Volume I

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It had been a long, grueling three days but everything had been settled. Everything had started with Obito's plan and the war with the Zetsu had begun and it had culminated with Madara being betrayed by Black Zetsu summoning his mother, the immortal goddess Kaguya.

And together he, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha had defeated and sealed her away.

But it wasn't over yet. The two of them had to settle their differences one more time and that is why they lay here, coated in sweat, blood, and tears nearly lifeless and missing one arm each.

Each of their breaths was labored. Shallow and painful. Harder and harder to breathe with each sucking breath. But Naruto smiled as he looked over at his brother who had finally given in, tears welling in his eyes as they finally understood one another.

"I told you… I'd break every bone in your body to bring you home."

A short, pain-filled laugh escaped from Sasuke as he looked at his fallen brother before looking at the cloud-covered sky above. "You know… You could have held back a little…"

As Naruto painfully laughed Sasuke continued. "But I concede… I think I began to understand as we fought why everything turned out the way it did… And… You'll be a great Hokage one day soon…"

With his vision blurring, from both the pain and tears, Naruto's breath slowed as he hazily gazed over at the Uchiha. "Hey… For what it is worth… You'd be a great Hokage too… We just had to… Get you there…"

Something was wrong. Sasuke could hear it in Naruto's breathing. It was labored, like his own for sure, but far harsher than it should be. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?" Naruto deadened eyes looked into Sasuke's own as his eyelids slowly became heavier and heavier.

Sasuke immediately knew what was wrong and tried to crawl over to his brother, surprised it wasn't happening to him as well. "Stay awake… You're going into shock."

However, what happened next only caused Sasuke to go numb. "Well, I guess it's my time then… Third time is the charm…"

Naruto wasn't surprised at this turn of events. He should have died twice already. The first was when Neji sacrificed his life and he made damn sure to give every bit he had to make that sacrifice worth it. The second was when Madara ripped Kurama out of him and by the grace of being Ashura's reincarnation and his father having the Yin half of Kurama's chakra to reseal into him.

He had survived on blind, dumb luck and the gods were coming to take his soul this time, no questions asked. There wasn't much he could do about it this time as all the Bijuu were sealed away, Sakura and Kakashi were too far away, and he could feel his heart slowly stop.

It was his time.

"Naruto no… I can't do this on my own." Sasuke crawled over to him, placing his hand on his chest, freely weeping at the sight of his best friend fading and there being nothing he could do about it.

"Sasuke… You're so much stronger than that." Naruto snapped his brother out of it as he placed his hand on his brother's. "Take my dream… No… our dream and let's make a better world… Together."

As Naruto's eyes closed, Sasuke panicked still desperately clinging to the hope that his brother would pull the miracle he always did off and pull through. But as he felt his pull still in his hand, he knew it to be true.

Naruto Uzumaki had faded from this world.

Sasuke freely wept, losing the last person he considered to be family. He lost him all because he had become too wrapped up in his goal to see what he truly had before him and the path that he was laying out for them slowly but surely.

A world that would accept you, no matter who you were or what you did…

"This world… It was never good enough for you…" Sasuke admitted as he freely cried, looking upon the heavens and calling upon them. "You hear that! This world never deserved him! He was too goddamn good for it! It should have been used for another world!"

The world answered with a crackle of thunder and even the sky broke and rain began to pour to mask Sasuke's tears as he looked down at his fallen comrade. "Even the heavens weep…"

Keeping his hand firmly grasping Naruto, Sasuke closed his eyes and found his resolve, and spoke with a new purpose. "Naruto, I promise I will keep our dream alive and will make this world a better place and become the best damn Hokage I can in your honor."

With his eyes closed he didn't notice the motes of light slowly lifting from Naruto's body as his body began to disperse but as he did, Sasuke was in utter awe as this was a sight he had never seen. Bodies didn't simply do this but… Maybe…

"Did the heavens answer me?"

Sasuke watched as Naruto's body dissolved into the light, the light dancing around him as it did before it slowly faded to the heavens above. And as it did the rain slowly faded leaving Sasuke alone in the world.

But he was no longer hollow as he heard Sakura and Kakashi's footsteps echo as he let the sun's warmth fill his soul. "I'll keep our dream alive on this end… You go and enjoy your happiness else, brother. Oh, I almost forgot…"

"Happy birthday."

There were so many sounds. It was strange. He wasn't expecting any sounds after everything and the parting words he had left… Well, it was poetic. If he was saved it would have been a gut punch to all he had just said.

On point but a gut punch nonetheless.

However, it didn't feel like a normal hospital to him. Firstly, he had these weird tubes shoved down his throat, pumping air into his lungs that kept them breathing. A ventilator he believed it was called. He knew they existed he just never had them used on him before so it was a new experience.

Secondly, he wasn't healing anywhere near as fast as he usually was. Everything was still sore but whatever they had him on was some good stuff… He could hardly feel a thing. He'd have to thank Tsunade for that after calling her some terms of endearment first.

Finally, and more disturbingly, he couldn't sense anyone's presence that he recognized. He couldn't feel Tsunade. Shizune. Sakura. He couldn't even feel Sasuke or Kakashi or even Hinata waiting for him. But worst of all…

Why couldn't he feel Kurama?

He and the nine tales had their trials but through everything, the two were now inseparable. And he was sure the first thing the fox would do would rejoin with him to make sure the healing process was going well.

So why couldn't he feel Kurama's presence within him or anywhere else for that matter? Where was he? Where was everyone?

What was going on?

And why did everything feel so… Empty?

He did not recognize any of these people. He could not sense or reach the presence of any of his friends with his chakra. So Naruto had to take stock of the situation and figure out what was going on.

Word of mouth didn't get him anywhere and left him more confused. Vale, Remnant. Faunus? He had no clue what any of those were, where they were, or what a Faunus was so he was just going to file all that for later.

No one believed a word he said about Konoha or anything about the Fourth Great Shinobi War and acted like he was crazy. A war couldn't be fought in three days much less end with the fall of a Goddess, which he had to admit was crazy, out of left field end to the story but still.

It was a blow that no one knew a thing about the people. How could no one in the world not who Tsunade with the Fifth Hokage or that A was the Fourth Raikage or even his best bud Gaara was Kazekage? How could such renowned figures not be known?

So other methods of discovering where he was had to be used but…

Chakra sensory was still failing him and he couldn't feel any of his friends. However, what he was feeling from everyone else was that their chakra felt off. Their natural state of being felt different and he wasn't sure why. It was just different.

There was also a lot of negative energy, not chakra, he just couldn't make sense of it. They felt wrong and then there was this overwhelming, negative darkness at the heart of it that just made him shiver.

So all that was left was for him to wait to heal up and go information gathering to figure out what was going on. That was if they let him out any time soon and he was getting bored answering the same questions.

"Name… Naruto Uzumaki. Gender. Male. Age 17. Birthday October 10th. Race… Faunus I guess if that is what you guys are going to continue to call me." Naruto started rattling off the normal answer to questions he got as a new person entered the room, most likely trying to collect information.

Naruto was tired of being polite. He had given everything he knew and since they had nothing, didn't understand anything about what he said, or labeled him as a 'crazy faunus' he was done dealing with them too. Hatred was one thing he was not apt with dealing with and as thankful as he was for these people for stabilizing him…

He wanted to jump up and punch them in the jaw but that would do him no favors here.

"I think you got the wrong impression, I'm here to discuss something else that may be more to your liking." A voice spoke, one that held a different air to it than all the doctors and nurses that came before it.

This voice caught Naruto's attention as he noted it carried something. A sense of purpose but also… A hint of power. And that wasn't always a good thing.

"Well, when every other conversation is mostly getting my information or trying to figure out how I get into such a state and then not believing a word I say… I tend to believe any other conversation is a step in the right direction." Naruto responded as he sat up a little straighter in his bed, still a little stiff as his wounds hadn't quite healed.

Strangely enough, he had both arms and he was quite sure he shouldn't have his left hand so that was a plus.

The new gentleman gave a gentle laugh of understanding before looking straight into Naruto's eyes. "What if I were to say… That I believe everything you've stated to the doctors here and I have proof?"

Naruto's ears twitched, which annoyed him as now he had a second pair and he wasn't used to the blonde fox appendages that magically appeared on his head, but his focus was fully on the silver-haired man before him. "I would be… I'd caught break but I would also like to know what this proof is before making any rash decisions."

Nodding as if that was a rational decision for anyone to make, the silver-haired man held out a screen that confused Naruto for a second before hitting play. "This clip shows the moment of your arrival in the streets of Vale."

Ears twitching and his eyes widening, Naruto watched the video with intrigue. Technology was nowhere near advanced in Konoha and playing a video on a handheld device was mind-boggling but he tempered his excitement at this development.

Seeing a park in the middle of the night as a wild storm raged through, tearing trees down and blowing the foliage all over. However what had his attention was the motes of light that were wildly swarming, slowly forming a shape. A humanoid shape.

His shape.

With fox ears.

And the storm began to break as he formed gently dropped to the ground, his breathing labored and slow but compared to what it was when he was talking to Sasuke… It was worlds better.

"Well, that is something you don't see every day," Naruto said as the video came to an end, he handed the tablet back to the man before he rubbed his new ears and even gave them a slight, painful tug. "Though it explains that these showed up with me at the very least."

The silver-haired man watched the action after taking the tablet curiously as it was an action no faunus would have taken. It was clear as day that he wasn't used to them and there could only be a few reasons for that.

And he was admitting to one of them the moment he awoke.

There was also the fact that the wounds he was found with would have been fatal to most and his body was slowly recovering despite them. The doctors and surgeons did a great job but he should have still been unconscious and recovering.

Yet here he was, sitting up straight and talking with no issues and off the ventilator despite having punctured lungs, liver and ruptured intestines, several broken ribs, a spinal contusion, a cracked femur and to top it off a cracked skull.

And each of those wounds had slowly regenerated to the point it was acceptable for him to be given walking papers today. If the doctors weren't so adamant, he still need rest and trying to uncover who, and what, he was.

"Indeed. And as expected I figured you wouldn't have any answers about it either. It just seems you were very lucky to be found as fast as one of our own, a first-year student of mine, Ms. Velvet Scarlatina found you and managed to get help to you as fast as it did. She's been the one visiting you every day I believe."

Naruto's ears twitched as he had noted yesterday when he first woke up he thought he noted there was a girl with bunny ears sometime during the day, but he had been preoccupied with other things. He'd have to thank her for the next time he saw her.

"No, unfortunately, the last thing I remember was giving my friend some encouragement to keep his spirit up and his head held high as I felt the last beats of my chest and everything… Went cold."

Listening to the boy's words, the silver-haired man said nothing for a moment. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with and one he could understand. Facing one's death was a harrowing experience and something that many did not get to experience.

Pulling forth a book from his coat pocket, the silver-haired man placed it on the foot of the bed before turning to leave the room. "I will leave you to recuperate for the time. That book will help explain this place a little better."

Not entirely trusting this man, as for some reason he could sense emotions while outside his sage state and he was still getting used to that, Naruto took the book nonetheless as any information was good. "Thank you…"

"Ozpin, Professor Ozpin." The silver-haired turned to face Naruto. "You happened to be found at my academy here in Vale, Beacon Academy. So I have taken an interest in this case due to its… Uniqueness."

"So if you wouldn't mind, in a few days I would like to visit again." Ozpin continued. "I think there may be some things we both could learn from one another if I may be so bold."

As expected, Naruto knew there would be ulterior motivations. He was sensing them. But at this time he wasn't in the position to be bargaining so what choice did he really have despite those motives… He could sense no ill will behind them.

"Not like I have much of a choice right now… Fine. Better than sitting here and listening to these hateful doctors… Thought I was done with the hate." Naruto accepted the deal but muttered the last part to himself.

It was still something Ozpin caught and it only added to his curiosity to the would not press. After all, it was personal and to be perfectly honest, wasn't something he needed to know. "Excellent. I will have someone sent here to pick you up when the doctors release you from their care."

"Till then, try to care and be sure to read the book." Ozpin waved goodbye as he prepared to exit the room. "It will help… Adjust you to some of the culture shock."

With that Ozpin left the room, and Naruto was just left staring at the book not sure how to process what he just learned. The video was clear and everything he was feeling was confirming that he was not near home. But the title of this book just confirmed it even more…

The World of Remanent.

These last few days had been such a whirlwind.

First, the storm woke her and her team up as there was something just unnatural about how it suddenly formed and the intensity it hit Beacon with. Secondly was finding a seriously injured faunus seriously hurt as the storm cleared out as she went out to check the damage around the campus.

The next thing she heard was that despite all his wounds he was already off the ventilator despite the condition she had found him in. And finally, nowadays after Professor Ozpin had personally requested that she be the one to escort him to his office as he was being released from the hospital.

RELEASED.

That word made no sense to her as even with a regenerative Semblance the wounds she found him with should have taken far longer to recover from. Yet from what the Professor was saying he was healed and ready to go.

But now as she stood here, before his room, she could see that he was indeed healed and ready to go.

A light blush adorned her face she caught him sliding his black t-shirt over his head, her eyes tracing over his muscled abdomen noting the light scaring the adorned them. It seemed he noticed her presence at that moment as well and gave a sheepish look. "Ah… sorry I was taking so long. Had to check and see what I had with me. Just one second."

Grabbing a rather worn and battle tarnished orange and black jacket, the blonde fox-eared faunus slid it on before frowning as he noted the zipper no longer work. "This was my favorite jacket too… Can't be helped. Well, let's go see Oz shall we."

Velvet's ears perked up at his comment about his jacket before nodding in agreement as they made their way into the hallway. She wasn't too comfortable speaking with all the nurses around but as they made it to the elevator she finally spoke. "I know of a seamstress here in Vale… She might be able to help with… Outfit."

Looking at his outfit, the blonde faunus chuckled as if that was true. It all needed a good look after. "Thank you, I might have to take you up on that if I get any lien to pay for fixing it up. Maybe getting another custom outfit or two might not be a bad choice either…"

The bunny-eared faunus blushed but nodded in understanding. Most faunus were rather poor so it made sense. "She tends to have deals for faunus if that was what troubling you…"

Softly smiling, realizing the soft-spoken girl was just worried, the fox gave her a warm response. "I'll take you up on that when I can. The name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. You must be Velvet. Ozpin mentioned you were the one that saved me? I have to thank you"

Watching the girl furiously blush as they exited the elevator and she led them out of the hospital, Naruto had to find the girl's traits endearing. But a small part of them also broke his heart, as well as his thoughts, immediately were drawn to Hinata. Her meek and mildness were so similar to Hyuuga's heiress and the more he began to sense the world around him the more he came to the realization.

This was a new world he had passed on to and he was given a second chance here.

One he wouldn't waste but that didn't mean he couldn't lament a bit about what he had lost.

For a split second, Velvet felt something off about the demeanor of the fox faunus as noticed his step hitch and his ears twitch but otherwise he didn't give an outward sign. However, what she did note was that soft smile of his didn't feel…

Didn't feel as natural as it did before.

"I did what anyone would have done…"

"And check up on them every day, making sure they got proper care? Sounds like you went above and beyond to me so as I said, I like to thank you from the bottom of my heart." Naruto shrugged off his personal issues and returned to his full warmth.

This led to Velvet basking in a scarlet glow of embarrassment. This only brightened Naruto's smile towards the demure girl. He was liking that she was rising back each time she was getting embarrassed and finding herself.

"It would be the first time… I just wanted to make sure they treat another faunus fairly. Even if Vale is more tolerant…" Velvet responded before fading off as a few passerby's voices echoed through their ears.

"Look at those filthy animals…. Disgusting…"

"How can they just let them just walk amongst us looking like that…"

Seeing Velvet's mood deflate under what they were saying and being genuinely annoyed at what was said, Naruto was not one to stand idly by. "HEY1"

Ignoring Velvet's shocked reaction, Naruto caught the passerby's attention as he growled at them. "I would have you know that maybe if you went through the Grimm grinder as I did, you'd look a little worse for the wear too, huh? And you two are a far sight lesser if you have to bring others down, huh?! Does that make you feel big to pick on a guy just out of the hospital and girl?"

"Get the fuck out of here!" Naruto growl out as the two ran off, intimidated by the fox faunus killer aura Velvet looked on in both awe and shock as most faunus simply accepted their lot in life or joined the White Fang.

Naruto simply stood his ground and did not give an inch.

"Alright, that made me feel better after days of hearing that crap." Naruto brushes his hand through his hair, ignoring that he lied in the statement about the Grimm as it was just easier to roll with. "Are you okay?"

Jumping, Velvet looked at Naruto more critically for a second as she gauged him. He was most decidedly an enigma but one thing she could say was he was most decidedly kind as his immediate thought was to come back to her.

"Yes… I'm… Use to it." Velvet nodded before continuing down the path. "But… Thank you for your concern."

Naruto repressed a growl, something he was going to have to get used to as that was body change he was not accustomed to and he was a very emotional person, before letting out a sigh. He was able to overcome hate when it was direct at him for an unjustified reason but this…

This was going to be something else altogether and he wasn't sure how to approach it. But what he knew was that he was going to do it one step at a time. "I didn't… You know what, no I did but I didn't mean to go overboard and yelled as I did. Sorry, you had to hear that and see me that way."

Hearing him admit his fault but accept what he did, Velvet could only smile as it was more than most others would be willing to do. And it confirmed for it that he was not a faunus of the White Fang as they did not see fault in what they did or their methods. "Well, now we need to ride the Air Bus…"

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!"

Velvet could only blink and look at Naruto in disbelief as he looked at the Air Bus in utter shock and horror.

How did he not know what an Air Bus was?

"Thank you, Ms. Scarlatina. We will take it from here." Professor Ozpin stated, this time flanked by a blonde-haired woman standing beside him as he sat at his desk.

Velvet gave a hurried bow before taking her leave from the office. Naruto was still in a state of shock. Air travel, besides something like what Temari was capable of on her fan, was nothing short of an impossibility in his world, and the fact that he took what was considered normal transport to this school simply blew his mind. So that he just rode on a vehicle that soared through the sky…

It broke his brain.

Ozpin was finding it a bit amusing that Naruto seemed to be broken and was on autopilot functions as he barely registered Velvet saying goodbye and heading out of the office. However, if he did nothing he was afraid they were going to be here for quite some time so he coughed to get the boy's attention. "Good afternoon, Naruto, coffee?"

"Um… Sure?" Naruto responded as he watched Oz pour two cups and took the one offered to him and took a sip, still trying to register everything. "So what exactly did you want to see me for? While I sense no ill intentions your motivations still bother me…"

"So you can sense emotions and intent… Interesting." Ozpin made a mental note of that. "Again, I find it fascinating that an event like what brought you to Beacon occurred and I truly want to see how this plays out. Like yourself, I have my ways of monitoring… And I found those clones quite interesting."

"Clones?" The woman next to him was output by this conversation as she was only partially informed of Naruto's situation and was hardly a believer in it outside the fact she saw the video evidence.

"Figured there would be video surveillance, not that I was hiding anyways." Naruto shrugged as that was basic information gathering. "My bread-and-butter technique. Had one nick a few liens from that snobby nurse and then go out and find a bookstore as I need more information… The book you gave me wasn't nearly enough."

"Of course, it wasn't. I wanted to see what you'd do and I wasn't disappointed. It also seems they had other effects as well as you weren't the only one reading." Ozpin mentioned as he noted the clones read some of the books they picked up as well. "Seems like whatever knowledge they gain you retain which is an amazing advantage I must say."

Naruto only grunted as he had been told that before but there was a downside, he was just originally partially immune to the overload. He would have to be more careful now that he was without Kurama to heal the damage as his healing wasn't nearly as good without the nine tales.

"It was obvious you were setting me up to gather information. As much as I hated it, I had to take the bait. I'm in a position where I know no one, I can't sense any of my old friends, and am in an unknown land. If you were that negative emotional void I sense I still probably have to take the bait just to give myself a chance…. Before I found a way to escape what is most likely a nightmare."

Ozpin took Naruto's rant in with a sip of coffee. And all he did was smile. "Naruto… How would you like to attend my school here at Beacon?"

"What?!" Both the blonde faunus and woman stated at the same time out of shock, neither sure what they had heard.

"In one month there will be an initiation exam for new students to join Beacon Academy to become Hunters and Huntresses. I would like you to take the test and become one of my students here." Ozpin drank another sip, leaving both blondes completely stupefied.

"Why?" Naruto was the first to ask.

"Not only were you able to infer my true intentions from a simple meeting, something many people fail to do, but you also showed me what you were capable of while still on the mend. You also are wise to not trust me despite my demeanor, another correct assumption but come forth with information that you would do the same in a worse situation."

"And what if I were to tell you… That I want nothing more than to fight that void and all my perceived niceties and moral ambiguity is all based around wanting to put an end to that negative siphon that threatens to swallow this world." Ozpin finished and sternly gazed into Naruto's eyes.

Taking a moment to read the situation, Naruto took a slow breath before responding. "And why trust me. A stranger from another world that was just on death's door?"

Ozpin only smiled. "I happen to believe in fate when I see it. And when it kicked down my front door with the most powerful windstorm I've seen in my lifetime just to announce a traveler's arrival… Let's say I have some believing to do."

"That storm in the video didn't look that strong…"

"It was a Category 5 Hurricane…. That formed inland for five minutes." The blonde hair woman stated as while she was a skeptic, the fact that the Hurricane suddenly formed and dissipated as it did on Beacon was the strangest thing she had ever experienced in her life.

If there was one thing that did point to anything of his story being possibly true, it was that.

At that Naruto had realization of just how lucky he was found as quickly as he was and that he wasn't buried in the rubble.

Taking another moment to comprehend that, Naruto cleared out his throat. "So… What exactly is that you'd expect of me as a student?"

At this Ozpin grinned. "Nothing immediately. Just get accustomed to the world at first and get your feet under you. I think you will have a better understanding of what is going on by seeing it for yourself in the coming months if I were, to be honest."

"Things are already in motion and at that time I think it be better time to explain what I will come to expect of you. But who knows, you might already be performing admirably and I won't need to." Ozpin smirked as he tapped on his desk in a seemingly knowing way.

Naruto's ears twitched and he repressed a growl. He absolutely loathed that. If there was a plan he would just like it to be flat out told to him but just to be strung along. He was going to hate this and Ozpin no matter how much of a gentleman he posed to be.

He was a devil.

"Glynda, assign an open room to Naruto for the time. I will also have some funds set aside to fix your clothes and for some new attire to help fit in more with the people of Remnant along with a little pocket cash… Rather just avoid the situation of you pickpocketing any more nurses no matter the situation I created may have been."

Giving a simple nod as she pulled out a pad and made a few quick taps on it, Glynda closed the tablet. "If you would follow me. I will show you to your room."

Naruto gave a simple nod as he followed Glynda out of the office Ozpin simply looked on with hands folded and a smirk on his face. "This next month will be quite interesting."

Transfer Complete.

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Beginning New Route.

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Route Charted.

A/N: This was an interesting write. I had no intention of coming back to writing again when the inspiration just kind of came to me. With life and everything else going the way it was picking up fan fiction again was something… It just kind of happened so we'll see where this goes if it goes anywhere.

The final Naruto scene was a way to write Naruto out of his word definitively but also erase a massive power so he could slide into the RWBY world slightly easier. Don't get me wrong, Naruto with Sage powers is still probably the most formidable thing on Remnant but he isn't God-Level overpowered and not having Kurama furthers that point. And honestly, I didn't remember if Kurama was sealed off with the other bijuu in the final fight with Sasuke so… Just roll with it. Fan fiction for a reason.

Also, I think Velvet and the rest of team CFVY are second years at the start of RWBY so again if I'm wrong… Roll with it. Been a while but I just remember it that way. It would also make sense as most first years weren't allowed to compete in the tournament but obviously, RWBY and JNPR got special considerations… For plot reasons.

Haven't decided on pairing technically yet although I've placed it under Naruto/Blake as that is the goal. I just really like the idea of the pairing, especially after Naruto gets turned to a faunus thanks to the remanent, pun intended, of Kurama's, and even the rest of the bijuu's at that, chakra being converted. It is why he just now feels emotions in a base state like he would be using Kurama's cloak.

Anyways, done explaining for now. See you guys soon.

A/N2: Small rant... WHY IS THERE NO ACTION TAG ANYMORE?! It use to be under Action/Adventure! It is just now Adventure... This isn't an Adventure... The two main tags would be ACTION and HURT/COMFORT... It is a genre! It deserves it's own fucking tag!

So I guess I just use GENERAL... For the love of...

Peace Out.