AUTHOR NOTE: To all those who enjoy and supported this story, thank you all from the bottom of my heart and I promise you in the face of your support, I will never stop this story until it's completed! ^_^
As Kushina admired her current "handiwork", a series of knocks at her door drew her attention.
"What is it? I'm in the middle of something important!" Kushina's voice called, a cry for help exiting Kakashi a moment later.
"Kushina...I know you want to beat Kakashi to an inch of his life and then burn him alive on a piler of his own Icha-Icha books, but we're starting the next chapter. Jaune's reading." Mikoto called.
"Fine." Kushina opened the door, dragging a very bloody Kakashi behind her as she made her way into the main room and plopped the injured man on the coutch.
There were many ways Naruto could imagine spending his Saturday morning - training with his team, sleeping, eating, pulling a prank on Cardin, or possibly getting in trouble for the stunt he had pulled the night before at Jr.'s club. Oddly enough, he wasn't currently doing any of those things. Even more strange was the fact that Professor Ozpin seemed to know that the young blond was involved with the incident in Vale and yet was content to not ask any questions despite the many inquisitive stares he had gotten from the headmaster of Beacon.
"You blow up half a building and get away with it?" Yang gaped, then her and Nora both pouted at Naruto.
"LUCKY!" They complained.
If our protagonist was not taking part in any of the aforementioned activities, then what exactly was he doing you ask?
"Seeing as it's Naruto we're talking about, that's actually a good question." Minato confessed, getting his son to pout and glare at him.
Enjoying a soothing cup of tea at a café in Vale's market district. With the sun barely having risen above the horizon a few short hours ago it was still relatively cool, a gentle breeze carrying a morning chill to balance out the heat that radiated off the gaseous ball of flames in the sky.
"That actually sounds relaxing." Kushina smiled.
Seated on the second floor balcony of the rather well furnished eatery, Naruto allowed himself to relax into his chair, feeling the caress of the wind as it gently swayed his blond mop of hair. As he did so, his cerulean orbs traveled to the young female who was actually the reason for his even being there in the first place.
"OH~HOOO~! Do tell!" Yang cheered eagerly.
Naruto somehow blushed and paled simultaneously, especally when he noticed his mom had a very similar look to Yang's on her face at that.
Sitting across from the shinobi in hiding was a pale skinned raven haired beauty.
"Huh?!" Everyone cried, Blake suddenly having a very bad feeling of foreboading in her gut.
Dressed in her usual garb of purple/black stockings, white undershirt, black top, and her signature bow, Blake Belladon
"HELLO~!" Yang called, then shot her partner a face-splitting grin. Oh...this was just TOO RITCH!
Blake looked horrified at that bad feeling proving true. Why?! Why was this happening to her..?!
a took a sip of her tea, looking just as relaxed as her male friend.
Many would be surprised to hear that it had actually been the young woman who had asked Naruto to accompany her to a café, knowing that the normally soft spoken and monotone member of team RWBY preferred her privacy and space away from most others.
"...That would be surprising, I admit." Blake relented.
While it was true that she had begun to open up when around her teammates, even they knew that their friend and teammate had her limits and would actively seek time away from them when she reached said limit of social interaction.
The fact that she had asked Naruto, whom many knew to be loud, brash, and by all rights the opposite of Blake, was also odd and somewhat out of the norm for the raven haired teen. Even the leader of team NNPR was surprised when Blake sought him out and asked him to go with her on what amounted to a date in the eyes of most others.
"Shoot me. Someone shoot me...please!" Blake hissed in a low voice, her face reddening.
Of course Naruto was far from being like most people and being as romantically dense as he was, saw it as a friend asking another friend to hang out, nevermind the fact that she had asked just him and him alone to go with her.
"Dense? Why? Its probably just that." Blake said.
"Sure~" Yang teased.
"Need I remind you about the reasons I kept my being a Faunus and my past hidden?!" The feline girl snapped with more bite than she intended. Then she winced a second later. "Sorry..."
"...Hey, its cool. Touchy subjects, is all." the blond told her partner, ok...Yang admitted she enjoyed teasing, but she did know where to draw the line, and she was getting a bit close to it. Needed to watch that.
And so a short airship ride, a walk, and some small talk later they had found themselves quickly seated by the elderly lady who owned the café. The young Uzumaki had been confused when said owner had winked at Blake and said, "Opposites attract don't they?"
At that, everyone else looked at Naruto, then at Blake.
"Not to offend, but I can see the part about you two being opposites considering your personalities." Weiss said.
While the meaning was lost on our blond hero, Blake was quick to understand the elderly woman's hinting and quickly attempted to hide the blush that was blossoming on her cheeks. This also happened to be the reason that the young woman had refused to make eye contact for the past few minutes which had eventually led to there being a thick tension between the two teens, though Naruto had no idea why.
The fenales with the exception of Ruby all sighed "...Clueless..."
"We really should have left a note for the others," came Naruto's voice in an attempt to break the tension.
Blake replied in her usual monotone, "They'll be fine."
"Uh, you do know who you're talking about right? Yang? Nora?" Naruto chuckled.
After a moment of thought and her mind conjuring the mental image of a panicked Yang and Nora literally turning Beacon upside down in search of them while Ruby and Ren tried in vain to stop the two, the ravenette put palm to face before muttering, "They're gonna burn the school down."
Ruby and Ren looked ready to cry in sheer misery while the others paled, easily seeing Yang and Nora doing that!
"The possibility of us returning to a ruined school aside, how come you asked me to come here? I never really took you as someone who would go out of her way to do something like this," the half blood Uzumaki asked.
'How the student of not one, but two perverts, one a self proclaimed Super Pervert, is this dense when it comes to females is just baffling.
"Personally, I find it relieving. Means he wasn't corrupted." Weiss said, getting nods of agreement from thr other females present. Kushina especially.
If Jiraiya hadn't tricked you into losing your virginty, I'd swear you didn't know what sex is and how it works,' Kurama grumbled through their link.
"HE DID WHAT?!" Kushina roared, bolting to her feet and hauling Naruto by the arm. He gulped nerviously as his mother started demanding answers.
Minato sighed and shook his head. Figures Jiraiya would do something like that...not that Minato wasn't as pissed about this bit of news as his wife, he was. But he was the least shocked by it.
Ruby blushed heavily and said nothing.
Weiss gapesd in shock that this "Jiraiya" would do something like that.
Blake, knowing Naruto was a ninja, had that lead her to think about "Ninjas of love", a bit of blood leaking from her nose.
Yang cried in laughter.
Pyrrha blushed and shook her head saying something about "Bad role models".
Jaune looked at his fellow male blond in shock.
Nora giggled about the whole thing.
Ren sighed and shook his head.
Mikoto massaged her forehead.
Kakashi just felt happy that he was no longer the one Kushina was pissed at.
"Mom...it was the me in the story!"
"He's still do that if he could have gotten away with it!"
"Why do you think I wore a chastity device the entire time he was training me?" Naruto pointed out.
"You what?!"" Kushina yelped.
"He took steps to keep Jiraiya from tainting him." Minato explained, making Kushina sigh, relieved, then sat back down and relax.
The shrunken Bijū had been content to enjoy the rare time of silence and peace that his partner's cat friend had brought with her, but having Naruto as a container made it very hard to stay quiet. Especially when said blond was being his usual idiotic self.
Without even batting an eyelash Naruto grabbed Kurama by the scruff the neck and tossed the cursing kitsune into the distance, much to the shock of his friend as well as the other patrons who were seated around them.
"Isn't that animal abuse?" Jaune asked as he paused in his reading.
Seeing Blake looking at him like he had just grown a second head, the blond shinobi waved his hands uncaringly, "Don't worry he'll be fine. Furball will just make his way back over here and try and get me back or something."
"Like what?" Pyrrha asked him.
'I AM GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU, YOU BLOND BASTARD!'
"Like that." Naruto shrugged.
"...How and why are you so calm about that?" Ren asked, understanding the irony of his saying that.
"Eh...high-risk occupation has a way of making you use to others wanting to kill you, human or otherwise."
"That's not healthy." The pink-streaked boy said.
"So says the Huntsmen-in-training." Naruto said, not missing a beat.
"Touché." Ren aknowlaged, resigning himself to that point.
Deciding to not question the oddity that was the relationship between her friend and his fox partner, the young Faunus decided to answer the previous question, "I...need your advice."
Naruto was slightly surprised to hear Blake's normally even toned voice soften, her usually stoic face becoming downcast while her honey colored eyes became a sea of warring emotions. This threw the teen male for a loop for a moment. It was a strange sight to see the always calm and in control cat Faunus almost fall apart. Whatever was bothering her was not just troubling her, it was almost tearing her apart.
Blake winced. Oh...she knew where this was going.
Then again as a Jinchūriki, Naruto was no stranger to knowing that many people walked around wearing a mask, a facade to cover up the inner turmoil that was kept bottled inside and away from public eye. Shoot he was practically the poster child for that.
Kushina galred at her husband at that while Minato cringed.
He had worn a mask for so long and played it off so well that he had to literally fight himself in order to fully realize who he was entirely, both the good and the bad.
"Say wha...?"
Naruto shuddered. "Personified manifestation of all my suppressed negitive feelings. Buried them down so far in my mind, I didn't even know they were there until then."
Coming back to the present, the blond thought about the situation and instantly knew that there was only one thing that could be so consequential that it was causing someone so strong willed to act and look the way the young woman in front of him was, "Blake, don't doubt your teammates. They won't care that you're a Faunus. They may be a little hurt that you kept it from them for so long, but that will pass. Ruby, Yang, and even Weiss are far better people than that."
The trio of mentioned girls all smiled and nodded. Both at the praise of their character and to how Blake's being a Faunus didn't matter to them.
Taking a breath to steady herself and strengthen her resolve, Blake shook her head, "It's not just that. I know they wouldn't care about that, but...I...Naruto, I used to be a part of the White Fang."
"Oh..." Yang shifted. So this wasn't a date, she was just turning to Naruto for advice and someone to talk to in regards to her past and some of the things Blake had kept secret.
Weiss looked guilty, recalling the day-long argument that had lead to Blake leaving.
"Take it you have your reasons?" Mikoto asked.
Blake nodded, "I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it...Back then, things were different. The White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there...I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist...Then our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."
Blake sighed before taking a deep breath, "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow."
The Uchiha woman frowned at that. Seeing as the Uchiha had been police, Mikoto knew a guilty party, and the difference between an unwilling or an unwitting one and those that acted with deliberate ill intent. "...You're no criminal, you just stuck with how you were brought up and had a hard time seeing why the regime change got results. You were impressionable and saw only it got "good" results, wasn't until later that you realized the methods were bad and decided to try making things right."
"I still feel guilty, though..." the black cat sighed.
Surprisingly, the blond Uzumaki was quick to respond, "Why'd you leave?"
Shocked at how quick her friend had responded and no doubt having thought that there would be more stunned silence on Naruto's end, Blake inquired, "What do you mean? Don't you care why I joined? What I-"
Cutting the cat girl off, Naruto shook his head, "Not important right now. Why did you leave?"
Looking down at her cup of tea, Blake began rubbing her arm as she remembered the day she had left the Faunus group, "I didn't want to use my skills for such a...disgusting cause. The White Fang used to be a group that strived for Faunus equality, but somewhere along the line that goal was twisted into something unrecognizable. When we started killing innocent people...I just couldn't do it anymore. It wasn't about equality anymore, it was about revenge at any price, even if that price was the lives of good innocent people."
Blake shuddered. Those memories still bothered her.
Tensing herself, the young woman prepared herself for the rejection, the accusations. Naruto had more than made it clear how he felt about the White Fang in its current form and he would no doubt be disgusted to know that she had once upon a time been a part of that, assisting in the horrendous crimes that had been committed in the name of "equality". And she wouldn't blame him for that. She was guilty of it all, she was a criminal who had attempted to run away, to start a new life away from all of that, even going so far as to register for Beacon in some vain attempt at redeeming herself.
'Who was I kidding? Life isn't a fairy tale, there is no redemption for someone like me,' Blake berated herself.
Naruto frowned at that. He believed in redemption. It was why he didn't give up on Sasuke, after all.
"Ok then."
"HUH?!" Everyone except Naruto cried at that, Blake notably and understandably the loudest and most shocked.
Wide eyed, the now revealed former member of the White Fang stared as her blond companion relaxed into his chair, crossing his arms behind his head in an uncaring manner, seemingly unfazed by what most would consider to be a huge revelation.
"Wh-what do you mean 'Ok then'?" Questioned Blake.
"Explain...PLEASE!" The female Faunus cried, shocked.
Naruto shrugged, "So you worked for the White Fang, so what? In the end you left, because you knew what they were doing is wrong. All this means is that you're a good person."
"THERE! Right there! That right there! That's the only part about your past we care about! That you made that choice and want to do the right thing, Blake! That's the part that matters to us!" Ruby said, standing and pointing. The sheer passion in her voice had the others in the room staring, but Naruto offered a nod and a silent applause at how strongly Ruby supported Blake's sense of morality.
Blake felt her eyes sting at Ruby's words.
For a moment, Blake was at a loss for what to say and could only stare in shock as the blond captain of team NNPR sat across from her with a small grin on his face.
Slowly a smile formed on her pale face as she softly chuckled at the absurdity of it all. The almost stupidly simple logic Naruto had used to explain why he was wholly unfazed by the news that one of his friends had been apart of what amounted to a terrorist group was just that, stupidly simple. It was almost childlike, and if Blake didn't know any better, she would have called the blond naive.
"It's like Ruby's idea of logic, then." Yang smirked.
"We'll take that as a compliment, thank you very much!" Ruby and Naruto said in unison in their own defense.
For the first time in a while, the young Faunus allowed herself to relax completely, to let down the walls she had raised in order to keep herself safe from those around her. It was...refreshing, to not constantly fear or worry over what people thought of you or how'd they react if they found out you were "different". The feeling that she could just be Blake Belladonna, the teenage girl - who just so happened to have cat ears and be going to school to become a Huntress - was something she hadn't felt since she was little, far before she knew about or could even really understand the horrendous gap between Faunus and human.
Blake sighed blissfully, her whole body relaxing as if she was just released from an iron straightjacket. She turned to Naruto and smiled. That...that truely was a blessing. She could feel how much her other self rejoiced at hearing that.
That settled it, he was getting taken home with her, even if she had to cram him into a sack and haul him all the way to Menagerie on her back!
"We really should get back before Yang and Nora burn down the school or something," Naruto spoke, pullingju Blake from her thoughts.
Allowing a smile of true happiness and contentment to slip across her face, the ravenette shook her head, "They'll be fine for a little longer."
"Let me enjoy this!" Blake all but whinned. It had been so long since she'd felt that happy.
In return our displaced shinobi shrugged, just as content as his companion to enjoy the calm and easy going mood that was brought on by the early Saturday morning.
That mood was completely destroyed when the elderly owner of the café made her way to their table and with a huge grin on her face asked, "So can I get anything else for the lovely couple?"
Both Blake and Naruto went scarlet and started sputtering incoherently, making everyone else laugh.
Blake's face instantly lit up with a blush coloring her once pale cheeks while Naruto was completely caught off guard and sputtered in both shock and embarrassment, mostly because what the woman had said caused him to look at his dark haired companion in a different light. He hadn't really paid her that kind of attention, what with being around Pyrrha and Yang.
Blake frowned at that, feeling her pride as a woman sting at it.
That wasn't to say Blake was any less attractive than them, but his teammate and the outspoken member of team RWBY had features that had caught his eye more, Pyrrha with her crimson locks and gentle nature, and Yang with her..."assets" and bold nature that occasionally mirrored his own brash attitude.
Blake wrapped her arms around her bust, feeling very self-concious now.
"Foxy...you aren't the first to think that way about my body, and won't be the last!" Yang laughed.
Blake however was different. His red haired teammate was more of the regal and "out of your league" beauty
"Please, don't remind me..." Pyrrha winced.
and Yang was that "sexy and I know it" good looking.
"Damn right I do!" The blond bombshell grinned and intertwined her hands behind her head to show off her figure.
The dark themed Faunus who sat in front of him was almost refined in her beauty. Being so silent and liking to keep to herself made it easy for one to simply forget how attractive she was with her porcelain skin, piercing amber eyes, and borderline sensual speaking voice.
Blake felt her face heat at that, the former "insults" against her as a female forgiven.
Remembering the only other girl he had known who was also closely connected to cats, a fellow Jinchūriki at that, Naruto had to wonder, 'Why are all cat girls so hot?'
"...Mm, conundrum!" Yang crossed her arms as she closed her eyes in thought as she nodded with that. "Very valid question, though. Guess it's just a rule of nature." The brawler said with a smirk.
"Yang!" Blake cried.
The wizened woman only laughed at the looks her statement had caused, "Oh to be young again."
"But what if he was kidnapped by spies!? Maybe he's being held hostage by some terrorist group for ransom! Or maybe he was called to go on an epic quest to save a far off kingdom from a fierce dragon!"
"...Naruto, next time, PLEASE leave a note!" Ren begged in an exhausted tone.
"Nora...you need to stop putting so much syrup on your pancakes."
"NEVER!"
"There is no such thing as too much syrup!" Nora declaired firmily.
"So then...what's you're all-time, number one, absolute FAVORITE flavor of syrup?" Naruto asked the eccentric heavy-hitter.
Nora looked at him stunned, opened her mouth, held it, then closed it before doing it again several times. Then crossed her arms and assumped the lotous position "...Sneaky question...need to take that seriously...props for the difficulty, Mr. Orange...I'll give you that..." she said, then mentally retreated inwards to contemplate her answer.
Ren stared at Naruto. "...How does he do that...?" He asked, seeing Nora sitting quietly, deeply concentrating.
"Aiming for lessons?" Phrrha asked her friend.
Ren nodded.
Under normal circumstances the red haired Huntress in training of team NNPR would have been laughing at the ridiculous situations that her fellow Huntress was imagining, but her worry for her friend and captain's safety had taken precedent in her mind.
"Sorry!" Naruto cried as the others all gave him looks.
Logically speaking she shouldn't be worried, knowing full well that Naruto could more than take care of himself under most circumstances. However that same logical part of her brain was quick to point out that while extremely powerful for his age, her blond captain was not invincible by any means. He could still be hurt, he could still bleed, and even worse, he could still be killed.
Minato and Kushina paled and started trembling and hyperventilating.
"Sorry!" Pyrrha cried, seeing how Naruto's mother and father took that as their child attempted to get them to calm down. Oh just great! Now she'd done it!
As that dreadful thought crossed her mind, the sound of someone knocking at their door pulled her from her worry invoked daze. Hoping that it was their missing whiskered blond come back from wherever he was, Pyrrha rushed to the door.
Opening it and seeing a shock of sun kissed blond hair, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. That was however taken back when she opened the door fully, revealing that knocking at the door was not the blond of team NNPR, but the blonde of team RWBY.
"Sorry to disappoint you..." Yang pouted.
"Yang, relax. Just worried for their friend is all." Ruby told her elder sibling.
Before Pyrrha could even get a word in, a worried looking Ruby stepped into view and spoke, "Is Blake with you guys?"
Sighing, the taller red head shook her head, "No she's not."
"She's probably with Naruto then," Yang said with a shrug.
"Naruto has also been missing as well," Ren said, joining the conversation.
Clearly even more worried than before, Ruby interjected, "Wait so Naruto is missing as well? He didn't say where he was going?"
Seeing the sad shake of Pyrrha's head did nothing to ease the younger teen's fears.
"Sorry!" Naruto cried, he hated making his friends worry!
Now beginning to realize the oddness of the situation, Yang became somewhat serious, "Blake didn't tell us anything either, and that's not like them to just up and leave without saying anything to someone."
"Seeing as he at least wanted to leave a note for you guys, I take full responsibility." Blake said.
With a huff, the final member of the all girl team jumped into the conversation, "Maybe we're just blowing this whole thing out of proportion. What if Blake asked Naruto to go with her somewhere or something?"
The other occupants of the room turned to look at Weiss as if she had grown a second head, "What!? Is it that weird that Blake and Naruto would actually get along?"
Naruto and Blake looked at one another, then at the rest of the Remnent teens. Sheesh...was it honestly that strange?
Browsing through one of the many book stores in Vales shopping district, Blake began to feel an odd tingling in her nose. That tingle soon became that familiar feeling and with a short intake of breath, the cat Faunus sneezed.
Naruto popped his head over the shelf that stood between him and his friend and said, "Bless you."
Rubbing her nose to get rid of the slightly itchy feeling left by the sudden sneeze, Blake replied, "Thanks."
Returning to her browsing, the young woman continued on with her previous conversation, "So you're godfather was an author? What's the title of one of his books?"
Busy browsing through his own half of the book shelf, Naruto shrugged, "His first book was 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'. Sadly it wasn't a huge hit or anything, but my parents liked it enough to name me after the main character."
"He just released it at a bad time." Minato said. Honestly...a book involving war right after an actual war ended? Who WOULD want to read that?
Kushina nodded. It was the only book that Jiraiya had made that she thoroughly enjoyed, and it made her happy to have named her boy after the leading role.
"So what about his other books?"
Naruto's cheeks blazed. Oh, just great!
The sound of something hitting the floor caused Blake to look over the shelf to see her blond friend blushing as he picked up the books he had dropped.
Putting the last of the dropped books back on the shelf, Naruto sheepishly began to chuckle and rub the back of his head, "Uh...well, they were a little...different from his first book."
Quirking a brow, the stoic girl asked, "How so?"
"They were basically "How-to-die-a-virgin Manuals" and were used better for target practice than reading." Naruto said, Kakashi gasping and staring at Naruto, horrified.
"The Icha Icha series aren't "Virgin Manuals"! No live woman can dare compete with the joys Icha Icha gives!" Kakkashi snapped.
"I see...then by what you just said added onto the fact that HE can't stand those books...you just confessed that all fans of Icha Icha have less active sex lives than Might Guy!" Naruto cackled.
Kakashi looked stunned at that, then let out a loud howl of agony like a wounded animal, collapsed and curled up in to a ball, shaking with his knees to his chest, sputtering gibberish to himself.
The collective females in the room all looked immesnsly pleased at the sight of the spirit-broken pervert.
"...Better off if you need to ask but don't; that describes Guy and his personality pretty well." Minato said, figuring it would be best to cut them off now.
Everyone from Remnent nodded.
"Uhhhh...well it was a series called...'Icha Icha'...," Just saying the name had Naruto feeling like he should bang his head on a wall or something.
"No fooling..." Naruto muttered.
Jiraiya was many things, and he had been the male role model the blond so needed at a time of his life that could have made or broke him. However that didn't change the fact that at his roots, the famed Sage of Mt. Myōboku was an unrepentant and shameless pervert.
"...Wait...so the unrepentent and shamless pervert that would have tricked you into loosing your...he was your male role model figure!?" Weiss looked utterly appalled.
"To be fair, I didn't have anyone else, and I tuned out any of his "advice" in regards to anything that he might have twisted to relate to being preverted..."
"So THAT was why he tried to trick you!" Kushina cried, snatching her son up and holding him close, tears running down her face.
"...Make out?" Blake said with a blush lighting her cheeks as she realized what kind of books Naruto's godfather wrote. The title was simple, but no doubt did the job of describing exactly what the book entailed.
Not being able to resist, Ruby allowed a snort to escape as she laughed at her teammate, "Come on Weiss, Naruto and Blake getting along? That's like you and Nora becoming best friends or something."
"Is it wrong I feel an I-told-you-so mement coming from Weiss seeing as she's actually right?" Kushina asked.
Weiss looked highly pleased at that.
At that, the room's occupants laughed at the absurdity of such a notion.
To be fair the thought did seem far fetched. As it was the Schnee heiress had very little interactions with team NNPR outside of her odd friendship with their blond captain and the few short talks she had with Pyrrha. The fact that, despite recent changes with her interactions with her team, and to a degree, Naruto, Weiss was still pretty stuck up
"I am not!" Weiss protested.
and people like Nora just bothered her on principle alone, played a huge part.
"Not in small doses..." Weiss admitted.
Nora, while extremely bubbly and cheerful, held no love for the heiress of team RWBY, something which was again not that surprising. Again outside of their acknowledgement of each other during such times as this, they had nothing to say to the other. The fact that their personalities clashed so heavily and without their being a need for them to get along, the likelihood of the two young women actually becoming much more than acquittances was pretty much zero.
Putting fist to palm, the younger captain of team RWBY called out, "Looks like we'll have to assemble a search and rescue team to find our friends!"
"Ruby..." Minato said, "assembling a serch and rescue team is a bit extream."
"What? Our friends can't be found, and I worry." She shrugged, "I just want to know the people I care about are safe."
Naruto smiled at that. He didn't like making Ruby worry, but he understood reasoning perfectly.
For some reason as the three members of each team began to go over a game plan of sorts, Pyrrha had the sinking feeling that Naruto and Blake would end up finding them, in some of form of trouble.
"With our luck? No doubt." Jaune moaned.
"Yep." Ruby agreed.
"I can see it." Weiss said.
"Danger prone all the way." Yang nodded.
Pyrrha sighed.
Ren shook his head.
"Bring on the doom!" Nora called, getting odd looks from everyone else.
"What? It was getting gloomy." she defended.
For what had to be the dozenth time that morning, both Naruto and Blake sneezed within seconds of each other. They shared a look, both teens wondering what was causing them to sneeze like a kid with every allergy ever. Deciding that it was better left unexplored, the blond shrugged as the two continued their stroll out into one of the less populated areas of Vale.
The reason?
None really. Blake had already browsed quite a number of book shops and bought herself a small stack of the ones that had caught her eye. Naruto meanwhile had bought a small number of books that dealt with Dust and its uses as well as its manufacturing. Sure he had a number of Jutsu under his belt from each element that could far out do anything a Dust user could do, but learning how to use the stuff should he ever have to wouldn't be a bad thing.
Weiss smiled and nodded. As the heiress of the Schee Dust Company, she could attest to Dust being useful on a higher degree than most. And while Naruto had his own unique skillset, it was good to see he was at least studying up for a just-in-case situation.
Why couldn't Ruby be that practical?
With his own near ocean sized reserves and stamina it was highly unlikely he'd ever run out of chakra though, compound that with the fact that he could draw upon Nature chakra to bolster his reserves as well as borrow from Kurama who had an almost limitless amount of chakra, and it would take days for the blond to even come close to running out.
Naruto and the others from Konoha nodded, that was true, especally since Remnent seemed to lack those who could honestly push Naruto to the point of complete exhaustion in confrontations.
Still though, the concept of Dust and how the people of Remnant used it intrigued our blond protagonist. Thanks to Dust you didn't have to be aligned to a certain element to use it, in fact anyone was more than capable of using every element, a feat Shinobi were only capable of with decades of training or having access to a Kekkai Genkai. That didn't mean that the people of Remnant didn't align with certain elements more than others like those of the Elemental Countries. He had yet to see anyone outside of Weiss really use Dust though so at this point he was mostly going off of guess work.
'Hmm actually I might have to talk to Princess later. She probably knows a lot about Dust and I did want to ask her about her glyphs,' Naruto thought to himself.
Weiss nodded. She was going to enjoy that talk with Uzumaki. And a way to compair his sealing arts to her glyphs...she wouldn't deny that she was excited by the prospect and any potential avenues it could present her with!
'As powerful as the ability to draw your seals on thin air like that would be, I doubt it is something she would be able to teach you. These Semblance powers are extremely unique to an individual, far more so than even the Kekkai Genkai of the Shinobi. In fact the only thing that children seem capable of inheriting from their parents is this Aura and possible elemental alignment,' Kurama chimed in.
"Kekkai Genkai?"
"Special powers passed down genetically through certain families." Mikoto cleared up, possessing a Kekkai Genkai herself.
Though it always confused and annoyed her when people said Kekkai Genkai were the result of mixing two types of chkara together. If that were the case, then wouldn't EVERYONE have Kekkai Genkai just because they had chakra? The term literally meant "Bloodline Limit" for a reason. The idea of the mixing of two types of chkara together being what made those abilities just undermined that concept of needing spefic genes in order to have those abilities.
Being the pseudo child of the famed Sage of Six Paths, the origin of both chakra and a multitude of Kekkai Genkai, the Bijū had intimate knowledge of said topics. As such, the origin of Aura and Semblance intrigued the thousands of years old chakra construct due to the similarities and differences between the powers of the Shinobi and Huntsmen.
While Naruto and his foxy friend chatted through their mental link, Blake took the time to ponder her own thoughts that she had shoved to the back of her mind due to joy she had been feeling as she waltzed around Vale with her friend.
"He's very good at making people feel better." Blake agreed with her other.
Everyone smiled and Naruto looked bashful.
'That look usually means Naruto is talking with Kurama. But how? They're not saying anything out loud. Then again Naruto did say that Kurama had been infused with his Aura from birth as some sort of experiment by his village. Wait, was he experimented on because he was a Faunus?'
Naruto winced at that...oh, that being brought up was going to chomp his butt good!
As the thought crossed her mind, the nagging curiosity began to gnaw at her, egging her on to get answers that would solve many of the mysteries that surrounded her blond friend.
"Naruto," Blake said simple in a bid to catch the blond's attention.
Seeing that she had both curious blue eyes and glaring crimson orbs staring at her, the young teen continued, "Were you the only Faunus in your village?"
The question actually caught Naruto off guard, not only because of how out of left field it came, but also because he hadn't thought anyone would ask something like that, content to know that he was a "Faunus" and that he came from a place called Konoha.
If the blonde wanted to continue the half truths trend that he had set thus far, he could say no, seeing as how both the Inuzuka and Aburame clans of his village were rather close to being Faunus like.
"...Just how close?" Blake asked, interested.
Then again he had been the only Jinchūriki of Konoha, for obvious reasons, and as such didn't exactly have the best childhood due to being treated like the Faunus of Remnant - as a pariah, something that wasn't entirely human and so didn't deserve to be treated as one, a far cry from how the Inuzuka and Aburame clans were treated.
Ruby gave Naruto another "comfort" hug, finding that horrifing for such a good person like Naruto to have to go through.
Kushina glared at Minato.
Mikoto flinched at that, she had wanted to fix that for Naruto...
Raking a hand through his hair and sighing in a way to make it seem like it was a sore subject when really he was just buying time, Naruto wracked his brain. On one hand he could get pretty close to the truth and let Blake know why he sympathized with the Faunus and why he didn't agree with the methods of the White Fang. On the other he could be a proper shinobi and keep her at arm's length by telling a flat out lie and simply dodging the question as best he could.
'Tch, you, a proper shinobi? You and I both know that you have never been a "proper " shinobi, it's why that one eyed sensei of yours gave you your nickname and also why you've been able to grow so strong and create bonds with people whom "proper" nin would have simply left to die.
"...You're that way?" Ruby said, awed. She found Naruto's being that good a person amazing.
On top of that, remember, there is a 99.9% chance of us never being able to go back there. What's done is done. Remnant and Vale are now our home.'
'...Kurama?'
'Yeah, Kit?'
'Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you.'
'Probably dead or still being a dumbass.'
Disregarding his closest friend's snarky comment knowing that it was simply how the Bijū was, Naruto not only decided on what his answer to Blake's question was, but also he had realized how right Kurama was.
Ever since he had come to Remnant he had been searching of a way to get back to his home, to the life he had built there while Kurama reminded him that the likelihood of that happening was all but zero. He had been telling half truths and hiding a number of things from his team as well as team RWBY in the hope that when he went back home, it wouldn't hurt him or them. But now, he really had no reason to hide behind lies and half truths. Like Kurama had said, Vale was now his home.
Albeit it probably wasn't the best idea to go up to his friends and tell them, "Hey yeah I'm actually a Shinobi from a different dimension and/or time period. Oh yeah the cute fox I keep with me? Yeah he's really a thousands of years old chakra monster that can pretty much destroy this place by accident."
"...Yeesh! That WOULD make us think you were nuts!" Yang said.
"Truth is stranger than fiction. At least in our minds, you being a Faunus, or even a human/Faunus hybrid, that's something we can rationalize enough in our own minds enough to where we won't question it. Half-truths are safer nd easier to believe." Blake said, nodding. No wonder Naruto was going with that route. It made perfect sense to her.
So while he wouldn't be getting rid of the half truths entirely, he would start being a bit more honest and forthcoming, possible even hint at the truth so that when the time came for him to eventually tell the truth, it wouldn't be such a huge bomb to drop.
Naruto nodded, he felt relieved at that course of action.
"Yeah I was the only one. My mom was also a...'Faunus' but because of some issues during my birth I lost both her and my dad."
"Yeah...a saboteur with a chip on the shoulder against the sheer concept of reality itself..."
Mikoto winced. That sounded horrifically like the more beligerent members of the Uchiha.
Blake raised a brow at the odd way the blond had said the word Faunus, almost as if he was being a terrible liar before she shrugged it off in favor of the realization that not only was he the only Faunus of his home village, but he was also orphaned at a young age.
"Naruto...you..." Ruby's eyes teared up.
"Ruby―don't." Naruto sighed, "I don't need or want your pity. It won't do me a damn thing. That's not to say I don't appreciate that you care, but I've found that you can either piss and moan feeling sorry for yourself OR you can get up and actually do things to improve the situation. That's why I don't accept pity."
"I'm sorry! I didn't realize how-" Blake began, truly apologetic that she had no doubt drawn up some deeply traumatic memories.
Naruto merely shrugged, "You didn't know and besides, I've made my peace with it. I didn't have the best of childhoods, but it shaped me into who I am today. Plus I know that my parents truly loved me to their dying breath, and that's all I need to know."
Minato and Kushina nodded.
The young cat Faunus smiled at how mature the usually goofy blond looked and handled the situation. It was a bit of an odd sight to see, Naruto being known more for his childishness than his maturity, but before her wasn't that same teen who had complained that the café didn't have ramen, but a man who had seen and done a lot, but still held tightly to his convictions and knew who he was as an individual.
The Remnent group all nodded, impressed. And Naruto did have that kind of air about him. They'd seen flicks of it here and there, but on the whole, it showed itself when Naruto did or said something when he was serious; otherwise, when there wasn't a reason to need to be be serious, he was his normal, relaxed and goofy self.
"Why the sudden question?" Naruto asked, curious what had brought on such a random inquiry.
Turning to see that they had arrived at Vale's docks for both boats and airships, the two teens decided to relax for a bit and sat down at the edge of the concrete dock, their legs dangling over the surprisingly calm waters.
Leaning back on her hands, Blake allowed her gaze to stray out to the waters that met the falling sun, creating a burst of purples and reds in a beautiful contrasting view, "You and Kurama looked like you were talking, but weren't saying anything. I know you can talk to foxes, but you two looked like you were talking to each other in your minds which reminded that you had said Kurama had been an experiment by your village..."
Nodding his head as he leaned forward resting his arms on his thighs as he shared in the view of the beatifically painted horizon, Naruto continued from where Blake had left off, "And you were wondering if I was experimented on because of my being a...'Faunus', right?"
Raising a brow yet again at the odd way in which her blond friend seemed to say Faunus, she nonetheless nodded, far more curious about how villages outside the control of the four kingdoms handled the topic of Faunus.
"Like I said I didn't have the best of childhoods. Growing up people would either treat me like I didn't exist or like I was some nuisance that they had to deal with, because they had no choice. Nobody told me why and whenever I asked the leader of our village, one of the only people to give a damn about me, why, he'd just dodge the question, telling me they needed time," Naruto said with sorrowful look crossing his face. Just because he had come to terms with his past and the emotions that had been borne of it, didn't make it any less shitty.
Naruto took a deep breath as he took his parents' hands, giving them a squeeze. They smiled at him, letting him know it was ok. The bad part of his life was over and, for the moment, they were with him.
Meanwhile his raven haired companion could only feel both anger and sadness. Anger that not only was someone as genuinely kind as Naruto having been treated like he didn't and shouldn't exist, but equally angry that no one told him why. To just leave him, a child no less, in the dark like that was cruel. It was for those same reasons that Blake was saddened, to hear how a child was left alone - no one to care for him, no one to tell him he was loved, no one to tell him that he mattered.
Both RWBY's and JNPR's mbers looked both sorrowful and outraged at the idea of a person having to be made to live like that.
As hard as she had it, at the end of the day she knew why she was treated differently, and even still she had other Faunus, her family that cared for her.
She was pulled from her thoughts when the blond seated next to her sighed and continued, "But to answer your question, no, I wasn't experimented on. Really I wasn't abused, psychically at least. Wasn't till I was thirteen that I found out why I was treated so differently. It wasn't for another three years that I found out why no one was allowed to touch me or even try to."
That did raise some questions. Despite the people no doubt knowing of Naruto's status, he was never harmed physically which was odd. If they so despised his existence what had stopped them from taking out their disgust and aggression on him?
"When I turned sixteen, my godfather told me that my village's leader, the man I saw as a grandfather, had ordered that no one harm me or they would be put to death and he had an almost round the clock guard of our most elite warriors to make sure the law was carried out. At first I wondered why I needed so much protecting. My godfather answered that too. My father had been our previous leader. Ironically the people had loved him and he had been poised to become one of our village's strongest warriors, but he had died the night I was born, defending our home."
"Guys...please, just...just don't, ok..." Naruto sighed. He understood why this would bother his new friends, but it was his issue to deal with.
"...Not right..." Ruby said, no wonder Naruto didn't want to be pitied. But how could people be that cruel? She couldn't stand that!
Blake couldn't help the scoff of disgust that escaped her lips. To love the father, but hate the son for something no one could control was abhorrent. It truly showed how narrow minded some people could be.
Blake shifted uncomfortably. Well...that answered why Naruto was such a strong supporter of the Faunus, excluding the current White Fang. A little too well as a matter of fact.
Laughing at the uncharacteristic scoff, Naruto nodded, "Yeah my reaction was kind of similar to that too."
'You were so angry that you tapped into my chakra and drew up six tails worth of it and in your anger induced haze almost murdered that pervert you call a godfather. Yeah, real similar to a derisive scoff,' Kurama snarked.
"Had every right to be pissed!" Yang snapped.
Deciding to ignore the shame he felt knowing that the Kyuubi was right, Naruto instead turned his gaze back out to the horizon as the hues of purple began to overtake the reds as the sun fell, the moon already having begun its own trek across the sky. It was a sight to see, something that literally happened everyday and yet was still so calming and beautiful.
Stretching out his hands and allowing a yawn to escape his lips, the half blood Uzumaki allowed himself to fall on his back, his arms resting behind his head and his legs still dangling over the wharf's edge. Blake drew her legs upwards and likewise turned her own gaze skyward as the moon brought with it the blanket of night and the sky was lit with the twinkling glow of the distant stars.
Silence reigned between the two, both more than comfortable enough to let the sounds of the water lapping at the concrete wall below them be the only noise to break that silence.
Not minutes later that serenity and sense of peace was shattered when an explosion rocked the pier with the recognizable sounds of battle following soon after.
"...Well, there it is. Our usual luck..." Jaune sighed.
Even still neither seemed all that bothered by the harsh sounds of bullet fire and steel clashing against steel. Instead Naruto only turned to look at Blake with a grin, "Five Lin that it's either your team or both of our teams involved in the fighting."
The usually stoic teen only raised an eyebrow in response before shrugging, "The likelihood of that being the case is slim to none. You're on."
Blake moaned. Knowing her team's and JNPR's uck. That was a sucker's bet her other just agreed to!
Poor Blake of course didn't know that betting against Naruto Uzumaki was never a smart idea. The blond had the Devil's Luck and Lady Luck's blessing and at the age of 14 had cleaned out enough casinos that he could've retired and never had to work again. Put simply, betting against the Kyuubi Jinchūriki was tantamount to betting that the sun wouldn't rise from the east.
Yang looked at Naruto with Lin signs in her eyes then Ruby smacked her over the head "No!"
"But...but..."
"NO exploiting our friend to get ritch!" Ruby frowned at her sister.
Leaping to their feet, the two calmly made their way to the sounds of fighting and explosions, seemingly in no rush. With casual ease, both teens leapt on top of one of the many stacks of shipping containers that dotted the wharf and the sight below them had Blake sighing and Naruto grinning cheekily.
"Look at you two, just treating this as no big deal." Mikoto shook her head, amused.
There in the middle of the rather empty pseudo arena was the notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick. Currently the cane wielding man was doing his best to keep a certain red haired javelin user at bay while also dodging the sweeping strikes that came from the scythe wielding captain of team RWBY.
His accomplice, Neo, was merrily dodging every strike and punch that came from the combined duo of Yang and Weiss with that unnerving smile stretching across her pale face. It seemed that she was just toying with the Schnee heiress and busty brawler while they tried their damnedest to land a single hit on the diminutive girl.
"Hate her...!" Yang growled, rubbing her knuckles as she recalled the tri-colored girl slapping her around like a ragdoll while Yang herself couldn't even touch the brat!
Team NNPR's duo of best friends was meanwhile trying their best to land any sort of hit on Torchwick's boss who was keeping them at bay and far from her with her outlandish control over Dust, in this case being Fire element Dust. Nora seemed to have suffered quite a few hits from the stuff, the outer parts of her outfit being a little burned while Ren was quickly running out of steam having to dodge and maintain some form of attack while also helping out his childhood friend when he could.
Ruby frowned at the image of the one shooting flames from her hands. Why was ahe so sure she'd at least seen that person?
Pyrrha and Ruby seemed to be more than capable of keeping Torchwick on the ropes, if his look of irritation was anyone to go by. Weiss and Yang could use some help, and Naruto knew from experience that the only way to get the upper hand on the ice cream themed girl was through speed. However the biggest threat was no doubt the head honcho herself. Even Naruto would admit that Nora and Ren working as team Pancake was a force to be reckoned with and for this woman to so easily keep them at bay spoke volumes about her own skills.
His mind working a mile a minute, Naruto finally decided on what he thought was the beat course of action, "Blake, go help out Yang and Weiss. The only way to beat that girl is to out-speed her."
Deciding to wait till after to ask how her blond friend knew that,
"Fought her before." Blake said, recalling last chapter.
Blake nodded and quickly leapt into the fray, grabbing her weapon from her back and already moving to provide her teammates with much needed back up.
"Rescued by the kitty ninja." Yang couldn't help but snicker, then paled when she noticed that Naruto, Minato, Kushina, Mikoto, Kakashi, and Blake were all glaring, clearly offended.
"Eheheh...uh...shutting up?" Yang gulped.
The six nodded.
Pulling out his own weapon, Naruto was soon jumping into the midst of the fighting himself. Vanishing from normal human eyesight, the blond made a bee line for his own teammates who looked ready to collapse any second now. Blurring through a series of one handed hand seals, the Jinchūriki appeared in front of the downed duo of friends and called out, "Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)!"
"But that's a two-handed...!" Kakashi sputtered.
"Work hard enough, and the impossible becomes possible." Naruto smirked as his teacher.
To everyone's surprise a massive torrential wall of water rose around Naruto, Ren, and Nora, protecting the three teens from the stream of flames that had been aimed at them. In the face of such an insurmountable defense, the raging flames sputtered and died, turning into vapor and clouding the area with a fog.
"Whooh! Nice backup!" Nora cheered.
'If I'm gonna stop hiding all the time, I guess it's ok to start busting out the jutsu, right Kurama?'
'Bout damn time Kit! Let's show these people how we do it!'
"Incoming badass!" Yang cheered.
"Hope Vail's got a good budget, my big moves cause a lot of collateral damage." Naruto winced.
"Even better!" Nora shot him a thimbs up.
"Nora...that's not a good thing!" Ren sighed.
What happened next had everyone in the area holding their ears to block out the screeching noise that began to grow louder and louder with each passing second.
Blake cringed and covered her ears with a whimper. Her poor ears! Make is stop!
In seconds, strong winds began to blow throughout the wharf, dispelling the fog in seconds and revealing a grinning Naruto holding something that none of the spectators had ever seen before.
"Holy...! THAT'S my opening act!?" Naruto yelped at seeing what jutsu his other self had decided to bust out.
Spinning wildly and held above of his head was what looked to be an overly large shuriken made entirely of pure wind. At the center of the deadly looking attack was a glowing blue sphere that sat in the palm of the blond Jinchūriki's hand. With a casual heave, Naruto tossed the violently whirling attack and called out, "Fūton: Rasenshuriken (Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken)!"
Fearing what such a devastating looking attack could do if it actually hit,
Damn right she should!" Kakashi muttered. He'd seen the damage a Rasenshuriken was capable of!
the wide eyed woman dodged out of the way of the oncoming shuriken and even still the near gale force winds that surrounded orb of death were able to produce cuts in her dress and even cut shallow trenches into her calves.
"Wait for it..." Naruto smirked, he was looking forward to his new friends from Remnent seeing this!
As the spinning attack flew past everyone and into the waters in the distance, Naruto finally allowed his control over it to be cut and the consequences of that action had everyone staring in awe at the results. The winds that had been the makeup of the attack rushed outwards, creating waves that slammed into the concrete barriers of the pier and even then, the winds managed to whip into those on the battlefield with enough force that they had to actually exert force so as to not be carried away.
Meanwhile as the core of the attack detonated, blades of wind capable of cutting into an enemy on an atomic level, slammed into the waters below, churning out colossal waves that further flooded the already wet wharf.
Around them the sounds shipping freights scraping across the ground as they were forcible pushed back by the concussive waves of air echoed across the wharf.
"HOLY SHIT!" Yang cried at the top of her lungs.
"NO WAY!" Ruby gawked.
"What the HELL was THAT?" Blake stared.
"..That's...I can't...Why...How did-no, what did he-!" Weiss struggled to understand what just happened.
"So calling dibs on the whisked badass as our team leader!" Nora cheered.
"...Just how much did you have to hold back?!" Ren demanded, staring at Naruto.
Jaune fainted.
"...And here I was worried about being seen as the overpowered one...is it wrong this display makes me feel "normal" rather than like that moniker of "the invincible girl" makes me seem?" Pyrrha muttered.
Finally, as the backlash of what Naruto had just unleashed receded, the villains decided that fleeing was the best course of action, hopping into a nearby helicopter that was quickly attempting to escape the dangerous blond.
"Yeah! You better run!" Naruto hooted with laughter.
"...He so gets that from you..." Minato and Mikoto deadpanned to Kushina.
The redhead just beamed at that, fully proud!
Uzumaki Naruto did not give up that easily though and was already speeding through another set of seals. Right as it looked like the group of criminals had escaped, he unleashed a torrent of flames from his mouth, "Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!"
"Naruto...how do you...?" Mikoto asked.
The whiskered teen shrugged, "Can't know an Uchiha without needing to study up on what flames they'd use. And I've known BOTH of yours!" He told her.
Mikoto nodded. Good point.
On board the escaping heli, the group of criminals began to panic as the roaring maw of dragon made entirely of flames closed in on them, intent on bringing them to a burning grave.
"That's not good for the blatter control..." Yang whisped, still in shock.
Rushing to one of the side doors, the mysterious leader conjured up her own wall of flames, the fearsome inferno that had taken on a draconian image slamming full force into her own blazing attack.
The resulting explosion rocked the escape vehicle and the nearby shipping containers and yet still they managed to escape, however not unscathed.
"There's a fight-fire-with-fire joke in that, but I don't wanna kill the mood..." Kakashi said.
'That boy...I need him on my side even more now. He is far too powerful to not and I will have him, one way or another.'
Sighing as he watched the escaping hunk of metal, Naruto shook his head, 'This is gonna come back to bite me in the ass, I just know it.'
"No duh, other me..." Naruto muttered.
'More than likely. However at least they now fear you and know that messing with you or those around you would not be a smart move on their part. It may stop them and help us later on down the road,' Kurama spoke.
Minato grunted. Was it wrong he agreedwith that point considering his own reputation?
Turning around, the blond was quick to realize the amount of devastation he had caused with only three attacks, none of which being his strongest either. What made it worse were the dumbfounded looks his own team and team RWBY were sending him.
"Three...two...one..." Naruto winced.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOXY!?" Yang shouted as she flailed her arms about in a manner none too unlike her younger sister.
"Yeah...there's the freak-out." Mikoto nodded.
"I found you Ruby!"
Said scythe wielder screamed in shock, "Ah! Penny! What're you doing here!?"
"Hi Penny!" Ruby waved cheerfully, snapping out of her shock at the sight of her friend.
Soon after the blaring sounds of sirens along with the bright lights of search lights flooded the pier.
'Maybe I should have just stuck to the whole half truth thing.'
'You and I both know that this is way more fun though.'
'Says the fox whose idea of fun is destroying villages.'
'Not my fault you ningen make everything so fragile'
'...this is gonna be a loooong night.'
"Understatement." Ren nodded in agreement with the last line.
"Ok...so with that chapter out of the way...whose hungry, and what'er we going to do for food?" Naruto askec everyone.
Everyone looked at one another, realizing that point.
What WHERE they all going to do for food here?!