Restoration
A/N: Hey guys, sorry I'm so late. I'm currently in the progress of writing the next chapter of The Mind and I've come to realize how long I've left you guys alone. I don't wanna make you all think I've stopped writing so here's something else that's been done for a while. Hope you enjoy! Without further adieu, I present to you, Restoration!
Admission
"I don't care how much power you THINK you have. I'm gonna snap you like a fucking twig."
~The Jinchuuriki.
Yang quivered. Long and dirtied blonde locks swayed in the oncoming breeze as the small girl tightened her grip on the wagon. Angry and hungry red eyes stared at her from the swirling darkness around her. Too weak to defend her and her little sister within the wagon she pulled, she stood there, only able to whimper as those demonic crimson orbs closed in on the sisters. The blonde looked back when Ruby stirred, groaning as she twisted and turned within the space of the small makeshift carriage. Out from the brush, the Grimm emerged, maws snapping as they snarled relentlessly, advancing toward her slowly.
Then, like shadows in the night, they pounced.
Yang closed her eyes and bent over Ruby, attempting to shield the younger girl with her body. She closed her eyes and readied herself for the attack to come, the entirety of her inexplicably short life flashing before her eyes. Her missing mom, her dad, Uncle Qrow…
THUD.
A thick thud met her ears, yet she still hesitated when she realized the attack never came. Eventually, she opened those bright purple eyes of hers and turned, her mouth falling agape at what she saw. A man, with spiky bloody red hair atop the Ursa, plunging a knife deep into its skull. It dissipated into black dust moments later. He landed before her, his back turned. A long and open high-collared cloak fell down to his ankles, hanging loosely from his shoulders. Her eyes trailed down its pearly white base, trying to decipher the strange red lettering going down the middle as she finally came to look at the scarlet, flame-like design along the hemline. The rest of the Grimm came out of the brush surrounding them, snapping and snarling as they closed in. She watched as he dropped the strangely shaped instrument of death and moved his hand to pat her head.
"I won't let them hurt you, I promise."
Then, like a leaf in the wind, he was gone.
With wide eyes, Yang watched as they dropped one by one, slamming into the snow beneath her feet as they vanished into thin air, no longer able to exist in this immediate space. When the last Beowolf fell, he reappeared in front of her, dropping to a knee as he became eye level with her. Grey eyes-a somewhat dulled version of her sister's-looked into her violet orbs as he smiled, patting her gently upon her head once more. Normally, she'd run, seeing as a complete stranger was this close to her. But, she had no energy and he saved her.
Why would he have a reason to hurt her?
"You're gonna grow up" he drew her from her thoughts. "to be really strong ya'know."
"Yang! Ruby!"
She turned, struggling to see Qrow running toward them full tilt in the distance. Switching her gaze back to man, she opened her mouth to tank him, but, he was gone. The only thing that was left as evidence of his presence was a small knife at her feet. She picked it up, gazing at the tri-pronged kunai, her eyes running over the foreign language engraved within its handle. On the other side read something in the language of Remnant that she could understand.
'Whenever you need me, I'll be there.'
"Yang! Ruby!"
She was reminded of her uncle and quickly stashed the weapon away in the recesses of her pocket, query thumbing it as she gripped the handle of the wagon tightly, waiting for the scythe wielder to arrive. He finally reached them and dropped to his knees, sliding across the snow over to her, checking her over, wiping as much dirt and dust off as he could. "Are you hurt?! What happened?!" He asked her frantically. She stayed silent. His gaze switched to the redhead in the wagon covered in blankets and other rags, watching as she stirred from his loud voice. He calmed himself and dropped the matter.
"You know what, let's just get you two home."
(Present Day: Beacon Academy)
"Fine."
The Headmaster turned away from his desk in surprise, chocolate orbs sliding over to look at the man staring out of his window, muscular arms crossed above his chest. He was equipped with a solid black tee and onyx mesh pants, Ozpin noticed, as the redhead stood in a pair of black open-toed sandals. A tanned face appeared over his shoulder as those grey eyes of his met his own.
"Excuse me?"
He turned to face him fully as he opened his lips to speak. "You just want me to watch over them." He jutted a thumb over his shoulder and out of the window when a small explosion sounded off. "Right?" The grey-haired director nodded numbly as he stood, grabbing his cane as he walked over him. "That'd be correct, Uzumaki-san." A sigh escaped the man's lips as he turned to watch the three girls in the courtyard bicker back and forth before leave the one called "Ruby" by herself.
"Just Nakaru is fine. I am your student after all."
A single handed seal was formed and in a swirl of crimson leaves, he was gone. Watching the crunchy objects fizzle out of existence in black flames, he found himself lost in thought. He had no ulterior motive for coming here, right? Only last month had Ozpin had this idea; only last month had he deigned to pray and to ask for the help of a god, yet his call was only acknowledged last night. This deity had arrived in their world on break from another adventure he was having. All he had to go off of was that he rambled on and on for an hour about Savages and Slayers and whatnot.
Regardless, this God had heeded his call for help in return for a weapon of his own design to call his. When the headmaster inquired about his obvious ability to be able to make his own, the shinobi responded plainly.
"I don't wanna be too overpowered ya'know? And besides, I wanna see how strong you can make it."
He just really hoped that he wouldn't, oh, I don't know, blow up the world or something.
He didn't even know if he was capable of such a thing.
Can he do that?
We're there universal rules saying he could or couldn't?
He could only wonder…
(Elsewhere)
"Oh my god." Yang Xiao Long said as she held her younger sibling in her arms. "You really did blow up." Putting Ruby down, she watched as the other girl-Weiss was her name-began to ramble off to the silver-eyed girl. Eventually, Schnee's speech pattern slowed and she shoved a manilla colored pamphlet in the fifteen year old's face. "You want me to forgive you?" The girl asked. "Yes." Ruby said firmly, having shaken off her shyness.
"Then, read this and never speak to me again."
Patting her skirt, the girl walked off, attempting to get as far away from the sisters as possible.
"Hello students." All heads raised to look at Glynda, watching as she stepped forward atop the stage alongside Ozpin. "You will all enter the Emerald Forest tomorrow at noon sharp. Your instructions are that you must find and retrieve a relic from the center of the forest. For, now" she whipped her wand to her side. "gather your things because you'll be sleeping in the hall together in order to get to know each other." Weiss' sharp eye caught the blonde speak to a rather tall-at least to her anyway-scarlet haired boy once she reached the bottom of the stage for all but a moment before walking off.
"Well, anyway."
Her attention was diverted to the director atop stage speaking into the microphone. "Besides the serious stuff, on behalf of myself and the rest of the staff, I officially welcome you to Beacon Academy." When Weiss turned back to look at the carrot top, he was gone, nowhere to be found. Even as the crowd of her fellow students dispersed, she still had no luck whatsoever in locating her object of interest. Chalking it up as nothing, the Schnee crossed her arms just under her unimpressive chest and left, her boots clacking against the hardwood flooring as she exited the building.
(Later…)
Nakaru sat quietly in the corner of the hall, seeing as he was the first to arrive. Crossing his legs, he made a hand sign-the dragon-and began meditating. It'd been some time since he last meditated. Either Kurama or something else would always interrupt him. But, now that he'd finally fallen into that desired state of mind, he remembered why he loved it so much. Especially with all the running around he'd been doing recently, this moment in time allowed him some much needed reprieve. Now that he was in the middle of everything, he really needed this. He left the Underground to go home for a bit and ended up in Hundred. Then, left a clone in Mad Father and fell here.
Literally.
And, he just learned he had a daughter on the way!
Regardless, he straightened his posture and focused, feeling the energies in the air; nature's chakra along with the various auras of all the hunters and huntresses about. The godly shinobi couldn't help but the smile. He had all the time in the world to himself. To let him think. To let him be calm.
To breathe.
"Umm… excuse me…?"
There it was.
Relinquishing his hold upon this world's nature energy, he sighed and opened one eye, that lone grey orb scaling upward to meet the person who'd broken his concentration. Big and bright silver eyes looked down at him, her heart-shaped face framed by short scarlet highlighted black locks. That hopeful expression of hers was cracked ever so slightly when she laid her eyes upon his naturally disgruntled face. Then, he watched as it lit up once more when he next spoke.
"Sit. I'm too lazy to stand up and I don't like having a conversation with people who are not at eye-level with me."
She did as she was told, sitting cross-legged in front of him, adjusting her pajama pants briefly before locking eyes with him once more.
"How may I help you…?"
Who was this again?
"Hi!" She thrust an open right hand at him, closing her eyes in a way that made her toothy grin seem wider. "My name's Ruby! Nice to meet you!"
Ah, that's right.
He remembered now.
How could he forget? She was the main reason for his stay here.
Ruby Rose.
Future leader of team RWBY.
Despite his knowledge and spaced thoughts, he smiled brightly and returned the kind gesture, placing his hand into hers gently and shaking it briefly.
"Nice to meet you, too. Name's Nakaru Uzumaki."
A/N: Thought we were done, didn't ya?! Well, you thought wrong! ENJOY THE PREVIEW!
"Excuse me?"
He seemed… befuddled, if anything. Equipped in naught but a plain black tee, onyx mesh pants, and a pair of open-toed sandals, he stood before them, arms crossed with a confused expression plastered upon his visage. Those blank eyes-not unlike those of a dead fish-stared at her, boring into her soul with the ferocity of nothing more than a demon. Those short and spiky scarlet locks wafted slightly in the oncoming breeze, those fangs of his glinting in the pale light of the moon.
"What did you just say?"
A sort of angered emotion flooded his senses as he poked at her verbally to repeat her latest statement. Though, when she saw those grey orbs flash a fiendish red, she hesitated. Regardless, she spoke. "I said", she lifted a finger to accentuate her point. "Move aside before I destroy you." Those golden orbs of hers watched him calmly past the curtain of her short black locks. She found herself shuddering with both fear and pleasure when the next event took place right before her eyes. Those strong and unwavering grey eyes widened before closing in contemplation.
Then, he started laughing.
At first, it was nothing more than a small giggle, but then it slowly began to rise in volume.
Eventually, he found himself guffawing in the face of his adversary, tightly clutching his midsection at the slight pain he felt from laughing. "Are you done yet?" She asked him impatiently. The amount of disrespect she showed him would've sent him into a full fit upon the ground, but, he controlled himself, willing away his amusement for the sake of preserving the seriousness his present predicament.
At least, it was serious for her.
Standing stock straight, he wiped a joyful tear from his mirthful eyes, clearly trying his hardest to fight back another laugh from the look on her face alone. When she thought she simply couldn't take anymore of this foolishness, she made to move past him. "I'm going."
Cinder never thought someone could get so serious in such a short amount of time.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
"And why", she placed a hand on her hip, her eyes twinkling with mock innocence. "May I ask, can you not?" Subtly, she gestured to the dark-skinned girl behind her, causing her to step up toward him. Although, much to Cinder's chagrin, as soon as she did, those eyes of his morphed, grey bleeding a deep blood red, those trio of tomoe spinning of their own volition. Just as Emerald laid her eyes upon them, she collapsed into a spasming heap upon the ground between them.
"I've long had enough of your bullshit."
She looked up at him, uncaring for her green haired lackey, her own eyes widening when he placed a hand over his abdomen, clenching his fingers into a claw like position before spinning it clockwise. Gold enveloped him. Shaping itself. Blending. Molding.
Sustaining.
Flinging his arms out to his sides, he presented himself wholly to them, his orange-yellow form burning brightly like a shining star even as those strangely shaped pupils hardened, glaring at her intensely.
"So, we end this."
Those massive legs took shape first, twisting and turning into its ethereal existence in a matter of moments. The head of the fox came next. Those bloody red orbs scanned its new surroundings as its master floated within, held aloft by an invisible force. All she could do was count those gigantic saffron tails as its head swiveled down to look at her, barring its teeth in disapproval. In that moment, everything left her. The fact that she was the Fall Maiden crossing paths with a foolishly weak huntsmen. The gleeful emotions she felt when that warm power engulfed her as she made it her own.
That kiss.
Those warm lips smashing against hers.
She was reminded of how small she truly was.
Of how she was nothing more than a little girl...
"Tonight."
...helplessly staring up at a god.