Chapter - 25

Sasuke settled his elbows over his knees, silently dismissing Akeno as he took up his turn watching the boy. The blonde had yet to awaken. Apparently, the process of being transformed from human to devil and resurrected with an Evil Piece was a good deal more traumatizing than Sasuke's own admission to Rias' peerage had been.

The newly made Knight had managed to sleep all through the night without a single twitch, to Sasuke's displeasure. Whatever the boy had been through, the Uchiha didn't appreciate having to trade off with Himejima every few hours to keep watch over the former human and make sure he didn't croak through the night. Resurrection might be a simple process, but that didn't make it an entirely safe one.

"Che." Sasuke scoffed, pulling off his service cap and tossing the headgear onto the milk white sheets of the boy's bed. What a pain in his ass. The Uchiha wanted to sleep. He wanted to train. He wanted to eat. Anything productive would be better than babysitting.

The last few years had been kinder to Sasuke than his first decade in the new world. Three years under the mixed tutelage of Rias and Akeno had made him into a middling mage, and the rich bounty of the Gremory family had packed hard muscle onto his previously wasted frame. The sheer appetite of his devil body was a bit of a shocker considering even in his past life Sasuke hadn't gorged much and his human body had always been on the lithe side, but he took it in stride.

So long as he didn't become a complete meathead, Sasuke could deal with the added bulk. It had required some effort to retrain from the chokuto to the katana better suited to his larger and taller form, but it had been worth it in the end. He was relatively deadly, at least for skilled humans or middle class fallen angels.

Casting an impatient glare at the grandfather clock ticking away in the corner of the room, Sasuke scowled. Half an hour past, and an hour and a half to go. Not that taking his turn off would really help him achieve anything. There was only so much a man could eat and sleep before it would all run to fat, and the breaks between his watch shifts were too short for any sort of serious studying or training.

A low moan caught Sasuke's ears, drawing his focus away from the slowly passing time and to the blonde preteen coming alive in the bed. "Tosca…" escaped the boy's mouth in a painful whimper before the blonde's pale lips peeled back in a snarl "Galilei!"

Sasuke watched dispassionately as the blonde shot up in bed, red rimmed grey eyes snapping open as the newly reincarnated devil sucked rasping gasps into his lungs. The boy carried on for a few minutes under Sasuke's regard, pale and shaking and sweating as the new devil struggled to escape the memory of recent death and suffering.

Calling up a tiny circle of magic in his palm, the Uchiha concealed the faint violent light and moved it close to his mouth. "Rias." Sasuke murmured, cutting off the recording after a single word and sending the message off as a miniscule mote of purple.

"Where am I?" the blonde child demanded crudely, fixing a veneer of arrogance over the weary fear that Sasuke could easily see in the slumped carry of the boy's shoulder.

Cocking an eyebrow at the query, Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back in his armchair. The Uchiha folded his arms across his chest, closing his eyes and lazily tilting his head back in obvious dismissal. Regardless of how worked up the kid got, it wasn't Sasuke's responsibility from here out. Rias had wanted him, and it was the responsibility of his 'mistress' to look after her own 'pets'.

"Hey! Answer me asshole!"

"Please refrain from treating my servants rudely, child." Rias greeted in a pleasant but firm tone as she swept into the room. "I understand that this might be a little confusing and scary, but no one is here to hurt you."

Sasuke cracked his eye open as the loud scoff the blonde gave. Adolescent fingers fisted in the grey of his sick robe as the boy glared mutinously up at the Ruin Princess, ignoring the Uchiha now that there was a responsive target for his sulking ire.

"Who the hell are you?"

The tightening of the skin around Rias' eyes spoke of her displeasure to Sasuke's experienced eyes, but the young woman still managed to force a welcoming smile. "My name is Rias Gremory. It's a pleasure to meet you. And what's your name, child?"

"Don't call me a child!" the blonde exploded back, all loose wound anger and sharp edges. "You're not that much older than me!"

Silence hung in the room as Rias blinked but gave no other response to the outburst.

Eventually the blonde averted his eyes with an expression of reluctant guilt. "…Isaiah." Mumbled past the blonde's lips. "My name's Isaiah."

"It's nice to meet you, Isaiah-kun." Rias responded instantly, drawing on all her training in social grace and taking a seat beside Sasuke. "I'm sure that you're wondering where you are and why you're here. If I could ask for your silence for a time, I'll explain everything." The Ruin Princess forestalled, holding up her hand to halt the boy as Isaiah opened his mouth to ask more.

Grumbling beneath his breath, Isaiah subsided warily. Sasuke didn't miss the way the blonde youth's eyes flitted about the room, quickly identifying all escapes with the experience of someone long in prison.

"As I said, my name is Rias Gremory. I am a member of the Gremory family, who are noble devils within the Underworld." She began bluntly, watching the surprise that was not disbelief spread across Isaiah's face. "As I'm sure you've realized, you are now in the Underworld. As for why you're here, Sasuke and I," Rias paused to motion vaguely at her Pawn. "Discovered you as you lay dying in the human world. I saw your potential, and decided to take you with me."

"My… potential?" An ugly tone coloured the blonde's voice, twisting his face into a barely restrained rictus of fury. "Maybe you missed the memo, but I failed the Holy Sword Project. I'm tired of being a guinea pig for every curious asshole that walks by, including you!"

Ignoring the insult without even batting an eyelash, Rias denied the boy out of hand. "I'm not interested in that." The Ruin Princess nonetheless filed the 'Holy Sword Project' into the back of her mind as a topic to consider later. "I was interested in the look in your eyes when we found you in the snow. That look is why I resurrected you after you died and made you a devil. Not a desire to experiment on you and find out more about this so-called project."

What little colour was in Isaiah's face drained away, leaving the boy's skin milk pale. "I died?" he breathed in shocked wonder. Looking down at his bony fingers, the blonde struggled to get past the sudden bombshell. He'd died – just like that. No chance for revenge or dying with purpose? Just giving out as he escaped from the hell hole where he'd been experimented on?

Sasuke snorted, rolling to his feet in a rustle of cloth. There was no reason for him to stick around anymore. The kid was awake, and Rias was perfectly able to explain where Isaiah was and how the Evil Piece nestled in the blonde's heart would determine the course of his life.

It wasn't like the kid had it in him to do any damage to anyone at the moment, and even if he tried Sasuke knew Rias was so overwhelmingly powerful that she could vaporize the brat with a thought. "I'm going to bed." He declared, hesitating slightly before giving the red-haired girl a pat to the shoulder.

Forging bonds with others wasn't easy for Sasuke. He could at least admit to himself that he was damaged, and that damage constantly urged him to seek solace in a remote world consisting solely of himself. Solitude was comfortable, but it also fed an inconsolable ache in his heart.

Naruto had managed to push on past all the pain and create bonds with many, many people. Those bonds had made Naruto strong – not weak, as Sasuke had thought they would when he was young. And without the excuse of cutting all bonds for strength, Sasuke could afford to be honest.

He was tired of the pain of isolation. The last battle he'd had with Naruto after the Fourth Shinobi World War had shown him that.

The desire for connection might be a feeble desire, but it was a desire, and it helped drive his magic. It alone was not enough desire for true devil magic perhaps, but it was something.

"Behave." Sasuke ordered roughly, unable to muster a more honest farewell as he let go of Rias' shoulder and turned away.

Let the Ruin Princess look after Isaiah for now. Sasuke couldn't bear to remain in a room with a boy who had such lonely desolate eyes thirsting endlessly for vengeance. It reminded him too much of himself.

*

"Would you like a hug, Naruto-sama?"

"You know the answer to that already, Akeno-chan!"

Giggling perversely as his face was buried into the dark haired young woman's midriff, Naruto basked in the slight weight of Akeno's heavy breasts resting on his forehead. If only he were a little older and a little taller, the real fun might begin.

The twin expressions of exasperation mingled with disgust writ across both Rias' and Sasuke's faces made it all worth it. The new kid wasn't half bad either, lurching back with a greenish tinge that clashed beautifully with Yuuto's blonde hair. Koneko was just as unruffled as ever.

"Naruto-sama."

"Akeno-chan."

"Naruto-sama."

"Akeno-chan!"

Crooning back and forth, the mismatched pair swayed with abandon. It was a farcical display, the much taller woman swinging the much shorter boy about like doll.

"God help us all." Sasuke sighed beneath his breath, only to wince as he was nipped by the attentions of the Biblical God. Rubbing his stinging forehead, the Uchiha continued to mutter mutinously under his breath while Rias' new Knight nodded empathetically along. Rias had decided to give the boy a new name so he could escape his past or some such nonsense. Sasuke hadn't complained, since it was none of his business, but he knew the effort was doomed to failure.

People were defined by their pasts. Even he couldn't cut his away, no matter how much Sasuke wanted to.

Rias coughed into her fist at her Pawn's muttered prayer, covering up the amused tilt of her lips.

"Right." Souji decided, watching the display with something like fond exasperation. "As much as I enjoy watching the byplay – bonus points for the borderline shotacon by the way, Naruto – you kids actually have work to do."

Detaching from his aunt's Queen with a mutinous grumble, the Gremory heir turned to pout at his father's Knight. "Seriously?"

"Yep." Souji grinned, popping the 'p' with a smack of the lips. "As it turns out, Zeoticus-sama has made a special request for all of you to take up patrol duties for the next week. He wants to see how you can perform as a completely military unit, rather than just as nobles."

The look on Rias' face quickly crossed from curious to deadpan. "What."

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto rolled his eyes, before an idea popped up that made him grin mischievously. "Nah, Souji-san are you seriously kidding me? Like are we fucking serious right now? When you tell us to wander around the borderlands with our dicks and-slash-or tits in our hands, is that an actual order? Like, do you actually want us to try and find our own assholes with both hands while looking for trouble? What happens in a military unit anyway? Do we get to have naked showers together and whip each other with towels? I hope this isn't some roundabout method to convince me to catch the gay by the way – I know that sometimes when you're in the army and you get the itch you gotta scratch, but I don't swing that way man. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it's just not my style, you catch my drift?"

"Uhh."

"By the way, did I ever tell you that you have the best teeth? Like, I see those pearly whites and go 'damn son, I want me some of those'. What's the secret? Please don't tell me it's something like bleach. Bleach is for getting rid of the racy brown streaks in your underwear, not keeping your teeth clean. And I gotta insist on that. You gotta do things right. Too many people in this life are making it by cutting corners, and that's wrong. You can't just do things half assed and expect them to work out alright. But you already knew that didn't you?"

"What the literal fuck, Naruto?" Sasuke cut off the totally pointless ramble, eying the younger devil with a wary glance. It wasn't that utterly random and totally ridiculous rants were out of the question for Naruto, but even that one was a little off the wall.

Throwing a wink at his thoroughly befuddled aunt, Naruto shrugged. "Just thought I'd give him a bit of a twist, ya know?" Holding up his hands, he outlined a rough box. "Like, this is all you guys. You're all just farting away inside the box, living your in-the-box lives doing your in-the-box things. Me? I'm outside the box. None of you have a chance to outbox me. But once in a while one of you box people decide to try to box me in, and that's just not gonna work. Like Souji-san here. He thought he could box me in with a box people joke about how Grandpa Zeo would send us off to do something dumb as fuck like patrolling in the Underworld. So I just had to show him how someone that really lives outside the box fucks with people who really live in the box."

"…Are you retarded?" It was a legitimate question as far as Sasuke was concerned.

"Yes."

Souji blinked, slowly and deliberately before settling his dark eyes on each devil minus Naruto. "We are all going to pretend that never happened. As far as any of you remember, I decided to call you here to let you know that there's going to be a big fancy ball soon. There was no mind bending or disturbing speeches. Right?"

"Right." Akeno agreed, smirking slightly at her mistress' slightly ill look. "There's going to be a ball soon. We'll be ready for it, won't we hime-sama?"

Coming alive slowly, Rias nodded weakly. Most of the time, Naruto's brand of oddity was generally endearing. But sometimes, her nephew just went beyond the reasonably insane.

Souji shook off the last part of Naruto's confounding rant before grinning wickedly and clapping his hands. "Right. Right. You're all invited of course. It's a big to-do, so make sure to dress nicely. Attendance is mandatory, and you are all to be on your best behavior. It's to celebrate an engagement, so be sure to congratulate the future groom. The politics of the match are important."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto waved the swordsman off dismissively. "We'll be there, say the right things, and look all pretty for all the old fogeys that are looking to tear a strip off Dad. No biggie." Turning to face Akeno again, the Gremory heir leered and held his hands up to squeeze at the air in mock demonstration.

A hand snagged the back of Naruto's collar, dragging the thirteen year old demon away from the seductive priestess. Gagging and choking loudly, Naruto allowed Rias to pull him to a more socially appropriate distance. "Who's the unlucky bastard anyway?"

"Ah." Souji grinned like the cat that go the canary. "Well it's a bit of a scandal you know. But sometimes these things happen. Just make sure that when you're there you say hi to the bride. Ravel Phenex doesn't have a lot of friends yet, but I'm sure the groom will help her out. Naruto Gremory is just the kind of husband a girl like that would want to have."

Naruto's brain short-circuited.

"Haa?"

"Don't give me that look kid."

Frowning fiercely, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought I told you to avoid stupid jokes, Souji."

Sirzechs' Knight shook his head, stepping forward to settle a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He squeezed reassuringly, killing his desire to wince after all the humor was sucked right out of the air. "It's not a joke, Naruto. It's real."

Silence hung in the air as Naruto's face went white. The Gremory heir was subject to more than one pitying look. A surge of relief swirled in Rias' stomach at the realization that her loss in that duel all those years ago had spared her the fate of an arranged marriage, only to curdle into guilt at the knowledge that her luck was Naruto's misfortune.

Sasuke had no such compunctions, sadistic fuck that he was in Naruto's opinion. The Uchiha neatly sidestepped the stricken girls to peer down at his best friend and rival. "Allow me to just say something: good job." he blandly congratulated, offering a thumbs up.

"Fuck you!"