Round two! Fight!
To clear up something, yes this takes place after the battle with Pain.
Also, no offense but if you're simply going to post a review saying in some way shape or form to update soon, or pm me to ask when the next chapter is coming out… Don't. Really all that does is add unwanted pressure. I can forgive it on reviews if it's at the end of a comment or something but to send a pm specifically for that reason is just annoying.
"What are you talking about?!" Ruby exclaimed as she stood up from her chair, "My Mom has been dead for years!"
"Calm down Miss Rose." The man known as Ozpin, the head of Beacon Academy, said to Ruby before he addressed Naruto, "This is a serious claim Mister Uzumaki. Do you have any proof?"
"You can contact Ruby's father, Taiyang Xiao Long. He can confirm what I've said." Naruto said as he folded his arms behind his head.
Ruby's breath hitched in her throat as she took a seat again. Was this boy telling the truth? He brought her father into it so casually and seemed very confident. Ozpin attempted to gather his thoughts on the matter when he noticed a message appear on the scroll Glynda was holding. "Mr. Xiao Long is here to pick up his daughter."
Ozpin took a sip of his hot chocolate before he stood up, "Well then, there is one way to confirm this story. Ruby's father is here right now, so if you both will follow me please." Ozpin said before he and Glynda exited the interrogation room.
Naruto stood up and started to head around the table, only to stop when he felt Ruby grab the sleeve of his jacket. He turned to her, only to see her looking at the ground. Silence filled the room before Ruby spoke, "This isn't a joke right? You're being serious?"
"Yes, Ruby. I'm completely serious. Your mom will be outside waiting for you with your dad. Yang too if they found her before they got the call about us." Naruto said before opening his hand of the arm Ruby was holding. Ruby looked at Naruto for a moment before sliding her grip down to his hand, allowing Naruto to help her out of her chair. Once on her feet, she let go of Naruto's hand and walked around the table with Naruto in tow. With every step, her heart beat harder to the point where it echoed in her ears. A few minutes later she would know whether this boy was telling the truth or if she was going to shoot him for toying with her emotions.
Ruby and Naruto passed through the door to the main lobby and when they did, Ruby froze. There, next to her father, stood Summer, who was talking to Ozpin. Yang was also in the room, leaning on the wall near the door as she looked lost in thought. Naruto nudged Ruby, snapping her out of her shock. She looked up at Naruto, who simply nodded over to Summer. Ruby gulped as she slowly walked up to the group.
Summer turned to the sound of footsteps approaching her and the others. This got the attention of the others as they all turned as well. No one said anything as Ruby slowly walked up to Summer. She stopped at least ten feet away and looked down at the floor nervously. Ruby couldn't seem to look her mother in the eye. Summer only gave a gentle smile. She expected this after how Yang reacted to her, "Ruby." Summer said softly, hoping to break the attention.
Ruby jumped at Summer's voice before she slowly looked up at the woman in front of her. This woman looked so much like Ruby that it scared her. The eyes, the hair, even a similar style, and that white cloak… The same cloak her mother is known for wearing. "Are… are you…" Ruby tried to ask, only for the words to get caught in her throat. Was she afraid to admit this woman was her mother? That her mother had simply been missing for seven years instead of dead? If that was the case then where had she been? How did she know Naruto?
"Ruby… You've grown so much." Ruby's eyes widen as Summer spoke, "Tai is right. You're a beautiful young lady now. I'm so sorry for missing the last seven years of your life…"
"Mom…" Ruby was finally able to say before her emotions finally spilled over. A flurry of rose petals flew around the room as Ruby plowed into her mother at full speed, sobbing uncontrollably. Summer felt the wind get knocked out of her as she slid back from the force of Ruby's speed. However, that didn't stop her from smiling and hugging her daughter close. Ruby began to sob as she spoke, "Mom your back! You've come back! Where have you been?!"
"I'm sorry Ruby… I've made things so hard for you. You, Yang, and Tai. I promise to make it up to you all." Summer said as she stroked her daughter's head, "I'll tell you all everything, but first, I think a nice meal at home is in order. All this tension isn't good for any of us."
No one could find the words to argue with Summer on that one. Even with Ruby being emotional, a heavy tension hung in the air. Yang had remained silent through the whole ordeal, most likely having vented her feelings on the matter beforehand. As everyone filed out of the building, Ozpin stopped Taiyang, "Mr. Xiao Long, if I may borrow your time for a small moment?"
Taiyang raised an eyebrow before sending everyone else on their way, "Go ahead, I'll catch up." Summer nodded, leading Ruby out as Yang and Naruto followed her.
Once everyone was outside, Ozpin spoke, "I apologize for the digression, but given the recent events, I thought it would be best to simply pass this onto you until everything has been settled. I intend to give both Ruby and Naruto a full invitation to Beacon Academy. Should one or both accept, simply contact me on the matter. I'll take no message in two weeks as a decline of my offer. Is that acceptable?"
Taiyang was surprised by the sudden offer from Ozpin. It was unusual for Ozpin to accept students early. They both must have really impressed the headmaster. Taiyang blinked a couple times before answering, "Uh, yeah. That'll work just fine. Ruby will be ecstatic, but not sure what Naruto will do though. I just met the kid."
"Simply present the offer and we'll see what comes to pass. Now then I believe I've taken enough of your time. You should rejoin your family before they become concerned." Ozpin told Taiyang. Taiyang gave Ozpin a nod and wave as he left the building.
When only Glynda and Ozpin remained in the room, Glynda voiced her concerns, "Sir, do you believe those two are truly ready for Beacon Academy?"
"You were there yourself Glynda. Their skill levels are far above others in their age group. Mr. Uzumaki also interreges me greatly. Just what gives him such mysterious powers? Could prove to be quite the learning experience for all of us." Ozpin stated before taking a swallow of his drink.
Once relocated back home, Summer and Naruto took the time to answer the questions of where Summer had been for the last seven years. Everyone was gathered around the dinner table except for Taiyang, who volunteered to cook since he already had the rough version of the story. The silence lingered in the air before Ruby spoke first, "Mom… what happened seven years ago?"
"I suppose that is the best place to start." Summer replied before she took a deep breath, "On the mission where I went missing, I had found a strange pitch black dust cluster in a cave that I'd never seen or heard of before. I decided to take a sample back so it could be studied, but when I made contact with the dust, it activated. The next thing I knew, it exploded and I woke up in the hospital in Naruto's village, Konohagakure."
"And just where exactly is Naruto's village?" Yang asked as she crossed her arms while looking at the boy with slight disdain, which made Naruto laugh nervously.
"Well, that's the hard part." Naruto answered this time, "The easiest way to say it is that my village doesn't exist in Remnant, but another world entirely. The dust that Auntie Summer found can transport people from this world to mine, and vice versa. In my world, the Grimm doesn't exist, dust is extremely rare to find, and our technology has nothing on the tech in this world."
"Auntie Summer?" Ruby asked in a mixed tone. Naruto blinked before swearing in his head. He'd been trying to avoid calling Summer his auntie until everything with her family had settled down but he slipped.
Naruto quickly waved his hands in front of him, "We're not biologically related or anything! It's just that… well…" Naruto started to say only to trail off. How did he explain this without hurting the girls or his Auntie?
"It's alright Naruto, I'll take over from here." Summer said as she took the spot light off of her adopted child. She had come to terms with it herself some time ago when they were on their training journey with Jiraiya. This would certainly add to the wedge between Summer and her children, but it was a consequence she had to accept. That wouldn't stop her from reconnecting with Ruby and Yang, however. In the words of her disciple, she would never give up. "After being discharged from the hospital in Konoha, the leader of Konoha was kind enough to grant me passes to come and go from the village. However the paperwork still took time to go through, so I spent a couple of weeks exploring the village. One day I stumbled upon Naruto playing in the park with some other kids." Naruto smiled a bit as he recalled the day Summer was talking about. "Watching the children play together reminded me of you two, so I stayed and watched for a bit. Eventually, the children were taken home by their parents except for Naruto. I was concerned, so I waited for a bit to make sure he was picked up as well. When no one came, I decided to keep Naruto company and eventually walked him home."
The girls raised an eyebrow in confusion until Naruto explained, "I'm an orphan, so there was no one to come for me. I've lived on my own instead of in the orphanage for as long as I can remember." Everyone in the room understood why Summer had taken an interest in Naruto as a child. Being an orphan herself, Summer always sympathized with children of the same background.
"Wait, this village let you have your own place to live with no adult supervision? I'm a teenager and even I find that irresponsible!" Yang said with irritation clear in her voice.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "That's not the worst of it. Parents kept their kids away from me, shops threw me out, and forget about going into town on my birthday."
"That's… horrible!" Ruby commented. She watched Naruto carefully, who seemed really carefree about his childhood treatment, before she asked, "Why would they treat you that way?"
Summer looked at Naruto with concern, who simply shrugged before continuing, "I'm not a normal person. I'm what they call a jinchuriki back in my world." Thanks to Summer's support growing up, Naruto had come to accept his title and being able to tell people about his permanent guest.
"A jin… what?" Both girls asked at once.
"Well… I would compare Kyuubi to a Grimm but so far he's proven a lot nicer than the Grimm have." Naruto stated before he winced and held his ear, "It was a joke furball! A joke and a compliment!"
Ruby and Yang looked even more confused than they did a moment ago at Naruto's seemingly random conversation with "furball". They both looked at Zwei for a moment, who was snoozing in the door frame to the other room. Summer giggled a bit before she explained, "As said before, Naruto's world does not have Grimm, but they have another creature called Bijuu. Nine in total if I recall correctly with a different number of tails to show how strong it is. Each one of these creatures is extremely powerful. So much so that even the one tailed beast alone could wipe Vale off the map if it wanted too."
Ruby and Yang gasped in surprise and even Taiyang couldn't help himself as he turned to listen to this part of the story. Naruto took a deep breath as he took over, "On the day I was born, a man managed to use Kyuubi, the Nine-tailed Fox, to attack my village. Having no other option at the time, my father died sealing the Kyuubi away inside of me. However not before it was able to destroy a portion of the village, and take the lives of a lot of people. Because of that, people treated me like I was the fox itself. The leader of my village at the time made a law that forbade everyone from ever talking about me being the jailer. Still… that didn't stop how they treated me. For nine years I grew up alone." Everyone was silent as Naruto explained his life, "That is what a jinchuriki is. A person who has had a Bijuu sealed away inside of them, and has had to live with the consequences of it." Naruto finished as he started to tilt back in his chair, "Honestly if not for Auntie Summer, I don't know how I would have turned out. I hated everyone back then because they hated me for no reason. Auntie was the first person to treat me like I was a person. Granted old man Hokage tried to as well but being the leader of the village kept him very busy so he has never around."
No one felt the urge to ask what a Hokage was. They were all hung up on how Naruto was treated as a child. Nine years of being treated like you didn't belong in your own hometown. That must have been unbearably cruel, yet the boy in front of them managed to endure. "Well, to pick up where we got side tracked." Summer spoke, having decided to not let the topic linger on such a depressing note, "Since I was stranded in the village for some time, I decided to spend time with Naruto during my wait. Eventually, I learned how he was treated and simply couldn't leave him alone like that. While looking after him, I spent time searching various geological spots of interest that I thought may have had a chance of finding more dust. Obviously, my searches did not end successfully."
"Auntie started to help me with my studies at the village academy since none of the teachers there would. Now that I think about it, I'm positive they were trying to fail me on purpose." Naruto stated as he grabbed his chin, "After that, she taught me how to fight properly in hand to hand and with a sword. She'd give me a couple lessons and while she was out searching for a way home, I would practice the lessons. Three years later when I graduated my village's Academy, she gave me Maelstrom." Naruto finished as he pulled out the weapon in question. "Auntie Summer is the only family I've ever had. That's why I call her Auntie."
Ruby and Yang couldn't find it in their hearts to be mad at the pair for that. Yang because she understood the meaning of searching for answers without being obsessed with them, and Ruby because it showed that even after seven years her mom was still the caring woman she could remember. Summer herself smiled at the explanation. While she wished Naruto would call her "mom" as well, she at least understood why he didn't. She had asked him why while they were on their training journey. As Naruto had put it, it was out of respect for Summer as well as her children. He didn't what her to feel like he was taking their place, or for them to feel replaced if he ever met them. So he had settled for Auntie. "Honestly I'm more grateful for having met Naruto that day than anything. If not for him, I more than likely wouldn't have stayed in his village and in turn, not found the dust crystal that brought us here. Given how rare it is for Dust to be found in his world… I could still be wandering there if not for that meeting."
That added some points to Naruto for Ruby and Yang. In a way, this boy was responsible for bringing their mother back home, if indirectly. Another silence filled the room for a moment before Yang spoke up, "That's enough for one night. I've still got a lot more questions but… I don't think to have them all answered in one setting will do us any good."
Ruby sat quietly, not sure whether or not to agree with Yang. She too had a lot more questions, but she also wanted to enjoy the fact that her mother was back in her life. So she settled for one more, "I have one more question for you Mom. What will you do now? I mean… you were one of the greatest huntresses around and…"
"I think I'll take it easy for a while. Perhaps see about getting a job teaching like Tai once we get my death status revoked." Summer answered honestly. After training Naruto for so long, she had found a certain love for teaching herself. Taiyang himself smirked a bit as he started to hatch an idea on how to get Summer more time to spend with the girls. Perhaps Ozpin would be willing to do him a favor.
Naruto noticed Ruby relax at Summer's answer. Most likely Ruby had a worry that her mother would go missing again. Naruto couldn't blame her on that one, but before he could speak on the matter he smelled something burning. "Burning…?" "The food!" Naruto yelled, causing Taiyang to realize he'd left the food cooking for too long.
After a small panic and nice meal, everyone started to settle in for the night. Naruto had to crash in the living room due to a lack of a guest room. Ruby stopped on the stairwell and turned to the boy who had already fallen asleep with ease. She hoped he would be there in the morning, cause if he was there then so was her mother. Then none of this would be a nightmare in disguise.
"I hope you and Yang will be good friends with him." Summer said from behind her daughter, causing Ruby to jump in surprise. Summer was now in a robe after having taken a shower.
Ruby looked at her mother for a moment before turning back to the sleeping Naruto, "It'll probably be a little awkward, but I'll try." Ruby paused for a moment before she looked back at Summer, "Mom, you'll still be here when I wake up in the morning right?"
"Yes, Ruby. I promise that I'll either be making breakfast or trapped in my bed because your father won't let go of me." Summer responded, adding a joke at the end to try and help Ruby relax. Ruby did manage a giggle at the image of her mother being pinned down by a clingy Taiyang. She stopped however when she felt something be lowered around her head. She looked down to see a necklace of a small cross resting below her collar bone. Holding it in her hand, she looked back at Summer who was simply smiling, "Reassurance. When you wake up with that, you'll know it was all real."
Ruby clutched the cross tightly with a small smile before she hugged Summer, "I love you, Mom! I'm so happy you're home." She said softly.
Summer gladly returned the hug, "I love you too my dear little Ruby."
"I'm not so little anymore though." Ruby countered.
Summer chuckled before she let go of Ruby and placed her hands on her hips, "Hate to tell you this dear, but you'll always be my little Ruby to me. Just like Yang will be my little fireball, and Naruto my little tornado. Just part of being a parent."
"That's not fair! If I get taller than you then you can't call me little anymore!" Ruby said in defiance.
"Well, then I hope you're a late bloomer like I was. I didn't hit my growth spurt until I was Yang's age." Summer said as she rubbed Ruby's head, "Go get some sleep. A growing girl needs her rest."
Ruby glared playfully at Summer before agreeing, "Alright. Goodnight mom." Ruby said before she headed up the stairs to her room. This one conversation had brought her so much joy that she silently wished with all her heart that this wasn't a dream as she clutched her new necklace all night long.
"Good night Ruby." Summer replied before she turned to Naruto. Naruto hadn't been disturbed in the slightest at the conversation, snoring away quietly in place on the couch. Summer only giggled before she too headed for the stairs, but not before saying, "Good night Naruto." With a quick stop to wish Yang a good night sleep as well, Summer retired to her bed.
Not a moment after she lay down did a pair of strong arms pull her close to a well-toned body. The warmth of the body made Summer relax as she snuggled into the source, "I've wanted to do this for so long…"
"So have I." Taiyang responded as his wife fell asleep in his arms. Not in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would get to do this once again, yet here she was. His family was whole again and even had one additional member now. True Taiyang didn't know Naruto all that well, but as far as he was concerned, the boy helped brought his wife back to him and his daughters. Naruto would always be welcomed in his home.
The next morning, Ruby awoke feeling unusually refreshed. She sat up and started to stretch only to feel something pull at her neck. Opening her hand, she saw the necklace her mother had given her the previous night. Ruby smiled as she let out a big sigh of relief. Letting the necklace come to rest, she resumed her stretch before getting ready for the day.
Once ready she stopped at the top of the stairs as she overheard Summer from her bedroom, "Tai, I need to go make breakfast for the kids!" A quiet muffled voice followed in which Summer responded with, "I know you want more snuggle time, but I really want to have a nice breakfast made for them on my first morning back home. Now let! Me! Go!" Summer said between grunts in what was no doubt an attempt to get free from her husband's bear grip.
Ruby let a nervous laugh out before she headed down stairs. Guess she could wait a little while to see if her mother managed to escape the grasp of her father. Once at the base of the stairs, she noticed that their blonde guest was no longer on the couch. After doing a quick search of the house, she found he was nowhere inside. "Where did he go?" Ruby wondered before deciding to check the property. She started in the front yard and worked her way to the back, where she eventually found Naruto in the middle of training. He seemed to be doing some mixed form of martial arts and sword play as his sword floated behind him. Naruto would do one or two strikes with his fists before taking Maelstrom out of the air for a slash. "What are you doing?" Ruby asked, causing Naruto's concentration to break. Maelstrom fell to the ground when Naruto lost focus, causing him to sigh.
"Still not good enough…" He muttered as he picked his weapon up and returned it to its sheath, "Nothing much. Just trying to master a new fighting style."
"Why? Your current style seems to work fine." Ruby said as she walked up to him. Granted she had only seen him use a small bit of his semblance and toss two men like rag dolls.
"Well… I've recently mastered the art of being a sage. The easiest way I can explain that I can connect with nature and use that connection to do very powerful attacks taught to me by the elder toads." Naruto explained. Ruby only raised an eyebrow in confusion which made Naruto chuckle, "Sorry… I'm not the best at explaining things. In my world, people can summon special animals if they sign a contract for that animal. These animals can be from tiny to the size of small mountains and talk. Each one seems to have their own society somewhere. The toads deemed me worthy to be taught the art of being a toad sage, so I trained with them and learned how to use nature energy. With that came Frog Kata, a type of martial art that utilizes the natural energy, but…" Naruto crossed his arms in frustration, "Finding a balance between Frog Kata, using Maelstrom, and my semblance is proving hard. Frog Kata and my semblance work fine, but the sword play is the tricky part."
"Which is why you had Maelstrom floating behind you? So you could find a way to use it easier?" Ruby asked with interest. She may have only understood a fraction of what Naruto said, but it sounded cool and that was enough for her to take an interest.
"Yeah, though any break in my focus causes me to drop Maelstrom, as you saw. This is a tough one…" Naruto mumbled at the end.
Ruby crossed her arms in thought before smacking her fist into her palm as a light bulb went off in her head, "Why don't we go look at some training magazines for sword skills! They might help give you an idea on what to do and this way I can show you around Patch since you'll be here for a while."
That didn't sound like a bad idea to Naruto. He barely knew the town and it wouldn't help for him to get lost, "Alright, but what about everyone else?" Naruto asked as he looked at the house.
"Mom is trapped in bed because of Dad, and Yang sleeps in late when she can. It'll be a quick tour and then we can come back for breakfast if Mom has managed to wiggle out of my Dad's grip. Come on!" Ruby stated before leading Naruto away from the house. So long as they didn't go wandering off into the woods no one would be upset. Heck even if they did no one would get upset. For Ruby, the woods were an excellent practice zone since there was always plenty of Grimm to kill.
As Ruby skipped down the road with Naruto walking in tow, she informed Naruto on the various places in Patch. Being an average size town thanks to Signal Academy, there were a few places of interest at least. "That is the town dust shop. It gets a lot of business thanks to Signal Academy so it's best to make orders during the week instead of the weekends. The bakery down the street has the most amazing strawberry cake ever too!" Ruby said before started to drool a bit at the thought of strawberry cake. Well more the thought of strawberries in general. She quickly wiped her mouth before resuming the tour, "Well there isn't much else besides the clothing store and Signal. The clothing store is really good with custom orders though! Any questions?"
Naruto shook his head as he followed Ruby through the streets, "No, I'm good."
Ruby slowed her pace from a skip to a walk to match Naruto, "So… what other things can you do? Everything you did at the fight in Vale was amazing!"
Naruto couldn't help the grin on his face as he rubbed the back of head embarrassed, "Hm… Well, I can use various forms of fire attacks. Wind attacks too, but I tend to just stick with my semblance for that. I can make myself look like objects and other people. I have around five versions of the Rasengan and each one makes a bigger crater than the last one. Oh, the Rasengan is that blue ball I hit the Bullhead with." Naruto added, getting a nod from Ruby, "Last time I did a check I could make over… almost three thousand clones too."
"T-three thousand?! You… You are your own personal army!" Ruby yelled in excitement, "Can your clones use your semblance too?!" She asked as she looked at Naruto as if he had become her top idol.
"Unfortunately, no. Found out the hard way that since my clones are just copies of me, they don't come with an aura or semblance. Though they do come with bullets." Naruto said with a smile, "One downside to having Maelstrom back home is that Auntie always had to hand make my bullets for me, since we don't have guns and by that extension, ammo. Auntie refused to show anyone how to make them before you ask." Naruto said, causing Ruby to close her mouth as he continued, "At most, I'd have extra two clips of ammo on me at one time so I had to pick my shots carefully. At least until I found out my clones also came with ammo. I can make my own firing squad. Though for some reason transforming them into clips of ammo doesn't work. Makes the clone dispel in the gun. Maybe it's the hammer slamming the bullet or the explosion of the gun powder…" Naruto said as he muttered the last bit.
"Um… you lost me at that last part." Ruby said as she tried to sort out what Naruto meant about his clones.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Oh, well my clones aren't sturdy. Basically, one good hit can make my clones disappear. Good for over whelming my opponents with numbers, but if the opponent is skilled then they can easily be dispatched."
"Oh. So how do you do all this amazing stuff, and more importantly, can I do it too?!" Ruby asked eagerly, getting more excited with every word at the mental image of an army of herself armed with Crescent Rose.
"You might be able to learn how to do it. Auntie learned how to use chakra on our training journey, though it took her almost a month. Chakra is what lets me do everything I told you about." Naruto said before he looked around, "I can explain this better if I had something to draw with."
"Oh, here use this." Ruby said before she pulled out her scroll. Naruto watched her tap a few icons on the device before she handed it to him, "Just use your finger. It acts like a pen."
Naruto tested this, using his finger to make a single line at the top of the screen, "I really need to get one of these." Naruto said before he gave Ruby a rough crash course on chakra.
Five minutes later, Ruby recapping everything Naruto had told her. "So everyone has chakra and it can kill you if you run out. It's made up of the physical and spiritual energy of the body, which increases by training and meditation… I miss anything?"
"That's it in a nutshell. Once you get the feel of channeling chakra, it just becomes a matter of practice." Naruto said before he smiled as he passed Ruby back her scroll, "Now it's my turn to ask a question. Can I see your weapon?"
"You want to see Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked curiously before smiling, "Tell you what, I'll let you see mine if you let me see yours. I want to see Mom's handy work!"
Naruto shrugged and switched weapons with Ruby after deploying the blade. Ruby went into a detailed inspection whereas Naruto struggled to find Crescent Rose's deployment mechanism. Without looking, Ruby reached over and deployed the weapon for him. Naruto yelped in surprised before giving the younger girl a slight glare, "Warn someone before doing that." After taking a few steps back and a couple practice swings, Naruto seemed satisfied as he returned the weapon to its compact form, "It's heavier than I thought it was. What kind of rounds do you use?"
"High caliber sniper rounds. I use the recoil to add to my speed and mobility. Pretty cool right?" Ruby asked as she looked down the backside of Maelstrom's blade. She noticed a strange mark and discoloration on the spine of the weapon a small bit above the hilt, "Hm. Was it broken and forged back together at one point?" Naruto nodded before looking through the sniper scope. Ruby switched Maelstroms mode and looked down the iron sight, "The blade gets put away. That's a bit weird. She should have made it into a bayonet or like a bladed tonfa… Maelstrom is a pretty simple in design. How long did it take Mom to make it?" Ruby added as she switched Maelstrom to its compact form and switched back with Naruto.
Naruto chuckled a bit as he put his weapon away, "Auntie explained how it took her almost a year to make since we don't have the same type of technology. Everything was hand forged and she had to find a lot of specific metal so it wouldn't break easily."
"Huh. Wonder if I can make some upgrades for it at some point. I'll have to talk to Mom about its specs. Anyway, we should get to the dust shop before we forget too…" Before the two could continue, Ruby checked her scroll after a loud beep informed the teen of a message, "Oh, Dad sent me a message. Everyone is wondering where we are, so I guess we should head back."
"Alright. Thanks for showing me around Ruby." Naruto said as the two headed for home.
"No problem. Maybe later you can show me that chakra stuff." Ruby responded as she resumed her skipping.
"Maybe."
Once back home, the two teens returned to the smell of fresh food being cooked. Naruto immediately realized the food, "Auntie is making waffles!" Needless to say, the two quickly joined Yang at the table
"So, how was the date?" Yang asked out of the blue.
Ruby gagged and nearly did a spit take with her milk. She coughed twice before she addressed her sister, "It wasn't a date! I just showed Naruto around town and got to know him a bit! Right?"
As the two girls dragged Naruto into their friendly squabble, Summer happily hummed a tune as she cooked for everyone. A few minutes later Taiyang walked in waving his scroll in the air, "Well I have good news for three people today. So who should I start with?"
"Oh! Oh! Am I one of the three?!" Ruby said excitedly with her hand raised.
"Yes in fact. You, Naruto, and Summer." Taiyang said as he took a seat at the table. Summer turned as she moved a waffle onto a plate having heard her name called. Knowing he had everyone's attention, Taiyang continued, "Ozpin has offered our young Ruby and Naruto here an invitation to Beacon Academy. I also sent him a message last night before bed about if Summer could have a teaching job, and he is rather keen on the idea."
Ruby started to hyperventilate at the news before she let out a squeal of ecstasy at the news. Naruto, however, just seemed puzzled, "Beacon… Beacon… I know I've heard that before."
"It's the school where Taiyang and I trained." Summer said with a joyful tone. So many memories of her time at Beacon with Taiyang, Qrow, and… Raven. Thoughts of her one missing teammate and the previous lover of Taiyang caused Summer to let out a deep sigh. Raven had been one of her closest friends and yet one day she just vanished, abandoning her daughter and lover. No one knew why she was missing, and all attempts to find her ended in failure. It was considered that Raven had been slain at one point, but Summer never believed it. Raven was the greatest fighter of their team. Hell if not for Raven, Summer knew her sword skills wouldn't be near the level they are today.
Naruto seemed conflicted at the idea of attending Beacon Academy," I'm grateful for the offer but… I'm not sure if I should accept it."
"Why not?!" Ruby yelled as she slammed her hands on the table, "Beacon is the greatest Huntsman and Huntress school in the world! Mom and Dad both went there! Think of all the things they could teach us!" Ruby continued in excitement.
"Well for one we don't know how long I'm staying here." Naruto countered as he slowly scooted his chair a bit further away from Ruby, "I mean I do want to see a lot of Remnant, but I do have to go back home at some point."
"Then you should go to Beacon. You will get a chance to learn about Remnant's history and take missions that let you travel around." Yang said as she ate, having "stolen" a waffle earlier, "I mean, even if it's temporary it's better than nothing right? Plus you'd have Ruby and me to show you around the school and if Mom takes the teaching job, we can spend more time together outside of class." Yang honestly didn't see a downside to this arrangement.
That was one part of the offer Summer had considered. No doubt Taiyang asked Ozpin for the job position so she could spend time with her children since Beacon was rather far from Patch. "What would the position be? I'm a bit out of touch with the recent technology and events."
"Team close quarter combat expertise." Taiyang answered, "You would be teaching the students on how to effectively utilize the strengths and weaknesses of their team."
Summer stayed silent for a bit before she smiled, "Well I did specialize in the team coordination back in the day." Summer glanced at her disciple for a moment before she decided, "I'll accept the job."
Naruto glanced up when he felt like someone was staring at him, only to see everyone had their eyes on Naruto. "Why not? We'll just have to explain to this Ozpin that I'll have to leave at some point." Naruto said with a smile. He couldn't pass up an attempt to learn more about Remnant after all.
- Weeks pass: -
Naruto sat in the seat of the Bullhead, fiddling with his new scroll. "He's really into that scroll." Yang commented as she watched her counterpart blonde play. He hadn't said a word the entire trip since Summer had given him said device before their departure.
Ruby stifled a giggle, "He really likes to learn about this kind of stuff. When I showed him my blueprint for Crescent Rose, his jaw hit the floor."
"Oh great, another weapons dork." Yang said playfully as she gave Ruby a playful jab to the arm.
"More like a combat dork." Summer corrected from her seat on the other side of Naruto, "When it comes to learning new fighting techniques, no one takes to it or puts as much effort as Naruto does. He'll run himself into the ground if you let him."
"Sounds unhealthy." Yang commented before she leaned over Ruby to try and peak at what Naruto was doing on his scroll.
Naruto was completely oblivious to the conversation as he continued to fiddle with his new toy. At least until Summer plucked it out of his hands as she stood up. Naruto looked confused as Summer waved the three kids over, "Come over here and check out the view." The three teens stood up and followed Summer to the other side of the ship.
"Oh wow!" Ruby exclaimed as she looked through the window, "You can see Signal from up here!" Her gaze moved from Patch to Beacon Academy in the distance. It was then Ruby grew silence.
Naruto looked between the Isle of Patch and their destination, "Oh cool, I can travel from Vale to Patch on foot and back."
"What, can you walk on water too?" Yang asked in disbelief only to get a nod from both Naruto and Summer.
"It's a common practice to stand on and walk on water in Naruto's home." Summer commented.
Naruto grinned as he added, "Walls and ceilings too."
"… You are definitely teaching us how to do this." Yang said before she nudged Ruby, "Right sis?"
Ruby didn't seem to notice as she stared off into the distance at Beacon Academy. It wasn't until Yang gave her a harder nudge that she snapped out of her stupor, "Huh? Oh, yeah. What Yang said." Ruby said before staring back out the window.
Summer immediately caught onto how something was bothering her child, "Something bothering you Ruby?"
"I'm just nervous. I was so excited at going to Beacon I forgot that I would be skipped ahead two years. I'm the youngest person here on a plane where I know only three other people, two of which are my family. I just… don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Ruby explained.
"But you are special! Everyone is going to think you're the bee's knees!" Yang told Ruby as she wrapped her arm gently around Ruby's shoulders.
"And if that bothers you, just tell them about me skipping training school entirely. I can handle the attention, good or bad." Naruto added. He could care less if people gave him shit or not about skipping ahead. Those that did would be on his prank list and those who didn't would be left alone. Simple as that.
Summer smiled and rubbed Ruby's head, "It's good that you're not being arrogant about being moved ahead Ruby, but do have confidence. Ozpin wouldn't have given you an invitation to Beacon if he didn't believe you were ready."
Ruby smiled a bit at the sound advice of her mother. Yang's and Naruto's words of support helped as well, but something about having her mother back to support her gave her an unusually warm feeling. Before anyone could continue speaking, Glynda Goodwitch appeared on a hologram at various places of the airship. She began her speech on how those on the ship were the chosen few to go to Beacon and how they were the protectors of peace. Unfortunately, before the touching moment could continue when Glynda's speech was finished, a blonde boy stumbled by the four gagging horribly.
As everyone watched the boy stumble to the nearest container to hold his stomach contents, Naruto commented, "I feel bad for that guy."
"Hopefully we meet other people instead of vomit boy over there." Yang added
"Yang, be nice! Not everyone can handle flying!" Summer scolded before she noticed that a bit of the boy's spew had managed to leak onto the floor near them, as well as on Yang's shoe, "Yang, dear…"
"Gross Yang! There's puke on your shoe!" Ruby said loudly as she moved behind Naruto to get away from the puke.
Yang looked down and immediately started to hop on one foot chanting gross over and over again. She tried to shake it off away from anyone only to turn to Naruto when her plan failed, "Naruto, you're a guy! Clean it off!"
"Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I'm good with vomit! Keep it away from me!" Naruto said as he and Ruby both backed away from Yang. Even Summer found herself covering her mouth as she stepped back. Stomach fluids were not her strong suit. Summer was thankful as Yang chased after Naruto and Ruby as she tried to get one of them to clean her shoe.
Once the ship had docked at Beacon and Yang managed to get her shoe cleaned, the four departed for the school entrance. Summer stopped and stared at the school in nostalgia with a smile as the teens were in a sense of awe. After a moment of silence Summer spoke up, "Well, I need to report to Ozpin before the assembly. We need to settle a few things before I can begin teaching on paper. Be sure to get to the main auditorium in twenty minutes. Oh, and do keep where Naruto is from a secret for now. Best to settle in before making any tidal waves."
"Bye Mom/Auntie!" The three kids said as Summer walked away from them. Naruto took a look at the other student's passing them, "So, what now?"
"Well, I'm gonna catch up with my friends." Yang said as a group of people appeared out of nowhere around her, "Have fun you two!" She added before her and the group sped off into the distance fast enough to cause Ruby to spin in a circle.
Naruto caught Ruby before she could fall over onto a cart rolling behind from dizziness, "Does she do that a lot?" Naruto asked before he noticed an insignia on one of the suitcases, "Isn't that…?"
"Run off without a care in the world? Yes." Ruby replied as she shook her head, "Thanks for the catch."
Naruto only nodded before another female voice called out from nearby, "Naruto Uzumaki?"
Both Naruto and Ruby turned to Weiss Schnee approaching them. Naruto grinned as he waved at Weiss, "Hey Weiss! How have you been?"
"I have been good thanks to you. You didn't mention attending Beacon back in Atlas." Weiss said with a small smile as she approached the two.
Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well, some things happened. Found Auntie's husband then had to go to Vale to track down Ruby here and her sister. I found Ruby, we stopped a robbery and fought with some thugs, which impressed the Headmaster of Beacon. So, here we are. Oh! This is Ruby Rose, Auntie Summer's daughter."
Weiss raised an eyebrow at Ruby, who seemed a bit awkward at the sudden arrival of a new person, "You're the daughter of the Summer Rose? Well, you do look remarkably similar now that I picture it."
"Um, yeah… So how do you two know each other?" Ruby asked, quickly directing the spotlight away from herself.
"Naruto and your mother saved my life in Atlas by foiling an assassination attempt on my life by the White Fang." Weiss stated, not aware of another girl nearby who turned an ear in interest at the conversation.
Naruto took over as he explained in detail, "Auntie and I ran into financial trouble in Atlas, so we took some small jobs to get enough to travel to Patch. We got hired on to help with a performance at the theater Weiss was performing at since a few of the stage hands hadn't shown up. Turns out they were kidnapped by the Fang and left tied up in a dumpster to be found later. Anyway, I guess since Auntie and I filled two of the spots, these White Fang guys decided a more direct approach. I noticed one of the other stage hands letting a group of people all wearing the same outfit in through the back door. I didn't know it was a white fang uniform at the time but still thought it was suspicious. I tried to approach the guy holding the door open, but he attacked me. It went poorly for him since I knocked him out in a couple hits. I went and told Auntie about it and we split up, taking out every member of the Fang that had gotten in silently so not to disturb the performance and cause a panic the group could take advantage of. I found the last guy in the rafters above the stage aiming a gun at the back of Weiss's head. At that point, stealth wasn't an option anymore. I rushed him, which got his attention to focus on me instead of Weiss. Before he could aim again, I tackled him down and tried to wrestle the gun away. I'm surprised no one heard us honestly. Guess they were enticed by Weiss's beautiful singing." Weiss couldn't help the smile on her lips at the phrase as Naruto continued. "The plan to not disrupt the performance didn't work though. The Fang person and I wound up rolling off the rafter onto the stage. I did land on him though which knocked him out."
"I was surprised by a loud crash and turned to find a teenage boy getting off a grown man. At first, I thought Naruto was some kind of delinquent who had snuck in until I saw the uniform of the White Fang member. The guards had already rushed on stage to apprehend Naruto and the man, but I gave Naruto the chance to explain before being taken away. That is when I met Miss Rose as well as she had come out from behind stage with the theater owner. He confirmed having to hire Naruto and Miss Rose due to being shorthanded, and one of the other Fang members confessed in order to get a lighter sentence for their crime." Weiss finished for Naruto, "Naruto and Miss Rose only asked for a ride to Patch when a reward for their services was offered. I was quite surprised by this but gave it none the less. It was incredibly impressive that no one noticed their actions until Naruto's spill onto the stage. To take out sixteen armed assailants without a soul seeing or hearing their actions is impressive, especially when you consider Miss Rose wore armor."
"Wow!" Ruby commented as she turned to Naruto, "How did you take out sixteen people without being noticed?!"
"I only took out seven. Auntie got the other nine. It was only because we had been working on the stage that day really. We knew how to get around." Naruto said as he folded his arms behind his head, "I'd like to catch up more Weiss, but we need to get to the assembly. Want to meet up later?"
"Of course. I need to make sure my luggage is secure as well. I'm sure we'll all be busy for the day so I'll be sure to contact you another time." Weiss asked in a formal manner as she curtsied the two. She gave Ruby another quick stare she walked off along with her two butlers, who were pushing the previously mentioned cart of luggage.
"Great… not even here an hour and someone already thinks I'm special…" Ruby said in a sour tone.
Naruto watched Weiss walk away before he stated, "I wouldn't say she thinks you're special. Seemed more like she was measuring you up for something. Couldn't say what though."
"That seems even worse…" Ruby said quietly to herself. The two started to head off towards the school when yet another female voice called out.
"Excuse me!" Blake Belladonna said as she approached the two, "Sorry to interrupt, but I overheard you mention the White Fang earlier. Something about an assassination attempt?"
"Yeah, they attempted to take out Weiss who just left. Didn't they talk about it on the news?" Naruto asked. Summer had asked that her and Naruto's name private once the issue had been resolved. She and Naruto figured the incident itself would have at least made the news.
Blake seemed concerned as she grabbed her chin, "They're getting more extreme…" It took her a moment to register what Naruto had asked, "No, it never did. I assume the Schnee family decided to keep it private to avoid speculation from the public."
"Oh… if that's the case, should we keep this between us?" Ruby asked. If Weiss's family didn't bring want it to be known, then Ruby definitely didn't want to be the person known who spread secrets.
Blake seemed to agree, "Yes, that would be the best." What neither Ruby nor Naruto knew is that Blake wanted this kept a secret for a different reason. The White Fang has sunken low enough in her mind. She didn't want to add to it even if she had left the group itself. "I'm sorry to hold you two up." Blake said suddenly before she walked off in a hurry.
"She's a rude one." Naruto commented considering Blake had never introduced herself. He took a look around before speaking to Ruby again, "So want to bet another person stops us in the next ten seconds?"
"You're on. There is no…" Ruby started to say only to stop as yet a third voice, this time a male's, called to them.
"Hey ugh… Do you two know where we go on campus?" The voice asked from behind the two approached. Naruto only smiled as he turned whereas Ruby actually looked annoyed at how she had instantly lost a bet. Ruby's annoyed stare shook the fellow blonde teen, Jaune Arc, for a moment before he apologized, "Sorry! I just… didn't hear where we are supposed to meet up while on the ship…"
"Probably because you were vomiting in a trash can." Naruto commented before he introduced himself, "Naruto Uzumaki."
"I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby said as her mood flipped. Even if she had lost a small bet, it was no reason to be mean to a new possible friend.
"Jaune Arc." Jaune said as offered his hand to shake.
"I'm not shaking that." Naruto stated bluntly, "Not until we find a bathroom for you to clean yourself in."
Ruby immediately retracted her hand from Jaune before the two could shake, "Gross!"
"Hey, I didn't puke on my hand!" Jaune said in an attempt to defend himself.
"You managed to puke on Ruby's sister's shoe while covering your mouth." Naruto countered, putting emphasis on the word covering, "Anyway, we'll show you where to go. Just, don't touch us until you wash your hands… and gloves."
"Okay…" Jaune said in a depressed tone. As the three walked towards the auditorium, Jaune attempted to plead the case of his motion sickness, and how it was not his fault he got sick. "All I'm saying is that motion sickness a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune said told the two leading him to the auditorium.
"And all I'm saying is that they do have a medicine for that." Naruto replied as he and Ruby walked in sync ahead of Jaune. Even his world had medicine to deal with motion sickness for those who couldn't handle horse drawn carriages. "Regardless of how sick you get, it's your fault if you don't take the medicine. You're lucky Yang was more concerned about her shoe or I'm sure she'd have punched you out the window."
"She wouldn't-." Jaune started to say only to be interrupted by Ruby
"She would, especially if you had been unlucky enough to get any in her hair. There would be a hole in the ship, and you would be swimming." Ruby stated without hesitation in a matter of fact tone. Honestly, it wasn't hard to imagine a Jaune sized imprint in one the ship windows.
-Meanwhile with Summer:-
"This will be your class room." Ozpin said to Summer as he and Summer walked into the room. It had a standard desk set up with each desk raised higher the further back it was. The center of the room was larger than average size, giving room for sparring and technique demonstration. A large desk sat in front of the back wall with a terminal in the middle. Lastly on the wall were at four separate monitors. "You are free to decorate however you see fit."
"I'm just hoping I live up to your expectations. It has been some time since I've been a part of team activity." Summer said as she took a look around the classroom. She would have to get Taiyang to send a few things to make the room less formal.
"I recall you having one of the sharpest strategic minds in coordinating one's team and implementing on the fly plans of action. No doubt you have instilled this knowledge into your disciple yes?" Ozpin asked as he followed Summer inside before taking a drink of his hot chocolate.
"As much as I could." Summer admitted, "There is only so much one can teach in an improper environment. Naruto had… conditions that prevented him from learning in a proper team environment." Summer continued as she looked to the floor. Truth be told when properly taught Naruto soaked up knowledge like a sponge. However when no child was allowed to be around Naruto growing up, and even when he was placed on a genin team there seemed to be a void with Naruto and other people. Sakura, Naruto's previous crush, was obsessed with her other teammate Sasuke. Summer had managed to help Naruto gain his first and only date with Sakura after a bit of coaching. Unfortunately, despite Summer witnessing a rather well executed first date attempt, Sakura turned Naruto down for a second stating she couldn't commit until she had a chance with Sasuke. Summer, while she could understand where the young girl was coming from in that aspect, didn't agree with it. "You at least give a man a three date minimum if the first one is good." Summer thought to herself in a bitter tone before her train a thought continued. Getting Naruto and Sasuke to work together seemed like a miracle. One she would never understand how Kakashi had managed to pull off.
"Miss Rose?" Ozpin called out, snapping Summer out of her memories, "I seemed to have triggered some rather deep memories. I apologize if I brought on anything painful."
"No, no. Nothing painful for me per say. Just how difficult of a life my disciple has had due to ignorance of others. Still, that is in the past and now is a time to focus on the future. I promise to do my very best to embed my knowledge among the students." Summer promised as she rested her hand on her chest.
Ozpin smiled at Summer's commitment, "That is good to hear. I should head to the assembly then. It wouldn't do well for morale if the headmaster was to be late." Ozpin stated as he turned for the door, "If you need anything, contact Glynda or my self directly. Be well Miss Rose, and welcome back to Beacon." Ozpin said as he exited the class room.
Summer smiled softly at Ozpin's display of affection. It wasn't rare for him to show love to his students, former or current. It was still just as comforting to come back into her life so easily. Almost too easily… "I really hope things continue to go this smoothly." Summer thought with a deep sigh. Soon she would have to start searching for another dust cluster to take Naruto home. When that happened, she would have to say goodbye for good possibly. Yet, Summer somehow seemed to instinctively know that it won't be near that easy. "… Man, I'm being really pessimistic lately. I need to be more positive!" Summer exclaimed to herself before she patted her own cheeks, "Alright! Time to get this place ready for class in two days!" Summer moved behind the desk and booted up the terminal. She had to make sure her first lesson was ready for her class. The most important lesson she felt her students would need to know; Knowing the weaknesses of their team and how to improve it. After all one's strengths don't matter if their Achilles heel is left unguarded.
Meanwhile, Ruby, Naruto, and Jaune had found their way to the auditorium. Once they walked inside they heard Yang calling their names. The two turned to see her jumping a bit so she could be seen above the crowd, "I saved you two a spot!"
"Whelp we gotta go! See you after the ceremony!" Ruby said before she pulled Naruto along with her towards Yang so as not to lose him in the crowd.
Naruto simply waved at Jaune as he was pulled along. Jaune sighed in depression as suddenly being abandoned, muttering about finding a nice quirky girl and cool guy to talk to again. He wasn't aware of a certain famous red head watching him from afar. As Ruby and Naruto joined Yang, she asked, "So how was the first day for you two?"
"Not bad considering you ditched us." Ruby said with a bit of snark, "Did find out that Naruto and Mom stopped an assassination attempt on someone important. I think Naruto called her Weiss?"
"Weiss Schnee? As in the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company?" Yang asked, looking impressed seeing as that was the only important person she could think of as important who was named Weiss. Anyone who needed to buy dust learned of who the Schnee family was. Ruby is one of the special exceptions cause all her dust purchases were related to weapons and therefore she cared about nothing else at that moment.
"It's a long story. The short version is Auntie and I needed money to travel to Patch from Atlas. We took a small job in town and wound up stopping the attempt on Weiss's life. Don't go spreading this around though. Weiss's family didn't say anything about it I guess they want it to be kept private." Naruto explained. He figured Ruby would tell Yang, being family and all.
"Why were you and Mom in Atlas?" Yang asked. Ruby turned to Naruto, curious about the question as well.
"Well, when Auntie and I used the dust crystal found in my village, it transported us on to some kind of mountain. At first, we didn't even know we were in Remnant until the Grimm showed up. We had no idea where to so we climbed down and picked a random direction to follow. We eventually found a railway and followed it to Atlas." Naruto said told her.
"Oh. So when working in Atlas, you got caught up in that mess and did something about it." Yang finished, "So… why didn't Mom call Dad or something? He would have helped out."
"Problem was convincing him it was really his wife." Naruto answered, "Think about it. Auntie went missing for seven years and suddenly calls saying she's in another city with a blonde kid who none of you had met before then? That could lead to a lot of bad assumptions." Ruby and Yang thought about it for a moment. What would they have thought if they found Summer in Atlas with Naruto in tow?
"I… probably would have thought she had abandoned us at some point." Ruby answered honestly. If her father had told them about the hypothetical call, she could have thought many negative things until she actually got to address her mother in person. "That or something worse…"
"Exactly." Naruto continued, "Auntie figured it was better to explain in person rather than give time for everyone to assume the worst. Sometimes shock can be a good thing. It will stop your mind from turning but still let you retain information. Though… that won't stop you from saying some harsh things if you lose your cool anyway." Naruto said, quietly adding the last part more to himself than anything as he remembered blaming Tsunade for Jiraiya's death.
Before Yang or Ruby could question further, Ozpin appeared on stage. He cleared his voice into the microphone to get the attention of his would-be students, "I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you, to take the first step." With that Ozpin walked away from the microphone, letting Glynda take over. She informed the student body of the gathering in the ballroom for the night and initiation the following day before she dismissed the student body.
"He seemed kind of… off." Yang commented as she looked towards Ruby and Naruto.
"Almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby finished for her sister.
Naruto hummed to himself for a moment before he replied, "He wasn't. He must have gotten some disturbing news before hand… Still, it's not really any of our business right now. Explore the school grounds a bit?" Naruto asked. He planned to do it rather the siblings decided to tag along or not, it was only polite to offer.
The siblings agreed seeing as they had nothing better to do. Of course, they would have to first they would all have to get their locker assignment number. Can't be wandering around the campus fully armed. At least unless you were Naruto, who kept kunai hidden up his sleeve as an emergency measure. Naruto couldn't help the chuckle at just how many weapons were actually hidden in his jacket. The teacher would have one hell of a time finding them all.
After a day of exploring campus, the three split off to get changed for the night of sleep in the ballroom. Naruto, once changed after a nice shower, headed over to his sleeping back next to Ruby and Yang. Wearing average plain blue button up pajamas and a frog sleeping cap, he arrived just in time to see Ruby throw a pillow into Yang's face for teasing her about writing to her friends back at Signal, "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird knowing fewer people than Naruto here."
Naruto wasn't sure if that was an insult or not but made himself known none the less, "To be fair I really wouldn't say I know anyone besides you and Yang. Weiss is really only an acquaintance and Jaune is… Not sure yet." Naruto said as he flopped down next to Ruby, "Still, it's cool of you to write back to your friends. I'm sure they'll enjoy your letters. I wish I could write home."
Ruby smiled at the compliment, "Thanks. Say Naruto, what is your home like? You haven't talked about it much."
"Oh, well… My village works more or less like being a huntsman or huntress. The village takes on missions from people in our country and nearby smaller countries who don't have a ninja village. The village charges based on the difficulty of the mission. It's a flawed system though because some countries can't afford high difficulty missions, so they lie about the mission itself. That happened to my former team's first C rank mission. Turns out the mission was an A rank since we had to deal with rogue ninjas. Rogue ninjas are warriors who betrayed their villages for their own reasons."
"Back up." Yang interrupted, "Former team?"
Naruto paused before he sighed, "I'd rather not talk about that right now. It's… a sour subject."
"Um… so what happened on this mission?" Ruby asked, changing the subject. It was starting to become a special skill of hers.
"Well, a drunken old man put the mission in to get an escort back to his village in the land of waves so he could finish building a bridge. What he didn't tell us was that he was being hunted by a business man who hired a rogue ninja to stop the bridge from being built so he could keep his strangle hold on the country. We found out the hard way when two rogue ninjas attacked us. My team leader, Kakashi, pretended to be killed so he could see who their target was since ninja attacking other ninja was a common issue. My old teammate Sasuke and I repelled the attack easily while Sakura, my last teammate, guarded the bridge builder." Naruto told them.
"So what did you do about the mission? I mean, what happens when someone lies about the mission difficulty?" Yang asked.
"Well normally the mission is canceled and we return home, which part of the flaw. Desperate places can't afford the missions they really need. Still, Kakashi let us decide on what to do after hearing the old man's story. We decided to help him out anyway despite the lies. We got attacked by an infamous rogue ninja called Zabuza. He made the area around us very foggy before he and my leader fought before he captured Kakashi. He then made a clone out of the water and used that to attack us instead while he held my leader down. I caught him off guard by using Maelstrom, since he'd never seen a gun before. Two shots and Kakashi was set free. One on the water clone and the second one went through his shoulder. Zabuza retreated and we continued onto the bridge. We rested at the bridge builders house and trained during our free time. One day I spent too much time training and when I got back to the village I found the village under attack by some of the goons of the business man. I can't remember his name…" Naruto said with a pause before he shrugged and continued, "Anyway I found out my team was on the bridge so I hightailed it over there. When I arrived I found Sasuke under attack by a Zabuza's apprentice in a dome of ice mirrors. I dived into the fray to help Sasuke. Things didn't go well at first. The rogue ninja named Haku knew about Maelstrom and kept throwing senbon into my arm. Honestly, I thought Sasuke and I were going to die… That's when I awakened my aura and semblance."
"You didn't have them before hand? Why didn't Mom awaken them for you?" Ruby asked.
"She didn't know how it would affect my chakra at the time and didn't want to risk it doing more harm than good. She tried to do research on it but nothing was conclusive. Auntie thinks that because she used her aura when we would train, I reacted to it and eventually awaken my own when I was in a stressful situation. Anyway, thanks to my newfound aura and semblance, I was able to stop Haku's attacks. Sasuke had awakened to his family's special trait, the Sharingan, which is basically like super vision. It would take a while to explain that one, so I'm gonna skip over it for now. Sasuke used his eyes to direct me to a clear shot and then… I killed Haku." Naruto stated in a sad tone. Ruby and Yang had a feeling there was more to this story than Naruto was letting on, but decided not to ask. It wasn't their room to pry. "Kakashi took care of Zabuza himself. Shortly afterward that business guy showed up with an army of goons. Kakashi and I chased off the goons by making an army of clones. They didn't even try when we filled the bridge with copies of us all armed and ready to fight. Afterward, the villagers showed up and since all of that creepy business guy's goons split, the villagers captured him and had him executed. After a day of rest, we returned to the village."
"You… killed a person? Just like that?" Yang asked a bit unnerved that her fellow blonde had actually killed a person.
"I didn't have a choice. Fights like that happen all the time in my world. Auntie drilled that into my head early on." Naruto answered as he rolled over away from the two.
"To… hurt people?" Ruby asked, afraid of the answer.
"No." Naruto replied, "To do what I have to do to protect my companions. Sometimes… that meant doing some horrible things…" Naruto said as he covered himself with his sleeping bag, "I'm going to sleep. I'll see you two in the morning."
Ruby and Yang watched with concern as Naruto tried to fall asleep, both thinking along the same lines. Just what kind of world did Naruto grow up in? At first, it sounds like a paradise, having no Grimm to worry about. But now that definitely wasn't the case anymore.
Sorry if that last bit seems rushed. I wanted to finish before crunch time at work (gonna be a busy week -)
To address one person, Vipre-Vassago: No, I meant for her to have a Zweihander that can split into two blades if needed, but function best as one sword, or two separate revolvers. I never said the revolvers were small and besides, have you seen how small Crescent Rose gets? O.o
That should cover everything. This chapter was mostly filler and explaining. Next one is where the action starts.