28A/N: Thanks to 'Dreaming of the Phoenix' the author of Naruto – Life as a Devil. I got permission to use the start of his story as a partial template for this story given it was a far better start than what I originally could think up.
Summary: None at the time of posting this chapter... If you want to, feel free to come up with one for me. I'll put you in the credits.
In addition to 'Dreaming of the Phoenix' to which the reason stated above. I'll also thank my patrons on . They're silent as church mice even when I try to get them to talk, but they've been helpful in keeping my spirits up in terms of creating fanfiction, of which I've been considering to quit over the past year. Not to mention an EXTREMELY patient bunch.
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Lady Kiyo Orobas lay in her bed, knowing without rancor that she was finally dying. She didn't know just how long she would linger, but she was content. She could rest knowing that she had accomplished much in her nearly forty-five hundred years of life. She had seen a great deal, from the Great War with the Heavens, to the later Civil War amongst her own kind when the corrupt and arrogant Old Satan Faction needed to be kicked into a corner. She had even participated in that battle herself bringing about the deaths of nearly twenty Legions under the command of the then-current Leviathan.
No, the old devil had no regrets about any of that. Although if she had to give one, it would be that her House would end with her. She never had children and never had a husband. She had only found one person who had caught her attention, but he had died shortly upon doing so. Since then she had rejected all. She had many suitors, even in her age now she still had a few, but that's all they'd be. Suitors. She preferred deeds and actions over pretty words, handsome faces or someone's lineage. So with her death her House and Name would be removed from among the existing Houses and would become Extinct, much like the majority of the Pillars, which would put her last few remaining, loyal servants on the street or they would follow her to the grave.
Kiyo was a charitable soul, and she did not want to know that she had left such loyalty unrewarded. Much like the Gremory House, she, too, cared greatly for those who served her. The only ones to stay with her over her House's decline, and now its death. It would be a smear upon her name in her last hour to leave them without some form of compensation. Though with all said, you could imagine her surprise when she spoke to the last three servants who remained in the household, to serve her until her upcoming death... and found they intended to die along with her.
So she hatched a plan to ruin theirs. She now waited against time for the findings. Then the door opened, and her last remaining maid entered, having returned from her task of finding an heir for her.
"Has it been found then, Sakuya?"
"Yes, my lady. The subject has all the particulars you have asked for," Sakuya replied. She was a quiet girl, and had customized her maid uniform with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head. Kiyo had brought her from the collapsing Old Satan Faction at the end of the civil war. Despite never actively participating in the fighting, she had been on the way to an execution. She ended that and in return Sakuya rewarded her with loyalty. She would not see that loyalty betrayed now.
"Good," she was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit that wrenched its way from within her emaciated frame. She regarded her now-frail body with a certain amount of amusement. Devils were powerful beings, with bodies that could take and dish out great amounts of punishment, but when their time came to die of old age, those same bodies suddenly became as frail as any century-old human, and she was indisputably the oldest living devil, something she enjoyed lording over the others.
"Shall we commence with obtaining the subject, Mistress?" Sakuya asked.
"Yes. Bring him."
The young woman bowed and retreated from the room. Kiyo lay back among the piled pillows with a heavy sigh. It wouldn't be long now. Just a little more time, that was all she needed. Soon, soon she would have what she needed to ensure that the loyalty of her remaining people was paid back.
Soon she would have her successor.
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Konoha
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"Apologies, but my mistress requires this young man," stated a silver haired young woman after she had picked up a blond twelve year old child and over her shoulder as if he was a sack of rice, who had just stood in the middle of what something in between a council and a trial, "So, I'm taking him now," she added seriously before giving a solid smack on the boy's butt to stop his squirming, "Stop moving or I'll drop you."
"And you think we'll just let you take him?" questioned one of the people in the room, an elderly woman if Sakuya went by her appearance.
"I don't care," she answered simply before she vanished along with the boy she had come to collect.
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House Orobas Estate
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"Welcome, Naruto-sama," said two voices in unison and once the bright light cleared from his vision he saw an older man, who had a sword at his hip, dressed in metal armor bowing to him alongside a woman dressed as a maid, like the one who brought him, and spanked him as she stood next to him.
He looked around and found that the place he was in was a large manor, not quite a mansion, but nothing the average person could afford.
"On behalf of everyone including our Mistress, be welcome Naruto-sama. I am Hirisaka Kurou, Head Guard to the Orobas House," stated the man seriously as he bowed once more, "Do you require anything before you meet Lady Kiyo?"
"Uh... no, I think I'm good right now," replied Naruto not sure how to deal with this situation. One moment he was on trial for letting the Uchiha go, not to mention harming his oh-so-blessed ass and then he was taken by a silver haired, beautiful maid and now here.
"Very well. Then if you would follow me, I will bring you to my mistress immediately," said Kurou turning on his heel and started down a hallway, and Naruto followed the man after the maid who brought him gestured for him to start after the older man.
He didn't have much time to admire the interior as they had arrived in a room, it was decoration was spartan, which he didn't know if it was the person's decision or not since when he looked at the dresser or bed, they seemed to be very well decorated unlike the rest of the room.
A hollow, yet light laugh brought his attention to the only person in the room, and was lying on the bed. It was a woman, a very old woman from what he could see. Grayed hair and a pale complexion and sunken skin that only one thing came to his mind. She was dying or merely a single step from it. Then he saw her eyes, they were cataract and if she wasn't blind she probably couldn't even see him.
"Come in, this isn't the bathroom... well for some it isn't," she said cracking a smile at her own joke though he figured she was allowed since she was the one that said it. He wasn't going to crack jokes at an aged, dying old lady. He wasn't that rude.
"Lady Kiyo Orobas," he asked as he bowed politely to the woman wondering if it was her. She nodded once.
"Manners. Something Sakuya left out of the reports about you. I'm honored, seeing as you don't display this respect even to your own leaders," stated Kiyo smiling weakly at the blond, "Still, throw away the manners. Nice and polite has its place, but not here. Not now," she added raising her arm as if to wave his manners away. "I'll be quick about this. I'm halfway into death's grip so shut up and let an old woman talk and answer the important questions."
Naruto nodded deciding to do as the old woman said. Let no one say he didn't have a respectful bone in his body. He had questions, but he had time to get answers. Kiyo probably didn't.
"You are here because my house needs an heir. I don't have kids or family. My pitfall in life and this is the consequence. My servants contemplate suicide to die with me and I dislike rewarding loyalty with death. So I sent Sakuya to find an heir, and she found you since you fit the requirements I wanted," explained Kiyo softly before pausing to take a deep breath, "You have a choice in this matter, so don't fret, but you should know both sides of the coin you're being asked to toss. If you refuse, Sakuya will return you to your world in whatever was happening. My house and my servants die. The end. If you agree... everything that is mine, is yours. My house has slowly gone to ruin, but it's good enough to support you and possibly a family later on, though you can always improve it, but I'll leave that with you to decide, if you even agree. Kurou, Sakuya and Hishamaru are loyal, so you're stuck with them. They'll teach you everything you need to know as well." She let out a tired sigh, "Lastly, you'll be getting this," she held up a tiny object but Naruto didn't know what it was.
"What is it?" he asked curiously.
"A King Piece. It's forbidden to use nowadays, but everyone has assumed I used it when I received it. I didn't. I'm not into the boring and juvenile Rating Games. It'll turn you into a pureblood devil and used with some of my blood will make you an Orobas, my son by extension. The other pieces would only make you half devil. I don't care one way or another. I'd even take you as human, but it'll save you from headaches and inevitable whining from other Houses. It will also increase your power somewhere between ten times to one hundred times... or more," answered Kiyo honestly as she shrugged in the bed, as the white haired kitsune woman retrieved the piece from Kiyo, "They were banned because the four satans are afraid they'd be used to pursue evil desires. The rest were taken and locked away. Pfft, more like too afraid someone would kick them out of their pillowed seats... Now leave, I'd like to be alone for awhile."
Everyone bowed, including Naruto who followed what the others did and stepped out of the room, with Kurou closing the door behind them.
"She has passed on," reported Hishamaru quietly after a few seconds as he noticed the change in demeanor of the three, "We will honor her wish. You'll need time to ma-"
"I'll do it," said Naruto cutting her off causing the woman look at him blinking, "I'll... become her heir. No one was ever willing to adopt me and even if she just passed away, she's given me something I wanted since I was little. A family. So I agree to be the heir to her House."
"Then please, follow us Naruto-sama," replied Kurou calmly before setting off down a different hallway and he followed the man deciding he had made his decision.
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3 days later
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Naruto opened his eyes and found himself lying on the bed he had laid down in the previous day, he had been brought to it and Hishamaru had done whatever it was she did with the King Piece and a vial of blood. The next moment, he was waking up here.
"You're awake, Naruto-sama," said Sakuya politely standing nearby the bed he was on, it was far more comfortable than what he was used to. "Are you feeling well?"
"I feel like I missed something even though I was there," said Naruto not quite sure how to explain how he was feeling at the moment.
"You have been asleep for three days, and you were out for most of the ritual, Naruto-sama," she replied calmly, "If you'll follow me I'll show you to the bath," she added before starting to the door.
"...I'm going to need clothes before I walk around," stated Naruto feeling quite naked underneath the blanket and there was absolutely no way he was about to walk anywhere as he was. "And who undressed me?"
"You're clothes are on the dresser to your left, they've been cleaned of course, and I am the one who undressed you. Among a number of other things," answered Sakuya with no change in her tone and Naruto was curious about the other things, but he was going to let it drop. The less he knew the better, probably. "I'll wait outside the room, unless of course you'd like help in getting dressed," she added and with Naruto shaking his head in a negative, she merely bowed and left the room.
Once she left the room, he got out of the bed and quickly got dressed though his jumpsuit was not in the pile of clothes. Instead he had a new pair of pants to replace his jumpsuit's pants. He left the room when he finished and asked, "Where's my jumpsuit?"
"Destroyed," answered Sakuya without hesitation as they started down the hallway, likely to where ever the bathroom was so he'd take a bath. "Even if your favorite color is orange, wearing it for your entire clothing attire is an abysmal decision, Naruto-sama. Hishamaru has already gone to a tailor to have clothes made for you since she took your measurements when you were asleep. The rest is up to the tailor, but I warn you that you should get used to wearing more... easy on the eye colors for your clothing. We'll see about adding orange to a few pieces of clothing for you at a later date, Naruto-sama."
"O-okay," replied Naruto seeing that arguing was not going to get anywhere with her even if he was now their lord and master. He honestly preferred it this way. He wouldn't want them to do just do whatever he said because he had been lucky enough to be picked by a set of requirements set by Kiyo. He hummed for a moment not sure what to call the elderly lady, even if it was to other people. '...I guess mother would work. She did adopt me even if she died before it was fully complete. This is strange,' he thought frowning.
"Was there a reason Kaa-san never married anyone... or had children?" he asked curious if there was a reason behind Kiyo's lack of a family. He'd admit it was a curious thing to think about. If he had been the last of a clan, he'd do his best to grow it... bigger. '...shiiiit,' he thought as he just realized he was the last member of House Orobas now.
Sakuya's frowned deepened for a moment before she replied, "It is partly because of Lady Kiyo's requirements and partly of Orobas tradition, Naruto-sama. Our mistress had many after her heart, and her beauty before you met her. However, our Lady is not one for fancy gifts, flowery, charming words or a handsome face. Not even an influential House and such would do. She was a person who respects a person's deeds and actions. Where a person's true self would come into view, unhidden behind lies and well constructed masks. Only one man was able to catch her eye, but he was human and he was old. Very old. Dying of disease... and old age." They arrived at a door and she opened, "He died and she wanted no other man in her life. No one lived up to him. I imagine if he had been younger and lived, our mistress would have married him. Although I'm unsure if he would have accepted given what it takes for someone to be chosen as the heir to the Orobas House." It was a large bathroom, it blew his out of the water, completely. Actually, it probably engulfed his former bathroom, and at least half of his apartment. "Get undressed and I'll help you bathe, Naruto-sama," she said gently as she started to undress as well.
"W-what are you doing?!" he asked covering his eyes before he got whacked over the head and into a wall.
"Undressing. Helping you in the bath is inconvenient clothed, not to mention stupid. Now come on, undress or I'll do it for you... or would you like me to do it for you, Naruto-sama?" she questioned adopting a thoughtful expression on her face, likely wondering if her new master would like that better.
"I'll do it myself," he quickly said, "And I can give myse-"
"You can bathe yourself, but no one knows if there are side effects from the King Piece. It is rumored it can kill its user. I will remain as will Hishamaru in certain situations regardless of your wishes until we are certain everything will be fine. Once that point is past, we will not intrude if you still desire such," explained Sakuya calmly watching the blonde amused even as she continued to undress. "You can look as well or you'll never get undressed. I don't mind, but I will wait in the bath to make you less uncomfortable," she added before walking over to the bathtub and sitting down.
"...Thanks," said Naruto very uncomfortable with the entire situation, but he could understand her reasoning for staying. He could drop to the ground and die and they'd only find him afterward. With her staying, if anything happened she could prevent it or get Hishamaru to. "What's the thing with the heir to the Orobas House?" he asked as he started to undress. It was mostly to get his mind off the nude woman in the bath and everything else.
"I shall use an example, Naruto-sama. If you have a child, they are not automatically considered the heir, let alone an actual Orobas, Naruto-sama," started Sakuya before letting out a breath of air then continued, "When Orobas is born, it is with a solemn vow. They will have nothing. Their privilege is the dirt. As children, they only get what their parents decide to give them, and it can be taken away just as quickly. It is their parents, after all, not theirs. House Orobas is not a house where spoiled self-important jackasses are born from... or they're thrown out upon adulthood. Orobas take care of their children, but keeping around harmful individuals isn't the greatest idea. Hard work is what the House holds above all else and cherishes. To pick an heir, the head of the House will give a set requirement for who he or she wishes to be the heir. So it changes from person to person, though from what Kiyo-sama explained. They mostly keep in mind hard work, kindness, courage, and honor. Beyond that it's up to the person to add more to get someone very, very specific. Kind of how Kiyo-sama ended up as the last living Orobas. They have high standards."
"Don't know if that was an insult or not," muttered Naruto wondering if the maid just inadvertently insulted the Orobas house. He personally didn't mind, but he figured it would be anathema to the young woman who served the House so loyally.
"As Lady Kiyo always said, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but first you have to catch me' She made an odd alteration to the human idiom. Lady Kiyo was oddly immune to insults, they amused her greatly... and she started to count them after hearing them enough times," said Sakuya shrugging as she thought back onto her late Mistress. "Insults are merely words. Acknowledging them is acknowledging the presence of the lower life form that spewed them."
'...Kaa-san was odd, I see,' thought Naruto not sure whether to be impressed or to just find the elderly woman to be very, very strange. He sighed as he walked over to the bath tub and quickly got in and sat some distance away from Sakuya and avoided looking at her.
"So um... what kind of person was the guy she liked? Considering she thought nothing of everyone else he must have been... unique," said Naruto as he had been wondering what had got his pseudo-mother's attention when she had others vying for her attention and could have easily had a child and heir without having done everything this way.
Naruto watched as Sakuya's normally stoic, calm expression changed into a soft smile as she was probably thinking back on the memories. "Only Lady Kiyo knew his name, and I never met him. He had left behind diaries, not knowing if they'd be read, but hoping that they would. My knowledge of him is from them. He wanted someone... anyone to know of his actions such as they were. He had originally lost his family in one of the human wars. He had left his home for a few days to do his survivalist thing he usually did in the wilderness and on his way back home... he witnessed his hometown, and his family incinerated as some humans had bombed it into oblivion," she said as she made her way over to Naruto who only had a limited distance to escape, and failed then she proceeded to start washing his body.
"He didn't return to civilization, instead he stayed in the forest, in a cavern to live through the ongoing war. He left journals, throughout the place over the course of decades. He was a man of few words, and I suspect didn't expect devils or anyone to read them and because of that he inadvertently told the history of the forest that House Orobas owns as its territory. To protect the people that live there now for him. Being there for twenty years with nothing but animals, he had discovered a band of survivors from the war had moved into his speck of paradise. There was a language barrier and he couldn't communicate with them. He helped them when he could. Silently, and always unseen. Leaving gifts of medicine and supplies. However, despite his efforts to keep them safe, they were killed by savage human garbage," she growled out angrily toward the end, but immediately calmed down when Naruto turned around to check on her.
When she calmed down she continued, "They were part of some military force... or at least that's what Lady Kiyo assumed only finding ruined and torn clothing found on bodies around the forest. They committed atrocities against the survivors who had come there first, and even though he was outnumbered, he took his revenge. He spent his life surviving in the wild, not living within civilization where you could always let your guard down. For eleven months, he killed them before they fled and once more leaving him alone in his little garden of paradise. It would be the last time he would have any more confrontation with people and over the years he acted as guardian to that forest and kept out the unwanted who tried to enter it. And then in his elderly years, he found a way to share the knowledge he had gained and that he retained from before the war had happened. When children arrived in the forest. Just children, with no adults." Naruto heard her go quiet as felt pressure on the back of his head and understood.
He found the story to be sad as well and could barely hold back from crying himself at what this man had done selflessly. After a few minutes, she continued, her voice a little strained, but got steady after a few seconds, "For sixteen years, he watched over them and never revealed himself. He didn't want to let them know that their mysterious benefactor was just an old man on his last legs. He wrote them letters, gave them books and supplies. Almost everything he had to ensure that they would grow into good people and that they did. They still view him as a deity that watches over them... and in a way he still does. After decades of living in the forest he knew his days were coming to a close. So he found a spot high above the forest where the children wouldn't discover him and allowed age, disease and the elements grant him the death he wanted. That was when Lady Kiyo had found him. He was too modest for his own good, but he had hoped someone would know what he did."
"Sounds like a good person," said Naruto seeing as the story was finishing up.
"Close your eyes, Naruto-sama," replied Sakuya as she began putting shampoo in his hair and the last thing she wanted was him screaming and burning his eyes from it.
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A/N: Once again, I have to thank 'Dreaming of the Phoenix' for allowing me to use the opening of his story in order to start off my own story.