Devil Ninja

The Rating Game

Naruto stood by the open window in his room, staring out at the moon. Ever since the Fourth Shinobi War, the moon had been a bad omen to him: a sign of possible destruction, the symbol of the ambitions of a man who very nearly destroyed everything he held dear. The reason he had been so helpless since coming to this world.

Still, even though he hated the moon, even one such as him could not help but find the scene before him beautiful. Gentle beams of silver moonlight caressed the earth below, bathing the small cityscape of apartment buildings and convenience stores in an iridescent light. It was a tranquil sight, calming and gentle.

The calm before the storm.

One hour to go.

A red light alerted Naruto to the use of a magic circle in his room. He did not turn around to see who it was. It was obvious that she would come here sooner or later. This would be their last chance to speak before the Rating Game commenced.

"I'm guessing all the preparations for the rating game have been made?"

"Yes," the feminine, lovely voice of Rias came from behind him. He heard footsteps draw closer before a beautiful figure with crimson locks of hair falling around her body like an undying flame appeared in the left hand corner of his eye. "All the preparations for the Rating Game have been made. All that's left to do now is for us to go over there."

Naruto gave a noncommittal nod. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," Rias admitted quietly. "This is the first Rating Game I've ever played in, and our opponent is someone who has never lost without intending to. To top it off, if we don't win..." she trailed off, not wanting to even speak of what would happen if they lost. There was no need to anyways. Naruto knew what was at stake.

"It's okay to be nervous," Naruto told her. "We all get a case of jitters during our firsts. I remember the first time I ever saw combat." A mildly self depreciating chuckle escaped his lips. "I was so frightened that I ended up having to be saved by my jack ass of a teammate. I don't think I've ever felt so humiliated before or since."

Rias smiled at his attempt at brevity, though the frown soon returned.

She looked back out the window, her lower lip getting worried between her teeth.

"Do you think we can win?"

It was a testament to how much his opinion meant to her that she would ask that. None of the other members of their peerage, except for maybe Akeno, had ever seen this side of her; the vulnerable side that needed to be reassured by someone else. All they ever saw was the strong and confident Rias who never backed down and treated her peerage like family. Naruto felt privileged to know that he was one of the few who would ever get to see this side of the normally strong woman.

Naruto turned away from the view out of his window so that he could look more fully at the woman beside him. He contemplated her for a moment, not saying anything. In return, Rias did not speak. She knew him well enough by now to know that he was consciously choosing his words. It just took a while for him to actually speak because Naruto had a really bad tendency to blurt out the first thing that came to mind.

"Do you trust me?" he finally asked. Rias just looked at him with wide eyes, as if she had not anticipated him asking such a question.

"Of course I trust you." It was almost surprising how quickly the answer came from her lips. Even though she was caught off guard by the question, she still answered without a seconds hesitation. There was just something about Naruto that made her feel like she could trust him with anything. "This may come as a surprise, but out of all the people in my peerage, it is you that I trust the most."