Vale Harbor
Naruto sat cross-legged with Hyorinmaru laid flat across his lap. He's been sitting like that for the last hour, attuning himself to Ice Dragon's spirit while keeping an awareness of the area around them. It was something he'd worked on with his companion but never really took the time to fully flesh it out. His main reason had been Kurama. Having a demon spirit sealed within his own body had made it easier to walk into dangerous situations as he was confident he would be forewarned of any danger that might occur. However, after being counseled by both Hyorinmaru and Kurama, he reluctantly agreed that dedicating some time to training up his spiritual powers would be beneficial in the long run. For one thing, it might enable him to begin locating special rifts like the one he and Kurama had traveled through. Assuming he was able to find one, he could then begin figuring out a way to utilize it towards taking him home. At the very least he might be able to use it as a convenient method of travel all over Remnant.
As of now, he was able to identify each person currently in their area by their life force which was both interesting to him and somewhat odd. It was interesting as he could see each person's life force radiating off of them, almost like they were backlit by it. It sort of reminded him of their chakra, something which Kurama confirmed it was similar to. What he found odd was that no one's life force had the same sort of hue as everyone else's. For example, Blake's life force was a deep purple while Sun's was light gold. Even Hyorinmaru radiated life force from his sword form in a light blue pallet. Aside from them, the dockworkers and night guards he'd occasionally see all had the same distinct color to them. That is to say, they appeared more like they had a faint light emanating from them but no apparent difference. Hyorinmaru explained that this distinction was something that occurred when a person's aura was unlocked. Their life force, having now been brought to the surface, could be more distinctly identified. As a confirmation, he told him that his life force was a bright yellow while he could see a dark pallet of an orangish-red mixed in with it, no doubt denoting Kurama's presence.
Knowing all that, Naruto was confident he would be able to identify the culprit. Given how much Dust was being shipped in, there was a good chance there would be a large group of people headed their way, making it easier to identify them.
"Any changes?" Sun asked, returning from taking a bathroom break.
"Nothing yet," Blake replied as she starred out at the docks, laid out flat on her stomach in a position that even Naruto would have found uncomfortable after a while.
"How'd the talk with your team go?" asked, attempting to make conversation.
"It went fine," she said in a clipped tone.
"So, they're glad to know you're alive?"
"Yes, most of them anyway," she said, again attempting to end the conversation and return her focus to the docks.
"Sun, you're the leader of your team, correct?" Naruto asked, stealing away Sun's attention and receiving a grateful glance in return.
"Yep, team SSSN is named for me," he said proudly.
"Where are they, by the way? I can't imagine they were alright with you volunteering to wait out here all night with us."
"Oh, they're still at Haven. The shuttles bringing them over aren't due to depart for another week."
"Wait, what?" he asked, confused. "They're still at Haven? As in Mistral?"
"Yea, that's what I said," Sun confirmed.
"Then why aren't they here? Better yet, why aren't you back there with them?"
"Oh, they're fine. I do things like this all the time. Honestly, none of them were surprised when I called and told them where I was. Besides, they'll be here soon enough."
Naruto stared vacantly at him, unsure of how he should respond. He looked over to Blake who was wearing a similar expression on her face before returning his gaze to Sun. He was still wearing a sunny, if not clueless, expression. The dude honestly had no idea what was wrong. All of a sudden Naruto started to find himself feeling guilty for how he had acted around Weiss earlier. While she may have had some adverse feelings towards the boy, he was beginning to find it more and more difficult to fault her for thinking of Sun as little more than a common criminal. How or why he was made his team's leader he doubt he'd ever understand.
"Naruto heads up, we have incoming."
Kurama's warning, while appreciated, was honestly unnecessary. The loud droning of a pair of bullheads coming their way was more than enough warning to garner his attention. Crouching down next to Blake, he looked out over the harbor and watched as the pair of vehicles touched down near the shipment crates. Pulling out his scroll, he zoomed in on the rear hatchways and waited for the occupants to begin disembarking. While he knew Blake was already recording, he had decided it would be ideal if he followed suit. It would at least be two sources of confirmation that would make it that much difficult for anyone, including Weiss to argue against. Unfortunately, neither of them was prepared for who stepped out and into the open.
Several men and women, all Faunus, began streaming out of the bullheads. Some were armed with guns while others carried blades or clubs of different sizes. All of them, however, were dressed in identical black hoodies and were wearing the distinctive white Grimm masks that set them apart as White Fang. Naruto heard the sharp intact of breath from Blake and felt his heart drop in response. Neither of them was particularly happy to discover that Weiss' assumptions about the White Fang's involvement in the Dust robberies had been proven true and both of them had evidence supporting that fact. What then sent them for a loop was the man who sauntered out of the bullhead and out in front of the Fang. Dressed in a long white coat and black slacks, wearing a bowler hat, and smoking a cigar, there was no mistaking the iconic look of Roman Torchwick. What he was doing here or why he was working with the White Fang, he couldn't say, but it at least gave them something more to give to the Police and the Headmaster once they'd returned to Beacon.
"What's Roman Torchwick doing working with the White Fang?" Blake asked in utter disbelief.
"Stealing Dust apparently," Naruto said as he finished recording.
"This doesn't make sense. The White Fang would never ally themselves with a human, let alone someone of Roman's reputation."
"That's something we'll have to leave up to the authorities to figure out. Now let's get out of here before we're spotted."
Whether or not she heard him, he couldn't determine. What he did know was that Blake had vaulted off the roof, rolled when she hit the ground, and began sprinting towards the criminals currently gathered out on the docks. He cursed, wondering how she could be so reckless before he noticed Sun following suit. He groaned in frustration, hoping the guy was going to retrieve Blake before she could do something stupid (as if she hadn't already). Before doing anything else, he opened his scroll and made a quick call to his team.
"Hello?"
"Ruby, it's me. Listen, where are you right now?"
"I'm at Beacon. I've been hanging out with a new friend I made down in Vale."
"A new friend?"
"Greetings friend Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Oh crap, it's that weird girl from yesterday!" Kurama groused.
"Who?" Hyorinmaru asked, having not met Penny yet.
"Hi, Penny. Good to see you. Listen, we're at the docks and the White Fang are here- "
"I told you the White Fang were behind the robberies," Weiss' voice cut in. "Where's Blake? I want to see the look on her face when I say I told you so."
"She's gone to confront them along with Sun. They're not here alone. Roman Torchwick is working with them as well."
"Roman Torchwick? Why?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know and I honestly don't care. Go inform the Headmaster. I'm going to see if I can get Sun and Blake to safety before they do something stupid."
"Alright, team NWBYR is on the way!" Ruby proudly proclaimed.
"No, Ruby, don't- "
The call ended before he could tell her to stay put. He starred at his reflection for a moment, an expression of disbelief staring back at him. Somehow, the fact that none of them had stopped to consider the ramifications of their actions before coming to their aid was more troubling than he'd first thought. Hopefully, Weiss would go inform Ozpin of what was happening before Ruby managed to drag her off. As much as he wasn't looking forward to hearing her spout how she'd been right about the White Fang all along, he'd happily endure it so long as his teammates got out of this alive.
"You're teammates are a bunch of idiots," Kurama pointed out.
"No, they just mean well," he replied.
"One of them just jumped off the roof to confront a group of terrorists and the rest are heading here to do the same," Kurama countered.
"I never said they were the brightest bunch," Naruto replied.
/-/
Roman wasn't quite sure what he was meant to make of his current situation. Honestly, the last thing he had expected was to have a Huntress' blade pressed up against his throat while also listening to her sad, pathetic attempts to persuade her fellow Faunus to stop aiding a known criminal. Please, they're terrorists. These animals were already flagged as criminals the moment they donned the hoodies and masks if not the moment they stepped foot into a White Fang recruitment rally. The fact that they were helping him steal some Dust was merely par for the course. At least with this little venture they'd accomplish more in their fight against the SDC in one night than they had all year. All Roman was doing was providing them with ample motivation and leadership. Gods knew these animals couldn't lead a herd of lemmings off a cliff even if they tried.
"Excuse me but who are you, Kitty Kat?" Roman asked, his finger slipping down to the trigger on Melodic Cudgel.
"Shut up. I don't want to hear a word from someone like you," she hissed.
"As opposed to what, the Faunus extremists currently surrounding us?" he asked.
"You're a known criminal," she spat.
"And they're an infamous terrorist organization," he countered. "Honestly, I'm considered tame by comparison."
"What gives the right to claim that you're better than us? Because you're not a Faunus?"
"How about because I've built my reputation on never taking an innocent life, or kidnapping people or executing prisoners and sending recordings of me doing it to their families," he replied, taking pleasure in the fact that she flinched with each point he made. "Face facts, kitten, I cultivated my reputation by stealing everything I could lay my hands on without ever putting my victim's lives in harm's way. A thief who steals is tolerated. A thief who kills is hunted and I like my odds of survivability more with the former option."
Before Blake could retort Roman angled his cane between their legs and pulled the trigger. A flare flew from the end, exploding behind the girl and throwing them both forward. Roman managed to collect himself, rising back to his feet and aiming another shot at the downed Huntress. He'd walked away mostly unscathed. The foolish girl had taken the brunt of the blast with her aura, ensuring he'd hardly lost any while she was still recovering.
Despite the proximity of the attack, Blake managed to recover enough to spring back to her feet and dodge the next attack Roman sent her way. The blast missed, exploding dangerously close to the Dust containers, but Roman couldn't care either way. So long as she was cooked well-done he'd be more than happy to set off a few fireworks.
"Quit standing around you stupid animals and attack!"
Roman's order seemed to go unnoticed by the pack of animals he'd brought along for the job. With a snarl, he turned to threaten them with Melodic Cudgel only to see the White Fang already engaged with another Faunus, this one blond-haired monkey by the looks of him. He was twirling a bow staff around which, when he'd found himself surrounded, he'd broken apart into a pair of nunchucks. What happened next was both confusing and surprising when shotgun blasts rang out as the boy fired on the terrorists, showing that his weapon was, like every Huntsmen weapon he'd encountered before, also a gun or rather shotguns in this kid's instance.
"And I thought a gardening tool turned sniper rifle was bizarre," he grumbled.
Reaching into his jacket pocket, Roman pulled out a small fire Dust crystal. Giving it a gentle toss he watched it slide across the ground towards the unsuspecting Huntsman and his opponents. With a small smile, he popped off a shot from his cane and watched as the boy's eyes nearly flew out of his skulled when the crystal exploded. Unsurprisingly the boy survived, thanks in most part to his aura, but the White Fang were less fortunate. Only a handful of the terrorists had their aura unlocked, let alone the training needed to manipulate it, and the others were simply civilian volunteers who'd gotten in way over their heads. Needless to say, there would be casualties to report though he'd shift the blame onto the Huntsmen for that one.
"RRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"
Blake hollered as she attempted to take Roman from behind. He scoffed, easily dodging out of the way and smacking her across the face for good measure. Someone would need to teach this girl that surprise attacks worked best when their intended target was caught unawares. Injured and with her aura dangerously low, Blake fared about as well as one could expect. Several easily parried moves that were instantly countered by Roman soon found her laid out on the ground next to an unconscious Sun. Hurting, both in her body and her pride, Blake could only stare up at the business end of Roman's cane as he loomed over her.
"It's been fun, Kitty Kat, but this is where we part ways," he replied.
Blake clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the tell-tale feeling of searing pain before the backdrop of nothingness that would either follow with unconsciousness or death. She heard Roman's cane fire and then felt something cold rush into the air. For a moment she thought she was dead and that the cold she felt was from all of the heat leaving her body at once. It was only after she ventured to open her eyes that she found a large wall of ice erected between herself and Roman along with the Dust round he'd fired embedded halfway through. Her thoughts immediately flew to Weiss and for once she was grateful to think that she had been nearby, ready to intervene. It was only when she glanced over that she realized she had been wrong but was no less grateful.
"Seriously, where do you kids keep coming from?" Torchwick groaned as he took in Naruto's form. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Funny, I was about to ask if your mother knew you were running around wearing her mascara?" Naruto shot back.
"No but yours is about to be notified of your untimely demise," Roman replied as he leveled Melodic Cudgel with his head.
/-/
Naruto had, for the most part, opted to hang back and let Blake handle the situation. His reasoning behind this had mostly come from the technique he'd learned from Hyorinmaru which had allowed him to see that a large majority of the White Fang didn't even have their aura unlocked. That coincided with why certain members had guns and the others were carrying melee weapons. Anyone who had their aura unlocked was used as a bullet sponge while the others would pick off their opponents from afar, allowing their colleagues to get up close and finish them off. It was a sound strategy, in theory, but not something that would fare well when confronted by Huntsmen, even if they were just students.
For that reason alone he'd decided to sit back and watch. Out of everyone present Roman was the most dangerous and Blake had wisely taken him unawares. Then she'd started monologuing, a foolish mistake that Roman quickly took advantage of. That had been his cue to intervene and, as soon as Sun went down as well, he'd already unsheathed Hyorinmaru and had a technique cued to unleash. He had thankfully managed to erect a wall of ice between Blake and Roman just as he fired. The sudden interruption had caught the thief off guard but, from the way he acted, he was too seasoned to be taken advantage of so easily. After a brief exchange, Roman leveled his cane at Naruto's head and fired. A red flare erupted from the end, sailing through the air and nailing him clean in the face.
"Naruto!" Blake screamed.
The flare hit its mark dead-on before it exploded. The flash was bright enough that, for a moment, everyone was blinded and unable to see the smoke that began to dissipate when the shadow clone was destroyed.
"Where the hell did he go?" Roman asked the moment the flare cleared and he was able to see the world once more.
Even the White Fang were confused. Looking around for any sign of the young man, they didn't notice the figures who came up from behind and began attacking the terrorists. There was some momentary confusion as a new group of assailants, all of whom were dressed in the same White Fang uniforms, began attacking the ones who'd come with Roman. Confusion and panic erupted as it looked like the White Fang had not only doubled in number but had started fighting each other.
"What are you animals doing?" Roman yelled.
Gruff cursing and cries of surprise were the only answer. No one knew what had happened or who was fighting whom. All they knew was that a group of people dressed like them had somehow snuck into the docks with the intention of fighting them. It was enough to draw everyone's attention, including Blake's as she wasn't certain what to make of it all. She nearly yelped in surprise when a pair of arms pulled her up off the ground and began carrying her towards the shipping crates. Too weak to fight back, she looked up into her would-be rescuer/kidnapper's face and felt her jaw drop when she saw it was Naruto. A quick glance over showed a second Naruto, this one cradling Sun in his arms, as they made a run for cover.
"N-Naruto? What? How? There's two of you," she yelped.
"Don't worry about it," he replied, rounding a corner.
"Who are those people fighting the White Fang and why are they dressed like them?"
"Don't worry about it," he said as he set her down.
"What do you mean don't worry about it? I just saw you get shot in the head only to have you carrying me to safety a moment later while the White Fang began fighting amongst themselves. I'm fairly certain I'm owed an explanation," she demanded.
She soon realized her little outburst had been a huge mistake as Naruto turned on her and gave her a withering glare.
"You deserve an explanation? How about giving me an explanation for why you jumped off the damn roof and ran to confront Torchwick?"
"I- "she started, unable to come up with an explanation the moment she was called out.
"Whatever happened to getting video evidence of the culprits and leaving? We agreed that we wouldn't get involved and then you went and did this!"
"That was before I knew who it was. Things are different now."
"Why, because the White Fang and Torchwick working together and now you'll have to admit to Weiss that she was right and you were wrong?"
"That's not it at all," she tried to argue.
"It looked a lot like that from where I was standing, right up to the point when you and Sun were defeated by Torchwick and the Fang."
"They're being misled," she countered.
"They looked pretty compliant to me, especially when they started attacking you both even though you're Faunus too."
Once more Blake found herself without an explanation. It didn't matter, though, as a massive explosion began ripping through the air. They ducked down, surprised by the sudden impact. It was a moment before Naruto looked up, a haunted look on his face that said he knew something she didn't. Sneaking a glance back out onto the docks they could see Roman holding his cane up and pointed at the storage containers. The White Fang, at least those who'd come out with him, were sprawled out on the ground before him. Several of them were groaning with a few cradling limbs that had severe burns. Their numbers had returned to normal with the imposters who'd shown up out of nowhere having disappeared all at once.
"What happened?" Blake asked shakily.
"Roman intentionally blew up one of the containers. He didn't even care that the White Fang members would be caught in the crossfire," he replied, sounding as if he knew exactly what events had transpired. "We need to get out of here now. Can you walk?"
"Y-yea," she replied.
"Alright, we're going to try and make a run for the warehouses. Don't look back for any reason, just stay focused on getting to safety."
Blake nodded, bracing herself against the storage container as she struggled to her feet. Naruto took Sun in his arms, cradling him as they made their way to the far end of the stack. While they were out of Torchwick's view it was only a matter of time before either he or the White Fang grunts caught sight of them. Hopefully by then they'd have made it to safety. From there he could send Blake off with Sun while he held off their pursuers until reinforcements arrived. He had enough Chakra to do that not to mention some of the techniques Hyorinmaru had been teaching him. With a quick glance around to make sure the coast was clear they started their perilous journey.
With Blake hobbling upfront, Naruto sparred a glance back to see if they were being followed. Thankfully no one was tailing them. The White Fang had returned to one of the bullheads and were currently using the loading cable to latch onto some of the storage containers. Whatever was inside must have been valuable or so he assumed. He didn't care at this point. He had the lives of two people that were currently more valuable to him than whatever it was the White Fang and Torchwick were stealing. Returning his gaze forward he could see they were about halfway to the warehouses. He smiled, glad to see things had worked out so far but was wary of anything that might suddenly swoop in to ruin his day. It didn't take long to appear as a third unaccounted for bullhead began flying towards the docks. A small part of him prayed that it was the police but when its searchlights came on and zeroed in on them, he knew they couldn't be friendly.
"Blake, move!"
Before she could react Naruto sprang forward, tackling Blake from behind and shoving her forward several feet. Any cries of protest the girl might have had were drowned out in the roar of automatic gunfire that sprayed across the pavement where they'd last been. Dragging themselves to their feet they sprinted as best they could towards the warehouses. Reinforcements had arrived but they weren't theirs. The searchlight continued to move with them as did the sound of gunfire and exploding concrete. Naruto knew he'd be able to survive the onslaught but Blake and Sun would be riddled with holes if they didn't keep moving. He was certain they'd both depleted their aura during their fight which meant they were as good as dead if they didn't make it to cover.
"Naruto, behind you!" Kurama warned.
"Blake, take him!" he instructed, not wasting time to ask and throwing Sun into Blake's arms.
The girl looked surprised as Sun was tossed into her arms unceremoniously. Whatever protests she might have had were quickly forgotten as she noticed something coming in from behind her team leader. With Hyorinmaru in hand, Naruto turned to confront whatever was headed his way and balked as a large red flare came hurtling towards his face. Not having a shadow clone handy to take the attack for him and knowing Blake and Sun would be caught in the crossfire should he dodge, Naruto instead braced himself for the attack, feeling Kurama lend him some of his Chakra for good measure. At the moment of impact, he felt heat wash over him as the explosion propelled him backwards. He hit the ground hard, rolling with the impact until he came to an abrupt stop. Groaning, he started to pull himself to his feet only to find Torchwick's cane pressed into his face with the targeting reticle sighted for his head.
"Not bad kid but not good enough. This is where your story ends. Don't worry, though, I'll make this quick and painless."
Roman squeezed the trigger and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut in expectation. He jumped when he heard the gunshot but soon realized it hadn't come from Roman given that he hadn't felt any pain and that he was still alive to boot. Cracking an eye open he saw Roman had taken several steps backward and was missing his signature hat. Moments later a wall of ice, not Hyorinmaru's, erupted in front of him and effectively blocked off any further assault or retaliation from Torchwick.
"Get away from my partner!" Weiss yelled.
"Our partner," Ruby corrected.
"Whatever," Weiss snipped.
Roman cursed, retreating to one of the remaining bullheads as Ruby began pelting him with sniper fire. She managed to land a couple of hits that caused his aura to flare but before long he was inside and had the door closed behind him. As they took off into the air the two other bullheads rose to flank them and offer support. It looked like they might make a clean getaway when Penny stepped into view.
"Hey, it's the robot girl from yesterday," Kurama pointed out.
"The who?" Hyorinmaru asked uncertain whom they were talking about.
Before either he or Naruto could answer several swords flew out from her backpack and began circling around in the air. With her arms outstretched she began to aim at one of the bullheads that was lagging behind. Before he could ask what she was doing, green energy began to pool in the center of the swords before it shot out in a bright, powerful beam. It flew across the water, slicing through the bullhead like a hot knife through butter and severed it in two. Naruto watched as both pieces, and presumably, its passengers collapsed into the water in a manner that made it quite clear no one was swimming away from the wreck unscathed.
"That girl is not human," Hyorinmaru pointed out.
"Oh, you think!?" Kurama snarled back.
Naruto didn't say anything. He just stared at the girl, android, whatever she was, in question. The entire time the warm smile she had on her face never faltered, something which unnerved him now that he saw it. She must have felt his eyes on her as her gaze turned to him. With a cheery smile she gave him a wave, one he didn't return. While he'd been suspicious of this girl before, now he was certain there was something seriously wrong with that child. How on Remnant anyone would allow someone to walk around when they were carrying weapons on them of that destructive power was beyond him. He didn't have long to think about it as a red blur sped his way, one he was quick to receive upon noticing.
"Naruto, you're alright, I'm so glad," Ruby said, giving him a tight hug.
"Yea, we made it out of there somehow," he said patting the girl's head.
"I must admit, I'm rather impressed. Roman Torchwick is no slouch and yet you managed to hold your own against him. Then again you managed to hold your own against Pyrrha Nikos so I shouldn't be surprised. Whatever they taught you in your village must have been top-notch," Weiss said as she strode towards them.
"I'm guessing that the fact you two are here means you notified Professor Ozpin of what was going on?" he asked.
Before Weiss answered the blaring of sirens sounded from nearby, signaling that the police had arrived on the scene. "As well as the police," she replied proudly.
"Good, Blake and Sun need medical attention anyways and I have evidence of who's behind the Dust robberies."
"Yea, we saw Torchwick," Ruby pointed out.
"And the White Fang," Naruto added, causing Ruby to gawk in surprise.
"I see," Weiss said thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose I owe my teammate an apology."
"Really?" Naruto asked with obvious disbelief. "Even though she was wrong?"
"What do you mean? I blamed the White Fang solely for the Dust robberies. The fact that Roman Torchwick was not only involved but masterminding them changes things drastically. In any event, it shows that there's more to these robberies than I had first assumed and that I was as wrong to blame the White Fang for them as Blake was to defend them."
"That is surprisingly mature of you," Naruto replied.
"I've had a lot of time to think about what you've said and about how I've acted," she replied. "I'll admit, there are some areas that could use improvement, specifically when it comes to my relationship with others."
"Speaking of, we'd better go find Professor Ozpin. I'm sure he'll be glad to know our team is back together and all in one piece," he said.
/-/
"Trespassing. Property damage. Destruction of a privately owned company's product. Not to mention the blatant endangerment of the lives of Miss Belladonna and Mr. Wu Kong. I should hope you understand the severity of your actions and the near-fatal consequences that nearly befell you all as a result," Miss Goodwitch lectured him as he sat across from Ozpin in his office while Glynda walked around Naruto's back.
"To be fair, those were all Roman Torchwick's doing Miss Goodwitch," Naruto pointed out. In response, Glynda gave him a withering glare, one that had him slowly sliding down into his seat.
"While I do agree that the destruction of the Vale city docks and the loss of so much Dust is solely Roman's doing, I must point out that you were there illegally as well and through your actions put the life of one of your teammates as well as her friend at risk Mr. Uzumaki," Ozpin said calmly.
"What were you even thinking, rushing out there to confront Roman Torchwick on your own?" Glynda asked, her eyes boring into him as she awaited his answer.
"I figured he wouldn't be too difficult to handle. I've faced worst people before and came out alright," he admitted.
"You could have been killed," Glynda pointed out.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Naruto said offhandedly.
Naruto soon regretted saying that. Glynda looked down at him in disbelief while Ozpin stared at him from across his desk, his mug hovering inches from his face.
"Could you please elaborate on that comment Naruto?" Ozpin said, putting his drink down.
He glanced between the two and, after realizing there was no backing out of it, let out a tired sigh before explaining. "One of the first missions I took on as a kid for my village entailed two of my friends as well as a veteran of our village escorting an Engineer back home. He was in charge of building a bridge for his village that would hopefully bring renewed trade to their home and save them from dying out."
"How do you mean?"
"The village itself had fallen on hard times. A local Crime lord had taken over and effectively ran out anyone from the village leaders to authority figures who might have stood against him. He killed quite a few of them and even made public examples of the victims to stamp out any uprisings that might occur."
"Hmm, unfortunate but not uncommon for Mistral," Ozpin replied. "Was this someone you came into conflict with during your mission?"
"Yes and no," Naruto replied. "They had hired an assassin named Zabuza Momochi to hunt down and kill the man we were escorting. We came into conflict with him on two occasions, the second time found us fighting both Zabuza and his adopted son Haku. The conflict resulted in their deaths as well as numerous injuries to myself, my teammates, and our instructor. The crime lord was the one to attempt to finish off Zabuza when he failed to kill us but the assassin turned the tables on him and killed him instead before succumbing to his injuries. What remained of his forces were subsequently run out of the village. They've been independent and recovering quite well ever since."
"I see," Ozpin replied, his expression remaining stoic while Glynda's was the very definition of mortification, less so by what had occurred and more so by what Naruto had undoubtedly experienced. "I must admit, I hadn't expected you to have such a tumultuous childhood. Even our older students can't claim to have faced such obstacles, at least not until after they've graduated."
"What sort of village would even allow or teach their children to expect to fight such people?" Glynda asked in quiet disbelief.
"I lived in Mistral before coming here, Miss Goodwitch. Bandits, Crime Lords, and corrupt politics are the norm there," Naruto pointed out. "Our village leaders simply wanted us to be prepared for what was outside the borders of our village. We couldn't live our lives completely sheltered, never believing that the dangers of the outside world wouldn't find their way inside."
"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "Well, all things considered, I believe we can let you off with a firm warning and a slap on the wrist."
"Ozpin!" Glynda choked in shock.
"Mr. Uzumaki has been through a great deal, Glynda, both in the last twenty-four hours and well beyond even our own scope," Ozpin replied. "I doubt there's any punishment we could come up with that would be effective at teaching him a lesson in responsibility or humility that he hasn't already experienced before."
"I- I suppose you have a point," she grudgingly admitted.
"If you have nothing more to add then I'll release you to your team. I'm sure they're eager to see you again and you'll no doubt want to visit Miss Belladonna to confirm that she's recovering well."
"She's my first stop after this sir," Naruto confirmed.
"Then don't let me keep you," Ozpin said, waving him off.
Naruto nodded, quickly rising from his seat and retreating to the elevator. As soon as it had closed and begun to descend, Glynda turned to Ozpin with a concerned and worried look.
"Revelations on Mr. Uzumaki's childhood aside, I don't understand why he would lie to us so blatantly about the events that occurred."
"I'm not sure what you mean by that Glynda," Ozpin said, feigning ignorance as he took a sip from his now lukewarm mug.
"You know exactly what I mean. The video recording he provided us along with the surveillance footage from the docks both confirmed that it was Miss Belladonna who initiated the attack on Torchwick, not him. I don't understand why you would accept his statement as fact when it's blatantly clear that Blake Belladonna is at fault. Her actions nearly resulted in her death as well as that of another student from another Kingdom's academy. Despite all of that you're choosing to wave the matter when her actions would have resulted in her expulsion."
"And yet I didn't. Do you know why Glynda?" Ozpin asked. Without waiting for her answer he continued, "It's true that the evidence points to Miss Belladonna being the one at fault and she should be the one receiving punishment. However, it's also clear that her absence from her team following the reveal of her being a Faunus led to a rift being formed. If we were to follow through with punishing her to the full extent of her actions we would no doubt cause that rift to increase, perhaps to the point where they are unable to function cohesively at all. In the end, our actions could cause more harm than good.
Not only that but there's also the matter of Miss Belladonna's future to consider as well. She came to us after defecting from the White Fang. Her decision to come here, knowing she could very well have been incarcerated due to her past actions and affiliations shows a great deal of faith in her belief that she can trust us to help her redeem herself of her past actions as well as provide a better future for her people. To expel her now and throw her out into the streets would be doing her no favors. She spent the last five years as an active member of the White Fang. I've little doubt they'd be willing to take her back, especially after recent events, and I doubt she'd be willing to return to them. Not only that but, while I've no doubt her parents would be more than willing to welcome their daughter home, whether or not she will have the courage to face them after all this time is another matter entirely. While I acknowledge your reservations to all of this, I'd much rather retain her here where we can at least steer her towards a better future instead of tossing her out into the greater world where she may be preyed upon by forces with more nefarious designs."
Glynda let out a disgruntled sigh of frustration. She hated to admit it but Ozpin was right. That didn't excuse the migraine she was developing from the blatant favoritism he was showing his students, however.
"I still think we shouldn't have allowed them off so lightly after the damage they caused."
"I don't think we'll need to worry about that. Mr. Uzumaki has already his willingness as a leader to take responsibility for the actions of his teammates. I've little doubt he'll also be bringing her to task for her actions as well along with the emotional turmoil she put her teammates through," he replied.
/-/
As expected Naruto was met at the door to the infirmary by both Ruby and Yang. The sisters pestered him for information regarding Blake and the Headmaster's decision regarding whether or not she would be allowed to stay in Beacon. He quickly assured him that no one was being expelled, something which helped greatly to calm them down, and he promised to tell them everything after he'd had a moment to speak with Blake. As soon as he stepped foot inside he was surprised to not only see Blake and Weiss sitting together but to witness them having a civil conversation. Both girls were even smiling and, dare he say it, laughing at something Blake had said. He honestly had to take a moment to pinch himself just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Oh, Naruto, you're back," Weiss said, rising to meet him as he strode forward. "How did your meeting with the Headmaster go?"
"As well as can be expected," he said, eyeing the two girls.
"We had a chance to talk," Weiss said, noticing the confusion on his face. "We took the chance to apologize for how we'd acted and treated one another in the past. It was unfair and we've been taking what time that we have to learn more about one another and improve our relationship."
"I'm glad to hear that," he said with a grateful nod. "I was hoping to speak with Blake for a minute. There are some things we need to discuss."
"Of course," she replied.
As she rose from her seat she gave Blake's hand a reassuring squeeze. The girl gave her a smile and nodded back before turning her eyes to Naruto. As he exchanged seats with Weiss he saw the girl shoot him a sympathetic and almost pleading look. He merely nodded in return, knowing it was her way of asking him to go easy on Blake before she left them alone in the infirmary.
"So, how exactly did your meeting with the Headmaster go and don't give the as well as can be expected excuse you gave the others," Blake said.
"Well, I knew it was going to be bad when Miss Goodwitch started naming off all the damages we caused while also blocking the only viable exit," he replied.
"To be fair, Torchwick was responsible for most of that," Blake pointed out.
"Yea, I mentioned that little detail and she gave me a look that said she wasn't very pleased by my answer."
Blake laughed, causing Naruto to do the same. It felt genuine and relaxed which was a nice change from how things had been before. Now that things were out in the open and Blake wasn't trying to run away they were starting to see a more natural side to the girl, one that didn't hide behind her bow and books.
"So, how are you doing?" he asked once he'd stopped laughing.
"About as well as can be expected," she quipped and, when he gave her an annoyed look, she laughed and replied, "I'm fine, really. A little sore, both in body and in pride, but I'm still alive and breathing so I can't complain."
"That's good to hear. How's Sun doing?"
"Better than me. He was discharged earlier and he's supposed to meet with the Headmaster later to be assigned to his temporary dorm for his team. No one was made aware that he was going to be coming here early, not even Headmaster Lionheart at Haven. He's going to have a lot of explaining to do as well as a few lectures from them both to sit through as a result."
"Bet he wishes he was still unconscious," Naruto joked.
"Speaking of the Headmaster," Blake said, changing the subject, "did he mention how long I have?"
The question was an odd one, to say the least. However, judging from her tone and the way her ears drooped down along with her downcast gaze, it was a simple matter for Naruto to figure out what she was alluding to.
"Not long I think. The nurse said you could be released later today," Naruto replied with a smirk.
"That's not what I mean and you know it," she replied, annoyed.
"Then you're going to have to be more specific," he said.
"How long- "she started, taking a moment to choke back tears before she continued, "how long do I have before I'm expected to vacate the premises?'
"You mean how long until you're expected to leave Beacon," he confirmed, watching as she slowly nodded her head in reply. "Well, assuming you don't do anything nearly this self-destructive anytime soon, another four years at most."
His gaze wiped around to fix him with a searing glare that showed how little she cared for his joke.
"I'm being serious Naruto," she hissed.
"As am I," he replied.
"Wha- what do you mean?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I've been expelled from Beacon, haven't I?" she asked.
"Not as far as I'm aware," he replied. "Though, if you want to rectify that, I'm sure we can go talk with the Headmaster."
"No!" she shouted, blushing a little at her outburst before clearing her throat and saying, "no, we don't need to do that."
"Alright," he replied, watching her closely as he waited for the expected response.
"I just assumed, after everything that happened, that I'd be asked to leave," she replied.
"I wouldn't have been surprised either if the Headmaster thought you were the one responsible."
Blake's gaze quickly turned to shock as his words slowly registered with the young woman. She looked at him with obvious disbelief, somehow expecting this to all be part of some elaborate joke that he was waiting to spring on her when she least expected the horrible punchline. To be fair, it wasn't difficult to understand why she might feel this way given her overall upbringing and background. It was only after a few moments when Naruto didn't say anything to contradict his earlier statement that the girl finally began to realize he was being serious.
"Who does he think is to blame for what happened?" she asked cautiously.
"We both agreed that Roman Torchwick deserved about 90% of the blame given that he was the one to blow up the docks," Naruto replied, "and the remaining 10% is on me."
"What!?" she yelped, nearly jumping out of her bed to throttle him. "How could you- Why would you- What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that I didn't want to lose a valuable member of our team and, considering that I'm your team leader, it made sense that I should shoulder the blame for not reacting fast enough to stop you from doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous."
"But- I- "she started, attempting to argue with him but finding herself unable to think of anything viable to use as leverage. "You should have let me take the blame. Even if it meant I would be expelled, it wouldn't have harmed you or the others. You would all still be able to stay in Beacon, you would just be knocked to a regular team of four."
"You don't think your expulsion would have harmed the others?" Naruto asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Ruby would have been crushed that she wasn't able to do something to help you, especially because she considers you to be more of a friend than a teammate. Yang would have been livid. She's your partner after all and despite how she may act she really cares about you. The fact that she was willing to look for you all weekend long should be proof of that. All that said, even you and Weiss have settled your differences. I can certainly say your relationship is off to a better start given how you two were talking and laughing when I came in. Knowing all that, do you honestly think your absence wouldn't matter to us?"
Blake opened her mouth to answer but couldn't think of anything to say. With a downcast gaze, she looked away guiltily.
"I don't know what your life was like in the Fang but here you're a member of team NWBRY. That means we don't give up on one another and we don't leave anyone behind if we can help it. Besides, team NWRY doesn't exactly roll off the tongue," he joked, earning a small laugh from Blake.
"Speaking of our pasts, are you going to explain to me what happened at the Docks? I saw you rush to engage Torchwick, get shot in the face before disappearing and reappearing with a whole bunch of people who were dressed up as White Fang. You can tell me not to worry about it or claim it's your semblance but I'd find it hard to believe that someone has two semblances, especially when one of them is very similar to my own."
Naruto stared at her for a long moment, silently considering how much he should reveal to the girl. He couldn't tell her everything. There were things that would no doubt be too difficult to believe outright and even if he demonstrated his abilities to her, that would no doubt lead to more questions. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't reveal some things to her.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Kurama asked with obvious concern.
"To build trust I need to show trust," was his reply.
Glancing around the infirmary to make sure no one else was around or within earshot, he scooted himself closer to Blake. She was already giving him a suspicious look and the moment he drew closer her eyes narrowed.
"What I'm about to tell you stays between us," he said in a hushed voice.
"Naruto?"
"I'm serious Blake. You can't tell anyone else on our team about this. I promise to let them all know at an appropriate time but, for now, I need to keep the number of people down to a minimum."
She starred at him for a moment, silently considering her words. After a while, though, she gave him a nod in agreement though her suspicious look remained.
"You're right to assume that what I did last night wasn't part of a semblance," he confirmed, watching as her eyes widened in confirmation. "It's a technique that I learned when I wasn't yet ready to start performing missions for my village."
"What is it?" she asked, curious.
"Before I answer I need to ask if you know what Chakra is."
"Chakra?" she said. "You mean like the life energy that some mystics believe is tied to certain aspects of the soul or something like that?"
"Close but what I was taught is a little different," he said.
He then took a moment to explain the concept that Sakura had instructed him on when he was first learning how to climb trees. Blake followed along, nodding every now then but still maintaining a suspicious look as he spoke. He then moved on to the shadow clone technique, telling her it was performed and showing her the various hand signs. Giving her a fair warning beforehand, he then wove the signs together and a handful of clone copies of himself appeared standing around the perimeter of her bed. She nearly jumped out of her skin when they appeared, looking at them and then him in bewilderment. When she said nothing for a while he further demonstrated their versatility by changing individual clones to resemble members of their team then members of team JNPR and finally ended with turning them into White Fang grunts before dismissing them, watching and hoping their smoke wouldn't set off the fire alarms.
"So, that's essentially how I managed to trick Roman into thinking the White Fang had turned on one another. Any questions?" he asked.
For a while Blake didn't say anything. She simply stared off into space where the clones had been, her eyes wide from surprise.
"Blake?"
"Teach me," she said quietly.
"What?"
"Teach me your ways!" she said, grabbing by his shirt and yanking him close. "I want to learn everything."
"Whoa, whoa, Blake slow down. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. I'm not even sure you understand what you're asking."
"You're a ninja right?" she asked.
"Shinobi," he corrected.
"Same thing," she replied.
"It's really not," he countered.
"I want you to teach me how to do that. I want to learn everything so I can be just like you. It's been my dream since I was a little girl."
"I'm not sure we're operating on the same wavelength here. Where exactly did you get this fascination with ninjas from?" he asked.
"Have you ever read the book series Ninjas of Love?" she asked with some slight embarrassment.
"You mean those smut novels- "
"It's not smut!" she snapped, blushing when she heard her outburst.
"Blake," he groaned, "you can think that what I was taught resembles anything you've read in it."
"I know I just thought it might be useful to know," she said, avoiding looking him in the eyes as she spoke.
"I don't know if I even can. Not that I wouldn't," he quickly said when she gave him a pleading glance, "only that there's no evidence to suggest the people of your world can even utilize Chakra."
"People of my world?" she asked curiously.
"Uh, well, long story short my village isn't from around here," he said, receiving a cocked head and questioning look from him in response. "Thing is, Chakra may be something that's unique to my people just as aura is unique to yours."
"I suppose," she said cautiously. "Speaking of, what is your semblance anyway? It's obviously not those shadow clones and I'm guessing now the ice walls you've been able to use against both Pyrrha and Torchwick aren't related to it either."
"Yea, to be honest with you I'm not entirely sure. I never had my aura unlocked," he admitted.
She starred at him in disbelief, expecting him to say he was joking at any moment and start laughing. When he didn't say anything and only continued to stare at her did she finally realize he was being serious.
"You're enrolled at a Huntsman academy and were trained by ninjas-"
"Shinobi."
"-and you don't have your aura unlocked?" she asked, exasperated.
"It was never something I needed to worry about before."
"Then how have you been participating in combat class or sparring against Pyrrha? The machines monitor your aura levels," she pointed.
"Eh, I've been using my Chakra to manipulate the machines into thinking it's my aura instead," he admitted.
"You what now?"
"Chakra can be very versatile if you know how to manipulate it. It can even be depleted and replenished just like aura."
"I understand that but you can't continue being a student here without having your aura unlocked," she said, scooting herself into a sitting position.
"Blake, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm going to unlock your aura for you."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? You're still recovering," he pointed out.
"I've mostly recovered from my injuries last night. Unlocking your aura won't have any detrimental effects on me. Now hold still, I need to concentrate," she instructed.
Doing as he was told, Naruto sat perfectly still as Blake closed her eyes and placed her hand on his chest. She began reciting words and phrases that seemed rather strange to him. After a short time, though, he began to feel something inside of him beginning to surge outwards. For a moment he thought it might be his Chakra or Kurama but this felt distinctively different from the two. When Blake finished the surge of energy soon erupted, enveloping his whole form and leaving him feeling energized and stronger. Looking himself over he could see a faint yellow glow that emanated from his form before it slowly began to disappear though the effects he'd felt earlier remained.
"There, it's unlocked now."
"Wow, this feels incredible," he said.
"You'll get used to it," she said with a chuckle. "It was strange though."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, uh, I'm not sure what it was. When I was unlocking your aura it felt like there was someone else present."
"Someone else?" he asked.
"Yea, almost like there was a second soul inside you," she said. "I'm probably just feeling some after-effects from the unlocking process," she surmised.
"Yea, that must be it," Naruto said nervously. "So, now I have my aura unlocked."
"Yep and now you need someone to teach you," she said as she gave him a meaningful look.
"I take it that's your way of offering to teach me?" he asked.
"More like making a deal with you. If I promise to teach you how to use your aura then you can teach me how to unlock and use my Chakra. Sound like a deal?"
"You do realize there's no certainty or guarantee that you even have aura or will be able to utilize anything I teach you," he pointed out.
"Maybe not but that doesn't mean you don't have anything meaningful you can pass onto me, right?" she asked, extending her hand.
"I suppose not," he replied, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake. "I look forward to our first lesson sensei," he said.
Had a bit of trouble figuring out how I wanted the fight against Torchwick and the Fang to play out. For the most part, I felt we could skip over some parts that didn't need repeating. Blake rushes in, does something stupid, gets his ass kicked for it, you know the drill. Mostly wanted to focus on Naruto having to rush in to pull her out of the fire (quite literally in some cases) before having to explain later how he was able to do some of the things he did. I didn't want a pure confrontation between him and Torchwick mainly because I didn't want him to come across as overpowered. Not only that but some of his techniques take time to do and Roman would defiantly take advantage of that.
Took the opportunity to unlock his aura as well along with getting him someone to teach him how to use it. Made sense given everything that had occurred as well as the fact that, seeing how aura is a physical representation of a person's soul (more or less) then the process of unlocking it would also lead her to taking notice that Naruto might possibly possess two souls. Obviously something he'll address at a later date.
On a bit of a side note, I know that some people have been asking what the ship is supposed to be. I won't say though I already have something slotted for later on in the story. I will say this is NOT a harem fic. I refuse to do such stories. Maybe for comedy purposes by nothing more. Just gets too complicated to keep track of. I would like to hear your thoughts on who you think Naruto will be paired with and why. I always find it interesting to see what people think.
