And back with another chapter. Man you people are hard to impress. Hope you enjoy this one!
Disclaimer: first chapter.
Chapter 2: Branching Path: Jin
"Damn those White Fang!" Said an angry Jin Kisaragi. He frantically searched high and low for them, intent on destroying those who took away his ongoing objective, otherwise known as Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. He just had to go to the men's room, but when he got back, Weiss wasn't there; her scream was the only thing that indicated where she was.
It's been three years since his employment, and both icy individuals had a bumpy relationship. Initially, Weiss vehemently refused Jin to be her bodyguard, opting for a regular guard to take Jin's place; she could care less about his Faunus friend. Jin, however, didn't take no for an answer and stubbornly stayed, a byproduct of having Naruto as a friend.
In his exact words, he said, "Look, Miss Schnee, I don't like the idea of being your bodyguard as much as you do." He said admittedly. "But this is my way of finding my friend, and my way of thanks to your mother." His voice neither wavered nor raised in anger, it remained at the same tone. "And I know you dislike the Faunus, but keep an open mind that not every Faunus is evil." Weiss argued against his words, telling all about what the White Fang, a Faunus extremist group had done recently and in the past generations before and after the previous head, the peaceful leader, had entered and stepped down from leadership; it had become violent organization. "I see why you'd be mad at that, and I disagree with their actions; however, this is the culmination of mistreatment, mistrust, and ongoing hate that caused this new radical approach to happen, Miss Weiss."
"Don't you think I know that?!" Weiss yelled. "I have read about the history of the Faunus, and I've met many Faunus in my admittedly short life, but all of them wanted to hurt me, my friends, and my family!" The heiress's anger could not be tranquilized; her disdain towards the Faunus was obvious to Jin.
"Be as it may, Miss Schnee, trust me when I say that I wish no harm to fall on you, I truly care for your wellbeing, …even if we literally met a week ago." Jin answered with a steel resolve. He knelt to his employer's daughter like a knight to his king, and said, "I promise you; nothing will happen to you or your family under my care. That is a promise of a lifetime." On that day, one that Weiss would definitely refuse to admit, she blushed at the chivalrous act of her bodyguard.
He had great progress with the girl as well as the guards at the home, even Branco Schnee, Weiss's father was warming up to him. But sadly, tragedy struck. Blanche Schnee fell ill, and the White Fang took that moment of vulnerability within the company head lead to the White Fang striking multiple quarries, factories, and killed Blanche Schnee in the same night. Weiss was inconsolable for five months, drowning in sorrow and training to prevent such tragedy to befall upon her family. Branco became violent, but controlled, opting for harsher work at the gamble of better pay. The Faunus would flock at the opportunity, and a percentage would perish under the conditions. Branco knew what he did was wrong, but his blind rage acted, and he wished death to all Faunus. When he met the eyes of Jin Kisaragi exactly a year after Blanche's death, he saw pity. The man never visibly grieved for his wife the days after her death, but when he saw the boy, a boy that he had so much respect for staring judgingly at his questionable actions, Branco Schnee broke the dam that withheld his tears. He apologized to the boy, and allowed his information sector to search for Naruto; the deal made by the Lady of the house that was suspended after her death was now resumed.
After that confrontation, the shady offer Branco offered to the Faunus vanished, and he paid respect to the dead and gave a considerable amount of his savings and split it among his victims' families. While initially the families were outraged they got a late response, they understood what the company head was experiencing; the White Fang had destroyed and annihilated any form of peaceful coexistence.
Jin stood next to the man as he apologized to every single family affected by his actions, and with every meet, he saw the man breaking when he saw many families broken like his. The blonde Faunus clenched his hand tightly and contained all his anger; the White Fang would pay. He didn't care that he understood their motives before; this became personal when the White Fang took away a mother from his second best friend (and first crush).
The White Fang would pay.
And now back to the present. Jin altered his outfit a bit. He now looked like a ronin or samurai with his black hakama and white and blue kimono. He added his detached sleeves that looked like blue strips of a cape from his previous occupation.
Jin failed to follow on that promise to Weiss twice now and hated himself for it. But there was no use moping around; he had a bunch of radicals to catch. Just then he heard to screeching of burning rubber.
A getaway vehicle appears in the distance just behind the trees. Just Jin's luck that they had one prepped, meaning they knew that Weiss would be vulnerable. Jin said, 'I told you so' in his head when Weiss deliberately left Myrtenaster home because she thought she was safe. Jumping up, he commanded Yukianesa to make a crystal sword wide enough to ride on; this was an attack he called 'Crystal Strike,' but many have fondly nicknamed it as 'Ice car,' much to the creator's dismay. He rode his ice car towards the sound, and hoped that they weren't that far. As he burst forth from the trees that outlined the park, he turned to his left and watched the retreating form of a SUV. Jin flared his Chakra and channeled it behind his icy vehicle, and it worked and added more speed to his approach.
The runaway vehicle served at corners perfectly, not losing speed at the turns. It kept doing this to throw off the pursuer, who still chased them after twenty minutes of chasing. The group of Faunus inside the car were impressed that a Faunus brother had this much motivation, a misplaced motivation, but motivation nonetheless.
Then suddenly, a dog Faunus picked up his phone. "Hey. Plan B. We're going to your position, get ready." He hung up and told the driver to step on it and head to the area they needed to go. But first, get a clear window of opportunity. The driver swerved his car at corners multiple times when they finally had a ten second gap for the Faunus pursuer to catch up. "We'll be there in seven seconds." And as the Faunus said that, they turned left, Jin saw that and boosted after them. At the turn a second identical car was running too, slower than the getaway vehicle, but enough to fool the Faunus pursuer to follow the fake. At the intersection, the true vehicle turned left, the fake kept moving forward, a grave mistake when the car became encased in ice.
Jin approached the car and searched the trunk for Weiss. He didn't find her there or anywhere in the car. Furious, Jin opened the driver door and yanked the driver to the ground, and froze the opening. In his anger, Jin grabbed the Faunus by the collar of his shirt and yelled, "Where is she?! Where's the Schnee heiress?" It was then he heard the screech of tires once more, and the chase was on once more. He dropped the Faunus and froze his legs to the ground and chased after the sound. Channeling Chakra to his feet, Jin jumped unnaturally high to reach the rooftops. From there, he rode on his icy vehicle once more and restarted the chase just above the runaway SUV.
"That guy's is still chasing us! What does it take to get rid of the guy?" Asked a panicked ferret Faunus. The driver pushed his foot down on the pedal, not bothering to stop for any pedestrian; they had a mission, innocent blood will be paid with innocent blood.
Just up above and behind the SUV, Jin nocks an arrow of ice. An arrow it may be, but its size is that of a spear. Jin aimed his arrow just in front of the SUV, a perfect hit to immediately halt the car's retreat. He was ready to release the arrow, but a wave of fire brought him out of his concentration. This fire burned the tires off the car and its grinded on the road, unable to stop and headed for a pedestrian, the creator of the attack. Jin focused on the pedestrian, who stopped the car by slamming his right fist through the engine and to the ground. There was no explosion; all traces of fire that could spark an explosion coiled around the pedestrian's arms, and upon closer inspection, Jin noticed the most prominent feature of the individual-
Nine, red fox tails!
In Naruto's perspective, he was heading to a restaurant to give and cook the newly acquired ingredients. But then this over-speeding SUV decides to not stop and was frantic: a sign that there was a crime going on. So being the Good Samaritan he is, he's going to stop that car in an instant. Sweeping his left arm, Naruto sent the wave of fire Jin would see. The rubber tires burn off and headed towards Naruto. To stop it, he tore through the engine by punching. There was no forward momentum; Naruto stopped that.
He pulled his arm out and moves it around, checking to see if there were any kinks in his muscles of shoulder joint. Thankfully there were no problems to arise from this and he could go on his merry way. The blonde turned right, but stopped at the call of his attention.
"Hey, Pureblood! What gives? You just break someone's car like it was nothing on a regular basis or something?" It was the Faunus driver that said that; he's a goat Faunus. The other, from the passenger side exited the car as well; she's a cheetah Faunus. She motioned other passengers to come out, and it was a dog Faunus and a ferret Faunus that left the car with a girl in white on the dog Faunus's shoulder. He ran towards the plaza, determined to leave this spot. Naruto scowled at the sight. He suspected it was a crime, but kidnapping, a high-priority kidnapping in broad daylight? Either they knew that the Schnee heiress would be vulnerable or they were confident they could pull this off.
"You know… I've got nothing to say to you, White Fang." Naruto pulled out two of his katanas, now named Bloody Fangs, and pointed it at both radicals. "I want equality between us too, but I will not have it through the blood of innocents!"
"You don't know what you're getting into, Pureblood." The cheetah warned as she and her partner took battle stances. Naruto gritted his teeth, angry that these guys were underestimating him. Naruto cloned himself and chased after the runner. The clone was the one fighting the two Faunus now. "Dammit, Pureblood!" The cheetah attacked, swiping her claw weapon at the fox Faunus. He parried, and slashed the woman at her midsection. The blade bounced off, the cheetah knows how to manifest her Aura. In this moment of realization, the goat Faunus tried to headbutt him; he failed because his target dodged and sent himself crashing into his teammate. Naruto would've attacked the fallen duo, but an ice arrow contained them.
"Long time, no see, Naruto." Jin said as he descended to the ground. Naruto smiled, but immediately turned serious.
"Aren't you supposed to be saving the Schnee?" Asked Naruto as he pointed at the snowflake emblem of the Schnee. Jin rode his 'Ice Car' again and headed for the plaza; the clone dispersed into a poof of smoke.
The original Naruto kept close chase with the runner. Naruto thought he must be local, seeing as he knew where the alleyways of Vale that was infamous because they could confuse a person. He eliminated the ferret from the chase by knocking him unconscious and embedded into the ground. He lost sight of the Schnee. Thankfully the Schnee heiress was screaming all the while, helping the hero save her distressed damsel self. The chase in the alley maze seemed to go on forever until he made a mistake. The Faunus went to an alleyway ended at the pier; he couldn't get away now!
"Hey! Stop right where you are!" Commanded the blonde. He knows the act won't work, but hey, he wants to try out the cliché line in cop shows. Surprisingly, the Faunus stopped and turned around, put the Schnee on the ground standing and in a neck hold, the Faunus's gun trained on the girl's head.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Pureblood?" The Faunus asked furiously. "Don't you see what I'm trying to do will help us achieve equality?" Naruto bared his fangs.
"You idiots, the lot of you members of the White Fang!" Naruto yelled at the Faunus. "I want equality too, but I don't KILL people for it! Sure I dislike the humans that say, "Oh he has an animal part, he's a freak," but I don't MURDER people because they said that! I know this bad blood goes deeper, and I'm sure that because of that, this foolish radical and violent movement you have going on will only cause a rebellion from both our Faunus brothers and sisters as well as humans. I want equality not under the conditions of fear, war, or massacre." Weiss Schnee took in every word her savior said. Jin told her there were Fauna that wanted a peaceful transition, but she thought she'd never see the day. "What you're doing will only lead to the extinction of the Faunus!"
"But don't you see, Pureblood, this is why we need to equalize through force, because with force, we can keep repressing them, preventing rebellion. We already have success with this new policy compared to our weak peaceful version." The Faunus vainly tried to persuade his Faunus brother in joining the cause, and he knew it when he saw the clenched hand get clenched tighter.
"You goddamned idiot! That ain't equality, that's oppression; what you're spouting ain't any better than what the humans have treated us!"
"So? The shoe is on the other foot. It's payback f-"
"Shut the hell up, Dog! I've had enough of your preaching of death!" Naruto said angrily as he took his fighting stance.
"Indeed, that's enough, White Fang." Jin said as he stepped in. He dropped from the roof with ice constructs of a wolf and an eagle.
"You too, Pureblood Schnee lapdog?" The Faunus wasn't threatened; he had the person of interest at gunpoint; they had nothing they could do that would come to harm the girl. He smirked, "Ooh, I'm so scared, guys, but which of us has the advantage here?" He emphasized his point by putting the barrel of the gun on the girl's cheek.
Weiss trembled, "J-Jin?" She pleaded for help. She's visibly shaken; she may have seen her fair share of death, but death aimed at her was not something she or anyone at such a young age is or should be prepared for. The Schnee bodyguard frowned. What could he do in this situation? Then he felt a poke on his back. It was Naruto's tail. Why's he moving it around? Is he writing? Jin focused, and understood the message.
'Get ready, and don't bother using Yukianesa.'
After that, Jin noticed a kunai fly by behind his head. "What was tha-Oh hell!" The Faunus couldn't finish his boasting because he was pulled by nine fox tails and hurled towards the two Faunus.
"Now!" Naruto signaled to Jin. The two blondes punch the Faunus in the gut. The force of the punch would've sent him flying into the sea, but his legs were grabbed, Jin grabbed the Faunus's right leg, Naruto got the other. They pulled the Faunus back and slammed their fists on the dog's gut again, sending him crashing on the ground. The two go for another punch; this time with chakra imbued on the fists. They punch again, creating a crater. They gave a final punch and rendered the dog Faunus paralyzed temporarily.
They stand and patted the dust off them. Naruto was the first to say something. He grinned as he said, "I knew you'd get it! Hey, so how's it feel to punch rather than slash at your opponent? Feels much better hearing the crunch right?"
"No, Naruto, you will never convert me to your fighting style, Naruto." Jin turned to the Schnee heiress, "Are you okay, Weiss?" "Ohoh, first name basis, huh?" "Shut up, Naruto." The white haired girl, while shocked, was able to get a nod. Jin sighed and hugged the girl as he said, "Sorry, Weiss. I broke the promise again, didn't I?"
"Yo, Bodyguard." Naruto called out to his friend. "What your doing ain't exactly professional ya know."
"Way to ruin the mood Naruto." Jin hid a smile.
"Hey, it's been three years, I need to have some fun with my friends. Anyway, are you the only one who followed me?" Jin shook his head. "Then who else?"
"Who else would go?" Jin answered cryptically.
"You mean the others too? That's great! Have you seen them?"
"Sadly, no. I've searched for Makoto and Noel, but I have no leads in Vale so far. Ragna's just off the grid; no records or anything."
"Oh man th-"
"How do you know Lieutenant General Ragna Kisaragi?" The dog Faunus stammered through the pain.
"Ragna…/Kisaragi…?" Naruto laughed hysterically. Oh perfect. This was amazingly perfect in that even in a different world, Ragna is on what normal people consider as the wrong side.
"Pffthahaha! Jin! This is just great! Your brother has a knack on going to a rebellious side, doesn't he?" The blonde dog Faunus sighed.
"Sadly, yes. So…Lieutenant General, huh? Is he that important in your ranks that you gave him such a high rank?"
"I don't need to answer to you, Pureblood traitor."
"I'm not even part of your group." Jin deadpanned before sighing. "I give up. Hey Naruto, how about you come with us?"
"Eh…I'd like to, but I got a job at a restaurant and another one I created for myself. Plus, I kinda like it here. Besides I know where you and the Schnee are headed." Naruto said confidently.
"Oh? And what might that be?"
One word. "Beacon." Jin smiled, "You know me too well, Naruto." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. He'd say more, but-
"Now go, we got uninvited guests." Naruto growled as he pointed at a number of speedboats speeding to the pier.
"Sure, but not without a goodbye present." He sent his ice constructs to sea and froze the water solid. The White Fang members were forced to swin their way to the pier rather than go and hit'n'run the place. "I'll see you in Beacon, Naruto." The blonde fox smiled, and nodded at his retreating friend.
"Sure, sure Ice-king. Get your princess outta here." Jin nodded and grabbed Weiss and carried her in a princess carry as they rode away on the ice sword.
A day after, Jin looked at the Vale News Network, or VNN. Weiss's kidnapping was top news. It highlighted the events and the number of members captured for this little escapade.
"A total of seventy-five members are arrested for the kidnapping of Weiss Schnee." Said the reporter, Lisa Lavender. "It was through the combined effort of ironically, two Fauna, one Weiss Schnee's bodyguard, Jin Kisaragi, the other is his friend, Naruto Namikaze. Both Faunus are confirmed to be advocates for peaceful coexistence between the Faunus and us humans."
In three different places, there were three individuals with one reaction: "WHAAAAAAAT?!"
She motioned her hand to her left and over it, a pop up of a video appeared. "We now look at a video published to our station by a bystander, who caught most of the events that happened at the pier." The video screen got larger and Lisa Lavender disappeared off-screen to accommodate for the surprisingly high-quality video.
The video coincidentally captured the start of the rants between Naruto and the dog Faunus. It also caught the 'fight' against the same Faunus as well as the PDA between him and Weiss. Now the next part, Jin was curious about; it was the event that led to the arrest of the rest of the members after all. It was interesting. There were a few dedicated to chasing after Jin, so they tried to break the ice. The rest swam to the pier to fight Naruto like the idiots they were.
"Oh good! You finally arrived." Naruto said happily. "Did you know how long I was waiting?" He got his answer in the form of bullets, an attack he effortlessly evaded by tilting his body to the right. "Alright I get it, no more…a what's the saying? Ah screw it!" He yelled as he was evading more and more bullets. "Okay, okay!" Naruto said in a panicky manner. "I've been itching to use my new toys, anyway. Don't disappoint me, guys." Naruto opened the zipper on a bag strapped on the back of his waist. He placed his hand inside, and pulled out a double-bladed naginata, a spear-like weapon with a single-edged blade at the end on both ends. "Alright Azure Storm, let's see you in action."
Naruto beckoned his enemies to come forth, and like the idiots they were, they complied, bringing out their swords or maces, or other close-ranged weapons. The Fauna strike at Naruto, who parried their slashes or blows with ease, and countered by spinning the weapon around like a propeller. He swept the first wave with ease.
The second wave came, he changed the form of Azure Storm; it turned into a double-ended trident. He did similar tactics when defeating the enemies, but when his weapon met a blade or handle at the trident's gap, he twisted it and disarmed the Fauna with ease. In the middle of it, he switched forms again, and it took the form of nunchuks.
Jin was amazed by Naruto's adaptability, and it only developed the idea that Naruto was the most unpredictable individual in the world. Add in the fact that Shadow clones aid in learning, Naruto can learn every recorded fighting style and weapon fighting styles. Jin inspected the one-sided fight, Naruto was wiping the floor with them; he disarmed one Faunus by grabbing the attacker's weapon with his chain, then smacked it at the Faunus next to him, he then smacked a Faunus at the head, which bounced off and did collateral on the poor fool next to him.
Naruto had enough with that form and once again switched to a different form. It took the form of bladed tonfas. The third wave came in and supported the second. Naruto didn't look scared at all. His fighting style around the tonfas revolved at using hooks, utilizing the blades at full potential. He'd twirl the weapon around at times, but it was rare; he was a boxer at heart, and this weapon was as close to boxing as he can get without actually punching. In this form, Naruto seems to have no restictions; his body was at its natural motions, in other words his fighting style.
"C'mon guys. I know you can do better, I mean come on, you have a badass name like the White Fang, and I'm beating you up like mooks; you guys should at least be elite mooks or bring out the elite." Indeed. Naruto in the video had knocked out forty-five Fauna effortlessly in less than a minute. He withdrew his Azure Storm and placed it back in the bag. He pulled the zipper open further. And grabbed something that seemed to be heavy. "Now that I've had my fun with that toy, here's…another!" As he said that, he pulled out a humongous cube with tank treads. From a compartment, he pulled a pair of sports glasses. The Fauna were wary, and they acted smart for once by pulling out their guns.
"System activated." Said a robotic voice. The voice originated from the mobile cube, which opened up to show a mobile missile platform. Naruto grinned at his masterpiece.
"Say hello to my little friend, Thunderclap." The Fauna shot at Naruto with no warning, and they would've been successful, if the red Aura shield didn't block the bullets.
On Naruto's right hand, a shield connected itself to his gauntlet. It was gunmetal gray with and a two-faced mask, one white with a black eye socket, the other the inverse, on the middle and had movable sections on it to spread out; it might be a multi-function weapon. This is Deceive.
"He said 'Nice to meet you too.'" The missile platform fired and emptied its salvo, the missiles hitting the ground the Fauna stood on. They couldn't react fast enough and were engulfed in the blast. They weren't eradicated, if that's what you're asking. They were unconscious; he used concussive rounds not actual explosives because that'd land him in jail too.
After that, he dragged the unconscious bodies into a pyramidal pile, and clapped his hands at his handiwork. "And the winner is…Naruto!" He enthusiastically said to himself. "Now…What am I late for again? Oh crap, the groceries!" He ran off and the video switched to a red background with a line art of a fox, Naruto's emblem. Beneath it, there was writing.
'Produced by Namikaze studios.' Jin laughed. It was so Naruto to capture his own awesomeness. The video screen shrank to show a shocked Lisa Lavender, whose face told viewers like Jin, 'I thought you said this was a bystander!' The whole news crew was at a shock that there was a visible ten-second pause after the video before the news reporter snapped out and said the next piece of news. "We now go to a live conference with SDC head, Branco Schnee."
"Mr. Schnee, how do you feel about the attempted kidnapping of your daughter?" asked a reporter. The company head sighed.
"While I knew they were going to attempt this, I didn't think they'd have the audacity to do it in broad daylight." Branco answered with a true feeling of disbelief. "I'm happy it wasn't successful, and I'm proud of my wife's decision to hire Jin Kisaragi as my daughter's bodyguard; it was because of him, and his friend, Naruto, that my daughter is safe." Branco's smile never left him as he said his next words. "Ironic that it was my daughter's kidnapping that allowed Jin to meet his lost friend. The story about the young man's employment as a bodyguard is simple, and in the words of my wife: "Become my daughter's bodyguard, and I'll assist your search of your friend.""
"How do you feel about peaceful coexistence with the Faunus?"
Branco paused and thought long about his answer. "There was a time when I wouldn't care about that topic and went on my merry way. There was I time when I believed we'd never coexist. And there was I time when I wanted death to all Faunus. However, my mind has changed. The young men that saved my daughter are the main factors of my change in opinion." The reporters were confused by his answer. "Jin Kisaragi, the Faunus who endured the discrimination under his employment, never hated or attacked humans; he neither scorned us nor wished death upon us all. He gained my utmost respect, and became the son I never had. The other young man, Naruto. His speech we just saw broadcasted by the VNN solidified that while our generation can't eliminate this segregated lifestyle, the next generation can persuade or truly eliminate the discrimination of the Faunus peacefully."
"What about the questionable relationship of your daughter with her bodyguard? How do you feel about that?" Branco choked on his saliva a bit.
"Nex-"
"Yes! Please tell us about how you feel about that development."
"Ah…eh…erm…" Branco was obviously shocked about the question no doubt. He'd rather not answer to avoid embarrassing his daughter and Jin too. Like his opinion, there was a time where interspecies relationships would make Branco puke at the mere mention, but now…
"Okay fine." Branco gave up. "I don't care."
"You don't care, sir?"
"Yup."
"What does that mean?"
"Exactly that. I'm sure the young man understands." Jin realized that the answer was for him. How did he know? How did the man that didn't know how to express himself to his daughter see through Jin's fake face that he puts in front of the man when Weiss is the subject? How did he know that the Faunus bodyguard has a crush on his daughter? Wait…did Branco…?
Jin softly chuckled. "I can't believe you, sir. Giving your approval before I can properly ask."
"Next question please." Branco asked before Jin turned off the t.v. Jin looked at the time; it was 2:37. There was three minutes before Weiss's Myrtenaster training. Hurrying, Jin ran to the training room.
With Naruto, he was having a blast watching the news. He understood what Branco met, and he'd love to listen to the interview more, but a phone call for him prevented that.
"Hello, Naruto Odd Jobs, this is Naruto speaking. What's your job?" Naruto asked enthusiastically. "Oh a delivery? What kind?" The blonde was interested. "A gift delivery, but what's the gift?" He waited for an answer. "Me? For whom?"
"For one Makoto Nanaya." Answered a boy through the phone.
And this concludes Jin's branching path. Thanks for reading.
And one thing:
Pureblood is what I'm calling Faunus with ears (or horns) and a tail. We haven't seen both on a Faunus, so why not call the group that?
Anyways hoped you enjoyed that.
Azure signing off.