Wrapped in My Blood for Protection
Disclaimers I don't own Naruto or RWBY please support any to all official releases.
It was a long and brutal battle, one of many that had been fought since the end of the world, but this was what marked as the beginning for one of our heroes in the wastelands of today.
Kneeling down barely holding in his intestines after having been blasted in the gut with a shotgun, we see a man with short shaggy blonde hair and sideburns as a tickle of blood escaped the side of his lips as he saw his ex way hacking one of her own men to death with a machete.
"Son of a bitch nearly killed you, and you rightfully deserve to die by my hands" said Raven when she looked down at her husband in his dying state.
"Now before I kill you, Taiyang, I'll give you a chance to tell me where's Yang" said Raven, "Like I'd… sell out… my baby girl" coughed Taiyang as Raven gripped on her machete tightly.
"She's also my child as well you selfish bastard, and as her mother I have more right to know where she's at and raise her" said Raven as she stormed her way towards Taiyang.
"You were… never there… for her… when it all mattered…and now… you think you do… go fuck yourself…" said Taiyang as he looked Raven dead in the eyes upon saying those words.
Truth be said, Yang was actually not that far from where she had been witnessing all of this, in fact she along with her step mother and half sister had been watching all of this with a heavy heart.
"Be that way, but know that I shall find her, and I will stop at nothing" said Raven as she began to lift her machete up above Taiyang as he came to terms that his death meant the safety of his family.
"No" cried Yang as she ran towards her father's side, "Yang" coughed Taiyang in horror as he was embraced by her.
"Don't kill my daddy" cried Yang as she held onto him dearly with tears running down her face, "Yang" said Raven in relief as she dropped down her machete and knelt to her level.
"Yang come with me this instant, we're leaving" said Raven as she reached out for her daughter who looked at her in horror and resentment as she buried herself into her father.
"Yang" called the voice of Summer as she stood a few feet away from the trio as Raven looked up at her.
"Who is this woman" demanded Raven as she began to furrow her brows, "Raven… don't…" coughed Taiyang as he began to hack up more blood.
Looking at Summer and the child she had in her hand, Raven didn't need to think hard in putting 2 and 2 together to realize the relationship between these 2.
"Couldn't keep it your damn pants could you" said Raven with Venom as she went and began to pull Yang away.
"Yang, you're coming with me this instant" said Raven as she already had a grip on her daughter as Yang struggled to break free, "No, I want to stay with my mommy and daddy and my baby sister" said Yang as those words got Raven to finally snap.
Pulling Yang back with enough force to toss her behind she pulled out a gun from her hip and fired 3 rounds into Taiyang before he finally killed over, before setting her sights on Summer.
"You bitch, you dare to try and take my daughter away" said Raven as she began to aim her sights on Summer who froze in horror as she held onto her daughter tightly.
Getting up and seeing what was about to happen, Yang got to her feet and charged towards Raven and attempted to push her down, with no success, however, it did cause her to miss fire in preventing the death of Summer and Ruby.
"No, I won't let you kill my mommy and baby sister" cried Yang as Raven chose to deal with Yang afterwards as she notice that Summer chose to beat it and ran as fast and far away as she could.
Not letting her daughter deter her from making another kill, Raven was eventually found in a choke hold before being tossed over to the ground, by who else than her very own brother.
"Raven, that's enough" he said as he stood tall and thin handsome young man with a clean shave and a mullet as he glared down at his sister with shame.
"Qrow, what the hell" said Raven as she got to her feet while rubbing her neck, "My words exactly you maniac" said Qrow as he stood in between her and Yang.
"Seriously, you were going to kill a mother and her child in cold blood, and in front of your own daughter no less" said Qrow, "I would've spared the child and allowed her to be raised by us" said Raven.
"That's a load of bullshit and you know it" said Qrow, "What's a load of bullshit is you suddenly turning soft and sympathetic, since you're no better than the rest of us you killer" said Raven.
"I may have blood on my hands, the difference between you and me though is I refuse to kill children and their mothers" said Qrow, "So what you're gonna do about it huh, you're gonna kill me in front of my own daughter" said Raven as Qrow looked back at his true niece as she had eyes of fear between those tears.
"…Don't make me have to do that Raven" warned Qrow as he felt a sharp pain in his thigh.
Looking down, he saw that Raven had stepped forward and stabbed him with a butterfly knife while he was looking back at his niece before he went to bite down on his lower lip as Raven pulled the blade out.
"And you as well dear brother" said Raven as she began to toss the knife aside before walking pass her brother grabbing Yang by the hand again.
"You have 5 minutes to compose yourself, we're heading out" said Raven as she dragged Yang along with her who only tearfully accepted her fate as of now.
Qrow on the other hand sat there and felt disgusted in himself for allowing all of this happening in the first place, since he had the power to stop his sister, by any means, from executing this raid, to have them all abandon their plans, maybe talk things out for a trade, and overall prevented any more needless killing.
Instead he stood back, did as he told and nodded along, and took part in the killing of many people who were trying to defend their home and maintain some semblance civility, prosperity, and overall safety.
It might be too late for him to save his niece, but he was determined to take responsibility for at least one thing he has done today, and that was ruining the happy family his niece had.
Picking himself up, Qrow decided to drag himself in the direction Summer had ran off to, that is after he went and cauterize his wound.
Eventually he was able to catch up with her as this didn't go unnoticed by her before she eventually turned around and pulled out a pocket pistol from within her daughter's swaddled blanket.
"Please just… go away and leave me and my daughter alone" begged Summer as she pointed her gun at Qrow, who stopped in his tracks.
"Lady, I assure you that I mean you know harm" reasoned Qrow as he put his hands up and gently approached Summer.
"I'm warning you" said a scared Summer as her voice hitched a little higher and was on the brink of break down, "And what, wake the baby, cause no offence having a kid around that small on your body puts you at higher risk, especially when they cry" said Qrow calmly as he continued to approach Summer.
Her breathing began to get heavy, and her hands began to shake as Qrow got closer and closer, and even though she had every right and opportunity to put Qrow down, she couldn't.
Carefully disarming the gun from her hands, Qrow had holstered the weapon away, before he went and wrapped his arms around Summer to calm her down.
"Shh, it's alright, I promise not to hurt you or the kid" said Qrow as Summer was left in flurry of emotions before eventually breaking down and crying in the man's arms.
1 Year Later
If you were to asked anyone the different seasons around the year now, they'd look at you like a mad man.
However there was a time when Spring was around, and even though the world was a cease pool of child killing bandits, and cannibalistic psychos in between the mutations amongst the flora, fauna, and homo sapiens, and occasional rogue and damaged automatons and auto mechanicals.
Granted, a lot of people who did grew up in the old world were very hesitant to dare eat any of the new life, but there were those daring enough to do anything to survive.
Example would be how Qrow had finished hunting down and bringing back some squirrel meat, and if you saw what they looked like today, you'd be counting your blessings.
However to give an idea what they look like, picture a squirrel without 85% of its fur, it's at least a half foot taller, as it was covered in unsightly boils, and it's tail looking more bony than the rest of its body.
And yet that was the chicken burger of the wasteland that people could easily hunt and eat.
"Hey, got us some fresh game" said Qrow as he handed the bundle of squirrels to Summer who was sitting Ruby on her lap.
"Thank you, I'll start preparing for our dinner, you mind holding Ruby" said Summer as Qrow didn't need to be told as they made the swap.
"Sure thing, come to uncle Qrow kiddo" said Qrow as he picked Ruby up who only smiled at her uncle upon seeing his face.
"I swear she's your very own little doppelganger" said Qrow as he began to nuzzle his face against Ruby, "Oh you" said Summer as she's able to relax and be friendly against the ex biker.
While there was an obvious trust issue between the 2, and Summer has had attempted to run away on a handful of occasions, Qrow had many times proven himself to be reliable and someone that Summer could depend on for not only her safety and survival, but for her daughter's as well.
Plus it does help that without Ruby, who wanted to get close to the man, got Summer to open up and trust Qrow a little.
"So how are things out there" asked Summer, "If we continue the path towards the mountains, we should be safe, especially given how vegetation seems to be at a rather high abundance, which means there's a chance for us to find a fresh supply of water, and game meat to eat" said Qrow.
"Sounds like a plan" said Summer with a smile as Qrow smiled back, before he felt his niece pulling on his facial hair.
"Ruby, why" groaned Qrow as his niece smiled over the fact she got his attention again.
3 years later
In the years that came since Ruby's birth, it felt like the summer heat was becoming more and more unbearable, along with the fact how the earth seems to be stuck in a year long summer state.
While the nights do keep things cool, it seems like now more than ever that thought of looking forward to the winters rain, our the brisk autumn breeze was just another thing left behind along with the old world.
So right now, their test for survival was really being pushed to the limits, but it mattered not as Qrow had a committed obligation to keep Summer and Ruby safe.
And what better way to keep his niece safe than teaching her to defend herself, specifically from a distance.
"Do you have your sights set and checked" asked Qrow as he remain resting on one knee as Ruby was lying down on her chest, looking through the scope of a hunting rifle they had acquired a while back, while he looked through a pair of binoculars.
"Yeah" said Ruby as she was surprisingly calm and what one even say in the zone, especially given how she's only 4 years old.
"Alright kid, remember that you have to keep 2 things in mind, that's not only our dinner that we might miss out on if you miss, but a piece of resource as well" said Qrow as he's been teaching Ruby not only the importance of hunting, and gun safety, but how to not waste resources like, ammunition, food, water, and the like.
Taking a calm steady breath, Ruby was lucky in landing a solid shot and bagged them a skunk.
"Good job kiddo" said Qrow as he patted Ruby on the head who only smiled at her uncle's praise.
Once they had finished retrieving their dinner, the duo had journeyed back to their camp, ready to call it a peaceful day, if you ignore the increased growing numbers of raider gangs, micro autocrat based societies, mutants suddenly appearing that now ravage the wasteland, than yeah a peaceful day.
Or so it should've been.
Upon getting closer to camp, Qrow could already see from a distance that the place was attacked and their car was missing, with more importantly Summer as well.
"Uncle Qrow, where's mommy" asked Ruby worriedly as the man was at a loss of words as to how he should respond.
"I…. don't know, but I know she's alright" said Qrow as he was only lying to himself as he knew what the most likely outcome was to have befallen for Summer.
"We should follow the tracks on the road right" said Ruby hoping Qrow would say yes, even though deep down this was a clear sign for him to gather whatever he could on hand, take Ruby and escape, and pray that they'll see Summer again on another day.
"Alright, but stay close" said Qrow as both began to ran down the road to catch up to Summer.
After running for about a good 10 minutes, Qrow had saw a bunch 2 cars parked adjacent to another, while the car they used had wound up crashing head first into a ditch.
Running up ahead, Qrow's heart was racing as he feared for the worst before he heard the faint cries of Summer begging for help and mercy.
Hiding behind one of the cars, he took out not only his binoculars, but also a Glock 17 as peaked out to see what was going on.
What he saw made his stomach churn and his heart breaking as he saw a group of 4 vandals finished raping Summer, before one of them decided to add final insult to injury by shooting her in the heart with a double barrel crossbow.
Before he could dwell anymore on his emotions, he snapped backed to reality as he heard the sound of gunfire next to him as Ruby had not only caught up, but began to shoot away at the vandals one by one.
Without missing a single shot, Ruby had killed her mother's attackers as Qrow was left speechless as he turned to see what his niece had accomplished.
Removing her eyes away from the scope, Ruby began to cry over the sorrow of having lost her mother.
Gently wrapping his arms around Ruby, she began to break down and bawl as Qrow couldn't help but cry alongside with her, knowing that he had failed to protect Summer like he promised himself, as he was left in the responsibility to care for his niece from now on.
6 years later
While most of the world had succumb to the wasteland, there were still parts of it that held some semblance as to what was the old world, and I don't mean the abandoned metropolis cities, vehicles, and guns.
There were still small societies who were able to not only prosper because of the fresh water and power, but also how it still had natural plant life to them, which was a marvel to many.
Currently they were in a large settlement that was heavily fortified from the dangers of the outside world that left an imprint that the world had never ended, given how peaceful and happy the people are and how one could simply enjoy the autumn leaves.
As to how and why they ended up here was simple, Qrow wanted to keep Ruby safe from the dangers and terrors of the wasteland, so he brought her here, where he works mainly on security and border patrol.
As for Ruby herself, she was currently looking through the pages of a picture book, who in spite of her age, had no formal education and so reading and writing were a mystery to her.
Eventually her train of thought came to an end when Qrow came into the front door as he limped his way inside.
"Uncle Qrow" cheered Ruby happily almost knocking the man over, "Easy now kid, uncle hasn't been the same now after what they did to my leg" said Qrow with a smile.
"Uncle, I told you to wear your leg brace like the good doctor told you" said Ruby with a pout, "Tch, you know for someone as reputable as either Tsunade or Jiraiya to not only be in our presence, but were known to be pioneers of their time, I feel insulted that their means of curing my bum knee is through using a leg brace" jeered Qrow as he limped his way over to an easy chair where there was a shot glass and a bottle of scotch waiting for him.
"So how was work" asked Ruby leaning on her uncle's chair as he began to pour himself a drink, "Not gonna lie kid, people here are starting to feel a bit on edge knowing that we could be attacked at any given day now, with the fear of us getting breached inside" said Qrow with a sigh.
Truth be said, there was always gonna be days like this, but in the handful of settlements he's been, plus the optimistic side of him, nothing bad tends to happen, especially against a band of petty bandits who at this point are left to fight with either sticks, stones, or even the occasional tire iron.
And given how these days the people they face off against are charging at them in a suicide manner of attempting to throw javelins at them, when all it takes is for someone to snipe them from afar, than any worries or potential crisis is adverted.
"But, I don't think we've got nothing to worry about kid, I think we found ourselves a solid home" said Qrow as he patted Ruby on the head.
"So how was your day, made any new friends yet" asked Qrow as he was aware how distant and antisocial his niece was.
"No, all the kids want to do is either play with toys, or read books with words, not to mention Weiss is very bossy to hang around with" said Ruby, "Yeah, I could've figure the Schnee brat would've been a pain in the ass to deal with" said Qrow as he got Ruby to smile.
"Regardless kid, I think you should definitely try to make friends here, especially if we plan to live out here for as long as we can" said Qrow, "I don't need friends, I have you" said Ruby.
"But I'm an old man and a drunk, and if you were to ask that older Schnee bitch a bad role model" said Qrow, "And who exactly are you calling a bitch" came the voice of a woman roughly around Qrow's age.
She had natural white hair, blue eyes, and wore a clean marine officer uniform, minus the hat, as her hair was wavy and kept in a short pony tail, as she was equipped with a saber on her hip and set of handguns around her torso, hip, and left leg.
"Winter, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you come here" asked Qrow with a cool smirk, "You and everyone on security are needed at the east gate, pronto" said Winter.
"Is everything alright" asked Qrow as he dropped his smile and raised a brow, "I'm not entirely sure, but you best get off your ass and get going already" said Winter before she looked at Ruby.
"Ruby, it's good to see you my dear" said Winter as Qrow had got up and began to follow Winter out the front door.
"Uncle Qrow" said Ruby as she got the man to stop in his tracks as she gave him a worried look.
"its fine kiddo, everything is gonna be fine" said Qrow with a smile before he closed the door behind him, only to get his mouth violated by Winter desperately trying to tongue him.
Upon realizing what she was doing, Qrow began to return the affectionate gesture as he and Winter stood outside the house to make out for a minute before pulling away from each other.
"Don't think I've forgiven you for calling me a bitch" said Winter, "Don't be mad cause it's true, besides that's the side of you I find attractive" said Qrow as he got Winter to blush a little.
"Anyways, do you know what's going on" asked Qrow as they made their way to the east gate, "Like I said, I'm not entirely sure, but if it requires everyone it's not a good sign" said Winter.
After a short treck to the gate, all security and personal were standing by armed and ready as they can hear words being exchanged between Winter's father and someone unknown on the other side of the gate.
"Come on, let's see what's going on" said Qrow as both went up the railing to see for themselves as to what was causing such a commotion.
To their shock, they literally saw an army of armed men in vehicles that had been modified for any to every war in the wastelands, and newly crafted weapons to destroy them.
"And so in exchange of you not only handing over Jiraiya, and surrendering over 60% of your resources, we shall let you live and extend a hand of friendship and protection towards you and only you" said Fujin Fugaku as he stood proudly next to his son Itachi and their organic mechanic Orochimaru.
"If you think I shall enter an allegiance, let alone forfeit any of my resources to a band of raiders, you be mistaken" said Jacques as he wore the same clean marine officer uniform like his daughter, but his had 2 stars adorned to them.
"Orochimaru, I know you're behind all of this and your very reason is more so to get Tsunade more than anyone else" spoke Jiraiya as he was definitely an old man, with a surprisingly able body, given how he wore a skin tight body armor with a red and green flak jacket over it, and had long white spiky hair held back in a red headband.
"I'm only here to ensure that no harms comes to the Fujin, though if you'd be kind enough to tell us where Tsunade had left to, I'd appreciate it" said Orochimaru with a shit eating smile.
"She's gone to god knows where, and even she did told me, I sure as hell won't tell you shit" said Jiraiya as Orochimaru frowned a little, but he shouldn't have expected anything difference given how Tsunade wasn't one to settle down in one place.
"Enough, this is your last chance for a peaceful resolution, surrender and open your gates to us, or die" said Fujin Fugaku.
For a solid minute, things went silent as everyone awaited patiently to hear Jacques response, before he turned his head towards Winter.
"Winter, once I give the signal, gather your siblings and mother and leave hear along with the good doctor" said Jacques as he left no room for argument as he turned his head back to face Fujin Fugaku.
"Fugaku Uchiha, for the longest I've considered you to be my business rival and admittingly a man whom I've admired back in the old world, especially your ferocious and achievable nature" said Jacques as Fujin Fugaku began to smile.
"Not many know me by my old name, let alone my old profession, so as a courtesy to you, I shall promise you my friend that you and your people shall always be protected and will be given a fair share of gifts to whatever we establish and make in the years to come" said Fujin Fugaku.
"In the old world, I'd be happy to accept your friendship, but now that your business practice is truly your human nature all around, I'd rather not have it, or anything to do with you, so do the wasteland a favor and drop dead" said Jacques as he pulled a scoped revolver off his body and began to fire away.
"Winter we got to go" said Qrow as everyone began to battle to the death.
While saddened knowing that she'll lose her father, Winter none the less obliged and began to plan their escape along with Jiraiya as they all went to evacuate not only their families but everyone else's as well.
"Ruby, we're leaving" said Qrow as he nearly broke the front door down, "Uncle" asked Ruby before Qrow went into the closet and grabbed 2 backpacks and a duffle bag that's been set aside in case they decided to skip town.
"Come on kid, we gotta get out of dodge now" said Qrow as he put Ruby's backpack on her before stepping back outside and began to board inside his car.
As he began to drive down the streets, he saw driving out of their driveway was Winter and her family, but missing from them is Jiraiya.
"Where's Jiraiya" asked Qrow, "He said he had to do something before we left" said Winter before both spotted the man leaving his house with a briefcase in hand.
"Alright, whatever you guys do, take this with you and drive, drive far and drive fast away from here" said Jiraiya as he tossed the briefcase inside of Qrow's car.
"Like hell we're leaving you behind man, now get your ass in the car already" said Qrow, "So long as I live, Orochimaru won't stop to hunt me down, and will kill anyone and everyone who gets in his way, and what he's after is what's in that briefcase and what Tsunade has with her" said Jiraiya.
"My father has given his life in order to keep you safe" said Winter passive aggressively, "And I apologize for that and all the other families I have selfishly put in danger, so please just go and allow me to atone for my sins here and today" said Jiraiya as explosions can be heard from a distance.
"It's now or never, now go" said Jiraiya as Qrow didn't need to be told twice before he began to floor it, as Winter wasn't that far behind shortly after.
"Uncle Qrow, where are we going" asked Ruby to break the ice, "I don't know Ruby, just…" said Qrow before he looked at his rearview mirror that they were being pursued by unwanted company.
"Shit, buckle up kiddo" said Qrow as he began to punch it, but it was futile given how their pursuers had driven high octane fueled vehicles and were able to catch up, with a lancer shooting a shotgun slug to one of Qrow's wheels causing him to go out of control and crash into an abandoned shack.
Once the dust had settled, Ruby had let out a groan before lifting her head in a fazed state.
"Ruby" said Qrow as he got his niece to turn her head over to see the state he was in.
"Uncle Qrow!" exclaimed Ruby as the crashed caused a loose pipe from within the shake to pierce its way into Qrow's chest.
"You got… to run…" said Qrow weakly, "No, I'm not leaving you here to" said Ruby as she gripped onto her uncle before she heard the sudden halt of 2 vehicles approaching them.
"Gun… grab my… gun…" said Qrow as he was referring to the piece he had on his hip, to which Ruby obliged.
"Hide…" said Qrow just as the bandits approached who were all laughing at Qrow's expense.
"Thanks for dying for us man, saved us the trouble" laughed one of the bandits as they got closer, "Hold on, I thought he had someone else with him" said the lancer who attacked Qrow.
"Like who" asked a different bandit, "I think he had a kid on him" said the lancer, "Probably dead" said the first bandit.
"Well check it out man" said the last bandit as they all decided to inquire as to what became of Ruby.
As they all got closer and stuck their heads into the window, they weren't ready for Ruby to suddenly pop out and pop them all with nothing but clean headshots.
Once she had dealt with the bandits, Ruby heard another car approaching, but was relieved when she saw that it was Winter and her family.
Upon running out to check on them, Winter's heart sank when she saw that Qrow was dead as his head lay slumped down.
Taking a moment to let a tear fall, Winter was relieved to see that Ruby was alive, but also shocked to see her holding a gun and was the one clearly responsible for killing the bandits surrounding them.
Not wanting to dwell around any longer, Winter made her way around the car to get Ruby and the briefcase that they were given by Jiraiya, and began to take them back with her.
"Winter, what about Uncle Qrow" said Ruby as she knew her uncle was dead, but remembered that they had at least made time to give her mother a proper burial before they moved on and left.
"Ruby, your uncle is dead, and right now we still remain being in danger, we got to leave" said Winter without hearing what Ruby had to say before they all drove off.
9 Years Later
Ruby had in reality stayed with Winter and her family for about 10 days, before deciding to split from the group herself and attempted to journey back to find her uncle and lay him to proper rest.
She never did found her way back and in time came to terms with it, along with staying alone by herself since.
Well maybe not entirely alone as she did find Zwei, who would have died in that bear trap if not for her.
While she was contempt in being by herself, and was never short of an interesting day in her day to day life, she would think about her mother and uncle on occasions, and the memories she had with them, and the countless stories of her having a sister somewhere out there.
Even though she felt the chance of her meeting said sister was impossible and given how she had no sense of direction, plus no one was insane enough to head this far west where the land is surrounded by ravenous mutants, she wouldn't be oppose to the idea.
Speaking of Yang, she was on the right path to reuniting with her sister, just as Naruto was about to share how he was able to heal himself the way he was.
"Truth of the matter is, I don't know" said Naruto as Yang found that hard to believe.
"What do you mean you don't know" said Yang with her brows furrowed, "It means I don't know, all I know is that I was able to always bounce up and heal after getting shot, stabbed, ran over, or however you could kill me" said Naruto.
"So you're telling me if I were to shoot you in the head, you'd just heal from it" said Yang as she was tired of his games, "Do it if it'll get you to believe me" said Naruto.
"Don't tempt me Naruto" said Yang angrily as Naruto rolled his eyes over the unfair treatment, "Seriously why are you so ired up" asked Naruto.
"Cause no man gets up and heals himself like that after getting shot in the chest, and now all of a sudden you can" said Yang in disbelief, "Trust me, it freaks me out to as I ask myself why only me" said Naruto as he would honestly like to know how he became like this.
But all of that is a story to be told on another day.
Alright guys, thank you all so much for being patient for the next update, and for showing your support, as we got another new chapter up.
As always please leave me your thoughts, questions, concerns, praises, and jeers in the review section, or even PM me if you want, as I enjoy reading them as much as you guys enjoy reading my work.
Until then, be safe, be good people, and please support your local fandom communities.
This has been your Humble Narrator and official author Tobi Yaza. =3