What's up?

So, since I don't have a Rooster Teeth account, I was barely able to watch the first two episodes of RWBY Volume 4. Still, the wait was WORTH IT!

The series is still beautifully designed and brought to life, the characters are as unique and lively as ever, and the story is continuously gripping! I can't wait to see how this Volume will play out!

On that note, let's move onto the next chapter of this crossover!

Fair warning, this story will have most of the canon events in it, but there will be plenty of changes as well thanks to our favorite Orange Maelstrom. So please, PLEASE don't be upset if some events stray from canon or are even changed entirely.

Disclaimer: pain17ification owns nothing from these two incredible series!

Sackcloth and Ashes

Chapter Three: Unexpected Closure

Shielding his face from the whipping wind and kicked up dust, Naruto watched as the bullhead that dropped him off ascended higher and higher. From the ajar side door, Cinder looked down at him and locked eyes with the Uzumaki, giving him a confident smirk that she knew he would be able to see.

After the week of letting him adjust, Cinder had finally come up with an assignment for her newest partner. Seeing as she had been unable to fully search the ruins of Mountain Glenn thanks to being more interested in the blonde, she had decided to make use of his unique immunity to the Grimm to her advantage and have him search through the ruins alone.

As she watched his form get smaller from her rising vantage point, the amber-eyed woman spoke up, "You and Roman know what to do, correct?"

Beside her, Mercury smirked and nodded. "Yeah, we know. While blondie checks out the place, Roman and some of those White Fang members will run distraction detail for those Huntsmen that are supposed to investigate what happened here a week ago."

"Good. Be sure not to be seen, Mercury. Roman is already a well-known criminal, so it isn't much of a risk to have him spotted. You, on the other hand, are not identified; so keep it that way."

"Got it, Boss."

Emerald was on Cinder's other side, frowning as she watched Naruto just stand in place and watch them leave. "You sure he can handle this alone?"

"Mr. Uzumaki has shown himself capable of many unique different feats; including that curious golden arm that caught you by surprise," reminded Cinder, making Emerald clench her fist at the memory. "Also, I find myself…confident in him, regardless of him not showing everything he has at his disposal." She then turned her head behind her, smirking at seeing her mostly silent partner once again staring at her hands with a far-off expression. "Neo," she called out, breaking the tri-color-haired girl from her slight trance. "What do you think of Naruto's chances?"

Neo frowned for a moment, both eyes displaying a brown color before they turned bright pink and she smirked.

"…"

And once again, she said nothing; but her expression spoke for itself. She was in total confidence of Naruto. Her pink orbs saw her leader nod in satisfaction before looking away, allowing Neo to look back down at her hands. In truth, she was still a bit shaken up by what had happened between her and Naruto just the other day.

(Flashback)

"Neo?" She turned around to see that he was on his feet and had moved closer to her position. He looked to be on the fence about something, which made her raise a brow to urge him on. Taking a quick breath, he held out his sole fist to her.

This time she was confused. A fist bump? Why would he offer something like that to her? Looking back up at him, she saw he was struggling a little to keep his fist extended to her. Was this really such an important thing to him? Curiosity guiding her, she raised her own left fist and had it meet his fist.

As soon as she did, she found herself completely defenseless at what had happened next.

She found herself in front of a building that had young teenagers and their parents. She herself was under the shade of a single tree, standing next to a familiar, yet younger, whiskered blonde. She saw that he was seated on a swing, staring at the others with a mix of depression, longing, envy, and anger.

From some of the parents, she heard mutterings of how they were relieved that he didn't pass some final exam. She also saw looks of disgust, loathing, and even some hatred aimed at the blonde while from his shadow, she was surprised to see it take the shape of a four-pawed animal with pointed ears and multiple tails that waved erratically.

"I didn't think that I was still able to do this," she heard a familiar voice comment, and she turned to see the blonde that she had just been speaking with right beside her, looking at his younger self with sad nostalgia. "…I wasn't welcome in the eyes of many of the villagers back home, and it was because of something completely out of my control."

She raised a brow at his vagueness. "What do you mean?" she spoke up, before looking surprised that she did so. "Wait… Why can't I stop talking? What's going on here?"

"Easy," urged Naruto, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We're linking together temporarily since we bumped fists."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, visibly frustrated that she couldn't stay silent. Speaking had become such a foreign thing to her over the years.

"Everything, Neo. My chakra has grown more and more potent throughout my life, and I'm able to link my soul with someone else's whenever I bump my fist with theirs; something I learned from someone similar to myself. During this connection, nothing is hidden or silent from the both of us. You're seeing my memories – getting a front row seat of my life – while I can hear you without anything to hold you back. That's why you can't keep anything quiet."

She gave him a hard look, both eyes turning milky white. "Cut the connection; now."

"I will; but I wanted you to see something first," he stated, waving his hand and shifting the scenery to that of the village from the view of the Hokage Mountain. The village itself was under attack, and a massive beast with nine tails was seen causing havoc. "That is Kurama, a Tailed Beast that was sealed into me on the very night I was born."

She watched with some fear at how massive and destructive Kurama was, the blood red eyes gleaming in the firelight of the damaged village. A slight tremble crawled down her spine, and she took an involuntary step back. "W…Why show me this?"

"I feel something from you, Neo…" he confessed, letting the scene keep playing. "Something that I believe is somewhat akin to myself." He looked down at her, and she turned to look back up at him. "You were lonely, weren't you? Filled with a deep pain that you couldn't bottle down entirely and because of something you couldn't control?"

She took another step back, but this time it was away from him. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes portrayed sympathy and understanding; both of which being far more sincere than anyone else had tried to show her. "I was feared and left alone because of Kurama, who only attacked because of someone that was manipulated through their pain and hate. Since the night I was born, I was seen as a reminder of loss, pain, and sadness; not as Naruto Uzumaki."

The scenery changed again, and it showed a young girl in rags with tri-colored hair and mismatching eyes. She was seen hugging herself with a tattered blanket while her power was going rampant. All around her, people backed away in fear of Grimm that stood around her defensively; but both Naruto and Neo knew that the Grimm weren't really there.

Neo looked at her younger self, seeing the pain and loneliness in her other's eyes. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't find the strength to turn away; to bury the painful memory so deep that it would never resurface again.

"Stop it…" she begged, her voice whispery. "I can't watch anymore… Please…"

Looking at her sadly, Naruto cut off the image and the two found themselves back in his room at the base, their fists no longer connected. "Neo…" he spoke up, but she was still in shock at the memory. "Neo, look at me," he tried again, this time a bit firmer.

There was some hesitation, but she turned to him and he saw that she was close to tears. "…why…?" she choked out. "What do you want from me?"

Slowly, he raised his hand up and reached out to her, placing his palm on her head before gently, soothingly brushing his fingers through the strands of her hair and stopping on her cheek beneath her right eye.

"…I want nothing from you, Neo. I just thought you'd like to know that you're not as alone as you thought," he answered, his tone showing sincerity. "I also wanted to thank you for helping me start to recover." With his thumb, he brushed the tear that started to roll down. "I want to help you do the same; but only if you'll let me. If you keep helping me, then I'll keep helping you… I promise."

Her eyes, both still being milky white, locked with his blue orbs and she saw absolute sincerity in them. Her cheek felt warm against his hand, her heart echoed in her chest, and her lips slowly curved at the corners into a faint – almost invisible – smile.

She raised up her right hand to grasp his left, moving it away from her cheek as her eyes turned pink. "…thank you," she whispered before leaving the room, knowing that she found someone that she could finally start to trust with her real self; with the Neo that she tried so hard to keep buried. As she reached the door, she looked back one last time and gave him her signature smirk before she walked away, letting the door close softly behind her.

(Flashback End)

A faint smile was on her face as she clenched one of her fists. Yes, she had total confidence in Naruto; for more than one reason.

Walking down the ruined asphalt streets of Mountain Glenn, Naruto took note of the Grimm moving about as if they were in a natural habitat. The Beowolves traveled in groups of two to three, much like natural wolves tended to do in the wild. Creeps, who he had read took on lizard like characteristics, moved on their own, keeping their senses sharp as they moved about the city while he spotted a single Goliath, which looked like an elephant, on the outskirts, moving away from the ruins.

"Odd," he muttered, brushing past a pair of Beowolves as he entered one of the ruined buildings. The Grimm gave soft growls as he passed before they began to tail him, as if they were Naruto's personal guards. The Uzumaki looked around the abandoned building sadly, sympathy showing on his face for the people who had been forced to leave their homes. Turning to the Grimm, he mused aloud, "What made you all do this?"

The Beowolves tilted their heads at his question before they growled once more, as if trying to answer. They then turned and left the building, and Naruto decided to follow them. For a few blocks, the two Grimm just took point, seemingly knowing just where they wanted to lead him to. However, they soon stopped in the middle of a four-way intersection and turned to face the blonde.

Once he was standing right in front of them, he looked around and saw nothing new compared to everything else he had seen. He peered into the buildings from the street, but saw nothing of interest before he turned back to the Grimm, only to see them heading off in separate directions.

"Great," he muttered. "Now what?"

As if the universe wanted to answer him, he felt the ground shift beneath him as soon as he finished that query. Before he could even utter a curse, the intersection caved in beneath him and he fell into a deep cavern underground. From his falling point of view, he saw more ruined buildings and even some tracks that held an inoperable train (due to the extensive visible damage he had seen).

Just before he reached impact with the ground below, he formed a clone beneath him and kicked off of it, landing on top of one of the shorter buildings. Once he was on solid ground, he took a more inspective look at his surroundings. To his curiosity, he saw no Grimm at all; not even a simple Beowolf that proved to be the most common of the masked creatures.

Looking back up to where he fell, he estimated the distance and frowned. "No way am I getting up there in one jump." He looked to the rocky walls of the cavernous city. "I should be able to walk out without any trouble. But, if anything, I'll just use Chakra Mode and fly out." He then moved to the edge of the roof he was on, looking down. "Now, what exactly should I look for in a place like this?"

Deciding not to waste any more time, he leapt down from the roof and landed on the road, his feet making hardly any sound upon impact thanks to his training. His eyes were narrowed slightly, and his body was tense and ready to act if need be. From what he could feel, the place seemed to be abandoned; but he knew that looks could be deceiving.

So, forming a clone, he had it stand still and gather natural energy. It didn't take much time before it dispelled and Naruto felt his chakra harmonize with the energy gathered by his clone. With Sage Mode, his sensory capabilities were enhanced greatly, and he felt the multitude of Grimm above him as they moved throughout the city above.

However, there was a single life force that he was able to sense that was somewhere within the underground city. Turning to one of the larger buildings, he focused his senses on that life force and felt it moving cautiously towards him. He frowned at this, creating another clone to act as a decoy while he followed from a safe distance.

For many tense minutes, Naruto kept a lock on the approaching signature while keeping visual contact with his duplicate. When he felt the signature right on top of his clone, he caught a glimpse of black before his copy was tugged behind a corner. The clone did nothing to retaliate since Naruto wanted to see who was hiding out in a place like this.

When he moved to a better position, he was slightly surprised to see a masked woman with black hair that reached her backside and skittered downward like some ruffled feathers. She was dressed in a shallow cut black dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads around her neck, a red girdle-belt around her abdomen, and a pair of matching gauntlets. An object that looked to be made from feathers hung from the right side of her skirt and her black, thigh-length boots looked to be styled with a red splatter pattern. Her most distinctive feature was a fearsome, full-face mask that resembled the face of a Creature of Grimm. The mask had four eye slits, further enhancing the inhuman presence that the woman appeared to be going for.

'There's some red mixed into her hair,' he absently noted, finding the highlight an enhancement to the woman's appeal. A part of him blamed his father for it, but he felt drawn to hair that held some semblance of red in it. His eyes also took note that her red sword was of the ōdachi – or great sword – class and was twice the length of her sheath. Said sheath also held a rotary chamber filled with various colors. 'That's those "Dust Crystal" things that Cinder told me about…'

"Talk," ordered the woman, holding her blade to his clone's throat. "What is a civilian doing here?"

To her surprise, the young man she had gotten the drop on disappeared in a burst of smoke. She bit back a curse as she held her blade close, ready to act in an instant like she had trained many years to do.

So, when she felt someone behind her, she immediately reacted and turned with a deadly swing of her blade. But the blade was easily caught within the serrated edge of a knuckle duster that was wielded by the same blonde that she thought she had. His eyes were no longer the strange yellow that she had noted before and were instead a crystalline blue, like the ocean. The only other features she found noteworthy about him were the whisker markings on his cheeks and the fact that he only had one full arm while the other was missing from the elbow down.

"Relax," he said, easily holding back her blade with his smaller weapon that Neo had given him. "I'm not here to start anything."

"What's a Faunus doing here?" she shot back, her voice calm and steady. "Is the White Fang looking for more places to inhabit?"

"Faunus?" Naruto asked back, showing genuine confusion. "Sorry lady, but I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of Faunus or this White Fang. The only White Fang I know of is the late father of my sensei."

'Sensei? That means teacher, if I recall. He uses terms from an older language so easily, like he's spoken with them his entire life.' Her blood red eyes narrowed behind her mask. 'He also doesn't look like he has any idea what I'm talking about. Where the hell has this fool been staying; under a rock?'

"Look, can we please just put away our weapons and talk like reasonable people?" he suggested. "I didn't want to pick any fights here; especially when I know that Grimm aren't the only things living in this place."

"How do you know of this place?" she ordered, not making any moves to back down. "Who sent you here?"

He sighed at her questions. "You really won't just calm down, will you? Are you just itching for a fight or something?"

In truth, the woman actually was feeling a bit restless as of late. While she could've hunted down Grimm, it got rather bothersome really quickly; especially with how predictable they could be sometimes. On the other hand, fighting someone else; no matter if they were a human or a Faunus? Now that was far more enticing.

"Maybe I am," she replied with a hidden smirk before sliding the edge of her sword through the crevice it was held back in, freeing it for her to quickly move in for a deadly swing. She wasn't even surprised when she saw him evade it by bending his body backward just enough for her weapon to move over him safely. "Care to indulge me, kid?" she taunted, feeling a tingle go down her spine at the potential fight.

Sighing again, Naruto said nothing and instead just put away his weapon. "I'd rather not," he answered after his knife was fully sheathed.

This ended up being the wrong response, because the masked woman took it as an insult and charged, her sword blazing with Fire Dust mid-swing as she closed in on the damnable blonde. With a flurry of slashes, she attempted to make him answer for the blow to her pride; a smirk forming beneath her mask as she saw him redraw his knife to catch her blade and deflect it away from himself.

Following a wider than intended swing, that the Uzumaki dodged by leaning back, the woman moved with her momentum and went for a spinning kick that was blocked by the blonde's forearm. She gasped when something flashed through her head upon contact.

"You'll still believe in what Jiraiya-sensei spoke of? After all that has happened? After so much death? After everything I've done to you?" a redheaded man who looked incredibly emaciated asked of a whiskered blonde teen. His face shifted from incredulity to rage. "Do you expect us to wait for you to bring peace when there is so much pain?! Face it; peace is impossible!"

"Then, if there's such a thing as peace, I'll find it! I'll break the cycle of hatred and pain by carrying it for everyone else! I'll help people so that they won't have to feel pain anymore!" Raising his fist up to face the redhead, the blonde declared, "I'll never give up, and I won't go back on my word!"

Purple eyes with ringed pupils widened at that, recognition and shock shining in them. Beside him, a blue haired woman with a paper flower in her hair looked just as surprised. The whole time, the blonde held a look of unbreakable, unwavering determination and the aura of a leader radiated from him.

'What was that?' she thought in confusion before refocusing on the fight.

Unknown to her, Naruto had seen something as well. And what he saw marred his face with a frown.

The woman glared at a blonde dressed in light armor. "Think about it, Taiyang! If they lash out at anything negative, then why do they go after humans unless humans are actually inherently evil?!"

Taiyang let out an aggravated sigh. Things had just kept going downhill ever since Summer had died. Since then, Raven had come to accept a belief that humans were detestable things of war, segregation, hatred, and death; preaching that they were civil, yet slaughtered anything – even one another – for the slightest reason.

He didn't like such a cold, cynical, nihilistic, and misanthropic worldview, but Raven insisted that, other than what the setting, clothing, and level of technology was, human nature had not really changed from when they were violence-addicted savages living in caves. As far as Raven viewed things, the Grimm were basically White Blood Cells trying to purge an illness from a body.

The world, Remnant, being the body, and humanity being the illness.

"Raven…you're being unreasonable…" Taiyang said in response.

"Unreasonable?!" Raven snapped, furious at what he had just said. "Why; because I'm not stupidly, blindly giving undeserved faith to humanity?! With humans, and even Faunus, it's always the same shit but a different era! They constantly repeat the same self-destructive patterns over and over! They've only lasted this long because vermin are so damn hard to get rid of!"

"You're talking like you're not human yourself…" he pointed out with a frown.

"Believe me, I wish that I wasn't…" she fired back, turning away from him.

"Are you even listening to yourself?! Raven…is this really the kind of example you want yourself to set for our daughter?" Taiyang asked.

That was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it as soon as he left his lips. In the time it took for him to even blink, the end of her sword's scabbard was buried in his gut before he was flipped over and slammed onto the ground. The next thing he knew after the unexpected attack was the tip of Raven's unsheathed ōdachi hovering ominously over his throat.

Glaring down at the man before her, Raven hesitated before she shook her head in disgust. "You're so naïve to everything that it's revolting… So much that it's not even worth putting you out of your misery…" she stated, clicking her teeth in annoyance before sheathing her sword and turning as a red-black portal opened up in front of her.

With nothing left to say to him, she entered it and never looked back.

'Damn,' he mentally cursed. 'It's not just when I bump fists with people,' he deduced, forcing his body to evade more than guard. 'I can still link my soul with others when in combat!'

"Stop dodging and fight, dammit!" roared the woman as she began using Wind Dust to extend the reach of her longsword even further. "RAGH!" she cried, bringing her sword down for a bisecting slash.

Her eyes widened behind her mask when she saw him easily catch her weapon again with his; but his knife's edge also had an extended wind blade. The surprising part about it was that it was there without any use of Dust.

'Is that his Semblance?' she thought before wincing when another vision forced itself into her mind.

"There are three words I say to people who compliment my hair," a stunning redheaded woman said softly to the whiskered blonde, a loving smile gracing her face as her long tresses curled around her. The space around them looked to be bathed with warm golden light, as if it were a dreamscape safe from the harshness of reality.

"Oh yeah?" asked the teen, a grin on his face. "And what's that, mom?"

Her smile grew more loving, if that was even possible, as she stated, "I love you."

His grin fell for a look of shock before it returned with a vengeance while he rubbed his head bashfully.

"So, what do you get when a child is born from the Yellow Flash and the Red Habanero?" she asked with a grin that matched – or most likely sired – his own.

Standing up proudly, he held onto his orange and black jacket and stretched it outwards slightly. "You get the Leaf's Orange Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki!" he declared with pride.

The teen's mother gave a content laugh at that, making the whole scene all the more heartwarming.

'W…What the hell is this?' she thought in frustration as she stumbled back, her mind starting to have trouble keeping pace with her body.

"Prepare to fire," The Atlas robots said, taking aim at a group of Faunus who were members of the pacifist White Fang, those who wanted rights and equality for their kind. After all, it wasn't their faults they had animal features, so why were they denied being treated the same as others?

Yet here they were, lined up in front of a firing squad of unfeeling automatons, going to be put to death because they had a protest rally outside of Atlas's capital, wanting to know why they weren't allowed their freedom and rights.

The sight sickened Raven to her core and she looked to her partner and best friend. Said partner was a young woman dressed in a white hooded cloak that covered a red-black corset and a skirt. She had silver eyes, a pale complexion, and black and red hair. A double-bladed polearm – one that Raven personally knew could convert to a sniper rifle – was slung across her back.

"Summer…" she started to say, but her partner cut her off.

"You don't need to say a word…" Summer's silver eyes narrowed and her fingers were twitching dangerously. Raven saw that it was taking all her friend's self-control and training as a Huntress to keep from whipping out Lunar Flora, her weapon, and going on a berserker rampage. Raven felt the same urge to do so with her own weapon; especially seeing as their old friend Plissé Scarlatina was in the firing line. (1)

"You go high, I go low," Raven suggested, and Summer nodded in agreement. Creeping away from their cover, the two moved into position. They had to be very careful with this.

As Raven got as close as she could without being detected, she caught sight of a quick gleam from above in the very edge of her peripheral vision. 'Good,' she thought to herself. 'Summer's in place.'

And just in time, too.

"Readying armor-piercing, explosive rounds," the lead Atlesian Knight said.

"NOW!" Raven cried, drawing her blade as it flicked through Dust attributes – Wind, Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Gravity. Switching to the last one, she stabbed her blade into the ground, where a gravity well was formed and produced a heavy pressure into the area, sending everyone to their hands and knees before a shot rang out and the head of the commander robot was blown off, leaving the rest of Atlesian Knight Robots suddenly without a lead unit.

As Raven undid the gravity well she created, she rushed forward, her blade flashing as she cut through metal and circuitry while a familiar polearm was thrown from on high and impaled another Knight before Summer dropped down and retrieved her weapon, tearing the robot apart by doing so. Her silver eyes flashed for a moment as the two Huntresses proceeded to make short work of the Atlas automatons before Summer turned to the group of gob-smacked Faunus.

"Don't just lie there; RUN!" she bellowed.

The Faunus didn't need to be told twice and they all bolted. Summer and Raven hurried along with them, knowing reinforcements would be arriving soon.

After "borrowing" a Bullhead, the group crossed the border and flew all the way to, what they were told by Plissé, the "Faunus safe haven" of Vacuo, seeing as the only "real" rule there was that those who were able to survive in Vacuo were welcome; regardless of background.

"Thank you both for helping us," Plissé said as the Faunus disembarked.

One of the others looked at her in shock. "What?! You're thanking them?! They're humans! I bet that they're just like the ones that were gonna have those damned tin men kill us all!"

"So what if I am thanking them?!" fired back Plissé. "Same race, different individuals! Just because these two are human doesn't mean anything! They chose to help us because they wanted to do what was right! If you're gonna be a racist bigot and turn on our rescuers because of things they can't help, then it seems to me you and the ones that ordered to have us all shot have more in common than you think! Because of them, I have a real chance of going back home and letting my daughter be born!"

The Faunus didn't seem to care about that as he yelled, "Shut it, human-lover!"

"So you hate the ones who we owe our lives to?! Just like that?" another Faunus snapped incredulously, taking Plissé's side.

Before long the Faunus were all shouting, some angry towards humans, while others were upset with their fellows who were treating Summer and Raven with hostility. Both human women watched on in disappointment, seeing the hatred that had only grown stronger over the years in the eyes of many of them.

Turning to her friend, Raven knew that Summer wanted to change things. Raven wanted to as well, but she knew that such an idea would take a very long time to make a reality.

She doubted anyone had the patience, or even the skills, to see it through to the end.

'Goddammit… Just what the hell is wrong with this place?' Naruto thought, seeing a rather darker part of the life that this woman – who he now knew was named Raven Branwen – lived through.

"Whatever the hell you're doing, Naruto Uzumaki…" began Raven, using the name she learned from the visions as she clashed with him again, cringing at yet another vision.

"Let's go, guys!" roared the Uzumaki, bathed in golden energy as he held out his right hand towards a regal woman with long white hair, three eyes, and horns on her head. On the palm of said hand was a white sun marking.

On the other side of her, a black haired teen stretched out his left hand which held a black moon marking on it. His mismatching eyes were narrowed as both he and the golden blonde closed in on the woman.

Said woman, tried to evade by flying upwards, but she was caught off guard when a pinkette young woman descended from above her, fist emblazoned with blue aura as it bashed the regal woman on the head. The force of the blow pushed her back down, just in time for both young men to place their marked palms on her body.

As one, they both roared, "Six Paths: Planetary Devastation!"

The next thing Raven saw was the woman being encased in a large sphere that rose upwards and became the newest moon.

"…make it stop!" she finished, growing more furious at being unable to understand the situation. 'Who the hell are you?!' she raged inside her head.

Raven trailed behind her white cloaked friend from a safe, undetectable distance. When she had heard about Summer's latest assignment from her network, she immediately made plans to watch over the mission personally.

Was it paranoia? Perhaps, but there was something about these guys that just rubbed her the wrong way, and as a Huntress, she'd honed her danger-perception instincts to an insane degree. Besides, Summer was her best friend; hell, they were practically family to one another. It was Raven's duty to look out for Summer, as far as the bird themed woman was concerned.

More importantly, Summer had a family waiting back home for her. She needed to go back to them; even if it was with the man Raven had called naïve and left with her daughter.

Team DOPE (David, Oswald, Patrick and Edger) was who Summer was working with, and needless to say, there was something about them that rubbed Raven the wrong way. Hence why she was trailing her friend.

The mission was simple; get in, extinguish the Grimm inside of the mines, and get out. Easy on paper; but Raven knew better than to not expect trouble, even on simple assignments. She was a firm believer of "if something bad can happen, there's a good chance that it WILL happen".

Part of her wanted to go back in time and slap the shit out of the founder of such a belief. Murphy, she believed his name was…

Shaking her head to clear her drifting thoughts, she refocused on keeping an eye on Summer and the three members of Team DOPE that were with her. David, Patrick, and Edgar were with her while Oswald was told to hang back; due to being the team's sharpshooter with his sniper rifle.

That was the biggest red flag in Raven's mind. Summer was damn hawkeyed with her own sniper; so she should've been allowed to hang back as well. So, why was she being put on the frontline?

Frowning, Raven turned to the small black bird of the same name on her shoulder. With a nod of her head in Summer's direction, she gave the avian its order and the bird took off. Like Qrow, Raven always had a distinct connection with the black carrion birds, and she liked to use them as scouts, spies, or even foragers when she was out in the wilds.

With her partner tailing Summer, Raven moved over to Oswald's position; having overheard it when she set her radio frequency to the one Team DOPE and Summer were using. Standing at the base of the tree he was stationed in, Raven scowled as she looked up and easily spotted him, even though the snow-covered branches mostly hid him from sight.

With deathly quiet movement, Raven moved up to another tree that was behind his sight range and pulled out a scope, looking downhill at the entrance of the mine. She saw her avian friend even through the cover of night, and a frown marred her face as she saw that Summer was taking the lead into the mines.

"What are you doing, Summer?" she asked herself, whispering so that her voice wouldn't carry.

Through the scope, she saw the members of Team DOPE that were with her followed her friend inside; but they immediately came out not even a minute later. The sound of a crow cawing frantically made her eyes widen and she made to kick off of the tree she was in.

"SUMMER…!"

Her cry of worry echoed across the moonlit hillside, accompanied by a round from a sniper rifle being fired at the entrance of the mines…

…where an explosive had been set to collapse the whole damn thing in on itself.

"By the kami," muttered Naruto, seeing yet another dark part of Raven's life. He locked eyes with the slits of her mask, showing an understanding of the pain she was holding within herself. "How could you keep going after that; after losing your friend?"

She recoiled at that, shock filling her to the core. 'He didn't… Not THAT!' Rage filled her to the core, and the red that highlighted her hair began to bleed into the black, changing it from an ebon black to a bloody red (2). "GET OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU BASTARD!" she roared, ignoring all of her disciplines and attacking on sheer instinct.

Naruto kept looking at her with sympathy as he refused to retaliate and chose to only dodge or block; most of the choices being the former option. With every clash, he knew she was seeing more and more of his life; just as he was seeing more and more of hers.

He saw the birth of her daughter, Yang…

Her reluctance to leave Yang with a man she felt was "naïve" to the true nature of the world…

Her psychological state becoming more and more jaded as time passed…

Her guilt at not being able to save her best friend…

Her vow to her dead friend to keep both of their daughters safe…

He didn't know what she had seen from his life, but he was easily able to tell that she was becoming greatly affected by it. Her mind was warring with itself at the glimpses she was seeing, and he knew he had to put an end to this before it got to the point beyond fixing.

So, when she went for another killing blow, he tossed his knife and had it stab into a nearby building wall while his now free hand reached out. With barely a grunt at the blade cutting into his skin, he caught the red sword and held it tightly while his blue eyes locked with the red orbs he saw through the slits of her mask.

"Enough," he declared sternly, actively creating a link with her as both of their visions went blank for a moment.

When her eyes adjusted to the strange sensation she was forced to endure, they widened when they saw that she was no longer in the underground city beneath Mountain Glenn. Instead, she found herself standing in knee-deep water that made up a river that flowed from a raging waterfall. On either side of the waterfall was a statue of a different person facing the other; but the statues themselves were ruined from the knees down, showing different legs and similarly sandaled feet.

At the base of the waterfall were different chunks of rubble from the mountainside and the statues themselves. She turned behind her when she heard deep, heavy breaths, seeing the same blonde man from earlier; but he was heavily damaged and seemed…different from the one she was just fighting a moment ago.

She narrowed her eyes at the fully formed right arm that the one she faced definitely didn't have. His blue eyes – one of them heavily swollen from a previous injury – were glaring at something on the waterfall, so she turned back and looked upwards. As she did, she saw the person the blonde was glaring at and saw that his left hand was sparking with dark lightning.

"It's time, Naruto," the black-haired young man declared in a tired voice. "I won't have my revolution be stopped here; not by you." His strangely designed eyes glared hatefully at the whiskered blonde as he roared, "Just let me cut you down!" before leaping off of the waterfall, diving at his foe with his lightning encased hand spearheading his descent.

She looked back to the damaged Naruto, seeing golden energy begin swirling in his right hand slowly before furiously picking up speed and growing in both size and power. "You can't cut your bond with me, Sasuke…" she heard him say softly, more to himself than to that Sasuke kid. The force of his technique picked up the wind and water around him as he gave a powerful leap, meeting his opponent's charge with his own.

As they got closer and closer, she saw the clashing energy wisps lash out at one another before the two combatants even reached each other. Her red orbs narrowed when the space around each impact seemed to distort and rip away at…something. These rips surrounded both men, and their inevitable impact only linked them together into a more jagged rip in what she could only describe as space-time.

Looking to them both with narrowed eyes, she saw that Naruto was the first to notice the rip. With a determination in his eyes that she had only ever seen in her brother Qrow, Raven watched as the blonde forced more power into his technique so that he could direct Sasuke away from the rip. When the techniques were forced to end, both of them shot away with a vicious recoil and Naruto wound up flying into the temporal rip; his right arm having been blown apart from the elbow down while Sasuke was in a similar state with his left one.

Just before the rip closed, she saw sadness in the blue orbs of the whiskered young man. A part of her felt respect for him, as well as sympathy for his sacrifice. As for Sasuke… Actually, the vision paused at that point and the world around her turned grayscale, losing all color and vibrancy.

"That was the last thing I remember before I woke up in a crater in that ruined city above ground," she heard a familiar voice inform her, and she turned around to see the Naruto she had been fighting before; missing arm and all. "As you can see, I'm not exactly a…natural-born citizen of Remnant. At least, I don't think I am. Space-time theories weren't something I ever touched on in terms of study."

"Why show me this?" she immediately questioned as her red hair returned to its natural color, hoping to get straight to the point of the matter.

"I wanted you to see that our souls were linking as we fought. You and I were seeing glimpses of the other's life, and I saw how much my life was affecting you during the fight. You were getting more and more aggravated while losing your composure." He looked down in guilt as he added, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry if you felt…invaded with what I saw. And I'm sorry that you had to live through so much pain."

"Save it," she cut off, her tone gaining an edge to it. "I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity; it's understanding." His only hand rested against his chest as he continued, "I've always noticed that I was able to understand the pain of others; considering how I lived a painful life myself." Lowering his hand and cutting the connection he had made, he kept talking, "I never intended to see parts of your life, Raven… I'm sorry."

She had her arms crossed as she stood across from him, her masked eyes locking with his apologetic ones. After a moment, she sighed and reached a hand up to her mask, grabbing it a certain way so that the back of it folded in on itself enough for her to remove it from her head. Once it was off, Naruto got his first real look at her; and he was amazed at her beauty.

Pale complexion that seemed natural on her, red eyes as deep as crimson, and a face that belied her age. In his opinion, she looked like she was just a bit older than his age of seventeen instead of her obviously older age. Her hair framed her face perfectly, and the fringe that fell between her brows was just the cherry on top, in his opinion.

In short, Raven Branwen was a looker.

Leaning on her leg with her hand on her hip, she asked, "What do you want in Mountain Glenn, Uzumaki?"

He gave a small chuckle and asked back, "Finally letting me talk, are you?"

"I could always pick up where we left off?" she suggested as her brows furrowed, making him raise his hand up in surrender while his chuckle became awkward in nature.

"No need for that," he pleaded before turning serious. "To answer your question, I've partnered up with someone and they're interested in this place for some reason. So, they sent me here on my own since the Grimm seem to ignore me."

"Ignore you?" she cut in, eyes narrowed at the unheard of ability. "Impossible. Grimm are attracted to negativity, and you have that in spades with the life you've led."

"I'm surprised by it too," he admitted. "My only guess is that they don't understand what I am, seeing as I'm not from Remnant. Since I haven't done anything to provoke them, they're giving me a benefit of the doubt kind of space, I guess."

Her expression became deadpan as she commented, "That sounds completely ridiculous…" She then sighed and crossed her arms beneath her generous bust. "But…I can't think of anything better than that. At least you're not causing any unnecessary problems by attacking them for no reason. There's a reason why the Grimm are so hostile and numerous, after all."

"How do you figure?" he asked in intrigue.

"Think about it," she began, a frown marring her beautiful face. "Why do you think the Grimm exist?"

"It feels like it's nature retaliating against mankind," he answered, giving his personal opinion.

"More or less," she agreed. "Grimm are made up of darkness, and they're attracted to more darkness such as the hatred of mankind. They're relentless in their pursuit of it, which is why their number only grow larger as time passes."

"And with how people can be deep down…" began Naruto, sighing in disappointment.

She nodded. "They will never fully rid themselves of the Grimm. There's too much negativity lingering around the Kingdoms; no matter how much they preach about how peaceful they are."

"Dammit…" groaned out the blonde, leaning back against a building wall. "Is there anything we can do to try and stop this?"

"Not unless you can convince people to stop hating, fearing, or hurting one another. And with groups like this newer White Fang, the countless gangs throughout the Kingdoms, and those that work behind the scenes…" She gave a hollow chuckle, shaking her head and unknowingly drawing Naruto's attention to her hair before he caught himself. "It's impossible; a fool's goal."

Naruto frowned thoughtfully at that. "…I'm a fool," he noted, his tone slightly suggestive.

She raised a brow. "What? You think you can change this world? Newsflash, Uzumaki; it's a wasted effort. There's nothing you can do, so just give up any ideas of trying."

To her surprise, he started to chuckle softly before it erupted into laughter. It was such a shocking thing that she actually took a step back on instinct. "I can't believe how similar this whole clusterfuck is compared to the Elemental Nations! A cycle of unending hatred, people constantly at war with one another, even if they don't show it, and all of it seemingly pointless to try and fix!" He gave another bout of laugher, holding his side and sliding down onto his backside as some tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "It's almost like I never left home!"

Raven found herself slightly concerned about the mental state of the man literally laughing himself to tears on the ground. A part of her wanted to just walk away and never look back, but the larger part rooted her feet in place; forcing her to stay until he was done. Rationality took over, and she began to realize that his tears were a sign that he was truly starting to come to grips with his situation.

He had been forced away from the life he knew, and the place he found himself in was starting to show itself as a near copy of what he had fought through; of what he had endured his entire life. It was understandable, in her eyes, for him to be a bit off kilter.

Based on what she had seen, Raven was impressed with how much Naruto had accomplished. He had fought against hatred itself in his world, proving himself to be stronger than it on multiple occasions and opening his heart to those who had suffered. Friends, strangers, and even enemies found themselves rallying to him, standing at his side and looking to a brighter future; a radiant dawn.

A faint smirk made its way to her face as she watched him finally start to calm down. 'You're an interesting one, Naruto Uzumaki…'

From his seated position, the blonde looked up to the sky through the hole he had made, watching the colors change from late afternoon to early evening; the orange and reds giving way to violets and blues. "…I'm not going to find a way back home, am I?" he asked aloud, almost rhetorically as his face set into a bitter smile.

Moving over to him, Raven lowered herself down so that she was seated next to him. Her mask was rested beside her as she too looked up to the sky. "Sorry, Uzumaki. I don't think it's in the cards for you; even if you have the Devil's Luck."

"Damn," he said simply in response, though his tone held no malice in it whatsoever. Instead, it held reluctant acceptance. "I had so much that I still wanted to do back home… I wanted to become Hokage… I wanted to talk with Hinata about her confession to me..." That got an interested look from the woman beside him. "I wanted to try and have a family to pass on what I've learned…"

Raven moved her head in a so-so manner as she cut in, "That last one is still available to you. The way I see it, you have an opportunity that few people ever have presented to them."

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a raised brow. "And that is…?"

"A second chance; a new start," she answered, turning so that she looked him in the eye. "I'm honestly envious of you, Uzumaki. I would do almost anything to have another chance; but I've been tainted too much in my life."

He frowned at her, surprising the woman as he did so. "You're not tainted, Raven. You've just experienced too much pain to see the good in others."

"Whatever goodness that's in people usually comes with some ulterior motive," she fired back, frowning back at him. "The only reason you're different is because you're not from here."

"That's not true. What about Summer?"

"You would use her against me?" Her hair flickered red for a moment.

"If it helps you see how much pain has blinded you, then yes," he answered firmly. "Summer reminds me of myself; wanting to do everything we can to help others. We don't do it for ourselves or for any kind of fame. We do it because we know it's the right thing to do; because it's what our hearts tell us is right."

To his surprise, Raven gave a melancholy smile as she shook her head. "You sound just like her… She always talked about doing what felt right; especially when it came to helping others." A soft chuckle escaped her lips, along with a tear that rolled down her cheek. "She would've loved to meet you…and so would her kid. That girl is as reckless as her mother; but is also just as morally influenced."

Naruto chuckled as well, giving a small smile. "Sounds like my kind of person."

"She's naïve though; and I'm worried for her, if I was honest with myself. One of these days, she's going to see firsthand just how cruel the world can be. When that comes, she'll either break or she'll be like you; strive to get stronger to fix it."

He nodded in understanding. "Maybe I'll see her for myself one of these days. I'd like to see what makes her so special."

"I'm sure you will," Raven commented with certainty. "Keep a lookout for anything concerning a girl in a red hood and a big scythe. That's Summer's kid."

"Will do," assured the Uzumaki as he stood up, offering his arm to help Raven do the same. She gave him a nod in thanks for the gesture as he took a step back from her. "Don't give up on Remnant, Raven. There are people out there who are trying to help it heal."

"Like you?" she asked with a teasing smirk, which earned her an unsure shrug from the one-armed blonde.

"Maybe. But I'm definitely going to do things differently this time. I took on too much alone, and I paid for it when I depended on Sasuke. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to need to make sure that plenty of people are prepared."

"And what about those who try to stop you?" she asked, knowing the question needed to be brought up. "Will you try to talk them over like in your world?"

"At first, yes. But, if they refuse to see the pain they're causing, then I'll make them see it; even if I have to use a firm hand when doing so."

She smirked and nodded in acceptance. "Good to hear. I'll keep in touch with you, Naruto," she said, surprising him with the use of his first name before she swung her sword, creating a strange red and black wormhole beside her. "See ya."

With that, she stepped into her personal wormhole and disappeared, leaving Naruto alone in the underground ruined city. Smirking in response, he muttered, "See ya around, Raven," before he made way back to the surface.

"So, there was nothing worth mentioning there?" questioned Cinder as she sat across from Naruto on the bullhead. She and the others had just picked him up not too long ago and were on their way back to Vale.

"Other than the underground extension of the city that looked to have, at one time, a working rail line? Not really," he answered with a shrug. "Just a bunch of Grimm; though there was a Goliath class Grimm moving away from the city. Probably went off to find others."

"I see…" she said thoughtfully. "I'm curious about something though."

"What's on your mind?"

"You seem a bit less…burdened after this venture; like a weight has been lifted. I'm wondering what might've caused your positive change."

Internally, he frowned at what he should say. He wanted to respect Raven's privacy and keep her whereabouts, even if she wasn't staying in the ruins anymore, anonymous. It was the least he could do for helping him find some closure.

So, he answered, "I took some time to vent. Some of the more ruined buildings were brought down in the process, but I think I'm finally coming to grips with my situation. I doubt there's going to be any working method for me to get back home; so, I'm choosing to make the most of my situation. This could be a second chance for me, and I want to make the most of it."

"Is that right?" she asked, giving a pleased smirk. "Well, I must say that I'm glad you've found some sort of closure. I hope this will make things easier for you in the future. And I do hope that we'll continue this little partnership of ours? I'd hate to watch you leave after becoming so curious about you." Her smirk grew as she added, "Not to mention that you've left a lasting impression on Neo. It'd be disheartening to see her lose such a connection to someone."

He saw what she was doing, and it made him chuckle. "No need to guilt me, Cinder. I'm not going to just walk away from you guys after you've been so helpful and supportive." Leaning back and grinning, he asked, "So, what's the next step?"

"I'm glad to hear that, Naruto; and the next step is actually rather simple," she began, her smirk still in place. "While I leave Roman and Mercury in charge of things for the time being, you, myself, Emerald, and Neo will be attending the school here. Beacon is famous for producing able-bodied Huntsmen and Huntresses, and we need to find some people who can rally to our cause."

"And that cause is…?" he pressed, pushing down a groan at the idea of school. He wasn't a fan during his years at the Academy; something many people back home could attest to.

Her eyes glowed for a moment as she gave a single-worded answer.

"Change."

1~ Plissé is a type of fabric, just like Velvet. In case you haven't connected the dots…

2~ I wanted Raven and Yang to have similar changes during the usage of their Semblances. Yang's hair flickers like golden fire while Raven's changes to crimson flaming locks.

And there it is; the third installment of this story!

The pairing is three women, and they will be Cinder Falls, Neopolitan, and Raven Branwen! This is the final pairing for Naruto, so no suggestions for changes and/or additions!

Three more things I want to say before I go!

Firstly, I'm giving a big, BIG shoutout to my awesome friend Dylan Millwood for helping me get this update together! Thanks a lot bro! You are awesome!

Secondly, I'm still wondering if anyone is interested in doing a "Characters Reading" version of this story. If anyone's interested, give me a holler! If no one offers by Christmas, then I'll figure something out!

Lastly, keep a lookout for a Naruto and Bleach crossover that will have Naruto with Orihime in it! I won't lie, it'll most likely be a small harem story (three girls MAX); but Hime-chan will be the main girl! I plan to post it as my Christmas present to you all! ^_^

Until next time!

~pain17ification~