Devil Ninja

Rogue Kitty, Part I

The afternoon sun beat down on their backs. Naruto stood in a semi-circle with Issei and Kiba. They stood in a small clearing surrounded by forestry; trees and bushes and shrubs covered much of their vision and didn't allow them to see more than several dozen feet. The canopy of branches and leaves above blocked out the sun.

"So what's the plan?" asked Issei. "Do we just go in and bust heads or are we actually going to, like, think this through or something?"

"I'm sure Naruto-san has a plan, Issei," Kiba smiled at the pervert... and then turned to Naruto. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Of course I've got a plan," Naruto said, sounding insulted. "Who the hell do you think I am?"

"How about a man who, for all his surprising intellect, tends to come up with the stupidest plans?" Kiba offered.

"Oh, screw you. Every single one of my plans have worked so far, haven't they?"

"Maybe for the last game, yes, but what about the one before that?"

"They just got lucky."

"And the one before that? Or how about-"

"Okay, okay, I get your point," Naruto grumbled. "So my plans are a little out there. They're still good plans."

The Gremory peerage was currently in the middle of a mockup rating game; Rias, Akeno and Koneko versus Naruto, Issei and Kiba. Asia was acting as the healer for after the battle and not allowed to participate because doing so would've given the team she was on an unfair advantage. She'd pouted a bit, but a few whispered words from Akeno had the girl forgetting all about participating.

Naruto would've wondered what was said, but felt he was better off not asking when he saw the blood leaking from Asia's nose.

There are some things a man just isn't meant to know.

These "rating games" had been an idea that Rias had cooked up a few weeks back. She'd been watching their rating game with Rizer and comparing it to the other rating games, the ones played professionally, and decided they were lacking. While their strategy had been sound enough, most of it had relied on whether or not Naruto's seal would work against Rizer and seal away his ability to regenerate. While that seal had indeed worked, and worked well, it didn't change how they'd been over reliant upon it working. If it hadn't worked, their victory could've very easily turned into defeat.

The others had agreed. And so every Wednesday and Saturday the group went out into the woods, set up a barrier to keep unwanted guests away, and paired up into threes, so they could have mock rating games. This particular game just happened to be set up so it was men versus women.

"So what's the plan, then?"

"Right, I'm going to act as a distraction for Akeno and Rias. I want you two to gang up on Koneko and take her out of the game as quickly as possible."

"I don't know how I feel about ganging up on someone," Issei said, looking uncertain. "It doesn't feel right to gang up on a girl like that, especially one as cute as Koneko."

"I have to agree with Issei," Kiba added. "Ganging up on someone, not fighting fair and square. It just feels wrong. It isn't honorable."

"Being honorable is for losers, not winners." Naruto dismissed their thoughts. "Remember this, if you're not cheating, you're not trying. I have to be the distraction for Rias and Akeno, so I can't fight her. That means you two will need to take my place. And trust me when I say that neither of you would win if you faced her one-on-one."

Naruto had been training with Koneko just like he had with Issei. At least two days a week for three hours she and he would spar in another clearing several miles from Kuoh city. While Koneko hadn't made much progress in Senjutsu, which Naruto had also taken to instructing her in, her skills in hand-to-hand combat were easily on par with his own. Then again, Naruto was never a taijutsu specialist, preferring close-range ninjutsu attacks like his rasengan as opposed to straight up taijutsu. It was still impressive, though. Naruto might not be Rock Lee or Maito Gai, but he was no slouch either. Koneko really had improved.