"Unidentified Aircraft, Atlas Airspace Control, please state your callsign and purpose for arrival."

Naruto jumped in his seat, momentarily startled. He scrambled through his controls, searching for the communication panel. "Uh, Atlas Airspace Control, this is Hunter Naruto Uzumaki, requesting permission to land?"

"Aircraft, please state your callsign and purpose for arrival, or turn back."

Naruto frowned. "Callsign is…" He paused, thinking for a moment. The skill kicked in, Piloting giving him an answer. "Callsign is Alpha Romeo Charlie Seven Seven, here to deliver an urgent message to General Ironwood."

It wasn't technically a lie, but then again, it wasn't technically the truth, either.

"Callsign unverified. Slow your approach and follow our interceptor's instructions."

Naruto did as he was instructed, throttling back, watching as Atlas came into view from behind the frosty clouds. He stared in amazement at the colossal floating structure before his attention was diverted once more. He could take in the sights another time.

Instead, his attention focused on the slim, needle-like aircraft that swam into view, all sharp angular metal and vicious looking armaments.

And yet, despite the not-so-subtle threat it brought with it, Naruto couldn't help but focus on just how much he really, really wanted one.

There was a second and a third behind him, according to his radar. He didn't need any machines to tell him they had their weapons trained on him, though.

He leaned over, nudging Blake with one arm. "Wake up. We're here."

Much like before, Blake opened her eyes in an instant, amber focusing on the aircraft that was leading their own. "What's-"

Naruto interrupted her question with the answer. "We're being escorted in, they didn't like my callsign. Shouldn't be a problem, though. You might wanna wake Ilia."

Blake nodded, sliding out of the co-pilot's seat with grace Naruto would never be able to replicate, stepping through the doorway into the rear of the Bullhead.

Naruto turned his attention back to the sky, slowly adjusting his heading to stay in the wake of the interceptor, the immense floating structure of Atlas growing bigger and bigger the closer he got to it.

A moment later Blake stepped back into the cockpit, Ilia following suit.

"They tell you why they didn't like your callsign?" Ilia asked, arms folded as she leaned against the top of Blake's seat.

Naruto shook his head. "Probably just because I made it up on the spot."

Ilia sighed in response to that, much to Naruto's objections. "What was I supposed to do, try and figure out a real one?"

Ilia shrugged. "Not much you can do about it now."

Naruto accepted that. "Well, they think we're here to deliver a message to General Ironwood, so keep that in mind. An urgent, secret message for his ears only, that sort of thing."

"What message do you have for him?" Ilia asked.

Naruto nearly didn't resist the urge to turn in his seat and stare at Ilia. "Well, I was thinking I'd say 'hey General, remember me? I'm the guy who is literally living a video game, and I needed to use this message as an excuse to bypass your established blockade in order to help smuggle two ex-White Fang members into the kingdom so we can visit the heiress to the most influential company in the world, of which the White Fang has been quarreling with for years', but I'm not sure if that'll fly."

"You been holding that in for a while, huh," Ilia remarked in reply.

"Enough bickering, both of you. Naruto, focus on flying. Ilia, please stop riling Naruto up, he's the only person who knows how to land this thing."

"About that…" Naruto began.

Two heads whipped around to stare at him, eyes wide.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. I know how to land it, don't worry."

Blake went to punch Naruto in the arm, but thought better of it, seeing as he still had his hand on the cyclic. Ilia, however, had no such compunctions, and socked Naruto on the shoulder. The ship jostled slightly, as expected, but he regained control quickly.

Now Blake was glaring at Ilia, and Ilia was looking sheepish, spots colored pink.

Luckily for the three, a distraction soon presented itself. "A-R-C-7-7, you are to land on pad north twenty-three. Confirm?"

Naruto motioned for silence, hitting the comm panel to reply. "Acknowledged, landing pad north twenty-three. A-R-C-7-7 on route."

They watched as the interceptors broke off, and Naruto began the landing procedure, throttling down and bringing the VTOL engines to their vertical position, allowing him a finer degree of control as the landing struts deployed.

They touched down with a loud ker-thunk, and Naruto powered down the aircraft, opening the doors.

He immediately regretted it as a blast of chill air washed through the cockpit, making his hair stand on end.

It was cold enough to make him shiver, which was not at all a good thing. It was getting past his Bearskin perk, which was a dangerous thing indeed, but not so much for him as it was for Ilia and Blake.

Just being out here for more than a few moments was going to be pretty dangerous, and he immediately led the way out of the aircraft, moving quickly as he dropped onto the landing pad, noting the Atlesian Knights that raised their weapons towards him and his companions.

He ignored them, though, continuing to move through the biting cold wind, feet crunching against snow-coated concrete and metal.

Then, after only a few moments out in the elements, Naruto stepped through a large metallic gateway, and suddenly felt his body warmed, an influx of heat hitting him like he'd stepped into an air-conditioned building, despite it being outside.

Large, glowing red Dust Crystals embedded into the gateway emitted incredible warmth, and he relished in the feeling.

Knowing his luck, though, he wasn't going to get much time to bask in that warmth before something happened.

Someone was approaching. Tall, imposing, impeccably dressed, uniform identifying the man as Atlesian Military, flanked on either side by two armored and armed soldiers, weapons at ease, though from the looks they wore, he doubted they'd stay that way for long.

"Are you the pilot of A-R-C-7-7?" The man asked, an unspoken threat hanging in the air. This was no regular officer.

Naruto nodded. "Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a Hunter. You are…?"

The pencil-thin officer didn't respond, studying Naruto for a moment. "I am Colonel Magnussen, of Atlesian Naval Intelligence. I'm told you have an important message for the General."

Naruto nodded, albeit with a minor amount of nervousness. "Yes, sir. One that concerns the General in person."

The Colonel studied Naruto longer, his gaze straying to both Blake and Ilia. "I see. Perhaps you could tell me what this message entails? If we were to let all… strays… into our walls, we'd have a security breach every other hour."

The man said it with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, piercing pale blue meeting Naruto's own with an intensity that would have chilled a lesser man to the bone.

It was the words that put Naruto even more on the defensive, though. "I'm afraid this message is for the General's ears only. Wouldn't want a security breach, seeing as you're so concerned."

The smile remained, but the eyes hardened even more, until it felt as if the Colonel was staring straight through Naruto.

The soldiers tensed, weapons being raised ever so slightly. Naruto did the same, hand reaching around to rest against the grip of Terminator.

"Colonel Magnussen! They've been granted permission to see the General, sir."

The sudden interruption broke the tension like a hammer through a sheet of glass, and everyone present turned to face the approaching figure.

"Specialist Schnee, by whose authority have they been granted passage?" The Colonel asked, his gaze locking with possibly one of Naruto's only allies in Atlas.

Winter Schnee stood as imposing and confident as ever in face of what Naruto had to assume was a superior officer. "The General's own authority, Colonel. He sent me to retrieve them personally, and escort them to his office."

Magnussen frowned, clicking his tongue against his teeth. "Very well, Specialist. Keep a close eye on them, though."

Specialist Schnee nodded, her face still as impassive as it ever was. "Of course, Colonel." She turned to face Naruto, Blake and Ilia. "Follow me."

Safe to say, Naruto was a little bit confused, but he wasn't one to throw away such a convenient chance to avoid a confrontation. So, without question or complaint, Naruto began following the eldest Schnee as she led them down the long dust-warmed pathway, past bustling workers and soldiers standing at attention.

They would have continued down the path further if a shout of surprise and the sound of clattering as a bunch of soldiers fell onto a now-empty landing pad.

[Anti-Theft Protection Activated on Bullhead Mark II]

Naruto was just as surprised as everyone else at the sight of where his Bullhead had been only moments before. "Uh, oops."

"Naruto, did the Bullhead just-"

"It did it on its own. Anti-theft protection, apparently. I didn't know that was a thing." Naruto replied, wincing slightly as one of the soldiers groaned on the cold metal.

Winter, credit to her professionalism, seemed only partially startled by the sudden disappearance of an aircraft, staring for only a moment before reminding the three that they had a meeting to attend to.

A meeting that Naruto was honestly surprised was even about to happen. If he was being perfectly honest, he'd never really expected to get this far on a fake callsign from an old, stolen Bullhead.

Seemed to Naruto that all you needed to get inside a highly secure military blockade was confidence. Who would've guessed?

"Hell of an office, General," Naruto couldn't help but let out, as Winter opened the door, gesturing for the three to enter.

Blake followed Naruto in, eyes drawn to the long walls laid heavy by books, all neatly organized into the intricate bookshelves.

Ilia just looked equal parts nervous and angry. Naruto had to surmise that might've had something to do with the fact that she'd technically been waging war with the General for however long she'd been a part of the White Fang.

At least Blake had gotten that out of her system the last time they'd spoken with General Ironwood.

Though his office last time had been just as intimidating.

"Uzumaki. I was told you'd… bypassed… the blockade. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

General Ironwood was sat in his chair behind his desk, hands clasped.

Naruto decided to avoid that topic for a moment. "Nice beard, General. Suits you."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "I was informed that you had an important message for me?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "To tell you the truth, I honestly didn't expect to make it this far. I was sort of just counting on you knowing me to get us into Atlas."

The raised eyebrow became a frown, and Ironwood's clasped hands went flat onto the desk as he lifted himself from his seat.

Naruto lifted his own hands, preemptively placating the General. "I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't important. Weiss sent Blake and I a message, asking for help."

The man paused. "As far as I know, Weiss is perfectly fine. I saw her yesterday, in fact."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I know, sir. I'm sure you understand that we'd like to check that personally."

Winter spoke up at that point. "I saw Weiss earlier today. I'm certain that if something were troubling her, she would have brought it up with me."

Blake interjected. "Like Naruto said, we'd rather check that ourselves."

Ironwood sighed. "Whilst I'm certain Uzumaki could get in without too much concern, you may find yourself somewhat… disadvantaged. Simply visiting could prove to be rather complicated."

Blake sighed. "I'd expected as much. Naruto, you wouldn't happen to have a spare ribbon I could use?"

Naruto checked his inventory. "I've got a couple Grimm skulls, a bunch of ore, for some reason a bunch of baby trees, a dress suit and a guitar. Amongst other things. So, uh, that's a no on the ribbon. Sorry."

Ilia, Blake, Winter and Ironwood were all staring at him. "What? It might come in handy!"

"Which part did you think would come in handy?" Ilia asked, but Ironwood was already interjecting.

"Even if you were in disguise, you'd still have trouble actually reaching Schnee Manor. There's very little reason for anyone other than myself or Winter to enter the grounds. Well, aside from staff, but I can guarantee you won't be hired, so that's off the table."

Naruto cocked his head. "Any reason why you're being so helpful, General?"

General Ironwood rounded his desk, leaning against its front, arms folded. "Yes, there is. A few reasons, actually. Firstly, I actually do care about Weiss. She's a remarkable Huntress in her own right, and I would greatly appreciate having her as a Specialist. Secondly, having your team on friendly terms with the Atlesian Military is a great benefit, even if it were only for your semblance, Uzumaki. You proved to be an invaluable asset during Operation Kingslayer, you, your team and Team RRYN."

"Regardless, that still leaves us with no way into Schnee Manor, save sneaking in," Blake said, humming in thought.

"Let's not let our reunion be breaking into Weiss's house. She'd never let us live it down," Naruto remarked, and Blake nodded in agreement.

Winter and Ironwood shared a glance, before the General spoke up once more. "Well, there is one way that might work."

Naruto and Blake both looked towards the General. "We're all ears."

Blake smacked Naruto for that, but he ignored it.

"There's to be a charity gala tomorrow night, hosted by the SDC, being held in Atlas's biggest auditorium. I can get you invitations, quite easily. All you have to do is not cause a spectacle, and you'll quite easily get to see Weiss."

"Sounds good," Naruto remarked. "But how do we know Weiss will be there?"

Winter answered that question. "She's performing as the main event. I'd be quite surprised if she wasn't there."

Blake, Ilia and Naruto shared glances, before Naruto turned back to the General. "We'd really appreciate it if you could get us those invitations, sir."

Ironwood nodded, having expected that answer. "Nothing is free in Atlas, of course. Can I count on your help in the future?"

Naruto took the offered hand in his own, shaking it firmly. "You can count on Team AWBN, sir."

He immediately amended that statement, though. "Well, at least Blake and myself, and maybe Ilia? Team AAB? BAA? We might need a new team name."

"We'll not cause any trouble, General," Blake interjected, before Naruto could get too carried away. "Though we should ask, do you have anywhere we could stay? I doubt there are many Faunus-friendly places to stay in Atlas. Even less that would be willing to sell high-class attire to Faunus, but we'll cross that bridge later today."

The General nodded. "Belladonna and Uzumaki, neither of you have your official Hunters' licenses, do you?"

Both Blake and Naruto shook their heads.

"Then allow me to grant you temporary ones. You've more than proved your capabilities as Hunters in the past. I'd grant them to your teammates and your friends in Team RRYN, but seeing as they're not present…"

The man turned, typing away on his desk-scroll for a moment. "Here."

Naruto felt his scroll vibrate, and he could tell Blake was in the same situation, the two of them reaching into their pockets to withdraw the offending devices, checking.

[You are now an Official Hunter! You now have full access to all Bounty Boards across all Kingdoms!]

Naruto felt a swell of pride fill his body, and he couldn't help the rueful grin that broke on his face. "Thank you, General."

Blake echoed his gratitude, and the General waved it off. "This will give you access to one of the empty Hunter dorms on the fifth floor of the academy. I'll assign room 504. Your invitations will show up on your scrolls once I get them for you. That's all."

Once again, Blake and Naruto echoed their thanks, though this time Ilia thanked the man as well, and Winter opened the door, allowing the group to exit the office, moods considerably brightened.

The door shut behind them, and Naruto was the first to speak. "Well, at least keeping that suit was actually useful."

"That was what you took away from that?"

As if watching her father beat sense into these idiots wasn't enough, now they were trying to flirt with her.

Poorly.

Yang sighed for the thousandth time, having given up on trying to enjoy her sandwich.

"So, what brings you here, beautiful? Can't say I've seen you around before, and you're pretty hard to miss."

Yang struggled to even remember his name. It'd been some kind of herb. Thyme? No, that was too complicated for someone like this to remember how to correctly spell.

Basil, that'd been it. "Are you saying I'm fat?" She asked, quirking one eyebrow towards Basil.

Basil backpedaled so poorly had he been on a bike he'd have tumbled off. "Uh, no, I mean you're just, uh, bright?"

"Bright." She uttered it with such deadpan tone she was surprised that she hadn't grown cat ears all of a sudden.

Basil nodded quickly. "Yeah! The good kind of bright!"

Yang stared at Basil. "I wasn't aware there was a bad kind of bright."

"Yeah," Basil replied, though there was no further explanation. Instead, it appeared he'd gone onto a different track. "We're two peas in a pod, you know. Both the most attractive people in any given room. It's only natural we'd be attracted to one another."

"Mhm," Yang uttered again, disinterest so thick in her voice that she was really starting to doubt that she hadn't just started channeling her inner Blake.

"So, what say we go be the two most attractive people somewhere a little more private?" Basil asked, with a wink.

Yang stared at him. "What a romantic. Where are you thinking? The boys' bathroom?"

For a second, Basil almost looked hopeful.

She cut any pretenses a moment later, eyes flashing red. "I honestly think I'd rather lose all my limbs than spend another second anywhere near you. Let me phrase it in a way that'll get through your thick skull. Fuck off."

Basil stood from his seat with a sneer. "Just missed out on your only chance, you crippled bimbo-"

He didn't get any further with that sentence. Yang stood in a flash of heat, her only arm grabbing the teen by the throat and body-slamming him straight through the table with enough force to crack the ground beneath it, spider-webbing fractures through the tiling.

"Want to say that again? Don't think I quite heard you."

Basil squeaked, shaking his head rapidly.

Yang released him. "Coward."

She was still angry, though. Still not done with him, she picked up the remains of her sandwich, dropping it on his face.

Her appetite was ruined anyway.

She'd also be lying if she wasn't slightly enjoying the entertained looks of the various students as they watched Basil struggle to recover.

Regardless of all of that, though, she walked straight past the various students and out of the cafeteria.

Lunch had just reinforced her previous thoughts. They were children. They didn't know anything about the real world, what it was like to fight Grimm like she had, to fight terrible people like she had.

Not that she'd won against them.

She clenched her one remaining fist as a wave of pain shot through her.

She thought she was over this, damn it.

She needed to get the hell out of here. There were too many memories here. Painful memories.

Memories she definitely didn't want to relive.

Yang kept walking, fist clenching and unclenching, breathing hard.

She caught sight of her own reflection in a puddle of water, eyes flickering between lilac and red.

This had been a bad idea from the start. She'd been all full of bluster and bravado, all set to return to Beacon and look cool while doing it.

This had been stupid. She'd been stupid for coming here. This had been a bad plan from the beginning.

And yet here she still was, wallowing in her own anger and misery, pacing up and down the long, still-scarred pathways of Beacon Academy.

Gods did she hate that she was wallowing. Like she wasn't able to deal with her own problems.

Shit, they shouldn't even be problems. She'd survived, so had all her friends, her family.

Others hadn't been so lucky, she should just be grateful she made it out with only the injuries she'd gotten.

Losing an arm was nothing compared to so many deaths, so many families that had lost their loved ones.

And yet here she was. Alive, and wasting it sulking.

She could feel the judging gazes of everyone she knew on her.

"Why didn't you come with me?" Ruby would ask.

"Why didn't you stay with her?" Naruto would ask.

"Why didn't you protect me?" Pyrrha would ask.

Every question asked had the same gods-damned answer, and Yang knew it.

Because she was too weak. Because she thought with her fists, and everything else came second.

Because she didn't learn anything until it was too late, and it cost her almost everything.

Yang swore loudly, smashing her fist through a nearby stone bench.

The pain stung through her arm, and her Aura took a dent, but it brought her focus back.

"Gotten sick of destroying furniture yet? Glynda's gonna have my head, little dragon."

Yang glared at her father. "Really not in the mood for nicknames, Dad."

Tai nodded sagely. "But you are in the mood for property damage. Sometimes I swear I see so much of your mother in you. All the best bits, thankfully."

"I'm nothing like her," Yang spat.

Tai wrapped one arm around his daughter. "I was talking about Summer."

Yang paused.

"Summer was unstoppable," Tai began, a distant smile on his face. "You and Ruby share so much with her. Ruby got her passion, her heroism, but you, you took her tenacity, and her temper."

Yang seemed surprised, staring agape.

Tai laughed at her expression, a brief chuckle. "Bet you didn't expect that. Summer was the only person who could keep Raven, Qrow and I in line, but when we didn't listen…"

He broke off with another laugh. "Sure, Ruby looks nearly identical to Summer when she was her age, but man did Summer have a set of lungs on her."

"She put it to use elsewhere, too. In our first year as a fully-fledged team, a few weeks after we'd graduated, we went after a group of kidnappers. We'd managed to whittle them down to just the ringleader, but he'd managed to get away."

Tai took a seat on the half of the bench that wasn't destroyed, balancing himself carefully. "Summer left us to deal with the stragglers whilst she chased him down. An hour later she dragged him back to town by the boots."

Tai paused for a moment as he wobbled atop his unstable seating arrangement, before steadying and continuing. "No idea how she did it, but the man was openly sobbing, crying for his mother. She put the fear of the Gods into that bastard."

"You remind me so much of both Raven and Summer. The best of both worlds, if I'm being honest. Raven was strong, fierce, and cocksure, always itching for a fight, always wanting to prove herself. Summer was a mediator, a mother hen, and an incredible leader. Where Raven was the thunder, Summer was the lightning. Together, they made up the most determined, unstoppable powerhouse of a partnership Beacon had ever seen."

Tai's eyes met Yang's own. "And not because they never lost. They lost plenty, we all did." He placed his hand atop Yang's own, squeezing it. "It was because when they hit the ground, they stood back up. Time and time and time again."

Yang didn't know what to say.

"I think you know what you need to do, Yang. I think you've known all along, but you've been hiding from it. You might think you're unworthy, that you're not ready. We both know that's bullshit."

"Are you sure?" Yang asked, staring at the ground.

Tai took his daughter into a strong hug, wrapping her tight. "Of course, my sunny little dragon. There's a whole world out there that needs someone just like you. You have a team out there who need you. A family, one far more whole than I ever could give you. All you need to do is go and find them."

Tai released her with a smile. "I couldn't be prouder of who you are, Yang. Now, go out there and kick some ass for me, yeah?"

Yang hugged her father right back, one arm wrapping around to squeeze him tight. "Thanks, Dad. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Taiyang Xiao Long just smiled as he watched his daughter and her new lease on life half-jog half-sprint down the path towards Beacon's Bullhead docks.

"I wish you could've seen this, Summer. They've both grown so much."