Alright, quick word to the guest saying that Naruto doesn't need to use Sage Mode for everything: Of course he doesn't. He's a powerful shinobi in his own right, and most, if not all Grimm are no match for him. That said, he's practicing Sage Mode. I had assumed that that was obvious. He doesn't need to use it, he wants to. Besides, he always goes above and beyond to protect people.

Also, yes, this update is here even though I said it wouldn't be. I've really been in the mood to type recently, and I plan to milk it to its fullest. So who knows? You might get another four chapter from me in the next week or so. Don't count on it, though. Maybe only two more, counting this one.

Ah, two updates in two days. I'm spoiling you guys with this one.

Also, yes, it's another chapter of just Naruto and Watts.

Chapter 24: Once More With Feeling

Naruto ground his hand into the wall, shattering the outermost layer of it with sheer force, and grinding his way deeper into it with little effort. The Rasengan faded away, and he was left punching into a deep hole in a cliff. He pulled his hand out, Sage Mode healing any nicks from the rocks.

He sighed, exiting Sage Mode as he walked away from the cliff face. "Still no progress," he said to himself. Blake had said that they would be taking on the White Fang after she was done here, so he wanted to be ready. That said, he had been training all day, and he felt that he could take a break to actually meet her family beyond the awkward encounter with the Albain brothers.

So that's what he did. He left the desert behind, headed towards the grand estate of the Belladonna family. Even from here, he could see the twinkling lights of a town during twilight. It was an oddly satisfying sight. Even though humanity had oppressed them to the point of once almost forcing them to this island, they still made it a home, not a reminder of darker times.

It didn't take long for Naruto to return to the large house, but by the time he was back, the sun had set completely. It was dark when he opened the door and strode inside, removing his shoes immediately from a habit still ingrained in his brain. He looked around the entrance room, not really noticing until now how bare it was. There just wasn't much in it.

He walked around the hallways for a few minutes, trying to find anyone. He walked past the door into the kitchen, then poked his head back around when he saw Kali setting up a tray of… tea, maybe? Regardless, he entered the kitchen, "Hey, Mrs. Belladonna."

She jumped a little at his sudden appearance, but turned to him with a polite smile, "Hello, Naruto. You've been out awhile."

He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I was getting some training in."

"Yes, I can smell that."

He grinned sheepishly, "Oh, uh… heh heh… Do you guys have a bath or a shower or something I could use to wash up?"

Kali shook her head, "Down the hall, fourth door on the left. I'll see if we have any spare clothes for you."

"Thanks," Naruto backed out of the room, turning towards the direction she had pointed. "Right, fourth door."

Several minutes later, Naruto emerged from the shower wrapped in a towel. He looked up and down the hallway, wondering where Kali might have been. He didn't particularly want to go wandering around someone else's house in just a towel if he could help it. He didn't see anyone, though, so he retreated back through the door. He glanced at the clothes on the rack next to him, deciding that he could get away with wearing just his pants.

A minute later, Naruto exited once more, this time with actual pants on. He wasn't sure what he was meant to do with his haori, so he just left it on the rack. He made his way down the hallway, looking for Kali, to find out if she had found any clothing he would be able to borrow.

Eventually, he found her entering the house, bag in hand. When she saw him, she held it up, "Sorry, but I couldn't find anything here, so I had to make a quick run to the market to find something." She set it down on the table. "Now, I know it might seem strange, but trust me, it's just an Old Mistrali style of clothing. It's the only thing I could find quickly."

Naruto picked up the bag, a little humored by the fact that she had apparently bought a red kimono. Even better, it was in a casual style, much like his old orange one that he left at Beacon. Kali had a sheepish look on her face when he gave a hearty laugh. "You… don't think it's weird I gave you a dress?"

He shook his head, a grin still adorning his face, "Of course not! It's just a kimono."

Kali frowned, "I didn't know that you would've known what these were, being from Vale and all."

Naruto shook his head, "I'm not from Vale. I'm from a place called Konohagakure, and we had kimonos as formal clothing. Although, I never really wore one back then."

"Oh, really? That's kind of funny, isn't it?" Kali supposed. "That I ended up getting something appropriate for you?"

Naruto nodded, "Right, let me just go put this on real quick."

Another few minutes later, and Naruto returned, wearing the deep red kimono. It was in the exact same style as his old one, right down to length. Kali looked him up and down, "It's been a while since I've actually seen anyone wear one of those. I never understood why it never caught on with people in other parts of the world."

Naruto shrugged, "Maybe they're just weird."

"So, why were you training, anyway?"

He shrugged again, "I just wanted to be ready for when we go after the Fang."

"What?" Kali questioned. "When you go after them? Why would you do that?"

"Well, you heard what they did. Blake… well, she wanted my help taking them down after what they did at Beacon. She… uh, well, she kind of takes it personally."

"Oh, my."

"So, um… Has she said anything about Beacon since we got here?" Naruto asked.

Kali smirked, "Well, she did mention a 'handsome blond idiot', but that couldn't have been you, could it?"

"Um…"

"I'm just teasing you. So, were you on her team?"

"Oh, no. She was on a team with three other girls. One was Ruby Rose, another was Yang Xiao Long, and the last one was… um, the last one was Weiss Schnee."

Immediately, not that he hadn't expected it, Kali's eyes narrowed. Weiss was right, the Schnee name really was tainted. "Did she say anything about my girl?"

"No, no. Weiss isn't racist like her dad is. She's actually pretty nice."

"Good. If she… Never mind. So, what was your team, then?"

"Oh, mine was Team MDNT. There was me, Melissa Mikeham, Troy Davores, and Diana Grout."

Kali glanced down the hallway, leaning in afterwards, "Does Blake still have that… book?"

Naruto cocked his head, "What book?"

"You know, that… book." Kali sighed. "Ninjas of Love?"

"Ninjas of what?" Naruto laughed.

Kali rolled her eyes, "Ninjas of Love. It's one of her… favorite books."

"What's it about?"

Kali's face, for some reason that Naruto didn't understand, was red as a tomato. "It's… well, it's like this…"

One very confusing and embarrassed conversation later, Naruto was nodding his head with all the seriousness he had. After all, three years with Jiraiya hadn't just trained his body. He'd heard it all by now. "Huh. That actually reminds me a lot of some books my old teacher used to write."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He was always working on it, right up until he died. Hell, he even used it to send me a secret message one time. I never got to use it, though…"

Watts smirked, at long last. It may have taken over three weeks, but he had finally pinpointed the exact location of every village that shared the names Konoha and Konohagakure. In total, it amounted to four different villages. The only shame was that none of them still existed, nor had they for over a hundred years. Regardless, he might solve a few mysteries if he found the right one.

But before he did, he wanted to finish his research into these other topics that Ozpin had labelled. Specifically, the one about the giant fox creature and the one about the 'false god' that he had mentioned.

First, this giant fox. Now, throughout all of history, Watts had noted, there were mentions of gigantic creatures, but a fox was never mentioned, not once. And besides, all of the others, whenever they appeared, had always caused or heralded massive natural disasters. This fox didn't seem to fit that description, since all it had done when it showed up was kill one man, according to what Ozpin had written.

Regardless of that, Watts wanted to know what the hell it had to do with the boy in the first place. The only time the boy was mentioned was when it talked about this feral ability he had, but there was really nothing there about the giant fox. Perhaps, Watts reasoned, the late headmaster had only included that because the boy was a fox Faunus.

But then there was all the talk about 'seals' and a 'Hokage'. It almost seemed like Ozpin had intentionally left out information, like he didn't want there to be any risk at all to said information falling into the wrong hands. Even still, Watts was confident he would be able to piece it together. It might just take a little more effort than it otherwise would have.

The biggest issue he had with it was that it simply didn't seem to exist anywhere. Apparently, it had shown itself at a village called Broadsworth, but one would expect that something like that would have reached the ears of the Queen, or at least the news people.

That was the only other reason Watts could think of as to why the Kyūbi might be included in the boy's file, because the Faunus had been there when it appeared. According to Ozpin's records, the boy, and then the fox, had fought someone named 'Pain', who had proclaimed himself a god. And apparently, he had been powerful enough that many, many people agreed with him, since his power actually spawned a new religion, one that worshipped him.

There weren't any recordings of what he had done, but Ozpin had written that he had destroyed no less than four towns, apparently with little effort. And yet, this boy had fought him, using what was called 'Sage Mode'.

Reading into it, Watts determined that this must have been the power that the girl had said was 'like a Maiden'. According to what the boy had told Ozpin, he accomplished this 'Sage Mode' by absorbing Natural Energy. What Natural Energy was supposed to be, Watts had no idea, but the concept was fascinating nonetheless. That some mere boy could figure something like that out… remarkable. Watts could understand why Salem would want to recruit him.

There were a few notes about some guy named Fukasaku in the Sage Mode section, but Watts dismissed it as trivial. Presumably, he had just been someone whom had helped the boy learn this Sage Mode power.

Now that Watts thought about it… this Sage Mode sounded like it could be learned by anyone. He entertained a few possibilities before returning to his research. It wouldn't do to dwell on things that would likely never happen.

This Kyūbi still bothered him, though. He just didn't understand how no one had reported seeing it anywhere yet, if it was truly as large as Ozpin said. Watts shook his head, and instead of thinking about it too much, decided to head out to find these villages that he had pinpointed.

"So then," Naruto laughed. "While I'm on this motorcycle, heading down the highway, the mech slides right off of it, way down to the ground." He took a pause. "Of course, Yang found this whole thing hilarious, and I swear she almost drove straight off the edge after it."

"What happened next?" Kali asked, apparently enthralled.

"Well, we jumped down after it, and then this tiny girl lands on top of it, just sitting there with her umbrella," Naruto continued. "And this girl, she just stares at us like she can't figure out whether we look like tasty ice cream or people she wants to fight." He paused again, looking up at the ceiling. "But anyway, tell me about Menagerie. What's it like here?"

"Oh, it's lovely, really. It's warm eleven months out of the year, and scorching hot the other one, but we make do. The Faunus are all wonderful, too. No one's nicer than people who have never gotten niceness themselves. But, of course, I'm sure you would know about that."

Naruto frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you had to have noticed it growing up. All the humans looking at you differently, even if they don't realize it. Even humans who aren't racist look at Faunus differently, though they do it with pity, like we need to be coddled."

"I… may have noticed something like that happening. I've noticed, though, that there aren't many Grimm out in the desert. How'd that happen?"

"We… don't know," Kali admitted. "As far as any of the Faunus here know, there have never been any Grimm out there at all. At least, not in the desert close to town. After about two miles, they start to show up again, but they'll never get any closer."

"Huh. That's weird."

"Indeed it is." She snickered. "Almost as weird as Blake reading smut."

Naruto laughed, "You really find that funny, don't you?"

"A little. I just… it's just such a funny thing that my oh-so-stoic daughter enjoys something so… vulgar."

"Where did the book even come from? Who got her into it?"

"I have no idea. I remember her saying something about wanting to read another book like it a while ago, but other than that, I've got no idea." Kali finished making the nightly tea, including setting up the tray. "Right, can you take this to Blake? I want to get her to actually talk to her father. She's just been standing outside his study all day, acting all nervous about 'bothering him'. I don't know why she would be so nervous about it. He's her father. He's always got time for her."

Naruto nodded, not mentioning that Blake was worried how they had reacted the last time she had spoken with them. He took the tray from Kali, exiting the room and looking down the hallway, wondering where the hell he was supposed to go. "End of the hallway!" Kali called after him. "Last door on the right!"

"Thanks Mrs. B!" he called back following her directions. He found himself on some sort of deck, overlooking a brief patch of forest. "Blake?"

"I'm here," she answered, leaning on the rail, looking at the door.

"Your mom wanted me to give you this to give to your dad."

Blake's eyes widened, "What?! No!" She pulled away, but before she did, Naruto placed the tray in front of her hands.

"Blake, just take it. You've got nothing to worry about," he assured her. "Just remember, it's a parent's duty to unconditionally believe in their kids, no matter what."

Blake frowned, looking away, back to the door, "But… what if he-"

"No matter what, Blake," Naruto repeated, echoing his dad. "No matter what."

Blake looked down at the tray, slowly grabbing it, like it might bite her otherwise. "Alright, fine," she relented, taking the tray. Naruto smiled.

"Go get him, Blake. And just remember, he's not gonna hate you, no matter what."

Naruto watched for a moment longer as Blake hesitantly walked through the door, turning around once he felt his job was done. He went back to the kitchen, sitting back down and giving Kali a thumbs-up. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, so I looked into it while you were gone, and I found out that the author of Ninjas of Love actually wrote it based on a really old book that was apparently just like it."

Naruto perked up, "Really? What book could it possibly be based on?"

"They weren't really sure if they were translating it correctly, because it was something like a few million years old, but…" Kali paused, building suspense. "If they were correct, then the title translates to something like 'Icha Icha'."

Instantly, Naruto's eyes shot open, and his expression turned dead serious, "It's called what?"

Watts stood atop a very tall cliff, looking down at one of the four villages called Konohagakure and Konoha. This one was the oldest, from just over a million years ago. Even now, after all this time, many of its buildings still stood, though not nearly as grand as the old tales described. For one thing, the village was mostly just a crater with some houses in it. In fact, the grandest feature was the cliff he stood on. It had six large and unrecognizable carvings in it, but they seemed to be shaped similarly to faces, just like that old legend described.

Overall, he was disappointed with the place. It had been drastically played up by the old legends and tales, but was little more than a hole in the ground. So much for the 'Mightiest of the Hidden Villages', whatever those were supposed to be. Standing over it, Watts felt as though he had wasted almost a month of research for nothing.

That said, he wasn't going to let it go to waste. The other three villages hadn't even been villages, just wilderness, but this one, the oldest, had remained. Clearly, something was different about it, and he intended to find out what.

Well, I wrap this chapter up with a nice little bow.

And I have nothing to say about this, nothing at all.

Although, I don't know when the next chapter will come. If I have time, it'll be out, at the earliest, on Saturday. However, that's only if I can get out a chapter of Remnants of Shinobi and the second chapter of Unprepared by then. Otherwise, I don't know when it'll be out.

Expect other perspectives next time.

Until Chapter 25!