A/N: Hey everyone, so this fic here is just an idea for an epic sized fic. Just want to keep a few points here. Naruto and Sasuke, while mostly similar to canon, does not reflect the same history. If you are looking for any pairings, well sorry to disappoint, I'm writing this without really thinking of a pairing. But if there are any pairings, it will be when I think it makes sense in the story as it goes along. Finally for the rest of the points... well I'll leave it at the end of the chapter. So have fun, don't be afraid to criticise for any stuff like grammar, plot holes or even characterisations (after all I aim to improve them and I need all the help I can get).

Also just a little note. Underlined Speech is Naruto's native language.

I'd like to think that I'm a forward-thinking man, always cooking up ways to make a good amount of Lien for my retirement. I mean, slaying Grimm and saving villages and all earns good money but only so far as your body can cope before you get to old. As a Huntsman… sorry, ex-Huntsman, I find digging for unique artifacts or metals way more valuable. Doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to neglect training; I'm in the wilderness after all.

I do know that throughout all my digs and expeditions so far, this place is very old and unique, and with the unexpected boon of having no Grimm. I see the strange building structures and markings littered all over what I assume to be a small city of some sort. Now, I like to also think I'm a positive man, but seriously from the junk I'm seeing, it isn't promising until I've found an underground structure. It is not the sewer system, but more like a military facility. Pretty sure I can make a few Lien from the documents and decrepit weapons here, so I case the place through the dark hallways It is pretty much what I expect, nothing speci…. Woah…

This is not something you'd see in an abandoned place like this. In front of me... is some kind of silver crystal… a huge one but I can see something inside. Below it is a plaque, but I can't read it well yet. I fumble for my notebook because I've seen this language quite often ever since my time in these lands. Documents, signs, books and other documentation would have this strange and ancient language. Took me a few weeks to get a decent grasp on what they may say, but the fact that the styles seems to alternate every once in a while makes some of the translation awkward.

MAELSTROM SLEEPS IN PLACE…

Maelstrom? Is it some kind of weapon? If that's the case, this could be a serious boon for my pocket! Okay, there is still more to go…

SACRIFICED TO FUTURE GRANTED…

… No, that can't be right, must've messed up the grammar again. I sit down and begin humming to myself; obviously it must say something along the lines of 'It grants the sacrificed a future'. Sounds off, but I can't say I know what it means yet; will have to look into the rest.

AWAKEN FUTURE SHOULD THREATEN

Great… this is just conflicting. From what I can tell, it must be something the guys here took great lengths to hide. Would explain all this about the future and threat. Okay, well, let's see what this crystal substance is made up of, gotta find something after all!

As I reach for it, I suddenly felt the whole place freeze…

"Halt," a clear and cool voice orders. Whoever said that is very much alive, and I was pretty confident that this place was devoid of life.

"Turn around… slowly," the voice commands. I comply and soon enough I find myself staring at a young man dressed in a black suit. Damnit… what is this choking atmosphere? Feels like this whole place went cold.

Oh…His eyes looks so… unnerving. One eye is ringed and purple, the other has an intricate red and black pattern. I can't help but find it mesmerising. The man in question is simply staring at me. Is that his semblance? It has to be, never seen eyes like this before.

"State your business, huntsman…" he leaves no room to wiggle… great. For some reason this guy feels so encroaching. Hell, my aura feels like it's about to abandon me, and my semblance feels so inadequate right now.

"I warn you, I'll know if you lie." His glare pierces me, but this guy... He's just a kid, I can probably give a white lie or…

GUH!

I don't even know what just happened; in one second I found myself bursting into flames, the next second I found myself kneeling, panting and sweating, no burns, fire or anything. What the hell!? After coughing I glanced up to see the man gazing at me with those eyes.

"I've warned you," he states. Damn, how did he know I was going to lie? Before I can respond he appears in front of me, his hand gripping the back of my head, his eyes glowing malevolently.

Again, he speaks, but it's like a different language. The next thing I know vivid images flash before me and I instinctively struggle but all I feel is…..

Sasuke breathed out as he relaxed his grip on the huntsman, who collapsed wide eyed. To him, it was a small price to invade and siphon all the memories from one person and turn them into a vegetable-like state. With this kind of work, he couldn't afford mercy or leeway. Especially with that Black Cat in the seat again.

The information seemed to sync with what he knew already. He cursed softly at the situation; he knew he was in a tight spot and he had barely been given enough time. Regardless, if this was all the time he had been given, then it should be more than enough to handle within the time frame.

With a sigh, he placed his hand on the crystal and it responded in kind by pulsing steadily. Perhaps this was what that damned benefactor had in mind for him. If the visions and riddles of Grimm and shady organisations on the move were any indication to him, the whole thing had started quite a while ago.

The crystal started to dissolve and revealed a young blonde man dressed in a simple white shirt and pants. Sasuke moved to support him as the he began to stir and groan.

"Naruto… how're you feeling?" Sasuke asked, a small warmth creeping into his voice; it had been so long since he last spoken to his best friend. After all, one of them was dead and the other had sealed for a very long time.

Naruto mumbled incoherently before slipping back into unconsciousness. Sasuke grimaced. It looked like he would have to move to a more hospitable area to have the Uzumaki to recover as soon as possible. He pulsed his chakra once and in the next instance the two men vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto slowly stirred, it isn't everyday he gets awakened by the dreamy smell of miso pork ramen. He slowly peeled his eyes open to find his vision flooded with light, blocked partially by a shadow over him.

"Good, you're awake, dobe."

Naruto blinked, no one called him that but…

"Sasuke? Where am I?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes. He couldn't help but drool slightly, that ramen smell was intoxicating.

"A hotel in Vale, though I'm pretty sure you have no idea where that is," Sasuke answered. By now, Naruto's eyes had finally adjusted to see himself in one of the two beds in a pretty luxurious room. Sasuke was seated next to him, his onyx right eye surveyed him, on his left he wore a black eye patch.

"Anyway, dobe, got you some pick me up," the Uchiha said as he raised what looked to be a small steaming foam cup with a purple label, and a pair of chopsticks. Naruto wasted no time, he snatched the cup and began to devour the noodles. Sasuke chuckled at the familiar quirk. "Some things never change, huh?"

Naruto continued slurping down the noodles greedily before bringing the cup to his mouth, hellbent on draining the broth. With a satisfied sigh, he replied, "Ramen is still the food of the Gods."

Sasuke smirked and shook his head before he turned his focus to his long-time friend. In an instant, the light-hearted atmosphere turned rigid.

"Before we start getting into business, I'll need to bring you up to speed in this world," Sasuke stated as his black oebs shifted to two very different ones Naruto was very familiar with. Before he knew it, images flashed through his mind like a rapidly firing gun.

Naruto tried to scream, crushing his empty ramen cup in his grip. The sheer volume of information cramming into his head happened all in a single moment as Naruto could feel years of images both painful and pleasurable flooding his senses. An image of a man with grey hair and brown spectacles, a black haired lady grinning with sheer sadism, several airships leaving a large city, men and women with animal appendages raiding buildings and more.

Sasuke merely watched as he finished hypnotising his friend He knew how painful it could be, but time was a luxury he couldn't afford and was forced to make Naruto understand.

"Ugh… What the fuck, Sasuke?" the blonde man moaned as he gripped his head; he almost felt like vomiting his esteemed ramen noodles. It only took him a second to regain his composure as he realised another detail. "Am I… speaking in a different language?"

"You are, it's what the locals use compared to us ages ago," Sasuke answered, "And you, on the other hand, know what's going on right now."

Naruto fell silent. While the images were certainly fast and brief, they were as clear as crystal. However, he knew that his friend was hiding something from him. Images of certain men and women, locations, numbers. All seemed to add to a point where things were a little too convenient; it almost reminded Naruto of the Fourth Shinobi War. On top of that, there was one big mystery that was sitting right next to him.

"Before we do anything though, I need to know you are combat ready, I'll wait for you outside," Sasuke stated, rising from his seat.

"Wait!" Sasuke paused at Naruto's voice. "Answer me one thing, Sasuke, because there is one thing that doesn't make sense."

Sasuke turned towards Naruto, who took it as a cue to continue, "Why are you still alive?"

Sasuke remained silent for a while before turning towards the exit of the room and simply saying, "The Black Cat decided to play."

Naruto's face flashed with disgust. Of course, it's her that probably has something to do with all this that is happening around the world. She did the same thing leading up to the Fourth Shinobi War and if the Six Paths Sage was to be believed, had done so multiple times as well.

With that, Naruto found himself alone with a soured mood.

At the foot of his bed was a table and a case to which the ninja opened. Inside revealed a black long-sleeved shirt with orange trims, black camo pants, black steel tipped boots, a set of armguards and a small combat pouch. Naruto cursed softly; the lack of orange further worsened his mood. Add that to his list of things to ask Sasuke once he gets out of this hotel room.

Naruto left the room, decked out in his new combat gear. Sasuke was seated on a cushioned, red couch just opposite of the doorway Naruto left, looking through what seemed to be a small silver device and it is a moment before he notices long-time friend. With an approving nod, he beckoned Naruto to follow him and lead the way through the building.

It didn't take long for Naruto's eyes to start wandering. This building, the outside, everything looked so… different. First were those metal boxes that seemed to have people in them outside the buildings, second were the weird signs that seemed to have moving pictures (maybe advanced genjutsu?) and that's not to mention that automatic door they passed through. Sure, he had seen some of these through Sasuke's hypnosis but he couldn't help but be taken aback by it all.

Sasuke, on the other hand, couldn't help chuckle at Naruto's reaction. He had pretty much the same thoughts though he had definitely hid it better.

They moved through the streets of Vale at a leisurely place, eventually reaching a small park with a few people relaxing at the fountain and park benches. The two found a small isolated area and faced each other with a sizable distance between them.

"Okay, this should do. Three minutes, taijutsu only. Too risky to use anything else now," Sasuke said, and Naruto nodded at the terms and shifted into a stance with his partner following suite.

Naruto charged first, eager to take an aggressive approach. Sasuke calmly kept his guard up and parried the punches he recieved, but even then he was forced to step back a few times from the sheer force of the blonde's onslaught.

Sasuke grimaced as he remembered that his friend was the superior of the two when it came to raw strength and readjusted his stance. Naruto charged in, hellbent on keeping up the pressure, but the Uchiha wasn't going to let him dictate the pace and in a split second Sasuke swatted Naruto's right fist downward and shoulder charged, forcing the blonde to stumble backwards.

Much to Sasuke's annoyance, Naruto shrugged off the counter like it was nothing. This time Sasuke dashed forward, thrusting his fists and knees at the chest and sides in an attempt to crack Naruto's guard, but his partner had no intention of continuing to be on the defensive and quickly retaliated with a haymaker. While predictable, he wisely stepped back out of range as the force would at the very least weaken his guard. Naruto grinned and jumped forward driving Sasuke to sidestep and retaliate with a shove in the back.

"Is that all you got, dobe?" Sasuke asked with a taunting grin. Naruto snorted and simply stretched his neck and arms. In an instant, the blonde moved in, aggressively raining a series of punches and kicks and pressuring Sasuke onto the back foot. The oppressive pacing left Sasuke little room to breathe, but that didn't mean he was out of options. He forced his legs forward and trapped Naruto's movement before thrusting his elbow forward into the other's jaw. If it were anyone else, they would have received a fracture and tripped, but all Naruto he did was stumble before regaining his composure as if the last few strikes were tickles at best.

"Okay, that's enough," Sasuke called out. Though neither had really took the spar seriously, it was clear Naruto's physical condition and reflexes were at an acceptable level. As for ninjutsu and other abilities, he would have to figure out a way to assess it without explaining to the Vale authorities why they had decided to torch the park.

"Ah, c'mon, you bastard! I was so gonna kick your ass and you know it!" Naruto whined as he flapped his arms in annoyance. Sasuke merely scoffed and brushed at his suit from the scuffle before beckoning to Naruto to follow him to a new destination.

In a few minutes the two found themselves in a coffee store, seated in a small cubicle. Much to Naruto's disgust, the coffee, as these modern people liked to call it, was way too bitter for his taste.

Sasuke began tapping into his small silver device before nodding. "First things first Naruto," said Sasuke, Naruto curtly nodded as he knew from the tone that it now means business, "We'll need to meet Ozpin, I'm sure you know who he is."

Ozpin, from what Naruto had gathered, was Sasuke's point of contact and the person who was likely to have the most knowledge on the current state of affairs. However, he still couldn't help but feel this whole thing was off.

"Sasuke, before we do this, I don't think we should do anything she wants," Naruto said, referring to the previous conversation they had at the hotel. His voice held nothing but trained caution. Sasuke knew that Naruto would not be happy about this ever since he mentioned the Black Cat.

"No choice, if we want-"

"No choice!?" Naruto repeated incredulously, "She was the one who conned you against everyone! She was the one that forced us to kill our friends and sealed Kurama and the others to who knows where! She was the one that played on Kaguya's insanity! You honestly can't be expecting us to work with her of all people!"

"I'm not saying we should trust her!" hissed Sasuke, "But she forced me back here and expects us to play her game. Until we figure out why, we've got no choice."

Naruto could only give a small growl of frustration and backed down. Sasuke shook his head and continued, "Ozpin is her piece on the board but, from what I gathered, not because he wants to be."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Seemed like the Ozpin guy wasn't a willing participant. While it didn't mean that they should trust this him, it certainly made the blonde slightly happier that someone who is aware of the Black Cat was not comfortable with this situation.

In that moment, Naruto's mind clicked. "So you're saying if we can get him on our side…"

"We can turn this whole board on her and whoever she's against," Sasuke finished with a small smirk. Naruto's own smirk grew a little. He may not be one for vengeance, but payback was something he had wanted for a very long time… literally.

A/N: So there you have it! First chapter done. Now there are a few 'weird' things placed in this chapter and with good reasons. Now I want you all to realise that while this story takes place in the RWBY-verse, it has elements of Naruto-verse locations. Also history and the current canon timeline is going to be deviated heavily (after all, the very presence of Naruto and Sasuke should be very telling).