AN - There is a minor lime in this chapter, nothing long only a few paragraphs and easily skip-able to those not interested in them and you won't miss anything if you choose to do so. With that out of the way, please enjoy.

Shattered World

*SCRAAAAH!*

"Oh good the Wyverns are back." Sun deadpanned, having already grown to recognize the screeching of the wyverns from their time in the forest.

"I blame Qrow." Naruto added as he and the Corvus clan took in the impending swarm.

Raven tisked as the flock approached them rapidly. "Ready yourselves!"

As one, the entire clan drew their respective weapons and prepared themselves for the Grimm swarm. Naruto was mildly impressed by the show of discipline before turning back to the Wyverns.

Now, he had multiple options here.

Option A) Be a total bad ass and roast everything in sight.

...Nah, did that one already.

Option B) Pull out my sword and start wrecking shop.

...Nah, too much effort.

Option C) Sit back and let our new allies handle it while I analyze their skill and fighting prowess.

Yeah... let's go with that.

The next five minutes was an impressive display of coordination and battle-earned skill. The Corvus clan, around forty members strong from what he could see made short work of the normally extremely dangerous species of Grimm.

With so many Wyverns in one place they weren't able to use their full speed or aerial agility and were quickly defeated by the clan's superior tactics and teamwork.

Naruto had already helped Raven up at this point and had one of her arms slung around him to help carry her weight. "Oh by the way," He began, Raven turning towards him a moment later "Some guy named Tristis attacked us along with those three we brought along. I'm not entirely sure of his fate but the Grimm probably ate him."

Raven sighed. "Grey is - was - the third son of our fourth-born uncle, father's side. While possessing some modicum of skill, truthfully he was a thorn in my side and I don't believe I'll be mourning him any time soon."

"Oh good." Naruto said with a grin as the clan returned, victorious over the Grimm swarm. "Despite what I said, you've got a good group here."

"I'll accept that as high praise from a warrior such as yourself, Naruto, was it?" Raven questioned motioning for one of the members of her clan, a female to begin checking her wounds.

"That's right." He nodded, "Good friends with Yang too. I've been teaching her to control her fire and rage, she's a quick learner."

Raven smiled at the floor "Is that so?"

"I'm guessing you still aren't going to meet with her any time soon?"

The woman shook her head, "Not until she's ready."

Unwilling to pry further and possibly anger his new ally he simply nodded "Very well, I won't lie to her if she specifically asks me about you but neither will I tell her without prompting."

Raven bowed her head in thanks for a moment before standing up once the girl checked her over. "Let's head inside before more Grimm show up."

"Sounds good to me." He waved over his two temporary teammates who joined him and Raven on their walk.

"Raven-" Qrow began only to be cut off.

"Do not speak to me Qrow." She snapped coldly with a glare to match. "I have agreed to ally with you solely due to my faith in Naruto's power, you and I however? We have nothing to talk about."

Qrow sighed and let it go for now, favoring a drink out of his flask instead. Sun meanwhile wisely choose to stay out this conversation lest the crazy strong lady suddenly decide he had one too many appendages.

A few awkwardly silent minutes later Naruto and Raven entered her office followed by Qrow while Sun waited outside. Naruto stood calmly as he waited for Raven to sit down at her desk. "Please sit Naruto." She gestured towards the chair in front of her, pointedly ignoring her other guest.

"Thank you Raven." He took a moment to settle in and gather his thoughts. "I'd rather not waste your time with pleasantries and platitudes and simply get down to business. What do you know of Salem?"

Without hesitation Raven began, "The being we know as Salem is some sort of immortal, possibly a Goddess from before the Catastrophe. She was the deity of the Templar Order of Mantle before they were destroyed during the Second Crusade or as we know it, the Great War. We suspect that while weakened, she yet lives."

Naruto nodded "Indeed she does."

Raven frowned, "You have proof?"

"Not exactly but I can sense her. She's hiding behind powerful barriers but I sense she's somewhere to the east." Naruto said as he stood up and made towards one of the maps on the wall, pointing at the easternmost point of Mistral. "Here."

"The Wastelands?" Raven questioned, walking up to him.

Naruto nodded pensively "Supposedly it's a cursed place, heavy with the stench of hatred and malice."

"It is." Qrow spoke from his spot by the wall where he had leaned up against "Went there a few years ago on a scouting job for Ozpin... just trying to walk around in that place. It feels like the weight of world is on you at all times, like all the hope is gone."

"As dramatic as my brother has made it sound, I too have ventured to the Wastelands. There is a definite sense of wrongness in that land." Raven added.

"Is it true that was the location of the First Crusade?" Naruto asked Raven who walked over to a bookcase and scanned it for a few moments before finding what she was looking for.

"It was," Raven began as she tried to find the page she was looking for. Clearing her voice slightly she began reading a passage "'I can't even see my feet any more, the air is acrid with the smell of blood. It hangs so heavily like a mist that blinds us and yet we still continue our hunt. Our lady commands us to find the great beasts that predate even the Catastrophe, we have managed to secure another but we lost hundreds. Nevertheless the Goddess wills it and we obey.' This was a passage nearing the end of the First Crusade by Knight-Crusader Royle."

"Great beasts..." Naruto whispered to himself. For once he hoped his gut was wrong about this and Kaguya didn't already have the other Bijuu.

Raven nodded as she set down the book and turned to and illustration "Monsters of great power that could destroy armies on their own, Salem ordered her army to capture these beasts for her."

Looking down at the book Naruto could no longer deny it. There was an almost perfect rendition of Saiken the six-tailed slug. "Do any of the books say how many of them she captured?"

"Eight." Raven answered. "Or so the stories say."

Naruto sat down heavily on his chair. "That's... not good."

"Quite." She replied succinctly.

"What about the other families? Are you in contact with them?" Naruto wondered.

Raven shook her head, locks of midnight hair swaying with it. "Many of the old families have dwindled to only a few members and even most those no longer hold to the old ways."

"The Great War wasn't all that long ago, surely they couldn't all have been reduced so severely in number?" Naruto questioned. He knew that most of the old clans had rebuffed his and Qrow's efforts for alliance but he didn't think it was because they were going extinct.

"You underestimate the sacrifices of the Second Crusade. Mantle and the Order had both military and technological advantages over the other three nations and it was only due to sabotage and espionage that Mantle's superior army and weaponry didn't decimate everything in their path." Raven informed him "Sadly many of the Brotherhood fell during this war, spies were found within weeks and eradicated or tortured for information. Assassinations usually led to the death of the agents as they rarely escaped. The Great War was bloodier than most people ever truly realized."

"I see." Naruto said softly. So Kaguya had eight of the nine and Kurama still hasn't woken up from his damn nap.

Raven saw the pensive look on Naruto and gave him a moment before asking "What are you thinking?"

Leaning back in his chair he considered how to phrase his question "...Do we know the origins of the Grimm? How they came about?"

"Not much is known about them." Qrow began, "Though we do know for a fact that they were first seen in the Tropan desert."

"Where's that?"

"It no longer exists," Raven answered this time "At least, not in it's previous state. The Wasteland, that was once the Tropan desert."

"I've had a... theory about the Grimm for some time now. Ever since a Nevermore dented my shield which normally should be impossible." Naruto told them as he thought back to initiation day. "I had many different ideas about how they came to be but I feel like I've just gained a few more pieces of the puzzle, all that's left is one crucial corner piece."

Intrigued, Raven asked, "That being?"

"Did the Grimm only begin showing up after the First Crusade?"

"Yes, while not widely known it's also not exactly a secret. Why do you ask?" Raven pondered.

"I think Salem used the Bijuu or 'Great Beasts' to make the Grimm." Naruto told her "The Bijuu were originally beings of living energy called chakra, more specifically nature chakra."

Not entirely familiar with the term she asked "What is chakra?"

"Chakra is a combination of what you now know as Aura and Semblance. I believe the old assassin families had learned combine these two powers?"

"Yeah, it's one of the first things were taught." Qrow answered earning a glare from Raven though she did admit that they had learned to do that over many decades or trial and error.

"Right well Bijuu were infected with hundreds of years of hatred and malice that grew into a hatred of humanity... the Grimm of today behave like miniature versions of the Bijuu." Naruto told them.

"How do you know this?" Raven asked sternly. After all he looked no older than eighteen so he couldn't have possibly seen any of these beasts with his own eyes.

Naruto focused on her for a moment before turning towards Qrow and considering him. "This doesn't leave this room." He said with a seriousness that matched Raven's own.

"Of course."

"Sure?"

Naruto stood and lifted his shirt slightly where he activated the seal on his abdomen so it was visible. "Because I hold the last Bijuu, and if Salem gets her hands on him then she'll return to her full power."

Raven's eyes widened in true and honest shock.

Meanwhile Qrow took a glance at it, frowned deeply and simply said "Well, shit."

000

The morning's first rays of sunshine hit Yang in the face like an annoyingly persistent fly, finally forcing her awake after trying to snuggle back into the comfy pillows she was on. "Yang, I would really like to get up now if you're awake..." Pyrrha said with a hint of urgency "I have to use the restroom."

Yang groaned and rolled off Pyrrha where much to her pleasant surprise she ended up cuddling with her kitty comrade. "Yang. Get off of me."

Yang groaned even louder this time and sat up with a huff "Fine! Ruin my morning why dontcha?" She grumbled.

"You have problems Yang." Blake groaned as she stood up from the bed and hissed as a sharp pain shot up her back.

"You alright Blake?" Yang asked her partner who hunched over, the miserable expression on her face answering her question for her. "I'll take that a no."

"Do we have anymore ice?" Blake asked, wincing once more as she sat on the bed.

"Yeah, give me a minute." Yang said as she moved out to the kitchen, where she pulled out the ice packs they had put back into the freezer last night. Walking back she handed told Blake to lie on her belly and set them on her back.

Blake hissed for a moment from the cold before sighing in relief "Thanks."

"No problem-o." Yang grinned and laid back down on the bed facing her "So..."

"So?"

"How's life?"

"Shut up."

Yang laughed before settling down "Seriously though, are you going to take Pyrrha up on her offer?"

Blake frowned and turned her head so she was facing the wall. Yang also frowned and got off of the bed and kneeled in front of the bed giving Blake a stern look "Are you going to run away from this too?"

The faunus narrowed her eyes "Why does it matter to you? This is between Naruto, Pyrrha and I."

"B..." Yang felt like telling her about her own parents but held her tongue "Because you're all my friends."

Blake considered her for a moment before turning away once more. Yang was about to call her out on it again only to be stopped by Blake's next words "If you're not going to tell me the real reason then why should I tell you?"

Seeing that her chance was gone Yang stood up and made her way to the still mostly intact kitchen to make them all some breakfast.

While this was going on Pyrrha had listened in by the door despite her better judgement against eavesdropping but she wanted to know what Blake really thought about the matter. It looks like the girl was going to be as guarded as usual though.

Opening the door she entered the room and stepped over to the bed where Blake was watching her. "Better or worse?"

Blake scowled at her for a moment before letting the glare go with a tired sigh "You of all people should know that's it's always worse the following morning. I'm going to need some bruising cream."

Pyrrha smiled apologetically "I'll pick you up some after breakfast, we can head up to the med bay at Beacon afterwards."

Blake nodded her consent and closed her eyes. "Let me know when breakfast is ready."

Pyrrha left the room once Blake fell back asleep and looked around the utterly destroyed living room. "I... should probably start cleaning this."

"Probably." Came a reply from the kitchen followed momentarily by Yang walking in with a plate of syrup filled waffles and a glass of milk. "I was feeling lazy so I just stole some of Naruto's waffles. He'll be too preoccupied mourning his stuff to notice."

Taking another look around Pyrrha looked dismayed "M-Maybe if we clean up the mess, he won't notice some things are missing?"

"Oh no, he'll definitely notice." Yang countered.

Pyrrha sighed forlornly and sat down on the slightly ruined couch "You're right, Naruto is quite perceptive when he wishes to be."

"Well that... and I may have taken a picture of the room and sent it to him five minutes ago."

"You-"

000

"WHAT!?"

Sun yelped at the sudden yell and fell out of bed. With a groan he stood up and glanced over at his temporary roommate. "Wha's all the yellin 'bout?" He slurred, still half-asleep.

"They... they-" He paused, closed his eyes and began breathing deeply. After calming himself down he looked at the picture again and frowned seeing the image hadn't changed.

He had just come back from his morning job when he noticed his scroll was beeping from a message. Seeing it was from Yang he was rather curious what she wanted only to see the image of his destroyed living room with the caption.

'So our partners had a little sit down that turned into a throw down. It was actually pretty hot IMO.'

Glancing over his shoulder Sun snickered seeing the message earning him a glare from the blonde. "Hey, this is what you get from trying to juggle two girls. That stuff only happens in anime because they're written that way, real girls with emotions can feel this little thing called jealousy."

Naruto just ignored him even though he knew the faunus was right. Damn him and his pathological need for love and attention. Putting it out of his mind for now he dialed Pyrrha's number and stepped out of the room.

'Hello Naruto.' Was the uncharacteristically meek voice of Pyrrha.

"Hello Pyrrha. Any reason why you broke my lamp? I loved that lamp you know." He said sternly though she couldn't see the amused smirk on his face. He made the majority of his furniture with the Creation of All Things after all, it was all replaceable. Well except the TV... and the lamp.

'I know! I'm so sorry, I promise I'll replace everything by the time you come back and- and I-I' Noticing her voice was starting to hitch he decided that the joke was over.

"I was kidding Pyr, I'm not really mad. I mean I was at first for a few seconds before I remembered that all of stuff is replaceable." He told her, hearing a relieved sigh on her end "More importantly, what happened between you and Blake?"

'Well... I had asked Blake if we could speak about, well us. All of us. I wanted to clear the air with Blake but she was being rather difficult and we ended up saying things in the heat of the moment... and then things got really heated.'

"Well as long as you two are ok."

'Ah... yes...'

Naruto heard her hesitant tone and had to ask "You both are ok... right?"

'That... remains to be seen?'

"R... Remains to be seen? Pyrrha, what happened?"

'I... there is a possibly I seriously injured Blake. Possibly breaking some of her ribs.'

Naruto could only glance at his phone is disbelief. "Pyrrha. What the actual fuck?" Shaking his head "I'll be there in a few, don't move Blake!" Hanging up he quickly went back into the room he was sharing with Sun.

"Yo!"

"Sun, do me a favor." Naruto began as he reached into his pouch and took out an engraved kunai.

"Sure."

"Keep this on you for me, I'll be back in an hour or so." Naruto informed him. "If Qrow or Raven ask tell them I had to leave on an emergency for an hour or two but I'll definitely be back before lunch at the latest."

"Wait! Emergency? What-" Before Sun finished his question Naruto blinked out of existence with a yellow flash of light "...emergency?"

Glancing at the knife in his hand he wondered "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

000

"So, what'd he say?" Yang asked as she dug into her waffles.

"Naruto said he would be here soon... but isn't he on a mission?"

"Oh he's probably teleporting here." Yang told her.

"I know Naruto can move very quickly but I wouldn't call that teleporting."

"Remember how I told you that we sometimes hang out and watch movies? Well Naruto teleports us here but I've never actually been here so I didn't actually know where his apartment was." Yang answered before taking in another mouthful of breakfast.

"How much of Naruto don't I know?" Pyrrha wondered.

"Don't take it personally. I'm sure he's never mentioned it because it's not a big deal to him, you've seen how flippant he is about his own abilities. Being an overpowered bad-ass is just a state of being for him, he doesn't see that to most people teleportation is an amazing ability." Yang said, waving her fork around to help explain her point, "To Naruto, it's just another thing added to his vast array of stupidly strong abilities that us normies can't compete with."

"What's this about normies?" Naruto asked as he stepped out of the kitchen.

"Steak of the devil and he shall appear." Yang quipped before returning to her food.

"N-Naruto?" Pyrrha stammered seeing that he actually was here.

"Yo." He waved but kept moving towards the living room. Looking over at Yang he asked "Bedroom?"

"Bedroom."

"Be back in a few." Was all he said as he retreated into the room and shut the door.

"You... you weren't joking?" Pyrrha asked her friend who had a mouthful of waffles and was only able to offer a shake of her head.

Swallowing her food Yang set down her fork. "I would think you of all people, being his partner and all would be the most accustom to seeing him just pull impossible shit out of his ass."

Instead of answering verbally Pyrrha simply nodded her head pensively. Then a question popped into her head "When did you and Naruto begin watching movies?"

"When he started coaching me through my Berserker mode." Yang answered "Even when I leave my enraged state I still retain some of those feelings of anger so Naruto asked me what I liked to do in my spare time to relax. I told him I liked to watch movies so we got a few that I liked and we would come here after training so I could mellow out for a bit and not be tempted to rip someone's head off at school."

"Interesting, so knowing that you keep those feelings of aggression Naruto moved you both here to a controlled environment where you can release your anger and stress?" Pyrrha summarized.

"Pretty much, yeah."

The red-head smiled "Everything always seems to have a purpose when it comes to Naruto, does it not?"

"Guy's dependable, nothing wrong with that." Yang said with a knowing grin, "Though I do admit I was tempted to give into my baser instincts more than one. It's not only anger that coursed through me in that state but when fighting such a fine male specimen that could dominate me in ways no other guy can? Unf, it got me going like you wouldn't believe."

Pyrrha was turning progressively redder as Yang shamelessly told her about the many times she had to fight him stark naked because he's clothes would literally burn right off of her. Of how she was glad that any moisture around her evaporated near instantaneously or Naruto would have noticed that, that river of liquid between her legs wasn't sweat.

While that was going on Naruto was in the bedroom healing up the damage to Blake's spine and ribs. Nothing was broken thankfully, just heavily bruised with minor fractures. It didn't take very long for him to fix the damage.

All he had left to do was massage the tensed up muscles which he started doing after unclasping her bra 'so it wouldn't get in the way'. Though it wasn't as if he could actually catch a peak of anything seeing as Blake was laying on her stomach.

Naruto began working on the knots in her back, using his chakra to loosen the muscles as he went. Given the pleased mews Blake was giving off she seemed to be enjoying it even if she was still asleep.

Blake had woken up a few minutes into the massage and opened one eye to catch who it was working miracles into her back only to close it once more with a small smile. "Why did you stop?" She asked with a groan.

"Because otherwise I'd be here all day and technically I should still be on my mission." Naruto responded once she opened her eye and turned her neck slightly to catch sight of him.

"Thanks by the way," She said gratefully "I feel much better."

"Well I felt like this was my fault so I should take responsibility."

xxx Minor Lime xxx

"Are you going to take responsibility for how I'm currently feeling as well?" Blake asked sensually as she turned and got up on her knees.

"Such is duty, gotta take the good with the bad." Naruto said as he sat down on the bed next to her.

Blake wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a searing kiss, their tongues intertwining with each other while his hands roamed her body once more.

Cognizant of what he was doing, Blake let her bra slip off and guided to her breasts. She groaned with need as he played with her tits and laid kisses down her neck, ending with a bite at the nape of her neck which made her moan even louder, unaware or uncaring of how loud she was being or that their friends were in the other room.

Kissing down her chest he eventually reached her breasts and promptly took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it while one of his hands snaked down the leather pants she was still wearing from yesterday.

Blake moaned as she used one hand to hold Naruto's head closer while the other mauled at her own tit. She hissed in pleasure when his fingers reached her lower lips and began drawing circles on her clit.

Slipping his two middle fingers into Blake he began pumping them in and out while his palm ground into her sensitive bud, by this point the Catgirl was simply running on instincts and the main one was to find release at the hands of her mate.

Lust had clouded her mind as he fingered her cunny, all she could do was mewl and growl in approval, unable and unwilling to much of anything else under his touch. It didn't take much longer for her to scream her release, coating his fingers in thick clear syrup.

Naruto smiled seeing Blake fall back on to his bed exhausted like a few times before. Sliding his hand out he licked the sweet syrup off his fingers and smiled down at the girl who was watching him with lust filled eyes.

xxx Lime End xxx

He said in response to her burning gaze. "Now, now Blake. We've talked about this."

"It would help me forget about him." She reasoned, making to effort to cover herself up as she laid on the bed.

"And I told you that I won't take you until you were sure about this. If I just wanted sex, that wouldn't be too hard to get but I want you Blake." Naruto told her in a tone that said they've had this conversation a few times before. "Then again I suppose I am a hypocrite for asking you to get over Adam while I also have Pyrrha."

"You really are a piece of crap you know."

"Yeah," Naruto admitted with a grin "And for whatever reason, you still put up with me."

Blake couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips and she sat up and kissed him again, much more tenderly this time. "That's because I realized something last night."

"Oh?" Naruto asked as he leaned his forehead on hers and peered down into her still slitted yellow eyes.

"I love you." She said plainly, "While it hurt to leave Adam at first, the thought of losing you... it hurt. It hurt so much more than anything I could ever think of. It was then that I realized I had actually fallen in love with you."

Naruto smiled and pecked her lips once more "Thank you, for giving me your love Blake. As undeserving of it as I am."

Her smile matched his as she playfully said "Shut up." and kissed him once more before wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling herself into the crook of his neck, breathing in her mate's scent while playfully nipping at his neck.

"We really should stop Blake. I need to get back to my mission and we still have to talk to Pyrrha and you being topless and hugging me is really not doing my hard-on any favors."

Blake giggled and ran a hand down his chest "I could take care of that for you?" She whispered in his ear.

Much to both of their displeasure Naruto stopped her hand and pulled away, "As much as I would love that - and really I would - we do still have things we need to do this morning." He said while hating himself a little inside for saying it.

Blake sighed and nodded "Right then, hand me my bra, would you?"

Naruto looked around for a moment before spotting it on the floor and handing it to her "I'll be waiting outside." He made his way to the door while tapping a small spot on the wall above his light switch that de-activated the silencing seal.

Walking into the living room, thankfully having gotten himself under control he met the two expecting eyes of his friends. "Well Blake is fine now, I fixed the damage so she'll be out in a bit."

"Thank goodness." Pyrrha sighed in relief.

Yang checked the time on her scroll "You were in there for almost an hour," she asked with a sly grin "What were you two doing in there?"

Naruto fixed her with a blank look "Yang, when was the last time you had to fix spinal damage? Because I can assure than even more me, that takes some time."

"Ah-" Yang opened her mouth then promptly shut it "That bad, huh?"

Seeing the worried look on Pyrrha's face he held up his hand "It was mostly bruising but some of her ribs were cracked as well as a few of her vertebrae." It actually had only taken about ten minutes to fix the damage but they didn't need to know that. After all he wasn't a healer, he kind of just siphoned Yang chakra into her body and let it do it's thing.

A few minutes later Blake walked into the room looking good as new, using one of Naruto's shirts to cover herself seeing as her own was still ripped up in a corner somewhere.

She took a seat on the couch with Pyrrha and Yang while Naruto sat on the recliner facing them. "So... who wants to start?"