It wasn't hard to notice the tension that had risen between Naruto and Yang.

They had made it a point to sit on opposite ends of the table at the cafeteria. They never next to each other in any classes and they never visited the others room. Yang had also made it a point to make sure that Whenever Naruto was in the vicinity, she was next or close to Ruby.

Unfortunately, there was only one class that Yang didn't have access to. Leadership class. And Ruby had been assigned the seat next to Naruto. So she made it a point to head to the class when it was close to ending and walk with Ruby. Much to Ruby's ire.

"Yang he's not going to do anything," Ruby said with irritation in her voice as the two had entered their room.

"I don't trust him," Yang huffed.

"Yeah and that's your problem with him," Ruby huffed. "Besides it's not like he's out to get me,"

"You don't know that," Yang shot back.

"And you do," Ruby countered.

"Well, Yang may have a point," Weiss said as she spoke up. Ruby looked utterly betrayed.

"You're just saying that because he's a Faunus," Blake interrupted.

"No I'm not," Weiss defended. "I admit it doesn't help his case for me but Ruby did tell us that he attacked her when they first met," Blake had to concede to that point.

Line Break

"Man what have you done to piss her off so bad," Church asked as he looked at Naruto.

"Did you tell her Santa wasn't coming?" Caboose asked. "I hate it when people say that,"

"Shut up you idiot," Church said.

"But seriously," Percy spoke up. "Can you think of anything you've done to her?"

'I was born,' Naruto thought. "Not in the slightest," Then he thought for a moment as he continued stirring the bowl in his hand. "Well I did attack her sister prior to coming here,"

"What?!" Roxas asked alarmed.

"And then I did fight her on the cliff after the exam,"

"What?!" Percy shouted.

"And I guess we can count forever fall but we only charged at each other before we were interrupted.

"Oh my Oum," Church groaned.

Line Break

"You mean you've fought him more than once," Weiss asked alarmed.

"Well yes," Ruby said. "But I did start the second one,"

"Because of something he said no doubt," Yang scoffed.

"Well actually," Ruby began.

Line Break

"Wait so she started it after the exam," Percy confirmed.

"Yeah," Naruto said as he poured more material into the bowl. "She claimed her kill was better." Naruto explained.

Line Break

"Well it was!" Yang said. "Plus his plan nearly got you killed,"

"That's true," Blake supported. "But it wasn't like he knew Ruby was running up the cliff."

"It was still pretty reckless," Weiss supplied.

Line Break

Team JNPR was eavesdropping on both room. After a minute the team regrouped.

"So what do you think?" Jaune asked.

"I believe that Yang's concern while merited are somewhat over exaggerated," Ren said.

"What no way!" Nora exclaimed. "She's only looking out for her sister,"

"By being hostile to Naruto all the time," Jaune countered.

"Nora does raise a good point," Pyrrha advised. "This all started because Naruto attacked Ruby,"

"Yeah but he apologized about it," Jaune said.

"That doesn't make it better," Nora nearly yelled.

"So what the best solution is to constantly be hostile to him?!" Jaune and Nora were in each other's faces.

"Um guys," Ren tried.

"Let's all calm dawn," Pyrrha finished.

Then without explanation Jaune grabbed Ren and Nora grabbed Pyrrha and headed into one of the two rooms.

"C'mon Ren lets go show our support," Jaune said as he opened UMPR's door.

"Girl power all the way Pyrrha!" Nora said as she opened RWBY's door.

Before either door could close Jaune and Nora looked at each other.

"Still friends?" Jaune asked.

"You know it!" Nora said cheerfully. Then the two closed the door to the respective teams.

Line Break

"Jaune, Ren," Naruto called out as he continued stirring. "Why are you here?"

"We support you," Jaune said. The others just looked at him confused.

"He means with the Yang situation," Ren explained. "Which I believe has turned into the Ruby situation,"

"So I'm guessing Nora and Pyrrha are for the other team," Percy said.

"Yup," Jaune popped the p.

"Huh, I was sure Nora would be on this side," Roxas said.

Line Break

"Huh, I was sure Roxas would be on this side," Nora said.

"Guys look I think your blowing this out or proportion," Ruby tried. Somehow the conversation had gone from Yang's problem with Naruto to Ruby's problem with Naruto. How, she didn't know.

"Ruby it's not fine," Yang said. "I'm telling you I'm getting a bad vibe around him,"

"But-" Ruby began but then she noticed something. "Wait so Jaune and Ren are with Naruto?"

"Yes," Pyrrha answered.

Blake seemed to pick up on the underlying question. She looked up and indeed it was all of the girls in here while all of the boys were in Naruto's room. 'Oh joy,' She thought sarcastically.

Line Break

"This is not going to end well for anyone," Church said.

"Has this scuffle really evolved into a battle of the sexes?" Roxas asked aloud.

"Apparently," Percy said.

"So what do you suggest," Church asked.

"We bake them a cake," Caboose said immediately. "Made out of juice,"

"Shut up," Church responded.

"Speaking of baking," Percy said. "What are you cooking Naruto?"

"Cookies," Naruto said as he put the last dough ball on a tray. With that he got up and headed out the door going to the cafeteria. He was unaware of the boys that were giving him quizzical looks as he left.

Line Break

miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari

Naruto is falling down but completely relaxed about it. Team JNPR shifts threw the screen Pyrrha looks at the screen with her hands behind her back a smile on her face. Jaune looks up at the screen with a bit of confusion as he passes by. Nora is in mid tackle of Ren who also has a smile on his face.

miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari
Naruto appears once again but this time he's standing up looking at the screen with a cocky grin on his face. The camera looks at him from a downward angle to revel Ruby who's standing a bit away from him and looking into the opposite direction. The rest of team UMPR and RWBY appear on the screen all with various poses. Then one by one the spin and disappear except for Naruto and Ruby.

Instrumental

Naruto and ruby are closer now, both of them in their regular clothes. Ruby has a pair of headphones on and her arms crossed as she looks off with a smile on her face. Naruto had his hands behind his back and a cocky grin on his face as he looks in the opposite direction. They disappear and the screen shows various scenes of the teams or only a few of them going through their daily lives at Beacon. UMPR slowly pops on the screen as the scenes fade out.

hitotsu futatsu kane no ne wa hibiku kokoro no naka e to hiroku fukaku

Jaune is standing and looking one way then it shifts to Ruby with her Scythe being held behind her.
monogatari no youna hoshi no shizuku sono naka ni hosoi senro wo kizuku

it finally shifts to Naruto who has his hands up and ready to go as if he's expecting a fight.

jikan to tomo ni jidai wa ugoku nagareru hoshi wa shizuka ni ugoku

the scene shifts to Ozpin and his teachers all standing in front of Beacon.

me wo tojite mimi wo sumaseba GOOD BYE

The scene shifts to Ozpin who sips his coffee. Then to Roman who had a cocky look on his face.

hanate hikari makezu ni shikkari ima

Naruto and Ruby are arguing about something.

toki wo koe dareka ni todoku made

They both pull out their weapons and look ready for a fight. But Caboose comes as he keeps going back and forth threw Church.

eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni

Naruto and Ruby look at each other and then join in with Caboose.

KIMItachi to tsukutteiku SUTO-RI-

Suddenly al of the other members show up and do the same thing. Church gains a tic mark on his face and starts yelling at them.

miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari

Team UMPR charge into an area full of grimm and begin to fight them.

inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo

Roxas cuts a few of them down while Percy stabs his trident down to use as a lift to jump over Roxas to stab another one.

koe iroaseru KOTO naku todoku

Caboose is shooting every grimm that Naruto is kicking and punching into the air. Naruto turns around to punch a grimm that was behind him.

KIRARI hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi

Ruby appears on the screen with a smile. She begins to speed side to side covering the screen with rose petals.

kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo

It shows a wall next as everyone begins to paint their symbols on it.

chikara aru kagiri ikiteikunda kyou mo

The group looks to their right as a red and blue flashing light appears. They look surprised and begin to run in the opposite direction as the cops chase them.

miageta yozora no hoshitachi no hikari

After the cops pass the symbols on the wall begin to glow and slowly pop off of the wall and the wall disappears.

inishie no omoi negai ga jidai wo koe iroaseru KOTO naku todoku

Ruby and Naruto are in the picture diagonal from each other. They slowly look at the screen Ruby with a calm smile and Naruto with a cocky grin. They're both in their Beacon uniform,

bokura no omoi mo itsuka dareka no mune ni hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni

Suddely they're in squares and in their regular clothes. The begin to shift around so all of the other characters are able to appear on the screen. All of them looking ready for battle.

Line Break

"Are they done yet?" Ruby asked impatiently.

"Hold your horses," Naruto demanded. A moment later a ding was heard. He put on the mittens and pulled out a tray of fresh baked cookies. "Ok hear ya go," Naruto said as he put them in front of Ruby.

Ruby didn't even hesitate. She immediately grabbed one and shoved it into her mouth. There was a pause. The next moment, she, spit it out.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. But he paused at the dark aura coming off of the red tipped haired girls.

"Are you trying to kill me!" Ruby growled. "You call these cookies," She said making an exaggerated gesture at the cookies. "These are a mockery!"

"Hey screw you!" Naruto said his eyes white.

"No screw YOU," Ruby countered. She picked up another cookie and held it in Naruto's face. "You try one since their so good,"

Naruto snatched the cookie from Ruby's hand and put it in his mouth. There was a brief pause. Then he spit the cookie out. Ruby gave him a triumphant look.

"Oh shut up," He growled. "Like you can do any better. Ruby raised an eyebrow and gave him a smirk. A moment later she sped into the kitchen.

30 minutes later

She came out with a tray of cookies. She put them down on the table and crossed her arms.

"Eat," She commanded.

Naruto looked down at the tray and reached for a cookie. They couldn't be that much better than his could they. Naruto bit into the cookie. And his whole view on the world changed. Everything was sunny, everyone got along and there was so much happiness, and rainbows everywhere.

Anime tears began to come down his face. Then he swallowed and everything was back to normal. He blinked a few times as he came back to reality.

"You were saying," Ruby said smugly.

"Shut up," Naruto grumbled as he slowly reached for another cookie.

"Nope!" Ruby said as she slapped his hand away. She picked the tray up and began to leave.

"Hey!"

"Make them again," Ruby commanded.

"You're not the boss of me!" Naruto said.

"Who made the better cookies," Ruby countered.

"So!" Naruto said. "Doesn't mean you're my superior.

"Doesn't it," Ruby said smugly. Naruto's eye twitched profusely. He really didn't like the look this girl was giving him.

"Well I suppose your right," Ruby sighed dramatically. "It's not like you could ever make a good cookie,"

"What was that," Naruto scowled.

"No I mean it's ok," Ruby drawled. "I mean it's not that's the only thing you suck at," Naruto gained a tic mark and began to shake with rage. "I mean it is what it is," His eyes were shadowed and he was gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. "Besides these can't be as bad as your fighting style.

Now that was the last straw.

"OH YEAH," Naruto shouted at her comically. "I'LL SHOW YOU, I'LL MAKE YOU THE BEST COOKIES EVER!" And with that he stormed out of the cafeteria.

Line Break

"Stupid red cloaked wearing bitch," Naruto grumbled as he made his way to his room. "I'll make her cookies so good she'll cry! And how dare she question my fighting style," He was seething at this point. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see the person turning the corner and bumping into them.

"Ow!"

"Ah!"

"My bad," Naruto said as he recovered. "Are you ok,"

"Yes I'm fine," A familiar voice answered.

Naruto blinked when he recognized the person. "Velvet?"

The girl looked up and it was indeed Velvet he had bumped into. "Oh Naruto are you ok?" Velvet said.

"I'm helping you up but you're asking if I'm ok," Naruto chuckled as Velvet stood up. Velvet looked down and blushed as if embarrassed. "I'm fine," He answered.

"That's good," Velvet said.

"So where were you headed?" Naruto asked.

"Just my dorm room," Velvet answered.

"Oh cool so was I," Naruto said. "Wanna walk together,"

"Sure," Velvet said with a smile then the two began to make their way to the dorms.

"So are you ok?" Velvet asked. Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought we just went over this," Naruto said.

"Not that," Velvet answered a slight tint of pink on her face. "I'm talking about the other day,"

Naruto thought for a moment until he realized she was talking about the confrontation with Yang. "Yeah I'm fine," He answered nonchalantly.

"Are you sure," Velvet asked with concern, Naruto gave her a smile and a nod. "Still I never imagined she had something against Faunus's, especially with one as her partner,"

"Oh so you know about Blake," Naruto said. "No surprise really,"

"Wait, is she hiding?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah," Naruto answered.

"I see," Velvet said. "How do you know,"

"The same way the other Faunus here know," Naruto answered.

"Makes sense," Velvet said.

It wasn't hard for a Faunus to spot another Faunus. It was just little habits they all had that made it obvious for them. In Blake's case it was a twitching body part. And her preference to fish.

"And I wouldn't worry about Yang being racist or anything," Naruto reassured. "Her issues with me are a bit more personal than that,"

"How so?" Velvet asked.

"Wellll," Naruto began. "I might have maybe, probably, definitely attacked her sister Ruby when we first met,"

Velvet looked at him. Then it seemed to register with her what he said. "What?!"

"And I guess technically almost killed her during the relic exam," Naruto continued.

Velvet looked speechless.

"And then-BONK!" Naruto was interrupted by a chop to the head. "Ow!" He grunted while rubbing where he was hit. "What was that for?!" Naruto shouted. But as soon as he looked at the face Velvet was giving him all defiance left him.

"That's for attacking Ruby for no reason," Velvet scolded. "Now you will apologize to Ruby,"

"But-!"

"No buts," Velvet interrupted. The two stared each other down. Well it was more like Velvet was staring him down and he looked upset.

Naruto gave a defeated sigh and hung his head. "Yes ma'am," He mumbled.

"Good," Velvet smiled as she patted his head gently.

"Velvet can be scary," Naruto mumbled.

"Wha-" Velvet began in surprise.

"Scariest person I've ever met,"

"Hey!" Velvet cried. As the two continued the walk back to the dorms.

Line Break

"You know a thought just occurred to me," Percy said. Team UMPR had decided to walk around town since it was a weekend and there were no classes. The town was getting itself ready for the Vytel festival by welcoming the students from the other kingdoms.

"What's that?" Naruto asked. The group was currently heading for the arcade to play a few games.

"The Vytel festival is like months away but yet they're decorating the town like it's about to happen next week," Percy explained. The boys decided to look around their surroundings. Streamers were being set up, balloons outside shops and banners saying 'Vytel Festival' and 'Welcome to Vale,' were everywhere.

"Huh," Roxas huffed. "That is weird,"

"Maybe it's time travel," Caboose suggested.

"That doesn't make any sense you idiot," Church grumbled.

"I get it," Percy said. "Maybe we traveled into the future when we left Beacon,"

"Yeah!" Caboose said excitedly.

"How are you able to understand him so well?" Church asked.

"I have a little brother who acts a lot like him," Percy explained. "So it's easy for me to translate and understand what he means,"

"You have a little brother?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, his name is Tyson," Percy explained. "I'm planning to go see him for the break in a few weeks. Plus Ozpin said that he would pay for the tickets this time,"

"Cool," Roxas said. "He said the same for me,"

"Same here," Church spoke up.

"Wait are all of you planning to leave for the break?" Naruto asked as he looked at his teammates. He received nods of confirmation from all of them. "Well, fuck me,"

Percy planned to see his family and friends, Roxas was going because Nora and Ren had heard the orphanage caretaker had gotten sick form one of their friends back in Vacuo so they wanted to check on her. Church thought it might be a good idea to check in with Carolina and let her know him and Caboose were safe, though push comes to shove he would probably just send a message.

I mean she did know where they were so it wasn't like she didn't know.

"You can come with one of us if you want," Roxas offered.

"Nah it's good," Naruto said. "So you ever going to introduce us to your little brother?" Naruto asked turning to Percy

"Yeah and I really think him and Caboose are going to get along really well," Percy said with a smile.

"Hoorraayy a new friend!"

"Someone who acts like Caboose," Church said. "Kill me now,"

"Ah don't be like that Church," Naruto teased, then he looked up and saw their destination in front of them. "This is the place,"

It was a medium sized building. The name was 'The Armory,' It looked a bit run down and there wasn't a customer in sight.

The four of them walked in and were greeted with an assortment of weapons and Dust everywhere.

"Don't let the outside fool ya as you can see," Naruto explained. "They're really good at their job and know how to act professional,"

A gun was cocked and against Naruto's head a moment later.

"You never paid for your last visit," The wielder of the gun growled.

"Unless we're dealing with her," Naruto said as his face formed into a scowl. He looked at the wielder. It was a teenage girl about the same age as them. She had her hair up in to two buns and had a pair of gold steampunk style goggles on her head. She had on a pair of black metallic arm guards. She was wearing short sleeved midriff black jacket with a pink floral pattern on it. She had on a pair of shorts and knee high combat boots.

"Pay up," The girl threatened.

"I thought we've been through this," Naruto growled. "I told you I would pay next time I showed up Tenten,"

"Well it's next time," The girl now identified as Tenten said as she slightly squeezed the trigger. "Pay up,"

Naruto stared her down. His teammates merely watched the showdown from a distance. Then when the tension was high enough Naurto reached into his pocket and pulled out a few lien cards and handed them over to Tenten. The minute they were in her hand she put the gun up and smiled.

"Naruto it's nice to see you again," She said cheerfully. Percy and Roxas sweatdropped at the 180 change in personality.

"Good to see you to Tenten," Naruto greeted back.

'He's treating it like it's normal,' Roxas and Percy thought.

"She seems nice," Caboose spoke up causing the two to look at him weirdly as well.

"Oh you brought some friends I see," Tenten said noticing Naruto's companions.

"Yeah this is Percy Roxas and Caboose," Naruto introduced. "They're on my team at Beacon,"

"Oh I see that's nice," Tenten said. Then she blinked. "Wait you got into Beacon!" She shouted.

"Yeah," Naruto answered.

"That's great!" She cheered "Congrats! Wait aren't you 16,"

"Yeah," Naruto answered. "My entrance was a special circumstance." He explained.

"That's nice," Tenten said happily. "So what ae you here for?"

"Just a reload," Naruto answered. He then turned to his teammates. "If you guys need to restock you might as well do it now,"

The three looked at each other. Then they went their separate ways. Percy grabbed a small box and began to fill it with water Dust crystals. He stopped however when his scroll started vibrating. He looked at it and was surprised at the caller. He looked at Naruto and motioned that he would be stepping outside for a moment. He tossed his stuff to Naruto to show that he would be buying it and headed out the door. Caboose looked over the bullets while Church analyzed which ones to get. Roxas simply looked around since his weapons were just his swords.

"Hey Roxas!" Naruto called. Roxas looked up at his leader. "Come here," Roxas made his way to Naruto who was standing next to Tenten. "So Tenten, Roxas here only uses his swords here,"

"Oh really," Tenten said looking at Roxas curiously. "No type of gun or anything?"

"Nah," Roxas admitted.

"What kind of weapon do you use?" She asked.

"I dual-wield Keyblades,"

"WHAT!" Tenten nearly screeched catching Roxas by surprise.

"Yeah and I can also combine them in a double blade by the hilt but that's it," Roxas answered still a bit put off by her reaction. The girl was like an older version of Ruby when it came to weapons.

Then before he realized it the girl wrapped her arms around his left arm.

"Well let's see what I can do for you," She said her eyes replaced with sparkles. Before Roxas could protest he was being dragged away by Tenten

Naruto chuckled at the interaction. He knew it had been a good idea to bring his team here.

Line Break

"What's up," Percy greeted the person on the other side of the screen.

The person didn't say anything at first. They just stated typing something and a moment later a picture was sent to him. When he opened the picture his eyes grew wide at what it was.

It was a picture of Yang kissing Percy.

"You wanna explain this," The person said teasingly.

"I don't have a girlfriend if that's what your worried about," Percy huffed.

"I know," The person said. "You're to hopeless and stupid to get one,"

"Bite me," Percy snarked. "You've been single longer than I have,"

"That's by choice though," The person countered. "You on the other hand are just hopeless,"

"Tell that to my fangirls," Percy countered cockily. Truth be told they had been silent for a while but lately they were starting to figure out that he and Yang weren't together. Only a matter of time before they went back to stalking him.

"Oh you mean the ones you didn't even notice just like back in Mistral,"

Damnit how were hey getting their information. Then a thought occurred to him.

"You've been talking to Pyrrha haven't you," Percy deadpanned.

"Took you long enough to figure it out," The person snorted. "Who do you think sent the picture,"

"I'll be having a talk with the 'Invincible girl' when I get back to Beacon.

"Wait is that what they call her," The voice asked with amusement. Percy got an evil look and nodded vigorously. "Oh I can't wait to talk to her again,"

Line Break

Pyrrha sneezed. She looked up just in time to block Jaune's sword and swipe him off of his feet.

"Someone must be talking about you," Jaune groaned as he slowly got up.

"How could you tell?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because you looked around," Jaune said,

"Good observation," Pyrrha said. "Now let's continue,"

Jaune groaned again before getting into his own stance. He was really tired of getting beaten up.

Lin Break

"Oh everyone's going to get a kick out of that," The person on the scroll chuckled.

"I bet they will," Percy snorted. There's was a brief pause as they let their laughter down. "Hey how are they?"

The person looked at him realizing what he meant. "Their fine, Tysons a bit of a handful but Leo distracts him by constantly taking him to his workshop," The person answered. "That boy sure does love tinkering."

"Yeah I can't wait to see them during the break," Percy answered excitedly.

"Of course you can't," The person said rolling their eyes.

"How are sparky and death breath?"

"Their fine though I still don't see why you call him sparky considering,"

"Does it aggravate him?" Percy asked.

"Yeah?"

"There you go," Percy said as if that explained everything. The person on the other end snorted. A moment later a boom could be heard on the persons' end. They looked to their right and narrowed their eyes.

"I'm gonna call you later," They said. I gotta make sure nobodies been killed…yet,"

"Talk to you later then," Percy said.

"We're still having a long talk when you come to visit about that kiss," The person said. "Later Kelp Held,"

"Later Pinecone face," Percy responded before closing the scroll and turned to go back into the building.

"Yo, Percy everything good?" Naruto asked as Percy walked back in.

"Yeah just talking with someone back home." Percy answered.

"Alright as soon as Tenten stops harassing Roxas it's on to the arcade!" Naruto cheered.

"Neat!" Cabose responded.

"Alright!" Percy pumped his fist.

"Get this girl away from me!" Roxas yelled as he ran away from Tenten who was chasing after him.

"Let me see them!" Tenten said maniacally.

Line Break

'Man this pizza is good for some arcade food!' The boy thought. He was currently in the arcade dining area eating a whole pizza after playing and beating the highscore in a shooting game.

"You know we should be looking," A voice said in his ear.

"Oh relax we'll go looking later," The boy retorted.

"But what if she finds out," The voice said worriedly. "She won't be happy with you being lazy,"

"That's why she'll never find out," The boy countered.

"But what if she does,"

"Then I'll get in trouble," The boy said. "I'll take full responsibility," He drawled out.

"Really,"

"Yep," The boy confirmed. 'Besides I doubt he would be here,' He thought. 'Too much surveillance, not as much as Atlas but still a lot,'

"Man this is gonna be fun!"

The boy turned to see a group walk into the arcade. The one in front looked the most excited.

"Yeah we have been cooped in that school for a while so it is nice to get out," Another one said as they paid for their cards and continued on in.

"Sounds like somebody has missed freedom," The boy joked as he stopped paying attention to the group.

"Sorry sir but you have something on your hoodie," A person said as they walked by.

"Huh, where," The boy asked as he looked down at his clothing.

"On the yellow shoulder," The person said.

The reaction had been instant.

"It's ORANGE damnit!"

Line Break

"That's right!" Naruto shouted in triumph. He had just one his tenth match on Ultimate brawler against another player. "Who's next!"

Percy was on some live surfing game and nearing the high score. Roxas was playing an interactive samurai game as both players. He was hacking and slashing the minions left and right and was nearing the final boss.

Caboose had just finished a game of whack-a-grimm and was collecting the tickets on the floor. "Oh boy it was a great idea to come here," he said excitedly.

"Damnit why doesn't anyone see that this is orange,"

Caboose perked up. "Church did you here that,"

Church did hear it. "No way,"

"Is that?" Caboose asked.

"Seriously I mean did no one have a box of crayons as a child!" The voice nearly shouted. "Screw this I'm going to go take a nap," The voice grumbled.

"It is!" Caboose shouted in excitement. He grabbed the rest of his tickets and quickly ran towards the voice passing by the rest of his teammates who took notice. He rounded the corner and saw his target. "Grif!"

Line Break

"Grif!"

Grif stopped in his tracks. No way.

"Grif it's me!"

It couldn't be. He was sure he wouldn't be here.

"Grif it me Caboose!" The voice was right next to him now.

"...Why?" Grif nearly cried.

"I knew it was you!"

"…Hi Caboose," Grif groaned.

"Hi Grif!" Caboose said excitedly. "Did you miss me!"

"Not in the slightest,"

"Awww Grif you didn't miss us," Church mocked as he appeared on Caboose's shoulder.

"Bro!" A voice said it made itself known. It was of a young boy maybe 13 and he appeared on Grif's shoulder.

"Hey Theta!" Church greeted happily. "How ya doin buddy,"

"Hey Caboose!"

The four turned to see Naruto, Percy, and Roxas walking up to them. Grif was instantly on guard.

"Hey guys this is Grif," Caboose introduced. It took a moment for them to register what he said.

"So this is one of your friends," Percy confirmed.

"This is the one that likes yellow right?" Roxas asked. A tic marked appeared on Grif's head.

"Damnit its orange!" Grif said.

"Sure it is buddy," Percy said blandly.

"What else have you told them?" Grif asked Caboose agitated.

"I told them that you have 2 f's in your name,"

"Ok that's another thing," Grif began.

"Caboose was very specific about that second F," Naruto stated. "Besides that's clearly orange he's wearing,"

"Thank you!" Grif said. "Finally someone who gets it,"

"As a fellow lover of orange I couldn't let the injustice go by," Naruto said sagely.

"So anyway, what exactly have you told them about us?" Grif asked. "Since they seem to know about Church what else do they know?"

"Not everything," Church replied. "Just enough," Grif got the message.

'We're not compromised,'

"But Grif what are you doing here?" Church asked. Grif blinked and looked at Church.

"You mean you don't know?" Grif asked in surprise. Church shrugged. Grif looked around. "Not here," With that Grif turned to leave the arcade.

"Come on Caboose," Church said. He turned to the others. "You guys coming?"

"Right behind you," Naruto said and the group walked out of the arcade.

Line Break

A little while later they were in the motel room Grif was staying in.

"Ok so why are you here Grif?" Church asked.

"I'm here to find you and bring you back," Grif said simply. The others perked up at that.

"What why?" Church asked.

"Because he," Grif stressed pointing at Caboose. "Ran away,"

"What?!" Was shouted in unison by everyone except Caboose.

"Ok what do you mean he ran away?" Church asked. "Caboose told me he left a note explaining the situation,"

Grif just looked at him. "Theta," Theta appeared next to Grif. "Show them the letter Caboose left,"

"O-ok," Theta said nervously. He wasn't good around new people. A moment later a hologram of a piece of paper appeared next to him. On the paper was two simple words.

'I'm Leaving,'

Everyone else turned their attention to Caboose.

"I like to think I spoke a lot," Caboose said happily.

"Uuhh…Church?" Naruto said as he looked at the AI. The AI that was flickering between different colors.

"Yeah Carolina is pissed," Grif said.

"She's really scary right now," Theta whimpered.

"How scary are we talking?" Church asked nervously as he calmed down.

"I honestly believe that if O'Malley possessed her she would calm down,"

"Shit," Church groaned.

"So we have to get back," Grif said,

"Wait," Naruto said finally speaking up. "What do you mean get back,"

"He means…," Church began. "That me and Caboose need to leave,"

"Like hell!" Naruto shouted.

"Look Naruto we don't have a lot of choices here," Church tried to explain. "And it appears that Caboose didn't fully explain the situation correctly,"

"Like he could," Grif snorted.

"But he has been accepted into Beacon," Percy supplied. "He can't exactly just leave,"

"We'll think of something," Church defended.

"I don't want to go,"

The group turned to look at Caboose who seemed to actually be paying attention now.

"I want to stay,"

"And there you have it," Naruto said. "He's staying,"

"Caboose," Grif said ignoring Naruto. "Don't make me use force," Instantly Naruto was in Grif's face.

"Just try it," He growled. "I don't care if you are one of his friends. I will take you down you fucking prick,"

Grif looked completely unfazed. "Listen here you whiskered face punk. You really think you can stop me,"

"Think so," Naruto scoffed. "I know so,"

"Naruto its more complicated than you realize," Church explained.

Naruto whirled around on Church. "Then explain," he gritted through his teeth. "Because right now the only thing that has stopped me from kicking this bastard's face in is the fact that the only negative emotion he has had towards Caboose is worry,"

"Look," Church began. "A few years back certain events happened and these guys were…altered,"

"Altered?" Roxas asked.

"Altered," Church confirmed. "It wasn't pretty,"

'I know the feeling,' Percy thought.

"But with the help of a few certain individuals they managed to escape," Church continued. "The people they escaped from…well they didn't like that. Especially with Caboose."

"Why Caboose?" Naruto asked.

"Because he was the closest version to their goal,"

"Wait when you say closest…You mean they never completed it,"

"No they didn't,"

"So they never finished with Caboose,"

"Not exactly," Church said. "Caboose was the closest they had ever gotten but-"

"But he was a failure," Grif interrupted. "Like the rest of us,"

"But that still doesn't explain why Caboose is wanted by…them," Percy said.

"They want Caboose because of what he's capable of," Grif explained gruffly. "He was put through a different alteration from us and at first it didn't work. But then something happened…and Caboose had reacted…badly,"

"Technically Caboose is a success," Church picked up. "But the cost of the results was too high which is what makes him a failure,"

"What was the cost?" Naruto asked.

"You see it every time you talk to him," Church said somberly.

And we'll end it there. This was by far one of my shorter chapters. Hopefully the next ones we'll be longer. So I have introduced our favorite weapons mistress, lazy marine, and of course pinecone face. Who's next. We've delved deeply into the past of Caboose but still left more questions than answers. What will happen next. Well anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I should inform you that due to the holidays and finals around the corner it will probably be a minute before my next chapter but I don't know for sure. However, I am determined to finish volume 1 before Christmas. That's just a personal goal. Apologies for the repetitive openings but I give what I get plus some of the songs I do have planned out are better suited for later on. As for Yang let it be known that I personally like her as a character I just feel this is the best way to portray her for this story. I hope that didn't turn any of my readers away but if it did then oh well. Also I will not be naming the grimm Kurama so if you have other ideas send on my way. Well for next chapter we'll be seeing a few more familiar faces. I feel the next few chapters we'll be far easier to write as well considering what I have planned next. Will we learn more about Caboose? We'll he go back with Grif? What does this mean for UMPR if he does? Will Naruto learn to actually bake cookies? I don't know but it's fun to find out. Anyways Read Review and… HAPPY THANKSGIVING.