Disclaimer: The following is a fan-based parody. Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto are all owned by Masashi Kishimoto. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Please support the official release.

Chapter 16: To the Bloody Mist

The light of the late morning illuminated the land beneath the canopy of the sea of trees. Not so thick to shadow the ground underneath in darkness and spaced enough to let golden rays shine through. Because of this, they revealed a lone figure walking through the undergrowth of the untamed wilderness of roots, dirt, and fallen leaves, wearing typical shinobi sandals, a black cloak decorated in red clouds, and an orange mask for only the right eye to peer through.

To most, he was Tobi, a seemingly nondangerous entity but only a select few knew him as Obito Uchiha and the leader of the Akatsuki. He walked in the forest knowing the exact direction without any clear path paved out for him. He wouldn't be much of an assassin, much less Madara's chosen to enact the Infinite Tsukiyomi plan if he didn't know how to navigate himself. His heading was for the lone cabin that served as Ruby and Shirou's home for as long as Madara's great-granddaughter has been here.

It has been a week since Madara's passing, and that week was how much Obito's mercy extended for Ruby to grieve. To this day, it was odd to think how close Ruby and Madara were as a family. He had witnessed and even partaken in Ruby's vigorous training that put him a step ahead of himself when Obito first dueled his former sensei, the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze. Perhaps there was a small part of him that wished for that, but since in literal terms his heart was empty he did not mind the relationship between the two Uchiha.

What Obito did mind was the complete derailment was the fact Ruby developed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. While Madara has never shown Obito the prowess of the fully evolved eyes of the Uchiha, history told him enough how titanic the existence of a pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan eyes can be in the grand scheme of things. If he needed physical evidence, there was the Valley of the End carved in the land as a side-effect of the final duel between Madara and Hashirama. Despite his own feats of controlling the Kyuubi and manipulating the host of the Sanbi, Obito had no questions that Ruby's new eyes exceeded even that level of Genjutsu - possibility capable of wrestling all the Tailed Beasts at once.

All this and that was not was mentioning the raw destructive power they could carry. Susanoo and Amaterasu in the first Mangekyo state were mighty, but Madara always commented they were still incomplete abilities. If the abilities of the Susanoo avatar and Amaterasu flames Obito had seen were 'paltry' previously, he could hardly imagine what they were perfected in the final evolved state. It wouldn't be so far-fetched to say the destructive power Ruby's new eyes can unleash can rival the Rinnegan.

The fact the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan has manifested was more than enough for Obito to change his plans. They were simply too powerful for Obito and to an extension the Akatsuki to ignore, especially if the possessor was Ruby herself. He knew perfectly well that Ruby will - not could - interfere in the plans of gathering the Tailed Beasts. That was why Obito was making his way to Ruby's home right now to make sure those eyes were not at least to be used against the Akatsuki.

Obito had a plan to bring Ruby and Shirou into the fold of the Akatsuki's plans, perhaps even present have the two as part of the organization. They were too good of a boon to give up as Ruby had no allegiance to the shinobi villages nor any intention of joining them. It was the villages and the shinobi system that were the targets of Ruby's hatred, viewing them as cesspools of inhumanity and needless death. He himself agreed; it was the shinobi system that took Rin away.

His mind suddenly flashed with an image of a laughing Rin and her face overlapping with an equally happy Ruby. He slowed in his pace as the only emotions he could feel rushed through him and his left fist clenched in frustration and emotional pain. Ruby had on weakness on Obito and it how much the young girl reminded him of Rin. They were both highly cheerful and optimistic individuals, and they both had smiles for Obito with Ruby viewing him as an uncle. Obito wanted to brush these feelings aside, but, by Kami, it was so hard to do so when the little silver-eyed tike reminded him so much of Rin. Each step Obito had taken in the forest towards Ruby's home, thoughts of bringing Ruby to his side became less and less as they were replaced by alien thoughts he'd never partake in. That he could simply let Ruby and Shirou go on their own, let them choose their own path.

He still pushed forward, even as the laughter of Rin and Ruby echoed in his head. No matter how immoral or cruel, all of Obito's actions all meant to bring Rin back to him. All the death and destruction he did and will cause was all for Rin.

Eventually, Obito walked through bushes where there was one lone clearing in the forest where there sat a small cottage serving as Ruby's home. It was rough in how it was built due to the fact it was entirely made by Madara's use of Wood Release. Ah, that also reminded Obito that Hashirama's cells should have now integrated into Shirou's body by now. That was another bonus to have Ruby on his side as a Wood Release user will be more useful in capturing the Tailed Beasts. His loyalties were easy enough as long as Obito had Ruby's loyalty.

He stopped at the oaken door and gave a series of knocks. Silence only greeted Obito, making him assume the pair have decided to sleep through the morning. Obito knocked again loud enough that he was sure would wake them up. Yet again, the disguised Uchiha was met with dead silence, not even the shuffle of feet stepping over wooden floors. His one Sharingan narrowing in anger, Obito punched at the wooden walls out of frustration to make the entire cottage shake from the strength in the blow. Anyone would have jumped in alarm at the killing intent Obito was pouring into the home, but the silence was his only response from the inside.

'What is going on here!?' Obito thought.

Manners were thrown out when Obito used his Kamui to phase into the cottage to confront Ruby and Shirou directly for ignoring him. Obito knew something was off when he found the inside of the cottage completely barren. The whole place was swiped clean of their belongings, leaving only the furniture and remains of the firepit that served as their cooking station. He did not need to check to know their rooms were the exact same as the rooms he saw. It left only one conclusion in Obito's head, and he had no idea how to take this.

'They left.' Obito thought. 'And I had no idea about it.'

In the end, he was slightly miffed he was not informed. From Ruby's personality, Obito expected her to say goodbye to her uncle if she had plans to leave. She was too affectionate not too, but then again perhaps the death of Madara hit her harder to force in certain personality changes. He sighed in exasperation, finding this troublesome now that he had no way to control what was now an indeterminate factor in his plans. The cold logic of Obito's mind suggested to have Pain hunt her down before she can cause trouble, but Obito brushed it aside lacking the motivation to do so. Ultimately, Ruby has left and there was nothing he can do about it.

Before leaving the cottage, his lone Sharingan scanned the interior of the home and landed on the only interest left. On the small table that served as the place to dine there was one folded parchment left behind. Curious, Obito picked it up and unfolded revealing the message written in Ruby's handwriting. A snort left Obito's mouth as he read:

So Uncle Obito...

If you are reading this, then that means you have at least found out that Shirou and I are long gone. I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure you won't find us, and I don't intend to come back to you. First things first, this is not about Great-Grandpa dying. This was a long time coming and it was always a part of his plan to let me go on my own path. It's the only I can get stronger, but I'm also excited to see more of the world has to offer. Who knows? You might find me in the Bingo Book.

You don't probably care about that. The first thing on your mind is to actually find me, and not because you want to give your favorite niece a game of tag. Let's just say I may or may not know some of your plans for the future involving the jinchuriki and the Tailed Beasts. And I may or may not either help you or make things a little difficult for you. But I know it's Great-Grandpa's way of saving this world to stop all the fighting, even if I question some of the ethics of it. I have my own world to save anyway. So I have a simple deal with you: you stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours unless it can't be helped. If I meet any of your Akatsuki friends, it won't be my fault whatever happens if they are a little antsy.

So, I guess all I have to say is let's rock this world off its britches and stick a fat one to the villages if we can. And I love you, Uncle Obito. You may not have been the best, but you're still family to me nonetheless. I'll never give that up.

Love, Ruby Rose - your favorite niece.

At the very end of the note was a doodle of Ruby wearing a toothy smile beaming back at the scarred Uchiha. If at all possible, the glare in Obito's single Sharingan lessened the tiniest amounts. For a small moment, Obito felt an odd sense of warmth in his chest, so foreign yet so familiar. Instead of discarding it, he used his Kamui to store the note in his personal pocket dimension.

"Cheeky brat." Obito mumbled, his lips underneath the mask tugging into a smile.

(Meanwhile, on the road...)

In seemingly nowhere surrounded by wilderness was a lone dirt road out of the many leagues of the wilds where there can be found Ruby Rose and Shirou Arashi walking at a calm pace. Packs and bangs were strewn on their bodies carrying a far greater amount in storage scrolls. They both wore the armor forged from their time in Iron Country and were visibly armed with their respective weapons locked in their scabbard. Ruby had gone with wearing a sturdy straw hat and the Shinigami mask for her disguise while Shirou with his demon mask covering the lower half of his face added black wrapping over his head and neck to conceal his red hair. At best, passersby would mistake them to be wandering ronin given they lack any emblem to denote them from a samurai clan as well as the lack of a shinobi insignia from any of the hidden villages.

While Shirou kept his gaze ahead with the occasional glance to the sides for possible attacks, Ruby's head was practically buried into an unfolded map. Her silver eyes spinning in the base Sharingan scanned over the drawn contents and labels denoting their locations. Most would assume with her enhanced perception Ruby had the easiest time reading maps. Unfortunately, if taking in every little detail of a map was true to know their way, then Ruby would not have the map out as much. In short, she was suffering one of her greatest weaknesses in that she was entirely clueless with directions on the map. She had yet to even realize it was upside down.

The Shinigami, peering through the empty eyes of the Uzumaki mask took this in with small, yet rare amusement in Ruby's plight, no matter how much she hid it.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Shirou said, not necessarily in concern.

"Relax, Shirou-kun." Ruby brushed off the question. "This was bound to happen sooner or later. No way were we going to just stick in the forest for the rest of our lives. We need to get some adventuring!"

"You have quite the flair for the dramatic." The Shinigami commented dryly.

'Wah, why'd you say that Shi?' Ruby complained while using the nickname she gave for the ancient Otsutsuki. The fact she got away with it served as a small victory for the silver-eyed Uchiha.

"But alone?" Shirou added, even knowing himself that it wasn't exactly normal for two twelve-year-olds to travel on their own. "Won't people be suspicious about this?"

"Yet they don't say that about shinobi who are only a year above us when they graduate." Ruby retorted. "Kids armed to the teeth similarly like us are common knowledge. Civies won't ask much to instead assuming the norm, and we aren't exactly normal ourselves. Besides, we are traveling the world. We can literally go anywhere we want, see the world's unseen. Do whatever we want. It's literally the most awesome thing possible. Isn't that exciting?"

Shirou sighed in acceptance. "If you say so, Ruby. I guess I can see the appeal. Iron Country was certainly interesting, but that's comparing my last venture being a slave in those mines before you found me."

To most people, they would not see Ruby flinch. However, Shirou as the current closest soul to Ruby immediately recognized the grimace and cursed under his breath. The mere mention of his time as a slave always made Ruby lockup from guilt, blaming herself for not coming to the rescue of the enslaved sooner to prevent more of their suffering. It was a foolish thought; there was no way Ruby could have known about it sooner, but it still ate at her.

That was not to mention the integral role Shirou had to do to practically keep her out of the gutter of darkness after burying Madara. It simply churned something awful in the redhead's stomach having to see Ruby with such a dim, almost lifeless gaze in her silver eyes once so bright. For the three days after Madara's death, it was like Ruby was on autopilot, and the means she had in expressing herself as a human being was coaxed by Shirou's presence. If it weren't for him constantly being at Ruby's side during the week in her mourning, Shirou had no idea what would have become of Ruby. Even still, he feared what Ruby could turn into if she was swallowed by depression and dark emotion, or known as the 'Curse of Hatred' on the Uchiha clan as Madara knew it. Shirou resolved to make sure Ruby never turned into that as long as he stayed by her side, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Ruby, it's fine." Shirou consoled softly, placing a hand on her shoulder that Ruby snapped her own hand to and squeeze it almost possessively. "There was no way you could have known about it, but the fact of the matter is you still saved me and the other kids. You still have me here to this day."

To him, Shirou's words served to alleviate Ruby's self-inflicted turmoil. However, they had the unintentional effect of growing that all-consuming need in Ruby to always have Shirou. For Ruby, it would seem all was right in the end as long as Shirou is there, alive, well, and right in her view to see his comforting smile.

"So about this adventure you have set for us," Shirou said, changing the subject once he knew Ruby was fine, "I bet you are planning for more than a few heroics."

"That's right!" Ruby chirped. "No use having power if we don't use it. Speaking of, how are you doing with your new Wood Release?"

Shirou furrowed his brows in contemplation. Receiving the cells of Hashirama had made his body feel like tiny snakes slithering between his muscles. It was only two days after receiving them that Shirou felt a change in his chakra, and like always pulled and bent it out to see its effects. At first, his traditional use of chakra had garnered Shirou growing only a small sprout and further effects were only done when he surrendered to using hand signs that limited his versatility. Another day with help of shadow clones, he managed to use Wood Release in his preferred manner instead of the hand signs typical to shinobi but had to make his palms come in contact with the ground for the effect to be released.

And now Shirou showed his latest control over it. He simply clapped his hands in front of him and allowed his chakra to flow with the intent. Ruby's Sharingan picked up the river pouring into the ground, and the next instant a tree complete with a thick trunk of dark brown and fresh green leaves sprouted at the side of the road going as tall as fifteen meters. Surrounding animals were alarmed but flocks of birds started to congregate to the fresh and mighty tree to house their nests.

Shirou did not look spent despite the feat, owning to his very large pool of chakra. Ruby knew herself from Madara's demonstration that the Wood Release was a formidable power. She checked herself that the wood produced from Wood Release was actually as durable as iron while carrying the same flexibility normal wood had. Fire Jutsu had little effect in burning Wood Release unless it was the highest grade, or the Wood Release was countered by a Kekkei Genkai of offensive capabilities like her Scorch Release or the great flames summoned by the Mangekyo Sharingan. If Ruby were to categorize it, she placed the Wood Release as a supreme defensive-type given its durability with offensive abilities varying depending on how the Wood Release was unleashed.

"I'm still wondering what I can really do with this." Shirou noted. "My best guess is to use it for defending purposes, either for ourselves or any innocent that needs saving from crossfire. I could probably summon branches to trap people down, but I don't know how it can work with shinobi since they can use a Substitution or Body Flicker to escape."

Ruby snorted knowingly. "Shirou-kun, you'd be surprised how older shinobi can forget the classics. Especially the Substitution."

Shirou actually blinked in shock. "Eh? But the Substitution is so incredibly useful."

He raised a good point as well. Despite its basic nature, the Substitution Jutsu was incredible when involving switching spaces with any object a user's charka. It can literally get the user out of any dire situation by simply replacing oneself with a random branch or little pebble. Even the small tidbit it switches the user's places was also useful as it gives instant mobility via teleportation. Ruby had a side plan to see if she can replicate the overwhelming speed of the Hiraishin simply with the use of her Sharingan, the Substitution Jutsu, and a constant rain of projectiles to constantly replace.

The fact veteran shinobi overlook this in their career to focus on higher-ranked techniques was baffling. If she had to go by evidence, Ruby would remind herself when she battled ex-Jonin shinobi to free Shirou.

Back to Shirou, the only downside with him possessing the Wood Release was that the process of fully incorporating Hashirama's cells had one bad side-effect. In order to utilize Wood Release, Shirou's body had completely cut off his ability to use water and earth techniques. The thought that Shirou lost made Ruby grimace, but Shirou took in grace with a smile to instead make up that loss by mastering Wood Release.

"What about you, Ruby?" Shirou said, his mismatched eyes of purple and green staring back at Ruby's silver. "Did you get a handle on your new eyes?"

Ruby tried not to tense if only to prevent making Shirou guilty bringing it up. Her 'new eyes' being the Eternal Mangekyo, the most powerful form of the Sharingan an Uchiha can achieve. A form that normally required the transplant of a close relative with their Mangekyo Sharingan. That was how Madara discovered it when his only brother gave up his own eyes to Madara to restore his great-grandfather's sight. Yet Ruby's silver Sharingan was already an oddity when they matured into the first Mangekyo on their own and it wasn't too far to say that they further grew to the Eternal Mangekyo. It was just the circumstances that made Ruby... uncomfortable.

Having the memory of the death of one's Great-Grandfather with a freshly awakened Eternal Mangekyo will surely do that.

Ruby took a deep breath to compose herself and focused her mind away from darker emotions. Shirou's presence right there helped to keep her in a brighter mood than falling to her clan's Curse of Hatred. He relaxed noticing the Uchiha girl relaxing posture but kept his vigilance in case she had another attack. Without a word, Ruby trained her attention to a tree isolated from the rest of the forest. Her silver eyes morphed in their Eternal Mangekyo pattern and the sharp perception told that there weren't any critters to get caught in the coming experiment.

She sent a quick pulse to her eyes in the manner to unleash Amaterasu flames. The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan made it more potent with less chakra consumption. The only visible sign was the subtle silver glow and the tree went up in flames in the same instant. However, instead of the usual black flames, the tree was engulfed in flames that were a stunning white with a fine outlining of gold to them. These new flames had a greater heat and illumination than Amaterasu and were almost too hard to see under the light of day. Possibly the biggest difference Ruby discovered with these new white flames was that they did not burn unless Ruby willed it unlike where Amaterasu black flames were indiscriminate. She could set down a whole forest on fire with these white flames and not burn a single leaf if she chose not to.

With all these differences, Ruby had taken to give a new name for these white flames. In the end, Ruby had dubbed the new fire technique Agni named after the Hindu god of fire.

After willing the white flames to dissipate, it revealed the tree to be unharmed per Ruby's will. Besides the addition of Agni, Ruby felt other abilities had changed as well such as the feeling of completion with Susanoo and the addition of two new techniques. She decided to use one more test before moving on. A test that depending on its success will determine her future. Looking ahead, Ruby focused her chakra again while her mind anchored on memories in the long past. Of home on an island, under the sky of a shattered moon.

To her home of Patch in the world of Remnant.

"Yamui!"

Yamui, the spatial technique opposite to Kamui focused on the travel to alternate worlds. Complete with the power and the intent, her Sharingan eyes screamed out and reality was forced to obey. Shirou openly gawked at the sudden distortion of white and black from a small sphere to then widening to an oval shape a person can comfortably walk. The portal as it can only be called served as a window where on the other side lay an entirely different world.

Ruby had no idea how long her eyes drank up the image of her homeworld. She could not deny the tug on her soul to simply walk through and go home. To easily take a few steps and go back to Dad, her sister Yang, and Uncle Qrow. But no Mom to hug her tightly in an embrace of her warmth she craved to feel again only knowing it was a distant sensation never to happen again. So it was a heavy heart but a resolute decision Ruby cut off the chakra flow and the portal closed.

There were a few more seconds of silence before it was broken by Shirou, giving Ruby an incredulous look. "Okay, that's a new one. Is that where we are going?"

"Not yet." Ruby answered. "There's still stuff here that we need to take care of immediately before anything else. Things that need to be done with as soon as possible. That will be our first order of business to this world as a whole."

"So you do have something planned?" Shirou said with a knowing smirk. "Care to tell?"

Ruby smirked. "With the skills we have acquired, we have to put them through the test. What's better than the Hidden Mist Village currently under a civil war?"

"You want us to join the fight in a civil war?" Shirou exclaimed in shock, not expecting for Ruby to go for something that big such as literal warfare.

"It's for a good cause." Ruby assured. "The civil war that has engulfed Water Country was ignited when its kage started purging its own people born with Kekkei Genkai. As in men, women, and children getting slaughtered because they were born with something different and out of their control. We're going to join the side that has the sense that blatant genocide is a crime, but we're not joining the civil war. We are going to end it. So off to Kiri we go!"

Despite the enthusiasm and passion in her words before continuing on the road, Shirou still had a doubt clinging to his head. Of course, he was fully on board as long as the two of them can save people, but there was one problem currently. He looked at Ruby nervously before summoning the courage to speak.

"Uhm, Ruby," Shirou said, "if we are going to Kiri, are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Of course I do." Ruby responded sharply. "I've got a map here of the entire continent. I'll get us there no problem."

"But, Ruby," Shirou continued, looking over Ruby's shoulder to the map she held, "you have the map upside down."

Ruby instantly froze in her tracks as the weight of Shirou's words finally hit her. Her mind tried and failed spectacularly to retort to Shirou. That she totally knows how to read a map and definitely, most certainly did not get them lost already. Eventually, her will relented and her head bowed down in defeat with an air of gloom hanging over her head.

"Ruby, how about I lead us to Kiri?" Shirou offered with a comforting smile.

"...Yeah." Ruby muttered softly, handing Shirou the map.

"Don't beat yourself up about this little thing." Shirou said in an attempt to cheer Ruby up. "You're still amazing in your own way. You can take this to focus on something else, like any projects you've cooked up."

Ruby gave a small nod in acceptance and Shirou took the lead of the pair. Her body moved on autopilot and made sure to follow behind Shirou to keep with arm's reach. While glum that her directing role was more or less shot down, her mind did move on to brighter thoughts. Shirou was right that she can take the time to focus on another project while on the road, and it so happens she had one in the works right now. Unsealing a pile of notes and writing utensils from storage, Ruby continued on such an endeavor in trying to figure out a sealing array in extracting a Tailed Beast from its host without cause of death. She challenged herself to complete it by the end of the year, and then she can free those poor people from the fate that was being a village's weapon.

Yay, new update! This chapter is really more fluff than direct action. It mostly served to introduce Ruby and Shirou as they are now with an attempt on my part to flesh out more of Shirou's personality. It is also important to note how much Ruby clings to Shirou as her closest companion and sole pillar. With the death of Madara, she is more or less emotionally 'unstable' and Shirou serves to anchor onto from going off the deep end, developing the initial crush but bordering on possessiveness. Shirou knows this and he knows that he can't abandon Ruby being the sole presence in her life or else the crippling loneliness will crush her. This is a girl who loves her family ultimately and the thought that most of them are dying off like flies with the death of her mother, Uchiha massacre, the doom of the Uzumaki, and now Madara's death leaves an impact in the form of certain 'episodes' which will be seen in the future. Ruby is still Ruby, but only as long as Shirou is there to be her emotional support.

Up next is Chapter 17.

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