A Grimm Light

by Nasha Rei-Kun

Among the darkness that was Salem's island, Summer Rose expected to find one of two things. Victory or... unfortunately, a loss so great she knew her family would never get over it. So, when the weirdest third option showed up, a single piece of light in this land of darkness, she'd been confused... and then she'd been happier than she ever imagined.

9. After-Effects

Heads-up. Considering writing a Naruto Xover with High Guardian Spice if only to give it more subtly.

That might come out one of these days.

~NRK~

Taking a shower together had been enlightening to Penny.

Well, it wasn't much of a shower, the Grimm not wanting to get too in-depth for any new… parts he'd like to allow her to keep to herself.

But then that left her in a conundrum as she stood in the living room with Naruto, wearing nothing but a towel.

"I… don't have any more clothes," Penny realized with a tilt of the head as Naruto rubbed the side of his head. "I never thought I'd be in this situation."

'Well, your… they became clothes so your clothes from before, can't we wash 'em?' He asked.

They did and, thankfully, cleaning the uniform was rather easy.

Drying it came with more odd surprises.

Penny raised her hand and flaming marks formed over her left arm, flames coiling into a bright ball of red and orange fire in her palm.

"That's… so, wait, I can still use the Dust?" Penny gaped as Naruto looked at her hands with a raised brow.

'No… I think that's actual magic,' he said as the two of them looked at one another. 'Maybe… you said my Darkness element absorbed everything and fed it into your system, right? What if that's what he meant? Your body was absorbing all of the machinery and setting you up to gain real-life flesh and stuff?'

"But, in that case, doesn't that mean you can give flesh like we thought?"

Naruto shrugged. 'If that's true, it's something that requires a ton of my materials, yeah? I guess we'll know one day. For now, dry time.'

With delicate care, the bodysuit had been dried and put on, a bit awkwardly in that second case.

"O-Oh, it's elastic," Penny said as Naruto looked the other way while she tried to pull the suit on. "Okay, so, this limb goes… here…"

He actually snickered a bit as he heard the tell-tale 'snaps' of elastic slipping onto a person's limbs.

"I-I think I did it."

Turning around, Naruto chuckled as Penny stood there in her usual outfit. 'Yeah, well, I think it shrunk a bit?' He blinked as Penny and he locked eyes, the young woman… or was it woman now?

Before, Penny had been easily something close to average height, maybe around 5'6. Now? She seemed to have gotten taller, easily six feet.

She was still half a foot shorter than him but that height change was noticeable.

"Perhaps the effect of changing gave me more natural assets," she said in thought as Naruto ignored the word 'assets'. "Ah, sorry," Penny blushed a bit.

Blushing was interesting, it felt like her face hurt but she was unwounded.

How dreadful.

Getting her Apprentice's Cloak, they looked at her gloves and boots.

The same ones she'd originally had before but took off.

'So, now they're just accessories?' Naruto considered as they looked at her footwear. 'Man, let's hurry to Oz-jiji before this gets weirder.'

She agreed as she slipped on the seemingly elastic boots and gauntlets. "Fascinating."

They rushed out of his home into the early morning rays of the sun above.

"T-This is… sunlight?" Penny's cheeks flushed as they moved about, breathing in the air of the island and feeling her limbs work. "Exertion, breathing, and light, this is an interesting experience!"

Naruto chuckled before they ended up at the 'Headmaster' cabin, going inside and moving around the different rooms within before reaching the kitchen where they found Ozpin, Glynda, Pietro, and James.

The four were currently drinking some coffee, it smelled like, and Naruto chuckled nervously as they looked at the two oddly.

'So, uh, crazy thing about something else that happened down there,' he began to say as the four raised their brows.

"Penny?" Pietro asked with a hum. "What happened?"

"Well… father," Penny giggled nervously before raising her gauntlet-covered arm.

She took off the cover and flexed her fingers, the four looking confused as she did.

"... PFFT?!" Ozpin spat out his coffee as James and Glynda looked at him in confusion.

"Ozpin?" Glynda asked with confusion. "What's wrong-?"

"P-Penny?! Are you showing us what I think you are?" The old wizard asked immediately, looking shocked beyond words as James raised a brow.

"What are you talking about?" The general asked as Pietro blinked, leaned forward, choked, and then rushed over to his 'mechanical' daughter. "Dr. Polendina-"

"I-It's impossible!" The paraplegic said in disbelief as Glynda got up and walked over before observing Penny's fingers.

"What's the issue?" She asked Naruto who grinned nervously. "Naruto?"

'Shake her hand,' was all he said and the woman blinked before doing as suggested.

And… When she did, Glynda froze as Pietro's eyes shrunk.

"W-What?!" She jumped in shock as Penny smiled nervously. "P-P-Penny?!"

"Yes, we believe we know what the Elemental meant," the former android said with a smile as James blinked. "Well… We believe I'm now fully human, General Ironwood."

James's face contorted from confusion into complete and total shock on par with when he'd first met Naruto.

"?!"

'Yeah, so, you remember what we said yesterday?'

They reiterated the Elemental's words about Penny's body before reminding them of what the Elemental had done.

"He forced the progress of flesh?" Pietro just sat there, stunned dumb along with the others as Penny blushed a bit.

Actually blushed! Red in the cheeks and everything!

"..." Ozpin considered the words. "So, we were right, you can give actual flesh back but the Elemental sped it up? If it's naturally like this, this means that by having a large amount of your material, limbs can be replaced indefinitely."

"S-Still, everything, Penny?" Glynda said quietly as the former robot swallowed before nodding.

"Everything."

The woman took in a deep breath before releasing a slow shuddering sigh. "... I think it'd be a good idea if you spent time with Summer for a few weeks to… get everything under control," she phrased it vaguely and quietly as Penny nodded.

"I-I think that's a good idea," Penny whispered.

"Alive… y-you're really," Pietro's eyes watered and Penny smiled brightly and widely. "Naruto… I don't think I could ever thank you enough for this."

'I'm glad to give Penny everything she deserves. If that means being a fleshy-real woman, I'll be damned if I don't mind doing this,' the Grimm chuckled as James swallowed. 'I can tell you what you want, James-ossan. The moment we get back, I think it's time to give you a good chance of being whole again.'

James held his head in relief as Glynda smiled softly along with the others.

Time for some big changes.

"So, Penny, you can use all the elements, yes?" Ozpin asked curiously.

"Actually, all the ones I had inside of me when I was inorganic, I can use," Penny said as she raised her hand.

Electricity sparked before being followed by fire which was quickly followed by wind.

And then darkness raged in her palm, surprising the others. "It makes sense. Naruto's Darkness element was the main part in how I was given life," Penny said.

And then the darkness in her hand dispersed in a spiraling motion as something throbbed in her palm.

"... Life," Ozpin realized with a chuckle. "You've obviously gained the Life element."

"It makes sense," Glynda said.

'Actually, about magic and stuff,' Naruto spoke up. 'You remember how the Spirit said the kids now can use magic?' He reminded them and everyone's eyes widened sans Penny's. 'Oh, did we not mention that?'

"N-No, it's just," Ozpin breathed in excited air before letting it go with an excess of energy filling his fingertips. "Magic-users are back on Remnant? I-I don't know what to do."

"That's right," James said as he wiped his eyes. "There are now magic-users around."

"In that case… I'm lost," Pietro said as Glynda nodded. "What do we do?"

The group was silent as they realized the sheer magnitude of what had been truly gifted.

'... We could go with my awakening Aura as being different,' Naruto suggested. 'I mean, I'm clearly not normal so we could run with it being totally because I'm different and have 'Grimm Energy', ya know-dattebayo?'

"Well… it could work," Glynda said. "But how do we reassure them that it's safe? They know Penny's Aura wasn't awakened by you and they saw all the children's."

'...?' Naruto perked up as he looked back towards the door of the cabin. 'One second,' he powerwalked over to the front.

Seconds later, he came back with a yawning Nora in tow in arm, the small carrot top rubbing her eyes in a fake fashion.

'You realize we're not falling for that, right?' She froze before pouting. 'So, Nora, what's going on?'

The Mistralian girl flinched as she looked down, pouting a bit.

"Mmm," she made a guilty sound as Penny smiled, crouching to her height.

"What's wrong, Nora?" The former robot asked.

"... I-I heard you guys last night," she admitted as Ozpin choked. "... M-Magic is real?" Nora asked as Naruto grinned nervously while Penny… considered something.

"Yes, it is," Penny said with an understanding smile as Nora's eyes widened along with the others. "But it's a big secret, very big… and I think you can help us, maybe, make it not a secret one day."

'Hmm?' Naruto considered her before making an understanding sound. 'Ohh, yeah, that might work.'

"What do you mean?" James asked and Pietro gasped.

"You wish for us to find a way to ease them into it, right?" The paraplegic said as the others adults' eyes widened. "Then why not teach young Nora and have her be the example of how little it'd pain them?"

"I-I see," Glynda swallowed at the thought. "But would Nora want to?"

'What do you want, Nora-chan?' Naruto asked the young girl as she looked at him.

"I-I'd learn magic?" She asked with rising excitement, Penny chuckling at her awe. "Really?!"

"Well… yes," Ozpin said with a chuckle as she squealed.

"I wanna!"

'Well, there ya go,' Naruto said as he put the girl down. 'But this is serious business, Nora. You can't tell the others that you're learning magic. It's a big thing that we need to figure out how to bring to the world without everyone wigging out.'

"Okay!" The girl grinned as Naruto chuckled nervously while Glynda smirked. "So, do I get to fly on a broom?!"

'Um… maybe?'

"Broom flying was an old practice before levitation on one's actual self became the norm," Ozpin chuckled. "But, still, Naruto is right. This is going to be big, Nora… and time-intensive," he said before smiling patiently at the girl's look of confusion. "It'll take a long time."

"Oh!" Nora said before freezing. "S-So I won't be with Ren-Ren?"

"For a bit of time," Glynda said kindly. "At the least… three years for you to have a decent understanding," the girl's mouth dropped and the woman winced. "I know, I know."

"B-But that's forever! I'd never see anyone!" Nora cried in horror before Naruto rubbed his chin. "I-I don't want to not see my friends."

'... You won't be alone,' Naruto said with a grin. 'Because if Oz-jiji doesn't mind, you could just stay here on the island with me,' the Grimm chuckled as Nora's head snapped to him.

"R-Really?!"

'Yeah. If anything, I could probably help teach her the basics,' Naruto said as Ozpin considered it.

"Well, you could. The issue then comes with the fact that you don't have the right affinity for her… main affinity," the old wizard said.

"I-I could help her with that!" Penny said with a grin. "I've recorded your lessons into my most encrypted memory banks before all of this and…" She concentrated before humming. "I can recall them with ease."

"Actually, about that," Pietro considered. "So, Penny, are you completely full or partial?"

Penny looked down in thought. "I don't know. I and Naruto-kun planned on eventually getting myself a check-up."

"That'd be for the best. The issue comes that we don't have any outright medical doctors on the island," James said in thought. "You'd need to come to Atlas or Vale to keep things hush-hush but even then. Do we have someone in our circle who could help her?"

"... Leonardo," Glynda realized with a sad smile. "Ever since the Spring Maiden… left, he'd learned every form of medical intent to find her on long healing journeys… he hasn't yet."

'... Oh, uh, about that?' Naruto spoke up and the group stared at him. 'So, there's one of them in the Mistral Outbacks. She attacked me when I was returning a girl to her campsite.'

"A Maiden attacked you?" Pietro looked horrified and the others grimaced. "In Mistral?"

'Yep.'

"Did she have long blonde hair?" Glynda asked and frowned deeper when Naruto shook his head.

'Yeah… I don't think the previous Spring Maiden is around anymore if what we're on about is true.'

Ozpin's fists clenched while James hissed.

"This woman, what did she look like?" The general asked as he pulled out his Scroll. "Maybe we can-"

'Long wild black hair,' Naruto began, not noticing the original Oz Group members' flinches. 'White skin, and red eyes. Oh, and she had on a red and black kimono-'

"What?" Ozpin's eyes widened as his mouth dropped, skin paler than it should have been. "What?"

"Master Ozpin?" Penny tilted her head as Nora looked around in confusion.

"What's going on?" The girl asked as Naruto pat her head. "Maidens? What do purity girls have anything to do with this?"

'... Ah, that's how you understand it,' Naruto realized with a nervous grin. 'Look, let's just say… it's got another meaning here.'

"Raven Branwen," James said as he held his head in his hands, Naruto, Pietro, and Penny looking at him in disbelief. "Yes. She's Qrow's twin sister and a bandit,' Nora's form froze.

"W-What?" She uttered in horror.

'Yikes,' Naruto grimaced.

"That's not good," Penny frowned.

"I see," Pietro sighed. "And I take it she's not… helpful."

"She's not," Glynda grimaced. "She ran, that's as simple as it got. She ran and we don't know why but she's been hiding in Mistral, it seemed. This girl, what was her name? The one you took back?"

'Spring,' the four older adults looked at him in alarm. 'And, nah, she wasn't the Maiden. It was definitely Raven.'

"That's… a trick?" James considered. "Dammit, talk about more wood on the fire."

"If Raven of all people has the Maiden powers… I fear what she's planning on doing with them," Ozpin said with a frown. "I'm still confused, though… the Spring Maiden disappeared five years ago. She was a young woman in her late teens and yet Raven has her powers right now?"

'She sounded like she didn't know how to use them well yet,' Naruto said. 'But she was strong, Brother's damn, she was strong.'

"Raven and Summer were tied for the strongest individual students of their year," Glynda groaned.

'Yeah, I figured. So, what are we going to do about it?'

"... Nora?" Penny whispered softly as she remained crouched by the pale girl. "What's wrong?"

"B-Bandits," the small carrot top whispered and Penny's eyes softened.

"It's fine, I promise."

"For now, we can't strain our resources for it," Ozpin said with a grimace. "We have too many things to look over, too many topics of interest, so much new information, and a new student," he added with a shaky smile as Nora swallowed before nodding. "Though, you and Penny seem set to handle it."

'We can, though Penny's still gotta learn all the ways of being a real woman with Summer-oba-chan,' Naruto said flatly as Nora blinked.

"Huh?"

"Well… for the sake of making things simple, Nora," Penny began as the girl shot her a weird look. "I'm not a robot anymore."

"... cyborg?!" Nora looked shocked, appalled, intrigued, badaffled!

She didn't know if that last word was real but she felt it!

"Hmm, I really wonder if she is," Pietro said as Penny smiled. "We'll need to speak with Leo."

"So, for now, we've got a series of tasks," Glynda said. "The first is for Nora to receive training while Penny is introduced to… being human," the woman said kindly as her fellow woman smiled with red cheeks. 'I'm going to get so much mileage out of this.'

If she was right, the two were on more than friendly terms.

Oh, if only the poor woman knew.

"Secondly, there are the other Spirits to speak with," James said. "There are magical beings still in the world, this is insane."

"It is… it makes me wonder," Ozpin whispered as he felt something in his pocket. "... For now, that simply isn't feasible," he said. "Naruto needs to be there and not only was the previous Spirit's mere arm more powerful than he and Penny combined, I can tell you that I know he's going to need to be there."

"That's sadly obvious," Penny said with a shaky smile. "But… the Elemental told us he enhanced our shells. What if Naruto and I can pull out more power now?"

"You'll have to check eventually," Glynda said. "For now, I think it'd be a good idea to do that when we can all watch."

'No disagreement here,' Naruto said. 'And, adding onto that, there's this Raven lady, the Black Gates, and the possibility of… something worse,' he said as the others blinked at him.

"You know something?"

'Yeah, I forgot to tell you guys,' he said. 'So, I met the Toad Sage… my former… you-know-what.'

Their eyes widened to no end. "Truly?!" Ozpin's eyes widened.

Another reincarnate?!

Naruto nodded with a grin.

He reiterated the entire trip from end to finish, Nora gasping in awe.

"He's the guy with the Astral Toad Semblance!" She said as Naruto chuckled nervously.

But the others looked horrified. "I-I see," Pietro was pale along with his daughter.

"N-Naruto-kun, is this true?" She asked and the Grimm nodded seriously.

'Yeah, apparently, the Mistral Council and him are working side-by-side on that,' James and Ozpin looked shocked.

"That's right, they knew. They've been doing a search for it if what Jiraiya told you was right," James covered his mouth. "A fifth Black Gate we didn't know about? And Aura-disrupter SPELLS?"

'Jiraiya-sensei didn't know and I brought him into this,' Naruto admitted. 'Right now, he's super strong, especially since I dispelled the mark on his chest that was hurting his Aura.'

"I see, that's comforting, at least," Ozpin said before grimacing and rubbing his temple. "Too much. For the first time in a long time, this all feels like too much is happening."

"So, uh, when do I start learning magic?" Nora asked and Naruto grinned.

'When the others leave. We'll also need to grab your clothes and stuff. You, me, Penny, and whoever Oz-jiji comes over, we're gonna be learning big stuff.'

"Yes!"

"Well, for now, I suppose we should make Ms. Rose aware," Penny said with a smile. "She's nice, I'm sure things will go well."

The group looked at her like she was unwell.

"... What?"

~NRK~

Qrow slammed into the kitchen wall, Taiyang spat out his coffee and Summer…

Summer grinned like someone told her she was getting Christmas and Birthday presents twice per day.

"OF COURSE!" She agreed with more enthusiasm than any of them could have hoped to expect. "I'm going to give you a crash course in living!"

Penny smiled shakily all of a sudden. 'Oh… this was a mistake,' she realized.

Naruto snorted. "So, uh, let me explain this all to you guys.'

He and Penny did, all the details they could, the new information, and… information on Raven.

The three looked the most horrified at the last one.

"R-Raven?" Taiyang choked. "And she's a… Maiden?"

'Yea,' Naruto said.

"Shit," Qrow hissed under his breath, facing the wall with his chin in hand. "I don't like this. Why did she of all people get it?"

"... We don't know," Summer said with determination. "And… I think we should find out," she added as the two men flinched. "This… it's been too long. We've left things too loose. I think it's time to deal with this properly."

Qrow grimaced before sighing. "I don't think it's me and you who should be saying that."

Taiyang looked down into his hot chocolate mug with a frown before his face filled with determination. "We're going," he said with finality as Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Naruto. I think Summer's right, I can't just let myself stay wounded like this and not settle things properly."

'I'm glad to help. Besides, you guys'll be helping Penny out, I can't let that go unrewarded.'

"Heh," Tai looked at the three, really seeing 'that picture' Summer spoke to their family about. 'They really are like a family,' well, as a potentially-still-not-sure grandfather at the tender age of 33, Taiyang would take this in stride.

Especially because he knew that time would come for his not-sure-but-why-not son.

"So, you got all fleshy and tall," Qrow added with a snort as Penny grinned. "So, I guess magic just… adjusted your 'age' to fit? I don't understand how this works."

"That's fine, neither do we!" Penny said with a smile as he laughed.

"Haha! Ahhhh, Summer's gonna run you ragged," he said as Penny's countenance dropped. "Yep."

"So, how long are you guys going to keep her new humanity a secret?" Summer asked with a hum as Yang and Ruby yawned while coming downstairs.

"Well… we don't know," Penny said with a hand running through her hair. "... I have hair," she realized as if it was the next big shock of the evening.

Tai chuckled. "So, you'll go to Mistral to get a check-up from Leo then come to Patch to learn about what 'living' is, right?" He asked.

"Yes," Penny said as she ran her gauntlet-covered hands through her hair. "Oh," she took them off and ran her literal hand through her hair. "Odd."

"Sensation will be fun," Qrow snorted.

~NRK~

The following afternoon found the group by the waterfall again, either running on trees for most of them, playing, resting in Jacques's case or trying to get Water Walking down.

Naruto was currently sitting in the shade of his newest big tree. His Konoha Tree as he called it.

It was easily the biggest tree on Remnant, the tree easily standing taller than most of the trees in the world, a thick thing with bright green leaves and powerful roots.

The Konoha Tree stood above the waterfall, casting good shade over those below.

Sitting with him were Penny and Nora, Naruto and Penny giving the girl little tips on her energy control.

Not Aura since they knew that was false now.

"S-So, like… this," Nora said with strain as she raised her hands in front of her.

Pink electricity shot up her forearms in rings before reaching her hands.

The electricity crackled in the middle of her palms before a small ball of pink electricity began to form.

Nora's eyebrows twitched as Penny nodded slowly before reaching out and steadying the younger orange-haired female's arms.

"Slow, focus, Nora," she said calmly as Nora looked up at her in surprise. "Remember, it's the flow of life in your body. Magic is different from Aura, pull from inside and the world outside."

The girl blinked before looking down at her sparking hands.

Then the orb of pink began to crackle more as it grew slowly, Nora's eyes shining in awe as it did before it formed an orb the size of a large softball.

'Hehe,' Naruto grinned as she looked at it. 'Keep doing that and I feel like I'll be obligated to teach you the Rasengan.'

Nora's eyes snapped to him and her concentration fell away, the orb shrinking out of existence.

"H-Huh?! Awwww!" She whined as Penny giggled a bit.

"It's fine, you don't even know the logical steps of magic and yet you're able to call upon it so easily," Penny said with a smile as Nora huffed with crossed arms. "Why don't you try the Tree Walking again? I'll do it with you, alright?"

The girl looked at her before nodding, the two of them getting up and walking towards Naruto.

The Grimm had been meditating for the entirety of their training session, focusing inward on his Sage Mode.

"Any luck?" Penny asked him and Naruto hummed.

'I think so? I still can't touch my soul yet but my outer shell is so much more powerful now,' Naruto said. 'I feel like it's waiting to be filled with energy so this should be a good increase.'

"Show me that Rasengan thing!" Nora asked as the Grimm snorted.

'Hmph,' he raised his hand. 'Watch closely.'

Nora did.

Baby-blue eyes widened slowly as she watched black vapors slowly swirl into existence in his palm. The strength of the wind pulling towards it surprised her as Nora saw her hair flow towards the quickly forming orb.

Then the sound it made had her blood pumping as it formed, the wind settling and leaving the technique there for all to see.

The Rasengan.

'The Rasengan looks simple but it's not,' Naruto explained as Penny considered the orb. 'Where I'm from, this is the greatest form of shape manipulation. It's got another level to it that I made called the Rasenshuriken, where the ultimate shape manipulation mixes in with a change in energy nature, like you and Penny-chan calling on electricity.'

Nora looked at it and then her hands before focusing with a big pout.

Her hands coiled with lightning before she formed that ball of electricity from before, recalling Penny's words from before.

Naruto chuckled as she held up her ball to his, with it being relative to his size, both energy orbs were the same size.

"L-Like this?" Nora asked.

"Hmm… No, the Rasengan is a technique where you apply your energy in all directions, Nora," Penny explained as the girl looked confused but focused, holding her electricity ball. "Hm, hm."

'Watch,' Naruto said as he brought the orbs close together.

When they touched, Nora squawked as her ball trembled before breaking apart in under two seconds.

"It didn't even last!"

'Yeah because my technique is just stronger,' Naruto chuckled. '... Hmm, likely when you're learning magic, Nora-chan, as you get better control and stuff, I'm gonna teach this to you, alright?'

Her eyes shined with excitement and awe as he grinned.

'This will be the technique I'll pass onto you and, when you can form it, you're ready to push onto greater power than before.'

~NRK~

The group was informed of the decision come dinner time.

"I see," Li nodded as An wore a smile for Nora, the girl scuffing the floor a bit. "We understand, Nora. You're clearly going to undergo something I'm sure will help the world in the future."

"Y-Yeah but… I-I know it's gonna be weird not being at home," Nora said, looking down, but Li's hands on her shoulders got her attention.

"As you grow, you're going to make decisions, find paths that aren't going to be comfortable at first," he said.

"But you'll likely learn something, gain something that you couldn't by staying in one place," An explained as Nora's eyes watered.

Ren looked down in thought before nodding. "W-We'll meet again, right? It's not forever?"

"Y-Yeah! Whenever everyone comes, I'm gonna be here!" Nora said with tears.

Watching from the side, Nicholas sighed before looking at Naruto and Penny. "So, I take it something did happen, yes?"

'Well… I'll secretly say 'yes',' Naruto said as Jaune shot him a weird look.

"Like what?" He asked but the Grimm chuckled.

'It's a secret for a reason, Jaune. For now, helping Nora train with Penny is gonna be really important.'

"Does it have something to do with what happened?" Weiss asked nervously. "What happened down there?"

'As I said, secret stuff but we had a crazy big fight,' Naruto frowned. 'We were barely strong enough to make a difference and we know that difference wasn't even a lot in the first place.'

"Sounds… complicated."

'It is.'

Penny nodded. "For now, there are so many things that need to be dealt with," she said as the group nodded. "It's going to be an interesting set of years. It's going to be 6 more years before you all go to your desired Academies, yes?"

"Oh, uh," Whitley considered it. "... I don't want to be a Huntsman," he said as Weiss looked surprised. "I-I just wanted to enjoy my family's legacy. I-If anything, I'd rather see if I can't figure out how to help our company."

"R-Really?" Weiss looked conflicted.

"Sister?"

"... I want to be a Huntress, a Hunter like our grandfather," Weiss admitted. "... I-I think I also need to talk to Winter about… a lot of things."

"Your sister hasn't come home," Willow winced as Whitley nodded. 'I really hope she didn't come when her father was the only one at home,' that was a cocktail of destruction if there ever was one.

"Well… where?" Whitley asked.

"... I'm considering Atlas… but, well," Weiss looked at the other children.

Over the past seven months, she'd become rather fond of this group. They weren't as etiquette-taught as she but… w-well, that wasn't so bad.

And they also wanted to be Hunters! Where would she find such a close-knit friend group in Atlas?!

"Well… I believe your mind is made up," Willow said as Weiss blushed and looked down. "No, no, it's fine. Whatever you choose, we can just visit."

Coming to terms with the damage in her family, Willow found that, thankfully, there were still cracks and crooks she could fill with her presence.

Despite his normal disposition, Jacques had not left the children wanting. Weiss liked singing, Whitley liked the piano.

One liked 'cultured', as she called it, fight while the other preferred drawing and art.

Yes, those two were distinct she'd learned.

So, all things considered, Willow learned that the two just needed some up-close parenting and she'd done as much research as she could to make little mistakes.

Ruby and Yang, meanwhile, looked at their parents as they explained Penny's soon-to-be residence in their home.

"Whoa, really? Why?" Yang asked.

"It's gonna be a shock, kiddos," Qrow said with a snicker as he walked up to them with a grin. "Just know that."

Ruby hummed. "Alright."

"Yes and… well," Taiyang rubbed the back of his head before nodding. "We're all going to be going on a big trip soon with Naruto."

"Really? Where?" Yang asked.

"Mistral. For an… important meeting."

"It's one that'll be kind of weird," Summer said. "Not as weird as when Penny will be with us but certainly… interesting," she admitted with a shaky grin.

"Lots of weird stuff?"

"Lots of weird stuff."

~NRK~

Heading to Mistral via bullhead, the group of Naruto, James, Penny, Glynda, and Ozpin quickly found themselves in Leonardo's room as Naruto's clones escorted the Belladonna and Lie families to their homes, Nora included.

The girl would need to grab her things, after all.

So, after a quick rundown of the situation with Penny, Leonardo and Glynda were handling the new woman's check-up.

Naruto was currently sitting outside the office with James and Ozpin, the Grimm a curious sight to the students who passed by or Leonardo's staff.

One of whom was cupping his chin as he observed Naruto's flat expression.

"I don't get ya," the student said. "Grimm, blue eyes, ax? I'm confused."

The man was clearly in the adult age range meaning he was likely a fourth-year.

Having chocolate-colored skin, blue eyes, and short, slicked-back, dark brown hair, he wore the Haven Academy uniform which for the boys was an all-black outfit with white accents on the edges of the clothing with black boots.

'Who are you again?' Naruto asked with a snort as the man chuckled nervously.

"Dudley Iro, known as the best of the fourth-years," the boy flexed as Ozpin chuckled while James raised a brow.

"Interesting title, ," the general said as the young man began to sweat.

"Y-Yeah, uh, didn't expect to see ya here, General Ironwood, sir, Headmaster of Atlas."

"Yes, those are all of my titles."

Ozpin chuckled a bit. "So, you are one of the best fourth-years, ?" He asked with amusement as the student chuckled nervously.

"W-Well, my team is but I like to think I carry a lot of our charm," he said with an impeccable grin as the passing students snorted.

"Ignore him, sirs, he's full of hot air," a passing female student said.

"H-Hey! Wait! Crystal!" The man ran off with an eager look. "Why don't you and I-"

"Break your legs, sounds fun."

"H-Huh?!"

Naruto snorted as the male student paled, disappearing down the hall. 'I guess there are all sorts everywhere,' the Grimm said before the door to Leonardo's office opened, leaving a slightly blushing Leonardo to come out with a strict-looking Glynda and a completely mortified Penny.

'... You don't wanna-'

"I don't want to talk about it, please."

The lion Faunus cleared his throat. "Ahem! Well, considering everything you all told me… yes, Ms. Polendina is quote-unquote 'new and improved'," Leonardo said tactfully. "Still, I believe now you should get her reviewed by Atlas technology," he whispered. "I don't have that much medical equipment as is and you'll see better with Atlas's technology than Mistral's."

"Understood," Ozpin said.

As the group walked off, Ozpin and Glynda hung near the back as Penny's completely red face turned to face Naruto's confused expression.

"So, is everything where it's supposed to be?" He asked his headmistress who cleared her throat with a blush and nod.

"Yes, she's… she's human as far as all tests we could perform in Leonardo's office," Glynda said. "She bleeds, she breathes, she can cough, she has a hymen, and has hair. Penny truly became flesh and bone but the interesting part is that her body is seemingly energy-filled. Her skin, her blood, her hair, and so on. It's all vibrant."

"Magician's Blood," he explained as she looked at him curiously. "Naruto's is the same. We considered it his structure and the like but the truth is that they officially are magicians."

"Does this change anything?"

"Well, not in the present," Ozpin admitted with a chuckle. "But for their future, that's another. If the two should bear children, Glynda, they'll be magic-users from birth. They'll have their mother and father's blood in their veins and things will be irrevocably changed."

Glynda's eyes widened for a bit before she chuckled. "You as well?"

"I can like an odd but wholesome love story."

~NRK~

A week later, Penny blushed as she tried on those things, these undergarments in the Xiao-Long-Rose guest room.

Panties.

Oh, and explaining the truth about her flesh and bone had been amusing in memory.

---

"You need a ton of towels!" Yang said with a pale face as she choked. "Lots and lots of warm towels!"

"Huh?" Penny blinked before blushing. "Ah, yes, periods."

"Don't say that horrid word out loud!"

---

As it turned out, Yang was an early-bloomer and had 'suffered', as she said it, through a couple of periods before.

'How odd,' she hoped she went through these 'cycles' with less pain.

She turned in the full-body mirror to look at her body with the white bra and panties.

As it turned out, she was moderately mature for her womanly shape. She'd have been more surprised if Naruto hadn't… well, made her aware of how nice he found her rump.

Yes, she believed the saying was 'junk in the trunk' but Penny had no idea why such an idiom existed.

And, even then, she didn't even have that big of a derriere from the images she'd seen, not even close but she had a generous one.

'I remember when he grabbed it,' she blushed, remembering the feeling of his hands. 'Was the butt a sensitive region?' Last she checked, it wasn't but the feeling of excitement and sexual knowledge could make one more sensitive in several areas.

Her chest was about average, too, around Summer's size. Easily dwarfed by the full-figured Willow and Glynda.

Naruto certainly hadn't cared before and she knew he didn't now. So, it was a confidence boost!

When she was done checking her garments for proper fitting, she moved to her bed to look at the new clothes she'd been given.

With the advent of true flesh, she'd need clothes, regular cleaning, and proper hygiene. She'd been gifted most of the necessary effects from Summer and could never thank the woman enough.

Now, looking at her potential clothes, chosen by Yang and Summer specifically, Penny hummed as she held it up before putting it on.

As she fastened the pants, she looked at her body in surprise.

An olive-green long-sleeved tunic above a pair of black slacks made her look so normal! She looked like a regular woman!

She giggled a bit before looking at a few of the other outfits.

Trying on several, she blinked at the last one in shock at just how it… fit.

A white sleeveless turtleneck top with a thick waistband-having elegant black skirt that came down to her shins that had a small pink tie at the back.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Penny smiled brightly.

She liked this one.

---

"You look amazing, Penny," Taiyang chuckled as the young woman blushed in embarrassment.

"Pretty!" Ruby said with awe as Yang grinned, pride on her chest.

"Hehe, know the power of me and mom!" The small blonde declared as Qrow cackled by the sink as Summer squealed.

"Yes! Yes! YES! I love it!" The powerful warrior said with stars in her eyes. "I bet Naruto will love it."

Penny went bright red at that. "Y-Yes, I think he will, too," the former android said with a smile.

She knew he would.

~NRK~

An overall embarrassing pair of weeks later, Penny touched down on Naruto's island with Nora in tow.

"So, this is it," Nora said with a small pout as Penny pat her head.

"You'll see them again, that's the truth," Penny said and the small girl nodded slowly with a smile.

'Welcome, you…' Naruto came forward with a smile, a greeting, and thumbs-up that all died on his lips as he saw Penny. '... Urk!'

He fainted, completely red-faced.

"Ya knocked him dead!" Nora said with a giggle as Penny blushed with a grin.

Well, she was glad the 'dead' part was hyperbole.

~NRK~

Naruto, Penny, and Nora rested against one another as they sat on one of Naruto's large bean bag chairs.

A TV in front of them playing Naruto's Scroll's CCTube video.

The Grimm held Nora in his lap as he leaned back on the couch, Penny leaning into his side as she messed with the girl's hair as they laughed at some joke on the screen.

Yeah, this was nice.

~NRK~

A month later, Naruto, Penny, and Nora waited outside of the forest that the Xiao-Long-Rose family had gone into.

Spring had come out to greet them originally before staying outside with the three as she found the situation less awkward.

There was what sounded like the 7th crack of a tree since they'd come here ten minutes ago.

"Huh? Meditatin'?" Spring asked with a raised brow. "How's t'at helpin'?"

"It's about reinforcing one's internal energy with other energy," Penny explained in her tunic attire. "I've borrowed the idea from Naruto before and it allows me to use power beyond my station."

Green lines flowed down Penny's right hand before she clenched it.

Spring jumped as she saw the sparking electricity form of her arm, a sort of arm-only version of Penny's full power.

"W-Whoa!? I-I… that's so fucking cool."

'Uhh, language,' Naruto said as Spring shot him a flat look.

"Stop bein' an ol' stick in the moud!"

"Mud," Nora corrected with a smile as Spring shot her a look.

"Moud."

"Mud."

Penny cut off her power with interest. "I haven't done that since that day," she said as Naruto nodded.

'It might be the increase. You did that with one arm, too. That's crazy,' he said as she nodded.

They hadn't found the time for an observed event test yet so the two had simply focused on training with Nora, Penny learning what true exertion was as she did exercises for the first time in her life.

It'd been both horrifying and yet heartwarming to know she liked push-ups.

Naruto hadn't tried anything similar yet but he knew he was full of more potential than before the fight with the Elemental.

"That was p-pretty sick," Vernal admitted with a grumble as Nora grinned.

"I'm learning how to be super strong, too!" The younger carrot top said as the other blue-eyed girl perked up.

"No foolin'?"

"Nope!"

"... I'd want a fight, ya know?" Vernal said with a grin as Nora reciprocated.

"S-Sure! One day, I'm not really super-strong yet," Nora admitted with a nervous giggle.

"Yeah, sure. I'm already super-strong, it'd be no contest."

Naruto chuckled at them as another tree fell somewhere, the sound of loud cracking, punches, and yelling reaching their ears.

Before the sources passed them by.

Raven growled as she and Taiyang slammed into a nearby tree.

"I was worried I did something wrong!" He said.

"Well, you didn't!" She countered.

And then she countered, kicking him in the stomach and sending him across the area and into the forest on the opposite end of the camp area.

She gave chase without a thought.

'... Well, that's going well,' Naruto said as Penny looked at him in disbelief. 'I'm serious, Penny. Trust me, that was them working through their issues.'

"I-Is that so?" Penny wasn't so sure.

As a new fleshy being, she learned that things hurt when they happened.

"Yeah! Raven's got this therapy thing in the bag!" Vernal cheered as Naruto and Penny sweatdropped.

"N-No, Vernal, therapy shouldn't be a fight, normally,' they said and she shot him a look.

"But ya just said-"

'Yea but not for everyone.'

"Oh, they came through," came Summer's voice as she and Qrow landed by the group, the children held in their arms. "Honestly, I can tell she needed this bad."

"So, wait, that's my blood-mom?" Yang asked in disbelief before smacking her lips. "Ugh, I think I ate a bug."

"Eewww!" Ruby flinched in Qrow's arms. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Don't say that!"

Garnet babbled in Qrow's other arm, the baby boy looking at his sisters with a vacant expression.

"W-Well… things are going well?" Penny asked nervously as Summer chuckled and Yang huffed.

"She's a big meanie!" The blonde said.

"Yep," Summer agreed. "But this is the road to recovery, Yangy-Tangy!"

"Recover?"

"It's… a phrase."

Naruto snorted. 'It helps, Yang. Why, sometimes the greatest friends will fight a lot.'

"Hmmm," Yang wore a look of concentration. "... Nope, don't get it."

'I have a feeling you will one day.'

~NRK~

The duo of Raven and Taiyang sat with Naruto and the others, the Grimm healing them with a bit of surprise.

"A Grimm using Light, I've seen everything," Raven huffed at him as Naruto chuckled, his hands over the top of her and Taiyang's heads. "..." She grunted with crossed arms, wounds and bruises slowly fading away.

'Huh, I think I got better at this,' Naruto said as those in the know realized what he truly meant.

"Well, it's good," Penny said with a smile as Raven shot her a look.

"Wait… aren't you that robot chick from Atlas?"

"... Maybe?" Penny said with a nervous grin.

Raven raised a brow as Qrow snorted. "What, that Old Wizard pull some extra magic bs?"

"For your info, nah," Qrow said with a snort. "Ain't tellin' you for a bit but know that the world's WAY bigger than we thought."

Raven's eyes went flat as she looked at Naruto who chuckled.

"Yeah, no shit."

"Well… wow, I needed that," Taiyang realized as Raven huffed. "So… well, I don't know what to do from here on out… but we're cool, I want to say," she looked at him like he was an idiot and the man grinned.

Raven grunted, looking away from him before a familiar lilac-eyed girl came up to her.

"..."

"Hi! I'm Yang!" Yang introduced and Raven's eyebrow twitched as Naruto chuckled, removing his hands from above the two healed fighters. "You really took my dad to the cleaners," she said.

Raven barked out a laugh as Taiyang blushed. "Yeah, well, your dad's only gotten a bit stronger than when he was a graduate."

"Despite his foosh-foosh bam?"

"Yes."

Summer grinned as Penny tilted her head in confusion.

"People are odd," the former robot realized.

'Yep,' Naruto said.

~NRK~

Sitting in the woman's tent, Raven huffed as she looked at the assembled group, Naruto especially.

"So, what are you really?" She asked and Naruto scratched his chin. "A magical project? Experiment gone wrong? Some kind of one-of-a-kin perfect storm gone crazy?"

'... The last one, kind of,' Naruto said. 'But just know I'm as alive as Penny.'

"The robot…" Raven's eyes squinted as she looked at Penny. "... Isn't a robot?"

"... Oh," Summer winced. "You're the Maiden of Life now, aren't you?"

"Well, I'm not surprised he told you," Raven scoffed. "And for your information, I didn't want to, this shit got thrown at me by some girl dying in the Outbacks," she grimaced, heat coming out of her fist to her cheek. "I seriously didn't want this crap."

"Well… Okay, I'm glad you're a better person than I thought," Qrow said as Raven rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to be part of this madness anymore. The fact that you all still are will piss me off to no end."

Tai, holding Yang, looked at her in confusion. "Raven… why did you leave?" He asked with a calmer expression than even he ever expected. 'I really needed that fight,' the fact wasn't lost on him.

He really should have worked out his frustrations better but sadly that wasn't something he'd done.

"..." Raven looked away from him to Vernal.

"Oh, right, they might-" Summer began to say only for Raven to roll her eyes.

"Surprise, Sums, she knows," Raven said as the group gasped. "Unlike someone, I'm going to make sure my people have a strong enough force to handle whatever nonsense comes our way. Especially because of this," ice ran up her left arm.

"... So, she knows about her?" Penny asked and Raven nodded.

"I'm more surprised you lot know. Speaking of," the bandit woman looked at Yang and Ruby. "... Do I need to ask?"

'Come on, girls,' Naruto made a clone, much to the shock and intrigue of Vernal and Raven, that picked up Ruby, Yang, and Garnet. 'And boy, let's go and find something to eat.'

"... There's a food cabinet to the far right."

'Thanks, Raven-obaa-chan.'

"I know old Mistrali, you son of a-"

"Good! Go! Go!" Taiyang said quickly as Raven's eyes narrowed. "Don't mind him, his clones sometimes have exaggerated personas!"

'Yeah! I didn't say anything!' The original Naruto said as Penny giggled.

"So, that girl right there knows?" Raven asked as she pointed at Nora who pouted. "Kid, this is kind of bigger than most of yas."

"I'm Nora, not 'kid'!" Nora said. "A-And Naruto already said they have plans for the bad witch lady."

Raven perked up as Naruto nodded before lifting his ax.

"That… it's magical like I thought."

'Yeah, me and Rubes made it.'

"Ruby's Silver Specialty," Summer clarified as Raven looked surprised.

"What? Do Silver-Eye Weapons hate Salem on principle?"

"Not just that power alone," Taiyang said. "But… Okay, Raven, we all know the powers of the individual Maidens… have you felt anything off around the world?"

"... I'm not… I just got these powers," Raven said with a hint of nervousness. "Why?"

"Dammit, we're telling her outright?" Qrow groaned.

"We can't explain this without her knowing this part," Taiyang defended.

'There are still magical beings around,' Naruto inserted and Raven froze. 'They're not human either… they're powerful Spirits, Raven-san. And… they're older than both Oz-jiji and Salem.'

"What?!" Raven sat up immediately. "What are you saying?!"

"Elementals," Summer said as Qrow pouted. "Oh, be nice! Anyway, Elementals were powerful Spirits from back in the day," she explained. "And… there are seemingly five of them, four for the Light Brother and one for the Dark One, around."

"The hell?" Vernal looked shocked. "What are yas talkin' 'bout?"

They explained the bits about the Spirits, Naruto and Penny's involvement, and the task that might solve their Salem problem.

Which Raven latched onto with a frown. "Wait… these Black Gate things, right? Those things, this guy," she pointed at the smiling Naruto. "Talked about?"

"Yes," Penny said. "These aren't… they're dangerous places and… from what Naruto, the general, and we've learned. There are small ones around the kingdoms, ones that can't be older than ten or so years old… and then the BIG ones outside of the Kingdoms. Five of them and they hold… worrying occupants if Naruto-kun's sensei is to be believed."

"Sensei?"

'Jiraiya-sensei,' Naruto said with a smile as Raven choked. 'Yeah, I'm learning that everyone knows him.'

"That guy?!" Qrow said in awe and Naruto was quickly concerned. "He made those awesome books!"

"Huh?!" Tai and Summer flinched, blushed, and then didn't look Naruto in the eyes. "T-That right?"

'... Oh, God,' Naruto looked at the group in disbelief as Raven facepalmed and he could still see some red on her face?! '... Right, well… Huh.'

"What books are they speaking of?" Penny asked as Nora nodded, Naruto wheezing at her question.

'U-Um, well, uhhh,' he mentally flailed. 'Okay, uh, so… you ever saw 'Icha-Icha' in your former net search?'

Penny blushed a nice pink as she remembered that, yes, she had seen something like that in her 'research activities'.

"Oh, it's those books under Ms. An's bed!" Nora said with a smile as the group, as one, turned into stone. "Yeah, she had a lot of them, too!"

~NRK~

Two weeks later, Raven laid in a hammock as Vernal, Ren, Nora, Yang, and Ruby practiced with Naruto, Li, Penny, Tai, and Summer. Not necessarily in that particular order but Nora, Ren, and Vernal certainly preferred the former three.

Oh, and being on a Grimm boat had certainly been… interesting.

"So, I just keep pushing my Aura into this?" Vernal asked as Penny nodded and walked up the side of the tree, shocking her to no end. "Huh?! Not fair! Gimme!"

"That's not proper etiquette," the former robot said as Vernal's cheek twitched while.

"Gimme… please?"

"Much better."

Naruto, meanwhile, sat in front of Nora as she held up two orbs of electricity in her hands.

"So, I can do this now," she said as Naruto nodded.

'Alright, you've been getting the Wall Walking down pretty well. For now, you're gonna learn how to tree-hop as well. When you get a good enough amount of control over that like Li-ossan, we'll move onto Water Walking, alright?"

"Okay!"

Li and Ren took steady hops around the trees in the area, mindful of their steps.

"Al… right!" Li landed on another as Ren landed above him, holding onto the tree to keep himself steady. "How are you, Ren?"

"I-I think I get it, father," Ren said with flushed cheeks. "It's so… exhilarating!"

"You have been doing those puzzles with your mother."

The boy smiled.

---

Across the large lake with the waterfall, Ruby looked at her mother as she moved a wooden practice scythe around.

"See? You have to mind your own weight, Rubaby," Summer said as she made a low sweep, form crouched, and yet leaned back as she brought the wooden weapon around her front.

"A-Alright," Ruby tried to do the same thing but began to twirl uncontrollably. "Yikes! I-I can't… Stop!" She kept going as Summer giggled a bit before walking over and pressing her hand down on Ruby's head, the small girl wobbling as she regained her posture. "W-Whoaaaaaa…"

"Hm, hm, take your time."

Meanwhile, Tai smiled as he blocked Yang's elbow before she used it as an upward pivot and he blocked her kick to his noggin. "Good, good, you're getting better at this," he said as she grinned.

They kept going, the young preteen showing impressive stamina for her age as they seemed to never stop.

When they did, they sat down by the lake, the cool waters good for their feet.

"Alright, you're doing well," Tai said with a grin as he wiped her noggin full of sweat. "For now, you'll also be practicing your Aura control as well. Naruto's method is working wonders, I feel like I do have a bigger Aura tank while increasing my control."

"Hmph, you're a lot happier than usual, dad," Yang said and Tai's eyes blinked in shock before he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess working things out with blood-mom worked out!" She grinned and Tai chuckled, rubbing her head.

"Yes, well… you're right. I really needed to do that, Yang. I was hurt by her going but now knowing, I found some closure and Raven not seeming to have hated me, I'm certainly a lot better off."

"Hmm, I guess so," Yang said. "Alright! Let's get my trainin' doone!"

~NRK~

"Huh, below here?" Raven frowned as Naruto nodded.

Night had fallen and with the younger members of their little group asleep, along with the Lie family, the rest gathered in Naruto's cabin.

'Yeah, I can feel him still but it's hazy, I think he put up his spells again,' Naruto said as Raven huffed.

"You literally just told me, essentially, demi-gods roam Remnant, how am I supposed to take that?"

'Sorry.'

"Still, you're a Maiden now," Penny said. "And from what we know of the Spring Maiden, the Maiden of Life, you have intense sensory ability for all forms of living beings. You might be able to circumvent their spells."

Raven sighed before closing her eyes and focusing, red flames sprouting over her eyelids as she did.

She spread her sensory skill down below them. Down below the ground, the underwater cavern, and the island itself.

Raven felt her magic flare before her eyes snapped open as she found… it.

Something that nearly made her piss herself.

"The fuck is that!?" She shrieked in face-paling horror. "The FUCK is THAT?!"

"So… that tells us it might be bigger than we were thinking," Qrow said as his face paled further. "Fuck, I don't want to think about that. SEA MONSTERS ARE REAL!"

"Y-Yeah, uhhh…" Taiyang held his head as the realization hit. "Sea monsters are REAL."

"You two share a brain cell, I'm too sure of it now," Raven said even as she held her face. "Fuck, what did you bring me into?"

"Well, technically, you might have learned already in time," Penny said kindly. "All things considered, this is a far better turnout for you. You know they're not here to hurt anyone… hopefully," she said with a shaky smile. "We'll meet them eventually but Naruto and I need to get stronger before that can happen."

"You two?"

"Well, more like Naruto but I'll be there just in case."

"Naruto's presence is curious to them," Summer explained. "The Spirits also call him a 'false spirit', too. Did you ever find out why that is?" She asked the two who'd fought the Elemental.

'He made me out like I was a fake but he even called the Grimm low-level spirits,' Naruto said. 'I think it's because I'm literally alive, that's all that really separates me and them besides the 'destruction not being a part of me' thing.'

"I believe so, too," Penny said. "But… he also thought I'd done something with Diffussilis Fulgura."

"What?" Raven asked, confused, as the others looked at her curiously as well.

"Wait, this is new? A technique name?" Taiyang perked up along with Qrow as Summer giggled while Raven snorted. "Show us!"

Naruto chuckled while Penny did as well.

And lightning tore over her arm, the concentration of magic causing Raven to reel.

"The hell?" She hissed as the sounds of crackling lightning filled the cabin while the light from her arm lit up the room. "... And this is that, uh, diffusion thing?"

"Expansive Lightning is the normal name of the technique," Penny said as she dropped it, Qrow and Tai looking euphoric. "Hm, hm, I guess cartoons aren't just interesting to me."

'It's cooler when she's doing it to her entire body, I could barely see her,' Naruto praised as Penny giggled with red cheeks, the new human yawning a bit. 'It was like she became lightning.'

"I don't understand, she can use magic?" Raven asked.

'Yep.'

"I was built using both magic and technology, I'd been a magi-tech android," Penny said. "Thanks to Naruto's materials, infrastructure ideas, and my soul from my father, and Master Ozpin's tutelage, I was capable of using magic."

"..." Raven groaned. "So, you're a built-in Maiden?"

"Hm, hm, maybe!"

"... So, uh, what's stopping them from making more of you?"

"... Umm," Penny looked surprised by the question. "We never spoke about the idea."

"..." Raven shrugged. "So, maybe he has some morality but the fact remains, you can't ever let this get out, yeah?"

"Sadly, for now, that's the case," Summer said and Raven shot her an odd look.

"For now?"

"You don't know it but Naruto can awaken magical power in people," Taiyang said as Raven choked. "The Elemental said it himself, it seems. All the children Naruto tried awakening the Aura of, they gained magic powers. What? Did you think Nora was a Maiden?"

"..."

"... Sis, please," Qrow choked as Raven scoffed before looking down with a frown. "And, yeah, with how things are going… Oz is considering trying to break the news to the families who've joined us on the island before. All things considered, it's only a matter of time before something goes awry and we're dealing with questions we can't answer."

"And Oz is gonna reveal the existence of magic to normal people?" Raven couldn't believe that. "What? Did all secrecy fly out the window?"

"Well, Naruto's involvement in our lives changed a lot of things," Penny said. "His living status, his ability to use magic, his island, connections, and ability to awaken power in others. Naruto's existence has made things different and we'll simply adapt."

Naruto nodded. 'Right now, we're training Nora to show that it's not crazy, a bad thing, or something that'll cause problems as long as the kids are well-taught. We're gonna train here for three years before springing the secret.'

"... Wait, just the kids?" Raven raised a brow. "Wait, how'd you do this? What's his chant?"

"Oh, well, we haven't tried to awaken Naruto's own Aura before," Summer explained as Raven hummed. "It wasn't a situation we wanted to just jump into, you know? We don't know what'd happen."

"Hmph… Then how about you guys actually try it?" Raven said as the group blinked. "You all know how Aura and magic are connected, right? Aura is leftover magic, essentially, and it's the pieces of what's left. All brought about by Ozpin's previous life."

'Yeah but we also learned that it's just a spell,' Naruto said as Raven stopped and shot him a weird look. 'The Elemental said so. Aura pulls on the soul, ya know? But it's not just pure soul energy but a spell that makes use of your soul, we call that Aura.'

"..." Raven frowned as she crossed her arms. "... That makes sense in a way. I always wondered why it was so uniform but I just took that for what it was," she grimaced. "Dammit. My point still stands, though. If that's the case and you can awaken magic channels, that also means you can do it in others who have Aura."

Naruto considered her words. 'Well… what do you guys think?' He asked with a tilt of the head. 'I don't mind trying, it might be a big help in the end.'

"Well," Summer considered it. "We know it won't work on me, I kind of already have Light magic," she said as she raised her finger while her eyes flashed.

A ball of light leaped from her fingertip before circling her, a ring of white forming around her before dispersing.

"Then, it'd have to be one of these two," Raven said, pointing to Tai and Qrow who grinned. "Ugh," she rolled her eyes at their open excitement.

"Well, what do you all think?" Penny asked.

"I know I'd like it," Taiyang said with a chuckle as Qrow nodded. "But what do you all think would happen if Naruto just did that? Would we need to start from Level 1 all over again? Would we just immediately get new powers? Be the same? We don't know. There's a reason we've been doing all of this in front of Ozpin, Rae. We're literally jumping into the deep part of the magic pool with no idea if things will end well."

Raven frowned at the mention of the old wizard's name before grunting. "So, what? You'll wait? What happens if some other nonsense hits again-?"

The normal crew's Scrolls beeped, calls coming through to all of them.

Qrow picked up. "Yo? The buds are here."

-Qrow?- Leonardo's voice came over the line. -I'm calling the others, there's an issue afoot-

"We're all here in the cabin, well, me, Sums, Tai, Naru, and Pens are," Qrow said as he looked at the 'shooting him a look of implied death' Raven. "We're here."

-Good. Then you all should know, just minutes earlier, I'd been given info on a Black Gate and I don't like how it came to me- Leo said. -It came in a letter by my office and yet I couldn't sense anyone around-

'Sounds ominous,' Naruto said. 'Still, if it's about a Black Gate, it's important.'

"He's right," Qrow said. "What's the deets?"

-From what I've read, there's one on the lower-right edge of Mistral. A decently small village by the name of Kuroko. I've looked it up and it is a place on our maps but I had to look back 12 years to find it-

'So it's been around for about the same amount of time as Umikaen,' Naruto said as Penny nodded drowsily. 'You need sleep.'

"H-Hm, y-yes, maybe," Penny said as she yawned behind both her hands. "Sleep is so nice, too."

-Hmm, well, it's not like it's extremely urgent but I believe whoever is going to be mindful. There are still many unsavory people about and if this was dropped off by such a secret individual, they must be rather high-level to surpass my sensory skill-

'Got you,' Naruto said. 'Though, I know whoever's coming with me isn't going to make that easy for anyone.'

-Good. If nothing else, you all should be able to handle this far more easily than you did the first time, Naruto-

'Gotcha. Get some sleep, ossan.'

-I very well will-

The call ended and the group hummed.

"So, you're gonna head to Mistral tomorrow?" Raven asked.

'We've been here for a while and Tai-oji-chan needs to get back to Patch to teach at Signal,' Naruto said as Tai began to sweat.

"O-Oh… right," he'd completely forgotten. "Yikes."

"I'll head with him, it's fine," Qrow said. "Me, Pens, and whoever should be enough."

"I'll have to look after the girls and, no offense, I don't want them anywhere near Mistral," Summer added and Raven huffed. "Unless you're offering-?"

"Nope," Raven shot her down before she could even consider it. "I want to see one of these Black Gates, myself. Better to know what it's like first-hand before I try and enter these things in the future."

"Well, that's… mmmyyyaaa," Penny yawned. "T-That's good. We'll have good back-up."

'Alright, time for bed,' Naruto said as he lifted Penny up and walked out. 'See you guys in the morning.'

With that, he left, leaving the four in the main area of the cabin.

"... Hmph," Raven left for her guest cabin. "We'll all be up early tomorrow, that's for sure."

"Alright, get some rest, everyone," Summer said as they nodded.

The team was back together!

~NRK~

A medium-sized sailing vessel came to a stop by Patch, Naruto having built this one for speed and urgency compared to his original vessel.

The sun hung in the early morning sky, the group of Summer, Taiyang, and their children leaving the vessel, much to the interest of those at the early-morning port.

'Take it easy,' Naruto said. 'We'll be back eventually,' he said as Qrow nodded on the ship's deck while Vernal was up and around, looking around the deck.

"Ya built this?" She asked as he chuckled with a nod. "Dude, you have to build stuff for the camp! This is wicked!" Vernal said as he hummed.

"Mmmmm," Nora rubbed her eyes as she walked onto the deck. "Naru-pops?" She said drowsily as she walked over and slumped into his side. "Sleeeep."

Naruto chuckled while Summer grinned. 'You can go and get some, I still need to steer us to Mistral,' he whispered as she moaned into his fur.

"So, from here, we'll head to Argus, right?" Raven said as she stretched. "Well, since we got here in five hours on this thing, it'll take us about eight to get to Argus. In that time, we'll focus on a game plan and more training," she suggested and Qrow nodded.

"Maybe, in that time, you can see if I can't get some myagic," the male twin said with a grin as Tai chuckled.

"Take care. Hopefully, things go well," he said.

'We've got this,' Naruto said.

~NRK~

As they took off, Naruto raised a brow at the other shipping vessels.

'Are they following us?' He asked those on the desk who blinked.

"Nosy bastards," Raven huffed. "They're likely trying to see where you came from. I'm surprised this hasn't happened to you before, already."

"It's never been of interest so far," Penny said as she and Nora sat on the deck. "Those around us never really found it a pursuable concept."

"From here on out, you might need to worry about that," Qrow said with a hum. "... And when it comes to popularity, you're rising. It's only a matter of time before a series of 'scouts' come a lookin' for ya," he considered. "There has to be a way for us to keep things simple."

Naruto hummed. '... If we could stay out of sight while coming and going, that'd be great, ya know?' He said as Penny perked up.

'Out of sight, still on the ocean? Or… under the ocean?' Her eyes widened at the idea. "... Does anyone think there's an invisibility spell?" Penny asked the group who blinked at the idea.

"Well… it'd really depend. You'd have to ask Oz," Qrow said. "If there is, it'd be a big help."

"Hmph, either that or maybe you guys should go underwater," Raven suggested. "Can't you just make a bubble shield or something and fill the deck with air?"

"Like a transforming sub?!"

"Hmph, I guess."

'Well, I think I could probably do that by just making a ball of wind but it's too obvious. If we had a way of setting up out of sight, it'd be good,' Naruto said. 'Like a super smokescreen.'

"Hmmm," Nora hummed. "Why not get super smoke?!" She asked before involuntarily clapping her sparking hands.

Lightning shot out and off to the side, causing the group to jump as the smell of ozone, and a small thick bit of haze, came up from the side of the boat.

"H-Huh?" Penny blinked as the smell hit her. "O-Oh, ozone… yes?" She asked as Nora blinked.

"What's that?"

'... An idea,' Naruto realized with a chuckle. 'If we could fill the area around us with thick enough ozone, it'd make a decent smokescreen, Nora-chan.'

"R-Really?!" The girl looked ecstatic. "But can we become a submarine?"

"Likely not yet, kiddo, but you've got options," Qrow said with a chuckle.

'Alright, for now, I'm gonna speed us up. Get into the cabins.'

The group hurried off into the middle of the ship while Naruto made a clone.

'Handle the wheel,' was all he ordered before going around the steering wheel mound and going down below with the others.

"So, what? You can speed up the boat with magic?" Raven asked.

'No but I can boost it with my energy,' Naruto said with a grin as he touched the wall.

Black pulses of his energy spread out constantly, Raven jumping a bit in her seat as the g-forces increased.

'Man, I wish I had Gamakuro here,' Naruto said. 'He should still be in Atlas, though.'

"Gama-who?" Vernal asked as she sat down in a seat, the belts in it around her waist via Penny.

"Naru's got little summons and stuff," Qrow said as Raven looked at him. "Let me explain a bit.'

As the vessel kept sailing at its top speed, Qrow gave the bare minimum details.

"He summons toads?"

"Look, I haven't seen the thing yet but, yeah, it's a frog, toad, either-or."

"Gamakuro is, in fact, a toad," Penny explained.

They chatted for another hour or so when Naruto cut off his excess energy, the Grimm groaning a bit before shaking his body.

'Okay, whew, they're long behind us,' Naruto said as he walked over and flopped into a bean bag chair by the group. 'So, Penny-chan, mind checking our distance?'

Penny smiled with a nod, doing as asked before chuckling. "We've made good time. We're already rounding the edge of Sanus by Vale and we're near the middle between there and Anima."

'Awesome.'

Nora got out of her seat and hurried over before belly-flopping into Naruto's stomach, the Grimm chuckling as she nuzzled in.

"Hey! Hey! Tell me a story!" Nora asked as Penny giggled and Qrow chuckled.

'Alright… I've got a good one. It's long so I know we won't finish any time soon but it'll be cool,' Naruto said as she grinned wider. 'Alright, let me tell ya about a boy by the name of… Right, let's start there, uh… call him 'Bito'. So, he, a guy named 'Kashi', and a girl named 'In' were on a team.'

He told Obito's life story for an hour, from what he'd seen of the man's meager beginnings up to his time becoming a Chunin.

The clone up above called him up around that time, stopping the story.

'Yo, boss man, I'm sensing some Grimm on the way,' the clone called from above.

'Gotcha,' Naruto said as he sat up. 'So, just run with this for a bit, Vernal, Raven.'

Donning everyone in his clones had been easier than Naruto remembered, Penny's form looking the same as it'd been when she was a robot still.

Raven's disbelief at this situation had them explaining it and, when fully told, she was up on the deck, looking down at the Grimm that broke past the waters.

The creature of darkness looked in her direction and Raven waited with crossed arms.

Its head turned back around and dunked back down into the water.

"... Holy shit."

~NRK~

Making it to Argus had been an effort in secrecy. Where before usually docked at the port, Naruto planned ahead.

At present, he wiped his brow as he dispersed his clones. 'That was some effort.'

There, in front of him, was his boat brought onto land and hidden in a den of trees he'd shaped with Magna-Anima. The wood and leaves having been contorted to hide it from sight.

"Interesting," Raven said with a tilt of the head. "Hmph, Anima."

A tree sprouted into existence in under a second, leaving the group to stare at it.

"Yeah, I really don't have a good grasp on these powers."

~NRK~

They traveled via Naruto.

The travel wasn't long, unfortunately, due to Naruto's previous feats.

So, five hours into Mistral, the group stopped by a familiar area.

Of course, it was, after all…

The Lie family lived here.

Nora and Ren hugged as Naruto rested on the street in front of their house, children of all sorts rushing over and greeting him.

Raven, wearing a cloak, raised a brow at that fact before sputtering at Naruto's statue and mini-sculptures that the kids had, what?!

"The hell is wrong with them?" She whispered as Qrow snickered.

"He saved their village years ago, I'm surprised you didn't know," he said.

"I had to move our asses out of the Outbacks. After that, I had to fight all the Old Bastard's 'friends' and had to figure out this," she gestured at herself. "I didn't have time for rumors."

"So, you 'handled' all of them?"

"I wish. A few of them left before I got the chance to fight 'em. Thankfully, I killed the others with the aid of this power. Still, the Mountain Man got away from me along with the Strategist," Qrow hissed at that. "Yes, it's bad. I need to find them eventually but I can't just walk around and worry about sneezing lightning."

Qrow nodded. "... you know, you should have come to us," he said softly as she grunted, looking away. "Rae, come on-"

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"And how many new scars, that almost killed you, did you go through before being here?" She was quiet. "We're a team. No matter what, despite how dumb it might seem… we would have had your back."

She crossed her arms. "Well, it's too late now. Right now, those guys have a big bounty on their heads and I want to nab it to keep the tribe, what's left, running."

Qrow looked intrigued. "Who's left?"

"Well, you'll be happy to know that Nrki is still around."

"The babe with thighs?!"

---

Naruto gently placed his bowl down with a sigh of relief. 'Thanks, An-oba-chan,' he said with a hand raised in thanks as An chuckled.

"It's fine, you seemed tired out," she said as Penny smiled with bright eyes, enjoying every bit of her food. "And… Penny? She's now… human?" An asked as Penny froze.

Naruto snorted as Nora covered her mouth. '... Okay, so, uh… there's a lot of stuff we need to explain to you guys in time,' he said as Ren looked at Penny in wonder.

"Is this like how she drinks oil?" He asked and Li chuckled.

"I have a feeling this is different, yes?" Li said as he raised his hand.

The flower petals coming out of it swirled into water and the entire group balked.

"Y-You can…" Penny's eyes widened as he nodded.

"I knew something was different about me and the others," Li said. "But I figured either Naruto didn't know or was waiting to tell us."

'... Yeah, you're right in both regards,' Naruto said. 'So, uh, we also borrowed Nora to help ease this through, ya know? Right now, everyone I awakened the 'Aura' of is going to have more power than they think,' he said as Ren blinked at his nod. 'All of you. The Arc kids, Whitley, Garnet, Blake, Nora, your dad, and you. Everyone I've done that to is going to show more power than normal Aura-users.'

"So… that's why Penny's human?" An asked.

"Um, w-well, there's more to that," Penny said nervously. "Sorry, we didn't want to lie."

"No, we understand, this is different," An said as Li nodded. "So, what is this?"

'Since it's obvious you know… magic is real,' Naruto said.

They went through the whole song and dance that they had with Nora though minus the witch flying.

"I… I-I see," Li didn't really get it but he was happy to know this was known. "So… three years, yes?"

"Yes, we hope to do this all together but I'm worried that it might be for naught," Penny realized with a nervous smile. "Mr. Lie. How did you find out?"

"I was working in the garden we made," Li said. "I was working on planting the plants," he snorted as Nora, An, and Penny giggled. "And noticed that the mounds were always moist even though it hadn't rained and I didn't water them yet. I didn't think anything of it, at first, but as time went on, I'd notice little things. When I cleaned plates, I might rub off the surface a bit. When I'm showering, I'd feel like the water was heavier when I showered. When I'd be caught in the rain, simply raising my hand shielded me," he explained. "Simple, often, occurrences made me realize something wasn't right and I tested it."

"I see," Qrow said as he entered the home. "Geez, we might need to up that schedule," he added as he closed the door behind him. "Raven's enjoying some 'Blue-Eyed Treats' from the stall down the road and Vernal's playing with the kids. So, you're tellin' me you found out that easily, huh?"

"Well, if by 'easily' you mean 'after months of noticing', then yes."

"So, what do you think we should do?" Penny asked as Naruto hummed.

"S-So I can do magic?" Ren asked as Naruto chuckled.

'Yeah. I'm sure you'd have some kind of stealth magic… Ya know,' Naruto realized as Nora grinned. 'Right now, we're dealing with the boat being followed now. We'll need stealth skills soon and we're working out a plan for that.'

"M-Me?! I'd love to b-but… w-well, my Semblance or magic only works on Grimm."

"True," Penny said. "Hmm, it's an idea but we'll likely just have to work on another solution."

'And about what to do… I think we just have to wait and see what happens with the others,' Naruto said as Nora hummed. 'We can't spring this on them too early but I'm pretty sure they'll realize I'm related to this weirdness sooner or later. All we can do is prepare, ya?'

"Sounds fair," An said with a chuckle. "Still, magic is real… being honest, when you're involved in this context, it's weirdly easy to accept."

'... I'll take that for a compliment.'

"It's something," she shrugged as Qrow chuckled.

"Geez," the Branwen said as the door opened for Raven and Vernal to enter, the two smelling like sweet baked dough. "And you clearly had your fill."

"Hmph," the woman smirked as she carried a bag full of stuff. "This stuff kinda rocks."

"It's Naruto-inspired!" Nora said with a grin as Vernal was busy stuffing her face.

"So, what happened?"

The rundown had been quick and shocking to her… for a bit.

Raven bit into a pastry. "Hmph.. glp, whelp, that saves one family to tell, yeah?" Was all she offered.

"In the grand scheme of things, yes," Penny considered. "Still, we now have to consider this as part of the time limit we had. We also need to inform Master Ozpin."

"So, Ozpin can also do magic?" An asked and Penny's eyebrow twitched.

"Yes… he can," loose lips, Polendina!

'So, for now, we've got to handle this Black Gate quick and easy, yeah?' Naruto determined. 'Li, An, thanks for having us. We'll probably be back after this run is over with. I can tell this'll take a long time.'

"We'll be here with open arms," Li said as Ren nodded and An smiled.

"Nora, Vernal, you two need to stay here," Penny said as the two gawked at her. "It's really dangerous near a Black Gate. It's not wrong to say, you literally might not even be strong enough to make it into the area much less fight."

"W-What?! I'm plenty tough! Tell 'em, Raven!" Vernal said, appalled.

"Nope, you're staying, squirt," Raven said and the girl slumped. "I don't need to take unnecessary chances."

'She's just worried,' Naruto said with a grin. 'Nora…'

"N-No, I get it," she said as Ren came over and held her hand, the two squeezing back. "Just make it back, a-alright?"

"Of course!" Penny said as she stood up and then looked down at her clothes. "I'll need to make a change, though. Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded and pulled a small box out of his scarf, confusing the group,

And then their jaws dropped as said boxed released a large duffle bag.

"Thank you! I'll be borrowing your room, Ren!" Was all Penny said as she hurried.

"Wait, what?" Raven looked at Naruto in disbelief as he chuckled.

'Ozpin-sensei gave us an interesting spell concept. We were supposed to make it work from scratch in our own ways,' the Grimm said as he pulled on his scarf to show the group a shocking swirling darkness. 'For me, I use my Darkness element to break down stuff and use Light to bring it back to normal. That box, though, is Penny's. She made it signature-accessible.'

"C-Can I make a Lightning Box?!" Nora asked with shining eyes.

'One day, yeah.'

"Yes!"

"So, what? You're a regular old wizard?" Raven asked.

"He's already mastered tier-2 elemental spells," Qrow said as Li raised a brow. "I'll probably come by one day and just give you the rundown but basically take all the stereotypes you can think of and I'll say most of it's true."

"I… see," An said.

"I'm ready!" Penny said with a grin as she returned with her duffle bag underarm.

With the advent of her new height, humanity, and flesh in general, Penny had to get herself a new adjusted combat outfit.

It was like her original bodysuit but, with this version, Penny didn't have sleeves and the material around her thighs was thicker. Around her stomach was a bone-corset colored light green while from mid-thigh down to her toes, Penny had on powerful-looking bone greaves that were colored black.

She'd donned her Apprentice Cloak once more and finished it all off with her favored pink bow on the front, holding the cloak together by her collar.

"I'm ready," she said as she raised her hand and her Storage Box glowed before something else sprouted out of it. "I'd almost forgotten this in the cave."

It was her spatha from before but the item had become… different.

The metal had gained a slightly blue sheen to it while it had a handle and guard now. Penny had made the thing on the fly without a thought, back then having no skin to worry about making a handle or guard.

So, the fact that it had one now made this curious.

The handle was a darker blue and smooth while the guard was seemingly a clam-shell-shaped thing with a white pearl on the side.

"Hmph," she twirled it in her hand, happy to note she retained all the swordplay knowledge she'd downloaded and mentally practiced. "There's something different about this. I think it got affected by the cavern when we were down there."

Raven blinked at it. "Also magic? What? Are you two making a magical armory? Because I want in!"

'It's just things we needed, can't say we planned for all the magical parts,' Naruto said as Raven huffed.

"Then not-plan your way into making me a katana."

'That's not how that works. Besides, you have magic, why don't you do it?'

"Once again, don't know how all of this works yet," Raven said as Qrow snorted.

"Maybe, if you're a good girl, Santa'll get you one," he said with a smirk as Ren and Nora gasped.

"Santa?!"

An chuckled.

~NRK~

They rode towards the location for maybe four hours before reaching it.

The Naruto clones came to a stop, Magna-Ventus forms falling away as they saw the location from a high cliff.

"So… this is what it's like," Qrow said with a frown as they looked down at the blackened area.

Looking at it in-person compared to over a screen was as different as night-and-day.

The air felt coarse, the area full of a dark energy that made them nervous on principle, and the sight of it made one feel immediate concern.

'This place is just as bad as Umikaen was,' Naruto said with a frown as Penny hugged him around the neck, trembling. 'P-Penny-chan?'

"I-Is this… involuntary fear?" Penny asked as she hugged him tighter. "I-I didn't know normal people f-felt this."

"Hmph, if you're ever gonna fight bigger fish, ya gotta get used to it," Qrow said kindly as Raven hummed. "One day you might be strong enough to go at these kinds of things on your own if you ever want to. You have to gain the courage necessary to fight."

Penny's mouth set into a small frown as she looked down. "I-I suppose."

"You're psyching yourself out," Raven said as Penny flinched. "Stop thinking so damn hard about it. The fact remains, no one faces their first Grimm without fear."

'They're right, Penny-chan but don't worry, we're here,' Naruto said with a nod. 'And we'll make sure this goes well, promise.'

She smiled at that, nodding. "Alright, I trust you, all of you."

"Well, doing that for Rae might be a bit," Qrow cracked a smirk as Raven rolled her eyes.

"Fuck-off. Let's just see what this is all about," she scoffed.

They hopped down with Naruto as their anchors, the Grimm using his claws, along with his extra bone ones, to keep their fall controlled and gentle.

As they touched the ground, though, Naruto and Raven stopped as Penny and Qrow blinked at them.

"Fuck…" The bandit leader hissed as they looked at the area.

"I mean, yeah, it's messed up but-" Qrow said before Raven held his shoulder with a shake of the head. "... Oh," he hissed as he stepped back while Penny stayed by Naruto's side.

"What is it?" Penny whispered and Naruto frowned.

'We've got company… and they beat the Grimm, I think,' Naruto said as they looked at the ominous area. 'What do we do?' He asked and Raven frowned.

"Well, I guess this is a good day," she said. "Because those two are here-"

The group's eyes widened as some flew through the air, casting a shadow over the sun.

Naruto's eyes then narrowed before he swung out with his claws, arcs of darkness tearing through the sky and shattering that large piece of rock with ease.

Causing a rainfall of dust, rubble, and dirt, the group got battle-ready as two forms appeared after the dust settled.

One of them was an old-looking man with tan skin with a few wrinkles, gray eyes, and a bald head that was dressed in nothing but a pair of black pants with a sash on his waist and black boots, his chest riddled deeply by horrifying, scars that had Penny looking green.

"Hmph, we knew that Grimm would come but not you," the first man said as the one at his side crossed his powerful arms together. "Kesseki, I think there's no time for playing. We go in for the kill and grab the Grimm."

"Hmph, is that Qrow?" The hulking man considered. "Sekiei."

The big man, Kesseki, frowned at the group, his fair skin covered in black tribal tattoos that covered nearly all of his left side. Wearing a pair of brown shaggy with fur on the waist, bandages on his feet, and a dirty white cloth vest that allowed his huge, easily taller than Naruto by two feet, frame to show, his hands covered by black bandages.

"Sekiei, Kesseki, long time no see," Raven said with a lazy look despite how she pulled her odachi from her back. "Glad I get the chance to kill you here and now."

"Old, Young Raven, don't save your breath," Sekiei said with a grin as a shadow descended behind the group. "Death is swift."

Raven's eyes widened as something cool and sharp touched her neck-

'Not bad,' Naruto said as he pressed his hand against Raven's stomach just in time, white bone stopping the assassin's knife. 'Here's a 'thank you'.'

Bone spread out on the weapon before its owner hissed and jumped back only to be kicked to the side by Qrow.

"Bitch," he hissed as the assassin tumbled into a crouch, hissing back at Qrow. "Naru."

'I'll handle her,' Naruto said as Penny swallowed. 'Penny-chan…'

"We'll handle her… tsk, thanks for the save," Raven admitted with a kiss of the teeth. "Fucking, Jade."

"Hmph," the assassin, dressed in tan pants that were tied by the ankles with tan wrappings, a tan skin-tight long-sleeve top, sandy-colored gloves, and a similar full-cover cloth helmet, grunted as she pulled another knife out of thin air. "The so-called Grimm. I've been curious about a man like you."

'Hopefully a good thing,' Naruto said as he held his ax towards her. 'Then again, you almost caused a problem, so we're not playing nice.'

"Hmph," the woman's form grew hazy. "We'll see about-"

Jade's eyes widened as she barely jumped back from the swing of his ax.

'Hmph!' Naruto slammed his shoulder into her midsection, sending her careening into the cliff face before she cratered where she landed, bouncing off and hitting the floor soon after. 'How about no?'

The fight was underway.

~NRK~

So, there's a lot of stuff to get through.

For one, Penny's realness is now affirmed in multiple ways, save for one due to me wanting to have the x-ray scene be for later.

Next, Penny got to try out human clothes. I looked up about as much adult!Penny I could find and that second outfit was one I really liked.

Next, yes, Nora's getting her personal training to become a wizardess. All things considered, this was to be expected. Things won't stay normal with how things are going.

If they want to make the most of the new magic population on Remnant, they need to show that it's nothing to be feared and now the Lie family knows due to Li noticing his own situation.

That has boosted the timeline for them. It's only a matter of time before, say, one of the Arc children find out something's off about them and the jig'll be up.

Next, we got to RAVEN and, well, nothing's more therapeutic than a bunch of punching, yeah? All things considered, getting to Raven by this point in the timeline, I don't see going many other ways.

She's solidified herself in Mistral, is dealing with the newish Maiden powers, and getting attacked emotionally? Yeah, no, she's beating someone's ass and it turns out to be her former ex-potential-husband.

And, well, Taiyang finally gets his true closure in this fic. I think it makes sense that, no matter how happy he is with Summer around, Tai's still gonna be hurt. He strikes me as someone who loves too much, like an Uchiha, but without the 'Madness Enhancement' and crazy eye powers.

So, afterward, Raven becomes a 'silent' member of our crew along with Vernal but only really of Team STRQ. It's not like they hate it.

Then things got weird with Leo who tells them of another Gate but it's all but a TRAP! Loose ends are in Raven's way and the others are here to help.

Wonder what Penny will go through thanks to this?

Also, I made my own little 'fun' list of things I want to have in this fic. Plot-wise and power-set-wise.

Now, onto the Omake.

~NRK~

~Omake: Is that a GRIMM driving that boat?! Ft. Naruto's crew~

Naruto blinked as he rubbed the back of his head. 'I guess there's a whole situation here, huh?' He asked the others who nodded.

"Still, they know about Salem?" Adam frowned. "That's… interesting."

"Um, could you all explain something to us?" Pyrrha asked kindly as Jaune rubbed the back of his head, the horrified group looking at them like they were demons. "... R-Right."

"We understand that you're clearly distressed," Ren said as walked towards them. "But doing that will just attract more Grimm, you want that?"

"B-Bro!? What's going on!?" Violet choked as Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "D-Didn't you go to spy in Salem's castle?!"

"Wait, I what?" Jaune balked. "... V-Violet, there's a very good explanation for all of this, I mean it."

"What is it?"

"..."

"Jaune?!"

"I know! I know!" He said immediately. "It's, just… we were on the ship," Jaune tried and she looked confused. "... Naruto I think I went to an alternate dimension."

'It's looking like it,' Naruto said as he walked over, much to Violet's horror. 'Still, it's like… Salem won.'

"S-She did," Violet said, pale as a ghost as she held Adrian away from him. "G-Get away from me, you monster."

'O-Ow, that hurts,' Naruto said as Penny smiled gently, coming over and crouching to Violet's level. 'Honestly, you've got a sharp tongue for a ten-year-old.'

"I-I'm almost eleven!"

'Ten.'

The girl looked ready to run and shout at him at the same time before Jaune sighed.

"Okay. Okay. Violet, please, you need to tell me what's going on," he said.

The group gathered up before sitting down in a circle with Violet hesitantly doing so near Jaune, as tucked into his side as possible.

"So, please, tell us what happened," Pyrrha said.

"..." The girl looked nervous. "... A-A long long time ago, Salem took over the world," she admitted as the group's eyes widened. "... I-I don't know why but she didn't destroy everything. Though she basically made everything suck and has everything under her hand."

"Thumb," Penny corrected gently as the girl looked down in embarrassment. "No, no, it's fine. I promise. Continue, please."

"... Every day, she takes people to turn them into h-half-Grimm monsters!" Violet said. "And she made super-tough Grimm! They killed Cera! And-"

Jaune's eyes narrowed but Yang's hand found Violet's head of hair, ruffling it as the small girl's tear began to fall.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's fine. We get it. Well," Yang sighed. "We don't really but I know you've gone through the wringer."

"... Snff."

Jaune did his brotherly duty and pulled her close, the two children holding onto him. "... I don't like this," he said with steeled resolve as Adam huffed while Blake smiled.

"Time to raid a castle?"

"Yep."

"Still," Penny looked at Naruto. "Violet, we still need to know more about this place. We've no idea what's going on, here, specifically."

So, she told them with a drained voice.

Salem had taken up this island as her ever-expanding throne in the world at large. Each year, she took several people from all over this island, which used to be Vale, and turned them into hybrids.

It seemed the woman had a sick sense of humor because they had a school for them and this place's Jaune went on to spy due to his oddly utter incompetence.

Their Jaune had never looked so embarrassed.

'So, right now, Salem's trying to make enough powerful forces to fight the gods?' Naruto asked and the girl looked at him oddly before nodding. 'Um, does anyone else feel like that's a stupid idea?'

"Agreed," the monkey boy said with a sweatdrop. "Like, they're gods, dude. This sounds like a tantrum if I ever heard of one."

"Sun's right, this is insane," the blue-haired young man said with a huff. "Oh, Weiss, I miss you."

"Neptune now's not the time!" Ruby said with determination. "S-Still… me? Me, Jaune, Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Weiss, and Blake got caught? What?"

"I-I don't know when you were taken, you were h-hybrids before I knew you," Violet said. "B-But, yes."

"I wonder how many of us got hit," Nora considered. "... Am I sloth Grimm?"

"Nora," Ren said with a shaky smile as she chuckled. "Let's not worry about that, please. Right now, we need to write down everything."

Naruto nodded, carving into the floor. 'So, Salem took over everything,' he wrote.

"She's taking people every year for Grimmification," Blake said as the others nodded.

"She's taken my sister, Jaune's team, Ruby's team, and likely many others we know," Whitley added as Naruto wrote it down.

"... I wonder if she took over the White Fang," Adam considered as Naruto put it down with a question mark in parenthesis. "Even then, she likely has all kinds of people all over. What if she has the Relics and can use them without a thought?"

"S-She doesn't have all of them!" Violet said quickly. "... I-It's from the Resistance but they have the Relic of Choice," she whispered. "I-If Salem gets that, it's over."

"True," Pyrrha said. "That'd end very badly if she got it," she grimaced. "So, Salem also has a school for… what, exactly?" She asked with a nervous giggle.

"Don't… know."

"It's fine."

"So, what do we do?" Sun asked. "I'm down to crack some heads but we're not dealing with a little army. It's freaking Salem out there," he said as Naruto hefted his ax. "You gonna use that to solve this? I don't think it'd be a good idea to use up our chance on another Salem… no offense. I really don't mean it."

"... Sun's got a point," Adam said with a sigh. "This… isn't our world," he added while not looking at the horrified Violet. "We… We can't just expose ourselves for you, I'm sorry."

'... It's fine, I'll think of something,' Naruto grinned to them as the bull Faunus sighed.

"You're too nice, you know that, right?"

'I have the scar to prove it,' Naruto said as a long jagged white scar showed on his side. 'For now, we've got people in front of us who need serious help. We can't just leave them alone.'

"Right, right," Neptune said with a nervous grin. "Yeah… I don't think Weiss would ever talk to me again if I didn't help."

"She wouldn't," Whitley said with a chuckle as Blake grinned. "And our ancestors wouldn't look favorably on us, either."

"So, we're doing this," Nora grinned with sparkling eyes. "It's time to take down a Salem!"

"Still, while I know we have enough manpower," Ren said, looking at Naruto who nodded. "We still don't know anything about the Salem here. Is she more powerful? Lazy? Do all of her hybrid students know magic? Are they just Grimm? Did she do something with the Relics?" There are too many unknowns."

'So, we need to go in for reconnaissance,' Naruto nodded. 'Then, I'll head in, yeah?' He offered as the group nodded. 'I can feel her from here, I know where she is. Getting into her little school will be a cakewalk. Slipping into her curriculum? That'll be another thing. I'll have to break out mini-Gamakuro-kun.'

"Hm, hm," Penny giggled as Jaune chuckled.

"Then, we can watch through his eyes from here," the Arc male said. "Ren's right, we need as much information as possible. Besides, do you think she'll be pissed about not having these guys bring back someone?"

Naruto hummed. '... I've got an idea.'

~NRK~

The Deliverers rubbed their heads as they took their sacrifice.

"Shit, they really clobbered us and ran?" One of them asked as they jostled a cloaked Naruto in chains. "And we only got one! We're fucked!"

"No, this might work out. We'll grab someone from a passing village and just be done with it," the leader said as he sneered back at the tied-up individual. 'Was there someone who looked like him in there?' He didn't remember.

Fuck it, it wasn't his job to choose the types. He looked young enough, at least.

Naruto grinned beneath his cloak, a small toad hiding in his shirt. 'Yeah, take me to your boss, ya bastards.'

They had stopped in a village and Naruto's eyes narrowed at the girl they'd taken.

'Neon,' he grimaced at her defeated-looking eyes. 'Crap,' she was placed next to him and they continued on a day later.

Another day's travel and they were brought to a large, red, forest.

A familiar one. 'Forever Fall?' He blinked before Naruto watched a large aerial-Grimm land before the group. 'A Sphinx,' the reincarnate hadn't taken a crack at Take-Overing one of those.

The large feline Grimm looked down at the group with blazing red eyes, its mask far more wild and grown than a normal Sphinx.

An Alpha, most likely.

It snorted as its head roamed the group, Neon jumping at the sight of it as she pressed into his side.

When its nose went to Naruto, its eyes narrowed as its mouth came closer and snapped down.

A flick of its head had his hood shooting off his head.

Peach skin, spiky blonde hair, and slit-pupiled blue eyes looked back at the Grimm with a glare that it found itself confused by.

It sniffed him time and time again but came back looking more confused, its tail cracking against the cliff of the rock walls surrounding the forest.

It cawed at them before leaning down, wings spread out to allow them on.

"Fucking weird thing," one of their captors said as they got on, a bony box their saddle once the Grimm took off towards the large castle-school in the middle of this forest. "..." He looked back at the clearly Faunus Naruto with a frown. "Hmph, she probably likes ya."

"Sounds like a bad time," Naruto said with a nervous grin before his stomach flipped as their 'ride' began to descend. 'And we're at school,' he thought as he saw the location.

It reminded him of her castle in that land, the Unbridled Territory many normal people called it.

Except now it had a large square foundation for the 'school', he guessed. As they landed on red rock, he looked up the long pathway to the school's door, the path covered by Grimm at the edges, their claws clicking on the stone as they watched them.

Neon trembled as she hid into his side, Naruto's eyes narrowing as he looked at them, the Sphinx at their back sniffing him again as it 'escorted' them to the front.

As they walked, the blonde's eyes narrowed as the Grimm got in close, nipping at them.

His foot crack one in the head and it growled before flinching as blue eyes looked down at it, the tall blonde man's gaze 'cutting' into the 'darkness' of those around him.

"Fuck off," he declared to them and they receded, the Sphinx looking surprised by him before sniffing him some more, his captors looking shocked as most of the lesser Grimm obeyed with submissive demeanors.

"The fuck?" The leader of the Deliverers said as he walked back to Naruto and grabbed his cloak. "The hell did you do?"

"Scare 'em, I don't know," Naruto said flatly as the man growled.

"Wait, hold on… Didn't the Queen say that there'd be special folk like him? That blonde kid also showed the same kind of 'power' when we brought him," another of the group said and the first man froze.

"... Shit," he pushed back heavily on Naruto's chest and only found himself being pushed. "Tsk," he walked back to the front. "Go."

They kept walking as Naruto's eyebrow twitched as the Sphinx Alpha kept sniffing him!

"Can I help you?" He asked in annoyance as the Grimm observed him more. "... gods."

As they entered the rather large double doors, Naruto realizing they were for the Alphas, maybe all kinds, to follow them, the two 'sacrifices' found themselves on plush, velvet, carpet as they were surrounded by tan walls with portraits along the way as they walked.

"W-What?" Neon gaped as they looked around. "T-This is the school?"

"Hmph, you'd be surprised to know the Queen likes the finer things," one of the men said as they passed another set of doors to arrive in a loud, raucous, area. "Welcome to Grimm-fucking-Central."

Most of the eyes in the areas they passed looked from their conversations, fights, food, or other hybrids to lock onto the group + Alpha.

"Aww shit! She likes one of 'em!" One of the thousands of hybrids pointed out as all eyes went to the group. "One of 'em got the 'ride' as their escort! Which one of 'em is it?!"

When the man came in close, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw the familiar features twisted by corrupted Grimm flesh.

Roman Torchwick, huh?

As the guy landed gracefully by the Deliverers, he grinned, a gentlemanly grin contorted by a black bit of his flesh by his mouth, his breaking-open mandibles terrifying Neon to no end, much to his pleasure.

"Ohhh, that feels good," he said in pleasure as he slunk over to the captives. "Hmm… Yeah, one of you two have her curious," the former thief, from the other side, said. "Hmm… snff, snff," Roman sniffed at the two generally before leaning into Naruto's space, his monstrous face getting on the powerful Grimm to no end. "Hm? Man, you are interesting. Ya smell like us but… strong. You're one of those 'corrupted' folk, aren't ya?"

"I don't know what that means," Naruto answered truthfully.

"Right, right, new guy," he said. "Ya see, there are those special ones, like you. Mysterious gals and guys who gain small-time temp control over Grimm's minds. It's curious. I've always wanted to look inside one of you guys and look at the organ!"

The man's hand had reached past the blonde's eyes, towards not him but Neon.

There was a crack as Roman's eyes, along with the Deliverers', widened at his snapped arm, the blonde's hand around his forearm.

"Listen, worm," he pulled the 'man' in close before stomping down on his thigh, putting him into a knee before his wrapped up hands found the man's hair and clenched. "Fuck off."

"N-Not too friendly, yeah?" Roman winced as the hold on his hair tightened. "H-Hey now, don't ya know?"

A presence appeared behind the two 'captives'.

"That how polite-"

Naruto's eyes zeroed in on the familiar short female's signature behind Neon.

His foot slammed into something's chin before he kicked out.

The wall cratered as a familiar but distorted figure appeared in it.

Neopolitan choked on a silent breath as she dropped to the floor, much to Roman's horror.

"Neo-Ack!" A foot slammed across his face and he went slamming into a nearby wall, cracking it. "F-Fuck! T-The hell?!" The man dropped as all noise beside his wet breaths. "T-The fuck, you're a Faunus?!"

And then the air got heated as it seemed to beat down on all the nearby hybrids.

Blue eyes burned. "Shut it."

Many choked, fell off their perches, or jumped at his words but they were listening.

"Any one of you try that crap again and shoving my foot so far up where the sun doesn't shine, you'll be tasting leather for the rest of your lives," was all Naruto said before huffing and turning to his pale captors. "Let's get this circus on the road, ya bastards. I'm waiting to kick each and every one of your faces in."

And then Naruto sighed as a weight dropped down onto his body… before his eyes widened at the signature and his eyes locked onto the individual to his side.

Cracked, clearly broken via design, lips grinned at him as yellow eyes on black sclera looked at him with an interest he didn't partake in.

"Mmmm," she purred and Naruto's eyebrow began to twitch.

Other-World Blake, oh no.

"And… right…" Naruto's eyebrow twitched more. "... You can get off-"

She nuzzled his neck with a gravelly purr that he growled at, surprising her but it seemed her interest simply renewed, much to his displeasure.

"Let's just go," the blonde man said to his captors who scrambled. "Freaking…" Naruto looked at the hopeful Neon, ruffling her hair as they continued walking. 'Just a bit more,' was all he thought.

Especially as he ignored Other-World Blake's purrs.

"Are you being serious right now?!"

"Mmmmmm."

Just great.

~NRK~

Ciao.

Words: 19.0k+

~NRK Out~