The guest room was mostly dark, with heavy blinds blocking 80% of the light trying to get in, when Xenovia woke up.
Her head swung around, trying to get a read on where she was. By the standards of the underworld, it was a very austere room meant for guests of no particular renown. Compared to the church, it was as lavish as a room could be. Xenovia's eyes swept over it all until she nodded.
"I'm in Heaven," she said. "Which means that you must be an angel."
Naruto smiled. He was sitting in a chair at her bedside. "I haven't heard that one before!"
"You must be an angel," Xenovia said. "You look like one."
Naruto looked down at himself, then up at her. "What does an angel look like?"
"Pale, often blond, and handsome," Xenovia said. "Besides, this is Heaven, so you must be an angel. Because I died."
"No. You were stabbed, and it was close, but you didn't die. Griselda saved you."
"Griselda…" Hurt flashed across Xenovia's face. "Please don't talk about Sister Griselda, Mr. Angel. She wouldn't save me. She despises me as much as Father Cristaldi."
"She doesn't—" Naruto stopped before trying to convince Xenovia, deciding it would be easier to drop it for now and let Griselda show her how wrong she was. His Rook was catching up on sleep that she needed desperately, hence why Naruto volunteered to watch over her adopted sister. "You're wrong about Griselda. She loves you, I'm telling you. You'll see."
"Okay, Mr. Angel," Xenovia said dubiously. She wasn't a very good actress. "Mr. Angel, is it true that God is dead?"
"Dunno," Naruto said. "I'm not a real angel, even if I guess I look like one. But Griselda thinks it's true. Based on the things she said, other people think so too. You got stabbed because you figured it out."
"Or because I committed blasphemy," Xenovia said.
Naruto realized that she would rather be wrong, and believe she'd been killed because she made a mistake, than be right about her faith.
He didn't even have to answer her. Her face fell on its own when he didn't contradict her. Xenovia hung her head in silence. Her eyes started to water.
"Hey, hey! C'mon, don't cry! Even if God—" Naruto stopped briefly as an invisible stab hit him in the head. His hand shot up toward his face, but he controlled the reflex quickly; the pain hadn't lasted long. "Even if that guy's dead, you aren't!"
"So what?" Xenovia asked. "What's the point? I was fine with dying. I didn't mind it…"
Naruto leaned back in his chair, giving her a moment to cry. He started stroking his chin. How to go about this?
"There was once a boy in a village. This boy wasn't just any boy. He had a demon stuffed in his stomach!"
"A demon? Do you mean a devil, Mr. Angel?"
"Eh, you could call it that," Naruto said. "Anyway, because of the demon, the people in the village didn't like him. They told their kids to stay away from him. He didn't have parents, he barely had any friends, even had to find ways to push himself when he wanted to ride the swings… That kind of thing! But he still loved the village loads. He decided he was going to be the leader! He really, really, really really really looked up to the leaders they had before. All of them were super powerful and really cool, especially the fourth one."
Xenovia wasn't crying quite as hard anymore, now that she was busy listening. She did look pretty confused.
"The little kid grew up. He got tougher and got closer to his dream of being the leader. Eventually, he got into a biiiiig fight." Naruto kicked his legs, laughing as he remembered his brutal contest against Nagato. "The demon started to get out. Then, an echo of the fourth leader appeared in front of him, and that echo told him that he was the one who put the demon in the boy's gut. Oh, and he was his dad, too. What do you think was the first thing that the boy did?"
"I don't know, Mr. Angel," Xenovia said.
"He punched him in the stomach!" Naruto said. He swung his fist up, muscle memory making it feel like the whole thing happened just yesterday. "He started crying, too. He said something like, "How could you do that to me? Do you know how much trouble the demon caused?" For a second, it seemed like everything he knew was coming apart. How could the guy he looked up to have been the one who ruined his life? What was he working for? What was the point? He was asking all kinds of questions like that. He didn't know if he wanted to keep fighting."
"Did he?" Xenovia asked.
Naruto chuckled. "Oh, yeah! The leader explained that he did it because he believed in his son. He put the demon away again. Then, the boy went back to fight and kicked ass. The end!"
There was a moment of silence.
"I'm not sure what I was supposed to get out of that story, Mr. Angel."
"Hmm." Naruto rubbed his chin. "I guess that, shit happens?" He laughed. "No, I can say it better than that. It's more like, even if something seems so shocking that you just wanna give up and stop, you'll adjust. I've never been into religion or anything, so I can't give you advice there. Griselda decided that she'd keep living the way she was taught to, even if the dude who made those lessons isn't around anymore. Maybe that'll help you? Otherwise, it's up to you. We've all gotta find our own way of doing things." He grinned.
Xenovia remained silent. She wasn't crying anymore. Her clothes had been changed into a dress that Naruto was pretty sure came from one of Riser's peerage members. The pink dress really didn't match Xenovia's aesthetic, with her short blue hair with a green streak in it, but the dress sure looked great on her, hugging her body. Naruto got a good view as Xenovia moved the covers back and turned to the side, putting her feet on the floor.
Without getting up, she bowed to him.
"Thank you, Mr. Angel. I will not forget the wisdom shared by a saint such as yourself!"
"I'm really not a saint," Naruto said. "Maybe a sage, but not a saint…"
"I respect your attempts to remain hidden. I will not share your real identity," Xenovia said. "However, your wisdom has given you away. It's clear that you're a hidden saint, looking after the lambs of God and shepherding them on their path. I will not grow disheartened by the blow I've received! With ample fuel, my faith will burn even brighter, as I pursue His mission with renewed vigor!"
"I REALLY don't think you should be calling me a saint," Naruto tried to warn her. "Maybe I should've said this earlier, but I'm—"
"XENOVIA!"
There was a burst of wind, followed by a bang. The door had been slammed open so hard that Naruto could see splinters raining from the edge of it. A black and white blur shot toward Xenovia and scooped her into a hug. By the time she stopped moving, Griselda was draped over Xenovia's body.
"You're alive! I'm so glad! I don't hate you! Are you hurt anywhere? Is anywhere uncomfortable! I'm sorry! You truly feel alright? I didn't mean it! Do you need to lay down? I'm sorry that I hit you!"
The babble was almost incoherent, even to Naruto who was doing his best to pick it apart. Xenovia clearly wasn't. She seemed like she was barely hearing a word.
Mostly, she was looking at Griselda's back.
Somehow, the nun had realized that Xenovia was awake. Either someone told her, or she somehow heard Xenovia's voice and woke up. The moment she knew, she rushed over as fast as she could. A day ago (even a few hours ago) that would have meant sprinting.
Now, it meant flying.
Xenovia reached up like she was in a dream, sliding her hand along the tough and leathery skin of one wing.
"D-Devil!" Xenovia said.
She tried to push Griselda away, but Griselda was so happy to see her that she was squeezing Xenovia, and since she had been stronger than Xenovia even BEFORE reincarnating into one of Naruto's Rooks, that meant squirming was a losing battle.
"Mr. Angel! Hidden Saint! A devil has me, please help!" Xenovia squawked.
"Aw. I was trying to tell you."
Naruto smiled apologetically. He called out his wings, the big fiery masses telling Xenovia all she had to know quicker than any words could've.
"You're currently in the care of the Phenex Clan, 37th rank amongst the 72 Pillars. No harm will befall you. In fact, we undid a whole bunch of harm." Naruto chuckled. "Welcome to the Underworld?"
Xenovia screamed.
LINE BREAK
It took a long time to convince her that they hadn't turned her into a devil while she slept. It took a while after that to convince her that Naruto (and any of the other devils) hadn't done anything dastardly to her during her unconsciousness.
The hardest part was convincing her that the woman who looked like her sister but smelled like a devil WAS Griselda Quarta, just reincarnated into the kind of being she once swore to destroy. Naruto wasn't completely sure that Xenovia believed that part yet. He could still see the two of them, sitting side by side and talking in low tones, while he went through his daily exercises.
Lots of devils ignored physical training. It was painful and difficult and the grind never really stopped. Kuroka was one of these; she didn't really NEED it since she was a magic user, which hadn't stopped Naruto from trying to get her to train with him at first. It hadn't lasted long as she found increasingly impressive hiding spots and blew him off at every opportunity.
Shirone trained with her mother, since Fujimai taught her the best ways to use her youkai senjutsu. Bafeel had worked out with Naruto for a few months, before politely telling him that she was going to do isolated training from now on. Apparently his stamina was "demoralizing" and "made her feel pathetic". He wasn't sure why that would be the case.
Anyway, it meant that Naruto's physical workouts were ones he handled alone. His devil constitution had way higher natural limits than his human body. He could do things with his muscles that any shinobi would've needed chakra for… Except maybe Gai and Lee, but they were freaks.
Currently, Naruto was on his custom made pull-up bar. It was exactly like a normal pull-up bar, except that it was about fifty feet off the ground and the bar was perpetually oiled to make it harder to grip.
Naruto brought his chin up over the bar. "98…99…100!"
His muscles groaned, but he allowed himself to grin brightly. Not too bad! Especially since he'd just upped the weight.
So far, he hadn't been able to find a substitute for the compact weights Lee used to use. So, alas, Naruto was forced to do things the old fashioned way.
Powerful ropes around his waist connected him to three boulders that Kuroka had helped him bring down from the mountains. She'd used some kind of Youjutsu magic to strengthen the pull-up bar itself, otherwise the bar would've snapped off its supports halfway through the first rep.
Naruto let go of the bar, spread his wings, and managed a gradual descent that kicked up dust but didn't cause too much of a crash. His workout setup was pretty deep into the woods, set away from the places most of the family visited. Xenovia and Griselda had come with him because Xenovia wanted to get away from as many devils as possible. Griselda was going to go wherever Xenovia went and she wasn't opposed to a quiet spot to chat. Naruto looked at the two of them speaking to each other and hoped that it was going well.
He picked up a bottle of water and drank. When he had quenched his thirst, he dumped much of the rest of the contents over his shirtless body. His natural body heat as a Phenex meant that most of it evaporated quickly, causing his body to visibly steam.
His eyes were pulled over to the girls when Griselda stood up quickly.
"I am a devil!" she said.
Naruto cocked his head. He couldn't tell if she was talking to him.
"Yeah, you are!" he yelled back, once Xenovia didn't answer quickly.
Griselda walked toward him.
"Devils are beings of desire! Are we not?" She was still talking unusually loudly.
Naruto walked over to meet her. "Sure, we are. What about it?"
"It is rational, then, to assume that when a devil wishes to do something, they will often do it!"
"Most of the time?" Naruto said.
Griselda cleared her throat. She had stopped a few steps away from him; she closed that distance now.
Without saying anything else, she grabbed his pecs.
Naruto's confusion grew exponentially as he had his muscular manboobs felt up. Griselda giggled drunkenly. She moved her hands lower, stroking her fingers across his abs like cheese against a grater. Naruto was starting to wonder where this was going when Griselda spun around quickly, facing Xenovia with a bright blush.
"Behold! The depraved actions of a true devil! No exorcist would dare to do something so daring!"
Xenovia looked as scandalized as Griselda was expecting. Naruto felt like he was missing something.
He couldn't get his answer from the girl in question because Griselda sprouted her wings and ran off so fast that the leaves on the surrounding trees shook. He'd noticed that her blush had been continually getting worse.
Naruto and Xenovia were alone for the first time since their chat in the bedroom.
"Is touching muscles holy, Mr. Hidden Saint?" Xenovia asked.
"How should I know?" Naruto said. "And can I still be a hidden saint? I already told you I'm a devil…"
"I know. You're VERY well hidden." Xenovia didn't have any doubt in her voice. "I'll keep the truth to myself. I won't even call you Mr. Angel. Except when we're alone, of course."
Naruto supposed that this was better than her going on an attempted killing spree. He just wasn't quite sure how they got to this point.
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