Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
It really was beautiful.
"I never get tired of looking at this sight." Naruto spoke softly to himself as he looked over Menagerie from the roof of his home. He was sitting down at the very highest part of his home, in the middle of the night, just enjoying the view that he was getting of the home he could call his own. It was not the most developed place in the world, with his powerful eyes, he gazed at the faunus who prefered to be awake at night thanks to their animal traits, though there weren't many of them.
He could see the bandit camp that had been set up at the edge of Menagerie, right next to the desert area, which was where he was going to assume Raven currently was.
He didn't really feel the need to go and speak with her.
It was a beautiful home he had, one that was built on the backs of ex-slaves... sometimes it was easy for everyone to forget that not even 80 years previously, the Faunus were a species that were treated like actual slaves in most parts of the world. Menagerie, the home of faunus, was built by the hands of those former slaves, and it had grown from there. The land was practically the home for the entire new generation of faunus, even for those who were not born on the island, they had a connection to the place.
There were no giant forests though.
"... I guess I still miss that place, at least a little." Naruto didn't even remember the name of his birth place anymore it had been so long. He could never forget the cold stares, having his existance ignored and treated with scorn. He couldn't forget the peronal discrimination that he faced just because he was different than others. He missed the beauty of his birth place, the expansive forests that were so beautiful, and even the great scenery of the huge village, a village that dwarfed the Kingdoms in size. "... though I'm pretty sure they don't miss me." Naruto mentioned with a slight laugh at his own expense.
Yeah, he was sure that he wouldn't have been missed there, even if he did feel some love for where he was born.
"The entire world could be like this with a litle force."
"No it couldn't." Naruto denied the voice speaking behind him without even so much as glancing at the person. Just by the voice he knew he who he was talking to. "We've been making great strides with peaceful protesting. Violence isn't going to help." Naruto mentioned as he turned his head to look at the person standing there.
Sienna Khan.
A very beautiful young woman, only a few years older than him, in her early 20s in age. She was a woman about his mother's height, with styled short hair that parted at her forehead, revealing it. She had orange tiger ears as her animal trait, and she had the same yellow cat eyes as his mother, sister, and father all had, sharp pupils. She had a light chocolate colored skin, and she had tiger stipes in a darker brown on hr arms and legs. SHe wore thigh high blade boots with a yellow stripe, and a short black combat dress.
"Your father's way to peace will take too long. If he just allowed me to take over the White Fang, in a mere 5 years I could bring our species respect... and the situation with the human in the jail won't have to happen again." Sienna spoke darkly about the woman that had been sentenced to life in prison. Well, that might have been her sentence, but it wasn't like a sentence couldn't be changed with enough persuasion. "If you backed me on this, your father wouldn't be as busy running both Menagerie and the White Fang." Sienna spoke more to Naruto as she walked up next to him, looking down at him, seeing as he was sitting.
It was Naruto's fault she didn't become the White Fang leader.
When she talked with Ghira for the position, so that he could spend more time with his family, it was Naruto who told Ghira that working for a peaceful future wasn't something that needed to be delegated. It was Naruto who convinced Ghira to remain as the leader of the White Fang until the youngest child, Blake, was mature enough to become the leader of it.
"Why don't you sit down and join me?" Naruto asked as he placed his hand out and pat the roof down.
Sienna closed her eyes, and sat down next to him, taking the invitation.
"You went into the human's world... and you came back injured. That should show you just how violent of a species they are." Sienna spoke softly to him, but not without confidence.
She had been waiting for him to return, since only he could convince Ghira to give her the power over the White Fang.
"You smell like blood Sienna." Naruto glanced at her.
He knew what she did.
"Only a Faunus should spend time in our jails, we don't have the resources to feed human criminals." Sienna's reply was very simple, and gave away everything she did. Naruto sighed to himself, and Sienna sent him a sharp look for it. "I did you a favor, that human spelled like your blood. You should be happy I executed her." Sienna's actions didn't need to be hinted at anymore, since she knew Naruto was aware of what she did.
She didn't have power of the White Fang, but seeing as she was given the power to unhold the law, she could modify punishments to fit the crime.
Harming the next leader of Menagerie was a heavy crime, and was easy to modify that sentence to a death sentence.
"I'm not happy in the slightest. I know you mean well, but blood being spilled should always be the very last resort. She couldn't help the fact she was born human... we are no better than them, when we spill their blood." Naruto stated to her, and this was the reason why he didn't approve of her taking command of the White Fang. Why he convinced his father not to pass on his title, to wait a few years for Blake to mature enough to take on the role.
He hated to see anyone hated for something out of their control.
Sienna placed her hand on his without looking at him.
"We are better than them. No faunus has ever owned a human slave. When man met faunus, who was it that threw the first spear?" Sienna questioned him.
There was only one answer.
"It was man." Naruto knew the history of their people, very well seeing as he had to learn it.
When man discovered the existance of the faunus, people who looked so much like this, but had extra traits that made them so different, man's reaction was fear. It was the first case of shed blood between the races, and the blood was faunus blood. Many faunus believed that blood spilled was proof of the nature of humans, a nature that faunus didn't have, but inherited from their interactions with humans.
Sienna leaned in closer to him.
"... Their entire culture was built on centuries of faunus blood. We still aren't equal either... slavery might be illegal in the kingdoms, but not all the villages agree. We need to make them fear us, fear our power, so they never abuse another faunus again." Sienna practically hissed out, her general dislike for humans seeping into her tone.
Naruto felt sympathy for her.
"That won't be peace though? I want there to be a day when humans and faunus can smile at each other. I don't want to see that smile become forced." Naruto told Sienna and looked at her. She placed her other hand on his leg and leaned in to look at him.
She had hot breath.
"You will make a great leader for our people, of that I don't have any doubts. You are kind, and you've known the pain I talk about personally. There is no better man to lead the faunus when your father steps down... but you are naive. We need a firm hand." Sienna pushed her forehead up against his. She pushed her body into his body as well, her sternum into his elbow, as she gazed into his eyes.
Sienna did not lie.
She never lied.
She did not want the extinction of the human race, she simply wanted the blood that they had spilled to be repaid with human blood. She wanted them to understand true fear, so that they would never hurt another faunus. In that aspect, Naruto respected her greatly, all of her actions were truly geared towards equality between faunus and humans. She wished to gain that equality through power though, and equality gained through power was equality... but it was not peace.
Naruto didn't just want equality, he wanted peace.
Her world was a world where humans feared faunus. It was a world where the human race knew that if they treated a faunus with ill will, they would have blood spilled.
His world was a world where humans loved faunus. He wanted humans to treat faunus well, not because they were being forced to, but because they genuinelly held no ill will towards the faunus species.
They kissed.
Sienna pushed her lips into his, and moved her body forward. He was pushed onto his back as she got on top of him, her hands were smaller than his own, but he could feel their rough texture when compared to Emerald's hands. They were the hands of a person who worked herself to the bone every day as a child so that she could fight for what she believed in. He could look into her eyes, neither of them closed their eyes while kissing.
"Could you do this with a human?" Sienna asked Naruto as she looked down at him, ending the kiss so that she could speak. "That woman... that bandit leader... she and your father have been making deals. A deal that you are involved in." Sienna informed Naruto of something he wasn't fully aware of.
Naruto looked up at her, sitting up on his elbows slightly.
He didn't doubt her.
She believed that faunus deserved blood for the way they were treated, and that humans would only learn to respect them through fear, but she was not without honor either. When her fellow faunus was involved, she had a very high moral code. Humans she hated, tolerated, but she truly did love her fellow faunus.
"Raven Branwen." Naruto knew the name of the woman.
Sienna scowled.
"Your father made another mistake, allowing a human tribe to come here and offer us a deal. They will be this great land's downfall. Humans have no right to be here." Sienna placed both of her hands on his shoulders. She moved so that she was sitting on his lap, looking down with fire in her eyes.
Bandits were scum, even by human standards.
"Every day, more faunus move to Menagerie to get away from human oppression. Those faunus aren't warriors, and we are becoming more and more overcrowded. We need to expand the borders of Menagerie as much as possible, or our fellow faunus will be the downfall of our country. Would you rather us be slaughtered by grimm, or let humans live with us?" Naruto asked the human hating woman. Sienna bit her lower lip, he could see the anger in her eyes when she realized that they wouldn't have much choice.
They were barely making due as it was, and their resources were being strained to the point that it was becoming harder and harder to survive in Menagerie.
"How long until they betray us?" Sienna argued against him.
"How long until the faunus of Menagerie start turning to crime to support their families? Menagerie accepts all faunus who wish to move here... but we can't keep doing that without expanding further." Naruto could feel her unwrapping the bandages around his waist, the ones he wore for looks. She placed her hand on his abs, before she moved it up and grabbed him by the throat.
Not hard enough to choke of course, her touch was actually very light.
"Then we stop accepting new faunus, and we make the world a better place for faunus instead. Faunus won't feel the need to move here, because nobody would dare treat us badly. I know you understand that more than anyone." Sienna spoke of his past. She was well aware of it, seeing as she and Naruto had spoke many times before. She didn't know the location of where he was born, but she did know he had it harder than the vast majority of faunus did.
If anything, he should be on her side.
He was a light, a beacon of hope for Faunus that they could make themselves a better future. Everyone on Menagerie would follow Naruto, who had made himself the friend of practically everyone on Menagerie, to the grave. He was their shining light, a symbol of happiness, that could erase darkness.
"The best part about feeling pain... is that when you heal, you become that much happier, because you know how bad it can be. I don't want the world to look at faunus with fear... I want a world where people can be happy together." Naruto smiled up at Sienna, and she closed her eyes, unable to look into those sparkling blue eyes when he smiled so purely.
This was why everyone followed him.
He knew pain, but felt no hatred for the ones that caused him pain. He genuinely wished for the happiness of every good person in the world.
"You're naive and stubborn." Sienna spoke at him.
"If being naive means helping others, regardless of their species, then I'll happily be naive for the rest of my life." Naruto told Sienna with determined eyes, and she opened her eyes to see them.
Sienna looked at him with pride.
He was a tribute to just how amazing their race was.
"You won't be able to remain so happy when you know that woman... Raven Branwen, is to be your pride. The deal your father made with her is a marraige contract. She, the leader of the bandits, and you, the next leader of the faunus, are to be wed... bonding our groups together." Sienna informed him of what her spy had told her. She knew about the deal, and she made sure to keep an eye on Ghira just in case he did anything that would hurt their species.
She respected and trusted the man, but she knew that his peaceful ways were no the answer that their people needed right now.
Naruto's shocked look told her he hadn't known about this.
"What?" Naruto asked, and Sienna smiled.
"Exactly, he did what he thought was best for our people, without even asking you how you felt about it. Do you understand?" Sienna spoke softly to him.
She was furious on the inside.
"Of course I do... well damn. I'm going to have to talk with Dad about it. I'm not going to do anything until I hear his reasons though. My Dad is no a selfish man... he would never do something like this if there was no other way." Naruto was completely sure that there was far more to it than Sienna was telling him.
He believed in his father.
-With Ghira-
"... I just felt this feeling of deep pride in my chest, and this feeling of shame?" Ghira asked as he rubbed the middle of his hairy chest.
He felt proud of Naruto, and disappointed in himself, at the same time?
"We should just go home already, Naruto will be gone if we don't get there soon enough." Blake impatiently spoke as she tapped her foot against the floor of the hotel room. She hadn't seen Naruto in more than a month, and she was sure as hell not going to miss seeing him when he was back at Menagerie for the day.
She was NOT missing this.
Chapter End!
I love Sienna's character design, not sure if I got her personality right, but seeing as I predicted what Raven's personality right, I'm hoping I got it right again.
Please Leave Me Lots of Nice Long Reviews, But No Flames Please!
Naruto and Sienna will have a complicated relationship, and since Ghira never gave her the title of Leader for the White Fang, the White Fang is still a peaceful group right now.