Author's Notes: Yello minna-san, Soul here, and welcome back to Shinigami's Devil Huntsmen!
Okay, new rule for myself. Once I release the next chapter after this one, I shall watch RWBY Volume 4. I put it off for far too long. Despite knowing some spoilers, I need to see it, nao! Also, Naruto may be over, but I will continue to do Naruto fanfiction until the day I die.
Anywho, there's the next chapter. So enjoy and review afterwards.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, RWBY, or any crossovers that appears.
Chapter 11: Trouble in Paradise
(Beacon Academy, NNPR-RWBY Dorm)
"Naruto. Naruto!"
Ruby was waving her hand and snapping her finger in Naruto's face, concerned that he wasn't leaving along with the rest of the team. His eyes were partly closed, and he was muttering something under his breath. Making a pouty face, she leaned forward and pulled on his ear, bringing him back to reality.
"Oh, sorry Ruby. What are we talking about?" Naruto asked while rubbing his eyes.
"You've been keeping to yourself ever since that mission in Mistal. Penny for your thoughts?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
"Nope. I was just thinking about…other stuff. No need to worry yourself. I'm perfectly fine." Naruto assured her and ruffled her hair.
"That's good. Now come on. Weiss want us all to go out to the docks to greet the visitors coming in." Ruby said with a roll of her eye as Naruto grinned.
"No doubt she's scouting out the competition for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament." he mused as he gathered his things.
"Even though that's fact, you and I both know she's going to deny it." Ruby giggling before looking solemn, "Naruto?"
"What's up?" Naruto asked as they left the dorm room.
"What do you know about…Weiss' past?" Ruby asked quietly while looking away.
"Not much. But from what I know of the Schnee family, the men are assholes and the women get the short end of the stick. It's quite the dysfunctional family." Naruto grimly before chewing on a pocky stick, "Why?"
"…" Ruby was silent as her mind drifted to a recent memory that was fresh on her mind.
"Ruby, you dolt!" Weiss shrieked, covering herself with a towel when Ruby came into the bathroom.
"Oh, Weiss! Sorry! I thought it was empty!" Ruby squeaked, raising her hands in defense and quickly left.
But what didn't leave her mind was the numerous scars on Weiss's back, and the soothing cream she was applying to them.
"Just…just wondering…" Ruby replied before running ahead.
"…"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, finishing his pocky stick before following after his surrogate sister.
His mind was on the recent events that happened, and was having a conference with Kaguya and the Bijuu about them. They were just finishing up when Ruby pulled him back.
"Team CRME. Angra Mainyu and the Holy Grail. What else could this world throw at me?" he mumbled to himself, before dope slapping himself on the back of his head, "No matter. No matter the challenge, one by one, they'll all fall, dattebayo…"
(Downtown Vale)
The streets of Vale were brightly decorated for the upcoming Vytal Festivals. The banners were nailed to different buildings, and streamers and balloons were tied to the lampposts. The people walking the streets were admiring the set-up, which made them look forward to the festival even more.
An awed Weiss was leading the rest of Team RWBY and Team NNPR, marveling at the change of appearance of Vale as they made their way to the port area.
"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss gushed as she looked around in amazement.
"I don't think I've ever seen you gush this much, Weiss. It's kinda weirding me out..." Ruby noted with a slight frown and folding her arms.
"How could I not? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Weiss replied while gushing with excitement.
"Ugh… You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound more boring than schoolwork." Yang sighed as she looked to the side.
"Quiet, you!" Weiss snapped at her, shaking her fist at the blonde, who was now whistling.
"Sounds like the Vytal Festival is your first festival. Did they have anything like this back at Atlas?" Pyrrha inquired with interest.
"This is my first festival. Another than important ceremonies for the Atlas Military, we never had anything as colorful as this!" Weiss explained as they arrived at the docks to the sound of foghorns.
"Remind me again why we have waste our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang grumbled in a bored tone.
"Urk, they smell like fish!" Ruby groaned while holding her nose.
Unnoticed to everyone else except a few, Blake looked too eager to sniff the air that smelled like fish.
"Heh heh heh. So, you like fish, eh?" Yang thought as she eyed Blake, her mind already scheming many ways to tease her.
"Hmm. Now why isn't Blakey-poo repulsed by the air like me?" Nora wondered, going into a thinking pose, "Interesting. I wonder…"
"To repeat Yang's question, why exactly did you drag us out here again, Weiss?" Rin drawled, clearly bored.
"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" Weiss said regally while gracefully put a hand on her chest.
"Translation: she only wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake clarified as Weiss started walking away again.
"Ha! Where's your proof?" Weiss scoffed quite haughtily.
"The fact you answered too quickly is one of many." Naruto replied so only Weiss couldn't hear him.
"What was that?" Weiss snapped at the blonde, getting his face.
"You heard me, Weissy-Weiss." Naruto countered with a grin, before poking her on her forehead.
"Don't call me that, you mongul!" Weiss said angrily and tried to hit him, but failed when he casually dodged.
"Whoa. What happened there?"
Everyone turned to see what Ruby was looking at, seeing a building with shattered windows down the street. It was wrapped in yellow caution tape by the Vale Police Force, with two of its detectives surveying the scene.
"A Dust shop…? Shit…" Naruto thought to himself and made his way over to the detectives.
"Naruto?" Pyrrha asked as she and the others saw Naruto about to talk with the detectives.
"Detectives." Naruto said, drawing their attention to him.
"Oh, you're the one from Devil May Cry who Ozpin hired to help?" one of the detective asked.
"Yeah. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto introduced himself and shook their hands.
"The rumored leader of Devil May Cry, huh? Hard to believe that you're a student, with all your achievements…" the bearded detective muttered to himself before straightening up, "I'm Detective Burns, and this is Detective Hayman." Burn introduced himself and his partner.
"Nice to meet you, dattebayo. So, no doubt this was a break-in?" Naruto inquired as looked around from behind the yellow tape.
"Yep. Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." Burn grumbled as he looked over his notes.
"More like the twelfth one to be hit these past few months. Let me guess: they left the money and took just the Dust again, right?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.
"Huh?" Ruby gasped in surprise, wondering how Naruto knew that fact as the detectives nodded.
"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Why would Torchwick needs that much Dust?" Burns wondered, scratching his head.
"Maybe he has an army now?" Hayman guessed, shrugging.
"Could be, considering that the camera caught him with members of the White Fang." Burns said, much to Naruto's surprise.
"With none of Junior's boys in sight?" Naruto questioned with a frown, while sensing Blake's emotions flaring up at the mention of the White Fang.
"About that. We kept it on the down low, but we found some of Junior's guys. Well, what's left of them." Hayman whispered grimly, with Naruto groaning, "The CSI been keeping busy because of it. I swear, we've not getting paid enough…"
"That explains why Konan and I haven't seen them around." Naruto muttered to himself while biting his thumbnail, "Sounds like Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald's been busy-"
"Hmm! The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!" Weiss complained, crossing her arms and pointing her nose in the air.
"What's your problem?" Blake asked with a tickmark on her head.
"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss replied coolly with bitterness and malice.
"The White Fang are hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're just a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake shot back seriously.
Naruto mentally cringed at Blake's description, evidenced by his slight wincing. He knew that to this day, that was far from the case. If one would use that excuse five years ago, then it would've held weight. But today, not so much.
"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss retorted, as she couldn't believe anyone would defend such a group.
"So then they're very misguided." Blake snapped back while slowly getting agitated.
"If it were five years ago, I would agree with you, kitty cat." Naruto deadpanned with a stern glare, earning a dirty look from Blake.
"Whether the White Fang is a terrorist group or not is irrelevant. It doesn't explain why they would suddenly rob a Dust shop in the middle of Downtown Vale." Rin suddenly spoke up, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"Rin's got a point. Besides, the police never caught the Roman Torchwick guy that me, Naruto, and Yang ran into a few months ago... No doubt this was his work." Ruby piped up, noting that at the time, the caches of Dust were being empty, and the cash registers untouched, "But why?"
"Maybe he's hired by a third-party who's looking to experiment on Dust. It's happened before with that mad scientist they caught a few years back." Yang said thoughtfully, adopting a thinking pose.
"Who knows?! That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum Those Faunus only know how to-" Weiss ranted, to Blake's anger.
Before Weiss could continue, she flinched when an ominous aura surrounded her. She turned to see Naruto with his eyes narrowed at her, with a kitsune hanya mask loomed behind him.
"Tell me, Weiss. Other than the obvious fact that you don't like Faunus because of the White Fang, do you at least have a reasonable suggestion as to why they would rob a Dust shop?" Naruto asked while folding his arms, with one finger tapping on his bicep.
"Well, I…uh." Weiss stammered before blurting out, "Why does it matter?! The White Fang are-Eep!"
She jumped back when Naruto's hanya Aura intensified at the nonsensical answer.
"If you have nothing else nice to say, then don't say it at all!" Pyrrha suddenly snapped at the heiress.
Weiss was shocked that Pyrrha said something like that to her, but didn't show it as she was shivering due to Naruto aiming his malice at her.
"Hey, stop that Faunus!"
The verbal conflict was soon interrupted by a shout from the docks. The team considered to be Team Blood Glutch 2.0 rushed over to their original destination to investigate, seeing the shout coming the large gray ship that just made port. Running down the length of the boat was a young man blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin with a muscular physique, and wearing an open loose collared white jacket, two red bracers, blue cargo pants, and black and yellow sneakers. He also has a golden monkey tail that identified him as a Faunus.
"Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!" the monkey Faunus laughed as he jumped off the boat and ran down the docks before the two sailors after him could apprehend him, "Haha!"
"You no-good stowaway!" one of the sailor shouted after him, waving his fist at that monkey Faunus, who was now hanging on a lamppost.
"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" the monkey Faunus retorted as he began eating a banana, and dodged a stone thrown at him at the same time.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" Detective Burns shouted at him.
The monkey Faunus responded by throwing the banana peel in the detective's face, who growled in frustration. The Faunus twirled up to crouch on the lamppost, laughing as he leapt off and ran away from the detectives. As he ran past the unofficial eight-man cell, he winked at an astonished Blake before continuing his getaway from the officers.
Naruto noted Yang fuming at that before turning to a stunned Weiss, "Well, Weiss? You wanted some competition…and it's gone."
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss said quickly before running after him.
"You cannot be serious." Rin groaned, shaking and holding her head.
"Geh. Come on, guys. We better make sure she doesn't hurt herself." Ruby grumbled, gesturing the others to follow her after Weiss.
"Don't worry comrades! I'll get her!" Nora declared before speeding past Naruto, Ruby, Pyrrha and Ren.
Yang made to follow, but noticed Blake was not moving, apparently lost in her thoughts.
"Blake, are you okay?" Yang asked with concern, making Blake jump when the blonde put a hand on her shoulder, being her back to
"Oh, yes. I'm fine." Blake murmured before running after the others.
"Oh, I've got a bad feeling about this." Yang muttered to herself before following suit.
As soon as Yang and Blake caught up to Weiss, Naruto, Ruby, Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora, the team rounded the corner, where Nora leapt at Weiss, causing them to crash. As the others stopped, they looked to see the monkey-Faunus jump on to a building and disappeared.
"No, he got away!" Weiss complained angrily, "Nora!"
"Sorry, he he he. I got a little carried away." Nora admitted sleepily and stuck her tongue out.
"And look where that got you." Naruto scolded, pointing beneath them.
Both Weiss and Nora looked to see that they fell on a girl, who was smiling at them. It's startled Weiss and made her quickly shoot up, causing Nora to land on her butt.
"Sal-u-ta-tions!" the smiling girl greeted while still on the ground, confusing the team.
"Um... hello." Ruby responded carefully, not knowing what to make of the girl's out-of-place greeting.
"Are you... okay?" Yang asked, in the same mental boat as Ruby.
"…I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking!" the girl said cheerfully, causing the team to look at each other in bewilderment.
"Uh…do you wanna get up or something?" Naruto asked in amusement with a raised eyebrow.
"…Yes!" Penny nodded, after actually thinking about it before leaping to her feet, "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you all. May I ask for your names?"
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby." Ruby said with a nod.
"I'm Weiss." Weiss said, clearly annoyed with her arms folded.
"Blake." Blake said solemnly.
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked instead, only for Blake to elbow her in the ribs, "Oh, I'm Yang."
"Naruto. Pleasure." Naruto greeted with a two-finger salute.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Pyrrha." Pyrrha said brightly.
"Rin." Rin said simply with a respectful bow.
"And I'm Nora, your Queen of the Castle!" Nora declared while puffing out her chest proudly, making her teammates collectively sweatdrop.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Penny greeted and bowed.
"Uh, you already said that." Weiss deadpanned with a weird look.
"…So, I did!" Penny said after pausing, drawing more sweatdrops from the others.
"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologized before running off to continue her "pursuit" of the monkey Faunus, with the others going after her.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby called over her shoulder to Penny and waved.
Naruto however, frowned when he looked back at Penny. Sure, she has the appearance of a normal girl, but something after her seemed a bit off.
'What's with her? She's like a mannequin with Aura injected into her. I can't sense anything from her at all.' Naruto thought to himself before using Eagle Vision, noticing her body glowing gold, 'Best to keep an eye on her, since there's no doubt she'll be around for the tournament.'
Naruto's Eagle Vision is thanks to his ancestry with the First Civilization. As a dormant sixth sense, it allows him to instinctively sense how people and objects relate to him. It manifests as a colored glow, much like an aura, but different from a human's Aura. Red indicates enemies or spilled blood, blue indicates allies, white indicates sources of information or hiding spots, and gold indicates targets or objects of interest.
Since Penny was glowing gold, she was someone to watch out for. It also made Naruto concerned about which school she represents. Haven in Mistral and Shade in Vacuo he has no problems with…yet…
Atlas on the other hand…shit…
"She was... weird... What do you think, Naruto?"
Naruto barely heard Yang's voice, until a smack to the back of his head from her bought him back to reality.
"Gah!" Naruto yelled out, holding his head, "I'm listening, dattebayo!"
"Now you're acting weird!" Yang scolded her boyfriend and pulled on his ear.
"Ow ow ow!"
"Um, where are we going? The docks are that way." Pyrrha said to Weiss, pointing to the direction of the docks.
"I know, but first we need to find that Faunus riff-raff." Weiss said as she led the team down the street.
"That's going to be hard to do, since in the time we were talking to that girl, that Faunus is no doubt long gone." Rin drawled, finding no point to chasing down that monkey Faunus, "We're better off heading to do something constructive back at Beacon, like training for one."
"How about eating some pancakes! I'm hungry!" Nora suddenly whined and draped herself on Rin, "Make me some!"
"Didn't you have three stacks of them this morning?" Naruto asked in amusement, smirking since Nora interrupted Weiss'a attempted retort.
"Well, she is a glutton." Yang said, grinning as they watched Rin trying to pry her childhood friend off her.
"What did you call me?"
Both teams jumped when the girl from before Penny, suddenly appeared in front of them. Her own expression was one of shock as she asked her question. Meanwhile, Naruto and the others were left to wonder how she got in front of them so fast.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang quickly apologized in a panic, as Weiss looked back where Penny was and forth where Penny now is in shock.
"No, not you." Penny shook her head, walking through the group and leaned her head down at Ruby, "You!"
"Me?" Ruby, repeated, clearly startled and confused, "What did I say?"
"You called me friend! Am I really your friend?" Penny asked in amazement.
"Ahhhhh..."
Ruby looked unsure at the misunderstanding between them. While she was thinking on how to respond to that, she eyed Weiss, Blake, Yang, and even Rin shaking their head furiously to deny her. Seeing a chance to screw with the others, Ruby grinned and responded, "Sure! Why not? International school cooperation, after all!"
There was a pause, with Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Rin looking at Ruby in comedic disbelief before collectively facefaulting to the ground. Nora laughed at that while Pyrrha sweatdropped.
"Sen~sational!" Penny cheered as the others peeled themselves from the ground, "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"
"Oh ho~ Why does this sound so familiar?" Ruby deadpanned and eyed an irritated Weiss.
"At leastshe far more coordinated." Weiss countered, drawing a tickmark from Ruby.
"So, are you here to fight in the tournament?" Pyrrha inquired, since it was obvious that any student outside of Beacon who are in Vale are arriving for the upcoming tournament.
"Really? There's no way. Are you sure you're not assisting another team?" Weiss asked, not finding it unlikely that someone like Penny would be a Huntress-in-training.
"Nope! I'm from Atlas, representing Atlas Academy!" Penny declared before saluting, I'm combat ready!"
'Atlas? Guhhhh, fuck me sideways and call me Betty.' Naruto thought to himself, as Atlas was Naruto and Konan's least favorite place to go, 'The tin man might not be far…'
"I can help with that, if you like." Kiyomi suddenly butted in, giggling perversely, "Fucking you, that is. Ku ku ku…"
'Put a raincheck on that.' Naruto groaned and cut the connection.
"Atlas, huh?" Weiss mused, not recalling seeing her at Altas during a tour before she decided to head to Beacon, "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."
"Heh. Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake scoffed, alright mocking Weiss attire, as it said nothing about her being a Huntress.
"It's a "combat skirt"!" Weiss shot back with pride and arm folded.
"Yeah!"
To the Schnee heiress' surprise, Ruby sped over to Weiss' side, supporting her statement. She wore a 'combat skirt' herself. With a slight smirk, Weiss held out her hand, and Ruby hit it for a low-five.
"You may be combat-ready, but we're battle-skirt ready!" Nora said, wanting in on the action and put her arms around her fellow skirt sisters, making their arms flail.
"Skirt, or combat-skirt, one breeze and their panties would show for all of Remnant to see." Naruto muttered, facepalming and shaking his head.
"You would like that, wouldn't you? After all, wind is your primary element." Kaguya suddenly said, reopening the connection with amusement in her voice, "This is why all females this day and age should wear long skirts like before to prevent such a thing. They can be modified to be…combat-ready as well."
'Not everyone's as conservative as you, Granny Rabbit.' Naruto countered, as his astral form appeared in form of her at her shrine area.
"Perhaps, but that's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it." Kaguya said with finality.
"Don't mind Kaguya-san. She's just mad because she had an inferiority complex towards girls who show off their bodies while fighting. Kaguya doesn't want to see outdone, but fears she'll be a laughingstock when she tries on even a bikini." Juubi explained while trying to strife her laughter.
"That's not true! Cease your false accusations at once, Yoko Kagura!" Kaguya yelled at the Ten-Tailed Bijuu, pointing at her dramatically.
"If it not, then you would wear that new robe I made that hugs those curves of your nicely. Naruto-kun would find you more attractive too." Juubi teased, making Kaguya's face turn red.
"What do you mean? I already find Kaguya-chan attractive, ever since I met her." Naruto responded with a foxy smile.
Kaguya's red face turned atomic at Naruto's confession. She thought he hated her, but he just proved her fears unfound. Even after all she's done to him to get free…
"Ha! Your flattery won't get you beneath my skirt!" Kaguya said while turning around.
"Boy, that escalated quickly, dattebayo." Naruto noted while sweatdropping at Kaguya acting like a tsundere when he was being honest.
She couldn't have feelings for him…could she?
"Naruto!"
Naruto turned to see Yang appearing in his mindscape, an ability she gained due to constant close proximity with Naruto over the years they've been together. But that's the least of Naruto's concern, as he noted the look of worry on her face.
"Naruto, quit spacing out at the worse possible time! You need to come back now! Weiss and Blake are going at it again!" Yang exclaimed, with Naruto groaning.
"Again?! Oh, for fuck sakes!" Naruto growled before he and Yang disappeared from the former's mindscape.
"Now what is that spoiled little heiress whining about now?" Juubi wondered as she materialized a viewing orb that shows Naruto's point of view.
Naruto returned just in time to hear Blake shouting angrily, "-rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." Weiss retorted with sarcasm, releasing Penny who she had by her shoulders, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"
"Stop it!" Blake yelled out in frustration at Weiss' demeaning comments.
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!" Weiss snarled with venom in her voice.
"You ignorant little brat!"
"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"
"You are a judgmental little girl!"
"What in the world makes you say that?!"
"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"
"Naruto, why aren't you stopping them?" Pyrrha asked, clearly uncomfortable along with Ruby, Yang, Rin, and even Nora.
"Give it time. They'll burn themselves out. If I get involved, well… Simply put, it won't be pretty." Naruto growled under his breath, and motioned to the others to follow him, "We're leaving. Let's go-"
"Where are we going?" Penny asked, popping up behind Naruto and Pyrrha, drawing a tickmark from former, and a sweatdrop from the latter.
"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"
Naruto rolled his eyes as he pulled out his Scroll, noticing a missed text from a member of Devil May Cry. Opening it, he saw confirmed reports of White Fang members being in Vale. They were seen in areas where Roman Torchwick was last, which were the local Dust shops that were recently hit.
He also eyed the DMC bounty board, where there was a request from Junior of all people, for them to find his missing men. Those men were last seen with Torchwick, causing Naruto to realize that those men were no doubt murdered by Cinder for their failures.
There was something else that caught Naruto's eye. A shipment of Dust from Atlas is making its way to Vale, and will arrive two days from now.
'It would explain the White Fang's increased presence here. Looks like I'll have to call for backup.' Naruto thought as he scrolled through his contract list, ignoring the increased bickering between the heiress and the hidden Faunus, 'Hm, these two will two nicely…'
(RWBY-NNPR Dorm)
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"
"That is the problem!"
"They're still going at it…" Yang muttered to Naruto, who was still going through some information in his Scroll, "At this rate, you have to intervene…before I do."
Weiss hounding on her partner about the White Fang was really grating on Yang's remaining nerves. Yang knew that her partner was a Faunus, so she couldn't blame her for calling Weiss out on her oblivious racist attitude towards her kind.
"Great. Another round of verbally bitchslapping Weiss. Ugh, I didn't want to have to pull out what I learned about her dear family, but I guess I have no choice." Naruto grumbled, as he eyed a peculiar file stored on his Scroll, "How about you, Rubes? Aren't you going to stop Weiss from shooting her mouth off?"
"You know what will happen if I do." Ruby replied through gritted teeth, "Still…"
The scythe-wielder had no desire for another verbal tango with Weiss. One episode from the Beacon Academy initiation was enough. Then again…
"Okay, enough is enough! Drop it, both of you!" Ruby finally yelled out at her two teammates.
"About time." Rin muttered, leaning on the wall near the window and holding her temples.
"Drop it?! You realize she's defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss snapped at her leader, who was slowly cracking her fingers.
Blake was about to retort, but Pyrrha interjected, remembering her childhood friends who were Faunus, "That does not mean that the rest of the Faunus population are of the same mind. But the actions of the White Fang are making their own lives harder because of what they do."
"Not just that, but there's no such thing as pure evil, or pure good. It's all based on perception these days, and the lines became blurred. Besides, I can't really blame Faunus hating humans since it was humans who shot first. After all, people like you and them are the reason the White Fang are who they are now. Thanks for that, by the way." Naruto uttered with sarcasm.
"People like me?" Weiss shrieked at the blonde.
"Yeah, people like you. If your words aren't discriminatory, then I don't know what is in your twisted vocabulary." Naruto replied while digging his pinky into his ear, "So answer me this: What the hell give you the right to be a total bitch to a race that's just as human as we are?"
"I'm a victim!" Weiss shouted, making Naruto raise an eyebrow, "A victim because of their actions!"
"A fascinating response." Naruto countered coolly, glaring at her, "Care to elaborate?"
It couldn't be the incident he was involved in years ago, saving her from kidnappers at the behest of her father of all people. Hell, said kidnappers weren't even Faunus, or the White Fang. They were humans, looking to make a quick buck by exploiting Weiss. However, when Naruto found the young heiress, he's beaten her kidnappers to a pulp, before returning Weiss to her father.
"Elaborate? You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" Weiss asked, leering at a bored-looking Naruto, "It's because they've been in war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family and friends disappear; board members executed. An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very…difficult childhood…"
The dorm room was silent at that admission, as all eyes were on Weiss, with the Hunters-in-training emotions varying.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. He knew about her difficult time with her family back at Atlas, but blaming non-human species for her plight was simply unreasonable. That and he knew first hand that her father is an absolute dick, which is why he recently refused to protect his shipment of Dust on the train. Hell, he's even blacklisted from DMC's client list, and will be until he releases his current Faunus slave labor.
But right now, he was feeling no sympathy towards her. In his mind, her explanation for hating Faunus is a mix of the same, tiresome reasons he heard for the past several years. If she was just hating the White Fang, fine. But hating other Faunus that are not part of the White Fang, for the actions of their race's terrorist group was a shade over the line, not to mention really, really stupid.
Using his empathic ability, Naruto noticed that's Weiss' story barely gained any sympathy was the others. Instead, they were giving her slight glares at her direction. However, Nora was the only one not glaring her, only settling for a neutral expression. Rin was silent as her eyes showed annoyance, recalling the history of humanity's ongoing treatment of Faunus since the first time they discovered each other.
Ruby and Yang were both reaching their limit with the heiress, with the latter more so. While Yang herself was trying to calm down, the needle in her "punch-a-bitch" meter was reaching dangerously critical. Even while she didn't know it, Weiss blaming Blake of her father's treatment towards her, and felt the need to defend her partner.
"Weiss, I think that's quite enough-" Pyrrha started to say before the situation got out of hand.
"No!" Weiss snapped at Pyrrha, who got taken aback as the former walked over to Blake, getting in her face, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers who made my childhood HELL!"
"Well maybe wewere just tired of being pushed around by people like you, Schnee!" Blake yelled back, finally fed up and bumping heads with her nemesis.
"Ah…fuck…" Naruto groaned, slapping his hand over his face for a facepalm.
There was silence as all eyes were now on Blake as Weiss backed away in shock. Blake realized what she said in horror, looking at her teammates. The only ones not registering looks of surprise at the revelation were Naruto and Yang, since they already knew.
"I... I..." Blake stammered, shaking really badly.
So many emotions flowed through her, with the most prominent one being fear. Fear of her fellow Hunter-in-training's reactions. Fear of when treating her differently because of what she was. Before anyone could stop her, she dashed out the door.
"Blake!" Yang screamed, her Aura flaring and went after her.
She made a beeline out of the door, knocking away Weiss as she did, with the heiress sent smack-dab into the wall.
"Wait! Come back!" Ruby cried, running over to the door and calling to them down the hallway, "Yang! Blake!"
"Well, that just happened. But it does explain why Blakey eats tuna a lot." Nora said, trying to lighten the mood.
"You knew, didn't you?" Ruby asked accusingly at Naruto, who walked past her.
"I did, but it was her secret to tell. Not mine." Naruto told her and looked back at her, "I'm taking the two to a place I own in Vale. I don't think we'll be back until the weekend's up. You're in charge until we get back, Ruby. I expect you to handle Weiss during that time."
"I…understand. Leave it to me." Ruby acknowledged with a side glare at a recovering Weiss, "I'll try to get through to her. I'll leave Blake to you and Yang. Bring her back."
Naruto nodded in confirmation and left the dorm.
"Well, Faunus or not, Blake is still Blake. She's a part of this team." Pyrrha said as Weiss managed to right herself.
"Is she? We all heard what she just said!" Weiss retorted, but flinched when Pyrrha casted a glare her way.
"So? It's doesn't matter whether way. I believe in Blake. We all do. She's one of us. Blood Gulch 2.0 we are." Nora said in a decisive tone, folding her arms.
"How can you?! She's one of them! A member of the White Fang, right underneath our noses!" Weiss snapped at her, "She was never our teammate! We're even lucky to be alive!"
"Are you talking all of us, or just you?" Nora countered, not backing down, "Don't lump us in with you, rich girl. We're not like you and the boys in CRDL."
"How dare you!" Weiss screeched, raring up at the hammer-girl.
"It is a fair comparison."
Weiss turned to look at Ruby in disbelief. Ruby paid no mind as she continued.
"Your behavior towards the Faunus is reminding me too much of those bullies, and I'm not going to put up with it any longer! My brother and sister will get Blake back, and Blake will be back on the team, whether you want her in or not. Then again, it won't matter when it comes to you." Ruby said coolly.
"What are you talking about?" Weiss demanded as Ruby hopped into her bunk bed.
"Your future with this team. If you can't get along with Blake because she's Faunus, then there's no place for you among us. When Naruto and I go to register our teams to officially merge together on Monday, you can be sure that your name will not be listed. If you can't make nice with Blake by then, your time with us will be over." Ruby stated sternly, walking towards Weiss until she was in her face, "Trust me, I want you with us, but I can't let you be with us if you're going to continue to be hostile to Faunus, like Cardin and his goon squad."
"How could you say that? I am your teammate! I am nothing like them!" Weiss snapped at her, clearly insulted that being compared to them, "My reasons for detesting them is different from theirs!"
"Funny. I don't recall Velvet putting those scars on your back." Ruby whispered coldly before storming back to her bunk.
Weiss was stuck silent by that, as the retort died from her mouth. She remembered when Velvet was harassed by Cardin and his team before Naruto stepped in. Then she recalled the boy's blatant commons on Faunus during their History classes.
"B-But it's different! He outright hates Faunus! I just-" Weiss protested but Pyrrha shook her head.
"You clearly hate the Faunus because of the actions of the White Fang. It's no different from him or anyone else anti-Faunus, like your family." Pyrrha said as she went to the door, before looking back at the heiress, "Blake may be a Faunus, but she's our teammate. She may have been part of the White Fang, but she's a Huntress now, just like us. My cousin Carolina told her rival this one: You better figure out the difference between your enemies and friends."
Pyrrha left the dorm room, leaving Weiss alone with Nora. Unknownst to them, Rin had left the room via the window.
(Beacon Grounds)
Blake was outside in the front of the school's water fountain. She ran from the dorm room all the way to the fountain. She was clearly distraught, her mind racing a hundred miles per hours.
She outed herself. The team knew she was a Faunus. She also revealed her affiliation to the White Fang. Worse, Weiss of the Schnee family know now. And given her story, the catgirl was starting to doubt her future with the team, and Beacon in general.
The appearance of the statues on top of the fountain didn't her mindset either. There was armored Huntsmen wielding a sword, and a hooded Huntress wielding an axe. The two were standing triumphantly over a stone cliff, with a fallen Beowolf under them. Sadly to Blake, it was also a representation of how most of mankind viewed the Faunus race. How they will always be beneath the soles of humans and stepped on like trash. Sure, there are people like Ruby who don't discriminate against Faunus, but there're needles in the wide world that's a haystack.
Blake then reached for her bow and pulled the string. The bow was released and fell into her hands, freeing the part of her that identifies her as a Faunus: her cat ears.
"You know that isn't Faunus they're standing over."
Blake turned her head to see Rin, who was looking up at the statue. She had her arms folded and a melancholy look on her face.
"This statue actually depicts the first encounter between Huntsmen and Grimm. The battle didn't last long, as it ended with the Huntsmen's victory. They were powerful, but they were just human, so they established Beacon Academy, the first school for those who want to be Huntsmen, just like them. Humans, Faunus, it didn't matter, as all were welcomed. The Founders of Beacon Academy, the Father and Mother of all Huntsmen and Huntresses after them, and my ancestors, Monyreak Oum and Sheena Duquette." Rin said with a smile.
"Your ancestors? Sounds like a lot of pressure." Blake muttered, rubbing the tears from her eyes.
"It is, which is why that knowledge is limited to those I trust, like you." Rin stated, looking Blake directly in the eyes, "Human. Faunus. It doesn't matter to me. You are you, Blake. Don't ever forget that."
"Too bad Weiss won't." Blake muttered, looking away.
"Weiss is one person. You have many. Like me, Nora, Pyrrha, Naruto, Ruby, and her too." Rin countered while pointing in the direction behind Blake.
"Her?" Blake questioned, confused before hearing running footsteps.
"Blake!"
Blake jumped at the familiar voice and whipped around to find Yang. The chesty blonde wrapped her in a hug as soon as her partner turned around.
"Yang. Yang, I-" Blake breathed out, feeling Yang's tears rolling down her neck.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Letting that brat's words get to you and running away?!" Yang sobbed, holding Blake close to her, "I thought you were going to disappear forever! Don't do that again!"
Blake didn't say anything as she wrapped her own arms around Yang. The catgirl knew she screwed up, running away from her team and her partner, the latter who declared will never betray her and always have her back.
"I'm sorry, Yang." Blake muttered and purred to calm her fiery partner down.
Rin smiled at the touching scene, before hearing a running motor that was getting closer. She turned to see Naruto riding up to them with his motorcycle, Cyclone.
"Is Yang really your girlfriend? If so, looks like you two have an open relationship." Rin said after Naruto turned off the motor with his Scroll.
"Only with the ladies, Rin. An Oriental flower like yourself is welcome to join." Naruto teased with a wink.
Rin's face turned a shade of red at Naruto's nickname for her and turned her head to the side, "Flattery will get you nowhere, even if you're are our leader."
"Hmm, the standard answer. I'm have to try harder next time." Naruto mused before turning his attention to Yang and Blake, "Yang really want Blake to be with us."
"You're seriously practicing polygamy? Then Pyrrha might have a chance…" Rin noted, keeping the part to herself.
Maybe it'll end Pyrrha's 'long trips' to the bathroom with her Scroll in hand.
"I'm not fond of breaking the hearts of those who want to be with me." Naruto stated as Yang and Blake up to him, hand in hand.
"Naruto, despite almost everyone supporting me, I don't think I can face the others yet. Do you have a place to crash Downtown?" Blake asked, with Yang looking in confusion.
"Yeah, a safehouse that's actually near the docks." Naruto confirmed with a nod, "It's a highly secure apartment with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom with a walk-in bath/shower/jacuzzi combo, and a terrace with a view of the docks."
"Uh, Naruto. Why do you have something like that? Better yet, why am I hearing about this now?" Yang asked sweetly, pulling on her fellow blonde's ear.
"You'll be surprised. Let's just say it has something to do with the side job I've hinted about. Now come on. I know you and Blake need a break from the others since the cat's out of the bag." Naruto stated with a grin, patting the backseat on Cyclone.
"Hey! Pun's are my department, whiskers!" Yang snapped, now pulling on Naruto's cheeks as Blake and Rin sweatdropped.
"Yep. You guys will be just fine." Rin said and walked to the direction of the dorms, "Have fun!"
"Yeah, thanks." Blake groaned as Naruto managed to free himself from Yang.
Blake and Yang then got on the back of Naruto's cyclone. Blake leaned against Naruto's back as Yang got behind her. After putting on helmets, Naruto got on the main rode and drove away from Beacon.
"Overlooking the docks, hm?" Rin mused before continuing her way to the dorms.
Unknownst to the now disbanded group, a multi-colored haired girl with mismatched eyes and a pink umbrella was watching the proceedings with interest. She smirked as she watched Rin enter the dorms, before looking in the direction where Naruto rode off with Yang and Blake in tow.
"…"
Licking her lips, she waved her umbrella in front of her, before disappearing from sight.
(Above the Ocean)
Konan scowled, flapping her paper wings as she watched a ship make its way to the port of Vale. It was filled with Dust from the Schnee Dust Company to resupply the Dust shops whose Dust stock was stolen.
But that wasn't the reason Konan was in a fool mood looking at the ship. It was the name on the side that identified the owner of the ship.
It was the 'Gato Company.'
END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN
Next time – Chapter 12: The New Chasers
-Naruto, Blake, and Yang are taking a sabbatical from the team, and it's up to Ruby to set Weiss straight. But that will have to happen sooner than later, for Torchwick and the White Fang are after more Dust for Cinder. Can Naruto, Konan, Ruby, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, and Rin get on the same page with Weiss to stop Torchwick and the White Fang? Remnant could always use more Huntsmen and Huntresses after all!
Post-chapter notes: Thank you for reading this fine update. The next update shall hopefully be the next chapter of this cool story, so that I can finally binge-watch RWBY Volume 4! So, that's it from me! Please, fave, alert, review, all that jazz. I shall see you guys later.
Peace out!
Ja ne!
See you in the next update! Soul out!
And RIP Daisuke Sato (creator of Highschool of the Dead).
Released: Monday, March 27, 2017
