A/N: *braces for hate*
Sorry if this seems shorter; it wasn't meant to be. Still kicking somehow~!
This took a bit longer because, I had to rewrite this chapter THREE TIMES! The first iteration had heaps of character death -no less than three!- but said deaths felt cheap and rushed, so I scrapped it. Second one was too chummy/erratic, so I scrapped that, too. Third was entirely too angsty so I scrapped that as well. And thus came the fourth draft.
The end result was neither light nor dark, not black or white, but...grey. Still, its actually nice writing one of my tenser stories...!
As ever, the Embers rule remains. If folks don't like this story? Poof! Gone! It...well, it won't be continued. That's no joke, folks. I'm so busy these days; basically, I don't have time off. Not anymore. My free time is limited and as such, I can't afford to focus on something folks don't like. Reviews keep me writing in these times, and keep the daily updates flowing. Silence...silence only hurts. I hate having to beg for feedback, but without it...well, it feels like I'm not making an impact.
No questions this time; I've kept you long enough.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, themes or memes!
Now, then. Are you ready? Yes? No? Maybe so? Because! Here. We. Go.
"Life ain't simple, but we've all got a reason for living it. Peace, Pride, even Love.
But some of us would rather chase ghosts.
That's no way to live, ya know."
~Far From Home.
Ghosts
"You abandoned your post, Jaune."
Five little words, and yet they damned the young man sitting at the table before him. Or perhaps it was the cuffs that did that. Blasted heavy things, those; gone right up to his elbows. Naruto wasn't even the one wearing them and he still grimaced at the sight of them. Jaune Arc wouldn't be going anywhere with those on him.
His room -or cell- wasn't much to look at, a dreary looking six-by-eight room furnished with only the most basic necessities and no windows to speak of. The sole means of egress was a single reinforced door, the outside of which was flanked by no less than two guards at all times. Perhaps the measures were a touch extreme. But one couldn't be too careful where Hunters were involved. Least of all one that had wandered off for reasons he still didn't understand.
To his credit, Jaune at least appeared contrite when he hung his head. "...I'm sorry."
Sorry? A muscle jumped in Naruto's jaw. Sorry didn't cut it. Sorry didn't bring back the dead; those innocents Callows had butchered before being brought down. So what if they were civilians? So what if Robyn managed to win the damn election? A single mistake had led to questions being asked, riots in the streets, and worse.
"I know I messed up," Arc spoke quickly, no doubt see his whiskered visage darken with anger. "And I'm sorry, really, I am! But-
"BUT?!" Anger sparked and his hands slammed down on the table, rattling it alongside the shackles binding his arms. "Not buts! We nearly lost Robyn because of you! People died, Jaune! Three civilians! Dead!" he spat at him. "I had to tell their families myself! Not to mention your team!" He flung up his arms and whirled away. "You're team's ready to rip me apart for it! RWBY, too! What possible reason could you have for running off when we needed you?!"
...I can explain!" His fellow blond barked back, refusing to flinch in the face of his fury. "I'm telling you, I saw her!"
"Can you?" Naruto quirked a brow his face gone stormy. "Then by all means! Saw who, exactly?"
"Pyrrha!" the cry tore from him in an anguished sob.
...who in blazes is Pyrrha?"
Jaune told him. In no uncertain terms, he told him everything. From the moment of their meeting, to the tragedy of her death. Not a single instant was spared. Minutes passed, how many, he wasn't sure. By the end of it, he was angrier than ever, but now that anger was turned inward.
"You're telling me you saw a ghost?"
Jaune shrugged miserably. "She's real. I touched her, managed to grab her shoulder before she got away."
"We have video footage around the city." he relented with a sigh. "I'll look into it." There it was, hope in the boy's eyes, hoping against hope that his precious partner might somehow still be alive. It was too painful to see, so he turned away. ""You're on leave until we sort this out." If you're telling the truth, you'll be let out of here. But if you aren't...
Jaune bowed his head.
"I understand-
"No!" Naruto bit down on a surge of anger and bit his tongue. "You don't. There will be consequences for this."
"You don't understand either!" the retort surprised him, and too late he realized he'd touched a nerve. "Have you ever lost someone, someone who was your whole world and then suddenly-
The words tore open an old wound in the whiskered warrior's heart.
"Kurama." he rasped out the word.
Jaune blinked. "Who?"
A thread snapped in the back of his mind. He didn't know. Of course he didn't. How could he? And yet they infuriated him all the same, aggravating his temper to a feverish degree. For an awful instant he saw them, faces, so many faces from his past staring back at him, sad and miserable, never knowing what had become of him. He'd left them behind all the same. Another name tumbled from his mouth. Jaune might have said something, but he didn't hear him.
One punch.
That was all it took.
Then everything went wrong.
A single swing of his fist and the metal table crumpled like so much tinfoil; physically folding in half. Jaune jerked back, not the target of his assault but startled by it all the same. Bound to the chair as he was, he could only stare on aghast. Naruto's fists swung down again in a twin hammer blow.
"Jiraiya! Sasuke! Sakura! Kakashi! Iruka! Konohamaru!" The names came hot and heavy now, one after the other as he beat the table. "Tsunade! Kiba! Hinata! NEJI!" Three. Six. Nine. His arms burned but he didn't stop until all that remained was fine powder. "Shikamaru! Ino! Choji! Everyone!"
He straightened, eyes burning, lungs aching. Jaune cringed back, trying to squirm away, yet unable to do so.
"You lost one life." his wrist flicked out, seizing him by his collar. "I lost my entire world!" When he tried to speak, he roared him into silence. "Don't you dare say I don't understand! I've lost more than you can even begin to comprehend and sure, I stumbled, but I got better. I got over it! I DID MY DAMN JOB!" he shook him fiercely. "Because people are depending on me! Just like your team's depending on you!
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!"
No, no, no, of course not. Blasted kids. Never in the wrong! Not me! Never me! He had to go. Needed to leave before he did something monumentally stupid.
With a hoarse voice Naruto called for the guards. They entered with ashen faces, no doubt having heard the clamor he'd made. It didn't help when the say the pile of dust that had once been a table at Jaune's feet, and the sniffling mess of a huntsman behind it. No doubt this would fuel the Atlesian rumor mill to new heights. For once, he didn't have the heart to stop them.
On trembling legs Naruto stumbled away, giving orders for them to clean the mess up.
He glanced back at Jaune, strangling a snarl in his throat.
"Your team needs you. You're their leader. Act like it!"
The door slammed behind him.
(.0.0.0.)
...I have returned."
Arthur looked up from his task.
As ever, his pawn awaited their orders.
Such a loyal little soldier. Ever without question.
"Well done, my dear." he patted their head. "One down, two to go...
(.0.0.0.)
"Well done!"
Naruto made it all of three steps down the hall before the assault came.
One moment he was vista was clear; in the next he was hit with an avalanche of blue and white. An arm looped around his shoulders and dragged him close, even as another slapped him heartily on the back. He squirmed for a moment, realized he wasn't under attack, and found himself summarily released a moment later.
Ciel's voice echoed in his head. 'Ouch. That looked painful...
Because it was!
"James?!" He took a moment to breathe, wincing at the bruise he could even now feel forming on his back. "What the hell?!"
In all fairness,James Ironwood wasn't known for being physically affectionate; it was more a brisk, manly slap on the back, but it nearly knocked the wind out of him nevertheless. Say what you would about his methods, but the tin man had a heart under all that steely resole.
And he was smiling! Actually smiling! Had someone killed the general and put an impostor in his place?
"Alright," he groaned, "I'll bite. What's got you in such a good mood?"
"Everything!" The man's laugh startled him. "With Callows in custody, we've deprived Salem of a pivotal pawn." Ironwood was happy to oblige him; for once, he didn't look stressed out of his mind. "Our top surgeons are working on him and arm aside; they say he'll make a full recovery given the extend of his injuries," and didn't Naruto just wince a little at that, "And we'l be able to question him soon."
"I want to be there."
James nodded. "Granted."
By the sage, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him smile like this. Not carefree, not exactly, but far more relaxed. Had his stress -his Semblance!- really been affecting him that badly? He'd done his best to pick up the slack for him, but this was the calmest he'd seen him in months.
Why did he have a bad feeling about this?
"Moreover," Ironwood continued apace, "With Robyn finally elected to the council, we have a fair chance of implementing our plans." he turned a faintly bemused smile to a nearby screen mounted on the wall, highlighting her giving a speech to her constituents. "She's a good woman." a worn smile graced his tired face. "I have high hopes for her."
Naruto saw the chance to needle him and went for it. "She has high hopes for you, too. Veeeery high hopes."
Ironwood blinked, somewhat taken aback. "Pardon?"
"Just don't be surprised if she calls you down to celebrate."
Huh. The great general of Atlas could actually blush. Who knew?
Unfortunately, it reminded him of an altogether more unpleasant topic.
"Those plans you mentioned, His smile soured a little. "You're still giving the go ahead to use my blood?"
"On limited terms only. Do you still have qualms about that?"
"No, just nervous." he shrugged. "Disabling semblances temporarily is all well and good, but we need to be careful about this." A thought occurred to him. "You haven't been using those pills Pietro made, have you?"
The silence turned stifling.
"James!"
"Sparingly." the general pivoted to lean against a wall. "Once a week. No more."
"I'm gonna hold you to that." Naruto jabbed his chest with a finger. 'We still don't know the side effects. "And this isn't over." He barreled on before the conversation could move to murkier waters. "Tyrian, he was working with someone. Had to be. No way the lights went out like that."
"You don't understand!"
He blinked out the memory and found the general shaking his shoulder eve so gently. "Are you alright?"
"M'fine." he rolled his eyes but didn't bat the palm away from his shoulder. "Just thinking."
"About Arc?" James flicked a glance back toward Jaune's cell. "Is he sane?"
"I dunno." Loaded question, there. He didn't need to read the room to know what he was saying. "He claims he saw a dead woman. Do we have any files on someone called Pyrrha Nikos?"
James paused. "The Nikos girl? Yes...she perished during the falling of Beacon. She died bravely."
"Are we certain?"
"Yes." his brow furrowed. "Miss Rose was adamant about that in her report."
Hmm. He'd have to talk to Ruby, see what she had to say. Maybe they'd overlooked something.
"Then who was he chasing? I know Jaune." not as much as he thought he did apparently, but the fact held. "He wouldn't hare off like that for nothing. "Was it a semblance? I know there are all kinds, but...
"Someone with the ability to change their appearance, perhaps." James granted him a grunt, face closing down. " Pyrrha Nikos is dead. Ashes on the wind. You're chasing a ghost, son.."
"Maybe so." he waved a hand, trying to damp down the dread he felt at the thought. "Good thing I'm not afraid of 'em anymore, eh?"
Ironwood granted him a wary smile. "Then you might want to watch your flank."
A shadow reared up behind Naruto.
"Hugs!"
"Penny, why?!"
"Because!" She only held tighter. "Dad says hugs make everything better."
Guileless green eyes blinked up at him. "Is he correct?"
They really did, but he didn't have time for this right now. He had leads to track down, witnesses to question, and a prisoner to interrogate...once of which he was looking forward to more than the others. None of which could be entrusted to a clone. This was sensitive work.
"Penny, I appreciate this, really, I do, but...hey!" he tried squirm free, only to find her grip stern as steel. "C'mon! Lemme go!"
"No buts!" Ciel swept in from the right to snatch his other arm. "Your stress levels are much too high!"
"They are not!" he kicked and flailed to no avail. "C'mon, ironwood! Help me out here!"
James was already waltzing away, the absolute bastard. "Don't be too loud, now...
Naruto glowered at him and shook a fist in his direction. "I'll remember this!"
Ciel kissed his cheek. "I can think of something better to remember."
His face burned. "Eh?"
"Indeed!" Penny chirruped, catching her hint for once. "Good memories are the best kind!"
In no time at all, the girls had dragged him to their room. And wouldn't you know it?
Stress relief felt pretty damn nice.
A/N: Feels good to write a tense plot again. The gears are a turnin'!
As ever, the Embers rule remains. If folks don't like this story? Poof! Gone! It won't be continued! That's no joke, folks. I'm so busy these days with virtually no days off. That makes my free time terribly limited and as such, I can't afford to focus on something folks don't like.
Reviews are my fuel. I can't write without them~! Not a wit or a word!
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
And enjoy the previews!
And as ever:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS AHEAD!
BEWARE~!
(Previews!)
"You wanted to see me?"
Winter looked positively harassed. Still, like any good Specialist she pinched the bridge of her nose and soldiered on. "My mother wishes to speak with you."
"Alright."
"Naruto, no!
"Naruto, yes!"
Willow Schnee was certainly...a character.
"So nice of you to meet with me."
Naruto took a seat opposite Willow.
"I hear you knocked up my daughter."
Ack!
"Behind you!"
Penny yelped a warning.
She needn't have; Naruto stepped in and took the blade to his chest. It skittered off hardened skin. Startled, his attacker moved a hair too slow. He caught their hood before they could retreat and ripped it away. Scarlet hair fluttered through the air, bright eyes glaring at him behind the mask. He couldn't tell if the hair was real or not, or even if she was wearing contacts. Whoever she was, she knew how to fight.
A boot caught his chest and kicked him away.
Blue eyes blazed gold. "Hello, little ghost. So nice to finally meet you."
An angry hiss greeted him. He cracked his knuckles and waded in, golden sparks flickering about his shoulders, Penny and Ciel flanking him.
"Lets see who's behind the mask!"
"Take the shot."
Tyrian tittered in his cell. "Oh, how nice! Come to visit me, have you-ack?!"
He gasped as clenched knuckles barreled into his face.
Teeth flew through the air.
A towering scarlet eye opened in the dark.
"I SEE YOU."
"Nanomachines, son!"
Nora whooped in the background. "I want that!"
No." Naruto cracked his neck and waded into the fray. "You really don't."
"Don't you see! This is what Salem wants!"
Cinder sneered. "I will take what is mine."
"What do you fight for? Love? Peace? Honor? Foolishness. They weigh you down.
"Foolish?" his smile alarmed her. "Only foolish one I see here is you. Go crawl back to your master. You'll find no easy prey here!"
"You can't just be strong! No! you have to be smart!" he caught a fist in an open palm, and flung them back, slamming them against a wall. "Can't just be deserving, you have to be worthy!" he snarled the last word, but a deadly blade swept over his head before he could pursue, forcing him to abort his charge and then block a second with his knee. Aura sparked as he held. "But all you have EVER been is...
A single spinning arc sent them skidding across the ground.
...a bloody migraine."
Who do you trust?
"Ruby," Naruto raised a hand, "Think very carefully before you finish that sentence. You can't take this choice back. Lets all just calm down."
She looked back at the three of them. Back to her team, weapons still drawn. Back to them again.
"Please." Penny clasped her hands. "Do not do this."
Ruby exhaled. And made her decision.
R&R~!