She was angry. She didn't know why, but she knew she was angry.
Anger was an emotion she rarely felt. She didn't feel many emotions, to be completely honest, but anger was one of the rarest. Even the Great Red couldn't push her far enough to make her truly angry. At best, all he was was an annoyance. An annoyance that would be swiftly taken care of.
But this … this wasn't just some mere annoyance. An annoyance could be ignored until it was properly taken care of. An annoyance didn't make you want to completely eradicate its existence from the face of the planet. An annoyance didn't conjure up a huge well of anger and frustration that took every single ounce of her rather limited willpower to control.
The Nekoshou. She was the indirect of her anger. She knew it and the girl knew it. The blatant looks that she was sending her reeked of satisfaction and relishment. The cat demon clung to Naruto's side like a leech, absorbing every single ounce of attention and affection he had to offer when in the shop. Even the blond's home was no longer considered a safe spot. The devil would not let go.
And the pheromones. That was the worst part. The air quite literally reeked with them. The majority of it came from the girl as she was basically humping Naruto's leg every available second. The moment they stepped in the blond's house, he was whisked away into his bedroom where they would remain for anytime to an hour to the whole night before they would exit the room, carrying along with them a whole new wave of pheromones with them.
She was doing it on purpose. Ophis knew it. She wanted to retaliate but she couldn't. Naruto wouldn't allow it. The blond would react violently if she did. She didn't need that … at least for now. She knew that for made her even angrier. She had never encountered a problem where there was no visible solution in place. Even with the Great Red, she could at least set up a plan to deal with him. This though, she had no plan. No work around. No alternate route.
All she could do was sit and endure.
She never thought she could hate sitting around so much.
"I'm so bored." Naruto couldn't help but mumble out loud as he watched his first customer in an hour walk out of the store. It was around mid-day, usually one of his busiest times due to it being lunch hours, and the shop was completely empty. Not a single soul could be seen within the store excluding the ever vigilant Ophis. Though, the debate on whether or not the god even had a soul was still up in the air. Koneko was at school under great reluctance. It took a massive amount of pushing from both him and Rias in order to ease the girl away from his side. Ophis' presence near Naruto made it rather hard for the Nekoshou to be away from him.
A wistful sigh slipped out of the boy's lips as he began to remember the benefits of Koneko's closeness. The two had literally been going at each other like rabbits for the past week. Every single free moment he had seemed to wrapped up with her. He definitely couldn't complain. He was able to experience as a whole new side of Koneko because of it.
A small smile gradually worked its on to his lips as he allowed his mind to wander. In all honesty, he had to say that he actually enjoyed days like these. They allowed him to take a step back and truly enjoy all that was around him. Even with the dragon god sitting feet away from him, most likely plotting his eventual demise, there was a sense of relaxation running through him and the store.
"Hey, Naruto Bo-" That relaxing feeling came to a sudden and unwanted end when the front doors to his shops slammed open. A moment later, Azazel unexpectedly came strutting into the store as if he owned the place. The man managed to take two steps into the store before his eyes landed on Ophis. Once his eyes landed on the god, the fallen angel froze mid-step. With one foot on the ground and the other in the air, he switched between looking at the god and at the unimpressed looking Naruto. This game of charades lasted a full minute before the man slowly turned around and exited the store without a word.
"That could've been a pain in the ass." Naruto thought to himself as he watched the man turn a corner and disappear from his sight. He honestly didn't think he had the patience to deal with the man's antics today. He was relaxing ,for once, and knew that with Azazel around, that state of mind would come to an abrupt end.
His relaxation was once again put to a stop when the fallen angel literally came flying back into his field of view. The man looked as if he was forcibly pushed back towards the shop as he picked himself up off the ground. He shot a smoldering glare towards something out of Naruto's line of sight before turning to face the blond's store. The man tentatively walked back up to the store before slowly pushing its front doors open.
"H-Hey there." The man's greeting was much more reserved this time around as he came into his store. His attention kept switching between the dragon and the blond, both of which had a clearly bored look on their face. Naruto's expression bordered along the edge of agitation as the fallen angel nervously stood in front of him.
"What do you want, Ero-datenshi?" Naruto's voice displayed his agitation much clearer than his face did. The derogatory insult was just the icing on the cake as he levelled a glare at the man. Despite all of this, Azazel showed no visible reaction. The fallen angel seemed too focused on the god present.
"Well … I was just wondering … Umm… You see…" Azazel's attention kept switching back over to Ophis while he spoke to Naruto. It quickly became apparent to the blond that the man felt uncomfortable in the girl's presence. It didn't exactly register why in his mind, at first, but the fact that the girl was an unfeeling dragon god soon came back to him. Sometimes, it was hard for him to remember that fact when the girl tended to act so docile around him. She acted more like an attentive child than anything.
"Can … Can we have this conversation somewhere a little more … private?" Azazel finally spat out a full sentence. Naruto's eyes refocused on the man and saw that he was almost sweating with anxiety. The fallen angel not-so-subtly gestured towards Ophis with his eyes in a clear sign that he didn't want to talk with her present. Naruto rolled his eyes at the man's behavior before turning his attention onto the god.
"Ophis, can you put on your headphones for a bit? We're about to have a conversation and this guy talks really loud." Azazel's breath caught in his throat when the blond addressed the god. His first reaction was to immediately berate the boy for being so casual in his speaking with the god. He was seconds away from doing so but was stopped when Ophis actually listened to Naruto. The girl actually relented by pulling out a pair of headphones and tuned out from the conversation.
"How in God's name did you get her to do that?" The fallen angel exclaimed the exact second after Ophis put on her headphones. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man's question before glancing over towards the dragon.
"Y'know, I don't really know. She just listens to me." The blond offered up a shrug. He honestly couldn't and wouldn't even begin to decipher the god's behavior. On a daily basis, he was left guessing whether she was plotting his demise or just looking in his general direction. He had learned long ago to not look too deeply into her behavior and just go with it.
This didn't seem to be as easy to accept for Azazel as the man still looked flabbergasted. His attention kept switching in between the duo as if he was trying to solve some unseen puzzle. The puzzle would seemingly remained unsolved to the fallen angel as he instead decided to focus solely onto Naruto.
"When I first heard that Ophis was hanging around you, I was a little worried. Seems like I had nothing to worry about in the end." The man released a small chuckle after speaking. The blond's curiosity seemed to have been spiked sometime during the man's statement as he rose slightly in his seat.
"Heard? Who told you that she was here?" Naruto's statement earned him an incredulous look from the fallen angel. The man looked almost offended at his question.
"Who? Who haven't I heard it from is a much better question. She's Ophis. She's a god. She's THE dragon god. Everyone in the supernatural world got tipped off when she left the dimensional gap. The word spread like wildfire when she was sighted with you on multiple occasions." Azazel said like he was stating the obvious. And after hearing the man talk, Naruto was beginning to realize just how truthful his words were. For some odd reason, it had completely slipped his mind that Ophis hanging around him would attract so much attention. She was a reclusive god whose reputation was cemented by her introverted attitude centered around her home. Her willingly leaving her home to be with him would set off warning bells to … well everyone!
"That would explain all your recent guests." Kurama spoke up. Naruto brushed off his partner's sarcastic comment, deciding to deal with it later. In all honest, he didn't feel like he could keep a straight face in front of the fallen angel if he started arguing with the tailed beast.
"I knew that." The blond mumbled out. Azazel's subsequent expression clearly said he didn't believe a single word out the blond's mouth but he didn't verbally refute.
"Sure … back on topic!" The man's natural eccentric behavior seemed to come back to him. "I have something really important to talk to you about." Naruto raised an eyebrow, a sign that Azazel took as a green light to begin laying out his plan to the blond.
The plan took a full ten minutes for the fallen angel to explain. During those ten minutes, Naruto was left seriously doubting Azazel's sanity. The man's explanation involved weird code names, an array of nearly uninterpretable body movements and even a chart that he pulled seemingly out of nowhere. By the end of it, the blond could honestly say his head was hurting from attempting to process what he had been told.
"So … let me this straight." Naruto started off while rubbing his temples in a futile attempt to alleviate his headache. "You want me to talk with the leader of the devils, a guy I've really only met in passing, and convince him to sit down and have a meeting with you and Michael, the leaders of his enemy factions, so that you guys can make a peace treaty?" The blond finished, clearly exasperated.
"Yup!" Azazel responded cheerfully, clearly happy that the blond had managed to decipher his message. The blond released a long sigh as the man confirmed what he had feared. Yet another person was attempting to rope him into doing something he honestly wants no part of.
"I'm sorry, but I have to say no." If he hadn't found the man so annoying, Naruto would've felt a twinge of sympathy for the man purely based off the look on his face due to his denial. The fallen angel looked like a child whose favorite toy had just been broken before their very eyes. He looked heartbroken.
"W-what?" Azazel questioned. The man spoke as if he couldn't quite believe the words that had come from out the blond's mouth.
"I said I don't want to get involved in your over complicated tea party. " Naruto shot back.
"But its not complicated! All you have to do is tal-"
"No!" Naruto shouted as he shot up to his full height. "It's never as easy as just 'talking'. Peace isn't something that magically appears because of some talking. People have to unite. People have to work together. People have to trust one another for there to be peace. I've met at least one person from each of your faction and I can tell you, things won't be as easy as you're making them out to be. Trust me, I want peace too, but you all have nothing in common!"
"Ah!" Azazel exclaimed. "Thats where you're wrong. We do have something in common. All the factions have one common factor. And, it's you!" The man let loose the revelation with a wild grin stretched across his face. If Naruto hadn't been confused before, he definitely was now due to what the fallen angel had just said.
"What the hell does that even mean?" Naruto exclaimed. Azazel's grin only seemed to spread wider across his face, causing the blond's heart to sink slightly. He didn't know why but the expression on the fallen angel's face filled him with dread and annoyance. Mostly annoyance.
"Well, you've met and personally spoken with the leader of each faction and you've managed to tame Ophis, an integral figure in each of our faction. Plus, your status as a nature-based god lends you credibility." The man rattled off as if he was talking about something as common as the weather. If he saw the jaw drop Naruto performed at the mention of his 'godhood', he didn't show it.
"G-god? Nature-based god? What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto exclaimed, clearly lost. What the fallen angel was spouting made no sense to him. He wasn't a god. He had never said he was a god. He never told anyone he was a god. So, why the hell did the fallen angel just call him a god?
"Oh, you're definitely a god. Naruto, the God of Nature, the tamer of the Infinite Dragon God and the Candy Sage of Kuoh, healing the earth one tree at a time. Has a nice ring to it, right?" Azazel spoke with a shit-eating grin etched onto his face. His face looked seconds away from splitting as it tried in vain to contain his smile. His teeth damn near shone in the overhead light within the shop. That was how bright his smile was.
"T-this makes no sense. I'm not a god. You know I'm not a god!" Naruto pointed an accusatory finger at the man. Despite the man's oddities, the blond had trusted him enough not to make bold statements like the one he was currently making. Seems as if his trust was misplaced.
"Well, of course I know." Azazel casually stated, sending the teen even deeper into his rabbit hole of confusion. "But everyone else doesn't. And I plan on using that to our advantage. Everyone else sees you as a new god, the starter and leader of a brand new pantheon. Your taming of Ophis has kept them off your back attack wise, but alliance wise is a whole different story. You're a hot commodity and a big bargaining chip."
To say Naruto was shocked would be a massive understatement. His mind was still attempting to comprehend just what exactly the fallen angel was trying to get across to him. The words coming out his mouth were absolutely ludicrous.
"No. No no no no no no." Naruto repeated the word while shaking his head. "I am not getting sucked into this. I don't want any part of it. Keep me out of it!"
"Why not, Mr. 'I want peace too'? This is the peace you're looking for! And, all you have to do to get is talk to a few people, shake a few hands, maybe gain a worshipper or two and that's it!" The man read off the list as if he was reading some recipe instructions. Naruto honestly couldn't believe what the fallen angel was saying.
"He does have a point. This could be the way to peace that you've been looking for." Kurama spoke up from his silence. The blond was left absolutely flabbergasted by the tailed beast's statement. Now, even his partner was backing up the craziness that was coming out of Azazel's mouth. This wasn't making sense.
"I … I can't believe this is actually happened." Naruto murmured to himself as his mind began to catch up with the reality of the situation. This wasn't some weird hallucination brought on by exhaustion or sickness. This wasn't a dream. This was actually happening.
"Stop being so over dramatic. The least you can do is give it a try." The tailed beast mentally spoke out. The incredulous look plastered across the blond's face made it quite clear how he felt about that idea.
"But a god? A god? I can't pretend to be a god! I can barely lie!" Naruto mentally exclaimed, trying his best to weasel his way out of the situation. Now that he knew that Kurama was in agreement with the idea, the blond knew he had to convince his partner of the opposite if he enjoyed his sanity. The tailed beast would take a sick amount of pleasure of mentally torturing him with a series of guilt trips and rants.
"You don't have to do anything differently. According to the fallen angel, everyone already believes you to be a god. Just continue being your usual annoying self and things should go smoothly." The beast's insult went mostly under the radar as his partner attempted to analyze his words.
Honestly, a large part of him wanted no part in whatever the fallen angel was planning. The man had already proved himself to be very perverted and annoying and Naruto had a feeling that getting involved with him would only make it much much worse.
"C'mon buddy. All you have to do is pretend a little bit and then you'll save the lives of a ton of little devil and angel children. I don't see anything wrong with that." Azazel's voice literally dripped with enough sweetness to make the blond internally gag. Despite the over exaggeration on the fallen angel's part, Naruto could still sense a bit of truthfulness in his words. Even if there was a small, barely infinitesimal chance that he could help bring about some variant of peace, he had to at least try, right?
It couldn't be that hard. Trying wouldn't hurt, right?
Y'know, being a god wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. It came with a lot of perks. People tended to listen to him more often than not nowadays. Though, that may be partly because Ophis was constantly by his side as a reminder of the power he had. Only a truly powerful being could "tame the dragon god".
Naruto rolled his eyes at the thought as he strummed his fingers against the table. If only people knew the true relationship behind him and Ophis. They would be looking at him much differently if they did. But, they didn't and them not knowing tended to make things work out much smoother, so why ruin something good?
For example, actually setting up an audience with Sirzechs could've been a real pain in the ass if he didn't have Ophis by his side. Striding into Rias' office and demanding an audience with her brother all by himself could've ended in a much more different way. With Ophis by his side, the girl was heavy pressed to demand his request. He felt a bit bad for basically intimidating the girl into doing it but figured he would make it up to her later.
The meeting with Sirzechs had been interesting. Surprisingly, the man had decided to meet him at his shop. The reason for that was most likely he didn't want the chance of Ophis parading around in devil territory. Who knew what type of damage the girl could unleash if someone managed to agitate her?
The devil had been actually very receptive to the idea of a sort of peace between the faction. During this meeting, Naruto managed to gauge the true character behind the goofy mask Sirzechs tended to wear. The man was a sincere, family loving, peace seeking guy who would do anything to protect his family and friends. Even if that meant slaying anything that threatened their health. But, if he could avoid murdering people, he certainly would. And this meeting would be the perfect chance to avoid it!
Naruto sighed. That had been the easy part. Picking a venue for the peace talks was the hard part. Each faction refused to go into each other's territory in the fear of being ambushed or back-stabbed. That level of distrust had been a somewhat disheartening sign to the blond about how the meeting would go but the factions' persistence on the meeting actually happening managed to keep his spirits somewhat lifted.
In the end, Kuoh Academy was picked as the venue. Each faction had somewhat of an influence in the city so it only seemed fit. Naruto had petitioned for the meeting to take place within his shop, since it was going to take place within Kuoh, but that idea had been quickly shot down. He was still mourning the loss of the level of sales he would've gotten.
"Naruto-kun!" The voice carried across the room into the blond's awaiting ears, causing him to release a groan. He turned his head towards the voice and saw an excited Azazel bounding his way towards him. A reluctant looking Vali was right behind the man. The teen looked as if he was trying his best to look anywhere but at Naruto.
"Hello, my friend! Are you excited? Can you feel the buzz in the air? Today is a great day!" Excitement literally seemed to be oozing from the man as he spoke. The grin stretched across his face was telltale sign of just what exactly the man was feeling. The teenager standing next to him was the exact opposite. Vali looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. The blond honestly couldn't blame him. If he was forced to deal with Azazel for an extended period of time, he may have also grown into a loathsome prick.
"Yeah … it's weird seeing all these people together." The blond responded as he eyed the roomful of people. The room was obviously segregated. Even under the notion of a peace talk, tensions still existed among the factions. Devils stood with devils, angels stood with angels and fallen angel's stood with fallen angel's. The only exception was Michael who could be seen leaving the room with Issei in tow. This was the first sort of inter-faction that the blond had seen, making him highly curious. The leader of a faction interacting with a low-class devil was something that certainty deserved his attention.
"So … where's your .. uhh .. little buddy?" Naruto's attention was brought back to a much more nervous Azazel. The man, for some odd reason, seemed to be sweating as he looked around the blond nervously. His current attitude was a completely 180 from the one he possessed only seconds ago. It didn't take much mental effort for the shinobi to figure out what exactly had driven the fallen angel into such a mood.
"She's around. I thought it was best if she stayed away from the meeting." Naruto said as he eyed the man. Azazel already looked like he was ready to flee from the mere possibility that Ophis could be here. If he had shown up with the dragon unannounced, he was sure that the peace meeting would turn into an all out brawl.
"Smart decision." Vali spoke up for the first time. Naruto's gaze washed over the teen as an idea struck him.
"By the way, I'm docking your pay." The look on Vali's face almost sent the blond down to the ground, clutching his stomach in laughter. The devil looked absolutely flabbergasted at the revelation that his wages had been cut once again.
"What! You can't do that! I'll be making below minimum wage." He exclaimed.
"Well, maybe if you showed up for work more than once a week this type of stuff wouldn't happen." Naruto stated flippantly while inwardly holding in a laugh. The shocked silence that greeted him only made the situation that much better to the blond. There was something very entertaining about messing with his fellow teen.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." All at once, all three males turned their head towards the new voice.
"Sirzechs-san!" There he goes again. Azazel's personality did an exact 180 in the presence of the devil. The playfulness that was present only a second ago had disappeared to make room for a more respectful demeanor. It was alarming and impressive to Naruto to see the man switch between personalities so smoothly.
"Maybe he has multiple personalities." The blond mused to himself as he slyly eyed the fallen angel. That would actually explain a lot. It was a much better explanation than just assuming that the man was crazy. Though, that was still as much as an option as multiple personalities.
"Are you ready, Naruto-san? The meeting will be starting soon." The blond was snapped out of his thoughts by Azazel's voice. He saw that he now had the three other male's eyes on him. He instinctively gave a nod in response while trying his best to hold in his sigh. He honestly wasn't ready for the conference, but there was no point in delaying. The sooner it started, the sooner it would be over with.
And, it was a peace meeting, after all. It couldn't go too bad, right?
Gasper felt … awkward. More awkward than usual. Being a crossdressing, devil with the ability to freeze time definitely made for some awkward situations. But being stuck in a room with Ophis and Koneko definitely topped all of that.
The boy was sat in his box, directly between the two girls. Each of them were sat at separate ends of the room. From their positions they were sending each other skin searing glares. Even though he wasn't the target of either glare, Gasper was feeling the heat from them. It made him wanted to retreat even further inside of his box just to escape them.
"A-Ah … You guys are sca-" The boy's complaint was put to a quick stop as both girls shifted their glares onto him. Under their combined might, Gasper stood no chance. He let out a loud yelp before diving head first into his box. His hiding spot was a little small, however, forcing the lower half of his body, more specifically his ass, to stick upwards into the air.
With the target of their glare now in hiding, the girls shifted their attention back onto each other. For once, Ophis actually had a spark of emotion on her face. The fact that that emotion was anger didn't exactly bode well for the occupants of the room. On the other hand, Koneko's normally neutral mask was twisted into a slight smirk as she met the dragon's gaze. She didn't know why, but she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of satisfaction at the god's agitation. Knowing that she was the reason behind it made the sensation even better.
And so, the silent struggled continued. Whole minutes passed without a single sound being uttered within the room. Gasper remained buried within his box, managing to avoid most of the tension within the confines of his hiding hole. A strange sense of peace settled over the room as everything remained still.
That all came to a sudden halt when the lights in the room unexpectedly switched off. Gasper let out a light gasp as he rose his head from the inside of his box while both girls settled for simply blinking.
"W-what is going on?" Gasper stuttered as he nervously looked around his room, his red eyes almost seeming to shine in the dark room. Koneko stood from her seat and began to walk over towards the boy as her ears began to pick up noises come from outside the room's entrance. Ophis remained silently sitting as she observed the duo.
A second later, the door to the room exploded in a shower of splinters, forcing both Koneko and Gasper to take cover. Before the duo could even react, two streams of light shot into the room and struck them. Within an instant, the duo found themselves pinned against the opposite wall as a series of seals covering their limbs.
Once the two devils were incapacitated, several cloaked figures entered the room. The figures were obviously all female. The very deep cleavage revealing cloaks they wore made that clear. They wore a hood that covered the majority of their faces and had the design of three golden eyes running down it. The women almost seemed to glide into the room as they entered one by one, bringing with them a small light source as they approached the restrained devils.
"Gasper Vladi." One of the females spoke as she stood in front of the young devil. The dhampir released a small whimper when the woman reached out her hand and began to trace his cheek. Koneko was glaring holes into the woman as she touched her fellow peerage member.
"We have come for you." The woman spoke again as she let her arm fall back to her side. She took a step away from the devil before aligning in a circle with the rest of the group. Once the circle was formed, the group of females joined hands as they began to utter a strange chant.
"Uhh … excuse me." Gasper weakly muttered moments into the chant. The devil's words went completely ignored as the cloaked group continued their chant, their voices growing louder and louder with each passing second. A strange glow began to form around the circle as their voices picked up.
"Excuse me…" Gasper spoke even louder this time. His voice earned him a slight moment of hesitation from the group but didn't halt them in their action as they continued to chant. The light that was forming around them took the form of a halo as its brightness filled the room. Gasper and Vali were both forced to turn their heads in order to shield their eyes from the light.
"Excuse me!" Gasper yelled at the top of his lungs.
"What do you want, child?" The closest female yelled right back at him. The dhampir gestured with his eyes and head to the opposite side of the room. The cloaked figure hesitated for a moment before following the boy's pointed look.
With the halo of light hanging above their heads, the group of females could now clearly see the full contents of the room. The light provided from the halo shone bright in the room, revealing Ophis' now standing form. The god was sending an indignant glare at the group.
"O-Ophis-Sama." The woman stuttered out in unison under the dragon's glare. This was not supposed to happen. Ophis wasn't supposed to be anywhere near this meeting. Cao Cao had ensured them of that. This wasn't good. Not at all.
"Uzumaki won't like this." Ophis said as his eyes swept over the two devils. Her gaze lingered on Koneko for the longest before returning to the group of females. "You all made a mistake."
"Wh-" The woman's pleas went silent as she faded out of existence. There was no warning, no clue, no foreshadowing. One moment she was there and the next she simply wasn't. The woman around her jumped back in shock as they watched her empty cloak flutter to the ground without her in it. Their eyes remained on the piece of fabric for several seconds before reluctantly moving back towards the dragon god. In the time they had taken their eyes off of her, a large black snake had manifested herself and had coiled itself around the girl's body.
"I, shall end you all for him."
The meeting was going well. Surprisingly well. Naruto had expected there to be much more tension between the groups, but they had all proven him wrong. The conversation had been civilized, much more than the Kage summit that took place within his home world.
Though, to give his world credit, the circumstances were much more intense. At that point, Akatsuki had been methodically picking off Jinchuuriki one by one. A superpower coalition of S-rank, land altering ninja still capturing the largest threats to the shinobi world still wasn't enough to completely sway each of the Kage immediately. Only after revealing Madara Uchiha's name did the villages collectively decide to team up. And even then, if it wasn't for Sasuke's interference, that may of never happened.
"Stupid stubborn old people." Naruto thought to himself as his eyes scanned the room. Despite his thoughts and the fact that the people in the room was exponentially older than the Kage, things couldn't of been going better. Michael made for an excellent mediator despite any bias the man might have. The man's voice sounded as if it was woven with a genjutsu as its flowed out of his lips. It gave the room a sense of serenity that made the discussions go much smoother.
"And with this comes the free exchange of information…." Michael's voice faded in and out of focus to the blond as he observed the occupants of the room. In all honesty, he wasn't very interested in the exact logistics of the alliance. It was all too technical for him. And, this was only a meeting. He could only imagine what terror would occur when they actually sat down to make a proper draft.
Naruto's attention was snatched up when he felt his chair shift a little beneath him. His eyes flashed to his right where he was greeted to the sight of an uninterested Shemhazai staring up at Michael. The fallen angel looked beyond bored as he tried to keep his attention focused on his brother. Because of this, Naruto crossed him off the suspect as he turned to his right to face his next culprit.
It didn't even take a second for the blond to deduce that the person to his right was the culprit. The massive grin on her face was a dead give-away, but the fact that she was also staring directly at him was a pretty big hint as well.
"Hi there!" The girl sounded as if she was trying to whisper, but it instead came out as a hushed shout. Her exclamation earned her the agitated glare of several people around her, causing her to turn towards them to offer them a sheepish apology. While she was occupied with her apologies, Naruto took some time to observe her.
The most notable thing about the girl was what she was wearing. The girl was dressed in something you would see in a children's TV show. The pink clothing, extremely short skirt and thigh high socks gave her a very childlike vibe. The blond could even see a wand tucked away in the waistband of her skirt. That was all he got to examine before the girl swung back towards him with her grin back in place.
"Sorry 'bout th-" That was all the strange girl got to say before the peace conference came to a grinding stop. All at once, every person within the room went deathly shallow. Some looked pale, some looked afraid and some had actually fainted. The general mood of the room did a complete 180 within a single moment. And, it was all because of the wave of monstrous energy that washed over them all.
"Of all days…" It didn't take much for the blond to deduce who was the source of the energy wave. The same could be said for the other occupants of the room as they all began to look over towards them. Their sudden attention on him confused the blond for a single moment before he remembered the nickname the supernatural community had decided to bestow upon him.
Ophis' tamer. If only they knew how ironically messed up that statement was. The blond would've given them all a roll of his eyes if he hadn't disappeared in a golden flash moments before.
In the brief moment it took Naruto to run from the meeting room to the room where he knew Ophis and Koneko, the blond prepared himself for a lot of things. While he didn't completely trust the god, he had enough faith within her to leave her alone with his girlfriend for the duration of the conference. His mind raced with possibilities of what could have possibly made Ophis display some of her powers. It was because of this paranoia that Naruto managed to push himself to cross the distance of the entirety of the campus in less than a second.
When the blond arrived at the room, he was relieved to see that Koneko was alright, albeit pinned against the wall by some strange seal. Right beside her was a feminine figure that the teen could only guess was Gasper, Koneko's best friend and Kuoh's resident dhampir. What he was surprised to see was the state Ophis was in. The god didn't looked agitated or upset or even tired. She looked as calm and placated as ever as she stood in the center of her room, her back facing the restrained Koneko and several mysterious cloaks that were on the floor.
"I took care of your issue." Was Ophis' greeting to the blond. Briefly ignoring the girl's words, Naruto did a quick scan of the room to try and piece together what exactly had went on in the room. When his mind failed to come up with a possible scenario, his eyes instinctively went over to Koneko to see if she was okay. Ophis seemed to notice his gaze as she turned her head to look at the Nekoshou. The god then preceded to give a small tilt of her head in the devil's direction. The next instant, the sound of glass shattering filled the air as the seals restraining both Koneko and Gasper shattered. Koneko managed to land lightly on her feet while her partner was much more unfortunate as he landed flat on his face.
"Ko-" The blond was interrupted once again as a bright light filled the room, provided by its only window. All occupants of the room turned their head towards the window and saw a massive seal filling the entirety of the sky over Kuoh. Out of the seal came spewing hundreds of women dressed in cloaks similar to the ones laying on the ground. Their intentions remained hidden for only a brief second before they began to reign down hell upon the school, shaking it to its foundation.
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto questioned as the women continued their attack. Unknowing to the blond, Ophis was having similar thoughts as she examined the marks on the women's clothing. She had been slightly suspicious when the group had tried attacking the half vampire and the person she had dubbed 'Uzumaki's leech'. Now though, with the mass appearance of the women and the massive seal in the sky, she had a clear picture of what exactly was going on.
"Uzumaki, I'm going outside." That was Naruto's only warning before the god threw herself at the window. She went crashing through it and into the open air as she flew towards the seal in the sky, leaving a dumbfounded Naruto alone in the room with his girlfriend and Gasper.
"Naru-kun." The blond's attention was once again stolen, this time by his girlfriend. He turned to face the girl only to have her appear in his face seconds before she wrapped him in a massive hug. The male could almost feel his bones begin to creak beneath the pressure the young girl was putting out as she remained wrapped onto him. The hug lasted for several seconds before Koneko reluctantly pulled away.
"Go. I'll stay here and protect Gasper. You go help." The devil left no room for argument as she stared into her boyfriend's eyes. The blond hesitated only for a second before nodding in return. Despite how much he wanted to stay to ensure nothing would happen to Koneko, he knew he couldn't do so with Ophis out there. He had never seen the god so assertive before, so he knew that whatever had managed to get the god like that was serious enough for him to get involved. So, with that in mind, the blond quickly summoned four clones within the room before disappearing out of the Ophis made hole in the window, leaving Gasper and Koneko alone with the clones.
"That … he was your boyfriend?" Gasper questioned as he eyed one of the clones. Koneko offered her friend a slight nod as she watched Naruto bound his way towards the campus' courtyard.
"Wow … he really is as cute as you said." A quick glare from Koneko told Gasper that he had crossed a line. So he did the smart thing and shut his mouth.
Still, that didn't mean what he said wasn't true.
She was beginning to realize just how irritating humans could be. Naruto had briefly introduced her to that concept but the magicians present had cemented that fact in her head. Humans were annoying. They were a pest, a thorn in her side that served as a constant agitation. She didn't like pests.
The magicians pouring out of the seal belonged to the Hero faction, a faction within the Khaos Brigade. The women manifesting out of the seal wore the symbol of the Magician's Council, only confirming Ophis' line of thought. She hadn't ordered any sort of attack. And, only one person within her organization had the authority to command the magicians.
"Cao Cao." Ophis wasn't too surprised at the revelation. She had always suspicious of the man. She knew he didn't have enough power to even begin to challenge her, but his intentions for joining the group had never been clear. This attack being spurred on by the magicians only helped her to realize just how untrustworthy he truly was. And because of that, he would be dealt with.
But first, the magicians. She could already see the devils, angels and fallen angels pouring out of the school building most likely to confront the magician invasion. She wasn't worried by their presence. By the time they prepared any sort of counter attack, she would've dealt with the invasion first. That was something to be sure of.
The first magician that fell victim to the god's agitation didn't even get to experience her death. By the time she realized what was happening, she was already waist deep within a snake that Ophis had formed from her body. The ethereal creature devoured the women in a single gulp before immediately heading towards the nearest magician, its innards immediately disintegrating the body of the women it ate.
With her snake set loose on its own personal war path, Ophis turned her attention on to the seal. By this point, most of the magicians were still ignorant to her presence. The three factions and their leaders seemed to pick up on it as they quickly slowed in their advancement. It was probably for the best as Ophis made her next move.
There was no warning. No flashing lights or bells or whistles were there to warn the magicians what exactly they had walked into. One second, Ophis was floating in the air several hundred yards away from them. In the next second, the god was still there, but instead of her human form, the girl had opted for her dragon form. Each and every magicians' attention was captured by the towering dragon that had suddenly materialized next to them. With the dragon's appearance came the oppressive presence as an almost unbearable pressure settled upon the shoulders of everyone present. The god was letting her energy leak out of her in spades in order to paralyze her prey. She didn't want any of them to escape.
A swipe of her arm. That was all it took to end the lives of dozens of the magicians. Her dragon body responded to her movements, moving its arm in perfect tandem with her while snatching up magicians in the process. The women that didn't die due to first contact with the god's energy soon found themselves crushed against the dragon's arm and the ground.
The women that had managed to stay out of range of Ophis' first attack quickly came to the realization of what was happening. And with that realization in mind, it didn't take them long to rationalize a plan to retreat. Unfortunately for them, they had already signed their lives away. A retreat was no longer an option. Death was the only thing that would greet them.
Before any of the humans could make a move, Ophis raised her draconian head into the sky and released a roar. The women closest to her released shrill screams as the sheer volume of the roar left them clutching their heads in pain. Blood soon began to leak from their ears as the humongous level of decibels shattered the inner workings of their ears. This mattered not as the god's roar had a secondary effect. The energy contained within the sound wave was strong enough to completely shatter the Magician's seal, cutting off any more from entering and keeping the rest trapped within Kuoh.
This earth shattering realization came upon the remainder of the magicians all too quickly as their organized retreat turned into a free-for-all. But, it was too late. Their escape route had been cut off and now they were truly at the mercy of the god. Wordlessly, thousands of snakes stretched out from the god's body. The hideous creatures hissed in unison, filling the air with a horrendously dreadful sound before descending upon their prey.
The scene was brutal, especially to the group of supernatural creatures standing on the sidelines bearing full witness to it. Most of the younger generation shielded their eyes in order to avoid watching the snakes feast upon the fleeing magicians. Even though they managed to shield their sight, they couldn't block out the sound of death and hissing that filled the air. The older generation looked stared solemnly forward. They had grown use to seeing this type of carnage during the war. They held no sympathy for the enemy force. Michael and his comrades were the only ones among them that dared to show any sort of remorse for the death of the magicians.
The slaughter lasted only the briefest of minutes. Ophis was terribly efficient at killing it seemed. Nothing was left remaining after her rampage as she turned to face the group, causing them all to collectively tense up. After watching the god take down a legion of magicians. Human or not, anyone that could kill that many people that quickly should be feared. And not a single one of them wished to go up against that type of fighting force.
Luckily for them, it would not come to that. Before any moves could be made by the god, Naruto dropped down in front of the group, putting himself in between them and the dragon. Ophis met eyes with the blond as a silent conversation began between the two. The three factions waited with bated breath as 'god' and god stared into each other's eyes. The silence was tense as the weight of a possible attack from the dragon hung over all their heads.
It never came down to that. Somehow, without the exchange of a single word, Naruto managed to calm the dragon. In a fluid motion, the energy that made up Ophis' dragon construct retracted back inside her body, leaving her floating freely in the air. The girl slowly descended back down towards the ground before making her way towards the blond. The duo shared another brief conversation with each other that went unheard by the group. The conversation ended with Ophis sending a brief glance towards the factions' leaders before returning her attention to Naruto. The girl offered the teen a small nod before disappearing from all of their sights.
Naruto sighed as Ophis disappeared from his sight. The dragon had supposedly returned to hsr dimension to deal with some issues. He could only assume that it had something to do with the invasion force. He could actually sense a large amount of agitation within her during their brief conversation. He felt bad for whatever poor bastard managed to frustrate her.
"Naruto, my boy!" The blond felt his own agitation grow at the sound of a familiar voice. He had to hold in yet another sigh when he felt someone land next to his side. Before he could utter a single word, he found himself wrapped in a one-armed hug by a certain fallen angel.
"What an amazing display! Absolutely fantastic. This is exactly what we needed." The fallen angel was absolutely exuberant as he clung onto Naruto. The smile on his face could actually be felt by the blond as he smashed his fast against the blond's.
"What the hell are you talking about? I didn't even do anything." Naruto grunted out as he tried to detach himself from the man. He found the task to be much easier said than done as Azazel kept a vice-like grip on him. It took a full ten seconds of struggling before he was finally able to free himself. He turned to face the man, only to have to hide his eyes from how bright his smile was.
"Didn't do anything? Oh boyo, you have absolutely no idea." Azazel stated as she swung his arm over the blond's shoulders. Before the teen could wiggle his way out of the one-armed hug, the Grigori leader spun the teen around so that he was facing the rest of the group.
"Ladies and gentlemen, there we have it. The illustrious nature-wielding, dragon god taming, candy selling god in action. What a show!" The man exclaimed while throwing his free arm high into the air. Silence permeated the air after the man's statement, causing Naruto to twitch due to the awkwardness of the situation. The gaze of over twenty supernatural creatures, some being the leaders of their factions while others having enough strength and authority to rival the Kages of his world, was something he didn't particular enjoy nor wanted. He felt scrutinized underneath the gaze. It was as if they were attempting to peel away the very layers of his character in order to see his true nature. It felt weird. And honestly, a bit creepy too.
That feeling slowly went away as a single clap broke through the silence. Everyone turned their head towards the noise to see Michael clapping his hands. The angel stood at the forefront of their little group and had his eyes focused directly onto Naruto. The two blonds met eyes as a sense of understanding seemed to overcome them both. The angel offered his fellow blond small nod just seconds before the remainder of the group erupted into a fit of clapping. The blond mentally filed away the angel's gestured for later as Azazel began to push him towards the group. That small nod meant a lot to him. It was good to know he would no longer be on the leader's of heaven badside.
"What an amazing display!"
"I've never seen something like that before."
"That kicked so much ass!"
"Absolutely outstanding!" Naruto felt a blush attempting to work its on way onto his cheeks as the group bombarded with compliment after compliment. Even after all his time in both his world and this one, he still hadn't grown use to being complimented. He had his stunted childhood to thank for that one.
"If we're finished with this senseless chatter…" Baraqiel spoke up over the multitude of voices, silencing them all instantly. The fallen angel's eyes swept over the entirety of the group before eventually stopping on Naruto. "I believe we have yet to finish our talk. I advise we do it quickly so that we may properly deal with the damage that occurred."
His words seemed to snap the group back into focus as they realized the truth in his words. Collectively they began to make their way back into the slightly damaged building, sweeping Naruto up with them in the tide of people. Just before the blond could get swept into the building by the crowd, he spotted two people making their way away from the crowd. It only took his mind a second to recognize the leading girl as Akeno and the redhead following her was Rias. His mind immediately flashed back to Asia and the girl's desperate plea for him to help her help Akeno.
It didn't take much debating for the blond to quickly summon and replace himself with one of his clones. His senses of chivalry and the immense boredom he felt sitting in on the peace talks were plenty of motivation to ditch the things. So he deftly made his way towards the fleeing girls, leaving his clone at the mercy of the supernatural hoard and the mind numbing boredom that the meeting would surely bring.
"Akeno, please wait!" Rias pleaded as she followed after her queen. The black haired was charging away from the girl at a rapid pace. She wasn't listening to a single word from Rias as she kept her pace up. The redheaded devil seemed to realize this as she picked up her own pace to catch up.
"Akeno. Please just list-" Rias managed to catch up to her Queen and reached out to touch the girl. Akeno swung around and swiped at the girl's outstretched hand, smacking it aside. The heiress stood dumbfounded for several seconds as she took notice of Akeno's expression. Tears were spilling down the girl's cheeks as she futilely attempted to stop them from leaving her eyes. Rias' expression softened at the sight of her friend's face.
"Akeno…" The girl's voice was much softer as she approached her Queen again. This time, Akeno didn't attempt to run. The girl stood stock still with her arms down by her side and her head facing the ground as the redhead stood close to her. The girl gave no visible reaction when Rias slowly reached out her arms to envelope the girl in a hug. But, ever so slowly, the girl's emotions began to leak out from beneath her emotionless mask. Her shoulders began to shake erratically as several sobs escaped her. The sobs turned into a full blown cry as she finally let go.
"He stood there … he said nothing… he didn't even acknowledge me… My mom died because of him and he couldn't even look me in the eye." Akeno spilled her heart out in between her panicked sobs. Rias was at a lost for words as her Queen spoke. All she could do was hold on tighter while the sadist continued to cry.
"It's … it's going to be okay…" Rias said softly in an attempt to placate her friend. That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as it got the exact opposite reaction out of the girl. Akeno pushed herself away from the redhead as her tears continued their steady trail down her cheeks.
"No! It's not going to be okay. It's never going to be okay. You don't understand! His blood, my mom's murder's blood, is in me. That will never change. I'm dirty because of him. I'm tainted." The girl's voice dropped down to an almost silent whisper at the end of the tirade. Rias truly was at a lost for words now. The redhead was stunned. She had never heard the girl so upset before. It left her confused.
Even through her confusion, Rias still wanted to help her friend. She took two hesitant steps towards Akeno in order to engage the distraught girl once again. Her Queen was having none of this, however, as the girl quickly summoned her wings in response. Before Rias could say anything, Akeno took off into the sky. By the time the redhead could even think to follow her, the girl was far out of her line of sight.
"Akeno…" Rias whispered as she stared wistfully into the sky. So focused was she on her friend that she didn't even notice a flash of gold that ignited seconds after the girl flew away.
She was alone. The forest gave her that. Away from him, away from Rias, away from people. It didn't feel nearly as satisfying as she wished it to be. She felt more empty than ever. But, at least she didn't have to deal with people anymore.
She knew was wrong. She would eventually have to return. Whether he would still be there or not wouldn't matter. Her anger and frustration wouldn't just disappear. She couldn't continue her facade anymore. She couldn't pretend to be happy with who she was. Not anymore. Not with his blood inside of her.
Akeno sighed as she ran a hand over her wings. They were tainted just like the rest of her. Anger rushed through her system as removed her hand from her wings. A spear made up of her demonic energy manifested within her grip seconds.
The devil stared angrily down at her wings with her spear in hand. She knew what she was about to do was wrong, but she needed it. She needed to be free of him some way. Even if it was only for a few hours before her regeneration kicked in, she would at least be free for those few hours. It was with these thoughts in mind that Akeno raised her spear high into the air and brought it down with full intentions on cleaving off her wings.
"Woah there!" That plan came to a sudden halt when Akeno's spear was deftly plucked out of her hands. The girl swung around only to come face to face with the blond haired boy that had managed to 'tame' the dragon god.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." Naruto said as he clenched down on the shaft of the spear, shattering it into pieces. Akeno watched in shock as the remnants of her spear fall to the ground. It took several seconds for her mind to catch up to what had just happened, but when it did, she grew angry.
"What do you think you're doing?" Akeno yelled as she allowed her wings to unfurl fully behind her. Naruto looked completely unaffected by the display. The girl only got a single raised eyebrow in response.
"It looked like I was stopping you from killing yourself." Naruto's words left the devil slightly dumfounded. Killing herself? She could never do something like that. She had too much to live for. Too much she wanted to do with her life. She couldn't end it early.
"I wasn't going to kill myself. I was just going to…" She froze. What was she going to do? Hurt herself? Tear off her wings just so she could experience some sense of fictional freedom from her father? Was that honestly any better than killing herself?
Naruto watched as the girl froze, slightly confused about her reaction. That confusion quickly turned into panic when he saw tears begin to form in her eyes. Crying girls definitely were not the blond's specialty. He didn't know if he could handle one, especially after seeing what had happened minutes prior.
"Whoa! Please don't cry. Please, please, please don't cry!" Naruto grew frantic as he approached the girl. Before he could get close to her, her wings blasted him backwards, landing him flat on her ass.
"Don't come close to me. Don't touch me! You don't know what I am." The last part was said in a whisper but Naruto managed to still hear it as he climbed back up to his feet.
"Well, whatever you are, it can't be bad enough to stop me from stopping you from killing yourself." The blond reasoned. After spending time with Ophis, he couldn't imagine the girl in front of her being much worse. Ophis was indifferent to the point where life had no value to her. Despite her general cuteness, the girl was homicidal through and through.
"Don't you say that!" Akeno screamed in response. Obviously, he hadn't said the most appropriate thing. "You don't know what I am or what's inside of me. I would be doing the world a favor if I…" She trailed off once again as all her anger faded from her. She felt hollow, yet again, at the thought of what she had been about to do.
Naruto saw the girl freeze up once again. He was slowly beginning to piece together what exactly was affecting the girl. From what he heard from Rias' and Akeno's conversation and what the girl had just told him, a picture was beginning to form. And the picture looked very similar to one he had faced before.
"Y'know, I don't have to know you or know what's inside of you to know if you're a good person or not." Came Naruto's dry response. Before Akeno could shout out her reply, Naruto appeared in her face, startling her into silence.
"Its unbearable, isn't it?" Naruto started again, catching the girl even further off guard. She found herself loss as she stared at the blond. His face had taken on a sort of whimsical expression as he looked down at her. "The pain being alone, the pain of being different … the pain of having something forced inside you that you never wanted … that you hated."
At this, Naruto lifted the bottom of his shirt, revealing his stomach to the girl. Akeno's eyes immediately gravitated to the bright glowing symbol covering the blond's abs.
"I know that feeling." Naruto continued. "I've been there. To be honest, I'm no god. I'm not anything special. I'm just a human. A human cursed since I was a kid with something I never wanted in the first place. Some called it a demon. Some called me a demon. I … believed it for a while too. Things can seem real dark and lonely when you have to live with a part of yourself that you hate." Naruto dropped his shirt as he broke eye contact with the girl.
"The point I'm trying to make is there some things about yourself you can't change. You're born with them and stuck with them all your life. So you have to learn to accept them. When you learn to do that, the people around you will learn to do the same. They'll rescue you from from loneliness. They'll save you from yourself. They will be your friends." Naruto finished as he turned his attention back to Akeno. The girl had been silent for the length of his talk, leaving him somewhat ignorant to her feeling. The blank look she had on her face after he finished speaking certainly didn't give him much insight either. As the silence between the two continued on, Naruto began to think just how odd what he said sounded.
"Look, I know I'm not the best at explaining things. I was trying to s-" Naruto was silenced when Akeno slammed chest first into him. This time, the blond didn't hesitate as he instinctively wrapped his arms around the girl.
"It's so hard." Naruto heard Akeno whisper into his chest. A soft sigh left his lips as he began to rub the girl's back.
He could remember similar nights being spent with Iruka once it was revealed to him that he contained Kurama. Knowing the reason why everyone disliked him and knowing that he couldn't change it made life even more difficult at times. It left him, confused, angry and hating himself constantly as a kid. It was only with the help of his friends that he manages to truly accept himself as a person.
"I know it is." Naruto spoke out as he tightened his hold on Akeno. "That's why you're friends are here to help you. That's why I'm here to help you."
The girl gave him a tight squeeze. Without a single word, the girl had said a lot with that squeeze. It showed she was willing to try. She wasn't going to give up. She couldn't give up. For herself and for her friends.
Naruto couldn't help but smile as he held the embrace. Even though she didn't say, he knew he had helped Akeno, if only by a little. That's something an all-mighty god couldn't accomplish.
Some things needed a more gentle touch.
Sometimes, people just need a friend.