God. Damn. A week away from this fiction due to a mix of not wanting to be burnt out like I did with other stories, and a knowledge that I had to come back to prevent muse loss; seems like such a small thing when you actually start. But then when the third day came along, and the reviews and the Faves and the Follows kept coming in; my god. I don't think I've ever been so vastly intimidated haha. Knowing there's people out there who wanna see this go on, and would be disappointed if it doesn't; or that I need to ensure not to let them down with the path of this story; it all just…. Kinda weighs on you a bit. Still, I'm here. I'm writing the new chapter. And I'll likely follow this path of a 2-3 chapter a weekend period; seems like a healthy way to go about it.
I'm glad so many positive reviews came in, yes I know my grammar is less than acceptable but I do try. I am oddly surprised no one tried to guess Naruto's new main weapon but hey; just means the surprise is left up to me. Either way; I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
READ THE DISCLAIMER
The wizened eyes of the warrior from beyond death, looked upon the scroll in his hands with a growing feeling of unease and frustration, a sigh upon his lips as he placed it down on his desk to look upon it with the comfort of a cup of Vacuo Dark roast in his graso. To both his left and his right, two sets of eyes looked down at the same information he did; even as a soft hand came around and flicked the information up to the main screen that hung from the ceiling of his office. A sip of his hot brew left the air silent, until the figure to his left stepped in front of him. "…Yes Glynda?". Her narrowed eyes got even narrower at the casual mention of her first name.
"Professor Ozpin… I understand you are one for taking advantage of every angle you can get, seeing the best in people wherever you go. But Why on Remnant are you letting that… that.. BOY, out on the city with the intent of what can only amount Vigilante Justice!?". He closed his eyes as her voice got progressively louder, ending off in the withheld shout he could feel straining against her diaphragm.
"I mean look at this! the same area he told you he was going to investigate is now under lockdown for sounds of fighting, An Unfiltered Shock dust explosion; and two or more missing assailants that caused the damn thing. And I think we both know enough to not be so foolish as to simply string this up as a coincidence…". As her voice trailed off, It did so with a simmering frustration under her tone.
"Oh Glynda… Never the one to stray from the official channels. You need to learn to loosen your grip on that riding crop before it snaps". In turn, Ozpin simply smiled at the woman and motioned for her to sit on the other side of his desk, something she did with great hesitation. He made sure to keep her there in silence for a minute; 67 seconds to be exact. Making sure to shush her with a finger as he sipped his warm comfort.
"Do you remember what that boy did in the Emerald Forest, Glynda?". She nodded, her eyes narrowing once more as she thought back to the recording shown to her before then being deleted to prevent it being spread. "I know I sent you out of the room back in our first meeting… but the truth is, that boy is just as, if not more interesting than me".
Her eyes widened and her body stiffened, looking at the man in shock. Anyone in the inner circle of Ozma Knew of what that meant; and in a moment of honest emotion, Glynda felt a spike of fear in her chest. She leaned in close, as if the uttering of her next words would bring about the end of her. "Is he one of salem's..?". the relief that flooded her as he shook his head in the negative, nearly made the woman melt into her chair. Nearly. Glynda Goodwitch did not melt.
"I promised him I would not tell anyone who he is or where he comes from. But what he did that day is a sign that he could be an important piece to come in the war between myself and… my love..". The pain in the voice of her mentor lead Glynda's eyes to finally soften. Not many knew of Ozma's regrets and pains towards the woman he had once called wife; but in the dead of night… she heard. Heard the lament in words spoken only for him, when he did not sense her outside his office door. The sound of him leaving his chair drew Glynda to watch him; not attempting to follow as he walked to one of the office windows.
"What he did with the Grimm, Glynda; is nothing short of amazing. He removed the presence of darkness from them in their entirety and replaced it with something else. I have noticed him doing the same with particular students during his guidance sessions and the changes in them come almost… unnaturally. Miss Schnee is now acting as a tutor to Miss Rose; Miss Scarletina actually requested a sparring room for herself and her team after Mr Uzumaki left the school". Ozpin's eyes shone with a playful gleam as he turned to look at his friend of many years, smiling as he did.
"That boy… that Man. Is making changes in Beacon that I felt would take years to come. If he prefers Vigilante justice to the Political Tape and Webs of the spiders that take up our society, then let him play the part of the hero. For all the negativity that Salem's agents spread in our world… Perhaps its about time we had our own out there to spread a little good. By cutting out the tumors of our kingdom".
~{ANS}~
"Mother fucking piece of half-Digested fox Shit!". Said Hero, Grit his teeth as he pulled out the last fragment of beer-stained glass from his leg; Years of pain tolerance meaning nothing in the face of unending frustration from having to pull the glass out of the most awkward place on his body. For the first time since he left his home world, The Boy was actually starting to regret not taking Sakura up on her medical lessons back when they were Reunited in Konoha.
He was thankful that a little application of water manipulation was able to clean up the bloody trail leading from the location of his less than graceful landing; healing factor having already dealt with the stab wound in his shoulder but less than helpful when it kept closing around the foreign object sticking out of his leg. The last clattering bit of fragmented bottle hit the ground as the boy groaned at the stinging sensation, followed by that damn itching as the wound closed up.
A very quick application of Water release washed his evidence down a gutter; having managed to make his way back up to the rooftops a few buildings away. A quick henge to look like a familiar old fire shadow in his past, swapping out the Hokage robes for a bedrobe, and the police that rushed the rooftops for evidence had simply passed him over, asking him to go back inside for his safety. He had done so… waited until they had cleared the area out and now, here he was back on the roof with no one looking for him.
Ozpin could keep his hunters; Ninjas win every time.
As of now, Naruto took in a deep breath as he allowed the familiar calm of his Sage chakra to flood his body and fill him from toe to scalp. The blissful touch of Gaia soothed his frustrated soul and let the blonde feel at peace once more, his mind going back to his plan that had been reduced to shit upon contact with the stabby ice cream. Step one, leave beacon. That had been a success with the use of some wall walking.
Step two. Find the Station? That was now a bust. Any attempt to go and find the station to silently enter and find out who had been defending the racist humans or paying off the Police to act the way they were, would now be twice as hard with the active forces looking for the mystery bomber. Sure he could just henge in, but that would just result in being dragged out and sent out on the case himself. He took in a deep breath, allowing the air to carry its soothing chill to his lungs… and then whipped out his scroll.
Ozpin, Things have gone tits up. I was ambushed by an Assailant who tried to mug me and used an unstable Shock dust crystal to try and incapacitate me. The explosion has shaken up the hornet's nest, there's no way I'm going to be able to infiltrate the station now. – Professor Uzumaki
It Didn't take long for the reply to come back, The blonde having applied a second Henge to take on his more casual clothing before descending to the streets. He walked down the road from the 'crime scene', mumbling to himself as he thought of what to do next, only for his scroll to buzz. He whipped it out a second time, reading with a growing feeling to rub his temples.
Yes, Glynda and I are quite aware of the trouble in Vale this evening. Such a shame that mad bomber got away, but alas your 'mission' stays unchanged. Use your ID at a local hotel and book a room for the night, Then continue in the morning. I am placing you on a week's leave, Glynda has agreed to take over your guidance role for the week but I would hurry up and find whatever it is you are looking for. Her riding crop is beginning to look a little bent from your… actions – Professor Ozpin.
The frustration at knowing his investigation was all but fucked for the night, The blonde sighed and turned on a heel, heading to where he could see a sleezy, worn down, possibly roach infested motel down the road. Why? Because right now he wanted to stay in a place that didn't ask questions.
The act of purchasing his room was as easy as scanning his card and taking a key off the rack while a pudgy, sweat drenched 'bouncer' watched him from afar; patting a rusty sawn off on his hip. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. He made sure to bolt the door the moment he got into his room, glad to see it wasn't some piss stained pit but a serviceable room on the road; serviceable for someone who spent most of his time sleeping outdoors anyway.
He did not bother to undress, afraid of what he would catch from the bed, instead laying his cloak down over the top and laying on top of that. His hand went to the familiar but still strange weight of his new 'toy' on his hip, hand going over its grip and his thumb rubbing across its name as he smiled… Ruby had been ecstatic to see that her plans had gone well for the item, but his own modifications to it had proven just as important as hers in the end.
He may have not needed a long-range weapon in terms of firepower. But he couldn't deny the fact that it felt good to have one for simplicity's sake. With a sigh, the boy laid his head down… eyes focused on the ceiling till sleep came to claim him. he'd find the bastard behind the crimes at beacon soon.
And then? Well… His new toy would finally be broken in.
~{ANS}~
Neo, Hurt. She hurt, EVERYWHERE. That blonde bastard had broken so many of her damn bones, even with aura reinforcement, that she couldn't even walk more than 5 steps with her dumb dumb before she ended up passing out from the pain.
Her aura was at near 0, Her body somehow even less than that! Her eyes stay locked on the ceiling of their little hideout as she heard the Man she loved shouting at someone with everything he had. It was funny… the man was an absolute coward when it came to these people, sassy but cowed instantly on most days.
Not when it came to his little Neo though…~
Oh sure, she had him wrapped around her fingers. But she loved him all the same~ not the romantic love, ew. No. more like… The way someone loved a brother! Or an uncle? A Broncle. "-And I Don't CARE what you're telling me you silver shitbag; I want the bastard who did this to neo found and dead, or you can count me and my resources OUT of this little game of yours! Got it!?". That's it dumb dumb, make sure they know not to fuck with torchwick…
God these painkillers were amaaaaaziiing…. The sound of something hitting shelves, shelves hitting ground, hitting something; drew her attention but she couldn't move to save her life. She blinked once, blinked twice as the sound of something hitting flesh came from the other room; only for her voice to come out of it. "Now now Mercery… We need the distinguished Mr Torchwick alive to finish his part of the deal. He knows better than to talk back now he's been taught what happens, don't you Roman…~?".
…Oh how she hated her. Hated her with a passion, an absolute coldness in the base of her heart. The groan of her dumb dumb let her know what had happened and she so….desperately… wanted to go in there and remove their eyes with her parasol. The sound of a door getting locked after multiple footsteps left the room drew her to worry when no other sounds came from within. Just as she was about to try and rip her IV out of her arm to go see to her Dumb dumb.
Around he came. His lip split open, eye swelling; his lovely white coat all torn at the shoulder… she frowned. He loved that coat. At least his hat was ok… he'd be doubly upset if his hat was destroyed. She watched as he dragged himself over, limping, to her bed and pulled up a raggedy old chair to sit down on. In his eyes there lay a fury. A true fury. One she had only seen once before; it made her so happy to see it, for her, that anger for her.
She watched… as he put a pen in her hand. And held a notepad underneath its tip… that beautiful anger for her so bright.
"tell me, everything, about this bastard…".
~{ANS}~
So… bright. Too bright. Too bright for this time of the morning. His hand came up to block the light shining in his eyes from the slit in the curtains, the blonde groaning as he felt the warmth of the spring sunlight slowly heating up his skin in the cold motel room. He slowly lifted himself from his bed with a deep groan, his armor-clad back cracking as he did… body of youth yet he still felt his real age from time to time. A deep inhale and a grimace from that motel smell, and the beauty of sage mode clung to his body once more…
And then came the hate.
Like a hangover from hell, Naruto winced at the striking feeling of the negative forces of the city; forcing him to once again tone down his Sage chakra output to prevent himself from being bombarded by every single negative, racist, angry or otherwise bad emotion out there. "If this continues, trying to find the culprit of these crimes in person is going to be a lot fucking harder". He flung his cloak from the bed to over his shoulders, Henging into a rather accurate copy of a certain pineapple haired lazybones from his home.
No one had bothered to talk to or approach him as he took the key to his room down to the main desk to return it, nor as he left without answering any of the usual "did you enjoy your stay" routine. The benefit of looking like a lay bum was that no one thought you would be worth the conversation, something he intended on using to his advantage here in the daylight.
After consulting his Scroll's map for a direct line of transit to the Police station; The blonde's eye twitched to learn that the rooftop of his battle with Stabby the night before had in fact been less than two buildings away the entire god damn time. With all the neon lights of the city at that point, trying to pick out a police sign had been that much harder it seems. Alas, He did not want to waste more time in this state of annoyance…
The approach to the station had been rather easy; a little too easy actually. Back home, This type of place wouldn't even let you near the back walls without being watched at every corner and yet here he was, walking in through the front door. what wasn't easy was seeing what was inside… Faunus. Nothing but Faunus. Sure there was a human or two, but the ears and tails to count were almost too much along with the sheer amount of hate, Sadness, Fear and loathing in the building… this is where Velvet had gone off to?
"LET GO OF ME!". His head shot around to see some poor kid, white hair and wolfish ears with a tail to boot, struggling as he was pulled aside to the wall of the station and slammed against it. His scroll was already in his hand, recording the incident as he went unnoticed; frowning. The officer in question, a Skinny shit with dark hair and sickly yellow eyes; smirking as he pinned the kid to the wall.
"What's the deal Astins; he's just a kid". The voice of another officer caught his attention, her visage being much more pleasant to look at… being a green eyed, Pale, Smallish woman with hair as black as night. He stepped back to get them both in the frame of his recording; thankful his henge had hidden his scroll behind another scroll, it's screen looking like texting rather than recording. "The Deal Rook, is this little beast-".
The tensing of half the damn room did not go unnoticed.
"Was defacing a wall a few blocks from here with some white fang propaganda". The thrashing of the teen's movements somehow got harsher at this, the blonde raising an eyebrow as the teen's fangs began to develop… and extend. "THAT WAS A MEMORIAL TO THE FAUNUS YOU BASTARDS LEFT TO DIE IN THE SHOOTING LAST WEEK!". Anything more the teen was going to say was brutally Silenced by the shock of a tazer… forcibly applied by this Astins, with a shout of 'semblance user'. It took everything Naruto had to not ruin this chance to gain evidence by jumping in, and judging by the wave of hate… he wasn't the only one holding back.
He watched with an aching heart as the teen was taken away; stopping the recording for now and sending it to Ozpin; the man would know what to do with such evidence of police brutality. His eyes narrowed as he watched the asshole walk back to his desk with tazer in hand, not-so-subtly threatening to tap it against some of the rougher looking Faunus in the station. With a slow nod, Naruto noticed something… and smirked.
He had found his way in.
~{ANS}~
The blonde hummed to himself as he stood on the rooftop of the station with a clear smirk on his lips. It had taken many hours, deep into the night, but his grand plan was ready to throw into action; a steady flow of chakra going to a two-way Henge seal on his palm linked to the centerpiece of his new plan. It had taken a while for his clones to get the design just right, not wanting to waste this particular chance he had, as well as the other 70 he sent out to pick out every faunus they could find to ensure what he did next did not screw any innocents over for life.
With a deep exhale, the boy leapt off the roof with a can of simple orange spray paint, marking an already marked part of the wall continuously. Waiting… waiting…. Waiting..
"HEY! HANDS UP WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!".
Bingo.
Slowly Naruto began to stand, dropping the can and not even flinching as the clattering of metal drew a look out for claws and a note to look out in case he reached for a weapon. Thankfully he had seen the benefit of sealing both of his weapons away; especially when one of the officers came over and ripped his cloak from his body. "stay right where you are, fucking freak…". Oh the tone change told him this had definitely worked…
He slowly turned on his foot, ignoring the shouts of the officers to stay where he was as he smirked at them. "kukukuku..~ not fond of the mural, officer?". Standing in place of the blonde was now what he could only assume was what a younger ORochimaru looked like, a rounder face with those same yellow eyes; that black hair and snake-like look to him. Add in some scales around the cheek and here he was, staring down the barrel of a gun at the asshole behind it.
Behind him? a GIANT spraypainted design of a nine tailed fox, not unlike his old friend. The only difference being the black fur, Red eyes, Grimm-like design and the 3 red claw marks going down from one corner of the mural to the next; a big old white "FUCK THE POLICE" underneath it in clear letters. He did not fight as he felt the cuffs going around his wrists; nor the hard steel of a barrel being shoved into his back as he was forcibly pushed to walk towards the station. No.
All he thought, with his smirk clear and wide…
Was Infiltration, Successful.