ch 8 - the rating game pt 2

Naruto gave a dark chuckle.

"What's the problem, Riser?" Naruto chuckled some more as he stood up. "Feeling a little weak? Perhaps a tad tired?" Riser was glaring at him, but if anything, that look he was giving only made this moment that much more sweet. It helped that behind that glare, Naruto saw the first signs of panic entering the older man's eyes. "Are you scared?"

Riser sneered. "There's no way I would be scared of you!"

"Even if you no longer have your famous Phenex regeneration anymore?"

"What...?" Riser's whispered word was just barely audible, but Naruto still heard it. He grinned darkly.

"That's right. This seal," Naruto gestured around at the most complex sealing array he had ever created that surrounded them. "Seals off all Devil powers, even ones that are genetically inherited." He grinned darkly at Riser, whose eyes had widened. "Right now, you're no stronger than a normal human."

"That's not possible!" Riser shouted, his eyes wide in denial, shock and fear. "What you say is impossible! No one can take away my powers like that! You're just trying to psyche me out! Well it won't work you little―"

Riser's words were cut off when a kunai whizzed passed his face, slicing into his cheek. Blood began trickling down his face and dropping from his jaw.

The wound didn't heal.

"You're looking a tad pale, douchy," Naruto said, grinning a death grin as he saw Riser begin to shake at the sight of his own blood. The words were enough to snap Riser out of his fear induced freak out and glare at the blond.

"This is nothing! It doesn't matter! I'm still going to kill you! I won't be defeated by some low class, no name Devil like you!"

Naruto just smiled. "We'll see about that."

~KatCHRP~

Even though she had said she trusted him, Rias was still very worried about Naruto. When the barrier went up, that worry increased phenomenally. Was Naruto going to alright? What if he got injured during his fight with Riser? What was going on inside this barrier? All questions without answers. For someone who cared so deeply for her peerage that they were more like member of her family than servants, and who would admit that Naruto was quite possibly something more than that, it was a nerve wracking experience.

"Naruto-san will be okay," Asia assured Rias. The red head blinked, then looked at the blond girl, who gave her a bright smile. "I'm sure of it. Naruto-san is really strong, right? He'll be fine. I know he will."

Rias smiled at the girl and ruffled her hair. "Thank you, Asia. I needed that." She then turned back to the barrier, deciding to wait until Naruto defeated Riser, because she knew he would. He had promised her.

While she was willing to just stand there and wait, one of them wasn't.

"Arg! I can't see anything!" Issei complained as he and the others stood outside the large, square barrier. "What's going on in there." He moved forward to touch the barrier, maybe to try and push his way through it, when a hand grabbed his wrist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Akeno warned him. Issei just looked at her blankly for a second before the sadist of their dysfunctional little family picked up a rock and tossed it at the barrier. The rock burst into black and purple flames before dissolving entirely. "I don't know what kind of barrier spell this is, but it looks like it destroys whatever it touches."

Issei gulped and quickly backed away from the purple barrier. "T-Thanks, Akeno-chan."

"Ufufufufu. You're welcome."

~KatCHRP~

Despite his thoughts to the contrary, the battle between himself and the heir of the Phenex clan was a hard fought one. Despite Riser being far too reliant on that regeneration ability of his, it did not mean he had completely neglected other aspects of fighting. Sure, he wasn't the best when it came to hand to hand combat, especially with his Devil powers, including the physical ones, gone, but Naruto wasn't in much condition to fight either.

Physically speaking, the last Uzumaki was fine. He hadn't taken a single injury since the Rating Game started. Then again, technically speaking, neither had Riser. The difference between their conditions lay less in injury and more in spirit.

To be more precise, Naruto was exhausted. With all the Senjutsu chakra he had gathered used up, he was feeling extremely tired. To top it off, he could not use chakra to augment his strength because he just didn't have enough anymore. Like his Senjutsu chakra, almost all of it had gone into creating the seal and that barrier. If he used anymore, it was likely he would simply pass out.

Or die. Which ever came first.

That being said, even physically exhausted and unable to use chakra, it was clear that Naruto was the better fighter. So far he had managed to stay on even grounds with Riser, who had the advantage of not suffering from any form of physical ailment.

Ducking down, Naruto felt the wind ruffle his hair as Riser's fist sailed by overhead as the man unleashed a straight hook. It was a very basic attack, one that was easily dodged. He was very lucky that whatever style his opponent had been trained in was extremely predictable. So far he had been able to dodge all of Riser's attacks just by watching the minute twitches in his muscles.

Coming up from his couch, Naruto tried to shoulder ram Riser, but was unsuccessful when the man in question back pedaled. Not deterred, the spiky, golden-haired teen followed up his failed attack by moving into a forward shoulder roll. Halfway through the rolls completion, he placed his hand on the ground and used the muscles in his arms to help push his legs into a strong mule kick.

This attack landed. Riser, unable to dodge due to how quick the attack came at him and the unpredictability of the move itself, was forced to cross his arms and take the hit. There was a loud "bam!" like the sound of a gunshot going off as boot met arm and the child of Phenex stumbled back several steps. Twisting his body like a gymnast, Naruto landed on his feet and retook his stance.

"You're looking tired, douchebag," Riser twitched at the insult. "What's wrong? Can't continue."

"As if!" Riser shouted back. "The only one who looks like they're unable to continue is you!"

Riser charged forward. Naruto took a step back as the man tried to get in his guard. The straight jab Riser sent towards his face was deftly avoided by subtly moving the arm away by bringing up his left hand and pushing the appendage aside. This left Naruto in the perfect position to counter attack, which he did with extreme prejudice.

Cocking his fist back, Naruto lunged forward and thew a powerful straight at Riser's nose. It was blocked by a forearm. The attack was followed by a loud cracking noise as flesh met flesh, yet Riser did not flinch.

Naruto frowned. So far, whenever the Phenex member had been forced to block or take a hit, he had always winced from the strength behind Naruto's blows. If he was no longer doing so it could only mean that Naruto was weakening as his muscles began to give out. He would need to end this fight soon or his body would just end up quitting on him.

Unfortunately, before he could do anything, Riser's arm twisted and his hand grabbed a hold of Naruto's sleeve. The blond Uzumaki suddenly found himself being pulled into a powerful punch that smashed into his face.

Naruto heard a loud crunch and felt a stinging pain along with something wet flowing down his face that let him know his nose was broken. He stumbled backwards, blinking his eyes to refocus them, only to double over as Riser put another fist into his gut.

"Hehe... I see," Riser chuckled. "Despite those bold words earlier, you're actually pretty tired. I'm going to enjoy making you eat those words by the way."

Riser threw a straight punch at him, easy to block and easy to dodge. Naruto should have been able to avoid taking damage with relative ease.

Which was why Naruto became shocked when the attack broke his guard and struck him in the face. The force put behind the jab was minimal. Riser was only as strong as a professional athlete without his devil powers, but that was still enough that when the attack struck, it stung.

Before Naruto could move, the front of his shirt was grabbed by Riser, who yanked him forward and struck him in the stomach with a knee. The young human turned devil would have doubled over were it not for another strike smashing into his face that send him backwards.

Disoriented and unable to put up much of a fight due to his exhaustion, Naruto was left wide open.

What followed next was a beating like no other, at least for this world. Naruto may have gotten worse beatings in his life (that time when Kabuto had nearly killed him came to mind), but that did not change the fact that it hurt a lot. Riser put all of his strength into each punch and Naruto, whose body was beginning to give out on him from the amount of chakra he had expended, could do nothing more than take it.

The beating ended with Naruto dangling above the ground, Riser's hand clasped around his throat. The older male's muscles trembled as he was forced to rely on his purely human strength, but it seemed he was still stronger than Naruto had given him credit for.

"This plan of yours as quite good," Riser complimented. Even his compliments sounded condescending. "But not even a plan as sound as this one could be enough to defeat me if my opponent is too weak. You played a good game, but it ends here!"

'D-Dammit!' Naruto swore as he saw Riser cock his fist back with what was left of his darkening vision. 'I can't let this bastard defeat me! Rias...' in his minds eye, Naruto saw an image of the red-haired beauty. She had put her trust him in, believed that he could defeat Riser. Now it was beginning to look like that trust had been misplaced. '...How will I ever be able to look her in the eyes if I lose here! Kuso!'

'Perhaps I could lend you a hand...'

Naruto's eyes widened as a familiar voice resounded within his soul. Warmth surged through his body before a sudden influx of incredible power coursed through his system, spreading to every cell in his body and giving him more energy than he could ever remember feeling in this world before.

"What the hell!?" Riser screamed in shock, dropping Naruto as a red coat of bubbling chakra erupted around him. He winced as he looked at the hand that had been holding Naruto, his skin an ashen black, having been burnt from whatever that vile energy was. Looking back up at the blond he had been beating just moments ago, his eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fear. "What the hell are you!?"

"What I am doesn't matter!" Naruto growled, his voice sounding harsh and grating. The whisker marks on his cheek soon thickened, becoming jagged, like someone had taken a serrated blade to them. His already spiky hair grew even more pointed and sharp. But the biggest change to Naruto was his eyes. What had once been bright, azure blues were now two bloody red orbs that were glaring at Riser out from underneath his hair. "All that matters is I'm going to kick your ass!"

Riser did not have a chance to say anything, or even blink before a powerful fist met his face. As a loud crunch resounded from his now shattered nose, his feet were lifted into the air as he began sailing backwards.

He didn't get too far as a hand grabbed onto his leg and jerked him back. There was just enough time for him to see the bloody red eyes of his foe before Naruto plowed his fist straight down into his stomach.

The attack not only smashed him into the roof, but caused him to crash straight through it. Large chunks of tile and concrete shattered as Riser's body fell through the roof and second story of the building. He landed on the first floor with a loud crash that was loud enough to be heard by those outside of the dome. As his body smacked harshly into the ground, the cement underneath him indented, cratering and cracking from the impact.

Unable to do anything else, Riser was forced to lay there on the ground, groaning out his agony to the world. The pain was indescribable. He had never felt so much suffering before in his life. It was as if every fight he had ever been in, all those times he had simply taken an attack when he could have dodged, was suddenly coming back to let him know those injuries still existed. Putting him through a meat grinder would be more merciful than this.

Unfortunately for him, the pain didn't stop there. As he was lying on his back, staring at the hole his body had made, a certain blond jumped down through the whole and two booted feet drilled into him with the power of gravity and physics.

With the wind knocked out of him from the attack, Riser could do nothing as the blond cloaked in vile red energy grabbed his hair and began punching him in the face. Each attack hurt more than the last as his skin cracked and burned under the assault from the fiery red chakra. His face felt like it was beginning to cave in from Naruto's punches. Already he had lost several teeth and his nose felt like it had been turned into paste.

"Naruto! Naruto stop it!"

The sound of his name being called by a familiar voice was enough to snap Naruto out of his stupor. The blond boy turned his head and saw Rias and the other members of her peerage staring at him with wide, shocked eyes. The barrier must have come down from his unprecedented surge of power. Rias, he noticed, was crying.

Realizing what was happening, Naruto took a deep breath, willing the power away. Slowly, the red energy that was bubbling around disappeared.

"Brother!"

Ravel flew in from the sky on her wings of fire. She took up a position in front of her brother, shielding him from Naruto, who pointed at them both, even though one was completely unconscious. Behind him, Rias and the others were running his way.

"Listen up!" Naruto shouted, his half-lidded eyes glaring down at his fallen foe. "This is the only warning I'm going to give. If you want to mess with Rias or any member of the House of Gremory, you're going to have to get through me first! And I won't play as nicely with you as I did this time! Touch my family again and you're going to be in for a world of hurt!"

Ravel's eyes widened at the declaration. Right before a blush bright enough to outshine the stars spread across her fair cheeks. This boy, he...

"Naruto!"

Turning around, Naruto grinned when he saw Rias and the others running towards them. He lifted his arm and gave the group a thumbs up just before all the adrenaline from his power rush left his system. His vision began to fade and he thought he heard screaming, but couldn't be sure. All he wanted to do right now was take a nice, long nap.

The last thing he saw was red hair and greenish-blue eyes crying for him.