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

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XXX

Greetings

Cinder took a deep breath of fresh air as light danced across her clothes and skin, filtering down upon her from between shade bestowing trees. Being out here alone wasn't as nice as it used to be. Amber loved the wilderness despite the Grimm threat. Cinder on the other hand—she could do without it. A comfy chair and a glass of wine as she poured over a good book to unwind after a long day of training was more her speed. The people of Remnant had done much for their luxuries. Cinder wanted to enjoy that; the finer things in life captured her interest far more than some trees.

Of course, that was only before the cohabitation of souls within her body. Now she didn't care quite as much. She sighed, wishing briefly that she wasn't the way she was now.

"Something wrong, Cinder?" asked Tyrian. Cinder scowled, fully capable of hearing the smile in the man's voice. It didn't take long for him to chuckle following his question. Cinder rolled her eyes. Next to her, Emerald tensed.

"I am quite alright, Tyrian." Cinder replied, deciding not to look back at him. She did hate having the man at her back, but if nothing else she could appreciate his caution. Tyrian didn't trust anyone aside from Salem. And honestly? Cinder knew that was less trust and more fear. His loyalty was born of it, as hers had been. It is quite true that Salem enticed her with power, but she had never dreamed of betraying her because Cinder did not wish to die.

My, how the times have changed. Cinder thought.

"You don't look very happy to be returning to the Mistress's side." Tyrian chuckled.

"Well, I am forced to walk within ten feet of you. Surely no one would be happy about that." Cinder replied casually. Tyrian's laughter stopped and Cinder didn't have to look behind her to know he had a cruel smile on his face.

"I'm sure she will punish you for your failure."

"She might do just that Tyrian, but after I explain what happened… I somewhat doubt it." Cinder replied. Not that she will have an opportunity to hear what happened, Cinder mused.

"They've been walking forever." Mercury grumbled. Beside him Naruto snorted.

"This is hardly anything. Really, they're just going too slow. I'm sure Sasuke must be at his wits end." Naruto replied. The Mercury that was with Cinder was, in fact, Sasuke. Tyrian of course had no idea. Just like he had no idea the rest of their infiltration squad was walking casually right behind him, Naruto taking the lead. Neo was fascinated, though she'd never admit it. She'd thought Emerald's illusions were sufficiently impressive, but Sasuke's were beyond them, clearly.

They were making enough noise and displacing enough Flora that Tyrian surely should have noticed them by now. He would have if Emerald was trying to fool him like this. Yet here they were—unbothered and unnoticed.

"You guys have some freaky powers." Mercury grunted. Naruto rose a brow.

"Do we? I don't think you've even seen us do anything really unique yet. Far as I'm aware most of what we've done has just been basics we learned when we were like, seven or eight, ttebayo. The few things that weren't are from just a few years later. Around when we were thirteen." Naruto mused.

"Even those things in the arena?" Mercury shot back with a smirk. Naruto scratched at his cheek awkwardly.

"Okay. Well, aside from that… Guess I wasn't counting it. Those techniques were recent acquisitions. Within the past month or so. What I meant earlier was that you guys haven't seen anything Sasuke and I were actually known for back home. Nothing that couldn't technically be done by hundreds of other people anyway. Really, for most of our techniques the only difference between us and other Shinobi is the scale."

"And what might one of these unique techniques be?" Winter inquired, sidling up to Naruto from his right. He'd known she was coming from the moment she started moving, but for some reason he felt cold all over just looking at her. And it wasn't his negative emotion sensing. Suppressing a shiver, Naruto responded.

"Uh… well, I'm one of the few people in my village who has been trained as a sage. I think there have been three of us total throughout the entire history of Konohagakure, maybe four." Naruto said.

"Konohagakure? What's that?" asked Nora. "Is it tasty!?" Naruto favored her with a funny look as Weiss sighed.

"It's the name of his home village. It translates to village hidden in the leaves." Weiss interjected, shutting down Nora before the girl could really get started. Winter shot her little sister an odd, lingering look, brow raised. Beside her, Yang hummed and suddenly Weiss felt inexplicably warm. She coughed into her hand and looked away from her sister, making sure not to catch Yang's eyes.

"You were saying, Mister Uzumaki?" Winter prodded after a moment, finally tearing her gaze away from Weiss.

"Uh… right. So, Sages. A Sage is a Shinobi who is taught how to gather nature chakra and harness it within their bodies. It improves my abilities a lot and gives me an increased perception radius. I guess. Like a sixth sense with its own sixth sense or something. I was able to sense everybody in my village when I first attained sage mode and even identify certain people by their chakra signatures alone.

"It's a very dangerous technique to learn, though. You don't mess with nature chakra halfheartedly. I learned from the toads—the animal clan I have a contract with—and so, if I fail to properly balance nature chakra within me, I'll turn into a stone with a small resemblance to a toad. And then, you know, die."

"That is… frightening." Weiss commented. Naruto shrugged.

"Eh. Not really? The toads took real good care of me, so I didn't feel like I was ever in danger of dying or anything."

"Speaking of… how do toads take care of you? They're tiny amphibians." Winter replied.

"Oh. These aren't normal toads. Back in my home dimension there are plenty of animal clans that we shinobi can forge contracts with. It's a real honor, ttebayo. The toads of Mount Myoboku are old and powerful. The boss toad is as large as I was back in the arena. Just not as powerful. And he's not the only toad summon of that size. Plus he can wield weapons, use suiton jutsu and toad oil attacks that pair great with katon jutsu."

"Katon? Suiton?" Pyrrha inquired. Naruto chucked.

"Sorry. Means fire release and water release, respectively. People in my home dimension can wield the elements. Like the maidens. Anyone could wield multiple with practice and effort, but everyone is born with a particular elemental affinity. The elements are divided into the main five. Fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning. There are some others, mainly elements you would attain from combining the main five, but a lot of those are Kekkei Genkai. And then there are two other energies a shinobi can wield, but they aren't really elements, per se. Yin release and Yang release."

Weiss's mind in particular was reeling. Naruto had just dumped a whole lot of info on them.

"Uh… what's a Kekkei Genkai?" Weiss asks.

"And what's your affinity, whiskers? Is it Yang release?" Yang grinned cheekily. Weiss blushed at the potential insinuation and Winter scowled. Naruto blushed himself but pushed through it to respond.

"My affinity was Wind release up until the end of the war. Now it's everything I guess?"

"So you do have an affinity for Yang release! Makes sense." Yang interrupted, grinning. Weiss groaned, and Naruto could see Taiyang drilling holes into his skull with his eyes from his peripheral vision. Yang's father was not letting the people in between them stop him in the slightest.

"Anyway, as Kur—uh, a friend would explain it, a Kekkei Genkai—or bloodline limit—is an anomaly in the DNA that allows someone to wield unique techniques. The types of Kekkei Genkai are varied. From simply unusual elemental affinities, to augmenting one's body in some way. For example, I once knew someone who could naturally combine wind and water natures to create Ice. Technically speaking, no one else on the planet that didn't share his blood would be capable of doing so.

"Then there were guys like Kimimaro, whose clan was capable of manipulating the bones within their bodies. Dangerous guy. And then there are people like Sasuke. His clan's Kekkei Genkai is a Dojutsu—ah that means eye technique—and its most base functionality, it lets him cast illusions with just a bit of eye contact, copy any physical techniques he can lay his eyes on, and increases his perception by a whole lot. He'll see the most minute muscle twitch before you even make your move."

"And you're telling us that's just its base functionality…?" Ozpin inquires.

"Yep. The sharingan does a whole lot more than that stuff." Naruto replied.

"You… sure are giving us a lot of information on you guys. Aren't you worried about us betraying you or something?" Mercury asked. Naruto snorted.

"Not really… I mean, I haven't told you anything about us that isn't common knowledge back home. We were just in a war that engulfed the world. Everyone knows what we're capable of. And all our enemies are dead or sealed away. And these Otsutsuki's? Kaguya is the mother of all chakra. All our techniques originate from her, you could say. There is very little we can do that she could not… and her kin will likely be the same way."

"I see…" Ironwood grunted. Ahead of him, Naruto gave a nod.

"Yeah. The things we don't want you to know have nothing to do with techniques. Just… personal stuff. Private affairs that we aren't comfortable telling any of you yet for one reason or another. Mainly because we just don't know you well." Naruto responded.

"That is fair enough." Ozpin responded.

"Your pawn has compromised our plans." Salem almost flinched as she turned about, looking away from her vast army of Grimm below her from the balcony of her castle.

"Tyrian?" Salem inquired. Momoshiki hummed.

"Yes and no. he is only to blame for his own pitifulness. No. The one he went to retrieve is the true issue here. That woman has brought along with her our targets. Try as they might to conceal their power, it is simply too vast for us to have missed. One way or another." Salem almost couldn't believe Momshiki's words. Cinder betraying her? It was hard to fathom—until she considered the possibility that what Momoshiki and his accomplice wanted was also more powerful than herself. Cinder would follow the top dog. And Salem knew that wasn't her. Not anymore. For now, she thought.

"Yes… that is displeasing, Salem. We had wanted more time to assess them… no matter. Despite my displeasure with you and yours, this is something that can be remedied. Send your creatures. As many as you possibly can. We will take care of the rest." With that, Momoshiki was gone from her vision. She did not blink. She did not simply lose track of him for a moment. He was just simply no longer there. It was disconcerting, the speed with which they moved.

Inhaling deeply, Salem felt her heart rate even out before looking back over her Grimm.

"Go. Welcome our guests."

Salem sent them all.

Naruto stiffened, then clicked his tongue. "Oi, Sasuke. There's a whole lot of negativity heading this way. Too much to be a simple greeting. We must have been compromised." Naruto called.

Ahead of him, Tyrian quite suddenly found himself without a head. Naruto grimaced, but didn't bother trying to chastise his rival. Tyrian was a liability they couldn't really afford. As Sasuke wiped the blood from his blade, Naruto turned to see Ruby, Jaune, and a few more of their teammates heaving into the bushes. Blake, Nora, and Ren were the only ones who didn't share in their teammates reactions. He grimaced.

"Sorry." He said lamely. There wasn't much else to say. Maybe I'll try and comfort them later. If I live, he thought.

"This is what war is, Naruto! Do not coddle them. You all should stop puking soon or you'll die." Sasuke commanded, sheathing his blade once more. Naruto scowled, but yet again, he didn't bother refuting anything Sasuke said. The other man wasn't wrong. Though he supposed it was somewhat hypocritical of them, seeing as how they'd had the time to process their first real encounter with death back in wave. Feels like a lifetime ago that happened, Naruto reminisced.

The circumstances just weren't in their favor right now though. They didn't have the time to let them cope. More blood would be spilled if they tried, in fact. Naruto stepped over to Sasuke and stood next to him. They made eye contact for the briefest of moments before Naruto made a hand sign and released the seals on them. The only one who seemed to notice was Ozpin.

"You two are not going to remain hidden?" Ozpin inquired.

"There is no point." Sasuke grunted. Far off in the distance the trained eyes of the two shinobi could see a building wave of black and white.

"There's no way Salem could have felt our approach. And from what Cinder's told us, any way for her to observe us would be through the grim. Sasuke's genjutsu is powerful enough to fool them too. We tested it. So, there's no way she would know we were hostile. Not unless the Otsutsuki felt our chakra somehow. I don't know how, but they're fully aware we're on our way." Naruto sighed.

The wave of blackness in the distance was growing more visible in their eyes. The skies above were also becoming a static-like mess. They couldn't help but wonder how many flying Grimm were on their way to cause such an effect.

"Fall. How many Grimm does Salem have with her in the Land of Darkness at all times?" Sasuke inquired. Cinder favored him with a confused glance before her eyebrows shot up into her bangs.

"No. You can't be serious!"

"Fall!" Sasuke snapped. Cinder flinched from the reaction. She hadn't really seen him this upset before.

"Uh. Right. Well, maybe half a million at any given time. As far as I'm aware she can make them endlessly from the Grimm pools, however."

"Of course she can." Naruto groaned. "What is with bad guys and endless armies?" he grumbled.

"What's going on!?" Ruby asked, panicked at what they were implying.

"What it sounds like." Naruto huffed. "Salem decided to send all her available Grimm at us."

"It doesn't matter how strong we are. We can't protect all of you from her sheer numbers. Not while holding back, anyway." Sasuke informed. As he said this, the denizens of Remnant began to see the mobile blackout of Grimm that was Salem's air forces. And though they could still not see the forces on the ground due to the many trees ahead, they were not foolish enough to assume they were not on their way as well.

"Are you implying you can take out half a million Grimm by yourselves…?" Jaune said, unable to comprehend the sheer amount of power that would require.

"Grimm are weak. They wouldn't typically require much to put down. Their numbers just make this a tad more cumbersome." Sasuke replied.

"This is definitely a trap." Naruto grunted. "Just not sure how the Otsutsuki plan to use it to their advantage. They have to know this won't be a challenge for us. There's no way they haven't felt out our chakra by now."

"Forget them. We always knew our plan was gonna fall apart. Plans never survive first contact. Different dimension doesn't change that rule. Sky or ground, Naruto?"

"I'll take the sky. Your fire will do more for us on the ground where it can spread better."

"Hn. Fine. Give me an extra boost." Grunted Sasuke. He ran at his teammate and Naruto brought his hands up, allowing Sasuke to lunge, place a foot into Naruto's palms, and allow Naruto to launch Sasuke into the air. Then two things happened at once before the eyes of Ruby and her friends.

"Let's go, Kurama!" Naruto's body erupted into golden flame, much like when they'd first seen him and then, they heard something reply. Something growling and animalistic. Something huge.

"OH!" A giant, ethereal fox head seemed to devour him from the feet up before forming around Naruto like a living, breathing, barrier of instinct and power.

Above, Sasuke exploded into a dark, purple light. At least, it seemed that way to them. Truthfully, his stage two Susanoo, in all its dread inducing horror, had simply formed around him. A wispy, deep black arrow of Amaterasu formed from within his Susanoo's left hand as Naruto began gathering chakra within Kurama's mouth down below. Sasuke took aim as he knocked his arrow into Susanoo's bow. Naruto did the same as the last dregs of chakra coalesced within Kurama's maw, only to be swallowed.

They fired.

"Enton: Susanoo Kagutsuchi!"

"Bijudama!"

The two attacks crossed paths, narrowly avoiding each other as they tore across the sky towards their targets. A beam of chakra tore a whole right through the ranks of Salem's many airborne Grimm only for Naruto to guide it across the sky, wiping out every threat in a series of explosions. Down below, Sasuke's arrow exploded into a high wall of black flame that ravenously devoured every Grimm and tree it touched, insatiable in its appetite.

To the denizens of Remnant, the attacks themselves were beyond impressive enough. To be able to wipe out so many Grimm with what seemed so little effort to them was just… well, they had no words. And then the backlash struck them. The earth shook from Sasuke's arrow as the wind from the many explosions of Naruto's Bijudama slammed into them. Even from how far off the explosions were, most of the Remnant natives found themselves knocked off their feet. And then the sheer heat of Amaterasu came next, licking at their bodies and sizzling their skin. No amount of sweating would cool them off from temperatures like this.

The first droplets of rain touched their skin. Then it poured. As Sasuke landed back on the wetted soil next to Naruto, his Susanoo fading in the process, Nora was the only one willing to speak.

"Did you guys literally just bring the rain!? That's so cool! Teach me!"

"Not the time, Nora." Said Ren. "Really not the time…" Naruto lost his chakra cloak as he and Sasuke looked about.

"See anything while you were up there?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head and Naruto huffed. "Where are they…?" Naruto wondered.

The ground opened beneath them. An inky blackness swallowing them all whole.

"Shit!" shouted Naruto. He looked down and recognized the technique instantly, though he couldn't remember ever hearing its name before. Regardless, he knew the Yomotsu Hirasaka when he laid eyes on it. He closed his eyes as his head went through the rift in space and time. When next he opened them, the scenery had changed completely.

The ground around him was a hue of red and pink he'd never really seen before, and the sky was of a similar color. Pools of some black substance were spread about the ground as far as he could see.

"Is this the place?" asked Sasuke. Naruto looked off to his right side, realizing for the first time that Sasuke was with him. And no one else.

"I guess so… and we have no idea where the others are. This wasn't the plan." Naruto growled, his face contorting in anger.

"Can you sense them?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's face evened out as he focused. He took a deep breath and after a moment he nodded.

"They're north of here. Feels like Ozpin and Cinder are fighting people." Naruto replied.

"Must be Salem."

"Ye—" Naruto dropped to his stomach as a blade of wind passed over his head. Sasuke's body jerked around, Kusanagi drawn in a blink as he blocked a hammer that seemed made of energy.

"Hello." Momoshiki greeted, floating in the air above them. "Livestock."

XXX

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That's the chapter. And so begins the fight against Salem and the Otsutsuki Clan. You'll see how things began with the RWBY side of things as far as Salem is concerned next chapter. This chapter ended up being completely different than I thought it would be when I began it. Initially I'd planned for some long drawn out battle against the Grimm, but then this just happened. I don't know. I find myself wondering if I should have let the RWBY characters shine some this chapter, but I suppose it's too late now. If there are any questions you all have, feel free to leave a review. If you want some sort of more in depth discussion, then go ahead join the discord. Peace out.