7. Worlds Apart

Her homeworld was in the throes of change. Its leaders lay dead; its nations scrambling to recover. After months of their departure, many of those who had been at the site of the God Tree had been converted. Their withered corpses lay in the cocoons with not a drop of chakra left within. The Tree itself had regrown, standing tall once more over their wartorn world.

Thousands of Shinobi were dead. But not gone. Not that anyone else would ever know.

She gritted her teeth and bore through the mental pain. She could feel them, hear their whispers, feel their hopes, see glimpses of their dreams. So, she confronted them. She spent days - weeks? She couldn't tell in the darkness of the Ryūchi Cave - sorting through their thoughts, dreams and emotions.

Then, she came across Hinata's dream. The once meek girl had changed. She was no longer the quiet little church mouse who pined for Naruto at a distance. She was strong and confident. Still, her love for Naruto remained.

She could still see it, feel it. From the way Hinata held his hand to the way she kissed him. Although everything she experienced was in the Infinite Dream, it didn't make the experience any less vivid, any less real.

For a moment, she wondered. What would her Infinite Dream have been? Off the top of her head, she could fill in quite a few details. Her parents would still be alive and well. Her brother, captain of ANBU and dating that Uchiha girl.

What was her name? Izuko? No. Izumi.

A blurry face came to mind, contrasting sharply against the clear image of her brother. Regardless, she could see how happy they were together.

But then, when it came to her own happiness, she found herself angry at the image that came to mind. Sitting beside her, their backs up against a tree, was Naruto. Just the two of them, sitting in the shade. She hated the content smile on her doppelganger's face. She hated the way their hands were joined.

No. She wasn't jealous; jealousy was beneath her. What could she possibly want anymore? She'd won. She was home. Her revolution was starting to become a reality.

Then… why did it feel so empty? Was it a pyrrhic victory? It couldn't be. She had attained everything she ever wanted. Well, almost everything she ever wanted.

"Alone, huh?"

She stared up at the twinkling stars. For all the taunts the Nine Tails had leveled at her, that one had rung the most true. Everything had fallen into place for her. Her world was set to be rebuilt, brick by bloody brick. There would be no more needless bloodshed. Entire families will no longer be wiped out because of the greed of a few individuals.

And yet…

She huffed. No. That was all that mattered. Nothing else did. This was what she wanted.

x-x-x-x-x

"You wanted me to help you train?"

"Not 'train,' per se." Weiss gave a nervous smile. "I… want your help unlocking the next stage of my Semblance. Kinda like what you do with Pyrrha."

Weiss had practically been green with envy when she saw the redheaded warrior princess staring at a little iron bracelet around her wrist with a dreamy smile. Pyrrha caught her eyes and explained it to her in private. Ugh! What she wouldn't give to be Naruto's partner. How lucky were they to have found each other that day?

"So what did you want to work on?"

She took a deep breath, ready to explain everything to him about her Semblance.

"As you know, my family has a hereditary Semblance, the Glyphs." He nodded. "One of the abilities that come with these Glyphs is Summoning. Through some interaction between our souls and those of our enemies, any enemy that we defeat could be summoned to fight on our side."

"That sounds overpowered."

"Well!" Her cheeks flushed. "It- I mean? Yes?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I mean, every time we summon one of our familiars, it comes at the cost of our aura."

"So just train up your aura reserves and instant army every time."

"It's not that easy!" This was the part that left her embarrassed. "I… I can't summon yet."

"Ah." He scratched his head, his confusion as clear as day. "So why did you want me to help you?"

"Because you can summon, too! Your weapons!" To her disappointment, he shook his head.

"I'm not summoning them. I'm storing them." He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a litany of tattoos sprawling across his forearms. "These tattoos use energy-imbued ink that work as storage spaces."

She could see several spots on his arm where the ink formed circles on his skin. Within the empty circles were strange characters that she could make neither read nor interpret. Naruto's hands blurred, almost as if her eyes had lost their focus for an instant, and where they'd once been empty, he now held a trio of shuriken in his hands.

"See?" He points at an empty circle. "I'm not really summoning anything."

Downcast, she gave a disappointed, "Oh."

"That doesn't mean I can't help you though." He unrolled his sleeves, his shuriken disappearing, likely back into those strange tattoos.

"First, we have to train up your Semblance." He backed away and crossed his arms. "When your family summons your familiars, do they come out of your Glyphs?"

"Yes."

"Then we have to train up how big you can make your Glyphs and the length of time you can hold your Glyphs." An interested glint appeared in his eyes, almost like he was curious as to what she could do. "Is whatever it is you summon limited to the exact condition it was in when you defeated it?"

"Um…" Caught staring, she took a moment to collect her thoughts. "We could summon parts of the being, like an arm or a weapon, maybe even change its size, but I've never heard anyone do more than that."

"Okay then! Let's get started!"

That was yesterday. It had barely been a day, and she almost regretted asking him for help.

Weiss flopped onto her bed, a low keening whimper drawn out of her as her body tried to operate without aura. While every living being on Remnant could survive without aura, those who have it activated become almost dependent on its presence. Her aura drained and her mental fortitude at an all time low, Weiss barely had the strength to drag herself to bed.

"Weiss!" The cheerful voice of her partner made everything hurt more. "We- Oh my cookies! Are you okay?"

"No… tired…"

"Naruto-sensei?"

"Naruto-sensei."

The sound of Ruby leaving the room was a welcome reprieve. She was tired. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

"I'm back~!" The singsong voice was back and it made her body ache even worse than before.

"Go away, Ruby," she grumbled.

"Even if I have ice cream?"

With all the strength she could muster, Weiss flipped her head and stared at the bowls of strawberry, vanilla and mint ice cream in her partner's hands.

"Ice creammmm." She groaned. "Too tired."

To her surprise, Ruby helped her sit up on the bed. Now sitting there with a bowl of ice cream and a spoon in hand, Weiss gave an unfiltered moan as the delicacy melted against her tongue.

"You're a lifesaver," she managed to say between spoonfuls.

"Hehe." Ruby giggled and sat down beside her, her own bowl of ice cream in hand. "I know how training with sensei gets. Whenever I got tired, Yang was there to help me." Ruby shrugged. "I thought you would want the same thing."

She would never admit it, but she did want something like that. Someone to be there to help her in her time of need, a shoulder to lean on. At one point in time, that had been Winter. Now, it was this spritely young girl. And the rest of her team. And Team NPLN.

"What are you training with sensei for?" Ruby asked, biting onto her spoon and wiggling it up and down with her lips.

"My Semblance." Weiss smirked. "And that's all you're gonna get outta me."

"Aww~. Weiss!" she whined. "Don't hold out on me!"

"No!" She laughed. "You gotta wait to find out, just like everyone else," she finished haughtily.

"But!"

And there it was. The puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not telling you." Goodness. It really was like kicking a puppy. "Fine! I'll tell you about my training if you tell me about yours!"

At that point, Ruby looked like she swallowed a lemon.

"I… can't…" Ruby disappeared, reappearing in the corner of the room with an air of depression hanging around her.

"Exactly." Weiss frowned. "He's our age and yet, he's strong enough to beat someone at the caliber of Pyrrha, smart enough and knowledgeable enough to train her, you and me. Just who is he?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ruby was once again on her bedside. "He's our friend!"

"Well, yea, but-!"

"Then it should be up to sensei if he decides to share stuff about himself with us!"

As simple and straightforward as her thoughts were, Ruby had a point. If they pried into his past, it would be an invasion of privacy. If there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was to take advantage of Naruto.

"You're right." Weiss sighed around her spoon. "But aren't you the least bit curious about Naruto?"

"I mean, a little." Ruby blinked. "Okay, a lot, but if he wanted us to know, he'd share things with us."

Weiss wasn't so sure, but she didn't have the energy to argue with the red reaper. Besides. Ice cream. More important.

"Where's Yang?"

Normally, the blonde would be here. With their Dust needs covered by Naruto from the previous week, they didn't need to go shopping any time soon.

"Right here~."

Weiss choked on her ice cream as the buxom blonde walked out of their shared bathroom. Dressed in a brown leather vest over a low cut black shirt and black jeans, RWBY's bombshell looked good. Really good.

"So? What do ya think?" She gave a twirl. "Do I look good enough for a date?"

"Date?!" she choked. Ruby was beside her, rubbing her back as she tried to clear her airways of errant ice cream.

"Yup. Going out with Whiskers. He-"

Knock knock!

"And that should be him right now!"

If her eyes could get any bigger, they would. She didn't know about this! From her lack of a reaction, Ruby did. How come nobody told her?! Did Blake know?!

"Not bad, Whiskers. Not bad at all."

"Lucky bitch," cursed Weiss.

True to her word, Naruto did clean up really nicely. Not that he didn't look good day to day, but that tight long sleeve black shirt went really well with his golden hair. Accents of red, in the form of a flame and strange circular spiral, made his hair and eyes stand out all the more. Without his headband holding it back, his hair was a shaggy mess that gave him a certain bad boy look.

"You look pretty yang good yourself."

Ruby groaned and hid her face. Weiss couldn't believe it either.

"Oh, I could kiss you right now." Yang turned around to face her and Ruby. "See ya later, Rubes, Weiss Cream! Don't wait up!"

And with that the blonde sashayed out the door with Naruto, who gave them a wave and smile.

"Weiss?"

She had to admit, they did look good together.

"Yea?"

"You're drooling. Do you want more ice cream?"

"Uh… sure!"

x-x-x-x-x

Naruto smiled. The image of Yang standing before him slowly merged with the memory of a crazy, purple-haired snake user.

Who else would consider going gang busting a fun first date?

He moved his head to the side as one of the aforementioned gang members tried to put a bullet in his skull. Sadly, for the gang member, shinobi moved a wee bit faster than bullets. Yang took the attempted assault on her date personally. The gun that was in his hand? She just crumpled it into scrap metal. His teeth? Shattered and scattered.

Another one of these spineless assholes tried to get the drop on her. There was now a human-shaped hole in the warehouse. If it was up to him, the only way these bastards were getting out of here would be in a body bag, but he couldn't do that without getting in trouble with the authorities.

A shame.

"Guys, guys." Naruto sighed, arms crossed. "Either drop your shit and get arrested in one piece, or we drop you and you get arrested in a body cast. Last chance."

His offer was met with a myriad of slurs.

"Aww. And you were so nice to 'em," Yang took the lull in combat to smirk at him. "Well, except for that guy." She jabbed a thumb at the guy he sent through the wall.

"He was trying to get the jump on you." Naruto shrugged. "He'll be fine."

"Define 'fine.'"

"He'll live," he laughed.

They waited as the gang members encircled them. If this was an actual mission and not a date with this bombastic brawler, they would already be dead. Unfortunately, committing mass murder, even if it is against gang members, is a bit difficult to explain to the authorities.

Don't think even Ozpin could get him outta that one.

"Do all your dates end up going like this?"

"Nope! First time!"

The cocky smiles on the arrogant bastards were starting to annoy him. Have they not figured out they weren't your average teenagers?

"See, this is the part where you guys either run or try to get the drop on us," Yang explained.

"Fuck you, dumb bitch!"

"Well that wasn't very nice." Yang pouted.

"They think they're smart since they're waiting for their backup to arrive." Naruto held out his hand, drawing a metal baton out of the seal on his arm. He would use knives, but lethal force is rather frowned upon for Academy students.

"Heh. If you know that, then you'll know we have you surrounded and outnumbered!" One of them jeered.

"But not outmatched."

The sound of Ember Celica snapping into shape around Yang's fists echoed throughout the warehouse. He could see the realization dawn on some of the smarter individuals. Murmurs of "Huntress" rippled throughout the assembled crowd.

"Bingo!" Yang laughed.

"So what?! They're just two kids! Get 'em!"

The bold declaration galvanized them into action. What fear Yang's mechashift weapon had instilled into them had been dispersed. Now, only the bullheaded herd mentality remained.

Yang drew first blood in this wave. A deadly uppercut knocked out the brave idiot that motivated the rest of his gang. The bastard's lieutenants didn't back down when their leader got clocked, but they didn't pose much of a threat. Machetes and sidearms don't really do much against a decently trained Huntsman-in-training.

Normally, threats like these gangs would be dealt with by the Vale Police Department, but since the police have their hands tied with the current robberies, jobs similar to the missions of the shinobi world were used to deal with the surge of crime. Yang had snagged one of these jobs, the few allowed to be undertaken by first years, for their first date.

Naruto reared his arm back, the baton whistling through the air with malicious intent. Flesh bruised, bones cracked. One by one, the gang that had been plaguing one of Vale's residential areas was dealt with.

Thwack!

His metal baton shattered yet another tibia. These gang members had to be masochists. They just had to be. How else do you explain them coming in for more while they watch their comrades get dropped like a sack of hammers? Then again, that was basically Team Seven on their first day against Kakashi during the bell test. So was he a masochist too?

"You think they'd learn after the first fifteen got dropped without landing a single hit," Naruto pondered.

"Hey, at least we won't have to chase them down one at a time."

The sound of footsteps clamoring across the pavement warned them of the incoming reinforcements. With a roll of her eyes, Yang walked towards the back of the warehouse and picked up one of the wooden crates. With a devious smirk that reminded far too much of Tsunade, she launched the rather heavy container clear through the metal door. From the loud yells of pain and alarm, several of the newcomers were caught beneath the makeshift projectile.

"Yang." He gave her a mock stern glare. "Non-lethal, remember?"

"Uh… oops?"

The flash of fear across her eyes said it all. Beating up thugs and gangsters wasn't a problem for her. Killing was a whole other story. Yang's strength in battle lay in her battle instincts. Her body went through the motions without much forethought, but that could only get you so far before it becomes more troublesome than it's really worth.

Ugh. Someone in the multiverse was making fun of him. Everyone on Team RWBY was reminding him of himself and it made everything so difficult. Either some deity was fucking with him or the problems that come with having warrior-caste systems are universal and he just happened to get a team that was like his own.

Nah~.

Someone was fucking with him.

"Let's get the rest of these fuckers before they get the chance to run, yea?"

He had to keep an eye on her from here on out. Hand-in-hand, he pulled her outside through the hole she tore through the metal door. The cool night air was a welcome change from the stuffy atmosphere of the storage building.

The rest of this gang - he'd never even caught their name - was prepared for them. As prepared as civilians could be, anyways. Sidearms, machetes and clubs weren't a problem; Yang could handle those without too much trouble. Those heavy assault rifles they were brandishing?

Very problematic.

His arm was around Yang's shoulder before the first shot was fired. The first round pinged against his aura. The second struck the pavement at their feet. Dozens more were in the air, but none of them made contact with neither flesh nor aura.

"Shit shit shit!" Yang cursed as he pulled them back behind the containers deep within the warehouse.

The high caliber rounds were punching holes through the brick and mortar around them. Only the wooden crates within the building kept the deformed bullet tips and shrapnel from tearing into them. Even now, their aura was actively protecting them from the flying debris, be they wooden, metal or otherwise.

"What a first date, huh?" Naruto smirked.

"Might've bit off more than we can chew," she laughed.

"At least it's a bit more fun now." She gave him a wide-eyed stare. "I've been through worse."

The thing about bullets? You can't curve them mid-flight. Shuriken don't have that problem. The deadly metal stars, puppeted by nearly invisible strands of ninja wire, tore through metal, flesh and plastic. Rifle muzzles, triggers and fingers fell. Shouts of shock and pain filled the air.

"Let's go!"

Yang was out in an instant. The first one in her warpath got decked, going down without making a sound. The ones behind him were next on her shit list.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you to not shoot at a lady?!"

And that dude just lost his kneecap privledges.

Vaulting overhead, Naruto took to the back of the pack. A solid whack to the side of the neck took down most of the panicking idiots. Sidearms and melee weapons were drawn, but those did little to stop half a meter of solid steel and the strength of the shinobi behind it.

While he was dealing with the remaining members, his mind was racing. Something wasn't right.

"How the hell did petty gangsters get their hands on military grade weapons?"

As far as he knew, these weapons were only produced by defense companies and militaries like Atlas, the Schnee's personal defense contractors, etc. So what the hell were they doing in the hands of gang members?

They were either rich enough to buy it or strong enough to steal it. Now, to figure out which one it was.

"Just reported our mission as a success~," Yang sang as she sauntered over to him, her Scroll clicking itself shut. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"Uh… looting?"

"Uh huh." She didn't stop his clone even as it grabbed a trio of those assault weapons and several magazines of ammunition. "And are you going to use those?"

"Nope. But we do need to figure out how some petty gangsters managed to get their hands on assault weapons designed by Atlas." He pointed at the gear-spear insignia embossed onto the side of several firearms. "Something's not right."

"Well, either way," she started, sauntering up next to him, "I didn't thank you for pulling my ass out of the way earlier."

"Hmm? It was nothing. Just didn't want to risk you getting hurt."

Yang didn't give him a chance to back away. Fingers threaded through his hair, jerking him down for a brief, yet passionate smooch.

"Mmmwah!"

x-x-x-x-x

Satsuki frowned to herself, unable to comprehend what she was doing wrong. As the vessel of all nine Beasts, she should be able to attain Six Paths Sage Mode.

Should.

"What am I doing wrong?"

She shook her head. She was speaking to herself now. The isolation must be getting to her. Or perhaps she had become so used to the presence of the Beasts within her mind that silence had become foreign to her.

The sound of slithering gave her some reprieve from her frustrations.

"Aoda."

"Lady Satsuki." She eyed her summon with annoyance. She hated the title. "The five new Kage will be meeting one another next month."

"When?"

"The tenth," her summon hissed. "In honor of Naruto Uzumaki."

Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Had it really been a year since they fought?

"Where?"

"The Land of Iron."

Heh. It was almost amusing. This would be the second time that she'd interrupted a Kage Summit.

"Thank you. Dismissed."

She took a bite of a tasteless ration bar, chewing through the chalky, nutrient-dense meal. Washed down with water from her canteen, she couldn't help but frown. This would be the rest of her life, she realized. So long as she waged this war against the world of shinobi, this would be her life.

Sleep, train, eat, fight.

So long as she was fighting this war, she couldn't allow anyone to get close to her. If she got attached and someone found out, they might target whoever it was she became attached to. The curse of hatred that runs in her blood would prove too much for this world to bear should such a thing happen.

No. She would do this alone. She had to.

x-x-x-x-x

"And you are sure of this?"

"Hundred percent."

"Hm."

Ozpin sipped his coffee. The information Naruto had provided him was rather concerning. Cinder Fall, according to Roman Torchwick, was the one behind the Dust robberies in Vale. That meant something big was being planned. With no evidence, however, he couldn't do anything against her, not without raising suspicion and criticism from those in power for arresting someone who appeared to be a harmless student.

"There isn't much I could do, Naruto."

"Yea, figured you'd say that." The teen shrugged. "Already got a plan in place though. Just wanted to keep you informed." The teen's stern look turned into a frown. "I think she's trying to recruit me."

Ozpin's brow furrowed. That… could prove problematic.

"And how have you responded?"

"I'm taking the bait, for now." He ran a hand through his hair. "She's been eyeing me ever since she got here."

"Oh, to be young again," Ozpin teased.

"Not all it's cracked up to be, old man."

"Don't I know it?" He swirled his coffee, contemplating everything Naruto had told him. "Keep an eye on her. I will help you in any way I can."

"Just keep your Huntsmen armed and ready," Naruto stated. "We have a bit of time before anything really happens, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Agreed, though I doubt there is anything that you couldn't deal with yourself."

"Is this my fight or yours?" Naruto questioned, smirking.

"Touché."

"Exactly."

"And how was your date with Ms. Xiao Long last night?" He wasn't about to let the boy get the last laugh.

"Good." That frown returned with a vengeance. "And we faced a lot more resistance than one would expect from some two-bit gang."

"What do yo-"

The rifle that materialized out of thin air clattered onto his desk. Immediately, he realized what the problem was.

"Atlesian arms?" His eyes narrowed. "According to the mission report, this was just a gang."

"Either you got a mole in VPD's mission department or someone's arming thugs and intentionally making a fuss."

"Or both," Ozpin concluded.

"Or both," Naruto agreed.

"I'll have my friend run the serial number on these, assuming they haven't scratched them out." He picked up the rifle, pulling out the weapon's magazine to further inspect it. "High calibre Fire Dust. This was designed to tear through whatever it hit."

"Yea. I know. One of them hit me." His eyes locked onto Naruto, concerned. "It hit a lot harder than I would expect, but my aura held up."

"Good." The last thing they needed was for Naruto to be injured at a time like this. "And Ms. Xiao Long?"

"Took a few shots from sidearms, but not much else." He shrugged. "Gotta teach her how to dodge rather than bulldoze everything in her way."

"Good luck." He knew the girl's parents. What was that old saying? You could lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink? That seemed rather applicable to this situation. "In the meantime, I'll see if I can't find where this weapon came from."

He received a brief nod from the teen before he disappeared, blurring out of sight like a mirage. Truly, he was lucky to have stumbled upon him first. Who knows what Salem would have done had she gotten into contact with him first?

"Ozpin." The face and voice of his old friend appeared on his computer's hard-light projection. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"James," he greeted, "I have something here that might be of interest to you."

AN: I'm back. Life has been depressing to say the least. Tired. Depressed. Anxious. But hey, if uploading one of these stories could make someone else smile, even if it's just for a little bit... Well, I think it's worth it. Don't you?