"You two are certainly something special, aren't you?"
Ozpin addressed the two boys rigid at attention in front of him. After they had been picked up by the awaiting Bullhead and deposited at the academy, they had been surreptitiously whisked away to Ozpin's office in the highest bastions of the school's central tower, where he addressed them in secrecy. Sasuke was on edge the whole time, unease at the implications of being sequestered away from the rest of the students birthing all manners of undesired scenarios in his mind.
Their headmaster seemed oblivious to this as he regarded them with his omnipresent and mysterious smile. He waited just a beat before he addressed them again.
"I do apologize, for all of this. The expediency was necessary, and though I didn't intentionally desire to keep you in the dark, I did leave out some information that I had in deference to propriety."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes with this ominous train of thought while Naruto waited for the conversation to reveal something he could comprehend.
"I have had my suspicions for some time, ever since I first heard the reports of your unexpected arrival. But I couldn't be sure of anything." He tapped a few buttons on his desk and a projected image of the two of them engaged in combat with the Deathstalker, Naruto with his multiple copies and Sasuke with his arms encased in lightning chakra clearly visible. "Until now, that is." Ozpin stood up from behind his desk and began to pace the room, glancing out at the vista the tower's elevation provided the office.
"As of right now, you two are something akin to free agents, more or less. While there is no doubt you both show exceptional combat ability for your age, the bitter truth is that should you choose to work against us, you present a minimal threat to any of my more skilled agents." Sasuke and Naruto alike tensed at this declaration. "However," Ozpin continued unaffected. "it is in my personal best interest if I have you on my side. And the only way I can have you work for me is if you trust me, and the only way I feel for that to happen in the circumstances is for me to tell you the truth."
Ozpin turned to regard the wary youths.
"All of it."
"When you two were asleep in the hospital, I had samples of your blood analyzed. The results were surprising in the fact that there was nothing truly remarkable. The bloodwork showed no exceptional values of any of your vitamins, platelets, or any other category. DNA deviation was well within the range of what one might expect a sequestered population to develop in a few generation's time. But this," He gestured to the video screen still projecting the image of the two ninja. "this is unlike anything I have ever seen."
"You see," Ozpin came back around to behind his desk and sat down, minimizing the image so he could once again face the two at attention in the middle of the room. "our Hunters and Huntresses have learned to utilize an internal energy called Aura. They use their Aura to reinforce their bodies, preventing serious damage when struck. Together with special techniques or abilities, unique to the individual called Semblances, they are able to show many feats of incredible skill power, not unlike your little display here." He once again gestured offhand to the now postcard sized image. "But what you do is different, clearly. I was curious when I noticed that neither of you two utilized an Aura to mitigate the damage taken by physical strikes to your person. Then when I saw your techniques in use, I began to formulate or more concise hypothesis. While any one of your techniques is not truly exceptional in our world, fireballs, clones, and transformation I have all seen before. Never, however in a single individual."
Ozpin steepled his fingers in front of him on the desk, and regarded them as if they were a parody of the subject matter. "You seem to use hand signs to channel your internal energy to bend it to your whim, rather than use the natural proclivity of your Aura to do the like. Auras are unique to individuals, and seem to reflect the individual's personality. Which effects the other, we are unsure. But we do know that Hunters and Huntresses use their Auras to power their semblances, and therefore the semblance must be in congruence to the person's overall character."
Grasping on to the core concept in this explanation, and deciding to humor the man in his assertion that he was trying to be trustworthy, Sasuke offered up some information of his own. "The energy we use is called Chakra. It is both a physical and spiritual energy, and some techniques are more or less of one or the other. You are correct that we mold the physical part using the hand seals."
Ozpin nodded in comprehension. "Good to know. But frankly, at the moment it doesn't matter all that much to me." This statement drew confused and suspicious looks from both the onlookers. "Aside from trying to bring you up to speed with the workings of our society, my point in explaining all this to you is to emphasize the underlying fact, that Aura, and this 'Charka' of yours are fundimentally different."
"Meaning?" Sasuke probed, although he feared he already knew the answer.
"Meaning that you two are not from this world."
And with that bombshell dropped, the two felt stones drop in their gullets and their knees were locked to keep themselves upright.
Their headmaster eyed them for a beat to assess their reactions, when silence did not give way to an outburst, he saw fit to continue. "I know this must be a shock to you, but it is at least logical. Humankind cannot destroy energy, nor can we truly destroy matter. The two are interchangeable to a degree. We have known this for some time. So for you two to be so close to us in your physiology, your world itself cannot be all that radically different. And since neither mass nor energy has been lost in this conversion, the energy contained within your bodies must be more or less equal to our own, just, different."
"Like plus and minus on a battery?" Naruto probed, trying to reconcile this core dump of information.
Ozpin smiled amusedly. "Something like that."
When affirmed that he had more or less caught on to the basis of the argument, Naruto nodded and began to extrapolate. "So what you're saying is that there could be any number of other worlds out there, some with more physical stuff and less Chak - er- energy, and some with fewer objects and more energy, and some with the same amounts, but just, different?" Giving the boy an affirming nod despite the slightly erroneous explanation he was giving, he did indeed seem to grasp the core concept.
"So there could be another world out there where people don't have any sort of energy inside their bodies at all, and it is just invisibly floating around in space?"
Ozpin raised an amused eyebrow at this thought from left field before he chuckled into his hand. "I don't see why not."
"So why tell us this? What difference does it make to you if we can't get home if we are insignificant in your plans?" Sasuke directed this pointed remark at the seated man, and he nodded and regarded them both seriously once again.
"Firstly, I never said that you were insignificant. In fact, you could play a key role in my upcoming plans. But as I said before, I need your complete trust. I know that 'Good' and 'Evil' are always subjective, especially given your situation as outsiders looking in on our own little dysfunctional world." Sasuke registered this particular description of Remnant and flagged it in his memory as something more than just a curious wording. "I want to make you understand, however, that what I am trying to do is the right thing in the situation. And I can only count on you if I have your complete and abject faith in this belief. To this end I need to inform you that regardless of whether or not you agree to help me, I have enlisted the assistance of a trusted college and together we are trying to devise a way to send you back to your home world."
This proclamation struck a chord with the two shinobi waiting on baited breath at the direction of this conversation.
"Why?" Though both were equally curious, it was Sasuke that posed the question."
The smile never left Ozpin's face as he delivered his reply. "Because I want you to believe that I am trying to do what is right."
This statement made in what seemed to be genuine honesty hung in the air like a think incense and invaded the two young minds through their orifices.
Naruto, more driven by intuition than logic was first to come to terms with the plethora of mind-bending information being delivered to them. Sasuke was still suffering from his own logic, his own furtive tendencies corrupting any objective opinion he could form about the man.
"What would you have us do?" Both Ozpin and Sasuke had given their full attention to Naruto at this question, the unsaid declaration of acceptance hung behind him, brilliant colours being flown declaring allegiance.
Ozpin was noticeably relieved that he had at least gained one potential ally. Rummaging around the drawers of his desk, he pulled out the golden relic they had retrieved not long ago. He set it deliberately yet delicately in the center of the desk, and then addressed them once more. "This is the white queen piece. It comes from the strategy game we call chess. Do you know what it means?"
Sasuke nodded vaguely. "I have heard of it, but no nothing about the mechanics other than it is similar to our games of Shogi and Go." Ozpin nodded. "Yes, they are similar in concept, but each is specific in its rules, and in the games of chess all the different types of pieces have different rules that apply to them. The queen is quite possibly the most flexible of all pieces. It can move either horizontally or diagonally on the game board, and for an unlimited number of spaces. Other pieces are limited in the direction they can travel, or the number of spaces, or both." The two boys nodded acknowledgment, this was much simpler to comprehend thus far than either of their two native games. Clear military strategy corresponded to a highly mobile and formidable weapon.
"The catch, of course, it that one is only given a single Queen piece at the start of the game, and so it is a constant gamble to use her in combat. Whenever the player moves his pieces out of their starting position, they risk losing them in an engagement." Ozpin leaned back in his seat and drummed his fingers together a few times. "I am not lacking for capable peoples to surround myself with, nor am I without strategy. One can win with or without a Queen, certainly, but against a skilled opponent it becomes increasingly more difficult, and I am not a man that likes to take unneeded risks."
Starting to twig on to the drift of Ozpin's convoluted explanation, Sasuke gave a light scoff in annoyance. "You also don't seem to me the type of man to keep his best pieces in his pocket and away from the game. Although, if you proposal for us involves hit and run tactics that run a high risk of failure, I'm not too keen on putting myself or my teammate into dangerous situations if they can be avoided. So you're not exactly making a particularly good case for us helping you."
Rather than appearing dismayed at this accusation, Ozpin seemed pleased that Sasuke was grasping the general idea of his. "I wouldn't think so. Despite your eagerness to defeat one another when you first showed up, I doubt either one of you wants to give up your chance of going home for my own personal gamble. No, the uses I have for you require you to strike quickly and far enough away from your fellow students to keep them safe, and while not without risk, it is mostly the risk of being discovered that I am trying to avoid. In short, I would like to have an asset that I can use that cannot necessarily be tracked back to me. Prior to being released, you two did not exist in our society, either literally or figuratively. We had identifications and backgrounds made up for you when you first agreed to our deal, and they will hold up to a moderate amount of scrutiny. Deep probing will of course unearth some discrepancies, but this is to be expected and explained away by a number of means.
"What this all builds up to is that I can rebuild you any number of times that I need, should the need arise. In chess, if one can successfully maneuver a pawn, of which one gets eight at the start of any game, to the opponent's side of the board, he can exchange that pawn for another queen. At the moment you two exist as students of this academy on the surface only. Should anyone wish to investigate your presence, they will not find you listed on any school records. This again could pose a potential problem, but the benefits far outweigh the risks, and the risks are all mine to assume should the plan go south.
"Once again, I would like to remind you that your decision to help me in my efforts to make this a more peaceful world have no bearing on our efforts to get you home, other than the fact that we ourselves must be around in order to accomplish anything towards this goal. So I ask you, no I implore you: will you lend me your strengths?"
Ozpin had finished debriefing the two foreigners, but alas, his job as headmaster was an endless one. So here he found himself once again center stage as he set about the task in front of a great part of the student-teacher body of assigning the newest graduates to their future teams for the duration of their scholastic career.
Several teams had already had their time in the spotlight and he had dutifully announced their success to the roar of obligatory applause from the faceless crowd, but he could honestly say that he was looking forward to the next two almost as much as the meeting he had just left.
"Jauen Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren! Henceforth you shall be known as, team Juniper! Lead by Jauen Arc!" The befuddled look on the blond boy's face was worth it, and Ozpin resisted the urge to laugh as he was nearly bowled over by a congratulatory check by Pyrrha.
"Yay! Go Jauen!" Ruby and the others cheered and applauded their friends on stage, but the attention drawn to those on stage, brought Ruby's thoughts to those who were not.
"Hey, where's Naruto and Sasuke?" Also becoming aware for the first time of the boys' absence, Yang stopped clapping and looked to her sister. "Huh, that's a good question." Weiss merely huffed. She could care less where those two had gone. Despite their success in the Emerald Forest, she retained her doubts about the two young boys' capabilities.
Ruby was slightly downtrodden, though, she had hoped to get the chance to congratulate her newest friend on his success, and she had hoped he would have done the same for her. In truth, she was also a little worried something may have happened to the two to prevent them from attending the event. Yang lightly elbowed her sister. "What's the matter Ruby? Miss your boyfriend?" Ruby stuttered and fervently denied the accusation. Ruby was saved from further teasing however, as they were called for their own proclamation, and the matter of the two lost boys was dropped.
Still, that is not to say there weren't others in the group that had not noticed their lack of attendance. Pyrrha was mildly curious as to the whereabouts of the two improbably talented young men. They had both shown themselves to be rather adept during their trial in the forest, and she had hoped to be able to spend more time with them if only for the fact that they didn't even seem to recognize her infamy.
Blake, however, was aware of their flight for entirely different reasons. She was less concerned about where they went, and more with the why, for she had seen Ozpin quietly pull them aside immediately after the group had disembarked the Bullhead. Glynda had then proceeded to lead the rest of them to the dining hall where they enjoyed a long overdue meal, and this was immediately followed by the currently progressing ceremony.
She was also less worried about the two boys, and more because of them. Not one to begrudge others their secrets, she nevertheless felt herself wary in this situation being deprived of facts. The two had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. They hadn't been at the entrance examination, and they didn't seem to be known by any other student that she had encountered thus far. All of which could be potentially explained as coincidence, and the fact that they were granted special permission to attend. It wasn't likely, after all, that any older students would have associated with those so much younger than themselves, and being so much younger, wouldn't have gotten a chance yet to establish a name for themselves.
Still, the coincidences were adding up, and that made her hair stand on end. She still had a healthy amount of paranoia in stock from her days in the White Fang. And speaking of which, one of the two mystery students looked like he could be a Faunus. It was improbable that they were sent by the White Fang, because Sasuke looked certainly human, but she was not willing to discount the possibility entirely. What if it wasn't the White Fang that sent them, but Ozpin himself? Did he know of her history? Which would be a worse scenario?
She didn't even hear her name called as she lost herself to her 'what-ifs'. She resolved herself to be wary of the two, but not to try and draw attention to herself by outright avoiding them. It was a balancing act for sure, but the cat in her had no problem walking this tightrope for the sake of her safety.
The two rode the elevator in silence, neither sure of what to say to the other, if indeed anything needed saying. The long walk to their assigned dorm at the end of the hall on the third floor was a special kind of purgatory, a limbo in which all the right answers as well as the wrong were on the tip of the tongue but never spoken.
Upon approaching the dead end hallway with their door on the right, Sasuke stopped short and Naruto almost ran into him but instincts stopped him automatically. He didn't know what he hoped to happen. He hoped Sasuke had just lost their key and was only now realizing it. He hoped he was stopping to retie his shoelace. He hoped he wasn't about to say what he thought he was about to say.
"We can never go back, you know." The whisper came so soft that Naruto was tempted to pretend it was never uttered. "Even if they manage to get us back to our own world, we can never go back to the way things were." Naruto wanted so desperately to refute this statement. Days, even hours ago, he might have contested this with every fiber of his being, shouted out in denial and anger. But not now. He clenched his fist. The solemnity of their previous conversation with the headmaster had clarified their position and the he was weighted deep down into the sea of responsibility, the surrounding pressure threatening to crush the hope he still held in his heart.
He would not, could not give up hope of returning, for either of their sakes. But he could no longer deny fear deep down. The fear that he wouldn't be allowed to return, that their own society would never accept him and the evil that he kept at bay. The fear that team seven would forever be scarred by the whole ordeal as he retained the faint scar just below his heart from where his friend had tried to kill him. They were different people since the good old days. They were different people since that day. They were different since yesterday.
Would they even be able to recognize themselves in the mirror a year, a month, a day from now?
Maybe. Naruto thought briefly of this world's own beauty, of the people he might one day call friends. Of the person he might one day call friend once again. Maybe, just maybe…
"Maybe though, it's for the best?"
A voice that sounded so much like Sasuke, and yet unlike anything Naruto had ever heard from him before. A voice devoid of the confidence, hubris, certainty that embodied the proud Uchiha. Who was this new person standing in Sasuke's skin in front of him? Where were they that this imposter had inserted himself without Naruto's knowledge?
Oh what brave new world with such people in it?