Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N

This story is entirely fan-made and fictional. Any acts that you might find offensive, disguising, inhuman, wrong or just don't like, we are not liable for. You are reading this story of your own free will and not being forced, if you don't like something we are not forcing you to stay and read it. Please leave the page and re-frame from reading the chapter and or story. All Copyrighted Characters belong to their respect owners. We don't claim anything that is not our own creation and are merely using them for fan made material.

We accept constructive criticize and help but being rude and disrespectful will not be tolerated. This is done for the fun of writing not to make every little person happy, while making people happy with are stories is great we are not here for Money, Fame or Fortune this is done for the simply joy of writing.

Chapter 19

"You lost to a child?"

Edward cringed as Adam stalked around him and watched the news lady continued to talk about the death count and its ever growing rise. The news was never kind to them about anything and while pleasing to watch, this one was hardly even worth watching or remembering. Adam was beyond furious about his lost. He was livid. And the fact that they now knew where Blake was didn't make things any better either. Adam loved her. Treated her like a friend and wanted to be with her till the end of days as they attained the freedom they so richly deserved.

"He was hardly a child," Edward confessed tiredly. His wound was a painful reminder of what he fought and survived against.

"And what makes you think that?" Adam's sword shook as his hand twitched with rage.

"The way he talked." Edward sat up with a grunt of pain. His wound was deep. He'd be out of commission for a few days at the very least. Adam gave him a pleading look to continue. Edward took a deep breath as the pain coursed through him. "He talked like someone that had seen war. And the way he fought was to end us. He knew how to fight too. He used a sword and when it broke, he wasn't afraid to grab our weapons and use them against us. He didn't care that we shot him or that we stabbed him. But his healing factor was what surprised me the most. It was like nothing we did matter to him. He just kept coming back from it as though we never hit him."

Adam stopped pacing and faced his comrade slowly. "Did he have any odd features?"

"Not that I could see. But he did have one red eye that was slitted and another eye that was blue. But the blue eye turned red and suddenly it was like he was on fire or something."

Sitting down, Adam turned to a computer and typed away on it. After a long moment of silence he turned it around and showed Edward. "Did it look something like this?"

Edward grimaced as he leaned forward and took in the image of a small boy, probably a young teenager, with blond hair, whisker markings on his cheeks, and a red aura that took the form of a dog of some sort. The aura-like flames possessed a long tail and two large ears. The entire made him look bigger than what he was in both size and height. Video footage played of the strange young teen destroyed Grimm like they were made of paper. Nothing survived his passing unless he allowed it.

"Somewhat," he replied slowly. "But this was like a living flame. It didn't take form." He placed both hands on the table and leaned over the monitor. Adam stepped towards the opening of their tent and watched as the sun began to set. "Whoever this kid is, he's gotta be someone related to the person I fought."

"He's not a student at Beacon, but he does work for them." Adam held his composure as he continued to watch the sun rise. "He is close to Blake though. Our spies have noticed that much."

"So we use him to get to her or to him?"

"We could… But I'd rather get to her through him." Adam calmly walked back over to the monitor and shut it down. "She will soon know that I will destroy everything she holds dear before I end her."

(-)

Sasuke scratched his chin as he watched a typical morning to his little dorm room with his team. Emert was still sleeping, Persia was already finished getting dressed for the day, and Jasper was jumping in the shower with a mighty yawn. Being that it was Sunday and that they had no school, their typical Sundays were mostly consists of sleeping, training, or studying. Emert would sleep until about eleven when his hunger would get the better of him and he'd wake up. After eating he'd join Jasper and Sasuke in the gym to further his combat training. And while all of this was going on, Persia would remain dutiful to her studies and continue her advancement in the study of Security.

But before any of that could happen they had to go through a usual morning routine.

"Emert!" Persia yelled at her fellow Faunus. He shot straight up with a tired expression and yawned loudly. His ears wiggled to each noise that they made as the water was turned on by Jasper for his shower. "What is the one thing I tell you ever day?"

"…Wake up…" he answered with a yawn.

"The other thing!"

"For the love of god, stop sleeping naked."

"And what do you keep doing?"

"I sleep naked. I slept naked on the first day here. I can't help it. I hardly ever get cold. If I could, I'd go to class naked. Do you know why? My body is naturally very hot." He rolled out of bed and stood in all his naked glory. Sasuke chuckled at the sight and for a brief moment figured that might be how Naruto wakes up every morning. "I'm sorry that I'm not naturally cold like you and Sasuke."

Growling at the jab, Persia snarled and slapped him. "Look," she screeched, "I don't care about how hot you get when you sleep or when you wear clothes! You can wear clothes that breathe just fine. And don't talk about cold nature bodies like it doesn't have a downside to it!" Grabbing her jacket, she stormed out, slamming the door in the process.

Emert sighed and looked to his leader. Sasuke had nothing to say on the matter. Cracking his neck, the teleporting Faunus grumbled, "Not my fault she's so uptight about things," as he dropped back down into bed, face first and covering only his legs under the thin sheets. "Am I in the wrong here?" he asked finally.

"If it's part of your physiology, no. But I am curious on why that is."

Pulling the sheet over his privates, Emert sat up and stretched. "You know how a lot of dogs don't have the ability to sweat? Well my body is sort of similar. I have to reach a certain temperature before that even really happens. It's nothing too serious, but it is annoying. It's better than my moms' love of going to garage sales and buying anything she deems cute." Sasuke arched a thin brow at that and Emert laughed. "I'm not joking. You know how dogs have that one toy that they love? Well my mom is the same. She loves her little rubber ducks. Has an entire room dedicated to them…"

"Is it your guest room?" Sasuke joked.

"No… It's the basement. She won't let my dad have his Man Cave since she needs a spot for her rubber ducks. And he won't let her add on to the house… so… yeah."

"The more you talk about your family, the more dysfunctional they sound."

Emert laughed and fell backwards onto his bed. "That about sums up everyone's family, Sasuke… I bet money that Ruby's family is just as dysfunctional."

"Given how Yang and Ruby turned out…" Sasuke let it hang there and snickered as Jasper walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist. "So what's the game plan for today?"

"I'm going to the gym to work out," Jasper told him plainly. Glancing at their Faunus teammate, Jasper inclined his head and asked, "What are your plans for the day… You know… Aside from sleeping until noon."

"I'm sleeping 'till noon, masturbating in the shower so Persia doesn't get angry with me, and then hitting the gym. This waking up early crap for school blows big time."

"Should have taken online courses for a regular school with a regular job then," Jasper told him with an air of indifference.

"That's what my girl keeps telling me but she knows I'm not going to." He looked outside and yawned again. "What time is it?"

"Seven in the morning," Sasuke answered with a yawn of his own. Those little things were contagious.

"Really?! She woke me up knowing full well what time it is?" He collapsed back onto the bed. "I'm going back to bed."

Sasuke shook his head as he marched towards the bathroom to get ready for the day. "I'll see you at the gym soon, Jasper." Giving a nod, the teen marched out, running into Yang and Pyrrha along the way.

(-)

Jasper took a deep breath as he lifted the bar up and put it back on the holder so that he could rest his tired arms. A chuckling Yang could only look at the some eight pounds of weights thrown on both sides of the bar before slapping her workout buddy on the shoulder and looking around the room to the others doing the same thing.

"Trying to impress a lady?" Yang asked jokingly.

"Yeah! You! You impressed?" He laughed. She chuckled right along with him with a shake of her head.

The first day he came to the gym he found her as well. She was doing her reps a hundred pound weight. She didn't look it, but Yang was incredible strong. If she looked as strong as she was, she would be rather muscular, something she didn't quiet look. Of course the same could also be said for Nora, but Nora was odd and most likely just not bound to the same physic as most normal people. But because Jasper had seen her working out here and she caught him doing the same, over the weekend they would come here and spar and lift weights as a form of training.

Jasper would also be lying if he didn't find her alluring in a sports bra, some shorts, and sweat glistening off her skin. He doubted Yang would say the same for him. He was covered in scars, muscular like some roided out jock, and was more noteworthy of not taking people serious that he beat already. Yang was still a little miffed about their first confrontation and begged for rematches where he took it seriously. The biggest mystery she wanted on him was what his Semblance was. He said he'd never had a need for it in any of the matches he had, meaning he was powerful without it.

"Not really," she teased back. The buxom blond grabbed a water bottle and chugged the contents. She gasped for air as she quenched her thirst and looked around the gym for a moment. Pyrrha was working helping Jaune with some stretches while an enthused Nora was already lifting weights nearly twice as much as she weighed as though they weighed far less. Ren was going through various karats in preparation for a small sparring contest with someone else in a moment. "Don't you have a girl back home or something?"

"I can look and not touch." Yang laughed loudly to that and slapped him on the back. "Don't you have a girl back home, too?" Yang stopped laughing slowly and gave him a sideways glance. "I was just curious. You strike me as someone who plays for both teams."

"What if I do?"

"Then that makes you hot to any sane guy. But as you said, I have a girl back home. So I'm not sane."

"No… You're just loyal." Yang motioned for him to get up. He did so and she laid down under the bar. "So what's she like? You never really talk about her."

Grabbing the bar and helping her with it, he paused and considered what she'd just asked before saying, "Radiant," as though he were looking at her. Yang could see that he was looking elsewhere and not somewhere here in the gym. There was a twinkle in his eye that told her the person he was seeing now was just in his minds' eye. "She's was warm to the touch and every night I spent with her was amazing. Everything she did was detailed to perfection from the way she spoke to the way she smiled. There's no way to describe her other than to say that she is a goddess to me."

"You make her sound like she's the ideal woman and that no one else could compare."

"To me, she is more beautiful than you, funnier than Ruby, more alluring than Blake, and has a voice greater than Weiss. She is better than every woman, no matter their money, power, or looks. She will always be greater than them." Yang smiled despite herself and began pushing the bar up and down. "But she does have her flaws," he said with a smile. "When we met she was far too kind to someone like me. And even now, she sees only the good in people, never once looking at the bad they have in them. I'm not saying that's a terrible thing, but she believes that all people are good, no matter how bad they are. She would let herself get shot through the heart trying to tell that to a bloodthirsty killer."

"And you fault her for that?"

Jasper became quiet. His eyes darkened and something inside Yang's mind screamed for her to run. For in that moment she could see evil in Jasper and it scared her. His eyes were cold and lifeless. His entire body shuddered as if something was dragged out of him and thrown back in. It passed in the blink of an eye. No one not looking hard enough would have seen it. But she could see it. A terror within him greater than perhaps even the terrible creatures of Grimm.

"No," he said suddenly, "I don't fault her." He blinked and Yang didn't see the look in his eyes any more. Noticing her confused stare, he smiled at her as if trying to cover something up. "You okay? That bar is heavy you know?"

Shaking herself from the trance she was in, she finished her reps and placed the bar back on the rack. "I was just thinking about something," she lied casually. Jasper didn't seem to notice her jitter or lie and took her spot to start lifting again. Yang remained focused on what she saw for several minutes before noticing that he was looking away again and more towards something else. "So where is she now?"

Finishing his reps, he huffed as he sat up and rubbed his shoulder. "She lives with her father. She's going to school to become a doctor. She's studying with her brother right now. He's a doctor."

Nodding like she was truly listening to him, she jumped when the young fighter got to his feet and cracked his back. "So squats?" she asked evenly.

"How about a mock fight? No semblances. Just pure skill?" Curious to his motives, she agreed and looked around the room. Sasuke showed up with Emert and Weiss. Persia walked in behind them wearing a training bra and black leggings. Ren jumped to his feet at her presence and bowed respectively towards her. She did the same and took a stance. Looking in their direction, Jasper grinned. "Persia! Ren!" he waved them over. "How about a three on three?"

"What's the loser gotta do?" A mischievous twinkle formed in Yang's eye.

Persia glanced around and sighed as she said, "I'm not fighting Jasper. I'll fight Emert, but I'm not fighting you, you brute."

Jasper shrugged and looked around. Sasuke was doing a mock match against Pyrrha while Jaune watched from the sidelines. "How about a different match? Sasuke, Pyrrha, Weiss, wanna have a sparring match?"

Walking over, Pyrrha was the first to voice an opinion on the matter. "I'm okay with it, but I'd like to try something if we're doing this, if that's okay?" Yang didn't care. "How about we each take a different member from our teams and have a three on three match. I'll take Yang and Persia, and you can take whomever else."

"I'm down for that," Sasuke told her. "But a ground rule on this. No semblance use. If you use it, you lose. And no weapons either. So it's just pure skill with hand-to-hand combat."

"I like the sound of that!" Yang pumped her fists together. "Hey, Jaune, ready to see three real women in action?"

Jaune looked sheepishly between all the women present and smartly backed off before he could make a fool of himself.

"Ren, you wanna come with me on this?" Sasuke asked. Red nodded and walked over to the former Uchiha as he looked at the remaining people before noticing that his options were very limited. "Weiss, you wanna get in on this?"

Weiss licked her lips as she looked at the three fighters that she'd be squaring off against if she agreed. Pyrrha would curve stomp her just the same as Yang would. Weaponless and not able to use a Semblance wound hinder her to the point of uselessness. But Persia was just as tall as she was, and just a thin. She relied heavily on her weapon as well. Everytime she fought in the matches, she never once let go of her weapons, even when Pyrrha might have grabbed them with her Semblance or when Cardin would hook them on his weapon and try to rip them from her.

"I'll do it," she finally proclaimed. "None of you better slack off, either."

Sasuke raised his hands as a show of innocents as he walked out onto the training mat with Ren. The others followed. Nora became the ref and clarified the rules one more time as all six teens did a few stretches to get ready for the match. When the match was called, Sasuke and Ren were on Yang and Pyrrha in a burst of speed and forced them to hastily defend themselves from their onslaught of moves.

Weiss rushed Persia with a fist already flying. Persia sidestepped her and kneed her in the gut for her troubles. Doubling over and coughing, Weiss nearly hit the floor before her hair was grabbed by the female Faunus and she was thrown backwards onto the mat. Not detoured in the slightest, she rolled to her feet and began fighting anew. Persia sidestepped, countered, or simply stopped each of her attacks with the greatest of ease. It was then that Weiss realized she had made a horrible miscalculation. Persia could fight without her weapons, a skill she had never once shown.

The female Faunus slowly walked towards the downed Heiress and lifted her to her feet before throwing her out of the arena. Nora called it and she turned on Ren.

Sasuke wished that he had Yang or even Blake on his side instead of Weiss. Not to berate her, but he knew she was weak without her abilities or weapon. He'd seen Ruby fight without her weapon, and in his mind, Ruby was a better fighter. She knew what to do, she just lacked the strength to do it. Still, with Ren on his team, he knew that they had a fighting chance at winning. Ren had beaten Persia several times and had fought against Yang and ended up on top a few times. But Yang and Persia working together might be too much for him, even if the usage of Semblances weren't allowed.

Pyrrha was feeling the effects of this as well. He could see that in her fighting style. Pyrrha was still a threat without a weapon, a testament to her skill and rank as a number one tournament champion for her league. But take away her semblance and her weapon and her skill would fall, not enough that it would stop her from achieving victory, but enough to give anyone, even Yang, a fighting chance against her.

Sasuke, however cruel it was, wasn't limited to their restrictions. His Sharingan wasn't a Semblance, and neither was his speed, his strength. Sasuke could win against them if he pushed himself, drove himself beyond the point where he fighting like a normal huntsman in training. He could stomp them all without the full usage of Chakra.

His Sharingan activated and he could Pyrrha like a book.

A small piece of his mind mocked him, called him a cheater for using it, but he ignored that part of him in favor for his actions. They couldn't stop him and they never knew what his Sharingan could do.

He blocked a shot from her as she lashed out with her leg. He gripped it tightly and with all his might flung her sideways, forcing her up against the edge of the impromptu arena. Nora was about to call her out when Pyrrha skidded to a stop and rolled back to her feet continue her battle with him. Sasuke stopped her at every turn. He turned his Sharingan off and still he remained ahead of her. She could do nothing against his onslaught when he turned on her and before long she was forced back with a hard punch to her gut, a kick to the side of her head, an elbow to her ribs, and a resounding head butt to her temple sent her crumbling to the ground.

Ren flew over Sasuke's head and he knew that Persia and Yang had beaten him.

The former Uchiha whipped around to strike at Yang, catching her in the face. She stumbled back a bit and Persia leaped over her, kicking him square in the chest. Pyrrha sprang forward and got him several times in the ribs. Sasuke grimaced and caught both Yang and Pyrrha's punches before they could connect. With a grunt of effort, he pulled them closer and slammed them into each other. The effect was instant on them as they were both rattled by the blow. Pyrrha recovered first and used her other hand to grab his wrist and shove him forward into an on waiting kick from his Faunus teammate that caught him in the chin.

The former Uchiha grimaced as he was tossed around by the three girls. Yang sucker punched Sasuke in the side of his face, which spun him towards Persia's elbow that hit him hard in the gut before she spun around and lashed out with her leg, striking him hard in the chin that knocked him back into Pyrrha where she grabbed his shoulders and threw him over herself, grabbed him after punching him in the back of the head, and sent him forward into Yang and Persia's high kick that sent him sprawling backwards and into a hard backhand from Pyrrha that sealed the deal as he fell flat on his ass and looked at the ceiling.

Nora rushed to his side in preparation to call the fight when Sasuke suddenly sprang back to his feet and cracked his neck. "My turn," he told them in a low voice. Pyrrha braced herself as her instincts took over. Sasuke punched her in the gut through her hasty guard and sent her sprawling backwards into a startled Yang as the former Uchiha punched around Pyrrha's head to clock the buxom blond hard in the side of the face. Pyrrha in hand, the two girls fell to the side and rolled awkwardly as Persia jumped forward to attack him only to be sent to the ground hard from a powerful axe kick to her collar bone.

"How is he doing that?" Jaune asked in a whisper.

Jasper leaned forward and stared intently at his leader as he turned on the three girls and fought them to a complete standstill. "He's just that good," Jasper finally told him. Jaune looked to Pyrrha and watched as Sasuke lifted her up by her hair and tossed her to the side.

Yang screamed at him as she started throwing punches again. Sasuke ducked under them as she sped up in an attempt to hit him. Her attacks kept getting closer and closer to hitting him. She skimmed his hair, then his ear, and finally, as if receiving a boost of power from the heavens above, she clocked him hard in the chest. Sasuke stumbled back as Persia slid beside him and took his legs out from under him. He hit the ground and then hit again when he tried to get up as Pyrrha jumped on his back and thrust him back to the mat.

Grunting, Sasuke punched the mat and forced himself up, throwing the redhead off him in the process. Pyrrha flipped and landed on her feet. A determined look shined in her eyes. Sasuke's Sharingan sprang to life and a chuckle escaped him. The three girls rushed him and he blocked each strike from them at the same time. He blocked Yang and Pyrrha with his arms and Persia with his leg. Stunned, they hastily backed off.

Turning, he rushed Yang and got in close with a spin kick. She backed up, dodging the attack. Sasuke lurched forward, grabbed her training bra, brought her closer to himself and kneed her in the chest to send her skidding backwards. He kept on her and threw a punch at her face. She sidestepped it and returned the favor, knocking him down. He hit the ground, propped himself on his shoulders, spun with a kick and knocked her in the side of the head. He punched the ground to push off, dodging Persia as she slid down to kick him in the face. He reached out, grabbed her head, and tossed her at the ground. She rolled, threw her legs up, caught his face, pushed off, and sent him up into the air where Pyrrha kicked him back to the ground.

Sasuke flipped before he could hit and landed on his feet. Pyrrha landed down on him and sent him back to the ground on his back. The tournament champion reeled back with a punch but before she could throw it, Sasuke jerked up and got her across the face to send her skidding to the side. Persia and Yang jumped over her and took over.

Sharingan spinning, Sasuke zipped through them and dropped them both. Persia wasn't easy to put down and she was on her feet faster than Yang, who was only a fraction of a second behind her. Sasuke grimaced and fought them some more. Yang landed several good blows on him but eventually she was thrown to the ground and kicked out of the arena where Nora called her out.

Gasping for air, Persia lunched herself at him and managed to grab him. Sasuke twisted and saw only red knuckles as Pyrrha's fist flew for his Sharingan eye. Persia screamed and released Sasuke as he cursed.

A crackling noise sound and Nora screamed that Sasuke had lost.

Persia hastily backed away as the former Uchiha stared at Pyrrha through a sheet of ice that had formed between them. Taking a step back, the ice cracked so more and fell to the ground in pieces. Sasuke stared at the ice and then to Pyrrha. She seemed just as shocked but somehow looked pleased by it.

"Looks like you broke your rule, Sasuke," Yang said with a coughing laugh. She looked as Weiss and grinned. "So is that why you wanted Weiss on your team? I guess a good Ice King would need his Ice Queen!"

Weiss stomped her foot and began berating her teammate for the joke while Sasuke collapsed on his butt and looked at the ice. "Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked. She grabbed a shard of the ice and studied it. "Did you mean to do it?" Her knuckles hurt a lot now. The ice was harder than normal. Hard enough to be considered stone. She was surprised she didn't smash through it with as hard as she hit it. It did crack, but it didn't break.

Looking at the shard for a moment, he shook his head before saying, "No. I didn't even think on it. It just sort of appeared when you tried to hit me." Thinking more on it, he glanced at Persia as she backed away from the ice with pain drawn across her face. "Are you okay?"

"NO!" she cried as she dropped to her knees. She looked at her hands and cried. "It hurts!"

Sasuke was beside her in a flash. She shoved him away as she got to her feet. She took two steps then collapsed into a fit of choking coughs. Sasuke went to her side as her loud cries of pain turned to soft whimpers. Her turned her over and she was shivering. Her skin where she had held him in the hold had turned blue. Jasper pulled Sasuke back and slowly lifted her up. "She's need to get back to our room. We can warm her up there." The teens followed him as he lead them to their dorm room. There, Jasper pulled her sheets back and stuck her under them as she continued to shiver. A worried Yang was trying to be reasonable and call for a doctor. "There's no point in calling a doctor. She's going to be fine as long as we can warm her up."

"We know we need to warm her up!" Yang told him angrily.

"Yes but she has the stuff her to keep her warm. It's always been important she stays warm since she's a lizard Faunus."

"But why does she need to stay… warm…" Jaune stopped talking and looked at her. "She's cold blooded?"

"Yes," Jasper said quietly. Sasuke grimaced. "I learned when you first showed signs of your Semblance. The room was cold and she hugged her blanks tightly. She was okay, but the cold was still eating at her. She has a heat blanket underneath her sheets designed for Faunus with her problems. That's why she takes really hot showers and doesn't like eating cold food all the time. She doesn't know that I know this." Standing up, he put his hands in his pockets and said, "She'll be okay. Just let her rest for a bit." Jasper motioned towards the door and they exited. "She'll be fine. If there are any changes, I'll let you all know."

Sasuke looked at her and then walked away with his eye closed.

Yang started walking for him. "Don't worry about him," Weiss told her. Yang stopped and looked at her white haired teammate funny. "He has the power of ice. Ice would be her natural enemy. He didn't know that his Semblance was making the room cold. Without that heat blanket, she'd be dead. He just realized that." Rubbing her bruised side she snorted and added, "If you ever make another comment about like that about us, I will freeze your hair and break it off," before marching back to their dorm to take a shower and freshen up for the remainder of the day.

(-)

"You're falling apart, son. You need to stop, think, listen, and then everything will be better."

Naruto gasped for air as he felt his entire being be ripped from his body and thrown back in. It hurt a lot more than he ever thought it would, but no one had ever said the truth would be painless. Minato stood back and waited for Kushina to pull him back from the darkness as Kyuubi continued to whisper words of destruction in ear to him. The struggle was real with Naruto as his very soul waved between chaos and order. Kushina held their son tightly and used her chakra to sooth his unstable chakra.

"You can do this son," Kushina whispered in his ear. "You can fight this. Just listen to my voice. Feel my love for you."

Naruto threw his head back as red chakra ripped at his body. Kushina held on tightly as it threatened to rip him out of the clear world they had dragged him to once his mind had calmed enough for them to grab him. Kyuubi's influence reached even here. There was no telling just how far down the Kyuubi could reach within Naruto's mind. The seal prevented their minds from melding. Whatever Naruto knew, Kyuubi could learn if he so desired. A Yamanaka would have be a real help here in assuring that the Kyuubi couldn't reach this place, but now they had no other choice but to explain things.

"It… hurts…"

"I know! Just listen to my voice. Focus only on that. We can stop this, but you have to listen to us." Kushina took a deep breath and forced more chakra into her son. Naruto gasped for air as the red chakra began to fight back and reach inside him. Minato got closer and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He screamed and the red chakra shot upwards and arched towards him. The older blond slipped out of its reach and took his spot again a few feet away. Kushina grimaced and whispered, "I love you," into his ear. The chakra slacked and began to recede again.

"What happened wasn't our fault. I did what I thought was right, and I know now that that was wrong." Minato licked his lips. "What I did, I did to protect you. I have enemies, not here, but back home, I have enemies. I was the Hokage, Naruto. Hokages, people of power, have great enemies. And I fought in the war. I killed a lot of people. Those people had friends, family members, people respected them, maybe even loved them from afar. And I cut them down. I didn't want them to do the same to you, so I also put the Kyuubi in you for that. I didn't that to protect you."

"Lies for the weak… Is this what you've become, Hokage?" Naruto gripped his head and wanted to scream. The slain victims he created came rushing back to him. He wanted to vomit. "Do you really think you can save him from what you've done to him? What you've made him? You made this madness. Now answer for it by watching me tear your son apart!"

"You're right!" Minato shouted at him. "I created this madness! But when I saw you destroying the village, killing those people, I had no choice but to stop you. I had to wrestle control from that masked man and seal you away again for the balance of power between the Bijuu!"

"FOR THE BALANCE OF POWER BETWEEN BIJUUS!" Kyuubi's voice seethed with rage as it echoed around them. "What about what I wanted? What about my freedom?! You humans have done nothing but use my power like it's your own and for no other reason than to make the rest of the world think you are greatest nation!"

"We have our faults! But you were always causing destruction! That's why we seal you away. You are power without a master. You needed to be controlled!" Kyuubi screamed and thrashed in his cage in the other world of Naruto's mind. Naruto screamed in pain. Kushina held him tightly as claws began to form on him.

"Naruto, just listen to me!" Kushina cried to her son. She put her forehead against his. He continued to scream.

"I will take him and turn him into the monster your village saw him as! He's already in my hand. Before long, he will be mine!"

Minato grabbed Naruto's hand and wrapped himself around both of them. The red chakra surged upwards and came down around them. "Naruto," he spoke quietly. "I know you're afraid. But being afraid is alright. I watched you grow. I was so happy when this happened. I can see you now, speak to you, give you the words of comfort that you have so desperately longed to hear. But you need fight this. We won't him take you away from us. So don't let him take us away from you again."

The red chakra began to seep away and return to Naruto. Kushina released more of her chakra into Naruto's body and suddenly he stopped screaming. He slumped forward in her arms and remained there for an eternity before he sniffed back some of his snot and dried his eyes.

"Son," Minato started quietly. Naruto punched him in the face. Kushina stood up with him and laughed as her husband held his nose like he broke it. "I guess I deserve that. Are you going to be okay?"

Naruto nodded slowly as he dried his eyes. "I'm a monster…"

"No you're not!" Kushina told him sternly. Naruto gave her a harsh look. She thought he looked at her as though she were insane. "All Jinchuuriki are not the same. You aren't a monster. That was the first time you ever killed. And you killed them because they were bad people. You were doing the right thing. If you fought them any other way, you would have died. You made a choice to kill them because you wanted to live."

"But I didn't have to kill them. I could have left, gone to protect Blake, and it would have been avoided."

"You don't know that." Minato told him. "Naruto, I've made terrible choices. Choices that got people killed that were my friends. I lived with that. I lived with the knowledge that I got them killed because I made a terrible choice. You made a choice, and it was the right one. It was either you or them. I'm happy you chose to kill them."

"But I didn't have to kill them."

"That's true… But what if you went to Blake and protected her and they turned around and killed other people because they were fleeing the scene?" Kushina put forth. Naruto looked away. "You care about her safety. If you ever need to question anything you do for her, then she isn't worth it. If you do it because you want to keep her safe, that's different. I know you've had bad luck with girls. Believe me, you're father had bad luck with them too." Minato snorted and whispered something that Naruto missed. Kushina heard him and laughed at him. "That's true," she admitted. "You did catch me."

"True," Minato admitted tiredly. "Naruto, you did nothing wrong. I know this world has different rules and regulations to this kind of stuff, but ultimately, you're still young. In this world; you did something no child should have to do and to them that's wrong. Maybe they're right. Maybe Sasuke has been right about the village. Maybe they make us fight because somewhere along the line we were told that all we could do was fight. So we fight. We take what we need to fight to make ourselves better and killing our enemies. But I didn't put the Kyuubi in you to make you better at killing people. I put him in you to protect you from my enemies."

"And it ruined my life."

"Yes! I know. And no amount of apologizing will ever make it right. But I'm going to do better by you. I'm going to help you become stronger if you'll allow me. We can teach you things, Naruto. We can make you better at protecting the people you care about." Kushina told him happily. Naruto looked between them and then to his hands. He could still see their blood on them. "We'll be a family. The kind that you wanted. The kind where I'm not dead and your father isn't some hero that's carved into a rock."

Naruto lowered his head and smiled. "I'd like that… Will you stay with me… forever?"

"Forever." Naruto slowly grabbed them into a hug and cried. Minato patted him on the back while Kushina kissed his forehead. "Son, you need to wake up though. They need answers to what happened. Answers that you have. If you need us, we'll be right here. Call on us, and we'll come running. We won't have to run far."

Nodding, the blond took a deep breath and willed himself back to reality. The numbness of drugs hit him hard and he felt lightheaded. A beeping sound echoed from beside him and he had trouble focusing on it. When his eyes finally managed to lock with it, he reached out to tap it like an alarm clock and fell short. He rolled to his side and started tapping it, his clumsy hands ripping through wires in the process. It blared to life and screamed a song of death. Not a minute later a group of nurses were in the room with a doctor. James stormed in a few minutes later with Ozpin behind him.

"Sorry I sleep for so long," Naruto said tiredly. The drugs were still in his system. "I'm good now."

Relived, Ozpin tapped his cane and smiled at him. "That's good to hear. Naruto, we need to talk."

"Yeah we do." He tore the needle and iv from his arm and swung his legs off the corner of the bed. Two nurses helped him stand. "Let me get dressed and get something to eat. We can talk after that."

(-)

"The death count is still coming in, but Adam isn't happy about all the Faunus members he lost during that rally."

Cinder shut her eyes and for a brief moment gave in to her desire to just rip the school apart, show the world that the Huntsmen of the world was just weak children clinging to desperate power. But her plans were already in motion. She couldn't stop now. Not when she was already in the middle of Phase two. If she stopped now all her work would be worthless. Time and patience was a thing of beauty and she had both on her side. Adam was not so easily mended. He lacked patience. She saw that in him and loved it about him. It made him so easy to control. Fear was a powerful thing, but sitting on ones' hand for too long made them idle. Idle hands were a terrible thing.

The deaths were sad and would certainly push more Faunus members to seek shelter in the White Fang with a proper spin on it. But it was how the attack was done that had her truly intrigued. In fact, this last month was really interesting. First there was the odd Grimm attack which happened during a terrorist attack on a hospital. The White Fang pleaded not guilty on the subject and Cinder believed them. Stealing cargo from Faunus workshops was one thing. But blowing up a hospital, one that treated both Humans and Faunus, was not their typical targets. And during the Grimm attack there was sighting of a boy covered in a red flame-like aura that made him immune to harm from Grimm, gave him super strength, speed, and recovery.

To the city he was a hero. But to those that saw him before he became the hero, they knew what he was. He attacked one of the other students, Sasuke, after he destroyed the hospital with an explosion of red power that surged from within him. Their fight took them over most of the docks before he was suddenly quieted and turned on the Grimm by unknown methods. Shortly after that, there were reports of him going rouge at Beacon, but Cinder found no evidence of foul play. But shortly after that another addition was made to the school in the form of an assistant, one Uzumaki Naruto.

Cinder was convinced that Ozpin was hiding something far more dangerous than even Amber, wherever she was. How could Ozpin have such a powerful individual on his side and not utilize him more frequently? Had he already done it? Did he turn him loose him on the White Fang at their rally? And if so: Why now of all times?

There was no hiding Ozpin's desire for peace. He believed talking would solve all problems. A younger version of herself might agree to such notion. But she was dead now, replaced with her current self. Her past self would remain buried and forgotten. Just like how the world had done so with the Four Maidens. She'd make them all remember. That was only part of her goal. Attaining their power, striking fear into the world, showing them that everything they hoped for was a lie, was just icing on the cake for her.

"Let him stew over it."

Cinder glanced upwards towards her two… allies? She was hesitant to even call them that. Pawns, knights, maybe they were bishops? Adam was a pawn. "You're just saying that cuz the guy beside him warned him when you were going to try something," the boy told her.

"The death count is a terrible thing," Cinder cur in before the female could spout anything off ay him. Emerald never liked Mercury; something that Cinder thought was amusing. Both had different backgrounds, dark or shady as they were, but it was like when two bad guys got together in a show and could only work partially well together. In combat, they were good. Out of combat, it was nothing but a game of annoying the other as fast as possible. Tapping the power button on her scroll, she faced the two and gave them a sly smile. "Adam will only become more engrossed in our plans with this. And if he should appear again, it'll aid us more in the long run if he continues to target the White Fang."

"Adam's not gonna like being used like that," Mercury pointed out cheekily.

"So long as he never knows, he'll be alright. Besides," she looked out the window to the fleet of ships that James had brought, "we have more pressing matters to tend to then being curriers for some petty Faunus with a chip on his shoulder."

"Then how do we give him a report on this? He's going to ask if we knew about it." Emerald warned.

"Let me deal with him. In the meantime, you should go do some digging of your own. Figure out who does what and who's competing in the tournament. The more we know the better our odds will be."

Grinning, Mercury sprang to his feet and stalked towards the door. "But keep a low profile, right?" Cinder inclined her head with the same smile as before. Students could get away with so much.

"And what about me?" Emerald asked hopefully. Before the woman could answer her Scroll buzzed to life. She read the contents of a message she was sent before looking to her fellow female. "Adam?"

"He wants to run an operation against the unknown attacker. I'm allowing this to go through," she explained as she furious typed away on the device. "I want you to monitor it. If the trap is sprung and the prey escapes, observe him and nothing more. Make sure that if you get a chance to get photos and video footage, take it. The world will see the monsters that Beacon has created." Smiling, she set out. I'm going to enjoy watching you burn alive, Ozpin. She is right about you. You are a very naïve man. She looked back at her device and then grabbed a needle to continue her work on her dust imbued dress.