Okay, so, before the chapter let me speak on this.
Of EVERYTHING last chapter, you guys are freaking out over the two saying they have a son named Boruto. Be aware of something, Boruto wouldn't even be 10 by the time this fic ends, do people honestly think he'd have THAT much focus if he's that young?
Guys, it's fine, just let me throw out references, future Omakes, and details, you'll know if they're relevant, trust me.
Now, onto the chapter.
~NRK~
They looked at Willow before Naruto wore a sheepish grin.
"I guess she's also got something she's afraid of," he said in amusement. "Earth Spirit, might want to sit back over here, buddy."
"Oh, uh, okay," the spirit's transmission said, floating back over to land on his shoulder. "Um, I'm an Earth Spirit, magic's totally a thing so, uh, tadaa?"
Weiss tried to swallow this pill the Grimm man was toting before shivering in disbelief.
"This may require a bit more time," Penny smiled.
~NRK~
In another room at Beacon, Kali looked down in thought as Ghira's jaw dropped and Blake freaked out.
With a Naruto and Penny clone, the two explained the real nature of what was going on with her.
"I mean, I could never tell you it was magic," Kali began. "But I'm not surprised it's not Aura," she elaborated. "It's too different, Naruto is too different, for me to even begin to call it 'spirit-based'. I'll be honest, I was banking on Grimm Power or something."
"K-Kali, you're taking this remarkably well," Ghira said weakly, his eyes still on Naruto's little spirit transmission 'friend'. "I-I feel hard-pressed to just accept MAGIC as… A-As any reasonable 'explanation'."
"T-This is weird!" Blake squeaked.
"Hmm, right on both accounts," Kali said. "But, are we honestly not a bit more understanding knowing everything we do about Naruto?"
Her husband considered her words while Blake kept looking at the spirit's transmission 'clone' in disbelief. "I…" Ghira slowly looked unsure of himself, the large man cupping his chin in thought. "In the grand scheme of things, this… This does explain a lot."
Naruto and Penny smiled patiently.
"... Perhaps too much," the large Faunus released a very vulnerable sigh. "Truly? Is this not a joke? A small prank?"
"Sorry, Ghira, nothing like this," Naruto smiled.
"It's not something you should be apologizing for, it's just…" The man couldn't put it into words.
"T-This makes Aura look so weak!" Blake whined.
"No, Blake, you likely will also have magical power," Penny informed her.
Her eyes snapped to her.
"Let's explain this from the top, alright?"
They went about talking about magic in its entirety, their plans, and the kids' place in all of it.
Listening up until the very end, the family of four looked thoughtful.
"So, I'll get darkness powers like Naru-bro?" Blake asked.
"I… Don't know," Naruto tried to reassure her before looking confused, himself. "In all honesty, Blake, I don't know where your powers stand in relation to me," he smiled as Penny pulled out some paper. "Either of you, yourself or your mom, so let's see. This is Element Paper, it allows us to see what magical element you're aligned to."
They all stared at that old bit of laminated parchment, eyes on its old words and incredibly neat handwriting.
Kali reached out and held it gently before allowing her Aura to form.
"I'm not sure if it needs active use or not," she admitted before her ears shot up, eyes wide at the sight of glowing letters sprouting off the page and translating into a readable language.
Three of which resonated before a fourth formed above them, connected by lines from its progenitor.
"Another Ephemeral?" Penny looked surprised. "Wait, does that element coincide with powers that have a mixture?" She looked at Kali who grew sheepish.
"Hey, you'd know more than me," the puma woman said.
"Sorry, this is still not all that clear to us, these elements are the 12 bases of magic but we don't really understand where some of these 'mixes' stand."
"So, this has happened before, yes?" Ghira asked, relieved.
"Yeah, with Qrow," Naruto explained, the large Faunus considering the truth. "But we don't know if any of the other kids will have powers that align with this, heck, right now we're talking with the Schnee family about Whitley's magical-side."
They explained what was going on, what was happening, and then a bit of what was going on with the Ballum.
Kali frowned as Blake flinched and Ghira grimaced.
"Yes, I understand," he told them. "In fact, I believe you may be able to make this work by leaving from Menagerie, Naruto."
The Grimm man looked surprised as Penny gasped.
"If we did, it'd definitely help drop the eyes on us," the former android smiled. "Still, well, what are you all's thoughts? This is not a simple revelation nor is it something you can just think over in a matter of minutes."
"It's so weird," Blake chimed in almost immediately. "I mean, magic being real sounds weird, Ms. Penny, Naru-bro."
"It is but it's not weird when you actually begin using it," Naruto smiled.
"I can understand it," Kali admitted. "I mean, when you consider Remnant's myths, folklores, and stories, you begin to think magic is involved but, of course, that'd be 'weird', how could it?" She laughed. "Of course, then you think about the fact that we have people with spiritual powers, super abilities, and land-conquering skills. Suddenly, 'magic' isn't exactly weird."
"When she phrases it like that," Ghira looked sheepish. "Kali has a point. No one considers Aura and its many applications weird but the moment 'magic' comes into vocabulary, suddenly people who can make explosions, use shadows, fire, and more at their own behest become 'normal' things."
"S-So, what about all of the mystical animals and stuff?" Blake asked excitedly. "A-Are unicorns real?!"
"From what we've seen? Potentially," Penny giggled. "I mean, we know krakens exist," she said quietly.
"What?" Kali blinked.
"It's gonna come up, one day, but for now just know that, yeah, mystical animals aren't exactly impossible," Naruto said. "So, how do you feel about learning magic, Kali? Blake?"
"Well, how long does it really take?"
"We sadly don't know," Penny shrugged. "For us, learning magic was a completely different affair, I mean…" She giggled while gesturing to the amused Naruto. "And I was formerly metallic, this situation to us is FAR different than it is to you."
Considering their words, Ghira nodded. "I think it'd be for the best, Kali, that you throw yourself into this," he smiled as his wife crossed her arms with a hum. "All things considered, the world has grown painfully more worrisome," he looked at the clones. "These Ballum, have you fought one yet?"
"No but we know they're bad news and that people who have magic will be necessary," Naruto said seriously. "At the moment, we've finished the sub and are planning on managing it with clones to keep us all safe, ya know? We don't know what's gonna happen when we follow through on any of these moves so we gotta 'up the curve' quickly," he looked down in thought. "I'm gonna be honest, I'm thinking about slowly adding more of the adults into this and training 'em."
"Naruto?" Penny looked surprised before cupping her chin. "I think… I understand what he means," she told them. "Naruto's right, these Gates are going to require more power than Aura will provide, we might need to get the entire group of Hunters to gain these powers. Right now, Glynda, father, Qrow, and Vernal are going through the basics. We hope they can thoroughly document the process so we can bring you all in on this more smoothly."
"I've even put up a clone there with one of Penny's so we can go through the basics all over again."
"So, for now, Kali, I think you and Blake should just test out your limits. Ghira, I believe you should gain magic as soon as we can nail down this process."
Considering their measured and serious words, the White Fang leader nodded. "Alright," Ghira smiled before looking sheepish. "Erm, hopefully, I can do so without too much trouble."
"Ghira, we can literally clone you," Penny smiled as he froze, jaw dropped as Kali blushed a nice pink while gently rubbing her son's cheek. "It'll just be the clone learning so they can pass it on to you."
~NRK~
With Willow, hopefully, sufficiently calmed down, they gestured to the Earth Spirit.
"He's a pal pops made in Gormhen," Nora told Whitley as she held the horseshoe crab spirit in front of the Schnee couch, the childish-sounding spirit clacking his claws together. "He's also made more land on Uzu so things are gonna be sick when we get back!"
"Truly?" Whitley looked excited by the idea while Weiss hesitated.
The short girl nervously reached out before touching one of his claws.
"You're the first human girl-person to touch my claws," he said.
Weiss was awed by this knowledge, shaking his pincer with confidence. "W-Well, Weiss Schnee is known for having powerful experiences," she declared as Whitley snickered behind his hands.
"So, there are more of them, right?" Whitley asked curiously as Willow remained behind the couch. "You call them 'earth' and 'water' spirits, that has to mean there are others, right?" He queried. "So, maybe, fire? Air? Lightning?"
"Yep, there are a few more," Mercury said. "Honestly, pops is gonna go and find those other ones, one day," he shrugged.
"Yep, I gotta get their Blessings and stuff," Naruto said while gesturing to his axe's water jewel.
"S-S-So," Winter, now awake, stuttered as she pointed at his weapon. "T-That's not Water Dust…?"
"It's the Blessing of the Great Water Spirit," Penny smiled. "Naruto and I will venture to get him more when the time comes."
Despite her shaken status, Winter's mind grew warm and light at the idea.
Going on a magical adventure w-was more than just some fictional tale, it was possible and VERY LITERAL.
Willow took a shaky breath as she remained peeking over the edge of the couch. "S-So, my son has magic?" She squeaked.
"Basically, yeah," the couple said.
"W-What does this mean?" Winter asked. "Um, surely, t-there's some sort of situation at play, yes?" She was concerned.
If her brother had magic, that had to mean something-
"Um, no, Winter, he has magic because I give away magic," Naruto said sheepishly. "There's not really any reason to it besides me not knowing that it's what I do."
Her jaw dropped at his grin.
"..." Willow's eyes snapped to the Earth Spirit before she slowly came around the couch bend.
Penny giggled nervously at the mother gently moving Winter to sit at the opposite end of the couch as the spirit and kids.
"And this is why you wanted to talk?"
"Yep, well, not everything," Naruto admitted. "The thing is, we all know that moving about is going to be rough nowadays, it's not wrong to say that we're looking for ideas," he explained as she nodded. "And we realized that Whitley's magic is amazing, he might very well have the answers we need. So, we wanted to explain this to him and you guys so you know where we're coming from but also to make this more transparent."
"The original idea was to do so at the end of the year," Penny said. "But things aren't always so simple."
Looking thoughtful in unison, the Schnee quartet considered their words.
"Will I get extra training?" Whitley asked.
"Oh yeah, Whits, you're gonna be getting the most extensive bit of magic training we can offer so you're better with your Semblance," Naruto smiled. "For example, I just made a magic scroll," he pulled out said item from his pocket.
Letting them hold, feel, and open it, the magic side looked on in interest at their reactions.
"I can't read any of this," Whitley said.
"It's… What kind of lettering, what language, is this?" Weiss asked.
"..." Winter remained silent, barely calm enough to look at the bit of parchment.
"I see," Willow uttered. "This is truly magic."
"Yep!" Nora smiled with the Earth Spirit, the Schnee woman releasing a small fearful breath before nodding.
"Well, I'm not sure what to say. You've been taking care of them, Naruto, Penny, there's not much more I can tell you besides just keep him safe… A-And don't let himself get turned into a newt."
The magic side sweatdropped as Whitley's eyes glowed in wonder.
"I-Is that an actual thing?!" He asked excitedly as his siblings paled.
"Well, it's not impossible," Penny giggled. "We just never learned such magic."
The boy looked incredibly taken with the idea.
~NRK~
"Alright, ya told 'em, what follows?" Qrow asked from Ozpin's office.
"Nothing besides a few extra lessons to Whitley and Kali," Penny declared. "And with Naruto's magic scroll, there's more room to train for everyone involved."
"Speaking of, Penny, your version isn't any different, correct?" Glynda asked.
"It's as close as can be. While I do have some of Naruto's Darkness element in me, which allows me to use his Shadow Clone spell, I can't really do much more with it besides use it for affinities."
"Well, with this, we've got all the tools," Qrow said. "Now, it's time for training the world over and to use that submarine, ey?" He looked excited. "Y-Ya think I can get a clone on that sub?"
~NRK~
Meanwhile, in Atlas…
"So, it's really rough out here," Jiraiya said, green cloak tightly-wound around him. "Yo, Ramaal? You got anything?!"
"Yes! We're getting close!" The Maiden called from another stalagmite as Amber, another woman, and Fria walked beside the Toad Sage. "It's weird," she appeared beside them. "It's as we thought, the further down we go, the more powerful it gets," Ramaal frowned in a cloak of warm sand. "Fria, how far down have we gone by this point?"
Wearing a thick light blue cloak with a familiar number of crystal 'accessories' cinching it closed or on the border, the oldest Maiden looked up as a large glowing crystal sat on her shoulder and glowed gold.
"Three hundred meters," she told them. "At this point, we're in the ocean."
Amber looked nervous at that, eyes going all over this large well-like hole that was almost 40-meters-big. "Isn't this whole thing weird?" She asked.
"It is, whatever Grimm is doing this, they're not small fry," Jiraiya said as he looked further down into the darkening depths. 'At this point, where the hell is it?' Because if his own geography was right, they were going back to Mantle.
And if this thing went further than he could imagine? Things might go tits-up if no one does anything.
~NRK~
Moving the submarine had been as simple as having Naruto seal it into his palms before going to the shore below Beacon's bullhead port to release it.
With clones of James, Glynda, Pietro, Penny, Naruto, Qrow, and Ozpin getting on it, the real Naruto, Qrow, and Penny shot them thumbs-ups before the submarine released a quiet 'whirl' before glowing and sinking below the waves.
"This is going to be a real big step," Qrow said with a look out to sea. "How long until we go back to the island?"
"In a month," Penny explained. "That should be around early April and give us time to show off all the energy exercises."
"We're gonna be getting way more public, it's gonna take some time, especially because we know people are gonna ask to get 'in' on the training," Naruto said. "Though, this being something people can do with Aura will likely chill them out once we put it up on the site."
~NRK~
The following morning, the students and guards lined up beside a large lake in the Forest Forest… Yep.
"Naruto, um, when did you do this?" Thetis asked in disbelief, eying the impossible lake in awe.
"Just some work on my part," Naruto chuckled while tapping his axe. "Now, let's start this by splitting the group: Who here can confidently do Wall Walking?"
Maybe a bit under half of the gathered group raised their hands, notably, Penny, Mercury, Nora, Vernal, Raven, Tai, Summer, and Kali. "That's a decent group," Penny observed.
"What about Ms. Goodwitch, ma'am?" Pyrrha asked politely.
"Well, for one, she can't always be with us," Summer smiled. "Two, she does still teach, you all. Heck, Naruto's started sending a clone to help her with her classes."
~NRK~
"Um, you guys don't need to keep try-"
"Me next!" One of the students declared bravely, ignoring all of the defeated bodies outside of the combat class arena of all the other brave young adults who'd tried to fight him.
The Uzumaki shook his head in his hands as Glynda raised a brow.
"My students are rather maddening at times," she muttered as Cera laughed on the bleachers and Winter tilted her head.
"Why are our classmates so obsessed?" The Schnee asked.
"They think they can prove something," the Arc woman grinned. "And they're also pervs, can't forget that."
"?"
~NRK~
"So, for now we'll spread out those who can Wall Walk and those who are ready for this exercise," Penny smiled.
Splitting up the group in balanced numbers of adults to kids, the Water Walking group stood on the lake's edge.
"Alright, so, how do we get better at this?" Mercury asked as Naruto, Penny, Taiyang, and Raven walked out onto the surface. "It's about constant rotation, yeah, but is there some other trick?"
"Mental images," Taiyang told him. "It's the image of currents and manipulating them," he explained, widening his stance.
His front foot's hold began to spiral, a circular spin of Aura causing the waters to follow.
Mercury observed, frowning in thought as he placed a foot down on its surface, trying to put it into practice.
His foothold spasmed randomly, the water hissing as he tried to spin it beneath his heel.
Nora beamed as she sat on the water's edge and placed her feet on it, eyes alight with wonder as the thought of swirling arcs of lightning filled her mind.
Her footing formed a sparking circumference that glowed beneath her feet and caused it to swirl quickly.
The others tried their best to do the same, the constant eruptions of water and energy filled the air with noise.
During all of which, Naruto and Penny went over their own training at a far end.
"So, to call on natural phenomenon," the redhead looked over her digital notes via her Examiner Module. "I think we have to figure out what our max potential is first," Penny told her lover.
"So, basically, go all-out for a bit to see how much power we've got," Naruto crossed his arms, the two seated knee-to-knee in front of one another. "We simply can't do that here."
"What about the island with young Ed?"
He considered it. "Maybe… Or, what if we just ran out on the ocean and let loose?"
"I think we could find a space unmonitored," Penny said before a second module formed over her eyes. "Speaking of, the sentries have been quite the spectacle for those in Argus, especially when they began to work as 'guards'."
"Oh, right, Kokyuko is over there, I forgot," Naruto said in surprise. "Well, it'll hopefully help with getting people used to my powers."
~NRK~
The submarine clone crew were truly awed by what they saw in this bit of fantastical machinery.
"It's like a whole different world," Qrow said with a grin as Grimm of all sorts passed them by, fish swam by, or even larger animals made their songs and 'ooooohs' as they investigated their watercraft. "This is awesome!"
"It is amazing," Pietro said as he stood by the front of the ship with James, the Atlas General steering their vessel through the depths. "This will revolutionize everything, like that Dust over there."
Bringing their submarine to a stop by a large wall of coral, they spied the many bits and pieces of Dust lodged in its sides and crevices, their gleaming colors visible even with all the blue around them.
"Engaging material containers," Penny smiled as she pressed a button.
There was an opening in the side of the haul before a miniature sub departed towards the wall.
It glowed before releasing skeletal arms that grabbed the Dust and sucked them into its being.
This creation was just one of the many abilities of this craft.
"It's truly amazing how far we've come," Ozpin admitted wholeheartedly. "We can excavate Dust at this sea-level, no one else on this planet could do this."
Watching it collect all the Dust in sight, it came back into the sub before slotting into its opening.
Moving to the back of the craft, Ozpin was truly awed by the glowing Dust put inside a large vial of magically-reinforced glass.
Opening a latch on the side, he pulled out one of those powerful crystals and closed it back. "Hmm," the old wizard looked it over, eyes wide in wonder at this impossibly bright Dust Crystal. "It's a higher grade than most Dust you could find in most companies, likely, only the Schnee refineries could sport more fine Dust than this."
"So, that means that Dust found in such untouched places can be beyond powerful," Naruto nodded. "Right now, we've gotta find all these amazing places and bring back good news."
Their vessel continued on, unleashing small Sentries of Penny's make that scanned their surroundings at high speeds.
Penny, Glynda, and Qrow looked over the transcripts, visual information, and sounds they recorded.
"There's magic in the very ocean?" Qrow looked surprised, Glynda not much better.
"It shows there's some below the very earth itself, it's faint but there," she reconsidered what they knew about magic in the world. "Did it get weighed down? Is magic, as a force, heavier than any other?"
"It's a curious thing to learn about," Penny said as she searched the information with a few clicks. "By parsing all the bits about 'magic', we can form a document."
Said information was being printed at their side, Pietro taking a seat on a floating chair to read it all.
"... My word, it's truly focused around heated pockets," he told them. "Apparently, magic must find itself in those odd occurrences on the ocean floor like underground volcanoes or deep sea whirlpools."
One of said events occurred far at their side, the Sentries giving them visuals on the eddie.
"This is all new to us, what an amazing space," James said. "But we can't just sightsee for however long, the submarine may run on magic but we only have so much space for samples and the like."
Continuing this trek of theirs had been a day-long trip following their discovery of that Dust.
Meaning it'd almost been two days since this started.
And that time had been spent well with their studying of the ocean, the Dust in it, the terrain, and the magic.
All of which gave them more than enough to do before they found themselves at the core of this trip.
Looking down at that large swirling vortex of black was as ominous as ever and the knowledge that they'd go inside wasn't making this any better.
"This is it," Glynda's clone said, adjusting her glasses. "We won't know what happens once we're inside."
"I've been transmitting all of the data we received up to this point to our Sub Tower," Pietro said. "Everything has been transcribed and we're ready for this part of the venture."
"Thank goodness we have enough materials to rebuild the sub over and over," Qrow said with a grin. "And you guys could make this thingbetter if things come to that without any danger."
"Yep, now," Naruto formed a handsign.
The submarine found itself covered by a swirling darkness, its colors going completely black as the light coming out of its sensors and floodlights became blacklight.
"Let's go."
They drove right into it.
And the very shift in atmosphere nearly stunned them dumb, the group's very beings throbbing in response to some kind of heavy force.
"W-What is this?!" Naruto grimaced as he held everyone steady with bony limbs.
"This pressure… Isn't this Darkness?!" Penny winced at the feeling, Naruto flooding them all with Life magic. "T-This…" Her eyes trembled as she kept looking at the sensors.
The data coming in tripled in speed, flickered, came in broken segments and then… And then it glowed.
Their eyes widened at the sight of those green letters on the black backdrop glowing red and forming scripture that they'd never seen before.
It formed an array on the data screen before flashing more and more.
"W-What is this?!" Glynda grimaced.
Pietro's eyes observed every bit of sudden magical information being printed o-No.
"WE'RE BEING MOVED!" He told them all. "This isn't normal magic, it's teleport-!"
Their ride shook harshly, cutting him off as they all bounced about the haul.
Glynda grimaced with a growl before she held up her hand, green magic flowing up her arm.
The ragdolled crew froze in the air of the sub, their watercraft still shaking like a damn earthquake but their bodies held in stasis in the air.
"O-Oww," Pietro groaned as James held his noggin with a grimace. "W-What in the world?"
"Father?" Penny asked worriedly.
Naruto held out a hand. "Lux," he cast, the spell erupted around them all and taking care of their wounds.
"Thank you, Naruto," James released a hissing breath as they looked around their vehicle. "How long is this going to last?" He frowned.
"W-We're being teleported," Pietro hissed even with the pain going away, his eyes going to the paper being thrown about in their vessel. "Our coordinates were being moved by saturation of magic, Darkness magic, we're being 'eroded' and carried somewhere from our coordinates going to their 'X-nth' limits."
"Not good," Glynda grimaced. "This Gate, has it truly become something that even the Ballum can't compare to? Or is this similar in scope? Is it weaker?" She had so many damn questions about this.
What the hell were they falling into-?
Their submarine shuddered one last harsh time before the haul's shaking came to a stop.
Their floating didn't end when it did, Glynda looking around at their surroundings while Naruto expanded his senses.
When he did? The Grimm's eyes widened beyond scope.
"There's no way," he said in shock as they looked at him. "I can't sense the original me or anyone we know! I have no idea where we are!"
Their eyes widened before Glynda grimaced and dropped them gently to the floor, the group finding their footing and looking at the side door of their submarine.
"What in the world is outside?" Penny wondered, hands crackling with lightning. "Naruto-kun?"
"There's something off, I can sense a great gathering of Darkness far away but there's magic everywhere," Naruto told them, surprising them all. "I don't know what the hell happened. How can I not sense the original me? Where did we go that I can sense magic everywhere?"
Pietro's eyes went to the papers, their screens, and then their map.
He looked at the screen showing their coordinates and stared at the 'X-Nth' on their Y-, X-, and Z-axises.
"..." He considered everything before his eyes widened. "No… T-That can't be possible," Pietro whispered in shock as they turned to him. "I don't think we're on Remnant anymore," he told them.
All eyes went wide, Naruto frowned as he moved to their door and formed his gauntlet on his right arm.
He nodded to the others as he opened it, bracing his arm ahead of them as light fed into their sub and waited.
They waited with bated breaths and prepared attacks as the light dimmed and the Grimm man looked outside.
When he did? Naruto's arms went slack at his sides.
"What?" He uttered in pure disbelief as they stared at his confusion. "W-Where the hell did we end up?" Naruto pointed a shaky finger outside. "G-Guys, seriously, this isn't normal."
Seeing his disbelief had them all growing worried beyond imagination as they walked to the door-And stared.
They stared at a plain, grass as far as the eye could see save a-and what was on the grass was-
It made a long horn-like bellow, its shrill voice making it sound like a deer but it wasn't.
Having pure white fur, a long mane of dark blue, pupiless blue eyes, and a single horn on its head, that 'creature' shook its head in a horse-like fashion and released small pulses of magic at the sight of them.
It took off into the sky while many other 'animals' moved about or flew overhead in bursts of wind magic.
Flashes of earth magic.
Or just hid themselves in the very ether of the world.
Penny's jaw dropped as Glynda's throat constricted.
Qrow's arms went limp as Pietro sputtered.
James's head mechanically turned around to look behind their submarine while Ozpin… Ozpin was in disbelief.
"A unicorn?" He said like it didn't make sense. "J-Jagger Rabbits? I-Is that a Roaming Tusken?" The Old WIZARD stared at the MAGICAL ANIMALS surrounding them.
Naruto considered everything they knew up to this point about darkness magic before something began to kick at the back of his head.
"D-Did the Darkness element of the world hide some of the magic world?" He asked Ozpin who hit his knees in uncontrollable shock. "O-Old Man Oz, I don't know what's happening."
"I-I don't either," the reincarnate swallowed as he tasted the air, magic the likes of which he'd never seen in so long filling his sight, lungs, and very being. "Pietro, you said we were teleported," Ozpin whispered as he shakily got to his feet. "... I don't think that's what happened. I think that we were taken back in time," he revealed. "This Gate is likely older than current mankind and I fear that we can't beat whatever holds this space."
Naruto's head turned up as he looked into the very distance of this place.
~NRK~
It was two days later when the first-ever public shipment of Regen Fruit would take place under the shadow of twilight for those up above the waves.
With the winning teams of the four years of Beacon blindfolded, checked, warned by Glynda, and scanned by Penny & Naruto's sensors and senses, they took off on a large boat placed at the same spot where the submarine had departed.
"This is gonna be so cool!" One of their End-Of-Month 'victors' looked so pumped. "Guys, we're gonna see some cool shit!"
Listening to the 16 other students' wonder and excitement, Winter and Cera looked at the others in concern.
"You sure this is cool?" Cera asked Naruto, her and Winter obviously left to see everything without worry. "I mean, this is bound to get a whole number of eyes on you soon."
"We're prepared for that, Cera," Naruto said. "It's to be expected if I want to help people, we just gotta take it step by step at a time and not go crazy with revealing this, speaking of," he turned to all the students. "You all!" He called, bringing their talk to a halt. "I'm not gonna lie to you, this is most definitely a show of good faith from our side to those of the kingdoms and that means you do what we say, when we say it, and don't go off on your own, ARE WE UNDERSTOOD?"
The air was filled with pressure that the Hunter students flinched at.
"I don't know any of your families' history, who you're connected to, nor whoever got you here but this will NOT be broken: Anyone caught going against the rules of these trips will be forever forbidden from getting in on this. That means you not only ruin this for yourself but also your TEAM."
That had a few of the students flinching, three of them particularly.
Glynda's eyes narrowed at those ones. 'It seems that things are coming to another climax,' she frowned as she recognized one of those young adults.
His blonde hair set into a swept-back style with a long ponytail, fair skin, and hidden green eyes all twitched into a grimace. Wearing a thick green double-breasted padded coat, black pants, and brown shoes, he had a series of different-colored rings on his eight fingers sans his thumbs and a pair of golden bands around his biceps.
'The Kompernert will be making their move, soon,' which wasn't surprising.
They'd been rather patient since Naruto received her immediate family's name but, now, it would seem that life wasn't getting simpler anytime soon.
"Now, with these rules in place, we're already halfway there," Penny told the alarmed students.
"WHAT?!" The Kompernert student looked alarmed, grimacing as he gripped the ship's railing as if that'd tell him anything. 'Father, mother, this entire situation is getting out of hand,' he thought with a fist slamming against the railing. 'They've completely cut us off,' he growled in distaste.
Hiding this grand land from their family? What did those two fools think they were doing?!
And then they brought the Grimm man into the fold and said nothing?!
No, this was truly a problem that needed solving and he'd been chosen to do so yet this entire set-up was damning in more ways than one.
No technology thanks to jamming signals and technological scans, no Semblance use due to the many sensory abilities on this damn boat, and then the threat of dismissal for him and his team? They were hiding something on this damn island that was destined to be theirs!
'This won't remain this way, Naruto Goodwitch,' he thought, hidden glare turned in the Grimm man's direction.
~NRK~
Reaching the island was truly something new even for those who'd been here already.
Winter's eyes widened at the sight of those large cavern-like peaks on the far-end of the larger island. 'This is that… Earth Spirit's work?' The very idea of land being made in such a short amount of time, and even made fertile, made her mind warm with wonder, the many ways this could be used to further the world making her imagination flourish.
Cera raised a brow at Naruto who nodded with a finger to his lips. 'Gotcha, no need to let 'em know that much,' she said. "So, you guys set aside the stuff, right?"
"Yes, we have all the containers set up already and have the path made for the travels and visits," Penny said.
"Wait, hold on, we're staying?" The Arc woman's jaw dropped as Naruto nodded. "Seriously? I thought, ya know? You'd want us coming and going."
"Despite my words, you guys can still enjoy some of Uzu while work needs to be done," Naruto explained to the alarmed students. "All previous rules apply but you can stay in an area by the beach where I made your housing for the day, the border areas are already set-up so remember your boundaries."
The Kompernert man's eyes narrowed. 'I'll have to move at night,' he thought. 'For now, I need to figure out what I can from here,' he thought as their ship was brought to a stop and their blindfolds removed.
And what he saw made his anger trip-Nah!
QUADRUPLE!
Such a clean beach, amazing housing, a beachside view, and healthy trees, the amount of value this bit of the so called 'Uzu' would be worth more weight than gold itself!
And these selfish troglodytes j-just let it be?!
He grimaced at his Scroll not on his person and his wiretaps disabled.
"Right this way," Penny gestured to the two large two-story homes on the beach front. "Obviously, the students will reside in one while the adults shall be in the other. We already planned-out the space per team so there's more than enough room to straighten your legs."
"Stretch, Penny-chan, stretch," Naruto chuckled as she looked intrigued.
"I'll make sure to remember."
"U-Um?" There was a raised hand from the crowd of young adults. "So, um, question? We've heard a lot about you guys, your special classes and stuff, but that's for later, are you two guys a couple? Because I have a bet and I need to win."
The collective adults sweatdropped at her true intentions. "Well, um, you're rather forward," Penny said sheepishly. "But, yes, we've been dating for three years."
The entirety of the visitors' jaws dropped as Naruto looked at them weirdly.
"What's up with everyone doing stuff like this?" He muttered as Glynda shrugged.
"So, like, there are dates and stuff?" That one student asked as he shot them some finger guns. "Uh, got tips for people of a more human persuasion?"
"Are you seriously asking me for dating tips?"
"Is that a 'no'?"
"Kid, look, me and Penny-chan were just cool from start to now," Naruto said flatly as Glynda smirked in amusement. "She was my pal then my best friend then my girlfriend, it's not complicated, it's easy."
"Ugh?!" The young man looked like he'd been shot.
Cera laughed.
Idiot.
~NRK~
The first two hours were spent simply.
Notably, a LOT of the students went swimming almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Sentries floated above the beachside area as Naruto sat atop an arriving Genbu.
The few students around who hadn't gone for a dip leaned outside the second-story balconies or from the rooftop living rooms.
"What the HECK is that?!" They all asked, hurrying out to gather around the turtle-snake.
"This is Genbu, another summon of mine I made last year," Naruto chuckled as the crystalline turtle blinked slowly while a familiar toad Grimm croaked atop his noggin. "That little one's name is Gamakuro, he's the first summon I ever made."
They gawked at the large Grimm summon's lowered head and said head's 'guest'.
Gamakuro croaked as he was prodded almost immediately while the students scaled Genbu.
"This is so cool!" A young woman cheered. "It's like being on atop of a bullhead!"
"Cassie, back off, that's my throne!"
"Bite me, Jessie!"
That started a 'war' of sorts that Naruto shook his head.
"Don't stab yourselves! I can heal you but that's probably not gonna feel great regardless!" He warned them as a familiar head popped out of the student dorms.
'Another one of those creatures?' They could make so much use out of such powerful beings!
What was wrong with those two?!
He observed from the depths of the homes, forever ignorant to the cameras grown into the wood and easily keeping track of everything he was doing at all points.
Penny hummed from the top of the ten-yard-high boundary walls they'd made for this beach, her Module receiving its transmission.
~NRK~
The Penny clone in their recently-made Sentry Room shook her head as all the cameras, information, and visuals came into her mind before being processed quickly.
Seated at the back of a Naruto clone with a smile, they sat cross-legged in that powerful digital space and let the mana of this specialized room fill them.
"He's really bad at this."
"He's gonna be a problem, yep."
~NRK~
The next hours were spent resting or having fun before Glynda brought them all out to a large table.
"The shipments will be delivered from the port of Vale facing Patch," the Huntress said as a PM AIM projected their route. "There will be four boats for the monthly shipments and each will sport a team, clones of the Naruto, and several of Penny's Sentries," Glynda explained. "Likely, this will also be Gamakuro's first showing in public so be prepared to show them how nice he is."
The toad Grimm croaked atop the table, Cera rubbing his head as Winter nodded. "Still, Ms. Goodwitch, is there anything to be aware of?"
"Well…" The blonde woman truly considered it before nodding. "We won't lie to you, the days ahead are going to be full of potential adversity, likely, we expect the times where pirates may arrive to be upon us."
The Hunter students lost their minds as she shrugged.
"Naruto's wares are beyond valuable and there are more than enough troublesome individuals who would try to obtain them for their own gain. Naruto and Penny's largest fight is simply the most obvious one, there have been more that the public eye doesn't know about."
"That is sadly expected," Winter said. "Especially since, even now, there are many who don't know to leave his ships alone."
"It's ridiculous to not know where these ships are coming from," that Kompernert student kissed his teeth. "You honestly expect us to not wonder?"
"I expect people to not invade another's private property."
"Says the one who comes and goes from this place without worry."
"And?" Winter rebuked. "What does it matter? If anything, that's more than enough evidence that these are legitimate individuals, shipments, and places, what more does the public need to know?"
He grit his teeth and scoffed. 'Reaping the benefits without worry, lucky you,' the young man wanted to raise his point but knew that it'd be bad for him to do so.
"Indeed, ignoring all the laws surrounding such invasions of privacy and property," Glynda adjusted her glasses as that younger blonde sneered. "It's also bad for their health, as noted in their previous bigger altercation, any unallowed entry will be cause for much defense."
He flinched, finger crunching into the bark of their table.
"I'm sure that's something that needs to be clarified," Winter agreed. "Mr. Uzumaki has long since spoken with many political individuals last month and they've all agreed to his rather understanding wants and desires. Any breaking of those rules will have blame placed solely on the invading party."
"That's crazy," someone said. "I mean, I get it, no one likes their stuff getting pushed in on, ya know?"
"Exactly," Penny said. "And the world should know this, it's in our website's database," she added as Naruto chuckled.
That Kompernert student grimaced.
~NRK~
Lunch and dinner came and went before the beginning of night fell.
It was an amazing view on the waters once more, the sight of a pair or two of students confessing out on the waves hard to miss.
That's why that Kompernert man departed underground. 'You think me a fool?' He laughed at their strenuous efforts.
His brown rings glowed as the path for him formed with ease.
"You'd best remember the name of Soleil Kompernert IV," he smirked as his 'digging' began to go up after he was sure he was far enough away. "Now, to search this bountiful land-" He popped up.
And found himself in the beach?!
"What the hell is this?!"
~NRK~
"Oh, he's that invasive presence," the Earth Spirit said from atop his throne. "World Room," he cast his specialized spell.
~NRK~
Every. Single. TRY!?
Soleil grew heated as he slammed his hand against the ground. 'HOW AM I ENDING UP HERE!?' He wanted to scream as he kept appearing on the BEACH!
Hours of trying left him drained and limping into his cabin under the eyes of the hidden cameras.
Penny shook her head in her and Naruto's shared room in the other log cabin. "He truly waited for his opportune time," she observed as the information filled her Examiner Module. "Does he honestly think we wouldn't plan for potentially problematic Semblances or Dust?"
"That's pride for you, he thought he could fool us and will pay for it," Obito said from the bed, arms behind his head. "We'll make it clear after we bring them back to Beacon."
She nodded before clapping, which turned off the lights, and snuggling in against him.
~NRK~
The morning after meant that it was time for the shipments.
Which were carried by a familiar sloth Grimm.
The students tilted their heads in unison at Osojiai's 'backpack' of large containers secured by powerful vines, the usually crawling or tree-attached Grimm walking on her stumpy feet that gave her a slight waddle.
Crazily enough? For most of the students, it was incredibly cute.
Soleil grimaced at the Grimm Naruto gave the thumbs-up.
"Alright, it's time to head back," the Grimm man said as Glynda nodded beside him, arms crossed as many blindfolds sat in her telekinetic grip. "Same plan as before."
"Must have so much to hide," the Kompernert teen grimaced.
"We're sure you'd know, yes?" Penny said as their blindfolds were done. "After all, finding so many confusing paths at night must be a confusing experience," she said to him as she, Naruto, and Glynda walked past.
Causing the young man to freeze, his eyes wide behind his blindfold and his skin pale as the students were lifted via telekinesis before they were brought to the boat.
Said boat now had three extra separate 'carts' attached via bone hooks, each one big enough to hold the ten-meter-long containers with Osojiai's gentle use of her stretchy arms.
"Alright, come on, girl, it's time to see the mainland," Naruto said to his summon as Genbu watched them go from the shore. "Genbu! You'll come next after we get more security!" He grinned at the nodding summon.
Their travels went on for 6 hours before they undid the students' blindfolds.
Allowing them to see the wide expanse of ocean and the sun in the sky.
"Now, each of you to a container," Glynda ordered with a firm stare. "Mr. Soleil will find his team on this part of the ship with us."
The younger blonde's hands clenched into fists as he kissed his teeth.
Spreading out with Naruto clones created in response, the group watched the waters as their fast ship kept going.
Naruto nodded to Penny as she, he, and Glynda stood around a large astrolabe-like object at the front of the deck.
Soleil grit his teeth at them, Penny and Naruto's clones watching from the sides of the ship. 'Damn them!' He wanted to scream!
They'd known?!
Meanwhile, with the main three, Naruto nodded to Glynda. "This is our other project, the Grand Ocean Virtual System or 'GOVS' for short. This is going to help us monitor the lands around us and give us heads-up info on changes in the distances we cover."
"The idea was to give us something to begin Whitley's training," Penny told the teacher. "Right now, he can connect to places he has been but not to others. Also, another limitation is that his connection to the place decides how big of a 'hole' he can make. He pulled soap from Vacuo because that's all he could make, he didn't care about it."
"It's quite curious. That means there's also an emotional element… Ah, that actually makes a lot of sense," the blonde woman smiled as Naruto chuckled. "Perhaps all of them have emotional-parts to their powers."
"Most likely, nee-chan."
"What's going on?" Cera asked as she and Winter came over. "More craziness?"
Informing the two of what they were doing, her jaw dropped as Winter's eyes widened at the possibilities.
"That's incredible," she realized. "S-Still, for my brother's… Powers, is there not some, erm, ritual?" The oldest Schnee child asked with red cheeks.
"If he wanted it at full power? He could probably make it so," Penny said, confusing Cera.
"I'm just gonna chalk whatever you say up to 'Naruto madness'," the oldest Arc child nodded sagely as the Grimm man in question laughed.
~NRK~
Three hours later, they returned to Beacon with two surprises.
The Beacon technicians stared at Osojiai as Nora slammed into the sloth's stomach.
"WELCOME!" She cheered.
The next?
"WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?!" Soleil slashed his arm out as his fellow students looked at him in disbelief.
"It's what it sounds like, young man," Penny declared disapprovingly as Naruto shook his head. "You broke our rules even after we told you exactly what would happen if you did," the blonde young man growled. "You should have listened, now, your team suffers for the mistakes of their leader."
"You can't do this! Do you know who I am?!"
"I wasn't aware we cared," Naruto said flatly. "You complain and whine when you mess up? You're more of a kid than I thought."
"Y-You damnable monster! You hold my family's name, you have no idea what powers you're working against!" The Kompernert student hissed.
"I could care less. Any move you guys make is going to get appropriate reactions," Soleil flinched. "Kid, I never flaunt power, you look like an idiot doing it but if I need to say it: Your entire family is weaker than me. You all couldn't beat me, Penny, Jiraiya-sensei, and a whole bunch of other people I know. So, I'm gonna be clear, you fucked up, congratulations."
The silence that reigned was full of heated intent that exploded with the Hunter student's anger.
Before it was all brought to heel by Penny.
The room thundered and crackled, the sides of the teen carved through by flashes of green electricity.
Penny's eyes narrowed with a flash of lightning. "There will NOT be a second chance," she declared as the other Academy students looked shocked, no pun intended, while many were instantly cowed.
The very aura of the woman seemed to press down on the group, Cera feeling some sweat going down her cheek.
"O-Oi, calm down with that," she felt her damn eyelashes fizzle with the woman's power alone.
Winter's eyes widened at the feeling of magic rushing past her and filling her senses with the overwhelming signal of 'Shock'.
It was hard to explain but that was the only way to say it.
Naruto held Penny's shoulder and the feeling stopped, the Grimm man hugging her close with his smile on her shoulder.
"You're scaring them," Naruto said simply as Penny's eyes remained narrowed but the feeling vanished like a bursting balloon. "Besides, I think he got the message," he told her.
As Soleil's eyes dilated before his frozen form looked at the woman like she was some kind of monster.
~NRK~
Reintroducing Osojiai had been done with Nora's energetic grins as the kids crowded around the 'slow' Grimm who smiled as Charlie hugged her not unlike the carrot top.
Watching them, Ozpin considered what had taken place with Soleil Kompernert.
"I suppose our lives were going too well," the Beacon Headmaster sighed. "There's a few avenues they could try," he began as Naruto, Penny, and Glynda listened. "Sadly, they are one of Beacon's benefactors, they pay for a ⅙ of our funding."
"..." Naruto cupped his chin. "I'm guessing that's a number I can't imagine."
"Beacon's facilities are one of the four most expensive in the world," Ozpin joked.
"So, what would we lose if they cut ties?"
"Mostly technological costs," Glynda crossed her arms in thought, a finger tapping her cheek. "It's not like maintenance is simple for things like the combat arena but also the Vytal Festivals are simple."
Penny considered that. "I think I could take care of that," she said with a smile as Glynda blinked.
"Yes? I mean, you are one of the most mechanically-aware people on this planet, Penny. Still, it's not just things like that but it's also things like payment for getting materials and the like."
"I could do that," Naruto chuckled as his older sister stared at him in surprise. "It's not like we're not involved, anyway, it's literally us being the reason for any loss in funding."
"In a way, yes, but it's not your fault for others being obsessed with their own pride, greed, and desires," Glynda sighed. "You both give a LOT, that's no exaggeration, you shouldn't have to solve all our problems."
Ozpin smiled at what responses came forth.
"We WANT to," the couple said as Glynda jumped, surprised. "It's not just about doing what's right but we WANT to help you guys, you're our friends and family."
"It's not wrong to help others," Penny smiled. "Naruto's taught us that many times over and we've seen how far-reaching kindness can be."
"So, let us do our part to keep one of the literal four bastions of the world running," Naruto grinned. "Besides, you think those stuck-up elite guys will care if Beacon is overran? I can bet my ramen top sticker collection that they have their own armies and stuff."
"... Your what collection?" Ozpin asked, beyond amused.
"U-Uuuuh, ramen tops?"
"... Ignoring how rather hilarious that is," Glynda smiled. "Thank you, we want things to be as equal as possible but you two simply offer benefits out of this world."
"Speaking of, how's the study, going, nee-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Well, between myself and Pietro, we've documented the four basic steps: Sensing, summoning, reinforcing, and controlling mana. Our scroll is specially-safe as well, so we're documenting everything with Vernal and Qrow as our 'student' students."
"All their study shows a very notable level of control," Ozpin chimed in. "In fact, they're rather amazing at the pace they're going and have already mastered one path of first-tier spells."
"That's amazing, nee-chan," Penny smiled as Glynda chuckled.
~NRK~
~?~
Dealing with the discovery of the century hadn't been done quickly.
They spent most of the presumed morning just… Sitting.
They sat in the submarine and watched the world around them with cameras, binoculars, and sensors.
The mini-Sentries sent out gave them incredible visuals on this bit of reality.
"Crap, what does this mean?" Naruto wondered. "What the hell kind of Grimm are we dealing with? This much land, i-it's its world! There's water, more land 'growing', and magic animals!"
"The Gate is continuously gathering more materials for this bit of contained reality," Ozpin declared, far more composed compared to earlier, as a frown reached his lips. "But I'm left wondering the same. What is the Grimm here? Surely, this entire world goes against everything we know about Gates."
"It does, it doesn't make sense," Pietro frowned. "There's life everywhere. Water, grass, trees, the works, this isn't like other Black Gates."
"Indeed," Glynda leaned back in her seat beside Penny.
"I think it's time we actually looked around ourselves," Naruto offered. "Remember, guys, we're still clones. We're supposed to be getting as much info as possible."
"But can we guarantee that this is all getting back to the others?" Ozpin's clone asked.
"There's still a small connection between us and the others. Right now, I think that the only thing that won't get back is the sub."
"Still, we should figure out how to get out, that'll be a problem forever more no matter what happens," James said. "And I second Naruto's idea, we've been in here for five hours and we don't know what's going on outside physically."
"I suppose you're not wrong," Ozpin looked at the door. "But you all have to understand, we might very well meet with animals or beings who could pick us apart in seconds if they got pulled into this plain."
"We understand," Penny said. "But going out 'fully-loaded', as it were, is that wise? Won't they be sensitive?"
"You're not wrong. Sadly, we can't just be half-ready, we need to know at a moment's notice if power is needed."
Naruto blinked before smiling. "Maybe now's the time for 'that'," he said, confusing the others. "What if I used Magna-Anima to cloak us? We'd be part of the 'world' itself, it'd be like nature is happening, yeah?"
"You've never used that power before," Glynda said as Ozpin coughed loudly. "I mean, you had to have tested it once, right?"
"Um, well, yeah, I did, it's just… Well," he shot Ozpin an apologetic look. "How I look in Magna-Anima is as close to my original human form as I can get with my powers… And it gave Ozpin-sensei a scare so I never used it. Well, that and because using it in front of the populace would just raise too many questions."
"What?" James blinked. "Ozpin, surely, it can't be that bad."
"It's not… Bad," the old wizard began. "It's just that his appearance isn't what you could consider 'human' despite his very much so shape," Ozpin said vaguely as Penny tilted her head.
"So, you'd have blonde hair?" She asked. "Naruto-kun."
"Hehe, nope, but I lose this whole voice thing," he snickered. "Honestly, Magna-Anima's effects aren't really that powerful magic-wise, it's more about what I am as a container that becomes different," Naruto held up a half-Ram seal. "Alright, let's do this: Magna-Anima."
There was an instant difference compared to his other transformations.
As in, it was just that.
One blink turned the Grimm man into a 'man'.
Penny's eyes went wide at Naruto's sheepish grin in 'human' form, the man's 'normal-looking' skin with three whisker marks, his slightly angular features, almond-shaped blue eyes, and moderately-long spiky hair were so human it was scary.
But that's where it stopped seeing as the entirety of his skin was white alongside his hair, the shinobi's eyes having black sclera as a 'backdrop'.
Yet that still didn't stop them from gawking at his more-human form, Naruto's squinty-eyed grin just emphasizing that more.
"Hehe~ And my voice goes back to normal," he said, voice not carrying that 'dark' undertone that usually coated his words. "Oz-sensei, uh, you good?" Naruto sweatdropped at the wizard's trembling hold on his cane .
"Y-Yes, I'm fine," Ozpin lied with a straight face and horrified posture.
"Um, is he well?" Penny asked.
"Just, like, take this for what it is, my skin tone bugs him," Naruto said understandingly. "It's for a good reason. Now," he held up the full Ram seal.
A beautifully-crafted swirl of blue magic left his back before coiling around the others.
Those magical swirls settled around the group's bodies like circulating clouds.
"Let's go out into the world and figure out what the hell's going on," Naruto declared, his single tail waving to the side as he summoned his gauntlet onto his right arm.
Penny observed him in wonder even as her hands sparked before they settled their charge into her palms. "H-Hmm," she blushed at an idea as he reciprocated before stepping in close.
A quick peck of the lips left her astounded, his girlfriend's shock palpable and adorable to the still-a-former-blonde.
Glynda's eyes zeroed-in on the two before they gained a teasing gleam while Pietro laughed.
James and Ozpin looked incredibly amused while Qrow looked down from his place on the roof with a 'caw!' in his bird form.
"It does feel different," Naruto said sheepishly as Penny nodded rapidly with red cheeks. "Uh, yeah, let's not give them too much," he added as he and Penny hurried out.
Glynda was right behind them.
"Will you tell me if it's that different?!"
"Nee-chan, no!"
"Ah, young love," Pietro laughed as he followed behind them with Qrow on his shoulder. "Truly, it is always amusing."
"It's certainly got the right calming atmosphere about it," James said as he walked out with his left arm transforming into a cannon. "Naruto's material will never be unamazing."
Ozpin took a deep breath as he followed behind them, his eyes taking in the sights outside once more.
Of people of many varieties looking around with wonder or questions.
Of people with mystical limbs, odd status, growing magic, or even just a scholar.
Of all kinds of individuals in the magic world.
His withered soul filled with that free-flowing magic as he, too, stepped out into that land of mana and fantasy.
~NRK~
~Omake~
The sight of everything going on in Vale left Mercury, Emerald, and Neo weak-kneed and pale.
"W-What the hell happened? Just a second ago this entire place was hell on earth!" Mercury shouted. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Emerald was unresponsive, the lack of word from Cinder, the zero Grimm, and then the being remade city took all of her ability to speak.
What was going on?
"We… We need to go now," Mercury told the pale-faced women. "We can't be caught out-"
"Here, right?" Came the voice of someone they didn't know. "God, this is what you ended up doing…" The voice sounded somber and disheartened.
The trio mechanically turned to their right to see a Naruto clone looking out over the being-fixed city, the Grimm man looking disapproving as he slowly turned to them.
"W-Who the hell are you?!" Mercury barked, his Aura springing to life.
"The guy who stopped you four from murdering an untold number of people."
Emerald trembled and stepped back from the Grimm man's gaze as Neo flinched before growling.
Naruto sighed as her eyes flickered before his backhand hit the space behind his head.
A body bounced away from him and tumbled before coming to an unmoving halt on her side, unconscious as her Aura shattered with ease.
Mercury and Emerald paled as the former's Aura died down.
Naruto walked up to the terrified pair of teens and stood before them with a confused frown.
"Why?" The Grimm man asked. "This? Are you both so lost that murdering millions was the literal only option you had?"
The two teens flinched back more from his words, the man not looking angry.
Just disappointed.
"Give me the truth, nothing but the truth, and we'll see how this situation goes."
There was more silence as the two looked at his patient form in disbelief.
"E-Excuse me?" Mercury tried anything he thought would work.
"Yes?" Naruto asked.
"..." Okay, this had gone out the window, huh? "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked outright.
What point was there to worrying about dying to this guy? He clearly had the power to find them.
No matter what, they were screwed so they had to play into his hand games.
"What in the world could we say that'd make you not just smite us where we stand?"
"The truth," Naruto answered. "The cold hard truth of how the hell you two ended up the way you are, desiring the death of so many people that hell's a guaranteed stay?"
Mercury frowned at his word, looking more and more confused by the second. "What, you want pleasantries? A story on how this was all someone else's plan?" He was prepared to lie to GOD.
He'd do so for this 'samaritan'.
"Incorrect, I'm part-Grimm, kid, I can tell when you're lying."
That had Mercury's eyes going wide.
And then the man's two fingers came up and carved into the air a glowing gold sigil, the two teens flinching at it before something vital 'locked' itself away into their souls.
Goddammit.
The silence that followed him sealing their Aura made Mercury truly want to cry.
Because there was nothing they could do anymore.
"W-Why?" He repeated Naruto's question, the Grimm man nodding in response. "... Because they were the best I could get," Mercury… Admitted.
Grimm were already attracted to negativity, who was to say this anomaly didn't have lying powers?
"Okay? I side with what gets me by, I go wherever I have to so I don't die in the street."
"But what would happen if I, hell, any Huntsman found you with such an intent?" Naruto frowned. "Do you understand that by doing this, you DON'T win, Mercury? You were an assassin's child," Mercury flinched entirely, eyes wide. "Do you truly think that this wouldn't have put you on every map in Remnant?"
"T-That wouldn't have mattered! We're literally siding with what is essentially SATAN!"
"And? What? That makes you immortal?"
The gray-haired teen grit his teeth.
"I wasn't aware you were an immortal Grimm witch, Mercury," Naruto said. "I wasn't aware you had the ability to cheat death to the point that this would have meant nothing to you."
"And what if I said it didn't, huh? Can you sense out that?"
"Yes, I can," the former blonde said as the gray-haired teen grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "Because you have a damn soul, Mercury, because in the end you DON'T want to be like your blood-father."
That got him to snap. "What, you're a fucking QUACK, now?! Huh?!" Mercury stomped up to the other man's face and growled. "I don't give a single fuck about what you could do to me but DO NOT fucking talk to me like you know SHIT about me."
"I know more than enough about a kid who likely ran from his father and picked the first option that came along."
Mercury grimace-
"I know enough about a kid who never met his real mom outside of a couple times," Mercury froze, eyes wide as they looked up at Naruto's somber expression. "I know the kid who likely murder that man but had nothing left, I know enough about you two to know that you really didn't have much left. You were barely given ID in the Kingdoms, you were kept off the grid to hide you and make you a better assassin. It likely worked out for you working with Cinder, it's not like she gave a damn about legality. I know a LOT about you, Merc, but I need to hear your own Truth first and foremost."
Mercury stared at those patient eyes on a Grimm, those eyes that understood… T-Those damn things that looked at him like he wasn't a murderer.
W-What was wrong with him?! Didn't just say they were murderers on a fucking global scale?!
WHY DID HE CARE?! They were nothing! They were scum by-trade and by-assistance!
Nothing about them was to be saved! Mercury had known he had nothing, he was fine with nothing.
Because that was his role in this life, to be trash.
Naruto pat his head as the young man's fists trembled at his sides. "I know what it's like to ball up all that emotion and just let it sit, it's a darkness that will follow you forever, Merc, because you didn't face it."
"W-What the hell would you know?" Mercury trembled. "What would you know about darkness? I-I've been trash my whole life."
Emerald's eyes snapped to the shaking shoulders of her co-hort, looking down as he spoke.
"I've always been trash, I was born unwanted, godsdammit, I-I wasn't even named! I was told to name MYSELF! Do you understand how FUCKED that is?!"
The thief's shoulder shook at the break in his voice, at the sorrow living within his soul.
'I didn't…' She'd never known, how could she?
She hadn't… She hadn't cared, right? He was just a standoffish asshole, that was who he was on the outside. Why should she have cared about what was down deep?
Emerald Sustrai released a shaky breath.
Why should she, a gutter rat, give a damn about anyone else, right? T-That was what she'd chosen to do.
Kill people, plot the fall of civilization as she knew it, and be a monster. That was the plan. That was the oh-so not thought out plan that had her following someone who killed her previous 'warden' and became her next.
"You couldn't let this out, I know, no one could 'hear' you. They'd not want to because why would they speak with Apathetic Mercury, right?" Naruto said softly, holding the young man close. "In the end, you closed off, you had nothing else, and that left you with just yourself to try and understand something that you never had a healthy environment to see. Sadly, I can't fix your life from here, nobody can besides you, but I can be your 'ear' for as long as I'm here, both of you," he said while looking up at the looking-down Emerald. "I'm not gonna be around for long but I can move you two once my guys are done razing every Grimm in sight to the ground on the continents."
The two's heads snapped up at his words while Naruto smiled.
"It ain't perfect, Grimm exist for a reason, but I can do my part to make your world a little bit brighter. Besides, I already went to Cinder's boss and destroyed her entire island."
There was silence as the two stared at the grinning Grimm.
"Yep."
~NRK~
With James and the older members speaking to Naruto's clones, he ended the call with a smile. "Good work, if it's that noticeable in Atlas that means the very scope of damage is beyond anything we could have imagined," he chuckled. "Thank you, leaving Salem with little to do besides wait sounds so great but, now, what's the idea?"
"Well, I already told you about my Grimm-clearing waves," Naruto smiled as the group nodded in relief. "We need to fix up your side and, well, that's it," he chuckled as Penny beamed.
"All things considered," her Module formed over her left eye. "... Yep, we're over halfway done with remaking, and re-aligning, the city and its utilities. It should take another three hours."
"You guys are seriously a two-person world-remaking team," Qrow said. "How the hell have you guys not ruled the world?"
Locking eyes, the couple chuckled.
"Well, uh… So, we own a third of it?" They said with embarrassed grins.
There was silence.
"YOU WHAT?!"
~NRK~
"WHAT?!" The teens all lost their shit as the couple looked sheepish.
"Look, things just happened, alright?" Naruto said in 'Anima' form, the blonde man smiling. "The thing is, we told you, the Gates, notably the DEMON Gates, pushed life for a good bit. We literally lost Menagerie," he shook his head as Blake's jaw dropped. "So, well, we moved everyone to our island, thankfully, the Faunus of Menagerie were seriously understanding and respectful. It was a quick move and re-settling before we brought their lives back up but… Well, they have trades and families."
"Yes, that was the day where we had to make some serious decisions," Penny said while tapping her chin. "But, nee-chan did us a wondrous favor FAR ahead of time," she grinned. "By obtaining an island permit from General Ironwood, Ozpin's connections to many map-makers, Dr. Oobleck's parts in ruins, and several other people coming together, we got recognized as an island long ago, Glynda was our liaison between the Kingdoms, Dr. Oobleck helped us out by managing digs on more unexplored seaside portions of the island, and more. We became a Kingdom within the same year our island got recognized with Ghira as our 'Second King'," she giggled as Naruto looked sheepish. "And Naruto became the King of the Island of Uzu, the sixth Kingdom of Remnant."
The jaws that dropped were a hilarious sight if it weren't for Nora's words.
"I-I'M A PRINCESS?! I CAN BE A QUEEN OF A CASTLE?!" She shrieked as Naruto laughed while Penny giggled some more. "Guys, THIS IS SICK!"
"U-Uhhhhh," Jaune looked like his brain had broken from all of that.
"W-Wait, uh, do you import weapons?" Ruby asked with awe.
"Rubes? Rubes, please," Yang held her head as Blake's expression went blank. "T-That's not the important part of everything they just SAID."
"But everyone's fine! Let's focus on the good stuff!"
"This can't be what she's focusing on," the blonde young woman said to anyone who'd listen. "She can't possibly be that adaptive, s-she couldn't even adapt to changing to 2% milk!"
Watching the teens try to wrap their heads around those revelations were, indeed, amusing.
And then they got to the questions.
"S-So, uh, where does that leave me and mom?" Blake asked. "A-And apparently my younger brother?"
"Well, your mom's our Army Head with you learning under me for ninja training," Naruto began as she looked more shaken. "Trust me, you, Ren, Sarcelle, Emerald, and Mercury became our ANBU organization with a few of the others. You're the 'Second Royal Family' of Uzu so, yeah, you're a princess."
"Uhhhh."
"Yeah, that seems about right."
"W-What about infrastructure? Internet? Power? Rules? Laws? Currency, politics, trade?!" Weiss asked with a sort of eager eye for the minutiae.
"Hmm, we copied Menagerie for a lot of those, especially seeing as Uzu was an island bearing tropical climates, high mountains, and deep oceans. That said, we had to make specifics at Ghira's behest of this still being our island," Penny admitted. "So, we met up with everyone we knew in our conference room and put things down. We have several rich deposits of iron and a few other ores, more than enough fruit and wood to sell, I already handled the internet and electronics while Naruto handled the plumbing of the island with Ozpin's wealth of knowledge of kingdom construction."
"For money? Well, we didn't have many Lien cards printed, yet, so we worked with the iron for Uzu Coins," Naruto said nervously. "Never before have I seen such a buncha folks lose their shit over some metal, people were trying to buy so much of it that we set a limit for a good while alongside normal trade. Rules were established almost immediately when they were transported over and, well, as for politics, that's still a problem."
"People have truly taken to Uzu as precious," Penny said kindly. "But it's gotten out of hand several times already in online forums and a few people trying to represent us. We had to put our foot down with the Headmasters working out individuals to help us represent our ideas and policies."
"That sounds crazy," Coco said. "I mean, how long has it been running?"
"Two years," the couple said. "A long two years."
"Huh, sounds about right."
"O-Ooh! What do I rule over?!" Nora asked excitedly.
"Well, the construction sector is working out with you working alongside Whitley," Penny explained. "Winter has been the heiress of the SDC that's been working alongside Jacques to form contracts with us for Dust, especially Dust technology we're all working on," she explained. "And Weiss has also helped with distribution of Uzu Coins."
"All of us, hmm," Weiss looked thoughtful. "I suppose that layout works."
"Life's never uncomplicated," Sun said while leaning back in his seat. "But you guys are superpowered King and Queen so it can't be all bad."
"It ain't, there's a lot for us to be thankful for," Naruto smiled. "Life's still moving and we're still getting stronger."
The teens looked at him like he was a crazy person.
"We've reached a true pinnacle of strength over the years but we're working on the last, most powerful, set of skills for us to never lose again," Penny said. "But the trial and study has been a long and hard process. For now, we're spread out focusing on training our forces for the next Demon Gate. This will be the third one of six."
"Wait, i-it took you guys YEARS to beat each Gate?" Yang asked in alarm.
"They're no joke, Yang, and we know that each Gate has gotten stronger with the fall of the last. That's why we're sure that we'll need our newest idea to beat the last one, if we're lucky, or the second if things go simply."
"And there are six of them," Ruby considered. "Surely, everyone's pitching in, right?"
"Of course, Rubes, but these things have become large scale events that pull on all of Remnant. We gotta prepare all Kingdoms nearest to the Gate, reinforce protections, and keep teaching more magic," Naruto said with a shrug.
"Huh, that's… U-Um, I'm sorry, you said something rather…" Weiss blinked before her eyes snapped to the two's calm expressions. "... W-What are you implying with that statement?"
"Magic is quite real," Penny said with a shrug of her own. "That's the long and short of it, you'll all likely be dealing with before we leave, anyway, so it'd be for the best that you get ahold of yourselves and ask the right questions."
That got the weirdest murmurs before Velvet spoke up.
"Do all the people on your Remnant have magic?" She asked.
"No, sadly, that wouldn't be a good idea," Naruto said sadly. "But a lot of our personal teams do while most of our normal guys use magic weaponry or equipment we made in preparation for this day."
"That's smart," Neptune said. "I-I mean, saying magic is real, I get that's weird, but you guys actually thought it through even with such threats around?"
"We had to, life is not something we take lightly. That said, we also know that we can't just 'hold onto magic' and leave the rest of the world open for attack, we don't want anyone dead," Penny said. "It's all so complicated," she rubbed the back of her neck. "We know that once the Gates are done, life is going to less battle-oriented and more politically complicated, should things go that way, we'll become the most powerful Kingdom in the world, bar none. We'll hold power beyond any Hunter on the planet, likely even most Kingdoms put-together."
Listening to her say it was honestly different from considering it themselves.
"It sounds like so much work," Nora said while leaning down on her desk, chin on her crossed arms. "But it's not like they can force you to do anything."
"Ironically? That'll likely be the problem," Naruto said with a hum. "But we'll have to live with it, it's not like we believe in taking over or anything, we just want to protect our home, friends, family, and Kingdom."
"Any work worth doing is going to be difficult," Penny smiled. "So, despite the problems, this is worth it. We just need to reach that finish line and move on with our lives, we also have to make sure our kids grow up strong."
The group was surprised but smiling all the same.
These were some good people.
~NRK Out~