Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 7
"Team RWBY left for the docks already?" Nora put a finger on her chin and looked thoughtful for a moment.
Jaune secretly wondered if she was planning more odd suggestions for how to spend their weekend. With school out and it being a Friday, no one really had plans for the moment. Jaune knew he was going to get more training time with Pyrrha and that team RWBY was going to the docks to greet the new students that would be arriving today from the other Kingdoms. The whole thing sounded like fun, but as they drew closer to the day of the tournament, he was worrying about whether or not his team should enter. Just having Pyrrha on their team wouldn't be enough when there were people like Weiss, Jasper, or even Sasuke out there that had fought her one on one and stood blow for blow with her.
Nora could clearly handle herself in a fight, if not an entire team on her own if she ignored the rules and followed orders prior to a match. If Jaune asked her to hit them with her hammer, she was more than willing to go through anything to hit anyone with her hammer. And then they had Ren, who might as well be a comic book ninja with how he fought, who could stand up against Blake, Emert, Persia, and on rare occasions Yang. Jaune couldn't beat anyone anymore. Lark had passed him up and was beating him now. Cardin was way above him. So he doubted that all three of them could actually carry his dead weight around if they had to fight.
Dressed in normal clothes for a change, Jaune hummed silently to himself before standing up. Going out into Vale didn't sound like a bad idea. He wanted to see this café that Pyrrha had mentioned earlier that week before everything went down with Cardin. He checked himself in the mirror and tugged at the dark brown button up shirt he was wearing. He wore jeans with no holes in the knees for a change. "How about we go into town?" he suggest. Nora jumped from the bed to the floor without moving. She started rambling off things they could do and places they could see. Pyrrha gave him a curious glance. "We hardly go out. We might as well have some fun before the new students arrive."
"It would be nice to get out of the Academy for a bit," Ren agreed. Nora made her demands known, making the vote three to one so far. Pyrrha smiled and agreed. Ren grabbed some cloths and retreated to the bathroom. He returned wearing a green button up shirt and blue jeans. He was in the middle of tucking his shirt in when Nora bolted past him and came back wearing a black shirt with the wood "Boop" on it in pink. She pulled a pair of headphones around her neck and then threw on some cream colored cargo shorts. Shaking his head, Ren was at her mercy when she lightly tapped his forehead and smiled. "I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like," he told her, referring to her idea of a code word/sound.
Pyrrha returned from getting dressed wearing a brown blouse and knee length black skirt. She let her hair down and removed her circlet for the day. With a red purse hung over her shoulder and a few touches from makeup, it was hard to believe that she could go from a prestigious warrior all the way to a business woman with a warm smile. Jaune felt less threatened by this version of her than he did the other one that he knew could throw him from one end of the hallway to the other without even trying.
"So what did you want to do today?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune shrugged. Pyrrha pursed her lips and thought about what they could do in town. She smiled when a thought hit her. "I think I know something we can do. It'll be fun."
"Café?" Ren asked hopefully.
"We can go there after we go to the place I have in mind." Ren gave her a slight nod. Nora cheered and grabbed up her purse. Jaune grabbed his wallet and stuck it in his back pocket. Pyrrha got the door for the door and walked out last. She locked it and walked beside Jaune and Ren chased after an excided Nora. "Jaune, how have your injuries healed up? Will you be ready for tonight?" She kept her voice down.
Jaune rubbed his arms as the ache in his biceps kicked in again. Aside from actual combat training, Pyrrha wanted him to get his upper body strength up and his endurance. She made him do pushups, squats, sit ups, and rope battle. Rope battle was not what he thought it was and was more draining than doing the other things. He had to slam a large rope on the ground as many times as he could and as hard as he could for twenty seconds. He could hardly last fifteen with how heavy it was and how fast he usually did it. Still, if Pyrrha said the pain was proof of his growth, he wasn't complaining. Not yet anyways.
"I'll be ready." He told her.
She smiled and walked a little closer to him. Jaune thought nothing of it. Pyrrha thought more of it and wondered if grabbing his hand would be the best move. With Weiss always on his mind it was hard for her to place herself anywhere around him. He didn't treat her like most others did. In fact, he was nicer and saw her simply as Pyrrha Nikkos, a girl that was going to Beacon Academy to be a Huntress and not some almighty warrior that won every fight she got in to.
"Do you think the others will want to go with us?" Jaune asked her.
Pyrrha snapped from her daydreams to think on the questions. Persia was too tired from their matches yesterday to do anything. She fought against Weiss and lost. Emert was off in town somewhere already and said he was getting something special he hadn't thought he needed. Whatever he was getting was supposed to be his weapon. Pyrrha found it hard to believe that he didn't actually bring his weapon with him to the Academy, but given his own style of combat, whatever his weapon was would certainly not make much of a difference. Jasper was spending time with Velvet and Coco, so he was a no go. Sasuke was already back at the hospital visiting Naruto. So with everyone really gone, it would be just them.
"I don't think they would. Besides," she moved in front of him, a big grin on her face, "Team RWBY is at the docks greeting the new students that are coming in for the Vytal Festival. We could always go visit them and see what they turn up…?" She didn't want to greet them. She knew deep down why they went to the docks. Weiss wanted to spy on their competition before the tournament started. It wasn't a bad tactic, just one that Pyrrha didn't much care for. "Or…" she started, getting his interest peeked, "we could go and see some of the weapon shops and try to get wooden sword to fight with, that way we're not coming home with bruises that look like cut marks."
"I think I'd like that," he told her a little too quickly. Pyrrha took things slow in their training time. She didn't move too fast and she didn't hit nearly as hard. She shoved him down and on moments where he froze on the spot felt the cold taste of her blade on his flesh. She was pushing him hard to find his Semblance and master his aura. Pyrrha believed it wouldn't be long before he found it. He hoped so. "But if we do that, I wanna go to the comic book store. Tukson Books is supposed to have the newest comic of X-Ray and Vav and really want to get it."
"Fair enough," she slapped his shoulder and started marching for the others. Best they meet up with them before Nora got a wild idea and started rumors again.
The trip into town was short and sweet. Nora babbled on about the things she wanted to do, hoped to do, and believed they would do. Ren listened in perfect silence. When Nora stopped to a take a breath every few minutes he replied with a slight nod, a shake of his head, or a small hmm as he thought about what she was requesting or thinking. When they got to the Vale the city was already throwing up decoration for the festival. It would be another few weeks before anything really happened. Other teachers were already started to show up to get their classes ready for the students when they showed up.
True to her word, they visited the book store first. Tukson Book Trade wasn't that busy today. It only had a few people browsing today. Ren went for the books on mythology and when he didn't turn up anything he wanted he went to the fantasy section to try and find something he might like. Nora started looking for cooking books to look at the pictures they had of completed dishes.
"Can I help you find something," Tukson asked when he caught Jaune looking through the comics.
Putting the one he was looking at up, Jaune laughed nervously as he tried to find Pyrrha. She was looking at more books on fighting styles with Ren. "I'm looking for the new X-Ray and Vav comic." Tukson chuckled and went into the back. He came back with the comic in hand. "Did it just come in?"
"I got it last week. I just happened to sell out of it almost instantly." He looked sheepish as he moved back to the counter. Jaune skimmed over the comic and then placed it on the counter to pay for it. "They're really hitting it off now." Tukson told him. "I think after the last comic they had it really picked up. I mean, heroes without using Dust or Semblance? It's branching out there."
"You think we'd ever get to that level of technology?"
Tukson looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded. "I think we could reach that technology eventually. I kind of wish they had more people like Mogar out there. He's my favorite."
"Maybe in the next arc," Jaune told him. Tukson nodded as he rang it up. Jaune paid for the comic and looked to his team. Nora was back to pestering Ren. "You're not that busy today?"
Tukson looked around. He had a few customers but they weren't really looking for anything. Each person was a Faunus. "It's been pretty slow today. A lot of new books aren't in yet so I've got to make some calls for when they show up. I should be getting the next shipment in today at some point. Hopefully they're not late with it."
"Do you make calls for when new comics come out as well?"
"I can." Jaune wrote down his number for Tukson. Tukson put in his terminal. "I'll let you know when the next one comes out and I'll hold it for you."
"Thanks!" Tukson gave a nod. Jaune grabbed up his team and left when they paid for their things. "The weapon shop, right?" Pyrrha gave an affirmative nod and began marching for the location. She had one in mind. Nora trailed behind, happily humming a song while Ren tried and failed to read his new book that he bought. If it wasn't for Nora asking him questions he might have achieved it. Sadly, he was forced to put away the book and answer her questions and be social with his team. "So where is this weapon shop we're going to?"
Pyrrha kept quiet the whole way until they came to a shop named SEVEN STEPS TO THE SUN in bold yellow and orange letters. Pyrrha pushed the door open and paused to smile. Jauna bumped in to her and grumbled as Nora did the same to him. In front of the counter was Emert. He was talking on his Scroll to someone while the shop keep was in the back. He poked his head and gave a light wave and said he'd be with them in a minute. As they walked in a teenage girl walked past them with sky blue hair. She didn't even notice them. She walked right up to Emert and wrapped her arms around his waist. He shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips as he said something to whoever was on the other end and canceled the call.
"Baby," he whined as she put her chin on his shoulder, "you always complain when I'm affection to you. It's not fair that you do this to me but I can't do it to you."
"Well, I'm a woman and I get what I want." He groaned and spun around in her arms. For a moment he didn't notice them. He cupped her cheeks and was about to kiss her when his eyes panned around the room and he saw them. He blinked and laughed. She groaned now and spun around, taking in the group with a dark look. When her eyes landed on Pyrrha, their eyes locked and suddenly Pyrrha seemed a little heated. "Red," she greeted sharply. Emert threw his head back with an audible sigh. "It's been a while."
"Yes it has, Blue." Jaune looked between them in fear. Nora started cheering for a fight. Ren tried to stop her, but she wasn't listening. She was chanting about breaking legs and wrestling moves. Jaune stepped between but Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder and gently moved him back. "I didn't know you were in Vale. Are you here for the tournament?"
She laughed, something that sounded like heaven to Jaune's ears. Her sky blue hair was cut short. She had two studs in each ear. Around her left eye was a blue C that wrapped around and looked like the cartoon outline for an eye with a line running down at the end of it by her noise that looked like a tear. She wore a blue jean jacket with a white undershirt tucked into her blue cargo pants. She carried a black and blue backpack with the same marking that was around her eye on it. She had dark tanned skin and azure colored eyes. On her left wrist a black band with the same design that was on her bag and eye. On the right wrist was a similar gauntlet to what Emert wore, but it sported a blue gem on the back of the hand.
"I'm not here for that, Red. I'm here visiting my boyfriend." She tapped Emert on the chest and smiled. "And I see you brought your… esteemed leader." Pyrrha's blood boiled at the way she said that. Jaune looked confused, but oddly happy. "Emert mentioned you a few times during our talks. Jaune Arc, right?" Jaune nodded and was about to shake her hand when Pyrrha stopped him. "Oh… Jealous?"
"You don't exactly know how to control your own strength," Pyrrha said with a voice that sounded like a whip being cracked. Jaune looked terrified and chuckled nervously.
"So you're jealous? Gotcha!"
"Baby," Emert said while rubbing the bridge of his noise, "please don't start a fight. This is the first time in months I've gotten to see you. So please don't cause a scene." She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. Emert gave her a smile that screamed "Be nice" to her before he looked back at the others. "This is my girlfriend, Aurora Law. She's the rank three champion in most tournaments."
"That's you?" Jaune asked,
"Well I'm rank two, now that Red here isn't competing," she corrected. "But yeah, I'm her!"
"That's so cool!" Jaune thought back to the comment she made a moment ago and looked hopeful towards Emert. "You mention me to her? Thanks… I think."
"Don't worry," she told him quickly, jumping to the defense of her boyfriend, "he's always nice when he talks about you. Says that you're a little lacking in the fighting department though, but you make up for it with your leadership skills. Said you know when the hold them and when to fold him. Not many men are like that. Trust me! I'm dating one right now! He'll beat a dead horse if he's told punching it will bring it back to life." Emert chuckled into his hand. Pyrrha did as well at the very thought of Emert doing that. She couldn't truly see it, but it was a funny thought regardless. Jaune just seemed hurt by the comment about his fighting ability. Aurora was quick to notice and said, "Not everybody is a great warrior like us, Arc. It takes years to reach this level and we're not even fighting in the big leagues. I'm sure that if someone like Ozpin or even James were to compete, neither of us would stand a chance. We may be well known, but that's because we're not fighting in the BIG leagues just yet."
"But you're still known and you're still strong. You're stronger than me." Pyrrha put a knowing hand on his shoulder and gave a light glare to Emert.
"There's nothing wrong with that, Arc. Believe me; I didn't start out as a good fighting. I had to learn the hard way. Some of us just don't have a good Semblance to match what we can do in combat." Pyrrha's glare intensified. Aurora looked happy by her annoyance. "Believe me, I've spent enough time eating dirt to know that it takes years to reach our level unless your gifted or your family would be considered cruel and forces you to fight when you can barely walk. That's pretty much what my parents did. That's why I'm as good as I am. So chin up, okay. If you want, I can give you a few pointers. I gave this dummy some and he still winds up on his back all the time."
Emert snorted in protest. "In bed, but that's because I'm lazy."
"Yeah, you are." He beamed happiness and had a faraway look in his eyes when she said that. Aurora looked between Jaune and Pyrrha and chuckled. "Honeybun says you use a sword a shield to fight. Is that right?" Jaune nodded mutely. "Then you should have all you need if you ask Pyrrha to help you. I'm sure she can give you a few pointers. I don't use those kinds of weapons. My weapons are claws. I'm strictly hand-to-hand for when it comes to fighting. That's why Emert is as well. Of course," she elbowed him in the gut and gave a snarl when he still had a the faraway look in his eye, "this idiot would have his weapon during the initiation test but he left at my place when we spent the last three days together training and hanging out before he came here."
That got their attention. "Why didn't you bring it with you?" Ren asked. Again, the look returned to his face. Ren got the message. Nora and Jaune didn't. Pyrrha wasn't paying attention to him. "So why haven't you gotten it yet?"
Emert came out of his funk and sighed. "With all the crap that White Fang is doing, they're buckling down on anyone that's shipping weapons anywhere. They have to a get a license to ship my weapon to me. My parents managed to get it, but that was actually a mistake since they're Faunus and with everything the White Fang is doing, I couldn't get it unless they found someone willing to ship it to me. Her father managed to get it back and decided to ship it here. So I'm picking it up today." Ren nodded while Pyrrha looked sad at the mention of the White Fang. Emert ignored her and focused more on Jaune. "Jaune, if you want, I can give you some lessons, but I'm not the best at teaching anything to anyone. Truthfully, my Semblance is better than hers, which I fight the way I do."
Aurora pouted. Pyrrha smiled. No one had actually seen Emert's Semblance in action yet. He said he used it once in front of them, but they never saw it as far as they were aware.
The shop keep came in with a scowl as he sat the package on the table. Aurora paid for it and they quickly opened it up to inspect it. He pulled out two steel gauntlets with a bulky top part to it that covered his forearm. Pyrrha shuddered at the sight of it. He slapped one and flexed his hand. Three blades sprang from the oversized portion of the blade and unfolded to be as long as his forearm. The blades were serrated on both sides and painted a dull gold. The couple inspected them thoroughly before he slapped the second one on and folded the blades back with a jerk of his arm.
"Everything seems to be working on them," he told her. She smiled and handed the box back to the man. He stuffed it under the counter. "So I say we go find a quiet place and spar for a bit."
Her face twisted into a look of displeasure. She ran a finger over his chest, getting a grin out of him as a result. "You want me to spend the three days I have up here with you sparing?" she said dangerously. Pyrrha grinned. Emert gave her a hug grin. "I would rather like to do something romantic."
"Like what? Dinner and a movie?" She nodded. He looked at the ceiling and made a face. "Fine… I know a restaurant we can visit tonight. I'll tell Sasuke that I'm staying in town with a friend – Don't you guys tell him I'm dating her or anyone else because I will kick your ass! – and we just spend the whole weekend doing whatever you want, Baby."
She tapped his chin and smiled. "You always know what to say to make me happy." Emert wrapped his arms around her. She twisted and looked at Pyrrha and smiled at her scowl. "See, Pyrrha, that's how you make a man do what you want him to do. Whenever you find a man, keep that in mind." Emert shook his head and marched out of the door. Pyrrha watched them go with a scowl on her face. Jaune coughed and Pyrrha purchased the two wooden swords with the scowl still on her face.
(-)
The need for fresh air was not something Sasuke had truly wanted, but it was refreshing. The night sky was alive with twinkling stars and a bitter chill that marked the coming days of winter. With the Vytal Festival right around the corner, Sasuke had grown worrisome of his old habits and had begun to sink into them again. He was back to grunting and groans when his teammates talked to him. He knew they cared about him, but the thought of returning to his old self was haunting him and pushing him back towards it. And then there was tomorrow. If Naruto didn't wake up before noon they were putting him in a pod and taking him to the vault of the academy. Sasuke hadn't gone there yet, as he wasn't allowed. But if Naruto wasn't awake, Ozpin promised him that he would be allowed to go down and see him after class. He would be monitored by people from Atlas that would be kept in the dark about his origins but not his power.
Sasuke checked the Scroll and saw that he was just getting over his seizure. The time between them was getting closer. In the last half hour he had eight of them and each one worse than the last. His bed was almost completely destroyed. They couldn't run the risk of using the sedatives anymore as the needle had gotten broken off in his arm. Surgery was done to remove it, but Naruto ended up cutting up the doctor with his claws when another seizure hit him hard. There had been no warning to it. He just had it, jumped up, and slashed at the doctor with a snarl before he started thrashing in bed like a man possessed.
If things continued the way they were going, Naruto was either about to die or wake up. Sasuke hoped it would be wake up, but with all the drugs they had pumped into his body to try and calm him down and suppress his symptoms, it wasn't looking good.
He collapsed on the edge of the roof and looked at the stars with sad forlorn eyes. Sasuke could remember all the times he watched them with Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi. He wanted those days back. He could have had them if he had simply stayed his course and been the man he was becoming before Itachi reminded him that his quest for power was needed and that any means to acquire it was acceptable. He wondered how things would have turned out if Sakura had even come with him. Would she hate what he became? Would she have tried to finish Naruto off? Would she even have survived their fight? Naruto might not attack her during their fight, but Sasuke felt that he would have made an attempt to use her and kill Naruto by going through her.
He shut his eye and willed the thought away. He couldn't think like that. What if she were here now? Would she even be on his team? Would she stay by his side even after what he did to Naruto? She openly tried to stop them from fighting on the roof that day! So of course she would have hated him.
An explosion at the docks caught his attention. He stood up and stared at the rising smoke. Sasuke grimaced as he checked his Scroll. Naruto was fine. He recovered already. Sirens sounded and Sasuke cursed himself as he jumped off the roof and towards the sounds of fighting. Another explosion sounded. It was closer and there was a scream. Sasuke pumped chakra into his legs and came to a stop on a warehouse that overlooked the open field. A few dozen men in white and black garb wearing animal masks were lying on the ground unconscious.
The sound of a bullhorn flying overhead caught his attention. It was fleeing the scene. Squinting his eye at the men on the ground he caught sight of a man white blond hair wearing blue jeans and an unbuttoned white shirt. He had a staff his hand as he marched up to Blake and another girl with orange hair and a dress of some sort. Ruby appeared in a flurry of rose petals and started speaking to the three.
Turning to leave, Sasuke caught sight of the cops that were on their way. He groaned and turned back to them. He dropped down and walked over the four. Ruby noticed him first and looked around fearfully as the former Uchiha marched up on them. "You do know that the cops are coming, right?" he asked them.
"Well," Blake said, her ears twitching in response, "it's not like I can't hear them." She grabbed the ribbon that made up her bow and quickly put it back on to cover up her cat ears. Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked at the other two. The blond haired Faunus with a monkey tail was sizing him up with a dangerous look in his eyes. "Sun, this is Sasuke. He's the leader of Team JSPR." Sun nodded mutely. "This is Penny. She's… a big help here." Blake was unsure of how to put what she just witnessed into words. Sasuke didn't seem to care. "If the cops are on the way, we need to tie these people up and make sure they're arrested."
"You guys can do that," Sasuke told her. He jumped up onto the warehouse roof. "I'm going back to the hospital."
"Has he still not woken up?" Sasuke remained quiet. Blake narrowed her eyes on him. "It's not healthy what you're doing."
"Neither is hiding your ears, but I suppose that's our choices to make." He disappeared and appeared on the next building. The cops were unaware of him as he made his way along the roof and returned to the hospital. Sasuke checked his Scroll and then went inside. Naruto wasn't having another attack just yet. But given how much time passed between them now he'd be having one any minute. He watched over his friend for an hour before sleep finally took him.
Sasuke dreamt of his time in Konoha and saw himself as the star child of the class. Naruto was there. He watched his first match against him and was left with a bitter taste in his mouth when he watched his younger self beat him easily. Their instructor congratulated him and told them to show their bond of friendship. Neither of boy did it. Fire burned through the dream like fire through a photo and Sasuke was suddenly standing in front of his transformed self. The hand wings flexed as he charged up his last Chidori. Naruto did the same. Citizens ran for cover and men in uniforms showed up to try and stop them.
They lunged.
Naruto missed and scrapped the headband Sasuke wore.
Sasuke didn't and drove his hand through Naruto's chest.
The blond coughed. "I'm your friend!"
Sasuke blinked and touched his missing eye as Naruto suddenly lunged forward through his arm and removed it with a snarl as his eyes glazed over red. Then just like that, Sasuke snapped out of his transformed state and removed his arm from Naruto's chest. He screamed. Naruto collapsed in a pool of his own blood.
Alarms sounded and Sasuke jerked awake. He looked around. Naruto was still sleeping peacefully. His Scroll vibrated. He yanked it out with a groan, answering it with a dry and tired, "Hello," as he got up and looked for some water.
"Where are you?!" It was Emert.
"At the hospital with Naruto," Sasuke told him. He missed the urgency in his voice.
"How long have you been there?" There was a pause and a scream. Sasuke jerked awake at that and looked at the Scroll in question. "Grimm are moving into the city. A large Nevermore got through the defenses. Someone was transporting Grimm in a bullhead and it crashed in the park. They're heading towards your location, Sasuke! Something has gotten them all riled up!" There was a bang and someone said something too far away from the Scroll. "It's bad, man! They're calling all available hunters to defend the city! We sort of need your help!"
"I'm on my way!" Sasuke clicked it off and scrolled the menu until he found what he needed. He tapped it and cursed his own fortune at having to use his rocket propelled locker for a change. He raced to the roof. It landed before he got there with a loud thunk. Grabbing his sword, he threw on a belt to hold it up and strapped his kunai pouch to his leg. The sound of fighting was close. He checked his Scroll and then looked to the east. The fighting was closer than he thought. He bolted off the roof and landed in the streets. Citizens were already running away.
Sasuke ran through the crowd of people until he caught sight of the first Grimm. It was killing people too weak to fight back. In a flash of speed he sliced through skin and bone, removing its head and saving one person from its teeth. The man never stopped running or turned back. Sasuke did. A hail of feathers came down and ended his life. Sasuke gasped in horror and looked up. The Nevermore was circling around the city. It didn't have a real direction to its flight. Anything that was moving on the ground was a target for it. Grudgingly Sasuke didn't engage in a fight with it. It was too high up for him to reach it.
Sasuke continued his path towards the park where the fighting was at its worse. The Grimm had really dug in and weren't giving up anything. What had started out as probably no more than a half a dozen had quickly turned into a couple dozen as more and more them poured through tunnels that they had dug when they landed. This was a covert strike team if Sasuke ever saw one that was led by a pack of wild animals. He dove into the fighting and fought alongside a few other faceless people he didn't know. When he heard the familiar sound of a machine gun he caught sight of Coco mowing them down by the dozen with each fifty bullets she fired from the gun.
Sasuke carved a path through the Grimm as he made his way to her. She stopped firing and looked at her work. The trees were no more and the Grimm all lay dead. Her team moved to her. Jasper and Emert were with Velvet. They gave each other tired cheers as they rounded on their leader. "You're late," Coco told him.
"I was asleep at the hospital," Sasuke told her with a hiss. Coco caught on and looked around. "The Nevermore was flying towards the hospital but it doubled back and then I lost sight of it."
"How'd you lose sight of a large bird that I think could feed a family forever if they didn't disappear when they die, Sasuke?" Jasper asked him. Sasuke gave him a hard stare. Jasper might have been one to laugh if the mood wasn't as dark as it was. He checked his Scroll and sighed. "Another sighting of Grimm not too far from here. It's at 5th Pornphan 81st street. Team JNPR is there with Glynda and Persia. They're holding them off but the Nevermore is causing unwanted problems. It's dropping more Grimm into the city."
"So they're just hitching a ride on that big bastard?" Emert asked. He groaned in defeat and brandished his weapons. "Alright, I'll take care of the bird. You guys think you can get to them in time to help?"
"How are you going to take down the bird?" Velvet asked. Emert smiled as Aurora stepped up beside him. She was wearing weapons similar to Emert's, but they weren't serrated. The blades were smooth and prime for cutting through flesh. He wrapped his arm around her waist in and vanished with a pulsing noise. "He can teleport?"
"That's his Semblance..." Jasper told her. Velvet chewed on her lip. She couldn't copy that. "Sasuke, we'll meet up with you there. You're faster than us."
Nodding, Sasuke bolted for the location. It wasn't far. In fact it was only a block away from where the hospital was. They should be moving people out of to keep them safe. Sasuke thought about Naruto and pulled his Scroll out while he ran. Naruto was fine. He put it away as he got closer to the Grimm. Jaune and Pyrrha worked together to beat back the Alpha Ursa that was making a charge for citizens. Glynda and Persia worked in tangent to drive back any other Grimm that got close with long range support. Sasuke dove through two Grimm with a quick swipe of his sword. They disappeared before they even hit the ground.
He rolled to his feet and started slashing through them until their bodies were piled high. He got back to back with Jaune as the blond haired man fought with another Ursa that was trying to take a shot at a few more civilians. Sasuke twisted, tossed a kunai into its eye. Jaune lunged forward and swung his sword through its neck. It didn't remove the head, but it killed it as it fell over trying to clutch its throat. Sasuke grabbed his kunai from the disappearing body and threw it into a Beowolf that was trying to get the jump on Ren. Ren was quick to act and kicked it away, driving the kunai further in to its body before he popped it full of lead.
A hailstorm of bullets zipped up the middle, cutting through a turned over car and slicing through eight Grimm that were unfortunately in the path of the small rounds. A second later both Yatsuhashi and Fox appeared out of the sky. They dove down on another batch and started fighting. Velvet kicked and punched each Grimm down alongside Jasper as he cut through their flesh with his flail. When one got smart and backed off, he lashed out with a tether of energy to yank it forward or yank something out of it.
The sound of the Nevermore swooping down on them got their attention. They turned their focus to the sky as it got too close to the ground. They pepped it with their long range abilities if they had one. It did little more than annoy it as it was finally able to go back into the sky. Emert and Aurora dropped down and appeared in front of the group with a sonic boom. It flew off and circled around beyond the city walls.
Fighting resumed against the Grimm that were on foot. It turned in their favor. Sasuke slashed his way through them when there was a scream behind him. Grimm were getting into the hospital. Glynda shot a spell into the door and threw out a dozen other Grimm that had snuck in. Sasuke charged towards the door. The Nevermore landed down in front of him with a loud screech.
"Out of my way!" Sasuke screamed as he tried to push through it. With a single flap of its wings it sent him back. A hailstorm of its iron feathers surged forward. Sasuke rolled out of the way and screamed as he fired several large fireballs at the massive Grimm. It screeched as it was set on fire. Thinking he had a chance to get by, Sasuke ran as fast as he could. The ground exploded upwards a large snake Grimm appeared. Sasuke was once again forward back.
More and more Grimm poured out of the hole. Glynda sealed it up. But the damage was already done. A few hundred Grimm were running rampage through the streets and killing everything they could. Sasuke grimaced as he slashed at another set of Grimm as he made another charge for the hospital. They pushed him back and he could feel his anger growing as his fears began to grow. The Grimm focused on Sasuke for his negative emotion. Before long Sasuke was in a circle of death as the Grimm closed in around him. He cut his way through them and jumped high. The Nevermore flapped its wings and sent him to the ground. The Grimm fell over from the massive gust of wind.
Sasuke landed beside Velvet and Pyrrha as they got to their feet. A loud whining sound screamed over the fighting and Sasuke froze. Slowly he looked at his Scroll and checked the heart monitor. It showed no heartbeat. Blood tears poured from Sasuke's eye and he dropped his weapon and Scroll as he fell to his knees. Pyrrha turned to him, a hand on his shoulder as Sasuke punched the ground. She saw the heart monitor and gasped as she knew what it mean.
"You…" Sasuke snarled. He looked up, his Sharingan spinning angrily as black tattoos began to cover his left arm. "He… You… YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" He picked up his sword and charged them in blind rage.
Sasuke raged against each Grimm as he hacked his way through them with his sword. He cut through them with ease. The body count grew. Sasuke kept slashing against them. He didn't care anymore. He took a hit to his back that sent him forward. A hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him out of a pile of Grimm. Jasper yanked him out and pulled him to safety. They landed beside Glynda as she casted another spell to kill more Grimm. More huntsmen and huntresses began to show up. Sasuke wanted to scream at them all as they worked to clear out the Grimm.
The air suddenly grew heavy and all the fighting stopped. Velvet's ears perked when she heard a beeping noise. An explosion rocked the top floor of the hospital and sent debris falling on top of the Nevermore. It turned to see what happened and was suddenly on the ground with a large red specter hand holding it down. It screeched and died in when the head twisted and broke its neck.
"What is going on?" Jaune asked.
Sasuke's eye was wide with fear as the specter hand slowly retracted back into the dust cloud from the explosion. A red tendril of energy appeared out of the smoke cloud and Sasuke watched it twitch like a living thing. It moved back into the cloud of smoke and a shadowy figure stepped onto the edge of the destroyed room that was open to the world. The smoke faded and Naruto walked out with the red aura over his body. Its form was animalistic and sported large ears, claws, and a tail that twitched like a living thing.
"Naruto," Sasuke whispered. "You're alive?" Glazed over red eyes stared down the former Uchiha. Sasuke grimaced. Those eyes! Those are the same eyes when we last fought. Naruto's mouth cracked open to reveal long fangs. Sasuke took a fighting stance. "Naruto! It's me! Sasuke! You remember me! Right?!"
Naruto roared and sent a shockwave through the air that knocked everyone down. He grabbed a chunk of the wall and jumped down at the group with a fist raised forward to attack.
A/N
And I'm ending it there. Naruto is awake… but not himself. We've got a big fight ahead before he's even back to himself and even then, a lot of Grimm loose in the city. So that's going to be a fun chapter to write because this is how I want it! So I know I probably just made Sasuke way different by having him do that in the middle of battle, but really, the person he's been trying to protect and wait to wake up just supposedly died by Grimm. So I thought it fitting that he have a moment like that before his rage over took him.