Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N
I suppose I should state that I will be using OC's for this story. For what stories I've seen of Naruto entering this world, he's always with team RWBY. Not gonna lie, I like the idea of doing that, but it's also something that I hate. I have mixed feelings about that and while the idea of using three other OC's is generally kind of frowned upon because they're author created characters, in this case, I kind of want to do it. So without further delay, here is the first chapter for what I hope will be a fic you guys want me to continue.
Chapter 5
Ozpin looked over the reports from the attack with a worrisome look on his face. It was troubling and something was off. He couldn't see the whole picture, but he got enough to start filling in the blanks. The pieces that were missing were pieces he thought might revolve around either the White Fang or Naruto. He was banking on a third party, but currently had no proof other than what had happened to Amber, and Qrow had yet to come back with more information on that incident. Ozpin knew that he wanted more information on what was happening, he'd have to start asking questions and moving forward with any plans he had for the White Fang. But a more immediate problem was in need of his attention. It just happened to side with his desire for more information on why the Grimm attacked the other day.
The meeting he was going to have was small. Only a few people were invited, as only a few people were even made aware of Sasuke's true origin.
To his left, propped against a wall, was a man that smelled of cheap alcohol with a tattered cape, a five o'clock shadow, slicked back hair, and a sideways cross for a necklace. He was nursing a small flask of something alcoholic. Ozpin had yanked him out of Signal for this. This was Qrow, a teacher at Signal Academy and one of the two other people to know about Sasuke's origins. While he had yanked him out of class for this meeting, Qrow had also gone to the defense of the city when the Grimm came charging in. He saw what happened and lived to tell about it.
To Ozpin's right was Glynda Goodwitch. She held a Scroll in one hand and tapped on it furiously. With classes over she was in the middle of grading assignments. She was not pleased with what had happened, as it was her greatest displeasure to fix things that were broken. During the Grimm invasion the other day, a lot of buildings were torn apart and the wall, something that stood as their shining beacon of hope, was smashed by a large Ursa that that was four times that normal size. It took eight Huntsmen just to bring it down. She arrived late and was forced to repair the wall before she could engage in combat with it.
Directly in front of Ozpin was Sasuke. The former Uchiha had his head down and was leaning against a small pillar. He was deep in thought. He kept looking at his Scroll and monitoring Naruto as his heartbeat continued to rise and lower sporadically. They were able to get him stable, but whatever caused him to go into a seizer had left a lasting effect. Naruto's heart was beating at an irregular pace and if it continued, he would surely die. Sedatives were put into him, but they could only take for so long.
With a heavy sigh, Ozpin picked up his Scroll and flipped through the reports. Two Huntsmen were dead. Five were injured. The death count was in the eighties. A small death count for sure, but not one that Ozpin liked or wanted. The people that lost loved ones were accusing them of being failed protectors. They were angry. They had a right to be angry. Ozpin could see no harm in their anger. He would react the same if his family were put in that situation. But there was more than just the damages done. The death count for humans was small. The Faunus death count was high. The White Fang was sure to use this against them and would rally more Faunus to their side, claiming racism and breeding more hatred. It took all of Ozpin's power to turn down James's advances for military intervention. The man was worried. Ozpin knew and appreciated it, but right now was not the time.
Ozpin sat his Scroll down and glanced at the former Uchiha. Sasuke looked back at his Scroll and closed his eye. The heart monitor beeping quickened and then returned to normal. Another dose of the sedatives were being administered. His heart rate would stay at a normal level for maybe an hour.
"Sasuke," Ozpin started softly, "we need more information on Naruto." Sasuke kept looking at the Scroll. Ozpin shook his head softly. Sasuke was worried. He was skipping class right now to be here. After last night's little run in with this, Sasuke wasn't being bothered to go to class. He was too worried to even focus on anything else. "Sasuke," Ozpin said a little louder, "I know you're worried. But I need answers." Sasuke tore his gaze away from the device. "Is there anything else you can think that might be the cause of Naruto's condition?"
Sasuke looked at it again as if willing it to provide something else. "No," he said softly. He shut it, unhappy that it wasn't giving him what he wanted. "I don't really know anything else about him."
"Oh quit the bullshit," Qrow slurred. He wasn't that drunk, but he sounded it. Sasuke leveled a glare on the man. Qrow laughed at him. "My niece's dog has a better glare and he never glares." Put off, Sasuke turned to Ozpin. "A lot of people lost their lives yesterday, Sasuke. And right now, the only lead we have for the attack is the fact that your friend had a seizer at the exact moment the Grimm came rushing in. I'm not one for coincidence, but that seems awfully fishy to me."
"Qrow is right. If Naruto was indeed responsible, even by only having such negative thoughts, then it does warrant some… precautions." Ozpin laced his fingers together. Sasuke looked up to the ceiling. He was deep in thought. "Can you think of anything that might cause this?"
Sasuke chewed on his lower lip. Naruto was the embodiment of joy, hyperactivity, randomness, and thoughtlessness. If there was a negative side to him, it was only though his unhappiness towards those that hurt his friends. He remembered hearing from Kakashi about how Naruto stood up against Neji and took some of Hinata's blood as a vow to beat him up for what he did. Then there was the time that he supposedly yelled at Zabuza. Sasuke found the latter hard to believe, but he was willing to accept that maybe Naruto did have some negative side to him, but it was always justified and always because he felt sorrow for the people around him. His fight with Gaara was proof of that. Naruto wanted to defend Sakura from Gaara. He got angry, but he didn't scream at him. He made his point clear to Gaara. He was going to kill him if that was what it took to save his friends.
Sasuke aspired to be that kind of person.
But his train of thought on the matter did leave him questioning a few things. It made him start to think. How could Naruto recover from such life threatening attacks and get up in an hour? Why did he never run out of Chakra? Why did he have those markings on his face? Then there was the big question: why did the village hate him if all he did was prank people? Sasuke was certain that the village hated him for pranking them, but he did that for attention. If they had given him the time of day, even once, he wouldn't do prank them. He would have been more focused on school.
Sasuke knew little about the clans that made up Konoha, but he knew enough to know that Naruto didn't have a clan and that there never was a clan with the last name of Uzumaki. So the idea of Naruto being from a different village was logical to him. But then there was the odd healing factor. That could easily be associated with a Bloodline or Naruto having some rapid healing that was the result of him actually knowing how to be a medic and just happening to do it without being seen. Sasuke always thought it was because of the Bloodline, as healing arts required great Chakra control, something Naruto had very little of. So that went back to it being a Bloodline.
But the oddities for a Bloodline like Naruto's were strange. Having high speed regeneration ability could honestly be a thing, but still, there was the change in his appearance when put under moments of great stress. His fight against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death was proof that there was something wrong with him genetically. It was the marker for the gift of a Bloodline and while Sasuke had never heard nor done the research to see if someone could have more than one, the thought of Naruto having two had some merit in that regard. His eyes would change color and became slitted; like cat eyes. His whiskers, which Sasuke had always passed off as a clang symbol like Kiba's or Chouji's, thickened and became jagged. His nails grew longer, his canines lengthened and his voice got rougher. When he was like this, his regeneration ability was unbelievable. If Naruto had such a power, why had everyone in the village hated him? Why make someone mad that potentially get up from anything like what Sasuke put him through? That was like poking an angry dog with a twig. It would bite back and probably end you.
So it all boiled back to his antics in the village. He wanted attention since peopled hated him. Naruto hadn't started his pranks until joining the Academy, and even then, it took a while before he even truly got to the level he was at before they graduated. He never did anything but brag about how he was going to become Hokage to the villagers. Before that, Naruto never did anything. He was alone and had no one at his side until Iruka started taking him to his favorite ramen shop. So why did the villagers hate him before he started pranking them?
"I can't…" Sasuke stopped and thought some more. Glynda pushed her glassed up, interested in what he was about to say. Ozpin looked hopeful. Sasuke nodded. "I don't know why he would be a trigger for the Grimm. That one is beyond me. But I know about his upbringing. Some of it anyways."
"Weren't you two on the same team or something?" Qrow gave the former Uchiha a hard look. Sasuke nodded mutely. "So you should know what was up with your teammate. I'm sure you know him pretty well. You were on the same team. You had know stuff about him. It's what makes a team a team."
"Well back then I was different. I didn't care about him or my other teammate. I only wanted power. Naruto was a dead last and Sakura was a weakling with next to no chakra reserves. That was why she could out do us in Chakra Control exercises. I know a few things about him, but they wouldn't help us in figuring out why the Grimm acted the way they did." Qrow snorted and muttered something beneath his breath. Sasuke narrowed his eyes on him. "Look! I'm trying to be a better person. I'm worried about him because it's because of me we're here to begin with. And I'm also the reason he's lying in a hospital bed stuck in a coma! I'll admit right now that I was the worst teammate he ever had. I'll even admit that our whole team was nothing but a train wreck. Our sensei didn't teach either of my two teammates anything. He focused on me. He gave me all the attention when he should have split it up between all three of us. I was the star child. Naruto was the dead last that was hated by our village. And Sakura," he scoffed and ran a hand through his hair, "she was one of my many fan girls that I didn't care about. So yeah! You're right! I should know something about my own team! But I didn't give a shit about them because I was obsessed with killing my older brother for slaughtering our clan!"
There! He said it! He admitted his wrong doing. It hurt. It hurt a lot to face that. Sasuke found it hard to sleep at night once he was placed on Team JSPR. It hurt him. He, the golden child turned traitor, the star child of the village and what it meant to be a shinobi, was a bigger failure than the dead last that was Naruto. And yet, somehow, Ozpin decided to give him control of his team. Make him the leader! Sasuke couldn't stand it. It bugged him. Ozpin knew a bit about his past. He knew that Sasuke had a dark side.
Qrow looked at him with a sickening expression. "You really are a piece of shit, you know that?"
"Yeah," Sasuke replied bitterly. "I know. I was different. I hate what I was back then. Nothing will ever change that. Naruto should have been the one people looked up to. But they hated him for something. I don't know what." Sasuke let his arms fall to his side. He put his head against the pillar and looked back at the ceiling. How did it come to this? "Naruto used to pull pranks in the village. He was hated for it. But I remember the day he joined the Academy. He was hated by our instructors. They put him against me in matches. I won. He lost. Even the simplest of things that anyone could learn was hard for him. But he tried. I remember that. I don't know when it started, but I remember that he pulled pranks a lot after he joined the Academy. His last prank that I remember was him defacing our monument in broad day light wearing an orange track suit with the sun at his back so everyone could see him. He managed to complete it. It was the size of this school almost. He painted all over it and no one noticed until he was done. That either meant he was really good at not being seen…"
"Or no one paid attention to him," Qrow finished. He shut his eyes tightly. That was rough. "So he had a dark past just like you? That might explain why the Grimm would show up. But not in those numbers we faced. Or that big."
"The amount of negative emotion alone to pull in that many alphas and Grimm would require everyone at Beacon to think negatively." Glynda pointed out. Hundreds of Grimm had shown up with at least a dozen alphas. If Naruto was to blame for such a thing, that meant that he was a very dark and disturbed person.
"So he's got a lot of hate or something on the brain?" Having not seen Naruto's fight against Sasuke fully, Qrow found it hard to believe that anyone could be full of so much hate that it would pull that many Grimm. That was like saying Yang was the weakest person in the world to him. He took one punch from her once. He didn't ever intend to let that happen again.
"If that idiot had any hate in him, I never saw it." Sasuke told him. Qrow laughed at the notion of that. "I'm telling you right now that the only time he ever got angry, was when I tried to leave the village. We fought long and hard, but he was only angry with me and was doing everything in his power to drag me back. I think that was when I really noticed how strong he was. He was fighting me and winning." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto wasn't really angry at him either. He was, but it was more towards Orochimaru. His fists and mind had been only to bring him back. He didn't want to kill him or anything else, really. And then there was that aura that he had. It had taken a form and…
Sasuke blinked and it hit him.
There was the fox aura that had been projected behind him after Sasuke had delivered a Chidori to his shoulder. That was the first time he ever took notice of his healing ability. It healed quickly right before his eyes. Naruto had never been so critically injured before than that it was easy to notice. But that had been a real turning point. There was that and when he dropped him on his head from at least a thousand feet in the air. He was sure he broke his neck! Yet somehow, despite all logic, he got back up and was stronger.
He shut his eye and shook his head. It was impossible. There was no way that could be the reason. How could it? Was such a thing possible? Gaara was a monster with sand. If Naruto had that kind of power… what was his ability with? His clones? Kakashi could that as well.
Ozpin could see the gears turning in Sasuke's head. When the raven haired youth took a breath, he asked the burning question. "You do know something, don't you?"
Sasuke took a deep breath and nodded. "It's not possible, but it could explain a lot about his abilities and perhaps why the Grimm took an interest in this location suddenly when he started having his seizers." Sasuke tried to think of where to begin. The history books briefly covered the topic. He tried to pull it all from memory. Once he had enough of it pieced together, he started. "A little after I was born our village was attacked by a large beast. We called them tailed-beasts. The one we were attacked by was Kyuubi no Yoko. It was a mountain sized nine-tailed fox. It attacked our village one night and was slain by our Hokage who gave his life to destroy the beast. That was also the day Naruto was born."
"But you're thinking it might have been differently?" Glynda asked. She couldn't picture such a thing. Grimm got big. But how big could a nine-tailed fox get that it would be capable of causing any sort of problem. When she thought of a fox, it was a small forest creature that scavenged for food and was covered in soft red fur.
"So how does that relate to Naruto?" Qrow asked, annoyed by an old story. Instead of answering, Sasuke pulled out a paper scroll from his pocket. He unrolled it on Ozpin's desk and pulled out a kunai. The three watched him carefully as he put it on the paper and made it disappear in a puff of smoke. "Okay," Qrow whistled, "I'll bite. What does that mean and how does it tie to Naruto?"
"This is just a theory, but I faced off against someone that had a tailed-beast inside them. It was named Shukaku and it could control sand. Its host, Sabuka no Gaara, was a crazed individual because of it. The way I understand it would be that they put it inside him to make him stronger. In a military point of view, if they could harness that kind of power, they could become something terrible." Sasuke summoned back the kunai. He twirled it in one finger for a moment before putting it up and rolling his scroll up. "There have always been people with unique abilities, much like how the semblance stuff works. My Sharingan is part of this. It's a Bloodline trait given to each Uchiha. There are several clans in our village that possess unique abilities or even clan based abilities that no one else could do; either because they're a clan secrete or because they are linked to our blood. My Sharingan is one such, granting us access to unique and powerful Eye Techniques capable of sticking people in an illusion where the wielder has the power over time, space, and reality, or to setting things on fire with a flame that can last for seven days and seven nights before it's put out."
"You can't actually do that now, can you?"
"No," Sasuke admitted freely. Qrow breathed a sigh of relief. He was more worried about the fire than he was the illusion stuff. "For a while I thought Naruto's ability to heal rapidly was all because of a Bloodline. When looked at from the outside, it would make sense. Truthfully, it still makes sense to me. What I'm talking about doesn't seem possible because I don't know how you seal a creature of power into another person without having that person become unstable or just die. So really, Naruto having a Bloodline that both change his features to make him look more animal like and to give him high speed regeneration makes more sense."
"So you think Naruto might hold this Kyuubi no Yoko?" Glynda asked.
Ozpin leaned back in his chair. "Let's say that Naruto has this power." The three turned his way and listened. "How powerful does that make him?"
"If he does have the Kyuubi in him, it would make him stronger than anyone here. And that would be only if he could access all of its power without problem. I've never seen him go beyond his red aura. Chakra is supposed to be invisible to the naked eye. Naruto was able to make his visible. Normally, that's not unheard of. The Hyuuga clan could project their chakra out and create a protective doom to both block and attack enemies that got too close to it. Having said that, there are abilities that would force the chakra to become visible. Naruto has one attack that does make it possible: Rasengan."
"So much like how aura can work; it can be seen and is mostly unseen?" Qrow scoffed at the lesson he was basically getting. "So does your friend have such a creature in him or no?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. But the method they'd have to use would require someone with great knowledge of sealing arts that I sadly don't if existed in our village. The only thing that would even go against it would be Naruto's whiskers." Sasuke took a deep breath as he put it all together in his head before continuing. "If… by some chance Naruto does have the Kyuubi in him, it wouldn't have given him the whisker marks. Those are things you get when you're born. If he got the Kyuubi placed inside him before his mother died, it would make sense. But there are records that show when he was born and where he was born at. If they're falsified, I wouldn't know. What I do know about him is that in order for him to get into the Academy he had to have someone sponsor him since he didn't have a guardian to let him join. That guardian was the Third Hokage. He gave him access to the Academy and let him join. So the only thing that stands against him having it sealed in him is that. Why send someone that would be unstable, which he never was, to an Academy that teaches you how to kill people? That's asking for trouble."
Ozpin turned his chair around and looked out to the city of Vale. "Perhaps," Ozpin said softly, "there is another option for it. One that would be a bit… darker. Suppose that the Kyuubi is killed. You said Naruto was born the day this monster attacked. Perhaps, instead of Naruto being born, he was recreated by the power of the creature and is it in human form. Could such a thing be possible?"
"That's some straight monk shit, Ozpin." Glynda gave Qrow a sour look. Qrow snorted. "A lot of people are dead, Glynda. If either of these stories held any truth to them, Naruto is clearly a danger to everyone."
"But," Ozpin turned back around, "if Naruto is the reincarnation of the creature, why would he not hesitate to destroy everything in his path for revenge? Why even allow him to exist at all for that matter?" Sasuke could see where he was going with it. "Let's suppose that Naruto, for this one moment, isn't really who you think he is. What if, this whole time, he was playing everyone for the fool?"
"It would explain why his strength grew in leaps and bounds when we became Genin. But that doesn't explain why he also put himself in situations where he almost always nearly ended up dead. I shoved my fist through his body twice. And he got up from that. I dropped him on his head, breaking his neck, scrambling his brains, and most likely cracking his skull open. And he got up. If he was a reincarnation of that creature, why would he not fight the desire to kill me when we were so far out that he could have killed me at any given moment and no one would have thought differently about it? Accidents happen. He throws a kunai at me, thinking I'll dodge and it hits me in the throat. I die. He slams his Rasengan into my hand, tears it up. I bleed to death. I die. He had his chances to end me and never did. So that either means he wasn't planning on killing me or he isn't some reincarnation of the creature. He's either got it sealed in him or it's a Bloodline. My money is Bloodline."
"But the Grimm attack being linked to his seizers seems awfully convincing," Qrow pointed out.
"I think that's us grabbing at straws for an answer." Glynda pointed out. Qrow shrugged. He put his hands on his head chewed on his lip. The whole thing didn't make sense.
"So," Ozpin stood up, his hands on the desk, "what are the chances that this is a Bloodline like you think it is, Sasuke?"
"Honestly? It's higher than it being sealed in him. My Sharingan only forms when I want it to. Naruto might not be aware of his own Bloodline since he didn't have a family to teach him how to use it. Having it sealed inside him doesn't make any sense, given our past. If someone had a dangerous creature living in them with untold amounts of power, would you put them in class with us?" Ozpin clenched his jaw. Qrow and Glynda held their breaths at the image he was putting out for them. "I think this is a Bloodline he's unaware he has."
"Then we'll continue to monitor Naruto until he's awoken. In the meantime," Ozpin smiled as Glynda began to scowl at him, "I believe we should carry on our day and have you get to class. We can't have you missing all those important lessons, Sasuke. Wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression about you as a leader of Team JSPR." Sasuke rolled his eye as he walked out, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Ozpin glanced to Qrow and said, "I know I'm asking a lot from you, but could you keep an eye on Naruto as well for me. There are chances that the White Fang may make a play for him. I'd rather not have that happen."
"You think they might take him because they'll assume he's a Faunus with those whisker marks?" Ozpin nodded. Qrow narrowed his eyes. "You should consider bringing him here then. He'd be safer."
"We can't move him," Glynda explained. Qrow looked at her funny. "We tried to move him once we became aware of how serious the situation was for him. He reacted badly. We touched him and it was the first time he had a seizer. Ever since then, we've been afraid to move him. Now he's having them regularly. We may have to consider moving him here and hope he survives the trip."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, I believe we have students that need tending to."
Glynda gave a roll of her eyes. She had one more class to teach and she had about ten minutes to get there. She had enough time to get there.
(-)
The moment Sasuke entered his room he felt five pairs of eyes on him. Jasper was lying on his bed and looking at him with a photo in his hand. Emert was in the process of drawing something, but paused long enough to look his way. Persia looked up from her book and squinted at him as if she were checking him over for injuries. Blake was looking from Persia's books and paused when she took notice of the raven haired youth. She was holding a book labeled the Lame and the Wolf. Instead of talking to them, Sasuke retreated to his bathroom and found the door locked. There was a timid yelp from the other side and then the sound of the toilet being flushed. Sasuke backed up and watched as the door parted and Velvet came out with a warm smile.
"Sasuke! I heard you skipped class today. Is everything all right?" Velvet hadn't really left Sasuke's side since the incident the other day. His outburst in class had caused a lot of students to worry about him because not only did he disobey a rule about the use of their Scrolls in class, he also yelled at Oobleck and refused to listen for the remainder of his class. Oobleck was less than pleased and had tried to make him stay after class with Jaune and Cardin, but he had left before Oobleck could even get a word in edge wise on him.
Knowing this his friends weren't going to let him escape this; he nodded and gently tapped her forehead. "I'm fine." Velvet looked unsure. Blake looked ready to leave with her new books in hand. "One of my friends is in a hospital right now and I have his heart monitor attached to my Scroll. Lately he's been having seizers and I've been worried about him."
"I'm sure your friend will be alright," Blake told him. She reached for the door.
"If he was alright, he'd already be up and about. He got dropped on his head from two hundred feet in the air, broke his neck, and got back up fifteen seconds later, perfectly fine." Blake paused and looked at him with wide eyes. "He's been in comatose state for months now. That idiot has had more shit done to him than anyone I know, and he always shrugs it off. He's only in the hospital because of me." Knowing that this was treading on dangerous waters, Blake decided to stay, against her better judgment. She moved beside Persia and sat down, placing the books in her lap. Velvet opened her mouth to speak, but closed it, having nothing to say on the matter. Sasuke shook his head in anger. "It was my fault. We fought. I won. He lost. We were friends and we fought over something stupid. Looking back at it, if I hadn't done what I did, he wouldn't be in this situation."
"So that's why you want to be a better person?" Jasper asked finally. Sasuke nodded mutely. "People make mistakes all the time." Jasper sat up fully. Velvet looked worried. The fear was evident on her face. "V knows the life I had before I met her and her friends at the other academy she attended. My father… my father wasn't a nice person." Sasuke turned to him fully and had an air of disbelief about him. "My father is a known murderer. People hire him to kill others. My mother is a thief. That's why I first learned how to use my powers to steal. V caught me stealing one day, stopped me, and asked me why I was doing it. My parents never taught me that those things were wrong. So I thought they were normal. She changed me."
"We all have a dark past, Sasuke." Blake explained. A part of her wanted to put him at ease about whatever past he might have had. Could she tell them that she was once a member of the White Fang? How would they react to it? "Some of us just can't escape it as easily as others can. It's a curse."
He scoffed at the mention of a curse. He unconsciously touched the seal on his shoulder and shook his head. "I don't think anything you guys might consider dark would amount to the things I did," he mumbled. He took a deep breath and forced a smiled. "It's okay. I'm fine now. Blake, I'm sure you're right. He'll wake up and I'll be reminded of why I didn't like him all that much when we were younger."
"Why would you worry about someone you hate?" Persia asked seriously.
"He's a loud, obnoxious, prank pulling, idiotic, blond with a mouth that doesn't stop moving and a drive that makes even a sane person seem crazy. He gets knocked down. He gets back up. Nothing ever bothered him. Nothing bugged him. Once you have everyone in your village hating you, what else is there for him? He didn't care. He defaced monuments, pranked the teachers, pranked the adults, ran from the law, and caused more school work for us than was needed. If he was out pranking someone, we were all getting extra lessons because if one of us screwed up we all had to suffer." Sasuke paused and considered everything he just said about his friend/teammate. That pretty much summed him up. "Yeah," Sasuke said to himself, "and I want that idiot back."
Emert arched a brow and grinned. "Sounds like a fun person to be around." Blake and Persia shot him annoyed looks. He laughed at them. "Aside from the extra work, he sounds normal. Who hasn't run from the law? Who hasn't pranked someone in their life? Who hasn't been knocked down and gotten back up to get knocked down again? He sounds like someone that just doesn't give up. Not because he can't because of his pride, but because he doesn't want to. I'll turn belly up if I don't wanna fight anymore, but that takes a while. I'm pretty sure everyone in this room will agree that if something is worth fighting for, they're going to fight for it, even if death is on the line."
The other three nodded silently.
Sasuke stared with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "This weekend… do you guys wanna met him?"
"I'm down!" Velvet said happily. Jasper gave a nod. Emert and Persia both smiled and nodded. Blake looked lost and a little out of place. "Blake, there's nothing wrong with going into town with friends. I'm sure that it nothing bad will happen."
Rolling her eyes, Blake conceded. "I'll go I guess. But I'm not dressing up for this."
"He's asleep. If he wakes up because of you guys, I'll be amazed." There was a timid knock at the door. Sasuke pulled it open and saw the rest of Team RWBY standing in the hallway with smiles. "Did we miss something?"
"We were just curious if you guys wanted to go get something to eat together before we all turn in for the night." Yang explained. She spied Blake and her new books. "Is this where you get your books?" Blake scooped up the books and nodded. Persia arched a brow. "Okay… So we going or what? I'm hungry."
"Keep your panties on!" Jasper joked. He put the photo under his pillow and got up. Velvet felt her Scroll vibrate and she hastily pulled it out. "I'm sure your team is worried about your, V. You should probably head back. Don't want them breathing down my neck." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Or do they want to all meet up for dinner in the cafeteria?"
"They're about to go eat as well," she informed him. "We can all eat together. It would be nice to speak to all of you as a team. Maybe my team can answer any questions you have about what the rest of the year has in store for you." Persia nodded happily. More information was always a welcomed thing. Emert shrugged as Jasper helped him up off the bed. He sat his sketchpad down. He looked at it longingly. "You could bring it with you." Velvet explained. He snapped it shut and shook his head. "Bad artwork?"
"Some people might not approve of the stuff I draw." A mischievous grin was on Yang's face as she ran for the pad. He scooped it up and pushed her on the bed, one hand holding her down and the other holding the sketchpad far away from her. "Mine," he told her with a sinister smile. Yang cooed from her spot and reached to take it. "I'll show it to you if you show me your stuff." He teased her. Yang flaunted her chest a bit. "Not what I was going after." He released her and put his sketchpad away. "Let's go." He hauled her to her feet and shoved her out. Yang protested the whole way. They locked the door to make sure she couldn't get in. Not that it mattered. She could easily bust down the door.
(-)
The moment class started there was something amiss with Jaune. He sat closer to Cardin and looked straight ahead with long, pleading eyes. Sasuke accepted that something happened, but unless Jaune came to him about it, he wasn't going to do something. Or perhaps Cardin had changed? Sasuke doubted it.
Class was over quicker than expected and everyone parted to go their own way. Sasuke left with Persia and Velvet, both opting to walk behind him and chat about something he wasn't paying attention to. Their little group chow fest last night had caused him to have some thoughts on his life and he had been more focused on his goals now than his work. What was he going to do when he graduated? What would Naruto do? When he woke up, what would the idiot say to him? Would they fight? Would Naruto get angry and use that odd power of his? Would he even join Beacon to fight the Grimm? What about the promise Naruto made to Sakura?
The idea of going back home was pointless in the long run. He wouldn't gain anything out of it. They'd be put on trial for their long time away from the village. Sasuke would probably be put in jail and used to breed more Uchiha's. The thought had not escaped him that they would do that. He would be forced to be used as nothing but a sperm bank to breed Uchiha children. How many women would line up to have that honor? It made him sick to think about such things. What would happen to Naruto if they got back? Would he be accused of being a traitor? Their village hated him. Looking back on it, even if Naruto had never pranked anyone, they would still hate him because of those whisker marks and his power. It was like they just naturally hated him.
It wouldn't be easy for Naruto here either. The whisker marks he had would make anyone think he was a Faunus. If someone had one odd feature on them they were accused of being a Faunus. Naruto would certainly fit the role of one. When he was angry those whiskers thickened, he grew claws, fangs, and his eyes turned red with slits in them. Anyone would mistake him for a Faunus here. He would be better off here in the long run. The idiot had the power to change the hearts and minds of people that he fought. Sasuke was now living proof of that. So was Neji or Kiba.
So if Naruto joined Beacon, would he actually focus? Would he actually be a good student? Sasuke doubted it. If Naruto was given a second chance to return to the Academy in Konoha, he'd still blow it. That was his nature. He would prank people and be an idiot. It was just what he was born to do. But given that people would actually get to know him, judge him only for his actions, he might be happier here. The thought of him wielding an odd weapon came to mind as well. Naruto had not talent for weapons outside of kunai and shuriken. Even then his aim for those was off sometimes. Sasuke would admit that Naruto didn't have the greatest of tact when it came to weapons, but he had have a desire to learn and that gave Sasuke pause enough to think of something he could use if he should choose to fight against the Grimm. Would he have to wait until next year to get a team?
Sasuke sighed when he realized he was at his next class. Glynda was talking about their
Sasuke felt someone poke him in the side. Pyrrha was sitting next to him. Blake was on the other side of her. "You okay?" she asked in a whisper. Sasuke nodded mutely. Glynda was unaware so far. Pyrrha wrote something on a piece of paper and slipped jabbed him again. "I heard you're going to Vale this weakened."
Sasuke pulled some paper out as well and wrote something on it. Pyrrha glanced over at what he wrote. "I'm visiting a friend." She nodded mutely. Sasuke wrote some more. Glynda slapped her hand on the desk and Sasuke paused to look at the woman. She was expressing his interest in the first recorded battle with the Grimm. It was something about ancient Grimm and how they acted as private beacons for the lesser Grimm. She mentioned a field trip into Forever Fall next week. "I don't have anything else planned for this weekend. I'm just visiting him."
Pyrrha scribbled hastily on her paper. "I'm going to Vale this weekend to look for more ammo. We should meet up." Sasuke considered that and shrugged. "I know a good café we can visit."
Blake took the paper away and glared at them both. Sasuke shrugged and returned to his previous thoughts.
The rest of the classes went by without a problem and before long Sasuke was back in his room sleeping. The days went by fast and when the weekend came, Team JSPR, Pyrrha, Velvet, Coco, and Blake ventured out to see Sasuke's friend. Velvet chatted with Coco and Jasper about something. Persia ignored the jokes from Emert. Blake stared at the back of Sasuke's head as he led them through the city of Vale until they came to a hospital. The man behind the counter gave a sad smile as the former Uchiha swiped his Scroll and moved for the elevator.
No one spoke for a long time as they headed upwards. They stopped on the top floor and started walking down a long hallway. Sasuke shut his eye and walked the line until he came to a stop at a closed door labeled Room 430. Sasuke gently pushed it open and stepped in. the others followed. Pyrrha shut the door and they circled around the sleeping blond. Sasuke checked his Scroll and looked to see if his heart monitor was in sync with Naruto's. He put it away once he was sure they were synced up and put his hands on the protective railing.
Naruto's hands were bond by leather and chains to keep him from moving during his seizers. An IV bag dripped its contents through the tub and into his arm. He was sleeping peacefully. Blake reached out and touched his cheek, stunned by the three whisker markings that covered his cheeks.
"Is he a Faunus?" Coco asked quietly.
"No," Sasuke answered in turn. He sat down. Emert leaned over the foot of the bed and tilted his head. "He might be… I don't know for sure. He doesn't either. His parents died the day he was born. He was taken to an orphanage and then kicked out when he was five. We went to the same school for a while, became friends, but then we had our big fight and he ended up here." Sasuke took a deep breath and put his head against the wall. "There was a time when I was different. I hated this world and all people. I would have destroyed them both if I hadn't been stopped by him. He called me friend and brother and we fought because I was blinded by my rage. If there was anyone who had a reason to hate the world, it was him. Our village hated him. He did nothing to them and always did everything he could to help them. But they still hated him. If it still stood and we went back, they'd hate him even more. He saved them from a giant Grimm and still they hated him." Sasuke shook his head. It was mostly accurate. Obviously Gaara wasn't a Grimm and the village was probably still standing as of right now, but he wasn't sure. Wars happened every day and every night. People die. Powers shift. Orders fall and new powers rise. It was the circle of life on their world.
"He did all that?" Pyrrha asked in shock. Sasuke nodded softly. "And they still hated him? Why?"
"Because he's different." Blake could feel Sasuke's ire growing. Sasuke opened his mouth and nodded softly as if he were thinking on something. "Our village was always under attack. My brother was strong and I looked up to him. Then he went mad and killed all of our family members. My entire family line is dead now. I'm the last surviving member. I had that happen when I was young. There are nights I fall asleep and can still see him torturing me. He told me to grab power and I did. I was leaving our village to get power by any means and he stopped me. I hated him. I hated our team. I hated our village. And I hated the world. Why did it have to ruin my life? I remember thinking that if I had to suffer, the rest of the world was going to suffer with me. So trained and I fought and I got stronger. But he, the dead last, the one no one would put money on, became stronger than me and I fought him. I still him as the idiot and dead last of our school and even now, looking at him, I hate him because the part of me I'm trying to kill off hates that he got stronger than me."
Pyrrha sat down, her eyes darkening as she looked at the former Uchiha.
"So you were jealous of what he had?" Blake inquired. Sasuke didn't give an answer. He didn't know what he felt. He was angry that Naruto got stronger. He was happy that he didn't know how to use his strength. He was angry that he nearly lost to him. He was happy he didn't get the Mangekyou Sharingan for nearly killing him. "You're a terrible person."
"I know… I deserve it. That's why when he wakes up, I hope he's going to kill me for what I did to him. He has all the rights in the world to it. He can kill me and I'll just accept it. I won't fight it." Sasuke took a deep breath and his resolve returned. "But I'm not keeling over just yet. Naruto, when he wakes up, I'm going to have to probably fight him because he'll be angry with me. He's a very emotional person. He's an idiot that goes charging into battle without a plan of attack and when angered, is someone that even our instructors feared. He has a power that I've never seen before and it makes him powerful. I've never even fought someone that more dedicated to training than him. Naruto would spend an entire day and night training if it would make him just the tiny bit stronger or the tiny bit faster. That's how he is. That's how he always is."
"You sound like you look up to him." Coco told him. Sasuke nodded mutely. "He sounds like a really cool person. I can't wait till he wakes up."
"He should be up now. This idiot survives everything and walks off all injuries. I could stab him right now and he'd heal up in an instant. Believe me, I've seen him get stabbed by some big things before and heal up almost instantly." Sasuke stood up and put his hands on the railing. He released another sigh. "I know that I was a terrible person. I deserved to die and not be saved by him. But he, in all of his wisdom, chose to see me, someone who hated the world, as a brother figure. He never had a family. He doesn't have photos of his parents. Doesn't even know their names. He was born alone. I had a family and I had to watch them all get slaughtered by my brother. I suffered because I had those bonds. And when I tried to cut them with him and the others, he didn't like that. He's never lost anyone close to him before."
Sasuke fell silent and stared longingly towards his friend, willing him to wake up. It didn't work. Naruto remained asleep.
"If you really feel bad about what you did, I'm sure he'll forgive you." Persia told him. Sasuke scoffed. "He's not the type?"
"I shoved my fist through his chest twice and both times he called me his friend. He's more forgiving then anyone we know. You could try to kill him and he'll forgive you. You can try to harm our village and he'll forgive you." The memory of fighting Gaara came to mind and Sasuke shuddered when he also thought about Sakura's retelling of Naruto fighting Neji. "This idiot has the power to change the opinions of others just by beating them up. Some of us just have to take a few more lumps from him. But he'll forgive anything if you're sorry. So maybe he'll forgive me for what I did."
"And if he doesn't?" Blake asked.
"Then he kills me and all is right in the world. Well, except for him being here all alone."
"That's too cruel, Sasuke." Pyrrha looked at him sternly. The former Uchiha barely glanced her way. "Instead of trying to make him kill you for your actions and leaving him here all by himself, you should focus on making him forgive you and staying by his side. Whether you see that as a punishment or not would be up to you." She touched the bed gently and looked longingly towards his fallen friend. "Perhaps he'll be angry when he wakes up. But that is your burden to bear. You will have to make him see the new you in the new light you've created for yourself."
"Pyrrha's right," Velvet said. "If you're friend means that much to you, dying to make things right between you would only make them worse. You should stay by his side to the bitter end."
Sasuke glanced back at his team. Jasper was staring at the blond with a clenched jaw. Emert and Persia looked worried and sad. "So this friend of yours took your fist twice through the chest, right?" Jasper asked suddenly. He pulled the blanks back. Naruto didn't have a shirt on. It made it easier for the medical devices he had stuck to him to be messed with when needed. "He doesn't have any scars. Is healing ability really that strong?" Sasuke nodded mutely again. "So your friend is borderline immortal."
"I dropped him on his head from over two hundred feet, shattering his neck, scrambling what little brains he might have left, and he got back up. I know I broke his neck because I heard it break. I set him on fire. I stabbed him twice with my Chidori. I tried to drown him. I even knocked teeth out of his face." As if to prove how powerful his regeneration was, Sasuke pulled back his teeth and showed that they were all still there. "This is the first time since I've known him that he doesn't get up. I've seen him get stabbed, poisoned, covered in needles to the point he looked like a pincushion, palmed by a guy that could kill you with one thrust of his hand to her forehead, get flicked from here all the way back to Beacon in one hit, something that would remove anyone else's head, and he got back up from all of that. I don't know why he's not up. I wish he was. Because right now, with the amount of crap I'm going through worrying about this idiot, I need him to be awake. I would move Heaven and Hell to bring him back."
Emert nodded and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Then move 'em." He said plainly. Everyone looked at him funny. "Sasuke, you just said you wanna move Heaven and Hell to bring him back. I think that's what he's waiting for. Maybe he's waiting for you to move them and bring him back. But you're just not in the right mindset for it. Maybe he's… just waiting for something to happen."
The former Uchiha blinked and thought about that. Naruto was always one to rush headlong into danger. He never cared about himself. His life was meaningless if he could protect someone. He fought and beat Gaara. He moved against the odds of the village and beat Neji. He surprised everyone and beat Kiba. If Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to move Heaven and Hell the way he moved it all the time, Sasuke felt that it would take more than his Sharingan to move it.