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Chapter 7
Did I ever mention that the titles of each chapter are quotes from the stories of the Grimm brothers? I do my best to find it to be related to the chapter.
I'm Having Serious Fun With This Small Poetry Line; It's Still A Turd, But It's Polished Enough To Shine!
Chapter Seven: I Make Sure That Everyone Is Equal
"We called in a gun run, so your job is to make sure that the containers are lifted or hold out until the strike gets here, understand?" the pilot said to Sasuke. They were closing in on the site, having been tasked to reinforce Torchwick's group.
'Gaara' furrowed his brows. "Are you stupid?" he asked dryly in the Kazekage's voice. Did they seriously not understand that the amount of Dust at the shipyard could make an explosion large enough to light up the night sky? He didn't want to risk this, regardless if their pilots were that skilled in their aim. Sasuke shook his head and turned to the pilot. "I will handle securing the Dust, just standby to receive the containers." He left no room for discussion.
The pilot nodded before pressing a switch to open the cabin doors, and made sure to inform the other pilots to cancel their strafing run.
The Uchiha stood on the edge of the cabin frame, watching Torchwick as he was beaten back by some blonde, and another person that blended into the darkness. He frowned, he wasn't supposed to be needed, but no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
He jumped off the craft and landed noiselessly on the ground below. The disguised Uchiha ran across the docks and knocked Torchwick away from the blonde Faunus' downward strike, which he blocked with a kunai.
Surprise was clear on the monkey's face from the sudden change of opponents, but more so when he felt a punch thrust into his chest. "Gah!" he cried out as he was sent skidding back from the redhead's strike.
A moment later 'Gaara' backstepped and dodged a horizontal slash from a familiar face. 'Blake?' he thought in surprise as he saw the angry ravenette attempt to slash him. Of all the people who had to put their nose in someone else's business, why did it have to be somebody he knew? Or more specifically, someone who knew his Sharingan. Now things would be even more difficult for the Uchiha. He also suspected that if there were any cameras around, they would catch the similar combat methods he had been seen using at Beacon.
He needed a way to push her way from him first to lighten up the attacks, fortunately, he knew how. While dodging more of Blake's strikes Sasuke activated his Rinnegan, the rippled eye appearing in its powerful form on 'Gaara'. Again, he saw clear in the darkness, his opponents lit up by their very own Aura.
Sasuke jumped back and turned to an enraged Blake. "Best you leave now. I would rather not kill you," Sasuke advised in Gaara's voice. If she decided to be a bigger hindrance, he would have to 'remove' her, but would rather not make this heist a bigger profile than it already was. Once someone was killed, a crime tended to get far more attention. If that were to happen, Dust would become harder to steal.
Even in her anger, the revealed Faunus was confused at the sudden change of eye color, but it wasn't enough to stop her. "You can try," Blake scoffed, she had been trained by actual Huntsman and Adam Taurus personally, criminal thugs could only be trained so much. If Sun could take care of a group of them by himself, then she could handle a single goon. To prove that, she jumped forward to press her attack, but not before shouting out, "I won't go down easily!"
Blake kept on slashing at Sasuke relentlessly, regardless of how the newcomer dodged every strike in strained motion. Even when she utilized her semblance Sasuke blocked, parried and dodged every movement. It didn't stop Blake, though, she was too angry at how far the group she was dedicated to had fallen.
She seemed to angry, furious even, that made it all the better for Sasuke when predicting her movements. Or so the he thought, before Sun showed up and backed Blake; not good for him.
"Got room for one more?" the blonde quipped. Blake was attempting to strike Sasuke's sides, while Wukong did a complete frontal fury of shotgun mayhem.
Each buckshot rattled the Uchiha's bones. 'Gaara' began taking steps backward, they were managing to push him back. 'This is unacceptable!' he exclaimed in his mind with a scowl. Sasuke leaped backward, away from them. The irritating smug smile on Sun's face would soon be wiped away.
"What's the matter? Too tough for ya?" the monkey Faunus mocked, even bounced a little on his feet to show how relaxed he was. The redhead raised both his arms, aiming his open palms towards them. "I don't think telling us to stop is going to work, buddy," he added smugly.
Sasuke ignored the quip. Not turning his eyes away from the duo in front of him, he ordered, "Roman! Get the containers on the bullheads. I will han-"
"Hey!" Sasuke heard another familiar voice. He knew who it was, her arrival further irritating the Uchiha. 'Gaara' looked up and saw Ruby, then looked to the side to see Roman taking aim at her with his weapon.
"Roman!" he called out again and succeeded in stopping him from pulling the trigger. "I said to take the containers. Now!" His killing-intent-fueled order wasn't ignored this time, but it did displease Torchwick that he was taking commands from an amateur. The Uchiha didn't care, he would get his Dust; no matter what.
Roman dropped his cane and headed to one of the White Fang squads that had arrived. "Fine. But you better get rid of these kids, your payment depends on it, Gaara," he growled out.
Sasuke grunted as a response and turned to the duo who were getting ready to attack. Ruby dropped down from the roof with the odd girl from the other day. . . He blinked a few times as he didn't see Aura outlining Penny's body, he only saw how a core that emitted Aura to the rest of the body by a web-like network.
He had seen similar before. 'A puppet?' he thought in disbelief. He had seen intricate Chakra thread network on puppets previously, but this one was beyond complex; it was as if he was looking at shattered glass. The real issue, though, was that the Sharingan didn't work on puppets, not even. . . 'That was why killing intent didn't work.' It made sense, and now he couldn't use Genjutsu properly. The night was getting better and better each passing moment.
Gaara's frown hardened. He needed to get rid of them, in one way or another, but without using techniques that were familiar, and now Sharingan was completely out of the question. He could use it, but there would be a witness that was possibly too important to ki- Sasuke ducked a side swipe from Sun.
"Quit eyeing the girls," Sun joked as he continued to deliver combo after combo.
Blake dashed forward to help Sun, calling out to her leader first. "Ruby, stop Torchwick! He's going to steal the Dust!" she shouted to her. Said leader gave back a small 'aye aye' and went after the thief, with Penny just behind her.
'Not while I'm here.' Sasuke thought, the Uchiha would not allow them to hinder his return home any further. He gave a leap backward, stuck his arms out again, and shouted, "Shinra Tensei!" The gravity force shot forward and slammed into Blake and Sun, sending them both flying back with a shout of pain.
'Gaara' quickly turned to Ruby and Penny, who had both stopped their run to Roman to see their Faunus comrades being thrown to the other side of the docks. He aimed his open palms at the two and yelled out, "BanshÅ Ten'in!" Both Penny and Ruby flew to his open palms; Ruby shouting out once she lost control of her body.
The young girl's shriek stopped when her throat slammed into Gaara's open palm. He gave a tight squeeze to choke the person who was inadvertently ruining his way home. Ruby struggled for air and even clawed at his hands, her weapon long forgotten and fallen to the floor. Sasuke glared at the goth-motif girl, but the other one wasn't making the same sound of suffocation as the young leader.
He looked to her and saw simply a frown, and several blades that started floating right behind Penny. All of them were pointed towards Sasuke, each one poised to strike; as if he'd allow her. He released her throat quickly and called out neutrally before gravity took effect, "Shinra Tensei." Penny, along with her swords, flew to the other side of the shipyard, landing next to Blake and Sun.
Roman was getting containers hooked onto the bullheads while ignoring the fight that had taken place. Before when he noticed that Ruby and her friend were running at him, he was ready to fight them, but then saw he didn't need to. Seeing Gaara deal with undesirables was certainly an interesting scene. However, when he shot the orange haired girl from his open palm to the other side of the shipyard at an insane speed, that was an eye-widening moment. Maybe Neo was right, he would be surprised.
"Roman," Sasuke called neutrally. The thief looked to the single-Rinnegan eyed Gaara, and he felt the urge to hide for some reason, like when Cinder first found him. He doubted Sasuke was on their side, but if holding that kid by her throat certainly cleared it up real quick. "Get the containers quicker, we will need to leave." Sasuke was sure that the explosion from before would have attracted more than simple students. "Finish up," he ordered.
Torchwick snapped out of the morbidly mesmerizing scene with a snap. "Right, I almost forgot." Gaara and Cinder might actually hold more in common than he thought, and had him hope the two never met to bring twice the horror on him. The thief turned tail and sped up the Dust loading. "Neo would have loved to see this," he muttered.
The Uchiha looked back to the girl fighting for breath in his hand. "Ruby!" he heard Blake shout. He looked to his side and saw Blake a little beat up, but fine along with Sun and Penny by her side. "Let her go!" she demanded as she, along with the other two, ran towards him.
Sasuke let Ruby drop to the floor in a heap of a coughing mess and gasping for more air, but peace wasn't to last. 'Gaara' gripped her hair and brought her head up for everyone to see, then slammed her forehead to the concrete floor, it broke through the ground and her body went limp; all while keeping eye contact on the approaching students. "You will not take another step," Sasuke ordered angrily, and they listened this time; for Ruby's own sake. "Do nothing, and you will get your friend back."
Blake's heart sank, she hadn't meant to bring Ruby into this, she only wanted to know if her former group had been behind the thefts. Now, some psychotic bastard had her leader at his mercy. "You'll pay for this, you bastard," she seethed out, her mind already working on a plan to save Ruby.
Sasuke kept an eye on them while Roman continued on with the heist, it wouldn't be long now. The Uchiha noticed how Blake was very discreetly whispering to Sun and Penny, not liking their hushed conversation at all; especially at how they nodded in unison with new-found determination. Perhaps normally he wouldn't have seen that, but with the Rinnegan active, every pore on their skin could be seen ever so clearly.
'Gaara' grabbed the team leader by her hood, and raised her upper body into the air. 'I will not risk my return home,' he thought with finality. "I am warning you," he started, grabbing the attention of all three of his opponents from their 'discreet' planning. He placed his free hand inches from Ruby's lower back, his open palm facing it. "To do nothing."
A black blade pierced through Ruby's abdomen and into the ground, the pain immediately shocking her back into consciousness. "AHHH!" her blood-curdling cry was heard by everyone nearby. Red profusely spilled out of her, either directly from her body or dripping from the blade, painting the ground beneath the girl red. Gripping the blade and pulling didn't help to stop her pain either.
"Ruby!" Blake yelled out in anguish. "Please, stop! I won't do anything!" she pleaded, even going so far as to fall onto all fours. "I swear, I won't do anything! Just stop it!" Absolute submission, just what Sasuke wanted. Sun widened his eyes at the display of cruelty, not even moving out of fear for the young girl's fate. Penny had a look of horror that her first friend was essentially dying, she was smart enough to not anger the captor any further, because if she did. . .
'Gaara' let the blade disappear from his hand and from Ruby. He released the young leader so she dropped to the floor, grasping the hole in her abdomen, trying with futility to stop the blood from spilling any further. "B-Blake, it won't stop," she whimpered through her sobs, pressing harder on the wound. "The b-b-blood won't stop coming out."
Sasuke swallowed hard, this wasn't meant to happen, but it did and now he had to stick with it. 'I need to return home,' he reminded himself, which steeled his resolve a bit. He looked to Roman, who looked back at 'Gaara' with a new perception. If it proved to him that Sasuke was loyal to the contract, then that's what mattered most. "Roman, are we ready to depart?" Gaara asked him, hearing sirens go off in the distance.
Torchwick turned and listened to the sirens. "I think we're good to go, just finish up and we'll leave," he said calmly, but inside he was far more rattled than he'd have liked. This kid who should've been some newbie upstart turned out to be this, a real bloody mercenary. Roman didn't want to think of how not having Dust would have played out with ninja, he was just glad he had gotten it done. He felt safer when he saw a nod of approval and turned to address the White Fang group who had been watching their redheaded ally handle the situation. "Everyone pack up, we're leaving!" The sooner, the better.
Blake wanted to hear an answer. "Gaara!" she called out in resurfacing anger. She wanted to know who was responsible for this, to tell Yang who was the cause for what happened to her sister. "I'll find you, I swear it!" She would remember the name forever, but she wanted to know why such a person was working with her former group. Anything to help Ozpin or whoever to find the bastard.
He ignored the Faunus in favor for the sounds of White Fang bullhead engines filling the air, Sasuke was content with that. But he wasn't content with Ruby bleeding to near death on his feet, and the rage striking Blake's face. He raised an open palm towards them and gave an answer to take home before blasting them away, "then it would be the last thing you ever do. Shinra Tensei." The three widened their eyes before being launched back, much further than previously until they were too far away to bother his departure.
'Gaara' looked down to Ruby, who was still bleeding at his feet. She kept holding her stab wound, ignoring that she was also bleeding from the hole on her back. It wouldn't kill her, he avoided every vital organ and bone, but that didn't stop the pain or the bleeding. With her Aura, the bleeding would soon cease, and there was a way to stop the pain he can do. Sasuke leaned downwards to help with the suffering.
She widened her eyes in fear as she saw Gaara's face come closer to her. "Wait, stop!" Ruby pleaded through her pain and tears; trying to crawl away. "Please, don-!" That was all she said when a fast Chakra-augmented strike connected to her head, knocking her out. Her Aura had already slowed the bleeding since he had first stabbed her, and now she wouldn't feel the pain. It was the only mercy he could grant at that point.
'Gaara' made a name for himself that day, forever to be known to the White Fang and all those who heard the story of that night. A merciless and violent demon, someone to be avoided at all cost and someone to be feared. It was ironic how Gaara now had that reputation in Remnant just as he had once held in Suna, all because Sasuke merely wanted someone dull-looking as cover while on jobs in this world.
Gaara leaped onto an empty aircraft that carried a single freight container on its belly and sat alone. All the bullheads were now carrying Dust in the largest quantity possible for them. The mission was a complete success, even with the snag that Sasuke had taken care of. He sighed regardless, he didn't want to stab Ruby, but he couldn't allow Blake to hamper the progress he had made. He wouldn't risk the heist with whatever she had planned. "A shinobi does what is needed," he whispered out loud to himself.
The craft pulled up and headed back towards the warehouse, with several other crafts in tow. He would make sure to add his handling of the problem into his paycheck, he damn well deserved it. He walked towards the cockpit and tapped the pilot's shoulder, who jumped in his seat. "S-Sir! What do you need?" he asked nervously. The pilot had also seen what occurred at the docks and felt extremely unlucky that he had such a person a few feet away from him.
"Land near the shore of the warehouse, I will take the Dust I am to be paid with, now," he ordered the White Fang member. "Make sure to tell Roman this: I will not be following you back to the safe house and will await him for another job." The pilot's nod was quick, just as quick as he obeyed the command.
After landing, 'Gaara' dropped to the soft sand, and opened the dropped freight container to see crates and cases with the Schnee logo printed on them; filled to the brim with Dust in its rawest form. He looked to the pilot and glared until he left with the bullhead, heading back to where it was meant to go. A freight container was his payment now, if Roman had a problem with it, he would just have to deal with Sasuke personally. The Uchiha doubted Roman would, not if his performance and the thief's reaction were anything to go by.
He closed the large metal box and brought out a paper scroll with a written inscription inside it. Sasuke opened it and rolled the scroll out until the entire seal was shown, then placed the inked scribe on the massive freight container. "Seal!" he said, just before the massive metal box vanished in white smoke.
The Uchiha looked to the rolled up scroll in his hand, the one that contained a decent chunk of what was needed to get back home. 'I stabbed Ruby for this,' he thought, it even occurred to him that he stabbed her in the back. 'It doesn't matter. At some point, I will be gone and never seen again in this world.' He would do anything to return, even do what was done minutes ago again and again. He was a ninja, torture and murder were in his job description. The simple fact that he had left them alive was a mercy that he didn't have to grant, that was enough. He walked with it, worked with it, met with it, and was even committed to it, but not here, and that made them fortunate.
After a shake of the head, he realized that 'Gaara' had been out in the open long enough, so he needed to get back to Beacon. A poof of smoke later, he was Sasuke once more. The Uchiha headed to one of the main roads that would lead to Beacon, but decided not to get on a bullhead. He would walk the entire way back to his room at the Academy.
The walk back wasn't anything special, it was just more time to think about what he had done. Sasuke came to terms with it very quickly, he had a purpose for it and would not stop just because of a little girl that decided to play detective. That was what he told himself, which was more than enough for him. Perhaps Ruby would even take it as a lesson for the future, not to get in over her head.
The Uchiha leaped from rooftop to rooftop and avoided any camera he caught with his Sharingan. Even when he reached Beacon he stuck to the ceiling while keeping an eye on any surveillance devices that may have been added since Pyrrha's arm recovery; which there were. Seems like Ozpin was more paranoid than the Uchiha thought.
Reaching his room was easy once he had figured where the viewpoints were for the cameras: nearly everywhere. The headmaster was much more paranoid.
He dismissed his clone as soon as he opened the door and received the memories of the day, which were nothing out of the ordinary. Except for how Blake ran away from her team and how they went to find her; that explained a few things. It didn't matter anymore, however.
Sasuke would not postpone this any longer, once he reached his room, he immediately summoned Tatsuya. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he said when he slammed his palm on the room floor.
"Hmm?" the familiar snake hissed. "I assume your procurement of Dust has been a success, summoner." Sasuke nodded, but with a frown. He brought out the scroll where the massive container was sealed in and placed it into the snake's mouth, who swallowed it. "I will take it back to the Wise Elder. Is there anything you wish for me to relay?"
'Could I tell Naruto what I did tonight?' the shinobi pondered, could he honestly tell someone, who was practically his brother, the things he had to do? No, Naruto would be upset about the Uchiha's decision. The Uzumaki was his overly-joyful best friend, he couldn't tell him this, not yet at least. "Nothing. Only tell the White Snake Sage that there's more Dust than planned; far more," he ordered the large garter snake, to which Tatsuya nodded and vanished.
Sasuke laid in his bed after his summon left. He thought about the events of the night and how it led up to it, how he had to pierce through someone he thought of as an acquaintance to get what he needed.
The shinobi scowled and thought, 'I will do anything to get back home.' He went to sleep after that.
"Did you hear what happened last night?", "How could such a monster exist!?", "To a girl not even sixteen, no less." These were the more docile of conversations he had heard while in the cafeteria eating breakfast. Sasuke was somewhat proud that he avoided any techniques that narrowed it down to him, because there were more than enough cameras at multiple view angles. Honestly, he didn't kill the unnamed 15-year-old girl of the news. . . he only impaled her to the ground. She was alive, and that's what mattered.
Only videos with him in it were released, and an animation of how it went down with Ruby and the others. Of course, they were made to look nothing like them, only 'Gaara' was made infamous in all his glory. How a man capable of gravity manipulation, who could also emit swords from his body was a wonder to all.
Breakfast was a normal affair, except only team JNPR were present with the Uchiha. Seemed team RWBY had somewhere else to be, and only them. "You saw what was on the news, right?" Ren asked the shinobi, who nodded. Seeing Gaara impale a student-like cartoon figure was quite dramatic to many who had seen. Needless to say, the heist had received a lot of attention, almost as much if he had actually killed his victim.
Jaune looked to his side and noticed his redheaded companion furrow her brows as she was looking at her Scroll. "Pyrrha, are you okay?" he asked her.
"I'm fine," the champion replied, placing her Scroll away. "It's just that. . . nevermind." She had been looking at a close up picture of Gaara with his Rinnegan activated, something just seemed so familiar about it, but she couldn't place it.
"We tried visiting her at the hospital, but they said we weren't allowed in," Ren added. No one was allowed, not her friends, family and certainly not the press that hounded on the hospital gates. It was a miracle her name was never leaked to the media. Ozpin and a few others had made sure that only people close to Ruby were told.
Remnant's medical technology was top-notch compared to hospitals of his world, the ninja had no need to use the King of Hell on a flesh wound that looked worse than it actually was. The worse he did to her was a severed intestine, and that was easy to heal with a simple combination of a single surgery and Aura.
The doors opened to reveal the members of team RWBY, but without their leader who was no doubt busy recovering in a hospital within the capital. Their faces had a range of emotions, but none more prevalent than the ones shown by Blake and Yang.
While Weiss was indeed concerned about the wellbeing of her leader, she already knew that Ruby was going to be back to normal in mere days. Yang and Blake, however, were another story.
If it were summarized in one word, 'Guilt' was what the Faunus was feeling. It wasn't the only feeling, there was shame and righteous anger, her foolish actions caused the monster called 'Gaara' to nearly kill the young leader. In her eyes, everything was her fault. The dark bags under her eyes showed that she hadn't gotten that much sleep, if any at all.
The sister of the victim, however, wasn't so docile or controlled. Rage. Simple, pure, and unadulterated rage. To the hospital that refused her visit, to the son of a bitch who stabbed her sister, and to a lesser degree, her teammate Blake. If she wasn't reminding herself that the Faunus member of team RWBY submitted to the monster for Ruby's sake, she would have done so much worse than a casual glare from time to time. The blonde knew she felt guilt like no other, but that didn't do much for her own fury.
Team JNPR gulped at the dark aura radiating off of the two, even Weiss scooted away from them, while Sasuke stayed in his seat casually. To him, they were being melodramatic since their teammate was fine and well. Although, even he could understand what it was like to have someone you love to be in a life-threatening situation, even if it was momentary and not as lethal as they thought.
He supposed it was because of their different worlds. In the Elemental Nations, a ninja would be glad to leave a battle with only an injury such as Ruby's. Perhaps here in the world of Hunters and Huntresses, it was seen as a much worse outcome.
"S-So," Jaune began, then gulped when the two glared at him. Not intentionally, but they weren't having a good day, so their faces became very irate whenever something happened other than silence. "How is she?" he asked meekly, their glares hardened in remembering that they weren't allowed to know about their team leader other than that she was fine.
Weiss answered, "we don't know." She frowned after remembering how both officer Burns and Heyman tried to interrogate them at the docks for information. Information that the girls didn't have. They only saw how their leader was pulled into an ambulance, and then the hospital that admitted her disallowed them to stay or even visit. "We weren't allowed to check on Ruby, either."
"Bastards, the lot of 'em," Yang mumbled. Her own sister wasn't allowed to visit. She would talk to her uncle Qrow about this, find out every single damn thing about Gaara. A revelation hit her just then, she had an idea on where to get information, but the blonde hoped that Junior wasn't too angry at her. For now, though, she just wanted to see her sister.
Sasuke sighed and shook his head at them. If these people couldn't handle what they thought was near-loss, then life as Huntsmen was going to be very difficult for them. Not that he was any better, but he actually lost his whole family to his own brother at half the age of Ruby. Even though he chased after Itachi for years then killed him, which had set a whole new story in place. Life as a ninja was complicated, full of hatred and revenge; much less so recently.
The attention of the cafeteria became aimed to the doors, because Ozpin and Goodwitch had just entered. Their heading? The Uchiha and Co.
Blake avoided eye contact with Ozpin, their talk after what happened at the shipyard didn't go as swimmingly as expected. Mostly because the image of Ruby with blade in her gut wouldn't leave Blake's mind. Trying to forget how impassive Gaara's face was during the entire situation was on top of her list, not listening to a simple headmaster. They spoke again when she calmed down mentally, he received some information after that; but mostly her fear.
This newcomer at the docks was anything but normal. He had a blade that emitted from his own body, anyone could be pulled or pushed away as he pleased, his senses surpassed that of a Faunus, reflexes of a seasoned warrior, and the viciousness of the most dangerous of Grimm. Blake would never forget that single rippled eye, it was dangerous, that much she could tell. What's scarier was that he was working with the White Fang and Torchwick, the situation was beyond bad.
"Miss Xiao Long, please follow us," Glynda started, then turned to the rest of the group. "The rest of you as well. We have something important to show you." It took the group a few blinks to comprehend that they were personally ordered by the two seasoned Huntsmen, before they started getting up from their seats.
Following them down a familiar route to the infirmary, the Uchiha figured out what was going on. It wasn't like it was difficult, they were going to see Ruby. He was curious how her condition was after her impalement, could he have missed something? Impossible, his aim was impeccable. Perhaps he was mistaken? Never, he had read to many books of Remnant to know their anatomy was indeed similar, if not identical outside of Chakra and Aura. Perhaps the condensed blades made of Chakra were toxic to Aura? Unlikely, the blades didn't give out any residue, even when dispersing.
Going through the empty infirmary, it seemed Yang finally figured out that something important was happening for such a high ranking official to call her out personally. How did she figure it out? Because her uncle Qrow and father were in front of a hospital room. The three people who were meant to see her the most, now could. "Dad! Uncle Qrow!" she yelled as she ran to them and gave them both a hug and began crying. "Ruby. . .Ruby was-"
The older blonde man placed a hand on her head. "We know, Yang. That's why we're here," Taiyang said, which confused his daughter. "We're here to see Ruby. Right, Qrow?" He elbowed his brother-in-law.
He rubbed his side from the cheap elbow strike from his brother-in-law. "Yeah, that's right," the scythe master said as he awkwardly patted his niece's back.
It took two seconds to know that Qrow was like his Hokage: The man reeked of alcohol like Lady Tsunade. For the first time in his life, the Uchiha was glad he wasn't an Inuzuka. The smell Qrow was radiating would have the whole clan leaving Beacon, if not Vale.
"A touching reunion," Ozpin interrupted. "But we have someone to see, don't we?" That got the attention of the family trio and the group that followed. The headmaster gestured towards the door right in front of them. "You didn't expect me to keep her at such a place to be hounded by reporters, did you?" Indeed, Rose was at the hospital, but only until her treatment was done. Now, the reporters were fighting for an empty hospital bed.
The elder sister gulped before she turned and knocked on the door, hearing a muffled 'come in' as a response. Opening the door for all to see, showing Ruby Rose sitting in her hospital bed, in perfect health. Just bedridden to recover from her surgery. Her eyes widened when her older sister came to tackle her with a hug. Almost.
Goodwitch grabbed onto Yang's shoulder, which got the older sister to start glaring. "You can hug your sister at a later time, but right now, she has to recover from her operation," the professor scolded lightly. Which got the younger blonde to actually take a step back.
Sasuke took a long look at the bedridden girl, she seemed healthy and recovering well. It was odd to see her in a pure white hospital gown, not a single red or black color was present. Most importantly, she didn't seem like her happy usual self. He assumed it was because of her impalement, not many tended to be happy after sharp objects entered their body.
"This is moving and all," Ozpin sounded eager to hear from the leader when she recovered. He only brought them here to let them know that she was indeed alive and well. "But I think it's time we leave her to heal." He looked to the now-angry Branwen and Xiao Longs, then back to the group of students. "Unless you are related, of course." He felt safer now that the glares were no longer on him.
Team JNPR and Weiss decided to leave, they weren't that perplexed of Blake deciding to stay with Ruby, it was Sasuke, however, whose decision to stay that confused them. He knew that Ozpin or whoever would eventually ask a question or two, but he wanted to see what he asked, and what the answers were.
"Hey, kid. Didn't ya hear? Family members only," Qrow pointed out as he walked to the Uchiha, even placing a hand on the teen's shoulder.
"I'm not leaving," Qrow heard the Uchiha say, from behind him. He looked back to see the teen then back forward, while squinting. His hand was now on a confused Ozpin's shoulder.
The uncle laughed. "That's one interesting boy you get here Ozzy," he said. "Seems just as skilled as you said he was. A shame he ain't a 'maiden'. Would have been nice," he added. Which got him a disapproving frown for the 'maiden' bit from both the headmaster and Goodwitch. He was better at keeping secrets slightly-sober than drunk.
Sasuke shivered, he didn't want to be hit on by those damn SUCC girls, and he certainly didn't want to be hit on by drunk middle-aged men. He couldn't believe that this old man actually wanted him to be a woman!
"That's gross uncle Qrow," Ruby said, slightly green in the face. Which was imitated by her sister.
"Back to the matter at hand," Ozpin added quickly, then turned to the Uchiha. He was surprised how this prodigy had done the replacement technique on him, which only detailed his skill even further. Qrow was right, though, if Sasuke was female, he would have been a great boon to Man. "Mr. Uchiha, this is a matter of family." The boy didn't even make a move to leave, he only leaned on the wall and dryly stared back at the headmaster.
"It's okay, professor. Sasuke can stay, Blake too," Ruby said with a small smile, getting a respectful nod from her teammate and the Uchiha. Her statement got the green man to relent, it was her room and health, after all. "I'm guessing you want to know what happened?" That got everybody in the room to lean in to hear her.
Taiyang spoke up, "It's best you heal first, Ruby. You can tell us everything later." His daughter nodded in response. She was still tired, and would appreciate the rest.
"Can I ask something, first?" Ruby asked. Receiving the affirmative, she looked to her sister. "Why are your eyes grey?"
The younger Xiao Long blinked in confusion. Her eyes weren't grey, they were lilac, she couldn't have forgotten. Even though Yang's could turn red, that didn't mean they could turn silver.
"Ruby, what do you mean?" Blake asked in worry. This sounded familiar to her while she was working with her former group, she just hoped it wasn't so.
"Hmm?" The young leader then turned to her teammate. "Well, their eyes are grey, right?"
The Faunus swallowed hard, as she brought out her Scroll and made the screen into a purple color, then showed it to her leader. "What color do you see?" Blake asked.
The Gothic girl furrowed her brows and answered, "dark-grey. Why are you asking me this?" Rose became worried, these questions were really weird.
Belladonna turned to her company in the hospital room, she noticed the wide-eyes of the adult Huntsmen. They knew exactly what this meant, their field experience told them what it was.
Yang, however, didn't. "What? What is it?" she asked worriedly as she swiveled around for an answer, which came from Sasuke.
The Uchiha frowned and replied, "Ruby is incapable of seeing the color purple, because she has PTSD."
I loved this chapter, but I also hated myself because I felt like I kicked a puppy. Still, stories about heroes saving the day only to be praised and revered in the end have nothing interesting. Anti-heroes, though, far more fascinating to read about because they break the mold.
Trivia:
1- Sun was meant to be stabbed this chapter instead of Ruby, but it kept playing in my head that Ruby would the one from how the events went, so I said to myself 'fuck it' and wrote it in. Love me or hate me, I don't care, this is what I believe Sasuke would have done.
2- I wrote the entire docks scene while listening to Beethoven's fifth symphony for inspiration on how to move on. It worked like a charm, in a. Single. Fucking. Night.
3- Ever since I trimmed my beard, the voices in my head stopped. . . now I'm lonely.