*Changed a scene, please reread.

Chapter Eleven: Orchestrated Hell.

"A thing of orchestrated hell, a terrible symphony of light and flame."

Edward R. Murrow

{White Fang Airfield.}
[One Week Later. 2:14 pm]

"You know what today marks, Corporal Aurum?" Naruto asked whilst smiling brightly as he felt the cool winds of September blow over him. "Today marks my seventy fifth day in this world." The shinobi answered him, laughing slightly at the annoyed look Aurum had. "Sorry, I was just super excited about it, ya know!"

"Jeez kid, you'd think it was your birthday." Aurum commented annoyed whilst seeing the blonde in full armor. "So, after we do this recon, we're going to go back to training with your weapon."

Naruto smiled before reaching down to the tubelike yellow scabbard on his back. He pulled the new wakizashi from it, something Aurum himself had made. It had a red hilt, with the blade slightly extended. Not a pure wakizashi, but not long enough to be a katana either. It was jokingly referred to Naruto as a wakitana, or a zatana. Aurum forgot which had come first, but that wasn't the best part of this custom-made weapon.

The tubelike scabbard had a button in the middle which Naruto pressed, making it extend out a couple extra feet. He hummed as he placed the hilt, which the bottom of it was lined with threading as if it was a screw, and slid it into the shift before twisting clockwise. The blade now affixed on top of the tubelike scabbard allowed Naruto to hold it up.

It was about the same height as him, this sword polearm. Aurum had noted that Naruto's interest in the naginata wasn't unfounded. The blonde had the movement speed, was small enough to make it work, and his dexterity with his hands meant that it wasn't a bad choice for the modified form of the normal wakizashi he had been practicing with.

Twirling it around lightly, made sure to keep his distance from Aurum as they walked. The polearm was about a foot longer than Naruto himself with the wakizashi affixed to it. The blonde's orange achkan fluttered in the wind as he went about doing the movements Aurum had taught him. When finishing the kata, Naruto unscrewed the wakizashi before putting it back into it's scabbard which was attached to his back via a magnetic belt pad on his back.

"So, what's the mission, do I finally get to use Hiruzen?" Naruto questioned whilst smiling at the name he had given his weapon. "I've been wanting to test it out, since well, all we have is wooden dummies."

"Well, it'll take this mission going belly up for that to happen, Recruit Uzumaki. Sienna Khan has given us orders to go recon the area where that large horde you've been hearing about was spotted. Nothing we've not done before. Still, our friend, Ferrous will be flying us." Aurum pointed out whilst smiling.

"Oh cool, I like Ferrous, he's always been nice to me. Jeez, I remember when I was scared to jump out of the bay door. I think I even hesitated for once, ya know!" The younger blonde gave Aurum a foxlike grin, and watched him reenact what happened with him kicking the air. "Then Bjorn comes behind me, and boots me out whilst yelling at me to get my ass off his transport."

"Pfft, yeah, he does that a lot. Can't have time to hesitate when you're on an active mission. So, pretty hard to sit there and second guess life choices when your falling into the air." The older blonde laughed before adjusting his collapsed halberd. "We're in for a good little flight, nothing too special."

"Dang it, well, I guess next time then!" Naruto laughed before walking aboard the aircraft. "Yo, Ferrous!"

Ferrous stood tall, with his head nearly hitting the ceiling. A tiger tail, burnt orange in color, wafted behind him whilst he did the checking of his aircraft. He had a burnt orange beard, with rust-colored eyes. He stood up, stretching lightly before walking over to Naruto.

The tall man smiles, holding out his fist to which Naruto bumps. "Alright, we're waiting on the two ladies, and we'll be taking off shortly." The pilot stated before walking over to a seat to sit down. "Aurum, these engines ready to put in some work?"

"Of course, they are, they've been ready to put in work." Aurum laughed before sitting down in a seat.

Naruto took a seat, whilst looking at the cabin of Black Cat Four. Their aircraft for today's sortie. The whiskered blonde took a moment to look at the various bells and whistles before hearing talking. He looked out of the bay door, seeing Luna, and Kihana walking toward them.

"Ah, about time, powder your noses?" Ferrous called out.

Luna blushes a little bit, getting on in silence whilst Kihana just chuckled and walked past him. Ferrous rolls his eyes before walking over to the pilot's section of the aircraft, and sat down in the cabin. He reached up, and grabbed the radio.

"This is Black Cat Four. I have four bodies abroad. Corporal Aurum, Specialist Kihana, Recruits Uzumaki, and Crest. How copy?" The pilot set his finger off the communication button. Hearing static at first before a response.

"This is control tower one, we copy you Ferrous. All other aircraft are ready, follow-on Black Cat One's mark. Begin pre-take-off procedures. All fuel crews make sure that all Black Cat aircraft are topped with combustion dust, and get out of the way. Control tower one, out."

"Alright, here we go…our first true mission flight." Luna breathed excitedly before looking over at Naruto as the doors began to close. "Whose on co-watch first?"

"That'll be more, we'll switch out every thirty minutes." Aurum stated before climbing up and into the co-pilot's seat. "Okay, Ferrous, we all set?"

"We're all set, let's get this flight going!" Ferrous pulled on the throttle, and everyone felt the bullhead begin its vertical lift. Aurum looked and Ferrous both looked out to see three other additional aircraft doing the same thing. "So, we got grid thirteen."

"Shit, that's an unlucky number." Aurum commented before seeing the other aircraft begin to tilt their thrusters. "Okay, children, buckle up! We're going max speed. We're going to grid thirteen!"

"Right!" All the others in the craft behind them yelled out.

{Over The Barren Wastes: Unknown Area.}
[Two hours later.]

"Black Cat One, this is Black Cat Four. Currently heading due east, northeast. The presence of the horde has gone undetected. If they're in the area, we're not seeing it." Ferrous said as he adjusted his burnt orange hair out of his face. His rust-colored eyes scanning over the area, whilst his armor jingled from him adjusting his tiger's tail. "Hard to believe it, isn't it? We're six hundred miles away from Kuo Kuana, and it's nothing but sand upon sand."

Naruto, who was taking his turn with co-watch, was looking over the horizon. Not even Suna had this much sand, not this much barren waste. Not even cacti grew here, he adjusted the binoculars he was given. Biting his lip slightly whilst leaning on the dash of the modified bullhead. Luna, meanwhile, who was sitting nearest to the mounted gauss gun, was sighing. She blew a loose strand of white hair from her eyes.

Kihana was checking over her Katana, making sure it was battle ready. She studied her blade, a sense of dread and unease filling her up. "Ferrous, don't be too eager, something is feeling off." She mumbled under head breath whilst sheathing her katana into it's scabbard. "Plus, I have a gut feeling that things could quickly go wrong if you're allowing your eyes to wanderlust."

"Wander-what-now?" Naruto questioned whilst keeping his eyes trained. "Isn't that even a word, Corporal Aurum?"

"It's a word, Spunky. Specialist Kihana, what's got you antsy?" The blonde squirrel faunus asked whilst stretching, adjusting his rifle-halberd on his back. "I get it, your itching to go after some Grimm with Storm Claw, but I think me, and Leopold aren't so keen."

"You guys do realize that if we're using our actual weapons, then this mission has gone completely pear shaped, right?" Luna chimed in whilst checking over her rifle. "If we start to have any contact with flying Grimm, aren't our orders to make haste back to Black Cat One?"

"Forthwith." Aurum replied whilst checking the storage locker next to him. "Naruto, what's the status?"

"Um, well, I don't see anything but sand." Naruto commented whilst observing through binoculars. "What's that game you all let kids play?"

"I spy," Luna chuckled under her breath. "It's basically you call out something, and we try to guess what it is."

"Okay, well, I spy something tan." Naruto giggled a little bit whilst looking to the right.

"Pfft, it's flipping sand." The rabbit answered with a restrained laugh. "Seriously, what else?"

"Um, let's see here…" The shinobi shifted the tubelike scabbard on his back. "I see, well, spy something…green?"

"Green…" Ferrous looked over to where Naruto was looking. "Holy crap, that's an oasis, all the way out here?!"

"What, no way!" Kihana hollered out before getting up, and walking toward the front. "I'll be damned, it's not a bad sized oasis either."

"Why isn't this on any the maps I saw back in The Belladonna Estate?" Naruto asked whilst looking at it still. "It's kind of big, ain't it?"

"Well, you see kid, back when Menagerie was still a Atlassian mining colony they didn't really explore the entire continent. Every single sortie, I mean every single one, we also find something new. There's actually a small mountain formation in the middle. One of those mountains is actually a nice sized volcano." Ferrous jumped in whilst still staring at the oasis, banking Black Cat Four to the left. "Screw it, I'm going for a fly over."

"Got the dust for it?" Kihana inquired.

"Got plenty of dust for that. Our maximum range is twenty-four hundred miles. We're only one-fourth through out fuel. If Bjorn, or Fjall got an issue, I'll just say that I thought I saw that horde." Ferrous laughed under his breath, rubbing his orange beard. "It's a little weird though, our grid is supposed to be where the horde was traveling to next."

Naruto hums a little bit before remembering the damage on Black Cat Three when it had pulled back in from it's flight a week ago. "Do you think that something might've changed their direction? Like a leader?" The shinobi asked whilst turning back toward the desert. "It's what Kakashi sensei would do if we had a brief encounter with an enemy whilst traveling for a mission, we'd switch roads."

"Heh, brownie points for thinking creatively. No, sorry, kid. Grimm aren't that creative. Granted, for all intents and purposes, I've seen a jackal trying to fling busted sandstone at ground teams before…but for one single Grimm to unilaterally shift an entire horde's direction…that's stretching it." The pilot replied curtly whilst scoffing at the idea. "The day a Grimm is actually thinking in terms of strategy, and tactics, is the day I'm dead."

Kihana punches Ferrous in the shoulder. "Oh, put a sock in that. Naruto doesn't make too bad of a point. I mean, look at Vale's Beowolf. They travel, and obey, a pack leader." The swordswoman pointed out whilst looking over to Naruto. "He's got an idea about what might be a reason we're not seeing Grimm."

"Don't Grimm ever fight each other?" Naruto questioned whilst gazing to the right now. "I mean, c'mon, not every single one of them can exactly get along with one another."

"Actually, that's the weirder thing. For the longest time, I've never seen Grimm fight each other." Kihana commented whilst shrugging. "Apparently, whatever it is, it's a driving force so primal that they recognize each other as allies."

"Hmm…" Naruto hummed whilst tapping his foot on the ground, and then he leaned forward. "What is that?"

Kihana, Ferrous, and now joined by Aurum all stared toward where Naruto was looking. It was off toward the right. A massive sandstorm forming, and heading north. Ferrous took a deep breath, and then got on the radio. The system crackled to life, and he held the communicator toward his mouth. Taking a moment, squinting, he shuddered slightly before calling out.

"All Black Cat squads, be advised. Black Four has spotted a massive sandstorm forming toward the east. It's currently blowing north, but…it's shifting." The pilot took a deep breath. "Black Cat Four is on route to investigate. Be advised, there is an oasis relatively near our position as well."

"This is Bjorn, go ahead and recon. Be advised, last time we went out with a storm forming like this, Grimm were inside. Shrikes included, so have gunners at the ready." Bjorn's voice filled the cabin as Ferrous nodded his head to the orders, and then sighed. "Brothers keep you, Ferrous."

"Brothers keep you as well, Brother Bjorn." Ferrous ended the call before pushing up on the throttle. "Okay, listen up. I need my gunners at the ready! Go time go time, this isn't a drill!"

Luna hopped up, getting on the turret before pulling the charging handle back. Aurum did the same for his side, and Kihana came behind them. She buckled them to the top racks, making sure if any evasive maneuvers were needed, they wouldn't go spilling out onto the sand!

Whipping winds filled the cabin whilst all of them felt Ferrous begin to descend down. A standard practice, to go in low and fast, letting the observation equipment do their jobs. Aurum clutched his left breast pocket on his armor. He kept a picture of his daughter in there, and he prepares himself for anything as they break the sound barrier.

"What do you need me to do, Ferrous?" Naruto asked whilst he continued observing with the binoculars.

"Go in the main cabin, get buckled, and hold the hell on!" The pilot ordered, watching with a smile as Naruto followed the orders to a T. The young man had hope, in Ferrous's eyes at least. The White Fang pilot took a deep breath before getting his aircraft one hundred feet into the air. "Okay, ladies and gents, here we go!"

"Aura up, fully charged!" Called out Luna, who looked over at Aurum and nodded. "Aurum?!"

"Aura up, fully charged! Here we go, alright, breaching storm in five…four- "

"Brace-brace-brace!" Ferrous suddenly yelled out as he yanked the flight stick to the left. "Shrikes!"

Naruto looked out of the door, seeing the large buzzard like Grimm careening just past them. He took a deep breath before feeling the bullhead climb! All at once, on both sides, Aurum and Luna opened up! Letting loose furious rounds of electronically induced death! Those rounds flew faster than any gas chambered round could. When they struck their respective shrikes, the massive beasts were torn to pieces!

Kihana hooked herself onto the rack above, watching the opposite side of Naruto. Both struggled to hold themselves onto their respective seats as Ferrous maneuvered Black Cat four to his whims. Naruto bit his lip, nervous from all the maneuvers. His eyes widened before he reached down, grabbing a kunai knife out with a tag on it.

The swordswoman looked over her shoulder, yellow irises widened when the kunai Naruto had held went flying out of Luna's door. It whistled just past her, striking an incoming shrike. The tag sizzled before finally it exploded, taking the Grimm bird with it!

BOOM!

Naruto smirked triumphantly before getting two more out, just in case. Kihana switched her katana over to it's rifle mode, scanning her door whilst Naruto kept her blindside along with Luna's covered. Aurum was forced to point up into the air as Ferrous maneuvered the war machine further into the storm. Grunting, and cussing under his breath for each emergency maneuver he had to make.

That's when he noted something, there wasn't any wind counteracting his movements!

"What sandstorm doesn't have high winds?!" He called out openly, praying that someone had a logical answer for him. When no one answered, he growled out. "Ah shit, I think this horde isn't a frigging horde, I can't believe I didn't note this earlier on my own little recon last week!"

"What are you saying, Ferrous?" Aurum called back.

"I'm saying this sandstorm isn't a frigging sandstorm, it's dust trail!" The pilot suddenly pulled up, careening upwards with the nose of the aircraft nearly at a ninety-degree angle. "I'm getting out of the dust trail; brothers knows what we'd run into!"

"What kind of horde could cause such a massive sandstorm?!" Kihana yelled out, fighting against the whipping winds as Black Cat Four broke from the pursuit.

Ferrous grimaces whilst now flying above the storm. "It's not a storm, it's a dust trail, this isn't just a horde…my gods this is an army of Grimm." The pilot shuddered before looking past the storm. He grabbed his radio, and called out. "This is Black Cat Four's, Ferrous. We've spotted an army of Grimm. I repeat, this isn't a horde, it's an entire fucking army!"

"Copy that, Ferrous. Exfil, and head west. We're rounding up toward the front of this 'army' at the moment. Prepare Hanji Thunder Spear Missiles for a bombing run!" Bjorn's voice echo throughout the cabin as he ordered Ferrous to gun the bullhead as fast as it could go. "Double-time, Ferrous!"

"Right, sir!" The pilot answered back before punching it. "All doors secure!"

The aircraft flies faster and faster. Now the doors, if they hadn't been closed before, are needed to now. Kihana and Aurum made sure to lock their door, whilst Naruto jumped over to assist Luna in locking hers. The blonde pocketing the explosive kunai during the process, but then something started to fill him with absolute dread! His heart began to pick up, and then he heard the Nine Tails' voice in his head.

"Lambs to the slaughter…"

Naruto then felt it's presence. A truly massive feeling of dread welled up inside of him. Something told him to move, and he did. Quickly wrapping his hand around the flight stick, causing the aircraft to barrel roll to the right. Right as it did so, a massive bone spike shut up, piercing the belly of the aircraft!

"What the fuck?!" Ferrous yelled as he shoved Naruto off. "Kid, you almost got us kil-oh what the hell is that?"

"That's not normal, I guess." Naruto breathed before suddenly feeling the dread again. "Something is targeting us, Ferrous!"

"I'm on it, climbing up!" He pulled back on the stick, making the Black Cat Four go into a rise. Ferrous reached up, activating the communicator. "This is Ferrous, break attack, I repeat! Break the attack, do not engage! Something is shoot from below, and it's shoot large spikes of bone!"

"Break-break-break!" Fjall's voice suddenly filled the cabin before static overcame it. Naruto looked out of the cabin's forward mirror before seeing Black Cat Three scream past them. A bone spear sunk right into cabin. He could see, through his now adrenaline-fueled sight, that the pilot was skewered by that spear with Fjall fighting to control it. "Black Cat Three is breaking, we're no longer combat effective, breaking!"

"This is Tesla, what the hell is going on?!"
"Tesla, this is Bjorn, get Black Cat Two on a course retreating back to Kuo Kuana!"
"This is Fjall, I got Black Cat Three recovered, we're heading to retreat waypoint!"
"How copy Black Cat Four?!"

Ferrous picked up the radio. "This is Ferrous, I copy each transmission, doesn't anyone have eyes on what is hitting us?!" He called out with sweat rolling down his brow. "Whatever it is, it's causing our wea-I mean new recruit to start trying to do flying lessons impromptu!"

"Weapon…" Naruto negatively thought before feeling his eyes slightly cloud over. He took a deep breath, getting ready to say something before suddenly his senses blared out every warning possible! "Ferrous, break left, break left!"

Naruto didn't have a chance to apply chakra to shift the change, he was suddenly slung up into the roof of the cabin! He felt it happen, internally, he screamed as he went flying out of the cockpit and slamming around in the body of the ship. Curses left the blonde's mouth as he bounced to and from, and on his last bounce he felt something come loose and meet him halfway inside of the ship. The metal cabinet hit his left leg, hard, and Naruto knew that at best it was fractured, or worse broken. That's not what got his attention though.

What got his attention was another ominous feeling. His body reacted, racing forward, reaching out his hands. It was too late, and soon the bony spear flew into the ship. Whistling past Naruto, the spear found itself striking Ferrous, unprepared, in the back as it impaled through him. The blonde shinobi's eyes widened as he felt the back spray hit, staining his hair reddish and orange.

"Ferrous!" Aurum screamed, whilst Luna and Kihana both held hands over their mouths.

Naruto's face was covered by the back spray, the pilot's blood coating his yellow hair. Ferrous was twitching, with his hands limply leaving the flight stick. Sticking out of him, approximately ten feet long, was a spear made of bone. A hell of a throw, by human standards, and what threw or launched it had them zeroed in just enough to ensure that wouldn't be the only fatal impact!

SKREECH!

Naruto barely ducked in time as a spear blasted itself through the cabin, impacting the left engine. Taking it out, he suddenly felt Black Cat Three go into a spiral. Getting up, using chakra to anchor himself, Naruto launched himself at the prime moment toward the flight stick. Pulling up as hard as possible, the blonde gave it up when they breached a dust cloud, and came to see open desert in front of them.

"Brace-Brace-Brace!" Aurum screamed whilst grabbing ahold of Luna, shoving more straps onto her as Kihana braced herself, only for another spear to come in and slash her side open and cut the straps. "Kihana!"

"Urgh, Gods, ah!" Kihana screamed, unprepared for the suddenness before tumbling out of her seat. The left door flopping nearly open, and it would've taken her if Naruto didn't catch her before she flew out. "Oh, thank Gods, oh shit…"

"We've lost the horizon! Brace, damn it, brace!" Aurum screamed to the top of his lungs, watching as Naruto formed hand seals. "Naruto, brace, damn it!"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

CRASH!

{Above The Barren Wastes.}
[Thirty Seconds Earlier.]

Bjorn struggled to see through binoculars as Black Cat Four was hit with another bone spear. This time, the metal rending bone slammed right through the back bay door. It careened to where the bloody tip was sticking out of the front. He saw the machine start to fly awkwardly afterwards. His voice barking any, and all orders he could.

"Get into position! May day may day may day, Black Cat Four is critical!" Bjorn yelled over the radio as he saw another bone spear fly up from the ground. "Black Cat Four brace, gods damn you! Brace!"

No call, or response, just the bone spear rending the left engine off as it started to go into a flat spiral. Everyone, and that even included Fjall who was just on the radio stood by in stunned silence as Black Cat Four fell from heaven. It's black wings clipped, rendered mute, ruined by demons below. Bjorn was forced to watch as Black Cat Four spiraled out of the store, ahead of this massive horde, and fell right into the sands with black smoke clouds rising up.

"Gods no…" Bjorn breathed whilst the pilot brought them in closer, seeing jackals start to dash out from the storm. He grabbed the radio, screaming out. "Eyes on Black Cat Four, any survivors?! I repeat, any survivors, Grimm are incoming!"

Black Cat Two was already above Black Cat Four as they made it over. Fjall was mounting the gauss gun, firing into the incoming jackals. Bjorn's aircraft passes over, and that's when he sees a positive miracle! Naruto Uzumaki was up, somehow, but he saw the bodies he was dragging out. In this slowed down world he saw Aurum's limp body getting carried by the original, whilst clones carried and ran with Luna and Kihana over their shoulders.

"Sir!" The pilot screamed as he pointed toward the front. "Look!"

Out of the storm cloud emerged…the biggest Grimm he had ever seen. As if the legend made real wasn't horrifying enough. It stood nearly fifty feet tall, massively tall by any Grimm standard save a Leviathan Grimm. However, it's body, that of a very large deathstalker thundered as it stalked toward downed prey.

The massive body was easily one hundred feet across, it's two scorpion tails towered just as high as it's stalker upper torso. Bony armor glistened across it, fresh, undamaged. It roared out, sending a deafening roar that caused all Grimm in the army to start pressing forward.

"My gods, that thing is huge, look at it…isn't that a stalker on the upper torso?!" Grisha called out as he pointed at the top half of the monster as it slowly extended it's hands out. "It's…evasive maneuvers, now!"

Bjorn held on tight as a bone spear scrapes across one of their engines, barely avoiding being destroyed. Bjorn watched as a clone of Naruto ran out with wires, and over toward one of the flung out doors off Black Cat Four. He seemed to be making a makeshift sledge of sorts. Quickly working, and then he noted the kid's panic as he saw the monster.

"C'mon on kid, run…"

He watched as the boy hobbled forwards as his clones worked to secure the two women. Forming clone after clone at the incoming mass of Grimm. They easily took down the jackals. Hell, by the looks of it, they were forming clones themselves. Then, the most horrifying thing happened, that monster extended its wings out.

To thin to fly with, impossibly so…but then the purple mist leaking from it's mouth made the motive all too clear!

"RUN!" Bjorn screamed bloody murder as the purple mist spayed out of it's mouth, getting hit by the gust created by it's wings. "Recruit Uzumaki, run damn you, run!"

"T-ing t…zzt…g…o…"

He saw Naruto Uzumaki running toward the sledge, hobbling fast more or less, picking up the wire. This all happened just as the purple mist closed in on him. This forced Black Cat Three and Two to back off as well. Bjorn was just staring out, watching as this massive creature continued to spew forth mist.

Even the Grimm out in front of it were dying, slowly collapsing, hacking up dark liquid before dissolving. The pilot, not waiting for the order, turned tail and ran with the others. Bjorn just slumped into the co-pilot seat. Staring blankly into the cabin's window. Shaking his head, before taking a deep breath.

"Gods forgive me, this was only supposed to be a recon mission…"

{Kuo Kuana Library.}
[Around the same time.]

Kali and Blake had decided to go shopping around the city a little. With Blake being the bookworm that she was, it was inevitable they'd end up inside the library. The older Belladonna was currently looking through fantasy novellas, and books of historical fiction. Blake, meanwhile, was looking at the high fantasy section.

Blake was about to pull a book out when she stopped for a moment. Something…felt wrong, and she couldn't put her finger on it. Almost at the same time, her mother darted her head at her. A tense silence passed them, but by the fear in Kali's eyes she felt as if her mother thought something had happened to her of all people. She was beating herself up, being a scared little girl, because they both ended up missing Naruto's departure from the house.

"Mom, do you feel like something bad just happened?" Blake asked whilst looking at her mother, slightly worried. "I got a feeling in my gut that something terrible just happened, but I can't put my finger on it."

"I think that you're just over worrying, but why am I feeling…slightly broken?" Kali thought to her before grabbing a small book, and putting on a smile on. "Don't worry Blake, we all have tho- "

Riiiip!

Had she been holding the book wrong? Kali was holding the corner of a rather large novel she had mistakenly grabbed. The book was ripped in half, the bindings broken, sending pages cluttering to the floor. She took a deep breath, sighing to herself. Bending down, she took note of a sentence that caught her eye in the book.

"She took from the queen, drank of her ichor, and she herself a slayer became a demon." She read in her mind before looking at the book cover, and grimaced. "Oh, your father isn't going to be happy, this was an expensive book…Blake?"

She was staring off to space whilst grabbing a book. It took her mother calling her twice for her to finally shake off the stupor. "Oh, sorry mom, I just…I don't know. I was thinking about Naruto, I wonder if he's doing alright. I kind of can't wait for him to get leave so we can have some freshly caught fish again." Her daughter said before sighing a little bit. "I tried to go fishing like he does, but I can barely swim…"

"Heh, well, at least you're trying." Kali laughed lightly whilst collecting the torn book. "Have you found a book that you like? Considering I'm gonna have to buy this one?"

"Um, well, Blake reached over and pulled out a small book. It's kind of a data book about a series I like. Not really expensive, about five liens." She told her mother before feeling that cold feeling in her chest rise up. "Hey, mom, what do you think of Adam? Be serious."

"Honey, is everything okay?" Her mother asked her.

"I…well…" Blake sighed before leaning against the shelf a little bit. "He's gotten rougher in his training with me recently, and I don't know…something just feels off about it."

"Well, dear, if I was in your shoes, I'd plant my foot down the next time you spar together. You tell him to lay back a little bit, and stop being rough about it." Kali instructed her daughter before lightly chuckling, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "Gods that sounded all kinds of wrong."

"It did indeed, mom. It's why I love you." Kali hugged her daughter when she went over to hug her as well. Blake snuggled slightly into her mother. Slightly giggling whilst feeling her mother's hand run through her ravenlike hair. "Oh, my baby is getting to be a young woman, Gods stop growing up so fast."

"I can't help it." Blake laughed lightly whilst pulling away. "So, the next time I see Adam, and when we spar, I'm going to tell him that he's being too rough…what if he doesn't listen?"

"Honey, if that blowhard doesn't listen, then you tell your father. I'll accompany him in smacking some sense into the brat. Sienna's adoptive son, or not, he needs to learn to respect your boundaries." Kali pumped her fist slightly whilst still holding her book. "I'll bring out my tea tray!"

"Mom…" Blake groaned slightly whilst pinching her nose.

"What, it's been a while since I last used it!" She cheerfully started before sighing and then clutching her daughter closer unconsciously. "I know dear, I miss him too. That upbeat, never afraid, personality is infectious."

"He told me that he views as friends, but with you and dad…it's almost familial." She pointed out to her mother before slightly blushing. "Naruto never had a family, never had what I've been taking for granted…"

"Oh, shush now sweetheart. Your earlier actions do not define your future. Your future depends on what you choose to do going forward. I used to be a very bad apple. I mean, at one point in your age I was even apart of a gang." Kali nervously laughed before looking at the stunned Blake. "What, don't look at me like that, your father and I met when I was young adult after turning my life around. I used to be a mean little brat."

"Did you ever hurt anyone?" Her daughter asked.

"Pfft, not really, but I remember back in the day I could throw down when needed. Gods, it's been so long since I've actually been in a fight. What made me get out was when I got into a fight, and someone stabbed me in the arm." She rolled up her right sleeve, showing Blake her small scar. "I figured that I continued down my path, that I'd been dead before I ever truly became an adult."

"Wow, mom, I never knew…" Blake breathed slightly, before smiling a little. "So, my mom was a badass back in the day?"

"Language young lady, and yes, she was a total badass." Kali boasted before slightly punching her daughter's arm. "C'mon, time for us to explain to your dad why I'm about to buy a one hundred lien novel."

'Sheesh, that much, we've got to be more careful." Blake said whilst stopping, and then smiling. "Well since we're spending some, can I get something for Naruto?"

"Sure, go ahead dear."

{Barren Wastes.}
[Five Hours After Crash.]

Naruto struggled whilst hobbling on his hurt leg and pulling the broken off door. Luna, Aurum, and Kihana were being dragged by the sledge he had improvised out of broken pieces of the bullhead he had tried to defend. Pain shot up in his leg as he continued marching toward this weird place.

It stuck out like a sore thumb. Gods know how fast he had been running whilst empowered by the Nine Tails' chakra. All he remembered was not stopping, running on all limbs even on his hurt left leg. Not focusing on the pain. The intense desert sun had already taken its toll on him, and his face was sunburned along with any exposed skin.

Sweat glistened, and poured off him in troves. This camplike area was highly advanced in its set up as he noted when he got closer. The sledge dragged behind him in the sand. Taking a moment to breathe more calmly, Naruto fell to his knees before laying his head onto the hot sand. Taking the tube in his armor into his mouth, and sucking down gulps of blazing hot water.

He drank greedily, only stopping himself when his lips no longer felt dry and crusted. The shinobi got back up, and growled as the makeshift splint he had made two hours ago from various bits of belts and clothing he got from the others made it difficult to move. He got into the center of the camp, and then noted a miracle.

A freshly blasted open cave!

Just in time as well, with the sun beginning to hang low, it meant the cold would come soon. Deserts were biomes of extremes, extremely hot in the daylight, extremely cold in the night. Naruto quickly moved, looking for anything they could burn as a campfire in the cave once they were inside. Giving up on that, and just focusing on moving forward. Naruto grunted before noting a bullhead off in the distance. His head churning with ideas, but he noted the broken wings. Sighing, he just got closer to the cave.

Walking into a cave, no doubt from the fresh blasts, freshly dug open. The Nine Tails chakra was fresh out of his system, already dealing with the hurt leg he had made makeshift splint for. He wanted to crawl into this literal hole, curl up, and maybe even cry from the pain. However, he knew that from his teachings on Grimm, they were attracted to negativity. Like moths to a flame, so he did his utmost to ignore the agony that was the source of his indignation at the moment.

Heavy breathing filled the air, his body crashing as he felt his vision grow hazy. His eyes lulling, Naruto was about to fall when he heard coughing!

"Naruto," Aurum mumbled whilst looking over at him, and getting off the sledge though struggling to walk. "Gods, spunky, you're actually alive?"

"Oh, thank Gods, I thought I was carrying a dead body for a minute there, ya know." Naruto weakly said before falling onto the cave floor. Breathing hard as he let see his smile fade down, He felt Aurum help him onto the cave wall to sit upright. "Can you feel anything broken, Corporal Aurum?"

"I feel like my own aircraft kicked my ass." The squirrel faunus looked over at Kihana, and Luna. "Are they…"

"No, they're alive. Both have really bad head wounds. I bandaged what I could, and bled the poison out of your systems from that purple mist it spewed out of it's mouth. I…" Naruto suddenly coughed up a wad of blood, a black vein going up his neck. "Didn't exactly have time to do it for myself."

"Damn, Spunky, don't you dare die on me! You're a frigging hero, how long have you been dragging us to safety?" Aurum asked whilst crawling over to him, getting a knife out. "I'm gonna bleed it out of ya, so hold still."

"No…don't worry about it." Naruto shook his head before taking a deep breath and pushed Aurum away lightly. "I'm sorry you gotta see this, but I'm going to be fine. He won't let me just die."

"He…who?" Aurum watched as Naruto's whiskers suddenly thickened up, and when the azure opened again, they were replaced glowing crimson red orbs of pure hatred. "Naruto…what the hell is that?"

"It's what I am, Aurum, I'm not human, well I am. I'm what they called in my world a Jinchuuriki. It literally means the power of human sacrifice. Back when I was born a monster attacked our village, and my hero, Minato Namikaze fought it. They said he killed it, big surprise when that was a lie, instead he sealed it into a vessel…sealed it into me." Naruto grimaced as the black vein slowly started to retreat back down his neck, and he reached up with a claw to cut open his arm where his chakra was no doubt pushing the foul poison to. "There isn't anything in this poison stronger than the Nine Tail's will to live."

"Nine…Tails?" The weapons specialist murmured.

"A giant demon fox, bigger than mountains. He can easily destroy a range of them if he chooses, well I guess now if I choose to let him run rampant. Which I am not doing right now. You see, my chakra actively suppresses his. However, when I run low, his starts to influence me. My body changes, my primal instincts flare to life, and I'm not going to lie…it feels exciting." Naruto admitted further before watching the black liquid leak out of his wrist before it sealed shut. Leaving no scars behind because of such a fast pace of healing. "The Nine Tails is laughing at me right now, because it's saying that you'll try to kill me, Aurum…please let me just get you all back safely first."

"Why…would I try to kill you?" Aurum asked whilst reaching over, draping his arm behind Naruto's neck. "You just saved my life; I get to go home to my daughter…well maybe. You get me home to her, and I swear on my life, you'll never be revealed for what you are."

"I'm still human, ya know." The shinobi pointed out whilst taking a deep breath and sighing. "I just, well, got a demon inside of me."

"Sheesh, and here I thought I was messed up in the head, heh." Aurum saw as the women still breathed. "You did a good job bandaging them, textbook."

"Thanks…" The boy brought his knees to his chest. "I don't think that thing followed us. Gods it was huge, it even resisted my rasengan attacks. I didn't think I was going to get you all out for a minute there, I didn't…we lost…Ferrous."

"You can't save everyone, Naruto." The blonde faunus watches as the younger blonde scrounges his face up. Shaking with pain, the blonde shuddered before Aurum smiled. "You're really a good person, you know that? Feeling sad, and mourning over someone that probably got mortally wounded from the crash."

"He was twitching, I saw him…" Naruto told him. "I saw him, and didn't save him, because I ran out of time…"

"Probably death throes, it's ugly business. Hey, look, one of 'em is waking up." Aurum pointed out as Luna started to flutter her eyes, her normally white hair stained red in blotches. "Morning sleeping beauty."

"Huh, wh-where am I?" She tried to move but couldn't. "Why does it feel like everything is weighing fifty tons on me."

"You're in shock, more than likely concussed. You're lucky that Naruto here was a quick study, otherwise you might've bled out of your head." Aurum noted that Naruto's appearance had changed back to normal. "He dragged us out of the burning aircraft, and managed to divert that horde."

"Holy crap…" Luna gasped before looking at the boy. "Are you some sort of angel, or something?"

"Meh, I try to be something good, ya know." The blonde shinobi blushed a little bit before sighing. "Don't try to move, Luna, please. I had to burn some wounds on you when I removed you out of the aircraft, so they closed. I ran into this aircraft outside, it's kind of broken down, so I took the door off its hinges for a sledge."

Luna smiles weakly, and nods her head. "Good o' Naruto, always keeping an eye out for us. Gods, kid, that should be our thing. Argh, this hurts so bad…" she groans before rolling over to see Kihana. "Oh, shit, Kihana…"

"She's alive, I think, she's still breathing." Naruto told her whilst blushing slightly, and he turned away out of embarrassment. "I had to give her CPR, and the reason why her armor is off is that I take it off to get full compression on her chest."

"Probably saved her life." Luna groaned before trying to focus. "Ah, shit, I'm spent for the day on aura."

"Not the only one sister, I'm spent." Aurum grunted before looking at Naruto. "What's game plan here, considering that you're only one of us able to move."

"I…" Naruto took a deep breath before smiling a little bit. "Got a very stupid, very risky, and possibly get us all killed plan."

"Eh, I've heard worse pitches." Luna shrugged before wincing as she continued to lay down. "What, try to fly a broken bullhead?"

"Not…exactly…" Naruto looked toward Aurum. "Aurum do you trust me?"

"Of course, you saved our lives, how can I not trust you?" The mechanic laughed slightly before nodding his head. "So, what's the plan?"

"Just one question, do you think the engines can work off the bullhead, they looked intact though the wings were broken?" The shinobi asked.

"Should, so long as you got the dust tank out with it." Aurum then realized why he was asking this. "Oh, you crazy son of a bitch!"

"Hehe, now you're catching on, ya know!" Naruto beamed before getting up. "So, give me an odds of it working out!"

"I am not condoning this, but if you're able to steer, have chutes of some sort of act as paraglider…" He watches as Naruto brought down three fingers. "You've already got something like that, don't you?"

"What are you both talking about?" Luna groaned whilst looking up at Aurum, and Naruto. "Didn't anyone activate the emergency beacon?"

"No, Ferrous was dead when Naruto got to us, no doubt the beacon was nickered out as well. So, Naruto here is going to sign our death warrants pretty much." Naruto shot Aurum a small glare before seeing the older blonde smile. "If this works, however, we might just get home in a few days at most. Just in time for our funerals."

"Ooh, back from the dead…" they suddenly heard Kihana say as she opened her yellow eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with him…Naruto I mean, why not? We're dead if we stay here, might as well die trying."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Naruto celebrated before getting up, struggling a little bit. "I'm gonna go get the parts, Aurum, as soon as you can move, I'll need your help."

The older blonde saluted Naruto before watching the boy limp out of the cave. He got against the wall, and sighed as he looked at the two ladies. "So, anyone got any good MREs?" He asked.

"Pfft, not giving you crap." Kihana laughed before groaning. "I got some internal injuries, Naruto did his best keeping us alive, but I think I'm a goner…unless I get surgery within the next three days."

"Just hang on, Kihana, I'm pretty sure we'll get home in time…" Luna sighed before turning over toward her. "I can try using my semblance as I get aura. It can heal things on a cellular level. I can regenerate any damage you've gotten. Though, the issue is…it reflects back onto me."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Luna." Kihana reached up, grabbing the tube in her clothing, and sucking on it to get refreshingly hot water. "Blah, it's hot…"

"That kid carried us through hell, and back." Aurum heard metal tearing from out. "He's a hero."

"Shit, I'd say so, but let's save the praises for when we actually get out of here, ya dig?" Luna laughed painfully before looking at Aurum. "If we get out of here, care to buy me a drink?"

"Sure…Luna, I'd like that."

{Belladonna Estate.}
[The Next Day, 12:00pm.]

Kali Belladonna was making dinner. Ghira was busy up in his office as their daughter was coming back from the markets. Humming, the woman failed to notice downcast forming over the ocean. She looked up at the window, humming lightly.

"Getting ready to rain? Weird, weather doesn't usually change like that." She commented to herself aloud before hearing footfalls. Turning around, expecting her husband, she cheerfully starts to say. "Hello dear, I'm trying something new with- "she stopped when Ghira was standing there, eyes puffy red, and trying his best to hold it all in.

Failing miserable as tears spilled from his eyes. "Kali…"

"Oh Gods, no…" She breathed before walking toward him slowly. "Who…who?"

"As of twelve yesterday afternoon, all contact has been lost with Black Cat Four. Sienna Khan called me personally…it…" He took a deep breath, shuddering as the tears broke fear as he started to sob. "It was Naruto's assigned transport. It was overrun with a Grimm horde after it crashed. There's been no beacon, no flare within the first hour…she waited the full twenty-four hours to tell us. Kali…" He started to sob as he fell to the floor clutching his chest, bringing his head to his knees. He roared out in anguish as the tears spilled across the wooden floor.

Kali ran over to him, dropping everything. Falling in front of her, husband, sobbing herself. She clutched him tightly, and shook her head. "You're sure, there's no chance, none?" She pleaded with him, lifted his face up gently to meet hers. "There's no chance…none?"

He shook his head, and bit his lip. "Last confirmed sighting of Naruto was him fighting tooth, and nail, trying to get any survivors out. There was a Grimm never seen before, a massive Grimm. It…it filled the area with a purple mist before the Grimm took hold of the area." Ghira told her before shaking his head. "It was poisonous…even if he got away from the aircraft, my love…he's gone."

"No…no!" Kali got up to help Ghira up whilst she struggled to control her tears. "He's not dead, Ghira, I know somewhere in my heart he isn't! Call it a mother's intuition, anything you want, but Naruto…Naruto isn't dead!"

Ghira watches as his wife just takes deep breaths, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating. They suddenly heard a commotion, and saw Cloud charge in the room. "Please for the love of the brothers, please Chief Ghira, Lady Kali, please tell me it's a false report!" Cloud yelled as he struggled to keep from crying. "Please!"

"I'm sorry, Cloud, I got the call from Sienna- "

"Fuck Khan! I don't believe it until I see a body! You shouldn't believe her either, if loved that kid so much you'd-!" Cloud shouted only to hear Ghira growl, and suddenly pin him up on the wall. "Get off me, Ghira! Gods damn you, get off me! I'll…I'll…"

"Cloud, we're all hurting, please…calm yourself because I'm holding onto a thread." Ghira let him down gently before watching the toad faunus punch the wall and slide down it. Sobbing as he shook his head. "It's okay, son, I understand the rage your feeling…I felt it so many ti-times before…I…"

Ghira couldn't bring himself to finish the statement, and slowly he slumped down the wall next to Cloud, and looked on as Kali just sat on her knees. Cloud just shakes his head before sobbing into his forearms. Ghira saw the other guards, some of them were openly crying as they turned away. They overheard everything, and they were struggling to hold it in as well.

"Out of all the rotten fucking people we have in this world. Out of the daily bigots, thieves, and self-serving bastards we know…why…WHY?!" Cloud screamed as he looked to his side, directly into Ghira's eyes. "Why did you let him go, you could've stopped him! He'd…He'd…"

They all saw Blake standing there, she was holding books she went to the library for. Some for her room, others she thought Naruto might like to read. They clattered to the floor. Slowly, she took in the scene, seeing her father and mother in sobs. Whilst the guards themselves were struggling to hold back tears of pure pain and anguish.

"He's…" Blake shook slightly before her face scrounged up a little bit. She watched her father heave himself off the floor, walking over to her. "Dad, this isn't a funny prank, this…this…" She felt her cat ears droop a little bit before shaking even more. "C'mon, this isn't funny, it's Naruto I heard everything, there's n-no way…I mean he's as old as I am…"

"Honey…"

"Dad, it's not true, c'mon this is Naruto! The outworlder, the guy who took down a cyborg."

"Sweetie, please…"

"No, I'm not believing it! He's too tough to just die, this Naruto Uzumaki were talking about! He's taken stabs to his chest, his stomach, he's practically invincible! I mean he brags about any chance he gets, with that stupid friggin smile on his face! He's not fucking dead!" Blake blurted out as she felt tears slide down his face. "You'll see, they'll just come back saying that-that it was a mistake!"

When her mother didn't chide her for cussing, nor did her father. Blake just brought her hands to her own mouth. Slowly, but surely, tears spilled more out of her mouth as she shuddered. "Dad, please tell me someone came to our house, you know the whole letter thing they do…dad…" She was starting to sob before Ghira looked away in shame. "Who came by…dad?"

"Sienna Khan herself called me personally. Sweetheart, he's not coming back…home." Ghira ground out the world with pain in his voice before closing the distance and drawing her into a hug. "Gods above my sweet daughter, I'm so sorry, I should've…I should've put my foot down with him…I…"

"It's not your fault dad…who…who would take someone my age for a mission like that?" She asked, wiping her eyes before breaking the hug. "Maybe Lady Sienna made a mistake, maybe…"

"Honey, Sienna Khan waited a whole day to tell us. She even held out hope. I'm sorry, I know you two were getting closer as friends. I heard he went out fighting, as one could only expect from a warrior." Ghira tried to paint it in a better light, only to hear Cloud get up.

"A warrior…a warrior? A WARRIOR?!" Cloud screamed at Ghira, whilst being restrained by the other guards in his unit. "A warrior is a full-grown man, who takes up the sword for the people, not a fucking child! I…let go of me! Let go of me!" he kicked his fellow guardsmen. "Ghira, you should've done something! He did everything else for us, you should've done more to keep him in! We all knew that he just wanted to fit into something, you should've just put him in the guard!"

"I will not break my guard's code, no matter who!" Ghira roared out as he got up, walking up toward Cloud. "I don't give a damn about someone's capability. It was Naruto's choice, I honored his choice, because I felt like he was already more than a child!"

"He was twelve, Ghira!" Cloud shouted whilst slumping in his fellow guards arms. "He was a kid…man, he was just a kid…he was a warrior, yes, but…he…was just…a kid!"

"Please stop fighting." Both turned to Blake as she continued to hold her tears back. "Please, would he want this, us going at each other's throats?"

"Blake…"

"Let me finish!" Blake shouted as she twitched, looking away. "All Naruto ever talked about was how much he loved everyone here. How much he viewed you as someone he looked up to, how much he valued Cloud as a brother. He…how much he…loved mom...like a mom" She started to cry more, and then bit her lip to stop herself. "How much he valued every single one of us, even when we viewed him with distain…because…you were feeling replaced…"

"Oh sweetheart." Kali walked over to her, bringing her into an embrace. "Don't think like that ever. It's going to be okay, love."

"No, it's not!" Blake broke the hug before starting to sob. "I want my friend back home mom! I want my friend! I want to see that dumb smile, hear those stupid "ya knows," and listen to more stories about this place called Konoha, and that place called Nami." She felt her heartbreak when she finally said it. "I want my best friend back home."

Ghira watches as Blake finally breaks down, loudly sobbing into his wife's chest. He turned toward the door entrance, seeing Adam standing there. He walked over toward him. "Did she send you to deliver the letter, boy?" He asked him.

"No sir, I've came to offer condolences." Adam replied before looking at Blake. "Is she okay?"

"No, Adam, she's not okay." Ghira told him before crossing his arms, struggling to keep from crying still. "Say his full name."

"What?" Adam was taken aback by the demand.

"Say his full name to me, and I'll let you come into my house to mourn with us." Ghira repeated before watching as the redhead balled his fists up. "I'm not in the mood, boy."

"I'm not a boy, chief Ghira. Do you not think this is in poor taste?" Adam argued whilst noticing that Blake hadn't noticed him yet. "What do you want me to do, I can't exactly bring back the dead."

"I want you to at least think of him as hero. Because that is something that you should aspire to be." Ghira flatly stated before looking right into his eyes. "What is his name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, who wouldn't know that name by now?" Adam emphasized Naruto's surname bitterly before brushing past Ghira. "There, I've played your game."

Ghira suddenly growled, and grabbed Adam. Slamming him out the door, shutting the massive oak door behind him.

"You think I'm playing games with you; you think I only asked that to torment you? You-You-You, it's always about you! I'm so glad that my daughter isn't hearing the way your acting, because her best friend is dead because your stupid, callous, adoptive mother can't ever see past the next political clout! The next move in a chess game that doesn't even exist! She wants my leadership role in the fang, she already has it! We've lost a child today, our family is one less, and let me tell you something Adam Taurus." Ghira got eye level with the teen as he got up. "I'll be damned if I'll let you come into my house, when my daughter is heartbroken, and you secretly harbor ulterior motives. You either walk through my door fully intent to comfort her, and ease her pain, or you don't go through my door at all!"

"You think I'm afraid of you, is that it?! Is this always how you felt about me?!" Adam demanded before wiping dirt off his pants. "He was a soldier, Ghira. He was treated no different than the four others that died with him! Their names with Luna Crest, Aurum Smith, Kihana Himawari, and their pilot Ferrous Hilt. All four them were brother and sister faunus, yet you stand here mourning that human as if he was your own!"

"He was a child!" Ghira screamed out, and growled. "Not some damn weapon for Sienna to bash at the first rock that didn't break on a pickaxe's first hit!"

"He knew what he was signing up for, you forget, Ghira! He wasn't a child when he came here, he claimed to have been an active soldier!" The bull faunus yelled whilst gripping the side of his head. Almost sneer before wiping an errant tear away. "You don't think it hurts me, knowing that my last reports I had to read were of a human fighting tooth and nail for our brothers and sisters?"

"Human-human-human! He was a person, Adam, he had a name! He had dreams, he had feelings, he had a whole life ahead of him like you, and Blake still have! What if the role was reversed, or if Blake was selected? You wouldn't protest?" You wouldn't call out your mother for her…her ignorance involving a child's hope to be useful in an ancient war?!"

"If it was Blake, I'd die by her side before I let her go." Adam swore as he stood straight up. "I would not let my mother do such things."

"Then why did you let her take a twelve-year-old boy into a combat mission?!" Ghira accused him.

"You're in pain, brother Ghira. I had no bearing on that, and you know it. So, please, let's not grief each other anymore. Blake often told me that Naruto valued you for your kindness, are you to spit on his memory by fighting with me, here and now?" Adam offered his hand out, and beckoned Ghira to shake it. "Please, let us bury the hatchet."

Ghira took a deep breath, and closed his eyes to think for a moment. Nodding his head, he grabbed Adam's hand and shook it.

"Blake is with Kali right now; my guards are all in mourning as well. Don't burn me on this, Adam." Ghira told him before walking back toward the door. "Be quick about getting to her, do not speak unless spoken to by her…let her cry, just be the shoulder she needs."

"Yes sir…" The bull faunus walked past Ghira. Meanwhile his fists were balled up. "Damn that human, he has these people wrapped around his finger."

"Good riddance."

{Barren Wastes: Cave.}
[At The Same Time.]

Bzzzt
Snap.
WREEEK!
CRACK!

Naruto, sporting a rag above his head to capture, and holding sweat for makeshift cooling was biting his lip. Fresh cuts along his arms, with little dribbles dropping to the sand every so often. He was watching Aurum, wielding a welding torch, taking pieces off the old bullhead, Black Cat Five, as they had identified it.

"Rasengan!" Naruto screamed as the clone finished helping mold the ball of chakra, slamming it into the metal frame. Not allowing it to explode, instead he grounded right through it, creating a perfect circular hole. "Okay, that's three on this side, and three on that side!"

"Hell yeah, this thing might be the biggest piece of crap, but damn it it'll work!" Aurum screamed out as he looked at the monstrosity in front of them. It was pieces of the bullhead, welded, and roughly shaped flat on the sandy surface. It was built like a walled sled, with walls sticking up about three feet above the makeshift seating area from where they had pulled seats out of the wrecked bullhead. Even making makeshift bedding for Kihana. "This thing almost looks like one of those airboats in Vacuo. Naruto, have your clones secured the paraglides yet?"

"Almost, they're tying it now. With any luck, and a lot of it, this thing will get off ground. It's a stupid, idiotic plan, but screw it, ya know! We're either taking this home, or we're gonna be up the crap creek!" Naruto slapped his face with both hands, mustering himself up. "Okay, let's get this baby ready!"

"Finishing touches first, Spunky! I'm gonna mount a machine gun right at the front. Put it on a swivel for one-hundred-and-eighty-degree clearance. From there we'll set her up to launch in about three hours. If we, at best, get three hundred miles an hour out of this thing, we'll be back home in less than a week." Aurum stated whilst walking over toward Naruto with the metal piece he tore off and wedging it inside to create some cover from the sun. "I should have this secured. Both engines are fashioned at the back, put on a switch. We've got enough dust to make it, I guess."

"We'll figure that out as we go." Naruto reassured Aurum before giving him a beaming foxlike smile. "Ill take full responsibility if this screws up, ya know."

"Heh, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Aurum laughed under his breath before sliding his welder's mask down. "Now go off somewhere, I'm busy!"

"Yes sir." Naruto saluted before walking to the cave, and entering it. "Luna, is Kihana improving?"

"I'm sure, I can feel my own ribs aching…Gods, Kihana, you were banged up more than you let on." Luna groaned whilst applying her semblance to the woman beneath her, her yellow eyes looking from the white-haired woman toward Naruto. "He's worried about you."

"I know, hey, kid. Don't worry about me so much, how's your broken leg?" She asked him, whilst adjusting herself to stare at the makeshift splint. "Still broken?"

"Mostly, my healing rate has been working around the clock. I'm just worried about you two, I know the more she heals you, the more injured she gets. I need to know, what happens if it's fatal wounds." Naruto took a deep breath, preparing himself. "Just in case."

"If the wound is fatal, then I'll be the one receiving the effects so long as my semblance played onto the person. Likewise, I can try to redirect my own damage back onto someone." Luna explained how her semblance functions before hearing Naruto walk up to her, holding out his hand. "What?"

"Do it against me, I can heal the damage a lot better." Naruto demanded softly before smiling. "Please, I'm not letting anymore of my friends get killed out here."

"Kid, you're asking me to break your ribs." She bluntly told him, but he continued to smile. Sighing, she slowly reached up, and gripped his hand. "This is going to hurt."

"I know, but I took an oath, and I intend to honor every word of it." Naruto replied before feeling her aura flow into him, and then suddenly falling to his knees. His sides lit up in red hot pain, making him choke up a little bit. "Oh, crap…that's horrible, Kihana, every single rib…"

"They're broke, or cracked. Luckily, that's just the most painful aspect. I have some bleeding internally." She coughed up a wad of blood, and then looked at Naruto with a saddened smile. "Kid, why do you do these things?"

"Because I- "

"Don't have to do a damn thing, shut that hero shit up for a minute. Your smile, it's fake half the time, I can tell…" Kihana slowly reached up as Naruto grunted as he felt his spleen become damaged. Grabbing his hand which was on the cave floor. "You're a child whose whole future is ahead of him, sacrificing for me is a waste."

"You're not a waste!" Naruto yelled, recoiling his hand. "No one here is ever a waste! Aurum's got a kid to go home to, I made a promise to come back, and I'm sure you got someone waiting for you! So, shut up, with that fatalist crap!"

"I have a twin brother, a younger sister, and my father." Kihana said through the pain, finding Naruto's hand again. "Yet, they're happy, and safe in Vale. I chose to come here because I got tired of the injustices inside of the kingdoms. I have plenty to go back too, but you're a child…who could one day have many beautiful children…"

"Then they'll hear about me saving all of you." The shinobi resolved whilst smiling despite feeling his spine start to hurt. A tear leaked from his eye because of the pain. "I hate feeling powerless."

"I hate carrots." Luna chimed in with a small chuckle. "Kihana, what do you hate?"

"I hate things that are wasted." She scoffed a little before seeing Naruto smile. "What?"

"Then don't waste your life, and put your burdens on my shoulders, Kihana. You've taught me so much, and I'm fine to take this pain. I've always taken the pain from others, I've seen others in pain, and I hate it. I hate seeing people cry, I hate it when I see someone getting treated badly because they had the poor luck of being misunderstood." Naruto spoke with passion whilst continuing to feel pain fill him, and then he looked directly into Kihana's as he smiled with his eyes closed to hide and hold the tears of agony back. "I'll never stop moving forward, and build the life I'm dreaming of, even if it's not the same dreams I once had…because all of the people I've known so far have been kind to me! What reason in anyone's right mind would make the world a more miserable place?"

Those words struck deep in both Luna, and Kihana as they listened to him. They watched as his whisker marks thickened up, and slowly he opened his eyes to reveal crimson irises and slitted pupils. Both of them wanted to recoil at the suddenly feral look, but Naruto took a deep breaths. His face broke out into a small toothy smile.

"This is why I can take on other's burdens so well, because I carry my own with a smile on my face." Naruto told them softly, even as claws grew from his nails. "So, if I can make sure you're not hurt, or able to live…then I don't care what I have to sacrifice for it."

"What are you?" Luna asked, almost in a hoarse whisper. "There's no way that you're human."

"I'm human, but I'm what they call a Jinchuuriki. It's a bit of a long story, ya know." The shinobi laughed under his breath despite the seriousness of the situation. "You're probably scared of me, and I don't blame ya, everyone in my village was…until I started to prove myself."

Kihana nods her head whilst looking at Luna, who almost seemed transfixed onto Naruto for some reason. That's because, unknowingly, Naruto's chakra mixed with Luna's aura. She, somehow, began to see Naruto as a small child amongst a crowd of villagers. They jeered, teased, and mocked him. Calling him names behind his back, treating him with distain.

It made a tear fall from her eye. "You know our struggle, because you are like us, an outcast." She mourned him before feeling what he felt during those days. "What a bright beacon of light you are…if only I was stronger…you, a mere child, willing to lay everything on the line for those you call comrades. If Atlas had one hundred soldiers like you, one hundred hunters, then this world would've been cleansed from all strife long ago."

She saw that his eyes were closed as hers drained with tears leaking out of them. For some reason, she felt connected to him somehow. No longer judging his inhuman appearance, instead, she only felt the heartache that came with it. Somewhere, she figured that the more he assumed that form the more somewhere in his heart those heartless bastards in his village were right.

"If there are Gods, boy, please let them preserve you." Kihana lightly prayed before watching his face scrunch up a little bit more from pain. "You can stop, now, please."

"I'm trying my best to also bite my tongue on one other thing. One thing that Luna wouldn't know about..." Naruto took a deep breath before slowly looking down at Kihana. "Why did Ferrous say weapon, instead of Recruit Uzumaki?"