Chapter Four: Vale

"What possible reason could you have to want to protect these four?" the massive fox asked, growling through the bars of his prison.

"They're my friends!" defended Naruto, although he was hardly convincing.

"That Raven character doesn't see you as one, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it was that silver-eyed girl you like so much who called us a monster, was it not?"

"She didn't mean it! She was just… scared of us. I used four tails worth of your charka, I've never been able to control that much!"

"You never will at this rate," growled the Kyuubi. Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Your time in this world has made you soft. You were once a ninja, not a good one, but one who never gave up. Now look at us, brat; the first town we lived in was destroyed by creatures I could kill with a flick of my tail."

"I wasn't strong enough," Naruto replied ashamed.

"BULLSHIT! You have the entirety of my chakra at your disposal, yet you're too afraid to use it!"

"You'll try to take control the first chance you get! I've felt your blood lust when I was in our Four-tail state!"

"You are truly the densest meat-bag I've ever met," the Fox lamented in disappointment, "and to have you as my container, no less."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That wasn't my lust for death, idiot, it was yours. You've felt my hatred towards you shinobi scum before, and you would not have been able to stop my assault simply because your 'friends' were in danger. You're not strong enough." Naruto refused to believe the fox.

"I wouldn't want to kill anybody," denied Naruto. "It would make me no better than they are!"

"Don't pretend to be so high and mighty," the fox scoffed. "You have buried your hatred so deep that you only see yourself as a victim now. It's pathetic, and I refuse to allow you to go on like this!"

"Shut up!" shouted Naruto. "What would you have me do then?!"

"Become the warrior Roy trained you to be!" roared the Kyuubi. Naruto stared in surprise at the fox's words. "If these Huntsman teams are truly the biggest threat this world has to offer, Remnant might as well be served on a silver platter."

"You want me to conquer Remnant?" Naruto asked confused.

"You're missing the point, brat. If you train yourself to manage four tails of my chakra, there shouldn't be a force on this measly world that could stop us. Which means, nobody would treat you like dirt anymore."

"You mean 'us'," corrected Naruto without thinking. "Nobody, Bijuu, human, or whatever a Faunus is, should be treated like this." The Kyuubi smirked internally, seeing the realization fall on Naruto's face. "If… if we work together, we might be able to change people's minds." Naruto then noticed that his mindscape was fading, and soon found himself in the waking world.

"Does he always sleep like that?" asked Tai, as he watched Summer attempt to wake the mediating Naruto.

"Not that I know of," she sighed defeated. "I guess it's another one of his quirky habits."

"You're the last one who should be talking about being quirky," pointed out Tai with a laugh. Summer pouted slightly. A few moments later, Naruto stirred awake. "He lives!"

"What?" asked Naruto confused, as he began to stretch.

"We've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes now," explained Summer. "How do you sleep sitting like that?"

"I wasn't sleeping, I was mediating," replied Naruto. "I guess I might have dozed off or something…"

"Don't worry about it, we're only about a day away from Vale," Tai replied, trying to brush it off.

"Vale?" asked Naruto, looking over to Summer. "I thought you said there was a Grimm infestation this way." Summer tried to shrink underneath his accusatory stare.

"Oh, that?" Summer tried to play off. "Oh well, there was one, but um, they got cleared up! By uh, another huntsman team! Yea, so that's why we're headed back?" she finished.

"Summer, I told you I'm not joining any academy," Naruto reminded a bit annoyed. "You can't force me to go!"

"Whoa, who said anything about an academy?" asked Qrow, screwing the cap on his water container. "Nobody is going to force you to do anything, kid."

"Then why did you all lie to me to get me to come to Vale?" countered the blond.

"Well, technically only Summer lied," pointed out Tai, earning a punch to the arm from Qrow. "Ow, what? It's true!"

"Regardless, we just wanted to show you what it's like," explained Summer, "and if you're absolutely against it, I'll personally pay for your air trip to Menagerie. It's where you wanted to go, right?" Naruto wanted to protest, but he couldn't find a reason to, apart from being lied to.

"It's a win-win situation, no matter how you look at it," Tai added, trying to convince the teen.

Qrow pulled Summer aside, needing to have a word with her. "What did my sister think about this?"

"She's not totally against it," replied Summer, "most likely because she plans on leaving the team anyway."

"You two really need to sort that out," sighed Qrow. Summer nodded in acknowledgement. "Hey, Summer… we really should let Oz know about this kid. I hate to admit it, but Raven is right about him being a potential threat."

"How could you say that?" asked Summer, before seeing the stern expression he wore. She looked back over to the campsite, where Naruto and Tai were now arguing about something. It didn't seem to be serious, so she turned her attention back to her partner.

"Summer, every Grimm we've face cowered in fear when your eyes begin to glow, yet… whatever that thing is in him didn't. I know he's just a kid, but somebody needs to keep an eye on him. Someone… less mother-like."

"I'm not trying to be his mother," Summer grumbled, "I just… wanted to be his friend. The haunted look he tries to hide in his eyes isn't something I can just ignore."

"I'm not telling you to cut yourself off from him," he sighed. "Just… don't be so involved, alright? It'll be harder when he inevitably has to gone off on his own."

"What makes you think he won't want to stick around? Like our team?"

"Our team isn't exactly seeing eye to eye at the moment, Summer. We've done good work as a team, but we might be better off doing our own things."

"You want to leave too?" asked Summer in shock.

"No, of course not!" defended Qrow. "Listen to me, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, right? Raven and I excel at infiltration and intel gathering, but you and Tai are a bit… noisy."

"So what are you purposing?" asked Summer, unsure.

"We keep our team unregistered, like it is, but maybe we can go off on solo missions once in a while. Nobody can take on a horde of Grimm like you, and Tai would be an excellent bounty hunter." Summer smiled sadly, and let out a humorless laugh.

"I guess this day really was coming," she mumbled. Before she could register anything, she felt Qrow wrap an arm around her.

"Don't worry, Summer. We don't have to do this all at once. Let's ease into it, ok?" Summer returned the hug, and sighed to herself.

"Sometimes I wonder why you weren't picked to be our leader," she said wistfully.

"Probably because you're the only one who can control Tai," joked Qrow. Summer laughed a bit, and took a deep breath.

"Thank you Qrow," she said to him. "You're the best partner a girl could ask for."

Qrow smiled back, and remembered Naruto's question to him a few weeks back.

'Do you always do whatever it takes to make her happy?' asked Naruto.

'If I can, then yes,' replied Qrow.

'Do you ever regret it?'

"Can't say I do, kid," Qrow mused to himself as he followed his leader back to the others.

"That totally doesn't count!" argued Tai. "If you make a bunch of clones, of course they can lift more."

"Then I am stronger than you!" shouted back Naruto.

"No you aren't! That's cheating! You're using like a bunch of little people to out-muscle a bigger, better looking one!"

"You aren't better looking!" denied Naruto. "You're just full of yourself! Besides, I make those clones with my own abilities! How is that cheating?"

"What is going on here?" asked Summer, as she arrived to the strange scene.

"Tell this idiot I'm stronger than him!" the two blonds shouted in unison. Summer smiled, and agreed.

"Alright, you're stronger," she said with a laugh. The two blonds then turned back to each other.

"See?" they said together. "She agrees! She meant me! No, me! Stop that!"

"This is starting to get a bit eerie," noted Qrow, as the two blonds continued to talk in sync.

"Are we going to head out soon?" asked Raven, making her presence known.

"Yea, once we clean up our campsite," replied Summer, a bit forced. Raven hummed in acknowledgement, and walked over to Tai, who was now trading insults with Naruto. "We should hurry," added Summer. The team silently packed and began to walk.

"So, um, what's Vale like?" asked Naruto, breaking the silence. Summer lit up, and decided to explain to him.

"Oh Vale is great! There are tall buildings, ice cream shops and Dust shops. Pretty much anything you can think of, Vale will have it. Aside from Beacon, which is the academy we went to, there is also the CCT tower that's always pretty to look at."

"What's CCT stand for?" asked Naruto.

"Cross Continental Transmit," replied Summer. She reached into her pocket and took out her scroll, which was a lot smaller and sleeker than the one Roy would occasionally use. "It lets us use these to talk to people all over the world! We can go, if you want to."

"I don't have anybody to talk to," Naruto reminded, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"Well, I can show you how to make a call," offered Summer, "that way if you do decide to live in Menagerie, we can still talk to each other."

"I'd like that," smiled Naruto. He had assumed that once he left he would never see them again, but Summer was ensuring that they would remain friends. "What else is there?"

"I don't even know where to start," Summer said happily. "There's a library with tons of books, although I've never been a fan of reading…"

"Is there a place that sells ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Ramen?" asked the leader, a bit surprised at the specificity of the question. "Yea, there are one or two places I've seen." The look on the teen's face was one of pure joy. "It'll be our first stop."

"Thanks," Naruto replied almost embarrassed. Summer ruffled his hair, and the two continued to walk on, as Summer found herself explaining what a 'car' was, and why it was used.

A few hours later, Team STRQ found themselves finishing off a few stray Grimm that had attacked them. For some reason, they consistently tried to attack Naruto, but he was more than capable of handling himself. Tai was mildly impressed with his speed, but knew that he'd have a long way to go before being as fast at them. While he did catch them by surprise initially, it was their training that allowed them to evade his strange attack back in the alley. Regardless, Naruto seemed to be using his sword less and less.

"Hey kid, why aren't you cutting up the Grimm?" asked Tai. "Isn't that why you have a weapon?"

"I don't need to use it," replied Naruto. "Besides, none of you need protecting." Tai shrugged it off, but Qrow had begun to dwell on his choice of words. "Is there any way we can get to Vale faster?"

"What's the rush?" asked Qrow. "I thought you didn't want to go."

"I'm just tired of camping out every night," Naruto tried to explain, although it was apparent there was another reason. Regardless, Qrow decided not to hound him on it.

"Well, if we went full speed, we could probably make it before sunset," replied Qrow, before looking at Naruto with a challenging look. "That is if you can keep up."

"Keep up?" asked Naruto with disbelief. "I thought you guys were just slow! Let's go!"

"Are we doing this?" asked Tai, as he dropped down to a runner's stance. "I'll race you there, punk. Consider this round two." Naruto felt a grin forming, and mimicked the older blond.

"Just tell me how to get there, so I don't have to wait for you to catch up," remarked Naruto.

"Oooh! I want in on this!" Summer cheered as she swept her cape dramatically. "Qrow, count us down!"

"Seriously?" asked Qrow with a sigh. "Whatever… three… two… one… go, I guess."

The two twins were met with a huge gust of air as the three burst ahead.

-Several Hours Later-

"Where –huff, is he?" Summer gasped, as she caught up to Tai. The two had arrived at the city gates, but had lost track of Naruto a few miles after they sprinted.

"He's probably trying to catch our dust trails," Tai joked, as he panted. "I shouldn't have had that last beer last night…"

"Should we wait for him here?" asked the silver-eyed girl. Tai shook his head, as he stretched. It wasn't long before two birds flew towards them, each perched on one of their shoulders.

"Oh, hey Qrow," Summer greeted, as she lightly petted the bird. Tai tried to mimic the action, but his bird snapped its beak at him. "Can you two go ahead and find a ramen place? I sort of promised Naruto we'd go." The two birds flew off without a sound, leaving the two alone once more.

"Don't you think that being able to turn into a bird is a bit weird?"

"Yea," agreed Summer, "but it's pretty cool. I wish I could do cool stuff like that."

"You can literally look at a Grimm and kill it… what more could you want?" Summer laughed nervously as he pointed out her gifts. "Anyway, I'm gonna head back out there… he might have gotten lost somewhere down the way."

"All he had to do was follow the road," Summer pointed out a bit worried. "You think that he got attacked on the way?"

"Well if he did, I doubt he needs backup," Tai assured. As he turned to leave, the two suddenly felt the same suffocating atmosphere they experienced a few days ago. The two looked at each other, and wordlessly ran off to the general direction they were feeling the killing intent.

-A Few Moments Earlier-

Naruto came to a stop once he saw the gates to the city. He took a while to admire just how much bigger they were, as well as how many guards they had posted around it. What's more, is upon arriving, he was not interrogated and simply allowed in. Seeing the difference between the main city and the smaller villages made him feel a bit bittersweet. As he walked into the city, he was in awe.

Summer had not exaggerated about how many buildings there were, nor how tall they were. He seldom saw a dirt path, as everything was paved over with either asphalt or cement. His hand went to the locket around his neck which he normally concealed under his shirt, and he let out a sigh.

"You would have loved it here…" he whispered to himself. Naruto couldn't bear to open it, and began to wander around, ensuring to stay close enough to the entrance so team STRQ could find him once they caught up. "It's everything you said it would be…"

'This is a city I wouldn't mind destroying,' the Kyuubi remarked. Naruto continued to wander as he began to talk to his tenant.

"Is destruction the only thing you think about?" Naruto asked a bit annoyed.

'Do my remarks really surprise at this point?' the fox asked dryly. 'I've been nothing but consistent your entire life.'

"Well, with that attitude, it's going to be hard to change people's opinion about us," sighed Naruto. "But I guess I can't expect such a huge change to be instant."

'Who said I want to change?' the Kyuubi scoffed. 'I couldn't care less what these insects think of me.'

"I've thought about what you said," Naruto admitted. "Back in the alley, and I know that you –"

"HELP!" they heard a woman scream. Naruto immediately ran towards the plead for help, as the shout was suddenly silenced. Zipping down the street, and weaving through an alley, he found the source.

"Come on, you're a rabbit, aren't ya?" asked a large man, as he help the woman's two long rabbit ears roughly above her head. Next to him were three other thugs each brandishing a variety of knives. "Adal Wolf says you Faunus are just like the animals you take after, so why are you still resisting?"

"Let go of me!" the woman cried. "I won't tell anybody, please!"

"You think we'll believe you?" another thug asked.

"Let go of her," Naruto seethed. The group of men looked over to see the blond shaking with anger. Unfortunately, they thought it was from fear.

"Get lost kid," the man holding the woman's ears grunted. "I can see you quivering in fear, so don't try to be a hero."

"I'm not going to ask again," the ninja responded, his eyes glowing red.

"Hey boss, I think the little creep wants to watch," one of the smaller thugs remarked. Before anybody could respond to that comment, a kunai embedded itself next to the thug, a small cut appearing on his cheek. This seemed to anger the larger man, who let the woman go, and revealed a sword he had concealed. Slowly unsheathing it, he pointed it to Naruto.

"I was going to let you walk away from this, but you're starting to piss me off kid," the man growled. He stalked up to the teen, his posse following closely behind. Naruto didn't flinch and began to walk towards them. Soon, another voice was heard behind them.

"NARUTO!" shouted Summer. To her surprise, the seething blond halted his advance.

"Looks like his owner has a pretty tight leash on him, huh?" asked the shortest member. Naruto turned back to the group, his hand twitching towards his sword.

"They're not worth it," he heard Qrow mutter, as he dropped down from above. The thugs looked up in confusion, before realizing they no longer outnumbered the young teen. They turned to run, only to be met by Raven, her red eyes piercing through the darkness.

"Listen to Qrow, kid," began Tai, as he stepped towards Naruto. "We'll handle this… just don't flip out, alright?"

"R-right," Naruto conceded, his eyes reverting to blue. As Summer made her way towards the temporary addition to her team, another woman beat her to him.

"Thank you!" the rabbit Faunus cried, as she hugged the ninja in a tight hug. "I was afraid they were going to kill me!"

"You're alright now," Summer assured, as she put her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "If I were you, I'd get home as soon as possible. It's going to be dark soon."

"Of course!" the woman said relieved, as she wiped tears away. "I-I'll go now."

"If you'd like, Naruto and I could escort you," Summer offered. "My team will take care of those criminals."

"You're Huntsmen?" the woman asked, as she turned to Naruto. "Y-you seem awfully young to be…"

"I was raised outside the village," Naruto replied. He still felt anger towards the cowardly group of men, but the relief this Faunus woman was expressing lightened his hardened gaze. "Er, I mean city. I'm just tagging along with them for a while."

"Thank you," she repeated. "I can't thank you enough…"

"Don't worry about it," Summer brushed off, as she followed the two retreating figures. "Is your home far from here?"

"No, not at all," she said with a shy smile. "It's just past the clothing store on Fifth."

"So…" Taiyang began awkwardly, as the three Huntsmen awaited for a police car to arrive. "Back at the village… Before the attack… You agreed to go out with me, right?"

"How can you be thinking about that right now?" asked Raven.

"Well, we're finally back home, and I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not. I just remember summoning fruit carts from the sky."

"You never summoned any- you know what, I don't care," Qrow scoffed. How Tai's mind worked has always eluded him, and he has finally begun to give up.

"Then, yes, I did agree to one date," Raven sighed tiredly. "Where do you plan on taking me?"

"Like I've had time to think about it!" Tai replied, throwing his hands into the air. "I guess you'll just have to wait until I can think of a place worth taking you." Qrow's eyes widened slightly, and carefully looked over to Raven's reaction.

"Whatever," she said shaking her head. Soon, the telltale red and blue lights flashed and the police arrived. A pair of cops came out, one walking straight over to the slightly roughed up group of thugs.

"Alright, so what happened here?" asked the other. Qrow just leaned against the wall to the alley and began giving his report.

-Later-

"So you work at a bakery?" asked Summer excitedly.

"Yes Ma'am, it's been a family business for the last three generations," the Rabbit Faunus said a bit proudly. "We use a lot of my Mum recipes to get that Menagerie taste you can't get in the city."

"Marble, you don't have to call me 'Ma'am', Summer is fine," the leader smiled. Naruto had been mostly silent the entire time they've been walking, but he was listening intently.

"Are you from Menagerie?" asked Naruto.

"I've never actually been there, to be honest," Marble replied. "My parents moved here long before I was born, but they brought a little taste of home with them."

"I have to try something from your bakery," Summer excitedly declared, hopping up and down. Upon receiving strange stares from Marble and Naruto, she stopped immediately and blushed. "Sorry, I have something of a sweep tooth…"

"That's great!" Marble said with a polite laugh. "We have plenty of options to satisfy that. How about you?"

"Huh?" asked Naruto. "I don't really know… I haven't eaten anything but forest animals for the last… few months or so."

"Then I insist that you two come to the bakery tomorrow," Marble replied. "Bring the rest of you team too! It's the least I can do for saving me tonight."

"Marble, you-" began Naruto.

"We'll be there!" Summer interrupted. "Is this your home here?"

"Oh, right, yes," she realized. "I can't thank you two enough… there has been an increase in… Faunus abuse recently. I thought I was going to be next."

"You have nothing to worry about now," Summer smiled warmly. "We'll see you tomorrow then, Marble." The rabbit Faunus smiled back and walked into her apartment complex. Summer turned to her new friend and sighed. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yea," he answered automatically.

"Naruto… that feeling back there… was that fox of yours-?"

"No, that wasn't him," he admitted. "He said that while he was disgusted in what those men were going to do to her, that anger was my own… Summer, I didn't mean to let any of that out, you have to believe me, I'm usually much better at holding it in!"

"It's alright," she said, holding his shoulders. "You were able to stop it before it got out of hand. I know how hard it can be to learn to control incredible power, and you did great! Although I wish you didn't try to hold everything in."

"If I didn't, who knows what would have happened," Naruto pointed out. "I don't have a choice, I can't let myself feel negative emotions anymore."

"Naruto, I want to share with you something my father told me when I was a little girl. He said, 'Summer, feeling angry, sad or guilt can hurt those around us, but if you don't let yourself feel them when you need to, it festers and becomes much worse. You'll lash out at somebody who doesn't deserve it, or, if you let it sit for too long… it can poison you."

"Poison?" asked Naruto. "I doubt I'll drop dead."

"No, you're missing the point," Summer argued, before sighing and dropping it. "It took me a while for it to sink in… Anyway, I know of a place that we can stay tonight. Qrow probably took the others there too."

"Yea, it's been a long day," Naruto agreed.

"We aren't going right now," Summer scoffed playfully.

"What are you talking about?"

"I made you a promise, and if there is one thing you should know about me, it's that,"

"That you have a weapon fetish?" asked Naruto.

"That I have a weapon fetish!" Summer repeated proudly. "Wait, no! Darn it Naruto, that's not what I meant. I keep my promises. No matter how big or small, I'll follow through. So I'm not letting you sleep until you've eaten as much ramen as you can!"

-Several hours later-

"How!?" Summer shouted dramatically. "Where did it go?"

In front of her was the blond ninja face down on the ramen counter soundly asleep. Beside him were two tall stacks of ramen bowls that nearly reached her height. The owner of the establishment handed her the bill, to which her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Summer took out her credit card and cried comically as she handed it over.

"I guess my weapon upgrades can wait…" she muttered to herself. "Naruto, are you ready to get back to the hotel?"

"Zzzz"

"Of course…" she sighed again. Hoisting the teen over her shoulder she began to make her way down the streets.

A young Naruto held his sunken stomach as it growled at him. Wobbling as he walked, he made his way down the dirt path, passing many stores that chased him away when he tried to enter. He could feel himself beginning to lose consciousness when a heavenly smell reached his nostrils, and he began to blindly follow it. It wasn't long before he got to a stand that was brightly lit, although there didn't seem to be anybody in the shack. Peeking through the curtain, the aroma hit him full force, and he simply stood there intoxicated by it.

"Hey, who are you?" asked a male voice, which made Naruto freeze. As soon as his mind began to work again, his instincts to run kicked in. "Wait!"

To this day, Naruto still didn't know why he listened to the man. Was it the lack of malice in his voice? Or perhaps he believed if he complied, the inevitable beating wouldn't be as bad. Regardless, the small boy froze.

"Come on in," the man said, this time gently. "Don't be afraid."

"Y-y-y-you aren't g-g-going to h-hurt me?" Naruto asked. He hated how frail his voice sounded, and the doubt was evident.

"Of course not, come, take a seat."

"I don't have any money," the blond informed, wincing as the words came out of his mouth. He couldn't find himself to look the man in the eye.

"Father… who is that?" asked another voice, this one feminine.

"He's a new customer," the man replied with a smile in his voice. Naruto thought for a second that the owner hadn't heard him, but when the man placed a large bowl full of broth, noodles and pork, the child began to scarf it down greedily. To his surprise, the girl giggled at his antics.

"Wow, I've never seen anybody eat so fast!" she said with amazement. Her father chuckled as he ruffled the girl's hair.

"You shouldn't say that in front of our customers, Ayane. He might get embarrassed and not want to come back." The cook turned back to the blond who had just finished drinking the remaining broth. "So, how was it?"

"It was amazing! Thank you sir!"

"No need for the formalities," the man waved off. "Call me Teuchi." Naruto cracked a smile, before the realization hit him.

"Um, Teuchi-san… I still don't have any money…" The ramen maker feigned a shocked expression and then began to think.

"Well… I guess demanding payment in the form of money would be useless then…" he said aloud. Naruto began to shrink in his stool. "I guess there is only one other way for you to pay it back. How about you help me by tasting my new recipes to see if they're any good? Is that alright with you?"

"R-really?" Naruto asked in shock. Once again, Ayane laughed.

"Of course!" she answered. "My dad wouldn't tease you like that!"

Naruto's eyes began to water, but he shut them before any tears fell. With a deep bow, Naruto gave an emotional "Thank you!"

The Following Morning

"Um, you're welcome?" Summer replied as Naruto stirred awake. She had been up for a while now, and was already in her hood and cape. She watched amused as Naruto tried to go back to sleep. "Hey, wake up! We have things to do today!"

"I don't wanna go to school!" Naruto whined groggily.

"You're not going to attend," Summer laughed. "I just need to report in with my team. You don't want to come along?"

"Five more minutes Viola," Naruto said into his pillow. Summer winced as he mistook her for his deceased friend.

"Right, of course," she replied. "We won't be long." Summer exited the teen's room, and made her way to the lobby where her team was already waiting for her.

"Morning Summer!" Tai greeted, popping the joints in his shoulders. "We gonna report to Ozpin today?"

"Yup," she agreed, as she looked over to Raven. While she had a stern look on her face, she didn't have the same disappointed look she wore the day before.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Qrow muttered, still rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes.

Naruto finally decided to get back up a few minutes later. When he woke, he found himself in another unfamiliar room, he sighed to himself that he shouldn't make a habit out of this. Seeing that he was in a hotel room, he decided to take a hot shower, something he sorely missed the last few weeks. As he continued to his routine, his companion decided to chime in.

"You almost went berserk last night," the deep voice boomed.

"I'm aware," Naruto sighed. "Wasn't exactly something I could ignore though."

"Something I begrudgingly agree with you on… although I would have not heeded orders from somebody like I was their pet."

"I'm nobody's pet! She just stopped me from doing something I was going to regret."

"What is that something, exactly?"

"You know exactly what it is…"

"I know. You wanted them dead, and I can tell that you still feel that way now… but that's not what you'd regret is it? If they wounded up dead at your doorstep, you wouldn't feel any sympathy, would you?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"You've been surrounded by death your entire life, but to this day, you've never taken a life yourself."

"I'm not a killer," he argued.

"Yet you've been trained as one until a year ago. I can sense something dark inside you, Naruto, and it's going to continue to grow."

"Like I would believe you! My shinobi training doesn't make me heartless."

"I've been with you your entire life, brat, you can't hide your fears from me."

"Is that so? Then what exactly do you think I'm scared of?"

"It's quite simple really," the fox said knowingly. Naruto found his tone to be condescending, but bit his tongue. "You aren't afraid to kill, as your urges to kill those men last night still lingering now proves it… No, you're afraid that you'll like it, that it would only lead to you wanting to kill more and more."

"You're wrong," Naruto denied. "I don't kill because it's wrong, there is no way I'd enjoy something that evil."

"Not at first," the Kyuubi warned, "but the first one is always the hardest. The kills that follow aren't quite as memorable, unless it was particularly… exciting."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Your kind thought me to be a demon that came to be from the collective hatred of humanity, but I don't come from such abstract origins. No, the hatred I feel is my own, and it has grown over the lifetimes I lived in the Elemental Nations. However… as I mentioned before, these people here in Remnant have never wronged me. While they are much more fragile than the meat-bags back in Konoha, I think it would be interesting to observe them for a while before I disappear. I wouldn't be able to do that if you went around killing everybody that looked at you funny. I need you to learn to control your dark desires, because I won't do it for you anymore."

"You've never tried to control it!" Naruto accused. "You've done nothing but the opposite since we first met!"

"You truly are a thick-headed idiot…" The fox grumbled before the mental link was severed.

"What would you know…" Naruto muttered to himself. He nearly finished getting dressed, but sat on his bed. "Those… monsters… they were going to do something unforgivable…"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Room service!" called out a kind voice. "I was instructed to bring you some breakfast around this time by a Mr. Branwen? Are you awake?"

"Yea, come on in," Naruto replied tiredly. His thoughts seem to exhaust him more than any fight he's ever participated in. In came a woman wearing an apron holding a tray.

"The gentlemen said this is your first time in Vale, so I brought you some of our specialties. Oh, but if you'd like you can look at the menu if this doesn't suit your taste."

"That's fine," Naruto replied politely. "Thank you." The woman set down the tray and walked out. "Scrambled eggs is a specialty?" he asked himself. 'Wonder where I should go today…' he thought to himself. Before he could think too much, there was another knock at the door.

Headmaster's Office: Beacon

"Once we arrived to the neighboring village, we found out from the locals that there hasn't been any contact from that village in a few weeks, despite the communication towers being completely operational," informed Summer.

"As it turns out, there usual shipment of goods didn't arrive either," added Tai. "Although it's common for it to be a few hours late due to weather, one of the merchants said it has been sunny for the past week or so, meaning there shouldn't have been a delay."

"This is all very troubling…" the green clad headmaster sighed under his breath. "You mentioned that Roy Arc had already passed away by this time?"

"That's what we were told, sir," replied Raven, which earned her a raised eyebrow. "We were told that there was a massive Grimm attack that took place about a week before we arrived, in which there was only one survivor; a teenager who claims to have been taken in by Roy for the past year."

"You're talking about Mr. Uzumaki?"

"How did you know about him, Professor Ozpin?" asked Summer. The way Ozpin spoke of him, it's as if he was aware of the teen already.

"Roy and I didn't have many secrets from each other, and when a child wanders into a small village making outrageous claims, it was worth bringing up," Ozpin explained. "He assured me that this protégé of his was well trained over the year he spent there. I'm not surprised that he would have been able to escape."

"What sort of claims did he make?" asked Raven. Summer looked over to her teammate and then back to the Headmaster.

"It's quite curious, actually," Ozpin began with a polite chuckle. "He claimed the he was from another world entirely. One full of ninjas with the ability to morph the terrain around them, and giant monsters that could flatten mountains. It was completely ludicrous to be honest, but Roy was convinced the teen believed in the story he was telling. Unfortunately, Mr. Arc informed me that he had no intention of attending a Huntsman Academy, and was actually quite against the thought. However, I would have liked to ask that boy some questions about his home world."

"He's here in Vale now," Raven informed before Summer could try to cover it up.

"Is that so?" asked the Headmaster, now interested. "Why is that, exactly?"

"Summer thought it was in his best interest if he were to tag along," Qrow answered, quickly coming up with an explanation. "Given that he had just lost the only two people in his life that could be considered family, and that both villages aren't exactly the kindest towards Faunus… we talked it over and decided that if we could get him out of those discriminatory places, he wouldn't develop some sort of misguided hatred towards humanity."

"That seems very reasonable," Ozpin nodded. "But Summer, is that all there is to it?"

She shrank slightly under his interrogating stare before she took a deep breath and sighed.

"No, Professor Ozpin. I thought I, er- we, could save him. When I found him, he was wandering around the streets with an empty look in his eyes… much like the survivors of the Mount Glenn incident. He had nothing, and nobody to go to, and even if he is just one person, I wanted to help."

"That's very admirable Ms. Rose," Ozpin praised. "While it was not within your mission parameters, you've displayed what it truly means to be a Huntress. Where is this Uzumaki?"

"He's back at the hotel room," Summer admitted. "He had too much to eat last night, and I couldn't get him to wake up…"

"If time permits, I'd like for you to bring him here. I'd like to meet this curious teenager."

"Y-yes sir," Summer hesitantly replied.

-Hotel Room-

Naruto ducked under a sword swipe, and found himself dodging several gunshots. When he answered the door, he was swarmed by several masked men holding a variety of weapons.

"Who are you!?" he shouted, kicking one of his assailants' knees in.

"Shut up, Faunus scum!" shouted another one. Naruto gritted his teeth at the derogatory insults. "Boss wants to send a message to those filthy Huntsmen, so stay still!"

"Has it ever occurred to you that I could pass on said message?" Naruto asked. He began to get frustrated at the aimless assault, and decided to fight back for real. Blocking an overhead swing of a club, Naruto viciously snapped the man's elbow, and grabbed the weapon before it fell. Turning swiftly, he smashed the club into another's head sending him rocketing through a wall. Without a word, he summoned a clone, which began to gather and mold chakra into his left hand. Looking to the few remaining, he threw a kick at one's head and rushed towards another.
"RASENGAN!" he roared, as he slammed the technique into the man's stomach. He too was send barreling back, and unfortunately for the man, out a window. He turned back to the last one, who was shaking in fear at how quickly his friends were taken out.

"D-don't hurt me!" he begged.

"You're pathetic," Naruto growled, his eyes slowly turning red. He grabbed the man by his shirt and ripped off his mask. As expected, Naruto had no idea who the man was. "You tell your 'boss' that if he or anybody who works for him comes near me again…" he growled. "I won't leave any of you breathing."

"Y-y-yes s-sir!" the man squeaked. Naruto let him go, and watched him run away. Annoyed, he walked towards the lobby, getting a few looks from curious tenants who came out to see what the commotion was about. He sat at the lobby, and decided to wait for the police to show by watching the news.

"-which is why we must understand that Humans and Faunus are fundamentally different!" said an older man with white hair. "Faunus take after the animal they share traits with, meaning that most Faunus, especially men, are overly aggressive. We cannot expect for them to show the same levels of self-control that we Humans have."

"Mr. Wolf, while I'm sure there are many people who agree with you, what you're saying is extremely insulting," said the news anchor. "I have a paper here written by Dr. Evergreen who's studies have shown that Faunus and Human behavior in a controlled environment are virtually identical. It seems that the only difference in how one acts to the other is whether or not they are the majority."

"That's what I'm talking about! Faunus will naturally fall into what I like to call 'herd mentality', which makes them imitate the alphas in their groups. I mean take a look at the Faunus rally this past weekend! It was advertised as a peaceful protest, but when a Human disagreed with them, it broke out into a riot!"

"With all due respect, it was a Faunus rally. In fact, we have sources who say that the Human in question didn't 'disagree' as you put it, but rather was shouting racial remarks and provoking them into violence."

"Oh, so you can have a Faunus Rally where Humans aren't allowed, but if Human's were to have an exclusive Human Rally, it would be plastered all over this news station as an anti-Faunus conspiracy! This is why VNN will never be a trustworthy news source!" The man then stood up and stomped out of the interviewing room, leaving the anchor sighing in disappointment.

"I'm sorry folks, it seems our guest, Mr. Adal Wolf has walked out," he reported. "We'll be back after these messages. Until then, this is Robin Mead."

Naruto sat in the sofa fuming. While he was careful to not let his negativity out, every word that Adal said made him despise the anti-Faunus humans even further. While he tried to reign his temper, the police finally made it to the scene.

"It's about time," Naruto muttered to himself, a bit relieved at the distraction. He got up, knowing that they would want to ask him some questions. He walked over to the man taking notes of the scene and sighed. "Hey," he greeted.

"You know who is responsible for this damage?" he asked.

"Some assholes who came in to mug me," replied Naruto annoyed. "I was in my hotel room when five or six guys came in and started attacking me."

"Is that so?" asked the man, as he began to put his notepad away.

"Yea, aren't you going to write this down?" asked Naruto, a bit confused. The man looked over to the rest of the police whose attention were now drawn to the blond. The police officer grabbed his pair of handcuffs and took a step towards Naruto.

"Sir, you have the right to remain silent," began the man. Naruto's eyes widened as he was caught off guard. He was about to resist, but it seemed that the entire force drew their guns and were pointing them at him. He knew he did nothing wrong, but the gravity of the situation was enough for him to be compliant.

"W-what's going on?" he asked, as he allowed himself to be taken in. The cop cuffing him continued to read him his rights, as another came in closer.

"We got a call that there was a felony on the loose," he replied. "It seems that you match the description, so we have to take you in for questioning."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" Naruto insisted. To his dismay, the rest of the police force ignored his pleads as they began to close in on him, escorting him outside. "I'm innocent! I was attacked! What are you doing?! The real criminals are in there!"

"Shut up!" shouted a third officer as he slammed his handgun against Naruto's head. He growled at the pain, but did his best to keep the red charka from flowing out. It seems that the officer was a bit shocked that he wasn't knocked unconscious.

"I'll remember you," Naruto growled, making the officer step back.

-Team STRQ-

"Does that kid really think he's from another world?" asked Tai in disbelief. "He didn't seem to be crazy the last few weeks."

"He's not crazy," Summer defended. "It's complicated, but I'm sure he'll be willing to explain everything..."

"You already knew," Raven said. It wasn't an accusation, but rather, she was stating a fact. Summer nodded anyway to remove any doubt.

"Whether this is all true or not is up for Ozpin to decide," Qrow interjected. "Now we just have to convince the kid to come to Beacon."

"It's just a few questions," Tai tried to assure his team. "I'm sure Naruto won't mind."

"Still… I told him he wouldn't have to go to Beacon," sighed Summer, seeing that Raven was no longer glaring daggers at her. "What if he thinks I'm a liar?"

"Summer, if anybody can get away with it, it would be you," Qrow replied. "You and him are pretty close, despite not knowing each other very long, I'm sure he'll understand. Although it probably would have been nice if somebody didn't tell Ozpin that he was here in Vale."

"No, she did what was right," Summer relented, surprising Raven. "If we kept it from Ozpin, we might as well be harboring a criminal. Our job is to report everything that happens out on a mission, so I don't hold anything against her."

"Seriously?" asked Tai and Qrow at the same time.

"Why would I?" asked Summer.

"You're really something else," Qrow laughed to himself. Raven narrowed her eyes at her leader, but didn't say a word. While she had meant every word she had said to her the few weeks before, Summer still didn't think ill of her. Raven's mind, however, was more concerned about the ever-growing mystery that surrounded the teenager.

"Thanks?" asked Summer unsure. Qrow shrugged, which didn't help her understand what she was trying to figure out. "Well, let's just get back to the hotel, I don't want Naruto to think we've abandoned him or anything." The two men nodded, as Raven followed a distance behind. As the team continued on, they noticed an increase in police activity, but didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until they arrived at their hotel, did they notice something wrong.

"Sorry, but this area is closed off for a police investigation," informed an officer as he held the team behind a yellow tape.

"What happened?" asked Summer concerned. "My friend was staying here this morning, I need to make sure he's ok."

"We have a list of witnesses, if you want to look through it," the officer replied, feeling bad for Summer. "If you see his name on there, he's alright. The majority of them were moved to a hotel around the corner." Summer nodded thankfully as the man handed her the list. As she began to look through it, she groaned as it wasn't in any sort of order. Reading through the list several times, she began to panic.

"He's not on here," she informed, as she handed the list back.

"Really? We pretty much interviewed everybody in the building," the officer replied. He handed the list off to another cop passing by as he got his notepad out. "Can you describe you friend? There were a handful of people who ran out when the fighting began."

"What fighting?" asked Qrow, as he noticed the damaged done to the walls. From the looks of it, it wasn't some civilian fight that happened. The officer must have felt bad, as he took a deep breath and began to explain to the group.

"Look, I'm not supposed to say anything to civilians, but you all look pretty concerned for your friend. There was an altercation after a police squad came in to arrest some criminal who was wanted for the attempted rape of a Faunus woman last night, along with assaulting several officers. He was tracked down to this hotel, where another squad came to make the arrest… Well, things must have gone south, because as we speak there is an officer with a fractured elbow, another with a dislocated knee and two who are suffering blunt force injuries. The only one who escaped was a rookie who was threatened by the guy that he wouldn't hold back from killing them or any other police officer the next time he saw any. He's pretty shaken up about it, but a third squad that came in were able to get him, and according to witnesses, the bastard was watching T.V. until they arrived before allowing himself to be taken in. I even heard from another guy that he threatened another officer as he was being cuffed."

"This sounds like one bad dude," Tai remarked, "but Naruto doesn't seem like the kind of guy to run away from this sort of thing, does he?"

"Not at all," replied Qrow. "In fact, he seems like the type of kid who would try to stop this sort of criminal. Summer do you think he left before any of this happened?"

"Did you say, 'Naruto'?" asked the officer, interrupting the leader.

"Yea!" Summer replied as she took a step forward. "Did you hear anything about him?"

"Uh, well, actually, I think I need to bring you four in for some questions," replied the officer. "It's nothing personal, just orders from the top brass, you know?"

"Wait, are we being detained?" asked Summer.

"Sorry Ma'am, but yes…" the officer replied regrettably. "If you would so kindly make my job a little bit easier and not resist? We're supposed to take in anybody who has connections with the arrest."

"You arrested Naruto?" asked Summer in shock. Her team looked around as the few remaining police officers began to close in on them.

"We'll go," Qrow spoke loudly enough for the lobby to hear. "We ain't resisting."

"Thanks" the officer who was questioning them said under his breath. Qrow grunted in acknowledgement as he allowed Summer to wrap her head around the situation. Tai and Raven followed silently.

A/N

Yea, I finally updated The Fox Who Tried. I finally got the motivation to rewrite the previously lost chapter, and I feel it turned out better than the other began, so that a plus.

A friendly request that you check out my other works, Team Monochrome, which is currently sitting at 23 chapters, and my most recent attempt at a RWBY fiction, Deliverance. I will be updating both of those soon!

Well, it's that time again when I respond to some of my reviewers.

Shincore: Raven might be attracted to power, I don't see her as a pedophile. Naruto is 15 and she is in her mid-twenties, so while Naruto is strong, he's still sort of a kid in her eyes.

SenorCheesecake: I'm sure I answered this already, but Summer's silver eye power was going to be used to attack Naruto/ Four-tail Kyuubi cloak, but when she saw him target her team with what seemed to be a devastating attack, she canceled her course of attack and attempted to block it with her body.

Eniox: Pairings are never really a big focus in my stories, so I'm more likely than not, going to keep Naruto single.

Devin316: I'm glad somebody caught the Avatar and Spongebob references!

Luffyxrobin-luffyxnami: Naruto was in a friendly spar, he's not about to try to straight murder somebody. While he hasn't really gotten a chance to flex his ninja skills, in time, he will.

KidDeath23: While that is a pretty good guess, no, that isn't why. If you look closely at this chapter, there is a pretty big hint as to why, so if you didn't catch it, reread it and shoot another theory at me!

catze86: Naruto will not enter a Huntsman Academy.

Guest: Naruto won't be paired with either Summer or Raven, so if that's what you were looking for, sorry.

Guest (Cat): Thank you so much! It's been a real challenge trying to figure out how to make team STRQ work since there is only really Qrow that has been given any real screen time. I'm glad you're enjoying it, and hope you'll continue to do so.

The Exiled Darkness: Thank you for telling me exactly what you enjoyed! It helps me know what my readers genuinely enjoy, and what they tend to gloss over, so now I know writing some flashbacks isn't a waste of time!

Fuyuriku: Thanks for catching those, and I wasn't aware that 'ax' wasn't as common as 'axe'. I guess I associate the latter with the body spray too much.

THE-Twilight-BlazeKnight: I'm happy the pacing isn't as rushed as I felt it was, and I'm glad you enjoyed Naruto beating on Team STRQ. Once again, your reviews are super helpful, and I hope to read another one soon!

For everybody who has told me to update... HERE YOU GO!

If I didn't respond to you personally, it's either because you just said something like "update" or "Nice Chapter", or the question you asked was already answered above.