Fox of Remnant

by Zagger the Bloody Angel

A wish. His wish and dreams were placed into the hands of another. And their wish was for him to live peacefully. It seemed Fate was a cruel mistress and still had plans to use him for her gains. No more! He will fight against these chains that shackle and bind him! Naruto/Blake/Weiss. Berserk Cross. AU Naruto, RWBY Canon Divergence Tags: Action\Fluff\Humor\Angst\Drama\Hurt/Comfort

7. Volume I - The Fated Holidays - Part II

Here is Part II of the Fated Holidays.

Hope the start of everyone's holidays is going well, whether or not you celebrate.

Hope everyone is enjoying my gift to all my readers.

And understands why these are the newest chapters.

After all...

To the fates, does it really matter?

---

File Restored...

Reestablishing Control...

Target Found.

No Interference.

Executing Shift...

---

As the morning sun slowly crept into the small room they were afforded for the night for helping the town, Blake's eyes shifted around the room as she sat on her bed, her right knee brought into her chest. Hardly anyone had slept after the night they had.

The terror each had witnessed from the Apathy, the drain they felt from their attacks, and then what they saw from Naruto unleashing his rage made rest, while necessary, next to impossible. What sleep they got was restless, and they were still quite tired. And he had yet to rest as he was still outside in the bitter cold with some of the villagers.

They were burying what remained of the dead on the frozen farms.

Her ears twitched as she adjusted to a swatch of red fabric that had been torn from Pyrrha's sash and had been fashioned to allow her to make a makeshift bow to hide her ears. She was the only one to notice her bow had disappeared and was most likely engulfed in the flames of Naruto's fires and lost in the carnage. So she quickly took action, ripped off some of her sash, and allowed her to fashion a bow. Thankfully Weiss didn't notice, as she wasn't ready to explain her heritage to the Schnee. She wasn't accepting of faunus already. She didn't want to think about what she would say about finding out someone she knew was hiding the fact she was a faunus right under her very nose.

It would drive her mad.

And even more, Pyrrha didn't seem to have any issues with faunus, despite having been born and raised in Mistral. A place that was notoriously known for its bigotry and racists, at least in the main cities. It was a pleasant and refreshing pace to see someone genuinely not care if someone was a faunus and understand why one would hide their features. She knew there was a reason she liked her.

Pyrrha wasn't even attempting to rest at this point. She had slid her feet onto the side of the bed and was seated, watching the snow flurries outside one of the room's two windows. She stared vacantly into the white void before getting up very weakly, for she seemed exhausted from what had happened and walked outside the room.

Frowning momentarily, it took a second for it to register for Blake that she went to stoke the fire in the fireplace to keep the cabin warm. Pyrrha returned shortly after, brushing wood flakes off her before closing the door behind her as she returned to her seat and continued to stare outside blankly. It was as if she was searching for answers but could not find them.

Weiss lay in the bed given to her on her side, her eyes wide open as she looked out the window. Since whatever Apathy had done severely affected her, she was too exhausted to do much. However, she kept lifting her head and looking outside toward the door. It was as if she was hoping he would walk through the door at any moment. It seemed she wasn't the only person waiting for Naruto to enter the place they were staying in during the hellacious blizzard blowing outside. To make matters worse, it seemed that this place most likely belonged to someone who had recently perished…

She grimaced, and her body trembled. She knew the beds were spares, but that was a discouraging thought. They had arrived too late and were almost added to the corpse pile of corpses…

Some hunters they were. What were they even trying to accomplish here? What were they even worth?

Naruto seemed to be the only one to overcome the Apathy and take matters into his own hands. It gave her enough strength to fight and defeat the Apathy that attacked her, but would she have been able to without his voice snapping her out of it?

Disparaged by that train of thought, Blake grimly looked down at herself and gave a sardonic laugh. "To think I was ready for any of this…I wasn't ready for anything. I really am pathetic to think I could become a Huntress and help people… Who am I fooling? I am no heroine. I never was."

"I really am worth less than the dirt beneath his boot…" Blake retreated into herself, bringing her knees into her chest as she whispered that last part to herself. "A worthless, spineless coward…"

Her breaking laughter seemed to catch the attention of the others in the room. The mood seemingly dropped further as Pyrrha sank her head into herself, having the same thoughts, gazing at her own hands and wincing. Her immense physical fortitude, strength, and battle prowess meant nothing against an enemy she could not physically harm. What use was she here? What purpose were her skills in the grand scheme of things?

Was she worth anything?

Sitting up in her bed, Weiss frowned as the thought crossed her mind. But as it did, she snarled. She refused to give up. She would not wallow in pity over this failure. She did not want to crawl back home and be forced to kowtow. To acknowledge that man was right after he scarred her for life in more ways than one.

She refused!

"So what?!" Weiss snapped, her icy blue eyes piercing as she glared straight at Blake before they narrowed. "Yes, we were unprepared and weren't ready for something like this! All those people and what happened here is horrible… But that's the life we accepted when we accepted this responsibility! If you let this setback get to you, I have news for you…"

"The Grimm do not care about you or your family! They won't stop until all of humanity is wiped out, so you better get used to it. We're not always able to be there in time. It is statistically impossible!" Weiss raved as she gnashed her teeth and balled her fist angrily, her body shaking in rage. "Like those damn scummy animals for adopting those masks and pretending they're Grimm and attacking people using their guise…"

"It's disgusting to think they could stop so low! To be feared like the Grimm, how despicable!" Weiss spat, and Blake hissed in response, her eyes narrowing as her makeshift bow lowered. "They're almost as terrible as the Grimm as at least I can understand the Grimm simply always wanted all of humanity dead…"

"I've only been able to understand one faunus my entire life as he at least isn't like the rest of those animals…" Weiss muttered darkly and looked away. "I can't even trust the rabbit yet… Even if she is nice and friendly."

Blake was twitching violently, her legs unfurled straight, and her golden eyes shined with rage. While she may not have agreed with the White Fang's path, it was still something she cherished, and anyone who tarnished it irked her. And the slurs did not help in the slightest. She knew Weiss didn't think she was a faunus but could she hold back a bit? And did she have to dive straight into it from Grimm straight into the Fang? How did she connect them so fluidly? Were they that inseparable in her mind?

That ticked her off even more!

The room's mood shifted as Pyrrha could feel the tension, as she could feel Blake was ready to start a fight. Knowing her secret, having seen she was a faunus, and witnessing the snarl on her face, she thought she had to step in now. Otherwise, something was going to happen. All the worry she had from before left her body as she couldn't let her friends snap at each other. So she needed to redirect what was destined to be a blowup.

"It was rather jarring, I have to admit. I've never had my blade fail me before." Pyrrha tried to focus back on what had happened and grimaced as she did, admitting her weakness but pulling attention from Weiss' comments and onto her. "And then what happened? I lost the will to fight because of what they did. Then... I saw what he did, and I couldn't help but be amazed at how magical it seemed. How easily he made something seem that I couldn't do…"

"I felt worthless in comparison but awestruck at the same time. How were we in the same recruiting class? How was he not known before as someone with that strength should have been heard about?" Pyrrha commented as she looked down at the center of the room. "It's like he's an idol from mythological fairy tales I used to read and fantasize over when I was younger, wishing I could meet and be with those bronzed chiseled men of unheralded strength and valor. And here he is, with outlandish feats of strength and the same mindset…"

"It's almost like he's the mighty Heracles himself…"

Cringing at Pyrrha's words, not realizing that there was a sliver of truth to that statement in that he was from another world, and that was why she had never heard of him before, Blake frowned as her anger towards Weiss slowly dissipated. She was still outraged but was brought back to the original reason for lamenting. The entire reason she was here in the first place.

One Naruto Uzumaki.

She had come here to listen to him talk about what was up, and now everyone was suffering because of what happened. Was it just a curse? Or was there something more to it? Was it bad luck?

Weiss' face fell as her thoughts fell to Naruto, her eyes gazing at the window she was looking at moments before. She had been perturbed about the state of his mind after witnessing the inferno as he torched the Apathy. While necessary, she was particularly disturbed as this was something she had not seen of him. Could it have been because of what happened two weeks ago? Or was there a layer of trauma that lay further within?

Did he mask and hide his pain as she did?

Her face fell as she looked at the snowstorm, frosting and fogging the windows. She worried and hoped he was okay but at the same time…

Was she after what she saw?

She hoped the snowstorm would settle so they could leave quickly, or someone from Beacon could send a pickup for them after such a trying event. The only thing holding them back was the weather, for even a Bullhead wouldn't be able to safely navigate in a blizzard like this. So she could only hope the weather would clear long enough for them to leave, as she didn't think she could hold back her emotions any longer. She nearly snapped at Blake.

Her mask was beginning to crack.

Blake's makeshift bow twitched as she heard a door open, and footsteps followed it. She knew who it was as it was followed by a soft sigh, but she waited not to reveal who it was. She wanted to check on him immediately, knowing that this series of events could not have been easy, but she restrained herself.

The door opened soon enough to reveal the blonde fox, and all attention was drawn to him.

Naruto was not surprised that the three were wide awake as he entered the room. He felt they were awake, and he couldn't blame them. Even he was exhausted and drained, and sleep was calling for him. He understood why everyone was simply too nervous to let it claim them.

What they had probably witnessed was a little too much, and the Apathy's effects compounded that. It even bothered him to an extent. It was all too much at once to handle.

And now they were put into a small room together. Joy for that until the blizzard settled.

"Oz will send transport soon as the storm settles, most likely before tonight," Naruto commented as he managed to contact the headmaster before sighing. "The storm watch is in effect until this afternoon, so it would be best to get some rest until then. I will be doing night shifts here until the town gets a new Huntsman assigned for guard duty here."

"Thank the Brothers…" Weiss sighed in relief, glad to hear some good news, and smiled briefly as she gazed at the fox.

Then suddenly, her face froze, and her eyes narrowed. "Wait… Won't that take some time?"

"At least a week, maybe even two to three, by the sound of it." Naruto sighed as he shook his head and sighed. "Sounds like before, they had a hunter that lived here permanently, so that's going to change. The attack caught them off guard. They weren't expecting an attack of this size and magnitude. Hunter initially thought it was a minor issue, which is why the bounty only started to escalate in the last few days. The sudden attack seemed so coordinated, almost as if these Grimm were led by something…"

The room fell silent as Naruto tiredly slid onto the last empty bed in the room. He sighed as everyone's faces dropped. "This is the life of Huntsman and Huntresses. It's not glamorous or sexy as most think it is. What we witnessed last night is when everything falls apart and the price of not living within the walls despite how necessary this kind of profession is to daily life for the people inside… Sometimes the protection offered fails, and there isn't enough information that causes teams to come in underprepared."

"And it fucking sucks, but that's the only system right now that works." Naruto narrowed his eyes as there had to be something they could do to fortify small townships better than what they had.

It was almost like they didn't want anything outside the Kingdoms to function, but that couldn't be right…

After another silence, Naruto's head hung as his eyes dimmed slightly. Having seen his past self was challenging to deal with last night. Then seeing Pyrrha nearly killed, Weiss having somehow defended herself but left almost lifeless, and Blake barely holding her own left him scared. He needed to keep pushing himself…

To drive himself further and keep pushing. To work as hard as he could for his friends. He didn't want that fate to befall them. Even if he didn't have a purpose here, the least he could do was give his all for them. That was the least he could do. It was what his younger self would have done. Would have screamed at the top of his lungs for him to do it. He could live up to at least one of his expectations right now.

"That… Fucking blows!" Blake yowled, breaking the silence as her golden eyes gazed at her friend. "Of all things to happen, this just makes it all the worse! Velvet and I had planned the party for all those staying back with you and Fox in mind at the heart of it! We both knew you were staying back, and she knew he had miserable Christmases, and we knew you had no one to spend it with. So we wanted to make sure you spent it with all your friends around, and now this?! You're going to be out here, alone with no one you know when I know something is wrong after everything that happened! By the fucking Brothers!"

"Yeah, I guess I have been off recently since the incident, haven't I?" Naruto gave a weak chuckle before giving a deep sigh and shaking his head as all attention was on him. "Guess my mask isn't as good as it once was…"

Weiss' attention snapped at that. So he was putting up a front as she had thought, but he too seemed to be breaking. That didn't bode well for her…

While Pyrrha listened intently, Blake narrowed her eyes. With how open Naruto had been before about everything, why would he need to mask or hide anything? He had openly admitted he was from another world to her and Velvet…

"Recently, I kind of lost who I am, and I realized I can no longer be what I used to be. Not anymore." Naruto ran his hand through his hair and flicked his ears. "That loud, rambunctious kid full of hope and innocence could never have foreseen what would have happened to him and the path his life would take. The changes I've made and slowly turned away from what used to make me…"

"Me." Naruto looked at his hands and grimaced as he recalled a very grisly detail before taking a deep breath. "But all these things were what I would have to do regardless, whether he knew it or not. It was necessary at the time to make our dream come true, but now…"

"I guess I have to live knowing that my dream will never come to fruition as it doesn't exist anymore. In the end, all our hard work didn't matter." Naruto sadly sighed as he looked out into the blistering cold winds outside. "All that remains is the effort and strength I put into becoming my village's chief."

Blake's bow slumped as Pyrrha and Weiss gasped in shock. She knew differently than the others, who were undoubtedly formulating something in their heads that Grimm or raiders somehow destroyed his village. In truth, it was something far more devastating.

He died and was transported to this world with seemingly no hope of ever returning.

"That's so horrible." Pyrrha looked in shock as she couldn't believe that a village could be destroyed if someone like Naruto lived within it and others like him trained him existed within it…

Even if he was a prodigy, his skills and abilities were so majestic and otherworldly that she couldn't imagine Grimm or raiders being able to stand much of a chance. There had to be something more, but at the same time, she didn't want to press.

He seemed to be in enough pain as it was.

Weiss was left astonished and speechless as she looked at the fox faunus, her icy blues unsure how to process him. He had openly admitted what was eating away at him so willingly despite having concealed the problem. And it was about losing his home?! How was he dealing with that?! Or maybe he was trying to figure them out openly so he could deal with them properly?

What was Naruto? She couldn't figure him out but saw he was slightly more relaxed. Maybe there was something to what he did. She frowned. That was not something she was willing to do right now. She didn't have that level of confidence or feel anywhere comfortable doing with any of these people. She hardly knew any of them and spent a month in the same room with Blake. She was more willing to talk to her crush than her teammate, which was kind of sad…

Did she call him her crush?

A feverish blush spread over her face as she shook her head. She couldn't be falling for him. Her father would never accept the relationship, regardless. It was a wanton desire and nothing more. Maybe a payback fantasy of some sort. Yes, that's what it had to be…

A fun one to consider throwing in his face, however…

"Well, I don't know about you three, but I need some sleep. Glynda also mentioned that everyone should rest as much as possible after an Apathy attack due to the mental strain it puts on your body, so try to get some sleep." Naruto groaned as he lay back down on the bed he was provided and pulled the covers over him. "I, unfortunately, am going to have to pull a lot of guard duty for the next week or so during the holidays…"

"Joy to the world," Naruto muttered as he looked out the window near his bed.

He hated this time of year. Nothing good ever happened around this time.

---

A few days had passed, and Naruto was patrolling, going on a mid-morning trek through the village. He had felt his scroll buzz, but he rolled his eyes. It was an alarm notifying him of the day. It was Christmas Eve. Like he had anything planned. He would send a clone to drop the two gifts he bought for Blake and Weiss later in the day. It would have been a waste not to give them the gifts. He picked them out of them, and at the very least, he wanted them to get them at the proper time. Nora had also thrown the bag at him, and he wanted to ensure she got it back. He wished he could have done it in person, but…

He sighed, ignoring the villagers cleaning up the abandoned cabin next to his. Maybe they were sorting through supplies and making sure nothing went to waste? Seemed logical. He shrugged his shoulders and carried on without a word.

It seemed that nothing happened at this time of the year, especially during times of heavy snowfall. The wild blizzard had brought over a foot and a half of snow. Having lost so many people, the village was quiet and somber. Despite the mood, they appreciated his presence and every assistance he provided.

Shoveling snow. Helping cut wood and haul it back. Hunting for game. Marking a few spots for some defensive posts to be built to help better defend the village. Providing a sympathetic ear to those frustrated at how a Grimm attack nearly wiped out their town. A vital supply for crops, and they couldn't have sent more help.

Naruto didn't have the answers. He still didn't understand enough about how Remnant or how the Kingdoms functioned to respond. All he could do was listen. But somehow, he knew this problem had been around for some time. And it reminded him of an age-old problem he knew from back on Earth…

On how inefficient the Hidden Villages were to the surrounding villages. It was something that Jiraiya had shown him when they journeyed for their training and he vowed he would fix it. And somehow, that issue seemed to persist in different worlds, however…

He didn't have a way to change how it worked here.

His eyes narrowed as his fox ears twitched. He heard the crunching sound of ice in the distance. He frowned as the dour mood could be drawing forth a lot of negativity and, therefore, more Grimm, and he had been expecting such. It was why he had been vigilant and doing multiple patrols, not just night watches.

And if it was Grimm, it indeed was a lot…

"What the…" Naruto jumped to the roof of a house to get a better vantage point of where the crunching came from, only to blink at the sight he witnessed traveling down the road.

He then jumped onto the snowy path and tilted his head, blinking in confusion at what he saw. "I've seen many odd things, but why did all of you come out here with the tree we picked out?"

"Well, Merry fucking Christmas to you too, ass." Yang twitched as she dragged the tree on a sled behind her while she was hiking through the heavy snow with a pack on her back. "This was hard enough as it was."

"I volunteered to take my turn, but you said you had it and were good." Pyrrha giggled and smiled at the blonde dragoness, making her eyes temporarily burn red as she growled in annoyance.

"Okay… That doesn't answer my question." Naruto frowned as he tilted his head and flicked his ears in confusion at seeing everyone there.

Blake's heart suddenly fluttered, and she withered and melted at the sight before her. Her bow twitched excitedly, and instinctively she felt her hips gently wiggle. She didn't know what possessed her, but a light purr ruminated from within her chest at the sight of it. She wanted to give him anything he wanted at that exact moment.

And it horrified her.

What was that look? What were her instincts telling her to do? How she wished she was older so she could have more control over her instinctual urges! She wanted nothing to do with that right now if she was telling her to do what she thought it was! She knew it was that time, but that was not on the books!

"Are you… Purring?" Weiss blinked owlishly at her teammate, which caused Blake's eyes to widen in horror at being discovered.

And she shoved the ice princess into the snow without warning.

"The hell, Blake?!" Weiss screamed as she gazed up intense fascination at the bow-wearing girl in black. "What was that for?"

Having accomplished her goal of distracting Weiss from her original observation, Blake hid a satisfied smirk with an impassive shrug of indifference. "I don't know what you are talking about. Did something happen? I blacked out."

"What do you mean you blacked out? I swear to the Brothers, Blake, what has been happening with you recently?" Weiss narrowed her eyes at her teammate before taking a deep breath and deciding to calm herself down. "Whatever. I would probably get embarrassed too if I were caught purring like an animal…"

Blake's golden eyes narrowed, and she hissed lightly back at her white-haired teammate. "You bitch, and to think I…"

"Enough, you two. Break it up." Coco sighed as she stepped between the two and rolled her eyes behind her glasses, and Yatsu walked alongside her to be her backup. "Let's not get into this debate again. We're here for both work and fun, okay?"

"Work?" Naruto blinked as he figured the three teams had stowed away from Beacon and needed to call Glynda to organize a retrieval for them before his eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute… When I asked for some assistance, did Ozpin…"

"He gave us the mission until they get a new cycle of hunters to take the opening!" Ruby excitedly responded in winter gear and a bright smile before she blew the drawstring of her cap out of her face. "So we get help with guard duty in the village with you for the winter break!"

Wanting to groan, Naruto slumped over in defeat and let out a mild chuckle of both despair and slight amusement. "Well, I guess it won't be boring."

"And you won't have to spend Christmas alone." Velvet smiled as she spoke to the blonde, glad everyone was now together. "Now we can celebrate properly. I couldn't do that knowing you were out here by yourself."

"Nor could I, man! I need my wingman to get me away from these Christmas loons!" Fox annoyingly stated as he trudged through the snow and over to the blonde fox. "So, I'd rather do something productive, even if it's menial labor. Let's get to work!"

"Grinch!" Nora pouted at Fox before blowing a raspberry at him, something he only waved off with a grin despite not seeing the action, hearing loud and clear.

"The one and only!"

Naruto only tilted his head at this action before the said orange-haired, aqua-eyed huntress in training turned to him. And she smiled brightly before she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry for the other day. I got too wound up and didn't see what you and Ren were saying. I know everything was well meant, so I apologize. I didn't mean what I said."

Letting a warm smile grace his lips, Naruto gave a light chuckle before rubbing the back of his neck in response. "For what it's worth, my bad too. I was harsher than I meant to be. I'm not an expert with words or handling situations like that yet, I suppose."

"Oh, I still have that bag you tossed at me in the cabin," Naruto commented as he snapped his fingers before seeing the farmer he had been working with the most walk over. "Is everything all right?"

"I was coming over to inform you that we got a call over the wire that they were sending some students to help at least cover shifts until they get some full-time Huntsman and Huntresses until we can get another full-time resident, but it seems you already found them out. If half the hunters that came through were as apt as you were, everything would have turned out far better than it did…" The farmer starts before ending in a melancholy tone.

The mood dropped, especially for Blake, Pyrrha, and Weiss, who were well aware that lives were lost here, and each flinched at the man's words before the farmer continued. "Well, anyway, it's nice you seemed to know them, as no one should be alone on the holidays. We just arranged the second cabin for the rest so the rest of you can drop off your gear and get situated. I can show you where it is."

"Thanks… I'm kind of tired after lugging this thing for the last few miles." Yang groaned before Yatsu rolled his eyes and took the sled from the blonde dragoness. "Hey! You can't take my turn! You had yours already!"

Daichi said nothing. He took the sled and followed the farmer as he led the group to where they would be staying during the winter break.

"No fair! Give it back! I want the last leg!"

Naruto smiled at watching the interaction before he felt someone brush by him and pull him along. Seeing it was Velvet, he shook his head and smiled.

Maybe Christmas would be something to remember after all. It would certainly be better than any he had before. That was a guarantee. Hard to beat dragging Jiraiya out of a strip club in the red-light district in Tanzaku where the pervert thought the finest gift he could give him was tits and a…

He blushed as he kept his eyes up and focused away from all his female companions as his mind wandered to that place, and he caught himself looking. The fact his gaze found itself towards two he hadn't expected when his body was clearly pushing him toward another candidate and he was walking by another supple, tender…

Naruto silently cursed. How he still hated how he was in some ways and how the pervert cultivated those habits. Tsunade would be ashamed of him…

The fox sighed. He missed his home. He wanted to know if everything was all right. But at the very least, walking beside Velvet, who was beaming and walking with a hop in her step, he felt better. It was almost as if he was home again…

As if he were walking with Hinata.

---

"Fa-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!" Nora sang as she helped decorate the cabin, Naruto's fox ears twitched as somehow the cabin he was staying in was the one they decided to pitch all decorations and were going to hold the gathering.

Also, probably because it was currently warm as the fire had been stoked and kept burning for some time. That might have had a significant impact on the decision. Warmth in below-zero weather was vital.

Naruto twitched further at that. It shifted from a raging blizzard to sub-zero temperatures within days, and he couldn't figure this place out. He swore Vale was closer to the middle of the map, so the temperature should have been more tropical, yet the winter weather here was absurd for some weird reason. Not that he couldn't handle it. Konoha was always rather chilly, which was why coats and cloaks were always the norm there. He had been to places like the Snow Country multiple times, so he was accustomed to this kind of weather.

But still, why was Remnant's weather so weird?

Shaking his head, his attention turned to Ruby and Yang as they decorated the tree before his eyes widened in horror seeing the younger of the two dangling off a weak shelf to plant the star on the top of the tree. "What the hell?! Why are you doing it like that?"

"Like what… Woah!" Ruby started before the shelf gave way and she tumbled and crashed below as the star clattered to the ground before her.

Only for Ruby to be caught bridal style by Naruto. Hearts danced in her eyes while his eyes twitched as he gently planted Ruby back on her feet. Yang chuckled nervously at what had occurred and the look the fox was giving her sister. "Rose, I don't even know where to start, but I think we need to sit down and have a talk about safety basics! You too! You lack them for allowing that to happen!"

At the end of his statement, Naruto glared daggers at Yang after hearing the chuckle and dared her to challenge him.

And it was accepted as her lilac eyes burned red as she huffed. "Oh yeah, let's take this outside then! I'll show you a lack of safety!"

"Or," Pyrrha intervened with a soft smile to put everyone at ease while picking up the star. "You could ask for help from someone with a little more reach, so you don't have to put yourself in that situation again."

While only a few inches taller than Yang, she had considerably more reach due to her wingspan and Pyrrha stretching out, with her arm span being more than enough to reach the top of the tree. She gently placed the star on the top of the tree and smiled as she straightened. She then turned back to Ruby and the others and tilted her head. "There, better?"

"Why can't I be that tall?!" Ruby complained as she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, mildly pouting. "Thank you and everything, but that's not fair! I always wanted to be the one to put the star on top! I will never be able to do it at this rate!"

"Rubes, dad is barely taller than Pyrrha, if he is taller at all." Yang rolled her eyes at her baby sister before patting her on the back. "And I'm as taller than Summer was, so I don't think it's in your blood to get that tall. Or in mine, from what Uncle Qrow says or the few pictures of mom I've seen. From what he said, Branwen are usually either stocky or lanky anyways, so I got it from both sides. It's why I'm built like a truck."

"Oh…" Pyrrha blinked as she suddenly realized she hadn't before looking e at the two sisters. "I didn't realize you two…"

"Are half-sisters? Yeah, it surprises many people, considering our age is only a few years apart and how we interact all the time." Yang sighed, shook her head, and smiled brightly as she looked at Ruby. "My mom left shortly after my birth, and dad moved on as one of his best friends was there to help him get over it and help with me. And because of that help, I was gifted with the best but sometimes most annoying little sister imaginable."

"Hey!" Ruby narrowed her eyes at the minor insult at the end. "Some big sis you are! You always get me into trouble! Like right now!"

"No, you get yourself into trouble, and I don't cover for you. You know how it works, Rubes. I raised you better than that." Yang retorted as she responded with a grin before sighing and shaking her head at Naruto, who had a perplexed look on his face after catching wind of that last statement the sister had commented on. "My bad on that. I don't even notice what she does half the time. I'm used to her doing crazy things and getting away with it. Happened all the time, given we were left to own devices a lot."

Frowning upon hearing that and tucking that information away for another day, Naruto grinned to lift the mood. "Still planning to sit you both down for a basic safety lesson. You both need it, especially if that is true. Think your dad and uncle were a touch lax if they let you get away with that kind of stuff."

It got the reaction he wanted as he saw both twitch. That was more like it, back to normal.

"Oh, thank the Brothers. Maybe I won't fear things dropping on my head any longer." Weiss commented from the kitchen area as she, Jaune, and Velvet focused on making dishes for tomorrow. "It is a hazard when things come flying out of their beds when I'm trying to study below!"

"Right. Almost had a coffee cup drop on my head the other day when Yang got out of bed." Blake commented as she hung a small, strange green plant at the threshold of the bedroom door, using a small stool to stand on. "Better than when she gets frustrated with textbooks and throws them down in anger, in any case. Makes Ruby's nicknack dropping seem trivial in comparison."

"Well, I, uh…" Yang blushed out of embarrassment as there was a bit of a mess on her bed, considering there weren't very many places to put her things in the room.

Naruto almost tripped and face-faulted upon hearing that. Despite making their bunks safer to sleep in, they were still nearly killing themselves in their dorm. By dropping things on their roommates? Why were they allowed to sleep on top, then? Where was the sensibility to say enough and switch beds?

They all needed safety one-o-one! Every last one of them!

He could only take a deep breath and calm himself. "Oh my god… How are you two that reckless? I shouldn't be the one having to say this, as I have no room to talk considering my past, but what the fuck? That is basic safety, and even I had that when I was the world's biggest idiot! It was beaten into me, but I swear I will beat it into you two! And the other two, if they keep letting it happen!"

Ruby and Yang huddle together in fear as they hug each other and nod, their eyes drawn to the terrible fox demon that stood before them, a shroud of evil intent amassing around him. After hearing how his statement ended, Blake and Weiss grimaced and prayed that he would not turn it against them. They did not want to be part of such vile intent.

Naruto released the pressure he had exerted on the sisters before lightly massaging his temples. He may have taken things a bit too far, but his point was made. He then let out a deep sigh and laughed. "Well, I know what your Christmas present will be when I get back… Build shelves by your beds so you can put your stuff there."

"Oh, oh! Can we get a dresser instead? Or something like that? We don't have any place to put our clothes or stuff. They didn't provide anything but a few desks and what lien we get is barely enough to cover groceries and a few other amenities." Ruby jumped up from Yang, no longer afraid and her bright smile returned. "I know it is asking a lot, but…"

"Not really," Naruto shrugged, for it wouldn't be that difficult, considering he could use clones to assist with it. "I mean, you would have to deal with the basic box shape as I'm not going to be fancy with it, but lumber shouldn't be that expensive. Also, considering the dorm sizes, I would have to keep them small so that they would be more of a nightstand."

"That's better than what we have. I'd take it in a heartbeat. It would make all of our lives easier to have a place to store our clothes and stuff." Yang added as she liked the idea and voiced her opinion. "And I promise I will be safer with my books and stop throwing them down. But those books better start making sense…"

"You know," Jaune spoke while peeling potatoes, having finished washing them moments before. "If that's not too much trouble, we could all use something like that. Heck, I'll pay for mine if I have to or make a deal with you. For expecting us to spend four years here, they didn't give us much in the way of stuff. The stipend we get is just enough to cover a few extra things. I know we're here to learn how to combat Grimm and everything but man, you think they would have thought about dressers, or you know, curtains or something. Look at how many mixed-gender teams there are and how awkward that can get."

"It gets awkward with same-gender teams, trust me," Blake muttered as her eyes glanced over at the blonde on her team and her recent drunken escapade. "The bathroom is the only place where one can change or get any free time for themselves. And I'm starting to wonder how true that is…"

"It was once Blake!" Yang roared in response to the bow-haired girl's off-handed comment.

"Isn't that the truth?" Weiss nodded in agreement, ignoring Yang's outburst, as she sighed, giving her teammate a pitying glance as she was upset about how their earlier interaction ended as she let her personal feelings get in the way. "But that would be a great start. I know I can afford one myself, with father docking my allowance… I want to be thrifty with what I have to afford what I need."

Naruto's eyes snapped to the Schnee as she said this. Several others caught what Weiss muttered to herself about that small section. Wisely no one brought it up since she obviously would have snapped back at anyone who brought it up. She had been somewhat volatile as of late, and now the picture was becoming more transparent about why.

There were some issues at home, even for the mighty Schnee heir.

"Well shit, sounds like everyone needs something to keep their stuff. Velvet, Coco?" Naruto commented as he scratched the back of his head and laughed as it was something relatively easy to do and it wasn't all that difficult to do.

He had built most of the things in his current dorm room, so he had an idea of the cost, and it wasn't too bad. And considering he knew what he would be getting for this, he wouldn't be strapped for cash any time soon. The bounty soared when he revealed it was Apathy and took photo evidence of the last few he killed to make sure. Was difficult to prove things when Grimm's corpses evaporated into smoke.

That was something he would never understand. It also made claim bounties really annoying if they happened to be a more significant threat than initially anticipated…

"I'd rather have a closet or spot to hang my clothes, but I'll take a nightstand as it would be nicer to have a small spot of my own to put my stuff." Coco nodded as she helped set up a wreath on the front door. "It's one of the things I miss about living at home despite our stipend being a bit larger, being second years and all. Most of my money is dedicated to equipment or ensuring my lavish looks stay pristine. Can't be number one if my soaps drop in quality. My suitors would suddenly diminish, and I can't have that. I can only have the best. What do you say, my dashing stud?"

"Coco…" Velvet sighed at her friend's confidence as Weiss only smirked and nodded in understanding at the need to keep one's beauty and care up before her eyes suddenly narrowed as she realized what the brown hair was implying at the end.

Her tongue clicked in her mouth, and she held back a snarl as the brown-haired leader of CFVY sauntered toward the fox of her affection. And to her horror, she saw they were ever so close to the mistletoe Blake had just set up. Her eyes widened at the implications. She dared to make a move here!

The audacity! He was her cru…

Weiss froze as her face flushed red. What was she even thinking?! What was wrong with her?!

Velvet's ears stood straight as she caught it too. And with a single action, she drew Naruto's attention straight to her as she spoke and held out a spoonful of the dessert she was working on. "Naruto, can you taste this for me?! I want to see if this is coming out all right!"

"Huh, what? Oh, sure." Naruto blinked before stepping over, and Coco glared at her friend and teammate before motioning her eyes toward the girl.

The game was on.

Little did she know that Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss let out a sigh of relief while Blake grinned mischievously as she hid a second mistletoe behind her back, looking for a crafty place to set it up. All was proceeding according to plan as she handed it off to Nora, who also had a wide grin and nodded as her prankster side was unleashed.

A little more of a push, and then maybe Velvet would make a move herself…

Ren narrowed his eyes at the two before turning away and shaking his head. He wouldn't interfere with their plot, whatever it was. In this case, even as nefarious as it was, it was good-natured fun, and maybe something good would come of it. And from what he could see of Naruto…

He was quite lonely, and his aura seemed very taxed. Perhaps some companionship was what he needed.

"That is really good!" Naruto whistled in appreciation at the dessert and grinned. "You know, for something of that color and texture, I would not have tried that otherwise as I always thought that stuff would be gross tasting. Man, what else have I been missing out on? What is this called? Pistachio pudding?"

"Quite a lot, apparently, if you've never had pudding before." Weiss finally recovered, only to blink as she tried to figure out how someone had never had pudding before. "No, seriously. How have you never eaten pudding before? Every kid eats that growing up. It's a cheap and easy dessert to make that even my mom made it for me when I was a child."

"Never had parents, for one. I raised myself since I was five." Naruto pointed out as if it was no big deal, and it startled Weiss as she stumbled back, and Velvet nearly dropped the bowl of pudding she was working with as her ears flopped down. "As for cheap food, I always stuck with ramen as that was what my budget could afford me as I was growing up. I took what I could get and the charity of others. It's probably why it happens to be my favorite food. I got used to it and ended up loving its taste that when it is done right, it is the most delicious damn food around…"

"Miss my ramen stand." Naruto sighed as though of Teuchi and Ayame and grimaced as the only ramen stand he found here in Vale was run by bigots that wouldn't serve him.

The cruel irony.

"Whoa, wait," Jaune started, doing a double take as he finished peeling the potatoes and was getting ready to start mashing them. "There is a lot to unpack there, but I need to circle back to the raised yourself part. And at five? What in the actual fuck?"

"Even Nora and I bounced between foster families throughout the years until we were old enough to take care of ourselves," Ren added with a frown as he stopped his decoration, as that was a bit of information that caught him off guard.

How could any child take care of themselves that young? Even when he and Nora were rescued from the ruins of Kuroyuri to Mistral with the help of a man in black while helping take care of his little girl. They always had a guardian of some sort. It was not something a child was expected to do for themselves.

Or be capable of.

"Is it that weird?" Ruby suddenly spoke up, catching everyone off guard as she looked on curiously. "After mom passed, dad kind of shut down for some time. Yang took care of herself and me for some time until uncle Qrow returned from a mission. Dad eventually recovered, and when he was home, he did his best to take care of us. But a lot of the time, they were out working to support us, so Yang had to take care of me."

"It's not quite the same, but on some level, I understand," Ruby whispered as all eyes were on her while Yang sighed deeply, wishing those memories had remained buried.

As everyone looked at both sisters and Naruto in silence, the blonde faunus glanced between the two sisters with some more understanding. He now had a little more of an understanding of what they had been through, and a sad smile crossed his lips. He knew that feeling quite well.

And now he really wanted to meet their father and uncle. It seemed like they tried, but they honestly struggled with everything happening in their lives.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck as he didn't have a better way of putting it. "That's the way it's always been for me. I was afforded my own living space and a budget back home, but other than that, I had to fend for myself outside of learning a few basic things like reading and writing. I never had anyone to help me practice after grade school classes ended. Had to learn a lot of things myself when I wasn't running amok, causing havoc for people being dicks."

"Think I did that more often than staying home. I kind of gave everyone a reason to hate me when I unleashed torrents of pranks on the populace for years. Ah, my favorite was the lobster and crab falling from the ceiling and pinching everyone as they were agitated as hell." Naruto grinned as he remembered those days fondly.

Despite the sincerity and sullenness that dampened the mood, Blake twitched as she personally had seen his bathroom and saw the aquarium held within. And she remembered his trigger-happy nature with the detonator and how he could play pranks. "By the Brothers, is that why you are investing in those crabs?"

"Maybe, you'll never know." Naruto looked around shifty-eyed with a devilish grin on his face and his canines exposed sharply, making her shiver before shrugging his shoulders. "It is part of the reason why I am adept with materials and building small things like that. Other than being forced to be a jack of all trades when I was older to make a living, but that's for another day."

Making a simple hand seal, everyone, except for Blake, was started as three duplicate Naruto's popped into existence and quickly threw on their heavy winter cloaks. He turned to them, tossed his frog-shaped wallet of lien, and with a simple nod, they understood. Everyone looked shocked as the lead clone grinned as he saluted Naruto. "Got it, boss. We're on the way!"

Having them exit the room, as he didn't want them using the Body Flicker in the room in case they came into contact with someone, Naruto turned back and was left a tad worried. All were in awe, and were confused or stunned into silence as they stared at him. The only one that wasn't happened to be Blake, but even then, she had a peculiar look on her face.

Blake was attempting to figure out what he was up to. She was aware of his clones, having seen them in action before.

The door suddenly slammed open as Fox barged in with Yatsu behind, both having been out on watch. "Yo! What the fuck?! I just felt three Naruto's, and there's a fourth one here! The fuck is going on?! What magic power bullshit did I miss?!"

"All the bullshit! What are your powers?! Really, what the fuck! How do you have so many damn powers?! Everyone only has one semblance, and you have like a thousand! What the hell?!" Yang roared in annoyance as having multiple selves sounded awesome.

She would never have to do her homework again!

"The most epic magic ever! He did this weird finger thing, and then POOF! More Naruto's appeared!" Ruby cried as she bounced over to Fox and explained what had happened. "They were solid and everything too! He tossed his froggy wallet, cute by the way, at them, and they interacted with the door! Oh, I want cool powers like that!"

"I don't think that's possible," Ren commented as he once more sensed Naruto's aura to be sure of what he felt. "I had to wonder what was off about you when I first sensed you, but…"

"Your aura is different from everyone else's, isn't it?"

"You can definitely say that," Blake commented with a cringe, as did Velvet, for they both knew Naruto was an alien to their world, and it was odd that he somehow inherited a semblance from his transference between worlds.

And that it even worked with his aura.

Naruto nodded as that was correct and confirmed it verbally. "Yeah, my aura is something else altogether. My village called it chakra. And from what I can tell…"

"It works fundamentally differently than aura. Whatever I do, you'll never be able to copy, but the same holds in reverse. Your abilities and semblances are too foreign for me to figure out and mimic." Naruto explained and then smiled at a dejected Ruby upon hearing that. "And that is okay. That makes every one of us special in our own unique way. I will never have supersonic bursts of speed that create sonic booms and pick things up behind when they move, causing even more devastation in their wake. That's really kick ass."

"But you have so many cool powers! That's not fair!" Ruby pouted before blushing at the compliment. "You really think my semblance is kick ass?"

"Having supersonic speed and gale force winds at your command whenever you move, hell yeah." Naruto gave a sly grin in response. "That sounds like a power that was meant for me, and I hate that I can't figure out how to do something like that. It's awesome!"

"Weiss, the stove is on fire!" Velvet cried out as she suddenly caught the sight of flames licking out the pot she had started, and her eyes widened as Weiss moved the pot from the burner itself was on fire. "Where's an extinguisher?!"

"I'm on it!" Ruby burst into action with a pedal of roses behind her, quickly dashing strangely to the cabinet to find some baking soda before dashing over and dumping the power onto the burner.

And it extinguished the small flames before they could spread any further. Ruby sighed in relief before grinning in victory as she cracked her knuckles triumphantly. "I'm used to putting out grease fires. Yang sets the kitchen on fire all the time back home."

"FUCK YOU! SO DO YOU, ROSE!" Yang roared at her baby sister, her aura flaring to life as her eyes glowed red.

Naruto struggled to hold back his laughter. He really did. But it was like a dam had burst, and he started cackling. And the moment he did, others began to follow. First, it was Weiss, more out of relief, but soon it was joyous as Ruby, Velvet, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Blake joined in. And soon, everyone else joined in at Yang's expense. It was so believable that the blonde couldn't cook, and Ruby's innocent face…

"YOU ALL CAN EAT A BAG OF DICKS!"

---

"I want to… Eat you up…" Yang hiccupped as she woozyly swooned with a blushed face as she held a glass of strawberry sunrise she had made for herself, smiling as she hung over Blake's shoulder, who hissed at the blonde. "Okay fine… Maybe I'll eat him up… Should be tasty… For a guy."

"Yang Xiao Long, I swear to the Brothers I am about to throw you into the snow." Blake twitched in annoyance as she saw Yang's lilacs focus onto Naruto and her eyes narrowed as she wondered how the blonde even managed to sneak a bottle of grenadine with her when she was so sure she made sure no alcohol was packed.

"I am the… Best!" Coco hiccupped, and Blake twitched in massive annoyance seeing a glass of strawberry sunrise in her hand, and recognized who the perpetrator was. "This is excellent stuff… I'm gonna have to get that recipe, Yang."

"No… Problem, partner." Yang grinned as she managed to sneak her ingredients by Blake and felt better after all the fun poked at her earlier.

She needed it to calm down and loosen up.

The fact they were on the second bottle of grenadine didn't dawn on her in the slightest. It didn't bother Yang that it had been only her and Coco drinking and had only made one other alcoholic drink so another could try. At least Blake hoped it had been the two of them slugging the drink overall and she didn't accidentally…

"Can I have another?" Ruby asked, and Blake's head jerked as she saw the glass in the young Ruby's hands, and she was ready to strangle the blonde dragoness.

Did she give alcohol to her fifteen-year-old sister? She knew the legal age was seventeen here in Vale, but how irresponsible was she?!

Irresponsible enough to earn a beating from her!

"One virgin sunrise… For my baby sister… Coming up." Yang hiccupped, and wobbly wandered over to the kitchen area before bumping into Naruto on purpose, putting her hip into him, and falling on him. "Mmm… Smells good. You and the drink. How is it… By the way?"

"Sweet, and someone has had too much to drink." Naruto slid the golden-haired girl drooling on his shoulder off him before sending her way to the kitchen. "No more for you! Just a virgin sunrise for Ruby!"

"You're no fun! I was going to make... blow jobs in the morning!" Yang grinned as she hiccupped as everyone choked on their spit at her statement, for even Ruby's eyes went wide as her innocent mind turned dark for a moment as she quickly went through her scroll's search history and made a few quick edits in the off chance anyone ended up with her scroll. "What? Didn't know there… Was a drink called that?"

"You are not allowed to drink alcohol in this cabin!" Want to take it further, Yang?! Keep it up!" Naruto barked before taking a drink from the glass he was offered. "This is better than I was expecting, in any case. Not a sweet drinker, but this is not bad."

"I know, right?" Yang commented as she went to make the drink for Ruby before her as she happily and drunkenly started to make Ruby another glass of strawberry sunrise sans the alcohol.

At the same time, Naruto dropped into one of the folding chairs his clone had brought back. It knew they would need more seats and that they would need them here now. He glanced over who he had sat by, noting it was Velvet and Jaune, and somehow wasn't surprised. He almost always sat by Velvet even without meaning to…

She really did give off Hinata-like vibes…

Taking a small sip of punch Nora, and Ruby had made earlier before Nora and Ren went out on watch, Velvet smiled at her fellow faunus. "Sounds like you have experimented with drinking already."

"A little. Been exposed since I was thirteen, ever since I was allowed to drink. I found I don't like sweet drinks all that much, that's about it. Not into sweets in general too much. Here and there, it's fine." Naruto commented as if it was nothing as he shrugged his shoulders and took another drink, not finding the drink distasteful, just not to his preference, but it wasn't enough for him to stop.

It was okay, just different from what he liked.

"Okay, have to be that guy again, but hold up," Jaune blinked at that statement as he stopped himself from choking on the punch he was drinking and stared at Naruto. "Where the hell did you grow up that allowed thirteen-year-olds to drink?!"

"It was more about status than age. I was deemed an adult at thirteen. Even if I was irresponsible as hell, in the eyes of the law, I was still an adult there." Naruto explained his foreign world to everyone without hinting, as he only trusted a few in the room with that knowledge.

Truthfully he wasn't sure why he told Blake or Velvet that day either, but he felt he needed to get it off his chest, and they were there. And luckily enough, they were genuine, and he felt he had become closer to them.

The only problem was that…

He flinched as he looked at Velvet, as her soft smile made his heart pang. Her soft-spoken and compassionate nature reminded him so much of Hinata. Even her presence gave off the same calming aura he felt back then. Not the emotive presence he could sense coming from her. Just her presence in general. In many regards, she reminded him of the Hyuuga heiress…

And it hurt.

Blake frowned. Firstly she was annoyed at Naruto and Velvet's positioning. If only their seats were a couple of feet further back, and if Jaune wasn't in the way, she could spring the surprise, saying they were under the mistletoe. They seemed so good together, so she thought that maybe if she could get something started between the two, maybe spark something between them…

In one moment, she saw something that caused her to reassess her plan. Did she witness him recoil from Velvet? He might have thought something perverted, as everyone had those thoughts occasionally, and he admonished himself for it. She could buy that and hope that was what it was, but now looking into his eyes, she couldn't help but see…

There was something more. Something was wrong. And she didn't like that.

Now she was tempted to take them down until she could figure out what that was, but the problem with that was now a different issue.

Blake had no idea where the last one Nora hid was! She had scanned the room but couldn't immediately see it, which bothered her. If someone caught two people under one…

She shivered. She swore to the Brothers that if she got caught with anyone, she was kicking a puppy. She didn't want to touch anyone like that…

"Here you go, Rubes!" Yang grinned as she dropped into the seat next to Ruby after handing her a virgin sunrise and took a swig of hers. "Ah, that hits the spot… So when are we doing this thing? Naruto's on watch tonight, and making him stay up any longer after staying up all day with us today would be cruel…"

"Soon as Nora and Ren get back." Pyrrha smiled before hearing the door open. "Oh, what do you know? They're here already."

"Ah, ha ha ha! No Grimm is a match for Nora!" Nora pumped Magnhild triumphantly and held her hammer before her victoriously. "Tried all they might. We held the line! Wave after wave, they came, but…"

"All clear. Only saw a single Creep sniffing nearby, and Nora destroyed it with a single blow before it knew what hit it." Ren cut her story short as he dusted the snow and ice off his shoes before kicking them off and taking them to the fireplace so they could dry off.

"Ren!" Nora loudly complained as she followed suit with a pouting glare the entire way. "Why did you have to ruin my glorious tale? It was going to be magnificent!"

"And you can tell it another time to other people. Remember what happened here first and foremost. That's what matters. We shouldn't be gloating in the town that it happened in." Ren commented before Nora wilted under his words as he whisked up some punch for her and handed it to her with an understanding smile. "Now, let's enjoy ourselves, okay?"

Beaming at her partner, she took the punch and nodded in agreement before seeing everyone center together. "Oh, it's time! Let's do this before he heads to work!"

"Isn't it weird to do it the day before Christmas?" Naruto questioned as he didn't understand the whole concept if they would do the gift-giving the day before if it was the day of. "It's no big deal for me to stay awake longer after I'm done with my watch, really. I've stayed awakr for much longer…"

"Even I object to that, man." Fox retorted as he looked over in the blonde's direction. "I might not get the whole jolly spirit of this season either, but what fun is it if you just spent almost two days awake to decorate and party with us, have to work, and then have to stay awake when you get back to do the gift giving?"

"It's not the day that matters. It's the spirit and the meaning." Velvet tilted her head and smiled as she brushed her hand and put it on his shoulder in a comforting manner.

Biting his lip as he pushed memories of another past him, Naruto sighed and took a drink to calm himself. "Well, if everyone else is doing this… I had to get help wrapping them as I had never done it before."

"Happy to help!" Ruby grinned as she smiled brightly when Naruto asked about it, seeing everyone else had wrapped their gifts, she quickly helped her friend.

"Let's start handing out the gifts," Jaune announced as he got up to be the gift giver before heading to the tree and kneeling beside it. "I'm going to pick gifts out randomly and hand them to who they belong to make this fair. So first up… Something for Velvet, it seems. And since I'm heading that way, here's one for Naruto."

Handing the gift to the surprised faunus as Jaune gave the small gift to the rabbit and the other to Naruto, Jaune headed back over to the tree as Ruby and Blake joined him at the tree. "Hey, come on! I'm not slow."

"No, but we thought we could help. Plus, Velvet and I separated those that were for the Secret Santa and those that were regular gifts." Blake smiled as she handed a gift to Coco and another to Fox. "Besides, I think everyone should get theirs, and then we open them and see who got it for them."

"Oh, I didn't realize that. That makes sense" Jaune nodded before grabbing the others for Velvet and Naruto and taking them over to them. "Here you… Ruby, slow down! You don't know if anything is breakable!"

"Oh…" Ruby stopped for a moment as she handed two to Weiss, who looked horrified at Ruby, blinking toward her like a demon. "That makes sense."

"Of course it does, you doofus! Not everything needs to be done hastily!" Weiss shrieked before taking a deep breath to calm herself as she tried to relax. "Just please, don't break anything like the other day…"

"Sounds like Weiss has something breakable, definitely being careful," Blake commented as she took an extra moment to hand her following gifts to Yang.

Soon enough, everyone had their two gifts and was seated.

Unsure how this worked, Naruto nervously looked around when he noted the moment everyone was relaxed and seated. That seemed to be the cue. Either that or Ruby was impatient as she started to open hers first, and everyone started to follow suit, although it appeared their eyes were kept on certain people. Most likely those they had given gifts to.

Taking notes from watching everyone else, he opened the first gift handed to him, noting it was surprisingly heavy for being so small, as if something was inside. Frowning as he opened the wrapping, he noted that it was a case of some kind. It was obvious there was something inside the case, but it was a sturdy case.

Was a single golden shuriken.

Ignoring a few of the other ecstatic exclamations, he focused entirely on the shuriken as he picked it up. He was immediately impressed by the quality and workmanship of it. Weaving it delicately between his fingers, he mildly frowned but found it acceptable. Heavier than what he was used to, but that was an issue he could overlook as it was more robust than even the ones in his pouch. He hadn't found a quality smith here in Vale capable of making quality gear, so where did this come from…

Seeing a logo on the case, it took a moment for him to recognize it as it wasn't as common, but he knew the company. It was the second-largest Dust manufacturer in the world and possibly the largest general company.

The Mistral Trading Company.

Naruto's eyes snapped to Pyrrha as she was the only one he could think of. And while she was laughing and smiling as she held a golden hairpin while talking to the swooning Yang, gently putting down the dragoness but thanking her for the gift, her emerald eyes gazed over toward him before her face flushed, seeing the stare he was giving her. As interesting as it was seeing the amazon redhead blush, he was more curious about how she could get such a weapon made and delivered in a short time.

"I see you opened mine. Is it to your liking?" Pyrrha spoke with her face flushed as his gaze lingered upon her.

Flicking the shuriken between his fingers a few more times, still adjusting to the weight, Naruto took a moment before speaking. "Well, while I do have a few critiques…"

He smiled at her before flicking the shuriken onto a single finger and balancing it as he continued to test it. "I would rather share those with the smith themself. After searching for two months and to no avail, I couldn't find a smith to my liking. This, however, is done exceptionally well despite having limited knowledge of what I'm looking for in the weapon itself."

"I have to say I am very impressed and quite satisfied." Naruto spun the shuriken and caught it by the tip with another finger to continue testing the balance, using chakra to keep it temporarily balancing it and keep it from piercing his flesh as it was razor sharp. "I'd say I'm more interested in how you got here in such a short time."

"That's why there is only one," Pyrrha answered honestly as she beamed brightly, feeling she sought the right avenue noting his weapons conditions when he trained and sparred with others. "I asked only for one to see if it was up to your quality as Velvet told me you hadn't found a smith you liked. The smithy that works on my armor and weapons is world-renowned, so I put in a request to see if he could make something quickly, but I fear you may have to put in the request through me…"

"Most people in Mistral aren't as progressive and forward-thinking as Yatsu or myself." Pyrrha finished with her voice lowered, her pride in her home slightly diminished as she never understood the bigotry and hatred.

To the sword, everyone was the same.

"Oh, right, Mistral is backward like that." Naruto grimaced before he growled and shook his head in annoyance.

That put a damper on wanting to use the thing. But at the same time, it was outstanding quality, and every other one wasn't up to snuff. Was it worth swallowing his pride, though…

"Regardless, this is fantastic. I might have to give it some thought if I'm intending to put some orders in now, though." Naruto gave the shuriken another spin and smile as the craftsmanship was excellent, and he hadn't seen this level of craftsmanship around here. "I can see why your weapons are top-notch. If what he does with your weapons is any indication, I can only imagine what Smithy could do with a set of wants and needs to properly adjust for what I would want."

Custom weapons always seemed well crafted, but that was usually because the hunter took part in the process themself in some capacity. He guessed he would have to pick up that craft here as it seemed necessary. Thankfully he knew a few people in this room that would be willing to help him out…

Pyrrha's smile brightened the room. She was happy he liked it. Whether or not he wanted the complete order, that was okay. It was his prerogative, and sometimes racist hatred ran deep and made it difficult to trust. She understood that. She only wished she could console and say her smithy wasn't, but she had heard them before and knew better than to say anything.

"Um, did I seriously get two books?" Blake, who barely started to open her gifts, shook her head at the gifts she had received, having been waiting for others to open her presents, and Yang had opened the one she had gotten her and seemed happy with it.

If only she could get her lilac eyes off her! Her ogling gaze was making her uncomfortable!

"Well, at least that means someone knows me well…" Blake stopped as she read the book's title, and her bow perked up as she knew what it was.

It was a retelling based on one of her favorite romance fairy tales growing up. Beauty and the Beast. The fact that it was called Cruel Beauty was ironic and funny to her, but at the same time, she could not help but see some parallels between the story and her…

That made her more eager to escape into the story. To leave this place, so she didn't have to feel what he had left her with. That emptiness. That fear…

Settling down, she opened the next book to see what it was. The other was simply called the Snow Queen. Another retelling of a fairy tale of the same name, but this one had a twist as the sci-fi reinvention of the story that started a trilogy that somehow faithfully followed the fairy tale's original premise. Hard to believe, but her bow twitched. She was interested as escaping into a fantasy realm was all too tempting…

"Naruto… Weiss…" Blake bit back a sob, and she tried not to cry and smiled as she looked over at them. "I wish I had more time to read or a quiet place to do so, but I don't like heading to the library alone at Beacon as there is too much activity happening there, and I'm already transposing enough on your time as it is Naruto…"

"Is that an insult?" Yang questioned as she drunkenly shook her fist at Blake. "Because if it is you beautiful black-haired beauty, I'll…"

"Yes! The new Williams CD! Volume Eight! This will be amazing! Their stuff is always the best!" Ruby cried happily, holding up the CD while Fox looked surprised before giving a thumbs up to Naruto and Velvet for helping him get the right gift.

"Okay, I'm starting to see why… That's a problem." Yang hiccupped as she looked at her baby sister and then at the drink in her hand and slumped in her seat. "Man, I'm the problem too… What's wrong with me?"

"Many, many things. All of them need to be worked on." Weiss narrowed her eyes before turning her gaze at Blake with a half-smile but a slight frown on her face.

She hadn't expected that reaction. She also didn't expect to be so easily picked out as to who gifted it, but she faulted herself for that. Snow Queen. How predictable she, of all people, would pick a book with that title. And the cover art, the queen did kind of look like her too…

And how did she guess it was Naruto that gave the other book? Well, she was running off and spending more and more time in his room lately.

Wait, why was that?! What was going on between them?! Shaking her head of that, to see her nearly breakdown…

Did she value her quiet time that much? She understood they hardly ever had time to themselves anymore and that even reading the textbooks was a challenge, with Ruby blaring her music and Yang flat-out ignoring studying half the time. She had noticed her trying to read several times and got frustrated and left the room on multiple occasions, so she didn't think about that…

"You are always welcome to keep visiting and reading whenever you want. I don't mind." Naruto gave a straightforward solution with a foxy grin on his face. "Especially if it is after class or something. You already know what I've been doing, and I've been meaning to crack into my sensei's seals and start studying them so my room will be quiet so you won't have to worry about me. It'd also be a good sign for me to stop whatever training I'm doing and settle down and go into studies. A win-win for both of us."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. Need to take care of yourself." Velvet smiled at her friend as she opened her gifts, as had most everyone. "But you two have been slow. Weiss, you haven't opened anything, and Naruto, you still have another gift to go."

"What, oh yeah," Naruto commented as he spaced his other gift as he was so focused on the shuriken that he had forgotten there was a second gift. "Well, better see what it is."

Weiss winced as she looked at her two gifts and at Naruto as he started opening the gift. It could not compare to what she saw in his attentiveness to Pyrrha's present. Slowly, she turned to her gifts, which caused her to frown. How could anyone gift her?

Pyrrha was simple as she was so combat-oriented that she found weapons and such exciting despite being from a wealthy family like herself. She, on the other hand…

She showed no outward desires. There wasn't anything that anyone could get her. Nor did she really want anything. At least not anything anyone could give her. She got what she wanted by coming to Beacon…

Her eyes widened at the first thing. It was a simple jewelry box. And inside was her favorite jewel. Two sapphire earrings that didn't look cheap. Considering the quality of the jewels, it must have cost a bit to acquire them.

"Wow… I love sapphires." Weiss muttered quietly as she gazed at the two earrings and smiled gently at seeing them, her eyes beginning to well up at the sight of them. "The last gift I got from my grandfather when he was still coherent was a sapphire necklace I used to wear all the time until it was shattered in my test to leave home…"

"I really love sapphires as they remind me of the last time I saw him, and he remembered who Winter and I were." Tears streamed freely down her face, surprising everyone there as they had never seen this side of Weiss before.

"I didn't know that. I just thought they suited your tastes. I saw you had many jewels in your jewelry and were fond of sapphires and rubies in particular…" Blake almost winced, seeing the tear-filled eyes before she was taken by complete surprise as Weiss reached out and fully embraced her.

"Thank you. It's perfect." Weiss whispered, holding onto her tightly while the earrings were still held in her grasp.

Weiss finally seceded her grasp, leaving Blake shocked at the display of affection from the Schnee as the girl wiped her tears from her face. Somehow, the person she had just discovered was a faunus and had bad-mouthed her earlier in the day and distrusted her for it…

Paid enough attention to her and went out of her way to buy a relatively expensive gift despite the small stipends they were given.

She didn't know what to think anymore. Didn't faunus hate her and her family? Why were they so…

Kind.

Then her eyes widened as she heard Naruto's voice. He was opening her gift! This was the worst! She didn't need this pressure after shedding tears in front of everyone! Why was everything focused on her in the end?! Why didn't she open them when everyone was opening so she could have hidden her emotions?!

"Is that a scroll?" Velvet asked curiously as she looked at the gift Naruto opened, as did a few other people.

However, Naruto had a smile on his face as he looked at it, recognizing it for what it was. "It's a decorative scroll. It's meant to be hung on the wall. It's a rather large one... Wonder what the design is…"

"I'll help." Yatsu stood up and put his gifts to the side as Naruto walked to the side and looked for a place and being the largest in the room, he could easily set it up on the cabin wall, and Naruto unrolled it so he could see what the design was.

Weiss blushed as she wished he had just looked at the design on the packet outside. It would have been easier, but now everyone had to see it. This was embarrassing…

"Frogs?" Blake's bow twitched as she was confused at seeing a pond and many different frogs and lily pads. "I mean, it's an awesome design and everything, but considering…"

"A mixture of toads and frogs. There are several ways you can tell, but the legs are the easiest for me to decipher whether or not they are frogs or toads. A frog's legs are usually longer than its entire body, while toads have shorter legs. That's why in this painting, the frogs are on lily pads while the toads are crawling on the pond shore. I think this painting is trying to contrast the difference between the two, and I like that." Naruto commented as he brightly smiled at the painting on the scroll.

Weiss' eyes snapped to Naruto, and her eyes widened. Did she end up getting something he liked? After seeing how much focus, he put on the throwing star; she thought this would surely fail. But seeing the glint in his eyes and the enjoyment on his face, did she find something he enjoyed that much?

"I saw that, and after seeing your wallet, I thought you must really like them. Why else would you have a frog wallet?" Weiss blushed as she looked down and away to hide her scarlet face. "And seeing it was a scroll and how you recently bought some zabuton and a kotatsu for your room, I thought it would go well with the aesthetic…"

Blinking as he had not expected this gift to have come from Weiss, Naruto turned his gaze to the ice princess. He knew she had complicated feelings toward him and was having difficulty expressing them. But considering who she was, he thought she would have done something similar to Pyrrha and pulled a few strings.

That wasn't what she did. She thought about what she knew of him, saw something he had on his person, saw how he was designing his room, and guessed on something. It was not unlike what he did for her…

Wait, did they draw each other? He knew Blake and Weiss also drew each other from the sound of it, but that didn't seem to happen for everyone else. What were the odds of that happening?

"It was a great choice. They happen to be my favorite animals. It's why I have had Gama-chan forever and won't let him go, even if he is old and worn out. Had him since I was five. He's going nowhere, and I'll keep refurbishing the little guy to make sure he's in the best shape possible." Naruto smiled broadly at Weiss, who only blushed further and was now bright as a tomato, especially when he heard his wallet had a name. "And it is a great fit aesthetically. It's just how everyone decorated back home, and I'm a sucker for that kind of décor, and it's why I've been getting that stuff. It reminds me of home."

Weiss continued to blush furiously. Oh, he didn't know what he was doing to her! That smile made her so happy that her gift seemed to bring him so many good memories. It was like the gift Blake got her…

She realized she still had one last gift, and considering she saw everyone else open theirs and everyone had claimed to give who had given what to whom…

Her heart skipped a beat. She had been paying closer attention than she liked and came to terms with who gave her this gift. Now she really didn't want to open it.

"Toads are neat. Had one as a pet for the longest time. Miss little Robert." Yatsu stated as he looked at the scroll and nodded in agreement after a small moment of silence.

"Hell yeah they are. That's why I know so much about them…" Naruto grinned at Yatsu before he gave a small laugh. "Probably should have put more focus on my other studies growing up, now that I think about it. Wouldn't have failed so many classes back then! It's amazing what a shift in focus and a change of perspective can accomplish."

"I have a difficult time seeing you failing at anything, considering how hard you work now. That's an impressive turnaround." Pyrrha commented before giggling slightly as she turned to Jaune. "See, there is hope for you yet."

"With just six easy steps, you can become the greatest warrior of all time!" Fox added on with the biggest grin on his face as he could feel the death glare suddenly be placed upon him, and he did not care in the slightest.

"Oh, haha. Very funny, you two. Rub it in…" Jaune grumbled at two as raucous laughter, mainly from Yang and Coco, filled the room before he gave his partner a stiff glare. "Fine, you win, is that what you wanted to hear? I'll take the training you offered me. I just thought it better to seek help elsewhere. After all, I thought it would be better to seek help from another dude…"

"Excuse me?! Are you saying a woman is not capable of teaching you?" Pyrrha's eyes narrowed as everyone slowly moved out of the way and scooted their chairs away from the two, Ruby guiding Fox in the direction he needed not to be.

"Okay, I'm sober now… The fuck Jaune!" Yang scrambled out of the way and left what remained of her strawberry sunrise behind.

"Wait, that's not what I meant! I, uh…" Jaune began as he could feel Pyrrha's intense gaze on him as she stood up, her eyes glaring at him as he did. "Oh man, I screwed that up…"

"No shit!" Naruto waved a few over in his direction for safety as he knew the pain Jaune was about to endure, defending Blake, Weiss, and Velvet from what could possibly happen as Yatsu stood in front of Coco, Ruby and Yang. "You are on your own! Bury yourself! I'll gladly go get a shovel for you!"

"Pyrrha, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way! I was trying to say I was looking for another guy to be more masculine… I'm making this worse!" Jaune cursed before falling to his knees and started to beg for his life. "I am inferior in every way, so please forgive me!"

"No." Pyrrha simply stated as her emerald eyes bored into his dark blues. "I'm going to make you feel every second and work you to the bone for it."

Jaune gulped and gazed up in fear at the amazon in front of him. He was only going to know pain shortly, and he knew it.

He cursed his life. Why were all the women he knew so dominating of him? Why couldn't he have the relationship be more on an equal footing for once? Or pretend that he didn't exist half the time? That one hurt the most, and Weiss was his friend! Maybe Ruby or Blake was the way to go. They were friendly and didn't seem to be aggressive…

"I think it is almost time for me to get out of here," Naruto commented as he could see the sun setting and knew he needed to start working on his perimeter and scouting. "Fun as this is..."

"Wait, I have opened your gift…" Weiss started before she blushed, revealing she knew who got it for her before she sank her head and mentally cursed herself.

Velvet seemed to cover for her with a smile and nodded in agreement. "Seeing as every other gift is accounted for and we know who they came from, it would make sense that the last one left would be from him then. I'm curious what he got you considering what he got Blake."

"Nothing all that special. Something I thought was neat and would go well with her." Naruto shrugged as he grabbed his winter cloak from the coat rack by the fireplace.

However, he was a little nervous on the inside after seeing her reaction to Blake's gift as he remembered he ended up getting her something very similar. It was ironic, really…

"Did you and Blake plan this?" Weiss' eyes widened after removing the wrapping, and she opened a small jewelry box to see a small silver broach with a sapphire jewel embedded within it. "This can't be a coincidence…"

"I forgot that you picked that out in front of me. I should have said something when you did, as I had bought her earrings there, too. Then we had thing happened, and we're here now…" Blake admitted to Naruto, glancing over at him before wincing while Nora had the decency to blush, knowing she was what her friend was talking about.

Weiss' eyes snapped to Blake, momentarily hearing that before she drifted back to Naruto, her eyes still in shock as her body trembled. The two people that were her gift-givers had stumbled onto what was most precious in her eyes. How was that possible? "So you didn't? That means…"

"I picked it out as I thought it suited you, as it just screamed you at me when I first saw it. Something clicked, and I had an epiphany." Naruto gave a light smile as he threw on his winter cloak and adjusted it. "I saw it and thought it looked like something you would wear as you always wear white and light blues, and the dark blue is a great contrast to those colors and would make it pop. It also was the closest jewel I could see that matched your eye color… Whoa, easy there!"

Weiss had covered the short distance and had wrapped her arms around his waist, embracing him in a tight hug as her head pressed against his chest and the crook of his neck. He almost frowned but realized he had grown an inch or so in the last two months since he had been here at Remnant. It explained why his clothing felt tighter, and he mentally cursed as he would have to get a new set already. He knew technically he still was in that age range to grow. He just thought that due to the years of malnutrition when he was younger, his growth would be slightly stunted in the end…

Now he was standing nearly as tall as Pyrrha now that he thought about it again, and still shorter than Jaune. He swore Weiss head level had come up past his chin when he rescued her in Emerald Forest almost two months ago…

Giving her a light embrace in return, he chuckled at Weiss as he gazed down at her. "I take that you liked the gift then."

"I don't even know what to say…" Weiss tried to choke back her tears as she slowly let go of the embrace, shook her head vigorously, and wiped her tears. "You both are going to force me to look for an outfit that goes with these! You know that, right?! That's going to take a lot of time and money!"

"Didn't think about that in the slightest!" Naruto grinned, making Weiss glower at him graciously as she held back a cheerful sob. "I told you my reasoning…"

"Uh oh! Look who's under the mistletoe!" Nora announced, looking pleased with herself, and Blake's eyes widened in horror as she finally figured out where her crime partner had hidden the other mistletoe, and her eyes narrowed.

"That should have been me!" Coco cried out in despair before glaring at Velvet for earlier.

"No, it shouldn't have. Not everything is something to be conquered or for you to prove you're the best." Velvet narrowed her eyes, for once showing backbone against her friend, surprising her leader momentarily before she smiled back.

"Oh ho, I like that fire! We need to bring more of that out of you!" Coco grinned, still slightly buzzed but excited at seeing something she had been working on.

"I've walked under that multiple times and never noticed it…" Jaune noted before sighing out loud as Pyrrha was no longer threatening him. "Man, my luck sucks. Could have used that to steal a kiss…"

"You were planning to steal a kiss?" He suddenly felt the world of rage build behind him, and he knew who it belonged to before the voice became sickeningly sweet. "From whom, may I ask? I would like to know that answer."

Why did he open his mouth? Naruto was right. He was burying his own grave. He needed that shovel.

It would be quicker.

Blake cursed under her breath. That was not who she wanted to try and pair off with Naruto! What was Nora doing?! Why did she have to say anything? No one would have noticed that hanging up there except maybe Yatsu due to his immense height. She had even begun to rethink her plan after seeing a few details, but…

This could have been avoided entirely!

"Dammit, Nora!" Blake hissed, her golden eyes fixed on her partner in crime and surprised the girl with the intensity coming from her friend.

"Wait, what now?" Naruto blinked as Weiss' eyes widened in horror as her eyes darted above.

"Oh, I like this tradition!" Yang grinned as she shoved the blonde fox over to Weiss. "Now, kiss you two!"

"The hell!" Naruto narrowed his eyes as he rounded on Yang fiercely. "Explain now, or we're taking this outside!"

"Um…" Yang began to back away, holding her hands before her as she tried to diffuse the situation she had created. "It's just a Christmas tradition where if a couple walks underneath a mistletoe, they're supposed to kiss."

"That is the dumbest…" Naruto froze as his entire body stiffened and felt a soft, smooth sensation press against his cheek.

Weiss, standing on the tips of her toes, softly planted a kiss on his cheek. Her face was flushed with embarrassment as she did with everyone watching but with a quick peck, she had done the deed to shut everyone clambering on about someone finally standing under the mistletoe. She sighed and moved just out of the way so they wouldn't be standing under it any longer, hoping she didn't offend him.

"There! Is everyone happy now? It was a kiss." Weiss announced, biting her lip as she would rather have done something else but…

Not in front of everyone else.

"Boo! Party pooper!" Nora yelled in response, only to get intent radiated onto her from multiple sources as Blake, Weiss, and Velvet glared at her. "Woah, not what I was expecting…"

Naruto was still frozen. Then his entire body shivered as he tried to control the sensation that ran down his spine physically. He understood it was some weird tradition he didn't understand. They were probably supposed to give a quick kiss which would have been awkward as hell with everyone looking, which explained why she had done what she did. She was trying to save face and embarrassment. However…

What she didn't know was…

"Weiss…" Naruto spoke in a low, guttural tone as he breathed heavily, making Blake and Velvet freeze as they were instinctually in tune and felt something primal emanating from him. "Never there… Never."

"If there is a next time, just kiss…" Naruto growled as he shifted himself and his cloak to adjust and make it seem like he was shifting his clothes as he moved to put on his boots. "Fucking hell, this is going to be a night now…"

The action was, however, caught as several blushes were caught, specifically from Blake and Velvet, as they had been staring the entire time. They instinctively were drawn to the voice from the sound, and they were ashamed they let their base instinct take over…

Pyrrha was madly blushing as she got a sense of power and want from the voice. If only it were directed toward her…

Weiss was fervently blushing as she understood it all too well and apologized for it. "I'm sorry! It was the moment and tradition…"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yang burst out laughing as she held her sides, her face red with laughter as it overrode her base blush when she noted something else. "You got a chub from a kiss on the cheek! That's fucking…"

"Why do I feel impending doom?" Yang stooped as the room cooled to a bone-chilling temperature, and the wind in the room wisped and blew out the fire, frightening everyone as it slowly darkened despite the light being on.

And the room kept darkening as if it was becoming a pitch-black void as Naruto slowly turned, and his intent focused purely on the blonde dragoness. His face was cold and calculating as the room started to tremble. "You better watch out."

Lightning started to crackle around him as he stepped toward Yang, who now looked terrified, hearing his icy cold voice. "You better not cry."

Wind swirled in the room, blowing Yang's hair all around her. She stumbled back and away from the blonde that slowly advanced upon her. "You better not pout."

"Fuck you!" Yang screamed as she threw a glass at Naruto, only to watch with a terrified expression as the wind halted the momentum, and the liquid within began to drip upwards and floated around the fox faunus.

"Let me tell you why." Naruto gave a disturbing grin as he drew forth Shattered Dreams from the sheath on his back, his eyes turning gold to alarm Yang further.

"Take a joke, would you!" Yang screamed as she sprinted and grabbed her boots, sliding them on as she rushed for her winter coat and took off for the door.

"Good old Naruto is coming to town," Naruto began to sing as he slowly stalked after Yang, not planning to break the chase soon. "And you are on the naughty list!"

"Suck my tits!" Yang screamed as she burst through the door and sprinted for her life. "You are no fun!"

Naruto only grinned as he followed after Yang, humming a Christmas tune. If he was going to have to work all night…

He was intending to make sure Yang was completely sober by the end of it for that foolish stunt.

Yet from inside, a set of golden eyes pursed her lips as she watched the exchange. They then shifted to a very embarrassed and flushed ice princess muttering under her breath about smothering someone in their sleep. A curious thought arose that she had never even dreamed of before that interaction, and she couldn't help but find it odd. She knew Weiss had a strange attraction after everything that happened a month ago but had…

Had she truly developed a crush on Naruto during these two months?

It was stupid. She only thought at first it was due to being heroic and saving her, but now, there seemed to be something more there.

There was no way that would work. Not with her father…

But then again, considering she never talked about her family, she found it strange that the middle child was the heiress of the company despite nothing ever happening to the eldest…

"I will have to look for an outfit for these," Weiss muttered to herself as she took a seat off on her own, away from everyone, focused solely on the broach and earrings but had a brilliant smile on her face as she gazed at them. "There goes what little left of the allowance I was saving. Can't exactly cheap out on my outfits and maintain my prestige."

Blake's bow twitched as she noted Weiss' face fall at that moment, and for the first time, she saw something she never had before in her.

A lonely and broken person that was doing what she could to fit in.

Seeing her icy blues snap in her direction the moment Weiss felt someone's gaze upon her, Blake turned her head, looked elsewhere aloofly, and went to get more punch. But as she refilled her cup, she decided, based on what she had seen, even if it would take some time to figure out how to make it happen. Now it was a question if they could tolerate one another long enough until she finally melted…

And broke her daddy's, miserable heart.

Blake grinned mischievously. She really liked that idea. That would be the perfect Christmas present for herself!

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she watched her teammate begin to hum to herself. Why did she get the feeling that something was being plotted? And that she was somehow involved. She wanted no part in this! It was embarrassing enough having to plant that kiss onto Naruto's masculine and firm…

Weiss burned a bright red and cursed under her breath, crossing her legs. This was going to be a long night! She just knew it!

"OH, BY THE BROTHERS, WHY?!" Yang's screams of terror filled the village and made the corner of her lips quiver into a smirk.

She felt better already.

---

Success Nominal.

Located Anomaly...

Terminating...

---

Part III, December 23rd.

Torn to Oblivion, Chapter 1, sneak peek has been released.

Check it out if you would like.