Okay, so... Yeah, here it is, the next chapter of Shinobi of Remanat. Thank you all for still bearing with me.

Recovering Lost Power

"I hear you need to build a weapon." Naruto could hear the grin on Ruby's face as he watched rose petals dance past his feet.

Naruto turned and grinned back at the red cloaked girl, "So you're the 'she' Oz was talking about..." Naruto observed as his purple and blue eyes looked into her silver pools.

"Yep!" Ruby beamed at the obviously excited fox. Naruto watched as the red hood fluttered around to Ruby's left before she appeared on his right, "Now c'mon, there's precious little time to make your weapon!" Ruby grabbed the faunus's hand and dragged him off toward the Foundry.

In the court yard in front of the Foundry, a flurry of rose petals scattered away from the center. "Now, the best way to figure out your ideal weapon is to spar." Ruby says as she walked backwards, away from Naruto.

"Spar?" He repeated. Then he smiled, "Good idea, Ruby." He dropped into a three point stance, crouched low with is feet spread wide, his left hand pressed to the ground to help support his weight. Naruto's right arm held behind him, clenched as if gripping a kunai knife.

Ruby stopped about half way from the center, where Naruto stood, and the edge of the cement, about ten meters,"Don't allow yourself any distraction," Ruby grabbed the red box that hung from her hips and held it before her by the top. "Don't leave any gaps in your stance, hone your sences," Naruto heard the light sound of a click before the red box elongated and exploded into a wicked looking scythe. Ruby grabbed the shaft of the weapon and twirled it around herself before she settled, holding the shaft in her left hand, her right hand gripping a handle that jutted from the underside of the scythe's firing mechanism. The blade arced behind her as she crouched low to the ground, "And don't let your guard down for even an instant." Ruby said before rushing toward him. Naruto whipped his right fist forward as fast as he could, only to watch as Ruby simply vanished. His fist rushed past the scattering rose petals she left in her wake.

The force he put into the wild punch unbalanced Naruto as he stumbled forward a small bit. He caught his balance and righted himself. Naruto stood straight, his eyes flicking about searching for even a hint of red, his ears listened for anything that could betray Ruby's location. Naruto strained his senses against the apparent calm around him. Looking, listening, even smelling all around him, not allowing even a single detail to escape his well trained and masterfully honed senses.

Shock etched itself into the eyes of Naruto as, to his left, the menacing blade of Crescent Rose rushed toward his head, seemingly in slow motion. Never, not even in the few spars she'd participated in back at Signal, had he seen Ruby display this kind of speed. Naruto ducked before he even realized it, he heard the blade whistle over his head as the red and black scythe cut through the air.

Again, before he could counter, Naruto heard the whisper of the air as Ruby's semblance took her to blinding speeds. Again Naruto honed his senses. This time Naruto heard the impossibly quiet sound of Ruby exiting her speed jump, his fox ears twitching as the sound registered in them. Naruto struck out with his right hand, into the space he heard Ruby appear in. The fist passed through a zephyr of rose petals and empty air.

Naruto smiled, remembering the last time he faced someone as fast as his young friend. "Haku..." the fox whispered under his breath. 'I will become strong.' Naruto swore on the memory of his fallen enemy as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he slowly exhaled, he once more honed his senses.

Ruby once again reappeared in a flurry of rose petals and whipped Naruto's head with the shaft of Crescent Rose. "I don't go easy, Naruto. I'm warning you now." Naruto ignored the pain as he instantly dug into the little blue pouch on his right leg and threw a kunai at Ruby, only for it to pass though the head of her after image that proceeded to scatter into a storm of rose petals that swirled around the courtyard.

Again she disappeared, however Naruto expected it this time. He felt red hooded girl's movements. His battle senses haven't dulled so much after losing his chakra to debilitate him like this. Naruto smiled as he once again closed his eyes, allowing his instincts to take over. The fox faunus again reached into his pouch and took out a pair of knives. He tossed one to his left, caught it and gripped a kunai in each hand.

Ruby appeared behind him, making to slash at his back. Naruto bent backwards at the knees, dodging the slash. Immediately he planted his fists on the concrete and performed a spinning kick as he pushed himself off the ground, his kunai ready to taste flesh as he held his hands above his head. The blond fox didn't give Ruby even a moment to keep up, his kunai making wicked arcs toward her.

Ruby jumped back, away from Naruto's slash. She was surprised to see small, clean slashes open on her corset. However, Naruto didn't allow her time to mourn her clothing as he pressed his counter offense. Naruto rushed Ruby, his arms crossed before him. Surprised, Ruby did the first thing that came to mind, she pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose. In a blur of motion, Ruby spun around, her scythe singing a deadly tune as it arced toward Naruto's soft guts. Naruto jumped high, over the blade. Ruby again pulled the trigger of her beloved weapon, careening herself out of the way, barely dodging the kick that obliterated the concrete under it, forcing it to cave in and crack outward, then explode into a cloud of debris.

Naruto immediately rushed Ruby and started to slash wildly, his kunai flashing in wicked arcs about Ruby, who could only barely dodge the tempest of wild attacks. Her silver eyes widened when she saw his eyes were closed. The hooded reaper felt the stinging bite of one of Naruto's kunai as a thin cut opened on her upper left arm. 'Why didn't my aura st-' Ruby couldn't even finish her thought before another cut formed on her right forearm.

Abandoning her thoughts, Ruby dove into her instincts. Her silver eyes watching the random arcs of bloodthirsty knives, it was all she could do to stop the fox from breaking her defense. Ruby smirked as she came up with a plan.

"Got ya now!" Naruto shouted as he slashed faster, harder than before. His kunai closing in on Ruby like a pair of scissors.

Ruby smiled. All at once, she blocked both of Naruto's kunai, jumped up and planted her feet on the blade of her scythe. Ruby smiled wider as she saw the barrel was right in at Naruto's nose, and pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose. Naruto opened his eyes when he heard metal sliding across metal. His eyes widened as the barrel of the rifle-scythe exploded to life. Showing his own speed, Naruto kicked off the outside of the sickle and rolled away from the force of her Crescent Rose.

The massive recoil of her customisable, high-impact scythe was easily shrugged off as Ruby rolled with it. She quickly jumped out of her roll and shot the ground, propelling herself above the courtyard and her sparing partner. Ruby was twenty meters above Naruto. Her silver eyes locked onto the blue and purple eye's of her target. Crescent Rose hung over her head, her blade ready to rend everything unfortunate enough to be in it's path. Again she pulled the trigger.

Naruto had the battle sense to throw a kunai at Ruby and jump out of the way of her smashing guillotine slash. Ruby easily swat the ,comparatively, slow projectile skyward with an effortless twirl of Crescent Rose. She masterfully adjusted the twirl into a downward swing as she neared the ground. When Ruby met the pavement, dust and debris exploded from the impact. As Naruto's feet touched the ground, he heard another shot ring through the air and he immediately readied his guard. The remaining kunai he clutched in his left hand, held before him in defense.

Ruby met his defense with a slash meant to cut from right shoulder to left hip. Naruto stepped closer to Ruby, grabbing the firing mechanism of the rifle. He slashed at one of her arms, forcing Ruby to relinquish her grip. Her hand slid further down the shaft of her Rose. Naruto dropped the knife, and grabbed the shaft in the space between his and Ruby's hand. The red capped girl recognized the moment of her defeat as Naruto twisted the large, shockingly heavy weapon out of her hands, stabbing the large blade of her scythe into the pavement behind him. Naruto quickly turned back to Ruby and easily caught the kunai she so easily deflected as she propelled herself toward the ground only a moment previous, and held it to her throat.

"Okay, ya got me." Ruby held up her hand's in surrender, an exuberant smile on her face.

"You surprised me in the beginning there. Your speed was unbelievable!" Naruto said as he dropped his hand, placing the kunai back in his pouch. As he stood the sun shone in his eyes, and Ruby was shocked to notice, he wasn't even sweating.

"Thanks!" the black haired girl's smile widened, "I've practiced with my uncle since I was old enough to remember. Compared to me, he's..." Ruby said as she walked behind Naruto, "amazing." she said with a grunt as she pulled Crescent Rose free of the earth, looking at the interesting scenery they made of the Foundry courtyard. Gashes where her weapon gouged the ground. The craters left from Naruto's kick and her guillotine maneuver. And of course the sparsely scattered debris from them. The red hooded girl again twirled the massive blade around her, making the blade contract into it's most compact form and placed the box on the magnetic hooks on her back.

"So," Naruto said as he walked around gathering the kunai he's tossed or dropped, "what do you think my ideal weapon," Naruto found a kunai lodged into a tree, "is?", he grunted as he pulled it out. Naruto turned and walked back to Ruby, a thoughtful look about her.

"Hmm..." Ruby hummed as she rubbed a finger under her bottom lip. "With the way you handled those knives, I'd say a pair of daggers. And the way you pinpointed both tossed of your blades, I'd suggest either easily replaceable blades or a launchable blade that somehow retracts. Or we could wait and find out what your semblance is." Ruby looked at Naruto, a dumb confused look on his face, "Usually a Huntsman's weapon is optimized to work with his semblance." she smiled a smile that reached her eyes when she looked at Naruto again, and the look in his eye. Like he just accepted a challenge.

"Oh? My semblance?" Naruto grinned, "I'll get it down within a month!" he gave a cheesy thumbs up and grin, "Believe it!"

Ruby rolled her eyes, stunning Naruto at her blase attitude at his statement. Apparently his shock showed because Ruby answered his silent question, "It'll take you that long?" Ruby swung her left hip out, placing her hand on it, and allowed her right arm to simply hang. Her cocky tone seemed to tick Naruto a little.

"What'd'ya mean, 'that long?'!" Naruto shouted, swiping his hand as if to spill something imaginary over in rage. "How lo-"

"Three weeks." Ruby held up her fingers before her face. Her eye seemed to use them as a sight of a gun. Ruby smiled as her bluff got to him.

Naruto grinned, "Fine." He glared defiantly at Ruby, "I'll get in down in two weeks. No matter what!" Naruto's self absolute, defiant tone raised Ruby's drive to achieve as well.

"And when you do, well spar again. Just to figure out who'd really win." Ruby teased, a sly smirk on her face. "For now, let's get the rest of my team. We'll have plenty of fun together." she said, almost a purr. "So, just wait here. I'll go get them!" before Naruto could respond, Ruby's after image scattered into the wind.

"Just like a ninja..." Naruto chuckled as he watched the petals flutter away, slowly fading from existence.

"Come on!" Naruto punched a tree, leaving a fist sized hole in through the side of it. "It's been a week, what the hell!" he continued to berate himself as vented his frustrations on the poor tree that unfortunately grew where it had. This time swiping at the hole with his right hand, reducing the meter round tree to but a stump.

Naruto and Team RWBY have been training together to help Naruto unlock his semblance. Thus far all they've done is get better at beating him down. As a team their flow grew closer to flawless every time. Naruto, meanwhile, has felt his own prowess grow as well. His aura has vastly grown too, now rivaling that of a true Huntsman, according to some teachers at Beacon.

Moving on from the tree that he'd fell, he could only think of his progress toward his semblance as, 'Nothing! That's all I've done. A week and all I have to show for it is a little more aura!' Finding another tree in the Emerald Forest, Naruto continued to vent. 'I've done everything the books say to do. I've taken every tip, hint, and lesson to heart!' Naruto kicked at the trunk of a thick, lush, old tree. The wood held against is wrath. 'Why can't I find my semblance!' Naruto jumped and barrel rolled to the left, landing a vicious kick to the trunk. The tree shivered at the force, but still held strong. Naruto landed on the foot he first kicked with, and delivered a powerful thrusting kick with his left. The ancient tree still stood firm, only a flat spot in it's bark as proof of it's noticing Naruto.

"Naruto." a smooth voice gently sounded behind the fox. His ears twitched in the direction the voice came from. He turned to see Blake leaning against a tree. Or rather, the stump of a tree his venting left fallen. Blake's yellow eyes wandered up Naruto's form. Her gaze ignored his black shorts, opting to see the fox's shirtless, temptingly hard abs and chest. A light blush heated her cheeks as she forced her eyes up to his.

Naruto's blue and purple eyes met Blake's the golden pools and held their attention. "B-Blake! Ah, uh... H-how did you find me?" Naruto stammered. He'd obviously not expected anyone to find him out here.

Blake nodded over her right shoulder, toward a trail of stumps and evaporating Grimm, "I followed your bread crumbs." she answered simply. She didn't want to admit that she'd also followed his scent to the first 'crumb'. "What's wrong?"

"What, uh- wha'd'ya mean?" Naruto averted his gaze, finding the ground very interesting, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't know many people that fell trees and beat down creatures of Grimm with their bare hands for fun." Blake motioned to the trail of fallen trees and Grimm behind her. "Now, what's wrong? Why are you..." she looked past Naruto at the ancient tree behind him, "venting so hard?"

"I, ah..." Naruto looked into Blake's eyes for a moment, then looked at the canopies of the Emerald Forest, his hand still rubbing the back of his head. "Umm," Naruto closed his eyes, as if contemplating, then sighed in defeat. He looked at the black cat faunus, "I can't find my semblance. We've been at it for a week and - Ugh, you know. You were there!" he flung his hand in the air in irritation. "I just don't..." again he sighed as he hung his head, "I've already started and," Naruto's defeated eyes met Blake's, "I don't even know how to begin." he laughed weakly.

"I think that's because you've been going about it the wrong way." Blake said, almost knowingly. Naruto looked up hopefully at Blake, she rose an eyebrow and smirked at her struggling friend, "I read somewhere that there are multiple ways to unlock your semblance." Blake said as she rested her shoulder on the tree beside her, "The most common way is forceful, painfully tearing your soul's power free," Blake punched the air before her, "and taking it for yourself." she wrapped her fingers around an unseeable object and brought her hand close to herself, clinching her hand into a fist as it drew near her.

"The other is just as difficult, and sometimes painful, but leads to a much more powerful semblance." Blake continued as she playfully gloated, holding her hand in front of her face, as if looking closely at her finger nails. She exhailed on them and rubbed them on her coat, "Or, so the theory goes. The results are mixed."

"So? What's this 'other method' you're so fond of?" Naruto's eyes showed pure skepticism.

"Well, if the most common way is brutally forcing your power to come forth. The opposite is..." Blake held her hand out, as if passing on the thought. Naruto just stared at her dumbly. Blake sighed, "Ugh, meditation." she said, feigning irritation. "You look within yourself and communicate with your inner you. Through this method, you can get your soul to work with you, unlocking both your semblance and a massive well of aura."

"If this method is so awesome, why doesn't everyone use it?" Naruto asked, his smartass nature rearing it's head.

"Not everyone has the patience to get to know themselves. I've read that the quickest time in which a student unlocked her semblance was about three weeks." Blake held three fingers before her. Naruto's eyes widened, shock taking over for less than a moment, then he grinned.

'Three weeks, eh?' "Heh, okay then. Blake, I'll try it." Naruto's eyes blazed with determination, "Yeah! I'll get my semblance down in no time flat! Believe it!" Naruto shouted to the sky, and finished with a grinning thumbs up.

"Good luck with that." Blake turned away, "Come on, I'll take you to a guy I know that knows a thing or two about this method." she said over her shoulder before simply walking away.

"Who?" Naruto asked as he followed after Blake.

"Someone I told you to talk to a week ago."

"Good." his voice was an odd combination of calm and monotonous. "Keep breathing. In." he inhaled. "Out." he exhaled. The young man said over and over, in perfectly timed intervals. He trailed off, the volume of his voice lowering with each word until even Naruto's ears heard it.

"Now," Ren whispered, "open your mind. Let nothing from the outside in, concentrate on what's within." Naruto's breathing quieted as his face relaxed. "Good. No-" a light snore cut him off. "Naruto?" he whispered. "Naruto." Ren repeated in his normal voice. The green clad boy poked Naruto's shoulder and watched as his near flawless pose crumble as the fox's head hit the floor with a resounding thud.

"GAH!" Naruto shot up, "I'm awake! I'm awake." he said as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"You need to take this seriously, Naruto." Blake said from beside him. "You wanted to get your semblance in no time flat, right?" Ren sat across from the two faunus, the trio making a triangle. He simply observed Blake and Naruto, listening to their banter. Naruto nodded, looking defeated. "Then you need to keep focused on what Ren tells you."

"I know that!" Naruto shouted, only a little above his normal volume. "It's just so hard. I'm a very hyperactive knucklehead. I need... I don't know. Something to feel or visualize. I need a-"

"You need a tangible goal?" Ren interjected. Naruto snapped his attention to Ren. "I can't give you tha~t," Ren stretched 'that' as he scoped the room for something that could help, "but I can do something similar." he said as he rose to his feet, walking to one of the two desks in the JNPR dorm room. The black haired boy grabbed the notebook and a pen that rested on top of the simple desk. He drew something on it as he walked back to sit before Blake and his student. "Now, this should help." he showed the face of the notebook. It displayed a single, perfect circle.

"A... Circle..?" Naruto smirked, his lack of confidence in his teacher audible in his response.

"No." Ren said as he tapped the page with the pointer finger of the hand holding the page, "It's a portal." the skeptical look Naruto gave him forcing Ren to further explain. "When you close your eyes, imagine a circle. That circle is you. Everything you are, everything you can be, everything you've done." The fox tilted his head and gave Ren a dumb look, like he was trying to figure out a magic trick he was just shown. Again Ren had to dumb down his method, "Visualize this; draw the circle inside your mind. Make it as dark as possible, and as heavy as possible. This is a basic imaging technique that helps you get in touch with your aura, your very soul. Then imagine yourself jumping into the circle. " Ren explained. "Now, try it." he said, tossing the notebook to Naruto. The fox looked at the circle on the page in his lap.

Naruto closed his eyes and began the breathing exercise, 'Draw a circle...' he imagined a circle forming on a misty blue surface. 'Make it as dark and heavy as possible...' he concentrated and the circle began to fade to black. 'Darker. Heavier.' Naruto's concentration increased as the black circle seemed to pull the very color from everything else around it as the blue mist dimmed the closer to the circle it was. 'Now jump into the circle...' Naruto imagined himself falling, head first, into the darkness he'd just created.

Naruto felt like he'd just dove into a pool. He looked around. At first Naruto didn't notice anything, just darkness, even the portal he'd jumped through had vanished. Then everything changed when the darkness flared into a blinding light. All at once Naruto's awareness expanded, he felt Blake and Ren staring at him with varying levels of shock. He felt the air around him shift ever so slightly. He tasted Blake's subtle perfume on the tip of his tongue. He heard the door getting flung open as the rest of team JNPR walked into the room.

"HI RE-" Nora was cut short by what was happening in their dorm. Sitting in front of Blake and Ren was a completely still Naruto. A completely still Naruto that was shrouded in golden-orange aura so thick and heavy it stunned even her into silence.

"Ren you won't beli-" Jaune too was thunderstruck at the sight of Naruto's aura.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha walked in last and closed the door, confusion and concern etched into her features as she probably wondered what made both her leader and immutable teammate drop into silence. Naruto's aura was so thick that it began to flow off of him like mist. "Ren? Blake? What's g-" Pyrrha too fell silent as the golden mist flowed over her feet.

The immensity of it hit her like nothing else. What surprised her was the feeling it inspired in her. Most people's aura is violent, trying to take over and dominate others. Other people's aura is healing, calming those it touches into peacefulness. Naruto's aura is the first to feel... Accepting? Like it was trying to welcome and empower her.

Ren's eyes snapped to the rest of his team, a finger to his lips in a quieting gesture. He then lowered his hand, palm side down, gesturing for them to keep quiet and sit down. Nora, surprisingly, heeded Ren's motions and quietly went to sit next to her partner. She took a pen from her pouch and wrote a question mark on her palm and showed it to Ren. He looked at her palm and into her eyes. He only held up his pointer finger, signaling he'd explain later.

Jaune moved to sit at one of the desks across the room from his friends, watching the golden-orange aura coat the floor of his room. He was shocked that he actually felt the aura flow around his feet. Jaune never knew aura could be so... "Amazing..." Jaune whispered as he watched what was happening in awestruck wonder.

Pyrrha took a seat on the floor near Blake. She knew that team RWBY had been training with Naruto, but not the reason. After seeing this, she was sure. Blake jumped slightly, her attention snapping to the perpetrator, as Pyrrha placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, a soft smile on her face. Blake returned the smile before returning her attention to Naruto.

The blinding light faded from existence and was replaced by a pulsating golden-orange light. It flared and dimmed like a beating heart. Naruto reached out to it, but it swayed out of his reach. His eyebrows knit together and he sneered at the light, "C'mon!" Naruto swiped at the light this time. Again, however, the light lazily swayed out of his hand's path. "What the..."

The little light rushed forward, passing through Naruto's chest. The fox watched the light, stunned as it quickly approached and just passed through him like air through a window screen. His hands snapped to his chest, confirming his well being. "It's been awhile," Naruto recognized that voice.

"No..." Naruto whipped around and saw something he never really wanted to face again. Standing behind him was himself. Only his eyes were very different. This Naruto had black sclera and burning red irises.

"Yes." The dark Naruto grinned.

Author's Note

Okay! So, yeah. I'm alive! Yay! Anyway that's this chapter. What did y- fingers? What are you... Stop... Stop! Ugh, fine. Guess I'm not done... Continue.

"But... You- We- What!" Naruto's brain struggled to make sense of what's happening.

"What? You thought you'd be done with me after that one time?" Dark Naruto laughed maniacally. "Oh, no, no, no," he waved his finger at Naruto. "I'll always be here. In the back of your mind. In the depths of your soul. I'm part of you, remember?"

"But, we- You and I-" Naruto could only sigh, "So what happens now?"

"Isn't it obvious? Did losing our chakra really dim you this much?" Dark Naruto mocked his better half. "You and I are always going to be one and the same, but that doesn't mean I'll like everything you do. And vice versa." He began to walk in a wide circle around Naruto. "We are two sides of one coin. And I don't like how you've operated since we've arrived on Remnant."

"What? What have I done?"

"You've lost a great deal of our power. You made us into this!" Dark Naruto pulled at his own fox ears. "The one thing I actually do like is that you're actually trying to get some power back."

"It wasn't my fault! My chakra was poisoned! That Beowulf bi-"

"BULLSHIT! As a sage, you should have FELT that something was wrong with our power." Dark Naruto berated.

"That's n-"

"And don't say that you could only sense it in sage mode. It's your energy! How did you not realize it was disipating?!" Dark Naruto continued over Naruto.

Naruto's eyes dulled, realizing the truth in the statements. "I don't..."

"Know? You sicken me." Dark Naruto completed his lap around Naruto, now standing directly in front of him, "Tell me, do you know the difference between a king and a horse?"

'What's going on? It shouldn't take this long...' Ren thought as he watched Naruto meditate. The aura he was emitting now fluctuating, coming in waves. Pouring off him one second, then nothing the next, then pouring again. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

Ren looked to Pyrrha, who met his concerned eyes and knew what he was thinking immediately. The golden goddess stood and calmly walked out of the room. Blake missed this exchange as her eyes were locked on her friend. She didn't even notice Pyrrha get up and leave.

The blackness around Naruto seethed with a red light as Dark Naruto rushed him. Naruto barely brought his arms to cross in front of him to block before his anger's punch rocked his bones. Not expecting the force behind the attack, Naruto was catapulted backward.

"Tch, pathetic." Dark Naruto rushed again.

Naruto quickly recovered from the shock of the punch, "Yeah, it was." He looked up at his darkness, defiance burning in his eyes. However, his left arm was struck numb from the sheer force behind the punch. Naruto reached into his pouch, holding a shuriken between each finger. He tossed the little metal stars at the Dark Naruto, who just tossed his own in return, mockingly mirroring Naruto's moves. Dark Naruto's throwing stars sparked as they intercepted Naruto's, but gave away the knife he threw with them. All at once, Naruto spun left, dodging the sharp tool, catching it by the ring on the end of the handle in his right hand and tossed it back as he stopped his rotation.

Dark Naruto expected it and caught the knife in the ring of a second kuani in his hand. "Huh, still gonna try eh?"

"You'll know when I try. Believe it!" he shouted as he rushed his dark doppelganger. Naruto pulled his right fist back and clocked his shadow in the jaw. The force was great and the aim was true, but Naruto didn't even move the dark apparition. Naruto noticed golden orange light rippling from under his fist, "You used aura to shield yourself?!"

"Oh, it's so much more than just shield." Dark Naruto said as he glared at Naruto from under his brow. He inclined his head toward Naruto's hand, increasing the output of his aura, repelling Naruto's hand wildly away. The motion tore Naruto's defense wide open. The dark fox then delivered a quick series of punches to Naruto's core, augmenting the speed and hardness of his fists as he pummeled his opposite's ribs. Naruto closed his eyes as he grit his teeth, soundlessly taking the beating.

Dark Naruto's assault paused as he pulled his right fist back, turning his body into the punch. Naruto took the instant to build his aura. The shadow's fist rushed forward, his knuckles glowing brightly with stored aura, his elbow left ripples of light as his aura propelled the punch. Just before the punch connected, Naruto projected the aura he'd built. A sound of electricity and rushing wind filled the darkness around them as Dark Naruto's aura empowered fist met the pure force of Naruto's aura shield.

Naruto's pained face untwisted, his jaw relaxing and his eyes unscrewing. Then his eyes snapped open, the rage behind them burned into Dark Naruto's eyes, and a smile slowly split the foxes face. Before the dark shadow could react, Naruto's left hand shot up, taking Dark Naruto's arm in a grip so tight he felt his bones shift in his flesh. The surprise caught him off guard, breaking the consentration he needed to keep his aura constant; the aura that enhanced his fist dissipated and his wrist broke against the constant force of Naruto's aura.

"Last time I couldn't beat you down. Last time you had everything I have. This time," Naruto pulled his right fist back, turning his body with the loading punch. "I'll beat you!" Naruto enhanced his fist, hardening his knuckles. As Naruto's fist rocketed toward Dark Naruto, light rippled from behind Naruto's elbow. Naruto squeezed his shadows arm harder, preventing him from concentrating on building his aura. The punch connected. Dark Naruto's head whipped to the left.

Naruto's grip on the dark fox's arm kept him from stumbling backward, but the shadow swung around Naruto's arm with the force of the punch. Seemingly unaffected by the punch, Dark Naruto elbowed Naruto in the crook of his knee, buckling the leg, causing both of them to fall and Naruto to release his shadows broken wrist.

"Hmph, you got me good..." Dark Naruto said as they floated in the darkness around them. The strobing red light faded into a gently pulsating golden-orange.

Naruto lay in silence for a while, thinking about everything that's happened since he got to Remnant. He still dwells on the fact he lost his chakra. Angry that he couldn't stop it. Irritated at the fact he probably could have. Naruto sighed, "Can you help me get strong again?" he asked, almost scared of the answer.

"Wh-What?" Dark Naruto looked at his opposite.

"If we want to get strong, we need to work together. Like we did back then..." Naruto explained. "If you're always with me, then you should be able to help me find my- our semblance."

"B-but why ask me now?"

"You were right. I should have known my power was dissipating. I should've protected myself better when I got here; because I didn't, we're weaker now. I lost the power we worked so hard earning." Naruto looked at his living reflection, "Now I can only ask for your help in rebuilding it again."

Dark Naruto's eyes began to water, "You're asking me for help even after what I tried to do? Again?"

"Yeah. I know." Naruto smiled, "But not everyone has the patience to know themselves." Naruto looked straight ahead, into the nothingness that surrounds him and himself, "I'm willing to take the time."

"He's been like this for hours." Ren said quietly, standing just outside his dorm room. The door left open enough for JNPR, himself, and Ms. Goodwitch to look in. Blake hadn't left Naruto since he'd begun meditating.

"What happened? Tell me again, from the beginning." The headmaster's assistant commanded. Her concern over Naruto increasing after hearing what Pyrrha had told her.

"Blake brought Naruto to me, they asked me for help in his semblance training. He was struggling to get it, so I taught him a method that helped me." Ren explained.

"What method was that?" Glynda asked.

"I told him to visualize a circle, to make it as dark and as heavy as possible, and to jump into the circle. It's supposed to help him get in touch with his aura. I didn't think-" he stopped talking as Naruto's pulsating aura began to flow like it had before. His golden-orange aura flowing off him like clouds around a mountain, billowing even higher than it was before.

Blake, who had been sitting beside Naruto, rose to her knees and shuffled in front of Naruto. "Blake?" Ren called.

Blake's yellow eyes flicked to Ren and back to Naruto, she waved him in, "I think he's coming back." she whispered.

Naruto had begun to breathe heavier and his aura stopped flowing again. All the aura that had billowed off of him began to swirl around the room, back toward Naruto. When all the aura was reabsorbed, Naruto wearily opened his eyes, "Blake?" he looked around, and the dimness of the window snapped him awake, "How long have I been out?" he said panicky.

"Naruto, you've been here for almost five hours." Ren said as he crouched beside Blake. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay. A bit tired, but I'm a-"

"Can you tell me what happened?" Glynda walked in standing behind Blake and Ren, her scroll before her, resting on her arm like a clip board.

"I did what Ren told me to do, and..." Naruto paused, trying to remember everything.

"And?" the teacher pressured.

"And a light blinded me for a second. When it finally dimmed, I saw a light. It went through me and I saw..." Naruto paused again, not too sure how to explain what he'd seen. "I saw myself. But it wasn't me. It was, angrier? It felt so much darker than..." Naruto trailed off. "I fought myself. Then we came to an agreement. And now I'm awake."

"Hmm..." Glynda hummed, just like Ozpin does so often, as she flicked through her scroll, "Do you want to go to the medial wing? Maybe see if everything's okay?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just, need to sleep it off." Naruto grinned.

"Very well. Ren, a word if you would." Ms. Goodwitch said as she walked out of the room, leaving Blake and Naruto alone.

"Heh, hell of a day, huh?" Blake asked.

"Yeah." Naruto chuckled.

*** The following day ***

Naruto walked into the cafeteria, happy to see today's breakfast was still there. He'd woken up late, having missed all his alarms, so he was scared Nora had already devoured it. Luckily it wasn't pancakes again. "Naruto!" he heard someone call from across the massive dining room. Naruto looked around and saw Ruby frantically waving her hands, "NAAAARUUUUTOOOO!" the red hooded girl called again.

"Ruby! Act your age! Look he sees you!" Naruto heard Weiss. It was hard to repress the urge release a growling sigh.

Naruto waved back at his friend. After he'd gotten her attention, he held up a single finger, indicating that he'd be there momentarily. He walked through the breakfast buffet, picking up four large Vaccuan Waffles, eight prepackaged servings of Forever Fall Syrup, a fist size red apple, and stuffed his pockets full of milk cartons. He walked to where his friends sat, "G'mornin' everyone." he said as he sat his plate down, and emptied his pockets of milk. "I'll be right back." and he walked over to a nearby drink dispenser and picked orange juice. The machine dropped a large empty cup and began to fill it with the sweet, tangy life blood of many oranges.

On his way back to the table he saw Cardin and his team of bullies chilling quietly for once in the corner of the cafeteria. "Huh." Naruto grunted at the oddity of it. Usually they're bullying someone, it's a noteworthy change to see him not being a dick. Shrugging off the moment, he continued back to the table.

"Hey Naruto, any luck with Ren yesterday?" Yang asked.

"You, didn't hear?" Naruto asked. From Yang's puzzled look, Naruto took it as a no. "Yeah, something happened yesterday. Ren taught me a meditation technique and..." Naruto found it difficult to put what happened into words.

Apparently Ren caught on and finished for his newest friend, "He had a break through. It was actually pretty impressive."

"Yeah. I feel so much closer to unlocking my semblance now." Naruto said excitedly.

"That's good. You're already halfway through your two weeks." Ruby teased.

"Oh ha, ha Ruby. For your information I have an idea about my semblance." Naruto said as he opened a packet of syrup and poured it over his waffles. He looked up and saw that everyone was looking at him expectantly, "Oh, heh..." Naruto smiled, "This past week we've been trying to force my semblance with combat, right?" The members of team RWBY gave various signs in the affirmative. "I had a dream last night that gave me an interesting idea," he paused to open a milk carton and take a swig. "Maybe we've been using the wrong kind of combat?" he said simply.

"How could we be using the 'wrong kind of combat?'" Weiss asked.

"Well, you know how in games there are three dominant types of character?" Naruto asked, recalling some gaming things he'd read. Most of his friends nod, Weiss being the exception. Everyone looked at her like she had grown horns.

"What? I didn't have time to play games." she huffed.

"Well we've been using the wrong training method. We've been grinding the wrong skills!" Naruto explained. A look of 'what?' crossed most of their faces. Ruby, Yang, and Nora all understood though. "I've had the skills to be a rogue, I mean, I am pretty ninja." Naruto chuckled at his private joke. He stabbed his fork into his waffle and began to cut around it, "But we've been training me up as a warrior class. Maybe I'm a mage?" he said as he chomped into his waffle.

"That's... Actually a good idea." Pyrrha and Weiss said in perfect unison.

"Which is where my next question comes into play," Naruto said as he guzzled the rest of his first milk carton, "Weiss, Ren, could you two help me train to fight with Dust and Aura?"

Author's Note

Okay, so THAT'S this chapter. What did you think? Am I getting better? Either way I'm gonna keep going. Now the real question is, did anyone catch the Bleach references I used? No, I guess the REALLY real question is, how'd my battle sequences read for you? I tried to get as much detail in without overdoing it. Did it work? Did you 'see' what you read?

Now before anyone goes off about Ren not talking that much, consider one tiny detail. THIS IS MY FANFIC. I will take creative freedom wherever and however I so choose.

With that out of the way, please leave me a review. It's the only way you'll be able to tell me what you think, and give tips on how to get better. Help me help you read a better story!

Til next chapter, GetsugaCero out!