Another day, another amount of weeks spent writing!
The ticking of a clock was all that could be heard in the dorm room of team RWBY that night. When the two girls agreed to keep Naruto's secret, he told the parts of his tale he felt they needed to know. How he wasn't from Remnant and arrived here via travel by a unique dust, as well as a very basic lay out of how his world functioned. Now he sat on the floor and waited for Weiss and Blake to respond. Ruby watched her two teammates alongside Yang, nervous on how they would respond. "Do you take us for fouls?!" Weiss yelled spontaneously as she stood up from her bed where she sat, "You expect me, the heiress to the largest dust company in the world, to believe that there is not only a dust that we did not know about to exist, but that it can also cause travel between Remnant and this so called world of shinobi nations?!"
"Yes, I do unless you have a better explanation for my abilities?" Naruto said in a witty retort.
Weiss grew silent at the counter. It was true she couldn't explain how Naruto could essentially have multiple semblances that all worked at once. These so called "jutsu" as he named them were definitely not something that could be done via dust alone.
"You do seem… different from other people." Blake added as she observed how calm Naruto was. He didn't seem nervous in the slightest and gave no signs of lying to them. Not to mention his name was the oddest one she had ever heard of.
"You're kidding, right? None of you can seriously believe this story can you?!" Weiss asked as she turned to her team.
Ruby looked between Weiss and Naruto before Yang suddenly answered, "I do." Everyone looked at Yang as stood up and spoke, "This was just before Dad had gotten the call about them being detained from the fight with that Torchwick guy. I'll admit… I didn't believe Mom at first when she told me where she had been. I yelled at her, screamed asking where she had really been and why Dad wasn't mad at her either. I even called her a fake and almost attacked Mom if Dad hadn't stopped me…" Yang said as she took a deep breath.
"What convinced you?" Blake asked.
"She hugged me." Yang responded without moving, "She hugged me tightly and apologized for the time she was gone… I could feel her tears fall onto my head when I was in her arms. I know it doesn't seem like much but when she held me like that... It was just like the times she held me before she disappeared. You can't just recreate that feeling. That warm feeling when your mom hugs you… When she speaks to you in such a loving way. That's when I believed her. That she didn't mean to leave us for those years and that she spent every moment she could searching for a way home. Even her reason for taking Naruto under her wing made sense for how Mom acts."
"Oh? Just what was this reason?" Weiss asked as she squared up to Yang.
"Because I'm an orphan." Naruto answered, which shifted the spot light back over to him. "I didn't have anyone to look after me back in my village. I was alone all my life before I met Auntie Summer. She saw me sitting by myself at a park after all the other kids were picked up by their parents. When no one arrived for me, she came over and spoke to me. She offered to walk me home, and from there we became friends." Naruto said as he leaned back while propped up by his arms.
Ruby and Yang remained silent since it was clear to them that Naruto only wanted to reveal a small bit of his life to their teammates. Blake seemed to accept the story, but Weiss remained skeptical, "I'm going to need more proof than just your word that this is true."
Naruto couldn't help the sigh that escaped before he asked, "Just what kind of proof do you need?"
"Just… something! One of those "jutsu" that is so amazing I can't even begin to explain it, a piece of your world, anything!" Weiss said in frustration.
A hum resounded throughout the room as Naruto tried to think of something for Weiss. "I got it!" Naruto said as the light bulb went off in his head. He formed a single hand sign and channeled a large amount of chakra into his hands until the girls could see a faint blue glow. Naruto smiled as he held his hand out to Weiss, "Touch my hand, Weiss."
"Why?" Weiss asked cautiously as she stared at his hand.
"Just do it. It's the best way I can prove what I've said." Naruto answered as he kept his hand held out. Weiss reluctantly reached over after a moment of hesitation. When she placed her hand on top of his, her eyes grew wide in amazement at the feeling of power that surged through her hand. "This warmth! This energy… it's incredible!" "Wow…" This was all Weiss could say to the feeling of the chakra. There were no words she could use to describe what she felt.
"I want to feel! I want to feel!" Ruby said in excitement as she rushed over and put her hand on top of Weiss's. She paused for a moment before a warm smile, "So this is what you and Mom get to feel… It's almost like when you're bundled up in a blanket with a cup of nice warm coffee." Ruby said as Yang and Blake decided to join in the fun.
"I feel like I could punch through anything with this!" Yang commented in amazement.
Blake had a similar facial expression as Yang before she asked, "How do you keep yourself in control with power like this?"
"What's new to you is something I was born with. Everyone in my world has it; some have more than others though." Naruto said as the chakra faded away, "I reacted similarly to you all when my aura was unlocked. Suddenly I felt like I had an invisible armor around me while all the senbon needles in my body were being pushed out and healed."
"Senbon needles…? Wait, does this mean that story about your battle was a lie?" Weiss asked.
"Well… Yes and no." Naruto answered, "The fight did happen, just not entirely how Yang told it. The fight was in my world, and I did nearly die from it. The enemy was an enemy shinobi who was far more skilled than me named Haku. My…" Naruto paused mid-sentence before letting out a sigh and continued, "My former friend and teammate Sasuke was with me. Without him there, even with my new aura and stumbling onto my semblance, I probably would have lost that battle."
Weiss got one word out of that state, "Former? What happened to him?"
Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and dusted his pants off. "I think we should call it a night. I'll see you all in the morning." He said before he walked out of the room.
"… What did I say?" Weiss asked after an awkward silence filled the room.
"You dug deeper than he wanted." Blake answered as she walked over to her bed, "Everyone has secrets they don't want other people to know."
Weiss couldn't disagree with Blake on that one. Perhaps she had unintentionally stepped over a boundary with her last question. "I'll be right back." Weiss said as she exited the room with haste, leaving the other three girls in the room. She quickly caught up to Naruto before he could disappear into his room and gave him a tap on the shoulder.
Naruto looked over his shoulder and sighed a bit, "Weiss, I don't want to talk about it anymore…"
"I know… That's not why I ran after you. I just wanted to apologize if I stepped out of line with my last question. I didn't intend to make you uncomfortable." Weiss admitted as she folded her hands together.
Naruto blinked in surprise at Weiss's apology, "It's okay." He said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "You didn't know. Still, I'm a bit surprised you came to say sorry. Seems a bit out of character for you."
"Yes, well… Professor Port pointed out that my attitude is rather… lack luster than what it could be after my bout with a Boarbatusk during his class. My behavior towards Ruby was inappropriate and when I spoke with the professor, he said I should be the best person I can be. To that end, it is clear my treatment of others needs improvement." Weiss said as she relaxed a bit.
Naruto smiled at that, "Thank you for the apology, Weiss. Still, you have one more person to apologize too I bet." Naruto said which got a reluctant nod from Weiss. "Best do it while you're momentum is strong. Apologies are like battles… you have to push yourself the furthest when the fight is at its hardest." He said before he walked into his dorm room.
Weiss stood outside his door for a minute before she returned to her room. The other girls had all changed into their pajamas and were getting ready for bed except for Ruby, who was setting books and papers up against her pillows. "Ruby." Weiss called as she walked in which got the attention of all the girls. Weiss focused only on Ruby, however, "I want to apologize for my behavior during and after Professor Port's class. It was… uncalled for of me. The truth is I do believe you have what it takes to be a good leader."
"Oh… Thanks, Weiss. I'll do my best to be that leader too." Ruby replied before she noticed Weiss look away for a moment, "Something wrong?"
"Not really. I'm just curious about something. You and Yang have known Naruto the longest out of all of us. Is he… an open person?" Weiss asked as she took a seat on her own bed.
Yang rolled over from her position on her bunk, "He seems like he is, but we've also only known him a month. He told us more about himself then he said to you and Blake, but I think that was because he was trying to help ease over how Mom was missing for seven years."
"He told Yang and me about the mission that he awakened his aura on. Said he killed a person… It was his first mission outside of his village." Ruby added as she sat up, "You don't think that he lost his teammate on a mission do you?"
"I don't think so. He keeps saying former, not late or dead. So I'm guessing that this person is still alive. I gotta say I'm really curious about it." Yang said as she folded her arms behind her head.
"Why?" Blake asked as she closed the book she was reading, "He clearly doesn't want us to know or he would have said something on it." Her team didn't know it, but Blake was speaking from experience. She had yet to reveal a secret she kept to herself about her past and had no intention of telling anyone anytime soon.
The girls all grew silent at that one. Perhaps they were asking things a bit too quickly. Weiss went to change as Blake and Yang decided to go to sleep. Ruby hummed to herself quietly before she turned to her books and closed the make shift tent around her bed. As she attempted to study she couldn't help the distracting thoughts about Naruto… "I wonder just what all Naruto has gone through… He can tell Yang and me about how he grew up just fine but when it comes to his former team he almost shuts down…"
The next morning:
Naruto grumbled as he walked out of the dorm building. He didn't have any classes with team RWBY or JNPH for the day so he simply sent a clone in his place. He needed a good old training session beat down of himself. To that end, he went for one of the open fields of the school. Once there, he smiled as he summoned five hundred clones, "Alright fellas! You know why you're here!" The clones all smiled back as they drew their swords and charged their creator. Naruto formed a weakened Rasengan in his free hand as he waited for the clones to reach him. He still had to master this technique with only hand and this was the best type of practice.
Summer paused on her walk towards the class when she heard the sound of a familiar voice multiplied by a few hundred followed by gun shots and explosions, "Sounds like Naruto is getting an early workout. Which means he's probably sent a clone to class." Summer said before a thought entered her head, "It's been a long time since Naruto and I had a good old fashion sword match. I could send a clone to teach class today since I don't have any matches planned… though I really shouldn't…" It would be bad if her clone popped in the middle of class, not to mention unprofessional of her to skip her job for fun. "Still, doesn't mean I can't make plans." Summer thought as she pulled out her scroll and typed up a message to send to Naruto.
"Hm?" Naruto paused in the middle of the spar to check his scroll, "Auntie wants to spare this weekend? Awesome!"
"An opening!" One of the clones shouted at it slugged the distracted Naruto. The clone was met with a bullet through the stomach as the original stood back up.
Naruto grabbed the scroll off the ground and put it away as he resumed the fight, "Cheap shot!" The clones only taunted the original as the fight resumed.
"Do you hear that?" Yang asked as she and her team walked towards the school.
"It sounds like Naruto. A lot of him." Ruby said before she smiled, "I bet he's doing all kinds of cool stuff from his home! Wanna go see?"
"Hell yeah!" Yang shouted before team RWBY darted for the source of the noise.
They arrived just in time to see Naruto leap into the air as he ran through six hands signs and ended on the tiger sign, "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" Naruto's cheeks puffed out before he let loose a large fireball towards his clones. The clones smiled as they countered the attack with a barrage of Rasengan attacks. The fireball ripped apart and dispersed while it took a few clones with it. More clones rushed through the smoke of their lost companions towards the original. Naruto cut through the first clone and knocked the second away with a gust of air before he blocked the slash from a third clone. The girls continued to watch as Naruto kicked the clone away and formed a Rasengan in one hand as a clone attacked with the same technique from his flank. The attacks collided and Naruto was sent flying back as his technique, without the aid of a clone, was incomplete and couldn't stand against a full powered version. Naruto skid across the ground across the field before he got back to his feet just in time to block cluster of clones that had attacked from the air. Four wind chakra enhanced blades met one and while Naruto managed to hold the attack, Maelstrom couldn't stand up to the force. The blade started to bend under the strain of the weight and force of the attack caused Naruto to use his semblance to repel his clones.
"That can't be good for the blade." Blake commented as one of the clones crashed near them and poofed out of existence.
"It's because it was broken before." Ruby commented as she watched, "Naruto's sword broke once and was re-smelted together. When you re-smelt, it loses carbons and becomes more malleable, so it will bend easier."
"Why didn't he get a proper repair job?" Weiss asked as she watched Naruto charge into the mass of his duplicates. The sound of clone after clone popping into clouds of smoke filled the air as the original was lost in the crowd.
"I dunno. Time maybe? Re-smelting can take only a few hours to a day at the most, but making a new blade can take a lot of time. You need to get the mold and the material altogether, and then melt it all down. Shape it, temper it, and make sure that everything is made to exact specifications. Even the slightest margin off can ruin the entire weapon." Ruby said before she started to bounce on her feet, "Oh, oh! Idea!" Without warning, Ruby vanished in a flurry of rose petals as she charged into the battle.
"Should we stop her?" Blake asked before chaos ensued.
"Fire sty-!"
"Naru-!" Ruby started to say when she appeared in front of the blonde boy. She didn't get to finish as she watched fire start to leave Naruto's mouth, only to explode in both of their faces. Naruto had bitten down on the fireball as it tried to escape his mouth when Ruby suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Too late." Yang said as they watched Naruto and Ruby be engulfed in a cloud of smoke from the explosion.
"Ruby is such a dolt…" Weiss said as she and the others walked over to the pair to ensure they were okay.
Naruto was on his hands and knees as he coughed violently with smoke coming out of his mouth, "I think… I charred a lung…"
Ruby wasn't fairing much better as coughed while the smoke cleared. The pair looked like they had been covered in soot. "Sorry…" Ruby said between coughs. She had been so excited about her idea she had momentarily forgotten that Naruto was doing combat practice. Still, since she had his attention and finished clearing out her lungs, she asked: "Naruto, what are you doing after class today?"
"Just more training. Why?" Naruto responded in a raspy voice before he coughed some more. He really needed some water right now…
Ruby only smiled as she dusted the soot off her clothes, "Want to come with me to Vale when classes are out?"
Yang, Weiss, and Blake all stopped in surprise. Did Ruby just ask out Naruto? "I don't mind going, but what for?" Naruto asked as he moved into a sitting position. He started to take deep breaths to clear out his lungs
"We're going to get Maelstrom an upgrade!" Ruby said enthusiastically, which made Yang face vault. Of course, her sister would only ask out a boy to modify his weapon and not on an actual date. "We won't have a lot of time to forge anything so we'll just order the materials for now. What is Maelstrom's blade made out of?"
"I don't know." Naruto answered bluntly has he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Auntie showed me how to take care of everything but… Honestly, I'm not all that smart. Technical stuff always goes right over my head every time unless I spend days going over it. Since Auntie spent a lot of time helping me with my studies and teaching me how to fight, we never managed to get around to learning how to smelt, forge, and work metal."
"You at least know how to take care of it right?" Ruby asked in a slightly shaken voice. How could this person in front of her not know the absolute essentials of his weapon? Sure her mother made it for him, but that was no excuse!
Naruto nodded as he pulled a pouch off the left side of his belt, "Of course I know how to do that! I can take it apart and put it back together blind folded! I even keep spare parts in case anything needs to be replaced!" Naruto said as he opened the pouch to show a few screws, springs, and small plates of metal, "They're only for a temporary fix but it still works."
Ruby let out a sigh of relief. This was still salvageable, "Alright. We'll get the specs from Mom, and then go to Vale to order the metal. After that, I'm crash coursing you on weapons making one-oh-one!"
"… I don't have a choice in this do I?" Naruto asked nervously when he noticed the look in Ruby had.
"That depends…" She said as she bent down and stared into Naruto's eyes with her hands on her hips, "Do you think you can out run me?"
Naruto opened his mouth to answer but paused. Could he out run Ruby? He knew she was incredibly fast with her speed semblance and while he was no Rock Lee, Naruto knew he could out run a large number of people. This left him with one option, "Ruby, let's race! One lap around the school!" Naruto demanded.
"You really think you can beat Ruby in a race?" Yang asked with an amused chuckle. She knew it would be a one-sided race.
"Well I won't say I can beat her, but I do want to see how I measure up!" Naruto said as he hopped to his feet and started to stretch his legs, "You've got about ten minutes until class starts so that should be more than enough time for the two of us to do a lap."
Weiss folded her arms as she raised an eyebrow, "We have ten minutes? What about you?"
"I sent a clone since I only have book classes today. I learn anything it does when it disappears and it knows to take notes… If it manages to stay awake." Naruto said as he stretched.
"… That's cheating." All four of the girls said simultaneously. It wasn't fair that Naruto got to skip classes whenever he wanted by sending a clone.
"I'm going to punch you in every class we have together." Yang stated as she punched her knuckles together. Using his talents to get them out of trouble was one thing, but to use them to get out of work was another… mainly because she couldn't do it herself.
Naruto just stuck his tongue out at Yang as he stopped stretching, "Then I'll just make sure to sit away from you. Anyway, I still want to race so the only way I'll go to Vale today is if I get it!"
Ruby's team just looked at her as she smirked and got into a running position. A race was one thing she wouldn't pass up. Not to mention she now wanted to knock Naruto down a peg because of that little clone revelation. Yang leaned over to her sister and simply whispered, "Bury him." The tone was mostly in jest, but Ruby knew that her sister, and most likely her teammates, wanted the same thing as her at that moment.
"I'll time the race." Blake commented as she opened her scroll. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was curious about how the race would end.
"Ready!" Yang said enthusiastically as she took a few steps away from the two with her arm raised. Naruto joined Ruby on the imaginary race line and got ready. "Three! Two! One! Race!" Yang shouted as she dropped her arm. A pair of blurs sped past her and were gone from sight in moments.
A little pass two minutes later and the race was over. Team RWBY cheered over Ruby's dominated victory as Naruto slowed to a stop. "Damn… I thought I would do better than that…" Naruto said as he attempted to settle his breathing. He had already figured he was going to lose the race when Ruby sped past him near the start of the race, but that didn't mean he was going to quit.
"What was our time?" Ruby asked as she unscrewed the cap of a water bottle she had acquired along the way.
"A minute forty-two for Ruby, including her stop for the water." Blake answered with a smirk, "Two minutes six seconds for Naruto. Still impressive considering you both ran around the entire school."
Ruby grinned, "Well Naruto, it was a good race but you'll never beat me in speed! That's my specialty!"
"I'm going to beat you one day! Just watch!" Naruto declared as he pointed at Ruby dramatically.
"Oh yeah?! Well, I'll do anything you say for a full day when that happens!" Ruby said as she crossed her arms, "Anyway, I gave you the race you wanted, so you have to come with me to Vale after class! Speaking of which, we'd all better get going." Ruby said as she grabbed the back of Naruto's collar.
Naruto looked confused as Weiss and Blake both grabbed an arm and Yang his legs, "What the…? Let me go!"
"You lost the race. We suffer boring class, you suffer boring class." Yang said with a smile as the four carried Naruto away.
"That wasn't part of the deal!" Naruto shouted in defiance as he was forcefully carried to class.
That afternoon:
"Oh, class today wasn't that bad." Ruby said as she, Naruto, and Summer walked down the streets of Vale. Naruto had been in a sour mood for the remainder of the day when he had been forced to attend class. Summer had given him a pass so why couldn't a clone take his place?
Summer offered to tag along once Ruby had asked about the metals needed to make another blade for Maelstrom. While Summer was sure Ruby could have easily followed any written instructions down easily, it was too good a bonding experience to pass up. Plus there was always the off chance something happened to the notes, which in a forge full of heat and tools was all too possible.
Summer giggled as Naruto simply turned away with a huff, "Two things you never want to take away from Naruto. Ramen and training time. Now then…" Summer said as she tapped her chin, "We're going to need Carbon, Chromium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, and Vanadium to make L6 Bainite Steel."
"Bainite Steel?!" Ruby shouted before she turned to Naruto, "How did you manage to break Bainite Steel?!"
"It wasn't easy… In more ways than one…" Naruto commented with a sigh at the end.
Summer patted Naruto on the head and ruffled his hair, "It's okay Naruto. I'm proud you would go to such lengths to stop Maelstrom from falling into enemy hands. It shows a lot of responsibility. Not to mention the problems that would have come about if it had been properly reverse engineered."
"You never showed them how to make guns?" Ruby asked.
"No, I didn't." Summer answered, "When I first arrived in the shinobi world, I had no idea where I was or how anything worked. Once I started to get a grasp that I wasn't on Remnant anymore, I didn't want to get too involved in the world at the time. So I kept how my weapons worked to myself and even swore Naruto to secrecy when I made his. Granted they already had project weapons like crossbows so I don't know just how far they were from fire arms. I didn't want to risk making waves, however. Naruto's people are well versed in the art of combat and to suddenly evolve it with a new weapon may have had a catastrophic effect." Summer continued as she folded her arms, "Sometimes Ruby, the best action to take is no action. Some games you can't lose if you don't play."
"Huh…" Ruby said as she moved her gaze upward, "So if Yang and I were playing Remnant the Game and I never made a move, I could win?"
"Well… Not exactly. You wouldn't lose per say but you wouldn't win either. Yang may just get irritated and flip the table onto you. She has always had a temper after all." Summer explained informatively, "As I said, it's only sometimes. An important part of being a leader is knowing when to act. When to attack, hold back, or withdraw altogether from people and Grimm alike."
Ruby hummed to herself in thought for a moment before she stopped in front of a store, "Oh this is the place! I ordered all the metal for Crescent Rose here!"
"Lunar Metal Surplus. More metal than stars in the sky." Naruto read out loud before he tilted his head, "Seems like a bit of an exaggeration."
"It's just a business logo. There is a book store that says it has every book under the sun down the road." Ruby responded.
"…I wonder if the owners are related." Summer said as the three stared at the sign. The two teens shrugged in response before the three walked in. Once inside the building, Naruto immediately felt hot as he took a look around the shop. It was surprisingly larger than he thought as it connected to the building next door. The part they walked in at seemed to be the main lobby with the connected building being filled with forge stations and teens all working on various weapons.
Ruby took a deep whiff of the air with a smile, "Ah I love the smell of the forge!" She said before she approached the counter, "Excuse me, we would like to place an order."
The large man behind the desk looked up from behind his desk, "... Fill out the form for any materials you wish to order. The forges, however, are all busy with students from Beacon."
"Maintenance and upgrades probably." Ruby muttered before she grabbed a form, "How long is the order wait?"
"About a week. If your order is all together please move to the side until the order form is finished." The shop keeper responded before he walked away to the call of one of the students.
Summer took the form when Ruby handed it to her. She was the one paying for the materials after all, "Well he is pleasant…" One long form later, and the order was placed and the three were on their way.
"That was painful…" Naruto muttered as he held his head. Summer had decided this would be a good learning experience in case Naruto ever needed to make another order. He wasn't going to remember any part of what she told her. Not until he filled out dozens of forms himself, "No wonder grandma Tsunade is always getting drunk…"
"Grandma Tsunade? Who's that?" Ruby asked as the three walked down towards a nearby ammo shop to restock bullets while they were out and about.
"You know her as the Hokage, the leader of Naruto's village." Summer explained in hopes Ruby remembered what bits of Naruto's home she had been told, "Naruto calls her Grandma because her age is a sensitive topic for her and it gets under her skin easily."
Ruby cocked her head a bit, "That… seems insulting."
Summer giggled a bit as Naruto started to people watch, "It is by normal standards, but with Naruto it's different. The first impression you give him is usually the one he sticks you with for life. He called Jiraiya "Pervy Sage" until…" Summer said before she stopped abruptly at the memory of the late toad sage.
Ruby caught Summer's tone at the end of her sentence, "You don't have to say it if you don't want too." As much as Ruby wanted to learn of Naruto's world, she also respected the boundaries her mother and Naruto had set.
"It's nothing like that. Just… reminiscing a bit is all. Jiraiya was a wise but very perverted sage who took Naruto and me under his wing years ago. At first, I couldn't stand the man because of his perverted tendencies. He tried to get peaks of me while I was… underdressed on multiple occasions. At least until I threatened to castrate him when I managed to catch him one time. It was that or mentioning that I was married that got him to stop, possibly both." Summer said as Ruby looked disturbed at the idea of an older man peeking at her, "Despite some of his behavior… he was a good man. He helped Naruto with his ninjutsu and was the one that discovered I had chakra as well. It was his instruction that helped me tap into and learn how to control that power."
"But I thought you were the one that taught Naruto everything he knew?" Ruby asked.
Summer shook her head, "I taught him everything about swordplay and most of his hand to hand combat. Tactical planning was a bit of a challenge but I eventually found a way to get the lessons across so he wouldn't rush in recklessly in battle. However, when it came to anything involving chakra, the most I help would be trying to compare using chakra to aura and often failing poorly. The biggest influence I had on Naruto's ninjutsu was convincing him to learn more techniques to widen his attack and defense options." Summer said with a sigh, "After a mission of Naruto's, he and I joined Jiraiya on a journey around the shinobi nations for training for two and a half years. Jiraiya would instruct Naruto and me on ninjutsu training and I continue Naruto's weapon training while we were traveling. I would search for the dust to return me here during my own personal time. We got close over those two years... It had to have been three or four months later that we learned Jiraiya was slain on a mission."
"… I'm sorry to hear that." Ruby said as she looked at the ground. She had suspected this man had passed away based on the clues her mother had shown. It made her a bit sad that she wouldn't get to meet the person who appeared to have a major influence on Summer's and Naruto's life.
Naruto smiled at the memories of Jiraiya as he continued to observe the random people on the street. At least until he took notice of one teenage female Faunus pacing back and forth in an alleyway. "Auntie." Naruto said as he discreetly watched across the road, "Nine o'clock." Summer followed Naruto's gaze towards a dog Faunus with long crystal blue hair standing at an alley entrance. The Faunus was glancing up and down the road as she tried to keep her face hidden with a hood.
Ruby tried to look only to stop when Summer nudged her, "I don't get it. What's going on?"
"I'll tell you in a moment." Summer said in a hushed tone as the three walked, "We round the corner and move to the roof. We'll watch from there."
The three continued to walk normally until they were out of the teen's vision before they leaped onto the four-floor tall building. They used the angled roof top to hide as they observed the target. "So… why are we watching this person?" Ruby asked in an unsure voice.
"She's displaying nervous behavior. Pacing, watching the streets, and attempting to keep her face hidden. The fact she's doing this in an alley way either makes her a look out or the escape route." Summer analyzed for her daughter, "Given how she is acting… this is probably her first attempt at whatever it is she is helping with."
"But what if she isn't doing anything wrong?" Ruby asked.
"Then we go on about our business. I'd rather waste my time observing someone for them to do nothing rather than ignore them so they can do something wrong." Summer answered before the dog faunus peeked out into the street and waved over down one of the roads. The three turned to see another pair of faunus sprinting down the road with sacks over slung over their shoulders. One with black hair and deer like horns and another with gray hair and a rat tail. The one thing Summer took notice of was the pair of Grimm masks on the pair of teens as they ducked into the alleyway with their ally. "Hm… no alarms or sirens. They must have robbed some place pretty far away from here, or are smuggling goods through town. Rather poorly at that." Summer stated as they watched the teens disappear into the back door of a two story building. Summer smiled as she had an idea. This would be a fine training opportunity, "Okay, so since we cannot simply ignore this and there is only three of them, I'm going to let you decide how we handle this Ruby. You're in charge."
"I'm in charge?!" Ruby exclaimed as she stood up, "But… but I haven't had any training yet! I barely know how to run a team!"
"That's the point. Nothing beats first-hand experience. If anything goes wrong I'll take over but for now, Naruto and I are at your command!" Summer responded.
Naruto looked between the two before he voiced his opinion, "Um… Auntie, you sure this is a good idea? Remember my first training scenario as a leader?"
"First off, you had an army of yourself that all started arguing over what plan to use. Second, any experience is good experience. You learned from your first attempt, and so will Ruby." Summer countered before she turned back to her daughter, "Now then, we have three assailants most likely armed with combat training held up in that building. They may already be on the move as we speak. So Ruby, what do we do?"
Ruby scanned the building with her eyes, taking note of the possible entry and exit ways of the structure, "One door front and one door back… four windows on the second floor to jump through…"
After about a minute of silence, Naruto opened his mouth to speak only to have Summer cover it up with her hand, "No helping."
"Okay, I got it. Naruto, you make enough clones to cover both the front and back entrance of the building in case they try to escape from any windows. Mom and I will come in through the front of the house while you take the back. We bust in, take the thugs down, return whatever it was they took and make it back home before supper ends! Any questions?" Ruby said. Naruto and Summer shook their heads and simply pulled out their weapons. "Alright let's go!" Ruby yelled with a fist pump before she leaped off the roof. Summer followed her daughter as Naruto made a patch of clones before he went to his assigned location.
Summer and Ruby snuck up to the front door with their weapons in gun mode and took covered at the door frames. Ruby nodded to her mother before she kicked the door open and took aim, "Hit the ground dirt bags!"
The three teens froze with the two bags resting on the floor at the sight of the huntress and trainee who had their guns trained on them. The dog faunus was the first one to speak, "You said you weren't being followed!"
"We weren't! We ran for ten blocks through alley ways!" One of the masked teens who had horns said as he raised his hands. He wasn't about to get shot over this stupid plan, "I told you all this was a bad idea…"
"You heard the man! We had to do this if… Ugh!" The possible leader of the three groaned as he was elbowed in the side by the dog faunus to shut him up. His rat tail wagged in annoyance as he and the girl both raised their hands at the sound of the guns cocking to fire.
Ruby walked up and pulled one of the bags away from the group and opened it to show a mix of various dust containers, "They robbed a dust store. Looks like refined powder only." She said as she put Crescent Rose away on her back to look through the sack.
"So why did you three rob the place?" Naruto asked as he walked in from the back door. After hearing Ruby's yell and nothing crash or explode, it was a safe bet they had the situation under control.
"We're not telling the likes of you!" The rat faunus said in an extremely bitter and resentful voice.
Naruto only laughed as he walked around them to Ruby, "Don't hate us just because you got caught pal. Oh, and don't try any funny business. We have the place surrounded." Naruto said which caused the teens to pale.
The whole building surrounded just for the three of them robbing a dust shop? The horned faunus attempted and failed to say quietly in fear. "Surrounded?! Did they find out about the White Fang being in town?!" If they were linked with the White Fang they all could kiss their freedom goodbye.
"So the White Fang is in town." Summer said as she stepped inside with her guns still aimed at the teens, "I wasn't sure if you were recruits or simply mimicking them to throw off the blame. Thanks for clearing that up." She finished with a smile. The other two growled at their companion who looked at the ground when he realizes he screwed up. Summer was more concerned about another matter, however, "Naruto, call the authorities. We need to inform them about the terrorist group being active in Vale."
"They're not a terrorist group! They equal treatment for all faunus!" The rat yelled in retaliation. The Huntsman and Huntresses all ignored the kid, however.
Naruto nodded and pulled out his scroll. Before he could dial the number, however, "Wait! We can trade!" The horned faunus said which made everyone turn to him, "Let us go and I'll tell you how to find the guy who recruited us!"
"Cobalt!" The rat yelled at him.
"I'm not going to jail just because you wanted to join the Fang! We only went because you did!" The newly dubbed Cobalt replied, which made his friend gasp, "Life wasn't all bad. Sure some people treated us like dirt in some places but I had you guys, so it was tolerable. I'd rather walk out of here with you rather than see us all rot in jail just for robbing a dust shop! Hell, we didn't even hurt the store clerk!"
Naruto tilted his head at the three, "How did you rob a shop without weapons and not need to fight the shop clerk?"
"He panicked when he saw the masks…" Cobalt explained.
Ruby looked between the three teens and the sack of dust. They had to be younger than she was and they were putting themselves in this kind of trouble. "So… what should we do? Let them go or turn them in?" Ruby asked. She may have been the leader for this make shift mission, but she knew this was well above her experience level.
Naruto didn't answer right away. He stared at the three teens for a moment as he pondered the question in his mind. As far as Naruto knew, the Fang was a simple terrorist group. He knew nothing of their motives or why people would rally behind them. "Why did you want to join this White Fang group?"
"Are you serious?" The rat asked as he glared at Naruto from behind the mask, "Because of people like you! People who like to oppress faunus!"
"For one, I don't oppress faunus. I don't care what you are; I'll try to be your friend so long as you don't point a weapon at me. Hell, I've made friends with people that have tried to kill me actually." Naruto replied with a shrug, "So, do either of you mind explaining the White Fang better than this guy?" He asked Cobalt and the dog faunus.
"The White Fang use to be a peaceful activist group for the rights of faunus everywhere…" The dog answered, "But something changed years ago and they became violent. We use to want to join but after they started hurting people and stealing, Cobalt and I reconsidered… Grey still wanted to join and we just couldn't abandon him."
Naruto looked between the three before he looked at the rat faunus known as Grey, "Do you really think joining a group of masked criminals is really going to help change how people treat you? It won't." Naruto said as he crossed his arms, "You have to earn people's respect to get them to change, not cause them pain and fear. That's something you can't do wearing a mask. You have to be honest in your efforts and strive to do the right thing whenever you can!"
Grey scoffed before he spat on Naruto's boot, "What the hell would you know about earning the respect of people!"
"More than you realize." Naruto said in an annoyed tone as he wiped his shoe off with the floor. He was really tempted to punch this guy right now. "I went from an orphan with nothing to someone who earned the respect of everyone in my home village with the help of the people I care about and the effort I made to do it. It took sixteen years and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get there." He said as he scolded the three, "The White Fang won't succeed in changing the world if they resort to using violence to change people. They'll just make the tension worse because eventually someone will take a stand against them and people on both sides will suffer for it." Naruto finished, which made the three teens look at the ground, "I've already seen that happen with my own eyes before. If you really want to make a difference, take a stand to help others. Challenge what everyone says by proving them wrong, not by attacking them. Otherwise, the cycle will never break."
Ruby couldn't help herself as she leaned over to her mom and whispered, "So… what's the story?"
"I'll tell you later. It would take all night otherwise." Summer replied in a whisper before she cleared her throat, "Professionally I should have you all arrested and charged for your actions, White Fang involvement and all. However…" Summer added when the three teens looked ready to panic, "I'm using this experience as a training exercise for this huntress in training, so I'll go along with her decision."
That wasn't the advice Ruby was hoping to receive. She was hoping her mother would take charge again and show by example on what to do in this situation. She honestly didn't want to send them all off to jail if they really didn't hurt anyone. "If only they could just return the dust…" Ruby's face lite up with an idea, "Okay here's what's going to happen. Will let you all go, but not for the White Fang information. Honestly, my friend over there can probably find them within a day's time." She said as she gestured to Naruto. Naruto shrugged in response, with enough clones searching it wouldn't be too hard. "Instead, you will all return the dust you stole yourselves and ditch the masks. Those are my terms."
"Are you nuts?! We'll be arrested if we do that!" Cobalt yelled at Ruby.
"Then you shouldn't have robbed the shop in the first place." Ruby countered, "We'll speak on your behalf and help you get a light sentence. Since no one was hurt, no weapons were used, and the fact you all look younger than I am, you should be let off easy. Right?" She asked as she turned to her mother.
Summer took a moment to think over her daughter's plan. While it wasn't the lawful thing to do, she couldn't argue about it morally. "So long as we don't mention the White Fang and if it's their first offense… they'll probably be arrested for half a year. Less if the shop keeper is merciful about it." Summer answered. "I'd take the offer if I were you three. No doubt the police have already started to search the cameras and will eventually find their way here." The three young teens looked at each other. They didn't have much of a choice.
The three teens looked at the cuffs on their wrists. After they turned the dust into the police outside the dust shop, they had been arrested on the spot. Before they could be hauled away, however, Summer and Ruby started to talk to the police and the shop keeper while Naruto kept an eye on the three. "Do you think we have a shot?" Cobalt asked as he shuffled his hands nervously in the cuffs.
"Dunno. All depends on the old guy." Naruto said as he played with a kunai on his finger. He was waiting for this entire scenario to be over with so he could send clones to search the city. He looked up when Summer, Ruby, the cops, and the shop keeper all approached them.
"So you are the three that robbed me. I have to say, I was surprised to see you give my merchandise back to me. What brought the change of heart?" The elderly man asked.
"A few guns and a blonde with a loud mouth." Gray answered with a smirk before he gave a serious answer, "Blondie over here made a point about how nothing will change with us acting criminals. So here we are, hoping to fix things before it goes too bad."
"Is that so… I should have you all sent to jail as a message to other young kids about crime, but… since you decided to change your actions I have another idea. Instead of being arrested, you're all going to work for me." The shop keeper said, surprising everyone, "That's right, you youngsters are going to make a change here. I'm getting old and running a shop by myself is getting dangerous. So you're all going to help me. Now let's go get this all worked out." The shop keeper before he walked over to one of the squad cars. The policemen looked at each other before they shrugged and ushered the three teens with them.
Before they could be taken away, the dog faunus stopped, "The old warehouse district. Search there.
Summer, Ruby, and Naruto were surprised she gave the information so voluntarily. "Thanks uh…" Naruto started to say only to realize they never heard her name.
"Crystal. I hope we meet again." She said before she resumed her walk with the police.
The three watched as Crystal, Grey, and Cobalt were taken away with the shop keeper. Once the sirens whaled away into the distance, Ruby asked, "So… do we go after the White Fang people next since we know where to look?"
"We'll let Naruto's clones search the area first. For now, we'll return to Beacon and plan our next move." Summer said with a smile, "I'll bring this up to Professor Ozpin to make sure it's sanctioned. After that, we'll see what to do next."
Ruby and Naruto nodded. If Ozpin allowed it… tomorrow was going to be fun!
Okay! I'm sorry for the delay on this one. After the end of Volume three, I took some time to step back and re-plan some things.
On another note, I felt you all waited long enough and didn't want to drag this one on. So look forward to the check chapter, "Assault on the White Fang!"