The Grimm Change

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY

Naruto looked over his shoulder as he sprang from branch to branch, gradually disappearing from the view of the applauding crowd. He cursed under his breath, as he realized that this was not good news for him. The more popular he grew, the more he would come to be scrutinised, and it wouldn't be long before someone would realize that he hadn't existed until a year ago. That was the reason he had refrained from using any major shinobi techniques in the Tournament, and instead chose to stick to things which were normal in Remnant. Like sword fighting and his Aura.

But even as he jumped away, he knew that the crowd already had all they needed. Almost every person watching had been filming the entire scenario, and it wouldn't be long before they posted those videos on ScrollTube. And that would only lead to him growing more popular.

He could already imagine the earful he'd be getting from Wokian once the old man hears of this incident. His mentor had really tried to stress upon the importance of hiding one's abilities, although it was for different reasons. Wokian thought that it would be better for him if his opponents never knew what they were up against, and that would give him an advantage.

But despite knowing all of this, he was still happy for some reason. Admittedly, it was a rather small part of him, but it was enough to make him smirk, and to cause his tail to sway restlessly. Naruto recalled the first part of the Chunin Exams. Everybody there had already heard about people like Sasuke, and Gaara and Neji. Those guys stood out. And Naruto had aspired to do the same. To be known and respected. For his opponents to know how powerful he was before he even stepped onto the battlefield.

He had experienced a small sample of it earlier with Jaune, and it had been an amazing feeling. He didn't know whether that made him a bad person, to be pleased by the fear and anxiety of others, but he still enjoyed the sensation. He had never felt as, respected as he had then.

Naruto sighed as he shook his head. He really had to stop thinking about it that way. He quickly reminded himself that he was not an ordinary citizen of Remnant, and he had to ensure that he didn't cause any extremely suspicious behaviour. It was the reason for why he was participating in the Mistral Regional instead of going into the wild to fight Grimm and bounty hunters. A young teenager who could beat other teenagers was understandable. A young teenager who could defeat Grimm and bounty hunters, not so much.

With a quick leap, he landed onto smooth tarmac, having made his way out of the forest. It was getting dark, but Naruto knew he couldn't just go to his apartment yet. He still had to go to Wokian, and tell him of the Grimm he encountered. He didn't want to, as it would no doubt lead to him bringing up all the people who saw him, but he had to inform him. It was part of a small agreement the two had, in which Naruto had agreed to never actively search for a Grimm, and to always inform Wokian if he ever saw one, in exchange for all you can eat free ramen once a month. Naruto didn't understand why this was so important to Wokian, but he wasn't stupid enough to turn away free ramen.

He threw aside the curtain to the stall and walked in. His mentor was currently washing some dishes behind the counter, and he looked up with a smile to see his student.

"So, what are you doing here right now?" The old man asked, as he continued to scrub a large pot from the inside. "You've already had as much ramen as ten people can eat today, and I don't think I'd be a good teacher if I allowed you to have any more."

"Yeah, actually, this is sort of an emergency." The boy responded awkwardly, as he scratched the scruff of his neck.

Wokian immediately ceased his scrubbing, and looked up to the teenager with complete focus. Any signs of humour had vanished from his face without any trace. "What sort of emergency?"

Naruto gulped, as he chuckled again, growing even more nervous. "Well, I actually had an...encounter...with a Grimm."

Immediately, his mentor's face hardened, as if he had grown very angry. And so, it was at this opportune moment that Naruto decided to blurt out the rest of the story. "And, half of the town kinda saw me beat it."

The boy saw no changes to Wokian's face, but he already wore an angry look, so it didn't matter too much. The old man seemed to clench his jaw, before he looked back towards his student. "How did you just find a Grimm? And how did the townspeople see you beat it?" He spoke in a low, angry tone, demanding an explanation from his student.

"I didn't look for it, I had just been in the forest when it showed up. It attacked me, so I had to kill it. Once I beat it, I turned around, and all the people were just standing there, watching the whole thing. I didn't even notice they were there."

The shopkeeper regarded the blond with a speculative gaze, before sighing. "Well, if that is the case, there isn't much we can do, now is there?"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, it's not like I did all of that on purpose."

"You idiot! You honestly think I'm fine with this? How can you not realize a literal crowd had gathered behind you. That is the lamest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. I expected better from you!" Wokian yelled, before bringing his staff down onto the teenager's head.

The boy held his head as a small bump formed upon it, as he cursed under his breath. Of course his sensei wouldn't be forgiving. Goddamn the old man packed a hit too.

Two hours later, the boy walked home, with quite a few bruises, and having been thoroughly yelled at by his mentor.

'I swear, the guy is way too serious about this kinda stuff.' The blond thought as he made his way through the streets.

"In my opinion, he was correct. Becoming famous for strength does not always lead to good. Take it from one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, power brings a lot of undesirable attention. And the reason I'm currently stuck within you is due to the notoriety I had earned for myself through my power." The Kyuubi rambled, and Naruto couldn't help but agree.

Soon, he had arrived at his apartment, where he saw a bunch of his clones sitting around, reading through some books. But the instant he entered the room, they all expelled, causing a sudden, sharp pain to shoot through his head. "Gaahh, those damned clones!" He cried, while rubbing his head until the pain faded. He pulled his sword and its holder off of his back, before placing it next to the bed.

He looked over himself, and unconsciously grabbed his own tail. The tail served as a continued reminder of what had been before this, and how he was not the same anymore. Heck, he was sure none of the people back in Konoha would even recognise him as he was now if it weren't for the fact that he was the only living person in the entire village with hair and eyes like his own.

He sighed, as he let go of his tail and slumped into bed. That was true. Nobody back at Konoha would've recognised this new person he had become. Not only in regards to his abilities, but also to the way he went about his life. He trained harder. He studied. He thought. All of this was definitely for the better. But none of the people who had known the old Naruto were around to see him grow better. And it was to those thoughts that Naruto fell asleep.

Naruto had no match on the next day, so he was able to sleep in a little. But even his laze had changed, and he was out of bed before nine. He didn't quite want to train, but he still had three hours to burn, and he had no better way to do it. 'Goddamn, I need to get a hobby.'

"I have a suggestion for your training. Why don't we work on your spiritual energy, your Semblance?" The Bijuu offered.

'Yeah, I would, but Wokian warned me not to ever since that one time I passed out.' The teenager pointed out dejectedly.

The fox only chuckled at that. "Of course he did, because he doesn't understand it. He most likely believes that you don't have enough spiritual energy to sustain your ability, but that is not the case. The Susanoo is no simple Semblance. It is something you can only learn to control through experience. And trust me when I say you have more than enough Semblance to use it. You merely need practice."

This knowledge excited Naruto, as he had grown very interested in his strange Semblance ever since he had first activated it. He had thoroughly enjoyed using it, and he had to admit it was cool. It had been unfortunate that he was not able to continue using it, but he felt it could be a deadly weapon in battle.

So, in the confines of the forest, Naruto sat and concentrated on bringing out his Semblance once more. The Kyuubi had been correct, as it was much easier this time, and a small ethereal orange ribcage formed around him almost immediately. He got to his feet, and it only wavered for a moment, before it grew stable once more.

The flow of power flooded Naruto, as the orange structure radiated warmth and comfort. He grew excited as he stood within the frame, basking in its strength. He could feel a numb sensation of pain tugging at him from his core, but it was bearable. 'This is amazing.'

"Unfortunately, I must agree. This is one of the strongest techniques to exist in the ninja world, and coming from a Bijuu, that counts as a compliment.

Now, you need to take your Susanoo to the next level. Imagine having arms, amd slowly push more spiritual energy into your Susanoo."

The teenager eagerly followed the directions given to him, and watched as two huge, skeletal arms appeared at his sides. They were still disconnected from the rest of the ribcage, but at least he had been able to form them without collapsing to his knees. He raised his arms, and the suspended limbs of the Susanoo copied his movements. But moving his arms was difficult. Very difficult. It felt as if he was trying to move them through molten lead. Not only were the motions difficult, but they also caused a searing pain in his arms.

"The pain is because you're using too much spiritual energy again. But don't worry, I'm sure you will grow to use the Susanoo to its full extent. Before you know it, you'll be able to move the Susanoo with just a thought." The fox encouraged, quite amazed by the growth of the blond.

The words of his tenant only inspired the teen to try even harder, as he pointed his palms towards the ground, moving the Susanoo arms as well. His own arms fell just below his waist, but the Susanoo arms were long enough to make contact with the ground below him. He then concentrated on pushing upwards, as flaring pain flew through his entire upper body.

The Kyuubi was amazed at how diligent the child was. He was forcing himself through pain which was practically unbearable just to grow stronger. It amazed the Bijuu to see someone willing to thoroughly work themselves to the bone to grow just a little bit stronger.

Using his Susanoo arms, Naruto was able to push off from the ground, as his arms held not only him, but the ethereal ribcage nearly ten feet above the floor.

The structure flickered, before giving way, as the boy fell down and landing on the ground. 'Ugh, that was unexpected.' He thought, as he lay down on the grass, completely exhausted.

"Of course it was exhausting! You aren't giving your body time to adjust to using so much Semblance. If it hadn't been for my chakra healing you, you would've most likely died."

Naruto weakly chuckled at the Kyuubi's ire. 'That is exactly why I didn't stop. Because I knew you would be able to heal me, no matter how bad it got. And I'm gonna do it again, and again, and again. And every time I get healed, I'm gonna do it all over again.'

"Are you retarded?! You will not be able to do every thing you want just by relying upon me and the healing factor I give you. You need to learn to be strong yourself!" The fox reprimanded, growing infuriated at the boy's stubbornness.

Naruto chuckled again. 'And here I was thinking you were smarter than that. You idiot, I'm not going to rely on you. I can't. It isn't right for me or for you. But, I am going to use every perk of being a Jinchuriki to become as strong as I can myself.' The Huntsman-in-training rose to his feet, ignoring his sore back as he continued. 'I, Naruto Uzumaki, promise that I will never rely on your active powers in a battle. I need your help, Kyuubi, so that I can train myself, to become the strongest I can be, using my own abilities.'

There was a short pause of silence, before the Kyuubi responded. "Kid, you really are a crazy one." But, despite his words, the Bijuu had a smile on his face.

'Well, guess I'll just have to grow strong enough using my own powers to prove you wrong, eh?' The blond challenged, as he summoned his Susanoo once more. He was pleased that this time he was able to summon both the arms and the ribcage, without feeling any stress other than a small pressure within his stomach.

Author's Note:

Okay, okay, okay, before you judge me in the comments or flame the late update, I'd really just like to apologize, and tell you all some good news. I realized why I had grown unable to post or write this story, and I am going to eliminate that problem, which will lead to way less writer's block stuff.

Furthermore, I wasn't exactly completely off FanFiction. As it was, I had come up with some really great ideas, but due to my general lack of time, I could only start the stories, and I was unable to put in much effort. This is mostly because I was working on a lot of school stuff, but thankfully that is over for now. But, every time I wrote something on Fanfiction, but didn't post on this account, I felt guilty. So, to hide that, I basically went and made a tonne of extra accounts to post stuff. JKJK, there were only two other accounts. XD.

But, I'm out of that phase now, and I'm hoping on making a strong return to FanFiction now. I will also remove my fics on other accounts and post them here, to just organize my work. So that'll happen.

Okay, that was most of the major stuff I guess. Oh and I just want to give a sort of acknowledgement to somebody. That person is jacke44, who sent me a PM a week or so ago and asked me if I would continue this. It really made me realize how much I had neglected fanfic for this whole year, and that PM was why this chapter is probably a whole month earlier than I thought it would be. So, thanks jacke44.

Well, that is it. Please follow or favourite if you enjoyed the chapter, and don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions. That's a wrap.

PS: I recently saw Camp Camp, binged it, and I must say, I am loving it. I would really recommend it, and if any of you have seen the show and you like it, hit me up. Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Camp

Peace Out

Kofukuna Shi No Kami