1 Year after Naruto's Escape from the House
"Menma, tell me. Why? Why did you decide to help me? Do not be confused, I am eternally grateful, but I am merely confused. Every other member of the house was content to sit and watch me become cattle. A Blood Bank. And yet, you, a no-name member of the house, had decided to help me. Seemingly, without wanting any form of reward. Or Prize. So tell me, why?" Naruto questioned, as he spun a kunai with his index finger, through the ring on it's handle.
"Well, that's simple, Naruto. My Family, before we were assimilated into the house, had kept a long running history of our family, passed down through every generation. We had Originated from an older age, of men and beasts sharing the same body. And, do you know what brought this age about? Blood. The Blood of The Gods. It was empowering. It was intoxicating. It was corruptive. The World Dissolved into Blood-Dazed Men, or Beasts. Hunters were dispatched, but even they could not help resolve the issue. Eventually, the Moon Goddess, was graceful. The World was swept clean by her mighty broom, only those that were clean, that were pure, were left. My Family was one of those who were pure. We hated every moment after we were assimilated into the house, before My Father realized that the stories told to him by his father were not stories. And, after he passed, he gave me one last quest. Seemingly the Destiny of our Family. End Your Bloodline." Menma replied, staring at Naruto intensely.
Naruto did not budge, knowing fully that, Had Menma decided to kill him, he would've done it earlier. Naruto's eyes remained dull, as he continuously spun the Kunai. "And what made you disobey his request?" Inquired Naruto, trying to find some insight into the older man's thoughts. Despite being 11, Naruto had the mind of a sage.
Menma sighed as he heaved himself up, strapping a sword in it's sheathe on his back, before grasping the long cloaks that the pair had been using since they escaped the house. "That's also simple. You are special. Not your blood. You. I can sense it. There's something about you, that will simply not allow me to kill you. It's just… Almost Telepathic. And, I have done some analysis of your blood. It's not corruptive like the Blood of the Old. It's… Odd. Despite the overindulgence of the House, they have not become beasts. It truly is strange. Either way, you do not have to worry about me killing you. I don't think I'd be able to anymore anyway. Having the Blood in your veins is much more empowering than having it in your stomach." Menma explained, grasping the boy's shoulder comfortingly, before leading him out of the hideout they had chosen for that month.
"Anyway, enough talk. We are out to meet someone, so that you can be properly taken care of." Menma told Naruto, before coughing once he saw the Deathly Glare in Naruto's eyes. "Menma, you do well enough of a job providing for me. I fail to see the logic behind involving anyone else in this." Naruto nearly growled, despite still walking behind the ravenette.
"Maaa… They're already involved anyway. They have been providing your clothes since day one. Besides, they're nice." Menma informed, purposefully playing the pronoun game because it amused him to see Naruto become so calculative.
"Her Name's Glynda Naruto, and you'd better make sure you don't piss her off. Well, actually…" Menma put his hand on his chin, stroking it as the pair walked throughout the city, "You'd be better to not… Disturb her 'peace'. Glynda'ssss…. A Stern woman." Menma fumbled, trying to explain who they were about to meet, before he was hit on the head with a riding crop.
"Don't be filling the boy's head with lies! I'm Perfectly Nice!" Shout/Said Glynda, glaring at Menma, who was busy rubbing his head. That little crop hurt! Naruto observed the woman, watching as he cooled down, before making eye contact with him. Glynda also began to stare at Naruto, with that same calculative gaze. Naruto narrowed his eyes, before speaking calmly. "I appreciate your help in providing me clothes. I would've shown gratitude earlier, had I known." Naruto thanked, though he did not give up his gaze.
"You are welcome. It warms my heart to be able to help those in need, especially youths like you." Explained Glynda, also not giving up her gaze. "I'd appreciate if you'd not refer to me as 'in need'. I was perfectly fine, with or without the clothes. However, they did help." Naruto chided, challenging the woman with his eyes.
Glynda stared at the boy, before raising her crop slowly, then suddenly latching it to her side. "Alright then, little Naru-chan," Naruto's eyes twitched a little as she turned around, "I shall refer to you as… Mini-me." Menma burst out laughing, grapsing Naruto's shoulder and grabbing his stomach.
"Hahahahaha! Glynda never makes jokes! Hooo! She must really like you Naruto! HA! YO-YOU REALLY ARE A MINI-GLYNDA! HAHAHAHA! I NEVER NOTICED!" Shouted Menma, laughing, before receiving two blows to the head, one from Glynda's crop, and one form Naruto's fist.
Present.
Naruto walked around the outskirts of Beacon Academy, hands stuffed in his pockets, head down, eyes watching his feet as he went about his business. It had been a day since Angela had attacked him. Since she had told the RWBY team. It had been a day since Naruto had seen, let alone spoken to, said team. He'd been avoiding everyone since he walked away from Glynda, furiously wiping away his tears.
Naruto wasn't quite sure what he was going to do about the team. Or about Glynda. Or about Angela. Hell, Naruto wasn't sure what could do, period. However, Naruto knew that he was thankful that Students didn't have to attend classes on the weekends. The School Rules were truly a godsend, in that regard. As Naruto was walking, he began to notice that he could sense a presence behind him, two in fact. Trailing him, but keeping their distance. Naruto could only guess who'd they be.
"Whoever is following me, make yourselves visible. Before I lose my temper." Naruto called out, turning around and lifting his head, to find a woman with a pale complexion, and long, black hair. She had amber eyes, and was wearing a red dress with glowing orange patterns. To The woman's left was a woman with green hair and a tanned complexion. Red eyes, and was wearing little in the clothing department.
"Who are you? Some students looking to play a prank on a teacher? Some Civies? What? Come on." Ordered Naruto, standing across from the two.
The Woman with the pale skin motioned to the tanned one, who stepped forward and began to speak. "We are here to provide you an offer. The woman behind me is Cinder, Cinder Falls. She has trouble speaking, which is why she had me accompany her, otherwise she would've come alone. You have abilities that she finds incredibly interesting, furthermore, she finds them useful. She would also like for you to be her spy within Beacon. If you refuse, she will kill you where you stand." Informed the Woman with the Green Hair, prompting Naruto to look into the Amber Eyes of the pale woman.
"Kill me huh? I wonder how many times I've been threatened like that… Hmm… Too many. Anyway, anything else? Like, for example, what's in it for me?" Naruto questioned, still staring into the Amber Eyes. Naruto found that they were...enticing. It almost bothered him.
"Well, you'd have access to large Dust Inventories," "Don't use the stuff." "As well as opportunities to make massive amounts of Lien." "I make enough from Missions. Your organization must really suck to not have enough information on me to truly entice me. I mean, come on, you must have done some research." The Green-Haired woman looked to the pale one, who ignored her.
The Pale Woman walked all the way over to Naruto, snaking her arm around his head, and pulling herself closer, until she whispered in his ear, "We can also help you with your house problem." At the woman's whisper, an involuntary shiver went through Naruto's body, and some blood went south. Naruto whispered back, "And what makes you think I have a house problem?" Questioned Naruto, causing the woman to pull back and turn around.
"My leader is very interested in your blood, and she will have it. Until next time, N~A~R~U~T~O-Kun…" The Woman whispered, much like she had before. Another pleasurable shiver went through Naruto's body as she walked away, prompting Naruto to turn around and walk away as well. God, that woman… The Things she can get my body to do… Lord have Mercy, that was hot. Naruto thought to himself, finding that he was flustered more than he'd like to admit.
How does she know about the House? They are an incredibly well hidden organization… Unless… They've been trying to enlist help to capture me… Naruto began to go into his calculative trance, the term coined by Menma, as he walked back into the center of the campus, heading towards the training halls.
No, that doesn't make sense. Then they'd have to explain why they want me so badly… And they'd know that speaking of the House would make me more wary of any potential Bounty Hunters they send, which means that woman wouldn't of mentioned it… Naruto continued to ponder, even as he entered an already occupied training hall, sitting down and rubbing his chin in thought, intently staring at the ground as he slouched over.
Blake, who had been patiently waiting for her spar with Weiss while watching Yang and Ruby's spar, picked up the sounds of footprints, prompting her to look over at the entrance of the hall, intent on telling whichever team had arrived that it was occupied, before jumping slightly when she saw her Semblance and Aura understand teacher slump to the floor, clearly in thought. Blake noticed that no-one else on her team seemed to notice the man, so Blake took it upon herself to approach him.
"Hello? -Naruto?" Blake quickly corrected herself, remembering how her Teacher had instructed them to call him Naruto when he wasn't teaching them. Naruto shook his head slightly, looking up, only to widen his eyes when he noticed a member of RWBY standing in front of him. Naruto quickly went to get up and leave, only to be put back down by the Ravenette girl. "It's alright, Naruto. I don't hate you for what Angela told us, I only want to ask you some things, so please, calm down, alright?" Blake stated, sternly, yet soft and caring at the same time.
Naruto slumped down, holding his head in his hands, wide eyes staring at the ground in a defeated form. Blake crouched in front of the man, before resting her head on her knees, eyes staring sadly at the floor. "I know you might not believe me, but I really don't hate you or anything. I can understand what you're going through. Having lost what you kept close to you…" Blake trailed off, remembering her decision to leave the White Fang, or, more importantly, Adam. "And, I can also sympathize with being hated for something out of your control…" At her words, Naruto looked up, his keen sense of smell coming in handy when he smelt the air.
Naruto whispered, as he stared at the girl's bow, "You're a, a Faunus, aren't you?" At his words, Blake shot her head up, looking around her, until Naruto's hand clasped her shoulder. "I understand, you're secret's safe with me, alright? Just, promise me, in time, you'll tell them, okay?" Requested Naruto, motioning towards the rest of team RWBY.
"I-I don't know…" trailed off Blake, who was huddling closer into herself. "It's alright, take your time. It took me over 10 months to tell my team about my… did she tell you about it?" Questioned Naruto, twiddling his thumbs while waiting for the girl's response, which was a small nod.
"How did, how'd your team take it?" Questioned Naruto, staring intently at Blake. "I don't know about the others, but it, at least for me, made me feel closer to you, even though this is the first time we've really talked at all. It's just, easier to connect with someone you can also sympathize with, you know?" Answered Blake, staring into Naruto's sapphire eyes.
Naruto smiled softly, before leaning on the wall. "Yea, I know. Oh, and Blake," The Girl nodded slightly, "I think that the Faunus really are just people. And, while they have some… extra bits about them, it doesn't change who they are. It doesn't change that they have emotion, that they have families, that they have attachments. In fact, I think it makes them cooler. They are that much more unique in a world where everyone is striving to set themselves apart." Naruto stated, explaining his philosophy on Faunus.
Blake smiled at his words, before taking a seat next to him, slumping against the wall like he was. "I'm… sorry about what happened to your team. I'm also sorry that Angela is being so stupid." Blake expressed, before seeing Naruto's head shake in a negative. "Angela isn't being stupid. She's grieving. Angela never handled loss well, hell, she pouted for a month when she lost her favorite shirt. Heh. Angela has changed so much." Naruto looked up, at the ceiling. "She used to be so different. Now, she's taken so many things from Nikki and Kishka's personalities. She's trying to keep them alive, through her. It's only making it harder for her to let go. *Sniff*. It's sad. Everytime I see her, it reminds me of my failure. How I couldn't do my job as their protector, when it mattered." Tears began to slowly form in Naruto's eyes, as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. Unknowing to Naruto, the rest of RWBY had gathered after his opinion on Faunus, just missing hearing about Blake's secret.
Naruto continued to stare at the ceiling, before continuing. "It's so... hard. I'll never get to hit Kishka over the head when he tries to start a fight, flexing his muscles. Heh, he was such a show-off. And, I'll never get to experience those, ever so rare moments where Nikki would actually speak. Her voice… It was so, glorious. I don't think I've ever heard a more beautiful sound." At this point, tears were dripping off of Naruto's jaw line. "I'll never smile when Kishka quickly defends me from the other freshman teams. I'll never get to stare in awe as Nikki speaks of the world, with her unique insight on everything truly challenging the way I look at the world. But, most of all, I'll never get to experience the tranquility of simply sitting in our dorm, a comfortable silence as we all just… enjoy the company of each other. We had become a family, and… Because of me… Half of that Family is gone."
SO! After such a long hiatus, I am back with More Old Blood! Finally! If you enjoyed, don't forget to drop a review and let me know! And, if you'd truly like to support me, go to my FanFiction Bio, click the link to my YouTube, and Subscribe! Anyway, please, as always, continue to read only my stories. I mean, come on, how couldn't you?
