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Chapter 11

I forgot how big this AN used to be. I'll make my reasoning quickly explained. No Sharingan = No unnaturally quick reflexes (Canon info). Rennigan doesn't see through mist (Canon info). The point of a trap is to win against enemies that are stronger and faster than you (Reality), combined with the fact that Sasuke's taking it easy on them out of underestimation.

When facing a single enemy, the more allies you have and work well with, your fighting power is not multiplied, but squared with each person (One more you have, is one less the enemy has. It effects both sides of the fight). Sasuke doesn't have Aura, which is a force field that's mostly passive, he can bleed like the rest of us, besides a few tricks that he has.

Bloated explanation done. I don't believe I'm making anyone weaker just because some of you think Sasuke would win any fight from simply air-humping towards the enemy.

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue; Here, I Wrote A Chapter For You!

Chapter Eleven: Never Can It Be Cheated

Sasuke set his jaw back into place with an audible pop. 'I underestimated them,' he thought with self-disappointment. If he hadn't reflexively pumped his head full of Chakra to strengthen it, Yang might have actually killed him. Thankfully, his Rinnegan spotted the violent fluctuations in her Aura just in time to notice that it was not just another regular punch in the least.

"Sasuke, you can't be working with Torchwick! You can't be!" Ruby pleaded loudly, still unbelieving that her friend was working with the thief.

The ninja was about to respond, but he heard Roman's order interrupt him, "Sasuke, Just finish them off!" His disguise was ruined, there was no point for the thief to use the alias in his eyes. "I think it's best that I don't stay out here any longer." The Uchiha could probably handle a small army of police and Huntsmen if his previous experience was anything to go by. But Roman, not so much.

"Be quiet, Roman," the revealed ninja ordered his employer, all without breaking eye contact with the young leader. "I said that I'd handle this." He could use Genjutsu to have them forget, which would buy him some time, but that wasn't the real issue.

Looking around, all the cameras in the area were pointed towards him. Sasuke wasn't just being recorded, he was being watched since the beginning. The debacle had been televised before his disguise was even dispelled. He had known it was only a matter of time before his fragile disguise would be broken, but he had hoped to have some control over the situation when it came.

Seemed like Ozpin and his comrade were adamant on capturing the redheaded Kazekage, but got more than they thought with their new attentive discipline to surveillance cameras all over Vale.

"What do you think you're doing, Uchiha!?" Weiss yelled angrily, sword raised to strike. Her legs were no longer shaking from the killing intent he was giving off before he was struck. "You would work with that criminal over us?"

"You're damn right he's working with me," the smoker added smugly. "Do you kids have any idea how expensive hiring him w-" Roman was suddenly cut off as he collapsed, unconscious. Since he seemed incapable of shutting up, the Konoha-nin helped him sleep with his Sharingan.

Becoming more aggravated, Yang started connecting certain dots. "So you were employed by them to do mercenary work," she stated with rising anger. Her hair was sparking as flames began to erupt. "Is that what he was saying, Uchiha?"

Thinning his lips, Sasuke nodded lightly.

"So you were paid to stab my sister, is that right?" Wide eyed realizations went all around the other members of team RWBY. It wasn't simply Gaara that did the deed, it was Sasuke that impaled Ruby. The very person they were hanging out with since the beginning of their first semester. And even after the docks fight as though everything was normal.

This time he didn't nod, but he didn't give any excuses, either. He was paid to handle whatever opposition that came up, that included students who came to hinder the heist. The Uchiha knew that he would do it again if it was required of him.

"I'm giving you four an opportunity to leave," he told them with a frown. The ninja summoned his blade from the storage seal, and placed the sheathed blade in its proper place. He never wanted the situation to get this far. "Now I am telling you again to turn back before you force my hand."

Schnee, Belladonna, and Xiao Long began shaking in rage. The betrayal they felt at that moment was truly incomprehensible. Their friend was the one stealing the Dust, their friend had used the White Fang with Roman, and their friend had stabbed Ruby. The Uchiha could only be considered as one thing by those three after those events: An enemy.

"Why did you do it!?" cried Ruby. "I thought we were friends!" The very person who saved her on their first meeting was also responsible for all those nightmares. All that pain was from someone she trusted.

'Friends. . .' That was the keyword for the ninja. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and said, " I have no choice, for my friends are waiting for me elsewhere." He opened his eyes and revealed the Rinnegan active in his left eye, and his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in the other. 'I won't underestimate them again, no more playing games.'

He wouldn't make himself seem weak in front of his employers, especially since they might be watching at that very moment. Considering that fact, the Konoha-nin added something for them as he looked to one of the cameras. "And I will get the Dust I require."

He flickered behind the distressed Ruby and hit her to the back of the head with an electrical hand chop. She only let out a quick gasp before she succumbed to the darkness. 'One down, three to go,' He thought.

Blake was the first to react, and angrily brought Gambol Shroud in pistol form to the side of his head. Sasuke remained unmoving, he didn't dodge because he didn't need to. When the Faunus pulled the trigger, he replaced himself with Weiss, who had her head whip to the side from the round. Her Aura shields were the only reason she wasn't, basically, executed by her own comrade.

The blonde member of RWBY was easily the most enraged at the revelation, and had shot several explosive rounds at the traitor's new position. "You played us!" Sasuke jumped left to avoid the explosion. "You nearly killed Ruby!" He jumped back this time to avoid the next shot, but that only served as cover as a red-eyed Yang shot through the smoke with a punch. "Now it's your turn!"

He bent backwards and let her fist fly over him. The Rinnegan master waited for just the right moment to kick her midsection, sending her high into the air with her breath knocked out of her. Blake attempted to shoot his position, but he quickly leapt into the air, right under Yang.

Righting his position to take out the brawler, Sasuke shouted, "Lion's Barrage!" He then pummeled her with an augmented three-strike combo, each one bringing her closer to the ground until she was slammed with an axe kick to her solar plexus, before Sasuke leapt off of the last kick to stand.

He now stood over the blonde, who was gasping and coughing for air that had been taken from her lungs due to the last hit. He looked to his last two opponents, who were just staring at him after the blow to Yang. Sasuke let out a small sigh and slowly walked towards them with a hint of killing intent. Belladonna was gripping her pistol tightly, baring her teeth in anger. Weiss recovered from the shot to her head, and stood ready to attack. Neither of them moved an inch, however.

Blake hadn't shot at the ninja in fear of hitting her teammate while they were in the air, but she couldn't help but believe it may have been a better choice than watching helplessly as her comrade was taken down. Now, she watched the assailant take out his sword from its sheath and point it towards them.

Weiss wasn't that different from her Faunus teammate. Hitting a moving target in the air was a difficult task, especially when a friend was at risk of being hit. She still had Myrtenaster ready, but that didn't stop the knot in her gut when she saw the man who had easily taken down their tank approach them.

"You're last attack that hit me will be the last to touch me," the former avenger stated impassively. "From this point onward, none of your attacks will reach." His secret was out, so there was no point in hiding his Sharingan.

'Why couldn't you have learned?' Regardless of the ninja's demeanor, he never wanted to harm them like this. But he was fighting for something that he considered more important than students that wanted to play hero. Everyone that was important to him was waiting for him to get back.

Sasuke heard coughing from behind, and turned to see Yang slowly get to her feet, cradling her broken rib cage. "I'm not done yet, bastard," Xiao Long seethed out tiredly. "You still gotta' pay for what you've done." She reared her fist back and pumped another round into the breach. Her Aura shields held up valiantly enough, but that last kick broke more than one bone.

He sheathed Kusanagi and aimed his palm towards her. "You should have stayed down, Naruto," he told her, immediately biting down on his own tongue for the slip. He jumped to the side to avoid the large energy slash and bolts that came from the two behind him. The other members of RWBY found new determination when the brawler got back up, running over to Yang.

Yang was kept standing from help by Weiss, and Blake had set Ruby down after she carried her over to them. The Uchiha merely watched them fumble for success that could not be reached. He didn't bother to attack them though, lost in thought due to his mistaken words from previously.

'I can't be comparing my world with Remnant.' This wasn't the time for homesickness to control the Uchiha. "Do you now understand that you cannot win?" he called out neutrally, which got him the angry eyes of the conscious members of team RWBY. "Do yourselves a favor and retreat. I grow tired of fighting mere students." He blocked a shot from the Faunus with his trusted sword.

Police sirens could now be heard by the shinobi, which meant that they heard it. The team had found a new goal to reach.

Smirking, the blonde went back into a shaky boxing stance. "We don't have to win, we just have to keep you here until the police and Huntsmen arrive," she said mockingly. Xiao Long's arms felt heavy, and it hurt every time she moved. But she would do her damn best to keep that bastard there for a few more minutes. Schnee and Belladonna supported her by raising their weapons to fight him one more time.

Yang whispered to the heiress, "Freezer Burn." It shocked the white-haired teammate that Xiao Long would have the stamina for one more shot, but understood how effective it was last time. They needed to hinder those special eyes of Sasuke's. Everything changed when his eyes transformed, it was without a doubt they weren't cosmetic, but of function.

The former avenger watched as Weiss stabbed her rapier to the ground which coated it with ice once more. He shook his head, wondering how they intended to use the pattern he had already seen. Sasuke decided to let them perform the trick, he needed to crush their will, and would do it right after they felt hope.

He allowed the brawler to slam both her flaming fists to the ice, which brought out the familiar heavy mist that was going to cover the area. He could see the massive cloud of mist heading towards him, with the remnants of RWBY within it to once again try to attack him.

Sasuke immediately went into seals, then took a deep breath and shouted, "Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!" He whipped his head in a single slashing motion, and the gale that came out was anything but pleasant. A large wave of wind came forth and hit the oncoming cloud, and struck those within it. It even rapidly dispersed the cloud in all directions when it exploded upon contact.

He heard the feminine shrieks when the wind went into the mist, and when it dispersed, he saw how the three were either whipped to the floor or the pillar behind them. If they weren't out for the count, then they were too injured to stand to fight again.

Blake attempted to get on all fours to get back up, but fell back to the floor exhausted and in pain. She looked to the traitor in frustration. "I don't care how you're able to do these things. I won't let you get away with what you've done to us," she growled out as she panted. "This isn't over, Uchiha."

Sasuke stared at her silently for a moment longer before he turned away. The mercenary walked back to Roman, hefting the man over his shoulder before contacting Neo for a pick up. Funnily enough, it didn't take but a few seconds for the aircraft to appear just overhead.

He looked back to what he had done before entering the bullhead, which started to fly back towards the southeastern base. Sasuke's coal black eyes saw how Belladonna was slowly slipping to unconsciousness, how Yang and Weiss were in a heap of their own, and how Ruby was out long before he had beat her team down.

Sighing the Uchiha turned and spotted Neo smiling away. "How long have you been here?" the Konoha-nin asked her irritably. She clearly was nearby and simply waited for him to finish them off.

"Since the beginning. It was interesting watching your disguise go poof," the petite woman told him casua- "Gah!" she gasped when she was slammed to the back of the bullhead cabin with Sasuke's hand around her throat, squeezing it slightly.

He leaned in close to make sure she heard everything, even tightening his grip to ensure she couldn't breathe easy. "If there's a next time, it would be best for you to not to dawdle," the Uchiha seethed. If Neo had intervened sooner, perhaps things wouldn't have gone down the way they had. "Do you understand?" She gave a small strained nod, then was dropped to the ground coughing.

Now he was fully dependent on Roman's group. Said criminal was still under the illusion and passed out from his Genjutsu. Sasuke didn't care however, the fool had talked too much about things that shouldn't have been voiced.

"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked the recovering umbrella wielder, who rubbed her neck from the discomfort.

Uchiha raised a brow when she started pouting, which was odd considering what happened a few seconds ago. Neopolitan answered, "we're headed to Mount Glenn. That's where our new base of operations is in." She then folded her arms and turned away as to not look at him. "You didn't have to choke me, you know. You only needed to ask." Regardless, she had a video to upload at Cinder's very recent request.

Frowning at that 'innocent' statement, he turned to look out the cabin window, and saw Vale slowly getting smaller. 'It's too late to turn back now.'

The next afternoon, Ozpin was in a calm and orderly form of frustration. That tended to happen when they realized that the person they were housing for a long time was the very person they were hunting.

"This is unacceptable!" shouted Ironwood as he paced the Vale headmaster's office. "That vagabond not only used you, Ozpin, but was also working with Torchwick. How do we know he hasn't done anything to Beacon during his stay?"

That very thought had crossed the headmaster's mind more than once. When he had the traitor's room investigated, they discovered a few odd things. Nothing outside of that room was tampered with, however. He must have had all of Beacon checked several times over, and more still to come.

One, Sasuke was in the room once they had gone to investigate it. When Glynda attempted to arrest him, he exploded into a cloud of smoke on his own accord. 'That explains how he was here when the Paladins were being stolen,' Ozpin thought with no small amount of distaste.

The clones were the alibi, to show where the Uchiha was when he actually wasn't. To think he could keep the clones active for possibly days, it was no small feat. The Aura required must have been quite costly, which said much about the teen's Aura reserves. Which made the situation even more dire for losing such a fighter to the other side.

Secondly, was the odd marks on the wooden floor boards. The scratches were in a spiral form, as though there was a sizable snake was present before. The headmaster had no idea what the story of that was, but couldn't think of anything other than that Sasuke had a snake in his room. How he brought one in without anybody noticing was anybody's guess. Unless it was scratched out by the boy himself for whatever reason.

Thirdly, and most intriguing, was the door. Strange marks were etched onto the door itself, and lit up when they were touched. This was most peculiar as nothing similar was heard of to this, other than archaic Dust empowerment methods, but not a trace of the substance was found.

Oobleck investigated the etchings while it was still connected to the frame. Why was it still in its original place? Because the damn thing would not come off. Granted, they might be able to pry it out with a bit more force, but Barty insisted that the reason for those markings were to be used while in its proper place. So his testings for their purpose would be more accurate with it being on-site.

"What did Bartholomew find about the. . . the door?" James awkwardly asked. A question he never thought he'd have to voice out.

Nodding back, Ozpin picked up the slip of paper that detailed a few things. "Professor Oobleck isn't done with the testing, but he did give me a few of his findings," he began, which brought his colleague to listen attentively. "Apparently, the door has achieved a massive durability boost. Which explains why it wouldn't budge."

Ironwood tilted his head in confusion. "So those markings made that slab of wood invulnerable? You can't be serious."

"Barty said it received a boost," clarified the headmaster. "After he added more force, the door began to bend. So it's not indestructible, it just has a much higher tolerance than the average 'slab of wood'. Oobleck hasn't the slightest idea how those markings made such a thing possible. Without a steady supply of Dust, at least."

The general nodded in understanding and asked, "any other details?"

He brought up the paper again to read the second note. "The last detail he gave me was that it made the room completely sound proof," the silver-haired man stated, and saw that it raised the brow of his colleague. "That's right. Oobleck was inside watching the marking glow, then asked Peter if it lit up on the other side as well. Peter insisted he couldn't hear a thing from the room when that door was closed."

James massaged his temples. He couldn't believe how a bunch of scribbles could have so much of an effect. He could only wonder what more would be discovered when Bartholomew finished his examinations.

"What are we going to do, Ozpin? On top of those markings, you've seen what he's capable of," the Atlesian said seriously.

He had shown Ozpin the video that caught Sasuke posing as a multitude of people while infiltrating the base that held his Paladins, along with the abilities he had shown while fighting Winter. It was difficult finding the odd one out, but they eventually found the trail, how he was able to enter the compound was still a mystery, though. While the Uchiha's secret was out, they had no idea how they could detect someone who could transform into others.

Ozpin frowned, there was so much promise in him. Sasuke even stopped visiting the library long ago, and never mentioned about leaving Beacon. The thought of how he was instead out there working with Roman was not a pleasant.

"He'll come up in one way or another, James," the headmaster said tiredly with a sigh. "For now, all we can do is wait for him to show up once more."

Ironwood grit his teeth in frustration. What Ozpin said was true, the former student had gone into hiding with his cohorts and were nowhere to be found. Until either new information was found or the criminals show themselves, they couldn't do anything about them.

However, there was still one question in the general's mind. "And what of your students? The ones that fought him."

"Team RWBY is. . . 'healing' from their encounter," he replied with displeasure. When they were brought in, they were worse for wear. Not just physically, either.

James nodded back as a response. He doubted it was easy to find out that one of your friends was an international criminal, especially in the way they had. Taiyang's elder daughter and the Faunus certainly seemed to be the most aggravated of the bunch.

Pursing his lips the general said, "the way he fought them. . . This isn't normal, Oz." Which got him a nod. "Being able to utilize wind and fire like that, along with earth and lightning from the initiation video, with all we've seen 'Gaara' do, that's something else. His movements were like an experienced fighter's, and those eyes cannot be counted as a superficial change anymore." He didn't need to hear from Blake to deduce that.

Once his eye changed to a purple color, certain abilities were shown. When his other eye turned red, his reflexes were among the best that could be. When he saw that the three of team RWBY used mist once more to hinder his eyes, he thought it was an ideal strategy, but that was before Sasuke shot a wave of wind from his mouth. It was clear why they lost, it was because Uchiha had a variety of techniques never known to be used by a single person.

The headmaster closed his eyes, leaning back as he looked up to the ceiling. "All this time, I thought he was merely a boy who needed direction in this new world we live in," he stated. "But clearly I was mistaken. He was a man who had already experienced possibly years of deadly combat and survived. A dangerous man to oppose."

"You couldn't have known," James said with a shake of his head, trying to comfort his friend and colleague. "He fooled us all, Oz. You can't say a teen would have turned out like that. We have no idea what else he's been lying about."

Looking back to his friend, the green man gave a thankful nod. "But the brunt of those lies went to someone else. Four girls to be exact." He could only hope that team RWBY would get out of this together.

As for that very team, they had recovered quite well from their fight with Sasuke, the man who they thought was their friend. Physically, they were fine, it didn't take long to heal from the blunt trauma they had received from the encounter. Yang still wasn't fully healed and laying flat on her bed, a shattered rib cage required more time to mend, but was well on her way to recovery.

Weiss had a hairline fracture on her rib, but that had already finished healing. She almost suffered a concussion from Belladonna's shot to her Aura shield, death was the other alternative if the defense hadn't been in place.

As for the Faunus, the only real strike that hit her was the wind technique the traitor had used, which broke through her shields first before it hit the other two. That allowed her to fly a good distance, which fractured her legs upon hitting the ground at quite a speed. That wasn't far from a full recovery, though.

Ruby Rose, however, had no injuries other than the headache she woke up with. Now, she saw that her team was physically fine, but mentally was another matter entirely.

All four of them sat on their own beds, no one saying a word. Hugging her knees on her own bed, Ruby kept trying to think of the reason her savior had betrayed them. 'My friends are waiting for me elsewhere,' she kept repeating Sasuke's words over and over in her mind, trying to understand his reasoning.

"He made Roman pass out, but to shut him up, not a way a friend does, right?" Rose mumbled for excuses. "He did help Velvet out when she was being bullied by Cardin, but ignored the other times it happened to others, so I don't think he would have joined the White Fang. But why does he want Dust from them?"

In the bed below sat Weiss Schnee who was gritting her teeth. She was fully able to hear her leader make excuses for the inexcusable, and was a breath away from reprimanding Ruby. 'Does she not realize what he's done!?' she mentally exclaimed.

The heiress knew that Rose was a person who considered friendship to be a big deal, considering how difficult it was when she first started. A tad naive maybe, but she was only fifteen-years-old; a child by all accounts. This time, however, was not something that childhood innocence could excuse who she was trying to defend.

"Are you done!?" the Atlesian shouted angrily from below her partner, who was startled by the outburst. "It's clear that he was working for Roman. He was paid to do what he did." She proceeded to stomp out of her bed and make her way to the door, but not before she turned with an upset look to her leader. "He ran a sword through you, Ruby. Don't make excuses for someone who isn't worth it." That was when she stepped out for some fresh air.

Blake and Yang, who were recovering on their own beds, looked to their leader for an explanation to what had just happened. Both of them did not like the implications that were said by the heiress. Ruby could not be making excuses for him, right?

"What was she talking about, Rubes?" the blonde asked with narrowed eyes. She loved her sister, she wouldn't be pissed otherwise.

The red girl hugged her knees tighter and teared up in frustration. "I just. . . I just want to understand." Wiping her eyes a bit, she said, "Sasuke said that he needs Dust and he had no choice. You've seen how strong he is, whatever it is he needs, it can't be easy."

Belladonna scowled. "You shouldn't listen to him, Ruby. He's nothing but a liar. All that Dust is probably just for himself," she said heatedly. Was the one who was hurt most by the bastard honestly trying to defend him? After all they'd been through, Sasuke betrayed them without a second thought. "Forget everything he told you. Weiss was right, he isn't worth the thought."

After what he had done, the Faunus member of RWBY swore that she would get her revenge. She left her former group because they were being guided by malicious leaders for a lie. Now, in an environment different from her old one, one of the people she thought she could trust in her own way stabbed them in the back. It brought back a few memories she didn't want to relive.

"You can't be serio- Ack!" Xiao Long attempted to bolt up to a sitting position, but her topless bandaged torso could only take her so far without flaring up in pain; which brought her back down. After a light cough or two, she looked to her younger sister with a frown. "You can't seriously be thinking of Sasuke as a friend. After all he did?"

Ruby looked away from her sister, who was a small reminder of what the Uchiha had done, then looked to Blake who had her legs in a splint. The ninja had done some considerable damage to the team. Thankfully, nothing was permanent.

Shaking her head from anymore thoughts, she turned to her older sibling. "I just want to understand," the red girl clarified again. "He saved me during initiation. I. . . I don't want to believe that he did what he did just because he was told to." At that last statement, she clutched her midsection, where her scar resided.

Ruby would never forget the pain of having been impaled, but she had plenty of fond memories with him. Granted, he had to be roped in on most of them, and other times he was just a silent observer, but never could she have guessed he would intend to do them harm. He had even gone out of his way to help them, on certain occasions.

"Then believe this-Hng!" Yang said as she painfully sat up, but never letting her sight break from her sister. "He was paid to steal, he was paid to beat us down, and he was paid to nearly kill you. That's what I believe, and that's going to get him a beat down from me when I see him again." Her eyes flickered to red at the memory.

When she and Neptune visited Junior for some information about Torchwick, she got more than she expected. Apparently, 'Gaara' met Xiong a while before the heist at the shipyard, and kept his mouth shut about it. Until Yang punched his teeth in for staying quiet for so long.

The information the blonde got was simple. Roman asked for a letter to be delivered that carried an address to the redhead, which turned out to be where Blake was checking with Wukong, and was hired from there on out. Junior may have given the impersonator the message, but that didn't mean he hadn't looked into it first before sealing it back up.

After some tense and silent seconds, Ruby's Scroll began to ring. She put it on speaker and found it was Weiss that was calling her. The three of them heard her say in a concerned voice, "guys, I just found out that Pyrrha is unconscious at the infirmary." Just when they thought the past twenty-four hours couldn't get any worse.

"Wait, what!?" the young leader nearly shouted. "Hold on, what are you talking about?"

Rose could almost hear the heiress sigh irritably. "It's as I said," she said a tad condescendingly before going back to her usual voice. "Look, all I know is that people in the hallways are talking about how Jaune carried a passed out Pyrrha to the infirmary. I'm headed there right now, you should too."

"Yeah alright, we'll be there soon," Ruby replied quickly, and was about to close the line, but Schnee had something else to say.

"That's not all, Ruby," Weiss stated. "You guys might want to check what they're saying on the news." That was when the call was cut.

The Faunus furrowed her brows, and was the first to take out her Scroll to find out what the heiress meant. Expanding it to full size, she checked the current TV feed with the volume loud enough for all to hear.

"-ank you Cyril, what I found out is indeed very troubling. A video that was uploaded online has been receiving viral attention. It's a video of the illusive Gaara in action fighting against other Beacon students," Lisa Lavender stated professionally.

Team RWBY, without the W, looked to each other in surprise at what they heard. "You don't think. . ." Yang began. "The headmaster couldn't have let them."

Belladonna swallowed hard, but nodded. There was a reason Ozpin asked them to keep quiet about the event. Alas, keeping quiet about a rampaging robot that tore through the streets, causing havoc on the roads while also stomping its loud body could only keep certain people quiet. It didn't help that it was a prototype weapon made by Atlas that hadn't been distributed yet.

"But that isn't all that it shows. It seems that Gaara wasn't exactly who we thought." That started to set off some alarms for the three of them. "The man who we thought of as Gaara, the new criminal of Remnant, turned out to be none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha was, until recently, a trial student of Beacon. How he's capable of transforming into other people and still have different abilities is unknown, but-" Blake broke her Scroll in half in frustration. Unwilling to hear of what they already know, coupled with the fact it was never meant to be out in the open.

"Those idiots!" the Faunus shouted after she threw her device to the nearest wall, shattering both halves. She didn't just mean the reporters being fools, but also those that uploaded a video to the net. "It's as if they want Grimm to attack!"

To consider that a very dangerous person may have walked by you at some point was not a pleasant thought to have, especially if you were a simple civilian who lived safely. In addition, the fact he walked amongst the young defenders of Remnant for so long wasn't good news for many parents.

Ozpin specifically asked them to stay silent so they could handle it before it was reported. Now someone had uploaded a video of their fight; their beat down and all.

Gulping, the leader looked to her two comrades, but one was more displeased than the other. The elder sister, while upset, didn't mind the attention Sasuke was given. The more people out there that knew about the ninja, the better the chances of someone finding him for her.

"I can't believe this!" Belladonna yelled. She then grit her teeth a bit before taking in a deep breath to calm herself. "Let's just check on Pyrrha, okay? Anything to get my mind off of this." The sisters nodded in response; Yang not so dejectedly in comparison to Ruby.

Blake tried to get up, but fell back to her bed with a yelp of pain. She growled angrily at her busted legs and said irritably, "I don't think I'm allowed to move just yet." Then looked to the bandaged older sibling. "I don't think you can either."

The blonde huffed, then grunted from pain as she laid back down. Doctor's orders were to stay in bed until notified otherwise anyway. She'd be sure to ask her sister about their friend's condition when she returned.

"I guess I'm going to see Pyrrha then, okay?" Ruby informed her team. The other two girls nodded in understanding, as Ruby turned and walked out.

Upon exiting, she walked down the hallway to find the infirmary, but she noticed something odd. When the young leader entered a more populated area, she immediately had the eyes of the student body on her; visitors and local.

It seemed the video had been viewed by nearly everyone. Ruby swallowed nervously at the amount of attention she was given, and sped up the pace to reach Pyrrha. She assumed that Weiss had been given a similar experience. Although, she might have been more accustomed than the scythe wielder.

She reached the infirmary and quickly entered it, simply to avoid the pitying eyes of the people surrounding her. Rose gave a relieved sigh and walked forward to find the room Pyrrha was occupying. It helped that Schnee was there and waving for her attention outside the intended destination.

"Over here!" the heiress half-yelled. When her leader came closer with a disgruntled face, she asked, "I assume you noticed how everyone was looking at you?" Rose nodded, which had Weiss purse her lips. "It was the same with me. They could at least try to be subtle." She was used to being the center of attention on a number of occasions, but those pitying looks they gave her had led her to bite down on her tongue before she said something regretful.

Schnee shook her head. "Jaune, Nora, and Ren are inside with Pyrrha," she informed, then noticed that Ruby was about to ask a question, but interrupted her. "Before you ask. No, they don't know why she passed out; I asked them." Rose closed her mouth and let her continue. "They told me that she was watching something on her Scroll. Pyrrha suddenly said something about a headache before collapsing then and there."

The young leader tilted her head in confusion. "Headaches cause people to pass out?"

She shrugged back as a response. "I guess so. Let's check up on them," Weiss said as she pointed towards the door behind her.

With a nod, Ruby knocked on the door of the room, and heard Jaune grant them entry. She opened a door and saw the champion still unconscious in her uniform while the rest of her team surrounded her, but thankfully her body was intact this time around.

Looking around, the captain and members seem concerned for their redheaded teammate. "Hey, guys," Ruby greeted quietly, then looked to the patient. Nikos didn't look like she was in pain, in fact, it seemed more like she was just sound asleep. "How is she?"

The leader of team JNPR beckoned them to come in, which they followed and closed the door behind them. "We don't really know," he told them honestly. "One moment she was fine, just watching a video, then the next second she just passes out."

None of the three would forget how she had fallen merely seconds after complaining about a migraine. She wouldn't wake up regardless of what they did. In the end, the leader picked up his teammate and took her to the infirmary. The doctor that came by was competent enough, but she said that she couldn't find anything wrong with Pyrrha and that she may simply need some rest.

"What was she watching?" Weiss asked curiously. "That might be the reason why she's like this." Not exactly a thought she would voice, but there weren't any other clues to what may have caused it.

The trio began to look uneasy at the question. "Err, she was watching your fight with Sasuke," Ren answered uncomfortably. No one in the room noticed the small reaction he got from his unconscious teammate.

Everyone else had similar thoughts to the heiress, so they decided to check her Scroll before they brought the redhead to the infirmary. Just as expected, they were greeted with the video of team RWBY's encounter with the Uchiha. "But it couldn't be because of this since we all watched it way before this happened," Jaune defended.

Having heard about it from gossip emanating from students around them, Team JNPR had already searched the video, and were shocked to find that their black-haired friend had been Gaara. They weren't sure what to feel when he emerged victorious over the beat down team, but something clicked within Pyrrha when she saw his lavender left eye.

For the past few hours, she had been obsessed with the video, or more specifically, when Sasuke opened his eyelid to reveal the rippled eye. Something finally snapped after she viewed it several times, leading to her collapse.

Schnee began glaring at Arc. "Oh, and what made you want to watch Sasuke b-" She was cut off when Nikos' eyes snapped open at the name.

"Sasuke!" Pyrrha gasped as she awoke, unintentionally startling the occupants. Looking around at the familiar scene, she calmed herself down to an acceptable level.

How did she end up with a headache that caused her to pass out? It started when she saw Gaara with the purple eye active, Nikos had something gnawing on her mind, and even more so when Gaara turned to Sasuke.

"Pyrrha, you're okay!" screamed Nora happily, before giving her a bone crushing hug. The red-head was in the infirmary far too much to Valkyrie's liking.

The champion of Mistral winced as her bones creaked, until her eccentric friend finally let go and backed off with a smile. Pyrrha gave a relieved sigh, then turned to the other worried people in her room.

Jaune was the first to speak up. "Pyrrha, are you actually okay?" he asked in concern rather than conclude like Nora. If he hadn't seen her faint, he would have assumed she just woke up from a bad dream. Otherwise, she looked completely fine.

"And why did you wake up shouting 'Sasuke'?" Weiss added to the question.

In response, the redhead looked to her left arm in deep thought. "I remembered something," she answered simply, staring at her recovered arm. It was the same feeling when she woke up with it back in its place.

Tilting her head in confusion Weiss asked, "are you saying you passed out because you remembered?" Nikos nodded. "Well, what about why you called out the vagrant's name?"

The redhead scowled as she got out of bed, stood directly in front of the white-haired teen, and looking down at her with a glower. "Sasuke is NOT a vagrant," she said heatedly, which had taken aback her comrades. They weren't expecting her to wake up with a brand new attitude.

Mouth agape at the sudden action, Weiss's mind finally understood what had been said. "Wait, are you siding with him!?" she asked incredulously. Ruby was making naive excuses minutes prior, but now Pyrrha? None of this made sense to the heiress.

Frowning, Nikos understood what the Uchiha had done to them. She lessened her glare and began explaining, "I know what Sasuke did was unforgivable, but-"

"But what!?" Weiss shouted angrily, having gotten passed the champion's sudden defensive demeanor. "He's working with Torchwick, he stole from my family in bulk, and nearly killed Ruby. All while we called him our friend. There is no 'but' to be said." She took in a breath for one last push. "He is nothing but backstabbing trash."

That began the glaring contest between the two celebrities. The surrounding students were unsure of what to do, or what had even been the cause that lead it up to this point. Pyrrha understood that Sasuke had indeed done those things, and couldn't answer for them herself. To think, Weiss was doing what she could to team up with her when they met before initiation.

Pyrrha scowled before she took off her student blazer and started folding the shirt's left sleeve as high as it could go, all while she continued to glare at the heiress. Nikos then raised her bare arm for all to see.

What she said next, was the reason why the champion defended the Uchiha. "He gave me back my arm."

Pyrrha, you weren't the one who was supposed to lose an arm and regain it. I can't explain how I felt when I saw RWBY have things happen that I had already done.

Trivia:

1- I purposefully left out the previous after-story AN as to not hinder the impact of the cliffhanger. I hope I left you all literally hanging to nothing else that could soothe you.

2- The alternative title for chapter 10 was 'The Plight Begins', but I wanted to stick with using quotes. The other alternative was the title for this chapter to reference fate, but I thought 'Hair Black As Ebony' was a better option to delude some to think it meant Cinder, when it actually meant Sasuke's reveal from red hair to black.

3- The end of chapter 10 and the beginning of this chapter is why Sasuke can't be paired with anyone. That black mark is not something that could be ignored by the RWBY crew.