I know...I have no excuses. It's been over two months and all I have to show for it is a chapter for each story. Even worse is that I don't see myself getting too much more free time to write any time soon.
Not to say I'll have no time to write, just that I'll be likely writing at about the same pace. Now I gave myself a decent amount of planning so hopefully it isn't too long before the next update, but we will see.
Now I did truly love the encouraging reviews you guys have been leaving. I still have a desire and drive for this story, largely in part to all of your support! The fact that I've been able to keep my passion for writing this story since 2020 is awesome in my mind. I'm hoping to get this wrapped up soon for everybody's enjoyment.
Please enjoy and tell me what you think! And check out my other story as well if you've got the time!
"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked. He'd taken Ruby to a desert mesa he found while training earlier that week. They sat there slowly watching the sunset on the horizon.
Ruby sighed as she leaned back into his chest. "Better than I did last night for sure."
"Mmm," Naruto wrapped his arms around her as they settled to watch. "You know you scared the hell out of me, right?"
Ruby snorted slightly, "Scared you? I thought I was dying. Kurama is the only reason I made it. I'm pretty sure he cauterized my wounds."
"He did," Naruto nodded. "He's really glad that he was there. He wants me to tell you he's proud of you. He said you fought like a true warrior."
"He could tell me himself," Ruby rolled her eyes before leaning back and looking Naruto in the eyes. "He's just too proud to say it face to face."
Naruto chuckled lightly, "You're right, but it's an unspoken rule that we don't call him out on these things."
"Ah," Ruby smirked. "My bad Kurama."
Suddenly a gravelly voice echoed in both of their heads, "Cheeky brat."
Ruby's smile only widened in response.
"…You did good little Rose," Kurama's voice said quietly before the link was cut.
Naruto and Ruby settled into a comfortable quiet as they watched the sun dip lower and lower in the sky.
"What's the plan?" Ruby asked lowly while they watched.
"I don't know entirely," Naruto sighed slightly. "I know that we need to use everything we have, but the possibility that Salem could have something planned for me does put a halt on some things."
"So what do we do?" Ruby asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"We train you all," Naruto said simply. "You put Salem on her ass, Ruby. We need to get you all as strong as we possibly can. I'll get something planned as a contingency, but getting you all stronger is what you all need to focus on. She claimed she has her horsemen, which number four according to legend, and then we also have to worry about the seven that the God of Darkness told us about."
"…"
"I did kick her butt, didn't I?" Ruby's eyes gained a mischievous glint to them.
"Don't go getting all cocky now," Naruto rolled his eyes. Ruby just looked up at him as the last bit of the sun disappeared over the horizon. As the last ray of light vanished around them, they met in a soft yet meaningful kiss.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"Alright," Qrow said once everybody had gathered in the Shade Academy Headmaster's Office. "Now that Naruto and Ruby are back from their date—"
"I just wanted to relax!" Ruby groaned with a roll of her eyes.
"With your boyfriend, alone, with a pretty Vacuan sunset going on," Qrow rattled off. "Right, got it. Anyway, we need to take stock on everything. The whole game has changed now. Grimm are a minimal threat now, and we have Salem on the back foot for the first time in…in…"
"Eight thousand three hundred and…seven years, I think." Oscar…Ozpin said.
"Right," Qrow frowned. "But this time, there's an end in sight. Now, Ren and Blake brought up an excellent point in that Ozpin hadn't thought of what Salem had planned for the gods once she got all the relics."
"I was truly just focused on making sure it never happened," Ozpin frowned. "An oversight to be sure, but I knew that if she got the relics it would be the end of Remnant anyway. Since I knew that as a certainty, I never cared much for the how."
"Either way," Naruto stepped forward. "We have three of the relics in Vacuo right now. I thought about going ahead and getting the Relic of Choice from Vale and relocating them all to a place that Salem could never retrieve them regardless of whether we win or not."
"A few problems with that," Jaune blinked. "First, you're assuming we won't win."
"I am almost completely certain Salem will be ended once we make our final push," Naruto frowned. "But it would be irresponsible to not prepare for failure when we are carrying all of Remnant on our backs."
"Ok," Jaune shrugged. "What about the Fall Maiden? You killed Emerald, right? Where are her powers?"
"Uhm," Persinette stepped forward hesitantly. "I…uh…well that's why I'm here."
Everybody turned to her questioningly. In response, Persinette just took a deep breath. Suddenly, her eyes lit aflame in a brilliant yellow light.
"You're the new Fall Maiden!" Raven blinked. "But Emerald never met you. The chances that it would go to you are just—"
"I imposed an image of Persinette into Emerald's mind before I killed her," Naruto said, ignoring the slight flinch from Persinette.
She remembered the moment she received the powers in the middle of the desert. While nobody else noticed due to everything going on, it was monumental for Persinette. She'd seen the soul of a broken woman crossing into the afterlife with nothing but regret and pain to carry her along.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
*Flashback – The middle of the desert in the evacuation*
Persinette blinked as a world of brightness came to being around her. She was in a beautiful world of wonderful forestry, the reds, yellows, and oranges that autumn brought was just a beauty to behold.
The crying of a distraught child, however, was another thing entirely.
Persinette rushed through some nearby foliage and quickly found the crying child in question.
The girl had short mint green hair, and was dressed in a cloth that could barely be called clothes. Rags were a more appropriate term in Persinette's opinion, and she grew up in Mantle!
"Hey there," Persinette cooed softly, crouching down and slowly shuffling to the child. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
The child immediately startled and scampered away from the woman. She started shivering terribly.
"I-I was just hungry! I'm sorry I stole!"
"Hey now," Persinette shook her head. "I'm not mad at you for anything. I just want to know what's wrong. I want to help you!"
"Help me?" The girl blinked. She then looked down sadly. "Nobody's ever wanted to help me. The one person who did help me didn't even know she was doing it…And she's dead now."
Persinette felt her heart break at the child's words. "Well…I'm sorry to hear that about your friend. Regardless, a child should never have to worry about getting help when they truly need it. A child should always be cared for. Let me help you, please?"
The mint haired girl sniffed, "You really mean that? You would help me?"
"Of course!"
"Would…" The girl's lips quivered. "I don't think you really can help me…so…would you help other kids? Would you help them instead?"
For a reason she couldn't quite put into words, Persinette knew the girl's words to be true. She couldn't help this child. But making her a promise so that she could rest easy?
That, she could do.
"I will help every child I can. Any I can so that they don't have to go through the troubles you did."
The girl sniffed again and smiled. She held out her pinky, and Persinette didn't wait long to wrap her own around it.
Thus, the oath was solidified.
"I didn't choose you," The girl rubbed at her eye with her free hand. "But maybe that's for the best. I don't think I made the best choices in life."
"Everybody makes mistakes," Persinette reached out and caressed the girls face softly. "But you shouldn't worry about that now. I think…I think it's time for you to rest. You haven't had near enough time for that, I think."
"I wonder if I'll have a bed," The girl suddenly smiled wistfully, and Persinette felt her heart break even further.
Finally, the girl stepped away from Persinette. "I trust that you will do what you promised. Just…do as much as you can, please. I don't know what life should have been like…but it couldn't have been like this. I have to believe that."
"It isn't," Persinette nodded. "And I'm sorry you had to think otherwise…"
"Emerald," The girl smiled. "My name is Emerald Sustrai."
"That's a pretty name."
The girl smiled and slowly aged before her as she slowly dissolved away. Finally, she reached an age where Persinette immediately recognized her. She hadn't spent very much time with Teams RWBY, JNPR, and Naruto due to how busy they were, but she did know that they were keeping an eye out for this girl. She'd seen Naruto looking at a picture of the girl. When she asked, Naruto simply said "She's just somebody Atlas is keeping an eye out for."
"Tell him I understand," Emerald shed a single tear as her lower body finished fading away. "With all the anger gone, I understand why he did it. She was special to me, but there was no changing the fact that she just wanted people to suffer as much as she had. That had to be stopped…and I understand that now."
"Of course," Persinette immediately knew who she was talking about. Naruto had to be the common factor here.
"Time to go," Emerald sighed as she looked up at the sky. "I wonder if Mercury will be joining me soon."
"I hope not…" Was the last whisper Persinette heard as Emerald disappeared.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"I…" Persinette struggled for words as everybody stared at her. "I met Emerald. I already shared what all was said with Naruto, but I wanted to tell everybody that she was sorry…before she died."
"Sorry?" Penny blinked a few times. "Are you sure this was the woman who tricked Pyrrha into destroying me? She was an excellent liar. I wonder if she was being truthful."
"I'd be surprised if you could lie during that state," Ozpin chimed in. "They met on the doorway of death. As Emerald's soul faded, she had that one final conversation with Persinette. Truth is born of the soul, and lies are born of the mind. Lying is an adaptation, whereas truth is pure. There was not enough left of her to form a lie in that place."
Naruto remained silent throughout this. Raven and Qrow exchanged glances. They knew exactly how Emerald died. She died swiftly amidst the rage of Naruto when Ruby fell through the crossroads. Naruto killed her swiftly and without mercy. Not so much as a split second for the woman to surrender…to redeem herself.
They worried that Naruto was feeling guilty about this. And that exact moment was when the dreaded question was asked.
"How did she die?" Ruby asked suddenly. It seemed that nobody had seen fit to update her on what happened immediately after her fall.
Nobody answered. They all knew, but nobody wanted to broach the topic with Ruby. That would involve talking about Naruto's breakdown.
"I did it," Naruto sighed. "I…killed her when she tried to retreat with Salem."
Ruby nodded. She somewhat expected that answer. With a heavy swallow, she asked. "How did—"
"I ripped her soul out of her body," Naruto answered swiftly. He wanted to be done with this. "I touched her soul, sifted through her mind for any important information, imprinted Persinette into her final thoughts, and pulled it out."
Ruby pursed her lips worriedly, "Naruto…You swore you would never play with somebody's soul again. You manipulated her soul so that it could work in your favor."
"I know," Naruto said thickly.
"You…" Ruby struggled for words. "I understand killing her, but we have no idea how much damage you could do to a person by ripping their soul out. You saw the pain that Cinder went through when you simply tried separating the maiden powers from her soul. You could have—"
"I know!" Naruto cut her off loudly. "I know Ruby…I know."
"Emerald understood," Persinette stepped in. "I think…I think she welcomed the release. The hate, the pain, the suffering…it was too much for her. For all her age, her passing in our crossroads showed me that more than anything, she was still just a scared child lashing out at whatever she thought she needed to."
Ruby met Naruto's mismatched eyes for a few more seconds, before sighing and looking down.
"You were…emotional," Ruby conceded. "I guess I get it. I want to see it though."
Naruto immediately stiffened, "Absolutely not."
"Naruto I want to see what happened," Ruby's own voice hardened slightly. "I was the only one not there for any of it. I want to know what happened."
"I don't want you to," Naruto shook his head. "There were some things that you shouldn't see."
"Shouldn't see?" Ruby asked suddenly. "Or things that you don't want me to see? Don't you think I've noticed that everybody is being exceptionally quiet about certain details from after I fell?"
"I think," Marrow suddenly stepped forward. "I think that we would all like to see what happened. You found us Naruto. That means that you…"
His voice trailed off, and Naruto sighed. He'd like to say it was pride that made him hesitant to show them. That his pride was hurt from the events of what happened after Ruby's fall
Truthfully though? It was shame.
"Inton: Kaiso (Recollection)," Naruto whispered quietly as he prepared himself to impose an illusion upon everybody that blurred the lines between Genjutsu and reality. Just as Jinn would do.
His blue rinnegan eye pulse, and a blue ring of energy expanded to encompass the whole room, leaving everybody with only darkness.
Th darkness persisted for them all. After a few seconds, there was the sound of battle in the distance. The sounds grew closer, but echoing louder than all of them was the pained voice of one Ruby Rose.
"D-Daddy…It hurts."
Then, a single whisper before the world around them burst into light, "Ruby!"
.
The illusion faded around them, and Naruto couldn't bring himself to meet Ruby's eyes. He'd shown all of them everything from the exact moment he woke up, to the moment Vacuo arrived to evacuate them all.
Ruby let out a shaky breath as a tear trailed down her cheek. Naruto's pain, her family's, her friend's, seeing the Ace Ops bodies…it was a lot to take in.
"You held up all of Atlas?" Theodore let out a breath. "The whole thing? You held it up as if it was just another day at the gym."
"I had help," Naruto muttered. "But that isn't important right now. I showed you all what happened, now we need to focus on our plan."
Ironwood quickly shook himself back into focus. He wasn't overtly surprised at Naruto's power now that he was reunited with Kurama. Qrow had given him plenty details about how powerful Naruto was with the beast.
"Right," The half tin man said. "So, get all the Relic's together, gather forces, and attack Salem? More or less, that sounds like your plan."
"In a way," Ren explained for Naruto, seeing that the boy was busy focusing himself on Ruby. It was visible to all of them that she was physically restraining herself reaching out to Naruto or her family. It wasn't every day that you saw how much losing you would break your loved ones.
"Ozpin has explained how the vaults were made." Blake said quietly. "Obviously it wasn't the staff, since they always stick around."
"They are a unique form of space time manipulation," Weiss nodded. "They don't have seals, but the maidens naturally tap into nature's energy. When directed with Ozpin's magic and experience, they were able to create a small dimension that would only open to their own chakra, or magic."
"And creating a vault with all of our powers would ensure that Salem could likely never retrieve the Relics, even if we lose."
It was Winter that spoke, "She can easily acquire one maiden at a time, but all four at once? Not so easy a task."
"It is a fair idea," Ozpin nodded thoughtfully. "I could definitely mold the magic from the maidens into a newer vault. With the extra magic, I could likely even add some defenses that only maidens could deactivate."
"Redundant, but not a bad idea," Qrow shrugged.
"But where?" Ironwood asked. "Where could we put a vault that we could readily have access to? Picking a single Kingdom could lead to war in the future. One kingdom having all the power would lead to a power struggle."
"They wouldn't have power," Theodore smirked. "They would only have the illusion of it. Each Kingdom would have their maiden, and as long as that didn't change, none of the Kingdom's would actually have a Relic's power."
"As for the where?" Ren smiled lightly. "Well, it's good that the Kingdom's already have a treaty around this particular place."
Ren's eyes caught something outside Theodore's office window, and he gestured to it. Everybody turned only to see a golden form of Kurama carrying a lifeless Amity Colosseum on its back in the distance. It trudged its way towards Vacuo, lumbering slowly with other golden glowing figures floating alongside it in a loose formation.
Ozpin smiled widely, "A structure that has been passed from Kingdom to Kingdom and served as a symbol of peace for all of Remnant."
"Yes," Naruto said quietly, finally rejoining the conversation. "And we will create a vault in the center of its arena so that the Relics will forever be mobile. Even more than that, I will teach every Maiden a way to use their chakra as a distress beacon. There will be enhanced detection seals placed all around Amity that will immediately use its improved gravity dust sensors to shoot itself into orbit the second this distress signal is sounded. Only all four maidens sending a similar 'all clear' signal will cause Amity to descend back onto the ground. The all-clear signal from each Maiden will serve as different parts to a password. So even if Salem were to get all Maiden's under her wing, as long as at least one of the previous maidens refused to teach the next maiden the signal, Amity will never be Salem's."
There was silence in the room for the longest time. Finally, Naruto spoke again.
"This is the plan that Ren, Blake, Jaune, Ruby, and I have come up with," Naruto said, turning to look at Neo, Persinette, Raven, and Winter, all of whom were standing next to each other in some form or fashion.
"We won't lose," Naruto said with conviction. "But even in the event we do, Remnant will always be safe. Remnant will forever be protected…"
"…By the four Maidens of Remnant." Three of the four maidens echoed.
And although one of them couldn't speak, the caring hand of Roman Torchwick on the mute maiden quickly had her setting her eyes ablaze just as her sisters in arms did.
She made a promise, after all. She owed Ruby Rose and Naruto Uzumaki more than just her life. What had been returned to her was worth preserving the life of every single person on Remnant, no matter what.
And everybody else in the room felt the conviction in these four people. They all showed conviction because they all had a promise to keep. One to protect the young, one to rebuild the fallen, one to mend the past, and one to make right the future just as another had for her.
"I've decided that there will forever be two groups to serve Remnant," Naruto said, his voice gaining a power to them despite his previous shame. "Hagoromo Otsutsuki did an amazing thing for my world, but the fact remained that he entrusted his ambition with his children. While I think believing that your children will be better than you is admirable, I also see the possibility for fault there.
"So because of that, I've decided these two groups will continue past all our lives, and new members will be decided by merit, not birth. That way the groups will hopefully always remain true to their goals. Mother Nature has always been caring, kind, loving…cold…unforgiving…harsh. Mother Nature perfectly embodies this group, because their goal will always be to preserve Remnant."
Naruto took a deep breath before finishing, "And the second group will be much the same, although they will be more focused on bringing the fight to Remnant's threats before said threats can endanger the lives of those here.
"The Mothers of Nature, and The Nine Disciples will protect Remnant long after our deaths."
Along with the Maiden's display of fiery eyes, the rings of every single one of the nine glowed brightly as Naruto's convictions and intentions were burned into the very being of all the rings.
.
.
.
"And I have no doubt these groups will accomplish what I never could," Ozpin spoke up as he took over from Oscar once more. "I fully believe that Oscar and I will do our best…now…can we talk about the matter of actually dealing with my wife?"
He received a few odd looks, to which he only shrugged, "What? It's not like we ever had a discussion about divorce, now did we?"
"Fair enough," Qrow snorted.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
It'd been a long conversation, but eventually they had a good enough plan ironed out for how to deal with Salem. It would be at least two to three months before they were ready, but there was no denying that they would be by then.
So Ruby sat with her team and family in a separate dorm while Naruto was out with Ironwood and Theodore checking Amity Coloseum to see what repairs should be made.
"I'm sorry," Ruby said amidst the silence. The light hearted conversation had died fairly quickly after Naruto left. Ruby couldn't just let the elephant remain in the room. "I knew she would probably kill me, but I never thought that any of you would have to see me like that."
"Ruby," Taiyang quickly shuffled over to his daughters bed. He sat down right beside her and quickly wrapped her into a hug. "You have nothing to be sorry about."
Ruby said nothing, and just enjoyed the loving embrace from the only parent she had the privilege of knowing.
"It was terrifying," Yang blankly twirled a strand of hair between her fingers with Blake leaned against her. Her eyes started tearing up slightly as she recalled the day. "Y-You looked so b-broken, Rubes. You looked so pale, and there was so much blood, and…and…"
Blake, rather than comforting Yang, quickly moved away from the girl and gently ushered her to join her father and sister. The blond didn't hesitate to do so. The family hadn't properly taken time to appreciate their reconnection, and now that they finally had some down time to do so, there was no stopping the water works.
"I'm sorry," Ruby's muffled voice filled the room as Yang and Tai proceeded to try their best to smother her.
Nobody said anything else for a long while. Eventually though, Qrow chuckled, "You know…Kurama said you gave her hell though. I doubt anybody's given her that much trouble since Oz was at his best."
Taiyang sent a small glare at Qrow, but Ruby's giggle quickly took any heat from it.
"I did kinda beat her butt," Ruby whispered. "I think…I think I scared her!"
"Of course you did," Raven cut in, despite her feeling out of place. "You gave her a fight she never expected to have. Heh, only Summer's daughter…"
Ruby peaked out from behind Yang and her dad and shot a smile at the dark haired woman. There were no words said, but the appreciation for her comment was clear to the both of them
The moment, was ruined for Raven, however, when her oaf of a brother decided to nudge her slightly as a reward for participating in family bonding.
Rather than his intentions, it had quite effectively ruined the moment for her.
'Positive reinforcement,' Raven rolled her eyes. 'If he tries that psychological cat trick on me again I'll shove Omen up his—'
"Thanks guys," Ruby sniffled. "I am sorry about worrying you all. I'm just glad you all are ok."
"And we are glad you're ok," Blake said from the floor. Weiss quickly echoed her and smiled reassuringly at her partner.
Suddenly, Yang burst out laughing as she wiped her tears away from her cheeks.
"What?" Ruby suddenly asked.
"Just," Yang shook her head. "I mean, it was only a few years ago we started at Beacon, and now we've been named protectors of Remnant by Naruto, with all three of the leaders of Remnant agreeing with him. We are all a part of the Nine Disciples and…mom…is part of the Mothers of Nature. I guess that makes Naruto…"
"Remnant's Sage," Ruby quickly said. "Just as Hagoromo intended. Hagoromo spent all his life and afterlife protecting the Elemental Nations, and something tells me Naruto will be doing the same…if not more."
Everybody nodded in agreement with her. It was hard to dispute her words with how quickly Naruto was progressing in things. All he needed to do now to accomplish what Jinn said he needed was Perfect Sage Mode and teaching them after merging their cores. He was already stronger than he'd ever been.
Or rather…he should be.
"So," Weiss said suddenly. "We have about a day or two before we start hitting training really hard. What do you guys want to do?"
Ruby didn't even give everybody a chance to answer, "I want to get everybody together and hangout."
Weiss blinked, "Sure…I'll get Team JNPR and Oscar and—"
"No!" Ruby shook her head quickly. She quickly pushed herself away from Yang and Tai as she started bouncing in place. "Everybody! SNNN and CFVY are here too, right? And I want to have that sleepover with Penny! Oh! And I want some cookies!"
Weiss felt her confusion crack as a smile graced her face just as everybody else did.
Still Ruby…more badass…but still Ruby.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"More!" Naruto barked.
"I can't!" Ruby gritted her teeth. Her eyes were glowing something fierce from underneath her eyelids as she focused on the secondary well of power that Ra had given her access to. "It burns too much!"
"It's supposed to burn!" Naruto shook his head. "Did it look fun when I was using Kurama's chakra? This power was tailor made for you!"
Ruby grunted as the glow of her eyes lowered to just a bit brighter than her eyes typically glowed these days. The light didn't just disappear though. Suddenly there was a ripple of white light rolling through Ruby's body. It shined through her skin just like it would have if you held a bright flashlight up to your hand. It rolled through Ruby's body and continued wrapping around her in random patterns.
"NOW!" Naruto yelled as he brought his hand down on her. A twenty-five-ton boulder that Naruto had previously had hovering over the two of them suddenly dropped.
Ruby's eyes suddenly snapped open, her iris's glinting like a piece of jewelry in the sun. She glanced upwards and brought her fist forward in an uppercut against the rock as it bore down on her. With a crash, the rock shattered around her fist and sent the debris scattering around her.
"Good," Naruto reappeared beside her. "You're getting better at maintaining your focus while striking with your hands."
"Maybe I'm struggling because I'm bad at it!" Ruby griped between pants of breath.
"Nonsense," Naruto shook his head as he inspected the broken rocks around them. "You are maintaining focus much better when running, kicking, or striking with your knives. This is no different, you're just getting caught up in your own worries. Stop worrying about being subpar. Your strength makes up for it in this instance. You need to be able to use any advantage you have."
"Yeah, yeah," Ruby quickly sat down. "How are the others doing?"
"Good," Naruto smiled. "Weiss is anxious to get caught up with incorporating her abilities into her combat power. Being able to instantly make seals is something not heard of before. A seal master would previously have to pre-make seals if they planned to use it for combat, and even then it came doing to organization and how fast you could pick your seal. Her though…she can do great things."
"Keep your praise focused on me," Ruby gave him a humorous glare. "Just the facts mister."
Naruto chuckled, "Yes ma'am. Another thing Weiss is working on is a seal that can be incorporated into the rings so that chakra I give you bleeds much slower than it did in Atlas."
"Can't you do that?" Ruby asked in a puzzled tone.
"I already have the seal," Naruto smirked. "I just need to make sure she comes up with something comparable to what I have. Can't have her slacking on her seals just because I'm better right now."
"Right now?" Ruby blinked. "Is she already so good that you think she will surpass you in sealing soon?"
"Oh definitely," Naruto nodded. "If sealing is in my blood, then it's straight up engraved in her soul. She is moving leaps and bounds faster than I ever did."
"Good to hear," Ruby nodded. "Although it sounds like you're slacking."
"You're all going to excel at one thing or another, but you're all years away from surpassing me on any one thing, much less in enough things to give me a real challenge."
"I'll be faster than you in a year."
"Not even close, Akaiho." Naruto grinned. "But that's a cute thought."
"I'll show you cute!" Ruby growled and launched herself at the blonde.
"Gah! Get off me! We still got training to do!"
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
It'd been a month since Ruby was brought back, and already Weiss was happy with her results.
"Stop getting distracted!" Naruto barked as he threw a punch at her face.
With a yelp, Weiss brought Myrtenastor up. A glowing white glyph with the kanji for 'Absorb' appeared about halfway down it's blade and took the brunt of the strike.
"Good, now counter!" Naruto grinned.
Weiss gracefully slid backwards and whipped Myrtenastor around like a wand. Naruto readied himself as a glyph with the kanji for 'Reflect' appeared to his right.
Suddenly, the kanji in the center of glyph shot outward, taking the shape of a fist and striking at Naruto's side.
He grunted as he blocked with his forearm. He felt it…it was good…about…
"About eighty percent of the force I used." Naruto said satisfied. "That's an improvement for sure."
"I'm not sure Myrtenastor is the best weapon for this form of combat though," Weiss said as she wiped some sweat off her forehead. "I mean, I'm using the reflection seals for close combat situations, but I need space in order to make the most use of it."
"Well," Naruto pondered slightly. "This is pretty similar to what a Mizukage's signature jutsu was apparently. He used it to reflect jutsu and long range attacks though, so maybe you could do that?"
"That's a good idea," Weiss conceded. "But I don't want to completely throw out the idea of using it for close combat. This method basically eliminates the drain of my own aura. I only need to form the seals, not actually use energy to get them to do anything. It's all the kinetic energy I collect that does that."
"Right," Naruto nodded. "You could always focus on making those seals a little smaller and maybe…working on actual taijutsu?"
"Absolutely not," Weiss scowled. "I spent years perfecting my fencing skills. I won't throw that away to become some brutish fighter like Yang!"
"…"
"I said no!"
"…"
"It's not happening!"
"…"
"Whatever. It's not like I need to build up all of Yang's muscle anyway. I'm just reflecting kinetic energy, not creating it."
"That's the spirit!"
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"How much more do I need?" Yang groaned as she waved sand from the absolute dust bowl in front of them out of her face.
"More!"
"How much bigger can the explosion be!" Yang asked in exasperation.
"Bigger!"
"Gods you've been annoying since Ruby got back. Just cause you two can make kissy faces whenever you want now doesn't mean you should!"
"I didn't know it Rube'd you the wrong way." Naruto grinned.
"…" Yang looked at him in disbelief, her eye twitching violently. Naruto suddenly furrowed his brow, realizing exactly how his words had sounded.
"…"
"Puns are my thing. And don't ever use my sister's name to allude to any kind of rubbing that involves you again…doesn't sound right."
"Yeah, fair enough."
"I'm telling my dad too."
"Dear gods please don't."
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
A sphere of pure darkness stood out plenty amidst the bright yellow sand that spanned out to the horizon in every way you looked.
The darkness suddenly broke it's shape, cascading down the dark haired figure that had stood in the center of it. It flowed around her and seeped into the sand like water. It would have been a beautiful picture of contrast if not for the horrible scowl painted on the girl's face.
"I still can't make any large constructs other than a sphere," Blake complained loudly, a rare showing of frustration coming from her.
"Shadows act like water when given physical form," Naruto explained, doing his best to copy an explanation that Shikamaru had given him once upon a time, many years ago. "You can do mythical things with shadows once you give them physical form. You can control the matter it touches, you can make the matter disappear into…wherever that shit goes to. You can create weapons out of it, use it for utility, the applications are endless. But the fact remains that it is not a physical thing, and when you make it into a physical thing, it has to choose a way to act, and until you make it choose another state of matter, it chooses liquid."
"That a highly intelligent answer," Blake said in surprise.
"Thank you," Naruto nodded.
"I'm surprised you were smart enough to remember all that when Shikamaru explained it to you."
"Oh fuck you Blake!"
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jaune gulped nervously as he eyed the kunai in Naruto's hand.
"No, but the seal is good and I know you have plenty of aura. Also with the alterations I made to it, it's going to be quite interesting to see in action. Besides, we both know it's actually more efficient this way anyway."
"But it's a lot more painful to actually get stabbed than it is to let my aura take it!" Jaune argued.
"Stop being a baby." Naruto rolled his eyes before thrusting his kunai forward.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"That's it!" Naruto said giddily as he stared all around Pyrrha and himself. "Hold it!"
"It's…just…a little…difficult," Pyrrha ground out, sweat pouring down her face.
"Difficult but deadly," Naruto said reassuringly.
All around them, Pyrrha's wires were unspooled and intricately weaved around each other in a deadly, and near invisible mess of razor sharpness.
Suddenly, Naruto pulled a straw dummy towards Pyrrha.
"Think fast!" Naruto shouted, and Pyrrha's eyes immediately snapped towards her target. With a wave of her hands, the wires that were only visible to Naruto due to his Rinnegan immediately converged on the straw dummy in multiple places, crossing and passing through the body of the dummy as if it weren't even there.
The dummy hit the ground in front of Pyrrha's feet in at least thirty different pieces.
"Just because you use both wind and earth chakra to use your magnetism doesn't mean you can't still enhance the wires with wind as well," Naruto smiled. "And on something that small? You're once again a force to be reckoned with Pyrrha. Congrats! I can officially say you're now stronger than you were at the Fall of Beacon."
Pyrrha's smile could have brightened up a room just as easily as Ruby's eyes in that moment.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"The rings innately have as much control over chakra as I do," Naruto explained. "They get their instincts from me. So while you might not have the amount of control that the first did, know that it's close. I've come leaps and bounds in control since I was younger. If you have enough chakra, there isn't much you can't do."
Ren nodded in understanding, leading Naruto to continue, "Now. While I don't think you'll be making a True Several Thousand Hands any time soon, I still think you can be a force to be reckoned with if we get you properly acclimated to what Wood Release is all about."
"Nature," Ren recalled from their training in Argus.
"Nature," Naruto smiled as he sat cross legged and took his meditative stance for entering sage mode.
Ren shuffled from side to side a few times. Naruto quickly took note of his nervousness.
"Don't worry, you're not starting sage training or anything like that. I just want you to get used to the feeling of nature. It's going to be important for you. You're creating life with your jutsu, so it's important to know what the essence of that life feels like, right?"
Ren nodded determinedly and sat down across from Naruto.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"I wanna make big storms!" Nora jumped up and down. "I wanna do super big thunderbolts like I did at that monstra!"
"Let's focus on something a little smaller first," Naruto chuckled. "I want to start small and work our way up. I know it's tedious, but that's how you get the big stuff to be super easy."
Nora groaned, but quickly nodded.
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
"Alright," Naruto regarded Oscar, who was staring at him excitedly. "First, we need to find some more long range attacks for you. You have been great at using your crystals for defense and close ranged combat, but we need you to be more than just a shield. Everybody needs to be able to hold their own."
Oscar's eager face suddenly fell slightly, "Ozpin says that's likely because of him. He thinks that his instincts are starting to bleed into mine…he always played the defensive game."
Naruto suddenly frowned, "How long do you have?"
"No telling for sure," Oscar shrugged. "Ozpin says that on average, his hosts lose their sense of self two or three years into the reincarnation. They become one around that time. Sometimes more time, sometimes less."
"Well," Naruto licked his lips. "We are still a few months away from that danger zone. I wanted to wait until after Salem to have this talk with you all, but we might as well cross that bridge now."
Oscar looked at him curiously, and Naruto took in a deep breath.
"I'm sure Ozpin is…tired." Naruto said. "I know I don't want to meddle with people's souls, but if both parties are willing…"
"Are you, saying you want to kill me?" Oscar blinked once. Naruto's Rinnegan easily caught the increased pulse in his carotid, as well as an instant small sheen of sweat. "I-I know I want to stay myself, but I don't think I want to die either!"
"No," Naruto snorted slightly. "Nothing like that. Well…not you. I want to separate Ozpin's soul from your body and let it move on. If…Ozpin is ready that is. If not, I suppose I can create a body for him. It wouldn't be a resurrection, technically speaking."
"I—" Oscar suddenly stopped. Having Kurama in him for most of his life, Naruto could easily tell there was an internal conversation going on.
"He wants to know you can get him to the afterlife," Oscar finally said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "He…we don't want to try this and simply push this curse onto somebody else. It wouldn't be right."
Naruto smiled sadly, "I'm sure I can get through whatever it is Ra did. I'll probably just have to reverse the technique I use to bring souls from the afterlife, and deposit his directly in it."
Oscar nodded quickly before letting out a deep breath. "Ozpin…he wants me to thank you for giving him hope that he can see his families again. While they filled the void in each life, he always felt more and more empty any time he watched them die. He says…he can't wait to see Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring, and all his other children. He sounds…happy."
Naruto smiled softly, "Well…I doubt I'll ever feel as happy about killing somebody as I will when we do that. After Salem, yeah?"
Oscar nodded, "He wants to see it through. After Salem."
]-xxxXXXxxx-[
Naruto walked into the office hesitantly, knocking on the door to announce his presence.
"Yes?" An older man asked, the whir of a machine tickling Naruto's ear as Dr. Pietro Pollendina turned the corner in his odd wheelchair.
"Oh!" Pietro smiled. "Naruto! Good of you to come by! I was just making some tea with Maria and Penny!"
"I can always come back later," Naruto said hesitantly. "I'd hate to impose."
"Oh nonsense!" Pietro chortled as he waved the blond in. "You're Atlas and Mantle's hero! There will never be any imposing on your part."
Naruto frowned as the familiarity of the statement hit him. The Hero of Atlas…Mantle…Konoha.
"Thank you," Naruto smiled weakly.
Pietro led Naruto into the next room where Maria and Penny were seated and making small talk.
"Oh there you are," Maria scoffed. "Here I was thinking you'd forgotten about me, you brat!"
"I've…been busy," Naruto tried to reason.
Maria shook her head, "I know that. You bunch have been busier than I ever was in my hay day."
"Well," Penny said forlornly. "They are working rather hard. I haven't had much time to talk to Ruby lately. Although that sleepover was rather interesting. I don't think I quite understand why we made such an event over where to sleep, though. Is sleeping that wonderful father?"
Pietro gave Penny a fond smile, "That depends, darling. Sometimes, though, sleep can be quite relaxing and refreshing."
Penny perked up slightly. It seemed that more information about what being a person was about could make her temporarily forget about her other woes.
"It was actually you I was hoping to ask for help from, doc," Naruto turned to the doctor.
"What can I do you for?" Pietro asked nonchalantly as he sipped at his tea.
"Well," Naruto chewed at his lip a moment. "It seems that everybody I'm training—"
"The Nine Disciples, right?" Pietro suddenly asked, a coy smile barely peeking out from behind his tea cup.
"Right," Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. "They seem to be outgrowing their weapons."
"How so?" Pietro's interest was suddenly piqued.
"Well," Naruto shrugged. "To be quite honest, they are too strong for them. Yang doesn't even use her Ember Celica anymore. Ruby relies on her eyes empowering her weapons to use them. Weiss uses Myrtenaster as more of a wand than an actual rapier. Only Blake uses her weapon, and even then, sending her chakra through her ribbon is inefficient with the material it's made of anyway."
Pietro looked at Naruto in confusion, "Their weapons are top of the line. If those weapons aren't cutting it, then there isn't really anything else I can do. Miss Rose' weapon is actually the one I had to work on the least. Her smithing skills are impeccable. It was only the science behind the upgrades that made me the better choice for improving them."
"That's actually what I was going to suggest," Naruto smirked slightly before hardening his expression. "What I'm about to tell you is only known by Ruby's closest friends and family. I'm sure Penny is already in the know, but I wanted to reiterate the importance of discretion."
"Of course," Pietro said without hesitation. Maria nodded beside him, and Naruto continued.
"Ruby recently evolved her eyes powers. Similar to how a person's semblance can evolve." Naruto began explaining. He could tell Maria's attention was immediately fully focused on him, and even Pietro was curious.
"She can now enhance things. Be it their effectiveness, their durability, their capabilities, the possibilities are far and wide," Naruto said. "And while she supposedly has a similar ability, I can easily create things. On top of that, Weiss is capable of incorporating seals in the tiniest of spaces with impeccable precision. With the three of us, as well as your expertise, I believe we can make them all weapons that are unrivaled in this world as well as my own."
Pietro's eyes glistened in excitement, and even Penny seemed extremely curious about the possibilities.
"I can create the base," Naruto explained. "Ruby can enhance them before, after, or during the designing and creating process. I'm sure a collaboration between the two of you will be amazing. While you're all doing that, I can help Weiss with the seals needed for some…interesting things we'd like the weapons to do depending on the user's fighting style."
"This does sound like a dream come true for me," Pietro hummed with a smile. "I have always wanted to leave my mark on the world. What better way than to help provide weapons to the very protectors of Remnant?"
"I'm only asking because I know how good you are," Naruto said confidently. "My chakra, Ruby's abilities, Weiss' sealing skills, and your creative mind could make us something truly great. Something that could be useful to them all regardless of how strong they get."
Maria suddenly gasped, "You think these weapons would be able to stand to an Otsutsuki? That they would be viable weapons against their strengths?"
"With all our creative skills together?" Naruto asked with a smirk. "Without a doubt. With the right weapon, the only reason for failure should be the wielder."
"This is all very exciting," Pietro suddenly clapped. "The facilities here aren't as great as Atlas, but I could easily commandeer some machinery from one of the frigates. I'm sure James wouldn't mind. Where do we start?"
"With the metal," Naruto shrugged. "They need something that they can channel both aura and chakra through. And not just any chakra metal. With Ruby's help, I think I can make something even better."
"Alright then," Pietro nodded. "Then let's meet with Miss Rose as soon as possible and get started. You wanted to be prepared within a few months. Well if they are going to be comfortable with their weapons by then, we need to start immediately!"
"Well," Naruto suddenly felt extremely uneasy. "With that comes the hard part…with talking to Ruby about it."
"Ah," Penny suddenly nodded, a small chuckle escaping her. "Right. Convincing her to replace Crescent Rose probably isn't something that even you could do."
Thoughts?
I kinda feel as though their weapons can't really keep up with their newer capabilities. And even if they can, it would be hard to articulate how they continue to work for them in the future when they get stronger. Ya know?
Hope you all enjoyed! Have a good rest of your night!