Special Note: Starting this chapter, and now all previous chapters, have been edited with the free edition of Grammarly. It was not a tool when I first started writing in '09 so I'm excited to use it now that I've come back. So hopefully this helps with your reading experience.
Despite that, if there is anyone that considers themselves a qualified beta-reader do let me know as I could use one for the foreseeable future at least until my life situation changes. This is also considering at the moment I am always at least two to three chapters ahead of schedule...
Would make things a lot easier.
Enjoyed the chapter.
"Blake…" Naruto started as he worked sat in the middle of his room on one of the zabuton pillows, working on his breathing as he took it slowly and slowly flow through him.
"Hm." The bow-wearing girl as she read a very questionable book called Ninjas of Love while sitting at a small desk in his room.
"I'm not complaining as I enjoy your company…" Naruto started as this was a long time coming and finally had to ask while continuing to do his exercise. "But is there any reason why you choose to come to my room at this time of day to read? I've got to ask as we've been doing this for two months now since you've moved next door."
"Quiet. No fighting. No loud talking. No one trying to force me to go anywhere or do anything." Blake simply answered as she read her book, "It's comfortable. …It reminds me of home before I ran away."
Opening his eyes and stopping his exercise, letting his breath out, Naruto looked over at Blake with a small but understanding smile. "From Menagerie?"
"Yes," Blake admitted while she kept reading which confirmed that she was faunus as well in simple answer.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Naruto asked as he wanted to see if she was ready to open up as he showed concern for his friend but didn't want to push too far.
"No, not yet." Blake flipped a page and appreciated the tone as she knew Naruto wouldn't push further. "I will soon… I'm just not ready… There are some things I'm still too frightened of to talk about."
"I understand." Naruto simply nodded he backed out of the conversation, giving Blake her space.
It was something an introvert didn't get with two very extroverted peers in her team. He wasn't quite sure what to classify Weiss as but she might classify into the extroverted category as well for she did prefer to go out when possible but she did have more control and seemed to have more introverted tendencies so it was harder to judge her.
Sensing Naruto was going to leave her alone, Blake would have normally just kept reading. Today was different. She wanted to keep hearing his voice. And there were some things she needed to know. "Naruto…"
"Yeah?" Naruto was surprised that Blake was continuing the conversation as usually that would have been it and they would have continued doing their things.
This was new.
"I have to ask… Why do you always work so hard?" Blake questioned as she put down her book and looked at her friend. "I get this as you don't want your new semblance to hurt anyone… But even before when you had no reason to and you already are most likely the strongest thing on this planet… Why keep working so hard?"
"In the two months I have come to know you… You hardly do anything for fun unless someone comes and gets you it and it is usually only food related or work-related then too. The only non-work thing I ever see you do is when you walk between places as you aren't interested in getting there on time and just need a moment to think!" Blake added as while she did a lot of the same even she had this decompression time.
"What I'm trying to say is… I'm worried. Everyone has a limit and you have been doing this since you were a small child… How? Even when I was young and always trying to join protests… My mother and father always made sure I was sat aside to have time for myself. To never wear myself out."
Taking a moment to compress his friend's worry, Naruto sat and thought on it for a moment before he realized Blake had a point. It was literally something had thought about a month prior before things went bottom's up.
"I've just always been driven. I can't even tell you why I'm doing it anymore… It's just hardwired into me to just keep working. To keep putting in the time as this always going to be something just around the corner waiting and I need to be ready for it. Because if I'm not… I'll lose everything and with what little I have right now…. I can't handle that." Naruto explained as he looked downcast at the realization of why he just kept going harder and harder.
Recognizing that she had just brought Naruto's mood down, Blake slid out of the chair she was sitting on, slid a zabuton in front of Naruto, and sat before him before sliding her hands into his and snapped him out of his funk. "Hey, today is Friday… And I haven't gone to the movies…"
Seeing Blake get flustered at her own attempts to cheer up Naruto brought a small smile to Naruto's face. "Since you can remember?"
"I can't even remember going to the theaters before, to be honest. It's not something I want to do." Blake admitted as she failed at trying to do something extroverted and a shade of shame hung over her head as she hung her head in defeat.
"Then let us not do something like that and do something that stays indoors instead? We don't have to go out to watch a movie you know… I can just go send a clone to grab us one." Naruto asked softly smiled and Blake blushed before nodding as that was agreeable despite the fact she was the one trying to make him feel better.
Blake already knew about his clones as she paid attention and caught them immediately, so they weren't a surprise and simply asked how he had so many abilities earlier. "Still don't get chakra…"
"I don't get why aura is slightly different either… They should function the same way but they don't… It's like our bodies in our worlds evolved to use our inner energy differently." Naruto shrugged as his cloned transformed, so it just didn't run into any issues on the way to get a movie. "Any genre suggestions?"
"Anything works…" Blake shrugged but Naruto knew better and started to quickly go over every book he had seen her with over the last month.
"Romance or rom-com. Go." Naruto sent his clone out on a mission while Blake's blush further deepened.
"What? This isn't a date!" Blake went defensive as her eyes widened as she thought maybe the wrong impression was put over. "I just noted the mood had dropped…"
"I know… But I noted what kind of books you tend to read so I figured that would be the kind of movie you would go for." Naruto commented before a grin snuck onto his lips. "However considering the spicy book you have been reading maybe that's the kind of thing you'd go for…"
Blake calmed as what Naruto said made sent then suddenly her skin went blood red as if all her blood vessels popped at once. She hadn't even realized she had been reading that in front of him!
How did she get that comfortable?!
Naruto gave a hardy laugh before he pulled his pack over to his side and pulled out a book from the perv that he kept in his honor even if it wasn't his thing to read. "It's alright. What you're doing is perfectly fine and the most acceptable thing in the world. I had sensei that read the stuff publicly and a master that wrote it after doing… Research… Here's a copy that made it over with me if you want to look."
The book was snatched out of his hands at alarming speeds as Blake settled down and the color of her skin slowly receded and returned to its normal pale tone. "That makes me feel a bit better about myself… But I had no idea I had brought that book over… What is wrong with me today? …Wait, how did you know what kind of book it was?"
"Pretty obvious by the title and considering I've been in bookstores and seen it in that particular section… Yeah, I know what kind of book it is." Naruto only raised his eyebrow as if Blake was questioning his intel-gathering skill.
Something she should know was top-notch.
"Ugh… Fair." Blake sighed in defeat as she had but at the same time now, she had a book from another world to read and gain… Insight from.
Yeah, insight.
"Would have been interesting though. I would like to know what kind of kinks you're into." Blake grinned as regained her confidence and Naruto choked as that was not what he expected from her.
However, he was not one to back down and grinned right back. "Hm, I could send another to get something large, tight asses and anal? Maybe the leads have red and black hair, faunus girl... Hm, not sure."
Blake harshly blushed as her eyes widened as he was directly calling Pyrrha and herself out. She knew he had issues with the redhead and that was why she poked fun at him to go that far but to include her into the mix.
Her heart was beating a mile a minute!
Grinning at his victory at how she was cheered up, as was he, and now Blake was both embarrassed yet also excited about having new material to read, Naruto let out another laugh before he stood up. "Alright… If we're going to do a movie I think we need popcorn… Think I have a bag in here to pop…"
While Blake was all for having popcorn, looking around the small room there wasn't a way to heat a bag of popcorn. There wasn't a microwave or anything and she really didn't want to see a fire be set in the middle of the room. "I'm all for a good movie snack… But how?"
"I can use my chakra to pop it," Naruto stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world as he found the bag and saw Blake's incredulous look as chakra was starting to sound even further from aura than ever before, he decided to explain.
"Alright, lesson time." Naruto began as he slid back on the zabuton pillow next to Blake and just to demonstrate he formed a Rasengan. "You've seen me create this before and this simply unadulterated chakra in its purest form… The funny thing is this is one of the hardest things to do in my world. I can count the number of people that were ever able to do such a feat on a single hand. Ironically, they all existed in my home village so maybe it was just a teaching thing."
At this Blake was surprised to hear that as what the blue orb of chakra in Naruto's hand before it faded from existence. "That's interesting. Even here with people able to manipulate and control their aura, there are things that everyone can do like create shields so you would think in principle that it is just a pure chakra technique…"
"That's what I thought…. Someone should have figured out a way to copy it, but I have never seen it done." Naruto commented as he thought the same thing. "It is probably because it took my master literally years to learn it and my father even longer to create it… I was just a prodigal genius of combat and figured out each step from anywhere from a couple of hours to a week and then mastered it within a week."
"Ninjas usually don't have time to devote to a technique like that… Their lives were very short even in the time of peace we had before everything just went south. The average life span was anywhere between seventeen to thirty depending on how lucky you were… Only the best or those that retired to civilian life after suffering too much trauma got to live longer."
At this Blake was startled at the path Naruto took during the lesson and hearing how downtrodden Naruto had become realized the depth of trauma that truly lay beneath. Glynda was right about sending him to therapy as the lifestyle he lived was not a healthy one and she lived a trauma-filled life as well…
Therapy was starting to sound good.
Poking him in the arm, Blake gave a soft smile that broke Naruto out of his stupor. "Oh, the lesson!"
"Now what I'm about to do is actually easier and called elemental infusion." Naruto began slowly warming his chakra in his hands and pushing it into the bag of popcorn. "Every shinobi and kunoichi of my world had an elemental nature. Fire, water, wind, lightning, or earth. Some people even had two naturally or the lucky had a blood gift. Those in the later group usually also had fusions of the elements like magma or steam to go along with it."
Blake was surprised as she heard the first pop in the bag and could feel the heat being generated. It was utterly fascinating watching Naruto do this with nothing but his own power and a part of her wished she could learn something of this nature. "So I take it you were a fire elemental then."
"That's the funny thing, I'm not." Naruto surprised her with a chuckle which made her look at him in confusion. "Despite being born in the Land of Fire, which does live up to its name and had the most amount of fire elemental people being birthed in it… I was not. I was a wind elemental until the final events of war changed everything."
Knowing about the war as he mentioned it before as it ended with him fighting his friend and dying, Blake wasn't sure she wanted to push this subject as it might be a sore subject. "Oh…"
"It's fine… It's something cool I learned about myself." Naruto responded which piqued Blake's curiosity once more. "As Sasuke and I were quite simply getting our butts handed to us and we died for the first time… At least I did. Hope Sasuke didn't die twice."
Blake's eyes widened at this for it was news to her and Naruto realized he hadn't told her about this event.
He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah… He and I had to die once before just to stand a chance in the middle of the war… To learn we were reincarnations of Gods in our world just to unlock the rest of power sealed in our bodies that apparently been there since our birth."
"Weirdly enough I don't have those powers anymore, so I think they were either washed away when I crossed worlds and/or specifically connected to my old world in some way. I would not be surprised if they were connected as there could be something in my world where the Indra and Asura powers always need to exist there for some specific reason." Naruto thought on it as he theorized why he didn't have Asura Path power anymore before shrugging. "The very least I have the knowledge of what they left me and the fact they unlocked every nature within my being, so I have accessed to all the elements."
Popping the bag and watching it get bigger, Naruto noted Blake was still in a state of shock, so he nudged her with his elbow to recover her to the waking world. She snapped right back and watched the bag once more. "You know if this was some sort of book or manga… You'd be like a John Doe character, you know that right?"
"I have too much personality for that!" Naruto indignantly as he felt the bag was popped just perfectly before setting it aside for when the movie arrived. "And what if I were to tell you… Even with those God levels of powers I had… It still took insane bullshit levels of luck to win as we were still outgunned and overmatched by this… Just fucking kill me overpowered level asshole."
Blake just raised her eyebrow as that was a little absurd but let Naruto continue. It was a good story. It was like almost like a fairy tale that he just told in different segments.
She just had to piece it all together and it was a fascinating puzzle.
"It was another villain we all completely forgot about that just came in and sneak attacked the guy with a fatal blow from behind to absorb all his energy just to revive his mommy which was a Goddess with near equal power but way less bullshit, to be honest. We traded a guy that had ungodly reflective powers as long as he could see us unless we just flat out overwhelmed it to someone who just kept shifting dimensions on us and put us at like... really high levels of gravity... It was enough that jumping in those forms was hard. Funny enough she was the easier of the two fights." Naruto kept telling the story as he remembered the introduction of Kaguya and how ridiculous it was when the Rabbit Goddess showed up.
There was literally no build-up for her! Why did she exist?
Blake was just stunned at the level of power. The reflect power bothered her as it reminded her of someone but being able to reflect Naruto's power at a greater level destruction level was terrifying. And then someone that had extreme gravity and dimension control... And that the easier fight?!
What else was he not talking about in the first fight? She wanted more!
"Even still we getting our butts kicked in this slightly more winnable fight. We actually started having a chance and got a lot more offense in before the team we all formed when we started as children together joined the fray to finally seal her away. Not even kill her… Just seal her so she'll be someone else's problem in the future."
At this Blake's eyes just widened in horror as she looked at Naruto. "My god what kind of life did you live?"
"One of a fucking kind."
"Thank god you're getting therapy."
"I know right? I died right after that shit saving Sasuke who went all rouge and was like, I must do this my way and only my way!"
"God dammit Naruto! The fuck!" Blake just shook her as that was just too much to handle before she threw another zabuton into his face before apologizing immediately. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean…"
Naruto just laughed. "No, I get it. I started to do it to get a rise out of you and I got exactly what I wanted. I can live with my life just fine. I'm going to therapy for it."
Blake yowled in her throat. "You jerk."
"Boss, here's the movie! Think it'll be a good one!" The clone arrived with the movie in hand and handed it off before popping out of existence.
"Beauty and the Beast?" Naruto questioned as he looked at it before Blake's eyes sparkled in anticipation.
"Oh! That should be a good one!" Blake grabbed it and rushed to the TV and popped it in, jumped back and grabbed the bag of popcorn, and was highly anticipating the watch. "It's fairy tale romance based on how a noble of his land refused to let a hag stay at his castle during a rainy night and it turned out she was a beautiful witch and she cursed him, transforming him into a beast until he could learn to truly love someone for who they were. At least that is how to book goes."
"Okay… Good pick me I guess." Naruto looked at how excited she was and glad she seemed ecstatic with his clone's pick as it's essentially what he would have picked up if he was there.
Their decisions reflected his own in the same situation.
"Very good pick. I wanted to watch this but… Life these last few years have not allowed me to do so." Blake started off still with excitement before her voice wavered and finally, she looked down at her own hands holding the bag of popcorn. "What am I doing here?"
"Enjoying a movie with a friend?" Naruto responded as his body ever so slightly stiffened as he prepared for multiple scenarios he could sense a variety of emotions surging through his friend and every single one of them was negative.
The one he found the most worrisome was…
Run.
Blake gave a pained laugh but gave a small, weak nod. "Is that what we have… Is this really a friendship?"
"Considering the amount of time we have spent together, listen to one another even if it's a bit more lopsided than I would like it to be and the few things we've already been through together… Yeah, this is a friendship. One based on trust and I'm still here, willing to listen whenever you ready." Naruto spoke slowly and softly as he carefully chose his words meaningfully but from the heart so they rang true.
And thankfully while the swirl of emotions was still a vortex within her he felt that one disappeared and was off the table. Running was off the table, for the time being, that was progress.
However, as her legs slid up and her knees retreated into her face so she could hide her tears, Naruto was still very worried. Blake had a strong character and this last thought of hers had finally snapped her and she was losing it.
So, he embraced her, giving her the emotional support she needed right now. He knew the feeling as it had been happening to him a lot recently and sometimes you just needed to know someone was there.
And that was what Blake needed as the damn broke and she reached around and embraced Naruto back and the tears came. "I don't know what to do! I'm so scared! They're going to find me! If I stay here too long… He'll find me! And I don't know what will happen!"
Naruto let her cry everything out, holding her and listening to every word she said. He said nothing but he took note. She didn't need him to act right now. She just needed someone to listen.
He could do that.
Her tears kept coming as she buried her head into his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. "I can't even go back home now and it's all I want to do! I want my dad! I want my mom! But I'm scared of what might happen to them if I go back! But what's worse is… I'm scared of what they'll think of what I've become after everything I've done!"
Just sitting quietly with her in his grasp, Naruto knew it wasn't time to speak yet. Her heart was still pouring out and he just had to be here.
It was all he could do.
"Not now…" Naruto heard a knock at his door as Blake still sobbed in his shoulder, shuttering at the sound but the number of emotions that were wracking her body.
Unfortunately, the person simply knocked again as they were the harbinger of bad timing. It just happened to be Blake's partner. "Yoo-hoo! I noticed that clone of yours went out and brought a movie and I was wondering if we could join in on a movie night!"
Naruto's ears twitched. Did Yang just naturally have bad timing or was she just gifted?
"Tell her to go away… I don't want to see any of them tonight… I can't handle them… Not like this…" Blake responded as she lifted herself from Naruto's shoulder, her eyes red and heavy from the tears she had been shedding before she returned to the fetal position she had been in before she broke contact with Naruto.
Simply collecting his composure as he didn't want to snap at Yang, for how could she know what was going on, Naruto calmly opened to door to thankfully reveal it was just the blonde bombshell. "Firstly, how?"
"I've been tracking you down every day trying to learn all your moves," Yang answered honestly and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "And I saw you create a few and do those cloaking things so figured out it was you, so I followed to see what they were up to."
Glowering at that as he really needed to get back to focusing on his sensory if Yang Xiao Long was sneaking up on him, Naruto was about to respond when she continued. "And I wanted to join in and since Ruby and Weiss will be here shortly… But really, I just wanted to see if I could get the whole team in as a bonding experience."
"We barely get to hang out with Blake during free time and that has dropped even more recently and I kind of wanted to change that and thought maybe adding you to the mix could help as she spends so much time over here anyways. She just seems so lonely and needs more friends, but she just keeps shutting us out. I'm trying to reach out but… I feel so helpless." Yang finished somberly as she was just worried about her partner.
For the first time, Naruto could see the side of Yang Ruby kept talking about. He knew it was there but all he could see was the comedic, tough girl that was always looking for a fight or something fun with very small peaks of this window ever being glimpsed.
And he wished she would show it more because it seemed a little more natural.
"Tell you what…" Naruto started as he glanced behind and noticed Blake had twitched hearing every word Yang had said. "Tonight is a no go but that's because the movie is going to have to wait… She's having a rough night and I don't think it is going to be good for her to go back into that environment with that level of energy and… The Princess. So here's what I need you to do for me."
With just a small step he allowed Yang sight to see the state Blake was in and Yang immediately wanted to rush in but Naruto stopped her, shaking his head. "What she wants is her nightwear and her morning stuff… Can you grab that? I'll take care of her as we've already been talking, another person isn't going to help."
Feeling a slight sting as once again it was not any of them that Blake had come to for something was weighing her down, Yang looked defeated but nodded as she rushed back to her room to gather Blake's stuff as there at least was trust enough to let her know what was going on.
Blake did not move and simply remained where she was, glad Naruto had gotten Yang to grab her things for the night. She knew her partner cared but this was the first time she truly felt that she was trying to open up as well.
Maybe she could open up to her later too?
"Here you go?" Yang came back with Blake's yukata, another set of clothes, and her bathroom kit. "Let me know if there is anything I can do through the scroll, okay?"
"I'll try to remember how to use the damn thing. No promises though… I'm bad about it." Naruto answered honestly to get Yang to smile a bit before she gave a soft wave to Blake before she retreated to their room and Naruto closed the door before moving to put her things on the desk. "I think you can trust your team a little more than you think…"
"Not with this… Not even close… I don't even know why I'm trusting you…" Blake curled further into herself, succumbing to the depression that welled within her.
Sliding down on her right side, Naruto felt it was a better time to talk now as she tears had dried away. "I think it may be because of how often I share my own life with you. Deep down inside you feel that if I'm willing to trust you with my innermost secrets…"
"That I should trust you with mine… I think that's part of it, and it is true. I trust you because of it. You don't hide anything and all I have to do is ask." Blake responded and relaxed her position and her left leg unfold as wrapped both her arms around her right knee. "But another reason and I think the main reason… Is because of your presence… It just feels like home…"
"It feels safe… I feel like I'm standing beside my dad again." Blake admitted to which Naruto kept silent about it but understood. "And this was even before you showed how strong you were. From the first moment you showed up and protected Ruby… I felt that presence and I was drawn to it. Every word you said hit home and made me want to run home so badly…"
"It also helps you decorate like my mom…" She dryly commented at the end as she looked around the room to try and raise the spirits, but she was still very, very downtrodden.
"Huh… Neat." Naruto could only respond to that final statement as he looked around his room at all his scroll paintings and oriental decorations as they reminded him closely of home.
There was nothing he could say about his presence. That was simply a state of being and he had no control over that.
"You're are your own person… And I didn't mean to compare… But it is just how I feel." Blake stated as she stared off into a blank space on the wall before turning to Naruto. "I just wanted that feeling again."
"Blake, I'm going to hold you is that okay?" Naruto asked for permission as he felt he needed to ask as the situation was still in the 'ask' department.
Releasing her other leg, Blake simply leaned over and place her head on Naruto's shoulder, and nodded to give him her acceptance. Sliding her arm around her waist, he pulled her close into him so they could share one another's warmth.
"It's okay to want that feeling," Naruto responded as he held her tightly as he gave her the support she needed. "You need home and safety before you can feel any kind of stability. Those are base needs everyone must have to be mentally sound… Without them, you are just running scared which is what I think you have been doing and I don't want to see anymore."
"Not only am I here… You have others just next door worried about you and at least a few others a good little witch willing to step in and help you… You have a lot more safety here than you give yourself credit for." Naruto rubbed her waist he held tightly.
"You don't know this but when I was released… A cop recognized your name." Blake's eyes widened and worry filled her, but Naruto put it to rest. "They recognized it from Menagerie. Glynda immediately silenced them and told the to keep the information to themselves… Luckily it was a faunus cop so I think she would anyways but still… So you have someone from higher up looking out for you here too."
"She cares a lot more than people, hell even I, give her credit for. She loves her students and this academy." Naruto admitted Glynda had changed his opinion about her and started to come around towards her.
Now if she would accept the nee-chan name he had been giving her as she was too young to be more. Maybe a kaa-san but that would be awkward calling her that.
He didn't give that name to anyone.
Blake was stunned and had to give another reevaluation on the professor after hearing about that. She already earned a good mark for her after the entire incident with the police with only wishing she would have arrived earlier as Naruto was right. She was always late. But she knew who she was from the start and was protecting her identity…
She'd have to find what the witch liked and get her some gifts. It was the least she could do for her.
"I... Know there are… But I don't want to drag anyone into my problems. I don't want to get anyone hurt. It's why I didn't go home…" Blake took a moment before her mood dropped once more and the bow on her head drifted down again.
"Alright, I know this is personal, and this is digging but I have to ask at this point." Naruto sighed as he had to know from the way she was speaking that there were very few options. "You were part of the White Fang?"
"Yes," Blake answered honestly, she hung in shame as Naruto pieced together her ramblings and she knew he would.
He was good.
"That is a surprise, to be honest, and one I truly wasn't expecting." Naruto took a moment before saying anything caught Blake a little off guard. "Your views are so opposed to what they represent that it is hard to imagine that you were ever a part of the Fang… But if what I learned is true and they only recently became this way…"
"Five years ago is when the change happened," Blake admitted before she removed her head from Naruto's shoulders and lo into his eyes. "We did things peacefully before. Protests, rallies, events… Anything to show we weren't going to violently oppose the order but not be pushed back by unfair laws!"
"However, there was too much strife and the Fang wanted to go a different direction… And my father stepped down from leadership as he refused to accept the path they were choosing." Blake gazed straight into Naruto's eyes as she told her story.
And that was a revelation that caught Naruto by surprise. "Wait, your father was the head of the White Fang?"
"Yes… Ghira Belladonna. The chief on Menagerie." Blake responded as despite everything she looked up to her father and wanted to live up to a fragment of what he had done. "Despite the direction they move in being more violent… They respect him and very rarely move against his will because of the sway he has over all faunus even to this day… He was the leader for all of us for so long that many of us still see him as such."
"I think that is why I ran away from home… I didn't want to see my father as the chief of Menagerie… I wanted to see him as the head of the Fang. Being proactive and doing something." Blake hung her head in shame as she looked at the floor. "If I only knew what the Fang had become…"
Naruto again stayed silent as he listened, knowing more was to come but something was about to be said that left him startled and his broke for her.
"They were ruthless… But it worked. They had gained respect through fear… And the man I saw as my friend, my brother, my mentor… The love of my life… Betrayed my trust the most." Blake's eyes tear up once more as her body began to shake. "He mentored me when I was young when he guarded my father, and we knew each for so long…"
"I thought I knew everything about him, but something began to change in him without me noticing at first. He became more and more violent after the first time he killed someone to protect my father… Who lambasted him as he didn't believe it was necessary and now think about it… My father was right. He could have just knocked him out instead." Blake continued as tears streamed once more and her body convulsed.
"But Adam… I think he got a thirst for it despite being distraught at what he did at first. He found that it didn't matter whose life he took as long is meant to accomplish his goals. His target. Dead. Innocence... I thought he still spare them I confronted him about his methods, but he just used my father as his reasoning and convince me that what he was going was right…"
"Then all those people on the train…" Blake choked as she thought about that day and tears started streaming down her face once more. "If I didn't act… He would have blown them up without second thought… He kills whatever is in his way with no regard for innocent life anymore! I never wanted to be a murderer! I just wanted faunus to be treated fairly! But those other missions we were on and he just… Killed… Makes me an accomplice…"
"He manipulated me into believing what he was doing was right despite knowing deep in my heart it wasn't and I just couldn't see it until it was too late!" Blake's body shook before her anger started to rise as she looked up angrily into Naruto's eyes. "Yet here am I confessing my heart and soul out and possibly making the same mistake again… To someone else I know who could be heading down the same road… Because I know you killed that cop!"
"You knew." Naruto didn't deny the accusation as the anger rose in Blake's eyes as her gaze intensified before giving a weak and sad sigh. "Yes… I made the kill."
Blake flipped onto Naruto, straddling his waist as she grabbed him by his shirt collar and brought his face inches from hers. Her hot breath streamed against his face as tears rolled down her face as she cried and her body convulsed in both rage and sadness. "Why?! Why would you do it?! You know violence isn't the answer so why?! Tell me!"
Giving himself up and submitting himself to Blake's ire as it was completely earned, Naruto could only weakly smile as he gave her a solemn answer. "He did it before to many others… Two cellmates panicked when he showed up. He broke Vajo, the wolf faunus, nose… And he was so terrified he was jittering more than normal and couldn't look the man in the eye. He didn't even answer the man's roll call."
Blake's grip begin to lessen but still held firm as the anger in her didn't fade but a new emotion joined. Understanding.
"The prisoners had protocols for dealing with this guy. The respectable cop that booked me flat out gave me instructions on how not to aggravate him and stay off his radar, yet he purposely targeted me. This wasn't something that happened off and on. He did all the time, and they could do anything about it." Naruto growled and his ears twitched as he started to match Blake's intensity before backing off with a whisper. "What would he have done if that was Velvet instead of me like the warrant intended it to be?"
The grip was immediately let go of as Blake's anger faded as she baked away, and fear replaced it as the imagery of Velvet in that situation took hold. But that was not what Naruto wanted he barked at her. "Do not stop being angry with me!"
Blake was taken aback by what Naruto stated and he growled and put his face back into Blake's. "You have every right to be mad and it is justified. What I did was wrong by every metric and it should never be looked upon as the right thing even if every reason is valid! I did it because it was the only that could stop the madness that was going on there! So no one else would ever have to go through that again!"
"So that he would never take another life!" Naruto finished with a pant before he looked at Blake's terrified, tear-filled face and slid away, disgusted with himself. "Two wrongs don't make a right…"
The room went silent after those words. There was the occasional hiccup from Blake as her body was still shivering from the amount of crying she had done, and the emotional drain was taking its toll.
"You know… Despite being a trained killer as a ninja and constantly being in life or death situations most of my life… I never had to kill anyone before." Blake's eyes widened at this admission as she looked at a defeated Naruto beneath her, leaning back and looking drained. "I've… always been able to talk. To convince whoever I was fighting and turn them even if it was after beating their ass so hard they couldn't move afterward."
"The only time I tried to kill my opponent… My sensei stepped in and stopped me." Naruto continued as he remembered his past life. "He finished the deed himself for he didn't… He didn't want me to lose my last innocence. He wanted me to still believe that I could find a way and convince people to change"
"And I took that to heart to the very end… Until I died myself."
Blake was still silent as she listened to every word that came from Naruto.
"I failed… As I found someone that could never be convinced no matter what I could do. And was so corrupt that I couldn't let it stand… So, I took care of it… And I hate myself for it. But I finally learned the lesson…"
"There are some people in this world that just want to watch it burn… And nothing can be done to reach them. And that means I will most likely have to kill again… Because I'm being led right into the direction of those trying to burn this world down." Naruto finished with a cold but calculated stare as he looked out his window and directly at the main tower of Beacon.
With this Blake's attention was immediately drawn to the toward before glancing backing down to Naruto. "What are you talking about?"
"Blake, I think we've had enough tonight if we are being honest… How about I tell you this here in a few more days when I've got a little more to go on?" Naruto started but seeing the look in Blake's eyes he knew he was going to get away without telling her at least something. "Alright… You know I don't trust Ozpin, right?"
"You two have the weirdest relationship I've ever seen but… I thought there looked like some trust involved." Blake stated as the few interactions between the two had been all rather positive.
"There is a little but don't mistake it for what is essentially us placing faith in the other's abilities." Naruto started. "I think Oz may treat me more as one of his children as he is trying to teach me because he knows something about death… Because I can feel death coming from him, but I can't explain it."
"But despite this, he constantly flaunts me like what did on the ceremony and had the news coverage of it. Prodigy faunus graduates Beacon on the first day but will still attend classes to continue their education… Such a wonderful story that benefited him and Academy… But what did that do for me?" Naruto asked honestly and let Blake think about it.
It took a moment, but she came up with an answer. "Honestly it only gave you your Hunter's license and very little else. If anything, it came with the drawbacks of being a known quantity that now would be known worldwide so it be harder to work discreetly and you would be put on the Fang's r… Oh my god."
"Exactly… Why do you think I hardly leave Beacon except on missions unless I'm cloaked, transformed, or in a group?" Naruto stated as Blake had the realization that she had never seen Naruto in Vale without a group or on a mission and he was always cloaked or transformed. "The White Fang is actively searching for me as I am a target. They desperately want me as what would that do for their public image?"
"It would be a massive boost in morale that a prodigy Hunter joined the Fang… Why would he make that such a public affair? The damages far out way the good!" Blake hissed as she looked at the tower and for the first time felt hate for their headmaster.
"That is why I don't trust Oz completely. I don't understand his game and I need to find out more…"
Blake was quiet for a moment after Naruto stopped speaking. After everything that happened this night, she was drained but she gazed up one more time with determination. "I want to help."
"Why?" Naruto questioned because after everything that happened this night that was the last thing he was expecting.
He was expecting her to be angry, to deny him. Something else…
Not for her to join him.
"Because I don't want to sit here and do nothing when you know something is coming!" Blake waved her left hand out as she placed her right hand on her heart. "You said yourself you sense something out there that wants to burn this world down and Oz knows it too and is leading your right for it! So let's scope it out and figure out what's going on! So we are prepared! We can…"
"Blake…" Naruto sat up and took her right hand before reaching out and grasping her left and pulling them in together. "It's not going to be just Grimm and machines, okay? There is every likely chance that is going to be humans and faunus… The Fang itself."
Blake's eyes widened but she tried to stay determined as Naruto kept going. "And while I will do everything in my power to make sure everyone comes out alright as I don't want anyone to die… I've accepted there might be an accident here or there that I can't stop. I've accepted that someone might try something I can't imagine and cause the death of others but worse of all…"
"I've accepted that I'm going to have to kill someone as you've already mentioned someone that is far beyond redeemable," Naruto admitted the cold hard truth to Blake as he looked her in the eyes. "Just how many others are out there are there who will stop at nothing to cause harm like that in this game that Oz is taking part in… I don't know but if comes down to protecting others and killing someone…"
"I'm going to make the kill… Even if I hate myself for the rest of my life for it... I'll know those other people get to live. And I think I can live with that thought." Naruto finished as he firmly gazed into Blake's eyes and let her know what this journey was going to take.
And he wasn't sure she was ready for that.
"I… I…" Blake wavered as steely as her determination was before the doubt crept in once more as the thought of killing was almost too much for her to bear.
And Naruto embraced her. "It's okay… You don't have to… Give it time and think about it. I'm not going to force you to ever choose your path. …This is a path no one should have to walk. I do so because I must… And I want to see a better tomorrow as that has always been my goal… I just wish there didn't have to be any bloodshed on the way."
"I'm tired…" Naruto sadly smiled as this drained him as he released Blake. "You want to get dressed so we call it a night? …The bed is yours. I'll use my rucksack."
Hiccupping, Blake nodded and simply rolled off Naruto and weakly walked over to the desk where he laid her things before walking over to the personal bathroom. While she changed Naruto simply took his clothes off and threw on a simple black shirt and light orange bottoms as he put his uniform into the laundry.
As he pulled out the rucksack, Blake exited, and he noticed for the first time he had ever seen her she wasn't wearing her bow. Her cat ears were drooped and exhausted and she was paler than she normally was but she had washed up and tears were no longer staining her face.
Putting down his sack, Naruto went to his fridge before pulling out two bottles of water, something he kept on high stock now and handed one to the dehydrated faunus. "Here, looks like you could use some."
"Thank you." She simply responded as she took a good, solid drink. "From keeping me from running, letting me cry and talk to even just getting mad at you despite… Everything… I don't know how to feel right now."
"Then we are in the same place." Naruto gave a small smile. "And that's alright. Let's sleep on it, figure out what we're going to do tomorrow as I, with your consent, agreed to a movie night with your team so you got to go and so do I."
"I don't want to… But fine. Yang deserves that much… By the way I texted her and let her know I was doing better." Blake hung heard temporarily before nodding and looking up at Naruto. "You're in trouble."
"And why is that?" Naruto asked as Blake huffed and walked to his bed.
She simply slid on top and turned away from him. "You didn't have a single toy in your bathroom…"
At this Naruto's ears twitched. "Why were you looking?"
"Thought it'd be interesting to see what you used… Was disappointed." Blake commented as she lay on his bed, her legs shifting as her butt lifted in his direction.
Naruto shook his head. She was not taunting him. That could not be what she was doing. Not after the night they just had.
Or was something else going through her mind?
Naruto decided to play the game as he turned and slid into his rucksack. "Yeah… No. They didn't have an XL model in stock and the Larges get stuck and chaff the shaft."
Blake choked on her spit before smashing Naruto's face with a pillow. "Didn't have to go that far!"
"You didn't have to sultry move your legs and stick your ass out towards me on my bed!"
"I didn't… Did I?" Blake looked horrified as she sat on Naruto's bed before realizing that was what she did. "I'm so sorry! My body moved on its own and…"
"Hahahaha!" Naruto suddenly cracked open as he realized he wasn't the only that didn't have control over his body's control. "Oh god, so it's not only me… Thank god."
"You ass! Don't laugh! It's not funny when it happens!" Blake slammed the only other pillow into Naruto's face. "And give those back! I need them!"
"Yes mam…" Naruto tossed the pillows back. "And I know it isn't… But I've been dealing with this for two months now and have been desperately trying to control it and you just let me know it's just something all faunus go through… Thank you."
At that realization, Blake looked more introspective as she held the pillows in hand. "You could have asked… I would have been willing to tell you."
"When?" Naruto curiously responded as he laid back down. "Until today you officially hadn't come out as faunus to me. Sure I knew but I wasn't going to just come and say anything about it. You have your privacy and I'm not going to invade it."
"Even though I invade yours all the time?" Blake looked down as now that she thought about it she was always spending time here.
"What, spending an hour during the weekdays and maybe a couple during the weekends is an invasion of my privacy? Hardly," Naruto gave her no indications he felt she was being invasive. "To be honest it's like you said earlier…. If someone doesn't come to drag me from my work to eat or help them do their work or something training-related… I don't spend time with anyone…"
"You honestly are the person I spend the most time with and, sadly, today is the most amount of time we've spent speaking to one another… But that could be because you're an introvert that loves reading and being in her world and I'm a work-a-holic that might not know what he is. Maybe an introvert with some extroverted tendencies… I dunno." Naruto shrugged as honestly wasn't sure at the end.
"That sounds about right…" Blake fluffed her pillows before laying back down. "I think we both need to work on changing… I need to… Spend time with my team but also talk more with you and you…"
"Just everything with me… But starting with less work for now until things get to the point I need to start ramping it back up." Naruto sighed but came to an agreement as he needed to calm things down.
He wasn't home. He wasn't going to be Hokage here. What even was his goal besides trying to make the future brighter? He wasn't sure but he could take his foot off the pedal for a bit.
It was probably for the best and a little rest and relaxation would probably do him some good. He'd still be working just not devoting everything he had to it.
That was probably going to be a hard adjustment as it was his life. He always trained. He was always doing something. To just sit back and do something for entertainment would be new for him. Doing therapy was a new thing but even he thought that was work to an extent as it was just to make sure he was healthy so he could keep going.
He was work orientated and it was frustrating.
"Naruto…" Blake's voice stopped his train of thought.
"We really suck at this sleep-on-it thing, huh?" Naruto dryly commented but with a slight smirk on his face.
Blake mildly laughed. "We do."
"What is it?" Naruto asked as he sat back up to see Blake doing the same.
"I've come to my decision."
"I think you should take more time on it." Naruto sighed as he really didn't want Blake to make this decision right now or at all while she was still emotionally compromised state. "You're still coming down from a high trauma and emotional state…"
"And that right there is why I want to make my decision," Blake stated as determination rose in her eyes once more but this time they were not going to waver. "You refuse to put any pressure on me and want to make a calm, rational decision. You wanted me to hate you for did and tried to push me away from the road you were choosing to walk down."
"Yet all you have done is support and listen to me this entire time, only rising up when I confronted you about the life you took... even if it was justified it was wrong, but you admitted that and wanted me to know that."
"This entire time you've known me you've known things about, and something was wrong and asked but never pushed me, just waited and were patient with me! It's all you do with everyone while occasionally calling out people on their faults or bullshit when it needs to be called out!" Blake gripped her chest and looked at him with a fire burning deep in her heart. "So, if someone as truly good as you believes this may be the only way…"
"I'll join you, whatever the cost. Even if it means if I must take another life as a last possible resort…"
"Blake…" Naruto was taken aback by her conviction as this was not the same Blake he had been dealing with that had been an emotional wreck tonight.
This wasn't even the Blake he first met and gotten to know over this past two months.
This most likely wasn't even Blake when she was part of the White Fang.
This was Blake Belladonna when she first left home, wanting to make things right in the world and thought she had the power to do so.
And somewhere inside of her, she had found that side of her again.
"Okay." Naruto simply agreed with a nod before laying back down.
Blake was simply floored by his response and wasn't a hundred percent. She almost felt a little like Yang when she taunted her partner. "Just okay? That's it?"
"Yeah," Naruto responded as he looked up at her from his laying position. "Let's take a few days to relax as we said we were going to do and then let's do this."
Blake blinked at her fellow faunus as he lay beneath her. This was still a very strange response as she had expected something more. But maybe muted was for the best. "Okay, a few days sound good… But do we…
"Yes, tomorrow, movie night. Another word about it and JNPR might be invited." Naruto glared daggers and she recoiled.
There would be no challenge here. He was serious.
She simply laid back down. Starting in a few days she would be joining in on a new frontier and it scared her but… She believed in Naruto. She wanted to put her faith in him to and would fight for the cause he believed because it felt so much like her own.
A better tomorrow.
Not just for faunus. A better tomorrow for everyone. A world where humans and faunus can stand together and truly be equals. There would still be hate as that might never go away. But a world where maybe…
Things like what happened last month wouldn't be a normal occurrence. Where everyone had the power to make a difference no matter who they were.
That was the world she wanted.
Slapping the bed beside her she frowned.
"Naruto…"
"Oh my god we really can't sleep on it can we!" Naruto laughed as he seemed to be having too many thoughts as well.
Blake let out a laugh too. "Naruto… I feel like a jerk for kicking you off your bed when mine is twenty feet over. Come sleep in your bed."
"I see way too many issues with that," Naruto responded as he sat up and shook his head.
Blake frowned and patted the bed beside her. "Why? I trust you won't do anything."
"You're not going to take no are you." Naruto glared at the cat girl in front of him.
"It is your bed so no, I trust you," Blake responded as she made slightly more room so the two could sleep on the bed together. It would be a little cramped but would work.
Naruto sighed but it was no use fighting and it was getting late. He wasn't winning this. "I'm putting a pillow between us."
"I said I trust you," Blake commented as Naruto walked over with the pillow and frowned. "Do you not trust me?"
"It's not about trust… It's about modesty here… Morning time." Naruto responded he put the pillow right in front of his crotch as he laid down. "Earlier was not an exaggeration and when morning hits… It hits."
"Oh… Okay pillow it is." Blake laid down on her side and closed her eyes, but a smirk was on her face as she placed a hand on her stomach. "XL is nine to eleven in length and an inch and a half to two in diameter, right?"
"I have never met a girl as perverted as you before, you know that right?" Naruto growled at Blake. "And if I didn't know any better, I'd think you are trying to start something?"
"No, just a little play. Not ready for anything more… Not ready for a relationship either. Last one hurt too much." Blake answered honestly as she stayed where she was laying on the bed. "Like where things are right now… Later I want more… Right now isn't good… For either of us."
That made Naruto smile as he finally closed his eyes. "Okay, I feel the same. Not ready to move on from where I was either. Not yet at least."
"Naruto…"
"Oh my god, Blake…"
"Night."
"Oh… Night."
A/N: Alright, the pairing is done without them officially being a couple. Yes, it still going to take a lot more work to get them there, but the build has started, and I wanted to get it there while still making it realistic.
Blake is not going to be ready any time soon and she knows it. Naruto knows he isn't ready for a relationship but their willingness to wait on one another and build one another up until the other is ready. I think that is a beautiful relationship at its core and I want to work that in.
This chapter was fun and a wild emotional ride considering what came before it so sorry to throw back-to-back haymakers here, but I think it fits well in tone. I also this skips having to explain the White Fang bit that is coming up when Volume I ends here in chapter seven... Well, that's not true anymore. Chapter 8 is now the end of Volume I. It would have literally been over 50 pages and nearly 25,000 words in Micrsoft Word so... Just damn.
It is a finale for the first Volume I will give you all that.
The next two chapters are going to set you up for a ride and you will not be disappointed. That being said only one person responded to my request so the update schedule will stay as is and chapter 8 will be on Sunday, there will be no double feature it seems.
A/N2: Everyone that has reading so far there is a new little subplot going on that doesn't affect the story as a whole but will be showing up in the next two chapters and you might want to just go back and take a look and scan around to see if anything is different in the old chapters besides the grammar changes.
Peace Out