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.

18. The Fine Print

AN: Man, it's good to be back! For those of you thinking it was ridiculous Velvet could have beaten Sasuke- you're right. Her win was a complete roll of the dice and a fluke; but our boy is so overpowered compared to the RWBYverse that a freak accident is the only realistic way he can be beaten at all.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the next chapter batch!

KnightOfZaku- NGL, I'm still a bit disappointed that Yatsuhashi doesn't have a larger presence in the series. His Semblance is definitely OP, even if it has no chance of working on Sasuke.

JustDusty- Glynda would have used her Semblance on multiple targets possessing Aura at this point in her career. People using Aura may have differing Semblances but aside from that all of them have the same basic function as a force field that would be quite distinguishable from anyone who did not have it. That's why Glynda assumed Sasuke is using some type of power other than Aura. The reveal for how Ozpin knows of the Sharingan or the Uchiha is unfortunately further down the road.

As for Sasuke not going for the kill against Glynda or Qrow, he heard Qrow tell Glynda to take him alive and her agreeing to it, so he knew he would survive the battle even if he lost. And Sasuke did not 'let himself' collapse. He was exhausted and suffering from blood loss and extensive injuries- he whited out.

Valgreen007- Sasuke had already sent the Grimm as far away from Vale as he could. If he called them in the middle of his fight they wouldn't have been able to arrive in time. And despite the control he realizes he has over them he still hasn't fully tested the ability yet and doesn't want to risk bringing Grimm into the city in case he loses his hold on them.

The Roukage- I've seen a few fics that had Velvet like you said- over timid or overconfident, and I really wanted to try and walk the tightrope between those two with her. Glad to hear you think I did okay! As for why Sasuke can't recover his Chakra quickly and the question of if it's possible for other Naruto characters to travel to the RWBY verse, that's going to have to wait :(

Crapcase39- I didn't want this fic to be a one-way stomp-fest from the start, and honestly that practically required using Pre-MS Sasuke. He's way too crazy after getting his MS to be anything more than an Amaterasu/Susanoo spamming killing machine.

Gilgamesh50- A good question- the answer will come later but suffice it to say that while Aura and Chakra are not the same, they are closer than you may think.

Nesthor5000- Honestly I'm kind of torn on Ozpin's character. I believe he is trying to do the right thing, but he's really between a rock and a hard place. If he tells his allies that Salem can't be killed he risks them defecting as Raven and Leo did, and if he doesn't tell them he's pretty much stringing them along to fight battles in a war that he can't figure out how to win so humanity can continue to survive. As Ozpin himself said, there was no one on Remnant who had made more mistakes than he did. He is a good person, but I think he has realized in his lifetimes that fighting an undefeatable enemy like Salem to preserve humanity simply can't be done without getting his hands dirty. Ruby and her team had every right to be angry at him when they realized he had lied to them, but literally the next two seasons had them repeat his exact mistakes for the same reasons and Atlas fell as a result.

Insanesmirkingrevenge- With his leg injury he couldn't run away fast enough to escape any pursuers- he had to defeat them before he could attempt to hide or flee.

Dreamborne- You pretty much simplified his situation perfectly. Thanks for the support!

Tortillacrumbs- Yeah, it is easy to forget that almost every main character in Naruto is by default a few cuts above the nameless background characters. As for the chakra-infused weapons point it does make it confusing around Shippuden because the audience is left wondering how 'strong' a sword or kunai attack is if we can't tell if the weapon is juiced up or not. I think Kishimoto should have taken a page out of Eiichiro Oda's book and drawn chakra-infused weapons with a specific color so we could tell the difference.

Iskander Hero- Thanks! I wanted Velvet to have the main role in taking him down without taking away too much of her timidness.

- Happy to hear I met your expectations! I did love writing the irony of Velvet of all people being the one to take him down. Its always the quiet ones…

MrSir17- I love them long reviews! Yeah, Sasuke's ego is certainly one of his defining character traits in the series and one of the biggest reasons for most of his defeats, so there's no reason that trend wouldn't continue on Remnant. Pride and falls and all of that. As for what he could use his Grimm control for, someone is thinking ahead ;)

DragonBean- Yeah, I didn't use post-MS Sasuke for exactly that reason. I wanted him still somewhat sane without being able to spam Amaterasu. As for power scaling, Remnant's Hunters are certainly beneath Sasuke, but when you factor in Semblances there's always the off-chance his enemy could have some weird ability that could take him down.

DeathlyJazzHands- Thanks as always for your thoughts! Yeah, a million-to-one shot chance was the only way Sasuke was going to be taken down, nothing else was going to work. As for the Yatsuhashi Genjutsu part, if it made you uncomfortable; well that was kind of the point. Genjutsu is kind of glossed over for the most part in the series in favor of the flashy Ninjutsu, but when you think about it the entire branch of Genjutsu is essentially mind-rape. I mean, how else would you describe what Itachi did to Sasuke when he put him in that Tsukuyomi? The shinobi world is a merciless one, and I think the lion's share of the verses' adult subjects were left out due to Kishimoto writing it as a kid's show.

As for the flamers, don't worry- I've learned to ignore them. No one is obligated to like my story, and for anyone who doesn't they know where the door is. I'm trying to keep everything in this story as consistent as possible, but it's a fan-made modification of a series- so the 'it's not the same as canon!' argument doesn't really matter that much. This is a fanfiction- changing canon to one degree or another is literally the entire point.

'thoughts'

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Uchiha of Remnant

Chapter 18: The Fine Print

Sasuke had long accepted that despite the shortcomings of Hunters and Aura compared to the Shinobi and Chakra of his home, Remnant was leaps and bounds ahead when it came to technological progress and innovation. He therefore felt a slight sense of relief when the first thing that came to his senses as he awoke was the annoying but familiar steady blips and beeps of an EKG machine he was no doubt hooked up to. They were relatively rare in the Elemental Nations- Sasuke had only seen them on a handful of occasions, but Orochimaru was not the type to be cheap with his many medical experiments. Unlike the last occasion he had awoken from unconscious stupor, he had known moments before he went down that his mind would be leaving the conscious world from shock and blood loss- so it only took a moment to remember what had happened to him.

He had fought a battle, and he had lost.

That was the short version at least. And as his mind began recalling the details he came to the rather unsettling conclusion- if he was in a hospital of some kind, it could only mean he had been captured after the fight.

As if responding to his thoughts, he heard a sudden movement of feet on either side of him as their owners hastily stood up.

"Gods damn it, how is he waking up already!? Didn't the doctor say it would take him hours to come around once the sedative infusion was stopped?"

The voices were muffled and sounded much further away than Sasuke knew they actually were, but his head had cleared enough to make out every word- and to begin to piece together his situation. The fact that he was being given sedatives meant that the authorities who had captured him had wanted to keep him unconscious for longer than he otherwise would have been- and that meant that he had probably been out for several days at the very least. Enough time to strengthen his security to the point where they would be confident that the being who could control legions of Grimm for miles around would be unable to escape.

'Speaking of which'

Sasuke wasn't sure if the Grimm surrounding Vale had begun attacking the areas surrounding the kingdom after he had been knocked out. There was a chance they hadn't- they had seen fit to obey his lead and not partake in aggressive actions whenever he had been sleeping before after all. Still, he quickly sent out a message for the surrounding Grimm to avoid attacking humans all the same- he could call them to his location and ride away on a Nevermore or something later, but it would be wiser for him to take stock of his situation before jumping to that.

The Uchiha opened his eyes, only to see the barrel of a modified Shotgun pointed straight between his eyes, and its owner was looking straight at him with undisguised fury.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't make any sudden movements asshole!"

Standing on either side of him were two Huntsmen, both of whom were visibly tense. The one pointing his weapon, a Faunus with grey wolf ears, had spoken his words with such venom that it was obvious the man was looking for any excuse to pull the trigger. His partner, though similarly tense, was notably more restrained.

"Stay calm Phil," the more level-headed Huntsman said, looking as though he wanted to reach his hand over and pull his comrade back from the Uchiha before the situation could escalate, but didn't dare to either for fear of further antagonizing the other man or from getting within arm's reach of Sasuke. "We have our orders! We just have to keep him here until the Headmaster can come in to question him; no deadly force unless he tries anything!"

The Huntsman took a nervous glance to the camera in the corner of the room, as if to remind himself that any error or fault on their part would be seen. Slowly and with notable reluctance Phil pulled his weapon away from Sasuke, though he kept the barrel pointed straight between his eyes and did not lift his finger off the trigger for a moment.

"I couldn't care less if you killed Stonewall- you put six of my friends in the fucking hospital at that Dust Shootout!" he said venomously. "Give me one excuse, and I swear to Sommanus I will paint the wall with your fucking brains!"

Whatever deity the Hunter was referencing aside, Sasuke had to reluctantly forgo any escape attempts for now. What he needed was information: where he was, how long he had been out for. Normally he would have started asking his guards, starting with an innocuous 'how long was I out for?' to get them to loosen their guard and their tongues a bit, but Phil was on far too tight a trigger for that.

With a slight haze still over his mind Sasuke began flexing his chakra almost out of habit. If Phil got too jumpy and pulled the trigger he needed to be ready to react immediately.

Or, at least he tried to. Sasuke's Chakra control had been fine-tuned over his years of training both before and after abandoning Konoha- with Tsunade and now Sakura being the only ones in his old home who were an obvious cut above his skill level in that department. So it was rather alarming that when he attempted to circulate his Chakra through his body it did not flow at his command as a smooth and stable fluid that responded to his thoughts with near flawless precision. It was murky and numb; almost as if it were at the edge of his touch. Instead of instantly reacting to his will the energy was sluggish and slow to start, as if he were trying to move a limb that had fallen asleep.

Small beads of sweat began to form on his skin.

'What the hell did they do to me!?'

Suppressing his panic Sasuke focused his senses to try and find some kind of clue as to why his Chakra control was now poorer than it was when he was five. A moment later he found the culprit. His Chakra control was almost nonexistent around his wrists compared to the rest of his body- wrists each bound to his hospital bed by a pair of rather unusual handcuffs.

Sasuke had more than his share of experience with metal in his life. Between the standard kunai and shuriken, swords, daggers, needles, and chains to name a few, he was almost as familiar with the materials that made them as he was with battling them. But he had never seen a metal like this one.

He wasn't even sure if it was a metal at all. The substance had a luster to it like any of the various iron or steel alloys he was accustomed to, if a bit duller, and was hard enough to the touch to be considered a refined alloy of some kind. But the dull black color was something he had never seen or heard of in any blade.

"You noticed?" Phil smirked. "You should feel grateful- it's not often a prisoner is considered dangerous enough for us to restrain them with those cuffs."

"What are these?"

"They're made of Devilsteel," the other Huntsman explained, "so save yourself the trouble and don't bother trying to break out of them."

"Devilsteel?" he asked, barely able to keep his voice level.

"You haven't heard of it? It's a very unique metal that disrupts and jams the Aura of anyone it touches."

"And guess what that means?" Phil smirked wickedly, his finger millimeters away from his weapon's trigger. "As long as you have those on- no Aura protection, no Aura-enhanced strength, no healing, and no Semblance."

Sasuke looked back at his restraints. Judging from the Huntsmen's description the material was incredibly rare, which would explain why he had not once read or heard anything about it since his untimely arrival in this world. Thankfully his alien nature meant that this trump card was not as crippling to him as they believed it was. They seemed certain that anyone even so much as touching the substance would be completely incapable of using their Aura at all, but the worst it did to him was interfere with his Chakra flow and by extension his control. His abilities were crippled, but not shut down. If he focused hard enough he could probably still pull off a simple jutsu to escape.

Still, that was a last resort. If Devilsteel had this kind of effect on him just by touching his skin he had no desire to find out what would happen if he got stabbed or shot with a blade or bullet made from the stuff.

Making a mental note to try and research how much of this material Vale and the other Kingdoms had at their disposal when he had the chance, he took stock of the rest of his situation. To his chagrin, it seemed Vale's authorities were not so overconfident as to settle with only Huntsman guards and Devilsteel as security measures.

Looking down his arms, he saw that both were bound to the rather solidly-built bedframe. Slightly above the cuffs on either arm were two IV catheters taped into his arms. Attached to both of them were clear plastic lines that did not lead to a fluid bag, but several syringes of what could only be sedatives at best and lethal injections at worst. Sasuke did note with some satisfaction that the shredded and burned flesh that had adorned his limbs had completely vanished without a shred of scar tissue remaining. And from the lack of pain on his face or any other part of his body it was safe to assume the rest of his injuries had completely healed as well- a testament to the potency of Orochimaru's healing factor and regeneration.

With that small bit of good news the Uchiha pondered his plight, having picked up a few morsels of useful information in the short exchange with his captors. The relatively stale air in the room, the fact there was only a single heavy-set door, as well as a notable lack of windows meant he was being held in a secure facility of some kind, likely several floors underground if his captors had any common sense. It was also almost a certainty that the one who would be questioning him would be Professor Ozpin- he was the only Headmaster around that would have any business interrogating a prisoner as dangerous as he was. Sasuke was more than familiar with his reputation- he had done a quick background check on every current political and military leader on Remnant the moment he had been able to in order to have a better chance at predicting or negotiating with the powers that be should the need arise- such as right now. Sasuke recalled what he had learned of the man: how he had been a child prodigy and climbed the ranks of Hunters to become the world's strongest Huntsman before he was thirty. If there was one person on Remnant who had any chance of defeating him in battle, it would be Ozpin. More than that, despite officially being the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, it was a well-known fact that Ozpin held a large sway in Vale's body politic- and for the Uchiha that meant that the man could not only kill him in his helpless state but likely had enough political influence to either cover it up or to flat out get any charges dropped.

Fortunately for him, the rumors of Ozpin's strength and skill was matched by his reputation for being a just and fair leader who was not averse to giving second chances. Despite the threat he posed there was a decent chance he could negotiate favorable prison conditions that he could easily escape.

In order to do that Sasuke had to make sure that by the end of his questioning the man believed that the Uchiha could be safely contained and controlled. And based on the choice of words of Phil earlier there was a slim chance he had a head-start on that front.

"I couldn't care less if you killed Stonewall- you put six of my friends in the fucking hospital at the Dust Shootout!"

He knew that Sasuke had killed Stonewall and knew that he had been the one responsible for the massive Dust Shootout casualties. But somehow there was no mention of him summoning and controlling hordes of Grimm.

Now just how in the hell could that be? Of all the reasons to treat him like a monster surely that was at the top of the list!

'Perhaps that detail was covered up' he pondered.

It made sense- letting the general public know that there had been a being in their midst for several weeks who could summon humanity's greatest enemy at will would spark mass panic and unrest.

He put his thoughts on hold when he sensed an Aura far more powerful than any he had yet encountered approaching from beyond the door- one that could only belong to Ozpin. Barely a minute later he heard the soft click of an electronic key before the door swung open to reveal the Headmaster. He was quite tall, his wardrobe sporting large amounts of dark green, a cup of coffee in his left hand and his walking cane in his right.

'No- not a cane. His weapon'

Compared to the two Huntsmen guarding him, Ozpin seemed utterly at ease, walking in as though he were simply there to chat with an acquaintance. Sasuke knew better. He could tell from how the man was holding his weapon that he was ready to draw it and attack in the blink of an eye. And Ozpin's eyes, from the moment he opened the door, did not spend so much as a moment scanning the room- they swiveled straight to the Uchiha and did not sway from their fixation for an instant.

The Uchiha didn't waste any time sizing up the Headmaster on the spot, and instantly knew that his decision to try to avoid picking a fight with him was the correct one. His Aura reserves were massive compared to any Hunter he had encountered so far- more than the Chakra reserves of most Jonin back home. Not enough to match his own, but with Devilsteel crippling him challenging the man now was a poor idea. Even without factoring in the near certainty that there were no doubt dozens of other Hunters in the facility guarding him that would swarm and attack if he tried anything he had no idea what the man's Semblance was, and he had seen enough combat to know that the winner of a fight was not necessarily the strongest in raw power.

And beyond the raw Aura the senior Huntsman had, there was something else- the familiar sensation of Nature Energy. It seemed Qrow was not the only Hunter in this world to employ that elusive power in addition to his own.

On top of that there was… something about Ozpin's Aura that struck a familiar tone with him. He couldn't quite place what it was, or where he remembered it from, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something right in front of him.

'Best to play it safe for now'

"Thank you two for your diligence gentlemen," said Ozpin. "I'll take it from here."

"Are you sure, sir?" said Phil, clearly disappointed he was being dismissed. "I think we should stay in case this asshole tries anything."

"I understand your concern, but I can assure you I am more than capable of handling this."

Inwardly the Uchiha cursed. Escaping would be more difficult with those two gone- they wouldn't be around to get in Ozpin's way.

'I'll see how this discussion goes first- I don't want to fight Ozpin if I don't have to'

Closing the door behind the two exiting Huntsmen Ozpin took a seat near the foot of his bed, his eyes still set on him as though they were superglued in place. For several moments the man said nothing- he simply stared at him. Contrary to the small smile he had seen the man sport whenever he appeared on the news, there was no trace of any mirth or satisfaction now. The man was dead serious.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he began, "I do not have time for gentle introductions or for negotiations with you- I have questions that need answering. And you will give them to me."

"You are more than dangerous enough to warrant the use of Devilsteel to ensure you remain restrained. To further ensure your cooperation, each of the syringes attached to your IV line has a different drug," he continued. "One will cause instant sedation, another intense pain, and the other will stop your heart. The pumps controlling their infusion are all remotely operated, and your cooperation will determine which of them you get."

Sasuke mentally steeled himself- the drugs were hardly unexpected, but the fact that Ozpin had started the interrogation so bluntly was not good news. Interrogations usually began with a more moderate tone- letting the subject know they had a clear path either out or to a milder punishment, and then taking on a softer or harsher approach depending on how things went. But Ozpin had not asked any questions or even introduced himself- the man was laser-focused on getting information from him and getting it now.

His poison resistance would likely ensure he could shrug off any of the drugs, but if they were administered at a high enough dose and were fast-acting enough even his defenses would be overwhelmed. It would be a wise move to avoid testing them.

"You've been recovering from your battle for six days, and now that you're awake there are a great many things I would like to know both about you and what happened the other night. Ordinarily I would simply question you and then try to verify the authenticity of whatever answers you gave, but these are rather special circumstances. As such I've called in a favor from a colleague, and we will be having a guest here with us who can ensure that there will be no doubt about the validity of your words."

The man gave a quick nod to the camera, and moments later the door opened to reveal a lightly tanned woman in her mid-twenties with light blonde hair in a ponytail and a small beauty mark underneath her right eye. She strode in with as serious a visage as Ozpin had, but it quickly morphed into surprise as she laid eyes on the restrained Uchiha.

"This is the guy I'm supposed to help you with?" she asked almost incredulously. "He barely looks old enough to be at the Huntsman Academy."

"That is irrelevant; rest assured I would not have pulled you from your current assignment in Mantle unless I was certain your talents were absolutely needed here."

"Ch," she huffed, turning toward the Uchiha again before taking a seat directly at his side. "Fine, guess I'll see if you're worth all the hype I've been hearing. The name's Robyn Hill, kid. I've got a pretty damn useful Semblance called Lie Detection, so it should be obvious why I was dragged out of my Kingdom to come see you. Don't try any bullshit, and we can all leave happy. That sound good to you, Lady-killer?"

…A Semblance that could tell if he was lying…

'Shit'

The fact that Ozpin had brought someone who could instantly call out any attempts at deception was bad enough. Sasuke's mind was already racing to figure out how to reconfigure his answers to predictable questions to see if telling half-truths or carefully crafting his wording to his answers would be able to work around the Robyn's Semblance, but why did she have to curse him with that damned name on top of that!?

The apathetic expression he had worn since awakening momentarily morphed into a look of visceral hatred that wanted nothing more than to burn Robyn's body to ashes, then pour oil onto the ashes just so he could burn them again.

"Do not call me that."

To his fury the woman decided that his reaction meant she should tease him more instead of taking the logical road of backing the hell off.

"Hit a bit of a nerve Lady-killer?" she chuckled. "You wouldn't be the first person to not like my nicknames, but you're stuck with it. Now give me your hand."

The reluctant Uchiha did not so much as give the woman his hand as she reached out and took his before he felt and saw the gentle green glow of her Aura travel from their joined grip up to slightly past his wrist. It was a rather unusual sensation, as though he were wearing a glove that was both liquid and solid at the same time.

"Before we begin," Ozpin interjected, looking straight at Robyn, "you were brought here immediately after your arrival and if I were to guess did not have time to fully read through the paperwork you signed on the way over here."

"That's an understatement. I was practically thrown into an airship and hauled over here as soon as I landed. I was told I was signing a non-disclosure agreement- you better not have put something else in the-!"

"There was no secret clause or anything of that nature, Miss Hill," Ozpin elaborated. "I am here to tell you that I did not have you sign that for show, and I will personally ensure that any breach of your contract will have severe implications for you."

He leaned forward slightly, giving the woman a gaze so cold it felt as though the very air was chilled.

"You are not to disclose any information about what is discussed in this room. Not a single word. To anyone or for any reason. Do you understand?"

Robyn paused for a moment- her playful tone nowhere to be found. She was intelligent enough to know Ozpin was dead serious.

"Crystal, sir."

"Good. Now, let us begin."

He turned toward the Uchiha, taking a quick sip of his coffee before the first question left his lips.

"Your name is Sasuke Uchiha, is that right?"

Inwardly said Uchiha was a bit curious why that would be the man's first question. Perhaps he wanted to make sure Robyn's Semblance was working properly by asking something he knew already.

"Yes."

The Aura covering Sasuke and Robyn's hands glowed with a bit of extra light for a brief moment before it became a more vivid shade of green that pulsed and coiled like viridian roots. Judging from Robyn and Ozpin's lack of reaction, it confirmed he had told the truth.

"Now," Ozpin leaned forward, taking on a more hostile tone, "Why did Salem send you to Vale?"

"…I don't know who that is."

Whatever answer Ozpin had expected, it wasn't that. The cold, hard stare the man had been wearing amusingly melted away the moment Sasuke's answer reached his ears. His jaw almost dropped to the floor, and his eyes widened in utter shock before hastily glancing to Robyn's Aura surrounding the Uchiha's hand, only to find the same green glow flowing unchanged. His gaze flashed between Robyn's Lie Detection and the Uchiha, as if he was unable to comprehend that Sasuke had no knowledge of this 'Salem', whoever she was.

What Sasuke did know, however, was that whatever opinions Ozpin had of the Uchiha before he had walked through the door had been turned upside-down with that one single answer. It made little sense to him; surely his influence over literally thousands of Grimm, or the fact he had taken part in dozens of robberies were more important than the man's imagined connection between himself and Salem. But Ozpin had not asked for Sasuke to confirm he could control Grimm, nor about his roles in Roman's pillaging of Vale's Dust supply- he had asked about Salem first.

That meant that if Ozpin knew about Sasuke's role in the Grimm's recent behavior and the multiple police officers he had put in the hospital; and there wasn't a snowball's chance in Hell the man didn't, then he still considered the Uchiha's imaginary connection to this woman he had never heard of to be of greater importance. And based on the fact that the Headmaster was still visibly struggling to find the right words to continue, most of the wind had been taken out of Ozpin's sails now that his assumption was proven incorrect.

Ozpin didn't know as much as he thought he did.

"Is she a Crime Lord like Torchwick?" he asked, fully aware that if someone of Ozpin's position was wary of her, she was almost certainly a far greater threat than that, and someone the average Hunter was unfamiliar with judging from Robyn's confused expression.

"What?! Oh, n-no, she is not."

Ozpin's stammered response was music to the Uchiha's ears.

"Well then, where are you from?"

Though the Uchiha was pleased with Ozpin's hasty change of subject, this was the first of many questions he would be receiving that he could not answer in absolute truth without raising serious further questions. He was going to have to choose his words carefully.

'Keep the answers vague and as close to the truth as possible'

"I was born in a village outside the four kingdoms called Konohagakure."

Not outside the four kingdoms so much as outside the very dimension or universe of Remnant, but the Uchiha was pleased to see Robyn's Lie Detection remained unchanged in its green hue. Apparently exaggerations and technicalities were not considered lies.

"And how did you arrive in the Kingdom of Vale?" the headmaster asked after a moment's pause.

"I don't know. Before coming here I was well outside the Kingdoms fighting an enemy and forced to retreat to avoid being killed by last-ditch suicide attack. The next thing I knew I was in a completely unfamiliar place that I later learned was the island of Patch."

Ozpin glanced for a moment at the Aura connecting Sasuke to Robyn, its green glow unchanged.

"What was the name of your adversary?"

"Deidara."

"…You were engaged in battle hundreds or thousands of miles from the Kingdom in which we stand at this very moment, and yet when you escaped from this Deidara's attack you somehow instantly found yourself on Patch as if by magic, with no logical explanation?"

"Yes."

Ozpin leaned back, his mind in thought as he silently pondered the Uchiha's words. He was doing a fine job at hiding his confusion at the fantastical story. More so than Robyn anyway, who was looking at Sasuke as though he had claimed the world was flat and rested on a turtle's back.

Inwardly the Uchiha was wondering how the questioning would proceed. Under normal circumstances he would have fed them the phony story of originating from a hidden village and escaping from an enemy on a piece of driftwood at sea; finding his way to Patch by the fortunes of the current. It was both believable and near impossible to disprove, but Robyn's presence made it pointless to go with that story. At least they would know he wasn't lying about his origins, which would allow him some degree of trust, but it was more likely they would assume he was insane.

"Tell me, had you ever heard of the Kingdom of Vale before you arrived here by your… mysterious entrance?"

"No."

"Well then, why exactly did you choose to work for Roman Torchwick? From what we have gathered you were already employed both as an Underground Champion Fighter as well as a Bouncer for a rather popular nightclub. You couldn't have been motivated to assist him robbing a Kingdom you had never heard of."

"I did not choose to work for him by choice. I got into an altercation with Neopolitan, one of Roman's higher-skilled associates, and I impressed him enough that he wanted me to assist him with his Dust robberies. I would have preferred to decline, but he knew I had a fake identity to hide myself from any authorities would have otherwise shown up and started asking questions that would have landed me in legal trouble if I had been forced to answer."

"So you were blackmailed into assisting him?"

"That is correct."

Ozpin leaned forward slightly, his hand tensing on his cane.

"How long would you have worked for Roman if you had not been caught up in that Dust explosion the other night?"

"I was going to kill him the next day," he replied without hesitation. "I had a plan in place to escape Vale after putting him in a shallow grave somewhere, at least after interrogating him to find out the names of any cohorts he had told anything about me to."

"Would you have killed them to?"

Sasuke looked at Ozpin as though he had just lost to a pigeon in a game of chess. There was no way the man could have gotten to the position he had by being that stupid!

"Of course, I couldn't have them sending assassins my way."

Sasuke looked at the Headmaster, trying to decipher exactly what was going on in his head. The man still looked slightly unsure, as though he had not quite found the answer to a question he was pondering. Some of his thoughts, though, were more obvious.

"Does my answer upset you?"

Ozpin stared back, not bothering to hide his discomfort.

"Yes. More so than I think you realize, Mr. Uchiha."

"Hn, I fail to see why you would be upset at the death of Crime Lords and criminals. Surely as one of the men in charge of the safety and prosperity of Vale, you know full well the citizens are far safer with such men dead and gone."

"And the security risk to my Kingdom of a free vigilante far more powerful than all of the Crime Lords he chooses to slaughter at his own whim with no known motives or control is even greater." Ozpin retorted with a burning gaze. "I've already gathered multiple eyewitness testimonies regarding your involvement in both the Dust Shootout the other week as well as the rather impressive firefight that occurred at the abandoned Fuego Factory that resulted in the death of the Crime Lord known as Stonewall as well as dozens of his subordinates. You have several other offenses besides those two, including mass assault, mass robbery, owning a fake ID, and working as a likely underage cage fighter."

He paused momentarily, giving the Uchiha a curious look.

"Speaking of which, how old are you exactly?"

Sasuke gave his own pause before answering. Why was his age important? He knew that in this world, just like his own, minors were given tamer punishments than legal adults. But given all of what he had done the Uchiha was under no illusions that Ozpin would be willing to throw out the rulebook on this occasion.

"I'm sixteen."

Ozpin had clearly perfected it over years of practice, but Sasuke easily saw the man's chest slowly fall in a silent sigh as his eyes seemed to take on the weariness of a man twice his age.

"Do you have any family?"

Robyn felt the blood drain from her face when Ozpin finished his sentence. Sasuke looked ready to snap the man's neck on the spot, his eyes boring into the Headmaster as though imagining all of the ways he could end his life.

The Devilsteel holding his wrists in place suddenly appeared far more fragile.

"There is one man who used to be my brother. Everyone else is dead."

Ozpin and Robyn suddenly felt as though they were inhaling air that had turned to ice. The room felt heavy, as though it were being squeezed in the dark abyss of the ocean. The Uchiha simply stared at the man in front of him with an unrelenting glare of silent wrath, completely uncaring of the sudden change in atmosphere. His muscles were slightly tensed, held back by a slender thread of self-control that would be cut without hesitation if Ozpin probed the subject any further.

"Well then Mr. Uchiha," he started, wasting no time in changing the subject, "I suggest we discuss the elephant in the room."

Ozpin took a sip from his mug, a gesture that was likely as much a force of habit as it was to simply calm his nerves, if even a little.

"As I mentioned before, we already have multiple eyewitnesses that informed us about the events of the evening you were at the Factory, but I want to hear your end of the story."

Sasuke couldn't help but look at the man in confusion.

"And why would that be?" he voiced. "Surely you have all of the incriminating evidence you need?"

"This testimony from you will be off the record, Mr. Uchiha. We frankly have more than enough evidence already to make multiple cases against you. That is not why I am asking you for your account." He fixed a gaze of iron on the Uchiha. "I want you to tell me, in your own words, from start to finish, what you saw and what you did that night."

Sasuke internally sighed.

"Roman called me in on short notice that night for a job- I first assumed it would be a simple robbery as usual, but instead he sent me out to oversee a cargo trade between Roman and Stonewall while he robbed more Dust in Vale. I thought it was odd Roman wouldn't be personally overseeing the first joint operation and when I arrived, I found out the reason for that was that Roman and Stonewall had set up a loyalty test for me that I fail-"

"What was the nature of this test?" Interrupted Ozpin.

"Stonewall had brought a large shipment of Dust on a small freighter. We were supposed to take it and help load up the slaves he had captured on the ship. If I had completed the assignment and allowed the transaction to take place I would have passed. If I interfered or tried to fight they were to kill me on the spot."

There was a momentary pause as Ozpin stared at Sasuke before he realized the Uchiha was not going to elaborate any further.

"That does not answer my question adequately, Mr. Uchiha." Said Ozpin, taking yet another sip from his mug. "Why did they believe you might not be as… cooperative that night? You had assisted dozens of armed robberies and assaulted dozens of Police Officers before then, so why did you choose to draw the line there?"

"When I first agreed to work for Roman, I did so under the condition I would not take part in anything that involved taking lives or human trafficking. When I arrived it was obvious that was the only thing Stonewall's group would be doing. There were dozens of people they had captured, most of them destined for sex slavery from what I could tell. Asking me to work with them broke my terms of our agreement."

"That is quite interesting, Mr. Uchiha." Ozpin replied, taking a brief moment to glance at Robyn's unchanged Lie Detection. "Why exactly did you refuse to partake in such crimes?"

"I have my reasons."

"What reasons?"

Sasuke gave Ozpin a dangerous glare, restraining himself just enough to avoid crushing Robyn's hand, who visibly winced in pain.

"Personal reasons. You know I'm not lying, and that's all you need to know."

Ozpin stared back, and for a moment Sasuke thought he was going to press the issue. The Huntsman, however, decided the subject was not important enough to push him on.

"Very well, then. Please continue."

"I knew they would kill me if I didn't play along with their game, so I attacked them first. I killed most of the henchmen present and gave a key to unlock the handcuffs of the prisoners to one I already knew so they could escape. I had not killed Stonewall because I wanted to question him to see if Roman had any other friends who might try to help him kill me, but he was able to escape the restraints I put him in with his Semblance and was forced to fight him. We eventually got outside where the men I had brought with me were already fighting Stonewall's subordinates alongside the released prisoners. Some of them began to fire at me, but I was able to kill most of them with a large-area attack. After that I began mopping up whoever was left, but Stonewall managed to catch me off guard and pin me to the ground."

The Uchiha paused, his mind in overdrive. He knew what had happened next, he knew he couldn't lie about it, and there was no way Ozpin didn't already know- but it didn't hold off his anxiety. He could easily phrase the next part of the story in a way that would put him in a more favorable light- but he was under no illusion that Ozpin would care. He would still be seen as great a threat to humanity as he was a freak of nature.

"And then the Grimm came?"

The Uchiha clenched his fists, casting his eyes down at the sheet covering his body.

"Yes."

Ozpin took an audible breath before once again leaning forward.

"Why?"

Sasuke felt his throat tighten.

"…Because I told them to."

The Uchiha was still casting his gaze down, but he was still able to see Ozpin's fingers tighten their grip on his cane. And he didn't need to look at Robyn to hear her hair whipping through the air as she turned to face him in sheer shock; in mere seconds he could feel her hand soaking itself in cold sweat and begin to shake.

"You mean you commanded them?" Ozpin asked.

"Not at first," the Uchiha continued. As long as he was on the subject, he may as well elaborate. It wasn't like Ozpin wasn't going to ask him any follow-up questions. "I think the Grimm have been hearing and acting on my thoughts since I arrived, but I didn't realize how much control I had over them until they showed up at the factory."

"And exactly what kind of control do you have over them, Mr. Uchiha?"

"From what I've seen over the past few weeks and what happened at the Ironworks, I suspect any Grimm within roughly 60 miles from me will do whatever I want."

By this point Robyn was shaking so much it was a miracle she hadn't fallen out of her seat. Sasuke didn't need to look at her to know her face was white as a ghost and covered in cold sweat. Her earlier flippant attitude had completely vanished, replaced by utter fear as she realized she was literally holding the hand of what may as well have been a monster.

Ozpin's mind was in far greater control of his emotions, merely set his mug down and placing both hands on his cane before continuing.

"In that case it is obvious you are the one responsible for relocating the Patch Anomaly and dissuading any Grimm from approaching the city these past few weeks- at the expense of larger and more frequent Grimm attacks on Patch of course."

Sasuke kept his head down, mulling over Ozpin's words. He may not have been aware of it, but the fact remained that even if his presence had all but eliminated Grimm attacks around Vale itself the island of Patch was suffering in its stead. He had been keeping track of the island's woes since his departure, and several hundred people had already been killed or were listed as missing thanks to the larger numbers and increased aggression of the Grimm. Lives that probably would have not been wasted had he not been there.

There was a thought repeating itself in his mind, recycling endlessly regardless of how much he tried to ignore it or what excuse he could come up with. The ugly truth was that since arriving in Remnant Sasuke had killed more innocent people than Itachi had during that horrific night.

Lives lost, mangled bodies, sacrificed for absolutely nothing because he was here by a fucking mistake.

He tried to reassure himself that by moving to Vale he had probably saved more lives than he had cut short, and that he had not killed anyone directly or deliberately, but it did nothing to ease his guilt. People who should have still been alive were dead- and it was all because of him.

It was almost enough to turn his stomach.

"You mentioned before that you think the Grimm seem to respond to your thoughts and desires," Ozpin continued. "Could you elaborate?"

"I didn't realize they could understand my thoughts when I first encountered them," Sasuke began, "they mostly just stared at me. But when I moved to Vale the surrounding Grimm retreated from the city- I knew it had to be because of me. Looking back I think the Grimm were retreating and hiding from the notice of as many people as they could, at least before they got out of my range, because that's what I was doing."

He took a breath, steadying his nerves as he continued.

"The other night, during my fight with Stonewall, I was having a tough time for a while. All of my allies were already busy with their own battles so it was just me and him. He had the advantage at the start and landed a few hits; the outcome was risky enough that I remember thinking I could use some help taking him down. And several minutes later a horde of Grimm flew in and knocked Stonewall out of the chokehold he had on me."

"Do you know why they see fit to obey you?"

Even with his head down, Sasuke could see Ozpin lean forward in his chair slightly in anticipation.

"I have no idea."

The Headmaster leaned back into his seat again, letting out a small sigh that could have been either relief or disappointment.

"And what happened after they came to your rescue?"

"…The Alpha of the group approached me. It looked me over for a moment, and when I thought it had come too close it backed off. That's when I first realized they were somehow able to understand me."

The Uchiha halted his explanation, his senses alerting him that Ozpin's Aura was beginning to swell, and for lack of a better term, sharpen. He still hadn't projected it over either his body or his weapon yet, but the Uchiha knew full well he was prepared to do so at a moment's notice.

"Sasuke, look at me."

There was no hostile tone. He didn't even raise his voice. Still Sasuke raised his gaze, finding brown pools staring at him with an invisible fire behind them.

"When you realized you had an army of Grimm at your fingertips, what did you have them do?"

The Uchiha paused in giving his answer for only the briefest of moments.

"I had them spare Stonewall so I could kill him myself, but I had them kill the rest of his men."

"Hmmm," the Headmaster mulled to himself. "So you were able to not only control the Grimm's killing instinct, but also tell them to either target or avoid specific individuals or groups?"

"From what I did the other night I would say yes."

Ozpin looked at the Uchiha for a moment, a glint of uncertainty in his eyes. It was obvious he was going to say or ask more, but it looked as though he were pondering how to say it.

"Well as much as I disapprove of murder, regardless of how it's carried out, I suppose we should all be grateful you chose to have the Grimm spare the lives of Stonewall's victims at the very least. I can only imagine how terrifying it was for them to see firsthand how savage a death by Grimm can be."

"Tch. They were more fearful of me after they saw their captors mauled to death."

Ozpin raised his brow slightly; a motion so small Sasuke almost didn't see it.

"Well, you can hardly blame them for that. Though I am curious; even with your refusal to take innocent lives, why did you not have the Grimm simply kill everyone else present? Surely you knew they would tell your secret to the Police when they got back to Vale? Not that I'm complaining about the decision you made that night, but you would have avoided a lot of trouble if you had just eliminated the eyewitnesses."

"I almost did."

Sasuke saw the Headmaster's throat tighten for a brief moment; the only indication the man showed that revealed just how unsettled he was.

"The prisoners I released as well as the few henchmen I had brought that had survived all saw what I had done."

Sasuke felt himself begin to go numb. Regardless of how uncomfortable Ozpin was at how close the eyewitnesses had come to death; it was nothing compared to the maelstrom of emotions that raged through him just looking back at that night.

How close had he come to being a mirror image of Itachi at that moment? Cutting dozens of lives short by his own hand for his own personal gain, simply because he was strong and because he could.

"So why didn't you?" Ozpin repeated.

For a moment, Sasuke lost sight of the bespeckled Headmaster. In his place were flurries of images and memories- flashes of events the Uchiha would be far happier forgetting, but that had for better or worse forged him and the journey he had made.

Bloody corpses with slit throats and kunai sticking out of the brains of their victims, lit by the gentle moonlight after Itachi had slaughtered every member of the Uchiha down to literally the last newborn still in its crib. Twisted and warped faces and limbs of prisoners behind bars, screaming in agony as their bodies were forcibly remolded into 'superior forms', if their mutating flesh didn't squeeze their windpipe shut or cause their bodies to all but disintegrate on the spot before they got that far.

Sasuke had seen firsthand just what power could do to the powerless. He had been blessed with natural talent that had put him on the winning side of practically every fight he had ever been in. Yet he could never forget the hopelessness, the despair that had flooded his being on those few occasions where he had been the weak one. He remembered the utter terror he had felt when he had first seen Gaara begin to transform into the One Tail- realizing that if he fell, the murderous psychopath would begin slaughtering his teammates and his village. When he had first faced Zabuza, and come face to face with the harsh reality that the skills he had honed that were enough to breeze through the Academy were laughable when he left the safety of the lake and realized there were monstrously powerful terrors in the ocean beyond.

He had been powerless before, and it had scared him. And the faces that had looked at him that night, mere seconds away from being torn to shreds by the Grimm he commanded, had the same looks of fear that had been on his face when a monster had held his life in their hands.

Sasuke had sacrificed so much to become powerful. To attain justice for Itachi's unforgivable crimes. He had left his home, abandoned his team, and almost killed his closest friend. He had even sat by and watched as hundreds of victims were pushed through the meatgrinder of Orochimaru's twisted experiments.

He had given up almost everything.

Almost.

The Uchiha stared into Ozpin's eyes unflinchingly. His Sharingan wasn't activated, but the sheer intensity of the unblinking black orbs was enough to almost make the Headmaster's soul tremble.

"Because being strong enough to take a life does not mean one has the right to."

The green glow of Robyn's Semblance surrounding the Uchiha's hand was proof enough he had meant what he said. The inaudible clenching of Ozpin's jaw and tightening grip on his cane were as clear a sign as any that the man had gotten his second message loud and clear.

Sasuke was not the only one in the room who had an obligation to spare innocent lives.

"I see." Ozpin said. "And after you had the Grimm kill your remaining enemies, what happened next?"

"I ordered every Grimm who could hear me to get as far away from Vale as possible and not kill anyone," the Uchiha replied. "Roman's subordinates who had come with me were far too terrified to follow me any further, and Stonewall's victims were going to go straight back to Vale to tell anyone they found what I had done. With that in mind I went back to the safehouse Roman had instructed us to rendezvous at so I could at least kill him before I left the Kingdom. But when I got there, I found crates of some of the Dust we had stolen arranged to explode. It was obvious he had intended it to be a last-ditch effort to kill me if I had managed to beat Stonewall, but before I could disarm it he detonated it remotely."

The Uchiha leaned back, his keen eyes watching Ozpin for any sign of what was going through the man's head now that he had finished giving his story. Strangely, the man seemed slightly more relaxed if anything. He leaned back on his chair, giving Sasuke a strange look as though a mildly amusing thought had crossed his mind.

"Well, I am grateful that you were kind enough to indulge my curiosity, Mr. Uchiha. Particularly regarding the fact that you summoned and controlled an army of Grimm that night- something that all of Stonewall's victims who gave police testimony strangely failed to mention."

Sasuke's eyes shot open as he snapped his head toward Ozpin so fast he almost felt whiplash.

'WHAT!?'

He waited for Ozpin to say he was making a bad joke, that he had somehow misunderstood what the Headmaster had said, but Ozpin merely sipped his coffee with the corners of his mouth in a very small smirk.

"You're joking…" accused the Uchiha.

"Not at all." Ozpin replied. "The prisoners you freed were brought to the Station for questioning after they arrived back in the city, and none of them gave a single mention of you commanding Grimm. Curiously, they all swore that the Grimm had appeared spontaneously as your fight with Stonewall ended, and that you and the men you brought were able to fight off those that approached them."

At this, Sasuke could almost feel the gears in his head grind to a screeching halt at the Headmaster's words.

Of all the people who had seen him command Grimm as though they were his personal bloodhounds- who all had been a hair's breath away from being mauled to death by the creatures of destruction he had inadvertently summoned… Not a single one of them had talked!?

'How could these people be so stupid!?' he thought furiously to himself. 'I'm the greatest threat to their Kingdom they've every laid eyes on, and I almost had them all slaughtered on the spot! What kind of morons would keep quiet about that!?'

The sheer ignorance and stupidity of what these people had done; or rather what they had not done, was such that for a moment the Uchiha wondered if any of them had enough cognitive ability to tie their shoes.

'If none of the witnesses told anyone what they actually saw, that means that no one knew about me controlling the Grimm around Vale… No one else knew about it…'

Until just now… when he had told Ozpin himself… with Robyn's Semblance to confirm he was telling the truth…

He had just confessed his greatest secret for absolutely no reason.

Not since Naruto had snuck hot sauce into his tomatoes had Sasuke wanted to burn the smile off of someone's mouth as much as when he saw the look of smug satisfaction on Ozpin's face in that moment. He was able to briefly halt the scenario playing out in his mind of shoving Ozpin's mug down his throat when he considered one small factor that seemed rather unusual.

"For someone who didn't know about my control over Grimm, you didn't seem too surprised when I mentioned it," Sasuke pointed out, looking at Ozpin with suspicion. "Why exactly was that?"

"I don't suppose you remember the girl you met when you arrived on Patch, as well as her Father who generously allowed you to stay the night at his home had you not run out?"

"Ruby and Taiyang," he recalled.

"Indeed. I happen to be fairly well acquainted with Mr. Xiao Long, and after you impromptly left his home he contacted me to see if I could assist in finding you. I'll admit you piqued my interest even at that point: a teenager spontaneously appearing in the middle of Patch in Winter with no cold-weather clothing that couldn't speak Valerian was certainly a unique case, to say the least. But several days later the Patch Anomaly mysteriously shifted, and the close co-incidence of these two events led me to believe that you might have had some part to play, or at the very least possibly knew something about it."

For some reason that excuse was unsatisfactory to the Uchiha. He may have been the first in this world with the ability to control Grimm, but it was still quite a stretch to assume he had anything to do with the Patch Anomaly no matter how unusual his background. The fact that Ozpin had barely hesitated for a moment in his answer was just as suspicious. He had seen enough of Orochimaru's subordinates grovel in front of him after failing to do a job to recognize when someone spewed out a pre-formed answer to a question they had known was coming. Still, there wasn't much he could do about it- it wasn't like Ozpin was going to volunteer to have his statement verified with Robyn's Semblance.

"I must admit I have been pleasantly surprised so far, Mr. Uchiha," the Headmaster admitted. "Your connection to the abnormal Grimm behavior surrounding Vale is certainly alarming. But now that I know this was all unintentional on your part and that you bear no malice toward the Kingdom, this complication with your presence here should be far easier to manage in a more civilized manner than I was expecting."

At this point Sasuke clenched his jaw and his fists slightly before relaxing them again- just long enough to make sure Ozpin could see it.

'I have to make him think I'm out of options and that I can barely containing my frustration. If I'm too relaxed he'll think it's because I have a few cards left to play that I haven't shown him yet.'

He still felt the bitter sting of his defeat and at being outwitted- but even so his current situation was not only far from hopeless but well within expectations. Even before he had started to fight Qrow and Glynda he had known that if he was captured he had plenty of abilities to escape that no one knew about. Mizuchi would be more than capable of disabling and electronic security or guard robots, and a combination of Chidori and normal Clones would make short work of any prison.

But that would only work if Ozpin didn't catch on. Robyn still held his hand in her grasp, and if he decided to ask Sasuke if he had any means of escape there would be no way to hide it.

'Show some frustration, but keep it under control and don't overdo it.' Easy enough.

"Don't waste time with pleasantries Ozpin," Sasuke said with a slight snap. "If you're going to keep me in this cell then just say it."

"Well, that would be one option. For most dangerous criminals I would at least try to avoid solitary confinement such as this cell and let them have some semblance of a social life while they spend their time behind bars, but you are far too great a security risk to allow for anything short of complete isolation if you were to remain in confinement."

"However," the Headmaster continued, "there is a significant risk of such an arrangement backfiring. You may have no desire to harm Vale or its citizens now, but after several months or years of imprisonment here you just might change your mind. And at that point how quickly would you summon an army of Grimm to rescue you and destroy the Kingdom?"

All valid points, but if Ozpin didn't want to keep him here, then what was his plan?

"Mr. Uchiha, a week ago I was still losing sleep over what had caused the Grimm to abandon the areas closest to Vale. Many saw it as a blessing, but myself and others tasked with defending the Kingdom felt anything but secure. We had no idea what had caused it; perhaps the Grimm were simply gathering for a massive invasion at a later time. Or if they would simply return to their destructive ways at some random point, perhaps to the detriment of any citizens who had grown overly-complacent about the Grimm's newfound passive nature."

Ozpin looked at Sasuke with an uncomfortable gleam in his eye.

"It goes without saying you are an enormous potential threat to the four kingdoms. But seeing as Miss Hill here has confirmed that you have no intention to conquer or destroy humanity, a potential threat is all you are right now. What I am more interested in is what you could be as an asset."

Sasuke didn't have to use any acting skills to force his hair to stand on end at Ozpin's words nor to put a tone of disbelief into his voice.

"What do you mean?" the Uchiha questioned.

"As Headmaster of Beacon as well as the one responsible for the oversight and assignment of Huntsman and Huntresses in Vale, the safety and security of this Kingdom is my highest priority. And by a strange twist of fate, I have someone who is capable of eliminating any and all Grimm encroachments to the city with a mere thought sitting in front of me."

Sasuke looked at Ozpin with undisguised shock. He had earlier briefly considered the possibility that the bespeckled man would attempt something like this; to have Sasuke keep mankind's oldest enemy at bay indefinitely and allow Vale to enjoy an unprecedented time of peace and expansion free from any threat of Grimm invasion, but had dismissed such a ludicrous possibility. Such a deal was far too risky for Ozpin to consider given the stakes involved as well as how the man knew damn good and well the Uchiha was more than powerful enough to simply force his way out if he wanted to escape.

Or so he had thought.

"You want me to remain in Vale and keep all of the Grimm away from the Kingdom?"

"In simple terms Mr. Uchiha, yes."

Sasuke continued to look at the man before him with significant doubt. There was no way Ozpin would offer such a deal without both significant restrictions on him and some way to control him if he tried to escape. It brought up the question: what safeguards did Ozpin already have in place that made him confident enough to hold him accountable?

"Just because I have no hostility toward Vale does not mean I have any intention to stay here and protect it. The Kingdom has survived for centuries without my help- it will survive after I leave."

Ozpin visibly narrowed his eyes.

"I would prefer you not test my patience, Mr. Uchiha," he stated firmly. "You know as well as I do you are too great a threat to the four kingdoms if you ever became hostile, and you are too valuable a defense against the Creatures of Grimm to simply be allowed to walk away."

Sasuke leaned back, furrowing his brow.

"If keeping me in this cell isn't your first choice, where exactly would you keep me?"

"I would enroll you at Beacon Academy as a student."

The response was short and to the point, but it was the last thing Sasuke was expecting. Any second he half expected Ozpin to chuckle and say he was joking, but as the seconds of incredulous silence ticked on the Uchiha realized the man was completely serious.

Sasuke, however, could do anything but take the idea earnestly. The idea of him being a student again when he had already graduated from the Shinobi Academy when he was twelve was absurd on its face. Judging from what he had seem of professional Hunters so far, there was nothing he could learn at Beacon. Even if he was merely playing the part, what exactly did Ozpin hope to accomplish by keeping him at a school?

And most obviously…

"That seems like an awful risk on your part, Ozpin," he said. "How exactly would you stop me from escaping the first chance I get?"

If the students and faculty were anywhere near the same level as the ones he had fought already, it would hardly be a challenge to escape. Aura made it impractical to defeat dozens if not hundreds of opponents quickly as he was used to back in his home world, but with his leg and the rest of his injuries healed he would be more than fast enough to simply outrun anyone without a speed Semblance who tried to catch him.

"A valid question," the Headmaster replied, a knowing twinkle in his eye. "The lethal injection you are hooked up to now obviously can't follow you once you leave your bed, but that isn't the only contingency we have."

Reaching into his pocket, Ozpin pulled out what appeared to be a small remote with a handful of buttons on it.

"This remote controls a small implant we placed inside of your body while you were recovering. It mainly functions as a tracker, and allows myself and any other faculty member to know your whereabouts at any time, as well as alert us if you venture outside of any area we assign you to."

Sasuke mentally cursed. He had expected Ozpin to put some kind of restraint on him, but had thought it would be limited to an ankle monitor. The thought that someone had surgically placed a device inside his body without his consent made his blood boil. He had seen more than enough from both Orochimaru and Kabuto to know that having someone tamper with your body while you were knocked out on a surgery table did not end well.

"In addition, your tracker also has a Fire Dust bomb attached to it that can be detonated remotely by myself or two other people if you attempt to fight or betray us."

At this Sasuke had to struggle to not crush Robyn's hand into a twisted mass of splintered bones and flesh. This was a problem- even a small bomb would cause lethal damage if it was detonated inside his body. The only reason he had survived the nano bombs from Deidara's C4 was because he had an effective and proven method to disarm them- which was not the case here. He would have to try and examine the device later and figure out what he could do about it.

"If I accepted your offer, I'm assuming there would be additional terms on your part?" he asked, sliding in a small rhetorical huff.

The Uchiha watched in satisfaction as the fool gave a small smile.

"You would be forbidden from carrying or using any of your weapons, particularly that sword of yours. Allowing you access to a blade that can cut through Aura as effortlessly as you did would be quite unwise on my part, you understand."

Sasuke said nothing, but was internally smirking. He had only used his Chidori in conjunction with his Kusanagi blade during his fight; and Ozpin had made the incorrect assumption that the Uchiha needed a sharp weapon to properly use it.

"You will be provided a weapon to use during your stay at Beacon by the school. In addition, you would be strictly forbidden from leaving the campus grounds for any reason."

The terms so far were about what Sasuke had expected, perhaps even a bit more to his favor than he had initially thought. Even if it was technically going to be a jail cell, the fact that he would be able to walk outside in open air and sunlight was far beyond anything he would have thought possible.

"You would also be provided with a scroll to replace your broken one to allow me to contact you more quickly in case there are any incidents without resorting to your tracker first. Both Glynda and I would have real-time access to it, and be able to see your contact list, texts, and calls."

Now that was unexpected. He had thought Ozpin would simply not permit him to have a scroll in the first place and avoid the risk of him contacting someone altogether. Even with the Headmaster and Glynda spying on his Scroll activity, granting a known enemy access to a device that could access information and communicate so easily was a mistake even the most novice of Shinobi would never have made. He wasn't sure if Ozpin wanted to purposefully grant enough freedom to stay on the Uchiha's good side or if he was genuinely that overconfident.

"In addition, you are strictly forbidden from mentioning Qrow's- unique ability to shapeshift to anyone. He uses it quite often, and I can't have you spread word of his alternate identity and have his cover blown. As someone who so recently was trying to avoid notice, I'm sure you can understand."

Sasuke understood much more than that. He had first assumed that Qrow had simply used his disguise to fully or partially mask his presence from Grimm, but if Ozpin was worried about people finding out it could only mean that Qrow was regularly involved in work more akin to a shinobi than a simple Huntsman who just found and killed Grimm.

It was a bit curious, but the Uchiha hardly cared. As long as he knew to be wary of any loitering Crows with red eyes spying on him in the future that was good enough for him. Besides, even if he did tell someone they wouldn't believe such an outlandish claim without some kind of proof anyway.

"And how long would this arrangement last?" asked Sasuke. "From what I've heard students study at Beacon for four years before they graduate. Am I simply going to be sent somewhere else after that, or am I just going to be kept as a student indefinitely?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," Ozpin replied before fixing an almost fiery gaze on the Uchiha. "But until you gain my trust and prove that you are as committed to the safety of humanity as a true Huntsman should be, I will see to it that you never have the freedom to set foot outside of Beacon."

Sasuke gazed back, putting a slight amount of tension in his face.

"Until I gain your trust?" repeated the Uchiha.

Ozpin's gaze softened.

"The terms I have just mentioned are… adjustable, depending on you and your character while you are here. If you do not put in effort in your schoolwork or use a student to attempt to contact any allies you have remaining in Vale for example, you will be immediately moved to a solitary confinement cell. Conversely if you make a solid attempt to integrate with the students and learn to be an earnest, law-abiding Huntsman in both title and practice, I might be persuaded to allow you limited freedom to travel around the city of Vale itself. Prove yourself to me enough, and I may just have your tracker disabled or removed outright."

Sasuke had to put in effort to not scoff at Ozpin's last sentence. The fact that the man could spew out such a flat-faced lie and expect him to believe it was astounding. He could swallow the idea that the man would reward him for good behavior to make Sasuke stick with the deal, but he would have to be a fool to believe the man would ever give up his best trump card. The Uchiha had no doubt that if Ozpin 'agreed' to take out his tracker, the man would simply have the surgeons perform a fake operation, leave the device in, and simply lie about it afterward.

"So," said Ozpin, "do you accept my offer?"

Sasuke gave a deliberate pause after the Headmaster finished speaking.

"I suppose may be able to accept your terms," the Uchiha replied. "Though I'm unsure why you think I will be able to 'integrate' with the students there when I've amputated the arm of one of them."

"Well you will likely be at Beacon for quite some time, so you should have plenty of opportunities to smooth things over with Mr. Daichi and Ms. Scarlatina. Though I should warn you to expect some kind of altercation with their team leader. Miss Adel is quite upset about what you did to them."

Sasuke couldn't have cared less about what Velvet and Yatsuhashi's leader thought of him. Whoever she was she was a joke compared to Stonewall and Orochimaru. Still, the mention of the two Hunters in training provoked a thought in his mind he couldn't help but voice.

"I take it the Hunters I fought were able to be saved?"

Ozpin gave a small smile.

"Yes. Shortly after your fight concluded first-responders were able to stabilize everyone who had been injured. The doctors at the hospital they were brought to were even able to re-attach Ms. Goodwitch and Mr. Daichi's respective arms, though I have been informed they will both be required to wear casts for another few weeks until their recovered Aura can finish the healing process."

That threw the Uchiha through a bit of a loop. Surviving having one of your arms cut off was certainly possible if one had access to medical care before you bled out, but even with professional help reattaching a limb, its bones, muscles, blood vessels, and nerves was next to impossible for anyone who wasn't Tsunade or Orochimaru. Was the passive healing ability of Aura truly capable of that?

"Speaking of Mr. Daichi," said Ozpin, "according to Miss Scarlatina he attempted to use his Semblance on you during the battle, but you were unaffected and somehow knocked the young man unconscious. What did you do to him exactly?"

"I reflected the mental attack he launched at me back at him, nothing more." He said simply.

Ozpin gave a sigh of relief.

"That was about what we inferred. Mr. Daichi's Semblance can temporarily wipe a person's memories for a period equal to the amount of time the memories are themselves. He woke up several days before you did with no recollection of your battle. Based on what he last remembers he should be getting those memories back in three weeks or so, but we were concerned you may have launched your own mental attack of some kind given that he collapsed."

"Does his Semblance not usually cause his target to lose consciousness?"

"No. Under normal circumstances the unlucky individual would still be quite awake but simply have forgotten the details of how they got to where they were. What I am more curious is how exactly you managed to redirect Yatsuhashi's Semblance so quickly. Mental-based Semblances are incredibly rare, and for anyone who does not have one themselves it is almost impossible to counter such attacks. Do you have experience battling opponents that can assault the mind?"

Sasuke paused for a moment. For an instant his mind couldn't help but recall the worst memory of his life- a full moon in a blood red sky overlooking pitch black homes and buildings that were painted red as his entire clan was slaughtered one by one. Body after body falling as their faces twisted into shock and fear, the life leaving their eyes forever. Then he got to his parent's room, where he arrived just in time to see Itachi shove his sword through his mother and father's hearts. And then he saw the whole thing again. And again. And again.

He stared at Ozpin, wearing a gaze so venomous the Headmaster couldn't help but flinch.

"I have extensive experience with such abilities."

Ozpin stared Sasuke down, his thumb hovering above one of the buttons on the remote for his tracker.

"Defending against them, or using them yourself?"

"Both."

Ozpin's eyes sharpened, the rise and fall of his chest slowing to a crawl.

"Elaborate."

Sasuke pondered to himself for a brief moment.

"Mind-based attacks are far more common in Konoha and the surrounding villages than they are in the Four Kingdoms. Learning how to counter them was part of the standard learning for myself and all of my peers."

"And how capable are you of using such techniques yourself?"

Sasuke felt his muscles tighten slightly. Ozpin's words had a sharp edge to them from his apprehension. He could hardly fault the man for wanting to know if he was capable of mind control or some other similar ability before he let him walk amongst the hundreds of Hunters in training at Beacon, not to mention the man wanted to make sure he wasn't brainwashing him right now. He wouldn't have any trouble answering the question, but Ozpin was far too close to pushing the button for comfort.

"I can place enemies in an illusion by making eye contact with them, though it doesn't seem to work on Hunters for some reason."

"Well that explains why you didn't use it in your fight." Ozpin replied. "To use your illusions, am I to assume you have to turn your eyes red?"

"Not technically. It is possible to use illusions without my Sharingan, but in that case they are far more difficult to cast and much weaker."

Honestly Sasuke wasn't even sure if he could use Genjutsu without his bloodline anymore. It was a difficult branch of Shinobi combat that required extensive training and precise Chakra control. He was certainly still capable of it, but the Sharingan made casting far more powerful Genjutsu so easy in comparison it was a waste of time to practice it without his bloodline.

"I see," said the Headmaster, relaxing his posture slightly. "And was your Sharingan the reason you were able to reflect Mr. Daichi's Semblance so easily?"

"Yes. I could have dispelled it without resorting to my Sharingan, but once my eyes were active reversing the attack was simple."

Ozpin listened silently, giving no indication as to what he thought of the Uchiha's answers. Sasuke thought for a moment he would ask another question about his eyes, but the Headmaster said nothing. He had an intense mood about him, though he thankfully relaxed his grip on the remote and removed his thumb from the button. Sasuke could practically see the wheels in the man's head turning, though he had no idea what it could possibly be about.

Then, as if to break the increasingly awkward silence, Ozpin spoke again.

"On a completely unrelated note, I do have another question I wanted to ask you, Mr. Uchiha."

"And what would that be?" Sasuke said, slightly curious about the sudden change in topic.

"A few days ago Qrow reported that he had met a rather interesting bird during his travels in Anima; a sentient Hawk large enough to have trouble fitting in the average room."

Sasuke mentally cursed- there was only one creature in Remnant who fit that description. He had no idea how the two had met, but it was just his luck that Garuda had to run into Qrow.

'I told Garuda to lay low, but he wouldn't have noticed Qrow was human if he was in his bird form until it was too late. Still, the way Ozpin described it makes it sound as though the man could understand Garuda while he was transformed- he wouldn't have been able to tell if he was sentient as a human otherwise. What did Garuda tell him exactly?'

Probably nothing of consequence. Even if he had thought Qrow was an ordinary bird, Sasuke knew Garuda would not throw out Sasuke's name or their origins. The honorable Tiercel would never be that careless.

"The Hawk introduced himself to Qrow as Garuda, and said that he and his human master desire to be left alone and have no quarrel with any of the four Kingdoms." Ozpin took another sip from his mug, eyes on Sasuke to gauge his reaction. "I don't suppose you are familiar with this Hawk, Mr. Uchiha?"

Sasuke took back his previous thoughts- he was going to have to have a word with Garuda about keeping his mouth shut. As the Uchiha suspected he had enough common sense to not give any definite information away, but even seemingly harmless comments could lead people to make assumptions. Ozpin had likely been looking for a human powerful enough to either enslave or earn the loyalty of such a powerful creature since he had heard about the encounter, and as a very powerful human with unknown origins Sasuke was as good a guess as any.

Under normal circumstances the Uchiha would have simply confessed, well aware that he was still under the influence of Robyn's Semblance. Fortunately Ozpin had not worded his question as wisely as he should have.

"I can't say I've ever met a Hawk named Garuda before, Ozpin. You'll just have to keep looking."

The Uchiha breathed a sigh of relief when Robyn's green Aura around his hand failed to change its hue.

"Well thank you anyway," Ozpin replied, accepting the Uchiha's words. "I suppose I will have to take your suggestion and continue my own investigation into this extraordinary creature and its master later. In the meantime there is still a week left before Beacon's Initiation Trial, and I have been informed you will be fully recovered well before then. The Vale Police will be coming in to question you about the events of the other night, as well as any information on Roman you can provide."

"That's not a problem."

Now here was a part of the deal the Uchiha could get behind. He would certainly have to endure plenty of cops who had personal grudges against him for what he had done to their comrades, but that was a miniscule price to pay for selling out Roman. The man had not only tried to have him killed, but was too much of a coward to even attempt to face Sasuke himself. He would have preferred to deal with the traitorous thief himself, the shinobi way, but if he could get Torchwick behind bars or even just throw a wrench into his plans he would settle for it.

"Excellent. I'll make all the arrangements for your transfer to Beacon in one week's time. Until then, Mr. Uchiha."

The man rose from his chair, taking a last swig from his mug. He was halfway through turning to the door before he stopped abruptly and again turned back to face Sasuke.

"Oh, before I forget, I suppose I should ask you one final question while Miss Hill is still here." He looked at the Uchiha, losing his relaxed smile. "Despite the relative freedom I have allowed you, we both know you will essentially be a prisoner in all but name for the near future. Are you considering attempting to escape at any point and going back on our agreement?"

The Uchiha gave only a moment's pause- staring back at Ozpin resolutely before answering.

"No, I am not."

Robyn's Aura remained as brilliantly green as it had for the entire exchange to the satisfaction and mild surprise of Ozpin.

"Very well, Mr. Uchiha. I look forward to seeing you at initiation. I'm sure you know this already, but none of what was discussed here leaves this room. Understood?"

"Hn," Sasuke retorted, "I had thought that was obvious."

Did the man seriously think Sasuke didn't know the consequences of letting the subjects of their conversation out to the public? If Vale at large knew what he was capable of, he would be getting armed maniacs trying to assassinate him before he finished his first week.

"Very good. Miss Hill, I believe our business here is done."

At this Robyn's purple eyes widened.

"Oh! Of course…"

At this Sasuke took a closer look at the woman who had mostly been a background third wheel for the last few minutes. Far from the laid-back and almost whimsical manner she displayed earlier, her movements almost seemed mechanical. She rose from her seat not unsteadily but still with an obvious stiffness in her limbs, and her skin had taken on a slightly paler hue.

'She got more than she bargained for sitting in on this'

It wasn't too surprising- Robyn had gotten the shock of her life just now, not only learning that a being that could bring entire kingdoms to ruin with a mere thought existed, but that she had sat in the same room and even held the potential calamity's hand.

Still, Robyn was a whole lot of not his problem.

With the barest of efforts Sasuke banished all thoughts of the woman from his mind- he had more important things to consider.

He was incredibly grateful that Robyn's Semblance was not as infallible as Ozpin clearly thought it was. It was true he would be unable to tell an outright lie without being called out, but the man should have taken more time to consider the exact wording of both his questions and of Sasuke's replies.

"So,' said Ozpin, 'do you accept my offer?"

"I suppose I may be able to accept your terms"

He supposed he may be able to accept it; which was not a definitive answer.

"I don't suppose you are familiar with this Hawk, Mr. Uchiha?"

"I can't say I've ever met a Hawk named Garuda before, Ozpin. You'll just have to keep looking."

Garuda was no hawk to Sasuke- he was his Summons. Hardly the same thing as a wild animal.

"Are you considering attempting to escape at any point and going back on our agreement?"

"No, I am not."

He wasn't going to consider escaping; he was going to escape. End of discussion.

Too bad for Ozpin, Sasuke's 'promise' was never going to be kept.

He knew there was no way Ozpin would let the Uchiha so much as sneeze without someone watching him. He had no doubt his dorm room, whichever one it turned out to be, would have more security cameras then it had walls. Not to mention he would have to share it with three teammates, some or all of which Ozpin could have simply planted there to keep an eye on him. He wouldn't have a moment's privacy, and that meant he couldn't safely work on the seal as long as he was there. That was unacceptable.

With that in mind, the Uchiha focused on the next task at hand. He closed his eyes and gently flexed his Chakra; his mind focusing on every miniscule ebb and flow of his life energy as it traveled through his body. Normally Shinobi used this technique to dispel Genjutsu and break its hold on the user- but with enough Chakra control a less forceful push would make the energy flow gracefully through the entire Chakra Network like a network of streams through and around every organ and cell. It was difficult with the Devilstone interfering with his control, but thankfully it seemed the mysterious metal was not as effective on Chakra as it was Aura. The Uchiha quickly analyzed every inch of the flow, looking for any abnormalities or changes in the shape of his Chakra Network.

A moment later he found what he was looking for. There was a large gap where his Chakra Network flowed around completely, leaving an empty void a bit larger than a ping-pong ball below his stomach around the area Velvet had managed to stab him.

'There's the tracker; inserted before they closed the wound up no doubt'

Sasuke gained a bit of respect for Ozpin- despite the almost noble-like way he presented himself to the public he at least had the stones to back up his threats.

Thankfully it was a threat he had ways to deal with. If the tracker was constantly giving his location, it had to be giving off a signal of some kind, and that meant it was an electronic device that he could easily shut down with Mizuchi.

'No,' Sasuke thought, reconsidering. 'I could freeze its circuits, but that would only disable it. As soon as I stop the technique it will just turn on again. If its offline for more than a few minutes Ozpin is bound to notice and pull the trigger. And it's too risky to try and short out- I might just set the thing off if I do it wrong.'

Disabling it was only a temporary solution at best- he was going to have to find a way to remove it entirely to effectively take this thorn out of his side. For a moment he was jealous of Kabuto, whose skills with both Medical Jutsu and his Chakra Scalpels would have allowed him to perform such a self-operation blindfolded.

But Sasuke had his own abilities, and though they admittedly left much to be desired for the task at hand he was confident he could get the job done with them. If he could focus a small Chidori on just one or two of his fingers instead of his entire hand he should be able to make a sharp and precise enough cutting tool to cut through the surrounding tissue, and the Lightning-style nature of the Chakra used would also function to cauterize his flesh as he went and minimize further bleeding.

Yes, that would work. He would have to bide his time a bit though; trying to escape from here without knowing where he was or how many Hunters were no doubt guarding his escape was too foolish a risk. He was going to have to play along for now.

Looking back he was relieved he had decided to go easy on Qrow and Glynda- if he had killed one of them, or just anyone besides Stonewall and the scum who were in his payroll there was no way Ozpin would have given him as much slack as he had. Even if he had won his fight by just ending the lives of everyone who had stood in his way, he still would have been stuck healing himself in Vale for days. But thanks to his decision to fight with one hand tied behind his back he had managed to land himself in a hospital where he could recover under ideal circumstances and get himself an easy way out from under Ozpin's thumb afterward.

'I hope you enjoy your victory here Ozpin, it won't last'

Past the door to the Uchiha's prison cell and the three dozen Hunters who had been assigned to guard the most dangerous prisoner the facility had ever seen, Robyn Hill snapped her head up with a start as she found herself slowly falling behind Professor Ozpin as they walked. They were heading out of the building, that much was obvious. Their job done, there was no reason to stick around. And yet Robyn hardly felt like there was too much unfinished business, too many unanswered questions for her to be satisfied with going back to Atlas now.

She was almost drowning in her own mind- thoughts, doubts, and questions flying around like a buzzing swarm.

'Sasuke Uchiha'

Just who the hell was he!?

Where had he come from? He may have believed the story he had told Ozpin about his origins in Konoho… Kananha… well something like that anyway, but it was simply too unbelievable for her to think that was actually the case.

Were there other such beings as him from this mysterious place? If so were they just as powerful, and perhaps more unfriendly?

How could they be sure he would keep his promise to Ozpin? He had passed her Lie Detection, but if he could control Grimm further than the eye could see who was to say he couldn't fool her Semblance?

But then should they have simply kept him under lock and key instead?

Was that even the right thing to do after by all accounts he had gone out of his way to avoid murdering people he easily could have?

And above all, what right did they have to-

"You seem troubled, Miss Hill," said Ozpin, interrupting the maelstrom in her psyche.

Robyn froze, realizing she had almost walked straight into the man in front of her.

She looked at Ozpin, still feeling her heart beating from her emotional turmoil. A part of her, the part that had trained at Atlas Academy and had been honed to be a well-oiled cog in the machine that was the Atlas Armed Forces wanted to simply half-heartedly deny the accusation and officially finish her mission here. Despite her rapid rise in rank and reputation since graduating she was still far inferior to Ozpin in authority, and wasting a superior's time with personal disagreements was practically taboo. Even if she did say something, it was hardly going to accomplish anything. It wasn't like she was going to be able to get him to change his mind.

But another part of her, a growing bud that had begun to sprout ever more vigorously was not content to simply let the matter rest after what she had heard. It was the same feeling she experienced when she first began her career as a Huntress and saw the blatant contrast in the living conditions between the prosperous and wealthy Atlas and her rusty, decaying home city of Mantle. She had brought it up to her peers and superiors a handful of times in idle conversation, pondering in her mind that simply keeping the people safe from Grimm wasn't the only way they could serve the public. She had gotten the same answer every time- everyone knew of the radically different paths the two cities had traveled and their respective outcomes, no one denied that perhaps some changes should be made, but it wasn't their problem. Just sit down, shut up, take and complete your missions, rinse and repeat. Let someone else take care of it.

That's essentially what Ozpin had asked her to do before their interrogation had begun- and now more than ever it left a foul taste in her mouth.

"I am, Professor."

Ozpin took a second glance at the Huntress, and took only a moment to see the energy behind her eyes of someone who was thinking about more than just taking orders. He gave a small nod to her right toward an empty hallway, stepping toward it as she followed.

"Is it the presence of a living weapon that could destroy a Kingdom with ease is sitting in a bed a few dozen yards from us that is most upsetting, or the more fundamental question of where such a being could have possibly come from?"

Robyn tensed, silently clenching her fists. Those were two basic conundrums she was still attempting to wrap her head around, but she found another question at the forefront of her mind.

"Are we really not going to tell people of Vale about any of this?" she asked, her tone taking a more forceful quality only a few notches short of incredulous disrespect. "They've been asking questions about the migration of the Patch Anomaly for weeks now- and even if no one was killed the hordes of Grimm that Sasuke summoned the other night still terrified them! The public is desperate for answers right now, shouldn't we tell them what we've learned?"

"If we publicly stated that someone who could control armies of Grimm had been living amongst them for weeks, and had caused a Level Ten Grimm Invasion with a mere thought it would cause mass panic" Ozpin retorted. "Beacon would be receiving a bomb threat every other day."

"I'm not so naïve to think there wouldn't be some would not act rationally out of fear after being told such a truth," Robyn conceded. "But enough people would be able to understand what you are trying to do for them here and would at least give the kid a chance! Hell, you said yourself that none of the people he rescued from Stonewall told the Cops a damn thing about him controlling Grimm! They saw him do it, and they all trusted him enough to keep his secret- isn't that a promising enough start?"

"Sasuke personally rescued those people from becoming slaves. I'm afraid that for the average citizen many of the first stories they heard about him were the dozens of injured officers at the Dust Shootout as well as the battle between him and the authorities the morning after the Grimm Invasion. His name has not become public knowledge yet, but when they inevitably do learn of who Mr. Uchiha is there will be many in Vale who will have a less than favorable impression of him."

Ozpin's voice had a tone of finality, but Robyn couldn't help but shake the feeling there was more to his decision than what he was letting on. From what she had heard of his abilities the idea that a civilian with any weapon could kill Sasuke was laughable; so why was Ozpin so adamant about not saying anything? Then she remembered the interrogation that had flipped her world upside-down only a few minutes ago- a few sentences that had been forgotten amongst the Remnant-shattering revelations.

"Who is Salem?"

At this Ozpin turned to face her directly. He wasn't frowning, but Robyn could tell from the slight tension in his stance that she had asked him something he did not wish to discuss.

"Someone whom both you and the people of Remnant are far safer knowing nothing about."

Robyn had to force her temper to heel at his words. Even with all she had just learned, it seemed there was still knowledge the powers-that-be deemed forbidden.

'Why? Just how deep does this go?'

"Have it your way," Robyn said, unclenching her fists. "But for the record, I think you're making a mistake."

She walked by Ozpin, heading straight for the exit, and hoping to get a strong drink or two before she took the first airship back to Atlas, and from there the first thing she would do was go straight to the library of Atlas Academy and dig up whatever she could about Salem, Sasuke, and the Uchiha. Ozpin had forbidden her from mentioning anything she had heard to so much as a single soul, but he hadn't said anything about trying to piece together the truth for herself.

'If Ozpin thinks I'm just going to keep my head down and pretend to forget everything I just heard he's got another thing coming!'

"I heard through the grapevine you've begun considering running for elected office in Atlas, Miss Hill."

She stopped in her tracks. He had spoken with merely a bit of curiosity, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of apprehension. She still wasn't even sure if she would run at all; but even if she chose to it would probably be at least a year or two away. The fact that Ozpin was already aware of her possible ambitions made her feel as though she were a mouse who had just learned they had spent her entire life under dozens of hidden eyes and ears in a laboratory as a research specimen.

"Potentially," she admitted. "What about it?"

"Well if you do choose to make that decision, I wish you the best of luck. But while I have the chance, I think I should offer you a friendly bit of forewarning."

The next moment, for only a second, Robyn could have sworn the man aged fifty years. There was nothing physical such as wrinkles or wasting muscle, but his eyes looked tired, almost like a man so exhausted he had to scrape his very soul for the smallest whisp of will to move himself forward.

"Doing what is best for the people you serve and doing what is right is not the same thing."

His face returned to normal, masking the emotions he had shown not moments before.

"If you do manage to get a seat on the Atlas Council, you will learn that unfortunate truth very quickly."

---

AN: Gotta confess, I'm not expecting as many positive reviews on this chapter as with previous ones. I know many of you, to put it lightly, did not want to have Sasuke attend Beacon. Well, sorry to say but I had always intended Ozpin to get him in by twisting his arm. Still, it should be fairly obvious Sasuke is not going to just go to school and keep his head down like a good little boy.

Also, I know this chapter is pretty dull compared to the non-stop action of the previous ones, but not every update can have a climactic battle. Setup is needed.

For those of you who are scratching your heads wondering how or why Ozpin knows about the Uchiha- be patient. Kishimoto didn't reveal that Konoha had ordered Itachi to slaughter the Uchiha well into the Shippuden series for a reason; how boring would the story have been if he had just told us the truth about the Uchiha Massacre at the start of the series?

I am curious about how you think I wrote Ozpin. As a character I think he is certainly fighting for good, but after literal centuries of fighting an immortal evil has inevitably realized that making choices that go against most rational people's moral code to ensure humanity isn't overrun is inevitable, and I tried to show that here with him playing hardball with Sasuke and both of them trying to play the other. If any of Ozpin's actions here didn't seem to make sense- well, I never wrote anything here from his POV, and Robyn wasn't ensuring he wasn't lying either ;)

Hope you enjoyed Robyn making a brief cameo. I wasn't going to include her at first, but then the light bulb went off and I thought 'huh, wouldn't Ozpin take every measure he could to ensure Sasuke wasn't lying to him? I wonder how he would make sure of that? Oh wait!'

I don't have as many chapters to post as I did last time, but the next one should be out in two weeks. See you then!