Kitsune In Remnant

I don't own Naruto or RWBY

"Talking" "Different Language"

'Thoughts'

'Attacks'

"Demon/Summon Talking"

*Actions or Sounds*

Ruby looked sadly out the window, not listening to whatever Nora was rambling about this time. It was Friday evening and her partner had yet to return from his little search and she was beginning to worry for him. Things really hadn't been the same since he'd snapped and promptly left, the fact that there was more to the whole war than what was previously said was rather daunting. Yang herself had been rather quiet for her personality and Weiss was even…Weissier, barely speaking about anything other than their studies and being more stuck up and bossy than they previously thought possible. The rest had been rather contemplative. Except for Nora. Never Nora.

Herself, Pyrrha and Blake had been determined to find out what really happened but so far there was nothing. Not in the books or media. And when they asked anybody they got the same response they already knew. The shinobi started the war and were nothing more than a bunch of uncultured murdering barbarians, which wasn't helping their case. But they weren't entirely sure they wanted to find out the truth.

To Ruby all life was sacred and after Kitsune had openly declared that he had killed people and would continue to do so, her image of him had cracked slightly, and although she didn't want to she couldn't help but look at him differently. She had never realised just how sheltered she'd been because of her age, when the war broke out she had just turned 12 so she wasn't even told about what was happening until her uncle came home injured from the fighting. She had overheard her father one night talking with him complaining about some 'Oz' and how it was his fault her uncle was injured. Apparently he was never meant to be there and had no part in the war but was sent anyway. After that Yang was rather bitter about the war and her father refused to talk about it all. After the argument both Blake and Pyrrha had sat her down and told her about what happened so she was up to speed, and why both Yang and Weiss were so hostile to her partner. Suffice to say she was horrified and angry that her sister and father had kept it all from her.

She glanced back at the rest of the group as they all laughed and cheered at Nora balancing a stack books on her head. They had gone to the library to study after classes had ended but it seemed all but Weiss had gotten bored and look for other things to grab their attention. With a small giggle she went to join them.

Naruto skirted around the majority of the school campus and headed directly for Ozpin's office, forgoing the stairs or lift he ran directly up the side of the building and slipped in though his window. He found the office empty but a fresh jug of coffee on the side table. Evidently he was expected and he helped himself to a cup to pass the time.

Getting curious Naruto walked over to the desk where the computer was on, and saw it was a wiki page about the Uzumaki clan that had been set up with help from the history books, there was nothing interesting on it, or that he didn't already know, but it helped identify that Ozpin was looking into his identity.

"Find anything?" A voice asked from the direction of the elevator.

Naruto wasn't surprised, he had sensed him arrive. "Thankfully, no. That however doesn't mean that more won't come and others in the rest of the kingdoms." He stood and relinquished the seat to the headmaster. "Did you?"

"Nothing that would help. But I must say your family history is rather interesting, it's a shame that the village was destroyed."

Naruto shrugged, "The price of being powerful. Everyone else is scared shitless of you."

"Quite." Ozpin quipped.

"Well I only came to inform you I was back and there was no evidence to suggest that there were more missing-nin."

Ozpin nodded, "That's good. Was Junior any help?"

"A little, he promised to keep an ear out for any mentions of other shinobi in the area."

"So you didn't have anything to do with the fire?"

"There was a fire!?" He lied smoothly

"Yes, apparently there were no survivors."

Naruto frowned, "That's a shame, some of them were good people. Alcohol was shit though."

Ozpin looked at him for a while longer before nodding. Naruto took that as a dismissal and turned to the window once more. Just before he reached it however, paused and looked back at Ozpin.

"I don't suppose that the guys have come to you yet?" he asked. Ozpin shook his head causing Naruto to frown. "Shame." Was all he said before turning and hopping out the window.

Naruto waited until after midnight before returning to the dorms, deciding to avoid any confrontation with his teammate until at least the morning. Though he supposed since it was the weekend anyway he could avoid them until Monday, but it was best to get it over and done with.

Naruto slipped through the door with nary a whisper, forgoing having to attempt to open the window from the outside. He paused a moment to see if anyone heard him but all he got was the sleeping breaths of his teammates. After confirming they were really asleep, Blake in particular, Naruto set about changing out of his gear and into some comfortable sleepwear. It didn't take long and Naruto quickly ducked into the bathroom to brush his teeth, coming out to a droopy eyed Ruby who'd heard his apparently not so quiet ruckus.

"K-Kitsune?" She asked mid yawn.

Naruto sighed, having wanted to avoid any confrontations until he had a good night sleep. Sleeping in the wilderness is never fun. "What are you doing up Ruby? It's late." He said softly, gently redirecting her towards their bunk.

"I heard something, hoped it was you..." Ruby mumbled still not fully awake.

"Well it's me so you don't stay up anymore." He said while helping her climb back up to her own bed.

"I was worried about you, were gone nearly a week." She mumbled

Naruto smiled softly, not that she would see it. "Well you don't have to worry anymore, I'm back." He gently stroked her head, coxing her back in the dreamland. She went without trouble leaving himself to go to bed, mid-way through pulling back the covers he paused, "That means you too Blake." He spoke; apparently her faunus hearing was more sensitive than he thought. Although he didn't get a reply he heard a small rustling on the other side of the room and gathered that she had heeded his advice. Sleep took him quickly.

The night passed without any unwanted memories, and the morning arrived swiftly. As usual he awoke at five sharp fully refreshed; no small thanks to being a jinchuriki. Ah, the perks of a cursed life. He showered and dressed back into his shinobi uniform, being the weekend they could wear what they liked and the Jonin outfit being his most comfortable outside his ANBU gear. Most shinobi in fact preferred being in uniform than casual due to being in it so often.

After cleaning himself up, Naruto set to work on the pile of paperwork he left during the week, and by the size of the stack it would likely take the better part of the day, clones or not. Alongside that, he had a small army of clones scatter across Vale and begin to infiltrate the other kingdoms to kickstart the spy network. The clones left in Vale would in all likelihood be reporting in soon and so he had to work on that as well. He wasn't leaving the dorms today.

It was nearing nine when the first tells of someone waking up drifted to his ears. He didn't need to look back to know it was Blake, she was always the first to wake up. The two sisters would usually sleep until noon before even the thought of stirring came into their minds. His thoughts were spot on as Blake soon walked behind him towards the bathroom, grumbling a morning greeting as she passed.

She emerged a while later fully dressed and awake, "Good morning. Have you eaten?" She asked heading to the door.

"Not yet. Been too occupied with the paperwork that's built up." He answered, stamping and signing another mission report to say he read it and approved it for mission archiving.

"Well I'm heading to the cafeteria, do you want anything?" She asked again as she grabbed her scroll.

This time he turned to her, "Just some toast and coffee if you don't mind." He replied. Blake nodded and left, leaving him alone with his mortal enemy once more. She was back quickly however, with two mugs in one hand, and two plates balanced on the other. Naruto rescued her from her burden, thanking her for going through the trouble of getting him breakfast, but she waved him off.

Eating and the rustling of papers filled the room. Blake with her books and Naruto skimming over a requisition order for better coffee in the ANBU headquarters break room, which he was rather tempted to approve because he knew from experience it tasted worse than muddy water. There was a small commotion in the room opposite them, presumably PRWN waking up, all but Nora being fairly early risers. She like Ruby and Yang would likely sleep til noon.

He was however surprised when a knock came at the door, Blake bid them to enter and he heard the door open. He didn't turn around, preferring to continue his focus on his work, but he half listened and half ignored Pyrrha and Blake conversing behind him.

"Kitsune...I see that you have returned." He heard Pyrrha finally say behind him.

"That I have." He answered without turning around.

"Was your trip...fruitful?" She hesitated.

"Fruitful as in I found more or that I didn't?"

"Er, the second?"

"Then yes my trip was fruitful."

"That's good." Although he still had his back to her, he still heard the relief in her voice. "Anyway, I just came to get Blake, if you are feeling up to it, would you like to spar later?" She asked

This time Naruto did turn and look at her. He looked at her critically, trying to determine whether she was being sincere, or trying to make up for what happened a week ago. After a moment he sighed, "It will depend on how much work I can get done today, I've missed a week of paperwork and need to catch up before it piles up even further than it already has. If I make good headway by dinner, I'll take you up on your offer." Naruto caught the glimpse of a bright smile before he turned back-round and returned to work. He heard the two shuffle back out before he was encompassed in silence once more, left alone to figure out if the coffee was worth it or not.

It was quiet for a few more hours before Pyrrha and Blake returned talking quietly between them in the hall, quiet enough that even his keen hearing couldn't pick up the words between, whether he wanted to or not. Pyrrha bid Blake goodbye and heard a door open and close indicating she returned to her own room before theirs opened and Blake strode in. She acknowledged him with a nod before walking to Ruby's bed and shaking her awake, after making sure that she was conscious enough not to fall back asleep she walked over to her partners bed and to his surprise, unceremoniously shoved Yang from her bed in a very un-'Blakey' manner.

"What are you up to?" He asked, watching in slight amusement as a groaning Yang rubbed her forehead.

"Some contestants from the other 3 academies are arriving today for the Vytal festival, Weiss being who she is wanted to 'go scout out the competition'. But since she didn't want to go alone she invited her team however Nora said that she and Ren already had plans, but Pyrrha admitted she didn't want to go alone with Weiss so she invited Ruby who invited Yang who in her infinite wisdom decided to drag me along as well." Blake deadpanned to him.

Naruto chuckled slightly and returned to his work, he wasn't at it for long as a few moments later loud squeal erupted from behind him; he caught a glint of red from rose petals before a rocket impact his side and he was launch from his seat and to the floor.

"KITSUNE!" Ruby yelled, coiling her entire body round his own, "I thought last night was a dream, BUT NO! You're here like really here! I missed you so much!" She squealed, tightening the already deathly embrace.

Naruto chuckled again, a rubbed he head. "It's nice to see you too, but can you let go I need to get back to work. Besides you have somewhere to be. Please?" He asked, trying in desperation to untangle the young girl from his body.

Said girl shook her head stubbornly and buried her face into his flak jacket. "I was worried, I've heard the stories about the things shinobi do and you fought 4 alone." Although muffled, Naruto could still make out what she said.

Naruto sighed and pat Ruby's head, "Do you realise that all the things you've heard are true right? And you must know that I've done them too?"

Ruby shook her head again, "No, you're not like that, you're too kind."

Naruto sighed again and applied more strength in his attempts to get his freedom and succeeded this time. He sat her in the chair he had previously and kneeled in front of her. She refused meet his gaze. "Ruby look at me." She didn't. He smiled sadly and gently cupped her cheek, turning it to face him. Her eyes her tearful and sad, it almost broke his heart to see her like this but he had long since hardened himself to such things. "Ruby, as much as I appreciate that you think that I am a good person, I'm not. Not in the slightest. I've done some truly horrible things that I will never mention to save your innocent mind, but they will always stay with me. While you kill grimm for a living, I kill people. And I've kill far more people than I wish to say because if that number ever reached the light of day you'd hate me and wished that you'd never met me." It was the truth, due to a particular technique and condition he possessed, he was sent on incredibly high rank missions. Entire armies had disappeared when he entered a battlefield.

Ruby shook her head stubbornly again, "No! You're my friend, my first friend in Beacon and I don't believe it!"

"Well you should, because it's true. Killing people is just as much a part of my culture as killing grimm is yours. While you have been fighting the grimm for millennia, we have been fighting and killing each other for just as long. I am just as much a part of it as the rest of them." He explained solemnly.

"But why? Nobody should have to die, or at least be given a second chance!" She protested, wrenching her head out of Naruto's hand and looking away again.

"Trust on this Ruby, I don't like killing. Abhor it in fact. In my people, I'm what we call a sage. I'm about to harness the power of nature itself by channelling it through my body. By killing I'm going against nature and my own core beliefs every time I do."

Ruby looked back at him, confused this time. "Then why do you do it? I don't understand."

It was Naruto's turn to look away this time, down sorrowfully at his feet. He looked back up and Ruby flinched at the extensive sadness that her partner portrayed in his eyes. "Because there are some people in this world that truly deserve to die. There are people out there that simply want to watch the world burn, or gain power, no matter how many bodies they have to climb in order to get it. Friends that you've been through thick and thin could turn their back on you for a glimpse of power, and then they stab you in the back the second you turn around. Those people deserve to die, because there aren't always such things as second chances." He finished with a whisper.

"Who was it?"

Naruto glanced off to the side to look at Blake, only know realizing that he had an audience. It seemed that PRWN had decided to walk in during his explanation to Ruby. Naruto sighed heavily and looked back at his feet. He seemed to have an inner fight judge by the miniature facial expressions he wore before standing up and walking to his bed. "His name was Sasuke Uchiha, we were assigned to the same Genin squad when we graduated from the academy. We were rivals, always trying to outdo the other. But we were brothers in all but blood. Despite our short tenure as Genin, our squad had been through a lot but it had only made us closer. For the longest time, I considered us best friends, and I think he did to." Naruto started, and to the surprise of the rooms occupants began stripping himself of his flak jacket. "But during that year's Chunin exams, an S-rank missing-nin called Orochimaru attacked us and marked him with a seal, promising him power if he joined him."

"And he did." Pyrrha interrupted.

Naruto nodded, "During the final stage of the Chunin exams Orochimaru attack our village, killing our leader in the process along with a great many good shinobi. A month later Sasuke abandoned the village seeking the power that Orochimaru promised. Due to a lack of shinobi I was put on a squad of my fellow classmates, one who was a newly minted Chunin himself, and was told to recapture him. We failed." The group was listening intently now. "One by one my teammates had to be left behind so that the rest may continue in the hopes that we could catch up and apprehend Sasuke. Alone I managed to catch up to him at the Valley of the End. We fought for over an hour before either of us began to tire, and nearly another before we were standing on our last legs. We silently agreed to one final attack, one final chance to see whose resolve was greater. I hesitated, and I paid for it." Naruto let the top of his jumpsuit slip from his shoulders revealing an assortment of scars criss-crossing his body. Having scars in itself was a rare thing for a hunter or huntress as their aura healed the wound before it could do so, so they were rightly shocked at the amount their friend's body possessed. But that wasn't what caught their eye. It was a large patch of white skin on the left side of his chest, likely missing his heart by mere inches. It was the easily the size of a fist, and had white 'veins' arcing off of it, reminiscent of lightening. "He planted his fist through my chest without any remorse, while I hesitated and intentionally missed to avoid killing him."

"How..." Ruby's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, unable to finish the sentence.

"How did I survive?" Ruby nodded absentmindedly, "I didn't. My heart had to be restarted three times on the way back to the hospital where I spent over a month in intensive care." It was really a week, with the combination of Kyuubi and his Uzumaki genes he healed quickly, but considering most injuries healed within minutes or hours it was a large step up anyhow. "Because of my hesitation I almost died."

"What did you do?" Ren asked.

Naruto redressed himself, "3 years later, he and Orochimaru launch another attack on the village, killing more people and destroyed a lot of the village in the process. Because of Orochimaru's hatred for Konoha he managed to convince him to attack the village for a second time in a gig to kill me once and for all. They failed and I killed him. But not before thousands more died, including my own fiancé." That shocked the group. He had been engaged?! He looked at them individually, "Do you understand why I do it now? Because I couldn't kill somebody, other people suffered from my mistake." The others nodded quietly. "Good, you all have somewhere to be and I need to get work done so leave me alone."

Naruto sat atop the roofs of Beacon once again, a cigarette in his mouth and the breeze in his hair. He had finally finished the bulk of his paperwork before a messenger toad dumped another load on top, but happy with the progress he had made so he had decided to take a break seeing as the others hadn't returned yet. It was dusk so he simply sat watching the sun set and the darkening sky without any worries to trouble him at the time. It was rather refreshing actually. They didn't have time to relax like this during the war, their spare time devoted to either sleeping or eating in preparation of the next battle or mission. He mostly spent his training, honing his skill with seals or new techniques, so it was a nice change from a war torn country.

He was up there for over an hour, the two teams had long ago returned from their outing but they had been arguing so he had stayed out of it. By now the sun had set so it was just him at the stars, not that he minded. What made him curious however was a clearly distressed Blake running across the courtyard, flicking the remains of his new cigarette away he stood and jumped off the roof. He may as well investigate.

Blake looked at the ribbon in her hands with no small amount of sadness. They had finally found out, after months of keeping it a secret all it took was one slip of the tongue and her secret was out. All thanks to one ignorant brat.

"So they finally found out?" Someone drawled behind her.

Blake snapped around with a hand raised towards Gambol Shroud. She relaxed however when she noticed it was only her teammate standing lazily with his hands in his pockets. She clutched her ribbon to her chest, "You-you knew?"

Naruto raised his hands and began listing off on his fingers, "You love any type of fish just as much as Ruby likes cookies and I ramen, you have a strange fascination with shiny things, you hate vacuum cleaners, you can see in the dark and have extremely acute hearing." He shoved his hands back in his pockets, "Besides, your bow twitches every now and then. Especially when you're annoyed."

She had the decency to blush slightly, "So you don't care?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why should I? There are plenty of clans in the Elemental Nations with animal traits. Most prominent being the Inuzuka clan in Konoha who share traits with their dog companions such as better smell and hearing." He explained

Blake's eyes widened and a small smile graced her lips. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Accepting me."

Naruto smiled underneath his mask. "Don't think about it. You're my teammate, and I'll go far as to say friend." He joined her looking up at the monument before them, "So what happened?"

Naruto and Blake sat in a cafe in downtown Vale sipping tea. It had been nearly two days since that night and it was coming to the end of the weekend. Blake was extremely quiet over the duration of her 'banishment', and Naruto left her too it, letting her come around in her own time. He was of course out of uniform at the moment, choose to wear simple clothes and a scarf to cover his face in the hopes he wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb.

"Kitsune, what have you heard about the White Fang?" Blake began.

He looked at her curiously, "It's been nearly two days and apart from a few passing words and strange looks, and that's what you come out with?" He asked incredulously. Blake glared at him, "Fine fine. Honestly not much, I know that they're a 'terrorist' group aimed at bringing equality to Faunus but that's about it." Naruto admitted with a sip of tea. Which actually wasn't bad when compared to stuff in the EN, he had always preferred tea over coffee but he couldn't get the same caffeine kick that he did.

Blake nodded, "I was once a part of the White Fang." Blake admitted, pausing to see if there was any surprised outburst. There wasn't, only the calm calculating shinobi sipping tea in front of her. "You could say I was born into it. Back then things were different, from the ashes of war the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of unity between the Humans and the Faunus. Despite being promised with equality we were subjected with discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings, and so the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people." Blake continued "And I was there. I was at the front of every rally, every boycott and I actually thought we were making a difference, but I was just a youthful optimist. Then 5 years ago, our leader stepped down and a new one took its place, someone with new ideals and method of thinking. Soon our peaceful protests were replaced with organised attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labour. And the worst part? The worst part was that it was working, we were being treated as equals. But not out of respect, but fear." Blake set her cup down. "So I left, I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. I decided to use them for good and decided to work towards becoming a huntress. And here we are, a criminal hiding in plain sight with the aid of a small black bow." To emphasize her point it wiggled. Blake looked into his eyes in an attempt to attain a clue at his response, they held sadness and pity and understanding? She blinked and it was gone.

"I take it you bolted before telling this to the others?" Naruto asked with an inquisitive gaze that bore right through Blake's own amber eyes. She immediately crumbled and looked away with a frown. Naruto sighed and put down his empty teacup. He pushed back his chair and stood, chucking some Lein on the table to pay as he did so. "Come on, we've been here too long."

Blake followed him out and they walked along the seafront for a while before Naruto spoke up, "What do you plan on doing now?"

"I don't believe that the White Fang are behind all these robberies. They've never needed this much dust before." Blake reasoned.

"But what if they do now? You may have only recently left, but a lot can change in a couple of months. The only way you could prove otherwise is going to the place where they'll most likely steal dust and not find them there." Naruto countered.

"But I wouldn't even know where to start looking."

Naruto looked at her for a moment before holding up his hand with his middle and index fingers extended. Not a moment later a copy of him appeared besides him in a cloud of smoke. He didn't even acknowledge it before clipping it over the head causing it to disappear. They waited a few seconds and Blake was almost tempted to ask what purpose that served when another appeared with a scroll in hand without any contribution from her teammate, he handed the scroll over and disappeared like the other. Naruto hummed in thought as he eyes scanned the scroll, "That's a possibility."

"What is? Also who were they?" Blake practically demanded.

"At the docks there is a large shipment due in a few hours, and as in large I mean massive shipment of Schnee dust, nearly 30,000 tons of the stuff." Naruto answered as he rolled up the scroll. "They are Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clones. Unlike your own, mine are corporeal and transfer their knowledge when destroyed. Handy for scouting."

Blake nodded with determination in her eyes, "Where is the shipment?"

"Anything?" Naruto asked, landing next to Blake on the roof overlooking the docks. He had change out of the civilian clothes he had on earlier and back into his uniform, with the only change being the black cloak that now covered his body and head. Terrorists or not, if the authorities caught him beating up the people of Remnent they might use the excuse to head back to war.

Blake jumped and reached for her weapon, once again surprised by the silent shinobi. "Nothing, they finished unloading the crates and now they're just sitting there." She answered going back to watching the docks.

Silence enveloped them for a time but was soon interrupted by the arrival of a Bullhead. They watched in trepidation as it circled the docks before landing in a clearing between cargo containers, almost as soon as it had done so a door on the side opened and a ramp slide down.

"Oh no..." Blake whispered in despair.

"I take it that's the White Fang." Naruto studied the man that had come out the Bullhead first, he wore a white chest piece with the White Fang insignia on the back over a black hooded top, a mask covered his face except for his mouth, and black trousers and boots. More men stepped down the ramp and another stood at the top with a rifle.

"I think I always knew; I just didn't want to believe it."

Naruto hummed and patted her shoulder, "Come on, we got what we came for. Let's get out of here."

"Oi, what the hold up?! What is taking you animals so long? You know we're not exactly the most inconsipicous bunch of criminals at the moment?!" An irritating voice called out.

"Wait, no that's not right. The White Fang would never follow a human, especially one like that." Blake wondered and before Naruto could even process that fact she had drawn her sword and hopped off the roof.

Naruto kissed his teeth and watched in irritation as Blake sprinted for the cover provided by the containers. He raked a hand through his hair and sighed, 'There goes the easy way out. Looks like my hands might get dirty after all.' He thought to himself. He vanished in a gust of wind.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation sweetheart." Torchwick mocked as two extra Bullheads hovered overhead. With a cocky smirk he flicked a switch on his cane and shot the ground behind him launching his 'captor' away. He rubbed his neck where the blunt edge of the blade was held across his throat. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." He muttered after the apparent cat Faunus dodged out the way of more explosive rounds from his cane and disappeared around a corner. He was about to pursue when he had just enough time to process the fact that the person attacking him was wearing sandals before he was sent sailing across the dock via 'kick to the face express'. He got up swiftly and tweaked his nose to make sure it wasn't broken. "And who are you?" He asked to the cloaked figure standing directly opposite him and the rest of his 'cronies'. "Not a talker hm? No matter." He turned to the White Fang members behind him and nodded in the direction of their opposition, "Take him." He commanded the recently bolster ranks.

The large group of men charged the boy without a second thought and quickly closed the gap between them. The lead Faunus grinned savagely as he swung his sword as he made no move to and defend himself. So when the blade was only inches from impacting his head he was surprised and unprepared for him to suddenly duck out the way and plant a heavy knee into his stomach, immediately flooring him as he worked to get air into his lungs.

Naruto spun out the way of another attack and countered with a quick punch to the temp, knocking him down as well just in time to slip by another and plant him on his arse in quick succession. He deflected another blade without looking with a previously hidden kunai and knocked him in a pressure point to knock him unconscious with the ring.

Blake watched from her perch as her teammate basically man-handled the White Fang members. He easily danced between their attacks and countered efficiently and with precision without missing a beat or wasting any movement, almost as if every move was planned in advance. Was this a shinobi? She had read the report from the soldiers and hunters on the front lines about the brutality of their enemies but had yet to see it, if anything he was being gentle with them for she had noticed that none had yet to die. Was he purposely withholding himself for her sake?

Roman ducked as the last Fang member sailed over his head and his growled in annoyance. Cocking his cane he aimed at the cause of said annoyance and fired sending an explosive around at him. To further that annoyance the boy didn't so much as flinch as the round flew towards him. As it was about to connect a wall of rock launched from the ground in between the two and blocked the explosion from harming its obvious creator. He was briefly obscured by smoke but the telltale trail denoted that he had left.

He hastily brought up his cane to block another kick and a cocky smirked fluttered to his lips accompanied by a smug remark. He was never able to say it on the other hand as he was totally unprepared for the 3 quick attacks that followed the blocked kick, a punch to the shoulder, knee to the gut and an uppercut when he had bent over.

"HE'S MINE!" The cloaked figure unexpectedly backed off following the scream in time for kitty to leap down and face him herself. He had faced many hunters and huntresses over the course of his criminal career, many of which he had killed, so one in training was no issue and he easily defend against her attack, which was admittedly impressive, and countered throwing her back. He didn't have time for a breather to his dismay as he was soon engaged again by the cloaked boy. He grit his teeth and defended against the onslaught and quickly concluded he was outmatched, while his aura damped the pain he felt from the hits he took the hits he took hurt. It was almost like his opponent was able to easily bypass his aura and directly hit his body, which wasn't good because he was gradually being worn down, he needed a way out and soon. Thankfully the opportunity presented itself in the form of a red pain in the neck.

"Hey!" Ruby yelled from the top of the building, twirling and burying her scythe into the rooftop.

"Why hello red!" Roman greeted, taking the brief distraction to shoot his cane at the feet of his assailant, much like he did against the Faunus, launching him away and into a stack of crates. He fired another at his new nemesis when she appeared distracted by something behind her, catching her off guard and launching her away too.

Naruto sat up and shrugged the remains of some wooden crates from his body while cradling his arm. It was a rookie mistake, taking your eyes of the target, and he had paid for it with a broken arm. It seemed being in an academy filled with children had caused him to unconsciously relax, taking everything with a grain of salt. Well it wouldn't be happening again. Naruto picked himself and watched an orange haired girl jump down from the position previously held by his partner and engage some Fang reinforcements with relative ease. There was something strange about her movement however. To the naked eye they flowed just as any huntresses would but to a trained eye like Naruto's there was a certain mechanical element to them. Was she a robot? Naruto clenched his uninjured fist at the thought. The mechanical soldiers employed by Atlas were the bane of shinobi, without souls they were able to sneak up on them if they were sufficiently distracted and since they possessed no aura all it took was a single bullet to dispatch them. Many a shinobi had fallen to their metal hands. But there was something different about this one. He could sense her, which if she were a robot should be impossible. It seemed he would have to investigate further.

"Are you ok?" Naruto glanced behind him to see Blake walking up to him with a concerned look on her face, "I saw you take a direct hit and I know you don't have any aura to take it."

Naruto shrugged, and immediately regretted it when it jostled his arm, "I'll live." He placated. They both turned back to the fight in time to witness Roman backing off and retreating to a waiting Bullhead which immediately took off. "Shame." He muttered. With the roaring of the Bullhead engines quieting down and new noise filled the air. Sirens. He turned to Blake, "I'm going to head back, if the authorities catch me here, the results won't be pretty." He told her and without waiting for a response, disappeared into the shadows.

Naruto glanced up from his scroll when the door clicked open and his team filed in. He was currently lounging on his bed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, having no commitment to restart his paperwork. Although his arm had healed on the return trip to Beacon he had wrapped it in bandages to keep up appearances, he wasn't about to explain why he healed so quickly. Though he could put it down to family genetics.

"Kitsune! Where have you been?!" Ruby yelled with her hands planted on her hips, trying (and failing) to look serious.

"Around." He answered simply.

"You were with Blake weren't you?" She accused.

Naruto rose a brow, "And if I was?"

Ruby's mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She closed it before talking again, "Good work partner." She said with a definite nod before walking into the bathroom to get changed for bed.

Blake quickly took her place, "I wanted to thank you, for not killing the members of the White Fang and helping me." She said.

Naruto nodded, "Don't worry about it, you are a friend. And I will die for them if need be."

Although unsettled by the thought of him dying for her, she nodded none the less and smiled. Walking to her own bed to settle down with a book.

It took a full minute for Naruto to realise someone was watching him, when he looked up her noticed the culprit to be Yang. Though she wasn't staring at him with hostility, but rather she looked to be trying to make a decision with herself. Naruto sighed and rolled up his scroll and chucked it on his desk. He stood from his bed and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, directing her to the door. She didn't resist and the swiftly exited their dorm and into the quiet hallway.

"What is it Yang?" He asked calmly.

Yang sighed, "Look, I don't like you nor do I trust you. But I love my little sister and I would trust her with my life. So after thinking about it, I've decided to give you the benefit of my doubt and extend a hesitant branch. Somehow you've heard her trust and friendship, I'd go so far as to say you're her best friend so I will try and follow her example." Yang offered.

Naruto looked at the hand Yang had raised in his direction and studied the girl in front of him for a moment before meeting it with his own. "I accept."

(End)

So that completes RWBY volume 1! Wahoo! We won't be moving straight into Vol. 2 however, the next couple of chapters will be dedicated to character and world building so I hope you're fine with that.

Also most of you said that you wanted the word cap to stay around 5k which, although this is nearly 7k, is what I'll try and do.

Finally, someone in the reviews asked why Mei stepped down as Mizukage, wondering why she stepped down as she was roughly the same age as A. Well that's because that's not the reason why. Mei stepped down out of principle, she had seen her village through a bloody civil war only to go into another war a few years after. She stepped down so the new blood could lead the village through to hopefully a new age of peace rather than war like her tenure had been filled with.

That's all folks, I'll be taking a break until after Easter to focus on college and my new job so I hope you enjoy the holiday and see you then.

-Red