(Should I create an original theme song for Naruto? I mean like lyrics wise, because I'm listening to Red Like Roses, crazily nowadays.)
Naruto was going through the outer forests of Vale. Like a shadow, he hopped and ran through the trees. The baleful moonlight above was spotty, frequent bursts of rain showers would blanket the area every so often. Fresh mud covered the forest foliage under the trees. If one was silent enough, frogs would be doing their mating calls near this large ponds and creeks.
Prior to leaving, Ozpin had set up his scroll to track Qrow's. That had been an hour ago, and Qrow had sent his coordinates, putting him about four hours away according to Ozpin. Naruto felt that he needed to close that distance sooner and propelled himself through the trees like a madman. His Sage Mode eyes blazing, the more he could sense the blank spots in his vision from being able to sense life energy, the less time he'd spent playing cleanup crew.
He didn't know the man well, but if Glynda's worry was sound, then Qrow was probably going to throw himself into trouble. Ozpin seemed adamant about testing him with this. The red-eyed Huntsman seemed to have a reputation with getting into trouble. Hopefully, for all parties involved, Naruto made it to him before he could get into more trouble.
Ozpin was sitting in his office, tapping his fingers. Hot cocoa laid on the mahogany, on a coaster in the visage of the Valian flag. He took a deep breath, looking at his book of fables. The faintest echoes of children's laughter and awe-filled his mind, a memory of a bygone life, long distanced from himself. Taken to reading a verse, Ozpin coughed into his hand before reading aloud.
"Forge thy flame with a will, burn with fires of red and yellow, casting a brilliant orange sun. For thy mind, soul, and body must be one. We follow in the footsteps of an ancestor race, one of which came before, and will come after. They are balance, given material form, and the use of nature is forever their norm." Ozpin read aloud, turning the page.
A sound of footsteps broke him from his reading. He looked up to see Glynda, who had her scroll in her hand. It had been two hours since Naruto left, and despite being told to report in like Qrow, he hadn't. it worried her, and she hadn't been able to sleep more than a half-hour at best due to the stress.
Glynda voices her frustration, her knuckles white around her scroll, "That new person isn't reporting in."
"Oh?" Ozpin hummed as he read the fable book to himself.
"Are you even listening," She stated rather than asked, walking closer toward him.
"I am," Ozpin flipped the page, "As I always shall be."
"If Mr. Uzumaki fails to report in, is it possible that he may have run into another horde?" Goodwitch inquired, hoping that they hadn't just sent someone to their death.
"I highly doubt that we have to worry about Uzumaki," Ozpin closed the fable book while answering her. "There is no reason to believe that he's incapable to handle himself."
"Mr. Uzumaki may have magic Ozpin, but that doesn't make it you invincible, Amber is the best example of that…" Glynda bitterly retorted, sour over the loss of her prized student.
Ozpin nodded, sighing, "While that is true…I feel as though I'm missing some context when it comes to Uzumaki's abilities."
"Meaning?" The blonde woman huffed.
"Meaning that it may not be magical, as he claims, which deepens his mystery. However, as far as being a plant by Salem, I highly doubt it." Ozpin got up from his chair while talking to Glynda. "Trust me, I thought that at first as well."
"Then why allow him in?" Glynda inquired, concerned.
Ozpin sighed, "I felt compelled to trust him."
He looked at the sporadic storm building outside, "Tell me, Glynda, what do you know of The Old World?"
Qrow stalked through the forest, in his bird form, he blended perfectly with the local fauna of crows and other Aves. The red-eyed Qrow, fluttering his small wings, dashed through the various dead trees. Night, often a reprise for many in the city, was the time that the veteran Huntsman knew would be most dangerous. Beringels, Beowolfs, even a King Taijitu led in this horde, and it wasn't even counting the obvious Alphas somewhere amongst the ranks of the demonic creature nightly horde. Landing on a tree, obscured by leaves, Qrow transforms back into human form.
'This horde is probably the fourth largest horde I've ever seen, I lost count at about fifty Grimm. Shit, if this is heading toward Vale City, there might other hordes moving as well. Mountain Glenn is definitely the place, it has tons of Grimm inside of it, and with them heading to the place…she must be there as well.' Qrow observed, watching as a Nevermore flew over him. The beast flew high into the sky, dodging a bolt of lightning as it flew higher and higher.
Rain began to fall as the clouds gave way to thunder and lightning. Qrow pulled out his scroll, he was about fifty miles outside of Mountain Glenn now, and he tapped in his coordinates. Leaning against the tree, sliding down, the man watched as the rain continued to fall. He remembered this type of weather, in Mistral, twelve years ago. The day, the world stopped, their world stopped.
His partner at the time, his best friend, went on a mission with him. Years prior they had been on the same team, learned together, and fought together. They were brother and sister, and the thought of her made him pull out his flask, he took a swig of it. Inside of his left coat pocket was a photograph, of a family. A rosette woman was holding a bundle in a red blanket, a younger blonde girl stood in front of a blonde man. He had taken a photo, a year before it all went to hell. Taiyang, the blonde man, didn't have a taste for alcohol until that day.
It took him a while to get off the bottle, but Qrow, Qrow couldn't stop blaming himself for it. It all had happened so fast, spiraling out of control, with no recourse. The same kind of weather, nearly the same sized horde, and him thinking about family. His will was simple enough to where his weapon would go to his niece, and any money he had would toward Taiyang. Raising two beautiful young women was hard, mentally and financially, at least in the end he could something to help.
Then again, another side to the story remained. One where a swing and prayer may fell the head of the snake. Finishing the contents of the flasks, Qrow got up, transforming into his bird form. Fluttering his winds, he began to fly, only for the winds to suddenly pick up. He squawked curses under his breath, floating down toward another nearby tree, transforming back into his human form. Cursing under his breath, he began to stay in the trees, and behind the horde.
Leaping over small gaps in the canopy, the red-eyed Huntsman hurdled over a large branch. He kept his hand on the handle of Harbinger. Somersaulting over a falling behind Beowolf, in one swift motion, he cuts its head off. Intent to keep himself hidden, Qrow transformed into his bird form to hide in some bushes as several Beowolf came to investigate.
The raven-haired Huntsman in bird form flew out of the bushes and toward the trees. This horde was going to be tricky to track, but he kept his coordinates on an open channel. The warning would at least let people know if they were in the path of this massive horde. However, when he least needed it too, his semblance kicked in. Transforming into human form his sudden weight on a branch made it snap. This attracted the attention of the Beowolfs which howled.
That howling drew the horde!
Qrow grimaced, "Ah fuck…"
He hopped down, making Harbinger transform into gun mode. He started firing randomly into approaching, all the while backing up. Keeping them at least fifty feet away, the Huntsman made short work of the basic types that came for him. This was going south as he saw the other forces of the horde slowly doubling back. Blasting the last Beowolf near him, he turned on his heel and began to run away as fast possible.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, goddamn stupid semblance!" Qrow spat aloud, hopping over a downed tree.
He tackled the ground as Beringel slung itself over him, barely missing him. turning Harbinger into its sword mode, Qrow parried a punch made by massive Grimm and sliced its body in half as a result. Turning around, he threw a canister of dust he had in the back of his utility belt. As the canister started to fall back, Qrow's red eyes began to glow as his aura screamed to life around him. Slicing a Creeper, that came running out at him, in half. He opened the canister port for Harbinger's gun mode and loaded the Electric Dust into it.
Backflipping to avoid another Beringel, he landed on a tree branch that barely held him. He transformed Harbinger into its gun mode before firing DCR (Dust Charged Round) into the wet ground below. Electricity poured out from the round's impact, causing a stunning effect among the Grimm on the ground. It allowed Qrow to start taking headshots wherever he could, so long as they kept stunned. A Beringel broke free of the electricity, leaping straight at him, to which he replied with a bullet in between its eyes.
Jumping off the branch as the electricity died down, Qrow backstepped out an Alpha Beowolf's lunge. He transformed Harbinger into its scythe mode, its blade crackling with electricity! The man spun on his heel and turned his whole body into delivering an upward slice that cut the Alpha in half vertically. He breathed hard, gazing upon his blind spots whenever he could as he moved back.
'Easy…easy…' Qrow calmed himself, putting Harbinger up as he turned around to run.
The other parts of the horde were probably too far away to directly engage him. they kept moving, while the lesser elements stayed behind. He thought for sure they all were coming, but he breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't. it seemed like Qrow Brawen would keep his head today.
Taking stock, down a canister, the veteran Huntsman rested the staff of Harbinger on his shoulder. He looked over toward a rose bush, surprised to see something bloom here.
'Still looking out for me, Summer? Ah, well now, I did say that I'd help Tai take care of the kids.' Qrow frowned as he thought, he walked toward the rose bush, 'Need a little bit more luck from ya, if you don't mind Short-Stack.'
'Just a little bit more luck…and I can go home to see Ruby again…'
The man then heard the crashing of a tree, his unfocused mind left one of his blind spots open. His body fell to the ground as the tree smacked into him, hard, pinning him to the ground. He saw a large Grimm, with bone armor all over it, with four red eyes glaring down at him. It stepped its foot onto him, standing at least fifteen feet tall, it dwarfed the man below. Qrow struggled, reaching for Harbinger which had been knocked out of his grip, he looked up at the Ogre Grimm as it raised its foot up above his head.
He wouldn't scream, not giving it whatever satisfaction, it could gain out of this. However, just before it stumped down, the man watched as a tri-bladed knife flew right under its foot. A sudden flash of yellow blinds him, but in the process, he felt someone grip his arm. Then, almost instantly, he felt the weight of the tree lifted off him as he ended appearing out of another flash as the kunai impacted the tree with a loud thunk.
The flash in his eyes starting to go away, he looked up to see a blonde clad in a black and orange tracksuit. It dawned upon him who it was when the person looked down to check on him. The teen in front of him gave a two-finger salute, pulling his kunai out of the tree. Qrow watched him as the blonde adjusted his gloves. The golden irises of the teen shined in the darkness, orange pigment around his eyes seemingly glowed in the night.
The Ogre Grimm roared, thrashing about with its four arms, but the teen was undeterred as he continued walking forward. Flipping the kunai up, The Ogre grabbed the tree, slamming it toward the golden-eyed Shinobi who just disappeared into a yellow flash. Appearing just above the tree from where the kunai was, he formed a blue sphere in his free hand that he then exploded outward. The force of the shockwave sent a beamlike blast into the giant Grimm.
It collapsed to its knees, holding the hole in its chest, allowing the blonde to run up it. Cocking his fist back, giving a mighty roar, the teen slammed the punch forward. Amplified by natural energy, the punch was strong enough to tear the head of the beast. A wet, squelching noise sounded over the rain as the head of the Grimm flew off. It turned into a black dust cloud soon afterward, allowing Qrow's savior to take a deep breath.
"Oh man, I really owe you a drink…" The Veteran Huntsman stated, laying his head on the ground.
"Heh," the teen walked over and helped him up, "Sup?"
"Nothing much Naruto, killing Grimm, miles away civilization…you know…the fun stuff." He replied with a yawn afterward, rubbing his injured arm in the process.
He walked over to Harbinger, picking up his weapon, and setting it to gun-mode. He checked his ammo, the canister inside of it full of dust still. He nodded to himself, readying, just in case the other parts of the horde came along their way. Naruto for his part kept Sage Mode up, standing still long enough to keep refilling the Natural Chakra he needed. Red eyes moved in the forest in front of them, the shattered moon shining baleful light upon creatures of the night.
Naruto stood side by side with Qrow, and took a deep breath, "They're coming."
"Seriously," Qrow sighed as he readied himself. "You can handle this right?"
"Definitely, can you keep up old man?" Naruto inquired, jokingly as he tossed a kunai over to him. "Keep that on you, it'll allow me to teleport to you."
"Right," Qrow pocketed the blade. "There might be a Grimm in the air above us or two, I was kind of hoping to follow them back to Mountain Glenn…"
"Screw that," Naruto spat as he tossed the kunai into his left hand. "You're not gonna go on a suicide march. I just came from that general direction; another Grimm horde was in front of this one."
"Was?" Qrow questioned, surprised by past tense.
Clicking his tongue, the Shinobi saw red eyes in the tree line dart in front of them. "They might be a little bit pissed off."
"Fuck 'em, we're gonna rip and tear." Qrow readied Harbinger's scythe mode, "Until either they or we, fall!"
"Hell yeah," Naruto got another kunai out, "Get ready Qrow!"
The first packs of Beowolf crashed through the trees, with Naruto and Qrow charging forward. The veteran Huntsman sliced the first Beowolf to reach them in half. Naruto sliced through two of them using Wind Chakra coming from his blade. Jumping up, meeting an Alpha midair, Naruto crashed the back of his foot against the beast's head. The beast's head exploded on impact, turning it into black dust. Landing in the mud, hands first, he spun on his palm to angle himself so he could deliver a kick into an incoming Beowolf.
The Beowolf crashed into the mud, sliding across it before Naruto landed on top of it. Using the beast as a makeshift board, Naruto road it across the mud, propelling himself with wind chakra before kick-flipping it into another group of Beowolfs before forming one-handed hand seals. As the small pack of Beowolfs lunge at him when he landed, they were met with a concussive blast of wind from his free hand. Easily deflecting a claw slash from another Beowolf, Naruto jumped up and kicked it in the side.
Getting sent over toward Qrow, the man slashes the beast in half as he killed another in the same swing. He jumped forward, gripping his scythe's staff with both hands, giving out a loud war cry. Slashing downward, aura flowing off the weapon and himself, the Beringel fell in two pieces bursting into black dust. Turning his body, Qrow then bats one toward Naruto, the blonde slashed it in half as they continued to walk forward.
Naruto jumped back to avoid a Beringel before countering with a leaping punch. His fist smashed right through the head of the Beringel, its black matter flew into pieces across the area before turning into black dust. The dust was used as a cover for a Creeper that leaped out, mouth wide open to take Naruto's head. As its teeth closed, they shattered across Naruto's Nature Energy enhanced skin. Prying the beast's jaw apart, Naruto ripped it in half before throwing parts away with a war cry.
Kicking upward, the Natural Energy force of the kick sent a couple of Beringels into the air. Qrow turned toward Naruto, stunned at the power the younger man was displaying. He saw the golden irises, much different than his ocean blues, shining in the darkness. Like a beacon of hope they gleamed, he smirked, jumping up and slashing the beasts in half before switching Harbinger into gun-mode and landing behind him.
He shoots at several Creeps as they ran along the treeline. He managed to nail several in the head, but his injured arm made him wince between each firing. Naruto blocked a claw slash from Beowolf by putting himself between Qrow and it. The claws ripped through his clothing, exposing his mid-drift. Qrow turned on his heel, shoving the barrel of the gun-mode Harbinger into its mouth and squeezed the trigger. Its head exploded into droplets of red and black matter before it turned into black dust.
Naruto growled while stripping his compromised upper clothing off, "Damn it that was my last tracksuit…"
"Deathstalker on your three o'clock!" Qrow called out, making Naruto turn around as he finished taking off his upper clothing.
The Deathstalker's stinger slammed forward, but Naruto caught it. Jumping up, Naruto twisted his body to use the Deathstalker as an oversized mace, slamming it into smaller Grimm below. The red-eyed Huntsman felt the ground shake from the impact. Watching as Grimm started to focus more and more on Naruto. The blonde slung the Deathstalker into more and more Grimm before tossing it up. He spun around once, sending a sharp wave air up that sliced the beast in half.
Elbowing a Beringel that tried to tackle him, the added force of Nature Chakra caved the beast's face in. Naruto launched the beast back, killing it instantly as it slammed into several trees, knocking them over. Roaring out the blonde lunged forward, smashing a kick into another Beringel, caving its chest in. Landing on the ground, the blonde backflipped just enough to dodge a few barbed feathers that had been launched toward him.
A Nevermore flew down from the clouds, nearly grabbing Naruto. The Shinobi dodged out of the way in the last second, slashing the air in front of him, trying to cut the beast down. It was nimble, smart enough as well, to dodge the shifting blades of wind. Naruto gritted his teeth, feeling something bite into his thigh. He looked down to see a Beowolf trying to bite his leg off, but its teeth shattered against his thigh due to the Natural Energy coursing through him. Turning around, Naruto smashed his fist down into its body, splitting it in half!
The Veteran saw Naruto breathing hard, moving toward him while switching Harbinger back into scythe-mode. He cut down several charging Creeps, dodging around the blonde, and even transforming in and out of his bird form to dodge around the young man. Qrow transformed one last time, appearing behind Naruto and slashing upward. Cutting up a Beowolf Alpha as it tried to leap on the exhausted blonde, who stood perfectly still.
"You good?!" He yelled at The Shinobi.
Naruto's eyes flared with power, "Never better…"
Qrow slashed the head off another Beowolf, looking up as two Nevermore circled above them. He turned Harbinger into gun-mode before launching a volley of fire upward. Naruto appeared behind him, both dancing around each other and killing Grimm left and right. They were in perfect sync, with Qrow jumping up in time for Naruto to kick him higher into the air. Firing round after round downward, spraying a load of destruction across his view, Qrow switched Harbinger back in scythe-mode and deflected several feathers that had been heading toward them.
Breathing hard, Naruto slammed a punch into another Beowolf before stabbing it through the throat. Slicing its head off, he stumbled forward but used the moment to sink a kunai into the Creep's skull, killing it instantly as it charged into him. Getting knocked down into the mud, Naruto launched a kick backward, catching another Creep by surprise as the force kicked its skull in.
Qrow launched himself toward Naruto, slicing another Creep in half, letting the blonde get up. "Getting tired, shorty?!"
"That was a lucky shot and you know it, stay close to me!" Naruto shouted as he stood up, weaving hand seals.
Slamming his hand into the mud, the winds suddenly started to swirl around them. The Huntsman's eyes widened as the clouds started to form a funnel above them. The funnel hung directly over them, forming a vortex around them both. Qrow was grabbed by Naruto, keeping him from getting blown away. He watched as the Nevermore got sucked into the vortex as well.
"Time to end this," Naruto clapped his hands together. 'Fūton: Tatsumaki No Jutsu!'
His Sage Mode ran out, making his eyes turn blue. Collapsing down, he watched as the Nevermore fell to the ground. Their wings twisted and broken, sliced apart from the rapid winds above. Qrow ran over to them, slicing their heads off with ease. All around them, any tree within three hundred yards was stripped bear of greenery. Breathing hard, he turned to see Naruto, who was struggling to stand up.
The teen's bare chest and abdomen exposed, glistening with rain that slowly stopped falling. Collapsing to a knee in the mud, the blonde looked at the red-eyed Huntsman with a smirk. Qrow, himself, was breathing hard as shuffled over to Naruto. He formed Harbinger back into its normal form, placing it on a magnetic part of his utility mode.
"What the hell was that," Qrow breathed out as he stood above Naruto.
"That," Naruto replied with a cocky smirk, "Is a long story…"
"Tch, dumbass, you nearly got yourself killed coming after me. I'm old, you're young, shit man…" The Veteran Huntsman helped the blonde up. "I'm not seeing anymore Grimm, killed them all I guess."
"You better be lucky I'm so fast," the blonde stated as he got up on his feet. "If not, you'd been a cooked bird."
Patting the blonde's shoulder, Qrow rolled his eyes, "Guess you're in then?"
"You think?" Naruto questioned with a laugh.
"Still though, Grimm Hordes just don't turn around for anything." The older man spoke to the Shinobi. "We need to figure out why, and the only way I can figure out why is Mountain Glenn."
Salem watched as The Dark Flower tendrils lurched down, stabbing into Matatabi's back. They began to pump into her the black sludge from the lake above, she thrashed about, restrained by the chakra absorbing tendrils. Her eyes started to turn red, she looked over at Chomei. He was struggling to maintain himself as demonic wings began to form on his back to replace the ones he had lost. Over half his body had turned black, with his shell turning white in the process.
"What…are you doing to…us?!" Matatabi yelled out in pain.
She stood there, watching the Bijuu struggle, "Please. Don't take it so personally, honestly, if I knew you'd join my side willingly there would be no need for this."
"Liar…" Matatabi struggled through the pain.
"I am many things, but a liar? That is something I've yet to be. I'm just not foolish enough to take your words into consideration because your loyalties will always lay within Uzumaki Naruto." Salem replied curtly and walked up to the great beast of blue flames that were turning black.
Matatabi responded by bathing her in blue flames, surprising Salem. The woman was engulfed in the flames, her shadow disappearing from the light. Matatabi smirked, triumph turned to shock as the flames died down, and slowly a light emerged. That light began to reform Salem, who merely flexed her right palm. The Bijuu was stunned silent, this was impossible to comprehend, very few people she knew had complete immortality.
The Queen of The Dark Lands sighed, "Do not think I enforce this upon my own will. I am forever punished for the sins that I supposedly committed. Uncaring Gods, with no concept of love, punished me long ago for not wanting to give up my precious thing in the world."
"They torment with this, every day, and The Dark God hath mocked me further with this appearance. I am a Demoness, as my mother was before me, her fairy tales were truth and reality was a lie." Salem turned her back to Matatabi, who was stunned silent still.
The Queen took a deep breath, "I pity you, and I pity the boy that you follow. We're all toys in a grand game without end, the cycle shall continue to tick onward, despite our sadness."
"Your mother, it couldn't be…there's no way…" Matatabi realized something but didn't want to say it aloud.
"Do you want to know why I must do this to you? This immortal body is a double-edged sword for The Gods. They may use it to mock me, to make sure I know I could never have my children back, to become the monster in this little tale. However, it is the perfect vessel for power equal to theirs, and that is what they forgot…" Salem began to walk away.
Matatabi struggled more, "Why do you tell me this?"
"Because," Salem hid her face from Matatabi, "I find it only right. As I said before, I'm not a liar, you may take this information as you will. Granted, you'll probably won't last as long as Chomei over there."
Matatabi knew she was right, her will was fading quickly, "I pity you…"
The Queen of The Dark Lands sighed, walking away, "For that kindness, I ask that you understand…"
"My rage is never-ending, not until the Gods pay for, they've wrought…"
The grand doors to The Dark Flower's room closed behind Salem. Matatabi looked toward Chomei, who was struggling all the same. She felt her power to fight to begin fading fast, she knew what this flower belonged too, and it would only be a matter of time before they both succumbed to this. The dark sludge traveled more and more, into her body. Her flames becoming jet black along her forelimbs and tails.
"Matatabi, fight it!"
"I can't…Chomei…"
"Kurama will find us!"
"KURAMA IS NOT COMING!"
Both looked at one another, Matatabi looked down on the ground, "Father…please help us…"
"The very Gods she spoke of are the ones that came with them, I know we'll find a way to beat this!" Chomei yelled, struggling as more of himself started to turn Grimm. "Father will find…him…"
"Chomei," Matatabi glared at him, "Father hasn't told Naruto the truth yet…"
"Damn it all, why is keeping him away from us?" Chomei breathed hard, guttering a growl. "I will not end like this. We can power through this!"
Matatabi roared, the power of it shook the room.
In her throne room, Salem sat upon the throne. She sipped a glass of wine, crossing her legs as she looked up at portrait she recently had made. It was of a blonde-haired man, with green eyes. He was holding a blonde-haired baby, wrapped in a pink blanket, but standing beside him was a woman with ashen hair and lavender eyes.
'Pity me they will, but with your power mother, I know we'll have our long due vengeance.' Salem finished her wine, dissolving the glass with magic.
She took a deep breath, and thought about it, 'If they pity me…perhaps one or two may agree with me. Maybe just maybe, Naruto will as well.'
Giving a dark chuckle, she looked at a mural of a figure standing in the center of Eight Tailed Beasts, with a ninth standing with him in the center.
'All in due time…'