Jaune set the pot of noodles, and other food in the center of the table, while everyone else was talking over each other
Sasuke meanwhile, sat in his seat silently, observing the new 'guest.'
Yang, the blonde, turned out to be Ruby's sister, and the girl in white, Weiss, is also their teammate.
Sasuke could tell that they were all close. But wasn't there supposed to be a 4th member?
Sasuke assumed that team JNR were Ruby's team, but apparently that wasn't so. So if they weren't part of the same team, what happened to the 4th member of both teams?
"How do you lose your map at a time like that?!" Yang asked Jaune
"Believe me, I've asked myself the same thing ever since," Jaune replied
Everyone then laughed, well, except for Sasuke
"Hey, but you made up for it, Mr Muscles!" Nora said, "You shoulda seen this guy take a giant Grimm head on!"
"I couldn't have done it without Ruby wearing it down," Jaune said, before looking at Ruby
"Uh, me? Did you even see Ren during the fight? He was out of control!" Ruby said, pointing to Ren who sat next to her.
"I'm sorry, I may have lost my temper momentarily," Ren apologized
"No, no. Out of control as in awesome!" Ruby exclaimed
"Oh, thank you," Ren replied
Everyone laughed at Ren's confusion, except once again, Sasuke, who had no clue what they were talking about
As they were still talking about something about how Weiss summoned Grimm during a party, Sasuke looked around for Qrow, who still hadn't shown up yet.
Where the hell was that drunkard!?
Sasuke looked when he heard a commotion, and he saw that Weiss had summoned a Boarbatusk, right next to Nora, who got startled.
Sasuke was a bit intrigued. Did she even have to do a blood contract to summon the beast?
A few more minutes later and the soup had all but been finished, and Yang was showing off her new metal arm
"It's not a replacement for the real thing, but I'll make sure to make good use of it," Yang said while showing off her arm
"That's amazing!" Jaune said
"Incredible," Ren said
But Ruby, well, words were definitely not enough, because her eyes went all big and shiny, and almost like a rocket, she was by Yang's side, cooing over the arm
"And it's just as strong!?" Ruby asked
"Sure is," Yang said
Suddenly, they heard a thud, and Nora had her elbow on the table, her hand up
"Wanna bet!?" Nora said in a challenging tone
"Nora, please, now's not the time," Weiss said, but ended up wasting her breath because Yang was already locked in a arm wrestle with Nora
Everyone started cheering the two on, well, once again, except Sasuke, who simply sat and observed them
They were a competitive group, and very, very close.
"It definitely feels like the original, I'll give you that," Nora said
"Yep, but it does have some new features," Yang said
"Oh yeah?" Nora challenged
Sasuke already knew something was bound to happen
Suddenly, the robot arm went flying, and Nora went with it and hit the wall
"Did she win?" Jaune asked
Nora got up and saw that she was holding her arm, and screamed frantically before throwing it back at Yang, who was laughing
"Yeah, we ate it all. Oh dear, I think I'm gonna be sick," Jaune said as he collected the dishes
"Easy there Vomit Boy, I believe in you," Yang said, while sipping a glass of water
"Oh, we're doing nickname throwbacks now, wonderful" Jaune said annoyed before going to the kitchen holding the tray
Weiss was giggling when Nora said, "I mean, even the Ice Queen likes it now."
Yang chuckled, while Ruby outright laughed, and Weiss was not amused
Then she smiled and said, "I did not miss you people."
Nora put her cheeks in her hand and said, "Oh my gosh, she really does like it! What went and warmed your heart while you were gone?"
"Hey, you make it sound like I was terrible," Weiss said
"Nah, just a lot to deal with at once," Yang said
Weiss gave her a glare, and Yang just stuck out her tongue
"It's been a long time. We've all grown in our own ways," Ren said
"You really think so?" Ruby asked
"Well, think back to when we were all in Beacon. Would you ever say you did something silly or foolish or embarrassing? Or do you think you were perfect?" Ren said
Weiss sighed, and Yang simply said, "Oh gosh. I may have been a little gung-ho from time-to-time. You?" Yang asked Ruby
"I tried to 1-on-1 a Nevermore on the second day of school," Ruby said
"Yeah, well, don't even get me started," Jaune said as he returned
"Well, that embarrasment, that desire to go back and tell yourself not to be so stupid. That just proves you're not the same person you used to be. You're smarter, or kinder, or stronger. And you're not done growing yet. None of us are." Ren said
Sasuke completely understood the boy's words. How much Sasuke had wanted to go back in time and stop his younger self from joining Orochimaru. How he wanted to stop himself from using and then throwing away those who cared about him. Naruto, Karin, Suigetsu, Sakura. The boy was very wise for his age. He would be a very good role model for anyone.
Everyone paused, letting what Ren said sink in.
Then Ruby said, "Yeah, turns out Ren gets real deep when he feels like talking."
Everyone then laughed
"Oh yeah Weiss, I almost forgot, Sasuke here has a hereditary Semblance like you!" Ruby said while pointing at Sasuke
Weiss looked at Sasuke quizzically, and said, "You have a hereditary Semblance?"
Sasuke activated his Sharingan and said, "Yes, I do."
Weiss looked a bit disappointed, and said, "I don't see what's so speci-"
Instinctively, Sasuke put her under Genjutsu, and immediately she couldn't move, and Sasuke said, "Now get up and give Ruby a hug."
Weiss got up, almost as if willingly, but her eyes said a different story, and she shouted, "Hey, what!? What's happening!?" After she gave Ruby a rather awkward hug, she sat back down and Sasuke lifted the Genjutsu.
Wait, how come Genjutsu worked this time? Sasuke was puzzled over this before Yang asked, "What just happened?"
"My Semblance can be used for many things, one for example is putting people under illusions just by making eye contact, or in this case, making them do what I want," Sasuke said before deactivating his Sharingan
"Well, cool," Yang said
Suddenly, Nora stood up and said, "Whoa! You never said the last part before!? What else can you do!? Well, besides incinerating people with black flames?!"
Yang looked at him shocked, and said, "You can create black flames!?"
Sasuke nodded, and said, "My semblance has three different stages. The first stage, the Sharingan, is the one I used just right now. However, there are two more. The Mangekyou is the second, and is how I can acquire my Amaterasu, which is what I call my black flames."
Sasuke then activated his Mangekyou for Yang to see
"He actually burned down an entire Grimm army with that!" Ruby exclaimed
"Wait, what!?" Weiss asked
"I'm still trying to believe that myself," Jaune said
Yang suddenly asked, "Wait, if your semblance is your eyes, then why is one covered with an eyepatch? Wouldn't two be better than one?"
Since Sasuke was released from the hospital, he has been wearing a black leather eyepatch around his left eye
Sasuke sighed, and said, "My left eye is blind. If I use the abilities of my Mangekyou too much, it will damage my eyes. However, when I incinerated those Grimm, I pushed myself past my limits and blinded my left eye."
"Oh," Yang and Weiss said
""How can six kids possibly make so much noise during dinner? And I say six because Sasuke isn't really much of the social type," Qrow said as he walked in with Oscar next to him
A hour later
Everyone had cleaned up the table and were now sitting in the living room, listening
Qrow had just finished retelling the story of the Maidens, Salem, Magic to Yang and Weiss.
"So this is all true?" Weiss asked
"Uh huh," Qrow said
Ozpin, who had taken over, asked, "Miss Xiao Long, is this more or less what your mother told you?"
Yang was silent, so Weiss answered for her, "For the most part."
Yang then piped up, "You forgot something."
Then her gaze hardened, and she continued, "You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother."
Everyone gasped and looked at Ozpin.
"What is she talking about?" Ruby asked
"Oh great," Qrow said
"That's not a secret that I thought she would give up so easily," Ozpin said, "Your mother must trust you a great deal."
Yang then gave him a look
Ozpin sighed, and said, "My ability to reincarnate, though a curse, isn't without a few key benefits," Ozpin said, "Much like the Maidens, I, too, possess a certain magical power."
He then got up and stood and paced, "Using this power, I was able to gift the Branwen twins the ability to see more, to move more freely, and be unburdened by their natural bodies. I, well, gave them the ability to turn into birds."
Ozpin then chuckled, "Sounds rather ridiculous sounding out loud, isn't it?"
"Uncle?" Ruby asked
"You turned them into birds?" Ren asked
"All right, now you're just messing with us," Nora said
Jaune crossed his arms and said, "What else is new?"
"He's telling the truth," Weiss said, "We saw it, Yang's mom changed into it right in front of us."
Sasuke spoke up, "It may sound ridiculous, but being able to turn into birds is very useful. They will be able to infiltrate enemy territory easily and be unseen, even if they are right under the enemy's nose."
Yang glared at Sasuke, who simply ignored her
Yang then looked at Oscar and Qrow and said, "Why would you do something like that? What is wrong with you!?"
"Yang, that's enough. We made a choice. We wanted this," Qrow said
Yang sat back
"May I?" Ozpin asked Qrow, who nodded
Ozpin continued, "Granting this power was no trivial task, and I can assure you, it was not done frivolously. I required assistance in gathering information on Salem's plans, as well as searching for Maidens when their hosts became unclear."
"Ok, so have you done this with others? Like General Ironwood and Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked
"As helpful as that may be, unfortunately, it is not that simple," Ozpin said, "My power is finite and if I'm being honest, dwindling. The amount that I gifted to Raven and Qrow was, all things considered, rather minuscule. You see, centuries ago, I sacrificed a great deal of magic to four young women, who I hoped would use my gift for good. They were the first Maidens."
Ozpin then looked at Yang, and said, "Ms. Xiao Long, it was never my intention to lie to you. To any of you. There are just some matters that I prefer to play close to the chest. I believe that's how you phrased it, Qrow?'
Qrow then replied, "Yeah."
Ozpin then continued, "Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest."
Ozpin paused, then said, "Now, all or you have a choice. If anyone chooses to leave, now is the time. There is no disgrace or shame in abstaining, only in retreat."
Everyone looked at each other, then Yang got up and said, "Very well, then."
Ruby looked at her sister and asked, "Yang?"
"If Ruby sticks around, I will too. If there's one thing I know about her, it's that she always knows the right thing to do. But if we're going to help, if we're going to keep risking our lives, then no more lies," Yang said, "No more half-truths."
Ozpin looked at Qrow, who shrugged, then Ozpin looked at Yang and said, "Understood."
Yang then sat back down
"So what now? I mean, what can we do?" Jaune asked
Ozpin replied, "That is a difficult question. One that I believe is best answered tomorrow."
Jaune and Ruby looked at him confused, and Jaune asked, "Wait, what do you mean?"
"The road ahead is undoubtedly filled with hardships and peril. However, it's been far too long since you have all been together," Ozpin then put his hand on Yang's shoulder, and said, "Please, take tonight, enjoy this moment."
Suddenly, Ozpin left and Oscar returned, and when he realized what he was doing, he jumped back and said, "Ahh!"
Yang and Weiss giggled
Suddenly Nora started saying, "Raven! Qrow! Their birds! Cracked it!"
Ren just shook his head
Sasuke got up
"Hey, where are you going?" Yang asked
"To train. I must get back to my peak condition now that my left eye is blind, and have been inactive for three weeks," Sasuke said
Yang looked at Weiss, a sly smile on her face, and Weiss frowned and shook her head.
Yang looked at Sasuke and said, "Well, I could use a workout too. Wanna spar?"
Sasuke looked at her suspiciously
She was only his age, but Sasuke knew that she was far more powerful than she looked
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and asked, "And why do you wanna do that?"
"Oh, just friendly competition," Yang said
Sasuke nodded, and said, "Meet me in the backyard when you're ready."
He then walked out to the back, and sat in the middle and meditated
Sasuke knew that he shouldn't underestimate this girl, he didn't know what her abilities were.
And for some reason, his Genjutsu worked this time when it had failed so miserably at other times
Was this time just a lucky shot? Wait a second.
When Sasuke had turned on his Sharingan, he could see that Weiss's Aura shield wasn't up. Could it be that Aura is what blocks his Genjutsu?
Sasuke heard the blonde walk out, followed by the rest, and she said, "Alright, I'm ready."
Sasuke stood up and turned around, and said, "Just know that I won't go easy on you."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Yang said
Suddenly, she punched her palm, and a small shockwave went out, and her eyes went red for a moment, and her hair turned into golden flames
Suddenly, Sasuke was no longer looking at a girl, but he was looking at Naruto, only he was in his Sage Six Paths form
However, the flashback ended in a instant, and Sasuke actually gave her a small smile
"You know, that form of your's reminds me of someone. Is that your semblance?" Sasuke asked
"You're about to find out," Yang said as she reverted back to her normal form, her eyes turned back to lilac, and her golden flaming hair back to regular blonde
Sasuke pulled off his black cloak and tossed it aside, revealing his clothes under
His outfit was relatively unchanged, however, Sasuke replaced the rope with a black leather belt that had a sheath for his Kusanagi connected to it
Yang activated her Ember Celica, and her robotic arm clicked into her weapon mode
Sasuke stood there, activated his Sharingan, and said, "Alright let's do this."
Yang got into a defensive stance, then jumped forward and then she put both her hands behind her and shot two shotgun blasts and went flying towards Sasuke with speed he didn't expect, but he still easily sidestepped the charge
Yang spun back around and threw three quick jabs at Sasuke, who easily bobbed his head, dodging the attacks, then Sasuke did a forward kick into her stomach and a left uppercut that sent her spiraling into the air.
Yang somersaulted and landed back on her feet, and Sasuke saw the Yang half of her core grow stronger
"How ironic," Sasuke thought
Yang jumped forward with more speed, and threw a strong punch that aimed at Sasuke's chest, but Sasuke easily caught her fist and redirected to hit the air to his left, then Sasuke spun around and elbowed her face
His elbow caught Yang in her cheek and she stumbled backward, and she then threw another punch, this time it was twice as powerful. Sasuke knew because he caught it in his hand again
"Hmm, interesting," Sasuke said
With each time she was struck by Sasuke's attacks, her own attacks became more powerful. This must be her Semblance. She probably had to rely on her aura to take hits so she could boost her attack power. But Sasuke was gonna show her the drawbacks of that strategy.
Sasuke threw a punch of her own, and she caught it in her hand, then Sasuke hopped up and drop-kicked her in the stomach, and propelled himself backward, and he flipped back up.
Yang immediately started firing shotgun blasts, and Sasuke deflected and blocked each one with his Kusanagi. Then he redirected one right back at Yang, and she ended up having to block it because the blast was so close, she wouldn't have time to dodge.
"Her Aura is low, if I am gonna finish this quickly, now is the time. But where's the fun in that?" Sasuke asked himself
Sasuke sheathed his Kusanagi, and gave a bored look at Yang, and said, "You know, it's no fun if you hold back."
Yang smiled, and said, "Same here. Lets kick it up a notch."
Suddenly, she went into THAT form. Her eyes went red, and her hair flaming gold
Yang charged forward, with speed that Sasuke didn't see coming, and she landed a quick jab at his cheek.
The punch was surprisingly strong, and Sasuke was caught off guard, and Yang took advantage
She then threw 2 more punches, one in his chest, another in her stomach. She then spun around and did a backward uppercut kick into his chin and sent him flying into the air, then she jumped up and did an axe kick that smashed into his midsection and sent Sasuke crashing into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Yang landed on the ground, a smile on her face, thinking that she had won
Suddenly, Sasuke walked out of the cloud, a smile on his face.
"Huh, you were faster than I thought, but you still need to put more bluster and strength into your attacks. And you still need to work on your technique. But enough about that, lets finish this," Sasuke said, before charging so fast, no one even saw him move
Sasuke spun and did a spin kick that made Yang spin around and hover into the air, then Sasuke drew his Kusanagi and dashed around the yard, slashing Yang multiple times. However, he made sure that her aura would be able to take all the hits and to not use his full strength, or he could end up killing her
After slashing her in midair a 6th time, he sheathed his Kusanagi, jumped up and while in midair, unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks onto Yang, and then finished it off by wrapping her up and putting her back to his chest, and then turning both of them upside down.
Sasuke had seen Rock Lee use this move, and he had memorized it, in case he ever wanted to use it, but he never did. Until now.
He and Yang plummeted and Sasuke started spinning Yang around and around, and shouted, "Primary Lotus!"
He smashed her into the ground, and her felt Yang's aura shatter
He had put a little strain on himself, but not much.
As he got up, he could see that Yang's aura had protected her from taking up most of the damage, and she got up, although rubbing her head a little
"Ouch, that one hurt," Yang said
Sasuke set out his hand and said, "You were good, but you still have to improve to beat me."
Yang smiled, and said, "Hey, don't think that this is the last time we spar."