not only hugging him so tightly that even the slightest hint of movement jostled her, she also seemed to sense his intentions instinctively. The moment he made to crawl out of her embrace, her arms clamped onto him like a vice. She held him so tightly that his ribs actually creaked in discomfort.

Easing himself back into her embrace, he sighed in relief as she relaxed and tried to come up with another means of escape. As he saw it, there were really only to options available to him. He could make a clone and replace himself with it. This had a problem of Rias possibly popping his clone with her insanely strong grip and waking up. Or he could simply disable her arms by tapping the pressure points in her shoulders to relax her muscles. Of course, she could still wake up from missing his body heat, but at least then he had a chance of making it to the bathroom and back before the warmth from his bed dissipated.

A quick squeeze from Rias told him which option would be best. Tapping the pressure points in Rias' shoulder caused her arms to become limp. He carefully began easing his way out of her grasp... and felt his eye twitch when her legs suddenly hooked themselves around his hips and clamped down. After tapping on the pressure points in her legs as well, Naruto finally made his way out of the bed, got dressed in a pair of pants, and headed towards the bathroom.

It wasn't long after he had relieved himself that the blond was about to head back to bed when a thought occurred to him. Checking the clock on the nightstand, he saw that it was nearing 3:00 am. It was a bit early, but maybe he should make them some breakfast. He was pretty ravenous due to all the chakra he had used during the Rating Game, and he felt positive that Rias would be hungry when she woke up as well.

That decided, Naruto made his way to the living room/kitchen, where he promptly stopped as he took in the sight before him.

"Wha... what the hell is everyone doing in my apartment?" Naruto had to fight back a scream of surprise as every member of Rias' peerage plus Grayfia was in his apartment. Only Grayfia was awake at the moment, and she looked up at him when he entered.

"Rias-Sama and the others brought you here." She stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. "After Rias-Sama decided to heal you herself instead of letting Aasia-san do it, the others decided to just stay here and wait for you two." She gave him a curtsy. "It pleases me to see you up and about, Naruto-Sama."

"Um... thank you," Naruto said uncertainly, returning her curtsy with a small nod of his head; he had never been one for formalities. It was only then that he registered what she called him and adopted an expression of confusion. "Wait. Naruto-Sama?"

"Of course," Grayfia replied, "Anyone who can defeat a high class Devil on Riser Phenex's level is worthy of my respect, thus, you are now Naruto-sama."

"I see..." Naruto furrowed his brow. "Is this a Japanese custom?" He blinked, then furrowed his brow. "No, I think we did that in the Elemental Nations too. The Hokage is given deference because he's the strongest, after all." He made a face. "Ugh, all this etiquette is so damn confusing."

Grayfia sweat dropped at the sight of the person her husband and now herself were so interested in mumbling to himself about something so nonsensical, but quickly shook her head, and with it, her worry for the young man's sanity. "In either event, it is good to see you are awake. I take it that Rias-Sama is still asleep?"

"Yes," Naruto walked further into the room and took careful note of where everyone was. Kiba was laying on the only couch, his body stretched out across it. Koneko was curled up in one of his two easy chairs (Grayfia had been sitting on the other one), her knees drawn up to her chest and looking very much like a cat.

Naruto was incredibly amused to note that Akeno, Aasia, and Issei were all sleeping together. They were on the ground, lying in a fuuton that had been set up for them. Akeno and Aasia were on either side of Issei, snuggling against the boy much like Rias often snuggled against him.

The perverted first year was also wide awake and looked like he was struggling between letting his, admittedly large (try humungous) inner perverted out (or was that outer pervert), and keeping his lustful desires to himself.

Deciding on what he should do first, Naruto brought his hands up and made a cross seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

A physical copy of himself appeared beside him in a haze of smoke. Grayfia watched on in interest as the clone walked into the kitchen half of the room and began getting out several pans from the bottom cupboards.

"I saw you use that during the Rating Game. What kind of spell is that?"

"It's not a spell," Naruto informed her as he walked over to the chair that Koneko was occupying and knelt down. "It's a jutsu, Ninjutsu to be exact. By splitting my chakra evenly, I can create corporeal copies of myself."

"I see," Grayfia murmured, her eyes watching Naruto as he began to gently stroke the girl's hair. "I had heard that chakra was a gift only Yōkai had."

"It's not," Naruto smiled as Koneko nuzzled her head against his hand. He absently worked out her ears and began messaging them. "All humans have chakra, but from what I've seen of this place, they only have enough to survive." At that moment, Koneko's eyes fluttered open and almost immediately locked on to Naruto's. "Hey, Koneko-chan."

"Naruto-senpai," Koneko purred as trailed his fingers through her hair. Her body unfurled itself and she let her legs dangle off the armrest of the chair.

"Are you okay?" asked Naruto.

"I should be the one asking that," Koneko gave him a blank look. Or as blank a look as she could give him when she was blissed out.

Naruto smiled, but it left a second later in favor of a frown. "Issei told me you had been defeated by Yubelluna. I... I had been really worried." He knew that death in a Rating Game was rare unless the people in charge of pulling the players out were being negligent. That still didn't mean it hadn't killed him to hear that Koneko had been retired. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there to help you."

"It's okay, senpai," Koneko reached up with a hand and began patting him on the head much like someone would a dog. Naruto sniffled a little, pulling all his tears back into his tear ducks. He'd already bawled his eyes out once inside of the seal. There was no need to do so again.

"Thank you," Naruto's head snapped up at that exact moment as a clone that his clone made dispelled. He looked back at Koneko. "Would you mind waking everyone up for breakfast? I need to go wake Rias up."

"Of course, senpai."

As Koneko moved to wake up the others, Naruto stood back up. He headed into the kitchen where he saw Grayfia dishing out portions of scrambled eggs and bacon onto the plates. "Thank you for doing that, Grayfia-san."

"It is no trouble. I am simply doing my duty as a maid to the house of Gremory."

"Uh huh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly, but decided not to say anything about her strange maid fetish. "Are you going to be staying for breakfast?"

"I cannot. I must go back to the Underworld and inform Sirzech-Sama and Gremory-Sama that you have awoken. Both of them have been waiting for you to awaken with great anticipation, so I will need to make haste."

"Um... okay." Naruto shrugged. "That's fine, I guess. I'll see you later then."

"Indeed. Farewell for now, Naruto-Sama."

As the silver haired maid disappeared within a silver magic circle, Naruto decided it was about time to go wake up Rias.

(Un?)fortunately, Rias decided to wake up on her own.

"Naruto?! Naruto?!"

"Uh oh."

All those who were awake turned their heads to look at where the sound of the voice came from. The loud "thump-thump" of running feet grew louder and louder before Rias burst into the living room. There were several cries of "Buchou!," mainly from Aasia and Kiba, but the red-haired Devil was not focused on them.

"Naruto!"

"Wha―oof!"

Naruto soon found himself lying on his back as Rias bodily tackled him to the floor. He sat there, blinking for several seconds before he felt the bare skin of his torso getting wet. Rias was crying.

"R-Rias?"

"How could you leave like that?" Rias looked up and Naruto flinched as if struck by a physical blow. Crystal clear tracks of water were falling across her fair cheeks and down her jaw, where they splashed against his skin. "I was so worried when I woke up and you weren't there." She placed her head on his chest again. "Don't leave like that again, okay?"

Great. Now he felt like a complete jerk. How could he hurt someone he cared about like that? Why hadn't he just stayed in bed?

Come to think of it, that was a good question. Why hadn't he stayed in bed?

Oh. Right. Bathroom and hunger pains.

Damn you bodily functions!

"Sorry, Rias," Naruto placed a hand on the back of her head and began threading his fingers through her long, silky tresses of crimson hair. "I didn't mean to leave while you were still asleep. I just really had to go the bathroom, and then I got really hungry so I thought I would make breakfast. I didn't want to wake you because you looked tired, so I was going to let you sleep and wake you up when breakfast was ready.

"It's fine," Rias mumbled into his chest. "I suppose I'm overreacting a little because of what happened during the Rating Game." Naruto winced. He was likely going to have to talk about that later on. Not a conversation he was looking forward to. "Just... don't do that again, okay? I was really worried about you, and when I woke up and you weren't with me, I assumed something bad might have happened."

"Right, sorry. I won't do that again."

"Good." Rias sat up and straddled his stomach, her hands pressed against his shoulders as she looked down at him while continuing to ignore the scene she was causing for the others. She was, after all, still naked.

On a side note, Issei had already passed out from having been blown into a wall by a nosebleed and Aasia was kneeling by him, trying to wake him up while Akeno poked him with a stick that she had gotten from somewhere. Don't ask where.

No, really. Don't.

"What's this I heard about breakfast?" Rias finally asked.

Naruto blinked. "Maybe you should get dressed first." Now Rias blinked. "You know, that way Issei doesn't pass out again when he wakes up."

"Huh?"

Rias looked down at herself, seemingly realizing for the first time that she was naked. She looked back into Naruto's azure eyes, then over at where a frantic Aasia was trying to unsuccessfully revive Issei who had taken to mumbling something about "big oppai" as an amused Akeno continued poking him in the cheek with a stick.

"That's a great idea," she decided at last. Red hair was flung about as Rias turned her head back to look at Naruto. "Would you care to help me get dressed?"

"Not at all."

Like he would ever turn down the chance to get some up close and personal time dressing Rias up, especially since she had offered. He was respectful to women, but he was still a guy.

~KatCHRP~

It wasn't long after breakfast finished that Grayfia came back. Before Naruto even had a chance to emit any form of protest, the silver-haired woman proclaimed that she would be taking Naruto shopping for some clothes and left within a magic circle. She also told Rias that her father and brother expected to see her in the underworld and that the young woman should head there as soon as possible.

Several hours and a whirlwind of having some strange woman with a needle fetish sticking him with pins saw Naruto pulling and tugging at the new suit he was wearing as he and Rias walked down an extravagant looking hallway.

"Damn that woman!" Naruto complained, his loud voice ringing down the hall. "Why the hell do I have to wear this stupid thing?" He tugged at the collar of his tuxedo, or tried to. His hand was swatted away by Rias.

"I'm surprised she even managed to convince you to wear it," Rias informed him, shaking her head. "And stop doing that. You're going to ruin the collar if you keep tugging on it."

"Yeah, well, that Grayfia chick can be scary when she wants to be." Naruto shuddered, much to Rias' amusement.

"Yes, she can be pretty frightening. But then, there is a reason she is called The Strongest Queen."

"I guess."

"Anyway," Rias continued, wrapping both of her arms around one of his and walking a little closer. "Just try to relax. This party is very important to devil society, and as a member of my peerage, and the one most responsible for beating Riser, everyone's eyes are going to be on you. I need you to be on your best behavior."

That's right, Naruto thought with a grimace. The whole reason Gryafia had kidnapped him and forced him to endure the needle fetish lady was because of this party. It had originally been meant to commemorate the marriage between Rias and Riser, but with Riser's defeat in the Rating Game, had been changed to commemorate Rias' victory and subsequent release from the marriage.

Naruto remembered asking why they were still having the party when it's original purpose no longer applied. According to Grayfia, the reason was because the invitations had already been sent out and they couldn't afford to cancel without losing face. Thus, Rias' family had been forced to change the reason the party was even happening. It was pureblood Devil politics at its finest.

He hated politics.

"Ugh, I gotcha. Don't worry. I won't do anything to embarrass you," Naruto assured, even though it was clear that the idea had no appeal for him. For too long, Naruto had been forced to act serious and intelligent. His brain was being overworked. It felt like it had been overcooked in an oven set on high.

"Good." Rias nodded. "Now put on a smile. We're here."

Indeed they were. Entering through a pair of large double-doors that were being held open by some unknown force, Naruto and Rias found themselves standing in a room that was every bit as ostentatious and pomp as one could expect from a family that was richer than sin.

The room was expansive, larger than any single room Naruto had ever been in. Black marble floors were polished to a shine beneath his feet. The walls, decorated with dozens of expensive paintings, contained ornately crafted windows whose frames were created in the symbol of House Gremory. Ornately decorated Corinthian columns lined the walls, spaced evenly at several feet apart. And the ceiling above them was arched and rose high over their heads.

Filling this space were hundreds of people, all dressed in clothes that made Naruto think of those paintings he'd seen of those European people from the renaissance. Long-tailed tuxedos, dozens of ruffles, colorful dresses that poofed out for no reason whatsoever could be seen among the crowd of obviously rich and snobbish nobles.

Among these people, a few stood out. Naruto could see his friends, the other members of Rias peerage. Aasia, Akeno, and Koneko were wearing more modern dresses, and they looked damn good in them too. Koneko looked adorable in her black sleeveless dress with the plunging V-line in the back and shoulder length black gloves. Several meters to his left, Naruto made note of a mountain of a man with black hair and violet eyes, grinning as he spoke with some people.

"Come on," Rias said, snapping him from his thoughts and guiding him across the room. "Father and brother no doubt want me to introduce you to them. They've been wanting to meet you."

As Rias guided Naruto across the room, he noticed that all eyes were on them. He could see the rich, well-off and likely prickish nobles staring at them and whispering to each other. The large man, who didn't look much older than him, also took to observing the pair. Naruto saw that he was grinning, and when their eyes met, the grin widened.

Okay. So that guy was probably cool. Anyone who could smile like that while in a large party filled with douche-baggery could only be an awesome person.

Naruto, led by Rias, eventually found himself face to face with the people who could only be Rias' mother and father. They were standing next to two other people with blond hair and blue eyes. The lord and lady of House Phenex, Naruto assumed.

Rias' mother looked almost identical to Rias herself, except she had shorter hair and it's coloration was brown instead of red. That didn't mean much to Naruto, who felt surprise course through him. The woman looked so young that Naruto would have mistaken her for Rias' older sister instead of her mother. She wore the elegant white dress quite well, and the Uzumaki could appreciate the way it conformed to her figure, which Rias had clearly taken after. Only the knowledge that Devils were incredibly long-lived kept him from actually showing his shock.

Lord Gremory, to Naruto's surprise, also looked really youthful. He'd not been sure what to expect upon meeting Rias' family, but a man who didn't look a day over thirty, with long, straight red hair, bluish-green eyes, and a trim beard was not it. Like his wife, Lord Gremory was dressed to impress, with a long white overcoat hanging on his shoulders and a stylish if simple white shirt and dress pants underneath.

"Father, mother," Rias said, her voice respectful. "I would like to introduce one of my servants to you. This is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, this is my mother and father, Lord and Lady Gremory."

Naruto felt himself twitch. Great. So even Rias was showing incredible respect for customs. That meant he had to as well, at least for now.

"It's nice to meet you both, Lord and Lady Gremory," he said, nodding towards them. Lord Gremory smiled while his wife watched him, her eyes sizing him up.

"So this is the young man who defeated Riser," Lord Gremory said, smiling. "That was quite the display you put on. Those strange techniques of yours, that barrier in particular, were very impressive."

Naruto, despite himself, grinned. "I know. They were pretty awesome, right?" He then narrowed his eyes. "I suppose I should actually be thanking you. If you hadn't been stupid enough to arrange that marriage for Rias to that douche Riser, I would have never had to come up with that technique."

Rias gasped. Actually, everyone around them who was blatantly eavesdropping on their conversation gasped, too. Guess they weren't expecting him to insult the host of this party like that. Truth be told, Naruto was surprised by his own audacious actions.

"N-Naruto! What do you think you're doing?" Rias hissed. "I thought you said you'd behave."

"I did, but I also have something to tell your parents." Naruto didn't take his eyes off Lord Gremory the entire time. He also ignored Rias tugging on his arm to make him stop. Instead, he stepped forward and proceeded to point an accusing finger at Lord Gremory. "Listen up right now because I'm only going to say this once! If you or anyone else even thinks of trying to put Rias in another loveless marriage, I am going to kick your ass into the void! I don't care if you're her father, her grandfather, or even her god damn ancestor. Put her through that again and I'll fuck you up so bad your own mother won't recognize you!" He ended his ranting with a glare... and a pout, but mostly a glare. "Got that?!"

Silence permeated the room at Naruto's loud and reckless words. No one spoke, most of the devils there even forgot to breath. All they could do was stare at the brash young man who pretty much just gave several of the most influential devils the proverbial middle finger. Even Rias could do nothing more than gape, though her face had also turned as red as her hair.

"Fu fu fu..."

Naturally, this surprise consisted of everyone except Akeno, who just giggled demurely into the sleeve of her dress.

"Hahaha! I like this guy's style!"

And the tall man with the violet eyes.

Lord Phenex was the first to recover.

"I believe we just got told off by your daughter's servant, Lord Gremory," he said, amused.

"Yes. You seem to be right." Lord Gremory shook his head, still reeling. "I must confess to feeling a little shocked. I don't think I ever expected anyone to dress me down like that. Not even my wife has given me a dressing down like that."

"That is because I have more tact," Lady Gremory said. She looked at Naruto and smiled. "Though I will admit that I've wanted to let you know of my disapproval over that marriage for a long time."

"Hmph. Indeed."

By this point in time, Rias had recovered enough to speak. "I am so sorry, father," she said, bowing her head, her cheeks lit like a flame in the night. "My servant does not mean any disrespect with his words. He is just very protective of me."

"It is fine." Lord Gremory waved away her concerns. "I know that my actions were not approved of by the other members of our family. Your brother also protested against the marriage."

"Nii-sama did?" Rias looked surprised.

"Of course. I believe his exact words were 'you can't let my Rias-tan marry someone who doesn't love her. What kind of father are you?' or something like that."

Rias' right eyebrow twitched. "T-that man..."

"You seem to be a very forward thinking young man," Lord Phenex interrupted. Naruto turned to look at the lord of House Phenex. He looked like, well, kind of like a stereotypical noble. His hair was blond, his eyes were blue, and he was decked out in clothing similar to everyone else there, meaning it looked so stupidly expensive that he probably could have used that money to feed a small family for life. "I also gather from your calling my son a douche that you are not very fond of him."

Naruto snorted. "That would be like saying I have a strong disliking of ramen haters." While Lord Phenex looked confused, Rias face palmed. Ramen haters? Really? "Usually, I try to be an understanding individual, because I believe that everyone deserves a chance, but your son's very presence sets of every douche-bag alarm in my head."

It had started when Riser first made that flashy entrance in the school. Naruto could appreciate a flashy entrance as much as the next ninja―because real ninja weren't stealthy and preferred loud, flashy ninjutsu―but the timing of his appearance was suspect. Then there was the display he put on afterward, showing such disrespect to Rias, the way he'd introduced his peerage, the way he'd made out with Yubeluna in front of the woman he was supposed to marry for no other reason than to make Issei jealous. Everything about the way Riser acted made Naruto feel an intense disliking towards him.

And of course, there was also the fact that Riser had been set to marry Rias. Now that really upset Naruto. He might have been willing to let sleeping dogs lie had Riser actually cared for and loved Rias, but he didn't, so Naruto had not been willing to put up with Riser's crap.

"Yes, well, your strange and crass vocabulary aside, I understand why you would feel that way." Lord Phenex sighed. "Truth be told, I think this defeat will do him some good. Due to our Phenex powers, we are all but immortal. However, that does not mean we cannot be killed, or that our powers are the pinnacle of a Devil's strength. Riser has grown arrogant and become complacent. Hopefully, now that he has been defeated, he will learn some humility."

Naruto stared at Lord Phenex for a long time, before smiling. "Anyone who can accept his son's defeat so well and hope it improves their child's qualities as a person has my respect. And fortunately for you, you're in luck." Naruto grinned and jerked a thumb at himself. "I've made it a past time of showing douche's the error of their ways with my fists. You could almost say teaching asshats like him humility is a specialty of mine." Along with saving princesses and priestess, but that's another story entirely.

Lord Phenex chuckled. "Really? Then I hope your unique abilities work with my son as well."

"So, I hope you guys don't mind if I ask a question here," Naruto said. He didn't give anyone time to say anything before asking regardless of their wishes. "If you people knew that Rias didn't want to get married, why would you continue the engagement with Riser."

"I am afraid it was our greed as devils acting up," Lord Phenex said, his voice wry. "Both Lord Gremory and I have a pure-blood grandchild, a rarity these days. Having achieved that, it was only natural that we would want more. Our inherent greed as devils blinded us."

"What the hell kind of excuse is that?!" Naruto exploded, shocking everyone yet again. "Inherent greed as devils. What a load of bullshit! I've been a devil for months now, and I haven't felt a god damn thing." Ignoring the pain jarring his forehead as he spoke God's name, Naruto continued. "And just look at Rias. She's one of your vaunted pure-blood devils, isn't she? And yet, aside from her wanting to get out of this marriage and marry for love, I have yet to see any of that 'devil greed' you people speak of. Fucking hell, I don't even think wanting to marry for love is all that selfish!"

Standing by his side, Rias both felt elation and shame. Elation because of how highly Naruto thought of her, and shame because she knew that his biased opinions were incorrect. She knew that among the devil community she lacked the greediness others displayed, but she also wasn't above manipulating others into doing her bidding. She'd done that with Naruto, getting close to him and befriending him so that she could pry into his personal life, and she'd done that with Issei, taunting him with promises of seeing her breasts if he did well during training.

Despite this, elation won out. Naruto might not see her faults, because that was just the kind of person he was when it came to his friends, but the fact that he thought so highly of her still gave her feelings of incredible warmth that spread out from her chest.

And it was in that moment that Rias began to truly realize just how much Naruto meant to her.

That didn't mean she would allow him to act so crassly in front of her father and Lord Phenex, especially when he promised to behave.

"Lord Phenex, I am terribly sorry about my servants words," she apologized, again. "Please accept my―"

Rias was cut off from saying anything else as Lord Phenex began to laugh. Not chuckle, but outright belly laugh. The entire hall was filled with the sound of his jolly laughter, and tears of mirth fell from his eyes.

"Ah... It has been a long time someone has called me out like that. I should have expected it to happen eventually, but I never expected it to be done by a low-class devil." Despite the term "low-class devil" generally being used as an insult by Riser, Naruto sensed no negative connotations coming from Lord Phenex, so he let it go.

"What an unusual turn of events," Lord Gremory said, a sly grin on his face as he looked at his blond counterpart. "It seems we've become a lot like those old geezers we once criticized for the exact same reason this young man is doing now. I wonder if this is irony, or if we're just getting old."

"It's definitely irony. I've still got a few centuries in me. Still, perhaps we should take this as a lesson of our own infallibility."

"I guess we should."

While Lords Gremory and Phenex chatted and laughed, looking almost years younger than they had several seconds prior to Naruto verbally abusing them, Naruto and Rias stared at the duo, blinking.

Lady Phenex must have sensed their confusion, because she began explaining the actions of her husband and his friend to them. "Back when they were younger, those two were among the first to turn against the old ways. You might not believe me, but back when they were teenagers, they would get into a lot of trouble with their parents for thinking the same way your young man has expressed. In fact, back then, they used to say very similar, if slightly more respectful, things to their parents."

"You mean our grandparents?" Rias looked confused. "Come to think of it, I don't believe I've ever met my grandparents."

"With good reason," Lady Phenex said, "even the Gremory clan, which is known for its affectionate Devils, held to the same beliefs as everyone else from the old faction. They might not have raised arms against the Anti-Satan faction with the original Maou, but they did not approve of the new factions actions either. Because of this, the members of the Anti-Satan faction forced their parents into retirement and refused to let their children meet them in order to prevent their corrupted ideas from spreading and influencing the next generation."

"I-I see," Rias said, looking shocked. "I knew about the war with the old Maou faction, but I had no idea things were that bad."

"That's because none of us who were old enough to fight in that war want to be reminded of it." The words, spoken in a voice that was decidedly male, caused Naruto, Rias, and everyone else to turn their heads. The person standing before them, who looked similar to Lord Gremory, smiled congenially as he spoke. Standing behind him, Naruto recognized Grayfia, who was still dressed like a maid. "You have to understand, those were dark times, Rias. Devils were not just fighting against other devils, but were also fighting against their own kin. Clan members fought against other clan members, brothers fought brothers and so on. When the fighting finally ended, the Anti-Satan faction simply didn't want to be reminded of how they'd been forced to fight against their own families and did everything they could to forget."

"Nii-sama," Rias greeted, somewhat surprised. Of course, Lord Lucifer would be expected to make an appearance. He might be a Maou, be he was also her older brother, and this party was to commemorate her first Rating Game victory. There was no way he would have missed this.

"It's you!" Naruto pointed at the older man, much to Rias' shock and Lord Lucifer's amusement. "You're the guy that made me go to school!"

"Oh? You remember me?" Sirzechs smiled. "I'm glad. I was hoping you would. And I see you've become a member of Rias' peerage."

"Don't act like you're so surprised," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "That was the whole reason you made me go to school, wasn't it? Because you wanted me to meet your sister?"

"Is this true?" asked Rias, her eyes wide.

"I always look after my little sister," Sirzechs said, still smiling. "I simply couldn't bear the thought of my Rias-tan being forced into a loveless marriage. It's only natural that I would try and find the person who I thought would give her the highest chance of success against Riser."

Which meant that Sirzechs had known Rias and Riser would fight in a Rating Game with her freedom on the line long before it actually happened. Naruto had been going to Kuoh for at least a year before he and Rias even met. That was an incredible amount of forethought, and Rias felt heart-warmed by her big brother's desire to protect her.

She did twitch at the "Rias-tan" comment, though.

"And you, Uzumaki Naruto." Sirzechs' smile became more sincere as he looked at the blond former ninja. "You have exceeded all of the expectations I placed on you when I sent you to Kouh Academy. I knew you were strong, but I didn't expect you to be that strong. That strange power of yours surprised me. It almost broke the barrier we'd placed around the dimension created for the Rating Game." He grinned. "I actually had to personally help them strengthen it."

Strong? Maybe by the standards of Rias' peerage, but Naruto knew his strength was lacking compared to what it used to be. So what was this man―ah. He must be talking about Kurama's energy. Which would make sense. Kurama was power incarnate, especially now that he'd apparently become the Jyuubi.

"Um, yeah, thanks," Naruto said, not sure what else he could say. That power hadn't been his, but he would never tell anyone he didn't know and trust that. Rias would learn soon, if it ever came up in conversation. Koneko too. But so far, no one else, not even the other members of the peerage, had earned his trust to the point that he would tell them about Kurama.

"Now then." Sirzechs clapped his hands together. "I wanted to formally introduce myself, since we only spoke briefly before I sent you to Kouh Academy. I am Sirzechs, the current Lucifer, and Rias' older brother. Most people call me Lord Lucifer, but you can call me onii-san."

Rias, despite standing still, tripped over... something (air probably) and fell on her face.

All around the room, every other person there also fell flat on their faces.

Why don't we just call it devil synchronicity?

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "You want me to call you onii-san?" he whispered.

"Yes," Sirzechs said, "you are a member of my little sisters peerage, which practically makes you family. It is only right that you be allowed to refer to me as one might a brother."

"Can I call you aniki?"

Now it was Sirzechs' turn for his eyes to widen. However, a second later he was smiling again.

"Yes, you can call me aniki." Such a brilliant idea. Truly. Why hadn't he thought of that? "And I shall call you otouto."

"Okay. Aniki."

"Otouto."

"Aniki."

"Otouto!"

"Aniki!"

Rias, Grayfia and everyone else in the room could only watch in horror at what happened next. Naruto and Sirzechs began hugging. Yes, hugging. Hugging with manly tears streaming from their eyes.

If it were just a hug, maybe they could have dealt with it, maybe. But on top of hugging, something else happened. The world around them vanished. The marble floor became replaced with a craggy, desolate landscape filled with cracks and pits. Fire rose from these pits, shooting into the air like geysers, causing everyone to sweat from the heat they emitted. The walls and ceiling also vanished and was replaced with a purple sky, very similar to the sky of the underworld. And in the middle of this desolate, satanic landscape, Naruto and Sirzechs continued hugging.

Rias could only watch on, her wide, horrified eyes staring at the scene before her like it was some kind of unfathomable eldritch horror, a terror so great nothing in this world could possibly be more sickeningly gut-wrenching than this.

Lovecraft who?

"What is this?"

"What's going on? Where did the mansion go?"

"By the Maou! My eyes! They burn!"

All around her, chaos rained. People shouted in terror and pain, their eyes, mouth, nose and every other orifice on their bodies bleeding. Some devils even tried to gouge their own eyes out in order to escape the sight. Rias wanted to do that as well, but like a train wreck happening in front of her, found she couldn't look away.

Koneko, her face still bland, though her right eye was twitching, bent down and picked up a rock.

She threw it into one of the fiery geysers.

"Real fire," she said as she watched the rock disintegrate.

"Ufufufu. What an interesting technique." Akeno licked her lips as she saw people screaming in terror and confusion. "How fun. I should try and create something like this with Ise-kun."

And speaking of Issei...

"Issei-san! Issei-san! Please wake up! Issei-san!"

Aasia was trying to wake Issei up to no avail. The poor young man lay there, gurgling, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and saliva trailing down his mouth.

"Grayfia!" Rias snapped out of her shock first and shouted at her sister in law who, for once, appeared flabbergasted. "We need to separate those two! Quickly!"

Grayfia looked at Rias, and then nodded. Together, the pair ran over to the still hugging Sirzechs and Naruto, and then proceeded to pull them apart.

They did this by grabbing onto Naruto's and Sirzechs' cheeks and yanking, hard.

Naruto and Sirzechs cried out simultaneously.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

"Gwayfia! Wet go! Dat huwts!"

"I am afraid I cannot comply, Lucifer-Sama," Grayfia said, her eyes twitching. "For the good of devil kind, and as your maid, I must ensure that you desist from your current actions."

"But Ria-tan has aweady wet go of Otouto!"

"And Rias-Sama is far nicer than I am. And do not call Naruto-sama 'otouto.' It's disturbing."

"What am I going to do with you?" Rias asked as Naruto rubbed his sore cheek. It had turned a rather vibrant red.

"Hehehehe, sorry," Naruto apologized, grinning. "B-but at least I'm getting along with your brother, right? Isn't that a good thing?"

"I'm beginning to think it might be a terrible thing," Rias said dryly.

"Gwayfia! Stop puwing! Otouto! Hewp!"

Naruto, Rias, and every other devil in that room watched as the great Satan, Lucifer, was pulled towards the door by the cheek like a spoiled child who'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Sorry aniki. But you're on your own with this one."

"Otouto! Ria-tan! NNNOOOoooooo..."

The doors to the party slammed closed behind Sirzechs and Grayfia. Everyone remained silent for several seconds.

"Bwahahahahaha!"

Until that one man, you know, the dude with the violet eyes, started laughing.

"I like him," Naruto said, hooking a thumb at the fool letting out belly aching laughter. "He's got an awesome personality."

Rias just sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Of course you would. It's only natural that someone like you would think Sairaorgog Bael has an awesome personality."

~KatCHRP~

After Sirzechs was unceremoniously dragged out of the party by his wife-slash-maid, things returned to a semblance of normailty, sort of. All the devils minus a few were still shaken by the whole ordeal. Who knew there was such a deranged and powerful technique? And just what kind of technique was it? An illusion? Some kind of reality distorting spell? Had they been sent to an alternate dimension? They were so disturbed that the vast majority decided to simply forget about what they saw. It was safer for their sanity that way.

The floor also needed to be cleaned of blood, but that was a minor footnote compared to everything else.

Among the crowd of devils, Ravel Phenex stood alone. With her brother not there, no one else in the peerage had shown up aside from her. Ravel wasn't even sure if she wanted to be there, but someone had to make an appearance with their parents. To not have anyone from Riser's peerage show up would be seen as a weakness and cause people to question the Phenex clan's power. With Riser's loss against Rias, they couldn't afford to that, they had to show that this loss didn't mean the Phenex clan was losing its power.

And with no one else willing to accept the invitation to this party, Ravel had been the only option left.

She sighed as she brought the glass of alcohol to her lips and took small sips of it. Even though it had scarcely been a day since the Rating Game, things had been rather hectic for House Phenex.

A frown soon marred Ravel's face as she thought about the Rating Game. Her brother, who she knew to be a powerful Devil in his own right, had lost. He'd been defeated, not by another high-class Devil like Rias, but by a lower-class Devil. That blond boy with the light tan and the cerulean blue eyes who... who...

Steam began pouring from Ravel's ears. She could feel her face burning. It felt so hot that for a moment she began to fear she'd lost control of her powers over fire. As a still maturing Devil, the possibility was there. But no. Her powers weren't running out of control. She was just embarrassed.

That he man. He... he...

"Pst. Hey, princess."

A familiar voice whispered in her ear.

Ravel's eyes widened. Her mouth opened to yell, though no sound came out. Mainly because a hand came up to cover her lips. Ravel was just about to try and use her fire to burn this person when they spoke again.

"Hey, easy now," the voice whispered. "It's just me. Look, just relax, calm down, don't scream, and I'll let you go. I need you to keep quiet or everyone will notice us. Can you do that?"

Ravel thought about her options, but there weren't many of them. If she caused a scene and burnt this person behind her to a crisp, she would embarrass her family.

She nodded her head, but did so reluctantly.

"Okay then. I'm letting you go. Just remember to be quiet."

Ravel frowned at the command, but as the hand let her go, she did as told and kept silent.

And then she turned around.

"Y-you're―"

It was him! The one they called Naruto! The blond Devil who defeated her brother! And the one who also... also... who did... and her finger... he... he...

"Sh." Naruto held a finger to his lips, a gesture for silence. "Remember, you said you'd keep quiet."

"What are you doing over here?" Ravel hissed, covering her embarrassment with anger. Beyond the anger, however, was confusion, and shock. "How are you even over here? I thought you were with Rias?" She looked over at where the scene between Sirzechs and Naruto had taken place. Rias and Grayfia were still there. Lord and Lady Gremory were still there. Her own parents were still there. And there, attached to Rias' arm, or rather, Rias' arms attached to him, was Naruto.

She looked at the Naruto who stood behind her.

She then looked back at the one Rias had a hold of.

She looked back and forth several times, before settling on the one standing in front of her.

"H-how... what?"

"I replaced myself with a shadow clone," Naruto said, explaining how he could be in two places at once. Ravel didn't understand it. She didn't even know what a shadow clone was, but guessed it was some kind of magic spell that created clones.

"I-I see."

Okay Ravel. Just calm down. The one who beat your brother and sucked on your... healed the cut on your finger with his mouth was standing right in front of you. But that was no reason to lose your cool. Remember, you're a member of the House of Phenex, a high-class Devil in your own right. You can't let a low-class servant like Naruto see you sweat. Even if he made you feel all hot and strange inside.

Her pep talk to herself done and over with, she gave Naruto what she hoped was a superior look.

"And what is it that you wished to speak with me about that was so important you replaced yourself with a... shadow clone?" she asked, testing the word out. What a strange name for a technique.

"I want you to come with me."

C-come?! He wanted her to come with him? How could he say such a thing to a highborn lady of her stature? And without even asking for a date first!

Her face turned red, and her brain felt like it was melting out of her ears. Ravel was so shocked by his words that she didn't even respond when Naruto grabbed her hand and snuck out of the great hall with the stealth of a ninja. It wasn't until they were walking down the empty and deserted hallway that she managed to come back to herself.

"W-what do you think you're doing?!" Ravel shrieked, jerking her hand out of his grip. She couldn't afford to let him touch her, because she felt all weird when he touched her.

"Eh?" Naruto turned around. "What's wrong?"

"W-what's wrong? You're whats wrong! You can't say that to a lady like myself! Have you no shame?!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. He looked genuinely confused. "What are you talking about? I just wanted to know if you'd like to ditch that party and spend some time doing something that you might actually enjoy."

Ravel's mind screeched to a halt. "What?"

"You didn't enjoying being that party, right? I could tell." Naruto grinned at her. It was boyish and joyful and made Ravel's heart feel like it was smashing into her chest with the strength of a Norse God's warhammer. "You looked really uncomfortable in that place. It's because you're all alone, right? That party was originally for Rias and your brother's wedding, but since the wedding was called off, no one else from his peerage showed up and you were forced to come on your own to save face. I'm right, aren't I?"

"How did you know that?" Could he read her mind? She'd been thinking those exact thoughts just a few seconds ago!

"I may act like an idiot, and I probably am an idiot, but it's not because I'm stupid. I just choose not to think about all the complicated stuff because it's boring. Or at least I try not to. I've had to do a lot more heavy thinking than I've ever wanted to these days." Naruto paused, then shook his head. "Anyway, I could tell that you weren't comfortable in there, and to be honest, I'm not a fan of big, ritzy parties like that. I thought I'd do us both a favor and get us out of there so we could actually do something fun."

This boy... had he really gone out of his way, taking her out of the party and asking her to come with him, to help her out?

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I don't understand." Once again, Naruto looked confused, and Ravel knew there must be something wrong with her because she couldn't help but think he looked adorable. "Why wouldn't I help you out?"

"I-idiot," she muttered, though her voice lacked heat. "How about because we're enemies?"

"Correction, we were enemies," Naruto said, smiling. "And now we're not. The Rating Game is over, so there's no point in being enemies anymore. I'd much rather be your friend."

"F-friend?" she squeaked. Ravel had never had a friend before. Even the members of her brother's peerage weren't her friends. They treated her well, because she was Riser's sister and always gave the other peerage members respect despite being of a higher station than them. But, just because they respected her didn't they were friends. "Y-you want to be my friend?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto's bright, cheerful response had her body acting up just as surely as that time he'd stuck her finger in his mouth. "You can never have too many friends. So, how about it?" he asked, holding out his hand. "Friends?"

"W-well."

Ravel would like to say she thought about his words thoroughly. That she looked at it from every angle and decided on the best course of action based on the pros and cons of each decision. She would like to say that, but she couldn't.

"V-very well," Ravel said, regaining her previous composure, or at least a modicum of it. "I suppose it would not hurt to befriend a low-class Devil such as yourself. You had better be grateful that a high-class noble such as myself has become your friend."

"Yes, yes. I'm very grateful that a beautiful oujo-sama such as yourself has graced me with her friendship."

"As well you should," Ravel said, nodding her head decisively. "It's not everyday that a member of the nobility like myself becomes friends with a peasant."

"Right." A large drop of sweat traveled down Naruto face, leaving a thin, glistening trail. "Anyway, just grab my hand and we'll be off."

Ravel did as told, grabbing the hand. It was surprisingly soft, she noticed. It was also much larger than her own delicate hands. The appendage practically engulfed hers, casting it in a cocoon of unimaginable warmth.

Somehow, despite her face feeling like the sun, Ravel managed to maintain her haughty exterior, or so she hoped.

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto began moving back along the hallway. Ravel moved as well, doing her best to keep up. Her legs were shorted, so she had to walk faster. "I'll be counting on you to guide me, Princess. I don't know where anything is in the underworld."

"O-of course. I'll―wait. Princess?!"

"Hahaha! Yosh! Let us be off!"

And just like that, the two left the Gremory Mansion, and then left the estate altogether. Ravel had no clue why she decided to go along with this man. She couldn't even think about that. Her mind currently only had one thought, and it focused on that solitary thought and nothing else.

She had a friend. Her very first one.

~KatCHRP~

"Y-you want me to go in there?"

Naruto turned back to look at Ravel. They were in a city. The one closest to the Gremory Estate. He might have been willing to ditch the party and take Ravel with him, but that didn't mean he was stupid enough to travel far. They would have to head back eventually, after all.

"What's wrong with this place?" asked Naruto, ignoring the stares and whispers coming their way. It was probably due to their clothes. His tuxedo and Ravel's gorgeous pink dress, which made her look every bit the fairy tale princess, were quite obviously above the pay grade of everyone there.

"W-well, nothing, really, I guess," Ravel, despite her words, looked unsure. She stared at the place with wide, wondering eyes. The girl had obviously been sheltered for most of her life. He wondered if she had ever been out of her estate for more than social events like that party they just left. "It's just that for a high-class Devil like myself to go in there is..."

"It'll be fine." Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. "Come on. We're friends now, and as your friend it is my duty to show you the wonder that is ramen."

Yes. Upon entering the first city he'd ever visited in the underworld, Naruto had taken Ravel to a ramen shop. He'd smelled the place almost as soon as they entered and knew it would be their first stop.

It seemed even the Devils knew about the divinity that was ramen.

The ramen gods were surely smiling upon him.

Naruto guided Ravel over to the small booth and sat them both down. The ramen stand looked like any other ramen stand. Small, a little dingy, but containing a warm and inviting atmosphere. The fragrant aroma of ramen hung in the air, invading his nose with its amazing scent.

Ravel must have smelled it too, because her stomach began rumbling.

Naruto grinned while Ravel blushed. "You must be awfully hungry to make such an unladylike sound."

"A-are you making fun of me?" asked Ravel, too self-conscious to be angry.

"Maybe a little." Naruto placed a hand on the girl's head. Huh. Her hair was really soft. Just what he expected from a high-class young woman like her. Each strand felt like silk. Not even Rias' beautiful hair was this soft. "But as your friend it's my right to tease you."

"I-is that so?"

"Besides, you look adorable when you're embarrassed."

His words just caused Ravel's blush to deepen.

"Oi! Old man!" Naruto shouted to the old-looking Devil with the wrinkly skin and white hair standing behind the bar-style counter. "Give me four bowls of your Miso Ramen and one bowl of your Vegetable Ramen!"

"Coming right up!"

The old man didn't even turn around to look at them. He just got busy working and made the food in record time.

He put the ramen in front of them, only now noticing that he was apparently serving high-class customers.

Ravel stared at her ramen.

"W-what kind of food is this?"

Naruto gaped at her. "You mean to tell me that you've never seen ramen before?"

Ravel shook her head, seemingly unable to speak. She looked like she wanted to hide in her dress.

"Ramen is the food of the gods. Everyone who has ever tasted ramen will tell you this. The very heavens themselves tremble before this dish of divinity. God himself turns green with envy every time someone even mentions ramen."

Ravel looked both awed and skeptical. "Is it really that good?"

"Why don't you try it yourself and find out?"

Raven did exactly as Naruto suggested. The spiky-headed blond watched as, like any proper oujo-sama, the young woman with drill-like hair picked up the fork offered (forgoing the chopsticks) and twirled a small strand of noodles onto it.

She stuck it in her mouth, the action somehow looking both sophisticated and delicate.

Her eyes widened.

"This is really good."

"Why do you look so surprised?" Naruto laughed, snapping a pair of chopsticks and bringing one of his bowls before him. "Of course it's good."

Ravel gave Naruto an uncertain smile. "I-It's just that I've, uh, well, I've never tried peasant food before, so..." the girl trailed off uncertainly, though whether this was due to embarrassment over her admittance, or shock because Naruto had somehow finished a bowl without her noticing even though she was staring right at him, would remain forever unknown.

The food was eventually finished. Naruto somehow managed to polish off all four bowls before Ravel even finished her one. After Naruto paid for the food, the two of them left.

Eventually, Ravel and Naruto found themselves sitting on top of one of the many buildings.

"I'm surprised," Naruto commented, looking out at the small town from their overhead view.

"Surprised by what?" asked Ravel.

"By how normal this town looks. Maybe it's just because of my preconceptions about the Underworld, but I didn't expect a town in hell to look like a normal human town. It looks just like a regular city."

"Well, of course," Raven said, frowning at him. "What were you expecting?"

"Something with fire and brimstone. And burning corpses too. Ah! And skeletons!"

A small drop of sweat trailed down the side of Ravel's face. "T-the Underworld isn't like that, you know? Our cities are designed to emulated human cities." She turned her head to look at all of the buildings. "It's because the vast majority of Devils are resurrected humans that they look like this. My brother said it before, didn't he? Pure-blood Devils are becoming rare in this day and age. Each year, there are less and less of us being born. Devil births are almost unheard of now, due to our longevity."

"I guess that would explain why everyone thought that wedding was so important." A pause. "What do you think about all that? About Rias and your brother's wedding getting canceled, I mean?"

"Honestly? I don't know." Ravel's face appeared lost and uncertain. "I mean, I understand why our families originally wanted it to happen, and I respect my brother a lot. But, well, maybe it was just seeing how Rias fought so hard against it, but I can't help but think the wedding being called off was a good thing."

"That reminds me, how is your brother doing?"

Ravel gave him a slight glare. "Why do you care? I thought you hated him?"

"I don't hate him," Naruto said, "I just feel an intense dislike towards him. I don't like the way he acted when he first showed up in the clubroom, and I don't like the way he treated Rias. She's a wonderful person, but Riser treated her like some kind of commodity, like an object for his personal pleasure. She wasn't even a person in his eyes, just a set of legs and a pair of tits."

Just thinking about the way Riser looked at Rias upset Naruto. Sure, Issei was a pervert. No. Issei was The Pervert, but Issei had his good qualities. He was kind, loyal to his friends, and actually wanted to be strong enough to help out. He was a good person. Riser, from what Naruto had seen thus far, was just an arrogant jerk who thought he was entitled to do whatever he wanted because of his heritage and powers.

At least people like Neji and Sasuke, who had also been from powerful clans, worked hard to gain the strength they possessed. Their arrogance, while annoying, hadn't been unwarranted. They trained and bleed and sweat for the abilities and strength. Naruto doubted that Riser had truly trained a day in his life.

"You must really like Rias-sama, huh?" Ravel's voice sounded kind of depressed, causing Naruto to look at her.

"Well, of course. Rias is one of the most important people in the world to me."

"I-I see," Ravel whispered, before looking at him with big, blue eyes. "T-then why are you with me and not her?"

Confused by her words, Naruto said, "I thought I told you. I didn't want to be stuck in that stuffy party, and when I saw how uncomfortable you were, decided to kill two birds with one stone and get us both out of there."

"So this was done in pity?"

"Huh? Pity?" Okay, now Naruto was really confused. What the hell was going through this girl's mind? "Why would I pity you? You don't really seem like the type who would need to be pitied?"

"Then why...?"

"I guess you could call it empathy. You looked as uncomfortable as I felt, so I thought to myself 'hey! Why don't I grab her and high-tail it out of there?' and now here we are, enjoying some time away from all the pomp and circumstance that surrounded that party." Naruto grinned at Ravel, making her look away again. "I've enjoyed getting to know you a bit." As he continued to stare at Ravel, the image of another woman overlapped her own. "And, well, you kind of remind me of someone I once knew."

"Really?" She looked at him again. "Who?"

"Someone who was very important to me," he said, nostalgia and a bit of sadness warring within him. "She was the priestess of a country far from my home. I was hired by her for a mission to protect her." He chuckled. "When we first met, she acted almost exactly like you. I think the only difference was that she kept pushing everyone away. You haven't done that. From what I've seen, you're really a kind and caring person." Out of some old instinct, Naruto gave Ravel a thumbs up. "I like people like you."

Ravel stared at him for several long, silent seconds. Then she turned away. Why was there steam pouring out of her ears?

"I-idiot," she muttered.

Just then, Naruto felt something, almost like a bucket of ice cold water be dumped on his head.

"Oh crap!"

Naruto shot to his feet, startling Ravel.

"W-what is it?"

"My clone just dispelled in the middle of the ceremony!" This was so not good. Rias was going to be pissed now that she knew he'd ditched the party. "Damn that aniki! Why'd he have to slap my back so hard? Can't he control his own strength?"

"I-I don't understand." Ravel was confused, naturally. She didn't have the ability to know what happened to his clones when they dispelled. "Ceremony? What ceremony?"

"Never mind that!" Naruto declared. "We need to head back now! Before I get into anymore trouble!"

"W-wait! What are you―?"

Ravel squeaked as Naruto scooped the girl into his arms. His wings shot out of his back and, with a powerful leap, he took off into the sky.

"W-w-w-what are you doing?! Put me down this instant!"

"No can do, princess. We've gotta get back and this is the fastest way."

"I can fly myself! And my name is Ravel!"

"I know what your name is. I'm calling you princess because you look like those princesses in the fairy tales." His words stunned Ravel into silence. "And I am well aware that you can fly. I saw you using those fire wings of yours, which are very pretty by the way, but trust me, this way is faster. Now shut up and let me carry you."

Ravel, still stupefied by his "princess" comment, said nothing and let herself be held in his arms as he flew towards the estate. This man, he was just like... she shook her head. Now wasn't the time to get lost in fairy tales.

When they arrived, Koneko, Rias, Sirzechs, Grayfia, Lord and Lady Gremory and Phenex, along with the rest of Rias' peerage were there to greet him.

"Otouto! I'm so glad you're okay! I grew so worried when you popped! What happened?! Where did you disappear to?! Otouto!"

Sirzechs looked like he wanted to rush over and hug Naruto. Actually, Naruto realized that the man was trying to do just that. His arms were outstretched, as if to give him a wide hug. His legs were also moving in a frantic jogging motion, but he wasn't going anywhere despite trying to run towards him, and the reason for that was obvious.

Grayfia was holding him by the back of his expensive looking armor.

"Ufufufu, it seems Kitsune-kun has been enjoying himself with the young oujo-chan."

"Blond-bastard-sensei! How could you betray me by going out with that hot―I mean, with the enemy!"

"Only you could sneak off in the middle of a party to spend time with a cute girl, Naruto-san."

While several voices spoke to him at nearly the same time, Naruto found most of his attention focused, not on those three or Aasia who was trying to calm a crying Issei down, but on Koneko and Rias. The two stood in front of him. Rias had a sweet smile on her face and an angry looking vein pulsing on her forehead. And Koneko was glaring at Ravel, who didn't seem to enjoy the hostile attention.

"Um, hi Rias! F-fancy meeting you here... hehehe..."

Yeah, Naruto knew he was in trouble.

"Naruto." Rias smile twitched. "Could you explain why you decided to replace yourself with a shadow clone?"

"Uh..."

"Do you know how embarrassing it was to try and explain why your body disappeared mere seconds after being promoted to Mid-class Devil?"

"You were promoted to Mid-class Devil?" Ravel asked, shocked. "When did this happen? I thought you were recently turned!"

"I am recently turned," Naruto assured Ravel. The comment earned him glares from Rias and Koneko. Naruto broke out in a cold sweat.

"Well?" Rias crossed her arms under her bust. "I'm waiting for your answer."

"Uh, w-well,you know that I wasn't really, um, ah, comfortable in there with all those people and, ugyu, I-I, well I thought that it would be fine if I left after speaking with your family so, uh, yeah..."

"Yes. That does make a little sense." Rias nodded and Naruto thought he might get off without making her really angry. "But that doesn't explain why Ravel was with you."

Urk.

"Y-you mean the princess?" When Rias glared at him for the princess comment, Naruto squeaked. "Ah, hahaha, f-funny story that. You see, it was, um, it was, sort of like munya munya and, well..."

"I-it was my fault," Ravel said quite suddenly, startling Rias out of her glare. Not Koneko though, surprisingly, she was still glaring. "You see, I wasn't feeling very comfortable at the party, because I was the only member of my brother's peerage there, and felt out of place. Naruto noticed this and decided to help me by taking me with him."

Rias stared at Ravel, who tried to remain confident but couldn't keep from squirming underneath the older Devil's gaze.

Finally, Rias sighed.

"That does sound like him," she said, and the tension of the situation left, allowing everyone to relax.

Naruto's shoulders slumped. He sent Ravel a grateful look and mouthed "thank you" to her, which elicited more blushing and steam.

What a weird girl.

~KatCHRP~

After Naruto and Ravel returned, Lord and Lady Phenex both left with their daughter in toe. Ravel had given Naruto an awkward goodbye, and also asked the blond Uzumaki if he would be willing to have tea with her. While he wasn't really a tea person, he'd agreed to have tea with the young woman. She might be weird, but he liked weird people. Plus she was really cute when she kept stuttering like that. He would have been incapable of saying no on her cuteness factor alone.

Koneko had not been pleased by his acceptance of tea with Ravel, though, and Naruto knew there would be a lot of head petting in his future.

Upon the Phenex's leaving, Naruto found out that the party had ended some time before he arrived and that everyone had already vacated the premise. With nothing keeping them there, Aasia, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko, and Issei all left. Naruto would have gone with them, but Rias had said she wanted to show him around the house.

Much as he had expected, the mansion that the Gremory's lived had the same ridiculous size as a Daimyo's palace. The place had more rooms than they had people living there, even if you included all of their servants. The hallways were all made from expensive-looking marble that had been polished to a shine, with a red carpet containing the Gremory clan crest running down the center. The walls were made of a type of rare ore found only in the Underworld, and lining these walls were all manner of expensive, original artwork from both the human and Devil worlds. In short, the place was every snobbish pricks dream home.

Which is why it surprised Naruto to learn that every member of Rias' immediate family was so nice.

Naruto eventually found himself being led to single door with a sign on it. The sign, hanging from the doorway with a string, had the words "Rias' room. Keep out." written on it, and a chibified version of Rias underneath the words.

"Cute drawing," he commented, chuckling.

Rias blushed. "Are you sure you want to see my room, Naruto? I've already showed you the rest of the house. We can just skip this one if you want." She sounded hopeful.

Naruto dashed her hope. "But this is the room I was looking most forward to seeing. I don't care about the other places. I want to see the room where my Rias grew up."

"O-oh." Her eyes grew impossibly wide, and her face... was it possible for a face to turn that red? "W-well, I guess I can show you."

With that, she opened the door and allowed Naruto to step inside.

Rias' room looked absolutely nothing like the room of a noble. Oh sure, it had all of the things you'd expect to see in a rich girl's room: a queen-sized canopy bed made of some dark wood, furniture that looked like it cost more than most houses, and rich carpeting that looked soft and delicate enough that most beds would be less comfortable to sleep on. However, while it had all of the amenities of a rich oujo-sama's room, there was something in there that did not belong.

Namely, the large collection of anime, manga, Japanese video games, and figurines that littered the room. The bookshelves, all six of them, were filled to bursting with anime and manga and video games. Figurines sat on her desk, nearly six dozen of them in all. Naruto even saw one that he recognized.

"Is that the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom?" asked Naruto, pointing at the mecha robot figuring with the spread out wings. Rias, her face hidden by her hair, nodded. "Huh." He looked around some more before chuckling. "Who knew that Rias Gremory, the proper and beloved Oujo-sama of Kuoh Academy, was a Japanophile."

"I know it must seem weird to you," Rias muttered, her left arm gripping the sleeve of her dress. "Knowing that your King is into Otaku culture."

"Well, I don't know about weird," Naruto said, "I mean, it's odd, sure. Certainly not something anyone would expect from one of the 'Great Ladies of Kuoh.' But, honestly, I think it's kinda cute."

Rias' head snapped up so quickly that Naruto was afraid she'd broken her neck. "R-really?"

"Yeah. It shows that you've got more personality than those other girls who think stuff like this is beneath them. I think it makes you unique, and trust me on this when I say that's never a bad thing."

"I-I see." Rias smiled at him, her expression growing more confident. "Then maybe, perhaps you'd like to watch some of these with me some time?" She gestured to her collection of anime.

"That sounds like fun. Oh! I know. We could make it a movie night! Or, well, an anime night, but you know what I mean."

"We could stay up late into the night, watching anime," Rias added, her eyes sparkling. "I'll show you some of the rarer anime I've collected, the stuff most people don't even know exists and the older anime. I think you'd like Vampire Hunter D. That ones pretty cool."

"I have no clue what that's about, but with a name like that, it must be awesome." He paused. "They don't sparkle do they?"

Rias blinked. "What? Sparkle? Of course not. Why would they?"

"Oh good." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, Vampire Hunter D sounds like an awesome anime."

"It's completely awesome! Vampire Hunter D is one of my favorites, just after all of the Gundam series' and Magical Girl Kyoko."

As they began talking anime, Rias remembered something.

"Naruto," she said from her place on the bed, having sat down sometime during their discussion. Naruto, who sat right next to her, tilted his head. "I wanted to thank you for what you've done. You saved me from a loveless marriage, and I-well, I'm really grateful."

"Well of course I did!" Naruto said, clenching his fist, his eyes shining with a hidden fire. "There was no way I was gonna let some jerk who didn't even appreciate you put his grubby mitts on my Rias." While Rias flushed from his "my" comment, Naruto continued speaking, his voice soft. "You... I don't think you truly realize how much you mean to me." Rias' breath hitched in her throat. "I don't think you realize this, but when you found me, I was adrift. I lacked direction, I had no purpose, there was no one important for me to protect, no great goal for me to achieve. When you resurrected me as a Devil, you gave me a purpose, you put a goal in front of me. For that alone, I would have remained grateful to you."

"Is that the only reason you like me?" asked Rias, her voice a whisper. If he only liked her because of that, then she would―

"Ouch!"

Rias reeled as Naruto flicked her in the forehead.

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course it's not the only reason, just the first of many. Didn't I tell you? The Rias that I know is awesome. She's kind and compassionate towards the people who serve under her, she's earnest and hard working. She can be kinda manipulative at times, like when she bribes Issei with her oppai." He gave her a knowing look, causing Rias to hide her face in her hair. "But even that's kinda endearing. Look, Rias, what I'm trying to say is that there are a lot of reasons you're important to me, and no single one of them is anymore important than the other. You're my King, my friend, and one of the most amazing women I know, and I hope that you'll continue to rely on me in the future just as I want to rely on you."

Rias didn't know what came over her, but as Naruto continued to speak, something inside of her broke. Like a dam bursting, all of the emotions she'd been feeling since that night at her families estate in the human world rushed out all at once. They were like an uncontrollable flood, washing over her with the strength of an unending tide.

Rias surged forward. Before Naruto could even think of speaking another word, her lips were on his, kissing him. It didn't last long, and she moved back before he could even consider what to do. Despite that, Naruto marveled at the feel of her lips on his. They were soft and gentle and warm. A pair of perfectly kissable lips.

"That was my first kiss," Rias told him. She looked nervous. "I heard that it's very important to girls in Japan."

Naruto didn't know that, but then, he wasn't from Japan nor was he a Japanophile like Rias, so that was okay.

"Are you sure it was alright giving your first to me like that?"

"Yes, I..." she hesitated, her cheeks growing stained. Rias looked down at the floor, her hair moving in front of her like shimmering fire. "I wouldn't want anyone else to have it."

Wow. What could Naruto say to that?

"Would you mind if I kissed you again?"

Ask for another, apparently. Well, no one could say that Naruto lacked courage when it came to relationships. He proved that rather blatantly during his quest for Sakura's affection. You've got to have balls of steel to constantly ask the girl who punches you through walls to go on a date with you, especially when half of the time she put you through a wall was because you asked her on a date.

Rias looked surprised. Her eyes were wide and round, and her mouth had formed a pretty little "o" of surprise. She calmed down, though, and then gave him a smile. "I wouldn't mind if we kissed again."

Naruto grinned and didn't hesitate to claim her lips with his own.

And that was how Naruto and Rias got together, making out on the bed of her room, the door bursting open, and Sirsechs Lucifer rushing in.

….

Wait.

What?

"Rias-tan~! I was wondering if you and Otouto had a moment? I wanted to... to, um, oh." He paused upon noticing what position Rias and his new "brother" were in. "Is this a bad time? Because if so I can totally come back."

Sirzechs has a terrible sense of timing.

"By the way, otouto."

The great Maou, Sirzechs Lucifer, stood there in the doorway.

And gave Naruto the thumbs up.

"Good job."

He also doesn't know how to read the mood.

He's an idiot like that.

And this is the guy who controls the Underworld as one of its Satans.

Talk about scary.