I'm back. So! Quick clarification. Naruto "locked" his Aura after it was unlocked in that flashback scene. That's why he doesn't want anyone "unlocking" it for him, nor does he want to be in that type of stressful situation again. And for the guy that said he needs to regain his "flames of youth"…just no.
Disclaimer: first chapter
Chapter 6: A Simple Discovery
Blake sat on a chair in front of Ozpin's desk. The Headmaster calmly examined the slightly distraught face of Blake's. Off to the side, Glynda gave the young woman a blank expression that radiated some form of restrained malice. The two older people were quite alarmed to hear about young Naruto's condition. Hoping to find out more from the primary source, Ozpin asked, "Ms. Belladonna. Could you explain to us what happened?"
"I-I got too curious about him." Blake confessed. "It brought out something he didn't want to remember. It was probably a suppressed memory of a traumatic event." Neither the Headmaster or his subordinate said a thing. It was obvious what happened from the recording. Blake derailed the lighthearted conversation into unknown territory without any tact; completely unexpected of the girl to do based on her quiet demeanor.
"And what did you ask him about that led to his now…unconscious state?"
"That is…" Blake trailed off. She was debating inside her head. Disclosing the truth would further the questions towards the topic of why she was interested in him in the first place. Lying about how she was impressed with his skill, which she did appreciate to some degree, wouldn't garner the same effect as Yang and Ruby's heartfelt appreciation. The way Ozpin stared looked like he knew more than he should, and that was ringing all kinds of alarms she did not want to go off. If she didn't respond, her past would be covered in plausible deniability. If she did, and it went to her predictions, then she would be trust into a past she did not want to connect to anymore. The mere thought of worrying about her words irritated her.
Glynda could not take the girl's silence. "Speak, Ms. Belladonna. What did you say to him to cause such a violent reaction?" Blake stiffened under the woman's petrifying gaze. "Speak clearly and concisely. I will not accept half-truths and weakly structured lies."
Blake could not muster the ability to sigh. She was far too terrified of the woman's increased strictness to even breathe in the same space as her. It was suffocating her to be in the Huntress' presence. Nonetheless, she needed to answer. She did not need to have the woman hound her even more by responding with back talk. "I asked him why he went though the trouble of researching topics that only Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to know." She replied. "It only made sense to ask when he was a civilian who had no place to learn about the technicalities about the lifestyle of a Huntsman or Huntress."
"You…"
"Ms. Belladonna. Clearly tonight's events have stressed you." Ozpin stated clearly. "Your ability to have some tact in your rare responses are nonexistent at the moment. If you are unwilling to give us a normal response, one without your personal opinion inside, I will have to put you in for a small punishment period for harming a staff member of this Academy. Shall we continue this tomorrow in the morning?"
The blonde Huntress was appalled. "Ozpin! This cannot-"
"Glynda…" Ozpin warned. The woman backed off. He turned his focus back onto Blake. "So…will you give us a normal answer now, or shall we do it later?"
Blake built up resolve to respond properly while underneath Glynda's piercing gaze. "I wanted to know why he was interested in topics only Huntsmen and Huntresses should know about." She replied. "He gave me an answer that was vaguely something along the lines of protecting those he cherished. He also told me about his weapon that "Won't work by any normal means" and the "Skill to fight." He told me that despite his goal, combining both skill and his weapon gave him an…empty feeling." She paused. Blake felt trapped between two sets of scrutinizing stares.
"Empty…" Ozpin tested out the word. "What do you mean?"
"His responses lacked resolve. I told him that from his words alone, his soul did not agree with his drive. I told him that in order to have that goal, he must have had something to fear to push himself to get strong for the people he cared about." Neither veteran Hunters could refute the speculation. Many an aspiring Huntsman or Huntress had that same goal; moreover, many of them had the same motivation that originated from fear of their loved ones getting hurt. Neither said anything, and let the young woman complete her retelling. "I…I interrogated him about what caused him to want to protect his loved ones. He didn't know."
"He didn't know what drove him to that goal?"
"Not at all." Blake replied. "But…after a few moments of pondering, a sharp pain entered his head. It's probably a scene of his trauma. He fell to his knees, and muttered something I barely heard."
Ozpin narrowed his eyes at Blake's hidden lie. She really needed to accept her background as a Faunus. "And that is?"
"He's the cause of his own limitations." Blake paraphrased. "Whatever his trauma, he cannot access his Aura because of it. In fact his Aura is unlocked, but is only there at the bare minimum."
Glynda was surprised by the statement. "You could sense his Aura? But I've been in such close proximity, and I haven't felt a shred of it!"
"Like I said, it's weak." Blake reiterated. "But it's slowly rising probably due to his exposure to combat and due to the fact that he'd been stressed through your efforts to learn something when he should be cleaning." Neither adults took to refuting the claim. "It's as if his broken soul was being mended slowly. During that fight today, I saw a more confident young man. Now…"
"Then you broke it. His resolve, his confidence, you've shattered them." Ozpin said without missing a beat. The bluntness of his words startled Blake. Though she couldn't say she didn't expect it. It was her fault she was in this situation at all. "It seemed time healed his forgotten wound, and you reopened them. Now there he is, on a hospital bed unable to wake up for some unknown amount of time. Is this how a former White Fang member should treat her up and coming lord?"
Blake jumped off her seat away from Ozpin and Glynda, and crouched on all fours like a cat when she landed. 'I should have known this man knew something about me…but why this of all secrets?!' Her panicked thoughts spiraled further into plans of escape, ways to buy time, or even a way to lie and justify her violent reaction. 'This is not my day…' She told herself.
Ozpin stood up from his chair. "Relax, Ms. Belladonna. I care not of your previous affiliations with that group." That did not satisfy the young woman. "I simply care for the heir of that group." Now it only grated her even more. Ozpin supposed it's because of the rare concept of a human caring about Faunus.
"And why would a human care about a Faunus heir to the high seat of the White Fang?!" Blake snarled. She did not care about her open identity as a Faunus. She cared about the Headmaster's agenda with the heir. The heir of the White Fang under the hands of humans is quite the ace hidden in their sleeves. "Is it because of Cielo Fiamma? Is he a bargaining chip to make the Faunus surrender? What is he to you?"
Glynda stepped forward. "The better question is what is he to you?" She asked in her normal stern tone. "His guardian gave us the responsibility to watch for him. We are to keep him away from the White Fang, and make him competent enough to handle the threats coming for him." Her eyes narrowed. "You are a potential threat. We have every right to question you either for the sake of it or not. Your identity as a former White Fang member adds to your suspicion."
"Don't be hasty, Glynda." Ozpin said. "Let us hear what she has to say. I'm sure jumping to conclusions will only lead to more problems in the long run." The Headmaster offered the seat in front of him once more. "Shall we have a proper discussion once more, Ms. Belladonna?" she nodded. "Then the first question to address. What is he to you?"
"Heeeeey! Big bro! Wake up!" A brash and childish voice shouted.
"Big brother…" Another one meekly called.
"BIG BRO NARU!" Chorused a choir of children.
The noise reached his ears. A set of blue eyes opened up halfway. "Hm? What's with all the racket? Rom? Rem? You two making trouble for Granny? Wait…that's just you Rem." The comment got an indignant "Hey!" from the child. "I'm probably dreaming this up. Better get some more sleep." Naruto's eyes closed to resume rest.
"Like hell you are!" A woman shouted as she bonked the young man's head. The impact shook the boy awake. It sent him sitting upright and alert. The young man looked left, right, up, and down. The image processed slowly, but in time he realized what he was looking at.
"Everyone?! What are you doing here?"
His head was patted on. "We can't see our dearest little Maelstrom?" Asked a woman with black hair tied in a ponytail. She then proceeded to rub the organized chaos that was Naruto's hair. "That hurt us, Naruto." Naruto was uncomfortable with the woman messing with his hair, but did not stop her from doing it. "You passing out for three days also hurt us."
"Big sis...Camellia…" He said with awe. "Why are you here? Wai-What did you say?" Naruto thought he misheard.
One of the young ones sat on the bed. It was Rom. "Big bro…you've been in bed for three days. What happened?" Rom asked the blond. "We were really worried."
"Um…I've just been working too hard, and didn't rest well." Naruto lied through his teeth. "I guess my body didn't like that. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Now now, Rom. Off of the bed." Lupa ordered the child. The young one complied, and leaped off the bed. "Now I need to talk about boring things with Naruto. Would you and the others go outside, and stay there for a bit?"
"Okay." He said. The others followed the meek boy out the room in an orderly fashion.
"Caesar." A red-haired fourteen-year-old perked up at the call. "Could you take watch of the children? Camellia, Lily, Chamomile, and I need to talk about something serious with Naruto." The tank-top and shorts wearing teen nodded, and saw himself out of the room to give the adults plus one young adult the privacy they needed. The remaining adults in the room now stared at the young man.
"What really happened?" Lupa asked. Naruto hesitated in answering. How could he tell them? How could he say to their faces that as a child, he murdered people? Accidental or not, he killed them to save a girl that no doubt died in that fire. He was weak to do anything then. He's still weak to do anything meaningful now. "Keeping silent won't help. If you don't speak up, I could have Chamomile force your hand by using the method you hate so much." Chamomile smiled mischievously. Her frizzy silver hair with yellow tips did not shield her circular spectacles that shined momentarily as if inspecting prey or a specimen.
Naruto flinched. He sighed since there's nothing he could hide from them. "I remembered a fire…and a hostage situation."
Lupa was alarmed. She knew the day when his memory resurfaced would come. She just hoped it was a calm reaction. "What happened?"
"I burned the criminals…and the hostage." Naruto answered morbidly. "I was a murderer and I didn't even remember!"
Lupa and the others were silent. They remembered the scene all too well. The young man in front of them was the only one to survive the inferno in that abandoned building. The heat and flames were so intense. Violent. Desperate. It burned the whole building to save someone, but failed. Whoever it was inside the building, he or she was long gone. The flame only grew as it ate at the young man's anguish and desire to burn his failure out of his head. That flame indeed cleansed all. Nothing was left of the building. No ordinary water could extinguish it. No Dust could remove the flame.
Nothing could stop it until the young man stopped grieving.
"It was an accident." Camellia told Naruto. "You didn't mean it."
"My Aura burned her!" Naruto pointed out. "My Aura and weapons burned her and everyone else. They were barbecued." He snarled as he balled up his hands into fists that clung to the blanket on his lap. The adults could see the pain Naruto suffered. The young man lowered his head out of shame and grief. The agony of that event from all those years ago resurfaced. The foreign feeling of tears welled up in his eyes returned. The long-forgotten emotion of frustration boiled in him. "I may not have meant it, but she still died! Sage still died in the end. I was trying to save her dammit! She didn't have to- How can I live with myself for doing this to her?"
A woman in a white summer dress and silver armor fashioned like a knight's crossed her arms. "You could accept that what has happened cannot be changed." Lily spoke up. "Or you could wallow in pity and grief for something you couldn't control. It's your choice." Everyone kept quiet. The sheer tactlessness of the statement shocked everyone because they did not expect the woman, whose known for compassion, completely go against the idea. "But did you forget that man's words? Did you forget his words of wisdom to you?"
"That man?" Camellia asked Lily for clarification.
"She means him." Chamomile vaguely answered as she adjusted her glasses. Camellia finally understood who they were talking about, and kept quiet. They watched and waited for the young man to speak. When it was clear he wouldn't or wouldn't, they let him ponder a bit longer on the past. It was when his tight fists got even tighter that Lily left the room since she received her answer from him. Neither Chamomile nor Camellia dared to stop Lily. Her tough love act was one thing Naruto needed to get out of this rut.
"Naruto." Lupa called out to the frustrated boy. "We will let you be. You can grieve for as long as you want. However, if you don't change in the end, then you will trample upon Mr. Fiamma's words. Are you willing to break your promise to him?" She asked before she left the room. Only Chamomile and Camellia remained.
"I've already broken that promise…" Naruto muttered. "I've lost my flames. I won't be able to use my Aura again…"
"What?! He's awake?!"
"You can't go in there yet, pretty lady!"
"Why not?"
"Big bro is still having big people talk with Big sis Chamo and Cam!"
"I'm sure they're pretty much done-"
"Yang! Don't just-"
"Hey! You all right, Moppenstein?" Yang happily shouted in her overly boisterous and energetic demeanor. She then opened her eyes to see the dejected expression and body language in the young man she wanted to see. Two sets of eyes stared hostilely at the blonde. She backed off. Her back collided with a panicking Ruby, who pushed her deeper into the room. Blake followed moments after.
"I apologize for my teammate's actions." Blake said with a bow. "We'll leave now."
"Belladonna." Naruto called.
"Yes?"
"You wanted to know why I wanted to learn about things that make a Huntsman a Huntsman right?" He asked with the aim of not hearing an answer. "I did that to somehow gain access to my Aura without resorting to unlocking it by the help of one or get into a deadly situation. I did that so that I can fight to protect properly. But you already know that part." He explained clearly and concisely. "Thanks to our conversation, I found out my Aura is suppressed to the point of near nonexistence. You were right. My soul really wasn't into the idea."
"You were holding yourself back unintentionally." Blake said. "Why?"
"I can't control my power." He said. "I won't ever be able to."
"Do you know why the Fiamma has no ability to use his Aura?"
Blake looked confused. "Didn't I just tell you?"
Ozpin leaned back on his chair, and popped open an article via hologram. "Oh you were right for the most part. You just didn't know the cause of his trauma." Blake and Glynda stared at the man with shocked eyes.
"You knew?" The older woman asked.
"It's the reason why I was letting him build trust in us." Ozpin answered. "To rush things like this allowed for such a giant setback. No doubt he will be in a misplaced state of self-pity." Both women were left out of the loop by Ozpin's words. "This here article says that a raging fire started at around the nightly hours of seven. This fire did not cease to burn until the very next day in around the same hour. By then the building had nothing to set itself apart from the flames. I believe that firefighters were faced with only a wall of flame. Water would not stop it. Dust could not help. Such a flame was caused by Naruto himself; it was his Aura that burned it down." Blake was astonished by the facts being presented to her. She did not know the exact abilities nor the properties of a Fiamma's Aura. This was new to her; her family's stories of the Fiamma family's feats told her nothing of the intensity of their flame. Sure they cleared out a battlefield, but it did not stay for a day.
"Why?" She questioned. "Why would he do such a thing?"
"In that building, approximately seventy-five people, not including Naruto, were charred black. One of them, a little girl's. Now in this building, a known gang hid there. This girl was in the arms of one of the gang members. One of the other members, what's left of him, was on top of Naruto." Ozpin let them fit the pieces of the puzzle into the picture it made. "Do you see the cause of his trauma?" Blake understood. It was the error caused by desperation and inexperience.
"I can tell you this much, Naruto. Mistakes can't be fixed. We can only move forward from them. The past will haunt us, but we must be able to handle them. I've made mistakes of my own that I'm willing to forgive myself and move past from. The reason why I want to move forward from them is because I know they don't define who I am, but rather a piece of it. They are not the whole of my being. Question is...do you let your mistake get to you and define you, or will you acknowledge it and reimagine yourself?" Blake proceeded to grab Yang's collar, and pulled the protesting blonde out the room. Ruby left as well, but not without looking back with worry in her eyes.
Naruto's eyes were glazed. No focus or drive to them. She wanted to say something to cheer him up, but could not find the words that may achieve that purpose. She only hoped that he would be better soon, and that he would accept his abilities in the future.
And that's it folks. What do you think of this one? Not much going on in terms of action, but I hope this was a bunch of characterization for the important people in this chapter. The question remains: What does Blake think of Naruto?
Review, follow, favorite, I don't care.
This is Azure signing off.
