The Shattered One

by Myevltwin

The life of a criminal is thus: You hurt other people to survive. The life of a huntsman is thus: You stop criminals from hurting other to survive. The life of a mercenary is thus: It's a gray area.

14. Family Matters

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N

This story is entirely fan-made and fictional. Any acts that you might find offensive, disguising, inhuman, wrong or just don't like, we are not liable for. You are reading this story of your own free will and not being forced, if you don't like something we are not forcing you to stay and read it. Please leave the page and re-frame from reading the chapter and or story. All Copyrighted Characters belong to their respect owners. We don't claim anything that is not our own creation and are merely using them for fan made material.

We accept constructive criticize and help but being rude and disrespectful will not be tolerated. This is done for the fun of writing not to make every little person happy, while making people happy with are stories is great we are not here for Money, Fame or Fortune this is done for the simply joy of writing.

Chapter 14

"Let me make sure I got this straight, just so we're all on the same page." James tossed a data pad on his desk and let the holopad take over. "You went to Hei's Club to have a talk with Naruto, which resulted in a fight that Anko started." At the mention of the fight, Anko shivered with excitement. James did not look pleased with her, but continued as the more important part of the debriefing began to show its ugly head. "After the arrival of Yang Xiao Long, you supplied them with classified information concerning our military secrets being stolen."

"It was already on the news long before we told them," Iruka explained. James cut his gaze to the man sharply and had a quick stare down with him. Iruka held his ground, oddly enough, and motioned to the captured image of the Paladin that was brought up as it rampaged through the freeway. "Why weren't we informed about this thing being on the loose or that these were the objects that were stolen. Having this information might have given us a better advantage against Roman when we got engaged him in combat."

"It was on a need to know basis. You currently didn't need to know. Only a few people know and they are the people I trust with this sort of information because they're the ones looking in on the thefts." James looked at the image of the Schnee Company's greatest military creation since their first droid. All that time and money now in the hands of terrorists. The people of Vale might not look to him with such hopeful faces anymore after last night. But he had far more worrisome matters to contend with.

"And you say Kakashi is also here?" The two soldiers nodded grimly. James shut his eyes. It was easier when he wasn't Headmaster and was simply a soldier with a gun. Now he was a General and a Headmaster. A Headmaster and a General with the most wanted soldier ever now here in Vale that had more power and skill than anyone should ever be allowed to have that could topple and had toppled entire villages and small cities by himself.

"How did he get over here?" Anko asked.

She held up her own data pad and showed a blank slot for face cams. Atlas took their security very seriously. Almost more seriously than the SDC. But that was because military secrets were far more dangerous than company secrets most of the time. Each airport, train station, and dock had face cams to find and identify people. If Kakashi slipped through them undetected then they had more issues to deal with back home than Vale currently had with their little White Fang problem.

"I'd like to focus back on the stolen tech and what we know about it, along with your engagement with it." James hit the play button and watched the fight for another few minutes before the thing was reduced to scrap at the hands of Naruto. "Anko, why didn't you move to capture Roman? Surely you could have captured him or killed him on the spot."

"Sir, I didn't have an opening to."

James kept watching the footage, doubting her on that front. The woman crafty. Too crafty at times. It was really sick to know that she had once killed someone for a half mile away with her chains by feeding it through the sewage system to spear the person through their anal cavity to their brain, but she did so while fighting off Grimm with one hand. An amazing feat her wasn't willing to believe, but the autopsy proved how he died and when he died, so the times matched up.

"Then I suppose my next question is why you allowed Kushina to even find out Naruto was here?"

The two-looked worried on that subject. James made a very valid point. But sadly, they weren't responsible for alerting her to his present.

"We didn't know she knew he was here. We didn't even know until we got word of it from you." Anko explained as Iruka brought up the image of the red Grimm that had been at the site as well. "But don't we have other issues to worry about. Like this thing?" She motioned to the image as Iruka brought up one he sneaked off with of Richtor. Both were missing the same arm at the same point where it had been ripped off. Not a coincidence or a hard lead to follow when the evidence was so clearly given. "This boy has the ability to turn into Grimm or something like it. Why aren't we moving on him?"

"To be fair, I don't think we should," Iruka confessed. James crossed his arms. The man continued. "See, before Kushina showed up, Naruto told me that we shouldn't look in on the matter at all. Said something to me about it being too dangerous for us. I didn't listen to him at the time, but I think we can take care of ourselves if something were to happen from this."

"What do you mean?"

"It wasn't implied, but he made it seem as though whoever he works for has enough pull to bring harm to anyone that knows about their secrets."

"We identified a few of their members already, and those people are still here." James told them. "I'm sure that whatever this boy is, he's something of value to them. Only we'll know about this talk. So, don't worry about a thing, okay?" That eased them a little bit, but James hardly noticed it as he kept his gaze on the one-armed boy. He'd seen him before, but he wasn't sure where.

(-)

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he sat up fast. The pain followed and he collapsed back into bed. He felt the sheets, looked at the ceiling, sniffed the air, and listened to his neighbors' bicker about something, listen to loud music, and play games.

He was back in his apartment.

So, mom's here now. He swung his legs over the bed and looked at his orange and black sleeping pajamas. Great…

Naruto had nothing but love for his mother. She loved him, was there for him when he needed her the most, and had always been his mother, rather than his friend. She scolded him for doing something wrong and praised him for doing something right. When he had questions, she answered them. She wasn't the truly gifted and ideal mother, but she was his mother, and she was great at doing her job.

Finding his closet, he unclothed and grabbed some new ones to get around and face the music. He scratched his nose and laughed when he recognized the music playing as an old song his mother used to listen to. He'd forgotten the name of it, but he remembered the lyrics well enough. It suited her.

He pushed open the door and walked to his kitchen where he found her making breakfast. She wore a tan colored shirt and short blue jeans that his father had once worn when he was skinnier. She had torn the legs off of them after they had been put through the wash too many times. She filled it out well, which was odd since she had been thinner than him when he got rid of them but gained a little weight to fit them.

Kushina's orange and white tail twitched and Naruto knew she had figured out he was up and behind her.

"So how was your nap?"

Naruto cautiously moved forward. To her left was a frying pan. A great many times that thing had been used on his behind as a disciplinary tool of destruction. She still had one back home with his butt imprinted on it because it was a cheaper kind. She had kept it only as a keepsake and as a joke.

"Good. How'd you find me?" It was bugging him. James wouldn't do it unless she asked him where he was again, and then it'd be impossible to hide it from her. Iruka and Anko were out of the question because they had been here the entire time. She was on vacation back in Menagerie visiting her family there when they had gotten deployed over here.

"Kali told me about her daughter finding a friend out here that had blond hair, a tail, and was very smart. He also had whisker marks on the side of his face." She turned and smiled at him. Naruto rolled his eyes. Obviously, Blake hadn't been in contact with her parents or he'd have picked up on a call like that. So, her mother was once again keeping an eye on her daughter through other various means. But still, what were the chances that she'd be at their place or in their area when Kali got the information? "At least she'd make a better girlfriend than the current one you have. She's a real suck up."

Naruto blinked a few times and then sniffed the air.

"She's in your computer room."

Naruto sighed and stormed into his computer room to find Yang sitting at it and staring at the monitor. It was password locked and not easy to crack. It also served as the greatest joke he'd ever heard in a long time. Red Vs Blue was certainly entreating when it came to creating those. Too bad Sarge was an idiot and didn't listen to Simmons about password ideas.

"Having fun?" Yang turned and smiled, resting her head against the back of his chair with an expression of a puppy caught in the act and trying to be happy. "What are you doing here?"

"You know why I'm here, lover!"

Naruto locked the door. Yang stood up with her fists ready for the throw down. Naruto sighed and calmly walked over to his desk to type out the password. Yang watched him type part of it, but missed the last part because he bodied her. His wallpaper was that of a younger version of himself and a few other people around him.

"You won't find anything on your mom in my computer. Since I've worked with her, I don't have a need to make a file on her if she goes rouge."

"But you know where she is."

Looking back at the door to where his mother was, Naruto nodded. "Yes, I know where she is. I've known since the day we first met. But I'm not taking you to her. You won't like what you find and even if you do somehow managed to like what she tells you, you won't be the same again. You'll be broken, a traitor, and worst of all, a slave to a group you don't want to be a part of."

"I just want answers."

"And that's where you'll wind up a slave." Yang started messing with his computer to find anything she could think of on her mothers' location or to blackmail him with to give up the information. "You have a little sister to look after, a father that needs you. Why are you so determined to a find a woman that will sooner crush your spirit than hold you in her arms?"

"I just want answers." She gave up after a minute of searching. All of his files were password protected. "So, your mom is from Atlas as well and a soldier to boot. I didn't really see that in the file I found on you."

"My mother is retried, but she still retains her rank and an authority when they have a use for her. She just went back to the military a few years ago."

"After you left." Yang got up and circled around him. "The man who single handedly took down the White Fang in Atlas with an empty pistol, a few new recruits, and bombs with no detonation codes, stands before." She snorted. "You really don't seem like much and the papers I found on you make you seem taller, braver, and more muscled. Hardly what I'd call the Hero of Kurtstand. So, what happened to you? What made you change?"

Naruto walked around her and back to his computer. She watched him shut it down and inhale deeply. "If you want to ask me questions, ask better ones. I'm tired of answering that one."

"Too bad."

His one visible eye turned red and Yang put up her fist for a fight. He turned away with a snort. "I got tired of waiting through the proper channels for them to make the right call." He got up and moved to a bookshelf. "That day at Kurstand would have been different if they had simply give me the codes to the bombs, but they decided not to."

"So what; you were just going to blow the place?" Naruto didn't say anything, but his cold expression let her know that it had been an option for him or his intentions. "Wow… You really are as terrible as they later made you out to be." She pulled up her scroll and showed a familiar headline to him. "After you lost your arm and a member of your team, you went to the council and demanded that the man responsible for your arm be sentenced to death. They denied and you blackmailed three of their core members in to early retirement. No charges were put against you because what they found on them was more incriminating than your actions, but you still got a slap on the wrist for it. And then, worst of all, you murdered three people during a Grimm outbreak before leaving."

Naruto almost smiled. Yang lowered his Scroll.

"You really are a monster, aren't you?"

"I'm much more than a monster, Yang, I'm the Devil." He could hear his mother starting to sing again. He shut his eyes and for a moment was drawn away from reality and to a memory of his mother singing while making cookies. His father was at the table nursing a busted arm. Naruto was then drawn back to the present and looked at Yang. "You need to leave."

"I want information on my mother. Tell me now, and I'll leave you alone for good. I promise. I don't care what I find. Whatever it is, I'll deal with it." Naruto kept his eyes hard as he looked back at the door and to where his mother was. She had started singing a different song. "She has a lovely voice." Naruto's hand leapt to her throat and she felt all the air in her lungs get pulled out. Her Semblance was many things but not something that could handle something like this. She wasn't taking kinetic damage, only having the air ripped from her body.

"Leave my mother out of this, Yang. Your problem with your mother doesn't have anything to do with mine." His voice was harsh and brutal. He held her tight enough that he stopped the use of Semblance and put against the wall. She bet on his arm, but did nothing to him. He was smart, even in a moment of rage like she'd gotten him with as he'd used his metal arm to hold her. "You need to listen to the people that tell you something. If you continue down this path, one day very soon your sister will wake up to you being gone and your body never being found. Believe me, the people I work for, the people your mother works for, can make you disappear in a crowded space with millions of eyes watching you, and no one will know what happened or see it happen. Stop looking." He released her when her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

She dropped to the ground and gave a weak cough. Naruto sighed. He'd have to deal with her now. Playing him was one thing. Playing his mother was another. He was just happy his mom wasn't as naïve as Mokoto had been the last time he'd seen her.

He shoved the door open and walked back to the kitchen holding Yang. Kushina didn't bother turning to face him. "Is your friend okay?"

"She's fine. Need to take her home." Naruto stopped when he saw the time and then glanced to his right where a shadow was put on the floor. He followed it up to its owner and found Richtor sitting at the table with a blank look on his face. More notable than that, however, was that he had his missing arm back. Richtor smiled and waved and then flexed his formerly missing arm. And I guess he can regenerate lost limbs, meaning putting him down would be even harder than anyone originally believed. Awesome… new tactics and countermeasures to think on. "Richtor, could you be a friend and take Yang seven blocks down and drop her in the trash can for me. You'll see the dumpster by the comic shop."

Richtor didn't even blink as he scooped up Yang, hefting her over his shoulder like a sake of potatoes, and started marching. He wasn't going to complain about an odd task like this. He was just happy to be back.

With Richtor gone, Kushina stopped the music, turned and faced her son. "We need to talk."

"Yes, we do." He folded his arms. "Why are you here?"

"I'm your mother, and you ran away, while also being wanted for murder. Which, I know now is not at the top of your wanted list anymore."

He snorted in protest. His wanted list was cleaned up weeks ago. James no longer had a valid reason to go after now thanks to him accepting the role of a Guardian, much to his own dismay. Not that it was going to be any different than what he currently did. He went where he wanted, did what he wanted, and operated with only the best to get the job done. He was here on orders from higher ups, yes, but he was happy to finally be in a place where the number of friends he formerly had was rather low.

"But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to only take you back to Atlas." Naruto rolled his eyes and moved to the door when someone knocked. He tore the door open and Anko and Iruka stood in the hallway with smiles on their faces. Anko held a few bags of groceries while Iruka had a few drinks.

"What do you want?"

"Come in!" Kushina called out to them. Naruto shut his eyes as the two adults pushed through him and sat their groceries down on the counter. "Did you find everything I asked for?"

"And more!" Anko cheered as she grabbed a few bottles of beer and tossed one to Naruto. Kushina's tail acted like a whip and snatched it out of the air. Naruto didn't mover when she threw it and watched as Kushina put on the counter and glared at Anko. "I forgot your mother doesn't like it when you drink."

"The drinking age is higher here, anyways, Anko." Iruka defended with a slight grin. Kushina gave him a sour expression as she started putting the items away. "So how do you plan on taking him out of here, Kushina? Box him up?"

Anko laughed. Kushina picked up a knife to start cooking lunch but to also make it clear as a threat for the woman. Anko wasn't afraid and simply kept laughing.

"I'm buying a plane ticket for him and we're going back that way."

"Good luck with that," Naruto told her as he fiddled with his scroll. Kushina's scroll beeped and she hastily checked it. "Doesn't look like you have any money for two plane tickets." He put his scroll back in his pocket and Kushina slowly turned to face her son. "Why would you spend twenty thousand lien on stupid factory in Vacuo?"

"Not funny, Naruto!" She stabbed the knife in the cutting board and grabbed a frying pan. The male Faunus chuckled as she raised the frying pan above her head for a hard swing. Iruka grabbed the weapon from her and waved a lecturing finger her way. "Naruto, give me back my money. I hate calling the banks!"

"You should get better passwords, then." Kushina fumed and moved back to her work of cutting chicken. "So, that was your master plan? You were just going to force me to get on a plane with you, no questions asked, and then do what? Turn me over to the authorities in Atlas? James has already pardoned me for my supposed crimes."

"But you should still stand trial for what you did. It would allow you to explain yourself." Naruto snorted and grabbed his scroll. He flipped through some images and tossed it to her. She caught it with her tail and stared at the image. "Why are you showing me this?"

"I'm not the son you remember, mom. I changed. Maybe for the worst, but I changed. I wanted to make a difference, so I traveled. I worked with bandits, terrorists, groups that are no longer alive, and some truly terrible people that shouldn't even still exist. I worked with the Seven Sins of Mistral. I helped enlist Kimimaro into the Dijins of Vacuo. I fought alongside the White Fang in their encounter with the Ragnarok of Vale. You can't tell me you approve of any of that."

Kushina stared at the photo on his scroll. It was a picture of a man with bandages over his throat and face. He carried a large sword on his back. Beside him was a woman with long black hair holding a small chunk of ice in a bladed gauntlet that covered hand. Behind both of them was a man in a full suit of armor with a gun on his back that looked like it could swivel. Naruto stood beside an old lady with grey hair pulled into a bun and holding a small silver cane.

"I'm not who you think I am anymore. I changed."

"But you didn't move on," Anko exclaimed as she took the scroll and started flipping through the images until she came to the one she wanted. "You still have your old teams' photo. Complete with an image of Sakura in her dress and you with your date at the time. I can still see Sasuke in the background standing next to Ino."

Kushina slowly took the scroll from her and sat it on the counter. "If you've done all of this, why don't you run now? That's what you're good at. You were always good at that." She smiled softly. "But that's not like you to run away from a challenge. You run only when you know defeat is all you'll find. So why aren't you running? Do you see a scenario where I don't go to James, ask him to throw you in a cell, and whisk you back to Atlas so you can be a normal soldier again?"

"I am a soldier. That never changed. I just got tired of waiting for orders." The two soldiers present tensed when he turned their way. "I got tired of waiting on the councils and bigwigs of the world. The pencil pushers that want to get all the glory but take none of the blame. I was exposed to it when I lost my arm. They dug up stuff saying I worked for the White Fang at that time. I didn't. And they only assumed I did because of my stunt at Kurstand."

"The council doesn't like you because you're a thinker," Anko told him. "Military wise you're a great asset to them, to us. You can think your way out of any situation, no matter the cost. You survive. You're like me in that regard. We're both survivors. It's just a matter of the price we're willing to pay for our survival."

Anatolia was a terrible incident in Atlas's history, near the time Mantle had lost all of its power. It still had some during the time and when they lost it, Anatolia, a small city near its walls, was the first to suffer. A town of nearly five thousand was lost to a single soldier that showed up out of the blue and cut a path of destruction for no other reason than just because they were in his way. The only survivor was Anko. She survived by killing her best friend to wound the unknown soldier. The price of that victory was high, and Anko was always viewed as an accomplice of his, but with him never surfacing or finding any trail of him, it became clear that if she was in contact with him, they were going to great lengths to hide it.

Iruka put a hand on his wife's shoulder and looked at the two Uzumakis with worry. "We can't take him out of here, Kushina. We spoke to James before coming here. Naruto is a free man and is stationed here under orders by Ozpin and James." Her tail bristled in quiet rage to their words. She didn't want to hear them or accept them. "The orders he has weren't told to us in detail, but what we were told is that he works for a group that Ozpin has approved of and allowed them to make use of their city for the time being. Any attempts to take him or his team will result in criminal punishment."

"I don't care."

"I care." Iruka pointed at Naruto and said, "You're just now coming back to the military, Kushina. We can't let you throw that away. How do you think Minato would feel if he found out you were blowing your career on your son that has orders to be here?!"

"He'd be proud I took him home!"

"No, he wouldn't." Naruto said bitterly. Kushina turned with the knife in her hand and a look of murder on her face. "Dad was… difficult to be around because he wasn't a father to me, he was a friend. At times, I hardly knew him and then there were times he acted like I could do no wrong. I set your tail on fire once and he laughed, rather than scolded me. He left that to you, mom. What sort of father, and husband, does that?"

"He found joy in the things you did."

"I highly doubt he'd find anything joyful about what I do now or have done. Believe me, I've done terrible things. Things I'm not proud of, but I've done to complete the mission." Raising his voice wasn't going to work with her. She was a mom first and a friend second and a soldier last. Calming down, he took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. But Minato was always… strange to me." Kushina turned away and went back to work, her tail now on the floor. "I'm sorry… I really am."

He scratched at his neck and looked to the other two adults.

"When did you two get married?" The two laughed and Kushina began to chuckle.

(-)

"Are you going to carry me the whole time?"

"Naruto told me to drop you off in the alley beside the comic shop in the dumpster. So, that's what I'm doing."

And that summoned up the entire trip this far for Yang.

Richtor was an odd person, far stranger than any she'd ever come across in her recent days. Between meeting Naruto and his rag tag group of friends, she had thought she had seen it all, but no, he took the cake with his odd way of speaking and flexing of his arm as he carried her over his shoulder like a sake of potatoes through the busy street. Possibly stranger was that no one was really moving to help her, ask her questions, or figure out what was going on.

People were really blind to the world around them it seemed.

Richtor had other thoughts on his mind anyways. The return of his arm was sort well on his mind since he'd woken up. After the strange fox woman had shown up and taken his guardian away, he was left with Tayuya until Raven showed up. After her arrival, he was put in the hospital at their base and given plenty of rest. When he woke up he had grown an arm and a few hours of study was put forward to figure out how he did it. Raven sent him back when he was released but she remained to speak to the doctor to understand how he grow back his ripped off arm.

The idea that he could regrow limbs was astounding to his doctor but he could sense the nurse's fear. As soon as he was released he was allowed to eat to his hearts' content in the forest outside their base. Their Warden said he might have eaten all the Grimm in the area, but he didn't care. He'd done it once before. They'd come back. They always came back.

"So, you work with mom, right?"

Richtor nodded. "Yes."

"Do you know where she's at?"

"No. I travel by her portal. I don't know where she is on a map."

"But you have an idea on where she is?"

"No. I know she was at the base, but where that is or if she's still there is unknown to me." He paused and sniffed the air a few times. Yang growled. "Why does my sniffing make you mad, Fire Cracker?"

That was another thing. He had a strange name for her. He wouldn't call her by name, only Fire Cracker. It was really odd. Why do that? Was it an insult or just something he did? It had to be something he did. He was too casual about it for it to be an insult.

"Why do you call me that?"

"You smell of fire and you have a temper. I heard your words to the Mischievous Fox Boy." Yang sighed momentarily before deciding to try something else out. "Why are you looking for your mother? Did she leave you?"

Yang felt her words die in her throat. He was asking a tough question she didn't have an answer for. On the one hand, she wanted to hit her and drag her back to dad, tie her up if she had to, and force her to be a mother to her. But on the other hand, she just wanted answers. Whatever happened from there was up in the air and she deal with it accordingly when the time came.

"Not that it's any of your business, but she did leave me, otherwise I wouldn't be looking for her." Richtor shrugged, a notion that she felt more that saw. "So, what is she like?"

"Who?"

"My mom."

"I don't know. Who is your mom?"

"Raven?! The same person we've been talking about for the past two minutes!"

Richtor stopped and tossed Yang into the garbage. They were here already?

"She's very nice. She takes care me and has raised me since I was little."

Yang's blood ran cold with those words. She couldn't fathom the idea of her mother replacing her. What kind of person would do that? It made her want to ring his neck and scream bloody murder. But she couldn't do it here. Not now. Maybe later in a less crowded spot.

"Where is she?"

"I don't currently know."

"I'll buy you dinner!" Barter! Do anything! He wasn't as smart as Naruto. He answered her question with straight and easy to understand replies.

Richtor paused mid step and regarded her for a small moment. He was hungry. But a need to keep his secret was high and not something he was willing to break since it would hurt Raven and Naruto. "You don't have enough money."

"I'd only be paying for you."

Richtor blinked a few times as his stomach began a low grumble too quiet for Yang to hear, but just loud enough to get his attention. He was hungry, but the secrecy stopped him. He could go later with Naruto or Tayuya.

"Still not interested."

Angry, the buxom blond got in front of him and put a hand on his chest to stop him. If bartering wouldn't work, violence would. Her eyes turned red and her hand balled into a fist. Pain erupted in her chest at the thought of this teen being raised by her mother. How could she do that to her? Why would she? Was she forced to do this?

"Why are you crying?"

Yang growled when she caught on to her tears and shoved him away. "I'm crying because you took my mother away from me. You're the reason she left me and dad. Because of you..." She stopped and grabbed his shirt to lift him up. It was hard. Hard to face the true betrayal of her mother's actions. She felt more alone than she ever had in her entire life. It hurt more than when she discovered her Semblance. "I never got to know her! And you got to be with her in my place!"

"Not true. I'm not a woman. I'm a man."

Yang gave him a withering glare as she reeled back to hit him but stopped knowing that it would do little in the long run. She needed to try and barter with him. He had to want something. Everyone wanted something in their life. They all had a price.

It was just a matter of finding his.

"Why do you not listen to Naruto? He only wants to help you. Mother asked him that he watch you and keep you safe after your first run in with him. So why continue?"

That was more than she expected. So, she somehow cared enough to not want any harm to befall her but still wasn't going to be in her life? I'm punching her in the face when we meet, she decided.

Richtor started to leave again. Yang got in his path again opened her mouth but said nothing. A deep chill began to take root in her gut. Something was horribly off with this. If he was so important to her mother, did he have other guards' or handlers aside from Naruto? That Kiba person and the redhead that brought him in could be some, but wouldn't he have more? He had to have more.

Her eyes danced to a shadow that moved where light should be and then she knew that someone was watching them.

Richtor turned towards the shadow with curious eyes and then sniffed the air for a moment before saying, "Specter," with a twitching nose. Yang backed away but he made a few biting motions and the shadow retreated. "I don't like playing her games. She always wins," he said while sniffing the air for her scent.

Well if finding her mom was off the table, perhaps getting an idea on who she worked for would be the next best thing. "Who is she?"

"Specter."

"Yes."

"Specter."

"…Yes…?"

"Specter."

"No. Who is Specter?"

"Specter is Specter. Why do you ask such odd questions?"

Yang bit her lips in frustration. Getting any information out of him was going to be hard. He didn't seem dumb. He was answering her questions, but they only lead to hatred and more questions. Was he damaged in some way?

"Why do you ask such strange questions? Why does my being with mom offend you? I didn't know I took her away from anyone, say for the mean man."

The buxom blonde felt her ire growing as he kept talking. How could be so stupid and somehow more important than her? Maybe it was a good thing Raven didn't raise her. He seemed rather damaged and slow from the looks of things.

"Who's the 'Mean Man', and don't give me any stupid answers."

"I don't give stupid answers, I give honest answers. It's a condition I have. I can't lie and I'm not good with social activity."

Well that explained a lot.

"But he was a man I met when I was real little. Be didn't like me and called me a freak. He argued with mom, and she decided to leave him. She tried to take me a party of his once, but I wasn't allowed to get too close. The big cake smelt really good."

She went to their wedding and took him, Yang realized. Her mother had argued with Tai about him and she left him behind to raise him. But why did Tai have issues with him? Was it just to that he was strange or was it simply because he was a Faunus? Her father once had issues with them, but that was a really long time ago. So, that couldn't be it. It had to be something else.

"Can I leave now? I need to return before Naruto and the nice Fox Lady get worried about me." His face relaxed and it almost looked like he was recalling a happy memory.

"She reminds you of mother?"

He shook his head. "No. She reminds me of…" Richtor turned and growled as two shadows appeared on the sidewalk. Yang searched for an owner but couldn't find one. "I don't want to play today. I'm hungry!" His eyes turned red and for a moment buzzing sounds could be heard. The shadows hastily retreated. Richtor snorted and started walking. "I'm hungry. I'm going home."

With that, he shoved through Yang and left. The buxom blonde watched a shadow return and then disappear before she left. A moment later a loud shrill of a cry broke out. Yang spun looking f9r the source. She didn't find it. She had to get back to the dorm anyways. She wanted to make sure Ruby was okay after having a White Atlas, a drink mixed with various alcohol and milk. Poor thing was sick and now vowing off milk.

(-)

"Alright. I'll be there soon to pick him up." Raven put her scroll in her pocket and returned her focus to the doctor that had treated Richtor. He had silver hair that looked grey in the lighting of the hallway and wore a pair of glasses that he constantly had to push up. Codes names were always thrown around on missions but he always kept his name simply as Silver for his hair. "So, what'd you find?"

"He has an unusually high blood count for the last time we saw him. His entire metabolism skyrocketed and has been rather high since he came in. There was also a build of aura around the wound during the time he lost his arm. Couple that with his Grimm physiology and it's not so strange that he grew back his missing limb."

No, it wasn't strange when one considered the very nature of what he was. Richtor was the strangest thing anyone had found since the discovery of artificial intelligence back thirty years ago, when a nut job of a scientist decided to try and upload his consciousness into a machine. It worked for all of two days before his physical body died due to the tremendous information it got through feedback and the fact that he took a massive dose of illegal and untested drugs along great with a hundred thousand watts of electricity to the brain, heart, lungs and left testicular.

But Richtor was currently the only known Grimm Eater in existence and everyone was on edge around. It seemed like every other day they were finding more about him. After he ate Badger and was hospitalized for a few days, he gave them all enough data to sift through for a year, and he was showing new things each day. Like right now how he could regenerate a lost limb. It was amazing and terrifying since no one had a Semblance like that to their knowledge and just how powerful that made him.

"With his higher metabolism, he did eat all of the Grimm out in our location. Not to worry, we have enough negative Nancy's in the area that they'll be back by tomorrow or later this week."

Yes. Because when you work with a group of a highly untrusting and scary people you tend to pull the Grimm to your area.

"As for Kiba…" Raven held her breath. The idiot had been at death's door with both feet and ass in the grave. He was lucky to still be alive, the dumbass. What was he thinking challenging Kakashi on his own? "He's going to be out for a while."

Raven sighed. That put a real damper on the plan Naruto put together against Fahrenheit. Without Kiba to be their nose and ears, they might not survive a single confrontation against that monster. They would have to postpone the operation, move ahead of their time line, or worse, call off the entire project and wait till next year unless Naruto could think of a way around their problem.

"I should go check on the nurse that oversaw him. Poor thing got the fright of her life when Richtor began to mutate on her. Even reached out to attack her she claims."

"They're reviewing the footage right now." Raven told him as he walked away. Gone, she sighed and decided it was time to face the music. Naruto had finally made a point to her that he couldn't handle Yang anymore. She knew about Richtor and was asking him questions now. She'd already gotten a message from High Command to deal with her daughter. Now she was sticking her neck out for her.

She passed a few other members of their group along the way before she got to her room. Higher ups got various sized rooms, some of which were meant for families that were born into the group or had brought their loved ones along. While this was also very rare, it did serve as a status of sorts and marked her as a moderately important individual. Richtor might only listen to a few people, but he wouldn't ignore an order from Raven, and Command knew that… For the time being.

She flipped on her computer and waited for the worst. She was asking the impossible of them. If it didn't come with an ulterior motive she'd be surprised, but if they had one at all it'd be to kill her.

Sometime later a green light blinked into existence and she went to her mailbox. It showed a thousand read messages and one unread. She clicked on it and skim read it.

"I understand." She deleted the message, grabbed her sword and pulled out her scroll. She dialed a number and smiled. "I'm on my way over, Richtor. I'm taking you out to eat." She hung up, opened a portal, and dialed another number as she stepped through. "Hello, Yang. You want to talk? So, let's talk."

(-)

"You have been on that Scroll since I got here!"

A sane person never ignored their mother. Clearly Naruto wasn't a sane person as he raised a finger as it would magically silence her while typing something out. Kushina, to his credit, folded her arms and refused to move any further until he got off the device.

He finished and little his scroll away while saying, "If she had informed me that you were coming, I would have told my work to kindly fuck off, but since you didn't-" He ducked under a hard-right hook that would knocked him out again, "- so I can't ignore them."

"If," She took another swing at him and missed, "I had called ahead, you'd have been on the first flight out to I'm knows where. That's what your good at. But then I assume you'd see a victory in there somewhere and not run." She gave up on the questionable disciplinary actions and started following him again. "So why are we here at Beacon?"

"I'm going to talk to Ozpin about something that happened yesterday and hope that James is here." Kushina froze on the spot and started to visibly shake. Naruto pretended not to notice and moved to the elevator. She joined him. "So how is Kali?"

"Small talk is still something you're not good at, huh?" His eyes darkened for a moment before she giggled and said, "But she's good. She wants to meet you."

"Pass… Her daughter is enough of a problem for me without Yang thrown into the mix."

The redhead gave him a curious look but decided not to push for more. This was already more then she'd hoped for with him.

The door parted and she stepped in to the large office. Glynda stood ready to fight when she saw Naruto. Kushina looked around owlishly as she waited for something to come out and try to whisk her boy away.

"Murderer."

"Whore."

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Kushina took a swing at him and clubbed him upside the head. "I'm sorry about my boy, Glynda. Without me around he got rather mouthy."

"And murdery."

"That's not even a word, Mrs. Anal Beads." Two more hits from Kushina and Naruto grew silent but still mouthed, "Cradle Robber," once again going back to her choice of clothing and weapon for a sexual innuendo.

"Is Ozpin around? Naruto wants to speak with him about something."

"Why are you speaking for me?"

"Mouthy children are to be seen and not heard."

"So were women fifty years ago. How about we hope back on the fun wagon, huh mom?" One more powerful backhand to the back of his head. "I stand by what I say."

Glynda gave a roll of her eyes to the antics of mother and son as the doors parted and Ozpin walked in with an exasperated Fuu behind him that cheered upon seeing Naruto.

"Naruto!" Kushina blinked and the woman had snatched him up faster than anyone should be able to move to squeeze him hard enough to break bones. "I knew you'd come back!" She sat him down. "Ready to start having fun?"

"Not with you." His gaze went to the Headmaster. "My business is with you. You said I'd experience odd effects from the merger since you kicked it in gear with me. What sort of effects are we talking about?"

Ozpin glanced at his mother as she narrowed her eyes on the male teacher.

"It varies…" he answered slowly. "Perhaps you could elaborate on what happened or what you experienced."

Kushina put a hand on Naruto's shoulder as she regarded the Headmaster coldly. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something important here, Sir, but I'd like to know what you're implying with my son."

Glynda stepped forward was coldly put down by a small wave of the hand from the older male. "Perhaps you remember a conversation with Yugito and Killer Bee a few years ago, I hope."

Death was all anyone could taste.

Kushina twitched and her gaze was slowly drawn to the hyperactive woman still standing beside her son. She gave her a curious glance and then dropped hard screaming about fire and her mother. Glynda stumbled sideways and reached out to someone unseen across the room. Naruto shut his eyes and began breathing heavily as he chanted, "It's not real," to himself.

Ozpin, however, did not fall to his knees or lose his focus on the woman. He merely tapped his cane and the three affected people returned to normal but remained winded.

"Your Semblance is still very terrifying, Kushina. But I do ask you refrain from using it." Ozpin ordered.

Naruto's noise twitched as he tried to think of a way to explain what had happened during his fight with Kakashi. It was confusing to him, but right now he was still unsure on what it all meant. "I saw my death at the hands of Kakashi." Ozpin nodded. "From our fight, there was one moment where I saw myself dying, but I survived by avoiding the object that would have killed me."

Ozpin moved to his desk while Fuu pulled Kushina away with Glynda to better explain the situation to the now worried Uzumaki. Stapling his fingers together, the older male hummed to himself before leaning back and saying, "That's unusual, but not unheard of," forcing Naruto to snort his way and sit down on the other side of the desk. "Let me explain. Those that hold your Guardian are often shown something else entirely. Usually what they see is further down the road of their life, sometimes showing them their death that comes much later in life, an event that is dictated by a choice they make, or an event so far in the future that it boggles the mind." He typed out something on his keyboard that morphed from his desk and displayed a hand-written note with no name but a date that was ten years in the future. "A previous host of his saw the future where a creature of great power fought another and an answer to the greatest question ever asked was answered."

Naruto skim read the note and then looked at Ozpin as though he were crazy. The note didn't tell him anything about the future, only that both beings had fought and the larger being had told him there was no point to their fighting. They spoke and a great change followed soon after, but as to what the change was about, or what the two beings fought about, was unknown. The hand writing was also shown as more of a scribble, as if the writer had been trying to write it all down as fast as possible, least they lose whatever knowledge the vision they saw had granted them.

"Others have had less exciting visions," Ozpin added. He chuckled and adjusted his glasses. "Some of also seen a moment in their life where a choice was to be made and they acted upon it, and the outcome was not what they wanted or expected."

"You honestly expect me to believe that I have the power to see the future now?"

"No. You don't have the power to see the future. It's a sign that the link has already begun. Have you experienced anything else?" Naruto turned away, almost as though he were unsure himself. "Right then… Perhaps it was simply a fluke and you need more time with it. It was, after all, you're first exposure to the merger. Once you're fully merged with him, he will grant you a power of his choosing, and from there, you're journey will begin."

"I didn't agree to this to became some pawn for you, Ozpin. I did this because of the price you paid for my services." The Headmaster nodded, well aware of the price they paid for him. It would make Kushina happy to no ends, but whether he returned or not was up to him. Shame that it seemed he wouldn't be returning anytime soon. Naruto looked at his mother as she went for angry to happy and then finally ending on being annoyed by whatever Fuu had told her. She gave her son a long look before stepping forward. "We're leaving…" he told her as he moved to the door. Fuu followed. "I don't need you around me, Fuu."

"Don't you want help with the linking?" She wagged her pinkie at him. "It'll be fun~!"

"I'm not into lesbians." He threw the door open and got in the elevator. Kushina raced to his side and waved happily to the two teachers as it shut. As soon as the doors shut, she rounded on her son and pointed a lecturing finger at him. He swatted her hand away and glared at her. "I'm not the son you remember, mother. I changed. So how about you go home now. Or would you rather go speak to James about the arrangements that have been made for me?"

Her eyes lingered with his for a while before she snorted and turned to watch the numbers go down. Hearing he was pardoned for any crimes he had committed over the years wasn't exactly something she favored, since she knew that the price was that he become a Guardian, something she had lived in fear of upon hearing what they would wrongly do to him if he had once refused. Now knowing what it truly meant and how he was no longer in harm's way, she was okay with him being a member, but didn't like anything about it. To her, it was nothing but a farce to keep him on a tight leash, which she wanted to do from the moment she heard he was even here to begin with.

The doors parted and the blond walked through the bustling hallways for the door when a tingling at the back of his mind caught him. Call it a danger sense, but as soon as he walked outside, he came face to face with the members of Team RWBY. Yang met his gaze and frowned once she caught sight of his mother slinking up behind him. The two women stared at each other before Yang looked away while scratching at her nose.

"Hey, Naruto!" Ruby ran up to him and looked him over and then to the woman behind him. She leaned in close and whispered, "Is she safe to be around?"

"She's my mother so… no." Kushina whacked him on the back of the head again and he rolled his eyes. "How are you all holding up after your run in with Kakashi?"

Yang rubbed her arms while a worried looking Blake glanced the other way. Weiss and Ruby seemed more worried that someone might have heard him and figured out that they had a hand in the events of last night. Sure, Ozpin had brought it up to them, but he had been more playful about it than anything else.

"We're a okay!" Ruby said after making sure that no one was within earshot. "But how about out? You did get knocked out by her and then dragged off by your ankle." Naruto gave his mother a strange glance before he returned to looking ahead and sighing in frustration. "Anyways… What are you doing here?"

"I was here speaking with Ozpin." Naruto felt his mother put a hand on his shoulder and he watched her move forward to stop in front of Weiss. "She's not like him."

"I know," Kushina replied. Her tail was swished back and forth for a moment before she said, "I'm surprised you're father even allowed you to leave his mansion, but then again, you are like your sister." Weiss glanced at the woman for a split second before stepping back in momentary shock. "I finally resemble someone to you? Now look at my son." She reached out to grab her sons' arm and lift his sleeve up, but he had backed up and unbuttoned it to show the metal that was his arm. "Your father is a very cruel person, but I can't hold that against you, I suppose. You are not him."

Staring at his arm for a moment, Weiss then turned to Kushina and nodded. "I'd thank you for that, but it doesn't help that he still has some control over me," she confessed with her eyes glancing away in shame. Her eyes returned to the metal arm that Naruto had as he concealed it again. "How did that happen and why do you have issues with my father?" Aside from being a Faunus and most likely someone he wronged in a different way.

Glancing at her son, she looked for anything that might be a hint to him wanting to talk about it and explain, but when he gave nothing, she motioned to a small park and said, "Would you care to talk about it? It's not much, but if my son doesn't want to talk about it, I'll explain it to you, if you'd like to hear," as the two departed from the group.

Blake watched them go with an invisible smile. Weiss needed to know more about the cruel side of her father than what she already did. She knew a lot, but not enough to warrant her standing up to the man. Someone had to before a gun was drawn on him if it already hadn't.

"So, who is Kakashi?" Ruby asked him. Naruto looked down at the scythe wielding girl and to other two. They both looked eager to know as well. Naruto started walking and Ruby tailed him. "Hey? I'm asking you a question."

"You wanna know about Kakashi? Follow me. I'll explain a few things about him. Let you know what you're up against if you're going to keep challenging him like this." The three remaining girls sighed as they realized that they were caught. "Don't worry. What you do with your lives is up to you. If you wanna throw them away doing something like this, go for it. I'm not going to stop you." He inhaled and looked over his shoulder at the school. God, I hate this place. He started walking and the girls followed. It was better that they know in case they ran into him again. He wasn't someone anyone needed to fight without knowing what they were in for.

(-)

"Why a café?" Ruby asked. More important; why a café that didn't serve milk! What sort of place was this? Who didn't serve milk at a restaurant? That was insane and dumb and stupid and impossible for her frail little mind to conceive. But on the stranger side of things, they did have strawberries, so she was willing to understand and let them get away with not having milk.

"Why not a café?" Blake countered. She sipped on some of her tea, her bow twitching ever so often as the sooth taste of the warm liquid went down her throat. It was days like today that really made her happy when the White Fang was constantly at her back and on her mind with all their illegal activities as of late. Thanks to Weiss, they had a good understanding of what they had been hitting, but thanks to her little recon with Sun, they now knew that they somehow had a gone from a slightly medium sized group to a full army with soldiers and guns to back them up. If they turned their sights on Vale, she feared no one could stop them.

Yang munched lazily on some bread as she watched Naruto answer yet another call. He looked almost annoyed during this call and when he finally finished, it wasn't even ten minutes later that he sat back down and got a message. Whatever the message was, it made him happy. Not sadistic and control the world happy, but actual happy. Almost as though he was about to see a family member or something that he hadn't seen in years.

"So where was I and why are we here again? Sorry. All the calls and taxing my brain."

"Kakashi. Information." Blake counted off for him and reminded. Honestly, how he could be this forgetful? This was important information, plus it was someone that had very nearly killed all of them by himself. Not exactly something anyone could do, as she was sure that Adam couldn't handle the odd Grimm that helped them, two Atlas Specialists, the four members of Team RWBY, and Naruto, who just happened to have the second most overbearing Semblance she'd run across. Honestly, she'd seen some weird Semblances out there, but his was a lot scarier.

Nodding, he grabbed his glass of tea and downed part of it. "Right…" His scroll beeped and the girls sighed. He checked it without a care in the world for them and smiled. Got you! No Kill Squad for me, thank you. "Alright, so aside from his fighting style, I'll tell you anything you want to know. I'll cover the basics right now, since I know that's the real important thing to hit here." He looked around and brought his scroll out, tapping a few buttons as he did and bringing up a projection of the masked Faunus. "Kakashi Hatake, formerly a member of the Atlas Death Squad, is a high-ranking member of the White Fang in the Atlas Branch. His father used to be a member of the original group, but he was killed at a protest where shots were fired. No one knows who fired first, only that it started a blood bath afterwards. After that, he lost his mind and his way and somehow rallied their division to became what Vale currently has for a White Fang."

"But what does Semblance do? He went from using Weiss's Glyph ability to my super speed and then to your wind ability and finally ending with Yang's Semblance. How does he even do that?" Ruby asked.

"His Semblance is called Copy, and once he sees a Semblance, he can not only copy it, but use it better than the original in terms of power only. So, Ruby, if you can run at two hundred miles an hour, he can run at two hundred fifty miles an hour. Same applies to any other Semblance. If I had known he was in the area, I would have dragged you all out of there to challenge him a different way, called upon James and a few others, and tried to take him down that way. The more powerful a Semblance, the more powerful he is. There were two people present during out confrontation that he didn't need to get, and he got one of them: Yang's."

"So, you know what my Semblance is?"

"I knew long before I ever met you. Perks of working for your mom, which reminds me." He looked at Blake and pointed at her. "If you ever get in contact with your mom, don't tell her I told you this, as she probably only knows me from word of mouth from my mother, but she has spies watching you to make sure you're alright. It's how my mom found me. She's only here because your mother happened to know we met and she figured out it was me. So, try to keep your eyes opened and one ear on the ground. Otherwise, I might just step on your head."

Blake smirked, despite now knowing her mother was spying on her to give him a smug expression. "You have mommy issues?"

"I don't have mommy issues. My issues are deeper than that. But moving on. Since Kakashi is here, it means something big is going down. Most likely with him present, he's here to take a shot at two Headmasters that happen to be in the same area. Or he's aiding this branch because of Roman Torchwich. Whatever the reason; he has to be stopped. Now so you all know, Kakashi isn't just strong and fast, he's smart. He didn't go through an Academy because as soon as he got out of the starter school, he was immediately snatched up for the Death Squad and then began climbing through the ranks. Currently, he is Atlas's number one traitor, standing above a man that died two years ago today."

"So, he's bad news? What else can you tell us?" Yang demanded. Her scroll went off and she checked the number. It showed up as unknown. Naruto motioned for her to take it and she got up to answer. "Hello?"

"Hello, Yang. You wanna talk? So, let's talk." Raven's voice came over the line. "I know where you are and what you're doing. If you don't believe that this is me, then how about I prove it to you right now. When you were two years old, Qrow and I tricked you into believing you could talk to birds and that we talked back. Qrow thought it would be funny if he taught you a curse word and you repeated it to Tai." Yang glanced over at Naruto with a fake smile. He was too busy speak to Ruby and Blake about something else. "Come to these coordinates alone. I'll answer any question you have for me. But if you come with anyone else, I'm gone, and you'll never see me again." The line went dead and she glanced back at the group.

"One of my friends is in the area. He's down here getting ready to watch the tournament." She thumb-jabbed in the direction of town as her scroll beeped again. "I'll be back later, Ruby. Blake, make sure she doesn't get in to trouble." She jumped off the balcony and made a hasty retreat down the street. Even if this is a lie, it's the best lead I've gotten in a long time.

Naruto shook his head. Is this what you're planning, Raven? He didn't care. He had asked repeatedly that she deal with her daughter and now it seemed like she was. Poor Yang was going to end up in a ditch with her head cut off. Oh well, if she survived, that just meant Raven wasn't all she was cracked up to be. "Yes, my father served as his personally trainer for three years, but shortly after the massacre, he neglected his training and left the military. The next time anyone saw him was during the attack on Lions' Gate, a small fortress city defense force that he destroyed entirely. They caught video footage of him and when they realized he was alive and leading small members of the White Fang to attack and slaughter innocent people, they sent the very people he had commanded and trained to kill him or capture him." Naruto took a sip of his tea. "They got their heads mailed back to them. It was a great day for the post office. Lots of cops and a military personally for weeks."

"How could he betray his people so casually like that?"

"You don't understand, Ruby." Blake held her cup a little tighter. Betrayal wasn't the problem. The problem had stemmed from the loss of his father and what he stood for in his eyes. Standing up against your oppressors wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It was all about turning the other cheek and taking a non-violent stand. When an eruption of violence like that happens and you lose someone important to you, it really changes people, for better or for worse. "So how do you beat him?"

"You four won't be able to. Even on your best day and him on his worst, you wouldn't stand a chance. He's too powerful. If you could trick him into using his Semblance to take four other Semblances before you fought him and ended it on a bad one that serves no physical or enhancing specialty, you still wouldn't win. He's too strong, too fast, and too smart. Even if you did trick him, he can still use his weapons, which he's proficient at, and whatever Semblance he has, will be a deadly ability in his hands."

"But how would you beat him?" Ruby demanded, hoping to get a tactical idea on stopping the man. He had to be stopped. There was two ways about it. There had to be way to stop him, or failing that, push him back.

Leaning back in his chair, Naruto massaged the bridge of his noise. "Put on the spot, if you four just wanted to survive against him, running wouldn't be an option here." He licked his lips and said, "but it would require a lot of ordnance for it to work. You'd be pulling my same stunt at Kurstand. You're going to need a lot of explosives and the ability to threaten very well. But if you don't have any of this and you run into him again, your best bet is to try to fight in the city or a very small area where your size would put you at that advantage, but even then, your chances of victory is still very small. Any other location will kill you immediately."

"So absolutely no hope for victory for us?" Blake deadpanned.

"No hope of victory," he confirmed while taking a sip of his drink. "Kakashi is on a completely different level when compared to you four. You're good, but he's better. I could school you four on your best day with me at my worst. Believe me, I'm not strong enough to one on one fight him, but my chances are better because I know how to use my Semblance better than he does, and that's only because of how he would control mine when compared to me."

"So only you have a shot at victory under only certain circumstances?" Ruby asked, making sure she understood it correctly. Naruto nodded and she deflated. If he had a slim chance of victory against him, that meant that they didn't have any chance at all unless they could trick him or fight in a really small area that was enclosed just enough for them to move around freely while he would be stuck. "So, has there been any movement from his branch to our branch? How many branches for them is out there?"

"They have a few other branches out there, but they have one main branch in each Kingdom with a larger group formerly working in Menagerie until recently." Blake's bow twitched again to Naruto's words as he got up to leave while leaving some money on the table for their drinks and snacks. "My advice for you is to quit now and focus on your school work, but I know that's not what you're going to do. So," he wrote a number down and slid the paper to Ruby, "if you need me, I'll consider coming to aid for a fee. I'll know when you're in trouble and I'll be able to get to you in a flash."

Ruby picked up the piece of paper and nodded as she put it away.

"You should come see us again when you get a chance to," Ruby confessed. "If you're fighting them as well, we can work together. Please, we're trying to help Vale before this becomes a real problem."

The blond chuckled as he looked at the sky. "I'll consider it. But in the meantime, you should focus more on school and getting ready for the tournament. If I was going to lead an assault against this place a time to show weakness, I'd do it during the festival." Naruto pulled out his scroll. "I'll talk to you later."

"One more question before you go," Blake demanded as she got to her feet. She showed him something on her scroll and his eyes softened. "How come your father doesn't show up as a dead person, yet he has a grave and mission details until about ten years ago?" Naruto remained quiet. "Why are the events of his death unknown?" Blake almost demanded that information of him. Naruto turned and left, unhappy and suddenly not himself. The two girls watched him leave with worried looks. "We should get back to the dorm. I still have a lot of reading I need to catch up on." Which was code for, "I have a lot of information I need to find on the activities of the White Fang," something Ruby didn't pick up on.

(-)

Weiss waited for the worst as the older woman sat down at the bench. Kushina was very patient. Too patient, actually. It was alarming that she was both a Faunus and not someone that immediately casted judgment on her for her fathers' actions. True, she hadn't made it easy for her team or some of their friends, but she was trying, and it didn't help that as soon as anyone saw her, they immediately jumped the gun and assumed the worst about her. Kushina might have at start, but it was more out of a hatred for her father, rather than her, something she could be admire and agree upon.

"What does my father have to do with his missing arm?"

Taking a moment to reflex on something else as she gazed upon the school the redhead smiled as a memory from long ago came back to her. Her team had come here with Minato's team and they fought at this very school. She won, but only because of her Semblance, which he later accused her of cheating by using it and had a real, honest to goodness, fight with her that he won. Without a Semblance to use, Kushina wasn't that much of a fighter at the time and could be easily dispatched. Now, however, she was a tough as nails woman that could take on anyone and generally come out unscathed, Semblance or not.

"Do you remember the Kurstand incident?" Weiss nodded slowly. She'd heard bits and pieces of it. She was still a child at the time and the news had always bored her. Winter was gone at the Military School and her brother had recently been born if her memory on the time was correct. "My son stopped the White Fang from taking the building and holding a lot of powerful people hostage that were cowards. He did this with a bunch of other recruits and no detonation codes for the bombs that were in the building. They were after a lot more than just money and dust. The place was a safe house for weapons at the time. Naruto happened to know this and took a few of the bombs but realized he didn't have the codes. So, he asked for command to give them to him to work as a way of getting them to leave. They refused. So, he tricked them all into believing he was going to blow the place sky-high if they didn't leave. They did. And he was seen as a hero for his actions in the incident. Well, when he lost his arm, Ironwood put forward a request to get him a prosthetic arm as soon as possible. Naturally, he went to the SDC first, and they refused to make one for him because your father convinced the council and several other high ranking military members that he was a member of the White Fang."

"I remember something about that." Weiss sat up straight. "I don't remember how old I was, but I remember that my mother had been speaking to father about the incident and said that he was innocent. But I never knew who they were referring to. I know that he eventually did start making them for him, but they worked with another company to fully make the arm."

"You're correct. They partnered with a company called Life Co. to make the arm. The company fell apart soon after and were taken over by Ycarusa Industries, but they are allowed to remain independent of them in actions alone." Kushina watched a Bullhead land and James step out. She could finally speak to the man and make sense of what was happening with her son. Ozpin was a Headmaster, yes, but she didn't report to him. She reported to James and only him unless he fell in combat. "Weiss, you are not your father and I don't see you making the same mistakes that he has over the years. His subjectivation of the Faunus might not be the worst thing he's done, but it is up there. To me, his stand against my son, who fought to save a few hundred lives, is the worst thing he's done. He took my son from me by preventing him from getting into the school over there in Atlas and he prevented him from recovering faster. I know, that even after all this time, he still has yet to move on from his past and still lives with the regret of being unable to save his friends from the Grimm a year after the cause of his arm happened."

"I can't speak for him, but I know that he probably thought he was in the right." Weiss watched Ironwood walk down the courtyard towards the door but stop to look in their direction. Their talk was almost up. "Is that why he's so bitter towards us?"

"No." Kushina got to her feet in preparation to greet the General. "Naruto is bitter because he was subjected to things he shouldn't have, and it allowed him to see the world from a skewed perception. He doesn't view the world the same as us, and I doubt he ever well. Has he ever told you that no matter what he does, he's not a hero? To him, he's a villain, not because of how he chooses to act, but because of how the world will see his actions. Good things happen to good people, or so they say. But the reality of the world is that good and evil, right and wrong, their just words used to describe something you hate or like. Naruto hates the way the world works and would like nothing more than to change it, but then it'd be in his image and thus, it wouldn't be the one anyone would want. It's why he's not a religious person. Heaven is a place that is supposed to be created in your image and to your liking, but it's all one place for everyone, so therefore, we are in heaven, but it is truly hell."

Ironwood came to a stop in front of them and gave the two a warm smile. "Ms. Schnee… Kushina…" He greeted and then paused when her arms crossed and her tail began to twitch in irritation. "I suppose you wanna walk about Naruto?"

"And much more, General. I know about a need to know basis, but I think I'm a little deserving to know my son is alive, not dead like how everyone else told me he was." She started walking and Ironwood inclined his head in departure from the young heiress. "How long has he been working for you in secret?"

"I can't give you that information." James confessed bitterly and tiredly. A late-night meeting with the Council and with his fellow teachers back in Atlas had worn him very thin. "I'll tell you that he's been pardon from all crimes in Atlas and here. Not that he's done anything illegal to our knowledge here." Kushina came to an immediate stop and pointed a lecturing finger at him. His gaze hardened and he was no longer the man she trusted, but rather, listened to. "You weren't informed Naruto was here because he's working for me on a top-secret operation."

Her eyes hardened and James felt fear in the back of his mind. Kushina might not have ever used her Semblance on him, but he knew that if she had wanted to, she would do it without a second thought.

"So, when is he coming back home?"

"That I don't know. That one is up to him. I'd like nothing more than for him to return as well. The Council will not be able to decide when he returns or if he can return. That is up to him." The fox Faunus looked away, sad by the news. Ironwood inhaled deeply and put a hand on her shoulder. "But you mustn't give up hope that he'll come home one day. I still have a position for him, should he ever decide to return and I know he still has a home waiting for him on that day. But until that day comes, you should let him be who he wants to be, Kushina. I know that right now you are simply a worried mother hoping to take your son away from this place and look after him like the good parent that you are. He spoke highly of you when I was around him. Believe me, he'll come back to you one day."

Realizing that nothing else needed to be said, the General left and Kushina sadly returned to the apartment to wait for her son. Minato, what would you do right now?

(-)

Melanie and Miltia waited patiently for their love to return his focus on them. He was busy with another call, one that was most likely directed to someone in his past, as his words were more than a little concerning and choice with whoever he spoke with. Miltia waited on hand and foot for him to get done with the call while Melanie decided to sip on her drink. Junior, thankfully, was working the bar at the moment and couldn't be dragged into whatever drama the blond was becoming a part of.

"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to your boss." Naruto nearly laughed when another voice came over the line. It did wonders for him to just speak to such odd people from time to time. How did they put up with him, he didn't know? It was amazing that the organization even put up with him. But that was obviously for their own benefit as Naruto had brought them more victories than anyone else to date. Not even their supposed super computer could do what he did from time to time, and it was supposed to be made up of the greatest minds in all of Remnant.

"Hello, child. Do you know what time it is here?" And old woman spoke now. Her voice was calm and peaceful, like a gentle stream in a forest. Naruto had always thought it strange that the woman could have such a disarming voice and yet be the cruelest woman he ever ran across. No one double crossed her without living and no one escaped her watchful eyes without outside help in shielding them. Once she set her sights on you, she had you.

"I know that an old bat like you doesn't sleep. You're Insomnia is actually linked to your Semblance." Now he was back to his regular self. With her now taking his call, it was time to get to work. "I'd like a favor."

"You used up your favors, child. You have no more power over me."

"Constantine," he said quickly. There was a long hiss on the other end of the line. "You haven't found him yet, have you?"

A long pause followed. He had her.

"I know where he is. I can give you the paperwork to find him. All you have to do for me is supply me with my old team. I only need two of them. I think you know which ones I'm talking about."

"Are you hunting someone or something?"

"Something… I'd fill you in, but I'd have to kill you afterwards."

She laughed. "Better men than you have tried and failed. Besides, I'm not much for fighting anymore."

"You're right. You don't fight a physical battle anymore. That time has come and gone like the howling winds of a snow covered peak. But your battle is now one of words and motives. You shield yourself with one hand and you bait your enemies with tempting words and promises of revenge. So how about a trade? I give you the information on him, and you send over my old friends? Do we have a deal?"

A strange cackle sounded on the other end. "We have an accord. I'll send them over. Supply the details to me of my target, and I'll send them over to any destination you'd like. However, understand that I work with time. So, do not waste it." The line went dead.

He pocketed his scroll, inhaled and looked at the sealing. And now we're back on schedule. He glanced at the bar and saw someone taking measurements of it. "He's replacing the whole thing?" he asked Miltia quietly. He snuck a kiss on her cheek. She blushed and almost turned away from him in embarrassment. Melanie gave him a cold set of eyes. Naruto didn't notice it. "Why? Because of my face being imprinted on the thing?"

"Well that and the fact that with all the money he got from a generous donator that went unknown to us, he decided to redo even the bar and make it look better. The place was kind of outdated anyways." She slinked her arm around his waist and looked at her sister for only a moment. "Hey," she patted his chest and looked at him with pleading eyes, "do you wanna come over to our place tonight? With your mom at yours it would make it very awkward if we showed up and decided to spend time together in front of her." Plus, there were other things that needed to be said to him.

Scratching at his chin, he momentarily looked over his girlfriend and then to her sister. He looked clueless as to why they would want to spend time with him at their place rather than his. They had to meet his mother eventually. Maybe he could sneak them over tomorrow? He agreed and the short haired sister smiled while giving her less than pleased sister a thumbs-up to show they were on. Whatever they had planned was beyond Naruto at the moment. He had more important things to focus on, like how he was going to get his mother to leave and keep the organization from gunning her down. So far, she hadn't done anything to impede him, but how long would that last?

Construction on the club was being handled rather well and without Juniors' henchmen around to both play as guards and waiters, things were running a lot smoother than expected. Naruto might not have had a direct hand in fronting the bill for this, but he knew who the person was. It was almost impossible to not know. Two sets of people had screwed over his area and both were being held responsible for the damages that they had either indirectly or directly caused.

Tayuya took over as bouncer in Kiba's stead because of his injuries. Naruto was acting as a secondary bouncer in case she had problems and with all the people still showing up to party, but given her abilities, she was more than capable of dealing with them. Naruto relayed that he was heading out and made sure she was okay. She gave him the all clear and he departed with the twins in tow.

The twins lived in a rather rich portion of Vale where people with higher paying jobs made their home. It wasn't as great as it was generally made out to be, but it worked well enough for the twins. They lived in an apartment with two bedrooms and two baths. Their kitchen was rather small when compared to their rooms which were both set up to their corresponding colors. The twins departed to change in to better clothes and left him alone in their living room where he looked at a few photos that lined the walls. He focused on one of a woman with long black hair and an eye patch covering her left eye.

"That's our mom," Miltia told him. Naruto turned and found her wearing blue jeans and a red shirt that was almost a size too big for her and the neck stretched to where her left shoulder was visible. A few minutes later Melanie walked out of her room wearing a pair of white colored short shorts and a tank top. "Back when she was still around." Naruto looked one last time at the photo before eyeing the two girls strangely. "We felt that we needed to talk about us with you." He arched a brow in reply. "You showing affection to me in public is great, and we know that you've been busy these last few weeks since you told us you'd date us both, but here as of lately, you haven't really spent a lot of time with Melanie, and while I'm certainly happy to see you showing affection to me, Melanie needs to know that you care for her as well. You can't do this to her if you intend to date us both. Or are you just trying to make her happy?"

The blond-haired Faunus looked at the long-haired twin for a moment before looking back at the photo of their mom. "I told you once that I'm not good with relationships, Miltia. It's not that I don't understand them, it's just that I'm not capable of moving past my mistakes, my former partners, or the one sin I can never atone for."

"And we understand, but you have to talk to us so that we know what's wrong." Melanie told him. Her eyes narrowed when he didn't look away from the photo. "You think you know people so well that you know how they think, how they act. You look for information in everything and want to know everything because at some point in your life, you didn't have the facts or the information needed to do something. I don't know why you became the way you are, but I know that you became this way because something went wrong in your life and you made a deal with the devil to get it fixed. And you're still paying the devil because you can't see a way out."

He touched the photo and shook his head. "My debt is paid. I paid it off a long-long time ago. What I do now, I do because there is no other way. If there was a way, I don't see it." His chest began to hurt and he winced. "But you're close to the truth about me. I did suffer from something like that. I lost someone important to me, that much you know. But before any of that I was told that knowledge is power. I saw the way Faunus were treated, and I hated it. I wanted to fix it. Someone called me a dumb animal, so I became smart to prove him wrong. Someone told me I was a weak freak, so I got strong to prove them wrong. When they said, I could never plan ahead, I learned how to plan ahead. Everything I've done until now is to prove someone else wrong because I didn't like being weak, stupid, or someone who didn't look to the future."

Sighing, he turned and faced them. They were closer than he had thought. For just a moment he saw someone else behind them. A ghostly image of a woman outlined by yellow aura. He blinked and it was gone.

"When I was very little I got a boyfriend and he loved me," Miltia confessed. She grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him to the table. "He told me we'd be together, but as children we didn't understand what that meant. He told me one day that he would wait for me because he was going to Shade Academy. I called him every day. We talked for hours. Then one day I took time off from Junior's and went to see him. I found him sleeping with another woman. I hated that he did that. I hated her because she took him from me. When you told me you wanted nothing attached, I was relieved. It meant I couldn't be hurt by anything you did. If you slept with another woman, I understood that our relationship meant nothing. But then I felt something for you. You were different. You were here, you showed me kindness and never once lied to me. When I saw you with my sister, I hated you and thought you were him. But then you said you'd date us both and only show me affection in the public, and I was happy. But I realized that my happiness meant nothing if my sister was suffering from bitterness and sorrow at the sight of us holding hands in town."

"So, we decided that it wasn't fair to me and that you should do the same," Melanie continued where her sister left off. Naruto watched her sit down at the table on his left. Miltia took his right side. "You are kind, strong, swift, and brave. But you have also inflicted wounds upon yourself and its time you start to heal." Her hand grasped his and for a moment his mind emptied. He could feel her soul and her sadness, as she could feel his. "You have fought for something that no one understands because you won't talk about it. I did my research on you. That day that Junior sent me to you, I realized you had a darker past than most. Your father, a man you hated and loved, died by someone else's hands. You looked up to him and what you always saw was not what you wanted. Your mother was the radiant one. Not because she was a Faunus, but because she was the stereotype of all mothers. The woman who brought you into this world, loved you, guided you, taught you right from wrong, and was there to see you off with a smile every day. But your father wasn't your father. He was something else."

Miltia grasped his right hand and he saw something ahead of him. An image of a man in armor holding a flaming sword in his left hand and a ball of energy in his right. The image came and went faster than he could follow or wanted to follow.

"I hated my father," Naruto told them quietly. "He was there for me when I needed him, but he wasn't my father. He was a friend. He loved me because I was his son, but he was never going to be my father. Some part of me wanted to see him as that important figure, but he didn't know how to be a father. When he died…" He looked away and got up. Melanie held him down and was shocked when he didn't fight here. "When he died, I was sad and happy at the same time. The man who had been my first friend was gone, but my father was never what he was. He was always away on jobs and that part of me loved him because of the stories he would tell me when he came back. How he went and rescued cities and small towns and beat his enemy back to the shadows. I loved those stories, but as time passed I realized his stories were nothing but stories. He made them up because he was part of the Death Squad of Atlas; a group of highly trained and highly skilled soldiers that only went out to kill certain heavily guarded people in the world. If you had the money, you could pay for their services, and Ironwood would allow them to go out and do their job so long as it never involved one of his friends for a damn good reason. My father is no different from me; a murderer that kills for money."

"How did he die?" Miltia asked him.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling. They didn't have the rough ceiling like he had. He couldn't make out images in the dots. He never realized how much he missed that until now. "He was killed after completing an operation in Menagerie. He was sent there to assassinate a member of the White Fangs' council. I don't know if he succeeded. But he was betrayed by a member of his team who was a part of the White Fang. Since he was acting leader, he was told who the target was and kept the information to himself until they got to the target. From there, things went south."

"Why is there no information on this attack or Op?"

Naruto shut his eyes and looked at the hard-oak table they sat at. "It was the price I paid…" The twins knew what that meant. That was how the organization got him. But that still begged one final question to them. "The man who did it is dead." He confessed without being asked. He got up and this time wasn't put down. "Melanie, I'm sorry if I've hurt you. It was never my intention to hurt you emotionally or physically. The last relationship I had, she left me for some idiot. I'm sure Kiba would have a more racial thing to say about him, but that's how always is. I'd kill them both if I could, but I can't… not yet anyways. And I learned that having someone important in your life just makes them a target. I know you can both fight. I've seen you beat up the drunks that show up and the idiots that try to rob the place from time to time. But I still leave in fear of that happening. So, I pushed you both away as far as I could… But it hurt me more in the end."

"You are damaged, hurt, and you have inflicted all of these wounds on yourself, and for what reason?" Miltia asked, sounding tired.

Lowering his head, a droplet fell from his face and for once Miltia didn't see him as the man that had warmed her bed, defended them from random muggers and wannabe robbers, but as a man broken and beaten by time and defeat.

"I have seen things you wouldn't believe," he told her softly. "I have lost things you could never understand. And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. I have killed people for no reason other than to move them out of my way, and I've let terrible people roam free when I was ordered to kill them. I can never undo the things I've done. I've done so many terrible things that when I close my eyes I can hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count." He grit his teeth and gasped for air. "I have sent good men to their deaths and shielded the worst of all people. I have used people until they are of no use to me and thrown them away! Do you know what you do with that pain? You hold tight in your hand! Till it burns. I learned the hard way on how much that hurts and I vowed to never let anyone else feel that pain again. I tell myself that no one will have to live like me. Not on my watch."

"So, you'll sacrifice yourself, your happiness, your life? And all because you can't stand the idea of someone suffering like how you have?" Miltia wrapped her around his body and put her head in the center of his back. "Let me hear those screams for you. Let me silence them with my voice. My words. My feelings."

Eyes closed, voices poured into his mind and screams followed. His screams mixed in them and he wavered where he stood. The pain followed soon after. His chest heaved and his heart felt like it was being squeezed. He saw Sakura again, as she lay dying from her injuries by the Grimm. Tears feel from his eyes.

Melanie snaked her around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'll take away your pain for the night. Tomorrow… things will be different. Promise me you'll warm our beds and I'll be happy."

He shook his head. "No. I'll show you affection as well in town. I'll be a proper boyfriend to you as well, but you'll have to help me as well. I'm not good with relationships, okay? So, if I step out of line, just tell me." She smiled and kissed him gently. "Are you okay with this, Miltia? I'm dating you as well, so you have a say in this."

"As long as you show us both affection, whether that's gifts, time alone with you, or just dinner, I'm okay with it. But if you end up marrying her, you're marrying me too, got it?" He laughed and nodded, for once smiling again. Melanie practically danced to her room and motioned for them to follow. Miltia stopped him and gave her sister a knowing look as she turned and faced the blond. "You said the man died, but was it worth it? Did it take away your pain or leave you wanting more?" she asked quietly.

Naruto glanced at the small table that sat beside their couch where he had left his weapons. His eyes glistened with silent rage for just a moment, and she got her answer when he smiled back at her. "I'm okay with it," he told her. She smiled but deep down knew he had lied to her. Whether it was for her protection or simply because he couldn't make that leap, she didn't know. But she understood that the man who killed his father was put in the ground by him. The pair of pistols he carried had probably tasted human flesh for the first time through that person and the sad truth was that it wasn't meant for him, but most likely his father who was never the father he wanted him to be. "Let's go join Melanie before she does something we'll both regret." He scooped up Miltia and added, "If I marry anyone first, it'd be you. Just saying," as they walked into the bedroom to find the long-haired sister naked and waiting for them.

The night was spent with little love making as the emotional toll had winded him greatly. He slept with both girls in his arms and naked beside him. When sleep finally took him he heard a voice not his own and not of the twins singing a song.

"Rest now…my warrior~!"

(-)

Yang held her breath as she found the location she was to meet Raven at. As far as bad places went, it wasn't anything like the last place when she started this journey. It was a dark forest free of the clutter of human hands. There were Grimm that lived in the forest and had made it very clear to be their nesting grounds.

But her reason for truly holding her breath was the smell and the sounds of fleshing ripping. That had been the sound she had followed, thinking that maybe she would stumble across someone that was hurt and in need of help. Her hero complex might have been kicking in at that moment, or her need for adventure.

She started running to the sound as the ripping got louder and the cries of pain began to die down in favor of a hungering howl. The sight she found was that of a large monster eating something. She stopped immediately upon seeing it and got ready to fight it when it looked her way with red eyes narrowing on her form before turning to eating the corpse of whatever it had killed. She reeled back and run at it to end it.

"Stop!"

Yang came to a suddenly halt and turned to face her mother. She looked just like how she did in the photo she had seen of her all those years ago, but now she wore a Grimm mask that covered her entire face from view. The woman slowly pulled it off and smiled at her.

"You are so like me it's actually scary. How Tai would have put up with the two of us, I'll never know, but I do like that fire in you. Shows promise if you can live to cultivate it." Yang swung at her and missed. Raven danced around her daughter, laughing as she did. "Is this how you envisioned our first moment together in years? You, trying desperately to him me, while I dance around you?"

"Why did you leave?" Yang didn't stop throwing punches. The fact she couldn't hit her only made her more infuriated. True, her mother was a very powerful woman, but she should still measure up to her somehow, right? "You left dad and me and it destroyed him. Why did you leave?"

Raven raised a hand and caught Yang's fist, something that didn't so much alarm her as it did please her. Raven was powerful, and that was something Yang could now understand. It didn't stop her from swinging with the other fist and getting the same result. Raven held her place long enough to lean in close and smile at her. Her red eyes were almost full of joy were it not for the danger she was putting them both in.

Yang tore herself from her grasp and rolled her wrists.

"You see a threat and you move to remove it. I like that. Not many people are willing to fight things head on like the two of us. It's our stubborn way, really. I'd rather go through something than around it. Oum knows that always annoyed me about Tai, but damn if he wasn't fast on his feet and skilled for combat. You might not be as good as you are without his bullheadedness."

The buxom blond snarled and felt warm air on the back of her neck. She spun and saw the creature that was eating something right behind her. The red eyes of the beast blinked and it tilted its head to the side as if were confused. It took a few sniffs of her and moved around her to the shadows when it began to sniff the air again.

"What is that thing?" Yang asked.

Raven watched it depart and then focused back on her daughter. "It's not a thing. It's a person." She started walking around Yang as her daughter tried to find where the creature went. Whatever it was and wherever it went was beyond her. So instead she focused on her mother as the woman came to a stop. "You've been looking for me to punch me, right? And ask a simple question with a very painful truth? Do you want to know why I really left? Why I ran away from you and Tai and my team? Is that what you want?"

"Yes!"

Raven licked her lips. "I went to a lot of trouble to save you here. You've done a lot of digging and a lot of annoying things to try and find me. You know that I work for a group that does terrible things, and yet you kept looking for me, despite being told how dangerous it was for you. And all for the sake of an answer and a little punch that I might let you hit me with. You don't even know the lengths I've gone to just to make sure you live to see another day. The group I work for pushed for me to kill you." Yang bristle and got ready to fight for her life. Raven shook her head. "I could never kill you, Yang. You're my daughter. I love you. I love you so much that it hurts me every day that I'm away from you. Every single day I was away from you I worried about you. And when you started looking, they grew worried."

"Why? Because they knew I'd find you?"

"No. Because they feared you'd be able to find them during their infancy. Now that two of the Headmasters of the world know about us, they don't care if we're known about. The protection of their members is the most important thing they have, but our duty, our operations, that part they don't care about. The world knows that our target is the most powerful of Grimm that live in this world. But they don't want their base of operations to be known to the world. Even a few of our oldest members don't know where its located because they've never left it. It's not a place I can show you on a map. But," Yang held her breath, "if you want to see how far this rabbit hole goes, I'll take you there. I'll take you home. I'll take you somewhere faraway so we can talk this out. But if you do, you will know things that you can never repeat to anyone. You will take a vow of silence and if they call for you, you have no choice but to answer their call."

Yang glanced away for a moment.

"You think I like living apart from you? I don't. But this life… this… this horrible life I live, is not one I want you to have. No mother should have to watch their daughter suffer and not be able to be there for her. No mother should miss their daughters' first crush breaking their heart and being there for them. I should have been there for so many of your firsts, but I wasn't. It hurt so much just to watch from outside as you found what your Semblance was and you nearly got expelled from school for the beating you gave that kid. I should have been there when Zinc broke up with you and you cried for two days in your bed. I should have been there when you got your license. I should have been there when you got your first kiss. Do you know how that made me feel? You think you hurt because you never got a chance to really know me or that you were told I ran away from you and Tai? I hurt more because as a mother, I couldn't be there for you!"

Raven felt tears begin to form in the corner of her eyes.

"I would like nothing more than to hold you every hour of every day, but I can't. I would like to hope that you never have to live like me or feel my pain, but I realized a long time ago that you will feel that way all the time because it happens anyways. Your child will go to school, and you will watch them leave for that first time forever. You will worry about them while they're in class. You will worry about them when are on their way home. You will worry about the people they speak to. You will worry about their first love breaking their heart. You will worry about the first time they leave the house for an Academy or a job or college. You will worry and hurt because of this. And I wouldn't wish this on you, but it'll happen. It's part of being a mother."

Yang growled and looked right through her in fear as a large Beowulf appeared behind Raven and was in mid-swing to cleave her head from her shoulders. Her mouth opened and the creature went sideways as something slammed into it and drove it to the ground. The creature from before had returned and was devouring the Grimm with gusto.

Blinking, she watched it eat the Grimm after carving through its throat with its claws.

"What is this thing?" Yang repeated her earlier question while pointing at it.

"Richtor," Raven called out. He turned to the sound of his voice with a large chunk of flesh hanging from his mouth. He flipped it up and gobbled it down while waiting for her. "Please, don't play with your food."

"Richtor? Richtor, as in the person that was with Naruto?" Yang pointed at him. "You left me to raise a monster?!" Yang stared at him as he tilted his head as if trying to process her words before he went back to eating. Eyes widening in shock, she backed up and said, "What is he?"

Raven stood beside her daughter for the first time in a long time, and put a hand on her shoulder. Smiling, Raven watched as Richtor finished eating the Grimm and started sniffing the air for more. "He's proof of what happens when you take faith too far. When you play God with science and take your creations to a point of questionable ethics or abilities. Or… he's proof of an evolution in all of us. What do you think?"

Yang opened her mouth as she looked up at her mouth with worried eyes. "Fire Cracker!" She shrieked and backed up. He was large and somehow managed to get close enough to her that he had been right in her face. "Fire Cracker! Fire Cracker!" he chanted while doing a little dance. He looked like a dog that was happy to see its master of a long time.

"We're leaving, Richtor." She drew her sword and looked to Yang. "If you come with me, there is no going back. You need to know that. So, make your choice. And then live with it."

She swung her sword and a portal appeared. Yang looked at the portal and then to her mom. Richtor walked through it and disappeared. Raven shut her eyes and held out her hand. Yang took it and together they walked through the portal. Yang shut her eyes and opened them when she felt hard floors beneath her feet. She opened her eyes and looked around at room lined with photos and books. Richtor was in the middle of turning back to his human form. Yang opened her mouth in awe as he stood upright and licked his lips before retreating to his room to do something.

The portal died away and Raven put her weapon by the door and her helmet on the couch.

"I wish you didn't come, but I'm happy you did." Yang looked around the room they were in. "So many times, I thought of snatching you up from him and bringing you here. This room, while a makeshift living room, was your room. When I first got this place, I noticed it had three bedrooms to it. I was overjoyed. I thought I could convince Tai to come live with me and work for them, but when I returned to him, he told me no."

Her nails dug into her palm and she wasn't aware she was bleeding.

Yang looked at one of the photos and smiled. It was a photo of her when she was five playing with a little boy with silver hair. Another photo showed her crush and her standing side-by-side and holding hands. She was ten at the time. It was taken directly before they broke up.

"I tried so hard to reason with him. I wanted you in my life so badly that I thought of a way to snatch you up one night. Bring you here. But then rational thinking kicked in and realized that if I did that, I would be doing the same thing to Tai that I never wanted to feel, and I couldn't do that to him. No matter how much I hated him for saying you couldn't be in my life."

"Why did dad do that?"

Raven sat down on the couch with an audible sigh of frustration. "When you were little, tensions were high between Vacuo and Vale. We were at a bad pass and with Vale having better Hunters at the end of the war, they realized that they needed help with something. Qrow found the information for Ozpin and told him about it. Ozpin got in contact with the Headmaster and told him he could send a team. He sent Summer and I to deal with it. We agreed and found a home that belonged to the Cult of the Worm, a group that worshipped the Grimm. We found so many books on Grimm and their religious nature. And we found bodies. So many bodies carefully preserved and eaten without bit marks to their flesh. That was where we found Richtor. Whether he's the creation of science taken too far, evolution, or faith taken to the absolute limit, we don't know. But he's part Grimm. He's called a Grimm Eater. He eats Grimm to survive. While he can normal food and it'll tide him over, the hunger will get him eventually and he'll eat humans to quench that hunger. He's done it before."

Richtor returned holding a black shard of something putrid. He was munching on it absentmindedly as he walked over to a photo and picking it up. He smiled at it and left with the picture.

"Richtor, dear, please bring that back. I know it's your favorite, but please bring it back." He whined and returned the photo to its spot before slinking off. "Richtor, please stay here." He perked up and walked back into the room with a smile. "When we became aware of what he was and how he had bonded with me, I tried to take him home." Her eyes hardened and rage boiled within them. "I knew I couldn't hide what he was from Tai, so I told him what he was and he called him a freak. Tai gave me a choice between Richtor and you. I knew that the organization wanted me to raise him or they were going to take you all away from me completely. So, I had decided to raise Richtor in the hopes that one day I could see you again and speak with you. But I never thought it'd be like this. When I finally got a chance to see you again, I was so relieved that I forgot about Richtor for a moment. I tried to speak with Tai again, but he ignored me and turned me away because he saw Richtor with me."

"So, you made a choice to raise a monster instead of your own daughter. Aren't you the mom of the year. If I had an award for you, I'd give it to you."

"I deserve it for the way I treated you. Not being there for you was the worst thing in my life." She smiled and looked at her daughter with warm eyes. "But then I did get to be around you. So did Richtor." She motioned to the photo he had taken and Yang retrieved it. It was one of herself with Ruby when they were really little. Ruby was probably a year or two in the photo and there was another boy beside her. He looked confused as to what was happening, but Yang was hugging him and looking quite joyful about it. "This was the first time I got to be around you again. You called me the Nice Lady, because I gave you candy. Summer made this happen, and nothing I do will ever repay the debt I owe her. I owe her so much."

Yang blinked and for a moment she remembered screams and terror. There were was ripping and eating noises behind her. The moment faded and she looked at Richtor as the strange teen looked over her shoulder at the photo with a smile. "She was nice," he said. "I never saw her again. I wonder what happened to her after I left." He chewed his lip and walked to another set of photos that lined the wall. Yang stared at the photo longer and then put it back.

"So you raised Richtor, but still wanted to raise me? Why couldn't you make dad understand? Richtor is…" she paused as she tried to think of a way to describe him.

"He's unique, powerful, strange, and something no one has ever seen before." Raven motioned to the spot beside her. Yang sat down and inched closer to her. "When we discovered what Richtor was and what he could do, a lot of people were terrified of him. They feared him enough that they started thinking of ways to contain him should he become a threat. Naturally, whatever they thought of didn't work because he was smart enough, strong enough, or durable enough that it didn't affect him. But now they've had time to see that while he is powerful, he is very obedient to me. If I asked him to eat all of Vale, he would without a second thought. Because I saved him and raised him, he listens to me and only the people I tell him too." She put a hand on Yang's shoulder. "When you were little, I took him to see you and I told him you were important to me. He vowed from that moment on to watch over you when he could. Although I doubt he remembers it, he did save you once. I'm sure you don't remember it either."

Yang looked at Richtor as he walked to another side of the wall to look at the photos.

"Why is he so strange around people? He has no social skills to speak of."

"That's because he has limited interactions after an incident when he was little. He killed a bunch of kids once and from there it was decided he couldn't be taken into those settings anymore. Since then the only kids' he's been around are those in the organization that have both worked for us or have families here that are being trained to be elite warriors. He's basically worked with nothing but adults since the incident. Cruel, but it was their orders and nothing I could do would change their mind. Just getting them to let me be around you was a hard enough task, let alone getting them to agree to allow me to bring you here and talk to with you about this."

"So, what is Richtor to me then?"

Richtor perked up and knelt down in front of her, sniffing her a few more times.

"Well, since you're both here and he will be returning to Naruto to complete his mission, I think it's safe to say that he's your older brother." She folded her arms and turned away from him. Richtor twitched his nose and pointed to himself. "Yes, Richtor. That means that she is your younger sister. And as her older brother, I ask that you watch out for her. I know you can't go to her school, but I know you can keep an eye on her. Just remember that if she calls for help, you come running. Understand?" He nodded and stood to his full height. "Yang, you have to know that Richtor isn't are most powerful asset and that if you ever tell anyone about this, you will be hunted down and killed. I don't expect you to understand anything I tell you or believe me when I say that I made a choice that would save your life, because you are the most important thing in my life."

"Next to him!" she accused. Raven shut her eyes tightly as she willed down her maternal instincts to lecture the girl. "You choose him in the end over me!"

"I did what I did because there was no other way. Do you think that I could let you die if I refused to mother him? Do you think I could watch them kill you?" Yang's face twitched and she felt something stir behind the room she was in. It was terror that she felt. "What did Tai tell you when I left? Did he tell you that I left you because I hated you? That I couldn't stand the idea of trying to raise you? Or did he take the easy way out and just tell you I died? But I doubt he did that because he'd have to produce a grave and you haven't seen my grave because there is none. He buried his first dog that was gobbled up by a Grimm. If you dig up that grave there is no body, just an casket with a small collar as proof that he once lived. But he didn't get rid of my photos or anything that linked me to him. I know him. I know him well. So I know that he didn't take the easy way out. He told you I was a terrible person and Qrow backed him up. My own brother, whom I cared for and served as the person handing me over to him at our wedding, couldn't even understand why I did what I did. To be fair, I never told him."

Raven got to her feet and licked her pursed lips as she fought back a wave of anger and sadness.

"Hate me or love me, I don't care which. But understand that by me telling you this, you're now in service to them. At some point in your life they will come for you and they will you to do something. On that day, remember this day and remember the choice that you made. If they ask the impossible of you, you have to make it possible. Because there is no place you can run that they can't find you. There is no one strong enough to stop them if they come. You can have an army, and they can send one person to kill you, and destroy that army. There are people here with powers so terrifying that I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night. You think Richtor is a monster, but he's not. Because beneath my feet, in the room right below mine, there is a man who cannot die. He has tried to die so many times that he has given up hope for death. He has suffered so much that that his mind is warped and reality has shattered with him. There are days I have spoken with him and I note that he isn't just talking to me, but to another person, unseen, in that room. Five rooms down there is a woman who killed her entire family, her entire village, because she enjoys seeing people bleed. There is a man in Mistral with a Semblance so terrifying that it the idea of it even being a real power is insane. And you know what's worse; it's a Semblance similar to yours! The only difference is that his degrades his higher brain functions in favor of survivability. The more damage he takes, the more of his brain functions are repressed to make him stronger, more durable, and faster. And he will kill everyone to get away from them. So before you think he's a monster with terrible power, know that I sleep in an area with people so inhumane that I wish they didn't exist."

"Even if that is true, why do this? Because of him? Because of some desire to protect me from afar without being a part of my life? You became a stalker! Did you think that you could change my mind about you or about him when you told me what he is?"

"Then you're going to die stupid!" Raven pointed a lecturing finger at her nose and Yang tried to swat it away. "I've done so many terrible things that it makes me more of a monster than Richtor ever could be. I could turn him on Vale or Atlas or Vacuo, and it still wouldn't make him near the monster I am. I abandoned you. I killed to protect you. I have done so many horrible things, and I did it to protect you, your sister, the world. I mean, if you think I don't understand what you're going through, try to think about what I've gone through, for you! Look at me! I'm an unforgivable person for the things I've done, but I forgive you for hating me. Because it's my duty as a mother."

Richtor whimpered and looked to his mom with longing as she began to cry on the spot.

"I hope that one day you understand me better. Maybe I shouldn't have done this, but it was the only way to save you. They were living in fear of you finding them, so they were making plans to kill you. I saved you. Know that. But if you speak a word of this to anyone, they will know. They will find you. And then they will take you away. Maybe they don't kill you. Maybe they do something worse. Maybe they make a murderer out of you. Maybe they bring you so close to death you wish for it, but then drag you back. Or maybe they threaten you with the life of your sister, your friends… Tai…"

Yang bit her bottom lip. Raven grabbed her sword and slowly drew it.

"Think on what I told you. But you should return to your friends." She swung and the portal formed. "This will take you back to the forest. From there, you do what you want. But know that I love you. Don't ever forget that, Yang."

The blond fighter got to her feet and moved to the portal. She stopped and looked at Richtor as he watched her stop in front of the portal. "Will he always be watching me?" Raven nodded silently. She turned on him and pointed at his chest. "If you spy on me while I'm in the shower, I swear, they will never find your body."

"Why would I spy on you in the shower?"

"Just… Just don't." Yang left and found herself back in the forest where she found Qrow walking out from behind a tree. "Hey Uncle." He looked behind her and then smiled. "I have a few things I'd like to ask you about."

"Sure, kid."

A\N

Sorry that this chapter is so long. This was a chapter that couldn't be cut into parts because, well, I never found a place to actually cut it down and there was a lot of emotion that was meant to be carried through it. So obviously I'm a fan of a familiar show. Don't hate me.