Beacon Training Room

"Saru," Naruto said, watching Blake's hands as she shifted them to copy the sign she'd been shown.

He looked at her hands, inspecting them to ensure they were as accurate as possible. Both hands, one laid on top of the other, with the thumb set between the pinkie and ring finger. He nodded, satisfied, before moving on to the next one.

"Tatsu," he said, waiting patiently as Blake once more moved her fingers to copy what she'd seen.

Inspecting it, he saw her fingers were set intertwined with one another, her pinkies set together and pointing straight down, while her thumbs sat on top with her left thumb sitting on the right. He nodded his satisfaction, noting the girl's small smile at having been praised, before moving on to the next hand sign.

"Ne. Tori. Mi. Ushi."

On and on it went, Naruto calling out each of the hand seals while Blake took the time to accurately imitate them before receiving a nod of approval from her Sensei. It had only been a week since Blake had been released from the infirmary. Despite her injuries, the girl had proved surprisingly resilient and had recovered in record time. Well, record time when compared to what he was used to. Despite having spent almost two years in this world, the wonders of aura were still a marvel to him. Naruto, of course, had a rather robust healing factor but, when you had one of the Tailed Beasts sealed within you as an infant, the strengths and advantages such creatures had enjoyed and employed when lose upon his world was something the Jinchuurikies were also able to enjoy. Unfortunately, it made explaining how he was able to shrug off serious injuries without having his aura unlocked rather difficult to explain. As such, between instructing Blake on how to correctly mold her fingers to make the various hand seals, he'd also made time to properly learn how to utilize his aura, something which he found was quite similar to using chakra and completely different all at the same time.

Blake had been all too eager to learn everything there was to be a shinobi. Where getting the girl up before seven had been a pain before, he'd quickly found himself being rudely awakened by her at four by the girl in question. The worst part about was that she hadn't done anything to wake him, per se. Rather, his sixth sense had alerted him to the fact that he was being watched and immediately woke him as a result. He had then been greeted by a pair of amber eyes that were staring at him in the dark. Too groggy to make an educated guess, his lizard brain had kicked into high gear instead. What followed was a chaotic circus of Naruto grabbing a spare kunai he kept under his pillow before launching it at the pair of eyes in the dark. Blake just barely managed to dodge the attack, leaping into the air before landing on Ruby's bunk swinging precariously in the air. Startled from her sleep, she and Blake tumbled and fell in a flurry of sheets, landing on top of Weiss who'd been woken up by Naruto's cry of alarm. Yang, who'd been sleeping through all of this, had it the worst when Naruto's poorly aimed kunai struck one of the books keeping her bunk held up. One loose book was all it took to bring the whole thing crashing down to the ground in an avalanche of books, limbs, and wood.

It took them a good half-hour to rein themselves in and get the full story, one in which Naruto more or less admitted to having promised to train with Blake in the morning but having failed to hammer out a decent time for them to start. By the end, they were too tired to go back to sleep and reluctantly began getting ready for the day though not without giving the Faunus a few seething glares to show how irritated they were for waking them all up just because she was eager to begin her training with Naruto.

Naruto had insisted that they start their training after their classes ended for the day. This was duel purposed as it acted as a punishment for the girl by making her wait the entire day before she could start learning something fun and exciting (at least, that's how she viewed it) while also circumventing any problems their team might have with them getting up at an early hour and making too much noise. It was a win-win situation, one Blake couldn't readily argue with, especially when they'd made her put her bunk back together after it came cascading down on top of them.

"Alright, your hand seals look good. You've done well to memorize them so quickly," he praised.

"Can we start learning how to unlock my chakra now?" Blake asked eagerly.

"Not yet," he said with an apologetic grimace. "Now, we're going to test your memory and reflexes. I'm going to call out a sign and you need to make it as quickly as possible. I'll start out slowly and increase the tempo as we go along. This will help to simulate the actions of a battle as you'll need to be able to make hand seals quickly and on the fly to ensure you're able to counteract an opponent's attack and catch them off guard."

Blake nodded her agreement, understanding completely what he was telling her and shaking her hands to loosen them up.

"Alright then. Uma. Inu. Tora. Hitsuji. Tori."

He continued, keeping a careful watch on Blake's hand seals and their accuracy. He wasn't surprised to see she had a firm grasp on them, taking only a second or two to replicate the sign called. He upped the tempo, watching as she struggled for only a moment before finding the rhythm again. They continued on like this for a good ten minutes at which point they'd reached the speed one would need to maintain while in combat. To his surprise and admittedly his pride, Blake had managed to keep pace, faltering only a couple of times. By the end though, when he called for a rest, she was shaking her hands and flexing her fingers, showing just how sore they were.

"Memorization is only the first half. Building up strength in your fingers is the other," he said, reaching into a gym bag he'd brought with him to extract a small duel-handled device with padded grips. He tossed it over to her before explaining, "That'll help you to build strength in your fingers. Use it in your off time and keep practicing your hand seals. Make sure you get it down to the point that it's almost instinctual."

"I will Sensei," she said, ignoring the wince Naruto gave at being called that. "So, when are we going to unlock my chakra?"

"Yea, about that," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"You're not backing out of our deal, are you?" Blake asked in an annoyed tone. "You promised to teach me everything you know."

"And I'm going to keep that promise," he said, hoping to placate her momentarily. "The problem is, I'm not exactly sure how to unlock your chakra or if your people are even capable of producing chakra."

"What, you mean like Faunus?" she asked curiously.

"No, I mean people in general," he clarified. "You see, where I'm from, you don't unlock chakra. You're born with it."

He took a moment to explain the concept of chakra to her, how it was the merging of one's physical and spiritual energy, and how one could increase both. Blake listened intently, wishing she'd brought something to keep notes with, and did her best to absorb everything she was being told. For the most part, it seemed a rather simple concept. The only problem was in the execution. Despite his best attempts to explain it to her, neither of them was certain of just how she was supposed to imitate the actions needed to perform the same feats he could.

"Could you give me an example or show me something?" she asked.

"What, like a demonstration?" he asked.

"Yea, show me something that's unique to your people and I'll try to imitate it," she replied.

Naruto thought for a moment, finding Blake's suggestion to be rather good. The only problem was thinking of something that would be impressive enough. He considered his own staple of Shadow Clones but, given her semblance, he decided that wouldn't do. The tree climbing technique was also better suited for outside. Recalling his time spent with his team, however, he was inspired by something he'd seen Sasuke do and knew what he was going to show her.

"Alright, step back. This is going to be big."

Blake obeyed, giving Naruto some distance as he turned away from her and began making hand seals. Mi (snake), Hitsuji (sheep/ram), Saru (monkey), I (boar), Uma (horse), Tora (tiger), and keeping the chakra he used to a minimum, he expelled a massive fireball onto the training floor. While he was only using enough chakra to actually perform the technique, the fireball was still massive in size and burned hot enough to cause the temperature of the room to increase a good deal. After a few seconds, he released it and the fireball died away instantly, leaving the air around them feeling considerably dryer as a result as well as a leaving charcoal black mark on the ground.

"That's the fireball technique," he announced, turning to look at Blake before leaping back in surprise.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" she squealed, closing the distance between them in an instant as she gazed up at him in admiration. "Teach me how to do that," she demanded, fangirling just a bit.

"B-Blake, I'm not sure- "

"Please," she begged.

"Fine, fine," he said reluctantly as he showed her the hand seals. "Now you need to concentrate. Focus your chakra from your gut and only give it enough to create the fireball. It's just like any fire. It needs fuel and how much it's fed will determine how big and powerful it is. Give it too little and it won't ignite. Give it too much and you're liable to burn the training room to the ground with us still inside."

"Right, don't overdo it," she replied, taking a ready stance. Under her breath, he heard he say, "I can't wait to use this in our next training spare."

He winced at that, taking a moment to consider the consequences before silently issuing a prayer to any gods within hearing, asking them to make sure she failed to produce a flame. He knew that, as her sensei, he shouldn't wish for her failure but, considering he was teaching her something that could possibly kill someone, he figured he would be forgiven. Not only that but he was sure Miss Goodwitch would appreciate not having to explain to another student's parents how their child had been turned into the human equivalent of fried chicken by Blake Belladonna during a sparring match.

As he silently contemplated stepping in to prevent her attempt, Blake quickly made the hand seals, contorted the muscles around her stomach, and expelled all the energy she could muster. As expected, nothing came out. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. Something did come out in the form of a noise that sounded vaguely like a wet fat. It was a full minute before Blake finally gave up and they were thrown into silence. No one said anything. Slowly, embarrassment written all over her face, Blake turned to regard Naruto with a sheepish look. It was quickly replaced with a glare as she saw Naruto holding a hand over his mouth in a futile effort to hold bad a flood of laughter that threatened to spill forth.

"Don't you dare- "she began.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

The floodgates burst and all at once the silence was filled with laughter. Blake's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, glaring holes into Naruto's head as she waited for him to stop laughing, her ears flat against her skull. It was a while before that happened as he'd had to take a moment to sit down or risk falling over and on his ass.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," he admitted.

"I know I failed but you didn't need to laugh at me," she pouted.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at your attempt. Well, I was but more so at the noise, you were making towards the end. What was that about anyway?"

"It's nothing," she growled.

"Blake, come on, tell me," he prodded.

"I- I thought I was doing something wrong. Nothing was coming out so I thought I needed to give it some more umpf."

"I see," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Why don't we take a break," he said, motioning to the benches nearby.

They sat for a moment, taking a few sips from the waters they'd brought with them. While the internal thermostats had corrected the atmosphere of the training room to return to normal after Naruto's little demonstration, it hadn't helped with their parched throats after breathing in that dry air for a while. Blake was unusually quiet. Unusual as, for the entire time they'd been training, she'd been eager to learn and asked nonstop questions whenever she had the chance. It was obvious what was bothering her and, while he wanted to tackle the problem head-on, he knew it would be better to wait for her to speak and open up first.

"How are you able to do it?" she finally asked.

"What do you mean?"

"How were you able to produce that fireball so easily when all I could manage was to make a complete fool of myself?" she complained. "I know I've been fangirling and using this training as something of an excuse to play out some of my own personal fantasies but, when I saw you produce it so easily, I honestly started to think I might be able to do it too. Then I failed."

"You didn't fail, Blake. Truth is there was no guarantee you would have been able to do it."

"Thanks, I feel so much better," she said in a sardonic tone.

"What I mean is, I would have been surprised had anyone been able to do what I just did. As far as I know, I'm a unique entity which means there's nothing to say that anyone aside from myself can or can't produce Ninjutsu just like I did. Honestly, with your level of devotion and determination, you would be running circles around me back home."

"No I wouldn't," she argued. "You produced that massive fireball like it was nothing."

"Yea, because I spent years training and honing my skills just to be able to do that. One of my former teammates, Uchiha Sasuke, was able to produce the same results at half my age."

She stared at him in disbelief, her eyes searching his expression for anything that might denote he was lying to her. When she found nothing, she slowly began to realize that he was being honest with her.

"You can't be serious," she said, a part of her still holding onto that disbelief.

"I am. Here, my skills put me a cut above the rest. They allow me to stand toe to toe with someone like Pyrrha Nikos and ensure I come out on top with ease. Back home, though, I was anything but. I was no one of any worth to my people. I even failed to graduate from the academy on my first attempt."

"You what?" she asked, her disbelief resurfacing.

"It's the truth," he replied, "While the rest of my peers had graduated and were being sorted into their teams, I was left behind. Had to retake the year. Honestly, no one expected me to become a shinobi. Well, except for Iruka sensei."

"Who's he?"

"He was one of my teachers and one of the few people I knew who truly believed in me," he said, a warm smile crossing his face as he remembered his mentor. "He encouraged me and helped me graduate. He even routed for me when everyone else thought I should fail. He was one of the people to make a real difference in my life, enough for me to keep pushing forward when it seemed like all I would ever do was fail."

"He sounds like a wonderful person," Blake said, her own thoughts drifting back to someone in her life sitting hundreds of miles across the sea.

"He is. I hope you all can meet him someday. Speaking of, why don't we call it a day? We'll try again tomorrow."

Blake agreed, picking up her belongings and following her team leader out the door. While today had been a bust, she'd at least learned a few things. Even if she found she couldn't do the same things Naruto could, the fact that he'd come from a similar background to her own made her appreciate him a little bit more, especially with all the time he was taking to teach what he knew. All in all, he was quickly becoming one of the few humans in her life to whom she truly felt a kinship, something which she'd never thought she'd admit to herself.

/-/

"So, how was training this morning? You two get in a good workout?"

The question, while innocent enough, was anything but when considering that it came from Yang, complete with a devilish grin and wiggling eyebrows. It was obvious what she was alluding to and Blake's sullen silence was enough to tell him that her questions were bothering her more than they should have. Despite his reassurances, Blake was determined to perform the same techniques that he had shown her. Time and time again she'd tried and failed to accomplish the most basic of Ninjutsu. While this was something he'd expected to happen and had been quick to reassure her regardless, she was still frustrated with her overall failure and had only agreed to take some time to rest and refuel in preparation for continued training later that evening.

There was also the obvious fact that he needed to answer Yang's question, however childish it might be. Silence wouldn't suffice. Having lived with Raven's people for a time, he'd long since learned that silence to questions like this often meant the same thing as admitting to their assumed answer. He also knew that she was hoping for a blatant denial, one more akin to something Jaune Arc would manage as he struggled to maintain his calm only to have his stuttering betray him. Naturally, Naruto had long since overcome such drawbacks and was more than prepared for Yang's goading attitude.

"We were just doing some doubles training. Blake and I have a similar fighting style and I wanted to see how much of what we were taught was similar and how much was different."

"That does make some sense," Weiss said, capitalizing on Yang's sullen silence when her questions failed to receive their desired outcome. "Although, from what I've seen you're a fairly straightforward fighter given that you use a sword."

"True, though I had to alter my style when I began using it. Originally, I was taught something much more subtle."

"As in what exactly?"

"Espionage and subterfuge," he replied.

The table was silent for a moment. Each of the girls gave him a quizzical look aside from Blake who had already been informed of some of his past life. It was a few moments longer before Ruby had gathered the courage to speak.

"So you're like a spy?"

"That is one word for it. The main title we used to describe ourselves was Shinobi."

More quizzical and confused looks, enough so that he sighed, massaging his temple as he prepared himself for the unwanted but unavoidable reaction that was to come.

"We were Ninja's," he said.

Silence once more. This time, though, he was greeted by looks of disbelief. No one, aside from Blake, was willing to take his confession seriously. However, as the minutes ticked by and his serious expression continued to remain resolute, it slowly dawned on them that he wasn't joking.

"You were raised as a ninja?" Yang finally asked.

"We call ourselves shinobi but yes, ninja is also an appropriate term."

"As in wearing all black, wielding swords and knives, having epic fights on rooftops with the full moon in the background?"

"Combat only occurs when something goes terribly wrong. Most of our missions were centered on information gathering, the spread of misinformation, espionage, subterfuge, and the occasional assassination."

"This all sounds a little farfetched," Weiss admitted.

"It's really not. Most villages like mine are overshadowed by the Huntsmen, Crime syndicates, and various bandit tribes that cover the continent. While our expertise hasn't seen much use in the last few decades, we still pass our teachings to each new generation."

"You're serious," Weiss said, slowly starting to come to terms with what he was explaining to them all.

"Of course. I told Professor Ozpin the same thing."

At this point, he began recounting his conversation with the Headmaster just after the incident at the docks. He had recounted a short, clipped version of the conversation he'd had with the Headmaster and Miss Goodwitch before but he hadn't gone into detail about everything he'd disclosed to them. This time he disclosed everything, repeating as best he could word for word of their conversation. Their disbelieving looks soon evolved into raised eyebrows as he spoke of his childhood, the harsh ostracization he'd received from the villagers to the eventual formation of team 7, and his confrontation with Zabuza. He left out much of the details regarding the use of their Jutsu for obvious reasons and focused mainly on their hand-to-hand capabilities. When he was finished, he waited patiently for them to speak.

"So you were really raised to be a ninja?" Yang finally asked.

"Yes, as are most of the children in my village."

"I don't understand. If a village like yours really exists why have I never heard of them?" Weiss asked.

"The whole point of our existence is concealment. If people knew about us, chances are they would have eventually tried to kill us before we became a threat. We were used for assassinations, after all. It was only a matter of time before someone destroyed us before we were hired to destroy them."

"And there are more villages like yours?" Ruby asked, her evident excitement at the prospect of having a ninja for a partner beginning to show.

"Yes, we're aware of others. We've even formed mutual pacts of nonaggression to prevent us from having an all-out war. Zabuza was originally from a rival village."

"What were they called?" Weiss inquired.

"The village hidden in the mist," he said, and, noticing their disbelieving looks, he added, "it's also known as the village of the bloody mist."

"I know I'm going to regret asking this but why were they called that?" Weiss asked.

"In the past, in order for their children to become shinobi, they had to be blooded. That meant they had to kill and, as part of their graduation exam, they were pitted against one another in one v. one deathmatches. The survivors were given the title of shinobi."

"That's horrible!" Weiss squawked, her mortified expression being mirrored by her teammates. "And they still practice this?"

"No, Zabuza was the one who caused them to stop the practice."

"Cause? I'm guessing you don't mean through legal means," Blake replied.

"No, when he was a child he killed at least a hundred of his fellow students during his exam. From what I'm told it would have comprised the entirety of his graduating class. It was such a horrifying display that they stopped performing the act completely."

"No kidding," Yang breathed, shivering in disgust at the mere thought of what it must have been like. "Did- did your village practice something like that?" she asked cautiously.

"No, we never did anything like that," he replied, smiling when they breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Our exam was more a test of our ability to successfully disguise ourselves as one of our instructors. If we could pass ourselves off as them almost flawlessly then we were able to graduate."

"Were you graded on just your disguise or was there more?" Weiss asked, curious about the details.

"It also encompassed our ability to mimic their mannerisms, their speech, even the way they walked and handled themselves. Much of what people don't take into account is that, in order to perfectly pass yourself off as another person, you have to account for smaller details that typically fly under the radar, things that only their close friends or family members would take notice of. It shows our overall attention to detail as well as our information gathering. The more accurate our disguise, the greater chance of success at passing ourselves off as them and completing our mission."

"Hmm, a fair point," Weiss agreed.

"That's. So. Cool," Ruby said, literally vibrating with excitement. "You're a real-life ninja. Like Blake only better."

"Hey," the girl in question snapped in protest.

"She's not wrong," Yang pointed out. "Ninjas are supposed to be stealthy and your blunder destroyed the whole dockyard."

"I revealed myself on purpose," she argued.

"And look how well that worked out for you," Yang shot back.

"Aside from the obvious, Blake does have skills similar to mine and we've been working on sharpening those," Naruto interjected before a fight could break out.

"I must admit there is some potential in learning those same skills. Blundering our way through everything can only get us so far. Learning more subtle tactics and ways of dismantling our enemies before they even know we're there could be very useful," Weiss mussed.

"Not sure how well espionage and subterfuge will work against Grimm," Yang pointed out.

"If recent events should have taught you anything it would be that Grimm are not the only thing we'll have to contend with," Weiss countered. "I have a feeling this isn't the last time we'll be seeing the White Fang and learning how to take them unawares could prove very useful for dismantling their operations."

"Are you suggesting we start targeting the Fang?" Yang asked, surprised. Even Blake's ears perked up, an inquisitive look on her face.

"I'm merely pointing out the obvious. The White Fang have shown that they're willing to work with humans and well known criminals no less. I wouldn't be surprised if we find ourselves facing off against them in the future. I wouldn't endorse us seeking them out but taking the opportunity to add to our overall skill base could prove advantageous when the opportunity presents itself."

"That's something we'll need to consider moving forward with our team training," Naruto said.

/-/

With the promise to his team that he would create a training regimen for them to start working on that incorporated his shinobi skills into their own, as well as the inevitable headache that would ensue from having to figure all of that out, he returned his attention to the headache of trying to convince Blake that it wasn't the end of the world simply because she couldn't use chakra or perform the same techniques he could.

"It's just not fair!" she moaned.

"Blake, calm down," he said.

"I just don't understand how someone can be born with chakra and others can't. I should be able to use it. If we can unlock aura then we can figure out a way to unlock chakras."

"It's not the end of the world. Not every shinobi in my village is born with the ability to use chakra and they're able to get along just fine."

"Name one," she challenged.

"I can name two, actually," he said, much to her surprise. "Rock Lee and his sensei Might Guy."

"They couldn't use chakra," Blake asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Neither of them could. In fact, if I remember correctly, Guy sensei's father also couldn't. He developed a fighting style that Guy taught to Lee which is how they're able to be shinobi."

"How do you mean?"

"The main thing to understand is that Jutsu is divided into three different categories; Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu."

"I know the first one but what are the last two."

"They're all fairly simple to understand. Ninjutsu is fairly broad but is mostly considered to be anything that falls in line with needing the use of chakra, hand seals, or even weapons and tools to use. Basically, that fireball I performed earlier would fall into this category.

Genjutsu is a bit different in that it focuses on the manipulation of the mind and your five senses. It's the ability to override and trick them into believing that an illusion you've cast on them is real. It could be anything from seeing someone who isn't there to being put through intense torture."

"That sounds horrible," Blake said.

"It is. It's often utilized in breaking prisoners or taking out opponents from a distance. Being able to make your opponent think you've ripped their eyes out and rendered them blind can be very useful, especially when you don't even have to touch them to do it."

"Is there a way around it?"

"The mental strength of the Genjutsu usually depends on both the person performing it and the victim themselves. Some people are able to break out of them easily enough but some have more trouble. Causing yourself pain is a common method of breaking the illusion, though this isn't always guaranteed to work.

The last and most straightforward is Taijutsu. It's basically our fighting techniques, some of which can be supplemented or strengthened using Chakra. Most of that is something I can teach. It's what Lee was taught and became a master of. He was even able to open up his chakra gates."

"His what now?" Blake asked, confused. "Do you mean pressure points or something like that?"

"Uh, no. Basically, there are eight chakra gates found all throughout the body. The gate of opening, healing, life, pain, limit, view, wonder, and death. They're what maintains a healthy flow of chakra all throughout the body. Unlocking these allows you to greatly increase the overall flow of chakra and greatly increase your body's speed, endurance, and strength. Unfortunately, it also leaves you in a vulnerable state afterward."

"I don't understand. You said Lee couldn't use chakra but he can open these gates? How does that even work?"

"He can't manipulate his chakra to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. He can unlock the gates to increase his overall physical ability. Think of it like the limiters in your brain. You know what I mean?"

"Yea, a mother lifting a car off her baby or something like that?"

"More or less the same, yes. Lee was able to open up six of the eight gates, making him incredibly powerful. I saw him in action once. He was moving so fast it was almost impossible to see him."

"Moving fast like Ruby?"

"Faster," he said, smirking when Blake's jaw dropped.

"That's incredible. I bet he was impossible to defeat."

"Not exactly," he confessed. "His opponent managed to find an opening and broke one of his arms and legs. It was rather traumatic."

"O-oh," she said, deflating a little. "What happens if you open all eight gates?"

"Well, from what I'm told you achieve near god-like strength and power-"

"Really?"

"-before dying a short time later after your heart explodes from being pushed beyond its physical limits and immense dehydration after you sweat all the fluid from your body. Your skin has a tendency to turn red simply from the fact that your blood is boiling through your skin."

Blake's jaw smashed into the ground at this point. Her initial thought that Naruto might be lying to her was completely overridden by the fact that he'd already showcased his ability to use Jutsu, giving credence to the fact that he very well may be telling her the truth.

"How?" she asked. "How has no one discovered you after all of this?"

"We probably just said it was a semblance and no one questioned it," he replied. "Honestly, claiming that our Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are just semblances was probably how we managed to stay hidden for so long."

"I- uh, yea, t-that makes sense," she said.

"Regardless, I've been wondering something for a while now."

"What might that be?"

"Did you ever stop and think that maybe your people do have chakra?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this is more so a theory I've had since this morning but, I haven't noticed a significant change in my aura meter when it was unlocked. What was initially registering my chakra and is now registering my aura has shown no change in my overall amount or even an error code. Do you think it's possible that the aura of your world is possibly the chakra of mine?"

Blake stopped to consider the question for a moment. It a strange way, it did make some sense. The powers and abilities of Huntsmen and Huntresses made them seem otherworldly, especially when you brought semblances into the mix. What's more, while it was easy enough for Naruto to mask his techniques as a form of semblance here, what's to say that it wouldn't work in reverse?

"Have you done anything to test it out?"

"Not yet. I didn't notice anything when I used my technique earlier but I figured it was something we could go over tomorrow."

"Yea, that would be interesting, especially if it opens up a new avenue of abilities for you."

"I also have a question regarding your semblance."

"Alright."

"Apart from being able to create a clone of yourself, is it capable of anything beyond that?"

"Well, if I use Dust then I'm able to use it in tandem with my clones. Basically, I can generate clones made out of rock or ice and even cause them to explode with fire Dust."

"Are you able to learn through them?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," she replied.

"Here, let me show you." Taking a step back, Naruto made a hand sign and generated a perfect clone copy of himself. The clone waved at her and she awkwardly waved back. There was something altogether impressive and creepy about seeing a mirror image of her team leader appear out of thin air.

"One of the advantages to using the shadow clone Jutsu is that you're able to learn from them. Anything they experience is shared with their creator upon their destruction or dismissal. In essence, I'm able to train and master techniques by generating and using my clones to train in the same fashion alongside me. It's basically a way to cheat the system.

It only works with things such as Jutsu. I can't have them all read different subjects and then learn everything all at once or go to the gym and have each of them performing different exercises. Due to the fact that they are, in essence, made of chakra then their ability to use and manipulate chakra extends to me and vice versa. Any technique I learn and master, they are capable of performing themselves just as any work they put into mastering a new Jutsu is ultimately reaped by me."

"That's so cool and convenient," Blake pointed out.

"It does have its benefits," he replied. "I figured, with a semblance like yours, you might have a similar ability?"

"Unfortunately, no. Mine doesn't work that way. It only leaves a temporary copy of myself for others to deal with while I escape. I'm unable to manipulate them in any way beyond acting as a substitute."

"Still fairly useful," he pointed out.

/-/

Naruto stood off to the side, watching attentively as Blake went through the various hand signs, slowly but surely training her hands to get used to their awkward movements and positions. She was dedicated, he'd give her that, but ultimately she had no hope of performing the same ninjutsu techniques that he was capable of performing, nor did anyone else for that matter.

"You're absolutely sure of this?" Naruto asked, his question directed to Kurama.

"You think I'd lie to you about that? I'm a tailed beast that's made entirely out of chakra. Being able to sense it in other beings is as simple as breathing for you creatures. No, so far I've not sensed anything from anyone we've met in this world. Raven and Ozpin stand out but not because they have chakra. I sense something different in them, somehow the same but also unique to their person. It's difficult to explain."

"Yea, I understand. How about the aura meter? Are you still manipulating it to show my chakra?"

"No, given that your aura was unlocked, I felt the need to keep up appearances was no longer needed. It should register your aura only. We can still use chakra but I'd advise that we use it only when needed. I'm not sure how much can be explained by these people and their otherworldly abilities."

"That's fair. At least that gives us one less thing to worry about."

"I do have one other question."

"What's that?"

"When we're successful in returning to our world, what are you going to tell them?"

"You're worried about their wellbeing? Color me impressed Kurama, I never thought you'd have a soft spot for these girls."

"Don't mock me, boy," Kurama growled, "I mean, given the creative way in which you've begun incorporating your own history into your backstory for this world, I can't help but wonder how they'll react when they come to know the truth. They're going to have a lot of questions and I can't imagine them simply allowing you to depart without giving them some answers."

"I'll deal with that when the time comes," Naruto replied. "I'm not exactly lying to them. Twisting the truth a little, for sure, but it isn't exactly lying when most of what I've told them is based on true events. We'll just take things one day at a time and figure out how to explain my departure to them when the time comes."

"As you say. I just hope you know what you're doing Naruto."

"So do I."


Been a while since I last posted a chapter for this story so apologies for the lateness of it. I'd had people asking me questions regarding Naruto's use of chakra and lack of aura and whether or not he would have it unlocked and how the two would work. As you can see, I decided to go with a more simplistic approach. If it didn't make sense in this chapter, I'll be sure to flesh it out in late additions but basically, he has aura now and he can use chakra separate from it. It won't register on the aura meter like it did before so it won't be seen as if he'd somehow doubled his aura overnight. I wanted to keep the two separate from one another. It just felt like it might become too confusing or overcomplicated if I had them acting as one so aura and chakra are two completely different things, as they should be.