Warning! This chapter gets a little rough. It can be traumatic and if that puts you off this chapter can be skipped without losing very many key details. This chapter explores the depths of a mind trying to heal from the effects of brainwashing and its unpredictableness of it.
Motive Unestablished…
…
Unacceptable…
Rerouting.
Scribbling into her notebook, she easily slid it into her pockets before any of the faunus around her noticed. She surveyed the scene as she easily slid in between everyone unnoticed as if she was one of them.
Neo twitched her fake pink and brown ears. What fools they were if they could be so easily deceived with suck a paltry trick of hers and a simple Grimm mask. She wasn't even trying yet.
Leaving the barracks as they were of little interest to her, it was time to get work. She was on the job and her target was clear. Correction, if she had a clear target on him and could take the shot she would absolutely take the shot but she somehow doubted she ever had the opportunity to, and if she failed she would be dead in the water without backup.
No, she was here to gather information on where he was. Her current leader had learned her target was indeed her in Vale, at least in the region, and wanted to narrow it down. And she was more than willing to oblige knowing he had connections to Cinder.
And if all went according to plan the false maiden would be steaming as their main connection to the White Fang was severed.
That would be a massive blow to her master and she would love to see what the outcome of that would be. If only she could be there to see it!
Oh well. This would have to do instead.
Making sure she was not spotted, she moved deeper into the building. She had not even bothered using her semblance to give herself more than the ears as she could. She could give herself practical invisibility if she needed to and these fools weren't even guarding this place well enough to force her to use that. It was a great get-out jail-free card but Naruto had now exposed a great weakness to her illusion…
"Hey girl!" Neo twitched. Was she so wrapped up in the thought that she let this loser spot her? Was she slipping up?
Then she realized where she was and grinned as this was officer's quarters. Never mind. This was where she wanted to be.
"This is my quarters, how'd you get in here?" The officer growled as he walked in Neo simply looked around the room, uncaring for what he had to say as she had a mission. "Hey listen to me recruit! How did you even get down here in the first place?! The barracks are on the top floor! We're two floors down!"
"Wait…" He sniffed before his growled intensified. "Are you… even a faunus… Guards!"
Neo sadistically grinned as two Fang members rushed in an instant one was slammed into the wall with a vicious kick, cracking it. The other went flying into the door and his spine bent backward against the door as he slid down as she followed with a roundhouse and landed daintily on the officer's chest, her sadistic grin only increasing.
"Wait, wait! Whatever you want… I'll tell you!" He screamed as he realized he was in something far over his head, before the heels of the small woman on top of him slowly start to crush his windpipe but did not press down while he feebly tried to fend off her attempt with both of his thick, veiny hands grabbing at her ankle.
Just enough to silence him so he could not call for help.
She then pulled forth her notebook and held it before her face and pointed to a very specific name on it.
Adam Taurus.
The Fang officer's eyes widened as he realized who she was looking for and the woman's grin somehow only became more sadistic. She then lifted his right hand with ease and started to slowly bend further than it ever should go.
The man screamed in his throat and it made Neo's world brighter.
She got everything she needed from him and more.
"Argh! This is so frustrating!" Blake growled as she paced back and forth between Naruto's and Neo's beds, having been caught to speed on the incursion as Neo had returned last night and given the information she had gathered to Naruto.
She was in a chipper mood. The screams had made her night quite wonderful.
Blake wanted to grab something. Anything and just throw it. To shake something. To break it. "He's here somewhere but we can't get a location because it seems his section Fang is cut off from the rest of them! Just what is going on? What is Sienna even doing?! Why is she even allowing Adam to work like this?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine as you know them better than I do." Naruto sighed as this development was rather troublesome while crossing his fingers together. "What we do seem to know is that his core in the White Fang has gone rouge or at least gone rouge enough that the others don't know what they are doing or where they are. Maybe he has a personal connection Sierra that he is using that allows him to have a little more freedom than or perhaps…"
"It's because he's working with Cinder and Salem but something is off and we need to act and force him out into the open," Naruto commented, tapping a single finger as he thought of a plan that would get the bull out into the open.
"Like how?" Blake questioned as she stopped her pacing and glanced over towards Naruto as he pondered his question and was looking for an answer. "While Adam may have gone rogue in the process of searching for me he isn't likely to make any slip-ups. He's going to stay discrete and in the shadows and try to lure me out to him."
Tapping her parasol, Neo caught their attention as she flipped through her notebook and showed it to Naruto and he pursed his lips. "Oh, that… Changes a lot actually. Good work Neo, thank you."
Neo beamed as she spun her parasol, gave a curtsy, and sat back down on her bed. All the while flashing a devilish grin at Blake.
It made Blake hiss at her. She did that on purpose! What was she trying to accomplish?!
Shaking her head as if there were more important tasks at hand, Blake was curious so she put her emotional investments aside. "What did it say?"
"I think I might have a way to draw him in that doesn't have you be the bait…" Naruto flipped through Neo's notebook just to see what else was in there, recoiled for a second, and glared at the silently laughing ice cream woman, before gazing at Blake with a mild grimace. "While he indeed was actively searching for you in his spare time… It seems he was sent here originally for a mission and you were just the side quest."
Blake's bow flattened as a hiss rumbled in her throat. However, she could believe that. As obsessed as Adam was devoted to his cause and for the betterment of the White Fang. It was entirely in his character that he would devote all his efforts outside of the mission to finding her.
"So… Why was he here then?" Blake hissed after taking a moment to compose herself.
"He was here for me." Blake's eyes opened in horror as her life was coming full circle and everything was falling apart in the worst possible way imaginable. "It specifically seems Sienna requested that he be sent to persuade me to join the White Fang by any means necessary. It seems I was a highly valued target after the news broke because of how much value Ozpin put into me."
"No… No!" Blake backed away with fear etched all over her face at the realization of all the media coverage they had recently been exposed to over the last month. "That means…"
"He already knows where we are and it's why he has most likely gone rogue." Naruto sighed as this was an even further troubling affair and he'd wish the media would just allow them to do their job and blame Oz entirely for this set of circumstances. "It's to cover his tracks so we can't find him while he tries to catch us by surprise."
"So we just need to…"
A loud knock at the door interrupted his thought process and he felt the presence at the door and groaned. "You are the master of bad timing Yang!"
"And you need to include us in your damn plans! We are your huntresses in training after all!" Yang roared from the other side, displeased after hearing the loud tones from next door, and realized what was going on. "Now open up or I'm coming through whether you like it or not, got it!"
Naruto stormed to the door and slammed the door open defiantly but glared into her purple eyes as he beaconed the rest of team RWBY, still in their school uniforms, to enter the room. "Fine, have it your way!"
As they entered the room, however, it was obvious to all three that the tension was high and Blake's golden eyes pierced through each of them as they entered. It was clear she wanted none of them there for the topic that he been just discussed.
Returning to his seat, Naruto rubbed his temple as Weiss properly took a seat on a zabuton pillow while Yang plopped onto one cross-legged, making the princess twitch at her for not understanding proper etiquette. Ruby was just not what to do in the situation and just continued to stand. "Sorry for the intrusion but we do want in… We want to help especially if concerns you Blake…"
"I do not want any of your help for this." Blake hissed as her golden eyes pierced into Ruby's silver making the girl very comfortable and raising the tension in the room higher before taking a deep breath to calm herself and speak in a softer tone. "I understand you are worried… And I appreciate that… And we will include you in other the things we will do… But this involves the White Fang... And something else that is very personal for me. This is just for Naruto and me."
Neo drew a sign that read "And me!" as she gave Blake an annoyed glare.
Blake ignored her.
"Okay, I get something is going on here... But why can we not help?" Yang questioned as she felt her sister back down from Blake's aggression and refrained from growling. "What just makes this where we can help huh? We are a team and we need to act like it, we're here to help with whatever it is that is troubling you. Stop running off on your own all time!"
Naruto grimaced and decided to look away from that, not going to deal with that one. It was what Blake doing and he unfortunately was enabling it. He needed to be better and he knew it even if he thought in this circumstance…
Blake's point was very valid. It just happened to be the rest of her team had a valid point too…
"Because this is most likely going to be an infiltration mission where go in as recruits to draw out the leader of the Vale Division of the White Fang… And last I check none of you are faunus." Naruto commented as he finally began to formulate a plan that would most likely draw the ire of the bull in their direction. "So it is going to be an exclusive mission…"
"Wait," Weiss had to pick that moment to remember what Neo was capable of and had to make Naruto curse as the princess gave over at the ice cream woman. "Her illusions are capable of containing two people correct? So then four of us should be able to infiltrate while two should be on the outside in case anything goes wrong… Or am I mistaken?"
'Technically Not' was Neo's sign and he had to wonder how she had signs for the exact response she needed lined up for whenever she needed. Naruto just simply growled. "Yeah, but there is a bigger problem is that requires more effort on her part and there is a drawback to her illusions and is one exploitable by faunus in general… Sense of smell."
'True' Neo's next sign stated as that was a flaw that she had recently discovered and while annoying it was something she could skirt by on by herself with no issue. With someone else…
"But it could be done though! We'd just have to find a way to cover up our scent!" Yang announced as if it was now a possibility and both Naruto and Neo twitched and snapped the sign in frustration and threw them at the blonde. "Hey, what gives?! I was just stating it was possible!"
Neo gave her the middle finger before she got up and walked off to the bathroom as she decided to hang out with her best friends, the crabs.
"What's her problem?!" Yang angrily stated as she was ready to throw down with the ice cream woman not realizing just how bad of an idea that was.
"We literally just told you and you didn't listen! Your idea isn't the worst but it is only temporary and who knows if it would work!" Naruto growled and wanted to throttle the girl. "Also, this goes without saying trusting any of your lives in her hands should never be an option. I get away with it because I have earned loyalty because of what I did to get Roman's sentence reduced!"
"And that was still to our benefit in the end," Blake stated as Roman sold out as many Dust locations as he could and they had been attempting while it was going to be a fight reacquiring them was a priority for Remnant and its city-states as a whole.
"But," It seemed Ruby finally came to after being startled by Blake at the beginning and had been busy listening. "Despite all this and if we are careful, one of us could go in and assist right? That's all we are asking… For once to be included and take part… To not be left behind again!"
"Because that is all you have done! And I am so sick and tired of it as we want to help you and you keep shutting us out!" Ruby yelled as she focused mostly on Blake but even Naruto to an extent. "All I have ever wanted to do in my life was to grow up and be like the heroes and heroines in the stories I read! And here we are… Talking about taking down someone bad… And yet all you can tell me is I do nothing! That I can't even help my friend!"
"I won't take no for an answer! I have to be able to do something and you are telling me there is something I can do! I want to do it! Let me do it!" Ruby cried out as her frustrations over the last month boiled over once more.
Yang simply smiled at her younger sister and was proud of the growth she was taking. Weiss was taken aback but couldn't help but agree with the sentiment and nodded in agreement. It was what they were all feeling inside.
"Ruby…" Naruto started as he understood and had the same feeling as he was younger. However, he saw Blake's eyes and knew what she felt as her eyes soften.
Then they hardened like stone.
"Ruby Rose. This isn't a fairy tale." Blake spoke, her voice cold as ice as she slowly took a step towards her leader, her eyes hardening as memories began to take hold. "You know I was your age, so full of hope and fire thinking I could change the world when I ran away from and joined the White Fang… Trying to live up to my father's image."
Everyone in the room froze except Naruto and now Neo returned from the bathroom, petting a crab on her shoulder, sensing something she wanted to watch was going to happen.
"What… What are you talking about, Blake?" Ruby stuttered while noticing her friend was coming toward her but something felt off.
"When we first met… I saw the same determination in your eyes that I had back then… That I had lost when I had arrived for I was only running scared, fearing for my life with step I took… Look behind me for the one we are looking for today… All because he was either going to take my life…"
Blake's voice hitched and she decided she wasn't going to continue for everyone else sake but left what she said hanging in the air as her wording was clear.
There was another choice of what could have been done to her.
Ruby quivered as she had never seen Blake like this before as she now stood right before her and looked slightly up into her steely golden eyes. She had never told any of them these things before. How can anyone live like that with all that bottled up inside?
And was this what she went to talk to Naruto about? Why she didn't feel she could trust any of them? Because it was about the White Fang and her heritage of a Faunus?
She understood it but… It still hurt not to be trusted…
"Hey, Blake, lighten up would ya?" Yang tried to ease the tension but Blake's eyes snapped towards her and her anger rose.
"Oh, yes, lighten up…" Blake growled as she glared daggers at her partner as the years of built-up stress began to funnel out of her. "Just live a little, huh? Is that what you are going to say, next?"
Yang stayed quiet as she realized she hit something and they were glimpsing a side that only Naruto had seen up until this point.
"I didn't use to get those opportunities, Yang! Everything is still so fucking new and for quite a lot faunus is still not even a reality! We had to fight to get what we have and even now we still get denied what we've earned! Shops still deny us access even here in Vale where we have equal rights! ...We're supposed to have them everywhere! ...And what about those faunus in Mistral where things are so backward that people still think of faunus as property despite that we now have equal rights!" Blake moved from Ruby and was focused on Yang.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Yang tried to pacify the situation, raising her arms defensively, and shrinking her size so she did everything to not look aggressive.
"That's because you never lived a life of oppression! I have! Every single day of my life I live it with people thinking your life was less than the dirt beneath them… That you were their property and nothing more! And I live one of the more charmed lives a faunus could for the majority of my life to be quite frank and I still hide who I am! What do you think others feel like, huh?!" Blake screamed before she grabbed her bow and for the first time in front of her team untied it and threw it to the side to show her true self.
"Blake…" Naruto's voice rang out as he stood up, calmly walked over to her, and offered his hand. "I think we need to dial it back. Everyone is getting a little on edge right now."
Hearing his voice did have a soothing effect and watching him move towards her and offered it to her. It nearly broke her, and she would have accepted his invitation to calm down but… "No…"
"No?" Naruto was a little baffled and now really worried as he could feel the chaos swirling around in his girlfriend's heart but it was slowly solidifying and became obvious why and recognized the feeling.
Necessity quickly followed by immense guilt.
A feeling he was very uncomfortable with but knew all too well.
"Naruto… In my drawer… I keep a box tucked deep in the corner… Grab what's inside for me. I'm going to need it for what I'm about to do." Blake a shade of darkness hung over her head. "Ruby Rose!"
"Yes?" Ruby was shaken by Blake's confrontation with her sister and who could blame her?
Yang even was taken aback and Weiss looked petrified and wasn't sure of herself anymore.
So when Blake turned back to her and marched right back into her face, she was very intimidated as this was not the Blake she knew.
What stood before her was Blake of the White Fang.
"Are you positive that you want to help Naruto and I infiltrate a White Fang headquarters as recruits under that woman's illusions?" Blake stated as her golden eyes glistened with intensity. "Because if the answer is yes... I am going to show you what every initiate to White Fang goes through and it is... Not a pleasant experience."
"And... It will explain to you all the way I am." Blake finished with a low hiss.
Trying to regain her motivation from before, as it was difficult considering they were watching their teammate have what seemed to be a mental break, Ruby swallowed as she found her courage despite the stern and nearly petrifying gave that Blake was giving her. "As I said before… I won't take no for an answer. I want to help."
"Ruby… Please... I see.." Blake bit her lip before turning to look at Naruto and her emotions began to rapidly mix between anger, despair, and hopelessness before she found a grim resolve." Naruto… The box!"
Blake started, a single tear glistening in each of her eyes before she growled at Naruto and bored a hole straight into the unique redhead in front of her. "Do you even know what they do to recruits once they have been accepted into the Fang, especially those of talent?"
As Naruto exited to grab the item requested by Blake, everyone else in the room got a shiver from Blake's voice and that included Neo and she was used to violent things. But it only made the ice cream woman more excited.
It just made Ruby stutter. "What… What do you mean?"
"Blake… Why do you…" Naruto returned as gripped the object in hand but he had a good idea of why she kept it, closing the door behind him.
"It's a reminder of a mistake I should have never made." Blake honestly answer as more tears welled in her eyes as she looked down in her eyes. "Ruby… Are you certain you want to help because if you say yes one more time…"
"I am going to show you what it is like to be a recruit to the White Fang, one of exceptional talent and burning desire like you have... And to have it snuffed out and shown how cruel the world truly is."
"What?!" Weiss cried out startled as Yang simply stood up, ready to stop whatever was about to happen when Neo stood before her holding out her parasol, and shook her head no.
This was Ruby's decision.
"I…" Ruby was looking around her and seeing everyone else was also very emotional but at the same time, she knew what her decision was despite feeling the overwhelming sense of intensity coming from Blake…
She needed to prove to everyone she could be of use. That she could be the heroine of her stories…
Like her mother.
"I can do it, trust me," Ruby said with a smile.
And with that tears started streaming down Blake's face as knew what she had to do. "It's not about trust… This is just how this world works… And I'm sorry for everything I'm about to do… So please forgive me."
"What…" Ruby started but wasn't allowed to say another word.
"NARUTO MY MASK!" Blake commanded as she steeled herself despite her body beginning to shiver, slowly moving in front of Ruby but beckoning Naruto to herself. "I need it… But I don't think… I'm not strong enough myself…"
"I got it." Naruto took a deep breath as he understood this was going to be rough but he had been through things like this himself.
He had asked a close friend and the head of the division to interrogate him after all.
Slowly, gently and carefully he slid the mask over her eyes. She silently screamed at the sight and every memory of seeing it but did not let a single sound out. She couldn't. She needed to do this. And every body part of her twitched and spasmed violently as he did as if she was reliving horrible memories. Her legged kicked out and smashed through his TV screen as she silently screamed while tears dripped down her face. She scratched and clawed at her legs, digging into them through her skin until blood was drawn and flesh was exposed.
And the snap was heard and all went quiet.
Blake was motionless and the tears stopped flooding.
No emotions were coming from her.
There was only the mission.
Ruby, Yang, and Weiss all watched the act in horror and when Blake just stopped moving everything seemed chilling, and to see the White Fang Grimm mask on their teammate's face wrenched their hearts. And that was her mask when she was part of them.
Her eyes still glowing golden beneath the single line the mask allowed for sight, Blake's vision fell onto Naruto and she seemingly nudged him ever so slightly and had take a step back as if he wasn't where she wanted him to be before her gaze locked onto Ruby. And she moved with swift purpose, standing opposed to Ruby. "Sister! This is a glorious day for one and all as you join our family! You hereby are now and will always be one with the White Fang and you, unlike those others are something more… You may very well be the future of the Fang! You are something truly special! A warrior! ...A queen."
Naruto's head snapped at that statement. This was not a normal initiation and he knew it instantly. He looked at the positioning and he fear something more was going on as Blake had made sure he was standing in a very particular spot after she nudge him and she wanted him to be there and now...
He was watching a reenactment. She was reliving a memory however instead she had Ruby in place of her and that meant...
He growled and he knew he should stop this. This was wrong but as his eyes crossed the masked eyes of Blake something told him to stay... To let her finish. This had a point and it needed to be fulfilled. Even if it was wrong...
And he hated himself for it as he was going to allow this to happen.
"Blake… I don't like…"
The sound echoed from all corners of the room. Everyone's eyes were opened due to the nature of the act. The ferocity of it. The suddenness. And how fast Ruby's head snapped to the left as there was a bright red mark on her cheek from where Blake backhanded her from.
"I didn't give you permission to speak."
"WHAT THE FUCK BLAKE?!" Yang roared as her aura blazed to life but she wasn't allowed move as she found herself tied up with Neo and easily pinned down, the latter watching with interest. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SISTER AGAIN! I DON'T CARE IF WE'RE FRIENDS! I WILL FUCKING BREAK YOU!"
It was training after all.
Weiss was taken aback by the suddenness of Blake's action and began to realize just what the Fang were and what kind of monster her Father could have possibly made along with so many other people that repealed the equal rights laws over the years only for them to fight for them back. Because after everything she had begun to see with her own eyes with Naruto, Blake, and Velvet…
Was this their reality? Is this what they were driven to?
"You do not have the right to speak." Blake continued as she walked around Ruby, gauging every inch of her body as she did, she stood before her once more with arms held behind her back. "As the future, you must uphold our ideals to the highest order and be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice! That does not mean we ask you willingly give it, only that you give if only necessary as a last resort! We only ask of you that serve our cause to the fullest of your abilities and if that takes you down that path, we will see you in the other life sister!"
"I… I…" Ruby tried to stutter as this was overwhelming her and she could barely comprehend the fact that what her friend had done to her.
Only for all the wind to come rushing out of her as Blake slammed her right fist into her sternum, her mask looking straight at her face. "I did not give you permission to speak, animal."
With that Blake's left hand grabbed Ruby by the hair and she violently tossed her on her stomach before walking over to her and planting her boot on the back of her skull. "You are dirt not worthy of my boot. You are nothing more than property to be owned by the rich. Maybe you could be a good breeding pussy to the stallions in the back? Lord knows we need stronger blood to keep up the fight!"
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Yang tried to fight against Neo as she held her handcuffed while sitting on top of her with tears bleeding from her eyes. "I GET IT! PLEASE STOP! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
Weiss was too horrified at watching the scene before her. This was what they did? Was this what they did? After everything Blake had talked up on making the White Fang look better… This is what they had become?
Just what did her father and the others like him do and why did such a benevolent leader have to be forced to step down?
Everything was just so wrong!
"Until you earn your rights this is where you belong!" Blake emphasized her point as pushed Ruby's face into the ground. "You fight and grow stronger! You fight for every right and you earn them! You earn your right to speak! You earn your right to feel worthy! You earn your right for your freedom! You earn them because you are strong and you can fight!"
"So until you learn to get up and pull the trigger, stay in the ground and grovel like the animal you are sister." Driving Ruby's head into the floor even harder, Blake finally stepped off Ruby and turned to Naruto, her head lowering and hanging downwards and she slowly walked toward him, turning back to Ruby and stood at his side as she looked at the scene. "High Commander, the deed is done. She knows her place and will be put back into every time she steps out of line."
Taking a very deep breath as watching someone's innocence be taken away was not something he wanted to ever be part of, he wiped his tears before giving her the okay. "Very good, dismissed."
With those words, he reached out and gripped the mask, and with a hiss it released. And Blake screamed in agony as she fell to her knees, her body convulsing at the atrocity she had just committed having watched herself commit the act on auto-pilot.
Tears streamed down her face as looked at the still downed Ruby as she cried out to Ruby. "This is why I didn't want any of you involved! This is what they are like! It only gets worse from here! That is only a taste of what is to come, Ruby! This is what the White Fang is!"
"And I am so sorry… I never… I never…" Blake cried as she retreated into herself when she heard the words.
"Is this what it feels like to be a faunus?" Ruby spoke, tears welling within her eyes as stayed motionless from where Blake left her and it make the cat's eyes snap towards her and widen. "This feels horrible… And not what I feel outside…"
"Ruby I…" Blake started but she was still too emotionally lost in her wave of emotions.
It was Naruto who sat beside her, looking into her eyes, and gave her a comforting shoulder rub.
"It's unfortunately only a taste of what it's like. For us," Naruto had to stretch the truth as he wasn't born a faunus but the life of jinchuuriki was a brutal life as well and like Blake, he came out on the better end of that spectrum. "This is the life we have to live with daily. That is why so many faunus join or at least sympathize with the Fang. It gives them hope that there can be a better tomorrow…"
"Even if they don't believe in what they represent any longer and are now lost, looking for something new… They're looking for a new hope." Naruto finished as he kept comforting Ruby his hand stopped, something coming to him that he hadn't thought of before.
A better tomorrow… A new hope…
A new home… Where everyone was equal.
"Naruto… Thank you…" Ruby snapped Naruto out of his thoughts as she grasped his wrist and gave him a small but sad smile. "I didn't understand why the both of you were trying to do this alone… But get it now…"
"But I want to help and I going to do everything I can to help so, please… Let me do this." Ruby pleaded as despite everything that just happened…
Ruby's strength remained and she still wanted to fight. She still wanted to help.
"Ruby!" Blake leapt up and slid over before lifting the still hurting girl up and embracing her. "I'm so sorry! Of course, you can! I just… I just…"
"I know…" Ruby wrapped both her arms around the crying faunus and embraced her as well and began to weep as well. "I didn't know what you had to go through… And now that I know… I want to do everything I can to do to make it right… And if this is what I can do then let me do it!"
"Let me go!" Yang finally broke free of Neo's grip as the touching moment finally broke her concentration and the dragoness blitzed the scene.
And she embraced all three of them tightly. "I am both so mad and concerned with you two right now that I don't even know my own emotions right now! I hate it and love you both so much! Never do something like this again or I swear I'm going to break everything! Ruby, you need to stop pushing yourself so hard, okay? You're going to give me a heart attack and I still haven't gotten laid yet!"
Blake cried and nodded her head for she never wanted anything like this to happen. Ruby simply cried into her sister's shoulder as they used one arm to embrace one another.
They all ignored Neo in the background as she held out a sign that was saying 'BULLSHIT' to Yang's last statement. And this infuriated the ice cream woman and she slammed the sign into the wall multiple times without anyone noticing her actions.
It was as if she was invisible.
Weiss, who had not joined the circle of friends hugging was left alone to collect her thoughts about what she witnessed and it deeply disturbed her. What the Fang did themselves bothered her for she knew what they were capable of doing to her family and the board over the years. They treated themselves like that because it was how the world treated them and they had to earn their respect to climb the ladder…
It made her sick and realize just how much her father was part of the blame for this situation.
Feeling someone sit next to her, Weiss sighed as there was only one person it could be seeing the trio was still crying and he was no longer amongst them. "I don't even know what to think anymore… About the White Fang… About my company… Any of it…"
"Got that right… Both sides are fucked as far as I'm concerned." Naruto sighed as this was just another day of crippling emotional weight and he was beginning to wonder if there were just more of these on the way.
Most likely was the answer he felt as he looked at the one he sat beside.
She just did a much better job of concealing it.
And Yang just did the best of dealing with it out of everyone. So props to the blonde dragoness on that.
"And just what do you mean by that, my father… Is…" Weiss started defensively before her sorrow started to wear on her. "I can't even say."
"Weiss… Do you know that I was nearly shot by a Spider droid that your father gave his ex-business partner?" Naruto stated as he snapped her attention to him as he made a point. "He gave a civilian who had no business owning military weaponry just that to protect his drug assets and his fortune all so he could keep pushing his agenda."
"… Just think on that for a while." Naruto let those words hang for Weiss for she now had, even more, to dwell on as the group was starting to finally calm down as one of Naruto's crabs wandered over to him with something in its pinchers. "Got something for me Crabtholomew?"
"Interesting." Naruto took the small item from his pinchers, gave it a pet and pulled out a small treat for it, and allowed the crab to retreat to its den.
"How did you train crabs? That doesn't seem possible." Weiss could not comprehend just how anyone managed to tame an animal to such a degree to the point that seemed it was sentient.
It was almost as if…
"Science fiction my lady," Naruto responded as he looked at the paper in hand and made Weiss nearly face fault. "But this was a good find."
"What was it?" Weiss looked over and her eyes widened as if they could not be. "There is no way they could understand what just occurred, is there?!"
The three hugging girl's attention and Neo's as they all ran over to see what was brought over while Naruto answered. "No, I've had the crab out searching for a while for something related to the White Fang… Seems they found a faunus-related poster that might just be something that is a discrete Fang recruitment poster…"
"It most decidedly is!" Blake growled as she immediately recognized the handy work. "We use this all the time and place them in… low-income faunus living residences and places where they tend to frequent that will allow them."
"Oh, that is just…" Weiss began Naruto cut her off.
"Standard military recruitment practice, unfortunately. Everyone does it. Just ask your father and I bet you he might have a long-winded answer that a simple yes would have sufficed for." In the end, he laced those words with a small hint of venom.
Weiss wisely backed off as she did not want to test everyone today, especially Naruto for her crush had slowly faded now that he was dating Blake…
Part of her still found him rather dashing in a way… And that maybe he could still look at her in that way too?
"Well, it seems like we got our ticket," Yang commented as she looked at the flier and cracked her knuckles as she felt she needed to give a ton of beatdowns after the day she just experienced. "So… The plan going to be Naruto, Blake, Neo and Ruby go in while Weiss and I hang back and wait for the fireworks or what?"
"Actually… Yeah, that's the plan. Infiltrated, get in and get what can use out, and then blow their plans up while hopefully causing no casualties. Despite their methods, I still don't want blood on my hands… Neo, that means reign it in. You can do what you do best on your own time." Naruto commented as his plan was rather simple before he turned to Neo and gave her the simple command.
She rolled her eyes but nodded. Wouldn't do to upset her current boss right now anyways.
Emotions were high.
But if she could turn that into a group affair and get the cameras rolling…
It'd be glorious!
Sensing the weird influx swing of emotion from Neo, Naruto just rolled with and ignored the illusionist. She was her own beast and containing her was not something he was entirely able to do.
At best he could point her in a direction and pray the job was done cleanly.
He felt like his Hokage training was finally paying off…
"Alright… We've got our plan. But today is Thursday. Let's rest and get our schoolwork done and do this on Saturday. I'll send Neo out for a little scouting just so we're prepared." Naruto stated as everyone now had their rolls.
"Yeah, let's do this!" Yang pumped her fist up. "Come on, let's go get something to eat! I'm starving…"
"No, we need to get Ruby treated first you dolt! Everyone's going to see her like this and expect something I don't want to happen!" Weiss cried out. "I mean I might have enough makeup to cover It up by it isn't the right skin tone…"
"I do not like a single word I just heard as that sounds like someone that knows how to cover up a bruise. And those traits are the hallmark of a victim." Naruto growled and left his words hanging in the air as the intent was solely focused on Weiss and for the first time…
He could see tears in her eyes before she quickly wiped them away. "No, it's because of all the training I did. We never wanted any of our guests to see us as anything less than pristine."
While her words left her lips they felt hollow to everyone that heard them. But because she was not willing to come, clean everyone was forced to go along with it. Blake sighed and closed her eyes. "If that is what you say… I'll join you guys later… Need to sort a few things out with Naruto first."
"Kind of figure… Don't take too much time lovebirds!" Yang saluted before everyone slowly filtered out of the room including Neo who went straight to work, wanting to get a heads up on what they were going to be dealing with in two days.
"Naruto…"
"I'm not even going to ask… I know that happened to you." Naruto wrapped his arms around Blake's waist and embraced her. "I am so sorry such a thing happened… And I can promise that I won't let something like that ever happen again… As I think I finally figure out what I want to do…"
Accepting his warmth as it was comforting and what she desired the most at the moment, she heard his words and looked up her golden eyes locked in with her blues. "Naruto?"
"I think… I want to rebuild my home." Naruto spoke and while Blake looked worried as his home was barbaric from everything he told her about, he explained. "With many exceptions and changes… I want to rebuild it in my image… To make a more accepting place for everyone."
"To lead a place a better future where the rules aren't so stupid and people can live their lives… To lead by example and show the world how it is done." Naruto stated as he knew Blake knew what he meant by that after seeing what they did in the alleyway on Fifth Street.
Looking down and into his chest for a moment, Blake's returned her gaze with a small smile. "That doesn't sound so bad… It's going to take a lot of work… But if there is someone that might know a thing on how to start a movement like that…"
Her ears flattened dark thought entered her mind but she shook it out quickly. "Naruto when all this calm down and if everything goes fine, would you like to go to Menagerie with me? And meet my father?"
In other circumstances, this would have been seen as a romantic if not a massive step in a relationship to meet the parents of his partner. And it still was but there was a very different message being sent and it was the one that Naruto received first.
If there was anyone that understood building something of this magnitude it would be Blake's father, Ghira Belladonna. "I would be more than happy to go with you… But what about your mother?"
Blake's eyes widened at the thought of bringing back Naruto with her home.
And the expectations her mother would have to go along with that.
"I'm not ready…" Blake had a furious blush adorn her face. "Take it all back… I can't deal with her… Not now or ever again…"
"Blake… What are you not telling me?" Naruto was now curious as he tilted his head in a very fox-like manner.
"She… To be fair... Never liked Adam. With you and just the presence I get from you I think she'd feel that as well... I think... She may... She may be constantly… Be hounding me on knowing when she was due for grandbabies…" Blake embarrassingly admitted as she broke the embrace, crossed her arms, and huffed indignantly that she had to answer.
He was just too adorable when did that little tilt thing with his head!
"AHAHAHAHA!" Naruto busted out laughing as a very similar thing had been occurring through his mind in the last few months as he felt his mother's presence within him.
Blake, with righteous fury, reached out and shoved Naruto to the ground. "You ass! I was pouring my soul out to you!"
"I'm sorry but it's funny our mothers are so similar!" Naruto stated as he lay on the ground which caught Blake's attention as she knew for a fact his parents died when he was born. "I did meet her once… Well a fragment of her anyways as she left it behind in the seal as a fail-safe when I tried to master Kurama's power."
"Before she left… The last thing she told me was that she wanted me to find someone that loved me unconditionally… And to give her plenty of grandchildren." Naruto smiled at the memory of his mother in his seal, all the while still laying on the floor.
Blake joined him as she looked up at the ceiling. "God if they met…"
"They lock us in a room until the deed was done and patrol it to make sure we didn't escape." Naruto finished.
"Sounds correct." Blake nodded in agreement before sighing. "So what if we find Adam Saturday."
"If all else fails... We take care of him." Naruto rolled over as Blake did the same their eyes met. "The question is… Can you really do it?"
"I… I don't know… After everything, he's done…" Blake honestly answered without breaking her gaze. "After everything, the answer should be yes but… I guess I need to hear his voice one last time… Before I know."
"And if it's no?" Naruto asked, curious to know what her answer would be before grasping her hands and holding them lightly. "Would you be willing to let me step in and do the deed in your stead?"
"…Yes." Blake solemnly responded with deep regret in her voice and her body shook. "He needs to be put down… Especially if he is the head of the destroy all humans movement… That is unacceptable."
Naruto could only nod. "We better get moving… Yang's already pissed at both of us."
"What did you do? I know why she's upset with me?" Blake raised her eyebrow as the slowly got off the floor.
"Blake, what haven't I done to Yang yet? I screw with her every chance I get." Naruto responded with a grin.
"Mess with her hair," Blake stated as they walked out of the door with the cafeteria as the goal.
"I don't have a death wish!" Naruto yelled as Blake froze and realized something.
"MY BOW!"
She darted back inside and quickly tied it back on.
They were so comfortable they had almost forgotten that she was trying to hide that secret.
Naruto sighed. While she was attractive with the bow…
She looked so much better without it.
Motive…
Reestablished.
…
Correcting Course.
…
Confrontation Inevitable.
Engaging.
