Hunted or Busted: A Side Story
Dusted 31: Love is War
I honestly have no idea where this concept came from. But one day I was watching Kagura-sama and was like - oh yeah, that fits.
So here we are. A tumultuous love story between two fools who refuse to admit they're in love.
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Affection. Adoration. Love.
It is commonly believed that love is the strongest, purest, most desired emotion mankind has ever sought after. A partner to share in the best and worst of times. A connection at the deepest level to give their life meaning. There is not a creature on this planet that does not pine for the sweet experience that is love.
But that is a lie!
Love is not sweet! It is not pure! It corrupts and warps and twists even the most remarkable of individuals! It can make aspiring, incredible, and amazing people become empty-headed, delusional fools!
This is not a baseless, dour view of the world! Love is a strong and powerful emotion! It can even be wonderful too! But the ways it changes those in its thrall can be indisputably devastating!
Take for example-
Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and one of the top students in the new year of Beacon! Weiss was an exemplary member of the new class, already making waves with her extraordinary control over Dust and her outstanding grades! Being a key member of Team RWBY, one of the most ambitious new teams in years, she has skyrocketed in terms of what her future may hold! And as the next in line to control the largest energy company in the world, she has had years of training in battle, business, and finer living!
And on the other end-
Sasuke Uchiha, aspiring young Huntsman and one of the top students in the new year of Beacon! Although he may not come from a prestigious family line, his family does have a sordid history as powerful and bloodthirsty fighters! As such, to counter this perception, he had become one of the best new students of the year! His combat abilities! His crisis management! It was as if he had been born to become the greatest Huntsman!
And this is where our story faces its conflict.
Two young warriors aspiring to be the best their desired profession had to offer.
They should have been classmates.
They should have been rivals.
At best they should have been friends that strived to succeed their goals.
But instead - by a terrible twist of fate -
They were in love!
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Weiss had a weapon in her hand. A dangerous, potentially fatal weapon that had the power to uproot her entire world.
"Hey Weiss! Oh, you got movie tickets?" The heiress flinched and looked back as her teammate approached her from her blind spot, "Can't help but notice you got two there. You thinking about asking someone out~?"
This crass, mannerless girl was Yang Xiao Long. She was the powerhouse and unstoppable force behind Team RWBY. She was also probably the most sociable and outgoing girl Weiss had ever met and was a far cry from the kind of people she was used to in Atlas. Which was actually in her favor because Yang made herself far more approachable and likable than the people she usually met. However that also made her more cocky, as Yang prided herself on being a jokester and teasing people when she could.
Most people would panic at the thought that their most nosy friend had spotted them with tickets to a movie with plans to ask out a friend. But Weiss wasn't most people. She understood that the greatest mistake to make in a situation like this was to hide and try to make it seem like nothing.
With Yang it was a game of chicken…and there was a foolproof way to get her attention elsewhere.
"Why yes Yang, I was actually going to invite you." Weiss offered to the blonde fighter's surprise, "You see there is this lovely documentary at the matinee that just demands our attention. It's a comprehensive look of Dust harvesting and how people have come to utilize it in society."
Her friend's expression fell immediately, "That…doesn't sound fun."
"No but it is educational. And I thought I would invited you-"
Weiss lied as easily as she breathed.
"Pass." Yang quickly escaped before anything more could be said.
Yang was far more than a simple party girl that so many people would perceive her as if they spent more than 5 minutes with her. She was surprisingly mature, witty, and someone you could rely on if you were someone who could call her a friend. But even though she wasn't the ditzy blonde people expected her to be, she still appreciated having fun over learning.
All Weiss had to do was give her a perceived choice between having fun and doing something educational and she had the brawler in the palm of her hand. And now she was free to find her target.
As she walked down the hall she found herself meeting with her other teammate. Blake looked up from the book she was perusing as she walked along and greeted her, "Hey Weiss."
"Hello Blake, do you know where everyone else is?"
"Do you mean Yang and Ruby?"
She shook her head, "No, I was thinking more about JNPR and NKTS." She lied through her teeth, "Might you have seen them?"
Blake looked at her curiously while raising a delicate eyebrow in confusion. Weiss stayed calm under her teammate's punitive stare. Blake was one of the sharper and more observant people she had ever met. The black-clad girl always seemed to know when one of them was lying or keeping an obvious secret. However unlike Yang-
Blake shrugged and pointed back the way she came, "They're in the cafeteria."
She preferred things staying quiet and manageable while not diving into other people's business.
Weiss couldn't be more thankful for Blake's reclusive and antisocial nature! With a courteous nod she left her other teammate behind and made her way over to the cafeteria. Like a woman on a mission she marched through the hall and made her way through the doors to find her target.
There he was! Sasuke Uchiha, pleasantly talking with the rest of their friend group as they chowed down. This was the perfect opportunity to hand over the tickets.
She would provide him with movie tickets for the film that recently came out that he was interested in seeing. First she would hand him both tickets and tell him it was a gift. He would appreciate the gift and ask why there are two of them. Then she would walk away, saying that he could invite whoever he wanted to go with him. However he'd be stirred on by the jabs and barbs of their friends to invite her along to the movie.
There'd be whispers and pokes from his teammates. A crass remark from Nora. Probably some blubbering from Jaune. And in the end Sasuke would have to buckle and invite her out on a date.
From there, the proverbial ball would be in his court, and he'd be forced to play. He'd have to invite her on a date, pressured by their peers and of course wanting to go out with her of his own volition.
For those viewers who believe this kind of thinking is manipulative and toxic…
Shut the hell up.
Weiss confirmed her resolve and made her way over, "Oh Sasuke, there you-"
However, the Schnee heiress failed to prepare for one thing in particular.
Chaos theory.
The science of surprises. The study that among all the things that can be mapped out and patterned and explained through logic and science, that there are also variables that are indeterminable. Things that are impossible to predict and control. It is chaos theory that threatens many of the greatest plans that have been set up through the ages. Even Weiss had tried to prepare for the uncontrollable factors that would have interfered with her plan.
Most dangerous of them being…Subject R.
"Weiss!" The Schnee heiress was almost knocked off her feet as Ruby barreled into her back, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" The young hooded Huntress pulled back from Weiss' back and got into her face, "Yang told me you have tickets to something!"
Weiss' eyes panned between her partner and the rest of their friends that had noticed them. She almost panicked but composed herself and whispered to her partner so the others didn't hear her, "Well Ruby, these are tickets to a educational exhibit. I didn't think you'd want to-"
"No they aren't!" Ruby pulled Weiss' arm in and examined the tickets closely before her eyes started sparkling like diamonds, "Oh my gosh, you got tickets to the new movie! Ahh, I've been waiting to see this for months!" She hugged Weiss around the neck and giggled, "Aww, bestie, I can't believe you got us tickets! You wanna go with me to watch the movie, right?! Why else would you have these tickets on hand right now?!"
…
Between the giddy sparkle in Ruby's eyes, the curious looks of everyone watching them, and Sasuke curiously tilting his head…Weiss' brain shut down completely.
Weiss groaned out robotically, "Yes, Ruby, these tickets are for us."
"YAY!" She wrapped her arm around Weiss' arm and dragged her off, "Let's go best friend!"
Weiss could only go limp as she was dragged off to the movies by Ruby. She looked up and saw Sasuke return to his conversation with the others like nothing happened. It was enough to make the heiress quietly weep in disappointment.
This round: Weiss loses.
Weiss and Ruby watched the climax of the movie ramp up as the white-haired Huntress hummed, "This is actually a lot better than I thought it would be."
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Sasuke stood out in the training field facing two cones acting as the goal. At his foot was a soccer ball he rolled his heel on as he thought deeply about what to do next.
Sun had suggested that they play a game over the weekend to try and have some fun. It started with suggestions of video games that evolved into a game that required more moving around. Then it was decided that all the boys in their friend group would get together and play a game next Saturday out here.
Sasuke was going to do his best to perform on the day of the game. However in order to do that…
"Sasuke! What are you doing out here?" He flinched and looked back as his teammates approached him on the field so late in the night. Tenten stepped up and looked around, "And why do you have cones set up like that?"
"Oho, I bet I can guess." Kiba said with a smirk as he noticed the ball under Sasuke's foot, "You trying to get some practice in before the game on Saturday?"
Sasuke reluctantly nodded as Tenten and Kiba chuckled at his embarrassment. And no one seemed to notice how quickly Naruto's skin lost all color as he slowly retreated backwards.
"I think I almost got a handle on this," Sasuke stated as he took his foot off the ball and tapped it on the grass, "Just a little more practice and I'll have a handle on it."
"T-There's no need, Sasuke." Naruto spoke up with chattering teeth and a paling complexion, "You don't have to play the game with us on Saturday if you don't want to. No reason to waste your time practicing-"
"Naruto, shame on you!" Tenten reprimanded her team leader as he nervously lowered his head and gaze, "How can you say something like that to him? He's trying to practice and get better."
"Really good support for your best friend, dude." Kiba chided his partner before turning back to Sasuke, "Okay so show us what you're working with. I'm sure you're probably already a natural at stuff like this."
Sasuke nodded and slipped his foot under the ball. With a flick upwards he sent the ball in the air and over their heads. The others watched in amazement as Sasuke leapt up to follow after it, spinning through the air with his leg reeled back. And with a mighty yell he twisted his body and kicked at the ball to spike it between the cones.
He fell to the ground in a gruesome face plant.
And the ball fell and bounced off his body a second later.
Tenten and Kiba just stared at the pathetic sight they had witnessed in dead silence.
Naruto groaned, "I knew this was gonna happen." The other two looked gobsmacked and turned to him for clarification, "Sasuke is weird like this. He's smart and talented and can do a whole bunch of stuff…but it's the easiest things that he sucks total ass at."
"You've…known about this?"
"Yep," The fox Faunus grimly nodded, "When he and I worked under Wilsk together, I introduced him to playing video games. I thought it would be a good way to keep our sanity and build a friendship between us." Naruto's eyes became hollow as he muttered, "It was…horrible. I've never seen someone hit the pause or power button so often while they were just playing. I had to turn his controller off over and over again just to make any progress. It was like trying to convince someone who couldn't talk, hear, or see anything how to work a scientific equation. Impossible! Just impossible!"
Sasuke grunted as he picked himself up as the ball rolled off his head, "Oh come on, I'm not that bad."
"Yes! Yes you are! You are that bad!"
"Well, even if I am it doesn't matter." Sasuke got back up and picked up the ball, "I've got to keep practicing so I can be good enough to play on Saturday."
Kiba scoffed and rubbed his neck, "Uh, I don't think that's enough time."
"Well it has to be." Sasuke's eyes narrowed with dire determination, "I can't take the risk."
Sasuke limply kicks the ball and looks like a fool in front of everyone. He topples over to the ground and everyone laughs at the loser he is. And to top it all off, Weiss looks down at his helpless expression and covers her mouth with a pitiable look on her face, "Oh, you're quite cute."
"I have to be better by Saturday!"
"Why?!" Kiba questioned as he reeled his leg back and kicked the ball, missing by an inch and slipping into a split before picking himself up, "Oh my god!"
"I got this." Tenten whispered as she walked over and grabbed her partner's shoulder before he could practice further, "Sasuke, look, you don't need to go this far just to impress Weiss. I'm sure she likes you more than enough that not being good at soccer won't hurt your chances. So have more confidence in yourself, okay?"
"Uh-huh," Sasuke mumbled unconvincingly before leaning in to whisper back to Tenten, "Counterpoint; if Pyrrha watched you play a sport and you looked like a dumbass, would you stomach that?"
…
"Change of plans! We're helping Sasuke train!" Tenten called to the others.
Kiba palmed his face and sighed, "This is so stupid. Well, this looks like it's going to be a long - Naruto?" He looked around and realized his partner had suddenly disappeared from the field. A second later his Scroll vibrated and he looked down at it.
If you dumbasses wanna suffer, have at it. I warned you.
"Well that doesn't bode well."
What proceeded was day after day of grueling training.
From perfecting his form while kicking…
To realizing he didn't even keep his eyes open while he aimed.
Making him stop doing eccentric moves and flips just to kick the ball.
Kiba and Tenten pushed him to the absolute limits to prepare for the game. Sasuke spent every moment of every day focusing on his techniques and how to kick the ball. He even got in trouble during class because he was watching videos on utilizing the best form instead of listening to the lectures.
Finally, after hours and hours of grueling work, it was time to see the fruits of their efforts. Sasuke bounced the ball on his foot and knocked it up to balance on his knee. He tossed it up again and knocked it forward with his head before dashing forward and kicking with his full power.
The ball sailed straight through between the cones.
"H-He did it!"
"HE DID IT!" Kiba and Tenten collided in an embrace as Sasuke smiled and wiped the sweat off his cheek.
Sasuke smiled as he looked back at his partner and teammate, "I can't believe we did it. I can finally kick the ball like a normal person."
"I-I thought we were going to have to give up." Tenten wept as she dried her eyes, "It was hard. So much harder than I ever believed."
"But we did it." Kiba was welling up as well as he wiped away a tear, "We actually got him to-"
"Next is passing."
They froze in silent horror as Sasuke retrieved the ball and faced them, "I still need to be able to pass it to other players. So let's get started."
"MOTHERF#$! §¥€{ 月+-年分○〒 !"
Saturday had finally arrived.
"GO!"
Sasuke expertly knocked the ball between his feet as he easily bypassed Sun and Kankuro. He crossed the field with the ball as everyone else desperately chased after him and the crowd cheered eagerly. Sasuke finally knocked the ball up and kicked it towards the goal.
Yang dove for it but missed it by an inch as it slammed into the net.
"WOOHOO!"
"WAY TO GO, UCHIHA!"
"LOOKING HOT!"
There were quite a few loud and frankly annoying spectators but that didn't matter. All Weiss could look at was Sasuke as he easily evaded everyone and scored against the other team. Even though he was getting so much attention, he looked her way and nodded as the teams went back to their corners.
She kept her composure but still faintly blushed, "Well, he's doing quite well, don't you - WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Tenten and Kiba stood beside her with bandages over their bodies and bags under their dead eyes. They stared at the field and clapped without any enthusiasm or joy.
"We raised that boy."
"And we're never doing it again."
Naruto stood by their side and scoffed, "I warned you. Can't say I didn't."
This round: Sasuke wins.
Tenten and Kiba however lose outright.
Tenten supported a dead-eyed Kiba, "Never, ever again."
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Weiss sat alone in the library with a deep, contemplative expression on her face. To those viewing it from the outside, it looked like the exalted and famous young heiress of the Schnee Dust Company was thinking deeply about something that demanded her full attention.
While her family name certainly didn't ingratiate herself with many of the normal citizens and students of Beacon, no one could deny her work ethic and determination. Many had come into this school expecting her to be a pampered, sheltered little rich girl over her head and unable to keep up. So they were surprised that she could handle herself so well and proved so excellent in her studies.
With that change in their perspective of her, many would look at her intense focus and determination and believe she was studying. Dutifully running over the material they had learned in class today and preparing for any examination that followed that required their preparation.
However in truth…
Weiss looked down at her beauty magazine and read the article about having confidence even when your figure may be lacking.
"Grrr," Weiss grumbled under her breath as her fingers tapped irritably on the table as she read the article. An article that read about having confidence in your own body figure, and learning to gauge your partner's interests by what they like to look at around them.
Now Weiss had always been confident in her looks before she came to Beacon. The women of the Schnee family had always been blessed with wonderful looks. And while granted she might not have had the curves her mother or sister had, her body was still beautiful and magnificent enough that she never felt inadequate.
Until, of course, she came to Beacon.
Now she wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence, or if it was some kind of creepy prerequisite for joining Beacon, but everyone here was hot. Like certainly some were more beautiful, some more cute, and some sexier. But everyone in this school hit some range of attractive and desirable.
Seriously, it was like becoming a Huntsman or Huntress required you to be so pretty or attractive that you left an impression on the people you saved.
Nowhere was that more clear than in the group of friends she kept and the team she had.
Team JNPR was well beyond the norm in terms of attractiveness. Pyrrha was of course a goddess with a statuesque figure and body that left most with their jaws dropped. Ren had a surpassingly delicate face and body that did wonders to intice others with his androgynous looks. Although she would never admit it out loud, Jaune would probably hit a lot of peoples' strike zone of a dumb, tall blond. And Nora was a bundle of energy that many people referred to as - and she hoped she worded this correctly - a short stack.
Was her appetite for pancakes really that desirable?
Then there was Team NKTS. She had heard many people say that Naruto's boyish charms, cute whiskers, and twitchy ears all really worked to get their attention. Kiba may have been a gruff jerk but his large build and tattoos did draw attention. And Tenten was a surprisingly wholesome tomboy who got more attention than she realized.
And that said nothing of Sasuke. He was possibly the most handsome male of their year in Beacon. Many people made note of just how pretty he was over the school year. His perfectly sculpted face. His black locks as dark as a raven's feathers. And deep, soulful eyes that drew her in…and made her…
"Weiss?"
"Muah?" Weiss mumbled and wiped her mouth clean before looking up to see her teammates as they looked at her with a mix of confusion and suspicion as she quickly closed the magazine to try and hide her shame.
These three were the greatest source of her worries.
Yang was the center of most of her fears. Tall. Confident. Blonde. Beautiful. Bombshell. The two useless lumps of meat and fat on her chest gave Weiss a complex she thought she had avoided while in the presence of the females of her family. It made no sense that someone so bubbly and carefree could also ooze sex appeal and attention so easily.
Then there was Blake. A mysterious, exotic beauty that drew attention with her quiet allure. Her long black hair and piercing yellow eyes would draw just about anyone's attention. But then as if that wasn't bad enough there was…the butt. Her teammate had gained kind of a cult following with most of the attention gravitating towards her prodigious posterior. Seriously, Weiss had a good backside but Blake's was just ridiculous! She'd been caught several times over the school year staring at her as they were getting dressed and she had to make up an excuse right there in the panic!
And finally there was Ruby. Now you'd think Weiss wouldn't feel any sort of inadequacies compared to such a goofy girl two years her junior and with the sensibilities of a child. However there was something about Ruby's innocence that was adorable and incorruptible. The way those silver eyes would turn gooey while pleading for help or assistance made all the walls she built up break down immediately. And even if she wasn't as gifted as Yang, Ruby was still quite curvy at such a young age. Not that she was looking!
Weiss didn't realize it at this time, but what she was experiencing is what many people refer to as Bi-panic.
"Geez, you must be reading something cheeky." Yang noted with a giggle as she slid up to Weiss' side and tried to peek at what she was hiding, "What is it, huh? Huh? A porn mag? Answers to the next test? Something diabolical, right? Show us!"
"I-It's nothing like that-"
"Let me see, Weiss!" Ruby quickly dropped down beside her and snatched the magazine out of her hands. The Schnee heiress screeched and tried to jump at her only for Yang to grab her shoulders and hold her back. The young hooded Huntress squealed as she read along, "Oh my god! Weiss! Are we finally gonna do the girly stuff like shopping, painting our nails, and talking about cute boys? I'll invite Penny-"
"Don't you dare!" Weiss snatched the magazine back and snarled at Ruby until she backed up with her hands raised.
"I'm surprised you of all people would be looking at a magazine like that, Weiss." Blake calmly noted as she sat across from her at the table to join the conversation, "But there's no reason for you to hide it. We wouldn't make fun of you for reading it."
Weiss wordlessly pointed to the starry-eyed Ruby and Yang as her eyebrows flittered up and down.
Blake stared blankly between her teammates before quickly amending, "Well I wouldn't."
"And I guess I'm thankful for that." Weiss droned before slamming the magazine back on the table and grumbling, "Can't believe you found me reading this tripe."
"Well you were the one reading." Yang said, "Why were you reading it anyway?"
"I was just considering something." She tapped her finger on the table, "Something about…figures and preferences-"
"Ah," Yang winked, "I got it."
"You get nothing!"
Ruby looked to Blake and tilted her head as the bow-wearing girl just shrugged unbothered.
"I don't see what you're even worrying about." Yang shrugged with a grin, "We already checked and a lot of people agree we're hot. Remember the thread on the web?"
"Ugh, don't remind me."
Ruby had spotted a thread on ReadIt based on the teams of the upcoming tournament and found her team featured. She thought it'd be fun to show it to her team and showed it to them one day after classes. Apparently it had pictures of each of them and people had made comments about them.
Rather untasteful ones.
Like how they wanted to [REDACTED] with Yang. Or see Blake [REDACTED]. Or get Weiss to [REDACTED]. Or watch Ruby eat [REDACTED] as she was [REDACTED] between a group of [REDACTED] all over her [REDACTED].
Needless to say Weiss purged her memory of the filth and flagged all the people that made those comments.
"The only thing that experience taught me was never to look at the comments under anything on the internet."
"Ditto."
"Yep."
"Okay, scum like to come out and be creepy when they get the chance, but plenty of people think we're hot. That's one takeaway we can appreciate."
"That's a very specific takeaway to have from all those unsettling comments." Blake noted to her partner's statement.
"Meh, try to look for the silver lining. Anyway Weiss, you have nothing to be worried about."
She appreciated her teammate's attempt to raise her spirits, but it wasn't so effective. Her size. Her figure. The scar over her eye. Compared to the others around her…
Weiss felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up as Yang winked at her, "Get up close to him when you talk and watch him get nervous. I promise it'll work."
"I-I don't know who you are talking-"
"Shh," Yang pushed a finger to her lip before motioning to the side. Weiss followed her gaze and saw him standing by a stack of books and perusing his selection.
Weiss looked to Yang and the blonde girl smirked and nodded. Her cheeks heated up just a little before she pushed away from the table and stood up. She marched away, ignoring Ruby's curious questions and the amused looks from Blake and Yang as she made her way across the library.
Sasuke noticed her approach and looked up from the books, "Oh, hey Weiss. What are you doing here?"
"Studying."
"Me too." He nodded and looked back at the book as she approached, "I need more references for my report in Oobleck's class. It'd be so much simpler if we didn't have to have serval different citations. It-" He paused as she stepped up right into his personal space and looked up at him, "W-Weiss?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
"Don't worry about it."
Sasuke seemed to be unable to not worry about it as the refined young heiress of the SDC only gave him an inch of space between them. He tried to put his focus back on the book or anything else, but the beautiful ivory-haired girl looking up at him so closely was the only thing he could pay attention to. With her so close, breathing so warm, and her modest chest in his line of sight…
The Uchiha couldn't help but look away.
Weiss had felt self-conscious about her figure compared to others and whether she could get the same attention as them. But knowing she could get a reaction out of Sasuke just like this?
That meant everything to her.
This round: Weiss wins.
The rest of RWBY watched the interaction from the side as Yang slyly smiled, "Oh, with her pressuring him like this our lil Ice Queen might just reach an awakening of her own~."
Ruby whispered to Blake, "What does 'awakening' mean?"
"A fetish."
"Oh~. So sex stuff?"
"Yes Ruby, shut up."
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Done
I wanted to update today, but I kind of lost track of time and failed to properly review a more substantial chapter of another story. I'll get it out next week but I don't want you guys to suffer through a messy chapter with typos and errors as far as the eye can see.
Instead I offer you this little bit of irreverent fun involving two clueless lovebirds. And I continue my favorite little gag of Ruby being totally aware of sex stuff and people telling her to shut up and stay innocent and pure.
I might do more of these. Seems like a perfect story setting to apply Kagura-sama craziness into the mix.
ReadxReview
Thank You and Bye
