Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY.
Reading: Veritas Aequitas
XXXV: Loss
Yang flared her nostrils. "This is going to suck."
"I thought Ruby stated the obvious?" Weiss asked her.
"Hey!" Ruby pouted. "I only do that, uh, sometimes."
"More like every day."
"Told you we'd make it here on time. Don't you feel silly, Sasuke?" Naruto asked his teammate as they took their standard seats for Oobleck's class.
"...Goodwitch is giving us the evil eye." Sasuke muttered, his head slightly ducked as the guest instructor sent them dark looks for being a minute or so late.
"I think it's mostly for me, so don't worry." Naruto grinned at his friend. "Your fetish fuel won't punish you. Much."
Coco made a whipping motion, sound effects included.
"I can never understand the appeal to that." Jaune confessed.
Coco gave him a grin. "Well, if you see some of those kinds of vids, you'd get it."
"I have, and still don't."
"…There's something wrong with you." Coco accused.
Sasuke replied with a quick and hard jab of his elbow into the snickering blond's side. He then opened his scroll and began to copy down the notes that Oobleck left on the board.
Naruto meanwhile rested his head on his crossed arms. His brows furrowed in thought over the strange chill that struck him on their way to class.
Hope it wasn't a g-ghost... Naruto thought with a small shudder.
"Still sucks we can't enjoy horror movie nights." Yang pouted. But then gained a smile. "Or maybe we can…or at least, I will."
His unease made Sasuke give him an odd look, but otherwise went unnoticed. Giving his brother from another mother a reassuring grin, Naruto pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Now, I'm sure all of you are wondering just why Professor Goodwitch has decided to accompany us today," Oobleck said. He sipped whatever liquid gave him his energy from his cup, either unaware of or pointedly ignoring his assisting teacher's look of mild annoyance at his exaggerated method of drinking, before he continued. "Well, with all of our defenses back up courtesy of our ...guests from Atlas-"
"He raised a big stink over that, didn't?" Ruby tilted her head in thought.
"Subtly when he could." Weiss agreed.
"Oobleck..." Goodwitch gave him a pointed look.
Her tone caused Naruto and Sasuke to share a look with each other. Obviously Oobleck didn't care for the intrusion of another kingdom's forces 'protecting' Vale. They looked down to see Kurama sitting a bit taller in his seat. He undoubtedly picked up on it as well.
"Yes, yes, yes." Oobleck waved Goodwitch off and adjusted his glasses. "As I was saying, since our defenses are back to full strength and you've all had quite the break between classes, I invited Professor Goodwitch to help - how should I put this? Ah, I know. To help ensure that old habits – sleeping in class, skipping frivolously, or even dare I say it causing intrusions – would be kept in check. Professor Ozpin believed it would be a lot of work for just one professor to keep you 'rowdy ruffians' from trying to eat the allotted time with questions that detract from class."
...So, they're basically trying to keep all of us in the dark about the search for Roman Torchwick. Naruto, Sasuke and Kurama thought dryly.
Ruby raised her fist. "But we have a right to know!"
"Not really, we're kids to them. Remember?" Weiss reminded her.
"Indeed you are." Coco agreed with a nod.
"So are we." Velvet told her team lead.
"Ah! But we get to know just a bit more. So win for us."
Velvet's ears flopped at the childish reason.
Not two months have passed since his escape from custody and still no leads – according to Kurama's inside source with the Vale Police Department – have turned up.
Though, we've been preoccupied with shenanigans outside of our control, Naruto thought with a small grin. Drinking on the Toad's money for once and eluding Yang's Dad for the past few days has made it a bit difficult for me to get the skivvy on those details.
"So, that said, let's all keep our focus on the subject today, which was what, Ms. Nikos?" Oobleck asked while he looked at the Invincible Girl.
"Expansion of Mistral, Professor."
"Doctor. Now, how many of you know-?" Oobleck cut himself off mid-sentence when the door at the top of the stairs was knocked on. A second later and Professor Ozpin entered. "Ah, Professor Ozpin, what can I do for you?"
"Sorry to intrude, Oobleck, but I need Mr. Uzumaki to please come with me," The unnaturally stony Ozpin said from the door.
Yang gripped her shorts. "Let's hope they don't rip the Band-Aid off too fast."
"I'm sure the Headmaster will be as smoothing as possible." Pyrrha affirmed.
The class turned to look at Naruto almost expectantly. The blond in question blinked while he looked around owlishly.
"...Oh, come on, I've got other things on my mind aside from pranks!" Naruto said with a frown.
The class continued to stare at him.
"...Et tu, Sasuke?" Naruto asked the boy seated on his side. Sasuke shrugged.
"Safe assumption."
"This just makes it feel cringe worth." Blake closed her eyes. "That joker nature is going to be gone in the next few minutes."
Yang nodded with a miserable look.
"Ah, but you know what they say about assuming! It makes an ass out of 'u' and 'me'." Naruto shot back with a grin. Sasuke cracked a small smirk and rolled his eyes.
"Oi, dumbass. Quit yer dawdling an' let's go."
Naruto's smile fell at the familiar voice and he turned to see Roshi standing behind Ozpin.
"Yeah, with him? It's not going to be smoothing at all." Yang told Pyrrha.
Who in turn gave a sheepish look.
That was definitely true.
The severe stare sent his way made his blood boil and he pushed back the smarmy retort he wanted so badly to whip out and slap the old fart with.
Naruto could feel Goodwitch's glare piercing the back of his skull, as though daring him to say something.
Needless to say, Naruto was more than willing to obey the headmaster's request, if only to escape Goodwitch's 'gaze of doom'.
"If it wasn't for the coming situation, I would so agree." Jaune felt for his fellow blond.
He rose up from his seat and made his way out the room with puzzlement on his features.
A moment of silence passed, broken only by soft whispers. Sasuke shared quizzical stares with Jaune and Pyrrha, Kurama and Velvet spoke in hushed tones, and Blake and Weiss were debating over whether Naruto had done something again.
Oobleck clapped his hands together. "Yes, yes, it's all very thrilling to see our first-year clown get pulled out of class by the Headmaster, but our attention is on a past that is more than three minutes ago. So, if you'll turn your attention to the entry in your-"
"I said cut it out!"
The muffled shout made necks snap as the students whipped around to look at the door behind them. Through the windowpane, a glowing light could be seen.
"He's going Yang." Ruby grimaced.
"That's not a thing, Ruby. Don't make it a thing."
"…But it already is." Ruby muttered to herself.
Other students turned to the door at the back of the classroom as the shouting continued for a good five minutes until it became faint and hard to make out. Then a loud bang rocked the school, and silence ensued.
"Was that a cannon?!" Nora gaped with eagerness to know.
"No, probably a punch." Ren stated.
"…I still say it was a cannon." Nora huffed.
"Just because you got your hands on the ones at our hold school-"
"I made picture day fun!" Nora blew him a raspberry.
Until Goodwitch smacked her crop against Oobleck's desk, making many in the room, especially the Faunus with heightened senses, jump. Pleased that she'd quelled any hushed conversations before they could even begin and had brought attention back to a thankful Oobleck, Professor Goodwitch stepped out to see if anyone had been hurt.
The last time an Uzumaki had an emotional episode on campus...Glynda shivered and rubbed a small, concealed white scar on her arm. Thankfully, he lacks his mother's chains.
"Mom-In-Law to be hit Goodwitch?!" Yang looked stunned. "Man, now I really wish I could meet her!" She cursed.
Unfocused blue eyes stared straight ahead and a normally sunny smile had slipped off of an ambling teen's face. The visiting students stepped out of his way as he shuffled across campus, his hands dug deep into his pockets and his head hung. His mind kept replaying the scene that occurred not fifteen minutes ago.
"Oh, bae my bae. My poor hunky bae." Yang sniffled tearfully.
"I think you're getting too emotionally attached to this, Yang." Pyrrha frowned.
"When you become the love interest, you'll understand, Pyrrha."
"I don't think she will." Weiss told her. "Some of us have more sense than others."
Yang huffed at this. "Sense, sense is an illusion~"
"For the insane, yes."
"…I'mma deck you in the schnozz."
"Mr. Uzumaki, I'm sorry to be the one that has to tell you this." Ozpin softly spoke as he stood opposite of Naruto. His eyes were weighted and weary as they looked over the teen before him.
"Tell me what?" Naruto asked. Roshi stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Listen kid, I know we didn't get off on the right foot-"
"That's an understatement." Naruto snorted. Sun's grandfather kicked his ass in less than a second and somehow always knew how to really piss him off. Must be an old guy thing. The Toad's good at it, too.
That earned a collective of winces.
"But I am – was a good friend of your godfather's." Roshi finished softly, ignoring Naruto's interjection. The way he corrected himself made Naruto look at him in confusion.
"Roshi, perhaps-?" Ozpin was silenced by a look the man gave him.
"The best way ta do it is ta just rip the bandage off in one go," Roshi said firmly.
"Not really." Weiss disagreed amazingly enough.
He looked back at Naruto and his hard gaze softened. "Naruto...Jiraiya is gone."
"No, duh...He went back to Vacuo to get his next book published, and probably to goof off and peep around." Naruto snorted and looked at the headmaster. "Prof. O, what's going on?"
"Oh man, awkwardness, cringe, what else is missing?" Coco asked with a pained look on her face.
"Heartbreak?" Velvet suggested.
"That's the one."
"This isn't easy, Mr. Uzumaki, please bear with us." Ozpin said softly, an apologetic look on his face. "Mr. Uzumaki, your godfather...Whatever he told you he was doing in Vacuo wasn't the case-"
"Maybe the peeping part," Roshi said with a hint of a smile cracking through his stern features.
"Lord Jiraiya was looking for the Fourth War's base of operations." Beacon's Headmaster informed the teen.
"Not lookin' for. Found." Mr. Roshi corrected him. He held up the item in his hand and placed it in Naruto's hand. The blond turned it over and his breath hitched.
An old horned silver headband was now in his grasp.
"Wha-what is - Professor wha-?" Naruto looked back at Ozpin, whose eyes had closed. He looked at Roshi, whose face was grim.
"I'm sorry," Roshi said sincerely. He pointed at the headband. "But the Mountain needs a new Sage. Your waiting time is over."
"…He does not get to make that choice." Yang's eyes shifted to red. "Where the hell does he get off?"
"I want to make a witty retort, but I'll stay my tongue." Weiss said, inching away from a possible Yang moment.
Naruto looked down at the headband and shoved it back into Roshi's hands.
"That's not funny. This is not fucking funny."
"I'm afraid he's not joking, Mr. Uzumaki-" Ozpin began, reaching out to put a hand on the blond's shoulder. Naruto knocked Ozpin's hand off his shoulder as he backed away from them.
"I said cut it out!"
"And cue the cannon!"
"Mr. Uzumaki, I know this is hard-"
"No...No, he was just going to talk to his publisher! He'll be back in a few weeks to perv and peep and-and..."
"May he perv among the angels." Yang held a hand over her heart.
"And be smited by god." Blake added.
"Harsh."
"-but you to come to terms with the reality of the situation-"
"Stop." Naruto pleaded and covered his ears, his eyes squeezing shut. "Shut up. He was just going to-"
Apparently fed up with Naruto's denial, Roshi grabbed hold of Naruto's collar, stopping his attempt to block out reality. The old Wanderer shoved the taller teen against the wall and glared at him.
"Goddammit, I'm sick 'n tired of seein' you brats today cry over the smallest shit! Your godfather – my friend – is dead, boy!" He snarled, smoke pillaring out of his mouth as his aura flared. "He's dead and gone! Accept it and the responsibilities that come with it!"
"Cannon?"
"Nora!" Everyone complained.
Pushed at his emotional limit for the day, something within Naruto snapped. His body began to lightly glow and he grabbed the older man's arms. His whisker scars appeared thicker and his eyes shone brightly as he glared right back at Roshi.
"Let. Go."
"I'll let go when you grow up!" Roshi barked as his body began to turn red.
"Mr. Wukong, Mr. Uzumaki, you both need to calm down," Ozpin said as the boy's aura flared with his growing distress. He gripped his cane tightly and rested his thumb over a concealed button.
"No! No calmin' down! Far as I'm concerned, the Mountain's too good for this selfish brat!" Roshi snapped. He curled his lip into a sneer. "Why Jiraiya thought you'd be a good Sage I'll never know."
"Oh man." Ruby winced, and covered her ears. "Cannon."
"Yes!" Nora pumped her fist.
"Shut. Up." Naruto growled.
"Dumbass always thought with his heart more than his head, but at least he knew when to man up and take charge!"
"Let. Me. Go."
"Fucker must've been a terrible teacher if you never got that lesson, you sniveling, self-centered, waste of-"
Naruto let out what could only be called the cross of an anguished yell and an infuriated scream. Ozpin was barreled out of the way, knocked halfway down the hall, while Roshi found himself slammed through not just one, but three of the building's classrooms.
"…Fist cannon." Nora told Ren, her voice stern.
"Fine." He just rolled his eyes.
"He hit the headmaster." Blake rubbed her eyes.
"Yay?"
"Not yay!" Weiss chided Yang.
"Nope. Calling that a yay. Besides, he was collateral." Yang smiled at the dumb look on Roshi's face.
To the faculty's relief, they'd find later that no one was using the classrooms and they were scheduled for renovation anyway.
When the dust settled, Naruto had Roshi imbedded in the grounds outside the building. The older man was glaring up at him. Naruto's nostrils flared and his right fist shot out like a rocket, hitting the old Faunus right in the schnoz.
"It's scary how alike you are." Weiss muttered.
Yang just cheekily grinned, offering the a V for victory sign.
Roshi's head flopped back and his semblance cut out instantly. Naruto panted heavily and began to shamble off, not caring of the wide eyes staring at him.
"He was...going to get his book published..." Naruto mumbled as he rested against the nearest tree. His hand covered his face and his eyes squeezed shut. A faint but echoing roar made his eyes crack open and Naruto quickly pulled himself together. The last thing he needed or wanted was to be bothered by anyone right now.
What better way to relieve some stress than to kill some soulless creatures?
"Nothing more therapeutic." Ruby chirped.
"Have you found anything yet?" Ozpin asked. He sent a mild look of annoyance to his longtime friend as she checked his right arm, which he landed on quite roughly, in the Uzumaki's 'fit'. He was back in his office and Roshi was 'escorted' to the medical building by a very irate Tsunade Senju.
Honestly, Ozpin believed he got off lightly.
"You mean aside from Grimm remains strewn around in a way that would make even the most iron-stomached butchers of Remnant green in the face? Then no, nothing much." Asuma replied through the Scroll. The man was more than displeased with how Ozpin chose to handle the situation. To say any member of Team KAAG was annoyed would be an understatement. It was agreed that any news of this sort, no matter how inane it may seem, would be delivered by one of them.
"He was doing his job." Pyrrha frowned.
"Yeah, but things like that? Way better to come from their own." Blake retorted.
'Members of the Uzumaki are like their name suggests. They've whirlpools of emotions just waiting to be unleashed. Merciless and cruel, and cannot be ridden out or controlled, and God help whoever or whatever pisses them off to that point.' Hiruzen Sarutobi had commented when he was assisting with the cleanup that came after Naruto's mother had learned her family, being a wandering clan of nomads, were killed in a Grimm attack.
"Wow, that's rough." Nora frowned, nibbling a pretzel.
"This is why people settle, not wander." Jaune added.
Arguably, the event that occurred today was considered 'tame' by Uzumaki standards. It even could've been prevented if Ozpin had handled it better.
The headmaster sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. "Please keep me informed."
"You mean just like how you informed us that one of our own died? Oh yeah. I'll be sure to do that." Asuma snorted before the call ended.
"And Kingdom tension raised to the max." Coco chirped, "Just what we need now."
Goodwitch frowned at the scroll.
"That was uncalled for." She murmured.
"Not really." Blake snorted.
"Was it, though?" Ozpin asked. He lifted his hand out of his face and grabbed his cane to rise to his feet. "We need to contact James and tell him to stay out of it, his methods would only make it worse-"
"I will tell General Ironwood to keep his patrols out of the Emerald Forest." Goodwitch interjected firmly as she pushed Ozpin back down into his seat. "You will rest and wait for Team KAAG to report in."
Ozpin didn't bother arguing and let Glynda leave as he sat down without another word. He was too tired. Jiraiya was a friend, a confident and a damn fine huntsman. His experience in skirmishes against Men, Faunus and Grimm alike made him an expert in frontline combat. His efforts in assisting Faunus' during their revolution, though little as it was in the grand scheme of things, marked him as a big name.
Blake gave a sad smile, wishing someone like that was around for her race nowadays.
Then there were his novels.
"Ugh, and I am reminded of this disgusting thought." Weiss winkled her nose.
Her opinion of Ozpin just took a slight dive. Again.
A part of Ozpin could lie and say he would quickly get over the death of his favorite novelist, but Ozpin did his best not to lie. Stretch the truth here and there, but never again would he lie. Jiraiya's work held many underlying themes beneath smut and more smut – granted that was a good part of why so many read the books – and he'd been subliminally planting hidden messages that promoted peace and equality throughout his career.
"Brainwashing perverts…to do good…" Weiss felt her words fail her as she tried to process this information.
Jiraiya would claim he wasn't a politician and would even go so far as to say he'd be terrible on any of the councils, but Ozpin knew that had Jiraiya ever gotten a seat, had he ever really wanted to change things, he could. Jiraiya could even single-handedly destroy the Kingdom's current governments and build up his own if he so wished.
"And he's gone crazy." Weiss confirmed.
"Or he's right."
Weiss gave Blake a look of horror.
How could she even suggest such a thing?!
A goof and pervert, beg pardon, super pervert you might have been, but no one was as politically savvy and underhanded when it came to that game as you, Jiraiya, Ozpin thought with a sad smile.
"Thinking of me? Oh, Ozpin, I'm flattered."
Ozpin's eyes snapped open and he glanced into the shadows, where his guest leaned against the wall.
"...I take it you've heard, then?" He asked.
"Heard? Whatever could you be talking about?" The guest rubbed his chin before he snapped his fingers. "Ah, could it be you're speaking of the death of The Toad Sage?"
"Whoa, new guy." Ruby whistled.
"You know damn well what I mean, Fire Shadow." Ozpin spat in annoyance. "I'm too tired to deal with your games, anymore."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Fire Shadow drawled. He stepped forward into the light, revealing himself to be a man with a thick bandanna wrapped around the left side of his face. The right side, heavily scarred and warped, was left uncovered, while the blood red pupils within black eyes stared intently at the headmaster. Spiky black hair sprouted from his head, untamed and wild. He was dressed much like Team KAAG, in navy and olive uniform, and strapped to his back was a sickle that looked old and rusted. Around his left arm was a black band with a crude spiral leaf painted into it.
"Man, ninja guys get all the badass entrances."
"Not a ninja." Weiss refuted on instinct.
Yang and Blake shared a smile.
Oh, the games to be had in the near future.
"Shh, I want to know who this guy is. He's super shady!" Ruby chided her team. Honestly, such children they were.
"We gave you a chance to show that you could handle the problem on your own. And what did you do? You let that old fool talk you into letting him come with you," Fire Shadow said with a disapproving frown on his face. He stepped forward and pulled a red Scroll from his pocket, one that bore the insignia etched into the band on his arm. "He wants to speak with you directly."
"...Doesn't this risk our alliance-?"
"Our alliance was compromised as soon as you let that thief into the tower." The half-masked man snapped. He pushed the Scroll forward. "I'm in no mood for games, Ozpin. Talk to him. Now."
Ozpin grimaced and took the Scroll, opening it and pressing the solitary spiral button that appeared on the screen. A moment passed before a holographic image sprouted up. The head of a white haired man with half of his lower face appeared on screen. His left eye had a large scar from the top of his eyebrow to the middle of his cheek. Both of his eyes were dark, though the left seemed darker than the right, and both were narrowed in anger.
"And another person of mystery!" Ruby jabbed her finger at the screen. "I demand names!"
"Do you know what you've done?"
"It was a mistake-" Ozpin began, only to be cut off.
"No, no-no-no. A mistake, Ozpin, is knocking a glass of water off of the counter. A mistake is letting James Ironwood defend another kingdom that he is not from. A mistake is butt dialing your one night stand from three weeks ago." The holographic head's eyes narrowed further.
"One of those things don't belong with the others." Velvet looked mildly amused.
Blake smirked. "They must think it's a simple mistake."
Weiss felt a jab at her Kingdom's pride, but react to the comments.
Blake was always good at subtle insults.
"What you did, Ozpin, was fuck up royally. Congratulations. You just singlehandedly broke all of Jiraiya's hard work."
"Now wait just a minute!" Ozpin frowned. "I have not broken any of Jiraiya's work! We are still allied with the Wanderers, are we not? I thought-?"
"What you think is irrelevant, Ozpin. The fact is, we are blinded without our spymasters!" The masked man spat out. Ozpin winced and looked away from the glare leveled on him. "The Queen still has pawns, Ozpin, and despite what control or eyes you think you have on them, they're still in play on your side of the board. She took our advancing rook and now has us in check. Your next move determines whether or not it's checkmate for not just our Brotherhood, but all of Remnant as a whole.
"So much chess, why do older people compare current events with chess?" Ruby rubbed her head. She never liked chess.
"Because it is a game of culture and sophistication."
"So you can play too?"
"To a degree."
Blake smirked. "She sucks at it."
"Shut up you!" Weiss fumed.
Think that over, while my people try to fix your 'mistakes'. Fire Shadow, come home. Nightingale has another mission for you."
"You got it, Boss." Fire Shadow nodded. The holographic head flickered out of sight and the Scroll shut down. A massive portal appeared behind Fire Shadow and he grabbed the scroll from the desk. Fire Shadow flashed Ozpin a small smile. "Word of advice, Ozpin. Let the Brotherhood's Brains over in Kon handle the strategies from now on. You run your little school and do what you can to keep the Heartless Metal Man in line. He may be a General, but he's not the Headmaster, dear Headmaster."
"Just go." Ozpin muttered, his head still hung.
"Ooh, guess The Lightning Fang's bite left a mark. Good. That's good."
"Wait, isn't that Kakashi?" Yang paused with thought.
"Oh." The others said, looking mildly surprised.
This just got more interesting.
Fire Shadow chuckled and tossed the scroll up and down in his hand as he walked into the portal behind him. He shared some amused words of farewell that made Ozpin clench his hands around his staff.
"Good luck, Ozzy. You're going to need it."
As soon as classes for the day were cancelled due to some random and rather bizarre seismic activity, Teams RWBY and JNPR were pulled aside by Kurama and Sasuke. They mentioned that Ozpin had snatched Naruto up before the first tremor shook the school's grounds. Since then there had been three more, and both of the Kon natives were pretty sure it wasn't Remnant's tectonic plates to blame.
"He's rocking my world." Yang grinned at the joke.
"Ugh." "Lame. "Boo!"
At lunch, Yang ran into Kurenai and Asuma and asked them if they'd seen her missing blond. Asuma brushed her off and stormed away.
"Rude." Yang frowned.
As he passed, Yang heard him grumble something about not having enough cigarettes for the stress the boys put him through and wishing he wasn't stuck with Kakashi's baggage. Kurenai explained that Naruto reacted poorly to some news that Professor Ozpin gave him. When asked what the news was, Kurenai said she wasn't at liberty to say, only that it was a personal issue.
"We're dating! So, it's kinda our thing to know each other's stuff." The blonde bombshell refuted stubbornly.
"Naruto?" Yang called as she walked into the lecture room where she and Blake had their small spat earlier in the year. She and Naruto had been going back to the classroom whenever they wanted to play hooky, so it sort of became their spot.
"To do…stuff." Yang smiled.
"Ew…" Ruby blanched, sticking her tongue out.
It was honestly the last place she'd thought to look, hell she even checked the library before she came here.
That's a scary thought." Ren stated, getting a few murmurs of agreement.
Finally, lilac eyes landed on the blond teen. He was seated at the front of the room with his back against the teacher's desk. He had his left arm draped over one knee that was pulled up to his chest, while his right rested at his side, gently clasped around two small glints bound by a loose cord, and both sets of knuckles were red with dried blood. His head was hung and his hair obscured his eyes from view. Scattered around the ruffled blond were a few freshly cooked instant meal cups. One was knocked over entirely and another was barely even touched.
"That's not good." Nora narrowed her eyes. "He's not even eating the ramen."
"Get to the shelters." Jaune declared with a sense of seriousness.
Not good. Yang thought as she bit on her lip and pulled her scroll out. She sent the group conversation a message telling that she'd found Naruto and then pocketed the device. When she was close enough, Yang took a seat at his side and sat there quietly, waiting. He made no sign of being aware of her presence. Not even a sound of greeting.
Very, very not good.
"Naruto...what happened? Why'd Professor Ozpin call you out of class today?" Yang ventured.
"...Jiraiya's dead."
Yang felt a twinge in her heart for her other. This was going to suck big time.
Oh god. Yang thought when Naruto's shoulders tensed.
"They...The Fourth War..."
Yang put her hand in the one that rested on his knee, grasping it tightly and pulling it away to let her have a better look at his eyes. She looked at him in concern and worry written on her features. Naruto's grip tightened around hers.
"He was the only real family I had left, y'know? Only connection I had to my parents..." Naruto fiddled with the items in his right hand. A quick look revealed the items were his parents' rings. "He gave me these...said that they were the only thing requested removed from their bodies in their will. I...I don't even know what kind of weapons they used, how they fought...I can only imagine through stories. Old Toad told me friends removed any footage of them from the Net and they'd created a lot of enemies...All I had were stories. His stories."
"That's heartbreaking." Ruby muttered as Yang heart went out for the guy. Knowing herself, her other felt like a train was hitting her.
Naruto tightened his grip around the rings.
"He was the only one that talked about them..."
"Are you – What am I thinking, of course you're not." Yang interrupted herself before she asked a very insensitive and stupid question. She leaned forward, trying to get a look past the short curtain of blond that his eyes hid behind. "Naruto, c'mon. Talk to me, let me help."
"Yang's good with emotional support." Ruby nodded, Naruto should let her help.
"Good and weird times with you." Yang nodded in remembrance.
"...Why didn't he ask to go? I could've helped him...I could've...right?" Naruto's hand dropped from his face and he looked up at the ceiling.
"Uh, no bae, no." Yang shook her head. "Then you might have died and I'd go crazy nutso over you. And well, things wouldn't be pretty."
"Understatement." Blake snorted. She had yet to see Yang truly snap over something other than her hair, so it'd be pretty scary to see what she did to be honest.
Two identical rivers of tears poured from his normally bright, now severely dark blue eyes, over his whisker marks and down to his jaw.
"Naruto..." She gently pulled him into a hug, his head on her shoulder while his arms wrapped loosely around her sides.
"Stupid old Toad..." Naruto muttered as his eyes squeezed shut. "Dumb perverted asshole..."
Tears fell silently and Yang pressed her head against his. Being someone that also bore her emotions to the world, she cried with him, for him, for his loss, for his pain. Her scroll buzzed in her pocket, but Yang ignored it as Naruto began to break down into sobs and clung to her like a lifeline. She would tell everyone he was fine in a few minutes, but for now Yang would shoulder his pain and help him take the first step through the loss of a family member.
Yang sighed, looking sullen. It was like dealing with Summer all over again. That was a tough loss on her family, Ruby still too young, her dad too wrecked by grief, and herself feeling unsure what to do other than cry herself.
Practically everyone knows that it's heartbreaking to see someone you care for look so utterly depressed, but that isn't what Yang felt at the moment. She was sad for Naruto and wished he didn't have to go through that pain, but at the moment, Yang was worried. She was worried that it would be the breaking point for her boyfriend, the point where he lost himself.
She wouldn't be surprised if it was.
Naruto had lost so much already to the Fourth War: His parents were dead before he could even recognize them, let alone see their faces. He'd lost his pseudo-grandfather, who played a large part in his upbringing. A part of Naruto's soul was forever gone when their twisted project, a boy his age, died at his hands.
"These guys are just the worst, why can't people just be good people?" Ruby couldn't help but ask.
"Because there will always be people who are greedy, Ruby." Pyrrha told her. "And when people want something, they'll do terrible things to get it. Even if they do it for what they assume to be good reasons. Or just outright terrible reasons."
Now his godfather, the only remaining link he had to his parents, the man that had taken three years of his own time to show Naruto the world, was gone. In the grand scheme of things, it would appear to be a small loss, but Yang was sure that to Naruto, his world had been significantly rocked, and not in a good way.
"Not in the Yang way."
"Really?" Weiss asked.
"They set it, I had to take it." Yang grumbled. "It makes me feel better. So shut up."
If Yang were in his shoes, if someone had killed her father, her uncle, her teammates or her little sister, it would be enough to justify getting revenge by any means necessary. She would be out hunting down those responsible.
Everyone took a few inches away from Yang.
Who was only nodding in agreement.
That Naruto wasn't on a warpath right now could change in an instant.
So, it was now, in the moment, that Yang would push her fears back, and just be there. To help him grieve, to help him accept and to help him move on. They stayed in the classroom, silently grieving the world's Super Pervert with a Heart of Gold, for the rest of the day, until the rest of Team NHKS came to gather up their emotionally drained leader.
"Oh, come on guys, we were having a moment." Yang frowned, it was their moment. Totally ruined.
Kurama hung back while Sasuke helped Naruto hobble out and Haku cleaned up the wasted Ramen. The Faunus put a hand on Yang's shoulder, giving the red-eyed girl a grateful nod. He squeezed her shoulder once before he left the classroom, and after a few minutes, Yang vacated the room as well.
Yang pulled out her scroll when it played Ruby's jingle and sighed. Ignoring Ruby when she was with Naruto was easy, but doing it alone always made her feel horrible. Answering the call, Yang put the scroll up to her ear.
"Yes, Ruby?"
"Did you hear the news?!"
"Yeah, we kinda did." Yang smiled at Ruby, who flustered.
"Yeah...I did." Yang sighed. She stopped at a window and looked over at a nearby building, where the janitorial staff was placing a tarp over a massive wall, and a few gardeners were debating how to best fill in the sudden groove that ruined the perfectly cut grass.
"What're you going to do?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know, Rubes. Just...Be there, I guess." Yang muttered while she rested against the wall.
"What?! Are you going to drop out, too?! You can't do this to us, Yang! Team RWBY needs you!"
"Wait, back up, what?!" Yang's jaw dropped.
"I know something you didn't~!"
"Not the time Ruby!" Yang snapped at her lil sis.
"Wait a minute..." Yang frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Ruby, what are you talking about? Who dropped out?"
"Team NHKS!"
Nora broke out into laughter, as the others jaws dropped a bit.
"Oh man! Did any of you see that coming? Because I did not!"
"Nora." Ren nudged her with a whisper, pointing to the flared up Yang.
"I'mma rip someone a new one." The blonde confirmed.
"Oooh."
"...What!?" Yang almost dropped her scroll when she jumped back to her feet and sprinted for the Dorms. "What do you mean they dropped out!?"
"Er, well, at least, that's what Nora told me." Yang's eye twitched. Nora was almost as bad a gossip as Kurama was, only her 'juicy news' was always embellished to the extreme, so most people didn't believe her.
"How is that my fault?" Nora puffed up her cheeks. Honestly, people should just believe her more.
Most people sadly did not include Ruby.
"I feel insulted by this."
"She saw Kurama and Sasuke talking with Professor Ozpin and some old guy with a weird purple bar across his nose. She said Ren said he overheard them say they'd be packed and ready to go as soon as they found Naruto."
"As soon as-?!" Yang's eye twitched. "Ruby, get Weiss and Blake and meet me outside their room!"
"Uhh...I would...But-Hey, give it back!" "Yang, it's Blake." The soft-spoken voice of Yang's partner cut into the conversation while Ruby's struggles to reclaim her scroll were heard in the background.
"You jacked my Scroll!" Ruby pouted at Blake.
"I'm more to the point."
"Like a katana~" Yang joked.
"Now?"
"I joke when I'm stressed, or punch things. Which do you want?"
"Point."
"They're already gone."
Yang slowed to a stop, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stood alone in a hallway. "Gone...but, I just...I just saw them..."
"Yeah, the um ...Old Guy, that Ruby described grabbed their things about fifteen minutes ago." Blake sounded uneasy. "And um...Asuma and Guy helped him."
Yang's head tilted down and her free hand balled into a fist, her eyes burned red with anger. "They helped..."
"It's nuclear Yang." Ruby whimpered, hiding under her cloak.
"Yeah...Something...Something big is happening. I've heard a few whispers from the Vacuo students...And Sun's...Well, it doesn't...It almost..."
"Spit it out, Blake!" Yang frowned. Blake normally didn't mind being as blunt as sledgehammer, and it was admittedly one of her more positive traits. Sometimes things had to just be said, so that people would learn
"Give me that." Weiss' voice interjected into the scroll.
"Stop taking my stuff!" Ruby's muffled voice whined under the cloak.
"Shh." Weiss told her, slapping the cloak. Ruby made a squeak noise.
"Yang. From what we've heard, it sounds like...like Vacuo's preparing for War. We think-well, I think that Team NHKS has been drafted."
"War…War never changes."
Yang kicked Nora's shin.
"Ow!"
This time Yang did drop her scroll. She slumped to her knees and the voices of her team started to become muted. The red in her eyes had dwindled away as the thought of Vacuo preparing for war repeated in her mind.
Yang remained on her knees on the ground, her eyes unfocused and distant.
NHKS has been drafted. Naruto's been drafted.
More silent tears poured out of her eyes, but they were not empathetic tears.
Yang wore her heart on her sleeves, and right now, it felt like they had just been ripped off.
"Damn." Yatsuhashi said for the now silent room.
"…Why my Bae?" Yang struggled, ruffling her hair. "Man, blonds are so much trouble to deal with."
"Tell us about it." Her team told her.
"I better go get him or I'm going to explode." Yang huffed, her eyes red as she crossed her arms.