I changed my mind. I tried to get another chapter ahead, but really I just want to drop two chapters on yall. Hope you all enjoy it!

"Wake up!" Kurama barked at Ruby.

Ruby's eyes snapped open, quickly taking in the empty snow tundra spread out in front of her. After quickly verifying that there was no danger, she relaxed slightly.

'What am I waking up for?' Ruby asked tiredly.

She had been doing transports from Atlas to Amity for almost a month now, and it has proven to be rather tedious. Other than the occasional Grimm, she wasn't really needed for much. After the first few weeks, the assignment was dropped from four hunters to two after Clover had reported nothing but a constant improvement in her efficiency when it came to dispatching the few Grimm they did encounter.

Today it was just her and Clover. With how silent the leader of the Ace Ops was, she was missing the week long period when Penny was with them. While he was an excellent leader, it was quite apparent he had no interest in socializing with a teenager. He always sat in the back of the transport vans, saying he was keeping watch in the back.

With all that being said, she had decided last week to trust in Kurama's sensing skills enough to nap during transport. He always warned her about the Grimm before she saw them, and had warned the driver enough times that he was no longer suspicious of her sleeping.. Kurama himself had no problem with this arrangement, as it meant she could stay up later for training.

And the training…was hell. Ruby thought she knew the definition of the word until Kurama got to her. Naruto didn't like how far she pushed herself, but between his treatments and Kurama's chakra, she never felt too bad the next day, so it hadn't interfered with work as of yet.

That wasn't to say that it wasn't catching up with her. She was regularly exhausted, the bags under her eyes and the constant drinking of coffee being the most obvious signs. Ruby couldn't argue with the results though, even if she was a little more irritable lately. Never with her friends, but Marrow, Harriet, and even Elm, had kept their teasing of Ruby to a minimum since she had started her training regime.

'There is something ahead of us,' Kurama answered her, shaking her from her thoughts.

'Grimm?' Ruby asked, immediately becoming focused.

'Worse,' Kurama said forebodingly. 'Ningen!'

Ruby's shoulders dropped, and she rolled her eyes. Quickly recalling the details of the mission, however, she remembered that there shouldn't be anybody on the trail before they got within a mile of Amity. The distance to the nearest mountain range suggested that they were still at least thirty miles away.

"Clover," Ruby called into the back.

"Hmm?" She heard Clover answer.

"Unidentified contacts ahead," Ruby said.

She heard Clover shuffle around to get a better look, "Grimm? Where?"

After a quick answer from Kurama, she responded, "Just at that rock formation. Not Grimm, people."

"What?" Clover scrunched his eyebrows. "How can you tell that?"

Ruby shrugged, "Why would they be out here?"

Clover was about to wave her off, but in the distance, they were soon able to make out a barricade with two people standing in front of us.

"Oh," Clover frowned. "That's not good."

"Who are they?" Ruby asked with a frown. "And why would they be blocking us?"

"Nobody good," Clover answered. "I'm gonna need your eyes open kid. If I thought she was going to be here, I'd have brought Penny too. This could get ugly."

Ruby's eyes narrowed, and she nodded.

The driver parked in front of the barricade, and Clover and Ruby quickly got out.

"Two behind us," Ruby muttered to Clover as he walked up to her.

"You're sure?" Clover said, not breaking eye contact with the women in front of them.

"Positive."

Clover frowned, before smiling and stepping forward, "Robin Hill, Mantle's hero! How can I help you and your three friends today? Perhaps there's some good reason that you're blocking a military transport?"

Robin's eyes widened for a moment, but she quickly schooled her features.

"Hello Clover, I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can tell me why this truck that's supposed to help fix Mantle's wall is heading to the middle of nowhere? Maybe you two are lost?"

"Oh," Clover looked surprised. "Well, you know how confusing it can get out here! Thanks for checking up on us! We'll be on our way now!"

Robin frowned, "Don't bullshit me Clover! What is Ironwood doing with Amity at the old SDC Mine?"

Clover flashed her a charming smile, "Oh! Just giving her a checkup."

"And Atlas needs to lock down the entire site for that?" Robin cocked an eyebrow. "Seems like a little more than just a check up…"

Clover sighed, "You've been scoping it out then…"

"We can't fix the wall without the supplies on these trucks," Robin said, stepping forward and stretching out a hand. "Mantle deserves to know what they're being used for. Just tell me."

Clover looked at her outstretched hand cautiously, "I think…I'll pass on that."

Robin rolled her eyes at him, before looking at Ruby, "What about you pipsqueak? Want to tell me why Mantle is being put at risk for…whatever is going on with Amity?"

"Couldn't say," Ruby said cautiously.

Robin looked like she wanted to challenge her, but Clover cut her off.

"As a potential Councilwoman, you should probably focus on the election, rather than harassing huntsmen. Now you have held us up long enough."

"These supplies are going to Mantle," Robin said with narrowed eyes. "One way or another."

"Then I suggest you try doing that through the proper legal channels," Clover said. "If you get elected, that is."

"Now, where's the fun in that?" Robin asked with a smirk.

Ruby felt the two disguised people behind her move closer, and the girl next to Robin tightened her grip on her weapon.

Ruby grabbed her haori and ripped it off, throwing it into a pile of snow beside her. The pile exploded as if the haori weighed almost two hundred pounds, which, by now, it most definitely did. A little more than five weeks typically wouldn't allow a normal person to get to such weight so quickly, but a person with aura, a demon fox, and a rather overprotective blond with more healing abilities than he ever thought he would have, most definitely could.

Everybody, even Clover, froze as the snow settled.

"Robin," Ruby spoke firmly. "I respect that you want what is best for Mantle, but if the two people you have positioned behind us get any closer to this truck, I will stop them."

Robin quickly shook off her shock, "A little over confident there, don't you think? Two of Atlas' pets against the best Mantle has to offer? I like our odds."

"Close," Ruby said. "But I'm a Valean Huntress. Still…"

"I like our odds better," Robin heard a voice whisper behind her.

Robin whirled around, seeing Ruby casually standing right behind her. The Mantle Huntress stumbled backwards, completely caught off guard by the Rose's sudden movement.

"W-what!" Robin deployed her crossbow, aiming it at Ruby, who just cocked her head. The lamb faunus also levelled her weapon at Ruby, though her arms shook as she did so.

"I think Clover agrees with me when I say that you won't be getting any more warnings," Ruby said in an irritated tone. "Bring this up to the council and Ironwood the right way. The General is diverting plenty of protection to the wall to compensate for these supplies. He isn't unreasonable."

Robin grit her teeth, painfully aware that Clover was now at her back, his weapon prepared to strike her now that she had been the first to draw her weapon.

"This isn't a very good idea Robin," Clover said lowly. "Don't do this."

Robin starred into Ruby's eyes for another moment. There wasn't a single bit of apprehension in the girls eyes. Despite her age, Robin knew that Ruby was completely confident that her and Clover would pull out of this on top. And after that display of speed, Robin wasn't too keen on finding out any more.

"Fine," Robin growled. After a quick prompting, the faunus finally sheathed her weapon, and opened the barricade.

As the truck started pulling through, Ruby hopped on top after gathering her haori, quickly followed by Clover.

"Robin," Clover called out hesitantly. "Good luck in the election."

Robin regarded him for a moment as the truck pulled away, before nodding.

"That was risky," Clover said, glancing at Ruby. "That could have gone bad."

"I think we would have won, if we had to fight," Ruby shrugged. "It wouldn't have been pretty though, and I wanted to avoid it. She needed a little scare to help her make her decision."

Clover stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head, "Like I said, risky…Good job."

"Thanks," Ruby said happily.

'Hehe,' Kurama chuckled. 'Keep listening to me girl, and I might just make you truly intimidating!'

Ruby rolled her eyes as she climbed through the passenger side window back into the cab.

'You were lucky that worked.' Ruby said worriedly. 'I didn't think I'd be fast enough for that.'

'You're underestimating yourself,' Kurama scoffed. 'You're improving at an impressive rate. It was a short burst of speed, but even at a more maintainable speed, you're faster than anybody else I have seen in this world, even that girl that keeps pestering Naruto for a rematch. It'd be close, but I still say you have her beat.'

Ruby scowled at the mention of Harriet. The woman had been obsessed with Naruto ever since he beat the Ace Ops, and she wouldn't leave him alone about it. Every night, she tried to pester him about a rematch, a few times even interrupting their dinner da—get togethers…their dinner get togethers.

'I'll give her a fight,' Ruby grumbled. 'Thinking I can't beat her.'

'You probably can't,' Kurama said. 'At least, not without revealing some of your secrets. She has you beat in taijutsu, and while you might be a little faster than her now, she can easily get around that scythe of yours. It would be close, but you still have more work to do.'

Ruby nodded begrudgingly, 'You're right.'

'Of course I'm right! This just means we need to up the training.'

Ruby groaned, causing the driver to look at her worriedly.

'Great…'

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

"You know," Jaune said as he hovered over Naruto. "I still think that you need to tell them about this."

Naruto didn't answer.

"From what you're telling me, I still haven't managed to shrink it any more in the past week and a half."

Still no response.

"She is going to be just as pissed at me when she finds out as she will be at you."

"She isn't going to find out." Naruto finally said, his eyes closed as he focused on his chakra.

Jaune was silent for a while. He didn't bother repeating himself. Thinking Ruby would never find out was stupidity at its finest.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked suddenly. "Your chakra is changing."

Naruto frowned, "I'm trying to see if I can train my body to recognize the cancer as a problem with my Senjutsu. I might not be able to get rid of what's left, but there might be a chance I can use my sun mark at least while I'm in Sage Mode without it growing any more."

"And the chances of that working?" Jaune asked doubtfully.

"Too low," Naruto sighed, finally releasing the nature chakra in his body. "If I managed True Sage Mode, then I might have a better chance now that the ring is helping my body fight it off."

"Do you really think that's what it is?" Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think you know enough about the body for it to be you," Naruto answered bluntly. "Either the ring somehow knows what to do on its own, or it's somehow reprogramming my body to at least start fighting the cancer off."

"How would it be doing that?" Jaune asked disbelievingly.

Naruto shrugged, sitting up as Jaune stopped channeling aura to his rings.

"I created the rings with the intent of taking each of your strengths, and taking it as far as it could possibly go. Hagoromo said that if you supply enough chakra, and had enough control of it, the chakra itself would become whatever you needed it to be. For most shinobi, it was a bigger fireball, or a bigger wall, or increased durability. They never had the control needed to really do anything crazy…"

"And you?" Jaune asked.

Naruto sighed, "Hagoromo helped me. I can manipulate huge amounts of chakra effortlessly. It's something I've always been good at. I get the feeling that, while Hagoromo can do the same, his skill comes in the finer parts of control. I think the two of us were the best combination possible in creating anything from pure chakra to fit our needs. I think when I thought 'I want each ring to serve as a bond to protect each other, and each ring to uniquely help each wearer to be the best they can be', it took it to the max."

Jaune was still confused, and Naruto could see that plain as day.

"Ruby was always going to be skilled, but I think that ring opened the door to do things with the light given to her that no other will ever be able to do. I think she could be the fastest being in existence given enough time…at least when it comes to pure speed. I think Ren will become more skilled in Mokuton than even the First Hokage was. I think Yang will be able to create explosions bigger than anything Sasuke or I have ever come up with. I think every single one of you will outshine everybody else in your field of expertise. How exactly for some of you, I don't know. But something tells me that you will be able to become the best healer in both Remnant, and my world, if not any other world out there."

"Are you serious?" Jaune asked with wide eyes. "I mean…Yang? Bigger explosions than you? Ruby? Faster than you? I don't think—"

"The gods told me that even they didn't know the true limits of these rings, Jaune." Naruto said quietly. "Some of the most powerful beings in existence don't understand what Hagoromo and I created. While, individually, you guys will still have a lot of work to do to catch up with Sasuke or me, I think together, you could defeat anything that comes your way given enough time and training. Of course, we would still have to merge all of your cores, but Pyrrha's progress is making me more and more sure of that."

Jaune stared at Naruto for a moment, "Even an Otsutsuki? Or a Celestial?"

Naruto scoffed as he stood and stretched, "Jaune, with enough hard work, I think the nine of you together could defeat a few of the bastards."

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

It was late at night, and Ruby had just finished her training. Currently she was in Naruto's dorm, sitting on his bed with him as he worked on her with one of his…treatment's. It wasn't every night that she asked Naruto of it, but Kurama definitely hadn't been kidding about upping her training.

"Mmm," Ruby groaned as he worked his hands on one of her feet. "It's always the feet that hurt the most."

"You're abusing them the most in your training," Naruto said with a frown. "You're not supposed to be going that fast that consistently. I'm surprised you haven't asked me to make you a new pair of boots yet this week."

Ruby smiled sheepishly, "You made them a lot more durable this time. They are still almost good as new!"

"Good."

Ruby frowned, "Are you still mad at me?"

Naruto's frown deepened, "You agreed to not go too hard with your training. You are pushing yourself every day. You're barely spending any time with your friends, and I know you usually wake up before everybody else to train before your missions. It isn't healthy."

"It's healthier than dying," Ruby said bitterly. Naruto shot her a dirty look, and she sighed. "Look, I know I agreed to it, but that was before Kurama was stuck in me! His healing is letting me go further than I would have been able to before! If I can fight Emerald and Neo, then you won't have to worry—"

"Weren't you just getting onto me a month ago for trying to take everything on myself?" Naruto asked suddenly, switching over to the other foot.

Ruby didn't know how to respond to that. After a moment, Naruto sighed, "I'm just not happy about it. Your friends aren't either. They miss you. They only see you during some missions and team training. They are worried about you."

"I know," Ruby whispered. "I miss them too."

Naruto didn't say anything else for a while, just moving up to her leg and beginning to work his chakra into those muscles.

Ruby bit her lip to prevent another groan from escaping, "H-Have you talked to my dad and Uncle Qrow recently?"

Naruto nodded, "They think they are getting close. They are following some rumors of a mysterious lady that has been helping defend some cargo transports against the Grimm. There have been multiple different claims as too what her semblance is."

"That's not very subtle," Ruby said worriedly. "Do you think Emerald knows about her?"

"Possibly," Naruto shrugged. "Depends on how much help Salem gave her. From what Qrow said, it sounds like Salem might have a way of tracking the maidens."

Ruby worried at her lip for another moment, "They will let us know if they need help, right?"

"They will let me know if they need help," Naruto corrected. "None of you are on the level of a maiden yet, and if there's a fight, Qrow and Tai will already be enough of a liability."

Ruby nodded reluctantly. She had seen Raven and Cinder fight at Haven, and to see how Emerald had beaten the woman was worrying. As much as she didn't like it, she knew she probably wasn't on that level yet. The fact that there was somebody who was on that level on their side was a miracle on its own.

"Thank you," Ruby said suddenly, causing Naruto to pause midway up her thigh. He had never gone any higher, and even after the moment of distraction, he switched to the other leg without any hesitation.

"Of course," Naruto said after a moment. "It's not that big of a deal, and I don't want you struggling during your missions either."

"No," Ruby shook her head, pushing his hand out of the way and reaching forward to hug him. "Thank you for everything. For fighting for us…with us, and giving Remnant the chance it needs. I don't know how we would do this without you."

Naruto was shocked for only a moment, but quickly wrapped his arms around the smaller girl. "There is nothing to thank me for. It's not just the chance you need. It's the chance you deserve. This planet was doomed by the gods. I swear I'll make it right. And I won't let the Otsutsuki hurt the people here either."

"You can't give yourself to them," Ruby mumbled into his neck, squeezing him tighter. "I know you've thought about it. They won't be happy with just you."

Naruto stiffened under her. He hadn't said anything to anybody about that, "Ruby…If I spent enough time gathering Nature Chakra, and stored it into my seal, there'd be enough to match Kurama's chakra. They might—"

"Kurama says to fuck off," Ruby cut him off. "…Ditto."

Naruto chuckled at her words, "Language!"

"Kurama cusses too much," Ruby sniffled. "I mean it Naruto. You can't do that. They would just take Kurama anyway and you know it."

Naruto sighed, "I know. I just…I just don't want them to hurt anybody here."

Ruby just squeezed him tighter in response.

Naruto patted her on the back, "I won't…I promise."

"Thank you," Ruby whispered.

"Now come on," Naruto prodded. "I just have to do your arms, then you can go."

"Shoulders too?" Ruby asked pleadingly.

"You didn't even do any…"

Ruby's pleading look intensified, and Naruto just sighed and shook his head in amusement.

"Fine…shoulders too."

Ruby separated herself from him, and he got to work. Yang had insisted on being present for the treatments for the first few days, but she quickly grew tired of being separated from her girlfriend. She settled for a warning for Naruto not to get too handsy, which he definitely didn't plan to do regardless.

By the time Naruto was halfway through with her shoulders, he heard a light snore from the girl. He wasn't surprised. The girl had become quite used to falling asleep while sitting up in the past month, and had done so regularly while Naruto was working. There had been quite a few times that Naruto had carried the girl to her team's dorm.

Ruby's exhaustion served as a reminder of her somewhat self-induced solitude in the past month, so none of the other girls commented on it on those occasions. If anything, the fact he had to carry her all the way to her bed only made them sad. While he had seen a large improvement in all their training, none started as early or finished as late as Ruby. And for good reason.

He gently laid her down on his bed, and propped himself up against the wall.

'I'll take her to her room in just a second,' Naruto thought tiredly. He was hiding it well, but he hadn't treated himself much better the past month. Every day, he sent clones over to Team TRQ to train whenever they were in deserted areas. They of course never travelled with the Hunters, just staying wherever they landed and commandeering that space to train.

That wasn't even to speak of the clones he had on…other assignments. Two in particular were of the utmost importance, so there wasn't any slack to be cut from them.

He had been more mindful of his condition, and hadn't suffered from the exertion. There was no denying, however, that the training, missions, as well as training Teams RWBY and JNPR was exhausting in its own right. His Uzumaki heritage was likely the only thing helping him match Ruby's pace, if not outpacing her due to his clones and large chakra reserves.

He was improving well enough though. He was entirely convinced he could beat Emerald without Senjutsu now without too much difficulty. His Rasenshuriken had saved him last time, but he had developed quite a few tricks so that he wouldn't have to rely on it.

He continued thinking on this until he too, embraced unconsciousness.

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

'You should probably wake up soon, Little Rose,' Kurama's voice echoed through Ruby's mind.

'Don't call me that!' Ruby grumbled. Only Tai called her that, and the warm memories deep in her mind suggested Summer did too. Kurama had insisted on calling her that ever since she had met him in her mindscape.

'Hmm,' Kurama snorted. 'You've already missed your morning training. I let you sleep in enough. You have your missions soon, and I'm sure Naruto does too. No point in the both of you missing them.'

'What do you mean?' Ruby groaned groggily. 'You don't let me miss any morning trainings! And what does Naruto have to do with me getting up?'

'Oh,' Kurama chuckled. 'Something's telling me that he won't be waking up until you do.'

Ruby let out a sigh of exasperation, only for her breath to meet resistance and tickle her nose. Her eyes fluttered open, and she reached to scratch at her nose. Only then did she realize she was pressed up against something rather firm, yet more comfortable than any body pillow she had ever slept with. She leaned back, looking up at said pillow.

Said pillow was a snoozing Naruto.

.

.

Said pillow was a snoozing Naruto!?

'What's he doing in my bed!' Ruby squeaked in her mind.

'Try again, Little Rose,' Kurama snorted.

A quick glance around told her she was, in fact, still in his dorm. Ruby took a calming breath, before looking back up at Naruto. She could feel her legs wrapped around his, just as they were during their picnic a month before. They were both laying on their sides, facing each other. Her face had been buried in his chest, a place she found increasingly more and more comfortable the more time she spent there…not that she was keeping track. Her head was using one arm as a pillow, while his other arm was sitting rather comfortably on her hip.

Ruby felt her face beginning to heat up. She fell asleep…again. Usually, she found herself in her own bed the next day, and never questioned whether Yang was the one coming and carrying her back, or if it was Naruto. If she had to guess, he fell asleep shortly after she did, and if Yang didn't come to get her, that meant he was the one that had been carrying her back. That was another embarrassing thought, but not more so than the current one.

She had just slept with Naruto! Well…not slept with but like…slept with…

Ruby quickly broke herself out of her thoughts, determined to worm out of Naruto's hold and sneak off to her own room. Avoiding an embarrassing stare down was definitely the way to go here.

She stole another quick glance at Naruto's closed eye before getting to work…only to freeze when she saw that warm ocean blue eye staring right back at her.

'He woke up!' Ruby squeaked at Kurama.

'Your puny ningen heart is making a racket,' Kurama snarked back. 'I'd have been disappointed if he didn't wake up!'

Ruby gulped as she stared into Naruto's one visible eye. They stared at each other for a few moments in shocked silence. Ruby was sure Naruto was trying to figure out how he ended up in this position, while she was mostly just focusing on trying to keep her face in the same realm of color it usually was while meeting his intense gaze.

The look in his eye though, quickly calmed her. He was staring at her with such an intensity, she very quickly found her worries and nervousness melting away. It actually…felt really nice waking up next to him. Ruby wondered if he felt the same way.

The staring continued for a few seconds…or a few hours…Ruby couldn't really tell at this point. Neither of them blinked though, nor did their eyes wander from each other's.

Suddenly Ruby felt Naruto's lips on hers, though she wasn't sure who initiated it. And by the gods, nothing had ever felt more right than that very moment. The warm feeling that was usually throbbing in her chest any time she was around Naruto suddenly burst into a blazing inferno, yet as the feeling climbed up her neck and onto her lips, she could only describe it as electricity.

She somewhat felt herself press her body closer to his. She may have also somewhat felt his hand move from her waist to the lower part of her back. And she might have sort of comprehended her hands gripping the front of his shirt.

But she most definitely did not feel herself throwing her leg over both of his and shift herself on top of him. Nor did she feel her hands moving from his shirt to gently caressing his cheeks. She did, however, feel her body's cries for oxygen. That was probably the only thing that separated her lips from his own.

Ruby pulled back slightly, still keeping her head bent close to his. Both Naruto and her were breathing heavily. It seemed that Naruto had also chosen to ignore his lungs need for oxygen in favor of the kiss.

"That…" Naruto said breathily, but didn't finish.

After taking a few breaths and steadying her heart, Ruby sat up. Looking down, she finally realized she was straddling Naruto's waist. She felt the blush on her face deepening, but didn't move.

"I uh…" Naruto blinked up at her. "I didn't mean too…"

"Oh shut up," Ruby shook her head, and leaned back down to steal another kiss. Naruto, being a smart man, wisely followed the order.

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

"Are you even paying attention?" Winter snapped at Naruto, whose thoughts were currently centered around a certain flower scented girl.

"What's that?" Naruto asked absentmindedly.

They were currently walking the streets of Mantle. They had spent most of the morning helping out with a certain rioting problem in Mantle. The riots had started last night, and Ironwood hadn't bothered them initially. They'd all been on missions and he didn't want them dead on their feet when the polls closed later the next night.

Winter rolled her eyes, "Well the riots have calmed down, and we don't have any more leads. I'll tell the general, but I'm getting the feeling that we are going to have to table this mission for now."

'Ah,' Naruto mused. 'That's right. A whole month with no leads on…well, myself really. Not surprising, considering I haven't exactly resurfaced.'

"We'd probably be better off defending the wall and helping with Amity anyway," Naruto said dismissively.

"You don't seem all that concerned about this security breach," Winter pointed out.

Naruto shrugged, "It's been over a month since the suspect was last seen. It went in the direction of Argus, then disappeared. There is no sign of him being in either Atlas or Mantle, and there isn't really anything to say he didn't just wash up somewhere else along the coast around Argus."

"True," Winter sighed. "The General just wants to be sure."

"I'm sure he does," Naruto agreed. "But at this point, we are just wasting our time."

"Let's head back to the Academy then," Winter decided. "The election polls close tonight anyway, so it'd be better to have as many people free for that anyway."

Naruto nodded, and they began walking towards the closest landing area. Naruto hadn't thought about the polls much, but he knew who he wanted to win. He hadn't been all too impressed with Jacques Schnee, and he wasn't impressed with Mantle's situation either. That wasn't to say that he was the biggest fan of Robyn either.

Since he heard of the woman threatening Ruby, he had a bit of a bone to pick with her. Regardless of that, her intentions were decent enough, if not the best way to go about her goals. He really did want her to win the election…maybe after a little nose breaking.

They arrived in Atlas fairly quickly, and Winter broke off to report to Ironwood. Naruto was left to fend for himself. A quick check on his Ikigai bonds told him that Ruby was currently on her way back to Atlas from another transport to Amity. Yang and Blake were coming back with her from the SDC mine, which apparently had another surge of Grimm overnight that needed clearing. Weiss hadn't been assigned to anything today, and was currently in their dorm. She was likely working on a project that Naruto had picked up. That was something she had been spending a lot of time with recently, mostly due to emotional motivations.

Team JNPR, minus Oscar, was still in Mantle doing their patrols. Given the time, Jaune was likely doing his crosswalk duty. Naruto felt a shiver run up his spine as he remembered Pyrrha's reaction to Nora letting slip that all the Mantle moms were quickly becoming enamored with the city's newest crosswalk guard. If he had any doubts that the emotional link was working like it used to, they disappeared when the girl's control over the link slipped in her fury.

So, Naruto had a little time to reflect. He hadn't really talked with Ruby after the few kisses they shared. Each one had been better than the last, but Naruto didn't know what they meant. Wasn't he…Ruby's teacher? Was it appropriate for them to be involved like this? Ruby had quickly left after realizing what time it was, so he didn't really get the chance to ask.

He knew what he wanted the kissing to mean, but he didn't know if she wanted the same thing. He'd had a crush on Sakura for almost the entire time he knew her, but nothing ever came of it. After Hinata's confession, he'd definitely thought of the girl more, and was hoping to try and expand on that train of thought after the war, but that obviously didn't happen.

He'd known both girls for years though! And here he was, having only known Ruby for a few months, and he had just kissed the girl! He didn't know why he did it. Her looking up at him, that increasingly common but cute, shy expression on her face, the spattering of red on her cheeks, her pounding heartbeat…it all proved too much, and he just found himself kissing her!

He'd half expected her to pull away from him, but he was pleasantly surprised to find her hopping on top of him halfway through the first kiss!

He hadn't felt quite at home like that in a long time. The only warmth he felt that compared to that kiss was meeting his parents, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that that was a different kind of happiness. It was accurate though. He felt happy when he was with Ruby, at least, happier than with anybody else. He was comfortable around her. She was almost the perfect mix of Hinata and Sakura, not that he could truly compare Ruby to them. She was kind, caring, and could definitely be as awkward as Hinata was, but she was also determined and fierce like Sakura was. Those were the traits that originally attracted him to the pinkette in the first place.

While he was dreading the possibility that Ruby would come to regret what happened that morning, he was equally excited at the hope that her feelings for him were the same as his for her.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughtful wonderings when he felt a large concentration of chakra just down the hall from the intersection he had come across. There were at least twenty guards between him and the chakra signature. He felt it flickering ominously. He knew that the woman he was sensing was close to death.

He'd known about the maiden's location since they arrived in Atlas and he sent his clones to scout out the entire city. Since then, he kept at least fifteen clones disguised in the Winter Maiden's room. He couldn't take the chance that Emerald and Neo wouldn't just change tactic and go for the obviously weaker maiden.

His scroll suddenly buzzed in his pocket. Noticing that it was Ruby, he answered quickly as he turned to walk back to his dorm.

"What's up Akaiho?" Naruto chirped out cheerily. No good in making things awkward with his nervousness.

"H-hey!" Ruby stuttered out. "Blake, Yang, and I are almost back to Atlas. If you're free to help us, we were going to do a little training together. You know since…"

Naruto immediately understood. Anytime they were working on anything slightly sensitive, Naruto made sure he was around. He was usually practicing his Senjutsu, and could sense any time anybody was approaching the room. The camera in the room was constantly covered when they were training. It was something Naruto was sure Ironwood had noticed, but he doubted Ironwood wanted to ruffle any more feathers in their group.

Everybody's patience was waning with Ironwood's handling with Mantle as it was. Luckily, Teams RWBY and JNR were impressing Ironwood enough that he was having most of the Ace Ops guarding the walls during the day. Their skill allowed for enough military personnel to take off during the day to increase their numbers at night. It wasn't as preferrable as actually fixing the wall, but it was much more manageable than assigning practically all of RWBY and the Ace Ops to Amity while leaving what little was left after all other necessary missions to a minimum.

Naruto shook his head, "Sure. I could use a little training myself. I'll meet you guys there in twenty minutes."

"Sounds good!" Ruby said happily, before hanging up.

Naruto sighed as he pocketed his scroll and entered his dorm. Thinking about Ironwood did raise some other concerns.

Tensions had been running high for much of the month. Ren in particular was taking the pressure rather hard. After learning more of his past, Naruto knew why. Ren had seen first hand the worst it could get when the people that were supposed to defend the weak and innocent failed. Nora had too, but she managed to procure a different outlook on it. At least, that's what Naruto assumed, considering their disagreements in the past few weeks.

Pyrrha was training almost as hard as Ruby. She made it clear to Naruto that she wanted to jump back into the swing of things as soon as she was able. Already, Naruto could safely say she could fight any of her friends as they were at Haven without being too concerned about her lack of aura.

Ruby was still largely ahead of the resurrected girl though, and likely would be until Ruby herself had her core merged and had to relearn everything she could already do with her chakra rather than her aura.

Everything was going well enough, but Naruto couldn't help but think he wasn't considering all of the risks in their situation. Salem, Emerald, Salem's other minions, Neo, the Grimm,…and the God of Darkness' pets.

A little research, as well as some advice from Ozpin, had unearthed some possibilities. God's Fallen Angels, which numbered seven, The Seven Deadly Sins, The Seven Virtues, and The Seven Dwarves of the White Princess. The last one sounded silly, but then Naruto thought of their names. The Apathy quite literally made their victims apathetic. Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, Bashful, and the Doctor. Odd names to be made in a fairy tale without any particular point…unless there was a message to be delivered, perhaps? Again, only his experience with The Apathy had him thinking of this.

The Seven Virtues and The Seven Deadly Sins were fairy tales that only surfaced within the past few decades, or at least that's what Ozpin said. The old headmaster said he tried to keep up to date with all fairy tales. His and Salem's own fairy tale like love had him convinced that the witch spread the tales herself, with tiny pieces of truth sprinkled in the mix.

Ozpin argued that his keeping tabs on new fairy tales had worked in his favor in the past, so Naruto wasn't going to dismiss those either, even if he believed that the Sins were more likely than the Virtues.

Truly though, his money was on God's Fallen Angels. Seven Angels created by an all-powerful god that were disgraced and cast down to Remnant to spread their evils. Lucifer, Chemosh, Moloch, Leviathan, Azazel, Beezlebub, and Samyaza.

Naruto felt that there were too many coincidences within even just the summary of the story. An all-powerful god? Check's the God of Darkness' destructive tendencies. His creations being disgraced? Well considering the God of Darkness' dislike for humans, it could only be assumed that humans had a similar outlook towards him. Cast to Remnant to spread their evils? If the god of Darkness created them each personally, Naruto would bet money that their power and hatred for anything human would run deeper than any normal Grimm.

It also helped that this tale was among the oldest around. So old that it took Ozpin quite a bit of prodding to even remember it.

Sure, there were plenty of tales about terrifying beasts, but none of them fit. There were two stories, the Four Horsemen, and The Fox in the Hound each suggested horrific beings, but the numbers didn't match, and they also surfaced around the same time as the stories of the Sins and Virtues. Ozpin himself said that there was no telling whether a story was leaked by Salem's agents, or created by tired mothers that wanted their children to behave. Naruto simply thought the likelihood of anything so recent being what the God of Darkness warned him of was extremely low.

The biggest problem with his theory of the creatures being the fabled God's Fallen Angels, was that there was really no information about them. Naruto was only able to get one piece of information about each Angel from Ozpin, for the man swore there was nothing else.

Lucifer's name in an ancient language meant Light Bringer.

Chemosh, he who was never lonely.

Moloch had often been regarded as a bull-headed creature that could only be appeased with living child sacrifices.

Leviathan meant to twine and twist in folds in a separate ancient language, leading many to believe it to be a giant serpent. Although Remnant had already named one Grimm as Leviathan, Naruto wouldn't fool himself into thinking that they were one and the same.

To sacrifice yourself to Azazel meant a death so quick, there was no opportunity for pain.

Beezlebub, Lord of the Flies, brought decay and rot everywhere he traveled.

And finally was Samyaza, he who promised unimaginable bliss and ecstasy just before he killed you.

The implied powers in each of these monsters truly sounded like something that a Celestial could create. Naruto was convinced this was most likely, though he remained weary of all the other tales. Unfortunately, with such limited information, he couldn't really dwell on it.

Almost exactly twenty minutes later, Naruto found himself entering the training room that they had taken to using since they arrived in Atlas. Teams RWBY and JNPR were already there, minus Weiss.

"Where's Weiss?" Naruto asked. He felt she was on her way to a training room, but he figured she would have hurried here as soon as she heard they were training.

"Winter showed up right when I called her," Ruby chuckled nervously. "She decided to do a little training with her sister."

Well, that explained that.

"So, let's get this started!" Ruby said excitedly. Her excitement at the beginning of her nightly training never failed to surprise Naruto, especially knowing that she would be at it for almost seven hours straight, much longer than any of her teammates.

Her expectant look always told him that the excitement was due to the fact that Naruto was able to help her with her…more dangerous training topics.

"Alright, alright," Naruto chuckled. "Let's get started with—"

Naruto quickly looked behind him. He wasn't in Sage Mode, so he hadn't felt Ironwood and Clover approaching until right before he entered the room. It didn't help that the only negative emotions Naruto ever felt from Ironwood was when the man was looking directly at him, and a much more suppressed but constant state of stress and paranoia.

"Or maybe not," Ruby deflated. 'I just wanna finish this training so I can get another massage and sneak another kiss—I mean sleep!'

'Tch,' Kurama huffed. 'If I knew that Naruto shoving his tongue down your throat would motivate you even more, I'd have told him to do it long ago.'

Her face a flaming red, Ruby immediately shushed Kurama while Ironwood began speaking.

"You know," Ironwood smirked at them. "While I'm happy it's easy to find all of you, you guys spend entirely too much time in here."

"We kind of have to," Ruby said after Kurama had stopped his teasing. "With how everything's going."

Ironwood pulled out his scroll, and a projection of the polls popped up. Robyn was beating Jacques by a landslide so far.

"They aren't going so well so far."

"Tch," Yang shook her head. "Better Robyn than Jacques."

Ironwood nodded hesitantly, "You're probably right, but neither of them are a big fan of me. I'm definitely worried about our stability."

"You could convince her to work with you," Nora said evenly. "She wants to help Atlas and Mantle just as much as we do. If she knew what was going on…"

"Perhaps," Ironwood said tiredly. "But she would have to be just as willing to listen as I am to explain."

Nora frowned at him, but before she could say anything else, Ren spoke up.

"Do you have another mission assignment for us?"

"In a manner of speaking," Clover stepped forward, seeing that Ironwood was rubbing his eyes. "The General and I think that you all should take the night off to recuperate."

"Huh?" Yang raised an eyebrow. "We are already—"

"I'm ordering it," Ironwood said, but clarified when Naruto shot him warning glance. "We are going to be waking up to a very different Atlas tomorrow. And even then, it's entirely possible that tonight could be a breaking point in either Mantle or Atlas. I'd prefer if all of you were in tip top shape, and not exhausted from training. You can obviously use the night as you wish, I just ask that you keep your scrolls on you in case of an emergency."

Everybody was silent for a moment as the seriousness of the elections settled in. Robyn and Jacques have both shown to be unreasonable at times, and neither of them were happy about Amity. It was entirely possible that tonight's election could prove to stall their plans or even work in Atlas' favor. And in the case of Jacques winning, the election could stand to increase their problems with Mantle.

"That's a good idea," Naruto said in a final tone. "You guys train too hard to be in top shape should something happen tonight."

They all considered Naruto's words, and eventually everybody nodded.

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

When Weiss rejoined them, she decided to join Jaune and Oscar in going to the movies. Blake and Yang decided to go out with another Atlas Academy team they had been spending some time with in the past month, while Nora and Ren decided to go to Robyn's victory party. It hadn't surprised anybody that Naruto and Ruby were planning on staying at the Academy.

"Do you think Robyn is going to win?" Ruby asked Naruto from her position on his bed. She was currently tapping away on her scroll while he balanced on one toe…on the sharp end of an unfolded Crescent Rose while gathering Nature Chakra.

The ceilings in the Atlas Academy dorms were really high.

"As much as I don't like her," Naruto scoffed. "I think she should. She's better than Jacques, and her popularity speaks for itself."

Ruby rolled her eyes, "You haven't even met her!"

"Don't need to."

Ruby groaned, and then disappeared in a burst of rose petals.

Naruto of course knew where she was, but it didn't change his surprise when he opened his eye and saw Ruby upside down in front of him.

"Uhh," Naruto looked up, and saw her feet connected with the ceiling by rose petals of all things. They wrapped around her feet and ankles, and connected to the ceiling itself, somehow melding into it. "Impressive. Is this something you've been working on?"

"Kinda," Ruby smiled cheekily. "It's kind of just something I found out I was able to do along the way."

"It's really impressive," Naruto repeated in praise. "You're taking your semblance a lot further than even I expected. Is there anything else you're planning on doing with it now that you've perfected it?"

Ruby bit her lip, "Well, I've been practicing with Kurama. I'm trying to take it even further."

Naruto narrowed his eye, "Ruby…"

"It's nothing really dangerous!" Ruby rolled her eyes. "Kurama is actually having me meditate on it. I feel like I have so much more control over my semblance, but I still can't get this right no matter how hard I try!"

"Well, before you thought you only had your speed. Now you know that you're actually controlling your entire body composition with roses as a medium. It's not surprising." Naruto frowned, "What are you trying to do?"

Ruby hummed thoughtfully, before grinning at him mischievously, "That's a secret!"

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his nose lightly, before giggling and petal bursting back to his bed.

Naruto smiled at her, quickly jumping down and folding up Crescent Rose, "You're lucky those petals disappear after a while."

Ruby waved him off sassily, "You like the way they smell anyway."

"My room always smells like roses!" Naruto rolled his eyes.

Ruby took her scroll back out when it dinged, "Sounds like you're complaining…I can always stop…"

"No!" Naruto waved his hands and shook his head. "No need for that! I was just kidding!"

"Mhmm," Ruby smirked as she opened up a message from Nora. Her smirk quickly disappeared as she read the contents of the message.

{Look at the polls! Jacques is pulling up!}

"Uh oh," Ruby muttered.

"What's up?" Naruto asked, his face immediately setting into serious visage.

"Hold on," Ruby said quietly as she switched her screen over to the voting polls. She sighed when she saw the live vote count. "It's forty-five to fifty-five. Jacques is getting really close!"

"That's not good," Naruto frowned, sitting down beside her as he studied the screen. "It's only been like thirty minutes since we last checked! He went from thirty percent to forty-five? That's a thirty percent change altogether, isn't it? How is that possible in such a short time?"

"No clue," Ruby frowned. "But I imagine Mantle isn't happy about it. We should probably get ready just in case."

Naruto nodded, and in five minutes, they were on their way to Ironwood's office.

"General!" Ruby called out as they entered his office. Ironwood was staring at his scroll in absolute shock.

"How is this possible?" He muttered. "Jacques won!"

Naruto and Ruby both winced. The Ace Ops, minus Marrow, came in behind them. They appeared to be just as ready as Naruto and Ruby.

"Dammit!" Ironwood shouted, banging his hand on his desk. "In thirty minutes, he took a forty percent lead from Robyn. With how bad this looks, Mantle won't take this laying down! We need everybody prepared to deal with both the civilians, and the Grimm!"

Clover nodded, "Just tell us where you want us General."

Ironwood took a moment to steady his breathing, when suddenly his scroll alerted him to something else.

"What the—" Ironwood squinted at it for a moment. "Marrow sent out a panic alert. Multiple wounded or dead from an unknown assailant. Bystanders and Robyn herself suspected Penny and attacked. They barely escaped—"

A loud alarm suddenly started sounding through Atlas.

Ironwood's grim expression darkened even further, "And there go the Grimm. Get down there and just go where you're needed the most…Hopefully we can escape this without too much damage."

"Yessir!" Clover nodded. The Ace Ops started turning to leave, when suddenly, a deep, blood red portal opened between Naruto and Ironwood.

The Ace Ops and Ironwood drew their weapons, while Naruto and Ruby's eyes widened. This couldn't mean anything good.

Not even a second passed before Qrow came flying through the portal, crashed to the ground, and rolled to a stop against the wall.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby gasped, running over to make sure her uncle was alright. Naruto was right behind her.

Even Ironwood came to the man's side, wanting to make sure his friend was alright. The Ace Ops shifted their position, standing between the portal and their general.

"Qrow!" Naruto shook the man gently. "What happened!"

"T-t-they found the m-maiden before us," Qrow stuttered, his body twitching uncontrollably. "Raven got me out right after they broke my aura. N-Neo got the Summer Maiden powers. I-I-I don't know how long Raven c-can keep them off T-Tai. His aura is almost gone!"

Ruby's eyes widened in fear, she turned and darted around the Ace Ops and towards the portal, determined to try and help her dad. She was a step away from going through, when an invisible force suddenly started dragging her back to Naruto.

"Naruto let me go!" She shouted at him as he grabbed her.

Naruto quickly passed her to Ironwood, who instantly understood what he was planning, though his eyes plainly said he wanted anything different. It wasn't like he had much choice though. He wouldn't send his own people into a suicide mission like this. Not against two maidens.

"You stay here and help Mantle," Naruto told her firmly, grabbing her by the arms and making sure she was listening to him. "They will kill you without hesitation. And they can! I'll get your dad, but stay here!"

Ruby stopped struggling against Ironwood, and stared into Naruto's eyes. She had known this was a possibility, but the fact that Qrow was already out of the fight, and her father was stuck against two maidens was about the most terrifying thing she could think of.

"Please…" Ruby said pleadingly, her eyes watering. "Not my dad too."

Naruto raised his hand to her face, brushing a thumb over her cheek, "I promise."

And then he was gone, weaving between the Ace Ops and through the portal before any of them even knew he had moved.

They heard the distorted echo of metal clanging against metal, and the portal snapped closed with an audible pop.

I changed my mind after posting the first chapter…I figured it was worth doing a double update if I could end on a cliff hanger!

I have been waiting so long to write that scene between Naruto and Ruby, and I still don't feel like I did it justice. I definitely appreciate romance much better than I can write it.

Now, tensions are rising in Mantle, and Naruto isn't able to help with Emerald and Neo attacking Tai and Raven. Neo is a maiden now. How will that change things I wonder?

All to be shown in the next chapter of course. I appreciate you guys, and I hope you were able to enjoy these two chapters. Can't say for sure when the next one will be out, but I hope it will be before the end of January.

Until next time!