Chapter - 20

Sasuke scarfed down the katsudon with a mixture of hunger and anger. What the fuck was this life supposed to be? While he had been off in the wilderness on the edge of starvation for a decade struggling to survive without having to swear himself to servitude, Naruto was living the high life as the son of a Satan and a bonafide prodigy with demon magic?

If this was some god's ridiculous attempt at karma, they would have words. Whatever crimes Sasuke had committed – actually committed, rather than merely intended to commit – paled in comparison to the suffering of his first childhood. Suffering that was deliberately inflicted by his own brother and permitted by the village.

Had he not already struggled and paid enough?

Apparently not, since he had literally nothing to his name besides more trials while Naruto belonged to one of the most powerful families in the entire dimension. Sasuke was glad to see his friend, but the Uchiha couldn't help resenting him.

Swallowing down the broth, Sasuke barely had time to consider asking for seconds before Rias was leaning over the switch his empty bowl out for another helping. "Thanks." He grunted, slightly discomforted by the gesture before digging his chopsticks into another piece of pork.

His 'mistress' was rather different than what Sasuke had expected. Eccentricity was to be expected in the nobility – it was practically a cardinal rule of the upper class in any world. But the Uchiha had been anticipating libertine degeneracy or bathing in the blood of children rather than being forced to dress in cosplay and the obsession with a human country called 'Japan'.

Akeno switched out his half empty glass of water without prompting, and at that point Sasuke decided they were trying too hard to win him over.

It was obvious Rias Gremory harbored some form of inferiority complex regarding Naruto, and that her peerage was more a 'friends club' than a noble institution.

Later he'd make it clear to them that they should stop worrying their heads over it. The constant attempts at keeping him satisfied vaguely pleased his ego, but it also made Sasuke feel faintly guilty for taking advantage of the crimson haired princess' self-esteem issues. It would be better if he made it clear he had no intent on leaving in the short term.

The eight Evil Pieces had more than doubled his strength when Sasuke had absorbed them. Even if he was willing to give them up – and he wasn't – there was no guarantee he wouldn't be killed as a stray devil. Unless Sasuke swore himself to another 'master' anyway.

But the only other noble devil Sasuke had even met was Naruto - Ophis was too flighty to count - and the sun would freeze over before Sasuke went begging to Naruto for alms. He was willing to give up some pride and work under someone else to obtain power, but bowing and scraping to his childhood rival would be too much.

He could go looking for another master entirely, but Sasuke felt it was too much of a gamble. Rias Gremory was well connected, and she was powerful, even if that power was poorly tamed. Most importantly, despite her mature body the girl was innocent and naïve. Toujou and Himejima seemed barely any worldlier. How had they never been taken advantage of before?

Do you like my Star Chamber?

Sasuke grimaced.

Even if he wanted to become more powerful and accrue glory for the Uchiha name, he wasn't so far gone as to break a bunch of young girls in the quest for power. The sentiment may come back to bite him in the ass if he ever went up against an overwhelming enemy again. But until then Sasuke would at least hold up his end of the 'bargain'. Using her didn't mean he had to ruin her.

"So I had thought to begin your training immediately." Rias declared softly, eyes staring off into the distance thoughtfully as she sipped her tea. "If you can contain eight Pawns, you must have a large hidden potential. Akeno and I can provide you tutoring in sorcery, and Koneko can help you train physically. I may be able to arrange for other instructors on a more irregular basis as well…" she trailed off.

Grunting in agreement, Sasuke finished his second serving and waived off Akeno's questing hands when the devil priestess came to offer a third bowl.

An enormous lingering belch cracked through the air as Naruto finished his fifth dish. The redhaired devil lounged back in his seat to pat his swollen belly with an air of self-satisfaction. "Thanks for the food, Nee-chan."

Rias hummed in wordless acknowledgement, daintily covering her bowl with a napkin to signify that she too was finished. "I could release you, if you wished." She quietly declared in a tone of resignation and vulnerability. "I'm sure he would accept you into his peerage. He may even offer you the Queen piece. Naruto has never given his pieces out before, but you're friends. And I suppose you'd enjoy it more as well."

"I refuse." Sasuke rejected stiffly, tightening his tie with a sniff. "I'd rather die than start taking orders from that midget. We'd have killed one another before the first week was over."

Refilling her green tea in a practiced gesture, Rias beamed.

*

As the day wore on, Naruto found himself getting more and more antsy. Every time he reflected on the fact that Sasuke was alive and in the same world as he was, Naruto's stomach unwillingly swooped. He was no longer the sole shinobi in a world of devils and other fantastic creatures. There was someone else who remembered Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and Konoha.

All he needed was to get his best friend alone for a few minutes, which was surprisingly difficult. Rias and Akeno were never outright rude, and never asked Naruto to leave, but they stuck to the Uchiha's side for hours like particularly nosy burrs. Koneko popped in and out, adding yet another headache for the Gremory heir to worry about.

Naruto wanted to talk to Sasuke. Macho warning in the dressing room aside, they actually had things they needed to discuss. Sasuke's quick thinking had provided them a vague alibi, but they needed to hammer out a real backstory for how they knew each other. Naruto wanted to try to ferret out Sasuke's new motives and know where his friend wanted to go with his life, just in case he needed a dose of what Sakura had once amusingly labelled 'talk no jutsu'.

And all that aside, the redhead also craved someone to lean on just a little. Konoha might be ten years gone, but Naruto had never forgotten it. He'd buried it by deliberately not thinking about it, but that no longer worked when his past was staring him right in the face.

"Check."

Sprawling over the armrest of Rias' leather couch, Naruto eyed the chessboard with an impatient glare. While he didn't want to just up and blurt out that he needed to talk to Sasuke, he was starting to think he might have to. It was one thing for Rias and her peerage to simply hang around him since Naruto was a visitor. It was quite another for Rias to be so jealously possessive of her new Pawn that she'd randomly challenge Sasuke to a chess match rather than leave the two reincarnated shinobi alone in a room together.

Of course, Sasuke was no help at all either. Sasuke knew Naruto wanted to talk to him, and Naruto knew that Sasuke knew, and Sasuke knew that Naruto knew that, and so on into infinity. But instead of throwing Naruto a lifeline so they could get their shit straightened out, the bastard just kept his smug little smirk on and continued making life difficult for the Gremory heir.

Naruto was half tempted to start blurting out their shared secrets just to get back at the Uchiha.

"Check."

"This is taking for fucking ever." Naruto whined as Sasuke escaped Rias' latest trap and backed her King into corner. The two of them were such fucking nerds it was ridiculous. He'd always known Rias was a geek based on how much she liked to read and play strategy games with Sona, but he hadn't known Sasuke was just as bad. Sasuke's tactical skill had always seemed to be something confined only to the battlefield, not to be used for board games.

Instead of finally cornering Sasuke after lunch, a walk in the gardens, afternoon tea, more cosplay, and then supper, Naruto had been stuck for hours watching their little grudge match. In another lifetime maybe Sasuke would have ended up being shoji buddies with Shikamaru, wasting his days after returning to Konoha by pushing little pieces of wood around.

"Some of us are actually good at this game." Sasuke muttered back as Rias massacred his latest offensive. Dark eyes darting between the board and Rias' face, seconds ticking by as he considered his next move. Chess was just as much about observing an opponent as it was about observing the board, and the Uchiha was reluctantly impressed. Rias might be young and naive, but she was in no way stupid. She reminded him a bit of Kakashi and the way his former sensei would work his way across the board with a combination of unorthodox strategies and elaborate systems of defense. It was a different style compared to Sasuke's preference for quick surgical aggression, but it was no less valid.

Rias shifted her remaining rook three spaces across in response to Sasuke's advancing bishop. "The nobility have a more than passing fondness for chess. It's considered very sophisticated, to the point that the Evil Piece system and the Rating Games purposefully mimic it. Naruto has never had much of a taste or skill for it." Her voice was light and conversational, a small smirk quirking up pink lips as they talked over her sulking nephew.

"Oh don't mind me, I'll just lurk around while my two best friends insult me. It's no biggie. These tears streaming down my face don't mean anything at all. They're just there, trickling down at every mean word. Nothing to see here." Naruto spun the nearest chair to the board about and plopped down in it in reverse. The redhead propped his chin on the back of it, making blubbering sounds and giving loud dramatic sniffs.

Sasuke and Rias stared as Naruto's face grew more red and more scrunched up as his fake depression intensified.

"That's..." Rias started.

"...Disturbing." Sasuke finished.

"Ohhhh. Ohhh!" High pitched whines begin to escape from Naruto's puckered mouth, filling the air with the sound of a barking seal.

A slow twitch began to build in one of Rias' vermilion brows, spasming more and more erratically until the Ruin Princess rolled her eyes and shot to her feet. "Fine, fine. I'm going. Just stop that before you give yourself an aneuyrism."

"Ooo-kay."

Watching as his new 'mistress' glided out of the room in a swirl of crimson hair and blue cotton, Sasuke let out a drawn out sigh. Then he slapped the back of Naruto's head. "I'm not sure whether to be amused at your stupidity or appalled at it."

Naruto glared mutinously, rubbing the aching spot on his crown. "Well I wouldn't have to resort to that if you would stop being such a bastard and fucking talk to me. Fuck. You're such a sadistic prick."

"Do you really think I would do that? You really think I'd just take advantage of your latest relationship problem for my own twisted amusement?"

"No, not at all." the Gremory heir drawled sarcastically, blue eyes popping. "You've always been the sort to cuddle fluffy bunnies and rescue kittens from trees."

"Thank you for acknowledging it. Maybe one day you'll come to acknowledge the fact that I'm your better too."

"Don't hold your breath on that. You just might die."

"So uncouth."

Kicking at the leg of the table, Naruto smirked in satisfaction as the vibrations traveled up and sent all the chess pieces wobbling away. "Whoops. Guess that match is gonna be a draw. Feel like having a bit of a chat now?"

"Why not?" Sasuke mumbled, catching an ivory pawn before it could drop to the floor. "Seems like you're just raring to go. Astound me, oh Great Lord of the House of Gremory."

"Well excuse me for thinking that we needed to get our shit straightened out."

Warily looking at the open library door, Sasuke frowned and leaned in slightly to murmur in a low tone. "Well since you're no good with the plans, dobe, here's the story. You were just being your typical spoiled rich boy self and sneaking around some village close to your estate. We ran into each other there and became acquaintances. A few months later I moved on. There's no need to be overly dramatic with it."

"Good enough." Naruto agreed, lowering his voice to match. "But what are we supposed to say about your family? Do you have a family in this world?"

"No. For some reason, I was just dropped into Gehenna in a five year old orphan body." Sasuke's lips twisted with a touch of bitterness. "We'll just say that I was raised for the first few years by some older street rat and then abandoned. It'll have to have happened after I moved on, otherwise people would ask why you didn't look after me."

Rocking back in his seat, Naruto's brow furrowed in thought. "That'll probably work. But it brings up the other problem we've got. How and why the hell are we in this world in the first place?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, but I'll give you a bit of advice. Forget about Konoha."

Naruto went utterly still. "You gonna tell me what you mean by that?" The former jinchuuriki growled, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Unperturbed by the angry threat of violence, Sasuke moved to his feet. "Remember what the Shodaime said to Madara. Sometimes, we have to come to terms with the fact that there are things we won't be able to achieve. You managed to leave behind people who believed in you, Like our graduating class and Kakashi. Entrust Konoha and its future to them, and focus on the life you have, not the one you used to have. That's what the Hi no Ishi is about in the first place, right?"

Was it really that simple? Naruto pondered as he lazily watched Sasuke stride towards the open entrance. It went without saying that they'd keep their eyes and ears open for the explanation about why they were in Gehenna in new bodies. But even if they found out the why and how, would they be able to go back to their old lives? Would they even want to? Did Konoha really need Uzumaki Naruto more than Gehenna needed Naruto Gremory?

The redhead was so caught up in his own thoughts he almost forgot to ask Sasuke what his long term plans were as the Uchiha left the room. "Oi, Sasuke!" he barked, catching the older devil just before he crossed the threshold.

Sasuke turned on the spot, giving Naruto an exhausted glance. "What do you want, Naruto?" For the devil that had spent the previous two years entirely alone and the eight before that alone except for Ophis, the forced socialization he'd experienced all day was draining. He was in no mood to be nagged at by Naruto on top of all that.

"Don't think I forgot about you not playing second fiddle! What's your end game here? Why'd you join Rias' peerage?"

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Sasuke scowled darkly. "How the hell should I know?" the dark haired teen grunted, more to himself than to his friend. Then he departed, leaving even more questions in his wake.