"Such a quaint island, I can see why so many people decided to make it their home." Madara mused to himself, walking down a forest on the island of Patch. The third Sage of Six Paths held his staff in his right hand, catching a leaf that fell from above in his left. Staring at the green object for a moment memories came flooding back to the ninja, 'How long has it been, Hashirama? At least half a millennia since you and I stood face to face, I'd wager. I've walked this planet for that entire time, hoping that maybe one day an idea might reach me. Honestly though, that's nothing more than a falsity I tell myself. I've ruined our home, there's nothing I can do to revitalize it. My life is nothing more than to wander aimlessly, cursed with the guilt and regret alongside my immortality.'
Letting out a sigh Madara released the leaf, allowing it to flutter down to the forest floor. Continuing onward the Uchiha fell back into silence, letting the sounds of nature fill his ears while he thought to himself, 'I went through twenty-seven dimensions when I first learned the Amenominaka, yet this is the only one that possessed life. Perhaps I should try to find another once again? I've already traveled through this planet's six continents at least three times now. Maybe a change of scenery would be in order.'
While considering the possibility of dimension jumping once more a scream caught Madara's attention. Curiosity piqued he made his way towards the noise, soon finding the source to be a small girl with golden hair. The child had to be no more than five years old, trembling in fear as she tightly held the handle to a small red wagon. Madara glanced to his right, seeing the cause of her terror.
A beowulf stalked towards the girl, its teeth bared in preparation to snuff out her life before it even truly began. Neither the child nor the beast had noticed Madara yet, who stood still as the event unfolded, 'Foolish child, surely even one as young as her knew grimm populated this forest.' He thought, having learned much about the creatures of darkness during his long time wandering Remnant. The lavender eyes of the rinnegan glowed, Madara looking around to see if there were any adults in the immediate vicinity, 'No parents or guardians? A child on the run, perhaps?' He considered.
"Help!" She cried out, the beowulf now within striking distance. The little girl let go of the handle and moved to wrap her arms around something inside the wagon. Madara's eyes widened once he saw that it was yet another child, even younger than the other, who was somehow sound asleep throughout the ordeal.
'I made a vow to never interfere with a world again.' The sage reminded himself. His own world was completely ruined as a result of his meddling, so when he traveled to others he made an oath not to effect them in anyway. To Madara's shock however his left hand raised up and shot a chakra rod out like an arrow, piercing the beowulf's skull and killing it in an instant. The beast slumped to the ground in a heap, its body slowly fading away to nothingness.
Madara blinked in confusion, looking at his left palm curiously, 'My body moved on its own, how strange.' Glancing back up he saw that the blonde girl was staring at the spot where the beowulf's corpse had been just moments ago, 'Saving two little girls, what would Hashirama say if he saw me now?' Chuckling at the thought Madara shook his head, turning to leave and continue his walk through Patch's forest.
One step was all Madara could take before he felt a pressure wrap around his midsection, looking down to see two arms linked around his waist. Glancing backward he saw exactly what he expected, the blonde haired girl was now hugging him, 'Madara Uchiha, the Third Sage of Six Paths, Master of the Rinnegan, Caster of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, saving two children and then being hugged by one. My, what has the world come to?'
"T-Thank you." She whispered, tightening her hold around Madara. The Uchiha frowned softly, the truth seeker orbs that always floated behind him moving upwards slightly to ensure she didn't accidentally touch one of them.
Not sure what to do with the situation Madara responded plainly, "You're welcome. Now release me, I believe you have a sister to attend to." He told her, trying to keep his voice soothe yet strict.
This had the opposite effect however when the girl tightened her hold, "C-Can you, take us home?" She asked him quietly, "I...I got us lost. Dad doesn't know we're out here."
'What am I, a babysitter?' Madara thought irritably, his frown deepening at the child. When the girl looked up at him with tears in her lilac eyes however his face softened, 'I've already interfered this far, why stop now?' He decided, nodding to her, "Very well, get your sister." He ordered, a bright smile appearing on the girl's face as she released Madara and ran back over to the little wagon.
'This is what you would do, isn't it Hashirama?' Madara thought to himself, watching as the child grabbed the handle of the wagon and walked back over to him, "Do you know what direction your home is?" He asked, the girl shaking her head 'no' which caused her pig tails to bounce back and forth.
Madara's rinnegan eyes flashed at the answer, the sage looking about himself for any signs of an aura. The blessed eyes had long since adapted to seeking out the inner power of humans and faunus that Madara considered their chakra equivalent. After a moment Madara shook his head in annoyance, 'No aura close enough for my eyes to see. Though if memory serves me well then the main settlement of this island is to the eastward side.'
"Come child, we will begin searching for your home in this direction." Madara told her, pointing to the east with his staff then walking that way.
"My name isn't child!" The girl pouted, following after Madara with her wagon just behind, "I'm Yang Xiao Long!" She informed him, now walking alongside Madara to ensure he didn't get too far away.
Madara raised an eyebrow at her, "Yang, the physical energy that governs vitality. That is quite the namesake you hold."
Yang didn't seem to fully understand the meaning of Madara's words, but interpreted it as a compliment, "Thanks! What's your name?"
"Madara Uchiha." When Yang tilted her head curiously Madara asked, "What?"
"You said what my name means, what about yours?" Yang questioned, surprising Madara at the boldness of the child.
The sage paused for a moment before chuckling, "Madara is a word that means spots, actually. Not as impressive as yours I'm afraid."
"I think it's a great name!" Yang assured him, smiling widely at her savior. The two went silent afterwards, Madara having nothing to say and Yang unsure of how to speak with the strange white skinned man that had black orbs floating behind him. After a while longer Yang grew tired of the quiet and spoke again, "Where are you from, Mr. Madara?"
"Calling me Madara will suffice, saying Mr. reminds me just how old I am." Madara told her, never reveling in the fact that even with immortality he was still over six hundred years old. Taking a moment to consider how to answer Madara decided to say, "I hail from a land far away from here. It is not recorded on any maps, so you won't know where it is."
Yang didn't look pleased at the response but didn't push on it, turning her gaze towards the ground. Silence began to set in once again, Madara glancing at the blonde before saying, "What about you? Are you from this island, or are you visiting from another place?"
"I was born here!" Yang told him excitedly, glad that the conversation hadn't yet ended.
"I see." Madara nodded, amused at Yang's enthusiasm. It had been a long time since Madara had interacted with anyone thanks to his rule of not interfering. What harm was there in engaging a child in small chat for just a while? Deciding to continue their talk Madara kept the topic focused on her, "How old are you, Yang?"
"I turned four a few weeks ago." She told him proudly, holding up four fingers to the ninja.
Madara hummed lightly before asking, "What is a four year old doing wandering this forest alone, might I ask?"
Yang's smile dropped, knowing that what she had done was wrong and Madara would likely scold her for it. Despite that however she also knew that since he had saved her and Ruby he deserved to know, "I found out that my mother left me when I was a baby. I wanted to go try and find her." She admitted quietly, staring at the ground.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Madara told her, "I've been wandering this forest for a while now, there's no one in it besides us and the occasional grimm. Your mother must have moved on elsewhere."
"You've been wandering in the forest?" Yang asked him, eager to take the conversation away from her missing mother, "Why?"
Madara shrugged in response, "I'm what you would call a nomad. My entire life is going from one place to another, simply to observe the world around myself."
"But, don't you have a family somewhere and a home to go back to?" Yang wondered, her young mind unable to consider anything different from her own lifestyle.
A bitter smile came upon Madara's lips, "I haven't had a family in a long time, Yang." Memories of Izuna came back to the Uchiha's mind, followed closely by Hashirama. Even Obito and Sasuke crossed his thoughts, though he quickly shook them away when a small hand wrapped around his empty one.
Yang smiled up at Madara in a way that would melt the heart of anyone that wasn't of Uchiha heritage, "I'll be your family then!" She said warmly, Madara blinking in shock at the declaration.
'Heh, the innocence of a child.' Madara mused, the corners of his lips twitching upward, "I appreciate it, Yang, but I believe you have a family already." He reminded the girl, nodding towards the child that was still asleep in the wagon.
"You can never have too much family!" Yang responded resolutely, "Dad wouldn't mind you being a part of our family after you saved me and Ruby! Mom, er, Summer wouldn't either!" She stuttered, still not used to the idea that Summer wasn't her actual mother.
'Somehow I doubt your parents would be as accepting of me as you are.' Madara thought in amusement, knowing that his appearance alone would scare off most people. White skin, long white hair, strange purple eyes, a horned headband, and black spheres that floated in mid air usually sent people running. Madara had been mistaken for a demon, a sort of grim reaper, and many other things that were seen as feared. Though to a small child like Yang who had been rescued by his hand, she couldn't see him as anything more than a hero.
Yang bobbed her head up and down, "So when we get back home you can join our family!"
"I don't recall agreeing to that." Madara pointed out, smirking slightly at the girl that still held his hand.
Yang stuck her tongue out at the sage, "Too bad, I already decided for you." She informed him, causing Madara to laugh.
Madara opened his mouth to comment, but was interrupted by three panicked voices ahead of them, "Well where the hell could they have gotten off to if they aren't in the house?!"
"I don't know Qrow, but the wagon Yang always pulls Ruby around in is gone! There's no telling where they went!" A blonde haired man shouted, standing across from a man with black hair that wore a red cape. The two stood outside of a log cabin like house, glaring at one another.
"Then we need to get out there and start searching. If they went into the forest then they could run into grimm, Tai, and you know how that'll end up!" Qrow retorted angrily, upset that his beloved nieces had gone missing.
A third voice cut through the argument, "Would you both shut up?!" A woman demanded, a white cloak covering her frame. Madara raised an eyebrow once he caught sight of her face, noting that she was near identical to Yang's younger sister, "Arguing will get us nowhere! Qrow and I will cover the forest, Tai you go see if they went towards the town."
"Seems like this is your family, isn't it?" Madara asked, glancing down at Yang.
The girl nodded, tightening her grip on Madara's hand, "They're really upset. I'm gonna be in so much trouble." She mumbled.
"Perhaps, but you'll have to face the consequences of your actions." Madara told her wisely, "They are upset, but it seems more than that they're worried for your safety. I'm sure things will go well if you just come clean to them now before they start running around the island."
Yang gulped, agreeing with Madara but unable to force herself to step forward, "If they do get really mad, and I get in a lot of trouble, will you save me again?" She asked quietly, glancing up at Madara hopefully.
"I doubt you'll need any rescuing." Madara assured her, "But I will remain here until I'm sure you're alright. If something goes wrong I'll be right here." Honestly the Uchiha wasn't sure why he cared so much to comfort the child, chalking it up to the fact that he hadn't interacted with another intelligent being for several hundred years, "Now go, they're about to head out." He ordered, Yang letting her hand slide out of his.
Madara stood still as promised while Yang walked out to her family, the wagon carrying her younger half-sister just behind her. Summer noticed the child first and rushed to her, Taiyang and Qrow doing the same just a second after. Dropping to her knees Summer wrapped her arms around Yang while Taiyang checked Ruby, Qrow standing to the side and observing. Summer kissed Yang's forehead lightly then asked, "Where did you go?! We were so worried, Yang! Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine!" Yang replied, not looking Summer in the eyes, "I...found the picture of my mom." She said for way of explanation, all three adults suddenly realizing what she meant.
"Yang, I'm so sorry we didn't tell you. We were going to when you were older." Summer told her, keeping her hands on Yang's tiny shoulders.
Yang shook her head and smiled to the woman, "It's alright, I get it. But, I really wanted to meet her, and I saw that the old barn in the picture looked like the one out in the forest. I took Ruby with me to try and find it, but then I got lost, and then a grimm showed up."
"A grimm?! How did you get away?" Qrow demanded, narrowing his eyes in anger just at the thought of a grimm being near his nieces.
"Madara saved us!" Yang said, joy suddenly lighting up on her face at the mention of her hero.
Qrow, Summer, and Taiyang all looked at each other in confusion. Summer returned her gaze to Yang and asked, "Who is Madara, sweetie?"
"He's this awesome guy that killed the grimm in one hit! I thought it was going to eat us, but he showed up and took it down!" Yang explained happily, turning back towards the forest and pointing to the man.
"What the hell..." Qrow whispered, shock covering the faces of each of the hunters. Madara stared back at each of them calmly, unmoving just as he had promised Yang. In all their years of fighting as Team STRQ, none of them had seen anything like what Madara was. The sage looked like a spirit of some kind, his white skin and the black orbs plus staff he had giving him a striking presence. Of course it was the purple, ringed eyes that put them off the most, making it seem like Madara stared into their very souls.
Taiyang managed to tear his eyes away from Madara to look back to his daughter, "He...He saved you from the grimm?" He asked quietly.
"Yep!" Yang answered, pulling away from Summer's hands to wave towards the Uchiha, "Madara! Come say hi to my parents and uncle!" She demanded, Madara snorting at how quickly her demeanor had changed from the frightened girl just moments ago.
Madara was used to the stares of other people like he was receiving at that moment. Fear, wariness, curiosity, amazement, and even some reverence. It was nothing new and it was exactly what he saw in the eyes of each of the hunters before him. Deciding to humor Yang the sage walked forward slowly, his right hand holding onto his staff. Once he was mere feet away however Madara noticed something different in the woman's eyes, 'Relief, perhaps?' He guessed, watching as Summer stood and stepped towards him.
"Thank you, for watching after them." Summer said honestly, bowing her head towards Madara, "I don't know what I'd do if something had happened. Thank you so much." She reiterated, her head rising to look straight into Madara's rinnegan.
'A hint of relief, but that is most definitely the look of gratitude.' Madara decided when he saw her eyes again. Nodding back to the huntress Madara spoke, "It was no issue. I couldn't just stand aside and allow two children to have their lives ripped away by a pathetic monster, after all." 'I literally couldn't, I still don't understand why my hand moved on its own.'
"Madara's a no something." Yang told all the adults, running over to the Uchiha and taking his hand in hers, "So I told him he could be part of our family!"
"The word is nomad, Yang." Madara reminded her, looking down at the child, "I still don't remember agreeing to this merging of families."
Yang huffed and stared back up at him, "I already told you I decided for you!" Looking past Summer and over to her father Yang put on her best puppy dog eyes, "Pleeeeeease dad? Madara doesn't have any family or home to go to, and he saved me and Ruby! We can't just let him not have a home!"
"Yang, I'm sure Madara has important things he has to do." Taiyang told his daughter slowly, not pleased that his daughter was so close to the strange man. Taiyang and Qrow were both cautious people by nature, so someone with Madara's appearance immediately sent alarm bells off in their mind.
"No he doesn't!" Yang retorted, frowning at her father then changing targets to her step-mother. Putting back on her puppy dog eyes she asked, "Please, mom?"
Summer stared down at Yang, unable to resist the look that had caused her to cave so many times over the past few years. Summer glanced at her husband, who did nothing more than stare back at her. Turning back to Yang Summer smiled brightly, "How about we have Madara stay for dinner, then we can talk it over?" She suggested.
"That's perfect! Madara will love your cooking!" Yang agreed happily, squeezing Madara's hand and looking back up to him, "Will you stay?"
'No, I've interfered with you all more than I ever should have.' That was the immediate response that came to Madara's mind, but looking down at the hopefulness in the girl's eyes made him reconsider. Madara mulled over the idea for a moment, his oath of no interference with other worlds was to prevent the tragedy that he had brought upon his own. Having dinner with the Xiao Longs wouldn't do anything of the sort like what had happened in his own world. Besides, he had already saved the lives of the two children, why bother keeping the oath that was broken?
"Very well, I shall accept your offer." Madara announced, nodding to Summer. Yang let out a cheer before releasing Madara's hand and running inside, taking hold of Ruby's wagon to bring her in as well. Summer ran after the two, not wanting them out of her sight after the scare she had been given that day.
Taiyang looked between his house and Madara before walking inside as well, yelling out that he needed to talk to Summer. Qrow frowned once it was just him and Madara outside, looking to the sage before shrugging, "Well, we're not getting any younger." He muttered, "Come on." Qrow waved from Madara towards the house, making his way into the building.
'What have I gotten myself into?' Madara wondered, following behind Qrow. Over five hundred years of aimless wandering, observing the world of Remnant from a simple curiosity and now the third Sage of Six Paths found himself invited to a family's dinner. One thing Madara was certain of however, he was thankful for the change rather than another day of self-loathing, 'Perhaps I can take just a small break from my guilt, don't you think, Hashirama?'
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So I'm awake at midnight and suddenly I just started typing this up rather than working on Seeking Answers. I got into the RWBY fandom about five or six weeks ago and I've wanted to write a crossover with Naruto about it ever since. For some reason this idea of Six Paths Madara having completed the Infinite Tsukuyomi, realizing what a failure it actually is, and then becoming a dimension hopper/nomad who's torn up that he couldn't undo the effect of the Infinite Tsukuyomi running into a young Yang and Ruby really appealed to me.
This story will probably focus on comedy mainly, sort of a way for me to practice writing it really. Six Paths Madara having to deal with a growing Yang and Ruby just sounds full of potential hijinks in my mind, so hopefully some other people find it enjoyable as well. I wouldn't expect very often updates though, Seeking Answers is still my main focus and so I'll be putting more effort to it than anything else. This will give me something else to write though whenever I hit a snag in Seeking Answers, hopefully helping me get through whatever that snag is since I won't stop writing entirely whenever it happens.
Well, hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter of whatever this story is going to end up becoming. I also plan to write an actual more serious RWBY x Naruto crossover with a friend of mine at some point, hopefully in the near future, so you can look forward to that as well.