(I have a poll in my profile. It is asking which story I should focus on finishing first.

Shinobi (Naruto X Ruby)
Primrose (This story, Naruto x Blake.)
Screaming Sun (Naruto X Yang.)
Sunflower (Redo of Silent of Moon.)

Thank you for the input via the votes, poll closes July 4th.)

Naruto stood in front of a mirror, taking deep breaths. Slowly, but surely, he put his gear on. He kept his headband in his pocket, a good luck charm. A trashcan behind him had a couple of beer bottles in it, and as he finished getting ready, he just stood there. Thoughts of Hinata and his friends popped into his mind.

He felt filthy, disgusted with himself. The blonde Shinobi didn't have the ability to control his drinking anymore. It was an urge, it felt right, and it made him feel good to forget about everything for just a little bit. To have arms wrapped around him at night, just for a little bit. That's what the alcohol was for, to help him forget, while the lovers he took to bed drunkenly were to make him feel human again.

None of those things were him, he wasn't a drinker, he wasn't a Casanova. He just wanted to feel again, to feel wanted, and not alone. Uzumaki Naruto stared at himself in the mirror, placing his palm against it. Retching into the sink after a moment, last night's alcohol flowed down the sink drain. Wiping his lips off, the blonde just took a deep breath.

Rubbing his hair, the blonde just stared at his self before sighing, "It doesn't matter anymore."

Walking into his motel room, the smell burning his nose, the blonde paced about. It had been a couple of days since talking to Qrow, the young man thought over his options. They were plentiful, more than he could count his fingers and toes. The realistic ones, however, were very few.

He could continue drinking himself numb and just wither away as he had been. The alcohol certainly made him forget about the lost prestige he worked so hard for, along with the loss of his friends and the only person to ever fully believe in him since they were children.

The other option would just keep doing mercenary work, and just look for a fight to make himself feel alive again. Grimm weren't bad opponents, just predictable, and the blonde was anxious to fight someone of equal caliber again. There was a doubt in his mind, this world probably couldn't handle who he was anyhow.

The final option, the hardest one, to swallow the pain and move on.

Sitting on the bed, Naruto laid back, staring up the ceiling. Nearly an entire year has passed he came to this world, and ever since then, he'd lost himself. The bright, cheerful, and energetic blonde devolved in a drunkard. Drinking was fun, but it was the wrong kind of fun, he had no business bedding those women either.

They seduced him, yes, but he still should've just said no. His base needs, the needs everyone had, shouted over reason. Frowning, Naruto just huffed before getting up. Walking toward the door, the blonde opened it, hearing the bustling of the city of Vale.

Getting his scroll out, Naruto looked at it, noticing that Qrow had put his contact number it. Pressing the number, the scroll began to have a dial tone. After a few seconds, the chuckle of an older man came over the scroll.

"So, interested in that offer?" Qrow asked him, knowing why he called.

Sucking his teeth, Naruto replied, "Yeah."

"Awesome I'll send you a text of where to meet me tomorrow," Qrow responded and then the blonde heard some fighting in the background. "I'm going to have to call you back, got some gangsters to take care…Crow Daddy out."

The line hanged up, Naruto stood there bewildered, "Crow Daddy? That's…that's just terrible…"

Finding himself chuckling, the blonde walked down the flight of outside stairs. The rented room's time was up tomorrow, and he'd at least make the best of the situation at hand. Grabbing his wallet, one he had bought back in Vacuo, the blonde saw some money left over from the caravan job. It wasn't enough to go out and splurge, but probably get something to eat.

Hopping down the last flight of stairs, the Shinobi merged into the crowd. Following them through the streets, looking around the many neon signs and lights. He saw a little girl, near an alleyway, with clothes that were old and baggy. He frowned, even in this grandiose place, little people are often forgotten.

Struggling with himself, Naruto stopped, turning on his heel. Walking toward the little girl he began to see that she wasn't human, but a Faunus. The girl had wolf-like ears on top of her head, a mop of dirty black hair betrayed her bright green eyes.

Getting down on his knee, the blonde looked at her, "Hey."

"H-he-hello…" The girl mumbled in her stutter, "S-sorry I looked at you."

"Don't be, um, are you…hungry?" Naruto asked, noting that no one else seemed to be in the alley.

The girl sniffled, "Yes…I…haven't eaten since…um…when did it rain last?"

The Shinobi felt his fist ball up, "It rained three days ago…"

"O-oh, um, that's a long time, isn't it. I shouldn't ask, I'm sorry sir…" The little Faunus replied.

The blonde took a moment, seeing himself in the little girl's shoes. Though, unlike her, he had a roof over his head. Reaching out, he offers his hand to her, with a bright smile. Tentatively, she reaches out to him as well, placing her small, soft, palm into his callous laced hand.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, I'm gonna get a bite to eat. C'mon, it's a little chilly out tonight anyway." Naruto told her, introducing himself fully.

The girl whimpered a little bit, she was taken aback by the kindness. Gripping his hand, the girl felt the warmth radiate off it. Especially over a small glowing mark on his right palm that she could see under a glove.

"I'm Emilia, Emilia Blackwood," The girl told him, smiling a little bit.

She got up, only to stumble a little bit. Naruto sighed, picking her up and placing her on his shoulders. The blonde ignored the sideways looks he received from some people, the girl honestly smelled, but that came with living on the street. The girl grumbled a little bit, her wolf ears laying backward at comments she could hear from people.

Naruto growled as he heard the comments.

"Fucking freaks."
"Look at this, animals helping animals."
"That child smells horrible, hope he knows he's getting lice."
"I wouldn't go near that little girl, too smelly, gah!"

Finally snapping, Naruto yelled as he turned toward the crowd, "Why don't you all shut the hell up!"

"You make fun of a little girl who's hungry on the streets, and then you have the nerve to eye her like a plague. You are terrible people, and I hope your lives are as miserable as they are needed to be to put down a little girl, assholes!" The Shinobi unleashed his wrath, glaring at the particular people that were making the comments.

The blonde continued to rant, "You wonder why Faunus like her stand up to assholes like you. You should be ashamed, and to think some of you might have children disturbs the crap out of me. Children are innocent, who are you to judge one on the streets?!"

No one answers him, the blonde looked at them all, breathing. Some of them looked ashamed, turning their head away. It made his blood boil.

"Strong opinions coming from weak-willed people, you all should be so ashamed to call yourself a man or woman. You have no morals, putting down others just elevate your happiness will only cause the same scenario to turn upon you eventually. You may stand there, looking shocked and ashamed, but you better believe it when I tell you that I think you owe this girl an apology at the very least!" The blonde raved as he pointed at the people, and then started walking away.

Taking the next sidewalk, the blonde and the little got away from the gathered crowd, unaware of the people holding scrolls out recording.

Naruto used the last bit of his money to get the girl a large meal at a Tea House called The Opal Dragon. They had stopped in after the blonde had looked up a ValeNet coupon for it. The girl was stuffing her face as he sipped his water, she looked like she had just gone to heaven. Emilia hummed as she bit down onto a fishcake, quickly gobbling it up.

The girl stopped for a minute, looking at him, "Aren't you going to eat too, mister?"

"Just call me Naruto," Naruto smiled as he looked at his wallet, truly seeing that it was empty for the first time in a very long time.

The blonde sighed, "And, honestly tea house food isn't my cup of tea, eh-Eh?!"

The girl deadpanned, looking at him, "That's horrible."

"Yeah, give me a break kid, I suck at puns," Naruto grumbled in reply, leaning back in their booth, watching as cars go by.

Emilia swallowed the glass of water in her hands, "I've haven't had so much good before…the matrons…they never gave us anything really."

"Matrons?" Naruto looked down her, failing to notice her already digging back into the food.

She stopped, looking at him before burping loudly. The Shinobi chuckled, finishing his glass of water. Emilia looked at the last fishcake on her plate, sliding it over to him. The girl smiled brightly, Naruto hesitated at first before picking it up and taking a bite of it. It was full of flavor, the blonde quickly finished it off with another quick bite.

With his mouth full, the blonde inquired on something, "Youm saim mothing bout matroms?"

"Y-yeah, I was living in a house, and well…they didn't really like me too much. I don't know why they just treated me different…" The girl whimpered, sniffling a little bit.

The blonde took a deep breath, "That's horrible, but I understand…trust me I do. It gets better, Dattebayo."

"I don't know," Emilia lowered her head, "Mama and Papa never came back from their mission…"

This hit dead center for the blonde, he took a deep breath to avoid shedding a tear. Her story, minus ancient powerful demons getting sealed into her, was almost a carbon copy of his. In fact, Naruto looked at it more realistically as being worse than he ever was.

"I grew up an orphan as well," He told her, noting the shock on her face. "My mother and father, they…passed away when I born."

"O-oh, wh-what happened?" Emilia asked, simple as it was, it opened some old wounds.

He gave a sad smile, replying with a heavy voice dry of emotion. "Bad people happened, but those bad people were misled by really bad people…and that's just the end of it. The only reason I know of my parents is because of my friend, Kurama."

He wanted to punch himself for mentioning Kurama's name. Sighing, he gauged her reaction, watching as she stared at him, a mix of emotions on her face. She was scared that he was trying to trick, but curious, and wanted to trust him. These feeling, and emotions, flowed over her at the same time. A confusion

"What happened to Kurama?" She asked, it was innocent enough, but it still made Naruto winced.

The blonde sighed, looking at his empty glass of water, watching as the ice melted.

"I don't know," Naruto closed his eyes, "I just hope he's okay…"

"S-sorry," she apologized, lowering her head.

"Don't be, you did nothing wrong. Besides, it is just me being dramatic, I'm sure he's fine." Naruto commented, looking out of the window, noticing something.

He got up, Emalia followed behind him, they had already paid for their food so there was no disturbance for them walking out of the door. There was a silver-haired man walking down the street. That wasn't what Naruto noticed, it was the shadows following him on top of the rooftops. He looked at the man, taking a deep breath, and quickly formed a clone. Emilia looked surprised, the burst of smoke created some attention as well, but Naruto quickly explained it.

"Don't worry, Emilia, this is my semblance. I have the ability to clone myself, he'll stay with you, don't get scared if he suddenly pops." Naruto knelt, explaining his clone "semblance" to Emilia, "Alright?"

"Y-yes," Emilia nodded, looking up at the clone, "H-Hi!"

"Sup," the clone greeted Emilia, a small smirk on his face.

"Alright then, I'll be right back!" Naruto told her, quickly dodging his way through the crowd.

Emilia lost him shortly after, she sighed, looking at his clone.

Getting near the man, Naruto watched the shadows, counting under his breath. Time seemed to slow down when one hopped from a rooftop and into the shadows of structures on top of the roof. The broken moonlight offering very little light for him to work with.

"One…"

His eyes focused on a second shadow following closely behind the other. The shadow had something on its back, like a tube of sorts. As the shadow hopped over an alleyway, he got a clearer look at the tube. It was quiver, and he could tell the arrows were heavy due to their lack of movement.

"Two…"

Something was off, just two? Naruto scanned the crowd, looking at anyone that would've been staying with them. Getting nearer to the man, the blue eyes of the young Shinobi focused on a third shadow crawling up a wall. The shadow didn't move when a beam of light from a car hit it, and only moved afterward.

"Three…"

Getting beside the man, Naruto suddenly realized something, those three were following with them. A fourth one was nearby, they had to be. It made no sense, obviously, the one with arrows was meant to lead the man he was walking by. Making sure that he would go where they needed him too. The other two were also meant to push, the one hanging out in front was to block any escape route, and the other one hiding in the shadows in alleyways could easily lash out with a surprise attack.

That was the thing, if they had him blocked, had him locked down, and had him ready to be pushed into someone. The one remaining question, the missing fourth person, was the one who'd be forcing the man to retreat. The group's fighter, the fourth member, and they weren't with the others. He could be wrong, but instinct told him otherwise, and it hadn't failed him before.

The blonde "accidentally" bumped into the man, "Sorry sir didn't mean to run into you."

"Oh, it's fine young man, lost in the moonlight? I saw you staring up at the buildings, are you alright?" The silver-haired man inquired.

Naruto nodded, replying with a small smile, "I'm fine. Sir, what's your name?"

"My name is Ozpin," Ozpin introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Ozpin," Naruto took his hand, secretly applying a seal to his palm. "I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Nice name, where are you heading tonight?" The older man inquired.

"I'm heading for a snare called The Crow. I would really watch how many shots I take and keep my wits about me." Naruto tried his best to hint at the man, using his jacket to hide his gripping a kunai.

The man hummed, "Interesting choice of words, you wouldn't mind walking with me, would you?"

"Not at all," the blonde replied as they rounded a corner and began to head toward the docks.

Both stopped at a large open area, Naruto took a deep breath. The silver-haired man put his cane on the ground, supporting himself with it. The two looked at the rooftops of the warehouses and the decks of docked ships. The man knew about the shadows, which relieved Naruto, but it still troubled him that someone was following this man.

Testing their nerve, Naruto looked at the older man, "That's a nice cane there."

"Thank you," Ozpin thanked the blonde, smiling as he whistled a merry tune. "Do you think they know?"

"I'm pretty sure of it," the blonde replied, readying his kunai mechanism under his sleeve.

The duo watched the shadows on the roof of the warehouses, nothing moved. Taking a deep breath, Naruto focused on the rooftops, closing his eyes and began to sense for any chakra. Though people here didn't have any usable amounts, they still naturally had a little bit of chakra. What he found, however, disturbed him. he sensed one source, but instead of being small, the chakra was intense and dark.

Something told him to grab the man, and when he did, Naruto slammed him onto the ground along with himself. Just above them a figure dressed in shadows nearly took both their heads, bug-like wings on its back flapped to maintain its flight. These weren't normal people, and doubting they were Faunus, Naruto pulled the man up from the ground.

The figure turned around, pointing its seven-branched blade Ozpin, "Ozpin!"

"Yes?" Ozpin watched as the man calmly adjusted his coat.

"Our Goddess sends her regards," The figure dressed in shadow stated as he readied himself to fight, his mask tight across his face. "Prepare thyself for death!"

The being was about to charge at Ozpin, only to stop himself as the blonde walked in front of the older man. It looked at the young man in front of him, confused, watching he looked at him. His insect wings flapping behind him, the being scoffed, pointing his blade toward Naruto.

They locked eyes, with Naruto fists balling up, "Who gave you that power?"

"What's it to you, peasant?" The being demanded.

Naruto growled, his eyes growing cold, "You tell me right now, what happened to Chomei?"

"The beast has a name?" The figure asked, laughing as if the blonde was telling a joke.

"He has a fucking name, and you better tell where he is, asshole, or I'll rip those goddamn wings off and shove them up your ass!" Naruto raged, readying himself.

Scoffing, the wind began to swirl around the blade, "Come try me, child!"

"Young man, I'm not one to interject in a fight, but I think you should leave this one to me," Ozpin stated, quickly forming a barrier around them as arrows made of a black metal slammed against it.

"The hell I will," the Shinobi growled and watched as the being pushed his sword up into the air. "I want an answer, now!"

"Here is your answer, Fox Child!" The being roared and slammed his sword down.

The wind blasted from it, cutting into the stone of the dock. Naruto roared in rage, weaving a couple of hand seals before launching a blast of wind from his mouth. This act stunned Ozpin, who looked at Naruto in confusion, the being growled as he flew straight at Naruto.

When he got near the blonde, he thrusts his sword. Naruto sidestepped, causing his kunai mechanism to activate and launch a kunai into his off hand. Turning on his heel, applying wind chakra to it, Naruto barely missed the wings of the being as he rolled out of the way.

Slashing at Naruto, the being smirked as the blonde barely dodged. The blonde, however, countered with a thrust of his right fist which sent out a shockwave of wind. Roaring out in surprise, the being flew up, dodging the shockwave and landed on a rooftop by another shadowy figure.

"Beetle," the archer identified the one holding the sword, "This child has mastery of the winds…"

"I can see that, Mantis. Our Goddess's pet has been naughty if it snuck away some of its power into some lowly child, damn that foul Rhino Beetle monstrosity!" Beetle angrily seethed, glaring at the boy with red eyes through his mask.

Naruto scowled his eyes filled with rage at them insulting The Seven-Tailed Beast. He charged, stopping once he saw black silk starting to appear on the ground, grunting he suddenly disappeared in a yellow flash. Ozpin flinched when Naruto appeared just in front of him again, watching the blonde ready himself.

"No civilians are inside of this operation zone, Beetle. Ozpin and this False Bearer shall soon die." The woman spoke from the shadows of an alleyway near one of the warehouses, emerging to reveal a skintight black suit around her body.

Mantis chuckled, "Nice for you to join us, Widow."

Widow sneered and held two sickles in her hand as she charged straight Naruto. The blonde engaged her, quickly dodging the first slashes while countering with his own. He was surprised at her speed, she was able to keep up with him, and it wasn't long that he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

"Old man, look out!" Naruto screamed, barely blocking the sickles with kunai.

Ozpin hummed, turning his head to see a lanky figure with a large sword in his hands. A shrill laugh came from the figure, his sword plummeting toward Ozpin's head, the man simply raised his cane up and blocked it. A loud sound of metal clashing against metal sounded throughout the docks. The figure moved to try against, but Ozpin merely took a step forward and blasted him away with aura by slamming his free palm into the man's sternum.

Naruto broke away from Widow by leaning back and dodging her sickles. As he leaned back, the blades barely flew over his head as he turned around fully and delivered a powerful kick into her side, sending her across the dock and crashing into a warehouse. Backflipping once to avoid arrows that slammed into the ground where he had been, the blonde blocked Beetle as he flew by.

'There's nowhere I can draw Natural Energy from,' he observed as he dodged another arrow by leaning his head out of the way. 'I don't have time make the hand seal for clones and can't exactly flood the area.'

Blocking with his kunai, a flash of sparks scattered around the ground as Naruto jumped up and delivered a slash across the person's mask. The wood easily splintering from the wind chakra, but it wasn't deep enough to be fatal, as the mask fail of the man's face blood spurted out from a deep cut across his nose and chin. Flying back, Beetle grabbed his face, roaring in pain.

Not wasting his advantage, Naruto leaped up, but as he was about to land a finishing blow against the man threads of black wrapped around him. He looked at the source, Widow was laughing loudly from the shadows, and Mantis took aim. Ozpin moved, was able to slash the threads of Naruto with his cane coated in the aura and placed a barrier around them in time to block the arrows as they were fired.

Breaking out of the remaining threads, Naruto growled and looked at Widow. He noted that the other figure Ozpin had handled with finesse wasn't moving, and he turned to the older man.

"Is he dead?" The blonde inquired, standing back to back with the man.

Ozpin nodded, watching as the man began to turn into black dust, "Yes."

"You're a good fighter for an old man," Naruto complimented Ozpin before observing Beetle charge at Ozpin at his flank.

The man's sword crashed against the barrier, cracking it slightly, making the older man wince. Naruto smirked as he formed a single hand seal, suddenly three copies of himself burst out of the smoke. The copies charged toward Widow and Beetle. Ozpin kept the barrier up, but it slowly began to crack against the arrows. Watching as Naruto took a seat on the ground while putting his kunai up, focusing hard on the oceanfront.

Ozpin hummed, "Are you tired, young man?"

"Not exactly, but my clones can hold those others off. I need a minute to do something, could you do something about that archer guy?" Naruto asked, focusing intensely at a source of Natural Energy he found.

Ozpin smirked, dropping the barrier and smacking the arrows away as he ran toward the archer. Mantis growled as he watched the older man somersault onto the top of the warehouse. Pointing his cane at the archer, Ozpin chuckled as he approached, riposting a throwing knife launched by Mantis by smacking it back.

Mantis's eyes widened as the knife sunk into his chest, he coughed up a wad of black substance, "What the hell…"

"Forgive me, but this is where your road end," Ozpin stated as he appeared right in front of the would-be assassin.

"NO!" Mantis screamed, only to have a cane thrust into his chest and out his back.

The archer slumped forward, life leaving his eyes as he began to turn into black dust. Ozpin whistled a tune as he stepped forward, grabbing the tip of his cane and pulling it through the rest of the man's disappearing body. Tapping it against the ground, the older man watched one of Naruto's clones was destroyed by Beetle.

His eyes widened as Beetle dodged the other clone and flew toward the original. He was going to move to help, but it was too late. Beetle laughed manically as he raised his sword up, slamming it down onto Naruto. Only, instead of blood and guts flying everywhere, the sword broke against Naruto's skin. Ozpin watched as an orange tint surrounded the blonde's eyes as he stood up.

Naruto took a deep breath, "Just in the nick of time, Dattebayo."

"What the hell?!" Beetle exclaimed, only to get punched through the warehouse just behind him.

Naruto shifted his footwork, turning in time to dodge a stream of silk launched by Widow. Widow growled, charging into close range, she laughed as she activated the Electric Dust in her sickles. The Shinobi stepped back before throwing a punch that she barely managed to dodge. That's what she believed until half her face caved in from an unknown force sending her flying against the ground. Stonework and concrete ground against her as she tore through it from the force, her aura failing her. With a nasty friction wound, Widow barely looked up in time as a Rasengan found itself in her chest.

She screamed, screeching in pain as she was blasted through the stonework, and into the water. Her lifeless body floated under the waves, it twitched for a moment, and then slowly she started turning to black dust. Beetle charged toward Naruto, who was facing away from him, he thought he had the surprise.

That ended with the blonde suddenly turning and grabbing him by the throat!

"Ack?!" Beetle choked as he was slammed into the ground!

Naruto had a Rasengan hanging just above the man's face, "Look here, freak…you're going to tell where my friend is, or I'll start blending!"

"Hehehe," Beetle chuckled, looking at the teen. "You think you scare me, a piss ant like you?"

"This "piss ant" is about to make a brain smoothie," Naruto slammed the man's head into the ground, "Talk!"

"My life is but a flicker, my Goddess is immortal, and you are just another obstacle to overcome. How you know of our pet, I'll not know, but I'd rather have my bloodshed with my comrades than tell you a damned thing." Beetle leaned his head back, smirking, "Do as you must…"

Struggling with himself, Naruto breathed hard, "Where is your Goddess?"

"I'd rather her show you herself, she'll come for you, you have a lot of power within you…hehehe." Beetle threatened him, sneering with a chuckle before spitting onto Naruto's face.

Naruto took a deep breath and then slammed the Rasangan down. The man twitched for a moment. His body laid motionless soon afterward. Naruto glared down at the corpse, watching slowly as it turned into black dust before floating away. Breathing hard, the blonde Shinobi pushed himself up from the ground and deactivated his Sage Mode.

Ozpin got near him, looking at the young man with concern, "You're not normal, are you?"

"What made that obvious," Naruto curtly inquired, "Was it me taking them out?"

"I took out half of them," Ozpin laughed as he tapped his cane on the ground, "To be fair."

"Doesn't matter, I need to get back to someone, who are you exactly? Because those guys seemed like someone that really hated you." Naruto observed, gauging the man's reaction.

Ozpin briskly picked up pieces of the broken sword, "I am The Headmaster of Beacon Academy. I'm Ozpin, and you, my friend, saved my life tonight."

"Don't mention it, or what you just saw…" Naruto told him, warning him as he straightened himself up.

"Say, wouldn't you be the same Naruto a man named Qrow mentioned?" The silver-haired man inquired.

Naruto's eyes widened, "Yeah, why?"

"Well…I have to say. His bad luck may have turned up something good after all. Here," Ozpin handed Naruto a card with his scroll number on it. "Call me tomorrow morning, I'll meet you somewhere, and make sure you wear something nice."

The silver-haired man watched as Naruto took the card, "After all, I wouldn't want a potential fighter to go without."

"Thanks, I guess," the Shinobi said, stunned slightly by the offer.

"Good, see you around, Mr. Uzumaki."