Chapter Five: Horrible Scars of the Past
For once in her life, Yang Xiao Long was dealing with a major conflict of interest that centered on Ruby's apparent friendship with a ninja from Hoshido. On one hand, she wanted to tell her younger half-sister about the misery and suffering that the people of Hoshido had inflicted on former classmates by refusing to conform to Remnant's way of life in the hopes of ending the friendship. But at the same time, the only child of Raven Branwen wanted to protect Ruby from the ugly truth of the world as long as possible. Either way, she was going to feel like absolute shit afterwards.
"Damn it, why does it feel like I'm a parent that's about give the talk about the birds and the bees to their child going through puberty? She mentally questioned to herself.
In the end, the buxom blonde's hatred towards everything connected to Hoshido had won out over her desire to shelter Ruby from the world. She decided to bring up a certain past incident that the scythe-user had repeatedly pestered her and their father about in the past.
"Ruby, do you remember about a year ago when me and dad left Signal for a few hours?" Yang cautiously asked as she unsuccessfully tried to repress a fearful shiver.
Ruby blinked in surprise at the sudden question that was being asked of her by Yang.
"Of course, I remember as you never told me about the reason why you had to leave in such a hurry." She answered in a slightly offended tone.
Despite what Yang and their father thought, she had been semi-aware of the conflict between Hoshido and Remnant as the weapon industry had been cracking out weapons for the war. While the larger weapons were impractical for a single-wielder to use, they did offer new ideas to her on how help to increase the lethality of Crescent Rose.
"Well, dad received word that Uncle Qrow had been injured in battle against a couple of Hoshido warriors and we went to the local military office to get more information." Yang explained as she hoped that Ruby's love for her adopted Uncle would be enough to convince her that Hoshido was evil.
Ruby stared at her older half-sister with widen eyes for a second as her mind tried to process the information that it had just received. Without any warning, the fifteen-year-old slapped Yang across the face with as much strength as she could muster at a moment's notice.
"How dare you!" Ruby whispered as tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.
Yang had a look of absolute shock and surprise as a red handprint started forming on her right face cheek. However, she was completely numb to the stinging pain as the look of betrayal on Ruby's face was something far worse than anything that could be done to her.
"Ruby, we were only trying…" Yang tried to explain her actions.
Only to be cut off by a very irate Ruby.
"You were trying to do what?! Conceal the fact that Uncle Qrow was possibly dying from fighting in a foreign land that just wanted to be left alone?" The Scythe-user angrily questioned.
Yang said nothing as she recalled the countless classmates and teachers that had broken down crying after learning that a family member had been killed in the war against Hoshido. The buxom blonde had been so wrapped up in concealing Uncle Qrow's condition from Ruby that she failed to consider what her sister's reaction would be to the deception.
"Yang, you and dad had no right to conceal the fact from me that Uncle Qrow could have died. What would you have done if he had actually died?" Ruby demanded from Yang in a tone of maturity that didn't seem to suit her in anyway.
Again, Yang didn't answer as the idea that uncle Qrow could've died at the hands of a samurai or ninja was too terrible for her to contemplate. However, she was reluctant to admit that Ruby had raised a valid argument against her actions.
"You and dad need to stop treating me like a fragile doll that's on display and start acting like I'm a huntress-in-training." Ruby lectured before walking into the auditorium.
Yang stood rooted to the ground as the Ruby's words hit her like a giant tsunami crashing into a coastline. The war had changed the cultural landscape of Remnant and everybody was struggling to adapt to the challenges that this brave new world was presenting to them.
Naruto was leaning against a pillar in the very back of the auditorium with eyes closed and arms folded across his chest. The blonde-haired ninja was trying to avoid being the center of attention as shinobi were supposed to remain in the shadows and be seen. Personally, he was opposed to the idea of sending a ninja to Beacon Academy as hostilities between Hoshido and Remnant could resume at any minute. If that did happen, then he would be stuck behind enemy lines and killed before he knew it.
"Hey, look over there! It's ones of those freaks from Hoshido." A person whispered to one of their friends in a low tone that Naruto could barely hear.
The only visible sign that he had heard the insult was a slight clenching of his hands for a fraction of a millisecond. Unpleasant memories of his childhood in Konohagakure had briefly flashed inside of the Jinchūriki's mind as the civilian villagers had always referred to him as a freak. Of course, he had always blamed their ignorance of fūinjutsu and the Sandaime for blabbing about his status as the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yoko.
"Cardin, I don't think it's a very good idea to throw around insults with him being nearby." The first person's friend admonished with a quiver of fear in their voice.
Apparently, some of the people in Remnant had heard about the brutal methods of torture that ninja had used gain information during the war. While idealists would argue that torturing people in order to gain information was morally wrong, they failed to realize that it often provided vital intelligence that saved hundreds of lives.
"Relax, Dove. He can't touch any of us without causing a diplomatic incident between Remnant and Hoshido." Cardin explained with an arrogant smirk plastered onto his face.
Naruto snap opened his eyes to reveal blood-red orbs that showed the level of his frustrations at being reminded about the limitations of his mission. Ozpin had placed a great amount of emphasis about his role as the unofficial ambassador to Vale. The moment that somebody disappears from school grounds, he would automatically become the prime suspect.
"Perhaps, I could arrange for those two idiots to bump into a pack of Grimm during a training exercise. That way, I can't be blamed for their deaths in any way." He thought as he took deep breathes to calm down to prevent any incidents.
Almost like she was sensing his negative thoughts, Glynda Goodwitch walked onto the stage with a scroll in hand. The appearance of crow's feet in the corner of her eyes and a few grey hairs was further evidence that the video of her on the airship was a prerecording that predated the war. The entire room went quiet as she gave a very brief introduction about the purpose of Beacon Academy or something; he wasn't really paying attention at the moment as he really didn't care to listen to her.
"High-strung and a stickler for the rulers, it's amazing that somebody had allowed her to become a teacher in the first place." Naruto mused as Glynda passed the podium off to Ozpin.
In a blink of an eye, the blonde-haired Jinchūriki stopped leaning on the pillar and started paying attention to the headmaster. During the trip to port city of Satsuma, the two of them had conversations on various things such as local fauna and famous paintings. Naruto quickly learned that Ozpin was genuinely-interested in establishing a lasting peace between Hoshido and the rest of Remnant.
"I'll... keep this brief. All of you have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You incorrectly assume that knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step into a brave new world." The grey-haired man spoke in a calm and collected manner.
The student-hopefuls started whispering among themselves as the legendary headmaster of Beacon Academy had just insulted them. None of them had taken notice of the fact that Ozpin was leaving the stage and Glynda had reassumed control over the Microphone until she started speaking again.
"All of you will gather in the ballroom and spend the night there. Your initiation begins at seven-thirty in the morning. Be ready. You are dismissed." She bluntly explained before dismissing them and leaving the stage to meet up with her superior.
Elsewhere in Vale
If somebody had told Cinder Fall that a rogue ninja would approach her with a business offer, she would've laughed before burning them to a crisp. However, she was currently speechless as a man from Hoshido had just made that offer to her. Off to the side, both Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai were equally speechless as they had heard the proposal as well. Even the quick-witted Roman Torchwick wasn't able to comprehend the offer that had just been made to her.
"Do you care to repeat what you had just said?" Cinder was able to ask the man after a minute had passed.
The man in question was wearing a ragged version of the traditional clothing that was worn by monks from the Kingdom of Hoshido. However, the man was the complete opposite of monks that were shown in pictures and film that had been taken during the war. For starters, he was one-hundred-ninety-two centimeters tall with muscles that were larger than a human's head. Another odd feature about him was the black circles around his eyes that made it look like he was suffering from a severe case of sleep-deprivation.
"I said that I wish to join your group of revolutionaries in order to deal a crippling blow against the four kingdoms that are tainted with corruption and sin." The man calmly answered.
Cinder nodded her head in understanding at what the monk was saying as she had personally seen the way that the Remnant Coalition Forces had conducted themselves. Off-duty soldiers would often go on drinking binges and start harassing any women that they came across. Such actions didn't win any form of endearment from a person of the cloth.
"So what did Remnant managed to do in order to get you to search for a band of ragtag terrorists?" Roman asked in his usual snarky manner.
The man simply turned his head and shot a nasty glare at the professional criminal that dared to ask for his reasons. The look was enough to get Roman to flinch in fear and turn his head to the side in order to avoid looking at the monk's hateful glare. It was obvious that the monk didn't hold the thief in very high-regard.
"If you must know, I seek to avenge the needless deaths of several young children that had been under my temple's care during the war." The monk bluntly responded.
Everybody's eyes widen at the revelation that the monk wanted to join them for the sake of revenge. While Mercury and Emerald didn't show it, they were sympathetic to the man's cause as untrained children were the one thing that neither of them would harm. There was no challenge in fighting people that were incapable of defending themselves. If they were fighting against children that were training to become hunters and huntresses then that was a completely different story.
"So you wish to punish the crimes that the soldiers of Remnant had committed during the war?" Cinder rhetorically asked.
Despite the propaganda that said otherwise, the war between Remnant and Hoshido hadn't been supported by a large majority of people. If anything, the conflict had been supported by a vocal minority that wanted to make a profit by prolonging the war.
"Yes…" the man succinctly answered.
Like many of his former colleagues, he had been forced to learn the primary language of Remnant in order to provide spiritual guidance to the gaijin. Some of monks saw it as a perfect opportunity to gain new Buddhist converts and went out of their way to accommodate the outsiders. However, he saw it as a ruthless attempt by Remnant to destroy the traditional culture and way of life.
"Very well, I will let you be a part of our group on a trial basis to see if you are good enough to permanently join us." Cinder spoke with a tone of finality that quashed in form of dissent in her subordinates.
While she didn't know much about chakra that the people of Hoshido wielded, a warrior trained in fighting techniques that used the foreign energy was too good for her to pass up. Besides, it was always nice to have more expendable pawns in your corner.
Okay, a new chapter for you guys to enjoy. The man that was seen dealing with Cinder at the end was an original character that I created with a back-story that's based off of Yūkyūzan Anji from the Rurouni Kenshin. I always wanted to expand Cinder's faction with a few characters. Now, I want to point out to everybody that a form of the Akatsuki is still active in the story. With most of the Jinchūriki dead and a new obstacle in the way of its goal, they have to create new plans.
Now then, here is a short sneak preview of a chapter in development:
Blake openly stared in utter shock as a little girl came running up to Adam and offered a small flower in hand with a happy smile on her face. To her amazement, Adam knelt down and accepted the flower that had been offered to him by a human with a small smile of his own. A few seconds later, the little girl was skipping back to her waiting parents without a care in the world. That brief encounter between a human child and her mentor was enough to give the feline faunas hope for a better future.
On a side note, I have a couple of stories in mind that I think that you'll enjoy. The first story is a Naruto/ High School DxD crossover that is centered on Naruto trying to restore his devil clan's status. The story will have influences and characters from multiple franchises. The second story is a sailor Moon/ Naruto crossover that is along the lines of Azure King and Azure Queen's The Moon's Masked Knights. However, it would be either influenced by the power rangers or I'll create a new backdrop from scratch that has Naruto as the main villain with a vast army of ninja under his command.
With that being said, please leave a review.