At a bar in Vale, Qrow had begun a long night by drinking whisky. The huntsman had been drinking a lot more ever since the fall of Beacon. Ozpin disappearing, the Maiden being killed and her power lost, and losing Beacon to the Grimm. That was a great reason to drink one's sorrows away.

But that wasn't the only reason. Qrow could still remember the moment when he encountered Ruby along with Taiyang. The two of them had gone all around Beacon searching for her, and they'd eventually been told by some of her classmates about where she had gone off to.

The two of them immediately headed for the tower and heard that roar. It was inhuman, it sounded like something from a nightmare, and it sounded like pure pain.

Qrow flew up to the top of that tower and found Ruby in that silver tailed form of hers just sitting and roaring at the sky for no real reason. It was only when Qrow approached that Ruby stopped roaring at the sky and turned her attention to him.

Qrow took another sip of his glass as he could still those silver orbs that made up her eyes. Completely blank. It was like something had pulled out her humanity and replaced it with a creature of rage.

If he wanted to be honest, Qrow thought that Ruby was going to kill him when she raised her right hand at him, that was until something stopped her. She began roaring once more except that the silver energy that had been coating her face pulled itself back, and Qrow was able to see all the horrific damage that had been happening to Ruby.

The top layer of her skin was missing, almost like something had pulled it off, and blood was dripping all across her face.

Qrow had no idea how anyone could survive wounds like that. He almost would've either counted Ruby for dead, or crippled. But it was not to be. It wasn't until after the silver energy left her body and he'd taken her from off the top of the tower to show Taiyang, that a new layer of skin immediately began healing across her body and left her looking like nothing had happened.

He wished that he never had to have seen that happen, but the images just kept popping back into his mind. Alcohol truly was the best cure for dealing with things like that. Qrow pulled out from his belt a handle which made up Ozpin's cane.

If he pressed a button on the side of the handle, the rest of the cane would quickly expand, but he neither desired or had the will to gaze at the fully extended weapon. It just reminded him too much of his failure.

There was also the issue of Naruto dying. Qrow didn't know how well Ruby was holding up with that. Guess it was just something that Ruby had to learn by the time that she was ready to leave Vale with her friends. Qrow wholly supported the action, if only because of how Taiyang was being too protective and coddling. It was cute when the girls were young, but now was not the time to try and protect them. The world as it was wouldn't allow it.

Things were changing at a face pace, and Qrow didn't know if he would be able to keep pace with it.

With another swig, Qrow left some lien of the table he was sitting and walked away, he had work to do, and drinking his problems away would only stall the inevitable.

Vale

Naruto and Ruby had been waiting for Taiyang to come back for over an hour now. The teens had managed to pass the time with Ruby telling Naruto more about everything he'd missed, but there was only so much that she could tell him. Now they were both just waiting for when Taiyang eventually came back.

"Ruby, do you remember anything from after Pyrrha died?" Naruto asked. If there was anyone that knew what she had gone through when she used Kurama's chakra, it would be him.

"Not really. I just felt a lot of pain when I saw Pyrrha die, and it felt like my skin was burning. Then everything went black. That was it." Ruby answered.

"Just like how I was when I entered my four-tailed state. I couldn't remember anything afterwards. Just people telling me that I destroyed a lot of the area and that I hurt some people." Naruto grabbed Ruby's hand and gave her a reassure squeeze. "I'm going to be here for you, so you don't have to worry. We'll get through this together."

"Thanks." Ruby replied with a soft smile. It eventually faded from her face as she then said, "How would we even start training me to use this power I have? I don't even know how I began using it, or what would happen if I did get it working for me."

"We'll find a way. I have a few ideas of what we can do. After all, I had to go through similar training when I first started using Kurama's chakra." Naruto answered.

"At least you have all of this figured out. I wonder what dad-" Ruby was interrupted by Zwei's barking and the front door opening. The two teens poked their heads out from the kitchen entrance and saw Taiyang walking towards them with a bag in one hand.

"Where did you go?" Ruby asked the man as he entered the kitchen. He tossed the bag at Naruto before answering.

"Went out to a store. I picked up a few things." Naruto opened the bag that Taiyang tossed to him and pulled out a brown wide-brimmed hat. "That's so you can keep a low profile. The white hair and marks on your face are pretty recognizable. The rest of the items in that bag are some clothes that I bought so that you don't have to keep using mine. Had to guess your size for them, I think I did pretty good in that regard."

Naruto put the hat on his head and then looked at the father and daughter, "How do I look?" He asked.

"Like a cowboy." Ruby replied. Naruto shrugged at this.

"No idea what that is, but I'll take it as a compliment." He pulled out a long brown jacket next, and that was followed by a pair of black pants. "I hope that there is at least something ora-" Naruto grinned as he pulled out an orange shirt. "Perfect!"

"If anyone asks, you're my nephew." Taiyang stated.

"But you don't have any siblings." Ruby quickly remarked.

"We'll say that Qrow is his father. People will believe that more than they'll believe that he's my son. Besides, even I have no idea if Qrow has fathered any kids." Taiyang said the last bit under his breath.

"Oh, well, that'll work. So, what is your decision about Naruto training me?" Ruby asked.

"Absolutely not. I'm forbidding you from training if it will involve you getting injured like you did last time." Taiyang sternly ordered. Ruby was about to speak up until Taiyang silenced her with a stern look, "I will not stand by and watch my daughter injure herself like that. I may seem harsh, but I'm doing it to protect you."

Ruby stomped off without a word and left the two males, along with Zwei, along with one another.

"You are being too coddling. She wants to be able to protect others." Naruto reasoned.

"And how do you protect others when you are horribly injured? It's absurd!" Taiyang shouted. Taiyang calmed himself before saying, "The only reason that I haven't kicked you out of the house right now is because Ruby cares about you, and it would destroy her if she lost you again."

"And why would you want to kick me out?" Naruto asked, his curiosity was peaked at this.

"Because, if anyone or, heaven forbid, James Ironwood found out that you were here, they'd send and army after you. The longer you stay here, the more danger you put everyone here in." Taiyang explained.

"I understand." Naruto said in a subdued tone.

"Can't help it, you're here now. I'll be outside if you need me. You can sleep on the couch, Ruby or Yang can show you where the blankets are." Taiyang then walked out of the kitchen with an excited Zwei trailing after him. Naruto heard the front door open and then close which left him to his own thoughts.

Atlas

James Ironwood sat at his desk reviewing some files. Most were superfluous news about the budget, dust supplies, and other items. The Atlesian military had been under scrutiny by the public ever since the Beacon incident.

Now the public barely trusted that Atlas technology could protect them, much less avoid being hacked. It had been quite clear that their machinery could be turned against them. This left James with the task of trying to hold up the trust in the Atlesian military, as well as shuffle human soldiers into the places of the robotic soldiers that were still in commission.

Most of the machines had been shut down after that day in order to receive diagnostics and to pacify the public from rioting. It had been a nightmare, so much of the budget had been diverted from strengthening the military to helping fix all the damage that was caused in Vale, pay the extra soldiers who were now taking the places of the machines.

That didn't even mention the profit-loss from those who had bought the Atlesian machines now trying to get them refunded.

In larger terms, it meant a budget deficit that might last for the next few years and the loss of trust in the Atlas civilian population and the other kingdoms. In simpler terms, they were fucked.

James was at his wits end, and the only thing that seemed to be a plus was the energy project that the science division was working on. Apparently, they were making a breakthrough that could revolutionize the Dust industry as well as change the world for the better.

The only thing that the division had been asking for was to study those who had spent long interactions with the one known as Naruto Uzumaki. He had no idea as to why they wanted this, but he knew that part of that request was impossible.

Weiss Schnee would never be let out of the sight of the Schnees, Blake Belladonna was missing, and both Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose were both kept under the protective watch of Taiyang Xiao Long.

Though, James did have an idea on how to get close to Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose, especially Ruby Rose, reports had talked about how close she was to Uzumaki.

As it was, he'd settle with leaving the members of Team RWBY alone unless it was truly needed for the betterment of Atlas. Still, it wouldn't hurt to help Yang Xiao Long out. She was a good soldier, one that had lost her arm in the line of duty. It seemed only right that he should help her. And it would also give him the ability to get close to the girls and do a quick scan of them to see if they tested positive for what the science division called R-R.

He'd put it as one of his things to do.

It was late at night that Naruto went up to Ruby's room and found the silver-eyed girl reading some comics. "Hey, how are you doing?" Naruto asked.

Ruby set her comic down and pulled the covers of her bed off to reveal that she was wearing a black t-shirt, and gray sweatpants along with her combat boots. "Is dad asleep?" Ruby asked.

"He is. Your dad really believed that you were upset earlier. That really helped to sell to him that you wouldn't start training." Naruto complimented. Ruby got out of her bed and followed Naruto as the two of them began heading downstairs.

"I was a little upset at him for not letting me be able to train with you. That helped to make it believable." Ruby stated. Naruto nodded in acknowledgment. Eventually the two teens left the house through the backdoor and made their way through the woods surrounding the house until they were in an open patch of land.

"So, what are we going to be doing? Fight hand to hand? Take on some Grimm? Do some-" Naruto stopped where he was and turned around to Ruby as he sat down on the ground in a lotus position.

"None of those. We're going to be meditating." Naruto answered. Ruby seemed both surprised and disappointed at the answer, but she eventually joined Naruto in sitting cross-legged.

"How is meditating going to be helping me?"

Naruto smiled at this, "We need you to connect to Kurama's chakra that's within you. To do that, you have to meditate. It's simple enough." Ruby sighed before she began the long process of trying to connect with Kurama's chakra.

And that's a wrap. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next story to be updated will be AYWMS. After that, we'll see. Anyway, sorry about the wait. Stay frosty my friends.