An - Re-upload for a few minor spelling fixes and stuff.
Shattered World
Blake blinked as she took in the nice looking studio apartment in central Vale. "Nice place."
Naruto grinned "Thanks. I got it some time after coming to Vale." With multiple henged clones running around doing odd-jobs for him, getting some quick cash was no problem.
Blake followed Naruto into the living room where she took a seat on the couch. "You want anything to drink?"
"Tea, if you have some." She replied with a small smile.
"Sure." Naruto said as he walked towards the kitchen section and given that it was a studio she could still see him clearly. "Go ahead and make yourself at home."
Blake nodded her thanks and made herself a bit more comfortable as Naruto joined her on the couch. "Well... you've pretty much explained the situation to me and unless you want to talk about it again how about we indulge ourselves in some mindless TV instead?"
Blake raised a hand to cover the growing smile on her face "Alright."
Which is how they spent the rest of the night and well into the early morning, watching trash tv before settling on a zombie flick. Blake opened her eyes blearily as they adjusted to the glare from the screen in the middle of the night.
"I should probably turn off the TV." She muttered sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. Blake looked around for the remote and noticed it was across from her on Naruto's side of the couch.
She tried to reach over as silently as possible so as not to wake him but the couch creaked and his eyes twitched slightly and turned towards her. Blake froze, mid-reach for the remote before sighing as Naruto's breathing evened out once more.
She took a moment to take in his sleeping face, it was much differently from the friendly yet guarded look he always wore. He almost looked peaceful not that he wasn't training or teasing someone.
She caught herself staring and blushed slightly but didn't look away, leaning in closer instead. Her breathing quickened as she hovered over him, her mouth had suddenly become dry so she had to swallow as she got closer.
Just before their lips met she flinched back and shook her head "Wait.. what am I doing?" She murmured to herself before reaching over to the remote and turning off the television. Settling back into her side of the couch she couldn't help the question that sprang to her mind. Did I just try to kiss Naruto?
No... I'm just tired. She thought to herself before snuggling back into Naruto's side and covering them with the blanket Naruto had brought out for them earlier which she had apparently stolen some time during the night.
Once he felt her breathing also even out Naruto let out a sigh of his own. He couldn't be entirely sure as his eyes were closed but he could feel her warm breath on his face so she either tried to kiss him or she's just really creepy... one or the other. I really hope it's the first.
000
The following morning Naruto's clone awoke along with the rest of the of Team NRVN. "Morning guys." His clone announced.
"Good morning." Pyrrha replied as she rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.
"Morning." Ren groaned as he sat up and glanced over at Nora's bed, said girl still snoring away.
"You two have anything planned for today?" The clone asked them.
"Not really." "No." The two conscious team members answered.
"Oh good." His clone said with a nod "Well I need to go get ready then, I'll catch you guys later."
"Are you going somewhere?" Pyrrha asked as the clone popped a towel out of one of their scrolls.
"Yeah, heading into town for a few things." He answered.
"Oh? Like what?" She wondered.
Naruto's clone just shrugged "You know, just some things. Anyway I'll be back soon."
Ren watched Naruto leave with a curious look "Did Naruto seem a little evasive to you?"
"Yes, somewhat." Pyrrha said with a nod "I'm sure he has his reasons however."
Ren just shrugged and figured he should get ready to start his day too.
000
"You know, I'm not much of a tea guy but this is pretty good." Naruto admitted as he sipped on the drink.
Blake let an amused smile shine on her face "This is my favorite café."
"Really? Seems kinda familiar." He said quietly as gazed over at the shops across the street "Oh... that's why."
"Hmm?" Naruto waved his hand dismissively as he turned away from the very restaurant where he left Yang.
"It's not important, anyway what was it that you wanted to talk about?"
Blake took a moment to compose herself before leveling a sharp look on Naruto "What do you know about the White Fang?"
Naruto took a moment to analyze her mood before reclining in his chair and setting down the drink "A faunus extremist group which until recently attempted to peacefully negotiate better conditions for their fellow faunus."
Blake nodded, a frown clear on her face "Adam Taurus happened."
"I'm guessing he's the new leader?" He could have already guessed as much but Blake confirmed it "He's not alone."
"He has the White Fang behind him." Blake stated with a questioning look.
"Aside from them." Naruto added before taking a sip of his tea "I've looked into the White Fang for some time now, some of their members have been spotted with Roman Torchwick. Now what business would human hating faunus have with a scumbag like Torchwick?"
"Are you sure?" Blake said with a shocked expression. The new White Fang would never willingly work with humans. So then, why?
"They're collecting dust. A lot of it." Naruto answered then took another sip of his drink "I'm sure that they're behind the robberies and I have no doubt that they will be here today."
Blake blinked "Why?"
"A Schnee freighter carrying a crap load of dust is supposed to dock today. Trust me, they'll be here." He said with a serious look.
"What should we do?" Blake asked only to receive a shrug.
"What do you want to do?" Naruto asked. "I'm no Schnee, I'm not the one standing to lose here."
"How can you be sure?" She asked, even though she knew it would likely happen she didn't want to believe it.
"Because it's something I would do." He answered "To catch a thief you must think like one." Naruto finished the last of his drink and stood up giving her an expectant look.
"We... should at least investigate it. To prove that they're not there." Blake's weak excuse only earned her a blank look from Naruto before he shrugged.
"If that's what you want." He finally said as he laid some money on the table and began walking back into the restaurant so head downstairs "Just don't get your hopes up."
Blake glanced down at her almost finished tea, her reflection glancing back at her with an equal frown on its face. It vanished moments later as the tea sat there forgotten.
000
Naruto's clone was sneaking along the docks per the original's orders as he waited for the next stage of the plan. He silently ran past some guards towards the already loaded freight and jumped into the nearest one.
"Ooh, dark in here." He dropped the backpack he was carrying on the ground and a few scrolls fell out as he pulled out a flashlight which he turned on and held in his mouth. The dust crystals glittered in the artificial light as his eyes took in all the free chakra.
The grin on his face widened around the tiny flash light. Later that day the White Fang would open up these shipping containers only to find them empty.
000
"I don't think they're coming." Blake reasoned as she nibbled on her tuna sandwich that Naruto had brought a few minutes ago. "We've been here all day."
"Well we've been here all day because you wanted to come here, if you had just listened to me then we would have only just arrived." Naruto said as he looked at his fancy new 'Scroll' and checked the time. "Give it five minutes."
"Ok..." She'd been here all day, five more minutes couldn't hurt. "Where did you get these by the way?"
"Good aren't they?" Naruto said with a chuckled as he finished his own. "I saw this sandwich shop while we were walking here and thought I'd drop by to grab us some dinner since I'm sure you wanted to skip lunch."
Her stomach grumbled slightly causing her to blush "I thought they might have come as soon as the containers were finished being unloaded... I wanted to be ready."
Naruto chuckled "Finish your sandwich, the fireworks are about to start."
Deciding to take his advice this time Blake finished off her meal and returned to her vigil over the docks just as a bullhead came flying into view. "I didn't want to believe it..."
The two watched as White Fang members came walking out of the ship while Roman barked orders at them "He really is an unlikable fellow, that one."
"This isn't right, they White Fang would never work with humans, especially not with one like that!" She stated fervently as she stood up and unsheathed her weapon.
"You're going to rush down there aren't you?" Naruto didn't bother waiting for a reply as the girl was already gone. With a sigh he stood up and brush the dirt off his pants and created another clone. "The White Fang showed up, Phase Three is a go."
The clone nodded and popped itself letting his first clone know its orders. Naruto hopped down and calmly walked towards the group as Blake began pleading with the faunus only for Roman to take the opportunity to blast her away with his rocket cane.
"Well that wasn't very nice." Naruto spoke up drawing their attention. Roman narrowed his eyes at Naruto as he pointed his cane at him.
"And just who the hell are you?" Roman spat as Naruto approached them with his hands in his pockets.
"Me? Well no one too important... just the guy who's about to kick your ass." The first kick caught the middle faunus off-guard as he sent the man flying clear over some of the shipping containers where his clone would be waiting to switch with him.
Reinforcements kept piling in around Naruto as the two other bullheads pulled up. "Still sure about that?"
Naruto simply grinned "Great breakthrough" The blonde spread his arms and lime green dust puffed out in front of his palms "JUTSU!"
The White Fang's forces were blasted across the docks as the wide-area jutsu hit them point-blank. "I'm sorry, were you saying something? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me winning."
"Tch, cheeky brat." Roman shot a few rounds at Naruto who easily avoided them by side-stepping of dodging out-of-the-way all with that clear mocking smile on his face.
"Is that all? We're you supposed to be some big-bad or something, are you actually just someone else's grunt?" Naruto mocked causing Roman to grit his teeth in anger and fire even more shots at the Sage who simply dodged them like before. "Tag-out."
"Huh? Agh!" Roman yelped as Blake's kick sent him skidding along the floor "You bitch! Do you know how much I have to do through to keep these white?" The crime boss yelled angrily as he dusted the dirt off his suit.
"Really this just reinforces my theory that he's someone else's bitch." Naruto murmured as he glanced over at Blake "He's all yours if you want."
Blake nodded wordlessly as she charged the suit-wearing gangster and fought evenly for a bit before he snuck in a shot and blasted her back. "Good night, Kitty." Roman said as he shot the cables on a hanging container that was over Blake.
"Now, now, none of that." Naruto admonished as he stopped the container mid-fall much to Roman's surprise.
"The hell!?" The man shouted as the container kept floating there in midair. Only for his eyes to widen as it turned towards him and began falling his way at increasing speed "Oh come the fuck on!"
Torchwick desperately fired shots at the container only to dodge out at the last moment to avoid being crushed by the giant metal box. "Shit..." He said to himself as he re-adjusted his hat. "That was just a bit too close."
Naruto meanwhile watched as the three airships opened up their turret bays and prepared for a strafing run. "Well then..." Pulling out his tiny black dagger he allowed it to begin coiling around itself into a DNA-like structure.
Lifting the blade overhead it super-extended in less then a second until the tip could no longer be seen. "Nunoboko." The blade swung down at an angle clipping all three planes.
Ruby and Penny who had just arrived watched as the planes crashed into the docks, crumbling to ash as soon as they hit the concrete. "Woah... what was that?"
"I'm not sure." Penny admitted. "Is he your friend?"
"Uh... yeah, that's Naruto. He's the leader of team NRVN." Ruby answered.
"He's strong." Penny stated.
"Yeah..."
Back down with Roman he began boarding one of the two bullheads that were still intact and shook his head "Damn kids just get weirder and weirder."
The ship took to the air as Roman sat down. She probably won't be too happy about the failed operation. Were he paying more attention he might have noticed that one of the masked faunus had short spiky hair much like that blonde haired kid.
000
Naruto sat down next to Blake as they waited for the cops to show up "So?"
"I didn't want to believe it but deep down I think I already knew." She said.
Their acute hearing could pick up the sirens in the distance as Naruto sighed "It's always hard seeing the ugly truth, believe it or not I was once like Ruby... then my eyes were forcefully opened to the reality of this world. It's a cruel and harsh place, a grave of our own making and yet for some reason they push on."
"What do you mean?"
Naruto shrugged "Not even I'm sure yet and the more I see, the less clear the answer becomes." He answered vaguely. "We all have to make a big choice some day, sometimes personal sometimes overarching. What matters is that we stick with that choice because regretting it will only bring our downfall..."
Blake wasn't really sure if Naruto was talking to her or himself but the way his eyes had unfocused concerned her "Are you alright, Naruto?"
He gave her a faint smile "I will be." Someday. "I think you have bigger problems than me though." Naruto said while pointing at her approaching team.
Blake groaned, already dreading the upcoming talk. "Weiss I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with them-"
"Stop." Weiss interrupt "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?"
Seeing as Blake wasn't going to answer Weiss continued on "Twelve-hours. That means that I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in those twelve hours I've decided... I don't care."
"You don't care?" Blake asked, genuinely surprised.
"You said you're not one of them anymore right?" Weiss pressed.
"No I haven't been since I-"
"Apapapap!" Weiss interrupted again "All I want to know is that the next time something like this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates... and not go gallivanting around with Naruto."
Naruto blinked "Hold up, what did I do? I was just in town to buy some stuff when I ran into Blake, I didn't even know she was missing."
"A likely story!" Weiss said with a piercing state.
"I... I don't understand, am I being interrogated here?" Naruto asked Blake who gave him his usual answer of a shrug. "Well, whatever, since we're done here I should head back to the academy. God knows what Nora's been up to without me to watch over her."
"Nah, she's got Ren." Yang quipped.
"Right." Naruto said as he picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder "Shall we?"
"Hey Naruto?" Blake caught him attention "Where did you get the backpack?"
"Oh... uh, it's one of the things I came into town to buy. Along with a few other things I have sealed up." He said as he opened up his pack to show the scrolls inside.
"How much stuff did you buy that you need that many scrolls?" Yang wondered, having seen just how much a single scroll could hold before.
"I wanted to keep the stuff separate." Was his answer as they kept walking along. "Hey by the way, what happened to that girl who was with Ruby?"
"Huh? Oh you mean..." Ruby looked around, confused "Penny?"
"Grats sis, you're down another friend. You're now at six friends and one enemy." Yang teased the younger girl with a grin making her groan.
"She probably just had to go, it is getting pretty late." Ruby figured, though she was a bit put off that Penny would just leave without even saying bye.
000
The disguised clone tailed Roman as the man walked into an empty building carrying a small case. His eyes narrowed as a woman followed by two others soon walked in, his eyes focusing only on her. That's her.
He began walking closer towards the building and strained his ears to catch their conversation.
"-stupid mutts from the White Fang." Naruto head Roman say.
"And you will continue so." The woman spoke in a sultry tone and the clone's eyes narrowed further as he felt a spike of chakra come from inside. Not from dust but real living chakra and that concerned him greatly. "We have big plans for you Roman. All we ask... is a little cooperation."
Naruto frowned as he walked off, this just a whole lot more complicated than he first anticipated. Entering a darkened section of the hideout he created a clone who instantly dispersed sending its knowledge to the original.
Taking out a small scroll he unsealed a dust crystal from it and absorbed the chakra within it using the Preta path. This just became a long-term mission.
AN - Alright that wraps up Season 1. It looks like Blake is pulling ahead of Pyrrha but I'm sure our dear red-head will get some alone time with Naruto in the future. Hopefully the grammar isn't as shit this time since that's all you guys yell at me for /cries 'Im sorry, I no good engrish!'
