Alright, here's the first REAL chapter to this reading story. Sorry it got delayed, took longer than I had expected. As always, enjoy the story.

"Oh Naruto, you just look more like Kushina with each passing day." A fatherly voice spoke with nothing but affection. This father was one Minato Namikaze, a tall man standing at a few cm under 6 feet tall. He was a sort of tall man, above the lower heights for sure. He had a wild mane of sunny blond hair, and he wore it tied up in a ponytail at the moment to keep his hair from falling into the frying pan he was working with. He had bright blue, sharp eyes, and wore a blue long sleeved shirt and pants combo... and above that he wore a pink apron. The man had peach colored skin, and had a very lean muscled body with angular features.

Coco was paying close attention to the screen, taking in the details. After all, if they were going to be stuck here, might as well humor the fucker and watch. "Handsome, but a bit wimpy for my tastes. What do you think, Vel?"

"I like him. He seems very kind."

'If only they knew,' the Author mused, laughing to himself at the back of the room, 'they wouldn't be so quick to judge him on just this scene.'

The person walking into the room, Naruto, looked much like the man... only much younger.

While Minato was a man that was living in his early 40s, the boy that entered the room was in his later teens.

He had very similar features to Minato, Naruto had the same sunny blond hair that was only stuck out of the back of his bandana forehead protector. The plate on the front covering his forehead, with it being tied in the back. The front and top of his head was covered by black cloth, with his blond hair spiking out the back with stark contrast. He had more rounded blue eyes, same color as his father, but VERY different shape. He had a heart-shaped face, very different from his father's angular face, and he had very different facial features. More feminine, but at the same time not feminine.

He had a more lean muscled frame, and he stood at a height of 5'6", not very tall for his age... but Minato blamed that on himself and Kushina. Neither of them hit growth spurts until they got closer to 20 years old. Naruto was only 17.

Naruto wore a black, long sleeved shirt and long black pants that went with them. He had his Mother's red swirl symbol on the sleeves of his shirt, and he was wearing a green flak jacket with pockets on the chest, a zipper down the middle, a neck protector, and a red swirl on the back of it. He wore black armored sandals that went up to his shins, and armored gloves that were black, fingerless, and had a silver plate on the top of it.

His most unique character trait was the three whisker marks on his face.

Coco let out a purr. "That's more like it. Wish there were more of him, but he's pulling off the look just right. Wonder what he's got downstairs?"

"Coco!" Velvet exclaimed. Her leader was always a bit too enamored with the male body for her tastes. Coco wasn't a slut or anything, but she was very fond of good eye candy and would jump on a chance to sleep with a handsome guy if she was in the mood for it.

"What? I can look where I want. Besides, I'm sure our friend here wouldn't mind the attention."

"He would if he knew you," Fox whispered under his breath, remembering all those times he got his ass slapped just because she'd wanted to. He had become used to it over the year and a half they'd spent together, but it was still pretty irritating at times.

"Yeah yeah, you say that everyday old man." Naruto said as he grabbed a plate that was handed to him by his father.

"If she was here now, she would be so proud of you, look at you now. My handsome little man is growing up." Minato said as he teased Naruto, pinching his cheek and pulling on it. Naruto swat his hand away from his cheek, before he laid back. He didn't like being complimented like that, not by his dad.

"Creepy much?" Naruto asked as he started to chow down on the meal presented to him, and Minato took his own plate and sat across from Naruto.

"I don't see the problem." Yatsuhashi wasn't very close to his family, having been raised in a temple for the most part. That's not to say that he didn't interact with them, but formality was the order of the day when it happened. This comfortable, close relationship seemed healthy from an outsider's perspective.

"I do," Coco responded. "Nobody wants to hear their dad sound so. . . feminine, ya know what I mean?"

The giant shrugged, passing it off as a matter that didn't concern him. After all, he didn't really bother with thinking about society or the things that were normal between family members if he didn't have to.

"Oh, don't be that way. Normally you are more cheerful than this, nervous about school?"

"That would make sense," Velvet mentioned, remembering her first few days. She was a great fighter, but had no confidence when it came to dealing with new people. She wasn't even able to properly introduce herself until the initiation in the Emerald Forest.

"He doesn't look nervous to me," Coco noted in opposition. The boy honestly didn't look nervous at all. The only thing reflected in his face was annoyance, and perhaps a touch of anger.

Minato asked with a smile on his face, like nothing was wrong. He knew his cheerful, if a bit ignorant, son. He wasn't normally moody like this, if anything, the fact Naruto was wearing this outfit showed that he was taking today seriously.

"Nope." Naruto spoke with mostly truth to it.

"I don't know why you picked Beacon, I mean, Shade Academy is so much closer... aren't all of your friends going to Shade?" Minato asked as he looked at Naruto, who frowned and crossed his arms.

There was the issue.

"Huh? Why wouldn't he want to be with his friends?"

"Vel, some people aren't really your friends." Fox had a good idea of where this was going, having been through it before. He was blind from birth, and knew that just because people acted nicely to your face didn't mean shit if they talked about you behind your back. Quite a few people ostracized him for his blindness, and only talked to him when they had to.

"Friends? Pfffft." Naruto said with a frown on his face. He wanted to go to Shade Academy, at first, before he learned a bit of startling news about his so-called friends that he didn't want to talk about. Needless to say, he didn't really feel all that happy that his first choice in school was being ruined.

"What happened?" Minato questioned curiously.

"No clue, they have been ignoring me ALL week. Like I am some kind of monster." Naruto said with a frown on his face. Minato nodded for a second, that happened a lot when people hung out with Naruto for too long and discovered some... unpleasant things about him. It wasn't Naruto's fault, but people judged him despite him being a good person from the bottom of his heart.

"See? Goddamn scum."

"Fox, tone it down a bit. You're scaring her." Coco was right, Velvet had shrunken inward a bit. After all, the scarred boy could be very intimidating when angry.

"Sorry. Still, I wonder what happened. There are plenty of reasons people stop talking to each other, but Naruto doesn't seem to be the type to be feared or hated."

The others mentally agreed. Sure, he looked like he could be a little abrasive, but anyone who'd been around for even a few months wouldn't just up and avoid him because of that.

"Well, any friend who abandons a friend is lower than any kind of trash." Minato gave Naruto a soft lecture as he pointed up, and had a superior smile on his face.

"Agreed." It was the whole team that spoke. The teams at Beacon were like a second family, and betraying your teammates was akin to treason.

"Did Ma have to deal with this?" Naruto asked with a pout as he looked at a picture of his mother that sat in the middle of the table. She was a beautiful woman, and he gained a lot of his features from her. His eyes, face, nose, mouth, grin, and even some body-type features that he didn't get from his father.

Kushina Uzumaki, she never took Minato's last name, was a unique woman with burning red hair and gray eyes. She bore the same face as Naruto, only with pale skin and a lack of whisker marks. She was a little shorter than Naruto was, maybe an inch short at most, and she had a rather well proportioned body that just worked with her. She wore a dark blue shirt and pants combo, and a green flak vest. Her red hair was tied in a ponytail, and she had on a black bandana headband... but the bandana part was turned into a regular headband.

"She's beautiful. . ." Velvet lauded. Kushina wasn't the drop-dead gorgeous type, but there was no denying that she was a pretty woman. And if the picture was any indication, she kicked ass in her prime.

"No kidding. Wonder if she swung both ways?"

"Coco, no." This time it was Yatsu's turn to chastise their leader.

Said leader crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed. "You guys don't let me have any fun."

"Not really, of course, she was sort of kept out of society... being the Fall Maiden and all." Minato said to Naruto. They had no secrets between them that Naruto knew of. Naruto knew of the Maidens, and he didn't really care too much. His mother had been special, and possessed a special power that was greater than others around her. She was one of the 4 Maidens, the Fall Maiden.

Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Dead silence ensured for a good five seconds or so, during which the Author had conveniently paused the video.

"Author?" Fox asked, being the first one to recover.

"Yes?"

"What are they talking about? They can't mean-"

"The Four Maidens, from the legend of the seasons, yes. Why?"

"Wait, I thought that was just a myth?" Velvet intoned.

"Right, I guess Ozpin hasn't been around to fill everyone in. Not that Qrow's any more helpful in that regard. Well, to put it simply, the legend happened just as you heard, maybe with a few minor deviations. I got all this info second hand, so take it with grain of salt, but what I know for certain is that the Maidens pass on their powers when they die. Usually to whoever their last thoughts were about, but if that person doesn't meet the conditions it goes to a random person who does."

"What are the conditions?" Fox asked again.

"What we know is that the person has to be a young woman. Beyond that, we don't know all that much about it. Maybe the gods of your universe have a bit more insight, but I sure as hell don't. If I remember correctly, the current Fall Maiden received her powers at the age of two. Though that may have been FTDS tinkering with this sub-universe rather than something that can naturally happen."

Yatsuhashi's eyebrows came together in an expression of puzzlement "So the Maidens exist in our universe as well, yet they weren't revealed to the public."

The Author nodded, his expression darkening slightly. "They were hidden away from society because people craved the power they held. Such a hunger is largely responsible for what happened at Beacon."

The room was silent again, everyone lost in their own thoughts about the event. After giving the group some time to reflect. Everyone present when the school was attacked was deeply affected, and even those looking in from other worlds, such as the Author, had strong feelings about the event.

After a few minutes, the Author decided to break them out of their reminiscence. "Well, let's not dwell too much on the past. I didn't bring you here to resurface bad memories after all. The star of the show has barely been introduced!" He clicked a button on a remote he got from somewhere, restarting the video.

She was the Fall Maiden, had been the Fall Maiden, before she died and her power was transferred to some random young woman. Neither Naruto or Minato knew who got the power, and they didn't even try to search for it. The power was just as much of a curse as it was a blessing, something Kushina would agree with... if she were still alive to speak. Naruto played with the remaining portion of his food for a second, before he ate it up.

"So, am I old enough to know what magic Ma placed on me?" Naruto asked Minato, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Your mother cast that magic right before she died, and she never explained its purpose to me. She just said the time will come one day for you to-, and at that point she died." Minato said with a bite of his spiced up toast. He wasn't joking, he was being literal about it. Kushina died before she could explain what piece of magic that she had passed onto Naruto.

"What a cocktease!" Coco yelled, thankful to have something preventing her from thinking about the tragedy. "Seriously, what's the use of having some kind of kickass magic if you can't use it?"

"Darn, well, whatever." Naruto commented with a bored tone, this conversation was going nowhere fast.

"He doesn't seem overly concerned about it," Fox noted.

"Sorry, but she rarely, if ever talked about magic or used it. All I know is that when she used it, it was beautiful and haunting. I could help you train one last time, before you head off to school... If you ever get homesick, you can come home right away you know." Minato told Naruto as an afterthought. Minato was supportive, but at the same time he quit being a Huntsman years ago to raise Naruto as a single parent.

He had quit 17 years ago, and being a single parent with a job had kept him out of the field for too long, and his skills had most likely gotten extremely rusty.

Yatsuhashi nodded, remembering some of the monks at his temple. They were all fighters, but some of the older members hadn't fought for well over two decades, and while they still had considerable skill, it dulled quickly to the point where they couldn't face off against their juniors at all. Though, part of that was just age getting the better of them.

"Okay, but I won't come back for like 4 years. I don't give up when I start something." Naruto reminded his father, who nodded with a smile.

"I'm liking the squirt more and more," Coco approved, the others giving her soft smiles. Coco, despite some flaws, was a good judge of character. Anyone who got her seal of approval so quickly and surely was undeniably someone who could be trusted.

"Yep... OH! Before I forget, your mother DID leave something for you when you got into one of the 4 schools... if you decided to do that!" Minato said as he got up and started to rush out of the room, and Naruto leaned back in his chair and watched his dad go up the stairs.

Wonder what she left him?

'Oh well, I will figure it out soon enough.' Naruto thought as he looked towards the stairs, and he smiled to himself. Unlike other people who might be getting a weapon, Naruto knew for a fact that he wasn't going to get anything like that.

His family didn't use any complicated weapons that relied on Dust Ammo, which could hamper you in battle if you ran out of ammo.

Naruto used a simple black ninja dagger, a kunai, that he kept in a holster on his right leg. His dad did the same, and he heard that his mother did the same as well. They were a short blade using family, no need for any fancy weapons. They were hand to hand combat users, who used smaller weapons to a higher standard.

"Interesting," Fox muttered. He and Yatsuhashi used only their blades as well, so it wasn't exactly strange, but warriors who didn't use Dust ammo in any form were rare.

"Maybe it's a memento of some kind?" Velvet suggested.

Minato came back down the stairs, and he got a box in his hands. The box was old, and it was made out of wood with a small lock on the front. Minato had a key in his other hand, and he tossed Naruto the key and gently placed the box in front of him.

"Here Naruto... Your mother wasn't expected to survive giving birth, so she told me beforehand about this. I never opened it at her request... She said it was from the Fall Maiden who came before her, Mito Uzumaki." Minato admitted with a small smile on his face. The Fall Maiden title had been gifted from Uzumaki to Uzumaki for nearly 700 years, the small, and scattered, family was down to just Naruto at this point.

Coco whistled in appreciation. "That's one hell of a legacy."

"Certainly is, but in the main universe their line was even more prestigious," the Author revealed.

"Main universe? What, you mean the Uzumakis existed somewhere else?"

"Indeed, and they were one of the most powerful clans in that world during their prime. Though, I'll tell you more about that later. For now, you can survive without a huge information dump."

There were no more maiden Uzumakis to take up the Fall Maiden title.

"From Mito... Hmmm, so super old, that is cool." Naruto said as he inserted the key in the lock, and when he turned it it snapped open. He opened up the box, and he reached into it and pulled out a small scroll. A very old Scroll, that appeared to be several thousand years old if he had to honestly guess. Naruto rolled the Scroll open, before he took a peek inside of it.

Only Light banishes Darkness.
Love is the key.

"That's super helpful," Fox commented as he rolled his eyes, not that anyone could tell. After all, unless you were paying attention, it was difficult to discern movement from the pair of blank spheres.

"So, what does it say?" Minato asked as Naruto rolled up the Scroll, and he placed it back in the box. He barely opened up the Scroll, there was plenty more to it than that. Naruto locked the box up again, and he smiled. Naruto gave his father the box, before he stood up and started to walk towards the door.

Coco reached over to the couch and rubbed her Faunus teammate's head. "Looks like you were right, Vel. Still, it would have been nice if he'd gotten something he could wear, like an amulet or something."

A muted snicker could be heard from the back of the room, had the audio from the television not covered it up. While Coco probably just thought it would look good, she had accidentally touched on something very important to the main Naruto.

"I'll tell you later, keep that safe for me until I come back." Naruto said, and Minato grabbed him by the back of the shirt.

"I'm not done, time to give you some motherly advice." Minato said to Naruto.

A pause. "What?" was the collective response of the viewers, minus Yatsuhashi who had just raised an eyebrow.

"Eh?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, and Minato realized where he had gone wrong with that and blushed, before he rubbed his head and corrected himself.

"I mean, I am going to deliver a message from your Mother."

"Oh, that makes much more sense," Velvet said. Coco was busy imagining that man without a very important asset, and finding that the image actually kind of fit.

"She wants you to avoid drinking, if you are anything like her, then you have no tolerance for it. She wanted you to avoid women who hurt you, and find a person who loves you like she did. She also wants you to avoid borrowing and lending money to people. Now come and give your dad a hug before you go!" Minato said expectantly, and he held his arms out wide to accept a hug from Naruto. Naruto's eyebrow twitched for a moment, and he stepped closer towards Minato.

*POW*

Minato lurched forward when he got a powerful fist to the gut, before Naruto wrapped his arms around him as well and gave him the hug he wanted.

"Ok, even I have to say he kinda deserved that one," the Author admitted. He really didn't want to talk too much, keeping to his role as a database and an observer, but he had a habit of opening his mouth just a tad too much to stay silent.

"Damn Dad, don't be so creepy about hugs. I'll see you soon." Naruto said, and Minato smiled and rubbed his hurting gut. He could swear that Naruto gained that punching strength from Kushina, because that hit HURT like a bitch. He waved to Naruto, and Naruto continued to walk away.

"Find nice friends, and bring home a nice girlfriend next time you come back! Also, be sure to visit visit your mother's grave from time to time! Oh, and before you start dating, be sure to formally introduce her to me!" Minato called out to Naruto, whose eyebrow had yet to stop twitching in annoyance.

"Dad! Seriously!?" Naruto turned around and shouted out towards him, and Minato yelped out of surprise.

"What? Just trying to give you some good advice, I mean, I am sure your mother would love to meet your future girlfriend before I do. Oh, and stay away from Faunus, you know how I feel about Faunus." Minato reminded Naruto, who rolled his eyes at Minato for that one.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Coco snapped. She was very defensive of the team's mild-mannered Faunus girl, having almost beat down Cardin after the lunchroom incident. Velvet reached out to placate her leader, prompting the Author to speak.

"Settle down, girl. There's actually a very good reason for what he's saying. In fact, if there weren't, I probably would've created a universe where I could torture him myself." Racism was something few people liked, but the Author especially so. Though never subjected to it himself, he found that judging someone based on physical traits was just too goddamn stupid. There were much better reasons to hate someone.

Minato didn't like it when Naruto talked with Faunus, even though Minato wasn't a racist against Faunus, he didn't feel comfortable with Naruto hanging out around Faunus after seeing how they got treated.

"Sheesh, don't sound like a racist or anything." Naruto stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't hate Faunus, I just don't think you should be around them." Minato said, and Naruto started to walk back towards Minato.

"And why not?" Fox growled. He wasn't nearly as protective as Coco, but like anyone this kind of talk was starting to get on his nerves.

"Dad, Ma is a Faunus, remember?" Naruto reminded Minato, who rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile. It was true, Kushina was a Faunus.

Coco's expression went from anger to confusion. "Wait, what?" Why would a guy who married a Faunus discriminate?

Kushina didn't have ears, or a tail, and she didn't have anything obvious as her 1 animal trait. She had a fox-like face that Naruto inherited, but that wasn't her trait. Kushina had been born with retractable claws, a lucky Faunus who could hide her Faunus heritage as easily as breathing. Most of the time, her claws were never out, so nobody ever saw them. To most, Kushina looked and acted completely human.

"Yeah, I am just saying, for your health, that you should avoid Faunus... I mean... you know." Minato said as he rubbed the top of Naruto's head, and Naruto slapped his hands away and Minato grabbed and pulled Naruto's headband off of his head. Naruto's hair stayed mostly spiked back. "I mean, after all, you hide the fact you're a Faunus. Another Faunus might expose you." Minato said to Naruto as he rubbed between the animal ears on top of Naruto's head.

Naruto... did not inherit retractable claws from his mother.
Naruto was a Fox-Faunus like his mother, true, but he did not inherit claws.

Naruto gained the more visible Fox-ears on top of his head. He had two small fox ears, the exact same color as his hair. The middle of the ears were fluffy and white, and they were twitching constantly.

"Oh my Oum. . . Those are goddamn cute," Coco stated matter-of-factly. There wasn't any other word to describe it. At first, she'd thought that Naruto pulled off an awesome bad boy look, but when those ears came out he just looked so pure and adorable.

The fact that Velvet was leaning forward with a smile and blush on her face signalled that, as a Faunus girl, she approved. She was practically gushing, in fact.

Naruto's whisker marks weren't a Faunus trait, they could have been, but they weren't. Those actually were proof of the spell that Kushina placed on Naruto, and just so happened to look fox-like.

"Dad! Stop doing that!" Naruto shouted out as he snatched away the headband and unfolded it the right way, before his ears were pressed down to his head and tightly pushed into the hair. Naruto tied his headband bandana back into place, before he frowned at Minato.

"I wish you would stop hiding your heritage like this Naruto." Minato spoke softly as he watched his son deny who he was.

"Indeed." Yatsuhashi piped up again.

Coco became slightly sheepish, guilty at having accused Minato of racism without knowing the whole story. "Hey, Author?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you send an apology to the god of that universe for me?"

Smirking, the minor god nodded his head. "He'll get the message."

When a Human (Minato) and Faunus (Kushina) interbred, it would result in the child either being a Human or a Faunus. Naruto was born more looking like a combination of his mother and father, but he was born a Faunus like his mother.

"With those White Fang dirtbags giving Faunus everywhere a bad name, I am almost ashamed to be the same species as them. I would rather NOT be judged by something I can't help... not again." Naruto spoke with a frown.

"Well, at least he's got a good reason for it. . ." Velvet admitted in a small voice. She thought that Naruto looked many times better with his ears out, but understood the stigma that came with being part of a minority.

Minato looked at the time, before his face froze.

"Naruto... It is 11:12... and the Bullhead for Beacon leaves in 18 minutes... You need to start running." Minato said to Naruto, who looked at the sun, and his eyes widened as he turned tail and started to run as fast as he could.

Coco snickered, remembering how laid-back and relaxed they'd been right up until this moment. Truly, another person's misfortune could be the best entertainment, up to a certain point.

Minato watched him go with a smile on his face.

'Look at him go Kushina, our son is growing up.' Minato thought as a wind blew past him, and he was sure that Kushina was proud of what Naruto was becoming as well.

He could ALSO hear her mocking his pink apron.

The final line brought small laughs from all four audience members, even bad-tempered blind man and the stoic.

The Author paused where they were, wanting to ask a few question before they moved on. "So, what'd everyone think of Chapter 1?"

"Interesting," and "Guy's a smartass," came from the two other males in the room.

"Well aren't you two just wells of insight," the Author sassed, rolling his eyes. "What about you girls?"

"Well," Velvet said, "I like him. He seems really noble. Pure and wild, I guess. I almost want a picture to bring back. . ."

Thinking for a moment, stroking his slightly stubbled chin, the Author shrugged and snapped his fingers. A small box, engraved with the words Miracle Worker appeared on her lap. "There, that's a compilation you might enjoy. I'd let you take your own pictures, but a camera taking a picture of a screen is usually pretty bad quality. Those are really high resolution images, so take care of them." Velvet nodded eagerly, thankful for what she was being given. Already she was enamored with looking through the contents of the box.

"And you, Coco?"

She thought for a few seconds before speaking. "The little wildfire's pretty cool, but we got a whole lot of information at once. The Maidens, a person from another universe, magical powers. It's all a little much."

"Sorry 'bout that. This was really meant for people in my own universe, those who already know about it all. I'm showing you on request from the creator, so it presents a few unique challenges."

She nodded, keeping in the back of her mind that there were more people like the Author out there. A subject to bring up later, perhaps, and it might provide some insight on how to leave.

Tell me what you think. I had to explain a lot to the characters themselves in this chapter, but going forward that shouldn't be as prevalent. Also, I plan to do a LOT of fourth-wall breaking, obviously, with the characters being semi-aware of what we consider to be reality. Just for fun, I'll leave you readers with some advice that should be common sense: Have fun, don't drink and drive, and never stick your finger in a wood chipper. Never done it, but I imagine it hurts a lot. . . bye.