Devil Ninja

The Rating Game

And it was a surprise, but mostly to Rias. She shouldn't have been so shocked, she knew. Hadn't she spent nearly every waking moment with Naruto since reincarnating him? Despite this fact, the amount of faith she had in him still came as a great surprise.

Perhaps a part of that was due to her. When he'd first became a member of her peerage, Rias had been intrigued. She wanted to learn more about this mysterious figure who seemed so open and yet so distant and enigmatic at the same time; he'd become a mystery she wanted to solve. To that end, she had spent more time with Naruto than anyone else in an effort to unravel the person behind those bright blue eyes.

In hindsight, it was only natural that she would end up trusting him more than anyone else. He was just the kind of person that people who really knew him placed their trust in. Despite being a little rough around the edges, Naruto was a person who gave his all for the people he cared about. And he cared about her. For her to do any less than give him her absolute trust was an insult to him. She wouldn't do that. Not to him.

"Then trust me when I tell you that we will win," Naruto told her. There was a small smile on his face, nothing at all like his normal, large grins. This one was softer, more real. "All of us have trained hard for this moment. Each member of your peerage stands behind you, dedicated to winning this game so you don't have to marry that jerk. Trust in those who serve you and they will never let you down." His blue eyes stared into her own green blue orbs intently. "I will never let you down."

"I believe in you," Rias whispered, causing Naruto's large, almost cheesy looking grin to appear on his face.

"As you should," he nodded, his chest puffing. "I'm completely awesome. There's no way I'd lose to some peacock who likes to shoot flames out of his ass." He then proceeded to smash the fist of his left hand into the open palm of his right, a resounding smack echoing throughout the room. "I live for kicking the ass of self righteous pricks like him."

Wasn't that the truth. His entire career was made from him kicking the ass of assholes; Kiba during the Chunin Exams, Neji back when he was a prick in the finals, Gaara before he became cool, Kabuto even though he got his ass kicked as much as he kicked ass during that battle. Still, he hit that sucker good when he surprised the douchebag by completing the Rasengan.

Every single battle he fought had been a battle against some kind of self-righteous douche who thought they could do whatever the hell they wanted because they were strong.

Assholes. Every one of them.

"Riser's going down."

Rias giggled at the blond's antic. In response, Naruto's grin widened, not just showing his pearly whites, but also stretching from ear to ear and making his eyes squint and his whiskers stretch. It was actually a rather endearing look, even if Rias thought he looked kind of goofy.

Feeling bold, she walked up to him and pressed her body against his. Her arms came up and wrapped around his torso, pulling her body even closer, so close she could feel her bosom pushing against his pectorals. She tucked her head underneath his chin, her nose resting against his collar bone and allowing her to inhale his comforting scent.

Earth and ramen. Strange, but somehow comforting. Don't ask why.

"Rias?" Naruto sounded confused, which he was. Even if this was not the first time they had shared an intimate moment together, the circumstance between now and then were different...actually, now that he was thinking about it, it really was just like Rias to randomly hug him. Satan knows did it often enough, hugging him, that is.

Hearing his voice caused Rias to press herself deeper against him. With her cheek now resting directly over his heart, she could hear the steady "thump, thump" of his heartbeat along with the comforting warmth she had come to associate with Naruto. And much like his warmth, the sound of his beating heart gave her solace.