Polendina Vacation House
Everyone was in a lounge, all sitting in a circular couch. RWBY were all holding cups of hot chocolate. JNPR had tea. SNSH, Zero, and Penny had nothing. Naruto stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with any of the room's occupants. He was afraid. Afraid of their reaction. Afraid of their rejection.
But it can't go on like this for any further. He needed to face the music. With a resign sigh, he looked up and spoke. "Do you hate me? For what I did. For what I can do. For what I can cause."
Ruby shook her head gently. Her face was filled with worry as she looked at Naruto. "No, we don't hate you. We're just...confused. Why did you do all of those things."
Naruto let out another puff of air, sighing gently. He needed to explain his unique situation. "Tell me, why is it that I have quite the intimate knowledge about the Biju? A type of Grimm that isn't quite known."
Blake took a sip from her cup before setting it down on the coffee table and spoke. "We figured you may have been interested them had read about everything you can find."
"You're wrong." said Naruto. He closed his eyes, as a clone puffed up next to him. He clasped his hands together and contemplated for a moment. He closed his eyes and looked at everyone. "It's because I possess one of them."
An awkward silence loomed over them, quite shocked and confused at what Naruto had revealed. Nora chuckled nervously and spoke up. "T-that's silly Naruto! There's no way you have a big, bad Grimm inside you. There's no way!"
The blond Faunus closed his eyes, black Aura surged from the clone. Everyone jumped at their feet, getting ready for anything that might happen. The clone crossed his arms and slowly opened them up, the eyes glowing a bright flashing red. His whisker marks grew much more thicker, the hair getting more wild and spiky. The clone looked at everyone and snorted.
"Hn! Why do you think he has the black Aura or the Restriction Levels?"
Everyone blinked at hearing the demonic and guttural voice coming from Naruto's voice. Blake raised her hand to ask, but was cut off by the clone.
"Yes, mortal. I am the Kyuubi. I have been inside Naruto ever since he was born. His father placed me into him when I attacked his village."
Ren connected this to what Naruto said back then during Oobleck's class. "His father? Wouldn't that make him the village leader?" The Kyuubified-clone nodded in confirmation. This brought a frown on the Lie's face. "But according to what Sasuke said, Naruto was abused and tortured almost his entire childhood."
The Kyuubi frowned and closed his eyes. "It was because the stupidity of the villagers. They couldn't tell the difference between a cup and water."
RWBY, NPR and Penny all looked at each other with a confused look. What did that even mean? Realization lit up in Blake's eyes. She snapped her fingers, figuring it out what it meant.
"That's one of your dislikes! I remember when we introduced each other, that's one of the things you said. Naruto's the cup, the Kyuubi is the water. It means that the villagers believed that since the Kyuubi was inside Naruto, it basically meant to them that he and you are the same."
"Correct." confirmed the Kyuubi. "They were all consumed by the grief and loss of their loved ones. They turned to an outlet to release their anger and frustration of loss." A deep frown marred the clone's face. "And Naruto was the unfortunate outlet. Their rage consumed them, all sense of morality disappeared from them just to have an excuse. Even Huntsmen were apart of it."
Zero nodded in agreement. "It was disgusting. They vowed to be the protector of the weak, an idol to the children." He faced the students and frowned. "But instead, they joined in beating up a child who was given a responsibility he didn't even asked for."
Everyone frowned at that point. Zero was right. Huntsmen and Huntresses were supposed to protect, not cause further chaos. But then Weiss realized something.
"Wait." said Weiss. "If his father was village leader, why was he treated like such? He should've been practically royalty!" shouted the Schnee heiress.
Hinata shook her head negatively. "No. He wouldn't. No one would believe it. His relation to the leader was kept a secret, hiding him away from his rightful godparents and guardian."
"But why though?" asked Yang. "Why keep it a secret? It doesn't really make any sense."
Sasuke shrugged. "That's something we never got to know. We're just lucky that he was found in time right before the mob could another move on him."
Ruby couldn't take it anymore and screamed, gaining the attention of everyone currently present in the room. "Can we please move on?! This is starting to get REALLY depressing and I don't want depressing! I want everyone to be cheerful and happy, so can we please move on?"
Everyone looked at one another and shrugged carelessly. "Sure, anything for you Ruby."
Ruby stood up and cheered, pumping her hand into the air. Ruby - One, Depressive Feeling - Nothing! Take that depression! Jaune faced Naruto and posed a question.
"By the way, where did you and Zero go to? Penny told us you guys were walking to somewhere."
Zero rubbed his nose before looking at the Arc. "Well, I was just telling him about the SDC freighter full of Dust that's going to be swinging by tonight." He walked up to the coffee table and got a cup of black coffee, taking a sip from it. "You guys were wondering if the White Fang was responsible for all of the recent attacks on Dust Shops, and I just so happen to overhear some of the sailors talking about the Dust freighter."
"See if they're the actual perpetrators! Watch and catch them in the act!" realization lit up in Jaune's face, the others quickly catching on as well.
The blond Huntsman nodded approvingly. "That's right. Now, normally, I'd join in on something like this. But-"
CRASH
The sound of something crashing on the ground echoed throughout the entire room, accompanied by the sound of a woman screaming. "ZERO! WHERE'S MY CHOCOLATE-COATED CELERY!"
Everyone blinked at the statement. Chocolate-coated celery? Zero chuckled. "Yeah, that's why. I have to take care of my pregnant fiancee. She's already suffering through weird cravings." Zero sighed happily and ran upstairs to comfort Iris. "Anyways, good luck!"
Not a single one moved an inch for a full minute. Everyone looked at each other with a knowing look. Except for Penny, because, well, you know. The three teams nodded, confirming their single thought. They were gonna spy on the freighter.
"So, what's next?" asked Penny with such innocence befitting of a new-born child.
Naruto stood up and ran a hand through his hair, despite wearing a hoodie. "We're gonna be watching for the freighter, later tonight. Pack up and necessary essentials and meet up at the docks."
"Roger." echoed everyone. RWBY, SNSH and JNPR stood up and walked out of Polendina house, with the intent of preparing for later. But then Naruto realized something.
"Wait, he already proposed to Iris?"
Time Skip - Midnight
Team RWBY, JNPR and SNSH all stood on top of separate warehouses, all three having an open view surveying the entire depot. Ruby, Pyrrha Hinata and Sasuke were on look-out duty, the two red-themed members of their respective themes using the scope of their weapons, while the latter two used their eye-based Semblance. On the look-out for anything suspicious.
Blake and Naruto used their enhanced hearing, trying to pick up any indication of the sound of any transportation vehicle. The both of their eyes were closed, their senses all focused on their ears.
The others all sat down, trying to pass the time as they all waited. Weiss was filing her nails. Nora, Yang and Sakura all sat down, playing Go Fish. Ren sat next to Jaune, the two of them meditating. Oh, and Penny was there just standing around with a smile.
Weiss looked up from her nails and at Naruto. The Schnee heiress let out a sigh of sadness. She still hasn't apologized to Naruto, as he never even gave her the chance to do so. Every attempt she made, he would suddenly vanish or manage to make up an excuse to not talk to her. What's worse, she had made a best friend in Hinata, but that shattered as well when Naruto went out for his walk.
"Look at you, Weiss. It's happening again! You're slipping back into your snobbish self. Sooner or later, bam! You lost all your friends. Your back to being Ms. Schnee. You're back..to being alone."
Unknown to Weiss, Naruto was feeling the negativity spawning off from Weiss. He let out a small smile as pocketed his hands. "Despair, sadness and regret. Looks like Weiss is actually sorry. After this, I'll let her talk to me."
Yang looked up from her hand and asked the four on look-out. "You guys find anything yet? I'm bored!" declared the busty blonde.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm starting to itch for a fight REAL bad. These card can only entertain us for so long." The pinkette looked up to the ginger and asked, "Got any threes?"
Nora shrugged. "Go Fish."
While Sasuke scoured the depot, an idle thought crossed his mind. "I wonder where Sun is? We haven't seen him since yesterday."
With Sun
"Hahahaha! You can't catch me coppers!" shouted Sun.
The monkey Faunus was still running around Vale, avoiding the law for stowing away on the ship. But they couldn't catch him due to his monkey-like reflexes and parkour skills. Sun chuckled and swung around the lamp posts, as the detectives continued their pursuit.
"How the hell has been avoiding us for a day?!"
"Yeah, and why haven't we caught him yet? Does he EVEN run out of energy?"
And cue an empty can of Red Bull smacking one of the detectives right in the face, making him fall to the ground. The detective groaned and rubbed his forehead, an anime-sized bump growing on it. He slowly picked himself up and glared at the laughing Sum.
"Alright, time to add assault to an officer of the law to his growing list of offenses."
Back at the Depot
Blake and Naruto snapped their eyes open, their second sets of ears twitching from under their respective hiding places. The ribbon for Blake, and the hood for Naruto. The two nodded at each other and looked at everyone.
"Bullhead engine, six o' clock!"
Ruby and Pyrrha turned and indeed saw two Bullheads slowly landing down on the depot. Hinata and Sasuke deactivated their Semblances, as the others quickly huddled over the railing.
The Bullhead's hatch opened up and slid a platform onto the ground. Dozens of White Fang grunts slowly filed out of the air vehicle. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he watched the Faunus organization walked into the depot.
"That's them alright." The blond Faunus noticed Blake's troubled look. "Is something the matter, Blake?"
Blake sighed. "I just...it's so hard to believe that the once peaceful organization I once knew are actually the ones stealing the Dust."
The cat Faunus felt a hand on her shoulder, making her look to who's it is. The hand belong to Yang, who was giving her a comforting smile. Blake smiled, really appreciating her partner's act. Yep, she admitted she was Faunus to them while they were preparing and her past tied to the Fang.
Luckily, Tukson arrived right on time to corroborate with Blake, and Naruto was nice enough to also defend Blake. In the end, no one judged her and still saw her as a friend.
"What's the hold-up?! We're not exactly the most conspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment! So, why don't you animals pick up the pace?"
The voice brought a shiver of confusion up Blake's spine. The others leaned in forward, seeing Roman Torchwick walk out of the Bullhead, still dapper as ever. Jaune quirked an eyebrow. "Okay, I'll bite. Why is Roman Torchwichk, quite publicly known to HATE the Faunus, is working with the Fang, who hates the humans back on the same degree?"
Blake nodded in agreement, quite confused as to why they would work with the very thing they despised, and one of the most scum too. The black-haired female couldn't quite wrap her head around it as to why.
Ren nodded. "Right, but we can't exactly go in and interrogate them immediately. We need to wait for the opportune moment then strike."
The others agreed with what Ren said, and stood still in their position, as they watched the orange-haired criminal berating one of the grunts for thinking the wire cable is a leash. And then came another, who was asking if they can keep the crane...which was attached to the cemented ground. No offense meant to the Faunus, but are they naturally dumb?!
"If you idiots are done playing around, maybe we can go on with the objective at hand."
All four members of Team SNSH gasped in shock at the gravelly voice.
"It can't be." said Sasuke with denial laced in his tone.
Out came of the bullhead was a figure. He had pure green eyes and black sclera, straight brown hair that reached up to his neck. A mask that covers the entire lower half of his face. He was also had quite the tan complexion. The person's torso was bare, quite lean and was covered quite a lot with stitches throughout his entire body, five masks resting on his back. On his legs were simple green cargo pants and black combat boots.
Naruto's eyes flashed a dangerous red, glaring heatedly at the person. "Kakuzu! The traitor to the Catholic Church and the Red Dawn organization!"
Ruby titled her head, quite confused of the situation at hand. The others, except Jaune and Penny, followed her example and looked at SNSH expectantly.
"So, um, who's that?" asked Ruby.
The Sharingan flashed back onto Sasuke's eyes, narrowing them slowly at the man full of stitches. "Kakuzu. Best known for his moniker: The Five-Hearted Huntsman. He used to be a well-respected priest to the Church of Oum, and a high-ranking member to the Red Dawn. But all of a sudden, he betrayed both and killed over a dozen of priests and nuns, escaping with their heats."
RWBY and NPR looked very green on the face, fighting the complete urge to vomit. Jaune managed to fight it down, but still looked pale. Penny merely titled her head, but understood it nonetheless.
"W-what?" squeaked out the hooded-leader.
Sakura continued. "That's his Semblance; Heart Snatch. He gains threads that's tough enough to rip through solid steel and uses it to rip his victim's heart out. But what's worse, it somehow gives the hearts elemental dust affinities like fire or lightning."
"Okay, sure, it's useful. But why?" asked Yang, who was still clearly disturbed at the thought.
Hinata frowned and crossed her arms. "He uses it as a form of immortality. He can use it to replace his main heart, and lengthen his life span. It's useful to use to dodge a fatal hit that targets your heart and keep living."
Penny scrunched up her face, disgusted by the thought as well. "That is absolutely revolting. And a crime against nature itself."
"Agreed." voiced everyone in mutual agreement.
Maelstrom and Whirlwind popped out from Naruto's sleeves and into his hands. Impatience lit up from the Uzumaki's glowing eyes, his level four restriction being automatically lifted. He stood up slowly, as the black Aura circled around him. Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Calm down, dobe. Releasing level four isn't the way to go."
Naruto looked at his partner and shrugged off his hand. "He's a traitor, Sasuke. A rouge and a fully trained Huntsman. He's had decades of experience, level four isn't even enough. We need to strike now while-"
"Uh, guys." said Yang. "I don't wanna alarm you, but Blake ran off to the depot."
Everyone blinked and turned to where Blake stood. Only a dust outline remained, before it was blown away by the night breeze. Naruto and Sasuke clicked their tongues in annoyance at the raven-haired Faunus's action.
On the Depot
Kakuzu walked up to Roman, as he oversaw the heist. The masked man grunted and crossed his arms, stopping right next to the smooth criminal. Kakuzu was not the most trusted mercenary ever, as his loyalty lies on the amount of of Lien he's given. To him, money is what the world revolves around. And he's getting quite a lot of by claiming the bounties on various other criminals.
"Hmph. If it weren't for my boss, you'd be dead without your heart and head. I could've claimed your ridiculously high bounty days ago."
Roman let out a small chuckle, facing the traitor of the Red Dawn. "Ha! Glad we're on the same page." He turned back to the grunts doing the work, twirling around his cane, Melodic Cudgel. "But let's get this over with. You're gonna be paid handsomely if we pull this off."
The stitched-man didn't say anything else, as they continued to oversee the heist. Various sounds of pain filled the air, as four grunts slammed onto the ground in front of the two criminals. Roman groaned in annoyance, while Kakuzu raised a brow.
"For the love of-!" shouted Roman, but was immediately cut off as the blade of Gambol Shroud hovered over his neck. Blake raised her hand up to her head and untied her ribbon, letting it fly in the air, revealing her cat ears, the White Fang murmuring about it. Blake glared at each and every one before asking quite loudly.
"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you working with these humans?"
Every grunt looked at each other, trying to find an answer to Blake's question. Kakuzu chuckled and made a punching motion, his entire forearm ripping off his arm, connected to a thick line of threads, launching it towards Blake.
She noticed this and quickly kicked away Roman and back flipped herself, dodging the long arm. The tanned man grinned from behind his mask and launched his left arm at Blake, punching her straight in the gut, the air forcefully leaving her body. Kakuzu quickly grabbed Blake by the stomach and threw her into a bunch of containers, slamming her back quite hardly.
"Not exactly the brightest kitten in the bunch, are you?" he asked rhetorically.
Roman walked up to his fellow human and pointed his cane right at Blake, a smirk on his face. "And by the way, kitty cat. The White Fang and I, along with my associate here, are together on a little business venture."
Blake growled and picked herself up, Gambol Shroud still in hand. Hard and cold denial was blatantly displayed over Blake's face, still not believing that a radical organization would stood so low to work with human scum like him. Kakuzu pulled back his arms and slowly walked up to the Faunus.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it? No matter how much you try to cover it up, it always pains your being and it shows that Oum is cruel."
Kakuzu jumped back, narrowly dodging Maelstrom, which embedded onto the ground, cracking it quite largely. Team SNSH, JNPR and the rest of Team RWBY, along with Penny, dropped down onto the depot, weapons drawn and ready for combat. Roman instantly spotted Ruby and gave her a mocking wave.
"Why hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"
With that out of the way, every White Fang grunt started to whimper, as they saw Naruto with his mask on. The cowardly ones immediately fainted in fear, while the more brave ones managed to stand their ground. Kakuzu and Naruto stared each other down, both not backing down, the latter already in Level 4.
"Kakuzu." stoically stated Naruto.
"Naruto." simply said Kakuzu.
The two continued to stare at each other, their comrades dripping sweat as they awaited for what would happen next. Both Kakuzu and Naruto arched forward and ran towards each other swiftly. Naruto launched Kusarigama at the masked criminal with ferocious strength. Kakuzu ducked under Maelstrom and continued running.
The thread-user dashed forward and spin-kicked the blond straight on the chin, spinning him around. He quickly capitalized on this and started throwing around kicks and punches. Naruto grunted, doing his absolute best to parry and/or block all of the older male's strikes. Naruto tensed up, sensing something was about to strike him from behind. He flipped himself over as a thick line of thread sailed through.
Naruto landed and saw Kakuzu's shoulder slightly parted, a sea of black surging out and into the cement behind him. The Biju-holder whipped out Whirlwind and started pulling the trigger, blasting out dozens of Black Aura-covered bullets at the green-eyed rogue.
Kakuzu called back his threads and started weaving through the gunfire, putting in a lot of effort to not get hit by a single bullet. A grunt of annoyance escaped his lips as he skid against the ground to a stop, noticing that Naruto stopped shooting. The two stared at each other passively before Naruto slammed Maelstrom on the ground, making it spark.
"Hmph. Intimidation tactics won't work on me, boy." stated Kakuzu with arrogance. "You still have a lot to go if you want to beat-urk!"
From behind the greedy mercenary, Jaune and Hinata slashed his back twice in quick-succession. The blond Arc went to stab him, but a sea of thread exploded from behind Kakuzu's back, sending the two flying. He took a second to look at the two and grunted again.
"How annoying."
This allowed Naruto to move in and attack. The blond threw his fist and punched Kakuzu in the face, making the dark-skinned man stumble. Naruto roared as he planted multiple strikes around Kakuzu's body, decreasing his Aura. Naruto went to punch one more time, but Kakuzu caught it. The old miser let out a grunt as he tossed Naruto towards his friends, impacting on the pavement.
Naruto groaned as he flipped himself back up on his feet. He glared at the stitch-covered man, feeling himself getting angrier, his eyes turning even more blood red. The blond noticed this and took a deep breath, his eyes slowly turning to a more crimson color. "I don't wanna risk going up to Level 2 and hurt you all. We need to distract then attack."
Jaune nodded and brought up Crocea Mors, being surrounded by flames. "Leave that to us. We'll distract him while you try and find an opening you can capitalize on."
Yang and Sakura vs Grunts
Yang let out a war cry as she charged at four White Fang grunts. The blonde brawler took a step back and spun around the Faunus' blades, dodging them quite gracefully. With a cocky smirk, she caught one of the blades, eliciting a gasp of surprise from the wielding. Yang cocked back her arm and clocked him straight in the face. She pulled the blade out from his grasp and knocked the grunt out by slamming the handle on his head.
The the other three looked at each other, before charging towards the blonde. The Y of RWBY side-stepped through their attack, not getting hit by any of their blades. She smirked and block two katanas with Ember Celica, stopping it from slicing her arms off.
While they were distracted, the fourth grunt silently charged at Yang, her katana raised up. She jumped and went for an overhead strike. However, Yang saw this and reacted quite quickly. She pushed back the two other grunts and blocked the female grunt. Both females stared at each other intensely. Yang smirked, while the grunt gritter teeth.
The blonde pulled back her right arm and socked the grunt, knocking her out. While the others were vulnerable, Yang ran up to the one on her right and punched him in the gut, forcefully making him gasp. She grabbed his masked head and slammed it on her knee, making him cry in pain. She held both her hands and hammered him down on his head, knocking the poor guy out.
"Ah crap." said the last grunt.
Yang faced him and made a come hither motion. With a sigh, he roared and charged at the blonde, katana raised up. Yang jumped back, just as the grunt swung down his blade. Looking up, the grunt continued shouting out as he started recklessly swing his blade around, really desperate to get at least one hit. The punner giggled and dashed back, really finding his attempts cute.
"Man. You're worse than a Stormtr-" she stopped herself as a single strand of golden hair slowly fell down onto the pavement. Yang stared at her fallen hair with wide eyes, signalling the last grunt standing to roar and charge.
Yang brought up her hands, growling angrily as her hair started to rise up. "Y-you, heartless BASTARD!" And she exploded in a burst of blaze, eyes shifting into a blood-red color, her golden locks lighting up like a flame.
The enraged-blond growled and punches the grunt in the face, so powerful it shattered his mask. Revealing his scared, black eyes. She didn't care, as she started to repeatedly punch the grunt, shouting out like a demon as she did so. The more she hit, the more her punches started to get faster, more force being exerted into the next.
The poor man's face started to turn black and blue, beginning to bruise badly from the punishment. Yang cocked back her fist and sent an uppercut to the man's chin, presumably breaking his jaw and sending him straight into the air.
Before the red-eyed blonde could jump after and finish him off, the random White Fang grunts flew out of nowehre and slammed into their comrade and onto a large shipment container. Yang clicked her tongue in annoyance, as her hair's light died down, but her eyes remained the same.
"I had an epic finisher to finish him off!"
Sakura rolled her eyes as she walked up to her best friend. "That was really expressive and pointless, Yang. Disable them as fast you can." Emphasizing it with a cock of Blossom Crash.
A grunt with clawed gauntlets pounced and swung her claws at the pinkette. Sakura quickly ducked and spun around, kicking the enemy in the face. She dashed forward and grabbed her by the neck and punched him three times quite brutally, knocking out the grunt and almost snapping his neck.
The pinkette smirked, saying that's how it was done, making Yang roll her eyes. Both of them quickly went back into their battle stances, more grunts approaching them. Yang wordlessly nodded at Sakura, as if signalling something. The thrill seekers let out a war cry and charged at the group of mooks.
Sakura leaped and spin-kicked two grunts on the cheek, disorienting them. She landed and parries two blades slashed at her. The pinkette punches the on on her left hardly, knocking the guy out, before going for the one on the right and kicked him on the stomach, hard.
A grunt roars and struck Sakura on the cheek, forcing her to look down. The mook grinned, thinking she got her. She looked up, not even a scratch on her face, making the grunt gape. She cocked back her fist and embedded it into her stomach, before socking the grunt on the face. A diamond-shaped mark appeared on Sakura's forehead, her pink Aura starting to resonate.
Yang saw this, as she just kicked off a grunt that tried pounce her. The blonde grinned, before ducking under a strike and backhanded a grunt so hard, she sent him flying. "Ha! Alright, there's her Semblance."
Sakura raised her fist, which was shrouded in a thick layer of her Aura. She looked at the group of White Fang grunts in front of her and smirked. Cocking back her fist slowly, she slammed it down on the ground with a war cry.
"Shannaro!"
At first, nothing happened. But then a shock wave was produced and knocked off the Faunus off their feet, all of them accidentally dropping their weapons. Yang and Sakura nodded at each other and charged at the grunts.
They slowly picked themselves up, but were met with fists to their faces, knocking them all back down. Sakura punched a grunt in the stomach, before taking a hold of her and face her best friend. "Yang! Batter up!" And she tossed the grunt to Yang.
The blonde grinned and slipped into a batting position. As the body drew close, Yang smacked it as if it were a baseball, the grunt sailing through and slammed into a container being held by the crane, the sound echoing throughout the entire depot. The poor female groaned softly before sliding off the container and fell on the ground.
Yang smirked and pointed finger guns. "Guess you can say she deserves a shout out."
Sakura smacked her face, groaning at Yang's horrible joke. "Dammit Yang."
Ren, Nora, Pyrrha and Ruby vs Grunts
Ren wordlessly flipped himself around as the gunfire barely grazed him. StormFlower popped out from his sleeves and he quickly took aim as he was still mid-air. With slightly perfect accuracy, he started returning fire. Bullets clashed against bullets, either grazing each other or cancelling one another.
While the shooting grunts were occupied by the ninja chef, Pyrrha and Ruby went to work and perched themselves on top of the roof. They took out their weapons and mecha-shifted it into their respective sniper modes.
Both red-themed females knelt down and took aim at a couple of grunts. They exhaled all oxygen from their bodies to keep their hold steady. Hovering their fingers over the trigger, they pulled it and shot.
About six grunts cried out in pain, being shot in the back with Red Dust. Separating them from their weapons and knocking them out. The more experience ones dove down, and dodged the shots fired as one of them barked at the others to get to cover.
The White Fang grunts gritted their teeth and started running for cover. Pyrrha and Ruby smirked as they continued shooting, knocking out more of the grunts until only a handful of them were left. The remaining grunts slammed their back against the containers and reloaded their guns. Peeking from the corners, they took aim and resumed firing.
Ren stopped firing and went to dodge, practically dancing around the bullets, with his nigh-high flexibility. Ruby kept on picking off some of the grunts she saw, while Pyrrha spoke in their Team Chat, addressing her team's exuberant hammer-wielder.
"Nora, do the thing."
The Sloth Queen allowed a grin to cover her lips. She crouched on top of a container and pulled out Manghild, shifting it into its beautiful grenade launcher form. Nora raised it up and took aim at the grunts taking cover fire.
"Nighty, night~"
And she pulled the trigger, shooting out a single grenade with with cloud-shapes all over it. The projectile landed right in the middle of the grunts, bouncing twice. All of their eyes widened, as one of them yelled out, "Get down!"
All of them quickly threw themselves on the ground, bracing for the explosion that was about to happen. But nothing came. Instead, a hissing sound started to echo from the grenade as a thick cloud of white smoke started to seep out from the shell. A single grunt realize what it was, but was already too late to warn any of his comrades as he already inhaled a large amount of it.
The grunt struggled to control himself from falling back, as he watched his fellow Faunus drop down like flies. "F-fuck! It's a sleeping gas." But he could only succumb to it as slumber overtook him.
A separate squad saw this, and one of the grunts smirked. "Guess you could say they resisted a rest."
His comrades groaned, along with NPR and Ruby, who stopped shooting to face palm. A female grunt looked at her comrade with irritation and smacked him at the back of the head. "Don't even go there. Even the humans shouldn't be subjected to your insufferable jokes."
The punner had a cheeky smirk and poked out his tongue. "Why so cranky? You been resisting a rest t-" But he was interrupted by a shot to the chest, knocking him out as the impact slammed his head against the container behind him.
"SHUT UP! I'VE HEARD ENOUGH PUNS FROM MY SISTER AND FRIEND, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" shouted Ruby angrily.
With that little outburst, the grunts got a bit distracted, allowing the others to pick them off one by one until they all lay down on the ground, unconscious. Not dead. But mostly definitely with conscious and maybe some broken bones. But most certainly not dead.
Sasuke and Blake vs Roman
Roman Torchwick was very annoyed. If anyone had told him earlier that a bunch of kids would ruin his heist, he would've slapped the man and call him an idiot for thinking that. But now, it was happening.
The orange-haired criminal grunted, being in a three-way lock with Blake and Sasuke. He pushed them off, causing them to flip back. Roman smirked went for the Uchiha first. Sasuke landed quickly and found himself in a melee fight with Torchwick.
The two of them swung their their weapons, sparks flying off as they found themselves onto a stalemate. Their strikes canceled each other's, not even breaking through the other's defenses. Sasuke brought up his chokuto and swung it down, forcing Roman on the defense.
Sasuke swung furiously, his strikes more powerful than the last, Roman trying to block every strike he could. It lasted for a minute, until they ended up once more in a stalemate lock. The criminal glared at the Uchiha with confused fury on his face.
"Just what is it with you kids these days?!" asked Roman with an almost hysterical tone.
"We just take our vitamins every morning." replied Sasuke with a boredom laced in his voice.
Sasuke's eyes flashed red, activating his Semblance. Roman's eyes widened before closing it, feeling his head get disoriented. He took a step back, trying to get his bearings straight. Blake smirked and drop kicked Roman, making him stumble. She quickly followed up with two spin kicks, making him even more dizzy and disoriented. The female Faunus ran up to the human and double kicked him towards Sasuke.
The raven-haired survivor's elbow met with Torchwick's stomach, making the criminal gasp as he felt the air from his body be forcefully taken away. Sasuke spun around and kicked him into the air. The Uchiha smirked and jumped after him. He looked at Roman with a mocking look and repeatedly slashed him on the stomach five times, before doing a multitude successions of spin strikes, chipping the criminal's Aura bit by bit.
For the kicker, Sasuke inhaled a huge intake of air, his cheeks almost bulging out. With a deep sigh, he exhaled a large fireball that impacted against Torchwick, slamming back on the ground. He groaned, feeling himself hurt all over. Torchwick picked himself up, his clothes singed slightly torn up by Sasuke's attacks.
"Seriously, what is it with these kids?"
Blake ran up to the distracted criminal, Gambol Shroud still drawn. A shadow version of herself flashed right in front of her, before it spun around and knelt down on its knees. She smirked and used it as a stepping stone to leap herself further and kicked Roman on the back of the head, sending him in to a Bullhead. Sasuke chuckled lightly and gave the raven-haired Faunus a thumbs up.
Penny and Weiss vs Grunts
Penny stood calmly as a dozen of White Fang grunts surrounded her. The bulkiest one gave her an intimidating grin and took aim with his Dust shotgun. "You're all surrounded, little girl. How about you make this easy for us and just get on your knees."
Penny shook her head and stood defiantly. "Please desist. I do not wish to harm you."
The grunts all laughed, a tone of mockery could be heard from their sounds. The oldest one in the bunch leered at the young android. "Sorry, but we're not doing that." He said and slowly walked up to her.
The eccentric girl sighed and lightly bowed her head. "If that is your answer."
Her backpack opened up and a saber popped out, before it split into ten equally shaped and sized sabers. With a flick of her fingers, the sabers launched and knocked the White Fang grunts at her left, slamming them towards a warehouse's wall. She turned to the right and flicked her wrist, slamming them back.
Four grunts charged at her and attempted to hit the android with their katanas. Penny acted quite swiftly and brought her sabers up, spinning them around like a shield. The mooks kept hitting the sabers, instead of hitting their target, which really irritated them to no end.
Penny called back her weapons and ran up to one of the radical Faunus. She jump kicked the first one she ran into, before spinning around and back kicked one into another, knocking them both out. The ginger turned to both side, seeing three grunts running at each side.
She brought up her weapons and twirled it around and launched the sabers from both left and right, forcing everyone to brace for the blades to hit. All six of them falling flat on the ground, as the sabers embedded on the containers.
But they still weren't out. The six grunts flipped themselves back and charged at the orange-haired girl. Penny crouched for a few seconds, before she back flipped, landing on top of a couple of containers. She raised her arms and crossed it, dislodging her weapons out. The eccentric girl flicked her fingers around.
The sabers moved at swift speed and struck the grunts on the back, before slashing at their arms and sent them flying into the air. Penny knelt and brought her hands down, bringing down her weapons as well, pinning them to the ground.
Penny smiled and bowed her head. "That was quite an enjoyable time. Please have fun relaxing behind bars."
More grunts ran up to the girl, as she had her back turned. With a savage grin, they raised their katanas and prepared to bring it down.
But it never hit. A Glyph materialized and stopped the blades from hitting Penny. Weiss dropped down and kicked the grunt in the middle, enabling herself to flip back and land gracefully. Summoning out another Glyph, she used it to hasten herself and blitz through the group of grunts.
With Myrtenaster, she placed well-placed strikes at the grunts, practically disabling them for the time being. Weiss twirled around Myrtenaster and revolved its chamber to the brown slot. She swung it around before piercing her rapier into the ground, a wall of earth surrounding the Faunus, disabling them from escape.
Penny turned around, only now noticing what had transpired. "Oh! Thank you friend Weiss."
The Schnee heiress allowed a small smile on her face and merely nodded back.
Naruto, Hinata and Jaune vs Kakuzu
Jaune let out a war cry as he swung his blade vertically, releasing an arc of blazing flames towards Kakuzu. He snorted, as his threads went to work and surrounded him like a thick layer of armor. The arc slammed against him. It only pushed him back. The layer of thread wasn't even singed, making Jaune click his tongue in annoyance.
"I forgot how tough those threads are." admitted the young knight.
Hinata jumped over her second blond friend and rolled up, with Jyuho in her hand. Twirling her weapon, she slashed against the thread shaped like a human. But it was all for naught. Not one dent or scratch even appeared, it remained completely unscratched. The threads parted, revealing that no one was inside.
Kakuzu dropped down from above and drop-kicked Jaune, bouncing him up into the air. His arm extended and grabbed Jaune by the head. The greedy traitor spun and slammed him down on the ground, creating a spider web crack on the pavement.
The mercenary ducked, four grenades flying over him. Kakuzu flipped himself back, dodging a few more of Hinata's explosives. The bluenette continued shooting, making the masked mercenary smirk. Threads popped out from his arms and caught a couple of grenades, before throwing them back at the shooter.
Black Aura-covered bullets shot against the projectiles, blowing them up mid-way, creating a smoke screen. Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, trying to see through the blocked view, before he felt his left shoulder literally explode in a shower of flesh, blood and threads. His left arm fell down with a thud, threads shooting out wildly.
"GAAAH!" shouted Kakuzu in pain. The dark-skinned man gritted his teeth as he clutched his bleeding socket. Naruto blurred and appeared right next to Hinata. The blond smirked mockingly at the mercenary and flipped him off. "How does it fell to be disarmed?!"
Everyone, besides Yang, all face palmed, hearing the God awful pun. Yes, even Kakuzu did so. Which accidentally smeared some blood on his face, muttering, "Fucking hell. Even now he still makes those Oum awful puns."
Kakuzu shook off the moment and glared at the blond. "You forgot something, brat." The threads shot out to the lying arm and picked it up. It sewed itself onto the limb before pulling back and reconnected itself on his shoulder, which somehow regenerated. The mercenary cracked his newly reformed shoulder and whipped his arm. "I'm a regenerator."
Naruto could only swear. "Ah crapbaskets."
Kakuzu roared as masses of black threads shot out from his back, shaping up into various figures of Grimm. There were four and all bore masks similar to that of the Grimm they were shaped as. A Nevermore, a Boarbatusk, an Ursa, and a Beowolf. Naruto and Hinata stared at the four with gritted teeth. These were Kakuzu's four extra hearts. Hearts which he weaponized.
The mercenary smirked from behind his mask and crossed his arms. The four opened up their masks, Aura starting to gather from the mouth. The eyes of the lovers widened, recognizing the attack. The Nevermore heart turned green, the Boarbatusk heart turned fire, the Beowolf heart turned yellow and the Ursa heart turned brown. The ball of Aura grew larger before it condensed and was shot at the two like beams.
Naruto grabbed Hinata in a bridal carry and jumped back, dodging the beams by a split second. The attack was very powerful, blowing up the pavement and creating a large hole in it. Kakuzu snorted and looked at the two, who landed on top of a container.
The hearts aimed at the two and shot another four-way beam once more. The blond dodged again at the last second, and landed right below a container being held by a crane. The mercenary allowed a grin to creep up his lips as he commanded his threads to aim at the crane. Kakuzu's mask aimed up and shot another four-way beam, destroying the crane, allowing the container to fall down.
Naruto noticed too late and braced for impact, hugging Hinata tightly. But, Jaune ran up to his friends and unleashed Soul, his Semblance. The transparent version of Jaune flew towards the two. He went under and caught the container, lifting it with slight ease. Soul smiled and settled it down besides his original's friends, before going back.
"I didn't know Soul could that." said Naruto with a bit of awe.
Jaune smiled and ran up to his friends. "Neither did I."
Their friends quickly ran up to them, having dealt with their respective groups of White Fang. Roman groaned and stumbled out of the Bullhead, holding his head to try and calm down his headache. "I really need to stop underestimating these kids. I might get killed someday." he mumbled out.
Kakuzu frowned and clapped his hands. The masks shot forward and pounced at the students. The Nevermore went for Team SNSH, the Boarbatusk went for Team RWBY, the Beowolf went for JNPR and Penny got the Ursa.
RWBY vs Boarbatusk Mask
RWBY jumped back, as the Boarbatusk spewed out a burst of flames. Weiss, summoned a Glyph to block the fire, allowing her team to counterattack. Yang jumped over the Glyph and punched the mask in its face, sending it flying.
Ruby dashed towards it with her Semblance and smacked it with Crescent Rose, sending it back to the others. Blake jumped up and kicked it, before taking out Gambol Shroud and started whipping it around, slashing at the masked beast.
With a spin, she slammed down her gun-blade, causing the Boarbatusk-shaped creature to smack down on the pavement. Yang quickly took this opportunity and started barraging it with punches, powered up by shots from Ember Celica. The blonde grabbed it by the head and threw it overhead, and to the White Rose partners.
Weiss leaped up, materializing a Glyph to boost her jump. She struck with speed and precision, focusing more on her swings rather than the force. With a few more slashes, she flipped herself and drop kicked the thread Grimm to Ruby.
The Rose smirked and repeatedly shot at it with Crescent Rose. As it neared her, she twirled around her scythe and sliced it in half. But it did nothing. The thread beast quickly reattached itself and spewed out another wave of flame.
Weiss slammed her palm on the ground, once more creating a Glyph to block the fire. Ruby looked at her team with confusion. "How do we kill it?!"
They had no idea.
JNPR vs Beowolf Mask
Jaune swung around Crocea Mors, hitting the thread beast, which didn't even bother to move to evade. It roared as the sound of crackling began to sound from its body. Blue lightning shrouded its body and sent an arc at Jaune.
The blond jumped back and raised his shield, blocking the thunderbolt discharged by the Beowolf, making him skid against the floor. Ren jumped above him and ran forward, riddling the thread beast with SMG Dust bullets. The thread beast wasn't even affected and just roared. It ran up to the Lie and pounced.
Ren flipped at the last second, dodging the mask. He landed and resumed firing, hoping to at least damage it. Pyrrha threw her shield at it, the Grimm being struck in the mask, disorienting it. The red head caught her shield and ran forward, flanked by Jaune.
The two raised their weapons and slashed at the thread beast, trying to get through its thick skin. It growled and discharged another thunderbolt wildly, shocking the Arkos partners, Ren and Nora.
Wait. It shocked Nora?! It's screwed. The Valkyrie was giggling madly as she felt the bolt of electricity tickled her. Pink electricity began to overcome the yellow one, before it eventually dissipated, all being absorbed into Nora's body.
She took hold of Manghild and ran at the thread beast in near-lightning speed. With a laughing roar she slammed Manghild into its side, sending it flying and stopping it from electrocuting her friends.
The three gave a sigh of relief, before quickly shifting back their focus to the beast. Jaune twirled around Crocea Mors, before pointing it upwards, a green glow covering it like a sheen. The blond swung it horizontally, releasing an arc of sharp wind.
The thread beast didn't recognize this as a threat and just ran straight through it, wanting to pounce the team. The arc passed through, and it stopped. A split second later, the threads split in half, the heart exposed.
Jaune quickly faced his team and pointed at the heart. "Quick! Hit the heart!"
Pyrrha shifted Milo into its rifle form and took aim. The threads began to wriggle, before it started to reconnect and sewed itself back. The red-head saw this and quickly fired, but the heart was already covered by then, before the entire thing was reconstructed.
"Well, that was fast." mused Ren.
It growled and pounced to attack.
Penny vs Ursa
Penny slid back, dodging the Ursa mask as it lunged at her. She back flipped and summoned out her sabers once more. The thread beast roared and smacked its paws onto the ground, a large earth stalagmite popping out and shooting up at the eccentric android.
Penny flicked her fingers, commanding the sabers to slice through the stalagmite, turning it into mere blocks. With her strength, Penny kicked the blocks back down, slamming it on to the Ursa-like thread beast.
But the blocks didn't even damage it, Having an Earth heart gave it immunity to earth-based attacks. However, Penny doesn't know that. The ginger-haired girl flicked her fingers, her sabers spinning around like drills and brought her hand down, slamming her weapons down.
The thread beast roared and charged up an Aura beam on its mouth. A mere second later, it fired the beam, said attack turning into mud. It clashed against the the sabers, somehow in a stalemate. Penny frowned and forced her other hand down, applying more power behind the drill-like sabers, plowing through the mud and hitting the thread beast.
It struggled against the saber drills and roared. The shock wave of the roar bounced off the sabers. Penny quickly brought up her weapons back and it started to circle around, a green beam began to charge like a laser beam.
Apparently, the thread beast recognized the threat and quickly turned itself back into nothing more but a tendril of threads with the mask covering the heart. At the very last second, it slithered away just as Penny fired her laser beam. It was hella strong, being powerful enough to pierce through the depot, and somehow create a hole on the ocean water.
Penny dropped down and frowned, witnessing as Kakuzu absorbed back the thread.
SNSH vs Nevermore Mask
Team SNSH wordlessly shot at the flying thread beast, the latter managing to weave through the shots. The Nevermore mask did a barrel roll and spat out a strong gust of wind. Everything that came out of Team SNSH's weapons were all misdirected by the strong puff of air.
Sasuke frowned and went with a different approach. He placed away Fukushuu Bringa, raising his index and middle finger. The Uchiha inhaled deeply before exhaling, a large ball of orange flames at the Nevermore-like creature.
It didn't stop blowing out the gust, but that would prove to be its downfall. The fireball struck against the wind, stopping for a moment as it clashed against the thread beast's attack. A smirk crept up Team NSH's faces. If what Sasuke was trying to do proved to be right, then this would be quite easier.
And it did.
The fireball pushed back against the wind as Sasuke blew harder, the wind being beaten back and absorbed into the flames. The fireball was bigger, hotter and it was now colored white, indicating its hotness. The thread beasts squawked as it was engulfed in the ball of blaze.
Sasuke smirked and turned to face his friends. "Alright, looks like its done." The fireball dissipated, showing that the threads have been burnt, leaving only the mask and the heart.
Naruto aimed at the heart, a serious look on his face. "One less heart for a traitor." And he pulled the trigger. The bullet sped through and was about to hit the heart.
But at a split second, Kakuzu grabbed it with his arm and retrieved it. Naruto growled and his eyes flashed red. "Oh come on!" It was so close!
Having decided enough, Kakuzu recalled back his hearts, confusing the other three teams. They slammed back into his back, the only indication they were there are the masks. The greedy mercenary ran up to the survivalist criminal with a serious expression.
"Let's go, we've retrieved enough Dust for-"
Kakuzu was interrupted as a bullet ripped through his left chest, obliterating his heart and Earth Mask. His and Roman's eyes widened, as the former clutched his chest. The traitor looked up and saw Naruto holding Whirlwind, the barrel smoking. Indicating that he was the one who made the shot.
Roman slung Kakuzu's arm over his shoulder, as he and the remaining conscious White Fang grunts ran up to the Bullheads. "Board the Bullhead!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, Black Aura channeling into Whirlwind. "As if I'm gonna let you!" The gun began to resonate with the color black, almost like it was sucking off the color around it.
The criminals boarded the transportation vehicle, Roman setting down Kakuzu on the Bullhead's wall. Whirlwind started to bubbled, making everyone, besides Naruto, look at it in confusion. Before anyone could do anything, it exploded, blowing up Naruto's hand along with it.
"ARGH!" said Naruto, clutching his stump with gritted teeth.
Kakuzu grinned through his clenched teeth, seeing this happened. He wobbly stood up as the Bullhead's started to take off. He walked up to the opening and stared down on the students. His Wind, Fire and Lightning Masks shot out from his back and started to charge. From behind his mask, he grinned.
"Now then, taste this. Final Shot!"
The masks fired their respective beams, combining into a trio of elements that could only spell destruction. Sasuke acted on instinct and covered his right eye. Everyone would ask why, but they went silent as blood dripped down from his left eye.
"AMATERASU!" shouted out Sasuke.
The area around the three teams plus Penny began to permeate, the air starting to bubble as if something hot was about to pop up. RWBY, and NPR gaped as large, black flames sprouted and encircled around them like a protective barrier.
Kakuzu's tri-attack hit against the flames but it quickly disintegrated into nothing. Not even a match for the black flame. Kakuzu frowned as the hatch closed up, preventing him from further seeing. Roman walked up to his associate and leaned on the wall, muttering, "These kids keep getting weirder and weirder." and the Bullhead flew off.
Sasuke panted and took a deep breath, the flames dissipating. Everyone gave him a smile and a thanks, before Yang questioned what that was. Sasuke obliged and answered.
"Amaterasu, translation is Goddess of the Sun. Its the strongest type of fire that has ever existed and can burn any other type of flames. Let's just say it's a part of my Semblance and leave it at that."
They were all satisfied at the answer. But then Blake remembered something. "But what about your hand, Naruto?"
Naruto faced the ninja-lover and raised his hands, which were all perfectly there. "What about it?"
RWBY and NPR all had their jaws dropped. They could only sputter as to how his hand was completely intact, despite it being blown up by his weapon's malfunction. Naruto grinned and explained.
"I have a healing factor thanks to my heritage. Fuzz butt only accelerated it. So I could be chopped in half and still be alive." But then he frowned and crossed his arm. "But it looks like I need to get a new long-range weapon."
Ruby turned green at the thought and poked out her tongue in disgust. Everyone else just laughed, feeling very happy at the atmosphere around them. Despite what just happened, everyone was still cheerful. Ruby looked around, and noticed that her most recent friend disappeared.
"Hey where's Penny?'
Everyone looked around, seeing that she had indeed mysteriously disappeared. Naruto's eyes shot up, sensing where she was. But decided not to make a fuss about it and started to exit with his friends.
Penny frowned as she watched her friends look for her. Besides her was Zero, who had his arms crossed and eyes closed. She really wanted to be with them and celebrate, but she couldn't because protocols dictate that she must obey her caretaker.
"You should know better than to go running around in a city you don't know." lectured the driver, as he started up the car.
Penny bowed her head sadly and apologized. "I know. I'm sorry."
The driver didn't turn around, but addressed Zero. "And you should've kept an eye more on your little sister. Who knows what could've happened."
Zero chuckled and opened up a single eye. "You worry too much, you know that? Penny can take care of herself just fine. My fiancee on the other hand."
Nothing more was said, as Penny continued to gaze at JNPR, RWBY and SNSH. The driver noticed this and sighed. "Your time will come, Penny. You just have to be patient." And the car curved to the opposite direction and sped off.
Ozpin's Office
Ozpin sat in his office, all alone as the shattered moon;'s light shone upon him. He opened his eyes and noticed his Scroll vibrating twice. The headmaster picked it up and noticed two messages. One from his best field agent and spy. The second was from one of the best and most powerful students that ever graced Beacon. The first one read: Queen has Pawns.
This brought a frown on Ozpin's face, thinking as to how he could reconstruct his plans for the future. He looked at the second message, which read: A new species of animal has joined the zoo. I'm coming over for a visit."
Now this, made Ozpin really frown. It was code for: a new type of Grimm popped up. The bespectacled male leaned back in his chair and sighed. A small migraine formed in his head as he thought.
"My thoughts were correct. Things ARE getting interesting. But certainly not the good kind."
Unknown Location
Roman and Kakuzu walked out of the Bullhead and into the building. The former was grumbling as he mused about his failure.
"How insulting that a criminal and mercenary of your caliber were all stopped by mere children." said a voice from behind them.
The mercenary snorted as his chest was already covered in sitches "Well excuse me if one of the so called kids was the holder of the Kyuubi." said Kakuzu
In the shadows were three figures. Two females and a single male. The female in the middle had raven hair, amber-colored eyes and wore a red dress. The other female had chocolate-skin, mint-green hair and red eyes, wearing white clothing. The male had silver-ish gray hair, wearing gray clothing with some armor paddings.
The female in the middle narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"
Kakuzu didn't face her but answered. "Naruto Uzumaki, holder of the Kyuubi since birth. He shot out two of my hearts and I'm only down to three. So don't test me lest you kids want to lose your hearts."
And he walked out, along with Roman. The middle female, Cinder, the one who fought with Goodwitch, Ruby and Sasuke, frowned and thought about what Kakuzu had said. Mercury, the male with silver-ish gray hair looked at Cinder and asked, "What's the matter?"
Emerald, the one mint mint-green haired nodded in agreement with Mercury. "Yeah, Cinder. You're thinking about something pretty deeply."
Cinder didn't answer as she stared at the shattered moon with a frown. "The only good thing that happened is we now know one of the Biju's location. We need to reconfigure the plan. Or else everything will come crumbling down. A lot of unexpected variables have been popping up."
And here's Volume One's end. I'm going to be taking a little break for about two weeks because school's about to end. I need to focus on that first then shift it back to here. Finals are coming up and I still need to study.
Really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I worked REALLY hard for the fight scenes and hoped it was up to your expectations. But that's everything for now. Please, give your comments on opinions in the review section so I can either change or adapt into your criticism.
That's that for this A/N. Ja ne~