Chapter Twenty-Four
The End of the Day
"What do you mean you let him go!"
Uriel glared at Eve, her wild mane of hair now a flame and waving like the rays of a sun. Her eyes now burned with a righteous glow and her entire body radiated a heat so intense it drew a few beads of sweat on the First Woman's skin.
"I meant just that. He looked so pitiful just sulking there that I gave him the excuse he needed and he went." Eve shrugged her shoulders uncaringly. "Why are you so upset?"
"He's fragile right now!" Uriel seethed as she was getting angrier. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"
"If anyone can get Naruto, it'd be him."
Uriel's anger stopped at that moment and she looked at Eve in disbelief and shock. "You think- Eve, you really do not understand Azrael's mind right now."
Eve was quiet as she watched Uriel slowly turn back to normal and sit in the chair across from her with her head in her hands. What did she mean by that? Why would Azrael not try to get the Prophecy child? Isn't that what they all want?
"Uriel?"
The Angel of Fire looked up from her hands.
"What do you mean I don't understand his mind right now?"
Uriel sighed and shook her head. "Izzy is suffering from nightmares of when the Prophecy Child becomes the destroyer instead of the savior. He doesn't tell me specifics but it keeps him up most nights. He thinks that it'll be better if we kill Naruto before he becomes a problem."
"What!" Eve was startled at that claim. "Please tell me you're joking."
Uriel shook her head and held her head in her hands. "I'm not. If Izzy is successful, God will be angry. If he isn't, we are looking at a set path to destruction. There is no way he will trust us if we approach him down the line."
"Uriel, why didn't you tell me?" Eve grabbed her head in frustration. "I thought he would try to capture and bring him here. Fuck."
"Language."
"Eat my ass, I'm stressed." Eve rubbed her face as Uriel snorted at her behavior. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Uriel raised an eyebrow at that and tilted her head to the side. "You would have overreacted. I know full well that Izzy wants Naruto to work out as much as the rest of us. He is just believing that the nightmares are warning him that the Child is too far gone to be a savior."
"You need to be more communicative, Uriel," Eve sighed. "I'm not like Adam, I will hear people out when I have to. I would have been more careful and would not have sent him."
Uriel nodded her head in acceptance. They had come to the mutual understanding that they both made a mistake and would do better for it to not happen again. They weren't above admitting their faults and this is just one situation where there was a lot of it on their parts.
"How's the investigation of the mole going," Eve decided to change the subject. I really need a drink.
"Nowhere," Uriel groaned and let her head fall into her arms. "Emily is trying to keep an eye out in the Seraphim House but she can only do so much. Michael and Gabriel have gotten nowhere on who was her overseer and trainer at the time."
"So it's a dead end," Eve mumbled and shook her head. "We will have to look elsewhere. I'm waiting for Hagoromo to report back on what exactly happened to Naruto's guardian angel."
"This is such a blunder. I really wish Father was here."
Eve shared the angel's sentiments but did not voice it. I wonder where He is. He has never taken this long of a vacation and Jesus isn't saying much either.
Naruto stood petrified as Azrael stared down the redhaired woman in apathy. His expression did not change much, down to that same small smile on his lips. He couldn't explain it but something was screaming at him about this angel. Something about him was different from the others he's faced tonight.
But the woman was unmoving as she faced him, meeting his stare with her own. How golden chains were poised and ready to strike or defend at a moment's notice. They moved like arms, or tentacles now that he thought about it, as if they were just another component to her body.
"I will be taking my leave, then," Azrael twirled his weapon and it quickly morphed into a staff. "Take care, Mito, Naruto."
He created a rift and disappeared inside, not once looking back. Almost immediately he felt like he could breathe again and he fell back against the wall. It's more like he collapsed as if his legs gave out from under him.
"Holy shit, that was something else," Naruto breathed and leaned his head against the wall. "What in the fuck was he?"
Jiraiya came running over the moment his godson collapsed and he was looking at him. He was scared as well, unlike his godson he was petrified in his place, and he felt ashamed. He was ashamed that he had been close to losing Naruto again and he could do nothing about it.
"He is the Angel of Death, one of the Elder Angels," the red haired woman, Mito, came forward with long measured steps. "His name is Azrael. He is in a league beyond you, most likely even me, but he knows that should he fight me here and now he will have to answer to Lucifer. That will create a problem separate from all of this."
Naruto nodded his thanks to the woman. "Thank you for protecting me, ma'am. I appreciate it."
"Finding out who you are is a lot harder when you're dead," she answered with a stern stare. "What's your name, boy?"
Naruto twitched at the way she said 'boy' but decided to not fight her on it after she protected him. "The name is Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?"
"Mito Uzumaki," the woman answered with an appraising glare. "You don't look like an Uzumaki."
Naruto tilted his head at her answer, not fully catching the last bit as he was focused on her name. Where have I heard that name before?
"Wait," Jiraiya interrupted with a wide eyed stare. "The Mito Uzumaki? Wife to the First Hokage?"
"One and only," she grinned proudly. "I was also the sister to the Uzumaki clan head."
"I'm lost here," Naruto muttered to himself.
"This is Hashirama-sama's wife, and the first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi," Jiraiya answered his godson with the same amount of shock. "She is the grandmother of Tsunade-hime as well!"
"Ah, my granddaughter," Mito grinned at the mention of the little brat. "How is she?"
"The Fifth Hokage now," Jiraiya bowed his head. "What are you doing here, Mito-sama?"
Mito looked at the blonde now and her dark eyes looked the boy over. "I came to see if what I heard about another Uzumaki appearing as an Overlord is true."
"He's the son of Kushina Uzumaki, your Jinchuuriki successor," Jiraiya informed her immediately. "He just really takes after his father, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage."
"You're Kushina's boy?" She got a nod and she grinned. "So that's where the defiance comes from. I can see it now."
"You knew my mother?" Naruto was surprised by that.
"Knew her? I chose her!" Mito laughed as she said that. "I made her my successor as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and she goes and marries a Hokage just like me! It's the Uzumaki genes that get the attention of leaders, I tell you. We are desirable partners."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the woman's antics but he cracked a smile at her jovial voice. "Hah, so that's where it all comes from? I have the Uzumaki to blame for all the women vying for my attention."
The woman grinned at that little tidbit of information while Jiraiya gained a wide eyed stare at his godson. She would not deny what the boy said as she had it in her mind that was the way. No Uzumaki gained an undesirable partner. All of their lines are bred with power and intelligence, and they subconsciously draw in those traits of others.
But if this boy was bringing in multiple partners of this kind, that bodes well for him. She could see he was powerful, and had seen from afar all of his clones fighting the angels. He was untrained, inexperienced in true battle, but that could be because of his young death. He looked no older than sixteen, maybe seventeen, and from what she heard he has been in hell for about three years now.
Kushina arrived in Heaven, what, sixteen years ago? That would pin down his age a bit.
But she had a bad feeling about what Azrael said to the boy. Promised Child. She knew that prophecy, and had heard of it from the old sage, but did not know it was one of her clan members that was the prophesied child. They never said who it was just that they were born, which is also one of the many reasons why she fell.
Unlike them, she believed in being part of the boy's life to make sure he was guided correctly. That meant being on Ninkai as more than just his guardian angel. The others did not share her sentiments. Despite her being the Virtue of Diligence at the time, she had no power against the orders of the Elders.
And look what it got us. The Son of God in Hell for three years. She could see that form he turned into, it was staring her in the face right now! There was a piece of God in there, but the Darkness corruption is evident as well.
Unlike what Azrael may think, she could see that he was not too far gone just yet. But if not careful, that may very likely change.
"My godson is getting his own harem!" Jiraiya proudly exclaimed and grabbed Naruto in a large hug. "I knew you had it in you! Just had to go through puberty is all!"
"I don't want it!" Naruto shouted indignantly at the man. "I don't ask for all these women to fall for me! And Haku teases me that it will be guys too!"
"Hey, I don't care what team you bat for, I'm proud either way!"
Bam!
Naruto launched the man's head into the ground from an annoyed punch. He wouldn't deny whether he was into guys or not, he very much could care less, but that wasn't the issue. He didn't want all this love. He didn't like how it made him feel.
He's already gone in circles about this topic. He cares for them, even loves them, but he's unsure whether he can reciprocate their love. He doesn't want to hurt them and doesn't want to choose who to love. They don't care and want a chance with him, even together. He's not sure he should diminish their love like that but can't say no.
Fuck.
Mito chuckled at the two and shook her head.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
She looked up to see the Heavenly Embassy glowing a golden light as the clock tower chimed. The angels around the city stopped their hunting and immediately began leaving for Heaven's Gate. The only ones that did not leave were the Entertainment District and that was because there were no more left.
"Seems you did a good job defending your district," Mito noted as she saw no angels leave. "Quite the show for a major Overlord's first year."
Jiraiya caught that term again, Overlord, and was confused. "What does that mean? Overlord? Is that a title?"
"It's to designate Sinners, you and I, who have significant power and influence," Naruto answered as he pointed between him and Jiraiya since Mito was a fallen angel. "I was a minor Overlord since all I had was the territory with my restaurant. Then I got the attention of the Princess of Hell, and then the Sin of Gluttony, and then the daughter of a Prince of the Ars Goetia…"
Jiraiya blinked owlishly at the boy as he began rambling, even Mito just staring with raised eyebrows.
"Then I beat Rin-chan in a turf takeover attempt, and then I beat the largest major Overlord alliance without a drop of blood or ounce of fighting." Naruto paused at the blank stares coming from the two. "What"
Neither of them said anything. Jiraiya kept moving his mouth as if to say anything but it seems that he was drawing a blank. Mito, meanwhile, had a triumphant grin on her face.
"Uzumaki. Genetics." She reiterated pointedly and Naruto blushed a deep red at that. "Not only did you get Lucifer's daughter, but the Sin of Gluttony as well."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't intentional at all," Naruto tried to defend himself. "They've just decided for themselves they like me as a partner, even enough to share. Although I haven't agreed to that yet."
The last sentence he muttered was enough to get Jiraiya's brain to work and he suddenly jumped to his feet. He punched his fists into the air and shouted with all his might. "MY GODSON IS A CHICK MAGNET!"
"And guys too, don't forget that," Mito added in teasingly.
"I hate you both."
Everyone was startled when the door opened but relaxed when they saw it was just Naruto. They were even surprised to see two people enter behind him, one a toad-man and the other a beautiful redhaired woman.
"Is that your mother, Tayuya?"
The girl glared at Haku when he asked the question. "I don't know my parents, the fuck you think I know?"
"Naru!"
The blonde was startled by the two separate shouts and grinned when he saw them. He patted the backs of Charlie and Helsa as they held him. "Hey, I'm back."
"Quite the lookers! I approve!"
Naruto glared over his shoulder at the man, who just grinned back.
"You didn't tell me you took an Exterminator hostage." Mito walked in and stared at Agatha, making the girl shrink.
"She's not a hostage," Naruto denied with a shake of his head while the girls let him go. "She protected a mother and child sinner and was injured by the others in her squad. She's a fallen now."
"Hm," Mito walked over and stared down Agatha.
Agatha felt small and shivered at the terror she felt under the woman's gaze. She couldn't explain it but she felt like an insect. Something to be dissected and discarded.
"You made a good choice," Mito told her with a stern nod. "Not many can make the good choice. It's not easy, and you will find out that the good choice is the hardest path, but you made the right one. In time you will understand."
"Alright, who's the lady?" Tayuya pointed a thumb at the woman.
"That's Mito Uzumaki, we're related," Naruto gave the simple answer for now with a shrug.
Suddenly, he felt something tug on his sleeve and he blinked as he turned to see who it was. He found Octavia standing there sheepishly, her tail feathers shyly down and together.
"Hi, Octavia." Naruto smiled but tilted his head when she said something he couldn't hear. "What's that?"
He leaned down so his ear was closer to her.
"Can I get a hug?"
Naruto raised his eyebrows and blinked a few times, leaning back to look at her face. He grinned and nodded his head before opening his arms. "C'mere."
She blushed and quickly wrapped her arms around him, leaning her face into his shirt. As his arms circled around her like a protective blanket her tail feathers spread out confidently. She didn't even know they did, otherwise she would have been more embarrassed.
Charlie watched with a smile on her lips and elbowed Helsa gently a few times. They shared a look and Helsa chuckled while leaning into the girl. Haku and Stephen shared a look, the latter grinning while the ningen just rolled his eyes. Tayuya and Loona were jealous, frowning to themselves but refusing to ask.
Mito and Agatha watched from their spot in the corner of the room, Mito more pleasant while Agatha was just watching the interaction. It was soft, definitely not something she would have expected from 'depraved sinners' and that bugged her. This wasn't what she was told demons were like, they were supposed to be bad!
Jiraiya just grinned and really wished he had something to write notes in. He wondered if Hell had a publishing center, and if not if he could start one. He would start his next line of literature here. He was sure it'd be a hit!
"I know what you are thinking, pervy sage," the old toad looked at his godson with a smile on his face, "and no you will not use me as material."
Everyone was surprised to see the man fall to his knees at the boy's feet and begin crying. "Please! It'll be a new hit series!"
"No, use the succubus and incubus," Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "I don't want to see people reading your books and know it's about me."
"You're a cruel godson," the man held the blonde's feet now as he begged. "Please, just a peak! A little observation! I won't want for anything else!"
"God, pull yourself together," Naruto picked up Octavia as he stepped out of Jiraiya's hold. "you're one of the most feared men in the city now, act like you have some dignity!"
Octavia blushed as she became acutely aware of her prospective mate holding her up by her waist. His hands easily gripped her with a surprising amount of gentle care but also enough strength that she weighed nothing to him. Her tail fanned out unintentionally as they reacted to her emotions, showing off the macabre design of a deep purple colored raven skull on her black feathers.
Naruto's eyes widened at the design and he grinned as he looked at them. "Wow, Octavia-chan! Your feathers look cool, dattebayo."
Mito grinned at the scene, more knowledgeable of the mating process of these such angels and demons. It was adorable to see the young girl try to show but also hide her feelings from the blonde. Not like he paid attention, anyway, as he was just complimenting her innocently - she could tell. There was nothing indecent behind his eyes.
You definitely have the aura of an Uzumaki, but your mind is dense as a rock. Your father must have been a clueless one as well.
He's just a fake. Just a fake.
But why does she keep thinking about him? She hasn't been able to think straight ever since she left Hell cursing Lucifer for stopping her. She wanted to kill that bastard that looks like her son - or at least what she would think Naruto would look like by now.
She had fantasized plenty of nights of her son and her husband with her. They would live their lives together as a family, something she wished for every day. His young looks would make him a carbon copy of Minato while his temper would be like her. He would definitely be a mommas boy.
But when she saw that fake who looked so much like her fantasies with very few differences, she just snapped. How dare someone take the appearance of her son, bastardizing his image into that of the fox. It angered her that the image of her boy she had in her head was tainted with the fox ears and tail of the imposter.
That couldn't be Naruto.
But the thought that it could be, no matter how much she still denied it deep down, scared her. So she had only one person in mind that she could go to and trust. In her rush to leave, she didn't stick around to see how Agatha did on her first Extermination. She will have to make it up to her after she confirms that her son is alive.
With that thought, Kushina flew from the Exterminator's Barracks straight to her home. Her face is red and her body is tense, so much so that even the ever joyful angels were giving her a wide berth. They could see that she was not to be greeted at the moment, especially with how tempered she was on a good day.
It did not take her long to reach her home and she landed roughly in a squat. She roughly shoved open the door and kicked off her shoes. She did not bother putting away her axe, keeping it on hand as she entered the living room.
"Old man! Get out here!"
She seethed and paced in the room. She kept thinking of the imposter she met in Hell. She couldn't stop thinking about him and it was making her even more frustrated. She wanted to calm the doubts and confirm what she already felt.
Her son is alive and happy in Konoha. She had to confirm it.
"Back from Extermination already, Kushina?" The man came down the stairs that led to the top floor.
"I'm not in the mood for your games, geezer." She marched up to him.
He just raised his eyebrows at her, his purple eyes surprised to see the mood she was in. He had never seen her this angry, this emotionally imbalanced, since she first arrived and found out about her son. She had been a rage-filled beast that took a lot to get under control enough to talk to.
"What is the problem, Kushina?"
"I want to know about my son!" She raised her axe to his chest and her purple eyes glowed menacingly. "Tell me, geezer sage, is my son alive and well on Ninkai?"