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Chapter 31

James sat across from Sasuke, his tired eyes showing fear for the topic at hand. It shouldn't have come to this. It didn't need to come to this. But the Council and their politics demanded an answer. Ozpin gave them an answer. It just wasn't one he agreed with. "Tell me about the powers you have." No reply came. Sasuke just stared straight ahead, his mind elsewhere now. "Sasuke Uchiha."

The raven-haired youth stared at him with his onyx colored eye for a moment. "You already know everything."

Ironwood nodded and tapped his Scroll a few times. A report on the attack showed the current death toll. Sasuke wasn't surprised by it. Photos of the incident, the finding of Naruto and Blake's bodies, along with the destruction brought on by Sasuke's attack to stop him, all laid out for him to see. Then there was a single photograph of both boys and a detailed report written by someone else.

"You lack basic humanity. Is this what makes you capable fighters?"

Taken back by his comment, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and snorted. "Isn't that what a soldier is to you. Someone who takes orders and never questions them?"

James highlighted a small written section of the report on Sasuke. "Records have shown that you show routinely exhibited mildly sociopathic tendencies. Difficulty with socialization and-"

"You're an idiot," Sasuke cut him off. James stared at him long and hard. "Maybe in your world, those tests mean something. But where I'm from, they don't mean anything. Your tests might prove I'm all those things, but I've worked my ass off to make myself better for this world. And this isn't even about me. It's about him." He pointed to the wall where he knew Naruto was being held. He crossed his arm in defiance. "We both warned you about the power of the Kyuubi. The stories we were told."

"And that's why we refused to believe you."

"You would think that one event taking place where he woke up and we fought would have been enough of a warning for you, but apparently it wasn't. That power brought the Grimm here. And when you asked us what it could do, we told you. You knew what he could do. You've known what I can do."

"You never mentioned this."

A video feed showed Sasuke's skin, hair, and eye change before his eyes. He turned away from the scene. He never wanted to see that stuff. Never wanted to rely on it again.

"Care to explain that?"

He unconsciously rubbed the spot where the mark was while taking a deep breath. He could still fill its hold on him. At best it was like a drug. You never got over the rush it gave you. One taste was enough to have you hooked. A great mental strength was needed to stop using it. Sasuke had done so but had relapsed a few times since his time here. The clouding thoughts no longer motivated him to seek out the one who bestowed the gift to him.

But how did he explain it to him. A rapid transformation of his form, even without growing the wings that would sprout from his back in the second stage of the transformation, it was hard to explain just what he'd become or what he was when to them he was now a Faunus or a monster.

Leaning back, he opened his eye and sighed explosively. "It's a power thrust upon by a former Shinobi from my village." The pain and the horrors of what it had done to him came back for a moment. It was long enough for him to shudder and be thankful that the hold it once had was gone. That version of him needed to die. And he was doing his best to ensure that it stayed dead. "During a test that would grant us a promotion in rank, he snuck in and decided to give me this power. There are two stages to it. The first stage is just the markings and the second stage are an inhuman transformation. What I looked like in that image is the full thing."

James stared at him for a long time before a scowl spread across his face. "You're lying."

The former Uchiha stared at him, his eye hardening as his Sharingan slowly began to glow. "And you've been lying about your report on me." Sasuke waited for any subtle change in the Generals' posture. He saw it a moment later as the man blinked and clenched his jaw. "Glynda made it very clear when they found us and did a report on me that I was all of the things you just said. But I've gotten updated since that report. It's, what, a year and half old now? I'm still socially awkward, but name someone my age that isn't. And I'll be the first to admit that maybe I do have sociopathic tendencies, but I have never once used them against my friends or fellow students."

"And you're three fights against Naruto? What do those count as?"

Eye half lidded, the raven-haired youth winced. "The first time is what brought us here. That was a darker time for me. The fight served its purpose in waking me up from my delusional state."

"And that would be…?"

"None of your concern."

"It is my concern." Prying wasn't working as quickly as he liked. Sasuke was making sure that whatever information he gave was short. That wasn't going to work for long. "Sasuke, I want to help you. But without information, I can't even do that."

"Strange that only now you seem to care about what I have to say."

James shut his eyes and resisted the urge to yell at him. Yelling would get him nowhere and he knew it. Sasuke had the moral high ground in this. He'd warned them, yes. And he even took care of the problem where James and his advanced machines of war couldn't. Sasuke had all the cards and the only one James currently held was the threat of the Council. The Council wanted blood and bodies. The people responsible for this needed to be brought to justice. There was no way this wasn't going to end well and not without a body.

Whether he was willing to throw him a bone or simply took pity on him, Sasuke shut his eye and said, "I wanted to leave my village for power," getting a curious raise of the brow from James. "When we fought the first time, it was back home for us. Naruto was sent with a team to retrieve me. I willingly left our village, being a traitor in the process. Naruto made a promise to our third teammate to bring me back. We fought at the Valley of the End. It was the border between the two countries. We fought. He won. Part of me had left because I wanted to be strong enough to kill my brother, and the other part of me that made me leave was because Naruto, the Deadlast of our class and the weakest, was now as strong as me. He had grown strong where I had not. It infuriated me."

"When the fight was over, something inside me told me that my path wasn't going to end in happiness. I knew it, but I never wanted to believe it. If I killed my older brother, I'd come back a hero. The hero who saved the village from Itachi Uchiha, the butcher of my clan. But when I received the Curse Seal," he put his hand on the object in question, "it drove me to the point of no return. I wanted so badly to kill him and the power it gave me only made things worse for me. Naruto must have knocked some sense into me during out fight, because after I lost my eye, I saw something else. My desire for revenge just… disappeared."

His hand dropped from the mark and he shook his head.

"The second fight was simply because he woke up still in the mind of the battle, and being influenced by Kyuubi, who had taken control of his body during the event didn't help either. The only saving grace was that the damage I had done in our first fight had affected him as well. Kyuubi was weak and slow to regain his power. The influence he had only came through the orb that his parents had put him, which was the cause for his comatose state, was detreating. The Seal was weak as well, as the chakra that bound the Kyuubi inside him was weakening from being drained to maintain the shell Naruto had over his mental body. The Seal was strengthened as soon as he was back in the right state of mind. Kyuubi wouldn't escape or lash out without Naruto's direct say so or unless pushed to the breaking point of mental clarity."

"Meaning that whatever caused him to become what he became could have a direct tie to his mental clarity?" James asked. That sounded believable. Mental clarity could get thrown out the window fast by untrained Huntsman and Soldiers if they didn't have good discipline. It stood to reason that whatever caused his sudden transformation might have been caused by an outside source. "That sounds believable, given that Blake did inform us that the place they were in was blown up with Naruto inside it. The White Fang wanted him dead and obviously had an ulterior motive for taking Blake. Her father was once the leader of the White Fang, back when things were different and peaceful."

Sasuke waved a dismissive had. That was unimportant to him. Blake's personal background wasn't something he cared about. True, the motive sounded plausible, but the explosion with Naruto inside sounded reason enough for his sudden transformation.

"That leaves the third fight." James wanted to get back on track. The fights were serious matters and something that would be used against him if the names of the two-people responsible came to light. Ozpin might want to lie and bend the truth for them, but James wasn't willing to go that far. Not just yet. Not without proof that both boys were in the right on this. Ozpin could convince them of whatever lie or half-truth he wanted.

"Naruto was angry that we were stuck here. He wanted to go back home and bring me along with him so that he could keep his promise to our third teammate. But upon learning that a way home was going to take a long time, he didn't like the answer and wanted to find a way to speed up the process. Unhappy and stressed out, a fight was inevitable. I fought but didn't have the full strength to do so. I wanted him to understand why we couldn't go back, but he refused to listen. In the end, he opted to agree that this was the best course of action, just not the one he wanted."

James did away with the images and reports on Sasuke and the battle, and instead brought up another one. It showed Naruto and his bloodwork. Sasuke didn't understand it and James laced his fingers together after bringing up another one. "These were taken after his first visit to my ship for his injuries he suffered during his operation against the White Fang. The first one, that is." Sasuke nodded, showing he understood. "This is the current day one."

Sasuke shook his head. He couldn't see a difference.

The General nodded slowly. It made sense that Sasuke couldn't see the difference. He was a warrior, not a man of science. "This," he motioned to a cluster of oddly shaped blurs, "were present in his body when he first came to my ship for his injuries. And, after careful study, we realized that they radiated a small amount of energy. We can't isolate it and it appears to only last a short amount of time outside of the main body. Being in the blood doesn't save it. However," he then motioned to the new image, "the strange energy is no longer present in his body. Those bacteria aren't present. And his blood cells show signs of tampering. We can't isolate it now, but something was introduced into his body that has begun to affect him."

"In what way?" Sasuke rose to his feet. Four soft clicks sounded and Sasuke looked in the dark room for a moment. It was hard to see, but four small guns were placed at the door and aimed at him. He sat back down without a word. "How is it affecting him?"

"We don't know." James felt a sense of a pride in that he finally put the Uchiha in his place. Former Uchiha or not, James felt that his last name wasn't something he could do away with. Not going by it was in its self, cowardice. "That's why you're here as well. Learning what you can do might also tell us what to expect from this."

"My knowledge on the Kyuubi has always been limited."

"And yet Naruto knows more about your eye than you do." Sasuke pursed his lips together at that. "Naruto has been kind enough to tell us the secrets of your eye. Things he learned from the creature and from his parents. He said that a person bound the creature to its will with their eye alone. And that the creature despises your eye, meaning that it has more abilities than what you care to admit to."

Sasuke shut his eye tightly. No. He didn't know that the eye could control the Kyuubi. How could he know that? Why would he even know that? Naruto might have mentioned it once, but it was still unbelievable to him that such a thing was possible. "Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu are the only abilities I know about."

"And they do what?"

His Sharingan was gone when he opened his eye. James felt better. "Tsukuyomi traps the opponent in an illusion where time and space are the users' will. They can make one second feel like an eternity. Every pain you feel is worse than what it should be. The power is something I've experienced once before. Breaking free of it is impossible and only someone with a great mental strength can come out conscious. Anyone else is rendered dead or comatose."

The Headmaster bit his lower lip. That… that was a power beyond human. Beyond a Semblance. Beyond anything he could comprehend. If a Semblance existed that could do that, he'd sooner kill the person than use them. The liability of such a power left unchecked in the wild was too scary for him to imagine or desire to imagine.

"Amaterasu is a black flame that will burn for seven days and seven nights. It burns everything it touches. There isn't enough water in the world to douse its flames, or enough dirt either. The flames can only be contained by sealing them away or by the caster willing them away. I've never seen it, but according to Naruto, it will burn everything. Nothing has ever lived that will not die to those flames."

Again, another problematic ability. Sasuke clearly didn't have access to either ability, but if he could use the illusion ability, would he even know if he was in one? Were their signs that the user had cast the ability upon someone? James feared that nothing he had was accurate for a moment, but Sasuke's expression, his way of explaining the abilities, made it appear he couldn't utilize it. And without seeing the other one, there was a chance he didn't have that one either.

James could see now how painful this was for the youth. He didn't like talking about his past. And while knowledge was limited on the Kyuubi, everything they knew and had been warned about came from both boys. Naruto had made it very clear that should the Kyuubi escape, they'd have no chance of stopping it. This was a minor outbreak and they had no hope of stopping it then. If it was at its full power, nothing they do would have mattered. When it really mattered, they hadn't listened. The boys had been right. They couldn't stop it.

Knowing that this was where the conversation ended, James picked up his scroll and pad. "I've been authorized to let you return to Beacon. You're to not leave the academy until further notice. And before you ask," he cut off anything Sasuke was going to say, "You can't see him just yet. He's still not out of critical care."

Sasuke slowly closed his mouth and nodded. James walked out of the dark room, leaving the raven-haired youth behind to dwell on the future of their stay here.

(-)

"How's he doing?"

The doctor eyed the Beacon Headmaster warily as he looked over the medical chart for a third time in the last ten minutes. DuFresne barely cared about Ozpin, if only because he wasn't loyal to him. He was loyal to Ironwood, his General and the man that made it possible for him to be a medical officer to begin with. But common curtsy as a practitioner of health made him stay his words. "Surprisingly well, all things considered."

"When will he be up?"

The man turned a calculating eye on the Headmaster, sizing him up as he did, before lowering the piece of paper he'd been reading under and said, "Not any time soon," as if it were by his command that teen would rise. "Third and fourth-degree burns cover most of his body. Both arms were wrecked to the point that I think amputating them is required. His left lung was deflated from the fire he breathed in, a wonder that the right one didn't deflate as well. Almost every bone has a fracture of some sort in it, to which I think he's bones might turn into powder if he were to put them under any sort of stress anytime soon. And we have no idea how bad a concussion he might have, let alone any other problems we just can't see right now."

Ozpin merely smiled as if knowing that everything the man said was true, but utterly pointless in the long run. That much damage and still kicking meant he was strong and stubborn. Either that, or the doctors here were to be given more credit than they usually get considering they were keeping him alive.

"Ozpin, I understand that you want to see the boy, but trust me. For the time being, it's best he stays sedated. He'd be screaming himself horsed and still be doing so if it weren't for that. No number of painkillers could stop or suppress the pain he's in."

"I see." The Headmaster became serious and for a moment, stared at the door that lead to the room Naruto was in. He couldn't see him, but in his minds' eye he could see him. He was strapped to the table, covered in bandages and hooked up to more wires and hoses than what most humans thought possible. It was a sad image in his head. For one so young to be broken so badly by his powers and hated for them was just terrible. "Inform Ironwood when he awakens. And do pass along a message to him that I would like to have him contact me as well." The medic nodded and departed, taking the documents with him as he did.

Ozpin stayed behind, staring at the door. I doubt I can lie much longer to the Council about you, Naruto. He picked up his cane, tucked it under the crook of his arm, and departed. He had other meetings to go to and people that needed to vent at him.

(-)

Blake sat in the dimly lit room holding a single photo. Her injuries hadn't fully healed, but she had been released from the hospital not long after being admitted. Questions from Ironwood and Ozpin were quickly followed by more concerned questions from her team and friends. And while their words meant something, in the end, the really meant nothing.

A daze. That was how she felt. Like everything that had transpired had been a dream. There had been no creature. It was a lie. There had been no mass suicide to a vision of death created by something dark. It was all just a dream. She kept telling herself that. But the more she lied to herself, the more the reality of what happened hit her.

Naruto nearly died. Did die, in fact. She was sure his heart had stopped beating. That was how she found him. Burned, not breathing, bleeding horribly, and glowing red. The sight was sickening. And the smell reminded her of her time with the White Fang when peaceful protests turned violent. The stench of death was in the air. And even now she still smelt his blood on her hands. Naruto's blood had long sense been removed from her clothing and body, but she could still feel it. She could still smell it.

"Those who break the rules are scum." Blake's head snapped in the direction of the voice. Sasuke stood at the door. She hadn't heard it open. Sasuke leaned against the shut door, his eye closed. "But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He shook his head. "Our Sensei told us that once. I never once thought about the real meaning behind that. I like to think I understand it, but the truth is, I don't think I do."

"Wise words," Blake replied softly. A long and awkward silence fell between the two. Sasuke didn't move from the door. Blake never let go of the photo. She stared at it for a long time as if somehow seeking an answer to a question she didn't know how to word.

"When I was younger, when our fighting reached its end, I thought I won. Our fight was about our bonds to one another. It's not that I didn't cut those bonds. I didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me obtain power by following in his footsteps. I spared Naruto's life on a whim… nothing more." Sasuke inhaled slowly and moved from the door to the desk. Naruto had laid things out neatly. An array was drawn up and notes were attached stuck on sticky notes beside it.

Blake looked up from the photo and watched Sasuke trace the array on the paper. She looked down at the photo and then sat it on the desk. "If you're angry with me…"

"I'm not." His reply was quick. The raven-haired youth continued to trace the array. "He would have helped you anyways. Even if you pushed him away, he would have come to your aid. That's just how he is. I'm not mad at you. I'm not even mad at him. How could I be? This is how he is. How he's always going to be."

The awkward silence resumed, and Blake found herself looking at the floor before long.

"What should I do? How can I make this right?"

The former Uchiha stopped tracing the array and took a deep breath. "I don't think you can make it right. Not to him. Because you're in the right. And you're not in the wrong to me either." Her eyes squeezed shut and she ran a hand across her face. "It's funny. I never thought about it until just now. When you do something right, people won't remember it. But when you do something wrong, they will never forget it. I won't forget this day. Not because of you. Not because of him. But because of Ozpin and James. They knew about the creature Naruto had, and still they did nothing. Our stories were facts, but they didn't believe."

"To some a story is just a story. So maybe that's what they thought."

Sasuke doubted that. How could one believe that to be a story when they had the creature in the room with them? When the world saw him wake and destroy the Grimm on the same day with that power.

(-)

Emert opened his eyes and snarled as he cut the monitor off. Persia snatched back the remote and turned it back on. "Just because cartoons aren't playing, doesn't mean there's nothing to watch," she told him heatedly.

"Because watching the news about the death toll, strange hallucinations created by the creature, or the controversial video that the White Fang sent in showing who is responsible counts as something good to watch," he snapped back at her.

Jasper barely glanced up at the mention of the video that was sent out. It was just a rumor, but if it was true, how did the media get a hold of the information, and why wasn't it being shown to back up their claims of such a thing existing? Even if there was a video, what did it matter. Most likely the person responsible was dead and that was that. All their hate would be placed upon a dead man. Useless.

"It was a large-scale attack that resulted in over five thousand civilian deaths," Persia informed him. "I want to know what we missed when we were knocked out by Sasuke and what that thing was that we were sent out to fight, along with what I saw."

"And Sasuke is missing," Jasper added. The female Faunus fell silent at that. "He nearly got you killed by using his power the way he did, and from the way it sounds, he's responsible for saving us the way he did. Pyrrha told me that the two of them managed to land the craft as best they could after the pilot killed himself from whatever it was, he saw."

"And how did he know about that?" Jasper quieted down as the young woman got to her feet and stormed over to door and left before they could stop her.

Jasper shook his head. "She's worried about Sasuke," he said finally. Emert grabbed the remote and turned the monitor off. "You're quiet. Anything to add?"

Emert looked off in to the distance for a moment before fishing out his Scroll. "No," he admitted as he dialed a number and walked out. He waited for a few seconds before it was answered. "You owe me an explanation, Aurora."

"You believe my stories now, Honey?"

"Tell me how you knew that would happen." He smiled as he passed by the concerned members of team RWBY minus Blake as they walked back to their room with some snacks. "I wanna meet with you."

"Then you're in luck. I'm here in town. But you already know that. Go to the garden. I'll explain everything there. I promise, Honey."

The line went dead and Emert inhaled deeply as he put his Scroll in his pocket.

(-)

Ozpin took a calming breathe as he realigned himself in his chair. The meeting was taking too long and too many people were shouting for his liking. Raised voices would do no good here, that much he knew. People wanted an answer. A believable answer! Not his usual half-truths or vague answers. They needed to know that what happened was something beyond their control and was quickly evolving into a serious situation that might not end well for any party involved.

War was never pretty. This was the closest thing to an actual war that had surfaced in years for anyone. Most of the Council for both Atlas and Vale were just barely old enough to remember the last war, and even if they were old enough, most of them would have been just children at the time and would barely remember much of it other than the loss of life and the onslaught of attacks by the creatures of Grimm.

The answers they wanted, however, were not easily explainable and worse yet, the powers that were in play were also brought into question as well.

"Gentlemen!" Ironwood's rough sounding voice echoed over the shouting through the call. The shouting stopped, but only after a few more got their final words in, which wasn't much more than insults and demands. "Are people are looking into the attack and what happened. But as far as our information goes, we only know that the White Fang did this to invoke fear among the people and bring in that strange Grimm."

"Which brings us back to the original topic!" A man shouted angrily. "We're going around in circles. The White Fang are responsible! Yes! We know. But what we want to know is how did this Grimm get into the city?! That much you have yet to answer!"

James fell silent, hoping that Ozpin might have an answer to the question. Any possible answer he could conjure up would be nothing short of a lie and they all knew it. The Council was smart. They were already working fast to have an investigation team look in on the matter, starting with ground zero. Any possible means of covering this up would be shot before it even left the ground.

"The Grimm's appearance was unexpected," Ozpin began, his eyes shut as he gave his explanation to them. "But we believe it might have surfaced through the ground. There is a network of tunnels that once lead to the heart of Mt. Glean. Chances are; the fighting that was there simply lured the Grimm to that location and it merely began causing problems from there."

"And the video footage sent in by the White Fang? How do you explain that?"

James and Ozpin fell silent. The evidence that proved this wasn't a Grimm attack was right there in front of them. A human transformed into a monster and did this. There was no denying it. No one would ever be able to undo the damage that this did or the wild theories that would be put into motion should the video ever reach the light of day to the public.

"I think we're forgetting that the Fang caused this attack in the first place."

"And I think you're forgetting just how many people died at the hands of this thing! The current death toll puts it at around five thousand. And that number is still climbing. We're still finding bodies in houses and pulling people from the wreckage of your craft, General Ironwood. We understand that the creature is dead, but we also understand that at the site where the creature of lightning intervened were two bodies. One of which we know was a captured woman and the other is a complete unknown."

"The female is Blake Belladonna, daughter of the former White Fang leader, Ghira Belladonna, and his wife, Kali Belladonna," Ozpin explained before James could say anything. "The other is an operative of mine. His name is Syxx Kamikaze."

"We have no records of anyone by that name working for you. Is this operative licensed?"

"Forget that. How old is this operative because General Ironwood has stated in his report that this is a boy! Not a man! Not a teenager! A boy!"

Ozpin's lips pursed together tightly. The silence hung for an eternity before Ozpin closed his eyes. "Thirteen."

Ozpin had expected anger. He had expected rage and shouting, but all he got was stunned silence. The shadowed images of the council didn't move. They didn't speak. They might have simply been staring in stunned silence. Or, the more logical thing, they were thinking of a way to get back at him for this. To use one so young was barbaric. Cruel. Unjustly even.

Child soldiers were a common thing with bandit and Grimm attacks a constant. Children that could fight back against their attacker did. Though they usually died as a result, the ones who survived became strong. They were hardened by battle and lost a lot of elements of being children from that point on. Bandits did the same thing. They used children to set up attacks sometimes, lull the victim into a false sense of security and then strike.

But for a Headmaster, the fabled Ozpin, to use a child as an operative was just wrong.

"Is he a child soldier."

Ironwood was quick to the reply. "Yes," he gave Ozpin a pointed look and mouthed, "Let me handle it," to him before continuing. "He's a joint operative between myself and Ozpin. We need to figure out what the White Fang our doing and they've been working with another human. This much we know. One Roman Torchwick. We hoped that by using him we could figure out what the Fang are up to and put a stop to it before more innocent lives are lost."

"Where is he from?"

"A remote island from Haven. I found him on a trip to Haven a few months back," Ozpin lied. "He showed promise and great battle smarts. Since he doesn't have enough money to be enrolled at my academy and was willing to fight against the White Fang and any other threat he wants us to."

"Do you have any documents or footage to back up this claim?"

"No."

Silence reigned again. James could see the gears in Ozpin's head turning. He was trying to make this work. They were in the wrong. They were withholding information crucial to the event, and even if it wasn't for the good of Naruto, it was for the best of the world at large. More so for Ozpin. He wanted to believe that Naruto could be used in his battle against Salem. If she didn't know about him before this, she did now.

"I think we should call this meeting for the day. Clearly, we're all to high strung from the attack and are currently needing a moment to rest. If you'd be so kind as to provide us with the legal documentation of his finding and abilities, it'll make giving the media something to sedate themselves much easier." The screens winked off before Ozpin could give a reply.

Ozpin waited a moment before he sighed and glanced over to James. The man wasn't too happy about their current circumstances. They were lying or giving out half-truths. He could stand a few well-deserved secrets. Everyone could. But this was different. This was global. It was the difference in having a weapon without a safety and a weapon with a safety feature. Naruto didn't have a safety feature. They could give him one, but what good would it do when he could simply shrug off an attack on the scale of what he was hit by? Was he simply indestructible while in that red form?

"They're going to figure it out," James finally told him, coming to terms with what it meant down the line for him as well. Ozpin nodded mutely. "They'll want answers. Answers we can't outright give them. And worse of all, they'll want to know why we're keeping him. Are you prepared to tell them?"

Ozpin pursed his lips and turned away from his friend. "Perhaps… But this truth could break the peaceful mold that has been built around the people for years now. We shatter it now, it'll only invite more Grimm. More senseless death and hate. I'd rather like to avoid that." He ran a thumb over the top of his cane, his eyes becoming unfocused, if not for more than a second. "I think we need to rest as well. Tomorrow will be an even bigger day than today. And I fear that whatever news is to come our way, we must be well rested and prepared for it." He leaned back and shut his eyes. After a moment, he heard the door open and close. How do I fix something that was never mine and broken to begin with?

A light blinked to life on his desk. Curiously, he reached out and tapped it and the monitor came to life once more. He shook his head, unable to understand what we he was looking at. A shadow snaked its way just near the edge of the feed he was watching before it lurched up and stabbed a piece of machinery next to a bed. It took him a moment to realize that it was Naruto's ICU room he was looking at and that the Jinchuuriki was twitching. The shadow turned white and then gold as if it were heated to the point of melting before it rapidly cooled and formed a chain.

A Semblance manifestation?

His eyes widened as another shadow appeared, stabbed another section of the room and glowed golden before turning into a chain. Before long the entire room was covered in them and gave the appearance of a horror movie slaughter or torture chamber. A final chain jerked up into perfect view of the camera, revealing a four-bladed arrowhead that twisted slowly before jetting into the camera like a snake lunging for its pray. The feed was cut, and the doctor Ozpin had spoken to early appeared.

"You asked I keep you informed, Sir. He's waking up. I felt you should be here as well."

He cut the call.

Ozpin blinked and reached for his Scroll as it began to ring. James's face appeared to show who was calling. Well now, he replayed the footage, stopping it just as the end of the chain came into view before it struck, that's very interesting.

(-)

James cracked his jaw as he stared through the window and into the room. Sasuke was sitting in a chair with his arms crossed and his eye narrowed as if he were trying to piece together a reason for why he was even here to begin with. James pulled out his Scroll and looked at the photos on it, his eyes darkening as he flipped through several images of the chains in motion around Naruto's bed before coming to the video that was from the event.

How the hell did this happen?

Seeing no other way than to do it quick, he rushed in and put the Scroll on the table, immediately linking it to the projection screen in the process. Sasuke's eyes danced over the plethora of images, each one alarming him more than the last until the video finally showed him the entire event.

"You need to start being straight with me, Sasuke. Why didn't you tell us that this could happen?" James cut the projection and looked the former Uchiha square in the eye. "Why didn't you tell us he could do this?"

"I didn't even know he could do this," he confessed quickly. James let out an angry snarl as he punched the table, denting from the force. Sasuke stared at him heatedly before pointing at him and yelling, "How can I know something that I was never told about," as he rose to his feet. James stared him down, his eyes full of rage as the young teen in front of him glared at him. Sasuke broke the intense staring contest with a fake laugh. "Of course. Of course! As soon as shit goes south, you blame the only people that were telling you anything about it."

"This is beyond that! Do you know something about this?!"

"No."

"You're lying."

"Even if I was, which I'm not, I sure as hell wouldn't be willing to help you now. Have you even been working on a way to send him home?" James stood up straight, his eyes darkening. Sasuke snorted in disgust. "No. Of course you haven't. Why would you? Two people with abnormal abilities that no one here can utilize. You got yourself two great Hunters. That's what you thought, I'm guessing. One that has elemental control with the ability to see anyone movements before they themselves know what they're going to do, plus the ability to make copies of himself, stick to walls without aid, enhanced strength, speed, and durability. While the other can make an entire army with but a thought, extreme strength, speed, durability, and regeneration capabilities, along with a very destructive ability and a power that can never run out of energy. You thought you could turn us into your weapons to fight whatever "evils" you found out there! Am I wrong?"

James said nothing for a good long while as the former Uchiha finished his rant. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he shut his eyes. "Yes. You're right. I thought we could use you both as weapons. When Ozpin told me about your fight that first time, and showed me the footage, I was in awe to it. Even my most powerful of soldiers couldn't do what you two did. You fought like professionals. I recognized right away that you both had promise. Obviously, there were complications. One of you was in a comatose state and the other was a teen trying to change his whole life because he nearly killed his friend. You were both so heavily damaged that when I finally got here, I realized that whatever goal I might have had for you was not to be."

"I choose to work for Ozpin because he pardoned me for our actions. It was the deal we made. I couldn't go back home. He knew that. He knew about my past, what it meant, and why I wanted to change. I knew Naruto would want to take me home. That's why I was going to trick him with a clone if there was ever a way to send us back. But the more time I spent here and with you, I realized that you couldn't do it. Ozpin made it very clear that what I wanted for him was impossible. I told him that Naruto made me believe that word was just a weakling's way of saying that they couldn't. Nice to know I was right."

Sasuke sat back down and the lights' suddenly flickered, causing both to look up at the single light in the room.

"Sir!" James turned away from Sasuke as he snatched up his Scroll.

"Report."

"We're losing power. The Engineers confirmed it a few seconds ago when we started to notice some odd flickers in a few parts of the ship. We got enough power to stay afloat, but the thing is, this whole thing is strange right now."

"And no one noticed this until now?" Sasuke slowly got to his feet and James gave him a pointed look that Sasuke shot right back at him. "I'm not in the mood now, Sasuke."

"Sir, the reason we didn't report it is because they were still doing repairs. We figured that something might have been rewired wrong. They swear everything is back the right way. But when we noticed that the core was showing an extreme decrease in power, we knew something was off. We thought this might have been faulty as well. We were just waiting for conformation. Got it now."

"Right. Keep me posted." He cut the call and sighed explosively as he gripped the back rest of the chair. He looked to the former Uchiha as he remained standing. He was watching the light flicker on and off before he started looking around the room. "What?"

"Is it hot in here?" The power went out and Sasuke's single eye blazed red as the Sharingan formed.