And we're back! Welcome to Embers of a Shinobi, Chapter 9!

Dammit! I missed the chance for a joke and I didn't even notice until now! At the end of chapter 6, Cinder asked Naruto what happened to him. I absolutely should have instead put "Following Roman when he told me to was the worst idea ever…of all time." I love putting references to other things and I missed my chance to!

Didn't realize it until I watched some episodes again, but deflecting, blocking, and dodging gunfire isn't exactly an uncommon thing in RWBY, is it?

Why do people keep saying "hunter" instead of "huntsman?" Is hunter an actual term used in canon, or are people just getting confused with Hunter x Hunter?


firebluebird2006: What, the gunblade? That was the entire point of getting another weapon. Now he has one to use in public and another to use as Kitsune.

Phiver: Thanks for the advice, I'll bring it in a bit. And it's exactly for that reason that I wanted to have him not attend Beacon. Too many stories go that route.

NeoNazo356: I have a lot of fun writing his interactions with Roman.

Alpha Stigma55: Thinking about it, but I'm not really sure. I've contemplated him having a battle style and attacks from other anime/games, but I don't know if it's a good idea.

SHMANDER: Sorry, but I'm lazy. I still think that a (Pretty much) weekly basis with chapters that are all at least around 7k words is way better than a lot of the other stories on this site.

DJexe: I so wanted to! A big reason why I didn't was because I already felt as if I was pushing the Phantasy Star stuff by giving him weapons and an outfit from it.

EmeraldRaidenKyo: Assuming you are right, why the hell would I spoil that?

5-digit: Um…Thanks for the chance…? I guess? But really, I thought it was somewhat reasonable, but I can also see how some people would disagree. As for the younger age thing, I admit to not being sure if I can pull it off completely, but I'm giving it a shot.

dracohalo117: The problem with that is that Pre-Shippuden Naruto didn't exactly have a wide skillset, so I'm kinda limited.

Agurra of the Darkness: As long as I want him to. :P And how do you know that he knows something is up?

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Nah. If it comes down to it, I might use a time skip to speed things up a bit, but I at least want to try making one arc.

Guest: That made me laugh a bit. Sorry, but unless I just can't sit still and am bursting with enthusiasm, then it isn't too likely you will be getting something sooner than 5 days later.

Dark Daruin: Ah, I tried saying it last chapter, but I guess it wasn't too clear. Naruto wound up getting a different weapon than the one Weiss helped him with.

TheFanfictioner623: You ask questions that lead to things that I don't want to talk about yet. As for the update schedule, I'm kind of off schedule right now. I want to eventually get it back to where this story is updated over the weekend and Twilight Key during the week, but laziness is a strong force.

hellspartan177: The pairing poll is going to stay open until we get to the point that I want to start adding a pairing. Just go to my profile to vote.

trninjakiller: No problem, I understand. You have no idea how grateful I am that you were able to say that in a mature manner instead of just criticizing everything I have.

Guest: Thanks! Writing can be kind of fun. The only real problem is the small feeling of being obligated to keep it going when you want to be lazy.

The Collection: The pairing poll is going to stay open until we get to the point that I want to start adding a pairing. Just go to my profile to vote.


Anyways, on with the story!

I don't own Naruto or RWBY. I'm just a broke college student...


Normal Talking: "Insert witty remark here."

Normal Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'

Biju/Deity Talking: "Insert witty remark here."

Biju/Deity Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'

Scene Change: Insert Place Here

Jutsu/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here


Warehouse

A small smile worked its way onto Naruto's face as he read the newest message from Ruby. It looks like she had been made into the leader of the team she was on, one that Yang was on as well. She didn't say who the other teammates were, but he hoped that they would be fine with a girl that was younger than them being the leader…of their team that was called RWBY.

Did Ozpin like bad puns or something?

"Hey, you ready?" He glanced up to see Emerald standing in front of him.

Nodding, he shot off a quick reply to Ruby before getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'm good to go." He followed her over to the spot that Roman, Mercury, and Cinder were standing. As they drew near, Naruto picked up the sound of Roman expressing his irritation at Cinder's newest plan.

"Let me get this straight…" Roman began. "You mean to tell me that after everything I've been through to steal the stuff, you want to just give it away?" There was no mistaking the disbelief in his voice.

Cinder turned to him with a calm gaze. "Saying that I want to give it away is not how you should be looking at this. Instead, think of it as…persuading them to work with us."

"I'm pretty sure they've already expressed their disinterest!"

"Yes, they have." Cinder allowed. "But that is why we are bringing a peace offering this time. Something that will sweeten the deal."

Despite her reassurances, Roman still looked irritated and skeptical, but when he was about to say something, Naruto spoke up. "And if they still wish to have nothing to do with us?" His question caused all eyes to turn to him. "What then?" He asked.

"…" Cinder was quiet for a moment as she considered her response. "If such an outcome comes to pass, then we will have to help them reconsider." She finally said.

Her choice of words made Naruto frown minutely. "We will force them?"

"Only to get them to listen." She assured. "It is very likely that they will act in a hostile manner without even giving us the chance to speak. If that happens, then I think it is only fair that we act in kind, but only to get a chance to speak. I'm sure that they will change their attitude once they learn that we are willing to pay them."

"But still…" Naruto hesitated.

Cinder placed a hand on his shoulder with a small smile on her face. "I promise you, it will only be a last resort and we won't go any further than subduing them." She doubted that they would reconsider at all if they did any more than that.

After taking a minute to think, Naruto slowly nodded. "…Fine…" Cinder's smile grew.

"Perfect. Then is everyone fine with proceeding?" Her gaze landed on Roman.

Slumping his shoulders, Roman released a defeated sigh. "Very well, if you must." It was at that point that a loud crash echoed from the other side of the warehouse, making his eyebrow twitch. "On second thought, I'm all for it. Anything to make it so I don't have to deal with these blithering idiots!" He turned and stormed off to locate the latest henchman to gain his ire. The sight of this made Naruto, Emerald, and Mercury smirk a bit.

It was always amusing to see Roman get worked up.


Naruto was barely able to withhold a groan at their current situation.

"You have a lot of guts to come back here." The male sentry that they came across last time said. The difference was that last time, he only had one other person with him. This time, they were surrounded by at least ten people, all with guns that were pointed at them and scowls on the visible portion of their faces.

Cinder glanced around. "Please, just as the last time, we have only come to talk.

The leader shook his head. "Not happening. Adam has made it clear that you aren't welcome here. Leave. Now." He ordered.

"I'm afraid that I must insist."

"Insist all you like; it isn't going to change anything." He raised his gun, making them tense. "You won't get another warning. Leave."

As always, Cinder had a calm expression on her face, as if they weren't only a second away from being fired at. "Very well." She made eye contact with the others. The White Fang members noticed the interaction and prepared themselves.

It was over for half of them before they even knew it started.

Out of nowhere, five of their members were struck in the back of the neck and knocked out. As their bodies crumpled to the ground, the still conscious members yelled in surprise and spun their guns around at the people who had gotten the jump on them. The moment that they saw replicas of Kitsune standing over them, they knew they had made a mistake.

Emerald, Mercury, and Naruto all rushed in different directions towards the remaining members. While two of them opened fire on the clones, the other three jerked their attention back.

Naruto ducked under the bullets of the leader and delivered a said strike to his gut. Seeing that this wasn't enough, he followed up with an elbow to his temple.

The grunt that shot at Emerald stopped firing in confusion when all of his bullets phased right through her body. Before his thoughts could get any further than astonishment, the back of a gun made contact with his head, sending him to the ground.

Mercury simply jumped into the air to avoid the attack and aimed his boots at the grunt. When he had a lock, he shot white projectiles at the grunt, catching her off guard and incapacitating her.

Cinder looked around and saw that the other grunts had already been taken care of by Naruto's clones. Picking up a briefcase with each hand, she spoke up. "We need to move quickly. If we hurry, we can get to them camp before they realize that we are here." She got three nods in return and they broke out into a swift pace.

The group only came upon a few more White Fang members as they got closer to the camp, but each of them were knocked out right away. Naruto's clones were still acting as scouts and the first line of defense in the trees.

Soon, the camp came into view and with it, a much greater amount of White Fang members. The populace of the camp seemed to be surprised by the sudden intrusion, but they soon recovered and took out their weapons.

Naruto's eyes swept over the camp and counted the number of people there. 'Thirty...Not too bad, but I can't tell how many more are in the tents.' His thoughts were cut off when the first grunt charged him with a sword. Naruto unsheathed his gunblade and parried the attack. With the opening created, he twirled around his sword and drove the hit into the grunt's stomach. The grunt didn't even hit the ground when Naruto blurred away to get at the next one.

None of them posed any sort of significant difficulty to subdue, but the fact that they were willing to go for the kill made up for the fact because Naruto's group wasn't aiming for deaths.

Off to the side, Naruto absently noted that Emerald and Mercury were back to back while they worked together to fight. They knew each other's battle styles and personalities well enough to play off of one another and cover when needed. Cinder stood off to the side a bit, calm as always and with several grunts splayed out in a ring around her. Whenever one got close, they would find a weak fireball impacting their gut. The smarter ones with guns decided to shoot at her, but Cinder simply blocked all of the shots.

Naruto kicked the legs of another grunt out from under him and shot his free hand out to grab the back of his hood. With his balance destroyed, the grunt was unable to resist when Naruto spun in a circle and used some chakra to send him headfirst into a comrade.

Not wasting time to watch the result, Naruto leaned back to avoid the swipe of a sword and latched his hand around the offending limb's wrist. Tugging the grunt closer, Naruto drove the hilt of his sword into her stomach.

Jumping back, Naruto risked a glance around the camp. Most of the grunts were taken out by then, but there were still a few fighting back.

"What is this?!" Naruto turned his attention to a nearby tent when Adam and the muscular White Fang member ran out. Adam quickly took in the scene before turning to them with his blade raised, the man doing the same with a chainsaw.

Cinder turned to him. "We could have gone to anyone for help." She handed the briefcases to Emerald and Mercury. "But we chose you, Adam Taurus."

"You ask for help by barging in on our camp and attacking us?" Adam growled.

"It was a necessary step to make you hear us out."

"I already told you that the White Fang has no interest in subjugating ourselves to you! Much less for your human cause!"

Adam's shout made Cinder shake her head. "I assure you, our plan will be beneficial for the both of us." She nodded to Emerald and Mercury. At her signal, the two of them kneeled down and opened the cases, showing their contents to Adam. One of the cases was revealed to contain a large amount of money while the other held dust crystals. "We apologize for our actions, but all I ask is for a few minutes of your time." Some of the grunts spread throughout the camp were beginning to regain consciousness.

"..." Adam eyed the cases, his interest caught. "Talk. Now." He ordered.

Nodding, Cinder continued. "I'm well aware that the White Fang is a large faction with many members and plans spread throughout the kingdoms. With such a widespread operation, there must be a substantial cost to maintain it." She gestured to the cases. "We are willing to fund your needs, whether it be dust, lien, or even weaponry, in return for a partnership. What you see in front of you is merely a small part of what you would receive." Murmurs swept throughout the camp.

"The thefts you enact upon various dust shipments have been earning less and less, haven't they? While I'm sure that part of the reason you do it is to strike back against the Schnee Dust company, the dust itself must also be a driving factor." Cinder said. "Agree to work with us and you won't need to limit yourselves only to operations that would reap some type of physical reward."

"...You talk of a partnership, but that would only lead to you telling us how to work. You will interfere with the very core of our operations!" Adam claimed.

"We will not change how the White Fang does things. All we want is some cooperation between our groups when needed. Perhaps some manpower or access to a certain territory. The important decisions would be left up to you. That isn't a fact we are looking to change."

"Even if what you are saying is true, that doesn't change the fact that you are asking us to fight for a human cause!"

Cinder shook her head. "I have already told you repeatedly that our plan will be beneficial for the both of us. Not only would cooperating yield desirable results, you will also be paid to do so."

Adam grit his teeth and gripped his sword tighter, obviously reluctant to relent. His agitation was heightened by the fact that everything she said was correct, from the current resources of the White Fang to how hard it is to keep up their activities. "…Fine. We will work with you. But if you do not keep up your end of the deal, I will kill you."

A small smile graced Cinder's lips. "Wonderful. Now then, should we proceed to discuss things in further detail now or wou-"

"Wait." Adam's abrupt interruption irked Cinder, but she hid it well.

She raised an eyebrow in question. "Yes?"

"I will agree to this alliance between the White Fang and your group, but under one condition." Adam said.

Although slightly hesitant, Cinder eventually nodded her head. "That is reasonable."

"It better be. If you want my men to go out and fight for you, then you better be willing to have your men do the same."

Cinder's mouth twitch down minutely. "…I don't think-"

Adam snarled. "I don't give a damn what you think! If you aren't willing to do it, then why should we?!" His hand slowly started to move towards his blade, which in turn made Emerald and Mercury prepare themselves for a fight.

"…Very well. What did you have in mind?"

Relaxing a bit, Adam looked over the group of humans, his eyes landing on Naruto, who couldn't suppress a frown. "You. You will join in on a raid we have planned. The skills of Kitsune will prove to be a valuable asset."

Emerald quickly got to her feet and took a step forward with a glare. "H-hold on. You can't ju-"

"Shut up, human!" Emerald flinched, but held her glare. "I'm talking to him." Adam turned back to Naruto. "The last time we spoke, you claimed to be willing to do things you don't like doing. Prove it." His sneer deepened. "Or was that all talk from a brat that didn't know what he was getting into?" Everyone was silent as they waited for Naruto's response.

Cinder stepped up to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid that we must decline. If there isn't another way to prove our dedication then-"

"Fine." Naruto's quiet voice stopped Cinder and made her turn to him in surprise.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. If that's what it takes, then fine. I'll join you for the raid."

Adam smirked. "Good."

"What are we raiding?" Naruto asked.

Motioning for them to follow him, Adam and the muscular man turned back towards the command tent. As they walked away, the crowd slowly dispersed. Once they were all in the tent and standing around the table, Adam pointed out the schematics of a large ship.

"There is a Schnee Dust Company shipment coming in tomorrow night. According to our intel, it is carrying a decent amount of dust."

Naruto slowly nodded. "So we just go in, secure the dust, and get out?"

"Yes."

"What does security look like?" Cinder asked.

Adam picked up a piece of paper and looked it over. "Nothing much is confirmed, but we can expect to see the typical Atlesian military defense robots. Maybe a couple humans, but it will be simple enough to…get rid of them."

The way Adam said that made Naruto glare at him. "We aren't killing anyone." The White Fang commander slowly put down the paper and look at Naruto with a scowl.

"What?"

Scowling in return, Naruto didn't back down at the tone. "I said if I am doing this with you, then we aren't killing anyone."

Adam snarled and slammed his hands down on the table. "You think you can tell me what to do? Why should I give a shit if some humans are killed along the way? You're just saying that because they're human!"

"It isn't because they're human! It's because they are people! You don't see us going around and killing every Faunus that happens to just be doing their job!" Naruto yelled. "If you want my help with this, then we will do this without killing people."

"And if I said no?" Adam challenged.

Naruto's glare turned glacial. "Then I'll just do the entire damn thing on my own, proving that we are willing to help your goals as well as making sure that no one is killed. Hell, if you really want to come, you can just leave all the people who are guards to me and go take care of the robotic ones." The two of them stared at each other.

"…Fine. I will leave all of the people to you. You will still fight any robotic ones that you come across, but I will not fight people. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Good. You will be working directly with me as the front of the raid. We will be moving in first before sending a signal to the others, who my lieutenant," He nodded to the muscular man. "will be leading. Any questions?"

"What about your current partner? What will they be doing?"

The temperature in the room dropped. Adam leaned forward. "Next question." He growled quietly. Naruto and Cinder's eyebrows quirked in interest, but they didn't say anything.

"That was it."

"Then get out of my sight. Report to this location tomorrow night at midnight. Leave the dust and lien on the table." He pointed to a spot on the map. With that, the humans left.

Once they made some distance from the camp, Cinder turned to Naruto with a concerned look on her face. "Naruto…Are you sure you are alright with this?"

Naruto nodded. "I promise I'm fine with it. I already ensured that we won't be killing anyone, and that was my biggest concern."

"What about the fact that you're going to be playing an active role in the theft of a large amount of dust?" Mercury asked curiously.

"We're robbing the Schnee Dust Company…" He felt extremely guilty for doing this to the company that Weiss's family owned, but it was necessary. "The higher ups of the company aren't the nicest of people, so I don't feel too bad." All he had to do was focus on that.

"Right…"

"Regardless, it isn't too late to back out. We can find other options." Cinder said, Emerald nodding in agreement.

"I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it." Naruto couldn't help but smile at their worry for him.

"If you're sure…"

"I am."

"Then let's return to the warehouse."


Shipyard (The Next Night)

Adam spun around and drew his sword when another presence suddenly landed in a crouch next to him. Recognizing who it was, put his blade away and turned back. "Hmph. You actually showed up." Naruto frowned.

"You doubted I would?"

"A human not sticking to his word wouldn't surprise me." Adam confirmed.

Naruto shook his head. "Whatever, just tell me the plan."

Adam scoffed. "You already know it. We go in, we take out the guards, we secure the dust, we get out." This simple plan made Naruto glare.

"I mean how are we getting in? Are we doing this quietly?"

"No, that's nearly impossible. We will be found out whether we want to or not." Adam denied.

"So we don't have to worry about stealth? I kind of like it." Naruto's words made Adam smirk a bit despite himself.

"That may be the first thing you've said that I actually agree with." He glanced towards the position of the moon. "Enough talk. It's time to go." Nodding, Naruto stood up with Adam. "We're moving fast!" The two of them sprinted towards the ship.

Adam and Naruto only managed to get within a few hundred feet before a spotlight shined down on them. Immediately after, alarms started blaring throughout the ship as its occupants surged to life. They soon found their way blocked when a group of guard landed in front of them. It didn't even take an entire glance to tell that they were all robots.

They were humanoid in shape and were colored a metallic dark-grey with red highlights, especially on their faces and chests. Their visors were glowing red as they stared at the newcomers.

The lead robot raised its hands and Naruto's eyebrows shot up when they morphed into guns. "Intruders, identify yourselves." It ordered.

Naruto and Adam exchanged a glance, then at the same time, they sprinted forward. Seeing them fail to identify themselves and instead move to attack, the robots attacked. While Adam jumped over the bullets, Naruto slid across the ground and under them while taking out his gunblade at the same time.

The first robot readjusted its aim to shoot at Naruto, but the blond was already slicing it in half. Not stopping, Naruto spun around and blocked the slash of another robot that attack from behind with swords jutting from its wrists. Spinning around the robot, Naruto stabbed into its back before tugging his blade out and destroying another one.

Suddenly, Naruto screamed in pain a black and red blade stabbed into Naruto's back. The robot behind him was about to follow up with another attack, but stopped when Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The robot was decapitated in the next second.

Sweeping his eyes over the enemies and counting the remaining number, Naruto turned his blade into its gun form. Ducking between the robots and gunfire, Naruto quickly decreased their numbers even further.

"You better duck!" Eyes widening, Naruto rolled forward, barely avoiding a wide sweep of Adam's blade. The redhead had a wide and malicious grin on his face.

Springing back to his feet with his weapon back in blade form, Naruto destroyed another robot while throwing Adam a glare. "The hell was that for?!"

"I told you to duck! You're lucky to get that much! Just stay out of my way!" Without waiting for a response, Adam continued cutting through the enemies.

"Freaking psychopath…" Naruto growled. Slowly, they made their way through the hordes of robots and to the ship. Taking out the final robot, Naruto put away his gunblade and turned to Adam. "So now what?"

"Now comes the getting on the ship part." Crouching low for a moment, Adam leapt high into the air and onto the deck of the ship, Naruto soon doing the same. When Naruto joined him, Adam pointed towards the crates. "You go towards the cargo. The human guards are probably there." Naruto nodded.

"And you?" It was then that more robots started showing up.

The malicious grin from before returned. "I'm going to take these pieces of scrap out." He sprinted towards the robots.

Not wanting to waste any of his worry on him, Naruto turned and rushed towards the cargo, but he wasn't able to get close before his way was blocked.

"You there! Stop!" Standing in front of Naruto was a squad of people wearing white-grey body armor with blue highlights across their arms and helmets. Their helmets almost completely covered their faces -their mouths being exposed- and they wore black pants.

Half of the group had rifles out and pointed at Naruto while the other half had swords out. "You are under arrest! Put your hands on your head and slowly get to your knees!" When Naruto did nothing, the leader spoke louder. "I said hands up and get on you-gah!" He was cut off by a second Naruto dropping into the middle of their formation and kicking him in the back.

The sudden appearance of a second intruder caught the others off guard and made them momentarily hesitate. Using the chance, Naruto rushed forward while at the same time taking his gunblade back out and turned it into blade form.

He cut into the nearest guard and sent him to the ground before spinning around and doing the same to the next one. His clone was quick to follow the original's lead and joined in on decimating the guards. They didn't have to be too careful because of the armor they were wearing, but all of their strikes were aimed towards nonlethal areas.

One of the guards that was quicker to grasp the situations yelled out. "Watch out for clones! We're dealing with Kitsune!" He raised his gun and opened fire on the original. Naruto raised his blade and deflected the bullets. The instant the ammo the guard had in the rifle emptied, he found Naruto already upon him.

Naruto flipped over his clone just as it spun around with a wide attack. Flipping his body around in the air, Naruto lashed a foot out to another guard and landed a hard kick to his head. It was then that a guard wielding a sword rushed him. The guard was surprised when a kunai was used to block his blade instead of the black sword. Using the chance, Naruto swung his sword and took out the guard. Taking another look around, Naruto saw that there weren't any other guards standing.

A loud crash made Naruto's head whirl around to see that the side one of the larger crates had been broken out from the inside. Walking out from the crate was another robot, but it was much larger than the others.

This robot was painted dark grey and red. It had four legs, two arms, and an upright body. A cannon was mounted on either arm while two larger ones were attacked to its shoulders.

The large robot turned towards Naruto and charged its cannons. Eyes widening in surprise, Naruto and his clone rolled to the sides, narrowly avoid the blast. They sprung back to their feet and rushed the robot. Seeing that there were two intruders, the robot aimed an arm at each of them and opened fire. The shots were powerful, but they didn't have the speed of a bullet.

"Above!" Naruto barked. The clone nodded and jumped into the air. At the same time, Naruto put on an extra burst of speed and closed the distance between him and the robot. Together, they attacked from two different angles. Naruto's sword made contact with the closest leg, but he wasn't expecting it to do no damage. Similar to the original's attack, the clone's sword didn't do any damage.

Not even reacting to the attacks, the robot kicked out a leg while also sweeping an arm. Naruto was able to jump out of the way, but the clone was dispelled didn't have a chance to.

"Damn it…" Naruto jumped onto a crate to gain some distance and turned his weapon back into gun form. He opened fire on the robot, but was still unable to do any damage. "How the hell do I get rid of this thing?" The robot turned towards him and took aim. 'Gotta move!'

Naruto jumped down and behind another crate just as the one he was standing on was blasted apart. Once he was out of sight, he dashed between the crates to get around the robot while staying out of sight. The next minute was filled with nothing but potshots and an increasingly irritated Naruto. 'I hate this thing…' Hiding behind another crate, Naruto glanced around the corner and took in the robot's frame, trying to spot a weak point. His eyes soon found what he was looking for, allowing a smirk to form.

The robot whirled its cannons around and opened fired at him when he dashed out from cover, but Naruto avoided the shots and continued his charge. Once he was close, the robot kicked at him, only to miss. Naruto slashed his blade across the body of the robot, but met with the same results. Not letting up, Naruto continued his assault. Because he was so close, the robot was unable to aim its cannons at him.

When he decided he had done enough, Naruto jumped back to gain some distance and stood there. Having a clear shot, the robot charged all of its cannons together to form a single powerful blast. Naruto watched carefully for the right moment.

"Now!"

Suddenly, a clone jumped in front of the robot, a blue sphere of chakra in its hand. "Rasengan!" The clone thrust its attack at the robot's attack at the exact moment that it was going to fire. The following explosion brought another smirk to Naruto's face. When the smoke cleared, it showed that the robot had been destroyed. "There we go."

Nodding at his handiwork, Naruto turned and made to leave, but found his path blocked.

"Salutations!"

Standing in front of Naruto was a girl who looked to be a few years older than him. She had short, curly orange hair that came down to her chin, bright green eyes, and freckles. Her outfit was made up of a beige old-fashioned blouse with short overalls, and stockings that were collared black and green. On her back was a small backpack. She had a wide smile on her face.

"Whoa!" Naruto jumped back in surprise. He didn't even notice her get so close. "Uh, hi? Nice to meet you?"

"Why, thank you! My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet you as well!"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Right…" Something about this girl didn't seem right…

The girl's smile widened. "If it is alight with you, I would like to ask a question!"

"Okay…What is it?"

"Are you the rogue huntsman known as Kitsune?" She asked, making Naruto blink in surprise.

"Uh…" He hesitated. What exactly should he say here? "Yes?"

The girl beamed in response. "Oh, wonderful!" Naruto was getting more and more confused with every word she said.

"It is?"

"Yes! I am very happy to meet you!"

"Um…why?"

"Are you willing to turn yourself over to the authorities?"

She couldn't be serious, could she? "No?" Penny nodded in understanding.

"Understood! If that is the case, then I have been ordered to capture the rogue huntsman Kitsune and bring him in for questioning!" She said, grin still intact.

Naruto was not expecting a response like that. Tensing, he spoke up. "You have been ordered to what?"

"By orders of my superiors, I am to subdue you in combat and ensure your safe transport! I have been ordered to not use lethal force, but all other options are available!"

"What?!"

"Shall we now commence with our battle?" Naruto jumped back.

"Wait! I don't want to fight you!"

"Do not worry! I am combat ready!"

"That's not what I'm worried about!"

"Here we go!" Before Naruto could say anything else, floating swords appeared from somewhere behind Penny. Thrusting a hand forward, they shot at Naruto.

"Damn it!" Naruto ducked under the first sword, used his gunblade to deflect the next one that came at him, and was then forced to use a kunai to block the third sword. The next moment, Naruto jumped into the air and over the swords. He came back down with his sword slashing down at Penny.

Penny jumped back to avoid the strike and flicked her wrist. Hearing the sound of something cutting through the air, Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and he threw himself to the ground just in time to avoid the blades that came flying back.

The swords floated in a ring in front of penny. When they picked up speed and gained a green glow, Naruto wanted to swear. Shooting back to his feet, he pumped chakra to his legs and moved to the side just in time to avoid the volley of green blasts that shot at him.

Acting quickly, Naruto created a few clones and had them separate from him. Noticing she was surrounded, Penny glanced around. "Oh, this is the clone semblance I have heard so much about! It really is fascinating to see in person!"

"…Thanks…"

"But I am afraid that I must persist in my attempts on your capture." Spinning around, Penny launched her swords at the clones. All of the clones were able to react, but were unable to move closer to Penny because of the swords attacking them.

Taking the chance, Naruto rushed forward. Because she was still maneuvering the swords that were attacking the clones, Penny was caught off guard and turned back with a surprised look just in time to see Naruto drive the hilt of his sword into her gut.

He was rewarded with a loud clang.

Naruto stared dumbfounded at the spot he hit when he felt the impact. "What…?" That felt like metal…

Penny smiled. "I apologize, but such attacks will not pose much of a threat to me." She lashed out a hand and punched Naruto in the chest. At the same time, the clones were taken out after being distracted by the new development.

"Gah!" Naruto was launched back and into a crate from the blow. Clutching his chest and coughing, he got back to his feet. 'What the hell was that?' That was definitely metal he felt. Armor?

"Are you willing to surrender now?"

Naruto shook his head and slid back into a battle stance. "Sorry, but my answer is still no."

"Then let us continue our fight!" She thrust a hand at him, directing more swords to attack.

Channeling chakra to his legs, Naruto rushed to the side, dodging each of the swords and reaching the nearest crate. Jumping at it, Naruto flipped around and landed with his feet on its side before pumping chakra to his legs and leaping at Penny. Surprised by the speed of the rush, Penny was unable to react in time and was kicked in the chest.

The force of the blow made Penny stumble, which was all the opening Naruto needed to launch into a flurry of fast blows. He landed strikes all over her body from her chest to her arms, but something felt off about it.

Jumping back, Naruto stared at her. "You're a robot…" He was dumbfounded by the discovery, but he couldn't come up for any other explanation as to why there would be metal under the girl's very skin.

For the first time, Penny's smile faltered, allowing a wide eyed look of surprise to cross her face. This look was soon replaced by one of fear and worry. "I-I…"

Naruto frowned at the sudden shift in attitude. "Sorry, was I not supposed to figure that out?" Now he felt kind of bad about it.

"No, you weren't." Penny frowned at him. "Because you have discovered classified information, your capture has now risen in priority." Her swords glowed green. "I apologize for any pain you might feel." She raised her arms in preparation, but didn't get the chance to attack.

"What the hell is this? You still haven't cleared out the trash?" The two of them turned to see Adam walking up with a sneer in place. "I thought that you would be finished by now."

Naruto glared at him while still keeping an eye on Penny. "I was finished, but then someone else showed up that was stronger."

Adam looked Penny over before scoffing. "Who, her? You're just too spineless to do the job." He moved his free hand to unsheathe his blade. "You lost your chance, now it's my turn. We're almost out of time."

"No!"

"Adam Taurus, commander of the White Fang." Penny reported. "Capture preferable, but not required. Main priority remains as Kitsune."

This made Adam sneer even more. "He's a higher priority than I am?" He got into a battle stance. "Let me show you how wrong you are." Everything was quiet for a minute, but the silence was soon broken. Penny struck first when her swords whirled around and fired a large blast at Adam. "Ha! Wrong move!" Adam immediately brought his blade up and seemed to absorb the blast itself with it.

When he absorbed the entire thing, the area was thrown into a crimson glow as Adam's hair and the other red detail on his body lit up. "Get lost!" He blurred towards the shocked Penny, who was unable to react in any way to the oncoming danger. Adam stopped a foot in front of her and slashed his sword.

Instead of slicing the robotic girl in half like he expected, Adam was surprised to see that he instead hit nothing but air. Scowling as the glow faded from his body and he sheathed his sword, he turned to see Naruto on the ground nearby with a wide eyed Penny under him.

Naruto released a deep breath. "That was too close." He had barely been able to push Penny out of the way in time. Glaring, he got up and turned to Adam. "What the hell was that?"

"I should be asking you the same question!" Naruto yelled. "We had a deal. You were to leave all of the people who were guarding the ship to me. There wouldn't be any killing! So why are you attacking her?!"

"If we did things your way, then we would never get anything done!" Adam gripped his sword tighter. "Now move aside. I'm ending this."

"No!" They stared at each other. Soon, an idea came to Naruto. "All you're doing is proving that you are no better than the humans who don't keep their word." Adam stiffened. "You aren't so different after all…"

"Shut! Up!" Adam ordered. He spun around and started walking away. "Fine. You deal with her. I'm signaling the others now." He soon left their sight.

Naruto released a sigh of relief when he left. "That could have been bad…" He turned to look at Penny, who was still staring at him with wide eyes. "You gonna stay down there much longer?" She stared at him some more, but got up.

They were thrown into an awkward silence.

"So…" Naruto began.

"Did you mean that?" Penny's sudden question made him blink in surprise.

"Mean what?" He asked.

"Did you mean what you said when you called me a person?" She stared into his eyes as she asked that.

Frowning under his mask, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I meant it. Why wouldn't I?"

Penny faltered. "But…But I am a…"

Naruto tilted his head, but soon understood what she was getting at. "Oh, a robot?" Penny looked away and nodded. "So?" Her head snapped back around to him.

"Does that not mean I am not a person?"

Her question made Naruto scoff. "That's a stupid thing to ask. In the short time I've spent with you, you have shown the ability to talk, smile, frown, and even express fear. That's good enough for me. You're just as much of a person as I am."

"…" Penny stared at him in silence, making Naruto feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, hello? You still there? Are you alri-" He was not expecting to be wrapped up in a hug that was tight enough to make him think his ribs were cracking. "Too tight! I give!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Penny jumped up and down in joy as she squeezed Naruto.

"If you're really thankful then let go!"

"Of course!" Naruto took in the much needed air and rubbed his chest. "That is the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me!"

"I'm not sure if I should be happy that I was able to make you feel this way or not…" If he was happy about it, then that would be saying that he was happy that no one had ever said something like that to Penny. She beamed at him, but her smile soon dimmed. Noticing the expression, Naruto frowned. "What's wrong?"

"…I still must complete my orders and capture you." She confessed.

Naruto looked at her warily. "And you can't go against that order?" She shook her head, making him sigh. "Of course you can't…Well, that's fine." His casual dismissal surprised her.

"It is?"

"Yep, I don't see a problem with us fighting. I spar with my friends a lot." Penny's jaw actually dropped minutely this time.

"Friends?" Penny's question prompted a shrug from Naruto.

"Sure, why not? It can be our thing whenever we meet. You try to capture me and I do my best to get away. You're really strong, so that make it more fun. I will need to find a way to either defeat you each time or get away."

Penny grinned at him. "That sounds wonderful!" It was like a game that she heard friends played together.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I think so too. We'll have to continue it next time." She tilted her head at him.

"Why not now?" She couldn't see it, but Naruto smirked under his mask.

"Because I've already won this time. Also, I really am sorry about what I'm about to do." The feeling of something pressing into her stomach made Penny look down.

She was not expecting to see a black gun with glowing yellow lights pointed at her.

Not giving her the chance to react, Naruto pulled the trigger and held it. An intense stream of electricity was pumped into Penny's body, causing the girl to stiffen and jerk sporadically. Naruto just watched her struggle for a minute before she finally started to lose consciousness. Catching her before she could hit the ground, Naruto gently propped her off to the side.

"I seriously am sorry about this…" He whispered. Doing something like that made him feel like crap, but he did not want to continue their fight. Naruto stood up and checked his weapon. "Wow, that pretty much drained the entire crystal. She really is tough…" Taking one last glance at her, Naruto turned and went to meet up with Adam.

He couldn't wait for this mission to be over.


There we go! All done with Chapter 9!

There, now the White Fang have agreed to work with Cinder.

I was listening to From Shadows (the song from the Black trailer) while I wrote the fights in this chapter.

Yes, I remember what Cinder's group did to Penny, so please don't feel the need to remind me repeatedly and question me.

I altered Blazefire Saber to be capable of having dust crystals inserted into it to use different elements. This way, Naruto isn't stuck with only normal bullets.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!

Until next time,

Kog6943