AN: Chapter eight is here. I won't lie, this one gave me some trouble. The entire direction of it shifted sort of midway through the chapter and I was forced to soft reboot it. It was thoroughly frustrating, but I like it better this way. In the original version I was going to end up with something unresolved and I wasn't very happy about that. Anyway, let me shut up. Enjoy the chapter.

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And Still the World Turns

Ruby dropped to her knees, rivers of tears racing down her dirty cheeks. Her screaming had subsided, leaving her only capable of breathing—or attempting to, at least. Ruby could do little more than hyperventilate as her eyes locked onto her father's limp body. There was a near perfect circle in his back, around the chest. There was no blood seeping out of the wound; the sheer force and heat behind Salem's attack had cauterized it.

Ruby held no hope on Taiyang somehow coming back from the dead, however. After all, the burnt hole in his body was where is heart used to be. The only thing Ruby hoped was that her father hadn't had a chance to comprehend the pain of his death. Ruby hiccupped, but aside from that her hyperventilating continued.

"Oh, dear child. He could have lived. If only he had been smart enough not to trust Ozma. Truly, it is such a shame." Salem breathed. The haughty, sympathetic tone of her voice sounded little more than condescending to Ruby's ears. It set her blood boiling. She'd never felt like this before.

Salem had already hurt her friends and killed people she cared about. There wasn't any coming back from these feelings anymore. Even the grimm had never made her feel like this. They were little more than nature. She did not like them, but they were ultimately mindless and knew no better. To Ruby, Salem was far worse than any grimm could ever be.

"H—how could y—you?" Ruby sobbed. Deep within herself, however, the sorrow and shock began to transform into something else. Something uncomfortably hot, searing even. It was something Ruby couldn't emotionally reconcile.

"How could I? Because he stood against me. If he'd merely stood aside and allowed me to kill Cinder for treachery as I had intended, then he would not have had to die this day. He may have even lived to see the end of his natural life. But he chose poorly. How worthless of him. Now he has to leave his two daughters all alone."

Ah. Ruby realized, her watery eyes flashing. Salem's gaze sharpened. This feeling is hatred. Ruby had never loathed anyone. She had always wanted to have the best relationships with people she possibly could. But not today. Not with Salem. No—Ruby could not forgive her. She wouldn't. Ever.

"You have silver eyes." Salem stated. A sphere of black energy pulsed to life within her right palm. Primal fear overtook Ruby's anger for just a moment, causing her to flinch at the sight of the power that had killed her father. Shame followed her fear, then more anger and loathing. Her body was demanding her to run, but Ruby refused. If she was to die, then she would die attempting to avenge her father.

Ruby glared up at the approaching queen of grimm and tried to get to her feet. Salem looked upon her with a blank gaze and then hummed. She took slow steps toward Ruby as a smile began to play at her lips. She had no reason to rush this girl to her death. In fact, she didn't want to.

I shall enjoy this. Salem thought.

"I admire your tenacity in the face of death, much like your father. You remind me more of someone else, however. She looked a lot like you. Silver eyes. The black-red hair. Even similar clothing aesthetic. Summer, I believe her name was." Salem spoke. Ruby gasped, her eyes growing wide once more as a pit began to form in her stomach.

"No." Ruby whispered.

"Now that I think of it, I do remember her mentioning something about a family." Salem continued as she stepped closer. Weiss and Cinder could only stare on in horror as the implications of Salem's words were made very clear.

"No." Ruby repeated, her voice a tremble.

"I took my time with her. Respect for her strength or no, I do so loathe those with silver eyes."

"No." Ruby asserted, fists clenching and teeth gritting. She fought back the fresh wave of tears as best she could. She'd always wondered. Always hoped her mother was just lost. Just hoped that maybe she'd see her again. Maybe Summer had just been a captive for years and would escape. Not—this. Not this.

Not like this. Please. Mom, please. Not to her. She can't have taken both of you away from us. Please. Ruby all but prayed. But her pleas would fall upon deaf ears.

"But all things must come to an end. Well, disregarding myself, that is. Her final moments were agonizing, I assure you… and my grimm ate well on that night. And now? On this day, I shall pluck your eyes from your sockets and keep you alive just long enough to hear me kill everyone you hold dear before I allow you to join dear, sweet, Summer Rose." The threat alone had tipped Ruby over the edge. Hearing Salem speak her mother's name is what opened a flood gate Ruby had not even known she possessed.

"No!" Ruby screamed.

The world was awash with silver light.

~X~

Weiss turned away as the light blinded her. There was too much of it and it was too bright. She'd never seen Ruby do anything like this before. And it was too different from her semblance to be related to it in any way. This had to be a new power, Weiss knew that. But Where had Ruby acquired it?

She got a warm feeling from it, as though she was being protected. It was like all the goodness in the world was right there in front of her. All Weiss needed to do was reach out and grab it. The thought was a tantalizing one, but she did ultimately know better. There was no way for her to know what Ruby was really doing here.

Ever so slowly, the light began to die down. From blinding, to simply bright, to a dimness that soon flickered out. With the absence of the light, Weiss's eyes were left to adjust to the now too dark surroundings. She blinked once, twice, three times. After the sixth blink she could finally make out her surroundings.

What Weiss saw both intrigued and horrified her. Salem's face was contorted into a genocidal rage. Her arms, crossed in front of her as if to defend herself, looked to have turned into cracked stone. Later, Weiss would speculate over what Ruby's power truly was and how they could best leverage it against Salem, but she had no time for such things now. And the reason for that was standing between Ruby and Salem.

Weiss's heart dropped. She had never before seen beings like them. If one were to disregard the wounds that littered their bodies and the rage conveyed from their down-turned brows and narrowed eyes, a person would likely only think of one word: purity. White clothing, bone-white skin, and silver white hair. Horns atop their heads and pupilless light-lavender eyes. Their appearance was even more bizarre to her than Salem's. They could not be human. They could not be from this world. And that only left her with one conclusion.

These were the Otsutsuki. Weiss trembled. If they're here… where is Naruto? She thought.

"You blasted child!" screeched Salem, her rage dialing her focus in on Ruby and Ruby alone. Ruby herself was clutching at her head, eyes glazed over. Salem took one step forward and stopped at the sound of Momoshiki's voice.

"You have lost to these children? Did you not say you were the most powerful on this planet?" he inquired; his voice strained.

Salem took a step back and looked upon him. Momoshiki didn't look any better than she did. There was a jagged hole in his clothes at his shoulder, which had a perfectly circular hole in it. Blood dripped from his mouth and there was bruising all over his body.

Kinshiki's arms were heavily bruised and hanging limply at his sides. His eyes were drooping, and blood trailed from his nose. Salem's traitorous mind entertained voicing the thought for just a moment, but she refrained. Salem did not wish to suffer at his hands. She spoke before his impatience could reach a peak.

"I am. The girl just has a particular power that… damages me. But she lacks control. I will finish her now." Salem reported, her eyes going to Ruby again. A mistake. Ultimately, there was nothing Salem could have done to stop what happened next, but the surprise on her face quickly bled into fear as everything played out.

Momshiki's hand shot up like a whip. His fingers curled around Salem's neck with the security of a shackle. No matter her flailing or her attempts to pry his hands off her, Momoshiki did not let go.

"No. You shall not. We need them." Momoshiki replied. As he did more of Weiss and Ruby's companions had found them, appearing from the smoke and rubble all about. They'd been drawn here by the light from Ruby's eyes. Winter, Qrow, Blake, Pyrrha, and Emerald rushed toward them, but kept weary eyes upon the now infighting immortals. Momoshiki continued despite this. "These humans are to be our leverage, Salem… and you are to be fuel."

"Fu…el?" Salem choked out. Immortal or not, she still needed an unrestricted airway to speak. A luxury she did not have at the moment.

"Yes. Fuel. You shall offer unto me your very life force and power, increasing my own and brining me to new heights." Momoshiki replied.

"N…o. We… had a… deal!" Salem seethed. Momoshiki offered her only a wide, savage, smile.

"Not any longer." Momoshiki replied. The next thing Salem knew, she could feel her power leaving her body, but then she dropped to the ground and sucked in a breath. She looked up and found herself off to the side of the fight. Where she had once been, gripped within Momoshiki's powerful hands, was a raven-haired boy she had never seen before in her life: Sasuke.

"Chidori Eisou!"

Salem heard birds. Sasuke's Chidori eisou burned through Momoshiki's right leg this time. He screamed and dropped his foe. Sasuke glanced in Salem's direction. Even without blinking she missed the moment he swapped places with a glowing blonde, a sphere of swirling blue energy in his palm.

"Rasengan!" The blonde's arm blurred forward, grinding the attack into Momshiki's gut. The man Salem had been so hopelessly weak against corkscrewed away like a bullet. For a moment Salem wished to let herself feel smug at their apparent matches being found, but she pushed the thought aside. They'd met that match. These were the men who had accompanied Ozma.

So what did that mean for her? Salem turned away from the fight and attempted to slip away, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her cold.

"No one said you could leave, witch." Sasuke spoke. Salem felt a chill race down her spine, traveling to her toes. She hadn't noticed him at all, hadn't known he'd been anywhere near her. Was the blonde one right next to me when this one had swapped places with me too? Was I always in the palm of their hands? She gnashed her teeth.

"And should I attempt to escape?" Salem ventured. She was unwilling to submit to someone who had yet to best her, illogical as it may be. Salem's life had not been under her control for weeks now. A feeling she had not had to endure since the gods fled this planet. Thousands of years had passed with her being the silent ruler of this world. She did not wish to abdicate her throne.

"There are things far worse than death. And I can show all of them to you. Behave." Sasuke responded. And Salem? Salem listened. She could feel it in her bones—in her very soul. This was not a threat. It was a promise.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called. Salem felt the hand upon her lift.

"Remember, behave." Before Salem could reply to him, Sasuke was gone. A moment later she saw him intercept a magenta weapon that seemed on course with the Naruto as he fought Momoshiki. One swift kick later and Kinshiki was sent hurdling into Momoshiki and the two of them collided with the dirt, bouncing once, and then rolling onto their knees. They eyed Naruto and Sasuke venomously, but made no move to continue their fight.

"You vermin are far stronger than you should be… and I can feel the power of the Otsutsuki all over you." Momoshiki spat. "You dare steal from our clan?" Neither Sasuke or Naruto gave him a response. They refused to let him in on anything.

"I will admit," Kinshiki said, "We have underestimated your abilities… But that's nothing a little extra power cannot fix." Momoshiki and Kinshiki grinned savagely. Alarm bells went off in Naruto and Sasuke's heads. The hair on their skin stood on end.

"And we know just where to get it." Momoshiki stated. Before Naruto and Sasuke connected the dots and lunged, Momoshiki had already jumped into the air, an enormous fireball forming in the hand he was actually capable of lifting over his head. Naruto was moving toward Yang before Momoshiki had even fully formed the attack. Sasuke allowed his Susanoo to explode outward, quickly forming as Momoshiki launched his attack.

"Yang!" Yelled Naruto, skidding to a stop next to her and cradling her in his arms as he allowed Kurama to form partially and cover all of his new companions. Even as Sasuke used his Susanoo to cut the attack down, the heat and explosion that followed would have surely killed them had Naruto not intervened.

When the attack was over, Naruto immediately blew the smoke away only to See Momoshiki smiling at them as he and Kinshiki sunk into yet another Yomotsu Hirasaka.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called, blood pouring from his Rinnegan eye as he focused on the space-time ninjutsu. Naruto understood immediately and ran forward.

"Wait, Naruto!" Weiss called, chasing after him. He didn't stop and was the first one into the inky darkness of Yomotsu Hirasaka after the Otsutsuki.

"Weiss, no!" Winter's own address went ignored as she followed her sister. Cinder watched Sasuke approach the portal next, took one look toward Salem, and made her choice. She got to her feet and sprinted after Sasuke. Startled, but refusing to leave Cinder's side, Emerald ran after her.

And thus, after Sasuke entered Yomotsu Hirasaka, mere seconds before the technique closed and barred all others access to a world unknown, the four women followed Naruto and Sasuke into the darkness.

~X~

Cinder's eyes fluttered open slowly. She groaned and rolled onto her back. The sun blazed down upon her, framed by a bright blue sky and fluffy clouds. Blue? Cinder thought. Salem's realm… is not this pleasant. Cinder's eyes widened and she quickly sat bolt upright. She looked around, seeing the waking forms of Weiss, Winter, and Emerald. Naruto and Sasuke were standing off to the other side of her, on the left. The two seemed to be having a rather heated argument. One she was just now starting to make out.

"—an idiot! You couldn't have put her down before you went through the technique!? Now look at what you've done!"

"Hey! I said sorry already! I didn't mean to do this! I didn't want Momoshiki to get away any more than you did!"

"But now we have to babysit five women! This is not their world. They aren't strong enough to survive here without us, Naruto!"

"It was a mistake, Sasuke! There's no point arguing over this! It's already happened. Now we just have to deal with it!" Naruto shouted back. Cinder watched Sasuke open his mouth as if to retort, but then his eyes flicked over to them, and his mouth clicked shut. He took a deep breath and then exhaled loudly before he spoke again.

"Fine. Heal your little girlfriend." Sasuke said. Naruto glared at him but set Yang down on the damp soil before him. Cinder took that chance to look around. She didn't know where she was, but it resembled a ravine or some sort of valley.

"Excuse me, but I'd very much like to know where we are." Winter said, stepping up from behind Cinder and approaching the two of them. Sasuke scowled her way, but Winter didn't back down.

"Welcome to the Elemental Nations. Our home dimension." Sasuke replied.

"What…? But… how—that portal thing?" Weiss asked. Sasuke nodded.

"It's the technique they use to traverse dimensions. Stay here with Naruto. Do not go anywhere else. I'm going to go find our comrades so they can look you all over and we can plan." Sasuke ordered. He had vanished before they could respond, or even blink. Winter scowled and strode over to Naruto, entirely dissatisfied.

"I would very much like an explanation, mister Uzumaki. Why did you bring Yang here? To take her into such a dangerous situation through an unknown means of transportation… are you a fool?" Winter questioned, her tone biting. Weiss's eyes darted between her sister and her crush in trepidation.

"Winter pl—"

"No, Weiss. He will answer." Winter responded. Naruto's eyes cut over to the elder Schnee just then.

"I already had this conversation with Sasuke. I didn't bring Yang intentionally. The Otsutsuki threatened our friends here. They threatened our entire world, actually. And as much as we might hate it, they were our only realistic chance at getting back home in time to stop them. So I just reacted. I didn't know if I'd have enough time to set Yang down then chase after them. I moved. That's that. And how you feel about it is inconsequential." Naruto snapped.

Weiss opened her eyes wide. She had never heard anyone speak to Winter in such a way. As for Winter herself, she was gripping her sword tightly, but made no move to brandish it. Angry as she was, she was not a fool. Fighting him would bring her no benefit whatsoever.

"This is all very fascinating, but what I'd like to know is where the Otsutsuki are if we came through right after them?" Cinder inquired as she and Emerald neared the group. Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair, allowing his gaze to drop back down to Yang. He'd already placed his hand upon her to heal her. And the healing had worked. He could feel it. But she still wasn't waking up.

Naruto shook his worries away and responded. "You cannot separate space and time. For them to traverse dimensions, time must also be manipulated in some small way. Sasuke and I are guessing that they arrived here in the Elemental Nations at a time relative to that of Remnant's when we left. However, Sasuke and I… and you girls, have arrived here at the exact time we originally ended up in Remnant. That's our hypothesis."

"How?" Cinder wondered. Naruto shrugged.

"We don't know yet. That's not our technique. We don't really know how it works. We'll have to find a way to return you all at a time after we left Remnant."

"So, you brought miss Xiao Long here without even knowing how to get her back!?" Winter yelled.

"What is your problem?! This isn't what I wanted!" Naruto shouted back.

"You! You are my problem!" Winter stepped into his space. Naruto didn't back down.

"I haven't even done anything to you! I don't even know you!"

"Ugh." Yang groaned. Naruto and Winter shut their mouths. Naruto was back by Yang's side in a blink, cradling her in his arms as she tried to sit up.

"You're okay. You're alright." Naruto said.

"I don't feel okay…" Yang muttered, her bangs shadowing her eyes. "My arm…"

"It'll be okay, Yang." Naruto responded.

"No, it won't! You can't heal this, Naruto!" Yang all but growled. Naruto favored her with a small smile and pulled her into him, her forehead resting against his chest. Rubbing her back, he responded again. His voice softer.

"The leader of my village is the greatest medic in the entire world. She repaired my heart once without even cutting me open, y'know? She's really good. And her student is my teammate. Sakura is just as amazing as Baa-chan is. If anyone can get you back into perfect shape, it's those two." Adult heard her sniff and felt her shoulders shake. Yang would be okay. He'd make sure of it. One way of another.

~X~

Sasuke brought himself to a halt before Kakashi and a still unconscious Sakura. His teacher's eyes narrowed, and the man brandished a kunai. Sasuke snorted. In hindsight, he could see how this looked. Two of your students rush off, proclaiming to battle to the death for the sake of their ideals. Only one returns and worse yet it's the homicidal one. Oh yeah. To Kakashi this must seem like the worst-case scenario.

It's worse than he thinks, Sasuke thought.

"Kakashi."

"Where is Naruto, Sasuke? You didn't really… after all of this?" Kakashi asked, hoping what he had assumed wasn't the truth. Sasuke scoffed.

"As if a battle between the two of us would be settled so quickly. No. Naruto isn't dead. We've got a more dangerous problem to deal with right now." Sasuke replied, stepping toward Sakura. Kakashi contemplated stepping between the two of them for a moment, but he couldn't sense an ounce of killing intent from his wayward student. Kakashi lowered his kunai.

Sasuke knelt next to Sakura. His Sharingan spun to life and with a pulse of chakra he dispelled the genjutsu he'd cast on her. It took her a few moments, but Sakura began to slowly open her eyes. She looked up at him. Sasuke watched her blink once. Twice. Her eyes widened. Sakura sat up straight and then her hand whipped up and cracked against Sasuke's face. Loudly. He was thrown a few feet away, crashed into a rock, and reduced it to rubble.

"How could you…?" Sakura asked, eyes narrowed into a heated glare, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I didn't want you to get in the way… sorry, Sakura." Sasuke replied as he pulled himself out of the pebbles. He rubbed at his cheek with a scowl.

"Didn't want…?" Sakura questioned before fear shot across her face and she looked around, head swiveling this way and that in search of Naruto.

"Did you! —"

"Naruto is alive. The two of you just need to follow me. I'll explain. It's a long story. Naruto and the others are waiting for us." Sasuke interrupted. He didn't feel like getting into an argument with either of them right now.

Both Kakashi and Sakura shot him looks of confusion.

"Others?"

So there we have it. The RWBY cast has been split and five of them have ended up in the Elemental Nations with Naruto, Sasuke, and eventually the two Otsutsuki. I personally haven't read a RWBY fanfiction that has any of the cast going to the EN after Naruto/Sasuke has been to Remnant. It always seems like there's no way back whatsoever, so I wanted to switch things up and give the ladies from RWBY a chance to see the EN.

I'll be going back and forth between the EN and Remnant as I see fit, detailing the happenings of both our split parties, though the focus will remain mostly on Naruto and the gang. Speaking of focus, I'm taking a hiatus for the month of September. I want some time to focus on my original work as well as make sure everything for the coming arcs of this story is in order. With that said, the next chapter of Far From Home will come out at the end of October.

I hope the chapter's to everyone's liking. If there are any questions you all have, feel free to leave a review. If you want some sort of more in-depth discussion, then go ahead join the discord. Peace out.

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