"You know, you're making a habit of this Naruto-kun." Rias spoke blandly as she sipped tea from a glass. Currently, a portion of her peerage resided in the living room, all sharing in snacks.

At the teacher's perplexed look, Rias expanded on her statement. "This is the fifth 'stray' you've brought home." She spoke, trying to suppress a giggle.

"What are you talking about? Gasper and Kiba were the...Akeno was your idea first of all! And Little Rone was kinda ordered, not that I'm complaining mind you." The blond amended at the Neko's pitiful pout.

Weaponized cute. Who knew?

Rias simply shook her head at Naruto's blatant denial. He'd figure out one day that he simply couldn't turn away someone in need.

"Well, I am Rias. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss...?" The sentence was left unfinished, and Rias had to chuckle at the girl's attempt to hastily put her glass down and answer.

The clumsy type was it?

"A-ah S-Sister Asia Argento ma'am! T-thank you for having me." The girl sputtered our wth a bow.

She stayed bowed and was completely oblivious to the shared looks in the room.

"She's a nun!" Rias whispered at Naruto harshly.

"I didn't know! She was in trouble!" The blond whisper-shouted back, holding his hands up defensively.

Koneko shook her head, leave it to Naruto-kun to invite a nun into a devil's house.

She perked up at that thought. 'There's a joke set up in there somewhere.'

The thought was quickly pushed away at the munch of a cookie.

"Ara, Ara, Naruto-Sensei seems to be making a whole collection out of girls Bochou." The joint glares from Rias and Naruto just made Akeno laugh.

"Ah...is...something wrong Rias-san?" Asia righted herself as she heard the tense muttering, the looks she received for her question just filled her with unease.

"Ah! Yes yes! Of course! My apologies Sister Argento, just discussing a small issue with my caretaker." Rias shot Naruto another withering glare.

"I...see..." the nun replied, her head tilting cutely in confusion.

"I must thank you, had you not interfered I may have been seriously injured." The nun carried on politely, a small smile crossing her face as she directed her attention to Naruto, who just waved her off with a shrug.

To him, it really was nothing. Someone needed help, and he was able to oblige.

"It's not problem, though I do have to wonder, what's a Sister of the faith doing in Kouh?" Naruto asked as he picked his tea up and took a sip, a thoughtful expression on his face.

The local Catholic Church had been in a state of disuse for some years now, and aside from the Fallen and that Bastard...

Naruto narrowed his eyes, a stray memeory striking him.

"Oh! I was sent by the church!" The girl beamed back happily. "One of the Cardinals requested I assist in something in the name of our Lord, though he never specified." While the others around the room seemed mildly interested, Naruto made his interest blatantly clear.

"Tell me Sister Argento, this Cardinal...what was his name?" The eldest of the room asked, his face a calm mask. Valpar still had connections in the church. He may be looking into this a bit too much but his gut was rarely wrong.

"Father Angelo. He said the Deccan, Father Valpar, asked for me specifically." The nun replied as she stared at Naruto in confusion. She wasn't sure why he was asking such a thing.

It was only years of training in self control that Naruto didn't shatter his tea cup.

'So this is the nun they mentioned...' "I see, I'm sorry to inform you Sister, but the church here hasn't been in use for some time. Are you sure they mentioned Kuoh specifically?" Naruto carried on, his eyes cutting to the other girls in the room, pinning them in silence.

He could inform them about the situation later.

"Well no, not specifically. They flew me to Kyoto were I met with some other memebers of the church. They directed me here." The girl replied happily. If it was God's will, she would happily go where ever the church commanded. It was her duty!

"Tell me Sister...do you have any...gifts?" Naruto probed lightly. He didn't want to tip his hand, even if this girl genuinely seemed to be a good person.

"Ah...I...yes I've been gifted by Our Holy Father." Asia spoke softly, her eyes moving to the table. This man seemed nice, and he didn't appear to want to hurt her...perhaps she could trust him...

"Would you be willing to tell me what it is Asia?" Naruto leaned forward. He was sure of it now, this was the girl the Fallen had planned to use that cross on...but for what?

"...I...I am known in the Vatican as the Holy Maiden...Our Father saw fit to bless me with the miracle of healing." The young girl looked at the table, her voice trailing off. Naruto could pick out the melancholy in her tone easily. She wasn't being fully honest with her situation. Not lying outright...omitting something.

"Healing you say?" Naruto replied, now fully invested in his own theory.

This girl must have a sacred gear. Twilight Healing by the sound of it. Something incredibly useful given it's ability to heal...anyone really. The Fallen must have wanted to take it from her for something.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. 'That something is what bothers me though...what is that Crow and his lacky up too..'

"Naruto-kun?" Rias voice snapped Naruto out of his train of thought, and her concerned face was met with a half forced smile.

"Ah sorry about that. Sister...would you be willing to take a look at a student of mine? He...was hurt recently and has been in a coma since. I convinced his family to allow him to be treated here, but so far we've had no luck waking him." Naruto pressed on, uninhabited by the shocked looks he received from the girls.

Issei was still under, and someone with Twilight Healing had just landed in his lap. There was no way he wouldn't take this opportunity.

"Certainly!" The young blonde spoke hastily. This man had been kind enough to save her! The least she could do was help him!

~KOQ~

It always came in flashes. That pain. Those memories. That brutal, soul wrenching betrayal.

Issei has been lost in the dark. He didn't know how long. Just...walking. At first he had ran, to where he didn't know, just ran.

As he grew tired of that, he walked. Slow. Steady.

The path never changed. It was always a brick street. No houses. No landscape.

Just the road.

Was he dead?

Part of him hoped so. The pain from before had stopped, but he knew it would start again eventually.

She had enjoyed showing her control of the situation.

Issei shook his head and banished those thoughts. He didn't want to think about her. That...monster.

Issei stopped in place. He looked forward, and then back along the long path he had traveled. Perhaps he really was dead and this was his own personal hell? It was a depressing thought, but then, it could have been worse.

It would make sense as well. He had spent so long lusting after others, perhaps his damnnation was to be secluded till judgement day?

Issei took another step forward. Then another. Once more, his pace quickening with each foot fall.

Once more he ran. He ran and ran as fast and as hard as he could, but nothing changed. Same stones. Same blackness.

Tears welled in Issei's eyes, and a hoarse broken scream left his throat, painful and loud.

He didn't want to be dead! He didn't want to leave everything behind! What about his friends! What about his family!? Why him!?

Why did she do that to him?!

"Come on Issei-kun! I have something cool to show you."

"It's through here. Can you hold my hand? I've always been afraid of the dark..."

"These are some friends of mine. They promised to help."

"Kill you of course."

"You hold something. Something dangerous. It's my job to make sure you never harness it."

Shut up.

"What? Did you think I actually cared?"

Shut. Up.

"I'll admit, I did have some fun on our little date, but really, a pathetic human like you? How could I actually care?"

Stop.

"You are nothing. A waste of exsistance. That is why you are here. The thing inside you is what we need, you are just a part of the deal."

Please...stop...

"Of course I never loved you. But I knew you'd fall for it. So easy. So gullible. Like all humans. Bat my eyes and you fall all over yourself for me."

Please...

"This will hurt. A lot. I hope you don't die. Not at first anyway. You humans have always been the Almighty's favorite, I wonder how resilient he has made you. Beings of his own image. How I hate you."

Enough.

"Scream Iseei. Beg. Cry you pathetic mongrol! No one is coming!"

Please!

"You're right, he is far more resilient than we thought. Max out the power output. Let's see if we can't speed up the process."

Issei ran harder and harder as the memories of that horrible night chased him, hunted him like a fox would a hare.

The darkness creep ever closer, threatening to swallow his very soul.

Make it stop.

Make it stop!

"MAKE IT STOP!"

~KOQ~

Naruto actually had to put some strength behind himself to stop Issei from thrashing, the nun had awakened him, but he wasn't sure if it really had been the right move.

Issei has awoken screaming bloody murder, clawing and grasping at the air. Naruto was positive the boy had damaged his voice by the way he had screamed. It took all the blond had to stay his hand from releasing his student from that soul sucking tormant that filled Issei's scream.

"Get the nurse! Now! Asia I'm going to need your help in calming him down!"

The girls were each frozen in shock, Asia having an expression of horror. She must have never expected this kind of reaction. She was frozen stiff, and Naruto knew he would be in his own.

"Rone, I need you to grab his legs I can't hold every part of him!" It took a moment for the girl to even acknowledge his words, but a shout of her name made the young girl snap to.

A red gauntlet appeared on Issei's hand and immediately tried to crush Naruto's nose. A blow the blond just took in stride, he knew the boy had no idea what he was doing, he couldn't fault him.

Naruto trapped the teens arms, one with a foot, the other with his own hand, before flashing through a set of one handed seals, before tapping the middle of Issei's forehead. The boy seized once. Twice. Then was once more unconscious.

Naruto breathed a sigh. He tracked his eyes to the gauntlet that had made a damn good attempt at breaking his nose, watching as it faded from reality.

All this over a goddamn dragon. He wasn't even sure if Issei could recover from this!

"..op.." was the soft mutter that grabbed Naruto's attention. The eldest of the room watched Issei mutter in his sleep induced state. It wasn't the same as before, that cry of fear and defiance and the desperation to escape whatever was tormenting him.

"What...what was that..?" Rias' voice echoed throughout the room, and Naruto slumped of the bed. He was getting to old for this.

"That...that is the price for seeking power for the sake of power. That is the price for trying to grasp something you should never be able to." Naruto replied solemnly. He had seen things like this before in his home. People driven mad by power or others seeking them for it.

Physical wounds were easy. Child's play for even the worst of magic users. Mental scaring like this though...Issei would relive that night for years. The blond had never felt more useless. He had failed a student when they needed him most and now, that student was paying for Naruto's failure to act.

"Is...will he be...okay?" The blonde nun asked, her hands running along Issei's form, the glow of Twilight Healing proudly on display.

"I'm...not sure. This could be a one time thing, or her could act like this anytime something triggers the memories that left him in such a state. An extreme form of PTSD if you will." Naruto sat down in the floor, his back to the bed. He should have killed those Fallen. Azazel was sure to have punished them in some way, but Naruto doubted it was enough.

Naruto lightly hit the back of his head against the bed. He was so careless. So stupid. He should have kept a closer eye on Issei. He knew something like this could happen!

A small hand rested on his shoulder, that lead to the worried face of the nun that had been gracious enough to lend her add. He was grateful for the girl, really. With Issei at least awake now, they could begin the long arguise task of rebuilding the boy's psyche.

"Would..would it be okay if I stayed here?" Her voice was soft, caring in a way. "Issei-San seems to be in a great deal of pain and...you've already done so much to help me..." the girl trialed off. Naruto smiles at her, gratitude pouring from the expression. He wasn't sure what kind of help Twilight Healing would be for this kind of issue, but he was grateful for it all the same.

Naruto was helped to his feet as Akeno came back in with the nurse Ajuka had loaned him, who immediately sat about checking the leads to Issei's body.

"Put him on a drip with general anesthesia. I don't want him waking up alone, no telling how he'll act." Naruto voiced, not even taking the time to look at the nurse. It was a tough call to make, but he didn't want Issei flying off the handle again. Especially when alone.

"Asia...would you be kind enough to watch over Issei for me?" Naruto asked, wanting to make it clear to the girl what she would be doing if she stayed. "We have a lot to discuss, but for now I need to make a few calls."

He wasn't surprised when the girl just pulled up a chair beside Issei's bed, though the fact she held his hand did get a raised eyebrow. He was quick to dismiss it however. Probably just a moral support thing.

As Naruto and the girls walked out of the room, Rias couldn't contain the question that tumbled from her lips.

"Why did you seem like you knew how to handle that? I wasn't aware you had dealt with patients like that before."

Naruto just kept walking his reply bringing the others up short.

"Back in my home, I once witnessed a torture victim kill his nurse, then himself. Like Asia, the nurse had taken out of his medically induced coma. We needed the information he had kept from falling into a group of rouge hands."

Naruto stopped, tussling a hand through his hair. "I had been on hand, mostly as punishment for acting like an idiot. Changing bed pans, stuff like that. I was so shocked...by the time I realized what was happening the man had already driven the pen into his carotid artery."

None of the three new how to respond. Something like that...

"From now on, I don't want any of you in the room when Issei is awake. I can't risk you getting hurt because he isn't in the right head space."

He never turned around to see the muted nods coming from the three. He knew they'd listen.

Naruto carried on, back to his office. He needed to talk to Ajuka.

~KOQ~

The knock on the office door stopped Naruto from replying to Kurama, the two having been in a deep discussion about how to handle the teen male laid up in one of the bedrooms.

"Come in." Naruto called through the door, already sensing it was Asia on the other side. The girl hadn't left Issei's side in the last few hours, so he had sent Koneko to stand watch over the boy while they talked.

Asia had a right to know what was really going on, and he intended to ensure that.

"Thank you Mister..." the blonde trailed off as she took stock of the large, nine-tailed fox laid out along the carpet, the rails waving lazily behind it.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Kurama snarked, huffing lightly when Naruto threw it a disapproving stare.

"Kurama be nice." The blond shot out. "Thank you for coming to see me Asia. As I said, we have a lot to talk about. First of which is where you are."

The blonde girl approached the desk Naruto resided at, curiosity filling her. Wasn't she in Kouh?

"I must admit...I haven't been fully honest with you." Naruto started, leaning back in his chair. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Teacher at Kouh academy and Head of Security for the Gremory Family."

The blonde's eyes widened in understanding. Anyone aware of the supernatural new the names of the biggest players, it came with the territory. While Asia was a nun, and a mostly innocent teenage girl, the Vatican had warned her of the largest threats in the human world. Devils.

"So...you are a Devil...are you going to kill me?" The nun asked. A part of her was terrified. This woman was the Head of Security for one of the most influential families in the known underworld.

It would be like breaking a twig for him.

The fox off to the side made her jump, the deep raspy laugh it let out confusing Asia to no end. Naruto only added to that as he too began to laugh.

"Nothing of the sort!" Naruto spoke quickly as his laughing died down. "A lot has been happening in the city lately, and you are tied to why Issei is currently kept under sedation."

Asia just tilted her head cutely, not understanding what her fellow blond meant.

"Tell me Asia...has there ever been rumbling of dissension in the Vatican?" Naruto spoke seriously, his earlier mirth now gone.

"I...suppose. A few of the Papal Knights often speak of a great battle coming to the Churches doors when they believe no one is listening." Asia admitted embarrassedly. When ever they returned with an injury to the Vatican, they wound up before her. More than once she had heard of a coming battle that would shake the foundations of the church.

"I see." Naruto moved from his chair and pulled a book from the shelf behind him. It was leather bound and seemed hand crafted.

He dropped it on the desk with out preamble and began flipping through the pages.

This was HIS bible. All the information he had been able to gather over the years on Valper.

"Myself and several others in the various factions have been tracking Valper for the last few years. He is the reason you were sent here, but his end game would have seen you in the same, or worse state than Issei." Naruto stopped at a page that held a photo of a metallic cross, leather straps wrapping around each cardinal point of the cross.

"This is a new device that Valper has funded the creation of. It...tears the sacred gear from any individual attached to it." Naruto pushed the boom toward Asia, allowing her to look over his notes.

The girl looked pale as a ghost as she read through the findings, her hands trembling.

"Issei was 'lucky' enough to be used as their first run. The model the Fallen had was a prototype." Naruto carried on as he moved to a near by table and began preparing two glasses. Even if underaged, the girl would need a drink after this.

"But...if that's true than they meant to use this device on me!" Asia shouted in shock. Well, at least she caught on quick.

"Exactly. They wished to have your Twilight Healing as far as I can guess." The blond sat back at his desk, pushing a glass of whiskey across to the girl, who just looked at it in shock. Was that for her? She was too young to drink!

"If...if you know this, why wasn't Issei saved before they could use the cross on him?" Asia asked, looking back at the book. Flipping through the pages showed have drawn blueprints for other plans as well, along with varying locations throughout the world. It was all very well done.

"I didn't know about it till a few days ago. Azazel, the Governor General of the Grigori, came to me and asked for my help in finding a wayward scouting element. The Fallen who originally placed Issei on that hunk of metal." The blond sipped his drink, relishing the burn as it traveled down.

"What I don't know is hurting my students, and I know there is something YOU aren't telling me." Naruto spoke, making the girl look up in fear.

He didn't want to push her, she seemed so sweet, but he wouldn't risk anyone else.

"I brought you here so we could be honest with one another. Tell me your story Miss Argento, were we go from there will be based on the question I ask you at the end." Naruto leaned forward, steeping his fingers together.

For a moment, the girl looked scared, conflicted.

But as most do, she broke only after a few moments in silence, and the truth poured from her lips.

~KOQ~

"I see.." Naruto said as Asia finished her story. It sounded cruel, what the church had done, but it would make moving forward much easier.

"I...I didn't mean to deceive you Mister Uzumaki...I just..."

"You didn't know if you could trust me, something incredible smart for one so unjaded by the world." Naruto gave a light praise, something that darkened the light rose on the girl's cheeks. She had gone through three glasses of his whiskey by now, and Naruto couldn't blame her.

Her life had been one bad hand after another it seemed.

"So...where do we go from here?" Asia asked softly. She felt much better getting that all off her chest. Though her chest also felt funny. Itchy. Hot. Her face was warm too.

"That depends on my next question, remember?" Naruto asked, a small grin on his face.

"Do you think you can work along side the Devil's to bring this bastard to justice?"

Asia looked up at the older blond in shock, her eyes wide and her hands clinching around her empty glass.

"W...what?"

Naruto downed the rest of his glass, the fifth cup burning just the same as the others. He wasn't anywhere close to drunk, but damn did it help him focus.

"Something is coming Asia. Something big and I don't know if I can keep it all together on my own. I plan on having Issei help when I can get him back in his feet, but that could be months away. I...I need people I can trust. People that have an outside opinion on the matter. I have several Fallen, Devil, and Youkai working with me on all this, but your skills and knowledge are invaluable." Naruto looked the girl in the eye, hating himself for asking such a thing of such a kind girl.

Rias and her peerage still lived in their Rose tainted world, the leaders of the factions could only act in so many ways.

He needed people that could stand beside him, damn the consequences.

Asia looked at the blond, saw the fire in his eyes and the will and need to do what's right. This was the first time someone had needed her, she realized. Not just her skills, but her as a person.

It felt good. Very good.

Kurama watched the girl carefully. Naruto hadn't lied, she seemed kind and innocent, so he knew the blond was tearing himself up asking for a girl like her to possible risk her life against some unknown threat.

But he could also see this girl would agree. Naruto still had that power. That charm. That charisma. People would walk into a fire if he asked, people that had no real right of actually caring about the Blond's opinion of them.

They looked to him for guidance. The lost, the broken, the thrown away. Kurama would have laughed if it wouldn't have killed the mood.

Naruto, King of the Misfits. It had a nice ring to it.

Kurama wasn't surprised when the two blond's shook hands. Less surprised when the blonde girl stumbled from the room. And even less surprised when Naruto sagged in his seat as an aura of melancholy washed over him.

"Am I doing the right thing?"

Kurama has expected the question. Naruto had lost sight of who he was over the years, no longer a shining beacon to the shinobi world, just a man trying to do what's best.

"You do what you believe is the answer. I follow along because you have never lead me astray." Was Kurama's only reply. It may have nudged the blond with it's snot, trying to make the man crack a smile.

The hand between it's ears showed the appreciation of the gesture.

"Thanks Kurama."

A huff was Naruto's only reply.

A.N. Yoooooo! Bet ya didn't see that coming!

Now before anything, yes Asia is very OOC. I needed her character to be a bit more level headed and worldly for the plot to unfold later on.

Issei is going to be much the same way when I finally get around to his character arc. Think damaged war vet.

Now for how Issei reacted when he woke up, I did that for two specific reasons. 1.) He has been trapped in his own head for days, reliving that nightmare, I think attacking the first threat you see upon waking is wholly expected. 2.) To show how damaged he actually was. Physically, he is fine as can be, mentally? Not so much.

Now, as to why Naruto isn't including Rias and Co. in his skeems, can any of you honestly think the blond would do that based of how I've had him act this story? His entire time in DxD has been dedicated to protecting Rias and her friends, he wouldn't put her in harms way if he could avoid it.

And let me be clear! Naruto. Is. Not. A devil. He's just using people's preconceived notions against them! Originally he was actually meant to be, but I decided to change that between chapters 1 and 2. Akeno is Rias Queen.

We'll meet some of the characters in Naruto's little team in the next few chapters, a few OC's that are really just to advance the plot, maybe a few guests, haven't really decided on whose who here. Though the Hellsing Organization will make a debut, maybe not next chapter but I'm definitely putting them in. Fun stuff!

I'm dealing with churches and monsters, I can't waste a group like Hellsing by NOT including them. They won't have much to do in the way of character development as it'll just be their regular team, minus Alucard.

Seeing as Naruto killed Dracula.

The hospital story about the ninja and nurse was entirely made up by the way.

I think that's all, so let me know what ya think!

DarkStar, Out!