Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: First chapter

Chapter 25: A Simple Meeting

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda spoke critically of the sight she saw outside the window. "Typical of him. The man can't ever be subtle." She shook her head. "Atlesian tradition of being grand any and all times certainly shows itself."

"Now, now, Glynda. Running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." Ozpin defended. However, his expression hardened and narrowed. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." He spoke calmly. "I'd rather have my view of Vale instead of a view of warships cluttering the skies." Ozpin turned around when his desk alerted him of someone about to enter his office. "Come in." He said. The door opened, and revealed a man in a white suit.

"Ozpin." The man greeted with glee. Ozpin walked towards the new arrival, with his hands behind his back. He greeted the man formally in return. "Please, drop the formalities." The man requested as the two came together to shake hands. The man noticed Glynda come by, and he greeted her as well. "Glynda! It's certainly been too long since we last met."

"Hello, James." Glynda greeted with feigned courtesy. "What brings you here?"

"Indeed, that is a question i find myself asking as well." Ozpin spoke neutrally under the tension that rose because of Glynda's latent irritation. The Headmaster of Beacon turned to his desk to pour his fellow Headmaster a cup of coffee. "Headmasters don't usually accompany their students for the Vytal Festival." He said as he gave the man a mug.

"Well you know how much I love Vale this time of year." Ironwood said while he poured some cream in his coffee. "Besides, with you hosting, I think there isn't a more appropriate chance to catch up."

Ozpin walked around his desk, and poured himself a cup of his own coffee. "I can certainly appreciate quality time with friends," He told to the Atlesian Headmaster, "However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."

The military man exhaled deeply as if he expected the statement to come out sometime within the conversation. "Well…concern is what brought them here."

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee before he spoke. "I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult-"

"Oz…you, Glynda, and I know why I brought those men."

Glynda sighed. "Typical…using deterrence on an opposing force we don't know about." She sucked her teeth. "Your fleet has no concrete reason why they should be here!"

"Glynda." Ozpin warned. "I will not allow confrontations such as these in my office." He said with a slam of his mug. "And you, James…we are in a time of peace." He reminded the Atlesian Headmaster. "Shows of power like this are just going to give off the wrong impression."

Ironwood placed his hands on the desk. "But if what Qrow said is true-"

Ozpin raised his right index finger to make Ironwood stop his line of thought, "If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully." The man watched as Ironwood's expression slowly formed into a scowl or some sort of disagreement on the Atlesian Headmaster's face. "It's the Vytal Festival." Ozpin reminded him. "A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm being cautious, Ozpin." Ironwood explained himself. "The White Fang are mobilizing. The incident last month alone proved that they're getting more and more bolder by the day."

"So you've heard about it." Ozpin said lowly. He lowered his face to his hands as he supported his upper body on his elbows, and stared at Ironwood. "What did you hear?"

"Your students and one Haven Academy student, who stowed away, repelled a small group of armed White Fang members and caused massive destruction in order to prevent a successful raid."

Ozpin did not believe his friend knew so little of such a giant event. He was skeptical, but even Ozpin knew that Ironwood was capable of holding secrets of his own. "And what else, James?"

"The Fiamma has returned. At least the heir did." Ironwood answered. The room became absolutely silent except the clicks of the rotating gears of course. When there was an ample amount of silence, the man continued, "If we can have him take over the White Fang once-"

"No." Glynda interrupted.

The military man stepped back from the sudden reply. "Excuse me, Glynda?"

The woman did not face the military man. "If you know about him, then rest assured that I will not let you have what you want out of him." Glynda responded harshly. Her Aura manifested outward, and covered her in a thick mist of purple.

"W-Wait! Where is this hostility coming from?" He asked as calmly as possible when Glynda snapped her head at him with a heated glare.

"James, it's best you do not tread further on this line of topic." Ozpin warned. "As your fellow man, you must not provoke Glynda any more than you have."

"Was it something I said?" Ironwood asked. "Please tell me what I said wrong!"

"James! You really do not want to know!" Ozpin reassured.

"What is so wrong about making the heir the next leader that he so rightfully deserves?" Ironwood asked. He stepped back from the desk. "Think! If he can control them, then we eliminate a great part of the threat!" He said so confidently. "And while restrained under new leadership, most likely in shambles due to dsyfunction, we can apprehend them with the full force of my fleet to show that any further threats will be stomped thoroughly!" The Atlesian Headmaster was flung to the end of the office without warning.

"Glynda!" Ozpin shouted.

"The Fiamma leads through trust, compassion, and through necessary action." Glynda explained. "If you help him reach his throne, then dismantle it all without warning by apprehending the White Fang as a whole, then you've only doomed him for life! Your plan will cause misaimed hate on a young man who doesn't know how to lead his people! In the end, you'll only make a similar force compared to the White Fang or worse." She stepped forward with a wall of icicle daggers trained on the Atlesian Headmaster. "When the deception falls into place, he will be ostracized from both Humans and Faunus alike!" She boiled it down for the man to understand. "My-"

"Glynda!" Ozpin shouted again as he grabbed the woman's hand.

Glynda glared at her superior. "My son, will not be a pawn, Ozpin!" She whispered harshly to him.

"And it will not come to that, I assure you." Ozpin replied calmly. His grip on her left arm loosened. "We are not enemies here, Glynda. Do not make an enemy of someone we call a friend."

The woman made her attack disappear into thin air. "A friend of yours. Not mine." She stated bluntly. "I will not follow a man with a plan that jeopardizes him. Understand?"

"Yes…" Ozpin released Glynda. The woman immediately left the room with heavy footsteps that signaled her rage.

When Glynda fully left the room, Ozpin sighed. The man walked towards Ironwood, and offered a hand. "You should have followed my suggestion, James. You've unleashed a woman's wrath." He said softly before he thought, 'Or rathera mother's wrath.'

"Why the hostility?" Ironwood asked as he accepted the hand. He was pulled up, and the two men looked at each other.

Ozpin turned around to head for his desk. As he walked, he said, "Before we invited you into this circle, we had one other. Had he not passed away, he would still be here." The man grabbed his mug on his desk. He stirred it by subtly moving the mug. "That other was the man you know as Fiamma Secondo, or rather, Minato Fiamma." Ozpin craned his head to the side. He looked at Ironwood's utterly speechless expression. "Indeed, we had the second leader of the White Fang among our ranks. He was quite successful in keeping this secret, you know. Only in death did Glynda and I figure out who he was."

"Only you two? What about Qrow?"

"He's one of Minato's Guardians." Ozpin replied casually. "Anyways, let's get back to the matter at hand." He said as he faced the General. "Glynda has an immeasurable amount of reasons why she's hostile. Specifically, she holds quite a bit of respect for our late colleague to the point that anything that comes to harm to the heir is a threat."Ozpin's expression showed no sign of anger nor disgust towards his friend's mistake. "Do consider that the next time you interact with her when the topic is about the young man in my care. Tread lightly, and choose your words carefully."

"…Understood." Ironwood replied lowly. "But even you must understand my-"

"Yes, I understand your actions." Ozpin assured. "However, your actions will cause more anxiety than safety." Ozpin removed his glasses to clean them. "Look behind me, and tell me…what threat are you anticipating that it requires a fleet?"

"I'm being cautious, Oz."

"It's fine to be cautious, but even you must know there is such a thing as paranoia." Ozpin replied back as he placed his glasses back on.

"There's also such a thing as doing nothing leading to doom." James argued back.

"Maybe so." The Beacon Headmaster admitted. "Every decision has its consequence."

"Your children will go to war at this rate!" Ironwood warned. "Do you think they can win a war?"

"No." Ozpin answered truthfully. "They are children with training on how to swing or shoot their weapons. They don't know how to kill. A Human or Faunus that is." Ozpin grabbed his mug, and sipped. Silence grew in between the two men. The silver-haired man lowered his mug. "To be honest, I hope to never lead my students to a catastrophe of that scale." He watched Ironwood twitched slightly. "This does not mean your army has the justification to stay here."

"My fleet will stay, Oz." The defiance in Ironwood's tone was clear. "I want my students safe."

"Mine too, James." Ozpin agreed with a nod. "But the difference between us is that I want to protect themselves by their own power while also giving themselves confidence on said power."

"And if that isn't enough?"

Ozpin went to his seat. "Then their teammates can cover their weaknesses. And if that isn't sufficient, then friends can offer help. And the process continues on from there."

"Isn't that contradicting your own desire, Oz?"

"If they seek help from others, it's because they know their own efforts are not enough." He explained. "I personally won't hold my students' hands, nor will the other teachers either. They will learn on their own from their experiences and cooperation with others."

"I see…" The Atlesian man walked away. "This is your way of doing things. I'll keep faith in your method, but even so, your children cannot win a war the way they are now." Ironwood left the room stoic in expression.

Ozpin waited for his friend to leave the room, and when Ironwood did, he muttered, "I hope they never have to fight in one." He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. He tapped his desk, and tapped it in an arbitrary fashion, where his fingers moved from one section to the other with a seemingly synthesized rhythm to the taps. When done, a platform opened to the left of the chair Ozpin sat on. On the platform was an ancient book aged horrendously. Its pages golden, frayed, and wrinkled were bound by a scratched up leather cover with a symbol on the middle.

A leaf-like design that spiraled at the center.

Ozpin's left hand grazed the surface of the book. He felt the rise and fall of the leather texture as if he gave it a therapeutic massage. The man idly thought of the Fiamma heir. His combat prowess and appearance seemed to fit well with the individual mentioned in the ancient text. He considered himself old, but even he remembered the ancient story of the Hero named Naruto. It was among the first legends in Remnant, and the Hero was famous for the mastery of manipulation of what seemed to be an archaic but powerful version of Aura.

Bordered on what appeared to be this world's definition of Magic too.

Ozpin analyzed what he knew of the Naruto he knew. The Fiamma recreated the signature move of the Hero perfectly and purely on instinct as if he played on muscle memory alone. His movements were steadily improved as well as if he was already a young man who fought in a war. That, or an individual regaining his skills after a long time of inactivity. Ozpin understood that no child simply had that kind of evolution. Not with how little he fought over the course of the semester.

'Only twenty-five fightsAnd he's a terrifyingly overwhelming force. His controlis astounding for a young man who only learned about his fragmented Aura months ago. The way he uses it too reminds me of how father told me how the humans of old fought -with capabilities no simple Semblance could perform.' Ozpin leaned back on his chair. 'A second coming?' The mere idea of the Fiamma's situation brought up a certain memory. Ozpin flipped to the end of the book, where a poem was written.

Even if the morrow is barren of promises,

Nothing shall forestall my return.

To become the dew that quenches the land,

To spare the sands, the seas, the skies,

I offer thee this silent sacrifice.

Ozpin lowered the book onto the desk to analyze the poem for himself. His father told him of the stories written in the text, which was passed down throughout the generations. It was a small statement that Ozpin refused to believe as a child despite the miracles the text told time and again."…" He stared at his ceiling without so much as a change in expression or tone. "I remember… This is one piece of his legend that I refused to believe to be true."

"Real life isn't like what the stories told me, father! You're a fool to still believe in them! Don't waste your life on ancient legends that will never return to the land of the living!"

Ozpin closed the book. "Though perhaps I'm the fool who refuses to recognize the possibility of what's in front of me."


Two days after ground zero in the first year cafeteria, Team RWBY, JNPR, along with Sun and Neptune were enjoying some free time at the recreation center, arguably the second tallest and expansive building on campus. Ruby was at the forge section of the building at the top floor of the center, and wasted her time there. Yang and Sun were in the bottom floor, where the arcades were. The two were in a competitive mood, and fought against each other in a battle of wits and muscle memory through the use of fighting games while Neptune cheered for his leader. Jaune and Pyrrha were enjoying an X-Ray and Vav comic book together at the lounge on the second floor, where Blake enjoyed her alone time with her book. Nora went bowling, and dragged Ren along with her to the bowling alley on the same floor as all the games were.

Weiss? Weiss was in the music section of the recreation center, at the fourth floor. This was the section that was designed to contain all the noise produced inside. There were twenty soundproofed rooms all with any instrument of choice along with necessary equipment to perform properly. Each room was also allowed an audience, though few at a time considering the halls needed the walking space.

Weiss was in one of these rooms, and played her heart out on a piano with her delicate yet powerful fingers. Her dexterous fingers flew across the keyboard as she struck each key decisively and rapidly to the beat of her own soul, crying out just like the song she song she composed an played at the exact moment. Her harsh strikes of the keys weren't the source of any dissonance at all, it merely strengthened the passion of her performance.

"Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see!" She sang out like a nightingale as her performance quickened the pace. "I can keep it from the world; why won't you let me hide from me?" Her fingers struck lightning quick in a frenzied but orchestrated manner, "Mirror, mirror, tell me something…who's the loneliest of allllll?" And as the end neared, her song reached its crescendo with the clack of the keys. At crescendo's end, she finished the last lines, "I'm the loneliest…of…all…" Her hands finished off the final notes with softer strikes in the same manner her final lines were sung.

She placed her hands on her lap, and watched the piano closely. Slowly, her hands clutched her knees tightly. She got up off of her seat, and headed for the table nearby. She inspected the clutter she made from the various sheets of paper ruined by unsightly scribbles the clawed at the content like a furious cat. Her downtrodden expression, caused by her song and her failed attempts to compose a new one, was easily visible to anyone who watched her from the window that led to the hallway.

She decided not to mope about it for too long. She gathered her things, scrapped compositions and all, and left the room. On the way to the lower floors, she overheard on of the holoscreens news about the Schnee company. Weiss stopped at one of these holoscreens, and watched one of Vale's news anchors, Lisa Lavender, talk about the company.

"Profits for the SDC are steadily decreasing." The anchorwoman said simply to say her main idea. The screen animated to fit something extra."In this recap video playing off to the side, you can see how extensive the damage caused by last month's incident at Vale's shipyard." The video showed indiscriminate footage of the aftermath of the battle at the shipyard. Numerous warehouses, shipping crates, the ground, and nearby ships were heavily damaged. Electrical equipment, plumbing, and all sorts of other problems were visible as well."The event plummeted sales by seventeen percent, an all-time low for the company. Projected numbers from multiple economic experts so far suggest profits will decrease further due to discriminatory attacks by the White Fang on anything manufactured by the Atlesian-based company. Furthermore-"

By that point, Weiss tuned out whatever came next. Her mind wandered elsewhere, but it was focused on one particular topic. "White Fang…why cause all this trouble?" She mumbled while her arms clenched tightly on her belongings. Her face scrunched up out of frustration. 'WhyWhy can't we all get along?'She stared at the screen with a disapproving look. She clutched her belonging tighter than before, and bent the shape of her hand into the binder that held her compositions and other paraphernalia. 'Why? Why exclusively my family?' The young woman asked inside her head.

"Mother? Why can't Humans and Faunus live together happily?"

"It's because both sides won't listen to each other." Weiss' mother explained. "Both sides are selfish, solely fighting for benefits for the their respective race that nobody ever stopped to talk to one another."

"Oh? Afternoon, Weiss." A voice greeted.

Weiss looked left and right, but saw no one. She felt a tap on her shoulder immediately after that, and turned around. It took a second, but once she did, Weiss stepped back from the revolting sight she bore witness to. "Naruto?! What happened? You're literally a mess!" She stated as she continued to stare as streaks of cheese pizza slowly oozed down his right shoulder, turkey bones poked out of his hair, gum stuck on the chest along with sausages, ketchup, other condiments, and a plethora of other unknown…food and fluids stuck on his uniform.

Naruto crossed his arms, and stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Day Two of Code Rainbow." Weiss was about to ask, but Naruto explained, "It means a really big mess." Weiss wanted to say something again, but Naruto raised a finger to shush her, "It means a really big food fight with undeniable property damage." Weiss tried to open her mouth,"Upupupupup! I'm not done! It also means…" He paused for dramatic effect. "It also means a raise!" He yipped for joy. "It took me a while to saw the good in this, and my goodness was it worth it!"

Weiss nodded because she was unsure of how to react to the situation. "So…this means you're okay then?" She clarified.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "Fantastic! With the mess you made, I can double the amount in the check that I'll hand over to Granny. And then she can expand on the property, renovate some things, and could probably get school supplies for the little rascals! Oh and maybe…"

Weiss smiled at the enthusiasm Naruto had about the money he could potentially earn. It felt nice to see the guy happy. The tension she felt earlier when she watched the new moments before were cleansed away at the instant she saw him smile in what she felt like was a long time ago. She knew something happened at the docks. Ruby and Blake were too quiet about it; moreover, Naruto interrupted Ruby from talking about him at all that day. She noted that Yang knew something was up too. And so for a month, Weiss only saw fake smiles, a familiar action she performed many times.

When Naruto stopped his happy ramblings, Weiss asked, "I guess this means you're not mad at us for doing the food fight?"

"Oh no. I hate you guys for it too." The response was quick and had not betrayed his previous tone. Weiss stepped back because of the way the response was delivered, and was utterly gobsmacked. With a smile turned malicious (because of the response), Naruto said, "Everyone doing this job -and I mean everyone- was drenched in two-day-old food stuck on the ceiling." He chuckled a little. "It was funny when the first guy got dunked, but when it happened to everyone, we kinda got pissed. Don't even get me started on the food permanently stuck on the pores of some of the walls. Some of them are now red because the ketchup won't wash off." He stepped back. "So let me clear this up: thanks for the pay raise, but I still hate you for the mess you made." He gave a thumbs up. "We clear?"

Weiss, still stunned by the response, nodded wordlessly.

"Since we cleared that up, I want your own personal payment." Naruto demanded lightly. "That and the others need to pay too for causing a piece of the total mess."

"Pay?" Weiss repeated. "Like in actual money?"

Naruto waved the idea away. "No, no. I have a job for that." He reminded Weiss. "No. I want you to pay me in something else." His left hand cradled his chin as he wondered what sort of payment Weiss could do. He honestly thought he looked ridiculous as he attempted to look serious despite his absolutely messy appearance. Anyways, he snapped his left index finger and thumb together. "I want you to sing for me with that angelic voice you got!"

"EH?!" Weiss was shocked by the demand. "W-What? Why does it have to be singing?! Can it be something else?" Her cheeks gained a small tinge of red.

Naruto pouted. "What? Something wrong with that, Part-time Songstress?"

"Of course there is!"

Naruto continued to pout. "And…?"

"I want to focus on my studies!" Weiss answered quickly.

The blond Faunus scratched his head. "So that food fight was part of your studies then?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Weiss winced at the response. She averted her gaze away from Naruto. "I-It was a team building exercise." She defended the event with weak words.

Naruto smirked at Weiss's excuse. "You and I both know that's a lie as big as Beacon tower."

"Q-Quiet you!" Weiss stammered out as she blushed at her failed attempt to lie. "I have nothing to say to a person that won't even have the decency to clean up before a lady!"

Naruto looked to his left and right before he said, "Don't see anyone with that description." He kept a straight face as he watched Weiss's face fumed slightly. He couldn't help but snort a little at the childish expression the stern Schnee had on her face. "What's the matter, Weiss? Are you implying that you're a lady?"

"Of course I am, you dunce!" Weiss barked as she flailed her arms in anger. "I thought you had the common sense to connect the dots."

Naruto smugly smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. "Well the problem is…I don't see you as a lady." He said simply. He raised an eyebrow while he scanned Weiss from top to bottom. "No. You aren't a lady at all." He reiterated. He placed his hands in his pockets, and gave Weiss a softer expression. "I'm taking a line from Jaune, and say that you're a Snow Angel with a silken voice, tranquil like rain." He smiled before he walked away.

Weiss was left speechless at the statement. To think three young men, all with their own charms (as much as she hated to admit it) shared the same way of describing her. And out of all three of them…Jaune's was forced by false bravado; Neptune's was coincidental and…more suited to flirting. Weiss felt that Naruto's version -although admittedly borrowed- was the most sincere one, and the thought of it made her mind wander a bit too long on the character who called himself Naruto Uzumaki.

"I'll be waiting for my payment soon, Weiss!" Naruto shouted down the hall. "Catch ya later!" The blond sprinted to the nearest shower room to clean himself up from the mess.

Weiss watched him disappear from view before she went to her undetermined destination. She thought of Naruto's ridiculous request as a challenge; she needed to finish her new song to blow his expectations away.


Qrow was in a weapons shop to restock on ammunition. When done, he exited the store, and headed for the nearest bar to unwind. As he walked, he found himself looking at a raven's feather on the sidewalk.

His body went in alert, but he continued to walk. However, he did not get far because his Scroll beeped. He stopped to look at whatever alerted his device: a message.

From Raven.

Qrow kept a poker face, and opened his Scroll to look at whatever his estranged sister sent. He did not expect a picture. Nor did he expect the content of what the picture held. Before he could completely process the image, his sister called. Without delay, Qrow answered.

"Did you get my message, brother?"

"Not even a hello, sister?" Qrow asked. "Classy Raven." He mumbled. "So. What was that picture?"

"An archaeological find of the century." Raven answered vaguely. "It's that obvious, brother, or is the alcohol preventing you from registering the image clearly?"

"I wanted an answer, not your usual shtick."

"You're no fun. I found this place while wandering the abandoned underground city here in Mountain Glenn." She answered. Before Qrow asked for clarification, she continued on, "Aside from the strays here and there, nobody is really poking around the ruins, and here I am completely astonished by my find."

"Still doesn't explain the picture."

"Something tells me, the Tome of Beginning is correct, Qrow." Raven said seriously. "Whatever we read all those years ago as children held some truth to it. In particular, the line "And so Death disappeared; The souls in his possession scattered into the world were free to do whatever they wished: remain in the astral plane or live once again." rings true to the situation."

"What do you mean, Raven?"

"Look at the picture again, and see for yourself, Qrow." The call ended instantly.

Qrow looked at the message again with the intent on discovering what his sister meant. Again, he opened the message, and stared at the picture on his Scroll.

What he saw was a cavern with a cracked ceiling that allowed the smallest rays of concentrated sunlight to pour down into the space. The iridescent glow from the source bounced off the surrounding area, and what he saw paralyzed him.

He looked at a mountain full of faces carved into the rock. In total there were twelve. The sight itself was amazing for sure, but the faces themselves were what captured Qrow's attention the most. In particular, he recognized four of the twelve faces carved onto the mountain.

"Minato. Tsunade. Kakashi." He muttered in order. Respectively, their faces were fourth, fifth, and sixth from the left. The last face he recognized, was the seventh in that particular order, "Naruto."

All right, that's it for this chapter. Admittedly short, but what can you do? It's Finals week for me. As much as I liked to expand on the chapter, I felt this was an appropriate way to end that chapter. Anyways, how did you like that chapter?

I hope some of you aren't getting bored by this slow progression. There is a reason why there is a lack of any distinct Naruto elements in the first volume of this story, and I plan on following that unnamed reason because I think it parallels to RWBY's third volume of everything we knew about the world of Remnant being far more than what we believed to be.

Also, the poem used here is Loveless Act V recited by Genesis from Final Fantasy Crisis Core. I felt that it fit well with the story.

So review, follow, favorite, I don't care.

This is Azure signing off.