Not gonna lie, the lack of engagement with the story is kinda disheartening. Only 4 reviews on that last chapter as of writing this A/N. But as long as I'm still enjoying writing this, I'll keep going. There's quite a few ideas I want to just throw on the page.

Also, I'll give these warnings as much as I need to. There will be some dark and twisted moments in the story, and people will seem OOC. (Jaune already is for the most part.) There will be many taboos and themes not suitable to the easily offended. But, if you've read any of my other stories, you already know this.

Anywho, here's more of this non-sense!

Chapter 4: Uzumaki Arc Interlude

The clinking of silverware echoed throughout the dining room. A small tension filled the air, felt by most everyone at the table. Blue eyes surrounding the strong mahogany table glanced upon the blonde mop of one Jaune Arc every now and then. The quick and worried gazes were lost on the boy as he picked over the chocolate chip pancakes that sat upon his plate. Taking large bites every now and then as the light seemed to return to his eyes, he would fall back into a solemn, half lidded gaze as he once again prodded the fluffy deliciousness on his plate.

Hector and Joan were the most worried. After the previous day, they thought that everything would be fine. Or at least as fine as could be. Jaune hadn't shown any signs of being any more upset as they had put him to bed, but that morning...he seemed far away.

"Jaune, sweetie...is...is everything alright?" Joan tentatively asked. The table seemed to go still as most of the Arc siblings paused and held their breaths.

Safron, the oldest of 18 looked at Jaune with a worried gaze.

Maria, the second oldest of 17 held her breath as she gazed upon her brother.

Amethyst, the third oldest of 15 continued to eat as she looked at her brother, hoping he was alright.

Jean, just under Jaune in age at 11 years old gazed sadly and somewhat longingly at her older brother.

Shanoa and Miriam, twin sisters of 10 years old seemed aloof to the situation, but both discreetly gave their brother worried glances.

Sypha, the youngest sibling of 5 years old, simply continued to eat her pumpkin petes cereal, completely oblivious to the tension filling the room, her slurps slashing through the silence comically.

Finally registering what his mother said, Jaune shook his head and looked around the table, seeing everyone (sans Sypha) with their eyes on him. He held their gazes for a while longer, building the tension once more.

"Mom...dad…" He started, his tone bringing dread to most at the table.

"What is it Jaune…?" His father hesitantly inquired.

Jaune held their gaze a bit longer, his own seeming to glaze over for a moment.

"If I ever ask for a bowl cut and green spandex, please kill me."

It took a moment for what was said to register. The tension froze in the air…

Before a slurp from Sypha broke it.

"WHAT THE HELL? THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT?" Amethyst was the one to shout, everyone else at the table letting out different reactions; From sighs of relief to absolutely murderous glares.

Jaune turned his gaze to Amethyst and the serious look in his eye almost made her flinch.

"You don't know what I've seen." Jaune called with a shiver before shoving the rest of his pancakes in his mouth, getting up, giving Sypha a kiss on the forehead,(the little girl giggling happily at her big brother) and leaving the dining room.

The sole male Arc waited for everyone to go about their business before making his way to the Arc Forge. He smiled as he remembered the previous night in the other reality. Though the two known as Rock Lee and Guy were excessively eccentric, they were both beyond capable teachers. Granted, what they called a warm up the previous night was more work than Jaune thought possible in his entire life. He had barely gotten a chance to start actually learning taijutsu before he began to wake up.

Thankfully, whenever he awoke in his own world, it seemed the fatigue from the other world wouldn't be a problem, and vice versa. Plus, his body felt stronger from the workout with the bushy brows duo.

'The question is how long should I keep this a secret? If I showed improvement soon enough, maybe Mom and Dad would still let me go to a Huntsman academy…'

Then again, why would he want to? Well, besides the general knowledge which he could technically study on his own on the internet. And if what Naruto and the others were saying was true, his abilities would be something of an anomaly in his own world. It may be better to simply hide his abilities until absolutely necessary to avoid unwanted intrigue.

'For now, let's see what I can make.'

Jaune began to prep the forge, knowing his father would show up to see what he was up to sooner or later. He moved the Aggronian Metals to the side, not feeling worthy of using the precious metal just yet. However, he knew he should try to make his own mecha-shift weapon sooner or later. The Aggronian metal would be the only ones worth using for himself.

'Yet, I need to do something that'll impress Mom, Dad, and my sisters…'

Only pondering for a moment, Jaune thought about a lot of the people he had seen in the clearing before Naruto sent them off. Then he thought about ramen but quickly shook the thought away with an annoyed huff.

'I remember seeing a bandaged guy with a massive sword on his back and a few people had curved swords. I think they were called katana...yeah, the things samurai use in the movies. I wonder…'

Jaune set the work, a weapon idea forming as he moved about the forge with familiar ease. The Arc Teen could easily get lost in his own world and lose track of time when he worked in the forge. Usually he would tune everything and everyone out, and only being physically touched could bring him back to reality most of the time.

With his current idea being something he'd never thought of before, he was deep within his mind. He never noticed his elder sister Amethyst enter the forge and stare in disbelief and awe at the speed and precision with which Jaune went about, putting together some type of sword she had never seen before. After about an hour of watching Jaune work, she left without him none the wiser. A few minutes later, the girl returned with their father in tow. Once more, Jaune was oblivious to his audience as he was already almost at the tempering phase. (For the record, I don't know much about forging, but I do know it takes several days, to sometimes weeks and months. For the sake of this story, I'm partially throwing that logic out the window.)

It would be another three hours before Jaune began to put the finishing touches on the first version of his newest creation.

"Even without the Aggronian metals and servos, you're still making exceptional weaponry Jaune." His fathers voice snapped Jaune out of his own world. He blushed from realizing they had most likely been there for a while, but wasn't too surprised. It happened every now and then.

Amethyst looked over the weapon as Jaune continued to finish it up, a single bang covering her right eye. "What's the point of this part if you're not using servos? It's not a mecha-shift weapon."

Jaune rolled his eyes at his elder sister and shooed her away from the weapon. "I'll show you in a bit when it's done."

Amethyst and Hector froze at that. They shared a look that Jaune caught out the corner of his eye, a small pang of annoyance filling his chest.

"Uh, why don't you let me test it out Jaune! I'd be happy to try something new you've come up with." Hector tried not to plead, hoping he sounded enthusiastic about trying any new idea of Jaune's. Granted, he truly was excited whenever Jaune made a weapon. Especially something innovative.

"Nope." Jaune called with finality, making the two freeze. "I made this specifically for me test something. But if either one of you want to be a sparring partner…"

"Jaune, you know that's not a good idea." Hector sighed.

Amethyst crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "Yeah, we don't need you beheading yourself just after your birthday."

"Amethyst!" Hector warned. The girl shrugged but held Jaune's gaze.

For his part, Jaune simply blinked. "So you're volunteering then?"

Amethyst's eyes narrowed. "I see being a year older has made your balls drop. Don't start something you'll regret Jaune."

Jaune smiled, making his elder sister raise an eyebrow. "I just want to test it out. Call it a birthday present for me."

Hector interrupted the two before they could continue. "Absolutely not Jaune. You'll end up hurt-"

"I told you I would accept this, father!" Jaune called, a little anger slipping into his voice. "But please, stop treating me like some helpless child! I know I've been rough with training, but I promise you I can at least do this! What good would I be as a blacksmith if I can't even guarantee the effectiveness of my own weapons?"

Jaune moved over to what he had just made. On the surface, it looked just like a large, human sized clever. It was like a buster blade, but more curved. An obvious indent sat within the center of the blade; a katana making up the center of the weapon. However, there were two loop grips next to the handle of the weapon.

Amethyst looked a little hesitant, glancing between her father and her brother. She clenched her fist, not liking the way Jaune was acting one bit. A part of her wanted to knock him down a peg or two, however, the larger part of her didn't want to see him fall into a depression once reality kicked him in the chest.

'Then maybe it's my job to lighten the blow.' She thought a she went to retrieve her own weapon from a rack in the forge.

Hector ignored his daughter and was obviously debating what to do in his head. Jaune wasn't backing down. He had found a new resolve and seemed to be seriously putting the effort he promised into the forge. In that case, he knew Jaune would need to have his aura unlocked once he started some of the more dangerous forging techniques anyway. Hell, it was baffling how Jaune was able to work the forge to such an impressive extent without having his aura unlocked in the first place.

The older Arc let out one last tired sigh. "Fine. You win Jaune. But I'll be watching carefully since this is going to be a live weapon spar. And I guess you already figured that I'd need to unlock your aura for it."

Jaune nodded. "I didn't want to just ask, to be honest. But it's more for the forge than for the sake of training. I want to make sure every weapon I make does more than just keep its owner alive. I want to make something that people will pass down for generations."

Hector smiled at that. From the look of the odd sword, Jaune was already on his way to such a thing.

"Come on, let's get everyone together. This is a big moment." Hector left the forge without waiting for Jaune.

The younger teen knew he was going to explain what was about to happen to his mother. However, she wouldn't be able to stop Hector now that he had agreed to it.

"You sure you'll even be able to lift that thing properly? The blade looks just as big as you." Amethyst jibed. Jaune scoffed. He knew she wasn't trying to get under his skin and was actually curious, just in her own gruff way.

"I made it, so yeah." Jaune moved to the large weapon and hefted it up with one hand for a moment, before gripping the hilt with both hands. "Just between you and me, I used a magnesium based alloy for a lot of it."

Amethyst's eyes widened. "You're shitting me? That would make that thing as light as aluminum but as hard as titanium! And the forging process should've burned your hands off!"

Jaune smirked once more. "Actually, I did do it once before. Remember that time last year when I stayed in my room for a week, and when I came out I said I broke my hands training."

His older sisters eyes narrowed. "I knew that was bullshit! You healed way too fast!" Then she paused. "But if that's the case, what did you make that hurt you so bad?"

"You're holding it."

Amethyst frowned and looked at her weapon. It was a whip Jaune had made for her the previous year when her own had gotten cut in half on accident by their mother. It was a fairly light whip, but the weight in the middle let her know it was proportioned to deal the most damage at the tip. However, she knew what she was holding was a hardened hide weapon at most. She only used it for training. She looked at her younger brother in confusion.

His smile grew. "I used rawhide for the exterior two layers. The inside is the magnesium alloy. I did use steel and leather for the hilt though so you wouldn't lose your grip on it."

Amethyst's eyes widened and again and her mouth opened like a fish out of water. She immediately moved to a work table and laid the whip on it before grabbing a thin knife and cutting a small strip of the hide off. Sure enough, a metal like alloy was beneath it.

She lost her breath as she looked upon the weapon. She ignored her brothers indignant cries of 'destroying my hard work', before turning and scooping the boy into a bone crushing hug.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this?" The girls voice quivered, tears threatening to fall at any moment.

Jaune struggled a bit in her embrace before sighing and accepting his fate. He hugged her back before picking the weapon up and going to repair the part she cut. "I weaved the alloy too. It's mostly the reason my hands were so screwed up back then. Plus, if I told you how I really made it, dad would've found out and I would've been in so much trouble. But since my birthday was yesterday, I assume I have a little more leeway than normal for now."

The shit eating grin on his face made Amethyst let out an exasperated laugh. "You little sneak." She punched his arm and took her repaired whip. "But seriously. Thank you so much bro. I'll cherish this even more than I did before."

Jaune was a little put off by her honesty. Hearing her words definitely made his heart swell though. Making people feel like how Amethyst did was something he wanted for his future.

"WHAT?!"

The shout startled both Jaune and Amethyst. They looked to each other, knowing the sound of their angry mother anywhere.

"You sure you want to do this little bro? Backing out might be best for both of us." Amethyst shivered at the thought of what their mother was probably doing to their father.

"I would in any other occasion sis…" He picked up his newly made weapon once more. "Maybe I should've made a shovel to dig our graves with…"

"Too late for that." Amethyst lamented as the two exited the forge to face the wrath of an angry Arc Matriarch.

Fortunately, Joan was already calmed by the time the two entered their large family room. And by calmed, it meant a red and seething woman staring daggers into both of them, but not moving to do or say anything. The rest of their siblings were already seated throughout the room, all giving the two different looks of amusement and pity. Except Sypha. She was watching a cartoon on Safron's scroll.

"I'm proud to be able to do this for you today Jaune, regardless of my thoughts before hand. The fact that you're giving me the privilege to do so also makes this all the more special." Hector stepped forward into the center of the room. "Are you ready?"

Jaune nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat. The room was quiet.

Though it was for a specific reason, Hector was right. Jaune had always wanted his aura to be unlocked and now the moment was truly happening. He didn't know what to feel. Excitement? Nervous? Everything?

Not wanting to seem like he was hesitant, Jaune took confident strides to stand before his father. Hector knelt down and placed a hand on Jaune's forehead and the other on his heart. "Close your eyes and concentrate."

Jaune minutely nodded and did as instructed. He felt a wave of aura erupt from his father, the sounds of his sisters gasping enunciating the moment. Hector's eyes dilated for a moment as he felt the wellspring within Jaune.

"For it is in passing that we gain immortality.

Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all.

Infinite and distant, unbound by death.

I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

The aura that burst forth from Jaune disheveled the entire room. His sisters and mothers were sent tumbling back. Hector groaned and fell to his hands and knees. Jaune's eyes widened as he felt his energy still swelling.

"What...what's happening?"

"Joan! You must finish it! It's too much!" Hector huffed out.

"What?" His wife breathed as she returned to her feet.

"Joan, NOW!"

The Arc Matriarch understood and moved to Jaune herself as he began to writhe in apparent pain. She placed her hands on his forehead and chest and immediately understood why her husband was in such a state. "Holy...SAFRON, MARIA, HERE NOW!"

The two oldest siblings of the Arcs were snapped out of their astonishment. They moved to stand on either side of their brother, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"Together!" Joan called out. The trio began to speak as one.

"Beyond the infinite, destroyer of death.

Thy sword shall cleave the impossible!

The path forward alight as you walk,

The world bends its knee to thee!"

Finally, the aura that was swirling from Jaune began to subside. Maria and Safron both dropped to their butts, panting heavily while Joan doubled over panting. Jaune looked at his own body and found a shining white glow about it. However, there were small specks of blue and gold flames licking the air about him as well.

"Whoa, Jaune-Jaune's pretty!" Sypha called as she jumped up and ran to jump on her brother. Jaune caught her with no effort and held her close, though he continued to look at himself in absolute amazement.

"What...what happened? What is this?"

Joan and Hector took a few moments to catch their breaths before helping Safron and Maria up. All four looked at Jaune with worried yet astounded gazes.

"Jaune…" Maria started. "You remember when I had my aura unlocked?"

Jaune shook his head. Maria had her aura unlocked early at 11 years old. Jaune would've only been 7 years old, and his memory mostly only held onto things related to being a huntsman or the forge.

"I have a lot of aura Jaune. More than most fully fledged huntsman teams put together. It took both Mom and Dad to unlock my aura fully so that it wouldn't rip me apart."

Jaune's eyes widened as he finally did remember the extra incantation. He remembered his parents saying that Arc's always had a lot of aura and once every several generations, a child would be born needing a second release for the amount of aura they had; requiring more than one person to help with the process.

"Jaune...it took all four of us to unlock your aura. I don't think there's a single person in the world...no in history to have as much aura as you!" Joan called. "This is...historical!"

His heart skipped a beat.

He knew he would have a lot of aura from what Hinata had said, but he never expected this! And if what she said was true, they were only feeling half of his true power!

"Uh...is it too late to back out?" Amethyst called, her hair disheveled and her black tank top hanging loosely from her body.

Hector, Joan, Maria, and Safron all snapped their attention to Amethyst, making the girl squeak.

"We need to test this NOW!" They all called.

The entirety of the Arc family were in the sparring area that laid a bit pass the Forge. It was place to entertain guest with mock combat and also to train with each other. The area was a large fenced in circle, with a pond surrounding the central ring that was simply made of dirt. Maria and Joan had set up an aura tracker that looked somewhat like a scoreboard. Every summer, people would come and have mock tournaments under the Arc's watchful eyes.

Jaune and Amethyst stood in the center of the ring, the aura tracker already showing them both. Jaune stood with his massive blade buried in the ground in front of him while Amethyst held her whip wrapped around her hand, already in her fighting stance.

"Alright, since this is just so Jaune can test his new weapon, the rules will be different. Once either of your aura dips below half, we'll call it there." Hector explained from the sidelines. However, he turned to Jaune one last time, seeming to want to say something but keeping it to himself in the end. "Are both fighters ready?"

"WHOO, GO JAUNE!" Jean shouted.

"GO JAUNE-JAUNE!" Sypha followed suit.

"WHIP HIS ASS GOOD AMETHYST!" Safron called, just to cause a ruckus.

The other Arc siblings just cheered silently, though Maria almost hit Safron for the pun.

Jaune hefted the large sword over his shoulder, taking a low stance. "I'm ready."

Amethyst smirked and cracked her whip. "Let's do this!"

Hector nodded and moved out of the ring. "Begin!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jaune spun and slung the massive blade at his sister. The girls eyes widened as the hunk of metal sword through the air at her as if it were made of paper. She barely dodged to her side as the blade crashed into the ground where she had just been standing.

When she was back to her feet, a small dust cloud from the impact had temporarily blocked her vision. She closed her eyes and felt Jaune's aura approaching swiftly. Far faster than she thought her little brother should be.

'What the hell?' She wondered as she kicked backwards, narrowly avoiding a swing from Jaune's katana. 'When did he get so fast?'

The small smoke screen cleared to show Jaune holding the katana with an annoyed look. He had obviously thought to at least get a hit in on Amethyst with his tactic.

The boy didn't have time to lament his failed attack, as Amethyst got over her shock. She spun and whipped at Jaune with her weapon, aiming to knock the blade from his hands. To her surprise, Jaune ducked low to the ground, avoiding the first strike and began to run towards her.

Unfortunately, Amethyst was still much faster than the boy and was able to draw the weapon for another strike before he was even halfway to her. The older Arc sent a stinging lash to his forward leg, tripping the boy and making him tumble forward.

Jaune stabbed his katana into the ground to stop his movement, just as Amethyst attempted to whip his prone form. Jaune frowned, knowing that his lack of experience with the katana was definitely a handicap now. Plus, the experience still showed between his own skill and his sisters. It was a little frustrating. However, something he was sure everyone was already noticing was that he wasn't the same skill-less boy he had been just a few days prior.

Sure enough, both Joan and Hector had their mouths agape as Jaune showed skill he had never shown before. Granted, it was nothing particularly special, but it was much better than anything he had done before having his aura unlocked. They wondered if unlocking his aura really had that much of an effect on him.

Back at the battle, Jaune ripped the katana from the ground and began to strafe Amethyst at an angle. She took note that he was keeping just out of range for her to properly strike him. The older Arc girl smirked. Jaune must have forgotten about her semblance.

Amethyst's eyes began to glow a bright violet, giving Jaune pause. The rest of the family tensed also. The girl only used her semblance when she was getting serious. Jaune quickly began to back pedal but it was all for naught. A jagged stone erupted form the ground beneath him and tripped him to his back. Amethyst dashed forward and leaped into the air, spinning once more before whipping downwards towards Jaune.

The attack struck and Jaune felt the force of a boulder hitting him.

His sisters semblance was somewhat of an anomaly itself. She could control minerals and sediment. Anything from forming dirt into rocks or even shaping precious stones and gems. Her seemingly simple weapon could gather dust and she could multiply its density and even cause it to vibrate to cause a kinetic impact on hits. Feeling it first hand, Jaune knew why she had been recently suspended from school.

Amethyst landed from what would usually be a knockout shot on most people, sans her parents. She glanced over to the aura tracker and her jaw dropped. Her own aura was about a tenth down from using her semblance. But Jaune, even with taking the hits was still full.

"That's impossible!" Amethyst called flabbergasted. "Even if you have a fuck ton of aura, you should've at least been where I am now!"

Jaune stood to his feet, a bit winded but otherwise looking none the worse for wear. Honestly, he was just as surprised as her. Her strike, while heavy, didn't really hurt at all.

"What's a fuck ton?" Sypha called, making everything go silent.

Amethyst froze as she felt a severe killing intent on her back. She knew for sure her mother was glaring broadswords into her.

"It's a naughty thing to say, sweetie. And I'm going be make sure Amethyst knows not to use such naughty words." Joan spoke sweetly. Sypha covered her mouth, knowing that she shouldn't say naughty things. She gave a cute pout to Amethyst in anger.

Jaune and the rest of their siblings were giggling, but a quick glare from their mother made them stop. Hector coughed to hide his own mirth.

"Anyway." Joan began. "Continue."

With a bit of hesitation, both Jaune and Amethyst returned their focus to the battle. The older Arc was realizing if it turned into a battle of attrition, she would probably be on the losing end. Her semblance was very aura intense and she hadn't mastered using it for prolonged amounts of time. Usually her opponents wouldn't last long enough. Hell, she could even beat Maria every now and then with a single hit.

She was startled from her musings as Jaune dashed. However, it wasn't towards her. Her eyes widened as he reached the buster blade part of his weapon and quickly inserted the katana into its slot. He hefted the giant blade and took his low stance with the weapon over his shoulder again. Amethyst thought it would make him slower form the extra weight, and while she was right, it wasn't as slow as she had hoped.

Jaune dashed at the girl again and waited for the counter attack he knew was coming. Once more, a jagged piece of earth shot up in front of Jaune's path. The Arc teen was ready this time though. He hopped and stepped on the tip of the earth spike. With an aura enhanced leap, he launched himself forward, shattering the spike and parts of the ground. He spun with the momentum and slashed down with the buster katana.

Amethyst turned her body but wasn't able to avoid the entire hit. The impact was enough to launch her towards the edge of the battlefield but she landed on her feet. Unfortunately, Jaune simply wasn't strong enough yet to deal a decisive blow. However, it did shave another chunk off of Amethyst's aura. Another 15 percent from the single slash. Much to her shock, the blade cratered the ground where Jaune had attacked as well.

Seeing her opportunity, Amethyst whipped the ground around her several times, collecting sharp and hardened pieces of stone to her whip. She spun and slung her whip, sending a storm of stone shrapnel at Jaune. The boy hunkered behind his blade, the girth of it big enough to shield his entire body.

When he felt the stone assault stop, he paused. However, the ground rumbling beneath him made his eyes widen. He knew what his sister was trying to do and felt that the real things he wanted to test were finally able to come out.

Jaune grabbed the two ring handles that sat next to the hilt of the blade and pulled. The bottom part of the blade split off at the handles, showing two crescent bladed knuckle dusters.

He jumped back just as a crystal like rock shot up and encased the buster katana, trapping it. Jaune would've been trapped too if he had been any slower.

'Hopefully the little training with Rock Lee and Guy pays off.' Jaune thought.

Neither of them used weapons, but from some of the things they taught Jaune, he knew certain close range weapons could be extremely useful. He was hoping to make his own fighting style derived from the Hard Fist style they had begun teaching him.

Taking a stance similar to Rock Lee's, except with his opposite hand close to his face instead of behind his back, Jaune awaited Amethyst's next move. Knowing she was faster, he didn't want to simply rush in. However, with her semblance she didn't need to. But, if she continued to use it, her aura would eventually fall into the yellow and the victory would be his regardless.

The look on his elder sisters face showed that she knew that truth as well. With only one true option, Amethyst made the next move, rushing in towards Jaune. She whipped towards Jaune's legs when she was close enough but was caught off guard when he moved a single leg back and stomped on the whip, trapping it for a moment. The girl stumbled when she tried to draw it back and it was the moment Jaune needed.

He kicked forward and threw three consecutive punches, striking Amethyst in the body each time before turning to kick her in the chest. Amethyst took the punches, but turned her body at the last minute and grit her teeth as she grabbed Jaune's outstretched leg. Jaune was caught off guard and couldn't stop her from slinging him once and tossing him out of the arena, into the water on the edge of the area.

She huffed and fell to her butt, actually tired from the bout.

"Winner is Jaune!" Hector called. Amethyst's eyes widened and she turned to look at her father in disbelief. "By technicality."

The girl was confused until she took note of the aura tracker. Once again, Jaune's aura looked full, but her own aura was down to about 40 percent.

Hector approached his daughter to help her up. "Those last hits Jaune got on you were enough to bring you're aura down enough by the rules of the fight."

"That little sneak…" Amethyst called with a chuckle. "But if this were a normal spar, I would've won by ring out right?"

Hector nodded. "Which I assume you realized was the only real way to beat Jaune since he has so much aura. However, he was just a bit quicker at finding a way to victory."

The two approached a sputtering and coughing Jaune as he was climbing out of the water pit. He glared up at Amethyst who just knelt and held out a hand. Jaune scoffed but took the offered hand anyway, getting pulled to his feet. She pulled him into a quick hug. "That was awesome little bro."

Jaune blushed but felt his pride swell from her words. "Thanks big sis."

As the trio began to return to the spectators, they received a round of applause.

"That was super cool Jaune!" Jean was the first to call and ran to jump on her big brother. "You were all, SLASH! And KABOOM with the giant sword!"

Jaune caught her effortlessly and laughed at her energy. His eyes widened however as Shinoa, Miriam, and Sypha came flying at them next, landing on top of him. Shinoa and Miriam simply had devious smirks as they got off, and Sypha laid on Jean and Jaune with a giggle.

"You guys suck." Jaune groaned from the ground.

"Love ya too big bro." Shinoa and Miriam called in their dual creepy monotone.

Once everyone had calmed down and the family let Jaune and Amethyst get cleaned up, Joan and Hector pulled Jaune to the side once more in his room.

The two looked conflicted, Jaune noticed. However, his attention was mainly on having his aura unlocked. He was looking forward to all of the things Naruto and the others would teach him. That clone jutsu especially. His bout with Amethyst ended with his win, technically, but it was still a far cry from where he wanted to be.

"Jaune." Joan started. "Today...that spar with Amethyst. That was...eye opening."

"Without sugar coating anything, you were like a different person." Hector finished. "Granted, since the water around the battlefield indicates an instant death, such as falling into a ravine or lava, you're spacial awareness needs work. But it seems like having your aura unlocked has done wonders for your battle coordination. And the weapon you made played towards your strengths and size. A bigger weapon would seem like an unwieldy problem, but you managed to work momentum into your battle style. Plus, even though it's not a mecha-shift weapons, having different forms of it to work with makes that sword too unique to not call a master piece."

Joan placed a hand on her husbands shoulder as he began to get excited. He blushed sheepishly, glaring at Jaune as he chuckled at his father. They shared their love for the forge and weaponry.

"What he means to say, Jaune, is that you've blown our expectations out of the water. Though it's clear you probably still wouldn't be prepared for combat school skill wise, the promise you showed today makes us think otherwise."

Jaune's eyes widened as he seemed to catch on to what they were saying.

Hector and Jaune smiled at the gobsmacked look on Jaune's face.

"It's not too late, but we want to know what you want Jaune. Going into a combat school would give you the knowledge of basics. Plus, you'll be able to hang out with more kids around your own age." Joan spoke evenly, a clear disfavor of her own words. "But, due to your amount of aura, you would most certainly stand out. It would be unavoidable and could cause unforeseen and unwanted attention in the future."

Joan certainly didn't want her son to be seen as some sort of freak. Plus, she knew if the nations found out about Jaune, they would all want him for themselves.

"We know that you still want to be a huntsman Jaune, and with your aura, that seems far more possible than we ever imagined. So even if you don't choose to go to a combat school, we'll be continuing and upping your training here from now on." Hector called proudly.

"So the question is, Jaune, how would you like to go to a combat school?"

I had planned on this chapter being much longer, but decided to just get something out for now. There was supposed to be a flashback showing Lee and Guy, but I can do something with them later. For now, I'm hoping to get past what is essentially still the prologue of the story. (The entirety of the Uzumaki Arc.) There may be at least 2 more chapters before I change things up a bit.

For now, let me know what you think!

Also, I'm not decided on Jaune's answer. Any opinions or thoughts on Jaune either going to a combat school or not will be taken into consideration. However, I'm more leaning towards not. But I'm always up for hearing what other people think!

Til Next Time Loves!