DxD: The Fox and Demons

Konohagakure.

Last he saw it, it was not much more than a large crater on the ground. A barren wasteland, really.

An empty area that once contained his home...

The final clash with the leader of the Akatsuki was a very long and difficult battle, one that held very high stakes for both sides of the conflict. Naruto simply couldn't fail to defeat Pain. Everyone depended on him to win! He couldn't fail. He wouldn't fail!

Eventually, after a long fight where the kyuubi almost broke out of it's seal due to the pain of losing another precious comrade, he emerged victorious. Defeating the last Path of Pain with the last bit of energy he had left in him, earning Konoha's safety.

...Except his fight didn't end there. Only the physical portion, the easier part.

No matter how he looked at it, the blond was emotionally battered after fighting Pain. His home was destroyed, his loved ones either badly wounded or dead, his sensei...his master...

Ero-sennin...

He had to face the man that was responsible for all of his recent anguish and pain, to face him. For far more reasons then he cared to admit.

For closure.

For answers.

To end this. All of this. Once and for all.

A part of him was afraid though, what would be do when he faced the man? How would be react?

After speaking to his father in his mindscape, he had to find out whether he could actually end the cycle that he spoke of...the cycle that helped to create this situation in the first place.

Could he let go of the prospect of revenge when he met face-to-face with the man responsible for his suffering?

So when he finally met the man he will come to know as Nagato, he very simply, almost lost it.

This was him, the man who took away Ero-Sennin, Kakashi-sensei, hurt his friends, destroyed his village, made him watch as another of his precious comrades fell to his ruthless attacks…!

Unforgiveable!

But he somehow managed to rein himself in in order to listen to Nagato's story. To hear what pain he endured that made a student of Ero-Sennin turn into…this.

He was glad that he listened, Nagato's tragic story helped give him the resolve to truly follow in his predecessor's footsteps.

Naruto had no idea if he had the chops to do it, but now he was determined to follow through with his master's and father's wishes.

The blond would take up his father's dream…his mentor's dream…and bring peace to this world!

Oh, he still wanted to be Hokage, and nothing was going to change that. But after seeing the aftereffects of what this...cycle...could do to people...

A quicksilver image of the Uchiha crest flashed across his mind at that moment, hardening his already rock-solid determination.

After seeing what hate could do to the person he considered a sibling...

"That's right..." the young man murmured, determination steeling his voice. "It's up to me now. I have to do my best to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. For everyone's sake."

He would bring world peace, or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto!

At least, that was the plan.

After Nagato used the Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Jutsu) to revive all of the people he has recently killed after he attacked Konoha, Konan took his body to be buried.

And so here the shinobi was, gathering natural energy so that he could gather senjutsu chakra.

So Naruto quickly entered Sage Mode, using it to help him sense whether all the inhabitants of Konoha were alive or not.

To his immense relief, he sensed the chakra of his many friends and comrades. Meaning that...

A happy grin split apart his face, relief loosing the tension from his frame. "They're all alive...they're all ok! Nagato did it!"

He couldn't help but fist pump, cheering loudly, celebrating by himself as he forced himself upright.

More than that, he could sense Kakashi-sensei moving towards him, closing the distance between them with great speed.

In a pretty damn good mood, Naruto moved to meet him, unable to wait for what he hoped was a hero's welcome back home.

Then he stopped in his tracks, toad-like eyes turned to another section of the forest, wary.

Something to his right sensed...off.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto questioned out loud, unsure of what he was sensing. "And where did it come from...? I don't remember sensing this when I went Sage Mode last time..."

The blond just stared at that area, weighing in on how he should respond to this feeling.

Honestly, after what he had just experienced, he wasn't exactly keen on anything that could possibly do damage to his already damaged village. And this 'feeling' could just do that kind of damage.

Or rather, he had no idea what it could do. And he'd much rather check it out and be doubly sure that what he was sensing wouldn't cause trouble than regret checking it later.

So he did.

Naruto turned on the spot and raced towards the...'sensation', zeroing in on it with his incredible sensing abilities. Moving at incredible speeds thanks to his senjutsu-enhanced body, regardless of his tired state.

He was sure that, whatever it was, he could deal with it.

That assurance was very much dashed by the time that he reached the aberration that caught his notice.

In a small, insignificant piece of the forest, there was something that was really, really wrong.

He was staring at it, studying it, suspicious of what it exactly was or where it came from.

He couldn't really describe it, but if he had to call it anything...he supposed he would call it a 'fluctuation'. As the very air that was emanating this sensation was shifting, as if space itself was rending.

It was weird.

Naruto already knew that Kakashi-sensei was coming towards him, so just in case this...thing proved to be dangerous, the shinobi arbitrarily decided to check it out.

Just a few moments ago, his teacher was dead. He was dead.

He refused to place him, or anyone from Konoha for that matter, in danger. Especially after this recent ordeal.

Bad mistake.

The second that Naruto moved to touch the aberration, his hand was gripped by it, almost like he was caught in a vice-grip. But the part that actually made him begin to panic was the fact that it began to pull.

"What the!? Hey! Let go of my hand damn it!" Naruto cried out, as it slowly began to pull the blond in despite all of his senjutsu-enhanced strength.

He grit his teeth, smashing his feet onto the floor to slow down his forced movement, and even began sticking his feet to the ground with chakra.

It wasn't enough, as instead of slowing him down, all his actions accomplished to do was drag the ground with him.

The shinobi tried to think of a way out of this predicament, but since his hand was unavailable, he couldn't use hand signs to utilize his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to help him out. Let alone a Kawarimi no Jutsu.