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Thanks for reading and please enjoy
Reality Viewing: Nora's a Mommy
-Chapter 5-
"Who's a little cutie pie~! Who's a little cutie pie~! You are~! Oh yes you are~!" Giggling filled the air as Weiss cradled little baby Naruto in her arms as she rocked back and forth in a reclining chair, cooing in adoration as she playfully tickled his belly.
"He's quite adorable." Pyrrha said with a smile while peering over the heiress's shoulder along with Blake and Jaune who nodded in agreement, the former gently playing with one of his tails.
Meanwhile, Ruby was huddled up in a corner with her cloak draped over herself, soft whimpers emanating from the shivering red cloth as her sister rubbed her back supportingly.
"So just to see if I've gotten this right," And lastly Kushina was over on the couch along with Glynda, Ozpin, Ren, and Nora, with the former three chatting over coffee (Tea for Kushina) while the latter duo fiddled with the strange egg. "I'm in a land called Remnant that's mostly overrun with creatures called Grimm that want to destroy all humans and faunus, who are basically humans with some animal parts thrown in that humans hate on for stupid reasons, and you guys fight these Grimm things with weird overly complicated weapons, soul powered force fields, and magic rocks. Oh, and you've been watching a show about my baby boy, who was just born, as a toddler running around this place all by his lonesome. Did I miss anything?"
"Nope, that pretty much sums it all up." Nora stated cheerfully while Ren nodded before they both focused back on the egg, the orangette curiously rubbing and poking its surprisingly pliable surface.
"It covers the essentials, I'm sure we can go over everything in more detail later. This has been a rather… confusing turn of events and I'm sure you need some time to process." Ozpin said with a nod, topping off his cup as he spoke.
"Bah, are you kidding? My clan used to mess around with the existence of space and time as a hobby," A giggle escaped Kushina's lips as she rolled her eyes in amusement. "This is not even close to the strangest possible situation I have ever imagined myself getting stuck in. It's maybe in the top fifty at best but nowhere near enough to leave me fazed."
A moment of silence filled the room as everyone turned towards the redhead with wide eyes which only made her laugh more until a loud crying filled the air. Holding out an arm, several small golden chains sprung forth and shot straight towards Weiss, gently curling around the infant in the heiress's arms before reeling back with him in tow before she even realized what was happening.
"Ah what's wrong my little maelstrom? Are you hungry?" Kushina asked softly while gently rocking the baby and even petting his tails a bit, getting him to gradually calm back down. Once he was done fussing, she pulled down part of her shirt to expose a breast, making all the men in the room to avert their gaze, and held him so he could suckle.
"…Excuse me but your clan did what now?" Snapping of her daze the fastest, Glynda couldn't help but ask that one question with a raised brow disbelievingly at just how casually the woman had made that claim.
"It's as I said, my clan meddled with all sorts of things involving messing with the fabric of the universe or crap like that, we practically specialized in it thanks to our talent with Fuinjutsu. For example…" Holding up her now empty mug, Kushina traced a slightly glowing finger across the side of it to form a complex drawing surrounding the Kanji for 'expand', before holding the glass up to Ozpin. "Would you mind filling this cup to the brim?"
Not answering verbally, the headmaster simply complied with the request as he poured some more into the cup… and kept pouring… and kept pouring…
"How in the heck?" Ruby, who finally got out of her funk do to her surprise, popped up beside the otherworldly redhead and peered into the glass, her eyes widening in shock upon seeing the impossibly wide space hidden within that wasn't even a tenth filled. "Whoa…"
Joining her partner's side, Weiss looked over the entire cup with a critical eye before finally settling on the seal Kushina had drawn on it. "Fascinating, it's almost like my family glyphs. How does it work?"
"It's a basic expansion seal, manipulates the space within the container by moving it to a localized pocket dimension which allows it to be expanded to fit many times its original amount without increases the external size," The redhead explained with a smile as she let the heiress take the cup. "They used to be all the rage for transportation until storage seals were invented."
"I can see why." Weiss muttered in awe, already picturing how such a thing could increase productivity of any business. 'I could fit my entire dust supply in the palm of my hand with something like this.'
"It is quite fascinating indeed, however I do believe we should move on to other matters," Ozpin cut into the conversation as he unexpectedly stood up. "For starters I feel it'd be prudent if we sort out some living arrangements for yourself and your son for the time being. With recent events I can safely assume you'll be with us for quite some time and it just wouldn't do to leave you without a place to rest at least."
"Ah yeah, that would be a good idea," Nodding her head in agreement, Kushina adjusted her grip on Naruto to free up her hands for a moment just long enough to make a plus like shape with them as a plume of smoke burst out beside. Once it cleared everyone in the room was left gobsmacked for the second time in a row at the sight of another Kushina standing beside the original, the new one quickly adjusting her shirt to cover her modesty. "You go with mister cheery and get all that stuff sorted out, I'll stay and keep an eye on this stuff."
"You got it, come on you." The duplicate said with a nod before grabbing Ozpin's arm and dragging him off before he could even get a word out edgewise.
"Seriously first it was magic chains, then you have those doodles that fuck with the world, and now you can make clones of yourself? Just how many things can you do?" Yang asked with a raised brow, trying to wrap her head around all the differing abilities that Kushina was casually showing off.
"Way too many to count honestly, unlike your Aura and Semblance stuff that Ozpin guy was telling me about I use Chakra, which from what I can tell so far is way more versatile." Kushina explained with a shrug… before suddenly swapping placing with Glynda in a puff of smoke, the blonde in question blinking in surprise when she found herself holding little Naruto as he nursed on her instead.
Then with another puff the pair were back in their original places, the only evidence anything had even happened being the mild blush on Glynda's baffled face. Kushina wasn't done yet though as she was once again enveloped in smoke, only this time when it cleared it was to reveal that she now looked identical to Yang.
"With enough time, effort, and practice you can pretty much do whatever you put your mind to, the only real limitation to chakra is control and imagination," She continued in a perfect imitation of the fiery tempered blonde's voice. "Well there are also a few things that only someone with a specific bloodline can do as well but those are… what the hell are you doing?"
That last part was directed towards Yang, who had walked up to the transformed mother and started poking her chest.
"Sorry, sorry, couldn't resist, it's just weird looking at myself and all. Man, are my boobs really this big?" The bodacious blonde said, muttering the last part under her breath as she stared at her doppleganger's chest.
"Yes they are," Rolling her eyes in amusement, Kushina allowed the transformation to drop as she got Naruto to stop suckling and fixed her top. "Now as much as I'd love to continue playing twenty questions, I'd much more prefer to finally see this "Show" I was brought here for in the first place. So shall we already?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Nora exclaimed excitedly as she handed the egg to Ren and went for the remote, only for the device to fly out of her reach and straight into a waiting Glynda's hand. "Hey! What's the deal stealing the remote professor?"
"Because knowing you, you were about to start from where we left off without considering that our guest here has yet to see anything prior," The witch-themed teacher stated dryly while pointing at said 'guest', making the orangette pause before smiling sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. With her point made, Glynda handed the remote over to Kushina. "Here, we are currently on the fifth episode but if you'd rather start from the beginning that'd be fine."
"Was there anything important in the previous four?"
"I found Naruto in the kitchen while cooking myself a midnight snack-" "You can't cook." "-befriended him, gave him a bath, had a small incident with some cranky drunk-" "They blew up our dorm." "-we found out he came from a giant dimensional puddle thing-" "Interdimensional portal to your world." "-and Professor Ozpin asked if I wanted to adopt him." "Be his caretaker." Nora summarized with Ren correcting her every other sentence in an almost reflexive manner that made Kushina raise a brow.
'They kinda remind me of myself and Minato,' The redhead thought in amusement before glancing at the TV, watching pictures of her son as a young child fading in and out across the screen. "Well then I think we can just continue on where you left off. I can always watch the others later if I need to."
"Sweet, I hate repeats almost as much as time-skips." Yang said with a grin as the new mother selected the fifth episode and hit play.
-Under the Raven's Watchful Eye-
'Well that didn't take very long…' Glynda mentally groaned as soon as the title appeared, resisting the urge to facepalm as her mind immediately went to the only Raven she could think of.
"Ozpin, this is without a doubt, the stupidest thing you ever done." Glynda told her superior as they watched team JNPR, with the now unbound Nora carrying a still sleeping Naruto, and team RWBY pile into the elevator and head down to RWBY's dorm for the night.
"Hey… what's that supposed to mean?" Nora asked accusingly as she sent Glynda a dirty look which the witch themed professor responded with a dry glare.
"Do you really want me to dignify that question with an answer Miss Valkyrie?"
"…No ma'am." The orangette muttered after a few moments of the pair staring at each-other, shrinking into her seat with a defeated sigh.
"Is it, Glynda? You know that none of the staff could be spared to watch over him, and even if we could, they'd need to earn the boy's trust. Something Miss Valkyrie seems to have already done." Ozpin said back while raising his mug for another sip.
"And she also has classes to attend to, or have you forgotten about those?" Glynda countered, drawing a sigh from the headmaster, or it could have been from the fact his cup was empty.
"I am well aware that this isn't a perfect solution Glynda, but it is the best I have to work with. Now it's late, and I know how much you want to go get some sleep, so how about we hear the rest of Qrow's report and be done with this night."
"I think he made the right call so far, best to leave little Naru with someone he feels he can trust for the time being, at least until he's had time to settle down a bit," Kushina said while smiling down at the infant in her arms as he started to doze off. "A child's trust is delicate, if you broke it now at such a critical time of bonding and you may never be able to regain it again."
"While that may be true, it doesn't mean I have to like it." Glynda stated bluntly with a frown, getting the redheaded mother to nod.
"Neither do I, that is my child in the situation after all, but there isn't much we can do about it."
"…Touché."
"About time, was starting to think you two lovebirds had forgotten about me," Qrow quipped, drawing an annoyed groan from the tired blonde.
"Alright, then how about you explain how we got into this whole mess in the first place Qrow."
"It was Drunkle Qrow's job to bring Naruto to Beacon in the first place but this little guy somehow managed to give him the slip after they arrived." Ruby explained as she scooted closer to her fellow redhead, gradually leaning in so she could finally get a better look at baby Naruto, having missed out during her whole self-pity fest. A muffled squeal managed to squeeze past her lips as soon as she saw his little slumbering at the sheer adorableness, especially when his tails started curling around himself.
"Heh, I'm not surprised, if he's anything like me as a kid than there is not a lot that's gonna keep him still for very long." Kushina said with a giggle while leaning in as well, letting the young huntress-in-training get almost face to face with the slumbering newborn.
"Oi! It wasn't my fault he wandered off, I put enough tranquilizer in that dust crate to knock him out for three days." Qrow said back, "His damn primary semblance is much more powerful than I thought."
…
"…Excuse me but did he just say 'Primary semblance', as in he has more than one?" Wiess asked after a moment of deafening silence.
Yes, he said primary semblance.
"Okay, how in the fu-" Several hands clapped over Weiss's mouth before she could finish her shout, curtesy of Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren.
"No shouting, you'll wake the baby." The stoic boy of the group stated as he made a shushing motion with his free hand.
"Well I'm guessing by your reactions having more than one semblance is not normal." Kushina asked Glynda, who nodded as she stared at the screen in shock.
"Some semblances can be multifaceted and there are even a few that let someone copy another's semblance for a while but to naturally have two should be impossible."
Somehow, the boy had two semblances, something that should be impossible as a semblance was the SINGULAR manifestation of one's aura and soul based on a key aspect of a person. The fact he had two was a phenomenon that only drew in more attention to the lad, and gave Ozpin a very good idea of what the kid really was based on the information that had been collected about the Elemental Nations.
'The only way he could have two semblances would be if he had two souls somehow,' Blake thought as her bow started twitching rapidly, her thoughts jumping towards a certain book she loved to read. 'But what did Ozpin mean by what he really is?'
"His semblance is Adaptation, of course you should have seen that sedatives wouldn't work long on him." Glynda scolded, jabbing the man in the chest with her riding crop for emphasis. Qrow shoved the blonde professor back with huff as he took a long swig from his flask.
[Adaptation: This semblance automatically adjusts Naruto's body in response to outside stimuli or mental stress in order to endure nearly any situation an incredible rapid pace. These adaptations are generally temporary and wear off after just a few hours unless they are experienced repeatedly and/or in high quantities. Currently his only permanent adaptations are his ability to consume dust and a high resistance to sedatives.]
"…That is one overpowered damn semblance." Yang stated bluntly once she finished reading a pop-up that had explained the child's semblance thoroughly.
"Indeed." Glynda muttered in agreement.
"Three… days… worth! How was I supposed to know it'd only last two hours!?" Qrow demanded as he got right in the woman's face.
"Only two hours to purge out that strong a sedation, that is certainly impressive." Pyrrha mumbled with an impressed hum.
"That actually may have been more than just this supposed semblance, my clan was renown for our resilience and vitality along with our talent for seals," Kushina stated as she sighed nostalgically. "I should know, took the doctors almost thirty minutes to knock me out when I needed my wisdom teeth removed."
"Oh, I had the same thing happen to me too, I swear I was this close to just knocking myself out with Magnhild so the doc could get it over with already." Nora said with a giggle before she started squishing her cheeks playfully. "Hey Renny, remember how I was all like 'woshlgkjg' all day afterwards because of all the gauze and stitching?"
"You also got an infection because you tried to eat pancakes despite the doctors telling you no sugary foods for a week."
"I held out for as long as I could at least."
"It wasn't even ten minutes Nora."
"Enough you two, Qrow back to the report." Ozpin said in a stern tone, getting the squabbling duo to break apart. "What of the situation at the Veil?" Qrow just sighed as he pulled out his scroll and hooked it up to Ozpin's desk.
"Mostly the same shit, three more attack vessels from the Mist, Stone, and Cloud respectively crossed and were almost immediately sunk. No survivors." Video of the aftermath of said ships played out. "Negotiations with said villages is still going horribly, especially Mist since they are practically centimeters from breaking out into civil war. The Leaf has agreed to a cease fire due to the Third being reinstated again, and the Sand has withdrawn but refuses to negotiate."
"So they just keep sending people to their deaths… for a war that only they're fighting… that's so sad." Ruby said softly, pity wellign in her chest for those poor souls sent to their doom for a completely pointless cause.
"I'm not surprised, the villages are almost always looking for some reason to pick a fight, too many old grudges and stubborn paranoid fools eager to prove their the toughest," While she spoke, Kushina gently rubbed the top of the scythe user's head, the relaxing sensation making her loll into the woman's side with a sigh. At the same time, the redhead hugged Naruto just a little closer as understanding flickered through her gaze. 'So the old man was reinstated and not for the first time, guess that means Minato and I really are gone there then.'
Videos and photos taken high in the air by non-dust powered aerial drones of the Five Great Villages of the Elemental Nations, and reports played out as he talked. Their names seemed pretty accurate, Mist being shrouded in mist, Stone built into mountains, Cloud sitting high into the sky, Leaf surrounded by trees, and Sand was smack dab in the middle of a desert.
Putting his scroll away, Qrow sighed as he rubbed his temple. "I also had a run in with Raven on the way here," Ozpin and Glynda stiffened up at that, "Good news is she isn't trying to kill the annoying brat. Turns out, she didn't have any intention of killing him this whole time."
"Who's Raven again? And why did people think she was trying to kill my son?" Kushina asked with a raised brow.
"In order, she's my long-lost mother and because a tribe she used to be a part of was wiped out by people from your world." Yang explained while pretending to tick off fingers on her hand.
Ozpin had a feeling he would regret it, but he asked anyway, "And the bad news?"
"She intends to, and I'm quoting her here, 'Turn him into the perfect husband to help rebuild the tribe.'" The sickened/horrified looks on the two professors' faces would have been laughable if it had been in any other situation.
"…And suddenly I'm very glad that she was long-lost all this time." The blonde added as she and the others all donned identical expressions to the professors on the screen.
Glynda was the first to recover from her shock as she asked in a disgusted tone. "You don't mean she's seriously planning to-"
""She even tries anything and I'll shove my chains/hammer straight up her ass!"" Kushina and Nora shouted at the same time, the former's hair seemingly rising on its own accord in nine distinct bushels while electricity crackled around the latter's body.
Just as quickly as their outrage burst forth though, it simmered back down as a loud crying snapped the duo back to the reality. Snapping her attention back to Naruto, Kushina winced before gently rocking the crying infant with a sheepish look.
"Sh sh sh, it's okay little one, it's okay, momma didn't mean to scare you," She whispered softly trying to get him to calm back down, only this time it seemed like time the tiny little blonde-redhead wasn't in the mood to keep quiet anymore. To make matters worse his tails were flailing all over, making it difficult to hold him properly as the fluffy limbs kept swatting her all over. "Oh I need to get a better hold on my temper, he's gonna be fussy for a while now."
"Here, let me try something." Kushina was caught off guard when Ruby suddenly scooped Naruto out of her grasp before she could respond and hugged the whimpering newborn to her own chest, ignoring as she was battered and tickled by his tails. Baffled at the cloaked teen's unexpectedly bold action, the mother simply stared while the girl leaned back into the couch, getting nice and comfy in the cushions… before her whole body started vibrating.
The effect was almost instantaneous as little Naruto stopped crying and instead babbled softly as he was looked up at Ruby curiously.
"Hey little one, sorry for messing up your nappy time, we big dummies got a bit over excited," Ruby said while making a goofy faced smile, which combined with her warbled voice created a sight so silly that the infant couldn't help but giggle at as he clapped his hands. Then, to the surprise of most in the room, the hooded girl started to sing. "Hush little darling, don't you fret~ Just listen to this song, you wont regret~ Let my arms be your blanket~ This hug be your nest~ Feel the warmth in my heart as it guides to rest~"
The fox boy yawned as Ruby continued to sing, his eyes drooping and his tails going limp before they curled back around him as he conked out entirely. Seeing this, the teen slowly stopped vibrating and instead continued to gently rock the once again slumbering baby with a smile.
"...Wow, nice job kid," A pat on the back jolted the teen from her thoughts though as Kushina gave her an approving smile. "Looks like you're a real natural with kids."
"Oh! I… well thank you… here." The hooded girl mumbled with a light blush, shrinking into herself a bit in embarrassment as it finally hit her that she had just taken a baby from his mother without asking, while handing said baby back over. With that little drama all settled, the duo turned their attention back to the TV, with Ruby all but vanishing under her cloak once she noticed all the looks she was getting from everyone.
...Especially the double thumbs up from her sister.
"I'm not a religious man, but right now I'm praying to every deity I can think of that she meant that she plans to forcefully hook him up with Temper, cause if not then my sister just became the creepiest person I know." Qrow said with a shiver. And given the number of sickos he'd met during his career that was saying a lot.
"Um yeah, thank but no thanks, I prefer boys who aren't over half my age younger than me thank you very much." Yang stated, making a X with her arms to emphasize her point.
"When does she plan to act, and how long till she gets here?" Ozpin asked seriously as his hands turned white from how tightly he was gripping his cane.
"Please, I'd stop drinking for a year if she wasn't already lurking around waiting for her opportunity." Row said, his eyes flickered to one of the windows where he briefly caught site of a small black mass zip past seconds after the two teams had left.
"Oh great… so the creepy stalker lady is already lurking around, that's gonna end well for sure." Blake muttered sarcastically while Weiss and Ren nodded in agreement.
"Let her try something, I could use some fresh pancakes." Nora said as she tapped the head of Magnhild against the palm of her hand with a dark look.
"…Where did you get that?" A confused Glynda pointed to the weapon in Nora's hands that she knew the orangette had NOT been holding five seconds ago, only to be ignored by the girl in question.
"We're still trying to figure out how she does that." Pyrrha whispered to her instead with an unsure shrug when the blonde looked at her.
-Tree-
Bright red eyes shimmered lightly through four slits of a terrifying grimm like mask, the wearer of said mask hidden by the branches of a tall tree that gave an unobstructed view into the dorm of Team RWBY.
The person had a curvy figure that screamed woman with long spikey black hair that reached her lower back, wearing a low-cut black dress with red shoulders, red armored gauntlets. She had a red girdle belt around her waist, tall black leggings with red splatter patterns, and what looked like a collection of black feathers hanging from her hip. Hanging from her waist was a thick bulky sheath with a sword handle sticking out the front. This was the ever-elusive mother of Yang, Raven Branwen.
As soon as Raven appeared on screen, a startled yelp escaped Jaune as he hid behind Pyrrha slightly. "Holy crap she looks terrifying."
"Indeed, she does seem quite intimidating." The redhead he was using for a meat shield said with a nod, unable to help but shiver slightly as the woman's masked gaze seemed to drift over them.
Her gaze was focused solely on the orangette of Team JNPR as she placed the faunus boy onto Ruby's bed getting permission from the young team leader. 'Such a small, weak, and vulnerable looking one, aren't you?' Raven thought as she watched Nora and Ruby climb up on the highly unstable looking bunkbed with the boy and settled in for the night. 'But looks can be very deceiving, oh so very deceiving.'
"Well that's not ominous at all." Blake strikes again with the witty sarcasm.
-Flashback, One year ago-
Raven stood inside a small boat, her mask off revealing a rage filled face almost identical to Yang's with pale skin and deep red eyes.
"Whoa, that is one hell of a family resemblance," Kushina said while glancing from the now unmasked Raven and Yang and back several times. "A little hair dye and some colored contacts and you two could almost pass off as twins."
"Oh, she's like an evil Yang doppleganger from some cheesy anime subplot where the bad guys somehow make an anti-version of the hero with some mix of science and sorcery. That or the animators just got lazy with designing characters and pallet swapped an existing model, like sloths. I heard sloths are super lazy, that's why lazy people are called slothful right Renny? Oh, remember when we went to the zoo to see a sloth and it just laid there and…"
Everyone tuned Nora out as she went on about some misadventure about herself, Ren, and a sloth they apparently befriended.
She currently floated just outside of the Veil, waiting in silence as memories of her destroyed Tribe played through her mind.
It had been three months after the Veil's discovery, the Tribe had decided to explore what laid beyond themselves. Acting smart, she had sent a small group of some of her best fighters through ahead to scout out the area.
"Sounds like a stupid idea in the first place, going into a completely unknown place full of people declaring war on us, though it seems she at least tried to do it in a smart way," Weiss said as she rubbed her chin in thought, unable to see why the ravenette thought it was a good idea at all. "But considering she was the only survivor I think it's safe to assume her scouts didn't do their job very well."
"Or, considering everything that she can do by herself," Ren started while jabbing a thumb towards Kushina. "They were more likely overwhelmed as soon as they ran into someone that wanted to pick a fight."
Unable to deny the point, the heiress nodded her head in agreement… before suddenly dawning a thoughtful look. 'Wait, considering all that Kushina has shown us, how are none of the ninja getting past the Grimm? If a mere child was able to slip past then surely at least a few trained warriors could as well.'
She would have used her semblance to see if it was safe, but ever since the Veil had appeared her ability to see into the future had become distorted and inaccurate.
"…Well …guess that explains why I can never find her all this time, pretty hard to sneak up onto someone who can see what's gonna happen in advance." Yang said with a sigh while her partner patted her on the back sympathetically.
When they'd gotten the all clear a few hours later, she and the Tribe had passed through... only to find themselves caught in an ambush instantly by ninja wearing blank porcelain masks with an odd symbol on the forehead.
"That would be the ANBU, elite black ops ninja generally used for the most dangerous of missions, most villages have their own version of them. Makes sense that they would be stationed around the Veil just to make sure nothing unwanted tried to slipped through," Kushina explained for the others could ask before frowning deeply. "And based on the description I'd say these were Root ANBU which means that Danzo is involved in this mess somehow."
"And Danzo is…" Weiss started while gesturing for the redhead to continue.
"An immorally manipulative backstabbing bastard, he's one of those 'Ends Justify the Means' types who thinks that he can do whatever he wants, no matter how horrific it may be, as long as it worked out in favor of our village," And continue Kushina did, her scowl deepening with every word spoken. "His personal pet project was Root, a subdivision of ANBU he claimed would be superior to any other, but was soon shut down for being too inhumane. Some suspected that he still kept it going in secret though, building up his own personal task force to build his vision of what the world should be."
"So in other words your typical world conquering bad guy who's super full of himself, got it." Nora summarized with a thumbs up.
She had spotted all but one of the members her scouting party floating dead in the water.
The sole survivor and the one who had radioed the faux all clear was on the enemy ship, clearly gone traitor given by the fact he was directing the enemies where to attack.
"Or he's been caught by a Yamanaka's mind jutsu, they can hijack your brain to learn everything you do and take control of your body." Kushina added casually as everyone snapped their gazes towards her in shock.
"Seriously?" Ruby asked before shivering in terror with a whimper when the redhead nodded. "Scary."
"Indeed, but you can't deny that it's certainly effective for information gathering." Glynda stated with a frown, getting a few reluctant nods and muttered agreements from the rest of the group.
Even caught off guard like that though, Raven had confidence her tribe would have won, until she made a very bad discovery. Not only did dust not work, which she had prepared for by having her fellow Tribesmen and women switch to non-dust weapons and radios, but neither did aura or semblances.
"Wait, how could those not work?" A stupefied Weiss asked in disbelief. "I mean Dust is one thing since it needs to be in Remnant's atmosphere but our semblances and aura are a part of our souls, there's no possible way they can just stop working."
"Well apparently there is because that's what happened. The question is how it's possible." Blake stated as she rubbed her chin in thought.
Before she even realized what was happening, most of the Tribemembers had already been killed and the few remaining quickly falling. The only reason she had gotten out of there alive herself was that her ability to turn into a raven had still worked, though she had managed to cut the head off the bastard who had betrayed her. Though she had noted that the moment she'd done so, one of the masked ninja's heads had fallen off at the same time.
"Yep, definitely a Yamanaka involved." Kushina said to herself, well aware that one of the clan's biggest problems with their mind jutsu is that any damage done to the possessed body is mirrored on the possessor's as well.
Most of the others missed what she said though as they were more focused on another revelation, particularly the part on HOW the woman had escaped the slaughter.
"She can turn into an actual raven? But I though her semblance was that time vision thing," Jaune's brow vanished into his hairline. "Don't tell me she's also got two semblances too somehow."
"At this point I really wouldn't be surprised but I don't think it's a semblance, otherwise it wouldn't have worked in the first place because of whatever stopped them from working, remember?" Pyrrha pointed out, getting her partner to pause.
"So basically she can turn into a bird without using a semblance?"
"It would seem so."
"…This show is giving me a headache." The scraggly teen groaned, palming his face while the redhead beside him nodded with an exasperated expression.
"Indeed."
Back to the now, she was back here because she had intercepted a report saying that one of the newly deployed spy drones had spotted a ship full of ninja's wearing the exact same masks were headed straight for the Veil. So she would wait for them, and make them pay for every drop of blood tenfold.
Seeing the telltale distortion, Raven drew her weapon, an odachi like blade that was somehow double the length of its scabbard and currently shining a light blue. Swinging the blade at high speed twice, the ice dust coated blade created a thick fog just as a large wooden ship pierced through the Veil.
"Ooooh… she uses pure Dusts blades! That's so cool!" Ruby gushed with sparkles in her eyes as she marveled over Raven's sword, her inner weapon otaku overriding her previous shock and disbelief. "I wonder if they're premade and selected or if the sheath makes them on the spot. Oh, and what does-"
Turning into her raven form, she stealthily landed upon the ship and silently observed as many of the masked bastards collapsed from pain and started turning into faunus only to be swiftly and mercilessly executed. It actually slightly disturbed her of all people how casually and methodically these men had just killed their own. If it wasn't for the fact she could see the blood staining the deck, she would be convinced they were simply disguised Atlassian robot soldiers.
"Oh… Oum…" And the good mood was gone once again as the raven redhead went pale at the slaughter happening on the screen. "How could they just… so casually…"
"Because that is what they are trained to do," Kushina said coldly. "The Root program was meant to strip a person of their emotions and personality, leave them as just a mindless tools that would focus on the tasks and orders they are given without any hesitation or sympathy, not even for their own allies."
"That is fucked up on sooooo many levels." Yang stated, shivering as a masked woman was stabbed through the back of the head and then tossed overboard in a single smooth motion.
"Of course it is, that's why it was shut down in the first place."
Moving on from this, she was just about to descend upon them when she and the ninja tensed when loud screaming suddenly burst out from the middle of the deck. Whatever was causing it had to be important, since every one of the masked men rushed towards the source with her following.
What she saw upon arriving though, confused the transformed woman greatly. The screaming was coming from a small blonde child, maybe five or six years old, with blue eyes and whisker like marks across his cheeks that was locked inside a large cage with several dozen slips of paper with more odd writing plastered all over it. The cause of his screaming came apparent as an explosion of blood and skin shot from his backside, revealing nine blood-soaked tails that flung around erratically.
…
Absolute silence filled the room as everyone, even Kushina, could do nothing but stare at the horrifying sight.
"Get Danzo-Sama! Tell him the weapon is attempting to escape and the seals aren't working!" One of the masked ninja yelled as he and several others kept slapping more of those papers onto the cage.
"Don't bother, I'm already here." A cold, even voice said as an elderly man exited the main cabin. He was wearing a long white robe with red highlights and an odd hat with a similar color scheme. More than half of his face was covered in bandages that he was slowly removing as he approached the caged boy. Pealing back the last wrap, he opened his once covered eyelid to reveal a charcoal black eye that he proceeded to stare at the child that looked back at him pitifully as he whimpered in pain.
A low growl echoed in Kushina's throat as her dismay turning to pure rage the instant Danzo was revealed. Glaring at the elderly man, her hair started to float up again and an eerie red aura of murderous intent emanated from her body as she instinctually moved her son away from the TV. "That bastard…"
"I'm gonna flatten him." Nora stated as she squeezed the handle of her hammer so tightly the metal actual started to give a bit under her fingers.
"Sir? Why are you not activating the Sharigan?" The same masked ninja from before asked when nothing seemed to happen after a minute or so.
'And of course he has one of those, no doubt he stole one the instant he had the chance too.' The redhead thought as her anger flared even higher.
"What do you mean activate? It should be active!" Danzo said in confused frustration as he backed away.
Tired of just watching, and seeing the apparent leader of these men, Raven dove down at the man, changing back to her human form as she swiftly redrew her blade. She was surprised slightly when the elderly man was able to react swiftly enough to turn around and draw up a kunai to block her sword, but quickly switched to satisfaction as her sword cleaved straight through both the smaller blade and the man with ease.
Then just like that, all of Kushina's anger was gone, replaced with a sense of morbid satisfaction as she smirked. "Well creep or not, that woman just went up quite a few notches in my books."
"…Yeah," Nora nodded reluctantly in agreement. "I think I'll settle for breaking her legs instead flattening her entirely if we meet."
"Danzo-Sama!" The men yelled as they watched their leader flop to the ground, split from left shoulder to right hip. Not wasting a second, a now masked Raven dashed between the men, not giving them any time to collect themselves. In less than a minute, every masked ninja above deck was laying on the ground in pieces.
'Thank Oum my stomach's already empty.' Jaune thought as he felt his already queasy gut twist itself into a knot at the continual gorefest.
About to move on to the lower decks, Raven paused when she felt a small hand grab onto her ankle. "Please… help…" The boy was barely able to rasp out between whimpers, though not entirely from his hind end if the red glow coming from his stomach was anything to go by, as he stared straight into her partially hidden eyes.
"That poor boy." Pyrrha whispered softly with a hand cupped over her mouth and tears welling up in her eyes, her heart crying out for the child. A sentiment that most of the room shared with the most prominent of which being Nora, who looked like she was about to try jumping through the TV if not for Ren holding her in place, Ruby, who was hugging Yang for comfort, and Glynda, who was throttling her riding crop.
Meanwhile, Kushina's eyes narrowed in concern and suspicion as her attention focused in on the glow coming from her son's belly.
Normally, Raven would have ignored such a plea, due to her belief that the strong survive and the weak die. But she found herself mildly impressed, most full-grown men would have either died, passed out, or be screaming their heads off from the pain of such an injury, and yet this kid was only barely whimpering.
Deciding to give him one and only one chance, she sliced the front of the cage apart using a burn dust blade before walking off. "Thank… you…" She barely heard him say, but didn't acknowledge that she did as she marched down into the lower deck, killing everyone she came across.
"Don't just leave him there! Get him to a hospital you moron!" Nora shouted while grabbing an empty soda can and hurling it at the television, though thankfully it was diverted towards the nearest trashcan by Glynda's telekinesis before it could hit. "You just went back down to zero!"
When she reappeared on the higher deck, she was greeted with the sight of two dozen or so masked ninja with their hands already in motion. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" They yelled in unison as Raven braced herself for the coming attack, only to show mild surprise when nothing happened at all.
'So their abilities don't work on this side just like mine don't on theirs,' Raven quickly deduced with a smirk as she prepared to engage another in another bout.
"Wait, they can't use their chakra? That can't be right," Weiss turned to Kushina in confusion. "You've been able too without any issue, so why wouldn't theirs?"
"Maybe because I didn't through that portal like everyone else is or perhaps the effect hasn't kicked in yet," The mother said with a shrug. "Hell, for all we know those wierdos that brought me here simply stopped that from affecting me somehow. It could be any number of different possibilities."
"Good point, I guess-"
"RRAAAAHH!" Both parties froze as the devastating roar shook the ship and a huge amount of pressure fell over them.
Everyone in the room cupped their hands over their ears as the roar blasted through the room at a deafening volume. Grabbing the remote, Kushina almost crushed the thing in her grasp while pressing the pause button, before rocking Naruto as eh started screaming and crying in her arms yet again.
"What in the hell was that? A grimm?" Jaune demanded while wiggling a pinky in his ear to get the ringing to stop.
"If it is it's not one I've heard of before." Yang said as she rubbed her own ears with a grimace, earning herself dry looks from her teammates.
"Lousy humor aside," Blake started in a dull tone, making Yang pout, before the cat girl in disguise grabbed the discarded remote. "The only way we're gonna find out is if we continue watching."
"Make sure to turn the volume down first." Kushina warned the teen as she and Ruby worked on calming Naruto back down, the latter once more using her semblance to sooth the crying baby back to sleep.
"You don't have to tell me twice." The ravenette said, already cranking down the audio by a lot.
Raven actually found herself breathing heavily as a feeling of dread and danger washed over her. Slowly turning her head towards the source, Raven had a moment in her life where she would truthfully admit she was completely flabbergasted at what she saw.
They young boy she had released earlier was currently standing on all fours, a snarl set on his lips revealing elongated fangs, his whisker like markings were thicker and more prominent, a deep crimson glow shining brightly from his stomach, his new tails standing at end behind him, and his eyes had turned a deep glowing scarlet with slit like pupils that were just barely seeable past his eyes bright glow.
This wasn't what had her speechless.
That was thanks to the ten foot tall, dark orangish-red transparent construct of a slightly blobby looking fox with nine tails currently tearing apart everything in sight the boy was situated inside of.
"…What in the fuck is that?" Glynda, GLYNDA of all people, swore as she dropped her riding crop in shock, the iconic weapon clattering on the floor alongside the woman's jaw.
"A really big problem." Kushina stated with a grim look.
Raven was jogged from her stupor as the ship shook again, this time from whatever the hell that thing was tearing a chunk off the side of the boat and using it to squish several ninjas into paste.
Taking this as her que to leave, Raven turned into her raven form and took off into the air and watched the carnage from a safe distance. Whatever had happened to that boy, it made him entirely ruthless as he literally tore that ship apart with minimal effort, killing every single living thing on board.
'Now I get what she meant by him being more dangerous than he seems, he is tearing through those guys like wet tissue paper.' Nora thought, flabbergasted at how effortlessly a young child was taking down an entire ship of trained killers all by himself.
Just as the ship was most of the way sunk though, the construct froze up as the boy started clutching at his stomach in sudden discomfort. Watching in silence, she released a 'caw!' of surprise when glowing golden chains phased out of his torso and wrapped themselves around him, construct and all. The aura fox struggled desperately to escape its bindings as it shrank at a rapid pace as the chains constricted it, before it howled in dismay as it dispersed into particles of red aura.
The chains continued to constrict around the flailing child, tightening more and more until they seemed to be absorbed into the boy's skin. After that, the boy instantly stopped struggling and collapsed into a limp pile. The glow from his stomach finally stopped and red highlights suddenly formed on the ends of his hair.
"And I have officially given up trying to understand what is happening." Weiss said as she flopped backwards into her seat, covering her face with both hands as an exasperated groan escaped her lips.
"Hey, aren't those chains the same as the ones you've been using?" Ruby asked Kushina as she stopped vibrating again, Naruto having fallen back asleep, getting a nod from the older redhead. "So he can do that too?"
"They are a part of my family bloodline so it is possible for him to inherit the ability to use them too."
"Cool."
Raven was pondering if she should check to see if he was still alive when the ship finally fell apart and sank, with the boy vanishing into the waves.
-End Flashback-
She had spent the several hours looking for him after that only to come up with nothing, she'd assumed he'd been eaten by some form of aquatic grimm and left. Then a few months later, she heard of a supposed 'Grimm Bringer Child' with an alarmingly similar description wandering around from village to village.
"Grimm bringer child?" Jaune parroted curiously. "Why would people call him that?"
"Most likely due to his eyes and strange faunus traits, superstitious folks probably assumed he was some kind of omen for Grimm attacks," Ren explained to the blonde while Pyrrha, Glynda, and Weiss nodded. "The spike of fear caused by that no doubt drew Grimm in closer, making it a self-fulfilling prophesy."
"It is a most common problem, people see something that makes them afraid of an attack which only makes it even more likely that one will happen." The blonde professor added as she brought her dropped weapon back to her hand with her semblance.
"Forget that crap, I'm more curious how he somehow survived a dip into the freezing Grimm infested waters while heavily bleeding. I mean its great that he did but just… how?" Yang demanded as she looked around the room in hopes of an answer.
"…Pure dumb luck?" Blake offered after a few moments of silence, making her partner pause with a thoughtful expression before shrugging.
"Meh, that works I guess."
Remembering the sheer amount of power that child had at his fingertips, Raven could think of no other better suited to help bring about the rebuilding of her Tribe. Unfortunately, lacking the usual resources she was used to, it took her nearly six months to track the brat down and by then Qrow, Salem, and Ironwood were all after him as well for a plethora of reasons.
"Ugh, great, even more questions…" Weiss groaned, a headache raging in her skull as her natural (totally NOT obsessive) nature to know things nagged at her at all these unanswered mysteries that just kept getting piled onto her brain. And now she got to add 'Who was Salem' and 'How was the military General of Atlas involved' to that ever-growing list.
However, so caught up in her thoughts both she and everyone else missed as Glynda stiffened a bit at the mention of this Salem person.
Ironwood wasn't much of an issue as he simply had a capture on sight order and Naruto had very rarely gone near any place the general's soldiers were. Salem and her little posse were also irritating, but Naruto was luckily not too high of a priority to the witch so they weren't that much of an issue.
"So the kid somehow manages to get through that whole cluster fuck of a situation… just to end up on the run with a bounty on his head, man talk about one hell of a streak of bad luck." Yang said with a low whistle as she bowed her head in respect and sympathy.
"As you would say Miss Xiao Long, that is the understatement of the year." Glynda stated blandly, though her tone subtly laced with a softer more concerned edge that belied her actual concern for the boy.
Qrow was the biggest annoyance, until recently he'd been convinced she wanted to kill the boy and had spent a good deal of time diverting her away from him while not letting her explain until recently. Though, given his reaction, she wasn't sure if that was much of an improvement.
"I don't care what you want with him," Nora said with a scoff as she glowered at the masked woman on the screen. "You'll be too busy experiencing life as a pancake to do anything once other me gets through with you."
'But none of that matters now. I will get what I want in the end, because only the strong survive.' Raven thought as she finally broke her gaze away and turned away, vanishing into a black and red portal she had formed with a slash of her blade.
-End of Chapter-
"And with that, I bid you all goodnight," Weiss stood up as she spoke and practically dragged herself to the door that led to the dorms. "I think I speak for most of us when I say I've had enough insanity to last me for one night."
"You've got that right, I need a break before my head explodes." Jaune muttered while following after the whitette along with Pyrrha.
"Ah come on you guys don't wuss out now, I wanna see what happens next." Nora said with a pout as everyone else started to get up to leave one after another.
"We should call it a night anyways Nora," Ren added, checking the time on his scroll to see that it was almost midnight. "It's late and we have classes tomorrow."
"Awww man… I hate it when you're right," Pouting even more, the orangette grumbled under her breath before getting up along with her calmer partner as they also headed off to bed for the night. Along the way, she took the strange egg back from Ren and gently cradled it in her arms. "I guess we need to make Eggy a bed anyway."
"That we do." The stoic boy agreed as the door closed behind them…
Only for Nora to rush back in a split second later to softly boop Naruto's nose. "Goodnight little Naru~, see you in the morning."
And now she was gone, leaving an amused Kushina and bemused Glynda alone in the recreation room.
"So… you wouldn't happen to have a place for us to crash for a bit, would ya?" The redhead asked, since she hadn't gotten any heads up from her clone about her progress with the Headmaster yet.
"Yeah, I have a spare bed in my room you can use." Glynda stated, gesturing for Kushina to follow her in the opposite direction everyone else had gone.
-End of Chapter-
AN:
Pain: *pops out from under a conveniently placed bush* hey guys, me and the other two are still hiding from Kit so I'll keep this short. Those of you wondering why Nora wasn't all over holding Naruto and such, she's giving Kushina time to adjust to her situation and being a new mother first. Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter and please feel free to leave a review below, later. *ducks under Bush just as Kit wanders by with his tank*