"You've really let this video game thing go to your head," Blake said with a frown that was betrayed by her sly smirk. "I'm not some companion quest to complete to get me back to your side."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's what I said, and not 'I'm here to help you with whatever it is you have to deal with in Menagerie before we go to Atlas and rescue your partner, our friend, Weiss Schnee from her abusive father, particularly before she does something catastrophically stupid'."

"I'm not here to 'deal with' anything, Naruto. I'm going home to see my mother and father."

Naruto nodded. "And I'd love to meet them. As your team leader, I feel like it's sort of my prerogative. Besides, you met my parents, only fair you return the favor."

There was a beat of silence, before Naruto continued. "Also you were the only one of AWBN that I didn't know the exact location of, so I was worried. Would it have killed you to have left like a note, or even just told someone where you were headed?"

Blake at least had the decency to look ashamed. "I… I panicked. I thought you were dead, and with Pyrrha having been retrieved by her family, and Weiss in the same boat, I ran. Again."

Naruto sighed. "I thought we worked on that, Blake. At least you didn't run headlong towards the enemy this time."

Blake opened her mouth to refute that point, but promptly shut it.

"So, what next? We go see your family, have a great time because I assume your family are amazing, and then what? Are you just going to be satisfied with a visit? Or are we going to be declaring war on the entire White Fang while we're there?"

Blake frowned. "I didn't think I'd have to, seeing as what they did at Beacon."

Naruto nodded. "True. Unless the news hasn't spread to Menagerie yet, or it's being suppressed. Which would definitely not come as a surprise, seeing as what we've had to go up against before. You said the cell you belonged to before you left was the Vale branch, right?"

Blake stood, frown still etched into her face. "Yeah. Whether or not that is actually true is a little up in the air. I don't know if Adam was lying to me, or for how long. It could've been a severely violent splinter group lead by Adam, or it could've been sanctioned by the head of the White Fang, Sienna Khan."

"Which brings me to my next point," Naruto began. "Exactly how welcoming is Menagerie to humans? Cause, uh," he gestured to himself. "Not exactly incognito."

Blake shrugged. "I don't know. It's been a while since I've been back. I imagine no one will actively attack you, but some may try to provoke you. It's best to just ignore it. At the very least my family won't care. Mom and Dad have always been welcoming of anyone, as long as they acted with respect for everyone."

"My favorite pastime, being provoked. I've really missed it."

This time it was Blake's turn to roll her eyes. "Pretty sure no one ever provoked you in Beacon."

"Besides Cardin."

Blake shrugged again. "And he learned his lesson pretty quickly."

"Yeah, life-threatening danger will do that to you."

Blake cocked an eyebrow. "Learned that from experience?"

Naruto let out a laugh. "Let's just say I've had more than my fair share of mishaps, even before I got my semblance. My life is just one huge cavalcade of coincidences and trouble."

Blake shook her head. "That comes as absolutely no surprise."

Another laugh escaped Naruto's lips, before he grew more serious. "Are we going to have to deal with the White Fang while we're here, Blake? That seems like a fight we can't win, at least, not yet. Maybe in a couple years, but we've always bitten off more than we can chew."

Blake shook her head. "It's not why I came here. If something important needs to be dealt with, then I think we'll be dealing with it, but only if we have to. I'd rather not start a fight we definitely can't win. I'd rather deal with the White Fang on our terms, not theirs."

Naruto accepted the answer with a grateful nod. "Well, as fun as catching up has been, and it has, don't get me wrong, but I really, really need to sleep. It's been a long few days."

Blake found herself in complete agreement. "There's something about killing a giant sea serpent that really takes it out of you."

Naruto was already unconscious.

Naruto had awoken early, ascending from below deck to stand on the starboard side of the ship, watching the water wash past as the boat cruised along, close to its destination.

He was alone, up top, too early for anyone to be taking the time to appreciate the view, the chill wind that blew past affecting all but himself, thanks in part to his resistance to cold.

It was the perfect time to go over the previous afternoon's efforts, in fact, and the results of which were still sitting in the minimized notification window that he brought up with a practised motion.

He'd gotten so used to it, now, that it didn't even register as a strange thing to do anymore.

[Event Encounter Complete!]

[You've gained 7,000,350 XP!]

[You've leveled up 5 times! You are now Level 52! You've gained 25 Stat Points!]

[Multiple Skills have leveled up! A skill has an upgrade awaiting choice!]

[You collected 28,600 Lien, 25 Inert Dust, 3 Epic Sea Feilong Gills and 3 Grade VI Ice Dust Crystals!]

Naruto stared bug-eyed at the notification. "Event Encounter? Seven million XP!? What the-"

He looked left and right, making sure that he was alone and out of earshot. Thankfully, he still was.

Naruto navigated to his skills list, and noticed the flashing icon of Aura Control. He quickly tapped it, watching as a menu he'd only ever been in once floated up into view, three selections available to him.

Naruto quickly scanned through the options listed beneath the previously-selected Aura Suppression perk that he'd acquired a long time ago now.

"Vampiric Aura, Auric Barrier or Imbued Aura?" Naruto asked himself, raising an eyebrow. "Damn it, it's always difficult choices."

Naruto gave them each a precursory tap, reading the descriptions. 'Vampiric Aura; absorb and convert a small amount of damage taken into AP. Auric Barrier; release a pulse of Aura when struck that knocks opponents back. Imbued Aura; gain +12.5% resistance to an element, can change element resistance after 24 hours.'

Naruto had no idea what to pick, the story of his life these days. He'd need to give it some thought… or, considering how good elemental resistance could possibly be, he might just take Imbued Aura. It would be nice to be even more resistant to cold, or even better, considering what Naruto may have to do in the future, becoming somewhat fireproof would definitely be nice.

Naruto tapped on Imbued Aura, quickly hitting confirm before he could change his mind.

The sudden influx of energy that swirled around him would have drawn a lot of attention had anyone been looking his way. Naruto took a step back as his Aura glowed brightly, swirling through many different tints, always white tinged with another color, from red to blue to green.

If he was being honest, he looked like a winter solstice lightshow.

Once it had faded, Naruto could feel a lingering energy when he reached out with Aura Control, his hands touching air and yet still able to feel that tingling, somewhat different than the typical tingle he got from his Aura. Simply as a test, Naruto made a choice, and his Aura tingled again, this time leaving goosebumps along skin as his hair stood on end, the slightest crackle of electricity sounding in his ears.

Accidentally running across the boat had definitely been one of the best coincidences he'd experienced as of late. Gods, he had another twenty-five stat points to spend, too! At this rate he was just going to have to start cycling through stats, rotating between each at every level. It wasn't the worst idea, of course. Or he could just put all twenty-five into one particular stat and get a new perk. Not that he needed a new perk at the moment, considering the onslaught of information he'd already been near-overwhelmed by.

Naruto brought up his stats, swallowed his indecision, and made his choice. Naruto put all twenty-five points into Charisma. He knew Menagerie weren't going to be entirely accepting of him, probably for good reason at first, and talking his way out of unfortunate situations was going to be of penultimate importance.

[For achieving 50 CHA, you have unlocked a new perk!]

[Ladykiller: Thanks to your Charisma, you now have increased CHA success with those of the opposite gender.]

Naruto swore loudly.

"Naruto, what could possibly be so bad that you had to wake me up?" Blake asked, rubbing an eye with the back of her hand. "It's not more Grimm, is it?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, no, it's… how do I put this."

"Couldn't you have figured out what you wanted to tell me before you woke me?"

Naruto let out a sigh and bit the bullet. "Me talking to you doesn't feel any different than normal, does it?"

Blake quirked an eyebrow. "Not that I notice… why would it?"

Naruto answered as succinctly as he possibly could. "I just unlocked a perk that increases all speech successes with females."

Blake opened her mouth and promptly shut it, before sighing very loudly. "Why am I stuck with you."

Naruto slumped onto his own bed, running a hand through his hair. "It's not like I meant for it to happen! I just put twenty-five points into charisma and it gave it to me."

Blake relented. "To be honest, it really isn't that big a deal. It's only an increase, and what you do with it is still entirely up to you."

That perked Naruto up a little, but the worry was still clear as day on his face. "What if I accidentally convince someone to do something that gets them hurt, or killed?"

"Then don't?" Blake suggested with a shrug. "It's not like you've suddenly gained the ability to control minds."

Naruto's laugh was devoid of humor.

"Naruto, you can't control minds, right?"

Naruto waved his hand in a so-so motion in the air. "Technically?"

Blake backed up a step.

"It's not-so-much mind control as it is the ability to influence someone to feel fear, so far."

Blake backed up another step. "That's… really dangerous. The amount of Grimm that could attract alone…"

Naruto nodded diminutively. "I know. It's not something I like to use. In fact, I've only used it once, and it had a lot more of an effect than I'd expected."

Both found the conversation suddenly halted as the boat was rocked from side to side, both of the Hunters managing to keep their balance without fault as the surface beneath their feet shifted.

They shared a quick glance before stepping out of the room, headed down the hall and towards the top deck.

For once, it was a pleasant surprise, instead of some awful situation to deal with. Something both Blake and Naruto were unfamiliar with.

The captain stepped down from the main cabin, a wide grin on his face as he noticed the two Hunters. "Welcome to Menagerie, and thanks again for getting us here! We'd have been Grimm chow for sure without you two!"

His reiterated gratitude was quickly accepted with heartfelt smiles and good faith as Naruto and Blake downplayed their involvement, both somehow trying to out-humble each other.

The captain continued unabated. "We'll be docking real soon, so you'd better go grab your stuff from your cabin."

Blake ducked back below deck to do just that, but Naruto stepped close to the edge of the deck, taking the time to peer at the island that was the majority of the horizon ahead of him, marvelling at the pristine white-sanded beaches, the sprawling structures of wooden buildings effectively stacked together haphazardly, the beautiful, lush palm trees, and the distant dusty mountains that bordered the cityscape.

It was beautiful, and seeing as Naruto had never really been to many places so exotic, this was definitely a first.

Even if the majority of the population held a grudge against his species, for good reason. Naruto was going to have to be on his best behaviour, that much was certain. At least Blake was around to at least help smooth potential issues over. If he was alone he doubted it would go quite as well as he was hoping it would.

Not that anything involving him ever went smoothly.

Naruto let out another sigh. His life was a series of complicated tribulations and magical powers. What a mix. At least it was interesting. Never a dull day, and all that.

The boat cruised up to the dock and the deckhands were quick to throw ropes to the dockworkers, and Naruto watched as the well-practised workers roped the boat in place as the deckhands dropped anchor.

The boarding plank was less of a plank and more of an entire platform as it bridged across to the immense jetty, wooden planks old and bleached by constant sunlight and seawater, yet still as solid as ever, especially considering the constant traffic they obviously experienced.

Naruto wasn't first off the boat, his plan being to wait for Blake to resurface, but he did watch as the rest of the passengers disembarked, various animalistic appendages indicating something that Naruto hadn't previously noticed, but it really should have been pretty obvious.

Naruto was the only human in a very, very large area. He definitely wasn't the first human to visit Menagerie, but in terms of how common it was, there was no way that number was in the triple digits. Potentially it wasn't even in the double digits, even despite how much traffic the island kingdom received.

"You ready?"

Blake's question startled him out of his reverie, and he spun quickly, hand twitching towards Crocea Mors.

Her hand, the one that wasn't holding a travel bag, came up placatingly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Naruto huffed slightly. "You didn't scare me, just… startled me, that's all."

Blake quirked an eyebrow in a very Blake-like fashion. "Right. Are you ready, or would you like to stand on the boat some more?"

Naruto gestured forwards. "Lead the way, I'm the filthy human out of his depth. Not like I really know where to go anyway."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Oh, you'll fit right in."

Naruto could practically see the sarcasm it was so thick.

If Naruto wasn't already used to having a lot of eyes watching his every move, this was definitely a good crash course.

Every movement, every word from his lips, every glance, it was observed by a significant amount of faunus that were keeping very, very close eyes on him.

And the worst part was the constant reminder that many faunus experienced this kind of thing on the regular outside of Menagerie. If he had to deal with this sort of thing every single day of his waking life he'd definitely snapped by now.

And with the power he had at his fingertips, that would definitely be a concern for the world at large.

Or, well, at least a lot of concern for people who couldn't fight back. Not so much for a team of official Hunters. At his current level, at least…

Why was he considering how much of a fight he could put up against a team of official Hunters, he had no idea. Probably because it was easier to retract his thoughts inwards instead of absorbing the constant stares and having to react.

"I don't know how you put up with this sort of thing, Blake…" Naruto muttered, his teammate giving him a nod of understanding.

"I don't. It's why I joined the White Fang, and why I wore a bow for so long. When it comes to stares like this, I struggle to keep my temper in check."

"I guess. I don't think anybody would be safe if Yang was a faunus, though. Can you imagine the collateral damage?"

Despite the situation, Blake laughed. "Or Nora. Then again, Nora's got a history of collateral damage regardless."

That was a point Naruto was more than happy to concede. Instead, he moved to a different topic.

"Speaking of the bow, I'm glad you've taken it off. Is that going to be a permanent feature?"

He watched as Blake's cat-ears twitched slightly as they were mentioned. "I… I think so. I had a whole dramatic thing where I let the bow go overboard, it was really nice. Would've been a great moment if we hadn't been attacked by a Sea Feilong a few moments later."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Your bow can summon Grimm?!"

Blake punched him in the arm as he laughed.

Once he'd finished laughing at his admittedly-dumb joke, he decided he'd ask another question, one less stupid this time. "So, which place is your parent's? We've been walking for a little bit, and as much as I'm enjoying being glared at along this magnificent thoroughfare, we should probably hurry it up a little. I think I'm a visual obstruction for a lot of these people."

Blake pointed down the thoroughfare, and Naruto followed the direction her hand pointed. "So, either your parents own a mansion, or it's behind the mansion."

"The first one."

"Right. I'm the least important member of AWBN, I keep forgetting."

Blake gave Naruto a glare that he raised an eyebrow to. "You're going to have to glare harder, Blake, I'm already immune to regular glares from constant exposure."

"Sorry. I'm just a little… worried. I haven't really spoken to my parents in…" Blake trailed off, frowning as she counted in her head. "Wow, it's been a long time."

"I thought you were going to call them back in Beacon?" Naruto asked, casting his mind back.

"I was going to, but…"

"Blake, please tell me your default reaction to problems isn't to run away from them."

Her reaction was very vocal. "I'm working on it, okay?!"

"Easy, Blake. If you start causing a scene it'll make me look like I started it."

Blake sighed. "Technically, you did."

"As your team leader I'm allowed to reprimand you as I see fit."

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, huh?"

"I will sick Cadejo on you if you aren't careful."

If Naruto was being honest, he'd missed this back-and-forth. Without Weiss it lacked a certain bite, and without Pyrrha it lacked a mediator, but it was a start. A nice reminder, at the least.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they walked, even despite the stares Naruto was getting. It bothered him, but no one had tried to kill him, so that was a plus. Especially considering his past few months. It was honestly a rarity to spend a day where someone didn't try to kill him.

"Hey! Human scum!"

Spoke too soon.

"Yeah, what's up?" Naruto replied, in an attempt to disarm the situation, much to Blake's surprise.

"You're scum!"

Naruto nodded in response to the dog faunus' insult. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for the future."

He went to turn back and continue walking, but the dog faunus wasn't done just yet. "You bein' sarcastic?"

It was too much for Naruto to resist. "No, why do you ask?"

The sarcasm was thicker than the amount of syrup Nora usually had on her pancakes.

"You are bein' sarcastic!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, sorry, I don't know what sarcasm is."

Despite the fact that Blake very much disapproved of Naruto's mishandling of the situation, she found herself quickly having to stifle a laugh at Naruto's deadpan delivery.

The dog faunus spat on the ground in front of Naruto, having closed the distance. "What's it like to have the boot on the other foot, huh? Coming here to laugh at the animals, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what I've been doing. Not saving lives, killing Grimm and otherwise minding my own business. I'm so glad you've shown me the error of my ways."

Blake decided to step in before things got even more out of hand, or Naruto made another comment that would land him in ever more hot water. "C'mon, Naruto, let's keep going. We've still got a bit of a hike."

Naruto nodded, silently stepping away from the dog faunus.

"Yeah, that's right, human scum. Follow the race traitor."

Naruto instantly placed a hand on Blake's shoulder and steered her forwards. "Don't do it, Blake, no matter how much he deserves it. I really don't want you getting in trouble."

He could feel how tense Blake was underneath his hand. Every muscle was coiled, ready to spring, and it took her a few seconds and some deep breaths before she relaxed.

"We both know that's not true, Blake. Ignore him, I don't think he's the most educated of individuals."

"Education isn't exactly easy to come by out in Menagerie. Systematic oppression has an impact on that," Blake muttered.

Naruto nodded. "The people out here seem happy enough, though. When they aren't staring at me or hiding their children like I'm some kind of bogeyman here to kidnap Faunus children."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Naruto's next witticism was dropped. "Oh."

"Yeah."

They kept moving, silent, until they were once again stopped, a few minutes later.

"Human. You're coming with us."

Naruto spun, as did Blake, and the surprise was as sudden as it was concerning.

Naruto and Blake were staring down a squad of White Fang soldiers, armed and armored with significantly more intricate armor and powerful weapons, standing with stances that belied proper training.

Naruto was willing to negotiate, but that went out the window the moment Blake drew her weapon and aimed the barrel at the White Fang soldier that had spoken.

The reaction was instant, all the held weapons going from ready to pointed straight at the two of them, glares underneath masks going from disgust to pure concentration.

Naruto lifted one hand to placate the White Fang, the other he placed atop Gambol Shroud, lowering the weapon. "Easy, everyone. Let's talk this through…"

One of the White Fang clicked the safety off their rifle and Blake's weapon went straight back up, finding a target amidst the squad.

Naruto sighed. "Please don't do this. I haven't done anything hostile, aggressive or even racist. I'm just on my way to visit my teammate's family, okay?"

The one that had initially spoken gave him no ground to negotiate. "You will be coming with us, willingly or subdued."

Blake spoke up this time. "I'm not letting him go with a bunch of murderers!"

At least Blake felt strongly about her stance on the White Fang. That was a plus, he supposed. "Look, can't you see I've done nothing wrong? If I'd done something I'd understand, but…"

One of the soldiers pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit Naruto square between the eyes, Aura sparking as the metal warped and flattened, dropping to the ground as Naruto's eyes met the eyes of the bear faunus that had fired.

In a single moment Naruto drew his sword and activated Intimidating Presence. "I'll let that slide, just this once, if you back off."

The point of Crocea Mors hovered unwavering in the air, held firm in his steady grip.

"What in the God's names is going on here!"

The shout was loud, booming across the terrified thoroughfare, startling many of the White Fang soldiers. Thankfully not enough for another to squeeze the trigger, that had been pretty painful, if Naruto was being honest.

"Chieftain, sir, our apologies! We're under orders to arrest this human scum!"

Naruto watched as Blake subtly slid behind him, trying to hide behind his body as the Chieftain of Menagerie pushed through the nervous White Fang.

Naruto almost tried to hide behind Blake for a second, which, whilst comedic, would definitely not have been a good choice. The Chieftain was an imposing figure, standing even taller than Naruto, which was impressive in its own right, but combined with the fact that he was about as broad as a barn, entirely muscle, and was glaring directly at Naruto with an intensity that greatly exceeded Naruto's Intimidating Presence, which he quickly dismissed, the Chieftain was terrifying.

A single second passed before a memory struck Naruto in the forefront of his mind like the bullet from a few moments ago.

That thought was immediately confirmed by Blake, who decided to bite the bullet and stop hiding behind her team leader. "Hey, Dad."