Uchiha of Remnant

by Baconaddict

Sasuke was used to having obstacles in his path, but trying to find a way home after becoming stranded in the middle of another world was a bit much even by his standards. Similar to everything in his life, his situation is not as simple as it first appears.

16. Running the Gauntlet

AN: Aaand here we are again! Hope you all enjoyed the last two cliffhangers in the previous chapter.

Plenty of people have dropped guesses for how Ozpin knows about the Uchiha and which Uchiha he met or heard about. If you're hoping to get your answer today then guess again- that is far too big a bomb for me to drop so soon. Also, good luck guessing who it is- the odds are not in your favor.

A few readers pointed out that the chapter was italicized (at least in mobile)- ummm, I'll be honest, I have no idea why. I uploaded it the same way as I always have, so I'm just as confused as you are. It still appears normal on a regular PC from what I can tell, though.

KnightOfZaku- You'll have to keep reading and see!

Knightwalker405- I'm glad I proved you wrong, but you shouldn't get used to the consistent updates I'm afraid.

6- I will admit there is a certain satisfaction dropping cliffhangers and making readers squirm.

oddcash09- Eyes That Reflect The Soul was a good read, I know I was sad when it was deleted.

Rio Skyron- I had to wiki-search who you were talking about, but after that I was both disturbed and incredibly amused by the resulting mental image.

Beta117- He still has the Curse Mark, but he can't use it right now.

DeathlyJazzHands55- Thanks for another detailed review! As for Sasuke controlling the Grimm, that is a main plot point, but even with the nerfs I've given him he hardly needs backup, especially since most Grimm are complete fodder for higher-level fighters anyway.

A standing ovation to you for looking at the story title! Uchiha of Remnant; not Sasuke of Remnant. Sasuke would like nothing more than to tinker with his seal and be left the hell alone, but you are right in that he is too involved with the goings-on of Remnant for that to be a viable option.

As for your anti-Salem hypothesis- well, I won't say anything concrete, but I will tell you you've gone a few steps in the right direction.

Tobi14- Thanks for the approval for Sasuke wrestling with his moral dilemma, I was really hoping that would be well-received.

Ghost of Uchiha- Ah, you noticed that little detail in Salem's meeting! Good on you!

Iskandar Hero- Sasuke-Raven meeting? Damn… I gotta confess, I always feel both guilty and frustrated when I get reviews like this because I really want to give a solid reply, but can't say anything of substance without giving spoilers. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that it will eventually happen though, and good on you for trying to brainstorm what's going to happen. Most guesses and hypotheses I get from everyone are either all or mostly wrong, I will admit, but I take it as a compliment that it's hard for readers to predict where I'm going to go. And hearing that people are engaged enough with what I've written to make inquiries definitely does wonders for the self-esteem.

Jinx or Feed- Yeah, I know many people were rooting for the Neo/Sasuke pairing, sorry to disappoint. In fanfiction writers tend to have every romantic relationship they put in magically work out with a ridiculous success rate that is FAR above what we suffer through in the real world, and I wanted to have one in this story to remind the readers that just because something starts out promising does not mean it will last.

God of Evil- Loving your enthusiasm as usual! Yeah, Ozpin's reveal that he knows about the Uchiha has been a bomb I had been itching to drop!

Tortillacrumbs- A power scaling review again? Damn, this might go on a while! You might be right that I'm underestimating the Narutoverse. It's difficult to say for sure because like most Shonen involving superpowers, the authors either avoid giving any specific quantities for how fast/strong/resilient a character is or they give a specific number or reference that is often completely inconsistent with other feats the same character has performed. Case and point- in Dragonball Goku as a child can move a boulder over 12 feet tall weighing multiple tons after training with Master Roshi, but several years later after getting stronger and training with Korin and Kami, visibly struggles to take off a weighted shirt that weights roughly 80 kilograms. I'm basing my assumption that Onoki can't go supersonic because whenever he floats around we never see any kind of air currents or shockwaves from traveling that fast, he's just flying around with a mild to moderate breeze from the surrounding air that his beard and mustache just gently sway in- not what you would expect to see if he was booking it at Mach 1+. Being a fictional universe, it's possible that physical laws are different and that I am completely wrong. As for the RWBY verse, I'm sorry but I just don't see most of them as very fast. Winter and Qrow had relatively impressive velocities during their battle, but aside from speedsters like Ruby or Harriet many characters seem really slow. During the Battle at Haven, for example, I felt like I could have walked in there and kept up with most of the fights. I feel very safe in asserting that with the possible exceptions of Ruby, Cinder, and Raven, there was no one in that fight that was going supersonic.

The Narutoverse is kind of screwed up in that the high-speed Body Flicker Jutsu is also sometimes referred to as Teleportation, which when I first got into the series was very confusing. I probably should refer to the Body Flicker by its proper name going forward, but old habits die hard. So yes, Stonewall can reach speeds comparable to Sasuke's Body Flicker- but yeah, neither of them are really Teleporting like Minato can.

BTW, your name makes me hungry.

HotaruBoshi- Yeah, I move slowly. I get that a lot… It's how I write though, so I'll just roll with it. Thanks for enjoying the bloated mess of a story I've written so far!

The test subjects freed by Team Hebi? Props to you for not loosing sight of that! You really think I would put that there for no reason?

The roukage- I don't know what you're talking about dude. Cliffhangers are one of my favorite things to put in- oh, oh you meant you didn't like them! I can't stop putting those in man! How else am I supposed to ensure you get addicted enough to come back and get another fix?

'thoughts'

"talking through phone"

Uchiha of Remnant

Chapter 16: Running the Gauntlet

Sasuke's first thought was how dark it seemed, before a fraction of a second later realizing it was merely because his eyes were closed. A further realization that he should be able to open his eyelids easily, and yet could not, as though they were weighed down with lead anchors in a quagmire of molasses. It was also rather odd it was that he could hear next to nothing, the only sounds he could make out being indistinct, muffled, and oddly muted. It was when his mind had begun to restart enough to realize it was restarting, as well as how utterly slow he seemed to be forming thoughts, that the Uchiha knew he was waking up from the grips of unconsciousness.

He had been knocked out a grand total of five times in his life and by now easily recognized the signs. What came next, however, had so far varied between his experiences. When he had woken up from Itachi's Tsukuyomi (on both occasions), it had been a fairly peaceful event. The psychological trauma of seeing his family slaughtered for hours on end notwithstanding, physically he had experienced nothing more than a headache. When he had awoken after first using Orochimaru's Curse Mark, as well as his 'death' at the hands of the Sound Four, he had actually experienced a rush of energy and power that was as gnawingly painful as it was invigorating. At Haku's hands he had truly felt as though he were half-asleep when he first opened his eyes, his body numb from the abuse of hundreds of senbon needles piercing his chakra and nerve points with perfect accuracy.

This time, however, painful was the only word he could accurately use. His entire body felt as though it had gone through a butcher's meat grinder, and judging from the smell of burning tissue some portion of his body may as well have been cooked over said butcher's fire. Above him he could feel huge masses of rough stone, various sized pieces of rubble that were pinning his body down.

'The dust explosion… Right, I got caught in that before I could escape…'

He had thankfully gotten far enough away to survive the blast, but it had clearly been a close call. Now that he was beginning to awaken and his senses returning, he was beginning to feel the ever-growing sting of various degrees of burns he had received. More disturbingly was his left leg. Judging from its positioning it didn't seem broken, but there was a powerful aching pain from the thigh that numbed the sensation of the parts of the limb below it.

Sasuke was still regaining his senses, trying to flex his fingers and various parts of his body with varying success, when he felt a tremor from the surrounding rubble. At first he feared it was shifting, but felt relief when the pressing weight above him disappeared. The debris above his body was lifted off entirely, allowing his lungs fresh air for the first time since he had awoken.

"He-… got o… burned u…"

The sound of broken and muffled voices pulled the Uchiha further out of his stupor. How long had he even been out for?

He tried once more to open his eyes, and this time he was rewarded with a blurred sliver of vision. The fact he was greeted with tiny pinpricks of starlight instead of a brilliant sun could only mean it hadn't been too long since the explosion, probably only an hour or two. To the side of his vision he saw several men in bright red uniforms on either side of him.

'Firefighters' he recognized.

They began to gently push their hands beneath the Uchiha's head and body, no doubt to lift him onto a stretcher of some kind, when Sasuke noticed the almost nauseating flare of red and blue lights flashing through the night. When his hearing recovered enough to make out the telltale wailing sirens of police cars, a sound he recognized very well, his adrenaline began to rush.

If one or more hours had passed, Shyla and her group would have had more than enough time to report their story as well as his identity to the Police. It was unlikely they would know he was at the site of the explosion, or that they would have told the firefighters rescuing him from the debris to be on the lookout for him, but that hardly mattered. Once he was taken to the hospital it wouldn't take them long to figure out who he was.

He flexed his muscles, satisfied that despite the incredible pain that now racked every inch of his body they all responded in kind. His movements were still sluggish, but he could nevertheless feel life returning to his body, and his senses were returning to the point he could clearly understand them.

"What the hell?" one of the firefighters exclaimed in shock, "this kid is awake!"

"Thought for sure he would be out for a week with trauma like this," another added, placing a hand over his chest to keep him from moving. "Just lie down son, we'll get you to an ambulance real quick!"

Sasuke was having none of it. His strength now rapidly returning, he removed the appendage attempting to keep him on his back with utter ease before using his grip on the man's wrist to raise himself up. Ignoring the cries of pain from his own injuries as well as the protests from the man he had pulled himself up with, he leapt to his feet a distance away before looking on at the various emergency services that had swarmed to the Dust explosion.

They were almost all staring at him in open states of shock, clearly amazed he was capable of such movement in his condition.

'Speaking of which'

Now that he was capable of doing so, the Uchiha took a quick glance at his body to actually look at his injuries. His forearms and torso were almost completely covered in third-degree burns, the skin a waxy white with small portions blackened and charred. Having been partially shielded, his face and upper chest had a relatively lighter toasting, though the second-degree burns that haphazardly covered them were far more swollen in appearance, the surviving tissue shades of furious red and pink. Moving around a bit more he confirmed he had no broken bones, though much of his back was aching from where it had likely collided with a solid building as the explosion had thrown him back.

Looking down as almost an afterthought, though, he saw the real reason everyone was in disbelief he could stand. Penetrating straight through his left thigh was foot-and-a-half long, inch-thick piece of rebar, no doubt one of the rods placed inside the concrete or masonry in the building he had been thrown through to reinforce the structure. It thankfully had not hit an artery, even with Orochimaru's healing factor in play he still likely would have bled to death by now had that been the case. Still, the dried blood caking the skin surrounding both ends of the beam as it jutted out from his flesh meant he had lost a good amount of blood from the wound before it clotted over, a clot that was starting to slowly bleed again now that his movement had started to break the newly-formed scab.

Reaching around his waist, he was at least relieved to feel that his kunai pack and sword were both still in their rightful place.

"Young man!" a stern feminine voice shouted, bringing Sasuke's gaze back to the crowd around him.

Looking at the speaker it was clear she was not an emergency worker but a Huntress, though a rather unusual one. With light blonde hair tied in a nigh-flawless bun, a white top with a black pencil skirt and a purple and black cape that had no crease or wrinkle, and a Riding Crop as a weapon of all things in her hand, she looked more like a cool and serious businesswoman or instructor than a warrior.

Looking to her side, however, it was clear the woman was not to be underestimated. She was levitating large chunks of concrete, masonry, and steel from the blast with what had to be a Telekinetic Semblance of some kind with her weapon, moving the large slabs of debris to search for survivors far more efficiently and delicately than any Excavator.

She was looking directly at the Uchiha, every bit as surprised by the fact he was moving around or even conscious with his injuries.

"You need to calm down!" she said in a firm and crisp voice that was softened slightly by a look of concern. "You were in a major explosion and have severe injuries, you are in no condition to be anywhere but a hospital right now!"

Ordinarily Sasuke would agree, but that was not an option. Though from the way she was speaking, it seemed she thought he was merely a victim of the explosion. Given that it had been several hours, he had expected to be recognized on sight by now, though depending on how much time had passed it was possible this Huntress as well as the numerous Police Officers present had simply not yet been given the news, especially if they had been busy searching for bodies in the rubble this whole time.

'Or maybe they don't recognize me'

Still feeling the sting of burns on his face, Sasuke considered that perhaps his visage had been burned beyond the point they could easily recognize him. His face was no doubt an unrecognizable patchwork of swollen pink and red tissue that would be more akin in appearance to a pizza than the flawless visage women swooned over.

It was a respite he was grateful for, but it didn't change anything in the long run. They would find out who he was eventually.

Gritting his teeth and uttering no reply to the Huntress nor a cry of pain from the agony of moving his body, Sasuke leapt to the roof of the nearest intact building before retreating across the rooftops, leaving the stunned witnesses behind.

Glynda watched him go, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he disappeared into the night. The fact that the boy had refused to be taken to the hospital, as well as fleeing from both herself and the Police Officers present could only mean he was guilty of something. Ordinarily she would have been happy to let the Police handle finding him, but the fact that even in his condition he was still willing to forgo medical treatment meant he was guilty of more than some minor offence. Not to mention the fact that he was found in the immediate vicinity of a massive Dust Explosion meant he very likely was connected to it somehow.

And then there was…

'Just how the Hell can he still move?!'

It was a thought she knew she shared with the Paramedics who had tried to put him on their stretcher. When she had first laid eyes on his skewered leg and burnt body, her first thought was that he would die within hours without treatment, and even if he survived would be unconscious for several days before he awoke in terrible pain.

And then he had just pulled himself up, without any hesitation or a wince of pain, and had jumped away on a leg that should have been both far too painful and far too damaged to be moving at all!

He had to be a Huntsman, or at least a rogue one of some kind, though an incredibly young one from what little she could tell from his burnt face. His Aura was no doubt depleted from shielding him from the blast, but if he was capable of fleeing he was capable of resisting capture as well.

And that meant he was under Hunter jurisdiction.

She pulled out her scroll with a flash, quickly dialing in Qrow's number. There was still a bit of work to do clearing out the larger sections of debris before she could give chase, and in the meantime her colleague could at least start tracking the kid down. She knew Ozpin had given her clear instructions to search for this 'Sasuke Uchiha' and might see tracking this unknown kid as an unnecessary sideshow, but she had a feeling this was a lead they should follow.

"Hey, Glynda," her colleague answered in his usual, slightly gravely tone, "you done cleaning up that blast I heard? Oz just buzzed me and filled me in on this Sasuke kid, I'm sweeping the city now."

"I'm not quite done cleaning up the site," she replied, "but there was a teenager we found in the wreckage that fled the scene due East, I need you to track him down. I'll join you as soon as I'm done."

"A kid?" Qrow questioned, "I thought we had to track down the guy who ordered the Grimm invasion? Or- or do you think this guy you saw was him?"

"I'm not certain, his face was too burned to tell who he is. Still, I think he might be a promising lead. I hardly think it's a coincidence that we found this kid at the sight of the largest Dust explosion in Vale's history who flees the authorities on sight on the same night this 'Sasuke Uchiha' launches and calls back a major Grimm invasion."

"I guess it's worth checking out," Qrow concurred. "You got a description for me?"

"Half his body is covered in burns, and he has a foot-long metal bar stuck in his leg."

"What!? And he was able to run away?"

"He was," Glynda replied. "Try to find him quickly. Even if he doesn't have any useful information, we at least need to get him medical treatment."

"Well then I had better get started looking for him. See you soon." Qrow finished before hanging up.

Pocketing her scroll Glynda refocused her attention on the mountain of debris that still littered the crater where from what she had been told a warehouse once stood. Disciplinarian in hand, she once again began to gently began to remove the pieces of masonry and steel as gently yet as quickly as she dared.

Logically there was no reason to rush. As much as she disapproved of Qrow's personal habits, she couldn't deny he was an incredibly skilled Huntsman. There was no reason why he would be unable to apprehend a boy, not yet even a man from what she could tell, who was so severely injured by himself.

---

Severe burns, Sasuke thought, were far and away the most painful physical trauma he had experienced. Every move, every twitch of muscle that required his skin to stretch or compress the slightest amount was a wave of agonizing pain that even by shinobi standards was difficult to bear. His skewered leg did not hurt quite as much, but the fact it continued to swell and seemed to be slowly becoming more and more non-responsive was rather alarming. He had tried to avoid using it during his hasty retreat from the explosion site, but it hadn't prevented blood from continuing to ooze from the wound.

He was currently seated atop the roof of an apartment complex, one that had several residents that happened to leave their laundry out on clotheslines to dry. Laundry he had easily 'borrowed', and was now dressing his more severe wounds with.

Finishing bandaging his more extreme burns he paused to take a quick look at his impaled leg. His burns were incredibly painful, but he could ignore the agony well enough to not truly be hindered if he was forced to run or fight. His leg, however, was a different story. He wasn't worried about infection, Orochimaru's healing factor buffed his immune system to the point he was about as vulnerable to infections as he was to poisons. Unfortunately there was nothing his enhanced healing could do about the giant metal rod stuck in his thigh.

He could remove it himself no problem, but there was a significant risk with doing so. Sasuke was very familiar with human anatomy, and he could tell the embedded steel was close enough to his femoral vein that said vein was either already punctured and the metal was preventing the blood from leaking out too much, or was so close to the rod that any forcible attempt to remove it could traumatize the vein to the point of rupture anyway.

At this point he was regretting not taking a leaf out of Sakura's book and spending at least some time learning more medical ninjutsu. Orochimaru had taught him a few very basic ones, but none that would be able to staunch major bleeding.

He paused a moment to reflect just how far his situation had fallen. He had severe injuries that even with Orochimaru's healing factor would take days to heal, Vale was or already had started to launch a manhunt for him, and he had lost every ally he had that could have helped him.

Clenching his teeth, Sasuke realized he would have to remove the steel rod from his leg himself, hope he didn't bleed out, and find someplace to hide until he was well enough to take an airship to Mistral. With any luck his Atlesian bank account had been officially opened already, and because he had had the foresight to not use his real name there was a good chance his original plan of hiding out in the backwoods of Mistral could still work.

But that was days away at best. Until then he had more immediate problems.

'I'll have to cauterize the wound after I take the rod out,' he thought to himself. 'All need to do that is to find some Lightning Dust'

He was confident he could manage it, but he would need to find a modest supply of Lightning Dust to use in the first place before he could try it. He glanced around briefly, passing over a Crow flying by as he tried to recall if there were any Dust shops in the area he and Roman hadn't cleaned out yet. They had hit all of them already at least once, but with luck there might be a few that had been robbed a while back that had gotten a new shipment in by now.

The sudden presence of an Aura, and a quite powerful one at that, behind him halted his thoughts in their tracks. He jumped to his feet, a hand on Kusanagi to face whomever had found him.

To his mild surprise he laid his eyes on a Huntsman that did not appear too dissimilar to what Sasuke thought he would look like in a few decades. He was either middle-aged or approaching it with a hairstyle was almost the same as his own, though the black color was starting to grey. The man's eyes, though nominally similar to his Sharingan in hue, were a duller shade than his own. He was the first person he had met since Ruby Rose that wore a cape, though his was far more worn and tattered than hers had been, and wore a crooked cross-shaped necklace.

Rather surprisingly the man had not yet drawn his weapon, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture instead.

If this was a trap, the Uchiha was not taking the bait. He gripped Kusanagi, ready to draw in an instant.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, kid!" said the man, slightly startled at the Uchiha's sudden defensive stance. "Look, I'm only here to help you out!"

"I do not appreciate being lied to," the Uchiha replied flatly. "You're going to take me to the hospital in handcuffs, question me, then throw me in a jail cell."

"Well, uh… yeah, probably" the man confessed, not having either the nerve nor the lying skills to pretend otherwise. "Look, I can only imagine how shitty your day has been so far, but just look at yourself! You can't seriously believe you can just walk off the injuries you've got! Even someone with Aura to help heal them needs at least a week in the ICU to recover from that!"

He took a small step closer, softening his face into a look of concern. Sasuke could tell that whether this man was trying to make him lower his guard or not, he was genuinely worried about him.

For some reason.

Inside his head Sasuke's mind was racing. Whether the Huntsman in front of him knew it yet or not, there was no peaceful solution here. Sasuke was not willing to allow them to take him anywhere, nor was this Huntsman willing to let him go.

He was going to have to fight. And he was going to have to attack the moment he had an opening; if the man had any competence at all he had surely already called in his location to the Police or his fellow Hunters before he had shown himself.

"Look, what do you say we start this whole thing over?" the Huntsman offered. "My name is Qrow Branwen, what about you-"

One moment Qrow was standing cautiously with his hands raised, hoping his mediocre negotiating skills would be enough to have the Uchiha come quietly, the next he was holding his broadsword in front of him, having barely raised it in time to block Sasuke's Kusanagi.

It was a commonly known fact amongst Shinobi that a person's reaction time was slightly slower when they were speaking instead of listening. No matter how 'ready' they were, the simple fact was that the mere act of talking, of diverting a portion of one's thoughts to forming and articulating words meant that their mind had less brainpower to work with to respond to a threat. It was a small edge, less than the blink of an eye really, but Shinobi were not known for turning down any advantage they could get.

Sasuke had waited for just such a moment, and based on his shocked expression Qrow had not expected the Uchiha to attack him without warning.

But if Qrow was in shock the Uchiha was cursing to himself. He had attacked at the perfect moment, but it couldn't make up for his injured leg. Even ignoring the pain and pushing his flesh to the limit he had lost a third of his speed. And despite his surprise Qrow had blocked his attack far more quickly than the Uchiha had expected.

'He's got a better reaction time than Neo'

Sasuke pressed forward, their locked blades shooting sparks of metal from their clash as the Uchiha pushed his opponent back.

"WHOA, WHOA! Kid, let's just talk for a second!"

The Uchiha ignored the pleading fool. Reaching his free hand above the locked blades, he grabbed the man's shirt collar before swinging him clean off his feet and throwing him into a chimney.

Sasuke charged, fully intending to follow-up his initial hit with consecutive attacks that would be powerful enough to finish the man quickly.

Unfortunately this fight, like his duel with Stonewall only a few hours prior, was not going to be easy. Sasuke was close enough to Qrow to sense that his Aura was the strongest of any Hunter he had seen so far by a significant margin, and the relatively mild collision he had suffered from being tossed into the chimney hadn't put a dent in it. The man had now gotten over his initial astonishment and was ready to fight back, hands on his broadsword and balancing on the balls of his feet, ready to launch or defend an attack at a moment's notice.

Qrow gave a small sigh of resignation.

"Fine, have it your way kid" he said. "I'm not a fan of fighting with someone who should be in an Ambulance, but you're not giving me much choice here!"

The Huntsman attacked, swinging his sword with enough force to try and disarm the Uchiha quickly. Sasuke parried it easily before reversing his sword's direction, thrusting forward straight to the man's shoulder.

Qrow, amazed that his young enemy not only had the strength to deflect his blow but the speed and skill to counterattack stepped back just in time. Though the Uchiha's cut speed once again cost him what would have been an easy hit.

'I have to find another way to end this' Sasuke thought to himself. 'As long as he can avoid most of my attacks I'll be getting nowhere fast. I need some way to keep him from moving'

Suddenly, as if by providence, the answer came to him. It was so obvious it was downright embarrassing that it had taken him this long to consider it!

Wielding Kusanagi with his right hand he pressed his attack, slashing and stabbing at the Huntsman without relent.

It was now that the difference in their respective weapons became apparent. Kusanagi's shorter length and far smaller size allowed the Uchiha to brandish it at eye-blurring speed, switching from lateral parries to pointed thrusts in the blink of an eye with a degree of precision that put surgeons to shame. Qrow's larger blade by contrast was far too large to keep up with the Uchiha's lightning-fast attacks. It was strong and sturdy enough to shrug off any of Kusanagi's strikes, but that was it. Even with Qrow's strength and expertise with the weapon he found it impossible to block the gaps in his defense that Sasuke would exploit almost as soon as they were made. The broadsword could have easily swatted aside the smaller Kusanagi had Qrow been on the offensive, but with the Uchiha was launching attacks so seamlessly there was simply no opening for the Huntsman to counterattack and retake the initiative.

Qrow found himself being forced back at a relentless pace, Sasuke's crippled speed allowing him to pull back when he could tell one of the Uchiha's strikes was going to hit home.

What the Huntsman did not realize was that while his opponent's swordsmanship was of the finest caliber, it was the Uchiha's free hand that was the true threat.

After a missed thrust the Uchiha leapt back, seemingly halting his attack. Qrow raised his sword, ready to counterattack, when he noticed his adversary seemingly grab some unseen object in midair and gave a hard pull.

The next moment Qrow's limbs were squeezed together by thin bands of stinging pressure as his arms and legs, as well as his broadsword, snapped to his body as though he were bound by invisible bandages. The Huntsman looked around, bewildered, wondering just what the hell had happened, before he noticed small glints of light, almost too small to see, of moonlight reflecting off of… wires?

With a mighty heave Qrow was pulled off his feet and toward his enemy. The split second he was airborne, the Huntsman realized in amazement that somehow this kid had set up an elaborate and functional wire trap of some kind in mere moments.

While he had been attacking him with his sword.

The next moment an iron fist buried itself in his gut, knocking the wing straight out of his lungs and sending him flying into an adjacent building.

Sasuke sprinted forward as his opponent fell out of his sight to the alley below, intent on finishing him off before his backup arrived. As he jumped to the gap between the buildings Qrow had fallen between, however, he was met with a perplexing sight.

The Huntsman was nowhere to be seen, the wire that had bound him not moments ago now loosely falling to the ground below, narrowly missing a very startled red-eyed Crow.

'What the hell? Where did he go?'

As a shinobi, dealing with opponents whose first move was to vanish, hide, and ambush was so commonplace there was no metaphor to describe it. Even as a Genin Sasuke had been more than competent enough to notice the Demon Brothers amateur attempts to catch Team Seven off guard when they had escorted Tazuna all those years ago. He had gained far more experience since then, but even with that he was still scratching his head as to how his enemy had seemingly vanished literally into thin air. The man's weapon was gone as well, the great broadsword every bit as absent as its owner.

'A stealth Semblance of some kind perhaps?' the Uchiha hypothesized.

But it only took a moment for Sasuke to realize there were several holes in such a theory. Even if Qrow could make himself invisible it didn't explain how he had managed to escape from his ensnaring wires in mere seconds. And even then, the man would have made a very audible sound as he fell to the ground whether he was visually concealed or not.

The man's Aura was gone as well, disappearing like the flame of a candle blown out by a gust of wind.

No, no it wasn't gone completely. Straining his meager chakra sensing talent the Uchiha could feel a very faint remnant of Qrow's Aura, nothing more than a pitiful ember compared to the very impressive life energy he had sensed before.

Come to think of it, Qrow had actually first appeared before the Uchiha in much the same way. Despite monitoring his surroundings and focusing his senses for anyone approaching, the man had managed to show up from seemingly out of nowhere. Sasuke's impressive hearing had not noticed the sound of the man's footsteps until he was almost on top of him, and his Aura had been similarly elusive.

'But if he has a Semblance that can conceal him from being seen or heard, why hasn't he attacked me yet?'

The Uchiha knew damn good and well that if he had been able to pull off a similar feat of stealth, he would have counterattacked from his target's blind spot as soon as he had the opportunity.

Though perhaps Qrow didn't need to; if he had called for reinforcements before he had first approached him then the smart play would be to avoid risking further injury and stay concealed, simply waiting for his backup to arrive before revealing himself again.

The Uchiha gave a huff of annoyance as he sheathed Kusanagi and leapt to the next building, intent on putting as much distance between himself and where he had last seen Qrow as he possibly could. Normally he would simply run on top of the numerous buildings, but with a Huntsman that possessed a powerful ability to conceal himself no doubt trying to follow him he was forced to run on the sides of the structures instead to stay out of sight of anyone topside.

Qrow's meager Aura soon disappeared from the Uchiha's senses, though it hardly meant he was taking any further chances. He kept his pace for almost five minutes, not stopping to look for an adequate hiding place until he had covered several miles. He stopped at a bridge, seating himself upside-down on the underside of the structure.

It wasn't the best hiding place, but he needed to rest. The earlier fight had increased the bleeding from his leg and his journey across the city had not helped. He could still ignore the pain, but he could do nothing to change the fact that his condition would cripple him ever more harshly if he continued to push it.

Suddenly, the Uchiha snapped up his head and gripped Kusanagi- Qrow was back.

He was still in his stealth mode, for lack of a better term, but Sasuke could still feel the tiny flicker of his Aura reappear.

Wherever he was he had to be very close, there was no way Sasuke would be able to sense such a small Aura signature otherwise. And if Qrow was well within spitting distance there was no way in hell the man hadn't seen him by now.

Holding back a huff of annoyance the Uchiha realized retreating was not an option. Qrow could mask his presence almost perfectly as well as track him after he had traversed several miles of Vale's labyrinth of streets and alleys. Until his pursuer was knocked out there would be no hiding.

'So where is he?'

Still underneath the bridge the Uchiha began scouting his surroundings. He was confident Qrow wasn't using an illusionary type Semblance similar to Neo's to remain hidden, he would have recognized such a tactic instantly. Whatever he was doing was more subtle…

Despite the fact his enemy had to be almost on top of him, Sasuke's search yielded nothing. Aside from a few rats making some discarded fast food their evening meal below him and a Crow perched on one of the bridge's steel beams there were no other living things anywhere near hi-

Sasuke snapped his eyes back to the perched bird. It was a Crow, alright. A red-eyed Crow.

The mutation that caused a change in normal eye color in any animal was rare enough on its own, and looking at the bird the Uchiha could tell it was not just similar to the Crow he had seen in the alley after his opponent had disappeared- it was the same bird.

Qrow… Crow…

The Uchiha almost raised his brow in disbelief.

'It couldn't be…'

Sasuke's eyes flashed from black to red, and the disguise was revealed. Far from the weak and primitive Aura that the animals in this world shared, the Crow before him was brimming with the energy. It was concealed, appearing almost folded in on itself for lack of a better term compared to the fully active Aura of Stonewall.

And to the Uchiha's shock, Aura wasn't the only form of life energy the bird had that he recognized. It had been weeks since he had seen it with his own eyes by now, but he could never forget the sight of vibrant Nature Energy as Jugo drank it from his surroundings to transform.

Transform

These thoughts flashed though the Uchiha's head in a fraction of a second, but all Qrow Branwen saw was his quarry's eyes flash from black to red.

There was no more time to think as the boy was suddenly on top of him, his sword drawn and poised to hew his wing clean off. In a flash Qrow turned back to his human form, drawing Harbinger to block the strike without a moment to spare.

The two combatants crashed into the ground below before disengaging, one with a look of surprise and curiosity, and the other appearing as though he had seen a ghost.

"Well now," the Uchiha practically drawled, "that is quite the interesting ability you have. Where did you learn to do that?"

That wasn't the only interesting thing his now active Sharingan saw either. Everything about Aura he had heard about as well as seen asserted that the protective shield of life energy formed a solid barrier around its user. While he had only seen the Aura of Ruby, Stonewall, and Qrow with his clan's bloodline, Sasuke was fairly certain what he saw around Qrow was an oddity. While his Aura did make a barrier around his body, unlike the others he had seen it did not have a clear boundary with the outside world. The Aura covered his skin and clothing, same as any other Hunter, and then it… seeped, for lack of a better term, into the surrounding environment in a manner that resembled a fine mist or fog that surrounded the Huntsman for several dozen feet.

That was rather curious; the surrounding cloud of Aura was far too weak to provide any sort of protection. Perhaps it was a sensory mechanism of sorts? He had heard that Gaara could suspend his sand in the air and detect any approaching enemy by sensing his sand being displaced; it was possible Qrow's Aura performed a similar function.

Contrary to the Uchiha's rapid thoughts, Qrow paused- no, froze. He froze. Even on his sober days his mind, though sharp, wasn't known for thinking quickly. And thus, his brain was racing to process the myriad of information he had learned in the last few seconds.

The most prominent point was that standing in front of him was none other than Sasuke Uchiha. And it was Sasuke Uchiha- the blood-red eyes that seemed to stare at his very soul- the Sharingan, Ozpin had called it. He could be no one else.

A few hours ago the name Uchiha would have meant absolutely nothing to him, but that was no longer the case. Ozpin had kept his briefing of the Uchiha short, but it was enough to make Qrow struggle to not piss himself.

In the back of his mind, he recalled the Headmaster's last words to him.

"If you or Glynda find Sasuke Uchiha, do not try to fight him! Neither of you are at his level- just call me straight away."

Qrow forced his hands holding Harbinger to stay their trembling, though he could do nothing to prevent his body from breaking out in a cold sweat.

He couldn't fight him, and with his Crow cover blown he couldn't run or hide, never mind tailing him until Glynda or Oz appeared. And something told Qrow that Sasuke would not be so cordial as to stand there and allow Qrow to whip out his scroll to call for backup.

What was he going to do?

What the hell was he going to do?!

Any second now Sasuke was going to call in another Grimm attack- a massive one to occupy any Hunters that otherwise would have been called to aid Qrow. And probably bring a few flying Grimm their way to give their Master a ride out.

"Are you frightened?"

Qrow snapped to attention as the Uchiha's low voice echoed in a subtle mocking tone. In contrast to his own tension, his muscles wound so tight they were practically ready to snap like rubber bands, Sasuke stood as serenely as though he were readying himself to cast a fishing line into a pond. Despite the bar of metal protruding from his leg he stood tall and proud, his countless burns doing nothing to hinder his unflappable confidence.

"You were eager to attempt to negotiate with me earlier, speaking to me as though I were a teenage delinquent. But after you saw my eyes you seem doubtful of your victory."

Qrow's jaw was clenched too tightly to voice an immediate reply- though he needn't have bothered. The answer was written all over his face. Still, the Huntsman forced himself to calm down and face his enemy. He was still utterly terrified, but the fear was now accompanied by steely resolve.

"I- I know who you are," Qrow stammered slightly, readying to defend himself with Harbinger at a moment's notice, "You're Sasuke Uchiha!"

"You would be right," the Uchiha replied. "Though I can't say I've heard of you, Qrow Branwen."

Qrow found his grip on his sword slacken- not from fear, but from confusion.

'Wait- how does he not know who I am?'

He had been a member of Ozpin's secret society for decades now, a fact Salem was well aware of. And Sasuke… as an Uchiha, would have been a member of Salem's inner circle by default- if not second in power and authority only to the immortal Witch herself. There was no way Salem wouldn't have told him about Qrow's position with Ozpin's group.

The remaining Branwen twin loyal to Ozpin was no less terrified that before, but now his rational mind was catching up. And the picture it was painting began shooting down almost every assumption that Ozpin had made about the situation faster than a Supermodel rejecting a date from a homeless drunkard.

Sasuke had been responsible for the invasion of Grimm only a few hours ago- that much seemed a given based on what an Uchiha could do. But then… why had it been called off? And why had the Grimm seemingly been instructed to bypass the outer defenses instead of destroying them and continue charging to Vale even as thousands of their number were needlessly cut down?

And why were there no wailing sirens alerting Vale to another Grimm invasion right now? Qrow had expected the ear-splitting warning to blast through the city at any moment; and yet so far nothing had come.

Did he prefer to fight Qrow by himself? Why?

And how had he even been caught up in that Dust explosion earlier? They weren't yet sure what such a massive amount of Dust was doing in an abandoned warehouse to begin with, though the first idea in everyone's mind was that Roman Torchwick had used it as a location to hide the massive quantities of Dust he had been steadily stealing from Vale for the past few weeks.

So why would Sasuke have been there at all? Was he involved with the crime lord somehow?

He snapped back to reality as two blazing red orbs advanced toward him; a terrifying sight that made Qrow feel as though he were naked before the Devil himself.

"I'm actually surprised I haven't heard of you," the Uchiha admitted. "I would have thought a transformation like yours you would be rather well-known."

Qrow began mentally cursing himself. In the moment he had forgotten the critical fact that Sasuke had seen him in his transformed state. And just like he said, he kept it a secret from the rest of the world. It wouldn't do for Salem or her henchmen to know to kill any red-eyed Crow on sight.

Still, his actual Semblance was not exactly an obvious one… perhaps it wouldn't be too difficult to mislead the Uchiha about his abilities if nothing else.

"Tch, it's my Semblance. Just because I don't advertise it doesn't m-"

"What did I say earlier about lying to me?" the Uchiha snapped, scowling in contempt. "Are you enough of a fool to think my eyes are merely for show?"

The rest of Qrow's sentence died in his throat as his deception was called out.

'He can tell the difference between my Aura and the magic Oz gave me?' The Huntsman realized. 'Oz said the Sharingan grants enhanced vision, but I didn't think he would be able to actually use it to distinguish between those two abilities just from looking at them!'

"You know what, forget it" said the Uchiha as he raised his sword again. "If you aren't going to tell me how you got that power, there's no reason to bother talking."

In all honesty, Sasuke was more than a little disappointed in himself. Why had he even bothered trying indulge his curiosity about Qrow's possession of Nature Energy to begin with? Even if the man had been in the mood to tell him; and he most certainly was not going to be that lucky, what would he have gained from getting his answer? He was still on a time crunch to find an adequate location to remove the intruding metal from his leg, and here he was wasting precious time on a mere whim.

Qrow obviously recognized his Sharingan, which could only mean that one of the prisoners he had freed had told the authorities what had happened at the factory.

Ignoring his pain, the Uchiha leapt forward to engage his enemy again. Having had a descent warning this time, Qrow swung his weapon to parry his adversary's thrust. He wasn't going to start their dance by merely blocking- he had learned enough from their last round that if he gave the Uchiha the initiative he would not be getting it back.

This time, however, the Huntsman was horrified to learn that he was going to be on his back foot no matter what he did. Despite his injury literally crippling his footwork Sasuke's swordsmanship was of the highest caliber Qrow had ever seen, and he had seen a lot. He almost moved like a serpent of some kind, twisting and attacking seamlessly without pause or rest. And despite his machine-like pace Qrow could tell Sasuke was not blindly striking him with attacks that were simply repeated out of habit in rapid succession in the hope one would get lucky. No- every hit, every slash and thrust forced him back, weakened his stance, loosened his grip on Harbinger, or somehow maneuvered him just enough to open him up for the next attack. And despite the rapid succession of attacks the Uchiha had seemingly not sacrificed any raw power for his blinding striking speed. Each and every hit that made contact with Harbinger threatened to rip the weapon from his hands and sent numbing shockwaves to his arms.

The Uchiha changed the trajectory of his sword mid-swing, going underneath the larger Harbinger instead of meeting it, and cutting into Qrow's leg. Determined to get some distance before Sasuke could once again capitalize, Qrow sprang straight up twenty feet into the air. Looking down, he saw the spot the Uchiha had been on the roof was now completely empty. Twisting his neck, Qrow was met with the sight of twin Sharingan mere feet from his own eyes.

Sasuke was right there.

His sword slammed into the back of Qrow's head like a battering ram, shooting the Huntsman into the roof like a missile. Ignoring the shock to his Aura, he performed a backspring to get to his feet, switching Harbinger to its gun mode.

'If I can't take him close up, maybe a ranged attack will get me better results'

Once again however, Qrow was met with the sight of an empty, albeit far more damaged roof.

Before he could contemplate where his quarry had disappeared, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Snapping his head to the side, he barely registered the Uchiha's raven hair before a flash of metal buried itself across his throat with the force of a blunted Guillotine that felt as though it had been swung by an Elephant.

Almost dropping Harbinger from the panic of feeling his throat nearly being crushed, the Huntsman was thrown through the air like a ragdoll before landing gracelessly on an adjacent building roof that had pieces of construction equipment and lumber lying haphazardly on it, pitifully gasping for air. Qrow was panicked, having damn near seen his life flash before his eyes. But he had accumulated enough battle experience to know he had suffered no lethal injury, and that Sasuke would be on him in moments to follow up his attack.

He wasn't disappointed. Leaping across the gap between the two structures without a hint of pain from his leg, the Uchiha landed as gracefully as a Leopard.

'Now!'

Realizing it was now or never, Qrow raised Harbinger and took aim, intent on getting at least a few shots off and hopefully slow his enemy down. As he zeroed in on the Uchiha, Qrow noticed him appear to reach into two small pouches on his belt before whipping his arms out with blinding speed as though he was throwing something.

Qrow's finger pulled the trigger, keeping his fingers crossed that at least one shot would be lucky enough to hit. Instead of the expected report of Harbinger's gun, which Qrow was intimately familiar with by now, the twin barrels of his weapon exploded in a flash of fire and smoke, peppering the Huntsman and the surrounding area with shards of shrapnel.

"What the hell!?" he shouted, leaping back to spare his lungs from the smoke.

He stared at his weapon- and almost had a heart attack. Both gun barrels had been blasted apart, what was left of the once smooth metal twisted and curled.

Qrow's panic was frozen as by chance he glanced at a small object that suddenly landed a few feet in front of him that hit the roof with a metallic clang. It looked like a small knife, an oddly-shaped one that had a rather large cross-section as well as a ring large enough to put a finger through at the base of the handle. It was almost roasting with heat, the blade black with smoke and the edges dulled and chipped.

'Where did that come from?'

There was another identical knife about twenty feet away, in the exact same condition as the first.

Qrow widened his eyes in shock.

Two knives.

Two guns on Harbinger.

Sasuke had thrown two knives, too fast for him to see, straight into the gun barrels of Harbinger with pinpoint precision before Qrow could even aim his weapon and pull the trigger.

He looked up at his enemy, red eyes staring straight at him. A tremor shot though his body, he felt helpless; naked, under the Uchiha's terrifying gaze.

"Are you enough of a fool to think my eyes are merely for show?"

Qrow remembered him speaking those words mere minutes ago, but hadn't thought too much of it at the time, even after he had implied he could see the Huntsman's Aura. Now, however, Qrow was fully convinced the Uchiha saw more- much more, than that. His reaction time had been flawless before, but now that his Sharingan was active it had reached into the realm of fictionally absurd. He had been moving and attacking Qrow with flawless ease, as though he could see the Huntsman's moves before he even made them.

No, it didn't seem like it- he was. He had literally been ahead of Qrow's every move since he had activated his eyes. The knives he had just thrown- he would have had to launch them before Qrow had finished leveling the gun at him for the weapons to cross the distance between them and bury themselves in the barrels.

He had known exactly where he needed to throw them before Qrow had finished aiming.

'Glynda- wherever you are, get your ass over here!'

Whether Qrow wanted to admit it or not, he was going to need help. Part of him had thought that even with his ridiculous power, the Uchiha's injuries might cripple him just enough to defeat him. It burned his pride, but it was now obvious that even in his battered state Sasuke was still far too strong for Qrow to handle by himself. His swordsmanship alone had skyrocketed to levels that were nothing short of God-like now that he had activated his family's bloodline.

Fighting at close range was going to end disastrously, and with his gun out of action the only long-range attack Qrow had was his Wind Blade. But as powerful as it was, he wasn't stupid enough to think it was going to work. The technique required the user to channel a large quantity of Aura to the edge of a blade, and the Uchiha's Sharingan would see that coming a mile away. Until Qrow got some kind of backup that could draw away the Uchiha's attention, he had no real way to win.

Qrow grit his teeth in anticipation- it looked like continuing to stall was his only option.

He expected his opponent to charge him once again, as he had done so successfully several times already, but this time the Uchiha changed his attack pattern.

He smashed his foot on a pile of lumber next to him, sending several of the planks flying several feet into the air. And then he kicked them- hard.

The wood shot at Qrow with the likeness of a missile- it was only his years of experience and honed reflexes that allowed him to tilt his head out of the way with mere inches to spare. The structure behind him shattered as the plank blasted through it as though it had been thrown by a tornado, shards and splinters of wood exploding from the point of impact.

By the time Qrow turned his attention toward the one who had sent the unorthodox projectile his way it was too late to avoid the next one. The wood slammed into the Huntsman's chest like a sledgehammer, knocking the wind out of him and smashing another chunk of his protective Aura off. Stumbling from the hit, Qrow performed a quick backflip to avoid losing his footing and inadvertently dodging the third plank that sailed directly where his head had been moments before. Refocusing his attention as he landed, he split the next wooden projectile clean in half before it could hit him.

Sasuke did not outwardly respond to his adversary's quick recovery, though inside he was feeling a growing sense of frustration. He had hoped his attack would throw Qrow off balance and allow him to close the gap between them without his enemy retreating again, but the Huntsman was too skilled for that. Not for the first time since the fight began Sasuke was cursing his condition. His skin had been burning like acid even before he had unsheathed Kusanagi, but with all of the intense movement of battle the pain had grown to the point that he had to force his finger to so much as twitch. Knives of stabbing pain were racking his impaled leg, and he could feel the ever-present flow of fresh blood from the reopened wound.

After a brief pause in his attack that was more a quick breather than anything else, he smashed yet another piece of lumber at the Huntsman opposing him, taking aim for his leg. He then sprang toward Qrow, attempting to close the distance as his enemy bisected the projectile. Instead of standing his ground and swatting it aside as the Uchiha had hoped, however, Qrow simply sidestepped it, and braced his sword for the attack.

The roof almost caved from the pressure, and Harbinger was almost torn from its owner's hands, but Qrow managed to block the attack. They stared at each other for a brief moment, their blades locked in stalemate as a web of cracks in the wood beneath their feet began to grow.

The next moment, the Uchiha's attention was drawn to a sudden flurry of motion at Qrow's feet. Chancing a quick glance down, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise at what he was seeing.

The previously placid, thin smog of Aura that surrounded Qrow was alive with activity where it met the roof. The energy seemed to focus on the structure beneath their feet, drawing in more of itself from Qrow as though it possessed a gravity of its own. The Aura twisted and turned through the structure as though it were a ghost, knitting intangible knots of shadow.

Then, as though overwhelmed by an infection, the prevalent fractures and fissures in the surface upon which they stood did not grow so much as explode as the Aura infused itself in the structure. The Uchiha hastily broke his engagement with the Huntsman and jumped clear right as it started to collapse.

Interestingly the man whose Aura, and by extension whose Semblance was directly responsible for their lack of solid footing seemed to have been caught unawares. He looked at the Uchiha in undisguised confusion for a split second before realizing the roof he was standing on was now falling and taking him with it. He leapt away just in time, his confusion switching to irritation.

Almost as though he had been caught in the crossfire of his Semblance before.

'Interesting; now why would he be unable to control his Semblance?'

Normally Sasuke preferred to avoid talking during a fight. Even someone who was minding their tongue could unwillingly reveal information that their opponent could use to achieve victory, and even if that weren't the case engaging in useless banter was something the Uchiha abhorred all by itself. With his deterioration physical condition however, perhaps a psychological attack could give him an extra edge.

An ability that could harm the man's allies as easily as his enemies had no doubt left some… collateral damage.

"That is quite the unusual Semblance you have, Qrow. A reality-altering ability of some kind?"

Based on the expression on the Huntsman's face that could have easily been worn by a scam artist who had been caught red-handed committing insurance fraud, his guess was on the money or damn close to it.

'Perfect'

"No, that's not quite it," said the Uchiha, half addressing Qrow and half pondering to himself. "If it were something so simple as that you would have used it long before now."

"I'm guessing it's more of an entropy amplifier of sorts," he continued, "a Semblance that can only take advantage of an already-existing weakness in your surroundings."

To Sasuke's immense satisfaction, Qrow's face turned as white as a sheet as he finished.

"Y-you saw my Misfortune Semblance!?" the Huntsman sputtered.

At that Sasuke looked at the man as though he were the stupidest man alive, merely pointing at one of his blazing red eyes in response.

With twin Sharingan fixed firmly on him Qrow had never felt more exposed or more naked in his entire life. His Semblance was so subtle that it had taken even those close to him weeks or months to figure it out if he didn't tell them, and no one had managed to discover it in the mere minutes of a heated battle.

But Sasuke had. After seeing it once.

Actually, given how he had described it, it was likely the Uchiha now knew more about his Semblance and how it worked after three minutes than Qrow did after having it his entire life. A terrifying thought.

Across from the Huntsman, Sasuke observed his target like a hawk. Fear had been in his eyes since he had first activated his Sharingan, but now the Uchiha could see new things in his quarry.

Doubt. Vulnerability. Trauma.

Inwardly the Uchiha smirked. He may have despised him, but he couldn't deny he had learned much about the nature of psychological warfare from Orochimaru during his time with him. Now that he knew Qrow's weakness it was time to dig it out and force it to the surface as though it were a deep-sea fish that disintegrated in the burning light of the sun it was never meant to see.

"I must admit I am disappointed," the Uchiha confessed. "I would have thought a Huntsman of your caliber and experience would have enough experience with your ability to avoid putting yourself at risk from it."

Sasuke raised a brow, his words becoming more pointed.

"Is it really so difficult to control?"

Qrow unconsciously strengthened his grip on Harbinger, tensing his jaw shut so he would not betray just how deeply the Uchiha's carefully crafted words had cut.

Memories he had tried to forget of friends and comrades flashed in his mind.

A woman who had dropped and broken a teapot that had been handed down for seven generations.

A young man who had lost his grip on a newly bought engagement ring and saw it fall down the manhole of a sewer.

A child of one of his friends who scraped his knee when he tripped.

A pretty barmaid he had spent the night with who had broken her leg as she had fallen down the stairs the morning after.

A child that had been doomed to be unable to walk or dress himself after his mother had lost her grip and dropped him on his head.

A Huntsman who had been mauled to death when the gun in his weapon had jammed as he was facing down a Grimm attack.

And faces- dozens of faces, who had lied to him when they had said they didn't blame him for the woes he brought. He had heard them speak their true mind on more than one occasion when they thought he wasn't around.

'Why can't Qrow turn off his Semblance?'

'Why is he not trying harder to learn control?'

'What kind of monster tries to get close to people when he knows he could be the death of them?!'

The memories surfaced like malevolent phantoms, mocking all of his efforts to make up for all of the misery that seemed to follow in his wake. The flurry of emotions Qrow had no chance of hiding could have been seen by a blind man, never mind a Sharingan wielder. Like a shark smelling blood in the water, Sasuke went in for the kill.

"If you Semblance will target an ally as easily as an enemy, perhaps you need to reconsider stalling me for your reinforcements to arrive" suggested the Uchiha. "I can only imagine the anguish you would suffer if one of your comrades was sent home in a body bag because of an accident."

That did it. Qrow rushed forward with a look of madness, a single tear of both past guilt and present fear forming in his eye. He raised his sword with desperate courage, gathering his Aura at his blade's edge as he did so.

Observing his feckless charge, the Uchiha was quite pleased with himself. Qrow's fighting retreat was tiring him out more than he cared to admit, and now his elusive prey was coming to him instead. With his Sharingan active, his adversary had no chance of defeating him in close quarters.

He observed with some interest the Aura Qrow had focused onto his sword. It was hardly uncommon for Hunters to augment their weapon with their own Aura just as Shinobi did with Chakra to theirs from what he had read, and he had indeed seen Qrow's Aura reinforce his blade with his Sharingan for the duration of their fight. But what he was doing now was a clear step beyond that. The Aura formed a layer of pure energy barely an inch thick coating the edge of the sword in what was essentially a second blade.

What was most amazing about Qrow's technique however was not the way he was shaping or manipulating his Aura, but rather what his Aura was doing to the air surrounding it. A concentration of bare energy as large and focused as what Sasuke was seeing would normally be expected to be violently and visibly releasing some of its energy to the surrounding atmosphere in a similar manner to his own Chidori or Fire-Style Ninjutsu, or Naruto's Rasengan. What he saw was far less flashy but far more significant- the Aura did not react with the air; it fused with it. A solid mass of atmosphere as sharp as a razor and glowing with focused power.

Then, Qrow swung his sword and threw it.

The attack crossed the distance to Sasuke in less than a second, and it was only due to the reaction time afforded by his Sharingan that the Uchiha was able to step out of the way and avoid being bisected.

The Uchiha's mouth couldn't help but form a small smirk even as his enemy's face fell as they both realized the same thing- Qrow had slipped. Had he waited until he was at closer range it was very likely the Huntsman could have made a clean hit that Sasuke's crippled speed would have prevented him from dodging. But in his agitated state of mind Qrow had played his card too early. Now the Huntsman was in mid-air flying straight toward the Uchiha, his sword raised in preparation for a follow-up attack that he had launched with the assumption his target would be either mortally wounded or staggering from his Wind Blade.

But Sasuke was untouched and was ready for him.

In a flash of silver the Uchiha swatted Qrow's larger blade aside as if it were a toy, the next moment he heard the satisfying choking gasp as he clotheslined his opponents now unguarded windpipe. Keeping up the momentum of the hit Sasuke spun Qrow backwards in midair as though he were the rim of a wheel before gripping the still traumatized throat in his free hand and slamming the Huntsman onto the roof with shattering force. In the same instant Qrow's hand that was still holding onto his weapon was pinned in place at the wrist by the tip of Kusanagi, the Uchiha planted his knee on the man's navel to prevent him from raising his legs, and his free hand was trapped beneath the Uchiha's foot.

That was it.

The Huntsman's eyes showed nothing but panic as he struggled, his arms trembling as he thrashed his limbs in a frenzied endeavor to free himself. It was for naught; the Uchiha's grip was too strong, the trapped limbs pinned too solidly for any panicked thrashing to make the slightest bit of difference. Sasuke gave his enemy a blank gaze, utterly indifferent to the Huntsman's rabid struggle to earn the right to breathe again.

Qrow's eyes were bulging, his muscles practically tearing themselves apart from adrenaline as he fought to preserve his life.

The Uchiha mentally pondered how amusingly misplaced the Huntsman's fear was. Qrow had no idea how lucky he was that Sasuke was his opponent.

"Do not worry," the Uchiha said blandly, "I'm not going to kill you."

Qrow's struggling subsided slightly, staring at the Uchiha as though he had just claimed pigs could fly.

"You'll just be out for a bit. If you know what's good for you, you will not try to find me again."

The Huntsman merely continued to stare at him in disbelief, no doubt wondering if the Uchiha was merely toying with him during his last moments. Not that it mattered. Regardless of whether or not Qrow believed him the Uchiha intended to keep his word. With his name now known, it would be pointless to take the Huntsman's life now. He just had to choke him out for a few more seconds and strike his head with just enough force to ensure Qrow wouldn't be able to pursue him for an hour or two. That would give him more than enough time to-

The Uchiha's attention was diverted to a rapidly approaching mechanical roar that he recognized as that of a Bullhead Airship. Before he could turn his head to assess the incoming threat, a sharp blow to his temple that left his skull ringing forced him to release Qrow and stumble to the ground as the now very familiar report of a gunshot rang through the night. Ignoring the sputtering gasps of the Huntsman next to him the Uchiha brought his hand up to his head, only to feel the warmth of his blood beneath his fingers as well as a piece of metal sticking out of his skin.

He had been shot. Again.

He snapped his head up toward where he had heard the gunfire and saw a Bullhead with Police markings heading his way, from which an Officer was aiming a high-powered Sniper Rifle directly at him from the open bay doors. Another shot was fired, aimed almost straight between his eyes, but under the gaze of the Sharingan Sasuke saw the bullet fly through the air as clearly as if it were a passing bird and simply tilted his head to the side to let it fly past harmlessly.

Cursing his luck, the Uchiha realized that once again he would have to fight for his freedom.

Still, it was hardly anything he couldn't handle. Each Bullhead could only carry around a dozen men, and assuming they were loaded to capacity it would not take too long to defeat a mere twelve civilians that would crumble at the slightest hit.

One of the other Bullheads circled closer and opened its doors, revealing a familiar face. He had seen the woman mere minutes ago, but the immaculate bun of blonde hair and the Riding Crop in her hand were unmistakable. The Huntress wore an expression of cold fury, no doubt rather upset about her sputtering comrade still struggling to rise. She brandished her Crop in a swift movement, gathering her Aura at the tip of the weapon as she made a horizontal slashing motion.

For a moment the Uchiha was confused; she had not launched any sort of attack from her weapon as Qrow had done earlier with his. Then he remembered what he had seen her do earlier at the site of the explosion she had dug him out of.

'Telekinesis'

He jumped back- hoping to avoid whatever attack the woman had just launched, but his crippled speed once again reared its ugly head. Sasuke's body was shot sideways as several steel I-beams slammed themselves into him with enough force to make his ribs creak from the strain. He was shot through a solid brick wall before coming to rest, a swarm of cinder blocks and wooden planks burying him in a pile of rubble for the second time since the sun had set.

Satisfied with the results of her attack Glynda jumped down to the roof, wearing a rare look of worry as she bent down to help her comrade to his feet.

"Are you alright?" she asked, a hint of tender concern in her normally strict tone.

"I'll- hhem- I'll be fine," Qrow coughed, rubbing his throat. "Thanks for the help Glynda. I hate to say it but I wouldn't have made it out of that by myself."

"What in the world happened?" demanded the Huntress.

Glynda was tempted to admonish the drunkard on just how he had been defeated by a young man who by rights shouldn't have been able to walk, but she knew Qrow too well to attribute his loss to sloppiness or miscalculation. He was far too skilled to lose in such a manner.

Qrow turned away from the blonde professor, zeroing his gaze on the pile of rubble that had buried his adversary and raising Harbinger to ready. Glynda stared in undisguised confusion- surely he wasn't still worried the kid would be able to continue fighting after taking an attack like that? Contrary to Qrow's caution, she was afraid her attack had been too strong. She had acted swiftly when she had seen Qrow being suffocated; too swiftly to think through her attack as well as she should have. The boy was in critical condition as it was, and now that she could think clearly there was a true seed of terror in her heart that she might have dealt a potentially lethal blow. Worried about her colleague or not, she would never be able to forgive herself if she ended the boy's life even if it was an accident.

"That's Sasuke Uchiha."

Glynda felt an audible gasp in her throat as her eyes shot open like dinner plates. It was only two words, but it changed everything.

"You remember what Oz told us, right?" Qrow continued, refusing to take his eyes off the mound of brick and wood that covered his adversary. "Call him here- now."

Part of Glynda hesitated to follow Qrow's instruction. Despite the dread racing through her heart she recalled just how badly Sasuke had been injured before his fight with Qrow had even begun. Ridiculously powerful though he was, there was no doubt the earlier Dust explosion had burned through all of his protective Aura. Without its protection the attack she just landed on him, her earlier fears of accidentally killing him were no less unjustified.

But there was no mistaking the serious tone in his voice. The fear.

Qrow was afraid.

Even with Glynda and a dozen Police Officers reinforcing him to fight an enemy who was arguably half-dead before the battle had even started, Qrow was still afraid. And that scared her.

She whipped out her Scroll, pressing the speed-dial for Professor Ozpin without a second thought.

Suddenly several large chunks of masonry were thrown off the pile of rubble as if they were erupting from a volcano. A flash of metal flew across the rooftop faster than the eye could see, and the next moment Glynda was holding a Scroll punctured by a star-shaped piece of metal. Despite not drawing his out Qrow's Scroll had suffered a similar fate, an identical metallic star embedded in the device still in his pants pocket. With a start they realized any chance of contacting Ozpin had gone up in smoke.

The next moment a cry of agony that could be heard even over the noise of the Bullhead's engines drew the hunter's attention up. The Sniper who had landed the earlier shot on the Uchiha had a large knife of some kind sticking out of his shoulder, his gun forgotten and falling to the ground.

And standing atop the rubble was Sasuke Uchiha. Glynda and Qrow both felt an icy tremor rack their chests as they laid their eyes upon him. Many of the burns that had adorned his body had been torn off by Glynda's attack and were openly bleeding, painting over what burns he had left in rivers of blood. The bullet fired from the Sniper was still stuck in his head, sticking out as though it had been sewn to his skull. A portion of his shoulder was so damaged, so much skin ripped off that a small portion of the underlying muscle could be seen, the pink tissue soon vanishing beneath a stream of blood.

He had to be in pain. Indescribable pain. And yet he stood tall and unbent, with eyes as red as his own blood fixing his enemies a vengeful glare.

"Are these your reinforcements, Qrow?"

He spoke the words calmly, with a hint of mild curiosity as though he were merely playing a game of Black Jack.

Glynda felt her hand holding Disciplinarian begin to tremble. He was like something out of a horror novel. A Vampire or some Undead abomination that could pass beyond the limitations of mortal flesh and continue to walk and move with impunity despite bearing injuries that would kill a normal man.

It was then that Qrow whispered another three words to her, three words that she never would have expected him to utter.

"Don't kill him."

Glynda snapped her head at him, a stunned look on her face.

"Y-you can't be serious!" she snapped, keeping her voice down as best she could so the enemy could not overhear them. "You heard what Ozpin said, he's too dangerous to try and take him alive! For God's sake, he's probably Salem's-"

"I know what Oz said!" he interrupted, not taking his eyes off the Uchiha for a moment. "But I don't think he read this right. Don't you want to know why he didn't kill Tai and Ruby when he had the chance?"

That stopped Glynda's thoughts in their tracks. When Ozpin had told them of Sasuke's nature, she had been so relieved that Tai Yang and Ruby had survived meeting him that she had forgotten to ask herself the obvious question of why he would not have slaughtered known enemies of his Master.

"Please Glynda," Qrow implored, "just trust me on this."

The Huntress narrowed her eyes, giving the Huntsman a small, unseen nod. It was not in her nature to go against orders, a quality that had landed her no shortage of nicknames in her school years, of which 'teacher's pet' had been among the kinder ones. It was a habit that had only strengthened when she had started working under Professor Ozpin after she had learned his history of reincarnation. If any person was worthy of being listened to with the utmost faith in their motives and leadership, surely it would be one who had thousands of years of experience behind him?

Except Qrow knew it as well. And Glynda knew that he would not go against Ozpin's direct orders unless he had a damn good reason.

The blunt sound of boots landing on solid ground behind them momentarily drew their attention. Despite none of them being Hunters, the Police Officers sliding down ropes lowered from the Bullhead were a welcome sight.

Across from them, Sasuke was struggling to think clearly through the burning pain that seemed to smother every inch of his body. He had struggled to put his fight with Qrow to an end already, and now the Huntsman had backup that was completely fresh. To make matters worse the entirety of the reinforcements were long-range attackers, and could stay well out of range of Qrow's Misfortune Semblance.

That changed the equation, and not in his favor. The odds he could achieve victory while withholding his chakra-draining abilities were significantly lower than he cared to admit, even with his Sharingan. He had been seconds away from launching a Chidori Senbon attack on all of his enemies before him in one fell swoop, instantly dropping the Aura-less police and draining enough Aura from Glynda and Qrow to make them as fragile as tissue paper to his follow-up attack. It would mean an easy escape, but it also meant if he was found before leaving Vale he would be dealing with a much larger force.

But Qrow's words had changed his mind- barely. Despite the Hunter's clear attempt for their conversation to not be overheard, with Chakra enhancing his ears Sasuke's hearing was more than capable of catching every word even without his Sharingan reading their lips. Despite the threat he clearly was to their kingdom, they would not be taking his life even if they did manage to defeat him.

And that meant he couldn't lose. Even if they managed to beat him, as long as he hid Mizuchi and his Jutsu and did not allow them to prepare countermeasures for them, no prison they had would be able to hold him. Shut off a few security cameras, create a bread-and-butter clone to throw them off, and he would be on his merry way.

If he won, he would run and escape.

If he lost, he would wait until he was healed, break out of prison, and escape.

Win-win.

Unfortunately for the present that meant that he would still have to play within his self-imposed limits. If he were to use his more powerful jutsu and achieve an easy victory here it would almost certainly be caught on camera, and the Hunters that would be sent to find him afterward would almost certainly be in a 'kill first, ask questions later' frame of mind. And given his crippled body they could very likely kill him if they brought a large enough force before he could fully heal. It may have been a gamble, but it was still a smarter play to keep his more powerful cards in his hand for now and play the long game. He was lucky enough that Qrow had persuaded his comrades to spare his life if they beat him- there was no need to spit out a Fireball Jutsu and make them change their minds.

It was hardly a guaranteed victory, but he could probably still pull it off. There was a small temptation to just surrender right now and play the long game, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth just considering it. He had trained too much, had gone too far, both in his world and tonight, to lie on his back like a hapless turtle because it was getting a little difficult. Waving a white flag was not going to be an option when he faced Itachi, and he wasn't going to start doing it now.

And just like that, he had an epiphany. Just because he wasn't going to give up didn't mean he couldn't get them to.

He couldn't keep a small smirk off his face as the blonde Huntress, Glynda, Qrow had called her, took a step forward. It would have been a rather resolute and unflinching stride, as she had no doubt intended, had his Sharingan not seen the tightness of her chest, the tension in her grip of her weapon, or the slight eagerness at which she ceased approaching him.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you are under arrest. Any further resistance will be met with force. If you surrender to us now, we will permit you to be taken directly for medical treatment under armed supervision. Do you surrender?"

The Uchiha merely stared back for a few seconds, not changing his expression in the slightest to alert his enemies what he was thinking. They all waited with baited breath, their fingers as stiff as iron from the tension. Glynda readied Disciplinarian, well aware give Qrow's near defeat that fighting the Uchiha at anything closer than long-range was practically begging for defeat.

Then he began walking forward.

"Why would I surrender when you are the ones on your knees?"

It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment Glynda was raising her brow in bewilderment as to how the Uchiha could possibly think he had an advantage, when the cool air of the night transformed into icy spikes that pierced clear through her body and the light breeze that had felt mildly pleasant morphed into a freezing ocean that paralyzed her body from its sheer weight. The skyline vanished and the stars disappeared. All she could see was Sasuke standing before her, bloody and terrible to behold, alight and aflame with a shapeless violet specter that overshadowed all before it as though he were a Titan. And amongst the turbulent presence, two spheres, both shining a piercing blood red, with three small comma marks lazily rotating around a single dark pupil, that pierced her very soul as she collapsed to her knees.

If she had any doubts before about Ozpin's tale of the Uchiha, they were now as obliterated as her resolve.

Never in all of Glynda's years had she known fear like this. She wasn't even sure if what she was experiencing now could even be called that- it felt as though it were something from another world or realm. Malevolence, that abstract concept that gave one a shudder of discomfort or tremor of fear when looking into the eyes of a rapist or murderer, was now a mass that felt more solid than the ground she walked on every day. It suffocated her, her Aura activating and screeching in protest as the icy mass seemed to draw out the very warmth from her body, scraping and biting at her protective shield of life energy with its crushing weight.

Struggling to move her head as if it were encased in wet cement, Glynda turned toward Qrow, only to find he was in the same stupor as she was. His skin appeared as though it had been painted white, beginning to already glisten with clammy sweat. His pupils trembled as he gazed upon the Uchiha with an expression of nothing short of pure terror. The Officers behind them had fared even worse- with the exception of their Lieutenant, who was hyperventilating flat on the ground, all of them were knocked out with eyes rolled over white and collapsed on the ground like puppets whose strings had been cut.

She slowly turned back toward the Uchiha with trepidation, her body refusing to move or respond to her desperate commands to stand, to do something.

It was too late.

One moment the Uchiha was a distance away, seemingly staring straight at her with his cursed eyes, and with a flash of movement she never would have suspected him capable of with his impaled leg, he was right in front of her. There was only a fraction of a second for her to see him pull his good leg back before her glasses were shattered by a kick square to her face. She shut her eyes instinctively as she felt her glasses shatter from the blow, her Aura thankfully preventing the shards of her lenses burying themselves in her eyelids.

Then, her body and Aura were pushed to a limit she wasn't even aware was possible. She had been a Huntress for some time, but she had never experienced an attack powerful enough to splinter and disintegrate the Aura it touched by sheer power and speed alone. And yet that was what happened; she could feel the protective life force around her face simply evaporate away at the point of contact, even as her nose was snapped like a twig and her head shot back so hard that for a moment she thought it would come clean off. There was no way to tell how many walls she was shot through, but as the shock of the blows shook Glynda from her earlier paralysis and allowed her to clumsily slow herself down. The Huntress came to a stop mere feet from the edge of the roof, feeling as though she had been run over by a train and her mouth and lips covered by a stream of blood from her nose.

'Wait, blood!?'

She wiped her mouth with her hand, and sure enough it was now covered in scarlet red.

Glynda looked at it incredulously. One hit. One hit- and she was already bleeding.

Ignoring the primal urge to just run from the creature of raw power and terror they were facing, Glynda Goodwitch took a fearful gulp before shaking loose her now unpinned hair free, her once flawless-locks now covered with grey dust. With a wave of Disciplinarian her glasses began reforming as good as new and her blurred vision returned to normal. Without a second's hesitation she grabbed the nearest pieces of heavy rubble she could find and launched them with maximum force at her enemy.

'I'm sorry Qrow,' she thought, holding Disciplinarian as though her life depended on it as she remembered his request, 'but I don't think we can take him alive.'

---

AN: Well, that's all for this chapter!

It was a challenge coming up with a description for Qrow's Misfortune Semblance here and figuring out exactly what the Sharingan would be able to see of it. I'm honestly not completely satisfied with what I've got here- especially regarding how such a Semblance would 'know' what would be considered 'bad luck' for whoever was around, so I just went with a sort of vague ability that just kind of broke things in the general vicinity, which is most of what we see Qrow's Semblance do in the series anyway. Not necessarily 'bad luck' per se, but would certainly be considered as such by anyone with breakable objects very quickly. Not my best work-around, but I think it's still a passable concept at least.

Well, expect to see chapter 17 in two weeks!

Until then, thank you for reading and please review!