End Game: Ver R Chapter 1

Humble Beginnings

Disclaimer : Disclaimer : I don't own anything. Don't own Highschool Dragons of Dragons or Naruto. I do own the concepts and plots that I introduced into the story. Also, because of the connection between Highschool Dxd and multiple Relions and Myths, I am sorry if I have accidentally written something wrong and offended someone's belief/faith etc. I just did some basic research and filled the holes in by myself so it is only natural if I get something wrong.

Kur0: You will be glad to know that neither of us have quit writing. Yeah, things have been hectic and I know I should have said we were on temporary hiatus or something but we didn't so thats my fault. Many of you have sent your well wishes and encouragement, too many of which to list here, which is a really encouraging thing all by itself. I'll let you guys know though, while we didn't have time for writing since work simply consumed everything, although things have sort of settled down. I'm currently working as veterinarian in nice sunny Australia, well apprentice vet anyway. Kishi is still in Malaysia, but we are both doing well. Despite that, no matter how hard things became, we still kept on thinking of plots, and ways to advance our current stories even though we didn't update anything. Mostly because we spent most of what time we could afford rewriting the End Game R series so that it flowed better.

I think, by this time, many of our old readers have already moved on and given up on us, but to those current, new and hopefully old, believe in us. Your trust in us was not misplaced.

I'll be reposting the chapters again, bi weekly at longest, until we reach our current latest chapter at which point we will try to resume updating as per our normal schedule. Do look forward and give me your comments on the new version yeah?

****End Game****

Everyone knew that God and Satan didn't get along; it was like a fundamental truth of the world that every child learned before they lost their first molar. Bad and Good didn't mix because that's how the world was supposed to be. There were things that decent people just didn't do and everyone knew those basic rules kept the world spinning.

Except one particular person, though it could be argued that instead of ignorance, he really just couldn't bring himself to care. He had more important things to worry about, like that hole in his shoe that made walking mildly uncomfortable.

As Issei Hyoudou made his way down a street with a smile as bright as the setting sun, hand in hand with his new girlfriend, his cheeks began to flush with a nervous energy when the sweet, innocent girl he was beginning to fall in love with led him into a deserted park with a rather naughty and inviting smile that sent his little brother into overdrive.

He never even knew that she could smile like that and the gap between her naughty side and her usually more reserved side was… more than a little arousing.

As the two of them sat side by side on the edge of a little fountain with a certain comfortable silence, their lips drew closer and closer with every passing second, never losing sight of each other's gaze as if their eyes could peer deep into each other's soul when Yuuma whispered his ear seductively, "Will you do something for me, Issei-kun?"

"Wha-wha-what is it?"

Of course, that was the point at which he discovered something else he didn't know about innocent little Yuuma Amano.

"Will you die for me?"

Like how she could turn her hand into a clawed paw before she tried to spear him with it. At the beginning of the date, he had had already decided that the memories of this day with Yuuma-chan would forever occupy a special spot inside him. As his clawed destiny sped towards his chest, a detached part of his mind found it morbidly ironic that his soon-to-be-ex girlfriend agreed with him, literally. As in, her clawed arm digging out his chest cavity. At least that was before someone kicked him out of the way and into the fountain.

His kicker, a tall boy with shaggy yellow hair and strange scars running along his cheeks stood there with a frown on his face.

Now, as we were saying, there was someone who really didn't care about things like that.

Issei Hyoudou is not that person. In fact, he was quite put out with the attempted murder.

"I would thank you to take your lover's quarrel somewhere else," The blond boy noted with a flat tone as he somehow ignored her large black raven wings, "I don't care if he cheated on you until you have to kill him but I happen to live over there," He jerked his chin in the direction of the wooded area in that park, "and I don't appreciate having to clean up a murder scene just so that I don't get questioned by the police. It's kinda troublesome."

Ordinarily, Issei would be rather annoyed if someone kicked him into a pool of water just before he got his first kiss, but at the moment he was a little too busy gaping at the strange looking boy who was wearing his school's uniform and the fact that he had almost been killed by his ex girlfriend, "Wait you! I know you! You're that delinquent from my school!"

"Yes…" the blond drawled with a lazy look at the drenched boy in the pool, "I'm sure my uniform didn't have anything to do with that," The blond dismissed him with another lazy glance before he turned back to the dark haired girl who was glaring at him, her beautiful face currently twisted spiteful mask, "Now can you please kill him somewhere else?" The blond made a shooing motion, "I believe there's a nice abandoned factory somewhere on the other side of town that would be much less conspicuous."

"Hey! I saw you this morning too!"

The strange boy gave Issei a mildly amused look, "You're not very bright are you? Isn't this is the part where people usually run away from someone who just tried to manually remove your guts?"

"No one," The girl who once looked like a gift from heaven said with a vicious hiss before she flicked her wrist, "Is running away."

The boy blinked at the spear of light that suddenly protruded from his chest, then at the sizzling piece of metal that he had pulled out almost on reflex to block the projectile. Judging by the sucking hole in his chest where his heart used to be, and the sizzling, deformed piece of metal that used to be a kunai.

Naruto mentally made a note to not try blocking spears of light with flimsy pieces of metal again, "Ah crap… I was going to wear this until the week ended…" He mumbled before falling over backwards.

In front of him, Issei stared at another identical shaft of light that had just destroyed his heart. Red liquid started to seep out from his chest, tainting the clear fountain water with a pinkish red hue.

"I'm sorry about this," She said, her voice was fading away nor did it even sound remotely sorry, "You were a threat to us, so we decided to get rid of you early. If you want to hold a grudge, then hate the God who put the Sacred Gear inside you." She turned to the blond delinquent who was sprawled on a pool of spreading blood, "You however, were just in the way. Serves you right for interfering in something, if you hadn't, you might have been able to live your pathetic life a little longer."

Her words seemed to invigorate the dying blond as his fingers scrabbled at the earth feebly.

One of Yuuma's delicate eyebrows rose curiously at how the blond was not dead yet since she was quite sure she had destroyed his heart. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she could swear that the hole in the middle of his chest seemed to be trying to knit itself back together but the corrosive properties of her light was supposed prevented any sort of healing.

"This stupid pebble is so uncomfortable…" the blond moaned lowly, "Couldn't you have killed me on grass? Or even in bed?" The blue eyes glanced at her again, "I would definitely prefer it in bed. A nice comfy bed with you on top."

The thing that had called herself Yuuma blinked and her lips twitched with some amusement. It was not often a dead man tried to flirt with his killer.

Even less often however, was when someone started to move again after he just had his heart removed.

Her eyes widened as the blond pushed himself into a sitting position with a grunt, the blue of his eyes were clearly visible as he glared at her.

"What the hell?"

She prepared to attack again, only this spear was aimed at obliterating his head, however the half dead blond was even quicker on the draw.

Even before the spear could be formed, the blond's other arm, which had been scrabbling around suddenly lashed out, sending a sharp pebble into her palm.

Her blood splashed on the ground as she cradled her wounded hand with an ugly snarl. Surging forwards again, she attempted another attack when her senses alerted her to several incoming presences. Cursing as a crest she recognized as one belonging to the local devil formed on the ground, she sent the bleeding Issei a fierce glare when another she heard the whistling of another pebble, stopping her attack before she could even contemplate making one.

Ducking away from the stony faced blond's projectile, she cursed loudly again and unfurled her wings with a loud clap and leapt into the air.

Keeping a wary eye on both the strange glowing crest on the ground and the loudly cursing woman until she was but a speck in the dusky horizon, the bleeding blond finally pitched forward again and collapsed on the ground face first as the last of his strength left him. Rolling around on his back with a heavy grunt, the boy grimaced to himself as the crest solidified.

His injuries were somewhat less than lethal, he'd been in far worse conditions, but the chances of him being able to fight off any new hostiles were looking bleak at the moment. He could heal, but it would take a whole lot more than a day. And it would certainly involve him being unconscious for most of the duration.

"Oya? What is this?" He heard a faint feminine voice floating over to his dying ears.

"There seems… we planned…. Rias." The voices seemed to pan in and out of his fading consciousness, "What… we do?"

The first person seemed to hesitate and he tried to focus a little so he could hear a little better. It wouldn't do to get his body molested while he wasn't in a position to enjoy it after all.

"He helped Hyoudo-kun." He felt a small, almost tiny hand softly brush his yellow, blood stained bangs back and caress his cheek with a gentleness he had not experienced in a long time, "It would be the least I could do."

A hand pressed onto his chest and he felt something warm wash on him, "But he has no Gears. No special talents." the second person finally said after an undetermined moment, "Nothing…. Not even a smidge of potential. Hyoudo-kun needs a minimum of 8 pawns, and all you would have left is the Bishop, the Knight or the Rook. And even if you use a Pawn on him, none of the remaining pieces will be sufficient for Hyoudo-kun's revival." The second voice pointed out reasonably, "He might turn out useful later on, much later on, but in the mean time we'd be trading a valuable Pawn for a worthless Piece."

He felt a little offended at that and tried to say something but his throat still wouldn't cooperate, only barely managing a tiny insulted gurgle.

He heard two feminine gasps of surprise, "He's still alive. Somehow." the second person muttered.

After a moment of silence that seemed to take an eternity, the first person finally sighed as if encouraging herself, "How could I be a good King if I allow innocent passerby's to die on my territory?"

The second voice chuckled softly. "I suppose not. You were always a softie like that. You might want to get ready for your Father's… disapproval though."

Rias grunted, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Indeed."

That was about all he could take as a peaceful blackness blanketed his consciousness entirely.

****End Game****

Blue eyes snapped open warily and wildly swung around the plain white walls of a room while the smell of bleach and clean linen pervaded his nose. Grunting, the blond slowly pulled himself upright from the comfortable bed before he looked downwards and gingerly poked his chest where a hole was meant to be.

"How interesting…" Sighing in some relief, he let his hands fall when he felt something warm underneath his palm. The stranger froze before his eyes drifted towards his palm.

Giving the mound of flesh another appreciative squeeze that prompted a moan from the sleeping girl, the blond sighed again. Shifting his weight, he calmly got out of the infirmary's bed and shrugged on a shirt that had been laid out on the next bed. With almost impeccable calm, he glanced at his surprise bed mate. Her deep crimson hair fanned out on the bed, standing out magnificently against the white cloth before he carefully tucked the sleeping girl back into bed.

"We couldn't find out where you lived you know."

Someone suddenly spoke, prompting the blond to whirl around and narrow his eyes at the girl leaning on the wall with a noble atmosphere around her. Her long glossy hair fell down her shoulders in a neat ribboned pony tail and her arms were folded under her sizable bust.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hime-chan." The blond replied with a whimsical grin.

She sighed tiredly.

"I really should be more surprised." The raven haired girl grunted.

The blond's grin grew wider, "I knew I recognized your voice last night," He said with a nod of acknowledgment, "Speaking of which? What are you guys?" He asked in a casual manner that caused one of her eyebrows to rise as he brushed his long shaggy hair back, deftly tying it into a rough pony tail with a piece of twine that he retrieved from the bed side.

"We are Devils from the House of Gremory, one of 72 noble demonic families." She jerked her chin at the sleeping red head, "That's Rias Gremory, current Head of House."

Her eyebrow rose even higher as the blond continued to button up his shirt with a completely unconcerned wave for her to continue.

"I didn't recognize you last night because of all the blood," She said coolly as she poured a cup of hot tea for herself, "But then I didn't expect to find a classmate literally dying from kindness last night either. Much less the most annoying one alive."

"I love you too, Hime-chan." The blond smirked as he gracefully slid into the seat opposite of her.

Akeno sighed, she had long since given up on trying to get him to call her something other than that, "Tea?"

"One, no sugar." The blond accepted the porcelain cup of steaming liquid before snorting, "I wasn't being kind by the way."

"So you didn't mean to save him?"

"If I was saving something, it was saving myself the pain. Letting him die on my front lawn was just too much trouble." He gave her a curious look, "The boy IS alive isn't he? You two didn't eat him or something right? That's what Devils do right?"

"We're Devils, not cannibals." The raven haired girl frowned, "And don't speak as if you're not one of us now. When Rias brought you back, you became a devil under her authority. There is no going back to your human life."

Naruto shrugged and sipped his tea before pausing to look at the steaming cup with appreciation, "This is good."

"Thank you." Akeno accepted the compliment with a graceful nod.

"Sure doesn't feel any different on this side of the fence though. I always figured the first thing I'd do if I became a Devil was to go berserk and rampage on some poor innocent village." He commented with a strangely amused smile.

Akeno blinked and decided to ignore his strange joke, "What did you mean by front lawn? We couldn't find any of your records other than a birth certificate, much less a place of residence."

"I would be surprised if you did." The blond noted with a smirk, looking around, he located his shoes and slipped them on, "By the way, does she always sleep with strangers while she's naked?"

Her dark eyes shifted towards her sleeping friend, "Not always. There were certain... complications." Akeno replied swiftly.

Naruto tilted his head curiously, "Such as?"

The way the raven haired beauty looked away before answering immediately roused his suspicion, "After healing Issei-san, she refused to let me help her and forced herself to heal you as well before she dropped from sheer fatigue." Her gaze returned to the serene blond, "Don't change the topic by the way. Where do you live?"

"I changed the topic," The blond countered bluntly with a deceptively serene smile as he observed the girl. She was telling the truth, or at least a part of it, because he could tell she definitely wasn't giving him the whole truth, "Because as far as you're concerned, I live on a street called 'None of your business.' By the way, may I know how you made this tea?"

Akeno was no stranger to death, and she had seen many different kinds of reactions when someone was told that they had been resurrected as devils. In fact, most newly made devils tended to refuse acknowledging something as traumatic as their own deaths, though there were a few who simply accepted it and moved on. Case in point, Issei had simply taken it as it Rias had laid it out for him and started planning to get stronger with an admirable tenacity.

Though she suspected that probably had more to do with Rias telling him that everything would be possible as a Devil with power.

Including harems.

However, something about the way the blond before her accepted the situation with an efficient equanimity, as if it was a mere curio to be glanced it before he moved on with his life, really frustrated the statuesque beauty standing by the exit. Annoyed by his unwillingness to cooperate, Akeno tried another way to get information from him, "No you may not." It was a little childish, she admitted to herself mentally, but she couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction at denying him something the same way he was denying her the information she wanted, "Unless you can explain why you're taking all this so well?"

The blond blinked, "You mean what happened last night was supposed to be strange?"

"I don't think people who can fly or bring the dead back to life can be considered normal, do you?"

"Then you'd be pretty surprised." Naruto observed with another one of his crooked smiles, "Incidentally, if I can't have your tea recipe, can I keep this?" He plucked his new shirt, "This is pretty comfortable and I lost my last one."

"We already saved your life, what's one more shirt?" the raven haired girl said with a snide smile as she pulled out her last trump card.

"I didn't ask you to save it." Naruto remarked just as snidely, "So… shirt?"

Akeno sighed, "Take it. We'll contact you again with more information."

"Don't you ever get tired of chasing me around?"

"Don't remind me." Akeno growled as she threw a dark look at the nonchalant blond.

Said blond merely smirked even harder.

Dark black eyes sent him a hard look. Placing her own cup of boiling tea down silently, she stalked towards the strangely unconcerned blond and jabbed one finger into his chest, "You are bound to us now whether you like it or not. Your life is tied to my Master. You owe us, and Devils always collect."

Dispassionately, the blond removed the finger from his chest and shrugged before leaving the room without another word, pausing only to complain quietly about the linoleum floor's coldness that seeped through the hole in his shoe.

Placing two fingers on her temple to rub away the growing headache, Akeno stared at the quietly breathing Rias, "Well, that wasn't helpful at all."

"At least we got Issei-san back to his house without any further complication, though we only managed to give him a brief overview." The red haired princess mumbled sleepily then winced as she glanced at her watch, "That said, I certainly didn't expect to get knocked out for a whole day."

Akeno simply nodded, the boy had come into the infirmary several times seeking for a more elaborate explanation regarding the entire situation throughout the day, but she had successfully managed to hold him off until Rias came around seeing as she knew that her best friend would want the honor of telling him herself, "I take it you heard everything, Ria?"

Pale white skin shifted under the blanket as she stretched gloriously, "Almost everything. You are acquainted with him?"

Akeno grimaced, wishing she wasn't, and nodded, "He's my classmate; a sponsored student under the scholarship for orphans. He has abysmal marks in everything except Traditional Japanese and he is constantly late. His blond hair, blue eyes and those scars on his cheeks doesn't help his image either, so almost everybody avoids him."

The elegant girl decided not to mention the fact that those very same attributes also seemed to mark him as a susceptible target for bullying. The only problem with that however, was the fact that every time he was targeted for bullying, the culprit invariably ended up severely injured in various humiliating and entertaining ways. The last one apparently ordered him to buy some cigarettes for him or suffer a beating.

The teachers found said bully the next morning, along with his gang, neatly stuffed down a row of toilet bowls, head first. To add insult to injury, all of them were also butt naked and had cartons of cigarettes and other drugs stuffed up their rear ends.

It went without saying that almost everyone looked at the blond fearfully since then, but as there was simply no proof that he was involved in it outside of simple coincidence since he always had a rock solid alibi with at least three different witnesses swearing that they saw him at any given time the previous day.

"Almost everybody?" the red head asked with a questioning glint in her eyes. She hadn't even known that Akeno was acquainted with the blond, and yet the way they had spoken to each other seemed to hint at something more than a passing familiarity.

Akeno glared at her and Rias wisely decided to find out some other way.

"If he's under Nii-san's scholarship, how come I don't know about him?" Rias questioned as she got out of bed without any shame whatsoever and paced the infirmary in her birthday suit.

"I would be surprised if you did." Her best friend commented dryly, "If Issei-san is the epitome of averageness with the exception of his remarkable lust then Uzumaki-san is an exemplary bottom feeder who only stands out because he fails so badly."

"Be nice, Akeno." Rias sighed, "He's still one of us now, even if he doesn't seem to like it. I do not doubt this is simply his way of dealing with his death. We just have to ease him into the situation."

The dark haired girl smiled a bit wanly, "I'm sorry, his lackadaisical attitude towards the school and indirectly, your generosity in helping him go to school just rubs me the wrong way."

"Plus you're irritated from having to stand watch the whole night to make sure he didn't molest me." Ria added with an amused smile.

Akeno stopped herself mid yawn and gave her best friend an dry look, "It wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't been too heavy to move alone. Someone's been sneaking away a little bit too much of those snacks at night I see."

The argument very quickly devolved into a childish fit of insult throwing after that.

****End Game****

The blond grunted as he ran one hand through his long shaggy hair, for some reason, his body felt extremely heavy and lethargic.

One pained blue eye glanced out the window and noted that the sun was just about to go down while another look at the worn watch strapped to his wrist told him that he had slept almost for almost 24 hours, instead of the 2 or 3 days he had been expecting.

"You!" a finger stabbed the air in his direction as a boy suddenly shouted, sending a sinking suspicion down Naruto's back that the day wasn't over yet as a familiar looking student hurried towards him.

"Oh gods above and below, spare me this headache." Naruto muttered under his breath, "You already took my life, what more do you want?" he silently pleaded to thin air. Sadly, his prayers went unanswered as he felt someone grabbing his arm.

"You were there last night, you remember her right?!" The brown haired boy uttered with an almost frantic light in his eyes. In the absence of the two girls who had apparently saved him last night, the boy had been driving himself spare at the situation he had found himself in with no answers save a few brief sentences outlining his new existence as a Devil. The fact that no one seemed to remember his remarkably aggressive ex girlfriend did not help his sanity one bit, "No one knows her anymore, but you do right?!"

"You mean stabby boob flasher-chan?"

"YES!"

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell." Naruto cut off his triumphant celebration flatly as he pushed past the suddenly disappointed boy.

"Oh…." Naruto had barely gone down the corridor a few yards before Issei suddenly perked up again, "Hey, wait! How'd you know if she flashed her boobs if you never met her before!?"

"You would be surprised at how many people flash their boobs at me." Naruto commented dryly, "or just how many people try to stab me for that matter."

The boy blinked, "Really? They flash you just like that?"

"No. I lied."

"GAH! Wait up, c'mon! Something seriously strange is going on."

Naruto resolutely kept his eyes in front of him as he ignored the pest's continual questions with remarkable fortitude, even though their little, noisy rapport drew them a lot of attention from curious bystanders. He was so focused on ignoring Issei that he didn't even realize that his soreness slowly melted away as the sun faded.

His little strategy was actually working pretty well, if you ignored the fact that Issei was currently attached to his leg in a bear hug, and continued working right up until they reached the same park from the night before.

Of course, Naruto being Naruto, was already driven halfway mad by the unending stream of questions and begging coming from somewhere near his leg. The blond was very seriously contemplating murder when someone did the job for him by putting a spear of light through the dark haired boy's guts. Issei immediately let go of the blond's leg fell to his knees with a earth shattering scream of pain.

The blond however, whipped around, half expecting the crazy girl with wings to be there again but instead of a insane girl in bondage gear, there was only an old looking man with a perverted leer pasted to his thin lips.

"Well… what do we have here, two low ranking Devils? Your Master must be pretty very low ranking if he was desperate enough chose this place as a territory-"

He was cut off by a screech from the blond one with scars on his cheeks, "GAAAH! Why do people keep dying on my fucking garden?! Do you people NOT know how impolite that is?! That's it, I'm moving! To some deep, fucking, peaceful forest somewhere!"

His rant was so surprising that the startled man had no idea how to react when Naruto brushed past him before diving into the foliage. There was some rustling before the blond reappeared with a packed tent slung neatly rolled up and stacked on top of a worn and old hiking bag that contained all his belongings. Several dented pots and pans were strung up around the dirty green bag, making a loud clanking sound as the blond tried to hustle past the old man without a word.

"Hold it, Stray. You're not going anywhere."

Naruto groaned as a spear made of almost solid light buried itself by his legs, barring his path forward. He was about to start cursing the old man when two more newcomers made their appearance, "I found the two of you, so I get to kill you."

"Look," Naruto began emphatically, his patience was seriously beginning to wear thin, "I appreciate the fact that you managed to get blabber mouth over there to stop talking, even if his screaming isn't much of an improvement, but do you mind GETTING THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!?"

The taller man's nostrils flared in anger as he reared back with another spear, "You.. impudent little shit." He let the spear fly at the blond.

Fuck this.

His eyes bugged as the blond who had been about ten feet away and on the verge of being impaled suddenly appeared directly in front of him.

"Wha-?" The Fallen Angel didn't manage to finish whatever he was about to say before the blond promptly introduced the edge of a saucepan to his nose.

"Good evening, Fallen Angel-san," Rias began she melted out of the shadows, Akeno slightly behind her before stopping abruptly at the scene before her.

"Akeno." She was inordinately proud that her voice had not hitched at all.

"Yes, Rias?"

"Please tell me I'm not hallucinating."

Her friend who was hovering near Issei, healing him with some sort of magic glow looked up and let an uncertain grin grace her smooth features, "You're not. Or at least I don't think so..."

"I don't think I've ever heard of anyone breaking in a Fallen Angel's face with saucepans before."

Rias couldn't help but grin as well as the Fallen Angel squeaked and began to run from the rampaging blond. Judging by how hard the blond was hitting him with those saucepans; it was going to take a minor miracle for the former Angel to straighten out his nose again.

"That's because there hasn't been anyone stupid enough to try it," Akeno noted dryly, "Except that idiot over there apparently."

"What I want to know however is how the hell is he doing that?" Rias remarked with an inquisitive expression at the Fallen Angel's bruised visage, "That's a genuine Fallen Angel, and not a weak one either. Not even Kiba can wound someone like that with nothing but his bare hands and strength."

"I'm more interested in how his saucepan isn't in pieces yet with how hard he is swinging them." Akeno commented, somewhat amused at the strange situation.

"That's enough! I'll kill you, you FUCKING BRAT!" The black winged man roared as he suddenly flapped his wings, and soared above them.

Rias figured his declaration might have been somewhat more effective and intimidating if it wasn't for the fact that his face was currently nothing more than a black and blue lump courtesy of one annoyed blond. If nothing else, the blond was certainly vindictive, she didn't think Naruto had aimed anywhere BUT his face, specifically his nose, the entire time.

"I'll TEAR you apart, LIMB FROM-"

And then a saucepan came whizzing out of nowhere with unnerving speed, promptly knocking him out of the air when it smacked him in the crotch with enough force to make Issei's eyes water.

"Ah, Fallen Angel-san," Rias sketched a light bow as she desperately tried to keep the grin off her face at the crying angel clutching his family jewels, "I certainly have no grudge against you personally, but if you try to harm my cute little servants any further, I'm afraid that I may have to interfere."

The watery eyed fallen angel opened his mouth to retort but paled and flinched away as Naruto threateningly waved a saucepan in his general direction. He knew first hand, exactly how accurately the boy could throw those lumps of metal if the pain his fishing tackle was generating was any indication, "I don't care what you two do to each other, beat each other into bleeding lumps of flesh for all I care, but do you mind if I break him first?"

"Shhh." Rias hushed him, "You're still an untrained soldier, you might be able to defeat him with some training but right now you are not strong enough."

"No… I'm fairly sure I can deal with a perver-"

"Unfortunately you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle. This man is not just any pervert nor is he one you can deal with." Rias cut him off resolutely.

The blond first gave the bruised and crying Fallen Angel a deadpan look, then at his remaining frying pan, before directing his gaze at her, "You seriously think so?"

In response she patted his cheek affectionately, "It's alright, Naruto-san, I'll protect you."

"Are those balls in your head working or are they just there for decoration?"

Ignoring his blunt retort as if he hadn't spoken at all, her crimson hair flowed in the calm evening breeze as she smiled at him reassuringly the way a big sister would to her baby brother, "Just trust me."

He almost threw a tantrum right there and then.

Never had he met someone so stubborn and make it so insulting at the same time.

'Ever look in the mirror?' He heard a deep, gruff sound answer him from deep inside his psyche before chuckling.

The Uzumaki drew a deeeep calming breath before he shoved his remaining saucepan back into his pack. "Fine. Whatever. Do as you like." He threw his hands up in the air and sat down on his backpack and crossed his legs with an exasperated look plastered on his face.

"Looks like your little lover's spat is finally over." The Fallen Angel puffed up his chest as if he had not just spent the last 15 minutes getting his face bashed in by the blond and his trusty saucepans. He immediately deflated again when aforementioned blond sent him a glare, "So these two belong to you? Does that mean this town is under your protection?" At her stiff nod, the man continued, "Very well then. For today, I will apologize. But I advise you not to let your servant loose. People like me might be having a walk and... bump into them."

"Thanks for the advice. This town is under my surveillance. So if you get in my way, then I won't hold back."

"I will say the same to you, heiress of the House of Gremory. My name is Donaseek." The man in the grey frock announced proudly or as proud as he could with that lisp, "I hope we won't meet again."

"Your nose certainly hopes so." Naruto muttered.

The man spreads his black wings, and his body started to float. Sending one last glare at the blond, the man hurriedly disappeared into the dark night sky.

****End Game****

In hindsight, Naruto supposed that he should not have been surprised.

The day had begun innocently enough. There was a certain normalcy about the whole routine that he found reassuring. To wake up at the same time, wear the same uniform, take the same path to school, to sit in the same lectures and dismiss the same harmless posturing classroom politics that was almost endemically prevalent in any structured setting was rather amusing and predictable.

Predictable he could deal with easily. Dealing with immortal nut jobs that had obscenely more power than was appropriate and wanted his life ever since he had born? Somewhat less so. It tended to be a rather irritating affair on the whole after all. So while his nice, normal, boring routine had been interrupted by a minor hiccup such as the discovery of a more arcane side of this world, he deeply appreciated just being a normal person in the crowd once in a while.

No one was throwing stones at him, or making him eat rotten food, or buying orange suits because it was all that he could afford, no single minded years of training just so that he had a chance survive to the exclusion of all else.

Yes, he could certainly deal with life as it was, even if there were moments of absolute boredom. Such as the long winded lecture currently unfolding at the front of the class.

On the bright side, he felt an amusing amount of killing intent directed his way from the general area where he knew Akeno Himejima sat.

Life continued to be good right up until he suddenly found himself thrust into the limelight by a certain stubborn magical princess who had shown up from up the class next door and insisted that he follow her somewhere.

He had ditched her immediately of course.

Naturally that didn't seem to stop the killing intent he had been feeling ever since class from suddenly tripling as the news of his being seen in the company of one Rias Gremory, as the culprits were mentally cursing a useless delinquent like him for daring to even breathe the same air as Rias Gremory.

How dare he indeed, the blond mentally mused to himself as he dismissed the glares with casual nonchalance and headed up for the roof. Then again, if someone could look an immortal being of power and malice and kick its snout a couple of times for good measure, he supposed that person would develop a certain amount of immunity to killing intent as well.

He had that thought would be the end of that. So when the door to the roof burst open not even twenty minutes after he had sat down with a bun and a book, Naruto sighed to himself. Of course, as Fate's personal chew toy, he should have known better.

Kiba tiredly ran a hand through his platinum blond locks and smiled wearily at the strange boy sitting directly in the middle of the school roof. His legs were folded languidly as he read a book in one hand through a simple pair of glasses perched on his nose and a simple melon bun in the other.

"Uzumaki-san." he greeted the boy peering at him over his glasses.

Hiding the mild frustration at not being able to have his lunch in piece, Naruto carefully shut the book with a tiny sigh and surveyed the two people who had found him. While the boy with the aristocratic good looks was someone he did not know, the glowering dark haired teenager beside him was someone he certainly did.

Though, for some reason, said glower was not directed at him, but at the aristocratic boy, who ignored the glare with equally impressive ease.

"Can I help you?" He finally queried with a neutral expression.

"Ah, Uzumaki-san, would you mind coming with me for a moment?" The polite way in which the question was delivered did nothing to hide the fact that it was an order.

"How did you even find me?" Naruto questioned curiously as he acquiesced with another regretful look at his unfinished lunch, "I was pretty sure no one would find me here."

The youth named Kiba gave him a strained smile, the only sign that he still had difficulty believing what he had seen, "I didn't actually. In fact, I do believe the door to the roof has been locked even before I enrolled." He pointedly glanced at the fenced roof that was completely empty save for a ragged carpet on the ground and the old but serviceable desk situated right in the middle of the roof, clues that the strange, quiet boy apparently came up here quite often. Though he had to wonder what the Uzumaki did about the searing sunlight.

"It was." Naruto replied blandly without an explanation as to what he was doing up here, "And you didn't answer my question."

"Ah... how should I put this?" Kiba said thoughtfully, "None of us could find you, Not even when Rias-sempai used her magic to scry for you. So she tried again. And again. And again." He paused and grinned appreciatively at the older blond, "In fact, when I left, I do believe she was on the verge of tearing her hair out and trying. Again. That was when Akeno-sempai finally gave up and told me to look for you up here."

"Ah. That explains it then."

Kiba's eyebrow quirked curiously at that, "She knows you come up here often?"

Naruto shrugged.

"She is very persistent in her duties as class representative."

"I can believe that." Kiba agreed with an acknowledging smile at the blond who was still languishing on the chair with an almost casual elegance, "Now, if you will?"

The taller blond shrugged and stood up with one last mournful look at his bun while he patted the crumbs off his clothes and placed the book on the desk.

If they were willing to go that far to find him, he might as well humor them.

This time, he was even more amused by the surprising amount of killing intent generated by the female portion of the student population who witnessed the two of them following Kiba.

Although if the way Issei was sweating buckets as they headed for this club room was any indication the brown haired boy was just about ready to bolt for the nearest hole. Watching him piss his pants would be interesting.

Unfortunately for the blond, his new comrade managed to hold it in until the three of them reached the relative safety of a large, mansion-like structure in the old section of the school.

"This is where our club room is located. I hope that you'll enjoy your time with us." Their guardian commented with a polite yet curious smile as he began climbing the ostentatious stair case that took them up to the second floor. His soft, pale yellow curls shifting across turquoise orbs as he kept an eye on the two newcomers; the much taller blond and the thinner, smaller brown haired boy who was fidgeting beside him.

Naruto quirked one eyebrow as he heard the brown haired boy mutter something about flashy, popular bastards, "You know him?"

"Who doesn't?" Issei replied quietly with a spiteful look, "Kiba Yuuto, Kuou Academy's Number 1 best looking Prince.

"I don't apparently." Naruto noted dryly, "Never heard of him."

"I wouldn't have expected someone like you to. You're about as famous as him though, or rather, infamous." Issei remarked, "Uzumaki Naruto, Kuou Academy's biggest delinquent."

"You know, if we're going to be friends and everything, you might want to be a little nicer."

"Says the guy who wanted to let me die."

"Touché. How bout I buy a lollipop for you as an apology?"

He sounded so sincere that Issei couldn't help but stare at him incredulously while Kiba led them into an inner chamber with a chuckle. Inside the lavish room, a small white haired girl sat alone on a couch while she nibbled at some Japanese sweets, her large sleepy looking eyes were rooted on them as the two of them awkwardly sat as far away from each other and everybody else, resolutely avoiding Kiba's gaze and the small girl's emotionless stare.

"Koneko-chan," Kiba began introducing them to her after another quiet laugh, "This is Hyoudo Issei-kun and the bigger one is Uzumaki Naruto. You two, this is Toujou Koneko-chan."

Returning the small girl's light acknowledging nod with one of his own, Naruto satisfied himself by unashamedly poking around the room like a country bumpkin, looking all for the world as if he had never seen anything so obscenely extravagant.

Which was sort of true, but they didn't need to know that.

From the other room, they heard the sound of water cascading down a drain, as if someone was having a shower, obviously making Issei even more nervous as he gave his blond companion a look every once in a while, wishing that Naruto would at least look a little nervous or ashamed at his embarrassingly open inspection of the furniture.

It didn't take long for Akeno and Rias to make their appearance from the other room. The red haired princess took a seat at the head of the table while Akeno bustled around the table, serving everyone a hot cup of tea before she made her way to the head of the table, standing attentively beside her club president, only giving the blond who had the gall to completely ignore both of them a glare every now and then.

"I'll get to the point right away," after everyone had nodded their thanks for the beverage, Koneko's with a slightly pained look due to her burned tongue, Rias began; her long soft crimson hair ran down the front of her dress like a stream of hot blood, "We are all Devils."

Issei gulped.

Naruto…. Was poking at a painting and wondering if it made good firewood.

The nights here tended to get rather cold after all, quite unlike his home where it was permanently sweltering.

"We, the Devils, have been at war with the Fallen Angels since ancient times. We have been fighting over the possession of the Underworld, which is also known as Hell in the human world. The Underworld is split into two areas, one for Devils and one for Fallen Angels. The Devils form pacts with humans and receive their sacrifices and increase their strength. The Fallen Angels on the other hand control humans to eliminate Devils. And then, to make matters worse, we have the Angels whose sole purpose is to destroy these two races on God's orders. The three factions make up the Great War which has been going on since ancient times."

As they began talking about Issei's murderous ex girlfriend, the blond boy only kept half an ear on the conversation as he edged around the room, more interested in the upholstery.

That and ignoring Rias obviously annoyed the black haired one, which was all good as far as he was concerned. He could even hear the sound of wood creaking under her grip as she clutched at the chair to stop herself from bodily lunging at him. Though in retrospect, he probably wouldn't mind.

Teasing one of the two girls who were upheld by a majority of the Academy as the very epitome of feminine aristocratic perfection was something of a pastime for him.

As the conversation turned to their new duties as Rias' servants, something about going out and granting wishes for humans, acquiring the power of their desires as fuel for their powers, the blond finally had had enough.

"That's alright." Naruto spoke up, causing everyone stare at him for cutting Rias off halfway, "I'll have to say no to that, I kinda already have a job."

Rias who didn't seem put off at all by his interruption only gave him a concerned look, "Are you sure? At the moment, your base powers are pretty low. If you don't start now, you may never graduate as a higher Devil."

"That's right, Naruto-san!" Issei said with a glint in his eyes, "You can get your own harem you know!" He was so excited by the prospect of his own harem that he forgot to be rude to the blond.

Naruto gave the boy a disturbed look, "That's…. alright, I think I'll be just fine without a group of girls continuously looking after my every whim and desire as they surrender their bodies to me to do whatever I want with."

Issei looked like he had been slapped as the blond casually blasphemed his religion.

On the other side of the room, the chair finally surrendered to Akeno's grip and splintered as she shot upwards. But before she could speak her mind, Rias laid a calming hand on her friend's arm, "It's alright, Akeno. He'll understand his mistake when the time comes. I only hope it won't be too late."

"Don't worry, I won't." Naruto replied in an unconcerned manner before adding, "By the way… I don't suppose you want that chair anymore right?"

Rias glanced at the broken piece of furniture and found a small laugh bubbling form inside her at his strange request, "Fufufu, it's alright. You can have it."

"Thanks! That will do nicely." Happily, Naruto quite politely stepped around Akeno and hefted the broken chair onto his shoulders and left with a cheerful whistle.

It was roughly a week later that Naruto was roughly brought back to reality by an unpleasant messenger.

Holding one kerchief to her nose, Akeno looked around the shabby ramen shop with undisguised disdain, "Is Uzumaki-san here? I was told that he works part time here."

The old owner, a doddling old man who could barely straight anymore found that other parts of his body worked fine as he stared at the beautiful, raven haired Yamato Nadeshiko, his gums opened and closed soundlessly.

"It's alright, Oya-san." The blond calmly led the old man back into his shop with a resigned expression, "I'll handle this."

Returning back to the front of the shabby store, Naruto gave the raven haired girl a dry look, "Can I help you?"

"There's something on tonight. Buchou wants you to properly see something before it's too late."

"Can I-"

"No." Akeno cut him off shortly, "She explicitly told me to wait here and make sure you arrive in time."

"Well, there goes my early night then. When should I get ready?"

"You can get ready now."

The blond pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, "Give me ten minutes while I let the owner know I have something I need to do."

As she gave him a severe nod, the blond bustled back into the bowels of the shop. It didn't take him long to persuade the old man that he had something urgent to do, though Naruto suspected that it had more to do with the fact that he made the blond promise to bring his beautiful little friend back to the shop as often as possible.

A few minutes later, the blond made his reappearance with his apron hung over one shoulder and dressed in his school uniform again. Wrinkling her nose at the offensive smell from his apron, Akeno made sure to stay at least five paces away from him as the two of them trekked down the road as a resigned Naruto followed behind the vice president of his not so voluntary club.

"You'd be a lot more pleasant if you smiled a little more you know." Naruto commented idly, "Imagine the mass heartbreaks that would occur if anyone from our school saw you with that frown."

"And you'd be a lot more pleasant as well if you didn't come quite so near me."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you didn't like me." The blond muttered under his breath. Unfortunately her sharp ears, enhanced by nightfall heard him quite clearly.

"No." She whirled around with a hard look on her beautiful face, "No, I don't."

"Why though?" Naruto asked with an air of innocent curiosity as the two of them stopped in the middle of the road. A stiflingly oppressive atmosphere hung above the two of them, "You've never gotten this angry at me before, though it's almost as amusing."

Even Issei, as perverted as he was, got a far warmer reception from the vice president of the Occult Club.

In fact, Naruto had lost count of the number of times Akeno would lean forward, putting her significant cleavage on display, and make an innuendo, causing the poor pervert to gush blood from the nose over the past week. It was a minor miracle the younger boy was not dead from sever anemia yet. That and the fact that he was a devil.

"I don't care if you don't like the situation you are currently in, in fact, I could accept it if you refused to listen to us because of your denial." Akeno stalked towards him with a fire burning in her bosom, "The problem here stems from the fact that you aren't in denial. You accepted everything quite easily but it's the way you accepted it so nonchalantly before brushing it off as unimportant, almost like a fly off your shoulder, even though Buchou has made every effort to welcome you into our family, even specifically asking for your presence to day so that you will understand your mistake. I don't care if you spit on me, but if you spit on her kindness, you WILL have to deal with me."

"Even if I don't want her to be kind to me?" Naruto asked with one raised eyebrow at the sparks running off her skin.

"Especially if you don't want her to be kind to you." Akeno hissed quietly.

"Just answer me one thing." He gestured at this body with a mildly irritated expression as if he was trying to wave off a fly, "I've been feeling it ever since I was resurrected. A certain urge to be obedient to her. To acquiesce to her wishes." There was no need to elaborate who that her was, since she knew exactly who he was referring to, "There's no way out of this… ?"

Akeno pursed her lips. While she would not show it, she was mildly impressed. A devil that had been resurrected would be forever loyal to the one who had done the resurrecting, their ability to decide would be slowly shaven away and eroded until it was replaced by obedience to their King in order to ease them into accepting their situation. It was not something that was generally advertised by the Peers and by the time most people found out, it rarely made a difference anyway because their King's opinion was now their opinion as well.

It was an... insurance policy of sorts. Incidents where newly resurrected devils went insane or rebelling out of anger at having that choice taken from them, had been far too common for anyone's comfort during the early days of the Rating Game's establishment. Things only really settled down after the policy had been introduced to reduce casualties and help devils adjust to their new life.

Some of the more humane nobles however, refused to assert that authority, and tried to allow their Peerage a measure of independence, mostly because a Peerage that could still actively think on their own and take independent action would beat a bunch of zombies hands down any day of the week, but the passive effect that changed the Peerage's minds to be more accepting of the situation would always be there.

But to identify the compulsion to obey only two days into his new life and then ignore it? It was not something anyone could do. Only someone who had a will of tempered iron, and was comfortable enough with his own psyche to acknowledge his own flaws could do it.

Or someone who's ego was big enough to crush a person from forty feet away.

Akeno was inclined to believe the blond standing before her fell into the latter category.

"None," She finally said, "unless she voluntarily releases you, but she can only do that once you have served the minimum number of years." Akeno replied curtly, "Until then, your life is now bonded to hers as much as mine is. You can still be a Peer and gain a title, but in the end, you are beholden to her just as your own Pieces will be until you are released."

The blond seemed to mull on that thoughtfully before directing a remarkably penetrating gaze at her, "Did you pass away as well?"

"That is something I would like to consider none of your business." She remarked frostily.

Naruto smiled wryly, "And here I thought we were making progress in our relationship."

"Just walk, Uzumaki-san."

The blond smiled faintly, perfectly content to amble along behind Akeno.

To the Academy, she was the perfect, elegant Onee-sama with no flaws.

To her peers and other devils, she was the teasing seductress and confident Queen of Rias Gremory.

Behind that, he supposed, was someone who deeply respected someone who by all accounts had the power and authority to order her to do any number of degrading acts, but offered her friendship and companionship instead. Which was why she would willingly would go to the ends of the earth for said friend regardless of compulsion to obey.

He didn't hate people like that.

He then spent a few moments gazing at the swaying hips in front of him.

The fact that Akeno had a very nice ass probably helped.

****End Game****

As the two individuals crest the last hill, Rias had to blink as the slightly taller of the two sent her a lazy wave. She felt a slow smile spread across her lips and nodded regally as Naruto and Akeno finally joined the small group waiting outside an abandoned house. Something had changed, she didn't know what, but it was encouraging for the young Devil, perhaps it had been right for her to send his classmate to get him after all.

The entire Occult Research club was standing outside what seemed like a desolate abandoned building on the outskirts of town.

Leaving the blond's side, Akeno stepped up beside Rias calmly and began to explain it for the newcomers benefit, "Yesterday we received an order from the Arch Duke, There's an exiled demon in Rias-sama's territory and as the demon's officially in charge of this area it's our job to terminate it and we have tracked it down to this place."

"Te-terminate it?"

A sly smile appeared on the red haired she devil's lips, "Yes. This will be a good chance to show the both of you how demons seriously fight." Arching an eyebrow at the placid blond she continued, "Maybe then some of you will take your job more seriously as well."

"Wait, are you serious!?" Issei stuttered, "I'm positive that I won't be of much use!"

"Yes. It's still impossible now, even though you have ran a few tasks, both of you are still at the level of a slightly stronger than average human." Issei's shoulders slumped down in despair at being told so bluntly that he was useless while Naruto merely huffed, "That being said, you can still watch what a devils' battle is like." The read headed president of the Occult Club tipped her chin as if just only thinking of something, "Oh yes. I will also explain the traits the servants have."

"Explain? The traits servants have?"

The newest members of the club shared an equally confused look but the President continued speaking anyway.

"Devils who become a master can give certain traits to those who will become their servants. Yes it's probably about time I explain about it and the history of devils..."

"There was a three sided war between the devils, the fallen angels, and God and His Heavenly Hosts. All three sides had a large army and they fought for almost eternity because all three sides were so evenly matched. As a result, all three sides lost most of their troops and the war finished several hundred years ago with no side winning."

Kiba continued after Buchou.

"The devils were no exception. High ranking devils with peerage who commanded about 20 or 30 troops lost most of their underlings because of the war. At the time, a majority of all the armies of Hell consisted of what we call pure blooded demons but because of the high amount of deaths among the demon population, demons with rank and titles couldn't even form new armies any longer." He smiled vaguely, "To be honest, I'm pretty new as well, but I heard that most of the pure devils passed away in that war. But even after the war, there are still problems between the devils, the fallen angels and God. Even though the fallen angels and God's side suffered similar losses, we are still in a position where we can't let our guard down or else we will be in trouble."

Then Buchou spoke again.

"Thus the devils decided to use a system to form a small group of soldiers. And that is the Evil Piece."

"In other words, all three sides screwed each other over a war that happened eons ago and you are now reduced to hiring mercenaries to fight the battle for you because you either don't want, or can't stop fighting." Naruto concluded blandly.

"That is a fairly accurate summary of the situation," Rias admitted with a slightly shamefaced expression, prompting Akeno to give him a hard look before she continued for her President,

"As Buchou was saying, Devils with peerage decide to use the traits of the human's game "chess" to their servant devils. There was a certain irony to the whole situation because most of the servants are devils that were reincarnated from humans, in other words half bloods. Since then chess became a popular game in the world of the devils. We'll leave that aside. Devils who are masters are given the rank of 'King'. In our case that is me. From there they created 5 special traits which consisted of the Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn. Since they couldn't make an army, they decided to have a small number of devils and the system would give them enormous powers in order to compensate. This system was made in the past few hundred years ago, and became unexpectedly popular amongst devils with peerage as a form of entertainment as well as a method of settling conflicts without exaggerated losses."

"Popular? You mean the chess rule?"

"They started to compete against each other. For example like, "My knight is stronger!", or "No, my rook is stronger!" As a result high-class devils started to play a game like that of chess against each other using their servant devils. We call it the "Rating Game". Anyway this game became very popular amongst the devils. Now there are even tournaments for it. The strength of their "pieces" and also how strong they are at the game affects the devils' social position, and their peerage. There is a thing called "Piece collect" where they gather humans with talents and make them into their pieces. It is very popular recently. To sum it up, the more talented their servants are and the better they do in these Rating Games, the better their status in our society."

Issei nodded slowly, "I see. So being a influential player in that game means that you are a splendid devil. It also becomes your pride then. Ummmm... and at the moment many of the servants devils have now were former humans and they function by becoming pieces in the game. I feel it's complicated. So will I be someday forced to fight in that game?"

"I'm not a matured devil yet, so I can't participate in a formal tournament. Even if I could, there are things that I need to do first or else I can't play. In short, none of you will be participating in a game for a while yet."

"So none of you have ever tried one yet?" the blond asked curiously.

"That is correct, although we have watched a match or two." Akeno agreed.

Ise smiled tiredly, "Hmmmm...The world of devils is unexpectedly strange. I used to imagine them being evil and scary, but it looks like my imagination was incorrect. Or maybe I feel like that because I'm still ignorant of the ways of the devils world. Before that there is something that is bothering me..." he looked at his beloved President, "Buchou, what is my role and traits? And what piece am I?"

She was stopped before she could say anything else by a loud crashing footstep. Just as their group crossed over the threshold a certain presence flooded the area. It was all Issei could do not to fall to his knees under the onslaught of such an intense intent to kill.

"Kukuku, I can smell something disgusting. But I can also smell something delicious. Is it sweet? Or is it sour?"

A low eerie voice which sounded like it was coming from below the ground echoed around the abadoned building's interior.

Completely unfazed Rias stepped forward and loudly declared, "Exiled-devil Vaizor. We are here to eliminate you."

"Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwa..."

The abnormal laughter echoes around them.

From the shadows, a grotesque thing slowly stepped out as if savoring Issei's fear.

"I can help!"

"It's alright to sit this one out for now, Naruto."

Waving at her followers, Naruto and Issei were promptly shuffled to the very back of the hall where they were the closest to the exit just in case things went sour.

Though not as sour as the blond's expression.

As the battle began, Naruto found his attention wandering again while the crimson haired princess began explaining all the roles and attributes those roles granted them.

As the battle reached its climax and the Crimson Haired Ruin Princess finished the Exiled Demon off with a gigantic mass of black demonic power that seemed to devour Vaizor's very existence, the invigorated girl spun around, clearly expecting to see pride on her new Pawns' faces.

Issei was clearly filled with admiration; however the blond was nowhere to be seen, "Naruto-san?"

Her voice echoed in the aftermath of the battle.

"What?"

Yelping, she spun around with a jump at the blond's irritated voice, only to see him poking at the dead demon with one toe. She couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she saw him removing something from the corpse before he hid it away. That of course paled in comparison with the very large pile of broken items that he was carrying on his back.

"Are you LOOTING the place?" she asked incredulously.

The blond shrugged the heavy backpack on properly, where did he even get that? "Why not? It's not like anyone's going to miss them right?"

"Were you even LISTENING to anything I said?"

"Yeah, yeah. Yuuto has some sort of weird sword creation ability that complements the speed boost he gets as a Knight otherwise he'd only be fast with no power to show for it." The blond waved dismissively as he continued to poke around in the abandoned building's dark corners for any goodies he could loot, "Meanwhile, the Rook's power and defensive attributes cover Chibi Neko-chan's natural fragility as she compliments them with her natural grace and speed." Peripherally, Rias felt Koneko twitch slightly at the new title that had been bestowed upon her, "Not entirely sure what the Queen and King get, but I assume it's just reserve boosts since both of you are pretty heavily focused on jutsus to begin with while the Pawns don't get squat until they rank up or increase their own base abilities."

"Jutsus?"

"Spells, or whatever you call them here. Oh look, a skull."

She gaped at the blond who began juggling a pair of picked clean skulls around, not entirely sure if she was offended by how he found the skull more interesting than a devil's fight, annoyed by how he had accurately assessed their techniques while he clearly wasn't paying any attention or just plain amused by his childish antics.

Then Naruto had to go and spoil it by gleefully adding; "Now I don't need to find anything to decorate my new home!"

She face palmed, "Put the skulls down, Naruto."

"What!? Bu-But! I juggle!"

He did not whine. He had been the Commander of a freaking army, however brief that particular stint had been, Commanders did not whine.

But a small bit of pleading and pouting never hurt negotiations.

"Put them down, Naruto." She repeated firmly, "I'll lend you the money to get some nice ribbons."

The blond whimpered, "How about those ribs I found? They're like half a ribbon each."

"No. Bones."

The blonde deflated and Rias had to resist the urge to coo at the defeated look in those blue orbs, "Okay…."

Rias sighed exasperatedly as she signaled to Akeno to start the clean up, "What am I going to do with you?"

The blond shrugged as he observed the other Pieces congregating near the corpse, talking about some inane matters no doubt. Carelessly tossing the skull aside, the blond hopped on to a broken pillar and crossed his legs easily, "To be blunt, there's probably nothing you can do, or rather, nothing you can offer me."

He paused at a sudden commotion as Issei accidentally slipped on a pool of blood.

Anyone else probably would have just gone and broke their nose on the floor.

Issei, proving that he had the luck of a main character from a ecchi manga, somehow managed to rip Kiba's pants off when he pitched forward before kissing the corpse full on the lips.

The squeal emanating from the bishonen swordsman was surprisingly girly.

His lips twitched as he thought back to a similar incident in his youth. Though he was exceedingly thankful he had not managed to tear his kissee's pants off.

He would have had to gnaw his hands off.

The fan girls would probably then worship his dismembered limbs.

"I take that back. Your Pawn is stupidly hilarious. I'm going to stick around just to see how many people he can molest just by falling down."

Rias sweat dropped, "Issei's miraculous timing aside, are you saying that you will not acknowledge me as your King?"

"I never said that." The blond countered smoothly, "Even if I did not ask you to, you did revive me and I'm not so ungrateful that I would ignore that completely, so I guess that does make you my King in a way. However, just because you are my King just not automatically mean I have to be loyal to you." His lips twisted sharply, "It's not rare to see a King toppled by peasants after all. Until then, I obey you in form alone."

"That sounds like a challenge." The red haired girl smirked at him, "You wish to take my place?"

Naruto winked at her, "I think you would enjoy serving under me."

Rias rolled her eyes. It was not the first time someone had propositioned her to be honest, but coming from the blond, it was clear that he had not meant a single word. In fact, chances were if he really were to somehow get his own Peerage, he'd probably ask them all to go and do whatever they wanted as long as they left him alone.

"Somehow, I think you and Akeno are going to be good friends." Rias noted dryly.

The blond shot her a mischievous smile, "Who says we aren't? We've known each other for about two year or so now already." The blond shrugged easily, "She's a beautiful woman in a traditional kind of way, has impeccable taste and grace beyond her years. So it's easy to see why she is my class' president, why half the bloody males in the school drool whenever she passes by and why she is one of Kuoh Academy's two Great Onee-sama's, which is a really embarrassing title by the way," Rias flushed a little at that, "and naturally, as the single biggest delinquent in her class, it was her job to try and get my grades up to par or hunt me down to make me to take part in school festivities. So I guess you could say we're friends. Sort of."

He then shot her a mischievous smirk and whispered conspiratorially, "Of course, I already knew she wasn't that perfect, no one is. Needling her in class and taunting her to make her to drop that perfect onee-sama act was one of the few things I found made class a little bearable. This just happens to be yet another way I can see her all steamed up and panting over me. As far as I'm concerned, I prefer that a lot more than I like being friends with her."

"Very good friends apparently," The crimson haired third year corrected herself resignedly, "with equally twisted senses of humor naturally." Already she could feel a headache developing behind her right eye, "Putting aside your apparent hobby of screwing with my Queen's mind, I want to propose a wager with you."

His eyebrows rose slightly, "A bet? On what?"

"On your challenge." Her lips curled into a singularly confident smirk as she eyed the blond, "As a whole, you're certainly no where as strong or useful as Koneko, Kiba, Akeno, or even Issei right now,"

Naruto's left brow twitched but he remained silent.

"Most Devils, well almost all, only resurrect people that can be useful to them; which means that they would need to have a B-rank or A-rank Sacred Gear in them at the very least, like Issei, or have some interesting heritage like Koneko," Rias admitted a little shamefully, "I don't mind that, honestly. There's something primal yet inspiring about working your way up from being looked down and spat upon until you can punch them to the moon."

Naruto did not miss the almost instinctive glance she had shot in Akeno's general direction.

"But in order for me to help you get to that point, I need your loyalty. So I'm going to make you a bet."

"That depends on what you're willing to bet." Naruto replied lazily. He hadn't even known them all that long, or that many devils for that matter, but that confident self belief seemed to be something of a common trait amongst them, "You've got nothing I want."

She laughed softly at his taunting tone, "I'm sure that I'll figure something out, but by the end of this month, I will definitely make you acknowledge that I am King worthy of your loyalty."

Naruto shot her an easygoing smile, "Good luck with that. You don't mind if I want you to lose right?"

"Naturally."

****End Game****

Chapter 1 End.