*Story Start*

Sitting in one of the VPD interrogation rooms, Ruby felt anything but fear. Yes a small bit of doubt that she was just here to make a statement, but that was easily rejected as she lacked any form of restraints or aura-blocking devices.

So the primary feeling she had was boredom. Scanning the room, it was obviously devoid of anything notable. A metal table bolted to the floor. Two chairs chained to the ground, a small vent above the table and definitively not a one-way mirror.

Thankfully the sound of the door latch drew her attention back to this realm.

In walked a grey-haired rabbit Faunus in an officer uniform and vest. The name tag listed her as officer J. Hopps-Scarlatina.

Taking up the chair at the table, Ruby naturally took up the one across from her and watched as she pulled out a clipboard and a carrot-themed pen.

"Good evening miss Rose, I am Officer Hopps-Scarlatina. Now I am sure that Ms Goodwitch explained why you're here, but I will repeat it for legal reasons. You are here because you are the key witness in the robbery that took place tonight. It was stated that you defended yourself physically as well as using a weapon. Would you say that what I just said was an accurate account of the incident?" Despite the officer's serious tone, Ruby found it tough not to let out a sound at how cute the officer looked.

With her ears included, she was taller than Ruby, but with how the uniform fit her, she looked more like a kid in a costume. The slight twitching of her ears did little to help.

"Let me do this. The last thing we need is you getting a misdemeanour for cuddling the officer." Naruto placed his hand on her Cape. Closing her eyes, Ruby let out a quick exhale to focus and opened her eyes to reveal them to be bluer than usual.

"*Ahem* That would be correct, for the most part. Though I did pelt Roman and his henchmen with a can and some trash that I could find." This earned a small chuckle from the officer, before returning to a serious expression.

"Alright, now would you explain why you were physically engaging with the 'Henchmen' instead of fleeing? There is also the fact that most teenagers your age wouldn't be able to handle fighting against multiple opponents as you did. Especially since live ammunition was used during this exchange." Officer Hopps-Scarlatina pressed as she leaned forward a bit, with her ears twitching making sure that they were aimed at her.

Despite the fact that it was one-way glass, Ruby could practically feel someone's eyes staring her down. Deciding to 'adjust' her cloak in the mirror, staring down where she was feeling the sensation was coming from.

"The reason is that I had to use the bathroom at the store and was immediately greeted with a barrel in my face when I opened the door. Thanks to my training at Signal Academy, my instincts took over, allowing me to disarm the gunman to protect myself. Then I saw that there were several other gunmen in the store, and was presented with two possible choices. I could call VPD, and wait for the police or a huntress to arrive. Hoping that they only take the Dust and lien. But without knowing how far away VPD was, it wasn't ideal. Or I could take them out and make sure that they aren't able to become violent and keep the chance of an accidental Dust explosion to a minimum."

Allowing Naruto to metaphorically steer the conversation, Ruby continued to explain everything that happened related to the incident, intentionally avoiding anything that might incriminate herself. Several minutes passed with officer Hopps occasionally interjecting to ask for clarification.

When she finished, the rabbit Faunus clicked her pun and attached it to her clipboard.

"Thank you for your cooperation on the matter. I am going to go deliver this report to my superiors. Before you head out, there's someone who wants to briefly talk with you. The cameras will be recording so don't worry, it's just a few questions. Afterwards, you'll be free to head out." Hopping out of her chair, the bunny officer opened the door and disappeared down the hall.

Just before the door closed, an ornate cane with floral engravings and golden gears inside it stopped it. Opening the door, a grey-haired man in a dark-green shirt and black jacket entered the room.

Despite Naruto having 'the steering wheel', Ruby felt a surge of adrenaline before being forced into control, her eyes returning to their silver colour before the mysterious man sat down with a tray of cookies.

Looking around the room, she stared at the one-way mirror and saw something odd. The room was empty except for the strange man and herself. Just Ruby.

"There's no need to worry. I am here alone. Now, would you mind if I asked you some questions? All off the record of course. This has nothing to do with whatever the officer had to ask you." He gave her a small smile that could best be described as a disarming grandfather's smile. Yet her every cell seemed to be set to high alert and she couldn't tell why. Deciding to play it safe, she would abide by the training he had learned from Naruto.

"You can ask." Keep the answers short, and keep your cards close to your chest.

"Thank you. Also, feel free to have a cookie or a few. I may not be a Baker, but I Must say," he paused to take a bite from one of the cookies, "That I can still make a decent chocolate chip."

"That's ok, I ate a snack a while ago. Wouldn't want to overindulge." Mustering her will, she turned away from the baked goods and stared at him.

"Very well. Now, I believe introductions are in order. I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy. The premiere school for Huntsman and Huntresses in all Vale. Now, may I have your name miss? It's only polite."

"Rose, Ruby. Student of Signal." Despite seeing no visible evidence to say, Ruby could practically hear her heart thumping from the copious amount of adrenaline flowing through her veins.

"Rose, hmm. I remember a Summer Rose attending Beacon a number of years ago. Yes, it was her, Taiyang, Qrow and someone else... ah yes. Qrows sister, I believe her name was Raven. Would miss Rose happen to be a cousin. Perhaps an aunt or something like that?" Looks like her instincts were accurate. Having the literal headmaster descend from his tower, list off the important people in her life, and her sister's mom, all while portraying himself as a regular older man. If she hadn't gained the needed skills from Naruto, she would've written it off as a coincidence. But she needed to respond, powerful men like him had to means to get the answers they wanted, so it was better to give Just enough information to satisfy him, without overplaying her hand.

"Mother. Missing and presumed dead." That seemed to cause a flicker of emotions to pass through him before his proverbial mask could cover it

"My condolences. I have lost my fair share of friends and families. But their sacrifices are not in vain as they protected the innocent."

"I know. That's why I'm enrolled at Signal." This earned a slight twitch from his eyebrow, almost like a bobber alerting a fisher that their line had a bite. If she was alone, Ruby would have started swearing like a sailor. He practically guided her through the conversation to reach that point. A rookie mistake.

"That being said, my subordinate Ms Goodwitch happened to tell me that you defeated about a half-dozen 'goons' armed with firearms. That's something that most teenagers your age aren't able to do. I must commend you on that."

"T-thank you? Anyone in my position would have done the same. I mean they were filling a container with dust in the middle of the city. If one of them went off, it could've set off the whole area." This caused him to lean in and rest his hands under his chin.

"True, but they didn't. That's because most people lack the training or the drive that is needed. Qualities that are essential to becoming a Huntsman or Huntress. A skill that, if what I've heard is to be believed, you possess in spades. Earlier you said that you were enrolled in Signal Academy. That's the Huntsman training academy in Patch, correct?" He seemed to lean in as he asked this, peering over the rims of his glasses, staring down at the silver-eyed teen.

"It is Professor." Despite the lack of any visual reasons, she still felt on edge, the Headmaster of Beacon wouldn't descend from his school just to hear a talk with some student. Then there was also the fact that he seemed to remember her parent's team attending the school, despite having likely dozens to hundreds of teams pass through since then. The room started to seem like an aquarium because everything was getting a bit too fishy for her.

"That's good, it seems like no matter how many Huntsmans and Huntresses there are, it's never enough. Then again, most seem to lack the natural talent that you seem to have in spades."

This seemingly innocent compliment, combined with the tray of fresh cookies in front of her, was clear. He was trying to butter her up for something. Subtly shifting in her chair, she readied herself to go. Through the door, one-way glass or even the ventilation system. Ozpin seemed to notice her change in posture but said nothing.

"Whenever prodigies such as you appear, it's always a difficult situation. Allow them to progress naturally and possibly miss out on their full potential, or see to it that they have the proper instructors to see that they reach their peak. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I would Professor." Ruby gave the only answer she really could to such a rhetorical question, any other would be a lie or incredibly selfish.

"Then it is my pleasure to hand you this." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a paper bag and a sealed envelope with the crest of Beacon embedded into the wax seal. Handing her the envelope, he poured the remaining cookies into the bag and sealed it.

"Is this-"

"it is," he interrupted her question before pushing the bag toward her and grabbing the now-empty tray.

"Miss Rose, I know that this may seem like a big decision so I won't ask for it now. Inside is a return envelope, if I don't receive a reply by the end of the month then I will assume that you will not be attending. I hope to hear from you soon and enjoy the cookies, I'd hate for them to go to waste." With a click from the door, Ozpin was gone. Leaving Ruby alone with the letter in her hand.

"-BY! RUBY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" Snapping to the mirror, she watched as her counterpart and Naruto seemed to fade back into existence.

"What happened?" Asking herself and them, she stared at the envelope in hand.

"We can figure that out later. We still need to drop off that info and haul ass home before dad sends Yang or, Oum forbid, Uncle Qrow out to drag us back. And judging from the time, we'd be cutting it close even now." The other Ruby interjected as Ruby grabbed her backpack, the bag and the envelope before she left.

As the trio walked down the hallway, Naruto turned around to see Ozpin staring at them. Not just Ruby, but all three of them. This thoroughly unsettled him, but thankfully Ruby found an officer's door and knocked on it. This pulled his focus away from the mysterious professor and on the room that they were now in.

Seated behind the desk was the rabbit Faunus that they were talking to previously. Various documents were scattered across her desk, with an archaic computer struggling to keep up with her typing.

"Oh it's you, do you need help with something?" Gesturing got her to take a seat, while the other two examined the room.

"Tell her you need a schedule of Bulkhead departures. Scrolls dead or something." The other Ruby told her as she peered over Officer Hopps shoulder to see what she was working on.

"Also try to kick the info bundle over here. Underneath this file cabinet would be perfect as it is believable enough that something like that would get knocked under here. Plus the sound of that old chair should perfectly cover it up." Naruto added as he pointed to an area underneath the cabinet before placing his hand on the chair that looked to be a few decades out of service.

"I was wondering if you had a schedule for the Bulkhead departures? My Scroll's charging at home and I would have already missed my trip back." As she asked, Ruby sat her bag down and opened it to place the letter and bag in, while also grabbing the bundle of incriminating info and placing it under her foot to launch.

"Alright, let's see." Rapidly typing away at the computer, she pulled up a list and turned the monitor to Ruby. "It seems that there are two outbound flights. One in ten minutes and the other in 25 minutes. If you need, I believe that the Chief could arrange transport back for you. Given that we had you miss your flight because of the robbery."

"It's fine, thank you though for your help." Pushing back her chair, Ruby also kicked the bundle under the cabinet. The dull thud was mostly muffled by the sound of the chair made as it skid backwards. Mostly being the operative word as the rabbit Faunus's ears twitched from the sound.

"Did you hear something?"

"All I heard was the chair. No offence but I think you guys should invest in some roller chairs. These ones are really loud. I can only imagine how annoying it must be for someone like you with better hearing." Drawing attention away from the sound, Ruby held up the chair. Doing so caused the aged equipment to let out a wheeze as if it was on its deathbed.

"You get used to it, unfortunately. I've talked to the Chief about it but he said that the Council hasn't allocated anything for 'Modernization'. Even then, furniture would be at the bottom of the queue. But enough about that, I think you should hurry or you'll have to wait for the second flight."

"Alright thank you for your help. Hopefully, the Council stops being a bunch of dummies and fix that. Bye." With that, the trio left the office. Choosing to run without semblance boosting so as to not upset the night crew on hand. Once they were outside, they would have to book it to make it as the officer said.

Waiting a few moments after the red-themed girl left, officer Judy began to investigate the area over by where the sound was. Opening cabinet drawers, looking through every shelf. Nothing stood out until she checked the ground and found, among a fair amount of dust and random junk, a collection of papers, folders and books bound up. Clearing off a portion of her desk, she opened up the first book.

She was less than a second into it before she grabbed the phone on her desk and entered her Chief's number.

"Sir I need to come in... yes sir I know what time it is but I found something important... no it can't wait until tomorrow, sir. It's the missing key to several of the cold cases we have... ok sir, see you in a few minutes." Setting the phone down, the officer had to wonder where this information came from.

Could it have to do with that girl that just left? Couldn't be. There's no way that she could've gotten all that information together without being spotted. It must've been lumped in with some of the cold cases that she was reviewing.

Either way, it was the biggest break in the cold cases in decades.

Thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you think and anything else you might want to add.

See you next time, review, and let me know what you think or would like to see.

*End*